September Foodie Pen Pals...

For September Foodie Penpals I got to send a box to Chelsea at Yasha's Crazy Life. I was super excited to learn that Chelsea is a pseudo-vegetarian (her words), and I got to send her some of my favorite things.

I got a box from Candice at The Retired Athlete. I checked out her blog and saw that she is a pescatarian, she is a vegetarian that eats fish. What are the chances that I get to send a box to someone that considers herself a pseudo-vegetarian that is also a runner, and I get a box from a pescatarian that also is a runner and swimmer? Well, in the world of Foodie Pen Pals, apparently it's pretty good.

I love getting my package each month.

Looks like a box full of yumminess.

What runner doesn't love Cliff bars and Larabars?

The best thing in the box?

These little nuggets of awesomeness were gone in minutes. Seriously makes me want to move to a city that has a Trader Joes.

I have never had dried mango before, but these are very tasty. I'd like to repeat the previous statement about a city that has a Trader Joes. There was also this...

I think this would go well on some homemade English muffins.

I'm gonna take a break from Foodie Penpals in October. It'll just be too hard with vacation. I do look forward to getting back in in November.

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September Summary...

Technically, there is still one day left in September, but I'll be taking it easy. What a crazy month. I am glad all my hard work over the summer paid off. Back in March I never thought I'd have a month like this, it was hard to not worry about reinjury. You just get to the point where you worry that every run will end up like the last one before the injury.

I can say that September has definitely lessened my worries.

This is missing the five miles (including the Brookhaven 5k from September 1st), why won't Daily Mile let me select the time period I want to see?

So, 69 running miles in September. There were also 40 miles on my bike. Considering there were zero miles on my bike in August, I think the bike legs of the triathlons went pretty well. If there is a HIM in 2013 I'm going to have to love being on the bike. I think all the kick ass spin classes I did this spring when I was injured and this summer when it was too hot to be outside definitely helped. I'm going to have to keep doing that once a week this winter.

So 2012 is 3/4 of the way done. I currently have no races planned for the rest of the year. Well, there is the Race for the Cure the last weekend in October, I would like to work on my speed for that one. I did win my age group last year, maybe I can do that again.

Maybe I can convince some friends that we need to run the half at Whiterock in December, and we are all talking about going back to Cowtown in February. Maybe I can shoot for the full there.

That would mean I have 71 days until my next race. I guess we will see how it goes. I see some cruise ship running in my near future.

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Redman Recap...

I was horribly nervous all last week leading up to the Redman. I headed up to Lake Hefner after work Friday to drop off the cookies I traded out for mine and Rochelle's entries into the Oly pic distance tri on Sunday.

I got to see the sea of bikes all set up in the transition area for Saturday's races, I also picked up my race packet and meet Ben to pick up the wetsuit I was borrowing for the race. I lucked out and borrowed one from Ben's sister, who is crazy awesome, she won the full ironman at the Redman last year. (After swimming over two miles and riding her bike 112 miles she ran a marathon in four hours. Amazing!)

Can I just say that wetsuits are not easy to get on?

This really isn't my best look, I think.

After spending most of Saturday feeling very sick to my stomach, we had a birthday party and then I did some carb loading. I got all my stuffed packed and loaded my bike in my car. I was in bed by 9:30, and I slept pretty good.

I was up bright and early (4:45) and got dressed and put on my tri tats. What a great idea to have temporary tattoos for your race numbers.

We loaded up, swung by and picked up my partner in crime, and after a bathroom pit stop at Starbucks, we made it to Lake Hefner. It was quite a scramble to get our tires aired up at the Schlegal's tent and get our transitions set up.

Assigned transition spots are a really good idea. The fact that they closed the transition an hour and a half before our race was not. The sprint distance race started at 7:30 and we weren't allowed back in transition at that time. Things like sunscreen got missed because of this. More on that later.

It was nice to be able to see the swim portion of the sprint race. It got pretty interesting, the water was so shallow we got to see exactly where we would have to walk during our swim. We also had time for pictures.

Do we look terrified here?

Where we were standing, there should have been water. The low water levels made for a very long trek from the swim to the transition area.

Before we knew it, it was time to get in the water.

I'm not gonna lie, the water was freezing, and the bottom was pretty muddy and slimy. I managed to not get too beat up when the swim started. It was not easy to adjust to not being able to see anything when you put your face in the water. I swear, every time I looked to see where I was in relation to the bouys it didn't seem like I was getting any closer to them. I did get kicked in the face once, and on the second lap when I had to walk I got a horrible cramp in my right calf. I managed to work it out and finish the swim.

The craziest part of the race was the strippers. If you had a wetsuit on, when you got into transition they had strippers to get you out of your wetsuit. I had mine unzipped and my arms out, so I ran up and laid down and they just grabbed ahold of the wetsuit and ripped it off, then they helped you get back up, threw the suit back to me and I was on my way.

I did have to make a stop at one of the most disgusting port-o-potties ever, and then I got my helmet and socks and bike shoes on. I did not get sunscreen, I managed to tune my Garmin on but forgot to put it on, and forgot my sun glasses. After a GU and a drink of water I was ready to go.

The bike route was a seven mile loop, which made the total long for an Olympic distance race. It was nice riding along the dam, but coming back up Hefner was not easy. By the fourth loop I was seriously ready to be done.

Transition 2 was a bit faster than the first one. I managed to get my Garmin on, had another GU and some water, put on my visor and set off for the run. I did have a bit of a freak out moment when people were cheering my name at the start, (the fans were awesome), but then I realized my name was on my race bib.

It was only about 80 degrees out but it was not cloudy at all. I was wishing I was back in the freezing cold lake. For the first half I was maintaining about an 8 minute pace, which I was really happy about, and I managed only one walk break in the first half.

After this there were a few more walk breaks. Im not gonna lie to you, because of the lack of wind during the walk breaks i could tell how stinky i was. I was very happy to finish the run in under 55 minutes. So after just over 3 hours and 17 minutes my first Olympic triathlon was over.

You can't tell from this picture but I was quite sunburnt.

Our cheering section were real troopers.

Josh even rode up with us at the crack of dawn. I think he might have gotten a nap in before our race started.

We got loaded up and headed home. After a shower there was this.

I used baby oil to get the tattoos off on Tuesday, and my arms look like this now.

That's my number 673, it'll be there foe who knows how long. What a great reminder of a great race.

Looks like 2013 will be the year of the half ironman. More on that later.

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WIAW Redman Edition...

So let's talk WIAW and the Redman Triathlon.

We went to a birthday party Saturday afternoon for some nieces and nephews. Its crazy how many birthdays we have in September. I waited to eat after we left the party and we stopped by Sandro's for some pasta.

I got the penne with marinara sauce. I could have sworn I took a picture of it but maybe in my crazy nervousness I might have imagined it.

I had a banana before we left the house Sunday morning and a peanut butter and honey sandwich a couple hours before the race started. Those would be the most boring food pictures ever.

After the race Rochelle and I stocked up at the food tent before we headed home. After my shower, and a little ice for my feet I was ready to eat.

The peanutbutter and jelly graham cracker sandwich was amazing. When we did the Breast Cancer 3-Day in Chicago in 2006 they had these and we ate them for three days, they were just as yummy Sunday.

By dinner time I was starving, so I ate the rest of the pasta I didn't eat on Saturday night.

There was lots do Nuun in my water bottle the rest of the day as well. I was a little dehydrated after the race.

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Redman Triathlon...

Just the highlights right now, but I completed my first Olympic distance triathlon on Sunday. I don't think I did too bad.

Becky Craig. 673 Congratulations On Your Finish Here Are Your Ultramax Sports Personalized Results Race Name/Distance Olympic Overall Place 131 Division Name F3539 Division Place 4 Gender Place 40 Swim Time 32:50 Swim Pace 2:01 Transition 1 5:34 Bike 1:41:37 Bike Rate 16.5 Transition 2 3:26 Run 54:27 Run Pace 8:47 Finish Time 3:17:53

In a regular Olympic distance Tri the bike should be 24 miles. Because of route limitations it was long at 28 miles, trust me on lap four I was wishing it was four miles shorter.

Lake Hefner was very low because of the lack of rain all summer. They used the alternate swim location, and it was so shallow that there was a part that we had to walk instead of swim. As a person who has never had a love for lakes, the slimy bottom was not only hard to walk on,but it completely freaked me out. I never imagined that 1000 meters would take me over 30 minutes. I only got kicked in the face once.

My transitions were not super speedy, the first one involved a trip to the port-o-potty. I certainly wasn't going to go in a borrowed wetsuit. There were quite a few women in our wave that talked about going before we started.

I am very happy with my run time. I was tired, and there was a few walk breaks, it was only about 80 degrees out but the sun was blazing.

It was a great race. I think there is a Half Ironman coming up for me in 2013. I sure will train more for it.

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Finally, Lets Talk Leg #3...

After two legs and a really long time in the van, we got to exchange 24. We got some rest, or not, in the van or on the gym floor and before we knew it we could take off the reflective gear. Jerry was ready to take off on the first of our final legs.

 

Remember that horrible hill that Patti had to run on her first leg? This was not much better for Jerry. After running up the hill he had to run up a much worse hill, although it was shorter, to make it to the exchange.

His teammates in van #1 had a great time waiting for him.

I cannot confirm or deny that any thing went missing from this particular exchange.

Then Kelsey got to run through some beautiful cow pastures.

It was nice that it was warming up by this time and we got to enjoy some beautiful views.

For Patti's last leg she got to run down a really big hill. She decided that Abby needed to go with her.

Then I was up for my super short final leg. Only 2.1 miles and very flat. Finally, I got to run a leg with other people and I even managed to have three kills. Scotty meet me before the exchange and ran the end with me, then he took off super speedy-like and we raced to the next exchange.

Next up was Rochelle for her final leg.

I didn't get a good picture of Ro during her last leg, but I got a picture of this guy...

 

What a horrible costume to run in. I even meet a girl at this exchange that graduated from OU, what a small world.

Exchange 30 is where we handed off to van #2. This exchange was at a middle school and we had an opportunity to take showers I decided to pass on the community shower with scalding hot water.

Scotty took off with van #2 to help cover some legs for injured runners, and the rest of us headed to Snowmass to wait at the finish line. I did get a little sleep in the van on the way. When we got parked and I got out of the van I was immediately light headed. I don't know if I'd ever get used to the altitude.

We hung out, got some food and then about 27 hours and 30 minutes after we started this crazy journey John was making his way to the finish line.

 

You don't even want to know how crazy hard the final leg of this race was.

Jerry, Robyn, Patti, Rochelle, Kelsey, me, Scotty and Monica

GRobyn, Rochelle and Tiffany

The medals were some serious hardware. They are also bottle openers, because what would you need more after a race that lasted 188 miles through the mountains of Colorado than a beer?

Still to come, just some odds and ends from our awesome weekend, and then there is the whole Redman thing...

 

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Redman, I Must Be Crazy...

Back in May when I made cupcakes for Beer Sprocket, I had a chance to talk to my BIL's boss who is the race director for the Redman Triathlon. We talked about how they were wanting to get some higher calorie foods for the finish line. He said we could do a trade out, cookies for two entries into the Olympic distance triathlon.

Fast forward to September. It's been a busy month, after three months off in the spring, I decided to make up for it in one month. Brookhaven, Ragnar, the Tie Dye Tri and now Redman. There is only one person crazy enough to tackle all of this with me, that would be Rochelle.

Everyone needs that friend that you can take your crazy ideas to and they will always say yes.

So I baked about 400 cookies this week.

I boxed them up last night.

I'm gonna deliver them this afternoon. After that I'll probably be even more nervous than I already am, and come Sunday I'll be trying not to freeze to death during my first open water swim.

This was part of the conversation I had with Ro yesterday. I think insanity loves company, because I sure don't think I could do all this on my own.

I don't know how I'm going to survive the next 48 hours.

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