Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Race for the Cure
by Amy
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| Pre-race awkward family photo! |
Last weekend, Jesse and I traveled to NY to pay our respects
and celebrate his Grandma Betty’s life. Despite the solemn circumstances, it
was great to spend time with family. Our trip coincided with Elmira’s annual
Race for the Cure, a 5k run/walk in which Jesse’s mom was already registered.
When she asked whether we wanted a couple entries, we gave a resounding YES. I
heart local, low-key running races, especially when Jesse stands on the
starting line with me. With my sidewalk-induced scars healing nicely, and
formerly swollen knee no longer in pain, I was ready for that elusive 5K PR. I
convinced Jesse it would be best for him to rest on his Tucson 5000 laurels and
run the Race for the Cure as a half-marathon tempo. It just so happened that
his half-marathon pace equaled my 5K goal pace ;)
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| Discussing race strategy on the starting line...why do I look so scared??? |
Results are here. This might possibly be the only image of
my name above Jesse’s on a race results page, as he slowed down so I could
break the tape in sub-18 glory. While my ability to “Rock the V” leaves much to
be desired, the race went pretty well. After coming through the first mile in
5:36, we ran with a loose pack of guys for a 5:45 second mile. My goal for mile
3 was to ignore the Garmin and focus on passing people. In the midst of
achieving this, I noticed a child about half my height was staying with us,
garnering tons of cheers from hometown admirers in the process. I couldn’t help
but laugh at the unfortunate fact that I was making my eyeballs bleed in order
to beat a 12-year old to the line. I’m ashamed to say I was relieved at my
margin of victory: A mere 5 seconds over the NY State champion in his age
division. I left excited and humbled, and ready to barrel through the next
proverbial wall – a sub 1:20 half marathon in 2 weeks!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Monumentus
I'm a tad overwhelmed at
the amount of updates we owe this blog. Organizing always helps, so I’ve taken
the liberty of compartmentalizing the highlights of the past several weeks:
The Good. Rewind to April. Nathan Killam, a fellow pro triathlete, recently kept our spirits high as an honored
houseguest. Describing Nathan as “enthusiastic” would be a severe
understatement. He operated on his own frequency, a perpetual wave of optimism,
excitement, and amazement, all while suffering daily during 30+ hour training
weeks in Tucson. In addition to cooking us nightly “family dinners,” Nathan’s
presence offered Jesse a built-in training partner. Together they attacked an
epic 7-hour Aravaca Ride, 3-hour Bear Canyon Run, and numerous shorter
sessions. Much fun was had, perhaps in excess from a training standpoint, which
we’ll get to later…
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| This pretty much sums it up: Killam getting us overly excited about powdered PB.... |
Back to the present. I’ve been doing lots of speedwork
within mileage training, and my body is responding well. So well, in fact, that
I was able to kick off my 29th birthday with my fastest-ever set of
mile repeats alongside Jesse (5:44, 5:44, 5:44, 5:37), and crush a 6-mile solo
tempo (6:05 pace) in Santa Barbara’s harrowing wind. I was really looking
forward to chasing a 5k PR this morning, but life had other plans (read on for
“the ugly”). Instead I played the role of spectathlete, watching Jesse crush
the Tucson 5000 with no speed training under his belt. Here’s to hoping every
race ends within 4 seconds of Maik Twelseik…
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| Stephanie, Me, Julia at the Tucson 5000! They both had great races! |
The Bad. In between rolling out epic
training sessions with Nathan and dominating 5ks, Jesse found himself at the
one and only Wildflower Triathlon with high hopes and heavy legs. Despite
enjoying Wildflower’s infectiously positive atmosphere, Jesse was flat all day.
The culprit was likely overtraining in the weeks preceding the race, and bears
little reflection on his current fitness. On a positive note, Wildflower
succeeded in putting on another amazing event, we stayed with some great fellow
pros along the lake, and even enjoyed a coastal drive home. Bad race;
successful weekend.
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| Wildflower bound Zoot Twins |
The Ugly. I set out for a Friday
8-miler only to faceplant myself on an unforgiving sidewalk 4 miles later.
Uncontrollable tears (hence “the ugly”) and a very painful walk home ensued,
following by two swollen knees, a sprained wrist, and intense pain in the
opposite shoulder. I’m feeling a bit lost on this weekend without running.
Watch out for sidewalks, folks! I thought I was covering my injury-prevention
bases with daily stretching and foam rolling, yet I neglected to respect the
death traps that line our roads. I will be back, with a healthy respect for the
concrete, as soon as I can…
And finally…
The Monumentus
Last week, Jesse drove me up
Mt. Lemmon under the guise of wanting some fresh air and an outdoor dinner. He
then asked me if I had any plans for the rest of my life, whether he could be
in them, and if I wanted to get married. Holy S#1t! Of course I do. We are
totally psyched to take the leap, hoping it gets us one step closer to
emulating the “A” Team (for the unaware: we consider ourselves the “B” team to
Jesse Thomas and Lauren Fleshman).
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