Manhattan St Patty's Day 10K

The Saturday after St Patrick's Day, I roadtripped with some girlfriends to run another festive race in Manhattan, home of the Kansas State Wildcats!!

We were expecting a warm, sunny day, but arrived in Aggieville to a cold and dreary morning. We watched the 2 mile race take off huddle under an awning of an eye doctor, then corralled ourselves inside Kite's to watch the finish and stay warm.

Minutes before the start gun went off, we got in the middle of the starting pack - just in time to take a quick pic! Those are my running buddies, Lynsey, Jennifer and Alli.

The race left Aggieville, went north through campus past the rec and the Bill and the firestation, not to mention the old llama lot. Then turned around back through campus, Aggieville and around city park.

Once we hit the K-State gardens at the 4-mile mark and about 40:42 on the clock, I knew I had a chance to break an hour. Set a PR - no way, I hadn't really even been trying that hard thus far in the race! I was stoked. So I told Alli I was gonna try and she said she'd see me at the finish line. I picked off as many people as I could and sure enough -- I did it!!

Here's the video I'm glad I remembered to take as I turned back onto 12th Street toward Kite's and the finish line.

After we all finished, we were so excited to chow down on some of our Manhattan favorites. Unfortunately, with a combination of the rain and the upcoming St Patty's parade, all our favorite spots were jam packed to the brim. So we ordered to go food.

First, of course, Raspberry Chipolte Black Bean Dip from So Long Saloon.

And the Belly Buster from Rock-A-Belly Deli.

We were happy runners with full tummies for the drive back to KC!

Luckily, its only a short 1:45 drive. Any longer and I would have been exhausted. It poured the entire way home, leaving very little visibility and making it nearly impossible to carry a conversation from the pounding of the raindrops.

I'm still so stoked that I broke an hour and set a PR. Now if only I could figure out whats wrong with my bum leg in time to PR at Rock the Parkway Half Marathon in a few days!!



Westport St. Patty's Day 4-Miler

Besides the warmer weather and sunshine, spring brings one of my favorite holidays! St. Patrick's Day! With a name like mine, you don't get much more Irish, so every year I try to do a few special things to celebrate.

This year, it started with the Westport St. Patrick's Day 4 Mile Run.

I raced with a sorority sister/running buddy last seen in this post about the Kansas City Marathon turned half marathon, and a friend of hers enjoying her first race-day experience!

Here we are waiting at the starting line.

And here we are after we trekked back to the car.

This is one of the most fun and festive events in KC. Everyone gets into it, either wearing green running clothes or busting out some amazing leprechaun costumes. There is a huge group out for the race, evidenced by this photo approaching the start line.

I finished 270th in my AG, 1780 overall with a time of 41:40.2 for 4 hilly miles in midtown/Westport.



I saw my shadow...

At this year's Groundhog Run!

I think that's a good sign, right?! Although with the Second Coming of the Snowpocalypse, who really knows?!

Sunday was the Groundhog Run in the caves at the Hunt Midwest Subtropolis.

This is one of my all-time favorite events. If you can handle the rotten-egg fart smell at some points on the course, you'd love it to. Its your only chance to run in 70 degrees in the middle of winter in Kansas City.

My race buddy had something come up and wasn't able to race with me, so I was a bit bummed. Luckily with a plea on facebook, I found a buddy to take her bib and join me in the caves!

Pre-race, I ran into my Girls on the Run pal Jackie and got to catch up while we waited for the 5K to end.

Here's my race buddy Mike, me, Jackie and Mike's friend String Bean Dean - pre-race. You can see the cave looking stuff that proves where we were running in the background!

So, the race story. Well, first off, if you've been reading for a while - you know I've been a huge winter slacker and have been doing pretty much Jack for a while now. Needless to say 6.2 miles was going to feel damn near like a marathon!

We started at the back of the pack, just after the gun due to the portapotty line. This is my favorite place to start a race, because then I get to be the passer instead of the passed. I actually felt pretty decent for the first lap, and I knew we were keeping a decent clip. Probably right around 11:00s. I was hoping to negative split, like I usually try to do (though I don't always succeed). We walked the aid stations and in the second lap took a couple other walk breaks. With Mike's encouragement, I kept pushing long after I wanted to.

Keep in mind that Mr. Encouragement is the same guy who on Saturday did the Polar Plunge in a Speedo and a Superman cape. He did raise about $1000 for Special Olympics though. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

Anyway, Superman kept me running and pushing and huffing and puffing around every bend in the caves. Once we hit the 6 mile mark and I could see an end in sight, I picked it up as best I could and tried to out sprint him to the finish line. Maybe that's why my knee hurts a bit today...

Anyway, here's us afterwards, all sweaty, with Gus the Groundhog in the background. I give this race a big thumbs up!

My official time:

95th in my AG

1:06:42 total time
10:44 average pace.

Not too shabby.

Afterwards, I took a rest on the back of the ambulance waiting for the rest of Superman's firefighter crew to pack up and head to the Ameristar for brunch. Here's us with a big Gus on the way out....

So far, a wonderful morning. My favorite way to spend the weekend. That is, until we got to the smoke infested casino and I got sick! I completely cleaned out my system in the casino bathroom and told Mike we needed to hit the road pronto. As we found the on-ramp to the highway, I made him stop so I could continue to puke in the snow. Ugh. Seriously, not a fun way to enjoy your post-race high!

But I got home, showered and cuddled with my puppies for the rest of the day and woke up Monday feeling great! Phew!

11 ways to stay low-fat in 2011

I think it might be time to start racing again. That's such a good motivation factor for exercise and eating right. So now, I'm taking recommendations for my 2011 race schedule. What have you done in the past or hope to do in the future?

It would be awesome if NYC 26.2 could work out, but I think I need to bank on local races.

Send me your suggestions!

NYC 2011

So I've been having serious fat days lately. Ugh.

My clothes don't fit like I want them to at all.

I just want to eat, sleep, and eat and sleep some more. Guess its that winter hibernation thing.

I've got to get motivated.

So, what did I do? Well, the gym last night sure didn't work too well. I came home and baked and didn't get off my butt to exercise this morning. Instead I had a delightful coffee date and a creamy cheesy bagel.

So I tried to get myself motivated....

Yep, that's right, I registered to get into the 2011 New York City Marathon!! I know that like 100,000+ people apply to get in, so the chances are slim, but if I do - how cool would that be?!?!

I mean running through the five burroughs. Seeing all the sights, sounds, smells of the Big Apple. How much of a great experience would that be? And definitely motivating to get my butt in gear!

Too bad I have to wait until April to find out if I got in...

I miss it.

I miss racing.

Not because I'm any good at it. Not for the PR's. Not for the medals.

But for the sweat.

And the fun.

And the heart-healthy benefits.

And the feeling of accomplishment and pride.

And the bit of soreness afterwards.

So how do I get myself motivated to train, keep training and make the entry fee a little more worthwhile? That is the question. Do I set up a race schedule for next year? A couple half mary's, maybe a half iron? Maybe just some 5ks?

I went to the actual gym this morning. And, let me say, BLAH. A run with Peter is a way better use of my time. A swim would've been good, but the pool was TINY. I've also recently gotten the P90X system, and I've thought about doing that. I'm just worried about my commitment level.  Hmm. Things to ponder.

In other news, my new pants are bleeding all over my hands. This dark-washed denim slack ain't sticking where it should!

Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon!

The most beautiful day of the whole fall and I'm out running with 11,000 of my closest friends through downtown Kansas City at the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon. Just a little 13.1 mile jog along some of the most scenic points of my city - what a great way to spend the morning. I always forget how much I love race day until a new race day rolls around.

Here's my recap of Saturday's half marathon. It promises to be long, but hopefully entertaining!

Rise and shine before the sun comes up and head downtown with my training buddy Jennifer. We had originally signed up for the full monty together, but between her injured knee and hip and my lack of motivation - we decided at the last minute to give the half a shot. We hoped to hit the Johnny's before the gun, but had no time to find one so we hopped in the chute near the 2:40 pace group and decided we'd try to beat them. (Bee-tee-dub, I love seeing all sorts of pals at races. Abby and Abby (yes, 2 Abby's) and Meagan and Al and Kim and many other friends perked up my morning!

Here's Jennifer waiting for the gun to go off for her first official Half Marathon! We are pumped!

We ran through the Power and Light District, past the Salvation Army band, and back south toward Union Station and Crown Center, passing beautiful fountain #1 while the sun rises.

Just past this fountain was a HUGE uphill, not very steep, but it went on for.ev.ver. It took us up and around towards the National World War I Memorial. Yep, that big pole coming out of my head is the memorial! Beautiful reds and oranges in the trees and a lush green lawn leading up to the WW1.

This is the point where Jennifers leg starts to really bother her. Major bummer, as she was hoping to feel good til mile 8 or so. I didn't mind, because the hills were starting to get to me!  From here, we headed south on Main towards historic Westport.

From Westport we went south on tree-covered Roanoke towards the Plaza, one of my favorite Kansas City destinations. I can remember coming up for long weekends with my mom as a kid because KC had such better shopping than Ta-Town. It always made me feel glamourous! Here we passed one of the most notable fountains in the park on the Plaza - its got big statues of horses!

A little east of the Plaza we hit the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, another landmark. Besides all the indoor art, the Nelson has big badminton birdies on the lawn, random, but fun! Still feeling pretty good here...

We start to head north through Hyde Park, and I wonder what this part of town was like in its hay-day. The homes are huge, gorgeous, magnificent, but you can tell they are a bit run down the further north you go. Once we cross Troost and head towards the Paseo, I know I'd never run here alone. I remember stories from my days with the Salvation Army and its "Honk and Holler" program (volunteers would drive around a canteen, honk and people would come out of the woodwork for bag lunches and socks and blankets). There was one day I rode along, and the lead volunteer instructed me to not get out of the car, because the neighborhood was so drug-infested, you never know what someone might do when I got out. Anyway, I digress. It was fun to run through this historic, beautiful part of town and feel totally safe. We get on the Paseo and before we know it, the lead vehicle passes us and the full marathon winner flies by! Luckily I was able to snap a photo... you can't tell but this guy might actually have wings!

From here, we get to run through one of the coolest parts of town that I've never been in. We pass the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and some amazing, historical jazz places at 18th and Vine. Yes, the song rings true... we got some crazy little women here and I'm gonna get me one. At this point, we are both pretty tired, sore feet, Jennifer's knee is killing her, and we are both truly having a great time, pain and all. We do a lot of intervals. Run. Walk. Run. Walk a lot. Run some. Walk more. Until we round the corner back on Grand and head south, uphill towards the finish line. Then it takes all I've got to hold back and not do my typical sprint to the finish. We stayed together this far, so I'm bound to cross the finish with my buddy!

BDR and Peter did indeed make it down to watch us finish, and more importantly, drive me home and to some food post-race. I was, no surprise here, starving! We hit the patio at the Blue Moose, with Pete, and enjoyed some delicious wraps, fries and a big pickle! (My fave!)

Here's the race by the numbers...

bib number: 8531

age: 27

gender: F

location: Overland Park, KS

overall place: 4457 out of 5213

division place: 621 out of 743

gender place: 2519 out of 3131

time: 2:40:13

pace: 12:14

3.3: 38:54

hm8m: 56:25

One last photo of me with one of the most memorable KC skyline views, the Western Auto Building sign. Too bad you couldn't see that in the view they showed in the first episode of Outscored. But there was no Sprint Center either... regardless, the show is still hilarious.

WIN photos

Time trial start, 500 m swim at Smithville Lake.

Coming in from the 10 mile bike

5K run. These might be the best run photos I've had from a race before. I especially like #2!

I WIN, you WIN, we all WIN!!!

What an amazing race day experience on Saturday, 7/31. The WIN for KC Women's Triathlon at Smithville Lake, just nort of KC, boasted 850 athletes. It sold out four months early, and 405 slots were filled by first-time triathletes. How cool is that?!

Plus, even cooler - I got TOP 10!!! I've never placed so well in a race before. But I'm glad I've found the trick - no training! I've only been running. That's right - no biking and no swimming in over a month. They print out your splits after you finish and here's how mine looked:

The day started out sort of icky. BDR was supposed to sneak out of work early to come cheer me on, but some dumb lady decided to beat up her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend (seriously, he said there was blood everywhere and a missing tooth!) so cop duty called and he couldn't come. Luckily it wasn't nearly as bad as it was for a couple friends. For AV, her bike fell off the rack on the way there, burning off her front brake, back bottle cage and part of her saddle. Luckily, no frame damage and it was still ride-able. For Dr. Meagan, the bike she was toting for a first-timer decided it no longer wanted to keep its back wheel and it fell off en route to the race. Bad day for those bikes!

After running around all morning trying to find a new wheel for her friend, Dr. Meagan finally got to relax and get psyched up for the race. She's weeks away from Ironman Louisville and is going to do amazing!

Classy Cat Anna is my hero. She's focusing on her BQ hopes, but she still managed to get 2nd in her AG. Seriously, this girl is FAST.

I'm not quite sure how Rebecca does it. She's a full time mom and a full time triathlete, all the while with a great atttitude, wonderful smile and tons of effort. She also pulled out an amazing race.

For me, here's my recap...

Set Up: Got to the race site too early and wasn't quite sure what to do with myself so I hung around the GOTR booth and caught up with some friends. (See photos above)

Swim: Time trial start every 5 seconds. Made the smart move to start in a group faster than I actually am, but I didn't have to stand around and wait to get in the water, phew. My times probably could have been faster had I trained, and definitely would have been faster if I hadn't needed to hang on to a kayak to pee. That's 73 seconds I won't get back.

Bike: They call me greased lightning. I haven't had to say "on your left" so many times before. Now granted, many of the amazing women out here were on cruisers or mountain bikes, but still - I averaged 18.6 mph and felt like a speed demon.

Run: The only way to make this race better would be a different run course where spectators could get out and cheer. It winded through the woods on a paved trail, so it was hard to tell how close to the turnaround and the finish line you were. I averaged 9:18 pace and was very pleased with how hard I pushed myself when I wanted to walk. Sprints just might be the new thing for me. Who knows...

Post Race: Chris Cakes cooldown and an ice cream cone on the drive home. Followed by some serious lake time and a bit of sunburn. Pete had a great time swimming, and then got a much-needed bath.

All in all, very happy with my showing on Saturday. I haven't been this proud of a performance in the past. Sure, surviving Ironman and making it to the finish line is amazing, but a Top 10 AG finish is pretty sweet too.

On my marks. Goal Set..... GO!

OK Kids. I pulled the plunge. I'm officially in. Bib #542.

October 16, 2010 - Me and 26.2 miles of KC roads.

Due to Pete's unforeseen incident with the Lone Star Tick, he spent yesterday with Dr. Marty and got a clean bill of health. However, he has to lose some weight again. Pete's done it before, so he'll do it again. But he's got to lose 1.5 of these:

So he and I made a pact. We'll do it together. Thru marathon training, eating less and eating better, together we will get back in tip top shape. It's just a good thing I don't have to lose the same percentage of weight as he does, I don't think I could lose 21.3 pounds and still train and enjoy life a little bit. I'm really not too concerned about the numbers for me, I just want to feel good again. Have my clothes fit a little bit looser. Maybe get back in the size 8s I like so much.

Ironman Kansas 70.3

Check it off the bucket list. No, not another 70.3 - but my first MOTORCYCLE RIDE!! I was a volunteer race marshall for the Kansas 70.3 at Clinton Lake on Sunday. Due to my "triathlon experience", the head official wanted me to marshall the back half of the male pro's. 

Uh, pressure!! Those are the folks that are in it for the money. The ones where penalties actually matter!

So me and Doug, super "biker dude" Doug with the ponytail, tattoos and cigarette hanging from his lip, took off from T1 with the 4th-6th place male pro's. (Unfortunately the beautiful Andy Potts was a little bit too fast for me to keep an eye on him!) But back to the race - Talk about impressive. These guys were easily averaging 30 mph and Doug's hog had to chug a lug just to keep up! It was so loud you couldn't even hear the disc wheels anymore! One of the pro's (not sure who) was riding in a speedo and seriously had the most amazing legs I've ever seen. Its one thing to see them working on the run, but flexed hammies, glutes and quads on the bike were Ah-May-Zing.

My half of the pro's were pretty spread out, so luckily I didn't have to give out any penalties. Phew. I tried. I really did. But, they were all law-abiding athletes.

After a full lap on the motorcycle, I hopped on my (well, Allison's) bike and rode around the run course watching for pacing. Again - no cheaters! Way to go everyone! Having a bike when you are spectating is awesome, by the way. I was able to see my Bro on the run course, then pedal over to the finishing chute to watch him finish. So helpful!

After more age-groupers got on the course, I quit my marshaling duties and started my groupie duties. And for the next few days, I woke up singing Ironband songs before I even realized I was awake. Check out the photos that were taken near and by the band. The guy in the green at the beginning of the album is my brother. Good race, T!

And seriously, even Chrissie Wellington is becoming an Ironband groupie! As she should be since they sing about her! ...Chrissie came to Kansas with her bike strapped to her back.... Yep, that was stuck in my head all week! Chrissie (chrissie) Chrissie (chrissie) Chrissie WELLINGTON!

Hospital Hill 10K race recap

10K in downtown KC, over some of the most brutal hills the midwest has seen!

Total time: 1:09
Pace: 11:03

Overall feeling: This was fun! I'm definitely not in great shape, and this was by no means a PR, but it felt great to be a part of KC's biggest road race and hit the pavement with 7500 other runners!

Here's a map of the course...


Race highlight: My first costumed race! I joined in with Girls on the Run's "Last Rodeo" theme for the last aid station on the course - and got my giddy-up on! (Yes, that is a cowboy hat, bandana and pink hula skirt, and Yes, it was about 90 degress during the race!)

Race lowlight: Forgetting my awesome stick unicorn to run with - it woulda been way cooler than the stick pony I almost got. But of course, it slept in the closet and I walked out without my lil buddy!

Sure makes me miss the "real" training and goal setting that comes with racing!

Heritage Du Photos

Heritage Park Duathlon

This was my first duathlon, and all in all, a pretty good experience.  I have NOT been training. I tried to start up again this week in an effort to prepare for the WIN tri coming up at the end of July. Then the weather put a damper on that.

I did do one 2-mile run on Tuesday, that totally kicked my ass. Needless to say, I didn't feel ready for a race.

I was even considering sleeping in, since Karli had predicted storms all day, and riding my bike in the rain is one of my least favorite things to do.

Luckily, I woke up to 55* and fog and decided to give it a go. The first leg, a 2 mile run, went decent. I didn't expect to go fast. I just wanted to keep going and have fun along the way. I ran most of the leg with Rebecca, a new KCM pal.

Getting to the bike, it was definitely wet from the fog, but still no real rain. At some point on the 3 laps, a decent mist started, but it wasn't too bad. I felt great on the bike, even the one hill on Pflumm that I used to seriously struggle with. Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought. I ran across several triathlon friends and several other people that I know outside my athletic endeavors. Friendly faces always make races more fun!

A definite highlight was seeing the Diaper Dandy crew in Nascar gear, on single speed cruisers...

The final leg, a 3 mile run, felt pretty good as well. Of course I did some walking, and I could have pushed a little harder, but my whole goal was to finish and just have fun. Mission accomplished.

Run with T1: 50/52 23:34
Bike: 18/52, 44:04
T2: 42/52 2:09
Run: 40/52 30:09
Total:  33/52 1:39:55

Race highlights: 18th woman on the bike! So much better than in the past. I even heard someone say (shocked), did Trish just pass us?! Hell ya I did!!

Maybe if I actually train a little better for WIN I can rock that race! Novel concept...