Los Angeles Half Marathon

This was a great race. The weather was perfect. My legs killed me by mile 12 and I am quit sure that the 3 hours on the computrainer yesterday with multiple grades of 10% - to 15% did not help.

Was not too unhappy with my time compared to Long Beach in October - I was only about 30 seconds slower and Long Beach was a totally flat course done after an 80 mile ride on the Saturday before. So conditions were similar.

The run was a loop and not too crowded, unlike Long Beach. Was around Bonelli Park and the views were nice. The run was hilly and flat - but not too much hill.

Bill, Piper, Bob and I did the race. It was an Inaugural Race so Piper HAD to be there even though he just done Ironman Cozumel 2 weeks ago!!

I would do this again. It was a good training day.

Miami Half Ironman

This was my 4th Half Ironman this year.

The weather was perfect except for the wind on the bike when it was not blowing in your favor! Which was most of the time!

This race was extremely well supported and very different from any other Half we have done because of the Zoo “flavor”

There were concerns about the temp in the lake being too warm for wetsuits. Got there on race day and they posted the lake temp as 77.9 - .1 degree away from being a no wet suit swim! Whew……..that was luck in my favor!

The swim was 2 loops, and once out of the water there was about a ¼ mile run to my rack which was the last rack before you went out of transition – that was nice!

My swim I thought would be around 48 minutes – my best ever – boy was I surprised when I came out in 54 minutes --- ugh!!!! What does that mean for me? More time in the cold pool at the Rose Bowl Sunday afternoons with Barry!

Because of the long run back to my bike, I had left a pair of running shoes by the swim exit to run back the ¼ mile to the bike. Oh... and they did have wet suit strippers!

My transition was s l o w, but got on the bike and started on the ride. My gluts were on fire! Was kicking during the swim more than I usually do because that is what we have been practicing in the “Sunday at the RB with Barry”. Guess I got MUCH more work to do to get those muscles ready for action!

The bike course was all flat – with wind – the tail wind was the BOMB! The cross wind was merely annoying and the headwind was 11 to 13 mph!

The bike went by fast...

Also, let me make a note on the weather, although there were winds there was also a cloud cover so it made for an ideal temp from the time we arrived in the morning at 5:45 through the race!

Then came the run – I think I was 2:43 or something equally horrifying! Needless to say I will be working on my swim and run in the off season. I have been doing a faster time since training with Mackel so I now need to get my endurance dialed in!

The highlights of the run were running through the zoo (twice). None of the animals were caged so you would be running and look up and there was an elephant or a monkey or a 300lb turtle - that was very cool!

The aid stations were extremely well stocked with Hammer gels, water, Gatorade, bananas and oranges and ICE! And they gave out great goodies:

In looking at this race - I ask myself what could I have done better with? Well, it is not like I know better, but there is this thing called recovery and going into a race well rested.

Yeah...don’t quite have that aspect of this sport down yet!

But all in all, this was a great race and I would definitely do it again. It is a good race to bring kids to because of the zoo factor.

This was a good race to end the year with. However, as I got on the plane after driving though the various road blocks set up for the 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater...I can not help but want to be here next year for the World Championship with SOME of YOU reading this report!

I placed 2nd in my age group in Miami Man!

Swim:54:14; T1 5:21; Bike 3:05:31; T2 4:00; Run 2:43:47
Overall Time 6:52:53.

Malibu Sprint Video

Here I am in transtiton from swim to bike! Enjoy!

Long Beach Half Marathon

This race was crowded.

I personally did good until about mile 8 - then it was kind of downhill from there.

Between the 75 miles on the bike the day before - waking up with sore legs - I did not expect anything out of this race except a training day. And it was a good tough training day! So, mission accomplished for me!

It was a great course if the crowds had been a bit less.

I too was in pot-o-potty limbo and got off a wave late - Bob got off 2 waves late and Bill was 3 waves back.

Had we been in the correct wave it might have been a little less of a climb over the sea of people.


11078 Lynda Neuman F 55-59
Half Marathon Start: Gun 6:59:45 Chip 7:08:04
Splits: 10 Km Finish O'All Sex Div
Times: 58:51 2:05:45 2809 986 16
Pace: 9:29 9:36

I would do this race again. However - I would be much more attentive to getting in the correct wave start!

Day 2 - Nautica Sprint Triathlon

Day 2 – The Sprint

Well, not sure what idiots felt they needed to talk loudly in the hall from 12:30 am to 2am.......but it put a bit of a dent in the sleep for the race day.

Despite the noise, when I got up I did not feel like I had raced the day before – a good sign!

Got down to the beach about the same time as the day before - but there were a massive amount of people – 1200 for the Olympic and over 3000 for the Sprint plus all the noise that comes along with the celebs – took some time to park.

Another PERFECT morning weather wise. Made our way through the masses and found Barry who was doing a relay. He got to go back into the ocean for day 2 of the waves.

I thought they might be a little calmer – in MY dreams!! They were worst than the day before – in fact – half the pro field missed the buoy and had to swim back so they could go around it.

My wave was one of the last, so I got to walk around and watch everyone including the pros start and come out of the water.

Gun went off – it seemed like it took forever to get out over the waves – they were high!

Got done with the swim – came into transition and there is Barry Spielberg Plaga with a camera – got to my area and there is still Barry Spielberg Plaga with the movie camera!!! Bar – if I look fat in any of those movie pictures – consider this your notice in writing that you do not have permission to publish!!!! I will kill you!!!

Moving along.....after being shouted to by Bar to get my wet suit off faster while being filmed – I was out of transition and on the bike – felt as good as I did the day before – not 1 person passed me in 18 miles – that was a first!

Off the bike and since I was at the far end of transition and it was a LONG area – I stepped aside and took off my bike shoes so I could run to my area.

Got my shoes and felt like I think Sue Owen feels like when she runs – at least she always looks relaxed and in good form! That's right – I do aspire to greater heights in my running- and in my universe – those greater heights have a name! Dr Owen!

Got on the run – did not feel like I had tired legs – or 'raced on the day before legs'. Was doing great. Had my metronome on both days – which really helped keep me focused and on my pace.

The last mile – Mackel appreared out of nowhere on his bike, in the parking lot shouting words of what I needed to be concentrating on! I was on a roll and having Steve ride in and out of the parking lots as I was coming down the home stretch was the best of all worlds!

Finished: Swim - 23:45 Bike - 57:21 Run - 36:57
Second in Age Group!

All in all, this was a great weekend! Why would you want to do 2 races in one weekend? Because you "think" you can. Why do I push myself to do weekends like this? Because I grew up in this sport under Rich Strauss. He taught me to survive when I did not think I could.

You never questioned Coach Rich - you just did what he said - I did not know any better. But he did not care what I thought I could do - or if I complained. He had no tolerance for "I can't".

Because of Strauss, I can do things I never thought possible. I sign up for things knowing that no matter what, I have no choice but to get to the end. He made me strong and he made me unreasonable.

I would never be where I am today with out him.

Day One – Nautica Olympic

Day One – Olympic
Perfect morning. Overcast – no wind, about 70 degrees at 5 am or at least it felt like that.

Barry and Bob arrived about 5 minutes after we did so we were all able to walk in together – ah the magic of finding each other in the dark!

Transition was easy and we saw a bunch of other PTCers (Pasadena Tri Club) which was way cool. Transition closed at 6:30AM sharp and they are pretty definite about the area being closed. The national anthem was sung by our own fellow PTCer Kristin - what a voice ! That was a treat to start off the race.

The waves last year were a non-issue. This year they were not that at all! In fact the waves going out were big and the swim was rough once you out there.

As an aside---I had an ocean swim in Manhattan Beach the week before that was so bad I had to have a surfer help me in – it was not a good day for me – followed by an equally disastrous 2 hour run.. The swim did raise my level of confront and ability to deal with the ocean to new heights however – so when I saw the waves in Malibu – it really did not even phase me – that was nice!

Got done with the swim – into transition - got on the bike and I felt like I was on fire. I have never been in a race where I felt that strong and ready to roll. The bike was a lot of passing people and moving on down the line!

Off the bike and onto the run. My legs did not hurt or need any time to adjust to getting on the run. The 6 miles just moved along.

I will have to say that I have been training with Steve Mackel once a week for about 4 months – what a difference that has made for me. I have never got off my bike and just rolled through a 6 mi run and ended up with a 9:14 pace – just does not happen! THANKS Steve!!!!!!

Time – 3:00:57 Swim - 38:38 Bike - 1:18:14 Run - 57:05
Second in Age Group!

Piper and I meet up – went back to the hotel – trying to have a total rest day for the remainder of the day............went to dinner – at 3:45 at a great Italian Restaurant across the street – we drove the car across the street – hey – we were trying to rest!! Got up from dinner after 2 hours and could barely walk out of the restaurant. The waiters knew we were racing the next day and had some concerns about our fitness...........silly men!!!

They had also had people in the restaurant from all over, including Australia for the race – they asked where we were from..............they were not too impressed when we said – Glendale California!!!

Nautica Malibu Triathlons

Last year David Piper, Sue Owen and I did Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon and the next day we did the Malibu Sprint Triathlon. That was challenging.

Somewhere after that – in a moment of great ideas, someone came up with the idea of – why not do the Malibu races back to back? Seemed reasonable. I like the Nautica Races - they are very well supported and set up. Check it out: Nautica Malibu Triathlon

So this year, Piper and I registered for both – booked a hotel in Calabassas so we could get a good night sleep Friday and Sat and not have to drive far to the race in the morning.

Individual Race Reports coming - very soon!

Bill's Auburn Duathlon Report Part 1

Thought I would post my husband's Auburn race report. Tells the story from a different angle.

Auburn Long Course Duathlon
National Championships

After my stellar 16th place age group finish in the short course duathlon national championships at Richmond, I was looking forward to a race which suited me a bit better; the long course duathlon national championships. I'm much more an endurance animal than a raw speed animal.

A word of explanation; under USAT rules, short course duathlon is the Olympic or international distance (with no drafting), and tends to favor (really) fast runners. The format for short course this year was a 10k run, a 40k bike leg, and a final 5k run to end it off. The long course is very similar to a half-Ironman race, and was run concurrently with the half-Ironman race at Auburn. The distances were a 3k run, 56-mile bike, and a half-marathon.

I had entertained some (apparently imaginary) thoughts that I might be competitive at the short-course distance. While the outcome wasn't horrible (there was only about 3 minutes separating 7th place from 16th), it wasn't great. The good news is that I got the last roll-down spot for Team USA at the short-course world championships later this year, which Lynda and I will both be attending.

As regards to this race, it lived up to its billing as World's Toughest (actually tough-tough-tough), but my (unofficial) time of 5:48 for the half-iron distance was good enough for 2nd place in the national championship for my age group (55-59 years). I ended up about 4 minutes short of winning. So, I was pretty happy. I not only scored my first national-level podium, I also scored $750 in contingency money from Hammer Nutrition in exchange for wearing their kit while finishing second in an age-group national championship (with, I hasten to add, my PTC hat firmly clamped upon my head).

As regards the course itself, you may have heard some description or talk about it before. My race started with a brisk 3k run, taking a little over 13 minutes, before going to the bike. This footrace was about half on paved road, and about half on mildly-rutted single track. I treated it as a warm-up.

The bike course was designed to sap the strength from your legs with about 6,000 feet of climbing over the 56 miles. For the most part, there wasn't much in the way of any long or sustained climbs; overall the course gained about 2,000 feet of altitude over the first 35 miles, and gave back about 1,000 over the last 21 miles. Yep – it ended up about 1,000 feet higher than it started. The course was mostly a climb, followed by a descent, followed by a higher climb, etc. The roads were mostly lightly-trafficked, a good thing since they weren't closed. Some of them were also rough (ouch). Some of the climbs were steep; there were a couple of 12%ers in there.

This was followed by the run leg, which takes my vote as the most miserable, difficult half-marathon I have EVER run by a wide margin. It wasn't so much that it gained and lost a lot of altitude over 13.1 miles (roughly 2,600 feet, according to the race web site), but it was because much of this distance was on a wide variety of crummy surfaces. I ran not-inconsiderable distances on loose sand, loose gravel, and horrible deeply rutted rocky single-track, some of which was almost impassable due to erosion; some of which was very steep, and some of which was sloping down to, and bordered by, steep drop offs. Some of the steep descent sections slowed me to a walk simply for safety purposes.

So – the course was tough. You've heard that already.

So ends my first race in Auburn. It was tough, but rewarding. It's possible that, had I done everything right (and not crashed three weeks before the race, missing an important week of training), I might have done better. But, as mentioned before, I'm happy with my first national championship podium and the financial rewards (thanks, Hammer!).

Now, I really have something to train for next year.

Auburn Triathlon - Part 2

Before I let you know about the race here are some terms used:

• T1 - transition 1 - this is where you come out of the water, get on your bike soaking wet and ride for 56 miles

• T-2 - transition 2 - you get done with your ride and come into the transition area, rack the bike, get your running shoes on and take off for a half marathon on tired legs

We dropped off the car and had a nice 20 minute – downhill – ride to the swim and T-1. The country side here is rolling hills with horses, cows, goats…………..it is nice scenery to ride through.

The swim started at 6:35 AM for me. The water was about 74 degrees – perfect swim water and the lake was calm.

So about 4 hours and 15 minutes into the “DAY OFF” here in Auburn – I completed the ride. There was nothing particularly grueling on the ride – just a bunch of climbing in the rolling hills of Auburn and beyond.

Off the bike and onto the run. NO – this was NOT a road course with nice FLAT payment where one can run until the cows come home and just worry about getting ‘er done!

This was... start off with a flat, narrow, rock filled trail for 1.5 miles. But, that was OK. Then come out of the woods and go up a hill, on payment, and into a neighborhood and back around a school with yet more off road. Then go back and go down the hill and get onto some god-forsaken road that goes to a dead end, somewhere…but I see people coming back up so it means ALL downhill…………..to nowhere, only to come back up. After coming back up – I hit mile 5.

But – that was OK.

Then we run to the start-finish line and get to turn around about 50 yards from the finish and do it again. Did the narrow trail run with rocks – again – and came out of that and I think it was 7 miles.

I was doing more walking than I wanted to – I was hot – my legs were like lead – no matter if I walked or ran - EVERYTHING hurt ......and I had to go to the bathroom --- but that was OK – I was on the second loop! Life was just a hair above dismal!

After almost face planting on one of the trails – I found the bathroom! – life was good – then started up the hill to the school again. I should say WALKED up the hill to the school.

Then came back down and there was this special little loop – 1. 2 miles that we got to do to get the run to the full 13.1 distance. The loop started out in open fields – nice dirt – heard rustling in the grass – looked over and a deer was pacing me (that was a JOKE!)

Then the run through the field morphed into the rock trail from hell that was about 6 inches wide with steep drops off. In more or less words…………this was not a run at this point – it was a lesson in survival!

But that was OK – because when I came out of the woods I only had 3.1 agonizing miles to somehow manage to get through. We have all been on training runs – 3.1 mile even after a brick is pretty doable.

I thought before the race – 50 minutes on the swim – 4 hours on the bike – 2.30 on the run.

As the day deteriorated.................................

– and I looked at my watch – I was at mile 4 and my watch was around 6 plus hours, I started to “rethink” what I could do. And the “rethinking’ gave me much opportunity to get my mind off how shelled I was and how I was starting to look at a time that was even greater than my first half ironman – 9 half ironmans ago!

OK – I finally had a time I thought I could do – come in UNDER 8 hours. I was about a mile from the finish – yes there was a big hill in the way – but my watch said I had 18 minutes to do it in.

That should say ALL you need to know about what was happening in my race.

18 minutes. One mile.

Finished – approx 8:04 O U C H !!!!!

Came in second in my age group – got a plaque and a medal.

So, do you want to know what I think about the Worlds Toughest Half?

I got my butt kicked today.

I WILL come back and beat this course. AND…..I will be bringing my friends!

You can not end a race getting your butt kicked – if you do then you need to come back and return the flow!

So the above is my story....................will look forward to next year when it is just not me, Bill, Luis and Neil who have braved this race and lived to tell about it!

And for those of you who have done it before -- at least you will know what we will all be needing to train for!

Auburn Triathlon - World's Toughest Half

I ended up doing this race because Bill, my husband, wanted to do the Long Course Duathlon (basically Half Iron with 3K run put where the swim would be)

I know “others” had said it was hard. Really hard. But I have also done St Croix 3 times and St Croix is suppose to be the hardest half “Ironman”

This race was a USA Triathlon race. You can visit their website at Auburn Triathlon.

The 1.2-mile swim is in Folsom Lake at Rattlesnake Bar Park.

The bike was suppose to be 6,000 ft of climbing with the last 10 miles of down hill... Hey – after Dr. Susan Owen got us to do the King of the Mountain series,

• Mullholland: 4-11-09…… 100 miles – 12,000 ft of climbing
  

• Breathless Agony: 5-2-09….114 miles – 12,000 ft of climbing (in the first 74 miles)

• Heartbreak Hundred: 5-23-09…..– 100 miles – only 8500 feet of climbing

Which is why I missed day 1 of PTC Man, a 3 day event put on by the Pasadena Tri ClubP:

• Day 1 - 80 mile ride to Long Beach

• Day 2 - 50 miles of hills followed by a mile swim in the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center *immediately* after you get off the bike

• Day 3 - 9.5 mile run from the Rose Bowl beyond JPL in the hills

So – what is 56 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing……..almost…….a DAY OFF!

Before going into the “disaster” aka the “run” (more on this in a bit) -- I will admit that I did have some concerns. In January I fractured my foot – so when the Oceanside half Ironman came along, I had run 2 hours in 2 months – but that was OK and the half marathon part of the Half Ironman in Oceanside was doable.

Then in April I started easing back into running. About 3 weeks ago, May 7th, the pavement had a rather harsh encounter with both of my knees (don’t ask – I have already been ridiculed to the very depths of the sea for being so dumb...that’s OK – it was well deserved!)

So, I go into this race with tons of bike fitness – 100 mile ride last Saturday (which I treated like a race rehearsal) – 25 miles on the Tour of Glendale with Pasadena Tri Club and the next day an 8 mile run to JPL.

UGH…..yeah, I am not entirely stupid………..I was pretty sure that my recovery time was on the bleeding edge of being sufficient for this race.

Duathlon Nationals - Richmond, VA Race Report

The race was a 10K - followed by 38K Bike - then a 5 K run

This was the USAT Duathlon Nationals. If you made the top 12 in your age group you would qualify for the "Worlds" at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Sept.

I have never done a duathlon. I fractured my foot at the end of Jan and I just started running 2 weeks before Oceanside. As of this race, I have spent 1 run doing speed work so I was not sure how I was going to do.

Starting out with a 10K was interesting. I got smoked by most of the woman I started with.......The first 2 waves were men over 55 and woman over 55.

I was OK with that - I just needed to find my pace and run my race. At about mile 3, I passed a bunch of ladies that went out a little too fast................................ oops.

About a 1/2 mile from the end of the 10K, one of the girls that I had passed at mile 3 and had been using me for a pacing partner, decides she is now going to pass me. Y-E-A-H, that did not go over well with me and I used my cadence drills Strauss trained me on to pick up the pace and then a slight down hill to really pick up the pace -- I could hear her fall back - then I passed one other lady in my AG about 500 feet from the finish.

There was 1 turn around and I counted the women ahead of me -- there was 16 - so when I came in - I was 15th of the group.

Got on the bike. Legs felt like lead. That was LESS than pleasant!

About mile 2 - the girl that was pacing me - passed me.............UGH! But then she made a wrong turn and went off the course to who knows where ...............S W E E T !

About 4 miles into the ride - I am thinking - how am I going to finish this race??? I was dead.......!

OK - what has my coach, Rich Strauss, taught me? I need to do something because "dead" is just not what I wanted to deal with.

Rich has a video called 4 Keys - plus he gave a talk on these in Oceanside. One of the keys is race "in the box" -- don't deal with anything else than what is happening. This puts the race in a compartment and you deal with what needs to be fixed NOW and do not worry about mile 10 or 20 or the end of the race.

That worked --- took some Gu - took some endurolytes and within about 10 minutes I was good to go for the rest of the bike. I really paid attention to taking some Gu and drink every 25 minutes. Before I got off the bike I took half an Espresso Gu. The bike course was a little hilly in some spots --- but that was fine with me!

I was told that the 2nd run was a bit----! Especially after you have already run a 10K.

Got off the bike - got on to the run - did not feel that bad until about mile 2. I walked the aid station and then finished the race! It was an up hill finish -- that hurt!

I came in 9th out of 21 in my age group - total Time 2:49:40
10K 54:52 38K bike 1:24:54 3 K Run 27:05

This was a fun race. It was tough.

Yes I would do a duathlon again -- they are good training for Triathlons.

Lynda

Race Report – Oceanside 70.3 2009

I never wanted to do this race because I was told it was very cold. I hate cold. I had signed up for it a couple years ago and never went.

But this year...there were so many Pasadena Tri-Club guys that were going that there was no way I was not going to be part of the group.

The couple of days before the race were a bit cool – but race day looked to be good weather.

David Piper arrived at my room around 5:30am and we headed down to transition, about a 4 minute bike ride from the hotel. David was doing well despite the fact that bon Tuesday he had a 103 fever with bronchitis!

It was a bit chilly at 5:30am, but I had throw away flip flops, throw away socks and gloves – so once I got my wet suit on – the cold was not bad.

They did not do the usual get out of transition routine @ 6:30– which I thought was odd. We could have not been in such a rush to get out.

The swim was in the marina – it was an “in the water” start. There were no waves and the water was smooth with the exception of the turn around which was near the entry to the sea. The “in water” start was nice because it gave me 3 minutes to get oriented in the water before I started. The water was about 60 degrees but did not seem that cold. They were allowing us to wear booties...which I forgot in my room.

My swim was around 54 minutes – that is not a bad time for me.

Once in transition, I put on my short sleeve under armor, singlet and windbreaker and gloves. I was unwilling to be cold on the bike – and the only thing I took off were the gloves.

The bike course was beautiful. I felt great on the bike for the first 40 miles – then I do not know what happened…………could have been the lack of time on my tri bike before the race…..but, my ass hurt, my back hurt – I hurt…….. and was not having a pleasant time at all!

A note here – I fractured my foot at the end of January and could not run until 10 days before Oceanside – and then I had to take it easy. By the time I arrived in Oceanside I had done 4 runs, none of them more than 35 minutes.

Plus, in the month of March, I was out of town 3 weekends and Sundays are my “on my tri bike for 50 miles” day. So, going into Oceanside, I thought I would just use it as a practice day and not do the run.

But…..you know how it is when you get into race conditions. I already had a plan if my foot was killing me – cause I really did not want to DNF.

My bad time on my bike was due to lack of “time on the bike”. Although I had spent many hours on my road bike between Tour of CA and various club rides and the 3 day prelude to the Mullholland Challenge, the road bike position is very different than tri position.

Got done with the bike – got into transition and then had to take off ALL the extra clothes I had on – that took some time.

Started the run and I felt better than I had ever felt on a run???? That was odd – especially since I had not run in almost 2 months.

At about mile 2 there was a hill – I thought maybe I would take it easy and walk it – but decided not to. THANK GAWD for that --- because at the top of the hill was Rich Strauss, my coach, and I would have been MORTIFIED beyond belief if he saw me walking that hill!

As I went on – my foot was giving me no problems and things were going well.

Then came mile 8.

Rich had given a talk 2 days before the race and he talked about the 4 Keys. One of the 4 keys was to race in the “box” This means you only deal with what you need to at THAT point. This was VERY helpful to me because looking at another 5 miles was a bit overwhelming.

I took it one mile at a time. I knew I could make it to mile 9 and then 10 and then 11. I was walking the aid stations and I stopped and walked for 2 minutes on mile 12.

This gave the lady in my age group a chance to pass me and come in about 40 seconds ahead of me. But that was OK. For as not prepared for this race as I was – I was going to finish! I was blown out!!!!!

Total time: 06:53:15
Swim 53:05 T 1 7:30 Bike 3:25:55 T2 2:56 Run 2:22:51

And last but not least……………it was soooo much fun seeing other PTC friends on the course and then had a blast hanging out with Sue, Greg, Darrell, Lenny, Jesse, Jeff and Thom after the race in Darrell”s condo.

What a pleasant end to a great race!!!

And also want to mention – the weather was perfect. Sunny but not too warm with a nice breeze on the run!

It could not have been a better day!!!

Lynda

What's Been Happening

Not much happens through the Holidays. No races...it is a 'rest' time for all of us.

Then added to that time off, I fractured my foot in January when I was out running...no running for me for weeks, months! It wasn't looking good for being in shape for my first Half Ironman for this season, Ironman 70.3 California in Oceanside on April 4, 2009.

As it got closer to the Oceanside date, I felt I would go anyway and use it as a practice race and not do the run. Well....Race report coming soon.

November 16th: Pasadena (Rose Bowl) half marathon – 13.1 miles

This year it wasn't so nippy.

When I got to the 10k mark I got there at 54 minutes, that is by far my best time ever. I did this run in 205, which is not too bad. I thought I would do better but I did 2 minutes faster than last year and finished second in my age group.

The thing with marathons is they take a such toll on us. Our coach says, “Do not run marathons, even as training.” The longest runs he sends us on is 20 miles, it is just too tough on the body. We run half marathons as part of our training.

I often get asked, “How did you start?”

Well...

I was 44 and I decided I needed to do something. I had kind of done some running when I was younger, on and off. I was talking with someone in the gym who stated she had not missed a day of exercise in 2 years. I said, “You have got to be kidding me. 2 years? Whoa, that's pretty heavy.”

So I started running, 11 years later I missed one day of exercise because I had flown in from Florida and I just forgot. I was so pissed.

I was in St. Croix with my husband when we saw our first half Ironman. I was 53 at that time and thought, “Oh this shouldn't be hard...what's the big deal about a mile swim and a 56 mile bike ride and a 13 mile run. I could do that.” Yeah right.

I am not an athlete. You know I ran and did some gym work. But at 53 I just decided I could do a half ironman. It didn't seem like that big a deal. I mean it didn't seem like it was something I couldn't do. I couldn't swim when I started. I never biked over maybe 20 miles, that was like a huge, huge bike ride. But I didn't think 56 miles was that big a deal. And since I ran I didn't think 13 miles was that big of deal either.

The running was the hardest of all of it to actually get my volume up. Which was interesting since running was the one I could do. You just make the decision and you to do it.

And I like inspiring people. I like getting people going.