Saturday, March 23, 2013
Beating the clock
Saturday I ran the Rose Bowl Triathlon in Pasadena. My last 2 races I was in the 2 hour 15 minute range. I wanted to beat 2 hours today. I'm still slow on the run, my split was 46 minutes and change. I look forward to breaking the 30minute 5k mark. My legs and lungs need to learn to work together better. This race it was all about the bicycle. I've been practicing my gears some. Not enough for smooth automatic transitions. But, enough that I knew to go to smaller gears for hills and larger for straight / down hill. My previous split for the bike was just over an hour. Today I broke the 1 hour mark! My transition from run to bike wasn't too bad. My transition from bike to swim was a sad 4 minutes. My legs were pissed at me. I'd pushed the bike hard. My swim was a respectable 5 minutes 37 seconds. My total time? Yes!!! 1 hour 54 minutes and 2 seconds 1:54:02) I'm a happy camper!!! And to any who heard any of "those" words I mumbled on the bike course hills, I apologize. ;)
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Running, how it all began
This post is dedicated to my dear friends Stephanie, and Joe. For it is because of them that I am able to shamelessly brag that I have in 6 months, run 3 5K's, 4 half marathons, and 3 Sprint Triathlons.
It all started in August of 2012. I watched on Facebook as my friend Joe finished a half marathon at Disneyland. He posted fantastic photos, and made me dream of being able to do that. At the time, I was unhealthy. My weight was a serious issue. My asthma was aggravated by the weight, and my heart was not liking the extra meds for the asthma. All in all I was a mess. I kept trying the gym, but it's a scary place for skinny people or body builders. I am neither.
Fast forward about a year, and I've now become friends with Stephanie. She's an amazing person, who has through running, lost a lot of weight and become very healthy. I truly, deeply admire her. In August of 2013 she challenged me to do a 5K at an event that she was running the 10K. I accepted the challenge and began using the C25K iphone app. I run/walked the race and finished with a respectable 48 minute time. Not too shabby for a girl who couldn't carry a laundry basket upstairs 3 weeks earlier. A week goes by and Stephanie reports that she has strep and can not run the Long Beach half marathon. I take her bib and do it in her place. I have 2 weeks to prepare. That is NOT enough time. But, I am a determined person, so I just do it. I ran portions, and walked more, and in the end I finished in 4 hours and 42 seconds. My Goal was 4 hours. I'll take it! I succeeded and didn't die!!! I also fell in love! I wanted to do more. I wanted to do better. So I signed up to run the Tinker Bell half. It has a 5k the day before. Why not? It's a fun run/walk. Done. I walked the entirety of it. My finish, a respectable 3:36, I was doing it!! In between those two races I decided I wanted to try a triathlon. But I knew I couldn't do THOSE distances. So I found Sprint triathlons. 5k run, 15mile bike ride and a 250 meter swim. In December I finished my 1st triathlon 2 hours 30 minutes. Not too bad. I didn't finish last. But I was close to last. But I finished!! Somewhere between that and running Tinker Bell I found an app that gives me dates and places of local runs. Between that and my friends I found more races. I'm now 3 races away from completing an amazing, to me, 4 half marathons, 4 5k's, and 4 triathlons in 6 months. I have become a runner and a triathlete. My last half marathon, I broke the 3 hour 3 minute wall. My time was 3 hours 27 minutes. My next race is in 4 days. Another triathlon. My goal is to be under 2 hours. I'll let ya know how I do.
It all started in August of 2012. I watched on Facebook as my friend Joe finished a half marathon at Disneyland. He posted fantastic photos, and made me dream of being able to do that. At the time, I was unhealthy. My weight was a serious issue. My asthma was aggravated by the weight, and my heart was not liking the extra meds for the asthma. All in all I was a mess. I kept trying the gym, but it's a scary place for skinny people or body builders. I am neither.
Fast forward about a year, and I've now become friends with Stephanie. She's an amazing person, who has through running, lost a lot of weight and become very healthy. I truly, deeply admire her. In August of 2013 she challenged me to do a 5K at an event that she was running the 10K. I accepted the challenge and began using the C25K iphone app. I run/walked the race and finished with a respectable 48 minute time. Not too shabby for a girl who couldn't carry a laundry basket upstairs 3 weeks earlier. A week goes by and Stephanie reports that she has strep and can not run the Long Beach half marathon. I take her bib and do it in her place. I have 2 weeks to prepare. That is NOT enough time. But, I am a determined person, so I just do it. I ran portions, and walked more, and in the end I finished in 4 hours and 42 seconds. My Goal was 4 hours. I'll take it! I succeeded and didn't die!!! I also fell in love! I wanted to do more. I wanted to do better. So I signed up to run the Tinker Bell half. It has a 5k the day before. Why not? It's a fun run/walk. Done. I walked the entirety of it. My finish, a respectable 3:36, I was doing it!! In between those two races I decided I wanted to try a triathlon. But I knew I couldn't do THOSE distances. So I found Sprint triathlons. 5k run, 15mile bike ride and a 250 meter swim. In December I finished my 1st triathlon 2 hours 30 minutes. Not too bad. I didn't finish last. But I was close to last. But I finished!! Somewhere between that and running Tinker Bell I found an app that gives me dates and places of local runs. Between that and my friends I found more races. I'm now 3 races away from completing an amazing, to me, 4 half marathons, 4 5k's, and 4 triathlons in 6 months. I have become a runner and a triathlete. My last half marathon, I broke the 3 hour 3 minute wall. My time was 3 hours 27 minutes. My next race is in 4 days. Another triathlon. My goal is to be under 2 hours. I'll let ya know how I do.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Returning to blogging
I'm going to give this blog thing another try. While I will continue to post about my kids and the fun and silliness that is being the mom of 4. I will also be writing more about a new personal journey. I'm now a runner. I started walking in August 2012. In September I ran my 1st half marathon. In December I ran my first Sprint Triathlon. I hope you'll enjoy the adventure with me.
-Jen
-Jen
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