Sponsorship has its Privileges

I apologize for the extreme delay in this post.  The last few months have flown by and updating my blog has gotten pushed to the side in favor of other activities that needed to be done.  Because of the delay, instead of the sponsorship announcement that I planned on doing, this post is going to be more of a sponsorship review.

I was honored to be selected as one of Tri to Finish’s 2014 Sponsored Athletes.  When I originally applied for the spot on Team Tri to Finish, I did it because it meant that the registration fees for the majority of my 2014 triathlons would be paid for.  What I didn’t expect was all the other perks that came with being part of the Tri to Finish family.

Holly Rec Fall Triathlon Swim Start - photo credit:  Tri to Finish

 This year marked my ninth year of racing in running events and I have made many friends over the years at various runs.  Triathlons have been a little different, though.  Part of this is because of the volume of races I do.  Prior to this year, I had done a lot fewer triathlons than runs.  I also have “only” been doing triathlons since 2009, 3 years less than running.  A typical tri “season” for me was the Chicago Triathlon and that was it, and it wasn’t local, so anyone I met was unlikely to be someone I would see again.  So, when it came to my triathlons, I very much felt like a loner.  In fact, my friend Lowell, who is the person who coerced me into my first Chicago triathlon, lives in North Carolina and we haven’t raced together since that first race 5 years ago.  Last year, I did a handful of local races, but not enough to really know anyone else racing around me.

That all changed this year.  As a member of Team Tri to Finish, it was like having an instant family.  I was fortunate enough to compete in 6 Tri to Finish events this year (so far) and each one brought a sea of friendly faces, encouragement on the course, and more fun than I could have imagined.  Even if I wasn’t racing a Tri to Finish event, I was greeted by my Tri to Finish teammates at other local and regional races.  Even if I went to the race by myself, there was always a friendly face there.

Before the Holly Rec Fall Tri with fellow teammates Sara and Kelly - photo credit:  Sara H.

In addition to the camaraderie of my Tri to Finish teammates, I have never been so inspired by a group of people in my life.  They make me want to become a better athlete just by being around them.  Team Tri to Finish includes:

·        New York Marathon qualifiers (for those of you not aware, it is actually harder to qualify for New York than it is to qualify for Boston)

·        Ironmen (2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking, 26.2 miles running in less than 17 hours)

·        Athletes training for the Double Anvil next month (a race that covers twice the distance of an Ironman in a mere 36 hours….4.8 miles swimming, 224 miles biking, and 52.4 miles running

·        A paratriathlete that was given 6 months to live 20 years ago, defied the odds, and will most likely be representing the US in Brazil at the ParaOlympics.  I wish I could even come close to finishing a race on my two legs as fast as she can on one!!

·        Athletes who spent their Labor Day weekend biking from Lansing to the Mackinac Bridge (400+ miles) in 4 days over some of Michigan’s hilliest roads….not for a race, just for fun

Those bullet points above make it sound like Team Tri to Finish is a bunch of elites, but it’s not.  There are just as many newbies as there are experienced athletes that make up our team….and no one comes off with the elitist attitude that you would expect from some accomplished athletes.  One of the most inspiring things to me all season was watching two of my teammates walk in a third on Sunday during the run portion of the Holly Rec Triathlon.  The two men are FAST and will be running in the New York Marathon in November, but as soon as they finished, they went back out on the run course to walk in a teammate that was completing her first ever triathlon and was in pain after an extremely tough bike course.  To me, that’s more impressive than the fastest of finish times.

I am honored and humbled to be on a team with all of these fine individuals.

Some of the Team Tri to Finish Athletes - photo credit:  Meaningful Moments

I thank the Tri to Finish organization for selecting me to be on their team and for putting on the highest quality races within the state of Michigan.  In future posts, you’ll see some of their great races highlighted and I hope that everyone reading this considers one of their races in the future.

I'M BACK!!!!

I hope you're having a great summer!!

I apologize for the extended absence.  Sometimes life gets in the way and it definitely has the last few months.  Over the next few days I plan on posting several blog posts updating the world with what's been going on lately.  Please be patient and stay tuned.

In the meantime, I need to get some packing done for an epic running weekend coming up.  Yes, I realize it is technically tri season, but no bikes or goggles for me this weekend.  My current running mileage record for a 48 hour period is 57.7 miles when I did the San Francisco Marathon last year followed by 31.5 miles at Tracy's Fat Ass the next day.  My plan is to beat that record this weekend.  First up is the Christmas In July race where I plan on doing a warm up 5k followed by the 12 hour race (my first ever time based ultra).  Assuming I am still able to walk after 12 hours straight, I'll be following that up with the 10k Saturday night to keep my legs loose since I have the Rock 'n Roll Chicago Half Marathon bright and early Sunday morning.

If you're interested in following me at Christmas in July, they are planning a live video link which will be available at http://christmasinjuly24hour.com/Lisle/LIVE.aspx.  Don't expect to see me running by the screen, this weekend is more about endurance than it is about speed.

Check back soon - I have some exciting news to share as soon as I get this weekend's packing complete!

Friday Funnies

Happy December, everybody!  I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend.  I used the extended weekend to catch up on some blog posts.  Look for them in the coming days as I finish some editing, add some pictures, etc.

In the meantime, I know many of us hate the treadmill, but in these colder months with little daylight, it often becomes an necessary evil.  Check out this video of a puppy that is truly loving the dreadmill!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Funnies

I know I'm a bit behind on blog posts.  I'm hoping to get caught up this weekend with the rest of the Baltimore/Chicago adventure, a Detroit recap, and some big news!

In the meantime, thought I'd share this - corny, I know, but it made me chuckle.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles…and Races (Part I)

In a previous blog post, I eluded to the fact that I had an epic race weekend coming up.  Well, the weekend has come and gone and it was even more epic than I thought it could be.  Here’s the weekend’s recap.

The Chicago Marathon was one of the hardest marathons to get into this year.  Tens of thousands of runners tried to register as soon as it opened, causing the third party registration system to crash.  Approximately 30,000 runners were able to get in within the first couple hours before the total system meltdown, but the remaining 15,000 spots had to be selected based on the results of a lottery that the race had to put in place after the system crash.

Fortunately for me, I was one of the first 30,000.  I had run Chicago in 2012 and loved it.  Since Chicago is within driving distance for me, I consider it a “local” race and hope to run it as many times as they’ll let me (rumor is that they’re going to go to a lottery system for the entire race next year).  I set a PR at the 2012 race and was anxious to come back and try to do it again.  The bonus with Chicago this year was that several of my friends were also some of the lucky 30,000 to get in, so there would be several of us running 

it. 

The downside is that the Chicago Marathon was the same weekend as the Baltimore Marathon and I also had several friends running that race and urging me to come out for it.  Most of them were running the half marathon distance and told me that the 5k was starting 90 minutes before the half, so you could do both the 5k and half if you wanted….and new this year, the 5k was awarding finisher medals.

Have you noticed that the “BLING” in “RamBLINGs” in the blog title is capitalized?  There’s a reason.  I love my medals! 

Suddenly the idea of a quick trip to Baltimore became more intriguing.  Would it affect my Chicago race?  Yes.  Would it knock another state off my list?  Yes - I’d never run in Maryland before.  I debated for quite some time and finally decided to go for it.

So, on Friday morning, I boarded a train to Chicago, then a shuttle bus to the Chicago Marathon Expo which was held at McCormick Place, a large convention center in the city.  Chicago is one of the 6 world majors, along with London, Berlin, New York, Boston, and Tokyo.  Admittedly, I have never run any of the other majors, so I don’t know if the Chicago Expo is indicative of them or not, but what I can say is that there is no better expo that I’ve been to than the Chicago Expo.

The Chicago Marathon is one of the 6 World Marathon Majors

First of all, you’re snail mailed a participant booklet that includes a barcode.  As you enter the expo, you hand that booklet to an expo volunteer who scans it while they check your license and verify your information.  They then direct you to the appropriate counter to obtain your bib.  By the time you get to the counter, another volunteer has already pulled your bib and has it there waiting for you.  A quick scan of your bib records that you’ve picked it up and then it’s off to get your t-shirt where you bib is scanned one more time to record that you’ve picked up your shirt and then you’re done.  Both times that I’ve gone to the Chicago Marathon expo, it has been a fast, seamless, and stress free experience.

Welcoming runners to the Chicago Marathon Expo

I would have liked to walk around the expo and check out some of the venders, but I didn’t have time because my next stop was O’Hare airport to fly to Baltimore.  Stay tuned for to find out about my adventures in Baltimore in my next post…

Less than 3 months until I'm officially Dopey!

See that counter to the right of the blog?  It's counting down the days until the Inaugural "Official" Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World and we're now under 90 days!  If you're registered, are you ready to run nearly 50 miles thru Walt Disney World in January?

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, for years, many people have done what has become known as the "Unofficial" Dopey Challenge during Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World.  This involved running the 5k Family Fun Run on Friday followed by the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge (Half Marathon on Saturday and Full Marathon on Sunday).

However, after this year's unprecedented nearly instantaneous sell out of the Disneyland 10k and Dumbo Double Dare (10k on Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday), Disney decided to capitalize on the 10k craze and add a 10k to their January WDW Marathon Weekend for 2014.  With the added race, a new challenge was also born....the "Official" Dopey Challenge:

• 5k on Thursday
• 10k on Friday
• Half Marathon on Saturday
• Full Marathon on Sunday

The Inaugural Dopey Challenge:  4 Races, 4 Days, 48.6 Miles, 6 Medals

Do you have dreams of going Dopey?

Throwback Thursday - What Did I Do On My Summer Vacation?

I'm noticing that the current trend on Facebook among many of my friends is to do "Throwback Thursday" where they post something from their past.  I thought I'd do the same on the blog this week, but I'm not going quite that far back.  I'm going to do a mini throwback and briefly recap the epic running vacation I took this summer.

It all started a year ago when I ran the 2012 San Francisco Marathon.  I missed a turn on the course and ended up having to back track to make up the mileage I accidentally skipped.  I vowed that I would come back in 2013 so that I could run the correct course with no mistakes.  A bonus was that my friend Tony was going to be completing his 100th marathon at San Francisco, so I'd be there for that as well.

Another race that had been on my radar for a couple years was the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon.  The Seattle Marathon (different than Rock 'n' Roll Seattle) was my first ever marathon, so the city has some sentimental value to me.  Seattle is also home to some very dear college friends that I had been hoping to visit in the not so distance future.  When I found out that my running friends Jenny and Carrie were making plans to run Rock 'n' Roll Seattle this year, I knew that 2013 was the year to finally run it.

One problem though...traditionally, the San Francisco Marathon is in July.  However due to conflicts with the America's Cup, it was moved to June for 2013 only....one week before Rock 'n' Roll Seattle.  This created a bit of a dilemma because being a Midwesterner, trips to the west coast are not easy and making two on two consecutive weekends would be prohibitive...unless I made it one big running trip!

...and that's exactly what I did.

Once it was decided to spend an entire week on the west coast, other races soon got added to the schedule...3 additional races to be exact.  The first being Brazen Racing's Trailquake trail race on Saturday.  If you ever have an opportunity to do a Brazen Race, I highly recommend it.  This is the second Brazen race I'd done and both times, they were great experiences.  They're a top notch race company, providing medals for all distances and an all-you-can-eat buffet at the finish.  Trailquake had 5k, 10k, and half marathon options and I'm thankful that Tony, our friend Jennifer, and I decided to register for "just" the 5k.  This 5k was no joke, it was a mile and a half up the San Andreas Trail, gaining approximately 775 feet in elevation before turning around and going back down the trail to the finish.  It was definitely a workout, more of a hike than a run, but a good warm up for the San Francisco Marathon the next day.

Jennifer, myself, and Tony before Brazen's Trailquake 5k (photo courtesy of Allen Lucas)

On Sunday, we had the San Francisco Marathon where I got redemption for my course snafu the year before and Tony completed his 100th marathon followed by a post race celebration in honor of his milestone race.  However, the party ended early because several of us in attendance had another race the next day.  Yes, you read that right, that meant 3 straight days of races.

Tony with his bobblehead commemorating his 100th marathon 

On Monday morning was Tracy's Fat Ass.  "Fat Ass" is a term used in running to describe small, low key races.  The small, family atmosphere was a nice change after the large race the day before.  My intention was to do the marathon distance that morning.  This would be my second double (2 marathons in 2 days), so I was optimistic that it shouldn't be too bad.  Tracy's course consisted of 4 large loops around Lake Merced in San Francisco followed by 2 smaller loops to equal 26.2 miles.  Tony had decided to just do one loop around the lake and then volunteer for the rest of the day counting loops as runners came through.  When I had finished my third loop and was heading out on my fourth, Tony joked that he had switched me from the marathon to the 50k division.  At first I scoffed at the idea, but by the time I had finished the fourth loop, I had decided that I was indeed going to go for 50k.

Following Tracy's Fat Ass...and 60.8 miles in 3 days

Why would I decide to tack on another ~5 miles on my 3rd day of running?  There were three reasons that I used to convince myself during that fourth loop:

1. I had a 50 mile race on the schedule later in the summer and the additional mileage would be good training
2. With the current plan for this vacation, I was going to be doing 94.8 miles.  Upping to the 50k would bring me that much closer to a 100 mile vacation.
3. I was currently on target for a 7+ hour marathon, but I never wanted to see another 7 hour marathon.  A 9 hour 50k, on the other hand, was more acceptable to me at that point.

Yes, I realize that the only truly valid reason was #1, but at that point, #3 was the most important in my mind.  So, when I finished my 4th loop and Tony told me I had two more to go, I surprised him by saying "I've done the math.  I actually have 3 to go.  I'm going for 50k!"  I ended up finishing just over 50k with 31.5 miles, and a new 50k PR!

After three days of running, it was nice that Tuesday was a rest day.  We spent a quiet day doing some errands around San Francisco that needed to be done before we left on Wednesday to drive to Seattle.  There were three of us on this epic road trip....Tony, our friend Christine, and myself.  The drive was mostly uneventful, but when we stopped at the Oregon's Visitors Center for a bio break, we stumbled upon a unexpected find.  A mini shrine to Prefontaine, the former Olympic runner from Oregon.  After some pictures, we were back on our way to Seattle.

The Epic Road Trip begins!  Tony, Christine, and I heading to Seattle

We were pleasantly surprised to see a Prefontaine display at the Oregon Visitors Center

Once in Seattle, we had a couple days to do touristy stuff and meet up with both running and non-running friends.  It was great spending time with my old college friend Tom and his wife, Cherie, and their daughter, Katie.  Friday afternoon, the four of us decided to take a walk near the staging area for Saturday's race.  I snapped a quick picture of Katie running, but it wasn't until after I had taken it that I noticed the backdrop that she was running past at the time.  I think it would make a great publicity shot for the Rock 'n' Roll series, if I do say so myself:

Competitor (owners of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon series) should really pay me for this photo! :)

Before I knew it, it was Saturday morning....race day.  Christine, Jennifer, Jennifer's husband Mitchell, Jenny, and Carrie all ran the half while Tony and I ran the full.  It was a warm day and my body was getting tired, so it wasn't my best race ever, but I got it done and met some great folks along the way.

Fellow Double Agent (Half Fanatic & Marathon Maniac) Tyler, myself, and Tony after our Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon finish 

It would have been great to hang out in Seattle for another night with our friends, but we weren't done running yet.  As soon as the race was over, Christine, Tony, and I were on the road again.  We headed to Eugene, Oregon for our last race of this epic road trip, the Grapes of Half half marathon.  This was a new race that started and ended at wineries outside of Eugene.  It was a fun race with only about 100 runners.  The first half of the race went very well and, surprisingly, I was keeping a good pace, even thinking that a PR may be possible.  However, those hopes went away during the second half which was considerably more hilly and by then, the 90+ miles on feet and legs were definitely starting to catch up with me.  My pace slowed down considerably.  Following the race, I was able to get a post race massage and we enjoyed some complimentary wine from the finish line winery before starting to return to Seattle.

The bling from 5 races over 9 days.

When it was all said and done, in 9 days, I completed 100.1 miles in 5 races:

• Brazen Trailquake 5k 1:14:52
• San Francisco Marathon 6:53:56
• Tracy's Racing Tracy's Fat Ass 50k (31.5 miles) 9:11:05
• Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon 6:55:21
• Pink Buffalo Racing's Grapes of Half - 3:34:03

I wasn't sure how my body would react to so many miles in such a short amount of time, but I'm happy to say I felt great when it was over.  There was only one casualty from the trip.  After Tony dropped me off at the airport, he was driving to return the rental car when one of the tires blew out.  Thank goodness, it didn't happen while we were on the highway!

The only casualty of  the epic road trip - blown tire a few blocks from the rental return

Have you ever taken a running vacation?  You know what they say "A vacation without a race is just poor planning!"