Case Racing & News

Man, i’m really terrible at this blogging bit. I’ll try and get better.

Ryan wants to update this site to be “Melisa’s Blog” not the case racing blog, but I’m ok with that. You’ll probably see this look a little different soon. Hopefully we’ll update the website homepage too and include a really nice gallery finally so you can see all our pictures!

Goals:
One of my biggest goals for the year was to re-run the Illinois Marathon with hopes for a huge PR. Last year I finished in 5:09 (terrible). My goal this year is 4:40. I started my year pretty pathetically though. I fought the cold, didn’t run outside and barely got 2 miles in a few times a week on the treadmill.

About 2 weeks ago, I decided that I need to get my ass in gear and start training. I knew I wouldn’t be happy with not running, or only running the 1/2 Marathon, and that’s how I was trending with my awesome winter training. So Hal Higdon came to my rescue and I used his Ameteur training program starting at week 9. Two weeks in, and two long runs in of 10 and 11 miles consecutively….I’m doing ok. Feeling better about my chances of a PR, but know I still have a long ways to go.

Ryan has given up on coaching/training me. I don’t blame him. He’s an amazing athlete, but because he’s my husband, I don’t listen to a thing he has to say about exercise. Usually I make a poor assumption that he’s poking fun at my inability to run fast, or that I’ve put on a few pounds this winter. It’s not fair to him for me to string him along like that.

So I’m on my own. Sometimes I prefer it that way anyhow. It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.

I’ll let you all know how it goes. Hopefully on May 2nd you will all be able to see that I met my 30 minute PR goal.

The past few weeks have given me some time to reflect on training, goals, family, work, and life in general. I have had so many things to be thankful for this year. The opportunity to compete in my first marathon, a steady job during a rough economy, and the most supportive family and group of friends.

For the third year in a row I can easily say I’m most thankful for Ryan. He’s brought me so much stability, love and friendship in the past three years. I’ve seen a few friends struggle with their relationships this year and I can only sit back and be thankful for having found my best friend.

Enough with the mushy stuff…

During my reflection on 2009, i’m starting to think about what things I’d like to accomplish in 2010. These aren’t “Resolutions” per-say, but goals that I have for myself.
1. Lose 15 pounds (i stepped on the scale after Thanksgiving and was pretty upset with myself)
2. Rematch with the Illinois Marathon (it’ll be tough again to train over the bitter Illinois winter, but I can’t let last year’s time go down without a fight.)
3. Rematch with the 1/2 Iron distance – no puking this time.
4. Break 25 minutes in a 5k. – this will take a lot of work.
5. Break the 20 MPH barrier in TNTT. – It’ll just take some dedication.

Those 5 things will take up plenty of my time in 2010. I’m sure my list will grow as 2009 comes to a close, and 2010 gets started, but at least I’ve got some goals to help me ease into the year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

So I did it… finished my second 1/2 marathon ever!

My first attempt was pretty dismal. With minimal training leading up to it (last December) I was able to muster out a 2:12. I was pretty happy with it at the time, but to be fair, I was pretty happy with finishing at the time!

This time for the QC 1/2 things weren’t very different. Not much training, however I ran a lot more this summer than I did the previous for attempt #1. It must have paid off because I was able to finish the race this time in 2:04:26. I had secretley hoped for a 2:05 or better, but never thought it would actually be a possibility knowing that I hadn’t put in the time. I was pleasantly surprised when I look at my watch as I crossed the finish!

As for the race itself, it went along pretty quickly through mile 9. I started to get tired at that point, and it really hit me at mile 10. I expected this though, as the longest run I had done in training was the weekend prior at the Decatur Shoreline Classic 15k. Anything longer than that was going to be just finishing!

From what Ryan has told me, they made quite the challenging course change to accommodate some road construction in the first few miles of the race. The new course was much harder according to him, and that would have gained me a few minutes a least had we not run up those two monster hills in bettendorf.

I finally saw Ryan just before the 12 mile mark on Arsenal Island. It was good to see him, and I was really starting to hurt at that point. He ran me into the bridge and dropped off to wait for his dad.

I finished the race strong and picked off one more girl in my age group (not that it matters as far back as I am).

Ryan also finished in a PR of 1:18:23 (or something close to that), so he was happy about his performance that day as well.

We got to see both our families that weekend because the race was so close for both of them to come watch, and Ryan and I had great races. There’s nothing better to ask for on a beautiful Sunday morning!

So it’s official. Ryan is going to do Ironman Wisconsin next year!

I’m really happy for him. He seems to manage stress a lot better when he’s got something that’s truely interesting to him to look forward to. Ironman seems to give him that focus!

With Ryan’s registration, it made me start to think about the races I want to plan for next year. Here are a few I’ve been thinking about:

Chicago Marathon
Cancun 70.3 (not sure i’ll be able to pull this one off)
Tri-Shark
Evergreen
Quad Cities Tri
California 70.3 (looking for an early season race)
Illinois 1/2 Marathon

I really need to redeem myself on my Marathon time and my 1/2 Ironman DNF. Those will be my two priorities for next season. I’m also thinking about throwing in a few bike road races (if i get a road bike by then). Until then, my focus will be on spending hours on my Computrainer, and running my tail off. Swimming can come secondarily, I guess. (if only i could make myself get up in the mornings….)

If anyone has ideas for other potential great races for me, let me know! I need something to look forward to next season as much as Ryan does!!

Coming Up:
QC 1/2 Mary – i hope I don’t suck.

My tri season has come to a close. I decided after Steelhead that I’ve had enough for the year, and I’d rather spend my fall supporting Ryan in his big races, and preparing for my 1/2 Marathon. Oh well right. You win some / you lose some. I wish I could have raced again, but with a crazy project coming to a close at work, and being a little broken over my DNF, i think i’ll take the fall and winter to settle down and get some good training under my belt.

I’m actually really excited about this fall. Ryan is a running fool now that he’s pretty wrapped up with his tri season as well. He’s running the Batavia, IL 1/2 Marathon this weekend (Labor Day), and then he’ll be competing at the QC 1/2 Marathon at the end of September as well. The Chicago Marathon is his A race for the year. Hoping for a sub 2:50 (which is an amazing time and goal, that I”m sure he’ll achieve!).

With all these races, we’ve got some traveling scheduled, and I”m looking forward to that!

I’ll post pictures of our fall endeavours soon.

Next Races: Batavia 1/2 Marathon (Ryan) Quad Cities 1/2 Marathon (Melisa)

So there have been many races I havn’t blogged about between my last post and now. Most of them went fine, so they’re not really anything to report on.

However, my first attempt at a 1/2 Ironman Distance was last weekend (August 1st). The race was in Benton Harbor, MI. Ryan has done the race twice now, and it’s a beautiful venue for a late summer race.

I felt like I had trained appropriately for the swim and the bike. I knew the run would be really hard though, as I hadn’t done much over 6 miles in training since the marathon back in April. But I guess I always concede that my run will be turtle slow.

I’m also positive that I’ve never gotten myself so worked up over a race before. I could not relax, and was terrified up until about 10 minutes before my wave went off to the swim. I finally got into the water and did a warm up and it felt GREAT! Ryan came over to wish me luck and I was all smiles. Couldn’t wait to get started.

When the gun went off for my wave of the swim, I took it slow. The last time I did a beach start I ran as fast as I could into the water and wore myself out before I started my first stroke. This time I walked in at my own pace, which was actually faster than those that started swimming in the shallow water before me. Everything was fine for the first 400 yards. I’ve never swum in any body of water like Lake Michigan before and didn’t really count on the rolling waves it brings with it. I started getting ’seasick’, for lack of a better word. I tried to concentrate on just getting to the next buoy and then breast-stroke for a few seconds to rest. That turned into a breast-stroke only swim after the next couple hundred yards. I knew my time would be terrible because of it, but just tried to keep going. When it all comes down to it, i couldn’t shake the nausea and had to find a rescue boat. They pulled me out and took me ashore, not before vomiting a few times into the lake over the side of the boat.

My friend Sara recommended trying the non-drowsy Dramamine next time. I think that’s a good suggestion, but it’s just so hard to tell how that will affect me swimming. We don’t have anything like those conditions available to us in Central Illinois, short of a wave pool at a water park, which I’ve though about using!

I got back into the water last night at WOWs for the first time since Saturday. I was pretty nervous to say the least. I was able to get abut 1200 yards in though, with no sickness. I don’t know why that surprises me, I never had problems at WOWs or in the pool!

So to sum it up….I DNF’d my first attempt at a 1/2 Ironman. Crap. I’m pretty sure I won’t try another 1/2 Iron this year, but I don’t know about other distances. I guess I”ll just see what pops up.

Next Up: 1/2 Marathon at Quad Cities in September. (PS – maybe it’s a better idea for me to run a few more of those before attempting my next 1/2 Iron….)

Last night was my first open water swim of the season. I’m not going to lie…I did terrible. It was my first time swimming in a wetsuit, and first time in the open water this year. We did a mass start to simulate for those of us training for Tri-Shark next weekend. I went out WAY too fast and it took me the next 200 yards to get my wits about me.

I’ll be smarter next time.

So, I’m apparently terrible at this blogging thing. My last post was from February. Let me give you a quick run down since then….

1. St. Pat’s 5K – I PR’ed in my first 5k of the year. 25:19 is my official time, but my garmin told me I actually finished in 25:10. I’ll take the 9 seconds. My previous best 5k time was 27:00, so I was pretty excited!

2. Illinois Marathon – The short and sweet version of this is that I ran the race differently than I trained, so I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. BUT, I still think it’s quite the accomplishment to have finished my first Marathon. I had completely convinced myself at mile 20 that this was for the birds and I would never do another, but after the race it was a pretty amazing feeling, and I think I’d like to feel that again sometime!

3. TNTT - For those of you who don’t know this is the local Tuesday Night Time Trial. I’ve done this twice now this season and have been pretty unhappy with the results both times. Last year my PR for a slightly shorter course was 19.3 MPH. I’ve trained LIGHT YEARS more this year than I did last and my PR on this year’s course is only 19.5 MPH. I would really like to see this go well above 20 in the very near future.

4. WOWS - This is our Wednesday Night Open Water Swim (we’re crazy triathletes here in Bloomington/Normal). We go out to Miller Park and Dave Quinn has boueys set up in the little lake there for us to have a controlled, life guarded open water swim. They’ve got two weeks under their belts now (and I havn’t been able to make any of them). Tonight will be my first attempt. I hope I’m not as dissapointed as I was about my TNTT times.

5. Running - It was like after I finished the marathon I decided that was enough of this running business. I think I can count the number of times (and possibly the cumulative miles) I have ran since April 11th on two hands. I hope I’m finally getting my start back into it though. I’ve got a 1/2 Ironman to train for.

6. Future - I’ve got a busy summer planned for as little racing as I did this spring . My sister gets married this coming weekend, so not much training to be had there. The following weekend is TRI-SHARK. I’m totally excited for it. I can’t wait. Then the subsequent weekends will be filled with Ryan’s races, my races, and lots and lots of training!

It’ll be a great summer!

After months of planning and hard work, we’re finally having our first Pups Training meeting tonight.

I hope we see a good turnout tonight. I think this will be a great program!

So I’m into week 6 of my marathon training program. Because of the disturbingly cold weather this winter, i’ve fallen behind a bit. I think I missed two weeks of long runs. I’m up to 10 miles, and attempting 12 this weekend, but I need to be at 14 . At this point, I’ll just keep going until my body gets pissed!

I think I’m finally starting to see what all the fuss is about running. I’ve had to run by myself for so long now, because Ryan is so much faster, that it just got boring to be alone. I’ve run with Jessica a few times now and it makes the time/distance go much faster when you’ve got a partner in crime.

I’ve been feeling pretty good on my runs with only a little pain on my long runs. I just hope that I can keep this up. It’s something I REALLY want to accomplish. I’d also really like to bust out a great time at Tri-Shark and Evergreen this year. I’ve been working pretty hard on my cycling and running this winter (harder than I ever have in the past at least), all I need to do now is get back in the pool. I think I’m going to have to wait until closer to the marathon for that if I even want a chance at sticking with this training!

Ryan has been doing really well with his marathon training. I would LOVE to see him blow his goal out of the water in April. He did 20 last weekend already, and without food or water. He’s always been really good about making his body do things many other’s couldn’t.

Today is the first day of really nice weather. I have an off night tonight (as I’m going to run 12 tomorrow), so no outdoor run but we’ll have to grill out for dinner to enjoy it!