On May 10th I ran my 5th MDRA spring series event, the Mom's Day 5 km. At least there wasn't rain or snow, but there was some brutal winds, 40 mph gusts! And it wasn't exactly warm, 40 degrees. But it was sunny, and a beautiful location on the U of MN campus by the river.
Going into the race I really wanted to run under 25 minutes. My final time ended up being 24:31 for 34th out of 125, and 9th women overall. I was really happy with that, I look forward to running another 5 km towards the end of summer to see if I can improve on that. I need to start throwing some more speed work and intervals into my workouts, I'm so used to just running without really much purpose other than to enjoy the run and get some miles under my belt. But now I'd really like to start PRing more.
I'm running a half marathon on June 8th as a part of a triathlon relay team and I'd really like to do well for the team, as well as myself. So it's time to start serious training with a purpose!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Ragnar Relay with some BAMRs
My favorite mother runners over at Another Mother Runner have a contest going for a Ragnar Relay event in Washington DC over my birthday weekend. I'll be turning 32 on October 3rd and I can't really think of anything I'd rather do than spend a full day running with them and the other winners of the contest.
I wanted to list 32 reasons why I should win but to limit the word count I'll just list 21. Because we all know how awesome it is to turn 21. Hello, legal! Alcohol!
And really the #1 reason why I should win. Because it's my birthday!!
So come on, Sarah and Dimity, could you give me my birthday wish!?!
I wanted to list 32 reasons why I should win but to limit the word count I'll just list 21. Because we all know how awesome it is to turn 21. Hello, legal! Alcohol!
- I love to run!
- I've been running for as long as I can remember, my love has gone up and down over the years but today it's as strong as it's ever been.
- I've been a tomboy my whole life, only in the last two years have I embraced running skirts, sparkle skirts, and hot pink. Now you can rarely find me out there running without a skirt on. So I'd really rock a tutu on race day!
- I love mother runners! I never really had many girl friends growing up. It took having children for me to really understand the definitely of a best girl friend, and to realize how important they are.
- The ragnar relay is on my bucket list. I've accomplished a lot of running type goals in the last few years, triathlon, duathlon, tough mudder, but I have yet to do a long distance relay.
- I have two beautiful girls that I could talk your ear off about. What better place to rave about your children than with other mothers!
- I'm a professional drinker. Well, ok, not really. But I am the president of our homebrew club and I am a certified beer judge. I can teach you all about beer in the middle of the night.
- I've never been to DC and would love to see it!
- I give great hugs!
- I also give great ass slaps...
- My nickname is Tapper, in college they would call me Ass Tap, because of the above reason.
- I love a good challenge.
- I love to eat, the best part of running so much is you can pretty much eat whatever and whenever you want.
- Train Like a Mother is my go to training plan, it helped me break 4 hours at the TC Marathon in 2012.
- Run Like a Mother helped me find new motivation when I was in a serious slump.
- I want to hear all about Dimity's soon to be Ironman accomplishments. Another bucket list item of mine.
- I am passionate about all I do. What's the point of doing something if you're not going to give it your all?
- I once got lost on a run, 12 miles into a run I realized I was still 12 miles from home, I had to borrow bus money from a guy at a church.
- Someday I want to be on survivor, I could really rock those challenges!
- I strive to be as dedicated to a training plan as Sarah!
- I'm a badass mother runner that is hardcore, awesome, and fun!
And really the #1 reason why I should win. Because it's my birthday!!
So come on, Sarah and Dimity, could you give me my birthday wish!?!
Monday, May 6, 2013
Cinco du Mayo race report
Last Saturday I raced in the long course of the Cinco du Mayo Duathlon. It was a 5k, 20 mile bike, and a 5k run. I was NERVOUS!
The running was no problem, but I literally pulled my bike down for the hooks in the garage, filled the tires, and raced. Not really an ideal situation when you actually want to do well at something. Oh well I guess, not much I could do about that. I really really need a road bike. My poor bike is about 12 years old, still works, but it wasn't great.
I just signed myself up for the TriFitness triathlon club which meant I got to have my bike in the tri clubs designed area. It was nice to chat with a few members that I'll hopefully get to train with over the summer. It definitely calmed my nerves to hang out and talk before the race.
The first 5k went really well, I ran just over 8 minute mile pace, which felt pretty hard, the course was hilly! The 20 mile bike was very hilly and hard! I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, I probably should have checked out the courses elevation. It was pretty brutal, I wished for bike shoes and a road bike about 50 times while I was out there. You basically bike a 10 mile square around a lake twice, The second half of that 10 miles was WINDY. I felt like a sail. I was slow, I felt like I was going as fast as I could but I just didn't have the equipment or the skill to do any better. It was a bit frustrating. I just kept reminding myself that I'm lucky to be able to just hop on a bike and ride for 20 miles because a lot of people aren't able to do that. I believe I was the second slowest 20 mile biker out there. Oh well, at least I know next time I can improve.
The final run wasn't stellar, I forget how hard it is to get your legs back after biking for an hour and a half. It took till about the 1.5 mile turn around till I felt like I was running again. My right foot was completely numb for 2 miles, it was really annoying and weird. My second 5k ended up being about 9 min per mile pace. Not stellar but I was able to pass a few people so I was happy with that.
Overall it wasn't an awesome race, but I'm happy I did it, it can only go up from here!
My final time was 2:25.57.
The running was no problem, but I literally pulled my bike down for the hooks in the garage, filled the tires, and raced. Not really an ideal situation when you actually want to do well at something. Oh well I guess, not much I could do about that. I really really need a road bike. My poor bike is about 12 years old, still works, but it wasn't great.
I just signed myself up for the TriFitness triathlon club which meant I got to have my bike in the tri clubs designed area. It was nice to chat with a few members that I'll hopefully get to train with over the summer. It definitely calmed my nerves to hang out and talk before the race.
The first 5k went really well, I ran just over 8 minute mile pace, which felt pretty hard, the course was hilly! The 20 mile bike was very hilly and hard! I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, I probably should have checked out the courses elevation. It was pretty brutal, I wished for bike shoes and a road bike about 50 times while I was out there. You basically bike a 10 mile square around a lake twice, The second half of that 10 miles was WINDY. I felt like a sail. I was slow, I felt like I was going as fast as I could but I just didn't have the equipment or the skill to do any better. It was a bit frustrating. I just kept reminding myself that I'm lucky to be able to just hop on a bike and ride for 20 miles because a lot of people aren't able to do that. I believe I was the second slowest 20 mile biker out there. Oh well, at least I know next time I can improve.
The final run wasn't stellar, I forget how hard it is to get your legs back after biking for an hour and a half. It took till about the 1.5 mile turn around till I felt like I was running again. My right foot was completely numb for 2 miles, it was really annoying and weird. My second 5k ended up being about 9 min per mile pace. Not stellar but I was able to pass a few people so I was happy with that.
Overall it wasn't an awesome race, but I'm happy I did it, it can only go up from here!
My final time was 2:25.57.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The season thus far
I really do suck at this blogging thing.
Instead of fretting about I'm just going to move on. Here's a brief synopsis of the last few races I have done.
Birkie ~ Feb 23, 2013. 3:59.39.1
This race went surprisingly well for the lack of training I did. I started off training well in Dec, and then, do to lack of snow in January, I rarely skied. Then I managed to get out a half dozen times in Feb before the race. It was a very slow year due to about 5-8 inches of free snow over night. I opted to get my skis waxed by Gear West and they were crazy fast! I was flying by people all over. I will be getting my skis waxed by them in the future.
I felt great throughout, although I was cramping really bad pretty much from 25k till the end. And I FINALLY get to move up a wave! Wave 4 here I come! I beat the cut off by about a minute, the last few years I've missed moving up by about the same time so I'm very happy! Maybe 2014 will be the year I can get my act together and train seriously enough to get in wave 2. We shall see.
Another funny note, my TC marathon time (3.59.36) is almost exactly the same as my Birkie time.
Lake Johanna 4 mile ~ March 23, 2013. 33:01
After the Birkie I decided to sign up for the MDRA Spring Series races. This was a series of 6 races between March and May. This was all before mother nature decided that Minnesota wasn't getting a spring this year. Oh well, c'est la vie. Luckily my friend donated us their treadmill since it rarely got any use at their house. It got plenty of use between March and today, let me tell you. Without it I would have been screwed.
So anyways, I hadn't done any running outside or any speed work so I wasn't really sure how this race would go. I just wanted to go out and run fast and have fun. It was a cold day (30s) but no snow on the road and sunny. I actually felt awesome and ran faster than I've run in awhile. Just over 8 minute mile pace. I was pumped!
The second spring series race was suppose to be the MDRA 7 mile the next weekend but I skipped it. The week before we were all really sick and both the girls had strep throat, it was pouring when I woke up to get ready for the race so I opted to stay in bed. I'm happy about that decision!
Fred Kurz 10 mile ~ April 13, 2013. 1:39.29
3rd race in the series. Winter still isn't over. It snowed 5 inches a few days before this race. And since it's run on the Luce Line trail in Wayzata which isn't plowed it was going to be a slow and snowy day. It was 30s and overcast for the race. Which isn't horrible but not ideal. I actually felt pretty good considering this was my longest run this year. I probably could have gone even faster but it was really hard to get good footing, there was a trampled down snow path on the trail but that also meant that it was pretty much ice. I wish I had cleats! I really wanted to look around at all the ponds and beautiful houses along the trail but had to only focus on my feet which was kind of sad. I'm glad I did it, I had fun!
MDRA Mudball (SNOWBALL) Classic 4 mile ~ April 21, 2013. 38:34
Again mother nature is relentless. It snowed another 4-6 inches a few days before the race. This race is on the trails in Theodore Wirth park. Which usually means mud in April, well this year it meant SNOW, mud, cold water, ice, etc. Awesome, thanks. They shortened the course because apparently parts of the original course was under water. So it ended up being about 3.5 miles. From my time you can see that it was SLOW. I felt like I was running as hard as I could but it's a hilly course and near impossible to get your footing. I'd love to run this race another year when there isn't snow covering the whole course. It was a cold morning (27) but at least it didn't rain as expected. I had a blast though.
I'm really enjoying these MDRA races and I'm happy I signed up for the spring series to try some new races and to get myself motivated to train.
What's up next?
Cinco du Mayo Duathlon May 4
Moms Day 5 km May 11
Mississippi 10 mile May 26
Liberty Tri running relay team member half marathon June 8
Tough Mudder July 21
Skirt Sports 5 km July 28
I need to pick one or two tris to do as well. I'm running out of weekends in the summer though.
Instead of fretting about I'm just going to move on. Here's a brief synopsis of the last few races I have done.
Birkie ~ Feb 23, 2013. 3:59.39.1
This race went surprisingly well for the lack of training I did. I started off training well in Dec, and then, do to lack of snow in January, I rarely skied. Then I managed to get out a half dozen times in Feb before the race. It was a very slow year due to about 5-8 inches of free snow over night. I opted to get my skis waxed by Gear West and they were crazy fast! I was flying by people all over. I will be getting my skis waxed by them in the future.
I felt great throughout, although I was cramping really bad pretty much from 25k till the end. And I FINALLY get to move up a wave! Wave 4 here I come! I beat the cut off by about a minute, the last few years I've missed moving up by about the same time so I'm very happy! Maybe 2014 will be the year I can get my act together and train seriously enough to get in wave 2. We shall see.
Another funny note, my TC marathon time (3.59.36) is almost exactly the same as my Birkie time.
Lake Johanna 4 mile ~ March 23, 2013. 33:01
After the Birkie I decided to sign up for the MDRA Spring Series races. This was a series of 6 races between March and May. This was all before mother nature decided that Minnesota wasn't getting a spring this year. Oh well, c'est la vie. Luckily my friend donated us their treadmill since it rarely got any use at their house. It got plenty of use between March and today, let me tell you. Without it I would have been screwed.
So anyways, I hadn't done any running outside or any speed work so I wasn't really sure how this race would go. I just wanted to go out and run fast and have fun. It was a cold day (30s) but no snow on the road and sunny. I actually felt awesome and ran faster than I've run in awhile. Just over 8 minute mile pace. I was pumped!
The second spring series race was suppose to be the MDRA 7 mile the next weekend but I skipped it. The week before we were all really sick and both the girls had strep throat, it was pouring when I woke up to get ready for the race so I opted to stay in bed. I'm happy about that decision!
Fred Kurz 10 mile ~ April 13, 2013. 1:39.29
3rd race in the series. Winter still isn't over. It snowed 5 inches a few days before this race. And since it's run on the Luce Line trail in Wayzata which isn't plowed it was going to be a slow and snowy day. It was 30s and overcast for the race. Which isn't horrible but not ideal. I actually felt pretty good considering this was my longest run this year. I probably could have gone even faster but it was really hard to get good footing, there was a trampled down snow path on the trail but that also meant that it was pretty much ice. I wish I had cleats! I really wanted to look around at all the ponds and beautiful houses along the trail but had to only focus on my feet which was kind of sad. I'm glad I did it, I had fun!
MDRA Mudball (SNOWBALL) Classic 4 mile ~ April 21, 2013. 38:34
Again mother nature is relentless. It snowed another 4-6 inches a few days before the race. This race is on the trails in Theodore Wirth park. Which usually means mud in April, well this year it meant SNOW, mud, cold water, ice, etc. Awesome, thanks. They shortened the course because apparently parts of the original course was under water. So it ended up being about 3.5 miles. From my time you can see that it was SLOW. I felt like I was running as hard as I could but it's a hilly course and near impossible to get your footing. I'd love to run this race another year when there isn't snow covering the whole course. It was a cold morning (27) but at least it didn't rain as expected. I had a blast though.
I'm really enjoying these MDRA races and I'm happy I signed up for the spring series to try some new races and to get myself motivated to train.
What's up next?
Cinco du Mayo Duathlon May 4
Moms Day 5 km May 11
Mississippi 10 mile May 26
Liberty Tri running relay team member half marathon June 8
Tough Mudder July 21
Skirt Sports 5 km July 28
I need to pick one or two tris to do as well. I'm running out of weekends in the summer though.
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