Setting up 2010...

Finished 2009 in Vegas...13 marathons for the year (18 marathons total) and 4 halves (1o total I think)...lots of life changes for me and more to come in 2010...

No-one ever said running 13 marathons in a year was easy...

BUT then again I might take that over LIFES stuff...ANYDAY!

Need to get healthy mentally now....and get back in the race....

2010....here I come!

My goal is to end 2010 an Ironman...this I know will be my biggest challenge athletically EVER. My focus needs to be onl June 27th in CDA, Idaho....where it all starts for me in the water...I need to learn how to love the swim by then...I need to force myself to get in the water and just do what my coach tells me to do...I like it when it's over...it's a matter of getting there...Just like things in life...sometimes you have to do what you don't want to cuz it's painful...and sometimes when you do what you want to it's equally as painful....

SO...here I go....

My journey to Ironman is the REAL DEAL for me...the little races along the way are to keep me inspired, competitive and in check...I like to race...what can I say?

RACE Line Up 2010:

2/7/2010 Surf City Half Marathon http://www.runsurfcity.com/

March, 2010 TBD OR nothing.....?

4/19/2010 Boston Marathon http://www.bostonmarathon.org/

4/23-4/24/2010 Ragnar Relays, So Cal -Big Sur Challenge is OUT... :(

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/losangeles/index.php

5/2/2010 Wildflower http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/WildFlower2010-main.htm

June 27th, 2010 IRONMAN Couer D'Alene http://www.ironmancda.com/

July 11th, 2010 Jungle Run...GOING to get my Monkey I was shimmed out of!

http://www.firstwave-events.com/jungle_run/half_marathon.html

August 14th, 2010 Idaho Springs, Half Marathon...My Birthday...

http://www.gtishalf.org/

August 27th http://www.hoodtocoast.com/

September TBD

October, 9th 2010 http://www.levisgranfondo.com/

November TBD

December TBD

** Subject to change...and add ons! haha....

Las Vegas RnR race report...

First let me start by saying...I AM BOSTON bound...I got that taken care of! Woo Hoo!

Saturday December 5th...Board the plane to Vegas! MY last race of 2009...NEED to make it count. NEED to PR! On the plane I make the perfect play list and look forward to hooking up with all my peeps at the airport in Vegas when I land!

packed 7 peeps in a 5 seater...FUNNY!

Arrive early into Vegas..MY sister & her friend Karen, Monica, my cousin John and his buddies all connect! AND off to the MGM we go! Check in...2 rooms between the 7 of us race night...ONLY 1 room ready! We all head up to the 1 ready room and walk in to find maintenance caulking the sink in the bathroom...NEW room assignment...throw all our bags in the room! Head to Mandalay Bay to the expo!

Monica and I with our free Wynn Beanies on! DORKS!

More.....dork!

Cold walk to the expo....check in get our bibs, etc....met up with some cool twitter people..and then headed for a little lunch! More cool twitter people...back to the hotel...get gear ready..laid out..YOU know the geeky stuff us runners do!Dinner for 16 at Fammia in the MGM...YES...all the cool twitter people, my sis, Mon, the John's and George...GOOD times...Dinner for me CHICKEN and salad...NOT enough chicken. NEEDED a whole chicken...a few stellas and then back to the room to go NIGHT NIGHT!

Alarm goes off at 4:15AM...UGH! I hate 6:15AM start times..throw our gear on...choke down half a bagel and big starbucks coffee...AND off to the start me and my crew head!

HERE's the deal..IT was 30 out and it felt like 25 to me. I planned for the cold so I was OK....walking over to the start helped get us warmed up...My sister and her friend Karen's first half marathon so she had to take pictures of all of us, etc...They were walking it...realizing we only had 25 mins til race start Monica and I headed to corral #2 with the 3 boys who were in corral #1! My cousin John wanted to PR the course and Q for Boston again...the boys lined up with the 3:10 pace group and Monica and I hung back a little in the front of corral #2!

A fake Celine Deon sang the national anthem...countdown...

wheelchairs were off!

Then corral 1...then Monica and I were off!

I had a race plan...I sharpied it on my arm...I knew exactly how I was supposed to race Vegas...BUT of course at mile one when I looked down at my watch and realized I just ran a 6:40 mile...and lost Monica...I needed to regroup and slow the heck down...I finally got back on pace and my first 10k was right on pace....made the turn out to mile 13 and was still feeling pretty good...hit the first half exactly on pace...and then something happened...

I hit a wall...wasn't feeling it...and wasn't loving what I was doing...wished at one point I quit with the half runners...wanted to DNF for the first time in my life...WTF? Mentally I wasn't where I needed to be to push thru for a PR...the mind games started...miles 16 to 20 were complete CRAP! My calves cramped and also a steady incline that made me question this sport...Mile 18'ish I saw my cousin John who was ahead of the 3:10 pace group...at that moment I prayed that he would get the PR, BQ and take any MOJO I had in me...

I knew I was Boston bound anyway....

Mile 20 I got my race back..and I was still pacing for a sub 3:28...my body was tired..my quads not loving me...I picked up some speed on the gradual descent...hit mile 24, an overpass that was a hill...and I walked...NOT to mention from mile 20 on I walked every aid station..NO lie. I needed the recovery for my legs. Mile 25 winded around the back side of Mandalay Bay...

which was ugly and I walked a little...

hit mile 26 and decided to get my crap together and get the race done! HAHA!

Finished at a 3:37 and some change! Didn't care about not PR'ing...still a good race time. COULD have been faster...for sure. Placed 16th in my AG and 129th female finisher overall!

Here is what I learned in Vegas...13 marathons in one year is retarded...

you can't PR every race when you are running that many in a year.

I also learned that if you are NOT mentally in the race you are screwed...

and I learned that what is happening in your personal life affects how you train and race...

sometimes it's better to back off, regroup and make a new plan.

SO...my plan for 2010 is Boston for a PR! Ironman to finish under 12 hours...

and some tri's and 13.1's in there too.

SOME GREAT races by my peeps in VEGAS:

Cousin John... 3:09:49 Boston Q! PR!

George...3:09:50 Boston! He only trained for 7 weeks BTW!

Jared...3:07 Boston Bound and a PR!

Monica....2:00 for the half...NO training! LOL

Teresa, my sis and her pal Karen...3:24 walking the half! First 1/2 marathon ever!

Getting it DONE..Big Sur..race report…

The plan was to run the Malibu Marathon…BUT a silly thing called LIFE got in the way…dealing with personal stuff and knowing that I needed to stay close to home in RWC…SO…. I backed out of Malibu…it was a sad BUT right decision.

Big Sur just happened…I got a last minute entry and I took it happily. I had heard a lot about the courses beauty…. so I was pretty excited to race.

Headed to Monterey Saturday afternoon to pick up my race stuff…met up with my PAL for some chicken nachos and a few beers! http://www.peppersmexicalicafe.com/

Checked into a crappy hotel…and then got the news that my application wasn’t accepted for Boston…PISSED off I fell asleep around 11PM…. woke up at 5:45AM equally pissed.

Sunday RACE morning was cold…the sky was clear BUT it was cold…I layered up in a base layer, long sleeve dry fit, tights, a vest and gloves…. headed to the race start…and hung out just watching and listening to the people. So many people running their first race…that is always fun to see the excitement in their eyes!

Lined up in the corral…decided to hang with the B crowd…still layered…still cold…A corral took of at 7:05 and 1 minute later the B corral was OUT!

I made the mistake of NOT even looking at the course…or even coming up with a race strategy…I also made the mistake of not bringing my own GU…

The first part of the course winds through downtown Monterey….then out thru Cannery Row and into Pacific Grove…pretty rolling first 6 miles..My calves weren’t working properly for some reason…and I was pacing a little under 8 min miles…NOT fast and NOT feeling the race.. I knew I could go faster and FINALLY at mile 8’ish decided to get my race on. Hit the turn around and it was downhill for about a mile…I kicked it into gear and started pacing around 7:10 min miles from there out…The entire second half of the Big Sur course is along the ocean….the air felt crisp and good on my face…BUT my body was so hot from all the layers that I was mad at myself for not checking my stuff…I was also still pissed about the Boston screw up and mentally I was disconnected from my race.

Finally hit the 11-mile mark and started pushing a little harder. MENTALLY I got myself IN CHECK…NEEDED to be done the entire race….the final push was on a bike trail…it was pretty flat and fast…I looked at my watch and realized that if I pushed a little harder I could PR…with a 1:40 and change…picked up a little speed and saw the finish line ahead of me…the clock said 1:41:48…wooo hooo! PR’d by 1 minute! Remember the staggered corral starts?

Post race beers and deep fried pickles at the Mucky Duck with @g_monee...GOOD times! http://www.muckyduckmonterey.com/index.html

WHAT I do know is that I can run a half faster then I did in Big Sur…what I learned is that every race needs a strategy…even the little ones. I also learned that your body heats up pretty fast and that’s why they have sweat checks!

Overall BIG SUR Half is a gorgeous course…and the race is very organized. Stuck around for the race awards…never do that…and was motivated by all the top finishers and the speed that was out on that course. This race was NOT a top 10 for me in my age group…I was 13^th and ???? overall female finisher. I KNOW that I have to up my game so I can run with the fast chicks. I also KNOW now that YOU can’t let the stuff in your head affect your race…

Next up…VEGAS Rock and Roll Marathon…see ya there!

I’m in corral 2 and I’m #2369!