Early Thursday morning saw my husband, daughter, my two cousins, and nephew headed west for the 1:15 drive to the ocean. As we arrived the fog was lifting and it turned out to be a gorgeous morning. We picked up our numbers and settled into the front of the second corral.
We started and quickly settled into a nice pace. I wanted Caitlyn to be comfortable and leave something for the last mile. The crowds were pretty thick but she handled it great. Pat and I dodged around people and tried to keep the 3 of us together. By the second mile I knew Caitlyn was getting a little tired because she started asking about distances. I kept the pace steady and she stayed tough. As we dropped down onto the beach boardwalk in the final mile, Caitlyn found a new gear and took off, passing people left and right. I had to run hard to stay with her and we dropped Pat. I knew she couldn't hold that pace to the finish. She slowed a bit, regrouped, and when I pointed out the finish line about 200 yards away, she took off again. At this point I hit my max heart rate trying to keep up. It was amazing. She passed about 200 people in that last 3/4 mile.
We crossed the finish line and she collapsed, tearful, emotional, and exhausted. I let her regroup before we slowly made our way through the finishing chute. I could not have been more impressed with this incredible girl, no, runner, who left everything out on the course. I proudly placed the finishers medal around her neck.
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| Jamie, Joey, PJ, Caitlyn, me, and Pat |
My cousins Joey and Jamie did great despite running with some injuries. Joey's son PJ out-ran us all, setting a new PR and taking a few minutes off his time from 2009. It was a great morning, shared with family. After collecting our shirts we headed back up to the ranch for some much deserved turkey.
Lotteries, lotteries.....
In order to prepare for Leadwoman, I put my name in a couple lotteries, Way Too Cool 50K and Miwok 100K. I found out last Monday that I had been selected for WTC. However, I started having second thoughts about Miwok. It's an incredibly tough course and I started thinking I don't want to be in 100K shape in May since Leadville 100 isn't until August. So last Tuesday I emailed the RD and asked that my name be pulled out of the lottery hat. I guess I missed the deadline though because I checked the entrants list the next day and there was my name. 2 for 2, for better or worse. I'm looking forward to Miwok and building my confidence on a long, hard course but it also scares me. I don't want to push myself too hard this early in the season and get hurt. I'll have to be smart about it, treat it as a long training run. And I have confidence in my coach.
I started working with a coach a couple weeks ago and it's so nice to have structure to my workouts. I have confidence that what Lucho is having me do now and what I'll be doing in the future will get me to Leadwoman. I'm already noticing faster times with easier efforts with the consistency in my workouts. Right now I'm doing a nice mix of running and biking, with the emphasis on the bike. Just this week saw a 2:30 mtn bike ride in the cold, sleet, and mud and a couple days later a 4 hour road ride with 5800 feet of climbing. It's more than I would have been doing on my own but my body is handling it very well.
As I prepare for Christmas my heart goes out to those in Connecticut. Keep loved ones close and give those kids an extra hug.
