May 3, 2013
Indianapolis 500 5K
My son has been urging me to do a big 5K for about a year so I thought this would be a great opportunity. This became a family affair. My husband and I ran the 5K while my son ran the mini. What fun! And it was big! The 5K had 4,000 runners and the mini had 35,000 runners (biggest mini in the country).
With 39,000 runners coming to Indianapolis, we figured that parking would be an issue. Rather than leave home at 3:30 am to find a parking space and be at the start line by 6:30 am for a 7:00 am start, we decided to get hotel rooms. We took Friday off work and made a mini-vacation out of it. Thinking that the restaurants would be packed, I brought spaghetti in a crock pot and we enjoyed a carb load early Friday evening before the race. Lots of fun!
Picking up our race packet was fun! When they went to give me my 2X t-shirt, the volunteer said, "Honey, you're not a 2X. Do you want a smaller size?" Bless her! Sure enough, the 2X was too big! In addition to the booth where packets were being distributed, there was a large expo with all kinds of vendors selling their wares. I purchased a really cool little pouch that attaches to your waistband with magnets to carry an iPhone and keys in.
Security at the event was amazing. The bombings at the Boston Marathon were two weeks early so everyone was nervous. They sent all the participants an email that told us to leave backpacks at home. On the day of the race, there were city police, state police and national guard members everywhere. There were also big booms in the air with cameras watching the crowd. I also noticed that there were security people with vests on seated by each trash can. But, the Boston Marathon bombers did not deter the festive spirit of the crowd. What impressed me the most about the crowd of 39,000 runners on race day was how happy everyone was.
The 5K runners lined up first at the starting line with the mini runners right behind us. So, when you looked back all you could see forever into the distance was 39,000 shoulder-to-shoulder runners in brightly colored t-shirts. Toward the start of the race, they all started jumping up and down to warm up and all you could see were bobbing colors. It was really quite amazing.
Someone sang Back Home Again in Indiana, shot a starters gun, and in typical Indianapolis 500 style, waved a green flag to begin the race. We were off! 4,000 people all with personal goals running in harmony with one another. Once again, I found myself choked up with emotion as I passed the start line and started running up Washington Street.
There was entertainment and people cheering throughout the miles. And . . . there were professional photographers everywhere. After the race, a computer sorted all the photographs by bib number and the photos were posted online to be purchased. My race went as planned. I went out a little faster than in the past but was able to maintain the pace I wanted to run. I took 20 seconds off my fastest pace and finished in under 45 minutes which was a first for me. Maybe most amazing, I finished in the top third of the 55-59 female age group. I think that is more due to the fact that the Indy 500 5K brings out a lot of non-athletes, but it was nice to not be dead last again!
At the end of the race, they corralled us away from the finish line and to various booths. The first booth we encountered was a station where they gave us a race medal - my first! I wore it with pride for the rest of the day, as did everyone else. Then we received a grocery bag and we went from station to station collecting food goodies - cookies, protein bars, fruit, drinks. It was a little like going door to door on Halloween. So many volunteers, so much kindness, so much celebration. Again, I got a little choked up thinking about how nice people can be.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
New Goal / Tri Coach
April 2, 2013
New Goal - Outdoor Sprint Triathlon / Tri Coach
Now that I know I know I can survive the distance of a sprint triathlon, my next goal is to do an outdoor triathlon with a lake swim. I have my eye on a couple of events in August so I have about three months to get ready.
Tri Coach!
I found a triathlon coach in my area through Triathlon USA. I was pretty nervous about asking a "real" coach to work with an overweight, 60-year-old woman. But, I told myself not to be controlled by my feelings of embarrassment and contacted him by email. I gave him plenty of "outs" but he said that he was "born to coach" and that while most of his clients were people working on the Ironman, he also worked with young kids, old people, overweight people, all types. Bingo! Perfect match.
Our first meeting was a "sit down." I talked about my journey and told him about my goal to do an outdoor triathlon. He was a good listener and didn't laugh! Actually, he was quite encouraging. There was no contract to sign and I only had to commit to a month. That was good for me, but I also got the impression that arrangement was good for him too. I think he wanted a way to exit the relationship if a client started to not be serious about training (wasting his time). So, I sent him a check and now I have a coach!
Our next meeting was at the local YMCA. My coach had me do a warm up that left me sweating! One thing he had me do was walk while raising my leg to the side like a dog peeing. I felt so silly but I had promised myself and my coach that I would be coachable. A little kid looked at me in puzzlement and then laughed. So it goes.
Coach said my run was ok. He wants me to focus on my cadence (90 rotations per minute), keep my elbows back and look up. Great goals. Then we got in the pool. This meant that someone who knew me by name was going to see me in a bathing suit. Again, I focused on not letting my embarrassment control me. Coach asked me to swim a length and when I did, I saw him pop off his chair to follow me down the pool. When I got back, he seemed genuinely excited. For most triathletes, swimming is their worst event and I think he expected this overweight, sixty-year-old woman to splash her way down the pool. He said that my technique was excellent and that he thought I could do the swim part of a triathlon right now, and that I was a much better swimmer than many of his other triathletes. Wow! That really built my confidence!
So, Coach sends me a workout every Sunday by email and I send him feedback at the end of the week. My first week of training was:
Monday: Swim - intervals (100 meters, 15 sec rest) with different focuses
Tuesday: Run - intervals (5 min jog / 1 min rest)
Wednesday: SPIN (my request)
Thursday: Swim - more intervals
Friday: Run - intervals (3 min medium / 1 min rest)
Saturday: Bike (one hour)
So far, so good.
New Goal - Outdoor Sprint Triathlon / Tri Coach
Now that I know I know I can survive the distance of a sprint triathlon, my next goal is to do an outdoor triathlon with a lake swim. I have my eye on a couple of events in August so I have about three months to get ready.
Tri Coach!
I found a triathlon coach in my area through Triathlon USA. I was pretty nervous about asking a "real" coach to work with an overweight, 60-year-old woman. But, I told myself not to be controlled by my feelings of embarrassment and contacted him by email. I gave him plenty of "outs" but he said that he was "born to coach" and that while most of his clients were people working on the Ironman, he also worked with young kids, old people, overweight people, all types. Bingo! Perfect match.
Our first meeting was a "sit down." I talked about my journey and told him about my goal to do an outdoor triathlon. He was a good listener and didn't laugh! Actually, he was quite encouraging. There was no contract to sign and I only had to commit to a month. That was good for me, but I also got the impression that arrangement was good for him too. I think he wanted a way to exit the relationship if a client started to not be serious about training (wasting his time). So, I sent him a check and now I have a coach!
Our next meeting was at the local YMCA. My coach had me do a warm up that left me sweating! One thing he had me do was walk while raising my leg to the side like a dog peeing. I felt so silly but I had promised myself and my coach that I would be coachable. A little kid looked at me in puzzlement and then laughed. So it goes.
Coach said my run was ok. He wants me to focus on my cadence (90 rotations per minute), keep my elbows back and look up. Great goals. Then we got in the pool. This meant that someone who knew me by name was going to see me in a bathing suit. Again, I focused on not letting my embarrassment control me. Coach asked me to swim a length and when I did, I saw him pop off his chair to follow me down the pool. When I got back, he seemed genuinely excited. For most triathletes, swimming is their worst event and I think he expected this overweight, sixty-year-old woman to splash her way down the pool. He said that my technique was excellent and that he thought I could do the swim part of a triathlon right now, and that I was a much better swimmer than many of his other triathletes. Wow! That really built my confidence!
So, Coach sends me a workout every Sunday by email and I send him feedback at the end of the week. My first week of training was:
Monday: Swim - intervals (100 meters, 15 sec rest) with different focuses
Tuesday: Run - intervals (5 min jog / 1 min rest)
Wednesday: SPIN (my request)
Thursday: Swim - more intervals
Friday: Run - intervals (3 min medium / 1 min rest)
Saturday: Bike (one hour)
So far, so good.
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