Spring/Summer Race Recaps!

The whole reason I started this blog last year was to keep a record of training and races for myself to look back on as I navigate this world of running and triathlon....well, I've been horribly negligent on that front this year...so here in a (kind of lengthy) nutshell, is as much as I can remember from my 2016 races to this point!

February 27: Tri U Mah Indoor Triathlon

That is the look of a dead-tired runner. Tri U Mah is the indoor triathlon put on each year by my department...it is really popular and kind of marks the beginning of training season for a lot of triathletes. I usually just work the event, I manage the swim portion, which is really fun. I get to meet a lot of veteran athletes I hear about from other races, and I get to encourage a lot of newbies who are trying it out for the first time. This year I decided I wanted to race myself, but because of my duties, I had to wait until the last wave. We started at 10:00am, and it was 3:15 before I got in the water! My swim felt great, 1900 yards in 30 minutes (my goal was 1700). The bike was okay, I was trying to save my legs a bit for the run since I had already been standing on the pool deck for five hours...I'll admit, the woman who was in the lane next to me for the swim (and beat me by 25 yards) was a good motivator...so I probably rode harder than I wanted. I hit the treadmill with a plan to walk a few minutes, but I just started out at an easy run pace and keep at it. After a mile I ramped it up a bit and finished off the 30 minutes at that speed, finishing with 3.25 miles. It was a fun and exhausting day, but I was happy with what I was able to do with minimal training in the pool or on the bike!

April 9: Goldy's Run

This has become my annual "first race of the year". My very first race ever was Goldy's Run 5K, and now I was at the start line for my second Goldy's Run 10-miler. Now April is always iffy weather-wise, so I was prepared for anything...and thank goodness for that, because it was FREEZING at the start. Last year's start temp was 42, totally manageable, and actually quite pleasant once we started running. This year it was 31 at start time...BRRRRRR! Thankfully my office is right across the street from the start for this one, so I got to hole up inside with some friends before we had to hit the corral. We huddled close to listen to the National Anthem, and then we were underway. I had planned to hang with Jenni and Sara who had run 5 mile before the race in order for Sara to get her 15 mile training run done today, they were going to hold about a 10:30/mile pace. After about 2 miles in though, I was feeling pretty good and decided to leave them (okay, maybe I actually LOST them in the crowd at the start and didn't want to be bothered to try to find them again). I held just over a 10-minute per mile pace through mile 8...then the hills came. I don't know how I forgot about the hills at the end of this race, but I did...and they sucked. Once we got back on to University Avenue though and you can see the stadium, the hills become an afterthought and the excitement of the finish sets in. I turned into the stadium and headed for the finish line, the chill of the start, which was a distant memory, came rushing back as I got my medal...it was still freezing, and now I was sweaty...not a good combo! I did manage to wait around long enough to see Jenni and Sara finish, and of course to take my mandatory selfie with Goldy. But I was ready for a long hot shower...thankfully just a quick walk across the street away!

April 16: Hot Chocolate 15K

It's not like you have to twist my arm very hard to get me to do a race that has the word "chocolate" in the name...but throw in a complimentary entry, a race shirt AND jacket, invite a bunch of my friends to do it too, and require me to talk to people about running the whole time? That's a no-brainer. The Hot Chocolate 15K was my first experience being a "pacer" for a race. If you aren't sure what a pacer is...basically I run a targeted pace for the whole race and folks who are trying to reach a goal time or run at a steady pace will run with me. A pacer is also supposed to give encouragement and tips along the way...I know that every time I've run a race with a pacer I learn something new...in fact, I credit my marathon pacer with helping me over the wall at mile 22 last year...I might not have finished without her! After some quick pics with the pace team I headed into the corral, it was packed! There was loud music playing, which was fun, but it made giving my "race speech" a little difficult. I did manage to tell my little group that we would be holding just under 12-minute miles so we wold be able to walk through the water stops and take things a little more slowly up the two hills we had to conquer. I started out with about 6 people running with me, but after a few miles it was down to three, an older couple and a 13-year old girl. All three running this race for the first time. We had a lot of fun keeping each other motivated, and when we finally approached the 9-mile marker, I told them all they needed to get to the finish line before me. I was also at that time that a woman behind me started to pass and thanked me for getting her to the finish line...I had no idea she was even following me, but it made me feel great to know that just staring at my sign was all she needed to stay moving. I crossed the finish about a minute under my goal time, and had a few other runners come up and thank me for pacing them. I found the couple and they both gave me high fives, and then found my 13-year old who was with her mom (Mom had finished a few minutes ahead of us). She was pretty excited to have finished her longest run ever, and I got a sweet "thank you" hug from her. I was hooked. While I love competing, I am looking forward to having a long pacing career and helping more people get across those finish lines!

April 30: Get in Gear 10K

Just a couple weeks later I got to try my hand at pacing again at the Get in Gear 10K. I have heard about this race for several years, it is one of the most popular early races in the cities, so I was pretty excited to be a part of it. My friend Sara, who was pacing the half marathon, needed an extra five miles for her marathon training plan that day, so I met up with her and our friend Jenni before the race for a quick "warm up" run. We held a great pace and easy conversation, then met up with the rest of the pace team at the start area. It was a cool morning, and since I was sweaty from our earlier miles, I was pretty chilled by the time we got going. I was in the corral getting ready for my race talk, when someone came up and asked "Are you Linda Ditty?" I recognized the face, but couldn't put a name to it...he introduced himself as Ismal Munar, Anoka class of 1990! We have a few mutual Facebook friends, so he noticed I would be out at the race today. It was fun to reconnect, and it sounds like we'll be at a few more races together this summer and fall! I got my race talk done and we started up. The 10K and Half Marathon follow the same course for the first five miles, so it was plenty crowded as we got under way. We thinned out a bit after the first mile and I had a small group running with me. The 2:45 finish pacer for the half marathon was also running with me since he wanted to start his group off a little fast so they could walk the water stops and make up for any late-race slow downs. We had great conversations and before I knew it we were over half way done. Right before we split with the half marathon pack, we hit our only hill on the course. That was when I found a group of about 5 people that had been staying behind me the whole race. At the top of hill I raised my arms in triumph (I like celebrating small victories) and one of the ladies in the pack said, "I'm so glad you are here! I've never run more than a 5K and there is no way I'd have made it this far without you!" Again, I cannot tell you how awesome it is to hear that! We finally split with the marathoners with less than a mile to go. I was encouraging my group to start to pick up the pace and finish strong, and all but one of them passed me by to sprint to the finish. The one guy that stayed back said he was going to finish with me, since this would be a PR for him no matter what. We crossed the finish line just 45 seconds ahead of our projected pace...I'll get the hang of this pacing thing yet! I met up with Jenni who was pacing the 11:30 per mile group and had finished just in front of me. We walked over the food area and were both greeted by runners who thanked us for being such great pacers. In fact, I got a huge bear hug from a giant man who thanked me for getting him to a PR. It was a great run, but I was starting to get chilly again, so I said good bye to Jenni and headed home.

May 21: Birdtown Half Marathon

After the Get in Gear race I was lucky enough to be added to the Minnesota Pacers roster and right away picked up my next gig...the Birdtown Half Marathon. I had heard about this race the previous year because some friends did it and raved about what a fun time it was. I was excited to pace again, and a little nervous for my first double digit run since October! I was pacing the 2:45 finish time, so I was confident in my ability to hold the 12:44 per mile pace, I was just hoping I would need to do too much walking to make it to the finish. I had also heard good things about the kids races that were part of the day, so we decided to sign the kids up for the fun runs and make a family day of it. My friend Sara was pacing here as well, which was nice since I didn't know any of the other pacers there. They were, of course, a friendly bunch, but it was nice to have a familiar face hang out with. We got lined up at the start area, which was kind of a jumble, but since Sara was pacing the 2:30 finish and I was 2:45, we decided to just hang at the back of the pack. Once we got going though, we said our good byes, and I started out solo. I was the last person running and stayed solo for most of the first half of the race. There was a lot of support out on the course, and most everyone seemed to feel bad for me running all by myself..but it was all good. I was supposed to be holding a 12:44 pace, but since there was no one running with me or behind me, I figured I'd pick it up a bit and basically run until I either found someone who needed help, or hit the finish line. I turned some music on my phone to keep me company and kept plugging away. I hit the water stop at mile 7 and ran into my friend Kristen. She was working the stop with her daughter's dance school. Since I was ahead of pace by a few minutes, I stopped and chatted for awhile. Kristen and I met in Kindergarten! Our parents still live nearby, so we run into each other from time to time, but it was great to get caught up for a bit. After a minute or two I figured I should probably get back at it, so I said good bye and kept on. At mile 8 I finally encountered some runners. I ran by the first guy who seemed to be hobbling a bit and asked if he was doing okay, he said he was fine and that he just needed to walk here and here. Then I passed a woman who looked like she was still going strong, I ran with her for a while and she said she was doing her first half marathon after having a baby and it was harder than she though it would be (no doubt!) We came to the next water stop and a porta-potty, and she said she was going to stop for a little and that I should keep going. I was still ahead of pace so I told her I could stop for a bit, but she said she'd be fine and that I should go one. So I ran ahead and met up with Judy, a woman I know through Another Mother Runner who had started the race running with Sara's group. She looked pretty tired and said she was really struggling today (it had gotten pretty hot by this point!) I told her I was a couple minutes ahead of pace so I would be happy to run or walk with her at whatever pace she needed. This seemed to be exactly what she needed to hear, because she said "Oh good!" and immediately started walking. We talked about kids, husbands, running, you know, the usual. Then at mile 10 we started running again. She said she was still struggling, but that she wanted to run to at least the 11-mile marker, We made it there and walked again, she telling me to go ahead, but I still had over a minute of spare time on my pace. About another half mile later, we ran again, this time trying to make it to the 12-mile marker before walking. We did it, but when we got there, she said "Really, you go on, I might walk the rest of the way". So I bid her farewell and ran right at pace for the next 1.1 miles. I hit the finish line at 2:44.44, just 16 seconds to spare! My next pacing gig is August 6th, and I'm going to try to hit my time right on the nose!

May 22: Esprit de She Triathlon

There was a lot of drama leading up to my first triathlon of the season! Registration drama, packet pick-up drama, course changing drama...you name it. So much drama I actually started to consider not doing the race. It was happening the day after Birdtown, so I was going to be tired. It was in Lakeville, almost an hours drive from home, so I was going to have to get up stupid early to get there and get set up, and honestly, I had barely been out on my bike at all this spring since time constraints and weather had kept me inside on the trainer. But, I had a bunch of friends doing it, I really enjoyed the duathlon I had done their last year, and I REALLY don't like the thought of paying for a race and then not doing it!

So, I packed up the car and headed out. It was a gorgeous morning, much different from this race last year when we weren't sure if we were going to start due to thunderstorms and the winds nearly knocked us off our bikes. Today the sun was out, it was warm, but not not, and barely a breeze in sight. I was meeting up with my friend Diane since she had generously agreed to pick up my packet the day before (part of the pre-race drama was that the organizers originally said you could have a friend pick your packet up, but then changed their mind a week before saying you had to pick up in person, only to change their minds back a few days before). Anyway, I found Diane and we biked over to transition #2 to drop off our run stuff (pre-race drama part two...we had to set up TWO different transition areas!) We made our way over to the pool and caught up with Sara and a few other friends who were already setting up, and I even ran into a mom of one of Kayley's school friends, doing her first triathlon! We headed inside to get lined up. Since the swim was going to be snake style in the Lifetime pool, we got into groups based on our projected finish time. Pre-race drama take three: The swim portion, originally slated to be 200 yards, held in their outdoor pool, had been reduced to 125 yards, held in their indoor pool because some scheduled maintenance had not been completed on the outdoor pool. Anyway, 125 yards is barely worth getting wet for, but I lined up in the second group, the "1:40 or faster group". Now, I generally average 100 yards at about a 1:20-1:25 pace, so I was being conservative thinking I'd finish in 1:40, but the first group was "1:20 or faster" so I figured I'd be honest with myself and assume I wasn't going to set the pool on fire this morning. I was the last person lined up in my group with about eight women in front of me. One of them turned and looked at the back of the line and asked "Are you all really confident you are going to swim faster than 1:40?" We all nodded "yes" so she said, "I'll go to the back of the line". I looked around at some of the other women in front of me, wondering if anyone else would follow suit, I sure would have liked to move up the line a bit considering I was pretty confident I would go faster, but no one else budged, so I stayed put. The race started with a "motivating" talk from one of the organizers...the only problem was, this poor woman was so nervous to be speaking in front of a crowd she was barely audible to those of us in the front of the queue, I can't imagine anyone in any of the further back groups heard a word she said...but soon we were off. The first swimmer hit the water and we counted down the 20 second interval until the next athlete would go. The first group of women all looked well placed, even if I am certain some of them should have been in my group. Then it was the "1:40" packs turn. The first couple women in were strong swimmers and I started to just relax and think about my race. Then it was down to the two women in front of me...the first one jumped in and proceeded to stand up immediately, adjust her googles, and then started swimming a sort of modified dog paddle, well, I guess we can't all be good at judging our finish times. Then the woman directly in front of me jumped in and started to do breast stroke. For those of you without a swimming background, dog paddle and breaststroke are two of the slowest ways to swim. I was trying not to feel frustrated about the fact that I was likely going to lose a lot of time either waiting behind these women, or trying to pass them, but my inner competitor was kind of pissed. I jumped in and started stroking, almost making it to the first wall before catching up with the woman in front of me. She came to a full stop at the wall and I frantically tried to turn and pass her at the same time, but I eventually had to stand and move to the side so I could push off around her. My next length was uninterrupted, but about mid way through the third length I caught up with the doggy-paddler, who was swimming right down the middle of the lane, I had no choice but to slow up and wait until we hit the wall to pass. I managed to move by her a little more easily and swam the fourth length as fast as I could. I was almost done with my fifth length when I ran into one more swimmer, who was standing at the ladder trying to get out. I moved to the side of the lane opposite the ladder and pushed myself out of the pool, really glad to have that over with. I started to run down the exit carpet to the transition area when one of the Lifeguards on duty yelled "No running!" Are you kidding me? This is a race!!! Oh well, I reluctantly started speed walking instead and powered quickly through T1 and got out on the bike course. I remembered this course as fairly hilly from last year, but it proved to be pretty tame, with just a few rollers along the way. I felt strong and fast and was kind of surprised that I didn't encounter any other bikers the who time. I knew I had passed several women out of transition, but I didn't think I had passed so many that I was in the lead. I headed into transition not sure where I was at when I noticed there were only five other bikes on the racks, wow...I was doing much better than I had planned. I got my shoes and race belt on and quickly ran out of transition onto the run course. I was a bit confused at first as many of the women who were doing the duathlon were coming in from their first run leg, so I had a brief moment where I ran the wrong way until a helpful participant yelled "No...go THAT way". Finally I saw some directional signage and got back on track. The run was only two miles, so I figured I'd just go for it, as hard as I could and see what happened. I was still all alone when I passed the water station at mile one, but as soon as I turned the corner, I spotted a runner in front of me. This is when I realized that I had a good chance of making a podium today, maybe even winning my age group! I passed her on the only hill on the course, and said "good job runner" as I did. She said "Thanks, go get 'em!" and I sped up. I hit the top of the hill and remembered that it was all downhill from here to the finish, so I turned on my "jets" and hit the finish chute with a smile. I crossed the line just a few seconds behind the woman in front of me, who I would later learn was Chris, the woman who beat me by just 40 seconds to take first place in the 45-49 age group...I was second! It was my first podium and I was excited to share it with Diane who came in third. After all the pre-race and swim portion drama it ended up being a great day!

June 4: Let's Play 5K

For the second year in a row, Kayley and I got out together for her school's annual playground fundraiser, the Let's Play 5K. Our neighbor Jenn is the race director, so this year we recruited Bill and Logan to come with us to help her out as course marshals. It looked a little rainy when we woke up, but we decided to brave the weather and bike the 2 miles to the school. By the time we got there things had cleared up and we were ready to race. Kayley opted to also participate in the "fun run" for the younger kids, which is a 1/4 mile loop around the school. Of course she sprinted this, so when it was time to line up for the 5K she was "tired". But soon enough she saw some of her friends and was making a plan to ditch old Mom in favor of running with them. No worries, I assumed that soon enough the old "tortoise and hare" would play out and I'd find her resting on the side of the road. And there she was, with her friend Chloe, standing around right at the one mile mark. As soon as they saw me they of course started running again, and I caught back up with them at the 1.5 mile marker where they had stopped at the water station. After that, Chloe decided to run with her Mom and Kayley said she wanted to walk a bit more. So we walked/ran together until we got to 2.5 miles. That's when Kayley decided she wasn't going to hang with me anymore and took off sprinting! I tried to keep up, but that girl is fast when she wants to be. I figured she'd tire before the finish line, I mean, who sprints from a half mile out?!? But, of course she didn't tire, and she beat me by a solid minute! After the race we met up with Bill and Logan and enjoyed way too many popcicles. The sky was starting to cloud over again, so we hopped on our bikes and made it home just before the rain started to fall. I forgot to start my watch, so I have no idea what we finished in, but what ever it was...it was a great time!

July 10:  The Color Run

I had kind of forgotten I had signed up for the Color Run until my sister reminded me a week before the race! She and my niece Tionna were going to meet up with Kayley and me for this fun run at the State Fair Grounds. This was during a busy time at work for me, so I was excited to have the distraction. We had signed up for the first wave, going off at 9am, so thankfully we didn't need to be up at the crack of dawn. We met Amy and TT in the parking area and got our shirts (Amy thankfully agreed to pick ours up since Kayely had a swim meet the day before). We headed to the start area and met up with some of the other moms from the Maple Grove MRTT group. There were a ton of people there and the start corral got busy fast. We manged to squeeze in to the second wave to go, and we were off! We started out at an easy pace and quickly hit the first color station, yellow. Having never done this before, we weren't sure what to expect, so we just ran through and got lightly dusted. Of course TT and Kayley noticed quickly that many of the kids in the race were way more covered in color than we were, so when we hit the orange station a little bit later, the two of them took coloring themselves into their own hands...rolling around on the ground in the piles of color powder, and taking handfulls of it and pouring it over their heads. The processed continued for the next three staions, pink, blue and "tropicolor" where I got it the worst! By the time we hit the finish chute, we definitely had a rainbow glow about us. We collected our finisher medals and headed over to the stage to dance with the DJ and take part in the color explosion. It was a fun morning, but I was definitely ready for a shower, and Kayley had to get back to the pool for some more races that afternoon. We will definitely be putting this run on our calendar agin next year!

So, there you have it...what I've been up to since February race-wise. Pacing and family races have been a fun distraction to work business and training...but the "A-Race" is just around the corner, no more play time, it's about to get real...next up?

Toughman Minnesota Half Iroman on July 24th!!!

Cross your fingers that my mind and body have 70.3 miles of racing in them...I'm equal parts excited and scared to death! I'll have a full race report for you some time next week!