Maryland Olympic Duathlon recap

So this was my first Duathlon and let me say it was very freaking HARD. My friend J and I initially signed up for this race a couple months back not really expecting it to be that hilly. Her friend who had also signed up said it just had a couple hills & the run portion was short (6 miles). I think the short run portion is what sold us on registering. We went about training & agreed to go on a few long rides in the hills of Prince William Forest along with some practice long runs in between.

The race started at 7am so we agreed to get on the road by 5am, this would allow us plenty of time to pick up our packets & rack our bikes. Race morning went pretty smoothly. I got up & had my usual pre race meal of toast, peanut butter with sliced bananas and was out the door by 4:40. We both met up at her house at 5am and made the 45+  minute ride to Western Regional Park in Woodbine, Maryland.
Here is a heads up if you ever have to travel through parts of Maryland. As we were driving the GPS had us go through various towns and we noticed a couple of flashes. After the 2nd flash it dawned on us that we were caught by the speed light cameras. UGH !!

We both also took notice as to how the landscape changed from an occasional hill to a rolling countryside as far as the eye could see. All we could do was laugh and cross our fingers & hope that we finish the race in 1 piece.
The race started in waves with the Elites going first. We were grouped in waves based on age and gender. We took a couple pre race pictures & headed to the corral.

The start was very easy & the run portion was very easy. We both finished in 20 minutes.

Transition 1 was easy but a lot of time was wasted it took (5 mins).



Elevation showing how hilly it was

The ride was a looped course each loop was 13 miles. It started out going up a small hill & at the top you turned right and it's a nice long down hill for about 3 miles then the remainder of the course is up down, up down, etc... After climbing the first hill I decided my strategy would be to take full advantage of the downhill's and go as fast as I could. Miles 4, 7, 12 & 17 I clocked 18-20 mph according to Garmin. I was in trouble when I drank all my water after mile 18. I do not know what the hell I was thinking carrying only 1 water bottle especially when the high was going to be 90+ degrees with 94% humidity. Lesson learned for sure & thank goodness I was almost done. I finished the 26 miles in 1:55:25 which averaged out to 13.5 mph.

Transition 2 was again spent wasting time (4:58 min).

The final 4 mile run was a very strange feeling. I never practiced any brick workouts (run bike transition training) prior to this race so I was totally thrown off by this weird feeling. To me, it was like learning to walk again, I cannot explain it but it took me a good 3/4 of a mile before running felt semi "normal". All I remember is that it was really HOT & when I saw the first water station I grabbed 2 Gatorades & 2 cups of water. I downed both Gatorades, 1 cup of water & poured the other water over my head. The rest was a blur until about the last 1/4 mile when I was running up the hill toward the finish I saw Paul (J's friend) waving at me. I crossed the finish & was so relieved and somewhat in disbelief that I actually finished.

Until next time.....:D

Marine Corps Marathon Historic Half Marathon

On Sunday (5/19/13) I ran the Marine Corps Historic Half marathon. The weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain so I was really dreading this race thinking that it was going to be a rainy 13 mile run. Luck must have been on my side that morning because the rain was very minimal. It was pretty humid & drizzly but the temps were cool.
Saturday I picked up my friend Sara & we headed down to the expo in Fredericksburg. We had a fun time & the expo certainly did not disappoint. It had a lot of vendors and we were able to snag quite a few freebies. Yay for the Marines! The cool thing was we were both interviewed by a reporter for the local paper.

http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2013/05/18/runners-pick-up-packets-prepare-for-historic-half/



some expo fun

The pre-start plan was to meet up with some other MRTT (Moms Run This Town) ladies for a group picture at 6:45. The ride down I95 was pretty good but once I got to the exit for Fredericksburg I knew that our picture meet up wasn't going to happen because the exit line was so long. By the time I got to the race start I was already five minutes past the picture meet up time. There were so many people that I don't know if I would've been able to find anyone anyway. I hopped in the 2:30 - 2:59 hour corral and I recognized a lady who is a teacher at my sons school. We chatted for a bit while I set up my Garmin. As soon as my watch found the satellite, the cannon went off to start the race.

We ran together for just about half a mile and then we went our separate ways. I was feeling pretty good & running at a decent pace. When I got to the first water station, I decided I better get in line and use the restroom. It was then that I realized that I had not eaten anything & the only fuel I had were 2 GU gels. This was not a good sign. I continued on with no problems making sure to stop at each water station since I wasn't carrying any water. Some of the signs on the course were really funny. I tried to get pictures of them but it was quite a challenge taking pictures while running so some of my photos turned out blurry. For being so drizzly and wet, there sure was a lot of crowd support. People were out sitting in their yards with signs & cheering for us runners as we ran by. Once we got out of the neighborhood, we made our way to the historic part of Fredericksburg where there were lots of Marines in uniform and other people who lined up on either side of the street to cheer us on. At around the mile 6 water station they were handing out sport beans, so I grabbed a few bags along with a cup of Gatorade.
I continued on & caught up to an older guy running who was carrying an American flag on top of a long pole. On the back of his shirt he had a picture of Marine who was killed in action. I am not sure if it was his son, grandson or just a friend he knew, but it was pretty heartfelt seeing that. Just before mile seven I passed a lady in her wheelchair trying to pedal with her arms, we runners wished her some encouraging words as we ran by. Shortly after passing her I came upon This older guy wearing a yellow shirt that said I'm 69 and I can do this. I gave him a thumbs up & said I liked his shirt.

Miles 7,8 and nine went by with no problem but I started getting really tired. I decided to eat some of the sport beans that I picked up earlier,as well as, an Expresso GU.



Hospital Hill up ahead

I made it to mile 10 and decided to use the potty again before attempting "Hospital Hill". Hospital Hill is the dreaded hill that everyone was talking about. It's about a 2 mile uphill climb. I got about halfway up that hill and my left calf cramped up on me. It was awful I had to stop and go to the side of the road to try to stretch it out real good. Sadly the stretching helped very little. I remember having this same problem last fall during a 10 mile training run. Out of nowhere, I just suddenly got a horrible calf cramp in that same leg. I attribute it to not drinking enough water the day before. Well needless to say, I finally made it to the top of the hill. I made the decision to just suck it up run through the pain for the last 2 miles. At that point I just wanted to get to the finish line and not have to run anymore. I was about a quarter mile from the finish when I heard a lady yell "go mama & run this town". That was the push I needed to pick up the pace all the way to the finish. I was greeted by a lineup of Marines in their BDU's (Battle Dress Uniforms) on either side of the finish line waiting to put a medal around my neck. I didn't beat my last half marathon time but I surely enjoyed this race.



almost to the finish

13.1 & a beautiful medal too

Couple lessons I've learned from this race is:
1. you must follow a training plan!! A few double digit mile bike rides & a couple 3 mile weekly runs isn't gonna cut it
2. Remember to "properly" hydrate at least the day before or a couple days before race day. Three small cups of water and a couple venti iced coffee's the day before isn't going to prevent calf cramps/Charlie Horses.
3. EAT something an hour before the race. Your body will need the fuel. Of couurse I already knew these things but just took them for granted and it is now 2 days post race I still feel like I've been hit by Amtrak. Definite lesson learned for me!

Until Next Time......:D

Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon

This was my first half Marathon & my first point to point race. The race started at Mount Vernon and ran on the GW Parkway, over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and finished at National Harbor in Maryland. After training all summer & battling the nasty heat, I actually felt like I was ready. My longest run was the weekend prior and it was 10 miles.

On Saturday my Dad and I went to the expo to pick up my race packet. It contained my bib, a nice tech shirt & some other paperwork (coupons etc..). The only reason my Dad went with me was because I told him how great the expo's were. Well that wasn't the case with this one. Note: the last expo I went to was the Rock n Roll in Virginia Beach & it was huge with lots of vendors so I naturally assumed they were all about the same - oops. Needless to say this expo was very, very small in comparison & had just a handful of vendors. We were in and out of there in 15 minutes.

 

Race morning I got up at ass crack of dawn (4:30am) & got ready. I had my usual pre run meal toasted bagel, peanut butter & sliced banana. I met up with my running buddy J in Springfield & we rode together to the race. The plan was to park at National Harbor & then take a shuttle bus to the start at Mount Vernon. We arrived shortly before 6am & had to park a few floors up in the parking garage. Getting on the shuttle bus & arriving at Mount Vernon was a smooth process. Kudos to the organizers great planning. At Mount Vernon, we had plenty of time. We saw one of Jamie's friends and decided to take a picture before waiting in line for the potty.

Mount Vernon pre race picture

You can't tell by the picture but it was drizzly & lightly raining. We were hoping it would stay that way but it didn't. After we took care of business at the port-a-potties we lined up in the corral & waited for the start. At 7:20 they sang the National Anthem, that was my cue to get my watch ready in time for it to find a satellite.

The gun goes off at 7:30 and we are running.
The first few miles I did not even notice anything, I was too busy trying to stay in the "zone". Once we passed mile 5 we saw a lot people standing on top of a bridge holding signs & cheering for us. The rain also started to pick up & I was burning up so I had to take off my vest. I wasn't sure if I should keep it or toss it. I tried tying it around my waist but it wouldn't stay tied so I ended up carrying it for the rest of the race.    

The lovely bridge is at mile 9 and my pace slowed down a bit, I had to put my vest back on because it got real cold & I remember getting hit in the face with semi frozen rain & battling the crazy wind. I also remember hearing lots of cars honking at us as we were running across the bridge. That was somewhat motivating ~ no crowd support but vehicle support (I'll take it) ~ yay for honking cars !



a shot of me carrying my vest, wont be doing that again

 

Coming off of the bridge was nice & downhill but not for long because at mile 11 there was this evil hill & it SUCKED!! My calves were hating me. Once you get to the top of the hill you end up running a short distance over some gravel. For me, running on that was harder than the evil hill. The was a mix of gravel & large rocks and it was uneven. Thank goodness it wasn't far because once your done then you round the corner and it's pretty much a straight line to the finish area.

 

 I crossed the finish line and felt like crying. I was so proud of myself, how far I had come and to be able to accomplish my goal was pure awesome!

Best.Feeling.Ever.

until next time .....:D

Rock n Roll VA Beach Half Marathon

My brother n law "T" & I signed up to run this as a relay team. We flipped a coin and lucky me I ended up with the longest leg 7.9 miles. This was my first race that was not a 5k so I was excited & nervous all at the same time. I knew I could run most all of it because I did a lot of training over the summer in preparation for my first half marathon the next month. I was hoping that the plantar fasciitis that I had been dealing with for a few weeks would not flare up & ruin my run.

On Friday evening, the hubs and I made the drive down to Virginia Beach. Luckily his sister lives there, so not having to pay for a hotel was nice.

Saturday afternoon everyone wanted to go to the expo, so we all packed into his sisters minivan and we went over to the Virginia Beach Convention Center. We collected our packet which included a drawstring bag, bib & Dtag timer, a New Balance tech shirt & a wooden drumstick which would be our relay baton. The expo was nice & big with lots of vendors and free samples. We had fun at the picture booth, we put on these funky wig's and had our picture taken.

I got up at 5am Sunday morning. I made a cup of coffee & had a toasted bagel with peanut butter & a sliced banana on top. We were out the door by 5:45. We got to the start location next to the convention center and it was totally congested, luckily I did not drive otherwise we would have been driving in circles looking for parking. T lives in the area and knew to go to the library to park. It had plenty of parking spaces and it was only a couple blocks away.
We walked to the start & found our corrals and wished each other good luck.

I was surprised at how crowded the corral was with 45 min remaining until the start. It seemed like as soon as I got situated in the corral, the gun went off & we were running.

The first 3-4 miles were great. We started at the convention center and ran toward the oceanfront & down Atlantic Avenue. There were a lot of people lined on both sides of the street cheering & it seemed like a band was playing every 1/2 mile. Ok maybe not that frequent but it sure seemed that way. It was very energetic & I was enjoying the run while maintaining a decent pace. When I got halfway up the Rudee Inlet bridge, that is when the rest of my race seemed to be a struggle. The mental battle began once I saw other runners walking up the bridge. I fought more with my self mentally than physically. I knew my body could have kept the pace but my mind wanted to give up. Did I mention that it was insanely muggy & air temp was 77° with 85% humidity??


starting up the Rudee Inlet Bridge

I got to mile 6 and had use the port a john, I ignored the first 2 opportunities & couldn't take it any longer so I had to stop. It took quite a bit of time wrestling with my clothes but eventually I got out and back on the course to resume my run. The last 2 miles seemed LONG. We were running though Camp Pendleton and it was rather boring. We had lovely views of barracks & trailers with no crowd support or bands. At least it was shady & not in the direct sun. With only 2 miles left I just stuck to a slower pace. I finally got to mile 8 & handed off the guitar stick to T & off he went.

 

love the guy in green- his expression had me laughing

 

 

At the relay transition area they had a medical tent & another table where volunteers were handing out Gatorade, fruit & Powerbar's. We (relay runners) were directed to a line of busses that would drive us to the finish line to meet up with our other teammate.

We were dropped off at the oceanfront near the finish line & the finish area was somewhat ridiculous. A few of us tried to get in the finish area on the boardwalk but were told we were not allowed. We tried to explain that we were on a relay team but they still wouldn't let us in. Trying to find T was crazy! I ended up walking toward the beer tent. I enjoyed my free beer on the beach & after a few minutes I got a text from T that he had finished. We finally met up and headed home.

 

 

 

 

Warrior Dash

On Sunday Hubby and I ran our first mud obstacle race.

A few months prior I signed up for this race online & after registering I remember sitting at my desk wondering what the heck did I just pay for? Am I crazy? I think it was something that I always wanted to scratch off my list of challenge races to do, plus hubby agreed to do it with me and there was no backing out. A couple weeks leading up to race day I was very nervous and scared that I would not be able to do the obstacles.

On race morning my we (Dad, son, hubby & I) drove to Budds Creek, MD. We found the bag check & the packet pick-up tent. In our packet was an official race shirt, bib & a coupon for a free beer. Dad & our little guy got situated & found a spot close to the finish line so they could watch & take pictures.

We met up with some other friends of mine who were also running the course. Dad was so awesome and took a group picture of us at the start line. Before you know it we were doing the count down & the horn went off. The first mile was trail running and super muddy.

The first obstacle we came to was the over and under walls. These were pretty easy, you just hoisted yourself over the wall and crawled under the next wall. I do not remember the next order of obstacles but we climbed over a cargo net, crawled under barbed wire, did a 45 degree rope wall climb & a vertical wall climb. I was unable to do the vertical wall climb, I tried 3 times and got about halfway up and just did not have the arm strength to do the rest of the way. That one was hard!  The next obstacle after that one was the slip n slide. It reminded me of the slip n slide my brother and I had as little kids, except this was a monster one. I remember running up a big dirt hill and getting in line to go down & end up in a muddy pool. It was nuts! I had gravel all over myself.  After running & tackling a few more obstacles we finished by running down a hill toward 2 rows of fire that we had to jump over and then doing a belly crawl through some mud underneath barbed wire.

Once out of the mud we were given our medals & they had bananas on tables for us to eat.

 

Overall I had a good time. Not sure if I would do one again, I really like road races but it's always fun to mix it up some.

 

Until next time............:D

Some old HDR images

I was doing some cleaning up on my external hard drive and found some old HDR photo's that I did a long time ago. For those who do not know what HDR is, it stands for High Dynamic Range. It is basically where you merge different exposed images into one. You can go from very subtle HDR processed images that tend to look more natural  to extreme that look almost cartoonish.
Here are a few that I will share. And I will end this post with my usual closing 3 words.
Until next time..............:D


This one is a very subtle HDR. This picture was taken at the Corner Bakery downtown D.C.

This one has a bit more HDR processing. It was taken inside the National Cathedral in D.C.

This is a Coast Guard ship that is docked at Baltimore Harbor. This image has some heavy HDR processing done to it and has a cartoonish or painterly look.

This last one is of the Manassas National Battlefield Park. This was the sight of 2 major American Civil War Battles.

Giving back & a quick update

It has been awhile since I last updated. Now if only I had the same love of blogging like I do photography *sigh*. It seems like time just slips away and I never seem to have (or want to make) time to update my blog. I cannot believe 2011 is nearing the end & 2012 is knocking at our doors. 
Since my last post, I kind of put my photography on hold and focused more on getting healthier & fit. Sometimes you have to change the scenery in order to "re-charge" your creative batteries (so to speak). 
I am happy to report that my nephew is almost done with his radiation treatments in Boston & will be heading home toward the middle of this month~ YAY!! They were unable to get all of the tumor & he will need periodic future follow ups to check & see if it grows. I know he will win this fight. Did you know that on average 46 children are diagnosed with cancer per day? I have also noticed that you see a lot of pink (breast cancer) but very little gold (childhood Cancer). I am not knocking Breast Cancer because it is important but I am shocked that very minimal funding is given for childhood Cancer research.  I have been trying find ways to give back & help out a family who has a child/teen who has been affected by Cancer. Wouldn't a family portrait session be nice to give to a family as a gift? 
Ok I will get off my soapbox.
I hope to update again soon & below is a tribute to all the beautiful children that God has blessed us with............Until next time :D