Cold and Windy in the Deep South

When I was looking for a winter marathon I chose one based on a few criteria. A pretty walk-able city/town,  short flight from the NYC area, good weather and most importantly great places to indulge in food and wine pre and post race.   We ended up with 3 out of 4. 

Happy to be warm inside before the start 

Overall experience with the Charleston Marathon was excellent.  It is a smaller marathon, 5,000 runners between 3 events (5k, half marathon and full marathon).   The race had an 8am start which was an awesome treat not having to pull yourself out of bed in the wee hours of the morning; unfortunately a cold front came through during the night resulting in unseasonably cold and windy conditions.  As an endurance athlete living with asthma I try to avoid at all cost cold blistering windy conditions, cold air and asthmatic lungs just do not get along.   Before I left for Charleston I had thrown in a few extra warm gear items which came in handy on race day.  The race started promptly at 8am.  The first 8 miles you are running with the half marathoners which was awesome, as fellow NJ Tri Devil, Karen Whitaker, was running the half marathon distance.  It was fun to have a running buddy the first few miles together, but I did get slightly emotional while running and I thought about how awesome sport is in general that after 28 years of friendship we were running together and still chasing down dreams. As we ran side by side we both tried to ignore the fact that the wind was so strong. We felt like it was blowing us backwards and could not believe how cold it was.  We were both trying to be positive for the other person and confident in our heads that there is no way this wind can maintain for the whole race.  

I have heard before, from more then one person including coaches and friends (Melanie Fink and Brian Shea), DO NOT rely on your GPS while racing, but even armed with this information I choose to ignore it, apparently the GPS had the miles a little short (or the course was a little long, I like this alternative) as right away my mile time was buzzing on the watch before I hit the mile marker on course.  The miles were clicking off right at the pace I wanted, but as I learned later on the miles were clicking off at less then a mile therefore I was slower then where I thought I would be.  Due to some illness and a bout with my breathing a month out I knew my original goal had to be re-set, but when I saw the positive numbers on the watch I decided to try and go for it and get a little closer to the original number I had set.  With the conditions along the course I was hurting pretty bad, and the there were some very lonely parts when you are out there on your own.  Over the years in previous races when ever I knew I was going to see Brian (“The Other Cullen”) I would always have in my head what I was going to say to him, but I kept my mouth closed this time and actually listened, until he said to me I was on pace for a 3:22 marathon.  I almost stopped in my tracks.  Could it be the Garmin was wrong? I thought for sure I would be under 3:20 or just knocking at the door.  So this was disappointing as I was really hurting at this point and was not sure where I could dig from to keep it going.  So I decided to take another of my favorite new gels GU Salted Carmel and see what I could do the last 6 miles or so.  The wheels really started to come off and I had to dig down and find every positive self-talk in my head.  In the end I ended up running a 3:22:59, but I can honestly say I left nothing out there and that is what I had on that day.  Both myself and my coach Melanie Fink  are happy with the results given the fact it was a less them perfect training block, as it is most times for us busy age group athletes.

Wheels starting to fall off 

Nutrition:  Pre Race meal I had full fat Greek yogurt berry smoothie, plus coconut water and GU electrolyte tablets.  On course I carried a 10oz bottle of the GU electrolyte and took 4 GU gels over the course of the race.  I have been experimenting with a less sugar higher fat diet I think this still needs to be tweaked a little further, as Brian Shea (PBN) and I discussed a few other options that might be helpful next endurance event.

Done!

This was a great race and super fun time with friends that joined us for the weekend (including fellow Tri Devils Dave Howard, Karen and Mark Whitaker and of course my hubby, the other Cullen). I truly enjoyed the journey to Charleston and all the fabulous laughs with my hubby and good friends over great meals and incredible wine.

Miami 70.3 Race Report - Oct. 27

With 2 half iron distance races this year under my belt and a decent season of training, I approached this race with more of an aggressive mentality rather than the “let’s hope I finish this thing without dying” thought process.  Bay swim, flat bike, mostly flat run.  Even though I knew I would need a great race to hi it, my goal was to break 5 hours (which I definitely think is realistic). 

Funny enough, the week before the race I ended up with a chest cold that thankfully was almost gone by race date.  I flew down to Miami on Thursday where Isabel picked me up in Ft. Lauderdale.  That evening while Isa was in class, I got in an easy 3 mile run…just as I had expected, hot and humid.   Friday I got a mini tour of Miami, we went for ~30mi bike ride, and then had an awesome time joining the Critical Mass ride.  If you’ve never been part of a Critical Mass ride which is held in multiple cities to raise cycling awareness, its super fun and I highly recommend it!

We started Saturday morning off with some oatmeal, coffee, and a light 2 mile run.  That afternoon we did packet pick-up which was held at the site of transition, during which we each polished off a bottle of Pedialite.  Pick up tent was pretty hidden within all of the vendor tents but eventually we found it.  The race T’s were cool, but other than that nothing crazy.  Everyone at the race (athletes and race directors) seemed to know Isa – probably since she is an amazing athlete and won San Juan 70.3 earlier this year among other events!  We dropped our bikes at our designated racks and headed home.  For dinner I had a small piece of salmon with a serving of rice and beans and Isa and I split another bottle of Pedialite.  Then we packed and lights out by 9:30pm!

 



Watching the sun rise w/ Isa and Lora

Race morning I woke up around 4:45am and consumed a breakfast of plain oatmeal and a single cup of coffee.  We were out the door by 5:15.  On the way to the race, I had some water and an English muffin with Nutella.  We arrived around 6 and I set up my station – taped 2 packs of Clif Shot blocks to my bike, shoes clipped in and fastened with rubber bands, and everything else I needed set out in an orderly fashion.  For my bike bottles this race I chose to skip the Perpetuem since I was trying to rule out what was causing my GI distress during the later portion of the run.  Instead I went with one of plain water and a second with a scoop of Gatorade mix, a GU electrolyte tab, and water (usually I use Roctane but I forgot to pack it).  Last, we hit the portas and hung out watching the sun rise over the water.

The 1^st swim wave for Men’s pros went off at 7:25am.  Thankfully, our age group was wave 4 which started at 7:35.  Much better than at Timberman!  I felt good going out at the start but it was pretty tight and within the 1^st 5 minutes us middle of the packers were all fighting to make a right turn around the 1^st buoy.  By 7 minutes in I was already catching groups of the Wave 3 swimmers (mostly older women ~45ish group if I remember correctly).  About halfway through the swim we hit a large patch (maybe 100m or so) of thick sea grass.  Some of the women from the group in front of us almost were panicking and pulled up in the water.  There were a few times that I had trouble picking my arms up during the recovery portion of the stroke or I couldn’t kick or turn to breathe because of how heavy these “grass mats” were.  The only other portion of the swim that I struggled with was the final stretch toward the swim exit where I was being pushed laterally toward shore, but otherwise felt decent.  I rounded the swim out at 37:19, not my fastest this year, but all things considered I wasn’t upset when I checked my watch on the way to transition.

 

Coming into T2

I had no problems with T1 – spotted my bike easily and everything was set up how I had left it this morning.  Mounted my bike easily and I was on my way.  During 1^st 5 miles of the bike we were making our way out of the city and had a few small inclines but nothing to write home about.  The rest of the bike was a pretty boring single shot out and back in the left lane of Highway 27.  As compared to Timberman, due to our start wave it was mostly a solo ride.  On the way out with a headwind, I passed quite a few females from my wave and the one prior and by the halfway turnaround was being caught by males from the start wave that had followed mine.  About 40 miles into the ride, a tight pack of about 15 (males and 1 female) athletes drafting caught and surrounded me.  With them came a van with officials and it was nice to see that they were calling a lot of the athletes out in the pack and awarding penalties.  Thankfully, the pack had moved past me within about 2 minutes.  Once we returned back into the city our wonderful tailwind was gone and we had to grind out the last 5 miles. Some turns and intersections were not well marked off (Isa actually took a wrong turn and had to turn around at one point).  I closed out the bike in 2:38:46 (21.16mph) and as I was pulling my feet out of my shoes while coming into T2, my left hamstring cramped up and that was enough to make me re-think how I had pushed my bike pace.

T2 went smoothly as well.  Bike racked, hat, race belt, socks and shoes on, 3 GU’s in pocket and I hit the run.  I opened the run up around 7:30 and was feeling pretty good, but 10 minutes in I was brought to a standstill as that dang left hamstring was cramping something fierce.  After about 90 seconds of stretching and minimal walking I reached the point that I could kind of jog without a full on cramp.  I took my 1^st GU and a 2^nd supplied by the race before the end of the 2^nd mile.  By the 3^rd mile I had was back to the fastest run pace that I could tolerate and felt much better as I packed my top and shorts with the loose ice being handed out by the volunteers.  Seriously the ice was my saving grace as the 84º heat and humidity beat down on us as we crossed a large open bridge (over and back).   I completed the rest of the 1^st run loop with no major problems, took my 2^nd GU, and was definitely thinking “why in the world do I sign up for these things?” The 2^nd loop felt just as bad as the one before and I ate my last GU around mile 8.  By now I was drinking both water and Gatorade and walking a few steps at each aid stop.  The final 2.5 miles were the worst.  I knew I had less than 20 minutes to go and my body was threatening with cramping with every few strides.  My run finished up at a 1:44:47 (7:59 pace) with some light sunburn.   One big thing to mention...NO GI DISTRESS!  Yes!  On the day I went 5:04:52 which is a big PR for me, good for 7th in AG.  Looks like 5 hours will have to remain my goal for 2014!

So happy to be done!

Isa won our AG with a 4:47:23 and her friend Lora went second with a 4:51:13. I also had a chance to catch up with Monica Sanchez who claimed 2^nd in her AG with a 5:01:25. All 3 claimed their spots for Canada in Sept 2014!  We spent the rest of the afternoon at the race finish hanging out, recovering, and taking in a few adult beverages. 

We may or may not have beers in our back pockets...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the whole I had a lot of fun in Miami.  The race wasn’t anything crazy or picturesque, but if you are looking for flat and hot (when the northeast is posting low 50’s) then it’s a good choice as a weekend getaway!!



Made some new friends (Frank, Isa, & Roy)


 

 

 

No one ever includes the embarassing pics....well they caught me.

Nike Women's Marathon San Francisco 2013

From the beginning registration steps, this race was HANDS DOWN, awesome!

By registering for this race, they created a special app for smartphones just for you, if you don’t have a smartphone; you were able to set up a web page version on your computer. The app had the course map, special Nike deals, training plan, training blog, picture blog, personal information, and a place to set and achieve personal goals throughout your training!

As we got closer to race date, you realize how much of an “event” this actually is. They begin to release special edition apparel (SHOES!) that are marathon specific with the race “color,” always “Tiffany blue” because Tiffany is a sponsor of the race.

Three days before the race date, they host an “expo-tique” in the center of Union Square. Here you can pick up your packet, view a virtual race map (live pictures from points on the course), instar-gram live stream of other athletes in the area,  whole foods samples, Hair & make-up stylists, and more samples from the sponsors. Across the street, you will find the Nike store of S.F. 7 floors of Race specific apparel! Awesome!

Race day: I woke up at 5 AM for a 6:30 Race Start, Lucky for me my hotel was at the starting line, all I had to do was walk outside and into my corral. For breakfast I ate an Almond Butter Perfect Foods bar (I have these often, gluten free and all real foods mashed into the best bar ever!) I didn’t drink much water – my hydration was taken care of the day before! To warm up, I used a foam roller  to warm up my legs without getting too tired! As I head down to the start area, I am bundled up head to toe. At the start line, I ate some Honey Stinger energy gels and drank a very little Lemon-Lime EFS & water mixture. Before race start, I took off my extra clothing and was ready to begin!

As the fireworks! Went off, everyone took off I was 15 seconds behind the gun time.  As we took off, I looked at my watch and realized adrenaline had taken me too fast, so I slowed down my pace and began to get into a rhythm. My fiancé, Ricky met me at the 5K mark which was great because I had to make some adjustments. About mile 5.5, I ran down the road, and had to look up “ut-oh, here we go!” Up the first hill, wasn’t too bad especially because what goes up, comes down! Between miles 5 and 9 there were rolling climbs. I took a Cliff Energy Gel @ mile 7.5. The sponsors made running up the hills feel like nothing with all the distractions, keeping your attention elsewhere.

Mile 11 the course split and the half-marathoners ran to the finish, while the marathoners ran around Golden Gate Park and off to the Ocean Road for the second half of the race. I took another Cliff Energy Gel at mile 14. Mile 20 was inspirational there was a family greeting you at the turn around and a HUGE screen zooming in on each athlete. Took another cliff energy gel at mile 21 and just wanted the finish line to come!

My fiancé met up with me again at mile 22.5 and ran with me to the finish, which was perfect because he helped me keep my composure to finish strong!

The greatest part about this race is the finish line, where you meet men in tuxedos with tiffany boxes for YOU on a SILVER platter. Tiffany’s makes race specific finisher necklaces for each athlete! Next, you receive your finisher T-Shirt!  Whole Foods being a sponsor was great at the finish line, they had a nice big bag of all sorts of food and drinks for you!

San Francisco isn’t known for their great weather, it was pretty foggy the whole race, especially on the ocean road because the water is so cold. At the finish, my body went into temperature shock, but they were there with insulation blankets to keep your body heat in!

Overall, this was a great race- they really know how to accommodate LOTS of people. There were 30,000 athletes, 25,000 were half-marathoners & 5,000 did the full marathon! I finished with at time of 3:38.15 and that gave me 177 Place (TOP 4%!)

I would definitely do it again! Nike Women’s Marathon hosts another race in DC in the spring! (unfortunately I cannot run because I am pacing the NJ Half marathon)

Timberman 70.3 Race Report - Aug 18

Sorry guys, I know 2 months late!

My bike rack -Can you see the bike in/out sign? ...me neither.

I arrived in Ashland NH where I would be staying for the weekend with my parents late Friday night.  While it was nice to see them, immediately upon arriving I was met with non-stop complaints about the place we were staying in…they thought it smelled like mold but it was fine, I mean really, we were in the woods.  Guess who got to pack up the car to move to a different building .1 mile away?  Yep.  They also decided to do athlete packet-pickup/check in with me on Saturday, the day before the race.   Race site was about 50 minutes to an hour away from the condo we were staying in.  Due to road closure, we drove around a bit extra to get to Gunstock Mountain Resort for packet pickup but everything after that went pretty smoothly.  Transition area/bike drop off was super busy.  I found my spot wayyyy in the back far from bike in/bike out.  On the positive, I had an easy place to spot at the end of a rack.  It was also a toss-up for me about a full wetsuit or sleeveless, but after feeling the lake temp night before, full suit was definitely an appropriate choice.  On our way home we went to mass and picked up what we would make for dinner:  chicken and rice. 
 That night I packed everything I would need in my car and prepped my bike bottles – one bottle with a scoop of unflavored perpetuem and Gu Roctane Grape Flavor mixed with water and a second with just water.  I was in bed by about 9:45pm with an alarm set for 3:47am (yes, I’m the weirdo who sets my alarm to end in only a 3 or 7…I swear I’m not OCD).

Race morning went well since everything was set up the night before.  Coffee was brewing as I hit the kitchen.  I had a single cup with a scrambled egg, a slice of toast, and two scoops of plain oatmeal.  Shortly after 4am I grabbed my bike bottles, a Gatorade, and a container with an English Muffin with Nutella spread and hit the road.

While they warned that race site parking would be full by 5am, I showed up around 5:15 and there was plenty of parking.  Before I left my car I put down the rest of my coffee and the English Muffin and made my way to transition.  Security was tight race morning and they checked numbers on everything.  When I got to my bike, I used electrical tape to attach two Clif Shot Blocks to the frame, clipped in and rubber banded my bike shoes on the bike, and set out everything else I would need for the race…except I left my bottles in the car.  Luckily, the swim entrance was right behind my bike and my car was just a short walk through the woods.  On the way back, there was an awesome sunrise over the lake.  Made me glad that I forgot my bottles after all….that and the fact that I found a bunch of unused, lineless Porta Johns!  Just after 6 I had checked and double checked that I had everything where I wanted.  Transition area closed at 6:45am and from there on it was just a waiting game.  The first swim wave of Male Pros went off at 7am and then I still had a bunch of time to kill until my Wave 18 start at 8:01am – thankfully during which I didn’t decide to get in the water until 10 minutes before my start.   Everyone else that had jumped in to warm up earlier looked like they were freezing.

The lake swim was awesome - clean and clear.  The choice of a full suit was perfect as well.  (Thanks again for letting me borrow it Mo, so far I’ve had some of my best swims in your suit!)  One thing that stinks about starting in such a late wave is that you end up catching so many racers from the heats in front of you.  By no means am I a fast swimmer, but within 10 minutes I was having to maneuver over and around a lot other racers.  For the most part I felt like I was really moving during the swim with the exception of the final stretch to the beach.  I swear I was looking at the same rock below my fact for what seemed like 30 seconds before I looked up around me and saw a ton of other people in the same boat who seemed to be swimming for their lives yet going nowhere.  

Eventually I hit shore with my fastest swim at this distance: 33:07. As I was running to transition, I totally forgot that Ironman races had wetsuit strippers!!! Oh the convenience, these guys are awesome!  Many shorter races I will actually opt out of wearing a wetsuit if I don’t have to just because I struggle longer getting the dang thing off than I actually save time in the water.  But really, I felt so spoiled.  It was great!   I got to my bike fairly quickly, strapped on my helmet and sunglasses, and was headed to the bike out. 

I mounted pretty smoothly with my shoes clipped onto my bike and was ready to ride.  The 1^st 12 miles of the bike were pretty brutal…3 big hills, the 3^rd of which was not enjoyable by any means.  I just took my time and span up them, not trying to burn myself for the remainder of the race – of which there was still a lot left.  While climbing the 3^rd hill, the lead male ripped down the other side in his aeros.  Seriously, holy crap.  It looked like a death wish.  The rest of the 1^st half of the bike was a slight downhill, which we got the privilege of climbing back up, including the backside of those 3 hills on our return trip to transition area. After getting through 12 miles I ate my 1^st Packet of Cliff Shots and was still only taking in my bottle with Perpetuem and Roctane.  By mile 20 I was having sharp stomach pain similar to what I experienced at Woodstock and switched up my nutrition bottle for my water only bottle for the remainder of my ride – needless to say by mile 35,no more stomach pain.   I also passed my parents who were camped out on some business’s front lawn waiting to see me for 5 seconds.  It really is awesome to have friends or family at events, even if you only see them once or twice.  During the second half of the bike on the stretch of hills, there a female in my age group that really was blowing herself up to try and stay with me.  I let her lead the 3^rd hill and then just as we were hitting the top I thought of Joe from the peddler… and dropped her.  He would have been proud.  My bike split was much better than I had hoped for with the course profile - 2:57:58.

I dismounted my bike leaving the shoes clipped in with no problem and hustled back to where my run gear was set up.  T2 was quick.  Socks and shoes on, GU's in my back pocket, and on my way.  On the run I opened the 1^st 6 miles around a 7:50-8ish pace and felt pretty good even though the hills on the run were tough as well. The 1^st Roctane Island Nectar GU went in at mile 1.5 and the second at mile 6.  Ironman had such great (and plentiful) volunteers on their course… same goes for Porta Johns thankfully, since by mile 7 I felt my stomach rumbling and prepping to go for the kill.  At mile 8 I knew I needed an open Porta  ASAP and got very lucky.  I was in and out in less than :45 but during that time I got passed by a female in my age group.  I saw her pass as I exited but didn’t have the legs to stay with her.  By mile 9 I was starting to tank.  The hills on the return portion of the run were brutal during the second go-round.  Up to this point I was only taking in water, but I switched and took a cup of Gatorade at mile 10 and this is the last thing that I consumed prior to finishing.  I gutted out the last 3 miles and finished with a 1:46:54 run.  Slightly slower than I had hoped, but keeping in perspective my bike split, I couldn’t be disappointed in the least.


 My final race time was 5:21:49 (a PR of over 30minutes) which wound up being  12^th in AG.  On my back to transition, I met up with fellow devils Kelly and Michelle, took a few photos, and then headed over to grab a recovery drink and some food.  While I had no interest in the hot food or pasta salad, the fruit and homemade ice cream hit the spot.  I packed up all of my gear and headed out to meet my parents. 

The next day, as you would expect, I was pretty beat up and sore.  My mother had this great idea to hike…oh you know, as recovery.  Needless to say, the trails were a little aggressive on the legs, but we made it through okay.  The weather was perfect for it and waterfalls were freezing but felt great on the lower body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, I really enjoyed this race and weekend on the whole.  It was definitely challenging, good weather, and I was really happy with my performance.  I would highly recommend this race to anyone looking for a tough course.

A race without Transitions

This past weekend I participated in the Perfect 10 miler all women’s race. This was the inaugural year for what appears to be an annual event and very popular all women’s run.  As an organizer of another all women’s race, Beauty and Beach Run, I am very acutely aware of what goes into producing and delivering a great event for women.  The Perfect 10 miler did not disappoint.

last mile at the Perfect 10 miler

Race Course:  Most of the race was held within Mercer County Park, which is a beautiful park with sports fields, a lake, nice running paths a great place to hold a race.  There are some small rolling hills and it was a little windy this past weekend, but other then that the conditions were perfect over-cast and in the 50s.  The race organizer did a phenomenal job in paying attention to the small details.  Things such as bow tie men at the star line cheering us on, pacers for ladies trying to hit their goals, to the bands and music on the race course, it gives the ladies a great experience. Post race was an excellent party filled with music, beer and wine area with even coffee and hot chocolate!
Race Details: 10 miles is a challenging distance, since you do not want to go out at your crazy hard 5k sprint pace, but you need to go out harder then your haft marathon settle in pace.  My coach, Mel Fink, and I had a plan to start at a 6:50 pace for first 6 miles than drop to a 6:40 pace.  At the start line I was talking to a few of the ladies just seeing where people were at so that I can find someone to pace off of and there were a few of us that were all within that range or so they said.  Of course the gun went off and all bets were off and all of sudden we were charging out of the gate at a blistering 6:10 pace.  I knew I was in trouble as this was not my plan.  As I settle back in, a group of us started to separate and I tried to relax into a slower pace then what my first mile was.  I passed fellow NJ Tri Devil Aaron Levine who pointed out to me “so much for not being motivated” (As I had mention to him that the day before I lacked motivation) as I ran by him I let him in on a little known fact amongst my close friends and family that I am just not right in the head and once the gun goes off – switch clicks in my mind ….game time GO!.  Taking some off season nutrition advice from Brian Shea of PBN, I fueled for this event with a more simple strategy for a hard hour-ish effort.  We triathletes get into our modes of fueling every workout like we are heading out for a 100 mile ride, or to tackle a full marathon.  So through the aide stations I grab some water and had a GU gel at mile 4 and then around mile 7 I was really starting to hurt.  I had an extra gel and just took a little bit off the top, this technically did nothing for me besides appease my head as the fuel really did not get to my muscles until close to mile 9, but my head and legs were happy in that moment. 
In the end I finished 1 spot off the overall podium in 4^th place pretty much the worst place to be, but I exceeded my anticipation in the run with an average of 6:43 pace over 10 miles.  Pushing myself at that pace for 10 miles was a great learning experience and confident boost I needed, for the head case I am, with marathon training starting up soon.  Unfortunately I have not yet figured out how to overcome the 17 seconds which was the difference between 1^st and 2^nd at Vineman70.3 and at Perfect 10 the difference between 3^rd and 4^th (off the podium) was 16 seconds.  I hope to figure out how I can reach inside and find this gap for my next race.

Caitlin Dorgan's, Life Time Fitness Chicago Triathlon Race Report

Hear is the first part of Caitlin Dorgan's race report from the Chicago Triathlon, click on the link to read more of Caitlin's blog.

http://dorgancr.blogspot.com/

Hello Everyone!..Catching up on my blogs, which have all been done for a long time but never published!

Just want to say thank you to all who supported the Girls On The Run charity that I raced for this past weekend, together I beat my goal and raised over 700 dollars! That money will go towards scholarships and running programs to keep young girls in school and running! Whats better?!

Rise and shine 4am Chicago time, 5am our time which was actually lovely! I was in bed the previous night by 9pm their time so I was still on NJ time schedule so it didn't seem so bad. Transition opened at 4:15am. My cousin, Kim let me crash for the weekend and she was 1.5 miles away from the transition and about 3/4 of a mile away from the start of the swim. I walk out the door and there is a small park out front of her house FILLED with rabbits. Bunnies running everywhere it was insane! Cycled over to transition with all my stuff and racked my bike in a decent spot that was easy to find. Racks were all marked too which made everything easy. The sprint race started at 6am, the olympic didn't start until 7:38am so I went back to Kims house to eat and relax for a bit. I then warmed up around the neighborhood and headed over to the swim start.