Just to let you know- this blog is no longer active. I'll be keeping up my 101 in 1001 list until its completion, but will not be writing new posts. You can read the post below if you want the long version. Thanks for the journey to all my friends in the blogosphere!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Upcoming Races!

There's just 2.5 days left with my 3rd and 4th grade babies! Even though a part of me is aching a little to lose them (they're a good, albeit quirky, little group of kids), the vast majority of me (and them!) is ready for summer! I've got a full summer schedule (think 3 weddings and accompanying parties/showers, an internship with my school system, teaching swim lessons, and a trip to Las Vegas!) but I'm just really ready to drop the stress and fuss of school.

And I'm ready (and desperately need) to get serious about working out again. I'm itching to really put my Garmin to work, finally fetch my bike from my parents' house, and it looks like I'll even have a place to swim this summer! So here's the plan:

June 11: China Grove 5K Main Street Challenge

This is a fun night race and I'll get to run with my mom and sisters!

June 27: Kure Beach Triathlon
I haven't done a triathlon in a few years and I'm ready to get back in the saddle. The Kure Beach race is fun because it's a double sprint (swim, run, bike, run, swim), it's an ocean swim, and it ends on the beach!

I did this race in 2006 and it was quite interesting. There was a hurricane off in the Pacific and the ocean was intensely rough. They encouraged weak swimmers to skip the swim portion, but I thought that was wimpy. I saw the first wave of swimmers go out and when a few of them came back, I thought that was wimpy too. When I went out into those raging waves, I didn't think it was so wimpy anymore. It was r.i.d.i.c.u.l.o.u.s. Every stroke I took, I was pushed back 3. I was tumbled upside down and backwards and my goggles couldn't stay on my head. I ended up grabbing a floating lifeguard's rescue tube and sobbing, "I'm a freaking lifeguard! Why is this so hard?!" After resting for a minute and getting some reassuring words from the lifeguard, I was able to move on and finish the swim. (Meanwhile, my never-panicking-relentlessly-practical mom is on shore, scanning for me for my bobbing head for over 13 minutes and praying for God to rescue me from the sea.)

The run and bike were quick and easy, but my mom was waiting in the transition area attempting to convince me not to go back into the ocean, "It would really be fine if you just skipped the second swim. You don't HAVE to do it. We all know you COULD but maybe you it's not what you SHOULD do." My mind was made up though: I wasn't going to let that ocean defeat me. I jumped back in, but instead of fighting the water, I just took it slow and easy and glided right through that last 375 meters with no problem. I learned you can't race in a hurricane.

So now it's time to tackle Kure Beach again!

September 4: Take the Lake
This is our big local event. It's not really a race, just a particiption event, but I'll be keeping times. I swam the lake a few years ago and last year Mom and I ran, so both of these should be old hat. Except 4 miles is a looong way to swim. And 15 miles miles is a looong way to run.

September 19: Warrior Dash
I'm so excited about this race I can't put it into words! You get to crawl through mud and under barbed wire, leap through fire, and scale walls...all while running. How could it get better? By combining it with a long weekend trip to New York state to see my best friend and first running buddy, Sarah! I found out about this race from Heather at Run, Mommy, Run, but I hope that Sarah and I can get through it injury-free. Rest up and recover soon, Heather!

And the big event is.......



Undecided.

I want to run my next marathon this fall, but still haven't made the final decision of where/when. The two finalists are the Outer Banks Marathon and the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh. What do y'all think? Have any of you ran either of these or heard anything about them?

7 comments:

  1. sounds like you have some really exciting races coming up! that double sprint tri sounds SO fun - and you are a champ for doing both swims in 06, hopefully this year will be hurricane free!

    omg and i am JEALOUS you are doing the warrior dash!! i've seen things about it and it just looks like so much fun. i actually haven't heard anything about either of those marathons but just looking at the website for outer banks made me want to do it! the course looks so gorgeous and flat, and the bridge at mile 22 sounds really cool. yay for racing :)

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  2. I am thinking about doing the half at the City of Oaks Marathon!

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  3. City of Oaks is just hilly. I am signed up for the Outer Banks half, nice and flat, and I hear the marathon course part that isn't with the half (it meets up with the half marathon at mile 13) is pretty cool.

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  4. I just did OBX this past fall....Great race! Really, really flat--like 1 hill at the bridge towards the end of the race! I recommend it :-)

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  5. I'm so jealous you're doing the Warrior Dash! I missed it a few weeks ago when it was here in Texas but the pictures were amazing, I'm definitely doing it next year!

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  6. Thank you so much for this beautiful Article

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