Tuesday
Since Monday was spent protein cupcake baking rather than running, I made myself go to Tuesday's hill workout at Fleet Feet. I was about halfway there when I realized I forgot my Garmin. God knows the world stops when I don't have my Garmin. So I turned back around, sped home to get it, and fought against all my might to not stay home and skip hills. And then I remembered that half marathon I accidentally signed up for at the end of June which consists of 7 straight miles of inclines and hills. After the reality check, it was off to the workout I went.
Wednesday
I flew to Milwaukee for work on Wednesday and made sure there was room in my luggage for my running stuff. My flight got in around 5pm so I knew I'd have some time to get some miles in. For those who don't know, Milwaukee is actually a pretty cool city and has a GORGEOUS lakefront. Who knew right?
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| ready to fun in milwaukee! |
I was really excited to run, especially to run by the lake. Not that I don't love me some suburban Rochester roads, but exploring and running in a new city was a nice change of pace from my usual routes.
On my way to the lake I ran by our Home Office building which was pretty sweet. I of course had to take a picture, even though I've been there before and would be there the following day. Something about seeing something during a run makes things extra photo-worthy?
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| northwestern mutual pride! |
I had no real game plan for my mileage and just wanted to enjoy the run and take in the scenery. It was AWESOME running by the lake and it seriously made me want to run forever. I stopped about halfway through my run and just sat on a bench and looked out at the lake. It was great.
I had anticipated getting around 5 miles in but ended up doing a little over 7. I would have kept going but I was out of water and was getting hungry. I just wanted to keep running! It was one of those runs where the scenery and atmosphere just makes for one really great experience. Definitely one of the best runs I've had.
Thursday and Friday were spent doing work stuff and having dinner at an amazing Brazilian steak house. I ate more meat than I think I ever have in my life.... I just told myself I was refueling :) My flight home didn't get in until after 11pm on Friday night and I had a 6am wakeup call the next day. Kick off to my multi event weekend... yikes!
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| 2 events 1 weekend! |
Saturday
After 5 hours of sleep it was time for my first ever duathlon yesterday! I was SO excited and also freaking out because I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, Steph's boyfriend is into triathlons and was doing this event so I dubbed him Coach Rob and started grilling him on all things duathlon.
My first challenge was to rack my bike in the transition area.
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| bike racked: check! |
As we were hanging out in the transition area (I feel pretty legit saying that), I ran into Kate who worked with our training program at fleet feet. It was her first duathlon too!
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| ready to be duathletes! |
The first portion of the race was a 2 mile trail run. I've never run on trails before so this was interesting. It was pretty cool BUT I don't think I will be taking up trail running any time soon. Not the best idea for the world's most clumsiest girl... I think I almost rolled my ankle and fell about 12 times.
After the run it was a 10 mile bike ride. The route was super hilly but it was country roads so it was (relatively) scenic. The first couple miles on the bike felt weird but my legs adjusted after a few minutes. My quads were screaming on some of the hills and I was legitimately teetering as I pedaled up some of the bigger hills. I've also realized that I need to learn how to properly use my bike gears. You know you suck at it when one of the hardcore cyclers yells to you up a hill "downshift!!!! you won't struggle as much!" Who said I was struggling man?! Just kidding... I probably looked like it was my first day on two wheels.
Once the bike was done the final leg was another one mile trail run. I expected my legs to feel awful after the transition but they actually didn't feel as bad as I had anticipated. I think it was tougher running on the trails than adjusting to the bike to run transition. After one of the slowest miles I think I've ever run, I was headed to the finish!
Thanks Steph for taking a video!
It felt so awesome crossing the finish line for my first multi-sport event. It was challenging in a completely different way than running and I loved the whole experience! I even came in second place in my age group!.....................(out of two people). haha.
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| mission don't come in last: accomplished! |
My muscles were so confused after the race and I spend a significant amount of time with my bff foam roller. The entire event was hilly and my quads and calves reminded me of that throughout the day!
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| elevation map - not exaggerating about the hills here! |
My mom came up for lunch yesterday where I refueled with the biggest plate of Mexican food I've ever seen. I wore my compression shorts under my dress because I am such a dedicated athlete. And I didn't have to sit like a lady at lunch because I had shorts on. Double win.
Sunday
That brings us to today's 10k event. I woke up this morning not wanting to do the race and sore from yesterday. Awesome.
I knew that my legs were either going to show up for a race or they weren't... It was apparent very quickly that they were not going to show up today. They were tight and heavy and sore and I could tell it was not going to be a very fun race. I tried to make the best of it and just enjoy everything.
At the 2 mile marker I kind of wanted to die. For about 5 seconds I literally debated taking a DNF so I could get the eff off the course. And then I swallowed my pride and ran-walked the rest of the race. It's official: I've resigned from my position in the run-walker hater's club. I don't know what I had such a dislike for run-walkers, but I totally understand the appeal now of run-walking when you feel like you want to die.
This was honestly more difficult than the half marathon and I would run the half again over this race any day. At one point I was walking and there was a race photographer and I asked her to wait a second to take my picture and then started running... no way I was gonna be in a race pic walking!
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| oh hey, not posed at all |
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| remember that one time we ran just for the race photographer? |
After 4 miles of run-walking I finally crossed the damn finish line. It was 85+ degrees and I felt like I was melting to death. Thank God I was done.
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| me steph and coach rob post race! |
All drama aside, it was an okay race with some awesome crowd support. I felt pretty awful the whole time but finished so I'm happy with that. I am DEFINITELY making tomorrow a rest day because my legs are still screaming WTF to me. Time for some more compression and foam rolling, then off to start another week of running and biking! See ya in a few days!
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