Summer racing and the swimming is easy...

It's been a super summer in Northern California... while the rest of the country has painfully baked in heat wave after heat wave, we have been running several degrees below normal.  This makes for some fantastic racing venues and conditions.  Dare I say even a few have been too cold?

When my Tri schedule began, I had no idea I was going to make a quest to Nationals in Burlington, but I caught the sprint racing bug hard this year after my lingering summer cold and I've been enjoying the distance so much, I decided to test my efforts against our country's best.. so it's on to Burlington, VT this coming weekend for USAT Sprint Nationals.. more on that after the break (I mean race.. I've been watching too much reality TV)

So here's a mini recap of my fun summer of racing exploits with a few bumps in the road and a lot of fun

Summer season started with a mini sprint duathlon (Daffodil Duathlon, May 20th) before I had to catch a business trip flight to Washington D.C.   I had a carefully orchestrated time schedule, drive 30 mins to Livermore, CA, compete in a super-sprint duathlon (1 mile run, 7  mile bike, 2 mile run), eat a quick breakfast and drive home to catch a noon flight.  It all worked out except that I actually ended up winning the race outright (go figure, that is very rare in my "seasoned age group") and I couldn't stay for awards.  but it was a great bike tune up and fun way to test the lactate threshold level.

After that, I had two great back-to-back sprint races planned but life had a bit of a curve ball and I caught a rough summer cold.  I did manage to race one of the two, the Reservior sprint triathlon in Morgan Hill on June 4th.  It was a tough challenge to race not at 100% but fun to see fellow triathlete friends and the day turned out beautiful.  I ended up placing 2nd in my age group luckily because they took the top three ladies out of the age groups and two of them were my age.   nice to see four of the top 6 female finishers in the over 40 category!

Following reservior, I had a favorite race, the Mermaid Sprint triathlon in Alameda on June 11th.  This is a race where we ladies get spoiled... a nice flat, fast course -- 500 yd swim, 11 mile bike, 2.5 mile run -- followed by pancakes, jewelry charms for finishers, really cute shirts and nice awards for winners.   I was still fighting the summer cold so I couldn't push hard enough to contend for top three overall (they win massages!) but I managed an age group win with a fast bike to compensate for my not so quick run.   I highly recommend the Mermaid events!

After Mermaid and Reservoir, I faced the first big challenge of the season with Rancho Seco International distance triathlon .. a fun, fast olympic course that was also serving as a special qualifier for USAT nationals... the big challenge ended up being the weather, however as one of the few very hot days showed up and the temperature hit 104 degrees by finish of the race.  

I'm luckily a heat athlete however and felt great on the swim and bike.. I do have to admit the run was tough to manage however.. I had to slow down significantly and take on a lot of water.   the good news is that I ended up winning the age group and getting the invite to nationals.. more on that soon!   I highly recommend racing at Rancho Seco, it's flat, fast and fun...warm lake, nice gentle rolling bike and gentle rolling trail run -- could use a bit more shade but overall really nice venue.. even the cooling towers play a role by giving a nice sighting point on the open water swim.  (and the nuclear plant was never active so the water is pristine!)

So that takes me to mid June.. but I'm running out of steam.. more on June, July, the oops calf pull and August to come... time to swim!

staying ahead of the Mayan Calendar--running and racing in 2012-- Winter Part I

Well, once again, I find I'm woefully behind in my posting on running and racing .. this year, Winter's running has been an electic mix of 5ks, 10k's, half marathons, one duathlon, some missed trail runs due to a slight ankle sprain and a few, oops -- overslept and missed that one. Here's hoping that the spring/summer season is a bit more consistent and planned ...

January started with a single trail run, Crystal Springs 11 miler by Coastal Trails as I was just coming off an amazing 2011 of short distance trail running with Coastal and wanted to try double-digits. It was a beautiful, sunny, cold California morning and the 11 miler with it's 1900 feet of climbing did not disappoint. I wanted 10 minute pace and came in in 9:30 pace so I was quite happy.. we won't talk about the fact that I couldn't go down stairs the next day.. that said.. I highly recommend this race and this venue as an early season trail run... great shaded terrain that doesn't get too muddy.

Next, I jetted off to Cancun for a fun week with my hubby and no running... just snorkling and 12 oz curls.. a great rest and time to reflect on the Mayan way but worth about six pounds and the need to get back to training!

After Cancun, I settled into a routine of training with the Team (working my way towards the Oakland Half Marathon on 3/25) and participating in a couple of fun and favorite races It started with February 5ths favorite "two-fer" of the Santa Cruz Super Bowl Sunday 3k and 10k.. This is a great way to train for a half marathon by running a 3k run at 8 am and then a 10k at 8:30.. running a 10k after an anaerobic 3k is excellent training for those fatigue inducing final miles in a half marathon. Santa Cruz track club puts on a really fun race and once again, Santa Cruz did not disappoint, with spectacular, cool sunny weather and huge surf to entertain the runners on West Cliff drive. Ran into some of my regular running club friends and we had a very fun day... taking a 2nd in the 3k and 3rd in the 10k in my age group was a nice surprise as well. Here's the West Valley Joggers and Striders crew with a nice load of hardware...

Following weekend -- February 11th and 12th was a basket of running goodness. I had two races literally less than 1.5 miles from my house.. How cool is that? I ran the always fun Campbell Valentine run 5k on Saturday... this home-town race has become a big event in Campbell with over 600 runners of all sizes, ages, and species (yes dogs are allowed) that enjoy a mellow jaunt down the Los Gatos Creek Trail. There is also a 10k run... The morning threatened a shower but it held off until just before the awards ceremony. I snuck in 3rd in my age group, and was happy to wait to get the free Classic Car Wash--always a good prize.

The next day, the Road Runner Sports store on Hamilton Ave in Campbell had a 10k run run for patrons and "go far run club" members... Nothing better than a good race for free with bagels coffee, water and a raffle.. they also give nice swag prizes for first-third place men and women (I was fifth) -yes the competition is healthy for nice swag but what a great way to spend a sunny morning. Once again this was on the Los Gatos creek trail.. always a good place to run, not too steep and no car traffic. Kudos to RRS for organizing such great local events and it's good business too -- yes I bought some new shoes afterwards-yay!

Part II will cover the rest of a relatively sunny February and a wet, wet March leading up to the big Winter Race--Oakland half...