First marathon

Done

Completed

Successful

Friday

DH and I took the day off and drove down to Jacksonville for 26.2 with Donna:  The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer.

Saturday

On Saturday, we went to the race expo and checked in. The expo was very good. Check in was quick, the race shirt is really nice and the volunteers were cheerful and helpful. DH and I also did a little bit of reconnaissance -- confirmed where the bus from the hotel area to the race start was, confirmed that the beach was hard packed as advertised and so on. My parents and my in-laws were both coming into Jacksonville for the race so we gathered some course info for them as well.

On Saturday evening, we went Mellow Mushroom for a pre race meal.  Pizza, as usual!

Race Day

On Sunday morning, I got up at 5:00, lubed up liberally in an effort to avoid chafing and then ate a bagel with peanut butter and a banana and drank a bottle of Camelbak Elixir to get some electrolytes into my system. I had a little bit of coffee from the hotel lobby and I walked across the street to get a shuttle bus to the race start. I got into line at about 5:30 and we arrived at the Mayo Clinic for the race start at about 6:00.

At about 6:30 or a little before, they herding us to the corrals. They had four corrals. The half and full marathon runners went in together according to color codes they had on our bibs. In other words, 4 hour marathoners and 2 hour half marathoners were mixed together.

The race started a few minutes late. They were obviously checking with police to make sure that the roads were clear and we started as soon as the organizers got the all clear. It 40 degrees when the race started (60 degrees when I finished).

It was also neat that the start of the race was broadcast on TV. My peeps watched the TV coverage and then went outside and saw me.  (This is where it helps that the event is 26.2 with Donna and Donna is a news anchor on a local station and Mr. Donna is a weatherman at a local station.  As a result, the races has excellent media coverage.)

The course started at Mayo Clinic and crossed the intracoastal waterway in the first two miles.  The first (and last) three miles were on a (closed) expressway.  By mile five we were on the beach.
The run out to the beach was fun and included highlighted by helicopter flyovers for TV and plenty of cars honking in support of the thousands of runners.  The spectator support was amazing!  The 2.5 miles run on the beach were beautiful.

On the beach just after mile 7

The hotel that we stayed at was on the course near mile 7 and mile 19. I saw my family on the beach just after mile 7. They cheered and I waved. That was neat. Throughout the race I kept on counting down when to have Gu or when I would see my family during the race.

Just after mile 19

The run went really really well until mile 16. Then my legs started to complain a little bit. About this time I started to dislike the marathon relay teams. I mean really dislike them. The relay people looked so fresh and perky, having run about one mile since the exchange at Mile 15, and my legs were feeling somewhat less than fresh and perky. I kept on telling myself, less than 30 minutes until I see my peeps again (at mile 19). Then it was less than a mile to the next Gu. 10k to go. Back onto the expressway to the finish. With about 2 miles to go I could see the finish. There's Mayo Clinic. Right there. The finish. Up the bridge. It's all downhill from here. The finish should be just around the corner. I hope the finish is just around the corner. There it is!

I checked the race results and over 1600 marathon runners finished, along with over 4000 half marathoners plus 214 marathon relay teams (5 people per team).

I thought that the organization and crowd support were superb. The expo was great as was the runner support on the course. Water stations were well stocked, port-a-pots plentiful, Gu available, etc.

I would definitely do this event again. I would definitely recommend it to a friend.

St. Patrick's Day run

On Saturday I got up early and drove to Carolina Beach to run a 10k, the 6th Annual Steve Haydu St. Patrick's Lo Tide Run. I participated in this same event last year and I had enough fun that I wanted to make a return trip this year. When I first moved to North Carolina, Carolina Beach is where my family went. It's kind of weird to see how much it has grown up!

I made good time and arrived early. The race started at 9:00 and they wanted everyone to check in by 8:15 or so. Last year check in was slow that that is understandable. I arrived in town just before 7:30. I stopped at the Port City Java just over the bridge from the mainland and had a coffee and freshened up. I hung around there for a while and then then checked in. I remembered parking near the McDonald's last year so I did that again. Parking was about 100 yards from the start of the 10k. Can you say convenient?

Before the race, the finish area on the right.

After checking in, I went over to the finish area to see how loose the sand was. The last .1 miles is in the sand. It was very loose again last year. Despite the name of the event -- and probably because of the electronic timing -- they have the runners stay up pretty high on be beach near the sea oats.

The event consists of a 5k and a 10k. Most people do the 5k but both years that I have done it, I've run the 10k. The way they run the event, the 5k and 10k start at different places. The 10k starts, runs by the 5k start where all of the 5k runners cheer, and then a few minutes later the 5k starts. The 5k course and the 10k course are interlocking and both events share the same finish line. The town literally shuts down for the event so this ends up being a closed course (other than the occasional person backing out of their driveway). As a second time participant, I remembered the two gotchas for the event (1) last .1 on sand (can you say s-l-o-w?) and (2) the shared finish area and interlocking courses means that the 10k runners and the 5k walkers end up finishing together is it is very congested.

The race started exactly on time and it went well for me. Last week I checked the McMillian site to get an idea of pacing for race. It says 8:31 minute miles based on my half marathon time. That sounded completely unrealistic to me so I plugged in my 8k time from November and it calculated 8:39. I finished with an 8:30 pace for a personal best of 52:47. Needless to say, I was tickled!

Janyne the leprechaun

Life Guard chair at the finish area

Carolina Beach boardwalk after the event

A lot of people wore green boas, leprechaun hats, green wigs, green shirt and some even brought their own Paddy Wagons!

Crystal Coast half marathon

As I was training for the Disney World Half Marathon, I decided that I wanted to run the Coach Bubba 20k in February. I remembered seeing posters advertising the race last year and I thought that it would be a good local event. I put myself on their e-mail list so that I would know when registration for the event opened and was surprised when I received an e-mail saying that the event was canceled. I was really bummed. I planned to do the Frostbite bike ride and I didnt' have a lot of off season weekends to fit in another long run. Then the Frostbite was canceled as well and I decided to run the Crystal Coast Half Marathon in Morehead City on February 27th. Morehead City is more local than Orlando but less local than Durham. I found a hotel that allowed pets and DH and I packed up the crew for the event.

As usual, I checked the weather forecast with increasing frequency as the date of the event approached. As of Friday morning it looks like mid to high 30s to start and low 40s at the finish with a 10-15 mph wind from the west. WeatherBug and Weather.com agree on 39-44 but AccuWeather predicts a 36 at the start and 48 at the finish. (It was actually about 40 degrees at the start and 50 degrees at the finish.)

DH and I each took a half day of vacation and on Friday afternoon we loaded up the Fit and headed to Morehead City with the Girls. After we checked into the hotel, we went to Atlantic Beach and let the Girls run on the beach and then picked up my race packet.

Emma runs on the beach

Hannah and Emma

Hannah waits for someone to throw a ball

After having dinner at Luigi's, we relaxed in the hotel and watched the Olympics.

On Saturday morning, DH dropped me off at the start. Unlike Disney, this race started at a sensible time -- 8:00. I picked up my timing chip and headed over to the start/finish line near Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant.

Morehead City Waterfront

The first four miles of the course was a lap of Morehead City, much of it along the waterfront. Then over the big bridge (over the intracoastal waterway so big enough to let the tall ships under it), then down to Fort Macon and back over the bridge and back to downtown Morehead City. The first eight miles went really well. When I got to Fort Macon I was ready to be done. Not tired exactly, just ready to be done. I got a second wind at about the tenth mile. It was about then that I realized that I was really going to make my goal. I had been a little worried about crossing the bridge the second time. Mile 11 was at the crest of the bridge. That sounded potentially bad. I kept on telling myself that two things -- the bridge isn't that bad and it's all downhill after mile 11. As runners exited the bridge, there was a group of people cheering for us. That was very nice and encouraging. Then we ran a very long straightaway and turned to the finish line. I completed the race in 1:57:59.

Start/finish line near Sanitary

The final block...

After the race

The event was well supported, water every 2 miles, lots of police and volunteers. Afterward they had nice snacks -- Girl Scout cookies and Panera bagels. Oh yeah, and bananas. The medal is nice too!

The race went well and I am happy and I would do it again.

February Wrap Up

More snow and more snow pictures

We had our second snow of the year on February 13. The Girls enjoyed the snow again. The first snow of the year always gets them more excited but our February snow was fluffier and better for making snow balls.

Valentine's Day

The Girls celebrated Valentine's Day with a new heart shaped pillow bed from Target.

Jury Duty -- or not

I was called for jury duty. In preparation, I got the first book the the Twilight series, thinking that was the right level of escapism for the waiting involved in jury duty. I called in as instructed and was not needed for the first week. I ready Twilight and New Moon that week and started Eclipse week 2. I called again and found out that I was not needed for jury duty after all. I went ahead and finished Eclipse and read Breaking Dawn to wrap of the series.


Training

From a training standpoint, this month involved getting my foot better after minor foot surgery on January 12th and an additional procedure on February 5th. My foot has shown considerable improvement. Through all of this I have been training for my second half marathon, the Crystal Coast half marathon in Morehead City on February 27th.

Bike riding has been more difficult to get in this winter since we have had terrible weather many weekends. That has meant a lot of work outs on the bike trainer when I would rather have been riding outside. I have found it a lot easier to run outside in bad weather than it is to ride outside in similar conditions. I've also been doing some swimming this winter. Hopefully I'll be prepared when the season starts!

Disney half marathon

Last weekend I ran my first half-marathon as part of Disney's Marathon Weekend. We drove down to Florida on Thursday and went to the race expo on Friday where I got my race number, timing chip and goody bag. The Expo was very good and there were a lot of interesting vendors. After going to the Expo in the morning, we went Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park where we went on the Tower of Terror, DH rode Rock 'n Roller Coaster (I am not a coaster person) and we went on the back lot tour, rode Star Tours and saw Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. Afterwards, we went out of pizza at Giordano's and called it a day.

The next morning, I had a very early 3:15 wake up call. The night before I had set out my outfit for the day (running tights, long sleeved tee, vest, number belt, hat, socks, Road ID) and breakfast items. I drank a some Camelbak Elixir and then ate an English muffin with peanut butter while waiting to get on the bus and carried a banana and water with me for later. We were told to be on the bus by 4:00 and I made it well before the cut off (3:45?).

Every day leading up to the race, the forecast became more bleak. With eight days to go the consensus temperatures for the half marathon, based on the 1/1 forecast, was 6AM Start: 44, 10AM: 50, Noon: 58. With six days to go Consensus Temps for Half Marathon Based on Current (1/4) Forecast: 6AM Start: 29, 10AM: 40, Noon: 50.

Five days to go, the Disney Running forums were reporting, "We are looking at a series of near-record cold days for the Orlando area. Citrus crops are in severe danger as the cold will linger for the next week with only a slight break as it warms up (with possible showers) a bit around Friday, only to be followed with another Arctic blast Friday night."

Four days to go and the forecast continues to worsen, now precipitation is appearing in some of the forecasts. "We are looking at a series of quite cold days for the Orlando/Disney Marathon area this weekend. Dress warm for the 4AM-6AM wait at the start. Use multiple layers with windbreaker/garbage bag outside and throw-away sweatpants and sweatshirts ($6 at WalMart). Clothes tossed away at start or on route go to charity. Remember hat, gloves & Chapstick. Prepare properly & everything will be fine! National Weather Service experts remain uncertain about the chance for showers on Saturday."

Three days to go and still more talk about the chance and timing of showers. The Disney Running forums reported:

From National Weather Service, this kind of startling quote: "CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH JUST HOW NASTY OF A DAY SATURDAY WILL BE".

Weather Channel says "Showers early becoming less numerous later in the day. Snow or sleet may mix in early. High 42F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%."

Finally, one day to go and Disney Running wrote: "Consensus Weather Forecast, 1 Day Til Full - Saturday 1/9 Update

OK we all pretty much now the story by now, so I'll make this quick. Wouldn't you know it, probably the coldest, rawest temps of the entire year for Orlando will be exactly at the start of this race. Oh well… for the northerners it'll be like back home!"

The predictions were true. Cold and sleet.

Dropped off sweat pants and jacket in the baggage check for after the race and waited at race finish area until 5:00 or so when they opened the gates and had us walk down a trail to the starting corrals.

Once we arrived at the starting area, there was a series of starting corrals with bouncers there to make sure that you did not go into the wrong corral. I was in corral B. They had several l large monitors in the starting area with hosts providing entertainment. They kept on talking about cold and sleet and I wished they would stop reminding me.

Shortly before the it was time for Wave 1 to start, I found my pace group and shortly after that, the wheelchair racers started. I tossed the towel that I used alternately as a shawl and seat cushion. I peeled off my $3 sweat suit and tossed the pants to the edge of the road. I kept the jacket with me as a shawl until the last second and tossed that as well.

There were fireworks to start the wave and we were off! As I expected, I was as warm before the first mile was completed. My pace group was slow at this point and we picked it up a bit here.

The best part was running through Magic Kingdom, especially Main Street U.S.A., Cinderella Castle and Frontierland.

There were several marching bands playing on the course and a choir as we entered Epcot.

By mile 11 I was starting the get cold -- I'm not sure if I was just so wet by then that I was getting cold or if I was getting fatigued -- and by mile 12 my hands and lips were quite cold. We were nearing Epcot and the finish line. As we made the turn toward Epcot, I nearly tripped on a traffic cone. I knocked the cone over and someone yelled out, "Good save!"

Finished!

After crossing the finish line, I was handed a silver Mylar blanket and MEDAL! I love my Donald Duck medal!

Then we were shuffled towards a photo are and a snack area (banana, orange, raisins, muffin, soda, water). Then there was a long long long very chilly wait at baggage check.

Once I had my bag, I exited the runner's only area and entered the family reunion area where I found out that I had made my time goal! Before the race, I set up DH's cell phone to text him every time an electronic time split was recorded.

I was very chilly and put on my sweat pants and a rain jacket that I had packed. Since the weather was so bad, we decided to head back to the hotel so we took the shuttle back to Pop Century where I warmed up. When we got back to the hotel, Weather Channel said the current temperature was 30 degrees. No wonder I felt cold!

Cape Henry Duathlon

Last weekend I participated in my second duathlon, the Cape Henry Duathlon in the Virgina Beach area. For those unfamiliar with this event, this is a run-bike-run event. In this particular case it was a 5k run followed by a 20 mile bike ride (32k actually) followed by a second 5k run. I thought that this would be a fun event that would allow me to train for my upcoming half marathon but also continue riding.

DH went with me and we drove up to Virginia Beach on Friday. Packet pickup was on Friday due to the fact that the event was held on Fort Story which is an army base. After we picked up my race packet, we walked around the boardwalk for a bit and the decided to look for a place for dinner. We decided on pizza or Italian and ended up a YNot Pizza which was really good. I would definitely go back there. I had stromboli which was very good and we got some Italian cookies to go. We got some coffee and had cookies and coffee in the hotel that evening.

On Saturday morning we made our way over to Fort Story and I set up my transition area. I was glad DH got to see the transition area because I wasn't sure that my description was doing it justice. I set up a my transition towel with my bike shoes, bike helmet, shades and made sure that I had my water bottle on the bike, etc. I pointed out the mount/dismount line to DH as well. Earlier I made sure that my bike was in a good starting gear.

The first run went well. I was faster than I expected but I don't think that I overdid it. The route was interesting and I enjoyed running by the two lighthouses on base. I saw DH as I was heading to the transition area. T1 went well and I got on the bike and headed out for my three laps on the bike course.

The course was mostly flat but quite windy. Each of our laps went by the lighthouses which was neat. I saw DH on the course and he got a few pictures too! I was pleased with how the bike section went and headed into T2.

The race organizers also had a lot of people on the run and bike routes to cheer for us. That really gave the event a festive atmosphere.

T2 went pretty well but felt a lot slower than T1. This is weird because it was actually faster than T1. I guess that it's faster to get off the bike and put on running shoes that vice versa. Plus I must have been getting tired. By now everyone was really strung out so I was more or less alone on the second run. The second 5k route was the same as the first one. I was pleased with my time. I was not as fast as during the first 5k but was quite respectable. I passed a few people on the run but I was also passed by a few. I knew that I just needed to going at my own pace.

I was so excited. I can do this!

DH met me at the finish line. I got some water and checked the results. My results were not posted yet so we walked down to the after-race party. They had BBQ and a few other things (DH had my beer) and then I walked back to check the results. DH asked if I was ready to go yet and I looked at the results and said, "No! We have to go the the awards." I got second place in my age group!

We went back to the BBQ area and I got a very nice award -- a custom welded lighthouse sculpture that is quite tasteful!

The army personnel were terrific hosts. There were a lot of people to process us through the check point and direct traffic. The area of the base where the race was held was essentially closed to traffic which was great!

First duathlon

This weekend I completed my first ever multisport event. After a lot of hemming and hawing I entered the Carrboro Classic Super Sprint Duathlon. Duathlons are run-bike-run events.

The short version: The event went well and I enjoyed it.

In February I entered the event after spending quite a bit of time figuring out the entry form (the extra fee is for insurance if you are not a USAT member). I had a lot of help along the way with training for this event and overall I think that it was a success. For the most part I enjoyed the training -- which is important since the training takes a lot more time than the event.

I wasn't only worried about the training, I didn't even know what one should wear to a duathlon! It was 48 degrees at the beginning of the event. I ended up wearing a long sleeved performance tee and Shebeest Racegear shorts.

The training involved brick workouts. Basically, a brick is a training block of two disciplines in the same workout. In this case an indoor brick would be run on treadmill and then do a spin class or ride two hours and then run 20 minutes outside. The bricks were kind of fun and I found them to be a good way to mix things up.

I guess I should back up a bit here. One of the reasons that I enjoy cycling is that the events are not competitive. I enter bike rides, not races. Switching to racing is kind of nerve-wracking for me. This is true both with the recent running events that I've entered and with this duathlon. I was a little afraid that some competitive triathletes will use the duathlon as a tune up event and I would look silly. Then I decided that are competitive types they won't be doing the short course. I was correct, the people with the aero helmets, aero bars and wheels like you see used in Tour de France time trials were all doing the long course event.

The duathlon was on Sunday. Early pick up was on Saturday afternoon. I drove over to the site, road the bike section and picked up my event packet. This gave me a chance to make sure that I knew how to get to the site and to see how long it took me to drive it. I road the bike course and I asked about the run course because the map was not clear.

Sunday morning I got up early and had a light breakfast of a poached egg with tomato on an English muffin. When I arrived at the site, I parked and the brought my bike and gear to the transition area. The transition as organized by race number so I found the proper rack for my bike and set up my stuff. Someone recommended bringing an easy-to-identify towel (I used black and white stripes) to set your stuff on. I organized my helmet, water bottle, gloves and shoes and shades there. (I did not bring the water bottle with me since the bike section was short but I did sip some water during T1.) Then I picked up my timing chip and kind waited for the event to start. While loitering, I saw someone wearing cycling gloves. It was cool out. I went back to the transition area and put my cycling gloves on.

About 10 minutes before the race, the had a pre race meeting where the organizers verbally described the course. It was a little bit confusing because there were three events going on at the same time: a long course duathlon, a short course duathlong and an 8k run. The start/finish was on a track and we started in waves (long men, long women and relays, short men, short women and relays, 8k men, 8k women) three minutes apart.

Run 1

My first run was 2.4 miles (I got 2.6 miles on my GPS). After the long course athletes started and the short course men, the short course women started. Three minutes after we started, the men's 8k runners went so by the time we were ending our run, the fasted few men passed us. They stayed on the run course for a second lap while we went to the transition area. My run went well, 21:32:45. I quickly found my bike, changed shoes, put on my helmet and sunglasses and had a sip of water. I was sure to loosen my running shoes enough to easily get back into them during the second transition. Total transition time as 1:51:20.

Bike

Once you get your bike, you have to walk or run to past a line and then you can mount your bike. That way you aren't trying to start on your bike while people are trying to get their bike on so on. A few weeks ago I read a very handy article that said to be sure to have your bike in an appropriate start gear. Shockingly, I remembered to do that on Sunday morning!

Before the event I had been worried about the no drafting rule. I do a lot of group rides and drafting is the norm. The basic rule is that you have to be three bike lengths back from the bike in front of you and you have 15 seconds to complete a pass. They have race marshalls on motorcycles out on the course watching you. That kind of freaked me out. As it turned out, this was not an issue.

On Saturday afternoon I previewed the bike course and I knew where the first turn was and was really comfortable. We got up to Pleasant Union Church Road though, and I was told to run right. Huh? The route goes up Dairyland, right? At this point I realized that the course map had no arrows on it and that I had done it backwards! Oops! Anyway, the bike portion went well. I passed 32 people on the bike and had a total time of 35:52:75.

This got me back to the mount/dismount line. I got off the bike and scampered to my transition spot as best I could in bike shoes. Once there I took off my helmet, gloves and sunglasses and put on my bike shoes. This transition was slightly faster at 1:31:65.

Run 2

Next I was on to the final portion of the event, a short 1.2ish mile run (again, the GPS distance differed from the official distance by quite a bit) . After getting off the biken this run was at a somewhat slower pace. I finished it in 11:53.

Results

I am very happy to report that I finished third in my age group with a time of 1:12:41.30.

Fit to drive

Two weeks ago I picked up my Honda Fit. It's blue and it's beautiful and I like it a lot. We had a trailer hitch put on for the bike so that I can easily bring the bike to local events. The seats fold down absolutely flat so it will be good for hauling other things as well.
Hannah and Emma have tested out the back briefly. Hannah liked it fine but Emma is not a big fan of the automobile and she was a bit skeptical.

So far I've been getting 33-35 mpg for my regular driving which I would classify as in town -- to and from work, grocery getting, to and from the gym and so on.

The funny thing is that this is the first automatic that I've had since 1990. I having to relearn how to drive without a stick shift!

Oh, the first weekend that I had it, I took it on a round trip drive to Wilmington, NC for a 10k where I placed in my age group. Woo hoo! This was only one week after an 8k that I felt less than good about (in my defense, the 8k was on a Sunday and I rode 70 miles on my bike on Saturday). Anyway, the car was nice on the highway too!

What to wear?

Last year was my first winter riding year round. I had the whole what to wear thing down. Then winter 2008-2009 came and I had completely forgotten my guidelines. To top it off, I am not running which is a whole other set of gear to keep track of and DH is riding more in cooler weather so he asks me what he should wear. To prevent this from happening again, I started a chart which has been a good guideline.

Cycling

Outdoor conditions	Clothing
30, sunny, wind	Performance brand tights over shorts, long sleeve performance T, long sleeve jersey, Pearl Izumi barrier jacket, winter gloves and liners
37, overcast, damp/drizzle	Performance brand tights over shorts, LS T, LS jersey, PI barrier jacket, winter gloves and liners
38 and sunny, no wind	Performance brand tights over shorts, LS T, Novara jacket, winter gloves and liners
39-66, wind 5-10	capris over shorts, LS T, Novara jacket, sleeveless jersey, summer gloves w/ liners, mtb socks
40-50, wind 5-10	Performance brand tights over shorts, LS T, Novara jacket, winter gloves and liners
50 and overcast	capris, SS jersey with arm warmers, vest
58, damp, humid, wind 5-10	shorts, SS jersey with arm warmers, vest

Cycling Gear:

• Performance brand tights. I get them without chamois and wear them over my bike shorts. I have mostly Pearl Izumi UltraSensor shorts
• Pearl Izumi Barrier jacket. This is good when it's below 40.
• Gore Phantom Lady jacket.This is a great jacket for in between temperatures or days that have wild temperature swings. I like it best in the 37-47 temperature range.
  
• Novara Tempest jacket. This is one of my favorite items right now. It's warm yet breathable and I've worn it from the low 40s up to about 60 degrees without either freezing or melting. The front panels are wind proof and the rear panels are breathable. If you REI has this model in stock, get it!
  
• Headband. Below 50 degrees or so I wear my Pearl Izumi headband to keep my ears warm.
• Toesies. To keep my feet from becoming bricks of ice, I put Pearl Izumi toe covers on my cycling shoes. I also wear winter weight socks -- DeFeet Wool Blaze
• Gloves and glove liners. Full finger, winter weight gloves and glove liners are a must. The glove liners that I've used for the past year are Seirus Deluxe Thermax and gloves made with Gore Windstopper fabric.

Running

I've had an easier time with the temperature when I am running since Runner's World has a What to Wear application. That has been a good starting point for me. I've read that for running you should dress for 20 degrees warmer than if what you would wear if you are not running. In other words, if you would wear shorts to go to the grocery store when it is 65 degrees out, you should wear shorts for running when it is 45 degrees outside.

Outdoor conditions	Clothing
34, sunny, 13 mph wind	tights, 2 LS performance T, vest (frozen butt)
36 overcast, no wind	tights, LS performance T, sleeveless t, vest (comfy)
38, sunny, no wind	tights, LS performance T, vest
45, dark, no wind	capris, LS performance T, vest
47, dark, no wind	skort, LS performance T, reflective belt
53, sunny, 10-15 mph wind	skort, LS performance T (comfy)

Garmin Forerunner 305, my new addition

I got myself a Garmin Forerunner 305 a few weeks ago and I think that I'm in love. The Forerunner 305 is billed as a multisport unit. I ordered it to prepare for the half marathon that I signed up for thinking that if I'm going to run a 13.1 mile course it would kind of be handy to know how far I am running in my training. Right away fellow runners suggested that I get SportTracks. I downloaded it and got a few of the recommended plugins and I was all set.

Although I originally bought the Forerunner for running, I quickly decided that I could carry on my love affair with the Garmin by using it on my bike. Most of my cycling friends have the Garmin Edge 705 which looks really neat and can give turn by turn directions.

I managed to get about every add on for the Forerunner. The cadence sensor allows me to use the Forerunner when my bike is on the trainer and the foot pod allows me to use the Forerunner on the treadmill. Both will allow the Forerunner to function if GPS signal is lost. When I asked Garmin technical support about the foot pod, they replied, "If the watch loses the GPS connection, the foot pod will then record the distance and speed if you should have it paired up." I have read that this is also the case for the cadence sensor.

For more information, you might want to take a look at CoolRunning. There's a nice discussion of the 305 vs the 405 there.

Plans for spring

After much deliberation, I have made some pretty firm plans for spring. After a 100 mile bike ride on February 28, I will do a few running events in March, a duathlon in April and several cycling events in May.

February 28 - Frostbite Tour 100 miler
March 8 - St. Patty's Run Green 8k
March 14 - St. Patrick's Day Lo tide Run at Carolina Beach
April 5 - Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival (Super Sprint Duathlon)
May 3 - Raven Rock Ramble 100 miler
May 23 - Skirt Chaser 5k
May 30 - Three Mountain Madness, 75 miles with 9,280 feet of climbing
June 6-7 - Tour de Cure (75 miles each day or 100 miles each day, currently under discussion)

Making plans for spring

This year I am really struggling with my plans for March and April. I want to keep up with my cycling and improve my speed a bit this year. Hills continue to need work as well. I want to do more running and I'm also interested in doing a dualthon or two. I signed up for the Disney half marathon next January and I need to run a 10k between now and then -- preferably by November -- for corral placement. If I don't do that, I will be put in a corral in the back. This would not be tragic but I think that it would be nice to start the run with a group that should be going more or less the same pace that I am. I have a few cycling events coming up but they really start in May. I have been planning to do the St. Patty's Run Green but it's an 8k and not a 10k. There's a local dualthon in April.

What I wonder is whether or not it is reasonable (challenging is fine, insane is not) to do running event(s) in March, duathlon event(s) in April and cycling events starting in May (Raven Rock is Ramble May 3)?

March running events
(these are just options that I found, I'd pick 1 or 2)

• WakeMed Cary Distance Festival 10k on March 7
• St. Patty's Run Green 8k on March 8
  
• St. Patrick's Day Lotide Run at Carolina Beach on March 14
• Run for the Oaks 10k 5k in Raleigh on March 14
  
• Fort Bragg Around the World 10k March 21
  
• Cary Road Race 10k April 4

Note: I did sign up for the 8k on March 8 but sometimes that's just how it goes .

So maybe the 8k on March 8 and 10k on March 14 but that means two weekends with one day of cycling gone and is that a good idea with Raven Rock coming up?

April Duathlon events
(again, just pick 1-2)

I have some additional worries about the duathlon thing. I have never done a du before and I'm not sure how the training bricks (cycle-run or run-cycle-run) will fit into my schedule time wise. The training would happen in February and March so it would be mostly indoors due to early darkness on weekdays. Also, as silly as it sounds, I'm a bit concerned about what to wear. I know to get triathlon shorts but it's going to be too cool for a tri tank top and I haven't seen any women's tri gear with sleeves.

• Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival on April 5 (Super Sprint Duathlon: 2.4 mi run - 12 mi bike - 1.2 mi run)
• National Duathlon Festival on April 26
  

Of course if we wanted to invade March there's the du in Cary on March 21 (5 mile, 31 mile, 5 mile) That's a lot of running for me right now, it's certainly less travel. With seven weeks to train it's an outside possibility.

Powerman Alabama is on April 19. I looked at the results from last year and I'd have probably finished towards the back of the pack and 9 hours is a long way to drive for that. My running is not that fast now and it looks like I could make up some time in the cycling but not that much. I'm a little leery of putting myself into that position. I'm not planning on doing this one.

May events, mostly cycling
But then we are on to more of a cycling focus:

May 3 - Raven Rock Ramble 100 miler
May 23 - Skirt Chaser 5k
May 30 - Three Mountain Madness, 75 miles with 9,280 feet of climbing
June 6-7 Tour de Cure (75 miles each day or 100 miles each day, currently under discussion)

Just to reiterate, my main cycling goals are (1) keep up better/contribute more in group rides, (2) better on the hills and (3) gain a little bit (.2 mph?) of speed by NC.

This and that

I haven't blogged in a while since I've really been just doing a little of this and a little of that. I haven't had any particularly good blog fodder as a result.

I got a good bit of riding in during the holiday break, including the annual New Year's Day ride, but had a rainout that required a long time on the trainer. It looks like we may have a freeze out which will probably result in more time on the trainer this weekend. I've looked into the options available from Redbox for distraction purposes.

I've also been doing some planning and entered some events. I registered for two 100 miler rides this spring: Frostbite Tour and Raven Rock Ramble.

The big news is that I've entered the Wald Disney World half marathon in January 2010. Yes, I will be running, not cycling! The course starts -- complete with fireworks -- outside Epcot and goes through the Magic Kingdom.

I'm also planning to run my first ever duathlon, a run-bike-run event, in April.

I think that will keep me out of trouble!

First Turkeys, then Reindeer

After participating in a turkey trot 8k on Thanksgiving, I decided to run in a Reindeer Romp 5k this weekend. It was a Girls on the Run event with close to 1,200 participants.

Girls on the Run, or GOTR, is program that uses running to teach 8-12 year old girls about self esteem and healthy lifestyles. The event consisted of both regular runners and girls participating in the GOTR program running with their mentors.

All of the fast people must have been somewhere else. I was surprised to finish 3rd in my age group. I'm not fast. I was tickled to finish third -- and yes, there were more than three entrants in my age group!

This event was well done and I had a nice time. I would do it again.