I Sweat Salt: Winter Updates

After Lifetime Oceanside last year I started thinking about 2015 and the goals I wanted to accomplish. I knew if I wanted to step up my game I would need to hire a coach. Someone who has extensive experience in the sport, who coaches for a living, and most importantly, a person I felt comfortable talking to. I did some research, talked to some athletes, and then decided that Torsten Abel would be a great fit for me. We had some conversations in late October and I remember telling him I was excited to get started in January. Silly, silly me. I quickly learned we would start building a little German engine on November 3rd. So much for that yoga filled off season. :) All jokes aside I was really excited to get to work. Fast forward about four weeks later and I'm off to run at the Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot.

We had a long and exhausting trek from Austin to Dallas on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Stuck in traffic for 9+ hours while stuffed into the backseat of a sports car and desperately eating at a fast food chicken joint wasn't exactly how we planned it. I went to bed with an upset tummy and was hoping for the best come morning. A quick sleep and a cup of coffee later I was ready to run through downtown Dallas.

Welcome to Texas!

I took a packet of Generation UCAN and drank it about 30 minutes before the start of the race. There was both a 5K and an 8 miler with over five thousand people total doing this race; it was huge! The 8 miler started first and getting to the start line was a little bit of a cluster, but we made with a couple extra minutes for one last porta potty stop. The plan was for a nice and steady build, don't go out too hard, and start the final kick about two miles out. I liked the course, it had some good rollers and was a nice tour of downtown. I was kind of expecting something around 58-1:00, 7:15s-7:30s given the base miles I'd been putting in. When I checked the watch a couple times during the race and kept seeing a six leading the pace number, I was shocked. My final time was 55:40 for 8 miles, 6:52s...what?! I'd never run anything longer than a 5K under 7 minute miles; this was some kind of miracle! Clearly Torsten knows what he's doing; I think I'll keep him around. :)

Happy Garmin!

Brrr, Dallas was cold!

I spent December putting in more base miles and enjoying the holidays. We decided to do the Xterra White Tanks 8K on January 4th to check in on the fitness. Those short races are hard and they hurt, but it was definitely a successful day! I took 2nd to one of my Tri Scottsdale teammates, Adrienne LeBlanc. The course was a little shorter than an 8K, 4.36 miles per my Garmin; 7:23s. I'd say the course was mostly rolling terrain; nothing super challenging, but not flat either.