Race Day Recap by the Numbers: Beloit Biathlon (Duathlon)

Well folks, I’ve been away for a while, unplugged from the bloggy life and existing on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn exclusively. I’ve been reading your blogs, many of them, but not commenting much at all since I read them using Google Reader and frankly I am just too damn lazy to click out of Reader to comment. The truth is I miss writing more than a snarky quip of 140 characters or less, but like every habit it’s hard to get back in the swing of things with regular posts. If you have ever heard me leave a long, rambling voice mail message, you should know I have more to say than can be squeezed into a Tweet. Sooooo ….. how do I get over that hurdle and get back to exercising my writing chops?

I’m thinking as a means of dusting off my keyboard and getting some thoughts documented again, I need an expectation of myself for when I should post. Since I really have 2 goals this race season, I want to incorporate them both.

Goal #1: Post more regularly to Blogger.

Goal #2: Be a faster runner.

So how to include them both?

Here’s the plan: to do a post with a short recap of each race/event this season with the number of thoughts about the event and my performance equaling the number of minutes/mile I averaged on the run. Hopefully, you will see my posts becoming more succinct, instead of getting lengthier!

Now, lets get to this race report business… This past Saturday, I did the Beloit Biathlon. It had nothing to do with Shooting or Skiing, thankfully. Here it is by the numbers:

1. One. The number of people I was faster than on Run #1 of this duathlon (120/121). Proof positive my running needs some work, yes? (On the second run I was 107/121, so a mild improvement in the rankings).

2. Two. The number of times I have medaled at the race in the past. I took home a 2nd place Athena in 2007 and 3rd place Athena in 2008. 2009 was a non-bling year, and 2010 was the year we volunteered as our SWAT volunteer race for the year.

3. Three. This is how many times Mike and I have competed at the Beloit Biathlon before this race. If you ask Mike, it was two, but he would be wrong.

4. Four. I was 4th in the Athena class for this race (of 6). And I was seriously bummed that I did not take home any hardware this year.

5. Five. Number of friends racing. It’s always good to see a familiar face on the course, and this is no exception. Mike Wolfgram, Mike Norton, Mike Wimmer, Steve Knox, Brian Morgan – they all did a terrific job.
6. Six. The number of minutes I shaved off my previous PR for this race, mostly on the bike and transitions. Yeah me.
7. Seven. I had a great bike split. Ended up averaging almost 19 mph on the bike and wound up with a rank of 40/121. I wish I could somehow relate that kind of performance to the running legs. This has nothing to do with 6, but I couldn’t come up with a post for 6. I didn’t follow the convention, sue me.
8. Eight. The number of Cousins mini subs I think I saw Mike eat. Man he loves those things. These people do the post-race snacks up right! They also had chips, bananas, oranges, cookies.
9. Nine. The best thing about this race is that it does not start until 9AM. Do you know how much this rocks? There is nothing better than a race that starts later than 7AM. I love my bed and the more time I can spend snoozing in it in the morning, the better.

10. Ten. The only thing that can top a race that starts at 9, is a race that takes place in a city that is a mere 10 minutes from town. I mean seriously, could it get any easier?

11. Eleven. The number of miles the bike is advertised as being. It is actually closer to 10. Much like the 2-mile runs, which are actually 1.65. On a positive note, it makes you look very speedy in the official splits!

12. Twelve. How many times (x 1,000) Mike told me the story of his performance and dissected every minute of the race for me. Dude! I was there, too.

13. Thirteen. My average pace per mile for this first run was 12:40. For the second Run it was 13:19. Next time I post, I am hoping to only have to come up with 11 or 12 things to write about.

Keeney Girls Do Danskin 08

Saturday morning we were fresh and ready to take off for our weekend in Kenosha for the Danskin Sprint Tri.
(Michele, Tracy, Jacob, and Jenny).













We arrived at the Expo Center to register and rack our bikes. Michele quickly lost interest in mike snapping her picture every 5 seconds and found ways to entertain herself.













My mom and Isabel patiently waiting for the fun to start.





















Jeff and Mike entertained each other at the expoby taking pictures of Jeff's Prefontaine mustache.














After a quick night in the hotel we were off bright and early to get to transition to set up. Here we are getting ready to pick up the shuttle bus.














This year's Christmas card picture.














Tracy bought a razor Saturday night but we aren't sure what she used it for.














Proof positive I can't ever seem to shut my big mouth, even while trying to stuff my big butt into a wetsuit.




















Screwing around waiting for the start of our waves.















I am one of the yellow caps busting the through the pink wave before us. Which one am I? Couldn't tell you. Probably the one who looks the fastest if I had to choose....














Thumbs up to Mike on the bike, coming in hot on Hubba Bubba.














Tracy going out in the bike.













Jwim smiling because the run is almost over!













Tracy (red hat) about to cross the finish at her first tri! WOOO HOOO!














I really don't have a lot to say about Danskin. My intention there was to get a practice run at transitions, especially with a wetsuit. That went pretty well. Things I needed the reminder for:
- lay out everything on the transition mat. I forgot to lay out my glasses for the bike and spent a ton of time digging through my bag for them, easily 2 minutes off my T1 time.
- unbuckle the bike shoes, untie the run shoes. Duh. I never seem to think about this. I hate standing there untying double knots and fighting with the bike buckles.
-turn on the garmin and set it up before the race starts. trying to switch to "bike" when you remember 2 miles into the bike kinda sucks.
- body glide the neck to prevent the wetsuit hickey. Ow.
-arrange a meeting spot beforehand so everyone can find each other. (Or if someone if standing 10 feet away from you, tap them on the shoulder and make sure they know you are there, since I didn't see anyone and others apparently knew where I was, at least until I took off to find them.... )

Time was OK, but that wasn't really my focus. Got in an open water swim with a group and I held my own. Got some practice with sighting the landmarks, which was harder than I anticipated. I think the swim would have been faster if I could have swam straighter instead of wandering form right to left to middle to left to middle to right. Could use some practice yet.


Both my sisters completed their first tri, which is huge. They did great and I hope they had fun. Big high fives to Michele and Tracy. YOU ARE ROCK STARS!


Mike got some great pictures of Tracy during the race. I wish I had more pictures of Michele from the actual race. It was hard to pick her out of the crowd since it seemed everyone there had the same outfit on as she did. I didn't even get to see her finish even though I was right there specifically waiting for her. Somehow I missed it and I am mad at myself for that.

My Life in Pictures

(Click To see my Bones in Motion Log for this run with all the data, maps and graphs.)

Today, we took a slow run down to our usual pre-winter running grounds. This used to be a nice run for us that was quite scenic, picking up the bike path that runs alongside the Rock River. In the fall, we could watch the boats go by, watch the Water ski Team practice their pyramids, and watch a whole host of birds and critters go by. Quite a different story these days. The river is flooded and much of the neighborhood that the bike path passes is underwater after the snow melt from massive quantities of snow, followed by the last week or so of torrential rains. Our path is closed from the hospital through Riverside park, our usual turnaround spot to head back towards home. Today, we ran into Riverside Park a different way and this is what we saw.

This first view is from higher ground coming down into the park after going through the Riverside tunnel and turning right. You can see a street branching to the left. Going forward from there you see a house and what used to be a street in front of it. This next shot is a little closer up of the same area.The part underwater? Yeah, that's our run path, there along that tree line.

See that line of posts sticking out of the water? That is the spot where the path becomes a run/bike-only blacktop path. If you look closer, you can see the street sign there behind it. It normally stands about 8 feet high, but most of it is submerged.

See Mike crying? This is the spot where the path goes underwater inside the park. Behind him is normally a winding path that goes behind that stand of pines and around to the right, back to the spot where the street sign looks to be about 2 feet tall. Not running there today buddy!











Here is the sign pointing to the start of that Kiwanis trail from Riverside park. Apparently its a true triathlon trail now. You can run, bike, AND swim on it!



















Here is a shot of the pavilion where I normally would refill my water bottles for the first time on my long runs last summer. See that speck in the middle of the picture? Yeah, that's a park bench. We didn't wade out that 200 yds or so to sit on it though. Not today.

Here is another park bench in the middle of the river. No thank you, I'll just stand on shore.

When I took this picture, I patted the pocket of my jacket I had taken the camera out of and had a mini-panic attack that my cell phone was not in it. We then back-tracked our steps around the park Family-Circus-style for the next ten minutes. Then I patted the pocket of my tights and realized my phone was in my pants pocket. I forgot to take a picture of Mike's happy face ;-)

Looking back through my camera, I realized we never posted pictures of our bike fittings, so here they are. What a difference it makes to have someone make your bike just the perfect fit for you and the way you ride. It was an awesome experience!

And last but not least is a picture of Nick with Mike after picking him up in Bessemer Michigan to bring him home last Sunday. we had just stopped for lunch about an hour back south into our drive home. Notice how high the snow is around them. Did I mention this was in April? Insane. This same day in Janesville, it was in the 60's sunny, warm and beautiful. Best day for a bike ride all year. It's a good thing we like this kid!

Keep your fingers crossed for Nick tonight. We interviewed yesterday for the Rock River Charter School yesterday and we will find out on Monday if he can get in right away. Best case scenario is he can start right away in the self paced e-learning program and he moves quickly enough through it to complete the coursework in time to walk the stage with his graduating class in June. I've been crossing my fingers, toes, legs, arms, and eyes since yesterday, which might account for why I was running so fricking slow today!

The Artsy Fartsy Photographer

I think I told y'all we got a new fancy schmancy DSLR camera for Christmas (merry xmas to ourselves).
With the snow , frozen fog, and other weird winter weather we got over the past week or so, i took an opportunity to wander around our country neighborhood and take her for a test drive the other day. Here are just a few of my favorites!

Holiday Greetings from the Wimmer Boys

Guess how thrilled the Wimmer boys are about having our family picture taken for our Christmas Card?

As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words.

Quote of the day: "Why do we have to wear these GAY matching shirts?"

"Hands at sides. If they are in front it looks like I'm trying to touch your butt."

Good times. yeah. Good times.....

The Fastest Thanksgiving Day Parade.... a/k/a The Berbee Derby

The past few days I have been feeling gunky, crappy, feverish, and generally like poo. I have snuck in a few rounds of yoga, but that's about all the strenuous activity I've felt like doing. So the past few days I have been wrestling with what to do about our Thanksgiving Day race. We had planned to do the 10K at the Berbee Derby, but after honestly assessing my current status, we opted for the 5K instead. On the positive side, I have a camparison to last year but I also really wanted to do 10's as much as possible from here on out.

Got up early and spent a half hour hacking and blowing the gunk out of my nose and lungs - (where does all that crap come from overnight???? I just don't get it!). It was a balmy 26 degrees outside, so we loaded up on the cold gear to get ready. It snowed a little yesterday, just a dusting really and overnight the slushies had frozen so there was a sheet of ice under the snow to boot.

My mom and dad pulled up to come along and spectate. My mom got out of the car and asked "are you sure you guys want to do this??" - funny. My sister pulled up a minute or so later, and off we went to Madison.

Here we are in the "staging area." I think we all have about 4 layers on and it was still nippy out.

This is our little group before the run started. R->L: my sisters friend Audrey, Mike, Michele, and me.

After a while we got started and it was a nice course, kind of hilly which I recalled from last year. I was moving along pretty good, but had to stop a couple times to walk a little, just the effects of the past week catching up with me.

I looked around at the finish line area for my mom and dad but really there were so many people I just couldn't see them. My dad was on picture duty along the finish. My mom got recruited to strip chips at the finish. Had I known, I would have found her to strip mine!

It was cool that they came to watch - it's always good to have a fan club. Next time we need to get them some bells! I realized standing at the end of the chute waiting for Michele and Audrey that my pants felt weird. I had on 2 pair of lycra pants - blue tights with some looser Adidas pants over the top. While I was running I thought I felt the pants slipping down so I kept yanking them up while I ran. While I was standing there, I looked down to notice I was blue tights from the knees down and I had yanked the overpants up to my knees, all bunched up at the crotch, thereby discovering why I was getting a few funny looks.

Final time by my Garmin: 35:36

Official Time: 35:42 (5K: 1376/1639 overall, age group-87/113 )

Not to shabby for Mrs. Cough-y.

Then we quickly drove home to finish the Turkey Day spread. Mike and I did all the prep Wed night so all we had to do was have the kids pop the buzzard in the oven while we were gone, then we had to stick the dishes in the oven or turn on the crock pots when we got home, quick shower up and voila - dinner was served! Went pretty slick to do all the prep ahead - I think I will do that again for sure.

Here is a pic of Mike and I, my mom and my nephew Jacob draining the drippings from the bird to make gravy. Mike poked a hole in the side of the aluminum roaster and made a stream into a sauce pan. Kinda messy but it worked.

It wouldn't be a Keeney meal without the obligatory picture of the food. The meal was really good and we were thankful to be able to share it with family.

This is my niece Izzy, who will be one in a couple weeks. She is so fun!

After dinner, we played some Scene It and other TV trivia games. Here are Lucas and Michele gloating over their win.. I think they cheated.

Race Report: RACS Home Run 5K (Fitchburg, WI)

Well there are no pictures of the race yet, but here is my proof I was there - the T shirt. I don't fill it out nearly as well as Di, but here's my best shot at it.


It's a nice tech tee, long sleeved (SCORE!!)









My results:
bib number: 1641
overall place: 132 out of 140
division place: 28 out of 32
gender place: 67 out of 74
time: 36:31
pace: 11:46







So earlier in the week, my sister asked if we were still planning to do that race in Madison this weekend that she saw on our Google calendar. We had forgotten it was there, but now that you mention it, Hell ya we're in!
We picked up Michele bright and early and took off to McKee Farms Park in Fitchburg. Since we had neglected to pre-register, Mike and I rock-paper-scissored for which we were going to do (the 10 or the 5) since we couldn't make up our minds. The 5K won.
This was an odd race. They ran out of XL shirts for Mike due to the late entry, so they took his address to mail one to him (we shall see if THAT happens!). They start was supposed to be at 0830. While I was still in line for the potty at 0825, they announced that they were going to start the race at "like 845 or 850, or so..." Hmmmm- that was a new one ;-) It was chip-timed, but only at the finish, not the start. They had a ton of volunteers at all the corners, so that was cool and the course was really well-marked.
I ran with Michele, just because it is more fun to run with someone else than by yourself. She took off fast the first mile - I struggled to keep on her heel, but then we slowed down to a more comfortable pace for the rest. It was a nice course, pretty much flat except for a couple rollers in the middle, very pretty, nice new roads and paths, and some really cool houses to look at along the way. We walked a couple times, but not for long and then at the end I started us on a sprint to the finish and we ended up crossing with the same time. Just in front of the first 10K runner.

I have spent a lot of time on the spinner this past week as we have spent a few nights checking out clown cars at the Toyota dealer. Tuesday was our first SWAT meeting and Mike volunteered us to work on a club website, so that has sucked up some time this week, but it's kind of fun. So far we have a message board going and are working on building a web site and finding somewhere to host it. Anyone have a resource to something to set up for the group to send out group emails to each other (some kind of mass-emailer program/host/????)?

Homecoming

Saturday was the Homecoming Dance, my youngest son's first high school dance.

This first pic is of Lucas and his friend Justin before the girls arrived.

This is Lucas and his girlfriend Michaela. She's pretty cute and seems like a nice girl.

This is a pic of the whole group - Justin and his date Janessa, Justin's exchange student from Spain Anna, Lucas's date Michaela, and my boy Lucas.

This is a picture of my new baby we picked up in Taylorville Illinois today, in what proved to be the biggest all day fiasco of my life. We drove several hours to pick it up from a lady who is on vacation and had made arrangements to have her boyfriend meet us at her little gym/health club and pick it up. Despite making arrangements to be there at a certain time, no one was to be found when we arrived and no one answered their cell phones to meet us - for TWO HOURS! When she finally answered her phone she was a total witch, like we were inconveniencing her or something and the boyfriend says when he FINALLY pulls up "Hey I saw you here looking in the window when I drove by before on my way to my buddy's place......" WTF! That was when we first got there..... ON.TIME! So anyhow, here's a pic of my Ironman 112m Spinner Bike (spec sheet), my winter time friend, another very thrifty eBay purchase. She's pretty hot huh?

Um, yeah....... at least it's proof it happened

So here are my picture from the website for the Dousman Duathlon.

Notice in pic #1 there is no one behind me...... because I was the last person in the the last heat...

The bike pics are OK, but my jacket was filled with air and looks very marshmallowy.

Mike thinks the last one is very funny. I am coming up to the finish line. He says I must have just stepped down hard because everything is headed that way. I notice most that my sports bra was apparently failing me at that moment in time.

So, I think for the next time I will have to stand still and vogue a little to get a good action shot.