2010 To Do List

I just got back from a great moonlight ski with my beloved dogs and since I didn't have Jenny to talk to in the darkness I came up with a list of things I need to do in the coming year:
-call Coach Martha and come up with a training and race plan
-have my furnace and chimney serviced
-apply for a pro card
-obtain a pair of skate skis and learn how to use them
-swim A LOT
-send more mix cd's to my girls
-paint my house
-paint the back of the house purple
-get that squirrel out of the walls for good
-start paying my parents back
-stop dragging my poles or using my brakes when i go downhill
-keep eating breakfast salads
-purge
-organize
-call my sisters more often
-put up a fence for pooches
-build a shed
-drywall the stairway so my love wall will meet feng shui guidelines
-stop swearing in front of Ruby
-be a little nicer to Bandit
-fatten Quibbie up
-teach more of what i believe in
-keep my computer out of the place where i sleep
-start writing down the healthy meals i can make from boxed crap for a cookbook called "Healthy Meals from Boxed Crap"

-whiteface uphill bike race
That's all I have for now, I'm sure I'll come up with a bunch more as we roll through 2010 Happy New Year:)

Happy 6th Birthday

Ruby turns 6 today! Last night on her way to bed she told me she already felt 6, but when she woke up this morning she said she didn't feel any older. Currently she's stomping around Grandma and Grandpa Farrell's house trying to wake Grandpa up so we can all worship her!

Ruby and Amy's 10 Awesome things of 2009

Ruby's twice weekly ski lessons at Mt Pisgah-along with her fearless nature these lessons got her prepped for some awesome days at Whiteface and Titus!

Ruby's new hot pink Specialized Hot Rock-hours of riding enjoyment following people on runs, going off jumps she builds with papa, cruising up all over Saranac and Tupper Lake

Quenton's 10th Birthday! The energizer dog had another great year and found himself fit enough to train his mother for a great year of racing! Bandit is fit enough to keep up on many runs too, her belly barely drags on the ground:)

Amy's new bikes! Giant Trinity-her first triathlon bike in many years sparked a little rebirth as a multi-sporter. Then a custom Serotta CXII built for monster speed and stability

Ruby kicks it in another great dance recital-this time there were tap shoes!

Ruby graduates from Pre-K! We knew she could do it!

Ruby and Amy take the High Peaks Cyclery Mini Tri World Championships! Ruby's won so many races at this point, she can't even recall how many it's really been (in her own words)

Ruby learns to swim on her own! Countless hours at the pool with mama and emma and she's totally got it! Amy has to hold back tears every time they hit the pool:)

Ruby and Amy take a big trip to Florida for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Ruby is now an experienced flyer and Amy is a world champion

Ruby learns to read!!!!!! Amy has to hold back tears every night when she opens up a book:)

The Real Adirondacker in the Family

My daughter might have an advantage over most of my friends and I when it comes to dealing with the elements here in the Adirondacks. She's a real Adirondack native-she was born on a cold evening in late December so, I feel like she is even more impervious to the snow, ice and cold. Over the last week temps have hovered between 0 and 15 degrees and that hasn't kept Ruby inside at all! One day last weekend we were Christmas shopping in Lake Placid when she lost her patience and started shouting- "Mom we need to get out of this store, I NEED to go cross country skiing! Let's just get out of here!" It was about 5 degrees and dark by the time we got home, but my hearty little girl wasn't going to let another day go by without her first ski of the season! The next day it was still cold and I tried to keep her busy inside but by noon she was rip roaring ready to ski again! We bundled up, packed up the dogs and headed out for another freezing ski. After 20 minutes even the dogs wanted back in the car but the Rubster was having a great time! Last night's adventure was 6 degrees to go skating at the outdoor rink in Saranac Lake. We'd checked out the rink on our way home and it looked ready to go but when we got there the lights were off so went with plan B and took the dogs for a hike by headlamp instead:) When we got home Ruby she continued to play outside and then raved about how much fun it was and how she couldn't wait to get back out tomorrow! I informed her father of her madness and his response was, "oh that little girl, she's a beast!" A little rugged, Adirondack Beast:)

-4 Feels like -17!

The dogs and I experienced our first subzero run of the season and the season really isn't here yet! Despite a frozen nose and frozen buns it was a pretty good run-our little Bandit runs better the colder it gets so I'm pretty sure she would have gone all morning long. My feet were extremely happy too in my new trail shoes-Salomon XT Wings-are highly recommended, at least for snowy roads and icey sidewalks! Cushy lil' clouds:) Day sort of went downhill from there as I jumped in the shower to realize that I had run out of fuel and the furnace was OFF OFF OFF! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm gonna turn this day around.

Great Expectations

So I headed out on my run this morning, with dogs in tow, expecting a nice easy, peaceful run along the St. Lawrence and Oswegatchie Rivers, on our favorite paths, where the dogs love to frolic off leash. My first sign that the run was not going to be as peaceful as I thought when Quenton started lagging behind to play with an old chocolate lab that we had passed and wouldn't let me catch him to cross the bridge and run the rest of the path. The next sign was when I thought I had them outsmarted by leading them up a set of stairs so I could catch them at the top of the and finish the run. I started up the ice covered stairs yelling at the dogs and they both disappeared! 5 Five more minutes of yelling and starting up the stairs and no dogs! Bandit finally let me catch her after rifling through some bushes and we discovered Quenton enjoying a frozen turkey on the side of the road-yeah a frozen turkey, like from a grocery store wrapped in plastic on the side of the road, in the middle of town! As I lunged for him, he decided staying 2 steps ahead of me was a better idea and I should chase him across the bridge. He scampered across the slipperiest sidewalk and passed an OPD car before he decided it was time for him to be back on the leash. I dragged them back to Grandma's grumbling about how much fun it is that they are so old, but still so dumb, and gave them tomorrow off!

Snow Men R Us

So Ruby and Emma set out to build a snowman a couple of evenings ago, but the snow was so good that within 20 minutes they had an entire village of snow people and pets! Ruby and Emma are total BADASS Snowbuilders!

Ruby's Awesome Report Card

I think we all knew this, but Ruby is really smart! Smart enough that she has to tell my track kids what some of the words she uses mean, smart enough that she's known what sarcasm is and how to use it since she was 2, smart enough that she had a perfect report card except for the fact that she didn't know what a rhombus, trapezoid, and hexagon were on the day that her teacher asked. She made sure she has it down, so the next one will be perfect:) We had an awesome day on Saturday complete with a slumber party with Alison and Emma and Hannah Montana! Way to go Ruby!!

Ruby's Thanksgiving Performance

Ruby loves to perform and she doesn't mess around when she does it! Whether it's an impromptu dance recital to the ringtones on my phone or a fully costumed song and dance she loves the spotlight! This beauty is called Everyday the Spotlight Shines on Me on Christmas Day

2009-The Experiment

About 10 months ago I decided it was time to get back pursuing a dream I started pursuing 10 years ago. It dawned on me that I wasn’t getting any younger and my life wasn’t getting any easier so if I was going to do it, now was my time to do it! Marathons weren’t right for my body, as evidence of the 2 year sciatic nerve battle, but triathlon is where I belong-grueling enough to keep me happy and exhausted but 3 disciplines to keep me fresh and engaged. When I looked at race schedules and my life schedule I immediately knew that the 70.3 World Championships would be my final destination, and winning my ae group would be my seasons goal. I took a multi step approach to my first and only qualifying race-starting with Duathlon Nationals which I won after a freight train and 96 degree temps tried to stop me, then 2 parts to the Tupper Lake Tinman where I flatted, crashed, and then rode really hard, and finally Rhode Island 70.3 where everything worked out and I was able to narrowly finish as the top amateur woman and 5th overall. I didn’t even consider the Kona slot for this year-this is the test year to see whether or not I’m really going to fully re-commit to triathlon so an Ironman was definitely out of the question! I did one more big half about 6 weeks after Rhode Island and turned in another solid effort at Timberman finishing as the top amateur again and 6th overall. I did a series of running races right after Timberman to try and get back into my running groove and find some of my sciatic compromised speed. Quibbie and I also turned in some good long runs through the fall and suddenly 2 hours on a trail feels like 20 minutes-I love that dog! Coming back to triathlon training as a single mom with teaching and coaching responsibilities has been interesting. The last time I was doing this I was a single 25 year old without a real care in the world. Logging 15-25 hours of training in a week was totally doable. This time I’ve had to accept that I need to take advantage of every minute of my day, plan like crazy, and not stress if I don’t get the workouts in! My closest friends and family will attest that this has not been easy for me and I’ve been prone to bouts of madness if I don’t spend enough time on my bike-these poor people should be sainted for all that they have put up with over the last few months!

In the 2 weeks leading up to the race Ruby had a touch of a cold or the flu and we had to spend some days at home drinking elderberry juice and crazy doses of vitamin c! I still managed to get some solid training in the week before we left so my head was only a little wonky and only a few people were blessed with the crazed she wolf! Travel was fairly uneventful to the race, a few delays and Ruby being Ruby, but it was her first trip on a plane and she’s awesome so she gets away with it! My mother Janet, sister Tammy, and niece Hillary came along with us so traveling was full of laughs.

Day 1 in Clearwater was cool, windy and overcast so when I headed out on my run hoping to sweat it totally didn’t happen and all I could think of was my friend John warning me all fall that I needed to wear more layers to acclimate to the heat and how that wasn’t happening at all! We took full advantage of the location of our hotel that night by finding an awesome pre race restaurant (The Gondolier or Geronimos as Ta kept calling it), that we visited at least once a day and hitting Walgreens for the first of 15 or 20 times in 4 days.

Day 2 was even cooler, windier, and more overcast. I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose-awesome- and there was a high surf warning so the planned swim did not happen! Tammy and I opted to run in the park that I had discovered the day before which seemed to be perfect stomping grounds for a serial killer with lots of brush and bushes to hide dead runner bodies in. I think our abs were a lot stronger after that run because we couldn’t help but cracking jokes all the way through the park. I got my bike all back together and out for a windy and frightening ride-I hate wind and it freaked me out a lot! Later we set out to race registration and was found it so bizarre to see everyone bundled up and shivering-it’s hard to put your badass face on when your teeth are chattering. Ruby and the girls and I still managed to take hilarious pics and laugh our asses off. We hit Walgreens at least 3 times. Later that evening Tammy accompanied me to the pre race dinner where we learned about the “contingency plan” for the swim if the surf didn’t go down. Everytime the swim director said “contingency plan” I fell more in love with the phrase and the idea of swimming in the harbor without giant Ruby’s Mom eating waves. I am a living, breathing, running, cycling, swimming contingency plan☺

Day 3 we woke up on to sunshine! Yay, but my cold seemed worse-yuck☹ I headed out on the bike again and despite slightly warmer temps and sunshine the wind was still there. I decided that the Serotta Rainbow Ghostbike was stable and would charge through it even I was a nervous wreck. We had a day complete with a swim in the gulf, nerves, playing in the sand, a wild tour of the bike course, more Walgreens, pizza from Geronimos, and nerves.

Race day! Woke up with a clear head, clear sinuses, and perfect coffee from Jenny in Missoula! After I got the pony tails and my RUBY’S MOM top just right Ta dropped me off at the transition area so I could take care of some last minute details and get to the swim start with plenty of time to check things out. I squeezed into my wetsuit and decided I might need 1 more potty break when I realized that the porties potties were back by the transition area! It turned out to be okay and found the sprint to and from the bathroom to be a great warm up. Part of the “contingency plan” was that all the racers get in a line and 1 at a time we would jump off a dock and start swimming. It was so much less nerve wracking than the usually mass start so when I saw Ruby and her posse before my jump she was much more nervous than I was-poor kid! The swim was me swimming-sort of terrible, but oh well I just kept reminding myself that I was a cyclist and a runner and that’s where I would make my move! The bike ride was crazy-the first part was pretty clear of giant packs of a$%^les drafting and I worked my ass off to stay at the front of the pack. For most of the time I was felt like I was riding so hard that I wouldn’t have any legs for running but it felt awesome so I couldn’t help myself. Around 10 miles a woman rode up and shouted “you should all be ashamed of yourselves if you end up on the podium!’ I responded with, “f#^k you lady,” to which she replied, “not you honey you’re doing all the work here.” The truth was I didn’t feel like I could afford to draft, it wasn’t easy for me to get here and I desperately needed to do well and do it fair! So the entire 56 miles was spent trying to get the hell away from people. By the last 5 miles I was shouting at the packs to spread out and move over so people could actually ride! I ended up riding the fastest 56 miles of my life and feeling awesome about the future of Rainbow Ghostbike☺ As soon as they took my bike all I could think was “here we go!” and wondered how trashed my legs were gonna feel after that ride! I felt surprisingly great on the run and spent almost the entire 13.1 miles thinking about Ruby and my family and my friends who had gotten me to this point. My thoughts went to some of my athletes who were also racing that day, my dad at home anxiously awaiting results, and my sweet dog who had endured all the miles over the last 10 years & seeing Ruby 4 times during the run made it a million times better! I got to give my mom a high 5 on my way to the finish line and was bawling and mumbling “it worked, it all worked” over and over by the time I found my smiling family!

Based on this I’ve decided that the experiment was appositive one and now the game is really on-lets hope Ruby will put up with it, I have a feeling that as long as my jersey reads “RUBY’S MOM” and we get to continue fun trips she will☺

Ruby's Mom's Results

Amy Catherine Farrell
acfmonkey@hotmail.com

Goal: In 2010 I would like to rejoin the pro ranks and focus on top 3 finishes at Mooseman 70.3, Ironman Lake Placid, Timberman 70.3, Syarcuse 70.3 and a top 5 finish at Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

2009 USAT Duathlon National Championships
1st place 30-34 women
Whiteface Mountain Uphill Run
Women’s Champion, 9th Overall
Tupper Lake Tinman Triathlon
1st place Mixed Team
Swim(30.41/1.2miles) & Bike(2:33/56miles)
Rhode Island 70.3
Top Amateur Woman/5th Overall-Ironman & 70.3 World Championship Qualification
Swim(30:26/1.2 miles) & Bike (2:33/56miles) & Run(1:32/13.1miles)-4:39
Timberman 70.3
Top Amateur Woman/6th Overall
Swim(30:54) & Bike (2:30) & Run (1:34)-4:39
Lake Placid Half Marathon
Women’s Champion, 4th Overall, 1:24.47
Ironman 70.3 World Championship
30-39 World Champion/5th Amateur/17th Overall
Swim(31:53) & Bike(2:16) & Run(1:27)-4:20
2005-2008 Focused on running setting PR’s at every distance from the mile to the marathon. High lights:
5k-17:28 6k XC-22:05
4 Mile-22:53 10k-35:30
Half Marathon-1:20 Marathon-2:47.56
High Peaks Cyclery Mini Triathlon Series World Champion 2008, 2009
Tupper Lake Tinman Sprint Champion 2005
2003-2004 Extended maternity leave-Ruby Farrell Ladue-Fearless Sidekick
2002 Season Results
April 7, 2002 Great Clemont Triathlon, Clermont, FL
2nd place overall women, 2:15.30
May 5, 2002 Gatineau Park Duathlon, Ottawa, Canada
1st place overall women
May 19, 2002 Ralph’s Half Ironman California, Oceanside, CA
4th place overall women, 4:24.43
fastest pro bike split
June 8, 2002 Eagleman Half Ironman, Cambridge, MD
3rd place overall women, 4:19.27
2nd fastest bike split to Natascha Badmann
July 28, 2002 Ironman USA, Lake Placid, NY
5th place overall women, 4th pro woman 10:13.29
September 1, 2002 Lake Placid Half Marathon, Lake Placid, NY
1st place woman, 1:27:16
2001 Season Results
April 27, 2001 St.Anthony’s Triathlon, St.Petersburgh, FL
4th place overall women
June 3, 2001 Blackwater Eagleman Half Ironman, Cambridge, MD
2nd place overall women, top amateur, fastest run split
Ironman World Championship Qualification
July 1, 2001 Long Course National Championship/ Tupper Lake Tinman, NY
2nd place overall, 18-24 Long course National Champion
July 29, 2001 Ironman USA, Lake Placid, NY
1st place 19-24 age group, 7th place overall women
New age group record 10:15:35
September 1, 2001 Mrs.T’s Age Group National Championship, Couerd’ Alene, ID
2nd place 20-24 age group
February, 2002 Highest points for all amateur females on annual USAT rankings
2000 Season Results
June 2, 2000 Freihofer’s Women’s 5k National Championship, Albany, NY
4th place 20-24 age group
June 18, 2000 Muskoka Long Course Triathlon, Huntsville, Ontario
1st place 18-24 age group (1st triathlon ever)
Ironman World Championship Qualification
July 17, 2000 Danskin Women’s Triathlon Series, Wrentham, MA
1st place 18-24 age group, 2nd place overall women
August 6, 2000 Wilkes-Barre Triathlon, Wilkes-Barre, PA
2nd place 18-24 age group, 5th overall women
October 14, 2000 Ironman Triathlon World Championship, Kona, Hawaii
4th place 18-24 age group (following a crash at mile 40) 11:23

The Marathon Year 2007-2008

What do I do now? After the most surreal running experience of my life what do I do next? Coming so close twice in two months is rough, dealing with the reality of the situation is rough, but right now I’m trying to extract the good. I’ve spent too much time dissecting what I’ve done wrong in life to do it again. The truth is given my circumstances and training I did everything I could and fell apart over the last 4 miles. I know I have better marathons in me-trial and error is teaching me what needs to happen to become a good marathoner and I need to become a good marathoner, a good something or I might completely unravel.

I arrived in Phoenix my usual pre-race frazzled self-thinking maybe it would just be best to turn around and get on flight back to my girl, but I knew my amazing support team would lynch me upon arrival. The first thing that made me calm down was a little talking to from Frank Shorter about how the only that we could possibly do for the next couple of days was calm down and relax-2 things my life has been lacking for quite some time! Then it was time to get out of my room and meet the “competition,” but as soon I spent a little time with these women though, it wasn’t a race anymore. It was a collaborative effort toward reaching a common goal. We weren’t competing against each other, but supporting each other. It felt like I was back with my SLU running family hopping into a van for 24 priceless hours to love and laugh and run together. I don’t know how many people have “running families” like mine, but now I feel like I have 2 and I am so grateful. Mama Christine-the crazy mother of 4 was running her 3rd marathon in 3 months and was the first one to vocalize how lucky all were to be together to try and do what we were about to. As soon as she started talking about the real hard work being in the hands of the Hanson boys my nerves sort of floated away and I finally felt calm. This was not a convention of the pro running studs with charmed lives-this was a group of mostly very real women with kids and jobs and struggles exactly like mine and I felt really safe with them. We spent Saturday unnecessarily cramming 9 of our sweaty bodies in to a minivan b/c we couldn’t bear to miss out on the hilarity of “Miss America for Runners.” Sitting around sharing war stories-missing by 25 or 56 or 71 seconds or kids and dogs and husbands-the good and bad-not typical stuff you share with someone you just met 24 hours ago, unless you're secret Phoenix running BFFs. The technical meeting found most of us trying to get a few words or photos in with people like Carrie Tollefson and Katie McGregor (the coolest/fastest mid westerners you’ll ever meet), confessing long forgotten crushes on an unrecognizable Todd Williams, and giving our water bottles our own personal touches-art projects one mad! The Hanson boys were there to reassure us that pacing work would be done and if we just stuck behind the scarlet and gold we would be safe and successful. How did we get so lucky?

Race morning came and I was still calm, still feeling amazed that we were all in this together and genuine in wanted everyone to be successful in the mission. Despite trying to be serious be still found time to make Omar blush and giggle at each other before being pranced out to the start. I’ve had the experience as I have been stepping into the water for an Ironman where I have the “wow we’re all in this together” thought, a brief calm and then “game on.” But this start was different; I didn’t do my best to look intimidating or super crazy. I tucked myself in next to Christine’s positive energy, Melinda’s great sense of humor, and smiled. Frank Shorter and Bernard Lagat wished us good lucked and we were off.
I immediately snuck in right behind Luke (John, the boss) and Pat (George, the GPS) and tried like hell not to step on them. Coach Waldron had instructed me not to get crazy and try to impress the boys with 6:00’s like I had in Philly and I remembered that frequently. The horde spent a better part of the first mile babbling before Luke finally told them to cut down on the talk as they might regret it in the end. Being a talker who was trying to stay calm and conserve (I was being quiet!) I was thankful for his suggestion as they were even driving me a little nuts. I couldn’t stay completely quiet, around 2.5 miles there was a giant billboard to “The Gun Show” and I had to direct attention to it so the boys could flex and give us a “Gun Show” of their own-which they happily did. The next crack came around mile 7 when Jiminy Cricket (Mike Morgan, Ringo) got a little bit ahead and Luke asked where he was going to which I point to a sign and replied “The Emergency Pregnancy Center.” A lot of random thoughts enter your head during a marathon; imagine the thoughts that creep in when you have a pack of 20-30 women closely following a wall of 4 little men. These are the things I wanted to say out loud:
“It’s like you guys are the Beatles and we’re the groupies.” Then I took a few miles to figure out which would John, Paul, George and Ringo, which was followed by me calling them the names in my head.
When I would sneak up and get next to them and we were running in line across the road I wanted to say, “okay boys we’re all cowboys, who wants to be the crazy one that shoots everybody?” I think it would have been Ringo, as Paul (Mike R.) was way too sweet, calm and collected.
“Can anybody feel this electricity?” As the pack had dwindled to 5 or 6 women, a bunch of older guys, and we were all in step.
“Do you think some of these men ahead think they’re actually beating some of America’s best male marathoners?”
A father and daughter cruise by on those stupid stand up scooter things and Ringo just says, “walk” in disgusted tone. I respond, “God bless America” and we all have a good laugh.
Way too many to get them all out! It really was one of the highlights in 18 years of running. They took such good care of us-putting out an arm when we needed to be held back, clearing us a path when runners in front of us were dying. John and Paul even came close to getting in a fight for us with an inefficient, painful to watch runner who wouldn’t get out of the way and just let the pack swallow him even though he was struggle to stay in front. Knowing what a gift I was being handed by having them pace us, I wouldn’t let them go until my body decided otherwise. For 21 miles though, I felt great and hung on. At 21 a couple of women came back to us and the pack took off-it broke my heart a little not to run all 22 with them, but when they pulled over they reassure me that the pace had picked up and I was going to be fine. I ran one more and it started to creep in that I might not be okay-7:03. I hadn’t run a 7-minute mile in a race sense I stumbled through VT City in May. I threw up a couple times and regrouped-deciding no matter what happened I was not packing it in. I would ignore my splits run my hardest and see what happened. The last time I looked at my watch I had about 600 meters left to cover and 30 seconds to do it in. I saw the boys as I made my final turn and shed a couple of tears, regrouped again and tried to finish with a smile before hiding in corner and allowing myself a good, hard cry. A volunteer came up to see if I was okay and wouldn’t leave me alone until I frantically asked him to “just please leave me alone!” Just as I was getting it all out The Beatles, all four of them, came walking up looking just as sad as I felt. I was 1 of I think 2 that were right behind them from the start and even though very few words were exchanged we been through “trials of miles, miles of trials” and suddenly I had four new running brothers that I wasn’t afraid to cry in front of.

I spent very little time obsessing over what went wrong and realized that the past year has been hard, really hard, but running is bringing me back to life. Making wake up and be a better mother, helping me seriously think about where my life needs to go so I can be the kind of woman that is alive and thriving, not stuck in a the same holding pattern I have been in for the past 5 years. I know when things get sorted out and life settles down I can run all the miles I need, give myself the credit I deserve and be a damn good marathoner. My life just hasn’t been settled enough to give it everything I possibly have, so need to be happy with a 2:47.56 and 2:48.10 for now.