It's been a long time since my last entry. It's been a long time since I wasn't running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but that's the way I like it. When I was growing up I was surrounded by constant motion. My parents both have seemingly endless wells of energy-there is always something to paint, lawns to be mowed, second story additions to put on! It's really inspiring to see them refuse to slow down. This summer I tried my best to become Jim and Janet Farrell. The guests who came to the Faust Motel will hopefully tell you I did a pretty good job at getting all my work done.
After some mixed racing results on limited training because of the Jim and Janet impersonations, over the next few months I'll try mixing in some more vintage Amy (selfish time running on snowy back roads and hours in front of the TV on the Rainbow Ghostbike) to see if I can get my mojo back. It actually felt good to work really hard at something new and not freak out about not getting as many hours of training in as everybody else. It sucked to go back to Rhode Island hoping to be 15 minutes faster and being 15 minutes slower than last year, but I guess this year wasn't about kicking ass in triathlon. It was about getting my shit together in personal life and making a new business seem like the same old business. It was also about jumping into some new events, having fun, and prepping the pack for another shot at a fast marathon (even dogs need to train to train). Here's a brief recap of 2010:
June 6, 2010 Mooseman 70.3-great trip with my mom and Ruby to New Hampshire, wonderful homestay with our new friend Joanne, hypothermia and a DNF. When we got to the race site of Saturday the sun was shining, water seemed warm, and Ruby had a great time in the kids race. After a restless night of sleep we came back to the race site and found it chilly and starting to spit rain. The announcer kept suggesting we leave extra clothes by the bike, I ignored him and paid dearly. The swim was worse than I expected but after a solid spring of riding I was excited to get out onto the hilly course and play catch up. Instead I froze my ass off and never warmed up. At the end of loop one I pulled over with another female pro and called it a day. My body temp was around 93 so I was relieved to catch a ride in the ambulance they had called for the other woman, who had crashed. They drove us around in the ambulance for quite some time, but eventually were told they couldn't bring us into the transition area so they dumped us at an aid station where we hitchhiked for a ride from a nice local policeman! A highlight of this trip was definitely a stop at a NH State Liquor Store with Janet!
June 13, 2010 Lake Placid Half Marathon-After DNF'ing at Mooseman I needed to finish a race and I needed to do it sort of fast. I did a last minute entry into the Lake Placid Half Marathon and was accompanied to the race by my devoted parents, who happened to be in town for Ruby's dance recital. As I scurried to the start I noticed a seriously badass looking woman on the line. When I got closer I realized it was former high school running rockstar Sara Facteau, who repeatedly beat the snot out of most of the girls in New York State in the early 90's-yikes! I decided I would see what I could do and try and hang with her. As we hit the first mile way faster than I meant to go I asked what sort of pace she was hoping to run. We were also way faster than she meant to go. I tried to be wise and settle into a reasonable half marathon pace, instead of a fast 5k pace, and let her get away. I hit 5k under 18 minutes and knew it was really time to buckle down and pull hard on the reins! The out and back on River Road was perfect for this as I was easily distracted by looking for friends who were running and cheering for anyone who would listen! When I finally got back out to the ski jump hill the pink singlet was coming back into sight and I was feeling good. As I entered the oval she was heading for the finish-if I'd only had another mile or two! I did walk away feeling better about my training and better about racing in a skirt and I had a new open Half Marathon PR!
June 19, 2010 Great Adirondack Trail Run-this was the race I was most excited for this season! I've had friends run it and try to describe the special sort of pain racing up and over mountains can bring a person's legs, but this was even better. As this was my third weekend of racing in a row I was starting to get a little sick and run down, but about an hour in I started to feel great. Lots of stumbling and screeching-next year I know what to expect and how to improve! Probably the best running experience of the summer:)
June 25, 2010 Tinman Sprint Triathlon-After not winning a race since Duathlon Nationals I was starting to doubt the custom made, non puffy painted Ruby's Mom singlet. I wasn't really planning on racing this weekend as it was our first busy weekend at Faust and I was heading out of town for the St. Lawrence All Starz Wedding of the Century (congrats Amy and Lawton), but when a race goes right by your house it's impossible to pass it up! I was up and out of the water well before Kevin, Ruby and our biker guests thought about waking up. I rode by Faust and nothing! 45 minutes later I rode by again and there was my family, only they didn't seem to notice me-nice! After tripping over my bike on the way into transition I was off and happily running through my new hometown. I was able to the win, improve my previous best on the course by 9 minutes, and my family showed up to cheer me in!
July 11, 2010 Rhode Island 70.3-racing 4 out of 5 weekends leading up to this race may have been a bad idea. Spending the afternoon playing in the ocean with Ruby, my sister Tammy, and my niece Hillary the day before the race may have been a bad idea. Eating pre-race pizza at a dive called Fat Jack's Pizza Shack may have been a bad idea. Staying with Jen's cousin Carol and Andy was a great idea. I was excited to redeem myself after Mooseman and see if I could still hang with pros but after about 8 minutes in the water I knew it was going to be a long day. I got on the bike and just couldn't get my ass in gear. When my coach, who started in a wave 5 minutes behind me, rode up next to me and passed me it was like she had given me a swift kick in the ass and I sort of held it together for the rest of the ride. When I came into transition 20 minutes slower than I had told Tammy and the girls I had a hard time being positive as I headed out on the run. The only thing that kept me chugging along was seeing Ta and the girls and my run wasn't nearly as bad as my swim and bike-phew.
August 22, 2010 Xterra Lake Placid Trail Run-after a brief hiatus and lots of short dog-filled runs I was eager to try another messy trail run. This course, which went through our old Riki Hill stomping grounds, did not disappoint. Total mess, lots of fun!
September 16-17, 2010 Reach The Beach Relay-was in SLU Alumni All-Starz withdrawal and 24 hours in a van with the sweetest, smelliest SLU XC alums totally hit the spot. While it sucks to run slow it was just the kick in the ass I needed!
October 22, 2010 Octupperfest Mud Run-a race up Big Tupper and then back down! Ouch! For a solid week-ouch! Awesome lil race, can't wait to attack it next year!
October 31, 2010 Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon-the last time I did this race Tammy and I wore real wedding dresses and my poor nephew Sam had to be our groom. This year we were cavewomen and my nephew Mitchell got to be our caveboy. We arrived at the race with about 20 minutes to get our numbers, put on our costumes and stand in the bathroom line-yikes! Ta walked out of the bathroom just as the gun went off and Mitchell spent the first 3 miles leading us through the crowds we started behind! We didn't end up on the news like we did with the wedding dresses, but left with tons of laughs (Tammy ran an extra half mile or so trying to follow me onto the half marathon course, instead of following her son to the finish of the Squirelly 6 mile finish).
November 7th 2010 Manchester Marathon-When my BFF Alison got closed out of the Philly Marathon I got the idea that maybe I needed to accompany her to whatever race she found to take it's place. Manchester turned out to be a much needed girls weekend! With cool temps in the forecast Alison found us some lovely throw away sweatshirts to start the race in. We found a 13 year old boy to run with and he proved to be perfect motivation as she dropped him around mile 23 when she started to get sick of the sound of his footsteps and she pr'ed by 5 minutes! If you ever get the chance to run a marathon with one of your bestest friends in the whole world do it!
