May I Offer You a Suggestion? (2019 Lessons)

And, here we are.  The final few days of 2019.  As it always is post holiday, the week between Christmas and New Year's is a week devoid of any real structure or life purpose - What day is it?  Who knows.  What are we having for breakfast?  Leftover sausage pie.  Mmm, so good.  Why the hell won't these kids stop fighting?  (Good luck with that.  Two weeks off for Christmas is evil.  What do you expect me to do, parent?  Yes....that was in pink font (sarcasm)).

Aside from the trials and tribulations of a first world mom (I own it), it's also a great time to take stock of the year and figure out what went well, what did not, and where you want to go in 2020.

This year, I find myself in the odd position of 100% feeling like I finally lived my 2019 resolution fully from January 2 to December 31 (have a little faith, guys.  I promise I'll live out tomorrow!).  To do the big, scary things. I know its not everyone's favorite, but I stick by the mantra -  I've spent the whole year in a state of pushing myself to the limit, whether it be physical, mental or emotional. And most of it....guys....was scary shit.  Leaping off a building scary stuff that I had no clue if I would fail at or not. It hasn't always been easy.  As a matter of fact, it rarely was. But the take-aways have been astounding.

But....maybe that's my experience.  It's interesting how your intents really shape what you do...but might not always be how others perceive you. During a recent round of drinking with friends, one of my  buddies made a comment about how he perceived me as a person- using the term "highly suggestible".  I'm not sure why, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. I sat and thought about it
for awhile, considering what being highly suggestible means  - was that me?  Was that the person I wanted to be? Did I need to re-think things for 2020?

Since I like to try to be logical with the way that I think, I turned to the most reliable source of information at my disposal....google (Dammit, maybe I am a millennial).  According to good ole Wikipedia, Suggestibility is "the quality of being inclined to accept and act on the suggestions of others".  Hmmm, I thought.  Well, whats wrong with that?  I suppose that's me.  At least, the me of 2019.  You see, one of my hallmarks to change my life and my outlook on life this year was to do things I had never done before - which means being open to suggestion.   It doesn't mean I necessarily adopt all the suggestions...I accept them as possibilities to perhaps change something I don't currently like for the better. I then act on them, and afterwards decide if they work for me or not. Sometimes they don't work, and I discard them.  And sometimes...they really do.  But if I wasn't "suggestible" I might have closed my mind off to not even try them.

So, as I sit here an navel gaze on 2019, I have come to realize a few pivotal things.  They aren't earth shattering, but armed with the multitude of life lessons 2019 has brought me, these will carry me to 2020.....

1.  Everyone has something to teach you.  This was probably the biggest  one for me.  As a person that is in charge of a lot of things at work, at home, and in family life, I have a very Type A way of carrying myself.  I've had to figure it out in so many ways on my own for my whole life, and I really had decided that I was a strong, independent woman that really didn't need anyone but myself to succeed.  This was proven 100% false right out of the gate in 2019, so I decided to adopt the stance of realizing that everyone I came in contact with could, in fact, teach me something that might have the potential to make me better as a person in one form or another.  This was not easy.  It took a lot of trying new things that didn't make sense, hearing things about the way that I did things that might not have been the best way, and a lot of mental undressing for what I perceived to be truths I had held for years.  It also was one of the most rewarding things I have ever experienced, and I am so very grateful to have had some of the best "teachers" there are come into my life.

2.  ....But take their advice with a big grain of salt.  I have the sense that humanity as a whole, are good people.  When people teach you something or give you advice, its generally meant with all the goodwill and their desire to help you out.  Its also usually gleaned from something that they have either experienced that worked for them, or something that they have seen/heard of/read that made sense to them.  It's important to realize that even though their nuggets of wisdom are meant with all the good intentions, that it may or may not work for you.  And if it doesn't, its ok to explore a different option. Sometimes learning what "not to do" through failure can have just as much of an impact as learning what does work!

3.  Open up your mind to different possibilities.  Man.  I sound old.  But as someone that's been "adulting" reasonably successfully for the past 15 plus years, I have my own way of doing things.  On a day to day basis with home, work, friendships, relationships, family, and hobbies.  But if there's any area of your life you want to change, you need to get past your comfort zone and start breaking through barriers to make it happen.  And that only happens when you open up your mind to approaching things differently and trying new things to accomplish your goals. Change is not easy.  But sometimes that piece of discomfort really brings you exactly where you want to be.  And before you know it....you've got a new "norm" that you've adapted that isn't quite so scary.

4.  ....But trust your gut.  I approached this year with as much of a blank slate as I reasonably could.  Some of the things I tried had absolutely no rhyme or reason, and they worked.  Some were totally not for me at all.  I learned that it was most important to trust my gut for what was a good decision or not.  My head was too logical - biking hill repeats during rush hour on a 4 lane road sounds logistically horrible, but it worked.  My heart, it turns out, was also not to be trusted - it was too emotional.  There were a few missteps this year where I lead with my heart and they were total disasters and did not make sense in the long run.  Luckily, I have a few soft places to land.  (See #6)

5.  Don't be afraid to fail.  As I said above, some things I have learned in 2019 really did work.  Some were complete and epic failures.  I blogged a little bit about some of the lost feelings this year...and some of the failures.  Some were kept private for a good reason.  But I routinely made an ass of myself this year, whether it be crashing spectacularly coming into transition for my first half ironman of the year (thank god that was caught on film),  running a full marathon with a busted foot, or opening my mouth/acting without thinking, I made some terrible life decisions.  Luckily, none of them were mistakes that couldn't be fixed....but it took some work to correct my mistakes in 2019.

6.  But know who is there to catch you.  This was HUGE for me this year.  One thing I am not great at is failing - who is??? While some of the big scary things I did were about leaping....the scariest things were about leaping and not landing on my feet.  I learned, without a doubt, that not everyone wants you to succeed.  Which was a hard lesson.  I learned who was there to judge me.  Who was there to say "I told you so".  And who was there to listen.  To help me back on my feet and nudge me in the right direction.  Who was there with a big hug when I needed it and who was there to give me a much needed kick in the ass when I was being a moron.  And the most interesting part was....I really wasn't who I thought it would be.  I let go of some long lasting relationships this year.  And some of the people I am now closest to....I didn't even know last year at this time.  Funny how life works, isn't it?

7.   Enjoy the Ride of Life.  This is, without a doubt, the most important lesson I learned this year.  To enjoy as much of life as you can.  While on a recent run with a buddy of mine, we got into a chat about 2019 and what a crazy year it's been (we had a similar year, and went through quite a bit together, so it was fitting).  As grown adults, we laughed about the things we went through that we never expected to, and how, even though it didn't seem that way at the time, that they all had a rhyme and reason and brought us to where we needed to be.  We likened 2019 to that summer before college....when all the crazy shit happens to your crew, and you come out of it, looking back, going....WTF just happened...and wow, that was one hell of a ride!  And that was it for me.  A year full of ups and downs, of twists and turns, of unexpected plot changers, and here we are.  At the end of the year.  Man that was crazy.  Man, that was fun.  Man, I lived that.  And I don't regret any of it.

As I sit here and write this post, my Facebook memories popped up and I saw that one year ago, I went for a little swim at the Y.  And one of the guys that was so pivotal to my 2019 race season decided to introduce me to two of his buddies sharing his swim lane.  Two days before the end of 2018, I was swimming broken 150's with three collegiate swimmers that fully brought a random rookie with a sarcasm problem into their fold.

One year later, those guys are some of my best friends.  Funny who walks into your life when you least expect it and how it changes your world. And while that's just one example of what happened when I decided to throw caution to the wind, its a perfect example of what being highly suggestible can bring.

So, yeah, I'll keep being suggestible.  It's served me well in 2019....

and with a few refinements, will continue to my 2020 goals.

Stay tuned.  2020....it's gonna be epic. 

Reindeer Run 5k: Walking on a Dream

Hey everyone!  I'm still alive, I promise.  The past six weeks have been a complete whirlwind as I close out "Scary Goals 2019" (more on this later....Greg and I did a thing to close the year out, and no, it's not a 9 month thing).  Needless to say, between the thing and the holidays, my life has been at full tilt lately and I am completely and totally exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally.  I also have never felt my life heading so much in the right direction as I have this year....but we can save that one for another post (get the feels ready).  Today is not about me.

It's about passing the torch on.  A few months ago, I met one of the most amazing, funny, sweet and genuine women I know.  She's always ready with a quick joke, virtual hug (darn you for living so far away!) and an ear to listen.  She also happens to be interesting in "learning to run"  (ahh, this is such a funny joke, as I fully expect her to beat the pants off me soon).  We met through a totally random event neither one of us were supposed to be at and bonded, as usual, over alcohol and the things that seem hilarious when drinking.  The friendship has turned into daily conversations about kids, life, goals, significant others, and ourselves....we are such similar people we have been dubbed "Two Peas" and its totally accurate.

Well, my Pea came to me 8 weeks ago looking to run her first 5k.  I offered to coach her through it if she wanted, and she was game to try my uhhh.....very limited coaching experience techniques.  Turns out, I was the lucky one, as Pea is a coaches dream.  She hit the paces for every workout, rested when I told her to, recovery ran at the paces I prescribed, and most importantly, had a blast doing it.  We set our goals on the Reindeer 5k, a local race to me that boasts a flat course, reindeer antlers, a cute medal, and a fun shirt.  We enlisted my fellow tri guys to join us (it was such a struggle) and made a weekend of the race.

Two Peas!

Race morning dawned....well, it didn't.  It was wet, cold and miserable.  My kids were signed up to run and we wisely left them with Gramma and headed downtown to RACE!  Pea was so cute....she was amped, ready to go, and of course, nervous as hell!!  Back in the beginning of the plan, her goal was to break 28.  I thought we could break 26, but that pace scared her, so I told her I would pace her and we could start  out slow  She bought us matching penguin socks and I added a tutu so we didn't take life so seriously....we were there to race but also HAVE FUN!
Pre race I logged a warm up with my fellow tri fam guys - The Boy and The Outlaw - seemed fitting that the two guys that helped me began my season at Running of the Green were there to end it!  Of course, they are much speedier and oh so serious about it (would it kill them to give me a piggy back ride one of these times??  No?)  They both had designs to break 20 (they did) and the Outlaw wanted to break 19 (He did and came in 4th.  Next year, it's on, Outlaw.  HAH)

Me, unsuccessfully trying to get run magic off the Outlaw.  

Pre race, Pea and I lined up with Greg and waited for the gun - I tried to calm her nerves by singing Def Leppard (it did not work.  And I think a few racers might have scootched away from us, which was actually good.  Bad shower voice FTW!).  Before we knew it, we were off!!

I told Pea we would start off at an 8:30 pace and see how we felt.  After the first few minutes of dodging people to find our stride, we hit pace perfectly.  I told her jokes to make her smile, stories to make her laugh, and we had a great time keeping the first mile easy at 8:29.  For mile 2, we picked it up a touch, and hit the water stop just as Pea was getting thirsty.  We saw the fast boys at the turnaround, and before we knew it, we were heading back, clocking mile 2 in a handy 8:19.  Pea asked about pace and I smiled and told her we were doing well (I so knew a 25:xx was possible).  

We decided to pick it up at 2.5, and came across two women running in Christmas tights.  I told Pea we should hang out behind them and the women laughed, so I complimented their Christmas butts.  That led to a fun exchange, and reaffirmed what I had told Pea about runners being crazy, but super fun!  She told me the pace felt great, and should we stick with it?  I smiled, looked at my watch and let her know we were holding a sub 8 minute mile.  "NO WAY!"  she yelled.

With a quarter mile to go, I told her to stop talking and run FAST!  As we turned the corner to head back, I made a joke for her to sprint to the finish line like there was a hot guy waiting for her in nothing but whipped cream.  We both busted out laughing as we saw the Boy and The Outlaw then, who yelled at us to STOP LAUGHING and sprint!  So we did.  I told Pea I was gonna chase her and she dropped below a 7 minute mile for the final stretch, and we finished in 24:36 - the last mile a 7:35! pace!!!!

WHAT A RACE.  I knew Pea had talent, but I can't even believe what she just did!  For reference, she came in 8th out of 64 in her AG - and missed placing by 56 seconds (next year!) I ended up 5th out of 70 in my AG, which was pretty awesome too!

Post race we grabbed some water, posed with our friendos (Greg took the pic) and I headed out for a 2 mile cool down with the boys.  We stuck around for the Boy (2nd AG) and Outlaw (1st AG) to get their awards, and then headed out to celebrate!!

This was my first time pacing anyone for a race, and it was a BLAST.  Pea is now officially hooked and wants me to coach her for her first half in 2020 (she is such a natural runner - I can't wait for it!) Along with the running bug, she also caught the love of running, and I am so damned happy to share that with her. The whole race...hell, the whole weekend, was summed up perfectly by Empire of the Sun:

Walking on a dream

How can I explain
Talking to myself
Will I see again

We are always running for the thrill of it thrill of it
Always pushing up the hill searching for the thrill of it
On and on and on we are calling out and out again
Never looking down I'm just in awe of what's in front of me

To my Pea - thank you for the amazing race, my twin/sister/friend - I can't wait to do it again, and once again, a new experience for 2019 that I never would have found if not on this amazing path I have taken in my life - I am so lucky to have found you and am totally "Walking on a Dream" with you!!

7 Days Without Running Makes One Weak

So, I'll admit right off the bat two major things about this post.

1.  I sort of stole the title for it. The inspo for most of my posts comes from songs, but since the whole brainchild behind documenting this past week in blog form was my coaches, it makes sense that I keep the momentum going by "borrowing" the title for it from his blog.  (Note: He gave me permission to do so.  Also Note:  I took seven days off.  He took eight.  He likely could have filtched a popular Beatles song to accomplish his post title, but since he's already blogged about the Beatles and doesn't take direction well, we can leave that one alone and move on.)

2.  Seven Days without running really doesn't make you weak.  It, for sure, was mentally and emotionally weakening for someone that loves it as much as I do - I not only use a run as a good workout but also as a mental and emotional stress relief.  While it's been a tough go on that end to take a break from running, I have no doubt the physical break will, in the long run, make me stronger.  So, for all intents and purposes of the title, two outta three ain't bad.  (See, you knew I had a song title in there!)

Alright, fine.  I'll back up.  So, post 2019 Tri season, you all saw the slow fall to me accepting that I probably should take an off season (Finally, she CAN be taught!).  I started out the way any normal triathlete with an exercise problem human being would - by resisting, bargaining, igoring, and finally accepting the fact that if I wanted to move forward in 2020, I needed to step back and let my body heal a bit before starting spring marathon training and Ironman training. Funny how logic works, isn't it?

Except....flip it.  I hate the damned coach.  COUCH.  I MEANT COUCH!

This past week I have tolerated embraced the idea of a true off season and taken off running and biking totally.   I haven't taken a week off from running and biking since....um....2005.  Yep, I even  biked and ran through both pregnancies and post delivery.  You got that right.  Yikes.  While my emotional and mental state are spot on for training (god I love this stuff), my body definitely needed the break.

So, in order to walk you through a week in the life, I've posted a daily recollection of my reactions to each day that formerly only existed in my Training Peaks notes. I, being a good athlete, (snorts) like to give my coach feedback about every effort that I make.  Poor guy.  During this particular week, I was given a lack of structure with specific parameters (NO RUNNING OR BIKING FOR 7 DAYS) that were worse than any Ironman peak building I've ever been through.  (AKA, I am the world's worst recoverer.  Ever.  I know.  You are all shocked).  So, in order to deflect my dissatisfaction with my whole run predicament, I reacted with bad humor that let my coach know that I was 1.  Being compliant, 2.  Not happy about it, and 3.  Trying to be a good sport.  Aside from the many eye rolls and head shaking I'm sure my training notes elicited, I have it on good authority that there were at least a few chuckles, which was my whole goal.  By Day 4, it was suggested to turn this whole week into a blog post.  I'm not sure if that was a subtle hint to leave him the hell alone or a thought that  this might be somewhat useful comical to the rest of you.  I suspect it's the former.  I'm gonna go with the latter.

So, how does one fare without an entire week of running or biking?  Well, read on for the unfiltered truth....

Sunday, November 3: Day One of no running captivity: (Workout: 1x3800ish yard swim in the pool). Legs are sore so a swim sounds good.  I know I'll never get the chance to do long pointless distances during the season, so why not.  This was either 3700 or 3800 not 4000....I lost track and my Garmin was annoyed that we weren't running so it rebelled like a teenager.  Legs appreciated the lack of work and the swim was zen and chill.  Two thumbs up. (Note:  My coach, who is a swimmer, does not condone any swim set above 200 yds continuous swimming.  This is brand new to me and is admittedly a big reason for my huge swim improvement).

Monday, November 4: Day 2 of no running captivity: (Workout: Kickboxing Class) The day starts with 3 hour budget review.  Sometimes I love my job....today is NOT one of those days.  I stare longingly at my running shoes and curse under my breath.  Must. Take. Off. Season.  I decide to blow off steam with a lunch kickboxing class.  Decide halfway through this probably wasn't what my coach had in mind but it felt great to work some new muscles and definitely helped my emotional and mental state.  Don't mess with the chick in pink gloves. (Also this was a legit core and leg workout.  Woof). 🤪

Tuesday, November 5: Day 3 of no running captivity: (Workout: 3000 yard swim).   It's raining.  I sort of even don't want to run.  Who am I??  Arms are sore from punching a bag yesterday, but I have meetings downtown so a swim seemed wise.  Low key easy work with flip turn focus.... too bad my coach wasn't there to watch the  comedy (I look like a drunk Monkey doing these).  Swim was relaxed and easy....I feel slightly guilty about the obviously non coach approved lack of structure to my swims but counter that they are emotionally and mentally relaxing and physically a form of active recovery while resting my legs.  Does he buy it?  Likely not, but he's probably amused by my feedback on the effort in my Training Peak notes.  My work here is done.

Wednesday, November 6: Day 4 of no running captivity: (Workout: Workout DVD)....This sucks.  It's gorgeous out.  My running shoes stare at me from the corner and dare me to break protocol.  It's tempting, but not worth the risks.  I pop in a Jillian Michael's Shred DVD that hasn't been opened since 2009 and do a stupid workout.  Starting to miss my bike.  Who am I???  Workout went fine, some plyometrics, kickboxing and ab work.  Uninspired.  Whatever. 🙃

Thursday, November 7: Day 5 of no running captivity: (Workout: Strength/Cardio at the Y)  I hate the elliptical.  It's stupid.  I hate rowing.  See two sentences earlier.  I might in fact be losing my will to live (Sarcasm or no?  You decide). It's pretty out.  My legs hurt.  They should be running.  At this point, I'd even ride my bike.  In aero.  Outside. In the 30 degree weather. Wtf. Lifting was actually good in case you (my coach) wanted something useful here.  I went lighter weights as it's been awhile and higher reps.  Did the full body circuit minus abs. I still would rather be running.

Running shoes without tights/shorts.  That's what's wrong with this picture

Friday, November 8: (Workout: 3 mile walk/2300 yds in the pool). Day 6 of no run captivity: I have recorded. A. Fucking. Walk.  What is wrong with me???  My running shoes sit in a corner, confused by what they did to cause me to abandon them. I try to feed them a Reese's peanut butter cup to show them I still love them.  It doesn't work.  Disgusted, I eat it and then curse about the counterproductive nature of such a move.  At least I got to swim today.  (Which was actually decent, as I focused on 100s instead of 1000s.  I might be coming around on that short distance thing). 40 hours until freedom.....post workout, I grouse about my grounded state and my buddy helpfully mentions he saw my running shoes on ebay, looking for a mate.  The auction ends in 39 hours and he put a bid on them.  I never liked him anyways.

Saturday, November 9: Day 7 of no running captivity: I decide on one more pointless swim before I'm restricted to 200/yd or less at a go.  20 minutes in I finally acquiesce and realize....my coach is right.  Long swims are dumb.  My watch agrees and craps out after 1600 yards.  I debate stopping but still have that magical idea  that in order to count, all workouts must be 45 minutes or more. (Again, I'm not that bright).  I work on flip turns....uh....most of the time.

Post Swim, I line up my run gear for tomorrow much like a kid leaving out milk and cookies for santa on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow's the big day!!! 😆😆

Sunday, November 10th.  

EVL Half Marathon 2019 - I'm a (snot) Rocket Man

Just when you thought perhaps I might have ended this crazy season, I do another dumb thing.  Yeah, you read that right.  After ending the triathlon season with a bang at Barrelman, I did a "non race" 5k the weekend after.  (Which was a total disaster, save for kiddo cuteness, if you didn't read the recap). 

After that nonsense, I took a week off (well, to my standards) then began the dance of trying to figure out if I had any more racing in me in 2019. Part of the problem with your season ender being such a success is you want to race ALL the races.  2019 exceeded my expectations beyond any dream, so I wanted to keep it going!

I debated signing up for a marathon.  I got my coach to write me a plan for Philly on November 24th, against his better judgment.  Why?  I don't know.  My party line was "fun run in another state" which seemed legit, except we all knew I was debating a lame BQ attempt.  I stuck with that for a few weeks then was talked off the ledge, thank god.  The runs were all fun but after ten months of structure, all I really wanted to do was play....NOT run 5 miles at a 7:15 pace (that was a fun failed workout!).  I then decided that since my buddy Ryan was gonna do a fall half marathon, why not jump on that bandwagon?  Let's play! We narrowed it down to a few races and settled in on the EVL Half in Ellicotville, NY on October 26,  a race I've always wanted to do because of the fun Halloween theme.

Except I got sick two weeks before the race, and it never quite let up.  I suffered through runs where I felt fine legs wise, but couldn't really breathe, took four days off at my coach's urging (god knows why that man puts up with me, he's a saint) and then decided the Monday before the race I was gonna do it....and actually signed up the day before the race.

Spoiler alert here - this year, on the ole bloggy, you are used to seeing "Holy Shit I PRed the hell out of that race and how did that happen?" nonsense.  This is not that kind of race report.  I will say that logically, I totally should have ended my season with Barrelman.   But much like a drunken text message to an old hookup at 2am,  this was one of those "it seemed like a good idea at the time" followed by "WTF did I just do" things...I have been, through one means or another, susceptible to terrible life decisions this year!! (Stop.  I really didn't text him. This is all race related, people).

You've been warned.  With that being said, I actually don't regret this race at all.  It's sort of odd to write a race report from the perspective of "what not to do".  So, in case you actually wanted to, ya know, hear about the race.....let's talk about the EVL half!!

Going into the race, as I said, I wasn't feeling so spiffy.  My legs had felt awesome with 90% of my runs, but I had a lot of issues with light headedness and with my nose and sinuses completely blocked, taking a full breath was a challenge (refer to the two paragraphs above, remember, I'm not that bright).  I knew that a PR was totally unlikely, but with the help of some buddies of mine, devised a plan to go out at about a 7:45, reassess at 5k in, and see how I felt.  I needed a 7:35ish pace to hit a sub 1:40, which was totally out of my expectation, but hey, I'm not afraid to try something and fail (as we have seen all year!)  The course looked to be pretty flat, save for some elevation gain between miles 5-8 (uh, no.  But we will get to that).  Plan B - hang on for a 1:45-1:50 finish (closer to that 1:45, hopefully).

This race was a little bit odd in the fact that it started at 11am, so fueling was a little weird.  I usually do a bagel 2 hours pre race, then applesauce and a banana 30 minutes prior, all while drinking Gatorade or tailwind (about 600 calories total, which fuels me well until I do my standard mid race fueling).  The nice part of a late morning start was that I was able to leave my house about 7am - the race was run near my friend Lauren's house, so about a 2 hour trip.  I planned to eat my bagel about 830, then do the applesauce and banana thing about 10:15-10:30 to top off my stores.  The trip to Eillicotville was uneventful except for the fact that apparently there are no bathrooms in Allegany or Cattaraugus county at all...by the time I arrived at Lauren's I was about ready to bust!  I took care of business then loaded up to drive to the race (Lauren, you rock!).  We got there about 10am, enough to do packet pick up and prep for an easy warm up.

Ryan and I pre race.  I went as a ladybug and he went as a fast runner. 
Clearly, his costume was superior to mine.

Ryan and I had totally different race expectations (he wanted to go under 1:30, which he totally did - once again, I find myself surrounded by fast dudes...I hope this rubs off some day!)  Regardless, I was fast enough to do an easy warm up with him and a few strides, which didn't feel too bad.  Success!!  After the warm up, I realized I hand't eaten half my breakfast and all my race nutrition was still with my sherpa,  and instead of going after it, hit up the bathrooms.  Fail.  I ended up scouring the crowd pre race without any luck and totally missed half my breakfast.   Terrible planning on my part, but one thing I've learned about racing is instead of beating yourself up for bad decisions, you just go with it.  Ryan and I lined up at the corrals five minutes prior to the start, and I seeded myself with the 1:45 pacer (hey, why not).  The anthem played, the gun sounded, and we were off!!

2 minutes into the race with no gum, music or GU, I found my angel Lauren and ran after my bag (poor girl thought I was going in for a hug and i yelled out something super sweet like "YOU HAVE MY FOOD!" as I lunged for the goods.  Love ya, Pea.  I'm sorry!)  I grabbed gum, GU and tunes and was off like a shot.  I decided since I was a good 300 calories short of where I should be that I would settle in and take my GU at mile 2-3 - usually I do them at mile 5 and mile 10 of a half, but I could only find one and my stomach was rumbling a half mile into the race.  Shit. This was not good.

Instead of focusing on my stomach, I tried to make the first 5k an even effort and to enjoy the gorgeous weather.  It was sunny out and absolutely perfect.  Pre race, Ryan and I had chatted with our buddy Bruce to determine race goals, and aside from time, decided fun was really in order.  Ryan and Bruce tend to chase Joy, but since I'm not into chicks, I decided to chase Max - Maximum fun, maximum speed (if I could) and basically anything that entailed.  The first 3 miles clocked off in 7:30, 7:38 and 7:58 - not Max anything, and I realized that even though my legs felt good, my breathing was kind of a mess (where have we heard this??) and that instead of gunning for sub 1:40, I should just enjoy the day.  I walked through the aid station at mile 3, slammed my gel and picked the pace back up.  

The next 5k was also pretty uneventful - I knew I wasn't adequately fueled but could only find water at aid stations, so I walked through them and finally found some Gatorade at mile 5 - score!  Hit the 10k mark at 47 minutes and did some mental math - I figured if I could run the next 7 miles at about an 8 minute mile, which felt good (mile 6 was my fastest mile at 7:26) that I could do a 1:42 or a 1:43, which was perfectly acceptable.  Sweet!

Then....there was a turn in the course, and all my dreams were quickly dashed.  The headwind kicked in fiercly, and I had to stop and walk to catch my breath.  The guy I was running with joked that we needed a tow rope...where had these winds come from???  Yikes.  The next 3 miles were a total struggle bus.  Mile 7 - 8:50.  Mile 8 - 9:08.  Mile 9- 9:51.  Between the winds and the fact that I was starving - my legs would just not work.  This may be as close to a "bonk" as I've ever had, and it was horrible.  I debated dropping out at mile 8 - not only was there no joy to this run, but at this point I WAS running off with Max - Maximum misery!  Yikes.  At mile 10 we mercifully got a break from the winds and I was able to slug some more Gatorade (apparently there were Gu's on this course, but I never found them).  Mile 10.5 we were back into the winds, but somehow I had found my rhythm and was clocking 8:30s.  I saw the 1:45 pacer at mile 10 and now was dealing with a sub 1:50.  It occurred to me at mile 12 that last year at this time I would have been absolutely thrilled with this time, as I had never broken 1:50.  Ever.  Funny how a year changes things, huh?

Brad, me and Ryan

At mile 12 I said screw it and ran it in with everything I had (note - VIC's "Wobble" is a pretty legit run song.  Ok, I'll show myself out).  I wobbled my way to the finish line in 1:48:38, good enough for who knows the hell what, but at least I was done.  And toast.  There are apparently running pics of my during the race where I am not, in fact smiling - and I burned them so there is no evidence.  Shhhh.

Post race I caught up with Ryan and Brad, Lauren's brother, who both killed it - they came in the top 10 of the half marathon and 5k, respectively.  Somehow, to my total shock, I came in 3rd out of 71 people in my age group and 19th woman out of 381.  Apparently this half marathon that I perceived as flat was, in fact, not - with 633 feet elevation gain it was more than double the elevation gain of  Flower City Half Marathon, which made me feel better!

Ryan and I stuck around to grab our age group awards (it was the first time either of us had ever placed in a half, yay!) and then called it a day.  Overall, a fun day racing (if you can call it that) with some lessons thrown in - if you want to run well, you have to eat (I know, I'm a genius), running with a head cold is stupid (once again, up for Darwin awards here), and last but not least....even if it sounds like a terrible life choice, it still can be fun. And it was.  I got to race with one of my favorites and see a few other new friends and have a great day (mostly) doing what I love best!

Highly recommend EVL for a late fall Marathon - the course is overall fair (though there ARE hlls on the back half!), fun (there were so many people in costume- I loved it!) and great race swag and post race food (zip up hoodie for an extra $5...hot soup and OMG diet coke post race (yes, I know, diet coke makes no sense, but I love it.  Deal)).  


EVL, Ill be back in 2020.  This time with a bigger tutu and chasing Max Speed!

2019 Post Race Season - I Lived

I swear, I didn't forget this post.  It seems with the end of tri season 2019, life intervened with a vengeance, and I haven't really found the time or dedication to give this post the attention it deserved.  I mean, this is the Zenith, baby.  The post season pulling together of my months of pithy rambling on this whole "I jumped off a cliff and did scary things" experiment.  I know.  You are on the edge of your seat.....

In case you missed it, part 1 and part 2 of our adventures in this mini series dealt with with the pinnacle race of the 2019 season,  Barrelman 70.3.  You can go back and read it, but if you want the cliff's notes - I came, I saw, I effed it up a bit, rallied, and conquered with a finish time of 5:18 - a new shiny PR of a day and a fabulous end to tri season 2019.

Which was the whole basis of my year.  The pretty part that everyone gets to see is... I laid siege on the race course circuit this year - with run PRs in 5 mile, 10k, half marathon and marathon.  On the tri side, PR's in both the Olympic and Half Ironman distance.  Significant, "revisiting my whole mindset as an athlete PR's".  It's been mind blowing, to say the least, to see what I'm capable of.

It, without a doubt, answered a few questions I had going into the year- namely, do I still love racing?  YES.  Do I still want to be a triathlete?  DOUBLE YES.  (I sure hope so, or the Ironman I signed up for in 2020 was a huge mistake). Did I have FUN?  Absolutely.

So, was the whole big, scary goals thing a success?  Partially.  And there's the one you didn't see coming. How could I not define this year as a total success?  Well, I'm oh so glad you asked! (I know, you didn't.  Humor me, people. You clicked on the damned link to read this crap).

So, the last few weeks have been tough for me.  I got out of what was undoubtedly the best race season I have ever had in my life, and I went through the predictable stages of post-season bullshit - wanting to race all the races to ride the high of success, dealing with post season sluggishness and failed workouts, and getting totally restless with the "whats next".  I planned fall races with my friends.  I planned 2020 races with my friends.  I tried to take some time off (and found out rather quickly that my definition of "time off" wasn't quite the same as how other people define it.  Whoops).  I then over reacted to that and started training again.  I failed at every workout that was pre-defined for me and got really pissy about it, reacting with the grace of a 4 year old.

So then, I stepped back.  And with the help of my awesome circle (I do not deserve the friends I have) I found the answer.  Oddly enough, one of my newer buddies, who has not only been epically supportive of all my training craziness and other life woes craziness, gave me the answer.  He just didn't know it.  In one of our conversations about racing and 2020 goals, he let me know he had read my blog for all of 2019 in an effort to get to know me better.  I thought that was pretty sweet of him, and the other night when insomnia reared its head at 3am, I decided why the hell not, and started reading...my own story of 2019.

Guys, do you ever look back at your life and go WTF.  How did I miss that?  I sat there for over an hour, reading through the words I had penned  months earlier- and had two thoughts.

1.  I'm kinda funny, with a total twist of sarcasm and self deprecating humor that is mildly entertaining.  I can see why all 5 of you read this stuff (or you are just that bored.  Either way, you're welcome).

2.  I'm a total idiot. Legit 100% that horror story chick that runs straight into the biggest mess ever where the bad guy is waiting to slash her to bits.  As I read through my entries, I desperately wanted to just shake the protagonist (that would be me) and go ....Rae - you moron!!!  Don't do that!!!! You're gonna regret that decision!

But. Hindsight is hindsight for a reason, right?  And because I like to broadcast all my stupid life choices (well, ok, most of them) on the internet, I was able to look back at exactly where I went wrong.  And I'm not sorry I did it.  Lesson learned.

Oddly enough, it was January 1.  (And here I thought I was oh so damned good at the New Years resolutions!)  Nope.  When I revisited this post, I knew my real intention was to take who I was and to look at the places where I was getting in my own way of being the best me I could be.  But I forgot.  That I'm not so bad as I was.  How did I forget I was good enough in so many ways?  In my whole "Big Scary Goals" year, I went out of my way to do intimidating things.  To try new things that I never would have even thought to have the guts to do.  Basically, I threw myself out there.

And it was awesome.  Eye Opening.  Really indicative of what I can do if I put my mind to it.

But it was also a lot.  Throughout the year, I had friends and family that remarked "I don't know how you do it".  Admittedly, they were looking at the one specific area of my life that I was excelling at through rose colored glasses.  And they were right.  I don't know either.  But the real answer is.....you can't do it all.  You can lay it down in only so many areas, and they definitely come  at the price of others.  And without even knowing it, I forgot about many of the areas of my life that are pretty damned great to begin with.  And over the past month, I've made it a point to do that - whether its time with family, my friends I haven't seen in forever, exploring other hobbies I had totally forgotten, or planning some crazy moves in other areas of my life for 2020 (yes, more on that in time), I've stepped back to really look at who I was, where I've come, and where I want to go in 2020.  But this time, I'm gonna remember that I'm walking into it with a pretty hefty aresenal of areas that I really feel good about and that are absolutely way more than "good enough"....they are damned fantastic.

Do I regret any choices I made this year?  Absolutely not.  Our life choices define us and we either learn and grow from them or we run from them.  And even though running has totally been a large part of my life over the past 9 months, it has decidedly been running toward things full tilt - and either crashing and burning or learning to run higher, faster, or farther....and most importantly, with all the excitement and enthusiasm that life has to offer at every hill, valley and twisty turn..

It's been a full year.  And I can say one thing.  I truly lived this year.  Head up, eyes open, and unafraid to make any mistakes.  To be vulnerable.  To look foolish.  And I learned exactly who was my soft place to land when I made those mistakes.  And who wasn't.

And who was in my life for a reason...a season, or.... hopefully.... for a lifetime.

Oddly enough, I didn't find inspiration from Imagine Dragons for this post - it was One Republic.  f you roll your eyes at all my songs and move on, I respect that.  But if you listen to one song, this should be it.

The only way you can know

You gave it all you had

And I hope that you don't suffer

But take the pain

Hope when the moment comes,

You'll say

I did it all

I owned every second that this world could give

I saw so many places, the things that I did

Yeah with every broken bone

I swear I lived

If I can say anything about this year, I lived.  There are just over 2 months left in the year, and I expect to embrace it just as fully as I have the first nine and a half.  Just with a little more gratitude and a little less with an eye on what looks like greener grass on the other side of the fence.

How bout you?

Iron Angel 5k: The Kids Are Alright

So, in between our saga of Barrelman (cause we like to drag things out) here's a niftly little stop gap of a not so much race report race report.

As a fun run for me (yes, you read that right) and as a FIRST actual race for our two kiddos (aside from fun runs) the family embarked on the Iron Angel 5k this past Saturday.

I've wanted to run this 5k for awhile, but for one reason or another, haven't been able to fit it on my schedule.  It supports a former Mom in Motion, Heather Frazer-Boyum, who was a fantastic triathlete, runner, teacher and mom who's life was tragically cut short by a drunk driver while she was on a Sunday morning bike ride.  The local Mom's in Motion group put together the race to honor her memory and to raise funds for a family in need - this year was to support an 18 month old with brain cancer.  Their attention to detail and honoring Heather made this race an easy choice, along with the fact that they had a one mile kids times race - ideal for my little munchkins!!

Post Barrelman, I was definitely not in race shape, but definitely in the - I can run 3 miles shape.  Against the wishes of my coach (that should be noted, he is usually smarter than me, but I'm trying to heed most of his advice), I signed up for the 5k as a fun run (what does that even mean?  Read - I'm not in shape to PR, so I'm gonna let you know that in advance).

The kids and I trained for their mile race quite diligently for a few weeks pre race.  Rob let his assistant principal know he was doing a running race when asked what his plans were for the weekend (way to go buddy, that's #winning) and they were both super amped.

Rae morning dawned clear, cool and sunny.  We arrived at the start ready to go!  My race began an hour before the kids, so we said hello to family and friends (cause who wouldn't want to come see this??) and I did an easy mile warm up.

My race can be summed up rather quickly - I totally forgot cross country is different than road racing!  I wore the wrong outfit (sunglasses in the woods??  Dummy) and took it out way too fast (a sub 5 minute mile for the first half mile), walked the slippery muddy paths in the woods, and just hung on for an overall time of 23:36, an average of 7:40/mile and good enough for an age group win.  I got some jewelry out of it - score! - and a nice ribbon.

The REAL story is the kids race!!  They were amped and ready to go - both of them!!  We lined up at the start, Rob opting to race on his own and mommy racing with Biz.

Pre race pics with Biz's buddy Hailey

When the gun went off, Rob took off like a shot, holding 4th place for the first half mile, then learned pretty quickly that going out too quickly has some serious consequences (I'm still learning this, buddy!)  Biz and I took it a bit more conservatively and ran/walked the whole thing.  Rob finished 2nd in his age group with a time of 11:23 and Biz 3rd in her age group with a time of 14:12.  Both kids adored their trophies (way to go MIMs!) and had a ball.

Overall, an excellent first race for the kids, a well run event for everyone, and a challenging but fun course!  We will be back next year - Thanks Moms in Motion and the HFB foundation for such an excellent run race and experience!  (Rob plans to win it next year.  Watch out)

Glaser and Baker Fam - raising the next generation of runners!

BarrelMan Bike/run: On Top of the World

I know.  I left you hanging after my Part 1 of Barrelman Adventures.....  now its on to part two...aka... the bike and run of our adventure in Welland/Niagara Falls!  As I exited the swim, I ran up the bleachers to get my bike.  Once I arrived at my spot, I did the drunken octopus dance to get out of my wetsuit (So. Slow). and shoved it into my wetsuit bag.  Grabbed my helmet, gum, shoes, and ran out of T1.  And...up the longest grass hill ever.  WTF.  Totally missed that in the pre race talk (probably I should have stopped whispering with the boys.  Whoops).  As I neared the bike mount, I heard "GO RAE!" and saw my cousins Karen and Tom, who had come up from Rochester to cheer us on - it was so excellent to see them!  I ran past the bike mount line, managed to mount my steed without making a total ass of myself, and was off for 56 miles of fun!

Bike:  2:48:37 (19.6 mph)
After our course recon the day before the race, I knew that the first 30k of the bike had many weird off center turns (we started calling them Canadian turns....sorry!), no elevation gain, and would likely be windy.  This last part was no joke at all.  The headwinds were fierce, and when we made our turns out of Welland, we either had headwind or crosswind.  Excellent.  I actually managed not to freak at the crosswind, which was blowing me all over the road, and heeded the advice of my coach and let the wind play with me a bit (TWSS?).  I was really grateful I had done so many rides on Lake Rd, where it is always pretty breezy.

Regardless, the wind did shit for my speed, and 10 miles in, I was averaging 18.5.  Lame.  I had hoped to average anywhere from 19-19.8 on the ride so this kinda sucked.  The bonus was that my legs felt awesome, like I was doing no work at all.  I spun out in a gear that felt easy, and took nutrition in every two miles - one sip of super "Demko Drink" - DD- (homemade sports turbo mix) and then a sip of water.  I looked down at mile 10 to assess my power and cadence and noticed...I had neither.  WTF.  This is now race 5 out out 5 where my bike data was either non existent or lame.  I knew my coach would be annoyed AF, and so was I, as I felt I was finally nailing a great cadence (I'm usually a masher) and power output.  Something to address in the off season - I did not buy a power meter for training only.  But. Nothing to do now but go!

You can't see it....but these bad boys are spinning away!!

Pre race I had filled my aquacell with my  DD and water, and my speedfill with water.  I legit cannot take a bottle handoff to save my soul and while it's in the plans to fix that, now was not the time.  The first 20 miles I did really well, drinking every two miles, picking people off one by one, and being patient with the wind.  We made a turn onto bear hump road (yep, I said it) and I actually went into aero arrow for a little bit to stretch out and spin in a different position - I was so proud of myself!  This would be the first time I have ever ridden in "arrow" during a race - ever.  I will say I'm not confident to do it anywhere but on a low traffic road and am not yet fast, but it felt good to switch it up!

As I came out of my bars to make the turn at mile 25, I felt pretty great and started to sing some songs to myself to occupy the time - my speed was gaining (I was spinning out over 20 mph now and over 19.0 avg overall, and I felt awesome!)  "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons got caught in my head, and I spun through the course for the next ten miles, all smiles and looking like the biggest idiot as I actually enjoyed myself on the bike - no worries, no brake riding, just legit happy to be alive and be racing!

'Cause I'm on top of the world,
I'm on top of the world, 
Waiting on this for a while now
Paying my dues to the dirt
I've been waiting to smile, 
Been holding it in for a while, '
Take it with me if I can
Been dreaming of this since a child
I'm on top of the world

Life was good.  I thought about my teammates out racing.  I thought about how lucky I was to have my husband out there with me.  About how damned much I loved life right now and this sport.  And about all the people that helped me get to this race.  And, you know it, guys...I started to dream.  And think that I could probably break 5:30 today!

About mile 37, I passed the last aid station, and a few minutes later, I grabbed some water from my speed fill and the whole top snapped off.  Holy shit.  I had the piece in my mouth and was so shocked I spit it out.  Well, there goes...most of the rest of my water.  Dammit.  I decided to handle the problem if it arose, gauging the rest of my nutrition and knowing I could pull over if I needed to and dump my speed fill into my aqua cell.  I got a little low from mile 40-45, and tried to drink more DD to get my calories in, also slamming a gel and chasing with a tiny sip of water (as I was now in conserve mode).  This worked pretty well - I was up to 19.3 average, doing the math in my head and thinking I would definitely break 3 hours on the bike and likely 2:55.  I looked down at my trikit and reminded myself that it was not an option to go slow, as I was in the "magic kit" that pretty much only knew how to win races - so I better do it justice by doing everything fast!!

The last 10 miles of the bike were mostly by the Niagara River.  Freaking gorgeous....hot...and windy as shit.  It was easily 90 out, and I was baking.  My legs never felt bad, but I knew I needed water.  I sipped the final sip of my drink at mile 51 of the bike and knew I should stop and refill - but my bike computer read 19.5 average and I knew if I pushed it I could make a 2:50 bike split.  This was a horrible mistake, I would later pay for it - but 70.3's and longer are races where it doesn't come down to if something will happen....it's what will happen and when.  You need to make decisions and move on, then reassess on the fly if they don't work.  In my little "racing box" this was the way to go.  One of my fellow Rochesterians, Jim, passed me about mile 53 and yelled "Run's gonna be hot!"  I yelled back "THERE WILL BE ICE!" and gunned it to the finish, where I ditched my bike in T2 for a final bike split of 2:48 and change, or, an 19.6 mph.  Another goal destroyed.  I saw Greg in T2 where he yelled out a good luck!  I grabbed my running shoes, race belt, and I was off to my favorite part....THE RUN!!!

Run: 1:50:37 (8:36/mi)

As I  headed out of T2, I realized right away I was in trouble.  I was hot.  Baking, actually.  And no water in sight.  I swung by the finishers line and begged a bottle of water, which they told me was for the finishers but I have such charm that they of course gave me some had such a desperate crazed look on my face that they felt sorry for me and relented.  I swigged half the bottle and dumped the rest on my head.  Better.  At that point I realized I had a weird feeling in my shoe and that the toe condom Bruce gave me for my busted nail was....still in my shoe.  A smart woman would have stopped and taken it out.  I'm not smart.  So yes, I raced 13 miles with a prophylactic on me.  At least I was prepared for...um...anything? Ahem.

I took the first mile a little fast at 7:51, and knew that I was in real trouble.  I couldn't breathe.  I was hot.  I was miserable.  I stopped to walk (totally unheard of for me for this early.).  I did most of mile 2 in a run walk fashion, grabbing water and ice and dumping it all over myself (bonus of a one piece - my ass was totally cool when the ice slid all the way down.  Tingly!)  I saw Ryan and Bruce on their way out for loop two and estimated they were about 5-6 minutes back, and it became my immediate goal to hold them off as long as possible (I know.  They were 6 miles ahead of me.  Race logic...is not always logical).  At mile 2 I encountered what we had dubbed "Dumbass hill" which is exactly as it sounds.  It's a steep hill that's 1/4 mile long and better off walked.  I grabbed some ice from my bra and tried to cool it off.  No dice.  Mile 3 - was a hot mess.  I have never been so miserable on the run.  I knew at that point that I had made  a really foolish decision on the bike and was not only hot, but dehydrated.  My legs felt awesome.  The rest of my body said....eff off.  I did a run walk strategy and played with time.  I knew if I could pull off a 2 hour half marathon I would go under 5:30, which seemed to be a reasonable time to me at this point.  9 minute miles became the mile split goal.

At mile 4 I picked it up a bit and looked up, where there was a clock by the tourist falls area - it read 34 degrees.  Now, I'm pretty good at converting kilometres to miles, but the Celsius to Fahrenheit eludes me.  I caught up with a dude who was looking strong ahead of me and prefaced my question with - "Pardon me - I'm a stupid American - but do you know how hot 34C is in Fahrenheit?"  He looked at me, deadpan, and said "Really Fucking Hot!!"  and we both started laughing.  Well, now I have a friend!  This was Mike, who turned into b a great running buddy for the next 5 miles.  He was from Ottawa, also had two kids, and was really looking forward to hockey season...like....in the next 5 minutes.  We had a great time chatting and forgot about the heat (OK, no we didn't) as we ticked the miles off.

Me and my new buddy Mike!

 At mile 4.5, I found the magic answer to my run dilemma.  Coke!  I'd never tried it in a race before, but I figured why the hell not and took a cup.  IT WAS MAGIC.  I immediately felt better, and my pace went form 8:45-9:00 minute miles to 8:30s. I continued to take in a few sips of coke every mile, and I will 100% say this changed my life on the run.  Once again, I was having fun!!

  I finished Lap 1 in 57 minutes for 6.5 miles and felt I could likely keep the pace for lap two, and maybe even make my goal window of 5:15-5:25 overall.  Risky business halfway through, but sometimes the math is all that gets you from mile to mile...err...kilometre to kilometre.  As I headed out for lap two, I saw Bruce coming in and yelled out "GO BRUCE!" really loudly - I had to shelve the "Dammit Bruce" ....as he never passed me. Woot.  How, I don't know.  I saw Ryan about a mile in and he looked shot - the heat was brutal.  I stopped to give him a hug and to tell him to finish it strong, and was off for 5.5 more miles of fun!

 Lap 2 felt amazing.  It was balls hot out (I later found out that 34C = 93F.  Lovely).  but I finally had a great strategy - coke every mile, ice, and running 90% of the course, walk the uphills and aid stations.  This netted an 8:20-8:40 mile, and I was FINALLY having a blast!  I started picking off people left and right and smiling and joking with everyone.  I had to pass three runners in the middle of their little pack and felt badly about doing it, so I yelled out "Sorry!" as I passed and they called out after me "That's ok!  Will you take our chips, too??"  And I laughed.  I got so many cheers from passerby telling me how happy and strong I looked and that they "feared the reaper!"  (damn this kit WAS magic!) As I neared the final two miles, I did some quick watch math and realized if I kept it up, I would go under 5:20.  Holy shit.

While this was not quite the level of my coach peeing himself (it was really no worries, I had done it myself about 50 times that day) it was pretty freaking epic to me to actually hit my damned goal, especially on such a hot, windy day.  The last mile was a total blur as I brought it in, a huge smile on my face, totally on top of the world!!  Right before I crossed the line I heard some dude yell "Move that sexy ass!" (Hey thanks buddy, can I get your number?) and I sprinted in for a final overall finish of 5:18:36.

Miles of Smiles

 Post race featured plenty of pics with friends (Mike caught up to me and we got a great selfie and I now have a Canadian tri friend - sweet!).  I found Bruce and Ryan, who both finished in 4:36 (Ryan edged Bruce out by less than a minute!) which was a great PR for both of them (I seriously need to train more with them.  For real.)

Surrounded by greatness.

Greg finished in 6:40, which was a 40 minute PR for him and completely stellar in the crazy heat

 - he did great!

Glaser's represent!

My final overall placement was 20th out of 272 women, 5th in my age group, and 6th overall American woman.  Guys, I have no idea what to do with that. I PRed by 18 minutes in this race - totalling  a whopping 2019 Half Ironman PR of one hour 15 minutes from my old PR of 6:33- INSANE.  I had the biggest damned smile on my face for the rest of the day and don't remember much of what happened - there were hugs, a drive home, and a sunburn to contend with, but who cares.

Barrelman 2019 -you were epic.  Stay tuned for the last part of this series - post race reflections.  You know I have thoughts.  A lot of them.  It's been one hell of a year. I'm still processing all of it....and where to go from here!

Oh.  And lest I forget - a special thanks to the Outlaw on his stellar magic trikit.  I don't know what you put in it, buddy (And...uhhh.... I really don't want to know, TBH) but it freaking worked.

PS...I'm not giving it back.  Just kidding.  Or am I?