Monday, May 28, 2012

OK, it's official.  I am in the NYC Marathon.  I received the email confirmation earlier this week.  I have a busy triathlon season this summer, but KNOW I will be ready to run the race of my life in early November.  With my last triathlon scheduled for early September I am confident I will be ready for the 26.2 mile run 2 months later.

I am writing this just 5 days away from my first triathlon of the 2012 season.  I finally decided to race the REV3 – Quassy Olympic distance tri down in Middlebury, CT.  I will travel down on Friday night, race on Saturday and then watch the Pros and friends race the ½ Iron distance race on Sunday.   I am looking forward to meeting pro Kelly Williamson in person and of course seeing my friend Miriam Wieskind again. Miriam is the owner of the Enduraguide website.

On May 20th I completed the Tour de Cure for the 3rd year in a row.  I did a 64 mile ride around the north shore of Massachusetts.  I managed to complete it this year more than 30 minutes faster than last year.  I know its not a race, but I still managed to put my best effort completing the distance.  The course was not as hilly as last year's, but still a 30 minute improvement felt like a real success.  The best part of the being I managed to raise $200 for the ADA and Sue and Owen came up to Pingree for the end of the ride to have some lunch with me on site.



A few days later I went down to Waltham to compete in a 5K race to support Team Hoyt.  Like the TdC, it was my 3rd year running this race.  Something about this course brings out the best in me.  I don't know if its the inspiriation of racing to support Dick and Rick Hoyt, the time of day (race start is 6:30pm) or maybe its just a course that suits me, but I completed the 5K race in a personal best time.  My finish time was 38:30, which was 51 seconds faster than last year. 



My training has gone well and I feel I am ready for a great race this coming weekend.  My only concern is the temperature of the water.  It's an early season race so the lake temps will probably be in the 65-68 degree range.  I will heading down on Friday night and will be staying with some dear friends about 30 minutes away from the race site. 

I did a lot of umpiring this past weekend.  There was a double header on Saturday (VERY HOT and HUMID) and then another game on Sunday.  All 3 games were in Marblehead.



Today was a super family day.  I marched in the Memorial Day parade with Owen and his cub scout troop.  After that all 3 of us headed up to Newburyport for the afternoon.  It was so nice simply spending the day with Sue and Owen walking around enjoying the beautiful weather in such a quaint seaport town.  After that we returned home and Owen and I were able to have a 3 mile bike ride around the neighborhood.   

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Three Weeks Away from REV3 Quassy Oly

With a little more than 3 weeks to go before my first triathlon of 2012, training is going very well.  I am not registered for it, but still planning on doing REV3 Quassy Oly. This week is a 12 hour week and the weather is not totally co-operating.  I had an awesome 5.7 mile run on Tuesday after work.  The plan was to run through Bradley Palmer Park and then turn left out of the park and make my way back to Pingree.  The road was nice and hilly but also really narrow.  There was virtually no shoulder and a number of cars had to stop to let me run by due to oncoming traffic.

I have really taken to running without music.  I find listening to my body, especially my feet and my breathing is actually quite beneficial.  On a treadmill, I still need the tunes, but outside, I feel this is the way to go.  I can't wear the music during a triathlon, so like the saying goes, train like you race.

The hill workouts I have been doing are also starting to pay off.  I found my usual technique of walking up the hills does not cut it.  I was actually running up a lot of the hills and felt the need to crest the hill and run down as well!  I only walked to drink and take a gel, so the system seems to be working.

I hope to finally do a group ride this Saturday with my friends from Team Comp.  I am riding in the TOUR DE CURE on May 20th and fund raising is not going so well.  If anyone reading is willing to make a donation, I would greatly appreciate your help.

Tour de Cure - Donation page for J Young