Weekend Wrap-up

Not quite as eventful on the athletic endeavor front as I would have hoped but was able to partake in a lovely group run on Friday AM with BOMF. Meg returned triumphantly from a 6 week? recovery for a stress fracture in her foot. She "ran like the wind" as Arnold would say, and is beyond happy to be back. 2 miles of slogging was just what the doctor ordered for me; the foot wasn't great but was livable.

Workout: 7/17

AM 2 mile run w/ BOMF

PM Pool workout @ Merritt- DAC

400m warm-up with buoy

800m swim

400m cool down

PM Lifting w/ group @ Merritt DAC
Jerks (2-3/set) @ 55K?

Cleans, don't remember...

Sat was interesting...woke up early and helped a couple friends out at a race they were coordinating down by the harbor. It was hilarious. A convention of nurses from the Philippines held a moral boosting "5K" that circled Rash field about 10 times. Epic. A really good time nonetheless. I was the best lap counter ever...or not. Followed my volunteer work up with a nice mild run.

Workout: 7/18
60 min run, easy/mild

A bunch of the other Bawlmore runners headed to Rockville for the Twilight 8K. Chrissie won on the women's side, but everyone had stellar performances. Baltimore represent! See more in depth reporting via Ryans blog.

Hit up Artscape. Eh...Heard but did not see Cake.

Workout: 7/19
Pool swim @ Merritt-DAC
400m warm up
10x200yd interval, 1 min recovery (@3:30)
400m cool down

Philly Tri Weekend

College roommate, fellow teammate and one of my closest friends, Michele competed this past Sunday in the 5th Annual Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon. Her performance in all three disciplines were stellar and a significant PR overall in the Olympic distance. Swim was approx 18:40, 67th out of the water. After a bit of trouble with her wetsuit during T1 from swim to bike, she squeezed out of that sucker and fiercely made her way onto the 25 mile bike course. (T1-2:37)
Watching the cycling portion was intense! Anxiety mounted as we waited for a brief glimpse of Michele from our static vantage point. There were two loops, so we had...2 opportunities. From what I remember, she negative split the second 12 miles or so putting her at 1:10:07 for the bike. T2 was seamless at 1:13 and she was off for the run portion.

10K (6.2 miles) is pretty challenging by itself so I can only imagine the pain after coming off a 1 mile swim and 25 mile bike, neither of which I could comfortably do independently. It was approximately 8:49AM when Shell started the 10K so I knew she was on pace to finish by 9:30AM which was her goal. The run was a turn-around course which everybody always loathes as the anticipation of the turn-around cone is a dreadful feeling but Shel pulled through in 42:13 for the 10K. Her finish time was a tremendous 2:14.53! This put her ahead of several of the Pro female competitors which bodes very well for her as she hopes to go Pro by the end of this season. Her 7th place amateur female finish counts as 1 of 3 needed to qualify within USAT standards for a "Pro card". Keep it up girl, it's going to happen before you know it! Complete results can be found here.

I couldn't be more proud. This crazy lady has shown me that with lots and lots and lots of training and complete dedication, she seriously can do anything. I totally thought that anecdote was a joke but honestly with some natural talent and unbridled intensity with training, it can be done! I only hope I can find something I am that passionate about...soon enough :)

I definitely have respect for this "sport". I only put quotations because its sort of a fusion of sports creating another sport? Strange...but compelling nonetheless. There are so many unique nuances to the sport that I knew nothing about before; like the complexities of transitions, people take their bike shoes off while still ON the bike before their dismount...the drafting rules, etc...the apparel, there is SO much that goes into the apparel for these sports. With running, all I really need is a sports bra and sneakers; to train for a Tri you need like thousands of dollars worth of equipment. The amount of accessories and perceived necessities make becoming a "tri geek" almost inevitable. Ha.

Beastly Begley Kills 10,000m @ USATF Nat'ls

Stud of the meet thus far, Amy Yoder Begly stomped the stadium record at Hayward Field in the 10,000m final set last year by Olympic Trials champion and fellow Olympian, Shalane Flanagan. Her time of 31:22.69 was a substantial PR and edged out Flanagan by a little over a second (31:23.43). Begley's time moves her to #9 on the Top US Womens 10,000m History list. Hopefully this will be covered tonight on ESPN! Watch it, I have a feeling the Flanagan/Begley battle was pretty intense.

More official results from yesterday's prelims and finals found here.

Soggy 10 Miler Results

Great Job to all competitors, including you Mr. Police Commissioner- remember to drink more fluids next time!
First Female finisher (above) pictured crosses the line sub 1:10...not sure of her time.

2nd place Female finisher, Jackie Truncellito, the Back On My Feet Program Director-Baltimore chapter crosses the line. Also finishes sub 1:10.

To us spectators, the race seemed to be a success. Corrigan Sports did a nice job of hosting the event, even with the uninvited moisture. Everyone that finished seemed relatively happy...except that everyone's GPS devices noted the race distance as 10.25 miles. Hmm...I later came to find out that the course had definitely been marked incorrectly with the turn around point being much too far. Oh well. It happens but that can be pretty frustrating when you are picking up the pace thinking you are kicking it into the finish when in actuality you have an extra quarter mile you didn't know about.

The hospitality/post-race area was nicely set up. Everyone seemed to love their premium zip-up windbreaker hoodie thing. Supposedly, Runner's World ranked the 10 miler's premium as one of the best? Seemed to fit a tad large.

The BOMF participants that ran did great. Being so new to running, you would think some of the runners would have gone out too fast or would not have appropriately paced themselves. Quite the contrary, both Kevin and Arnold were conservative during the first 5 miles and stayed consistent until the finish. I feel a marathon coming on...