USAA 5k w/ Xia Bliss & 3rd place!

wk 17, day 6

goal: run this 5k and push Xia and survive! I didn't actually set a goal for this run.

Suprisingly, I didn't set a goal for myself. I didn't for several reasons:

1. I was filling in for someone else (age 35), so I wasn't "official" and placing wouldn't matter
2. I haven't competed in a 5k with the stroller and won...didn't think my chances were great
3. the marathon is one week away...don't want to try to win a 5k and hurt something!

We started out and I was off. Since I had the stroller, I had to wait and push myself towards the front. I had a good speed and felt great. I got to the first mile in about 7/7:30 minutes. Got to the 2nd mile around 7:30. I started feeling tired the 3rd mile and waiting to see the finish line and then sprint my way to the finish line. Well, we were going up an incline, turned a corner and there was the finish line!!! I didn't get to sprint for as long as I wanted to, but I made an impressive finish with the baby! I finished in 24:27. I pushed little Xia and still rocked it!! It was a great run:)

I had to leave right afterwards, so I didn't know anything about where I stood. Well, fast forward two days... Monday morning my friend texted me and told me that I placed 3rd in my age category!!! WOOHOO!!! I didn't get a medal or anything, because of the mix up with my age and the age of the friend I filled in for. Just knowing I placed was enough for me! I went, ran hard, pushed the baby and still placed!!!! Even more momentum for next weeks marathon.



accomplished: 5k (3.1m) / 24:27 / 7:53 pace

Xia and I pre race

TX MedClinic Half Marathon

wk 13, day 6
Saturday, October 8th, 2011

This morning was the TX MedClinic half marathon, 10k and 5k. I went with the half and Oscar with the 10k.

Ready to run! Pre-race photo

 I started off strong and was running sub 8 for the first couple of miles. I knew this was too fast. I had goals - attainable goals - and I wanted to meet them. I didn't want to start out way to fast and blow my chances at finishing strong.

My goals were this:

1. Finish in the top 10 overall out of all the women
2. Finish in the top 5 within my age category
3. Finish in about 1:55:40 - about an 8:50 pace

I did research using last years results as my guide. Of course it's never the same, but it's a good rule of thumb. I thought I had a good chance of coming in third in my age category, so I was aiming high, hoping to place 3rd. Of course, type A me (!!) had to say, ok - going for 3rd, will settle for 5th to be more realistic.
After the turn around point (mile 6.55), I was the 12th women (yes, I counted!!). There were 3 other women in my site the whole way back. There was just us 4 in a cluster. No one passed us the entire way back (6.55 miles). I told myself, half jokingly,  in order to be the 10th overall woman I was going to have to pass a couple of these women. I didn't know how I was going to or when, but I kept going.
Around mile 8 I hit a small wall. I had to mentally talk my way through it. I think mile 8 was about a 10 min mile. I just kept those women in my site and didn't give up on myself or my goals.
At mile 12, I took off. I was gaining on those 3 women and it just felt right. I was eager to cross the finish line, eager to be done. I was nervous that I picked up pace too early. Maybe I should've waited until mile 12.5 before speeding up. I just kept visulizing my running route at home. What was I passing at home, I kept thinking I'm almost "home", I can do this. I passed those 3 women, a few men, and didn't let up until I crossed the finish line. It was glorious!!!

About to cross that finish line - victory!

posing with my finishers medal

I accomplished/beat all my goals!!! I finished with an 8:37 pace and in 1:53:03, I was the 9th women to finish overall, and finished 5th in my age group (my age group seemed to be competitive! 5 out of  the top 9 women were in my age category, 25-29). I also finished 38th overall. I SMASHED my goals and boy did it feel good! These race times/places were the preliminary ones posted at the race. They haven't posted the official ones online yet. I'm anxious to see how many women in my age category and overall competed.
This marked #2 competitive half marathon. While I've run long distances lately, they have all been on my own. Last half marathon I competed in was the SA Rock 'N' Roll last November (2010). I finished in 2:05:? In one year I knocked off 12 minutes off my time. AWESOME!!

trek tri - last tri of the year

Xia and I pre-tri

All marked up and ready to go!

My cheer squad!

Sunday morning started out well. I got a good night's sleep (as good as one can get away from home and with a 20m old) and a good breakfast. The weather was perfect and cool, the sky blue and beautiful.

Mentally I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be. I missed the course overview the day before at the expo, but I figured it wasn't a big deal. I didn't even know where the transition site was or when it opened up. I didn't figure in my time that there was going to be a .23 mile distance from the swim finish line to transition site. I thought, I'll hurry. So I gave myself 2 minutes for that transition. Bad move #1!! Then, because I was all about beating my time from the Danskin in June, I wasn't realistic on some of my time frames. Swimming I was confident I would meet or come close to my goal. Running, I was confident I would beat, meet or come close to my goal. Biking... that's a different story. I have developed a love / hate relationship with my bike as of late. So much so that I've probably only ridden it 2-3 times in the past month. I knew I wasn't going to meet my goal for biking. Rather than changing my goal, I decided to keep it and again, just hurry. Well, different courses, different levels of training, different transition lengths = disater for type A Annah who didn't reset any of my goals. I was prepared physically as I would've ever been, mentally, not so much. Mental prep is just as important. I had my mind so set on beating my Danskin time for some menial $ discount (it wasn't about the discount for me, it was about the challenge) that I risked feeling unsuccessful and like I was a failure at the end. I wasn't a failure, rather I was some pouting person that did a kick booty job!!

I had a great swim. My personal goal was around 18 minutes (I completed Danskin in 20:5?). I was right on. The water felt great. I found room to swim, and I felt strong. I finished just under 19 minutes. Off to a great start, I was pleased. I slipped on my running shoes and jogged up the 2+ hills that made up the .23 miles to transition area. Not too bad. I jogged versus ran so I wouldn't pass out on the hills before mounting my bike. It was a good move!

Got to my bike and was heading out when I realized I put on my running visor instead of my bike helmet!! Good thing I was only two racks from where I racked my bike, so I didn't lose too much time over it. Jumped on my bike and away I went. The weather could not have been any prettier. Clear blue skies in the hill country. Dreamy! I biked my two laps and it was then I knew that I wasn't going to beat or even match my overall Danskin time of 1:34:??. I had a great, strong ride. It was a beautiful day. Only something to be happy/proud about.

Finishing strong on my bike

Second transition was just as always - quick. One thing I have down good!! Put on my visor and grabbed a drink of water and hit the trails. I passed everyone on my path. No one passed me. I felt strong & proud!! I ran down the hill and sprinted to the finish line. That was amazing! The crowd was cheering, I was sprinting, I heard Oscar cheering, saw him snap a picture, and I FINISHED! No greater feeling! I remember why I do these things when I cross the finish line - pure fulfillment.

Sprinting to the finish line! lookin' good!

I looked down at my watch after finishing and it read 1:42. I was mortified. How was I 8 minutes slower than the Danskin tri? How? After much deliberation, I realized #1, first transition took over 7 minutes ( and I didn't account for that in my goal time frame). #2 how did I expect myself to actually cycle really well when I was on my bike 3 times in a month??? #3 they took the .23 distance off the 5k at the end - so instead of me running hard all 3 miles at the end, I jogged the .23 at a slower pace than I would've normally to conserve energy for biking. Also, different courses bring different results. I am ashamed to say that I was actually embarrassed of my time. I cannot believe how down I was on myself. Next time I'm mentally preparing just as much as physically!!! I did an AWESOME job. I look back just 4 months ago when I was doing my first ever triathlon. I am amazed that I ever signed up for the event and how well I've done on all 4 of my triathlons this year. I don't want to look back on this event as something I was ashamed of  or feel that I didn't finish strong, because I did. I was so wrapped up in my time, that I took away the joy of a job well done, I robbed myself of the celebration and excitement I feel the rest of the day. Never again will I set unrealistic goals for myself. I promise to always be proud of myself.

Here are my awesome stats that I am PROUD OF!!

1:42:21 total time
Overall   46 / 344
Division  7/33
Swim     18:57 / 74th
Trans1   7:17
Bike       52:05 /146th / 13.8 mph
Trans2    1:15
Run         22:43 / 10th / 8:25 pace

Received my medal! Finished!!

Callie and I before cheering on Colleen!

Callie, KT and Colleen, me and Xia

gruene 10k ended week 9 with a bang!

Oscar and I pre-race in front of Gruene Hall

We have been looking forward to the Gruene 10k (6.2 miles) for a couple months now. We had several friends coming with us from San Antonio, a day planned in Gruene, my mom to babysit Xia, etc. We couldn't wait for September 10th to roll around!

We left early, dropped a sad and crying Xia off at Grandpa and Nana's, and headed to Gruene (3.5 miles from my parents home). We met up with our SA friends and waited for the race to start.  I realized the day before or the day of that I hadn't competed in a 10k since college. I've run plenty of 5ks, a half marathon, 10 mile races, a few triathlons, but not a 10k. What?!! How is that? This was my first 10k competitive race since college - about 6 years ago!! Wow. I was nervous to say the least. I've placed in the last two 5ks that I've run in and I knew that I had a chance to place at this race, but at the same time, didn't want that to be my goal. For all I knew I was going to sprint a 5k and then crawl the rest of the way back to the finish line leaving all I had to the first 3 miles. So, I did some research on past years results and then set a goal. A reasonable goal: finish in the top 10 in my age group and complete in 50 - 54 minutes. 

I started out near the front of the line and took of running at the sound off the gun. First mile marker: 7:10. Wow! I knew I needed to slow my pace down a bit in order to survive the next 5 miles. This was also the time that my race tag decided to tear. I had to stick it in my hydration belt for the rest of the run!! Mile 2: roughly 7:44 pace. Mile 3: about 7:54 pace. Mile 4: about an 8 min pace. It was at mile marker 4 that 2 women passed me. Those were the only two women that passed me after mile 1. This led me to believe that I may have placed. Mile 5: about 8 min pace. The 6 mile marker was at the bridge in Gruene, which is at the bottom of the steep hill... I told myself I was going to sprint up the hill & I did!!! But not without moaning and groaning. I sounded like a woman about to give birth or something!! LOL. At the top of the hill you could see the finish line. There was no more speed left in my legs from sprinting up the hill. I crossed the finish line in 48:52! 

I couldn't believe my eyes... finished in under 50 minutes?!?! WOW!!! I was SO EXCITED! I really thought I had placed. For the last 2+ miles there was a wide gap between me and the person behind me. On top of that, only 2 women had past me after mile one. I felt like over the past year I had advanced to the "fast group", but the tail end of the "fast group". I didn't place. The women who placed in my age group were the women that I started out with and who stayed ahead of me for the entire run. The good news: I met / surpassed my goal!! I completed the run in 48:52 (goal was btwn 50-54), and finished #6 in my age group (goal was in the top 10). I did win - I competed with myself and met my goals! It is a great feeling to set goals and met or surpass them. That is an amazing accomplishment that I am PROUD of:)

Gruene 10k stats:

• Finished in 48:52 / 7:52 pace
• Finished # 6 out of 70 in my age category
• Finished #15 female out of over 300
• Finished #62 overall out of 620 runners

Deb and Joe Lynch, me and Oscar, Jeremy and Cat Martin, Vonna Purtell, and Jeremy's brother, John post-race

Oscar and I enjoying ourselves at the Gruene 10k post race party

Oscar and mine's cheer squad: Kara, Preston & Hannah. They made their "team Oscar and Annah" tshirts themselves:)

After the 10k and post race festivities, we headed to one of the wineries in Gruene for some wine tasting. It was fabulous. We had a great time visiting and celebrating our accomplishments:) The rest of the group is outside on the patio. Forgot to get a picture of them...oooppps!! After wine tasting, we went to Gristmill for lunch... yummy! Oscar and i split their delicious ribs. I think I consumed more calories than I burned that day!

Kara, Cat, Preston, Jeremy, myself, Hannah, & Chelsea

What a great way to end training week 9. I can hardly believe that I am HALFWAY THROUGH training for the big marathon. I'm in disbelief! I'm so grateful that I can train as hard as I do. It's a part time job, let me tell you. I am so grateful for my supporting husband who encourages me in my training and is there for me at every event:)  Luv you, Oscar and Happy 3 yr Anniversay (9-13-11).

Week 9 accomplishments:

• ran 28.39 miles
• swam 35 minutes
• 2 P90X dvds - strength training
• P90X ab dvd 2x

SARR's women's 5k run

I woke up early this morning to meet up with my girlfriends to run the SARR's Women's 5k. I was so skeptical of running this race and feared that I'd do horrible. I thought I'd be happy with 8 min miles, but reality said it would be ok to settle with 8:30 min miles. I've only been running for 2 weeks since taking about 4 weeks off. But, like always, I headed to the front of the line and took off like a bandit at the sound of the horn. I made it to mile one in about 7:10. I was in shock, but pleased, wondering how long I could maintain this pace. I hit mile two right under 15 minutes. Still hanging in there. After mile 2, I still felt like I was moving at a decent pace, but I knew I wasn't running another mile in the 7 minute range. I crossed the finish line at 24:34. A full two minutes slower than the culinaria 5k I ran back in May, & finished 2nd in my age category. I was satisfied with my time and happy I was done:)! Placing was farthest from my mind.

After my girlfriends crossed the finish line (they all did AWESOME!) & we made it to the post race festivities area, we took a look at our times that were posted. Would you believe it, but I PLACED 2ND in my age category!!!! No way! I was definitely in shock! The girl in my category (25-29) that placed 1st, averaged 6:04 and there was no one in between her awesome time and my so, so average of 7:55! How uncommon is that?!?!?! Of course I was ecstatic that I placed. It was definitely a confidence booster, let me tell you:). I placed 20th overall out of over 500 runners. VERY proud of myself and girlfriends who rocked this 5k:)

Saretta, Kira, me & Deb after crossing the finish line

Had to get a picture w/ Beamer from News 4!

I was in shock after seeing the print outs! I placed 2nd!!

2nd and 3rd place winners receiving our medals! woohoo!!