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2 triathlons

I did 2 sprint triathlons this summer, which is what it takes to qualify for the National Senior Games since Maryland Senior Olympics does not offer triathlon. I completed both with approximately zero training. Not recommended.

Dragonfly Heart Triathlon

Piranha Sports, LLC

Neil Semmel

P.O. Box 150

Kirkwood, DE 19708

nsemmel@piranha-sports.com

http://www.piranha-sports.com/results/ResultsAll.aspx?RaceID=610
Race Date: Saturday July 21, 2012
Description: 1/4 Mile Swim~12 Mile Bike~2.5 Mile Run
Chestertown, MD

Nancy Toby
Saint Michaels, MD
Finish Time: 1:36:57
Overall Placement: 102 / 109
Division: F55-59 3/4
Bib Number: 208

Split Detail
Split Distance Time  Rank Pace
Swim 1/4 Mile 0:15:21 82 3:29/100 yards (off course)
T1 0:02:24 87
Bike 12 Miles 0:48:26 100 14.86 mph
T2 0:02:55 107
Run 2.5 Miles 0:27:49 100 11:08 min/mi pace

Lums Pond Triathlon

Piranha Sports, LLC

Neil Semmel

P.O. Box 150

Kirkwood, DE 19708

nsemmel@piranha-sports.com

http://www.piranha-sports.com/results/ResultsAll.aspx?RaceID=544
Race Date: Sunday August 19, 2012
Description: Tri: 0.5 Mile Swim~19.5 Mile Bike~3.3 Mile Run
Race Category: Sprint Triathlon

Nancy Toby

Saint Michaels, MD

Finish Time: 2:37:03

Overall Placement: 239 / 245

Division: F55-59 8/8

Bib Number: 314

Split Detail

Split Distance Time  Rank Pace

Swim 0.5 Mile 0:25:56 226 2:56/100 yards

T1 0:03:21 229

Bike 19.5 Mile 1:18:07 235 14.97 mph

T2  0:02:13 231

Run 3.3 Mile 0:47:24 242 14:21 min/mi pace

National Senior Games distances:
Swim 400 m = 440 yd
Bike 20k = 12.4 miles
Run 5k = 3.1 miles

2012 half marathon series

1. February 26, 2012: Princess Half Marathon (#44), Walt Disney World, FL: 3:43:59 (17:05 min/mile pace)
2. March 17, 2012: Rock 'n' Roll USA Half Marathon (#45), Washington, DC: 2:57:32 (13:33 min/mile pace)
   
   (April 1, 2012: Cherry Pit Ten Miler, Edgewater, MD: 2:07:48, 12:46 min/mile pace).
   
3. April 14, 2012: Cambridge YMCA Crab Run Half Marathon (#46), Cambridge, MD: 2:56:28 (13:28 min/mile pace)
4. April 29, 2012: Athleta Iron Girl Half Marathon (#47), Columbia, MD: 3:05:52 (14:11 min/mile pace)
5. May 19, 2012: St. Michaels Half Marathon (#48), St. Michaels, MD: 3:03:56 (14:01 min/mile pace)

First 5k of 2012

Finished up my first 5k of the year and it was ... okay. Didn't quite hit my goals but it was a nice little race and I'm glad I went. Looping around a quiet park on a paved trail, only problem was some rolling hills and wearing WAY too much clothing so I overheated by about Mile 1. I ended up taking SEVERAL unplanned walk breaks, when I really did not want to take any.

Just for the logbook, finish time on my Garmin was 36:38 for a slightly long course, my 11:33 pace would have gotten me 35:48 on a 3.10-mile course.

Saw Jeanne and we were laughing about both kicking ourselves for signing up for the Disney 5k before the Princess half marathon in 2 weeks!!

So I was slower and fatigued faster than I wanted, but NO MAJOR PAIN and knees and ankles cooperated, so all is well. Another finish line crossed!

2011 Goofy Challenge completed!

TOBY, NANCY 53

Half marathon chip time: 3:32:07
20773/21953 overall, 11507/12403 women, 815/916 AG

Full marathon chip time: 6:46:17
12696/13522 overall, 5715/6267 women, 379/427 AG

Total: 10:08:24

16:00 slower than 5 years ago, but I’ll take it, I was surprised to finish!

Goofy's coming!

Marathon Bib#: 14335

Half Marathon Bib#: 30773

Track runners here!

Rehoboth Marathon December 11, 2010

My 11th marathon. Surprisingly scenic and varied course for the third running of the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathonin Delaware, and good running weather this year (35-45*F, no wind). Early start by the beachfront pavilion in the center of Rehoboth, Delaware began our day. Training buddy Dave rode along and brought his bike to act as on-course support for my first marathon in four years.

Pre-race meals (that worked well!): Dinner - Chinese dumplings, crab rangoon, egg foo yung, with lots of sodium. Breakfast - Greek yogurt, honey, cooked brown rice.

Race day weather: Great for running, 35*F at 7AM start by the beach, up to 48*F, almost zero wind. Very cold for Dave on the bike, though!

The course went through a small beachfront park and burned off about 5 miles through town, then headed out to a long lollipop out-and back. About 3 miles on a cinder trail that was superb, then through Lewes and past the Cape May Ferry to the halfway point. Then a 5-mile loop in Cape Henlopen Park, out at mile 18, then back towards the start.

On course: Kept fluid/gel intake very low, just a half Dixie cup of water or Gatorade at each stop and half a gel now and then. Only got stomach cramps when I chugged some Gatorade late in the course after I felt quite thirsty. Dave got me a cup of coffee with milk and sugar that was PERFECTAMUNDO. I think I was a bit dehydated at the end, that may not work so well in hotter temperatures but was fine in cold weather.

Tried to pace myself by keeping the heart rate under about 165 for the first half (~2:57) but then it was pushing up toward 170 before I slowed it down in Cape Henlopen Park. Three portapotty breaks are shown by the big dips in the graph, as well as 2 or 3 smaller dips for sock adjustment/shoe retying. I'm still doing some weird torquing thing with my right leg when I'm tired which twists my sock and makes my vastus lateralis vastly sore. I had a couple brief calf cramps toward the end when I took an odd step, for which I took one Endurolyte, but that was all (which may have helped my stomach too).

Overall heart rate ended up at 164 average, which I think shows a pretty strong race effort in high Zone 4 for me (about 88% of MaxHR). I just wish I could get a faster pace out of that effort level, but it is what it is.

The last 10k was TOUGH. Dave was good about not heckling me too much when I told him this was all I could do. I don't know if I would have gotten through it without his help!

I had signs of osteoarthritis in my knees in 2002 when I had a bone scan and I think 8 more years of aging have not done them any good. I was wearing knee straps but I was still getting daggers in my knees at every shuffling 15 min/mile step. I jogged as much as I could but broke down into walking numerous times, but convinced myself that it didn't hurt any less and resumed shuffling again. I'm going to purchase some OTC neoprene knee wraps and test them out in training in advance of Goofy in 4 weeks.

One other small change, I wore an iPod shuffle to a race for the first time and listened to music for about 1/4 of the course, otherwise left it off. That helped my motivation at times (especially toward the end when the course was becoming empty) and didn't seem to affect my tempo other than helping to maintain it a little more consistently - I just have to get a more inspirational/upbeat music lineup for races.

Times are not posted yet but I crossed the finish line in 6:29:26 watch time, slightly slower than my average of my first 10 marathons (6:22:11). Chalk it up to a long training day!

Even though the aid stations were becoming abandoned in the last 8 miles (well ahead of the 7-hour cutoff pace), they were still well-stocked. The course was excellent, scenic, flat (a few very small rollers at Cape Henlopen Park), about 1/2 off-street with 5-6 miles on a well-groomed cinder trail. I'd definitely do the half marathon here another time (that included most of the nice cinder trail stretch).

Recovery: My knees hurt a LOT all day after the race and had some soft tissue swelling the next day, very painful bending my right knee. Definitely not optimal.

Summary: A finish is always better than a DNF. Lessons have been learned, body has been tested, 26.2 training miles are in the Bank of Marathon. Goofy Challenge is 4 weeks away.

619 finishers:

606/619 overall NANCY TOBY F50-54 6:28:59 AG: 20/20 WOMEN: 198/207

PS: Great to have Dave on the course - thanks again! - and to see Michele briefly before and after. Always more fun with friends around!

Goofy approacheth

Yes, I’m going back to Walt Disney World in 2011 for the Goofy Challenge once again with my friend Jeanne and training buddy Dave.

Half marathon January 8, 2011 bibs: Nancy: 30773 & Jeanne: 46138

Marathon January 9, 2011 bibs: Nancy: 14335 & jeanne: 16474

Runner tracker information should be posted on the Disney Marathon race website shortly before race day. I’d expect to be crossing the starting line mats at about 6:00 AM EST each day.

My only goal is to beat my 2006 times:

2006 Half marathon FINISH Chip Time: 3:14:35

2006 Marathon FINISH Chip time 6:37:49

2006 Total: 9:52:24

This Saturday is a training marathon in Rehoboth, Delaware. I’ll be happy with a strong finish, as opposed to the debacle of the Philadelphia Marathon-turned-half a few weeks ago that I couldn’t even bring myself to write about!

Racing schedule

I was keeping my race schedule on Facebook for a while and neglected to keep it here. But then that service was de-linked to Facebook so now it’s in limbo. Copying it here for now:

 

2010-05-29 Chestertown Ten Miler 2:01:15

2010-06-20 Dawson's 10k (A/S) 1:15:20

2010-06-27 Chestertown Dragonfly Sprint Tri 2:01:56

2010-08-01 Dog Days 8k (A/S) 1:00:00

2010-08-29 Annapolis Ten Miler 2:09:30

2010-10-23 St. Michaels Sports Boosters 5k (3.2m) 32:10

2010-11-21 Philadelphia Half Marathon (#43) 3:08:35

2010-12-11 Rehoboth Marathon (#11), DE in 12 days

2011-01-08 Goofy Challenge Half Marathon @ WDW (#44HM?) in 40 days

2011-01-09 Goofy Challenge Marathon @ WDW (#11) in 41 days

2011-03-26 National (Half?) Marathon (#45), Washington DC in 117 days

Chestertown Dragonfly Sprint Triathlon

Swim half mile: 19:44.50 (2:14/100 yards) (non-wetsuit)
T1: 3:57.65
Bike 17.1 miles: 58:52.55 (17.4 mph average)
T2: 1:58.80
Run 3.1 miles: 36:53.15 (11:53 min/mile pace)

Total: 2:01:26.65

2/2 Athenas (all ages)

Water temp was 84 degrees, ambient temp was 94 degrees, humidity was 47%.

So my transitions were pretty sluggish for a sprint, but my paces during each leg were about what I expected or better. Between the bike and run only one person passed me, and I passed a bunch on the bike.

That was indeed fun, glad to have a triathlon where I can sleep in my own bed and also be finished on course by 10:30AM! All through each leg I was thinking how nice it was to have the shorter distances!!

Definitely a nice race - lovely swim! - and one I'll do again!

~~~~~~~~~

Results are posted here.

I would have been 6th out of 9 in women 50-59 (I was 2nd out of 2 in the Athena division to a 32-year-old Athena), and 5th in the bike leg. 39th out of 49 women overall.

Back of the mid-pack - I'll take it, considering I had virtually zero swim or bike training since November! Now maybe I should start working on those sprint tri skills, eh?

Chestertown Ten Miler

Not sure why, but I've never done this race before. It was a nice discovery, realizing that it was a quick drive there on lovely country roads to the town. I drove up with Training Buddy Dave and parked at the local school, and picked up the shuttle for this lovely waterfront park. I heard there were about 800 runners in 2 races.

There was light rain at the start which dissipated about halfway through the run. The race itself was along small rural roads through the countryside - after the simultaneous 5k split off at their turnaround it was a lovely quiet run.

Clock crossing the finish line said about 2:02:30

Watch time 2:01:15

Official time 2:00:38

I enjoyed it enough that I signed up for an upcoming sprint triathlon and half marathon starting from the same park.

In other race planning news, I've started keeping a list of my upcoming races in my Facebook sidebar. A nice little feature to have there as a reminder of what I'm training for!

Goofy again

I just signed up for the 2011 edition of the Goofy Challenge to earn another set of these fine medals - the same back-to-back half marathon and marathon that I completed back in 2006.

I need those big challenging goals to keep me going in my training - but it has to be a goal that I look forward to as being FUN, not one that I dread!

Goofy is fun. And a challenge.

My personal challenge this time around: beat 9 hours for 39.3 miles. (My total last time was 9:52:24).

Not sure yet if I'll do the Dopey and also sign up for the 5k on Friday. We'll see how the travel plans shape up for it.

Anyone else?

2010 Oxford Day 10k

Last year on a hot day: 1:05:15. This year at a similar effort on a lovely cool day: 1:08:23. 11:01 min/mile pace. I'm entering my final tragic decline, I fear. ;-)

12/16 in age group females 50-59 (75%)

122/154 overall (79%)

Results

It's time to get back to some heavier-duty training. I note that last year's smaller number of races did not help my speed any!

Time to finally figure out my race calendar for the year! OK, I've got my sidebar caught up with completed races, at least. Here we go again!

2010 Cherry Pit 10-miler

387 runners this year on a counter-clockwise course. I finished in the back:

373 Nancy Toby 52 23/24 F 2:01:08 12:07

On a clockwise course in 2007 I ran this race in 1:48:52. Getting 13 minutes slower over 10 miles is not the correct direction to be moving!

RR: 2010 B&A Half Marathon

Half Marathon #41 done! (But who's counting?) I think this is my 5th or 6th run in this particular event.

Perfect weather and great swag (embroidered and silk-screened canvas luggage, attractive navy-blue LS tech shirt, nice medal) at the B&A marathon and half marathon today in Severna Park, Maryland.

My training buddy Dave and I had been signed up for the full marathon, but with the crazy record-beating snowy winter we had, neither of us got in enough mileage to survive a full marathon in good shape. Fortunately this race allows last-minute transfers to the half.

The race runs mostly on a fairly level, straight asphalted rail-trail with the exception of a mile or two on concrete roads at the hilly turnarounds. The weather was perfect - 40s, full sun, and no wind.

My course PR was set about 3 years ago when Dave and Chuck paced me and pushed me the whole way, with a 2:26:38 finish. This time Dave ran with me at much slower pace until about mile 10, which was very helpful in keeping my pace consistent and steady. Then he ran off to finish up a faster 25-minute final 5k. I still maintained the pace for another mile when *TWANG!* suddenly my 2nd toenail of my left foot ripped and consequently hurt like a mofo. I had to stop to retie my shoelaces so the toes wouldn't hit the end of the shoe, and walked a short ways, and said many cusswords.

Still, I managed to limp-jog a couple more miles even more slowly and make it to the finish line by 2:34:56 by my watch.

Well, 8 minutes off my course PR for 13.1 miles is certainly not super-speedy even by my standards, but I still handily beat my goal for today of a 12 min/mile pace. I don't think I lost as much fitness over the winter as I had feared, and I think I'm in reasonable shape to start the season again.

Here we go....

---

Whoops. I just found my old blog post where I ran this same course in 2:24, unpaced, in 2008. I've got some serious work to do. Or else I'm aging very quickly. Or that silly toenail slowed me down more than I thought. Oh well, it is what it is....

Sledding

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Did Facebook kill the blog?

It seems to have killed this one! I'll still post occasional race reports when I race again (if the SNOW ever melts) and photos from time to time, but I seem to have ground to a slow halt on writing actual articles on this blog.

See you on Facebook!

IMG00329.jpg

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Starting to snow

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Yum

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Wintering geese

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Snow bunnies

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Best Sports Endurance Blog of 2009?

DC Rainmaker has my vote.

No, he didn't even pay me for this.

But he's a fast, dedicated triathlete that trains hard and he makes a mean cupcake. And he's a nice guy to boot.

You should vote for him too.

Coming up

I'm still working on my 2010 race calendar. Probably it will emphasize running events of a half marathon and less, cycling time trials, and some sprint triathlons. But it's all up in the air, except this one:

Save the date: April 10, 2010 Dorchester County YMCA Crab Half Marathon & 5K Event Cambridge, Maryland

Early discounted registration until December 31st. Registration available at:

http://www.active.com/running/cambridge-md/dorchester-crab-run-half-marathon-and-5k-2010

Contact: dorchestercrabrun@yahoo.com with any questions.

Climbing backwards

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Mission accomplished 5:23am

Checked out of our local Target by 5:23 am with a 32 inch LCD TV, DVD player, new Tinkerbell DVD, crock pot and 2 pink jackets for the girls for $313 - and got a $10 gift card back. Yeah, it was worth getting up a little early and even standing in the cold rain for a while! But the weather outside is nasty enough that I think I'll skip the local 5k/10k and stay home in front of the fireplace today with the family.

The other side of town

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Clouds over harbor

Walking off some turkey....
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First fire

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Monkey

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B2B Half Ironman race report

This was something like my 100th race since I got back off the couch in 2000. Not exactly, I've lost count, but that's close enough.

I had a fabulous weekend spending time with friends in Wilmington, NC, and sharing time with them and marveling at their fabulous performances (particularly Iron Holly's first Ironman finish and Training Buddy Dave's massive 12:57 iron PR and Shawn's first half iron finish) was the real highlight of the weekend. I'll only tell my own race story here for brevity, and let them tell their own stories - and just put this one in writing so that I can refer to it in the future.

Setup: Most of the day before was spent on getting ready for the race - a practice swim, checking out the two swim start areas, attending the expo, racking bikes, etc. Very time-consuming, difficult logistics for this particular race without any sherpas along.

Summary: Post-race I'm ambivalent about my performance - it was originally supposed to be the full iron distance, but fortunately (much to my relief) I was able to drop down to the half Ironman since my training wasn't going well. The swim and the first half of the bike were fantastic, but I lost a lot of steam on the second half of the bike and never found my stride during the run.

SWIM 1.2 miles

We were concerned about the cold water temps but that turned out NOT to be a factor with a long-sleeved wetsuit. Got up too early - about 4:00 AM for an 8:50 race start - so that took a little energy out of me to start.

The swim was fantastically current-aided and as soon as we started this weak swimmer felt like Dara Freaking Torres. I felt amazingly comfortable the entire way. I'd sight for a buoy 200 yards away, put my head down and in a few strokes I was there and sighting for the next. Local resident Ron Steve had given superb advice and I stayed completely out of the fray and in the center of the channel in the strongest current. Sighted on the tall building at the exit, I climbed up the ladder with some assistance, stopped my watch, and trotted toward transition.

Watch time at water exit: 32:56* (1:33/100 yards) (faster time than my Olympic swim PR!)
Chip swim time (after showering and ~100 yard run): 34:25* (136/163 women)


T1

I trotted the whole way through this very long transition - kind of fun at the time going between two rows of applauding fans like I was in the Tour de France! The T1 bags were located by the bikes and NOT by the changing tents for the half Ironman triathletes, so it didn't really work for us unless we wanted to add considerable distance and effort on our transition. And I didn't. So I pulled on bike shorts over my thin wet running shorts (and got considerable chafing from later, unfortunately). Had to take a little extra time to stuff wetsuits into the bag, too, and a very long trot out on bike cleats to the exit.

Watch T1: 10:11 (swim exit to bike exit)
Calc T1: 8:42 (estimated from timing mat to timing mat)

BIKE 56 miles

Once we got through some tricky roads exiting T1 and through town (lots of cars going in and out of business entrances at unmonitored intersections) we got out onto nice flat roads. A 12-mile section down the Interstate was delightful - fast and easy (speed often well into the 20s) on smooth straight concrete. Then off on a 4-lane highway. Turning off of that onto a rural road I took a wrong turn when the volunteers didn't direct us, but they yelled at me and I stopped and turned around. By that time I was getting chafed and achy and irritable. Down some rural roads for an out-and-back, and then a very long sluggish stretch straight into the wind on the homeward leg. That was slow, particularly on the final two huge bridges going into transition.

My hydration and electrolyte intake was pretty normal for training rides - 3 to 4 bottles with Motor Tabs, 2 Poptarts, a bag of margarita Clif Bloks, and a couple electrolyte capsules. I overdressed a bit with a windbreaker jacket, which I ended up tying around my waist the 2nd half of the bike. Should have just worn armwarmers with my tri-top.

Chip bike + T1: 3:36:24 (122/160)
Calc bike: 3:28:42
Odometer average speed: 16.1 mph
Calc average speed: 16.1 mph

T2

Fairly uneventful. My rack spot was all the way at the end of transition so I had my 2nd long run with bike cleats on. The transition bags were at the rack spot in loose dirt and gravel, and the changing tents were back about 100 yards, so it made no sense to go back to use them. Quickly put on a dry clean shirt and stuffed my bike gear in the bag. I forgot to take off my bike shorts and had to take them off outside of transition and throw them over the fence.

T2 Chip time 4:54 (114/157)

RUN 13.1 miles

Coming out of T2 I was 9:11 into a PR (compared to Eagleman 2007). But that all went away extremely quickly. My first 3 miles up and over the huge bridges were shuffling and slow, and I never was able to pick up my stride. Then at Mile 4 suddenly my left quad locked up quickly enough to make me stumble, so I quickly switched to Damage Control Mode and took some more electrolytes. My muscles remained twitchy and uncomfortable-to-painful for the rest of the run, so I just hung on and completed it the best way I knew how, alternating running and walking, grazing on grapes and oranges and getting Coke at the frequent aid stations. I think this was my 40th half marathon run in a race. It's always a great thing to see friendly familiar faces out on the course, and with the full Ironman going on at the same time I had lots of fun opportunities to greet friends on the way back to the finish.

Run: Chip time 3:17:54 (148/156)

TOTAL

My 5th half Ironman, 2nd fastest (for events with a full swim)
Finish: 7:33:36
13/16 women 50-54 who finished swim, 13/15 finishers
142/163 women who finished swim

Fun day. But I can do better. Onward.

Beach 2 Battleship half iron triathlon: times

I finished! There were some issues with the timing mats so the official splits were messed up, so I spent some time with my watch times to get estimates:

SWIM 1.2 miles (PR! that doesn't really count*)
Watch time at water exit: 32:56* (1:33/100 yards)
Chip swim time (after showering and ~100 yard run): 34:25* (136/163)
*incredibly current-assisted

T1
Watch t1: 10:11 (swim exit to bike exit)
Calc t1: 8:42 (estimated from timing mat to timing mat)

BIKE 56 miles
Chip bike + t1: 3:36:24 (122/160)
Calc bike: 3:28:42
Odometer average speed: 16.1 mph
Calc average speed: 16.1 mph

T2: Chip time 4:54 (114/157)

RUN 13.1 miles
Run: Chip time 3:17:54 (148/156)

TOTAL
Finish: 7:33:36
13/16 women 50-54 who finished swim, 13/15 finishers
142/163 women who finished swim

Aside: I think this was my 40th half marathon race run, but my count is a little fuzzy.

Halloween 2009

The girls wanted to wear the same costumes as last year - with the addition of new light-up scepters, tiaras (which Elisabeth refused to wear), and princess shoes (that didn't quite make it into this photo).