Don't Stop Believing...

My brother absolutely loves Journey’s song “Don’t Stop Believing”, and whenever I hear it on my iPod I think of him. It’s a great song and it came into my mind during the More Fitness Women’s Half Marathon on Sunday. After Colleen DeReuck pulled away from me at mile 3 and eventually had about a 100 meter gap on me, there were times when I definitely settled and figured “well I’m racing for 2^nd place”. Suddenly, on the east side of the park, between about mile 7 and 8 I realized I was running too comfortable and decided I needed to try and catch her. I figured I had nothing to lose, assuming 3^rd place was far enough behind me, that if I blew up, at least I did it while in gut wrenching pain. J Immediately “Don’t Stop Believing” came into my head and I kept repeating it over and over as I gradually closed the gap.

The entire morning reminded me all too well of the USA 25k champs in Grand Rapids, Michigan last May. It was a super cold, rainy morning and with about 4.5 miles left in the race I made a move and pulled away to win, running the last 4.5 miles in a LOT of pain, grinding it out to the finish line in the rain. In Central Park, around mile 9, with 4 miles to go, I pulled even to Colleen, said “great job Colleen” and made a move. For the remaining 4.1 miles I had no clue if she was 2, 20 or 45 seconds behind me, because all the women in the race, running on the inside to my left on the road, did an unbelievable job cheering and screaming my name. I knew I couldn’t look back to check where Colleen was, so I kept throwing in hard surges, especially on the downhill stretches. Eventually I looked behind me, just to be sure, as I rounded the corner to the finish line and I didn’t see Colleen. It was such an incredible feeling to win my first major road race, the biggest all women’s half marathon in the country J Yes, I won the 25k national championships last year, yet one foreigner beat me by a few seconds so technically I did not win the women’s race.

The weekend in NYC was quick yet really fun as usual. New York Road Runners (NYRR), More Fitness Magazine and Lady Speed Stick impressed me and put on a fabulous event. At the pre-race pasta dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel in Times Square, Ann from the NYRR introduced me with a few recent accomplishments, and then she paused and told everyone how she was so impressed with the fact that I had also just qualified for Kona. J It made me smile and I thought about how many people told me I couldn’t run professionally AND do triathlons at the same time. It got me very excited for Kona, especially that 2:56 run course world record J Alot of women came up to me and asked me all kinds of things about triathlon. I told them I don’t know THAT much, but appreciated their support, admiration and hopefully it will get more women involved in triathlon.

On race morning, seeing thousands of women out there pushing themselves so hard on a cold, rainy Sunday morning made me so happy to be out there with them! I have never had such great support from other people during a race; I could not have run so well that second loop in the park if I hadn’t had their support J My morning was made even more terrific when I got to meet Kristen Davis from Sex and the City!!!! She was at the race cheering and then helped hand out awards. I talked to her for a while about the new movie coming out in a few weeks and asked her if she runs like she does on the show, lol. She was super sweet and I was so incredibly excited that I got to meet her. I cannot wait for the second movie to come out!! There are photos, video of the race, etc. on the NYRR website...www.nyrr.org if you want to look, watch, etc.

After the More Fitness Half, I decided to go and race Bloomsday again in Spokane, Washington. I really really loved this race last year and I had such an amazing time with the race crew, other athletes, etc. so I am excited to go back. I hope to have just as good, if not better race than I did last year. The course is hilly and challenging….perfect for me J I will be thinking of the post-race beer, pizza and massages in the hospitality suite that we all enjoyed soooo much last year. I’m getting pumped to say the least…

I am not sure what my plans will entail from here on out. My plan to take time off may be put on the backburner for a bit, since I am have been able to run pretty darn well off 20-40 miles per week the past three months. There are some races and goals I would like to accomplish through the end of June before I settle down for a few weeks. Taking time off from running in July in Phoenix…sounds just fine for me, lol J For any of you out there that want to truly know my mileage the past 10 weeks…here it is:

27.24, 35.9, 24.23, 41.4, 52.94 (NYC half race week), 28.52 (Oceanside Half Ironman race week), 32.76, 34.48, 27.57, 54.37 (More Fitness ½ Marathon race week)

Biking and swimming has been going pretty well. I have only done both about once per week lately but it’s great to get out there and do it. I have continued my core routines each day as well, and I definitely know that they help me so much. I can feel a difference, especially in my hamstrings and gluteus muscles when I haven’t done the sessions in a few days, after traveling to a race for instance.

Endurance Rehabilitation still helps me so incredibly much; I could never thank them enough for all they do for me. They are so supportive of my goals and help me make big decisions on races and what is best for my foot, etc. It’s nice to have people to give me professional feedback.

I am so grateful to Sole Sports Running Zone, Triple Sports and Marathon Guide for all the support they give me. When I wear their logos and represent them at races, I am so proud to be sponsored by such great companies. I love going into Sole Sports and Triple Sports and having so many awesome products to choose from with such friendly and fun employees working at both stores. I always look forward to it J

One of my favorite quotes in the world...: "Your treasure- your perfection- is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the busy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart"- Eat, Pray, Love