Swimming

I felt totally off swimming again tonight! Atie said I wasnt reaching enough, I was crossing over with one arm and not throwing my arms. I knew I was swimming poorly, never knew I crossed over ever! I thought I was not putting my head down enough. The whole stroke felt off. I guess I have to swim more often. That is all I can think of. Either that or running more, and better, makes swimming go down the drain!

swimming....or not

I swam today after not swimming for a week. I felt terrible! I remember that this is how it is if I do not swim more often, but I want to remember this so I never forget it again. SWIM 3-4 TIMES PER WEEK!

Top 10 females

Look at the top 10 female finishers in the race I did yesterday! THe top 3 were all my age group, and in the top 10, 5 were in my age group. Arent we amazing!?

1 1 F4049 22:44 7:19 Pat Bourgalt 49 F 212 Concord NH
2 2 F4049 25:44 8:17 Ellie Ferguson 47 F 233 N Haverhill NH
3 3 F4049 26:32 8:33 Lisa Davy 42 F 231 Laconia NH
4 1 F0117 27:07 8:44 Lindy Heffernan 14 F 244 Bradford NH
5 4 F4049 28:05 9:03 Mary Macnuso 49 F 237 Cornish NH
6 1 F3039 29:35 9:32 Jessie Levine 37 F 239 New London NH
7 5 F4049 29:37 9:32 Patti Clifford 43 F 213 Franklin NH
8 1 F5059 31:09 10:02 Jacqueline Keith 57 F 225 Franklin NH
9 2 F0117 32:56 10:36 Geneva Heffernan 10 F 243 Bradford NH
10 6 F4049 33:17 10:43 Amy Wade 41 F 217 Newport NH

Reindeer Run, New London, NH

Today I ran the Reindeer Run in New London, NH.
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/nh/Dec8_8thRei_set1.shtml
It was fun. Perfect weather. Didn't start until 10:30, a nice civilized time. Close to 30 degrees, breezy. I just wore a couple of shirts and even that was too much. I warmed up for a mile or so! (A first for me) with a couple of strides right before the race, and wore a microfleece over my mouth for the warm up. I had the lofty goal of 22 minutes for this 5k, Thanks Steve! But that wasn't to be. I know, there are always excuses but this one seems more legit: The roads were covered in snow and slush. The usual push off just couldn't happen for about half the race. It was also hilly, but I heard about that, right before the race, and was pleasantly surprised, that it wasn't as bad as my imagination had made up. My breathing was better for the warm-up and face mask, which I did not race in, although I did feel dizzy and like my ears were filled during the race. I did some flonase at about 8am, did that clear my nose and fill my ears? I ran a 26:32, for a pace of 8:33. 2nd in my age group, 15th overall. Not too bad, but NOT 22! I actually passed someone! On the downhill finish and did feel like dryheaving so I definitely gave it as much as I could. I will do the warmup and mouth cover again. Thanks John! Would wear one less shirt, and I knew that before I started, but didn't have a place to ditch it. Also, I wore waterproof trail shoes and trail socks, a good choice since it was a messy race. They only gave first prizes in this race but I got a T-shirt, actually 2! The food was great and there was a nice indoor lodge for the apres-race food, results and prizes. There was a costume party, but I actually did not participate in it!

Races that I REALLY want to do

The Xterra trail race series (3)
Crank the Kank
Patriot Half
Timberman Half
SOS sept 7, 2008
RTB sept 12-13, 2008
I know those last 2 are only a week apart but I REALLY want to do them both!

My serious goals for this year:

Do a 5k under 21 minutes
Improve my uphill running and biking.
Improve my nutrition
Lose 10 pounds
Improve my speed over every race from last year if I redo them.

Random thoughts

Uugh! Less miles this week than last! How depressing. No ones fault but my own. And my eating sucks too! I have to get serious about that. But today's run was hardy! Whipping, wailing winds, cold and it still felt great! Today is perfect so far. Perfect~ Great workout, great eating, and the rest of the day is free to pursue more creative projects since it is not a workday, and all I have to do is stay away from junk food! I wish everyday was this wonderful!

Interesting winter races

Reindeer Run, New London Dec 8th, saturday
http://www.lsrchamber.com/calendar/HTMLobj-26/Reindeer_Run_Application.pdf
Attack on Mount Hood Melrose, MA 12/8
Kahtoola.com has 2 events at Bretton Woods 1/19 and 2/23
Sidehiller 4 mile snowshoe race in sandwich, NH 2/9 whitemountainmilers.com
Found at trailrunnermag.com a great site!

Things I want to do

Learn Skate Skiing
improve cross country skiing
Try Roller Skiing
Run on my running snowshoes
Do some totally different and extreme races some trail races
gotta remember http://www.xterraplanet.com/trailrun/dsp_content.cfm?id=1872 all 3 of those this year, cant wait til the new dates come out.
RUN FASTER, goes without saying

Some Recent Race Results

Wolfeboro 5k (actually 3.2 miles) Turkey Trot November 17, 2007 3rd place in age group, 26:28.30
Clough triathlon sept 2007 3rd in age group 3/21 swim 22 13:40 T1 2:59 bike 101 49:06 T2 1:16 run 165 29:36 total 1:36:36
Loon Mountain XTERRA July 8 2007 1:25:24 USATF pts: 62.76
Muddy Moose Trail Race, April 2007 1st in age group 46:28

Races I am thinking about

This list will most likely change, as I find out more exact dates, but dont they all look like so much fun!?
dec 1 concord 5k jingle bell
Jan mich lite 5k/10k jan 1
feb 10 half at hampton feb 10
winter tri wolfeboro also Feb 10
APRIL merrimack river trail run
(xterra series)mud muck moose
adventure race
muddy moose
MAY big lake half marathon
may 10 crank the kank opens march event is in may
portsmouth adventure race
JUNE mooseman june 7,8
northfield mtn trail run xterra series
cranmore hillclimb
mt snow adventure race
JULY patriot half tri july 6, 2008
loon mtn trail race xterra series
nyc tri registration opens 11/1 race is 7/20
AUGUST greenfield august 3
off road tris (Xterras)
wildman
timberman half aug 17
SEPTEMBER SOS sunday sept 7,2008
RTB sept 12-13