Leavenworth Marathon October 2011

Leavenworth is about 2 hours East of Everett, WA so it is about a 2 hour drive from my house. It is over the Cascade mountains and is a small village town that represents Germany. There are so many things to to here including a marathon!

I met my friend Sheila almost a year ago at the gym, go figure! We began to talk and get to know one another very well. We hit it off right from the beginning. She was on a weight loss journey (Began Jan. 2010) and as of today she has kept off more than 105 pounds. She began running with Stacey and I on our weekend runs. It wasn't too long she was right at our heels. She was getting so good at running that I got her to do her first 5K March 2011 (St. Patty's Day Dash) and she was hooked. I also told her there was green beer at the end and that was my selling point. :)

Two months later she was running her first half marathon and finished 2:06 which was awesome! So you see where I am going with this right? Soon after the half I asked "so when are we running your first marathon"? We picked Leavenworth Oktoberfest Marathon! I set out the training schedule and off we went and trained 13-14 weeks for her first and my fifth.

We arrive Friday, Oct. 14 into Leavenworth, check into our room, pick up race packet and find a nice pre-race dinner. The next morning we get up and get our marathon gear on. She was a little nervous but who isn't on their first 26.2 mile run! The first 11 miles were down hill which is not so great, puts a hurt'in on the quads. Mile 11-17 we hit trail and loose dirt which is not a favorite but we went through it like champs. Finally, back on the road and the scenery throughout the run was amazing with mountains all around us. She only had to walk a few times and did fantastic for her very first. I too felt fantastic and felt like I could have gotten a personal record but today was all about Sheila and I wasn't going to leave her side. Heck I was worried she would leave me! I was so proud of her and finishing so strong at a time of 4:45, not bad at all for a first with loose dirt!

A few times during the run she had a few "this sucks" moments but they didn't last long. The one moment I loved the most was when she said "your Iron Man can suck it", meaning she wasn't taking any part in that. We shall see Sheila, one day...one day!!!

Lake Stevens Half Iron Man August 2011

Here we go again with Half Iron #3 and I'm more prepared for this one than I was for the Napa valley one. I had trained better especially on the bike and the hills. It was a beautiful morning and the lake was calm. Although I've done many triathlons I still get the "jitters" race day morning. I layed all my gear out, got in my wetsuit and headed to Lake Stevens where I would begin my 70.3 race. The 70.3 is the total miles I will complete including all three legs: swim 1.2, bike 56 and run 13.1. The swim starts in waves so there is not a heard of people taking off all at the same time. I hear "GO" and I jump in and begin my swim. The first quarter of the swim I'm usually trying to find my rhythm and get my breathing down. I soon realized that there is a rope underwater that is attached to the buoys so that was very helpful. I didn't have to keep looking up to make sure I wasn't swimming "away" from the other racers. My swim was decent but when I approached the end and got out I felt a little disoriented and took a few moments to find my bike.

Once I found my bike I switched gears into bike mode and was on my way. The course was beautiful and the hills were not as bad as I thought they were going to be. A few prior to the race a friend took me out there to ride the course so I would be prepared and know what to expect. By race day they had changed the course a bit and it was actually easier than what we trained on. This is always a good thing! Coming back to the transition area I was mentally preparing myself for the run.

I got changed into my running shoes and began hitting the pavement. I started out a bit slower than expected but a jog is better than a walk. I met some friendly people along the way and then after a few miles my friend Stacey caught up with me and we began to run together. The run course was two loops and there was one major hill along the lake that I wasn't too happy about but once I had done it twice I knew I was home free. We both finished together at a time of 7 hours. I was happy with this time because the difficulty of this course was in between my first (6:30 hours) and second (7:30 hours) half iron.

As usual after the race I celebrated with a couple victory beers!