Dee-
It's been 3 months since our last update, despite it being prime racing season, which can only mean one thing- injury! Right after the Triangle Triathlon, Chad injured his right calf. He was out for a month and then slowly started back running. Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to (good and bad) since the last update.
July 19th
Chad goes down with an injury to his right calf.
July 21st - Beat the Heat 5k
This is a very fast race up in Winston-Salem, NC. Chad was not able to run. I ran, but despite being in great shape, I bombed big time. BIG TIME. 18:54. I was hoping to take a run at sub 18, but instead I ran my slowest race of the year.
August 4th- Stumpy Creek International Triathlon
Dee- 2:50:13; 5th AG, 20th OA
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| The calm before the storm- usually the swim is my most treacherous leg! |
Chad was still out injured. I had a good swim and was rolling pretty well on the bike when disaster struck. I was passing a line of people when the girl at the front whiped out right across my path. My options were to crash into her, crash into oncoming traffic (a huge truck), or crash into the other bikes I was passing. I ended up crashing into her, flipping over my bike and hitting my head on the pavement. It felt awesome to say the least. With a bike that was all sorts of messed up (seat was knocked all the way down, but was pointing upwards- felt great), a sore head, and a thumb that appeared to be broken, I continued riding to the finish simply because I did not see the SAG wagon. I got off my bike, talked with TJ and Tiffany about my crash, then trotted off to find Chad so I could DNF. To make a very long story short- I never found Chad. He was busy biking the course backwards looking for me. He heard I crashed, but missed seeing me come in because he was busy searching for a bike to borrow to come find me. By the time I finished the first 5k loop, I decided to just finish the run, so I picked it up and ended up with the #2 run of the day; clocking in at 43:00 for 10k.
Much to several doctors' surprise, my thumb was not broken. I had simply sprained all the ligament so it looked broken, but wasn't. Success?
August 25th- Lake Norman Sprint Triathlon
Chad- 1:18:46; 2 AG, 7 OA; #1 run split- 16:53
Mike Dannenburg proved to be a miracle worker once again and had Chad back running in time for this race. We were very excited to both be back racing. Until the Wednesday before the race, when I learned that my 94 year old Grandmother had passed away. Off to Long Island I went on Thursday evening. Chad was unable to come with me for reasons unrelated to this race, but it did provide him with a chance to race.
He had a good race and finished 2nd in his age group, while again clocking the #1 run. Interestingly, Chad actually tied with third place in his age group. The person who finished third had a goggle issue, so he had to start 2 waves back. So Chad did not see him until after the race was done. Pretty impressive to have the same time after nearly an hour and twenty minutes of racing.
September 15th- Belews Sprint Triathlon
Chad- 1:09:25; 3AG, 9OA; #1 run split- 17:18
Dee- 1:20:14; 1AG, 5OA; #1 run split - 19:51
Holy cow! We both raced! No one crashed or died. A miracle. Remember how Chad tied in his last race? Well... yup it happened again. This race had a time trial start and Chad started ~2 minutes behind his friend and fellow age grouper, Chris. Once the results are posted after the race we come to find out that Chad & Chris had the exact same time! So, again, despite not seeing Chris the whole race, they ended up with the same time.
I had a solid, if unremarkable race. My bike should have been better, but I'm still a bit skidish on the triathlon bike as a result of the crash. It's amazing how something like that can scare you! I refused to ride in the aero position until (literally) the start of the race. I have no idea why, but I was absolutely petrified. Hopefully I've gotten over it- but we'll see next time I take out the tri bike!
September 22nd- Wilmington Sprint Triathlon
Chad- 1:13:34; 3AG, 27OA
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| All smiles as the Giants win big. |
As the IOS Series was very tight and Chad had a slow first race, he decided to head over to the Wilmington Sprint Triathlon to see if he could end the year on a high note with lots of points. Chad's father was also in town to see the Giants-Panthers football game, so they made it a boys weekend trip and headed out Friday at lunch time for the beach. This race is unique in that the swim is 1500m. It's in the Intercoastal waterway which, allegedly, has a very helpful current. I wasn't buying it, so I stayed home with Max. For the first time all year, Chad had a bad swim. Of course with a long swim, this was possibly the worst time to have a bad swim.
September 29th- Salem Lake 30k Trail Run
Chad- 1:58:48 (6:23/mile pace) 1st AG, 6th OA
Oh hey, triathlon season is over, it's time for marathon training! Chad is scheduled to run the Philadelphia Marathon on November 18th, so his calf injury in July came at a terrible time. But, in true Chad fashion, he was up for the challenge and began increasing his mileage (with Mike's blessing) in early September. To be safe, Chad did not run a single speed workout, and just focused on increasing his mileage and long runs. 12.5 miles on September 8th, 14.5 miles on September 16th, and 18 miles on September 23rd. After the 18 miles, Chad decided to run the Salem Lake 30k Trail Race, figuring he'd try and run all 18.6 miles at sub 7 minute pace. Needless to say, his first mile was 6:25 and he never looked back. This was a fantastic training run for Chad and gave him a lot of confidence for an upcoming relay race...
October 14th- Kasey Kahne 5k
Chad- 16:57, 1st AG, 3rd OA
Dee- 18:53, 1st OA
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| Raising my hands up to celebrate my victorious champagne shower long before I actually won the race. |
After taking a week off of racing to visit Thomas & Michelle in Raleigh (and Chad getting in a great 22 mile long run with Michelle), we were ready to take a stab at a 5k for the first time in several months. Chad had won a free entry and I decided at the last minute on race morning to stop being a baby and just register. I was very glad I did! From the start my legs and breathing felt fantastic. I loved the course and felt strong throughout the race. Thomas & Michelle were at the halfway point with champagne, so I ran through a champagne shower; which was awesome. My time was nearly a minute faster than I was expecting, so that was a pleasant surprise.
Chad had a solid race as well. He knew from the start that he would not win. "Fam," a two time Olympian with a 5k PR of 13:11, showed up. So, Fam ran a 14:22 and dusted the field. Chad started too slow and ran out of room to close on 2nd, finishing 3rd in 16:57. A good time on a rolling course. We hung around afterwards eating bagels and apples and collecting some awesome prizes.
Next up:
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| Chad trying to determine how many minutes up Fam is. The answer was a lot. |
October 20th- Beach2Battleship Ironman Relay
Yup, that's right. Chad is racing the marathon leg of the Beach2Battleship Ironman Relay in Wilmington, NC this weekend. His team is looking pretty darn good and they are hoping to set a new course record for the relay. Chad is going to use the marathon as a long training run and is hoping to run somewhere south of 3 hours.
The Philadelphia Marathon is quickly approaching and while Chad may not be in PR shape, due to the short build up thanks to his calf injury, he certainly appears to be in shape to run a fast enough time to secure a coveted spot in the first corral at Boston. Only time will tell of course, but we're both cautiously optimistic. I'm very excited to cheer him on at Beach2Battleship and see an Ironman in person.
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