Rudolph’s Revenge, Rollers, and Ritter Sport Chocolate

Our blog has been quiet for far too long. Ben and I did the Rudolph’s Revenge 5k on Saturday, which was also Ben’s birthday. This was my first race since early August and also my first race since my dear friend, Sonja, started helping me with my training.

My race went great! Ben and I started toward the back of the pack since we had the chariot, which Ben was in charge of. When the race started it took us a little while to get up to the start line but we finally got moving. There was a major bottle neck at the first corner but I was able to maneuver through fairly easily and finally settled into my own rhythm. Everything felt great although the day was a little warmer than I’d expected.  My first mile went by in 10:11 and I was feeling good.  I just tried to hold a consistent pace and at the turn around, I saw Ben and Brenna just a little way behind me.  Ben caught up to me around the two mile mark and my second mile took 10:06.  Ben was able to work through the crowd some and get ahead of me. I tried my hardest to go with him but it just wasn’t in me if I was going to have enough reserve to finish the race.  I kept my eye on him and made sure I passed anyone who I had seen walking. A few of them tried to hang with me but I knew since they had been walking they wouldn’t be able to hang with me for long.  As I neared the three mile mark, I heard a man next to me tell the two people he was with to treat the last 200 yards as an interval, and they both groaned. As soon as I hit the mark I kicked it in for the finish and passed quite a few people. I crossed the finish line and started to get my timing chip taken off when I remembered to stop my watch.   My watch read 30:51 which is a great time for me!  My official time is 31:14 or something like that but it doesn’t account for the lag at the start since there was no timing mat there.  I don’t think I made it under 30 minutes but I came pretty darn close and I couldn’t be happier with home my race went. Oh, and my third mile was a 9:40. I can’t believe I held that pace for a mile. I guess having Ben ahead of me helped to get me moving, well that and the 9 year old girl that I just didn’t want to finish ahead of me.

Yesterday was another big day for me. I rode my bike on the rollers for the first time.  I needed to do a short recovery ride after the race. We had family visiting so I decided to do it after the girls went to bed but really didn’t have any desire to ride the trainer.  I asked Ben for help getting motivated and he suggested I ride the rollers.  The thought of if sent chills up and down my spine. I have always wanted to ride the rollers but the thought of it makes my nerves stand on end.  However, I decided there was no time like the present.  Ben got the rollers set up next to a wall to help me balance. I got on and he was right there next to me, talking me through and helping me calm my nerves. As I would relax a little, I would find my balance and move away from the wall and then go right back to it. I really worked on keeping my hands loose and my upper body relaxed and as I increased my speed and cadence it became a little easier.  I almost fell off once but totally going against my usual ways, instead of having a total freak out, I got back on and kept going.  The longer I rode, the more comfortable I felt and the less time I spent balancing against the wall.  I rode for 15 minutes and during the last five minutes was only occasionally bumping against the wall.  I must admit, I am even happier about riding the rollers than I am about my race and while the thought of riding the rollers still makes me all jittery, it is a good jittery now.

And onto the final item, Sonja is giving away four boxes of Ritter Sport Chocolate on her blog and to enter, you have to tell her what you are going to do to push your boundaries in 2010.  Well, my list keeps growing. I am going to finish Platte River Half in under 2:24:whatever, which is my previous time.  I am going to break 30 minutes in a 5k and qualify for the Bolder Boulder. I am going to start swimming and participate in enough triathlons this summer to feel like I can actually call myself a triathlete. I want to do a long course triathlon.  And finally, I want to start training for my first marathon which I plan on running in late 2010 or early 2011.  On top of it all, I gonna spend a lot more time riding my bike on the rollers.  Happy New Year to all of you boundary pushers!