Last weekend I decided to include a sprint race into my training plan, mainly because it was located less than 20 miles from my home. I love those types of races because you can roll out of bed on race morning at a reasonable hour, eat some food, race and be back home by the afternoon. Plus, you are usually racing with some friends.

 
In the past I have found small local races in a rural setting to have unusual elements of surprise including, but not limited to, costumes, shotguns, beer on the course and the occasional naked person or persons. I usually love these idiosyncrasies, but this race included an unusual element that almost made me pack up my bike and head home before the race even started.

 
As I was standing in the water ready for the race to begin, the race director informed us about the unusual elements to this particular race. He warned us that upon finishing the race we should check our socks for ticks. I thought to myself, I can handle ticks.

 
The next warning the race director gave was about rattlesnakes on the run course. He referred to the lead runners as the “sacrificial lambs” because the pounding of their feet would (hopefully) scare the rattlesnakes away for the rest of us.

 
That was when I thought it might just be better for me to leave right then, but I have only dropped out of one race in my entire life (due to health concerns) and rattlesnakes weren’t going to stop me now.

 
Despite having raced at Wildflower the week before I felt great during the entire race. I was the second woman out of the water, and at the turnaround I was happy to find myself behind only 15 men. I thought, Yes! I won’t be one of the sacrificial lambs!
               
On the run I found myself jumping at every little movement in the grass, but luckily no rattlesnakes. I cruised into a nice finish – first women, 12^th overall – and I only had one tick.

 
I also received a great compliment at the finish line from a dad who told me, “You just inspired my 13-year-old daughter to race a triathlon.”

Yesterday I ran the Cellcom Green Bay half marathon. This was actually my first time ever running a ½ marathon outside of a ½ ironman. So I was expecting that I should PR. This spring I have worked to improve my running quite a bit, but on my last long training run 3 weeks ago (an 18 miler) I suffered some pes anserinus bursitis in my knee that has been lingering lately. This has meant that I hadn’t been able to put in the mileage or intensity that I had hoped for recently, thus I didn’t plan on running as fast as I initially anticipated. Two days prior to the race I made a classic rookie mistake of wearing sandals on a day when I would be walking around quite a bit and decided to give myself a couple of blisters which resulted in me walking around like I was on a stick (you’d think after a few years you stop making rookie mistakes but I guess not). But thankfully, I had some SPENCO blister pads (www.spenco.com)  on hand which practically solved the problem in 1 day (I used the regular ones during the day and the sport ones when I had to run/ and race. It seemed to work like a charm.
 

On race morning the great Wisconsin weather was again greeting us, with 35degree temps and 20mph winds out of the North and a chance of mist or flurries. Hard to believe it was 80degrees the day before. (I was having nightmares of IMWI last year). But definitely manageable for a 1.5hr race (glad I wasn’t doing the full this year.) I ended up running a strong race and maintaining my pace for the whole race. My overall time was a 1:18:39 for a 6:01/mile pace. This put me at 25th place in the ½ out of over 2000 runners (the total event had about 6700 people, so it is one of the bigger races in Wisconsin) I was very happy with this time considering at the 10k mark I was at PR time for that distance. This gives me some running confidence going into the first ½ ironman of the year in 2 weeks (The Deuces wild triathlon in Show Low AZ. www.trisportsracing.com  )

Check out the full race results at www.cellcomgreenbaymarathon.com

I have never thought of myself as a runner…I’m a triathelte.  To the innocent bystander there may not seem like there is much of a difference, however, there is both in approach and mentality.  I could go on and on about this topic, but on to the race!!

My fiancé (Ashley) was running the Big Lake ½ Marathon in Alton, NH right on beautiful lake Winnipesauke.  This race is put on by Keith Jordan and the same great folks who bring us Moose Man and Timber Man, so I knew it was going to be a quality event.  I decided that instead of watching I would go participate as well and use it as a fast paced training run.  Having not tapered and never run an open ½ Marathon before I was a little scared.  I had raced numerous ½ Ironman, Ironman and even a couple of marathons.  I was not worried about the distance, just the speed and pain that it would involve.  One of my good friends scoffed at my fear “It’s like a sneeze compared to an Ironman!!”  I thought this was a pretty funny comparison and put me a little bit at ease.

Ashley and I arrived at registration race morning at 7:15am for a 9am start…I forgot how little time to takes to register and get ready for a race where there are no wetsuits or bikes involved!!  After having lots of time to stretch, relax and contemplate our day we warmed up and got ready for the start.

The sun was shinning and a cool northerly breeze was blowing.  I worked my way to the front of the starting pack knowing that I needed a good start if I wanted to do well at this race.  The gun went off and so did I!  Between the combination of adrenaline and sunshine I found myself flying around the scenic course with only one other person in front of me.  I reached the 2mi marking in 11minutes!  “OOPPSS!!  Better not take it out too hard, I have to ride tomorrow” I thought to myself.  The Body Link was a great help because I was able to pace myself knowing exactly how fast I was going at any given moment.

I settled a little and made my way through the first 5 miles of long gradual hills basically on my own.  At mile 6 I found myself running with 2 others where I struck up a friendly conversation…they didn’t really feel like talking.  From mi 8-11 we turned along a back road where several small steep climbs and descents catered to my strength as a runner…I mean triathlete…and I found myself running alone once again with just one runner in front of me.  Now when I say in front, I mean about 5 minutes in front, I knew there was no way I was going to catch him.  I’m not sure if it was my pride, the small prize purse or a little of both, but I decided I would just see if I could hold my position, but somewhere in the back of my mind I was worried about being able to ride tomorrow.

I finished in 1:16:50 taking second place (the winner set a new course record under 1:11!!!!).  I got a quick bite and then circled back and did a quick cool down run back out to mile 11 encouraging and cheering fellow runners (and triathetles) as I went.  Many runner’s informed me I was running the wrong direction! J  I met up with Ashley at mi 11 who was a little ahead of her goal pace!  I ran back in with her offering words of encouragement and trying to help take her mind off the pain.  She had a great race also coming in ahead of her goal. 

The post race food and an ice bath in Lake Winnipesauke  (~45degrees) felt great.  Then it was on to my mom’s to celebrate Mother’s day!  It was a beautiful day and a great race that I would highly recommend at any runner (or triathlete) out there.

http://www.timbermantri.com/biglakeindex.html

Today I raced the 4th Anuual Ford Ironman Florida 70.3 Half Ironman at Disney World in Sunny Florida.  I have done exactly 2 speed workouts in the last 8 weeks as I prepare for Ironman Coeur D’ Alene, and was just looking for a solid all around day against a world class field. That is exactly what I got.  Temperatures were pretty moderate and the winds were not as strong as they could have been.

The gun went off at 6:20am and I found myself swimming pretty easy in a group…It was still fairly dark, so sighting was a bit tough and didn’t know if I was with who I wanted to be swimming with.  I decided to just hold tight and see where it put me as things got sorted.  Well, I rounded the second turn buoy as we headed back toward transition and I could see that the next group was not that far ahead, so I moved to the front of the pack and tried to bridge the gap.  Yeah, 800m to close a 1min gap to a group, THAT wasn’t going to happen, so I backed off and returned to the pack. 

To my suprise a fair number of good swimmers were close and it was a TIMEX PARTY in T1. Jordan, Curt and myself were all at our bikes at the exact same time.  Saweet, only problem is that I didn’t think I could stick with them for the entire 90k.  After a few misdirections that sent Jordan and I off course 2 times, nearly crashing both times.  We got out of the park and the fleet of TTX’s was in high gear.  I was able to hang with Curt for about 15k, but then had to let him go.  I just tried to watch my HR through my Timex Body Link system to make sure I wasn’t working too hard.  I tried to get as low as possible, which my aero-drink bottle really helps me do….you don’t have to move at all to get the hydration that you need. 

 As we got to the first out and back, the first pack was way out front, then about 5min back was a pack that Lewis, Jordan and Michael Lovato were in.  Behind them were one or two other riders, Curt, my friend Zach and then myself another 40sec back.  I solo-ed the rest of the way into T2 and came off feeling good.  I have really learned to love the Power Gel.  The reason is because of the 200mg of sodium in each packet.  THAT seems to be the key to ward off the cramps.

 Out onto the run I felt good, but I didn’t have that HIM pop, but didn’t expect to right now either.  I actually warmed into the run, I was able to raise my effort and HR, while descending the pace of each loop and bringing mile splits from 6:35, down to 6:10 at the end.  All great signs for IM fitness.  I arrived at the line feeling good physically and ok everything else…besides the blisters :-0  I am really looking forward to CDA on June 24th.

It was great to be racing with so many other teamates, everyone had a great day out there!  Congratulations to everyone on their great races.  I want to thank my mom for coming down to FL to watch me race.  It always means a lot when she gets to watch, also Graham Partain who let me train out of his house the last 2 winters and stay there again for this race.  Of course, AWESOME Team Timex and The Trek Bike Store of Madison for helping me get to the race.

Now back to wisco……

 BB - www.blakebecker.com

Stellar Field and Top Results for Timex Multisport Athletes at the 4^th Annual Ford Ironman 70.3 Florida

Orlando, Florida. May 20, 2007

On a typical Sunday in Orlando you can expect people to attend the many theme parks in the surrounding area, but this was not your typical Sunday in the Sunshine State.  Over 2,000 athletes from around the world were there to test themselves at the 4^th annual Ford Ironman 70.3 Florida event.  With a stellar field on hand, as well as gorgeous sunny weather, the Timex Multisport athletes did not disappoint and posted solid times and results against the world’s best.

Aerodynamics specialist Jordan Rapp flew the Timex flag (albeit with little wind resistance) in the Men’s Pro racing to 11^th place overall and coming away with the 7^th fastest bike split of the day (2:08:33).  Andrew Hodges ran into the 14^th spot overall with the 5^th fastest run split of the day posting a speedy 1:16:35.  Former pro cyclist, Curt Chesney came away 16^th in the pro field and had the 9^th fastest bike split of the day with a 2:10:48.

On the Pro Women’s side, Canadian Natasha Filliol ran into the top 10 with the fastest run split with a 1:26:22.  Texan Kim Hager had the 4^th fastest run (1:29:24) of the day and came away 9^th in the pro women’s field after a stellar final leg.

On the amateur side, Kevin Grogan, finished 10^th in the most competitive age-group field, 30-34, and posted a solid 4:33:09.  Recent college graduate, April Gellatly, finished 2^nd in the women’s 18-24 category as well as coming away with the fastest swim (31:48) and bike (2:37:53), out of 39 competitors in her category.

The team came away with great results and look forward to seeing them reach their goals throughout the season.

Team Results

Blake Becker-            Pro Men         18^th                  4:12:55

Curt Chesney-            Pro Men         16^th                  4:10:17

Natasha Filliol-           Pro Women     8^th                    4:44:12

April Gellatly-            W18-24 cat.    2^nd                   5:02:18

Jacqui Gordon-           Pro Women     11^th                  4:50:53                              

Kevin Grogan-           M30-34 cat.    10^th                  4:33:09

Kim Hager-                Pro Women     9^th                    4:48:20

Andrew Hodges-        Pro Men         14^th                  4:07:00

Jordan Rapp-             Pro Men         11^th                  4:03:41

Look out for Timex Multisport Team members at upcoming races-

IM Coeur d’Alene- June 24^th