Race Report: Breast Cancer Marathon Relay

Our team, Smells Like Run Spirit, finished the Breast Cancer Marathon Relay in 4:30:21, coming in 87 out of 247 (looking at the results again, this is inaccurate because there are teams listed multiple times since people clearly failed to remove their chips after their leg. Removing the duplicates, 71/190 seems more accurate). That's the fastest marathon finish time I'll probably ever be associated with, by about an hour, LOL! This was so much fun, and I was so impressed with the race that I plan to do the full marathon on my own next year.

My goal was to run the 5 miles in 55 minutes, or at least PR (< 57:24), and I nailed both! I'm surprise that I ran this well without walk breaks, but the weather was perfect and the energy of the crowd contagious; I'm sure the GU Roctane I took at the start of the leg also helped. I only stopped 2 or 3 times for a few seconds to wash down the gu and eat some grapes during the first 2 miles.

My plan was to run each mile and walk through the water stops, but I felt so good that I didn't need any water during the last 3 miles. I paced myself really well and ended up with perfect negative splits (11:36 - 11:27 - 11:16 - 10:49 - 9:51).  I gave it everything I had during that last mile, and I was so happy when I crossed that mat in 55 minutes that I cried. I haven't done that in a race since my first half marathon.

I knew I could do it, but I wasn't expecting it since I didn't intend to push myself nor was I doing my intervals. I think that's why I cried tears of joy when I finished. I always get emotional when I give it my all and it pays off :)  The entire run simply felt amazing, even if a little uncomfortable at the end but it was worth it.

I pulled myself together and caught the shuttle to the finish line. After a few snacks, I reunited with Jason and his dad to wait for my dad to finish the last leg. I walked to meet him and we ran the last 1/3 of a mile together.  Jason and his dad joined us for the last 1/10 and the 4 of us crossed the finish line together. Mom did the first leg but went back to the hotel to rest because she was sick, so she wasn't there at the end. I'm sad she didn't get to share that moment with us and is not in the official finish line photo, but I'm glad she was still able to run her leg. She's now ready to tackle a 10K! :)

Team Relay Leg Splits

	finish time	net time	pace
Mom (miles 1-5)	1:10:05	1:10:05	0:14:01
Jason (miles 5-10)	1:50:16	0:40:11	0:08:02
Me (miles 10-15)	2:45:15	0:54:59	0:10:59
Bob (miles 15-20)	3:24:47	0:39:32	0:07:54
Dad (miles 20-26.2)	4:30:21	1:05:34	0:10:34

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Race Report: OUC Downtown Orlando Triathlon Relay (1:47:43)

On yet another whim, I signed up for a triathlon relay this past weekend with my girls and had SO much fun! It was just what I needed to get out of the funk after the Trek didn't go as planned. This is the relay we were going to do initially, but we thought it'd be too soon after the trek. We were wrong! I'm now also addicted to triathlon relays :) Here we are, "MK^2 Impulse," before the start of the race. Can you guess who did which leg? ;)

Also at the race:

 Kyle (owner of Kyly'e Bike Shop) and Kristi
It was his first tri and her 2nd



Jason and David aka "Spontaneous Combustion"
doing a 2-man relay, who placed 2nd in their division!



and Giles, who helped me get the confidence in my swimming to give this crazy sport a try.

Pre-Race

The race start was at Lake Underhill Park, 3.2 miles from our apartment. Since I'm training for a marathon at the end of February, and the training plan called for 10 miles that day, we ran to the race start at an easy pace to get some extra miles. Combined with the race distance and a 1 mile walk home, I got in a total of 8 miles.

We got body marked and I found the girls. The relay wave was last, starting at 8 am, so we had a lot of time to kill. When we registered on Thursday, we all put shirt sizes that were too big because we kept thinking how small the shirts we got at the Trek were. But we forgot that the Trek was a women's race with women specific shirts, and these tech shirts were probably unisex. We were bummed that they were so big, but we brought them with us in hopes of exchanging them for smaller ones if they had any leftover. They DID! And that made my day because I love this race's logo and wanted to be able to wear the shirt. I was more excited about this race than the Trek :) (Maybe because I didn't have to swim =P)

The Race is On!

We headed to the start and watched the other waves take off, then finally Kelly and Jason were on their way. Since I did the run, I was able to take pictures of everyone during the swim and see them finish. Between legs, the other relay members were herded to a tent to wait for our turn. This amused me, but it gave us a great vantage point to watch the other triathletes and cheer them on. Jason and I were both doing the run leg, so it was cool we got to hang out in the tent for a bit while David came back from the bike.

My Turn to Shine! 
Run = 3.86 mi in 41:29 @ 10:44 pace

The run felt amazing! My left calf and hamstring were a little tight while I waited for MaryLynn to finish the bike leg, but I took off like a bat out of hell after we did the hand off. The first 2 minutes was at a 8:46 min/mile pace. I clearly started too fast, and I ended up with positive splits, but I pushed myself hard and far exceeding my expectations (I figured I'd average at best 11:30 min/mile).

I ran using 2:1 intervals, but pushed hard during the running segments, running most of them at a 9-10 min/mile pace. During the 2nd half, the intervals turned into run 2 minutes hard, walk 30 seconds, jog 30 seconds, then push hard for 2 minutes, then repeat. It certainly helped that it was overcast the entire time, even if it was still pretty humid. I also hydrated well and ate a gel during the run. I think that helped keep me going.

As I ran past the 3 mile mark near the Howard MS track at Summerlin, I saw the girls walking to the finish line and cheering me on. That brought a smile to my face and gave me the extra motivation I needed to push hard to the finish. They ran with me for a few seconds, and then I took off. As I rounded the last corner before the one to the finish line, I started to pick up the pace a bit more as I saw Jason cheering me on and running with me on the side walk. Alicia and Giles were at the last corner, and I dug deep, even deeper than at the Trek, and finished with an amazing sprint.

They held the tape for me to "break" as I finished. That was a really nice touch. I felt really strong and very pleased with my performance.  My official time was 40:47 @ 10:28 min / mile -- not sure how that makes sense, but I'll take it. Maybe the course was long. I started my watch after the hand off while still in transition. This is close to the pace of my 5K PR, so that's impressive. I finished 414 / 507 overall and 13 / 15 in our division.

Official Team Results

• rank = 460 / 507 overall; 12 / 15 in division
• time: 1:47:43
• swim rank = 482 / 507 overall ;14 / 15 in division
• swim time = 16:13
• t1 = 1:11
• bike rank = 485 / 507 overall ;11 / 15 in division
• bike time = 48:36 @ 14.4 mph
• t2 = 0:58
• run rank = 414 / 507 overall; 13 / 15 in division
• run time = 40:47 @ 10:28 min/mil

Final Thoughts

I'm really impressed with this race and plan to do it again next year, either by myself or as a relay. Relays are awesome because you get to compete while still cheering on all your friends, and you can push yourself a little bit harder when you focus on one sport and because you don't want to let your team down. It's truly the best of both worlds. The impulsiveness of signing up for this at the last minute also added to the excitement and took the pressure off. We just wanted to have fun, and that we sure did! I can't wait for the next one in October -- unless we find another sooner ;) Great job team MK^2!

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PS - While waiting for Kelly to finish the swim, MaryLynn said someone recognized me and told her she followed my blog. That's so neat! If it was you, comment and let me know. I'd love to know which one of my readers was also at this Tri!