My First Marathon (x2)

Sunday was Tri Indy. I was racing the Olympic distance and went in wanting to PR and podium. I also wanted to have a good run. Two of three isn't bad. The swim wasn't supposed to be wetsuit legal for people trying for awards so I didn't bring mine. They changed it at the last minute, but it was fine in the swim skin and I would have been too hot in a wetsuit anyway. With the canal being dredged and cleaned this year it was an interesting experience. I've never been able to see in the canal and it is usually full of weeds. Very few weeds this year and you could see through the water and see the bottom - the later was not necessarily a good thing. I had been worried about hitting a scooter since there have been 17 pulled out since the canal was cleaned. In the end I swam over at least two of them, but I didn't touch anything but water (part of Matt's helpful advice). Fastest I've been out of the water for Tri Indy by a lot. I had started further up than I pr...

On July 20th I started the Ride Across INdiana (RAIN) for the third time, knowing it would be my last. I was either going to finish or decide that the ride was just too stupid for words. I started a few minutes behind the group because I found a porta potty and took advantage while making my way to the start and then it took a minute to realize mostly everyone had gone already (there were people later than me). It wasn't bad to start there because it minimized some of the ridiculousness in the first few miles. It was still crowded enough that it was slow. At mile 25 I was stung by something, but it got caught in my arm sleeve and I got it off. Stopped to check and see if I was going to be ok. Looked like it barely punctured the skin so I kept going, but I grabbed my EpiPen at the first SAG (support and gear). I had forgotten to grab it before the start. I was feeling better at Plainfield (62 miles) than I ever had. Same at the official lunch stop (I had Subway in Plainfiel...

The Peachtree Road Race, put on by the Atlanta Track Club (ATC) with primary sponsorship from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), had it's 50th running on July 4, 2019. It is the largest road race in the country, with more than 60,000 runners. The distance is 10K (6.2 miles) from Lenox Square to Piedmont Park in Atlanta.  To get into the race you have to be an ATC member or enter a lotto. I got in through the lotto. There are rumors that everyone from out of town (or at least out of state) that enters gets in. They also have a seeding system for the starting waves that is based on times for a qualifying race. I haven't run any of the qualifying races, so I was seeded in the last wave.  It's hot and humid in Atlanta, so starting in wave Y at 8:40 AM rather than closer to the wave A start at 7:00 AM is less than ideal. We did have cloud cover until my wave was about 2.5 miles into the race. The first 2.5 miles of the race are downhill and then the rest is mostly uphil...