(olympic) TRIALS, Tribulations and a little Progress.

It's been a while since I posted last- not because I have been lounging around...just been up to my eyeballs in kiddos, paint, moving, doubling my family size,  an occasional run, and other summertime chaos.

So here I am, finally, with a post about my trip to see the Olympic trials, which was only really one day of spectating...(But I would have to say it was the BEST day to be there if you are a distance runner; and, no one has taken my running card away yet.)

I owe my brother in law a BIG thank you for the ticket to day 7. Chuck, if you are reading, you know this already-- YOU da MAN. I hope you enjoyed your time "working" inside that little golf cart. Let's talk about a temporary job trade in 4 years. :)

When I showed up, the 1500 prelims were just about to start. I had time to find my seat and watched several heats of ladies and mens races.

After the 1500's I headed to the "free" festival area to get some bites to eat. The free zone is a great place to hang out if you don't have a ticket. All the races/events are live on Jumbo-Tron and all the food is right there!

 Eugene is a "green" city, so it should be expected that all of the food plates were compostable..and that there would be giant hampster wheels for people to charge their phones with. I hope to get one of these in our house so that I can get the kids to earn their screen time.

Why buy tickets, when you can have seats like these and be just steps away from food and three-dollar water bottles? (I made the mistake of buying one before I figured out you could bring in an empty container and fill it. Doh!)




You never know who you might run into when you are wandering around between events...


 

Sadly, I missed the purported Nike/Brooks airspace wars of day 10, but I got to see what I was most looking forward to of the 2012 trials- the 5k races.

 Having shifted around a bit between races, I managed to end up right behind Mr. Picky Bar himself during the women's 5k.  I spent almost as much time watching him watch his wife race (a hard last place finish), as I did the actual racers.

 The crowd's reaction to Julia Lucas's bold lead was of strong support. A few minutes later I realized someone else's husband was also within 5 yards of me, when Kim Conley edged the hometown darling out of 3rd for a spot on the Olympic team.  He nearly jumped out of the stands.

Then it was on to the men's 5k.

Who knew Rupp had it in him to take the double! It will be exciting to see if he can medal in both the 5 and 10k in London.


He's always a crowd favorite at Hayward!!




***
This is where I am supposed to write about my own running and how it's going. But I think I'll save it for now.

Next time I hope to elaborate on

• some new drills I am doing
• my strengthening routine
• progress towards rebuilding my mileage
• working towards a fast short distance race
• and how important FAITH is in reaching any goal.

Did you get to see the trials? Which were your favorite races or events to watch? Were you surprised by anything you saw?

Would you like a giant hamster wheel in your home?

Are your running and blogging directly related?



Title IX group run- a meet up with elites

I can't imagine not being allowed to play sports in high school.

Many people reading this will not be able to remember a time when women were not able to participate in school athletics. I was born after Title IX was first passed, but remember hearing much of it as a kid.

Today I am incredibly grateful to have been born in an era, and to live in a culture, where women are allowed to compete in sport.

Saturday, wearing my Brooks at the Nike Store, I was able to join many other women and men to listen to Joan Benoit Samuelson speak about what Title IX meant for her, and a little about her time in Eugene preparing for the first women's Olympic Marathon- which she won.

Joan Benoit was a teenager when the first sports were available to girls at school.  Had soccer been one of the options for girls, she said she might be doing that now instead of running!

There was a group run to follow the brief talk- 9k, with shorter options. I lost the main group and Joan, but ran my own short route. (My first run back after 9 days off felt pretty good, but I kept it very slow as my heart rate rose pretty quickly.)





Also, I was happy to meet a Eugene resident I recognized- Nicole Teter- (holds the 800M indoor American record).

We are almost the same age and talked about running shoes, injuries and kids!  She's as real as they get- super nice,  and I hope to run into her in town again.

I spent the rest of the day buzzing around Eugene with a friend at the Trials in the section that is free to wander through. Excitement was high! I can't wait for Thursday!! Right now I am going solo to watch, unless I can somehow manage to find another ticket.

***
A video of Joan getting the first women's gold medal in the marathon- worth the time if you have never seen it!

_____,Bike, Swim with observations AND Olympic trials, Day 1 done

Random updates

The good news is that my triathlon training is really progressing....
The bad news is that I am not planning to do one. :)

Let me start with a short tribute to triathletes everywhere. You are more awesome than I ever realized. Each one of you scores 1,000 points today.

One of these days I might make a real video of my swim training, but that would involve me in a swimsuit. Or a wetsuit. So don't count on it.

My training strategy involves swimming with the wind (breast stroke, since that's what I perform best at). Then when I come against the wind, I have this little side-head, chin-tuck thing I do while I try to breathe as the waves splash into my face. It's spectacular.

I alternate a lap of this with water-jogging (This is in a river in a slow spot). It works very well, and yesterday I only got caught in the algae 2 or three times. I also got to see an osprey hover over the river, shaking water off his back in an elegant display after a dive.

On the bike, (this is the real reason I am not competing in tri) I have managed to make a top speed of 33 miles/hour downhill. For a reason! I realize this is probably slow by racing standards, but I can't get over the fear of wrecking. The wind blocks my hearing vehicles, and ...There is something wrong about going fast on a bike without a leather jacket on.

I hope to get back to running again SOON. I think I will test things out again tomorrow. God's been good to allow me to even walk, but times like this really make me appreciate when I can lay it all out there on the road.

Random observations

With all the swimming recently, I noticed something about myself.

While doing my swim workout, I remembered that when I swam on the team in high school one of my legs always felt "off" (still does), and that the other was doing more work.

It's the same thing with running, though I rarely notice. I have a subconscious habit of directing my right knee away from my left so they don't bump. This is ingrained now, and might explain the odd shoe wear pattern I have always had on the outside heel of my right shoe.

Funny, I don't usually think about these things, but lately I have been. No one is perfectly symmetrical, but I am pretty sure my right femur has more Q angle than my left. And I have high arches and my right foot appears to be higher than my left..

Or, it could all be in my head.
***

Olympic trials stuff

The Olympic Trials have started. Our tickets are for day 7. My husband went to the Junior Olympics in pole vault (when he was attending a school that actually had a pit), so he should enjoy watching the finals in that event. :) I am pretty excited about seeing the 5k men's and women's finals, and the men's steeplechase finals.

Today Amy Hastings got sweet revenge for missing qualifying for the Olympic Marathon by one person when she forced past the competition in the 10k.

Photo by tracktownphoto.com

 Photo from facebook's Historic Hayward Field-Track Town USA page

Photo by Lucy Nicholson, Reuters

Right now Ashton Eaton is rocking the house in the decathlon! He set two decathlon world records so far- the 100m and the long jump.

I can't wait to watch some serious competitors on the 28th. I'll be rooting for all the Brooks Beasts- and anyone from Oregon or Oregon Track Club!