SavageMan 2010: Race Report (yep, I wasn't racing)

SavageMan Race Report: My AWESOME friend Lindy picked me up at 3:30 a.m. and drove me to Western Maryland to the SavageMan 70.3 Triathlon. We arrived a little after 7 a.m. and had an amazing day. As spectators.

Yes, this blog was started to track my training and fundraising for the 2010 SavageMan 70.3  Triathlon to benefit the Joanna Nicolay Melanoma Foundation. The training posts abruptly stopped during the first week of June. Let me explain...

I was cycling home from work one evening during the first week of June, 2010, moving along at a pretty good clip, when a woman in a sedan turned left in front of me. It was just about here:

To make a long story short, I took an ambulance ride to the hospital! I broke my back and did some serious damage to the left side of my body. I ended up having shoulder surgery and got myself some titanium and cadaver ligaments! Mark took really good care of me all summer. I mean ALL SUMMER. What a great guy! After a ton of physical therapy, I went back to the office full-time in November and in January I did my first post-accident run. My physio therapist limited it to 10 steps of running, but it was a run! The rest is history. I still don't think I'm capable of doing the SavageMan--cycling in traffic is a bit nerve wracking and cycling, generally, is hard on my back. But I'm really excited to be training for a marathon. And SavageMan, I WILL be back! Not just to spectate, but to ride.

Ride Report: Bike DC 2010

After volunteering for Bike DC on Friday and encouraging hundreds of people to come out for Sunday's ride, I felt obligated to ignore the rain and head-out at 6:55 a.m. for the Bike DC start-line. Mark begged-off due to the rain, so it was just me and my trusty 'cross bike. Actually, Mark insisted I take the cyclocross bike and not the road bike because: it has super-brakes (a defining attribute of 'cross bikes) and I had the 32mm knobby tires on (9mm wider than my road bike tires).

Bike DC was great! The start-line showcased the new bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue, just east of the White House. Despite the light rain, people were excited for the ride. I also enjoyed the ingenuity of families participating in bike DC--bike trailers, kids on tandem/tag-along bikes, one Dad pulled a kid on a tag-along bike and a trailer was attached to the rear wheel of the tag-along and 2 kids were in the trailer. I wonder if he did the uphill section of the GW parkway?



The rain didn't last too long (maybe 20 minutes into the ride) but they grey skies stuck around. Thankfully, I had my yellow lens sunglasses, which made everything seem brighter and prettier! Compare:

My favorite part of the ride was the stretch up the George Washington Parkway, from the Key Bridge to the second look-out point. I had picked my way up to the "fast" group by this point and pretty much felt like I was kicking butt up the hill. Despite my knobby tires. Oh, the mountain bike cassette helped, too. I passed several tri bikes that were weaving left to right as riders negotiated the long uphill stretch without adequate gearing. When the police escort and lead cyclist passed me (he had U-turned), I realized I was the lead woman!!! Yep, with Knobby tires!

My next favorite part of the ride was the Air Force Memorial, which, despite it being located less than 2 miles from my house, I'd never seen up-close. I stopped and took pictures and will be sure to take future house-guests there. Beautiful views and you're sandwiched between Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon. 

Heading south (it is cool to have 5 lanes of a highway to yourself, when you're on a bike), I headed towards the finish line festival in Cystal City. I grabbed a banana and a muffin and took-in the "bike museum". 

Sadly, the bike museum omitted an important invention in the development of the bicycle--pedals, invented by my great-great-?-grandfather, Kirkpatrick MacMillan in Dumfries, Scotland (where Dad, sister and family still live). The museum goes straight from the non-pedal "scooter" to the high-wheel. Anyway, at least YOU now know! 

Here's my GPS route of Bike DC (and yes, the place with the "as the crow flies" straight line is when I forgot to turn my GPS back on after leaving the Air Force Monument). I'd highly recommend the ride, it was a lot of fun. Next year, I'm hoping for sunshine and Mark's company!

Ride with Lindy

Saturday morning, at 6:03 a.m. (yes, a.m.), Lindy and I clipped-in and hit the bike trail! I am thankful to have a friend like Lindy who, like me, is a morning person because on the weekends the bike trails in DC get busier than the highways. Some trail users get a bit crazy, too. A few weekends ago a woman, who was rollerblading and pushing a stroller (not a BOB), decided to do a random, unannounced U-turn---straight into me. Note: I was doing 24 m.p.h. Thankfully, I was able to stop, but you get my point.

We had a great ride. After serious pedaling we took a detour to take in the sights, sans-tourists. The sun rising behind the capitol is awesome...

We also discovered that it was Public Service Recognition Week on the mall and I got my picture taken with a cool helicopter!

Do you guys like my new USDA jersey? The back reads, "BioFuel Powered Vehicle"!!!!

All-in-all, a great morning. 3 hours and 30 minutes of riding, followed by a 15 minute run up a steep hill. Bliss.

First outdoor bike ride of the season--a SAVAGE 72 miles

Last Monday my "official" SavageMan training program began. The program Coach Michele, of DC Tri HIP fame, put together isn't too rough for the first few weeks--likely because it is April and I didn't have to start in January--when I was really out of shape. I feel like I'm in decent shape for starting the program because I've been running for Nation's Half, had swimming lessons Jan-April, and had some awesome trainer/spin sessions with Andy M. Jan-Mar.

To wrap-up the inaugural week, I did this season's FIRST outdoor bike ride! I know... it has been nice for over a month, but I haven't gotten outside to ride until now! Of course, I've been commuting daily on my cyclocross bike, but "real" bike rides must wait for the weekend because it is impossible to ride anywhere around here without having to stop at a light every few blocks! So, thus far this spring I've been plugging away in the Art Studio/Garage on my trainer.

Saturday, after the HIP transition clinic, I drove to Poolesville, MD and met my friend, Steve, for a 72 mile roller-ride! The weather was cool and windy at the start of the ride, but I quickly got hot and shed a layer. Maybe I got hot because we did a lot of HILL work? Speaking of hills, there were a few points during the ride that I thought boy, I hate cycling; this is hard; I'm not going to be able to do SavageMan; insert grunt here; and, there was one hill that made me say, out loud, when I saw it on the approach, holy *hit. Guess which hill...

Let me tell you about this hill: Steve and I are rolling into a quaint, storybook-like village, Burkittsville, MD. Steve tells me a hill is coming up, I reply, "that's fine." At this point a Burkittsvillian overhears us and yells, "I'm waiting to hear you scream." This guy wasn't just being funny. As we rode out of town a windy two-lane road going straight up a giant hill appeared. It sucked. Apparently it was only 19% grade--steep, but not by SavageMan standards. At the top we were treated to Gathland State Park, water, toilets, a Civil War Correspondents memorial, and AT hikers (including one guy who was hiking the AT with his poodle, who had her own backpack!)

The good news: I finished the ride without getting off, without going anaerobic, without a sore rear-end, and without loosing the desire to be a SavageMan. The stats: 6 hours with stops, 5 hours of pedaling, 5500ft of climbing, 72 miles. And yes, today's run (the day after) was slow.

Race Report: National Half Marathon

Saturday morning, 3/20/10, Lindy picked me up and we headed to Robert F. Kennedy stadium/ DC armory.  The armory was open for athletes to hang-out, warm-up, and use the indoor toilets--I wish all races had such amenities! I left my gear in the DC Triathlon Club booth and I lined up at the 8:30 min/mile flag that was ¼ mile behind the start line. Naturally, when the race started I realized everyone else at 8:30 was doing a 10 minute-mile! D’oh. This always happens to me, but I can’t bring myself to line-up in a way-too-fast corral. I saw several people fall within the first mile, so I was lucky to just be annoyed. 

By the second mile racers were able to run in both lanes on Capitol Street so the crowd reached a comfortable density. I settled-in right behind the 3:40 pacers (8:20 ish) and kicked-back and enjoyed the run. I managed the 20% grade pretty well and, amazingly, managed to keep up with the 3:40 pacers. 

The climb between mile 6 and mile 8 put me in my place, however, and I settled into a 8:40 pace until mile 12 when I just got freakin’ TIRED and did a 9:06 mile. I had to tell myself, “Sarah, less than 10 minutes to go,” and this pepped me up! I was really happy with my final time, a new PR, by several minutes:

2048 218/1024 F2529 2:00:15 1:54:17  8:44 Sarah Low     29 F  1008 Arlington VA

This is the only picture the race photographer got of me: 

Altogether, a good day! 2 Weeks until "official" SavageMan training begins!

I'm doing the world's hardest triathlon in September! AUGHGHGHGH!

Good news! The SavageMan Triathlon was named #1 in the World's Hardest Triathlon category by Triathlete Magazine. The magazine did a nice 2-page article on the race, too, drawing on the fact that 100% of proceeds go to the Nicolay Melanoma Foundation.

Now I'm REALLY pumped-up to do this race. And the Hubby2B got even more concerned!

First workout with DC Tri Club-bike and trainer

Started training for the Nation’s Half Marathon and the SavageMan this weekend! Yeah!

Saturday brought 1 hour and 45 minutes of pain on a trainer! It was my first interaction with members of the DC triathlon club--a good workout, nice people, and a few who thought my SavageMan goal was a bit lofty! We did a warm-up, cadence drill (keep a constant cadence while shifting gears), and a killer interval set (5 minute intervals, hammer for 1:30 to 2:30). I had a good time, and, I was able to walk on Sunday!

Sunday I hit the treadmill (it is twenty-some degrees outside) for a tempo run, 45 minutes at 8:18-8:34 minute miles. It was tough. There was a walk break.

The Savage beginning

Thanks for joining me at the beginning of my Savage Journey! This week I registered for the SavageMan half iron distance triathlon AND caught my first glimpses of Savage Mountain, while driving through Garrett County, Maryland. As the picture suggests, there are a lot of hills in Garrett County! Hmmmm.

I spent New Year's Eve with a friend who grew up in West Virginia and is familiar with Garrett County, the Savage River, and Savage Mountain. Friend raised an eyebrow when I announced my intention to bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles in the hills of Garrett County.

This should be an interesting 9 months!