Sunday, April 19, 2009

Dash-Splash-Push Race Report

Hubby and I stopped over at the JCC on Saturday for packet pickup. Packet consisted of a technical t (nice!), race number, 2 week pass to the JCC, and some info on personal training.

While picking up the packet, I learned a few things about the event:
1) That it was a smaller field than expected, so they would have everyone start at one time, vs two waves. No problem.
2) Due to the recent inclement weather, the pushups would be inside in the gym instead of outside by the pool. I guess I always expected them to be inside, but I was glad to find out that we weren't going to be doing them outside in the cold after getting out of the water.

Spent a little time planning what to bring/wear and packed up my new Turtle Club bag. Isn't it the cutest thing? One of the ladies in my run club made these for the returning members from last year. How could that not put a smile on my face? I just love it!

Fast forward to this morning. Arrived at the JCC at about 7:20, got body marked, and made my way to transition area. I had been wondering what transition would look like for such an event. As it turns out, there were rows of chairs eached marked with a race number. Here's mine all set to go.

There was a quick athlete's meeting to explain the run course, etc. We congregated in the parking lot and started with a count of "3-2-1 Go!"

The run course was mostly off road on some dirt along side of an arroyo. The out portion was uphill toward the mountains. Aye carumba! I had been expecting a flat course, but instead we had an uphill climb for about one mile. I was able to pass a few fellow back-of-the-packers who stopped to walk the uphill portion. Thank you, hill repeats.

What comes up must come down, so that meant downhill after we turned. Ahhhh. Much nicer. Then we ran through the the parking lot and around a grassy field and were done.

I don't know how well I did with capturing splits with my watch, but my watch says 30:22 for the run. Bleh. I was hoping for something closer to 29:00. Oh well.

Off with the jacket, race number, hat, shoes, socks. On with the swim cap and goggles. And over to the pool. My watch says :38 for transition. Really?!? That surprises me in a good way. It felt slower because I struggled a little with my swim cap and shoes.

Hopped in the pool and started making my way up and back and over as directed. Passed one person in the first lane. Passed another in lane three. Passed one more in lane five. Sweet!

My watch says 6:39 for the 300yd swim. This works out to 2:13 per 100. Not great, but not too shabby either. I'm happy with my swim.

At this point the time was stopped. My watch says 37:47, but the official time should be a little less because I stopped my watch after I got out of the water whereas they stopped it when I touched the ladder. In any event, I put in a good effort and was exhausted and breathing pretty hard when I was done.

But I wasn't quite done yet. Still had to get over to the push-up station. We had to 15 minutes from swim exit to do our pushups, otherwise the pushups wouldn't count. That was enough time to gather my belongings, put on some sweat pants, put on shoes and socks, and use the rest room.

The pushup station was a bit intimidating because we had to stand in line, watching others as they did their pushups. There were two lines. I picked a line that several women in it. And watched as they cranked out pushups. One lady did over 60! Holy smokes! As for me, I only managed 26 before collapsing. Oh well. That's not as many as I hoped for, but respectable enough not to be embarrassing.

Each pushup is worth 2 seconds, so those 26 pushups bought me 52 seconds, bringing my finish time down to 36:55 by my watch.

All in all, I'd have to say that this was a fun little event to mix things up and get re-energized. I'll definately consider doing this one again if they have it next year!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks!

30 comments:

  1. WOO WOO!! You did great Ms. Lisa!! I am very proud of you and I love the photo you posted!!!!

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  2. Wow sounds like the race is just as cool as it's billing suggested!

    The title bag is super cute too.

    Great work!

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  3. 25 pushups? Seriously??

    ROCK STAR!

    Sounds like a very fun event and you sound rejuvinated.

    YAY Lisa. Congrats!!!!!!!

    P.S. I'm thinking of you for inspiration next time I want to skip the strength training that shows up on my schedule. Seriously. Rock Star!

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  4. Sounds like an awesome event! Glad you had this to do this weekend, seems to have lifted your spirits a bit! Great job today Lisa! That bag is very cute!

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  5. A big hooray for the push ups. Ghee you've come a long way, girl. Great race report and as for the Turtle Club Bag: Soooooo cuuuuuuute! I WANT ONE! LOL

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  6. Great job,Lisa! It sounds like it was fun and something different to do.

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  7. Twenty six is quite respectable! And nice job on those hills. Glad you enjoyed yourself, the best possible result.

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  8. Great race! I'm sure your arms were exhuasted when you got out of the water - way to push out (haha) 26 push ups ! love the out of water picture - classic !

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  9. Congratulations! Sounds just great. And, 26 push ups is a lot of push ups! Especially after running and swimming. Great job! WOOO!

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  10. turtle club, that's friggin cute!!

    i hope this race (which sounded fun) was what you needed to put a little joy back in your training

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  11. That bag is very cute!

    I'm glad you enjoyed the event. You did good with the 26 push-ups, especially with people watching. I probably would have had trouble breathing and end up falling on my face after just a few. ;)

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  12. That is a FIERCE photo, wave it at the kids and husband when they get out of line

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  13. Good job on the event! Sounds like you had fun (no. 1 priority) and did well enough to suit you at the same time. Interesting event.

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  14. That sounds like such a fun event. I wish I coudl find something like that around here since swimming in open water has zero appeal to me. Love the photo too. :o)

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  15. I am glad that you got to do this event! It sounds like loads of fun!! Well done :-)

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  16. Sounds like a really fun event! Glad you had a good time!

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  17. Great job, Lisa! I'm glad you were able to do the event and have fun. And, yes, that Turtle Bag rocks!!

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  18. YAY congrats!!!!! sounds like it was a fun event which is just what you said you needed :) great job!

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  19. Way to go! 26 push-ups after a run and a swim - that's impressive! What a fun event to be able to knock some time off by cranking out some push-ups. :) You did awesome!!

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  20. That sounds so fun!

    Did you have to do "real" pushups? I don't think I could do 26! Yikes!

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  21. Great job! Sounds like a lot of fun!

    That bag is too cute.

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  22. It looks like you had a great time and did really well. Great job!

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  23. That sounds like a great event! Congratulations on a strong race!

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  24. That does sound pretty cool. And a nice change of pace. Conratulations!

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  25. That sounds like a FUN race! Nice work. I would die if I did three push ups...

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  26. Woohoo! Congratulations! Great times and 26 push-ups?! Awesome!

    It sounds like such a fun, unique event.

    Cute bag, too!

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  27. You did awesome! Congratulations!

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  28. Ohhhh man the waiting in line for push ups would probably make me poo my pants in nervousness LOL. 26?!? Dang Lisa you've come a LOOOONGG way!! Awesome!

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  29. AWESOME!! I am so glad you did it and in true "Lisa Style" you did it well!

    The turtle bag is ADORABLE!! I loooooove it! Everyone needs a power bag!

    I had a scare on Monday when my RBR bag got stolen off the beach (f-ing losers in Santa Cruz!) but the bum threw it back on the beach when he realized there wasn't any money in it, so I actually got it back.

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  30. Excellent JoB and this sounds like such a great event!!! I wish we had something like it around here!

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