More Marathon Pics

OK, so this is the first time I've been able to post all week. it's been that kind of nuts around here. Last weekend was uneventful. It was the first time in 4 weekends we didn't have anything solid planned. Monday and Tuesday I had to be in atlanta for work. Then yesterday I just got slammed. I have still been reading blogs for the most part, but haven't been timed to comment much. All of the iron girl atlanta reports from last weekend were awesome!
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I also haven't gotten in much training at all. I did get in a 7 mile long run on Saturday, and it felt great. I could have gone farther but decided to be lazy instead. hey, I just ran a marathon a few weeks ago! I'm ok with being lazy for another week or two.
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Speaking of being lazy, I've got June's totals:
Swim: 1500 meters = one race
Bike: 41 miles, 4 rides (inc the 24 miles in the triathlon)
Run: 50.72 miles, 6 runs (in the 10k in the triathlon and 26.2 in the marathon)
Strength: 2 hours total.... this is pathetic but I'm supposed to be lazy
Yoga: 3 hours because it's easy and fun
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So that's about what I was expecting. Two "A" races and not much else. My official training plan for the Half Ironman starts 7/6 which is Monday. So I can chill this weekend and enjoy the holiday. then it's time to get back on the horse, and I can't wait! This unstructured, get in whatever whenever thing is not letting me get in enough miles to keep me sane. And the half ironman distance is going to ramp up a lot of endurance goals on the bike and swim parts that I have really been looking forward to.
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I have seriously been enjoying running lately. Being unstructured I can get in any type of workout I want to. And with the 60 mile Ceasar's Head climb coming up at the end of this month, I thought I would be choosing the bike more. but every time I end up just running. Tonight is another time trial bike race from the Greenville Spinners if I can get out of work in time. Tomorrow I've got the day off from work, and there's a run with the local Hash House Harriers kennel I'm thinking about doing. Those always seem like fun, but I want to talk Kelley into doing it with me, and she's not convinced she wants to run in this heat.
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I'm really looking forward to having a long weekend. I've got tons of planning to do. We're trying to work on the details of some repairs to the house, moving to North Carolina, swimming, you name it. The girls both start their swimming lessons at the YMCA next week. That's going to be fantastic! They are going to love it.
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I don't want to do it, but I have to give some props to Glaven and his stupid fat eye problems. Kelley made me take out some more life insurance before the triathlon. And when I was laid up in the emergency room after the marathon I was glad I had that new policy in place. But G started running to get his cholesterol under control after the eye doc found some extra lipids in something. The new life insurance policy did a physical with bloodwork, and for the first time ever my cholesterol was below 200! The last time it was checked, the total chol came in at 265 and the doc was talking about drugs. My dad has to take chol drugs every day and he hates it. But with our family history of heart disease it's something we have to take seriously. So Kelley found my last bloodwork results, and the total chol was down from 265 to 194, the good chol was up, the bad chol was down, and the triglycerides (sp?) were way down. So that is fantastic! We all know that regular excercise is good for you, but to see it actually pan out in the numbers is freaking amazing. Glaven had the same thing happen after he started running, and he's been talking about it some lately.
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Finally, I carried a disposable camera with me while running the marathon, so here are some pics from that camera.


The starting line and crowd




About a mile in, the crowds are starting to thin out some. remember, there was only about 400 people in the whole race.

This is the kind of scenery we were running through. The roads got really small, this bridge was very scenic. And the mountain backdrop and the Tug river on the side made for really unique race conditions.

They told us about some flooding on the course, and we might see some mud maybe on the course. Bull, this road was completely washed out! The mud was as deep as any trail after a rain, and just as slick. it wasn't just walking, it was tiptoeing and trying not to fall. I'm sure there was more than 7 minutes of that crap, which affected my 5:07 finish time.

This was a bridge on the golf course going over the Tug river. When running over it, the bridge bounced about a foot throwing you into a tough running position. Who has that kind of thing 18 miles into a marathon course?

I turned the camera around after passing the mile 25 marker and took this shot. Nobody behind me, nobody was in front of me either. That looks is called the "marathon death march".


Have a great weekend! Happy independance day!