Chunky Dunk Duathlon 2013

It's that time of year again, time to go Chunky Dunk at Albie lake! I have actually been looking forward to this race because I know I can do it and it's fun!

I was packing to head to New Hampshire and couldn't decided what I wanted to wear, I know the typical female problem. However this is a very important thing to consider. You really need to worry about chaffing! I opted to go with wearing my First Descents trisuit with my First Descents t-shirt for the run. I already knew it would work well because I wore it for the triathlon so I followed the cardinal rule and didn't try anything new! It turned out to be a good choice!

The morning of the race we arrived at Albie beach around 7:20am. The first thing you need to do is get your race bib and get your number written on your arms. Sara got hers first she was excited because she got number 33 which was her age. Then it was my turn, I was number 1! Haha another up side of being an Achorn, put it's at the top of the alphabet! They added a paddleboard option for the race this year so when we got our shirts they were giving out paddleboard shirts. I asked if there was a way for me to trade in that shirt for a Chunky Dunk shirt since I was doing that and not the paddleboard race. That was when they realized they were giving out the wrong shirts! Luckily we got the right shirts! However when I was walking back over to tell Sara to go switch her shirt she was realizing they gave her the wrong bib number. She was in fact number 65 so when she went back they had to fix it. She ended up with block numbers to cover the 33 they had already written!

After all that was figured out it was time to setup our transition areas. Which basically meant setting everything up on a picnic table on the beach!

I had everything I needed, even my FD shirt for the run! Now we just had to wait for start time.

When they finally announced it was 8:15am and that all racers needed to be on the beach we headed over. As I was walking over someone approached me and asked, "Hey how did you get a FD trisuit?" I was first off surprised that someone recognized FD but thrilled at the same time. After chatting for a minute; which also meant we weren't listening to the annoucements; it turns out we were both Alumni of First Descents! Rev it was so nice to meet you and hopefully you will get a FD trisuit too! I love when my FD world gets smaller and smaller! We decided we would meet up after the race!

After that I did pay attention long enough to hear that all the waves were starting together in the water. We all walked into the water and waited.

The horn sounds and we were off. I was doing fairly well but it was extremely difficult to see the buoys. I thought I was sighting well until  I realized I was looking at the wrong buoy so instead of being on the outside of the triangle I was kind of in the middle of it. When I finally got myself back on track I was sure I had added time to my swim from last year. I got more and more excited the closer I got to the shore! I finally got to a point where I could touch the bottom so it was time to stand up!

Not only had I not added time to my swim despite getting slightly off course a few times I actually took almost 3 minutes off!

Swim: 21:39

I actually did run to transition which doesn't usually happen. I was much better prepared for transition this time then last year. I got my sneakers on, FD t-shirt, visor, race bib, Garmin and sunglasses. Then I was ready to hit the run!

Transition time: 2:51 (1 minute faster than last year)

I went into the run feeling really good. I had my cheering team back on the beach of Lewis, Nick, My mom and Janet that gave me a little extra boost. They all made sure to tell how well I was I doing on time! I immediately started with my run intervals. I love this run because it is a trail run so you get some great scenery and let's face trail runs are easier on your legs then pavement because they are more forgiving. I pushed myself to really stick with the running intervals. I may have varied them periodically but I never just walked or gave up on the run which I was happy about. I even actually passed some people this time around which almost never happens. As I ran there were lots of people yelling thins like good job, keep it up, you got this. I made sure to give it right back! It is great to cheer your fellow racers on! On my way back Sara and I crossed paths and cheered each other on with a high five. I couldn't wait to be done but I still felt pretty good! I finally got to the parking lot of Albie beach and decided I was going to run all the way from there until I crossed the finish line and I did it!

Run time: 40:28 (a little under 2 minutes faster than last year)
Over All Time: 1:04:56!! almost 6 minutes faster!!

I was so excited!I got to cross the finish to my cheering section which also included Rev my fellow FD alumni! She had done the swim part of the Chunky Dunk and waited for me to finish. As it turns out she had met my mother and they chatted for a little bit. But it was nice to have an extra cheerleader there, who wouldn't like that? We even got a picture together!

I had decided to head out back onto the course to finish with Sara and just as I was walking out she was coming in! She did it and we cheered her on all the way to the finish!

While we were waiting they started to do the awards. Sara asked when they were done all done were her last place award was? She ended up getting us both an award which was a Chunky Dunk Duathlon beer mug!

After we packed up and headed home we both had to have a photo session with our t-shirts!

We then went and had lunch with Holly (the race director) and learned some new things about what's on the horizons for next year!

Since neither of us drink beer however we put our beer mugs to good use later on that night with some frozen grapes and wine...yum!

Oh and did I mention I got to kayaking too? That was just as exciting as the Chunky Dunk if not slightly more exciting!

Thanks to everyone for making this a fantastic weekend! I had lots of fun, a new PR for the chunky dunk and got so some paddling!

Thanks Sara and Janet for opening your home to us yet again! It was great!

Stonyfield Earth Day 5k Race Report!

This was the second year I am doing this 5k. It is one of my favorites! I love that they do it in conjunction with the Earth Day fair that stonyfield puts on. What better thing than to go run and then walk around and get a bunch of free stuff!

We got there early and headed to registration to get our bibs and t-shirts. I was lucky enough to be number 166, it was based on when you registered. Then we went to get t-shirts. I was thrilled to see that this year they were life is good shirts. I had forgotten about that and those shirts are amazing.

Once everything else had been done bathroom, putting on compression pants, sneakers, etc. We decided to check out the vendors at the fair that were already setup (the fair didn't start until 10am).

I got a breakfast sandwich from a local farm that had organic eggs. It was delicious! We picked up some Hint Water which was nice to have before a race. We generally just walked around and looked to see what was there. I went over to the start line about 10 minutes before the race started.

We ended up waiting for a little while because there was such a large turn out that there were many people registering this morning.

Then they started the opening ceremony. They gave a very nice tribute to all those hurt or killed in the marathon bombings as well as the unfortunate events of Thursday/Friday. We gave a moment of silence and then the national anthem was sung! It was actually eerily quiet, I thought for sure people would sing along but they didn't. 

We all paid our respects with the flag at half mast.

Then they made the announcement that when you hear the cow moo to start the race but not to start until you hear it. For a minute or more we were al very confused because there was no moo. Then it happened and we took off. I crossed the timing mat and started my run.

It was the same course as last year so I knew where to go. However I had forgotten about all the hills. I will say that I successfully completed my first mile at 12:07 which was fantastic considering my hip was bothering since the early morning. The great thing about this course is that although there were lots of hills they were pretty evenly spread out. So you would have a hill or incline but not for that long and then it would be down hill. That repeated quite a bit so it was nice because you worked hard on the hill and got a little recovery period.

The last hill is the largest. I remember last year I walked up the entire hill. This year I was not going to do that! I made myself to run/walk intervals of 30 seconds, that way I was still working but it was easier.

I made it up the hill and turned onto the Stonyfield street. With the last tenth of a mile to go I took off and told myself I was going to run the rest. And I did just that!

I crossed the finish line waving my Boston marathon jacket like a flag and of course was sporting my runner unite to remember bib too! 

This race went really well for me. It was windy and there were hills but I was able to finish with a time of 39:44! I was so happy to be under 40 minutes and when I looked at my time from last year (48:38) I realized just how much I have improved.

After the race was over I got enjoy some much needed yummy food and walk around the fair. There were lots of people but we had fun!

Yes that is a giant dinosaur! There was so much to look at and there were lots of things for kids to do too. 

Just some of the loot we got includes jam from The Stonewall Kitchen, Kind bars, Hot dogs, Natural candies, Hint water and of course yogurt! They were also giving away tickets to a Fisher Cats game on Tuesday but since we don't live anywhere near there we didn't get an tickets. 

Even though the day started not so great cold, rainy and with my friend Sara not being able to run with me. It ended with the sun coming out, having a great race time, enjoying the fair oh yea and on the way home we stopped at my absolute favorite place to eat in New Hampshire, Mr. Mac's! I got Chicken Cordon Bleu mac and cheese!! If you have never been there I highly recommend it but I warn you that no other mac and cheese will ever be as good again.

Today was a fantastic day!