The Zen of Ultra Running

Another year of CassadagaMan 70.3. I could have done other 70.3 races but it seemed like many people got deferred from last year races and it was hard to find other races nearby. So, I signed up for this race again this year despite the hilly bike and run courses. The timing was perfect for me as it was on Labor day weekend and I don't have to teach on Monday. The hardest part of this race was to convince my husband to go with me because he said there was nothing to do in the area or the town where we stayed at.  I had a big deadline the week leading up to the race day so my whole attention was paid to that BIG deadline. I submitted my work on Thursday and took Friday off to prepare for the race. We left the house on Friday late morning and stopped in Cleveland for lunch before heading to Cassadaga, NY. This was our mini vacation although P. did not think so.  We arrived at the packet pick up around 3pm. I picked up the packet and we also drove the bike course to remind me wha...

Not exactly sure what I was thinking when I signed up for this race. It's the weekend before the fall semester began and I was super stressed out as I revamped 75% of one of the courses this semester.   The purpose of this race was again to practice race strategy and nutrition. I was very glad that there was a race in Cleveland/Northeast Ohio after HFP sold their races to another company based in Columbus and they moved all the races (including the ones that I already signed up for) to central Ohio :( So, it was a no-brainer to sign up for a race close to home.  Except for that, the race was two days before the semester started.... The inaugural Tri CLE Rock Roll Run was very well organized and the communication was very clear (if you took time to read the athlete packet that they sent out before the race). The race took place in downtown Cleveland and T1 & T2 were in different locations. This was the first time I did a tri that the transitions were not in one place. ...