Recently I had a couple of  weekends that have brought some pretty cool athletic endeavors for me and some friends. Three weeks ago was the Keys 100 race and two weeks ago was Mara Tri. The compelling recaps follow!

For those of you that don’t know, The Keys 100 is a 100 mile race from Key Largo to Key West. It’s run as either an Ultra Marathon solo, 50 mile solo, or as a relay with up to 6 runners. Absolutely zero of these options is something I could do at this point. But what I could do was drive for a relay team and drive I did! Team Lazy Dog consisted of 6 runners: Bethany, Sandy, Renee, Amy, Angie (who had just done a full Ironman 2 weeks prior) and Andy (our token male 🙂 With a relay team, the race is broken up into 1.5-3 mile segments (except for the 7 mile bridge which just one (!) person does. The point is to run your leg as fast as possible. So people are running for a total of around 16 miles in sprints! all bloody day! crazy! It was pretty incredible to witness especially given my endless struggle with running. The Lazy Dog team killed it! Everyone ran their hearts out and the team finished in about 12 1/2 hours. It was a fun day. Saw lots of Key West friends along the way too, which made the competition fun. I wanted my team to do well as much as they wanted it. It was amazing to witness the mental game as nearly everyone had some struggle to overcome. It was also interesting to see how everyone fueled up and recovered.  I definitely stole some tips! And it was incredibly inspirational. Am so thankful I got to witness it up close.

Here’s the team!

l-r Angie Payne, Bethany McColley (front), Amy Cyr (back), Andy Kimball, Sandy Rodriguez (front), Renee Makimaa (back) and Moi

Two weeks ago was MaraTri. Held up in Marathon (no duh) it’s a Sprint distance tri and a Mini Tri which is half a Sprint. Perfect for beginner’s and veterans who still can’t run to save their frickin’ lives. Sigh. I was signed up for the Mini which was a 400 yard swim, a 6. something bike and a 1.55 mile run. The conditions that day were absolutely perfect. No wind! Hizzah! This really was the perfect beginner triathlon. It’s not super packed and everyone is incredibly friendly and laid back. Like actually friendly and laid back unlike at certain small KW Triathlons. ahem. I highly recommend this race if you’re looking to give Tri, well, a try.

I had the fastest swim  yet. Which is sad, cause it was pretty slow. The bike went well. Thanks to Key Largo Bicycle Tours for fixing my tire before the start and saving my race! Things, as usual, fell apart on the run. My lower back was all cramped up so couldn’t really run til about halfway through. waa waa waaaaa. Oh well, I finished! and I wasn’t last for a change 😉 holla!

What’s next? well, I had the BRILLIANT idea of signing up for the BAA Distance Medley. Three races  spread out, increasing in distance. Did the 5k in April. The 10K is in 3 weeks and the Half Marathon (wtf?!) is in October. Yup, gonna be a runner whether I can do it or not!!!