ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 4)

Wow!  Thanks for letting me back in.  I am so happy to be part of the group again

I already know most of you from previous seasons, and it’s great to see all of you.  I can’t wait to get to know more about the newbies and the ones who joined the group in the last go around (although I already know a little bit from stalking the board).

I don’t remember whose idea it was to meet up at the Tri Indy, but I really like it!  The Junkies are going to take over the race.

Good luck to all of you doing the Pokagon triathlon this morning!

Brenda, thanks for meeting me for lunch the other day.  We need to do that more often! I am absolutely thrilled for your daughter!  I’m glad she made it through without her shoes. 

Yesterday in honor of “ride your bike to work day” I decided to ride my bike everywhere.  That included picking up my kids from daycare in the bike trailer, taking them to the church picnic, and then biking home from there.  It was a great idea until I broke down on the side of the road with them in the back.  I’m really lucky that someone who knew more about bikes than I did stopped and put me back together.  I learned a lot about my bike in the process but also realized that I really need to take a class!  If anyone knows of a good one around here, let me know! 

Happy racing and training this weekend!

USERNAME: abergdol NAME: Allison

STORY:
I started running about 10 years ago for exercise and then started running races about 6 years ago.  I started doing triathlons when my husband said that he didn't really like to run but thought tris would be more fun.  He's not very serious about training these days, but every once in awhile I can still talk him into training and/or racing with me.  I only have 2 triathlons under my belt at this point, but I am determined to keep going.

FAMILY STATUS:
This summer my husband and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage.  We are taking an anniversary trip to Barbados!  We have two beautiful children- Keira will be 4 next month, and Elliott is 1 1/2.  They are my biggest fans and can be seen in our bright yellow jogging stroller/bike trailer at most of my races.

JOB:
After 4 years of college, 4 years of dental school, and 3 years of residency, I finally entered the work world as an orthodontist.  I have my own orthodontic practice and have officially been in business for 3 years now.  It was quite a change to be thrown into the world of running a business when all they teach you in school is how to treat teeth!  I have learned a lot in these first 3 years, and my practice has really taken off this year.  
  
CURRENT TRAINING:
I have always been run focused because it is the discipline that I enjoy the most and tend to do the best in.  I train a lot during my lunch breaks because it is the time that is slowest at work and allows me to help get the kids ready in the mornings and then spend time with them in the evenings.  I have monthly goals that I am working towards but have recently been set back a little bit due to a back injury. 

THIS YEAR’S RACES:
So far this year I have competed in the Huntington Baptist 5K in March, the Nutri-Run 20K in April, and then the 500 Festival Indianapolis half marathon a couple of weeks ago.
 
The rest of my race calendar so far looks like this:
6/29 Winona Lake Optimist Triathlon (sprint)
8/4 Tri Indy (I think I am going to make this my first oly)
9/28 Fort 4 Fitness Half Marathon
I will probably add a few more to the list, but we'll see how things are going.

LAST SEASON:
Jan: Snowflake 5K
Feb: Fanny Freezer 5K
Mar: Huntington Baptist 5K (PR 21:27)
(April- injured)
May: Association of Orthodontists 5K
June: Winona Lake Optimist Triathlon (sprint)
August: Amishland and Lake Bike Tour (90 miles)
                  and Warrior Dash
September: Popcorn Panic 5mi (PR 36:39)
                  and Fort 4 Fitness Half Marathon
Oct: Hilly 100 Century Bike Ride
Nov: Mazock's Thanksgiving Day Race

MY BIGGEST SUCCESSES:
I am really proud that I ran through almost my entire pregnancy with Elliott in 2011.  I did a race in each trimester and placed in my age group in each one of them. 
I thought that my pre-pregnancy PRs were not possible for me to beat after having kids and aging a few years, but with the help of the junkies I broke my 5K PR only 6 months after I had Elliott and my 5 mile PR before his 1st birthday.  I also ran in my first half marathon around that same time.

WEIGHTLOSS:
I think my weight is perfect where it is at right now and have no desire to gain or lose any.  Exercise is more of a stress relief and feel-good mechanism for me.  I tend to follow the Matt Ambos diet plan

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE:
I missed the Junkies terribly and can't wait to be a part of the group again!

Well my race is over and I kind of did better than last year but didn't do as well as last year.  Kinda. Sorta.  I actually set another PR for the Oly distance today by (unofficially) 4:02.  I will wait for the official results to be posted before I get too excited about my time.  The down side is that I placed 3rd overall, which is one place lower than last year.  So hence my disappointment.

The best part of today was getting to meet up with Brenda again!  I had been waiting months to race with her AND she brought a friend.  Barb totally killed the race too!  She placed 2nd overall in the women's Oly.

Great day!  I'll post a RR later...............after a nap!!  Oh, and prom pics with Kyrie (my daughter).

Great races Dirk and Matt!

Matt, an overall podium is fantastic. I ran in a small 5k for St Patty's Day this year and finished 10th overall and 2nd in my age group. Even though it was a smaller race I'll still remember it as my first top 10 overall and first podium for age group.

And Dirk, you crushed your previous time. Way to go!

as for me I had a good 6.3 mile run this morning and have been replacing fencing ever since. I might try our pool tonight for the first time this year. My wife and girls just finished swimming while our neighbor and I were working on the fence.

Here's my race report from Pokagon yesterday.  I am satisfied with my performance for sure.  I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to hold my position from last season.  The reality is, had I not slipped another solid PR out there and simply held the same time as last season's race I would have finished 2 more places down and finished 5th overall.

BTW, I misstated my time yesterday.  I went 2:11:32 NOT 2:10:32.  I finished 1:27 behind the second place finisher.  This was the first race I have used an aero helmet on and I would imagine that made a lot of the difference in my bike time.  Of course I hope I had a few gains on the fitness front in the past year since I completed this same race but I'll give the credit to the helmet.

With that in mind I am wondering just how much faster I could be with some race wheels and a carbon bike??  Maybe some day I'll find out.  I could even get some real racing tires too.  Right now I am riding Conti Grand Prix 4000s.

Another note:  On a warm day I suggest following a race that you drop the air pressure in your tires.  As I was getting ready to leave yesterday I grabbed my bike and was about to push it to the truck when POP!!!!  I blew a tube!  I was running 115 for race pressure and the tire is good for 120PSI.

Just as Warren said: You never know who's going to show up at a race so take that podium and relish it!!  21:33 is a great time regardless of where your PR stands.  You have to love an overall placement!!

That's a solid performance Karl!  A nice ride to warm your legs before the run.  That will give yo a perspective on what running a Oly would feel like.  I would venture to say you would have an Oly race wrapped up pretty easily if you wanted to do one soon.  Just make sure you're ready for the swim.

The after race in Cairo sounds like the best thing!  I amy not have been able to ride home at all if I'd been there with that many homemade cookies!