Monday = HEAVY RAIN

The Gods must be smiling on us today... because it is pouring. I'm so happy to have had nice weather for the race day... and icky weather the day afterwards. That is good luck indeed!

http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=72648851&rsID=88864

Results!

Now you can enjoy the resting period before you take on the task of training for your Ironman. Derek, you really ROCK!

ASU PAPER - College times.

http://www.ecollegetimes.com/media/paper991/documents/73lpwse3.pdf

We're on page 12!! What a cool discovery before the marathon!

3 more days!

The race is only 3 more days away. I hope that these 3 more sleeps are restful. I'm sure Sunday's we will CRASH. HA! So the great running duo, will be at it again! I'm looking forward to the race. I think, even though I've had a few painful hiccups along the way, I can only think of one bad run. So I think training for this one, was more fun, less painful. It was faster too, by not taking a week to recover in between each long run. Maybe Vegas is a false sense of security, but I FEEL ready. I'm ready for some fun, and running with you is always a blast!

10 days left!

The marathon is only 10 days away. I am so excited that you've agreed to run this with me! We're going to have so much fun! Just think only a few weeks after that and you'll begin your Ironman training. I'm very excited for you.

2009 Totals

2009 is coming to a close and my workouts are done for the year. Here's what my 2009 totals look like:

Bike:
90h 50m 26s - 1468.84 Mi
Run:
120h 20m 36s - 694.53 Mi
Swim:
44h 14m 11s - 107200 Yd

...Things to Think about....

Okay, our dance card is completely booked after the Marathon...
In 3 weeks is the PF Chang's 26.2 - entry fee paid
A month after that is the Lost Dutchman 13.1 - $60 before 1/31 on valentines day.
The day before is the skirt chaser FIVE K and is a whopping $45 entry fee. Kinda steep for a 5k at Tempe Town Lake!
The next weekend is the 10k (5k,5k) relay at Cesear Chavez Park - $20 before 2/15
The very next weekend is the Trisports Duathlon at McDowell Mountain $85
The very next weekend is the Firebird Triathlon in Chandler $90 +
The very next weekend is the 10k relay ($20), The St pats 4mi run ($25)
The very next weekend is the Bartlett Lake Triathlon $105 before 3/1
Then there is a break unless we want to do the 5k Ostrich festival run...
The Havasu 1/2 is 3 weeks after the Bartlett Triathlon $65 before 3/31
Then Pat's run is the very next weekend 4.2 mi and $35 before 4/8.
However something to consider is that our lease runs out less than 2 weeks after this race... so we'll have to do some careful selecting of races we'd like to do - and budget accordingly... not only our financial resources, but our physical ones as well.

Just something to think about - and we do have some time to dwell on this... as well as the great decision. Though, it could be a lot of fun to cram a lot of life in the next few months, before the great decision.

ONE MORE SLEEP!!!!

JUST ONE MORE SLEEP>>> YAY! YAY! YAY! I'm sooo excited! I cannot wait to celebrate Christmas with you... my favorite person in the universe... so here you have it..I saved the best for last... A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!!!!!!!! (and she claps her hands wildly bursting into fits of giggles!)

2 more sleeps....

Your family is off to Illinois, and I wish them safe travels, and that they all enjoy their visit w/ the relatives. Sorry yet again, we couldn't make it back for Christmas. I know that 5 years is a long time not to go back. I thought that by now, we'd be able to... but hopefully I'm making it a bit of fun to make up for it. Just think... tomorrow you'll get to open your Christmas Eve gift!!! You excited yet... I know I am!

3 more sleeps....

I love you Derek. Just 3 more sleeps until Christmas! I think it will be a pretty awesome Christmas this year, too! Have fun running tonight. I may even join you - and rest tomorrow. I do like running with you a lot - and actually feel SAFER running with you.

4 more sleeps....

So only four more sleeps until Christmas. I've already picked out your Christmas Eve gift for you to open, and I'm really excited about it too! I cannot believe you only have to go into the office 2 days this week - lucky duck!
Oh and only 4 more weeks until the marathon. So it is time to get mega excited. If you were holding any enthusiasm back - you'd better muster it back up! Oh yeah, I'm excited!!!

7 more sleeps!

It is finally Friday! I'm excited and actually looking forward to our 3 hour run tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun, and the best part is knowing, that in only one week, we'll be waking up and exchanging Christmas presents!!!

Upcoming races - depending on our zip code...

(Finisher photo from the RNR LV!)
I think my happy spot is a race every 4-6 weeks. Any more than that and I can get a bit cranky! Well on my site I've listed a bunch of races that might be fun... as long as they aren't cost prohibitive.
Here are my top races that I'd Like to do...
1/17/2010 RNRAZ Marathon
2/14 The lost dutchman 1/2 marathon Apache Junction
2/20 or 3/13 10k couple's relay (5K a piece)
4/10 Havasu Half
4/17 Pats 4.2 mile run
BUT, you're training for the Ford IRONMAN Series on 8/29/2010.
So I also looked up a bunch of tris you might be interested that are in AZ.
1/9 10:30 am Prescott Valey Polar Bear Sprint Triathlon
http://www.getsetaz.com/event-detail.php?item=403054
2/7 8am Tricat's Polar Splash and Dash Tuscon Arizona
2/28 8am Trisports.com Desert Classic Duathlon - a ride and run McDowell Mtn Park. (3.5mi run and a 21 mile bike ride)
http://www.getsetaz.com/event-info.php?item=403062
3/7 8:30am The Firebird Triathlon - Firebird Lake, Chandler AZ.
http://www.active.com/triathlon/chandler-az/firebird-triathlon-and-duathlon-2010
3/21 The 5th Annual Bartlett Lake Olympic Triathlon 7:30 am Scottsdale AZ
http://www.active.com/triathlon/scottsdale-az/the-5th-annual-bartlett-lake-olympic-and-sprint-triathlonduathlon-2010
5/16 Tempe International Triathlon 6:30 am Tempe Town Lake
6/13 YMCA get out of the heat backwards triathlon 8am
7/17 12 hours at night mountain bike trail ride 8pm Prescott, AZ

12k Results!

Derek Harper BIB # 181

Distance - 12K
Clock Time - 1:16:15
Chip Time - 1:15:56
Overall Place - 362 out of 673
Gender Place - 151 out of 215
Division Place - 14 out of 22 Men 25-29
Pace - 10:11
4K time - 25:03
8K time -50:21

http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=71533973&rsID=87599&pubID=3

Way to go Derek, and thank you for sharing this experience with me! I had a great time, and also quite enjoyed sharing lunch at Macs with you!!!

Las Vegas Half Marathon

Over the weekend Tristin and I drove to Las Vegas for the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas half marathon. This was a great event that had us run the entire strip and back. It was really fun to get to see all the different hotels and sites, it made the race go by very quickly. We had a great time and had a really good race too. After the race we got to hang out and have some fun in Vegas, and even ran into Eric. It was a great weekend.

Turkey Weekend

This past week was a lot of fun. For Thanksgiving, Tristin and I went out to Mesa for the 40th Annual Mesa Turkey Trot. We did this last year and the event was very cool. The weather was perfect and the race went great. After the race we went home and prepared our turkey and all the fixins. We spent the rest of the day just eating and lounging around – it was a good day. The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. Friday I had the day off, so I did a short ride on the trainer and spent the rest of the day being lazy. Saturday we went out for our long run. We were still a little sore from Thursday, so were a little slower than usual, but overall had a good 13.5 mile run. The running mileage is getting up there and should keep me busy the next few weeks.

5 more days until VEGAS VACA!

I'm pretty excited about Vegas!!! I cannot believe we leave in only 5 more days! The expo will be a lot of fun if it is anything like the Chang's! We can get our IDS checked at the expo, so that we get these wristbands for the finish line, and we can quickly get our free MGD 64s! Exciting stuff, huh? Yeah, I think so too! Also, we'll have a lot of fun, in that it is low pressure, nothing that we feel we "have to do" for anyone.
I'm really glad we had our talk yesterday. I like thinking about things aloud with you and hearing your oppinions on things. We've got a lot to figure out in the next few months, but we also can have a bit of fun in the meantime. 7 more weeks until the marathon... time sure flies!

11/24/2009 -- Turkey Trot 2 days away!

I am super excited about our trot! I hope your knee is holding up well. I'm really looking forward to running in this event with you... the last event we did together was on our one year anniversary! (We had a 9:53 pace for that one!) I'm hoping we can keep the pace up for the 10k and beat last year's time. I know you can... but if I can't... I can't. I won't beat myself up about it... since last year's Turkey Trot was the first race I ran under the last name HARPER! Which will always make it a memorable race in my book.

11/22: Back in the water

So this week I took a break from cycling in order to help my knee heal, but I did get back in the pool. For the next few months I am going to focus on my form and technique and hopefully become a more efficient swimmer. My running stayed on track this week and I did not have to take any time off, which made me feel pretty good. I was even able to go 14 miles on Saturday and a total of 28 miles for the week with only minor pain. Today the knee is a little sore, but nothing like it was two weeks ago after the hike. I will probably stay off the bike for another week just to be safe and get to the pool at least once next week and continue with the running. We have a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 10k on Thursday to help build an appetite for a day of endless eating, I'm excited!

8 weeks 4 more days!

This is a list of our miles broken down... the following weeks will go by very quickly... and with your knee if you have any issues - please speak up. I don't want you getting hurt. I'm watching my body closely, and responding, so if I have any troubles or issues... I will be sticking with the TIMES, not the mileage. You let me know what you need, but I wonder if I'll actually train to be faster if I run my long runs solo... but I do like you being with me. So we'll just have to see how they go! I'm looking forward to it though! (Plus it is nice to have someone wear the water!) :-D

11/21 12 -14mi {60}

11/26 10k turkey trot {60}

11/28 14-16 {2:45}

12/6 13.1 Race + (2 to and from hotel) + (any other walking around while in Vegas that day.) {3}

12/12 12k's of Xmas {60}

12/19 16-18 {3:15}

12/26 18-gasp... 20! {3:30}

1/2 10 {90}

1/9 6 {45-60}

1/17 MARATHON!

11/16/2009

I'm glad that you were able to get up and go for a run this morning. I really was glad I got the extra dose of sleep. I'm excited about our races that are coming up, and sharing them with you.

I really like doing one or two races a month (I think one is my preference) to keep an active social calendar... and our sanity. I love you, and you are an incredible cheerleader. It meant a lot to me to have you yelling "Go Tristin!" You rock!