I *will* be a runner.

My running "career" has been full of ups and downs and I still have not yet figured out a solution. But it's not for lack of trying.

If you've been reading my blog, you can skip this brief recap and scroll down to the What's Next section.

Jan-June 2007
Started couch to 5k walk/run program. Ran 2-3 times a week. Built up to 5k run in 29-30 minutes avg and ran my first 5k race in 26:16 in June. Wasn't very knowledgeable and went too hard/ fast on that race, then didn't stretch or anything after. Ended up with fairly bad shin pain after the race. Life got busy so I stopped running altogether until the fall.

Sept-Dec 2007
Started walk/run program again. Went to massage therapy and physiotherapy, then finally had gait analysis - overpronator - and was prescribed orthotics.

January - June 2008
Continued walk/run program and had varied success. Continued to have foot/shin pain. Had orthotics adjusted several times. Overall, some improvement when I didn't run too far, or too often. Seemed to do best if I had 2 days off between runs. Mostly ran 3-5km at a time, still took some walk breaks on days when things were sore. In June, I did my 2nd 5k race in 26:26 and had shin pain after.

Summer 2008
I did 8k race in 46:17. Shin pain after. For rest of the summer, I babied my shins and only ran twice a week, no speed work, no long runs while training for my tri at end of August. Cont some physio and stretched and iced. My 5k time at my tri was 29:45. Not great but ok.

Sept-Dec 2008
I focused on running and worked toward a 10k for the WWFOR. I had hoped to do the half marathon but was unable to build up my long run during the summer. This time, my ITB locked up at my knee during 10k in Oct. 1:06 including walk breaks. I continued to run with walk breaks and going easy through the winter. I bought Zensah shin compression sleeves and sometimes wear them during or after a run.

February 2009
Bought new shoes that were a half size larger. Pain on top of foot disappeared. I hoped this would also cure my shin probs.

Spring 2009
I was coached for my May tri but every time he had me do some running drills, speed work, plyometrics etc to strengthen my shins/legs, the shin pain returned and I had to cut back my running. My run time in my May triathlon was crappy, 32:09, and I had ITB pain again. In June I ran an easy 5k race with my daughter and had to walk some due to shin and ITB pain. 33:00

Summer 2009
I continued to run easy, slow, take walk breaks, tried trail running, and continued to have pain if I did a brick or ran a bit faster, or a bit longer. My 5k time in my tri in August was 31:07. ITB pain slowed me down. I also went back to massage and was given more strengthening exercises to do. They seemed to be working and for a few months, I thought the shin problems were solved although I hadn't yet figured out the ITB problem that only hit me once in awhile on a long run, or a race, rarely on easy or short runs.

Sept 2009
I decided to try a different approach. Run short, easy, more frequently, and do long runs on the trails. Don't go longer on long runs until the distance feel easy. So for two weeks, I ran 3-5k every second day, slowly (11-12 mi mile). I did a good warmup, and took walk breaks when necessary. I avoided hills. I stretched and did ice massage on my shins after every run.

On the first weekend I did a long run (8k) on the trails but had to walk after 30 min due to ITB pain. The second weekend, I did another 8k trail run on a flat trail and managed 6k before the ITB pain started. This time I was wearing an ITB strap which may or may not have helped. The day after that long run, my shins hurt a lot. I took 2 days off before I ran again but I was unable to run longer than a minute at a time without bad shin pain. Did 2.5 k of mostly walking that day.

2 days after that, my shins are still sore. Not sure if I should run today or not. I am thinking I might go to the gym and do the elliptical instead.

So what to do now?


Possible things to try next:

I've had loads of suggestions from people who have shared what worked for them.

• go back to Okaped and get orthotics adjusted again.

• go to a different place and get new gait analysis to confirm diagnosis

• toss orthotics but wear corrective shoes for overpronation.

• toss orthotics and wear minimalist shoes like Newtons or Nike Free.

• try barefoot running.

• try forefoot running (with current shoes, with new shoes, with and without orthotics, so many options...)

• continue using the foam roller on ITB and doing yoga and doing strengthening exercises for hips flexors and shins.


So what am I going to do?

• Hire a running coach. The one I have in mind encourages forefoot running. My understanding is that he philosophically disagrees with orthotics although he wouldn't tell someone not to use them. He says he's not a doctor and can't make that call. Interestingly, he also thinks Newtons are a crutch to be avoided as well because of the little thingies on them that encourage forefoot running. He says it's better to learn to mid-foot/forefoot run without them.

• I won't do barefoot running. It's not something that can be done year round or safely here so I'm not going to bother. However, I may try it on the treadmill in short spurts for awhile so my body can learn the feel for forefoot running, with the hope that it will transfer to running with shoes on.

• It looks like it would be dumb not to try to switch to mid-foot/forefoot running despite the possibility of having to deal with new aches and pains during the transition. I have been trying it in 30-60 second segments but I don't know if I'm doing it right.

• I have made an appt at my orthotics place to make one last-ditch effort to correct the problems with my current orthotics. I don't know if I want/need to try going to a new place to get a second opinion gait analysis or not, although the place comes highly recommended.

• Shoes - I have not decided what to do. Current shoes (which are very comfortable), with or without orthotics, or minimalist shoes or ??

• I will continue shin strengthening and hip flexor work.

• I will continue to do short, easy runs every 2-3 days. I will cut my long run back until the short runs are comfortable again.

• I will use the elliptical when running hurts too much.

• I will try not to complain too much. (I am so frustrated, this one is hard...)

I will try to remember Randy Pausch's saying:

"Roadblocks are only a test of your commitment to your goals."

Last weekend of the summer...

I've had a busy two weeks since my race and have mainly focused on running, and getting ready for school.

After my race on August 23rd, I took a few days off to rest my sore body and then:

Thu, Aug 27 - I ran 3.5 km. My shins hurt at the end so I stretched and iced. Still stiff but ok.

Sat, Aug 29 - I ran 8.3 km on the trail above my house. I hiked up the first 1.3 km, then ran for 30 mins. My HR was really racing and I felt breathless at that point so I walked the rest of the way home. I think it was a combination of heat and fatigue. My ITB also started to tighten up by the last 2 km as well but since I was walking, it wasn't really an issue. Stretched and iced shins when I got back.

At this point I decided to do some easy short runs (3-5 km) every 2nd day instead of 3 times a week, and one long run on the weekends for the next few months, in order to build up my running stamina. I'll do a 10 km run or longer for the World Wide Festival of Races (Oct, 10/11) and if I'm lucky, I hope to do the New Balance Half Marathon in Vancouver on November 15!

Mon, Aug 31 - 3k run in am, felt stiff, sore. Ran 9/ walked 1. Iced shins after.

Wed, Sep 2 - 4.3k run in am, still felt a bit stiff. 1 km WU then 3 km at 11 min mile pace. Felt ok. Iced shins after, wore shin sleeve.

Fri, Sep 4 - Felt crappy all day, had long nap in afternoon, then felt better around 6 pm so went for a run. Did 5.3 km and felt pretty good. 1 km WU then 4 km steady at 11:30 min mile pace. I wore my shin sleeve during my run, and also tried out an ITB Strap so see how it felt. I plan to wear the strap for my long runs only until the issue is resolved. I will continue with stretching and using the foam roller as well.

During the week, I've also been doing some stretching and yoga but nothing on a planned/regular basis. This is my last week of vacation so I plan to get back into a schedule when school starts on Sept. 8th.


My goals include:

• Run every 2nd day if I can fit it in, and then do a long run on the weekend.

• Add 1-2 km to my long run every weekend, cutting back every 4 weeks.

• Continue stretching and using the foam roller.

• Ice shins after every run until they are no longer a problem. Wear shins sleeve during and after.

• Wear ITB strap on long runs.

• Return to healthy diet 90% of the time on Sept. 8th, and maintain weight throughout the winter. No more than 3 lbs gain over Christmas. (I'm up 3 lbs right now so must lose that again by mid-Oct)

• Plan strength and conditioning workouts to be done on alternate days, focus on core.

• Use the gym and home equipment.

• Bike and swim for fun when I have time.

• Try to get 8 hours of sleep every night. Go to bed earlier during the school week.


School

I finally got into my classroom on Aug 26 and spent about 16 hours in the next 3 days, unpacking and setting up. The school will be open but not finished on the first day of school. Should be pretty exciting. I have a beautiful room with vaulted ceilings and open beams. Everything is clean and new and bright - so nice. The staff is young and fun - I'm really going to enjoy them. I'm about the 2nd oldest on staff now. Weird.

Here's the view from my desk.

Kelowna Apple Sprint Triathlon Race Report

I'm a bit slow getting this post up - spent most of Monday/Tuesday getting my race report podcast out then went in to school all day today to unpack 35 boxes and start getting my brand new classroom set up - fun!!!

So here goes!

If you managed to slog through my race plan a few posts back, you probably saw that my plan was to get up at 4:30 and leave the house by 5:40. Haha - here's the plan, and in brackets, how it really went.

4:30 Get up, eat yogurt and banana, coffee, water (Ooops, I set the alarm for pm instead of am, Erik woke me from a dead sleep at 5:05, jumped out of bed, showered, ate, did last minute stuff, and left the house about 6am - at this point I wasn't too worried because I was using last year's times and my wave was 15 minutes later than last year so I had some leeway)

5:40 Leave house, drive, park, set up transition (had to park further away than expected, got sent directly to long line for body marking before being allowed into transition)

6:00-6:30 Body marking (6:45 finally arrive in transition, set up some stuff, then head to long line for bathroom, 7:15 finish set up, put on wetsuit, run to beach)

7:10-7:15 Short warm up swim (7:25 very short warm up swim, windy, cool air, brrrr)

7:30 My wave start (Scramble to beach in time to hear the whistle and run into the water.)

The Race

Swim

My swim was probably my best event this year. Go figure. I seeded myself fairly close to the front, and to the left, close to the line for the buoys. There was only one woman directly in front of me at the start, but lots of women to my right and a few to my left. They split the sprint women into two groups this year, under 40 and over 40 so there were only about 50-60 women in my wave and that made a difference I think.

I planned to go easy at first but I felt confident and strong right from the start to I kept at it. I had NONE of the anxiety that I had in my practice swim the day before and I'm pretty sure that's because I wasn't swimming alone today. Good thing.

It was breezy and the water was choppy but not too difficult. I swam fairly straight and managed to stay out of other people's way this time so didn't get hit much, except on one turn.

I passed the first 2 buoys, made the turn and kept swimming strong and steady but didn't push too hard or get out of breath. I stayed with breathing on one side most of the time. I noticed there weren't too many people from my wave ahead of me at this point. At one point, I saw a larger group of swimmers ahead but realized they had yellow caps and were the men from the earlier wave. Yes!

Once I had made the long haul to the next buoy and turned back towards the shore, I swam harder and got to the beach in 16:27 for the swim leg, a minute faster than last year! I was so happy!

Transition One

Although I had sussed out the pathway through the maze of bikes in transition (1600+), and thought I had a foolproof path, I STILL managed to turn one row early and lost about 20 seconds or so doing the extra running on an already very long distance from the beach.

Wetsuit off, shoes and helmet on, quick drink and grab the bike all seemed to go quickly and smoothly but my T1 time was still 3:34, pretty sucky. The fastest T1 times were around the 2 minute mark with the avg fast time about 2:30 but I imagine some of those women didn't wear wetsuits. My time last year was 3:01 without a wetsuit (for comparison).

Bike

My quads felt a little tired on the bike but not too bad - I didn't hit the lap button on the Knox Mtn climb but I think it was about 2:15 (my best time is about 2:00) so I was a bit disappointed about that. Overall I felt I rode pretty well. It was windy on the bike course as well and that had a significant effect on my time, especially on the flats and on Glenmore when it was a head wind. As I came round the course to start the second lap, I could see my time was just over 20 minutes for the first lap so went for a negative split on the second lap. I climbed Knox strongly this time and although I don't know my time, I realized more than halfway up, I was cross-chained in my big ring up front. Idiot. I laughed at myself and commented to a guy who was passing me at that moment. Pretty stupid but it probably gave me some extra oomph up that ugly hill. :)

Because the younger women were already out on the course 10 minutes ahead of me, I had very little female competition on the bike leg. The super fast women were also fast swimmers so they were well ahead of me, and I was ahead of the rest of the other women. Only one woman passed me and that was almost immediately after coming out of transition. I passed a number of men and women from the earlier waves, as well as a couple of faster swimmers from my wave. My second bike split was about 19:something so I was happier with that lap but my total time was still only 40:14, 2 minutes slower than last year. I truly believe most of that time loss was due to the wind.

Last year, over 35% of the women maintained an avg bike speed over 30 km/h or higher, this year only 15% did. Clearly the wind was an issue for everyone.

Transition Two

I came into T2 and changed shoes/hat etc fairly quickly I thought, but again, I still seemed to be a little slow on transitions in general. I admit I do put on my socks in T2 instead of T1 so my T2 is sometimes slower than other women for that alone. I'm not going to stop that though. I find I can bike in bare feet without any problems, and it's much easier to put socks on later than when my feet are still damp/sandy from the swim. T2 - 1:53, only 4 seconds slower than last year.

Run

My goal was to run the first km in 6 min and then the rest in 5:30-5:50. I felt good though and my legs did not feel heavy so my first km was 5:39. I slowed down a bit and my second km was 5:55.

For whatever reason, after the 2km mark, my STUPID IT band decided to act up again. It is SO random and few and far between that I never know when it's going to happen. I have not had any ITB problems for over a month and thought that was behind me now (and in addition, my shins felt absolutely fine in the run, no pain whatsoever). It was right knee as usual, and it kept tightening up until I finally decided to stop and stretch it for 15-20 seconds, then went back to running. My 3rd km was about 6:08 pace, and then it tightened up again so I stretched once more. Fourth km was 6:16 and last km was 6:09 for a total run time of 31:01. Ugh. I'm wondering if I should get an IT band strap to wear in races?

The Finish

My total time was 1:33:11. I would have been happy with 1:32 given the wind on the bike but the run killed it for me, once again. (Are you getting tired of hearing about my running troubles because I'm getting tired of having them.. ;)

Anyway, overall I was pretty happy with my race. I had no texpected to do as well as I did given my lack of training and I was super excited about my relatively great swim time!

Placement

Well there were lots of tough ladies in my age group this year and I came in 11/19. Interestingly enough, even if I'd had my fourth place time from last year, I still would have come in 10th this year so I really should be pretty happy with my performance over all. They have not posted the World's Qualifiers yet so I will have to wait for that. I am in 5th place in the 50-54 AG right now but I'm not sure how many women in my AG are 49 and will be in the 50-54 next year.


Summary:

Swim - 16:27 - 6th in my AG
T1 - 3:34
Bike - 40:14 - 6th in my AG
T2 - 1:53
Run - 31:01 - 15th in my AG

Total time: 1:33:11

The run is definitely where these ladies kill me. The faster women are doing that run in 21-27 minutes. Yowza, if only I could get my running improved, I'd do so well!

Well, I will! I am going to work on my run ALL WINTER and no matter what, I am going to be a better runner next year. Definitely.



After the race, we celebrated with beer and pulled pork sandwiches at the beer gardens and then watch the olympic tri and the elite racers come in. It was pretty exciting watching Lauren Groves and Simon Whitfield both come in first!

Last Practice Swim

So today I went down to Tugboat Beach to swim the course. There were races in the morning, then they leave the course open for 45 minutes before they take the log boom down for the night. Erik suggested that Simon Whitfield and the other elite racers may also take advantage of this opportunity and sure enough they were all there! Erik pushed me to go ask for a photo opp and Simon immediately and graciously agreed. He even suggested a joke picture of us showing our muscles. It was fun to watch the Olympians relax and chat amongst one another, all very good- natured, friendly, and down-to-earth. These are the types of 'celebrities' I truly admire, so much more than the movie star types...

And Simon wished me luck in my race tomorrow - stupid me - I was too star-struck to say the same thing back!

Who's got bigger muscles?

Lauren Groves was there too - she is just a tiny bit of a thing - but so powerful!

ANYWAY, back to me, and my not-quite-as-exciting triathlon career. :)

My Practice Swim

I went into it feeling confident. I had a good OWS at my tri in May (although that one was along the lakeshore and wasn't very deep) and I've done this swim course last year and did well (17:30). I swam at Gyro beach earlier this week and felt good, and I even did 100m of warm up in the lake today before I swam. So it SHOULD have gone well.

I dunno. I started to swim and it was choppy and there were lots of fast people around me, but not really too close so that shouldn't have been a big issue. I know enough to go easy at first, to swim steady, get into a rhythm, and get my heart rate under control. But the chop and the waves were hitting me in the face when I took a breath and I was having trouble getting into a rhythmic breathing pattern. Less than 100m into the swim, my goggles had a leak so I had to stop and tread water while I tried to fix them. They continued to be a minor problem for the rest of the swim.

After the goggle incident, I tried again to get back into it but kept having mini-freakouts. At one point, about 200m, my heart was just pounding and I couldn't breath properly and I was gasping and choking so I floated on my back for a second and tried to calm myself down. For a moment I thought about swimming back to shore to relax and try again in a few minutes but I stopped myself. I told myself to relax and just swim slow. Keep on going. Slow, steady, I can do it. I also switched to one-sided breathing because the chop was only hitting me on one side of the face and that helped a lot.

To put things in perspective, other people were swimming like crazy past me, and the chop wasn't really very bad to most people I'm sure. Anyway, I kept swimming on, thinking that if I could get to the furthest marker (300m) and make the turn, I'd probably be ok. I also reminded myself that I can float in the wetsuit without really trying. Eventually I got my heart rate down and decided that I didn't care what my time was, I should just keep going and finish the damn thing or it would be a black cloud over my head tomorrow. After I passed the buoy, the Olympic team went flying past, and over me. I stopped and tread water for a minute so I could stay out of their way. :)

It was 200m to the next buoy and it was way out there, so that was the hardest part mentally but I was in a bit of a groove by then and had more confidence. When I hit the next buoy and turned, I was able to start swimming a little harder and I kept up a steady, slightly quicker pace until I reached the shore. Overall, my sighting was mostly ok, I only went a bit off-course once.

I was afraid to look at my watch, guessing on a time of about 22:00 minutes given all my stops to tread water and catch my breath but I was amazed to see my time was 17:00 even! My swim time last year was 17:30 so that really surprised me. I'm wondering if I was just swimming harder than I realized, perhaps because I was out there with all the elites and they were just flying by me? I don't know.

Anyway, as soon as I got in, I told Erik I wanted to go back and do the first 150m again, just to gain more confidence and have a positive experience to replace the bad one. I tightened the straps on my goggles and they were much better and this time I felt fine doing an out and back loop. I came in feeling fairly confident that #1. I will be fine tomorrows and #2. if I *do* panic, I can regain control and I don't have to bail no matter what happens.

The race meeting notes were posted on the tri website so I skipped the meeting this afternoon but I have to go back between 4-8 pm to drop off my bike. I checked out transition and my spot is in the 4th row, fairly close to where it was last year. My bike will be right by the sign too so that will help.

The racers this morning wore wetsuits and I suspect that we will be allowed to tomorrow. We won't know for sure until they take the temp at 6 am tho so I have to be prepared for both possibilities.

I'm starting to think that if I can wear a wetsuit, I might wear my green cycling top under it instead of the new tri top, just because it is more comfortable and if I don't have to swim in it alone, it doesn't matter so much about the slightly weightier fabric etc. I guess I'll decide tomorrow.

I was also checking out the air temperature this year compared to last year. Last year I raced in 21-25C. This year it'll be closer to 15-20C from start to finish. I'm wqondering if I might be chilly after the swim and need a jersey or vest to put on for the bike so I will take them with me and decide right at the moment.

I guess there's nothing else to do now but rest, relax, and try to get to bed early tonight....

Thanks for all the good luck wishes - I really appreciate it!

PS Last year I dedicated a blog post to my husband just before my race. I was revisiting it today and decided to link to it. I could not do any of the things I do if it wasn't for Erik. I love you! http://kelownagurl.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-hero-my-husband.html

Race Plan

Getting closer, starting to get major butterflies every time I think about the race. Why do I get SO nervous?

So here's what I did this week:

Tues - 750m swim at Gyro. Went into the lake in wetsuit for first time this year. Felt ok, a few minor panics but nothing serious. Didn't swim hard but managed to do 750m in just under 18 min.

Tues - Ran 4 km on the road. Did 1 km warm up then 2 km fast, then 1 km cool down. Pace 5:31 and 5:44 per km. 8:52 and 9:13 per mile. Not bad but I couldn't do that after a hard bike, nor could I maintain that pace over 5 km. Shins hurts like stink after. Did ice bath and stretching.

Wed - Rode one lap of the tri bike course in 22:30. went easy at first, then hard on the hills. Did Knox in 2 min (good), and overall time was ok but hard to tell what it'll be like on Sunday.

Thurs - took it easy, no more running or biking till the race. Iced shins twice, stretch well twice. Picked up race package. Got biked tires checked. Cleaned bike. Oiled chain.

Today - Took it easy all day. Bad headache off and on from braces adjustment yesterday. Hope it's gone by Sunday. Shins feeling better today. Iced them again. Stretched in evening.

Tomorrow - Will swim the course at 1 pm, go to race meeting at 3 pm, and drop bike off at T1 at 4 pm. Then a relaxing evening at home, and early to bed.

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RACE PLAN

The night before
• high carb, low fat, low fiber meal, water, sleep.
• bag and backpack ready
• clothes laid out
• breakfast food ready
• calm, focussed, relaxed (LOL, yeah right)

Sunday Morning

4:30 Get up, eat yogurt and banana, coffee, water

5:40 Leave house, drive, park, set up transition
6:00-6:30 Body marking

7:10-7:15 Short warm up swim

7:30 My wave start

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PACKING LIST / SET UP

My Bike
• on the bike – garmin, bento box, underseat bag (dropped at T1 Sat night)
• bento box – puffer, kleenex
• underseat bag – tube, 2 CO2, tire levers, bike tool
• helmet – sunglasses, race belt

What I'll wear
•tri top, shorts, HRM, watch, sandals, track suit if it's cool, hat, ponytail, sunglasses

In my bag
• runners, bike shoes, 2 sox, pink polka dot towel, wet suit, swim cap, goggles, body glide, hand towel, extra water bottles, puffer, hammer gel, hand held bottle, helmet, race belt, take extra jersey/vest?

In backpack with Erik
• camera

• recorder

• blackberry

• food
• jacket
• tylenol
• cell phone
• TP

• BCAA

• choc milk

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RACE PLAN

Before – T1/2 set up, body mark, warm up, HRM on, body glide, wetsuit, watch, ponytail, swim cap, goggles, leave sandals, turn on garmin, at 7:00am eat 1 hammer gel, sip water, use puffer, then warm up swim.

T1 set up – pink polka dot towel, helmet, garmin, race belt #580, bike shoes, garmin on, hand towel, water bottle, Nuun bottle, hand held bottle in case.

7:30am Just before entering water, start timer on watch. Check it! LIne up about 1/3 back from front.

Exiting water - fill suit with water, hit lap button watch, lift goggles, take off top of wetsuit (all while running). Goal: Anything less than 18 minutes will be great.

At T1 - take off wetsuit, goggles, cap. Put on bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses, race belt. Have a drink. Run with bike. Start Garmin/hit lap button on watch if I can. Get on bike, clip in, ride fast.

On Bike – get HR under control, drink, climb hard, push on flats, spin a bit before 2nd climb, lap button on 2nd lap if I can, go hard, drink. Hit lap button at end of bike. Goal: 30 kmh avg, 20 min lap or faster.

T2 set up - runners, sox ready in runners, hat, extra water/Nuun, hand bottle, small towel, race belt, adjust ponytail

Bike to Run – run with bike, hit lap button on watch/Garmin if I can, rack bike, helmet off, shoes off, sox and runners on. Grab Garmin off bike. Drink. Carry hat, sunglasses, garmin. Starting running – adjust ponytail, hat on, sunglasses on. Lap button on watch and Garmin at start of run, and each km if I want to.

Take hand held water bottle if very thirsty.

On Run – steady, HR under control, 6:00 pace – 1st km. Pick it up each km. Goal: 5:30-6:00 km avg? (27-28 minutes)

SMILE, HAVE FUN!!!!!

Extra stuff

Extra set of clothes in case

OK, that's all I can think of right now. I will be adding more as I remember things.

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Goal Times - not really sure this year:

Swim: 18 minutes (assuming it's the same distance as my last tri)

T1: 3 Minutes (long run to T1)

Bike: 40 minutes (or less I hope)

T2: 1:30

Run: Tough to guess, hopefully under 30 minutes.

18+3+40+1+30 = 1:32 Max

Last year my time was 1:30:04. I suspect I'm pretty close to the same fitness for the swim and run, probably a bit slower on the bike. Hopefully a bit faster on T1 and 2.

Last year there were 11 women in my Age Group, this year there are 24! Some of them are serious contenders. No real hope for a AG place this year but I will have fun!