Jen Bendewish │Running Down a Dream

Run Around the Lakes 5k Recap 6.22.2013

June 23, 2013
Jen Bendewish
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1 mile fun run, 5k, fun run, half marathon, personal record, PR, run, running, training

The night before the Inaugural Run Around the Lakes 5k, I realized I was nervous and a bit anxious. For the past two years, all my 5ks had been run while pushing two little girls, unless the 5k was at then end of a swim and bike. The Run Around the Lakes would be the first time I ran without a stroller and it would be the first time my 4-year-old raced in her first 1 mile Fun Run.

We got off to a pretty easy start on race day. In true skirt day = run day fashion, my munchkins picked out pink tutus and running shoes for race day. The race location was 25 minutes away; with an 8:00 1 Mile Fun Run start and 9:00 5k start we had plenty of time to get there and situate ourselves. Tallahassee mornings in June are warm and humid, and today was no different.

1 Mile Fun Run

Run Around the Lakes 012 Continue reading →

Tri and Recover… & Recover Some More

Prior to March 31^st, I had no plans on racing in the Madison Sprint Triathlon on May 4^th. In fact, I had planned on going out to support my Tri club with a camera in hand. However, my dismal bike ride at Red Hills on March 31^st left me determined to prove to myself that I could ride faster than 11 mph, not that 11 mph is bad, I just knew I was capable of better.

So, after the Red Hills Triathlon on March 31^st, I signed up for the North Florida Sprint Triathlon in Madison, Fl. This race also offers an Olympic distance option. Part of me wanted to sign up for the Olympic distance, but the thought of swimming out twice as far, instead of swimming two short loops quickly helped me make up my mind about the Sprint distance.

I maintained the same training schedule that I had up to the Red Hills Triathlon so that I wouldn’t try and bike too much. I didn’t want to change my training much because I wanted to get a true gage of where my cycling actually is.

As race day neared, I realized that this race was going to be a little different from the previous triathlons I had done. For the previous three races all I had to worry about was getting me and my gear ready. For this one, I would be taking my little girls with me and they would be watched over by some amazing mom’s in our tri club. Still, I had to get their gear, diaper bag, snacks, and sleeping arrangements ready in the car.

RACE DAY

I was up at 4:00 a.m. and hoped I could make it out the door by 5:00 a.m. with gear, two little sleepy girls, and a cooler full of food. My 4 year-old was up at 4:30 a.m. and decided she needed to wait in the car while I finished getting everything ready. I sure do love that girl. We somehow managed to make it out the door by 5:00 a.m. and during the entire drive I kept thinking I forgot something (I didn’t forget anything and triple checked before leaving the house). When you do a race and take young kids with you, the amount of stuff you are accountable for is ridiculous and I think I had more anxiety about forgetting something than actually racing. Continue reading →

I call her SuperMom.

Chasing Mavericks and Running 5ks

Chasing Mavericks…

That’s me, maroon shirt, all tomboy.

I recently watched the movie Chasing Mavericks and felt like I was reliving part of my childhood, except that I am not a crazy surfer nor do I dream of riding one of the heaviest waves on the planet. I am a So Cal (Southern California) native, the daughter of an original Dogtown pioneer and spent most of my childhood and teenage years sitting on the beach, watching my dad, my brother, my uncle and all their friends surf. Rain or shine, summer or winter, freezing or warm, I spent many a day sitting, watching, and eventually photographing west coast surf.

Many surf mornings we’d leave about 6:00 a.m. and drive to a few local spots before my dad would decide where he would be paddling out that morning. There were also many nights where we would be watching the Weather Channel, following a swell. That meant we’d be up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, out the door no later than 4:30, and my dad would be blasting some custom mix tapes he had recorded as we drove up the coast, hours before the sun would be up. This usually meant that they would surf at one or two local spots and the “crew” would be there long before the sun came up as well. I can remember pulling up to the beach in the dark and hearing what sounded like thunder as the sets would break. As you stood in the sand, you could feel the ground shake as sets broke and could see the vibrations level the sand.

Picture I got long before digital cameras.

My dad and his crew would usually suit up in the dark and would paddle out just as the grayness of dawn would lead to morning. Years of sitting did delegate me some responsibilities…. like watching everyone’s gear (i.e. car keys), taking pictures, but none so valuable than realizing that many of the crew relied on me to scream “Outside…. Outside” when a monster set would roll in; they would need to paddle and get out of the impact zone.When I entered my teenage years, my dad discovered snowboarding. He treated my brother and I to a penny-size budget snowboard trip when I was 16 and I fell in love with the sport. Like our surf adventures, I have over a decade of memories of crazy snowboard adventures… getting up at 2:00 a.m., driving 5 hours in rain and snow, changing in bathrooms at the lift parking lots before sun up… all that before the adventure of riding all day even began. Those are stories for another day. Continue reading →