Cherry Creek Sneak Welcomes Blind Runners

Live interview by Ashton Altieri on 7:40 am broadcast

The separate start for the blind athletes in this year's Cherry Creek Sneak 5k is truly a milestone in my life. My hope is to further the development of sports for the visually impaired and blind athletes.

I had an unexpected live interview on the Sunday morning broadcast with Ashton Altieri. The interview left no time for a warm up with my blind athlete, Kerry Kuck. That was a little nerve wracking since I had never guided Kerry before.

Kerry prefers his method of guiding and following, which is more like "towing" in adventure racing. Since he is totally blind and usually runs with his guide dog, he has become used to feeling the tension of the tether for balance.

He wanted to run sub 8:00 pace, really hoping for 7:30 pace. I thought, "no problem." I did not take into account the effort of being 110 pound woman and towing a man who weighs about 145 pounds. Let's say it adds about a minute per mile, that is according to Kerry and his experience with other guides. He did run a sub 8:00 pace, we averaged 7:45 miles.  I told him that I should have trained with a 20 pound weight vest to get him in the lower 7:00 range for the race. Towing is very different than side by side running. Here is a short clip of the start of the race.  - Deb

A few of the Fleet Feet women experimenting with hoods, green nail polish and mickey mouse awards bags (??)

Boulder Spring Half 3-27-11

Sunday was a beautiful day to race in Boulder, the weather was around 30 degrees and sunny.  I was excited to use this race to mark my current progress, as my focus spring race is the Colorado Half Marathon in a month.  I started the race with a goal to run 7:00 miles for the first 6 miles, and then run sub-6:50 miles until the finish.  I had a secondary goal to finish strong and to not get passed by anyone in the last two miles of the race.

Within the first mile of the race, my plan changed…I noticed Colleen de Reuck running several paces ahead of me.  A split decision was made to catch her and stick with her for as long as possible. Around mile four I began to realize she was slowly picking up her pace, and dropping 5 seconds a mile.  I knew that if I wanted to finish the race running, I would have to return to my original plan.   However, it was an awesome five miles as I have always admired Colleen as a runner.

I was able to stick with my original plan for the rest of the race.  It felt good to negative split the course.  I achieved all race goals, which placed me as the 5th overall woman with a time of 1:30!

Overall, great race!  Great support!  Great organization!  I am looking forward to the next Boulder Half Marathon.


Jamie

Looking Ahead

I am a little excited and fearful for the races planned this year in which I will be guiding Luanne Burke. I hope to deliver her the best guide possible.

May 15 - Littlefoot Triathlon (sprint)
May 21- National Aquathon Championships (1500M swim , 5K run)
July 24 - Denver Triathlon - Olympic Distance
Aug 7- National Para Championships Triathlon - Olympic Distance. This race will only be possible if we have enough money. It is in New York and we need to plan the expense for two people competing.

It the first year for me guiding in triathlons. Luanne is such a talented athlete that she motivates me to keep on my training schedule. We are hoping to get out on a tandem bike soon. If you see us training together, please say "Hi!"

Boulder Spring Half Marathon, 10-Mile & 10K (3.27.11)

Jamie Arnold	It was a great day Sunday morning for a race at the Boulder Spring Half Marathon, which also featured a 10-mile and 10K race. The Fleet Feet women who represented the team included: Half Marathon: Jamie Arnold, 1:30:28.46, 42nd overall, 1st in her division 10K: Tressa Breindel, 41:38.50, 12th overall, 4th in her division Janet Rooney, 42:07.45, 14th overall, 1st in her division Laurie Mizener, 48:34.18, 41st overall, 4th in her division Jen Spolnik, 52:56.12, 78th overall, 16th in her division This was the second year for this event and the course was on the traditional Boulder Half Marathon course. The Spring Half was the first major distance event held on the Colorado front range this year. Thanks also to the volunteers who helped at the race from the Women's Fleet Feet Racing team: Amanda Scott, Laurie Mizener, and Kali Abel. ~Jen Spolnik
Tressa Breindel
Janet Rooney	Laurie Mizener	Jen Spolnik

2011 Sharin' O' the Green 5K - Team Results

We placed first out of 66 teams! Pretty Good I'd say, not to mention a women's team, won the overall title. Team members at the race included: Amanda Scott, Amanda McCracken, Jamie Arnold, Deb Conley, Luanne Burke, and Kalie Abel. The team win consisted of the four fastest times of our team. Our average time was 20:02. Total time 1:20:08.

The team average would have been under 20 minutes, but as Luanne's guide, I slowed her by having a panic attack. The tight pack consisting of hard-core racers, kids, and joggers combined with the hard right turn after the first 100 meters, induced a panic attack for me. Thank you Luanne for understanding. She knew within 2 minutes what was happening, she could hear it in my footsteps. I never recovered. I was not my normal self - 7:30 pace and hyperventilating. Luanne ended up talking me through the race. Ironic isn't? Hats off to both Amanda's for taking first in their age division (10 year divisions) (20 - 29) and (30-19)! I think our team prize is a big cookie. Has it arrived yet? Deb Conley

Welcome!

Welcome to the Fleet Feet Women's Racing Team blog! This is where you can find our race reports, fabulous workout summaries, events we've been to and what our team is all about. Expect this blog to expand over the coming months as we develop a web presence in addition to our running community presence!

A bit about us, we're a team of 17 women running together for Fleet Feet Sports in Boulder, Colorado. Though we have two divisions (open and masters) we're all the same team, Fleet Feet Nike Women's Racing Team. We compete and train for anything from the 5k to ultra-marathons and have women coming from all over the US and even Europe. Our goals are to be competitive, supportive and have fun with the sport we love. We hope our enthusiasm translates into the Colorado running community as we get out to race, volunteer and support other runners.

Thanks for reading!

Kali