Tri-Dogmom

Well, apparently I have nothing else exciting to talk about than training this week. I suppose in some ways that is a good thing, i.e. my body has cooperated and I have been able to do ALL MY TRAINING. Whoot! It was a pretty big week. I did have my first 3:00 run scheduled, but will my IT band on the fritz, I decided it was too much to build from only 1 2:30min run a couple weeks ago to 2:30. Also, during my run Monday I tightened up and cut an 1:45 short to 1:20 to avoid the pain. After a massage on Monday Kylah said the IT band loosened up better than it ever has, so I was excited about that. I decided to go for 2:30 on Wed (vs 3hr) and felt pretty good so I added a bit at the end to get in 16miles. We (momo, ironshane) and I had a pretty darn good ride yesterday. Shane & I had 5:45 and Momo had 5hrs so S & I headed up to her place to add the extra mileage. Let me tell you, we were slow as all get out to get there. It usually takes us about 35mins to get to her gate and ugh,...

My first speed run. OUCH. OUCH. And More OUCH! My legs felt every step. Not because I was running so hard, but they are toast. Bulking all my workouts in before this one made it it a little tough (especially the long one, 16m on Wed)... But, I survived, and after my swim today I just have my long bike and a rest day to look forward to on Sunday! Yippeee !!! The HR's I've posted are the average HR for the Lap. I pushed it up to 180-186 (max), but that would be at the very end! The good news is the HR dropped very quickly on the rest sets and did not stay elevated. I did end up walking on my "rest" times.. and on the 1 min intervals I took :30 walk PLUS :15-:30 jog to get my legs movin again. Here's what it looked like! WU - 10 mins , (10:12m/m 150HR) 4x:15 pickups, :10rest PLUS 2.5min easy (8:59m/m 1:57 HR) 4x3:00 on 1:00 rest (walked rests) 1. 8:14m/m, 169HR 2. 7:48m/m, 173HR 3. 7:40m/m, 176HR 4. 8:02m/m, 173 2x6:00 on 2:00 rest 1. 8:11m/m, 173HR 2. 7:56m/m, ...

When I first started running (casually) in college.. I just ran. I had no idea how far I went, or any idea what kind of pace I just ran. After spending a summer in Seattle doing an internship for the Starbuck's corporate office I took to it a little bit more seriously. I ran on a treadmill back then so I could actually track my pace. Which, was somewhere between 3-6 miles and around a 9min mile (or sometimes a little faster) pace. I just ran. I ran HARD. I would get sore, but to me.. that is what it was about, feeling the burn. Sometimes I would soak through my cloths so badly, I would actually put on 2 sport bras at a time (I'm thinking maybe I had a bit more to support in that area back then?). When I trained for my first marathon a few years later I did the same thing. I wore a watch and I clocked each mile at or very close to a 9min mile pace. I'd run until I was blue in the face, and often times spend the rest of the afternoon nauseous and sore. The things I did not k...

I wrote my race report on ATT , so if you would like to check it out here's the link! Needless to say, I'm completely recovered. I wasn't sore, wasn't fatigue, just a little tired from the driving. Today I had my massage and Kylah actually said I "wasn't too bad." All things considered that is a HUGE improvement for me! Now, it's just time to move on, focus on staying, being healthy for the next 9 weeks! Cheers :-)

I'm not sure if I went into this race missing my mojo, or if the nasty, rude, uber-competitive biatches in Age Group 30-34 just ruined it for me. But, it was gone. I had a decent swim (28:30), an OK bike ~1:24-1:25 and a not so great run, PW 10k (1:07 I think)... Oh - and don't even get me started on Transitions!!! I missed my bike on T-1, couldn't get my wet suit off, and had MORE encounters with the biatches! I will write up a full race report later, but I knew some people would be asking so I decided to post something. Needless to say that no speedwork and crazy long workouts with a low HR do not equal any "get up and go" speed in an Olympic race. The weird part. Nothing hurt, nothing even felt strenuous (even with HORRID wind and ice cold water). And, for the first time I finished a race and just went "oh, well that's over.." instead of. "Shit, I want to puke. OUCH that hurt, etc.".. Today, I'm not even sore. At. ALL. People, I get...

So, out of nowhere a few weeks ago I was like, I want Race wheels..... So, i started diggin around on Ebay and got my head wrapped around the HED 3s..... Our friend Ric has them, and well they LOOK cool, and he says they are FAST... Just so happens that a girl that swims masters with us has a pair of 650s, and she's retiring from cycling (only used them for about half of an IM race).... Hmmm . Well, someone was set to borrow them for IMAZ , so I would get to try them out after that. Unfortunately due to the nasty conditions here over the weekend, that girl did not complete the bike leg so the wheels once again, were barely used. So, I picked the wheels up yesterday and my bike biatch did some switcharoo of the cassettes and, wah -la.... Mini Me before.... and mini me 'big pimpin ' She looks pretty hot huh? Funny thing is, the wheels make her look EVEN smaller! So - I took her out for a test ride today. Shane's been feeling crappy so he hasn't done much trainin...

I'm not really sure I could sit here and write down all the details of Sunday, or even this weekend.... There were so many bloggers out here, and some of them have already posted pictures and stories, so I think it's best to let everyone share their story, their perspective and because MOST people are so much better about taking pictures, I'll send you on to their pictures as well. The weekend started out with a BANG! Andy hosted a fabulous carb -load dinner for everyone to get together, meet, and also reveal the surprise of the night. The pictures do not do this justice. It was one of the coolest things I have every been a part of.... Duane might think he is the luckiest man around, but honestly if you saw the people who helped make this happened, and the looks on their faces as Duane drew his name. You'd know that luck feeling was shared by everyone. I got to meet several bloggers , some again .... and some for the first time ! I am going to let Bold recap Satu...

Today was a much need mental and physical boost for me. I've really been struggling with the training. I mean, every day I WANT to do it all, but my body is just not cooperating. Sure I've been taking away the miles, but that's it... It feels like just going through the motions, not TRAINING. Last year everything was new. It was like every day was a new page in my book of becoming an Ironman . This year, it's been more of a guessing game. While at times my speeds have been faster the pain is holding me back. The pain, along with some fear. The ups and downs of good run, bad run were really starting to get to me. Rather than complain ( ok , except to momo cause well, I talk to her all day long!) I've really tried to hold it in. I mean, if I heard someone bitching about the training then my first thought would be then DON'T DO IT, duh! But to me it's not about the desire. The desire is there. It's there every single day. It's the constan...

I met Sharon in 2001 while training for my first marathon . We were part of a group raising money for UCP, and while we actually worked for the same company at the time, we did not actually "meet" until the training started. Through the years Sharon & I have remained close friends, and while we definitely do not see each other as much as we should, we always seem to catch up. She is an absolute hoot. If you met her you would understand what I'm saying. She's real, down to earth and just a good-hearted person. She also just happens to be from Spokane, just like me. It's great to laugh about some of the places, people and things from back home... Like, you know how it's STILL snowing there, and we are "chilled" in the mornings hear when it is 60degrees out. Yah, it doesn't take long to acclimate to Arizona. I have the utmost respect for Sharon. She's several years older than me, in fact just a few years younger than my mom. In age, that is...

Week 9's numbers were pretty impressive (just under 19hrs including ~2hrs of strength)! Well, I didn't make ALL of my running, but still managed 25miles (in 3 days, no brick). Friday's long run started out fantastic, but after I dropped off the dogs and headed out for my second loop the IT band started hurting pretty bad. I made it just over 10miles, but was hoping for 15. I should have made my ART appt for Wed, vs Friday to help loosen it up for the long run.... This is probably the best week I've felt in several weeks. The HR is finally completely back to normal, and I finally felt like myself on the bike. I was really starting to worry that mini-me & I had lost our mojo. After yesterday's ride though, I'm happy again! With our IMAZ friends in taper mode, & Shane out of town, it was up to momo & me to keep Daniel in line and get his butt out there training (yes he has a reputation for NOT showing up!). So, Melisa & I left my house about 6:45 a...

I was sitting in my office this afternoon doing some work when the doorbell rang and the dogs started TOTALLY freaking out... It was the UPS guy... So, I was expecting a couple of things, but to my surprise my entire front entrance was FULL of boxes! Yippeeee! Even though I knew what it all was, I wasn't expecting it all today, and who doesn't like to get fun stuff in the mail? So, first up... was the biggest, most heaviest box. I could barely lift it to get it in the house. Yesterday I made contact with a PowerGel distributor and placed a rather large order of PowerGel for us to sell on the website . I've tried about every type of gel there is out there, and always came back to power gel. It's easy to get down, and I like the flavors... Well, except Vanilla. I trained for my first marathon and only used vanilla PowerGel. For some reason I've never been able to stomach them again.... Next up my new tri-shorts!!!! People, I've saved you all from a gruesome post a...