Tri-Dogmom

So I was just thinking how great I've been feeling over the last 2 weeks. Which, is in fact a HUGE improvement of how crappy I was feeling the 2 weeks before that. Seems like it's all just falling into place. Which is good, cause frankly the way this training started and went for the first couple months with my stupid IT band, I was a little bit worried... This was my bulk swim week. 3 sets broken up to 6000yards, 4400 yards & 3800 yards. Actually, Wed was supposed to be the 3800 but I felt so good I just did the 4400 so today i could do the 38. Which So did not happen. The first 500 easy warmup I knew I was in trouble. My arms wouldn't loosen up. They felt like they had bricks attached to my shoulders.... Which, is kinda funny cause there was a high school swim team having their first swim practice at the same time and they were HOLDING bricks while they did kick drills for like EVER... I mean seriously, it had to have been like 10 or so mins they were doing t...

So I'm gonna have to say that pretty much momo and I ROCK. I mean, you've all prolly read this story. And, well I have to say that at that point I wasn't ready to toot my own horn. But, after YESTERDAY. I am ready. I say bring it on, with 110degrees, then 55degrees and 20mph winds and RAIN a week later. And, after all that, momo and I will still be ready for the challenge and we'll be ready to "chick" any one who comes our way.. Well, cause that is how WE roll! While I will never claim to be the fastest or the best competitor, right now I'm giving myself some serious props for being hard core and tough! So, more on this in a minute. I do need to retract a few things first... and set the tone a little bit. This whole 7hr ride that was put on our schedule has been really intimidating the hell out of me. I mean, really who wants to end a ~20hr training week with 7HRS on the bike? Yah, not me either. But 16 weeks somehow came and went and here we...

Today was REALLY REALLY tough for me... From the second I got out of bed (AT 4:30am) and my feet were achy at the touch of the hard floor... to the COOL down of my afternoon swim... After having a great training week last week, and a pretty good run/swim Monday, I was surprised by how heavy I felt.. Granted, it's been hot as a you know what here in the desert, but I wasn't expecting to feel so blah all of a sudden. You know my buddy/trainer/friend Daniel... He's doing CDA with us. The guy has some of the most natural talent of anyone I have ever met. He can bust out 6-6:30min miles in a relay, after pretty much no training. Oh, and on Carls Jr burgers for fuel at 2am... Have you ever seen anyone so focused? Focused AND then complete opposite, fun, obnoxious, etc once his run was overwith... Over the years I've known Daniel, and trained with Daniel he's consistently talked of his mental toughness. How he is so mentally strong in a race, that it literally carries him ...

After a pretty eventful weekend, Monday started out with a BANG..... Do you know what it feels like to go from like 88-90 for a high to 106 in just a few days? Well, let me tell you. It's not so fun. Ask my dogs. I think I nearly killed them this am. As per usual, I got up at 5am. I actually woke up on my own at 4:30 and SHOULD have just gotten out of bed, but I didn't. My tummy was a little upset (more on that in a bit), so I was very slow to moving, and once again did not leave for my run until almost 6am. I grabbed Bax & Abby and headed out. I planned on taking them for a just under 8mile run... It's one of their favorite loops... Rolling hills up, then a nice down and flat to home. At the beginning of this training session that loop took me 1:20 - I had to go really slow to bring my HR to the low HR zone (up to 154) on the hills. It now takes me about 1:15. When I stepped out my door it didn't' feel to bad. Of course that was in the shade, under my patio. Ju...

112.5miles, 6:32. 112 degrees. Ok, maybe that is a SLIGHT exaggeration, but that's what 90degs felt like!! And, NO it wasn't a dry heat.. The last few days have had a lot of moisture, and we're feeling it!! Now seriously, shouldn't that mean that we can taper now??!! Unfortunately next week is an even bigger cycling week, and there are two really big swim weeks left as well.. I'm so glad to have that ride done. That tops of my 21+ hr training week... And tomorrow. Tomorrow is my rest day. HURRAY! It was actually a pretty good ride. I mapped it out perfectly (thank you very much) and never hit a wall, or bonked or anything. Best ride in a while actually. We weren't super speedy or anything, just felt a good sustained energy for the whole thing. And, we did a LOT of climbing...(~6000ft total...)... Oh, and FYI - CDA is just over 8000ft total ascent... Ok, I think it's time to go eat. AGAIN. Week 15. Just over 21hrs including 2:15 of strength.... Made all my wo...

Well, I'm STILL waiting for my sister to send me her Mexico pics, so I decided to just post some of mine, but first a big big sigh of relief. Today I was able to do my peak long run. My 3hr run. Actually, I was supposed to do an additional one 2 weeks ago, but I hadn't built up that far yet and didn't ' want to risk the IT band... so I think I did a 2:40 that week instead. It was actually Pretty darn good. I did 2 loops.. the first one with the dogs, which was fun. We had some stormy weather which brought a lot of humidity and cleared the horribly polluted air a bit and also cooled the temp as well so that first hour was very comfortable. Of course I always wish I started earlier, but it seems to be taking me :45 to get going lately, and I wasn't getting up any earlier than 5! We live close to some mountains so pretty much unless I just head West, which is way boring and too much traffic, then I have some hills. Nothing big, but some good ups and downs. 2000'...

We've started week 15. I'm in sorta a bloggin funk. I can't seem to sit down and write anything... The past few weeks have been a bit rough for me. I feel like I'm walking around/driving/working out in a cloud, so to speak. After a fantastic long run last Wed, my body just HURT after. Not sure why.. HR was low... everything felt great during. I've also had some family stuff going on, that well... I'm just sorta in another sorta cloud with that...I know I'll come out of my funk, but right now, I'm sorta just going through the motions.. I'm still planning a fun/picture post from Mexico, I'm just waiting on my sister to send me some pics! Week 14 numbers were pretty good, considering we were in Mexico thru Tuesday... Here's the chart. ~15 hours including some strength (just core) stuff.. The next few weeks are going to be tough. I have my peak run (3hrs) on Wed.... Peak bike (7:00/:30 brick) next Sat and peak swim the following week (6000yard...

Apparently being a lazy lush is exactly what I needed! We had a fabulous long weekend in Mexico.... I feel rested, revived... a little bloated, and ready for the next month of tough tough training before the taper. I ate a lot, drank a lot, worked on my ugly tan lines from swimming masters, and did I say drank a lot? Oh, and I had a little shadow for 2 days. My niece Taylor... she is QUITE the doll! Oh yah, and I ran a 10k. It wasn't my fastest by far, but it was a nice good steady effort after a night of margaritas and maybe a shot or two of hornitos. I think my Garmin said 55: and some change, a 8:55 pace. Although the race results show me about a minute slower, I'm just chalking that up to "Mexico."... And, to top it all off I woke up this am and headed out for my long run. It was my BEST long run in well over a year. I felt strong (again.. still a little bloated) and my legs felt light. I was able to do the full 2:30, including some hills with no pain. 15.55 miles...

Well, this week came and went. Literally. It wasn't great, that is for sure. My body was on strike. Every workout hurt. Most of them I struggled with. It was a very weird feeling actually. My muscles felt totally fine, but when I would actually try to use them, they would protest. It doesn't worry me for the race, but it does remind me how important it is to listen and take care of your body. This week has been crazy busy with work, and trying to fit everything in and I just didn't eat properly (enough) or stay hydrated. I was also due for an ART treatment, which I didn't have time for, and thus at the end of my speed run on Wednesday, the IT band started hurting... SO, my week 13 is going to be about half of the distance of last week. We had a condensed schedule due to the 10K we added so thankfully it switched things up a bit and we lost our long bike ride and long run (whoot!). Tuesday we were supposed to do a 3:30 easy bike ride.. but Shane & I Struggled throu...