New Year!
It's been far too long since I've updated so in an effort to start fresh and hopefully keep updating this a bit more regularly I'll start with where I left off:
September:
Post IMCDA it was far too much work and not enough play, but the big highlight was welcoming our new baby V to our family. After the loss of Juliette, Zeko was so lonely. Every time we walked around town he tried to meet and greet all the dogs to find friends. We were at a loss as what we should do, then one of those right time right place situations presented itself...
In the months after Juliette's passing, I was "mentoring" one of my athletes who was about to get her very first Vizsla baby and well, somehow, as fate would have it there was a special little girl for us to bring home as well...
Juniper, AkA, June-Bug traveled on her first and only airplane from AZ back to CDA to join our family. She's gorgeous, feisty, sweet, snuggly and the most playful tom-boy little scrapper I've ever seen! She and Zeko have become the best of friends and I'm not sure one could be without the other. As crazy as a house with 2 puppies sounds (and is!) I can't imagine it any other way. Both of these little rascals have a piece of my bubba with them and it all just feels right. Zeko got Bubba's namesake and June Bug has his lineage (like for real! Baxter's dad is on her pedigree as a great grandfather).
October & November:
New bike year! Over the summer my bike started having some pretty significant issues and I found out there was a crack forming on the rear-drop. 5 years and 7 Ironman later it was definitely time. I worked with my LBS favorite at Regroup Cycles, balanced budget and wants (di2!) and ended up getting a Cervelo p3. I'm still getting comfortable on the bike, but immediately fell in love with the electronic shifting! Looking forward to spending a lot of time on my new toy this spring!
As we were adjusting back to life in Arizona and life with 2 very active puppies, work life seemed to take over. While Shane was getting back into the swing of triathlon training I was focusing on what I had time for with my crazy work schedule and I decided to train for a marathon. I needed something to keep me active and sane outside of my long hours and it was the perfect running weather! I signed up for the Tucson marathon with the BFF and was loving all the running. Long runs were dare I say, easy? I decided to shoot for a BQ time, but not a PR. 4 years from my last marathon I've aged up and my BQ time for 2018 is 3:45. I paced my runs for a 3:37 finish time which would get a BQ with a 5' early registration, but also help pace the BFF to a BQ.... My body held up very well and honestly, I didn't stress the race itself once....
December:
Work continued to be stressful and more than I even knew I was looking forward to a week long break we had planned in Mexico post marathon to let the body and mind recover. Sitting at my computer 10-14hrs a day between my day job and working with athletes (my love!) was really draining on me....
Lindsay and I headed down to Tucson Friday night before the marathon, planned our matching outfits and had a solid strategy. I would click off the miles right on pace, hold our water, refill when needed and be the race pacer extraordinaire. All good in theory, and very much in plan with what we had done during training, I would get her to that finish.
Unfortunately, my body had other plans. From the start of the race I had nothing. The paces felt hard, and I had NO gears. I tried to keep my suffering to myself, but after about 13 miles I just knew I could not do what I intended for the day. I looked at Lindsay and she looked great, so I was firm, straight forward and just let her know she had to go on without me. I *hoped* I could dial the effort back and still get in a 3:40ish BQ, but she could push on for the < BQ time. I don't know if it was truly all my body or if I was just mentally not there to push after that, but the next 13miles I felt like I could curl up in a ball on the side of the road and just sleep. I somehow got through that race in a reversal role having Lindsay standing worried at the finish waiting for me. So proud of her for pushing on with a huge PR, just shy of the BQ goal...
Once the sore muscles recovered I got MAD. Mad that A) my work life and stress had such an affect on what really makes me happy, and B) questioning my grit that I couldn't push through that race. So, I did what any sane (ha!) person would do and I signed up for another marathon 8 weeks later...
Oh, I also turned 39 celebrating with my close friends, FANTASTIC dinner at home, spa day and chocolate cake.. All my favorites!
September:
Post IMCDA it was far too much work and not enough play, but the big highlight was welcoming our new baby V to our family. After the loss of Juliette, Zeko was so lonely. Every time we walked around town he tried to meet and greet all the dogs to find friends. We were at a loss as what we should do, then one of those right time right place situations presented itself...
In the months after Juliette's passing, I was "mentoring" one of my athletes who was about to get her very first Vizsla baby and well, somehow, as fate would have it there was a special little girl for us to bring home as well...
Juniper, AkA, June-Bug traveled on her first and only airplane from AZ back to CDA to join our family. She's gorgeous, feisty, sweet, snuggly and the most playful tom-boy little scrapper I've ever seen! She and Zeko have become the best of friends and I'm not sure one could be without the other. As crazy as a house with 2 puppies sounds (and is!) I can't imagine it any other way. Both of these little rascals have a piece of my bubba with them and it all just feels right. Zeko got Bubba's namesake and June Bug has his lineage (like for real! Baxter's dad is on her pedigree as a great grandfather).
October & November:
New bike year! Over the summer my bike started having some pretty significant issues and I found out there was a crack forming on the rear-drop. 5 years and 7 Ironman later it was definitely time. I worked with my LBS favorite at Regroup Cycles, balanced budget and wants (di2!) and ended up getting a Cervelo p3. I'm still getting comfortable on the bike, but immediately fell in love with the electronic shifting! Looking forward to spending a lot of time on my new toy this spring!
As we were adjusting back to life in Arizona and life with 2 very active puppies, work life seemed to take over. While Shane was getting back into the swing of triathlon training I was focusing on what I had time for with my crazy work schedule and I decided to train for a marathon. I needed something to keep me active and sane outside of my long hours and it was the perfect running weather! I signed up for the Tucson marathon with the BFF and was loving all the running. Long runs were dare I say, easy? I decided to shoot for a BQ time, but not a PR. 4 years from my last marathon I've aged up and my BQ time for 2018 is 3:45. I paced my runs for a 3:37 finish time which would get a BQ with a 5' early registration, but also help pace the BFF to a BQ.... My body held up very well and honestly, I didn't stress the race itself once....
December:
Work continued to be stressful and more than I even knew I was looking forward to a week long break we had planned in Mexico post marathon to let the body and mind recover. Sitting at my computer 10-14hrs a day between my day job and working with athletes (my love!) was really draining on me....
Lindsay and I headed down to Tucson Friday night before the marathon, planned our matching outfits and had a solid strategy. I would click off the miles right on pace, hold our water, refill when needed and be the race pacer extraordinaire. All good in theory, and very much in plan with what we had done during training, I would get her to that finish.
Unfortunately, my body had other plans. From the start of the race I had nothing. The paces felt hard, and I had NO gears. I tried to keep my suffering to myself, but after about 13 miles I just knew I could not do what I intended for the day. I looked at Lindsay and she looked great, so I was firm, straight forward and just let her know she had to go on without me. I *hoped* I could dial the effort back and still get in a 3:40ish BQ, but she could push on for the < BQ time. I don't know if it was truly all my body or if I was just mentally not there to push after that, but the next 13miles I felt like I could curl up in a ball on the side of the road and just sleep. I somehow got through that race in a reversal role having Lindsay standing worried at the finish waiting for me. So proud of her for pushing on with a huge PR, just shy of the BQ goal...
As planned, we spend the next week playing (or laying) on the beach recovering. I had a lot of time to assess the race and converse with Michelle on what happened. I was trained and perfectly capable of running a 3:30-3:35, yet it just didn't happen? It's been a very long time since I had FAILED at a goal. I'm very realistic and know I get out of my training what I put into it. While my triathlon training over the past 2 years has not been what it was before due to life and work stress, I was very aware that my results would be affected, this was different...
I had my blood work evaluated and also talked about my mindset during the race with Michelle (perks of having the same coach for over 6 years, she knows me as well as I know myself). Long story short changes were necessary on both a health aspect (blood work) and my mind.
Once the sore muscles recovered I got MAD. Mad that A) my work life and stress had such an affect on what really makes me happy, and B) questioning my grit that I couldn't push through that race. So, I did what any sane (ha!) person would do and I signed up for another marathon 8 weeks later...
Oh, I also turned 39 celebrating with my close friends, FANTASTIC dinner at home, spa day and chocolate cake.. All my favorites!
January:
Continued plugging along recovering and maintaining run fitness. I'd lie if I said it felt good. My body was tired and my runs felt horrible. I started making a few changes to my diet and supplement intake after reviewing my blood work with my naturalpat doctor. I knew these changes would take some time, but I was committed to getting my fitness and health back. In additional to the personal changes I was also working on some changes with the job.....
Oh, and a fun, crazy trip to Napa with our BFFs to celebrate Wade's 40th! We are nothing but trouble when we all pair up, but it was all so much fun.
February:
Somewhere just a couple weeks out from the marathon my body started to feel better. Runs were less of a struggle and speed less forced. My sleep was improving and I just felt better! My thyroid dose had been increased and I had added back in my fish oil, magnesium and multi each morning. I continued to drink my beet elite each day I remembered and my system seemed to respond well. I couldn't help but still have some fear and doubt about the marathon after the Tucson catastrophe, but I was trying to trust in my training and prepare myself to have to hurt on race day. It was definitely a different position to be in then I was a few months back where I was confident, my run paces and efforts confirming I was ready, to now where I was more scared. I was only running about 25-30 miles a week, but had upped the swim & biking to supplement and just wondered how this would translate to a solid marathon...
Race day came and in usual Lindsay & Krista fashion our morning was full of comedy. The weather was absolutely perfect. Super cool and crisp, little to no wind and a gorgeous sunrise. My plan was to take advantage of the first 8 miles of down hill and keep the effort the same, but not hold back on my pace. Lindsay and I stayed together for about 7 miles when I had to pull off for a potty break. It took me another 2 miles to catch back up with her and even though we weren't running "together" this time, there was something comforting about being with her. I started to feel the pace a bit more around the half way mark but I knew I had extra time. I just kept plugging away getting to my pacer (it pays to have athletes that are much stronger runners than you!) at mile 18 and somewhere around there Lindsay and I got a bit separated (she had my husband waiting for her at 18 so I knew she'd be ok!). My body was feeling a bit tired and I just let her know 8:20s instead of 8:15s... The next few miles clicked off and then around 22 I did the math and realized I could run nearly 10' pace and still get <3:40 2018="" 3:38="" 5="" 6ish="" 8="" 90="" a="" after="" another="" at="" behind="" bq.="" bq="" buffer.="" buffer="" but="" didn="" div="" epic="" finish.="" finished="" for="" giving="" going="" her="" i="" in="" indsay="" into="" just="" kill="" me="" min="" myself="" nbsp="" of="" one="" point="" pr="" say="" shy="" stopped="" t="" that="" the="" trying="" tucson.="" weeks="" with="" wouldn="">
This race was about so much more than a BQ. It was about reminding myself that I can still get out there fight and succeed. My racing (due to lack of training time) has been much less successful in the past couple years and I would REALLY like the time to put back into it so I can see the benefits in the on race day, and this was just a nice reminder that it's still there... I just need to get back to the grind!
March:
I'm working on a big change with my job to help me with all the work stress and time. It's a change moving me into a position that is much more in line with my strengths (less technical, more client services), but it's been a very very long transition process waiting for the approval high up the chain. I talk with my soon to be boss quite often, and I trust he's doing what he can to make this happen in the interest of not only keeping me on his accounts, but not losing me in general. Each week I wait for more news, but just keep plugging away until it happens....
My body is recovering from the marathon(s) and I'm looking forward to putting in a lot of bike miles this month! My first race is a relay (bike) for our local Tri 4 the Cure race in 2 weeks then my favorite of the year, the Rocky Point Triathlon! Outside of that, I will race one of the local Olympics and then we're off to CDA where Shane & I are both racing CDA 70.3 at the end of June. I still haven't decided past that race. I would like to not be riding 5-6hrs all summer long and enjoy some of the summer lake life doing different things, so only time will tell. If work lets up and I'm able to have more training time, I may do Ironman Canada in Whistler... The beauty of some of these races not selling out!
And lastly, but certainly one of the most exciting things of the year are some changes to our TeamBSC. I couldn't be more excited about the group of athletes I'm working with this year. Some have been with me from the start and just keep progressing and others that are new to me, but I'm just itching to bring out their potential!
Additionally, we will have an updated website and some exciting things happening with our amazing group of coaches and athletes. Stay tuned for a fun announcement soon :)
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