tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63591472115365967772024-02-07T00:05:14.951-08:00Tri-DogmomA diary of my Ironman CDA training, and other little life adventures...Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.comBlogger491125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-62018517007054189692023-10-22T11:00:00.000-07:002023-10-22T11:00:42.973-07:00Kona 23'<p>It's been a while! I started this blog/journal to document training adventures for my first Ironman in 2007. It was a fun adventure and *back then* blogging was the social media of today. It connected me with so many special people that I met and continue to keep in contact with (albeit, not enough). Life got busy, training was more of a lifestyle then a new adventure and sharing my daily with the world became just, well irrelevant.</p><p>While so much has changed since my last post, there is still a lot of the same. My love for swimming, biking and running, dogs and wine is still there, but my desire to keep pushing and find new boundaries has definitely faded. Over 20 years in this endurance world I've found more in myself then I ever dreamed possible. I've met the most amazing people and traveled to beautiful places. </p><p>In 2021 after several years of pandemic chaos, I brought myself back to top end fitness and lined up for my 14th Ironman and 8th IMCDA. I had a solid day, 6th in my AG and enough to secure my first ever Kona qualification. It was a DREAM come true. After 2 postponements due to Covid, I was finally on the island racing in my first Ironman World Championships. </p><p>The week was everything I thought it would be. The fittest, craziest humans all in one place with women and men racing on their own days. I was happy, excited and scared. Tears of joy, accomplishment and fear were shed at bike check in. </p><p>Without going into too much detail, unfortunately the race itself was just a blur. I felt awful from start to finish. Like I knew what to do, but my body just wouldn't respond to my brain. It was the longest most painfully hard day of my athletic career, but I made it to the finish line just in time to puke my brains out and curl into a feverish ball at the bottom of the shower with steaming hot water pouring on my back at the rental. I vowed off Ironman and Kona (which everyone knew was BS). </p><p>As per usual, as the days went on and I realized I had been sick with something during the race and several days after (fever, chills, headache, nasal drip, congestion, sore throat), my brain cleared and of course the thought of a redo was already planted.... </p><p>I had already signed up for IMCDA months before Kona. A plan to try and qualify with my good friend and athlete that I've coached for many years. She raced Kona in 2016 and I was unable to join her. I promised if she got back there I would be there the next time. </p><p>We mad plans to go to AZ in April/May so I could get outside and ride my bike before IMCDA. I got Covid just before while in Boston for the marathon and it knocked me out. I suffered through deep chest congestion and had to be on prednisone for over a week to get my oxygen back to normal. The fitness slowly came and IMCDA was an amazing day for me. I landed 4th in my AG and got that Kona slot. </p><p>The summer was full of some off season fun on the lake but also keeping fitness and then a short re-build to Kona. My cycling felt the best and swim was finally coming back. Run was solid, but not my best. I was excited for a redo on the island. No expectations other than feel better, race happy and stronger than the year before.</p><p>Race week was so fun. Sharing the experience with friends and my Wyn Republic family was a blessing. I was calm, happy. I had one little hip niggle that was worrying me, but on race day it was forgotten. It was a week of all women! The first ever women's only Kona race. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjw3e8ucpGb41etDkg20RQViiLsm9AlgoQ8o25evzKH7PB1FjEgtwnKXRTTuKis6ehBb-_VKfLq-byDTePMNuDhVgA3x54GP-HDNlf9mYq0S-1Lx3eTqWbfVCizJLV72GFMHmaC_BuexBdktYuDUD1fkpE_6oIvjb6U9xHlRzMq57uaQKOIcns6hOpukV/s4032/CB349691-DB34-4C98-A4EF-F173C1608333.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjw3e8ucpGb41etDkg20RQViiLsm9AlgoQ8o25evzKH7PB1FjEgtwnKXRTTuKis6ehBb-_VKfLq-byDTePMNuDhVgA3x54GP-HDNlf9mYq0S-1Lx3eTqWbfVCizJLV72GFMHmaC_BuexBdktYuDUD1fkpE_6oIvjb6U9xHlRzMq57uaQKOIcns6hOpukV/s320/CB349691-DB34-4C98-A4EF-F173C1608333.heic" width="320" /></a></p><p>It was special. I remember while standing in line to get my Kona slot in CDA, a woman in front of me was so elated that she got a roll down slot she was just crying her eyes out. I know there was talk about people getting slots that didn't really deserve to be there, but anyone that does the work, gets the opportunity and is THAT thankful DOES deserve to be there, regardless of how they got there or what place they came in to qualify.</p><p>Let's lift women up, not knock them down!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP7NpMtU68KUkJnruACPC-SpLXe5AxjI9wHxH92VS2cjguBn4ywtTFrQ7YpgjIGeI1QylgDjaCFtx5hJybMU96i-5v7yj2y9ZdVAOH5kZ9YOkqyLdGZW8eck_J5Jy4qR5QouoJ_8Wc77Fc3PsNu_O5tIoFO7R2vkgGQC7MIvBDY7yVbykJBaoReTKjKnB9/s4032/C995C87E-F5B0-4D14-BF0D-33FE31478816.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP7NpMtU68KUkJnruACPC-SpLXe5AxjI9wHxH92VS2cjguBn4ywtTFrQ7YpgjIGeI1QylgDjaCFtx5hJybMU96i-5v7yj2y9ZdVAOH5kZ9YOkqyLdGZW8eck_J5Jy4qR5QouoJ_8Wc77Fc3PsNu_O5tIoFO7R2vkgGQC7MIvBDY7yVbykJBaoReTKjKnB9/s320/C995C87E-F5B0-4D14-BF0D-33FE31478816.heic" width="240" /></a></div><p>Race morning was so seamless. I was in the last wave, starting after 2000 people. I knew it would be crowded, but I wasn't fully prepared for a block wall of people in the swim. I stayed calm, I tried to find clear water. I got stung by something pretty aggressively in the last half of the race, but it was soon forgotten as soon as I was out of the water (until later when I looked in the mirror to find a huge blood/fat lip). </p><p></p><p>Swim Time: 1:16:26. Faster than last year, 3-4' slower than I should have been</p><p>I took my time in T-1. I was starving half the swim (probably should have eaten something more while waiting to start) so I grabbed a gel and ate it while running into the tent. I dried my feet, slathered on sunscreen (last year I got SO sunburned) and headed out. 8:30</p><p>The first 10 miles of the bike was chaos. There was no space. Bikes all the way across the road and no where to go. I stayed patient, stayed out of aerobars and did my best not to intentionally stay in a draft. </p><p>Out on the Queen K it took about 30 more miles to open up. I felt good, but not great. Watts were about 10w low, but I was passing people the entire time so I just ignored power, started eating and grabbed water at every aid station. The first couple aid stations were so crowded, I had to physically stop to get water. I kept my cool, knowing it was costing me time, but there was no point in skipping the water as it would come back to hurt me later. </p><p>Conditions were super mild. It was warm, but not blazing. Some wind, but not a lot. I knew I wasn't going to have the best bike split, so my focus was now, get all the nutrition in and save it for the run - I NEEDED redemption from last year's 4:40 run split. I stopped for several minutes in special needs and helped someone who's bag was missing - gave her all the extra gels I'd grabbed. Went to the bathroom, applied more sunscreen then headed out. I had some mental lows on the second half. Just didn't have the grit to push, but I stayed in it. It was so fun getting back to town seeing the pros finish the run. By the time I got to transition, Lucy Charles had just finished. Last year I got to see the women running the last 10k, this year they were already finished.</p><p>Bike time 6:09:37 - ~15' faster than last year. I definitely had the fitness and the conditions for much faster, but it just wasn't my day on the bike.</p><p>Nutrition: 90grams carbs per hour: 1 maurten gel, 3.5 bottles of concentrated Tailwind, 2 maurten bars & 3.5 packages of chews. Water at every aid station</p><p>T-2: 8:53. I used porta potty, slathered sunscreen, downed 1/2 bottle of LMNT to top off sodium and changed my socks.</p><p>As I left transition, took in my first gel (of 7) for the run my hip that had been bothering me was in a BAD place. I was so worried I'd end up with a stress fracture. I don't know why my brain goes there. Whenever it's a foot or hip issue I get scared. I've only had one stress reaction in my 20 years of endurance sport and it was training for my first marathon in the worst possible shoes. </p><p>As the first few miles went on, the pain, or feeling rather, subsided. I looked at my garmin and was running WAY too fast, but already I was excited. Last year my effort felt like a 8' mile and I could barely run a 10' pace. First mile clicked at 8:40 - oops. My plan was to avg 10' pace so run 9:30 then add 30" for aid stations. I was capable fo running faster, but I wanted to be conservative and wanted the pace to last. I saw Shane & Mark dressed in their hula outfits. I was happy, laughing and confident. I chose NOT to describe my hip issue, because if admitted it was there, I might just use that later when I was struggling. It was a mental tactic that I chose to use and will probably be proud of that for a very long time.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_IIFFYP6T2CcoRaPIbLoapJIVKiXmmO-fk9F-MSnCyf5Fpsyy2VJz4fzPbUXbBwK5_jofSeWNam-yoa8sYVaRM_auHJPiRRwQH5xC7AWPtxIAkOh7OswjVZmAJcJWTFW3fRMJMHcxut0F9FMzHDLTV8ZbPgzmddssnVX6vDQ8Mnlh5MXua11CfBGl_Kk/s3088/F849C391-3AD0-4BF5-BE27-70880B14387B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_IIFFYP6T2CcoRaPIbLoapJIVKiXmmO-fk9F-MSnCyf5Fpsyy2VJz4fzPbUXbBwK5_jofSeWNam-yoa8sYVaRM_auHJPiRRwQH5xC7AWPtxIAkOh7OswjVZmAJcJWTFW3fRMJMHcxut0F9FMzHDLTV8ZbPgzmddssnVX6vDQ8Mnlh5MXua11CfBGl_Kk/s320/F849C391-3AD0-4BF5-BE27-70880B14387B.jpeg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbLp9dTF5P-0RSLpIDBoXf2R8nA1SMwLRCGxK-Hzky9KtJDPxx8rXMZmfRi846N2buWq70ii5tMnh-7lcOtHShyphenhyphen6GkaWHfXg8X7J3qoLOO9zv-elnnswgz9w98MwhGuUjgA6YjPesKAynv8gbfMrVwhsKMapoxji0Xmam6STyuq_0I0ZVHKRVXV11UXo3/s3708/F397E9A0-469F-43B9-AAD6-0013C5E9953F.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3708" data-original-width="2077" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbLp9dTF5P-0RSLpIDBoXf2R8nA1SMwLRCGxK-Hzky9KtJDPxx8rXMZmfRi846N2buWq70ii5tMnh-7lcOtHShyphenhyphen6GkaWHfXg8X7J3qoLOO9zv-elnnswgz9w98MwhGuUjgA6YjPesKAynv8gbfMrVwhsKMapoxji0Xmam6STyuq_0I0ZVHKRVXV11UXo3/s320/F397E9A0-469F-43B9-AAD6-0013C5E9953F.heic" width="179" /></a></div><p>The hip discomfort subsided and my run stride felt great. I made it to mile 13 on my garmin in 2:01. I thought, even with slowing I could still go sub 10' pace or around 4:15. The queen k felt longer than I remembered, but I was till very much in it. Last year, I walked so much of the false flat out to the energy lab. This year, I didn't walk at all. I jogged, spent more time at each aid station and I cheered for everyone I could. Focusing on others and encouraging is my mental fuel. It FEEDS me an brings me joy.</p>In the energy lab the sun was setting and it was gorgeous. I never felt too hot. I never felt too tired. I did roll my ankle at an aid station, but quickly ran it off and kept moving forward. I ran with the nicest person, Adrienne. She had a guide and they were so positive and had the best energy. I later found out she was an autistic athlete that had been honored with a chance to race in Kona. It was pure joy running with her for several miles and as she passed me at one point she reached out her hand to me. We grabbed hands for a minute and continued to leap frog back and forth for several miles. It was special.<p></p><p>Back on the highway and while things started to get harder, I was still IN it. I took my last half gel at mile 22 as that's as much as I could get down. I didn't want to fade. Last year, I was so delirious in the dark the lat 10k. I was dizzy and running sideways. This year I used the light ahead to keep moving forward.</p><p>As I turned onto Ali'i I felt the most overwhelming satisfaction. Not just in my day, but in my entire journey. I crossed the finish line, not with my hands in the air, but with a big breath of relief. I felt I had done what I needed to do. I felt at peace with the distance, with my not perfect, but damn good day. </p><p>Run time: 4:12:27 - 30" per mile faster than plan, 28' faster than last year.</p><p>Total time 11:55:52 - ~45' Kona PR. </p><p>It's been a week and I'm still so happy. Settled. A year or so ago, I thought it would be a fun goal to complete 20 IM, in 20 years finishing the 20th when I'm 49/50. It's been 16 years with 17 Ironman so it's still possible, if I chose to reach for that goal, but I feel no pressure or internal battle to achieve it. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggG9ZV2Cu97-bxm7hOqUJ4Xd47wso4XIZpY_lT3yww-WEi92DMgRHfZdCF4kqL2RVjUwOWOLZHHUQg8qmrGH2PQQeXSXgBUUVAKJZqoBKj0utxGP3ASqjKJ3_l_oH7uecnTsOhNQ8u50gOAgPtnmeS3YPt-pot7hgDJ_ADeucmCoosECHligMaSrZ1NxN0/s4032/3D350F77-A31B-4038-9B1C-67DDE44D4580.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggG9ZV2Cu97-bxm7hOqUJ4Xd47wso4XIZpY_lT3yww-WEi92DMgRHfZdCF4kqL2RVjUwOWOLZHHUQg8qmrGH2PQQeXSXgBUUVAKJZqoBKj0utxGP3ASqjKJ3_l_oH7uecnTsOhNQ8u50gOAgPtnmeS3YPt-pot7hgDJ_ADeucmCoosECHligMaSrZ1NxN0/s320/3D350F77-A31B-4038-9B1C-67DDE44D4580.heic" width="240" /></a></p><p>I don't know if and when I'll do another Ironman. It could be in a year, or 5, or possibly never. I'll let my brain and my heart guide that.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9x-zrAPraGpBynpyfBBK25gIVfjed1-yzYp1ff50y-Pe8lYue0ZJg41M7TWFImm_EYhape5gPw6L__w8OszZaY-WqGJogxyGBeFLABA8JIPUr5IGP2MBIPrZZnU2s9jUvjDjSCusRagZpLVmm6fk3a7nn-I_J_kVQhHcXMh90pjp1PtZD_Xt2PKxazr6/s4032/ACF6A656-8AFE-4447-BE99-42099D89779E_1_201_a.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9x-zrAPraGpBynpyfBBK25gIVfjed1-yzYp1ff50y-Pe8lYue0ZJg41M7TWFImm_EYhape5gPw6L__w8OszZaY-WqGJogxyGBeFLABA8JIPUr5IGP2MBIPrZZnU2s9jUvjDjSCusRagZpLVmm6fk3a7nn-I_J_kVQhHcXMh90pjp1PtZD_Xt2PKxazr6/s320/ACF6A656-8AFE-4447-BE99-42099D89779E_1_201_a.heic" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-89106105785102717062018-01-31T09:01:00.002-08:002018-01-31T12:38:58.565-08:00HomeJust over a year after I moved to Arizona from Washington I started training for my first marathon where I met Shane. Just a few shorts months after dating Shane was staring to look for a new house and wanted my input in the hopes that sometime in the future I would want to make it my home as well. This process went pretty much how every other big decision in our lives has gone. 4 months into our relationship, training for a marathon, working full time and raising a crazy (vizsla) puppy we were remodeling and moving into our house. I figured if a 4 month old relationship could survive the stress of all that, we were golden....<br />
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I truly believed our Scottsdale home would be our forever home. We've shed tears of joy, tears of sadness. Raised puppies, started multiple business. Dinner parties and post race parties. Sunday Fundays and lazy hangovers. When my parents moved to Arizona for a few years, my mom lived with us for a few months while my dad closed up and sold the only other home I had known in Spokane. We've remodeled the pool adding a fun little table and stools for cocktails. The bathrooms were completely gutted a few years ago so I could have a nice walk in closet and get rid of the 1985 vanities. We ended up blowing our kitchen budget on the bathrooms then started with these grand ideas that we would tear down walls and build a huge great room so the project just kept getting pushed out.<br />
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I digress... In 2009 we spent our first "summer" in CDA. This place was my summer playground growing up. My mom took me as a kid spending all day long on the beach and when I was old enough to drive my friends and I would do the same. We did our first Ironman CDA in 07, then back in 08. We found a realtor in 09 and started looking at properties knowing our dream was to own a summer home there. It took 2 more years of paying WAY too much money for our 4 month stays, looking at dozens and dozens of homes and when we sold our home in Mexico we took the plunge and bought our little summer bungalow. I was the first person to preview the home when it went on the market. Shane was still working in California, but we made an offer sight unseen (for him). Another offer came in at the same time and we were asked for our best and final and we wrote a letter to describe how much this house meant to us.<br />
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We spent two summers in the house making it ours. We bought it furnished, but we slowly started adding our own decor. Shane spent every day working on the yard, and last summer he and my dad busted their asses in the record summer heat building our new patio cover and backyard pavers. We rode our bikes weekly to our favorite sushi restaurant where we don't even have to tell them our order anymore. After Ironman this year we went on "social" sightseeing bike rides and I started to get this feeling in my heart that this could be home. Shane has always felt this way, but he also spent two years away from Arizona working in California while I grasped on tightly to my friends which became my saving grace and my family while he was gone.<br />
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I started obsessing on realtor.com and realizing that getting this lake view I've always dreamed of wasn't really out of reach... As we sat on the floating restaurant for Shane's birthday last fall I am pretty sure I gave him the biggest surprise and present he could ask for. I told him my revelation about being able to move our lives to CDA <i>in the future</i>.<br />
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We talked about a couple year plan to make the move. We would put a little time and money into our Scottsdale house to "update" the kitchen without the big renovation project so that we could enjoy it until we made the move. A fresh coat of paint and plenty of time to go through all the things you collect over 16 years of living in the same place. We started narrowing down the areas we would want to live in and the musts: massive lake view, 2 offices, yard for the dogs, a spare room for the bikes and trainers and a new treadmill, a guest suite for the BFFS.<br />
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Shortly after we returned for the summer we sat down over wine and told the BFFs. It went about as planned. Tears and anger and denial. We didn't share our news with anyone else, because what was the point if it wasn't happening any time soon? We started the process for the kitchen which included a complete demo before we left for the holidays in CDA. We looked at about 10 homes to narrow down the search area, and in typical LaPan fashion we actually found "the one."<br />
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The house is about 20' from downtown on the opposite side of the lake (from downtown). The views go on for days and it has more room than we could ever need.<br />
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The asking price was reasonable, but the inside of the house was not. If I'm moving away from my home, my life, my friends I'm getting my <i>dream</i> house. A kitchen with all the space I need. A great room for entertaining. Nice, clean, fresh new look. We decided to take a change and throw out a crazy crazy low offer that would give us the budget to renovate. In a shocking twist, just days after we got back from the holidays we were under contract with a 90day closing for the new house. Shane flew up for the inspection, to get the downtown house ready to list and to meet with potential contractors. I stayed home trying to jump start the Ironman training and start the process of going through the house.<br />
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Our bungalow hit the market and had a cash offer just hours later and we've been busting our asses to get the Scottsdale house ready to list while trying to work and train at the same time. To say our stress levels and my OCD have reached their limits is quite the understatement. Tears have been shed, sleep has been missed, but I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Our house will hit the market mid next week, and our tentative plan is for Shane and the dogs to move to Idaho when the new home closes at the beginning of April, and I will stay in Arizona until the renovations and Ironman Santa Rosa are finished. There are a lot of unknowns and details to be hashed out (you know, like where will I live?!?!), but we're just taking it day by day and trying to hold our shit together. One of us doing better than the other....<br />
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I know that soon the stress level and sadness of what we are leaving behind in Arizona will be over come with excitement and this new chapter in our lives will flourish with more adventure and happiness, but for now it's bitter sweet. I know that part of me is returning "home," but a big part of me is also leaving my home. The home I've made over the past 18 years where I've grown up, I've chosen a path in life, a job with a passion and friends that will never be replaced.<br />
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So rather than bask in the sadness of leaving, I'm trying to focus on the new memories to be made. The many trips back for sunshine and laughter with my besties and thankful for all that the past 18 years in Arizona has brought to my life.<br />
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<i>{if anyone knows of a north scottsdale casita available for rent, please let me know!}</i></div>
<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-85372841108594871852017-11-03T13:05:00.004-07:002017-11-03T13:05:55.839-07:00IMCDA #7 -- The Sunset YearIt's been two months since Ironman CDA. The last Ironman CDA. It was a late registration for me. After a couple stressful and busy years, I wasn't sure if I wanted to tackle another long event or take the year off. But, as per usual, as the training progressed so did my desire to race. About a week after I finally pulled the trigger and registered, the rumors started going around about it being the last year for the event in my favorite town. Denial at it's best, I didn't believe it. They still had another year on the contract so surely they would honor that....<br />
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Turns out, choosing to race this year is something I'll forever be thankful for. Being able to run down the finish line on Sherman for the last time is truly a blessing. There are a lot of things that made this year so special. I had 3 athletes racing that day, my BFFs in town cheering all day with Shane and what I felt like was a million people rooting for me.<br />
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Earlier in the year I set a goal of getting on the podium. Being my 7th year at this race, I felt like I needed to put it out there to entice myself to work a little harder. Go to the pool when I didn't want to. I know what it takes to be top in the age group, and I know the time and commitment it takes to get to Kona, so that was not the goal (although would have been a nice bonus!), but I wanted to finally stand on that podium in City Beach Park!<br />
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About 6 weeks out from the race I was outside hanging laundry to dry and my back went into a complete spasm. I couldn't straighten my back or get comfortable for days. Without my go to ART guy I didn't know what to do. I got 2 massage that week which helped me at least gain some mobility back and I somehow made it through the training. Every minute was painful, but I'm stubborn and couldn't fathom the thought of missing some of the longest workouts. Not something I would ever recommend to one of my own athletes, but sometimes we are all our own worst enemy.<br />
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I finally found a chiropractor that would see me without going through a million tests and xrays, etc. He took one looking at me and could tell I was way out of whack. My pelvis was rotated and my right side was 1/2 inch shorter than the other leg. I spent the next 6 weeks doing 2-3 visits a week and finally after about the 3rd week I had relief.... There were many times I wondered if I'd even be able to get through the race, particularly the bike as my right QL would seize up when climbing, but somehow the therapy and at home work I was doing worked and I went into race day feeling GREAT!<br />
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Race week was awesome. I had some quiet solo workouts where I took a few moments to visualize and remember how LUCKY I am to GET to do this. I also had some fun and laughter with friends. I spent time reading the book, "How Bad do you want it," early nights in bed and focused on hydration.<br />
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One cool thing we do at TeamBSC is ask for post race reflections. I love looking back at my notes:<br />
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<b>~Expectations going in:</b><br />
<i>My expectations going in were to have a strong bike and run. </i><br />
<i>* My swim has felt the least pep and when my back went out it was THE most painful. I could feel it pushing off the wall all the way into race week. </i><br />
<i>* I felt like I've worked really hard on the bike and was determined (weather permitting) to PR this bike course. I know I'm capable of riding like a 5:50-6 on this course with good weather because I have calculated my efforts on the highway out an back in training.</i><br />
<i>* My run hasn't felt great this summer, but in the last 2 weeks I dropped a few more lbs (not intentional, my body just lost all the water weight and swelling + clean eats during taper) got down to wear I was several years ago and just felt FLUID. Was hopeful I could run 8:45-8:50s until the end where I'd need to walk thru the aid stations and put me over 9' pace.</i><br />
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~How it all went- include pacing and fueling/hydration:<br />
<i><b>* The swim </b>went better than expected! I swam side by side Courtney the entire first loop which I think kept me engaged. I got out a few second before her and I think the excitement of seeing everyone really got my HR up because by the first buoy on the second turn I was out of breath. I saw Courtney swim up next to me so I stayed with her for a bit, but was working too hard so I pulled behind her and drafted for like 400 yards. It was JUST what I needed. It was weird because swimming in her draft made it so easy I was losing form, but it gave me a little break so I just went with it. On the final turn a couple girls cut across me and got on her feet so I just swam next to her using her to push me. Turns out she was annoyed by the girls so swam REALLY hard, hence why I had probably the most evenly split lap 2 ever at this. My time was like 9" slower than my best ever here so I'll take it! -- swim time 1:06 and change, 2nd AG</i><br />
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<i><b>* Onto the bike </b>my legs felt so fresh, I took it really easy to get my HR down from the swim on the first out and back (I wore my fenix the whole race, and when I got out on the bike it showed HR which said 161 and freaked me out so I flipped that screen off and never looked at it again). I started my nutrition at like 15' in and just kept stuffing my face the whole ride. I don't have a TON to say about the bike, other than I had NO pep. My legs weren't tired AT ALL, but my power was low, and I felt like PE was too high to get the watts up (breathing) which was ODD. I was frustrated that I wasn't hitting my target, but I didn't feel like I could go any harder. ON loop 2 I got passed by Laura Yost. She was FLYING. I tried to use her (and did) for a bit, but she was too far ahead. Then, a little bit later is when Caila passed me, but I repassed her and it made me focus on pushing harder. I passed another girl in my AG and just kept trying to hold steady.</i><br />
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<i>I just cleaned out my bento to count calories: 1715 calories. 4 NBS 2 with Amino and lots of water off course. 4 tylenol (felt crampy, pms early) and 8 e21. -- bike time 6:06 and change, 5th AG (split), course PR</i><br />
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<i>* <b>Run:</b> Felt ok coming out of T-2. I had downed some pre-load which tasted awesome and headed out. Cailla passed me within the first mile so I just tried to get into my rhythm. I just had no speed. 9:30s is where I wanted to run but I kept trying to push it down and nothing happened. Super frustrating I just stopped looking at my watch and ran. I had my own bottle so just grabbed water at the aid stations as it was at least 90deg out. I had a headache which is odd for me considering how much I ate, drank & e21 so I grabbed some BASE salt and started taking licks of that every few miles and it went away. Again, my legs still felt great.... did a gel every 3.5-4 miles (6 total) and started coke as I needed the caffeine around mile 18. It tasted SO good. That's when the pace went more like 9:40-10 because I'd walk thru the aid stations to get that adding 20 or so seconds. -- Run Time 4:11 and change, not fastest, 7th AG (split)</i><br />
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<i>I had one million emotions over this run wondering if I was going to get that podium. When I saw the other girls on the last out and back I thought maybe I could catch Rossolimo, but then Lindsay told me she dropped out and I was so confused so I just dug as hard as I could to get to that finish line. Holding back tears the last 2 miles and just lots my shit at the finish line until I told Shane Rossolimo had pants on and he was like fuck she just finished.. My heart BROKE. </i><br />
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<i>I felt ok after the race, but then about 30' later while waiting for Courtney I started to feel the drunk spins. I waiting for her then had to get to the shade and lay down. I finally got up and was like I have to get home and eat. I barely made it one block and barfed for like 5' (all liquid) in a garbage can on Sherman (classy!). It made me feel like a new person and was totally fine after that. Got home, had toast and chips and showered and back down to the race.</i><br />
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<b>~What you were thinking/feeling during the race</b><br />
<i>Saddness it was my last time, frustrated that I had NO UMPH but also strong. My legs never felt tired until the VERY end.</i><br />
<b>~Things you really did well</b><br />
<i>Didn't give up and fought on that second loop of the bike when I started getting passed. Fuel and hydration was SPOT on.</i><br />
<b>~Things you would change if you could do it again</b><br />
<i>I'm not sure if there is anything I would change. I couldn't have gone any faster on that day, but I also know I was prepared to go faster. It wasn't lack of not trying, it was like I was stoned.</i><br />
<b>~Thoughts about how you want to move forward. </b><br />
<i></i><br />
<i>I want to get my run speed back. I haven't had it for a couple years and it's frustrating. Continue to grow on the bike so I can be closer to those top AG girls. Will definitely add a bike weekend in Tucson before Santa Rosa! I need to get some strength back, but have to be careful with my back. </i><br />
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That night I didn't sleep a wink. Pretty normal for me, but this time I just laid there with my laptop refreshing the results. I was showing 5th place AG, but I didn't understand what had happened to the above mentioned athlete who was leading the race all day until the run. I replayed the live feed and saw that she did in fact cross the finish line, but her chip and race bib were off. I just couldn't understand why? Still nervous, I showered, put on a "podium dress" and headed down to the awards. They asked everyone to go line up together so the awards would go quickly, however, I just couldn't bring myself to go over there. I needed to hear my name called before I could relax and celebrate. <br />
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I can't explain the relief when they called my name. My Hr was probably 160 and I was overwhelmed with joy. The last chance I had to get on this podium and it actually happened. I chatted with the gals in my AG after (all amazingly talented and incredibly nice women) asking what had happened and they all said that "she" had not finished? I still don't know what had happened, but I have seen her name pop up on other races, including a win at a most recent IM.<br />
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While the race didn't go exactly as I planned, I fought and somehow managed to get my goal. I controlled what I could (my nutrition, my attitude, my fight) and problem solved the things I couldn't (my early PMS, my feeling of blah). A bitter, bitter sweet ending to this amazing little race. I really hope that someday it comes back.Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-72275540290142906442017-07-11T14:26:00.003-07:002017-07-11T14:26:50.691-07:00IMCDA 70.3 CDA 70.3 has turned into one of my favorite races (shocker) and as long as my body stays healthy I can see it being on my schedule every year. {especially now that the full is going away - big fat thumbs down}<div>
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This year it was made extra fun as my training buddy signed up to do it making it his official return from his temporary retirement. It was fun to have someone for pretty much all my long rides, some of my pool swims and some of my runs! </div>
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We arrived in CDA Memorial Day weekend. It was GORGEOUS for a few days, then temps cooled off and some storms came in so the first couple weekends of training were pretty darn cold. We also got in the lake for the first time at the beginning of June and to both of our surprise it wasn't freezing! We swam 45' and were both really comfortable. 6 days later after a cold front we got in for another ows and I lasted 25'. I couldn't keep my pull as my arms were getting stiff and my feet were super cold. Nervous, but trying to get acclimated, we went back in the following week. I found my neoprene cap circa 2007 IMCDA and it really helped. Shane, however, was chilled to the bone, couldn't stay on my feet and we called it after 20'.</div>
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The race was a week later and after telling everyone I knew to be prepared to freeze, I headed down to the lake on Friday when I picked up my race packet and was PLEASANTLY surprised how much it had warmed up! We'd had some temps in the 90s and the water definitely reacted! </div>
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Friday was probably the busiest day. Thankfully, my work was slow so I got to down and register right away, meet one of my new athletes who came into town to work the expo (she's FUN!) and swim. I was PLEASANTLY surprised how much it had warmed up! We'd had some temps in the 90s and the water definitely reacted. While my AWA perk got me in and out quickly, Shane's 3 year retirement lost his status so we waited for him for another hour plus. I didn't realize it until I got back home but in the short couple hours I was down there I got sunburned. Guess my AZ base tan is all gone (my skin thanks me).</div>
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We had a pretty quiet night. I got my race wheels installed and shane helped me adjust the breaks. First time ever not having to go to the bike shop to have this done! </div>
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{I'd say the shifting was about 95% perfect, but I'll save the pre IM tune up for the experts!}</div>
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Sunday was toasty so we got our short bike and run done early, then headed down to check our bikes in so we could get back home and feet up! My body has a really hard time regulating water. When I get even slightly dehydrated it will hold on to all my fluids for a couple days. That morning it was letting go of everything, but then perhaps the short workout and walk down to the expo I got slightly dehydrated again? I was drinking NBS and some new aminos from Base I got trying to top off all my stores. We made an early dinner (my go to is quinoa pasta, red sauce with tons of veggies) finished off with chocolate CAKE {Safeway cake FTW!} and were in bed by 8:30pm.</div>
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Our alarm went off at 3:45. We had to get the dogs out, played with, fed, eat, body marked (I always do this at home!) and leave the house by 4:30. It's about a 10' walk to transition and when we got there my middle of the night thought that I placed my bike on the wrong rack was confirmed </div>
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<i>{ right before we left to drop off our bikes I was checking on an athlete who was racing that day. when I got back to the house I was looking through the local paper that had all our names and race bibs and noticed mine looked DIFFERENT. I instantly thought... I think I racked my bike on my athletes number... There wasn't anything I could do about it, figured if it was wrong they would just move it...</i>.<i>}</i> </div>
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The good news was my actual transition area was even better! We were told no bags on the perimeter of transition so setting up was pretty clean and easy. The one different thing I had this year was my speed top I'd be cycling and running in. It has 3/4 sleeves and I didn't want to wear it with my wetsuit so I draped it over my bike to put on in T1.</div>
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Shane & I headed away from our bikes and to the lake to put on our wetsuits with plenty of time. We split a package of chews and walked to the beach for a quick warmup then worked our way up to the 30' group and before we knew it it was time to go!</div>
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I know many hate the rolling starts, but I LOVE it. No stress, you can actually swim vs fight and for the most part, people are honest about their abilities and start groups. The first part of the swim I got stuck. I was frustrated as I had people on both sides and in front of me and no one was swimming my pace. I finally pulled back to get on the inside of them then hugged the inside of the buoy line until the turns with nearly perfectly clean open water! It was AWESOME. I didn't have a feel for my time, and while I felt like I was swimming strong and straight I knew I lost a bit of time in the beginning. I peaked at my watch for a second when I got out of the water and saw 32:xx and was a little bummed as last year I was 31:xx. If I've learned nothing else about the swim portion of a race it's that times do NOT reflect how you swim, but mores so how you compare to your competition so I don't let it get to me anymore.</div>
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Swim: 32:56</div>
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I fumbled a bit in T-1 getting my socks on.. I don't know what my deal was but I finally just sat down and put them on, speed top on, helmet and off I went.</div>
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I like to assess how I'm feeling in the first few miles. A lot of times cooler temps will fire up my asthma so my lungs will be burning and my legs feel like lead, but today everything just felt good. No need for my inhaler, and I didn't need those first few miles to get my legs. This was a really cool thing for me as I didn't feel much tapered that week and legs were HEAVY.</div>
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Within the first 2' on the bike my friend in the AG passed me. It was like she was riding for her life. I knew she was strong, and I knew she would pass me, but I didn't expect it to be so soon and I didn't expect to lose sight of her instantly. I looked down at my power and was riding about 10w above my plan, but I had a little plan in the back of my head that if I FELT good on the bike I was going to push it a bit. My run hasn't been awesome lately. I spent 6 months training and running a couple of marathons and my top end (half or better) speed was just not there. I wanted to see what would happen if I biked just a tad harder. Would it really affect my run?</div>
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Since I've had the advantage of training and racing on the course over the years, in all different weather scenarios, I knew about how long it should take me to get to the turnaround. The first out and back was super quick! I felt really strong and watts were solid and as I was almost to the highway I saw a local (AZ) athlete and TriScottsdale teammate whom I'd never met, but knew of her, so we introduced ourself and played back and forth for a bit which was fun. The climbs started and I felt stronger than I have on the bike in months! I was having so much fun, but really had to go pee! I was able to let it go on the first descent and had instant relief. I was nearing the turnaround and saw Shane (who passed me about 5 miles into the bike) hadn't gained too much time on me so I was excited that I was riding pretty solid)! I checked my watch at the turnaround and realized if I could return in about what I expected I'd have almost a 10' PR over last years bike time. I did notice we'd had a slight tailwind so that slowed me down a bit, had another coasting opportunity to pee and had to slow through an aid station for water. I got back into transition about 5' quicker than last year!</div>
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Bike: 2:49:56 </div>
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Nutrition: 1 bottle of NBS, 1 bottle of NBS + Base Amino, 1 bottle of water (almost), 4 salty balls @125c each, 1pkg Skratch chews @160c 1/2 pkg Gu Chomps @80c, 1 gel @100 & 4xE21 for a total of 860calories ( I was hungry!) </div>
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T2 was quick (as usual). I have a quick shoe change, grab my visor, belt and pre-made bottle with gels. A quick assessment and I felt "ok" - I planned to start out at about 8:20 and see if I could drop it from there. I've trained on the course a ton and know that my garmin pace is ALWAYS off. There are certain neighborhoods where my garmin will go from like an 8:45 to an 11' pace for a bit. It's maddening for a data junky like me, but at least I was prepared. I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the first mile marker around 8:15 where my watch had me at 8:40 pace. I just manually hit lap when I saw those markers for my own sanity. </div>
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The run was OK. I never felt awesome, but I was having fun. The new course is super spectator friendly as two out and back loops. Plus you get to see other racers a ton. It was getting warm, but my speed top was amazing. I would dump water on my sleeves at the aid stations and stayed really nice and cool. I carried my own NBS/Amino bottle, but for some reason it was driving me absolutely bonkers. It felt SO heavy. I got about half of it down, and tossed it to the local tri-club tent as I headed back for the second loop. It was like instant relief. I felt so much better, not faster, but certainly not slowing much either. I took my gels at 3.5, 7 & 10.5 and had steady energy the whole run. I honestly felt like I could have run 10 more miles at that pace, yet I didn't have any other speed. Not the best feeling when racing a 70.3, but not the worst with a full on the horizon. I finished with a smile, running down Sherman (there is truly, nothing like it!) and Shane was there waiting for me! It's been a long time since we've raced together so this was a lot of fun! He had smoked his run so we were both happy!</div>
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Run: 1:51:07 for a total finish of 5:20:04. A couple minutes faster than last year, but the run and swim both a bit slower. </div>
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Overall it was a "good" race. I gained a bit more bike confidence, but frustrated with the run. 70.3 is not my favorite distance as I just can't compete. I need more real estate! I don't have one specialty that gives me an edge over my competition, but I'm steady across all 3. My best races have been where I get off the bike with a bit of a deficit (but not too much) and run a steady, well paced run. A lot of girls over-bike then fade a bit (when conditions are tough!) and I seem to be able to just run my race at my pace. I've learned to FUEL on the bike to set my run up pretty well! </div>
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IMCDA {the sunset race} is in just over 7 weeks and I'm on a big build. I'm TIRED, but my body is holding up pretty well so I'm getting pretty excited to do my favorite course this last time.... </div>
Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-11931118998807073712017-06-13T12:31:00.003-07:002017-06-13T12:31:44.380-07:00IMCDA 07-17'I planned on signing up for my first Ironman after I successfully completed my first 70.3 in 06 (one year to the day post IT band surgery). I was thinking in 2008 when I would be turning 30 at the end of the year, but some friends convinced me, why wait?! So,I caved an signed up a year early!<br />
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We had a group of 7 of us racing, 5 first timers. I chose CDA as it felt like "home" to me. Growing up in Spokane we spent the summer going to the lake as much as possible. I figured if I was going to swim that far in open water, it needed to be at a lake I loved and felt comfortable in.<br />
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I had no goals going into the race other than to finish! The bike was my favorite part. The old bike course was stunning looping around Hayden Lake with treelined streets, views for days and rolling farmland. The run course was challenging. 2 loops, 2 out and backs. The first out and back was along the lake towards the river. This is where my childhood memories were! Next you went back through transition through the Sanders Beach neighborhood full of partying locals in their yards cheering then outalong the other side of the lake where the infamous Bennet Bay hill climb was the end of the out and back. The swim in 07 was the most challenging. It was so choppy they actually gave athletes an opt out of the swim. If you chose to not do the swim, or end it early you could wait until the 2:20 cutoff time and continue the course. Not an official Ironman finisher, however, you were given the ability to complete the bike and run. Nothing beats the memory of heading down the finish shoot of <a href="http://tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2007/06/post-race-recovery.html">your first Ironman ;)</a><br />
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Still on a race high, I signed up the next day for 2008. Not much changed that year. I learned to train a bit smarter, and with more experience. Another crazy year with the swim where the water was SO cold. I had trouble taking in fuel and finished <a href="http://tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2008/06/130945.html">just a bit faster</a> than the previous year....<br />
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In 09 we rented a house for 8 weeks in CDA, but we didn't race. Shane had just sold his company and was furiously working (in circles) to get something new started. We spent the (early) evenings having happy hour on the patio and enjoying the weather and a few gained lbs, lol. 2010 we headed to Ironman Canada, but in 2011 we decided to come back (well I did). I had hired Michelle that year and was seeing new gains in my training like never before! I was PR'd my 70.3 running ~1:50 OTB for the first time and had really high hopes for this race!<br />
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The weather was near perfect that year for Ironman. Sunny, low winds and 60-75degs. Unfortunately the water was barely 50degrees. I didn't realize it then, but remembering back to 2008 when the cold water shut my system down unable to take in calories, the same thing was happening again to me. I had a 7' course swim PR, ~30' course bike PR (and still my fastest in CDA) and 30' run PR, but I ended the race disappointed. I was unable to get down my nutrition and did the whole race on about 1k calories. I was so bonked to start the run I started dry heaving. With some tough love from Shane, I puked and rallied and got through the <a href="http://tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2011/06/imcda-2011.html">day just shy of 12hrs. </a> I swore I was done with this race for a while.... All fun after though as we got to hang out with Michelle for the first time at our post race party!<br />
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A group of us from AZ decided to head back to CDA to race in 2014. The bike course had changed completely eliminating the gorgeous hills of Hayden and moved out to highway 95. We had rented a house for the whole summer so I was able to get out on the course to train. The course seemed much less technical, climbs not as steep, but the elements are what changed as we were now exposed to sun and wind for nearly 40 miles of each loop. <br />
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Speaking of elements, this year brought the most epic wind I had ever raced in (up to that point). I was getting to check points 10-15' SLOWER than in my training. I'm a pretty confident rider, but boy was the wind whipping me around! I've never been so happy to be off the bike and onto the run in my life. I had nailed my nutrition on the bike (control what you CAN - 1800 calories for the win!) and started settling into my run pace, clicking off the miles and feeling bulletproof. This was my strongest finish and fastest IM marathon to date (3:52!). I missed the podium by just one spot finishing 6th, but on cloud 9 as I executed my perfect r<a href="http://tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2014/07/ironman-cda-2014.html">ace on this course (finally!)</a><br />
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We rented another house for 2015 and I decided "why not," when in Rome..... Arriving in CDA at the beginning of June temps were unusually warm. Typical PNW weather can change in an instant, but this time it didn't. All of June was 80-95degrees. Growing up in the area I don't remember this EVER happening. The water was warmer than ever, and I was actually swimming in a sleeveless wetsuit. Race week temps were almost comical. The race day forecast was changing between 98 and 110 at the peak. I didn't believe it, but started to prep myself and the 5 athletes I was coaching for this race for the conditions. We made plans for extra hydration and electrolytes. Backed off pacing strategies. Purchased cooling towels for the run and placed extra sodium replacements in transition.<br />
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I made stops on the bike at multiple aid stations to replace my fluids. I dialed back my effort and watched as people were starting to crumble. On my way back into town for T-2 I saw people sitting on the shoulder of the highway seeking any square inch of shade. People walking their bikes up hills (these aren't short steep hills, think 1-3 mile long 3-5% grade climbs). It was devastating to watch.<br />
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As I started my run "I pulled back my pace by 1' per mile" to assess how my body would handle the heat. I made a porta potty stop at mile 1, and then after that something clicked and I just started plugging away not too far off my goal pace. I ran 8:50-9' pace, but stopped at every single aid station to get water for my body, ice for my top. I carried my own bottle of hydration and refilled as necessary. I had a cooling town that I kept wet. I went through every single hose/sprinkler offered and did whatever it took to stay wet and cool). I passed several people in my age group that had flown by me on the bike, and finished with the 3rd fastest run split in my AG. I had hoped for a podium at this race, but too many gains were made on the bike from me and <a href="http://tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2015/06/ironman-cda-race-on-surface-of-sun.html">I finished in 7th.</a><br />
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In the fall of 2015 we purchased a summer home in CDA. A long time dream of ours come true! I decided to give IMCDA another go for 2016. The race had moved to August, so I was curious to see how the conditions would differ. Truth be told this wasn't my smartest idea. After the loss of my two dogs and a job gone to hell I was on the verge of burnout. My workouts weren't as quality and my recovery was not a priority. It was once again another year of adventure on the bike course with winds worse than 2014. I've never truly been scared on my bike until that day, but there were times I was legit scared I was going to be blown over. I had the BFF racing who's biggest fear is wind on the bike so my mind was able to transfer to her in hopes she would be able to get through the day. Nothing too amazing to report about this day, I gave what I had and the <a href="http://tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2016/08/ironman-cda-6.html">result was what I deserved.</a> I once again, retired from this race and venue (bahaha!).<br />
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With my job status pending, I didn't want to commit to another full Ironman if I didn't have the time and energy to put my all into it. Finally, in May my new job became effective and official. My stress levels decreased and my ambition to train again came back. Because I had spent the winter running and training for marathons I had a lot of work to do to get my bike back. I was toying with the idea of racing IMCanada (Whistler), but then as the weeks flew by I wasn't sure I wanted to make the 9hr drive for the race and started on a fall back plan of IMCDA. I realized I wanted the extra 4 weeks to get ready so at the end of May I made up my mind to sign up. We headed to Idaho Memorial Day weekend for the summer and have now been here for 2 weeks. Last weekend while heading out for a training swim a local news reporter was interviewing some athletes to get their thoughts on the rumor that the full distance would be going away after this year's event. I was stunned as I thought the contract was through 2018. As rumored, the official announcement came out last night that this will in fact be the last run of IMCDA. My heart sank as I read the article. This is such a special town and community. The venue is like no other. Yes, the course is challenging, but it's really the elements that make and set the tone of the day. As athletes we train our bodies to go the distance. We learn how to pace, how to fuel ourselves, but not every day is perfect. Storms and and heat and rain, these are things that we can not control, but what we can control is how we handle them. We train ourselves to problem solve, to adjust to what gets thrown at us on race day, not fold.<br />
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I'm so thankful that I get the opportunity to race this last run of Ironman Coeur d'Alene. The race is 11.5 weeks away and still open, so if any of you are out there and have a solid base fitness and want to take on this challenge with me, I would love nothing more than to help you get there! Please reach out to me with any questions or if you are looking for help preparing to race and participate in one of the most gorgeous and epic Ironman venues. <br />
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Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-90943217409796683692017-04-04T15:53:00.002-07:002017-04-04T19:50:02.475-07:00Bat Cap Challenge!A few weeks ago Michelle threw out the idea of ordering our famous bat caps. She had these made about 5 years ago, and they were handed out at her choosing to athletes that did something special, out of their comfort zone. This something didn't have to be a swim (and still doesn't), but I did earn mine in the pool.<br />
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Michelle flew out to AZ to train with a few of her local athletes for the first ever BSC camp. She stayed with Shane and I a few days before heading to Tucson to attend Hillary's SmashCamp so Shane & I got some bonus time with her. On our second swim with her, she learned, in person that I could in fact swim, but I must not be pushing myself enough because my times weren't all that impressive. I don't remember what the swim was, but I remember this picture being taken after because I couldn't even lift my anything. I earned my bat cap that day. Unfortunately it wasn't silicone and didn't last, but in my head I knew I earned it ;)<br />
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The caps arrived and Michelle posted something on social media about how they can't be bought and the thread grew with like 200 comments in just a few hours. One of my newer athletes, who had never even done a 3k set was the first to say she was IN.<br />
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The interest was growing, and while I had no desire to spend all week long in the pool, I wanted to lead by example and do the challenge myself. I like swimming. I like how my body feels when I'm done. I like how it flushes the swelling and horrible water retention my body likes to hold onto and I like the weightless feeling. That said, after spending many years working on my swim, my speed has pretty much flatlined over the past few years, an I'm ok with that. I have other fish (bike splits) to fry, and with limited time these days for training spending 2+hrs with getting to the pool, etc doesn't leave time for much else! <br />
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I've done two epic swim challenges myself. We trained for about 2 months to build up to a 10k swim in Kona. Logging about 12-15k/week for several weeks, then the swim itself. I didn't love, but I didn't hate the training, however, I didn't enjoy the 10k swim AT ALL. I was sea sick and dry heaving, and my swim buddy who did a bit less training then I did burned all his matches and struggled after 2hrs in the water which had me floating and swimming through swells making the nausea worse for almost half the swim.<br />
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My second challenge was doing 100x100 for my birthday swim a couple years ago. I was post IMAZ and wanted something to focus on over the holidays. I had a bunch of friends join me for the swim, it took 3 hours, I swam strong and I LOVED every minute of it!<br />
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I digress, back to the swim challenge. My challenge was 30k over 7 days. I started it the day after we climbed Mnt Lemmon, so I was worried I'd have lingering fatigue, but the day went well! I took the day off work to catch up on life so it probably helped that I got to start at my chosen time and not feel rushed. Here's a real life recap of how my challenge went with the workout and then my post workout notes to Michelle!<br />
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<b>Day 1: 4800</b><br />
1000 w/u neg split<br />
8 x 50's 25 easy/25 fast w/u set<br />
MAIN SET: 2800<br />
200 FAST @ 3:00!!<br />
300 easy/steady @ 5:30<br />
500 FAST @ 7:45<br />
300 easy/steady @ 5:30<br />
200 FAST @ 3:00!!<br />
300 easy/steady @ 5:30<br />
500 FAST @ 7:45<br />
300 easy/steady @ 5:30<br />
200 FAST @ 3:00!!<br />
500 PBB easy c/d<br />
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My post activity notes:<br />
<i>Pleasantly surprised how good I felt! My low back (both sides QL) are really sore, but not pain like before, just sore muscles.</i><br />
<i>Endurance wise fine, but the speed just not up to these splits to get any true rest.</i><br />
<i>I used the buoy for the fast stuff - 200s were 2:54, 2:57, 2:59 -- 500s were 7:35, 7:37.</i><br />
<i>Added a 100 easy flop to kick my legs out a bit at the end so one less 100 to do tomorrow </i><br />
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Lindsay also took video of me when I didn't know. My swim has felt like SHIT lately and masters coaches keep telling me I'm breathing late. It's been driving me crazy because I can't figure it out. I needed to see it. 10" of this video and I was MAD. What happened to my rotation and no wonder my neck has been hurting so bad and I've lost like 5"/100....<br />
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I sent the video to both Jane (masters coach) and Michelle and they both gave me feedback. Day 2 was masters and Jane gave me a tip that really clicked (getting my shoulder down which would force the rotation). And, I self grounded myself from my buoy. Too much swimming while exhausted and using the buoy as a crutch somehow made my body forget how to turn and the neck/head compensate. I'm not rotating so I breathe late with a head turn and lose half my pull.<br />
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<b>Day 2, Masters: Planned 3800, Completed 4200</b><br />
My post activity notes:<br />
<i>Got in 1600 b4 class. Jane gave me a cple thing to focus on.... dropping shoulder down to help pop the hip. I'm hoping it helps! I'll have lindsay do another video next week to see if anything clicks.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Mainset: 6x75 desc by 25s</i><br />
<i>5x 275 alt fast 100 through then all fast (3:49!) </i><br />
<i>25 ez</i><br />
<i>6x 100. Build</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Muscle fatigue, but energy good.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>Day 3: 3100 cruise recovery day</b><br />
1000 straight/easy swim<br />
================<br />
10x50's @1:00 as alternating 25 easy/25 fast; 25 fast/25 easy. (x4)<br />
5x150's PBB cruise swim form focus 15" rest<br />
5x100's swim no toys cruise form focus 10" rest<br />
5x50's swim cruise form focus 5" rest<br />
100 easy breaststroke<br />
<br />
My post activity notes:<br />
<i>You mathed wrong on my challenge!!! Lol, now I'm 600 up. I am sore today on my neck but really focused on getting my shoulder down to fire rotation... didn't look at the clock at all.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>Day 4: 4400</b><br />
400 swim easy w/u<br />
300 as 25 kick/75 swim<br />
4 x 75 descend 1-4 on 1:20<br />
==========================<br />
Main Set 3300<br />
4 x 150 on 2:40<br />
6 x 100 on 1:50<br />
3 x 150 on 2:40<br />
5 x 100 on 1:45<br />
2 x 150 on 2:40<br />
4 x 100 on 1:40<br />
1 x 150 on 2:40<br />
3 x 100 on 1:35<br />
==========================<br />
100 easy c/d<br />
<br />
My post activity notes:<br />
<i>Slept like a ROCK last night!! I took the warmup stupid easy - didn't feel bad, but didn't feel awesome. I'm so glad the main set was all short distance it was easier to wrap my head around. I felt HUNGRY the whole swim even tho I ate a snack en route to the pool. It wasn't like a bonk, just hunger (and fine when I stopped).</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I used paddles for 150s and send off 2:30 vs 2:40</i><br />
<i>Then did baby descends to make the 100s have purpose or I'd just flop them. Ranged from 1:35 down to 1:28.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Kept paddles for the last 3 and did 1:23. REALLY working on my rotation and kick.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>Day 5: 3700 (this was probably the day I felt the worst!)</b><br />
800 easy w/u choice<br />
Main Set 1800 (repeat 2x through, 2nd time PBB)<br />
3 x 100 fast @1:40<br />
300 relaxed @5:00<br />
2 x 150 as 50 fast/100 easy @2:30<br />
======================<br />
1000 fartlek as:<br />
25fast/25easy;<br />
50fast/50easy;<br />
75fast/75easy;<br />
100fast/100easy; (then repeat back down)<br />
<br />
100 easy for cool down<br />
<br />
My post activity notes:<br />
<i>I felt ok in the water, but my speed SUCKED. My "fast" 100s were 1:30-1:31...... Put the SIMS on for the 1000 and did much better - 15:20ish for the total I think - helped I was trying to lap Shane :)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>Day 6: 4000</b><br />
800 w/u as 500 easy then 300 alt 50 fast, 50 easy<br />
===================<br />
4 x (200 @ 3:30 holding <3:05 100="" 1:26="" 1:50="" 1="" 2="" between="" can="" hold="" if="" needed.="" p="" rest="" s="" sets="" x="">===================<br />
1500 straight done like this- 500 solidly paced with paddles, bouy, bands; 500 drop the bands and back off the effort a bit; 500 drop the buoy and back off the effort further. Last 500 is rather easy.<br />
100 easy<br />
<br />
My post activity notes:<br />
<i>HOLY SHIT! I am shocked. The warmup HURT. Like my shoulders and triceps were sore... so I beyond flopped it. Then, put my SIMS on for the main set and right off felt smooth and had rotation and felt good!</i><br />
<i>200s were 2:59, 2:52, 2:51, 2:49 (WHAT?! Haven't seen that for a while)</i><br />
<i>100s were all 1:22!!!</i><br />
<i>1500 was pretty fast too - 7:09, 7:24, 7:35.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>--- I was SUPER hungry after and enjoyed lunch, a couple of beers and silly talk with the BFF at the gym after. It was perfect!</i><br />
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<b>Day 7: Planned 6400, Completed 6800</b><br />
1000 mixed w/u<br />
8x50 kick w/fins rest 15"<br />
8x50 swim w/fins easy/fast by 25; rest 15"<br />
200 easy<br />
===============<br />
10x400 @6:30. Goal is to hold even pacing throughout the set.<br />
===============<br />
<br />
2x200 easy w/ buoy c/d<br />
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My post activity notes:<br />
<i>SO happy with how I felt! I ate really well the night before and went to bed early. The middle of the week was hard for me cause I wasn't sleeping well (puppies).... once I got sleep and added calories I felt great. I also was REALLY working on rotation after Jane gave me tips Tuesday and it sorta clicked, especially with the SIM shorts, on Friday.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I was tired at the end, but not wasted. It felt so good to do 2 epic things the past weeks (Lemmon & this swim). Even though I REALLY don't love to swim THIS much, I do love doing big things and feeling my fitness creeping back. Between life, dogs, and work the past 2 years it's been tough and I haven't been back there so this makes me so happy!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>#1 & 10 were 6:10, all others 6:06. I finished up with 800 PBB relaxed to make it 6800 for the day and 3100 total. Those damn bonus yards at the beginning of the week were haunting my OCD.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I'm super happy to have completed the challenge, but not just for the cap. I was really blown away by my athletes stepping up and joining in on this challenge. For a lot of people swimming is the first thing to get left out or pushed aside because of time or they just really don't enjoy it. Most think they can't get faster or improve their swim fitness so they don't bother, but the truth is it takes time and it takes discipline. You may not see your swim split drop by an extraordinary amount, but the fitness gains are huge and you will see the benefits later in your race because of that solid fitness.<br />
<br />
I'm also happy because it allowed me to really focus on what I had been doing wrong for quite some time. I wasn't trashed from cycling or running so I could really put my time and energy into not just swimming the distance, but doing it with purpose and working on correcting my form. It will be a work in progress for some time, but I'm happy to be heading back on that track. <br />
<br />
Getting out of our comfort zones and doing something we would never do on our own is so fun and it's more fun when others are sharing in on the journey ;) If you are interested in the #batcapchallenge let me know, we can come up with something EPIC together!<br />
<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-77450101145314405032017-03-11T07:21:00.004-08:002017-03-13T11:50:22.501-07:00New 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:<br />
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September: <br />
<br />
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...<br />
<br />
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...<br />
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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).<br />
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October & November: <br />
<br />
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!<br />
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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....<br />
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December: <br />
<br />
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....<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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...<br />
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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...</div>
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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.</div>
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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...<br />
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Oh, I also turned 39 celebrating with my close friends, FANTASTIC dinner at home, spa day and chocolate cake.. All my favorites!<br />
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January: </div>
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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..... </div>
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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.</div>
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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...</div>
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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=""></3:40><br />
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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!</div>
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March:</div>
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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.... </div>
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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!</div>
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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! </div>
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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 :)</div>
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Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-18896394978616536772016-08-24T15:36:00.000-07:002016-08-24T15:36:22.015-07:00Ironman CDA #6!Another Ironman CDA in the books! As per usual, the course handed all of us some fun obstacles to overcome, making this years race once again challenging just like I love!<br />
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Leading up to the race I definitely had more on my plate than usual. "Moving" into our new house for the first time, the first several weeks were spent putting it together and constant work. Shane took on the brunt of the manual (yard) projects, but it seems like we still have so much more to do! Guess that's the fun of owning a 100 year old house. Our pretty garden and landscaping will have to wait until next summer.<br />
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My (day) job has just become crazy relentless. I'd be lying if I said I was happy with it, and while I am in no position to leave my job, I am certainly trying to find a position internally that will (hopefully) lower my stress and give me more time to and energy to focus on doing what I love - working with more athletes and having more focus on my own training.<br />
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Oh yah and PUPPY! Sure has been fun, but it's been a LONG time since we've had a puppy so it definitely added another challenge to the ironman training and recovery ;) Totally worth it though!<br />
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All that said, I went into this race with 2 goals. 1) HAVE FUN 2) Solid bike.<br />
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#1 was certainly met, and #2 I'm still iffy on......<br />
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I had some pre-race drama as my garmin was acting up the night before the race. When I took it off the charger it was showing low battery. I played with it a bit and I thought I got it all set, but come race morning in transition it was only showing about 20% battery life. After spending the last 8 weeks working my ASS off on the bike to gains some watts in an attempt to not lose so much time or position on the bike, practicing exactly what I needed to do ON the course with my power meter I got completely stressed out and frustrated. In a complete panic I called Shane and had him bring him his garmin (which only had about 60%). I ran into transition and set up the data screens for power on the fly, then tried to pair it to my power meter, but with so many bikes around the watch was unable to pair so I just left it and thought I would try again once on the bike. Watching my panic I got another Garmin to borrow and throw in my T-2 bag for the run (I wasn't nearly as concerned about the run sans data). <br />
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My stress level was definitely higher than it needed to be going into this race, so I spent the first loop of the swim trying to calm myself down. The swim felt great! I made a game day decision to wear my new Helix full sleeve because I felt a little chilly the day before in my sleeveless. I definitely tend to swim on the hot side, but the new wetsuit feels so good. I was a little surprised when I came out from loop 2 around 33' per my usual 31, so I picked up the effort to try to make up some time. Loop 2 is always a bit longer because you have to angle out about 50-100yards to the first turn buoy, but overall my swim was about 1' longer than it has been the past 2 years. <br />
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I pulled on my new Coeur Speed top that I just gotten that week and headed out to the bike! I was expecting full hot sun the entire bike so having that extra sun coverage was awesome. I immediately started messing with my garmin trying to pair with the power meter, but it just wasn't happening. Rather than spend or waste and more time and energy on this, it was time to move on. I have practiced week in and week out my watts over the course so I had a pretty good idea of how it would "feel." I felt FANTASTIC on the bike, the hills weren't hard, and I made sure to not push over my intended effort. As expected some people I knew passed me, but this time I had the energy and legs to go with them, unlike the 70.3. I was so excited! The only thing that wasn't feeling awesome was my hunger. I've been training with my home-made nutrition for 2 months with no issues, but for some reason my body just did NOT want to eat today! I force fed, but ended up going for more of my sugary chews than the salty peanut butter balls. I knew this would lead me to a calorie deficit so I did whatever I could too keep pushing the more dense nutrition. <br />
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As I came back into town for loop 2 I could feel and see the wind had really picked up. I stopped at special needs grabbed my bottles of Osmo and nutrition and gritted out back to the highway. As soon as you cross the bridge over the river the wind was INSANE. The second loop felt like 1 million years to get to the turnaround fighting a horrific headwind. I was looking at my speed and trying to do math and realizing I going to lose so much time! I faded a bit more than others, but didn't think it was smart to push any harder against that wind....<br />
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As I got off my bike I was so HAPPY, but not sure what to expect from the run. I took a little extra time in T-2 to go pee and also top off my sodium stores with some pre-load. As I headed out on to the run my legs felt stiff and my stomach a bit of a mess. I focused on a short quick cadence, not really looking at my garmin just going off feel. Once again, my body figured out what it was supposed to be doing and in just a couple of miles I felt right at home just clicking away my miles. Because I was a little low on fuel, I started front loading calories on the run at mile 2.5. I had 3 gels on me and 3 more in special needs. It was still pretty warm so I used my handheld bottle to drink, but grabbed water and ice and every aid station. I also stopped at special needs on loop 2 because I was worried I wouldn't have enough energy on my 1 gel I had left to get back for more on loop 3. I also had another mix of osmo/amino in there so I grabbed it all and headed back out for the second loop. This was my best loop! I felt strong and happy! I did spend extra time at each aid station getting oranges, water ( I was thirsty!) and cola, so my splits were slowing a bit, but my actual run pace wasn't!<br />
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The course is amazing! I actually love the 3 loop out and back because I got to see so many people, and I could also see those whom I was gaining on! I passed a few girls in my AG, but also got passed by one, but I used others that were ahead of me and fading and my motivation to keep going! Loop 3 definitely felt hard, but I was able to tough it out and just get to that finish line!<br />
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While it wasn't my fastest or my best placement, I truly enjoyed every second of the race (ok maybe NOT the extra 20' fighting a headwind on the bike) and considering the time I had spent training was a bit less than normal, I am super happy with the day. It was an absolute blast, and I don't think I would change a single thing about the day!<br />
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I'm not sure what's next on the agenda for me (although I'm committed to next years CDA 70.3!), but for now I'm going to enjoy the rest of the time we are here in this wonderful town playing.... oh and also some fun bike shopping (suggestions welcome)!<br />
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-44257395898308554822016-06-30T08:43:00.002-07:002016-06-30T08:43:38.235-07:00Our little Princess <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was thinking about <a href="http://tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2010/11/introducing-juliette-welcome-home.html">this post yesterday</a>, not sure if I made up writing it or if it actually existed. Pretty happy for (most) things saved on the internet! We didn't talk much about Juliette being sick, because honestly, she wasn't as far as we knew. She<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> had </span>been sporty spice going on most of the puppy walks (in fa<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ct</span> hopping out of bed way earlier than normal to make sure she didn't miss out). Chasing him around, running around with her new lab friends and just loving life. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week she was having some problems in her mouth<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">, </span>was drooling and the puppy kept obsessing over it so Shane took her in on Friday and we found out <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">she</span> needed to have 4 teeth extracted. She's had some dental problems, but we've watched them closely so I was really shocked at the quick turn for the worse. She was sent home with antibiotics and after 2 days she was full of energy and even got to go to my race on Sunday! It was so fun to see her out there running with me again for even just a minute. Monday everything changed. She had no energy, wouldn't eat and had this look that was just all too familiar. My gut just knew something was wrong as she paced around the house on wobbly legs. I came into the living room to check on her and found<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> her</span> staring over a pile of blood. We immediately rushed her to the the vet ER to be checked out. It's almost s<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">cary how many vets I know in this area! The doc was the one who saw Baxter<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span>multiple times last summer so I immediately felt at ease. She was so sweet and gentle with J, just like she was last summer with Bubba. <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">While there <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">wasn't</span> much <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">she</span> c<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ould do to diagnose her, her <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">vitals were ok so <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">her b<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">est assumption was that the antibiotic for the teeth had really done a number on her stomach. She inje<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">cted her with some anti-nausea and <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">sent us home with some<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> as well. </span>The first priority was to get some food in her stomach<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> so we stopped at wallgreens and got a syringe, baby food, chicken broth<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> and rice.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">We tried everything to get her to eat<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">, but basically I was <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">using the syringe to squirt the baby food in her mouth. We just wanted her stomach to have something in it so we c<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ould give her a pain pill.</span></span></span> She <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">slept (on the bed of course) off and on that night<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">, but when we got up in the morning she <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">had n<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">o energy or strength. Shane carried her outside to go to the bathroom (where we found she w<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">as still bleeding<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">) and we nestled <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">her in my office for the day. I continued to syringe water into her <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">mouth (she loved that!) and <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">tried to keep</span> the puppy away from her<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">. As soon as the vet's office was open I called an<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">d explained her sit<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">uation<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> so when the doctor called me back we made plans to have her looked at that <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">afternoon. <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">I<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">t was a sad day. <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Last summer I was so close to all these horrible symptoms with Baxter, yet he continued partying for 4 mo<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">nths <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">fighting to stay with us, but right here in front of our eyes<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">, Jul<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">iette was fading. As much<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> as I wanted to think positive, my gut <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">just knew how s<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ick she was.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">After 2 hours at the <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">vet looking at her <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">in my arms as the doctor told us her blood count<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">, we knew what we had to do. Without a definitive reason for why she got so sick, the obvious <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">culprit <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">is the F$^KING cancer. While<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> we were under the impression that her <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">type (derma<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">/skin) wouldn't spread, every<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> symptom she had show<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ed</span> otherwise<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span>an<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">d <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">there was just <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">nothing that we could</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> (or would take the risk of putting her in more pain to) do for her.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">5.5 years ago this sweet p<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ri<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ncess came into our lives to heal Baxter's broken heart. I will never understand how at 8 years <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">old a family could just turn her in. </span></span>She nestled right into our crazy family<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> traveling to Mexico and Idaho and wearing silly med<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">als while posing for photos. She <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">did her <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">best to take up running, when really she just wanted to sprint around then eat all the <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">food. She learned how to <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">snu<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ggle and make friends<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">. She even found her<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">self "adopted" into another family to <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">help keep her company after her BFF Baxter left us. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7thMboSjJA3jMqQJsel-z6vKQU9Njt_HOFJ0OlP2JAYA8c0sottp7ghNPmskmEN3gAqMzavvBhDG_YkQvv084XLa5zHQFsMg9V5rNuioGBar32n_7WvhRoDrg_J2RSHNZv8FxgQKWHer/s1600/IMG_0973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7thMboSjJA3jMqQJsel-z6vKQU9Njt_HOFJ0OlP2JAYA8c0sottp7ghNPmskmEN3gAqMzavvBhDG_YkQvv084XLa5zHQFsMg9V5rNuioGBar32n_7WvhRoDrg_J2RSHNZv8FxgQKWHer/s320/IMG_0973.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">After the loss of Baxter just 9 months ago, this sweet face <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ke<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">pt me company and <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">healed my broken heart. I took her just about everywhere I went, she never left my side and did her <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">very best Bubba<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">impressions snuggling up to me every chance she could. She protected me whi<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">le Shane was in Calif<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ornia and she she kept me on my toes acting like a puppy again. I can't even <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">imagine<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> what my days and nights would have been without her. I will forever be thankful for <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">her spirit and unconditional <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">love. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">It's almost like she spent her time with us <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">to make all our hearts happy, and finally when she felt like we were ok, she was ready to go <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">back and be with the boy that <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">showed her how to be a true Vizsla, full of love and pillows and hot dogs!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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So much lo<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ve for this girl<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> and the only thing that makes this <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">easier is knowing <span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">she's runni<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">ng around with Baxter!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-76596776688876252072016-04-03T12:20:00.005-07:002016-04-07T05:21:18.817-07:00YOLO!I've missed writing my thoughts and daily adventures down in this blog. I love going back months, even years to see where I was this time xx year and deciding if I've grown in a way that makes me happy and proud. Unfortunately, my new job has turned out to be a whole lot more time consuming and stressful than years past at the same time (fortunately) my coaching business is in full bloom leaving a whole heck of a lot less time to write! I used to sit down with my recovery time snuggling on the couch with the dogs relaxing in my recovery boots and typing, but now those times are less frequent and typically after 10-12hrs a day on a computer I'd rather veg out and stare at mindless TV :). In an effort to recap the last 2.5 months I'm going to do do a little bullet point catch up so here we go!<br />
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<li>After 3 months of very little training, I used my WTC Insurance and received a full refund for my Oceanside entry. Best $40 EVER spent. My heart wasn't in it and my body still needed more time. My doctor not only agreed, but was proud of me for making this decision.</li>
<li>When I decided to back out of Oceanside I also decided to commit to CDA 70.3 and full. When in Rome.....</li>
<li>I slowly re-dedicated myself back to training. I ran two half marathons learning that a) you can't fake run fitness and b) running faster than you are fit to run takes a heck of a lot longer to recover from.</li>
<li>Went on a girls trip to wine country. Spent way too much $ on wine and lived off bread and cheese for 3 days. It was glorious.</li>
<li>On said trip, got drunk and ended up booking last minute flights to Maui to watch one our closest friends get married. YOLO!</li>
<li>Had a completely unplanned amazing 4 day vacation in paradise. Totally out of my comfort zone and one of the best and most needed trips away with my husband.</li>
<li>Spent the next 4 days working 12+hours to catch up and prep for hosting my 3rd annual spring training camp!</li>
<li>Once again got completely inspired by watching the athletes reach new achievements and push themselves harder and further than they thought they could go.</li>
<li>Surprised myself with the fitness I didn't know I still had!</li>
<li>Got completely rejuvenate and ready to get back to the grind! </li>
<li>Aside from camp weekend, just finished off my biggest training week since IMAZ and I feel fantastic (and hungry). 14k+ yards of swimming, 8hrs of cycling, 30+m running and 90' of strength training. The kind of week I used to do on a regular basis but have struggled with over the past year. </li>
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We're now on the 8 week countdown until we move back to CDA for the first summer in our new house! The winter has flown by so fast, I almost can't believe it's time. I'm super excited, yet also a bit overwhelmed thinking about it as I feel like I barely just unpacked from our Christmas trip. I feel like life is on this crazy fast track and some days I just wish there were more time to relax and just be. I couldn't imagine life without everything in it, so I just keep plugging away and managing my time as best as I can.<br />
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Next up - another wedding weekend in Napa followed by Adult Spring Break, aka Rocky Point Tri! A weekend away at the beach with our friends, and our first time renting a house in over 10 years. I can't wait to get back to Bub's beach and have one last hurrah with our friends before heading out for the summer, but also before putting my head down and my focus into my training.<br />
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<i>So much fun on this girls trip!!!</i></div>
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<i>Moments before out running my fitness and watching my BFF PR!</i></div>
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<i> </i></div>
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<i>PARADISE!!!</i></div>
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<i>We did NOT want to leave...</i></div>
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<i>Camp kickoff!</i></div>
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<i>Tri 4 Cure </i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough" </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"> Mae West</span></i></div>
<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-33188345350911228012016-01-17T15:44:00.001-08:002016-01-17T15:49:00.420-08:00Tears, sadness, joy, love, wine, dogs, and dreamsIt's been 8 weeks since IMAZ. 8 weeks since my heart fell apart over 140.6 miles. It's taken 8 weeks to climb myself out of a big deep hole.<br />
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After a year of heartache, stress and pushing myself up and over what seemed like mountains of obstacles, I am finally started to feel whole again.<br />
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2015 started out so full of promise, so full of excitement. My husband embarking on the work opportunity and challenge of a lifetime, my coaching business exactly where I wanted it to be and my favorite Ironman on the schedule.<br />
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They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Well, I took those lemons and made lemonade over and over until there was just no juice left in the tank. I trained on auto pilot, stressed out every single minute I was not at home. I missed my husband, I longed for more time with my Baxter. We emptied our bank accounts over and over with truck repairs, new AC unit, pool repair and emergency vet surgery and bills.<br />
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I got sick multiple times, my adrenals were inside out and my hair began to fall out. I didn't sleep, I lost my appetite, yet somehow I got up and I clicked off the green boxes in Training Peaks, I logged onto my work computer I cried over and over and then I woke up and I did it all over again.<br />
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After Ironman I slept. I enjoyed laughs with friends and wine until well, until someone cut us off. I joined some of those same friends and went to "prom."<br />
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I let the boxes in TP turn red, and I chose when and what I wanted to do. I paced my friends to PRs and dressed my dog up and brought her to a bar. I curled my hair, I wore mascara.<br />
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I spent 2 amazing weeks with my husband building our dream home, Bub's place. We laughed as we opened yet <i>another</i> bottle of wine, because well, it was Tuesday. We held hands and walked to the boat on Christmas and made conversation with strangers. We woke up on New Years Day and drank as much alcohol as we could consumer in 60' gaining courage to join 500+ crazy "friends" and jump into 40deg water. I "ran' in 25 degrees, snow and stopped to enjoy the beauty.<br />
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I got sick yet again, and hopefully for the last time, and 2 weeks later I am feeling like a different person. The red boxes in TP are now green, I am finding a slow twitch of race motivation. I look at pictures of Baxter and I smile instead of cry. I'm able to stay up drinking wine and watching the bachelor with a girlfriend until my eyes are heavy, then wake up and smash a run and feel that high. <br />
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And at the end of the day, I look at this little girl, and celebrate the blessings I DO have, and the people that surround me.<br />
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Cheers to what's next, what memories we've made and to all the people that helped me, loved me and carried me through the hardest of times.<br />
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<i>"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love."</i><br />
-- Hubert H. Humphrey<br />
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-38713604204355662992015-11-17T09:32:00.000-08:002015-11-17T09:32:13.199-08:00#BubbaDay at IMAZ and saying goodbyeA few weeks after IMCDA when the fog of racing 11+hours in an inferno lifted, I realized that I had more fire in my belly. With the support of many friends I joined an <a href="http://www.smiletrain.org/athletics/">amazing charity </a> and signed up for IMAZ.(seriously, if you are EVER thinking of racing for a cause, this foundation is top notch, and the next time I race IMAZ, it will be with them!). This wasn't a quick decision, but because my training for CDA had been less than perfect due to weddings and trips and then both of my dogs being diagnosed with cancer within a couple of weeks, I wanted another shot at Ironman, and pushing my limits to see if I could qualify for Kona. I did my research on the start list, and while there were definitely a few very top athletes in my AG, it wasn't as intimdating as it had been in the past with a dozen plus names in contention.<br />
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IMCDA fatigue faded and Michelle and I got to work. I spent a LOT of time climbing hills. On the bike, on the run. I pushed max watts and was convinced my legs were going to fall off and my heart was going to explode. And just as my fitness was starting to really feel great life took some more turns and Baxter started to go downhill. The entire month of September there were signs and I started to get scared leaving him alone. And, just like that one day I came home and there he was sitting on the floor staring into a corner, and I knew the time was coming so soon.<br />
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Without going back to all of <a href="http://www.tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2015/09/bubba-days.html">what happened</a> again, I'll just say that 8 weeks out from Ironman my world was flipped upside down. <br />
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As a coach and athlete I know the affects of stress on our bodies. 6 months of ups and downs caring for my sick dogs, finding out my company lost the account that I work on and I needed to find a new job, my husband working in another state and trying to train harder and stronger than ever to reach a goal. I wasn't sleeping, my appetite was lacking, and if I'm honest with myself while I was doing 95% of my training, I wasn't all <i>in.</i> <br />
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When we finally had to let go of Baxter I shut my grieving down and got right back into the saddle, literally < than 24hours later to ride my bike for 5 hours. We packed up our CDA rental and I was home 3 short days later. I headed for a checkup with my doctor and when I received the results 10 days later after our trip to Mexico to say goodbye to our house and bring Baxter to his beach, reality set in. <br />
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My body shut down. I had the flu and a sinus infection, so talking with my doc was perfect timing. She told me that my adrenals and cortisol were absolutely tanked. My doctor (an athlete herself) wasn't sure how I was functioning let alone training. I had 4 weeks to get my shit together and try to turn my health around so I did what I could. I grounded myself to home, only really leaving to train. I ate well and tried to keep stress as low as possible. I was advised that due to the low cortisol levels, fueling during training was extra important as my body was unable to really process fat for fuel and truly needed the sugar/carbs. I didn't really change much here as I always practice race day fueling, but I did take care to make sure I went into every workout properly fueled, then recover.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQaZz5pdT6EVnr4ZB6EnEjJ_VHrasjUMPbS6wJ2l69I1F97Z_NtyPEywD_n2s-oHY12PDVRLGmFmH5dYoypGBqV9UJKyrmWsmtAzbQYARTMgeEj0zxiVnAr0jdhluV0VwAgkKNxHjoIKW/s1600/IMG_0368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQaZz5pdT6EVnr4ZB6EnEjJ_VHrasjUMPbS6wJ2l69I1F97Z_NtyPEywD_n2s-oHY12PDVRLGmFmH5dYoypGBqV9UJKyrmWsmtAzbQYARTMgeEj0zxiVnAr0jdhluV0VwAgkKNxHjoIKW/s320/IMG_0368.JPG" width="240" /></a>Things were looking better and I was feeling better! In the days leading up to the race my body started to feel READY. It was SO stress free and relaxing! I had to push any doubts out of my head and just focus on the race, and that is exactly what I did.<br />
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The swim and the bike went pretty much right as planned! I really enjoyed the rolling start. It was stress free and for at least half of the swim it was smooth sailing (for me). The return stretch was much more aggressive, and I found myself getting a bit frustrated, but just kept swimming! For once I didn't think about my time, I just tried to focus on the next part of the race! <br />
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Swim 1:07:20 - 11th AG. Last year was 1:07:25 and 14th & 2013 1:10:01 and 16th so despite not feeling like my swim training was awesome this summer (just didn't have that speed or confidence) I'm pretty happy with that!<br />
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Transition was super quick and I was out on the bike feeling good. Because I had trained all season with power I had something new and solid to pace myself off. I have worked on strength on the bike so much and Michelle and I talked about bumping up my race watts to try to be more competitive on the bike. I stuck to my plan at the top end of my watts the entire race, but as I saw the fast swimmers out ahead of me gaining time I had to just keep pushing, but not go out of what I new my abilities were in order to run. <br />
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When the wind and rain and cold settled in, I was honestly just laughing. Mother nature truly does control the day, and all we can do is keep doing what we know how! I kept pushing the watts, staying aero and trying to get all my fuel in. My stomach was not wanting my typical solid foods, so I started chewing on some pepto to get it settled. I came off the bike a few 100 calories short, but feeling pretty good. I knew I had passed a few girls in my AG on the bike, but also knew at least 2 were so far out in front it was going to take a small miracle on the run to even get near them.<br />
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Bike 5:35:34 - 7th AG. 14' 5:44:55 - 10th AG 13' 5:18:45 - 6th AG. <br />
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As I started running my legs felt pretty good, but my stomach was not. I sipped on my Osmo and just kept my cadence up, letting the pace settle. <br />
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Running in the rain felt awesome, but at about mile 3 when we had to hit the thick mud it was not so fun. I followed people in front of me and tried to find the best tracks, but really it was more of an obstacle. I started my plan of gel every 4 miles and that's when things started to go bad. My stomach wanted nothing to do with gels. I kept trying to get them down, but pace was slowing as my energy was fading (this is something I haven't experienced in years as I've had a great nutrition plan!). I started going through each aid station to see if anything sounded good, but it didn't. After my 3rd attempt at a gel, I just gave up and handed my bottle off to a friend. I got through 20 miles of that run on a little cola, sips of water, but more importantly the support and cheers from my friends, team and husband. I teared up almost every time I saw them, but without them I would have been out on that course a much, much longer time.<br />
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In the final miles I had a hard time staying focused. I was so emotionally and physically drained my eyes just wanted to shut. Then, somewhere after mile 21 I looked up and saw a rainbow. In the days after Baxter passed so many people talked about the magical rainbow bridge where dogs go to wait for their humans. To be honest everything about the story doesn't sit right with me. The idea of Baxter sitting somewhere waiting for me breaks my heart. I don't know what I think or what I believe, but for some reason I couldn't make peace with the whole rainbow bridge thing and put it out of my mind until I saw one running east on the course. More tears and more emotion took over and the rest of the race is a blur. As I headed down the final stretch of Rio Salado and all the cheers support overwhelmed me I got to that finish line and couldn't even hold my hands up. <br />
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I had this amazing sense of relief. It's like all the grieving I needed to do 6 weeks ago happened over the 4:15 of running that marathon.<br />
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Run 4:15:52 - 8th AG 14' 4:00:53 - 8th AG 13' 3:56:32 - 5th AG<br />
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It was almost surreal looking at my splits from the run. When I was out there I felt like I was barely moving, yet with all the walking through aids and multiple potty stops my pace only slowed a bit. My legs had it all to run my planned 3:45 marathon, but my stomach or whatever else was happening with me that day didn't have it. <br />
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I know many people were worried of my disappointment in the day, but I can say without a doubt, while of course I wish my body had cooperated, even on MY best day, the top 3 girls were stronger and faster than me. To make it to the start line that day with everything I had going on was a win in itself and I learned so much about my mental strength, and grit. I had support that I never dreamed of, and by choosing to do this race under a charity, WE helped 20+ children receive a life changing surgery. <br />
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I don't know what races are next for me, but as I'm sure you all can guess, I'm not done. Right now, I'm going to let my body and my mind heal, rest and recover. My heart is full and happy and while I'm still so, so sad missing Baxter, I also feel like I can finally breathe.<br />
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I have a list full of names and addresses to thank the many people that have helped me and supported me these past few months and I truly hope each of you know how much you and everything you have done has meant to me.Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-64079794405617488942015-09-22T12:04:00.001-07:002015-09-22T14:03:54.340-07:00Bubba Days!We we left for CDA 4 months ago I was totally prepared that Baxter might not be coming home with us. We had a few hickups in the first week, but after that we all get settled in, I was able to come and go without stressing and everything was going great. Baxter's energy remained that of a normal <i>14yo</i> Vizsla, making me laugh every night. Our determination to spoil him rotten has made his determination to get everything he wants even stronger... #parentfail<br />
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Dinner at the table with Baxter crying for whatever is on the plate (ugh, I know). Staring at the fridge and barking for more hot dogs. And when it's 8pm and I just want to sit on the couch and veg out for a few, he's throwing his <i>de</i>stuffed baby around trying to get me to go to bed. Barking at every deer and wild turkey and showing off til no end for any visitor that comes to the door.<br />
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Oh, this boy....<br />
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Friday morning I got a text from Aunt Jen asking how he was (seriously, I have the best friends asking me for updates all the time. They KNOW he is my kid, not my pet) and I said, he's doing GREAT! I think we are bringing him home AND to Mexico!!<br />
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After work I left to go swim.... since I didn't have anything planned but prep my bike for the long workout in the morning I headed to get my atrocious looking toenails done for the first time since all my nails fail off post IMCDA, then grabbed some food to get my through the big training weekend.<br />
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When I got home, for some reason I didn't go straight into my room where Baxter stays. Juliette was barking so I got her out of the crate, then headed into the room. Baxter wasn't on the bed. Instant panic set in and I ran over to the side of the bed to see him laying there in the corner. I flew down to the floor to comfort him and immediately checked his gums. They were WHITE. I've been told this is one of the first signs I need to look for when something is wrong. It means that dogs are in pain and or bleeding. The prognosis of his cancer is that it's a cancer of the blood and it will spread to another organ, most likely his liver or lungs and at some point a tumor would grow and probably bleed out. There is no fixing it, it's just time...<br />
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I helped him get up and while he seemed a bit weak, he went outside, went to the bathroom and was alert. He was a bit wobbly, but still walking. I called a friend to see if I could get some help to get him to the emergency clinic, but no one was answering, so I got Juliette in her crate and got Baxter loaded into the truck. He was barely keeping his head up while he sat in the back seat, but the most concerning thing was he was calm and quiet. Baxter HATES being in the car. He pants and freaks out... He was just sitting there.<br />
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I got into the hospital and I don't even know what I said except he has cancer and his gums are white and I think it's time.<br />
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Bless the doctor's hear She was the same one that took care of us when we first got into town and Baxter's paws swelled up. She came down to the ground to him, so gentle. I sat there with Baxter holding his head, comforting him while they took a small amount of blood from his leg to check for anemia. She mentioned that sometimes if they are bleeding it might now show they are anemic right away and we may need to do an ultrasound. I expressed my concern in that we had decided no more tests, no extreme measures. He had been through enough.<br />
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When she came back in and said his blood was normal but that his heart sounded muffled, she really wanted to take a quick look with the ultrasound. She would bring the machine in and he wouldn't have to move. In my head I was picturing the big fancy thing that we had a specialist come in with where we had to pick him up, shave his belly, etc.... The doctor again was so gentle as she checked out his lungs and his heart (perfect). She explained to me what fluid would look like (black) and then she found <i>something</i> that could be fluid by his liver, but not free fluid all over.<br />
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Her recommendation was that yes, this could be a tumor that is bleeding, but it also could be something completely unrelated.... His was stable, and thought it would be best if I took him home where he would be comfortable. She assured me I could call with any questions, she would be there for 24hours.<br />
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As much as I wanted to be hopeful, I also know how attached I am to this boy and I didn't want to do something that would cause him any pain. I was ready to let him go. I had the doctor explain the situation to my amazing vet and friend at home so that I could have help. They both told me the same thing, he's not ready to leave me. God, it just makes me cry thinking about him. Holding on, fighting because he loves us so much!<br />
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While all of this was going on my phone was blowing up with returned calls from my panic calls. Shane, who had just gotten back to California prepping for probably the most important week (to date) of his career was pacing outside of his car deciding if he start driving 15 hours to say good bye, only to have to drive right back. I was scared for him, but we didn't have the resources to buy a $800 flight to get him home. I made a call to my friend who had offered the last time to get him on a flight with points, and within 20mins she had him driving to a near bye airport, a hotel booked and the first flight out in the morning.<br />
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My high school friend was already on her way with bags packed to be with me, and my local friend was ready with whatever I needed. We spent the night snuggling and trying to keep Baxter happy. But, to be honest, he was doing the same thing. He perked up when she got here with more hot dogs.<br />
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We didn't sleep much (well I didn't), but we stayed in bed until early afternoon when my friend brought Shane home from the airport. I emailed our oncologist back home and told her what was going on. She was sweet, but honest and direct telling us it could be just a few hours before he would be in pain and needing to be put down, or he could go on his own, but that would be very hard. We were prepared for the worst, but ready....Over the next few hours Baxter perked up, rallied like no other and we spent the day loving on him, spoiling him and in all sorts of ways coming to terms with saying goodbye. It was honestly a perfect day!<br />
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Back to begging for food.... even if it was just carrots<br />
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Lots of outside time watching the squirrels and barking at everything, when it got cold he got to wear Dad's T shirt ;) <br />
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Steak for dinner???? YES PLEASE!<br />
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And beautiful flowers from my sweet friend back home who has been there for me since day one of this stupid cancer.<br />
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Sunday went pretty much the same only I had to get myself together and get some of my training in. My weekend was planned to be huge with 9hours of riding and 90' run.... After sleeping in then trying to hydrate and get some food in my system we took the dogs for a walk. Baxter struggled a little, but yet he was still all in!<br />
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I got myself onto my trainer where I stayed doing intervals for 4
hours. I figure if nothing else I was getting some solid mental
training in! I think 2hours was my previous record for trainer time, so
nothing like doubling it.<br />
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We went to bed trying to get rest, but unfortunately I just couldn't sleep. I managed to get out for a run before we had to get Shane to the airport. Gosh that was hard. Coming home watching my best friend say good bye to my other best friend. These two have been in my life the exact same amount of time and they both have my heart. I was crushed, but unfortunately Shane had to go, Baxter had to let go and all I could do was watch.<br />
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We had a pretty good day yesterday. I had another wonderful friend come sit with Baxter so I could go swim. He ate like normal, barked at everything like normal and watched all the wonderful things happening out his favorite window.<br />
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We're now Tuesday morning, Bubba day #132. The amount of love, support and outpouring care and concern for me and my family right now is unreal. Unfortunately, I know we are on borrowed time just as I started to write this post Baxter got up wanting dinner. I fed him and for the first time he only ate the hot dogs.... worried, I offered him some turkey meat after and he took a bite, then shunned the rest of the way. He started doing circles around the house then laid down against the couch with some strained breathing. I grabbed my phone making my (once again) panic phone calls trying to figure out what to do. About 30' later he was resting in my arms, but comfortably and I had a friend coming over to help me take him in.<br />
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And, just like that in typical Baxter fashion as soon as the pretty blonde walked in the door he perked up, gave kisses, wagging his tail and more than ready for a treat. So here I am, sitting on the couch with him. He's resting comfortably, but I'm just trying to be the big kid here and take care of my boy. Everyone tells me he will let me know when HE is ready, and I'm just waiting for that. He's always trying to protect me, so unfortunately, I may need to be the one making the hard call this time. For now, I'm treasuring every second he's next to me.<br />
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-78411249488386505772015-08-05T11:27:00.001-07:002015-08-05T11:27:08.648-07:00JulyA week into August and I thought it was time for a little update! July was a BLAST. It was abnormally HOT here in the PNW, but the evenings still cool down, and to be honest, I can still ride my bike when it's 95 out and not feel like I'm dying. It's hot, but manageable (and doesn't stay hot for 4 months). <br />
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It took me a solid 2 weeks to really come out of the, "I just did an Ironman in 106degs" fog. There were mornings where I physically just could not get out of bed, and when I did I wasn't accomplishing much. My motivation came around thanks to the post-ironman "WHAT next" and signing up for a spring 70.3, then a day later registering for a charity to race Ironman Arizona. That was just what I needed to get myself back in the game.<br />
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I had a conversation with Michelle about needing the month to still train, but have more flexibility. I wanted to make sure that I didn't dive right back in until my mind and body were ready. So in the mix of training there was also a lot of fun!<br />
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Lots of boating and BBQing with some lovely ladies and their husbands that we have met here in CDA. Work hard/play hard! <br />
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FINALLY a trip to the Filling Station to try some craft beers. I saw this place my first week in town, and avoided it until after Iroman.<br />
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Finishing off the yummy Huckleberry beer that Sherpa Jen brought from Montana! <br />
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There has also been paddleboarding, and lots of lots of fun snuggles for Bubba day! We are officially past the "avg expectancy of 19-83 days" and on Bubba day 94. He sleeps most the day (but so does Juliette) and then acts like a puppy after he's done napping. Every day he's happy makes my heart happy!</div>
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2 weeks post Ironman I decided (like last year) to hop into a local sprint race, Race the River. Shane & I headed out for a little social ride on Saturday stopping at the kids race and registering for the next day. I dared Shane to register as well, and for a brief moment I think he considered it, but it didn't work. The race was in a slightly different location than last year with more turns on the bike, (think Soma 70.3 turns, but in 11 miles) but the swim was still point to point and along the shore so no sighting necessary. I felt AMAZING in the water which was good as I hadn't done any hard swimming, my legs had NO power and quads felt like they were cramping on the bike and to my surprise I had a pretty descent run negative splitting a 5k with splits I haven't seen in a long time, especially all of the Ironman training! I ended up 5th overall (by just a few seconds and local pro Haley Cooper Scott winning) and 1st AG. With no expectations going in, it made for a very nice win! I guess Bubba wasn't done with medals after all ;) The race happened to be the PNW regional sprint championships so along with the podium medal they gave 1st place winners a very nice visor :)<br />
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At the end of July Karen came over from Seattle for some fun and bike training! I took her on my favorite hill ride (which I spend lot of time on) where we did 14' hill repeats! My legs were already trashed from some max effort repeats the day before so I was VERY happy to have her pushing me up that hill. Thankfully, the views make going up and down and grinding away totally worth it.<br />
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In between the hard bike rides we spent an afternoon doing the CDA lake cruise, cruiser riding to sushi and just fun girl time catching up!<br />
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Cruising around this lake NEVER gets old to me!!<br />
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Friday night after work we headed out to do a ride I've only done one other time. You can basically ride around the entire Hayden Lake. The views are indescribable and can't be captured in pictures. Once again my body was hurting from my poor road bike fit (long story, but it's all messed up from a saddle change) and quads burning for 2 previous hard days, so super happy to have Karen to chase around, up and down, up and down.... Nothing like a 50+mile Friday night happy hour ride!<br />
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In the last week and a half training is back to full swing. More bike days than swim/bike run days, hill after hill and chasing power. My 2 week vacation of swims that start with anything but a 3 or a 4 are long gone and when anything described as "easy/cruise" shows up on a run, I'm THANKFUL.<br />
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I have almost every weekend planned out for August, including a visit from my uncle, a mini camp with former TeamBSC teammate and friend planned and the epic "CDA Crossing" swim across the lake event! Unlike last year where I spent every weekend racing short course in August, this year is about getting stronger and ready to give it all I have at IMAZ. I'm totally motivated and giving my complete trust and faith to Michelle as she helps guide me there.<br />
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My fundraising efforts are off to a great start, and I'm just under halfway to my goal. With the 5k I will raise, it's pretty darn motivating to put myself out there and ask for these donations knowing that those funds will help TWENTY kids get corrective surgery and beautiful healthy smiles :) If you would like to help with this fund, please click on my<a href="http://support.smiletrain.org/site/TR/AthleticsEvent/General?px=3613084&pg=personal&fr_id=1530"> personal page here</a>! <br />
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And last, but certainly not least, my coaching business and <a href="http://teambsctriathlon.com/">TeamBSC</a> are having an amazing race season. All of my athletes are kicking butt, and we are 100% success rate for our Ironman finishes. Race days are spent on my computer stressing out and hitting refresh, but the recaps and feedback I'm getting are reminding me the joy I get from helping these athletes. Some athletes are taking a break after their big races and at the same time I'm getting more signing on for their next year goals. It's the ebb and flow of the business and it keeps everything fun and exciting. I'm so thankful I'm able to do something that I love and help others at the same time! <br />
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Thanks so much to everyone reading and following along on my journey! Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-37194376770310254682015-07-10T14:26:00.002-07:002015-07-10T14:26:46.771-07:00What's next? Post Ironman what nows no more....And, without further ado, I announce what is NEXT. I have a million reasons why I'm doing this, but I'm super excited to continue pursing my dreams, and doing it for an amazing cause all at once. While I had a near panic attack with both nerves and excitement as I pushed submit on my own personal donation, I can't wait to begin this journey.<br />
<br />
I'll try to be better about training updates, aches and pains and progress, but in the meantime a huge thanks to those who have already promised donations, but most of all for your overwhelming belief and support for me. I have no words!<br />
<br />
<i>I know this may come as a shock to
some of you (ha!), but I'm doing another Ironman! The beginning of this
year was quite busy, and as I was trying to put in my last training
block for Ironman CDA, life handed quite a few lemons my way. I got
through and performed to the best of my ability, but when the race was
over I didn't quite feel... DONE.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Let me back up to the days
leading up to the race. As I was standing in line to register I was
talking to some people about the upcoming heat forecast for the day
(record breaking 106degs!) and mentioned that I was from Arizona, and
while I train in the heat, nothing could prepare us for doing an entire
Ironman with that kind of heat. Someone overheard my conversation and
asked if I wanted to race AZ. My reply was something along the lines of,
"let me get through this day!" I'd be lying if I didn't have this
gentleman's voice in my head for the hours out there in the heat, or the
days after the race. Unfortunately, I lost the guy's business card, but
remembered he was an ambassador for the race charity, SmileTrain.</i><br />
<br />
<i>As
my legs began to recover and my mind was certainly clear, I started to
ponder if I were up for another Ironman. I did a little research on the
charity and was overly impressed by the message and what raising funds
could do for children born with cleft pallets. If I were to race and
fund raise for this charity, my contribution alone would provide TWENTY
children with corrective surgery. Pretty cool to imagine that putting my
heart and determination and the generosity of others could provide
this.</i><br />
<br />
<i>I began talking to friends about my thoughts on racing with
the charity and was overwhelmed by the support. Honestly, I had no idea
that so many people believed in me and my dream to not only continue to
improve in this sport, but also to hopefully achieve my goal in the near
future of qualifying for the world championships in Kona. There, I said
it. My goal! The confidence and support of everyone made the decision
pretty easy, however, it was the act of one very generous individual
offering to donate a very large portion of the funds for me to do this.</i><br />
<br />
<i>So,
this coming November I'm racing IRONMAN Arizona and will raise funds
for Smile Train to help give children around the world not only new
smiles, but a second chance at life.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Smile Train is an
international children's charity that provides free surgery to poor
children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate. Children born with
cleft cannot eat or speak properly, aren't allowed to attend school or
hold a job and face very difficult lives of shame and isolation, pain
and heartache. Some children are even abandoned or killed—all because of
the way they look. Their clefts usually go untreated because they are
too poor to afford the simple repair surgery that takes as little as 45
minutes and costs as little as $250 dollars. Yet with your help, we can
save these children and give them the life changing surgery they both
need and deserve.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Please help support in any way you can, by
donating to my <a href="http://support.smiletrain.org/site/TR/AthleticsEvent/General?px=3613084&pg=personal&fr_id=1530" target="_blank">Smile Train fund!</a> I promise you, I will do everything in
my power putting my heart and soul into that race making you all proud!</i><br />
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Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-68219567128402386082015-06-30T13:16:00.001-07:002015-06-30T13:52:26.169-07:00Ironman CDA, the race on the surface of the sunI wanted to get this post out while it's still fresh on my mind, pain in my body and a slight hangover from yesterday's celebration.<br />
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Ironman is hard. Even on a day with perfect conditions it will test your body, it will test your mind. You can train 20 hours a week or 6 hours a week and the end result is going to come down to how well you EXECUTE a plan, and what kind of grit you can pull out on the day.<br />
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Last year training for this race everything went flawless. I followed my plan to a T, I rested and I recovered. This year was a little chaotic with a lot of travel then followed by 6 weeks of caring for sick dogs and packing up to move to CDA for the summer. I wasn't resting, I wasn't recovering and all of my workouts were not the quality I would like. However, in the last couple of weeks leading up to the race my dogs were recovering, my stress was low and I was doing what I needed to get my body and mind race ready. I was feeling great!<br />
<br />
In addition to getting myself ready, I had my biggest year of coaching and 5 amazing athletes getting ready to race CDA as well. We were dialing in our race strategies with fueling, hydration and pacing. They all had a plan and they were ALL very ready to race an Ironman. The 10 day forecast came next and this is where everything began to change. Honestly, I never actually believed it was going to be 100+. This was my 5th time racing Ironman CDA, and it has NEVER been over 85degrees.<br />
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As the days clicked off and the weather only got worse, it was time to adjust our plans. All but one of my athletes lives in Arizona. We train and we suffer in heat, we know what it takes. That said, we do NOT go run a marathon after being out in the heat and already training for 6+hours. We wake up early and we get as much done before the sun is up and the temps are blazing.<br />
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As part of TeamBSC all of our athletes are getting the personal coaching from either Michelle or myself, but in addition they get a community and support of a team as a whole. While we were all getting race ready and adjusting our plans Michelle was doing research. She was having 1:1 discussions with the Osmo creator Stacy Sims getting exact details on what we should be doing to stay hydrated in this heat. We all adjusted our plans (drink ALL the OSMO) doing everything in our power to keep our bodies healthy.<br />
<br />
Before going into my race report, I just want to say that my day was hands down made 100 times better being able to watch every single one of my athletes out there on the course fighting through the conditions, sticking to their plan, not once even considering giving up and doing it ALL with a smile and high 5 when I would see them. Those smiles and seeing them out there only pushed me harder when my body wanted to do nothing more than stop and or walk. I can't thank you all enough for making me so proud, and helping me out there even if you didn't know you were.<br />
<br />
My 2015 race!<br />
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Before the weather forecast my plan was to swim strong, bike strong and have the run of my life. I had been given some intel on my competition and I knew it was TOUGH. I knew a Kona slot was a long shot, but it's Ironman and anything is possible. While I may not be the fastest one out there I know how to execute a race. I have been training with power for a year now, and I knew exactly where I needed to be to have a solid day on the course. I was able to do a few of my long training rides out on the hilly section, and had my numbers dialed in. On a light wind day I estimated a 5:50 bike split. Holding my power, and eating all of my nutrition and hydration would set me up to run about a 3:45-3:50 marathon. I had been training out on the course and had no problem running 8:30's -8:40's on trashed legs. With a 1:05-1:06 swim I figured a 10:45-10:55 would put me in contention for a podium spot, and then give me a shot at Kona.<br />
<br />
And then the 105 degree forecast happened. My swim and bike plan did not change, with the exception of having to basically double my hydration plan. This meant not only stopping at special needs (planned) for Osmo refills, but also going through EVERY single aid station to grab more water, soak myself with water and also stop to refill my bottles and mix Osmo. I've never stopped on my bike in an Ironman. My run plan was to do the same with Hydration carrying Osmo with me the entire run. I also added a cooling towel to my special needs. I figured I would assess pace when I got off the bike, having no idea what my body could run in 100+temps that was the wild card.<br />
<br />
The swim went great! I lined myself up exactly where I did the previous year at the front of the 1hr + wave. My first split was 31:30 and I was stoked! Having done this race so many times I new my second lap would be a little slower, but my tendency to swim to my right definitely slowed me down getting off course a bit. I swam a 1:06 and was 8th in my AG out of the water.<br />
<br />
Out on the first out and back on the bike I felt AMAZING. I flipped my garmin to show me cadence and 30" power. While my legs felt unbelievable my power was higher than I planned. I slowed myself down and just started my hydration. By mile 20 I already had to pee. I climbed up the first big hill on the second out and back, and as soon as I descended I was able to go what would be my first of 6 times peeing on my poor bike! While I wasn't hot yet, I was still pouring water on me at every aid station. I was passed by a friend, and girl in my AG and as much as I wanted to go with her, I held back and stuck to my plan. Just before the turnaround (so maybe mile 35 ) I stopped to mix up my 3rd bottle of Osmo. It took some extra time, but I was determined to stick to my plan and do everything in my power to set myself up for a good run.<br />
<br />
I could feel the heat picking up as I headed back into town to start the second loop. My back started to feel the sun, and while my body temp was fine I was wishing I hadn't walked passed the sunscreen people coming of T1.<br />
<br />
I picked up my special needs bags with additional calories and more Osmo and headed back out on the bike. The big climb on the second loop was where I really had to test my patience. My power was at the top of where I wanted it, but I had at least 3 girls in my AG pass me. It was SO hard to not start my race then and there, but I just prayed and trusted that my plan was going to work.<br />
<br />
After the climb I was actually running out of water. I had already gone through both of my Osmo bottles, but there wasn't an aid station for a while. I just watched my power and stayed on target and kept stuffing down my nutrition. I flip flopped with a guy on the bike that was covered in sunscreen and asked him where he got it. He handed me some Zinc and let me coat my sizzling skin with it. Seriously, I love making friends on the course!!!<br />
<br />
At the next Aid station I stopped yet again and mixed more Osmo, had them pour water on my head and back and then was on my way. My pace and dropped just a little from the extra time at the stop, but it was worth it. On the way back into town I could just feel the heat radiating of the asphalt (I later read that the fire department said it was 148degs coming off the highway). I had to make 2 more stops to deal with a wheel issue, but thankfully it was just the tape covering my disc that had come loose with all the water. I started taking at least 3 bottles at each aid station to pour on myself. If I was wet, I was cool. <br />
<br />
In my last 10 miles this is where things got ugly (not for me). I saw people WALKING their bikes up the hill heading out to the turnaround. I saw at least 15 people just sitting in the brush on the side of the highway seeking shade. Kits were covered in salt. People just looked ROUGH. I was so thankful to see each and everyone of my athletes smiling and just doing their thing out there knowing they would all make it off the bike!<br />
<br />
My bike time was 6:10, and I moved down to 13th place in my AG. I drank 6 bottles of Osmo, at least 5 bottles of water and about 8 more poured on me. I peed 6 times and consumed 1800-1900 calories. I took 12 xe21 and zero additional salt. My stomach felt fantastic the entire time!<br />
<br />
As I headed into T2 I was shocked to feel how amazing my legs felt. I purposefully left my bike shoes on so that I didn't burn my feet. Everyone around me was barely walking to the changing tent so I did the same. Then I realized what am I doing??? My legs felt great so I grabbed my bag and I booked it in there. I dumped my bag out, did a first time sock change, drank my diluted Osmo pre-load, stuffed my gels down my top and headed out with 2 other girls in my age group (they had passed me and I had I guess caught back up with them).<br />
<br />
My origional plan was to run 2x9' miles then drop it down to 8:40's and hold. With the heat, I had no pacing strategy. My plan was to run what I could and dig when I needed to do. Within the first half mile I looked at my garmin and was running about a 9:30 and it felt comfortable. I had to stop at a porta potty just before mile 1, and after that I was on my way. I ran with a girl in my AG until the second aid station and she fell back. Another girl passed me and shortly after one more. I just kept doing my thing. Sipping on my osmo, running about 8:45-9' pace but walking through every aid station taking in ice, and water. I ate a gel every 4 miles, refilled my bottle with Osmo and topped it off with ice water when needed. I took sponges and water every chance I had.<br />
<br />At the turnaround I realized I was gaining on 3 girls in my age group. I walked up the steep hill, and cruised down it. My energy felt great, and I was doing what I could to keep my core temp down. I stopped at special needs and grabbed another premade bottle of Osmo, more gel and more e21. I also had a cooling towel that I wrapped around my neck and tucked in my bra. I ran through every sprinkler, and let everyone with a hose spray me.<br />
<br />
Somewhere between miles 15-20 I passed 3 girls in my Age Group. Shane & Theresa came out on the course to tell me what Michelle had passed on to them to run myself into 5th place. At one point they thought I was in 4th and with 5 miles left I DUG. I gave it every ounce of everything I had left in me to hold pace.<br />
<br />
At mile 23 my friend came flying by me and as much as I wanted to try to go with her I did not have that speed left. She was gone. But, I didn't give up. I picked up the pace as much as I could, walked the last 2 aid stations, ditched my towel, ditched my bottle and when I turned on to Sherman I clenched my teeth and held back tears.<br />
<br />
For the first time ever I ran 6 girls down in my age group. I RACED that Ironman like it was my last. I took in 4 bottles of Osmo, 4e21, 5 gels and maybe one cup of cola total. I never felt stomach issues, I never felt bonked, I never cramped.<br />
<br />
Run time 4:10, 3rd fastest run split in my AG and putting me in 7th place with a finish time of 11:33.<br />
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I found Shane, got out of the finishers chute and headed straight to dump myself in the lake. It felt amazing. We walked to some shade and that's where everything changed. I started to go white, and I couldn't keep my eyes open. Shane half walked, half carried me to medical where they moved me from the chairs then to lay down, then when my eyes started rolling back in my head and I couldn't stop shaking they carried me to the "back." I don't remember a lot of what happened other than a lot of questions and hearing my blood pressure and O2 stats not being good. I got wrapped in a blanket, and an IV inserted. I started coughing. They called Shane and got my inhaler, but that made the coughing worse so they started a nebulizer breathing treatment. After I finished that things started to go much better! My blood pressure went up. My body soaked up the IV in record time and I could hold my eyes open.<br />
<br />
I don't know how long I was in there, but I can't thank those volunteers enough for taking care of me! They were simply amazing. Having never been in there, I witnessed some very scary stuff and was just happy I was not in worse shape!<br />
<br />
I can hands down say that this was THE hardest Ironman, or any race that I have ever done. It is also one that I am most proud of. Holding back on the bike and taking extra time to hydrate was the best plan for me. I'm simply amazed at how my body endured that run, and I have absolutely NO regrets! I earned Baxter THE best medal to date! This one was all for you, B!<br />
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To top it all off each and every single one of my athletes finished the day with a smile, and I couldn't ask for anything more!!!<br />
<br />
What's next? I have absolutely NO idea ;)<br />
<br />
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my amazing support crew. All the cheers on course (Shane, Jen, Tracy, Teri, Dad, Cindy) the virtual support (far too many to name!), and the best sponsors providing me with everything I need (TriScottsdale, Tribe, Osmo Nutrition, Recoverye21, Planet Sun Hawaii and BeetElite). And to my coach and TeamBSC Michelle.... words can't even begin to say what I want to thank you for turning me into the coach and athlete that I am today, and we're not even close to being finished :)<!--10:45-10:55-->Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-41225771105456724892015-06-02T18:52:00.004-07:002015-06-03T08:57:11.894-07:00When it rains....It's been almost a month since my last post and I feel like my life has completely changed. I can honestly say this has been one, if not the hardest, most stressful months of my life.<br />
<br />
I'll back up a bit and talk about the good. Before our life got turned upside down and both of our dogs were diagnosed with cancer, I was training hard, feeling great and had a pretty solid race in Rocky Point. I conquered one of my huge fears which was swimming through huge waves, basically dolphin diving and body surfing and avoiding all stingrays! I biked my legs off and ran fairly strong landing my second 3rd overall place at the Rocky Point Tri.<br />
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After our trip to Mexico we learned that Baxter had hemangiosarcoma. The really bad kind. The kind that spreads quickly and the prognosis is 1-3-6 months. I'm happy to say that he has mostly recovered from his splenectomy (where the tumor was) and that he's doing great. We've had a couple of little scares, (most recently our first visit to the doggy ER in CDA for some weird allergic reaction on his puppy paws),but for the most part he is happy, eating (hot dogs and steaks and whatever else he wants) and just trying to be a happy old dog. I've started Baxter on an organic mushroom immunity supplement to help keep him healthy, and we also opted to do a very low oral dose of chemotherapy. We never planned on doing this, but after speaking with an oncologist the risks were low, costs were low and if there was anything we could do to help give him a little more (good) time, well than why wouldn't we do it?<br />
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A week later later we took Juliette in to have a "thing" on her leg
removed before we headed away for the summer. When I took her in
because she ate the stitches out of her leg, we were told that she too
had hemangiosarcoma. Thankfully, hers is a less aggressive and scary
one, basically skin cancer. While her cancer is about as good as we
could hope for in prognosis, her little injury on the leg has been
nothing but a pain in my ass. I have spent the past 3 weeks re-bandaging, cleaning and caring for her would that she has somehow even
manged to chew through with a cone on her head. There have been many a'
melt downs and tears of frustration with this dog....<br />
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A weekend up north to celebrate the wedding of one of my absolute most favorite people in the world's wedding. Jen, my twin! Shane stayed home with the dogs for one night so I didn't stress, and we had an amazing friend and dog sitter watch them the next. It was a beautiful weekend away, beautiful wedding and we even through in a nice little training ride climbing Mingus Mountain!<br />
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It was back to business, and of course more dog drama (and leg eating), lack of sleep and training for the last weekend before heading to CDA. Another random incident happened in the long ride. My athlete, good friend and training partner had a bike crash right next to me. Thankfully, he walked away with some bad road rash, but no serious injuries and is already back up and training. But, as luck would have it, in the mix of the whole thing, I somehow dropped my bike and broke the derailleur hanger. A piece which I later found out could not be found in town. I once again, found myself stressed and in tears as I was supposed to leave town in 4 days, and race 24hours after my bike arrived. I don't know how I did it, but somehow I scrambled, found a bike shop to get the part and committed to fixing my bike in a few short hour window so that I could indeed race.<br />
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The next few days were spent packing and trying to stay afloat with work, (thankfully I have the BEST co-worker and friend covering my ass) athletes, training and dog care. Then, 2 nights before we were supposed to leave my house started to smell like something was burning up. When I realized it was the AC going out, I made a call to one of my athletes who owns a home services company with a cry for help. Sure enough the AC was dying and we were left with 12 hours to figure out what to do before leaving. With the help of many friends and a nice little zero interest financing plan we somehow had a brand new AC installed while we were on the road.... Not exactly an expense we had budgeted for, but honestly right along the lines of how everything was going this month.<br />
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I don't know how, but both our travel (me flying, Shane driving) went perfectly. We got to our rental house and it is just perfect. The dogs did well and Shane had no issues with the journey. On Friday I spent the day doing everything BUT race prep. I didn't sleep well (up with the dogs), didn't rest. I moved furniture, ran errands, and drove around. I finally had my bike at 6:30 pm and had to find the rest of my race gear. Around 10pm I finally went to bed, hoping for a good night's sleep and some race day magic.<br />
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Unfortunately, I've yet to have any sort of race day magic and that day was the same as always. While I am fit, I knew that my month of stress and tears and maybe 2-4hours of sleep per night on top of crappy pre-race chaos would take it's toll and it did. The race was (for me) somewhat of a shit show. I was exhausted. My quads burned, and on the run all I had in me was a nice jog that was at a pace slower than I had run 20miles at a week before. I'd be lying if I said that dropping out didn't cross my mind, but instead of doing that I tried to just not think about sleeping, and just put in a training day. I made some friends on the course, I cheered for the people having a great day, and the second I crossed that finish line I laid down in the grass ready for a nap. I was so incredibly exhausted. I didn't have a bad swim, or bad bike, or a bonk on the run. I just didn't have any gears and went through the motions for almost 5.5hours. One of my slowest half ironman race times in years.<br />
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We spent the evening in our new back yard with some cocktails and the dogs. I was so tired getting into my recovery boots didn't even cross my mind!<br />
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Sunday was spent trying to finish unpacking and purchase everything we needed to make us (and the dogs) comfortable. Extra rugs and dogbeds so they weren't slipping all around the floors and some food to get the week started. Unfortunately, we had one last little scare with Baxter as he woke up with swollen feet. Before we left for our errands I gave him some benadryl, but when we got home several hours later they were still puffy. Being completely paranoid I went ahead and took him to the ER vet in town. THANKFULLY, they weren't concerned and figured he was just having a reaction to something new in the house. Best possible news. However, the past few days I've spent trying to keep him from licking them and it has not been easy! We've done epsom salt soaks (for me too!), more benadryl and extra anti-inflammatories. </div>
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It's finally June. I've taken a couple of extra days to recover from my race than normal but have finally had a couple of quiet days, catching up on sleep and just hanging out. After noticing a slightly suppressed (low) HR on my run today, I moved my bike ride to the end of the week and am spending the cold and rainy day catching up on life and resting. I'm motivated and hopeful that I can spend the next 3 weeks refocusing my training priorities to fine tune myself for my absolute favorite race of the year, IMCDA. The weather looks gorgeous (warm) for this weekend so I can't wait to get out there on the course and put in some quality time! With any luck (and lots of prayers) we will have no more drama for a while. The dogs love it here, and I'm pretty darn happy myself! Can't wait for Wednesday farmers market to start up and many ventures around town on the cruisers ;)<br />
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I hope that all of my amazing friends and people in my life realize how much I appreciate their support over the past month. I honestly don't know what I would have done with out you all.<br />
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-52036124326381345602015-05-10T16:42:00.002-07:002015-05-10T16:42:36.722-07:00Bubba DayFor as long as I can remember we used to call our long run days, Bubba day. Baxter would get to go for a long run and then snuggle with us on the couch as we recovered from training. It's all he's known. Running, training, the stupid bike rides where he got left behind for hours, to ending the weekends snuggling on the couch. Bubba Day.<br />
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Although most people would say that pretty much every day is Bubba Day, I have officially declared every day until the end of his days BUBBA DAY!<br />
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Last Saturday afternoon I was sitting on the couch recovering from a 7hour workout. I had a big weekend planned, a sort of mini self training camp. Baxter was sitting next to me and started to tremble. It was odd, and concerned me. I worried he was maybe sick, so I decided to try to feed him. If he would eat then I figured he would be ok. He ate his dinner and seemed fine so I prepped all my nutrition and bottles for the next day's ride. <br />
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A few hours later he started to walk around wobbly with some very labored/weird breathing. I jumped over to him and got him to a dog bed where his eyes went all droopy. I freaked out and called my vet. Bless this woman's heart. She answered the phone (while clearly out) on a Saturday evening and talked me through things to look for and next steps. Within a few minutes I was headed back to an animal Hospital that I knew all <a href="http://www.tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2010/09/baby-abby.html">too well.</a>...<br />
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Shortly after the doctors took Baxter and examined him they came in telling me that they had found fluid in his abdomen. Worried that it could be a splenetic tumor, which is often times the C word, they wanted to do a chest xray to see if they saw anything on his lungs, most likely meaning it was cancer and that it had spread. I began to lose my shit, and a very special friend whom I'd been texting with insisted that she come to be with me and I finally agreed. My heart was racing with fear and I was worried that under pressure I would not be able to make good decisions or even remember what was going on.<br />
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The xrays came back clear and Baxter seemed to be stable so we agreed that I would take him home for the night. I snuggled up to him, not sleeping a wink, worried that more of his symptoms would come back. I spoke with my vet, whom I incredibly lucky to have met a few years ago in our Mexico neighborhood (we are neighbors!) and agreed that if I took him back to the hospital and they could tell that his blood levels had not dropped we could wait until Monday to do an ultrasound at her office. All of this could have been done on Sunday at the vet hospital, but I feel safe in Dr Ferguson's care. I trust her and her care for my dogs.<br />
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I took Baxter back to the hospital for more blood work. The doctor on shift examined him and came back to tell me that he had lost very minimal blood and that she thinks he would be fine with me at home and to wait for the ultrasound on Monday. Relieved, but scared, we were on our way back home with a plan. I had this horrible feeling in my gut that this was not something that was going to go away, so I called Shane and said I thought he needed to come home (working in California). He was already working on it but could not find a flight that didn't cost 4x the normal and wouldn't get him in until late that night so he hopped in the car and headed on the 10hour trek home.<br />
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Monday morning we took Baxter into our vet and we were all immediately brought into a room with an ultrasound crew. It was the most calm and comfortable emergency experience and I knew I made the right decision to bring him here vs the hospital. Val (Dr. F) was in the room with me and I could see the concern on her face, much like mine. I got to hold Baxter's head while they looked all around his belly and explained everything they saw to us. They showed us the small mass on his spleen, but could tell that while there was free fluid/blood in his chest, it was no longer there. His heart looked strong, and there were no signs of any other masses.<br />
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The decision was made to have Baxter's spleen and the mass removed right away. For many dogs that develop these tumors, they suddenly burst and the dogs die of a hemorrhage. I'm so thankful for my over cautious obsession with my boy, as this very well could of happened to him.<br />
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After surgery we were able to come get Baxter later that afternoon. We were told he had a 2" tumor, but that everything else looked great. The tumor was sent off to pathology to determine if it was benign or <span class="ya-q-full-text" id="yui_3_17_2_4_1431297577437_1025">hemangiosarcoma, a very bad quickly spreading cancer. We got a very drugged up Baxter into the car and took him to the hospital where they would monitor him all night. One of the side affects of this surgery is often heart arrhythmia, so they need to be monitored. I was able to call Baxter and check on him as much as I wanted. On one of my calls I was told that he did have some arrhythmias so they were keeping him on a drip to control it.</span><br />
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<span class="ya-q-full-text" id="yui_3_17_2_4_1431297577437_1025">After a long night it was finally Tuesday morning and I called as soon as I woke up hoping to go get him. Unfortunately the arrhythmia continued so they needed to be able to wean him off the drugs first. Finally, were were able to take him home late that afternoon. There is more to that story, including a very unpleasant experience with one of the doctors, but I'd rather not focus on that...</span><br />
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<span class="ya-q-full-text" id="yui_3_17_2_4_1431297577437_1025">The first few days of recovery were HARD. I stayed up with Baxter the first few nights laying next to him while he tried to sleep. He was up and down and getting sick. He refused to eat, and was restless. On Wednesday, Val came over and gave him some injections to help with the nausea. While he seemed to perk up a bit, he still wouldn't eat. Thursday we got him on an appetite stimulant, and after a very long nap I got him to eat some peanut butter. Over the past 3 days we've got him eating more. His spirit is up, he's barking at random noises, he looks GREAT. He is honestly probably doing TOO much, but eventually passes out at night. He's sleeping in my arms every night and back to following me around the house.</span><br />
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<span class="ya-q-full-text" id="yui_3_17_2_4_1431297577437_1025"></span><span class="ya-q-full-text" id="yui_3_17_2_4_1431297577437_1025">Today, I got a call from my vet and the pathology results confirmed </span><span class="ya-q-full-text" id="yui_3_17_2_4_1431297577437_1025">hemangiosarcoma. Unfortunately the prognosis for this type of cancer is not good. For now, I'm doing my best to just stay calm and deal with what comes. The cancer was limited to the spleen, which was removed, but it is a cancer that metastasizes and it can happen quickly. As soon as Baxter is recovered from the surgery, which he is well on his way, he will be back to his normal snuggly, active old self. Eventually we will see signs that the cancer has spread and will have to do what we can to keep him comfortable and out of pain. I will be making an appointment with an oncologist to see what sort of natural treatments we can provide to keep him as healthy and comfortable as possible in the time that he as left.</span><br />
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<span class="ya-q-full-text" id="yui_3_17_2_4_1431297577437_1025">I know I have been the crazy obsessive dogmom posting daily pictures of my boy, but to be honest, I don't give a shit if I'm that crazy person. This dog has been with me since I was just a kid. He's been through every single monumental event in my life and has never left my side. I can't imagine what the last 14 years would have been like without him, and I know that my life is forever changed, and forever better because of him. </span><br />
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"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."<br />—<em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Caras">Roger Caras</a> (photographer and writer)</em><br />
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As I think back to this week and the amazing support for so many people. Texts, phone calls, hundreds of comments on my instagram and facebook pictures, I realize that I am not the only person who has been touched by this amazing creature. He has been through so many stages of my life, that have involved so many different people. My post college roommates, first running partners, current running partners, two other BFF dogs that he has outlived. Work friends from the days I brought him to the office at PetSmart, sleepovers with my niece when she was just a baby and obsessed with him.... If you ever had the chance to meet Baxter, you couldn't help but fall in love with him, and he you.<br />
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As the title of this blog post, every single day from here on out with him will be Bubba Day. It will be filled with joy, doing things he loves, surrounded by people that love him. He will make the trek to CDA in 3 weeks and he will get another walk on <strike>Tubbs</strike> Bub's Hill. He will join me on Sherman for beers, and be there like he was in spirit for my first Ironman.<br />
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I will carry him with me over 140.6 and bring him home my hardest earned medal for him to wear and proudly pose for a picture. But for the rest of the day, I will spend my mother's day spoiling him rotten, snuggles and all.<br />
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Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-19800463602559126092015-04-20T08:24:00.002-07:002015-04-20T08:26:47.817-07:00Marquee TriathlonMarquee is kind of our local season opener! Nothing too exciting or different about this race, as pretty much all of our local races circle the same route, swim, bike run..... All in Tempe Town Lake, all loops on the bike around it with way too many turns and the same circles around the lake for the run!<br />
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Let me back up a bit. After camp I had a note in my training peaks with the race on it and a question mark. I wasn't really into doing the race, but I did want to support my local team, so I was on the fence. Rather than deciding myself, I let Michelle decide. She chose go for it, so we had a moderate week leading up to it where I could work on a bit of shorter speed work to wake up my legs from all of the long Ironman training miles.<br />
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Then, I had a little mishap.....I was heading out on my bike for a Saturday ride and just feeling off. I hadn't slept well the night before and my allergies were driving me crazy! About an hour into the ride I got a really bad bloody nose and had to pull over. I don't actually remember what happened, I just know that I lost my balance and my bike began to topple over. The next thing I knew I was feeling this gushing blood streaming down my leg and it was my ankle. I walked over to a side walk with my bike trying to figure out what to do...I took my sock and shoe off and realized how much blood was actually coming out (it was filling my shoe) and realized there was no way I could still ride my bike. I called for a ride and got rescued by Melisa and her boyfriend, and went home to clean up....<br />
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After I got cleaned up, I was looking at the wound, and the only thing I can come up with is one of the cogs on my big chain ring punctured it and maybe nicked a vein (hence all the blood). I had a giant goose egg on the ankle bone and the pain was starting to get bad.<br />
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Who knew a tiny little wound could cause so much pain! Over the next few days I obsessed with it. Now that I was maybe not going to be able to race, I wanted to (go figure). Walking was extremely painful, and any time I got up after sitting or laying down for a while I could barely put any pressure on that leg or pain shot up and down the entire thing.<br />
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Each day got a bit better and by Wednesday I was able to swim some without a buoy, and bike without too much discomfort (aside from unclipping). I tried to run on Wed, but I only made it about 2' and couldn't get my right leg to take any of the weight so I was running funny on my "good" side. I turned around grabbed the dogs and took them for a (slow) walk instead. Thursday I managed to do a short run off the bike (it wasn't pretty), and Friday I went to the gym to do a little quick feet session on the treadmill. The workout involved a lot of jumping on and off doing short fast sets. It wasn't painfree, but it did give me some confidence that I would be able to run!<br />
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So, after a longish ride on Saturday (first bike date with my man in a while!!) I headed down to the expo to register!<br />
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I had to spend some extra time bandaging up the ankle to make sure that the lake didn't get in it. It was looking much better, but still swollen. I knew getting in and out of the wetsuit was going to hurt (and it DID), but was super happy I was going to be able to race!<br />
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It turned out to be a gorgeous day to race. It was only about 85 for a high vs our normal 90-100 and we even had some clouds on the bike!<br />
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The swim went WAY better than I expected. I've learned not to look at swim split in these races as I've yet to have a "fast" swim here. However, I bolted out hard in my wave and while the really fast swimmers were gone I for once wasn't swimming in no man's land. I saw another local athlete who usually beats me out of the water by a couple of minutes swimming side by side me. Eventually she pulled in behind me and I felt little trickles on my feet, but nothing that was annoying or made me scared about the ankle. I continued to stay on the buoy line and swim hard. As I approached the last 500meters we ran into one of the sprint waves hitting the same turn and it was a bit chaotic. I lost a little mojo and the girl who was on my feet pulled in next to me and I grabbed her feet for the last bit until we split up to get to the bleachers.<br />
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I checked my watch as they pulled me up and out of the water and it was just a little over 25' Not my fastest, but definitely pretty good for this course (and me)! The wetsuit stripping HURT. The second they pulled on my ankle it shot some pain up my whole leg, but I knew if I tried to do it on my own it would take me forever, so I just dealt with it and made my way to my bike. Transition was a bit slow as I took my time to get my socks on right and foot into my bike shoe.... I was afraid if I went too fast I would do something stupid and hurt myself :)<br />
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My legs burned a bit as I started the bike. This was my first race with power so I had a goal to try to hold. I was only looking at 30" power because if I tried to hold an avg it would drop every time I had to make a turn. It was really nice to not look or obsess over speed to just off effort and power and ride fast. The girl that I swam with was neck and neck with me on the bike so we basically took turns flopping in front (legally). We were both riding completely legal and there was almost this unspoken respect for pulling in front or backing off.<br />
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A few miles in my friend and teammate passed me and that was JUST what I needed to fire me up! I spent the next 20 miles keeping her in site and using her as my push. There were 4 of us riding basically the same speed; 3 of us rode totally fair, one not so much. I've already had my soap box about that though, so I'll drop it here. I made a point to just keep in my head, ride fair and have fun and that is exactly what I did. In fact, this is the most fun I've had on the bike on this course in a very long time. Turns out it was a PR for Olympic (bike) course in Tempe (varying turns, but overall the same courses).<br />
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And onto the run. I didn't really have high expectations for the run, but was going to give it what I had. After not really running for about 10 days, and putting in long Ironman miles I didn't have a whole lot of zip!<br />
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I eased into a pace that I thought I could hold and after a few twinges of the ankle, it actually felt pretty good! I made it through the first loop with the girls I was riding with in site and one of them slowing. Unfortunately that's where it all went wrong. As I headed up into the park to make the second loop I made a turn and my ankle shot pain that overwhelmed me a bit. I didn't look at the sign (or pay attention at all really) and headed straight into the finish chute instead of making a right and heading back out for the loop... I made it all the way to the last timing mat before the actual finish and realized what I had done. I stopped, laughed, turned around and headed back out. Over all the years I've been racing, and all the many races in Tempe, I have never done this! All I could do was laugh at my self and try to make up my time. I'll admit I lost my mojo a bit. I wasn't mad, just couldn't believe I did that!<br />
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Around mile 5 I got passed by a good friend and teammate in my age group. It was a little push I needed to help me pick it back up, but in the end it ended up costing me a place. I lost about 90"-2' with my mistake, and with that it would have put me in 2nd place AG, about 3-4 spots overall up and an Olympic PR. <br />
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Overall it was a FANTASTIC day to race with so many of my local friends and teammates. I had a FUN race, and my goal of having a great bike was accomplished. After spending 8 weeks in the gym lifting heavy things way outside of my comfort zone, and pushing pushing pushing watts on the bike, I'm happy to see it is paying off.<br />
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It was also a fantastic day for TeamBSC athletes, both of them having solid days in the midst of Ironman training.<br />
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Next up, my absolute favorite race,<a href="http://www.tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2012/04/movin-on-up.html"> Rocky Point Triathlon!</a><br />
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-41790430566336305942015-04-03T09:45:00.002-07:002015-04-03T09:45:39.526-07:002015 Scottsdale Camp!It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on my couch, legs in the recovery boots, shantini in hand with a smile on my face thinking about <a href="http://www.tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2014/04/teambsc-scottsdale-training-camp.html">last year's camp.</a> Just like the rest of life, it's flying by oh so fast. This past weekend I led a group of amazing athletes through a 4 day training camp where we trained ~19hours including 200+miles on the bike with 15000ft of elevation gain, 5500yards of swimming (OWS included) and 25miles of running (2 runs). <br />
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What is most impressive about this camp were the athletes attending it. I had athletes ranging from their first year in triathlon to 25 years of experience, as well as uber talented Kona and amateur title holders. Even more impressive than those stats was the GRIT these athletes showed. Executing a long weekend of training in RECORD AZ heat was mentally and physically challenging and each and every one of them nailed it and exceeded my expectations.<br />
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The weekend started out with some serious travel obstacles which had my brain spinning with problem solving before we even began camp. There were a few athletes that had to miss out on some workouts, but they made up for it by making the subsequent workouts COUNT.<br />
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Pre-Camp --<br />
I reached out to some sponsors and asked for support at camp. I work with w few companies who's products I really believe in. They are my go-to products and have been key in my training and racing success over the past years. I was able to put together a nice little schwag bag for each athlete, and can't thank these amazing companies enough!<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetsunhawaii.com/Default.asp">Planet Sun </a>-- <i>Hands down the best sunscreen I've ever used. I use it head to toe, no breakouts, no sunburns, and the white zinc color is mild. Essential for how much time we spend outside. </i><br />
<a href="http://osmonutrition.com/">Osmo Nutrition</a> -- <i>I've raved about this line of hydration for over a year now. If you haven't tried it, you have no idea what you are missing out on, especially as a female athlete -- </i><br />
<i>womenarenotsmallmen!</i><br />
<a href="http://e21usa.com/">Recovery e21</a> -- <i>Again, a product I have been using for years. I started out on their ambassador team in 2011 and have used the product ever since. Aside from being "salt" pills, they have 21 total mineral including magnesium which is essential for us as athletes. The pills also contain a micro algae (organic) used as a natural anti-inflammatory. </i><br />
<a href="http://neogenissport.com/">BeetElite</a> -- <i>Everyone knows I'm a huge beet juice fan! This product was introduced to me last year, and I immediately felt the positive affect of using it before racing and or hard training. </i><br />
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I also had some fun TeamBSC trucker hats made for the weekend! Fun stuff. If you have ANY questions at all about the above products or would like a discount code, please reach out to me!<br />
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While camp kicked off Thursday evening with a social run and dinner out, it officially started Friday with our biggest day of the weekend. Being that it was HOT out (turns out we hit 100degrees), we had to start pretty early to not overheat and dig any holes on day one. The ride was a gradual climb of about 28 miles up into north Scottsdale before descending 14 miles into one of our reservoir lakes. We had ideal conditions for this. Not too warm yet, little to no wind and minimal traffic! We had fantastic SAG support from my husband and BSC friend Tracy watching our bikes while we did an open water swim. The water was PERFECT and many people got to squeeze into their wetsuits for the first time all season -- always a good idea to do before racing!<br />
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Everyone cruised up the 14 mile hill at their own pace before regrouping at the top for a nice 28 mile descend home! We finished the day with about 5.5 hours on the bike, 85 miles, 45min swim and 5500 ft of elevation gain. SOLID day indeed.<br />
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Day 2 included one of my absolute favorite riding loops and "9 mile hill." Like the last 2 camps this fun ride gives athletes an opportunity to either cruise ride OR burn a few matches. We immediately broke into 2 groups, with my crazy fast friend Emily leading a few athletes into Fountain hills at a pretty zippy pace. Being the coach (as well as carefully picking my efforts) I held back and let my body really wake up before picking my poison where I would have some fun on the bike! I had my husband helping to keep the group together so that we could let the athletes that wanted to ride hard split off from anyone else. This was HUGE for me as I was able to relax and ride hard for a bit and worry less about logistics as he was there to hold the troops together.<br />
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Everyone had their turn to throw down on the bike and it was so much fun to watch! I picked my section on the 8 miles of rollers. I grabbed on to Emily's wheel and did everything I could to not drop off. I finished that section I'm pretty sure in PR time, and may or may not have thrown up in my mouth a little bit. I just LOVED it.<br />
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We had a nice 4 mile run off the bike with goal of negative splitting the run. It was super cool to watch everyone nail their fastest mile in the end, even if they started out a bit too fast! A quick lunch to refuel and we were off to the pool for a solid 3k set. <br />
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Look at this colorful and FIT group -- loving our token make athlete, Scott!<br />
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Sunday was our epic Mnt Lemmon climb in Tucson. A very early start for everyone as the drive is 2hours. I don't have a whole lot to say about this day, other than the fact that everyone absolutely NAILED this climb. Everyone did amazing, including FIVE first timers. While I wasn't planning on calling out any athlete in particular, I can't help but rave about two of them on this day. One is my athlete Heather who has only been training for one year. She absolutely killed this ride, not one complaint and had fun on the descend as well. I can't even contemplate what she has accomplished in her first year, and can't wait to see how she grows as an athlete. Additionally, veteran TeamBSC member Scott finished off 3 days of solid riding climbing up a mountain less than 1 year after his second back surgery. Honestly, not many people would even attempt what he's doing, and I think that in itself speaks worlds of this guy!<br />
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And finally, we have the last day of camp, the long run. I hesitated picking the course for this year because it's challenging, but also a bit confusing with turns. In the end I just couldn't change the route as it's just too gorgeous to not share with these athletes. The route was 14.5 miles (with 20mile option) with rolling terrain through Paradise Valley. Logistically it's hard to manage, but I had enough people that new the turns we all ended up ok! Shane finished up his sherpa duties by following around making sure everyone made the turns, and no one was lost. Aside from one of our water stops vanishing (thankful we had a golf course to save many!) everyone had a solid run with a couple of breakthrough efforts!<br />
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We followed up the long run with a Pita Jungle catered lunch and presentation buy one of the most incredibly motivating women I've ever heard speak. <a href="http://www.jenneink.com/">Jenne</a> has a gift of really getting to the point of mental strength and motivation that so many of us struggle with. I know I personally, will carry her lessons with me throughout each and every day as I work and dream to reach my goals! Please check out her website and her new <a href="http://www.awesomeclimbs.com/">climbing adventure programs</a>! <br />
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There were tears, there were smiles, there was a whole lot of laughter. Endless amounts of Osmo, potato chips, pickles, e21 and cola were consumed. I'm so incredibly happy and blessed to be able lead and train with these amazing athletes. I am also incredibly happy to have the hard work banked in my road to Ironman account, and relax and share stories with a few people back at my house over Shane's famous shanetinis!<br />
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Stay tuned for details about next year's camp. Plans are already in the works to make it a bigger and more exciting event you won't want to miss!!Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-92110547249271105092015-03-08T15:36:00.001-07:002015-03-08T15:37:42.207-07:00brides, and beaches, wally the whale, biking and running and swimming oh my!I have no idea how it is possible that the last 2+ months went by so incredibly fast. Foras long as I can remember I don't think life has every moved so quickly. Each week I pull up my training calendar, my personal calendar, my work calendar and I somehow manage how to plan everything down to the hour (give or take some flex) fitting in everything I possibly can. Takeout lunch and dinner, over-priced pre-made juices and peanut butter have saved me more than once. My wine fridge is over flowing because I don't have nearly enough time (or my husband's company) to enjoy it as often!<br />
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Ironically, the busier I am the more productive and efficient I am. My coaching business is taking off and I am BLESSED with such an amazing group of athletes to work with right now. Each one different, with different goals, different bases, different schedules. Hands down, <strike>if I could </strike>when I can make this my full time job, I <strike>would </strike>WILL do it in a HEARTBEAT. Never in a million years did I really imagine I could work doing something I loved and felt so passionate about.<br />
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So to recap and highlight some of the crazy adventures over the past 10 weeks I have some fun pictures and amazing memories....<br />
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In January I headed to Fort Lauderdale to celebrate my girl Amanda's upcoming wedding. Aside from having some food reaction issues, the weekend was fantastic. Her friends and family were so nice and sweet and after some spa time, girly time, beach time and even a ride on the banana boat we headed out for a great dinner and dancing to end the trip. Can't wait to reunite with these girls and once again celebrate Amanda and her new life ahead!<br />
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Home for a couple of weeks trying to build up the training, then it was off on another adventure. This time celebrating my twin, Jen's bachelorette in Sayulita, Mexico. Not gonna lie, I LOVE Rocky Point, and have never really thought about venturing out since we have a home in Mexico already. I could not have been more wrong. I loved EVERYTHING about this little surf town. No resorts, the locals were amazing and I became absolutely obsessed with whales. Having a whale surface and "wave" ~20yards in front of me (ok, maybe I hauled ass out to see him) is something I will never forget, and probably NEVER get to experience again. Like Amanda's weekend, these girls were welcoming (I only new Jen and our friend Karen), fun, and I enjoyed every minute of the trip. And as a highlight, for the first time in as long as I can remember I was 100% unplugged. No phone, no text, no wifi for 5 days. While the catch up was hard, it was hands down worth it, and something I would love to do more often.<br />
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A few weeks later we headed down to Rocky Point for some more whale watching. Seriously, even thought I'm totally terrified of the ocean, nothing makes me more relaxed then being at the beach.<br />
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Next up was a big race for TeamBSC. I had 2 athletes trained and ready to get their BQ at the Phoenix marathon, and the hubby was giving it a shot as well. Unfortunately Shane's work, travel and a flu in the last several weeks of training got the best of him and he fell just a little short. Super proud of his finish, he had his second best marathon time on limited training and a lot of STRESS!<br />
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One of my athletes', Shelly, who was actually VERY ready for this ended up fighting a small injury in the last month and it really got to her while running. Like a superstar she fought through the pain and finished effortlessly, ready to get healthy and have another shot.<br />
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And, lastly my newest run athlete, Kelly actually exceeded my expectations and not only got her BQ and a PR, but she did it by negative splitting the race by 2 minutes (even more impressive the first half was downhill). As a very busy mom and working crazy hours with a new company she had some down time as well during peak training so her performance just tells me how much more potential this girl has.<br />
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SUCH A PROUD COACH!</div>
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Aside from bachelorettin', traveling, coaching, working and picking up takeout I've been putting in the miles. Lots of saddle time on a new bike fit with power! I'm having so much fun riding with power goals it's almost like picking up a new sport. With everything mentioned above, I really procrastinated registering for Ironman CDA. While we plan on spending time there again this summer, I didn't want to register for a race that I couldn't be 100% committed to and trained for. As my training started to show some progress and a little ironman email was sent out saying the race was almost full, I finally pulled the trigger and official registered for my 5th Ironman CDA! Honestly, I can't flipping wait to go back! Until then, if you wonder where I'm at, I'll be back in the saddle :)</div>
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Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-88548738899025418272014-12-31T11:17:00.002-08:002014-12-31T11:17:23.233-08:002014This past year has truly been one of the most amazing, fun, challenging and rewarding years of my life. Doing things that make me happy and complete, healthy and young. I've worked hard, I've played hard. I've set goals, achieved goals, missed some and set new ones. I can only hope and pray that 2015 fills my life with the same amount of love, laughter, friends, family, joy and happieness. To each and every single person in my life that has helped make this year what it has been. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.<br />
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<i><span style="color: blue;">“Another fresh new year is here . . .<br />Another year to live!<br />To banish worry, doubt, and fear,<br />To love and laugh and give!<br /><br />This bright new year is given me<br />To live each day with zest . . .<br />To daily grow and try to be<br />My highest and my best!<br /><br />I have the opportunity<br />Once more to right some wrongs,<br />To pray for peace, to plant a tree,<br />And sing more joyful songs!”
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/416931.William_Arthur_Ward">William Arthur Ward</a> </span></i><br />
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I January we announced the my coaching business partnership with Michelle and <a href="http://www.teambsctriathlon.com/">TeamBSC</a>. Talk about creating a life doing what you love...<br />
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Had a blast in February with this wonderful friend and teammate plotting all the details of the first annual TeamBSC Scottsdale training camp!<br />
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All of the hard work, planning, logistics paid off with the most amazing group of athletes surviving <a href="http://www.tri-dogmom.blogspot.mx/2014/04/teambsc-scottsdale-training-camp.html">training camp.</a><br />
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In April I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to run in the Boston Marathon. Not just any Boston Marathon, the remembrance year.<br />
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In May, we celebrated our 10th year of marriage....<br />
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And also had the pleasure of watching our Mexico family celebrate a new marriage!<br />
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June began the summer adventure of a lifetime in Coeur d'Alene starting with a half Ironman in my hometown of Spokane being cheered on by none other than Sister Madonna.<br />
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Celebrating 6 months of training and racing with these beautiful and talented women.<br />
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IMCDA #4 in the books. Finished happy, healthy and with a course and IM run PR!<br />
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July, August and September. Raced all over the Pacific Northwest. Camped, picked huckleberries, family time. Celebrated Shane's birthday and signed a lease for a new rental in CDA for summer of 2015!<br />
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In October it was back to reality (and the hot box), but so happy to be reunited with my friends...<br />
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November was time for a first, finishing my second Ironman of the year. It wasn't my best day, but still so fun be a part of the home time race with so many friends and teammates.<br />
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To celebrate and finish up November we headed to wine country with friends and had an absolute blast!<br />
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And last, celebrating another year of an amazing life in Mexico. <br />
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Christmas on the beach</div>
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And holiday cheer with friends.<br />
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Seriously, feeling blessed!!<br />
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-41717709645209937552014-12-29T09:18:00.001-08:002014-12-29T09:18:51.515-08:00Birthday SwimA couple of years ago at our post BSC training camp party I heard the most unexpected thing come out of my husband's mouth. After a couple of Shanetinis he decided to tell the QueenBSC herself that he wanted to swim 100x100 and earn his BatShitCrazy swim cap. I quickly responded with something like, "are you kidding me?" "Why on earth would you do that?<br />
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I often wondered if that workout would ever show up on my Training Peaks calendar. But then, months went on, and before we knew it we were flying to Kona for our next training camp experience, this time swimming and Ocean 10k. After that crazy swim that ended with me dry heaving between swells and on the beach I was officially never swimming that far again... <br />
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I should really learn to stop saying, "I will never."<br />
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I digress. Each year for my birthday I like to do some sort of fun birthday workout. It always includes my age x 100s in the pool, some sort of age/ bike and run miles and most definitely some tequila to top it all off ;) I don't know if it was my body needing some rest on the legs after IMAZ, or something wanting to keep off the holiday lbs, but I sent an email to Michelle and told her I wanted to swim 100x100 for my birthday, and just like that the plan was made. I immediately tried to start recruiting friends for this crazy adventure and pick a date.<br />
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Being in the middle of holiday parties, picking the time and date was actually not the easiest task. I settled on a Saturday hoping to recruit more friends, and picked a time that was early enough to not waste the whole day, but also not too early that people who were at parties taking random jello shots and sipping on Fireball would still make it.<br />
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I have to admit, it was quite entertaining being the sober one at the party!! <br />
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At 9am one brave friend and two of my athletes hopped in the pool with me and started the epic workout. Robin, the super swimmer took her own lane and started on a faster sendoff then I could hold so I was on my own to pace for the first 2400. <br />
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12x100's @1:45 super relaxed/easy w/u</div>
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12x100's @1:45 where you do a 25 fast within each 100,
alternating where that 25 comes... so #1 first 25 fast, #2 2nd 25 fast, #3 3rd
25 fast, #4 last 25 fast; repeat for 3 rounds.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>held ~ 1:30's pretty easily for the first 2400.... definitely worried, could I hold this?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i> </i></span></div>
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4x (2@1:45, 4@1:40, 2@1:35). Fine to use buoy on this set if
you prefer.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>a few more friends showed up so I finally got my way and got to hop in behind Robin & Lewis who stopped taking pictures and joined in on the pool party. This set flew by, now coming in < 1:30's with the draft</i></span></div>
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6x100's pads/bands only- choose an interval that gives you
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<span style="color: red;"><i>This was the hardest set of the entire workout!! My upper body started to get a little achy and crampy. Lewis and Robin were flying through it so I stuck with their send off of 1:40</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i> </i></span> </div>
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Use PBB for this part:</div>
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3x (3 @1:40, 7@1:35, 1 super easy/relaxed). Rest an extra
30" between rounds.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>Now this is where the FUN began! I love me some toys. We were coming in ~ 1:20-1:25 on these so newly named BSC'er Robin decided we should do the last 10 with a 1:30 send off. I was in no position to argue and we killed it!</i></span></div>
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5x100's as 25 kick/75 swim easy c/d rest 15"</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>This last set is where MY true BSC came out. After absolutely nailing the last set I wasn't ready to just flop cooldown so I suggested we go all out. After a quick check to make sure we weren't going to cramp we put on our fins, switched the send off to 1:25 and finished STRONG.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">After a 100 flop cooldown I had officially completed my longest pool swim to date, 10,100yards. I had this weird sense of crazy accomplishment and honestly felt great! I can't thank my crazy friends enough for joining me and helping me celebrate another year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Abby, you are an absolute rock star for doing the entire swim on your OWN so you could finish before us and have cupcakes ready and on deck. Robin. THANK you for not making me do this alone, I don't think the day would have been nearly the success it was without you. Lewis, thanks for finally stopping your procrastinating and hoping in for 7500 and most importantly, keeping our math straight :) </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">And with this last swim of the year I have officially completed my furthest swim distance to date in 2014!!! 537,883 total yards.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Cheers to another year of BSC!</span></span></div>
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-78337105388110200672014-12-05T08:55:00.003-08:002014-12-05T08:57:35.851-08:00Thanksgiving in Wine CountryAbout 3 weeks before IMAZ Shane & I were chatting over some wine on a Sunday... Isn't this how all plans start? Shane needed to spend some time working in N. California, and with Ironman creeping up just didn't seem to be a good time until, well Thanksgiving week. Thinking I wouldn't be happy with that travel, I surprised Shane by saying something along the lines of, "wine, holiday, I'm IN!"<br />
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Everyone who knows me knows that I am a planner! I love to have the logistics all figured out, and organized so that when the actual vacation comes, it's just that. No thinking, no stress and how it's supposed to be, VACATION. I dug through my files and found my wine country folder with my special maps that a wine maker gave me once and I always take with me! It has the smaller roads and more boutique wineries that aren't always located on the map. I started looking up new places to visit, some of our old favorites, and had one special trip in mind that I wanted to make over on the Napa side. This was our 4th trip to the Sonoma/Healdsburg area, but we've yet to head over to Napa. I prefer the smaller, less commercial more inviting and welcoming wineries on the Sonoma side. I realize that not all of the Napa wineries are so intimidating, in fact, as we head through this post you will see that I found my new favorite home on the Napa side!<br />
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Within about 10 days I had a VRBO picked out and paid for, a car rented, plane ticket purchased, dinner reservations for Thanksgiving and a tentative itinerary for tastings! In the midst of all the planning and Ironman Prep I was having a text <i>conversation</i> with our good friend Karen who had just moved to Seattle. We were talking about the holidays and if she was coming home, and I don't know, something like 24hours later she she and her boyfriend Casey had decided to make the trek down to wine country and join us. SO EXCITING! Friendsgiving AND wine....<br />
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Shane headed out to California earlier in the week and I flew in Thursday morning. Honestly, the hardest part about this trip was finding someone to stay with my dogs. They are ~13 now and need more attention. While they are still very healthy and active, they are used to me being home all day every day and leaving them for hours on end just isn't ideal. Juliette has really bad separation anxiety (ugh, who wouldn't when they are turned into the pound at 8 years old?) so we crate her, and Baxter well.. he just wants company. He is fine alone, but I hate leaving him for more than about 4-6 hours at a time. Thanks to a wonderful friend who agreed to come stay with them, even on a holiday, I was relieved that they would be well cared for.<br />
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I digress. Back to wine country (even though it really IS all about the dogs)! Since my arrival was around noon, I did a little research to see if any wineries were open on Thanksgiving. Surprised, I actually found a couple. Our dinner reservations weren't until 6:15 and we couldn't check into our rental until 3 so we had some time to kill. <a href="http://clinecellars.com/">Cline Cellars</a> was the very first winery we visited on our first trip years ago and it just happens to be on the 121 just as you enter Sonoma. I was completely shocked as we pulled into the winery. Cars were parked along the entire road to the tasting room and people were swarming. Clearly we weren't the only people looking for a way to kick off the holiday weekend. To our surprise, even though the tasting bar(s) (they set up an additional one outside) actually had lines of people, we had a wonderful person sharing the wines with us and still had a great experience. We bought a bottle of sparking and a cheese plate and were quickly on our way to the vrbo.<br />
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I have really lucked out with our VRBO rentals. This place was tucked away about 2 miles from the Sonoma square. Quiet, spacious and cute! We sat outside and had our bubbles and snack and before we knew it it was time to head to dinner. I found a holiday menu at the very well known Girl and the Fig. Our friends who were married several years ago used them to cater their reception and I remembered the food being outstanding, so it was an easy choice. The place was incredibly packed, but we were seated outside in their "covered" patio. The ambiance was festive and it was a perfect place to catch up with Karen & Casey, and in fact... I'm pretty sure that we were the last people to leave (sorry, staff)! My meal was great, and the service was really good, but our only complaint or less than perfect part was the dessert (I wasn't complaining but the rest of the group really wanted pumpkin pie and the cheesecake just wasn't the same). We still had a great time, and I'm sure if we went back to the restaurant on a non national holiday we would enjoy it a bit more...<br />
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The next morning we got up to burn off some of the 4 course meal and wine we consumed. It was a gorgeous cool morning, but boy was my body stiff! I'd really only been swimming since Ironman with one 30min jog a couple days prior. We had a challenge getting out of the house (Shane climbed the fence to open the gate for us) then headed on our way. We actually ran into Karen and Boots so jogged with them for a bit. Oh how I miss running with my dogs!!! <br />
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Now off to the really fun part! A friend had referred us to a family owned <a href="http://winetourdrivers.com/">company </a>that you hire, by the hour to drive you around to the wineries. They use your vehicle and it's as simple as that. We ended up hiring them to drive us both Saturday and Sunday and we couldn't be more happy. Karen and Casey had their little sprinter that they drove down from Seattle and the drivers were happy to drive us around in it. It was perfect. Boots got to be our token winery dog and between wineries we could sit at the dining table and snack and hydrate for the next stop! I would highly recommend Wine Tour Drivers for anyone in town!<br />
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Stop 1 - <a href="http://www.robledofamilywinery.com/">Robledo Family</a>. I've talked about this place before and anyone who has been to our house in the last couple of years has enjoyed their lovely wines. Shane & I happened in the tasting room on one of our visits and immediately fell in love. The story of the immigrant Mexican worker who started out making ~$1/hr growing into an award winning family winery touched our hearts and palettes. We joined the wine club and have been enjoying all of their wines ever since. In typical Mexican fashion the tastings were plentiful and we spent a bit more time there than planned. We actually had to cut ourselves off and pick and choose which wines we wanted so that we could leave and head to the next stop. To be honest, I could have stayed there all day long!<br />
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We had a tentative itinerary for Day 1, because I was waiting to hear back from one of our favorite wine maker and friend Guy at Collin Lee. We found this place a few years ago, he's not on the map, he does his tastings out of his home and even more fun, he is an ex pro endurance athlete who retired and moved to wine country when he became very sick (and later found out it was lime disease). We've spent a lot of time in his outdoor kitchen enjoying his amazing Syrahs and Cabs, and in turn spent a lot of money there over the years... I called him a few weeks back and he told me his Texas crew was heading over shortly so to call him when I was in town because he might not having any wine left! As we were leaving Robledo I got a call from Guy and we were able to head to his house for our last stop of the day... His home is in Kenwood so we had to detour our plans to head to Healdsburg and found a few more fun places to visit in the area.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCgAT686L3QW_m3kSO_rYKmSTmuBlOVajyfEOOD7MnSZjgqLDEz2NBV36MuTU3opVSnQlgWEFjZJOeRI0hmrRBe8QF_YabPbnUggOTxSM2GiMNxGPaD7n59nD2XNctjzmdx6cMEAywXLL/s1600/IMG_6136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCgAT686L3QW_m3kSO_rYKmSTmuBlOVajyfEOOD7MnSZjgqLDEz2NBV36MuTU3opVSnQlgWEFjZJOeRI0hmrRBe8QF_YabPbnUggOTxSM2GiMNxGPaD7n59nD2XNctjzmdx6cMEAywXLL/s1600/IMG_6136.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://www.aristawinery.com/">Arista</a> was our next stop. I've been there once before and enjoyed the visit, but this time was a little disappointing. The tasting room was overpacked and they were only pouring 1 pinot noir. I think the person pouring for us could tell we were looking for a bit more and he brought a new pinot out for us to taste. It had yest to be available for purchase, but he was spot on. We loved it and were each able to walk away with a bottle.<br />
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We had enough time to visit one more place before heading to Colin Lee so we picked one I had read about and was close by, <a href="http://portercreekvineyards.com/pages/home_main.html">Porter Creek</a>. We had a blast! The tasting room was laid back and unique. There were chickens outside for Boots to check out and the wines were delicious! I would definitely recommend this place, and go back!<br />
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Last, but not least on day 1 we headed to Colin Lee. We enjoyed a couple bottles of Guy's last bottled wine until the spring and walked away with every last one he had available. I always enjoy these visits, and can't wait to taste what he's bottling next. Shane will be spending some time in California and offered to come help him next summer with the harvest. How cool would that be? Boots had a pretty good time checking out the property as well ;)<br />
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We finished up our day with some good old fashioned pizza at <a href="https://www.maryspizzashack.com/">Mary's pizza.</a> It was the perfect way to soak up some of the wine and fill our bellies!<br />
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Day 2 was a day I had really been looking forward to. I had made us a couple of reservations on the Napa side and well, couldn't wait to try them! First a stop at a place Shane & I found on our first visit to the area several years ago, <a href="http://www.nicholsonranch.com/">Nicholson Ranch</a>. The property is absolutely stunning and the wines are beautiful. We thought Casey and Karen might enjoy it, and we were right, they are now club members! We purchased a couple of their new release Pinot's and will be laying one down to enjoy at the recommended time (2017-18!!)<br />
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I had a friend, and previous co-worker from my years with Four Seasons post a bunch of pictures on social media from her girls trip to Napa. I had contacted her looking for suggestions and decided to try and make a reservation at a place she highly recommended called <a href="http://relic./">Relic.</a> Relic is a very small winery and they do their tastings on top of Spring Mountain out of an old old trailer. I have to say as we were taking the 30min trek through the fog and the clouds in the sprinter up the mountain I was a bit worried. But, it was worth it. The wines were great (a bit pricey though) and the views were absolutely stunning. I think the experience was definitely worth the long haul, but I'm not totally sure I would go back? Nothing negative about the wines, and the tasting inside the trailer was honestly really cool, it just didn't have that wow factor, in my opinion. <br />
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Next up is probably the highlight (for me) of our trip. Many years ago over a Sunday Dinner at the Angelones we shared a bottle of B Cellars Wine. <a href="http://www.bcellars.com/">B Cellars</a> was the creation of a former Four Seasons executive whom Melisa (who I worked with for 7 years at Four Seasons and we both now work for the same database company we worked with in those 7 years, we make a great team!) met when she was with a different marketing company pitching for the FS business. I remembered the wine literally melting in my mouth, and I've been dying to visit the winery for years! While I had never met or worked with Duffy, one of the co-founders, he was so accommodating and welcoming helping us get a reservation on such short notice.<br />
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From the second we approached the tasting room I was excited. There was a hostess outside who knew my name as we approached, handed us all waters infused with basil and invited us inside. As soon as we walked in the ambiance was set. There were several tables beautifully set and arranged for the tastings and food pairings and all of this centered around the chef's kitchen. The aromas of fresh herbs and spices made you feel like you were at someone's home. Our host of the afternoon approached us and said that we were going to have another group joining us, but they hadn't arrived. She didn't want to see us without wine so she brought us our first tasting with an appetizer (see menu). Both the wine and the bite were an explosion of flavor and the perfect way to start out day. The second group didn't show up so we began our tour. We were taken through the entire property, inside and out. The gardens where all of the food on the menu comes from, the chickens and their Four Seasons accommodations and the new home being built on the property for a key investor. Inside the caves we got to taste some future wine from the barrel and see the expansion being built.<br />
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This place is going to be big and I'm so happy we got to be a part of the early stages. Absolutely everything about this visit was top notch. Our host was informative and inviting. The food and wine parings were 5 star and quite honestly we could have stayed there all day and night. Shane & I had decided early on we would probably join their wine club, and after the 90min visit we were confirmed. I'm so excited to be a part of this winery, and the best part is with each of our club shipments we will receive invites to the winery to share with friends. So, if you are heading to the area, let me know! <br />
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Note the different menus. When we made our reservations I was asked for any dietary restrictions. I said that I did not eat meat, and Shane didn't eat pork, but we didn't want the food limited because of us. They presented with our individual menus and as you can see, they were very accommodating!<br />
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We finished up the day at the Mount Veeder Tasting Room (on the Franciscan property). I don't know if we were bias after the B Cellars experience, but we were a bit underwhelmed. After a day of tasting at smaller wineries perhaps we were just spoiled?<br />
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The final stop of the day was a bit indulgent at an Italian Restaurant in the Square. This is the first time I have indulged in full GLUTEN pasta and bread since I had my food sensitivity testing a year and a half ago. Not gonna lie, it was totally worth it, and thankfully it really just made me a bit puffy the next day, but really, after all this wine... who wouldn't be! I would definitely recommend <a href="http://www.dellasantinas.com/A/Full.html">Della Santina's.</a><br />
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I realize that this post is becoming longer than my Ironman race recap, so I'll keep the final day short and sweet. Karen and Casey had to head home so it was just Shane & I for our final day. I hadn't made a plan as I wanted to see how the previous days had gone and be open to visit anything we heard of or missed on the two previous days. Since we weren't able to make it up to Healdsburg, we decided to venture up that way and work our way back down to Sonoma. We started out again with a little jog in the rain and were quickly on our way. I had decided it would be fun to start with a champagne (or sparkling in California language), but we were not wanting to go out of our way. Shockingly, as we headed out on highway 12 to take the scenic route to Healdsburg I just happened to see a big sign for it at a small tasting room. To be honest, I don't even remember the tasting room (it was a combination of 3 different lables) name, but we had a good time there, and while the bubbles weren't our favorite we did walk away with a case of <a href="http://www.slcellars.com/cuttings.html">Cuttings Warf Chardonnay</a>. The taste was delicious and the case deal was unbeatable.<br />
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I had been trying to get us an appointment at A Rafanelli, but it hadn't worked out. I took a chance and called them to see if they had any cancellations and sure enough they had one at 1:30. It was just 11:30 and we were heading to get some lunch at the Dry Creek General Store (best little road side deli!) so the timing was perfect. After a quick bite we had more time to spare so we headed to <a href="http://www.bellawinery.com/">Bella</a>. Our friend Jen is a club member there and I've wanted to visit for a while. The tastings are done in their wine caves where it's dark, cozy and inviting. As soon as we walked in we knew were going to love it. We were asked if we had been there before, and I told them no but a good friend of ours was a member. They looked her up and said they were bored so invited us to join them in the members only section for some reserve tastings (thank you Jen)! Unfortunately we were on a time restriction with the 1:30 appointment so while we tasted some delicious wines and walked away with a couple of bottles, I'm pretty sure we could have spent a lot more time, and money there! Next time...<br />
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Next up, <a href="http://www.arafanelliwinery.com/">A Rafanelli!</a> The grounds of this place are just as perfect as the wines. Smaller production, family owned winery specializing in Zins and Cabs. We were given a tour of both the caves, the grounds and provided some history of the winery and family. It was just the two of us and a very nice gentleman who has worked with the family for 22 years. I was hoping they would have the merlot I tasted on our last visit (melted in your mouth), but they were completely sold out.<br />
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Our next stop was a recommendation from our driver, <a href="http://www.mazzocco.com/">Mazzocco</a>. They specialize in Zins. I was pretty excited about this stop as we hadn't had our normal amount of Zinfandel tastings for the area. Unfortunately the tone for this stop was set when we walked in the door and were greeted by a very young man who seemed more hipster, not sure he's old enough to even drink than wine connoisseur. I'm not sure if that made our pallet less welcoming, or if we truly just didn't prefer the wines. They were definitely more fruit forward than big and spicy like we prefer. I'm not saying don't visit, the tasting room was packed with people stocking up by the case, so it may be that it just wasn't our taste. <br />
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Our last and final stop of the day is another suggestion, or fault rather of our friend Jen. The night before I left she invited me over for some wine. We shared two bottles (hey, I was in training for vacation!) from another boutique winery, <a href="http://www.trustwine.com/">Stephen and Walker Trust Wines</a>. She shared a cab and a zin that were just how I liked them. Big, bold, dark fruit, slight oak and makes you want to curl up with a fire and blanket and enjoy. After the disapointing visit before, we were so happy to be here. The wines were exceptional and we walked away with several including, yet another wine club membership! I would highly recommend this tasting room to anyone who enjoys big bold red wines!<br />
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Our very very last stop was for a very tasty meal back in Sonoma Square. The menu is below and I'll let it speak for itself. This was by far (aside from the tastings at B Cellars) the best meal of the trip!<br />
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We walked around the square for a bit to get some air and burn off some of the food and wine consumed then headed home for out last night.<br />
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This trip was so much fun. We visited some very cool places, and everything just fell into place perfectly. I'm so thankful that Casey and Karen were able to join us, it made the trip even better. We came home with enough wine to keep us busy for a while... I fact, I think I need to go look for a second wine fridge to store it all. <br />
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I love triathlon and training and coaching and everything about the sport, but I do truly believe that there needs to be some balance. While it might not appear that I take many breaks, when I do take them it's to experience things I enjoy with people I love. And as lets be honest.. life really is too short to drink bad wine. Ok, and to really be honest, really good wine = no hangover ;) Cheers!<br />
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“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
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―
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/44566.Eleanor_Roosevelt">Eleanor Roosevelt</a>Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359147211536596777.post-72221011178966133532014-11-18T12:02:00.002-08:002014-11-18T13:00:18.197-08:00Ironman Arizona Part 2!As I type this post I'm sitting in my recovery boots snuggled up to my dogs on the couch trying to remember what normal legs feel like, or how much we take simply walking for granted. I'm incredibly sore. A soreness I haven't felt since my <a href="http://www.tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2013/03/phoenix-marathon.html">BQ marathon last year.</a> Even after having my IM marathon PR at CDA earlier this year my body was not this torn up. After reflecting with Michelle, I wonder if it's the back to back marathons? I realize some people race long all year and wouldn't think twice about it, but for me this was a LOT. My first time with 2 IM, and if you look at the calendar from this time last year it's 4 marathons and 3 Ironman in 12 months.<br />
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If you read last year's <a href="http://www.tri-dogmom.blogspot.com/2013/11/ironman-arizona.html">race report</a> for Arizona you know it was one of those perfect days. Perfect weather, perfect year long prep, perfect race execution. When that was followed up with an equally perfect day in CDA 7 months later, it was almost hard to wrap my head around what I would be able to do last Sunday.<br />
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A few days before the race a friend asked me what would make my race day? Her goal was to have a good run. Another friend's goal was to race HAPPY. I sat and I pondered. What would it take? Quite honestly I don't think I actually came up with an answer. I felt like I had been lucky (?) enough to put together near perfect (for me) races over my last 3 Ironman and almost felt like asking for another one was too much. Stepping back I know that is not true. I work hard, I am committed and I deserve it just as much as the next person, but I will say that I did not have the same mindset going into this race as I did CDA or AZ13.<br />
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In AZ my goal was to get on the podium and by executing my plan to a T (and by what talent showed up!) I made that dream come true. In CDA my goal was to race with the mindset that I could be in contention for a Kona Qualification. While that did not happen, I executed my race to the best of my ability on that day and PR'd my marathon feeling amazing the entire time. I made the decision that I would be racing Arizona (it was never a sure thing, but I did register on site with my husband the day before the race last November) when I saw girls flying by me on the bike and I was just not strong enough to follow with them. I didn't give up on my race, but I knew deep down that I was probably not in the top 3 which you need to even have a possibility of that KQ.<br />
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While I worked hard and trained for Arizona, the goal never became about getting that Kona slot. I know that for me to qualify, or to get a higher position on that podium I need a different course. That did not change my mindset or my training to be able to do my best. Ironman is a long long day, and it is truly a race of who is going to slow down the least. I knew a couple of local gals racing in my age group, but I also checked out the start list glancing over the names. I recognized 3 names right off the first look and actually laughed out loud. A name of an overal female amateur winner of 70.3 worlds, another name that won our local Soma race beating out a pro finisher's time and another name of an athlete that passed me like I was standing still at mile 22 of the marathon at IMAZ in 13.<br />
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My goals and mindset remained the same. Race MY race, race to MY abilities and most importantly HAVE FUN. To be honest, knowing the talent in my age group was actually a relief. I didn't stress about anything leading up to the race and was able to just focus on my rest, my plan and my execution.<br />
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The swim was actually less chaotic than last year. I had wanted to stay with my friend who is capable of swimming just over an hour, but I lost in her in the first 4 seconds. My goal became catch pink camp and try to draft! Every pink cap I saw I pretended was miss Katie and until I saw another pink cap to catch I just played that game over and over. Shockingly, I did finally see her with about 200 meters to go and it just made me giggle! My watch said 1:07 when I got up the steps and and to my wetsuit stripper. Still not a great swim time for me, but at least it was 3mins faster than last year.<br />
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The weather forecasts had predicted wind all week long. I was prepared for it. Heck I figured after CDA, it really couldn't get any worse. I was wrong. The wind all 3000 of us had to face on that beeline was relentless. It was strong, it was dusty, it was swirly it was laughable. I did not feel awesome on the first loop, but I didn't feel bad. I was having some leg pain, but figured my legs were just tired from rest and they would eventually wake up. I stuck to my nutrition plan, and most importantly focused on my hydration. I held on for dear life with the wind swirling across the highway. I stayed aero for 99.9 % of the time, more than I have in any long or short distance race. I gripped my bars so tight when the wind caught my disk just enough to jerk me to the side that my hands were cramping.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">thank you Brian Nath for these wonderful pictures</span></i></div>
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I ignored my pace, my competition, and just kept plugging away. Somewhere just before special needs on loop 2 my legs woke up. I had popped 2 tylenol to help with my neck and arms from holding position so tightly and it must have helped my legs because I felt like a new person. Even though I felt stronger, the wind got stronger slowing me (and everyone else) down even more. My bike time was 26mins SLOWER than last year with 20% more effort and bike strength this season. I have never been so excited to run a marathon in my life!<br />
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I nailed my planned nutrition(1800 calories) on the bike: 4 bottles of Osmo, 3 bottles of water, 3 bonk breakers, 1 package of chomps, 1.5 package of gel blasts, 2 gels and 6 e21 (planned 10, but the rest fell out of my bra on the bike!). My stomach felt great, my energy level was there!<br />
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A quick T2 change and I was out on the course. I immediately felt a little worried. When starting my last 3 Ironman marathons I've had to really hold back on the first couple of miles. I know my running ability and I know that starting any faster than that will not end well. I'm a smart racer and I run within my abilities. Starting this run was different. My breathing was shallow and wheezy. My legs felt good, a little heavy but they always do at first. I was clicking off the first couple of miles right where they should be but it wasn't effortless like it should have been. I had used my inhaler 3 times on the bike to help get deeper breaths after riding through swirling dust devils. In most races I use it twice: at the beginning of the bike and at the end of the bike.<br />
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I stuck to my plan on the run. Osmo sips to thirst (bottle was gone by mile 6). Gel every 4 miles and water as needed from aid stations. I picked up my special needs Osmo and drank it in 5 miles. This marathon felt harder than my last 3 Ironman. I was tired, mentally and physically. Not like I raced out of my abilities or over biked, but like I had just had enough. I didn't have that joy like I did in AZ last year or CDA. I stayed steady and focused. I thanked every single volunteer, friend and random person cheering on the course. If I didn't verbally express it, it was in my eyes, in my heart. If it weren't for all those amazing people out there I'm not sure I would of had the fight in me that day. I was not low on calories, muscles were not hurting. I drank 2 bottles of Osmo, 5 gels and coke at nearly every aid station from mile 9-25. I walked some (aid stations and a couple of the little "inclines"), something that I didn't have to do at my last 3 races. I needed my inhaler every hour and it would give me a little relief from the wheezing, but nothing miraculous. I gave it all I had on that day and even though I wanted to come up with an excuse to slow down or to just not leave it all out there, I did not. I was fit, ready and gave what I had! I finished the marathon 10minutes slower than my goal time, but giving it everything I had on that day. This picture says it all.<br />
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For the last 3 miles all I could think about were my friends on Rio Salado waiting for me to give me that last push to the finisher chute, then I wanted to take it all in. Give high 5's and WALK across the line. I did it all and was so elated and relieved to be done.<br />
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I was lucky enough to have friends, my ART guy and one of my athletes at the finish line to take care of me. I hacked up my lungs and waited for Shane (who needed to get to medical to rinse out his very red and bruised up eye from the swim) then we finally made our way to our stuff to change into warm dry clothes and cheer on more finishers!<br />
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I spent some time on the phone with Michelle yesterday recapping how it went, what we need to focus on, what I want and what it will take to get me there. I've flopped around what my goal race will be next year but I know what makes sense. In July we decided Shane & I would both race CDA (when in Rome....), then Shane's business plans changed and he will not be racing so I was pondering other races, but it just makes sense. I don't know if there were be more than one Ironman for me in 15' - Ironman takes focus and strategy and not just hard work, but hard mental work, and with work and coaching and training and life in general, I don't know that I can commit my year to multiple Ironman races and give it the respect, training and focus it would take.<br />
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I'm excited for my recovery over the next couple of weeks. Excited to do some traveling, visit with friends and enjoy some off season technique and strength work. Next year is big for my coaching business and I couldn't be more excited about what my athletes have on their agenda! TeamBSC <a href="http://teambsctriathlon.com/camps/">training camp</a> will be here before I know it and I can't wait to help everyone push past their limits and go leaps and bounds over what they thought they could do!<br />
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From the bottom of my heart I thank every single person that supports me, believes in me and sends endless wishes and motivation my way every time I race.<br />
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To my TeamBSC coach, friend and mentor, Michelle, this journey we are on.... I know it's been amazing so far, and soon will reach an epic stage!<br />
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<a href="http://triscottsdale.org/">TriScottsdale</a>, <a href="http://e21usa.com/">Recovery e21</a>, <a href="http://osmonutrition.com/">OsmoNutrition,</a> <a href="http://www.tribemultisport.com/">Tribe Mulitisport</a>, <a href="http://www.planetsunhawaii.com/Default.asp">Planet Sun Hawaii</a> and <a href="http://neogenissport.com/">BeetElite</a> - You all make my training, recovery and racing possible and I am beyond thankful and honored to race with your support!<br />
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<br />Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom"http://www.blogger.com/profile/10093877563484872506noreply@blogger.com0