Tri-Dogmom

This past Saturday was the El Tour de Phoenix. Last year I "raced it" and had a blast, despite being WAY undertrained & being dropped by the lead pack about 40miles into the race when I bonked. This year, I was on my own again but I felt much stronger and I had my NEW bike! I was hoping to finish somewhere around 3:10ish. The morning went perfectly. Arrived at a great time, got a good spot up front in the platinum section. Potty break, check, ready to go! The first mile was pretty good. I stayed to the far right side not close to anyone. Of course I had to work harder, but I'd rather work harder than get too close. My lungs suddenly FROZE up. I think the instant rush of adrenaline plus the cool weather. I pulled out my inhaler & took a couple of puffs. I pulled up a little closer to the pack, but still kept my distance. We were going about 28miles per hour, but I noticed it felt SO much easier than last year. My new bike responds SO well and, I know I...

Las Vegas. Most people either love it, or hate it. I've always been somewhere in between those two. My first trip to Vegas was for a family reunion/wedding. It was just a few months after moving to AZ. I was young, broke and single. My date was my bff & roomie, Erin. We drove over after work on a Friday & crashed on an extra bed in my sister's hotel. My family spoiled us and bought our drinks, food and mom even gave us a little cash to gamble with. The wedding was great, but Erin & I were on a mission to hit the "clubs." Ten years later & I can hardly remember how the night went, other than we were completely decked out in cheap "forever 21ish" outfits & we ended up at some after hours nightclub. We left the club the next day just in time to shower & meet my mom for lunch before driving back home. Needless to say that didn't go so well, as we were both so tired and spent from staying up all night that we ended up pulling into a mo...

Going into this race we weren't exactly 100%. I tried to cut my knuckle off the weekend before and had to tape it up and not bend it or use it all week. I knew the swim would be interesting, the bike might hurt and transition (getting the wetsuit on & off) would be hilarious. On Tuesday Shane got stung by a bee on his quad, and by Thursday it had gotten so inflamed and swollen he had to go on a high dose of antibiotics and steroids. He was still unsure about racing until the morning of. Thankfully we know good people that good him hooked up with the right meds quickly (THANK YOU SARA!). The drive to Havasu was uneventful, but I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the drive was through the mountains between Parker and Havasu City. We got into town about 6, and went right to packet pickup. I was a little concerned when they told us just to pick whatever swim cap color we wanted - that it didn't matter? Based on previous races from this race director, I was thinkin...

Just about a year ago I attempted to Climb Mt. Lemmon. I ended up sick & having to turn around about a quarter of the way up. I was frustrated to say the least, and knew I had to get back and finish what I started. When I got an email from our friend Karen that she was planning to head to Tucson for a training weekend and Sat climb up Mt. Lemmon, Shane & I didn't hesitate to jump in for the fun. We met the group for a 9:30 am start about 5miles from the base. The weather could not have been more perfect. Sunny, 50s to start, 30-40s at the top and finishing around 80degs. The mountain was PACKED with people. Cyclists the whole way up & down, families & kids sledding. While I spent most of the ride alone (everyone went their own pace), everyone I passed, or that passed me was incredibly friendly. I was having a lot of back pain, so I was never able to climb too hard. My new bike was fantastic otherwise. Plenty of gears and some crazy way, NO sadd...

Haven't blogged in a while. The Lapan's have been busy. Training, playing, eating, drinking, resting. It's been raining like mad in AZ. Sure, every now in then there is nothing better than a nice run with little rain showers. Rain showers are MUCH better than non stop rain Rain that makes the roads trashed and my bikes so dirty, does not make me happy. I had my first ever back to back long bike rides. We were supposed to do 3hrs/30min run Sat, and 2.5hrs 20min run Sunday. My poor lungs were so trashed from the wind, and possibly fighting a cold that I felt like I was dying on Saturday, only ran about 15mins. Did however have my longest ride in a VERY long time ~60miles. Chose spin class on Sunday with a treadmill run instead of getting wet and cold outside. Have I mentioned it's been raining? I ran 10miles in the rain this morning. I'm still cold I'm pretty sure all this rain is making me sick. I might be fighting off a cold. I trained almost 17hours last w...

A couple weeks ago I received a surprise present in the mail. A fellow blogger/reader/runner wanted to send me one of her beautiful necklaces she designed. The picture below doesn't do this cute little necklace justice. The little charm tags are shiny, flat and lightweight. The necklace is something you could actually wear for training, racing or every day. I train with my dogs on almost all of my runs, and if you've known me for a while, than you've seen the picture below. This sign of Baxter was put out on the bike course of my first Ironman for inspiration. My dogs keep me on target, and well if nothing else help the negatives splits.. Now, I have a little token of inspiration that I can bring with me any time I want :-) Thank you Sarah at TAG YOUR IT! DESIGNS Please take a look at her website and consider her when looking for that perfect little gift! As a special surprise, Sarah is offering a gift to someone else. Click on the giveaway page and enter "tri-do...

Officially into week 2 of my training program. After having a half ass-ed summer of racing and training, followed by a marathon gone wrong, followed by 4 weeks of Mexico/Seattle lazy party bliss, I was ready to go. I spent 3 weeks in January just getting used to the idea of 3 runs, 3 swims, 3 bikes and 2 hours of strength training per week. Mind you, all of those workouts were at a very easy effort, except for the strength training. Actually, I'm pretty sure the strength training is what is kicking my butt. Like I said, "My everything hurts." Daniel the torture training is really stepping it up a notch. I can see the smoke coming out his ears as he plays around coming up with new exercises for me to do, testing them on himself first to see which muscles they target best. I think he's on a mission to get me in tip top shape. I trust him, he's been training me for years. He knows my weaknesses and he knows what I need. It also helps that he did Ironman Canad...