Tri-Dogmom

What a crazy last couple of weeks. I was down and out for 4 solid days with the stomach flu and upper respiratory infection. I suffered through 2x4hour rides over the weekend, one ending about 15miles from my house when I realized I just couldn't make it any further so I sat and waited for Shane to ride home & come back and rescue me. The second ride ended with a pit stop for a coke to get me through the last 90mins because I just could not stomach any gels or other junk in my tummy. But agh, sweet coke...... Just like mile 16 in Ironman :-) While trying to regain my strength and appetite. Appetite meaning needing more than 5 Popsicles a day. I learned on Saturday... you just can't survive on Popsicles. Anyhoo - while all this was going on, our Canada group also found out that our rental home fell through. Long story short, I was stuck scrambling to find 6 of us decent accommodations 2 months out from an Ironman. An Ironman in a small town. Thankfully not as small as Coeur ...

I didn't realize my last post was the Deuces Wild post when I was sick, and DNF'd. Bummer. I felt like I recovered quite quickly from the stomach bug, and got back into training by Tuesday. However, by Thursday night we were headed back to Rocky Point for the Roger Clyne Show so not much rest, and not exactly more quality training. Shane & I had a great longish ride, 3hrs the morning before we left so I felt good about heading out of town with that under out belts. We were going to try to do our longest run (2hrs) on Friday morning. We got up at 5:30 (unheard of in Mexico) listening to crazy strong winds outside. After a 4mile out and back with the dogs we had to modify the plan and loop around our neighborhood not heading out to the main dirt road because the winds were just too strong when we weren't protected by the homes. We made it about 10.5miles before we were just DONE. The hard packed dirt roads, heat and humidity really tore us up. Knees were throbbin...

I knew on Wednesday morning I wasn't feeling right. I had a headache that I thought was related to coming back from Mexico to the dry air. I tried it all. Sudafed, Steam, Tylenol, Airborne, and sleeping with nose strips. I drank water like it was going out of style. Shane & I were both sleeping about 9-10hours from Tues-Thursday nights but each day I woke up feeling worse... but not quite sick. My lungs were good, legs rested... but things didn't feel right. Thursday after some short bike intervals I went to the pool for my last swim workout before the race. Coach had me doing a ton of 50s, with the last set of 8 of them @90%. My times were close to my warmup times, but not the effort. The drive up to Show Low Shane & I both were quietly sitting in misery. I think we were both afraid to say anything in fear of freaking the other one out. Once we got to our rental cabin there was no hiding it. It was 5pm and we were TOAST. DONE. Ready for bed. We both had ...

As all of my last few posts have reported on racing or crazy training events, it's safe to say that is what we have been up to! While Shane & I are more than happy with the progress we have both made, PR's in our races we are also starting to feel the effects. It's a tough one. Tell the coach to back down, or suck it up and keep going?! Well, thankfully we have a trip coming up in a couple days and even though the coach has a run/open water swim on the schedule for EVERY.SINGLE.DAY... we are going to "edit" that just a leetle bit. See, thing is something about the ocean air, the sandy beach, the juicy shrimp and cold cervesas - it's just what my body is calling for. To top it off, we have some VERY special friends joining us and I couldn't be MORE thrilled. First off my girl Shelby and her husband Tall Matt are coming all the way from Seattle to play with us. Shelby was there on my first or second ever trip to RP for the triathlon/10k like 7 years ago....

If you have never participated in an all girls event, do it. Don't hesitate. There is something about being out there with out so much crazy testosterone, cute as can be outfits, special medals & awards and slightly less stinky (and pink even) porta potties. All joking aside, this is my second women's only sprint tri & once again I had a BLAST. If nothing else, it's the coolest thing to be out there amongst so many women. Teenagers, college girls, moms, and grandma's. Their friends, family, spouses & children spectating and so proud. While I am certainly no "sprinter" when it comes to races, I couldn't resist getting back out there to test my fitness again after Rocky Point. Actually, truth be told I probably would not have registered, especially so last minute with the crazy price of last minute sign up were it not for my girl Taryn. Taryn & I met a couple years ago via our blogs & have kept in touch ever since. She decided this would ...

About 3 weeks ago Shane & I decided we were not going to be able to make it to Iron Sherpa at IMSG. We have been traveling a lot, Shane had already missed several days of work, and the SG trip would have taken off 2-3 more days for him. That, combined with a lack of training for a few weeks due to the travel & racing & injury - it was X+Y+Z = we really need to stay home & have a good solid week of training and catching up.... Or so I thought. As soon as I mentioned to my gf Karen that we were going to be in town that weekend she offered up a deal. She would join me in Rocky Point & race the tri, if I did something with her. Something I had NEVER heard of. Something so far out of my comfort zone I still can't believe I even said yes. Well, Rocky Point came and went (delayed post coming up!) and we had a blast! Back in town on Monday night & had to prep (and still get my broken bike from the shop) by Thursday night. Shane & I had made the mistake of telli...

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...