Tri-Dogmom

Yesterday I was putting a few things on my calendar and that's when I realized what today was.  April 16th, my mom's birthday.  My mom's 60th birthday.  It's still so unreal to me that she's gone.  That just before her 58th birthday she left us.  That's SO young.  Today I rode my bike for 3 hours with my FIFTY year old friend.  I look at her sometimes in awe.  When you take care of your health and live life to the fullest, it's never ending what the possibilities are. When I think about this sadness, it really just fuels my fire to keep dreaming, keep pushing and keep reaching to do things I never thought possible.  Of the many things you did teach me, mom, these are the lessons I will take with me every day.  Every day when things seem hard and I'm tired, or grumpy or feeling lazy.  I'm doing what I love because, I can.

Once I recovered (mentally and physically) from camp, I was feeling awesome!  My weekend workouts were stellar and I was full of energy.  With an Olympic (ish, long bike) distance race on tap I was really excited to see where my fitness was.  Perfect taper for a marathon, right?  2.5hr all out race!  Of course it is when you are BSC!  The bonus would be that I did this race last year after only 4 weeks of triathlon focused training (coming off my marathon focus) and this year I have been solely focused on my Ironman CDA training since January. All week long I was hyper.  My workouts were short and zippy with a lot of fast swimming trying to force a good swim split out of me.  I was calm and excited, not even remotely stressed or worried about splits.  I was just ready to go out there and go HARD.  This is a new found confidence when it comes to racing, and I'm not gonna lie, I like it.  It sure beats worried about the outcome. ...

A couple of years ago I read this post by Jen Harrison. I thought it was the COOLEST thing ever.  Each year at the beginning of the year, she offers up coaching services in an effort to "pay it forward," providing coaching services to someone with hardship or other motivating factor. Inspired by her generosity, combined with my love of coaching and helping athletes, I've decided to open up my coaching services in a similar way. I would like to offer my TeamBSC coaching services which include weekly personalized  training schedules, and unlimited email contact. The coaching services will start May 1st and go through the end of your "A" race for 2014. I'm looking for a very highly motivated athlete that is willing to be open minded to a new training plan, and willing to provide feedback and upload workout data so I can best help him/her achieve their goal! If you are interested in getting more out of your racing season, or looking for a change, plea...

I'm not even sure where to begin with this post, but I figured I should write it while everything is fresh on my mind, my legs feel the work and my heart is so super happy.  This whole camp idea started as an invite from me to my friend and fellow TeamBSC coach Kelly to come join me for a huge training block in prep for my Ironman CDA build.  I knew I was going to have some time off from training at the end of April pre and post the Boston Marathon so I wanted to bank some training.  Kelly was all in and that's where this all started. Michelle actually brought up the idea of making this an official training camp.  I thought about it for a few weeks deciding if I wanted this to be something I just focused on for myself, or if the idea of running a training camp was really something I wanted to do. In all honesty, it didn't take long for me to make the decision.  For years I have planned workouts and crazy training adventures for myself and whomever else I cou...

Just over 3 years ago when I first started working with Michelle, I remember getting my first week of training put into TP.  I was at my friend Amanda's house watching the Super Bowl and got an email saying that the first week was up.  I logged in, my eyes wide open seeing a full week of swim, bike, run and then saw the tally on the side of 15+ hours.  There was so much detail! Specific HR goals, and the explanations in the swim workouts were so cool.  OMG, it was like I had died and gone to heaven.  I love DATA!  I love seeing max and average and pace and miles and all that stuff.  Oh, back then I even got some rest days ;) I loved entering my notes and my data in, but my favorite part was the response and feedback I would get.  With each workout, there would be a response.  It was like being graded (but not really) and encouraged and just fueled my fire to do better!  8 weeks later I was asked to right a "race plan" for my first ...

After taking a solid 4 weeks of pretty much no training post Ironman, I was feeling the urge to get back at it.  My body felt recovered, but also chubby, slow and uncomfortable from the time off.  I knew we were spending a good 10 days in Mexico eating chips and salsa and drinking cervesa so putting in some run miles was going to be the only way to help me feel half normal.  With that I needed  wanted a reason to put in those miles, so I signed up for the Phoenix half marathon. Of course it's not a fun race when you don't wrangle several friends to sign up with you.  A couple notes on Facebook and we had a pretty good group to run!  I sent Michelle a note to let her know that I signed up, but for fun, not with a goal to have a fast PR race.  I knew what it took to get there, and that wasn't my early season goal.  I had an Ironman to train for and a lot of work to do on the bike to get me ready for the hilly course. So my January build started ...

I can't believe I'm actually writing a post about an indoor bike trainer.  Ever since I started cycling, about 12 years ago, I've loathed the trainer.  Sure a good sweat fest spin class can be fun, but I've always stood firm that nothing beats getting out there on the road.  We purchased a cycleops fluid trainer and had it for a good 8 years, but I averaged like once a year on that thing.  I never felt like I got a good workout, and it just didn't feel  right.  I didn't like the clunky feel and it just wasn't like being on the road.   Not to mention, we live in Arizona and while we might not have huge big green evergreens to look at, there is something about being out on your bike looking at views like this... And, let's be honest.... with the exception of our insane summers when you have to get up at 4 am to ride and Jan-Feb when it's "cold and dark," we pretty much have it made here year round.  When I signed up for my first Ironman ...