T minus 11 days!

Last week was my final high volume week of training...~13 1/2 hours.  I have to admit, I am glad that those weeks are over. 

I.am.tired.

Hallelujah, taper has begun!  This week's schedule has a mere 8 1/4 hours of training and next week requires only 4 1/2 hours leading up to the race. 

Last week's schedule left me tired, but at the same time it left me feeling optimistic about race day. 

The Running
Saturday, I ran with Woodlands Fit.  We had 14 miles on the schedule and I was a bit nervous, because I missed the 13 miler from two weeks before.  Also, I haven't run more than 13.1 since 2011 before the great hip blip of 2011/2012.  Thankfully, Mother Nature felt she had punished us enough the week before, because she graced us with temps in the 60s at the start!  As an added bonus, a cool front came through during the run which dropped the temps by about 10 degrees.  It was heavenly!  And, it was an awesome run!

The Biking
I have been nervous about the hills on the 70.3 course for awhile now.  Even though I survived our hilly ride in Chappell Hill a few weeks ago, I still wanted to ride the course and know exactly what to expect.  I put out a call via Facebook, text messages and email to some of my tri peeps to see if anyone else wanted to ride the course.  Not only did I have 3 friends who wanted to come, but they also had friends who wanted to join in the fun.    We ended up having about 8 women ride the course!  It was freaking cold...around 48 degrees.  Yes, I am a pansy.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes!

Most of the group decided to ride 40 miles of the 56 mile course, leaving out an out and back section (according to the Hubs, that section is pretty flat).  Yes, the hills sucked - they seemed like more of a gradual incline that took forever to get up!  But, they were definitely do-able.  While I don't think my ride will be fast by any means, I know I can survive the hills. I told the Hubs that the course wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be....thank God! 

Most of us had a brick workout on the schedule, so we needed a place to run.  Unfortunately, there really wasn't an awesome place to run nearby, so we headed over the the parking lot of the shopping center across the street and did laps.  There was no traffic, since none of the businesses were open yet.  Still, I'm sure we looked like a bunch of goofballs lapping that lot!

The Swimming
Later on the same day, a few of us went out to Lake 288.  I've been there many times, but it's been about 2 years since my last visit.  The lake is used for triathlon training, paddle boarding, and scuba practice. It's a bit of a drive, but well worth it!  The only downside....the vegetation!

When we arrived, the person working the entrance explained that there was quite a bit of hydrilla in the water and pointed out the areas to avoid.  Our first question, "Ummmm, what's hydrilla?".

This, my friends, is Hydrilla...and it is not my friend. (source)

A Plant.  That's what hydrilla is, a plant.  We figured a plant wouldn't harm us, so we donned our wetsuits and entered the lake.  There were already a handful of people swimming and a few people on paddle boards.  I was trying out a new wetsuit and hoped that this one would work better for me than the one I had been trying to use.  And, I had borrowed a friend's wetsuit just in case the one I bought didn't work out....gotta be prepared!  The wetsuit was a bit tight in certain areas, but it felt pretty good overall.  I started to swim and was happy to not feel any of the anxiety I felt during my last open water swim attempt.  None.  I proceeded to make my way across the lake.  I felt comfortable swimming and comfortable in the wetsuit. 

Until I found the hydrilla!

Ack!

Looks peaceful and pretty, right?

It turns out that hydrilla is an annoying plant.  It was growing in patches all over the lake and reached all the way to the surface.  It was not easy to swim through and just touching it made me freak out.  It wrapped around my hands, touched my face and neck...I tried to speed up to get through it faster, but that didn't work. Finally, I turned over and backstroked my way out of it.  When everyone made it back to shore, we strategized about the path of least resistance hydrilla...we swam it and didn't deviate from that path.  Overall, we swam about 1,300 meters.  And other than the hydrilla encounter, there was no freakout at all!  Wooohoo!

See?  We're smiling...even after the hydrilla!

So here I am, almost to the big day.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was scared shitless a little nervous.  But, what's life without some big hairy audacious goals (a.k.a. BHAGs) thrown in?  And it it wasn't a lot little scary, then the goal might not be big enough, right?

What is your next BHAG?  What are some BHAGs from the past?

Fall down seven times...

...get up eight. 
~ Japanese Proverb

No, I haven't literally fallen down.  However, there have been some humbling moments along the way in my recent training.  As a result, I am pulling out all the inspirational sayings I can find and working on having lots of positive thoughts.



One of my favorites...

BIKING LESSONS
The Hubs and I drove the bike course of my upcoming 70.3.  Sure, the Hubs had commented a few times on the "rolling hills", but didn't make it sound too terrible.  Driving the course provided me with a lot of "Holy Crap!" moments.  Yes, there are HILLS on the course.  As in ONE AFTER THE OTHER HILLS.  Needless to say, I became less afraid of the swim and scared shitless more concerned about the bike.  Up until that drive, I had only been training in the safety of a nice, flat neighborhood near my house.

In order to get some time on hills, I participated in a supported  bike ride sponsored by my tri group and another local tri group.  Since it was a "recovery week" on the schedule, my training friend and I opted for the 30-mile route.  (There were 50 and 70-mile options as well.)  Since I hadn't been on a hilly route in well, a couple of years, this was probably a wise decision.  The route was on country roads and was very hilly.  On the way out, I felt pretty good.  The wind was minimal and the downhills were fun.  Climbing uphill was challenging, but I survived. On the way back, it sucked was not as fun.  Coming back, the route was a net uphill and we had a headwind.  The downhills were slower, resulting in not as much momentum when heading back uphill.  Getting uphill was frustrating at times.



They don't call it Chappell HILL for nothing!

I learned all about using my small ring (something I've never had to use before) and I learned quickly that yes, you can run out of gears!  I headed downhill at almost 30 mph at times and uphill at a humiliating 7 mph (toward the end of the route). The route ended up being a little over 39 and left me wondering how in the hell I was going to add an additional 17 miles to that on race day.  Because of this experience, I will probably be riding less in the flat neighborhood near my house and riding more on a somewhat more challenging course until race day.  I did feel better after talking to a few other riders...they confirmed that yes, it had been a challenging ride.  Whew, and I thought I was just being a wuss!

SWIM LESSONS
I have been growing more confident in my swim abilities.  I'm still slow and have a lot of room for improvement, but considering where I came from when I started this triathlon craziness, I've come a long way!  I have been swimming longer distances than ever before, swimming more days per week and even had a very calm open water swim at my last tri.  Awesome, right?

Maybe not.  My tri group was going to be participating in the Snapping Tortuga swim race.  Even though I had reservations and anxiety about signing up for a swim race, I decided to go for it.  I needed open water swim practice.  The distances to choose from were 500m, 2.5k and 5k.  Since there was also going to be a swim clinic right after the race and an opportunity to swim more, I only signed up for the 500m. 

THANK GOD! 

A cool front blew through the night before, so it was quite windy, causing very choppy conditions on race day.  I rode to the race with a friend I made through my tri group.  When we arrived, the athletes swimming the 2.5k and 5k distances were already swimming.  Not long after we arrived, a woman was being brought back to shore on a boat.  I heard her comment on the horrible conditions.  Still, plenty of people were swimming the distance and thought, "how bad could it really be?"  I felt my heart rate go up just looking out at the white caps in the water.  On a happier note, I did run into some friends while waiting for my race to start.  Chatting with everyone helped keep my mind off the choppy water for awhile.



Don't let the pretty water and blue skies fool you...

Finally, after some uncertainty about where to check in and finally getting signed in, it was time for  us to start.  There were only about 15 of us swimming the 500 meter race.  I felt fairly calm when we started, but after only a few minutes, I got my first slap of water in the face. And in my nose. And in my mouth.  The result?  A lot of coughing and a lot of freak out.  A man in a kayak made his way over and I held on for a minute.  I tried to start swimming again, but the damage had been done - my heart rate was out of control and mentally, I just could not remain calm.  I clung to the kayak again.  Finally, I started forward - swimming, side stroking, back stroking, whatever.  A single thought came into my head - "I can't!" 

After feeling like I was getting nowhere, I made my way back towards the shore.  This part should have been much easier, because I was now going with the current and chop.  But I just could not pull it together!  The man in the kayak stayed close the entire time, telling me that I was doing fine and that I only had only x number of meters to go.  He even reassured me that I was not alone, there were a few others out there...even a couple behind me.  I saw a woman ahead of me with a kayak staying close.  Ugh, I think I was doing pretty much everything BUT swimming.  When I finally made it to shore (and I cut the course short), I felt pretty terrible.  Embarrassed.  Humiliated.  Frustrated.  I turned around to see another woman holding onto a kayak that was bringing her to shore.  They say that misery loves company and I'll be honest in saying that I felt better knowing that I wasn't the only one who had major issues in the water.

The swim clinic had started, so I listened to the information and then donned my wetsuit.  I really wanted to cry or better yet, leave! But I managed to suck it up...and I had a friend riding with me, so I couldn't exacly bail.  :-)  I kept thinking, "Why in the hell is this so freaking hard for me?".  But nonetheless, I was going to try this again dammit!  The course for the clinic was only 300 meters...surely, I could handle that. 

Right off, I knew the wetsuit was not going to work for me.  I've hated it from day one and suspected that it was a size too small.  I ended up getting out of the water and taking the wetsuit off. 

I swam 300. 

It wasn't pretty and I stopped a couple of times on the way out to compose myself.  I'm sure my coaches were wondering what the hell I was doing and how I was going to survive race day!  Luckily, coming in was easier, since we were going with the current.  Whew, not great but better. 

After a short rest, I did it again.  On this one, the chop bothered me more on the way out, but coming back in was better.  I had decided not to try another loop, but then changed my mind.  (Big thanks to my tri-friend who was there with me. She was very encouraging and was having an awesome swim.) I did one more loop - still not great, but a million times better than the other ones.  At least the day had ended on a more positive note.  I still left feeling a bit defeated, but also happy that I had not given up.  I know that I am more than capable of covering the half-ironman swim distance.  It's just a matter of getting my brain to believe it!  Stupid brain.

As you can see, the past couple of weeks have been interesting. I keep telling myself to learn from these experiences, that they are making me stronger both mentally and physically.  I will definitely be working on visualizing race day for all three components and working on more positive self-talk over the next few weeks!  The words "I can't" will be removed from my vocabulary from here on out.  They have to be.

Have you had any "I can't" moments in your race training?  What did you do to overcome them?







Blogging Slacker

Well, here I am again with several weeks between posts.  I apologize for not posting more regularly, but quite honestly this 70.3 training is kicking my ass.

Okay, so maybe it's not just the 70.3 training alone, but a combination of that and juggling all the other stuff, too.  You know, working an 8 - 5 pm office job (with an hour commute each way) and trying to get in quality family time.  I know people do it...I just think they do it way better than I do!  And time with friends? Unless they are biking or running with me, I probably have not seen much of them. 

Hello friends, I miss you!!!

But, I think that training for a 70.3 has made me get more creative with how I squeeze in the workouts.  For example, I get to work at a client site every other week and sometimes a little more often.  This client site is not far from my home. Score!  I don't have the hour commute, so I get my run or bike out of the way at my normal time (remember "stupid thirty"?) and then use that commute time to go to the neighborhood pool and get my swim done after I've dropped off the kids at daycare.  It still gives me enough time to be showered and working by 8 am. I love knowing my swim workout is done before the work day has begun, rather than leaving work knowing I have to go to the dreaded pool!  Of course, as the temperatures grew cooler this week with our first official cool front, utilizing the neighborhood pool was not an option!  Yeah, I'm not a fan of goosebumps and purple lips.

Loving the neighborhood pool...so much better than the indoor pool at the gym!

Also, I went to my local bike shop and bought a headlight and tail light for my bike. Do they call them head and tail lights on bikes?  I dunno, but you get the idea.  The guy at the shop was extremely helpful.  "Do you want to see or be seen?", he asked.  "Be seen!" was my answer.  So, my bike is now equipped with a snazzy new headlight and a bright, blinking tail light.  This means that I have the ability to ride my bike at 4 am!  Don't worry, I only ride my on my neighborhood 3-mile loop where the cars are few and far between.



Meet new best friend #1....



Meet new best friend #2....

I almost always get my running out of the way in the mornings, so that's never been an issue. 

The goal here is to get as much accomplished while the family is still asleep.  Of course, this can make for a long day and I am usually on the verge of falling asleep when the Hubs and I are putting the kids to bed.  But, I keep telling myself that there's less than one month until my race!

And I want to train for an Ironman?

Hmmmm, I may have to really think that one over!

Tell me what you're training for and how it's going!!! 

Weekly Re-Cap

Hooray, I finally have a summary! I guess I could have done this for the past 3 weeks, but the only thing I’d have to report would be my stretching and strengthening exercises from the doctor. Not exactly riveting reading.

Monday, 1/16 through Wednesday, 1/18 – Stretching / Strengthening (as ordered by the Dr)

Thursday, 1/19 – Elliptical – 30 minutes
I headed over to the gym during my lunch break at work and grabbed the last available elliptical machine. I felt a little pull in my hip a couple of times when I first got going on the machine, but after that the hip seemed a-okay. For some reason, my quad on the injured side was really sore the next day…not sure what that’s about, but it was fine by Saturday.

Friday, 1/20 – P90X – Shoulders and Arms
I only had time for the 1st 35 minutes of the DVD, but I still feel like I got in a fairly good workout.

Saturday, 1/21 – Swim (1800) and Aqua Jog (10 minutes)
Per Coach and Dr’s orders, I swam with the pull buoy the entire time (no kicking!). Obviously, this is not ideal, but at least I was able to focus on my stroke. And, I just thought I would try the aqua jogging  thing for a bit to see how it felt on the hip. I used the shallow water version of aqua jogging. It was completely awkward at first and I am sure I looked ridiculous jogging back and forth with my swim cap on and my goggles on my head, but to be honest, it just felt great to be moving both legs in a running motion. Inside my head, I was thinking, "Hooray, I can run!  Pain free, too!" and then "I am sure this looks ridiculous!" and finally, "Who cares, I'm running!!! Yippee!"  The aqua jogging seems to feel a bit better than using the elliptical, so I will probably be spending even more time in the pool. I was planning to swim another 500 yds after the aqua jogging, but I didn’t realize there was an AquaFit class about to start. Doh! I got kicked out of the pool…so instead, I spent a few minutes sweating relaxing in the sauna.

Sunday, 1/22 – Bike, 1 hour
This was another test on the bike to see how the hip would do. Last week, clipping out hurt the heck outta my hip, so this time I wore my running shoes. Not cute or sleek looking, but it worked. The hip only bothered me once when I switched gears and my foot slipped forward off the pedal. Other than that, the ride was a success! Next weekend, I will see if I can handle more time on the bike…I am getting nervous that I am waaaaayyyyy behind where I should be on the bike.  Hell, I am waaaayyyyy behind on everything!

Stupid Body

Sometimes, when things are going great and the workouts are feeling awesome, our stupid bodies find a way to tell us to chill.  In my case, this is happening with my hip.  In my 10 years of running, I've only had a few aches/pains that have stopped me from running completely - bad ITB issues after my 1st marathon in 2003, achilles tendonitis while training for the 2006 Houston Marathon and pretty bad shin splints sometime after that.  I'm not counting the broken toe, since that was a stupid, non-running related injury.  And now, after having a great NYC marathon and some good runs afterwards, my hip is deciding to protest.  

To help let my hip get some rest, I took a few days off from running last week in hope of being able to still run my 18-miler on Saturday.  At the start of my 18-miler, the hip hurt a little - more of an uncomfortable feeling, rather than extreme pain.  By mile 5, I noticed that the hip didn't bother me at all. The rest of the 18-miler went great!   In fact, I'd say it was one of my best long runs this year.  My pace was consistent, my energy level never waned...maybe it was the Hammer Gel I've been experimenting with or maybe it was the pleasantly cool weather.  It even drizzled off and on during my last 5 miles, but even that didn't bother me.  My run felt so amazing, that I actually wanted to keep going!  I decided to stick to the Coach's schedule and not overdo it...but I did add another .5 on the way back to my house.  :-)  After my run, as the day went on, the hip felt okay - a little achey? Yes, but overall not bad.  Sunday, it continued to ache, but again, nothing major.

On Monday, I headed out for my 4-miler.  As soon as I started, the hip hurt with every step on my right foot.  After 2 miles, I stopped and walked for a bit.  After a 1/2 mile of walking, I started up again...it was cold and dreary outside.  I had dressed warm enough for a run, but not warm enough for a walk!  After making it home, I logged in my workout.  In no time, I received an e-mail from Coach saying, "When you are hurting STOP! No running by any means for the next 4 days".  I was also advised to stretch, stretch, stretch, so that's what I am doing.  I tried the spin class at my gym yesterday and also got in a 2100 yd swim.  Today, instead of running 5 miles, I headed to the gym and used the elliptical there.  It felt like a punishment at first, but honestly it wasn't too bad!  I had my iPod shuffle to listen to, and I watched E! (and read the closed caption)...I never have time to watch TV these days, so that was sorta nice.

I have an appointment to see a Dr on Tuesday of next week. I am hoping there's nothing too serious going on with my hip!  Until then, spin, swim and elliptical it is!  All that I know is that I have no biking or swimming for the next 2 weeks during my taper...I hope I am able to run again soon, or I might go crazy!

Have you been sidelined with injuries?  How have you coped with not being able to run?

Vacation time to get away...or run errands

Happy, happy, joy, joy! I used a vacation day today and that always makes me happy. What doesn’t make me happy is being given large window of time for a repairman to come (i.e. sometime between 8 am and 5 pm). Yes folks, don’t get too excited – this was not a “fun” vacation day, this was a “sit around the house waiting for the GE dude to show up” day. Part of me wanted him to take his time getting to my house – that would give me an excuse to sit around and relax (something I rarely do). I mean, the house was clean, the dishwasher empty, the laundry done…I really could just do nothing.

Right.

I am super sure I could have come up with 150 miscellaneous projects – for example, I still need to address Christmas cards, the Kiddo has a mountain of art projects that I need to go through, I could have organized the playroom, blogged, wrapped Christmas gifts, worked on our budget, etc. Unfortunately (and fortunately), I never had the time to be lazy or start a project, because GE dude was at my house by 9:30 am and I was out running a zillon errands before 10 am. Really, a zillon.

Here’s what I accomplished on my day off:

Kroger - What can I say? The only reason I stopped here was for the Starbucks. Bad news - the line was super long, not sure what was up with that! Good news - I had a a coupon for a free drink - yay me!

ACE Hardware – I needed stamps and they have a post office in there with an uber-friendly worker. Bad news – they were out of stamps. Good news – they have an awesome gift area and I found gifts for the Kiddo’s teachers. Bad news – I spent way too much time looking at all the goodies. Good news – hey, the teacher’s gift is done.

Alterations place – had to pick up 2 pairs of pants. One pair needed a new zipper and one (brand freaking new) pair was coming apart at the seam in the rear (not good). Good news – I made it in and out of the store quickly. Bad news – I realized this morning that they did not repair the seam in that one pair of pants…grrr!

Dry Cleaners – Not much to say about this. Bad news – this particular place is expensive. Good news – I had a coupon (yay me!) and they do a great job!

Wal-Mart – Had to take back a pair of cheapie sweat pants I bought for the Munchkin. They were perfect for leaving swim class on cooler days, but they were too small. Bad news – they were out of his size. Good news – I managed to get a number of other items I needed (but probably didn’t really need...maybe this falls into the bad category, too?)

Swim Shops of the Southwest – Oh my gosh! This was my 1st time visiting this place and it’s paradise for all things swim. Since I am actually using a coach and doing “real” swim workouts, I figured I needed to get my own swim gear and stop trying to borrow the Hubby’s stuff. (Sharing doesn’t work so well when we need to swim on the same days.) Good news – I walked out with fins, a kickboard, paddles, and a cool new TYR bag (LOVE IT!). Plus, I picked up my tri-team technical shirt and swim cap! I can’t wait for my next swim workout! Well, almost. Bad news – I spent way too much time and money on said swim gear, when I really only went there to pick up my team shirt/cap. Good news - I have some new toys and there is less and less for the Hubby to buy me for Christmas.

Isn't this bag AWESOME? I *heart* it!

• THE MALL – I feel like those words should be followed with some really suspenseful music, “dum, dum, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum”. In my opinion, anyone braving THE MALL this close to Christmas is just plain crazy. And yes, that includes me. I am quite the list maker and knew exactly what I was going there to pick up – gift for one nephew, gift for sister-in-law, pick up bracelet being repaired (for me), find Christmas dress for Kiddo. Oh, and do not stop at the Great American Cookie Co. Good news – I accomplished everything except for one thing, I did not leave with a dress for the Kiddo. I decided I’d rather take her along and let her pick out what she really wants. Bad News – I have to go back to the mall with the kiddo.

• Kohl’s – this was just a last minute stop to see if they had any cute holiday dresses in stock or if their holiday decorations were on sale. Good news – I didn’t buy a single thing. Bad news – I didn’t buy a single thing, because the lines were extremely long and I just wanted to get home.

Once I was home I hopped on the bike trainer for my 1 hour ride. I had rented a movie, Larry Crowne, just in case I was stuck at home all day waiting for the GE dude. So, I watched the movie while I rode the bike. Oh, and I forgot to mention…I still woke up pretty close to stupid thirty to get my 7-mile run out of the way. It was only supposed to be 3 miles (with my 7 miler was scheduled for tomorrow), but I decided to take advantage of not having to rush home to get ready for work and do the longer distance today.

So much for a relaxing day at home! Oh, and I still need to address Christmas cards, go through the Kiddo’s art projects, organize the playroom, wrap Christmas gifts, work on our budget, and buy stamps! Who am I kidding? I like to be on the go and constantly busy...maybe that's why I like training for races so much. Of course, a little break now and then is always nice.

Do you manage to find time to relax and take it easy? Or, do you feel like you are constantly on the go?

Yada, Yada

The post-NYCM workouts are going pretty well, I guess. I will admit that my 14-miler on Sunday was tiring and I didn’t feel quite as energetic as some of my previous long runs. But it had been a pretty busy week and the weekend was filled with activities like a work holiday party on Friday and an evening with some friends on Saturday, so I have a feeling that may be partly to blame. I did enjoy getting to go for a ride with the Hubby over the weekend. The kiddos were at my parent's house, and we rarely have a chance to workout together! I had a 1 hour bike ride on my training schedule, so we headed to a local neighborhood for our ride. We even explored a few new roads along the way. And got lost.

Here's the Hubby checking our location on his iphone (a/k/a trying to get us un-lost).

Me, in my not so matchy pink and white helmet and lovely orange shirt (high visability is key on the bike!)

Luckily, on Monday I only had a swim on the schedule, so that meant I could sleep in! (If you call sleeping until 5:15 AM sleeping in.) I headed to the gym right after work. The Kiddo and Munchkin have swim lessons on Mondays and getting to their classes in time to see them swim for more than about 10 minutes is next to impossible, so I take advantage of this time to get my swim done. Last week, the heater in the pool at the gym was not working. It was pretty warm outside and the water in the pool wasn’t too cold, so I managed to get most of my workout done before the gym decided to close the pool for the day. This week, it was 40-something degrees outside, so I decided that if the heater was still broken, I was not swimming! The heater was working, so that meant I had to swim. I am enjoying following new workouts from Coach. Having various sets to do always manages to break things up and make swimming not seem so boring. (Yes, I find swimming boring.)

This morning I ran my scheduled 3-miler (EASY!). Coach would be proud - my heart rate was right where it was supposed to be in Zone 2, which gave me a 11:57 pace…be jealous of my lightning-fast pace! :-) This running slower stuff is awkward, but it is getting easier. Sort of, in the awesome cooler temps we're experiencing right now, running this slow can be more difficult than running faster. I am thrilled that I have a tempo run on the schedule for Thursday…finally!

Huge kudos to everyone who ran the LaPorte Half Marathon, Rock and Roll Vegas and Dallas White Rock over the weekend! And a HUGE shout out to my fellow wine-drinking-runner-mom, Shae, on her BQ in Vegas! I was hoping she’d see Kate Gosselin and accidentally-on-purpose trip her, but Shae was much speedier than Kate and left her in the dust!

How was your weekend? Any races or holiday parties???

Quickie Re-Cap

I am going to start re-capping the previous week's workout each Monday. So here ya go...

Monday, 11/28 - Easy Run (Zone 2, 3 miles)and Swim (1,400 yds)
Tuesday, 11/29 - Endurance Ride (45-minutes)
Wednesday, 11/30 - Endurance Run (Zone 2, 6 miles)
Thursday, 12/1 - Swim (1,900 yds)
Friday, 12/2 - Run (marathon pace, 5 miles)
Saturday, 12/3 - Endurance Bike (1 hour)
Sunday, 12/4 - Long Run (14 miles)

Spin and a Sssllloooooooooowww Run

Monday night I had to dust off my bike trainer for my Tuesday morning ride. I had considered going to spin class during lunch on Tuesday, but I had a meeting scheduled during the class time. So, I had to resort to the trainer. While I don’t think I could do more than an hour on the trainer, overall it’s not too bad. Honestly, it’s the only time I have to sit and watch the news uninterrupted. The trainer is a little noisy and I don’t want to wake up the rest of the house, so I turn on the closed caption and spin away! 45 minutes on the schedule in Zone 2 with my cadence at 85+…unfortunately, I just ordered the cadence sensor for my bike and I still hadn’t figured out the whole heart-rate monitor thingy, so I had no idea of my zone or cadence. Ugh!

Lucky for me, the Hubby helped me figure out the HR monitor before my run this morning. (Yes, I realize it's not exactly rocket science!) I was hoping my Wfit peep, Julie, would be meeting me for at least a portion of the scheduled 6 miles….but, she couldn’t make it, so it was just me and the roads. (That and several rabbits, stars, the newspaper dude and a few other crazy early-morning runners.) This was another “easy” run, or as Coach typed into Training Peaks, “EASY!” run. My heart rate was supposed to be in Zone 2 (126-146) and I was supposed to maintain my easy pace per McMillan (11:29 – 11:59). For some reason, I have no problem running slower in a marathon, but I have been running my shorter runs much faster for the past couple of years. Part of that “to run faster, you have to run faster” mentality, I guess. Yes, I had easier days, but those runs were rarely over an 11 minute/mile pace (unless it was 100+ degrees outside with 100% humidity)and usually in the low 10s or maybe even the high 9s. Yes, I know you have to also run slower to get faster, but this is sooooo new to me – forcing myself to go slower than slow – and it’s hard. I had to take a couple of walk breaks to get my heart rate down and to slow my pace a bit. Overall, I never got under an average 153 HR or an average 11:28 pace. I guess I need to keep working on this. Can I just say that I am sooooo, soooo happy to have a Tempo run on my schedule next week? It's the little things!

I am soooo looking forward to getting my cadence sensor for my bike! Also, this weekend I am going to buy fins, a kickboard and some paddles – yay me! Next up, I am finally going to get a new saddle for the bike. I am still using the factory saddle and it’s time to upgrade to something more comfy! Yes, this is exactly why I am never at the mall buying trendy, cute new work clothes – all my extra $ goes toward miscellaneous tri stuff. :-)

Do you follow the suggested paces from McMillan? Do you train using your HR? How slow are your "easy" runs? Or, do you use other methods for training?

Little bit of this and that...

Well, another weekend come and gone. I love my weekends! So here’s what was up:

Thursday, July 7 – Spin class & Swimming
I’ve discovered that Thursday spin classes are actually a little tougher than the Tuesday class…I like that and think I’ll keep going! It was grueling, but fun. After work, I headed to the gym to swim. This swim was much better than my Wednesday swim! Much smoother, much less effort...I did some drills and then a ladder. Overall, I swam 1,200 yds.

Friday, July 8 - Rest

Saturday, July 9 – Bike ride and parties
I joined my biking homies for a nice, new route. This route was along some pretty country roads about 30 minutes from my house. It was definitely more challenging than our usual, flat route – this ride included some nice, rolling hills and less protection from the wind. We had some views of the countryside, some views of a lake and even some flowers…naturally, we had to stop and enjoy! We did a little over 40 miles. It’s nice that 40 miles doesn’t seem too bad, even on the more challenging route. Although, I have to admit that the last few miles were tough mentally - by that point, I was sick of the rolling hills and felt like I could barely make it up the last couple.

Taking a little break...

Yes, we took time to stop and smell the flowers...these were growing on the side of the road! So pretty!

Later, after doing the grocery shopping and some laundry, we headed to a friend’s house to celebrate their daughter’s graduation from high school. Crazy, because I remember this daughter when she was just a baby…and now she’s graduating…kinda makes me feel old! The Hubby and I debated on whether or not we wanted to bring the kids along, and we’re glad we did. They had an awesome time playing with all the other kids and just being silly. Great food, great friends, great fun…

Sunday, July 10 – Run and swim
Sunday I had the option – get up at 4:30 to run, or wait until 7 pm in the evening. The Hubby was planning to meet up with his tri training group for their weekly run at 6:15 am, then we’d head to the lake for a swim after…this meant that I either had to run and get home before he left for his run, or I’d be running later in the evening. With the “feels like” temps in the 100s, there was no way I would be running in the middle of the day! After waking up before 5 am for 6 days in a row, I decided to sleep in. The Hubby enjoyed his group run and we still had time for breakfast together before dropping off the kids at my parent’s house and heading to the lake.

We were surprised to see such a large number of people out at the lake. Then we realized that there was an open water swim clinic being held. That group had already finished their swim…this made me happy, because I hoped they’d already scared away any snakes or other creepy crawlies out in the water. LOL! This was the hubby’s 1st open water swim and he did great! He was actually in the water before I finished putting my swim cap and goggles on. I was pretty proud of myself too…I had absolutely no anxiety whatsoever. After having a handful of really crappy open water swims in the spring, it felt good to have a good ows! I swam a little over 1,000 m, so it was a pretty decent workout!

Here's the lake where we have ows practice...looks nice and serene, huh?

Once we were home, we hung out with the kiddos and finished the laundry…exciting, huh? Then, it was finally time to head out for my run. I wasn’t really feeling it…I started to get a sore throat earlier in the day and just felt kinda crappy. Plus, my quads were sore from the bike ride the day before. Plus, it was hot! I really didn’t want to run.

Did I mention it was hot?

I had a horrible time. I walked, I whined, I cursed, I walked some more. Let’s face it, I am a morning runner. It’s about 10 degrees cooler and the sun doesn’t glare down on you at 4:30 in the morning. I know a lot of you out there run in this stupid heat and deal with it…and I don’t know how you do it. I am sure I need to get acclimated to it, but ugh, why? I’d much rather run in the morning. I don’t think I felt really good until I got to mile 5…by then the sun was low enough for me to be in the shade. At least there was a breeze. So anyway, it is what it is – a horrible, slow, walked way too much and I hate running kinda run.

I am kinda bummed that I am calling 6 miles a *long* run! Before the whole toe incident, I was easily running 8 – 10 miles, heat and all. And now, well, I’m a pansy.

It’ll get better, right?

I hope so.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!

Workouts

Just catching up with the recent workouts...

Saturday, 7/2 - Bike, 20 miles

Met up with Kelly & Jen again, but this time we also had runner bud and newbie biker, Stephanie, join us. We decided we needed a change of scenery - especially if it meant we would be closer to Starbucks for post-ride trash talking - so we hit a different local neighborhood that is known for having lots of weekend cyclists. We took it kinda easy and cut the mileage a bit since we had a newbie with us...turns out that we really didn't need to, because she did fan-freaking-tastic! It was a great ride, well except for when a lady in a SUV flipped us off....actually, that just made us laugh. Afterwards at coffee, we actually had almost our entire original Woodlands Fit group together (from my 1st year wit Wfit in 2008). Great friends, great conversation!

Sunday, 7/3 - Run, 4 miles

In all honesty, I really wanted to do 6 miles this weekend. But, after my little 2-miler on Friday, I decided that baby steps might be better than just jumping in. I waited a little later than normal to start my run, which was dumb...once the sun is up, it just feels hotter. I think it's a mental thing...it's not that much warmer, but with the sun shining on me, I think it's warmer. So, I did 4 miles. My overall pace was 11 min/mile...pretty pathetic, but I did take a 1 minute walk break after miles 2 & 3. It will get better with time (I hope).

Monday, 7/4 - Bike ride 16.6 miles

Hooray for holidays! That meant I could squeeze in another bike ride. I headed for the nearby neighborhood for a quickie ride. Everyone must have been sleeping in, because I only came across one runner and no other bikers. Average pace was 16.6...I think I can do better.

Weekend Re-Cap

The hubby and I both had the day off on Friday. I had some errands and family stuff to tend to, but once that was done we took the kids to see Cars 2. We’re big fans of the 1st Cars movies, so we were looking forward to the sequel. It was a cute movie – it had a much more complex plot than the 1st movie, was longer and focused more on Mater. There was some violence that I’ve heard parents complain about – yes, the bad guys had a ray gun that could blow up some of the race cars and the bad guys did capture the good guys – but in the end, the good guys won. I am sure we’ll eventually buy the dvd and be forced to watch this over and over and over and over…

I started Saturday off with a 43-mile bike ride with tri-buddies, Jen and Kelly. It turned out to be a great ride – a little warm and humid, but overall we all felt strong the entire ride and felt as if we could do 10 more miles! But, we’re starting to realize that riding the flat roads with protection from the wind (thanks to all the trees) is not doing us any favors. Kelly is training for next year’s IMTX race and that course does have some rolling hills and very little protection from the winds that we often have here in the Spring. So, in the coming weeks we will be alternating our rides between the more open roads and our nice little “comfort zone” rides. However, it might be wise to cut back the mileage a bit the 1st week just to get acclimated….we’ll see! I spent the rest of the day cleaning out the kid’s closets as well as my side of our his / her closet. I am an organization nut, very Type A, but I just haven’t had time to dedicate to getting organized in a long, long time, so this was very long overdue! This is just the beginning of my “get ridiculously organized” project going on at home.

Sunday was a rest day, but I spent the day finishing up the closets and pulling weeds in our flowerbeds. Exciting, huh?

Also, I have changed my plans for some of the races on my Calendar. I had to re-evaluate a few things thanks to my stupid broken toe (maybe I should just refer to it as SBT?). I will not be racing Shadow Creek Ranch Tri in July. I only have 3 weeks to train and I don’t think that’s enough time to make significant progress with my running after being out for 6 weeks. CB&I was such an awesome race with a big PR, I don’t want to go into Shadow Creek underprepared. Instead, I will be riding the Katy Flatlands bike ride. I’m undecided on the distance, but I am thinking something in the 50 – 60 mile range. This will only be my 2nd organized bike ride…my 1st was Tour de Pink back in 2008.

Finally, I decided to register for the Houston ½ Marathon lottery. Probably not the smartest move, since there’s a very good chance I will be doing the Goofy Challenge the weekend before…but, I registered with a group of friends and figured I’d just have fun with the race and not really race for time. Kind of a waste of a race, but at least I’ll be among friends! The good news - we found out Monday that our group did make it in! The bad news – my hubby, who registered for the lotto solo, did not make it in. Stupid lotto!

Swim, bike, poo

Friday, 6/10 - Swim
I did end up having a great swim on Friday, although not as long as I originally planned. The Hubby met me at the gym and we signed him up! Now, he has a place to swim, too. He was relying on the neighborhood pool, but since there are no lap swim times, it was too difficult trying to swim and dodge kids at the same time. I learned the same lesson 2 years ago when I was training for my first tri...So, we were able to swim together, which was nice.

Originally, the Hubby wanted to register for the Texas State Triathlon for his first tri - it's close to home and a pool swim - not a bad combo for a first timer. But, we just found out that registration is full. Doh! So, he decided to register for Bridgeland, which is also more than likely going to be my next tri.

It's certainly going to be tricky trying to plan out a training schedule for both of us...as if it wasn't hard enough with just one of us training for triathlons!

Saturday, 6/11 - Bike, 30 miles
Met up with Jenn and Kelly again for a long bike ride. It felt great to get beyond those 20-milers! And, the toe didn't even start to bother me until about mile 20. After the bike ride, it was a busy day - we had errands to run, the Kiddo had a birthday party and then we were going to our cousin's dance recital across town...we weren't home again until 10:30 pm!

Sunday, 6/12 - Swim and Ab Ripper X Rest day
Okay, so today ended up being a total bust...I felt like poo. Had a sore throat, achey shoulders, neck and back, headache, fever, and chills. Not good. The hubby thought the sore neck and shoulders were because of my bike ride the day before, but after seeing my temp, we decided that might not be the case. After church, I just took it easy all day and even took a nap...something I am not used to doing!

Ouch...still here

Having a broken toe sucks.

It's been a little over 2 weeks and I am still wearing sandals to work. It's making my workouts a bit of a challenge - I can't do Insanity, can't run and until recently, I couldn't bike either.

The 1st week after the broken toe debacle, I did P90X 2x and swam 2x...not too terribly shabby. Last week, I did Ab Ripper X twice (which is only 16 minutes), swam 2x and rode the bike trainer 1x. On Sunday morning, I decided to get brave and try to ride my bike out on the road. I knew from my time on the bike trainer earlier in the week that it would hurt to clip out (or unclip...whatever) with the right foot. That kinda stinks, since that is the foot I am used to using the most. But, I decided to ride anyway. Luckily, the ride went pretty well! My running/tri buddy, Jen, and I rode 22 miles and while the toe did hurt the entire time, it wasn't excruciating-gotta-stop-now pain. It was bearable. The most painful part was clipping out and starting up after stopping. I could definitely tell that I had not been on my bike in 3 weeks...my legs wouldn't move as fast as I would have liked.

I did attempt to go out and run a quickie 2-miler yesterday, but that didn't work out so well. The broken toe is not quite ready for that yet. I ended up walking/jogging 1.5 miles and that was about all I could handle. Yes, I should have stuck to swimming!

So, the family's annual "Race for the Pennant" was out this year. I offered to watch the kids so the hubby could run it, but he wasn't interested. And, the Tejas Tri on Sunday is out, too. I hope everything will be healed in time to train for the Shadow Creek Ranch tri in July....we'll see!

Workout Love

I love the weekend workouts.

My favorite? The bike!

I hate it when the weather is bad on the weekend mornings, because without my weekend morning workouts, I am a grump (okay, I am really a biotch, but I was trying to keep the blog PG-13). Once I've got my workout in, I am ready for the rest of the day - fun with the kids, hanging with the hubby, grocery shopping, etc.

Saturday, April 2 - Bike/Run Brick
I would have loved to ride my bike for about 45 miles, but the kiddos had soccer games so time was limited. Plus, I really need to start working brick workouts into my routine again...so I compromised and rode 30 miles and ran 2 miles.

I seem to be stuck - my pace on the bike has been 16.2 mph for the past few weeks. The bike is one area where I really think I have room for improvement. The past 2 years, my training rides were closer between 14.8 - 15 mph, and my race pace always stayed around 18 mph. This year, I've been on my bike a lot more and for longer distances. Now my average training ride pace is around 16 mph...I'd like to get faster, but I am clueless when it comes to the bike. Is it the same as running? Do speedwork and tempo rides? Someone clue me in. :-)

After my ride, I ran my bike up my driveway into my garage for a little T2 practice. I removed the helmet, changed shoes and was off. And then I turned around and ran into the house for a quick potty break. Doh! I am always surprised at how much faster I tend to run after being on the bike. I managed to finish my 2 miles in 18:40 (a 9:20 pace). The fastest brick I've done was last summer - bike 15 miles, run 2 @ a 9:25 pace, so I was super pleased with this run! I don't think I could have held that pace for another mile, but it gives me something to shoot for at CB&I next month.

Sunday, 4/3 - Long run, 9 miles, 10:45 pace
That pace says it all - warm, humid, tired legs. I'll admit it, my glutes were still sore from Friday's Insanity workout and my legs were a little tired from my brick the day before. I didn't notice the sore glutes at all on the bike the day before, but I definitely noticed it on my run (for at least the 1st mile)! Ouch!

This run was pretty uneventful. I tried to run every loop in every section of the neighborhood, just so I didn't=t have to see the same scenery more than once. But, I started the run in the dark, pre-dawn areas and there are some sections of my neighborhood that are just too dark to venture into before daylight. I was going for 10-miles, but by the time I reached my section of the neighborhood, I was already at 9 miles and a little change...rather than do another loop of my section, I decided that I'd call it a day.

The rest of the weekend consisted of grocery shopping, a birthday party for one of the kiddo's school friends, a baby shower for my cousin, more fishing at the neighborhood lake and a trip to Target for a new Chi. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it certainly felt like a busy weekend!

Humble Pie

Tuesday, 3/22 - Spin and Swim
I managed to push the snooze button a few too many times, so my 1 hour, 15 minute ride on the trainer ended up only being 45 minutes. Grumble, grumble....I need to get to bed earlier! In the evening, I went to the pool for a 30-minute swim. Only 1200 yds on the schedule, which actually worked out well, because I had time to get the swim done and still get back home in time to help get the kids to bed.

Wednesday, 3/23 - Run and Sputter
I was planning for a 4-miler, but once again I "snoozed" too long. There was only time for a 3-miler after that. Again, I need to get to bed earlier if I am going to wake up at 4:15 am! And, that 3-miler was extremely slow - 10:53 pace. Why? Because I had a major cough attack and finally just stopped until it passed (thank you Springtime pollen!). I also stopped to walk in the final mile, because my heart rate felt all wonky...not sure what that was about.

My 2nd lack luster workout of the day was an OWS practice. The awesome folks at Out Rival Racing coordinated a swim at Lake Conroe. It's a bit of a drive from where I work, but it's much closer to home than Lake 288. The water in Conroe is much murkier and there are some boats, so you get that lovely scent and taste of exhaust now and then (yuck!). But, the swim was so organized - they had buoys and kayakers, plus is was just great to swim with a group.


This is Lake Conroe after our swim...pretty isn't it?

Unlike our swims at 288, I decided to go out with a group to do the 500m loop that was set up (I think it might have been a little long - maybe 600?)....usually I warm up first to get acclimated to the water. Dumb move on my part, because at some point I went in to "freak out" mode and ended up side-stroking more than I care to admit. (Something I rarely do these days) It was bad. I was the last one in the group to finish...and not as in a few seconds after the group. More like a good 3 minutes after the group. Mmmm, nice taste of humble pie....yum, yum (NOT).

Luckily, after meeting a few other folks and talking for a few minutes, I managed to swim a little more and felt much better. I've felt pretty good in the water over the past few weeks, so I'm not sure what happened. I do know that OWS can be challenging mentally...you have to get out of that freak out mode fast, or your swim is not going to be pleasant. If there is one thing that will keep me from doing an Oly or a HIM (besides the schedule issues I had this year), it's the freaking open water swim. Just last week, I was feeling more confident in the water than ever and this week...well, not so much! Anyway, after swimming a little more, I did feel better and at least ended the evening on a positive note.

Thursday, 3/24 - Run do-over, 3 miles (10:15 pace)
I felt like Wednesday run was so bad, that I wanted a do-over on Thursday...just to prove that I can run. Unfortunately, I did not sleep well at all on Wednesday night, which is highly unusual for me. I woke up several times and eventually re-set my alarm clock and slept as long as I could. That meant I'd be doing an evening run. So, after the Kiddo's gymnastics class, I headed out for a 3-miler. It went much better than the run on Wednesday, and I had a gorgeous sunset to look at!

Friday, 3/25 - Rest Day
It's a rest day, but I am determined to get in the Ab Ripper X workout tonight. The Kiddo has a make-up soccer game tonight and one in the morning, so GO SHARKS!!!

Playing Catch Up

Here's what I've been up to for the past 2 weeks:

Wednesday, 3/9 - 4 mile run, 10:29 pace
Warm and humid - yuck and yuck!

Thursday, 3/10 - Rest day (unscheduled)

Friday, 3/11 - 2 mile run, ~1,000 OWS swim
Planned on doing my 10-miler on Friday since I had the day off. However, I had been having some pain above my right ankle (on the inside). One mile out and I had to turn around - ouch! Also, tri-buddy, Kelly, and I went to lake 288 for OWS practice #2. We're definitely getting more comfortable in the water and in our wetsuits!

Saturday, 3/12 - 1 mile run, 16 mile bike (16.0 mph)
Tried to go for that 10-miler again, but after only .5 miles I called it quits due to that weird pain. I had to do some sort of cardio though, so I hopped on the bike for an hour ride.

Sunday, 3/13 - 29 mile bike, 16.3 mph
Just my regular, weekly bike ride. It should have been 30 miles, but I started late and was already pressed for time.

Monday, 3/14 - rest day
First day of spring break for the kiddos...it was a messy, rainy, yucky day.

Tuesday, 3/15 - 3 mile run, 10:12 pace
It was time to see how the ankle would hold up. Lucky for me it held up just fine! It was cool outside, so perfect weather for a run!

Wednesday, 3/16 and Thursday, 3/17 - rest days
Okay, so these weren't supposed to be rest days, but I had the day off on Wednesday and really just wanted to sleep in. Thursday, I'll just admit - I had lost my mojo and we feeling lazy.

Friday, 3/18 - 1600m OWS
Okay, lazy days are over - time to get back to it. Headed back to the lake with Kelly. After a warm up, we did our first full loop around the lake! Yay us! We followed that with a couple of mini-loops around the lake. This is probably the farthest I've managed to swim in open water. Feels good to make progress.

Saturday, 3/19 - long ride - 41 mile bike (15.10 mph)
This is only my 2nd time to ride 40+ miles on the bike. I could tell my body was getting used to 30, because my legs wanted to stop shortly after hitting that point. Luckily, tri-girl Kelly was there and having a biking companion always makes the miles go by much faster! The pace was a bit slower than my previous 2 rides - this could have been because 1) we started in my neighborhood where it's hard to maintain a faster pace and 2) we were talking a bit too much? Still a great ride!

Sunday, 3/20 - long run - 8 miles (10:33 pace)
Okay, so 8 miles is not that long, but since I skipped my long run the week before and I hadn't run much due to the mysterious ankle pain, I decided to do 8 again and the increase next week. First, let me just day that I could feel the fatigue in my legs from the previous day's bike ride. Second, it was warmer than I had hoped..and humid too. But, it felt great to get back out there for more than just a few miles!

Life Happens

The thing about working, training, having kiddos and a hubby who is on call is that you just never know what's going to happen! As I'm sure you all know, when you have limited time for training, you just have to hope that things go smoothly so that you can fit in everything that needs to get done!

This weekend was one of those weekends where things just didn't go as planned. Saturday was a full day:

• Kiddo's soccer game
• Grocery shopping
• Pick up dry cleaning
• PetSmart for dog food
• Wal-mart/target for contact solution
• Misc errands
• Birthday party with the kids at Pump It Up
• Movie night with the kiddos

The game plan was to start my run at 5:30 am, so that I'd have plenty of time to get showered and dressed, as well as help the Hubby get the kids fed and ready for soccer. The alarm clock went off at 5:00 am and I hear the sound of rain. Lots of rain. I am not opposed to running in the rain, but then came the thunder and lightening. After that came the sound of my Munchkin crying - he hates thunder. Five minutes later, it was the Kiddo crying - she's scared of the ligtening. By 5:15 am, both kids were in bed with us and it was clear that there would be no pre-soccer run.

We tried calling the soccer league's hotline to check on the status of the day's games, but the line was busy. By the time was time to leave for soccer, the rain had stopped and a cool front was moving through - the temps quickly dropped from the low 70's to 56 degrees. We called the soccer league's hotline one last time and find that the games for the day have been canceled. Score! While that means a make-up game in the future, it also means I can get the grocery shopping and errands out of the way and still have time to run before the birthday party!

After getting the grocery shopping done, I headed out for an 8-miler. I was loving the cooler temps, but holy crap is was windy!!!! There were times I'd be running into the wind and wonder if I should just walk...I was running that slow. I decided to take advantage of the times that I had the wind at my back, or the wind was blocked by the trees - that was when I would pick up the pace a bit. The majority of the run was at a 10:25 pace, but I was able to pick it up a little in the final mile for an overall 10:20 pace. I'll take it. The legs felt great and if I had more time, I think I would have added an extra mile or two. But, it was time to get ready for the birthday party...and yes, I went down the "big slide" about 20 times with the Munchkin - fun times!

Sunday we had full day - 2 hour bike ride, Church, kid's haircut at the mall (which also means they get a cookie and have to ride the carosel), run a couple of errands that didn't get done on Saturday, and meet up with some friends at a local festival.

The Hubby was on call until 7 am on Sunday morning. Whem we went to bed on Sunday night, the Hubby made a comment about almost making it through the weekend without getting called into work. Naturally, he got a call from work at 4:50 am.

Scratch that 6 am bike ride.

We decided to improvise - the hubby was done with work and home by 11 am, so he agreed to take the kiddos to get their haircuts and run an errand for me while I rode my bike. Such a sweetie that Hubby of mine!

My bike ride was uneventful, which is good. I decided to drive to the neighborhood where I ride...I usually ride there, but being mid-day there is more traffic than in the early morning hours. Once I arrived, I realized I forgot my bottle of Gatorade. I almost went back, but decided to make due with the bottle of water I had in my car. It was a gorgeous day for a ride - 55 degrees, beautiful blue skies and just a little wind. AWESOME!

I headed out on my ride and decided to be adventureous and check out some new roads. After awhile I realized that this might not be the best idea, because if I needed help I may not have any idea how to direct someone to me. Doh! My first loop is normally around 12 miles, but because of my exploring, it ended up being closer to 18 miles. It felt good to be more than halfway done! I had some of my PowerBar and kept on going. I was happy that my legs felt strong the entire time and I managed to maintain a pace just at 16 mph...considering the occasional wind, I guess I'll take it.

Once I made it back to my car, I packed up my bike and put on my running shoes. I was planning to get in 2 miles by doing an out and back run. But, after about 6 or 7 minutes, mother nature was calling...I really, really needed a bathroom. Gee, and I wondered how I would have felt if I had all my Gatorage to drink! So, I ended up turning around and heading back to the car and home. A 15 minute run would have to do!

Oh, and I started my ride with long sleeves but quickly warmed up. As a result, I pushed up my sleeves to my elbows....you should see my lovely tan lines! From my wrists to my elbows, my arms are nice and red!

All in all 2 great workouts even with the roadblocks!

So tell me, how do you manage to squeeze in your workouts when life throws you a curveball? Even the best planners out there get thrown off track, right?

This week so far...

Finally home! This time, I hope I have no more travels until we head to Disney next month! I am obviously not cut out for a life of constant business travels...out of the past 14 days, I've been away from home for 8 of them. Of course, 3 of those days were for the trip to Austin, so I guess that doesn't count. The point of this babbling? I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed!!!

Here's the view of the beach from our dinner on Wednesday:



And since Mardi Gras is this weekend, the strand was all lit up:



Here is a summary of my workouts so far this week:

Monday, 2/28
Bike trainer - 1 hour
Normally, the bike trainer bores me to death. I tried to make things a little more interesting by doing intervals. I warmed up, then tried to push my pace for a minute, then go slow 1 minute. Then, I upped it to 2 minutes fast/1 minute slow, 3 minutes fast/1 minute slow, etc. up to 5 minutes and then went back down (5/1, 4/1, 3/1, 2/1, 1/1) and followed up with a cool down. I was supposed to brick it and follow the ride with a 15 minute run, but my ankle has been bothering me since my run on Sunday. Actually, it's not my ankle, but the area right below the bone. Not sure what's up with that....

Tuesday, 3/1
Swim unscheduled rest day
No swim...didn't get home in time and then had to pack for an out of town training class....

Wednesday, 3/2
Run, 3.25 miles (9:48 pace)
What an awesome morning for a run! The temp was a perfect 45 degrees with low humidity - AWESOME! What a different a nice, cool temp can make - last week I struggled through 3 miles, this week I wanted to run more! Too bad I didn't have more time. :-) I left the house at 6:15 to drive to Galveston Island for the training class.

Thursday, 3/3
Bike, 25 minutes / Run, 25 minutes (10:04 pace)
After finding no stationary bike at the hotel fitness center in Baton Rouge last week, I made a point of calling the hotel this week. Yes, the did have a stationary bike! It was either that, or lug my bike and trainer to my hotel room...and yes, I would do that. When I arrived at the fitness center, I found that this stationary bike was a recumbent bike. Yuck.

I managed to get in 25 minutes, before being totally annoyed by riding this contraption. I decided to cut my hour-long ride short and run longer instead. I managed to get in 25 minutes on the treadmill...I actually could have run a bit more, because I forgot how much faster I can get ready for work when you don't have to get 2 kids dressed and ready for school. I finished getting dressed and realized I still had 30+ minutes before I had to be in training!

So that's it for now...TGIF!!!

Catching Up (AGAIN)

Let the blogging begin….
I haven’t updated in several weeks, so here’s what been going on….

I ran the Aramco Houston ½ Marathon 2 weeks ago. The weather sucked, but it could have been much worse. We were expecting major thunderstorms, but only managed to get drizzle. And, the temps were close to 70 degrees, which I hated. But, the end result was a 3+ minute PR….and a huge blister on the arch of my right foot. I’ll see if I can come up with an actual race report at some point.

I decided to commit…I am doing the Lone Star Half Ironman race in April. Yeah, that’s 8 weeks away and I need to make up for lost time – especially in the pool. I have been so focused on the ½ marathon, that I had been in the pool only one time in January. Bad! I took most of the week after the ½ off, because my quads were killing me (especially the left one). But, I did get in 8.5 on Friday after the race. Also, my friends and I did a 35 mile ride last weekend and my legs felt horrible afterwards…I was sure there was no way I could do 56 miles and then run a ½ marathon. But, I went home and ate and viola…I felt fine. Funny how important nutrition can be….Doh! Lesson learned.

So that brings we to this week…I got back into my tri-training routine. Swam 2x last week, rode on the trainer 2x and ran 2x. And, I did my 1st 40 miler on my road bike on Sunday! It was 42 miles to be exact. This is my longest ride so far on my road bike, so it was a major milestone for me.

I rode with a group that some of my tri friends are training with. The group consisted of a pretty hard core group of cyclists, many who have competed in ironman distance races. I felt a bit out of place without a tri bike and all the fancy gear. And, I’ll admit, they were much, much faster than me and my friends who have never done more than 35 miles and have only done sprint distance triathlons.

I’ve mainly been riding in some of the local neighborhoods near my house, which is flat. Pancake flat. The route on Sunday was freaking hilly! I won’t lie, I wanted to turn around so many times – at the 10 mile point I thought “Screw this, I’m doing the Oly! I’m turning around”. That same thought crossed my mind at mile 12 and 15, too. But, I kept going and by the time I made it to 17 miles, I was committed to getting to the turnaround at mile 21.

But then I had to ride back.

I think the toughest thing was just being alone for a majority of the time. On the way out, I was excited to catch up to a couple of people, including my friend Kelly. It also helped that the coaches were waiting for us at the turnaround and that gave me a burst of energy. But then I was pretty much alone again the entire way back which sucked. On the way back, it was also very windy, so that combined with the hills pretty much kicked my butt! And, an 18-wheeler went flying by one time and the wind from that freaked me the heck out!!! Seeing no one almost entire way back was hard – the negative thoughts were going through my head A LOT. But, I kept telling myself to HTFU and get back. It was quite a humbling experience. I honestly don’t know how people can ride for 60, 80 or 100 miles. I used to want to do a century ride, but now I’m positive that I don’t!

One thing I was careful about on this week's ride – nutrition. I did not want a repeat of last week– I drank my gatorade, I had some Bee Stinger Energy Chews and at the ½ way point I had a small Cliff Bar. I think that really helped me get through the ride better than the week before.

But anyway, I did it!!! And, my legs felt good afterwards...almost like I could go and run a few miles. (But I didn’t)

This morning, I ran an easy peasy 3-miler. My legs were a little tired, but not too bad. I will probably not ride the trainer this week, but will run one more time and spend some time in the pool....the hubby and I are getting ready for the Austin Half-Marathon on Sunday!!!