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?

Ye of Little Faith!

Yesterday's workouts went well. Actually, I did Tuesday's run (the EASY! 3-miler) and Thursday's swim...I had to rearrange a few workouts in order to make time for family stuff. Hey, whatever works, right?

First, I started the day with the easy 3-miler. Again, coach's instructions were to keep this at an "EASY!" pace and in zone 2. The result? 3 miles at an 11:52 pace with my average heart rate at 129. After work I went to the pool and did my 2,000 yd workout. As part of my warm up, Coach gave me 8x50 "your choice", which means I could do any stroke, kick, whatever. This was the perfect opportunity to try out my new toys! I used the new kickboard and pull buoy, but the best part was using the fins. Holy cow, I could propel across the pool at warp speed (or close to it) with the fins on! Fun times. Even with the new toys, I don't love swimming, but they certainly make things more interesting. And the workouts have been challenging, but fun. Last night, I actually had a few brief moments where I felt like my swim was starting to come together - I felt like I was actually propelling myself forward, instead of barely crawling down the lane. Again, brief moments. Very. Brief.

This morning I set out for my 6-miler. This time I was allowed to run at my "Marathon Pace". According to McMillan, marathon pace should be around a 10:59 minute/mile.

This is where my faith kind of falters...

I'll admit, I started this run slightly faster than my marathon pace, but it was a pace that was pretty easy to me a few weeks ago. And today that pace felt hard. Maybe it was because it was freaking warm outside (~70 degrees with 100% humidity), maybe it was because I was soooooo tired this morning and barely made it out of bed (must go to sleep earlier!), or maybe it was my lack of stellar nutrition the past couple of days (not horrible, but I had some sweets I wouldn't normally eat), but I felt slow and my legs felt heavy. Naturally, I also questioned whether it was because I've been running so dang slow lately. What if I forgot how to run faster? I was frustrated during this morning's run. I wanted to toss the heart rate monitor in the nearest trash can.

I know a lot of people who swear by heart rate training. I know you have to be patient with it. But, I couldn't help wondering if all this slow running was going to screw up my chances of having a good, strong race at the Houston Marathon. Then I had to remind myself that Houston is not my "A" race. I don't have to PR. Yep, I told myself this, but deep down it's hard not to try to do better. I want to finish knowing I did my best. And yes, despite what I keep telling myself, I do want a sub-5 (if the weather is just right and I feel good on race day!). I run because I enjoy it, but I have a hard time running a "race" just for the sake of finishing it regardless of my time. Part of what I also enjoy is the internal competition with myself.

I hear Coach's voice saying, "be patient" and "trust the process", but with only 1 month before Houston, it's hard not to just go back to what I was doing before. Patience is not my strength!

Have you or people you know had success with HR training? Do you really run "EASY" (aka a much, much slower pace) each week? Do you run slower to run faster -or- run faster to run faster? How competitive are you with yourself?

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)

Shiznit

I tell ya, yesterday was my 1st "2-a-day" in months and to be honest, I just didn’t have my shiznit together. Like the “about me” on this blog says, sometimes I can juggle everything well and some days not-so-much. Yesterday was a not-so-much day.

First, I went to bed much later than I should have on Sunday night. Here's the deal - in order for me to wake up and workout at stupid-thirty, I typically have to go to bed at grandma-thirty (a/k/a 9 or 9:30). Sometimes I can survive with less sleep, but after a hectic long weekend, I think I just needed the rest. So, for the first time in a long time, I went back to sleep and didn’t run at all in the morning. Instead, I packed a 2nd bag with my running clothes to take with me to work (I already had a bag packed for the pool). One awesome thing about where I work is that we have an on-site fitness center. And, that fitness center not only has several treadmills, but it also has a pretty nice indoor track. I decided to run my easy 3-miler on the indoor track. Trust me when I say that I’d rather run outdoors, but I don’t have time to shampoo and re-do my hair afterwards and I don’t want my co-workers to smell me from 3 offices away because I ran outside and didn’t shampoo.

So here’s where I didn’t have my shiznit together – running on the treadmill and indoor track can be really boring.

I forgot my ipod.

When I run outdoors, I'm kind of a zen runner – I love the sound silence (well, that and my footsteps and my gasping for air) and don’t want the distraction of music. But indoors, give me music! Also, Coach said that I needed to follow the pace listed on my McMillan pace calculator for an easy run (11:29 – 11:59) and keep my heart rate in zone 2 (126-148). I have never done any heart rate training, so I don’t really know how to use my Garmin heart rate monitor. As a result, I couldn’t get the damn thing to work. So, I just tried to focus on my pace. Running at an 11:29 – 11:59 pace in a 3-mile run is hard. My 1st mile was somewhere around 10:30 and I thought I was practically walking. So, I slowed it down. The next mile was around 11:00. So, I slowed it down more. My final mile was more like 11:22…better. Coach says to trust the process, so I will go with it.

After work, I headed to the pool where I realized many things:

• I left my brush at the gym, so I would have to leave the gym with crazy matted hair.


• I forgot my watch, so I can’t let Coach know my 50 and 100 yd times.


• I left my pull buoy in the car and was too lazy it was too cold to go get it.


• I forgot to write down/print out my workout earlier in the day to bring with me to the pool.

And to top it off, I still need to buy fins and it was cold outside (never mind that I swim in an indoor, heated pool). I actually considered just going home. But then I realized that I wouldn’t have a workout to enter into Training Peaks and Coach would know that I blew off a workout ON MY FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF TRAINING! I decided that I could live without the brush, the watch and the pull buoy, but I could not live with the fact that I was a loser who couldn’t make herself go to the pool. So, the Hubby sent me my workout via cell phone (justification for why I need to upgrade to an iPhone!!!) and I did my workout the best I could. And, I actually enjoyed it! 1,400 yds done!

Moral of the story? We can’t have our shiznit together every minute of every day and it’s no big deal. Really, it’s okay. But, we can decide that little setbacks aren’t going to stop us from getting things done…afterall, no one else is going to hold us accountable, right?

Also, check out the latest post from Run Bike Mom’s blog – I loved it and just had to share!

This week so far...

First of all, I just want to say thanks for all the kind words regarding our loss of Jake. I appreciate it!

Here's what's been going on in my world this week:

Monday, 10/17 – 6 miles & a swim
Still warm and muggy, but not as bad as summer, so no complaints from me. This is my 1st run since last Monday, thanks to the neck/shoulder issues. I was really determined to run my scheduled 14 on Saturday, but was persuaded to follow doctor’s orders and not run until Monday. I’d rather miss a long run to recover from this mess, than make it worse and be out another week. Technically, I think the doctor wanted me to wait until after my appointment to run. Details, details. It was much cooler in the morning, so that’s when I headed out for my run. Sorry, doc! I managed to get in 6 miles (10:30 pace), because I was taking a vacation day – yay me!

Also, for some unknown reason, I signed up to do the swim portion of a tri relay on Saturday. (STUPID!) Because of this, I thought it might be a good idea to get back in the pool (DUH!). I had every intention of getting into the pool last week, but the neck/shoulder thing prevented me from this (because it does help to be able to move your arms and head while swimming). Actually, I know why I volunteered for this…it’s because I hate the swim. And, because a certain coach once told me that the only way to overcome my swim issues is to get back out there and race. So, I didn’t want to risk falling off my bike or tweaking an ankle during a 5k race, so I decided to follow the coach’s advice and get more experience racing the swim via this relay. Lord help me!

Tuesday, 10/18 – rest day
“Rest from what?”, you might be asking. I was asking myself the same thing after not running for an entire week. But, I knew I’d rather run on Wednesday and Thursday when the weather was supposed to be much cooler, so Tuesday was my rest day.

Wednesday, 10/19 – 5 miles and swim
Okay, so Wednesday is normally my mid-week-short-long-run day. That was true until 4 weeks ago when I began traveling for work. Then last week, well, it was the freaking neck/shoulder thing. So this has been where I’ve cut my mileage during the week– I usually run 5-6 in the morning and then 2-4 (depending on the schedule) in the evening. I know this is not ideal, but seriously people, who has time to do 7 – 10 miles midweek and work and have quality time with their family? Once again, for the 5th week in a row, I ended up only doing the morning portion of my runs do to other priorities...I have this pesky swim coming up and for that I needed some more practice. My morning run was done at a 10:15 pace, my after work swim – 1200 yds

Thursday, 10/20 – 3 miles
Okay, okay this was supposed to be 4 miles, but the darn snooze button got the best of me! And, since I had overslept, I had to haul booty – 9:32 pace thankyouverymuch cool weather!

I am a bit bummed that, due to the shoulder/neck issues, I have not been able to do my usual strength training. No P90X (i.e. push ups, chin ups, weights, abs, etc.). I am hoping that at the very least, I will be back to at least doing Ab Ripper X between now and the marathon.

Now I need to decide what to do this weekend. I feel guilty about missing my 14-miler on Saturday, but I think I will stick to my planned 10 this week and 8 next week. Only 16 days 'til NYC!!!

It's Just STUPID HOT!

Note...I am borrowing the phrase "stupid hot" from Susan. Really, there's just no other way to describe what most of the country is experiencing right now!

Monday, August 1 - Rest day
I started to type July and then stopped...holy crap it's already August! Monday was a rest day. And I'll be honest, my legs were pretty sore from the 11-miler the day before - the left quad was feeling tight, the right shin was feeling sore...ugh, and that was only 11 miles. The fun is just starting! :-)

Tuesday, August 2 - Run & Abs
Normally, Tuesday would be my speedwork day, but my legs were still a bit achey and I have a race this weekend, so I decided to just run 3-miles fairly easy. And, for whatever reason I just didn't feeling like running in the dark at stupid-thirty, so I opted to use the indoor track at work during my lunch break.

The track is on the 8th floor of a building in downtown Houston. Yes, the loops are mind numbing, but it's in the a/c and at least I get to look at buildings and the action on the street below. And, this is one of the only times I actually listen to my ipod when I run (well, here and on the dreadmill). It's nice to have options.

Once the kiddos were in bed, I did Ab Ripper X for a core workout. I have done this workout so often, that I can do the entire workout without watching the P90X dvd. So, I did the entire workout while watching The Wonder Years, lol. I forgot how cute that show was.

Wednesday, August 3 - Run and Swim
Instead of pushing my snooze button too many times, I actually forgot to set my alarm clock. Doh! Actually, I did set an alarm, but it wasn't mine...it was the Hubby's alarm (we have a clock with dual alarms). Fortunately, I have an internal alarm clock and it woke me up at 4:18 am. Double doh! I knew I wouldn't quite have time for 5 miles, but I decided I'd run as far as I could in the time that I had to work with.

Before I headed out for my run, I let the dog out so he could take care of business. Ugh, I could feel that wave of warm, moist air the minute I opened the back door - YUCK! When I set out on my run, I was trying not to complain, but damn! It was a sauna. I struggled managed through my miles - 4.89...yes, I should have run that last .11, but I was now late getting into the shower and I was already back at my house. It probably didn't help that I stopped for a minute or two to talk to my "friend". He didn't get into Houston for the 1/2 marathon for the 2nd year in a row and was majorly bummed. Prior to the lotto, he had run the marathon once and the 1/2 marathon 6x. So instead, he is doing The Woodlands 1/2 Marathon in March and maybe the USA Fit 1/2. It's good to have a "friend" out there running at stupid-thirty. And, when I made it back home, I learned from the news that it was 82 degrees outside with a "feels like" of 90. At 4:30 am! Anyway, I have got to get better about getting out the door in the mornings in a timely manner. I know as the runs get longer, I will eventually need to split up the mileage, but it does help to get a large chunk of the mileage out of the way early!

After work, I headed to the gym for my swim. The kids have swim lessons on Wednesday nights and I absolutely hate to miss that, but by the time I leave work, take the bus to the Park & Ride and drive the 20 minute drive to swim class, class would almost be over. So...I've deemed this my swim day - I can get in a shorter swim, then make it home a few minutes before the Hubby and kids get there which gives me just enough time to get something going for dinner. My swim - 45 minutes, 1,600 yds.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to set aside some time for a short bike/run brick. I just bought a new pair of tri shorts, so I want to try them out before Sunday's race....nothing new on race day, right?

Speaking of the heat...which do you prefer for running/training - the hot, humid summers, or the icy cold winters?

Workouts this week...

This Week's theme is "flexibility"...sometimes things don't quite go as planned with the workout schedule, so you've got to be flexible. That can be hard when you're a type A.

Monday – 7/18, Run- 6 miles
I had the day off, so I despite the tired legs from the previous day’s ride, I decided to head out for a run. I had two choices – 1) wake up before 5 am, so I could be back home before the hubby left for work or 2) sleep in and go for a run after taking the kids to school.

Can you guess which option I chose?

Even though it meant I’d be running in warmer temps, I opted for #2 – sleep in. Although, with my kiddos that means I get to sleep until 6 am. It was warm and muggy, but overall it was better than my last 6-miler!

Afterwards, I spent the day with my mom to celebrate her upcoming birthday. We had lunch and cupcakes and just hung out. Fun times!

Tuesday, 7/19 – Rest Insanity
Okay, so I was going to rest, but it was a stressful day and I needed to blow off some steam. I decided to do Insanity’s Cardio Circuit and it did the trick. It’s hard, but you definitely get out the days stress and frustrations!

Wednesday, 7/20 – Run and Swim Run again
I had one of those mornings where I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed. I had 5 miles on the schedule, but after hitting the snooze button too many times before work, I only had time for 3 miles. Then, I was limited on time after work, so opted to finish up my mileage in the afternoon heat rather than swim.

Thursday, 7/21 - Spin and Swim
Thursday’s workouts did not go as planned. I had plans to go to spin class during lunch, but I ended up meeting with someone that I needed to talk to at work…hey, work comes first…afterall, it pays for these races, right? So, I decided rather than swim after work, I’d ride my bike. Then, I’d swim on Friday, which was supposed to be my rest day. Well, as I travelled home it started raining. With thunder. And lightening. So much for a ride. Instead, I headed to the pool for a 50-minute swim workout. Better than nothing, right?

Friday, 7/22 – Rest
Ahhh, a rest day at last! Gotta get ready for 9 miles tomorrow in the heat and humidity. Ick!

So, how flexible are you with your workouts? Do you go with the flow, or freakout when your workouts get derailed?

I *heart* short weeks!!!

I love, love, love 4 day work weeks! Hard to believe hump day is over and tomorrow is Thursday! Yippeee!

I’ve managed to get in some good workouts this week and I am back on track with my healthier eating again…I was starting to see higher numbers on the scale (especially after the holiday weekend) and my clothes were starting to fit a little, um, differently. I’ll admit, I have not been eating the right things for the past several weeks. I am such an emotional eater…stress of stuff going on in my life (I won’t go into details, but just think Jerry Springer), combined with being bummed about not running has led me to making some really unhealthy choices. I know, excuses. But, I am ready to regain control and get myself headed in the right direction!

So here’s what’s been going on in my workout world –

Tuesday, July 5 – Run, 2 miles and Ab Ripper X
Okay, so 2 miles is not much, but Tuesday is not normally my run day. The hubby had his very 1st track workout after work, so instead of my usual Tuesday swim, I decided I’d run in the AM and bike ride once he was home from track. Balancing training between the two of us is not easy, but I think if we’re both flexible it will all workout. The Hubs did great at track, so I am proud of him for that! So, I headed out in the early AM hours for a run. Overall, it went well…about the same as last week – 10:34 pace. It was warm and humid, but I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t all that bad.

Later in the afternoon, on my way home from work, the wind started blowing and I could hear thunder in the distance. By the time I made it to our neighborhood, it was pouring rain and there was a lot of thunder and lightening…looks like I would not be riding my bike! Instead, I did Ab Ripper X. I’ve committed to doing this workout at least 2x per week, so I figured I might as well get it out of the way.

Wednesday, July 6 – Run, 4 miles and Swim, 40 minutes
I managed to roll myself out of bed early enough to squeeze in a 4-miler before work (but just barely). Since it had been so long since I had been running in the mornings, I hoped my Monday / Wednesday running “buddy” was still following his same schedule. My “buddy” isn’t someone I really know, he’s just someone from my neighborhood who happens to run at the same crazy-ass hours and on the same days that I do. It’s just a little more comforting to have someone else out there when the rest of the world is still asleep! And luckily, he was there! We exchanged our “Good Mornings” as our paths crossed (we run in opposite directions) and I even got a “It’s good to see you back out here!” from him. My overall pace was slow (even for me) – 10:50 – but it was better than Saturday’s 11:01 pace. I am blaming some of the slowness on the heat and some on not running for 7 weeks.

I headed to the gym after work for my swim. See, this is where I swim...

I wanted to get it done early, so that the Hubby could also squeeze in a swim (he biked after leaving work, but before picking up the kiddos). Not sure what was going on with my swim, but it felt like crap. I couldn’t seem to get my breathing right and it just felt like so much more effort than normal. I went ahead and did my drills and cut some of my freestyle laps short….instead of an hour, I only swam 40 minutes. I guess a crappy swim is better than no swim at all! I’ll try it again tomorrow and see if there is any improvement.

So that’s it for today. How’s your week going? Are you enjoying the 4-day work week???

Lunchtime PSA & a Swim

I do try to eat healthy...thanks to working with an awesome nutritionist after having the Munchkin, I learned to watch more than just calories and fat. Now, I watch protein, sugar and fiber. I try not to eat as much processed food, watch the high-fructose corn syrup, etc. But for lunch, sometimes it's just easier to pop one of those Lean Cuisines in the nuker. Yesterday I tried this one:

Major lunchtime FAIL. I love Thai and that yummy (but fattening) peanut sauce, so I thought why not give it a try? I heated it up in the microwave at work. It smelled great and didn't look terrible. See...

Unfortunately, it was nasty. So, just in case you are also a lunchtime nuker like me, steer clear of this one!

As for workouts, I did head to the pool after work and managed to swim 1,700 yds. Most of this workout was just swimming. I did do some endurance drills and try to focus on my form, but other than that it was just swimming and swimming. Since I didn't swim at all last week, it felt terrific to get back into the pool. That's the thing about swimming - it's a pain to drive to the gym and miss out on family time, but once I'm there in the pool I really, really enjoy it!

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!

Playing Catch Up - The week in review

Well, even with the broken toe I am getting in some workouts...last week was a busy one at work and I only managed to get in 1 workout during the week. One. A swim. I can't remember the last time I only worked out once during the week!

Anywho, I did finally see a doctor...more because even without the running, I am still having the tendonitis issues. He confirmed (via x-ray) that the toe is indeed broken, duh. What he also told me is that it takes 6 weeks for a bone to heal. He said that my toe will probably stop hurting in another week or so, but whatever I do - DO NOT RUN! Otherwise, I could risk making the break worse or just slowing the healing process. Since I would like to get NYC training in high gear in July, I will follow his advice. Also, I cannot water jog or use the elliptical...mainly because of the movement of the foot. Ugh! Oh, and I need more stretching to alleviate the tendonitis issue. And I naively thought I would be out running within a couple of weeks. Oy!

So, here are my workouts for the week:


Sat, 6/4 - 22 mile bike ride
Met up with tri/running buddies, Jenn and Kelly, for a ride in a nearby neighborhood. It's an "estate community", so there are lots of gorgeous homes to look at and lots of great roads with minimal traffic. The toe did hurt the entire time, but not so bad that I had to stop. Just like last week, the worst part was unclipping.


Sunday, 6/5 - 1,000 yd swim
The hubby is succumbing to peer pressure and has decided to train for a tri. This means that we have to each fit in a workout on weekend mornings...I cut my swim short, so that we both had time to swim before church. Went to the neighborhood pool, which is a nice change from swimming indoors at the gym!

Monday, 6/6 - No workout
Trying to remember what happened here and why my slacker self didn't work out at all???


Tuesday, 6/7 - P90X - Shoulders and Arms (am) and Ab Ripper X (pm)
My favorite of the P90X workouts. It's funny how fast you can get through P90X when you fast forward through all the talking! The kids and I did Ab Ripper X after school/work...it was their idea, I swear! I was planning to wait until they were in bed to workout, but the Munchkin saw me in my workout clothes and insisted on working out with me. The Kiddo joined in, and heck, even our dog (Jake) sat right in the middle of the rug between the 3 of us.


Wednesday, 6/8 - 1,700 yd swim
Better, longer swim than Sunday. I did ladders and in my set of 500 I alternated between 50s fast / slow.


Thursday, 6/9 - P90X - Arms and Back (am) and Ab Ripper X (pm)
This workout is nothing but push-ups and pull-ups! And, my arms were still feeling Tuesday's workout. I don't know why, but I actually kind of like push-ups. Pull-ups, not so much. After work, I did Ab Ripper X....I love that workout, but my abs were still sore from Tuesday's workout!

Friday, 6/10 - Swim
I am going to stop by the gym after work and get an hour-long swim done. Hey, at least with the injury, I am going to become a stronger swimmer!

Have a great weekend!

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!

Workouts and Randomness...

Thursday, 4/7 - Insanity and Swimming Not much to say...I woke up early to do Insanity - Pure Cardio and then headed to the pool in the evening to swim 1,600. I made it back home in time to help the hubby put the kiddos to bed and then it was time for some Malbec for mommy! Just a 1/2 glass, but it was oh so yummy!

And now for the randomness.... I haven't mentioned this yet, but we're taking the kids to Disney next week! This is the 1st time we've been with the kids and it's a big surprise for them, so shhhhhhhh! I think I am just as excited as they're going to be. Soooo, this time next week we will be at the most magical place on earth...or is it the happiest?

Another thing we had planned on doing while we were in sunny Florida was drive to Titusville to watch the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor! This was pretty much my idea - I am a space nerd and seeing a shuttle launch is on my bucket list and has been since high school. In fact, we kept waiting and waiting to make our reservations, because shuttle launch dates pretty much always change. First it was scheduled for April 1st, then the date moved to the 19th. And it stayed there...and stayed there, so we booked our trip. Naturally, it moved again - on Monday it was announced that the new launch date will be the 29th. And no, we will will not be there that long! Bummer! But, there are worse places in the world to be stuck than Disney and something tells me that the kids will be perfectly fine with an extra day with the mouse.

I also have jury duty on Monday (yay me!) and I am on vacation Thursday and Friday, so next week is going to be short but crazy! And, I am completely overwhelmed by how much planning goes into going to Disney! There's all kinds of info on the web to help you plan, but I would have preferred planning this a year in advance....you have to schedule meals with the characters, beauty sessions at a boutique, know which park is best to go to on which days, what rides to go to first (to avoid the lines), which you should use a fast pass for....holy crap, there's so much to know! I am trying to keep the Type A in me under control...but that doesn't mean that I haven't created an Excel spreadsheet with a day by day itinerary (i.e. which parks on which days, the order we're riding the rides, where we're eating, etc.). :-) Well, that's enough randomness for now. Have a great 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!