Merry Christmas!

Hey bloggers!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays...I know I am! Last week my last day of work was on Tuesday and then I had 5 days off....yippee. I am back to work now though; turns out people don't like to come in and get weighed after Christmas because we have had no shows and cancellations like crazy!

On Tuesday last week I went home and crashed...I was spent. I don't think I moved for the entire night once I got home from work!

Wednesday morning we were up getting Rexy organised and then we took her to the vet. Our vet is awesome, he spends tons of time with us, asking us questions, answering our questions, and informs us of every option we have. Our little puppy somehow hurt her foot and had been limping since Sunday night, so we ended up putting her on anti-biotics. She seems better now and is running around more than ever. She let him poke and prod her a little bit....only tried to chew on him a few times:) I think the most interesting part was that there is a puppy from the same litter that goes to that clinic! We found out that Rexy weight 2 kg more than her sister!!! She almost doubled her weight in one month.....which means she is growing like a weed!

Once we left the vet clinic we (and by we I mean Chad) had some last minute shopping to do! we spent most of the day running all over the city which sounds awful but actually wasn't that bad.

That night we went to Nathan and Tara's (chad's brother and girlfriend) as they were having a little get together. After being there for an hour or so we headed out to Crossfield. We got out to Crossfield around 9:30 and relaxed for the first time since we left the house that morning! I did plan to bring my bike out....but we ended up getting Nathan a shop vac and so there was no room for my bike:(

Christmas day we didn't do too much, lazed around (in total I think I had 3 naps), had dinner, after dinner we did gift opening. I got about half way dressed to go for a run only to discover I had forgotten my jacket. I went and checked the temperature which turned out to be mind but the wind was howlin'. The only other jacket I had to wear was my giant helly hansen jacket....not exactly breathable! Needless to say I took another mini hiatus from training.

Other than that all we did was play games, watch movies, and sleep....ahhh sleep. Chad got up with Rexy a couple of times and so I got to sleep in which hasn't happened in forever!

Since we have come back to the city and have been on training schedule since then....and I actually feel really good. I biked on Saturday for 75 min, working on aerobic stuff and I ran yesterday for about an hour. I wanted to go for longer...and I could have but since my training has been so broken up over the last couple of weeks I decided to end it wanting to do more! It was beautiful yesterday though, nice and warm out, fresh snow....this is the winter running I enjoy!

I am going to the gym after work tonight to do some weights and run on the tready.

Doggy Update

Hey bloggers!

Interesting fact: Canada hasn't seen a white Christmas since the early 1970's....that is coast to coast all white!

Anyway since I don't have much to update about my training (or lack thereof) I figured I would chat about Rexy since lots of people have been asking about her. She is a little bundle of energy and growing like a weed, I swear her ears get bigger everyday! :)

She knows how to sit, laydown, shake a paw, almost play dead....we are so close with that one. She is a bit of a mischif maker.....if we can't hear her that means she has found something to chew. Where she finds this stuff sometimes I will never know! Chad swears that she doesn't know what "no" means....but I know that she does....the little buggar!

House training is going well. We are still having a hard time getting her to tell us when she's gotta go! We are bell training her at home now; everytime we take her out we have her hit a bell with her paw and the idea is that she will put it togther and go to hit the bell when she wants go out. We did make it through the weekend accident free though!

I may be biased but I think she is the cutest, smartest, sweetest doggy out there.....okay, okay of course I am biased!

Okay back to the training side of life. This weekend I did nothing....I am ashamed to admit it. I have been having a hard time balancing out my life lately. I feeling like I am treading water and just barely keeping afloat.

This weekend for example; I wanted to visit with family and not have to limit my time spent with them because I needed to go for a run, for a swim, for a bike ride. They all supported me so much leading up to Ironman and I had to sacrifice time with them to train. So this weekend I pulled the plug and enjoyed visiting with them and tried not to worry about the training I was missing!

I did better than I normally do, but even last night I was trying to figure out if I could get home by 9-10 pm and still have time to squeeze in the bike I missed on Saturday! I need to learn how to let it go; also when it is important to worry about missed training sessions.

Having said all of this I know that the weather is not helping a lot. It is not an excuse but it is a lot harder to train when you can't go outside! Everything takes a little longer when it is cold outside, so going to the gym takes me FOREVER!!!

My goal over the holidays is to reorganise so I don't have as much to worry about once January hits and I am able to do everything that I want to get done in the course of a day. Chad and I talked about moving things around in our apartment to make it more puppy friendly.

That's everything on my mind lately....I gotta say I feel better putting it all out there. Tonight I have some errands to run and I am going to go to the gym. If I don't blog before Christmas I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the snow....it is a wee bit cold outside though. How about -7 to about -10 with no wind??? That's what I would like the weather to do!

I have been a blog slacker lately. I am feeling the Christmas crunch (as I am sure everyone is:)....lots of things to do, busy at work, shopping, I haven't done a stitch of baking, visiting, etc.

Here's what is going on in my training world:

Friday - off
Saturday - went to the gym to bike and do weights (yes I hauled my bike over there in the freezing cold!).
Sunday - I was going to run but the cold scared me away....and I was at work for like 9 hours....on a Sunday....for my part time job....I wasn't too happy. Oh and my car was frozen solid and I couldn't get into it. Not good.
Monday - I ran on the tready for 45 min and attempted to do weights. I was still sore from Saturday though!
Tuesday - Spin class which was very very challenging. Greg had us do a mix of high cadence (easy gear) and lower cadence (harder gear) within a set....wowzers. It was a challenging workout....and everybody said that... not just me. I came up with an new name for Greg....Gear Switcher Greg. I think I like it better when he rides because then he isn't wandering around checking out what we are up to! There were a couple of sneak attacks in there on Tuesday. On the last set he came over and said "lets see what you can do" and bumped the gear down another one! Since I am not one to back down from a challenge I spun away and my legs felt like they were going to fall off and my lungs were just a burning. It took me about 4-5 minutes to recover to the point where I was able to talk again!
Wednesday - I went for a run out in the cold cold weather. It actually wasn't too bad out there. I hate the wind, it was only -15 but when you added the wind chill it made it -25. Of course me with all of my smarts didn't check the wind chill factor until AFTER I was done running. I always have good intentions of going swimming on Wednesday night but I don't get home until 7:30 and I can't seem to make myself go back out the door!

Today my legs are tired but I am going to spin tonight and we are having a little get together afterwards! This weekend we are headed up to Edmonton to visit family. Next week I have to work Monday and Tuesday....and then I am off for 5 days...yesssssss.

Have a great weekend! Happy Holidays!

Snuffalufagus

I have officially caught Chad's cold....boooo. It's not too bad but I have a serious case of the sniffles and a sore throat. I can still function mostly a-ok.

Monday's run went well...as well as it can go when running on a treadmill. I did watch a program (without sound) talking about Matt Hughes (UFC fighter) and his training schedule. It was kind of neat to see how they go about training for that style of martial arts. For weights I continued along with my olympic lifts. I was able to increase the weight a bit this week. It is amazing how much of a difference 5 lbs can make! My lats were good and sore over the last couple of days so its working the right muscles!

Tuesday night was bike class.....time trial night! Last time I was is the small ring on my bike (easier) and this time Greg pushed me up with the big boys and into the big ring (which makes it harder:). My heart rate was a few beats higher at one point, but I was also working a lot harder! The most exciting part of the night was when I FINALLY HAD SWEAT DRIPS. This is the first time on the bike where I was actually dripping onto the floor.....nice! I just have to have my heart rate up to 170 to do it!

Yesterday I went for a 45 min run along the river. It was really nice outside and I was able to keep my ticker under control! I felt pretty good even with the time trial the night before. I had every intention of going swimming last night but I got off work late, got stuck in traffic (at 7:30pm I might add), and had a wicked head ache.....so I stayed home with my crazy energetic puppy. If I had a dime for every time I have to tell her "no" for chewing on everything I would be a millionaire!!!!

Tonight I am off to bike class again. I will have to make sure I have tissues on hand, once I warm up the nose will be running!!! Tomorrow I have the day off training. I have another busy weekend ahead of me; Saturday we have a Christmas party and Sunday I have to work....with an extra training session in there. I doubt if I will be home before 8:30 or 9:00 pm.

Have a great weekend everyone, try to stay warm!!!!

This is the last time....

Hey guys!

I was Christmas party sabotaged yesterday for the LAST time!!!! We still have at least 1 more party....but this will be the last workout I miss due to it. I didn't notice this last year, but that might be because I didn't have a program to follow!

Here is how my weekend went. Friday was my day off of training, so once Chad got home we took Rexy and met up with some of Chad's old friends from high school. It was a good time but it was a late night.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to get ourselves together before the race....which was great. I have to say that I still hate 5 km, I never know how fast to run and I end up all over the place....and it just hurts. My clients who did the race had a great run though, I got another one hooked on racing! Once Chad and I got home we were a little zombie like and so we took turns napping vs watching/playing with Rexy. This really helped both of us catch up on some much needed sleep. In lieu of this I did not make it to the gym for weights. Later that night we got together and visited with family!

On Sunday I was up at around 5:00am and then again at 9:30 with that little critter. I didn't have to work until 12.....yet some how I still didn't get my 60 min training session in? So I went to work, where it was painfully slow and I was thinking about all of the stuff I could be doing:) Then I had to run home, get ready, and head back for the party. I didn't get home until 10pm. I thought about getting onto the bike but I decided to chalk it up for yet another missed training session.

To look at the bright side I got all of my training I was supposed to do during the week done which was better than the week prior....so here is another start. Sorry Greg....I will get better at making sure I get all of my workouts in:):):) Better now than next fall right????

The agenda for tonight is to the gym for a run and weights.

Yay it's Friday!!!!

Hey,

I had a nap yesterday....and it was glorious! I gave Rexy a bone and toys, plunked her down beside me and I fell asleep with her chewing in my ear. I had hit my non-sleeping limit yesterday....I wasn't even hungry....and that never happens!!!

Bike class was fun last night. Richelle FINALLY brought her bike so she joined us for the class. I think she may have been a sailor in a past life because there was a lot of cursing going on!!! It was a good training session; I didn't get the post spin class leg ache until about and hour and a half later....getting better! No sweat drips to report, I was so close but it ran down my face instead. Damn. I am going to go back up onto the stage, it is hotter up there and we have time trial on Tuesday....so I should get one for sure. If not I am biking in a hoodie next Thursday!

Tomorrow is the Santa Shuffle....which I finally signed up for! It is a 5km fun run....nothing too crazy. I have a couple of clients doing it and Chad does as well so we are in for a good time. Good Luck everyone!!!!!

Sunday I have to run, work, and attend a Christmas party. It doesn't seem to end in December. I am counting down the days until the 24th.....then I get 5 days off. Whoot whoot!!

Happy Training!!

Where's the snow?

Hey,

I am so jealous of all of the sleeping she gets and the lack of sleep I get!!! Tara took this pic of her on the weekend and she looks so cute! She is so calm and sweet when she isn't trying to chew everything in our house....including me!

It has been a good couple of days. Monday I went to the gym and ran/did weights. I wasn't feeling too hot but I got through it. I dumped water all over my IPOD right before I got to the gym so it was yet another music less workout. Still getting back into the groove of the olympic lifts before I start adding too much weight onto the bar!

Last night was spin class, I think Greg was taking it easy on us tonight for some reason??? We did aerobic sets tonight but keeping it in the lower aerobic zones. Not that I am complaining, it was a nice shift of focus and I was still sleepy! I was on the bike for almost 2 hours though. 1:56 it turned out to be. I was too lazy to spin for 4 more minutes to get to the actual 2 hour mark;)

Today I bundled up and faced the cold weather for a run outside. It was nice when the sun was out but the wind chilled me right down to the bone! Brrrrr. I think that if it is this cold out we should at least have some snow to go along with it! I don't think I am going to go to the pool tonight...I am running on empty and just want to chill out! I have been thinking of how to get myself motivated to stay in the pool. I came up with getting one of those IPOD water proof things so I can rock out while I am swimming and buy a new suit. I always want to try out my new suits which means I have to go swimming. There is one at Tri-it right now that has penguins on it....which is perfect because I am always cold, expecially when I am in the pool!!!

Oh, I also added Shannon's blog. I met him the other night at spin class and knew him previously from the blogging world!! So check out his blog!

Procrastinating...

Good day Bloggers,

I finally got 8 hours of sleep....in a row! Yessssss.

Not too much to tell ya. I think we are now into a routine with Rexy and we should be able to get back into a groove. I had a few missed workouts last week, but onwards and upwards to a better training week:)

On Saturday I biked on the trainer. I had a good ride, it was all lower heart rate training so it wasn't too hard:) It turned out to be 75 min total.

Sunday's run (or lack there of) I can't blame on the dog this time! Saturday night was my Christmas party and there was a lot of alcohol consumption....need I say more. I did learn to beware of large wine glasses.....you don't realize how much you have had until later! I did take the dog for a walk and play with her, that counts as exercise right!

Today is the first day of advent presents for Chad and I. What we do is buy 24 presents for each other and open 1 everyday up until Christmas...its lots of fun! I only have 3 for Chad so I have some shopping to do. Speaking of shopping, I have majorly avoiding any kind of Christmas shopping.....no more procrastinating!

Tonight I am going to the gym and will be spending some time on the treadmill and doing some weights.

Happy Training!

Leslie

Battle of wills....

Alrighty,

I am still in my sleep deprived state, but I seem to be getting used to it:)

Wednesday night I went swimming and it wasn't very pretty. Its amazing what happens when you don't swim for three months! My shoulders were burning-more specifically my anterior deltoids....wow. My lungs we a little upset as well, but I made it through and anytime in the pool counts!

Last night was bike class. I FINALLY had a training session where I didn't feel horrible. Last week I just couldn't seem to get my legs around on the pedals, Tuesday was a little better and last night was grrrrreat. I made it back up to 150 for accels AND more importantly I almost had my first sweat drip onto the floor! Another minute in time trial and I would have had it:):):) Oh well maybe next week.

Today is my day off of training....so I am taking Rexy to the vet, we need to get her some treats, and pick up a few Christmas presents....maybe put up some Christmas decorations! Oh and from Darryls blog you have to be talking about Rexy, because she is always full of piss and vinegar! Which reminds me....Rexy and I had a little battle this morning....I wanted to walk....she didn't.....I won!

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the mild weather we are having!

Leslie

When it Rains it Pours

Whoa!

I thought I was busy before....man oh man its all relative. Here's what I have going on this week:

1. We have a new puppy....need I say more.
2. Everyone at work is sick, so I am now doing 3 jobs! I am at the office by myself and I feel like I am being pulled in a million directions! Talk about stressed out.
3. I started training with Greg. I love having a training schedule but I tend to get a little anxious when my life interferes and I can't do EXACTLY what I am supposed to do!
4. I have not been sleeping due to # 1 at the top of my list...she's lucky she's soooo darn cute and makes it worth the chaos!

So having said that I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Monday went well. I got off work early, went home and did the puppy stuff. Went to the gym at around 8pm; I did my run and weights as per Irongreg. Oooooh and I started doing olympic lifts again. I love them because I get to work tons of muscles in 1 exercise and it is much less time consuming and more fun! Can't go wrong!

Yesterday morning my boss called me and told me he was going home for the day (it was 8am) and that Janelle wasn't coming in either. Since I was the only one at work I was able to bring Rexy to work with me for the day! I got stuck in traffic on the way home to drop Rexy off and get my bike for spin class....and then got stuck AGAIN on the way there! Stupid Calgary! All I have to say about spin class is that single leg drills for longer than a minute totally suck. Good news is I am getting better at it....more efficient anyway....which I suppose is the purpose of them! Oh and my legs were sufficiently tired last night, the post spin class leg ache really set in!

Today went much the same. I was frantically calling people to reschedule them inbetween my back to back appointments. I was so busy I didn't get a chance to go for my run. :( At least I made it home to let poor Rexy out...she may have had a rough day otherwise! I am momentarily caught up. I hope everyone is back to work tomorrow....I am not too sure if that is going to happen though!

I don't work this weekend so hopefully I will be able to get caught up on everything and relax a little. More importantly be around for house training:) I don't know how people have high stress jobs...I couldn't handle it!

On the bright side Rexy slept for like 5 hours last night with the occasional whine and she walked into her crate ON HER OWN TODAY!! YEAH!!! That is HUGE progress....now to deal with the pee....

Oh So Tired

The last couple of days has been busy. People (well Mom's) always told me that you won't know tired until you have a baby. I think a 7 week old puppy is kind of similar! Remember me complaining that I was tired last week.....I take it back.

Once we got Rexy home on Saturday she was really good. There were a couple of "accidents" but that was because we didn't really know her yet! We went out for dinner that night and she went right into her kennel; no whining, no struggle, she walked right in and went to sleep. We thought that we would have a good first night. Well let me tell you that little dog can make a lot of noise when she is upset!

Last night went a little better, but we were up a lot. There was still some whining, but for the most part when you ignored her she would stop within 5-10 min.

We are learning how to house break her and we still have had a few accidents but she is doing really well so far. I have never been so excited when a dog goes to the bathroom outside! So far she is a big suck and loves to snuggle and just be around us. I took a video of her playing with Chad last night, so I will post that later.

On Friday I will take her in to get her 8 week shots and then we will be looking for anyone who wants to visit.....especially if you have a dog!

Maybe I should mention training.....there hasn't been any! Rexy has been keeping me more than occupied. I am planning to go to the gym tonight, I believe a run and weights are whats on the agenda!

Meet Rexy

Thats right we got a puppy!!! More pictures and stories to come!!!

Achey Breaky Legs

Hey,

This is what it comes down to....my legs have been achey since last Friday. I don't know what is going on in my body in the last 7 days but it isn't happy. I am not sick, but I don't feel right. I scaled back my training a bit this week but no luck. Even at spin class and with weights this week I just don't have the oomph.

That being said I still have had good training sessions when I can do them. Last night my ticker was having a little bit of a fit and Greg told me to back off a bit. Once I did the rest of class went a little smoother. You know you worked up a sweat when you have to keep the defrost cranked the entire way home!

When I got home last night I vegged out on the couch and once Chad got home he did the same. This weekend is busy again but it is all fun stuff:) Hopefully time away from my sick co-workers and clients will do me some good!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Puppyville!!!

Hey bloggers,

Sometimes I feel like I am always trying to catch up....why is this??? So true to my nature I am busy busy....doing fun stuff of course.

On Monday I did my first run of the winter on the treadmill. It was just as boring as I remember it being AND I forgot my IPOD...boooo. I made it through. I was feeling kinda crappy but stuck it out and made it through the training session, weights and all! Other than that my Monday was the usual stuff; getting groceries, cooking and the like.

Last night was bike class and I was a hurtin' unit. I may need to rethink doing legs on Monday because I always feel the repercussions on Tuesday's at class. My legs were not happy with me last night and I as told them to spin at 120 rpm...they would go 118....arggghhhh. I also may need to start biking on the weekend again, so far christmas shopping and socializing have taken priority!

Today I went for a run in the snow! It was so nice and refreshing to be out in the cold air. I have been a little chilly since I have gotten back, its nothing that a little tea won't fix! I went for 60 min; it took me awhile to slow down and get into my pace. My heart rate was a little higher than it should have been. I ran for the last couple of months without my heart rate monitor and I need to get used to my snails pace again! Once I was about 30 minutes in I was able to slow it down and train in the right zone...I need to build up that base!

I am going to the gym after work for a back/chest workout and the thought crossed my mind about going swimming. It didn't sound to horrible while I was running today, we will see how I feel when 9:30 rolls around:)

Onto more exciting things. Chad and I have talked for years about getting a puppy and we have found a breeder and are going out to meet them on Saturday. I am soooo excited. We are looking into a spring litter right now. The type of dog is a weimaraner. Since most people don't know what that is here is a pic!

Soooo cute. Of course it is going to be my new running partner. In this pic it is still a pup, but they are good dogs for active owners. I will let you know how it goes on Saturday. They still have 2 pups available from the current litter, it is a good thing Chad is coming with me so I won't come home with a puppy:):):):) Altough I really want to:):):):)

Quick Update

Whew! I have had a busy week and weekend! Last week my boss was away which means a lot more work for both Janelle and myself since we were the only two at the clinic this week! Yikes.

Thursday I went to spin class and when I got there I was pretty grumpy. Ahhhh gotta love cardiovascular exercise...I released some endorphins and worked out my frustrations on my pedals...much better! I was contemplating going to the gym, but decided to go home and chill out.

On Friday I was tuckered out, I always am on Fridays. Most people are tired on Mondays...not me, by Friday my body is telling me to rest! I made it through work and went home and had a nap. Chad called me about an hour later and I decided to get my lazy butt off the couch and go to the gym. Once I got there I had a good training session. It woke me up a bit so when I got home I scrubbed the house! Nothing like a little house cleaning on a Friday night!

Saturday I slept in and didn't get my run in. I went and did errands and then went to the Christmas Market down at Spruce Meadows. If you like craft fairs you'll love this, it is 3 buildings PLUS the outdoor exhibitors! It was a lot of fun. I got some Christmas shopping done and bought another decoration for the house!

That night some of Chad's family was in town so we got together with them for dinner. We had a good visit and lots of laughs! The poor waitress, her second day at work and she gets a bunch of rowdy's to serve!

Yesterday I had to work at the Tech Shop. I got to work with my friend Alan who I haven't seen in awhile. We managed to catch up a little in between customers. He is doing the Philadelphia Marathon this Sunday! GOOD LUCK ALAN!

After work Chad and I decided to go to the new James Bond movie, so we (well I, Chad fell asleep) watched Casino Royal before we went. I watched 5 hours of James Bond yesterday...awesome!

I wanted to get up and go for a run before work this morning but my will power to get out of bed early and run just isn't there if I don't have someone telling me to do it. Now I am stuck doing it tonight at the gym instead. I hate treadmills:( I love snow, hate the darkness that keeps creeping in on us. 34 more days until the days start getting longer again....always think positive!

Well, I should get back to work. The payments aren't going to balance themselves!

My New Swim Partner

Hey,

I was online the other day lookin' up stuff on Cozumel and I found that you can swim with dolphins....at the same park where the Ironman swim is...sweeeeet. Maybe I can hitch a ride??? I have always wanted to swim with dolphins! I was also looking up archaeological sites for Chad, I think this will be an interesting trip!

On Monday I went to the gym; did some cardio and weights. Check this out... I stayed and did squats, deadlifts, etc while Chad went swimming.....weird.

Yesterday we were both off due to the holiday, so we used our time wisely and got a lot of stuff done. Passport photos, laundry, hair cuts, etc it was a busy day. Last night was spin class, Chad's first one ever! He was working pretty hard, nice n sweaty anyway. My legs were a little lifeless last night but I plugged my way through the workouts and demanded that my legs did what I wanted them too. I was dead to the world when I went to bed last night!

I am sooo excited for the holidays coming up. I love Christmas. My friend and I are going to a craft show this weekend....so excited!

I've been slacking...

Wow, no blog updates for a week....that's unusual for me! I had a good week of training until the weekend came, lets see what I can remember.

Monday- I went to the gym and did 35-40 min on the elliptical and then went to do a leg workout. I started training for strength again now. Heavy weight, low reps. It was nice to do something COMPLETELY different from triathlon training. Its always good to balance out your training:) I worked a few different sets of muscles that's for sure!

Tuesday - I was SORE! Those few different muscles were really talking to me, especially at spin class! Spin class went well, I remember not quite having the spunk I usually do. Some days you got it, some days you don't.

Wednesday - I went for a 60 min run in the snow, it was awesome. The trails were a little empty though! I was still sore on Wednesday from weights on Monday, so when I ran down the giant hill I must have altered my gait because after that I started have knee and shin pain for awhile. Of course I kept going...why would I stop...that would be smart. The pain eventually went away and I felt fine! My knee was a little tender afterwards though..oops

That night I was invited swimming but stayed home to bake cupcakes as a bribe for Greg...no swimming until January???? Maybe???? They weren't ordinary cupcakes either, they were Ironman cupcakes fashioned with M-dots! I met up with Greg, Darryl, and Chad after they went swimming to go out for wings. They ate wings...I had water. I am one of those weirdos who thinks wings are gross! Greg caught us up on his trip to Florida, how his race went and the like!

Thursday - We had a time trial. This was my first one of these and it was tough. We did our usual warm up stuff and then we did a couple of 2 min sets to get us ready for the time trail. We do the time trial regularly throughout the year to see how our training is progressing. We choose a gear, and ride for 20 min with Greg taking our heart rate and cadence every 2(?) minutes. This doesn't sound so bad, but what I left out is we are biking at our lactate threshold for pretty much the entire time. You know when your muscles start burning....that's what we do for 20 min! My highest my heart rate hit was 170 I think. I had a pretty good leg ache going on for the rest of the night. It reminded me of those rides in the summer when we did Cochrane hill repeats!

Friday - I went for a quick 40 min run...no more knee pain! Yay! It was so nice and sunny outside. I went to the gym after work and did some upper body and core work. Once Chad was off of work we drove up to Edmonton to visit family.

On the weekend I had the best of intentions to go for a run...that didn't happen. I didn't really feel like it and since I didn't have to go....I didn't! Got to love the off season! I did lots of visiting and eating though. I even stole some of my cousins halloween candy, I couldn't help it....he had tootsie rolls!

Tonight I am headed to the gym...I don't have a plan of action yet but I have all day to decide what I want to do! Oh I almost forgot, I hit 150 again on the accels....yesssssss.

Lazy Weekend

Hey Bloggers,

Check out the new banner Chad made for me....pretty sweet hey! I thought so! OK, so here's the update from last week about whats been happening.

Thursday- I went to spin class as I usually do, but check this out....I hit 150 for the accelerations. Yesssss. I did not know my legs went that fast. It only happened once but I will take it. So usually Tuesday nights are the more challenging training session and Thursdays we do easIER aerobic stuff. Well not so much this time around. My legs were pretty tuckered out after class. Also on a side note, I figured out the difference between Greg and Katy....she doesn't let us rest as much. We blew through all of out warm up stuff:) When she says 10 sec rest....that's all we get!

I tried to lift weights on Thursday but I was a little fatigued. I ended up doing Chads workout with him....I'm not so sure about these power lifters. I didn't rest long enough after an exercise and I was trying to do an exercise Chad made up, kind of like a push press. Needless to say I got trapped with 20 lbs dumb bells. I know that sounds incredibly weak...but I had nothing left to push....and Chad walked away so I was left to my own devices of getting out without dislocating my shoulders. So I flopped around and rolled off of the bench....I looked up to see Chad looking at me with a "what the hell are you doing???" look on his face! The next set went much better after I actually rested! Whoops:)

Friday. I didn't do anything. I am really lazy I know but there were people everywhere and trying to drive downtown on Halloween is not the most fun so I stayed home a curled up on the couch with a blanket and a book!

Saturday. I slept in and did much of the same as I did on Friday. I was keeping up with how Greg was doing in Florida though, whoo hoooo Greg!!!! Once we saw Greg finish, Chad was going for a run and that was enough motivation to get me off of the couch:) I went for an easy 50 minute run and it was so beautiful outside, we have been spoiled this fall!

Yesterday the most exciting thing I did was go to work! Chad came in and we got him a new pair of running shoes and I bought myself another pair as well. My knees and ankles have been a little achy lately so it was time for a new pair of sneaks!

It is supposed to snow on Wednesday, yikers!!! Time to bust out the thermal tights!!!!

Ironman Florida

GO Greg GO!!!!

Best of Luck, have a great race!

Winter is coming...

I know I know, not something you want to hear and with the weather we are having you would never guess it, HOWEVER, when it is dark outside when you get up and dark when you get off work that only means 1 thing....winter. This morning it was dark AND I could see my breath....yikes. Anyone know where I can get winter/all season tires for cheap?????

Guess what I did yesterday....you'll never guess so I might as well just tell you. Are you ready for this...I went SWIMMING! Yes I did. It was cold, it was wet, but it wasn't totally awful. Chad didn't have a swimming buddy last night, so I took one for the team and joined him at the pool. I got off of the warm couch where I was nice and warm reading my book and joined him at the pool. He did amazing...there were a few distance records broken last night. I will keep you in suspense and let him tell you about it, but I was VeRy impressed:)

I also went for a run, I just couldn't pass up 19 degrees at the end of October. I think I shouldn't have gone for so long, I only went for an hour but I felt like I could have a nap when I got back:) It was good though, I like running because I let my mind wander and it is good stress relief.

Tonight I am headed to spin class and to the gym. Catchya lata.

Sunny Days!

Hey,

Well I was able to convince myself to stay home on Monday and not go to the gym! I was not idle at home, but at least I wasn't in a germ infested environment and making myself worse. AND our house is nice and clean:)

Yesterday I was feeling good by the time the afternoon rolled around. I went to spin class last night only to find Katy patiently waiting for someone to come so she could get on her bike. I got everything ready and was on my bike at 6:30. Class went really well, Katy was teaching since Greg is off in Florida Ironmaning.....well not until Saturday.... maybe sightseeing right now??? Greg I think you need to update your blog so us nosey people can see what you are up to:):):) Anyway, I hit a new high for my accelerations-146! Yeah me. I only hit it once but hey I beat 140 and that's all that matters to me. When we were doing the high cadence stuff last night my heart rate went up to around 171 bpm! Yikes. I thought I was going to keel over and fall off my bike. It is always worse when you can see how hard you are working! After class I went and did a quick back workout and then I went home to lounge around for the rest of the night.

It is so nice and sunny outside right now that I am going to go for a nice run today. It is supposed to hit 19 degrees....I can't pass this up! I am feeling better again today, still not 100% but I can function and train! I think I will hit the gym again tonight if I am not too tired after work.

Under the Weather

Hey Bloggers!

Sorry for the lack of updating last week. I still have my cold....it took me about a week to listen to my body and take a break! Yesterday I went to work and Shauna (who rocks by the way:) sent me home. She gave me the option to stay but as I stood there feeling dizzy and needing to sit down I threw in the towel and I went home. This is the first time since high school I went home sick...and that time I had strep (sp?) throat and was highly contagious!

Yesterday I slept...I went home and slept on my couch all day. I woke up around 9:30 (Chad was sleeping too, maybe he was having sympathy sickness:), I had a shower, got some stuff together for work and went to bed. Talk about exciting!

I am going to back track here:

I took Wednesday off since I don't get off work until 7ish and wasn't feeling great.

I felt really good on Thursday so I went to spin class and went to the gym after to lift weights. When I got up on Friday I didn't feel too bad, but by the time 5:00 rolled around something wasn't right. I went home and slept (yet again), when I woke up I went to the gym. I shouldn't have gone but that type A personality of mine won out and I went anyway.

When I woke up on Saturday I felt like death. I was the only one who could work the women's show that morning so I sucked it up and went. After working at the show I should have stayed home but didn't...I went to my hair appointment anyway. Chad called me after I was done there and said that they were at the mall and we were going out for dinner and then to a movie....again probably should have went home but didn't.

Have I learned my lesson....I hope so. I am not very good at taking it easy and if I do it will usually be for one day before I try again. Having said that however I do have a bag full of gym clothes in the back of my car....just in case I feel better and want to train after work!

I'm going to Idaho!

I signed up for yet another race last night. It is official now, I am doing the Ironman 70.3 in Boise, Idaho next June! The thing that I like about this race is that it is on a Saturday and it doesn't start until 2pm. That's awesome!

In the last couple of days I have gotten some good training in. Monday I went for a run after work, I got 40 mins in there. After that I went to the gym and did a leg workout. I could tell that I didn't do weights last week! Consistency in any kind of training is sooooo important. Anywho I made myself good and sore and I wasn't ready to be done yet so I hoped on the trainer for another 30 min...nice n easy.

Last night was spin class. I was having major technical issues, well actually not so major but they were major to ME! I was hoping that I would have my heart rate monitor...no such luck. And once I got there I discovered, well actually Greg discovered that I need to replace my battery in the sensor on my bike as well! So I was heart rate-less and cadence-less; I felt a little lost and I had to keep staring at peoples legs trying figure out how fast I should be going. It was still a tough training session. I don't know about anyone else but when we are constantly spinning at 120/130 my heart rate does not stay in the aerobic zone! I didn't need my HR monitor on to tell me that one! Despite not having any of my techno gear I felt like I worked hard and was sweating up a storm.

The bad news is I think after having sick people traipse in and out of my office for a week my immune system has let me down. That combined with no sleep doesn't help the body out too much. Nothing too bad, just a case of the sniffles. Well I better get back to work now:)

Leslie

Lots to do!

Last week was a busy one. I felt like I had tons to do but not enough time to do it in! I will start at the beginning!

Tuesday. On Tuesday I was feeling really motivated and wanted to train....so I did! I went for an easy 35 minute run in the afternoon, it was awesome! I felt like I was running on clouds. That night we had spin class and it felt like Greg upped the anti a little this week! We did accelerations...where I hit 142...which is good for me! Then we did some cadence work which means our legs spin around really fast....but he tells us where to hold it and for how long. I am glad that my heart rate monitor was broken because I think it was pretty high!

Wednesday. Hmmmm. I think I went for another run. That sounds right anyway. I went for about 50 minutes and again I felt grrrrrreat. I had a hard time getting my butt out the door but once I did it was smooth sailing.

On Wednesday night I didn't get much sleep. We have a neighbor (2 floors up) who plays loud music until about 4:30am...sometimes longer. All I can hear is the thump, thump, thump through the floor. It sucked, 3 hours of sleep is not good. This has happened a couple of times now and I am going to file a noise complaint with the board. I would imagine I am not the only one who can hear it.

Thursday. I felt like a bag of crap. It was all I had to make it through the day at work and go to spin. Blah. On those same accelerations where I hit 142 on Tuesday I could only hit 134....yikes. My legs just couldn't do it. I was happy that we did aerobic threshold stuff that night because I find it a little easier. I went home and crashed after class.

Friday. Again I felt like a big pile of crap. Not sleeping for 1 night usually throws me off for a couple of days....I am a little high maintenance when it comes to sleeping. I didn't do much on Friday, we had a staff dinner that night and I had agreed to go out with a couple of friends so that took up my training time on Friday. I am ready to go back to my hermit life of training for a bit now though! I usually can take off during the day for a run but I had a doctors appointment as well. I officially have eczema...which I knew I had but dry skin sucks. I go through more lotion than anyone I know. He gave me some super steroid cream which has been working wonders already:)

Saturday. Once I rolled out of bed Chad and I headed to the Tech Shop and out for lunch with some of his clients. He entered 4 teams into the Gorilla Run, 3 people per team and each had to run about 5 km. At lunch we visited, answered questions...there were a few rookie's so there were lots of questions! After lunch we went out to run some more errands, still couldn't get my heart rate monitor battery...grrrr. Who closes their store a 2pm on a Saturday, how random. We finished up the day by meeting up with Tom and Darl for dinner.

Sunday. This turned out to be a long day for me. We (well I) was awake at 6:40 am. I managed to coax Chad out of bed, we got ready, and we were off to the race. We met up with everyone in the Zoo parking lot. Kuodos to Chad for organising this...it takes a lot of work! The race went well, everyone seemed to have a good time. A little chilly however, I thought poor Greg was going to get hypothermia....all that Ironman training doesn't leave you with much insulation:)

After everyone finished up the race it was off to work for me. I say this every week but this was the busiest we have been in a long time on a Sunday. I was run off my feet. When I got home after work my legs were aching like they do after a really tough workout. An entire day of standing and walking around was tough! Last night Chad and I rented some movies and hung out...with various intervals of sleeping:)

Today I want to get a run in....not too sure if that will happen. Either way I will be at the gym to pump some iron. I didn't make it there once last week, that's not good! Hopefully I will be able to get more training in this week and back into my routine!

Leslie

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Gonzaga University

Chad's pointing at Bill Peters; who taught us a couple of classes in University and was the coach of the mens hockey team.

Me, Pre-game

Chad at the game...it is impressive that he looked away from the play so I could take this pic!

View of Spokane from the finish line, the finish was actually on a bridge.

Shooting stuff

Chad shooting stuff

Me in front of the Aqarium inside Cabela's

Weekend in Spokane!

Hey guys,

Well I will start with the race since that's why we went down there in the first place! First off it was freezing cold....the sun was warm but the air was a little on the frigid side. Chad started first so we waited until the 1/2 started and he was off and running. I stood there in the cold for 15 more minutes before my race started. By the time I got to run I was outside for 30 minutes and my feet and hands were numb!

I have come to a conclusion about race course descriptions. When they say that it is a "challenging" or "hilly" it usually is. When they say that is a "mostly flat" course - THEY LIE!
This "mostly flat" course was 2.5 miles of gradual uphill and then a little down hill with 2 more hills. I don't know what "mostly flat" is but that was not it.

Anyway the course was very beautiful, all through downtown and the university campus. Not having run anything shorter than 21km (in a tri) since around april/may I was sucking wind big time. You may think a shorter race is easier....not when you run faster! Ouch. For and end of the year race I am happy with how I did, I think my time was 45min 27 sec? Something to that effect (I am too lazy to look it up again:). Not my fastest race, but hey not bad for not training!

Once I finished I went to get the camera and waited for Speedy Gonzallas to come in. Chad had an awesome race....waaaaay under is goal time, 1:48:something.

Okay onto the weekend highlights:

- Shopping! We did lots of it. We hit up the Zags store, a couple of malls, we found the best sports store EVER downtown, Cabela's (more on that later), and of course many a Fred Meyer!

- Chiefs game. I forgot how much I love live sports. Doesn't matter what it is. I used to watch tons of hockey when Chad was playing, but now we have been limited to the occasional flames game. It was a lot of fun. It was a toss up who to cheer for. The head coach for Spokane last year was the old coach for the U of L hockey team...who taught me (or tried to) to play hockey. Everett however does have really good outlet shopping malls (only a girl can reason this way...I know). Good ole coach Peters won out though and I cheered for the Chiefs!

- Tomato Street. This is the best smelling restaurant I have ever been in! Yummy. That's about it....good food:)

- Cabelas. Chad and I were wandering around in Cabelas looking at all of the animals, fish, etc when we came across a gun game. They had targets all set up and you could shoot at them for points etc. Chad decided to challenge me to a couple of games (keep in mind I am from the Yukon!). Well right off the bat I whooped his butt. He was getting quite upset....Chad doesn't like to loose. The guns were actual gun weight so my the end of the third game (20 shots per game) my shoulders were burning and Chad started making up all of these rules about what we could shoot. At this point he was still loosing so he had to make it up some how:) In the end it was a tie, he did keep "accidentally" hitting me....what a cheater....can't loose to a girl!

I think that covers all of the highlights. This race has motivated me to get back into regular training again. Nothing too crazy but maybe a little more structure. I am still playing around with the idea of running in the Last Chance 1/2, we'll see what happens. Off to spin class tonight and maybe squeeze in a run today!


Leslie

First Day in Spokane

Hey!

So we made it after what seemed like forever yesterday! I am not going to lie....I slept a lot. Haven't done too much so far; we have made it to 2 Fred Meyers already though! Travelling with Chad is always interesting.

I am waiting for him to get ready...he is worse than a girl. We are off to Gonzaga Univerity, Runners Soul, shopping, and Spokane Chiefs play tonight so I think we are going to check that out as well! Oh princess Chad is ready...we are off. Hopefully our race shirts are nice:)

Spokane

Hey!

We are leaving for Spokane in about an hour. I think I am more excited about shopping and going to Gonzaga University than I am about the race!

As far as the race goes I have no race plan. I am going there just to run, have some fun and I don't really care what my time is! Hopefully I will be able to curb the competitive feeling once the race starts and take it easy.

As for training on Wednesday I went for a quick little jog. It was a little chilly outside but the cold air was kind of refreshing! Felt really good the entire time, I wish I had been able to go longer but I had to get back to work. It is always nice to come to the end of a workout and still want to do more!

Last night was bike class, a few less single leg drills this time around! I don't know why I hate them so much, they aren't that bad but they aren't great either.

Well I am off, one more client to go....Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Leslie

Cccccccold!

Hey,

Whoa, it is mighty chilly outside especially compared to last week! Brrrrrr.

I forgot to tell you about my interesting workout I had last Thursday. I went to the gym and convinced Chad to train with me (and I am not so crazy in my skull....I had to have him spot me so I wouldn't drop the bar on my head....that counts as spending time together). After we did weights Chad convinced me to do his "run" with him.

So Chad is training with a lot of hills because the 2 races he is focusing on have giant hills at the end...like 1.5 km of running up steep hills. I figured 20 minutes of hills on the treadmill wouldn't be so bad, I love doing hill repeats outside so this should be fine right??? WRONGO! The beautiful thing about doing hills outside is you get to run back DOWN the hill after. Not so lucky this time. We cranked the incline up to 13% ran up for awhile and then we would slow down the pace and keep the incline the same. Over and over and over. This was a workout like none other. Needless to say I finished it but I will stick to doing my hills outside....much more enjoyable!

Last night was the first bike class. I was right Greg took it easy on us, it was just enough to get the ticker and the legs going. Lots and lots of single leg drills. My legs are pre-programed to stop after 3 sets! I lost count...I think we did 6 sets??? Yikers on the burning legs. It was great to see everyone again and chat it up!

I should get back to work...I will update before Spokane!

Leslie

Birthday Wishes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY - G!!!!!!

Not much to report!

It has been a quiet couple of days. Friday I went for a run for about 60 min, which is the longest I have ran since Ironman. I have been running about 3 times per week but only for 30-40 min at a time! I wanted to try a new trail (I sort of knew where it went) and it was nice to have a change in scenery. This was a little hilly for a first longish run in awhile but it was nice none the less!

That night Janelle and I went to The Coup for dinner and holly crap it was YUMMY! It is a vegetarian restaurant on 17th and everything on there menu looked sooo good. I ended up with a burger made out of sweet potatoes, tofu, cashews, and sesame served on a multi grain foccasia bun. The salad was sooo good as well. Best meal I have had out in a long time. You should check it out, a new favorite for sure. Now....how to get Carnivore Chad through the door.....not too sure if that will happen any time soon:)

On Saturday I had a lazy morning and we went out to Crossfield for Thanksgiving dinner. I love turkey...not as much as I loved the chocolate cake for dessert.....yummmmm. I hope my clients aren't reading this:) :) :) Everything in moderation RIGHT! After dinner we all went for a walk....that counts as a training session right??? Maybe??? Hmmmm, I need to burn off that turkey...more so the cake this week!

On Sunday I had to work and it was crazy. I had people asking me the strangest questions.....whatever happened to just selling running shoes? It was 5 hours of being run off my feet! I did try on the new Asics nimbus 10's we have had in for a bit but they still suck so another season in Mizuno for this chicka.

In other big news Chad's cousin Jason is newly engaged to Nancy! Congrats!

With that we are going to Spokane this weekend. We will leave on Friday and be back on Monday. At least I am sure I can still run 5 miles so that's a good thing. Chad is aiming for a sub 2 hour half....which I know he will be fine with so long as he paces himself!!!

I guess I had more to say than I thought! Bike class starts tomorrow night.....maybe Greg will take it easy on us slackers???? Maybe???? It will be nice to have some structure back into the training regime again....I still feel a little lost!

Sore Legs + Running = Ouch

Hey,


On Monday night I went to the gym and did a leg workout. I have always really enjoyed lifting weights and I was getting stronger before my hiatus called Ironman! Since I successfully have been squating the bar I figured I could throw some weight on there. I had been doing a lot of my workouts using just body weight...I upped the anti this week! I do believe Chad called me an idiot but hey what can you do? Anyway, when I walk around I look like and 80 year old when its cold outside and their arthritis is acting up!

Tuesday I lifted weights again (upper body this time!) and I biked for an hour I think. I am feeling more comfortable on the bike again and I am enjoying it. Nothing crazy....just easy spinning while I watch TV. I even threw in some single leg stuff to mix it up a bit.

I went for a run yesterday...it was so hot out! I had to hobble around a bit until my legs got warmed up. I am not too sure what is worse sore hamstrings or sore quads when you are running??? Since they were both sore I couldn't decide which was worse! I went to the gym after work and did some chest and shoulders....I love shoulder workouts (second to legs of course:). I wasn't quite done after weights so I hopped on the elliptical for another 30 min.

Tonight I am back at the gym and I might bike again tonight, we'll see how it goes. Nothing exciting planned for the weekend (that I know of anyway). A girlfriend and I are going out on Friday, I work on Sunday and most importantly will be cheering on Richelle as she runs the Portland Marathon! Good luck Richelle!

Big News!

Guess what I did............

.......that's right, I am officially signed up for Ironman Cozumel! Yikes! I thought signing up for IMC made me nervous, how about an inaugural international race in November.

We had a busy weekend, Friday I went for a nice 40 min run. It was soo nice outside! After work I went with a girlfriend to the mall. I think walking around the mall for 3 hours was harder than going for a workout, I was beat when I got home!

Saturday we went to the Aero Space Museum to visit Allan and see what he does all day. It was pretty cool seeing all of the airplanes....and since we have connections we even got to sit in some of them! Chad will be posting the pics as soon as he stops sleeping on the couch:) That night Allan and Karen and baby Allison came over for dinner and some drinks. Man has Allison grown, too cute!

On Sunday I went to work at the Tech Shop and it was busy! When I got home we lazed around for a bit, signed up for Ironman, and when Chad went swimming Lucy and I had some bonding time. I rode for about 80 min, after being on my feet all day and riding my legs were tired.

Last night I woke up at around 5:30 (actually I guess that would be this morning) and my legs were THROBBING and hurting. It sucked. I had to get up and take some advil so I could get back to sleep. So far today they are okay....I'm not too sure what happened there but it sucked.

Tonight, depending on what time I get off of work I want to get another run in and go to the gym. The run may not happen if I get off late, then I may have to go on the elliptical or something! That's about all for me. Happy Training everyone!

Quiet Day

Hey Peeps,

I have a pretty quiet day today at work and it is nice. I have had a few crazy days and now I get time to breathe! Ahhhhhh.

On Tuesday I went to the gym and pumped some Iron. I still am feeling a little weak, but I challenged myself a little more and I can feel it. Wowzers! Tuesday night I didn't feel like running or doing the cross trainer so I went home and gave Lucy some love. It took me a little while to get going on the bike but after about 45 min of easy spinning I was getting in the groove and feeling comfortable. In total I ended up spinning for about 70 minutes and then I called it a day.

I was going to sneak away from work yesterday for a run, but I didn't get the chance and by the end of the day I just didn't want to. The nice thing about unstructured training is I don't have to if I don't want to:) I didn't go to the pool either. I pretty much hated it last week and if I am doing Cozumel next November I will have more than enough time to get back into swimming. For now I will leave it alone! I was thinking though, Greg you mentioned you wanted more pics of you coaching, so if you want me to come and take a few pics I can!

Today I AM sneaking away from work for a run. It looks really nice outside...so I am pumped! This is my favorite time of year to run, it is gorgeous outside with the leaves changing and I like the cool air!

This weekend I have to work on Sunday again, but other than that there are no plans. Have a good weekend!

Leslie

Ironman Shuffle

Hi Friends,

Not too such to update. On Friday I went home from work, still super tired so I had a 2.5 hour sleep. Yawn! Once I dragged myself off of the couch I went to the gym to do a workout with Chad (sort of). Guess what....successfully squatting the bar. Ohhh yeah that's right. Once I finished my leg workout I did 60 min on the crosstrainer.

Saturday morning (well my morning but in real time afternoon:) I went for a run. My legs were feeling the repercussions from the leg workout the day before. When I got home I confessed to Chad that while I may have run for 40 minutes....it was very Ironman shuffle like. Super slow motion!

Sunday I went to work and then Chad made me go swimming and I REALLY didn't want to. I frolicked around in the water for awhile and then made my way over to the hot tub:) I think I need to not swim for awhile because there is no enjoyment even once I get there!

Monday I went for another run. I love the fall, so I tend to run a lot this time of year. A quick 30 minutes this time and I could actually lift my feet off of the ground....good news. I have been feeling a lot better so far this week....dare I say....maybe even GOOD! Yikes! We will see how the rest of the week goes but so far so good!

As for what I am doing for the rest of the week I don't know, some running, maybe I'll get on the bike, hopefully not swimming:)

The Weekend

Hey bloggers,

I did end up going swimming on Wednesday....and it was okay. The must have found the temperature switch for the pools because this is the warmest the pool has been in months and months! Chad went for his swimming lesson with Greg and I sort of did a work out. I did 100m sets of whatever I felt like and rested for how ever long I felt like.

Yesterday I woke up feeling like ass, and so I didn't do a whole lot of anything. Cleaned up the house a bit and slept. I sound like a broken record but I am still oh so very sleepy all of the time! Greg told me the other night that it took him about 8 weeks to feel good after his first Ironman....so apparently it is normal for me to be sleeping so much more than usual!

I am going to the gym tonight, after I go home and have yet another nap. I have been able to have coffee or tea during this tired time either as my IBS flared up....boooo. Anyway, going to the gym for a leg workout and some cardio.

Tomorrow I plan on sleeping a lot and then maybe going for a run and try and go for longer than 30 minutes....maybe:) We are going to Spokane for Thanksgiving; Chad is going to do a half marathon, and I will do the 5 mile run. I can still run 5 miles right??? Everyone is invited to come, even if you don't want to run you can still come!

On Sunday it is my first shift back at the Tech Shop, so if you need new shoes or gear come down for a visit! I will be there. Not sure what the game plan is for training on Sunday, we will see how I feel!

That is all I have to update. Boring I know, but I am at work and it is really very slow and I don't have a lot to do! It is Friday though, Yay Friday!

Have a good weekend all.

Tired of being tired

Hello my bloggin peeps!

Okay, I am ready for my body to be recovered. I know I know I need to be patient and it takes time and I did an Ironman and blah blah blah. I feel like recovery is taking FOREVER! How long does this take, honestly? You would think I would enjoy not having to train, but I miss it.

I am feeling better than last week, but I still hate hearing my alarm go off in the morning.....my body is saying more sleep. I get AT LEAST 8 hours every night, what the eff.

I have noticed I am getting better in some ways; I can run easily now, cardio is easy (the crosstrainer/elliptical kicked my A$$ last week:), my knees don't hurt. However I have come to the conclusion that I NEVER use my biceps. These pipes are hurting today...ouch. I have lost a lot of strength over the last couple of months, so much so it simply hurts to lift weights:) For biceps I did 3 sets of 20 reps with a 20 lbs barbell and by number 15 on the third set that bar had gravity on its side let me tell ya. The next bicep exercise...not pretty.

Chad is going swimming tonight....and I do not think I will. I have no motivation to get into a cold pool just yet. Maybe I will just go and watch, I have never been much of a watcher so we will see what happens.

Feeling Better!

I am feeling a little less tired. I had one goal for this weekend....Sleep. After my nap filled week I thought I should try and catch up a little on the weekend.

On Friday I worked until 12 and then I helped Chad with a corporate seminar thing, did a little chat about nutrition. The seminar was about 3 hours long and when we finished up we grabbed some food and Chad went back to work and I went home.

We got Season 4 of Grey's Anatomy and so I was glued to the TV on Friday night....all night:) It was awesome, I didn't even feel guilty! See I have this thing, when I am watching TV (and not riding my bike) I am always plagued with thoughts of all of the things I SHOULD be doing! On Friday it was R n R time for this chickie.

I slept for a beautiful 10 hours or so Friday night. Chad got up and headed to the gym to train a couple of people, so I got up and cleaned up the house! I decided since it was so nice outside I would go and run my loop. I felt pretty good the entire time, first time that my knees weren't complaining! Yeah!

Later on Saturday once Chad got home we loaded up the truck and went out to Crossfield for the night. We spent some time visiting, playing cards, having naps (while I did anyway:). That night I slept for another 12 hours....except we didn't go to bed until 2 am....that means I slept until 2 pm! Yikes! I haven't done that since university!

Chad and I stuffed ourselves with yummy breakfast and then we decided to go for a little bike ride since it was sooooo very nice outside. Off to Madden we went. Once we got out there Chad wanted to keep going but I wasn't having any of it:) We turned back and started towards town. This was the first ride out here all year that we weren't battling a storm! Figures.

Once we got back to the house Chad went for a run and I sat on the patio with Tom! My biggest question is "why no t-runs in the summer with me???"

After that deep fatigue I had last week I would rather be sore and hobbling around for 2 weeks than to feel that tired. That made the tiredness I felt during training look like peanuts! They say with each Ironman it lessens....hmmmm I remain a little skeptical. I am going to the gym tonight...I think I will some weights....maybe some more cardio....who knows!!!!

Who's the Rookie???

Hey,

I was going through my photos the other day trying to organise my scrapbooking stuff (yes I scrapbook:) and I came across these photos of my first open water tri, 2nd ever triathlon and I couldn't help but chuckle.

This is me before the swim....a little nervous!

Getting ready to jump in, well actually if my memory serves me correct I wanted to go home and forget about this whole triathlon thing. Chad (who was a little grumpy at me for dragging him out of bed in the morning) pushed me in the water! Notice my fancy wetsuit; good for water activities like tubing, wakeboarding (or attempting to), not so much open water swimming!

This is me in transition....sitting...that's right I sat down, took a load off, and took my sweet ass time.
The biggest thing I can notice in the pic is my shoes:) I do believe Lisa informed me about clipless pedals after this race!
Ahhh, out onto the run. I was not at all a trigeek here, good old russel shorts and tank top! I love it!

Brought back some memories:)

Anyway, this week I have done a few work outs, but I spent most of my time sleeping. I had a nap almost every single day this week, soooooo very sleepy. I was warned of this, I had a couple of people telling me I would feel great and then feel pretty crappy. They spoke the truth. I got home from work one night, turned on the TV to channel 2 trying to find something to watch. That didn't last long I was asleep within about 30 seconds woke up and hour later, I didn't even get to choose a TV show!

When I train the biggest thing I notice is my knees. I went for another little run with Chad and this one we had to go home early because my knees started to hurt. I also tried doing some squats, I warmed up with body weight and then tried the bar....no weight, just the bar and the same thing happened. My knees really hurt. I went back to the body weight stuff right away. I am planning a sleeping a lot this weekend and hopefully I can catch up a bit. Biking is good, so I will do some more of that this weekend.

I still haven't gone swimming....and I don't care! I think it would be good for me, but I am not motivated to do it at all....so I won't!

That's about it, have a great weekend!

Leslie

IMC Pics

Hey, these are not in order....but I sure you can figure out what's going on :) :) :)

Ahhhhh, all finished!!!
Not too sure what I am thinking about here?

This is when my legs still felt good!

Climbing up Richter


I have more photos, Chad uploaded most of them on IMC day or shortly thereaftter, these are the proferssional ones. I still have to order my swim pic!

I'm Sleepy!

It has been 2 weeks since Ironman and I think that having a busy social life is harder on me than all of the training! Last week was a crazy week for me with just getting back from holidays, having said that I still felt like I had nothing to do....weird I know.

Hmmm where to start. Tuesday morning was a tough day, first day back to work. The fun part was that I got to talk about Ironman all day! One of my clients brought me flowers, it was so sweet. I did the getting back from holidays stuff on Tuesday night like getting groceries, cooking up a storm, doing laundry and the like. I had an itch to do something cardiovascular but I managed to keep myself busy.

Wednesday night I did more of the same (camping for a week and a half = lots of clean up:). Chad came home at 10:30 pm and said he was going for a run and I could come if I wanted. Yes yes I wanted! Off we went. We ran around the streets of downtown which is a little creepy I gotta tell ya. I felt really good throughout the run. I returned home after about 30 min and Chad went out for another loop. Funny story: We were a couple of blocks from home when some lady under the influence of some "special" substance started yelling at us....very loudly. I t was to the effect of "what the hell are you running at this time of night for? You are f$%#@#$%%g idiots, and she screamed that phrase about 5 times. I think we need to move to the burbs. From that little run, I was tuckered out and went to bed....I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in!

Thursday I met up with Greg to talk about how the year went, what I want to do next year etc. We chatted for a couple of hours. Chad had been calling me, once I got back to him he was meeting up with the fam at Olive garden for a late supper. All I can say is yummmmmmmmm.

At work on Friday I did a whole body training session. It has been awhile since I have done weights and I could feel it! Actually I can still feel it. I took it really easy but I am still sore; legs, arms, core were what I felt the most! If anyone would have told me that my legs would be sore from body weight squats and lunges I would have laughed. Yeah not so funny! On Friday night I went out with some girlfriends.....ohhhhh man. I am not used to this staying out until 3am thing. Most of the time I spent Friday nights on the couch sleeping, get up and go swimming and then I go back to sleep. This was quite a change!

On Saturday we had the team legend party where I ate waaaaaay to much! It was great to see everyone and chat about triathlon all night. Once Chad and I were on our way home, I was looking forward to laying on the couch, my girlfriend called and said I should come out again.....so I did. Whoa, I haven't done that since University. I am to old for that much action in a weekend! Once every month or two is enough for this crazy cat.

Sunday I slept in.....I love to sleep. Once I managed to get Chad going we went out to Crossfield to visit, go for a bike ride, change the oil, clean up some stuff. We managed to get the visit in, and the bike ride was a little less than it was going to be due to the freezing wind! We got all geared up and we were on our bikes for 5 minutes and we were both cold! The highway was only going to be colder so we did another tour de crossfield! Chad went out to do hill repeats, I rode out to the hill and then told him to have fun and I went back to the house! My bike felt a little foreign to me, but I missed Lucy!

Lucy cuddled with Greg's bike all the way back from Penticton so I am hoping she picked up a few tips and we will be faster next year!

Tonight I am going to get on the bike again, this time inside. We got season 3 of Nip/Tuck so I have a date with the TV tonight:)

Leslie

We are home!!!

Hey everyone!

I apologise for my blogging slacking....but I was feeling a little lazy on holidays! Chad was very good about updating his, so you can check that out or we can go for coffee and chat about it! We did so much on holidays that I don't know where to start!

We got back on Monday night and I have been super busy. Lots to do, mostly catch up on daily life.

I have been feeling really good. I was sore for about 3 days after Ironman, it was tough doing all that shopping/touring on tired sore legs....but it was worth it because I got lots of good stuff:) I am going to ease my way back into training again, starting with some light stuff. We will see how it goes!

This weekend I am going to catch up with some girlfriends, go to the Team Legend potluck....perhaps squeeze in an easy bike ride, visit with family! It is a little weird to not have a schedule of training to do, I feel a little lost. Luckily I have other things to keep me busy right now. I am looking forward to getting back into the gym, I miss lifting weights. I need to get Chad on my periodization schedule, it helps when he sets up what I should do!

Anyway, I will let you know how the recovery is going. I am going post some pics on here as well....hopefully soon!

Happy training/recovery!

Leslie

IMC Race Report

Howdy!

I woke up on Sunday morning to an alarm, not my alarm but Chads alarm! I thought it was 4:00am but alas it was not.....it was 4:30am. I went into full freak out mode within about 0.000000000001 seconds and in about the same amount of time Chad told me to STOP IT! So I did. It turns out we couldn't even get out of the campground until 5am anyway.

I went and got in the shower, now I know what you are thinking. Why is this chick showering before she goes and jumps in a lake. I wanted to get up and do my normal morning rituals and try and relax, so I had a nice hot shower first thing. I got into my tri clothes and went back to camp where Chad was up and ready to go (he even had his red bull already!). I ate breakfast on the way into Penticton. I was calm until we started into the city and that is when the wave of excitement/butterfly's/nervousness hit me. I couldn't even eat my entire breakfast; which consisted of a multi grain bagel with a yogurt and berries.

Once we got into Penticton we found somewhere to park really easily, and we were off to check in my gear bags, get body marking done, get my bike ready, etc. So first off I had to make a pit stop at the washrooms....gotta love being nervous! We walked with a million other people to drop off the bags. Chad had to stay on the outside of the fence, so he followed me along while I dropped off my special needs bags and got numbered.

We then had to completely separate as I went into transition to put all of my bottles, gels, sharkies onto my bike. I pumped up my tires and Lucy was feeling good to go! I had to drop the rest of my transition gear into my gear bags. Chad and I had arranged a meeting spot....but he couldn't get to it so I lost him for awhile. I went and dropped off my dry clothes bag and started the wetsuit wiggle. I didn't forget to do anything in the morning....which I am quite proud of. Making that race plan sure helped!!!

Once I got onto the beach I was soooo freaking nervous. I managed to find Chad in the crowd and say goodbye. There were people everywhere. I can't remember now what I was thinking about before the race started....the adrenaline was pumping thats for sure. The national anthem was played and I was waiting anxiously for the cannon to go off.....this seemed to take forever!

I lined myself up with the bouys and started in the middle of the pack. The start was not that bad, I had a lot of room. I didn't become rough until 200-300m out into in the lake. Whenever I do an open water swim I always take it one leg at a time. All I was concerned about was to make it to the first house boat. I did get kicked a couple of times and I can't even begin to describe the feeling when everyone would get bunched up and we were swimming on top of one another. I would look up and there were people everywhere I turned, all trying to find some space to swim. It was really transitional because you would swim a bit farther and then I would feel like I was all alone.

By the time I made it to the first house boat I was getting used to the chaos going on around me. I got hit in the head a couple of times, kicked in the stomach once (that was a gooder, it hurt for awhile:). The swim to the second house boat turn was really fast. Before the race started I thought that the swim back to the beach would seem faster than the first leg, boy was I wrong!
It was on the home stretch that I had someone literally swim over me! He was a big guy and lets just say I think he had a strong pull because he pulled me right under! If this would have happened in the first leg I would have had a coronary, but I was okay with it. I came back up, put my goggles back on and stayed clear of him!

I wasn't until I was at the beach that I even thought about the bike. I heard them announce my name as I came out of the water and I ran into the gear bag area, found my stuff easily and I was into the change tent. There were a lot of cold people in there, there was one poor girl shivering soooo hard she looked like she was having a seizure. I hope she finally got warmed up! I got all of my stuff on and I was out of the tent running to find my bike. Lucy was right where I left her a couple of hours earlier and I headed out to the mount line.

Riding down main street with all of the people cheering was unreal! There was so much to look at and take in as I went by. I saw Chad jumping up and down like he was on a pogo stick and got a wave out to my family on the way by!

I broke the bike into a bunch of sections. The first was lakeshore drive; I was sipping away on my heed, trying to get my heart rate under control and let all of the people hammer it out nice and early! As tons of people flew by me on the bike I kept myself positive by saying...ha ha ha I swim faster than you do!

I was up onto the steep hill of Mclean Creek Road before I knew it. It was a short little climb, just enough to get your legs going. The rest of the way out to Osoyoos there was a head wind, but it was uneventful as I just got down into aero and pedaled away. It took me about this long to feel warmed up on the bike!

I found my biking legs just I got into Osoyoos and made the turn to climb up Richter. I had to make a pit stop and take a pee at the aid station before the climb. You can attribute that extra 14 minutes on my total bike time to standing in line for the porta potty. Grrrrr.

Richter was fine, and the 7 rollers past that weren't too bad either. I remember them in training and I HATED them, but on rested legs they weren't so bad. The rest of the bike went off without a hitch. Yellow Lake was pretty cool with the people lining the road cheering for you all the way up. Those Thursday night hill repeats sure did the trick because I was climbing my way past everyone! I felt good the whole ride and the wind really started to pick up on the way back into town, so I was flying!

Coming off the bike I handed Lucy over to a volunteer and I went to find my run gear bag, I called my number as I came into transition and they helped me find it right away and I was off into the change tent. I put my beloved beat up Oakleys on the chair beside me as I got changed into my running shorts, loaded up my nutrition....went to grab my Oakleys and they were gone! They got picked up and thrown into someone else's gear bag! I am now out a pair of sunglasses!

With another stop in the porty potty I was onto the run course. Again, mainstreet was full of people yelling and screaming! It was awesome. I met up with Claire for a bit and we ran together and as she went ahead I stayed back and worked on staying in my heart rate zones. I stopped and chatted with my family for a minute....they yelled at me to get going. I was in no hurry to run 42km! The first 10km of the run was great. I was soooo happy just to know that the finish was in my sights...little did I know it was going to be a journey! It started to rain on the way out of town, by 10 km in it was raining really steadily.....I do believe they call it pissing rain!

I was taking in Gatorade on the run and at about 13 km mark my stomach started to disagree with the Gatorade. I stopped taking it and only took in water for the rest of the race. I was eating a few Swedish berries here and there, trying to get calories in. By the time I got to the turn around I was feeling like crap, upset stomach, freezing cold, ohhhh the fun! I got my special needs bag from the volunteers and loaded up with more food, wiggled my way into my long sleeve shirt, I read my note from Chad and decided to hunker down and keep it going!

I got the bright idea at the next aid station to eat some pretzels and hopefully they would help my stomach calm down....it worked! I still couldn't really eat anything besides water...but I was able to continue to run. For the last 10 miles I didn't dare eat anything, I stuck with water and hoped to god that I had enough left in me so I wouldn't bonk!

The only time I walked was through the aid stations, half way up a couple of the giant hills, other than that I was running. It may have been a very slow run for about 25km....but running any speed was faster than walking! The last half of the marathon was more about having the mental strength to keep going and knowing that my body would put up with doing the physical part.Believe me it let me know that it wasn't happy, but I guess that is the challenge of doing an Ironman isn't it.

I am really happy with how my race went. I had a smile on my face the entire time and enjoyed the day. Coming across that finish line felt great, I have never experienced anything like that before. All of the hard work was worth it....and yes I want to do another one!

Once I hit the finish line my legs were saying "no more." It was tough to walk around and just getting them going was hard work. Greg helped me get all of my stuff and took me over to meet my family. Looking back on the day I have to say that getting a coach was the best Ironman investment I made. Greg answered all of my questions, made sure I got all of my training in, and the knowledge about race day. There is more to Ironman than swim, bike, run! I know that my day would have gone a lot differently if I hadn't learned so much from IronGreg!

After the race that night Chad and I were wiped, we stopped by Timmy Ho's to grab some food. This was after Chad had to lift me into the truck:) I thought I would be out cold that night....I hardly slept at all!

Monday and Tuesday were tough moving days. There were times I thought that my legs just were going to give up and let my crumple to the ground in a big ol' pile of Leslie would stay there until someone came along to rescue me! Luckily that did not happen. My quads were the worst, followed by the blistered feet, my shoulders, triceps, lats, lower back, calfs, hamstrings, all were sore. I am still sore today, but not nearly as bad. I can even hobble jog across the road if I need to (like if a car was going to hit me:).

Final thoughts on Ironman, I'm not sure yet. I don't know if I got everything in there, a lot happens in a 14 hour race! If you have questions please let me know! Thanks again for all of the support, it helps so much during a race to know that you have so many people cheering you on!