Happy Holidays

Hi Friends!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and are making their tri goals for the 2011 season!

Okay, so somehow at the last spin class Dan and I agreed to meet up and go swimming. It is a good thing he texted me to make plans to go otherwise I don't think I would have been in the water yet! I swam a whopping 1000m in about 45 min - there were a lot of breaks and a lot of chit chat happening :) It may seem like a puny workout but to this chick who has not swam since IM cozumel last November it was an eye opener about how you lose fitness. The kicker of this is that I was sore for 3-4 days after: lats, triceps, rotator cuff - OUCH! All that from a tiny 1000m swim!

I have done some snow shoeing over the holidays. We were out in Crossfield for Christmas and there is always more snow even though it is only 40 min from the city. So I brought my snowshoes and hunted down the snowdrifts for a few days while I was out there. Other than that the biking and running have been much the same - base work - aerobic zone 2 - "easy" stuff!

It has been nice running lately, with the weather warming up. Today was a little chilly though, it was -16 and with the wind chill it was -25! So it was a little nippy but Rexy and I geared up and out we went.

Other than that I have been hiding away watching Grey's Anatomy. Chad got me season 6 for Christmas and all I have been doing is watching TV! At least last night I biked while I watched it! Oh well, thats what Christmas holidays are for right?

All the best in 2011 everyone!

Off to Banff

Hey guys,

Tonight we are off to the Banff Spring Hotel for the weekend. The organization I work for is holding our Christmas party out in Banff so it should be a good time.

There has been a few new things lately. First off I have been carting around a pair of cross country ski's for years (much to Chad's dismay!). I finally decided to give them a go a couple of weeks ago. It's like riding a bike - you never forget! At least thats what I thought! It was a rocky start but once I got going it seemed to be okay - I have no idea of technique what so ever, so I am sure I looked rediculous. I had fun and it is always nice to have activities that are challenging and break up the swimbikerun routine! My hip flexors were quite sore for 4-5 days after.

I have not started swimming again but biking and running are holding up well. With the Christmas season here the last couple of weeks have been a bit dodgey with biking but thats the way it goes sometimes. Hopefully next week I can get back into routine again.

I am still trying to figure out the race schedule for next year. So far I am considering the Boise 70.3 and the Calgary 70.3 - that is as far as I have gotten!

Anyway, I should get back to work. Have a great week!

Leslie

Chad told me my blog is boring

Hey friends!

So Chad has told me a couple of times in the last month that my blog is really boring, so I figured it was about time to give an update. Not that much is new and exciting though.

I have been biking since we got back from holidays in September - oh how missed Lucy! Bike class started few weeks (?) ago and so far so good :) We are getting back into the ass kickings that I remember, so that is awesome.

Running has been a couple of times a week, mostly just trying to stay consistent. That is until Tuesday hit and I got a stomach flu and I was out of commission for a few days. Apparently when I get sick it is go big or go home. I went for a run today and I am feeling much better. Hopefully there will be some biking in store for myself tomorrow.

Rexy has also kept me busy, but really when doesn't she? She has been invited for another superdogs show. They do them for charity throughout the winter so we have one on Dec 4 that we are working towards. We have also finished level 2 agility now and have moved onto level 3.

Most importantly is is Christmas time which I love. I found a website that tells all of the Christmas fairs in the city and there is one every weekend up until Christmas. Yay!

My two new goals of late are to talk to my family more (I hate talking on the phone and they get made at me that I never call them) and blog more - oh and find a part time job. SO I guess I have three, anyone know someone who is hiring??

Anywho, take care and happy training!

Leslie

Oh yeah and Chad is heading Vegas in a week - lucky duck!

Finally

Hey,

So Chad told me my blog was boring so I figured I should give everyone an update! Based on the comments from the last post I feel as though I should clarify, NO I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!! HAHA HA! I was just feeling the taper blues.

Well the marathon was terrible. I have been having trouble with my asthma all summer - not too sure why but when I caught a cold 5 days before my marathon I knew that this could be bad.

Race morning I was feeling pretty good. I went for a quick 10 min run the day before the race and my legs felt good. They bussed us out to the race start and so I was out there for like an hour before the race started. Turns out it is cold in Montana in the fall and I froze! It was so cold that my inhaler also froze and I couldn't get anything out of it.

We had to walk part way up this giant hill to start, I guess I shouldn't complain we could have started from the bottom:) The gun went off and everyone took off like it was a 10km race we were running - did I mention the first 2 miles were up a giant hill! These marathoners are crazy.

Anyway the first 16miles were on trails and it was beautiful and I was having some fun. The hills were pretty extreme and my legs were beginning to feel the effects of running down the steep hills by around mile 14. My lungs were hurtin' like crazy and I just kept taking my inhaler and it would get better for 2-3 miles and then I would need to take it again.

By the time I got to the pavement the first mile was good and then the wheels fell off. My inhaler wasn't helping me at all anymore and I couldn't breathe, not to mention the pain train picked me up for a ride! So I walked and ran my way to the finish line and it took forever! This part of the race was along the highway and boring. This was the longest 10 miles I have ever run!

I did finish but I do not know what my time was nor have I checked - it was loooong though! I learned a few things about training for a marathon and if I can ever convince myself to do this again I know what I would do differently. It is now back to triathlon for this chick - thank goodness!

I have started biking again and I am loving it! I can't believe how much I missed biking and I almost kinda miss swimming a little bit :) I am trying to get my legs a little tuned in for the ass kicking I am going to get when I go back to bike class next week! I am so excited! I have been running since we got home from holidays as well - going back to building aerobic base. Swimming is soon to be thrown in the mix.

I will post some pics from San Fran and update about that in the next few days!!

Until then happy training everyone!

Guess what time it is...

Hello all,

I challenge you all to take the following clues and to guess what is happening:

- I am tired all of the time
- I am hungry ALL OF THE TIME!
- I am grouchy
- I have had a couple of those days where I just don't want to run anymore
- My body is achy - more particularly my lower body

That's right it is taper time!!!

So here is what has been going through my head lately. I have no idea if I am ready for this race. I feel as though I have not trained enough, but lets be honest I am doing 1/3 of the training that I usually do. I would have to be running miles upon miles upon miles everyday to feel the same way going into an Ironman.

I was pretty excited to get the terrible taper feelings because that means my body is recovering and I must have done some training to feel this way. Also going to Saskatoon did not help my training at all - 1 week no running other than trying my damndest to keep up to Rexy on the course...maybe I can count that as training!

So here is what I don't know - I have no idea if I am ready, I have no idea if I have trained enough, and I have no idea how this is going to go. Here is what I do know - I am going to go and run my first marathon and see what happens, I have done this before when biking and swimming first (how bad can it be?), I will embrace the race and have some fun out there!

All you marathoners and ultra marathoners out there - any advice for the big day?

Marathon Training

Hey guys!

So I am a triathlete at heart because during all of this running I am doing I am thinking about when I might possibly fit a bike ride in! That's right, Lucy and I need to do some bonding. I have been riding to work once a week (when I am downtown) and every time I get on my bike I remember how much I love it. OK back to running.

So training has been going ok. I have a few BIG days under my belt now, completed with ice baths, recovery drinks and training on dead legs! Oh how I miss the feeling. What has been a big challenge is trying to do high volumes of running when your hamstrings are sore for 5 days after bootcamp! OUCH. This is why I don't lift weights very often anymore. I get so sore that I can't train.

I am still trail running on Sunday mornings with friends. This is my long run day so I try and rope them into a minimum of 90 min, but usually around 2 hours and then I go home and rest up and head out again in the evening. I need to start working on my nutrition plan for the race and figure out how I am going to get calories into me without getting sick on the run. Something I have yet to master in an Ironman run too!

I tried my hand at mountain biking on Monday...which is a lot different from road biking! My friend Kathie and I rented bikes from the outdoor center and decided to try out goat trail (the one from Canmore to Banff). I went to pick up the bikes and they gave us these giant monsters! I could barely lift it into my car it was so big! After a day of long riding we ran into some people who told us that we had downhill mountain bikes - no wonder that was so friggin hard to climb up hills. This thing weighed 30 lbs MINIMUM which is bloody heavy for this triathlete! Needless to say my legs were dead at the end of that adventure.

In other news Rexy has been invited back to superdogs and we are off to the show in Saskatoon for 6 days next week! Yay Rexy! She has also been my training partner and I think she is just as tired on Sundays after our big run.

Happy Training!

Leslie

SUPERDOG Videos!

Howdy!

Here are some videos of Rexy in her Superdog debut at the Calgary Stampede on Saturday! Except for the 3rd video when she missed a couple of tunnels, things went well! So good in fact, that they invited us back to be there on Sunday as well!

They talked today about putting her into some frisbee catching stuff, so I'll try and get Chad to catch a video of that tomorrow!

Below are a couple photos of after the day...the first one is is when people get to come and meet her after the show (you can see me in the middle with the sparkly gold shirt); the second is Rexy in her kennel in the back (she NEVER lays down like that)!

All said and done...a very good day! Wish us luck tomorrow! If you are bored, shows are at 12, 2:30, 5, and 7pm! See you there!

Enjoy!

Big News!

Hey!

Whitefish Montana here we come. Thats right I finally signed up for the marathon so we will see how that goes on September 12th.



More exciting is that last Saturday Rexy had a try out for the Superdogs during Stampede. We got a call on Sunday and we are going down to the grounds this Saturday. We will not be in the show for sure, but there is a chance. Basically we can train in the equipment inbetween the shows and if they decide to stick her in the show then they will. So we won't know until the day of but here's hoping!

Other than that it is training as per usual. Have a good one guys and Happy Training!

Leslie

Hey!

It is official I am not racing any triathlons this year. I am okay with that, I still want to do the marathon though...I guess I should sign up for it!

I am running, hiking, going to a bootcamp, trail running - all kinds of good stuff. I do miss Lucy though. I am sure she is feeling neglected upstairs all by herself. I should take her out for a spin one of these days!

Chad and I just got back from holidays in the Yukon. We went up there for a week to visit my family. I think that drive gets longer everytime we do it! Here are some photos from the trip:

First rest stop along the way - some logging road!

After awhile Rexy finally went to sleep and we could relax!

These are the caribou Rexy so kindly got off the highway for us!

Summit Lake - Stone Mountain

Ready, set, go!

This was taken the day before solstice

Hmmmm...what doesn't belong in this photo?

Whitehorse

Miles Canyon

A view from the top of Miles Canyon

We went to the Salmon Ladder

Fishing at Butterfly Lake

Chad caught a fish in the lake behind my house, this is my dad cleaning the fish.

Here is the fish before it was in my belly!

Moose at Toad River

On the way home...

SURPRISE!!!

Hey!

As many of you already know Chad COMPLETELY surprised me for my birthday by taking me to San Diego. This was hands down the best birthday present! I had no idea - he did video tape me when I found out so if you get a chance to see it it's quite funny. Here are some pics of what we did!


Here we are bright and early at the airport - probably around 4:30am and had been up since 3:15 am.

I am only a Palm tree hugger!

It wouldn't be a holiday for Chad and I if we didn't hit up a stadium. Here we are a Qualcomm stadium, home of the Chargers and SDSU Aztecs.


First baseball game ever! I don't even like baseball but I had a lot of fun.

Hotdogs and beer for dinner. This is the first trip in 6 years where I didn't have a bike, swim gear, or running shoes and was able to kick back and relax!

Sea World at the Shamu show

Walking along Pacific beach watching all of the crazies in the COLD COLD water!

USS Midway - retired aircraft carrier

Lastly, in this pic we are on the double decker bus tour at the San Diego Zoo.

Since we have been home I have been recuperating from our trip! There is always too much to see and do on holidays so we never rest at all!

Happy Training!

Leslie

Hitting the trails

Hey guys,

So I have been busy...maybe not with triathlon but with everything else in my life!

Rexy has been doing great in agility classes...here we come superdogs! woooo hoooo! She loves to work hard and is ready to do anything anytime. Our challenge for the last couple of weeks was to work on her "off" switch. For anyone who has met her will immediately know the challenge we are in for. Surprisingly she is getting there. We still have to give it a command...so to her she is still working...we tell her to "chill!"

We volunteered for the Spring Thaw Trio on the weekend at an aid station. It was weird because we had 2 stations: the first just past the turn around - the idea was to go around the turn around and then hit the aid station. The 2nd aid station was for the 15km racers just past the 10km turn around. This shouldn't be hard...but for the majority of the runners it was. They kept crossing the pathways to get to the aid station - good thing it was a small race and there weren't people running into each other!


I also headed out to West Bragg Creek with the ladies from work again and we miscalculated the distance of trails - aimed for 7 km and ended up doing 10 km. That was a challenge for this road junkie. All of the snow was still melting out there so we were all full of mud and dirt - tons of fun!Not to mention I did an 80 min run 2 days before that! Whew! I also through in a day of hill repeats in there last week and I did them again tonight!


These were white when we started!




This weekend is a little slower than the last - whew! Rexy and I will be without Chad for class this week, we will see how it goes!

Good luck to everyone running the Calgary Police Half Marathon and 5km this Sunday!

Happy Training

My Feet Hurt!

Hey all,

I haven't been up to much since my last post. I have taken to trail running of late and needless to say it is kicking my butt. There are some pretty good hills out there and I am loving the challenge.

I am still battling with my asthma - this spring sucks big time. Especially with the crazy wind, rain, and snow we have been having.

A girlfriend and I went out to Bragg Creek today for an easy 5 km run and it was so nice to be in the mountains. Within 5 mins I wiped out on the ice...but I managed to catch myself on the way down and there was no harm done. I do need a new pair of trail runners as the bottoms of my feet are very sore.

Other than that nothing new here, I can tell that summer is on the way because we are getting busier and busier.

Happy Training!

Leslie

On the mend

Hey guys,

I have been out of commission as of late due to a chest infection and then I caught another cold. Talk about a crappy week. All I could do was walk and even that was a challenge some days. I am off the antibiotics but I still can't go anywhere without my inhaler. In the evenings my chest would be so tight it was hard to breathe while I was sitting on the couch.

Yesterday I volunteered at the St.Patricks Day Road Race with the Kerby Center (organised by Chad of course!). It was a lot of fun. I like being in the race environment because I find it motivating. We were at the finish line collecting timing chips. Chad ran the 5km and he said he felt really good the entire time. He has been running a few times per week at lunch time so his training is starting to workout for him.

It is a new week so I hope things go a little better for me. The past couple of days I have been noticeably better so I am going to give running a go today.

Happy Training everyone!

Blitz Snowshoe Fun Run

Hey guys,

Here are some pics of the race in no particular order - I was too lazy to move them around!

Chad and Rexy post race

I love the mountains!

So the race on Saturday was tough. It started out okay and we were gradually going up and the next turn came around the corner and it was straight up on a narrow little trail. All I could think was oh boy I am in for it now. This makes big bertha seem like nothing. My asthma has been terrible since I have been sick. If I do anything above zone 2 I can barely breathe after, it is awful. So needless to say when this race was done I was a hurting unit. It was a ton of fun and I think we will do it again. Running on the trails in snowshoes was a lot of fun, there were fallen trees to go over, packed snow, powder snow, big hills...couldn't ask for more. I came in 4th overall and Chad came in 3rd...so not so bad for people who barely snowshoe.

Part of the trail

.

Getting ready

Pre-race

Chad putting on snowshoes for the first time

Rexy race morning...no doubt wondering what the hell her mommy and daddy were up to.