These are some pics I took running down by the river a few weeks ago. I just figured out how to put new pics onto the new computer so here you go! 
Rexy was too busy looking at the ducks
Rexy was too busy looking at the ducks
Monday, February 22, 2010
Short and Sweet
Hey!
So I will keep this short and to the point...
The move went well and we are almost settled in. Man what a difference a 3 bedroom house makes compared to a 1 bedroom apartment! Rexy is also loving having a deck and a yard...we can't get her to come inside now.
Over the course of the move I also caught a cold - bad combination. So I had a few sick days in there.
I tried running in snoeshoes for the first time last Wednesday and it was hard! I did a run/walk for about an hour. I would run until I couldn't anymore and then I would walk until I was able to breathe again. By the end of it I was getting into a rhythm, especially on the flats. The race this weekend should be interesting but at least I only signed up for the 4 km.
Other than that the usual biking and running has been going down. I have to start swimming soon as well. It is going to be hard for the first while - thats the worst part of taking a break, how much it hurts when you start again.
Happy training everyone!
So I will keep this short and to the point...
The move went well and we are almost settled in. Man what a difference a 3 bedroom house makes compared to a 1 bedroom apartment! Rexy is also loving having a deck and a yard...we can't get her to come inside now.
Over the course of the move I also caught a cold - bad combination. So I had a few sick days in there.
I tried running in snoeshoes for the first time last Wednesday and it was hard! I did a run/walk for about an hour. I would run until I couldn't anymore and then I would walk until I was able to breathe again. By the end of it I was getting into a rhythm, especially on the flats. The race this weekend should be interesting but at least I only signed up for the 4 km.
Other than that the usual biking and running has been going down. I have to start swimming soon as well. It is going to be hard for the first while - thats the worst part of taking a break, how much it hurts when you start again.
Happy training everyone!
Friday, January 29, 2010
I got told....
So 2 mintutes into the time trial last night I told Greg my numbers (which include heart rate, cadence and power) and he told me it was time to start training. So I may be a little out of shape then??? Yes sirrrreeee.
So I have planned out my weekend and hopefully I will get through with some training in. I an going to run or bike tomorrow...we'll see what I feel like. Sunday I am going snowshoeing and Monday I will run, Tuesday bike class.
We will see how this goes!
So I have planned out my weekend and hopefully I will get through with some training in. I an going to run or bike tomorrow...we'll see what I feel like. Sunday I am going snowshoeing and Monday I will run, Tuesday bike class.
We will see how this goes!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
For Darryl
Hey Guys,
Here are some Rexy pics for you!
This is Chad and Rexy the night we got home from Mexico
This is one of my favorite pics of her
Christmas card photoWell I am still unmotivated and being lazy...not as much as before but still nothing regular or concrete. I really need to sign up for some races to get me going. Chad found a snowshoeing race so I think we may do that! Something to get me going and should be a ton of fun. There is a 4km and an 8 km, I think we will start with a 4 km perhaps?? I am going snowshoeing this weekend with a friend so that will give a good judge of distance. I have never known how far I go when I snowshoe...I just go until I am tired. Good cross training none the less.
In other news Rexy is still doing well at doggy school, but she is a little ADD and gets us in trouble with the instructor. Like when she barks at us because she is bored while the lady is talking...kinda funny but not good!
We have a time trial tomorrow night at bike class. The last one I did of these was one month before Ironman Cozumel so this should be interesting!
Happy Training
Monday, January 18, 2010
Lost It
Hey guys,
So today I went for a run and it was so hard...have I lost all of my fitness cuz it sure feels that way. I am recovering from being sick, so for now I will blame the wheeziness I experienced today on that and not my lazy ass.
I have been back to bike class, running here and there...no swimming though. I think I am going to get the running and biking back to something kind of regular before I brave the pool.
In other news Chad and I are moving. As of February 15th we will be moving to a house in Montgomery...we are excited. It has a fenced yard so our little monster can run around. Speaking of our little monster Rexy is now in dog classes each week. We go every Saturday and she is way to smart for her own good. When we introduce something new she has it within 5 min and ready to move on. Smart little buggar.
Catchya lata.
So today I went for a run and it was so hard...have I lost all of my fitness cuz it sure feels that way. I am recovering from being sick, so for now I will blame the wheeziness I experienced today on that and not my lazy ass.
I have been back to bike class, running here and there...no swimming though. I think I am going to get the running and biking back to something kind of regular before I brave the pool.
In other news Chad and I are moving. As of February 15th we will be moving to a house in Montgomery...we are excited. It has a fenced yard so our little monster can run around. Speaking of our little monster Rexy is now in dog classes each week. We go every Saturday and she is way to smart for her own good. When we introduce something new she has it within 5 min and ready to move on. Smart little buggar.
Catchya lata.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Almost time...
It is about time for me to start the base training for the 2010 season...hmmmm...am I ready yet? I normally don't like being lazy, but December was nice. I still walked Rexy everyday, did some weights, did some short runs, snowshoed a bit, but what I liked most was not having my life revolve around triathlon training. I was and still am a bit mentally tired of training!
I am starting to miss it so I am ready for a little unstructured training now. Tomorrow bike class starts again and I think I may keel over and die...nothing like a good ass kicking to get you back on the wagon.
I started looking at races for next year today, I am going to have to consult my other half before I make any decisions...this is afterall his break from Ironman too!
Boise state is playing in the Fiesta bowl tonight...go broncs!
I am starting to miss it so I am ready for a little unstructured training now. Tomorrow bike class starts again and I think I may keel over and die...nothing like a good ass kicking to get you back on the wagon.
I started looking at races for next year today, I am going to have to consult my other half before I make any decisions...this is afterall his break from Ironman too!
Boise state is playing in the Fiesta bowl tonight...go broncs!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Ironman Cozumel Race Report
Hey guys,
I know it has been a long time coming to write my race report...our computer was broken so thus no race report. I am also so very behind in blogland.
Where to begin....
Pre Race
I woke up race morning feeling okay. I choked down my breakfast; I always have a hard time eating race morning. Got all of my stuff, had a shower and we were out the door. Once I got to the race site I had the race dread feeling...but not like last year. I can not believe how different your second Ironman is compared to the first. You don't have the same unknown excited nervous anxious feeling. It was just the same old race nerves.
I got my bike all set up, to the porta potti, dry clothes bag drop off, body marking was done the day before...so all I had left to do was a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, and a 42 km run. No worries right?
Swim.
I saw Chad and Susi's parents (who are a great cheering squad) on my way out to the swim. The swim started off of the pier so into the water and I did the same as last year at IMC - lined myself up with the buoys. In water swim starts are not nearly as exciting as standing on the beach because yoiu have no idea what is going on until you are swimming.
This was such an easy swim. It was not very rough at all - the same craziness at the turns though. We swam with the buoys on the left in a counterclockwise direction in a big rectangle. We were against the current until the first buoy, but the water was soooo nice a calm you could hardly tell (especially with the waves leading up to the race).
After the second buoy it was smooth sailing because we were with the current. The water was sooooo crystal clear, I saw fish, starfish, and got stung by four jellyfish. The swim was really uneventful....I was sight seeing the bottom of the ocean the entire time. There was some guy who was drafting off of me the entire time who kept touching my feet which got pretty annoying after an hour or so.
T1
Transition went pretty smoothly. Except running on the gravel hurt the feet and the door to the womens tent were proped open a bit and there were tons of people wandering around outside - they maybe got a bit of a show. I wore a swimsuit in the water and changed into my shorts and jersey.
Bike - 3 laps
I think this is the hardest bike ride I have ever done. I had so much stuff going on I will try to remember it all.
My legs were tired and feeling dead right away. I was trying to spin them out to get them moving but they weren't having it. This happend to me at Sylvan this year too...not too sure what that is about. There was a crazy head/crosswind on the southside of the island which was like nothing I have ever experienced. This will keep you honest let me tell ya. I just couldn't get comfortable in aero and I must have been hitting a nerve because I was getting numbness down my leg. I think this was do to the wind, I must have been sitting funny because as soon as I turned out of the wind it stopped.
After about 50 km I was beginning to feel good and I put the hammer down for awhile. I was making some head way into having the race I wanted when I got a flat at about 100km. There was no cloud cover yet so I was sweating it out in the sun while I changed my tire. This was the turning point in the race for me in a couple of ways.
Once I got back onto my bike I resumed my nutrition plan and intensity right away. Live and learn...do not do this...especially in the heat when it is harder to eat anyway. About 20 min after getting back on the bike my stomach started acting up. I was also mad about all of the time I lost changing my tire. I think the only reason I was so stuck on this was because I wasn't feeling so good and once you get into negative thought spiral it is hard to get out.
A three lap course is so hard mentally! I didn't think it would be but holly crap it was aweful. The wind had gotten worse which I didn't think was possible and my GI problems just continued to get worse. I was so very excited to get back into town and hang up my bike.
T2
Transition welcomed wobbly legs for me and I could really feel the humidity. I changed, hit the porta potti and was out the door.
Run
This is what everyone warned me about of flat courses. They use the same muscle groups on the bike and the run - no hills to break it up. Normally when I get off the bike I am ready to rock...not so much. I had a hard time regulating my breathing and finding my legs - they were tired already - uh-oh was all I could think. Even so I kept running and my stomach kept hurting and the negative/positive thoughts were rambling around in my head. I kept flipping back and forth from "it will be okay...you had a rough bike...your legs will come around...this race goal is not out of reach for you" and "if my legs hurt this much within the first 5 km what and I going to feel like for the last half of the marathon." Around and around I went for the first lap of the run.
3/4 of the way through the first lap my legs started feeling better but my stomach still was not. I was able to run and maintain an okay pace but it was not happy. I started trying everything I knew to get rid of an upset stomach; the problem was that they didn't have the same stuff at each aid station. Crackers, water, pop...I tried it all.
The second lap was my best on the run. I had managed my GI problems enough to run with it and my legs were not hurting as bad and Greg told me to try and catch him. So I did. At about 1/4 of the way into the third lap I realized I wasn't going to get my goal time and gave up a bit. I was taking more and more walk breaks and my GI problems were getting worse. I was having sharp pains across my abdomen and mentally I was having a tough time. I did the run walk run thing for awhile until I could come up with a new game plan.
It had been a battle since km 100 on the bike so I was happy just finishing the race but I could not allow myself to enter into the 15 hour mark. I may have been close but I suffered my way to the finish line.
What a day.
This race tested me in every way possible. I learned so much about Ironman from this race - Ironman Canada was a piece of cake next to this one. It will take me a long time to willingly sign up for a flat course again. It was physically and mentally tough - I like the hills, they break up the race so much espescially for the bike. I am happy I did it for all of these reasons - that is why Ironman is such a great accomplishment. You can have the perfect training season, but there are sooooo many variables that can make up your day. I am not done with Ironman...there will be more of them for me just not next year :)
The part of this race that I didn't mention in my report was the people out there cheering you on. Going through town on the bike was awesome - it was like mainstreet IMC 3 times but in spanish. So fun and the people there were so great. I have so many pics that we took of the trip - you will have to make a coffee date with me to see most of those because we took over 400 pics and hardly any of those were of the race. I still have to order my official photos also - but they got some good ones.
That is all I remember for now.
Happy Holidays everyone!
I know it has been a long time coming to write my race report...our computer was broken so thus no race report. I am also so very behind in blogland.
Where to begin....
Pre Race
I woke up race morning feeling okay. I choked down my breakfast; I always have a hard time eating race morning. Got all of my stuff, had a shower and we were out the door. Once I got to the race site I had the race dread feeling...but not like last year. I can not believe how different your second Ironman is compared to the first. You don't have the same unknown excited nervous anxious feeling. It was just the same old race nerves.
I got my bike all set up, to the porta potti, dry clothes bag drop off, body marking was done the day before...so all I had left to do was a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, and a 42 km run. No worries right?
Swim.
I saw Chad and Susi's parents (who are a great cheering squad) on my way out to the swim. The swim started off of the pier so into the water and I did the same as last year at IMC - lined myself up with the buoys. In water swim starts are not nearly as exciting as standing on the beach because yoiu have no idea what is going on until you are swimming.
This was such an easy swim. It was not very rough at all - the same craziness at the turns though. We swam with the buoys on the left in a counterclockwise direction in a big rectangle. We were against the current until the first buoy, but the water was soooo nice a calm you could hardly tell (especially with the waves leading up to the race).
After the second buoy it was smooth sailing because we were with the current. The water was sooooo crystal clear, I saw fish, starfish, and got stung by four jellyfish. The swim was really uneventful....I was sight seeing the bottom of the ocean the entire time. There was some guy who was drafting off of me the entire time who kept touching my feet which got pretty annoying after an hour or so.
T1
Transition went pretty smoothly. Except running on the gravel hurt the feet and the door to the womens tent were proped open a bit and there were tons of people wandering around outside - they maybe got a bit of a show. I wore a swimsuit in the water and changed into my shorts and jersey.
Bike - 3 laps
I think this is the hardest bike ride I have ever done. I had so much stuff going on I will try to remember it all.
My legs were tired and feeling dead right away. I was trying to spin them out to get them moving but they weren't having it. This happend to me at Sylvan this year too...not too sure what that is about. There was a crazy head/crosswind on the southside of the island which was like nothing I have ever experienced. This will keep you honest let me tell ya. I just couldn't get comfortable in aero and I must have been hitting a nerve because I was getting numbness down my leg. I think this was do to the wind, I must have been sitting funny because as soon as I turned out of the wind it stopped.
After about 50 km I was beginning to feel good and I put the hammer down for awhile. I was making some head way into having the race I wanted when I got a flat at about 100km. There was no cloud cover yet so I was sweating it out in the sun while I changed my tire. This was the turning point in the race for me in a couple of ways.
Once I got back onto my bike I resumed my nutrition plan and intensity right away. Live and learn...do not do this...especially in the heat when it is harder to eat anyway. About 20 min after getting back on the bike my stomach started acting up. I was also mad about all of the time I lost changing my tire. I think the only reason I was so stuck on this was because I wasn't feeling so good and once you get into negative thought spiral it is hard to get out.
A three lap course is so hard mentally! I didn't think it would be but holly crap it was aweful. The wind had gotten worse which I didn't think was possible and my GI problems just continued to get worse. I was so very excited to get back into town and hang up my bike.
T2
Transition welcomed wobbly legs for me and I could really feel the humidity. I changed, hit the porta potti and was out the door.
Run
This is what everyone warned me about of flat courses. They use the same muscle groups on the bike and the run - no hills to break it up. Normally when I get off the bike I am ready to rock...not so much. I had a hard time regulating my breathing and finding my legs - they were tired already - uh-oh was all I could think. Even so I kept running and my stomach kept hurting and the negative/positive thoughts were rambling around in my head. I kept flipping back and forth from "it will be okay...you had a rough bike...your legs will come around...this race goal is not out of reach for you" and "if my legs hurt this much within the first 5 km what and I going to feel like for the last half of the marathon." Around and around I went for the first lap of the run.
3/4 of the way through the first lap my legs started feeling better but my stomach still was not. I was able to run and maintain an okay pace but it was not happy. I started trying everything I knew to get rid of an upset stomach; the problem was that they didn't have the same stuff at each aid station. Crackers, water, pop...I tried it all.
The second lap was my best on the run. I had managed my GI problems enough to run with it and my legs were not hurting as bad and Greg told me to try and catch him. So I did. At about 1/4 of the way into the third lap I realized I wasn't going to get my goal time and gave up a bit. I was taking more and more walk breaks and my GI problems were getting worse. I was having sharp pains across my abdomen and mentally I was having a tough time. I did the run walk run thing for awhile until I could come up with a new game plan.
It had been a battle since km 100 on the bike so I was happy just finishing the race but I could not allow myself to enter into the 15 hour mark. I may have been close but I suffered my way to the finish line.
What a day.
This race tested me in every way possible. I learned so much about Ironman from this race - Ironman Canada was a piece of cake next to this one. It will take me a long time to willingly sign up for a flat course again. It was physically and mentally tough - I like the hills, they break up the race so much espescially for the bike. I am happy I did it for all of these reasons - that is why Ironman is such a great accomplishment. You can have the perfect training season, but there are sooooo many variables that can make up your day. I am not done with Ironman...there will be more of them for me just not next year :)
The part of this race that I didn't mention in my report was the people out there cheering you on. Going through town on the bike was awesome - it was like mainstreet IMC 3 times but in spanish. So fun and the people there were so great. I have so many pics that we took of the trip - you will have to make a coffee date with me to see most of those because we took over 400 pics and hardly any of those were of the race. I still have to order my official photos also - but they got some good ones.
That is all I remember for now.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Race Ready!
Holla!
So we have had an interesting trip so far. On Wednesday we were up at 3:30 am and off to the airport by 4:30am. Got there, got checked in, through security, waiting by our gait and my name gets called to return to security.
INSTANT PANIC! So I go back and had to watch on a little screen while they looked through my bag. \i have all of my race stuff in there so I was worried. Alas they found my CO2 cartriges that I thought I had hidden so well. If Greg tells you you can get them through...he lies. SO got that taken care of, go meet up with the group and 5 min later my name gets called again. BLAH! This time I had to go to the agents desk. Turns out the security people don't talk to the agent desk...and they called me about the same thing. Again get back with the group and my name gets called a third time. By now I have had about 3 hours of sleep and I was getting really cranky. They needed my address for some reason, so after that I made it onto the plane and safely to Dallas.
The rest of the trip went pretty good until we got to Mexico and then it was a shit show again....well a little bit anyway. The cab drivers are crazies! We made it to playa del carmen through mant many back roads; if we had to drive ourselves there I don't think we would have made it. So we get to this road and the guy tells us that we are at the ferry terminal and to get out. There was no water anywhere...just stone buidlings and a crap load of people. \you can hire these guys on bikes to carry your luggage to the ferry...they started loading our stuff up and took off towards this mysterious "ferry." We finally found water and a boat and two of us had to go with the luggage and the others went to stand in line. Keep in mind that to learn this there were hundreds of people around who only spoke spanish and just pointed to us to tell us where to go. I was a little afraid of loosing my bike!
Once on the ferry I learned that this is the roughest ferry ever and for the first time in my life got seasick. It was terrible. Thank goodness for Susie's mom Kate for having gravol. I am sure that kept me from heaving all over people! We got to Cozumel...got to the condo and then went for groceries. Again....store closing and trying to read spanish labels to buy food! Blah. We had also been up for almost 20 hours by this point.
Other than the first day it has been pretty easy going. Everybody is super friendly. I even bartered for a necklace! Yeah me.
tomorrow is race day and I am not nervous yet. This will change once I get to the race site.
Now for all of you Ironman newbies following the race it is:
Swin 3.8 km
Bike 180 km
Run 42 km
we have 17 hours to complete it. My number is 59 and you can search at www.ironmanlive.com and I will hopefully update my blog in the next couple of days!
Until then...
Adios
So we have had an interesting trip so far. On Wednesday we were up at 3:30 am and off to the airport by 4:30am. Got there, got checked in, through security, waiting by our gait and my name gets called to return to security.
INSTANT PANIC! So I go back and had to watch on a little screen while they looked through my bag. \i have all of my race stuff in there so I was worried. Alas they found my CO2 cartriges that I thought I had hidden so well. If Greg tells you you can get them through...he lies. SO got that taken care of, go meet up with the group and 5 min later my name gets called again. BLAH! This time I had to go to the agents desk. Turns out the security people don't talk to the agent desk...and they called me about the same thing. Again get back with the group and my name gets called a third time. By now I have had about 3 hours of sleep and I was getting really cranky. They needed my address for some reason, so after that I made it onto the plane and safely to Dallas.
The rest of the trip went pretty good until we got to Mexico and then it was a shit show again....well a little bit anyway. The cab drivers are crazies! We made it to playa del carmen through mant many back roads; if we had to drive ourselves there I don't think we would have made it. So we get to this road and the guy tells us that we are at the ferry terminal and to get out. There was no water anywhere...just stone buidlings and a crap load of people. \you can hire these guys on bikes to carry your luggage to the ferry...they started loading our stuff up and took off towards this mysterious "ferry." We finally found water and a boat and two of us had to go with the luggage and the others went to stand in line. Keep in mind that to learn this there were hundreds of people around who only spoke spanish and just pointed to us to tell us where to go. I was a little afraid of loosing my bike!
Once on the ferry I learned that this is the roughest ferry ever and for the first time in my life got seasick. It was terrible. Thank goodness for Susie's mom Kate for having gravol. I am sure that kept me from heaving all over people! We got to Cozumel...got to the condo and then went for groceries. Again....store closing and trying to read spanish labels to buy food! Blah. We had also been up for almost 20 hours by this point.
Other than the first day it has been pretty easy going. Everybody is super friendly. I even bartered for a necklace! Yeah me.
tomorrow is race day and I am not nervous yet. This will change once I get to the race site.
Now for all of you Ironman newbies following the race it is:
Swin 3.8 km
Bike 180 km
Run 42 km
we have 17 hours to complete it. My number is 59 and you can search at www.ironmanlive.com and I will hopefully update my blog in the next couple of days!
Until then...
Adios
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