I am finally gearing up for Ironman Cozumel.
Last week I was back with the group for a 95 min ride...in the wind of course! Ahhhh....felt like I never left, other than the burning in my legs that started after about 75 min!
I did a long run on the weekend and Greg managed to get me back in the pool for a swim. I also did a little Yoga on the weekend so I am slowly getting back into the groove of training!
Today was a hill repeat run which got the best of me. Man it was hard. I was so happy when I was on the 6th one because the pain would soon be ending!
Stay tuned more swimming, biking, and running to come!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Changes
Hey guys!
I have been away from blogging for a couple of weeks now and it has been busy! I will start with Sylvan Lake Half Ironman.
We got up bright and early on Sunday morning (July 26th). The forecast said sunny and 24...not so much. While we were on the way up all we could see was lightning and dark glumey clouds. As we rolled into transition they announced that they were going to delay the race in hopes of keeping the race a triathlon. So I had tons of time to get ready and wait.
They ended up changing the swim course and making it 2 loops. If you have ever been to Sylvan you will know that it is very shallow for a long way out. So for the start of the swim we were swimming into the waves (which is never fun even if they are small ones) and running half of the way out! The turn at the first buoy was pretty rough but after that it was smooth sailing until we headed back into shore. We were up and running through knee high water again...which is actually very hard. Second loop went better than the first and as I ran by Greg into transition I heard him say better than boise...yesssss.
Transition went smoothly and I was out on the bike course in no time. The first 45 km of the bike my legs felt like they were cased in cement or something. I was getting frustrated as people continued to fly by me. Once we hit the out and back I was starting to feel a bit better and by 60 km I hit the rollars and never looked back. I would pick someone in front of me and catch them and kept doing that until I got back into town.
The run was awesome. I felt the best on the run than I had all day. The sun had come out and it was starting to get hot. It was a different run course this year; two loops with tons of little out and backs. I thought that they were going to have HEED out on the course but I found out right before the race that it was going to be Gatorade. I hate Gatorade with a passion. So I decided to have one drink of Gatorade and dilute it with water every 3-4 aid stations. This is not a lot of calories or electrolytes but it did the trick and I didn't feel sick at all on the run.
Here are the overall results:
Swim - 36:32
Bike - 3:33
Run - 2:04
Total - 6:14
My transitions are included in the bike time so it looks a little slower than Boise - my bike in Boise was 3:26. I thought I had a bike PR but it doesn't look that way!
On Monday I started my new job with Prospect. There is a lot to learn but I think that I will really enjoy working here. They seem to be a great team trying to get clients out in the community more by doing outdoor activities and exercise! Everyone has been great to me so far. I have been super tired though...whoa...learning a new position sure uses more brain power than I am used to.
Last weekend Chad did his 70.3 and it was a crazy busy weekend running around for that. It was a little disorganised in some parts so it made a lot more work for us! He had a great day and finished his first half! Now we just need to convince him to do another one! Chad also got a new job working at the Kirby Center so on Monday we went shopping for the day because he had to buy some dress clothes. He hates shopping so I dragged him around the mall and made him try stuff on!
I have been doing some light training, not a lot of biking lately due to the crappy weather. I am okay with that because Lucy and I will be spending a lot of time together at the end of the month as I gear up for Ironman Cozumel! Oh and Greg booked our trip and I have the time off so we are good to go!
I do have pictures from the races that I will post. Happy Training!
I have been away from blogging for a couple of weeks now and it has been busy! I will start with Sylvan Lake Half Ironman.
We got up bright and early on Sunday morning (July 26th). The forecast said sunny and 24...not so much. While we were on the way up all we could see was lightning and dark glumey clouds. As we rolled into transition they announced that they were going to delay the race in hopes of keeping the race a triathlon. So I had tons of time to get ready and wait.
They ended up changing the swim course and making it 2 loops. If you have ever been to Sylvan you will know that it is very shallow for a long way out. So for the start of the swim we were swimming into the waves (which is never fun even if they are small ones) and running half of the way out! The turn at the first buoy was pretty rough but after that it was smooth sailing until we headed back into shore. We were up and running through knee high water again...which is actually very hard. Second loop went better than the first and as I ran by Greg into transition I heard him say better than boise...yesssss.
Transition went smoothly and I was out on the bike course in no time. The first 45 km of the bike my legs felt like they were cased in cement or something. I was getting frustrated as people continued to fly by me. Once we hit the out and back I was starting to feel a bit better and by 60 km I hit the rollars and never looked back. I would pick someone in front of me and catch them and kept doing that until I got back into town.
The run was awesome. I felt the best on the run than I had all day. The sun had come out and it was starting to get hot. It was a different run course this year; two loops with tons of little out and backs. I thought that they were going to have HEED out on the course but I found out right before the race that it was going to be Gatorade. I hate Gatorade with a passion. So I decided to have one drink of Gatorade and dilute it with water every 3-4 aid stations. This is not a lot of calories or electrolytes but it did the trick and I didn't feel sick at all on the run.
Here are the overall results:
Swim - 36:32
Bike - 3:33
Run - 2:04
Total - 6:14
My transitions are included in the bike time so it looks a little slower than Boise - my bike in Boise was 3:26. I thought I had a bike PR but it doesn't look that way!
On Monday I started my new job with Prospect. There is a lot to learn but I think that I will really enjoy working here. They seem to be a great team trying to get clients out in the community more by doing outdoor activities and exercise! Everyone has been great to me so far. I have been super tired though...whoa...learning a new position sure uses more brain power than I am used to.
Last weekend Chad did his 70.3 and it was a crazy busy weekend running around for that. It was a little disorganised in some parts so it made a lot more work for us! He had a great day and finished his first half! Now we just need to convince him to do another one! Chad also got a new job working at the Kirby Center so on Monday we went shopping for the day because he had to buy some dress clothes. He hates shopping so I dragged him around the mall and made him try stuff on!
I have been doing some light training, not a lot of biking lately due to the crappy weather. I am okay with that because Lucy and I will be spending a lot of time together at the end of the month as I gear up for Ironman Cozumel! Oh and Greg booked our trip and I have the time off so we are good to go!
I do have pictures from the races that I will post. Happy Training!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Backseat Training
It has been a crazy couple of weeks. My car getting broken into, my hours got cut back at work, interviews for a new job, and lastly getting the new job. Whew! This is waaaay more stress than I am used to...kind of puts the stupid little things I stress over into perspective.
Having said that I did get all of my cards replaced...they are in the mail. I did not get any of my stuff replaced yet, that will take time:) Chad arranged for his client Gerry to fix the lock on my car last Thursday....THANK YOU GERRY! YOU ARE AWESOME!
I am super excited about my new job. I know it will be a challenge but I am up for it. I have been looking for awhile now...things were going from bad to worse at my current job and my wonderful boyfriend Chad pointed me in the direction of this one.
SO
I am going to be developing outdoor programs for people who have disabilities. If a client comes in and they want to go skiing they can head up to COP and an instructor up there will be educated on how to teach them. I am going to be the person educating the instructors how to teach people with disabilities to do outdoor activities. Make sense??? I know it is confusing...but I will be developing community outreach programs. I love the outdoors and everything activity has to offer, I like to teach and work with people, and I am an organisational freak....perfect! I start on Monday! Soooo excited.
The downside is that I have to leave my clients at SFL. That is the sole reason why I stayed there so long, I will miss them a lot! When the work environment you are in goes in the crapper...it is time for change and change is good!
ALSO...look what I got...
There was a client at work who is a bit of a quilter and after ironman I asked her if she would make me a quilt out of my race shirts! I love it. A big THANK YOU TO GWEN! I love it I love it I love it.
Oh right...and then there was training. I missed my bikes last week. This is probably the first time I have missed bike group (other than being away or deathly ill of course) since I started with Greg last march! Holla! My legs hated me when I was biking on Saturday...they told me so the entire time...its okay I deserved it.
Running is good, swimming is good (finally!) and that's about it. I am racing sylvan this weekend. There are a lot of thoughts rambling around inside my head about this one....Greg we may need to have a race day chat...I'm scared. More on that in another post though.
That's it for tonight...I am off to bed...I hope you understood my rambling!
Happy Training!
Having said that I did get all of my cards replaced...they are in the mail. I did not get any of my stuff replaced yet, that will take time:) Chad arranged for his client Gerry to fix the lock on my car last Thursday....THANK YOU GERRY! YOU ARE AWESOME!
I am super excited about my new job. I know it will be a challenge but I am up for it. I have been looking for awhile now...things were going from bad to worse at my current job and my wonderful boyfriend Chad pointed me in the direction of this one.
SO
I am going to be developing outdoor programs for people who have disabilities. If a client comes in and they want to go skiing they can head up to COP and an instructor up there will be educated on how to teach them. I am going to be the person educating the instructors how to teach people with disabilities to do outdoor activities. Make sense??? I know it is confusing...but I will be developing community outreach programs. I love the outdoors and everything activity has to offer, I like to teach and work with people, and I am an organisational freak....perfect! I start on Monday! Soooo excited.
The downside is that I have to leave my clients at SFL. That is the sole reason why I stayed there so long, I will miss them a lot! When the work environment you are in goes in the crapper...it is time for change and change is good!
ALSO...look what I got...
There was a client at work who is a bit of a quilter and after ironman I asked her if she would make me a quilt out of my race shirts! I love it. A big THANK YOU TO GWEN! I love it I love it I love it. Oh right...and then there was training. I missed my bikes last week. This is probably the first time I have missed bike group (other than being away or deathly ill of course) since I started with Greg last march! Holla! My legs hated me when I was biking on Saturday...they told me so the entire time...its okay I deserved it.
Running is good, swimming is good (finally!) and that's about it. I am racing sylvan this weekend. There are a lot of thoughts rambling around inside my head about this one....Greg we may need to have a race day chat...I'm scared. More on that in another post though.
That's it for tonight...I am off to bed...I hope you understood my rambling!
Happy Training!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Raining Cats and Dogs
Hey gang!
I really really need to post more than once a week. There is too much to remember otherwise! Here it goes...
Monday
I had really tired legs from my hilly and hot run in medicine hat on Sunday, so I set out to do a recovery run with Rexy at the dog park. This way she could go and snoop while I hobbled around! My legs were tired so tired that after 30 mins I just decided to stop because I wasn't having any fun at all. Normally it gets better as you run...not this time it started out okay and got worse!
Tuesday
I headed up to the church and it was about 6:15 when I got there. I got everything together and waited for everybody else to show up....no one came! I figured I had missed an email or something, I called up Greg, got a workout and I was off on my own to do some big gear, lower cadence intervals. I didn't ride with the group last year on Tuesday's so I don't know where a lot of the roads are in this area but I knew I would need more time than just out to cochrane and back so I turned on Lochend??? road and did another little out and back. There was a pretty good head wind going out (what else is new....seriously) but I was able to ride home at a comfortable pace. I liked the over gear training, it was something different so that was good. I tend to dread "pace work" nights! I am getting better at training at certain race paces but there is a lot of room for improvement! I guess I should look at the bright side...at least I can ride at different paces now rather than just trying to survive!
Wednesday
I went for a run for about 50 min with 20 min of tempo in there. I am in need of figuring out what "tempo" means cuz I tend to just run faster and faster and then I can barely hold on for the whole time...I don't think this is what I am supposed to be doing! Oops..live and learn hey!
Wednesday night was group swim and we did some longer distance stuff. I have been working on the "catch" of my stroke for what feels like forever now and it is finally almost a habit. This has been plaguing me for awhile so I was pretty happy with how the swim went....even though I did it all pull!
Thursday
Hill night! I like hill night. The weather was crappy so we went to do hill repeats at Edworthy park. When I got there I saw Darryl right away...we got ready and headed out to meet Greg. This was only my second time doing repeats at Edworthy...they are still hard! It starts out not so bad but as you get up to the top it gets a lot steeper and it hurts!! I did 12 all together...I was done after 11 but Darryl convinced me to do another one for a cool down. Only triathletes ride up and down hills and call them warm up and cool down...and make it harder in between. I am definitely stronger at climbing, not so much at bike handling! I was too busy paying attention to what everyone else was doing...turned on gravel and ended up on the road. Does it count as a crash if you were going less than 5 km/hr?? Anyway my leg now has a little road rash and bruising on it!
Once we finished up with the hills we went back to our cars, I opened up my truck and all of my stuff was gone. I couldn't believe it! They had taken everything...my purse (which I normally don't have with me when I am biking), my clothes, my bike bag, and I had just bought $70.00 in bars, gels, and chomps at Tri-it, all gone I was soooo pissed. They broke the lock on my car too and did some damage to the body. Darryl checked and some of his stuff was missing too. Ironically I am more mad about my bike bag, nutrition, and clothes. My credit cards etc are all easily replaceable but they took all of my stuff that is now probably sitting in a dumpster somewhere. I am still more than a little bitter about this...
Friday night we went out to Medicine Hat for the weekend. A HUGE thank you to Becky, Dave and the boys for being such great hosts to us over the last couple of weekends! The feed us and we steal Logan's bed all of the time! I really appreciate you guys being so supportive...even if you think we are crazy for biking and training so much!
Saturday
I headed out from Becky and Dave's and headed out on Hwy 41. There was one hell of a head/crosswind which made me hurt thats for sure. Greg had given me some upper zone 2 work to do for a couple of hours as well as 1/2 IM pace for the last hour. It was windy, hilly, and hot...gotta love it! When I got back I went out for a quick transition run for 25 min.
Sunday
My plan was to get up at about 9 to go for my run...that didn't happen. I ended up sleeping longer than I intended and I learned my lesson running in 29 degree heat the weekend before. So I put my run off until I got home. I also had 2 beer on Saturday night, it has been about 2-3 years since I had a beer so I had a wee bit of a headache on Sunday.
Once we got home I was tired and headachey and didn't want to run. I dug deep deep deep into the motivation pool and headed out the door. I could feel my bike ride in my legs and they were not happy. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it took me a good 25 min to feel okay but once I got home I felt like I could keep running if I wanted to!
Today I have an easy recovery run and swim (that I missed last night...sorry Darryl we suck when it comes to planning sometimes :) Hopefully this rain cooperates and lets up a little, I don't think my rain jacket stands a chance it this downpour!
Until next time...happy training guys!
I really really need to post more than once a week. There is too much to remember otherwise! Here it goes...
Monday
I had really tired legs from my hilly and hot run in medicine hat on Sunday, so I set out to do a recovery run with Rexy at the dog park. This way she could go and snoop while I hobbled around! My legs were tired so tired that after 30 mins I just decided to stop because I wasn't having any fun at all. Normally it gets better as you run...not this time it started out okay and got worse!
Tuesday
I headed up to the church and it was about 6:15 when I got there. I got everything together and waited for everybody else to show up....no one came! I figured I had missed an email or something, I called up Greg, got a workout and I was off on my own to do some big gear, lower cadence intervals. I didn't ride with the group last year on Tuesday's so I don't know where a lot of the roads are in this area but I knew I would need more time than just out to cochrane and back so I turned on Lochend??? road and did another little out and back. There was a pretty good head wind going out (what else is new....seriously) but I was able to ride home at a comfortable pace. I liked the over gear training, it was something different so that was good. I tend to dread "pace work" nights! I am getting better at training at certain race paces but there is a lot of room for improvement! I guess I should look at the bright side...at least I can ride at different paces now rather than just trying to survive!
Wednesday
I went for a run for about 50 min with 20 min of tempo in there. I am in need of figuring out what "tempo" means cuz I tend to just run faster and faster and then I can barely hold on for the whole time...I don't think this is what I am supposed to be doing! Oops..live and learn hey!
Wednesday night was group swim and we did some longer distance stuff. I have been working on the "catch" of my stroke for what feels like forever now and it is finally almost a habit. This has been plaguing me for awhile so I was pretty happy with how the swim went....even though I did it all pull!
Thursday
Hill night! I like hill night. The weather was crappy so we went to do hill repeats at Edworthy park. When I got there I saw Darryl right away...we got ready and headed out to meet Greg. This was only my second time doing repeats at Edworthy...they are still hard! It starts out not so bad but as you get up to the top it gets a lot steeper and it hurts!! I did 12 all together...I was done after 11 but Darryl convinced me to do another one for a cool down. Only triathletes ride up and down hills and call them warm up and cool down...and make it harder in between. I am definitely stronger at climbing, not so much at bike handling! I was too busy paying attention to what everyone else was doing...turned on gravel and ended up on the road. Does it count as a crash if you were going less than 5 km/hr?? Anyway my leg now has a little road rash and bruising on it!
Once we finished up with the hills we went back to our cars, I opened up my truck and all of my stuff was gone. I couldn't believe it! They had taken everything...my purse (which I normally don't have with me when I am biking), my clothes, my bike bag, and I had just bought $70.00 in bars, gels, and chomps at Tri-it, all gone I was soooo pissed. They broke the lock on my car too and did some damage to the body. Darryl checked and some of his stuff was missing too. Ironically I am more mad about my bike bag, nutrition, and clothes. My credit cards etc are all easily replaceable but they took all of my stuff that is now probably sitting in a dumpster somewhere. I am still more than a little bitter about this...
Friday night we went out to Medicine Hat for the weekend. A HUGE thank you to Becky, Dave and the boys for being such great hosts to us over the last couple of weekends! The feed us and we steal Logan's bed all of the time! I really appreciate you guys being so supportive...even if you think we are crazy for biking and training so much!
Saturday
I headed out from Becky and Dave's and headed out on Hwy 41. There was one hell of a head/crosswind which made me hurt thats for sure. Greg had given me some upper zone 2 work to do for a couple of hours as well as 1/2 IM pace for the last hour. It was windy, hilly, and hot...gotta love it! When I got back I went out for a quick transition run for 25 min.
Sunday
My plan was to get up at about 9 to go for my run...that didn't happen. I ended up sleeping longer than I intended and I learned my lesson running in 29 degree heat the weekend before. So I put my run off until I got home. I also had 2 beer on Saturday night, it has been about 2-3 years since I had a beer so I had a wee bit of a headache on Sunday.
Once we got home I was tired and headachey and didn't want to run. I dug deep deep deep into the motivation pool and headed out the door. I could feel my bike ride in my legs and they were not happy. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it took me a good 25 min to feel okay but once I got home I felt like I could keep running if I wanted to!
Today I have an easy recovery run and swim (that I missed last night...sorry Darryl we suck when it comes to planning sometimes :) Hopefully this rain cooperates and lets up a little, I don't think my rain jacket stands a chance it this downpour!
Until next time...happy training guys!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Home at Last!!!
Hey Friends!
Holidays are over until November...it is kind of bittersweet. Nice to be home to get back into a routine but kinda sucks that I won't be going anywhere until Cozumel. My mission now is to hunker down and get focused on this thing called Ironman!
Training while we were gone for Chad's ride was hit and miss, I did get some riding and running in though! After being the support vehicle for him for three days I now have even more appreciation for the volunteers and spectators...it is a long day! I think that racing is easier than this! It was fun though and it went by pretty fast and I only got a little bit of a sunburn.
I think that Rexy is the happiest to be home, she more so than us loves routine! Bringing her to Boise was a good idea because she is so good in the truck now; she just curls up and goes to sleep!
Here are some highlights of the trip:
- Chad is not good at pacing himself....this lead to a very fast 90 km on the first day and a very slow day 2!
- Everyone in Saskatchewan waves to you; even if you are sitting on a cooler on the side of the road (more like a ditch in Saskatchewan though) reading a magazine!
- Chad's Grandma is the cutest...watch out when she figures out your favorite foods, every time you turn around she will be there with some for you!
- It is stinking hot in Medicine Hat, there is no aerobic zone 2 when running there.
- I had to re-read my bike workout 3 times to make sure I was actually supposed to be in Zone 4! That was a tough one.
- People have nothing better to do in Brooks than drive around and around and around. I saw the same vehicles 3-4 times while biking. Also there was a lot of road kill on the road there...not pleasant....maybe they should drive around a little less and more animals will live???
- when you eat copious amounts of raw veggies for 5 days your tummy doesn't like it...or at least mine doesn't!
- Lastly Chad did an amazing thing for a great cause! He may not be ready to get on a bike again for awhile though!
Until next time.....Happy Training!
Holidays are over until November...it is kind of bittersweet. Nice to be home to get back into a routine but kinda sucks that I won't be going anywhere until Cozumel. My mission now is to hunker down and get focused on this thing called Ironman!
Training while we were gone for Chad's ride was hit and miss, I did get some riding and running in though! After being the support vehicle for him for three days I now have even more appreciation for the volunteers and spectators...it is a long day! I think that racing is easier than this! It was fun though and it went by pretty fast and I only got a little bit of a sunburn.
I think that Rexy is the happiest to be home, she more so than us loves routine! Bringing her to Boise was a good idea because she is so good in the truck now; she just curls up and goes to sleep!
Here are some highlights of the trip:
- Chad is not good at pacing himself....this lead to a very fast 90 km on the first day and a very slow day 2!
- Everyone in Saskatchewan waves to you; even if you are sitting on a cooler on the side of the road (more like a ditch in Saskatchewan though) reading a magazine!
- Chad's Grandma is the cutest...watch out when she figures out your favorite foods, every time you turn around she will be there with some for you!
- It is stinking hot in Medicine Hat, there is no aerobic zone 2 when running there.
- I had to re-read my bike workout 3 times to make sure I was actually supposed to be in Zone 4! That was a tough one.
- People have nothing better to do in Brooks than drive around and around and around. I saw the same vehicles 3-4 times while biking. Also there was a lot of road kill on the road there...not pleasant....maybe they should drive around a little less and more animals will live???
- when you eat copious amounts of raw veggies for 5 days your tummy doesn't like it...or at least mine doesn't!
- Lastly Chad did an amazing thing for a great cause! He may not be ready to get on a bike again for awhile though!
Until next time.....Happy Training!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thinking back....
Hey guys,
So on Thursday we braved the wind and headed out to Cochrane to do hill repeats. Seriously when is this wind going to slow down a little bit??? My legs were DEAD by the time we got there and I even stole a draft from Greg and Mark on the way out.
What was cool was that I tried to do 1 gear harder for repeats and was able to do it. Don't get me wrong I was slower, but you don't get stronger unless you make it harder on yourself....right Greg??? I was so happy I was able to do 3 repeats in a harder gear which reminded me of where I started last summer...
The first time I had ever done hill repeats was in June last year (yes I know 5 years of triathlon and only started last year, scary isn't it!). It was pouring rain and I was on the phone with Greg going "you seriously want me to ride up and down a hill in this?" His answer was "yes."
So I got lost going to Edworthy Park which is 2 mins from where I work (if you know me and my sense of direction this will make sense). Once I finally made it there I warmed up and started up the hill. I was in my easiest gear and barely moving....not kidding...I wasn't about to break any climbing records anytime soon. After a couple of repeats Greg was riding beside me telling me about climbing technique. Every time I would look over at what he was telling me to do my entire bike would sway...I am lucky I didn't fall over...I was going slow enough to. AND I could not talk...not even able to form words trying to haul my ass up this hill. All I could do was nod to let him know that I was listening and somewhat understanding what he was saying! After about 6 of these we stopped at the top and I almost fell over! Greg caught me the nice guy that he is and then told me to do more! Ha!
When I think back to everything I have learned over the last couple of years I am surprised that I even finished a triathlon before then!! Needless to say my ability to climb hills has gotten a lot better in 1 year!
Saturday I slept in, what a beautiful thing sleep is and then I went out to do a 3 hour ride (which was supposed to be 4 but due to the sleeping in got changed to three :) It was still windy but compared to what I rode in over the last week I guess you could have called it a light breeze. The ride was uneventful, I did miss a good section on my back of sunscreen and needless to say I have a wee bit of a painful burn!
Sunday was one of those days where nothing quite worked out. My plan was to get up and run before we went out to Sylvan to do an open water swim. Then Chad said he wanted to swim early so he could ride later. No problem, I was going to run while he rode. Well, neither of these things happened. We didn't get out to Sylvan until 3:30pm...which was fine lots of time left in the day to swim and run right? Wrong. When we got to Sylvan there were GIANT white caps. It made my swim in Boise look like peanuts! My mouth dropped open and I looked at Chad and promptly told him there was no way I was getting in that water! We sat and waited for about 45 min for the wind to die down when Chad said screw it I am going in. I stood at the end of the lake...FREEZING...humming and hawing (sp?) about whether or not I should do this. Chad went so he could experience what swimming in rough conditions were like....me not so much. Maybe I am still scarred from the boise race but I wasn't going to spend 15 mins getting into my wetsuit to go for a 15 mins survival swim and not be able to work on my stroke. Probably should have got into the water...ah well you win some you lose some!
We headed back to Crossfield for a family BBQ. I still somehow thought I was going to run at like 9pm after everyone went home. I should have known better with the chatters in Chad's family!!! I finally said screw it, had a glass of wine and probably ate more than I should have (all good things of course!) and enjoyed visiting with everyone! We don't get to see everyone at once very often and it was great to catch up.
On a total side note, being lactose intolerant sure helps with the desert thing, I would have been in there like a dirty shirt having an ice cream treat...but I can't do it anymore and so it was berries and grapes for me! Don't get me wrong this is a good thing since ice cream doesn't help my training any....but this didn't stop me from staring at Chad's buster bar from DQ!
Today it is an easy run and bike. Chad and I are going for a spin tonight around the reservoir; something I have never done...weird I know.
In more important news than my rambling about training; we are leaving on Wednesday for Chad's Prostate cancer research ride! I will be doing a lot of driving and waiting Wednesday thru Friday as I am driving the support vehicle! I will update you from the road!
Happy Training
So on Thursday we braved the wind and headed out to Cochrane to do hill repeats. Seriously when is this wind going to slow down a little bit??? My legs were DEAD by the time we got there and I even stole a draft from Greg and Mark on the way out.
What was cool was that I tried to do 1 gear harder for repeats and was able to do it. Don't get me wrong I was slower, but you don't get stronger unless you make it harder on yourself....right Greg??? I was so happy I was able to do 3 repeats in a harder gear which reminded me of where I started last summer...
The first time I had ever done hill repeats was in June last year (yes I know 5 years of triathlon and only started last year, scary isn't it!). It was pouring rain and I was on the phone with Greg going "you seriously want me to ride up and down a hill in this?" His answer was "yes."
So I got lost going to Edworthy Park which is 2 mins from where I work (if you know me and my sense of direction this will make sense). Once I finally made it there I warmed up and started up the hill. I was in my easiest gear and barely moving....not kidding...I wasn't about to break any climbing records anytime soon. After a couple of repeats Greg was riding beside me telling me about climbing technique. Every time I would look over at what he was telling me to do my entire bike would sway...I am lucky I didn't fall over...I was going slow enough to. AND I could not talk...not even able to form words trying to haul my ass up this hill. All I could do was nod to let him know that I was listening and somewhat understanding what he was saying! After about 6 of these we stopped at the top and I almost fell over! Greg caught me the nice guy that he is and then told me to do more! Ha!
When I think back to everything I have learned over the last couple of years I am surprised that I even finished a triathlon before then!! Needless to say my ability to climb hills has gotten a lot better in 1 year!
Saturday I slept in, what a beautiful thing sleep is and then I went out to do a 3 hour ride (which was supposed to be 4 but due to the sleeping in got changed to three :) It was still windy but compared to what I rode in over the last week I guess you could have called it a light breeze. The ride was uneventful, I did miss a good section on my back of sunscreen and needless to say I have a wee bit of a painful burn!
Sunday was one of those days where nothing quite worked out. My plan was to get up and run before we went out to Sylvan to do an open water swim. Then Chad said he wanted to swim early so he could ride later. No problem, I was going to run while he rode. Well, neither of these things happened. We didn't get out to Sylvan until 3:30pm...which was fine lots of time left in the day to swim and run right? Wrong. When we got to Sylvan there were GIANT white caps. It made my swim in Boise look like peanuts! My mouth dropped open and I looked at Chad and promptly told him there was no way I was getting in that water! We sat and waited for about 45 min for the wind to die down when Chad said screw it I am going in. I stood at the end of the lake...FREEZING...humming and hawing (sp?) about whether or not I should do this. Chad went so he could experience what swimming in rough conditions were like....me not so much. Maybe I am still scarred from the boise race but I wasn't going to spend 15 mins getting into my wetsuit to go for a 15 mins survival swim and not be able to work on my stroke. Probably should have got into the water...ah well you win some you lose some!
We headed back to Crossfield for a family BBQ. I still somehow thought I was going to run at like 9pm after everyone went home. I should have known better with the chatters in Chad's family!!! I finally said screw it, had a glass of wine and probably ate more than I should have (all good things of course!) and enjoyed visiting with everyone! We don't get to see everyone at once very often and it was great to catch up.
On a total side note, being lactose intolerant sure helps with the desert thing, I would have been in there like a dirty shirt having an ice cream treat...but I can't do it anymore and so it was berries and grapes for me! Don't get me wrong this is a good thing since ice cream doesn't help my training any....but this didn't stop me from staring at Chad's buster bar from DQ!
Today it is an easy run and bike. Chad and I are going for a spin tonight around the reservoir; something I have never done...weird I know.
In more important news than my rambling about training; we are leaving on Wednesday for Chad's Prostate cancer research ride! I will be doing a lot of driving and waiting Wednesday thru Friday as I am driving the support vehicle! I will update you from the road!
Happy Training
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Lovin the sunshine!!!
Hey guys,
Just a quick update for ya! Things training wise have been okay. I was talking to Greg last night that my legs feel okay since my race but I just don't have "that extra gear to kick it up a notch when I need to" back yet. He said we will make some changes to the plan and "change things up a bit!" I could be in for some doozey workouts in the while!
Monday I went for an easy 30 min jog...nothing exciting...just running.
Tuesday I went to meet the group and I was a bit early...no one was there yet...not emails went out...so I headed out on my own! It was soooooo windy AND I forgot my sunglasses; my eyes were so dried out I was having trouble blinking! NOTE TO SELF....ALWAYS remember the sunglasses!
Yesterday I went or another easy run right before swimming; actually Chad had a brilliant idea and told me to run to the pool! What a good idea...I should have thought of it!!!! The swim Greg picked apart our strokes a bit and gave us stuff to work on. We were all pretty chatty after not swimming together for a few weeks! Grego it's great to have you back :)
Today is hill night! I hope to see Susi's smiling face out there on the hills with us tonight!! I love hills so I hope my legs are feeling snappy!
Until the weekend...Happy Training!
Just a quick update for ya! Things training wise have been okay. I was talking to Greg last night that my legs feel okay since my race but I just don't have "that extra gear to kick it up a notch when I need to" back yet. He said we will make some changes to the plan and "change things up a bit!" I could be in for some doozey workouts in the while!
Monday I went for an easy 30 min jog...nothing exciting...just running.
Tuesday I went to meet the group and I was a bit early...no one was there yet...not emails went out...so I headed out on my own! It was soooooo windy AND I forgot my sunglasses; my eyes were so dried out I was having trouble blinking! NOTE TO SELF....ALWAYS remember the sunglasses!
Yesterday I went or another easy run right before swimming; actually Chad had a brilliant idea and told me to run to the pool! What a good idea...I should have thought of it!!!! The swim Greg picked apart our strokes a bit and gave us stuff to work on. We were all pretty chatty after not swimming together for a few weeks! Grego it's great to have you back :)
Today is hill night! I hope to see Susi's smiling face out there on the hills with us tonight!! I love hills so I hope my legs are feeling snappy!
Until the weekend...Happy Training!
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