It’s been eons since I’ve written a blog post.  Looking back I realize this lack of  writing coincided with my last BIG training block for Ironman Florida.  It seems I have been too busy swimming, biking, running and ….working, to sit my butt down and pluck away at the keyboard.

As I’ve begun my final two weeks of preparation, and taper, to the “Big Day” I find I can take time to write down some of the thoughts that have been swirling through my head.

First, I want to comment on where the title of this post came from.  This Sunday when I was riding along for my last Long Ride, I felt done!  I mean absolutely and completely DONE.  This feeling began the day before with hard efforts while biking and running.  By the time Sundays workout came along it was all I could do to muster a decent workout. 

I had this feeling that I was at the perfect place in my training.  That I was absolutely ready for my taper. That there was not one more hard, long workout left in me!  The thought went through my head “put a fork in me, I’m done!” .  I started chuckling, my heart rate exceeded where it should be, and I thought again “Put a FORK in me, I’m DONE!”

to be finished with or tired of, your current activity or situation.

 I know, you may be thinking….”what a light-weight! She’z done???!!!” 

Well, since my last post here’s what all I’ve been up to…training wise that is…..

I’ve logged 31,000 meters of swimming

just another swim

I’ve biked a total of 630 miles

The warm up on a 75 mile ride

100 Miles Solo in 45 degree weather....with WIND!

 And I’ve run for a total of 115 miles!

A little 20 mile jog

Some workouts were LONG and SLOW, others where SHORTER and FAST.  There were some fun days and some that were just plain brutal.  Each workout brought me closer to D- Day of November 5th.

Yeap, the fork is in and I am ready for my taper.  After one day off of training (except for a 30 min walk) and a good nights sleep…I am feeling better.  I’m beginning to believe that I WILL be able to cross that finish line after traveling 140.6 miles via my own power. 

The countdown has really begun.  Black Betty is on her way to Florida as I write this (thanks Tribike Transport!) and I will meet up with her next Wednesday at IMFL!!!!

The beach awaits me……

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Can ya feel it in the air?  That crisp morning smell with the sun lighting up the fall colors that are beginning to show? 

One of the highlights of fall, is I don’t have to worry about getting out early for a workout in order to avoid the 100 degree heat! 

This past weekend I had some great training.  I’m in my last big block of training as I gear up for Ironman Florida. 

The weekend started with a “flat” ride starting in Watkins and heading east.  I say “flat” because here in Colorado flat is hard to find.  I was joined by 3 of my biggest supporters Kelli 1, Kellie 2 and Darla for the first 40 miles of a 75 mile ride.  Here I am just starting out and spinning along on Black Betty 

Riding to Kansas

We rode and rode and then I rode and rode.  The weather warmed up into the high 80′s.  After the ride I threw on my Newtons for a quick, hard 30 minute run.  And this is where it got interesting.

For some reason I had the bright idea that I would eat 2 caffeinated gels in the last hour of my ride and then a 3rd caffeinated gel right before my run (I was feeling pretty hungry!).  By the time I finished my hard run, I thought I might pass out.  The caffeine left me light-headed and not sure if I would fall over.  That’s when I decided I should sit on the ground next to my car tire in the shade, while I waited to see what would happen.  This was one of those times I wished I had someone else with me.  I sat there,  returned texts and waited it out, drank my chocolate milk (that helped) and finally felt well enough to head home. 

All I can say is I am so glad I tried this “bright” idea while training and not during my Ironman!  OMG….I never want a caffeinated gel again   I barely consume caffeine as it is! 

I felt the effects of my “brightness” well into the morning of the next day.  It wasn’t until about 1 hr into my 3 hr run on Sunday that I began to feel better.  Ugh…all I wanted to do for that first hour was NOT run.  But run I did and I think I ran myself back to feeling normal.  The run was fantastic as always.  Every time I run on the Highline I meet someone and we will run for a bit and chat.  This day I got to enjoy the company of some new friends who I may end up running with next weekend too!

Monday rolled around I headed out to the Gravel Pond for my last open water swim of the season.  It was absolutely breathtaking that evening.  At this time of year the number of triahletes swimming has gone from 50 to about 15.  It is so peaceful and calming.  See for yourself!

The Gravel Pond

  I was joined by my training partner in crime Scott .  He is always good for a bunch of laughs and kicking my butt!  It was our final “swam song” for this season. I actually took a moment to take in the beauty and thank this wonderful body of water for all the swims I did here over the summer.  GP- I will miss you until next May. 

Yeap, the signs of fall are happening.  Less athletes out and about, the colors slowly changing, the coolness of the morning air.  I feel blessed that we are still having 70-80 degree weather here in Denver as I keep training for November 5th.  I will be pleasantly surprised if most of my training gets to be outside and not indoors.  Only time will tell!

I have gotten through my first half-iron distance race of the season post Adrenal Fatigue.  I was nervous as all get out about what my ability would be.  In my head I was hoping for a 7 hour finish time, knowing that pre-AF I finished in about 6 and 1/2 hours. 

Barb’s Race is an all womens 70.3 that takes place in the Napa/Sanoma Valley.  It occurs  in conjunction with the full Vineman.  The race is a point to point with the start 30 minutes from the finish.  The swim is on the Russian River and the bike course meanders on rolling terrain through vineyards.

Saturday morning came and I was up at 4am.  Even though my wave didn’t go off until 8:17.. I have this thing about getting to a race real early.  See I love getting a good spot in transition near an end where it’s easy to find and get to my bike.

Black Betty hangin and me in the purple jacket

I set up…sociallized with all the wonderful women around me…and within no time they were calling us down to the water for the start of Barb’s Race. 

Pre-Race Game Face

I made my way into the river and got right in the front row.  The countdown started and the horn went off.  I was on my way!  The current of the river was barely noticeable. I felt strong and fluid as I swam and swam and swam upstream.  I finally reached the turn around, looked up to sight, and saw all these people walking!  Yeap, WALKING!  The river was shallow enough that many participants decided to walk.  The thought crossed my mind…and was quickly replaced with…”this race is training for Ironman Florida”.  So shallow strokes I took as I made my way around the bouy. 

As I began take my breaths and looked at the evergreens that lined the river I realized how dang FAST I was going with the current!  It felt like it took 10 mins to get back to T1. 

Blue Cap getting out of the water

Next it was the long run through T1 and then out the other end with Black Betty!  It’d been over a year since Betty and I had become one and raced out hearts out.  And on this day, that’s exactly what we did!!!!!

Entering the LONG T2

After a stellar ride and in good time I might add…I hit T2 in the town of Windsor after 56 miles of rolling wine country.  Now this transition was the absolute longest T2 I’ve ever experienced! It went on for eva!  I have decided I may want to learn how to get out of my shoes before transition after running for what seemed like miles in my bike shoes….but I did make it; racked Betty threw on my Newtons, and I was OFF!  (ok, after a pit stop).  Then I was off 

I have been wanting to get around to my blog again and posting regularly…but something has happened……

It’s called work and training…and racing! 

Yeap, stay tuned.  This weekend I will crank out my race report from Barb’s Race…..

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So aren’t there  those times when you just know?  You just know where you are and where you’re headed.

I had one of those moments Tuesday morning when I woke up.  I woke up to a hungry stomach.  As if I hadn’t eated in days kind hungry. 

And that’s when I knew! 

I just knew that I was on the road to becoming an second time Ironman!   Yeap after a REAL weekend of Ironman training and after eating all day Monday and still being hungry….Tuesday morning I just knew that I was officially in the throes of IM training!

The weekend consisted of my first open water session at the Gravel Pond.  And wouldn’t you know it!  It wasn’t one of those silky, first thing in the morning, kinda calm water but a windy-choppy water!  Seriously on the way back across, there where times when I felt like I was body surfing…for real! 

Angela braving the choppy waters with me!

Next I was off for a run around Chatfield Resivour.  I haven’t done this run in a few years and let’s just say…I made the run longer than it should have been  :-)   I know- around a resevior of all things.  The run was  blast though.  2+ hours of pure running bliss!  Even the hard 10 minute efforts were fun!  I was Ironman training! 

Sunday was the long bike with short run.  I met up with some of the TriBella babes and we headed out for a 60 mile bike.  Bine and I are doing IM Florida and Aimee is doing IM Arizona.  Needless to say I’m sure we will be clocking many miles together over the coming months! 

TriBella IM Babes!

We rode the Harvest Moon bike course out in Aurora.  This is one of my favorite rides.  Not because of some majestic views or anything.  I like it because of the difficulty of the ride.  There are parts that are flatish and parts that are these big ol rollers!  Great for some time on the TT bike!  Plus the lack of traffic way out there in Kansas (haha) makes it even more enjoyable!

After cruising through the bike  course we then hit the pavement for a quick 15 min transition run.  Running off the bike is kinda natural now.  I remember in IMCZ being incredibly surprised by how fresh my legs felt when I started the run.  I do chalk this up in part to a fabulous bike fit.  Because even now, I still feel really fresh on the run!

Monday rolled around and I rolled into work and spent most of the day eating as many healthy foods as I could possibly stuff into my mouth.  No matter what I ate or how much…I was hungry.  And believe it or not- I actually love that feeling of never feeling full.  It really signals that I am into some serious training again.  After months and months of pretty much nothing…I’m training hard, eating well, and always hungry! 

Yeap…you know you’re an Ironman when………

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It’s official….Ironman Training has kicked in!

Yeap. This past weekend I actually had one of the REAL training weekends. 

Saturday I went out for a 3:45 hour ride on Black Betty (my trusty TT bike)

And after that I got to do a 20 minute transition run.  It was a blast to feel like the beginnings again of a real Ironman athlete!  I love the feel of the run off the bike.  It was fabulous!  Especially in my Newtons.  Bouncy Bliss!!!!

And of course after such a stellar workout I just had to follow it with a hamburger from the Blue Cow while eating on the patio.  Ahhhh…the feel of summer training. 

Sunday I was off to a wonderful run around Bear Creek Lake Park.  Up and down and all around…for a glorious 1.5 hrs.  Yeah, my runs aren’t too long yet…but the runs  are getting there.  I’ll be doing the Colfax Half in less than a month. I’ll be up to 13 mile runs!  WooooHooo.

So in true Ironman training form I was then off to swim with my coach.  The workout kicked my butt!!  Pulling, pulling and more pulling!  I loved it in that sick kind of way 

And there I go!  I have officially started my Ironman Training and am sooo excited for my workouts getting longer and harder……in that sick kinda way 

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Big Question.

 How many of you have gone through about a bazillion saddles looking for the one that fits??? 

If you are anything like me, chances are at least one per season while looking for the perfect fit.  And when you own and ride two bikes…well, nuf said 

This story starts off with the very first saddle I had…the lovely Terry Butterfly Saddle.  This was fine enough before I became an Ironman triathlete and my bike rides where never more than a few hours.

Well my first long ride- up Mt Evan ended with a numb left leg around Summit Lake. Right after that ride I was off to the local bike shop.

Next saddle up was some other kinda black thingy. I rode that on a few centuries. It worked but not quite well enough. See I started going to computrainer classes and the instructor was always talking about being on your “sitz bones”. I got to wonderin- what and where are my sitz bones caz I sure don’t think that’s where I’m sitzing!!!
I seriously had to have her point them out on me. And I sure wasn’t using those stiz bones on the saddle I had.
Next I tried the Specialized saddle. Extra hard- no give- yeap- those sitz bones where gonna get satz on!

It worked for a bit- like while I was riding one hour. As my rides have gotten longer this winter I got banged up and bruised on the left sitz bone! See- I have hip rotation so all my weight was on my left…it got to the point where I dreaded riding…

And then- just last week- I was introduced to Sella Italia Diva Saddle. My dream come true! It works on every level! My first ride out was a 3 hour ride…with perfect- I mean perfect comfort!!!

In my search for the perfect saddle, I have come to feel like Goldilocks.  My first saddle was too soft, my next saddle was too hard, and this last saddle…the Sella Italia Diva….is JUST RIGHT!  

So women, if you are looking for that perfect saddle- Stop by TriBella Multisport and take the Diva for a spin!!!!

I never realized how much it would mean to me when I finally returned to actual TRAINING after these 6 months off.  

Granted I only took one full month off with absolutely NO exercise.  My prescription read….Get as much sleep as possible and NAP often!.  No kidding. That’s what my doc wrote down. 

Many people have asked….”well didn’t ya go crazy?” and the answer is “nope.” I was so exhausted all I could do was go to work and sleep!  I only took one month off and from there started to slowly incorporate “exercise” back into my weekly routine.  With my fabulous Coach Cary leading the way.

After 5 months of getting back into exercising…about one month ago I progressed into Training again.  I was training early mornings and afternoons.  Workouts were getting close to one hour long…..I was beginning my comeback!

Well this weekend just moved me into OFFICIAL TRAINING mode.  Over the weekend I trained for a total of 4 hrs.  I know, that may not seem like much…but not too long ago that’s all I exercised in a week!

This Saturday started with a Kick Butt 2 hour computrainer session at Peak To Peak Training Center.  Sweat and high(er) heart rates made my legs feel like mush.

After lunch with a friend…I was off to the pool for another hour of swimming!  And the cool part, my workout was a strength workout.  So lots of pulling and long sets!  It was all I could do to PULL myself out of the pool.

The evening was spent chilaxing and eating a healthy dinner….recovery and engergy for the next day!

Sunday morning came.  On my training schedule was a one hour run!!!! 

I know…seems kinda silly to get all excited for a one hour run…but when that’s the longest I’ve  run since a half mary at Boise 70.3 last June…..I was over the top excited to actually get the chance to run for a full hour. 

To me, that’s a sign that I am recovering from this darn  Adrenal Fatigue and on my way to this season.  I don’t know how many half hour runs I’ve churned out over the last 3-4months….but I can tell you…those were hell.  To only run for 30 minutes and knowing how good an hour plus run feels….that really was hell!

I am over the moon that I had a “real” training block this weekend.  I had a blast and I am feeling like a true athlete again. … Just remind me of this when I’m churning out 10+ hour training weekends this summer in prep for Ironman Florida…baby! 

There’s something about a New Year that just breaths fresh life into things.

That’s how I’ve been feeling for awhile about 2011.  I’ve just felt like 2011 is going to be different than the past two years have been.  Like….things have changed and the challenges of the last two years are behind me.

With that thought in mind I set out to have my blog redesigned.  Kind of a symbolic shift to signify the end of a period of time in my life and the beginning of something new.

I have so many wonderful new things to share with everyone!  While my blog was being redesigned ( a BIG shout out to Chris at Envie Media ) my mind has been swimming with blog post ideas.  There is so much to share and so much I’ve learned over the past two years.

Fortunately I’m in a spot where my health is back since the Adrenal Fatigue; I’ve made it through the first year of my Dad’s passing; and many other challenging things.  I’ve not forgotten or shut the door on them…I’ve just lived with these things now and have made my peace with them.

So come back and visit often! There will be exciting  give-aways and discounts offered in the future….plus tons of fun adventures as I make my come backfor my next Ironman!  Bring on 2011 caz I’m ready!!!  

Reflection is a good thing.

That is as long as we use it to move us forward. If we reflect and dwell- well, that’s just not the best idea. Getting stuck in what shoulda, woulda, couldas, don’t do anyone a bit of good- except leave ya stuck in the past.

So this weekend I found myself reflecting on the past year. You see- today is exactly one year since I finished my first Ironman in Cozumel. Having had to drop out of racing and training mid season has left me forgetting that I am an Ironman. I have forgotten that I have it in me to do one of the hardest feats on this planet. I have forgotten that I am a bad a$$ athlete who is just temporarily sideline.

I’ve actually finally been doing what I should have done post Cozumel- taking a few months off to recover. The problem though is I gained 15lbs due to Adrenal Fatigue and if I’d taken the rest post IMCZ that more than likely wouldn’t have happened. But like I said- no dwelling in the past! Just using this as an opportunity to learn and grow.

So what’d I learn??? Recovery is key!! My old coach had a philosophy that more is better and recovery was minimal. Post IMCZ it would have benefited me if she had said “slow down Sparky and let’s take a break for a few months- especially since your Dad just died”. But that’s not what happened, and I didn’t know any better myself.  (Note to self)

Also, going on a restrictive “diet” post IM- not a good idea! You need to nourish and replenish your body for the months following an IM. Restricting nutrition further taxed my Adrenals making them work too hard.

Take your resting heart rate first thing in the morning. That would have helped me catch the fact that I was over-trained and over taxed. My new coach is big on this- my old coach never even knew or used my heart rate zones.

One thing that was really hard to tease out was my lack of motivation.  With my Dad passing away in January, I chalked my lack of motivation to grieving….Now I see it was the early signs of over-training-syndrome which then leads to adrenal fatigue. I’m just saying I’ve learned a lot of things in hind sight.  It’s those lessons that I’m trying to pass on here. 

One thing I know in life is if we don’t reflect on the pass, figure out what happened,  it can make it hard in the future to not make the same mistakes.  If I can help someone else from heading into Adrenal Fatigue land that would make this all worthwhile. 

So while I may have been sidelined for a few months, I still am an Ironman who had a blast and can’t wait to rock my next one…..And did I mention????  Ironman Florida 2011….here I come!