Well today is the big day- I’m heading to Vegas to race in my first triathlon of the season. 

Sandy and I will be leaving tonight to drive to Grand Junction then finish off the drive Thurs.  We will be racing in the RAGE triathlon.  Both of us will be doing the Long Course.  There are a total of 15 of us PCers going!  How fun is that?

Ok- so I am a bit nervous.  But feel I am ready.  I’ve been training hard all winter.  The one thing I have not done yet is an open water swim-so what if I’ll start with a 1.4 mile open water swim 

Everything is packed-(I’ve been working on this since Sunday).  Race gear is all laid out- nutrition for race is all ready in different ziplocks- good food for the drive….check- think I’ve got it all!

Race Gear

We should be leaving around 7pm tonight.  My friend TJ is coming for the ride…I’ve rented chick flicks to watch on the way- we’ve got good food for the ride….Stay tuned as I’ll be updating along the way!

Yahoooooo- here goes the nerves!   Oh- by the way- I am racing on pretty much the same race course where I raced National last year.  Kinda cool to have ended my season and to begin this season at the same spot!  Maybe it’s a sign…… 

Another work week has passed and I made it.  Work was challenging at times and I know I am looking forward to the weekend.  A few days away always helps.

Workouts were good and I was able to avoid the cold that tried to get me last week.  Coach Andrea called me today to check in and during our conversation she said “what got up your butt at track on Tues?”  She said she noticed I ran faster than I have in the past and that I ran strong…she was wondering who’s legs I had    That was kind of fun to hear.  I thought I felt strong- I know my hamstrings were sore for two days afterwards……

Last Wednsday I changed the way I’ve been eating- I have not eaten any processed food for over one week now…everything has been somthing I have cooked.  I have found that this is working for me.  I am feeling lighter and leaner which help seems to help my view of myself. Those 4lbs I put on in Feb had not left me yet….but now they seem to be. I have been asking myself if what I am eating is “clean burning fuel?”

Saturday looks promising for a outdoor brick ride and run.  Yeah!  I am looking forward to taking my new bike out on the rode rather than the trainer. 

Only one week until the first race of the season.  I’m going to start laying out all my gear and food tonight and hopefully have it all done by Sunday….

More later….

So I have this new blog/site….but there are currently many kinks that have to be worked out.

At some point you will be able to leave comments w/out logging in and this site should be more user friendly.

In the mean time- please stand by and continue to follow me as I blog-

Off to an early morning masters swim 

So this morning I was suppose to be up at 4 am and off to a 7K swim workout.

Unfortunately a very sore throat woke me up at around 2:30 this morning. I got up took some stuff and never feel back to sleep. By 4am I did not feel good at all….At that point I had to make the decision to go to the workout or stay in bed. Since I had only slept about 4 hours and felt pretty bad-I decided to stay in bed…I finally feel back to sleep and stayed that way until 10:00! I never sleep that long!!!!! Never!

Now you may be wondering why am I writing about this. The fact is that I feel very guilty for missing this key workout! I wanted really badly to swim the 7K today and have been looking forward to this the whole month! I love these long swims. There is something so relaxing about swimming for a hours at a time.

A few weeks ago when I took a week off from training I had no desire to workout…today I wanted to so badly but pretty much new if I did swim- I would have caught this cold that is knocking at my throat. I feel like it was a slacker week of training as two other workouts where cut short due to weather….speaking of weather….I think the weather is the culprit for my throats state.

This week we went from 78 degrees on Sunday to a blizzard on Thursday…So far this winter I have avoided EVERY crud that has come through the office and infected everyone. I’m just hoping that by not swimming today I will avoid this thing….And I should not worry about missing one key swim workout—but for today I can’t help it. I’ll just see what tomorrow brings and if I kick this thing……more later….

So Sundays long run…and what a long run it was!

I started out at Goodson Rec Center at 7:30 in the morning. The temp was 25 degrees with the promise of high 40s later in the day.

My plan was to run out the High Line Canal Trail for 5 miles and return to the car to get more water- run out another 5 and return to car for water and then last 5 miles. I had bottles and bottles of water in my car- my Go Lite Fanny Pack ready and loaded and plenty of daylight to burn.

I started off my run at a very leisurely pace…my coach won’t allow me to look at my Garmin to check pace or heart rate, so not sure my pace-just knew it felt good and I was not going out too fast.

You know there IS something about the EGO when you see people passing you. I have to hold my ego in check and what helps me do that is to think about the fact that these people probably where not running 25 miles. Thinking of this allows me to be ok with the fact that I was running slow…..Not to say that I actually ever run fast….but, that this run was going to take a few hours and my personal goal was to feel strong for the whole 25 miles.

So my first 10 miles went great. Felt fantastic- there was a slight breeze- the sun was shinning- and the people on the trail where friendly…..I fueled myself regularly and when I got to the car I exchanged water bottles and headed back out for another 10 miles.

As I was on my way back- around mile 16- I was running up this short hill and coming toward me was a run I recognized….It was my good friend Kristen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so incredible to see her out there! I was instantly filled with love and energy! It was like a shot of adrenaline. To get a hug from her in the middle of my run was a wonderful gift! And with no time to dally- we both kept on our ways.

I made it back to the car for mile 20 and at this point my other very good friend Elizabeth (see blog entry “funnin on the mesa”) met me for the last 5 miles of my run. What an amazing friend to do this…..So-I picked up another fresh water bottle- grabbed Elizabeth and we were off for the finale.

Elizabeth was awesome…you have to realize that she is a good 9″ taller than me, and bless her heart she was running my pace the whole time. It was so cute because Elizabeth had all these wonderful stories to tell me- and it was perfect….. I didn’t have to talk and could just listen to what she said-which helped to take my mind off the fact that I had already run 20 miles and that some body parts where starting to be a bit uncomfortable.

By the time we finished it was about 5 1/2 hours after I started….and the best part (or one of the best parts) was that I finished STRONG! I felt great! Elizabeth even commented that I was running a pretty good pace in the last few miles…..How exciting is that!

You know-after the marathon- and how I did not finish strong- it was nice to have the experience of finishing strong on this run…. What a difference going out slow can make-PLUS proper nutrition.

So-Thank you Elizabeth (immensely) and thank you Kristen for helping me get through my 25 mile run this past Sunday……It was a spiritual experience….and LOVE YOU GALS!

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It’s been awhile since I’ve checked in and posted what’s going on. So, February is the month my coach Andrea decided to “stretch” my mind/limits. This month I have two 25 mile runs on my training calendar plus tons of swimming and more running during the week!

Yesterday I got to masters early and started swimming then- swam masters. During lunch I went to the gym and strength trained then following work did a 45′ continous swim….and I loved every minute of it! Am I weird or what? I felt so good in the evening following that swim…..And I slept like a baby…

Many changes are a comin….in my personal life and in my training. February is my birth month-so it’s a great time to try new things and stretch my mind.

My coach talks about “placing myself” in reference to the group I train with. She helps me see that I may be limiting myself with my own beliefs about what I am capable of doing and achieving. Hence-this month is about challenging those beliefs and breaking through barriers that may be holding me back…now how fun is that? Seriously! To find a new level- and new ability- to expand my belief in myself…..It’ll take a lot of work- or then again- maybe not…..
All I know is I am absolutely gamed for it!

Here’s to Going The Distance!

Weekly Roundup- last week before the Marathon, next weekend.

Weekly:
Swims: 2 days; 1 masters; 1 free swim 1 hour non stop- 2 hours
Bikes: 2 days; 3 hours
Runs: 1 day (missed 1 day): 14 miles
Other: Weights- 2 days
Stretch 2 days

Sleep: Not so good this week. Alot of sleepless nights
Recovery: Bodywork; massage followed by compression pants;
Nutrition: ate well this week
Mood: for the most part sad
Health: Good!

Key Workout:
Description: 14 mile endurance run w/ 4 miles at tempo
Location: South Table Mesa
Nutrition: 1 Hammer Gel; SportsQuest- Aminos, thermolyte, Vo2Max
Weather: low 30′s and pleasant
Distance: 12.5
Pace: 10-12 min.
Heart Rate: 140
Comments: Felt really bad starting out for over 1 hour. No sleep all week nor night before.- Felt better after taking sportsquest products!