Well, 2008 is on it's way out and the new year is almost here. Here's to all my running and triathlon friends (most of whom are in the photo at left). Wishing everyone a happy, healthy new year!

PS - Ran 5 today and felt great! Pushed the pace quite a bit....need to get ready for the hard runs ahead!

Motherhood = Motherload of Stuff To Do

The good news is that I finally got a good run in after my swim this morning (see below). The bad news is that I'm stressed to the max right now and it's supposed to be Christmas "vacation".

This is how the day went:
7:30 AM - back from swim, plan to go for a quick run
7:32 - give food and water to dogs
7:35 - cook egg and toast for Evan, make oatmeal for Katerina....make hot cocoa for both kids. Clean kitchen while they eat their breakfast. Start my breakfast, answer phone and talk to mom, continue to clean kitchen, put dogs out, continue to get my breakfast, answer phone again from plumber (sink is plugged in master bathroom), think about getting ready to run
8:00 - finally sit and eat my breakfast
8:02 - break up fight between kids
8:05 - clean breakfast dishes, finish cleaning kitchen (sweep floor, put dishes in dishwaster, go through previous day's mail, grab sock out of dog's mouth, break up argument between kids....
8:15 - wrap packages that need to go in the mail, think about going for a run
8:20 - box up gifts that need to be returned
8:45 - grab glove out of dog's mouth, start to clean up living room, answer phone, break up argument between kids
9:00 - answer email, listen to crying child, take sock out of dog's mouth
9:15 - talk to 15 yr old exchange student who just woke up
9:20 - put away laundry done over the weekend, take sock out of dog's mouth, put dog out, let other dog in, think about going for a run
9:40 - change litter in litter box, feed cat, chase dog to take shoe out of her mouth, watch son do back-flip on the trampoline (5 times!)
9:50 - continue to clean living room, pick up wrapping paper, Christmas gifts strewn about, answer phone
10:15 - make grocery list, go through cookbook to figure out what to make for dinner, finish cleaning living room
10:30 - put away rest of clothes, look for running tights to go for a run, let dog in and other dog out, pick up dog poop in part of the yard (making mental note to myself to pick up rest later), answer phone again, pick through pile of papers on desk, write a few Christmas cards that are obviously very late, write out checks for overdue bills, referee argument between kids
10:45 - help kids get out face-painting kit (that requires a sledgehammer to open the package)
10:55 - clean up huge mess in bathroom left by kids using face-painting kit...decide to have kids clean it up themselves and look for kids, who are jumping on trampoline
11:00 - clean dog poop off kids' shoes, realize that I REALLY WANT TO RUN
11:15 - remember that I was going to run AFTER my swim....continue looking for tights in mound of clean clothes on the bed, listen to 7 yr old tell knock-knock jokes over and over again, grab sock out of dog's mouth
11:30 Put on running clothes, answer door bell to find plumber standing on doorstep
11:40- tell plumber I'm going for a run, listen to daughter beg me to let her go with me on my run (while thinking that all I want to do is RUN and have some time to myself!)
11:45 - Head out the door with both kids in tow, dog on hands-free leash (daughter with face painted like a warrior) and jog slowly with my daughter, who decides to stomp in puddles and walk after oh, say 100 feet or so

Fortunately, my daughter pooped out after half a mile and was easily talked into going back home so that I could run on by myself. My son, Evan, ran the small loop so fast that he was bored very quickley. Yay, I'm home free now.....turn up the Ipod and away I go!

Back in the water

It's time to get serious. Christmas is over and even though we still have New Year's to celebrate, I'm ready to get back to swimming. There's nothing more motivating than writing that big, fat check to North America Sports to enter an Ironman triathlon to get my lazy butt back in the pool!

And today was a good day to start back because Richard Hess, our swim coach (see previous post), provided underwater videotaping again. My friends, Lynne and Marshall, were there too. It's a great way to see people you don't see often and get swim tips at the same time.

I had a great time but I will say that I don't always feel comfortable with this group. Just being honest. There are a few guys there that are not too friendly and I always feel like a fish out of water (no pun intended!). I've felt this way for a long time and recently I've started to rise above it, to show up anyway....to keep on truckin'.....I have to or I won't make it.

But I did get some GREAT tips. Richard, Tom, and Paul Nutter gave me some good advice. Paul teaches at UNC and is a really good swimmer. He's also a nice guy.

But you know, maybe newby runners feel the same way when they go to track. Maybe we seasoned runners are not as warm to the newby's as we think we are. All I know is that I feel some really cold vibes from some people at the pool and it makes it even harder for me to get down there on these cold, dark mornings.

But I'll keep trying....I have to because well, you know, I wrote that really big fat check and I've got a really big, fat race coming up in '09!

Holiday rush

Christmas is over, finally. We had a wonderful Christmas but it seems like we were celebrating for a month! It started with Poinsetta Pops concernt, festival of trees, Cowboy Santa....on and on. My kids are 7 yrs old so they're really into and we did have a nice time at all of these events but I'm really ready for it to be over.

And I'm REALLY sick of Christmas songs on Cozy 101! Never again will I listen to that station (well, I probably will because my kids love to hear Santa Baby and it IS funny to listen to them crack up every time it comes on).

So, what did I do for exercise? I ran with Daisy two days in a row. It was VERY cold, about 5 degrees or so but my Santa hat kept me warm. Then Kurt and I ran together on Christmas day (with Daisy, who did her longest run yet: 4 miles).

Then I rode my bike on my trainer while watching HGTV again....love that channel....I like the shows where they re-do various rooms in a house.....and then I accidentally changed the channel to the cooking channel and it's now my favorite thing to watch, although I keep slowing down while trying to listen to all the ingredients....

And today I ran a good long run, probably 12 miles. It was great.....about 10 degrees when I left my house but I was warm and toasty the whole way. I felt really good. I like to run by myself on long runs because I let my mind just go on auto-pilot. Love it, love it, love it.

And for Christmas I got goggles, zoomers, Spinerval DVD, bike jersey, necklace with girl on a bike, Oakley sunglasses (for running only).....can ya tell I'm a triathlete???

I'm looking foward to training because I've notice how out of shape I've gotten this last year. I'm still running but not as often. Went from 6 days a week to 4 and I'm running slower. I'm 47 and have noticed a sizable change in body compostion...in the wrong direction. I must say that it's been hard to swallow. I see body fat where I've never had it before. I'm stiffer, slower, and fatter. Hoping that will all change with IM training!

Today was our annual Christmas run from Jenny's house. Had a good size group - that's all of us in the picture on the right before the run. It was about 15 degrees but the wind was much colder than that!

It was a good run. I ran slow with Lynne for the first 3 miles or so. She's recovering from knee surgery (4 days after finishing the Florida Ironman!) but she decided to try a short distance today.

Some of the group turned back at the turn-around point and the rest of us went on for a longer run. We turned north and the wind was blowin' hard right into our faces. I was feeling really good, though, and wanted to catch Jim and Todd, who were up ahead so I picked up the pace. Felt really good - running much faster than usual. Then came the hill...and well, lets just say that I need to do some hill training. Pretty much everyone passed me at that point.

But I plugged along in the howling wind. My Santa hat was starting to blow off so I took it off: brrrrrr!!!! It was cold but yet I didn't mind. I kept pushing and started to close the gap.

Then, when we turned east onto the dirt road, it was downhill and I felt like I was flying. I literally couldn't stop or slow down. I passed some of the other runners, still trying to catch Jim and Todd but then a bunch of dogs came out and bothered Jenny and Zoey (her dog), so I slowed down a bit. I was kinda ticked that I couldn't reach Jim and Todd and that they wouldn't wait for the rest of us but decided it wasn't worth it and waited for Jenny (ffor once I was actually running faster than her!).

We had a nice run together, reminiscing about some sad things that have happened to both of us....we were laughing and crying....talking about how special our friendship is with our small group - Lynne, Marshall, Jenny, Kurt, and I - and our "extended family" of running friends. They're like family to me and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So, here I sit on my comfy couch, Christmas music on, kids away with hubby for the weekend....blogging away. Not a bad life!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

Got a really cool hands-free leash last night from my running buddies Jenny and Lynne. Kurt tried it out with Daisy Friday morning and really liked it.

I opted for the trainer. Running long tomorrow so no need to run today. Didn't want to bike hard so rode while watching HGTV. My favorite shows were one:Design on a Dime and What Not to Wear.

The only problem with watching TV while riding your trainer is that I slow down without realizing it. Had to remind myself to speed up. But I got 45 mins in which ain't too bad.

Wimped out...

I had planned on running with the Weds night group last night at 5:30 PM because it was the annual "Christmas Lights" run (where they run by houses with cool lighting displays) but lost motivation as the day wore on...... I'm just not an evening runner. Love to run in the AM but it's like pulling teeth to get me out there in the evening. Plus, my kids had friends over and I didn't have the heart to rush them home so I could run. Felt bad for oh, 2 seconds then was actually quite happy!

Had a "fun run" today. My daughter couldn't find her glasses this AM before leaving for school and of course, I find them right away after she's gone. So, I just ran them to her school, about 3 miles from here. The teacher looked at me funny when I walked in the classroom...not sure why, I was wearing running clothes, Ipod blasting from my ears, sweat running down my face.....at least the kids liked my Santa hat!

Then I ran on to my mom's house to pick up her car, which we are borrowing while she's away for the holidays. I love it when you can combine errands with running! If only swimming were this easy....

Mommy got ran over by a snowplow....

Those were the words going through my head yesterday as I slugged through the dense snow in my neighborhood on my run (sung to the tune of "Grandma got run over by a reindeer....). I will pat myself on the back, however, because it was ZERO degrees outside and I got my butt out the door!

I'll give myself a double pat on the back because I made it to the pool this morning at 6:00 AM. It's kinda nice driving through Greeley at 0-dark-hundred....listening to Bret Saunders on KBCO....except I almost ran a red light and that woke me up.

It was worth it, however. Richard videotaped us today with his fancy-shmancy underwater camera. I learned that I need to keep my arms straighter after they enter the water....he said I'm bending them too much. I'll remember that along with the 100 other things you're supposed to remember while you swim (that's why I hate swimming, it's way too technical for my pea-size brain. Running is sooooo simple - it's just "right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot").

So I tried doing what Richard told me to do.....arms reach out further, hands enter the water with thumbs first (palms facing outward), pull arms back and then when they get right below your belly, bend your arms and then push all the way back.....ARRRGGGHHHH!!!! Why is it so hard to do this??? Will I ever be able to swim 2.4 miles in the ocean????

I used to think that an Iroman would be easier than running the Leadville 100 but now I'm not so sure....

Arctic Run

Why are these people smiling when they just ran a race in 8 degree weather? And why did I leave my comfy couch at 6:30 AM yesterday (with coffee in hand and puppy by my side) to go out in arctic weather to run a 4 mile race???

Because that's what runners do and yes, we are weird. You have to drag us kicking and screaming to get us into a pool at 6:00 AM but we don't bat an eye to don our running shoes at the but-crack of dawn and run through snow-covered roads in blistering cold temperatures. My husband did just that this morning (although I do think he is weird because it was 10 below zero, but that's another story).

So, Jenny, Paul, and I went to Ft. Collins to run the 28th annual Christmas Classic 4 Miler. It was bitter cold (about 8 degrees) but I had put on so many layers that I actually got hot in the middle of the race and took my jacket off. Jenny got 2nd Master's and I won my age group (but with 63 people in the race, I was the only one in my age group!). But hey, I'll take the ornament that I won anyway.

The best part of the day was that I won a pair of shoes. John Lonsdale, race director and owner of Foot of the Rockies, announced that he was giving away 3 pairs of Mizuno running shoes. Jenny leans over and says "yeah, I bet you who complained about staying around for the awards will probably win them" and guess what....John calls my number first and I get the shoes!

Jenny then says "Oh great. Now I bet Paul wins a pair" and he did! It was too funny. But Jenny won $25.00 off a new pair so she didn't do too badly. And since not many people showed up for the race (lazy bums!), they had more door prizes than people so we all went home with a bunch of free stuff. I got a free shirt for Kurt, shirt for Katerina, two shirts for me, an ornament, and a pair of shoes. Not bad for $23.oo entry fee!

So, who's the lady in the Santa suit in the photo above??? That's Mercedes, one of the fastest women in northern Colorado. She ran as Mrs. Claus and Tim Jones ran as Santa Claus. Any man who beats him wins a pair of socks and any woman who beats Mrs. Claus, wins a pair of socks. This race is way too much fun to miss - you better be there next year!

The Things We Do For Friends!

OK, I really flipped this time....I just signed up to run the Christmas Classic 4-Miler in Ft. Collins tomorrow AM and the forecast calls for a HIGH of 14 degrees! Snow and very, very cold. And I knew this ahead of time. Why am I signing up to run a race in frigid cold weather??? Because I promised my friend, Jenny, that I would - that's why!

She told me the other day she was going to run it and I thought to myself, "hey, we haven't gone to a race together in a long time, so I should go to this one!" But it was 53 degrees that day! I was warm and toasty when I made that decision! Tomorrow is supposed to be 14! I won't be warm and toasty tomorrow!

But that's the thing: I kinda like doing crazy, spontaneous things and for some weird reason, I've always liked to challenge Mother Nature....

When I lived in northern Maine, I would run at night when it was below 10 degrees and there was something thrilling about that....I have no idea what it is but I liked the feeling of conquering the cold. When I ran Imogene Pass Run (11 miles up to 13,000 feet and 8 screamin' miles down into Telluride), I loved the sharp, cold winds, running over rocks, and the delirious feeling of being at altitude...

Ok, so I'm weird, but at least I have one weird friend too. See ya tomorrow, Jenny!

Night Running

On Weds night of this week, Kurt and I did something we haven't done in a long time (no, not that!)....we ran with the Weds night group at Bell's. We used to run with them all the time but now that the kids are in choir on Weds nights, I am at the church every Weds night (which is good, of course, but man I miss the running!).

Doug had a 7 mile loop planned out. But one of the people who showed up was a new guy who was also new to Greeley. Fortunately, he was running about my pace, which was a lot slower than the rest of the group (sniff, sniff...I used to run easily with the group) so we ran together the whole way, which was fun because we talked about a lot of cool stuff. But the rest of the group ran ahead and i wasn't sure of the route, so we ended up running 8 miles because I didn't know where to turn off at one point.

Long story to say that I'm sore as hell today! Why can I run 10 - 12 miles on the weekend with no problem but 8 miles in the middle of the week hurt like heck....someone please answer me!

Spinervals

I HATE indoor cycling. I really hate it. But today the roads were slick and I had a strange urge to ride my bike so I got out my Troy Jacobson Spinerval 10.0 tape and did the whole thing for the first time.

This is one hard workout. It consists of 3 15-min "time trials" that build in intensity and until Tuesday, I was only able to do two of them. Today it was a slam-dunk: I did all 3 and felt pretty darn good.

I've never liked the cycling tapes that are long rides in the mountains or beautiful rides in the country....I just can't ride indoors that long. There's something that happens in my brain that says AAAAHHHH! Way too boring. But the hard-core, fast-paced tempo rides keep me going IF I have to ride indoors. If I have the luxury of riding outside, then of course, I want to ride in the mountains or down country roads...

Gratitude

Gratitude is a good thing to have. It helps you realize that when the sh-- hits the fan, someone else's fan could be bigger than yours, if that make sense. It reminds you to be thankful for what you have and to not worry when you back your car into the garage door on your way to the pool....

Yep, that's what I did. On my way to the pool on this cold, dark morning, I hit the garage door opener on the wall as I walked to the van (thinking, of course, that the door was opening). But Kurt had left the door open when he left on foot for the pool at 5:30 AM (he was running to the pool this morning). So, the door was actually closing when I thought it was opening. I get in the van (and remember, it's VERY dark at the time), start the car, put it in reverse and BAM! I backed into the door. CRAP!!!

Fortunately, I had not given the car much gas and didn't dent the door too badly. The door opened but would not shut. We'll still need to get a new door probably.

When I saw Kurt at the pool, I said "we have so much to be thankful for, don't we???" It didn't work...he knew something was wrong. Great way to start the week, huh?

Flexibility

That's the theme for this weekend - flexibility. My running plans changed a bazillion times (as my daughter would say). Too long to write here but suffice it to say that if I weren't flexible, I'd be in the loony bin now. I actually ran both days but the run on Saturday was unexpectedly cut short so I tried again on Sunday but didn't get out the door as quickly as I should have (kids, puppy, etc) and ended up only running for an hour, instead of my usual 1.5 hrs. Oh well.

But, we did get our Christmas tree and it's up and decorated. Looks great. Went to the Prairie Kids Festival at Centennial Village yesterday. The kids made real candles the old-fashioned way, watched a real blacksmith make horse shoes, and swung at a pinata. We went to a Christmas party Friday night and the Poinsetta Pops concert last night. Very busy weekend!

But now it's dusk and it's very, very quiet....celtic Christmas music on and my gorgeous puppy is sleeping by my side. I hear my kids laughing outside while the build a snowman. It just doesn't get any better than this.

I only swam once last week. Plan to swim three times this week. This blog is helping me stay accountable. If I write it here, I'm more likely to do it, even though I know no one is reading it.

Weird Weather

Yesterday, it was warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt, so my husband (who had the day off) and I slipped in a quick bike ride. It was so nice! We rode for just an hour but went fast and had a great time. I felt really good. Rode to Kersey and back. The temp was probably in the mid-60's, which is really warm for December.

Today, the high will be 32 and it's snowing right now. I ran 50 mins and did a tempo run. Felt really good again. Have a lot of work to do today so didn't go to pool this AM (uh-oh, she's starting to slip....) but plan to be there tomorrow or Friday. I'm on a roll with the swimming so can't stop now!

Greeley Guppies

Here's our fearless leader at the infamous Greeley Master's Swim Club (aka, Greeley Guppies), Mr. Richard Hess. He's our coach and quite an accomplished swimmer himself. I don't recall all of his accolades but I know he can swim very fast. He's also a really nice guy.

Made it to the pool this AM but since Kurt had the day off, we were a bit late (he didn't have to go to work afterwards so he was lolly-gagging). I swam a shorter workout and as usual, felt like I was flailing all over the place for the first half of the swim. Not until it was time for me to get out did I have that "oh, I get it" feeling.

But the cool thing was, I ran home from the pool. Kurt drove the car home with my bag and I just ran home, which is about 3 miles or so. Not a long run but it's mostly uphill and after a hard (!) swim, it felt like a tough workout. I even ran 4 sprints up the sledding hill at UNC (love that hill!). Went home, got Daisy, and ran a few more miles. Sure wish I could feel as confident in the pool as I do in my running shoes! Someday....

Another fun group run...

My good friend, Julie Hansen (far left), was in town so she brought her two friends, Sheila and Tiffany from Ft. Collins, on our weekly group run today. Jenny and Marshal, my Greeley friends, who I run with most of the time, also came along. Paul, Jenny's neighbor, took the picture. Thanks, Paul!

It was cold but we had a great run - about 9 miles. We all run about the same pace so it worked out well. These group runs are something I look forward to each week as it's often the only time I see my friends! We run slow enough to talk and this helps to make the time go by fast.

I debated whether to keep a blog or not but I'm finding that it's keeping me accountable to my training. I don't think anyone reads it but that's ok! It's more or less a journal and someday I'll probably want to read it....hopefully with fond memories of the outcome (Ironman Florida!).

My friend Lynne, who did the Florida Ironman this year, who inspired me to sign up, is out from running due to knee surgery. We miss you, Lynne!

Turkey Trot

Another Turkey Trot has came and went....and we had a great time. I ran 23:07, which is a lot slower than I used to run but I felt really good. The first 1.5 miles is uphill and I took it easy. Would really like to get my time down below 23 minutes and feel that I can. I've done zero speedwork so hopefully this winter I can do some and get a little faster. But I still got 2nd in my age group and won a pie!

We had so much fun. I love this race because it's a true community event and because Greeley is relatively small, I see so many people that I know and it's fun catching up. It's a part of our Thanksgiving tradition and I'm glad my kids will grow up with this kind of event being a part of their experience.

Speaking of kids, Katerina and Evan ran/walked the 5k by themselves (first time by themselves) and did great! Sasha, our exchange student from Ukraine, also walked it but being a typical teenager (who stayed up until 4:00 AM we found out later), she wasn't exactly a happy camper. But she did it!

Every year my friends, Jenny, Lynne, and Marshall, and their kids, do the Turkey Trot and because we're all decent runners, we almost always win a pie or a turkey. We then get together for Thanksgiving dinner at my house. This year we're having it at Lynne and Marshall's house, which will be fun. Kurt is working but he's still roasting the turkey. I'm bringing mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. We invited another family to join us so their should around 17 people there.

Should be lots of fun!

Turkey Relays

Today at swim practice we had the "Turkey Relays". This is a beloved tradition of the master's swim group (from what I learned) and although Kurt tried to assure me that "it was for fun", my arms hurt so much right now that I can hardly type.

They started with a typical warm-up (which, for me, is a workout by itself): 250 yd swim, 250 yd pull-bouy (or whatever those things are called), and 250 kick (the easiest part for me). I could've easily gone home after that but nooooo, we had to do THE Turkey Relays.

It started with SIXTEEN fast 50's. SIXTEEN! Did you hear me??? I said SIXTEEN! I just about died. They were all very fast, very anaerobic. I wore my fins and thank God I did, there is NO way I could've kept up without them. My arms were killing me now!

Then we did a kick-set relay with 3 people on a team. That was easy. Being a veteran runner and cyclist, anything involving the legs is relatively easy for me. It's just swimming that is so hard on my wimpy little arms.

I realized this AM that this blog is more about me learning to swim than anything else. At least for now it is. I can run in my sleep - it's part of my existence that I don't even think about anymore. I just do it and I really enjoy it. I'm not particularly fast....at least not anymore but I can run forever and I can run up mountains. But put me in a pool and well, it aint pretty.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we're all doing the Turkey Trot. I hope I can get myself out of bed!

Doggie run

Meet Daisy (at left), the cutest puppy in the world. I may be a bit biased, however. But who wouldn't fall in love with a golden retriever puppy??? She's now a full 8 months old and full of energy. My friends, Jenny and Lynne, run with their dogs (yellow lab and GR), so I finally had to get one too. Daisy can run 2-3 miles now but can't seem to stop grabbing the leash and running with it in her mouth. She also chews on socks, underwear, pencils, and glasses (she devoured my daughter's glasses once already). But with a face like that, she can get away with anything.

Today I did a quickie 4 mile run (out to my mom's house to help her do some things), then ran Daisy around the block and will lift later today. Feeling good today!

Humbling experience

I made it down to the pool again today (at 6:00 AM, mind you). This has been such an unusual experience for me that I feel the need to write about it! I've been running for 20-some years and it doesn't even enter my mind to mention that I ran today, yet I want to shout to the entire world that I actually swam AGAIN today. Must be love? No, it must be paranoia about swimming 2.4 miles in the ocean come November.

Anyway, I had a decent swim and the water wasn't cold like it was a few years ago. They say it's 84 degrees but whatever it is, I like it. But it was one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had.

There are 8-10 regular swimmers there, about half of which are triathletes who have done an Ironman (guys I know very well). My husband, Kurt, and a few women I haven't met are also there. Richard Hess is the coach and he has a workout for the group when we get there. I usually do my own thing because I could never keep up with everyone else.

Well, today I thought I might be able to keep up. I wore my fins which I thought would even things out. Wrong! I was still way behind everyone else. Plus, I couldn't seem to get my left arm to do what I wanted it to do. I ended up leaving on a sour note, feeling very frustrated and wondering if I'll ever be able to swim a mile.

I feel like I don't belong there. But I'm determined to keep trying. Kurt keeps telling me "it's only a matter of time before you will swim well". Everyone tells me I'm "doing fine", yet why I am so incredibly slow??? It's because I'm incredibly inefficient!

I'm going to keep trying.

I rode my bike trainer for 50 mins at noon. My house stays so cool that I didn't even consider riding outside because I was so cold in the house. Later, when I picked up my kids and we played outside for awhile, I saw how warm it was and kicked myself for not getting out for a ride. But at least I got a ride in.

For my ride, instead of using my Spinervals tape, I turned the channel to HGTV (which I love but never have time to watch) and decided to ride for the length of the show, increasing the pace during the commercials. It worked like a charm. I kept up a good pace during the show but then hit it hard during the commercials. Had a great workout that way!

Group Run

Today there were 6 of us on our weekly group run (from l to r): Brenda, me, Marshall, Jenny, Kevin, and Kurt (who took the picture). We started from WOW and ran 8 miles (but it seemed longer than that!). I did some hill work two days ago so I was a little sore but made it ok. We talked and laughed the whole way.

I've been running for 20-some years now and most of my friends are runners. These are the people I usually run with and I treasure my friendship with each of them. We rarely see each otehr during the week since we all have jobs and families (with the exception of Weds nights from April to October when we run track together) but then usually hook up for a long, slow run on Sat or Sun morning. It's a great way to see your friends and get caught up on their lives.

We only ran 8 miles but I'm pretty tired now. I had my iron levels checked a few months ago and they were very low (serum ferritin: 15) so I wonder if I'm a bit anemic. But we had such a good time that it was well worth it. I do find myself wondering......how in the heck I'm going to run 26.2 miles after biking 112 miles next November when I have trouble running 8 miles after a good night's sleep!

We'll see....

Thanks, Tom!

Getting up at 5:00 AM to drive across town to a cold swimming pool is not fun. In fact, it's downright painful. But I've done it twice a week for three whole weeks now and I'm mighty proud of myself.

My plan is to continue to swim on Monday and Friday mornings throughout the winter but I gotta get myself there by 6:15 AM so that I can be home to get kids ready for school. Once I get there, I'm fine but getting out the door is tough.

Yesterday I got some great advice from Tom M, one of our local Greeley Guppies (nickname for Greeley Masters Swim Club). My husband, Kurt, has been a Guppy for years. Tom was swimming two lanes over from me and he overheard me talking to Todd, another Guppy, about how bad I swim and he commenced to give me advice on what my hands should do once they enter the water. He showed me how to use paddles and showed me how to "push" and not pull the water, to propel me forward faster.

I tried what he suggested and wow, what a difference it made. The hardest thing for me with swimming is what my hands and arms should do under the water. I got the "upper" part of the stroke down but not the underwater part of the stroke. Everyone talks about an upside down "S" but I could never figure that out. This felt easier and it gave me some things to work on.

So, even though it's been hard to get my butt down to the pool, I'm starting to feel like I'm really learning how to swim. Next summer, it will be so nice to enter triathlons feeling confident about the swim part, unlike last year when I panicked every time I put on my wetsuit. I'm hoping to improve in the run and bike as well but not as much as I will in the swim.

Squeezing in the run

Had very little time today but told myself that I was going to run or ride come hell or high water (as my mother would say). Sleet was coming down when I finally got the kids off to school and normally I would just ride my trainer but I my energy level was low. I knew that if I tried to exercise inside that I'd end up quitting (I HATE to exercise inside) but that if I ran outside, I'd do fine. So I put on my tights and winter running jacket and pushed myself out the door. Had a great run: 50 mins of just-under-tempo pace. Despite the wintery weather, I love running outside.

Tomorrow, it's back to the pool at 6:00 AM. My kids have to be at school early for student council meeting so I'll have to finish swimming by 7:00 and hurry home. Ahhh, the life of a triathlete (or triathlete wanna-be!).

Priorities

No run, no bike, no swim today and it was 75 degrees outside. That's enough to make anyone cry in their beer. Just too much to do....class to teach, housework to get done, kids to pick up, vans that need oil changing, and church to attend. My kids have choir practice every Weds and we stay for family night which includes dinner and I am one of the cleaner-uppers.

Well, I did ride my bike to class and took the dog for a walk so it wasn't a total loss...

Tempo Run

Ran 50 min tempo run (10 min warm-up/cool-down, 30 mins at high intensity with one big hill). Felt good but could tell that I haven't done any speed in a very, very long time! Worked on form. Recalled my high school track coach telling me to pull in my elbows. It's depressing how quickly we lose our speed as we get older. I felt like I was running in slow motion, yet my body hurt like it does when I push the pace so I know I wasn't lollygaggin'.

Decided to keep running 3 days a week throughout the winter but push the pace and do some hills. The plan: one tempo run, one speed workout, and one long run. That way, I can hopefully prevent an overuse injury. Bike two days/week and swim 2 days/week.

Too Tired to Think

It's only 9:00 AM and I'm already too tired to think. Why? Because I got my lazy butt down to the pool this morning at 6:00 AM, that's why. If I'm going to do this IM, I'm gonna have to start the training now, at least for the swim part of the race.

I just learned how to swim a few years ago. Growing up on a farm in Kansas meant I had chores to do every morning and my parents never signed up me up for swim lessons. I never thought it was a big deal until I got into triathlons (duh!). In fact, I avoided triathlons for many years because of the swim. I can bike and run fairly well but just can't swim.

So, I signed up for Master's swim a few years ago. My husband has been swimming with this group for almost 10 years now. They swim every Mon and Weds morning at 6:15 AM (which means I have to get up at 5:00 to drink enough coffee to be able to find my swimming suit). But I quit after a few sessions because I was so bad AND because I got sooooo cold in the water. I hated it. No, I despised it.

But over the years I was slowly lulled into thinking that I might actually like swimming if I gave it another go. I found that I did like it in the summer time. I would swim at noon at our local 50-meter pool. I liked it only because I was the only one there and I could flail around in the water as much as I wanted and no one was there to laugh!

So I naively signed up for the Greeley Triathlon. I picked this one because the swim was in a pool, not a lake. At the time I had not done any lake swims yet. Jumping into a lake was just way too scary. And the swim was only 500 yards or something like that so I thought "piece of cake". HA! I thought I was going to die when I did it.

Long story short, I did my first lake swim with several Greeley tri folks (see earlier post) in Windsor. It was scary, there's no doubt about it. But I wanted to do triathlons bad enough that I just did it. The water was soooo cold and not being able to see the bottom freaked me out but I just put my face in the water and started swimming. Fast forward a few years and I now have 4-5 triathlons under my belt, including my first half-ironman distance last August in Boulder. I'm not a good swimmer but I can do it and I actually enjoy swimming in a lake (never thought I'd say that!).

Today I swam only 1000 yards. We got there a little too late to get the whole workout in. Kurt follows the workout that Richard Hess, our coach, has for the group and I just do my own thing. I actually tried to keep up with them today but I'm just too slow. But at least I got myself down there! My plan is to swim 2 days/week throughout the winter to build up my arm/shoulder strength and then swim 3 days/week next summer, with at least one of those days as a lake swim. Our Greeley Tri club has several members that swim in the Windsor lake 1-3x/week so that makes it easy when there's a group of us out there.

I'll try to get a run in today as well. Need to work off the lovely French dessert a friend of mine made for us last night (chocolate pear tart)....thanks, Rhonda! It was fabulous.

Did the Half and I'm Goin' For the Full!

My last post was just a few days before my first half-ironman triathlon, 5430 in Boulder on August 10th. It came and went much better than I expected. However, it was the exact opposite of what I thought: the swim and run were much easier than I expected and the bike was harder than I expected it to be.

Not being a very good swimmer and the fact that I had a major panic attack at Boulder Peak in the middle of Boulder Reservoir, I thought the 1.2 mile swim would be awful. I thought I'd be thrashing around, gasping for air, or just dog-paddling the whole way. But it was great...the water felt good, my arms weren't tired, and I had no trouble making the distance.

I started the bike thinking this would be easy since I've always been a fairly strong cyclist. In fact, I think if I trained well, I'd be a better cyclist than runner. But that was the problem: I didn't train well on the bike this summer. I only got in THREE long rides and I paid for it big time. By the time I finished the bike portion, my legs were dead. As I rode into the transition area, I thought "there's no way I can run 13.1 miles now". I thought I was done.

Lo and behold, I felt great on the run. In fact, I was passing people right and left. Not that I am fast, it's just that most people were tired from the bike. I got a second wind and felt really good. I also think my nutrition plan really helped me a lot. Whatever it was, it was one of my best races ever.

After 5430, I took a break from triathlons and even considered totally switching over to trail running, something I've always loved doing. I was burnt out of tri's and had no interest in planning for next year (which I usually do in the fall). But a good friend of mine, Lynne Parks, was training for her first Ironman (Florida, 11/08) and since I usually do a long run every weekend of 10 - 12 miles, I thought I'd join her for part of her long runs and if it worked out, a few long rides as well. But I had no interest in getting caught up in the Ironman craze.

So, I did some long runs with her and ran two half-marathons as well (Blue Sky and Denver Half). Blue Sky was fantastic and I ran harder at that race than I've run in years. Denver was very slow but I had a good time....stayed the night at a fancy hotel in Denver the night before the race with two of my running buddies and we had a blast. But still, hadn't even thought about an Ironman.....

Then the day came for Lynne's Ironman debut. She and her husband, Marshall, both very close friends of ours, went to Florida for the race along with 5 other friends of our (all Greeley Tri Club members). I was so excited for Lynne and the other guys and followed them online (via Ironman.com). The other guys had all done an IM before but this was Lynne's first time so I was VERY excited for her. Although I was busy that day with the kids, I couldn't stop checking the IM site to see how she was doing.

Then, watching her cross the finish line and hearing "Lynne Parks, YOU are an Ironman" just hit me....I knew I had to do this. I called Marshall and asked him if he was going to sign up (he had told he might since you get first dibs if you sign up on site) and yes, he said that he had signed up for next year's race. I really, really, really wanted to sign up too but I needed to talk to Kurt first. There was no way I'd commit to something this big without his support. We had talked many times in the past about doing something like this but both of us had said that it was too much, that we didn't want to commit that much time or energy to one race, that the kids' activities kept busy enough, that we wanted to simplify our lives (training for 3 sports in addition to going to your kids' sports makes for a very crazy lifestyle!). In fact, Kurt was pretty adamant about scaling back, staying home more, yadda, yadda, yadda....

So there I was, asking him if he'd support me if I took a year to train for the biggest race of my life. And guess what he said??? If you want to do it, go for it. You could've knocked me over with a feather. I was shocked. But we had a big problem: Florida 09 was already closed. DARN!!! Arizona was open but I just couldn't get excited about going to Tempeh, Arizona. After seeing the beautiful beaches in Panama City (and they really are pretty), I couldn't get excited about AZ.

So, the only way to get into Florida was to buy a community slot. That means you have to pay an EXTRA $775.00 (for charity), on top of the $525 application fee. There was no way that my frugal husband was going to fork over $1300 for a race that was going to take a lot of time for me to train for....but guess what??? He said OK! I'm still in shock, to be quite honest. So I sent off the two checks, one for 525 and the other for 775 and I got in.

So, I'm committed. And so is Marshall. We've already mapped out our training schedule. We'll gradually build over the winter and start Gale Bernhardt's 13 week IM training plan next July or August. Kurt, me, Marshall, and Lynne will all go to Florida together and knowing us, we'll have a blast. We've known them for 15 years so this will really be a fun trip together. Lynne and Kurt can have fun at the beach and buy us hamburgers after the race (God willing that I finish!).

To get ready, we're both planning on doing the Windsor Tri (sprint, May), the Greeley tri (sprint, June), Lake to Lake (Olympic, June), Triple Bypass (120 mile bike event, July), and then go with our tri club to OK city in September to compete in the national club championships by doing a Half-Ironman on Sept. 19th. Those are perfect dates - they are spread out enough to get give us time to train for each one and of course, they will all serve as training for the IM.

I feel strangely calm about all of this. Two years ago I would've been in major panic mode. But I feel confident in my ability to train for this grueling event. I won't be fast but I think that if my body holds up, I can do it. And for me, that's an accomplishment.

As you can see, I took some time off from this blog (like 1.5 yrs....). I wasn't sure whether to continue but I've realized that it helps keep me on track so here I go again...

My first half-ironman triathlon is this Sunday! I'm not nearly as ready as I'd like to be. I can count on two hands the number of times I've ridden my bike this summer. I still grab the end of the pool each time I swim a lap (and can barely do 1000 yards) but on Sunday morning, I'll be attempting to swim 1.2 miles in the Boulder Reservoir, cycle 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles. And did I mention that it's likely to be close to 100 degrees that day???

The only thing I've done well in my training is run. I've been running quite a bit and have gotten in many 12 mile runs. I ran my favorite 12-mile loop on Saturday and felt great. So, I'm in decent shape, I think, but it would come in handy to bike or swim once in awhile too.

Why haven't I biked or swam much this summer? Kids, kids, kids....lots of kid stuff going on. Plus, I had to study for a national certification exam on sports dietetics. At 5:00 AM every morning this summer, I was on the couch, cup of coffee in hand, and textbook on my lap....ugh. The only nice thing about it was that my new golden retriever puppy would curl up next to me....but then she'd start chewing on my book and well, it went downhill from there. But I got the test done and I'm waiting on the results.

I swam 1000 yards today and itactually felt good. I can finally do 700 yards without stopping now. My husband always says "just get in 2000 and you'll be fine". I just smile and say to myself "I've never swam that far in my life"....but he wouldn't get it. Did I mention that I wore fins the entire time?

Wish me luck on Sunday. I'll need it.