Hay in the barn?

That's what Todd said...that "the hay is in the barn" and that I shouldn't be worried. Yet, I still do. I worry that I didn't put enough hay in there...that I didn't train hard enough. Argh!

Focusing on the positive tells me this: I swam 55 mins this morning and felt like I could've kept going. My arms were tired but not that bad. This is a good sign.

I ran an hour yesterday and felt like I could've run longer. This is a good sign.

Then why do I not feel more confident???

One more week...I'm very excited and looking forward to it. Just hope I can finish with a decent time is all I want.

I think I'm a bit down because I spent the entire day in front of this darn computer. Had a ton of school work to do. Graded exams, prepared Monday's lecture, worked on Tuesday's exam, and need to grade a discussion board on Blackboard too. Ugh.

My kids are orphans right now. They have heard me say "no, I can't play right now" too many times and its been more because of school work than IM training (although there's obvious overlap there!).

I know tapering is the right thing to do, yet I feel like I didn't work hard enough to warrant a taper...so will just maintain until next Saturday so that I don't overdo.

My hip is a bit better but I better not run, will only ride tomorrow and swim easy on Tuesday - decided not to do Master's on Monday. Just maintain...and then Weds we leave! I think I'll be more excited when i get there.

Back to grading...

Good news, bad news

Like everything else in life, there's always the good and the bad. I'm trying hard to focus ONLY on the good right now. But I do have a bit of bad news: a possible injury (that is very painful today).

OK, the good first. I ran today (instead of swimming, which I'll do tomorrow) and despite the awful road conditions - and they were worse than I expected - I ran for an hour and barely felt winded. I felt like I could have easily run another hour. This is a good thing, esp one week before an Ironman (mentally, at least).

Another good thing: I'm feeling much more confident about the swim. Jim Fuller told me "it's only a half mile to the first buoy so you're never out there that far". That really helped put my mind at ease. To think of it as only a half mile out and half back in (with 1/10 between the buoys) sounds relatively easy to me. YAY!!!!! Can I say that again? YAY!!!!!

And my bike is on it's way to Florida - woo hoo! That feels very good. My transition bag with all the stuff I listed in my last posting is with the bike.

Now for the bad: I have acquired severe hip pain in my left hip. It hurts very bad today. It hurts so bad when I first stand up, after sitting for awhile, that I can hardly walk. Yes, it hurt when I ran today and yes, it is worrying me quite a bit.

I've trained for a frickin' year without a single injury and one week before the event I get an excruciating pain in my hip!

Trying to stay calm...at least it's not my knees or feet, I think that would be worse. But it really hurts when I walk.

Off to class....hobbling, of course.

So close!

I can't believe the IM is this close....8 days away! So much to do, so much to think about, and so much to pack.

Yesterday and today were a bit stressful. I had planned on picking up my bike after getting the kids (my bike was at the Bike Peddler getting tuned up). But due to the snowstorm that cause us all by surprise, Andy shut down the shop for 2 days and Marshall is taking the bikes to Niwot on Friday morning. Yikes - how do I get my bike out of the shop before Friday???

Long story short, I was able to get ahold of Andy (thanks to Jim Fuller!). Andy met me at the shop today (but he was 15 mins late and that was the longest 15 mins I've ever experienced!). He found a small nail in my back tire and removed it, but it made me nervous wondering if the tire was going to be ok.

Dropped my bike off at Marshall's along with my bike bag. It was surreal packing my bike bag. I hope I remembered everything! This is what I packed:
helmet,
gloves
sleeves
body glide
running clothes
biking clothes (except shoes and jacket - want the shoes so I can ride my trainer before I leave)
bike tools
C02 cartridges
Powerbars
CarboPro
Ensure drink (generic brand)
wetsuit
race number belt (2 of them)

I think that's it. I'll bring everything else when we fly down next Weds. I hope the guy driving the truck doesn't run into any problems!

I decided to go with CarboPro instead of EFS. CarboPro doesn't have any magnesium in it and I've heard magnesium can cause diarrhea. Jim Fuller was kind enough to give me powdered CarboPro and I will just add it to my water bottle. But it will be very concentrated - if I mix it the way he told me to. Wish I had tried this on a long run!

But I think I'll be ok. I tried the Ensure-like product and it worked fine. I also ate Powerbars and drank Gatorade and those worked great too. And of course, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich - which I'll get when I'm there (sorry too tired to write this out more clearly!).

The other issue is weather. I just checked the 10-day forecast and up until Saturday, it was a picture of a bright sun. On the day of the race, it was a picture of rain clouds and said "showers". I hope it doesn't rain on the bike course! I won't mind the run so much because it will be warm but the bike could be a problem. The high will be 63 - not nearly as warm as I expected - and very humid. Ugh. Hoping the forecast will change by then!

Yesterday I did Master's swim. We did a ladder of 1200 yards. With the warmup, I did a total of 2000 yards. Not bad. Today I ran on the treadmill for 30 mins (boring!) and tomorrow I will swim again. I think I'll do 50 mins nonstop.

Too sleepy to write more. But will write more for sure because there's a lot more to say.

Whew - what a week

Well, I'm almost a week behind in this blog! I've been really busy with prep for the classes I teach at UNC. I have not had a spare minute between teaching and class prep, meetings at church, kid stuff, and training. The class prep has been the most time-consuming part this last week as I had two exams to prepare (from scratch), 5 lectures, 3 assignments to grade, and numerous emails from students. I enjoy it all but it's been more than the usual amount.

Anyway, recap of the last week's training:
Friday: swam 50 mins at the Rec Center. Intended to swim an hour but didn't have time. I had to stop to use the restroom and also talk with Tom M. re technique tips (which are always good from him!). It was a good swim but I didn't feel as tired as the week before.

Saturday: Last training brick: 2 hr ride and 1 hr run. Didn't get out on my bike until 12:03 (to be exact) due to K's soccer game and other activities. I rarely ride in the afternoon and NEVER run in the afternoon so wasn't sure how I would feel. Surprisingly, I felt great! The weather was nice - mid 60's with no wind. I had a lot of energy and when I got to Windsor I was tempted to keep riding past the 2 hr mark and just make it a long ride. But decided to just stick to the plan and headed back. Instead of going back on O street, I went up 257 hill to highway 34, out on 34 for a few miles and back on 20th. Got back home exactly in 2 hrs (2:03).

Jumped off my bike and threw on my running clothes. Headed out and felt the old familiar "tired leg" feeling you have after biking. But kept going - ran about 45 mins, cutting it short to have juice left for the run I had planned on Sunday.

Sunday: Went to Jenny's with Daisy and had a nice group run. There was a good size group there: Brenda, Kevin, Jenny, Marshall, Jim, Todd, and Duane. We all ran to the stop sign and everyone but me, Jim, and Duane ran on for a longer run. Since I had Daisy, I ran back with Jim and Duane. Really enjoyed running with them! I felt a little jealous of Marshall doing the longer run but by the time I got back, my legs were ready to stop and I decided it was ok - we did 7 miles at a good pace and that was ok (I hope!).

Monday: Master's swim. Felt tired and not very strong. Did most of the workout but used pull buoy and fins. Just didn't have a lot of energy. Worried that I wasn't doing well...but pulled myself out of it later on.

Tuesday (today): Ran with Kurt out to Lowe's and back (6 miles), plus an extra mile around my house. Felt pretty good but could tell my legs were tired.

So, one week from tomorrow we leave for Florida!!! I can't believe it's this close...yet, it seems like it has taken forever to get here. I go back and forth between feeling very confident to feeling total panic...but I know that at this point, there's nothing I can do about it. I find myself second-guessing myself a lot...I should've done this, I should've done that...but trying not to do that.

The hard thing this last week has been how busy with work I've been. I work on my classes early morning, late at night, and every spare minute I have. I'm constantly making slides, reading research papers, grading student's papers, and working on my lectures - seriously, every spare minute I ahve. I'm wondering if I'm a little obsessed with it.

Anyway, tomorrow is Weds and Master's swim. I want to do a hard workout and it will be my last hard swim before the IM. I think that's a good idea (and I should look at the plan but I go more by how I feel than anything else).

Too tired to write more...one more week and I'm outta here!

Oops

I ran harder and longer today than I should have....but it felt so good! Finally recovered from last week so I was feeling fresh. Dropped off the kids at school and ran from there - out to Fun Plex, up the big hill, back down and around to Monfort. Held a fast pace almost the whole way so it was one long tempo run. Now, my legs are sore!

I've been thinking that even if I don't do well at the Ironman, I've learned a lot about what my body can handle. I've learned that I can handle more than I thought i could. I also learned how to REALLY swim and how to keep going even when it really, really, really hurts. And I like that!

So bring it on! I'm about as ready as I'll ever be.

Richard is killing me!

Today was one of the hardest swim workouts I've ever done.

I got to the pool on time and was in the water by 6:15. It felt great - I hadn't swam since last Friday so my arms were fresh and ready to go. I warmed up, skipping some of the kick portion since I plan on biking later today and want to keep my legs fresh too.

This was the main set: 4 x 25, 4 x 50, 4 x75, 4 x 100, 4 x75, 4 x 50, 4 x 25, and within each set, we were to "build" our speed, which means you start slow and go faster with each one.

Well, I've noticed that Master's swim is a bit like track. No one seems to hear the "slow" part - they bolt and go as fast as they can to beat everyone else. If you're a runner or triathlete, it's just in our DNA to try to beat the person running/swimming next to us. In other words, it hurts like hell.

Marshall and Jade were swimming in the lane next to me and of course, I want to keep up with them so I tried to do that without pull-buoys or fins and quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Plus, I felt a twinge in my left rotator cuff on one of the fast 50's and Kurt told me to use fins if I felt any pain. On went the fins (wa-la! I can go really fast with fins!).

I used to think fins slowed me down because my legs tend to sink but I noticed that if I actually kick with fins on, I go faster and there's less pressure on my shoulders. So I kicked and was able to keep up but it was still very hard!

I focused on my stroke a lot today. I tried to push all the way through as Tom told me during the warm-up. He said I wasn't following through with my stroke so I worked on that and it did seem to help. Each time I swim I focus on a certain part of the stroke and it seems like I'm getting better. I'm definitely rotatin more now and reaching out further as Richard has told me but not pushing through as much as I should. Having the fins on helped to focus more on my stroke and less on how far behind I was!

But I think I'm getting better. I actually can't wait until Friday when I can swim on my own, doing what I want to do, and going my own pace. Its great being able to say that.

Now, time to get work done and then hopefully have time for 30 mins on the bike with Coach Troy.

The other side of IM training

Up until now I've written mostly about my training. I have not written about the impact it has had on other areas of my life. Since I'm writing this "diary" for anyone who wants to know what it's like training for this event, I feel the need to share the other side of it as well.

The not so fun side of things.

That would be how crazy it makes your life. Right now I am feeling overwhelmed, ineffective, unorganized, and unprepared to teach my classes. I am an adjunct instructor at UNC and I'm teaching two classes, one of which is brand new and I am creating completely from scratch. Therein lies the problem.

It is taking way more time to prep for this class than I had anticipated. It is 9:00 PM Monday night and my class is on Tuesday and I am just now putting my class together for tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do yet and I am very tired. My house is dirty, my yard needs raking and mowing, our breezeway is absolutely filthy, I have cards to write and mail to people, endless emails to answer, and laundry to do. This is what happens when you're spending up to 20 hrs/week on training.

This afternoon I spent creating a new assignment for my class and discussion board questions. I have yet to grade an assignment they turned in and grade their discussion questions from last week. I have to create a 50 minute lecture for tomorrow on a complicated topic and develop a dietary analysis project.

Both of my kids are having lots of homework. I spent 3 hrs with them tonight on their homework and reading logs, made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, zipped down to our church for a 45 min meeting, and because Kurt just got home (and missed all of this fun), he is putting them in bed while I finally exhale.

I'd love to get up early tomorrow and grade papers and get ready for class. But I have to swim and I'd like to ride my bike too. Its the same question I have all the time: what is the minimum amt of training I can do to be ready for this IM and get my classwork done too.

I'm tired and stressed. I'm tired of a messy house and sandwiches for dinner. I'm tired of walking past messy counters so that I can get my work done or my training in. I want some organization and control back in my life.

So, that's the life of an Ironman-wanna-be...at least one with kids and a job. Marshall works full-time and he's busy too. People say to me "I don't know how you do it" and well, I don't! I don't get a lot of things done that need to be done and right now it's weighing heavy on me.

Two more weeks and I'll have my life back.

Time off

I'm leaving for Denver this afternoon to attend the ADA meeting tomorrow. Tonight, I'll be going to the SCAN reception - my favorite part of the meeting. SCAN is a dietetic practice group for RD's like me who specialize in sports, cardiovascular, and wellness nutrition. I love this group!

I am so sore and tired today from yesterday (and the long swim on Friday) that I decided to not do any exercise today. I can hardly walk and I feel like I have another cold coming on. But I think it's ok. Yesterday's workout was comprable to the 5430 long course and I'll recover faster if I don't push it. And, I had so much classwork to do today that it didn't matter - spent 3 hrs on slides and lecture material today.

So, no Master's swim for me tomorrow AM. Instead, I'll run in Denver somewhere...I'm staying at a friend's condo and I'll just run from there. Plan to swim on Tues (easy) and again on Weds with Master's group. That should work out ok.

I must say that I am so glad I switched yesterday's workout with next week's workout, for two solid reasons: 1) it was hard enough that I will need 3 weeks to recover and 2) mentally it's AWESOME knowing it's all down hill from here! No more monster weekends with back-to-back workouts. No more 4-6 hr workouts. Only two short bricks (well, semi-short: 2 hr bike and 1 hr run) and the usual weekly stuff. I can handlt that.

Off to Denver!

Hardest workout so far

Today was the last long ride and run (5.5 hr brick) and it was by far, the hardest one I've done. I rode 4 hrs with Todd and Sarah (Kurt joined us for part of it) and we kept a brisk pace the whole way. We stopped a few times but other than that, it was a fast, steady pace (fast for me but not for Todd!).

I was very anxious about the run, worried that I would be too tired or hungry or both. But I was pleasantly surprised - I felt great! The first 30 mins was a breeze and the next 30 mins was slower, but not bad at all. I felt really good. The last 15 mins was excruciating but I'm very happy with how well I ran. If I feel like that on the day of the IM, then I'll do fine!

Overall: 4 hrs of fast riding and 1.5 hrs of running. Even though I can hardly move right now, I'm really happy with how it went.

The weather was near perfect today. It was sunny, clear, and no wind. The temp was pretty chilly in the beginning (around 35 degrees) and my feet were cold, but I felt so good and was enjoying the ride so much that I didn't even notice.

One thing I love about cycling is seeing the mountains. Today they were crystal clear and looked so majestic. We rode to Windsor, then Boyd Lake, and back to Greeley and had a great view the whole time. I just love living in Colorado!

Marathon swim

Fridays are supposed to be "long swim day" and even though the GB training plan that I'm on calls for only 2 swim workouts this week, I decided to do the long swim anyway (which was my 3rd swim of the week). I feel very good about that decision as I am nowhere near where Gail has her athletes at this point in terms of the swim. And it's a huge confidence builder for me to swim for that long.

So, Kurt and I got to the pool by 7:00, a full half hour later than we had planned. He had the day off and so did the kids so it worked out ok.

I got in the pool at 7:02 and swam non-stop until 7:37, at which time I needed to use the restroom. The 35 mins went fairly fast - I was surprised - and I didn't really want to get out. However, once I did, it was hard to get going again. That bothers me a little!

After I got back in, I could feel how tired my arms were. They literally ached. I swam a few slow laps and started losing steam. Not good. This is not what I want to have happen at the IM. I hadn't carbo-loaded so that was a factor but still, I was hoping to feel stronger.

I swam slowly until 7:54 and got out. My arms were hurting so bad that it wasn't worth it to go on, esp when I was not supposed to be swimming anyway.

But as the day wore on, I am feeling better about doing the swim (vs following the plan and not swimming). Most IM finishers will tell you to make sure you put in a lot of hours swimming and I don't feel that I have. I've only done a few long swims and since we have 3 weeks to go, I thought this was good to do it today.

Now, 6 hrs later, my arms are really sore and tired. Three weeks is enough time to heal.

I spent some time watching YouTube videos of the IM race. Found some that were stories of people overcoming incredible odds to finish the race. They were so inpiring - several brought tears to my eyes. I am honored to be in the company of so many strong-willed people.

I also just read Jim Fuller's race report from Hawaii. His self-less attitude and perseverance in the face of very tough conditions (hot and windy) is very inspiring to me. It gives me a different perspective on things. And I need that right now.

Blah day

Rode my trainer for 45 mins today which was about as exciting as watching turnips grow. I needed to do something but didn't want to ride too hard since I'm not supposed to be riding at all, according to the plan. Watched the news and just spun away. Through in a few surges in the middle and even stood up for awhile. Yawn.

Tomorrow I'm going to swim for an hour. Marshall said we are only supposed to swim 2 days this week but I'm going to swim anyway. I don't swim as hard or as long as the plan normally calls for so I don't feel I need a break from swimming. In fact, I need the long time in the water.

The weekend should be interesting. More on that later.

Good thing it's a taper week!

Because I felt like crap these last few days. I didn't do anything yesterday and only swam on Monday. But Marshall kindly reminded me that we aren't supposed to do anything this week. It's TAPER TIME!

I ran 35 mins this morning with Daisy and felt fine. Not great but fine. Tomorrow I'll ride my trainer and Friday I'll swim for 1 hr and 15 mins. Strangely, I'm looking forward to doing a long swim (wow, did I just write that? Me?!)

Saturday is a "short" brick: 2 hr ride and 1 hr run. Looking for to that too! I'm actually getting to the point of not being scared of the Ironman....more like "lets get it over with". Like the tide I'll be swimming against, it's always up and down for the Ironman wanna-be.

Power of the pool

I went to bed last night feeling really lousy and woke up feeling even more lousy. And it was worse than the usual ickiness of a cold - it was my entire chest (and throat) that hurt. I thought I would just try to swim but do only half the workout. But I was in for a big surprise.

After only 5 mins of swimming, I felt totally back to normal. I can't explain what happened...I went in feeling like crap and came out feeling fine! I had such a good swim that I didn't want to get out - I felt like I hadn't gotten enough of a workout when it was time to leave (which was essentially true since I didn't finish the workout Richard had for us - had to leave to get kids to school).

Now, an hour later, I still feel somewhat "flu-ish" but not nearly as bad as I did. I wonder what it was about the pool....or swimming...that made me feel better. Maybe it was the 2 extra strength Tylenol or maybe my immune system is stronger than I thought. Either way, I'll take it!

I worked on technique today. Richard tells me that my left arm "swings wide" and that I don't reach far enough with it so I worked on that. Also, my butt and legs tend to sink so I kept thinking about pushing my chest down to get my butt back up - very hard to do! And the third thing I thought about was hip rotation. Nancy said I need to rotate a lot more. So much to think about! No wonder I like running better - it's just left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.

Off to class and more Tylenol!

I can't get sick, I can't get sick, I WON'T GET SICK

This has been my mantra for the last week as I've taken care of my son, who undoubtedly hhad H1N1 (or something bad enough to keep him out of school for 4 days).

Although my throat has been sore and I've felt achey all over, I've pretty much ignored those feelings and kept going. After all, I had "the big training weekend" coming up (which turned into a Fri/Sat deal, see below).

But I'm not sure I can ignore it any more. I feel like crap. Sore throat, headache, achey- feeling all over, total lack of energy. I've overcome countless colds before but this time, it doesn't feel like "just a cold",it's much worse. Ugh.

At this point, I think I could get myself through the bike and run of the IM. But I'm not prepared for the swim and I know I sound like a broken record here but I really need the swim training in the next 3 weeks to get ready! I CAN'T GET SICK!!!

I'm planning to make it to Master's swim in the morning, even if I only do half the workout. I jsut need to get there. Wish me luck because I really need it this time.

The last big run

Today was the last "big" workout - yay! The plan called for a 3:15 run and we got 'er done. It was probably one of the hardest runs I've done in a long, long time.

In fact, I haven't run that far since I did the Cody Wyoming marathon, which was so long ago I don't even remember if it was in Cody! It was at least 10 yrs ago. Since then I haven't run longer than 2 hrs or so.

And it started on a very cold day: 13 degrees when I went out the door. We got a suprise storm last night and the ground was covered lightly in snow. The plan was for Marshall and I to leave our houses at 7:15 AM to run to Sanborn Park and then out to Jenny's, where Lynne, Brenda, and Dan would join us.

Even though it was 13 degrees, I was dressed warm enough that I never got cold. Felt warm and comfy the entire 3 hrs and 15 mins. I'm proud of that fact as it reflects 20+ yrs of winter running and it's one thing I do well (run in the cold).

But the distance was tough! Especially after riding 5 hrs yesterday and two tempo runs prior to that (and a 4.5 hr hard bike ride prior to that!). My legs were (and are) toast. In fact, they hurt just sitting here.

But I'm so glad I got it done AND that I didn't cut it short. It was tempting to just stop at Jenny's when we got back but Marshall and Lynne met me at the driveway (they finished before me) and said we had 30 mins to go to get the full 3:15 in (ouch!). So off we went for 30 more minutes.

I will say that it was painful. My legs were killing me. The 5 hrs of biking were taking their toll but I knew I had to keep going and I did.

As I sit here writing this blog, my legs feel like they are on fire. Its been so long since I've felt this extreme soreness I had forgotten how much it hurts! But I also feel like I'm prepared now for the IM, for the most part.

Now it's time to taper....for a week at least and then we do a long brick next weekend. But the nice part is taht from now on, I only have ONE hard workout each weekend instead of two and I can't tell you how glad I am for that!

Less than a month away....

Thursday run and the last big ride!

A few hours after my swim on Thursday, I went for a run. I don't know what it is about running right now but I felt great again. Ran 40 mins and just didn't want to stop. But I knew I had to because I was supposed to bike for 6 hrs on Friday. So I did but it was a great run.

Yesterday was an interesting day. The plans changed by the minute, due to the weather, and this is what I ended up doing: rode the trainer for 90 mins and then rode outside for 3.5 hrs.

The trainer part was not bad. I watched the Today Show, something I never do and that was kind of nice - got caught up on all the news of the day, watched a bazillion commercials (one reason I don't watch TV anymore) and just kept spinning.

I didn't go very fast. That kind of bothered me - I just didn't have any power in my legs. Later, I realized it was probably because I had ridden 4.5 fast miles only 5 days before this ride (plus two fast runs). That made me feel better. But still, I kept wishing I had more energy.

After getting off the trainer, it took a good 20-25 mins to get ready to go outside. The temp was 33 degrees! I had never ridden in such cold weather before. I had to take the bike off the trainer and carry it upstairs, pump up the tires, check the brakes, fill my water bottles (and add Gatorade powder), get dressed - cycling shorts, tights, long bra, silk t-neck, long-sleeve cycling shirt, jacket, beenie, helmet, gloves, cycling gloves, and mittens - then get energy bars and gu's, cellphone, ID bracelet, camera (just in case I see something cool!), money, and sunglasses (even though it was foggy and cloudy) - whew! No wonder I don't bike often in the off-season, it's takes too frickin' long to get ready!

Finally out the door at 9:18 AM. Cold, cloudy, and a little breezy. I wore booties over my shoes for the first time and loved them! They kept my feet warmer for much longer. I was freezing as I started out and disappointed in the dreariness of the sky. Not at all like my usual rides in warm, sunny weather.

I headed out west like I usually do. Rode to Windsor on O Street, stopping at the Poudre Learning Center to use the port-a-john. I had finally warmed up a little by the time I got there and the wind had picked up so by the time I got back on my bike, I was freezing again.

One thing I learned is that warm gloves are a must. With running, I usually wear a thin glove when the temp is in the 30's. But with cycling, esp long rides when you are in the aero position, your hands are out front, not moving, holding onto a METAL bar that happens to be ice cold. Not good. Within minutes my hands were frozen.

The other thing I learned is that running tights don't work well for cycling. My knees and the tops of my thighs were very cold. I needed leg gaitors (or whatever they call those things) that provided thickness over the knees and upper thighs.

I am glad I wore a beenie on my head and the long bra (covers my belly). But I never warmed up like I do running. I was chilled the entire time, which made the ride very unpleasant. I needed one more layer.

I rode to Windsor, then out to Crossroads Blvd and took that all the way to the Resurrection Fellowship church (or whatever it's called - the ugliest church I have ever seen!), then north to the Budweiser Events Center, where I stopped for a quick snack (and froze my buns off), then back to Crossroads, Windsor, O Street and back home.

I kept a steady pace but again, it was not very fast. I just didn't have the "umph" to go hard. Probably good that I didn't ride with anyone else because I surely would've held them back.

There are pros and cons to riding alone. The pros are that you can go your own pace, stop when you want to, and just "be in your own head". I do like that a lot. The cons are that it's kind of boring and lonely. I don't get the zen that I do with solo running. But you get the job done.

So, I ended up with 5 hrs instead of 6. I was told that riding one hour on a trainer is equal to 2 hrs on the road (not sure if that's right but that's what I was told), so I guess it would still count. But I didn't have a choice because I had to be back to teach at UNC by 1:30.

Today we're running 3:15. I'm leaving in 30 mins to meet Marshall at Sanborn park and we'll run to Jenny's and meet a group of friends (not sure who will be there). Then, run the remainde of time there.

It's very cold out now with 1/2 inch of snow on the ground. Time to go layer up and get out the door. The good news is that there is no wind (so far!). And I got to watch two foxes frolic right outside my window this morning while I sipped on coffee. Getting up early does have it's advantages sometimes.

Today is the Hawaii Ironman. Wishing Jim and Wendy good luck and Godspeed!

Thursday swim

Since I'm planning on riding tomorrow at 7:00, I decided to swim again today. Since Master's in on Mondays and Wednesdays, I could get there a little bit later (since Kurt ws home) and do what I wanted. I decided to swim non-stop for 45 mins and ended up going 50 mins.

It was nice and I felt like I could've swam longer when I was done. I was happy that I swam an extra 5 mins too. I just didn't want to get out. But I swam slow and totally focused on my left arm so I probably didn't cover a lot of distance. Didn't keep track of laps so I have no idea how many yards I swam but I only stopped once to use the restroom so I think I did close to a mile.

I wish I could improve my technique. It's one thing to know what to do and another to actually do it. I am trying to change the pattern of my left arm in the water - the pushing back motion. Richard has told me numerous times that I'm not reaching enough and that I'm going too wide under water with my left arm. He says to bring the palm of my hand toward my belly button but for some reason, I can't seem to do it. But for the entire 50 mins, I focused on my left arm and seemed to do a bit better.

I still feel that I'm not a strong swimmer and wonder if i can swim 2.4 miles. The only thing that gets me through it is reminding myself that I have done the 5430 long course twice (1.2 miles of swimming) and I didn't have any problems going that far. So, I think I should be able to swim that distance twice in a race setting, when I'm all psyched up. I just hope I'm right.

The bike and run portion are seeming easier and easier. I'm very happy with my running right now. I'm semi-happy with my biking - I have good endurance and lots of experience on the bike but wish I was as fast as Marshall and Lynne are. I cannot keep up with them on training rides and it bothers me sometimes but there's nothing I can do about it at this point.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow on the 6 hr ride! We're supposed to get an inch of snow overnight so it will be interesting!

Go Away Flu!!!

With the Ironman one month from today (Nov. 7th), my biggest challenge is not swimming anymore, it's keeping the flu at bay. Evan has been sick the last few days and Kurt thinks it's likely that he has H1N1. Whatever he has, I don't want it! And I hope he gets better soon - its hard to see your kid so sick (103 temp this morning).

I did get a short but good swim in this AM. Got in the water at 6:17, a little later than I wanted, and out by 7:00. With Evan sick at home, I needed to get back as soon as I could (although he was happily watching cartoons when I arrived).

I missed Monday's swim and now that I may bike on Friday, I won't be able to swim that day either. So, I'll swim again tomorrow (and hopefully go longer) and then again on Saturday. Hoping to do 30 mins of Spinervals this morning, run tomorrow AM, and then bike 5:45 on Friday. Whew!

Tempo Tuesday

Had another awesome Tuesday run. Started off really slow - not feeling great and had Daisy with me but it got better and better. Ran her for 30 mins and then decided to do a tempo run for the remaining 30 mins. Felt great! I felt like I could've easily run longer and a bit faster. I love that feeling!

Well, the training plan is getting interesting...or should I say challenging. The weather forecast is not good for the weekend and it's the "biggee" weekend (3:15 run and 6 hr run). So, I'm going to have to shift things around. Right now, I am planning to ride on Friday and since I teach at 1:25, I will have to leave at 7:00 AM! And it's probably going to be in the low 30's - yowsa!

Fortunately, Sarah is going with me and maybe we'll hook up with Marshall. Sarah is planning to ride the first 3 hrs with me which will really help. I dont want to hold Marshall back so not sure if he'll ride with us or not.

Then, the run will be either Sat or Sun. Sunday would be nice since it would give me a day to rest but the kids are singing in church and if I go on Saturday, then I could actually attend church for once! We'll see.

One day at a time...

One Tough Ride

Today was one of the hardest rides I've ever done and definitely the coldest. Marshall, Lynne, and I drove to Loveland High School where we met a friend of theirs who would lead us on a new route to Boulder.

The forecast called for sunny and a high of 62 so I wore what I knew would be comfy for that temp: shorts, short-sleeved shirt with sleeves, light jacket that I planned to take off after an hour and then, as an after thought, I grabbed some light-weight mittens on my way out the door, just in case (and I'm sooooo glad I did!).

As we drove to Loveland at 7:30 AM, we were noticing quite a few dark clouds but most of them were in the north and we were heading south so we thought it would be ok. When we got to the high school, it was very cold - way colder than I've ever biked in. So cold that I put a hat on under my helmet! But I thought for sure I would stripping layers off after an hour or so.

We started out and I had one other problem: I was not feeling well. Suffice it to say that I had a bad stomach-ache. Not good when you're heading out on a 5.5 hr ride with very fast people! And this was weird: my jaw started to hurt really bad. Huh??? Tooth-ache? Who knows! All I know is that after 30 mins, my entire head was throbbing, I felt like I was going to vomit, and my abdomen was cramping badly. Ugh.

But I kept pluggin' away. Trying desperately to keep pace with Lynne. I couldn't and dropped back. She slowed to let me catch her and the guys went on but they eventually slowed to our pace and we rode together for awhile. Beautiful course! The backroads to Longmont and Boulder are just gorgeous.

We turned around just north of Boulder and at that point the sun was still out but there were dark clouds brewing to the north and east. The wind picked up and by the time we got back to Loveland, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees. It was totally cloudy and just plain cold. I was freezing.

We rode back to Lynne's car and the plan was for her to ride home and Glen, our fearless leader also went home. I was very close to saying I would just ride back with Lynne...it was cold and getting colder by the minute. But I decided to tough it out.

She left and almost as soon as she did, the wind started blowing harder and a soft mist was coming down. We rode fast through Loveland on 29th street and turned south to get to Highway 34. By the time we did, I was almost shaking and the mist was turning into a light rain. And we had to get back to Greeley! It was so dark and foggy, cars had their lights on!

We turned east onto 34 (with all the traffic) and I rode as fast as I could on the shoulder. Cars and trucks were whizzing by us and the visibility was getting worse. It was almost impossible to see out of my sunglasses. My legs and feet were getting really cold.

Marshall turned us left to go behind the outlet stores so we could go under I-25 and get up to Crossroads Blvd but it was raining harder by then and he pulled over and said to call Lynne and see if she could come pick us up - yay! Good idea!!!

So, she did. We ended up with about 60 miles (60 very fast miles - at least for me!) in 4.5 hrs (I think). Not what we had wanted but at least we got more than half of the ride in. I thought about riding my trainer when I got home but I was so cold that all I wanted was a hot shower. And I'm not riding again after a shower!

The one thing I'm really happy about is the run yesterday. I think we ended up with 18 miles and I felt relatively good at the end. Now with one more long run and ride coming up, I should be in good shape (and several brick workouts coming up too, which I'm really looking forward to!).

I'm getting there! Slow but sure.

Made it!

Today was the 3 hr run and I made it - thank God! Had a great run too. Weather was perfect - cool, sunny, dry, and no wind. Marshall came to my house at 7:20 and we left promptly at 7:29. We ran to WOW and met Kevin, Jenny, Lynne, and Brenda - then headed out on Brenda's famous 12 mile loop (not sure if it's 12 miles but that's what we call it!).

It was a wonderful route - out to 95th Avenue, north on a country road to some dirt road that swings past the Poudre Learning Center. Then to the Poudre bike trail and back up by Winograd school, around by Fun Plex, and back to WOW. Everyone but Marshall and I stopped there - we continued on to Marshall's house, with a finish time of 3:01 - perfect!

Although my legs were tired and I was very ready to stop, I was feeling better than when I ran 2:45 a few weeks ago. I managed to finish without feeling like I was going to die. It was nice running with Marshall and I'm so glad we are training together!

During the run, when I got behind and I was trying to catch up, I thought about how much I appreciate all my running/tri friends. They truly are like family to me. I couldn't do this kind of training without them.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of my father's death. I thought about him during the run and how much I wish that he was still here. I know he'd think I was crazy for doing an Ironman but I think he would've been proud of me. I wonder if he and my mom would've driven up from Clearwater to watch me finish. That would've been nice - I had always wanted them to see me finish a marathon. But I'm also glad he lived to be 79 and that he didn't suffer in the end. Like everything else, you gotta take the good with the bad.

Tomorrow is the 5.5 hr ride. I hope I can keep up with the group, esp the guy leading the ride (someone Marshall knows). We're going on a new route, from Loveland to Boulder and back, then Marshall and I will need to ride back to Greeley. Right now that doesn't sound very appealing (the route and the company does but the distance doesn't!), but that's because I'm tired and sore right now.

Off to mow the lawn...

Long swim

This was my 2nd attempt at swimming nonstop for one hour and I think I accomplished that goal. Got in the pool by 6:10 AM and swam until 7:10 but did stop a few times to chat with Todd and Kurt and once to go to the bathroom.

Its funny how things change. I couldn't imagine swimming for an hour a year ago. And it wasn't easy, esp since I was very focused on my form and technique, which made it less relaxing. Nancy had given me some tips on Weds and I was trying to do what she suggested.

One tip she gave me was to rotate my hips more. Richard had told me the same thing but she demonstrated what it should look like and I realized that I was not doing what she said. So, today I really rotated my hips and now I'm sore! Its only been 7 hrs since I swam but my hips are sore (I can't wait til tomorrow to see how it will feel!).

I used the pull-thingy and my fins for part of the swim but kept going for most of the time. My shoulders were tired toward the end but not overly so. I could've kept swimming if I had to (and I will have to on Nov. 7th!).

The other thing I've noticed on the two days that I've swam "long" is the slight headache you get. My friend, Julie, told me that she would always get a headache on long swim days and yep, I got one! It's not bad, just kinda dull achey feeling.

I've really got the swim routine down too. I have my bag packed with swim cap and goggles, always ready to go, and all I have to add is clean underwear and towel. I put my suit on here and just wear sweat clothes over it - pretty easy routine. I don't take a shower there so that really simplifies things, but that means I have to leave the Rec Center with a wet head, which is not fun in the winter time!

I've decided to keep on swimming after the IM. This is the first time I've ever been consistent in my swimming and I'd love to see how much I can improve over the winter. I plan on doing at least L2L and a few other Olympic distance tri's.

Gearing up for the first of two big weekends. Tomorrow I'm running for 3 hrs and Sunday I'm riding for 5.5. Let the fun begin!

Awesome run!

I ran about 50 mins today and it was one of those runs where I felt like I couldn't slow down. That doesn't happen very often anymore but when it does, it's great! I pushed the pace almost the whole way making it a true tempo run and felt fantastic. I would give anything to feel like that in the Ironman!

Took Daisy with me on the first 2 or 3 miles. She actually did good this time. It was cold and windy and she kept a good steady pace, only stopping to lay down once. I think she does better in the cold.

After I dropped her off at the house, I went on and ran like the wind...maybe even faster than the wind!