Nice Recovery Weekend

Well, it wasn't exactly a recovery weekend but close.

Saturday I woke up really worried about my knee. I had felt twinges of pain the night before and I needed a long run on Sat. So, I drove to Jo Jo and gingerly set off on a 90 min run (with heel tightly wrapped and orthotics in shoes). I ran very, very slowly at first holding my breath to see if my knee hurt. Please, please don't hurt - I really, really want to run!

I ended up finishing the 90 mins without a lot of pain. There was a little pain - in both heel and knee - but it seemed to go away after awhile. I was finally able to relax and settle into a comfortable pace.

I ran by myself because most of my training group was in Steamboat for the Steamboat Tri and Dan was doing something else. I didn't mind - I really enjoy long runs by myself. I like to wear my Ipod and just let my mind go. I can go at my own pace and stop when I need to. I wouldn't want to run alone every weekend but once in awhile is very therapeautic.

On Sunday, I met my friend Scott at the Boulder Reservoir and we rode to Carter Lake and back - about 65 miles. I was supposed to only do about 40 but didn't want to pass up this opportunity. The countryside outside of Boulder is just spectacular - green grass, blue skies, mountains in the background - love it!

Both Scott and I were feeling tired today so we kept the pace fairly moderate. We chatted most of the way and had a nice time. The climb up to Carter Lake was tough - harder than when I did it in May (Community Classic) and we had a stiff head wind when we turned around. There were white caps on the lake.

We saw so many cylists today!  There was a ride going on called Venus de Miles, which I found out later was an all-woman ride. I read tonight that there were 1800 women of all levels in this ride!  But we saw lots of other cyclists too.

Compared to last weekend, when I ran 12 miles and biked 75, this was a recovery weekend but I didn't exactly follow the training plan. Oh well, I'm just glad I was able to run and that I got in some easy miles on the bike.

Tomorrow I swim at Master's...and the beat goes on....

Easy Week With One Scare

Summing up the week, after Monday's swim (see below):

Tuesday (this is where the scare comes in):
I was supposed to ride this day but I really wanted to run so decided to switch workout days with Weds. Went over to UNC playing fields and ran on the grass for almost an hour (boring, I know, but I want to play it safe) and felt really good. Was happy with how much energy I had. But, in the middle of the run I suddenly experienced a sharp pain in my right knee - something I've never felt before. It hurt so bad I had to stop running. I walked a bit, trying not to panic, and then tried jogging slow but no go, the pain was really bad.

So I walked home (with a few attempts at running) feeling pretty discouraged. What is going on - why all of these injuries?  I decided to take the "wait and see" approach and to not worry too much.

I told Kurt about it and he said "well, it's not surprising considering how you have ramped up your training lately". He also thought it was due to biking, not running, although it has never hurt while I bike. So tomorrow's workout would be the true test as I was planning on doing a brick.

Wednesday
Did Master's swim and felt really good. Not sure how many yards we did...warmup of 200 free, 200 kick, 200 pull. Main set (to be done twice): 2 150's, 4 75's, 6 50's (I think), then a slow 200, then something else, I can't remember. I did most of it and felt really good. I'm still liking Master's a lot and feel like I'm getting stronger.

Came home, ate breakfast, got kids going on schooling stuff (we're homeschooling now) and did a quick Spinerval workout. Only had time to do 30 mins (40 mins with w/u and cool down). Not bad but I felt like I could've done more.

Thursday
OK, now for the test: I did a brick workout and I wanted to see if my knee would hurt again. I rode to Kersey and back, then ran for 40 mins on the UNC playing field (grass). No knee pain but my knees felt sore and they hadn't been feeling that way in a long time. I had the feeling like I shouldn't go any faster or farther.

A few words about the ride: I started way too late and I realized that that is the kiss of death for a good ride. I felt rushed and just didn't enjoy it. Got to Kersey and just didn't want to ride anymore. First time i've every had an icky ride!  But I am glad I did it so there was some value to it!  I also felt like I could've rode much further but because I started too late, I couldn't.

Friday
Had a great night sleep, which really starts the day off well. Kurt didn't have time to go to the lake so I went alone. I decided that I could swim by myself and that I would be safe with a wetsuit but fortunately, when I got there, Tom M and Richard H were there. Richard was leaving but Tom stayed and swam with me. We did the perimeter and he helped me with my stroke. I can I'm getting better because I was not tired after swimming the perimeter, which we estimate is a mile. If I had time, I could've swam another perimeter - never thought I'd say that!

Tomorrow I'm going to run and I'm curious if my knee will hurt or not. Please, please, please oh Goddess of Injuries, heal thy knees, heels, and hips!  I want to run so bad. I'm planning on running at Jo Jo and hopefully going about 10 miles.

This weekend is the Steamboat Triathlon. I signed up for it but ended up deferring to next year because my mom can't go with me to help out with the kids. She had hip surgery so she can't go. Kurt is working so he's out of the picture. The only way I could've doen it would have been to get the kids up at 4:30 and drive to the race start with me but I just couldn't do that. So, when I found out that the race director would defer my entry, I decided to do that.

Plus, the only place I could stay was in a house 20 miles away (owned by my neighbor who offered to let me use it). Everyone else was staying town. It was no one's fault that it worked out that way but I just didn't want to feel like the odd man out again. I'd much rather go without kids and stay with the group but logistically, it wouldn't work. So, I'll go next year.

So, running long tomorrow and riding with Scott Sunday morning in Boulder. Really looking forward to that!  More soon.

Monday Madness at Master's Swim

Made it to Master's Swim today and glad I did. Right now it's just a "mini-session" so the workouts are supposedly not as hard but they're hard enough for me.  And I learned some new stuff today.

After the usual warmup, of which I did only half since I was running late (200 freestyle with 2 50's choice), we did a main set with about 1200 yards:

25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 200, 100, 75, 50, 25; each with 20 - 40 seconds rest in between. That's the hard part - not being able to rest. We did the first 3 or 4 bouts very, very fast. It was good practice for swimming while being hypoxic because i couldn't breathe fast enough to catch on the shorter ones. And I was swimming next to Al which was totally intimidating!  But amazingly, he wasn't that much faster than me on the 25's and 50's. He zoomed ahead on the 100 and 200.

But the cool thing is that I got some great advice from Al. Everyone knows Al in Master's Swim because he is so fast. He doesn't usually say that much to me but today he reached over the lane thingy and grabbed my arm. He said "you need to do this" and he demonstrated what I need to do with my arm. It was totally different than what I've been doing. But it also made sense.

The workout was over and I had to leave but just had to write this down...really looking forward to trying what Al suggested. I'm too tired to write more so will sign off for now. More soon

My New Favorite Route: Kevin's Ride

Wow, what a ride today! And what a turn-around from yesterday.

We did "Kevin's Ride" - a route that Kevin did when he trained for IM Wisconsin. From his house, it's about 56 miles, give or take a few, and he would ride it twice sometimes.

I actually started from my house and rode to Sarah's, which is about 4-5 miles from here. We then did Kevin's route, which took us to Johnstown (just east of) and then south on a fabulous country road that had almost zero traffic on it and spectacular views of the front range.

We then headed west to Berthoud, then back north, then east to I-25, then north on the frontage road (we missed it and tacked on an extra 4-5 miles getting back to it)... then Marshall headed back on highway 34 while Kevin, Sarah, Brenda, and I headed north on Crossroads Blvd. Kevin split off at the roundabout and S, B, and me went of to just about Kodak, where I went on ahead.

This route is really nice. We had hardly any traffic and great views the whole way. We pretty slow in the beginning and I found myself wanting to go faster. But I just hung with the group until we hit the chip seal road heading east to I-25. For some reason, I felt really good and decided to speed up. I thought they would catch me but if not, I'd wait for them at the next stop. It was that way the rest of the ride - I kept going on ahead because I was feeling really good. I felt a little funny passing everyone after we had stopped and started but I was feeling so much energy that I decided to go with it. That doesn't happen often.

All told, I think we rode around 65 -70 miles. Maybe more. I'm just happy about how good i felt. I wish my running was going that well but hey, I'll take it!  Now it's time for a nap...

Next time, I will write more about nutrition...I think that played a big role today for me.  TTFN

First Week of IM Training

The first official week of my Ironman training is almost over but I decided to summarize it today since I have some time. You see, I'm icing my heel and there's not a lot you can do while you ice your heel!  I'm bored with Facebook so might as well catch up on my blog.

It was a good week, with lots of mental and physical challenges. Here's a rough summary, starting with last Saturday:

Saturday, Aug. 14th
Ran 9.4 miles with Dan, Brenda, and Marshall. We found Kevin at Jo Jo and ran with him for a short while too. It was great running with these guys as I had not run with them in a long time, esp Dan and Brenda. It was the first long run since the Boulder 70.3 race and at first I felt ok but my muscle strength seemed to deteriorate in the last few miles. The old familiar knife-in-the-quads pain settled in about mile 8 and I knew I wouldn't be able to go past WOW where our cars were parked. It was one of those runs where you know you need to stop ASAP. I managed to make it the car but knew I was done for the day. Brenda wanted to do the full 10 miles so she ran some more (you go girl!).

I drove home and hobbled inside. I had a 4 hr ride to do the next day so I needed to start carbing up quickly. But the plantar fascitis decided to pay me a visit, making walking very difficult. My mother was in the hospital post hip surgery and I needed to mow the lawn, clean the house, get laundry done, and go see her - yousa. By the time we got to the hospital, I could hardly walk - seriously. My feet hurt all over but my heel was in some serious pain. Not good.

I emailed my friend Scott Taylor - podiatrist - who reassured me that you can train with PF (unless it's advanced, like Todd's is). He said that taping really helps and that he would tape my foot after our ride on Sunday (the next day). So, I ice'd it, took Celebrex and went to bed.

Sunday, August 15th
Wow, what a day!  The plan was to ride for 4 hrs and we had a big group. Brenda, me, Kevin, Geoff, Scott, Marshall, and surprisingly, Jenny!  She's training for Steamboat and she is new to cycling so she came along. She, Marshall, and Kevin were planning to ride only 1.4 hrs and the rest of us 4 hrs.

We headed out to Windsor and here's a pic at the top of one of our favorite hills:

Jenny, Marshall, and Kevin headed back not long after this was taken and Geoff, Scott, Brenda, and I kept going.

At first, we rode kind of slow and easy. We hit McDonald's for a pit-stop and then headed north on the Wild on Windsor bike course, then east to CR 33. We turned north there and went to Pierce. At first we were going to turn around and head back but we decided to try the road that goes east to Pawnee Buttes.

By then, I knew we were going to end up with more than 4 hrs of riding. I was feeling surprisingly good and as the pace picked up, I was able to keep up (which surprised me...but I did have my racing wheels on too!).

Scott Taylor is a former CAT II racer so he's very fast. He and I were chatting but I noticed that we were going faster and faster, to the point where I had to stop talking and focus on breathing. I'm not sure of our speed but I'm thinking we might have gotten up to 22 mph!  We flew home and I was exhausted. Brenda cheerfully called out that we hit 70 miles in the parking lot - woo hoo!

I was psyched after that ride. To ride 70 miles this early in the IM training season and to do it relatively easily was just what my psyche needed. Yay!

I also decided on this ride that I need to tweak my training plan to reduce the running and beef up the cycling, since my heel hurt so bad after the run the day before. But it's funny how things change because Scott taped my heel when we got back to the parking lot and what ended up happening this week is that my heel feels much better. Such a rollar coaster it's been!

He also talked to me about "mid-foot running" and that I should try landing mid-foot instead of on my heels. I decided to try it and do the following to treat my heel: icing, medicating with Celebrex, taping, stretching, running only on soft surfaces (and this time sticking to it!), and running mid-foot. That was the plan for the week.

Monday, Aug. 16th
Master's swim mini-session started and I was really glad. As much I like swimming in the lake, getting down to the Rec Center is much easier than getting to the lake. Kurt and I went together (which is really nice!) and had a great workout. We shared a lane and ended up racing against each other. I'm proud to say that I actually beat him on a half of the eight 150's we had to do! We're pretty much the same speed now and that's pretty cool for me since a few years ago I couldn't even dream of keeping up with him.

I didn't have to rush home to get the kids to school since we're homeschooling now. Yay! We stayed and did most of the workout and got in 2000 yards. The only reason we had to leave was because Kurt had to get to work. I felt energized and ready to start the day.

Tuesday, Aug. 17th
OK, this was to be my first time running with my foot taped AND with new shoes. I was cautiously optimistic that it would work well. Kurt was riding his mountain bike out to Jo Jo and I decided to ride with him and then run at Jo Jo. I rode my old commuter bike (not my new one, which is what I should have rode!).  OMG, can I tell you how uncomfortable that bike is???  Ugh!

We got out to Jo Jo and slowly I ran around it a few times, testing out the new running form, running with taped foot, etc. No pain...none...zippo!  But I knew the real test would be later at home so after running 50 minutes, I hopped on my clunky old bike and rode home. I was so happy at that point that I didn't even notice how bad the bike seat felt!

Ice'd the heel and as the day wore on, I noticed that there was no pain. Wow, taping can make that much of a difference - cool!

Wednesday, August 18th
Normally I ride long on Wednesdays but for a lot of reasons, I didn't have time this Weds. I had Master's swim in the morning and then by the time I got home, I needed to do something quicker. Spinervals!  I ate breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the house (usual morning stuff), played with the kids and by the time I got my bike set up, I had lost "the urge". I did NOT want to get on that bike. But my body went through the motions and I got on there. I ended up having one of the best Spinervals sessions ever!  Rode hard for 50 minutes. It was like track used to be - dreaded it beforehand, with NO energy or desire to do it, then having a great workout. Just goes to show that sometimes you just gotta hang in there to get good results (and realize that motivation levels can change in the middle of a workout).

Thursday, August 19th
Ok, another attempt at running to see if I can do it without pain. I spent the night at my mom's house (her first night home post-surgery) and since she lives close to Jo Jo, I drove over there and ran 45 mins there. No problems, no pain. This taping thing is really working!

Friday, August 20th
Kurt and I went to the lake and did a nice, easy 45 min swim around the perimeter (inner circle). Kurt had to be at work by 8:00 and we got a late start so only had time to do 45 mins. But the cool thing is that when I got out, I felt like I could easily swim more. I decided that I want to go back this next week and try swimming around the perimeter twice. I'd just like to see if i can do it.

Saturday, August 21st (today)
Today was the Pelican Lakes Ranch Kids Triathlon and like last year, I did my long run before it started. Brenda was volunteering again this year so she picked me up and we drove to the race site and ran from there. Had a great run!  Fortunately, we found some dirt roads that had zero traffic on them (really, no cars at all) and ran 12 miles. Yes!  I was ready to stop at 10.3 when we went past the race venue but decided to push on to finisht the 12. Aside from my feet just hurting all over, I feel pretty good. I could not have run one step further, but I was able to crank out the 12 miles. Plus, I really enjoyed running with Brenda. She's such a nice person and great training partner.

Tomorrow we have a 4.5 hr ride with 30 min run afterwards. Hope I can make it!  More on that tomorrow.

Recovery Mode

People often ask me how I can do long distance triathlons "at my age" (and these are usually people who don't know anything about endurance training). After holding myself back from wacking them on the head, I usually mumble something about rest, recovery, and good nutrition.

The truth is, I can still do the same things I did in my 30's, I just go slower and I definitely take longer to recover. Take this week, for instance. I did a hard half-Ironman on Sunday and did fairly well "for my age" but I was wiped out for two full days. Seriously wiped out. In fact, I felt worse than I did after the full Ironman last November.

I was very sore, sleepy, and lethargic for two full days. On Weds, I finally felt somewhat back to my old self. Most of it was catching up on sleep. We had to get up at 3:00 AM on Sunday to get to Boulder in time and I have never been so sleepy in my life as I was on Mon and Tues. That really got to me.

But yesterday I was feeling perky again and ran 30 mins in the morning and swam 40 mins in the evening. I could've run more but I had to get my mother to the hospital for hip surgery.

I really enjoyed the swim. I swam at Centennial pool at 5:00 PM and since it was really hot yesterday, the water temp was perfect. There was only one other guy there swimming so it was quiet and serene. I love swimming my own pace, on my own time. I wouldn't want to do that all the time because I would never improve but to do that once a week is just wonderful.

For some reason, I was also feeling a little melancholy. Most of the people I train with were heading to track while I was swimming alone. Part of me felt fine about that and part of me felt lonely. Its something I struggle with all the time.

I do a lot of solo training and there are pros and cons to doing that. The pros are obvious: you go when you want to and you don't have to work around someone else's schedule. You also get to listen to music and just "veg out" instead of carrying a conversation, which I enjoy very much. But it's also lonely and sometimes I think I quit sooner than I would have if someone else was there. I'm a social creature by nature and I do enjoy having someone to go with, esp during long rides.

Today, Kurt and I are going out for a short, easy ride. We don't get to go together very often so this is a real treat. Looking forward to the company!

Boulder Ironman 70.3

Yay, it's done!  Not the full Ironman of course, but a brutally hot half-Ironman. Its the third time I've done this race and I do wonder why on earth I chose to get up at 3:00 AM (really) to propel my body over 70.3 miles, esp when the last 13 miles are in 90 degree heat.

But I'm happy to report that I'm satisfied with my performance. Anyone who knows me will agree that I don't say that very often. But I really am.

So, for anyone interested, here's my race report:

The swim (1.2 miles in Boulder Reservoir)
The race started at 6:30 and my wave was supposed to start at 6:40. But because the first wave was delayed, I think we actually started closer to 6:45. No biggee, I was just glad to be in one of the first waves for once. Last year, I was in the last one and the year before, the 2nd to last.

Both Brenda and I were in the same wave because we're both in our 40's (she's 44 and I'm 49). This was Brenda's first half and she was pretty nervous about it (understandably so - I was that way too when I did my first half-IM). 

The gun went off and off we went. It was very congested in the beginning, more than I expected. It took several minutes before I was able to actually swim. It reminded me of the Ironman when you see (and feel) arms and legs thrashing all around you. I was amazingly calm and just waited until I could stretch out and actually swim.

When I finally did start swimming, I felt great. The water was warm (I wore my sleeveless wetsuit) and the cones were on my right, which worked well since I turn to the right. I sighted often and stayed on track for the most part. I felt fine the whole way, never felt tired at all. To think that just 2 yrs ago I was having panic attacks in this same lake, at this same race. Wow, I've come a long way when it comes to swimming.

Total swim time was 38-something, five minutes faster than last year! Yay!

T1
I ran to get my bike but needed to make a pitt-stop in the port-a-pots. I almost didn't, thinking I could stop on the bike, but decided it would be better to go now than have to stop. Even though my T1 time ended up being super long (some 8 mins), I still think that was the right decision. I do need to speed things up, however, because this ended up putting me over the 6 hr mark - dang!  I didn't need to put on bike gloves and probably shouldn't have chatted with the gal next to me either - all things that add up.

Bike
There was good and bad to the bike portion of the race. The good: I love my bike!  It was the first time I rode with racing wheels and it went well. I kept a good steady pace and was able to finish under 3 hrs, which was my goal. The bad: I found myself still very scared of the fast descents. I braked on sections that I wouldn't normally brake on, which really slowed me down. Lots of people passed me in those sections. I went very conservatively on the first loop and then sped up on the 2nd loop. The whole time i felt like I could go faster, which in a way is good. Its not like I went all out and that was my time. I know I can go faster with a little more training and getting used to going fast again. I was also thrilled that nothing happened - nothing came off, no flats, no crashes - yay!

T2
My 2nd transition was not as slow as the first but still way too long. I needed to make another pitt-stop and due to female-related issues I was having that day, it took longer than normal. But can't really do anything about that! I took off my singlet and opened a bottle of Boost too, which took a little time. I'm not really too worried about these longs transition times because they are all things that I can easily change.

Run
Now for the hard part. At least that was what I was thinking. I had fully prepared myself for a crappy run because I hadn't run over 10 miles in many, many months. I've been battling plantar fasciatus in my left heel and a weird, painful injury in my left hip for months so had really cut back on the running. But I was able to take off jogging rather easily and I ran the entire way. I made one really quick pitt-stop about mile 9 (and wished that I hadn't because I didn't really have to go) but other than that, I ran the whole way and I'm very happy about that. REALLY happy about that. Running is so near and dear to my heart that to run like that on such a hot day, after riding 56 miles, was like being handed a gift (thank you, God!). It was a very slow run - 2:16 - but considering how little I had been running and the heat, etc, I'll take it!

I really think my running experience got me through it. There were several times I wanted to stop and people were dropping like flies all around me, but I kept going. Call it muscle memory or total denial but whatever it was, I am glad I kept going.

Now if I can only do that in the full Ironman!

Sarah and Brenda did really well - both well under 6 hrs - and Marshall did "as well as his fitness level would let him". Jim finished 3rd in his age group and Jade said he did ok (not great but not bad either). All in all, a good day for the Greeley Triathlon Club!

Taper Week

Kurt and I went to the lake early Monday morning on a whim. I normally swim on Monday afternoons at 4:30 but the forecast was calling for thunderstorms so we decided to go early (and for once Kurt could go on a Mon morning - very rare!).

This was the view from the dock - the water looked like glass.  Kurt checked the temp and it was 77 degrees!

Then, of course, he needed to do one of his famous cannonballs into the lake, which pretty much destroyed the tranquility I was enjoying. Men!

We swam in sync around the perimeter of the island. Like biking in the AM, it's very quiet and serene swimming at the time of day too. All you can hear is the swish of the water - very relaxing.

I'm finding that I can swim farther and farther without feeling fatigued. I'm not getting much faster (well, maybe a little bit) but my endurance is much higher and I seem to be able to keep going easier than before. This makes me very happy!

When I think about where I was a few years ago with my swimming and where I am now, I am really happy that I stuck with it. I can really relate to people who come into triathlon afraid of open water swimming.  More on that later.

And I have more good news: I ran 50 mins this morning with NO heel or hip pain!  I know neither hip nor heel are completely healed (they both hurt last week) but for some weird reason, they didn't hurt today. I ran very slowly and maybe that's why but I'd rather run slow than not run at all.

I also swam today. I usually go on Weds at Centennial by myself but decided to go during Master's swim. I didn't have the AC on and it was really hot in my office at home so the pool sounded good. Didn't really talk to anyone, just swam. I think I did around 10 laps and felt like I had hardly swam at all which is good - didn't push it since it's a taper week.  Not sure why but I left early - just not feeling like I fit in this group anymore.

I've been going through some tough times lately. Thankfully, I have a wonderful spouse and good friends who are very supportive.  Training also seems to help - its one reason i love endurance sports. A good long run or ride can do wonders for the psyche and although they won't solve the problem, they sure can help me feel better about myself and that's half the battle.

TTFN - more soon!

Dry Spell

I've been MIA for over a week and need to catch up....will start with today.

With the Ironman Boulder 70.3 coming up next Sunday, we did a shorter ride today: 2.5 hrs. We rode to Pierce and back (from Sarah's house), which I believe is 40 miles. Its nice to be at the point where a 40 mile ride is considered an "easy ride"!

At left, there is Kevin, Geoff, Sarah, and Todd. We had a nice time.

Yesterday, I ran 10 miles with Lynne and it was a very hard run. I just didn't have much steam and Lynne is a fairly fast runner so I ran out of gas around mile 6 (unusual for me). I had to reach deep to finish but i did.

Sarah and a group of others ran at 6:00. I really wanted to run with that group but it's just too hard to get there by 6:00. I would have to get up at 4:30 to eat (just a little) and drink coffee and drive to WOW. When I'm not in a hurry, I just don't want to get up that early. I was hoping Sarah would change it to 6:30 as I would've done that, but she wouldn't budge (her in-laws were in town and she had things to do).  I understand that but I do hope there can be some compromise in the future!

Fortunately, I had Lynne to run with. Lynne is on the other extreme: she likes to go as late as possible, or should I say it this way, she likes to sleep as long as possible!  She wanted to run at 8:00 which is much later than I would normally want to go but given the choice of getting up at 4:30 or running in warmer temps, I chose the latter.

Ideally, I'd like to run at 6:30, 7:00, or maybe even 7:30. But 6:00 is just too hard to do. And one of the reasons is because I am notorious for having to stop and pee and the earlier I run (closer to coffee time), the more I will have to stop and I hate having to do that so much.

And maybe we'll just have two groups or maybe I'll end up running by myself. I don't mind running alone but I'd prefer to run with at least one other person on long runs. We'll see. I know Dan has to go early too so it may be hard for me to find people to run with.

Back to workouts, in the last few weeks I've done the usual routine: swim at the lake on Monday (I swam the entire perimeter by myself last Monday), swim at Centennial on Weds, and swim at one of the two places on Friday; run Tues/Thurs, and bike Weds and Sunday.

Last week's bike ride was great. I rode with Colleen and Todd again. I ended up doing about 45 miles and they cut back early so they did a little less (so they could get to work). They go so fast!  I have a hard time keeping up with them, esp Todd. Colleen hung back with me but only because she had to teach a spinning class later in the day. Whew!

I love riding on Weds mornings. The air is cool and fresh and the country scenery is peaceful. I just love it. I wish I could ride in the morning more often. More on that later.

Here's Todd, Colleen, and I last Weds:

After riding 45 miles, I swam a mile at Centennial!  I did 16 laps and was really happy about that. I was not able to do that last year.

Running wise, I've been doing the short 4-6 milers on Tues/Thurs but still having minor heel pain and significant hip pain. The hip is the worst. I'm very worried about it.  It hurt during the run yesterday. I'm just afraid to run on it too much. I feel like I'm so far behind in my running and I get pretty discouraged sometimes. Dan, Kevin, and Colleen have been very supportive and I appriate that very much.

All in all, a good two weeks. I'm feeling more fit and ready to tackle the official Ironman training plan that starts after Boulder. Wish me luck!