First Spring Ride!

Today is St. Patty's Day and although I got in a short "Daisy" run this morning, I'd rather write about yesterday - it was simply glorious.

First, it was incredibly warm. And after a long cold winter, the first REALLY warm day is exciting enough, but I was able to actually ride my bike, making it even BETTER.

I had a lot of school work to do so I worked hard all morning so that I could ride for 90 mins or so before picking up the kids. This is what you do when you train for endurance events and you have a job and kids...you plan ahead.

And it was hard to wait. I'm a morning runner/exerciser and to wait until the afternoon is excruciating for me. My body goes through all kinds of weird contortions when it doesn't get its usual fix.

I finally put aside the computer around 1:00 and decided to go. Biking is so much different from running because there's so much to do, esp for the first real ride of the season.

I decided to ride my old road bike (the same one I rode in the Ironman) instead of my fancy-schmancy new racing bike because my new bike was on my trainer and it doesn't have a water bottle cage and a few other things.

I hadn't ridden my road bike since the Ironman and my race number was still on the stem!  I decided to leave it there as kind of a well, badge of honor so to speak. I couldn't bring myself to take it off just yet.

Next, I needed to pump up the tires but when I tried to unscrew the valve on the stem of the thinga-ma-jig, it wouldn't budge. I tried really hard and BAM, all the green gu inside the tire exploded out of the top!  ARRRRGGGH!  The green gu is stuff we put in the tire to keep it from going flat. It works great but now I had it all over my hands and bike shoes. UGH.

What to do. I can't get the valve to open and now my tire is flat. Crap, I really want to ride today!!!  I have to pick my kids up from school by 3:30 and I want at least an hour ride. I try again and again and it won't budge. So, I do what I always do in situations like this: I call my husband.

Fortunately, I got ahold of him. He suggests taking the front tire off of his bike and putting it on mine. Great. I find his bike hanging upside down in the garage close to the wall, requiring me to reach across a stack of junk in the garage and finagle the bike off the ceiling hooks. After almost falling flat on my face, I finally get his bike down. The clock is ticking...

I quickly switch the front tires and notice that his tire is a bit low. No problem, I'm sure he doesn't have the same problem with his valve. I was right, he didn't, the valve opened up fine. BUT the gauge on our pump has fallen our, meaning that when you use the pump, all the pressure is lost and the air escapes through the opening where the gauge usually is. This means I have to hold my thumb over the hole while I pump the tire, which is really hard to do! 

So, I start pumping with one hand. The other hand is keeping gauge-opening shut but the more I pump, the harder it gets. I finally give up and decide to ride it "as is". The front tire feels pretty good but the back tire clearly needed air. The clock was ticking....

I grab my helmet, shoes, water bottles, cell phone, powerbar, bike gloves (accidentally grabbing two right hand gloves but I didn't know it until later), sunglasses, purse, jacket (just in case), keys, and then put on bike shorts and shirt....stuffed the bike in the back of the van...and took off.

I drove to my kids' school so that I could ride from there. I hate having to do that but I like riding out west of town and if I ride from my house, I have to go through 4 major stoplights just to get out of town (with a few miles in between of stop and go traffic). This way, I can end my ride at 3:30, when the kids are getting out of school.

I get to the school, park the car, get the bike out and put front tire on, put cell phone, powerbar and jacket, in my backpocket, check brakes, put bikes shoes, sunglasses, and helmet on, notice that i only have one glove that I can wear and I put that on, and FINALLY I am ready to go!

As I head out of town, I notice how different my road bike feels from my racing bike. Wow!  No wonder I had a slow bike time in Florida!  I feel spread out on this bike, like my arms are reaching too far ahead. Oh well, its a beautiful day and I'M ON MY BIKE!

I check my watch and for once in my life, I see that I have plenty of time. So, I head out to Windsor. So far the bike is riding fine. It feels pretty good, actually. Its gonna be a great day.

I end up riding fairly fast out to Windsor because I just felt really good. I love riding on O Street, with its big wide curves and lack of traffic on weekdays. I felt like I was flying along....arms in my aerobars and my body tucked in as much as possible.

I got back to Greeley by 3:00 and since I had a little extra time, I turned around and looped back to 10th street and then back to 20th street. What the heck - I had the time and i just didn't want to get off my bike!

So that was yesterday (Tuesday). Monday, I ran a moderate 5 miles from Monfort (my kids' school) after dropping them off. Felt pretty good. Nothing spectacular, just a regular weekday run. I did run up Bunny Hill however and that's always a challenge.

Today, I missed Master's swim due to a certain dog I know, who woke me up at 3:00 AM. I couldn't go back to sleep until about 4:30 and there was no way I was getting up at 5:15 to go swim. Besides, its spring break and I don't feel too compelled to follow any kind of schedule.

Tomorrow I hope to make it to the pool by 6:20 with Kurt. Better get to bed then!

Birthday Run

Today is my birthday and I only wanted two things: handmade cards from my kids (which I got and I love - complete with Jolly Rancher candy and sticks of gum taped to the inside) and a long run with my friends.

Although only two of my friends could make it, I really enjoyed the run AND the fact that at the ripe old age of 49, I could run 8 miles so easily, it felt like I hardly did anything.

I have to add that last night was Daylight Savings Time so our 7:30 run time was really 6:30, and Jenny and Todd still made it over to run with me. Todd is nursing an injury so he rode his bike while we ran. Now that is commendable!

Last year, my birthday was on a Saturday and there was a good size group that went. This year, being on a Sunday, and one when the time springs forward an hour, drastically reduced the number of people showing up (they all ran long yesterday).

So, I feel really good to have such good friends. Many people make comments about my running or doing triathlons and if they only knew how much easier it is to train when you have such a great group of friends.

Our long runs on Saturday are something that I look forward to all week. We laugh and talk and cheer each other on. We are all different, yet we have this one thing in common and it works really well.

Today, I thought about two close friends that I lost a few years ago. Geoff, who I had run and climbed with for many, many years (he was an integral part of our running group), who died of multiple myeloma at the age of 56, and Denise, who was a fellow adoptive mom and who I became very close friends with. Denise died of stomach cancer at the age of 43. Both amazing people and I will never forget them. I'm missing them today and will not take life for granted, knowing that they would give anything to be here today.

So, here's to life and to living it to the fullest, each and every day.

Last Ski Day...I Think

Today was my 3rd and hopefully last day of hauling the kids and way too much gear up to Eldora for snowboarding lessons. I love my kids, of course, and I'm psyched that they are good snowboarders now but these Trek lessons are killing me.

First, I get up at 5:30 (which I do normally) and its a mad rush to get the kids ready and out the door (and wait til you hear what Fri night is like getting ready for this day!) and then its a 2 hr drive, door to door, then skiing by myself for 5 hrs, then skiing with the kids another hour, then loading up the car (which seems to take forever) and then an hour down the canyon (usually behind someone going just slightly under the speed limit so it also takes FOREVER), then eating in Boulder (not as fun as it sounds when you're dog-tired and sweaty from all the layers and wearing a helmet all day), then a long boring drive home that takes another hour. Ugh.

And the funny thing is, I love skiing. I really do. And its so cool watching the kids snowboard so effortlessly down the mountain. But it's a long haul to do in one day.

And so Friday night is worse....packing 3 lunches, finding ski clothes for the kids (socks, under garments, turtleneck, fleece jackets, ski coats, helmets, gloves, ski passes) and of course, there's always one glove missing, packing snacks for the ride home, making sure my ski's and their boards are in the topper, filling car up with gas, camera, sun screen, reading material (in case I linger in the lodge after lunch), water bottles, lip balm, and a movie for the kids to watch on the way up.

Its a major ordeal.

And I'm doing all of this knowing that I'll miss my Saturday morning run. My body yearns to run (or at least move) on Sat mornings and sitting in a car for the first two hours of the day (when I'm usually running) is cruel and unusual punishment.

But the kids and I had a great time and I know that's what is most important.

So, tomorrow Jenny, Cory, and Kevin are coming over to run with me at 7:30. I have to be in church so I need to be done by 9:00'ish. And its my birthday tomorrow so I want to run with my friends.

The downside (and this is a BIG downside), is that it's Daylight Savings Time tomorrow so we have to move our clocks forward, which means I'll lose an hour of sleep. Arrgggh!

So wish me luck getting out of bed in time to run at 7:30, which will really be 6:30 AM...the things we do for triathlons!

Flip Floppin' the Workouts

Wow, this week flew by fast. And nothing went as planned. But you know, that's the name of the game when you're trying to fit your training in around soccer and choir schedules, work, and all the other stuff most people do. When people ask me "how do you fit it all in?", I honestly don't know!

So here's a recap of the week:
Sunday - This was the weirdest day. We had a ride scheduled at 2:00 PM because we heard the weather was finally going to be nice so I didn't run in the morning. But when I took Daisy for a walk, I felt strangely energetic and really wanted to run. I jogged a bit and really had the urge to do a 5-6 mile run but told myself that no, I better not, since I'm riding at 2:00 and since I ran 12 miles on Sat, it was ok not to run.

But the weather was so cold and crappy that we aborted the ride. I was bummed because i could've run in the morning and now I was out both a run AND a ride. But it was way too cold and grey to ride. So, I went with my kids to a park to fly a kite and guess what, the sun comes out and it warms up 10 degrees (at least it felt like it) and was absolutely beautiful!  I could've rode after all. ARRRGGGHHH.

Monday
Master's swim. Felt pretty good. Had to leave by 7:00 to get kids to school but got in 1500 yards. I decided that that is ok for now. Until school is out, swimming 1500 - 2000 yards on Mon and Weds is good enough.

Went home and ran a good run but I don't remember how far it was right now...I think 5 miles

Tuesday
Rode my trainer 30 mins

Wednesday
Master's swim and fast 6 mile run. Felt good. Ran up Bunny Hill twice.

Thursday
Can't remember right now...

Friday
Rode my trainer: 20 min warm-up, then did 8 x 1 min bouts of fast spinning (90 rpm), then 12 x 45 second bouts of fast/hard spinning at 80 rpm. Had to get kids to school so got off bike, put on running clothes and after dropping off kids, took Daisy to Josephine Jones Park and ran her around there. It was warm enough I could've wore shorts!  Felt good. Need to find time to lift!

Tomorrow I am taking kids to Eldora for snowboarding lessons. Then on Sunday, which is my birthday, I'm running 90 mins with Jenny and whoever else shows up.

I've been thinking a lot about the Ironman. I really want to go for a faster time this time and how I'm pretty motivated to train hard. I've been thinking a lot about my training schedule too...its gonna be crazy this year but I'm up for it. That's why this blog is helpful - keeps me accountable.

What I need now is a stronger upper body and more bike training. My running is solid and even though I complain about how slow I am as a swimmer, I know I can train up to where I want to be with swimming. But it will take diligence...and sacrifice....and a hefty dose of humor.

As my husband alwasy says, don't take yourself too seriously...

Surprise 12-Miler

First, before I write about the run, I have to say that I am SO frustrated with Blogger. It is very hard to put pictures and text on this blog where I want them!  I also do NOT like the text centered like this but it won't let me change it. Believe me, I've tried. And the white space below this paragraph is unintentional, it won't let me start a new paragrap below this one. It skips to below the picture. Go figure!

This morning I met my friends at Jenny's house for our usual group run. Jenny wanted to run 18 (she's running a marathon in Kentucky in a few weeks) and Dan and Brenda wanted to run 12 (both training for marathons). Sarah and I just wanted to run 9 or 10 so we planned to do "just the loop" (which 9.something).

We also had Paul, Dave, Kevin, and Cory along for the ride. Such a stellar group to run with!

We headed out into the chilly fog (and yes, that's me in short-sleeves...). The thermometer said 37 but it felt more like 27 because it was a "wet cold".  But I quickly warmed up and by the end of the run, the sun came out and of course, I was hot.

Sarah, who was running ahead of me, missed the turn off point to go back and I just followed her. I knew that that meant we were doing more than 9 but I decided that I need to start pushing it. In other words, I need to stop wimping out.

So, I didn't say anything and like a good Ironman-trainee, I kept going.  This is precisely why I do my long runs with a group - you almost always go farther than you would have on your own. And I actually felt pretty good. No complaints (and you know you'd read them here if I had any!)

In the picture at left: Brenda, Dan, Sarah, Kevin, and Paul. The others are behind me. See how foggy it is?  Ugh. But we got it done and I'm glad I went for the full 12. Now I can sit on my butt all day and not feel too guilty.

Came home and had a delicious bowlful of leftover Pasta with Sausage and Soybeans. This is one of my favorite recipes and although the title doesn't sound too appealing, it is absolutely delicious. Low in fat and high in protein and carbs. I'll put the recipe on my Recipe page. Try it - you'll love it!

Breaking it Up

One of the most important things I learned while training for my first Ironman is that its very easy to get burned out on training.  And the best way to avoid burn out is to "break it up" - or simply, do something other than swimming, biking, or running when you get a chance. And although I am not officially in training yet, I have been gradually building my training base since January and that means my mind is focused on one thing 90% of the time: training.

So, I've decided to add other interests to my life. In fact, I found something that I enjoy so much that it could easily replace triathlons if it were logistically easy to do. And that would be skiing.

I grew up in Kansas and honestly, I don't think I had even heard of skiing until I was in junior high. And since my family didn't have much money, it was not anything we did or even thought of doing. It was a totally foreign concept to me throughout most of my life (and still is in some ways!).

Anyway, my kids learned to ski when they were 5 in Eldora's Trek program. Like most kids, they loved it. They went on to be pretty darn good skiers and would handily fly down any blue slope they could find and would occasionally do a black slope.

I was not far behind but being an adult, my worldly knowledge and great wisdom that I constantly told them about only made me more fearful of the steepness, because I knew what could happen if I, say, ran into a tree. They did not have this perspective, which freed them up to ski as fast as they could with nary a worry about crashing into anything. And crash they did, but they got up and kept going. Tough little buggers.

So, they had Thursday off and we went skiing and snowboarding. They did the latter while Kurt and I skied. It was a nice diversion from the usual swim, bike, run routine and I loved it. It won't be long before I'm on a rigid training program and I cherish these days when I can do what I want.

Two-a-Days = One Tired Mama

The good news first: I had an awesome 7 mile run today. And I mean awesome! I haven't felt that strong in a long time. It was like "old times" - when I used to run 5-7 mile runs on weekdays and feel really good.  I did that for years and years, back in my marathon days. Seems so long ago now!

And that's not all: I also did Master's swim this morning. I only swam about 1500 yards but it felt great. As usual, I had to leave by 7:00 to get the kids to school but I did the main set and I was very happy about that.  We did two 250's, two 200's, two 150's, two 100's, two 50's, all at race pace with about 30 seconds in between (after a 500 yard warmup).

The not-so-good news (or should I say the reality check) is that I can hardly move now. This is the difference between training when you are almost 49 and training when you are 29 or 39. I can still do it, but it takes longer to recover.

My younger training partners don't seem to get this. They seem to think I can run what they do and feel fine. Not!  There is a definite difference in recovery time (and energy level, sleep, mood, and sex drive, but that's another story) when you approach 50. Like I said earlier, you can still do the training but you get sore-er, faster. As my kids would say, it's more better to be younger.

Then again, all of my running and endurance training has paid off in other ways. I'm fairly smart about what I need to do to accomplish my goals and I know darn well how one day can feel significantly different from the next. Every runner will tell you that you can run like the wind one day and feel like a turtle the next. Its the nature of the beast.

So, its rest, ice, and Celebrex for me today (icing my hip). And since this blog is about training and parenting at the same time, I'm off to the school to pick up my two punks plus 3 others. All five kids will terrorize hang out at my house for a few hours and then I take 3 of them to church and the other 2 to soccer practice.

Such is the life of an Iron Quest Mama. Ha!