Training camp: coach ELF style!

Yesterday was day one of Camp ELF. Andrea, Cat and I made it to Chicago after lunch and after getting acquainted we headed out to do our first training session. We are not talking smal potatoes here... It was a 2 mile open water swim; where we got to meet Jen H. as well.

The lake was a good size and with the exception of Cat who was doing a combination of swim/run/swim, we swam around it. Each loop was about a mile, so we headed for 2 loops. Immediately after we started I lost sight of everybody. Jen and Liz are very fast swimmers and there was no way in the world I would be able to keep up with them. So, truth be told I didn't even bother.

Sighting was a bit difficult mostly because the landmarks were unfamiliar and the lake was new to me; so I did my best to try to follow other swimming caps. The first loop was uneventful; I swam and swam and swam and eventually made it back to the beach. The second loop felt much longer than the first one but I made it around. I had a few moments where my left calf/foot cramped up and I managed to push through. I was happy to finish up though. This was mostly a confidence builder for me. I set out just to swim the 2 miles; without concern about times, to gain peace of mind that I could finish the Ironman swim. And you know what? I can. I totally can swim the 2.4 miles; and I think I might be able to pull in a pretty decent time as well. Only time will tell.

After swimming we all headed to Noodles for dinner. It was delicious; and it really hit the spot. Conversation was awesome too; but we were all pretty shot. Long day of travel and workouts; we were ready to hit the sack.
I slept pretty well; and the morning came all too quickly. I was greeted by the one and only BOSS; and I do have to say he is the cutest Chihuahua I have ever seen. Not your typical loud, obnoxious Chihuahua; but this sweet little thing!

Everybody got up and after a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee (of course) we headed to the track to get our running videotaped and critiqued. One by one; we ran, got taped and then carefully listened to what Liz had to say about our form. It was very interenting to see the different running forms and to watch Liz run. Oh my gosh! Her body is able to move in ways that I am not sure I will ever be able to. There is no "bounce" to her running. It is pure forward motion. I am hoping someday I'll get there. We did a couple of timed sets; before and after run critique. It will take some getting used to the new way; but it should be more efficient.

We headed back to the house for some lunch; and since Cat and I were borrowing Liz's bikes we got fitted to them. Man she has some nice machinery! We chilled for a while and then it was time to head out to swim. Again. This time it was about form and stroke efficiency. We all got some excellent pointers and I was able to discover my lats. That is a whole new source for swimming power right there. Truth be told, it is harder to swim with my lats and it will take a while to build endurance. Anything to get better and faster, right?

Next on the list was a spin through the Arboretum. I loved that we were able to just ride there. I am always having to get in my car, drive somewhere and THEN ride. But here, we just got on the bikes and started pedaling. Awesome. The place was gorgeous. Mostly shaded (a nice break from all the sun we were exposed to), with a lot of turns and some little climbs thrown in for good fun. We rode for an hour and then left Liz to finish up her 2 hour ride.

After everyone showered and cleaned up, Andrea and Liz made this awesome chicken dinner with curry and coconut milk. VERY YUMMY. Add some veggies and brown rice and you have the perfect athlete's meal.

Right now we are just chillin'. Boss is by my side murdering Squeaky Carrot, Andrea is watching The Office, Cat is Facebooking and Liz is writing schedules. Pretty soon I think I will be crashing hard and hitting the bed and it's onle 8:15. The day has been long but super fun. The company is great and that makes training that much more fun. We have been bad about taking pictures, but I am taking the camera during our ride tomorrow. Hopefully something good will turn out.

Ironman build starts today

And I am ready to tackle it head on.

On tap: longuish run after work. Followed by recovery and ice bath; so I can get up and run again tomorrow.

Yeah.... Bring it!

The week in review

It is sunday, 7:46 am and I am enjoying my rest day. This has been a crazy week. I feel like I am always saying that.... Oh well.

To say this week was busy is an understatement. On Easter Sunday the husband was brought to tears by some pain in his neck/shoulder area. Truth be told, it scared me. He never cries when something hurts; this must have been bad. I tried massaging it for him, used my handy stick and was able to find a couple of knots. I convinced him to go see my ART guy on monday. So he stayed home and was planning on driving himself over there; except that he was barely able to move his head... not very apt for driving, wouldn't you say? So I came back home, drove him over there and then picked Megan up from school. I had a long run on tap and after considering the idea of doing the 1 mile loop in my neighborhood for the hour and 40 minutes the schedule called for I realized doing that would be setting myself up for failure; so I moved the run to the following afternoon.

The run went well, I thought I was running slow as snails and it turned out it wasn't. That was particularly satisfying due to the fact that in my attempt to try and run the less amount of downhills possible (really bad for the IT band) I managed to score a route with some very steep and long uphills. Can you say: ouch?

On wednesday I had my long swim of the week. Since I am doing a 2.4 mile open water swim in May, coach has me swimming over 3000 yds once a week. The workouts always seem daunting, as swimming is still NOT my favorite; but on the positive side I have been able to "risk" it a bit more while in the pool. Before, if I was feeling too much burn on my lungs I would back off, now I have managed to overcome the fear of not being able to breathe and have pushed myself harder than I ever thought possible. Now, I am by no means fast, BUT I have been able to find my different paces in the water. Moderate IS moderate, fast IS fast; before it was all the same. While this progress is not fast or easy; I am getting there. One of these days I will arrive, one of these days my stroke will feel fluid and I will not feel like I am dying after a 500 moderate.

Thursday brought in a bike ride. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE riding?? Even when my butt is uncomfortable in the saddle. I love the feeling of power in my legs. I love pushing the big gears and feeling the burn. After a really bad bike test the previous saturday (where I could not bring my watts up - we then figured my calibration was WAY off-) it was beautiful to see I was able to put out some big numbers (for me) without much effort. BEAUTIFUL.

Friday was another swim, with some speed sets built into it. I gave them my all and did not chicken out once :) YAY! Victory.

For the longest workout of the week I had a 4 hour brick on tap on saturday. 3:30 on the bike and :30 run. I woke up with a sour stomach. Let's just say I considered apropriate to have a bathroom within reach.... So I stayed inside. Got my set up all ready, Buffy on the TV, drinks, cliff shot bloks, 2 fans, air on my tires, reset computer; and finally got on my bike. While the hours did not tick quickly enough, I really enjoyed the "ride". I never went over the HR zones stipulated and I was also able to ride over 65 miles. While I know it's just "indoor" miles, last time I had a 3 hour indoor ride I did not even get to the 50 mile mark. Definitely improvement. What's best of all is that when I got off that bike and into my T run; my legs felt fresh. My HR stayed in check and I was able to run at my goal pace no problem.

There are only 3 more weeks until my first race of the season. Up next, two weeks of lower total volume race specific work; then taper and then game on! Can't wait!

Weekend Mish mash

I am a little behind on updating the good old blog. I can’t believe it has been over a week already. I have been so busy with work, training and life in general that I have barely had time to relax.  

Training went well this past week. I managed to get all my workouts in, even after a very bad failed attempt at my long run on Monday after work. It was the typical case of “the body complained a little louder than normal, I got scared and I quit”. I had a mini meltdown (lasted about 30 minutes) and then realized that what’s done is done and there is no point on beating myself up about it. Moved on.

The rest of the week I focused on giving the best I had for every single workout. They might not have been my best ones, but the effort was there. Work was insanely busy; as it is yet again month end/quarter end and we are plagued by deadlines. I kept my sanity the best I could, and I think it worked. Someone challenged me to post nothing but positive updates to my Facebook status; that proved to be hard! I guess my mindset is set on the more negative side of things and I decided to work diligently on changing that.  

Over the weekend I had a couple of long workouts to tackle. On the schedule were a long brick for Saturday; and originally a rest day for Sunday, which I decided to use to make up for my failed long run attempt. I was super excited at both: riding outside for the first time, and redeeming myself for that run where I chickened out. I knew the run would be hard the day after the long brick and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to quiet the voices in my head that want to make me stop when it hurts.  

I set off on Saturday at about 8 am with my bike fully equipped for my 3:45 ride. I decided I would ride with my ART doctor, since he just got a bike and was looking for someone to ride with. We met up with the idea of him riding with me the first hour and then splitting so that I could hit the faster intervals I had prescribed. The first hour was easy. I rode at his pace and gave him some tips on shifting and climbing. We went the route that I always use and I was very pleased to find out that the hills that used to leave me breathing hard last summer did not represent that big of a challenge anymore. Score! 

We did the one loop and then according to plan we split. I went back for take number 2 on the loop and that is when I almost got hit 3 times. Not one time, 3 FREAKING TIMES. For the first time I felt unsafe on my bike. People were driving like maniacs, passing me with less than 5 inches clearance between my elbow and their side mirrors; disregarding my signaling turns and passing me as I am attempting to merge to a different lane. I was not being impolite to drivers. I was riding practically on the white line; letting cars go before me if I got stopped at a traffic light in the front of the line. And yet, they decided to be complete jerks. My nerves got to a point where I just wanted off. My legs were fine, my stomach was fine, I was hydrated; I could have finished the time Coach wanted me to ride. I had only 39 minutes to go; and I felt at risk of being run over. I thought it over and decided to call it a day for riding. I got off the bike and went on to do my transition run as planned.  

After I was done I called Coach and vented nice and long. I was severely upset. She assured me the time I had ridden was more than enough for my training and that sometimes these things happen. Moving on.  

Sunday was a jam packed day. I got up early again to go out on my long run. I will just say, it was hard. My legs were pretty tired but I made a point of not worrying about how fast I was going and just running. I ended up covering a nice distance, not my best but it did the trick.  

After lunch Megan had a couple of activities lined up. First an Easter egg hunt hosted by one of the kids in her classroom and then Playhouse Disney live. The Egg hunt was fun; the parents of the hosting child pulled it off very nicely considering this was a public park. Megan had a blast and was able to monkey around in the playground after the Egg hunt was over.  

Off we went to Playhouse Disney live. We had pretty good seats, row 2, about 40 feet from the stage. From the moment we got in, Megan was ON. She played along with every single thing they said, she yelled as loud as she could, danced, jumped up and down. Basically, moved the whole time. Towards the end of the show, the kids are allowed to stand right in front of the stage (not on stage though) and dance along with the characters. Megan was waving at everybody, then all of the sudden one of the characters made eye contact with her and waved right back. Oh my goodness! The expression on her face. She ran back to me as fast as she could and said: “Mommy, Mommy! Darby (character from My friends Tigger and Pooh show) just waved at me; did you see it??” And that right there, her sheer happiness was worth EVERY penny we paid for those seats. It brought tears to my eyes. It was perfect. I just wanted to hug her as hard as I could. 

It was a full weekend. Up next rest week. And I can't wait!

Finally, a good one!!!!

Last tuesday I finally caved in and decided it was about time to go see a sports chiropractor/ART professional. My left knee had been bothering me for a while and I wanted to make sure I did not get injured. Let me tell you; good thing I went. My doc discovered I am mostly "driven" by my quads and hammies; and the poor muscles are all beat up. Knots and bumps everywhere; as a result of working them extra hard without giving them the proper care they deserve. Needless to say, after a couple of very painful sessions (with some bruising involved) I am on the mend and have made one or two new best friends in the process... The foam roller and the stick. The stick has come to work with me since wednesday and has allowed me to self inflict torture three to four times a day. My relationship with the foam roller is mostly left for nighttime, once I am in my PJ's and ready to go to bed. Oh, what fun times we have had! 

My training this week has been spot on. Not only did I manage to get all my planned hours in, but I also was able to let go of trying to be perfect at every.single.workout. If you ask Coach, she will tell you that is my biggest obstacle. Wanting to be perfect all the time. And I truly believe that my success this week was due to the fact that I started each training session with a blank mind. Yes, I had stuff on my mind but I did not predispose myself to anything but the best I could give at the time. And you know what? It worked!

I will admit, when she put 3200 yards on my schedule and I saw what the sets looked like, I was scared. They looked horrible, HARD, almost impossible (ok a little extra drama, please go along :) ). But I got to the pool, got ready, took a big breath and let it all go. I had read the descriptions so many times; that during the mainset I did not even have to stop to re-read them. I tackled one set at a time and I got through it; without having to take any extra rest in between (something that happens often in my world). And you know what? I proved to myself that it's all in my head. I did not get super good within a week. I don't even think I got faster. But you know what changed? My mindset. I did not worry about the next day, or even the next set; I just focused on the task at hand. One stroke at a time, one day at a time.

On saturday, my long brick got rained in. On tap 3 hours on the trainer with a 30 min run off the bike. I popped in  Buffy the Vampire Slayer (favorite show ever), got my nutrition together and "off" I went. Not going to lie, it hurt; especially the last 30 minutes. I wanted off. The thought of running for 30 minutes after getting off the bike was daunting. When the 3 hours were over, I readied myself to run outside in the rain. I was bracing myself for the worst and then I started running. My legs responded beautifully, I felt light, fluid. The rain was oddly welcomed. And I felt whole. And I remembered. It's moments like this that make me love this sport. It is discovering yourself over and over again. And it never ceases to amaze me...

What a week!

It all started last saturday with a long 2:30 ride on my trainer. It was a cold, rainy day and having 2:30 on tap for a bike ride I decided to stay indoors. The key here was the entertainment playing on my little TV. Lord of the rings: The two towers carried me through and made the workout fly by.

Having a couple of bad days during the previous week, I had to move my long run from friday to sunday (forgoeing my rest day). Sunday we got up to a torrential downpour that forced me to do the run idoors on the treadmill. I ran for 1:10 and then decided to take the "speed" intervals that were built into the run outside. It was about 32 degrees and it had stopped raining for a bit. My neighborhood is a 1 mile loop and I figured I could run the last 35 minutes of the prescribed time outside. I changed my shorts for my tights and long sleeves and out I went. It was cold but not too bad, until I made the last turn of the loop, heading to the stretch that would bring me past home. The wind was so hard that i could barely move. I did one loop and called it a day. I emailed Liz telling her I am not as tough as I thought I was: YET.

Sunday evening started snowing, which is kind of a big event here in the south. We got about 4 inches and of course everything was closed on monday, because the city does not have the infrastructure to plow the streets and all. I ended up working from home and enjoying the snow day with Megan playing outside making snow angels. I had long ride again on tap for monday morning. 2 hours. It worked perfectly because I did not have to get up extra early to fit it in before work. So the snow day was kind of welcome. It allowed me to not only work from home, but get a few extra hours of zzz's.

During that long rida I also had the company of the Lord of the Rings. The Return of the King this time. Have I mentioned that I LOVE those movies? I have read the books 3 times. Definitely one of my all time favorites.

Tuesday went on fine. I did my run after work and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think after that the week fell apart. On wednesday I had a stiff neck; I tried swimming and it HURT. So after toughing it out for the warmup I called it a day and went to work. When I got home I got on my trainer and felt completely weak. I had to inhale 1/2 a clif bar to feel like I had some kind of energy. Liz emailed me reminding me that I need to EAT; which I have been doing, so I do not know what went wrong. Thursday I woke up with a nasty migraine. It lasted all day. I even took my migraine medicine but that did not help. Of course I went to work and had a busy day. People told me I should have taken the day off, but I have a couple of trips planned for the year (including the family vacation to Disney World) and I want to save my PTO days for those occasions. There was definitely no training on thursday, my head could not take it.

Then on Friday I had a do-over of Wednesday's swim and that did not go so well. Let's say it was frustrating and not a good experience. Work was work and I still had a headache... Kind of a leftover from the prior's day migraine.

Saturday came, and I had a 5k on tap. The goal for this race was to get out there, find the hurt and learn to deal with it. Secretly I had a pace goal/finish time; but Liz not to focus on that; to work the mental aspect of the race. It was a company sponsored event, so I had to wear a t-shirt with the company's logo. Cotton. Not my first choice, but it served the purpose. I am not going to do a race report, but I will say that I was able to accomplish everything I had set out to. I even PR'd by about 20 seconds; running faster than at my peak last year. Definitely a good feeling; and something I needed after the awful week I had.

I emailed with Liz about this and told her it was reassuring that even though I feel slow during some of my training runs; I am capable to put out some nice speed on race day. The pace I ran was not in my real of possiblity a couple of years ago. Heck, even last year I didn't think I could run as fast as I did yesterday! To this day, it still boggles my mind. But you know what? I'll take it!

Cozy saturday

I went out this morning for the one hour run that coach had put on the schedule for me. After the husband videotaped my running and we sent it over to Liz, she gave me some feedback and some technique advice. I had every intention of putting it into practice on my trail run. So I went for it. It was more difficult that I thought. Re-teaching your body how to run is no easy task and it does require a lot of concentration. Making sure you step the right way, pushing off purposefuly, avoiding arm crossover. That seems like a lot, doesn't it?? All of that while trying to keep your HR at a decent level...

The trail run was nice; except for one minor detail. The temperature was sub freezing! And my knees felt it, a lot. So, instead of running for an hour I decided to cut the run short to spare my knees some pain. Liz mentioned that the next 2 weeks are BIG training blocks, and I want to make sure I am in tip-top shape to perform at my best.

After the run, I drank my recovery drink and went off to run a couple of errands before the husband left to go golfing. I hit my favorite bakery (Great Harvest Bread), got some bread and then proceeded to go to the 50 dollar store (Target... it seems that every time we go there we spend a lot more money than we intended). I got there, grabbed the things I came looking for and as I am opening my wallet realized: SHIT! I forgot my card at the bread shop. I called them and luckily it was still there; so I hightailed back (in the opposite direction I needed to go to get home) and got my card.

When I got home I had already made the husband 20 minutes late; so pretty much as soon as I walked in the door, he left. Showered, made coffee and now I am here; sitting down in my PJ's covered with a blanket and wearing my "fluffy socks" as Megan calls them.

This week was extremely weird. It was rest week, and i felt completely flat; exhausted and with absolutely NOTHING in my legs to get my anywhere. My eating has been good, so I did not understand what was up. Until yesterday; when I realized I had gotten my monthly visitor (sorry if tmi). I was not expecting it until wednesday! Sometimes I think it is stupid how the body gets so drained from doing something that it is supposed to do every single month. Know what I mean??

The husband came back from his trip on thursday evening. Megan and I were very glad to see him. Friday morning was going along just fine when I got a call from Daycare that megan had been crying all morning, complaining of a sore throat and an achy stomach. There had been some cases of strep at the school, so I thought it was prudent to make a doctor's appointment to get the munchkin checked out. The husband took her and it turns out she has "walking pneumonia". The doctor assured us it is not as bad as the name makes it sound. Some antibiotics and it should go away. I do feel a bit responsible about it though. After all, I missed the signs. Fever, phlemy cough, loss of appetite. I trully thought it was just a cold. I guess it is not "just a cold" if there is fever. If I had acted sooner she would be better by now, and that makes me feel responsible (and a bit of a bad mom). Lesson learned, next time (which will hopefully be a long time from now) I will know to act when the fever presents itself.

This afternoon, we are just chillin'. Enjoying the last 2 days of rest week. Some more coffee is in order, maybe a movie or two, a cozy blanket and a big dose of family time. Can't wait.

Form

Yesterday I finally was able to get my husband to videotape both my running and my swimming. Feeling a little on the ridiculous side while at the pool, I got over it and did my planned 200 yards of swimming. Prior to that I got my long run out of the way and also got Todd to videotape my running stride.

My goodness! What a wake up call it all was. Not so much the swimming, but my running. It did not look pretty. And here I thought I ran pretty good.

After struggling to get the videos out of the camera and into a decent sized file, I shot them over to coach. The running one first and the swimming second.

The critique came in that order... While I must admit it was not pretty, and a blow to the ego, after mulling over it for a couple of minutes I decided that was exactly what I had asked for. I asked coach to look at my mechanics and provide me with some feedback as to how I can improve to become more efficient.

I am now armed with new running knowledge and a set of swimming drills that are "just for me". Focusing on the things that I need to improve upon will make me a better athlete; a more efficient one. I must admit, letting go of the old "comfortable" way of doing things is not easy. This new technique will require me to focus, be more present during the workouts and make sure that I give 100% if not more at each single one of them.

I had a rough week in terms of self esteem. I did a lot of thinking, I felt myself sinking in a hole; and instead of letting myself go down, down, down; I asked for help. I tend to internalize everything; keep to myself. Know what I mean? I knew this time around that I needed to be proactive and reach out. And you know what? It helped. Voicing my fears and concerns actually helped me overcome them and put them behind. Will they never happen again? Heck no! I am sure they will return. But I will be armed with all the tools that I know helped me this time around.

This morning I went to hot yoga and that practice actually helped re-inforce the things I came to terms with during the week. I was able to focus on myself and myself only and with each breath I became more aware of the things I hold dear in my heart. It was fabulous.

I am ready to start this new week and focus on improving myself; both athletically and spiritually. I have some focus words that I will write down and put in my mirror next to my inspiration board. Just as a gentle reminder of the good things, both the ones to come and the ones that are already here.

I guess rest does a body good...

This past week has been quite amazing.

I managed to survive one of the most stressful weeks work wise. Deadlines, problems to solve, people to please. I am not sure how, but I pulled it off. I managed to get everything on the list accomplished; and then some. Even when life threw me a curve ball.

One of my family members in Argentina was diagnosed with a nasty disease. At first I thought it was the end of the world. I was shocked; this person NEVER gets sick. I started imagining the worst. What would the rest of my family do? How would they keep going? Why did I move so far away? I felt guilty for not being there in this time of need. I worried, a lot.

That day when I got home from work; I called my family and they reassured me that even though the disease is there; it is early enough to where if certain measures are taken; it can be stopped in its tracks or slowed down considerably. I spoke my mind, loud and clear for all of them to hear. They asked I do not worry about it; and I said I would not if they promised to follow doctor's orders to the T. Luckily we came to an agreement. I know the road ahead is not an easy one for them as it involves quitting an addiction (smoking); but they are strong willed (as most of the members of my family) and I know they can do it.

On that day I decided I would go ahead and run my half marathon on saturday. I had not had a quality run (or a run) for a few weeks (since thanksgiving).In fact I was so focused on doing P90X that I had not swam, biked or ran for a couple of weeks. Now, let me tell you. After doing P90X for those couple of weeks, I realized that it was not the workout program for me. Why? It does not get me excited to follow it. As a matter of fact; I dreaded doing the workouts most of the days. Not because they were hard, but because they were boring. So I opted to just do their strength routines and kick up the Cardio with my own mix of Swim, bike & run.

Last month when I was sick for almost 2 weeks, coach and I decided that it would be best if i took the month off to fully recover. Besides, December tends to be a busy month for us in the accounting field; with holidays and fiscal year end all happening at the same time. So the training for this 1/2 marathon was put on hold. I still wanted to run the race, because stingy me had already paid the race fee and could not let the money go to waste, if you know what I mean :-). So I faced it as just a fun run. I would run it without any expectations. I would not push myself, I would just go and run, and have fun.

Saturday came along and I was up before the alarm clock went off. My body is so used to getting up at 5 am that I can't sleep past that time. Oh well. I got up and got ready. All dressed up in cold weather gear since it was below freezing and the high temperature for the morning was in the low 40's. I put on some tights, a wicking t-shirt and a warm wicking jacket (my favorite one... NIKE ) Got to the kitchen and made some breakfast. Some whole wheat waffles and propel water to drink. The breakfast of champions :-) I did my hair (pigtails and hat), grabbed some Gu's and headed out the door.

I got to the expo, picked up my packet, got my chip and bib number set up and headed to the potty lines. Of course, after all that propel water I needed to pee quite a bit. And then I witnessed something that was a "first" for me. The line for the MEN'S bathroom, was longer than the one for the women's. I smiled to myself. 

After using the facilities I headed to the start line. I tried using the signs for the pace groups to seed myself but once the crowd got bigger the pacers moved and I could not find them! As a result I think I was seeded incorrectly. Oh well, race was about to start and I did not have the energy to fight the crowd to try to go backwards.

The gun went off and we started running. The first mile is always hard. Your body is waking up and warming up. I passed the mile marker in 9.30.  I was going faster than I had anticipated but it felt good, it felt "natural".  I ran. I saw some familiar faces, I tuned into other people's conversations. I smiled at volunteers and traffic cops. I was just having a blast. I remember going through the 3 mile marker at 27 minutes. "Pretty good" I thought. I was running with my Garmin, just to see how long the course really was. Bad thing is that it had not acquired a signal when the gun went off, so I didn't start measuring until well into the first mile. I decided to keep it on just for the fun of it. To see what pace I was holding.

I was surprised. The little thing said I was running 8:54 and I did not even feel I was putting out an effort. I really cruised along the race. I was not "racing it"; I was just running. I drank at every water stop; alternating water and powerade. I even ran the water stops! Now, that's a first! I am always really clumsy and end up pouring the liquids on my body instead of in my mouth. But not this time. The course was hilly, and I could tell I was putting a slightly higher effort when going uphill, but nothing major. I was just keeping the pace. The only one goal I had for this race was to run the entire thing. I wanted to prove myself that no matter how slow I went, I would run it. Not even power walk it, run it. There is some kind of mental block I had with the distance for the longest time; and I wanted to overcome it.

I hit mile 7 in 1:03:xx. That is when I realized: "Holy shit! I am paced to come in at 2 hours or less". If you remember, that was my goal all along for this race. Break the 2 hour mark and have a great PR. I just could not believe it. Here I was, not even feeling like I was working; and yet within reach of my "dream goal". I told myself: "Don't get cocky, don't try to go faster; we are here to have fun". So I did. I just kept running.

Somehow, I was able to hold the pace. At mile 11, a guy in a Santa costume passed me and one of the spectators said: "Come on people! Run faster, you just got passed by Santa!" That made me laugh. That was another first... Laughing at mile 11. I am usually in some kind of mental battle at this point; but not Saturday. I was feeling it now though. I was starting to get tired, and putting an added effort. I just wanted to hold the pace to reach the sub 2 hour goal. I only had 2 more miles to go; but those 2 miles had some of the worst hills of the course.

Climb, climb, climb. Reach the top, turn right. Climb steep hill. Legs burn. Reach the top, turn right again; go down; reach the bottom. Repeat. That was how the last 2 miles were. My quads were burning. With less than .5 miles to go you took the last turn and you could see the finish line. Straight up there. Yes, I said UP. The freaking finish line was at an incline! No fair. I tried to kick it to the end; but my legs refused to turn any faster. I crossed the line. 

1:58:43. 

Holy freaking shit! An 18 minute PR. On a hilly course. I could not believe it. Seriously?! I was elated. Still am. I sent Liz a text. "I do not give my body enough credit".

I remember my first 1/2 marathon. It took me nearly 3 hours to finish it; and after I got back to the house I slept the rest of the day. Saturday, I ran and was FULLY functional all day. 

What baffles me the most is that I had taken my "off season" pretty seriously. I had been resting mightily. There had been no running for almost 3 weeks.  And yet, I managed to accomplish this. I guess rest does a body good :-). I am a believer now.

Change of plans

After much deliberating and a couple of good talks with Coach, we have decided that I would take the month of december off.

The past couple of weeks, I have been sick on and off. Cold, sore throat, sinus infection. I had them all. The body really took a heavy toll after all of these... And it needs rest.

It's not that I am not going to do "anything", I will be trying to get more muscular and lean; but I won't be "killing" myself or feel pressured about anything on the schedule. 

I am still undecided about the 1/2 marathon. A part of me wants to do it; because I know that even though I won't be able to go for my "dream goal" of under 2 hours I will be able to set a PR. I am in much better shape than last year. The other part thinks that I should take the entire month off, to properly re-energize myself with the want/need to swim/bike/run. Know what I mean?

So I guess I will play it by ear and see how I feel as the weeks progress. I will try to keep you all posted; but my life is not THAT exciting when you take training out of the equation.

Hope everyone is starting to get into the holiday spirit. We have started already, the tree is up; the Elf on the Shelf has appeared (he is one of Santa's helpers that comes and stays with us until Christmas, leaving every night to fly to the North Pole to report how Megan has been behaving), and Megan keeps repeating that we have to wait until Christmas to see the snow... 

Who knows? Maybe this year we will have a white Christmas in the Carolinas, and it will be her dream come true...

Doctor's orders.

The doctor said:

"It sounds like a sinus infection. I will give you some generic antibiotics, so the prescription won't cost you too much. Also I would wait 2 more days before you resume your workouts. Get the antibiotics in the system and if in 2 days you are feeling good, you can restart your physical activity"

So, me, being the extra good listener that I am; will do as the doctor ordered and won't run until Saturday.

Hey, at least now I don't feel bad for not getting in my runs. It's doctor's orders!

Sickies

Not much has been going on around these parts. I think I have finally embraced the off season. I am pretty much taking everything very relaxed and not really pushing myself to do much; except keep up with my running workouts. And I am only doing that because I had this insane goal of breaking 2 hours on my upcoming half marathon.

I say "had" because I had a double case of the sickies. 

Last week I had a monster cold where I felt like I could not even lift a foot, and that lasted for about  4 days. On Friday I was feeling like my old self again, so I ran easy for 30 minutes and that felt super good. Saturday I spent the day with the family, relaxing, doing some shopping; and on Sunday I decided to go for an hour long run. Boy was it hard! My legs felt like bricks and I really struggled to move forward. I will say that the wind was not helping either. I think I might have started that run a bit underdressed, but after I was able to get a bot more shielded from the wind I was ok.

Then yesterday... That feeling of soreness all over the body; like you have been ran over by a train. I had chills, a sore throat, a headache. Could not keep my eyes open. I think I must have fell asleep at around 8.30 PM. 

Today I am better; but still don't think I am at 100% health. That is why I have decided not to pursue my crazy goal of breaking 2 hours in the half marathon. For some of you this might not seem like such a "crazy" thing; but my best half marathon time is 2:17; so it would be a 17 minute drop on my previous PR. And that is a big number in my books. I will do the race; just because running a half marathon at this time of the year is what got me into sports 4 years ago; and it is my little way of celebrating my own "tradition", and also because it is fun. (And between us, it makes me feel less guilty about the foods I eat during the holidays)

After the race in December, I will take a break from everything except swimming. During december I will swim 5x a week. Why? Because I will re-create my stroke. I want to be able to swim much more efficiently and I know my body is used to doing things the easy way. I am on a mission to accept it will be hard and to embrace the challenge. When January rolls around I will let you know how I did on that. 

For now, I just hope this case of the sickies goes away soon. Catch you later, dudes!

Yadda, Yadda, Yadda

Not much to report around here. I am still in the “easy” recovery mode. I took last week completely off and had the green light to eat junk food galore. It is amazing how your body changes and how much you care about those changes. Believe me my friends when I tell you I tried to eat junk food, but nothing looked super appealing. Yes, I partook on my fair share of chocolate, cookies and ice cream; and while those could be considered junk food; they don’t exactly fall in my description on “junk” (burgers, fries, pizza, etc). They are just sweet tasty treats J

It took my body about 3 days to quit being sore. I originally thought I’d be much more uncomfortable, in a lot more “pain”; but was pleasantly surprised when that was not the case. I think it would be safe to say that after about 4 days I felt normal again… And then I tried to play chase with Megan… I literally took 4 strides and the body said: “Oh no, you didn’t”. As coach has said to me MANY times, recovery is important and I am making sure my body is fully back to being functional before I resume the schedule.

This week I have been slowly adding some workouts here and there. I went for a swim on Monday and even though the water felt cold when I got in (I was seriously considering swimming in the warm pool because I did not want to face the cold water); it was a nice relaxing swim. Yes, you read that right. I said relaxing. In my world, relaxing and swimming don’t mix often; but I guess there is always an exception to the rule, right? On Tuesday I ventured into doing some strength training with my husband’s P90X workouts. I have not touched a weight in months and I reached for the standard 5lb dumbbell that is usually heavy enough to make me hurt after the first 8 reps. Lo and behold: they were too light! I guess the swimming is really helping out my arm muscles after all! Yesterday I got up early and went for an easy run. It was short, a mere 2 miles; but it felt great! I am really looking forward to running more this winter. I want to get faster and more efficient.

I have signed up for a fall ½ marathon here in town and I am hoping that with proper training I will be able to set a new PR. What is that going to be? Not sure. I’d like to aim for less than 2 hours but I am not able to tell right now since I haven’t even started training and coach is away at Kona so we really have not chatted much about it.

I have also been busy scheduling doctor’s appointments and checkups. Not that there is anything wrong with me, but there were some things that I knew needed my attention; so I am taking care of them now. One of them was a visit to the dermatologist. I have a couple of moles I was concerned about; and since this sport has us being exposed to so much sunlight I decided that it is a good precautionary measure to add a visit to the specialist once a year; just to make sure everything is in order. By the way, my moles turned out to be just that: moles. Nothing to worry about. Exactly what I wanted to hear.

I started thinking about my season next year and toying around with what races I’d like to do. Some of you might have already read it on FB; but I made a HUGE decision. This November I am going to Panama City Beach, FL to volunteer at IM… The day after, I am signing up for IMFL’09! To this day, it still surprises me that I am even thinking about Ironman. I remember when it seemed so far fetched a mere 3 seasons ago; and now I feel like I am SO ready.

Husband and I have discussed multiple times about the commitment this will be for all of us as a family unit; and he keeps reiterating that he supports me 100%. I have even showed him some of the posts coach put on her blog about her personal experience with IM. He is still on board. And I am psyched!

Besides the BIG race, I will also be doing two half Iron events; a local one and then Augusta 70.3 with Muppetdog, and maybe some sprints (have not decided on those yet). For now, I am focusing on the Off season and becoming lean and mean. This november I am supposed to "Become a swimmer" in Liz's words... I will let you know when and if that happens. Right now, I am off to enjoy some homemade food (that reminds me of Home with my mom and dad) made by yours truly. Catch you later.

PS: Hola Mamma! Te extranio!

SC Half Iron RR

This is an adaptation to what I sent to my ELF (coach)

I woke up with the alarm clock and realized I was not nervous. Maybe because I was by myself and needed to make sure I did not forget anything; I was pretty much get down to business and get ready. I ate breakfast, filled all my bottles, got my nutrition ready and headed out the door.I arrived at the race site with enough time to get all my stuff done. Body marked, weighed in, used port-a-potties, applied sunscreen. All check. As I was getting ready to go for my warmup I ran into Kellye. I recognized her from her blog pics.. I am such a stalker! She is a very nice girl, not to mention super speedy! After introductions and a few minutes of chit chatting I headed to the start line to warm up. I put my wetsuit on and got in the water. It felt good, to finally be there and realized that it was actually going to happen. I warmed up and got out of the water as they were calling people to get out so the race could start. 

Swim

When my wave was called I finally felt the butterflies. I was able to quiet them down by repeating my pre-race words in my head. We got in the water and treaded it for about 3 minutes. The gun went off and I started swimming. I went a long way without feeling out of breath or anything. I found open water and just swam, as best as I could. I did not panic, but the swim did seem long. I am not used to swim long with just breathing to one side, so  my shoulder/neck started to get tight. I also had the feeling I was going nowhere if I breathed every other stroke, so I decided to switch to breathing every 3 strokes. My goal was to not side stroke, and I failed miserably. I got punched on the face by a guy on the wave after mine. It almost took my goggles off. I did not panic about it but it took me a split second to snap out of it. People swam on top of me and into me, and for some reason that just breaks my focus. The swim seemed LOOOONG.This is definitely an area that I would LOVE to improve upon this off season since I know that it will help my times so much if I am able to conquer whatever irrational fears I have with the water. I know I can swim… I have proved it many times… I just think I am not efficient and that if I swim too hard then I will have nothing left for the rest of the race. I came out of the water and was pleased with my time but knew I could have done better. 

T1.

I was on the second to last rack out of transition which made my run to the bike quite long. I think I managed to get out of T1 pretty fast, considering I took my wetsuit off, and took the time to dry my feet off. 

Bike

 As usual, I had a hard time clipping in. I think you could say I am afraid of falling as I try to get on the bike… I lost some seconds here, but in the big picture I don't think it matters that much. We were also at an incline (going up) and I made sure I had enough momentum before clipping in my second shoe. After I did it I was off. The first mile I was quite cautious as people were yelling different things and I got a bit of sensory overload. Once I was on the open road I started to pedal with a purpose. I realized my HR monitor did not work and I thought for a brief moment I was doomed.  Then I figured I'd just have to be more careful since I'd have to go by feel. The first few miles seemed really daunting when I drove the course the day before, but to my surprise I was able to climb all the hills with little to no effort. I guess looks can be deceiving. I started my nutrition at 5 minutes in and took a sip of my sports drink every 5 minutes. I stuck to my  nutrition plan and got everything in.  My legs felt really good most of the way, except when I hit portions of the course where the pavement was super rough. I think that more than anything else took a toll on my legs. The time on the bike FLEW by, and by the time I realized it T2 was around the corner.

T2

 After I dismounted, my run to the rack was long and it felt slow. I racked my bike, took my shoes off; put my shoes on. I did pause for 5 seconds to "regroup" and put my running skirt on. I was out of there faster than I thought I was. 

Run 

I got out of t2 and immediately realized I needed to use the bathroom. I decided to trudge along and hold it. But then I saw a port-a-potty with a guy that had just gone in and I thought he would not take very long and I could go in and out in a jiffy. I was wrong! The guy took longer than I anticipated. After I took care of things I was back on my way.  I ran for the first 3 miles pretty well. I was keeping it a constant effort but I did not feel I was getting out of breath or going so hard I could not keep it up for the whole 2 loops. I took water at the first couple of water stops and then a gel. After that my stomach got unsettled. I started having reflux and that was no fun. My legs were sore but they could keep going. It was my head and the knowledge of potential stomach issues that got to me. It was hot and I started to fall apart. I did let my fear of throwing up get the best of me. And I HATE that. The hills were not as taxing to my legs as they were to my stomach. Legs could have kept pushing, maybe even kicking harder. They did hurt, and so did the stomach. I could handle the legs hurting; I gave in to the stomach. I focused on moving forward. My goal was to not walk, and I failed here as well. I cut myself too much slack when I knew that I would definitely come under 6:30; and I did not push as hard as I should. I kept moving forward and the first loop went by pretty fast. I started the second loop feeling rejuvenated. I knew that was the home stretch so I wanted to have a better loop than the first one. Did not happen. By now  it was really hot on this particular stretch of the highway where there was no shade. My shoes were sticking to the pavement… I walked/run as best/fast as I could. I took another gel at mile 9. I think that calmed my stomach down a bit, but don't quite remember. When I hit mile marker number 12, my legs and spirit got a second wind. I was running fast now. I passed people. I was dumbfounded but not complaining. I think the last mile was my fastest mile. When I saw the finish line I knew I had made it. And I smiled. I climbed that last hill pumping my arms high.. I wanted a good running picture for once.. I think I even smiled a bit . I crossed the finish line and was done.

After finishing I let the volunteers take my chip off, weighed in  and headed over to the misting station. I got in a nice cool soak and then met up with Wes and DeeDee. I had seen Wes along the run course a couple of times and we even high fived when he was on his second loop. He said to me "Dig Deep Danni" and that helped me quite a bit.  We went for some food and I was surprised that I was actually hungry... I ate a chicken burger, a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie.. along with a couple of cans of soda... I guess the splurging on junk food started before coach gave me the green light to do so. Ha! 

After resting for a couple of minutes we saw Kevin cross the finish line, he had a really rough run and we were all expectantly waiting for him. He finished strong and then joined us for some R & R. I chatted with Wes &DeeDee for a bit longer and then decided it was time to pick my stuff up and head home. When I got back into the transition area I called Todd and told him the news. He was super excited for me. Then, I called coach, and after giving her the cliff notes version  I said something that will stick with me for a long time; and I quote: The good thing is that I didn't lose any weight; so I guess the hydration worked just fine. Now THAT is what I call geeky.

Overall:

I loved the race. I was out there 6:20:05, but I am still having a hard time believing that it was indeed so long. It did not seem long at all. Even the run went by fast. I proved myself that the body can do it. I now have to work on keeping the mind quiet and focusing on something other than the pain and discomfort. I am happy with my results. Could I have done better? Absolutely. Am I upset because of it? Nope. I gave it what my body and head were able to give at the time. The good thing is (besides not losing weight) that there is a lot of room for improvement here. And I am ready.

The end of peak week

Well folks, I survived Peak week. It kicked my ass, but I survived it.

What did it include?? Let me tell you...

Monday: 1.5 hrs run. With 30 minutes in zone 3 and then on the last 30 minutes, some hard efforts x 8. Nice.

Tuesday: Easy 45 minute spin to get the leg circulation going.

Wednesday: 2400 yrds in the pool, with a LOOONG main set and speed (of which I have none). Man, it burnt in my lungs... But swimming always does, so what else is new, right?

Thursday: 45 min run in zones 1-2. Wake up the legs and get them ready for the next day.

Friday: 2 hr brick, as follows: bike for 1:30, following race day nutrition plan. With 30 minutes in zone 3 and them some time in zone 4 just for kicks. Get off bike and run, first 15 minutes in zones 3-4 and then cool down the last 15. Oh, and find a place that resembles your race course (that would be hilly).

Saturday: a 40 minute swim, with some drills and open water like practice. And then to finish it of a 30 minute easy spin of the legs.

Sunday: It's my day off :)

Oh, did I mention that my office was moving this week? So not only did I do all my workouts as prescribed by coach, I also packed, lifted boxes and got my arms a NICE tiring weight training like workout.

How am I feeling?? Race ready. I have written down my race plan. I have my "words". I have my timeline of events leading to the race (day before race and race day). I have my nutrition figured out... I still need to pick out my outfit... Wanted a new top because of the occasion, but I think I will have to settle with what I already own... None of my local stores carries Zoot :( and that is a bummer. I even got a new hat! Because now that I cut my hair I really look ridiculous in my Triathlon Mom visor, something about the layers bouncing up and down and making me look totally dorky. Oh well. 

Nest week is taper and then on sunday, game on!

I am ready to end my season with a bang. Wish me luck.

Week recap

Let me start by saying I can't believe tomorrow is the beginning of September... Where has the year gone???

This week has been a good one. I got all of my training sessions done, with a certain degree of success, and some disappointments too.

I swam the longest I have ever swam in one session at the pool. A whopping 3100 yds. Now, that is impressive for me, the non swimmer :) I discovered some things that I was (well am) doing wrong with my stroke and vowed to fix them during the off season. Trying to fix them now would be stupid, since my big race is only 4 weeks away (yikes) and the "new" stroke is something I am not used to and my endurance is non existent when I try to use it. For my mind's sake I have decided I would swim my regular slow way until after the race :)

I also went on a long ride yesterday (3 hours). I practiced my nutrition plan and I thought I had done pretty well. I drank 4 bottles of fluid (3 of them heed), ate like a champ, and even took in my salt tablets. I covered a decent distance (50 miles), and felt that come race day I would be able to go faster. I also tried a new saddle and to my surprise my "parts" were not as sore as with my previous one.

After the bike I had a 25 minute run in zones 2-3. My legs felt good, I felt I had a good amount of energy. My stomach felt a bit full, I thought I definitely took in enough fluids; and then disaster stroke. I started getting chills... In case you don't know, chills are a sign of dehydration. Dehydration?? I took in a ton of fluid, my stomach told me I could not have taken in any more. And that worries me. Why? Because I do NOT want to get dehydrated during the race. I have heard it tends to get pretty hot on that course, especially on the run; as there are some really long patches without shade.

I talked to coach about the ride and run, and after asking me about my food and drink  intake she suggested I need more sodium. So... I am off to trying a different sports drink. Heed only has 39 mg per scoop and apparently that is not enough for this body. I loved the almost bland taste of it, it resembles water a lot and it is sooo easy to drink. I am a bit disappointed that it won't work for me, at least during the hot summer sessions (I am not giving it up altogether).

After this discovery I headed to REI to pick up some samples from other drinks, and I came back with GU2O, Luna electrolyte drink and Cytomax. They all have at least 190 mg of sodium per serving, which knocks off the boots of Heed in a jiffy. Can't wait to try them and see what they do for me. Hopefully I will find the solution quickly.

Today I am glued to the computer following IMKY and cheering for Katie, Bree and Eileen. 

Hope you all have a great Labor day weekend!

You win some, you lose some

Well, this week has been a crazy one. Work has been busy, Megan was extra needy and the race I did on Saturday finally hit me full force by about Tuesday… I was tired!

 On top of that, remember that book I had been waiting to come out? Well it showed up at my door on Tuesday evening and I HAD to read it. So I spent a lot of the evenings staying up just so I could read it. You know when a book has you trapped so deeply that you can’t put it down or stop reading to take a rest? Even when your eyes are burning and you are yawning because you got up at 4.30 and it is midnight already? That was me. This week.

 I started the book on Tuesday evening and by Thursday at lunchtime I had already finished it. And no, I did not take off of work. I just read during lunch, during breakfast, during dinner and after Megan went to bed. I was completely sucked up into this wonderful world of vampires. Did I mention that I LOVE vampires?? Crazy? Yeah, it’s my middle name ;)

 Workouts kind of sucked this week. My body was exhausted and my mind was fried with all my stupid deadlines and plans for next week (we are going on vacation for a week to the beach.. YAY!). My nutrition was less than stellar and my body could tell. I guess you could say I dropped the ball this week. I got sidetracked and lost sight of the big picture.

 Did I get discouraged? Yes, but just  a little bit. I decided that I needed to listen to what my body was telling me.

 Thursday evening I was ready for my longest swim ever. 2900 yds. Holy cow! When I saw it on the schedule I got a bit scared. Self doubt populated my head. When I got to the pool I remembered Coach’s post about letting the workout be unwritten, do not get into it predisposed to it being a bad one. Free the mind and just do what you know how to do. I did. And guess what? I had a very nice long swim. The 6x300 yds for the main set were not as hard as I thought they were going to be. Yes, I did struggle with some of them; especially the ones that were “speed” related. But I finished them. And when I got out of the pool I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Maybe I AM getting better at swimming. Maybe I will become fast one day. I just have to keep at it. Perseverance (that is my second middle name ;) )

This morning I had a long run on the books, and I had been looking forward to it most of the week. I went out early, to beat out the heat. I was pumped. I started running and my legs felt heavy. About a mile into the run my stomach started to feel funny. I could not even stomach water. So after 20 minutes of  slow progress, I turned around and decided to call it a day. I walked the way back. I felt a little bit defeated, and at the same time a bit proud of myself. Proud because I was not super upset about having to cut a workout short. My body had had enough. I listened. I guess sometimes you just have to come to terms with the idea that you win some &  you lose some. And today I did.

In a funk

Well, the weekend came and went. Lots of stuff going on around here.

Todd was back in town on Thursday night; Megan LOVED having her daddy around so much that she chose not to listen to me a.single.time. (I guess that is what is considered a daddy’s little girl, don’t you think?)

Friday was kind of a busy day. We got up relatively early as Megan is an early riser and I tried to do my outside run. I think the stressful week finally caught up with me and I was exhausted. My legs did not want to go. My body ached all over; my breathing was super labored, even though I was doing a zone 1-2 run. I ran 20 minutes of my prescribed 45 and decided to call it quits. I thought I was getting sick because of that aching feeling all over my body and was overly cautious as last time I got sick I was out of commission for the better part of a week.

We had breakfast, got dressed and went out shopping. Earlier this year we made the decision that for now we are sticking with just one child (if you remember it was a defining moment for us, and particularly me); and that left our house with an empty bedroom (what used to be the nursery-since we gave all of our baby stuff to my sister in law who is pregnant). Up to that point we had a total gym and my trainer set up in our bedroom, and had been talking about moving them to the spare room to use as a “gym”. I am happy to report that we finally did it. And not only did we put those pieces of equipment there… we also got a treadmill! Shocker! I am not a fan of the ‘mill, but with Todd traveling it is pretty much the only option I have if I want to do my runs during the week. So our little gym is all set up and our bedroom looks more like a bedroom, which is always nice.

In the evening we went to my in-laws house and had a small BBQ to celebrate the 4th and then we took Megan to see some fireworks. She was more interested in the puppy the people next to us had than the actually fireworks… And she had been anticipating the fireworks all day!

Saturday was pretty uneventful. I had my bike test on the schedule for the morning. Luckily I was feeling much better. I got some good sleep after the fireworks and I think that helped TONS. We stayed around the house, hit the neighborhood pool, ordered in some pizza for dinner and called it a night. Pretty low key.
I remember back in my 20’s when a Saturday night like this would have seemed “boring”. Ah! Growing older will change ya!

Sunday flew by. I went grocery shopping while Todd was still at the house. We had a nice lunch and then it was time to take Hubby to the airport for his second trip to Miami. After we dropped him off Megan and I hit target, and then it was back home to get back in the weekly wagon.

When Monday rolled around I was ready to tackle the week full force. Get back into the full swing of training after a challenging “rest” week (where I did not really get a lot of rest… not it terms of training though). And then I got into work. I was super busy and by the time I realized it, I needed to get my bootie to the pool before the camp kids got there. On the schedule, Liz put 2400 yds. Let me just summarize: it did not go so well. I freaked out on some of the sets (breathing 1-2 per 25… yeah, right). I got mad, upset, scared, wanted to cry. I thought: “I will never be good enough at this; I might as well stop now”. But I didn’t. Did I feel better afterwards? Not exactly. I guess you can say I am stubborn and I am not going to let the water win. I will keep at it, until I figure it out. It might take me my entire life, but I will eventually win. Man, I am just like my dad!

Yesterday I needed to do some hill repeats. I was really looking forward to the hurt. I needed it. I had arranged for my in-laws to pick Megan from daycare, so I could run after work. I was even looking forward to the heat and humidity (weird I know). And then, as I am getting ready to leave work… The sky starts falling in the form of rain, thunder, lighting and 50 mph winds (that is what the weather man said, so I will believe him). There goes my outside run. I was bummed. I drove to my in-laws to get Megan and the commute that usually takes me 35 mins, took me close to 1 hr! Traffic lights were not working at major intersections, trees had fallen into the street, accidents galore… you get the picture.

We ended up at home, eating dinner at 7:50 pm and I still had to do my run. After Megan went to bed I decided to jump on my treadmill. What followed was one of the suckiest run workouts I have had in a long time. My pace sucked. I needed to stay in zone 2 and could not even run an 11 minute mile without spiking my HR. I know that it was probably a combination of tiredness, stress, my stomach digesting the food, and the fact that I NEVER have done a workout at 9 pm (yes you read that right… I got on the ‘mill at 9 pm). I was still hoping for a bit more.

So today, I am in a funk of sorts. I am kind of disappointed. Mostly at myself I think. I am questioning if I am really doing my workouts right. Am I self sabotaging? Could I give more? How would I do it? How long will it take me to get to where I want to be? I know it is not easy, I know it will hurt, and I am ok with that. But evidently there is something that has not clicked 100% yet.

Tonight I have a session with my head. I will put on some nice mellow music. Grab pen and paper; and let it all come out. Hopefully I will find where the short circuit is and will be able to fix it.

Work, workouts and Mommy time!

I am so glad the work week is over! I cannot even begin to tell you how busy I have been this week. With year end closing, merger, audit and the whole nine yards; it was about time to get some time off! My boss let us leave early today and I took advantage of the extra time and headed to the pool.

I needed the time for myself. Adjusting to this new workout schedule has been harder than I thought. I think I am definitely a morning person, even though when the alarm goes off I just want to throw it out the window. My best "athletic moments" are in the morning; when I am not consumed by the worries of the workday and I also know that once I am done I get to relax and enjoy the rest of the day. It also gives me energy and helps me get through the day. I can't believe how tired I have been this week, and it is rest week!

I had my running test yesterday and it went very well. Coach said I have improved quite a bit. The self critic inside is still unsure of my performance. I did give it all I had, I just wish I had more to give. You know what I mean?

Todd is coming back home tonight and we will have the weekend to spend some time together. Megan keeps reminding me that "Daddy is still in Florida" and you can tell she misses him to pieces. Every time I pick her up from daycare she asks if daddy is home and when I say "No honey, he will be back thursday night" you can see the disappointment in her little eyes. 

We have had some good mommy/daughter time; we have enjoyed eating "brown pasta" (she loves the whole grain kind), veggies and grilled chicken. We have watched some favorite TV shows (ask me anything about Backyardigans or Phineas & Ferb and I will be able to answer your questions), read stories at night and also enjoyed the occasional sweet treat (PB cups and M&M's are some of the favorites). Today we might head to the pool when the sun goes down a bit; and I have planned for us to "splurge" with chicken nuggets and french fries.

It has been a tiring week, but a good week nonetheless. Let the weekend begin!

Random bits

Well, it’s official. As of this week the company I work for is merging with another one. What does this mean? I am not quite sure. My job is still here, for now at least; but who knows? I am not necessarily worried about it right now. I will continue to do my job, at the same level I am doing it now. I guess time will tell what happens.

Lately I have been considering becoming a stay at home mom or working part time. Why? Because I’d love to have more time to dedicate to this sport. I have Ironman plans for 2010 and I will need more “free” time to get in the 20 hrs per week of training. On the down side, this is an expensive sport and it is always nice to know that you can afford it. Know what I mean? Yes, yes, my mind is a mess. Oh well, I’ve learned to live with it.

Training has been going good. I had a nice talk with Coach the other day about my training and the feedback she is getting from me after my workouts. I always think that it is not enough and that I am not giving her enough tools to fine tune my training. One of the things that had me the most concerned was my level of tiredness. I remember previous seasons being extremely tired; even though my workouts were not as consistent as now; so I was expecting to be as tired this year too. But I am not; and that made me question my performance. Coach assured me that I am doing the right thing and that not being as tired is actually a sign that we are going about this training thing the correct way. It means I am getting more efficient. And it made sense. In case you have not noticed, Coach rocks!

Today I had a nice run set. I had to warm up for 15 minutes and then do 30 minutes of short 1 minute intervals. Since I needed to change my pace ever so many seconds I decided to do this on the treadmill to avoind having to look at my watch the entire run. The clock on the ‘mill is much more easy to read. I developed a love/hate feeling for this workout. I loved going fast, but I hated having to watch the clock as much as I did. It made the time crawl. And even though I love running, when you are on the ‘mill pushing a hard pace you just want the time to go by as fast as possible. Don’t you agree?? I finished the set just fine, my legs felt tired as they should and my HR was all the way to zone 3. I was please with the result.

Tomorrow I have a 1:30 hr group ride, with some hard efforts on the schedule. Looking forward to it. It will probably feel like nothing after the 2:30 hrs I did last weekend. I just hope I don’t fall this time.

I also have a nice morning of dress shopping ahead. I am going to a wedding the following weekend, and since I am actually feeling awesome about my body (first time in a while I like looking at myself in a bikini) I want a new dress to sort of “show off”. Why not, right? “If you got it, flaunt it” I am looking for a nice red one (my favorite color and it does look good on me), and I have a very specific shape in mind. We will see if I can find something that resembles the image I see when I close my eyes. I will let you know if I am successful

Last, but not least I just want to wish good look to all the tri-blogger racing IMCda. Go get’em guys!!!