Fired up

Last night I checked my online workout calendar. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Coach had put my schedule for nexty week up. Why? Because next Saturday is my first Tri of the season! Seeing all the pre/post race preparations and suggestions got me all excited. I felt like a kid in a candy store… I had a big grin on my face.
The race is relatively small, capped at 250 enties (currently they have about 150 people signed up) and a short one at that. Swim: ½ mi. Bike 11.4 mi. Run 3.1 mi.
The swim is a point to point (whatever that means); the bike is a whole bunch of rolling hills (I’ve had plenty of training on those) and the run is supposed to be flat (my legs will be thankful for that). Saying that I am excited about it is an understatement. I can’t hardly wait.
It will be the first race that I attend SOLO… Todd is not coming with me not will I know anyone else racing it. In a way, that takes a whole bunch of pressure off; but on the other hand it leaves me alone with my thoughts.. and sometimes those tend to be not as positive as they should. Hopefully if I practice all the excercises that Coach wants me to practice (visualize the race, have a plan, etc.) I will be able to leave those “bad” thoughts away.
I will let you all know how it goes as soon as I have time to do it (between us, I am hoping I can have the RR ready by Sunday). The only thing that kind of “worries” me is that I have not been able to swim for 2 weeks. Next week I have 2 swims on the schedule and I am crossing my fingers for them to be good ones, so I can build up my confidence in the water.
After being sidelined for a couple of days I embraced this week for all it had. I left my heart at each and every one of my training sessions. Especially on the bike. There is something about getting up at 4.20 am to get on the trainer that makes you want to beat it up… just to teach it a lesson. Ha!
I also finally admited what my long time goals with this sport are. I finally accepted that I am competitive… VERY competitive. It is good sometimes because it makes me want to always better myself, so I can beat other people; and it is bad sometimes because I focus too much on beating other people… It is hard to find the balance between both of them. With some luck, now that I have admitted this I will have an easier time dealing with it.
In a nutshell, I told Coach that I wanted to be “good” at this sport. What do I mean with this?? I want to be better than average. I have my sights set on becoming as good as Katie, Marit or Ashley.  It will be hard work, but it is definitely my top long term goal.

I am getting all fired up, and can't wait for the fun to begin. The countdown to saturday has started.

The week that was

There has been so much going on this past week.

- I was out of commission for about 4 days.
- Managed to sort of work out 3 days
- My daughter has a case of the “I want to go somewhere mommy”; so we have been out and about everyday after school/work
- My friend from Virginia came to visit for the weekened and it was great to catch up and see her and her family.
- Todd has been working crazy hours and sometimes that makes me mad.
- I had a monster ride on Eleanor on Saturday. It was hard and I almost coughed out a lung.
- I discovered that the casssette on my bike is NOT meant for climbing, so I took the bike to the shop and changed it.
- I got the seat water bottle racks installed. So now I can hydrate properly.
- I discovered my stomach can handle powerbars and Cliff Blocks, and oddly enough I like them both.
- This was supposed to be a rest week, but since I was forced to rest last week, I think it will be hard training instead.
- I am still exhausted and on medication for my ear infection/strep.
- The medicine tastes HORRIBLE and kills my stomach.
- My eating habits have been sucking big time and I am having a hard time getting back on track.
- My body CAN tell when I am not eating healthy.
- One glass of whine will make me open up about personal stuff, especially when I share it with a friend.
- I wish my mom had been with me while I was sick, so she could have given me some TLC (yes, I miss my momma)
- Even though I try to ignore/brush off the people that make me mad.. they still manage to make me mad. I need to find a way to channel that energy towards something else.

So, as you can see this past week has been one full of ralizations, good times and not so good ones too. I am looking forward to this week; spending some time playing with my daughter and working out as hard as I can. Bring it!

On the mend

First of all I want to thank you all for your well wishes.

After a few days of being completely out of commission, I can say that I am finally starting to get better. 

I went to work yesterday, but still did not have the energy I am used to. This morning was different and I actually felt like training. I was not able to do it in the morning though, so I just got done with it. It felt great!

Tomorrow I am heading to the gym for an easy morning run and then on saturday I get to ride Eleanor outside for 2 hours... I am so excited!!!

Last time I rode her was saturday and we had quite some fun. We managed to ride pretty fast too; and that is always nice, don't you think?

I had a great email conversation with Coach today; and each day I am more convinced I chose the right guide for this journey. 

I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. My first tri is in 2 weeks and I can't hardly wait.