She SWIMS. She RIDES. She RUNS. SheROX!

Just heard about this all women sprint that will be held at Boulder Res...sounds like fun! Although I've done many practices at Boulder and some Stroke and and Stride's I've never done an actual tri up there...besides it's gotta be a cool shirt! :) So I added it to my schedule and speaking of which, I kind of decided I had to step away from the race a month due to financial reasons. I still hope to get the tri's in there just going to have to give up some of the 5'ks. And if I don't get to work I won't be doing anything. My exercise has been sadly lacking, but that will be changing! Yes yes it will!

Wishing you all a Very Happy Holidays and all the best in the New year!

Working on 2010 Schedule

So I've been giving 2010 some thought and this is what I've come up with so far. One of my goals for the year was to try and do some kind of "race" every month. I've still got some blanks and I'm sure there will be some changes but this is what I've come up with so far.

December
12-19 Rudolph's Revenge 5K

January
Lafayette Quaker Oatmeal Festival 5k

February
Super Bowl or Valentines Day 5k

March

April

May

June
Bike Across Nebraska
Greely Tri
July
CWW Olympic Rehearsal
7-18 SheRox Sprint
August
8-1 Tri for the Cure
Rattlesnake Olympic

September
Crescent Moon Sprint Tri

October
Denver 1/2 Marathon

November

December

Really need to figure out how I'm going to get some swimming in. I've not been in the pool in...well I don't know how long, but it's been a long time. Thinking after the New Year I may join a swim class or something. That might getting out there anyway.

Feeling pretty good about my weight, seemed to make it though the b-day lunches/dinners and Thanksgiving, the scale went up briefly and then down an extra pound...now if I can just keep this up through the rest of the holidays.

My plan lately has been to eat what I love but eat healthy. Have I mentioned how much I just love oatmeal....I've been having it pretty much every day for a while now. Different "mix ins" and oh my is it so good....this mornings was one of the best.....a little bit of dried pineapple, some coconut , banana, vanilla yogurt...Oh I'm starting to drool just thinking about it! And for dinner I had some fantastic tostadas, nothing special but they tasted so good with some fresh salsa. Can you say food addiction?

100 posts 100 things....

You've all seen this somewhere I'm sure, to celebrate 100 posts I'm going to list 100 things allllll about me! Should be interesting....NOT! LOL!

100. I'm basically a lazy person
99. I'm honestly surprised how much I've found I love cycling.
98. I hope to be able to purchase a road bike next year.
97. I've always been overweight, sometimes more then others.
96. I have two boy children...ok they are not children anymore 15 and 13.
95. I'm divorced and single
94. I love my Boxer puppy..ok he's not really a puppy anymore.
93. I hope to be able to do an Olympic distance tri next year.
92. I work in accounts payable for a heating and A/C distributor.
91. I need to stop wasting so much time on the computer.
90. I was born and raised in Denver
89. I love the color pink
88. I have a large extended family that is crazy and fun.
87. I like to read
85. I'm really not a very neat person, not a total slob but...see #100
84. I love vacations to Mexico
83. I love the beach..any beach
82. I'm thrilled that at the age of 44 I finally learned how to swim with my face in the water!
81. I really enjoyed being part of CWW this past year.
80. I'm a Denver native that doesn't ski.
79. My dad came from a family of 12 kids 6 boys and 6 girls, they had 24 children 12, boys and 12 girls.
78. I like to dance but don't do it often.
77. I love food, any food.
76. I have a real weakness for ice cream.
75. I also have a weakness for Mexican food.
74. I enjoy scrapbooking.
73. Cranberries....oh yum....
72. I am a slow, slow runner, but I never thought I would be a runner at all.
71. I have a bit of a sarcastic sense of humor.
70. I tend to lose my train of thought when I'm talking, because I'm trying to multi task to much. 69. I think I might want to do another 1/2 marathon, but can never imagine doing a full one.
68. I sometimes have a problem with binge eating...see #77,76, 75 and 97
67. I'm very nervous about my oldest son starting to drive!
66. I enjoy spending time with my boys. They are fun...sometimes. :)
65. I really could use a new job.
64. I'm a good employee.
63. I'm kind of addicted to reality tv shows....I know stupid stuff.
62. I have one brother.
61. House, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice
60. I love Colorado
59. I think orthotics are a wonderful thing.
58. I hardly ever get sick
57. I have a hard time making changes in my life (see #100)
56. I loved the Twilight series.
55. I have some very funny internet dating stories.
54. This is way harder then you would think.
53. I'm an ex smoker that still likes to smoke sometimes.
52. To help make ends meet I rent my basement.
51. I just this month got high speed internet after having dial up since my divorce.
50. I don't know why I decided to do this, I'm out of things to say and I'm only 1/2 way there.
49. I'm addicted to reading blogs.
48. I often think I should think nicer thoughts about people.
47. I miss my boys when they are at their Dad's. We have shared custody.
46. I love that my oldest boy is now getting interested in exercising.
45. I hope that they are proud of the things their mom has accomplished.
44. I am getting better about not worrying about what other people think of me and letting it stop me from doing things such as triathlons.
43. I feel I need to live in the moment more.
42. Several years ago I made a list of things (the same number as my age) that I wanted to do during the year...I think I might try it again.
41. If I go more then 2 days with out working out it seems to stretch to a week.
40. I'm also becoming addicted to Facebook.
39. I love fresh cranberries in my oatmeal with yogurt.
38. I'm going to work on learning to swim the Total Immersion way.
37. I really wanted a little girl, but now I'm glad that I have 2 boys. I in fact cried a little when I found out the 2nd was a boy.
36. I've recently become addicted to food blogs in addition to the triathlon blogs....
35. I want to be a person who eat's only healthy food.
34. I really want to do more hiking and maybe take up a little bit of trail running.
33. I really wish I had a workout partner!
32. I've always wanted to be the person that can really knows themselves, but I don't want to do the work.
31. I sometimes worry that I'm an awful mom, but hope that my kids don't think so or remember me that way.
30. I love to people watch.
29. My desk is a disaster, complete and utter disaster.
28. I love, love, love oatmeal for breakfast, and with cranberries mixed in...oh yummy again.
27. It snowed last night....I don't really like the snow that much, how can I love Colorado?
26. I'm obviously one mixed up person. :)
25. I love having my Garmin for running/biking.
24. I do better when I have a focus and a list or written plan for getting me where I want to go.
23. I've become amazingly close to some people that I only know online. Some fabulous ladies that are a great support for me in my life and weight loss journeys.
22. I have to admit to enjoying doing things just to be able to say "I've done that!"
21. My dad wants me to do a Fourteener this year. Part of me wants to...see #22
20. A friend wants me to do bike across Nebraska. A big part of me wants to...see # 22 and 99
19. I am great at rationalizing things and talking myself into something.
18. I'm always cold.
17. I hope that I can age as well as my grandmother
16. Recently I seem to be afraid...just not sure of what exactly.
15. I'm pretty boring. :)
14. Did I mention that this is really difficult?
13. I have some really great friends and they seem to like me even though I don't feel like I am always a "really great" friend.
12. I seem to like lists these days.
11. I'm working on my list of races for this next year.
10. Lack of personal responsibility drives me nuts...see video post below.
9. Did I mention that I really don't like house cleaning?
8. I need to get this done.
7. I'm amazed how self absorbed I must be to think people really care about all these things. LOL!
6. It took me 40 some years to go to a chiropractor, but now I really love it!
5. I need new tires and the motor mounts (!?) on my car need to be replaces...money always money!
4. I can't remember what I've said and what I haven't sometimes. (including on this list!)
3. I look forward to reading this list down the road and seeing how I've changed.
2. I think that doing that very first triathlon mad me a different, better person.
1. I'm done!

I love the fact that my 100th post coincides with Thanksgiving and I can tell you all how thankful I am for you. I appreciate everyone who reads my blog. I am so very thankful for my family. It's been a really rough year for so many people that I know and although I still do my fair share of complaining, I do realize how truly lucky I am to have my home my job and the health of my whole family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Now I'm off to run a few miles in an attempt to do some damage control!

45 Goals for 45 years

I did this a couple of years and made a list of things that I wanted to do over the year. I do this on my birthday and make as many goals as I am years old. The last time I did this I didn't achieve all of my goals, but I do feel like I did many things that I would not have done otherwise. So I think it's time to do it again! Some of these may have been on my last list, and may be on my next one too, but it gives me some things to work toward!

1. Volunteer for something, anything.

2. Olympic distance Tri

3. Get rid of some of this weight, I would be happy to see 175 (still heavy but a feel good weight for me.)

4. Read at least 4 "self help" books, about any subject. Money, fitness, weight loss.....

5. Go to a spinning class.

6. Spend more time with friends, keep in better contact.

7. Go on a date. :)

8. Work on becoming a positive person again. Try to get rid of the negative.

9. Hiking-do it this summer!

10. Get a new bike.

11. Do bike across Nebraska if Jen does.

12. Denver 1/2 marathon

13. Do some kind of "race" every month of the year.

14. Drag the boys out and do something more often

15. Have Mom and Dad over for dinner more.

16. Cook more this year, try some new recipes.

17. Increase my mileage in all sports, running, biking and swiming.

18. Scrapbook 5 times this year
19. Seriously think and look for new job as economy gets better.

20. Pay down my credit cards-alot! All though I don't have much debt, it's more then I'm comfortable with.

21. D0 not use credit cards unless it's an emergency! That new bike is not an emergency. :(

22. Do something with this hair! Certainly a cut and maybe a color.

23. Get out! Stop sitting at home so much.

24. Cut out "fake" sugar

25. Be better about cards this year! Send some b-day cards to friends and *gasp* maybe some Christmas cards!

26. Become more organized as far as my paperwork goes.

27. Clean out closet.

28. Paint the kitchen.

29. Tear out that darn deck out front that I have hated for 18 years!

30. Try a new exercise class.

31. Go camping this year at least once.

32. Take the boys somewhere in Colorado that we haven't been.

33. Clean out china hutch.
34. Paint the boys rooms.

35. Take a cooking class.

36. Plan a girls night out.

37. Run faster (35 minute 5k? What can I say...I'm really slow now. :) )

38. Do a Stroke and Stride this summe
39. Do an organized Bike ride (beside or including BRAN)

40. Swimming...get in that pool!

41. Get new glasses!

42. Be a nicer person....I know you can do it Julie!

43. Go to a museum.

44. Take more pictures this year

45.....Be happy

Happy birthday to me. :)

Truer words are rarely spoken!

Feeling good!

I'm starting to feel much much better about things. Not working out as hard as preseason/season training, but have certainly been getting in some decent workouts. It helps that my oldest son keeps dragging me to the rec center since he has become interested in working out. Yea!!! My running while still very slow and not to many miles feels strong and even some what easy.

I finally got to watch Spirit of the Marathon too! I've been wanting to see it since it came out and I finally happened upon it on line. It was so inspirational! It almost made me want to try for a full marathon...almost. :) It did make me want to do another 1/2. I really do think I will plan for the Denver 1/2 Marathon next year. It will be a Rock and Roll series this year too which makes the idea even more appealing

I've become addicted to the food blogs as well as the tri blogs...scary really, but it has made me realize that I really need to get back to making good food to eat. I was in so much of a rut in what I ate that I felt deprived and was eating all kinds of junk, then of course came the weight gain. I've manage to lose about 6 pounds over the last few weeks, while that's not a lot it is certainly a step in the right direction. And the good news is I don't feel like I'm on a diet. Because of that I had some fantastic food this weekend. Nothing special, nothing even that hard to make, but different things then I've been eating and sooooo goood. I had some stuffed acorn squash, some fantastic oatmeal (this mornings was like eating dessert and healthy too!) Green chili, a yummy tortilla pizza and a gorgeous salad with pear, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette....Oh man it was good...must go and find some more things to make!

Running and Recipe

Although my running mileage the last few months has been pathetic, this morning I had a run that reminded me just why I used to enjoy running. The weather was perfect, perfect I say! About 50 degrees the sun was shinning and it was a beautiful fall day. I felt good and hope that there will be plenty more perfect Colorado days to run in the near future! Hoping to go for a ride tomorrow as it's suppose to be nice then too.

And now for the recipe...I said that I loved cranberries and the other day I decided to combine them with butternut squash and apple...can you say killer!!!! I'm drooling just thinking about it!



1 large butternut squash
4 granny smith apples (pealed/cored chopped) I only used 1 1/2 and I had on hand a Honeycrisp (which I love by the way)
1/2 c. sugar (I used splenda)
2 c cranberries
1/2 c. butter ( didn't use that much)

Cut squash in 1/2 and cook at 350 deg. for about an hour. (mine ended up a little over cooked, or at least I think i would have liked it a little firmer) Cut in chunks.

Combine apple and 1/4c. sugar over medium heat, cook until juices evaporate. About 12 minutes.

Combine cranberries and 1/4 c sugar cook until juices evaporate about 4 minutes. (I just combined the apples and cranberries and cooked them)

Combine in 12 x 9 pan and pour butter over it. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Yummy!!!!

One week off

No it wasn't intentional. I just didn't get anything done. Between 1 1/2 feet of snow this week and just being plain lazy the only day I worked out was today. It was a good day though. My oldest son went with me to the rec center and we both did about 30 minutes on the spin bike followed up by an easy 2 mile run and some strength training. I can already feel the upper body strength training. I'm so weak. I haven't swam in like 2 weeks and really need to get my self to the pool on a regular basis.

Things have been uneventful. Doesn't look like Julie is getting what she wanted but she sure appreciates all good wishes that I would. Sometimes you just have to figure that if it was meant to be it will.

I'm sure I've said it before but....November is going to be a better month workout and food wise!

Cranberries are back!!!

I can not tell you how much I love cranberries! They have become a real favorite in the last few years and I get so excited the first time I see them in the stores for the year. I stock up knowing that they will soon be gone for another season. It is beyond me why they don't sell them frozen! They freeze fantastically. This morning I am having my first bowl of oatmeal with cranberries, yogurt and walnuts in it...oh my god...it's heaven....

Woke up to a call at 5:30 saying that schools were closed due to snow....I look out side...hmmm there isn't any out there to speak of....lets see if the weathermen get it right and we end up with a bunch, right now I'm not sure it's even snowing....it's going to be a long ass winter at this rate.

Oh and did anyone watch Biggest Loser last night? I am in awe of Abby. She is an amazing and inspirational woman. I loved her speech at the end. You can choose to change. You can choose differently.

2010? What will it be

So I've been looking at my totals for the year and comparing them to last year...they are just not looking so good. I'm not surprised though. Last year (2008) was just a really good year for me. I trained really hard for my first tri, because well I had no idea that I could actually do it. This year I knew I could I do it and thus just really didn't try that hard. Plus I just didn't do the riding with friends this year that I did last year. My swim totals are more which is great, that would be because of the swimming I did with the team. So the question I'm facing here is what to do for the next year. In the back of my mind is still the Bike Across Nebraska. I think that could be a fantastic experience. I know I will do some sprint tri's and I still would like to accomplish an oly. I'm fairly certain that is the longest distance I will do....and then there is the 1/2 marathon...part of me would like to give that another try. 2007 I started running and did my first race, 2008 my first tri and 2009 my first 1/2 marathon....2010?
Run
2009 309.5 Mi
2008 500.1 Mi
2007 83.1 Mi
Bike
2009 470.9 Mi
2008 770.5 Mi
Swim
2009 30.3 Mi
2008 20.9 Mi

Recovery

I don't know if any of you have ever read PostSecret http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ But this kind of hit home today.

Time for a change

Just though I would change things up a little around here. Still possibly under construction. Not sure That I'm completely happy with what I've got. I also think as I approach my 100th post that I will change the "attitude" of my blog a little. I've mostly blogged about exercise but think I will start to bring a little more of life into it. My struggles with weight loss, being single (which I've been doing nothing to change) and other adventures in my life. We will see how it goes. Right now I'm hoping for a very exciting change which I'm reluctant to say anything about as I don't want to put a curse on myself, but feel free to send any good mojo feelings that "Julie will get what she wishes for". And now I really must get my butt up and exercise! The ever changing weather here in Denver is presenting us with a fantabulous weekend! While the highs last weekend were in the 20's this week.....HIGH 70'S AND MAYBE EVEN 80! I love Colorado!

Off season? Lazy?

I just had a call from a Charity asking me to donate some of my clothes to the starving people throughout the world. Do you know what I told them??

Absolutely not!!



Anybody who fits into my clothes isn't starving!


Pretty much says it all about my eating and training these days...but it's been a good week and I'm hoping I've finally pulled my head out for good.

Interesting....

I was just looking at my stats from the tri again and I found it interesting that apparently the swim is my strongest of the three disciplines....that's just crazy. I can't swim! I didn't even learn to swim with my face in the water until this year, (thank you CWW!) but the stat's seem to say it all

Swim finished 335 out of 539
Bike finished 437 out of 539
Run finished 518 out of 539

Well maybe I can swim!

And certainly is clear where I need work too!

Crescent Moon Photos

One of the really great people that I met with CWW Kelly and I getting ready to head out to the water and warm up.



This is Jen that I met on the run together we were able to have fun on those 3 miles and finish with big smiles!

This is me with my "Sissy" I really do like her I feel bad sometimes that I want to trade up, but I can still keep her around.

And although I can't post the professional race photos (Some I can figure out, these I can't and you can't pull them up by bib number either here is a link if you would like to see my favorite http://www.skipix.com/skipixv2/viewlargeimage.php?lang=en&photosetid=3551&filename=DSC_1903.jpg ) on all the pictures I have a big smile on my face. Just goes to prove that I had a good time the whole darn race!

Crescent Moon Triathlon

Make yourself comfy or skip trough this...got a little long!

I have to say I had a fabulous time!!! Things went really pretty good today and I think that I may have beaten my time even though the bike was a mile longer. But I'm awaiting an official time. Up at 4:45 to get ready and eat some oatmeal. Head out by about 5:30 and get to the race shortly after 6. Got my packet and headed back to get my bike out of the car and head down to the lake. I was about 1/3 of the way down when the lady in front of me said something about helmet...Oh crap I left mine in the car!....turn around and head back to the car. Now with helmet I head back down to transition....transition was kind of crazy. It was long and narrow. They had the folding...what do you call them...bike things and there were maybe 4 of them which would hold 2 bikes on each side, so that would be about 16 bikes in each row, so as you can imagine to get approximately 750 bike in it would have to be very long. And there really wasn't that much room on the side that would be used for the bike out/in and run out/in. I ended up in a spot down by the bike entrance, which would be opposite the run in/out as well as the swim. But it seemed to work pretty darn good. By this time I was feeling much better about things and my lack of decent bike. I had seen many other non-road/tri bikes so I didn't feel like a complete fool anymore. Got things set up and chatted with some of the people around me. (I'm in awe of the girl next to me she was doing the tri today and then competing in the Boulder 1/2 marathon tomorrow! )

As I headed to the swim I found Kelly a girl from CWW that I know and we chatted about everything had a couple of Gu Chomps with some water, and as it got closer to our waves went down to get in the water. She started 2 waves (10 minutes) ahead of me. I was in the last wave (the old and fat women :) ) Which is ok since I'm both. Really glad we got in the water it helped to get used to it. It was a beach start which was new to me. Run to the water and get started. My swim went ok. I did a really lousy job of siteing and swam really wide around two of the buoys. But felt pretty good when I passed some people from not only the wave in front of me but the wave before that also! I believe my time was around 18 minutes. On a funny note I never got hit or kicked to speak of until almost the very end. Not sure where she came from but she swam over me, and then some how got behind me again and swam over me again. LOL! Then I just got the heck out of her way. Out of the water way up to transition and run down that long line of empty bike racks and try not to run into the people coming back from the bike already!

The bike was pretty good although the course was not at all what I thought it was going to be and had more small hills then I thought it would. My bike computer stopped working (I'm sure it just got out of line) at the very start of the bike so I have no idea how fast I was going or what my average. I had decided to do the race without worrying about using my Garmin. But I felt like it was pretty good. Passed a few people and didn't get passed much, now granted there were not that many people behind me to pass, however there did seem to be more then I thought.

Finished up the bike and on to the run. Had to hit the port-a-potty which was actually outside of transition so will be added on to my run time. I met up with a girl at the very beginning of the run and we started chatting. We really helped motivate each other a ton. We would walk and then pick a spot to run to and head off. And all the way through the 3 miles. It was a fairly hilly run, not big hills, but hills none the less. But with many thanks to Jen I think we were able to pass a few people and get through the run faster then I might have on my own. (still not breaking any records here!) And we both crossed the finish line with smiles on our faces! ( I hope the picture turns out decent!) As soon as I finished I heard my name and there was my Mom! I was so glad to see her. It means alot that they take the time and make the effort to come out and support me!

And now for the stats and can I just say that I am thrilled with them!!!!! Can you say PR baby?!

My swim which I am amazed at!!! was 17.07 (I wonder if it was a short course?)
T1 3.14
bike 43.50 (15.7 MPH!!!! Not bad for girly hybrid!)
T2 2.42
Run (which includes potty break) 43.14 (13.57pace)
total time 1:50:05

That is 4 minutes faster then the Tri for the Cure this year and the bike was about a mile longer.

Now that put me overall 480 of 539
women 214 out of 267
and Athena 10 out of 19

Can you tell I'm pretty happy!

Pictures to come later!

Oh my......

Mario Lopez from the Nautica Malibu Triathlon this past weekend.

Is it possible...

to have 3 good workouts in a row? Doesn't seem so. Had a pretty nice 4 mile run on Saturday, nothing special but the longest run I've done in some time. Yesterday I did my longest ever bike ride of 52 miles. It was fantastic! Well except for the part where the rat ran across the path...ewwww!!!...grossed me right out! And then there were the many homeless people including the one that was sleeping next to the path covered up by cardboard. I took a path that goes from one end up town to the other including right through the heart of downtown Denver. I'm hoping to do the ride to the very end which I believe is Chatfield I think that would be over 60 maybe even closer to 70. I kept wanting to go father because I was enjoying it so much but I had to keep reminding myself that I still had to turn around and go all the way back. And a good thing I turned around when I did, the last 10 miles my quads were calling me some pretty nasty names. I was asking myself...what are you gonna do call your Mommy to come get you? Of course the last 7ish miles are the wost. It's an out and back route and the first and final 7ish from my house just are not that nice. And there is little shade for much of it, so it's pretty hot at the end of the ride. Any way I had a great time. I do wish I had someone to ride with though. So then on to today and an open water swim. Not so good. Didn't feel good at all, could never get my breathing right, it was some what rough out there and I just felt tired. The water was around 65 and felt really cold getting in, of course it was 85ish out side. I did 4 loops around which I think is around 1200 yards. Anyway the rotten swim is leaving me a little nervous about the tri coming up in 2 weeks. I don't think I will get another chance to swim open water so I hope it goes better!

So on another note and another challenge....a friend has mentioned doing bike across Nebraska next year....It actually sounds like fun....did I say that? 400+ miles in a week, camping out across the state...would have to be easier then doing Ride the Rockies! While I'm sure Nebraska isn't as flat as it seems in a car at least there are no mountain passes.

New Wetsuit!

Tried out my new wetsuit this weekend. I really liked it. It might be a little big, but felt great. Should be fine unless I lose a bunch of weight, and since I've been trying to do that (unsuccessfully) for a long time, I don't think it will be a problem. It was easy to get on and the arm and neck holes felt really good not restricting at all. Over the chest either. I know one of the wetsuits that I tried, I just had a really hard time breathing, but this one was not a problem at all. And based on my estimated distance and time I seemed to be faster too. Always a plus! Had a really nice 30 mile ride this weekend too. It was mostly flat and very slow. (I was riding with a friend who hasn't been riding much) Very enjoyable. I miss having riding partners!

Yikes!

Ok, ok....so I haven't posted much...hate to say it but it's mostly because I haven't done much...Swam once this week...not good...I need to run, my run need so much work. However I just took a look at the upcoming tri website and was surprised to see that I've been bumped up to the 45-49 age group...I should have realized it goes by your age on Dec. 31, 2009...and yes I will be 45. Must get to work.... am riding tomorrow a longer ride of around 30ish miles I think. Will probably be pretty easy as I'll be riding with a friend. Hoping to run on Sunday morning and then swim, hopefully a trip to Boulder Rez to try out the new wet suit!

Yea!!!!

My new wetsuit is here! I'm hoping to get out to the reservoir this weekend and try it out.

Riding high!

Saw this guy out riding when I was out tonight. Pics not great I snapped it with my cell. Looks like a long way down! I had a really good ride this evening. 17 miles with a couple and I do mean 2 hill repeats..oh my god they killed me! My lungs were burning something firce when I finished. I really need to work on hills. My plan is to work in at least a couple extra hills on every ride. Felt really good to be out there tonight. I can't beleive that soon it will be dark by the time I get home from work.

So today didn't turn out at all like I thought it would.....

.....alarm went off at 4:30 the first thought in my head was, I really don't want to do this. I don't want to get up, I don't want to drive out to Aurora Res. But up I got, down to eat some oatmeal so tummy would have time to take care of it before the swim. A little coffee dressed, bike loaded and off I go. Not sure where I'm going since I've never driven out to this reservoir and it is not in my neck of the woods. So I get pretty close and I'm suppose to make this turn that I just can't find, well of course you can't silly it's not marked! (hate when streets aren't marked!) Finally figure it out but starting to worry about being rushed once I get there. Must be out of transition a little before 7 and had hoped to have plenty of time but it's now approaching 6:30. Finally find the reservoir there is no one in the guard stand so I go on through looking for the sign on where to park...nothing...looking for something that looks like a transition area....nothing...looking for a bunch of women...again nothing. Huh? Look at the water, very choppy, but they wouldn't cancel would they? Call the hotline...goes through the schedule..."and if your doing the rehearsal on Saturday" SATURDAY!!!???? What was I thinking! So I turn around and spend almost another hour driving home.....Just how you want to spend the hours between 4:30 and 7:30 on Sunday morning huh? LOL! But after seeing some of the hills and that choppy water I was darn glad not to be doing anything out there. After I got home I went ahead and hoped on my bike and went for about a 15 mile ride. Not working to hard but it was a pretty good ride. Came home grabbed the dog and went for a short run, passed the 1 mile mark doing pretty good. Run along some more look down and the Garmin shows .90...WTF!?! I'm not running backwards! It then proceeded or seemed to move forward...I sure hope it's not dieing! I can't afford a new one and can't imagine living with out one! Any way finished my run and mapped out on Running Ahead just a short 1.6 miles, but a good brick. Just becuase it wasn't what I planned it was still good..with the exception of the Garmin thing!

Now off to make a plans for the week.

I did it!

September 19th!

I am woman hear me roar!

Not me, but I wish!

It feels good to do things you don't think you can. Being a single woman I am faced with things on a regular basis. Today's challenge ....changing a dead bolt that decided to stop working. Feels so good to be able to do these things that once upon a time I would not even have tried.

So today I've been giving some thought to my results of yesterday. Funny I had, apparently told my son that I just wanted to beat last years time, even if it was by only 3 minutes. Which I did. However you know of course that I am somewhat disappointed in myself. With the improvements in my swim and transitions I should have been able to do better. My bike was not that much slower, (which I'm a little bummed about as I thought maybe I was a little stronger) and of course my run...that is the real problem in this equation. Why could I not seem to push myself to run more. As I said I walked way more then I ran and I don't really know why. I just couldn't seem to push myself to a little pain...and I do mean a little because really I felt pretty good. So how do I get past this and how do I become a faster runner? That is the question I'm dealing with. I don't need to break a 30 minute 5k but I would like to be a lot closer to it. How do I get myself to just deal with the "pain" it will cause to run faster? Things to ponder.

And speaking of pain...I seem to somehow have acquired some sore shins. Now I've had some injuries in my 2 years of "running" however I've never had any shin issues. I tend to run a fair amount of hills and I've never had a problem, so I'm not sure if it was possibly a result of running of the boat dock in bare feet to transition, or running up the damn hill to the dam road. Either way I'm not very happy about it.

Last but not least...I'm thinking about doing one more tri in September. I was considering a 1/2 marathon, but really tri's are what I like so why not spend the money doing what I really like. It's a small one only 750 people. It would be my first co-ed tri, although I did do the Stroke and Strides last year that were men and women. I'm a little intimidated to take out my girly hybrid bike, but at some point you just gotta say "what the heck" Or maybe I just need to say

I am woman hear me roar!

Tri for the Cure 2009

TRI FOR THE CURE 2009

SPRINT TRIATHLON

SWIM 750 meters (1/2 mile)

BIKE 18.3k (11.4 miles)

RUN 5k (3.1 miles)

You might want to make sure your comfy....this is kind of long! And I want to tell you guys all thanks again for all of your support. You are the best!

Done! All went well I'm not sure of my exact times as I don't think I did my watch right. I didn't want to use my garmin, so just used my waterproof watch/lap counter. I think it was around 1:54. Which would be about a 3 minute improvement over last years, not much but I'll take it! Woke up at 3:45 although my alarm wasn't set to go off until 4:15. Had a little oatmeal with yogurt mixed in a cup or 2 of coffee and off I went. I was pretty nervous this morning on my way there, but once I got into transition things were all good.

Me in transition before the race. Behind me you can see the run start and the dam road

Just a general shot of the transition area, one small part of it. You can see it on both sides of the road.

Transition is just amazing! I forgot how big it is! When you are talking 3000 bikes and women it is just incredible! It's hard to tell from these pics but trust me there are a lot! Which reminds me...I biked my rack in the wrong place...:) 6 instead of 9 ...maybe I'm a little dyslexic or something. But when I realized it I decided not to move it at that point. Our rack was not really all that crowded so I don't think it really mattered. So on to the swim, met a really nice woman in the corral while waiting to swim. We chatted for quite a bit and that made the time go really fast, before I knew it was our turn and in the water we went! Water felt pretty good, a little initial shock but once you were in it was fine. It was about start time that I realized I was in about the middle of the group instead of the back were I usually line up but to late to do anything at that point. The horn sounds and we're off! I had a really hard time finding my rhythm. I think I was at the first turn before things started feeling better. I was feeling pretty good though, behind me were a bunch of blue caps (my wave) and I was starting to catch the slowest from the wave in front of me. Although about this time the fastest from the wave behind us were also passing. I did run into quite a few people this time but no major problems. Before I know it I'm getting out of the water, I think my time for the swim was around 19 minutes, that would be an improvement over last years 22 minutes. I made an effort to run up the boat ramp thru transition ( I really wanted to speed up my transitions times which were crazy long last year, however as I said transition is crazy huge!) Felt like I did pretty good got to my bike shoes on, shirt on take a drink and head out, although I did get stuck behind a girl who was just kind of moseying along, I couldn't pass her because it was to narrow. The bike starts off on a small uphill which was not a problem, but it always seems like the first 5 miles of a bike ride is all about warm up. This ride is pretty flat although I think it's a bit uphill and we were going in to a headwind. There is one pretty rough hill just passed the 1/2 way point. Passed a lot of people and got passed by plenty too. It's amazing because you see every kind of bike you can imagine out there. Even saw one with a basket on front! You also see all size and age women it really is incredible not to mention inspiring to see some of them out there! So anyway made it up the hill and from there it was easier, slightly down hill an flat. At this point I saw one lady walking her bike and it looked like her handle bars had fallen way forward or something..yikes not sure what that was all about! Getting off the bike again could tell that I have not done my brick work like I should legs were a little wobbly, but I have a long way to the other side of transition to get it together. Had to stop for a pit stop in the bathroom, and as one girl put it those porta potties rocked...I mean literally rocked! The were not very stable at all and some of them just king of threw you around inside. LOL! Business taken care of and it was off to run....well walk....I did a lot of walking I'm afraid to say. It's not only my bricks that didn't get worked on this last month. :( The start of the run, about 3/4 of the first mile is all up hill. You have to run up from the boat ramp to the dam road. and then out about a mileish or so on the dam before you turn around and head back. And I got to tell you it is so hot up there on top. It's all black top surrounded by rocks (you know the dam) and there was no breeze at all. I was getting the chills on and off (something that happened last year too, think I may need to get more electrolytes) on the plus side the end of the race is downhill. One thing that I don't much like is you can't see the finish line until you are on it. You run down the hill and then have to round a corner and then it's right after that. It would be nice to be able to see the finish line before you hit it. I believe I finished with a smile on my face and could not resist raising my arms and doing a little cheer. I got my finisher metal grabbed a water and headed over to the CWW tent to see who was there. Met up with a girl I've become somewhat friendly with ( she had passed me on the hill in the run) We grabbed a beer and a bagel and chatted with the coach a little. Yoli is such a great coach, she is so full of enthusiasm. At that point I headed back over to transition. I wanted to try and see my friend come in from the bike (they had started about an hour later then me) My timing was almost perfect I had only been standing there a few minutes when the headed in off the bike. I snapped some pics of them and saw them off on the run. Then I headed up to a portion of the run where I could cheer for them as the came in (after getting another beer of course) Got to cheer for a bunch of people which is fun, it really makes a difference to have people cheering. Snapped a few more pics of my friends as they came down the hill and went to the finish line to say hello to their families. I'm really proud of these two for doing it.

My friends and I after they finished. Way to girls!

They were the two that were going to do it last year and then both had to drop out the week before. Neither has been able to train much, and one of them had a baby about 3-4 months ago, and was on complete bed rest for the last 3 months of her pregnancy...way to go girls! Wow that's quite a long race report, and I'm sure that I left something out. I have to say though that this is such a well run race, I can't believe the job they do considering the amount of people and all the logistics of a triathlon.



Not sure how well you can see this but this is a line of people leaving, now there are still alot of people racing too and that line stays that way for a long time. In fact this was when my friends were running and it was not much smaller when I left an hour later.

Feeling pretty good all in all, iced the knees a little and I can feel some stiffness, but all in all just a walk in the park...along with a bike ride and a swim.

Official time with last years time in red

OVERALL RANK 1588 OUT OF 2890
CLASS RANK 192 OUT OF 286
SWIM TIME 00:20:11 (22:14) RANK1152
T1 00:05:00 (7:11)
BIKE TIME 00:43:43 (43:06) RANK 1337 SPEED 15.6
T2 00:04:55 (5:25)
RUN/WALK TIME 00:40:32 (39:19) RANK 2155 PACE 00:13:04
TOTAL TIME 01:54:23 (LAST YEAR 1:57:17)

Getting closer!

Looks like there will be about 3500 women I will be in wave 9 this year with a start time of about 7:30. I think that will be much better then last years "buddy wave" . Not near as many people on the course yet. On the other hand...more to pass me! LOL! And speaking of funnies here's one that I got a chuckle out of.

10 days until my tri...

and what am I doing? Well one would think I would be getting in some killer last workouts before a little taper...instead I started taper early...no wait taper would imply that I was doing something....lets see so far this week, and it's Thursday, I've swam....once. No no wait...I've watched a lot of the Tour does that count? What do you think I should do during my taper... I better get a few workouts in in the next couple of days.

Dangerous conditions...

Cycling, we all know it can be dangerous, but one would think that bike paths would be safer, after this weekends ride and all the obstacles I encountered I'm thinking that the roads are safer. Let's just say the kids, the dogs and the other bike riders! I had run ins with each of them on almost 30 mile ride Sunday. There are definitely plus's and minus's to both riding the bike path versus riding the roads. I can't get over how much I enjoy riding. I never knew that I would enjoy spending hours on the bike and look forward to the day I will be be able to upgrade to a road bike. I'm hoping to at some time this summer do at least a 50 mile ride.

I debated Saturday night and Sunday morning about what I was going to do. I wanted to go do an open water swim with the team, I could have done (tired) a 1 mile open water swim (which I've never done and not sure that I can ) or just do some swimming inside the lanes, and then go for a ride up there. But I just couldn't get myself motivated to make the 30 minute drive to Boulder as well as the money to do the swim and get into the reservoir. So I just swam at the pool after my bike ride.
1 x 300 warm up
1 x 300 6.42
1 x 400 9.18
1 x 500 11.18
1 x 100 cooldown
I started out not feeling so good, but by the time I was 1/2 way through things were feeling really good.

Also got in an almost 5 mile run. My running partner. My dog Duke gave up at 4.88. After dragging him nearly the last mile at 4.88 he laid down and was not getting up again. So I decided we would call it quits then.

So my totals for the week
Swim 1600 yrds
Bike 28.9
Run 11.6
A little short of what I was trying for but not to bad.

I can't believe the Tri for the Cure is in just 2 weeks. I'm kind of bummed because then that will be it. I'm done. I don't want to be done for the year. I wish I could do another, but I guess I will look to a Duathlon I'm thinking of as well as another 1/2 marathon. I'm thinking about doing an Olympic rehearsal with the group. No pressure I can just do part if I want. But I really want to try a mile open water swim. I don't think the bike will be a problem if I can get through the swim, but I'm not sure about the 10k after the swim and bike. But you never know unless you tri right? And I would really like to do an Olympic next year. I had thought I would this year, but just don't feel I'm there yet.

Wow sorry for the long post, I guess I have a lot on my mind this evening.

So...

asks the doctor... do you exercise on a regular basis?....Why yes I do....oh that explains the slow heart rate...

Can you say "oh yea!!!!" Made me feel really good!

Weekend workouts continued....

Wow! How about that TdF!!!! They are A-f-ing-mazing!!! I can not believe the way those guys climb those "hills"!!


As usual good weekend of training, not so good weekend of food. Why oh why do I eat so much?


Friday night I swam 2 sets of 30 laps with about minute break in between. All freestyle...can we have a pat on the back ? So a total of 1500 yards








Saturday a nice easy 27 mile ride average pace of 14 but with lots of breaks including lunch. The girl I road with hadn't been on her bike much this year and was struggling some. Made me feel pretty good that I was not only keeping up but surpassing her. She has this cute little body and a great bike and is in good shape. Last year I struggled some to keep up with her.

Today a 4 mile run. 13.10 average pace. Not real great legs a little sore after yesterday and because I didn't want to stop watching the TdF I got out of the house later then I should have. I hadn't eaten just coffee and it was just over 70 degrees...hot...the dog was done at 3.5 he laid down rolled around and did not want to get up. Had to almost drag him the last .5

So as far as my weekly totals I fall short on the running of but the swimming and biking are good. Must get up this week more. I could still make the monthly totals even if I'm short this week. I can't believe the TRi for the Cure is in like 3 weeks! There are so many races I want to do and so little money to do them with! But I'm looking to see if I can afford a few other things in the upcoming months. Although probably not another tri, just rehearsals for that. I'm looking at at a couple 5k/10k's a 50 mile bike ride, a duathlon and maybe another 1/2 marathon. Will have to make some decisions soon.

Weekend workouts

Weekend started Friday with a nice ride with a couple of friends. We did the Neva loop that I've been doing in the rehearsals. These are the girls that had originally signed up to do the Tri for the Cure last year with me, trained with me and then both ended up having to drop out due to health issues the week before. S had a baby a few months ago and was on bed rest for 3 months and modified bed rest for a couple before that. And J joined CWW with me but after a few weeks of swimming lessons life got in the way and she hasn't been training much. So for both of them this was a pretty long ride. We took it pretty easy and it was just a nice ride. Rained just a little at the beginning but soon the sun came out and it turned in to perfect riding weather. We headed back to the reservoir and did a little swimming. We must have had the time mixed up for the training session as know one was there till about the time we were quitting. I really only did about 3 loops inside the ropes which I believe is around 200 yards. But it felt really good to just get some open water practice.

Yesterday I did a very short 2 mile run. Followed by a few short strides that almost killed me. It has been so humid here. We have had a ton of rain recently and humidity is something us Denverites just aren't used to. I was dripping and my heart rate just sky rocketed during the strides.

Today a very nice longish bike ride. And just to prove that we have had a lot of rain....

This one of the underpass's that I had to detour around because it was flooded. Only a couple were actually closed but quite a few others were pretty muddy/sandy. It was a really nice but cool ride. Got started a little before 8 and it was only about 60. I don't believe it really warmed up much at all. In fact I thought it would rain near the end but never did. Ended up being right around 27 miles in right at 2 hours. So I average 13.1 miles an hour which considering it was train and I was not pushing it I was very happy. The trails are nice, but there are lots of sharp curves and other obstacles. Felt really nice though, legs were just a little sore after. Had thought about throwing in some swimming too, but decided that being lazy with the kids just sounded like a much better idea. :)

Kind of pathetic

I was looking at my monthly totals and thinking I'm really not working that hard this year. So of course I decided to do the comparison to last year...and yep you guessed it...not working as hard.

June 2008
swim 6600 yards
bike 157 miles
run 38.07 miles

June 2009
swim 8550 yards
bike 117 miles
run 23.9 miles...yea like I said pathetic

So I'm making it a goal to do better in July. I want to make sure that my totals this month are higher then my totals for July last year so hear is the break down

July 2008
swim 8389
run 50.51
bike 149

Now to come up with a plan I figure if I
swim 2100 yards
run 12.5 miles
bike 37 miles
a week I can surpass last year. In so doing I will hopefully be more prepared and able to meet my goal of a PR at Tri for the Cure which is August 2nd.

Let the (more) serious training begin!

Sprint Rehearsal #2

I was very nervous for some reason about this rehearsal. I'm not sure of the reason. I was a little nervous about the swim I was doing it with out a wetsuit and I was scared the water would be cold. I spent yesterday at the pool with my youngest son and swam a few laps, just didn't feel good at all. Couldn't get the breathing down, so these things combined to make me wonder just how this rehearsal would go.

Up at the normal time of 4:45 to get to the lake by 6:15ish. My wave started at 7:25. This was a combined Olympic and Sprint. The Olympic people started first. The water was as calm as could be. I was still worried about what it would feel like. The temps had been around 68-70 degrees. I got in and waded up to my knees. This isn't bad, I thought, waded up to my waist, still not to bad, and finally took the plunge...this is actually pretty refreshing! I was glad to have that worry over. Pretty soon off we went, we did it opposite of what we have done, so it was a little different. And we were of course swimming into the sun. The first buoy was almost impossible to see for awhile. I just followed the crowd. It seemed like I was keeping up pretty well, I even managed to pass a few people even at the end (not sure if they were Olympic or sprint though) . I was surprised that may time was 24 minutes I thought it was faster, but I felt good. Transition I think was about 5 minutes it was a long way up from the lake to transition. I would say that way over 1/2 of the sprint bikes were still in transition. Got off on my bike pretty quickly. Bike was pretty hard to start. In the first mile you have a hill that is pretty hard on those unwamed up leg muscles. I was working hard to try to stay in double digits the whole time, which must have paid off as my time was 7 minutes faster (1:08 for 17 miles 15.22 mph) I can't say that many people passed me either, not bad on a hybrid. It was a good ride, even with all the road kill. (And you know something else I've noticed since biking and running has entered my life...a lot of people throw up on the road.) Finished the bike feeling pretty good, although my feet were a little numb. Didn't get a T2 time, but was fairly fast although I did have to make a potty stop. Run was a pretty standard 39:29, a fair amount of walking. I really need to work on forcing myself to run. Had a very good time and I always have such a feeling of accomplishment when I look at my watch and its like wow all that and it's only 10:00. :) However it was downhill from there as I ended up laying around for a couple of hours after. Legs are feeling a little sore, but not to bad.

Here's to a good week of training this week!

Hill Practice...

something I really need to work on. This is just a smallish hill by my house from start to finish it is 1/2 mile long. I'm planning to do some hill repeats on this for awhile and then try to move to something a little longer/steeper. This one climbs about 92ft in the 1/2 mile and I tell you my heart is pumping when I get to the top! I did it 2 times this morning, which probably is 2 more then I should have considering I'm doing another rehearsal tri tomorrow. But this week has been a total bust as far as training goes. I also just realized that the tri I signed up for is in 5 weeks. I was looking at my training log from last year and I was working much harder, so if I have any hope of improving my time I better get my butt in gear. Unfortunately I'm about 15lbs heavier and my running seems slower either because of that or because of the 1/2 marathon training, not sure which. Any way last year my time was just under 2 hours like 1:57, it would be so cool to improve on that.

So to that end July is going to be very focused on training and eating better. With any luck the extra exercise will help with the weight and some of the stress. Five weeks, I can make some changes in 5 weeks right?

Flashbacks....

I keep having the awful flashbacks to a moment on my ride yesterday, one I haven't shared because I was so traumatized by it, but now I feel that I just must write about it to get it off of my mind.

It only lasted a few short seconds, but it was wrong oh so wrong. As you were riding towards me on the path I see you, yes you old fat guy. You in your red bike short and oh my god NO SHIRT! with all your grey hair and love handles hanging out....shudder....I can't take it any more...wrong oh so wrong, please somebody make this vision go away!

Please, please where your shirt out there! God know I'm no skinny, but at least I'm covered!

Steve's giving away shoes!

Any one who reads my blog probably already reads Steve in a Speedo?! And if you don't you should! He is both funny and disgusting sometimes, ok frequently all at once! You gotta love him, and now he is giving a way a pair of shoes...go check it out....NOW! :)

http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/

Flats, trains, and lots of water!

The start of the day was a little rough, but ended up being a really great ride today and yesterday. Yesterday's ride was a little more hilly and much on gravel, exploring a new trail that I had never ridden before. Got lost a few times but it was kind of fun just wandering. Ended up with about 19 1/2 miles and then a little run (1.38 miles) for a nice little brick. I really have to do more of those, my muscles are not used to that hole transition thing. But I can tell after just a few of them they are starting to remember. Done with that just shortly before a crazy rain hail storm blew threw town. Glad I wasn't on my bike!

Today out to ride again, but started by finding a nice flat on my bike. I had a spare, but prefer the ones with gunk in them and also would not have a spare on my if I used the one I had so....wait for the bike store to open and go for a couple of tubes. Change the tire ( YEA ME! ) it was the front so easy, but still only the 2nd time I've done it. So finally I head out toward a different trail that I enjoy riding. It has quite a few sharp curves and is crowded in spots so it's just a nice easy ride, however before I get there what should happen but I get stopped by a train, as I rest against the side walk the sprinklers come on and proceed to get me wet...Is this the kind of day it's going to be? Luckily the train was short and I was on my way. Then I hit the "lake" ok it was just a puddle, but it was about 7" deep.... to go around or go through?? I decided to take the mud which scared me, wasn't sure I was going to make it through (it was about 2") I had visions of landing in the water! But made it. (on the way back took the water and got pretty drenched!)

On my ride I stopped by this pool I hope to swim in. It's the only outside pool that seems to have lap lanes that I could find. Rode by both on the way and the way back and neither time did it seem to crowded so I'm really excited to give it a try! I don't plan to do anymore open water swims until the water warms up just a little bit. I can't afford to buy a wet suit this year but I'm going to be keeping my eyes open for a good used one. Last year I did my first open water swim July 4th so I'm hoping that I can get in the lake around then and I'm a step ahead of the game since I already did the open water swim during the tri.

So an ok week as far as training goes 2 decent swims, 2 decent bike rides and 3 runs. Although I must work on the mileage of my running it's been reallllllly low.

Then we had another freaky rain/hail storm. It's crazy springish weather. And on funny note, my sons play roller hockey, indoor, and because of the rain and roof that leaks like crazy, games both Saturday and today had to be reschedules! LOL!

Woo Hoo Sprint Rehearsal done!

Rehearsal went ok I guess, didn't break any speed records, in fact I kind of reverted back somewhat to swimming without putting my face in the water. The temps were probably in the mid 50's outside and the water well let's just say not warm. But once you were in it wasn't to bad. Thank goodness for the wetsuit though. I really do like the sleeveless much better, but it will just take some real getting used to. The water was very choppy and I forgot to set my timer so I'm not sure exactly how long it took but basing on what time we were suppose to be started and my end time it was around 25 minutes. Slower then any of my open water swims last year. It was 800 yards. Really need to start swimming more. I did alot of everything, way less freestyle then I would have hoped. But either way I got the job done. T1 I'm sure pretty slow again, guessing, around 3 minutes, maybe more, long way up to transition too. On the bike and off we go. The bike was longer then most sprints (I think) which would be around 12 we actually had a choice to do only 10 or go for 17. I did the 17. Same ride that we did last weekend. This is the elevation profile.

Actually looks more intimidating then it is. Although those first 5 miles are a little though, it looks like it is mostly flat but you climb about 500'. Took me 1:15 and my average speed was 13.7. Most of it felt pretty good although I had adjusted my seat some, tilted it back a little, didn't really work for me as my whoha got a little bit numb. So will have to move it back down a bit again. The downhills are just fantastic. I really enjoy this ride for the most part. Amazing though the people that passed me...you know the ones that really know what they are doing. Not people from our group but the ones that travel in packs, matching jerseys and passing like it takes no effort on their part. Amazing they are. Coming off the bike legs felt a little better then at the duathlon last weekend. I ended up having to stop in the port-a-potty and make a trip back to my bike after for my garmin which I forgot to take off my bike. Missed timing my transition again Guessing it's with the bike time. The run was lots of walking :) it is a pretty boring out and back run on a gravelish road. It's a little rough has lots of big rocks and not an easy running surface. Time ended up being 42:44, like I said lots of walking. So I'm guessing my total time was right around 2:20-2:25. Definitely some room for improvement there!
Now while I was on that bike and run I did a lot of thinking about the ridiculous things I've been doing to my body. From the food I've been sticking in it, to the lack of training, to the cigarettes I've been smoking on and off for the last couple of weeks (they went in the trash by they way before they become another habit I don't need) So this week I'm really going to work on finding my focus and doing something good for my body instead of abusing it.
So my goals for this week are going to be

training-- run 3 times swim 2 and bike twice.

food--think I'm going for phase 1. (South Beach)

I've got to do something.

Yikes!

Just signed up for the rehearsal tri this Sunday....I'm not sure I'm ready but you never know until you tri right. :)

1/2 mile open water swim, I'm sure that same 17 mile ride I did last Sunday and the the 5k run/walk...might be more walking/crawling.

Back to it!

After doing absolutely nothing for nearly 2 weeks after the 1/2 marathon, I finally had a good weekend of training.

Saturday we did a duathlon rehearsal with the team. It was fun. I've never done one before at all. We did a sprint. 1 mile run, 11ish mile ride and 3.1 mile run. I was anything but fast but didn't matter. I had not been on my bike but once this year and as I said I hadn't run since the 1/2. It is not officially timed so all totals are from my Garmin. Total time was 1:45 First run, I had just short of a mile at .96 time 11:26, ride was 10.65 miles 46:23 (13.78 mph pretty good all things considered) and last run... slow 3.1 miles 45:22. Wow do I need to work on the bike run bricks too. Getting off the bike my legs were really wobbly. It was fun though.

Today I did the first open water "swim" of the year, in a wet suit for the very first time ever. Challenging I must say. I didn't do a whole lot of swimming as I just wasn't sure I was comfortable in it. I think next time I will try a sleeveless one. This was a full suit and I tell you it was kind of rough, and my shoulder are really stiff, this could also be from the bike too though. However I must say I was totally amazed at how much it helped with the water temps which were in the mid 60's. It made the water quite bearable, enjoyable even. It was a beautiful day the sun was shining and the outside temps were around 70 when we started the swim and by the time we finished the ride around 80 and the water would have felt pretty darn good then. The ride, although I was a little unsure after the duathlon yesterday was also good. Did 17 miles. The first 5 or so were kind of a false flat. Looks flat but you are headed up hill the whole time and I think we climbed about 500' or so, then there were just a few small hills, but some great downhills... I love going downhill! Only average 13.3 mph but I feel pretty good about it. I was in about the middle of the pack and considering I think everyone else had road bikes and I was on my Sissy (hybrid) I was pleased. Oh yea and saw some llamas...I love those things they are just so cute!

I'm looking forward to hitting things a little harder in June. I'm also possibly rethinking trying to do an Olympic distance this year. I'm just not sure. Although I have 2 1/2 months to train, I feel it may be more then I can do. I do plan to try an Olympic rehearsal and well who knows, if that goes well and there are still spots I just may go for it.

Couple of photos...

Approching the finish line with a big smile on my face and a wave for the family.

My big booty finishing it up!

Woo Hoo I ran a 1/2 marathon!

It's Done!!!!

Can I just say Woo Hoo! All in all it went pretty darn good I would say. Amazingly nothing really hurt (not even the toe/foot part that always hurts!) until the last couple of miles and then my a$$ was a bit sore. I did a lot more walking the last couple of miles too. I can't believe how really fast it went. Not a lot of people out on the course cheering which was kind of a bummer. In fact my Mom had told me last night that they were going to try and be some where around the mid point. I kept looking and looking and nobody there...Got a little emotional around mile 10ish felt like I wanted to cry for no good reason, because Mom wasn't there or just because of Auntie Flow who knows. One really weird thing, my heart rate monitor had my HR at over 200 almost the entire time. Not possible I don't think. Not sure why or what was up. Any way at the very end I kicked it up to the finish line and saw my Mom, Dad and Brother, between the kicking it up and the emotions I really started having a hard time breathing, it was a little freaky but after I crossed the finish line and stopped it took me a minute to catch my breath and I was fine. Wow I'm glad that's done. Will I do it again.....maybe.

Final time according to my Garmin 2:59:04 13:34 pace

Again can I just say Woo Hoo!!!! And guess who got a pedicure?

Had to pay a little tribute to those hard working feet!

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride....

nobody gonna slow me down...oh no...I got to keep on movin....

Getting a little nervous about the 1/2 mary tomorrow.

Mother's Day Milestones!

10 miles! I did it! And not only that most of the 1st have of the run was in the rain! Also a first! The first few miles were very good then had a couple not so good ones but all in all I was very happy with it. Now I'm slow, and will always probably be slow, but I was happy with my time average pace of 13:58 and that includes one bathroom stop, one stop at the car to refill water and slam some Gatorade, 2 phone calls from my son and walking the last 1/2 mile to cool down. Not to sore after, did some good stretching iced the knees and we will see what tomorrow brings. So for the week I ended up with a record 21 miles run and 2 swims for a 2400 yards. A good week. I really will be glad though after this 1/2 marathon training is over next weekend. I'm pretty sure that I have discovered I'm not into the distance running. I think I will stick to the shorter races maybe maxing out at 10k. Of course I've been known to change my mind too! :)

Now that was nice!

As if to make up for the awful run yesterday, today's swim was absolutely fantastic! Bar none the best swim I have evah had, EVAH! We swam outside and I debated long and hard if I was really ready for that. It was pretty overcast and maybe 50 degrees when I left home. But by the time I got to Boulder the sun was out. While still very sceptical, I was there and I was swimming. The water was fantastic! Not only that but all of my swimming just seemed to come together. Not that I still don't have a long way to go but I just felt really good. after we warmed up we did
3 x 100 swimming out any style and back freestyle
then for speed we did
1 x 400 (time 11:40)
1 x 200
1 x 100
1 x 50
trying to improve our speed each time. My 50 came in at 1:10 I think which is fantastic for me!

This is really the first time I had no problems inhaling water. I really had no idea that I could swim that much freestyle. I'm just thrilled with myself. And as I said the water was so nice, the temp and it didn't have near the chlorine in it that I've become used to. I'm just so excited about my swimming progress! Can you say WooHoo!!!

Oh the joys of running....NOT!!!!

Sagittarius
It's important for you to get out and run around for a little while.

Today's horoscope...do you think 8 miles is enough. :)

Long run this morning was suppose to be 9 miles. I just couldn't do it. Ended up just over 8 with the entire last mile walked, and the other 7 very, very, slow...even for me! I'm not sure what was wrong but from mile one everything just felt hard. I'm not sure that my new shoes are working for long runs. the feel great for shorter runs, but last week I ran with an older pair and things just felt so much better. Or maybe this run just sucked. I so just want to be done with this 1/2. I really think I bit off more then I can chew with this one. Before I head out for these runs, I just have such a nervous stomach it's crazy, I can't imagine what I'm going to be like on the actual day. And I still can't imagine actually going 13.1......that's pretty bad when it's only 2 weeks from tomorrow!

Did a little bike looking again today. Went to the Trek store...oh my....I'm in love I really like both the 7.3 and the 7.5 leaning a little toward the 7.5. I'm going to do some more thinking and keep trying to talk myself out of a new bike.

Plans for tomorrow are to swim. I plan on joining the group although it is not suppose to be nice and we are now swimming in an outdoor pool, so I'm having a bit of trouble with that idea. After the swim is a transition clinic which I'm sure will be helpful. But the weather may just see me swimming at the rec center instead. But I really need to get a swim in. I'm going to commit right here and now to swim at least 2 times next week. I'm going to sit down and plan my week as I seem to do better when I have a plan and am not trying to just fit it in where I can.

Milestones

Lot's of milestones this week! Did my first 9 mile run today. And all in all I was happy with the average pace of 13:54. That includes a bathroom break and walking warm up and cool down. I'm slow, what can I say? Had my highest week ever of 19.3 miles and I'm at 53 miles for the month, highest ever and the most important milestone....a little gross..ok a lot gross, but for the first time ever snot rockets!!! Not something I would want to do with anyone around I don't think but effective! Feeling a little more confident about the 1/2 marathon.

Ohhh nooo.....

I was looking at bikes this evening....bad, bad idea...how I want a new bike.....not anything fancy, just something that would make riding a little easier....I was looking at the Trek 7.3...I would like to see the Trek 7.5....

Spring time in the rockies

This is what it looks like out my kitchen window this morning... can you say ick? I have a 9 mile run I am suppose to do this weekend in addition to swimming and cycling(!?) with the team tomorrow. Now while it is still coming down, it is possible it will stop soon and be melted by tomorrow, this is after all Denver and things like that happen all the time. But in the mean time I really need to come up with a game plan for this run. Do I just hit the treadmill at the rec center (oh my god I almost want to kill myself at the thought of 2 hours on a treadmill!) But the idea of 2 hours in that wet snow is not appealing at all either. Do I wait and see if it's melted by tomorrow afternoon? Will I be up to running 9 miles if I end up swimming and cycling tomorrow....oh decisions decisions!

8 mile Easter

Wow time flies! I've not posted in quite a while. Things got a little crazy around here with. I've been keepin up on my running pretty good. I'm still pretty scared about this 1/2 marathon and that seems to be where most of my focus is lately. I've swam some but not as much as I should be. Hoping to get a little more serious with it very soon. The team actually did there first bike ride today, I was a little surprised that they were training today. I didn't make it but I did do an 8 mile long run. Slow, very slow, like 14+ minute miles, but what the heck 8 miles is 8 miles. It's pretty hard to run around the neighborhood for 8 miles I gotta tell you. I wish I had some scenic place to run. I think I will feel a pretty big sense of relief when it is done. And I can concentrate on the tri training. It is pretty obvious to me that I am never going to be doing more then an Olympic distance tri....I just don't think I'm cut out for this long distance running. I can not in my wildest dreams ever imagine doing a full a marathon. With as slow as I am I would have to devote my whole life to training.

Follow me!

I've been a bit down latley but after reading this

Happiness is Contagious!

A recent study published in the British Medical
Journal shows that happiness is contagious among social networks. This is true whether the network is in person or online! It's a chain reaction of
happiness that has a positive impact on the people around us. In short, if
your friend is happy, you are more likely to be happy, at least 15% more likely. If a friend of a friend is happy, then you are 10% more likely to be
happy. If a friend of a friend of a friend is happy, then you are 6% more
likely to catch that happiness. Similar studies have found that social ties
also affect your habits. When someone quits smoking cigarettes, for example, a friend of theirs has a 36% more likely chance of quitting as well. It is interesting to note how much of an influence we have on other people, even if we don't directly see it. We can literally radiate happiness, and like sunshine share that warmth with the world.

I've decided enough is enough! It's time to move on down the road to happiness!

Ah-ha Moments

Today was good...really really good. I really think some things clicked with my breathing and also with my stroke. I'm very excited about it. It seems I go from anxious about it to feeling pretty positive all in the same week. Today was good...really, really good. :) After swimming we did run drills. That's pretty interesting too. We kind of divide up into two groups walking and running. Well I'm at the bottom of the runners..pretty darn slow, I may drop down as the walkers do more running and we work more on endurance. Of course with any luck my endurance will begin to build back up too.

1/2 marathon training...what was thinking???? I'm so not sure about this. Would have been so much better had I continued to run during January and February. But it's going ok. I did a 7 mile long run friday morning. Somewhat hilly and very, very slow, like a 15 min mile pace. But I got them done. This week is any easy week.

I actually got out on my bike this weekend. ( We have not yet started any bike training with the Tri group. that will come in April I believe.) Can you say out of shape? My legs were not working as good as they did last season...hmm are we seeing a trend here...you need to keep the workouts up and not just quite for the winter months...would help with the extra pounds I'm carrying around also. It was a beautiful weather wise this weekend. I should have gotten out on my bike today too, but to tell you the truth I was pretty wiped out from the swim and run drills.

Speaking of extra pounds...I need to get serious about losing them. Things would be so much easier if I could just lose the 15 extra pounds from last year and that is still not as much as I need to get ride of.

Weekend stuff

Pretty good weekend here. Had a really good swim on Friday night. Learn something every time and with any luck some day I will be able to put it all together and be able to do it with out thinking about things so much. I am seeing some improvement, but oh so far to go yet!

Sunday went to a talk at Fleet Feet and learned some great things about running shoes and fit. Very impressed with the time and effort they put into fitting everyone for shoes as opposed to the other running store I had been to. And got fitted for and purchased a new pair of shoes.

Nike Air Zoom Vomero 2+

Went for a 4 mile run/walk after I got them. My youngest son (12) has expressed some interest in running so he went with me. A little more walking then running, but on the whole I think I'm really going to like these shoes. I also got the Superfeet orthotic inserts. Considering the little amount I've run recently I felt pretty darn good after the 4 miles. My knees felt pretty good and I had been having some problems with my patellar tendon and that felt really good too. No pain at all the next day. So very good. There was a little pain on the bottom of my left foot. Maybe some different socks. So I will try them a few more times and make the determination on if they are the ones.

Plans for the week include a 2 mile, 3 mile, and 5 mile run. Swimming on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and our first run clinic after our swim on Sunday. Pretty excited about that. Can't wait to start getting some pointers on running. I've met some really nice people so far at CWW. I'm really enjoying it. It's going to be an amazing year! I need to decide for sure what races I want to do. I plan to do several of the rehearsals but not to many actual races, just because of money mostly. My plan right now is for one Sprint (Tri for the Cure) and one Olympic distance. Only problem is they are both within a couple of weeks. But the Tri for the Cure will mostly be for fun.