Last week by the numbers

1-   son graduated from high school

Zach, Josh, stepbrothers girlfriend, stepbrother Mikey and stepbrother Jesse

5 give or take -  times I cried at graduation

1 give or take – times I tear up daily

43 – hilly miles ridden

1 – times I fell over on above ride

2 – times I’ve fallen over on my bike this year. Yes I’ve been riding for a few years

I all ways wonder just how accurate these are.

5702feet or 1728ms– the number it says I climbed on the BT elevation profile. BDD or someone, maybe you can explain these numbers to me...

0 –  time I swam

1bazillion – times I have coughed over the last week

139 – number of pictures we took to get 4 decent ones of me and the boys. 

7 – hilly  miles Josh and I ran / walked together Monday morning.

14.47 – pace of said run/walk including potty stops, horse petting stops, and coughing fits by one or the other of us, regardless of how slow it is we did not however stop to take a nap. 

10 – times I told Josh to just go ahead without me

10 – times he said it was all good 

 1 – son that now has a purple mohawk

Looks a little different doesn't he?

18- days until the Denver Century. I’m pretty sure this will be cut to either 85 miles or maybe even 62.

26- days until Josh leaves for bootcamp

46 – days until my first tri- I better start swimming

The weekend...

As some of you may remember I was supposed to do a metric century this weekend. Unfortunately they ended up canceling it Friday evening  due to a fire in the area and the poor air quality. I was kind of bummed, but a canceled ride is nothing compared to what the people in the area are going though. Thankfully because of a cool wet Saturday they were able to get some control of it.

As I said it was cool and wet Saturday morning, my plan had been to take my car to the shop at 8 and do short 30 minute run home...you know that rain started right as I was about to leave the house. I went back and forth with myself on if I should call for a ride instead of running. I started to dial the phone at least 3 times before I just decided to HTFU and run in the rain. And as usual it was not near as bad as I thought it would be, although I’m not sure I would have wanted to run to much longer. I even managed to make it to the pool! After 7 weeks of no swimming I didn’t expect much but I did manage 1000 slow yards.

Sunday was a beautiful day for a ride! The temps were perfect and although I didn’t get in a full metric century I did get just a bit over 40 miles in.  I stuck to the bike paths, some of the ones around my area are amazingly empty and it was really quite nice. Even though they are flat I actually find them kind of challenging because of the fact that, like being on the trainer you really never get a break you just keep pedaling.  

Questions and observations from a weekend of training.

Why do some men feel the need to wear bike shorts and tuck in their t-shirts?

Why do so many people that ride wear gloves and no helmets? Are their hands more important than their heads?

Why do people take a lap lane and then just hang out at one end, the other end from the one where you would start, and never swim a single lap?

Why do people not understand sharing a swim lane when the rest are full?

Why do people wear head phones and then ride down the middle of a bike path?

Over all a good and productive weekend! Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Tuesday Truths and Tidbits

I’ve done some kind of training 5 out of 7 days for the last 3 weeks.  Much better than I had been doing.

10 days until my oldest son Josh graduates high school.

I’ve  been to the pool zero times in the last 7 weeks. Is that good for someone who plans to do a 70.3 in August? Need to change that.

I’ve had some pretty good long rides, 40ish miles, but can tell my bike fitness is nowhere near it was last year. This past weekend was a long ride of about 54 miles 40 of which were enjoyable.

Some of you may have seen this picture......

It shows the amount of weight I had worked hard and lost last year. Thirty pounds. Sadly I’ve gained  about 2/3 of this back. No wonder riding and running is harder.

I have a metric century this weekend.

I’m not very excited about the way my pants fit...or actually the way they don’t fit.

My youngest son, Zach wants to get a mohawk, not really fond of the idea, but well it’s only hair, and it’s not the first time I guess. He had one, one summer when he was much younger.

I wish I was having more fun.  With the training, and you know looking forward to racing. I’m not. Have you ever lost it? Will it come back?

Do your drawers look like this? Really Julie? You may have a problem. These are all exercise clothes.....3 drawers! And there are a bunch of them that aren't even in there because they are dirty or still hanging up after being washed. It's crazy! I'm certain I have more exercise clothes than any other. 

I've been a crying fool recently...I cry at everything...and sometimes it's not just the watery eyes but full out sobbing...over tv shows! Really...it's crazy...or maybe I'm crazy....

Motivation......

I need some.....

Three Thing Thursday...Celebrations

1. Mom and Dad are home! Yea!!!!!! After just shy of 10 weeks in the hospital,  I picked them up at the airport yesterday. It is oh so good to see them back in Denver. While mom will still have some work to do on getting back to full strength she can now do it from her own home.

2. This guy turned 18 yesterday. Wow unbelievable how fast the time goes. 

 Prom this past weekend

Senior picture

3. Not quite as important...I got new shoes! I went with the men's to see if the wider width would be better. So far I think I like them, but I've only got a few miles on them.

 

Glad that’s done....Platte River ½ Marathon Race Report

I’m going to keep this short, none of you want to hear me whine, and I could (and have) believe me.  The race and packet pick up is well organized and smooth, and although this is the 2^nd time I’ve run this race  I’ve yet to participate in any of the finish line festivities. The only positive about my race is that I got to see some friends.

 Jill and I (I was as thrilled to be there as I look)

 

Kathleen , me, Meg 

As you know I went into this race very under trained. Now while some people might have the fitness base to carry them through it...I obviously do not. It hurt. Yes other races hurt, but not like this. Miles 1-5 were not too bad, I have no idea what my times were as I walked out of the house without my Garmin, miles 5-10 were tolerable. Some running some walking, by miles 11-13 I was pretty darn miserable and most of my time was spent walking. The wind had picked up and at times felt like you were being pushed backwards. The temps dropped and there were a few sprinkles here and there. Everything hurt,  I felt like I was dragging my left leg along for the ride, it was kind of a strange sensation.  The last mile was ridiculous. There is a bridge over the highway, while it’s not a huge hill it is a hill, really the only of the course, and the bridge seemed to go on forever and ever,  thank god for the fence on the side of the bridge because the wind gusts were so strong they were literally blowing us over. In the end I achieved a personal worst of 3:02.

The only other thing I have to say is that I will never go into a race of this length feeling so completely under trained. 

Now it is time to get down to business....when I stop hurting.... :)

What's for Dinner? Couscous Confetti Salad

This is not a great photo, but trust me this was really tasty! To make it more of a meal I added chickpeas and it was great! I liked it slightly warm after first mixing the hot couscous and I really liked it cold. I did heat it one time too and didn't care for that as much.

 Couscous Confetti Salad
Makes about 8 1-cup servings
Couscous is pasta from northern Africa that cooks almost instantly and makes a beautiful and flavorful salad. Whole-wheat couscous is sold in natural food stores and some supermarkets.
1 ¹/₂ cups dry whole-wheat couscous
2 cups boiling water
3 - 4 green onions, finely chopped, including tops
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 carrot, grated
1 - 2 cup finely shredded red cabbage
¹/₂ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
¹/₂ cup golden raisins or chopped dried apricots
1 juice of 1 lemon
¹/₄ cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 ¹/₂ teaspoons salt

In a large bowl, combine couscous and boiling water. Stir to mix, then cover and let stand until all the water has been absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Add green onions, bell pepper, carrot, cabbage, parsley, and raisins or apricots.

In a small bowl mix lemon juice, vinegar, oil, curry powder, and salt. Add to salad and toss to mix. Serve at room temperature or chilled.