wednesday morning swim

Up and at it early today. Started swimming with the UofS Masters Swim Team today. Needed a change of scenery. The pool is salt water and way better showers...all was good. A couple of super fast gals today!! Holy Cow! Had to bust it to keep up. And they do tumble turns so I no longer have a secret weapon with this group!! Legs were tired from last night's ride but was good to do a few different things in the water. And got some major time with the coach who gave me lots of tips on my stroke, something I never get with the tri group. That word that annoys me so much kept coming up...core...she said she thinks I need a stronger core as I drop my hip and elbow at the start of my stroke. I should be engaging my core better to swing my hips around. Well, if the truth be known, I am not very good at doing my core workouts...there, it is out of the bag!! May 1 tomorrow and my goal for the next 2 weeks is to consisently do my core workouts...blah

blowin in the wind

The wind is a bee-otch in this province, but it builds character...right? Got over an hour in the tank. I even wrote a poem while I was out there slogging it out in the friggin wind...
I am out on the road, on my cervelo
I have named her "Sunshine", because she is yellow
When I got home, my legs were dead,
Cause "You have 3 sets of time trial intervals to do" JP said.
That was all I had...just wait till my 2.5 hour ride on Saturday to see what I come up with!!

windy

One word that describes our province other than flat...windy!! Heading out on my bike today after work, I am actually very excited!! Hopefully Jenna's knee is okay and we can hook up. Sending her positive knee vibes. I am staring out the window all afternoon daydreaming about the summer and triathlons and what is to come!! One of the first signs of summer...the hot dog bus is OPEN!! A double decker bus smack in the middle of downtown toon town that makes the best "River Bank Franks". I LOVE SUMMER!!!

weekend fun

Woke up yesterday to a throbbing, make you sick kind of a headache. Could not even think about a bike or a run or really anything but get through the day. Several Advil later and lots of water, the fog had sort of lifted but still felt sick to my stomach. Almost like I was...like I was...I cannot even type the word...it starts with a "P"... On the couch for a good chunk of the afternoon/evening watching hockey.

Today, a much better day. Had gone to bed early and slept right through to 8:00am...wow!! I never ever sleep like that. Made it to swimming and had a terrific swim. We did 24 x 100. 4 at race pace and the 5th one as hard as you could go. Then a 100 easy swim. I held 1:25s for the most part but really could feel the wheels falling off by the last few. Then off to get some groceries and dear Jenna called an wanted some company for a bike ride....I had plans already as the weather was supposed to be crappy so was going to head out to my mom's for the majority of the afternoon...wicked television (hockey playoffs!!), babysitter (mom!!) and free food and booze...Sunday afternoons ROCK!! Jenna told me of Alan's supberb run and I got all fired up. Called my mom and told her I would be later than expected, jumped on my trainer and got that bike workout in. Would have liked to be outside, but time and kids and Sunday family dinners did not leave me with enough of a window to do it that way. Anyway, Justin had said that was a "quality" bike workout and the time spent doing it would only help later on.

Next up is a rest day tomorrow...a wicked bike ride on Tuesday and the forcast is really good so going to skip outta work just a bit early and get'r done.

Why do I live here...again??

My Dad was a farmer and I remember him having a tough time with the winters here on the prairies. Too cold, not enough to do. I have not had this problem as my busiest time at work is Jan/Feb and into March a bit, so I am focused on other stuff. But this year!! OMG!! I am going CRAZY with this friggin weather! 10-15cm of SNOW. AGAIN. WTF!!! Am I ever getting on that bike? How in the hell am I going to do 90km on July 6? And then RUN afterwards? Holy Crikey. I talked for a bit today with a tri-buddy who is also coached by the Carmichael Group and we talked about doing an Arizona trip for some biking next winter...anybody else in? We can stay at my mom's place...seriously...I am doing it. Watch me.

Anyway, maybe this crappy weather is a good thing because my leg still hurts and I cannot see an physio person until Monday. Argh. So I am telling myself that I can't ride outside anyway, my leg is bummed, The Universe is telling me something....it will be okay. I have looked at my next month of training and I see a 3:30 bike ride on May 17...That's THREE HOURS and THIRTY minutes!!! ON THE BIKE!!! EEEEK!!! Put that on your calendar everyone...that will be a HUGE milestone in my triathlon life!!

thursday giggle

First off, my training...I have done nothing, zip, zero. My leg hurts like a bugger and I thought by resting it, things would improve...they haven't. I tried to run on Tuesday, it was not a good morning. Swam yesterday and that has been IT. Off to see a physio person today or tomorrow.
Now for the giggle, the other day my 5 year old was digging around in the bathroom cupboards and comes out with a maxi-pad. He asks "Mom, what is this?" He, being only 5, and me being busy with something and did not want to explain those "things" to him, I told him it was little pillow. Last night he was getting into bed and I could tell he was hiding something from me. He also had his stuffed toy Nemo (who goes everywhere with us). I asked him what he was up to and he told me he had brought a little "pillow" to bed for Nemo!! OMG...I am still laughing. Because I saw no harm it in (yes, I am fully aware my children will be in therapy someday...) but my spouse would have nothing of it!! So I let him do his best to explain to our 5 year old what was what...

today's horoscope...

"You probably aren't going to feel very social today, dear Pisces. In fact, you're likely to want to work on projects and tasks alone if you can. This actually might be good for you, as you probably need to concentrate on crossing certain things off your list without being distracted. Still, you should get out among others at some point during the day. You might want to be alone, but you'll still need to feel that you belong."

How perfect was THAT today??!! Freaky. I haven't felt very social all week. A bunch of little things that have happened have piled up on top of me this week. And then I get frustrated, and then I get cranky and then I am very difficult to be around. And I do not really belong anywhere somedays...at work, I am with men all day long...we have nothing really in common outside of work. They make fun of my triathlon goals so I say nothing about training etc. I don't belong at the playschool...I am one of the few working moms and I love my children dearly, but it is safer for all of us if I am working outside the house!! The tri club...I am not competitive, I do my best, I do not compare myself to others...I started all this to lose weight!! Is there not more to these people than how fast they can swim/bike/run? And I am having a hard time (and frankly do not have the time) to figure out all of the "people dynamics" with that group.

See?

Told you I was grouchy.

Boo Calgary Flames...

Can't stand Mike Keenan...why did he pull Kippresoff (sp?) Why is Roenick not retired yet? What is with Kelly Hrudey's hair? Bring Sutter back!! Isn't that announcer the same guy that does the Olympic swimming? Am I the only girl who enjoys sitting at home alone watching hockey? My head is spinning...there's always the Red Wings!!

rollercoaster day

I am SICK of this weather. sick sick sick sick of it. Woke up today and saw the snow AGAIN and have been kind of gloomy all morning...until...

I see my friend Shannon's splits at Boston!! I am so happy, proud, excited and pumped for her!! She is running awesome. Now I want to run Boston someday. She has worked so hard and has been so focused. Sending lots and lots of great vibes to her today!!!!

Sunday Funday

Woke up at 5:30 today. yak. On a SUNDAY! Doddled around the house for a bit and went back to bed. Slept until just after 8. Until I heard my little one..."Mmmmoooooommmmy!" He kind of sings it when he calls my name out and is so cute. I actually laid there for several minutes listening to him. We got up, had breakfast together and I put him into bed with Shaun (who hates it when I do that but the guy would sleep through WWIII so I figure a giggly, wiggly 2 year old is a great wake up call) and took off for swimming. The main set today was 6x400 meters. I can't remember what we were supposed to do, I just remember a few of them being super hard at race pace. I am pretty sure I held the 100s on 1:25s...that was good. In total we did about 4000meters. My arms were super tired after this swim. And my left leg has been super creaky since my wipe out on the stairs. I ran on it yesterday and it felt okay. But by late yesterday afternoon, it was really sore. yikes. Ran some errands after the swim and then onto the bike. Was supposed to do 90 minutes but my leg could take only an hour. Did all the hard stuff I was supposed to do so that is the positive I am taking away from today.

Running on a Prayer

Was listening to my Bon Jovi this morning. Started the run from the Roastery as I thought a nice treat at the end of what I could tell was going to be a difficult run would be great. A little bit of snow and ice isn't going to keep this prairie girl down! The trails were in great shape, amazingly. A few tricky spots but got about 52 minutes in. Was supposed to do a way more intense run with some hard intervals but I tossed that out in favour of a steady run through the new snow. And I won "Athlete of the Day" at coffee this morning as nobody else wanted to brave the elements. I heard my Dad say at that moment "To succeed at what you want, you have to be out there when nobody else is out there and get it done." Hopefully, he was right!!

another rest day

Today is another rest day this week and I am really happy I got that bike ride in yesterday. But last night I was carrying my little one up the stairs to put him to bed and my left leg buckled underneath me. To save dropping the baby down the stairs...I slammed my right arm and elbow into the stairs. OUCH!! I planted my butt on the couch for the rest of the evening (I love the hockey playoffs so this was not too upsetting) rubbed and stretched my leg. Today it feels normal so hopefully that was just a one time thing. Considering a massage today...I have never been for a massage...this will also be something new!
Got an e-mail back from JP today about plan B given I am not doing the duathlon. He says to go for my swim on Sunday and do a bike ride indoors. Practise my transition...ummm....are there hot showers, a T-Ho coffee and a trip to Winners in the transition area? Because that is what I have planned after my swim and before my bike ride on the trainer!!
Justin apparently wrote an article in the latest Triathlete magazine...I have not yet seen it, will be picking up a copy today, but check it out!

Thursday afternoon bike ride

Wasn't really planning on it but got an e-mail from a tri-buddy in the afternoon wanting to know if I wanted to go for a bike ride. This can only mean one of three things...everyone else is on a rest day, they are busy or they are out of town...I NEVER get asked to go for a ride!! And certainly never ever with a pretty awesome rider!! This of course excludes Jenn as our schedules just never seem to match up lately... Making a couple of quick phone calls to organize the family and I was as good as gone. What a gorgeous day!! Okay the wind in this province still sucks, but I think I did around 40km! WOW!! Did 4 sets of 8 minutes in my high zone 3 and the best part....every single one was in my areobars! This was huge. We went out on one of the newer highways on our side of town and it was a great to learn another route to get out on. Then I don't have to drive out to that drive-in or make my way through town on my bike. Mind you, he took off to do his own thing but it was good to know there was someone else out there. And his two flats were a nice break and time to visit!!

Train Smart, train smart, train smart....

This is my mantra. Just like at work I brag that I never work hard, I just work smart. The guys hate it when I say that, but then they all have stay-at-home-wives that keep them fed, clothed, the kids looked after, bills paid etc. I do not have that luxury, so I have to buckle down and be as efficient as possible in all areas if I want to get the things done I want to do. Enter the Bridge City Duathlon this weekend. I was really looking forward to this event!! But not in minus 8 degrees with snow and blowing snow and 35km/hr wind. Triathlon is not exactly paying the bills, I have no sponsors, there will be no tv cameras there on Sunday...there is no reason I can come up with to do this race in those conditions. We are supposed to be having FUN!! That would not be fun. I cannot take the chance of getting sick, injured, fall off my bike and wreck it. I feel bad as I was the co-race director last year and have been giving the new guy some help this year. There is alot of work that goes into something like this. But the weather is a factor we just cannot count on here in the prairies, we do what we can do and hope for the best. I have a message into the wise one (JP) to see what the plan B should be. Make yourself a GREAT day!!

confirmation...

I headed out today for my run fully intending to do the workout that Justin had put together. I got going and around the 3km mark I was feeling like I was running on a cloud. Super smooth, and strong and just an all around good run. Love it when one of those comes up now and again! So I thought to myself, I wonder how fast I can comfortably run a 10km today?? Why not? The weather was perfect, I felt good...let's go!!

10km in 55:37.

HOLY SHIT!! Gang, this is very good for me!! For a run that felt good and smooth and my average HR was right in my steady state range so I wasn't pushing too hard. I tried to get a picture of Garmin so you could see I am not lying... Last year at the 10km race in May, I think I did it in around 54 mins and I thought my chest was going to explode. Tally HO!!

And thank-you Julie for your kind words...I just need to know I am not going to embarrass myself completely on July 6!! I often say that I really am doing this training in pure terror of what is to come on that day!!

Light Training Week

As usual, Monday is a rest day. I have learned the importance of these days. My legs were beat tired this morning!! It's no secret, I am slow on that darn bike. I hear and read of all the kilometers others are doing right now and I have tried to hold my panic in check...look at my ticker!! So I got on the phone with Justin today and wanted to know, shouldn't I be putting more time in this week? And he says "Nope, you have to train smart because of time constraints. There is plenty of time to get that mileage up and I want you to go as hard as you can go at the duathlon this weekend. So we are resting just a wee bit and I want to see what your fitness is like during an event like that on not so tired legs." Already then.
On the agenda this week, a run tomorrow, a swim on Wednesday and a bike ride on Thursday. And I am taking the yellow cervelo into the bike shop tomorrow as I could not shift my gears into the big ring yesterday. I was going with the wind and it would have been fun to see how fast I could go!! She is in dire need of a tune up and some adjusting so into the doctor she goes.

Bike ride, The Wiggles and a Wedding Reception

Did ANOTHER bike ride this morning! Wow...I must really want to do this. This one was not as fun...freakin WIND in this province! But what's done is done, a mental challenge and a Roastery coffee at the end. Turned out to be not so bad.

We go to The Wiggles today. I am very excited! My almost two year old loves them and I feel very fortunate that we can do these kinds of things for our kids. My parents did them for us and some of my favorite times growing up were the trips to the Rider games, trips to the lake, Disneyworld etc. Check out our Wiggles Workout...make fun all you want but these guys grossed 30 million dollars in 2006...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fusg8zKsYHg&feature=related

Matthew, me and Luke at the concert

One of the partners at work recently eloped with his life partner. They have been together for 17 years and decided to get married. I am very happy for them as they are two of the kindest, generous and down to earth people you could meet. They honeymooned in Paris, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Their reception is today and I can't wait to hear some of their stories!! They are insisting on no gifts but are sending 10 underpriveleged kids to camp this summer. And I just want to say, the greeting card companies should try to get with the times better as it has proven difficult to find a wedding card for a gay couple...

Me, Herb and Tony. The dress code was "Springtime Smart"... I think I pulled it off! And the lipgloss, in case you were wondering..."Sedona".

Busy day today...I must go, go, go....

Saturday bike ride - OUTSIDE!!

I changed this post as the last one was kinda grumpy...should always wait a few hours before I blog about something that is pissing me off!!

The start of the road to Aberdeen. Lots of space. Garmin tells me that on my ride today, 90% of it was flat!! No kidding.

Part of the gang that headed out today at 6:30am. Only minus 3 and very little wind. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning!

The Yellow Cervelo and The Cav...two of my most prized possessions!!

GOT ON MY BIKE TODAY...OUTSIDE!!

Yup...did an hour and a half down the Aberdeen highway. Felt amazing! I can sure tell I have been on that trainer all winter. Got all my intervals in so all was good. Even stopped by the Roastery for a coffee. Looking forward to a possible repeat tomorrow as there is no swim.

Why I do this...

In response to Susi's brilliant, well-written, motivating and inspirational post, these are the reasons I am doing triathlons. But first, if I may, back to the beginning. About 12 years ago, I was asked to be on a team up at the Waskesiu triathlon. I was swimming with the university masters team. The gal who asked me was a very fast runner, I had remembered her from my university days as she was a bit of a star track athlete. I was flattered to be asked. I don't think I had heard of a triathlon before and when I got to the race, I was shocked at the people and the gear and the energy! And I could not believe that most of them were doing the ENTIRE thing by themselves! What is this? I must do this someday. I remember asking several times...how far do they bike? And then they run? How far, again?

In 2006, I had Luke in May. I was cleaning out my closets and drawers etc. (I think they call that "nesting" when you have a baby...) and I made a pile of Waskesiu triathlon t-shirts, as I had received one every year that I was on a team. I had 8 of them. What? Has it really been that long since I did that first relay and why have I not done a triathlon on my own yet? I could not come up with a satisfying answer. I remember going for a walk that summer and happened across a guy I had met only briefly before but I knew he had done the Ironman. He was looking hunky and tanned and fit and healthy and I made my mind up on the walk home...THAT'S IT!! I AM DOING THIS!! I was also creeping the local tri-website and one of the fellows had qualified for Hawaii. I was fascinated by this and followed the story day by day by day.

So, I signed up for swimming for the fall, bought my bike on a total whim, started running again. I could only run 6 minutes my first run out...and I peed my pants...childbirth does weird things to every part of your body...and I sobbed the entire walk home. I had a looooong way to go! But step by step, and day by day, I would run a little further and not have to walk as much. Swimming started and I went to the first Sunday swim in 2006 in my maternity bathing suit feeling like my nursing boobs were hanging out everywhere. I DID NOT fit into the group...still really don't but don't really care now. Biked a bit last summer and did the Waskesiu Tri all on my own last August. What a feeling!! I was SO proud and happy that entire day!! Now I am well on my way to doing this half-ironman in July.

Look how far I have come. I love that feeling of accomplishing something you set out to do. I also love the challenge. Not just the physical challenge but the mental game as well. I love feeling fit and strong. I love seeing my kids watching me on my bike or coming in from a run. This is teaching them so much. I have met some fantastic people. I thought I would see them more with all this training, but I am learning to be by myself. Nobody wants to do the early mornings so lots of this has been and is going to be on my own. But I am okay with this!! This is new for me!!

Looking forward to an awesome summer. Thanks for reading!!

Thought these were good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9nCPbbngmI
Some more country music for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hCuYjvw2I&feature=related
I LOVE the mornings...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=volIlLCZ3nM&feature=related

Run Fast

Today's workout called for some more of those dang 200s and 400s. I need to learn more about why I am doing these...I feel awkward and dorky when I try to run "fast". I am a steady, long distance type of gal. Justin had taken a look at my data from last week and tells me "You can do those way faster." Thank-you. He said to aim for 52 seconds for the 200s...I could NOT get any faster than 54 seconds!! But I still don't understand what the purpose of these are...I am not used to working that hard for short periods of time, tell me to run for a few hours, no problem. But interestingly, I can feel it in my legs this morning as if I had ran a few hours...hmmm.
Next up is a freakin killer workout on Saturday. 30 minute run, 2 hour bike ride, 30 minute run. With a bunch of hard intervals in each set. I am determined to get my bike outside on Saturday morning. There is no swim on Sunday so I may head out again on Sunday morning to fill in that time. Supposed to be a beautiful weekend!!
And Justin says....
Kelly,
That is great! Faster than last week and about 25% more efforts. I hope you feel good about this run because it shows great improvement!
Cheers,
Justin
Did I mention I really like my coach.....

Downer Swim

Was tired and not really motivated to go swimming today. Should probably have just stayed home in bed. The coach did not show up today either, so there was no workout to follow. A fellow I swim with on Wednesdays and myself just decided to do a warm-up and then do some 100s and 200s. I could not get going today at all!! Just put in the time. Received an e-mail yesterday that one of my elderly clients had passed on. His daughter had called last week to tell me he was not doing very good and I had been thinking about him all week. I was upset getting the e-mail. This business is a fine line between being all business and getting too emotionally involved with your clients. I tend to gravitate towards the latter. This particular client was a sweet, kind, gentle man. I had worked with him for over 15 years. He was always so interested in what I was up to and we had some really great talks when he came to the office.
It really sucks to get old.

Kind of like an outdoor bike ride...?

I moved my bike and trainer upstairs this morning as I could not take another dark morning in the basement. I set it up in front of the living room window so I could at least look outside, if I am not going to BE outside. What was funny, was that my 5 year old gets up today and says "Mom, I heard you practising your bike again and you were breathing really weird." Out of the mouths of babes...

Anyway, the work out was another hard one. After conversing with Justin via e-mail over the weekend and he looking at my garmin data, he adjusted my HR zones...up...way up... So the task today was to do 4 times 6 minutes at a (in my opinion) high heart rate with 4 minutes easy pedalling in between. But it took me a minute or so to get up into that HR zone. I can manage to keep it there, but today, it seemed like ALOT of work to get up there. I need to find out if I should be starting the interval at that rate? Or if what I am doing is okay? Because the average HR was not as high as I think Justin had wanted....I think I just answered my own question...darn it, because that was a very hard go today!! Next is a swim tomorrow morning and another hard run on Thursday.

Just another manic Monday

Had a crazy busy weekend...went to the Home Depot yesterday and took my 5 year old. At the check-out, he was watching the guy scan the stuff for the people in front of us. He pipes up and says "Mom, I want to buy my hand!!" I say "What?"
"I want to buy my hand. That's a good idea, right Mom? Let's put a sticker on it and see how much it costs"
I say, "Well, I really don't want to have to pay for it as it is coming with us no matter what."
Matthew: "But Mom, it would be fun to buy my hand! How much do you think it would cost?"
Mom: "Honey, it is priceless...there is no price for your hand."
Matthew: "Mom, let's find a sticker and see what it costs."
Mom, getting a bit impatient as I sometimes do not understand the logic of a 5 year old: "Sweetie, if we buy it and it does not work out, then we have to cut it off to return it to get our money back."
Silence.

Anyway, rest day today. Hard bike ride tomorrow....keep you posted!!

Jenn is going to KILL me!!

Here we are!! I am bottom row 4th from the right...make fun of the glasses and I will come to your house and smack you!! Jenn is second from the left, bottom row.

A few years later...Jenn, third in from the left middle row...I am second in from the right, middle row. Howdya like the cowlick!! But lost the glasses....

Hellish swim

Sunday morning = Sunday swim. Our swim coach on Sundays is a tricky guy as the last few weeks he puts the warm up on the board and then about 3/4 of the way through he puts up the main set. So starting the warm-up, we really don't know what we are up against. Today was 8 x 100 on your race pace minus 3 seconds, with 10 seconds rest. Let's spell it together...p*o*s*i*t*i*v*e*f*a*i*l*u*r*e. My race pace is around 1:30 so I was to come in on 1:27, take 10 seconds rest and go again. Do that 8 times!! Then do a 100 easy, a minute rest and DO IT AGAIN!! Well, I held on for all of the first 8 but by number 6, 7 and 8 of the second go, the wheels had come off. The boys in lane 8 dropped me and I basically just finished the swim. But pleased with this as my body was tired after that bike and run yesterday. Next up is a rest day tomorrow and yet another tough bike ride on Tuesday.

Minus 10 is great for...

Snowmobiling, ice fishing, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, a run, a walk...but NOT for biking on your tri-bike!! Called my cycling training partner this morning and said..nope, sorry, call me a coward but I like my fingers and toes and do not want to freeze them today!! He agreed. So onto the trainer I go. The workout was a warm-up and then 4 times 8 minutes at a steady state HR, then 4 minutes easy pedalling. JP had asked for the first 3 in that steady state HR and then the 4th one as hard as I could go. He does not think my HR zones are correct as they compare way off target to my running HR zones. A bit of a field test today to see what's what. I actually did 4 at the SS HR and then the fifth was the killer. Then the instructions were get on the run as quickly as possible after a bit of easy spinning. The run was 5 minutes of easy, find your legs running and then a tempo run (HR 160-166). Holy CRAP!! That nearly f-ing killed me!! I got up to 160 quite easily but staying there was a chore!! Garmin tells me for that 15 minutes of torture, the average HR was 161!! Had to take a serious walk break after this. Then ran out the rest of the 45 minutes. And it was c-c-cold. My hair was all sweaty and the bits that were not under my hat froze!! C'mon weather!! A little cooperation, please!!

duh

Got a call yesterday from a good friend that another girlfriend has landed her dream job. This sounded like a great reason to celebrate!! Went for supper at a hot spot in downtown toon town. These are life long friends and I could not let them down...I cracked...was out WAY too late and drank WAY too much and my brain is foggy today. But had loads of fun. Looking forward, have a hard bike ride tomorrow. The temp here is forcast at plus 3. What to do? What to do? Trainer? Outside? I think if I bundle up I would be okay outside. I certainly was last week except my toes got cold...however, I purchased a pair of toe covers so I should be good...right? I REALLY want to be OUTSIDE!! And then a hard run after the hard bike. The instructions are, find your legs and then 15 minutes of a tempo run...this one should be interesting!!

Thursday Run

Got my run in today. It was a struggle but it is done! No sleep, the little one decides it is time to get up at 5:00am...ugh. Wasn't a hard run time-wise but I had some pretty specific instructions today. A warm-up and then 400 meters as hard as I can run. Do that 4 times with 2 minutes easy jog in between. I was to find a straight, flat stretch of road and basically run my tail off. Then do an easy run for a few minutes and right into 4 times 200 meters, again as hard as I can go. Justin said he was pretty confident that the 400m could be done in 2 minutes and the 200m in one minute. Always the positive one. Seriously, I had no idea what to expect!! So the first 400, I kept looking at Garmin, did not run in a straight line, and of course, me being me, did exactly 400 meters in 2 minutes!! He also said that if it felt good or heaven forbid, easy, then adjust the workout and see how far I can run in 2 minutes. By the third and fourth interval, I did 415 meters and 419 meters in 2 minutes. What does this mean? I have absolutely no idea. I have sent him the data and I will wait for him to tell me, I am sure, what I did right and wrong. And for the 200 meter intervals, they went a little something like this: 206m; 214m; 200m; 221m...all in one minute.
151..dammit that number is falling slowly!!!!!

Memories...

I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch this race and yelling at the tv!! It was exciting because I had also just swam in that very pool a few months before. Watch Thorpe's kick at the end of his 100...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQQt0eTknxY

Never seen that before...

Got to the pool this morning. Nothing really to report from the swim. Some drill, some kick, a 400 at race pace. Felt good but a bit tired and was starving the whole workout. Was up WAY before the alarm so doddled around the house for a bit before I had to go. One of the local swim clubs trains at the same time on Wednesday mornings. I don't know what kind of a set they were doing but in between one of our sets, I heard a funny sound from two lanes over. I looked over and one of the kids was heaving into the drain!! Nothing was coming out but he was trying to get himself out of the pool, he crawled over to another drain, stood up and then barfed all over the deck!! Chuck...how bout a Barf Daquiri!! Oh my GOD!! And let's just say he must have been drinking some red gatorade or powerade or something along those lines....I could not SMELL it from where I was or I would have had a sympathy puke...but I wasn't hungry anymore.

Welcome Spring!!

About time. Supposed to be b-e-a-utiful today. Let the daydreaming from my office window begin!! And the hot dog bus should be open soon...I can see it from my window, will keep y'all posted as I am sure I keep that place in business during the spring/summer months. Had a long talk with Justin yesterday. I am really liking having a coach. He is supportive and ecouraging and makes me feel like I can do anything I put my mind to. Love it!! He gave me a great tip yesterday for all of those who own and use a Garmin. I am now set up on motionbased.com. I download all my Garmin info to that site and he can analyse it and tell me what I am doing right and wrong. And it is FREE!! I was having trouble sending my Garmin stuff too him using the software and of course I am cheap and did not want a membership to a different site. Apparently, Garmin is in the process of buying Motion Based. It is pretty cool as last night I was tinkering around and the site actually downloads the weather of the day of the workout and an actual map of your route. He gave me a bit of a hard time yesterday as he is "Still waiting for me to get the Garmin figured out" And he was sure he could do a better job coaching me if he had that info. Well, there you have it JP!! Coach away... His advice for this week was work as hard as you possibly can for the next three days...the bike ride this morning (hence the extra two intervals, I could hear him in my head for the entire workout), the swim tomorrow and the run on Thursday. Then Friday is a rest day and Saturday is yet another brick workout. Oh joy!! Oh joy!!

Bike workout

Just off my bike workout this morning. The plan called for 4 intervals of 6 minutes hard pedalling and then a 4 minute easy ride...I'd had a great sleep, and had the time today, so I channelled Julie and did 6 intervals!! Now I have to get up out of this chair and walk up the stairs.....