up and at it

Had to get my bike ride in today and the only time I had was early this morning. Out the door at 6:15 and rode for just over an hour. Three sets of 10 minute intervals in my steady state heart rate. Was super tired and struggled to get going so promised myself a Roastery coffee afterwards. So with the price of gas, the $3 coffee actually cost me around $5 but totally worth it! Was a perfect morning for a bike ride. No wind, a bit cool but okay.

i just felt like it

The plan had called for a 45 minute bike ride yesterday but the weather was so nice and I had talked JP into a longer ride. So off I go after supper and it was an absolutey gorgeous night!! To get out into the country with the smells and the lush green right now and all the colours...and on the prairies you can really seriously see for miles. I saw a fox, lots and lots of gophers, a hawk (who was sitting on the top of a sign and as I rode up he just looked down at me and then so calmly lifted his wings and flew off...as if to say "p-shaw"), the horses and a donkey.

E-I-E-I-O!!!

Anyway, the ride was good, really easy, did not wear garmin just my old stop watch. Put 90 minutes in...that does not include the phone call I took from Jenna!! Some drama happening in the local tri-club that we just HAD to discuss!! The local coach has dropped all of his athletes. On a whim. The explanations/reasons that I have heard (through the vine) have been immature and ridiculous. No concern of mine, really, I just feel bad for the athletes that are stuck now with no coach.

Had a super restless sleep last night and was up WAY early so went for a swim. Don't usually swim on Fridays and JP's instructions were to take it super easy this week, but it did feel good to just float around and stretch the limbs and work a bit on technique. Got about 2500 meters in. Tommorrow is a bike ride, Sunday is a run and a swim. Have been invited to do a charity run with an old friend whose mom died last year from a brain tumour. He has asked me (and some other non-triathlon friends) to run 10km with him so I am thinking of taking him up on it as it will be nice and easy and we will chat the entire time!! And there is a bar-b-q afterwards...food, FREE food, and drinks...how can I NOT go??

mid-week swim

Holy....made it to the pool today. This was a feat as I was sleeping like a friggin log and heard my alarm way, WAY in the background. Finally started to lift my eyelids open...considered just rolling over and heading back to dreamland but I have a half ironman to do in the near future and want to get to the start line with zero excuses.

Was a great swim.

Not fast and not hard, but nice and slow and long and easy. Could not kick worth a damn but was good to stretch the body out. My swim buddy Susan was MIA so had the entire lane to myself. Did not do the workout on the board, just swam length after length after length and I think I did about 3000 meters in total. Talked Justin into a 2 hour bike ride tomorrow. Yes, you read that correctly. He wanted me to do no more than 45minutes to an hour, but I said I wanted to do a bit extra as the weather (as of yesterday morning) was supposed to be amazing. So he gave me the go ahead with strict instructions of DO NOT look at your HR, DO NOT look at your pace, DO NOT look at anything but the scenery at the side of the road!! Time in the saddle, that is all I am to do. However, in true Saskatchewan form, tomorrow now has a forcast of thunder storms...so might be making it out for an early ride Friday morning.

post race talk with JP

Just got off the phone with JP. He makes me laugh. I was complaining (okay..I was whining) about how bad my legs felt during those last 2km on my run. I was telling him I think we need to change something. I need more longer runs. We need to do something so it isn't so hard!! Then there was a long pause. And he says "The last 2km are supposed to be hard. If that was the toughest part of the race, you had a great run!! If you had of said the last 4-5km were too hard, then we have a problem. You will always get that last mile done. It's only the last mile..."

Thought that was good advice and something I will remember.

The longer term plans are for two BIG bike rides in the next few weeks. One of them the day before my Olympic distance race. He told me not to be upset if I feel like a slug on the bike that day as we are training my legs to be tired for the run. I told him I want to do the Olympic tri because it is our local race and it is fun but if my results are crappy, I am okay with that as that race is the carnage for the big one. And he said to expect my results to be crappy!! So honest sometimes... I am to see how it feels to bike after a swim, to practice transitions, practice nutrition, run my butt off after biking long the day before and hard during the race. Does that not sound like FUN!!!

the day after

Legs feel good. Tired and a bit sore but feel pretty good. Sent a long detailed e-mail to JP last night and I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say about the run yesterday. After having several hours to think about things, I am not sure what I would have changed. I think I may have worn too many clothes (it was hard to know what to wear with that wind and the famously unpredictable Sask weather!!) but when getting dressed before the run, I kept telling myself to just do whatever you would do for a training run. Don't be fancy, don't be different, if this was a training day, what would you do, wear, eat etc. But I did wear a different pair of socks than I ususally wear and guess what...my frigging feet!! I even cringed this morning getting ready for work when I looked at my pumps. Nope. Had to wear a pair of FLAT shoes today to work!! Argh! I have a 5'8" personality but stand only 5'5" so I have to compensate somehow. Anyway, felt really good the rest of the day yesterday so that tells me I must have hydrated, ate properly. I was a bit tired, but was also on a bit of a high. I will probably crash tomorrow or the next day. Looking at my training schedule, this week is pretty easy with a swim on Wed and a bike ride on Thursday. Have not looked past that!!

THANK-YOU for all of the kind comments and e-mails!! I really do appreciate them!

aaaaaand the official time was....

1:59.57

Just under the wire!! But I will TAKE IT!!!

Half Marathon Race Report

Hoop Dee Do!! I am very excited about my race. I ran like I was on a mission.

Start from the beginning. The weather was really crappy, rainy and a serious head wind on the way out. I heard a few people complaining about the wind (weather station said 35km/hour) but it honestly did not bother me. I was in "the zone". Got to the race in good time, did the wait in the porta-potty line up, did a very short slow jog, chatted with a couple of people I knew, did some stretching.

Started my garmin as I was going over the mats at the start line (this is significant for later in this story). Got a bit caught up in the crowd and was dodging people a bit, almost tripped over a pylon. At about the 3km mark, people started to spread out and I looked at garmin again and my average pace was 8 min miles...WHOA cowgirl!!! This is going to hurt if I keep that up. Slowed down significantly. Ran a pretty good first half...came up to the 10km mark at 55 minutes. Was happy with that as I felt really good and figured I had a few minutes to spare should things go sideways in the second half.

On the way back we were with the wind and I cannot tell you how good that felt!! I didn't really pick up the pace as I wanted to run steady, just one foot in front of the other. Then I saw Jenn a ways ahead of me and concentrated on her ponytail for a few kms!! I asked her after if she could feel anything pulling at her ponytail as I was fixated on it!! Managed a "Hey" as I went by. Was still feeling good and really super strong. Kept checking garmin and I was on pace to get under those 2 hours. With about 4 km left, I was at about 1:33 and actually got butterflies!! But those are the LAST 4km of a half marathon...this is when I have fallen apart before and I was determined not to have that happen. Kept telling myself "Look in the vault!! Just have a quick look, you can do this! This is when the mental games start and you will win this one!!" Had to take 2 walk breaks up the two last hills (both in the last 2 kms) and I swear I was very close to making a deal with the devil those last 2km. Jenn and I played the leap frog game the last bit and I am proud to tell you she RAN up that last sucker!! I wanted to say something positive as she went by, but I am sure she will understand why I couldn't! Caught another tri-buddy with 1km left and he says "Let's push it to the finish!!" I signalled to him with my hand "Have at er...and give it your all...my legs are trashed!!"

Stopped garmin just as I went over the mats again and this is what he tells me:

Time: 2:00:00 - I am not kidding, exactly that!!

Distance: 13.25 miles - so I did a bit extra?

Average pace: 9.08 minute miles

So, I am not great with math, but with this info, I am going to conclude that I did that half marathon in under 2 hours!! Will let you all know what the official time says...but I am THRILLED!!

GOAL ACHIEVED!!!!

easy ride and run

The plan called for an easy one hour bike ride and easy 20 minute run straight after. Up today early and got it done. Was a gorgeous morning on the highway out to the casino. The run felt really, really good. A few more things I came up with this morning:

1. I don't want to cry if they play the national anthem. I always cry. And have no idea why.

2. I will try not to cry coming up to the finishing line. I probably will and make a fool out of myself but I can't help it!! These are things I never thought I could do and now I am doing them. It is all really special to me.

3. I am going to try to remember to thank all of the volunteers I see. Sometimes at the end, it gets really tough to talk and I just nod my head and give a little smile and I hope they know that I appreciate them being out there.

4. I am going to remember to take my gels this run. I always carry them and forget to eat them until it is too late. I am even going to write the reminder on my hand.

5. I am going to stay tough mentally this run. A bad habit is when it gets tough, I start to question everything...I am taking a new angle this time and I have someone in mind that I am going to run for.

That's all I have for now!!

random pre-half marathon thoughts

Well, here we are. My first race of the season is in two days. Who would have thought that I would just go out and run a half marathon? AND have a goal time? Wow...how a year changes things! Last year I did the 10km and I thought my heart was going to fall out and beat itself to death on the pavement...this year I am thinking I could do this run under 2 hours. And feel good. Justin's advice is to do the first half in an hour and the second half in just under an hour. Sounds simple. But he also said to concentrate on getting all my nutrition into my body in that first half. Many people wait too long and then have nothing left for those last 5 km. I am going to wear my Garmin. I was thinking maybe I wouldn't but I don't want to be crazy in the first part with all the hub bub and he also said to keep an eye on my HR as if it gets too high, stop and walk just a couple of steps to bring it down as that will also save things for the end. He was pretty confident all my training will come home for those last few kilometers. He also suggested I warm up before the race. I know, I know!! I have never warmed up...EVER!! I have always used the first few kms as a warm up. I looked myself up the other day to see what my times have been in the past. In 2002, I did the Manitoba Half in 2:16:25 but was 4 months pregnant so I don't really think that counts!!! In 2005, I did this same half in 2:04.15. Had not really ran much, signed up the day before and walked a good chunk of the last 3-4 kms. Totally blew up. NOW, I know so much more about pacing, heart rates, nutrition, listening to my own body, totally run my own run. I am looking in my "vault" and I have done pretty much every run Justin has given me, I have added sets when I have the time, I have done them dead on for HR and pacing, I have been on my bike more than I have ever imagined possible, I feel overall I am fitter than I have ever been in my life!!

Let's Rock and Roll!!!

Happy Birthday Smidge!!

My baby is 2 today. I cannot believe it. Two years have FLOWN by!! I will save the details on my day two years ago, but I have a healthy, pudgy, giggly little boy who loves The Wiggles, Spiderman, dandylions, cuddling, playing Connect Four, dancing and giving you high-fives.
On another note, went to my swim today. My new swim buddy Susan is a funny girl. One of those funny but tough as nails types...kinda like my other tri-buddy with the first initial J. The workout called for some 25's and Susan looks at me and says "I am not doing those pissy little 25's, let's do 50's" Already then. She is SO FAST!! We did a set of 100s, she did them IM and I had to do freestyle to keep up!! Holy!! Turns out we have lots in common as well with kids and work etc. She gets up and bikes before swimming...now that is some friggin dedication!! Supposed to bike ride tomorrow. The weather here is crappy. Might save my bike ride for Friday. Also supposed to do one on Saturday...just an hour each time. Then off to the races on Sunday! Should I get a pair of those cute little skorts to run in on Sunday? Or would I look like a "run-bunny"? You know, the girls who workout with matching, co-ordinating outfits and they never break a sweat...I feel like I should have a new outfit for this half marathon.

now i'm the hack...

Sure glad I got the bike ride in on Friday. Cause all I have done the past three days is eat, drink, sleep and eat some more. Took my running gear to the lake with good intentions, but I was SO lazy!! Oh my gosh!! But the funny thing is I do not feel bad about not running. I have been feeling like I totally needed to get my batteries re-charged the last few weeks and now they are good to go. Was supposed to do a "recovery run" this morning...a recovery from what should have been a relatively hard effort on the weekend, but it was more a recovery from and getting the booze and nachos and hot dogs and laziness out of my system!! But an hour run is still an hour run. This week is about only putting good thoughts and good food into my body for the half marathon this weekend. Don't know what to expect for a "goal time" I had an idea I would like to go under 2 hours but will see what is what come Sunday morning. The week as far as training goes is pretty light, so I am guessing my legs will feel like they are ready to rock (I seriously hope so)...and NOT like I have been on a bike for several hours the day before!! And my sun burn from wearing my new bike shorts is kind of funny...I officially have that goofy cycling tan...

May long weekend...no training done...

Matthew and his fake smile.

Hanging out.

I really do not like those stupid sparklers Mom put on my birthday cupcakes!!

Mmmmmm!!!!!

3:05.35

Time on my bike today....HOORAY!! Wind was a bitch...cross winds even bitchier...but we did it. Almost fell twice as the cross winds were seriously not nice.
In the VAULT!!

kick ass run today

It is true. I had a really good run today! It was a beautiful morning and I felt really good and I have been following a story in the news that has had me all riled up the last few days and just ran hard to get my head straight. If that makes any sense...

The workout was supposed to be 8 minutes at my tempo heart rate with 4 minutes easy. 2 sets of this. I actually did 4 sets as I was really pumped up and I never did get that bike workout done so was feeling a bit guilty.

Looking forward to tomorrow...Jenn and I are heading out in the morning to do a 3.5 hour ride. Thank-you Jenn for coming along!! Should be fun. My definition of fun has changed considerably!! Then it is up to the lake for the loooong weekend!! I heard on the news today that they are not allowing alcohol in the campgrounds...and I say SUCKERS!!! As I plan on having a beverage or two and letting loose a bit this weekend at the cabin. My two best gal pals will be up there as well so should be some good times.

Have a fun and SAFE weekend!!

funny for the day

A koala was sitting in a gum tree ... smoking a joint when a little lizard walked past, looked up and said,

'Hey Koala! What are you doing?'

The koala said, 'Smoking a joint, come up and have some.' So the little lizard climbed up and sat next to the koala where they enjoyed a few joints. After a while the little lizard said that his mouth was 'dry' and that he was going to get a drink from the river. The little lizard was so stoned that he leaned too far over and fell into the river.

A crocodile saw this and swam over to the little lizard and helped him to the side. Then he asked the little lizard, 'What's the matter with you?' The little lizard explained to the crocodile that he was sitting smoking a joint with the koala in the tree, got too stoned and then fell into the river while taking a drink.

The crocodile said that he had to check this out and walked into the rain forest, found the tree where the koala was sitting finishing a joint.

The crocodile looked up and said, 'Hey you!'

So the koala looked down at him and said, 'Shiiiiiiiiiiit dude... How much water did you drink?'

well...well...well....

I broke down and bought spandex type bike shorts yesterday. I had a pair of the mountain biking shorts as Susi suggested but the padding was not really good for these longer bike rides I am to be putting in over the next several weeks. So $90 later, I have a pair of bike shorts. And new water bottle. I even tried to get a photo to show you all but I forgot about the little issue of flash on camera + black tank top does not = good picture!!

Had another long talk with Justin yesterday. He tells me after the half marathon next weekend, we have done about as much for my running as we can for right now in preperation for the half ironman in July. This was a happy/sad moment for me. Happy that I did pretty much every workout he gave me and did it like he wanted me to and sad because now we are going to maintain the running and work hard on the biking for the next 6 weeks. I actually thought I had been working hard on the bike, but apparently the suprises are still to come...can't wait!!

Went to swimming this morning. Was a pretty good workout. The main set was 4 x 100 hard with a 300 meter easy...do that 3 times. The gal (Susan)I have met and now swim with is super fast!! Oh my gosh!! I asked her what she thought she would be doing the 100s on and she said around 1:15...eek!!! That is faster than any of those dudes at the tri club!! AND she did some of them BACKSTROKE!!!

Did not get my bike ride in yesterday...I had woke up in plenty of time in the am but it was c-c-c-old and I thought I would have time after work. I did not have time so will be getting it in tonight...hopefully...keep you posted!!

tired girl yesterday

As you know, yesterday was Mother's Day. My dear husband asked what I would like to do. I said I would like to have a nap. I slept for 3 hours!! THREE!! Damn that felt good. And I slept the entire night...this training has been good for my sleeping issues.

On the agenda this week, a bike ride tomorrow, a swim on Wednesday and a run on Thursday. Jenna and I are going to do another "epic" ride on Friday morning before we take off for the long weekend...3.5 hours...no problem...right? No Problem. I need some different bike shorts so will be making my way into the bike shop sometime this week. I have resisted wearing spandex...something happened to my butt and my hips after childbirth and spandex is NOT a good look for me...I might have to cave on this one!! And my Powerbar Endurance drink is on its way. JP suggested this drink for my long rides and we cannot get it here in Canada. Supposed to be "the drink" for "endurance athletes". So hopefully it gets here before Friday!!

good run

Got the hour and forty minutes in today. Was a pretty good effort, after it was done!! One of those were you feel like you are struggling but then afterwards you are like "Aww, wasn't so bad!!" Had skipped swimming because the plan had called for 2000 meters and last week I had gotten the warm up done and then had to leave. Opted to just get a solid run in today instead. Did not feel good at all the first bit. Took a 4 minute walk break after 45 minutes and then just made myself run steady. One foot in front of the other. Was trying to just listen to everything my body was telling me. My feet, knees, legs, hips, arms, head etc. I had had a very restless sleep and a long and busy day yesterday so was overall just super tired. But all in all, Garmin tells me I did just shy of 16 km in 1:38. Not bad on tired legs and no sleep!!

Saturday am bike ride...done...before 8:00am!!!

My dear spouse came home yesterday and informed me he had to meet a customer this morning shortly after 8:00am. And that he would be working all day today. I love it when he throws curve balls at me...can you pick up the sarcasm? Anyway, what does this mean? It means I am up and out the door today at 5:00am because I had a 2.5 hour bike ride to do. And HOLY SHITE was it cold!! Minus 3 when I started out!! I even took Justin's advice and put plastic bags on my feet in between my sock layers. Dorky, but I love my toes and want to keep them. All and all Garmin tells me I did 2 hours...I thought it was a bit longer as it felt a bit longer but interestingly it was easier than last week!! At one point, I looked at my watch and lo and behold it was 1 hour 40 minutes!! That made me very happy!! According to my heart rate data, overall I wasn't working all that hard, so one more step forward. Yippee!! And we did hill repeats...loads of fun I had today!!
Tomorrow I have a 1:40 minute run to do. Going to skip my swim and get up and get it done in good time. Next week is my 3.5 hour bike ride. Long weekend next weekend. I have booked Friday off so I can do my bike ride and run around town like a fool and get ready for the lake and then when I get to the lake....I am doing NOTHING!!

and you think training is hard work....

Yep...made it into the salon yesterday to get my roots looked after...the foil and the goo that goes into my hair!!! And I got bangs for the first time in many years....they are apparently in for this year. Who knew??

whew...that feels better...

Got up today and got that run in. I feel much better about that!! I don't have a lot of extra time so when a workout goes wrong or time runs out, I get a bit panicked as I really want to do this half ironman and I don't have the opportunity to make up workouts really ever. So the workout was 3 times 8 minutes at my tempo run heart rate. Basically one notch below the barf zone. Today, I was done my second interval and I started to cough and then I gagged and stopped and gagged again!!! It was very, very close...ewwwy!!

Tomorrow I am up very early to get my 2.5 hour bike ride in. My buddy Shannon has agreed to meet me at 6 bells...thank-you Shannon!! And we should have all of the world's problems solved by about 6:45. Sunday calls for an 1:40 minute run so I am going to skip swimming and get up early again and get that run in.

My children make me laugh every single day. They are always doing something or saying something that makes me just stop dead in my tracks. We get so busy with our lives and my kids have taught me to just slow down a bit and enjoy the ride. Keep it simple. Yesterday, I had gotten cross with them in the morning for bugging each other and fighting. I felt really bad about it all day as I had that bummer run and my shitty mood was certainly nothing to do with them. And they are two little boys who love to rough house with each other. And I was really only upset because they were getting dirty....seriously, that should not be a big deal. So I bailed out of work early and went and got them and we hung out in the back yard for a bit. I was cleaning things up and Luke wanted to "help". He will be 2 later this month and when a 2 year old wants to help, you can guarantee the job will take 4 times longer than you planned. I asked him to pick up the leaves and put them in the garbage can. So he went and picked up the leaves...one....at....a...time!! And was SO proud of himself!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

And this is what I have to look forward to....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKXFqGUGdTk

the worst run...ever...in my life

Not a happy run today.

Was seriously ticked this morning after I finally made it home. But the only person to blame for this one was me. I knew I had a hard run to do today and I kind of blew it. Strike one was that I stayed up too late and I was tired from the week so should have been in bed in good time. But really...I found this book, I need to tell everyone about it, it is called "Rescuing da Vinci". A huge history buff right here and the book is about Europe's attempt to save their artwork and their culture and how they did it before the Nazis got their hands on it. For example, they encased many of the great marble statues (David, Moses etc.) in cloth and bricks to hopefully save them from bombing. They hid thousands of paintings and artifacts in mines. It really was fascinating, but by me getting into this book, helped to ruin my run this morning.

Strike two was that my heart rate would not register correctly on Garmin. I had to stop several times to adjust the strap. When I started out, it was reading 160...huh? Took me several attempts to get it right.

Strike three was that I was supposed to be doing 8 minute intervals at my tempo heart rate. Once Garmin got figured out, and I started the first tempo interval, I just could not make my legs go any faster. It was a really awful feeling. Then Strike 4 was that when I looked down at Garmin, I saw that I had forgot to reset the display to show me the lap time. I could not remember when I started and just frankly gave up on the whole thing. Walked about 30 minutes to get home almost crying the entire way!!

So there you have it. A tough one and I just quit. Not happy about doing that as I have that half marathon in a couple of weeks. Was really looking forward to running under 2 hours....now I am not so sure. I may have to readjust my goals and just do the run and my plan B has always been to register in the Regina half marathon in the fall and give it a good solid effort at that one. ARGH!!!!!

swimming today

Got up. Got dressed. Got out the door. Got parked. Walked into the building. Into the locker room. Undressed. Wandered onto the pool deck. Jumped into the water. Swam up and down and up and down and up and down the lane for about 50 minutes. Nothing to report. Kind of a boring morning at the pool.
Matthew had a soccer game last night. What fun!! The 6 and under teams play 3 on 3. No rules as far as I can tell, just run around the field after the ball...all of them, at once. They don't keep score but M's team was scoring a ton of goals so the coaches decided to start them well over 3/4 of the way down the field closer to M's team's goal posts. That helped. Only two kids left the field crying during the hour...one of those kids left twice. Amazing the power of a mom's kiss on a bruised shin!! I enjoyed it and Luke had a temper tantrum right there in the middle of everything as he wanted to play too...fell flat on his stomach and cried into the grass for several minutes, peeking up over his hands to see if I was watching him. Obviously you ignore it, but OH SO cute!!!

me the horses and the songbirds

Wow.
I actually really enjoyed my bike ride this morning...wow. I can totally see the attraction to cycling now. Woke up about 45 seconds before the alarm went off. It was 5:00am. Wanted to be out the door by 5:30 but it was cloudy and the sun wasn't quite up so it was kinda dark. Waited for about 20 minutes and then headed out the door. Rode out towards the casino and it was calm, a bit cool but what a feeling being out there literally all by myself!! I could hear the songbirds cheering for me but the horses were a bit skeptical. There was a bit of mist on the highway and it was really cool to ride through that. The workout was 4 times 5 minute time trial intervals with 4 minutes easy pedalling in between. I talked to Justin for an hour yesterday and was telling him about our dear CoryF and how he puked on his time trial intervals...I assured JP that would NOT be happening...if I puke it because I am sick or really drunk...so Justin said, okay, work as hard as I can, up until just one notch below barfing. Thanks.
Soccer game tonight but forcast is for rain. Do they play in rain? I kind of hope not...

tired legs

Okay...so my legs are letting me know that I did all that biking and running on the weekend. Yep. They are tired!! Last night my little guy was so beat from running around outside yesterday that he kept tripping over his own feet. I said, "I know how you feel buddy!!" We were quite the pair. And then at soccer, the awesome new coach says about 5 minutes in "Okay parents!! We need your help for some drills!" That's right, I RAN around a soccer field for about half an hour as well!! In SANDALS!! I don't know anything about soccer but it was fun. And kids listen to everything you tell them. Before we left the house for soccer, my 5 year old says "Mom, I need to drink and eat lots to keep up my energy for soccer today!!" I am always telling him we need to be eating and drinking the right stuff...I never think he is hearing me, but apparently so.

On the go this week, a hard bike ride tomorrow. Will have to be in the early morning as we have another soccer game tomorrow night. A swim on Wednesday and a friggin hard run on Thursday. The next 3 weeks are friggin hell...HELL!! But this is when it all counts so will be sure to get it done.

beautiful day in Saskatoon!!

Got to the pool today in good time. I somehow landed the Swim Co-ordinator position in our local club and we had a board meeting today at 8:00. Justin's game plan was for a 2000 meter swim and an hour and 20 minute run. I felt a little bad about being out of the house for a good chunk of the afternoon yesterday and then again out the door early today and again an early morning meeting tomorrow...so I swam just 30 minutes but it was still around 1800 meters...close enough. Got changed and drove to the weir and ran the bridges and a little bit. Had to dig deep to find my legs those first few minutes!! Cranked some Motely Crue and Ozzy and 12 minutes in, was good to go. Had a terrific run!! Don't know what my legs will feel like tomorrow, but Garmin tells me I held an average 5.56/ kms...this is very good and steady for me...especially after my "epic" bike ride yesterday!! It was so gorgeous out there, I could have ran all day. But alas, soccer starts today so off to the soccer field we go.
A good friend was over the other day and made a very funny observation about me. He said "Since you have had kids, you speak in only three word sentences!!"
When I thought about it he was right...
Put that back!
Don't touch that!
Don't touch him!
Leave him alone!
Pick that up!
Eat your supper!
Drink your milk!
Get over here!

holy moly wind

Does a wind burn turn in to a sun tan? Cause you should see my face!! Holy Smokes!! I knew the wind was crazy here but did not appreciate how much until today. But got TWO and a HALF hours on my bike!! Milestone. Learned a TON today. No matter how warm it is in your back yard, always wear a bit warmer clothing on a bike ride out on the highway. Never leave a chocolate protein bar on the dash board. Just accept the fact that the wind is blowing you around, go to your happy place and pedal your heart out. Never take a pee break when Jenn has her camera with her. Don't give the car who leaned on their horn and scared the crap out of you, the finger...I thought afterwards, that probably was not a good idea. I am a mom, I should know better, always take some kleenex. Nobody out there cares that you are wearing your bronzing shimmer body lotion to hopefully enhance any tan you may be getting.
Anyway, was a good afternoon. THANK GOD Jenn and Kim were there, I am not sure I would have done that ride without them.
Next up is a swim in the morning and an hour and 20 minute run straight after. Let's see how my legs like that!!

big weekend training plans

Biggest so far. 2.5 hour bike ride tomorrow. A swim and a run on Sunday. Hopefully I feel good...have been in bed sick for the past two days. At work today but questionable. Missed my run yesterday as I was so sick. Did not do it today as I really wanted to get my bike ride in tomorrow and did not want to take the chance on getting ill again. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate today!! Oh the joys of this training! Going to take Julie's advice and do this 2.5 hour ride in 30 minute spurts. Should help to break it down into a more manageable ride! And food...I have to think about the food I am going to take. And the weather is going to be awesome! A LOW of plus 8...a high of 18....whoo hoo!!!! Here comes the weekend!!