Gimme an 8!!!!!

Last post for a few days as we are heading up to the lake this afternoon for the weekend. Did my bike workout, on the trainer as the sky was looking a bit gloomy and it had rained and blown all night. Good choice as it did start to rain pretty hard about 20 minutes into the workout. Came up with 8 things I need to figure out...you know, time on your bike, by yourself...makes you think about things!!

1. There are two transitions at Stony Plain? Really? How does that work? Hopefully some kind soul will walk me through all that the day before!!

2. Didn't WonderWoman have something she carried with her? Was it a whip? I need one for my costume for IMC. And I am going to spray paint it gold!! Just for effect.

3. I need to find someone who can show me how to use that whip properly before August.

4. When is the deadline to use my Aeroplan miles? I need to find this out. I really (really) want to go to New York City.

5. What should I do after this half ironman? I am leaning towards the marathon in Regina in the fall. Why not? The half marathon for sure.

6. Where should I do my first full Ironman? Penticton is the obvious choice but some other exotic location would be kind of fun!! Like Europe or how about Australia? There is one in China now...

7. Back to the costume...I want to find someone out in Penticton that could do my hair up in a bee hive...with the little gold starred tiarra thing she wore...kind of my own version of WW!!

8. Why do people hurt their children? My deepest thoughts for the day....have been following a news story that made me physically ill the other day. I just don't understand.

girls on film!!!

The cap had JUST ripped!! My face says IT ALL!! HA HA!!!

ummm...these are my triathlon friends...!!!!

and then there were 9...

Going to have to watch me count down these days. Today is a rest day so I have been thinking about the nine people that I need to thank and let them know how much I have appreciated their help with my little half ironman goal. Again, in no particular order:

1. Dad: Thanks for getting us in and keeping us in athletics when we were kids. I remember him taking me to the YMCA when I was a kid and he had signed up for a 1000km challenge. They had to run 1000km over a certain period of time. He ran 10km every single day around the bridges here in Toon Town. He was leading the pack and I was so very proud standing there looking a the list of names and seeing his in first place!!

2. Mom: Thanks for looking after my munchkins when all other options have ran out. Always eager to help.

3. Shaun: Thanks for being a bugger sometimes about this triathlon goal of mine!! When will you learn that when I have my mind made up, there is no discussing it...and thanks for getting up even though you are SO NOT a morning person, with the children when I am out for a run or a ride.

4. Matthew and Luke: They are collectively one person. I want to set the example that my dad did with us. Matthew asked me last night "How do your legs feel Mom? Did you run today?" Even at 5, he takes notice!!

5. Jennifer: Where to start? Thanks for your sense of humour, your tenacity and your out right gutsiness...you are going to ROCK Penticton and I can't wait to see it!!

6. Shannon: Thank-you for the phone call about 2 years ago. I had put a little note on the local tri-website that I wanted to know where to start. Shannon called me out of the blue and we talked for quite awhile and she had me convinced that I could really do this!! She lined up a bike for me to buy and for my birthday this year she sent over a little plaque "Nobody can pedal the bike for you". I have it on my windowsill at work and I look at it about 100 times per day!! GO SHANNON!!!

7. Glenn: Thanks for all the encouraging e-mails, the fun banter, the occasional bike ride (where you are going "easy" and I have ran out of gears...) The support has been appreciated! You too are going to ROCK Penticton...and IMCDA next year!!

8. My blogger buddies: I do most of this training on my own. I am so happy to have touched base with all of you and would really like to meet you some day! It is good to hear of all your trials and successes and I wish you all the very best this season!

9. Justin: who does not read this blog...I don't think...but what would I have done without a coach? So highly recommended for those who have no idea where to start and have time constraints like me. His knowledge, experience and patience have done wonders for me over the last several months.

10 days to go...

Holy crap.

Got to my swim today. Moved down a lane as the workout was just not getting done without some help. Main set was 15x100s. We did them on about 1:55 repeats. Wasn't working all that hard, actually. But was good to get into the water and stretch a bit. Talked to Justin yesterday. His opinion was that my head is in the right space. I was happy that he said that...have been having some panic attacks in private so my acting really brave fooled him!! Seriously, I feel like I am ready for this. Don't want to wait anymore. And the panic attacks are just something I do before anything big. Get them out of the way so I am calm and focused for the day.

Put together a list of 10 objectives (in no particular order) for the next 10 days:

1. Drink lots of water. Lots and lots of water.

2. Get lots of sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

3. Enjoy the lake this weekend. Relax, relax, relax.

4. Don't drink too much alchohol this weekend...it IS the July long weekend!! Must stay focused!! gah...

5. Pray my leg feels good. It was really sore after yesterday. This annoys me like you have no idea. JP says it is because my body is tired and I worked it pretty hard and now it is time to rest.

6. Take my bike in for a tune up...just to make sure there isn't something that is on the verge of breaking. Cause it is not like I would easily know.

7. Confirm the hotel reservations.

8. E-mail my brother, Dad and sister and see if there is ANY chance they could make it to the race.

9. Get my hair done. Seriously, my roots are about an inch and need good hair for this thing.

10. Order my WonderWoman costume. My buddy and I have decided to dress up like wonder women for IMC in August! How fun will that be! Want to make the video....

a few words

There are several words that are not allowed in our house.
Obviously, none of the cuss words but I do not allow my kids to say words like stupid, sucky, retard, I can't (which I realize is three words but it is still not allowed!!) I try to encourage them to say "I don't know how" or "Please show me how to do it" rather than "I can't". So last night, Matthew was struggling with a puzzle and I could hear him gasp over and over as he was having a hard time with it. I also tell them that they have to try before I will help them. Sometimes this is really difficult as I can see the solution so easy but they need to figure things out on their own and only when they are at a loss will I step in. Last night was really cute as Matthew says (he is 5 years old) "Mom...I just don't know how to do this and I have given it a solid effort. Will you please help me!!" Funny!!! They just repeat what they hear!! That sounded so grown up!
Anyway, got up way early today and got my 45 minute ride in. Did not see Jenna out there on the highway, imagine I missed her by just a few minutes. Then the plan was to do a 45 minute run at "race pace". What the heck would my race pace be? Just get it done is what I had intended for the half ironman!! So got off the bike, a 2 minute transition which included a pee, re-apply some lipgloss, get runners on, grab iPod and away I go. My leg did not hurt one bit. WTF!! It was a bit achey on the bike and I was worried about running but once I got going, not one issue....I think I have a phantom pain. It only hurts when I think about it...is this normal?! Because it is stressing me out!!!!!!!!!

training like a warrior

So, my "team mate" Desiree Ficker, who just recently signed on with CTS for their coaching did not have a good day yesterday at IMCDA. She was doing pretty good off the bike but did not finish the run so obviously did not have the day she was hoping for. And I use the word "Team mate" very sarcastically...I can dream a little dream...

But like I posted on the weekend, got my 3 hour bike ride in. Was actually super happy with that ride as there were a couple of guys out with us and I managed to stay right on Rayner's wheel for a good time. They were chatting and most likely did not even notice me, but hey, I will take the small personal victories when they come!! Did not run yesterday. Was super tired. And my left leg ached and ached. A wee bit worried I am about this little thing.

Had fallen asleep on the couch Saturday evening and had the most amazing dream. Was dreaming I was at the Ironman in Penticton. I was cheering and yelling for all the people I know doing the race. Then down the stretch comes Jenna...she finished in 10 hours and 30minutes!!!!!! I was so excited for her and there was music blaring in my ear which was really just a car load of kids going by my house that woke me up...crawled off the couch, and stumbled into bed and slept like I have never slept before. Woke up feeling a wee bit off. Managed to go for a coffee and treats with the PHAT Chicks but just did not feel right all day. Took it to mean I was scooping all and any bad energy away from Susi, so I was okay with that!!!

Got up today early, early and got my run in. Felt really good and strong. However, could not get my heart rate up to where I was supposed to be but was a beautiful morning and I loved every minute of it!! Still felt tired but looking ahead, I am going to looooove tapering!!

Susi ROCKS!!!!!!

A huge shout out to my blogger buddy Susi...way to go on an awesome race yesterday!! I am SO proud of you for gettin it done!!

another dumbass parenting move brought to you by Kelly

That's right. Another one. After my bike ride and run and Luke's nap, loaded them up in the stroller and headed to the pool right near our house. It is an awesome pool as it is really shallow for the most part and my kids love it because they can paddle around all afternoon. I love it because I can sit and daydream and drink my coffee/water and watch them. The pool also has a waterslide. Matthew wanted to try it...of course. I was by myself with the munchkins so I had no choice but to haul Luke up all those stairs (remember I biked for 3 hours and ran today already, it was a struggle to lift a pudgy little two year old up 6 flights of stairs) The slide was much faster than I remembered it from last year. I had Luke in front of me and Matthew behind me. We were going WAY too fast. I was trying to use my legs to slow us down by digging them into the sides of the slide. They were of no help to me. We hit the water and I instinctively just hold Luke up with both my hands desperately and hoping to god his head was above the water. Matthew is on my back struggling and kicking and pushing me down under the water. I actually have to push him OFF me and kick like hell to get myself above water and then I tread water with one hand with Luke in the other crying and screaming...I grab Matthew and put him on my back and we hobble our way to the edge. They are both crying, and I have my head full of water. And we were done with the waterslide for the afternoon!!

Good ride

First of all...the last few days...swam on Wednesday, not much of a swim. Only did about 1000 meters. Did a super hard bike interval workout Thursday. On my trainer. Then I read Jenn's blog and she had gone outside for her long ride and it was raining when I got up but then cleared about 15 minutes into my workout...so I felt like a bit of a wimp!! But did 2 extra intervals because I had the time and just felt like it.

Today...up at 4:45 for breakfast. Had the biggest bowl of oatmeal ever. Out the door by about 5:20 and rode out to the drive-in. Was meeting some gals at 6:30 so did the hills and then back just in time. We headed out towards Aberdeen. I made it to the first light post just before Aberdeen...I don't think I had ever biked that far on that road before!! Amazing the difference in my ride when I eat and drink properly...Wow!! Felt wonderful out there and my fresh legs helped. Taper is going to be FUN!! Garmin tells me I did 74 km in 2 hours 38 minutes. Adn this was chatting and visiting most of the time!! In total I did just over my 3 hours as I did not start and stop him until I was out on the highway. Then I had a 20 minute run. The run felt way too good...my left leg was super stiff getting off the bike but I took a few minutes and stretched and moved around and started to run very slowly. Things warmed up and it was very good run and a beautiful morning.

Please, please triathlon gods...please make this all come together July 6th!!!!!!

good one...

Dream what you want to dream
Go where you want to go
Be what you want to be
Because you have only one life
And one chance to do all the things,
You want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet
Enough trials to make you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human and
Enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily
Have the best of everything,
They just make the most of
Everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always
Be based on a forgotten past
You can't go forward in life until
You let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling
Live your life so at the end
You're the one who is smiling and everyone
Around you is crying.
- Anonymous

loooong talk with coach Justin

Had a long post race talk today with JP. I had not told him yet about my crash and burn bike ride on Saturday and the poor guy had to sit through my re-telling with every detail because I wanted to make sure he completely understood my pain!! And of course he did by saying "Yep, you need to eat on that bike!!" His analogy was pretty good. It's like driving a car with only $10 in your pocket to buy gas. Would you rather just fill up the car with that 10 bucks at the first gas station and get to your destination in good time, or do you want to stop every mile and put another dollar in for 10 miles? Because if you don't eat on the bike, the run could be a stop and go event trying to get the nutrition in when it is likely too late. He also gave me a bit of confidence in that he told me that even though my bike ride on Saturday was from hell, I managed to pull it together both mentally and physically and put together a pretty decent race on Sunday. He said only fit people can do that...OMG I am FIT!!! Whoo Hoo!!! Going forward, he tells me that the next few weeks are very important in that this is when many make the mistake of over training and they head into the event tired. Do not do any more than I tell you, he says. Aye, Aye Captain!! My heavy duty training is basically done...I almost started to cry when he said this!! We are going to slowly decrease the hours over the next two weeks and then I will be good to go on July 6. I am having major butterflies typing out this post....

I saw this yesterday....

This commercial played during the US Open yesterday. Say what you want about Tiger, but he is very mentally tough. His Dad taught him early on to roll with the punches and just get it done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTuk5Uloyjg

Spin Race Report

My first Olympic distance triathlon...in the tank! Last year the race was called due to lightening and heavy duty rain but this year the weather gods smiled down on us. A perfect day! The water was calm and there was no wind.

Had gone for supper and some ice cream with some tri-friends the night before...the evening after my bonk on the bike. Was feeling better by supper but it took lots and lots of food, water and a 2 hour nap. My left leg was aching all day which made me super nervous. Had gotten into bed in good time but did not sleep a wink as my silly leg ached to the point of having to take some advil and I was super restless. Was kind of worried about how the leg would hold up during the day. So had zero....ZERO expectations for the day. As Jenna describes, I was not all that focused and was just trying to make light of what I thought was going to be a day to just get through, being that I was tired and my legs were sore from a loooong bike ride and not sure if that left one would hold up for a 10km run. At supper the night before, "The Legend" told me from his experience that my run would be super tough in that I had bonked on my long ride and to not expect much, it was going to be a tough go.

Amazing the power of positive thinking.

On the drive out to Pike Like, I just made the desision to not let one negative thought enter my head!! Just focus on only the good things.

The water was ohhh so cold. The rumour was that the course was short as it had been a wee bit long in the couple of years prior so the organizers were making up for it. Jenna and I went down to the water way early and just eased ourselves in and had some good giggles about all sorts of stuff. We were especially excited that we had the same goggles. The water ended up not being that bad after a good while. The race started and the swim was what it was. When I am thinking about triathlons etc. I never really conisder the swim. It is just something I do. But the cold water numbed my leg, so this was good!! Came out of the water in about 23 minutes and change. My mom had brought my boys out to watch and the look on Matthew's face as I ran by and I hear my mom say "There she is!!" was so very cool!!

Transition was a gong show. Could not make my hands move the way I wanted them to. Could not get my shirt on, had to try twice. Fumbled with my shoes. Stuck my powerbars in my bra. Fumbled with my race belt and helmet. My hands and feet were very cold.

Stopped on the way out to give my friend Chris a big hug. She was so excited for me!! That was cool. Made a tiny bet on how quickly her hubby Bruce would catch me on the bike...turns out he had one of the fastest bike splits so it wasn't long.

The bike ride was uneventful. My legs felt like friggin lead. Just pedalled and pedalled and drank and ate and drank and ate somemore. Was pretty fired up about showing off my "new" biking abilities but after that 100km the day before, was just happy to be moving. My butt was sore, I cannot explain to you how sore my ass was on that bike from the get go. One of my goals was to stay in aero for as long as possible...happy to say that the entire 40km were in aero position!! Every time I saw Jenna, she yelled "Are you eating??!!" Love friends like that!!

Actually got some serious butterflies when I was coming into transition. This is what the day was for...the run. How would my legs like this? Would my left one hold up for me? How bad was this going to be...? Got things off and on and grabbed a couple of gels and headed out. I had put a pair of biking shorts on over my tri shorts and forgot to take them off before the run. All I could think about was Julie's advice about NEVER run in biking shorts. Great. This was going to hurt even more for reasons I will not get into.

JP's advice was to make myself run for about 2km. So that is what I did. Step by step, just run. Give yourself 2km and if you still feel like hell, then stop to walk. Got to the 2.5 mark and felt really good. Picked the pace up a bit but not too much because I honestly did not know what this was going to mean later on. Got to the 5km mark, saw my kids (and Jenna's kids) cheering their hearts out and I got all choked up!! Saw a lady from the tri group a ways ahead of me and just focused on her and tried to reel her in. Felt like I was getting stronger and stronger as the run went on. I could have kept that pace all day. Seriously!! I wanted to run way faster but did not know what to expect. Caught the gal, chatted for a minute and told her "Please don't out kick me in front of my kids!!" She laughed and we giggled for a second about that...she had just won her age group at the Victoria half ironman a few weeks ago. Finished the run and felt AMAZING!! Did the run in about 55 minutes which is THE FASTEST 10km I HAVE EVER RAN!!!!!!!!!! I think my previous PB was around 56 minutes....Holy.

The leg felt great...not one issue. I really feel like I could have ran that 10km way quicker...but it is what it is and that is called experience. And I made sure I found "The Legend" and told him he was wrong!

First 100km ride

I had it in my head I was doing 100km on my bike today, come hell or high water. Justin had said to ride for 3.5 hours but I wanted to see how long it would take me to do 100km. Left my house at 5:30am and headed down Taylor Street and then out to Highway 16 towards Clavet. Took me an hour to the turn off towards Patience Lake Mine. Once I turned the corner I actually felt really, really good. The early morning grogginess and feeling tired were gone and it was a gorgeous morning for a bike ride. Dark clouds to the west but it looked like I was heading towards clearer skies so I did not let it concern me. About half way to Hwy5, a group of cyclists were coming towards me and it was a bunch of tri-guys...the very fast, competitive group that I try to steer clear of!! I don't know how far they had gone but they caught me just at the corner of Hwy5. They were kind enough to pedal with me for about 45 seconds...just long enough to say hi, give me a tip or two on form, and off they went! Seriously, they were gone in a flash. No chicking them. I got to the drive-in and turned right.
CoryF was waiting there for me as he had a really long ride to do and we had agreed (as he was flying by me a few minutes before) we would ride together. He was doing intervals and would loop back to get me. Those dark clouds were getting darker and scary and the forcast did say lightening before I left home. But Cory talked me into continuing on with him....bugger.
Because I just went to far and then had to turn around I had no idea how I was going to make it home. I even called home at 9:00 and begged for a ride but the kids were still sleeping so I had no option but to keep pedalling.
As Jenna says later "That was GOOD that you had no one to save you!!"
Then I hit the rain. Holy Cow. Cold and muddy and so tired and my ass was sore and I had had to stop about 6 times through out the ride to fix my seat. I was very close to tears!! I got to McKercher and called home AGAIN! The kids were STILL sleeping!! My husband says "Well, you are so close to home...just get on your bike and ride home..." Like it is so easy.
Made it home and into the door. I was SO hungry. I think my biggest issue today was that I did not eat enough and probably had a small bonk out there as I was seriously, mentally done. Just as I was heading into the tub, Jenna called and I gave her all the details and I was still very near tears...I did the 100km but it took me over 4 hours!!! That, in my opinion, is super duper slow. And then to run a half marathon afterwards....there is NO WAY my legs could have taken that.
But the POSITIVES are these (because I refuse to focus on anything else):
1. I just rode 100km on my bike!! An unimaginable task only a few months ago.
2. I now know FOR SURE...eat...Eat...EAT !!! on that bike!!! So IMPORTANT!
3. I still believe I can do this half ironman. I little shaky about an hour ago, but thank-you Jenna for calling when you did. I was seriously close to a meltdown. The Universe knows who to send your way and when.
4. Who cares if I am slow? Seriously!! Not one person, family, client, friends have asked me how fast I figure I can do this thing in. Nobody that is important to me really cares so I shouldn't either!!

Plans A, B and C

Called Coach Justin today. What do I do? I need a plan a, b and c given that the water of that lake is friggin cold and I have now heard a couple of people say they are not doing the swim. I will assess it myself on Sunday but needed some advice. Good ole Justin. He says "Plans A, B and C are all the same" Huh?

He reminded me that the whole idea was to get a big bike ride in the day before. Looks like I am up and at er before 5 tomorrow...will be mentally channelling Keith for that one. 3.5 hours on the bike. Then, if I do the swim or I don't do the swim...doesn't matter. Whatever I decide to do is fine. Because part of the idea is to do a HARD bike ride in the race (40km) and then run 10km after. He says my legs in the run will feel very much like they will feel on the run in the half ironman, due to the big ride the day before. So you see....the swim is really a non issue. Which makes me feel a bit better because I have been stressing about this since I talked to Jenn last night. She went into the water for 3 minutes and said there was no way she could swim 1500 meters in that...and I consider her tough.

I did get my bike intervals in last night. On the trainer. I did an extra interval as I was so pissed off about this weather and the cold water...this could be the SECOND year in a row that I do not complete that race!! How frustrating is that?

We shall see what the day brings on Sunday. But before then, I will be on my bike early, early tomorrow morning slogging away...so please all think of me when you are having your coffees.

totally...bummed...out

Somedays are better than others.

Cliches are cliches because they are the truth!! This weather is getting to me...really, seriously getting to me.

"We need the rain"

If I hear that one more time, I will spit.

Obviously, they are not doing a half ironman in a few weeks and need to get a longer bike ride in. And I hear the water out at Pike Lake is cold...really cold. And last night it was rough. I do okay in rough water, I am not excited about the cold water. Haunts me from when I was a kid. We grew up near Lake Diefenbaker and waterskiied there every single day in the summer. It was a BIG and COLD lake and my Dad was too cheap to buy us wetsuits. Let me say, lots of incentive to NOT wipe out and stay on your ski!!! It was also a super rough lake. My brother and I actually liked the whitecaps because that meant we could jump with our ski. Aw the innocence of youth. Now...I like to be warm. To top it off, my 2 year old was a little bugger last night and was up a good chunk of the night. I opted for sleep rather than my bike ride this morning. Must get that done tonight. No excuses...I even set my trainer up in the living room before I left for work today, set my clothes out so when I get home tonight, I will just jump on and go. When am I going to get that 3.5 hour ride in? My options are Friday afternoon or way super early Saturday morning. Mother Nature has decided it most likely will be Saturday morning...rats!!

swimming

Got up and hit the pool today. Swam with the tri-club as I thought there would be some paperwork for me to sign at the pool as the club's new swim co-ordinator but our old co-ordinator had looked after it and I did not get the e-mail until I got to work today. He needs to learn my life secret and that is DELEGATE!! But was good to swim in the 50 meter pool as that is as close to an open water swim that I will get before Sunday. The weather forcast keeps changing...and not for good. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sucks.
The swim was good. Not all that fast but pretty steady. One of the guys is being coached by Mark Allen and is kind enough to put his swim workouts on the board for all of us to do. Lots of longer steady stuff. Just my kind of swim!!
Next up is a hard bike ride tomorrow...I am doing it outside no matter what. Will have to bundle up and maybe wear rain gear. Oh the fun of living on the prairies!!!

what is a "fartlek" anyways...?

According to the Carmichael website:
FartlekIntervals
Goal: To improve lactate threshold and work on pacing, while simulating the changes that can occur during a race. How to do it: After doing a WarmUp, increase the pace until you reach the heart rate determined by your FieldTest and/or your CTS coach. Continue at this heart rate for the duration of the interval. After the specified interval is over, slow down to the "recovery" heart rate that your FieldTest and/orCTS coach set for the workout. FartlekIntervals can be done at a variety of heart rates and durations. During the foundation period, all work will be below the lactate threshold. During the preparation and specialization period, FartlekIntervals will be a mix of aerobic and anaerobic states.

Or as Justin describes them, "Run hard and then run steady, then run hard again, and then run steady..." So this is what I tried for this morning. The run felt really super awesome!! But I just cannot run fast right smack in the middle...I am daydreaming and listening to my music and looking at people's yards...I swear I run with my head twisted to the left all the time as I am trying to get ideas for flowers and landscaping etc!!! But I did try to do these as prescribed. Next up is a swim tomorrow morning. Then a hard bike ride on Thursday and I think I am going to book Friday afternoon off and do my monster 3.5 hour ride Friday afternoon. This will save me from getting up at some ungodly hour on Saturday morning to fit it all in. Then....the event on Sunday!! Weather is looking good...but stay tuned...

Holy Rollers!!

I totally forgot to post on Friday that I swam in the morning. About 2500 meters. Nothing fancy, just up and down the pool nice and long and steady.

Went up to the lake this weekend, so happy that I snuck that bike ride in on Thursday AND the swim in on Friday morning. Did nothing but lay around on the beach (yes THE BEACH!! It was THAT nice up there!!) and watch my kids in the water. They are cold blooded as I stuck my foot in and EEEOOOWWW!! Freezing cold. Today I got up, put on my running gear and headed out for a run. It was overcast and a little cool and garmin had a hard time figuring out where we were. Turned him off and just ran. Was really nice to run just for the sake of running and not continually look at my HR and my pace and the time etc. Went a route I had not been on before and holy cow the rolling hills!! That was a workout in itself. Up and down and up and down again...over and over and over for an entire hour or so. Felt amazing out there being "one with nature"!! So quiet and calm.

Missed a bike ride this weekend but looking forward, not too dissappointed as there is lots and lots of everything coming up and then the event on Sunday. HOLD ON WEATHER!!!

29 days and counting...

Holy butterflies when I saw that this morning!! WhooHoo!! I am starting to feel good and ready. That bike ride last night was really good for my confidence...I got up to 42.6km/hour!! I was analysing garmin after my kids were in bed. Mind you that was WITH the wind, but still, who would have ever thought I could go that fast...ever...on a bike??!! Got up and went swimming today. Supposed to be my rest day but we are still about 50/50 on going to the lake. So needed to get that in before we go. Can do my run up there. Big, big week of training next week. Some really hard stuff that I am actually looking forward to!! A THREE and ONE HALF HOUR bike ride!!! And it doesn't even intimidate me. JP says I should try to do about 100km in that time. Let's hope for good weather. Then our Spin on Spadina Olympic distance race on Sunday. The plan is to do the 3.5 hour ride on Saturday and the race on Sunday. The goal is to practice transitions, and run a 10km with super tired legs. JP says these two days will go a long way to helping with the half ironman. We shall see what the day brings!

my shorts fell down and I got stung by a bee

What a day!! First, I am dealing with two clients with dementia. They are refusing to let their powers of attorney take over. Very frustrating. Patience, patience...patience. The one lady called the office FOUR times today to confirm her Monday appointment. Then I was thinking about going for a swim in the lake but didn't exactly get the "invite". A group had gone out last night but I was on my bike with Jenn. I don't know what to do when that happens...it wasn't posted on the bulletin board, so it wasn't exactly public, do I just go and show up? That would be dorky...wouldn't it? Anyway, figured I should be on my bike anyway. Went for an amazing ride tonight!! Until I reached back to feel where my shorts were at as it was feeling a bit breezy and weird back there and they had kind of creeped down...no crack showing, but pretty darn close!! Then on my last interval I was cruising along and a big bee flew into my helmut. He was banging himself around in there and my first instinct was to unlatch my helmut and throw it off, but I was flying down the highway! Slammed on my brakes, did a friggin endo, still clipped in, took my helmut off and the bastard stung me just a milli second before!! OUCH!! Put the helmut back on, my heart rate was soaring as I was in the middle of an interval and finished it off!! Whew...home now, safe and sound...hopefully!!

did I actually say "no rain"?

Well, just back from our ride and we managed to avoid all the rain that came until about the last half an hour. Managed to get just over 2 hours in so I am pretty happy with that. We had intended to possibly do the last bit towards Aberdeen but I could see dark storm clouds that way but sunshine on the other side...I said to Jenna "I bet if we ride for a few minutes through the rain, we would hit that clear sky...!!??" I got the look of "Are you f-ing kidding?" And she had done a whole bunch more riding than me over the last few days!!! We were wet and cold and DONE!! A good decision cause when I got into the van, I was shivering and my legs and arms were red. Into a hot bath for me before I have to pick up the munchkins!!

a few of my favorite things....

These are my new lip glosses! My sista works for a company who distributes all this kind of stuff and she slides me the extras or last year's colors etc. So I shall look fabulous for the rest of the year!!

Had a horrible run last night. Just CANNOT run in the evenings! YAK!! Legs were tired, brain was tired, could not get going at all. Ran 20 minutes and then was done. Walked home and pouted. Swam today. Was a good swim. Did some longer stuff, some pull and some kick. Felt like a good workout when it was done. Heading out on my bike today with Jenna. The unpredictable weather in this province makes for interesting planning. Today is the only day this week that is forcast no rain so off we go!! Should be a fun afternoon. She has 4.5 hours and I have 2.5 hours to do. Will see how things go as I wouldn't mind going longer if I can.

massage report

Went for my first ever massage yesterday. Was a nice time...didn't hurt as much as people said it would...the guy said that next time he would "go deeper". He said he wanted a relaxing time the first time. A few things I learned: shave my legs; cannot believe I forgot!! Poor fellow. Wear better underwear!! Obviously, he was very professional and courteous but I was wearing some "fart catchers". Not real flattering. I was nervous and talked for the first several minutes until he said, "You don't have to talk if you don't want to." Okay, I have permission to shut the hell up and relax!!
Have to do a run today. Taking Mr. M to soccer, my mom is coming to pick them up from soccer so they can spend the night at her house, and then I am doing my run. I never run in the evening. This will be different, but the only time I could get it done. Swimming tomorrow morning. I am looking at the forecast and thinking of changing my bike ride to Thursday afternoon...supposed to be 25 degrees and sunny. Better than the rain and cooler weather forcast for Friday. Have booked both Thursday afternoon and Friday morning off and will see what is what tomorrow...

the week ahead

Juggle, juggle, juggle...that is the word for this week. Where am I going to find the time to do the workouts? Got my swim in yesterday. Wasn't much of a swim, there was nobody at the pool as a small-ish local triathlon race was taking place and if you weren't racing you should be volunteering. I did neither. Oops!! Limited time for me and cannot commit to things like that this summer. I think I did about 2000 meters at the pool, so not bad distance wise, just did not work all that hard!! Chatted for most of the time with "The Legend". That is my name for him. He is this amazing older guy who has done pretty much every Ironman in the world...I think...I could be making that up but seriously, this guy has a head FULL of information and experience and I LOVE talking to him. I never get the chance so I wandered down to his lane and struck up a conversation. We also did this cat and mouse thing where I would do a 300 and he would do a 250 and I was to try to catch him. It was fun! Stopped for a coffee and made my way to the race and wasn't even in time to watch the tail end...but still socialized a wee bit with some folks I have not seen in a few months.
On the agenda this week, a MASSAGE today!! Yes...it is booked, I am GOING this time, I am not cancelling....my left leg has been creaky since the half marathon and I missed a run on the weekend and hopefully a little rub down will help and I can get the run in tomorrow I am supposed to do. A swim on Wednesday, a bike ride on Thursday. Then another monster ride on Friday morning. I have booked off work as I want to get it done as I have plans to head up to the cabin on the weekend and install our new cupboards. Okay, my buddy Trent will be installing and I will be there for company and bringing him food and beer!!