breakthrough run

I had one today.

I was supposed to do it yesterday but sleep was a better option. And it was cold and dark and I am a wimp so I stayed in bed.

But today I woke up before the alarm and got out the door. It was a good, good run!! The scheduled workout was warm-up and then 4 x 8 minutes at my steady state heart rate. With 3-5 minutes in between.

Just for shits and giggles, I thought, let's see how fast I can run 4 x 1 mile??? I am a 9 minute miler. Always have been, assumed I always would be. Before CTS, I had an online coaching program that I was trying to follow but I could never get under those 9 minute miles, consistently. Sure I could do one or two but 4? Amazing how your head determines where your body goes...

We live in an older area of town and the streets were built on one mile grids. It is exactly one mile from Ruth Street to 8th Street down Eastlake Avenue. Here we go!!

The first one was 7:53...and I felt really good!! As in steady and not killing myself...but could I do 3 more? Jogged around for a few minutes, hit the lap button on Gary Garmin and away we go again. 2nd mile was 7:54...pretty much bang on the first. And still feeling pretty good. Heart rate in check, legs feeling good, not breathing too hard. Bring on #3!

About half way through #3, the wheels are trying to come off...it was a struggle...it was hard...I was fighting not to slow down...I was almost to the end...good form, good form, good form (this is Coach Justin's advice, always with good form...) 7:58...whew!!

But holy shit I still had one more. That last one was tough. I thought about just walking home. Coach Justin's advice also, is do them until you fail...so I was assuming this one would be well over the 8:00 minutes...7:59!!! One little second to spare.

I am super proud of this. I feel like this is a breakthrough as in I never thought I was capable of doing this for more than one or two miles...and I did 4!! Who's the rockstar now?? Hahahahahha!!!!

Funny story: The other day I found a five dollar bill in a parking lot. I gave it to Matthew and told him to hang onto it and maybe the next time we were at the store, he could buy himself something with it. He comes home last night after school and says "Mom!! I traded that money you gave me for this GOLD COIN!!!"

A LOONIE!! (for our american friends, this is ONE DOLLAR in Canada....) I guess I have some work to do on teaching about money....

nothing witty to say

But have been getting my workouts in...all of them...even the core workouts. Abs of steel, here I come!

Sunday swim: Back to the ghetto for Sunday swim. The fancy pool was booked so we were at the old aquatic center. I now know why I am finding the fancy pool hard to swim in...there is no shallow end and I did not realize how much I bounce on the bottom at the old aquatic center...as in, lots!! When I get tired or I am swimming up someone's ass, I bounce my way to the wall....and I love my tumble turn advantage. The big pool is going to make all of us stronger swimmers but have had lots of complaints about how it is not good for the "non" swimmers. Newsflash: You joined a triathlon team and guess what...we swim in big, open waters in our races during the summer...suck it UP!!!

Monday rest day: And my legs needed it. And Luke was up in the middle of the night cause he peed the bed. Nice. He insisted on no nighttime diaper and what am I doing at 2:30am Monday night? I am changing sheets and blankets and pjamas. Then he refused to wear the ones I had gotten out for him...sweetie, I love you more than anything but boy oh boy you are a huge pain in the a** sometimes.

Tuesday morning: a 45 minute ride on my trainer. My new goal is to out sweat Julie and wear my tire out! Oh yeah baby....I am wearing that sucker out this winter!! Then onto the floor for core. And I do not like to see all the dirt under my furniture...

Wednesday swim: Back to the ghetto pool for a morning swim today. Was a good swim. Not much to report from there. The coach is fun and makes it interesting and has lots of advice. We worked on streamlining today. Not sure how this will help in a tri swim but it was also good for the abs as I am trying to do that dolphin kick off my turns in the shorter pool. Except I can't hold my breath for that long!

Next up is a tough run tomorrow...actually looking forward to it! Then THREE Halloween parties this weekend...I am going as a pirate...a pink pirate...super cool costume I found. Y'all have to wait for the pictures!!

the ultra and small town football

This was my first Ultra Marathon...I did it a part of a relay because anybody who wants to run 50km on a perfectly fine Saturday morning is just plain crazy. We got a buff in our race packages...here's Jenn and Chuck having some fun with the buffs...

See Sarah...she stretches before her runs...

Chuck bringing in his leg of the run.

The hand off.

I have no pics of me. Was a good, good run for me. I was super happy with how it went. Felt good and steady. Had to really slow down around half way of the 16km as the route went onto a muddy trail through some pretty uneven ground. Either run in the mud or tip toe through the brush. I opted to just slow it right down and concentrate on not spraining an ankle. All in all a great day with some good friends and a good run. I did have two bites of pancakes afterwards and nearly puked them back into my mouth!! I could not hold any food down for about an hour afterwards. Yak!

While I was doing my run, Shaun had the boys at hockey practice and then out to a highschool football game. Long story, but a kid that worked for Shaun this past summer, a little bit, has been in trouble (lots) in the city, so his parents shipped him out to a relative's farm. He now plays football for the highschool team and is doing really well. He and Shaun got along famously this summer and the kid has asked us upteen times to come out and watch him play.

He scored 5 touchdowns today!! The first one was the first play of the game and he ran by the opposing team's bench and yelled at them "Take THAT,,bitches!!" Got benched. Scored the next time he was on the field!! Hahahahahaha!!! Made me laugh.

He is very, very good and is apparently being scouted by some university teams. My boys LOVED it, as they got to stand on the sidelines with all the "big kids". The kid even gave Matthew the game winning ball. I hope he can get his shit together as he has a whole bunch going for him. And that old saying "It takes a village to raise a child" is so very, very true.

For all you cat lovers....

OMG FUNNY!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-vd0s9Da2U

Have a happy Friday!!!!

8 minutes

That was all I had in my for a core workout today.

This?

Is pathetic. Justin e-mailed me today and told me to try for 15 minutes next week. Ummm...that would be a 100% increase in my core workouts...

Something to build on I guess. I had a 45 minute trainer ride as well, a nice easy, move your legs kind of ride. Looking ahead to next week, I have seven (7!!) hours of workouts. This is ALOT for me! This is the max I worked out per week before my half ironman...I shit you not. I asked for it, so now its time to put my money where my mouth is.

Coming up is our UltraMarathon Team run on Saturday. I am excited to do this!! My leg is just over 16km. My goal is to run this bugger at my goal half marathon pace. Yeah. That's right. The whole f-ing thing. We shall see. AND I want to see how many people I can pass...I am the third and last runner so many out there will be finishing their 50km and I am going to try and run as many of them down as I can!!