Planning and Visualizing

While my little choatic world is going on around me, I realize it is to start focusing on the task at hand. Today during my over/unders I found myself in a familiar place. In my mind I was on the course of the NY Marathon. I am familiar with the course, having run it a few times already and I know where my challenges lie and where the crowd will push you beyond what you thought you could do.

It is such a crazy race for so many reason. One, how can there be so many hills? You wouldn't think in a city you could encounter so many but with the amount of bridges you run, by the time you hit mile 18, you would actually pay someone to flatten the course for you. Then there are the crowds. Each borough has it's own personality and you can see it in your cheerleaders. Brooklyn, where you start and spend about ten miles of your race has so many different aspects, it is crazy. From the partying twenty-somethings, to the yuppie families, it is always an adventure. Then there are the quiet parts. Some spots in the Bronx, make you wish for Brooklyn again, even though that would set you miles back. Towards the end as you head into the park for the first time, you can feel the excitement grow, as you head out at the Plaza and head up to Columbus circle, you know that there are only a few miles between you and a finish line. It is an amazing feeling, even to visualize and write about it, I have goosebumps already.

That is where I was this morning. An hour and fifteen minutes on the NY Marathon course in my brain. Who knows what this city will present me with next Sunday, but I am already there and now getting ready for whatever is coming at me.

Only one more long run to go and then I am there. As for goals, I am going with who knows right now!

Things Hurt

Life at the hotel has been pretty uneventful. Although Nick and I did have some fun on Saturday night and pretended like we were on vacation, which meant some good food and lots of drinks! But other than that, it has been lots of running, including a few days of over/unders and a 1:45 Z1/Z2 run on Saturday and phone calls to figure out where we will be living next.

It turns out we will be getting an apartment 2 miles from our place. Which means we can host Thanksgiving regardless if our apartment is ready or not! This makes me quite happy, but more on that later in the month! Another good thing, will be settling into a "normal" life and leaving all of the work to the contractors at our condo. Between, running, being on on site project manager and still working my normal job, the last week was a bit much.

But what I noticed, is that it has taken my focus off of one thing I would usually be nervous about right now, The NYC Marathon. Yup, I just looked my calendar and realized that baby is just over a week away. WHAT?!?!? Where did the time go? Seriously, I thought maybe I was reading the calendar wrong when I saw that November 4th is a lot closer than anticipated!

So now, I get to move into my new apartment, start my taper and get down to business! And I mean really get down to business. I am not sure how I actually feel about the race since I haven't thought about it at all. All I know is that I am tired and it is showing up in my recovery from these runs. I think I have been running with some bad posture lately. After each long run, I end up with some lower back pain, so I think I just need to focus on pulling in my abs a bit more.

But now it is time to get my eye on the prize. This is the last race of my season and then we launch full force into some good vacations, that we held off on so we could really enjoy them. So I have to try to make it a good one! We shall see what NYC has in store for me.

Today I got my new shoes, so I can get one last long run with them to break them in and I bought some new running capri's which I will also be test driving. After Saturdays long run it will be all about focus. And after some nice tapering I should be ready to go! 

Any end of season races for you guys?

Life Got Interesting...to Say the Least

Well the past week again was filled with lots of running amongst other things! I got in a 2 hours Z1/Z2 run at a 9:17 pace and although I was a little sore the next day, I generally felt great. Then on Friday afternoon, Nick and I headed off to Martha's Vineyard to spend the weekend with Nick's parents. We had never been there, although we had both been to the Cape so it was a fun adventure for us.

We spent the weekend sightseeing and stuffing ourselves with lobster, chowder and all things seafood. Seriously, I made sure to incorporate fish into every meal. I even opted for a bagel and lox for breakfast when we ate it. On Saturday I woke up a bit sore and decided if I was going to spend the day walking around, it might be a good idea to give my legs a break, so I opted out of my Zone R run and figured I would just get it in on Sunday.

Sunday we were up and at em' nice and early to catch the early ferry back. Once back in Woods Hole we got our last seafood meal in and hit the road. I have to says Martha's Vineyard was absolutely beautiful. Although it was kind of cold, we got to see everything and had a great time with the in-laws. It was on the way back that things got interesting.

While on the road back home, Nick got a phone call from our neighbor saying that there was water in our shared hallway and her apartment, but she wasn't sure where it was coming from. She let us know she had called the fire department and I told her to feel free to go into our place to see if it was us. Well, it was. Yup, our hot water heater had gone in the middle of the night and our apartment was flooded. She let us know it had gotten into all rooms but the living room and that the fire department had shut off the heater and our power and a plumber was going to come to drain the remaining water in the heater since it was still flowing. I mean 50 gallons of water had to go somewhere!

By the time we got home, I had already filed a claim with our insurance and had a crew there on site to start pumping the water out. When we walked into our place, we were a bit shocked. Our floors were all buckled and our bedroom carpet was like a bog. But to be honest it just didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be. Which was nice, I think. After the crew left we got an update and were informed that we would now need all new wood floors, new carpet, new vanities in both bathrooms and a new ceiling in one bathroom. Oh and that we should probably move out!

So as of Monday, Nick Hailey and I have been living in a hotel about 1.5 miles from our place and I have been on site managing the clean up for the every day since. Hailey is loving that she has her own bed and getting used to taking the elevator every day. But man hotel living can be boring! I am just trying to think of it as our old one bedroom apartment.

But there are some silver linings.

• We didn't lose any personal items. Score!
• We did just renovate the kitchen and nothing got ruined there. Point for us!
• We had wanted to do the floors all along, so in the end we will end up with the floors we always wanted. Another point!
• They are working to find us a temporary apartment so we don't have to order out every night for the next two months.
• There is a gym in the hotel, so I can go workout when I want to? Am I grasping? Ok maybe.

So there you have it! For the next few months we are a family of vagabonds! But at least we get to be together right? It will be fun adventure for us for the next few months and then we get a brand new condo. And now I will leave you with some pics of Hailey enjoying her new life:

Here is some of our stuff drying outside when we got home:

Hailey hanging outside while I manage the dry out. It was cold so I had to bundle her up a bit:

Hailey enjoying the spoiled life. I think we may end up having to buy her a real bed when we move back in. I am not sure she will be willing to go back to the dog bed:

And there you have it! Now I am going to finish my sandwich and hit the gym! Nothing else to do, right?

Running and Celebrating

Yup the title pretty much sums up how I spent last week. I ran at least 8 miles a day and did some good celebrating. The first item up for celebration was Nick's birthday. On the 3rd, Nicholas finally joined the ranks for the thirty-somethings and for that we ate and drank to our heart's content. We went out to our favorite "special occasion" restaurant in town and had a delicious dinner and some prosecco. Once we were so full we thought we would burst we headed home to curl up in bed and digest in a nice coma.

The rest of the week was filled again with tons of running. Whether it was speed drills, Zone 1 runs or long runs, I was running at some point every day. Then came the weekend. We had a friend's engagement party down in Columbia, Maryland to celebrate and our 1 year wedding anniversary.

We headed down to Baltimore on Saturday, after a nice morning run and decided to stop and get some lunch. After lunch we headed to Columbia to our hotel to meet up with our friends. The celebration was actually a haunted hay ride following by a bonfire and a buffet of delicious food. Knowing that we had more the celebrate the following day, we went light on the booze, heavy on the food. By midnight we were beat. So we said our goodbyes at the hotel and headed to bed, while the rest of the party headed out to a local bar.

The next morning we packed up and moved onto our final destination, Annapolis, Maryland. We figured since we were already down there we should spend a night by ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. And as luck would have it, Annapolis was not only hosting us, but they were also hosting a boat show in the Inner Harbor. We spent the day, having cocktails and touring these amazing yachts while pretending that we were of course in the market to buy one. Well obviously, why would be at a boat show otherwise?

After the boat show we found a local bar and watched some of our football game and then headed over to a restaurant called Buddys to eat some crabs. And boy did we eat some crabs! We asked what the "normal" order would be and then we ordered double.(of course we did) We spent the next two hours cracking and laughing and then headed back to our hotel for a night cap.

Once morning hit, we headed home to grab the dog and eat some wedding cake. Yes, like tradition says, we saved the top of our wedding cake to eat 1 year later. Our top layer of cake was a carrot cake and to be honest I wasn't quite sure of how it was going to end up. We had moved it from the freezer to fridge on Saturday to start the defrost and by Monday night it was ready to go. And I have to say, it tasted pretty damn good! The only bad part is now we have a huge carrot cake to eat. ( I know my struggles are just too unfair!)

And now it is back to reality. This week again will be filled with a ton of running. But I must say with this more relaxed/clean lifestyle I am now trying to lead, I don't really mind it! Well, I hope everyone had as fun of a week as I did. Now it is back to the grindstone!

A Weekend on My Feet

What a weekend is all I have to say! Over here in New Jersey we have been making an effort to keep our weekends as low key as possible. On Friday we made pasta, with pesto, artichokes and squash and settled in for our normal movie night. We watched Wunderlust, which I have to say was really funny. I wasn't sure what to expect but there is some good dirty humor in that movie! After passing out on the couch at 9pm we finally woke up around 2am to make it to bed. And that was our fun family Friday!

I got up nice and early on Saturday to head out for a 1:10 Zone 1 run. I had to do it at the gym because it was still dark and I get a little creeped out running around the city alone in the dark. So I hit the treadmill for some easy 9:13 min/miles. After my run I had to run home for my new green breakfast shake (recipe from a friend) and a shower so I could head to a good friends bridal shower. I also convinced Nick to indulge in my shake,  (1 pear, 1 banana, handful of spinach, handful of Kale) and while he didn't hate it he just couldn't figure out how to rate it. Mind you I made him have it for breakfast all weekend, so now he has to love it, obviously! I mean it is beautiful, you have to love it just based on the appearance.

After bridal showering for a few hours, I headed back home and I was beat. I made a spaghetti squash casserole, had a glass of wine and was in bed again by 11pm. Total party animal, I know!

On Sunday it was back on my feet nice and early. I had two 1:15 Zone 1 runs to get in. Now here is where it gets interesting. I think there is something seriously wrong with my garmin, I am guessing I may need  a new battery in my chest strap, so maybe not seriously wrong,  but my HR monitor was going crazy for the first run. I was everywhere on the map. So I decided to just stick to a 9:21 pace, since I had no idea where I really was.

After my run we threw some meatballs and sauce in the crock pot and headed out for some apple picking. We ended up with a nice 25 pounds of booty and headed back to the house for meatballs, football and another run. Another 1:15 Z1 with the same HR monitor problems. So this time since I was a bit tired, I stuck to 9:23min/miles. I guess I will have to change that battery soon.

This week I am back to running every day with no biking and a tiny bit of swimming. I am interested to see how this will effect my pacing for the marathon and also to see how my legs fare. Tonight I am going to invest some time in a nice salt bath and try to get to bed nice and early.

How was your weekend? Spend a lot of time on your feet too?

Human Pincushion

Recently I decided it was time to face some of my issues head on and address some problems with my body. Now I know that sounds dramatic, but it really isn't. Most of those who know me know that I have a tendency to have some stomach issues. Issues that I am capable of making worse by simply focusing on them and in turn stressing out about them. Well I have been talking about trying to figure it out forever and today I took my first step. I had my first acupuncture session.

In my 1.5 hour consultation I actually learned quite a bit. One interesting fact is that I may be slightly anemic. While I have been enjoying some of the symptoms (think female stuff), I never actually put two and two together. Well today my therapist, managed to put it all together and now would like me to consider going to get that tested. The most interesting thing she pointed out was, as an athlete, I should have a very low resting heart rate, and I am sure we all know that. Well not only should it be low, but your pulse should apparently be strong. While mine is low, it is actually quite weak, as in you have to search for it weak. So I guess it is time to start packing in the iron!

Onto the fun part, the needles. I think she inserted about 20 needles in me in different areas, but first starting with my 3rd eye (middle of my forehead).  I had needles in my hands, forearms, stomach, feet, calves, ankles and head. Sticking the needles in actually was not as bad as I would have thought. The most interesting part is I could sometimes feel it more in one side of my body than the other. She informed me that this is because sometimes we are imbalanced.

After all the needles were in, she turned some infrared lamps on and pointed them at me and left me for about 20 minutes to relax and I have to say it was actually quite relaxing. The one odd/interesting thing is that some of the needles actually began to feel heavy. Which they obviously were not, because they are so small, but they started to feel that way.

When my 20 minutes were up, she came back removed the needles and gave me a scalp and foot massage. I left her office feeling completely relaxed and renewed. I have 2 more sessions scheduled with her which may include some cupping and herbs in addition to the traditional acupuncture. I am pretty interested to see how it goes. And I would say my first foray into acupuncture was a success.

It's a Wrap...The Great Six Flags Olympic Triathlon Race Report

As of this weekend the 2012 tri season ended for me with The Great Six Flags Olympic Tri and what a day it was! I went into this race with a race plan from Coach P of "No Pressure, Just Have Fun". We were working to make sure this race would not be a total season ender for me. Although I hadn't had any issues with my IT band last week, I wasn't going to try to bring the pain back just for a race.

Friday night finally got here and Nick and I headed down to the usually hole-in-the-wall, scary stink-bomb type hotel you get when you pay $89 for the night and were in bed by 9pm. We both had had a very long week, so there was nothing keeping us awake that night. The alarm went off at 5am and we packed up and headed to Six Flags to set up my transition area. I downed the usual pre-race breakfast of a scoop of protein, a banana and 1.25 cups of applesauce and sipped on some Gatorade on the quick ride there. But I have to admit, even though the pre-race prep had begun, I was still not totally into it. I even began to consider if I could just switch to the sprint. But Nick wouldn't have it and nor would I.

So I headed over and set up my transition area. Once set up we started our trek into the park to the lake where we would swim. Although the start was supposed to be at 7am at 6:40 they were driving around saying last call for our start. Well this is where the first obstacle presented itself. I still had not had a chance to hit a bathroom. And the only bathroom open to us was about 3/10 of a mile away from the swim start. So I had to pass on the potty break. And this was a new strategy for me!

We kept on walking to the swim start and that is when it clicked that I would have to run the 4/10 of a mile to transition after my swim, either in my flip flops (recipe for disaster) or barefoot. I hadn't know we were going that far in the beginning or I would have brought my sneakers with me. Well knowing that my flip flops would get too slippery I decided to go barefoot. Good decision? We'll get back to that one later.

We go to the lake, learned the course and got ready to begin. When we hopped in I realized it was a bit colder than expected but I just used my own personal wet suit warming methods and I was good to go. Off went the horn and off we went. And did we ever. A lot of these women were brutal and not very consistent swimmers. So we kept spreading out only to have people swim directly into you. I was feeling a bit out of it and I don't think I really settled into a good stroke until half way through. But once I did, I was out of there. Next thing I knew I was passing people left and right and the last buoy was getting closer and closer. The next thing I knew I was climbing out and getting ready to high tail it back to the transition area.

Swim: 23:58- my fastest Olympic swim yet

So now to the 4/10 of a mile run back barefoot. Well the first half was fine, the second half, on the other hand, was hell. It was all loose gravel. By the time I got to the transition entrance I had started walking and was worried my feet were bleeding. They were burning so bad that I was beginning to think crawling to my bike would be faster. By the time I got to my bike, I was hurting, but I threw on my cleats and helmet and headed out for my ride.

T1: 6:07- actually pretty average for my AG

The bike was set after set of rolling hills that seemed to be never ending. The only great thing, was a) I knew I was supposed to "take it easy" and b) the scenery was amazing! I mean it was so beautiful. All farmland, horse farms and mansions in the middle of no where. So while your legs were on fire, climbing all of the damn hills, you at least had something nice to look at. Other than the scenery and never ending hills, the ride was pretty uneventful. I gave a sigh of relief as I headed back into the parking lot and began thinking about my run.

Bike: 1:27- faster than my usually hilly course average, so I was ok with it
T2: 1:17 - now that is more my style

So now it was time to run. I gave Nick a wave and headed into the park for my two loop course. We ran through different sections of the park and then out to the Haunted Hayride trail. And yes, it was a trail. Again, as I always say, I wish they would mention trail runs in the race description so you would be prepared, but no such luck. The trail was actually pretty nice although a bit rocky. Somewhere during mile two I gave my ankle a good twist and decided it was time to pay attention to what I was doing. I hit my first mile at 8:20 and realized I may have come out too fast. After all, I was supposed to be taking it easy, but apparently I wasn't. (Surprise, surprise.) There were a few very small climbs and I made sure to ease up on those to give my IT band a break. After the first three miles, I was feeling worn but not too bad.

As I passed the finish line and entered into my second loop I saw Nick and he jumped in with me. We figured as long as he made it past the security guard into the park, he could finish up the race with me. He made it past and then the next three miles were just good fun. I had someone to talk to, and that helped me to not push myself too hard and we still kept up a decent pace. But I must say I was happy when I was done.

Run: 55:59- not too slow, but definitely not taking it easy pace

And the icing on the cake, I ended up 3rd in my age group, so I got a fancy little award plaque to bring home!

We spent the rest of the day in Great Adventure walking around, playing games and going on rides. I would definitely recommend this race to anyone in the area. It was set up great and if anything it is worth it just for the scenery on the ride.

So now, I ended my 2012 tri season by placing and now I am moving on to see what kind of damage I can do to my upcoming marathon. On to some run training!!

Now I Get It!

So apparently I finally get it. If you listen to your body and what your coach is telling you to do, when it comes to injury and rest, it pays off! Who woulda thunk it?

As I have mentioned before and as you have probably gathered from my race reports, I have a tendency to hear the things my coach tells me, but I sometimes I choose to not listen to them or practice them. Well it seems I have turned a corner on that one. I have been following his recommendations along with listening to my body and it seems to be creating a positive outcome.

On Tuesday, I had ZR ride on the trainer and then I headed out for a Zone R and Zone 1 run. Well after an hour and half on the bike I was a little wary as to how my knee and IT band would feel. But I came out of it feeling good. There was still a dull ache when I was done, but I iced and it was ready to go by spin class. After class I got in a nice Epsom salt bath and then went to bed.

Wednesday, I woke up feeling it a bit, and rested in the morning. In the afternoon, I hit the pool for my swim (who is this girl, I know!) and by evening I was feeling a bit better so I hit an early evening barre class. After class I felt even better. I really think the amount of stretching you do in that class HAS to help. After class it was home for dinner and another bath.

I got up today feeling good and got in a 1:30 Z1 ride followed by a 45 min Z1/Z2 run. And again, I felt great. I am thinking I might head to the pool this afternoon to get tomorrow's 1 hour paddle swim out of the way since I have a clear afternoon and then depending on how I feel, I may hit a barre class again.

Well I guess the moral of the story is, that maybe, just maybe, the professionals know what they are talking about, and that sometimes, I should stop being such a stubborn person and listen to them. Only sometimes though! I mean I can't stop being me.

Anyone racing this weekend? I have a weekend off before my final tri of the season.

A Very Introspective Monday

Well with no race to get ready for this past weekend and a knee to take care of, I spent some time on the couch and also some time going out and having some fun. It was all the craziness and fun that lead me to today's post. Sometimes I think it is good to take a step back and look at your life and the way you are living it. In doing this every once in a while, you can take a good look at the decisions you are making and why you are making them. And to be honest, just sitting a few hours and thinking really opened my eyes to a few things.

So, since I already had to drop one of my September goals, of a Half PR, I will add a new one in instead. My last goal is now to try to be a little more true to myself with the decisions I make. I feel some times we make decisions for the wrong reasons. Whether it is to fit in or to make yourself feel better, and the results of those decisions are very short lived. So instead of just making a decision without thinking about it, I will think first and be true to who I am.

I know, you are probably thinking jeez this a little deep for a Monday or man, what did she do that was so bad this weekend!?!? But to be honest, nothing bad was done, I just think doing personal inventory every once in a while can have positive effects on your outlook on life and help you to make good decisions as opposed to decisions "just because". So mental inventory for this month is complete!

Now onto the physical inventory. Well, as I said, I spent a decent amount of time on the couch resting and icing my leg, and sadly I went for a quick 30 min walk on Sunday and the pain is still there. It is a little disconcerting considering all I was doing was walking. I had a repeat performance today, when I walked 10 blocks to pick up my bike. I made it back home and the pain was back again. Although I was able to ride the bike home with zero discomfort. So at least I have that!

So the plan for today is yet another ZR ride and then maybe I will take the dog out for a walk and test it out again. Fingers crossed that the nagging IT band pain goes away!

Decisions & Disappointment Go Hand in Hand this Week

So tomorrow would have been my only half iron distance of the year. There is hope yet, that it still may be, but I am waiting to see what Coach P has to say.

So here is how is started. Last Saturday, I had a long brick to lead up to the race, I did a nice 50 mile Zone1/Zone2 bike and quick 30 min run and I felt great. Then on Sunday I had a 1 hour Zone 1 run then later in they day 1 hour on the bike and then another 1 hour Zone 1 T run. Well the first run my HR was totally jacked up because it was so hot in the gym. I managed 9:29 min/miles and although sweaty I felt ok. I came home, rested, ate and got on the bike. My hour on the bike felt great, then it was off for my 2nd hour of running. It had cooled off at the gym which was nice, and 58 minutes of that run felt fantastic (9:22 pace), but then my right leg started to feel funny. So I stopped 2 minutes short and went to stretch and roll out my leg.

I walked home the 6 blocks and when I got home it was a whole different story. I couldn't bend my right leg or really stand on it. It was IT band pain but also felt like I had pinched something. I sat on the couch and iced my leg all night. When I got up in the middle of the night to pee, the same thing happened and I had to hop to the bathroom. I went back to bed and hoped it would be different in the morning. Low and behold it was not. When Nick got up he got me some ice and I spent a few hours in bed icing my knee before I got up.

I decided I would skip my runs for the rest of the week and do a little biking if I could in order to keep limber so I could foam roll my legs and ice. Last night I went to my massage therapist for a full hour of lower back and leg work. The F-bomb was dropped quite a few times along with some major sweating but I thought by the time I left I had turned a corner. Well, not so much. I woke up this morning, not in the usual after a hell-massage pain, but specifically with IT band pain. DAMN IT!!

So now I am faced with the decision of do I race or not. The only thing I know is that if I attempt to take this on, I know me, and there is no way in hell I would take a DNF, so if I set out to race it, I will race it regardless of how much pain I am in. Stubborn is ingrained in me, what can I say? So my options now are:

1. Race the full race and get over it
2. Switch to the Aqua bike division (that means no half for me this year)
3. Don't race at all

I am waiting to see what Coach P has to say but I would like to stay as far away from option 3 as possible. And honestly even option 2 would still make me a little down, but I would at least still get to race. I am prepared to race and I want to. But we will see, he knows best right?

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And I think the racing gods are trying to tell me something, I just got a call from my bike shop letting me know that both my gear cables where shredded and the housings were cracked. Maybe I should just stay home this weekend?

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The IT Band has won, I will not be racing this weekend. Instead I will be buying new sneakers and spending the weekend biking and running in Zone R. While I am disappointed because I was ready, I know this is the best decision for me. I need to get this IT band thing under control so I can finish out the 2012 season healthy. Now I am going to go cry into my cheerios.

Goodbye Summer...Hello September, my Tri Month

Well sadly the summer is over. We toasted to the end of this summer with a fun Labor Day bbq and luckily we picked the only nice day that we had! On Saturday we had our friends over for a full day of bbqing, cocktails and sun. It was a great way to end the summer and begin what should be quite a challenging few months.

My month of local barre also came to an end and since I have a few races coming up, I am going to hold off on starting my next month. But one thing I can say is all this lifting and core work has made a big difference in the way I feel and my workouts. I am noticing it the most in my swims. And yes, I can use the plural of the word because I have been in the pool more than once this month and not to float on a raft and read a book! 

So now onto this months goals. Here goes nothing:

• I want a PR in my Half  coming up this weekend. In the past I have chosen races where the bike and run are so challenging that I never had a chance to PR. This time I think I picked the right race and I am ready to finally get this PR.
• PR in my swim for my Olympic Tri this month. During the NJ State Tri, I started out strong but crapped out at one point, I want to attack this one with everything I've got.
• Continue with local barre at least 4-5 times a week, once I start up again.
• Use up the remainder of my boot camp classes to test my strength a bit.

So this is what I am up against this month and then it is the end of my tri season. I then move on to marathon training for the NYC Marathon in November. And that will bring on a whole different set of goals, but let's deal with September first!

Now I just need to get my head ready for this weekend's race. I am feeling a little bit antsy, I think only because every other season by now most of my hard races are behind me. But not this year! I have two right ahead of me! I have the half this weekend, a weekend off and then an Olympic on the 22nd. The best part is that the Olympic is at Great Adventure, so we get free park entry. Which means Nick and I will celebrate the end of tri season by eating bad food and trying to not throw it up on the rides! Good fun.

Well that is all for now, the goals are right here in writing so I guess that means I have to try my hardest to complete them!

Happy September! Bring on the apple picking and football!

Yesterday Was My Saturday....

So I am not sure what today is? Yesterday I got up nice and early to get in my Saturday brick, since I had some plans for today. I got in a 3 hour Z1/Z2 ride, followed by a T run of 35 min in Z1. Once I was done I settled in for a nice long day of work. Around lunch time I realized I still had some energy left, so I decided for lunch I would head to the pool and get in my swim set that I was going to move to Saturday. I know what you are thinking, "She is voluntarily going to the pool?", the thought crossed my mind as well.

The swim went well and before I knew it, the day was over and I was waiting for Nick to get home to start our usual Saturday night ritual of food and passing out on the couch. Well since I had time I figured, why not hit up a barre class before he gets home. So off I went and on the way home is when I realized that I might be a bit crazy. I mean 4 work outs in a day? But hey! I was bored! And as a result, now I am sore and bored.

So now I am up, thinking what do I do before I set off for a day of fun? I covered all of my workouts already, so now what? I think I might just hit another barre class then head out. I mean I want to get the most out of this unlimited month right? They will regret offering that special when I am done with it!

Then tomorrow it will be back to the normal Sunday training, unless I have too much fun today then maybe Monday will be my Sunday and Sunday will be my Monday, training wise. You never know!

Push it Real Good...

Yeah you know the song....well that was the theme for today....although not along the same subject line as the song....ugh, you get what I mean! Perverts! Ok, well yesterday I decided to go into the city to work and to get a few city errands done which just so happened to include a nice dinner of Mexican and margaritas with my friend Pam. But don't worry I didn't overdo it, since I knew I had a tough day of workouts today. When morning came, although I told Nick to make me get out of bed when he left for work, I still managed to sleep in a bit before peeling myself out of bed to start my day.

Once fully caffeinated I hopped on my bike for an 1:30 of Zone 3 work. As always getting into zone 3 was a biatch and I had to push very hard to get there, but once I was there and got comfy I was feeling good. I kept up for 2 sets of intervals cooled down and got back to work. An hour later I was had some lunch, caught up on some emails and then headed out for my quarter mile repeats.

My warm up was 30 in ZR/Z1. Oddly I was averaging about 10 beats into Z2 the entire warm up. Either there is something up with my Garmin (another post for another time), or I was really dehydrated from the Mexican from the night before. I am going with the Garmin as the problem. I decided to ignore that and keep going until I hit the 30 minute mark. Once there I started my repeats. I had to do 10 and I was feeling a little tired, so I started the usual runner tricks of making deals with myself. "When you get to 5 you get a longer break" (i got 1.5 minutes in between each, but I usually cut it down to 1 minute, impatient much?),
"If you really feel bad, you can stop at 7" (never would I actually let myself, but I figured once I got to 7 another 3 would be cake). I decided to start out at a 7:30 pace and see where I could go from there. I maintained the pace and for sure started to feel it towards the end, but the one thing I have to say is next week, I think I need to start a little faster. While I was pushing at the end, the first 5 seemed a little too easy.

Once done I headed back to the house to work on some more emails and decide if I should take a barre class tonight. I decided that tonight I am giving myself a break. I plan on taking class tomorrow and I am going to early morning class on Saturday so 5 classes this week would be enough. Although, I have to be honest, that decision could change in the next 20 minutes if I get bored enough! We shall see.

So there you go! Today was a successful day of pushing it!

How were your workouts today? Any tough ones that required mental bargaining?

Goal Update

Well, I know I have been missing a bit, but I can say that I am keeping up with my August goals and that has been keeping me quite busy. I have been trying to get to a barre class at least 4 times a week while also getting in my normal training. The one thing I can say that is suffering a bit is my swimming. I seem to have a swim aversion that I need to kick right now! I need to get in the pool to be ready for next month, but the mental block is there and staying put!

I had two very fun weekends to start off August, with a girl's trip down to my beach house, filled with seafood and beer for the first weekend. This past weekend Nick left town for a bachelor party and I had some friends come in from the Midwest to get into some trouble with, and we were successful. And now I have to admit that it is time to buckle down a bit. And buckle down I will!

I have a swim on descending 100's tomorrow and I need to force myself to go get it done and then I am heading into the office and meeting a friend out to dinner. Then back to the hard work on Thursday. But now it is off to run and teach and then off to bed nice and early!

I hope everyone is enjoying the last weeks of summer. (Eeeeek! I didn't like writing that!)

August Goals

Well I am happy to say that after a full night's sleep, I woke up in a better mood this morning. I am feeling a bit more positive and I am ready to face August head on. I don't have any scheduled races for this month, but I may add in sprint at the end of the month. The plan for this month is to do some kick ass training to get ready for half iron and olympic in September. Last month I finally showed some progress in my Olympic timing and next month I want to see the same in my Half Iron training. So I need to put my head down and get to work.

I plan on sticking to Coach P's usually training regiment and I am going to add in a few other things to keep it fun. I want to incorporate some yoga, to try to get a little more flexibility in my life and to try to find that inner calm and  I am also adding in some Local Barre. I have an unlimited membership for the month of August to Local Barre and today I went over there first thing in the morning to get some strength work in. And I gotta say, I get why people pay so much to go there (and boy do they pay!). The classes are great and after an hour you really feel like you got in a workout. 

So there it is. August is the month of focus and finding that inner calm, that being Type A, I seem to lack! Today I had LB and then a quick swim and tomorrow, I am set up for an Tempo Run, Z3 ride and another LB class. But before tomorrow comes, tonight, Nick, a few friends and I are heading over to Pier A to a Mumford & Sons concert. And it just so happens their opening act is Dawes, a small band we were introduced to a months ago. Although it is raining and I think it may continue to do so, it should be a fun experience. And then it is back to the grind!

I am just working my way to the weekend. So let's hope it gets here fast!

If Anyone Needs Me, I am Camped Out on the Wrong Side of the Bed

Whoah, did I get up in a total funk. As soon as I opened my eyes this morning, I knew it was going to be that kind of day. I got up and got to work and realized that I was in a bad state. I am just feeling negative. I decided to try to fight off my mood by getting on the bike. I had a 2 hour speed ride, so I figured I would see if pedaling furiously for 2 hours would fix me up a bit. But, it doesn't seem to have changed much. BOOOOO HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

So now I am going to head out for a run and see what that does. The one good thing I am getting out of my bad day is that all my work outs will be complete before I head out to teach spin. So that is something!

Other than trying to work on my bad mood, I have just been training and watching the Olympics. I got in a long brick on Saturday, which felt good and then a ZR ride on Sunday along with a ten mile run. The run was great and at a good pace, but it left me with lead filled legs for Monday. Tomorrow I will head to the pool again to try out my timing on 50 repeats again.

Hopefully by tomorrow, I will be in a better state of mind and we can say adios to my Debbie Downer attitude! But for now I will just go pound the pavement for a bit and see what that does for me!

Can someone please tell me how to get to Zone 3?

I woke up on Wednesday still dealing with the slight sensation of shin splints, thankful that I had to head to the pool for my workout. I had some swim intervals to get done. Here was my swim plan:

Warmup:

1000 continuous @ TT+10
Main Set:
10 x 50 at best effort.
Cooldown:
500 EZ pull

I figured a little swim time might be nice, that is, until I got in the water. My arms were still beat from the race on Sunday and I was dragging ass big time. I spent the main set, cursing and making waves, but I am happy to say, that even when I wanted to quit, I got them done. The Cooldown ended up taking me just as long as the warm up, buy hey, it was a cool down! Once I was done I pulled myself out of the pool and headed home. I had to cover a spin class at 7pm, so I had some major couch time with my lap top on the agenda.

This morning I got up for some Zone 3 work on the bike. And it was another one of "those days" when during the warm up I can hardly get into Zone 1. My intervals were 15 min in Z3 with a 5 in rest in ZR, so I beat the crap out of myself to try to get into Zone 3 for a bit, which was mildly successful. I managed to get there for a while, but ended up settling on the higher end of Zone 2 for most of the intervals. Once done, I sat down for some breakfast and conference calls. An egg white and tomato omelet, whole wheat english muffin, turkey bacon and 3 calls with India later, I was ready to get my next workout done and out of the way.

For my next workout I had a Zone 2 Tempo Run. I would warm up, spend 20 minutes in Zone 2 followed by 5 minutes in ZR. I had to get through this two times. I grabbed my gossip mags and headed to the gym to sweat this one out. The warm up went well at 9:18 min/miles, then I started my first tempo set, and the first 20 minutes were ok, at 8:41, but I was feeling a bit over heated and bit tired. I took the ZR portion at a brisk walk, ate a shot block and then started set 2. This one was a bit harder and a bit slower at 8:51. By the time I was done, I was soaked from head to toe and completely beat up. I grabbed my remaining gossip and headed home to get back to my calls and here I am now, sitting and watching my counter top get installed and working, while I day dream about going to bed!

Tonight I have dinner in my home town with some friends and I am looking forward to some cocktails and a good night sleep. Tomorrow I have another early day with a some speed work in the pool followed by a morning of plumbers and refrigerator deliveries. Then tomorrow it is opening ceremonies for the Olympics, there is no better time to get serious about training then when you are watching the Olympic athletes compete. I just hope everyone doesn't get the Phelps swimming bug and start cluttering up the pool like the last Summer Games!

Enjoy your Thursday before the rain comes!

Shin Splints

Ok who has the cure? I woke up this morning with major shin splints, which is not a common feeling for me. I got in some ZR work on the bike and now they seem to be worse. I was supposed to do a 30 min ZR/Z1 T run but I am not sure my legs can handle it. And I am even more unsure as to where these have come from. I have made sure to get in some non-treadmill runs prior to my race to avoid this issue and I didn't feel them yesterday but today my shins are screaming. So come on, tell me how to get rid of them, because I have to teach spin for the next two nights, so this is something I am not in the mood to deal with.

The good thing is, other than my shin splints I am not really sore at all from my race. Time to disect this fact....Now what does that mean? Did I not work hard enough? Or does it really not mean anything? For some reason I associate the crippling soreness and the need to use the handicap stall in public restrooms feeling with racing hard. But maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am just getting into better shape so recovery is not as challenging? I am sure that has something to do with it. Which leads me to believe my shins are not in good shape, hence the pain today. Can shins be in bad shape? Who knows!

Oh well, thankfully with all of the spinning that I have in store, outside of this looming 30 min run I really only have to swim for the next 2 days. So hopefully by the time I get back on the bike on Thursday, the pain will have gone away. Until then I am going to make sure to get in a lot of time on the couch with my feet up. And on that note, it's time to get back to the couch!

NJ State Olympic Tri Race Report

WE HAVE HAD A BREAKTHROUGH! A successful race weekend! As I mentioned last week, I was racing the NJ State Olympic Tri for the 2nd time on Sunday. So on Saturday, Nick and I packed up the car and headed down to Princeton for the night. Once we arrived, 45 min later, laughing quite a bit, because we realized maybe a hotel wasn't totally necessary, we decided if we were here we should have some fun. We walked around near our hotel a bit and headed out for a nice pasta dinner al fresco. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, grabbed a night cap and went up to our room. We were in bed by 9pm and ready for some fantastically bad TV and some pre-race panic dreams, for me.

My alarm went off at 5:20 and I was up and at em'. I got on my racing kit and starting making all of my water bottles. I had to be at the race site by around 6:30 to pick up my packet and get set up prior to transition closing at 7:15, so at 6 we headed out to check out of our room and hit the road. Once at the race site I went over to packet pick up, only to find they had given away my racing chip to someone else. So I got a new race number and timing chip and headed into transition to get set up.

Once I found my transition area, I couldn't help but laugh a bit. I was racked with all men probably AG 30-40 and I looked fantastically out of place. Everyone was looking at my bike and checking my number to make sure I was in the right place and low and behold, I was! It actually ended up being to my advantage, because it was the last row, so it was easy to find and when I was in transition there was no one around me to get in my way, because this wave went before me.

Thankfully, due to the low temps, it was around 67 at the start, the water temps were just at 77 so we were able to swim with wetsuits if we so pleased. So I did. Once in the water, I got up to the front of the group and was off. The swim seemed ok, if not a little longer than it should be, which I heard others saying as well. The only issue I had was with my right side of my goggles. It seemed to be leaking a bit, which has been happening a lot lately, so I think it is time for them to retire and for me to invest in a new pair. All in all, the swim was uneventful, there was a point where I did start to get a little tired, but once I made the last turn heading back to the dock I was able to pull it together and get moving.

T1 was nice and empty and I switched my gear and headed out for a nice bike ride. I was trucking out of T1 and mounted my bike and was ready to get into the groove. I hit the road on a mission to pass as many people as I could. I was about 2 minutes into the bike and the passing began. Then the craziest, yet most motivational thing happened. I am was passing this 53 year old woman, and switching gears. As I tried to pass, her my gear slipped and so I was stuck for a second right next to her. Now mind you, we were on a closed street so I was probably about 4 feet from her on an open road. All of sudden I hear in this snotty voice, "Well if you are going to pass me, pass me already!" At which point I struggled with my gear a bit (she could obviously hear the grinding) and then turned to her and said, "Oh don't worry I will. On your left". And then I knew, I had to book it and make sure this woman did not pass me for the remainder of the ride, because I could only imagine what she would say if she did! But seriously what a BIATCH! If anything she lit a fire under my ass and helped my race, but sheesh, cheer up lady!

The entire ride, I tried to keep my cadence around 95 and pace between 19.6 and 22. My plan worked out perfectly I came in with an average pace on 19.8mph and I felt fantastic. It is relatively flat course with some gradual climbs, which are good because they seemed to be perfectly placed to remind you this was hard work, but for the first time I executed both nutrition and bike perfectly. I flew into T2 an 1:18 later and was ready for some running.

T2 was nice and quick and before I knew it I was fighting with my Garmin  to get it to work properly and out for a nice run. The first two miles were fast and I was feeling good. There was one section that was about 15 seconds long where for some reason my legs felt like they just wanted to stop, but I pushed through and the feeling was gone before it got to my brain. I stayed within my zones and suddenly I was halfway done. I ran by Nick at 3.1 miles all smiles and announced, "Only 5k t o go!" and headed back out to run. I felt great, with only slight cramping around mile 4.5, which is reflected in my garmin files, but I was able to tell my body to suck it up and keep moving. I headed into the finishing chute, got my medal and headed to grab my results.

And here they are. One of their timing mats was not functioning some some times are missing/wrong:

Finish Time 2:43:39

Overall: 366/858
Gender:67/312
Div 30-34: 13/43
Swim:29:03
T1: 1:40 ( I was on a mission)
Bike: They didn't have this but I checked my cateye on the way into T2 and it was 1:18:54 average pace was around 19.8
T2: 15 min (this was my favorite error, like I had a picnic before heading out for my run)
Run: 52:39

So an approx 9 min PR from May and an 8 min PR from last year at this race.I will take it!
 
Then I packed up the car and headed back to the house to sit by the pool and get in some more tv watching.
 
Now it is on the next race! I actually don't have anything planned for August, but I am thinking that soon may change. I am hoping to maybe find a sprint to get in. If not, I will keep training for my half in September. Tomorrow it is back to the bike!
 
How was everyone's weekend?

Race Weekend

Race weekend is again upon us. I am racing the NJ State Olympic Triathlon this weekend for the second time. Last year all I remember is that while it wasn't blistering hot, it was humid and soupy until the end of the race where the sun came out blazing! But the good news is according to the weather channel this weekend should not be humid nor will it be that hot. It looks like low of 71 high of 83, which is doable. I will be interested to see the water temp, since this one is usually not wetsuit legal. I am really hoping for the help of my wetsuit this time around!

This is only my second race this season, which has gotten me thinking a lot about next month. I feel like I should be racing more. Maybe if I race more, I will be a little more enthusiastic about tri season. I have been training diligently, ok diligently outside of the swim portion which is my current mental block, but I have been getting everything in yet still feeling blah about it. I am beginning to think the lack of racing in my schedule may be having an effect on my brain while training. Maybe I need more competition in my schedule to keep the fire lit? So I am thinking maybe I will take on another sprint or two next month and see what that does for me.

The plan for this weekend is to do what I can do on the swim, maintain a HR of 175 on the bike and then run the best I can. Like Red Bank, I want to cross the finish line and feel like I did the best I can if not a little more. So hopefully it all pans out!

Then my goal is to get back to some serious training and keeping up with this blog. While on the never ending quest for perfection, I need to check in with reality every once in a while!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend, I will be back with a race report next week.

Weekend

I am up early on this Saturday and I am getting ready to get moving. With our kitchen renovations at the halfway point we are trying to get some relaxing in this summer and this is one of the first weekends in a while that we are going to attempt it. It is crazy how the lifestyle in our house has changed quite a bit this summer. Usually we spend our weekends, drink in hand by the pool. But with kitchen renovations happening every weekend along with trips to the beach, life has slowed down a bit. Outside of my birthday weekend, we have been taking it a bit easier. Ahh the joys of growing up!

So this weekend we are going to kick back a bit, but not without some training involved. Today I am teaching 2 hours of back-to-back spin classes followed by a 40 min T run. This should be interesting considering it is already 80 degrees, with an hour to go until class. Nothing like sitting in a room with 13 other sweaty smelly people! Another time in life where I am ok with my limited smelling abilities.

Then it is back to the house for a pool party. We are all stocked with pasta salad and burgers and plan on spending some quality 106 degree time in the pool. I seriously think that is where I will end up being most of the day, submerged in water with a cocktail.

But not too many cocktails, because Sunday looks like this:

1:30 ZR ride
1:15 Z1/Z2 run
TRX - lower half

And then I will be making a final trip to Home Depot to buy the pulls for our new cabinets and look at back splashes and then off to Sam's Club to stock up on bulk meat to bbq, since that is still our only method of cooking. And I must admit after 1 month of being creative with chicken, after this summer, I may never eat chicken again!

So there you have it, one day of being crazy and another of acting my age again. Now let's see if we can pull of being crazy without melting in this heat! Off to get my spin on. Have a great weekend!

Eating and Training

Happy belated 4th to everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their day off. I spent the morning prepping bbq food, riding and teaching a sculpt class. Then headed home to sit myself by the pool and hang out with some friends. Every year we invite over the same group of people for some pool time during the day, then we head over to our friends roof to watch the fireworks at night. I have to say the 4th being in the middle of the week was a bit of a pain but at the same time it helped to break up the week.

The week of training has been going well. Last weekend I had a very successful long run and then spent the afternoon kayaking in the bay with my dad down at my beach house. I woke up on Monday to teach surprisingly sore. I forgot about all those muscles you use when you paddle. OUCH! While at the beach I made sure to get as much seafood in my body as possible, most importantly shrimp and lobster. Talk about heavenly.

Outside of my extra 4th of July sculpt class, I also covered another sculpt class at 6am on Tuesday. Needless to say by Tuesday night, between, teaching, getting my workouts in and painting my kitchen, I was beat. The rest of week will include some speed work in the pool (need to force myself to get in the pool already!), some running speed work to include mile repeats and the usual long ride and long run on the weekend. Oh and subbing more spin classes on Saturday. I am actually looking forward to this weekend, because we are planning on doing absolutely nothing and those are the best kind of weekends!

Enjoy the rest of your short week! I must go and get ready to run some mile repeats. Wish me luck!

"Ooooooh sometimes I get a good feeling"

First of all Happy Friday everyone! All I have to say is it is about freakin time Friday showed up! So as you can probably guess, this week has been sucessful. I had a few set backs, those being, a stomach virus, a husband with an upper respiratory infection, recovering from my birthday celebration and general fatigue, but I got through it.

I got in some decent workouts this week, but I had some issues going full force because I was completely dehydrated and feeling a bit out of it due to the stomach bug, but I did what I could. And I think, if it is possible to say a stomach bug came at the right time, it did, because I honestly needed a bit of a training break. I was feeling a bit of burn out. So a slow week was a good week.

Next week I will be back full force. I have my 2nd tri of the season coming up in 3 weeks, the NJ State Olympic Tri and I need to be ready for it. I did this one last year and all I really remember was that the heat was brutal. So I need to get outside and train for the heat a bit as well. I am hoping to get in a nice long ride and T run this weekend with some good running on Sunday, while also fitting in some time in the sun and possibly a movie night. I can't lie I am dying to see Ted.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the sun and I will check back in on Monday.

A Test

So this weekend I planned a little test for my ITB. Last week I managed to ride and run and only have slight pain. So with my new sneakers, foam roller and stubborn mind I set out to test my body a bit. I decided there was no way that I would not submit to Coach P's idea of switching to water running only, making the only answer to obviously test my ITB to see what my threshold was. I set out to do a few ZR rides followed by Z1 runs. The runs would be for as long as I could withstand without pain.

Saturday was fine. I rode and then got a short run with no pain. I rolled after the ride and the run and then rewarded myself with a day at the pool in the sun, followed by oysters and seafood pasta. On Sunday I hopped on the bike for quick 45 min ZR and then went to the gym to see what I could do. I managed to bang out 55 min at a 9:12 pace. At 55min I didn't absolutely have to stop, but I started to feel a dull aching, so I made the executive decision to stop and roll out my leg. So it looks like 55 min is it for now.

I relayed my times to Coach P and it he seemed ok with it and has kept me on my normal training schedule with no water running for now. While water running could be fun and entertaining, considering I have a pool at my complex and it would be funny to see people's reaction to me in the pool at 8am jogging, I would rather stick to my normal running plan for now.

I haven't really had to run this week yet. But I will be testing it all out again tonight during my Z1 T run. I have to do the first mile in Z2 and I am interested to see if this will effect how I feel afterwards. Fingers and toes crossed  (again! I am sensing a pattern here, maybe that is the problem!) I make it through the entire run!

Whoaa Where Did the Time Go?

I originally went into summer saying, "Isn't it great that we really have no set plans?" and then came June! So sorry I have been missing, but here is a quick recap of what I have been up to. I spent Memorial Day weekend at home with Nick, as he had just gotten back from a business trip. We got in some pool time and just relaxed. Then I had an amazing trip to Boston/Cape Cod with some of my best girlfriends. And man, what a blast that was. We seem to always walk away with some amazing stories when we all get together. Last weekend we had our friends and their 6 month old come to visit and we spent the weekend eating, drinking and playing with the baby. Now all while this was happening Nick began to demo our kitchen so for the past week and half I have been cooking on my kitchen table and cleaning dishes in our guest bedroom. Which should bring you guys up to date.

Now, since this is a training blog, I can't leave that stuff out. While all of the above was happening I have also been getting in some good training. Since I had some ITB issues in my last race I decided to pass on the half iron at the end of the month, so my next race is an Olympic in July. I may try to drop a sprint in if a can, but it all depends if I can find one. The issue is that the ITB problems I have been having have not gone away. It rears it's ugly head every once in a while. For instance this weekend I had a 1:30 ZR ride and a 1:10 Z1/Z2 run. I decided I would keep the run in Z1 to see if my ITB would be ok. I made it :53 until I had to stop due to the nagging pain in knee. But there are other times, where I have totally pain free runs. So what gives?

I have been doing all the "right" things. I got new shoes, a foam roller for home and have starting icing it every day. The last thing I am going to do is make a massage appointment for 1 hour of torture. But it is starting to worry me a bit. I can't have this bothering me all season, it is just too frustrating. I love being able to log some time in my running shoes. It keeps me sane. But I can't keep doing it if I end up having to stop before I am ready to be done each time I attempt it.

I am going to head out this morning to see how it feels. If I end up back here before I planned to be, and you hear a strange noise outside that might be someone screaming in frustration, it is me!

Fingers and toes crossed....here I go!

Red Bank Olympic Tri Race Report...And General Catching Up

Well it has been a while. I was getting a little tired of typing so I took a few days (ahem weeks) off. But I am back with my first Olympic Tri race report of the season. So here goes! The morning of the race, I was getting up at 4:45am and heading to Red Bank and Nick was getting up at 5am and heading to the airport for a week of business in London. Needless to say I was a little bummed that I would be going to my first tri of the season alone, but I had done this one before and let's be honest, triathlon is a pretty friendly sport so I knew I would make friends and find someone to talk to before the race.

I got down to Red Bank at around 5:45, ate my applesauce and headed to pick up my race pack and set up transition. I was all set up at around 6:15 and had an hour to spare before the race began. I gotta say I really didn't have the pre-race jitters as much as I thought I would. Rumor was the water was around 66 degrees and the only course change was in our favor. The swim course had been reversed so we were swimming more so with the current.

So I hopped in line for the port-o-juan a few times and emptied my stomach before race time and then we all headed down to the water. We had to wait for the sprint waves to go and then the Olympic waves began. My wave was all females competing in the Olympic distance. We were actually quite a small group. When told, we all jumped in the water and paddled out to the start. After peeing and testing the water, I realized the rumors were true the water wasn't that cold. The year before I remember the shock of the water my face as I swam, making it hard to breathe. This year it didn't seem that bad at all.

They counted down our start and off  we went. To be honest I had no idea how I was doing on the swim. I was off somewhere in my head thinking about things like, Nick and what he was doing on the plane and what I was going to do after the race. I had a few instances where I had to choose between swimming over or around people, one time resulting in a nice elbow to the nose,  but other than that I had no idea how I was doing. I was just swimming. The only bad part of the swim was the final stretch back to the docs. You were swimming parallel to some boat slips at another doc and you were being hit from waves coming from both directions. So I could imagine if you had a weak stomach getting sea sick was probable. I finally saw the ladders at the docs picked up the pace and got out of the water.

Since the swim pattern had changed the new run from the dock to T1 was a bit longer, but this has never been something I have struggled with. I took off in a sprint and was to my bike in no time. I was out of the water at 25:51, which was 3 minutes fast than last year and off to the bike.

As I mentioned the run to T1 was a bit longer. I made through T1 in 3:08, 1:15 of which I will allot to the run to the transition area. But here is where my major mistake happened. I had placed my three gus in my riding cleat to assure that I would put them in my pockets before putting my cleat on. Well instead I dumped the cleat on the ground, put it on and took off out of T1. Once out I realized that I had not gu, so i was going to survive on Gatorade during the ride.

The ride was the same as last year, very challenging. It was a series of rolling hills with 3 large ascents spaced out throughout the course. There was really no part of this ride that was flat. I remember it being quite hard last year so I was ready for it to be the same if not worse this year considering I was going in with a little less tri training. I ended up with a bike time of  1:29, 3 minutes slower than last year. I am not sure if this was a result of zero nutrition on the bike, but all I can say is when I was done, I was happy to get off the bike.

Back to transition, I was in and out of T2 in 1:43 and this time I remembered my gus. I grabbed a few extra just in case and ate one on my way out. Much like the bike, the run was again exactly the same. It was a gradual incline on the way out and then you got to run the decline on the way back. I remember how much I hated the portion where we had to run through a field around mile 2.75, but when I got there, I sucked it up and picked up the pace. At the turn around I started to feel a slight aching in my knee, so I did what I knew best and that was run faster. I know I should have stopped and walked but something in my head just told me to push it.

The three miles back I picked up the pace and starting picking off runners left and right. The only thing is that the people I was picking off were in the age group above me, not mine! On the final turn I gave it my last bit of energy and crossed the finish with a run time of 52:29. I came in 9th in my age group but as I predicted from last year, the field was larger and my AG had doubled in size.

My final time was 2:52:19 and for the first attempt of the season I was satisfied. I had pushed and done my best and felt great.

Then it was off to the beach for some pizza and a nap. Since the race, I have spent the last week riding, biking and swimming and taking a little time to have some fun. I am planning on having a ton of fun and get a little bit of training in this weekend, when me and a few girlfriend's, take on Cape Cod for a few days. So if you live there beware!!

Now that I have you all caught up on my life I have to go refuel for a quick swim and spin class.

Pre-race Jitters? Well....maybe...

I don't know if I what I have right now could be considered jitters, but I got something going on. I can honestly say I am not sure how I am going to do this weekend. And there you have it, I have no idea! I came in fourth in my age group last year, but it was the inaugural year so I am thinking that there will be a lot more people competing this year. So who really knows?

This is my first tri since July of last year. Last year due to the wedding I got everything in early in the season, so it has been a while. I think I should do ok, but I am not going to bet the farm on this one. I have been doing well on all of my training and my knee seems to be happy. So as long as I can overcome open water panic and the off road running I think I should be ok.

In terms of gear, I am all set and ready for this one. Just got new tires on my bike, a tune up and some new aero bars. My racing kit arrived last week and thankfully it fits. So now all I need is for it to be 5am on Sunday morning so I can head to the race and get it over with. It will be the first race in a year that I am going to solo. Nick will be on his way to a business trip so it will just be me, myself and I. That in itself will be it's own obstacle, but I think I should be A-OK!

Anyone else racing this weekend?

Anyone racing the Red Bank Tri?

Can I Please Take a Nap Now?

Well I made it through the weekend. I managed to have a little fun on Friday night, although exhausted, and then get up nice and early for a Local Barre session. It was another hard work out, but not as devastating as the first. I think I can attribute that to the last two weeks of boot camp and lifting. When I got back I got on the bike for a 2:30 Z1 ride on my best friend, my trainer. I watched a movie and before I knew it, it was over. And so was the dream of getting in my 30 minute run. My legs were shot, and I was tired. I tried to hold out to see if I could muster up the determination to get out there, but it just didn’t come. So I threw in the towel and called it a day. Some days you just have to be ok with giving up. Giving that my knee is not back to 100% and the amount of workouts I completed last week, I was ok with giving up and had no remorse.

We had a few people over for a Cinco de Mayo/Derby party and tried our hand at Mint Juleps. And all I can say, is we tried! I am not sure they came out correctly but they tasted ok. Kinda like a bourbon flavored life saver. Do what you will with that. Some people liked them, while others couldn’t drink more than a sip (ungrateful guests!!). We had a fun time followed by a dance party and then called it a night/morning.

Sunday called for a 2:00 Z1 ride with 2 intervals at 70 rpm and a 1:05 Z1 run. I got on the bike and within minutes knew it was a bad idea. I would have to push those workouts out a bit. Once I did complete them I felt great. My Z1 pace is now holding solid at 9:13 min/miles. The only thing is that due to my knee I am only running inside, so I am not sure how much I would slow down when you add in weather conditions outside.

I have my first tri coming up on the 20th, it is the Red Bank Olympic Triathlon. I did this one last year and it was fun, outside of the surprise trail running 3 miles in. Given that I just got into tri training and my whole knee problem I am not looking for any miracles with this one. So I am not going to beat myself up to get there! I will just use this as a warm up for this season. Other than all my training life is just peachy. I am still working on the 4 pound goal, tomorrow is my first weigh in. Let’s see how that goes!!

I Made it!

First of all, I must reach and pat myself on the back. I made it to Friday! (insert curtsy) What a week! Between being in the office, doing all of my workouts and adding in boot camp, I am beat! I think I have fallen soundly asleep every night by 10pm only to wake up and do it all again. This morning was our last day of boot camp. We went to the Thursday night class, which consisted of entirely too many push ups and some baby hurdles, only to get home, eat dinner, sleep and try again. We hit the 9am class and again, it was killer. We did a lot more abs and arms today, which I must say my legs enjoyed. But now our free trial is over. I have to say if I could afford it I would for sure sign up for some classes there, but with everything else sports, I am funding, it ain't gonna happen this year! On to the next free endeavor!

As for tri training, let me just tell you the swim set I posted earlier this week, was brutal. I didn't think it would be, but by round 7 of 50 meter sprints, everything was starting to hurt. By the time I hit 10 and started my 500 easy pull, my back was burning so bad, that floating was a challenge. Talk about a deceiving work out! Yesterday, I completed a quick ride and short run prior to boot camp. Today I am going to try the run after. It seems nice enough out, so I may venture outside for this one.

This weekend, I have 2 decently long rides, 1 long run and 1 short run. I am also starting off Saturday nice and early with a Local Barre class. But seriously, I think by Sunday I may need to go and get a massage or something. I have put my muscles through hell this week. And I know, I did it to myself for sure, and I did enjoy it, but I need a break!

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful week. Now I am off to learn how to make a mint julep, so I can be prepared if we have an impromptu Derby party tomorrow.

Is it Really Only Wednesday?

I don’t believe it, I really don’t. I am only half way through the week and I feel like I have been hit by a Mack Truck. I have been in the office working my butt off, but not before hitting the gym or the trainer each morning. Then I get home and head out for my 2nd workout and as I mentioned this week we have added in boot camp. But I have my eye on the prize. My goal is to lose at least 4 pounds in two weeks and I have never been so committed to it! Can she do it? We shall see!

This morning, I literally had to peel myself out of bed and get to the gym for a quick 45 min Z1 run before work. I ran, ran home, drank my blueberry smoothie, showered and headed into work. Tonight I have a quick swim set of:

Warmup:
1000 continuous

Main Set:
10 x 50 at best effort

Cooldown:
500 EZ pull

Then I will get a little rest then it is off to boot camp at 8pm, for 35 minutes of much enjoyed hell.

This week I started my Max lifting phase and I must say, outside of being sore from adding in boot camp, I am starting off with weights much higher than last year. After my first attempt on Monday I realized I can probably bring up my first set for each muscle group by at least 10 lbs. While I was feeling it, I wasn’t really exhausted when I was done. So tomorrow I will try to push my limits a bit.

Giant Work Outs

Well this weekend was pretty successful in terms of workouts. I got in a long ride and run and a long run and recovery ride. My knee started to feel a little sore during my 1:03 Z1 run, but I ran through it and I survived. The run was actually the fun part of my workout. The gym I work out and work at has been hosting some of the NY Giants for workouts. On Saturday two Defensive Tackles were at the gym getting in some cardio when I got there and let me tell you, they were HUGE!! And seriously, nothing is going to make you feel more like a slacker than working out next to them. I mean I got there and was not in the mood to run at all, but watching them work made my run some simple. What interesting motivation!

On Monday I taught and got in a swim and then me and my two friends starting our second try at testing free things in our city. We had signed up for a 1 week trial at a local boot camp. We were running a little late so we got in a quick warm up jog on our way there. When we got there, class was just about to get started. And then it was like starting gun went off. The next thing I knew we were outside on a loading dock with kettle bells, lifting, running, skipping, squatting, figure eighting (possibly not a word) and sprinting. Now this class is only 35 minutes and at that point I figured we had to be close to done. But nooooooo, then we went inside for more squats, burpees, burpees with push ups, jump tucks, push ups and sit ups. Then just when you thought you were done, they opening the back door and sent us all out for a run around the block. Then finally it was over! That 35 minutes felt like about an hour of work. But I must say it was good.

I am teaching tonight so I can't go, but I will be going back Weds-Fri to finish up my free trial and then it is back to Local Barre on Saturday morning. This time I paid (sucker!!)

With all this work, I better start seeing some results, my new bikini just arrived!

Doin' the Snoopy Happy Dance!

Well there are actually a few reasons for my dancing this morning. One being, it's Friday and I have had one hell of a work week and now it is over, the other, and most enjoyable is I ran this morning for 45 minutes with ZERO knee pain. Yes, that is right, NONE! And, to top it off I was running at a faster pace than I was earlier this week. So maybe, just maybe, I have gotten over the hump. We will see what happens on my longer run tomorrow. But I am thinking today was  good sign for sure.

I really am happy this week is over though and I am looking forward to our last weekend of shopping for kitchen remodeling items. We had a consultation this morning at 7am to get the final measurements and I think we are in the home stretch of planning and then it is kitchen demo time. At which time I will lock myself in my guest room and hide under a blanket until it is all done and cleaned up.

This weekends workouts are looking very similar to last. Tomorrow a long run with a recovery ride and Sunday a 2.5 hour brick workout. I really hope I didn't celebrate too early about my knee, but it would be nice to be able to run comfortably again. Am I asking too much?

Today I need to finish signing up for my 2012 season races and schedule a bike tune up and fitting. I am thinking about replacing my aerobars, so I thought that might be a good opportunity to get fitted. So now I am off to spend some $$$. I do love this sport, but it certainly does burn a hole in your pocket.

Feel the Burn

Yup I feel it! Last week was my first week back to heavier training. With last weekend being my first brick and all that fun. And, boy do I feel it. But at the same time, boy do I feel good! It is nice to get back to working hard and feeling tired after a hard day of work and work outs. Sounds a little nutty, huh?

This week started with spin and a quick lifting session. I usually also take this 30 min abs class after my 6am spin, but this Monday I wasn't feeling too hot. My stomach was killing me, so opted to skip the crunching and planking that would inevitably make my stomach feel worse. By Monday night I was feeling a little better, but I went light on dinner and went to bed early just in case I wasn't totally in the clear.

Tuesday I had planned to start the day early again with a workout, but my body had other plans. I slept through 2 hours of snoozing and woke up just in time to start work. I guess my body needed some sleep!? I got in a quick swim and 1:05 Z1 ride yesterday and then headed to spin class. Again, I was tired, but loving it by the time bedtime came.

This morning I managed to get up before my alarm (= body is done resting) and headed to the gym to lift and get in a 43 min Z1 run. What is strange is that I feel like my knee has a 40 min threshold. If I am running at a pace faster than 9:23, I will start feeling slight pain my knee, ITB at around 40 min. I ran 41 minutes and made the executive decision to stop and stretch when my knee starting acting up. Seriously though, when is this going to stop?

I think I am going to head back to the pool for a quick swim this afternoon, then it is dinner with some of my girl friends tonight. Gotta get a head start on working off some of the food I plan on eating tonight! Happy hump day!

Trying New Things

Due to my light training schedule the past two weeks, I decided to take some time to try some new things. Like getting on my bike, just because I want to, with no HR monitor and going on walks, just for fun. Well as I was doing all of this it dawned on me that there are a lot of fitness places/classes I can try out in my city for the first time for free! Now, some of them I have tried before, but that is when I realized, yes I did try them out before, but that was with my maiden name! So I could try it all again with my married name if I wanted to.

So I talked to one of my friends and her sister and we decided let's try all the places we can. So Saturday, we got up nice and early (really way earlier than I should be getting up on a Saturday)and we headed to an introductory Local Barre course. I had heard it was a great workout and I did take dance for several years up until I was a teenager, so I mean how hard could it be. Well holy crap, it was hard! I used muscles in my butt that I didn't even know existed. By the end of the hour every muscle in my body was twitching. I got home at 9:30am and was spent! By Sunday morning I was really feeling it. But I figured that had to be a good thing.

This week I am slowly getting back into the swing of things with my training. I started yesterday with my spin class, 30 minute swim and some lifting. Today I did a 1 hour Zone 1 bike and tonight I will be doing another 30 minute swim before my spin class. Tomorrow I will be testing out my legs again with a 40 min run. I am hoping it will go smoothly but we shall see.

Next up on the free class endeavour will be boot camp. The classes are 35 min and we get to go for a week for free. So that should be interesting. Man, I love trying all this new stuff, especially for free!

Still Slow Going Here

After my week of making up my own workouts, Coach P and I came the conclusion that I had the start of IT Band problems. So we said no running at all last week and that we would ease into it this week. Which I must say, while it makes me feel a little better to have a planned work out schedule, I am just not used to it being this light. I can obviously find a way to complain about anything!

So this week I have been teaching spin class nonstop, since I have the free time, why not, taking hour long rides, 30 min swims and 30 min runs. On Tuesday I went on my first run at a pace of 9:23, I was all good until about 27 min and then I got that nagging feeling in my knee. So I stopped the treadmill and headed to the dreaded foam roller. I am going to take a stab at it again today and see what happens. Maybe I will take it a little slower, if I am capable of it.

Other than that, life has been pretty blah. We had a fun Easter with my family, filled with mimosas and egg hunts. and lots of eating. And we are in the process of planning a total kitchen remodel at our place, so I can say I have logged more time at Home Depot than I ever have in my life. I figure this is my way of paying Nick back for all the triathlons he has sat through and also it is adding to my bank for this race season.

Hopefully tonight's run will be a bit more successful and if not, I have fantastic dinner plans so it really won't matter! Have a great night!

On my Own

After a week of rest and quite a bit of knee pain. I finished off the week with a massage and a big dinner with some friends. On Saturday we were going to start picking out our new kitchen, but before we went I wanted to try my luck on the bike to see if loosening up a bit and stretching might help the knee. I got on my bike in ZR for about 45 min and spent some time stretching. While it helped a bit, I was still feeling the knee pain which walking up and down stairs so I gave up and headed out for a day of cabinet shopping.

I took Sunday off again and decided to finally cheat on my diet a bit and sat on the couch and ate pizza all day, which I must say was glorious! On Monday I got up to teach spin and figured this would be a great test for the knee. While teaching my knee felt fine, but in the abs class I took after it seemed that doing a side plank was irritating it. After class I used the foam roller and headed home.

After talking to Coach P we agreed that maybe I still rest a bit this week. So this week I get to do whatever workouts I want, when I want, but I am just supposed to keep them light. I am still a little concerned though because I did a tiny bit of running yesterday and woke up with knee pain today. I think it could be my IT band, so I am going to just continue to roll and take Omega 3 and pray it doesn't get any worse!

Well that is all I have to report so far this week! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Losing My Mind

This week has been a rest week for me, so that means no working out. What, WHAT?!?!? All week I have seriously not known what to do with myself. Now granted, Monday and Tuesday working out was out of the question only because my bendy parts were not working at all. Then I worked the night shift from 3am on Wednesday morning to 6pm Wednesday night. So again I was ok with not working out. Then came Thursday. I had a plan. I was going to sleep in and then head to the gym and maybe jump on the elliptical for a while to help loosen up my legs and then get in a good stretch. Well my knee felt so unbelievably bad after I walked to get lunch that I decided to sit at home again.

So here we are, it's Friday. I subbed a 6am spin class this morning and all I wanted to do was get on the damn bike and pedal, but no, my knee won't let me! So again, I did the "right" thing and just yelled at the class from the floor as opposed to working out with them. Then I spent some time with a foam roller and yup, you guessed it, my knee hurts AGAIN!

One thing I should have been taking advantage of this week is cheating on my diet and for some reason, I haven't. I can say this is honestly the healthiest week ever for me in terms of eating. I have eaten more salads and chicken than I have all year, in one week! For some reason I don't want to do the bad things like drinking and pigging out. My body seems to want veggies! Who am I and what did this marathon do to me!?!?

So before this knee pain takes over my life, I am going to take a nice Epsom salt bath, stretch and get a massage and see how I feel. Coach P thinks it is "Runners Knee". I looked it up and it does exist (I mean it doesn't sound real does it?) and it seems like I have all of the symptoms, although Webmd can really make you feel like you have anything with the way they list symptoms. But I am going to go with it. I am going to keep myself from exercising (ok I may try to take a yoga class), and hope that by Monday I am ready to roll.

This last race reignited my spirit in racing. I finally came out on top. I think that had something to do with really thinking about the race I chose and examining the race course before signing up. So that is the method I am sticking to for the rest of the season. I will meet 26.2 again later this year (bearing knee cooperation) at the NYC Marathon, a course I know very well, but one that has challenged me every time I have taken it on. But this year, if I keep it up at the rate I am going I will be ready for anything it throws at me.

Ocean Drive Marathon Race Report

What a weekend! I wanted to sit down and write this yesterday, but I was so sore that the thought of getting up off the couch and walking to the computer and having to sit down and get up again, was just too much! So, while I am still hobbling today, I got up the motivation to move around a bit.

So let's start with Friday. On Friday, Coach P called me to talk to me about my pacing and race plan. According to how I have been training I was all set for an 8:20 pace for the race. And for the first time, I believed him. I mean I have been running a lot and getting faster and this was a pretty flat course. So as long as the rain and the wind agreed with me, I could do this!

On Saturday, Nick and I headed down to the beach, I have a house down there, so it meant that I would be within 20 min of the starting line and could do all of my race prep at home. After hitting up the expo and getting my shirt and welcome packet we headed back to my house to continue to eating and watch the NCAA tournament. By 9pm my nerves were calm and I was ready to get this race started.

On Sunday, I got up and ate the piece de resistance of my fueling plan. The gut busting protein shake, banana and apple sauce. And then everything began to fall into place, or out of place, and that is enough detail on that one. The race had a 9am start (glorious, compared to normal triathlon starts we are used to) and we headed over around 8:10. We got the start, I made one more bathroom break and had just enough time to get to the start, listen to the national anthem and go!

In terms of racing conditions, the weather was definitely a little strange. We were running along the ocean most of the race and while it was only 52 degrees, it was oddly warm. I ran in my new short shorts, a tank top and a long sleeve technical shirt. By mile 2 I had already lost the tech shirt and was fine in just my tank and shorts. The other odd thing is that there were no rfid tags, the race was all based on gun time. So for the start I had to try to get as close to the line as possible without getting run over. I ended up 20 seconds back.

Once the gun went off, it was on! I had to fight through the slower people and those who were running the 10k. There were only about 1600 of us racing (around 600 marathon runners), so it wasn't too bad. I hit mile 1 at 8:21 and settled into my pace. The first few miles were fantastic. We ran a decent size bridge, but even then I was able to maintain a 8:27 pace.

The race was split up between 3 towns (islands), each separated by marshland and two bridges. The first challenge presented itself when we hit the marshland. Once there were no buildings around, the wind was brutal. We were facing 15mph headwinds, from mile 3 all the way to 26, with a 3-4 block break around mile 16. I realized then that I might not be able to stay on the 8:20 pace but I was surviving fine at an 8:30 pace. I felt fantastic, spirits high, but I started to realize that water stops were getting further and further apart. Any other marathon I have run, you can get water every mile or so. This one seemed to be every 2.5-3.5 miles. Once I realized that I started to just double up at stops, but still I was feeling incredibly thirsty.

Around mile 16 I noticed just how thirsty I was, my right quad was starting to cramp and I was getting a little nervous. I knew I would see my parents around mile 17 and I started hoping that they might be drinking water when I got there. No such luck. I saw Nick and my parents and kept going. The next thing I knew, Nick was running along side of me and ran with me for the next 2.5 miles keeping me motivated. I was able to stop at another water stop but by then both quads and both calfs were completely cramped. We stopped so I could stretch a bit and then took off again. At this point my pace was down to about 9:10. What could I do?

Nick dropped off at my parents and headed to meet me at the finish line. I crossed mile 20 at 2:58 and I knew my 4 hour goal was still within reach. I just needed water and a swift (mental) kick in the ass. Well the mental part was easy, but there was no water!! By mile 22 I felt like I was shuffling more than running (for those who have run a marathon before, you know the feeling). But I had to keep it going. I convinced myself for every 1.5 miles I ran I could stop and stretch.

I hit mile 25.2 at 3:55 and realized the 4 hour marathon was not going to happen, after a few explicatives, I took off and realized that although I didn't hit the 4 hour goal I could still PR. I crossed the line at 4:05:25, which is an 11 min PR for me and I couldn't have been happier. I had nothing left and that meant to me that I gave it everything I had.

After the race, we had to take a quick stop at the medic tent because I was not feeling correct. While everyone else was wrapped in mylars I was so hot I didn't want to be near anything warm. I also was having trouble bending my legs and my breathing was really shallow. Apparently I, much like all the others in the medic tent, was suffering from dehydration and a little bit of hypothermia. One thing I can say, is I looked way better than the others in the tent! Once feeling better we headed home to shower and eat some chicken cheese steaks.

All in all, I can say that I am very happy with the outcome. I know now that a sub 4 hour marathon is totally possible for me. On Sunday, the fitness was there, with more water I could have done it. I could have done way better than a 4 hour finish. But like I said, I know I raced as hard as I could, at the end of the day there was nothing left and I am proud of myself for not letting my pain and doubt take over and ruin my race.

Now I get a nice week off, to lick my wounds and relax. I am already feeling less sore, but I am a little worried about some knee pain that started around mile 23 and I am still feeling today. I am hoping it is nothing a little couch surfing won't fix.

So there you have it! First race of the year complete, and an 11 minute PR no less!

Rest, Hydration and Lethargy

Well it is marathon week and I am concentrating on the three most important things. Resting as much as possible which usually isn't too challenging for me since I like to get 8-10 hours of sleep at night when I can. Hydrating, which again is not so hard, I just try to monitor by putting 1/6th of a lemon in each solo cup I drink and I try to make my goal 1-2 lemons a day. And lastly and most importantly lethargy. I am supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible. Coach P went as far to say that if I had to shorten a workout to get to bed early I could do that. Now my question is, why don't I get that kind of advice on weeks where he is trying to kill me? I guess the obvious answer is that I don't run marathons every weekend. And thankfully that I am not willing to change that little fact!

So the marathon is set for this Sunday and it looks like it is going to be pretty moderate in terms of temperature. Somewhere between 50-60 degrees. There is a slight chance of rain, but I am hoping that passes. I am pretty excited for this one for a few reasons. First it is down at the beach near my beach house, a terrain I know quite well. Waaaaay back in the day when I first started running marathons I did a lot of my long Saturday runs on my island. And 7 miles of this marathon will be that exact route. Second, since we are following ocean drive, hills will not be that much of an issue. We will have to cross a few drawbridges to get from island to island but I figure if the rest of the course is flat, it can't be that bad. And lastly, I haven't raced a full marathon since my bike crash. I was supposed to run NY that year but obviously it just wasn't in the cards for me. So now, I am just interested in seeing how I can do.

It is always nice to go back to "what you know". Running marathons is where this crazy obsession began and it is nice to go back and visit it every once in a while, like an old familiar friend. Now let's just hope this "old friend" treats me nicely.

I will try to check in once more this week if anything fun comes up. If not, I will be back on Monday with a race report!