Heading Out Tomorrow

So, It is now upon us - flying out tomorrow for the marathon in Cincinnati. Of course, I'm not packed yet. Just got home from the gym from running a couple quick miles to loosen up the legs. Thought I'd log one last blog before getting outta dodge. There is marathon tracking if anyone wants to get email or text splits during my race. Not guaranteeing anything people! Ha ha! So wish me luck! Marathon #2 - watch out!

Busy Getting Set For the Pig!

This week has been flying by. I'm trying to get everything all lined up for being gone this weekend for the "Flying Pig" marathon, but we all know how that goes. Not enough time in the day!

Sunday I had a pretty good workout - indoors, since it was rainy and nasty out. Ran 8 miles and swam 3000 yds. Had a pretty good 1200 yd straight swim, in which my average 400 splits were all under my 1/4 mile race pace - so was happy.

Monday, I met with my trainer in the morning - which went OK. Measurements didn't move this month, but I think the past week or so of fending off this 'crap' I've been dealing with and not having any appetite may have put me in a bad position for taking these. I have to try to keep up my calories this week better, with the marathon on Sunday. Went spinning in the evening, which went well.

Today, I had class after work, and so am going to maybe try to start packing up my gear for this weekend tonight - as I fly out on Friday for Ohio. I'm sure I'll be swamped tomorrow and Thursday...which is usually how it goes when you plan to take off for somewhere. Now, if only I knew what to pack?

Gear...It's That Time of Year

I feel like it's Christmas...just put my orders in for this season's 'necessary gear' for race season: 1. Garmin Forerunner 310XT Multisport 2. Rudy Project Kontact Helmet 3. Rudy Sunglasses Item #1 is the COOLEST thing EVER! A week or so ago, a friend of mine had mentioned that he saw there was a new Garmin coming out...but I disregarded it - as typically they release a new watch each year. I found out more information on the Garmin this week from Ironman Jim & Heidi that it is ACTUALLY is coming out with a multisport GPS (which means it it waterproof)! Hooray!!! My biggest complaint when racing is that I have all these watches that perform all different functions and none that does them all that you can wear for an entire race (swim to finish). I really like to have my Garmin that tells you your pace and distance when I'm racing - but since none of them (previously) were waterproof...it is too much of a pain to put these guys on during transition and have them all synced up and ready to go, etc. I have been debating what strategy of watch(es) I needed to use for Ironman and how I was going to coordinate it all. Problem...solved. I don't think the watch is released until May... so may be a few weeks until my pre-order comes to my doorstep. I'll let you all know how it works out when I get it. Yeah!!!

Sleeping Beauty...Kind of

Wednesday, I was exhausted. I think I did have a little bit of a bug from Monday still and then dinner on Tuesday night was a late one (way past my typical 9:30 bedtime!). So I came home from work and took a nap on the couch. After about an hour and a half, I woke up, toasted a bagel for 'dinner' and headed up to bed. All-in-all...I slept 12 hours! 6:30 PM - 6:30 AM. So weird.

 

Yesterday I felt much better (must have been all the sleep). I debated heading outside on the bike yesterday after work vs. spin class (since it was 85 degrees out!!!). However, the crazy wind squelched that idea right away. I went to spin and we ended up running outside instead of doing stairs for our brick workouts - which was kind of different. Jonny was actually nice to us for the last 30 minutes of class and let us spin 'easily' at 200 watts. (OK, if I had said that a few months ago...I would have died laughing, cuz 200 watts was NOT so easy.) Must mean I'm getting stronger.

This morning I got up and lifted and now am heading to the chiropractor again to get a little work done. Then off to work!

Chiropractor Time

Yesterday, Ironman Jim and his wife Heidi ran the Boston marathon...so tracked them online during the day at the office. They did a good job for just making it a 'training run'. Later in the day, I think I got a bit of a bug that is floating around the office or I ate something bad. My stomach was just churning all afternoon. I drove up to spin class to see how it was gonna be, and in the parking lot I decided that it probably wasn't going to fly to spin tonight (bad stomach + sore legs from Saturday...not going to be a good class). So I went up and said 'hi' to the troops and chatted for a bit, then went home and rested on the couch (while doing some work - if I wasn't working out...I may as well be billing). Stomach feels better today...so strange.

 

Today, I got up early and got my swim in - 3000 yards. Workout felt pretty good and was glad to get it done. I then went down to work. I came home for a chiropractor appointment to check out my hip alignment and back and see if I can't fix this thing up. Went OK, did some adjustments and funky chiropractor stuff. Then had a heat 'session' on the bad spots. I could have taken a nice little nap at that time.

Now, Jake and I are headed to Manny's for a celebration dinner for my President's club award I got for work last year. Should be fun, is at the new Manny's at the "W", which we have not been to yet. Can't wait...gonna be some good food. Yum!

Earth Day Race Report

First race of the season....done! I got up early this morning and headed to St. Cloud for the Earth Day half marathon. I did this race last year (was my first half marathon) and so was curious as to how I'd do in comparison this year with all my Ironman training I'd been up to lately. 

I had 2 goals going into the race: 

1. Run faster than last year's time. 

2. Break the 2 hr mark I didn't have any people to run with this year, so I pumped up the iPod with my catchy tunes and hit the pavement. 

Strategy included keeping a nice steady pace and making sure my turnover for my legs kept quick (or at least I was consciously thinking about this). One mile in I checked out my Garmin and saw that I was well under the pace that I had mentally set for myself (9:00 min/mile) and so I decided that I'd attempt to keep all my miles under the 9:00 mark - or at least as long as I could. Guess what? They kept down in the low 8's... the WHOLE race (including one 7!). I felt great and kept up my 'supplements' and nutrition all in stride (practicing for Ohio in a few weeks). 

I ended up crossing the finish line in 1:50:36. Average pace = 8:27 minute/mile. Goals - Accomplished! (17 minutes faster than last year - holy crap!!!) and well under 2 hrs! I was a little floored by my 'places' too (see below)...this is a running race and I'm usually not up in this percentile for this type of event. So was very happy! I'm hoping this race is an indicator of how I might do in upcoming races - we shall see... Here's an interesting comparison to last year's race results (yes... I am an analyst! Can't you tell?

Time:  1:50:36

Pace:  8:27

Overall:  376

Division Place:  24/150

Sex Place:  117/826

Tired Legs

Sunday I was planning on taking Pink Lightning out on the road for the first time this spring. Was so excited. I got my cold riding gear out (had to dig a bit), scavenged around for my flat kit which I took off this winter, and attempted to get the training tire off of my back wheel. Could.not.get.it.off! These training tires are made of rubber that is really hard to get on and off of the wheel. I had Jonny put the thing on this fall for me. Well, after about 20 minutes of fighting this thing - I gave up. No riding outside for me that day. On a good note, I did get to watch the Ironman 70.3 Clearwater on TV...

 

Monday at spin, I had Jonny switch out my tire. Now I'm set!!! He also is putting my cassette on my new Zipp wheels this week so I can try those babies out too. Yeah!!! So in spin on Monday we had a 20 minute time trial (TT). This is where you go as hard as you can to keep the highest power wattage output for the entire 20 minutes. We did one a few months back, so it helps gauge where you are at and if you are getting stronger.

I started out pretty good, but at about minute 12 or 13 my legs just gave out. I think that my 20 miler on Saturday was a big factor in that. So, I just spun the best I could for the remainder of the TT, and ended up with an average wattage that was still about 20-25 watts better than my last TT. So, at least that was decent. But man! Those legs just were tired!!! Grrr....

Yesterday I lifted in the morning and had class last night. Today is a run and swim day for me...and my brother and niece from Alaska are coming into town! So will be nice to get to see them here soon. Saturday is the 1/2 marathon in St. Cloud. Weather report is looking like rain - which would really suck. I'm crossing my fingers that it holds off. If not, guess I'll be getting wet.

20 Miler - Done!

I met Noelle today at Elm Creek to knock this 20 miler off the training schedule. Last super long run until the Marathon. So, we decided to tackle a 'hilly' course to emulate what we are up against in Cincinnati, come May. The day was awesome, weather was perfect. Had a bit of wind on occasion, but overall very nice out.

 

We ran 6 miles out-and-back on the trails one way, took a brief pit stop at our cars for Gatorade & GU, then hit the trails to the opposite direction for another 8 miles. At our turn around at mile 16, we stretched out and officially got a bit loopy. I think we both could have laid there for hours just soaking up the sun, but some bikers starting coming by and we thought we might look a tad weird. (I did actually get some good sun on my face...checking in the mirror just a bit ago) The last 4 miles, we just wanted to get DONE! I think we picked up the pace a bit and got it hammered out as fast as we could (at that point).

All-in-all, run went well. Legs felt good, only problem was breathing with this darn stuffy head. I also got a nice little chafing on my neck from either my shirt seam or my necklace... looks like a hickey. Not good. ha ha.

I got home and sat in the hot tub for a bit and then chowed down some food to fill the gap that my little 2400 calorie jaunt cut into me. Now, mileage goes down for the next two weeks until the big race. That will be super nice. Noelle got some pics from the run that I will post here later when she sends them to me.

Nice Day...

Today was such a nice day out... I am SOOO ready for summer (or at least spring)! I met up with some co-workers for breakfast this morning, so had to omit my morning swim. After work, I ran over to check out a bike for my sister-in-law (for her first triathlon this summer) and ended up picking it up. Needs a little tune-up at the bike shop, but should be a decent starter bike for Stacy. Yeah!

 

After that, I went and swam my laps at the gym. Got about 3000 yards in with some pretty good 400 sets, which I held some good splits on. Was pleased about that. Now, it's food (maybe some catching up on my DVR shows) and early to bed... Noelle and I are meeting tomorrow for our 20 miler (or pretty close to that). We're going to go run out at Elm Creek and get some hills in, preparing for Cincinnati. Then, after this weekend's long run - it's all downhill until the marathon. Yeah!!! We'll see how it goes.

Colds...So much Fun!

Been a little lagging on blogging this week...oops. Updates include I've been fighting a cold all week and might be starting to get over the hump. I drugged up with NyQuil last night and got 10 hours of sleep, which I think was much needed. Hopefully, I'm on the mend and can swing back into my training plan without too much trouble - last week was a recovery week anyways. I'm usually good for one cold in the spring that knocks me out for about a week - I hope this is it!

On Sunday, Jake came home from being outta town for the weekend with a dozen pink roses. My house smells amazing! They really are the best smelling flowers that I think I've ever received. Was a nice little surprise.

Tonight, I had a 6 mile run followed by lifting weights. I was going to swim, but water aerobics was in full force and I wasn't going to deal with that tonight. Oh well. Now grab a bite to eat and get some more sleep. Um... love sleep.

I'm Broken...Still

I thought that maybe I might be getting better from my little broken @ss incident that I've been getting massaged through as-of-late, etc. Again tonight at spin class, during the stair intervals - like clockwork on rep #8, it starts to kick in. That is, a dull aching pain in my lower left back / upper @ss that just puts everything out of alignment for me. So...it's either keep going for the next 12 reps in pain - potentially injuring myself further. Or...pop back into the room and have Suzie crank on me for 10-15 min. I opted for the latter.

 

So, Suzie worked me over good. Jonny J came in and gave his opinion too. (He confirmed, my lower back / hips are a bit jacked up (possibly from my fall a while back on the ice). I didn't understand squat when they were conversing on their opinions). So, I jumped back on the bike, spun for the next set and ran out for stair set #2. I knew the outcome here, but had to try until it hurt. I'm not a slacker - and of course...made it to rep #8, aching started to flair up, and decided to go back in and hit the foam roller. 

Well, then Mike stepped in (another massage wonderboy) and decided that he was going to work on me (his specialty, I guess). So Mike took me aside and started to massage the hell out of me (pardon my french...but other words were rolling through my head that were much, much worse during his little session). I think he really got some of the muscles relaxed up, though. But we'll see.

Due to this little issue, I'm under strict orders to attend 'core' class tomorrow morning at 5:45. Guess I'll have to skip my swim and head over to that class and get my glutes worked over. I have a feeling this is gonna hurt.

On a good note... I had done a fitting last week for the TCMC (Twin Cities Multisport Club) tri outfits for racing this season (since a lot of the people I've been training with will be flaunting these lovely duds at races this summer) - but they were only ordering men's outfits. Needless to say, men's outfits don't fit women very well. But, whatever...was gonna get one and be a team player. Tonight at class, they had a box of women's outfits...guess that those will now be an option instead. So, luckily - the outfits might be a tad more flattering than the men's ones on us. But...we shall see.

My Life Would Suck Without You

So, yesterday I made it to the gym in the AM to swim - I swear...this is going to take! Had a decent swim set and then headed to work. After work, I met up with the hubby (his day off) and we went back to the gym and I got in a good 6 mile run on the dreadmill plus some abs after that.

 

It was quite funny when I was running, however, as when one of my songs on my iPod came on (Kelly Clarkson), I just was flying. I had to crank up my speed just to keep the treadmill up with my pace. I found it hilarious that music can do that to you. Just to test that, I would flip between some songs and see how my pace felt, then back to this one song and sure enough....pace just accelerated. Now, if only I could have my iPod during IM Wisc... Oh well, I'm good at singing to myself in my head.