My Oh My...

Here I sit, 3 weeks to date since I went for my goal. I got up this morning and went for a 3 mile run at White Tanks trying to keep my mind clear. The run was good, but on the drive home my mind went rambling again. I've got to keep busy because I can't fight back the tears. I still struggle to understand them. I enjoyed the journey of Ironman, so why the tears?


On November 21, 2010 7a.m. the adventure of my lifetime started.

Swim:

I hit the 60 degree water with all the other hopefuls, except the water didn't feel that cold. It felt good. A little hard to exhale once I put my face in, but other than that it was OK. Twice I had to tell myself to relax, enjoy and stay with the pack. My internal furnace kicked on at the turn around, I was burning up, so I had to pull at the kneck of my wetsuit to let the cold water in(ah yea). My swim was pretty good, 2.4 miles in 1:47 min.. I find that time funny because when I sign up I asked My swim coach if he could get me where I could swim that distance in 1:45..... not bad.

Coming out of the water I was a bit surprised that I could run, although I could not get my arms out of my wetsuit "Thank God for the strippers" or my race might of ended there:).

Bike:

The first loop of the bike was a bit painful, I guess my legs were colder than I thought. I found myself standing a lot, shifting my weight from right to left trying to relax the muscles in my lower back and legs, telling myself, all the while "you've got to relax and get comfortable","Come on you can do this". Coming through the Ladies bike station at the turnaround on Shea was great. They were so pumped and I fed off of their energy, and was able to shake some of the pain I was feeling. At the turn around on Mill ave, after seeing my daughters and hearing their voices I was able to shake off the discomfort.
At the start of the second loop, is when I noticed that I was in Grannie gear,"I thought how did I get, in this gear?" I knew with coach wind being so strong, I would have to push the big ring. This would be the only way I could power through him. I switched to the big ring in the front and the 3 ring from the bottom in the back, and my speed went from 13mph to 19mph on the way out and from 11 mph against the wind to 15 mph against the wind on the way in. Yes, this hurt, but only for a bit:). I found that I could maintain this effort for the rest of the second loop and all of the third loop. I had never been so glad to get off my bike:). Bike time was 8:09. This was a hour over what I had planned, but I beat the cut off by 45 min.

Some of the thoughts that were going through my head on the bike:
wow, my swim felt great.
man, this loop sucks.
OK, who invited Coach Wind?
What? Coach wind brought Three new assistant Coaches(cold, rain and sleet).
OK,.. Bring it,
Is that all you got?
Why did I say that now cousin Gust had to join the party?
I guess to be an Ironman this year, I have to pass all your classes. That's cool.
This is just another Training day.

The Run:

I started the run in the negative as far as my legs and time. I had trashed my legs on the bike,to get through Coach wind and his assistant, but it's all good, because you can't get to the run unless you finish the bike.

Once I got off the bike, I noticed that my legs felt heavy, I went into transition and asked if I could borrow a sit for a quickie :), I changed my shoes and put on a new pair of gloves and grabbed my arm warmers. I had done the math, I only had 6.5 hrs to run 26.5 miles.. I knew I needed 7 to 7.5 hr to achieve my goal. But I also knew that QUITTING was not an option. My new plan was to try and make up as much time as I could on the run. I left the transition area knowing that I would have to run walk as much as I could and if that did not work to walk as fast as I could. My first mile was 18 min, so I pushed harder and at the second check point I was at a 16 min. mile. I was very happy when I reached the 13 mile point and had gained 15 min on my 1/2 marathon time. I told myself, you can do this, Just..Keep..Moving.
The best part of this run was to see my daughters and my son on the walls as I went up Curry for the second time and then to see them down by the boating dock on my way to the Rural bridge. They had only words of encouragement, and I needed them badly.

I had missed getting my special needs bag with my fuel for the second half and had started to wonder if I would finish but, I kept moving forward because that's what I do. 'You have trained for this,"so lets get it her done'. This is what I kept telling myself. Mile 15, mile 16 then at mile 18, I noticed that I could not walk a straight line and when I stopped walking I would walk backwards (that was a funny feeling because I could not stop myself). I would have to lean forward to get myself moving forward. I guess I was tired :).
.
Well, my journey ended at 11 p.m. on the Mill Ave bridge with 6.2 miles to go. The Ironman Director asked me one question, "Can you run a 10 min mile?" I said, "No sir, I never have", which lead to the request for my chip. All I could say was OK.
I went down to the finish to see a few friends come in. It wasn't the ending that I had hoped for but, in the end it was a great day.

Ironman is a mental game. The body will respond when trained to do so, but the mind has the final say. I guess that's what the tears are for. They're for the ' I wonder if I could of finished. They are the anguish of not finishing and they are all the emotions that come with the pursuit of a goal, finished or not. There has to be a end.

I completed 134.4 miles of a 140.6 mile course
Not bad for a Days Work

Thank you

for

all your support

A Year of Miles...

I started this journey at the end Of November with a clean slate--
starting with zero miles for November. These are the miles per month that I have tracked using Daily Mile and my training log.
Nov 2009 = 0
Dec 2009 = 347
Jan 2010 = 430
Feb 2010 = 582
Mar 2010 = 505
Apr 2010 = 539
May 2010 = 524
Jun 2010 = 508
Jul 2010 = 579
aug 2010 = 587
Sep 2010 = 577
Oct 2010 = 578
before Ironman
Nov 2010 = 309
Total miles for the year leading up to Ironman 5400
Total time in hours for the year leading to IM 1521.6 = 63.4 days

Upon completion of Ironman, I shall have 5540.6 miles.. How sweet.

My Ironman BiB # 2655

Wow it is really real....
I have my Bib number, so I guess that there is no backing out now. :)
It was just yesterday that I was standing in line with everyone else, with my eyes set on the 2010 Ironman. It was 5:30 am the day after Ironman 2009, with the excitement still running through my veins from the night before, I was there waiting to sign up, to make my mark on the journey to the 2010 Ironman. That was almost a year ago and in two weeks, I will find out if I have done everything that I can to achieve this goal. The excitement is still running through my veins, every time I think of the start of the race I get excited, I can hear the Ironman song, I can feel the energy coming up off the Lake from all the athletes in the water awaiting the start. I can still feel the explosion of force once the horn blows, and the water go from calm waters, in to white water.
To watch the mass narrow into a funnel-like shape as the swim progresses, to see the faces of the swimmers as they are helped out of the water, some have smiles, some are very cold and have a slight smirk on their face. And then there are those that have the "I am done" written all over their face. My heart goes out to them, I stand there with tears in my eyes because I can see and feel the hurt pouring from every part of them.

Then to see them coming out of the bike transition pumped up, their adrenaline is high and they are moving so fast. If you watch them its as though they are paddling to something that is so exciting. If you ask them to explain it they could not find the words, but one by one they all set out to reach it.

I stand and watch them coming back in from their last lap. Some beaten up by the wind, some with blood on their faces, some with scraped knees and bruised bodies, but they still move forward to the Run...
The run is the hardest part to watch, because I know that they have been in motion for at least 10 hrs, and every muscle in their bodies are asking them "What are you doing? Are you crazy?". Some of them will answer "Yes, I am", and will continue to push on. Some will not say anything, but you can see their answer on their faces as they pass. I have seen runners come by with that same smile on their faces as they had at the start of the race, some will have a smirk, and some will be talking to themselves. But all the while they are moving toward that goal, the finish line...

I have worked the finish line for two years, I have caught many friends and strangers as they cross. I wish I could say, I can relate to the looks on their faces, but I can't-- some with no words just smiles, some don't know their shirt size or if they want their picture taken, some just stop, and don't know what to do next.
Some just break down and cry with joy and some just pass out. They have given it their all, and they have nothing left.
But the ones that stick in my head and heart are the ones that turn the corner with just a 100 yds to go and the clock strikes 12, Those are the ones that I cry with. Those are the ones that I still find myself crying for, when I think about the sacrifice that they and their families have made for them to become a Ironman.

So you are wondering why do I want to do this?

Disney Land 1/2 Marathon

A few of the Ladies gave me a gift of a life time. They Treated me to a Half Marathon and a day at Disneyland. Yes I said treat. I was very worried about my running. So they added a bit of pressure, they signed me up for the 1/2 marathon at Disney and asked me not to get mad. I didn't just more worried if I could do this. The training started in may. a 5k or a 10k once a week with some speed drills.

well I did something to my ankle and it took me off running for two months, talking about pressure and frustration. I started running again at the end of July, because I have to get ready. The longest distance that I ran before the 1/2 was a 10k that's 6.2 miles. Yes I know I'm not ready but my time is up and its 9/4 time to travel to Disney.... We picked up our packets and I have an uneasy stomach and I did voice my concerns because now, I'm informed that I have to run this in 3:30.. I really scared now because my fastest 1/2 has been 3:45 min....

All of the ladies were being helpful. Julie sent me a email stating if you find that you are not going to make the cut off, just have fun and take pictures of all the characters. the last email of the night was from Sara L. all she said was you can do anything for 15 min. I read this and went to bed.

This was the best advice for me. I woke up with that thought in my head and she was right.. I can do anything for 15 min..so I added a bit of pressure on myself, I set my goal for a 13 min mile. and you know I did it until mile 10, I lost focus and my body started to talk to me, it was hurting LOUD. I listen a bit and continued on.

This was the Fastest 1/2 marathon Ive ever done 3:06:50. I felt good.

but the Icing on the day was Disney land. Ive never been there before and what a great time, the funnel cakes, the rides and the fireworks at the end of the night made the run worth it.

Thank you Julie Boles, Deb O and Teena V for treating me to a Gift of a life time.

August is over.....

Well Ive done it again.. I havent logged in a while so I though that I would give you my states for the month of August. These miles were loged via All sport GPS, Daily miles and my training log.
Allsport GPS tracking:
Total Runs 2 = 7.81 miles in 1:52:06 Burning 933 Calories
Total Biks 13 = 269.46 miles in 1d 13:59:51 Burning 16568 Calories
Total runs 3 = 11.35 miles in 2:47:42 Burning 1341 Calories

Daily Miles
Total Swims 11 = 12.5 miles in 11:23:00 Burning 9200 calories
My training log
Total Runs 5 = 23.0 miles in 7:30:00 Burning unknown Calories

August was a fun training month. I was getting ready for the disneyland half marathon. so the running had to come up on the list of training. this isnt a bad thing because Im not a great or even a good runner, i get by. I have found a respect for running through this process. It hurts but only while Im running, soI do have something to look forward to when I stop.
Like climbing once you reach the top of the hill, there is that great down hill... Yes






.

A 10 Hour Day

This Past Sunday I had the perfect chance to do 2/3s of the Iron man.
I met with Liz at 5 am at Tempe Town Lake set out to Canyon Lake for a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 100 mile bike.
Well that was the plan.
I did achieve the swim in a great time.
I set out on the bike at 9 am, the first thing that hit me was I had choose to do a very hilly bike ride( I have a love hate for hills), whats up with that. climbing out from the boat dock at Canyon Lake is 20 miles up hill with a few down hills.
The second climb was Usury pass up King Kong. This wasn't that bad until Mr Wind Showed up. I put my feet down and said your kidding me a head wind.
The third climb was the b-line up to Shea,
on the way back down, You know it, I got a Flat. Back tire of course
I found that my legs were more tired than I thought, it was very hard to stand still to change the tire. I did manage to get it change as the SAG car pulled up( good they had a floor pump).
The Fourth climb was up Mc Dowell to Galvin parkway then out to Double tree. from there it was mostly flat or down hill,
well again that what I thought until I reached the Tempe Town Lake park
There are rollers on the bike path on the lake. I said Oh well Just do it...
I ran out of road at 90 miles. I was back at my truck.... The choice was to ride around the parking lot to get the 10 miles or called the ball. I call the ball at this point I was mentally done, I was back at the truck.

My nutrition was right on time, I cramped for about 10 miles, starting at mile 69 then they stopped at mile 81. Conclusion drink even more water. Total nutrition for the day: 6 gal of water, 4 peanut butter 1/2 sandwiches, ? pretzels and 3 bananas( yes I ate bananas). 1 bottle of Car bro pro thick mixture, 1 bottle of my mixture.

Thank You Liz for spending the entire day with me, I don't know how I could of done this without you.
Thank you Chrissy, for coming out and being a part of my journey.

Biking with the Bull Shifters


This morning's bike ride started at 5:30 am. We started out at 16 mph and advanced quickly to 18. I have got to learn how to warm up faster... talk about sucking wind for the first 4 miles... I had stated that my legs were burned out way before I reached the first hill. But, this time I made it up with out stopping!

Class Reunions

This past July I went back home to my 30Th class reunion, although it was fun seeing all of my friends from the past it also gave me a chance to see how far I have grown... My High School was a school of prestige. You had to carry a B avg a C avg would land you on probation and you could be sent back to your home school.. STIVERS PATTERSON COOPERATIVE HIGH SCHOOL this was the way out for a lot of the young people in Dayton, This school gave us the tools to be successful, This was a school that prepaid us for JOBS and College...Some of us looked at it as a way out, A way to survive. The education at our home school was good but in adequate in a lot of ways...
The Cooperative program was the only one in Dayton. And it was on the East side of town*.
we had standards to follow like
dressing 3/4 the time based on your field
GPA of a B or better
attendance missed 3 days sent back to your home school
in class 2 weeks and at work 2 weeks
going to school year round w/ only holiday breaks this was a real job
My freshmen year was at Stivers, this school held 1000 students. We had 6 base classes but we had to select 3 vocation. I selected medical Arts, Graphic Arts and DECA at the end of the year we had to choose major and a minor.
I started my 10 grade on Sept 9, 1997 and went to school for 3 years around the calendar until August 8,1980.
My major was Graphic Arts, I became a Press Operator. I learned how to set type, how to run a AB Dick Press. a Harrison Press, A Platen Press and an industrial Paper cutter.
Out of all the presses I loved the Platen press. It was almost like driving a stick. it had a foot break and a pull print arm.. My friend Rosie Deak and I were the fasted operators, we could run that press with the break off.. you had to remove a business card and replace a blank card with in seconds of each other or you would print on the mat. the key was a good rhythm. something like jumping double dutch rope.
My minor was Music. I went to college on a music scholarship.

I truly enjoyed my High School Years. Those years were the foundation of my life and I am still building on it today.

Five months to Ironman

When I started this journey, I stated, "Wow in 9 months I could have a baby", this was how I looked at the journey to Ironman. In a sense they are similar, The body will have to go through some major transformation in this process.
In the last 4 months I have lost some friends, but I have gained even more friends. I have hit the wall with my swimming, so I walked away for 2 weeks with, thought that I cant do this, but, when I went back. I found out that I can, I just have to stay focused and 'in that moment'.

I've learned to look at, what I'm asking my body to do and to look at what, I am giving it, to do it with. meaning proper sleep, good nutrition, and plenty of fluids along with enough recovery time.
I've learned that my swim will be off the day after a 100 mile bike ride or staying up at a 24 hr Mtn.bike event.
But In the month of June,
I've learned what it will take & how it feels to get out of my comfort Z on my bike.
I've learned that If I want to maintain a certain mph over a period of time with hills. I will have to surpass that avg by .6 mph. because I've also realized that I lose .3 mph on every hill climb. Therefore the down hill will play a very important part in this. Again I have to stay focused and 'in that Moment'.

Now with 5 months to go I have to transform this body a bit more, to become a better runner w/out injury.

I am still having fun in the moment.

A 101 mile bike ride On Independance Day 2010

What a way to celebrate this day. Joe and I set out at 4:30 am on this day with only one goal in mind, My goal was to complete this ride with an Avg of 15.0 mph, Joe stated that we would not stop until we reached 100 miles. Well we acheived both.




Joe and I talked, as we were riding. I told him about some of the rules that I will have to follow, and about the penalties that you can accomulate if you dont follow them. Like no drafting, falling back 4 bike lenghts once a rider over takes you, etc...
So as we were riding Joe stayed to the far left of me a good distance, ahead of me or he would fall back behind me. neither one of us drafted the entire ride. We had some head wind and cross wind but nothing to hard to ride with. Plus I like riding in the wind :)

The realization moment for me was the last 5 miles, we were riding at 17 mph and I felt great. I thought that I would feel anything but... GREAT.

Another 100 mile day.

This will be my third hundred mile bike ride thus far in my training for Ironman 2010. I will have to add a loop on the end to bring the miles up to 100 but at lease Ill be back at the truck. Yeha. This Sunday 6/27/2010 the temp is supose to be in the upper/mid 90s I hope this will be the story, the plan is to start at 5:30 am and to be done by 11 am.
Im off to bed, sleep..... must...... sleep :)
http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=872127760793072740

Another Month Closer 7 down 5 to go

This has been a month of Trial.. I set out to do a 4000 yd swim and a 100 mile bike ride, just to re-assure me that this is doable. I achieved them both. so Im feeling 2/3 ready.
The swim was great. I had set a goal when I signed up to be able to do the swim in 1:45, I did it in 1:47 and the bike I would like to do it in 6 hr. I did it in 8 hr including the rest stops and lights.

Here is my stats for the month of May:
`
Event..........Miles........Total Time
===== ......... =======.......==========
Bike(14)....... 470.08........1d 17:32:00
Run(8)...........40.1............9:55:00
Walke(1)..........2.11............:33:33
Swim(13).........12.00..........10:47:00
......................-----.........----------
Month Total:.....524.29.........63:19:00 = 2d 13hr


My new saying: "If You can see It, You can Achieve It"

100 mile training ride to maricopa

This was another great Bike ride. I always want to ride to Maricopa.
Memorial day was a great day to do this. I rode with a fellow cyclist/Friend/Ironman and Marine named Claudia. What a honor. Although the ride was long and hot, I was in great company.

Sunday 5/23/2010 100 mile ride

The goal was to complete the route above, The ride started out well. I have never climb the b-line so fast, we had a good tail wind that made that happen. the continued climb to bush hwy was almost as fast, but once I turned onto bush hwy heading to usuery pass the winds picked up and decided to blow in my face. those beautiful down hills became work followed by the up hills more work.. it did not matter which way I turned south or west the wind was welcoming. I ended up with 70+ miles for the day because I did not do the loop around usuery pass.
This is a great ride and I will be doing it again..

Training Week 5/2 - 5/8

5-2 Sunday I survived the 75 miles in a wind tunnel with hills :),

5-3 Monday turned into a rest day. I woke up at 3 am and was still tired so I listen to my body and slept in til 6:30 am and choose to not train today, just take it easy.

5-4 Tuesday it was back at it. my day started with a 5:45 am swim. Tuesday is always a test set day this week it was 6 x 100 in 3 min. I did pretty good the first 4 was 1:57 but the hast two were 2:04. I have to look at this good after a tough ride on Sunday. Tuesday night I went on the Tribe run, I ran 4.47
miles in 1:09 which brings my ave down a bit

5-5 Wednesday was a volume swim at 5:45 am I swam 5 x 400 with a 20 second rest between each set. my focus on these sets were to count my strokes and keep them under a 23 count. I was able to do this for the first 3 set, the 4Th set I was 1 stroke over and the last set was uncontrollable. the counts were 24s and 25s. I have to work on that.

5-6 Thursday this is supose to be a rest day but seeing that I took Monday off I went for a afterwork run, I was able to run 4:04 miles in 1:09 but this time i did not stop as much. I need to go to bed but im not tired but tomorrow holds another day of work and training for me" must sleep"

5-7 Friday to day was a easy bike ride with the Julie B and Big John. we rode 23 miles through awhatukee. I did not want to do a lot of climbing because Im doing the South Mountain Time Trial tomorrow morning... Julie has gotten strong on her bike, she kept up at 16 mph on the flats and was able to climb 17 ave and 5th ave at 7 mph. not bad for being 5 month on her bike.

5-8 Saturday I signed uo for the South Mt Time Trial all thought I wasnt ready mentaly, and I did finish it but not as good as I should of. It was a great training ride.. well thats how Im looking at it

I did not weight train this week trying no to burn my legs out.

Lesson learned this week, If the mind and body isnt in it dont do It.

Building Charter 5/2/2010

Sunday's bike ride was suppose to be a long, easy ride. It started out from the Tribe and meandered through PV, then out on to Shea for some climbing up and over Eagle mt ridge. The view of the city is beautiful from here. Then it continued and dropped down to Fountain blvd. It then headed up some pretty steep climb--they were 6 to 8% climbs. This road leads you out to the fire station as you head out to Rio Verde.
This is where the Charter building started, The winds picked up, It wasn't all that bad at the start of the climb up 9 mile hill but man did it pick up. the gusts were at 35 mph. When they hit you it was like a brick wall, I almost came to a stop, and the side winds were just as bad. It was very hard to keep the bike on the road.
The phrase in my head was "MUST REACH TOP" and "Wind Builds Charter". The link below is the ride out:

http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/702960

Wind builds charter but it also makes you very hungry, A couple slices of Pizza and back on the road feeling happy.

On the way home the same winds were playing with me, I felt like a rag doll being tossed around. If my helmet was clipped on it would of blown off. all I could do was put my head down and push on. but the ride home was a bit faster but not as far as it could of been. nothing but side and head winds all the way. This link is the ride back. each dip in speed is a wind gust.

http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/702870


Here a trivia questions: what is the % of the climb up 9 mill hill.
Answer: over 80 % of the climb is only 2% there are some 3% every now and then

All in All I fell great, my legs are a bit tired but not total spent, I learned that I need real food on long hard rides. And if I keep a positive out look I can climb in the wind for 75 miles.

May 2 - May 8, 2010 Training

My Training Schadule for this week

May 2 Sunday 70 mile bike ride
May 3 monday morning swim (drills), weight training
May 4 Tuesday morning swim (test set), weight training, night run 5k( 3.1 miles)
May 5 Wednesday morning swim (volum), weight training, Towers/brick 5k
May 6 Thursday Morning run, weight training, Hill rpts 10k (6.2 miles)
May 7 Friday Morning Ladies bike, weight training
May 8 Saturday Tower TT,

The goal for this week is to run a total of 12 miles.

Wish me luck

Journeys

Tonight I sit. A few of my friends have set out to do the St George Ironman this weekend, They have set their goals and have put in the time to achieve them. Andy C. got hurt a few months before the ironman and had a pretty hard time walking or moving. but he had set a goal to do the St George ironman in 14 hrs. he achieved this goal with a time of 13:54. very inspirational.. Cheryl Miller have trained for this event also but had a freak accident and broke her foot, no race for her this week, but she is there to cheer on her team mates.

Another Cyclist set a goal to cross America on a bike for her 50Th birthday. Linda B achieve this goal. she rode over 3000 miles in 58 days. what a achievement what a journey.

Again I sit, And I wonder why do I set these quest,what motivates one to take that step.
in thought I still ask why not, I am more motivated every day when I see my friends moving forward in their journeys.

when I started this journey, I was afraid and not sure that I could do this but as time moves forward and I can see the transformation of the people around me and with in myself, the fear has started to dissipate... well at least for this moment.

April update 2010

Well I have 7 months to go to Ironman 2010, and I am feeling pretty good about my training and my progress... There were times this month that I did not feel as confident about anything. My swim wasn't going great and running well that's a subject in its own... This month I have ridden 254.76 miles in 20 hr and 36 min. The turn around on the bike was my doing the Sedona Madness bike ride on April 25Th, It was a very hard ride,, well that's what everyone told me, I'm not a climber so to be honest I was a bit scared of this ride. I started this ride a hr before the start time so I would have time to finish it.. But you know it wasn't that bad of a ride. yes there was hills upon hills but they were all doable, at my own pace. I made it through Jerome and started going up Mingus mt. all in all my legs felt good and they kept feeling good. Climbing isn't that bad :)
I have swam 18,000.00 yd in the pool and 2 miles in open water, The open water swim gave me the boost of confidence that I needed in the water. I had struggled for 2 weeks with the speed drills. The swim coach stated that i had hit a wall and had to push my way through it... He was right and it feels good to be pass it.

I know that I stated that I would focus on the run. This is my eye sore and I must have more or equal miles in May

Me

I realized I didn't really have photos on my blog, so here are a few new ones of me in and 'not in' my bike clothes!

A Great Open water Swim

This Sunday I went out with the Guys to Canyon Lake for a open water swim, The water was very cold, and as always i was the last one to get into the Lake... I asked Jeffrey to tell me what time it was because I didn't have a watch that's water proof. Andy stated that 1 lap was a mile. every one choose to do 2 laps. I had only plan on doing one, but after I started swimming and could catch my breath( yes I had a hard time exhaling in the cold water) I felt good and found my self swimming at a comfortable pace. siting was great, I used the swimmer ahead of me for direction on the way out and the bridge for a marker on the way back in. on the second loop I used a car parked on the hill as a marker on the way out and the bridge on the way back in.
I finished both laps and felt as though I could do another.

It was a great day, a great 2 mile swim with some great friends.

from April 5 to April 17,2010

Thus far this month I have ridden 99.8 miles and have ran 30 miles along with 9600 yd in the pool. I started this month feeling tired and out of sorts. My bike was good, the swim had come to a peak that I could not break, and my run is still my run.
I sign up to do a compu-trainer session on Thursday to see how my bike really was, man was that a eye opener. I found muscles that I knew I had and I thought I was using them....Not after 1 1/2 hours my muscles were talking to me. I would suggest that every one takes this session. I did that on Thursday morning and on Friday I could still feel the burn, but by Saturday my legs felt good and I had so much power in them. I will be doing this session again...

note to self: Burning muscles is a good thing? Right

Wind Training

This past weekend I rode with the Ladies on a 160 mile bike ride in two days. on both days we had a great head wind. I was impressed with how the ladies handled the winds, on the second day I rode alone for the last 30 miles. I had 4 of the ladies ahead of me and they were doing well working the pace line. I wanted to use the day as a training day, The wind was at 25 mph with cross winds. The last 9 miles before we turned back for camp was up hill in a constant wind. I would look up and think that the road was going to flatten out around the bend,but it did not, I could see the color jerseys still climbing ahead of me. This was a great mind builder. I thought I might get a flat tire, I thought about called it and was turning for camp, but I could not because my 4 team mates were at the top waiting, so I kept going.. There wasn't any coasting because if you stopped paddling you would stop moving, yes, the wind was that strong.... We called it the never ending hill.

What I learned was keep paddling and you will reach your goal. The mind is the body killer, I must keep strong thoughts and good thoughts in order to do this.

Note to self....

Only those who will risk going too far...
can possibly find out how far they can Go.

Just do It

2 weeks of long Miles

For the past two week I have been putting in some crazy miles on the bike, I have totaled 345 miles. these miles are a combination of hill repeats, sprint intervals, spinning drills and cadence riding. on each Friday I wounder how I'm going to make Saturday, My legs feel like weights and they hurt, A good friend told me to take Advil and drink plenty of water and go to bed now..:), he was right I felt better in the morning. and was able to ride 40 miles, that Saturday and 48.2 miles the next Saturday.
as far as swimming I have swam 2500 yd and I have ran 18 miles.

The burn is new muscles being developed, Right?

February was a tough month

WOW February is over and I'm just having the time to up date you, This was a very busy month for me that took me in all directions. The ladies that are biking in the ms150 have raised close to 6k for the event that takes place at the end of march, The Ladies will be featured in the sweat magazine in the month of march. and we will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary on April 17, so planning and advertising for all these thing have kept me away from blogging. with this said In the month of Feb.
Biking: I have completed 565 miles of biking of which I introduced hill repeats once a week. Hill repeats hurt :) but by the second week I was able to do 5 repeats with out stopping and by the 3 set it did not feel so bad, it still hurt tho.
Swimming: I was able to complete 18,975 yd of swimming. My time has improved, and my endurance. the longest swim in a day was 2400 yd, this day was a volume day I had to swim the 2400 yd on the 3 min rest time. So if it took me the entire 3 min. for the 100yd meant no rest. I was able to get a min. rest on each hundred.
Running: I was also able to complete 15 miles of running. The only thing that I can say about this is I'm consistence. my ave mile has dropped to a 13.4 from a 15.0. Next month the goal is to up the miles or the running days.

All in all I feel pretty good with my progress. In April I will see if I'm on track for the Iron man. I will keep you posted

First week of Feb

This was a hard week, I wasn't able to get my runs in.. will have to get them in next week. This week I was able to swim 4350 yd I biked 70.08. I managed to set a new mile marker. I did the vulture mine Time Trial, this is a all out 3 mile climb to a 6 mile down hill. Then turn around and do it again to the finish line.. my goal was not to get cough by the field. I avg 13.2 on a hilly ride. sweet.
On Wednesday the swim coach did a crash and burn swim test..3x50 on 1:30 decreasing by 5 sec. I was able to make it to 3x50 on 1:05 before I crashed and burned.
not bad for the first week of Feb

Last week of Jan 2010

Where did the month go. I have 9 months and 3 weeks to Iron man.
This week I swam 5400 yd ran 5.9 miles and biked only 45 miles. I need to pick up my pace on the running and biking this next month. How do I feel thus far. I felt good in this last month I have been able to run 6 miles with out walking and feeling as thou I could run more, my swimming has improved. at the beginning of the month I was swimming 4x75 on the 3 min rest. This last week I was able to swim 4x100 on the 3 min rest. and I know what I'm talking about in swim lingo. The bike I feel pretty good about but will introduce more hill climbs.
I will go and talk to a trainer on Monday and see what he thinks about my training plan. Will keep u informed.

A Week of Rain

Even though it rain all week here in phoenix, I was able to get 5400 yds of swimming, 9 miles of running and 32 miles on the bike, not bad. The best part of the week was the run in the rain from the Tribe on Tuesday night. It was refreshing, as though with every step, the rain washed away the thoughts of doubt and concern that was running through my head and I began to listen to my heart and focus on my breathing. It was only 3 miles but what a good 3 miles.
I remember, as a little Girl my sisters and I would play King of the puddle, as Mom would yell come in out of the rain, before you catch your death. But as a adult that thought lingers(catch my death) hum, but I love to play in the rain, and will every chance I get.

All Three in one day

Today was a great day. I started the day out with a 1800 yd swim. I had to put the van in the shop at 8am so I decided to ride by bike home form the shop it was alittle over 8 miles to home so I decided to make it a cadance day, my goal was to keep my cadance between 85 and 90. yes I managed to do so and was very tired when I reached home. I was very impressed with my average speed it was 15mph :). I ended the day with a 5k run from the Tribe. I was still cold from the morning swim and early bikeride with wet hair so I had over dressed for the run, humm. This was one of my fasted 5ks. I avg 12.3 mph, not bad. although I did not do all three sports in a row it was great being able to do them all in one day.

Lesson Learned

I took the Hoilday off from Swimming, big mistake... I started back on Monday morning, to find I had lost a bit of the edge... The first swim of the year was 400yd warm up followed by 15 x 50s on the 1 min rest.. 3x100 on the 2 min rest...200 yd cool down,This hurt :)...Tuesday was a bit better 2000 yd of various interval swims, I believe Im almost back.. Today Wednesday was a 3 x 500 yd 1 min rest.. 2x150yd negative split 1 min rest, with a negative split on each 50... 100 yd cool down..Today felt great

I learned its not good to take an entire two weeks off of any sport while training.:)