Views from the Mountain

New Blog

2012-01-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

http://viewsfromthemountain.tumblr.com/

Here is the link to the new site. For now I'm keeping it public. But come Maggie time, I'll probably make it private. I wouldn't want to expose my helpless little newborn to the murky and dangerous internet. That wouldn't be getting off to a very good start in the motherhood department.

So, adios muchachos. I'll send you a line when it goes private to see if you want to keep reading. You know who you are.

Moving On

2012-01-01T12:33:00.003-07:00

Happy 2012, everybody! Last night was the first sober New Year's of my adult life. I can safely say that I much prefer drinking to not drinking, although it was pretty nice to wake up perky and not hungover. I only have about 8 more weeks left of this sobriety nonsense and yes, I am counting down the days.

We just got back from a Christmas trip to Steamboat with my side of the family. My parents used to bring us to Steamboat as kids for annual family ski vacations, so this trip was nostalgic and significant in many ways, especially since 5 of the 6 and half grandkids are now skiing or learning how. Here is a picture the whole gang:

It was a different experience for me being that I couldn't ski, drink or hot tub with everyone, but I still managed to have fun. Between daily naps and meals, I squeezed in a lot of QT with Annie (and Amy and PT), caught up on all the latest celebrity gossip via the past 6 issues of US Weekly and read some of my book. At night we would all convene in my parents' condo for a huge family meal, games and gabbing. It was the perfect relaxation elixir I needed, being that I am approaching levels of fatigue reminiscent of the first trimester.

Here's a shot of Annie doing what we did best on the trip: a whole lot of relaxing.

Amy and I also hunted down a local "fitness club" to combat the cabin fever blues. It was an old gas station turned workout studio and it happened to be one of the most ghetto places I've ever worked out in. Who cares though? We got in a quality workout and then snuck in some shopping before returning to the condo. It was a win-win.

I am 32 weeks and measuring right on (meaning if things continue to progress steadily, Maggie should be an on-time arrival). I just caught up on Nicole DeBoom's blog and her last post stated how she is two weeks overdue and scheduled to induce today, if labor hasn't already naturally progressed by now. TWO WEEKS OVERDUE! I guess I need to start mentally preparing for this possibility, but right now the thought of going even one day late makes me want to hork. I just want to get on with the show already.

I am still sleeping 8-10 hours a night (not including the 3-5 times I wake up to pee), but now instead of waking up feeling refreshed, I slowly lumber out of bed looking forward to the time when I can get right back in. I still feel okay during the day, but I get really tired (physically) around 3pm. Also, I get really uncomfortable after dinner while sitting on the couch with a full belly. The majority of the discomfort pools in my lower back so I have to shift around a lot to distribute the extra weight to different parts. I feel like a turtle on its back anytime I have to move or shift positions. I am not used to being so physically limited, so I can't say it's easy for me to listen to my body. But I know I am doing myself (and Maggie) a favor by slowing down a bit, so I try to cooperate.

In other news, we're moving. We currently live in a 1200 sq ft townhome which has been perfect for me and Steve, but notsomuch for a family of three. We were going to wait until this summer to try and move, but an opportunity we couldn't refuse presented itself, so now we're moving mid-late April. It's a duplex just 2 1/2 blocks from where we currently are, and we'll get more sq. footage, albeit half of that is unfinished basement. That's okay, though, because the one thing we're lacking now is storage space. So we can at least use the basement for that until we can transform it into livable space. The house is currently being built, so I'll post pictures to chronicle its progression. But right now it's a concrete foundation, so there's nothing fancy schmancy to report.

Also, I'm moving the blog. Amy moved hers to the Tumblr site (hers is private, so if you want to read it you need to email her and ask for the password). Tumblr has proved to be highly effective for posting pictures and videos, especially from a mobile device. Being that Blogger has always given me headaches in this realm and that I'm now a proud owner of an iPhone, I decided to switch. Most of you will probably thank me since the new blog will primarily harbor photos and videos with minimal text to accompany it. I might include the occasional mind dump if time permits, but I know how unlikely that will be once Maggie starts sucking away all my free time I am in the process of finalizing some last details, so as soon as it's up and running, I'll post the new link. But being that my life and fitness endeavors are about to change drastically, so will the medium through which they're chronicled.

Thanks for your dedication and readership over the years. I hope to see you at the new place.

Home Stretch

2011-12-21T09:23:00.002-07:00

This picture (30 weeks) was taken last night when Steve and I celebrated Christmas together. We went out to dinner at a nice place near our house (an excuse to squeeze one more use out of this trusty black maternity dress I so smartly purchased at Gap.com) and then came back here to open up gifts. Tomorrow my entire family flies in and we are headed up to Steamboat for a Kohl family Christmas ski vacation. But due to my current "condition," instead of skiing, my happy ass will be firmly planted on the sofa while everyone else skis. A tiny part of me is sad to miss out, but mostly I am grateful that I am in the home stretch, on vacation and able to lounge around and enjoy these last few precious moments of R and R before Maggie comes. I plan on doing things like play with Annie, read a lot and make soup. Doesn't that sound nice?

Speaking of pregnancy, I can't believe there's only two months left. The feeling is surreal. I've spent a lot of this pregnancy wishing it away (fixated on reaching my due date rather than enjoying being in the moment). But I have a tendency to wish away the moment in anticipation of the future anyway, so I don't know why pregnancy would have been any different. However, I can honestly say that it hasn't been that bad. I mean, the not drinking royally sucks. So do the food and activity limitations (even if you don't strictly adhere to them, it is still unnerving to know that these guidelines exist because they make you think twice about what or what not to put into or do to your body and it is annoying to contend with those nagging thoughts on a daily basis). But it has been such a different lifestyle for me that it has been a nice change and I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience it. Of course right now I am still sleeping well (8-10 hrs a night) and I have minimal physical pain. So as soon as I can't walk, breathe or sleep anymore, I will cut the Pollyanna BS and openly bitch. But right now, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my whole life.

In related news, yesterday I went to the post office to mail some thank you notes and placed the return address label on the stamp side and the stamp on the return address side. I also tried to put the cereal back in the fridge this morning. I miss my brain.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and everything in between. I wish you all a happy and relaxing holiday filled with love, laughter and good cheer.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2011-12-04T08:49:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving was a week and half ago and also the year anniversary of having completed my first Ironman. During that entire week I kept thinking "this time last year I was heading to the airport to go to Tempe" or "this time last year I was picking up my bike from TriBike Transport" or "this time last year I was enjoying post race nachos and beer." And this year was notably different. Instead of spending the week preparing for the most challenging race I've done to date, I did things like check out a daycare for Maggie for next year, shop for Christmas presents, attend my own baby shower and cook. It seems I am a fragment of the Ironman athlete I used to be.

In fact, several times throughout this pregnancy, I have thought that the Ironman police would tap me on the shoulder at any moment, ready to strip me of my finisher's medal because I am so far removed from Ironmandom these days. For example, more than once this fall I have shown up to the gym without any socks or a sports bra. So, I did the unthinkable and wore a NORMAL bra while on the elliptical. Do you know how demoralizing that is? A) that I would even think of working out without a sports bra (especially given the current state of my ever-enlarging chest) and B) that the exercise I was doing didn't even require a sports bra because of its lack of intensity (elliptical)? I felt so ashamed. Also, the time I forgot my socks I improvised by wearing my knee high argyle socks that I had worn to school that day, thinking maybe they would pass as compression socks. I knew that was a stretch, so thankfully I had some yoga pants in my bag that I could throw on to conceal this foolishness, but boy was I sweating my toosh off that day. I am just waiting for the day when I forget a ponytail holder and have to, gasp, workout with my hair down! That is the mother of all exercise no-nos and I am convicned that that is the only reason the Ironman police have not stopped me yet because at least I haven't comitted THAT sin. YET.

Also, I swam for the first time last week and I cannot believe it took me so long to get my rump in the water. I mean, I did need a break from swimming and cycling at the onset of this pregnancy and I thought I didn't have a suit that fit. But really the first excuse expired around September and the second is a result of laziness. After 1 minute of fishing around my suit bin, I found my trusty flower suit of yore that I didn't waer anymore because of the overstretched stomach. The overstretched stomach! It fit perfectly! I swam 2000m and it was a long, slow, wobbly 2000m. I timed myself doing a 200 just for grins and giggles, but stopped grinning after I saw 3:20 on the clock (I used to be able to bust out a 2:50). Ah well, what a difference a year makes. I can make my way back towards a 2:50 this time next year and if I don't, oh well, there will be other things to busy myself with.

One last thing. Today marks the beginning of the third trimester. I'm almost in the home stretch! This pregnancy has both dragged on and flown by. It's hard to explain. I'm trying to savor these last few days on planet Earth unencumbered by the responsibility of caring for another human being. But the truth is, I am bursting at the seams with excitement and anticipation. I cannot wait to meet this little one! And even though being pregnant has required a huge shift in lifestyle and mindset, I would take being pregnant over training for an Ironman any day of the week. What a difference a year makes.

Thankful

2011-11-24T08:15:00.003-07:00

(26 weeks)

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Steve and I are getting ready to head down to Amy and PT's for turkey day.

This year I am grateful for so much, most of which the impending arrival of Maggie. She is kicking and moving around like crazy, reminding me that one day she will be really good at soccer, swimming, cycling and/or running. Or she may take up a career in the martial arts. The jury's still out and what it will be, I just know she's got some major leg power already.

I just got to go home to the Great Lake State to spend some pre-Thanksgiving time with my parents, sister Tracy (and her kids) and Amy and Annie. My mom's dear friends threw me a baby shower and it was amazing! My mom has a friend that could go into business throwing showers for people, she's that good. But she's not in it for the money, she does it out of the kindness of her heart (take note, people of Wall Street!). Here is a sampling of the detail and creativity that went into the event:

cookies as favors (that's me and Steve as babies)

The rest of the weekend was filled with this kind of fun:

(After a walk into town, where my parents live in MI)

(Pre-shower. If it weren't for my man hands, you could see Annie's adorable polka dot leg warmers. Can't wait for those hand-me-downs for Maggie!)

(Dinner at MCC)

(Downtown Detroit)

Also, I am thankful to not be working this week. Work is killing me this year. Basically I am doing two jobs in one (part time ESL, part time literacy with no plan time during the day, which means everything has to happen after school when I'm already weary and exhausted). I am counting down the days to maternity leave.

I am grateful for the ability to exercise, although the intensity has waned and I have downsized to just walking and doing the elliptical. I don't have a bathing suit that fits and I'm too cheap to go buy one. So even though everyone says I should swim, I'm not. I miss running, but I don't miss running while pregnant. It got too uncomfortable. The elliptical suits me best these days: I can get a decent 30-40 min workout in while watching HGTV. What else could a girl ask for?

One last thing for which I am grateful this year is that I don't owe thousands of dollars to my local Conoco. Yesterday after pumping gas, I pulled away from the tank with the nozzle still in my tank. The cord snapped back and landed on the ground as I threw on the brakes in horror and disbelief. The only time in my life I have been more embarrassed is when I farted during the diving portion of a middle school swim meet when the whole natatorium was dead silent. Pregnancy brain is real people.

It goes without saying that I am thankful for a healthy baby girl on the way, my husband, family, friends and my health.

Happy thanksgiving to everyone! I hope your day is filled with love, laughter and a lot of booze. Have a drink for me, please.

22 Weeks and Kickin'

2011-10-23T18:59:00.009-06:00

This picture was taken a week ago, at 21 weeks. That was about a week after I started to feel this kid start to kick for the first time. And that is by far the greatest aspect of pregnancy I have experienced to date. It is such validation that everything is cooking along just fine and it also reinforces the importance of my new role. Each kick reminds me that it's time to stop dickin' around and get more serious. I mean, this kid is going to be learning from me and will actually depend on me. Now that's spooky.

21 weeks was also right about the time I gave up my weekly long run. Up until then, I had maintained a long-ish run on the weekends ranging from 6-8 miles. But last week I barely made it through a 4.5 mile weekday run after I had to stop and pee twice. TWICE. In 4.5 miles. I have run entire marathons without having to relieve myself even once. This is embarassing. But I always said I would give up running once my body started to fight it and I consider excessive bladder chatter my body's way of putting up its dukes. So, I'm listening. I'm not tied to the bragging rights of statements like "I made it all the way to week ____ and I was still able to run." I could give a rip. I have plenty of time to get back into running shape once this little bladder tapper makes her debut.

Speaking of which, we're having a girl!!! We saw the ultrasound a week ago today and we are so very excited. Although, I must say I was convinced it was a boy, so it took a day or so for me to get over the shock of finding out otherwise. But girl genes run in my family so I don't know why I ever thought it was a boy in the first place. We are going to name her Maggie Ann (Ann is my mother's middle name and Steve's mom's name is Anita, which means "little Ann" in Spanish). We couldn't be happier!

Also, speaking of being happy, I can now happily say I'm done registering, thanks to Amy and Annie. We had the best girls' day out, complete with lunch and a mid afternoon walk. For the record, registering for baby stuff is the WORST chore ever. There's a million products out there and you have no idea what they're for or how you'll ever use them and in what quantities. Registering for wedding stuff was a breeze compared to this. "Do you like these dishes?" Sure. Bleep. And that was all there was to it (being that there are no major consequeces for buying the wrong dishes, except for having ugly dishes). But for baby stuff it's like "which product will help keep my kid alive? How do I even use it? How many will I need? What is this?" Had it not been for Amy, I would have been lost in Babies R Us for no less than 5 hours. We cruised around the store in less than 45 minutes with her German-like efficiency: she would hold something up, give a brief explanation of why it's important and I would scan it and we were on to the next item. Bleep. Bleep. Bleep. Done and done. We even had one couple try to befriend us on the off chance they would receive some of Amy's invaluable insight. Too bad people, she's mine! And good luck in the car seat ailse, suckahs!

So that's a HUGE chore off my to-do list. The next to-do item I'm focusing on is getting rid of the guest bedroom furniture and replacing it with baby furniture that isn't too, well, babyish. That's another endeavor in and of itself, so if you don't hear from me for a while it's because I'm lost in the baby gear abyss.

Adventures in Prenatal Yoga

2011-10-02T07:34:00.004-06:00

I have switched from my regular vinyasa yoga classes to a prenatal class. My gym mostly offers "warm" vinyasa, which means temps in the high 80s and low 90s. I loved doing these classes prepregnancy because they provided a great workout while sweating your heiny off. Very cleansing. But you're not supposed to raise your core temp too much while pregnant because that could overcook the little one, so I had to give up my warm vinyasa classes almost right away. My gym only offers a few other vinyasa classes, one of which is a Power variety which has become too irritating for me due to the length of time they hold the poses and the other class is offered at a peak time of day when people are packed into the studio like sardines, which also highly irritates me, thus defeating the purpose of yoga altogether. So, prenatal it is.

If you're looking for a workout, prenatal yoga is not it. We basically do a lot of stretching and strengthening poses to get our most important child bearing muscles in order for the big show.

I half signed up for this class thinking that it would be good for me, but mostly I wanted to do it in hopes of meeting some women around my age who would be having kids around the same time as me. Then I could befriend them so we could all share in the joys, adjustments and pain (lack of sleep, nursing) of early motherhood together. Turns out, there are two other women in the class who look about my age and we are all due within a week of one another. Jackpot!

I have been to three classes so far and it's pretty good. I say "pretty good" because the first class almost had me up and outta there before I could even say "ohm." Picture this: five women in their mid thirties seated on the blocks like any other normal start to a yoga class. But then, THEN, the instructor has us do some kegel exercises on said block and has us move forward on the block to feel (and I am directly quoting here, people) "the sensation near your clitoris...feels good doesn't it?" EXCUSE ME?!?! Did you just say that? What is this, an orgy? I felt like a pawn in some weird sex scandal. I am a) not mature enough or b) not enlightened enough to put up with public talk of female genitalia and the relating sensations. I don't even like to talk about it in private. After that little burst of inappropriateness, she ramped her lingo down to just mentioning "the anus," which being that it followed the mother lode of disgusting references to female body parts, wasn't even half as bad as it would have been on a normal day. I was too mortified to look around to see if anyone else was as appalled as I was, so I just sat there flummoxed, looking forward so as to avoid eye contact with anyone else, shaking my internal head while thinking "only in Boulder..."

The other two classes have been great. I have gotten to know the other women better and the two that are due around the same time as me are both Midwesterners! There is an unspoken camaraderie amongst Midwesterners: we're of the same ilk and you can feel it.

And aside from her initial lapse in judgment, I actually love the instructor. She's very calming and knowledgeable and helpful and she has a pretty good sense of humor which I think is important in yoga because, without a good sense of humor, things can get way too zenny for my taste.

Another helpful thing she showed us was how to use pillows and bolsters to aid in sleeping. After 20 weeks, you're not supposed to sleep on your back because the weight of the baby/growing uterus can press on a major vein and cause lack of blood flow or oxygen or something to the baby (I think that's it, I don't know much about these sciency type issues). Well, I'm 19 weeks this week and every time I wake up in the middle of the night (which is no less than 5 times), I'm on my back. Ooops. How do I untrain myself of this habit? So I have started to sleep on my side using these suggested pillows for my top side arm and between my legs and that has helped, but I'm such an aggressive sleeper that inevitably by 3am, all pillows have been hucked to the floor and I'm sawing logs on my back. I have one week to fix this. The good news is, I am still sleeping very well for about 9 hours a night (minus getting up 3-5 times per night for bathroom breaks), so I want to try to maximize this as long as possible since once the sleep starts to wane, it will be a long time (about 18 years to be exact) before I am ever able to see these glorious nine hour nights again.

In two weeks Steve and I go to the big week ultrasound appt. to find out how baby bell is cooking along and whether or not it's a bambino or bambina. Wish us luck!

Transitions

2011-09-18T07:23:00.012-06:00

Being pregnant changes a woman in many ways. It affects everyone differently, as women's bodies respond and adapt to the changes in various ways.

Athletes by nature are very in tune to their bodies: we are highly trained to listen to them and adapt accordingly when changes occur, whether those changes are good or bad. Being an athlete gives us control of sorts over things that otherwise might be more difficult to manage. For me, this aspect of being an athlete appeals to my ongoing urge to plan and control almost every single aspect of my life. Yeah, so I'm a little type A, but who isn't?!

Which means being pregnant hasn't been that easy for me. Being pregnant is the antithesis to being a control-freak-athlete. Your body undergoes swift changes that you are powerless against. You can try, but the hormones will win. Within the first week of being pregnant, I could tell something was different. I felt womby (mild sensation in my lower abdomen akin to early menstruation cramps), my head was foggy and I didn't have that usual KK intensity coarsing through my veins. All of sudden, my "get up and go" attitude became one of "meh." (See posts in early May, and June for proof.)

When I finally took a digital test that confirmed my new state, I was excited to be pregnant of course, but also relieved to know I wasn't crazy in thinking that my body was changing and didn't know what to attribute it to.

It's been four months and one week (who's counting?) and my boobs are enormous, my face is fuller (I'm starting to look like I did in college) and my hips are wider. And that's just the physical metamorphosis that's taken place. Mentally I can't remember jack, I walk around in a constant fog akin to the "wine fog" one experiences after enjoying too many glasses of nature's sweet nectar (which I consider to be mother nature's cruelest trick of all time) and my mental acuteness of old waved bye-bye long ago. Also, I trip over everything (including my own feet), knock into things left and right and generally clutz around like I'm half blind. One night I was cooking chicken in the crock pot and when I went to dump out the scalding hot water, I tripped over my own feet and dumped boiling hot water all over my wrist and arm and had to sit with my gnarled forearm under cold water for 45 minutes while missing my favorite weekly show.

Being pregnant has also caused my appetite to increase tenfold. I eat all day every day and meals are one of the few things I still look forward to, seeing as drinking is out and so are many of the other activities I enjoyed pre-pregnancy (sleeping in, hot tubs, warm vinyasa classes, nights out on the town, etc.). Instead of riding my bike all day and coming home to a filthy meal prepared by Steve and accentuated by several glasses of wine, I now do things like run for an hour, then grocery shop, prepare a healthy meal that I finally have the time to prepare and enjoy it with a nice tall glass of ice cold water with lemon.

It feels like I am living a different life. Being out during the day on a weekend seeing all the cyclists and runners reminds me of my old life. But when I see those cyclists riding I think "thank goodness I'm not out there anymore." or "Thank goodness I can be a 'normal' person and actually spend some quality time at the farmer's market or grocery store. Or go shopping with Amy if I want. Or see a movie. Or do what normal people do because I'm not training ten hours every weekend anymore." Now, when I see people drinking wine with dinner, that's a different story. That I would go back to in a heartbeat, if I could. Ah well, it's all for a good cause. The point is, there's things I miss from the old life, but I'm also relishing what the new has to offer.

The one thing that has bridged my new life and old has been running. I love running. I started running when I was 5 (I ran my first 5k with my mom at that age) and I haven't stopped since. I plan to continue to run right into my grave. These days I run a lot slower, but it's more enjoyable (no nasty speedworkouts or pesky long runs). It's been interesting to "feel" the changes in my body as they relate to running. And mentally it allows me to process this whole journey and what the heck I'm going to do once this kid makes its debut. It gives me the chance to be by myself and enjoy a sense of the old life, but in a new way. During this huge transition period, it makes me feel like me again, yet reminds me of who I am becoming. I don't feel clumsy or foggy when I run; I feel smooth and sharp and can see things with a clarity that vanishes after my heart rate is back to resting. It's been the one thing I can count on, so I want to continue to run as long as I can, even if I'm only half running, half waddling and can't see my running shoes anymore because of my large belly. And when this kid comes out, I want to resume running as soon as my body tells me it's ready to. I know I'll need it, not only to restore a semblance of physical fitness, but also to reclaim much of the sanity I anticipate losing in those first few months. And I want to be the kind of mom who teaches my child the benefits of health and exercise and the power of nurturing a passion, just like my mom did for me all those years ago.

16 weeks, post run

I've Got A Bun In The Oven

2011-09-03T12:19:00.006-06:00

With all this talk of cooking lately, you probably thought that I had learned to bake homemade bread. I haven't. But I am pregnant, 15 weeks along (the picture was taken at 12 weeks).

This has been a very long journey. When Steve and I first got married, we were adamant about not having children. We love going out for runs or rides on a whim, sleeping in, going out and having dinner and drinks whenever we want, peace and quiet, cleanliness, not having to worry about anyone but ourselves...basically we love a child free lifestyle and we were content on riding that wave into retirement.

Being a teacher I have always enjoyed working with kids, but I also really loved saying goodbye to those little darlings every day at 3pm. And not thinking about them at all on holidays or weekends.

As an extension of my passion for working with kids, a few years back I decided to co-coach a youth triathlon club. Why not give back to the sport I love by helping out young, motivated and like-minded individuals? Coaching tri club made me see things from a new perspective.

I realized that the parents of these young athletes didn't have to put their lives on hold and give up everything they loved to bring these little people into the world. By contrast, they had extended their lives, their passions and their hobbies to include their kids. And in turn, their kids enriched these experiences. They worked around their kids' schedules in ways that allowed them to enjoy doing some of these activities together, while also getting in their own adult time, too. They didn't have to give up everything to have kids, they just rearranged their lives to include the kids in meaningful ways that benefited the entire family. I thought that having kids might not be the end of the world, it just might take a little patience and scheduling creativity. Also, coaching these kids all summer and then watching them accomplish something they never thought possible made me swell with a pride I had never felt before. I could only imagine how that feeling was intensified as a parent, and how fulfilling that must be.

I started to realize that I was changing my mind on the kids issue. But, I was afraid that Steve might still be set in his thoughts on the issue. One night over dinner two summers ago, I brought up the notion of "Hey, maybe we should think about having a kid." He responded by choking on his food and raising his eyebrows in a "are you f*&%ing serious" kind of reaction. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least it wasn't a "no." I let the idea simmer on his backburner for a while before seriously bringing it up again, months later. Around this time I was also thinking of doing an Ironman. I knew it would be much easier to accomplish the Ironman thing kidless, so we eventually decided that I would take a year to train for an Ironman while we officially decided yes or no on kids. As that Ironman year dragged on, it became more and more clear that I didn't want to do triathlons forever and that I wanted to extend my passions (and Steve's) to another little half KK, half Steve-o creature. I really hoped that Steve was reaching that conclusion, too.

Also in this time, little Annie Turner was born and she just happens to be the happiest, mellowest, cutest baby I've ever been around, so that definitely helped to solidify my decision. I just needed to get through that pesky Ironman and I could move on to new challenges. Oh and I also needed Steve to be on board, for obvious reasons.

After the Ironman Steve decided he could be on board with this idea too, but we wanted to take some time to focus on just us, since the last year of Ironman training hadn't been the easiest. Plus being a teacher I figured it was best to try to have a baby in late winter so as to take the rest of the year off and have 3 months of extra summertime cushion before having to go back to work and put the baby in daycare.

So we scheduled a trip to Chicago at the end of April and had KK and Steve-opalooza while enjoying a helluva weekend before buckling down and implementing "Operation Baby Bell." In early May I got pregnant, and then right around the time I was about to get my period, I miscarried (I wouldn't have even known I was preggo had it not been for the digital test I took four days earlier). I was very sad but felt lucky that if it were going to happen, at least it happened early on and we could resume trying right away. Two weeks later, my current state commenced.

So there you have it. We are very excited. I am due in late February and yes, this year is a leap year. I am going to sit with my legs crossed all day long on February 29th, because I am way too type A to have a leap year baby.

I don't know what direction this blog will take, as I have been so happy to not be a part of the triathlon world this year. I don't know if it's a function of being pregnant, or feeling the lingering burn out from last year, or the fact that I was ready for a new challenge anyway, or all three. I will still talk about fitness, as it continues to be a hobby and passion of mine. And I promise I won't subscribe to the douchey baby talk that many people do. I will try to keep things real. However, the realest thing for me right now is that I have a huge new responsibility that has already changed my life in many ways, so you can bet I will have lots to say on the subject. But if you were here for the tri talk and want to get the hell out of dodge before you have to read things like "baby bjorn" or "nursing bra," well now's your chance. Don't look back, I won't be offended.

And yes, I'm dying for a glass of Tempranillo right now.

Believe It or Not

2011-08-14T07:44:00.006-06:00

I learned how to cook this summer. I'm not kidding. And yes, I'm 34 years old and had never learned how to cook . My definition of cooking before was opening up a can of soup and calling it a meal. Or melting cheese on a tortilla with mashed up microwaved veggie patty and it was gourmet Mexican. How is anyone supposed to learn how to cook when they a) ate ramen, pizza and bagels all throughout college (which explains the extra 25 LBS I gained), b) in the years after college was too busy working out and starving after workouts (trying to burn off said college weight) to experiment with cooking and then c) married a man who likes to and is good at cooking?

So, how'd I do it, you ask? Easy. In all my free time spent NOT working out this summer, I did the following:

- I started watching Rachael Ray in 30 minutes (my new favorite show) which is a good way to "see" what all those cryptic culinary terms actually mean.

-I would spend more than my usual 15 minutes in the grocery store perusing the aisles and everything they have to offer, rather than my former routine which was akin to Supermarket Sweepstakes where I would sprint up and down the aisles buying the same items I bought every week because it's all I knew and had the patience for.

-In addition to extra time spent in grocery stores, I also became a regular at Boulder's Farmer's Market. I felt very responsible and compliant as a citizen of the earth getting fresh, local ingredients from people who break their backs to bring it to us. It also broke my wallet to do this week after week, so I'm going to have to rein it in for the future.

-I found a lot of recipes online so I could pick and choose what I liked and felt comfortable with, without having to buy a gazillion cookbooks

-Speaking of online recipes, for the first part of the summer, anytime I did a search for a new one, I typed in "Easy _________." This helped sift out the pesky ones.

-I spent a lot of time in the kitchen playing around, trial-ing and errror-ing, which for me is the best way to learn.

So, without further ado, here is a sampling of some of the delicious culinary creations that have graced Steve's and my palates this summer:

Southwestern Taco Salad

(with Tortilla chips for extra filth)

Southwestern Style Stuffed Peppers

Shredded Chicken and Pesto Pizza (with

mushrooms and roasted red and yellow bell peppers)

Texas Style Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker

Spicy Thai Peanut Stir Fry with Summer Squash and Zucchini

(from the Farmer's Market!)

Now, I know what you're thinking. "KK, that doesn't look so fancy schmancy." Anyone can add veggies and canned sauce to rice or pizza crust..." But people, that is what I'm trying to tell you! I didn't use ANYTHING that came from a can. I learned to make sauces and dressings from scratch! This is may-jah. (Okay, the pizza crust was a Boboli. One thing at a time, people.)

And here is the mother lode meal I cooked this summer (read: it was a real pain in my ass, but so worth it). Here it is broken down into its various stages:

Eggplant Parmesan with Spaghetti Squash (instead of pasta-it's lighter and healthier but gives you MAJOR gas. Just ask Steve.):

Sauce from scratch (extra points for using
whole tomatoes from Farmer's Market)

Eggplant (from Farmer's Market)

coated in egg/parmesan/basil mix

Spaghetti Squash-boy was this messy!

Final Product-Holy Guacamole was this heavenly!

Now that summer is officially over (I started back to work last week, boo hoo), I won't be so aggressive in the kitchen. I can't afford it time wise or money wise. But, when I do pull out a materpiece, you can bet I'll post it here. My cooking feats have replaced my athletic feats and it's nice to have something besides a PR that contributes to my sense of accomplishment.

(P.S. My Blogger is whack. I can't get it to center or spell check or do any of the things it used to. So, excuse the ghetto format. Does anyone know how to fix this? And yes, I've tried the centering button, it does nothing.)

I'm Back!

2011-07-27T07:15:00.009-06:00

I've been gone virtually the entire month of July, which explains the lack of posting. (Sort of.) First I went back to MI for two weeks to visit my family. My parents and oldest sister (and her family) still live there so my other two sisters and I all went back for a reunion of sorts (even the husbands and kids came-that is may-jah). We packed in a LOT of fun in two short weeks, including a swanky 4th of July party complete with fireworks and a gazillion activities for kids, drove Up North (a legitimate geographical location known only to Michiganders that includes any place north of Saginaw really) to stay at my Grandpa's cottage on a lake and then hung around the small town where I was born and raised for the duration of the trip. It was so nice to enjoy some family time and do lots of Michigan=y type things.

Then I was home for two days, engaged in a laundry and house cleaning marathon before turning around to leave for a Bell family trip to the Outer Banks (North Carolina) where I parked my ass on a beach for 6 days straight. I could get used to this.

Pictures best tell the story, so here's a sampling:

Steve and me in back of my parents' house (before 4th of July party)

Wendy and Amy feeding Annie

Wendy's kids (Jimmy, Katie and Emily) playing with Annie

One of many backyard baseball games

Four sisters before 4th of July party

cousins (grandkids)

Papa playing with Annie

Four sisters Up North

Practical joke with a snake

Outer Banks Photos:
View from deck

This little guy's lookin' at you

View from the beach

Life is Good

Notice the lack of training photos. Isn't that nice? Normally on trips home or vacations, I've always been training for something so I've had to squeeze in pesky workouts between all the fun. Not this time! It was so very awesome. I did do some running and walking and even a funny yoga class with my mom and sisters, but nothing too serious. I love this new life.

Also, I cannot for the life of me get Blogger to align the subtitles underneath the photos. I am so annoyed. Blogger!!!

I Don't Think Anyone In Boulder Works

2011-06-24T18:23:00.002-06:00

My new non structured workout plan calls for lots of trips to the gym via cruiser to practice yoga, watch TV while on the elliptical or even just lay by the pool. Most of the yoga classes I like to go to are scheduled mid morning, and let me tell you how packed it is at my gym at 10:30 am on a random Monday. At first I thought it was a fluke. Then it was like that everytime I showed up at any given point during the day that wasn't before or after working hours (or even during lunch hour).

I know all these people aren't teachers!!! So how is it that the 39 other people in the yoga studio are just out and about in the middle of the day? It's maddening I tell you! I don't get it, but part of me wants to be let in on their secret.

In other news, last weekend I DNSed the 5430 Sprint Triathlon. And no, I did not miss racing. The bike course goes right behind my house so I did peek out the back window to catch a glimpse of the riders for long enough to think "Thank god I'm not out there today." It looked like a great day for racing, but I still don't have that race fire in me this season. What did I do instead? Rode the cruiser bike to the gym and practiced yoga for 75 minutes. And guess what? The class was packed wall to wall. But, since it was Sunday, I wasn't too miffed.

After the morning workout, we headed down to Amy and Patrick's house for a little Father's Day BBQ. It was PT's first official Father's Day so we celebrated by making him slave in front of the grill for us. It was yummy! And it's always a great day when I get to see my sis and that little wee wot of hers.

Gotta go, I have to prep for my 10:30 am yoga class that will undoubtedly be filled with independently wealthy entrepreneurs who are not giving up the secrets to their success.

(Note: I wrote this at the beginning of the week but was unable to publish it because nothing would happen when I clicked the "publish" button. I read to click the compatibility button at the end of the address bar and that has worked in case anyone else has had trouble publishing posts lately.)

Helping the American Economy, One Skipped Workout At A Time

2011-06-12T09:00:00.004-06:00

I've done a lot of soul searching the past few weeks and I have made the executive decision to take this season off. I don't have the motivation to keep training like I was, and I don't want to be disappointed in the race results that will reflect my newfound listlessness. I wish I could just go out there and do it for fun, but I know myself and right now I don't think I can. If I know I'm racing, I'll want to train. But I don't have the heart to put the necessary training in, so I'm just exercising *for fun.* Which means I have to stay away from races so I don't get bullied by my my immature and irrational selves. I may end up volunteering, or I may just stay away from the whole scene in general.

So, back to the whole *for fun* thing. This executive decision came last Tuesday. I woke up feeling "meh-ish" and thought, "I think I'm done training for the season." So, I rode my cruiser bike to do some errands, discovered all these cool bike paths I never knew existed, enjoyed the gorgeous bluebird day and realized how awesome the rest of the non-triathlon world is on any given day. I felt like a whole new person. The next day I went for a run with, get this, NO GARMIN! I discovered a wildlife sanctuary near a trail I have run a million times, but never slow enough to take note of the details in my surroundings. I have a whole new appreciation for Boulder, because I'm not blazing through it on a tempo run or speeding from one place to the next because I'm trying to cram in errands between workouts while I'm cranky and starving. I could get used to this.

So, I'm taking it easy for the rest of the summer. One might think I would get bored with all this free time, but you see, I've gotten pretty clever about how to stretch out my errands over a week's worth of time so that each day I have a major event to look forward to. I call it "retirement foreshadowing" and boy is it nice! Last week alone I spent $120 at Target in 2 days before I had a spending intervention with myself in the middle of the clothes aisle. The time I've gained from not having to workout has directly increased my spending, so I'll need to find some activities that don't cost anything. Or I'll need to limit said errands to those of an essential nature, which means I pretty much have to stay away from Target altogether. And don't even get me started on the amount of damage I've done while shopping online...But between riding the cruiser bike to and fro, light runs through nearby meadows and a yoga class sprinkled in here and there, life is pretty grand these days and I feel the most peaceful I've felt in a long time.

BWE

2011-06-07T08:27:00.004-06:00

(Blogging While Emotional)

I know it seemed like I was pretty upset about my performance in the BB10K in my last post, and I was. I blame it on Steve. He went to go take a nap and left me alone with nothing but my wounded ego, a cup of coffee and the computer. Not a good combo for blogging. Anyway, I've since reclaimed all my rational faculties and come to terms with my slower time and loss of fitness. I mean, get over yourself, Katie. There are MUCH bigger problems in the world.

Here's the thing: I'm sort of over this high level of triathlon training. I thought that once summer hit and I had nothing but free time on my hands, I would love to pack a 15-18 hour training week into my life. Turns out, I'm so done with that.

But when you are used to training and racing at a certain level, it's hard to let that go, even if you're not training for a distance that requires such long, hard efforts. For me it feels like with any reduction in volume or speed, I'm failing myself because I'm not reaching my fullest potential.

Part of the reason I was so upset about a slower BB time was because of all the work I had put in and maintained in the early off-season. Workouts before and after school, bike rides in atrociously windy weather, speedwork on the dreadmill...you get the picture. I felt like I HAD put in the training needed to secure desired results and that a 3 week hiatus wasn't enough to cause major damage. So when I saw a net loss of 2 min in a 10k, of course I was outraged.

Compounding the emotional tidal wave was the fact that I had been steadily getting faster in everything during the past year and a half. The BB was the first race where I hadn't improved. That was another tough pill to swallow.

But now that I've experienced that initial feeling of disappointment and setback, I'm in a better place. It forced me to not only deal with those emotions, but also to look at things differently. A reduction in training does not mean I am not reaching my fullest potential. It just means I am focusing on other things. And "reaching my potential" doesn't necessarily have to be quantified by a time or distance. It can be measured in happiness. And while I do find happiness in training and racing well, I also find it in a lot of other things. So maybe, it's time to shift the focus.

This revelation has allowed me to alleviate much of the pressure I put on myself to succeed. I feel a lot lighter because of it. But this is what I've always struggled with: how to balance my competitive, live-to-your-fullest-potential self with my other self that loves to enjoy life on a simpler level. It's a constant see-saw on the issue and right now the side that is down and out is my competitive side.

So I will continue to get some workouts in, but it won't be like last year. And I will be fine with that, because the alternative is no fun either. I will show up to the races I have signed up for, provided I am healthy, prepared for both the best and worst case scenario. And I will try to find enjoyment in the race and sport itself, rather than in my performance and outcome. Right now my competitive side is down, so I want to enjoy the fulfillment that comes from being happy and healthy, even if it means that I'm slower because of it.

**Sidenote** My knee is feeling much better! I have been icing it, rolling my quads, practicing lots of yoga and stretching. All of this had fallen by the wayside during the onset of the symptoms, and that coupled with an increase in speedwork was a quick recipe for injury stew. Rookie mistake; I know better.

2011 Bolder Boulder 10K Race Report

2011-05-30T10:16:00.002-06:00

(Or, how easy it is to lose a ton of fitness in just three short weeks)

Memorial Day in Boulder marks the annual tradition of the Bolder Boulder 10k race. Unless I'm sick, injured, out of town or dead, I always run it. The tradition includes me cursing myself the night before for having to curb my happy hour and forgo extra sleep on a holiday morning, then more cursing the morning of the race, especially during miles 3-6 and then sheer elation upon finishing for having started off the day in a really productive manner and looking forward to a whole lot of nothing the rest of the day. And sometimes the tradition includes rejoicing over a new PR. But not this year.

As you know, May brought my training to a virtual halt. Up until then, I had been really proud of myself for being able to maintain most of the fitness I had stockpiled last year. Then I came down with a bad case of tendinitis in my knee that relegated me to the elliptical and a tiny bit of zone 1 swimming, and if that wasn't enough, I was later attacked by a nasty virus that kept me from even doing the elliptical. And being so powerless against the swift and complete shutdown of my body, I also lost a whole lot of motivation. Anyway, this weekend rolled around and I finally felt back to my normal self (knee wise and virus wise) and I thought "There is no reason for me not to race the Bolder Boulder, so get your ass to registration and sign up already!" But I full well knew I needed to be prepared for disappointment at the finish line.

The one thing I love about triathlon training is that the results you see are a direct reflection of the work you put in. It's you and only you that has control over that. But the flip side of that is knowing that if you haven't put the work in, you shouldn't expect to see the kinds of results you did when you were training your buns off.

Fast forward to this morning. On the warm up jog to the start, I felt heavy and gross. I hate that feeling. I knew I was in for it. Steve and I started in the same wave so my plan was to nip at his heels for as long as I could. Turns out I was able to nip for a total of 10 seconds. Once he was gone, I thought I'd concentrate on just trying to maintain a pace that I thought (or wishfully hoped) I could sustain. Mile 1 was 7:05. "Nice!" I thought. Especially because this year the course had changed and there was some uphill in there that hadn't been there in previous years. Mile 2 was about 7:07, but I was starting to feel tired and was wishing the race was over already. Rut Ro. Not good considering miles 2-4 are uphilly and just plain hard. That's when the whole thing went south for KK. My lungs hurt, my thighs felt weak and heavy and I felt utterly out of shape. I was down to 7:30ish miles and just didn't care. Actually, I did care, but there was nothing I could do about it. Around mile 4.5, I thought I was going to hurl and then for the last mile and a half, all I wanted to do was crawl over to the sidewalk and take a nap. In a 10k!

I finished in 46:17 which is a full 1:45 slower than my time last year. But, it's still my second fastest of all the Bolder Boulders I have ever run, so it wasn't as much of a disappointment as it could have been. What is disappointing though is that I ran a windy half-marathon just a month earlier at a pace that was only 5 seconds per mile slower than this 10k. Not okay.

My rational self knows my time this year was pretty good, all things considered. My ultra intense, competitive and emotional side, however, is slightly pissed.

So, in case you were wondering how long it takes to lose a considerable amount of fitness...the answer is about 3-4 weeks.

No Go

2011-05-22T06:48:00.004-06:00

I decided not to race this morning, thanks to my more mature self and your suggestions. The race was changed to a duathlon anyway, due to ridiculously high amounts of bacteria in the water on account of the run off from all the rain we've had here lately. It rained consistently Tuesday through Thursday last week and Friday was no picnic either. The week before was similar and next week isn't looking any better. What is this, Seattle? This is not why I moved here!!!

My knee has gotten a lot better, but I still haven't run on it since I last posted. I have done the elliptical here and there, a couple of yoga sessions and one bike ride. The bike ride was my favorite. Unfortunately, the unseasonable rain has forced locals to either ride indoors or not at all. I opted to be part of the latter group.

I also got really sick last week. I caught a virus of some sort that attacked my throat, ears and neck glands and left the rest of my body feeling like it had been tackled by Godzilla. So that was some more forced rest, which is always good. I'm going back to yoga today and I may ride the cruiser bike there since it's supposed to be in the 80s. Then I'll reassess to see how the ol' knee is shaping up for next week. The strange thing is, I am actually starting to like the elliptical. I can cruise along mindlessly without the pressure of speedwork that the treadmill always taunts me with. I can watch endless HGTV, or as in the case of the other day, an entire episode of Friends. I still feel like I'm cheating on running, but my smarter more evolved self knows it's anything but, it's just strategic recovery.

Thanks for all you comments last week. Hopefully just another week or so and I can be back at it!

Hodgepodge of Cosas

2011-05-14T16:17:00.005-06:00

(that means "things" en espanol)

I only have random updates to talk about, so bullet points it is.

-I have tendonitis in my knee. It's in the popliteus tendon. According to certain websites, it's caused by poor biomechanics (check) and/or "training errors" (Umm, check on that last one too). After I did the Platte River Half, I got a little cocky and thought I could handle more speedwork in a week. Turns out, I can't. And now everything I read says to stay off it for six weeks. What? SIX weeks? No, gracias.

-This leads me to my next bullet point. I have a race next weekend. It's only a sprint distance, but I actually think that's worse, because the intensity will be higher. Every two seconds I waver on whether to do it or not, based on these factors:

1) When this injury is at its worse, it hurts to walk. TO WALK! After a week of only swimming, yoga and the elliptical, it finally doesn't hurt to walk, but it's tender to the touch (does anyone else hate the word "tender?") I don't know if I should push it, so I'm just going to monitor it during the next 7 days and make a game day decision.
2) But, because I'm only doing the elliptical and swimming, I feel like my coveted fitness is slipping away. So even if it feels better come next Sunday, how much of my race is ruined due to the last two weeks? I know, settle down Katie, it will be fine.
3) It's been so obnoxiously cold, windy and rainy here this spring that the water temp in the race reservoir is currently 58 degrees. Scuse me? At IMAZ it was 61 and I froze my face and feet off. And I swore I would never put myself through that again. So maybe I just skip the race anyway and chalk it up to the injury?

-Speaking of injury, I've been doing more yoga to keep things supple and stretched (supple=another terrible word). Today I was at a Power Vinyasa class, sandwiched between two dudes, one of whom had no concept of personal space and kept knocking into my hands whenever we did sun salutations. My ultra tolerant and compassionate yoga self thought "well maybe the class is just super full and he has nowhere to move over." But then I actually checked and sure enough, four feet of space between him and the wall and the guy never even budged an inch. I was so annoyed it was ruining my zenniness, rendering the class completely counterproductive. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, when it came time to do twists with legs extended while laying down on our backs, both guys that were surrounding me twisted towards me at the same time so I got bombarded by two different sets of strange man feet. I mean, they were TOUCHING me. And, if that's not bad enough, usually when you accidentally touch or bump into someone, you adjust so as not to touch that person. Neither of them moved their feet! If I hadn't wiggled myself free from this tyranny, their feet would have been touching me for the duration of the pose! I almost lost my lunch right there on my yoga mat. I was so grossed out I couldn't even enjoy my savasana. And this was all topped off by some guy with an overzealous "ohm" that was neither in harmony or tune with the rest of the group. I was so over yoga men this morning.

-Also, speaking of injury-induced forms of exercise, I have been relegated to the elliptical this week. The elliptical makes me feel like such a disappointment to my Ironman self. The whole time on that thing I kept thinking I should be reading a Shape magazine with my hair down. And watching the people in front of me on the treadmill doing their speedwork caused mixed emotions: I was elated to not have to be doing speedwork but wallowing in my shattered pride.

In non related triathlon news, there's only two weeks of school left. TWO WEEKS. I am so excited for summer. Except for weatherwise, it feels like the beginning of spring. It was raining and 45 today. Not okay mother nature! I was very cranky this afternoon because of it (and also because of "The yoga-foot incident"). I had to shower twice when I got home.

Chicago in Pictures

2011-05-08T09:33:00.010-06:00

Two weekends ago Steve and I took a trip to Chicago to see The National open for Arcade Fire at the UIC Pavillion. What better way to see a show than to make it a destination trip complete with a Cubs game, lots of shopping, indulgent eating, rooftop drinking and, of course, a scenic lakefront run? We thought it was a pretty good idea ourselves. Here's how it went, in pictures.

Dinner Friday Night at Pizzeria Via Stato

Hotel Rooftop Bar in the Rain

View of State Street from our Hotel Room Balcony

West facing View

Ancient Wrigley Scoreboard

Outside Wrigley

Happy Hour at Epic Saturday Night

Steak Dinner on the River

(We split a 36 oz steak called the tomahawk-think the ol' 96er in The Great Outdoors)

This is where the camera battery died (Steve was elated). We rounded out the trip with a ten mile run along the lake, more shopping, the concert, and more rooftop drinking.

In sports related news, I signed up for one more tri. It's in two weeks. It's a local sprint not owned by WTC, my new favorite kind of event. However, just recently I started to experience some knee pain on the lower, medial side. As far as I can tell it could be a strained or torn ligament or meniscus. Anyone have any experience with this sort of pain? It's really tender to the touch, just above my calf muscle and it hurts to extend the knee fully. Awesome. I love injury problem solving.

Anyway, happy mother's day to all the mothers I know out there! I hope your day is filled with flowers, foot rubs and free time.

P.S. Yes, I do realize how horribly spaced out these pictures are. But two of them just got erased when I was trying to remedy the issue and re-uploading them will cause a logistical cutting and pasting nightmare. Does anyone else hate dealing with pictures on Blogger as much as I do?!?!

2011 Platte River Half Marathon Race Report

2011-04-16T08:13:00.012-06:00

Last Sunday Barb and I raced the Platte River Half Marathon. I was eager to see where my fitness was, based on a variety of things:

1) I hadn't run an open half marathon in a year
2) In my heart, training has been half ass this year, yet on paper it has been exactly on par with what I was doing last year at this time
C) Swimming and biking had taken a back seat to running this winter, so was this going to pay off?

Last year when I started coaching myself again, I centered my training on the Run Less, Run faster training program, as running is my limiter and the area I need to focus on the most. I've mentioned this program before. I would design my training weeks using these three prescribed runs, with all other workouts scheduled around them. Basically, the program has you running 3x week and every run is a speed session of sorts. Then they have you pepper the rest of your days with light cross training to round out a balanced program. Well we all know the human body has limitations and hard core swimming and biking don't really constitute "light cross training," so I modified the program by doing one speed session during the week (tempo run one week and track intervals the next week) and then I would add some speed to a brick run on the weekend. My running improved greatly last year and I really wanted to see some results in the open half marathon distance as well. I was sick of my PR being in the 1:40s.

Short story long, Barb and I toed the start line in Littleton, Colorado at 9am on Sunday. Skies were clear with a slight breeze coming out of the north. Normally this would have enhanced a cool morning run, except the course is a point A to point B (heading south to north) and said breeze was forecasted to turn into a steady 20 mph headwind with 40+ mph gusts. Awesome. Can't a sistah catch a break with the wind?!

The plan was to start off with a 7:30 pace and see if we could hold it. Barb agreed to pace me for as long as she could (She is a good friend. Thanks, Barb!). But, we didn't know how this would play out since she is racing New Orleans 70.3 this weekend and it's her first race of the season and, understandably, she didn't want to max herself out. The first two miles were crowded and snaked through downtown Littleton. We maintained a 7:20ish pace. Nice! I love the feeling of banking time in the early miles, knowing you'll have a little wiggle room at the end if things get hairy.

Then we picked up the Platte River Trail for the next 10 miles. The trail is concrete and parallels the, you guessed it, Platte River. The river side was pretty, but everything on the west side of the river was rather industrial and ghetto. It's an interesting juxtaposition of scenery. Not that I was paying much attention to scenery, I just tried to stay in stride with Barb maintaining what was now about 7:25 ish miles. Also, it should be noted that I have terrible allergies this time of year that cause a pool of phlegm to sit right at the base of my throat, so during intense periods of exercise, breathing causes the phlegm to flap in and out and simulate a drowning sensation. It's so gross and annoying. This is relevant because not only was it annoying for me to deal with, but also for everyone else around me who had to listen to constant throat clearing (ahem, sorry Barb).

Gradually the wind picked up and at about mile 8 it had transformed into a monstrous headwind. The kind where you have to cock your upper body and head sideways to slice through it; the kind that blows off your hat and rips your ear buds out of your ear (this really happened to Barb and another friend). Right around this time, Barb had fallen back. I didn't know if she was trying to save her legs for her half ironman this weekend, or if she was trying to let me run my own race or if she was annoyed at my incessant throat clearing. So after she had fallen off, I tried to just keep my pace which was now around 7:33 ish miles. At mile 10 I saw Dimity, but didn't realize it was her until I had already passed. Nuts!

Finally I had teamed up with a dude in a Boulder Running Company singlet (singlet = serious runner). I ran behind him until the path straightened out and I could pass him, but every time I tried to do this, he would speed up. I tried at least 4 different times to pass him, but he sped up every time. Okay buddy, I get it, your male ego doesn't allow you to get chicked. But then don't be pissed when I draft off you for the rest of the race. At around mile 11.5, Barb caught back up to me and passed me. I was glad she had recovered her mojo!

At mile 12 we left the trail and headed up this huge overpass. The bad news was it was a huge hill. The good news was the course had shifted directions so we now had a tailwind. And we were under one mile left to go! My legs had started to tire around mile 5 of this race, and it wasn't until mile 10ish that my lungs had started to fade, too. At this point, both were in the red zone and I was doing to my best to sustain 7:40 miles.

Finally we hung a left and I could see the finish line. I mustered the fastest turnover I could for this last stretch, crossing the finish line in 1:38:18. Hooray! I had a new PR! And a new PR on a super windy day! Three cheers for a new PR!

After we caught our breaths, we rehashed the race and then drove to a quaint breakfast joint in downtown Denver where Barb treated me to a filthy egg/sausage/cheese bagel. It was a wonderful, hard earned treat.

Finally, good luck to Barb this weekend! I have a good feeling about this race for her.

# 131

2011-04-02T08:36:00.004-06:00

I have a hodgepodge of items to talk about, with no one topic more important than the other, so instead of coming up with a fancy schmancy title, I opted for the poet/musician strategy of just numbering this post. Does this make me important? And how is it that I've had this blog for over three years and I've only produced 130 posts? (Don't answer that, especially if you read the sparse posts from last year.)

Anyhoots, here's the low down on what's happening in KKville.

I just got back from Florida, where I spent an awesome week with my sister Wendy and her husband and three hilarious children. I got to enjoy a little slice of their life down there and let me say, I loved being an honorary member of their family. We did things like hang out on their boat all day, enjoy lavish dinners and cocktails on their back Lanai (aka "The Hazlett Hot Spot"), hung out on the Siesta Key beach where the sand is finer than my hair and the water as blue as the Caribbean, had dance parties with the kids, watched their baseball and Tball games, took a 30 mile bike ride along the inner coastal canal and dined at a place right on the water where we witnessed a dolphin happy hour next to a pier. Thankfully when I got back to Colorado, the weather decided to cooperate with temperatures in the 60s and 70s (today and yesterday). I would have had to trunk a bitch if it snowed last week. There's nothing worse than snow after coming back from a tropical place. Here are some pix from the trip:

Amy feeding Anners Sweet Potatoes Before I left

Bike Ride

Twins Playing Tball

Hazlett Family (minus Jimmy who was still on the boat) Jimmy

Wendy and Me

Speaking of the weather, today it's supposed to be 75 and I plan on spending every minute of it outside. Barb is coming up and we're going to enjoy a 2.5ish hr ride. I love riding with Barb. We spend hours in the saddle together yapping away and we still leave every ride with unfinished conversational business. And, she's hilarious. Then Amy and Annie are coming up and we are either going to have some splash time at the pool or go for a walk, or both. Then Steve and I are going to grill steaks and veggies and enjoy some heavenly cocktails while we sit on the porch and make fun of our crazy neighbors (seriously, we have some neighbors that are clinically nuts, it's more entertaining than reality TV). Can it just be summer already?!?!

Speaking of Annie, How Cute Is This Kid?

(Yes, I'm going to be the annoying person who thinks her niece is cuter than all other babies. Somebody has to show her off now that Amy has stopped blogging.)

Tomorrow it's supposed to get colder, but that's okay because I only have to run 8ish miles. Why? Because I have a half marathon next weekend. I have no idea how this snuck up on me so fast. My training went really well until spring break, at which point I decided to do nothing at all, except for aforementioned bike ride and walks. I got back from vacay feeling 5 lbs heavier and 30 seconds per mile slower. Great.

This brings me to my goals for the race. My original goal was to break 1:40, which I think I can still do. Before spring break I would have said my goal was sub 1:38 based on some of the speed work I was able to do. Now I am back to just sub 1:40, as I have never been able to break that in this distance. We shall see. It has been unnecessarily windy here lately (like lounge chairs being blown into the pool, bushes uprooted and general mayhem kind of windy), so I'm not expecting any miracles for next Sunday.

Happy Spring!

On Yogis

2011-03-20T09:35:00.006-06:00

Last January I started practicing yoga and it has done wonders for me mentally and physically. And while yoga usually has a calming effect that elicits feelings of patience and tolerance, sometimes it just makes me highly irritated. Actually, yoga isn't what irritates me, it's the other people who practice it. The other people who have no concept that there are other people in the studio practicing too, who may not want to deal with said people's obliviousness and annoying behaviors. Here is a list of annoying things I have had to endure while practicing yoga during the past year, in no particular order:

-I usually like to arrive early so I can stake out a spot where I can reach my happy yoga zenny place where no one else will bother me. Usually this is a place in the studio where there is plenty of space around me so I can maintain my personal yoga bubble. In the first five or so minutes of class, I'll lay down and get a warm up savasana in, just because who doesn't want an extra savasana when they can get one? So there I'll be, laying down, zenning out and minding my own beeswax, when some turd will come waltzing in, thrust her mat on the floor just inches away from mine, creating a loud thud that interrupts my peaceful state. Usually there's a jingling of a locker key in there too. Then I'll pop my head up to look around to see how crowded the studio is, because surely the jackass could have found another spot somewhere else in the studio, a spot that doesn't encroach upon my zenny spot, but when I do pop my head up, all I see is a vast sea of empty wooden floor, yet Suzy Space Invader had to claim the spot right next to me. This space encroacher is usually the same person, by the way, and she also likes to sport adult pigtails. Often.

-Similarly, although most people don't find it necessary to bogart my space, they do enter the studio and announce their presence with the thuddy rolling out of the mat, excessive key jingling and/or conversation at an inappropriate volume for a yoga studio.

-And to the instructor who likes to hold any pose that requires my quads to be engaged for more than 5 seconds, please don't take it personally if I end up in child's pose. My quads are constantly thrashed and can't handle the stress of warrior 2 or prayer twist or chair pose, even when the 90 year old grandma next to me can.

-Also, I may or may not have seen some guy's family jewels a week ago during butterfly pose. If you are a man, please do not wear split seam running shorts to practice yoga in.

-Speaking of men who practice yoga, I know the yoga culture promotes peace, love, happiness and natural essence, but could that natural essence please include deodorant? I prefer to practice yoga in a space that doesn't reek like a European train.

-And I know that yoga is all about breathing, but the people who find it necessary to breathe as loud as humanly possible are annoying and self absorbed. You really think every person in the room wants to hear you breathe like Darth Vader? Reign it in buddy!

-Speaking of self absorbed, to the person who sings along with the music: not okay. Not everyone appreciates your singing like you do. In fact, I despise it. The music gets the job done by itself, thankyouverymuch.

Does anyone else out there have to deal with these yoga related annoyances? Or am I the lucky one who gets to endure it because I live in Boulder, the self-entitlement capital of the world? Oh, well, it's nothing a long savasana doesn't cure.

Namaste, everybody.

In Case You Were Wondering

2011-03-06T09:03:00.002-07:00

It's still windy here. I think I've battled wind on every ride I've done this winter. But, I'm not complaining because I'll take a windy outdoor ride over a trainer ride any day. But sometimes when it seems like it's windy all the time, it squashes my motivation into a million pieces and I think "why am I doing this?"

I do this sport because I love to be outside (when it's not windy). I like the physical byproduct of being fit and trained. I like to eat whatever I want and not feel guilty. I enjoy training and racing to my best ability. Meeting new people has also been fun. And let's not forget how cathartic a good swim, ride or run can be when stress levels are high. All this exercise helps to channel my intensity in a healthy way. But sometimes when it's miserable outside, the enjoyment of the sport is stifled and I wonder if I should take up knitting instead.

This week I've sort of been in a funk and I can't shake it. I think it's just the mid winter blues. Training is flat and I'm over the weather. Hey Colorado, are you listening? These dull, gray and windy days are NOT why I moved here! But, I only have two more full weeks of school and then it's spring break. I am very excited to visit my sister Wendy and her kids. Her twins just turned 6 this past week and it reminded me of how much I miss by living so far away. I remember when they were first born, and now they're six!

Today I'm supposed to run 11 miles and swim some. I'm not going to swim. I really don't feel like it and I don't care if I skip it. I'm going to go to brunch instead with two of my best friends because that's what my body and spirit need right now. But so help me god if it's windy when I head out onto my run, today might just be the day I head to JoAnn Fabrics to purchase some knitting supplies.

No Complaints

2011-02-23T19:09:00.007-07:00

I talk a lot about balance in this blog, mostly in terms of pursuing it. We all know how easy it is to underdo it or overdo it, always managing to tip the scale one way or the other without ever finding that sweet spot.

After having overdone it for most of the past year, it was time for me to shift gears and either underdo it or seek said sweet spot. With the onset of 2011, I vowed to have low ambitions: I wanted nothing more than to create the perfect crockpot meal after enjoying a long nap. But then I went and signed up for a couple of races, which means I'd need to curb the kitchen and couch activities every once in a while for a swim, ride or run. And wouldn't ya know I have actually enjoyed the training! I have been training anywhere from 6-10 hours a week (with one 13 hour-er in there) and it all seems like just enough. The 6ish hour weeks leave enough time for family ski trips over the weekend, and the 13 hour weeks remind me what it's like to train to my potential. Both are good feelings.

I keep detailed logs of all my training from year to year, and I always go back and check what I did during a given year and compare it to present day training. Last year was my most successful year to date, so naturally I've been curious as to what I was doing in February of 2010. Surprisingly, it's a lot like what I'm doing now: swimming once a week, biking twice-ish a week, yoga twice a week and running three to four times a week, if it's a week with no aforementioned ski weekend. Last year at this time I remember holding back on my training, despite wanting to do more, knowing that it would be a long road to Tempe in November. But this year since I have an early season planned, there's no use holding back if a) I am motivated to train hard and b) have the time to do it. And if I don't, great, because that means I'm out with friends or enjoying mountain time with visiting family members. Or playing with my niece Annie, who is quite possibly the cutest baby on the planet (do not roll your eyes at this until you have met her in person, you're likely to agree). Anyway, *focus katie*, the difference is last year's "holding back" is this year's "just enough."

Speaking of "just enough," yesterday I went to the track and did some mile repeats. Since I'm training for a half marathon in April, I thought it was time to stop fartin' around and throw some speedwork into the mix. First of all, I hate mile repeats. Second of all, I hate them even more when it's winter (cold and windy). And C, I hate them even more when I'm not at my fighting weight, because I feel every extra ounce I'm carrying rumble with every footstrike. Despite these three factors, I managed to bust out 2 miles I'm happy with and one I wouldn't kick out of bed for eating cookies.

As Borat would say, "great success!"

I have three and a half weeks of solid training I can put in before I can really garfield it up while visiting my sister Wendy in Florida at the end of March. I'm looking forward to both.

Happiness

2011-02-01T13:05:00.011-07:00

Hot damn! Nothing generates happiness like a snow day does. Okay, maybe a few things do, but having a snow day definitely has a top five spot on the happiness list. It's even better when you learn you have a snow day the day before, so you can go into a full night's sleep knowing you don't have to be rudely awakened by your alarm. Now, that doesn't promise that a jealous husband won't rudely awake you, but when that happens I always like to remind him that the world is always looking for good teachers.

Having a snow day also means I have time to blog. Hallelujah! It's such an evasive luxury. But now that it's winter and I'm not training for an Ironman, it's been a little easier to ease into the weekends with a cup of steaming coffee and my laptop, instead of having to barrel out the door in the early morning hours so I can fit in a full day's worth of training before the sun goes down. Ahhh, I love winter. And non-Ironman training.

Speaking of which, one thing I've learned about myself recently is that the surest way to get me to do something is to first get me to say I won't do it.

In my last post I verbally instated a personal revolution wherby I vowed to approach this season with less intensity and a boycott of all WTC races. So guess what I did? I intensely signed up for three races, one of which is owned by WTC. I love being a hypocrite.

In all seriousness though, I have good reason for my decision. Amy is returning to the race scene this summer, but the only one she's signed up for is the 5430 sprint, which of course is owned by WTC. Well, sisterhood is more important to me than conviction, so in an effort to rekindle the fun of racing together, I decided to join Amy in her first race back. I am so excited! It will be just like the good ol' days when we would start at the front of the pack together and wave at each other with every breath until she paddled away like the female version of Michael Phelps that she is (minus the bong rips, of course). I'm not gonna lie, it was a long, lonely season last year without her, so I want to promote her decision to return to racing in every way possible. Even if it means racing an event owned by WTF, I mean WTC.

And while my credit card was out, I decided to throw in a few other short, local races, as well. I signed up for a half marathon in April, to get the party started (I am desperately trying to get Barb to sign up for this too, if any of you want to go to her blog and give her a gentle nudge). Then I'll do an Olympic distance tri at the end of June, just to keep my fitness honest this summer. (Ahem, neither are owned by WTC.) Steve and I will be traveling for almost the whole month of July, so I'm leaving that month open and then it will be a free-for-all for August and September, based on how slothy I let myself get in July.

As much as I enjoy unstructured training, I also like working towards something specific. I'm just not a wishy-washy person, which is why I tend to say things like "I'll never do that!" and then follow it up with an "I'm totally doing that!" just a few weeks later. See? I do have conviction after all.

Racing with a sister=happiness

sisters=happiness

Happy New Year! (Yes, I Do Know We're Halfway Through January Already)

2011-01-17T12:57:00.008-07:00

Guess what's not one of my New Year's resolutions? That's right, "more frequent blogging." Wasn't even on my my radar. Why set myself up for failure so early on? I prefer to stick to things I know I can accomplish, like more napping and cooking. Especially if the cooking part entails a crockpot, because it makes a pretty amazing meal while being left unattended for hours on end. Who invented this thing? I love him. Or her. And so does Steve because now he gets to enjoy home cooked meals that don't result in the smoke detector being set off or a second attempt because the first one was a kitchen casualty. So far I've made black bean and Italian sausage stew, white chicken chili (thanks to Wendy) and tonight's endeavor: PT's infamous beef stew (gracias, Amy). Steve bought it for me in December and I've managed to get our money's worth already. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

In triathlon related news there really isn't any. After Ironman I took the rest of the year off from formal training and did things like ride my cruiser bike to yoga (awesome), skied a lot (super fun) and ran a bit to enjoy the outdoors and, who am I kidding, try to maintain a shred of the fitness I amassed for 11 months last year. After devoting your life to something for so long, it's hard to watch it wither away in a fraction of the time it took to get there. And as much as I really wanted to be the person who could REALLY take a month or so off, I found myself itching to get outside and enjoy the mountain air and also not regress into holiday slothitude. And now that the new year is here, I have started going to the gym again, working out about an hour a day including one spin class, one masters class, a few runs and a couple of yoga sessions a week with some skiing peppered in here and there. It's been great. But it's so weird coming off an Ironman. Working out an hour a day feels like it's not enough, when it's actually more than enough and way more than most people manage. But that's what Ironman does: it changes your sense of normalcy. So one of my goals this year is to get back to my "old normal" when working out 10 hours a week was a lot, and 6-8 was just fine. And 3-4 was also quite acceptable. So far, so good.

I also have not signed up for any races. There are several things funneling into this. First of all, I royally loathe WTC (In honor of the late Dr. King today, I am not using the word hate). And unfortunately in their universal quest to take over the sport of triathlon, they've already done so in the fair city of Boulder. They own the Boulder Tri Series which is right in my back yard and one I always compete in, in at least one of the three races a season. Well, their handling of pretty much everything last year, not least of which my prize money for winning the series, has left a sour taste in my mouth. Enough to where I'm instating my own personal revolution and boycotting their races. For this year at least, until I realize how much fun I'm missing out on this summer and decide to race in the series again in 2012.

The second reason is that I'm enjoying unstructured workouts right now. I go to a masters swim if I feel like it, and if I don't, I sleep in. I ski when I want to, not worrying about a long run or ride I should be doing instead. And I'm doing yoga for the sake of yoga, and not because it's a great way to supplement strength training. It's been great, albeit weird because I've never started a year (in the past 10 years) not training for something specific. I am enjoying it, but it is taking a little getting used to. And I might hop in a local race at the last minute, if I feel like it and if it's not owned by WTC.

So that's it for plans and resolutions. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with 3 lbs of stew beef, some potatoes, a lot of veggies and my new BFF, lady crockpot. There may or may not be wine involved, too.

Cheers and Happy New Year everybody!!!

IMAZ 2010 Race Report (Race Day)

2010-11-28T08:26:00.022-07:00

On the morning of the race, I woke up at 3:50am. Transition didn't open until 5 and we were only a couple of blocks away, but I wanted to make sure I got there early enough to take care of my race morning business and then "get in line" for the swim. A friend had told me that if you were planning on starting near the front, then it was best to line up early so you didn't have to swim through hundreds of people to get a good spot on the start line.

I woke up, put on my bathing suit and sweats grabbed my oatmeal and headed up to my sisters' room to heat it because they had the microwave. Amy had given me her key the night before so that I could just walk in quietly and not wake anyone up. Well, when I got up there, the door was latched and of course I was opening the door with such force that it made this huge banging sound. That woke everyone up, so lucky for me, I was able to get some race morning sister love before leaving.

Steve-o was the best husband ever and woke up with me and helped carry my special needs bags over to transition. He waited patiently while I turned in my bags, pumped up my bike tires, loaded my nutrition onto my bike (Wheat Thins, a Nature Valley granola bar, three bottles of Infinit and water) and used the loo.

Then we walked over to the swim start arches to "line up." Well the joke was on me because there was plenty of space near these arches so one didn't really need to line up at all. There would have been plenty of space for me to walk right up and stand near the front. Oh well, hind sight is 20/20. Steve obviously couldn't be in transition with me, so he waited on one side of the transition area fence while I stayed on the other. It was cold and breezy but still no rain so that was good. But I was cold. He rubbed my shoulders a little while I mulled over the idea of jumping into 61 degree water. This was the only thing I was worried about: the water temp and the cutthroat swim start. Oh, and the wind. But everything else I felt really confident about. I knew I could complete the distance if I didn't have any major accidents or nutrition mishaps. I just wanted to start already and get it over with.

The Swim

Steve waited about an hour with me before they let us through the arches to go down to the water. I had read somewhere to wear socks once you have your wetsuit on because the cement is freezing and with the water being so cold, you want your feet to stay as warm as possible for as long as possible. This was a brilliant idea. They let the pros through first, then us. We waited for about 10 more minutes in this staging area before they let us down to the dock to jump in. The pros were in and ready to start, and they kept telling us not to get in yet, that we had to wait for the pros to officially start. Well, some people were either deaf or thought they were above the rules and they started jumping in and swimming the 200m or so to where the swim start was. Well I'll be darned if I was going to lose my hard earned spot at the front, so I jumped in too despite typically being a rule follower. HOLY HECK, IT WAS COLD! I knew it would be cold, and it was. After the initial shock and a few strokes, I started to warm up but man, everything was freezing. Once I got to the start line, I hung on to a kayak because I didn't want to waste a lot of energy treading water. Also, I was shivering and my teeth were chattering and we still had about 10 minutes before the start. I ended up chatting with some girl and she told me "I can see you're cold, that's why I mentally prepared myself to know how cold it would be today." I was like, scuse me? Yeah, I knew how cold it would be and I mentally prepared myself too, but when it comes down to brass tacks, I can't help it if I'm shivering, beotch! I didn't like her anymore, plus a herd of men had just surrounded me, so I swam over to the left, closer to the buoys. My friend Kristina told me that you can swim on the inside of the buoys, and that even though you might end up swimming a little farther, it's a path less traveled. Great, sign me up for that spot. By this time there were people (men) all around me and people kept kicking me under water and this was annoying. Keep your feet to yourself people, the race hasn't even started yet! Finally they started blaring the Black Sabbath song that goes "I am Ironman" and I started to get all choked up. Then it was the national anthem and the cannon and we were off!

I was really glad to have swum a bazillion 500s in training with the first 200 at a faster than race pace speed because it wasn't too much of a shock to my system when I went out blazing and then settled into my normal pace. But there were people all around me. I felt so congested and stifled. I got a few leg pulls, arm swipes and bumps, but nothing outrageous like a shattered ear drum or black eye like I've heard some people speak of. But the congestion was lasting a long time and at one point I wanted to stop and lift my head out of the water and cry. The thought of having to swim like that for one more minute made me uber frustrated and stressed out. All I could think about was those Yosemite Sam mudflaps where he's holding the two pistols with the words "back off!" underneath. Back the eff off everybody! Finally, out of no where, the pack thinned and I was free to swim normal without mouthfuls of water every breath. Alelujah. I kept my line next to the buoys and tried to find my rhythm. Once I was out of the traffic jam, I reinstated my bilateral breathing to "save the hips." When I breathe to just one side, I can immediately feel it in my hip flexors and side glute and they were just starting to talk to me at this point. I finally reached the turnaround after what seemed like forever and I wondered what my pace was, so I looked at my watch and saw 27:xx. Hell yeah b*tches! But as soon as I was on the way back, I realized why that split was so fast. There was a tailwind. The whole way back in was super choppy and hard to navigate. I kept getting more mouthfuls of water and at this point, water had started leaking into my goggles. I had to stop twice to fix them which was stressful because I just kept picturing the hounds on my tail trying to hunt me down. At one point I looked up and realized I had swum a bit off course, so I called myself a jackass and got back on track. Finally I saw the exit dock and I wanted to cry tears of joy. The worst part was over (or so I thought!) and now I could enjoy the rest of the day. Two lovely volunteers pulled me out of the water (which was nice seeing as it was a big step up to get onto the exit platform) and I thanked them before looking at my watch and seeing 1:01:xx. Pretty good, as I wanted to go in between an hour and 1:02.

Onto the cement path and three wetsuit strippers worked their magic. They pulled off my wetsuit with such vigor that they almost dragged me across the pavement. It was so cool! The fences were lined with throngs of cheering fans, I felt like I was in the Olympics! I scanned the crowd for my family but didn't see them. Then I realized they'd probably be near my bike in transition, as they had scoped out where my bike was located the day before. So I ran through the transition chutes up to my bike gear bag and had to grab it myself because the numbers had worn off my skin already so the volunteers couldn't decipher my number. They then funneled me though to the change tent. I planned on doing a full wardrobe change for each leg, knowing that I wasn't racing for a time and that comfort and freshness would play a huge role in creating my sunny disposition throughout the race. Two lovely ladies dumped everything out of my bag and I was so glad Amy had told me about the ziplock baggie idea because it was easy to grab the stuff that I needed and have it all be in separate, organized baggies. They were showing me my bags, opening them for me, trying to help me put stuff on and doing so really quickly, which was so nice of them. But I finally told them "ladies, I am in no hurry, you can slow down if you like." They looked at me like I had two heads. I sat down dried off, and begun putting my bike clothes on. They were still trying to help me put on my socks and such, but my feet were frozen. Like wooden nubs. I could barely feel them so it made it hard for them to help me (I felt like the bride in 16 Candles after she takes the muscle relaxers and Molly Ringwald is trying to put her sister's shoes on but her feet are flopping everywhere). I felt so badly for these poor volunteers, here they were trying to do their best to help me and I was not cooperating. I apologized and thanked them and told them they could help someone else if they wanted. I just wanted to get warmed up before the bike. So I sat there for a minute and ate a mini bagel with peanut butter and honey before going on my merry way. "Thanks so much, ladies!" I said again. Then I stopped to use the bathroom before collecting my bike. I grabbed my bike and ran it out of transition. Right away I saw my family along the fence so I waved and went over to sort of hug them and say "Hi everybody!" They were right at the mount line so in all the fuss I forgot to mount my bike and ended up running a few extra hundred meters while everyone else was already on their bikes. Ooops.

The Bike

I had put on a jacket in transition not knowing how cold it would be on the bike, and immediately I regretted this decision. 4 miles into the bike and I was warm. So, I pulled over to the side of the road and wrapped it around my waste. Right as I was doing this I saw some guy all mangled and bloody; he had crashed and was receiving medical attention on the side of the road. I felt so badly for him and reminded myself to take it easy so I wouldn't end up the same way. The bike course is a three loop course, so I was thinking we would have access to special needs on all three loops and hopefully I could stash my jacket in the SN bag sooner rather than later. The loops snake their way out of town and then onto a highway in the desert. On the way out it is a false flat, but coming back into town I had heard that it was a steady downhill where you could reach speeds of 40 plus mph. The whole way out I was cruising along pretty well, despite it being a false flat. I like false flats. It's a steady climb that you can muscle up without the wishy washiness of rollers. I was passing a lot of people, including one dude who was peeing as he was riding. Another guy had to swerve out of the way to avoid Peter McPee-erston, and as I passed him I said "nice maneuvering" as he said "glad I avoided that!" Yeah, we all are. I don't have a bike computer so all throughout training I went on "feel." I would wear my Garmin so I always had an accurate read by the end of my ride, but because it's a wrist component, I never looked at it during a ride. So I learned to just go by feel. I opted not to wear the Garmin in the race because I didn't want to have anything mechanical to contend with. Plus the battery in the Garmin isn't the greatest, so for longer periods of exercise it sometimes cuts out. I didn't want to have to be annoyed by that happening, so I left it at home. Short story long, I didn't know how fast I was going. I just tried to go fast enough to where I was pushing it, but not doing myself in for the run. Finally I reached the turnaround and as soon as I got going in the opposite direction, BAM! The wind hit me like someone throwing a punch in a bar room brawl. Right away I realized why the false flat hadn't seemed that bad: there was a tailwind. Which had now translated to a nasty headwind. It was demoralizing. I could see dust being kicked up all across the landscape and people were gripping their bikes with their heads down, just trying to endure. It felt like I was crawling at 11mph hour the whole way back in. At one point I was shifting to try to find the right gear for the wind, and my chain fell off. I had to stop and put it back on. Then once I reached the special needs area, I stopped to unload my jacket into my bag and grab some nutrition. I had put a plethora of nutrition into each gear and special needs bag, thinking it would be good to have a variety of snacks because I didn't know what I would feel like eating at any given point. This did not end up being the best strategy because I never knew what I had or what to look for in each bag. Luckily we did have access on each loop of the bike (and run) so it was a non issue because if I forgot something, I could always get it the next time around (and I had plenty of nutrition on me in the meantime). Finally I reached the section of roads that led us back to town which was great because the roads switched directions and would provide us with a change in wind. Even though it never died down, just to have it hitting me from a different direction helped mentally. Then at the turnaround to head out onto the second loop, I saw my family. I slapped hands and blew kisses, I was so happy to see them and the first loop of the bike had gone by pretty fast.

Going into the race I thought I could do each loop in about 1:50 (which would have been a 5:30 total bike time), and I was turning around at 1:53. Not too bad considering the wind, but I knew I would have to ease up for the next two loops if I wanted to finish. It was at this point where I didn't care about time anymore. I knew my ultimate goal was just to become an Ironman, and I didn't want my ego to get in the way of that. So I let all time expectations out the door and locked that door right up behind them. Buh bye time goals. After having done one loop, I knew how to mentally break up the other loops into smaller, manageable chunks. There were the town roads, then the first section of the Beeline to the aid station, then the turnaround, then special needs, then the town roads again. It was doable. If we would have had to ride 56 miles straight into this steady 20 plus mph headwind, I don't know if I would have been able to do it. But having it broken into smaller chunks helped tremendously. On the second loop it started to rain, so now things were windy, cold and gloomy. But despite the conditions, it was going by fast. I think it was due to the loopy nature. I love loops for this. I was already at my bike special needs and I couldn't believe it. I grabbed some more nutrition and thanked the volunteer. I had frozen two of my Infinit bottles and luckily they were dethawed. They would have been downright refreshing had it been a normal Arizona day. I also grabbed some Honey Stingers gummy chunks and these tasted divine. Up until this point I had taken in a couple bottles of Infinit, Boulder chips and Wheat Thins. I was feeling great, yet my shoulders and neck were hurting from the tension of having to hold onto my bike so tightly. Finally I was back into town and seeing my family again. I gave them more high fives and kisses and was thanking my lucky stars I only had to endure one more loop of this madness.

I pushed it hard going out on the Beeline this time; I was passing a lot of people. I guess I didn't realize how fast I was going, because when I needed to grab some water at an aid station, 4 volunteers tried to hand me a bottle and I dropped/missed every single one. I was so embarrassed and felt terribly! I apologized to the volunteers and then some guy rode up behind me and said "Nice work, Katie." I felt like such a jackass. Oooops. Then as soon as I hit that turnaround, it was back to a slow crawl and people started passing me back. I tried to just press on. It was defeating having to contend with this wind. I usually enjoy the bike portion of a race the most. Today it was my least favorite. Finally I reached town and saw my family in the chute going into T2. I couldn't believe I was already about to start running! I was so very thankful.

Well, setting the precedent with an 11 minute T1, I knew I couldn't disappoint with a speedy T2. This time a volunteer handed me my run gear bag and I ran back into the change tent, happy to have shelter from the elements. I sat down and guess who it was? The two nice ladies who helped me the first time. "Hi guys!" I said. "You helped me the first time around!" They remembered me and I reminded them that I was still in no hurry. Well, on the first loop of the bike I had felt my big toe burning. At first I thought it was my feet dethawing, but as the bike pressed on I knew I had somehow cut myself. I had never stopped to check it out on the bike, so now was my chance. Before the kind volunteer put on my running sock I said "Wait, I need to look at something" and I looked down to see a bloody mass of flesh on my toe. Ouch! Thankfully I had put bandaids in my gear bag, so they slapped one on. I also needed Vaseline for under my arms (which was weird, usually I only get that chaffing from a running motion). I did a full change again, grabbed my Hammer Endurolyte pills (I was not about to try the nastiness that is Perform) and a five hour energy drink (per Amy's advice) and I was off, but not before I stopped to use the loo again.

The Run

Onto the run I felt GREAT. I mean truly awesome. I saw my family right away and stopped to give them each a hug.

I was so happy to be able to stop and interact with them. After the hippy love fest, I was on my way. I remember in Louisville watching the athletes head onto the run course with these grim looks on their faces, moving like it was a death march, thinking that they must be so overwhelmed thinking about the full marathon ahead of them. Surprisingly, I never once thought that. It was weird. I don't know if it was because I was just so happy to be off the bike or if subconsciously I knew I couldn't mentally go into that negativity, but I never once felt depressed or overwhelmed with any prospect of the run. The run is a three loop course just like the bike, but the run course is more like a figure 8 that was highly indecipherable when looking at a map. So I spent the whole first lap just trying to figure out where this course was going. Next thing I knew, I was done with the first loop. I still felt great, but on the 2nd loop, walking through the aid stations became more of a necessity than a desire. I saw my family again at the start of the loop (and the family of my student) and gave more hugs and salutations. This time they has scoped out another spot on the Mill Ave bridge, so I saw them twice in one loop and that was the best!

Next I knew, I was about to be at special needs of the run! I couldn't believe how fast this was all happening. Then, the whole crowd started cheering super loud and I thought, "Wow, how did I become so popular all of a sudden?" Then I realized there had to be someone famous behind me and sure enough, Chrissy Wellington was lapping me. She was flying! By this time I was walking for longer periods through the aid stations, but still limiting my walk breaks to just the aid stations.

I took some of the Five Hour Energy drink, hoping it wouldn't mess up my stomach. The aid stations were like buffet tables with angels that had descended from heaven. Honestly, everyone was so nice and helpful and supportive. I never wanted to leave them! And they had everything from pretzels, to cookies, to fruit, to even Goldfish! I mostly took in prtezels and water (with an endurolyte pill evey 30 mins)and this worked well. At one aid station I opted for two cookies because they sounded so delicious, but soon after I ingested them I felt a little queasy. Okay, no more cookies for KK. I stuck to the pretzel/water/chicken broth/endurolyte pill and an occasional ibuprofen (4 total over the course of the run) and this worked tremendously. I ate at every aid station (except two) and never felt empty, never felt full, never felt like I was going to hurl. The five hour energy drink kicked in too, so I felt energized, but my muscles were too tired to go any faster. Next thing I knew I was on my last lap. I stopped to give more hugs to my family and my mom said "hurry up, KK, we have 8 o'clock dinner reservations!" (We really did.) I smiled and joked with her "change it to nine!" Three miles later on the Mill Ave bridge, I saw my family and two friends from back in MI who happened to be in town that weekend. What a surprise! I slapped high fives this time, knowing I needed to maintain forward progress; I only had 6 more miles left to go!!!

On the last section of the last loop, I grabbed a long sleeved shirt from my special needs because it was getting dark and cold. I was walking well past the aid stations now, but it was justified in my head since technically I had started walking at the beginning of the aid stations, so it was really just a continuation. At about mile 23 I stopped to go to the bathroom and at mile 24.5, I thought "No more walking, bring it home." I ran the whole rest of the way in and finally made it to the sign that said "last loop/to the finish" and I finally was able to go left, instead of right, and straight up into the finisher's chute. It was magical. Everyone was cheering, the lights made everything glow and I was finishing! I was busy looking for my family and finally I heard Amy yell my name, then she pointed to the other side of the chute where the rest of my family and Steve were, but I had passed them already without knowing it. Finally, I heard "Katie Bell, Boulder, Colorado" as I threw up my arms and smiled and became an Ironman.

After the race two volunteers grabbed me and asked me a bunch of questions like "Are you okay?" "What size shirt do you wear?" and "Do you want some pizza?" I could barely answer them. I wasn't dizzy or confused, just really tired. I got my picture taken then found my family and soaked in their hugs and love. It had started raining again by this point so we decided to walk back to the hotel and get changed for dinner. I was so happy that my mom didn't have to change the reservations to nine.

We had our post race celebration at a local Tex-Mex place, Z Tejas. I had my favorite post race combo-nachos and a cocktail. Although my stomach hurt really badly, so I couldn't eat/drink much. But my mom had brought the "You Are Special Today" red plate all the way from MI and had my nachos served on them and Wendy brought a flashing blinking celebratory cup too. It was so nice to talk about the race from the other side: having finished it.

Post IM Thoughts:

I took three solid days off after the race. On Monday I wasn't really that sore, but my knees hurt (i.e. joint pain from the pounding). By Tuesday I had a smidge of soreness, but not that much. By Wednesday I felt 100 percent. I attribute the speedy recovery to all the yoga I did in training. For the past 11 months, I practiced 2x a week and during the summer it was 3x a week. I never skipped a scheduled yoga class. Swim workouts? Skipped. Bike rides? Skipped. Run workouts? Shortened or skipped. But I never compromised on the yoga and I think that contributed greatly to my success and recovery. By Thursday I was itching to see how I would feel on a run, so Steve and I went on a 3 mile turkey day test run. A mile and a half into it, my right knee started to get sore, so I stopped and walked. Okay, lesson learned. More time off. Friday we went skiing (easy cruiser runs only) and Saturday I rode my cruiser bike to Yoga. It was blissful. Now, I'm not a crazy person who refuses to take time off. The fact of the matter is, I love to be outside. I love to be active. I love riding my bike, running and occasionally, I like to swim. And the one thing I learned throughout this journery is that I like doing those things, in moderation. Ironman tips the balance. I enjoy a 2 hour bike ride, I do not like 6 hour rides. I like to run for an hour, I do not like running for three. And I like going to yoga, more than just twice a week. So I will not be rushing to sign up for another one. While I am infinitely happy to have become an Ironman, I do not want to perpetually live the lifestyle of one. And while I do love racing, I'm also happy drinking coffee from my IM mug, wondering if I should go to yoga, run an easy four miles or read a book instead. I like the possibility in having options.

Best support crew in history

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Thanks for reading and thanks for the virtual support. An Ironman is only as good as her support crew, and I thank you for being part of mine!

IMAZ 2010 Race Report (Prerace)

2010-11-27T08:24:00.018-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I have many things to be thankful for, including an awesome family, a tremendous husband, great friends and most importantly, THIS IRONMAN IS FINALLY OVER!!! Amy's mother in law always says "There's no greater feeling than the feeling of relief," and I have to agree with her. I have had the best week enjoying all things non-triathlon related while basking in the glory of having completed an Ironman; the hard work is done, the accomplishment is significant, the experience was remarkable and I never have to go down that road again. It's been pure bliss.

Here's how the week went leading up to the race (warning: this is LONG).

Steve and I left Thursday night after work. I only took one day off of work which was nice because writing sub plans is no picnic. We had this whole week off due to comp days for the parent teacher conferences, so I have had the entire week to sip coffee from my new IMAZ mug, bake, clean the house (and by clean the house I mean only unpack), upload pictures to Facebook and lounge around.

So anyway, back to the trip. I picked Steve up and we headed to Amy and Patrick's house and they graciously drove us to the airport which was mighty generous of them seeing as they have better things to do like tend to their newborn baby and the guests they had in town. Patrick's parents drove all the way from Missouri to stay with Patrick and Annie over the weekend so Amy could come to Tempe to cheer me on. I am so grateful for that! (And she's still nursing people, so it was no easy feat for her to leave her baby!) So Patrick dropped us off at the airport, Steve and I ate a pasta dinner and then we were off to Phoenix on the 8:45pm flight.

Dinner at airport Thursday night

We arrived in Phoenix just after 11pm local time, got our luggage quickly and cabbed it to the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Tempe. Once we got there I felt like we were in that garden labyrinth in The Shining, as the hotel was in the throes of a major remodel and they had to reroute us through some sketchy, obscure side door and through a real courtyard to some makeshift "lobby" area where they checked us in. The first thing I did was ask if we could have a refrigerator delivered to our room; I needed it for my Infinit and Amy needed a freezer to store the milk she would have to pump (sorry for all the nursing references, I'm gagging as I write it if that helps any). Even though I had already called AND Amy called several times to reserve one, they struggled to locate one for us and once they did, they claimed it was the last one. Two hours into the trip and I was already annoyed. What's the point of a reservation if you can't reserve what you want? They said they would "do their best" to get another one for Amy, but if all else fails she could always store her milk in the employee freezer. Excuse me? You mean next to Vera's taquitos? No thanks. I was livid on behalf of Amy: here she is making a huge sacrifice to be here for me this weekend and they're not going to provide her with what she needs?

Nasty fridge in a nasty room

(good luck sign from former students)

Steve and I made our way to our first floor room which was barely a step above a truckstop that was conveniently located next to a train that rumbled by no less than 3 times in the middle of the night, which was rivaled only by the drunken shenanigans of the local college folks who liked to stumble by every 15 minutes between the hours of 12-3am. Thank goodness I had remembered to pack my earplugs. I contemplated switching hotels, knowing my parents wouldn't stand for these meager accommodations (nor should they have to-this was not the Marriott standard), but we hadn't rented a car, the location was perfect (5 blocks away from the Tempe Beach Park where the entire race was staged and two blocks from the Mill Ave district where shopping and eating are) and who did I think I was anyway for thinking that there would be any vacancies elsewhere? So first thing the following morning I got on the horn and warned everyone for what to expect; turns out Amy, Tracy and Wendy had been upgraded to the penthouse suite, suitable for Daddy Warbucks and my parents' room was swankier than ours (save for the closet door that fell off the wall), so really it was just Steve and I who were left to fend for ourselves in the filth and squalor.

More good luck signs from my Mom, Amy and Wendy's kids

The next morning I awoke right away; my mind was racing with how to resolve the fridge issue (this was before I knew they had moved Amy to the top floor) and everything race related I had to take care of. Amy had gotten on the horn, cracked some hotel manager skulls and landed herself the new room complete with everything a nursing mother needs (including microwave for sanitation). Next on the list of things to do was packet pickup and bike retrieval from Tribike Transport. Steve and I got breakfast at the nearby Starbucks, then mosied our way over to Tempe Beach Park for the festivities. As soon as we walked into the park, I could feel the Ironman energy. It was awesome. I was finally starting to get excited! I also saw a student of mine (her dad was doing the race) so we stopped and chatted with them for a while. It was great to see a familiar face. Then we walked over to packet pickup, and of course there was a line a mile long. Steve waited with me the whole time and this was the first time I had heard someone mention the possibility of rain. I didn't think too much about it, so I shifted my focus to talking about how much I hate WTC, as every race I've done with them has had a line a mile long. Don't get me wrong, I'm not frustrated with the volunteers, but you'd think WTC could get their act together to figure out how to expedite the check in process, but I don't think it's on their list of things to do. In fact, I don't even think they have a list of things to do (because sending out gift cards to the Boulder series winners certainly wasn't on any list!). Finally we made our way up to the front, snaked through the various tables, brushed elbows with Chrissy Wellington and we were done. I thanked all the volunteers and tried to soak it all in. I was finally here, the weather was great, the energy palpable-I wanted to race!

This is what I wanted to give to WTC (Not the volunteers)

Packet Pickup

I then walked over to the ShopIronman tent to peruse the merchandise. It would have been really nice to have my $250 gift certificate that I earned from winning the Boulder series, but it still hadn't arrived before I left for Tempe. I ended up buying a sweatshirt, a visor, a hat, a water bottle and some socks. I thought it was a nice mix of loot. Steve waited very patiently with me throughout the whole shopping process and even offered feedback while I tried stuff on. What a buddy. Then we grabbed my bike from the very happy, nice folks at TriBike transport and then we were off to deposit everything at the hotel.

At the hotel we met up with my folks who had just arrived. I was relieved to see that their room wasn't as terrible as ours and that they were just fine with the accommodations. So we went to celebrate with lunch at the nearby Gordon Biersch. I got a salad, not wanting to eat too much because I still had my magic health-food-illness-staver-offer-shake to drink and a bike ride to complete.

Lunch at Gordon Biersch

After lunch I started to pack up my bike and run gear bags while I digested lunch. At this point I was just sorting clothing/nutrition items into each bag; once IronAmy got there she could help me with double checking everything.

Later I got suited up to take the ol' bike out for a spin to make sure everything was in working order and to get a lay of the land. I had gotten my bike tuned right before i left but hadn't had the chance to ride it. I left with my mom as she was headed out for a walk and she always gets nervous when she sees me leave on my bike "oh you be careful" she always says in a way only a nervous, loving mother can say. I rode east on the Rio Salado Parkway, which was part of the bike course. When the course headed north, I kept going east which was fine because there was a bike lane the whole way so I felt safer like that. I turned around after about 15 minutes feeling really good. My legs felt fresh and the weather was perfect.

After the bike ride we showered and got ready for dinner. We walked over to the Mill Ave district and had dinner at Cafe Boa, which if you ever do this race or are in Tempe, I HIGHLY recommend it. I got a huge bowl of linguine with meatballs and it was divine. Remembering what the woman behind me in line said about rain, I checked the forecast on my phone. Sure enough, it was scheduled to rain all day, starting at about 2am. And there was wind forecast (about 15 mph average). My heart sank. Rain and wind? One of the major reasons I chose this race was because I thought I could count on the weather in the desert (let's be honest, it wasn't because of the November date or balmy water temperature or cement run course). I learned an important lesson: you can NEVER count on the weather. I tried not to think about it and just enjoy dinner with my parents and Steve, and I did. We ate, drank (two glasses of Cabernet for me) and chatted the meal away. It was heavenly.

Dinner at Cafe Boa

After that we went for a nightcap at Gordon Biersch but for once I did not partake. Then we went back to the hotel and turned in early. Amy and Tracy were scheduled to get in around the same time Steve and I did the night before, but we weren't going to wait up for them since it was so late.

Saturday morning I was able to sleep in until 9, but everyone else was already up. I rushed up to Amy and Tracy's room and hugged them as we chatted and planned the day. Their room was like The Ritz. I wondered if WTC had something to do with the injustice...Kidding, it was a relief they had such great accommodations. At least someone did!

Today was the day the only practice swim was scheduled for, and it was to take place from 9-11am, which also was the only time for people to register for IMAZ 2011. Thankfully I wasn't planning on signing up for the 2011 race, but people were not happy that WTC pulled this little doozy of a scheduling conflict. They really are something else...Anyway, after breakfast, Amy and Tracy came back to the hotel with me to pack up my gear bags and offer moral support in the process. Amy had told me to pack every single gear bag item into a plastic ziplock baggie in case it rains overnight (your gear bags lay outside all night exposed to the elements-one would think that a $600 entry fee would cover the cost of WTC renting a tent so these gear bags wouldn't be exposed all night, but one would be mistaken). I was so glad she told me this seeing as rain was forecast. So we begun the process of placing everything in plastic bags: shoes, socks, towels, clothing, jacket, sunglasses, nutrition, first aid, etc.

Breakfast at Starbucks

Amy helping me pack gear bags, Tracy giving moral support

(and taking pictures)

Then they walked over to transition with me to drop everything off and snap a ton of pictures. It was about 10:25 am by this point so we headed over to swim. I didn't care so much about a swim workout as I did about just being able to get in and get acclimated to the water. I had heard that the water temp was 61 degrees, which is slightly warmer than the English Channel, so I wanted the peace of mind of knowing that my muscles wouldn't freeze immediately upon entry. As we walked over there, we ran into some Boulder friends so we all got suited up and then headed over to the water. I stood on the platform for a good while before I decided it was better to "rip it off like a band-aid" and dive right in. So I threw myself into the water and YOWZERS!!! It WAS cold. I wondered how this would be in the freezing cold morning hours, especially if it were raining. After about 100m of swimming, everything warmed up. We swam just past the Mill Ave bridge, which was where the start of the swim was. Yes, you have to swim about 200m just to get to the starting line. This whole prospect was making me sick to my stomach. After we swam to the bridge, we turned around and got out. The water wasn't that bad after warming up; I felt better about my race day prospects.

A pep talk from IronAmy

Shopping!

After the swim Amy and Tracy walked over to the ShopIronman tent with me and they decided they wanted to buy me something. So they all chipped in (and Wendy too) to get me a purple IMAZ running tank which, I will wear mostly for yoga. Funnily enough, it was a tank that I had been eyeing the day before, but had talked myself out of. Purple is my favorite color, so as soon as Amy and Tracy had seen it, they said we want to buy you something, like this! It was meant to be. I have the best sisters in the world. I also talked myself into getting a mug. Even though I have 500 million coffee mugs, I didn't have one that would remind me that once upon a time I did an Ironman. Also, I kept all my purchases limited to IMAZ specific gear, to support my accomplishment and NOT the brand/logo/WTC.

Kenny Powers shirt from friend Kristina

After that we walked over to meet Steve and my parents at a sports bar called Blondie's (which was very telling of the service) because my parents are the two biggest Michigan State fans on the planet and Steve is a fan of beer and fotball in general. Our waitress, who happened to be a few tacos short of a Mexican Combo, took her sweet time getting to the table, and we were starving by this point. Amy also needed to pump, so we decided to go back to the hotel so I could make a sandwich and she could do her business. Knowing we wouldn't have access to a car and therefore a grocery store, I had brought all the food I would need come race day, and then some. So I made a peanut butter and honey sandwich on a wheat bagel, plus my trusty shake. Yum!

Lunch at Blondie's watching the MSU game

After lunch/the MSU game we walked around downtown Tempe and shopped and I tried to shop without being on my feet too much (I.e. everytime I saw a bench or a ledge, I sat). Then we went back to the hotel to meet up with Wendy who had just arrived and we lounged around in the penthouse suite and talked and laughed while Steve went for a run and my Dad avoided us too. It was so nice to have sister/mom time. I wasn't nervous; just ready to get the darn thing over with.

For dinner that night we headed back over to Mill Ave to La Bocca which is a pizza/tapas and wine bar. It was delicious! We had bruschetta, pizza and wine (I had two glasses). My cousin Dan (who lives in Scottsdale) met up with us and he told me "it never rains here. And even if it does, it doesn't rain for long." That helped assuage my fears, but I knew it would still be windy. We laughed and ate our way through the evening. Amy had bought a triathlon specific card rom Runner's Roost and had everyone sign it and they gave it to me at dinner. It said "The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it." It was perfect! They had all signed it with words of wisdom and encouragement and I was bubbling over with happiness. I felt so loved.

Then we headed back to the hotel, stopping at the liquor store first so they could keep the party going. Then up in the penthouse, I said my good-nights as everyone wished me luck. But not before my mom sang me a fight song that she so cleverly wrote to the tune of the MSU fight song. My dad videoed it and we all clapped and laughed and there was no better way to be sent off.

More pep talks from IronAmy

Fight song from Jude

I headed back down to my room to catch some shut eye on the very last eve before becoming an Ironman.

(race day report coming soon)

Showtime

2010-11-17T21:29:00.003-07:00

I'm all packed and ready to go.

Steve and I leave tomorrow after work. I'm finally excited! I am nervous for the start of the swim, but excited for everything else. I'm also extremely grateful that my whole family will be there to cheer me on.

Some coworkers bestowed these cards/gifts upon me:

I feel very loved. There's no better mojo going into a race than knowing you're prepared and feeling the support and encouragement from friends and family. Thank you for all your well wishes and positive thoughts-I will think about you guys every time I cross a mat Sunday.

My bib number is 2228, in case you've already watched the paint dry, sorted your socks and need something else to fill your time.

Let's do this!

Potpourri

2010-11-11T19:31:00.011-07:00

I have so many unrelated topics to post on that I am going to instate bullet points. Here goes:

-Last Friday Amy and Steve threw me the most awesome Pre IM party ever (rivaled only by the party I threw Amy for IMKY last year, of course). They finagled 25ish of my closest friends to show up at a downtown Boulder bar and I had no idea the festivities were taking place. Steve said we were going out to celebrate a year of the hardest training I've notched to date, and so when I walked downstairs and saw Amy and said friends, I was floored. I have never been so surprised in my life. There were signs, gifts and filthy food. I felt very loved and blessed. Here are some pictures:

Surprise! I didn't even recognize Amy!

That's my sister Amy who had a baby just 8 weeks ago. Yes, she really looks that good AND can pull off a surprise party.

Steve and School friends, old and new.

Sally, Annie and me

Moni and me

Kelly and me

Annie's first night on the town

Food table-yes those are jalapeno poppers

-I unofficially started tapering last week, officially this week, and I feel like shit. Total crap. My throat feels like it's been fixin' to be sore for four days, I feel sickness coarsing through my veins and I have slept no less than 8 hours during the past 6 days, with a full 11 hours last night. WTF? I'm starting to get worried.

-Speaking of WTF, I coined WTF as the new name for WTC, since you never know the method to their madness, especially in the communication department. Well, they FINALLY emailed Barb and me back about the Austin awards, saying they would be shipped out shortly (which was two weeks ago and still no sign, but nonetheless, nice of them to get back to us and offer to ship the awards at no extra charge). Then they finally emailed me back re: the Boulder Tri Series saying that we'd get our gift cards within 2-4 weeks. I emailed back right away and said "Can I have mine sooner rather than later cuz I'd love to spend it at IMAZ" and someone actually emailed me right back saying that they're actually Visa gift cards (meaning I can spend it wherever, like at DSW for aforementioned brown boots) and that I could pick mine up at their Boulder office if I were so inclined and they'd let me know when they arrived. So, there, props for WTC. Although they were supposed to have them by the beginning of this week and still no word. Baby steps, I guess.

-The outdoor pool at my gym finally opened. A year late. Nonetheless, we now have a normal pool to swim in with 8 full lanes (instead of 3) and no toddler time scheduled like with the indoor pool. I swam there today when it was only 40 degrees out, but it was awesome. The water was divine, the pool deck heated and I had an entire lane to myself. I'm so glad I get to enjoy it for a full two weeks.

-IMAZ is here. I cannot believe it. For the past year it has been this "thing" in the distance that I never really believed I was doing, yet spent every minute of every day thinking about. I couldn't visualize it or see myself actually doing it until the calendar rolled over to November. Then it was like "holy shit." What do I put in my special needs bags? Where should I start on the swim? What should I eat in T2? It's very real now and I'm scared.

-The weather in Boulder has been phenomenal this fall. Last year we had two snow days in October, with very inclement weather tarnishing every other weekend in between. This year we've seen sunny, 70 degree days pretty much every weekend. I haven't been on the trainer once. Not once! I would like to write a letter to someone thanking him or her for this. IM training is hard, but imagine if I had to do all my long stuff indoors?!?!

-I couldn't be more ready to get this thing over with. This fall has been extremely difficult. Amy had it right when she said that IM is excessive (or something to that effect). The preparation, the training, the recovery, all of it. I love triathlon, but this distance is too much. It completely takes over your life when it doesn't have to. That's not to say I have regrets; I don't. And when I cross that finish line, it will have been worth it. But I will not be one of those people who adopts Ironman as a lifestyle.

-If any of you have any last minute advice on ANYTHING Ironman, feel free to comment. I'm all ears.

Austin 70.3 Race Report

2010-10-24T11:32:00.008-06:00

Barb and I had an AWESOME time in Austin last weekend racing the Austin 70.3 race. We packed a lot of fun into a very short weekend. Thanks to Barb's exceptional navigation and Yelping skills, we found a variety of local places to eat and shop at. The whole weekend went so smoothly and it was the perfect pick-me-up for my lackluster attitude towards this f'ing Ironman, which is still a month away.

Here's how the race went:

First I need to say that this was the first time I had traveled to a race where I was the sole person in charge of disassembling and reassembling my bike. In the past I've always shipped it and relied on bike shop peeps to do the assembling dirty work. I finally realized I'd save myself a lot of money and heartache if I could just learn to do it myself, so this was the first attempt. There were minor hiccups in the disassembly process; thank goodness Barb and Sue came to my rescue when I needed fork spreaders and advice on how to undo my handlebars. We reassembled the bikes Friday night when we got to the hotel so that we could take them out for a prerace spin Sat am at packet pickup. Funnily enough, everything on my bike was fine on Saturday...

Prerace:
We arrived early enough Sunday morning to take care of all prerace BS, and then have plenty of time to sit on a log near the lake and chat and laugh for the extra hour we had to kill, as we were the 15th wave to go off. Finally it was time to make our way down to the water to go off.

The Swim:
Knowing that Ironman is going to be a slaughterfest in the water, I've been working on swimming fast out of the gates to get ahead of the masses and then settling into a nice pace that I can maintain for the rest of the 2.4 mile swim. I decided to put this plan to the test in a real race to see if it could work. It did. There were NO aggressive swimmers in our AG so I was ahead of everyone after 100m and was untouched in doing so. Nice. The problem was that we were the 15th wave to go off. Once I caught up to the AGs ahead of us, it was a challenge to navigate the water that was peppered with swimmers of varying abilities. I zigzagged my way to a 29:50 swim, not my best or worst for that distance.

T1:
Boy did I take my time in T1. It was a long run up a hill and into T1, and my feet had gotten pretty dirty on the way up. There were, however, wetsuit strippers and this was the first time I got to take advantage of that-it was nice! I spent substantial time wiping off my feet, putting on socks, wiping my face and putting on my helmet and glasses. I just kept thinking that this was a tune up race for Ironman; my only goal was to execute everything carefully like I plan to do on IM race day. Then I got caught behind a pack of dudes walking their bikes out of T1 when I usually prefer a peppy jog (thank goodness there was no pressure). This all made for a nice low HR heading out onto the bike.

The Bike:
The first couple of miles were super crowded. People were riding all over the place so it was hard to pass. But that ended up being a good thing because half a mile into it, my handlebars started moving up and down. At first I contemplated just dealing with it the whole race, but then they started slipping further up and further down, to the point I almost lost my balance and fell off when I hit a bump on a downhill. I knew then I needed to fix it so I tried to scope out someone who could help (I didn't have my bike tool with me-rookie mistake). I slowed down to scan for help and luckily I found two kind police officers on bicycles and one of them had a tool. I hopped off and asked them to borrow it and the nice man took his time getting it out of his fanny pack. I tightened the bolts and then had to reaffix my aero bottle and then was off again, thanking them profusely. I think I lost about 5 minutes but at that point I still didn't feel too stressed about it because I was still in "practice mode" and not "race mode." Back on the bike I felt like something was off. I felt like a giant on a tricycle. I couldn't put my finger on what it could be, and knowing I had no way to fix it, I just kept riding. Well I got passed right away by two girls in my AG. I hadn't been passed all season on the bike by someone in my AG. It made me feel so frustrated. I just kept telling myself that I was doing the best I could and not to push it too hard as I still had a nice long chestnut of a run after. Then Barb passed me and asked if I was okay. I said yes, that I had had a 5 min. mechanical and then said "go get 'em!" She looked like she was flying; I was happy to see that because this was her last race of the season and it would be great if she could go out with a bang. At about the halfway point I started to hear this rattling. I had no idea what it was, I just thought something else had come loose because of all the jarring from the terrible roads. And these roads weer TERRIBLE. The worst I've ever seen (yes, worse than Steelhead). I would not recommend this race for that very reason. 56 miles is a long time to endure crappy roads. And the scenery was gross, too. Texas is no paradise. Towards the end of the bike I got passed again, and now I was starting to feel really defeated. I haven't been passed all season-why now?!?! I just kept focused and riding as best I could. I finally finished in 2:36:xx, a full 8 minutes slower than Boulder 70.3. By the end of the bike I had switched to "race mode," as I was hungry to have a good run after that mediocre bike.

T2:
Uneventful. Did the usual thing and was off.

The Run:
It was hot. Where I come from, we have fall. I don't think Texas does. It was 85, sunny and humid. I grabbed water and sponges at every aid station to dump over my head. It helped. The run course is a two loop course and about 2 miles into it, you head out onto grass, woodchips and sand/dirt. I was very surprised to see this terrain. I didn't realize I had signed up for a cross country race. Despite the course, I was running my goal pace (8 min. miles). I felt really good. Towards the end of the bike my stomach had started to feel a bit queasy. So on the first loop I only took in water and Hammer Endurolyte pills. That really helped to settle my stomach. I think I just ate too much on the bike (2.5 bottle of Infinit plus Wheat Thins and a Bobo Bar, plus a PowerBar Harvest Bar and banana before the swim). Not eating and only drinking water really calmed things down. Other than a really long hill up a grassy field with a douchey announcer at the top who kept yelling the most annoying things into the microphone, the run was enjoyable. I usually hate the run, but I felt great on this run. I managed to not get passed by anyone else in my AG and finished fourth, as one girl who had passed me on the bike DNFed. I finished the half marathon in 1:46:10, my fastest time yet for a 70.3 run-yay! I was very pleasantly surprised to finish so well considering how crappy I felt on the bike.

After the race we went to retrieve our stuff from T2 and I discovered that my seat post had fallen down 3/4 of an inch and the quick release on the front wheel was completely undone (that was the rattling noise). What? I could have killed someone. I realized how lucky I was to not have crashed and finished as well as I did with 3 major mechanicals. And I learned a very important lesson about tightening key bolts, even if everything runs smoothly the day before.

Barb finished 3rd (yay Barb!) and had a great race, She had one of the top ten bike splits of all females in the race. I was so happy for her that she ended her season on such a high note-she will have a lot of momentum going into next year.

We couldn't stay for the awards because we had to get back to pack things up and catch a flight. We both have emailed WTC to see if they can ship us our awards and guess what? They haven't emailed either one of us back!!! I know, that's so weird! I did however get an email announcing the winners of the Boulder Series, however the gift certificate must have gotten lost in the mail...grrrrrrrr.

Well sportsfans, only two more weeks of hard training and then it's taper time This race can not get here soon enough.

(Blogger is not working right now to upload multiple pictures, so I'll try again later. Thanks for reading!)

Updates and a Rant

2010-10-03T10:01:00.007-06:00

(Warning: strong language and bad attitude ahead)

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post. They cheered me up BIG TIME. And I also heeded some of your advice like getting more sleep, taking a couple of days off and resting. All of that helped. I feel much better these days, except that every free minute of every day is still dedicated to working out, preparing for a workout or recovering from one. But now that it's October, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In two weeks I race Austin 70.3 with Barb, then it's two and half weeks of Peak training, then taper. Hale-f'in-lujah.

Next, I hate WTC. HATE. Mark my words, after this IM, I am going to try to steer clear of any IM brand races. Which will be almost impossible being that they have completely monopolized this sport and taken over almost every single race out there and now endurance products, too. Did you know they've ousted Gatorade from their lineup and created their own brand name drink called PERFORM? They will only serve this at their races and you can pretty much only get it from their website, so if you want to train with it, you have to buy it from them which means shipping, etc. ANNOYING. Also, I haven't tried it yet but have heard from everyone else who has that it is VILE. Like cough medicine. Unless it's freezing cold. Great, because I am always served ice cold refreshments at endurance event aid stations. Bastards.

Also, I have not heard one thing about winning the Boulder Series for my AG. Not one. The website claimed that the series winner of each AG would win a $250 gift certificate to ShopIronman.com. First of all, thanks for that. When the race was owned by local owners (5430 Sports), winners won cash. That's right, free to spend it on whatever we want (I could really use a new pair of brown boots for fall, but do you think they sell those on ShopIronman.com?). So again, forced to feed the machine. Also, it's been almost two months since the series concluded. TWO F'ING MONTHS. Not one word. No email, no website announcement, no nothing. Yet I am still receiving constant communication re: new partnerships, sponsorships and new races they've "absorbed." My blood is boiling over this. I get so steamed when it comes to corporate greed and lack of accountability. But, I guess we're the suckers who keep feeding the monster. Sigh, I need to do more yoga. AFGO, I guess.

Lastly, I have several youth tri club athletes who are racing the IronKids National Championships in St. Petersburg, FL this morning. I am so proud of them! They qualified at various Ironkids races this summer, and have really been looking forward to racing on a national stage. I'm so happy that they get the chance to showcase their talent at such a young age-there's nothing greater than celebrating the fruits of your labor, even if you have to support WTC in doing so...grrrrrr.

Well, let's end on a happy note. In two weeks I'll be in Austin NOT spending the $250 gift certificate that I still won't have, so I guess I'll just have to go to Mellow Johnny's instead. And buy lots of good food and drink and generally have a kick a$$ time racing, which I haven't done since August so I could use the boost in mojo.

Happy training all.

AFGO

2010-09-12T11:59:00.003-06:00

When I signed up for IMAZ last year, I knew the hardest part would be continuing to train during the fall. Usually I race triathlons all summer, end that season in August, then switch to running only in the fall, because it's so much less high maintenance than triathlon training (thereby making it more enjoyable).

After I finished the Boulder 70.3 in early August, I trained lightly for a couple of weeks, hoping to get my triathlon mojo back for the long haul of Sept./Oct./November. It didn't work.

I am cranky. I have never been so chronically cranky as I am now. I have turned into the biggest bitch known to mankind. I have watched it happen, yet I can't do anything about it because I am too tired and over this training. Here is an example:

-I was doing an open water swim a couple of weeks ago (2.4 miles, to make sure I could cover the distance) and as I was rounding one of the buoys, I ran into someone doing backstroke. "Who the hell is doing backstroke right now?" I thought, before I popped my head up to realize that it was a blind person. She had a companion swimming next to her, who was touching her arms as a means of directing her, which is why she had to be swimming backstroke. I felt like such a jerk.

Also, I get annoyed when people crowd my space, are walking too slow, in my way in general and drive below the speed limit. To be fair, these things always annoy me, but normally I have more composure to deal with them in a gracious manner. These days they set me off into a fit of rage. Also, I have no tolerance for people who tell pointless stories with extraneous details. I find myself wanting to say "main idea only please, I don't have time for this." I realize I have turned into the female version of Karl Rove, and I hate myself for it, yet I don't have the energy to do anything about it.

When I was at yoga the other day, my instructor started talking about how everyday we as humans find ourselves interacting with "challenging people." She told us that she refers to these encounters as AFGOs, or "another frickin' growth opportunity." While I liked the sentiment and want to be a bigger person by growing from my encounters with people whom I find challenging, I am not in a place where I can do that. I am so tired and unmotivated by all of this Ironman training, that it takes all of my energy to make it through another workout, which leaves no energy or patience to deal with anything else.

And then I realized, I am that challenging person for other people. I'm their AFGO.

I am trying to remind myself that I willingly signed up for this, that I do love this sport, that one day I'll be wishing for the freedom of a bike ride or long run. And I know that once I cross that finish line, it will have all been worth it. But in the meantime, if you are hovering over me in the lockeroom with your stuff sprawled everywhere, or if you are driving like a jackass in the left hand lane when you should clearly be in the right, please be prepared to receive the unbridled rage I am powerless against. Consider it an AFGO.

Last Day of Summer (and a brief race report)

2010-08-10T09:10:00.005-06:00

Today is my last official day of summer before I start back full time tomorrow. I slept in until 9 and ate a heaping bowl of cereal while slowly sipping coffee and blogging to celebrate. I can't believe how fast these 10 weeks of bliss have gone by, even though a teeny tiny part of me is ready to have some responsibility again (other than coaching and training 18 hours a week).

Another confession I have is that I've been thinking of shutting down the blog. I just can't keep up with it. The irony is of course that now is the time, in theory, when I need it most (for Ironman training feedback, nutrition suggestions, etc.). But every day I promise I'm going to be better about blogging, and every day goes by without a post, unless it's because I've forced myself to sit down and write a race report. Well, I didn't start this blog so it could only contain race reports. And I sure as heck would be bored as a reader only reading someone else's race reports. And since a whole summer has gone by and I haven't managed to stick to any promises, why would things change this fall?

Anyway, back to another race report. :(

On Sunday I completed the third and final race in the Boulder Triathlon Series, the inaugural Boulder 70.3. I have done this race only once before, when local triathletes Jodee and Barry Siff owned it (5430 Long Course tri) and it is a doozy. But this year WTC bought the event and the other two races in the series, so now they are all officially Ironman branded.

Before The swim, I saw my friend Barb, who had driven all the way up from Denver to cheer on all her peeps, and we chatted for a bit before the gun went off which has been a good luck charm in all the races so far, so I was so glad that she was there on Sunday! Sue was there too, taking pictures and offering support, so I was thankful to have two very good friends to help me difuse my nerves. Anyway, the swim went very well, except that my wave was the 9th wave to go off, so the start was a piece of cake but navigating the water the rest of the way was no picnic. It was like a Civil War battlefield with people everywhere, so I had to sight every 3 or so strokes so as not to plow over someone. Even though it was a zig zag fest, I clocked my fastest swim yet for a 70.3, exiting in 29:10 and 2nd in my AG out of the water. That felt pretty good.

The Bike is fast. It's a two loop course with a steady false flat for the first third of the loop, then it is a screaming downhill with a couple of rollers but otherwise mostly flat for the rest of the loop. I passed a lot of people and only got passed by a few dudes with fancy schmancy bikes and disc wheels and their names on their butts. I also passed the girl in my AG who beat me out of the swim so I thought there was a pretty good chance I was in the lead. Which was important, you see, because I was in contention for the series title for my AG (for every race in the series you do, you get points based on how you finish. Well, the two girls who beat me in the previous two races were a) different girls and b) hadn't raced another race in the series, so that means I was in the lead! ). Another woman who was in contention was only a couple of minutes behind me on the bike though (there's a turnaround point at one place in the loop where you can see everyone who is behind you and I saw her breathing down my neck both times-yowzers!). The whole bike went very well: I was keeping the pace I had wanted to in order to reach my triple A secret goal time of 4:50 (which had later been adjusted to 5 hours when I saw how hot it was going to be on the run), so I had a lot of good mojo the whole ride. In fact, it was over before I knew it, which I attribute to all the long bike training I've done this summer. I finished in 2:28 and was pretty excited about that split.

Off the bike is where the race started for me. Going into the race, I knew if anyone was going to catch me it would be on the run. My plan was to go hard enough on the bike to get a lead, but not too hard where I'd be blown out on the run. I had also stuck to my nutrition plan: one Nature Valley granola bar on the first loop of the bike and 20 Wheat Thins on the 2nd loop, all the while downing 2 1/2 bottles of Infinit and some water here and there. I felt great heading onto the run. Originally I had wanted to run a 1:45, but when temps were to soar into the 90s, I readjusted that goal to just staying alive. I also had another goal: stay happy and positive and don't fixate on how long I have yet to go. After The Peak I was very disappointed in myself for how negative I got on the run; I didn't want to go there this time. So I stayed focused and concentrated on reeling people in and running from aid station to aid station. I was clocking 7:45 minute miles on the first loop of the run and I felt like I was holding a pace that wasn't too hard, so I went with it. The first loop went by in a flash and I was sticking to my goal: I was enjoying it! Some kids from my tri club had come out to cheer me on so I was slapping their hands when I cruised by the transition area and headed out onto the second loop. It was so inspiring to see them (they all had worked their little buns off the day before in the Ironkids Boulder event). By this point my core was starting to get tired. So I tried to breathe deeply and run tall and swing my arms. I kept refueling well at each aid station: Gatorade, water, water over my head, sponge over my head, ice down my back. It was working because it would cool me off long enough to pick up the pace again after each station. There was a turnaround much like the one on the bike where, for a 1/4 mile stretch, you were faced with all the people who were hot on your tail. Well, Heidi, my closest competitor, was no where to be found. I was shocked. She is such a strong runner, she must have been having a bad run. I actually sent out a wave of empathy to her, because I know how that feels. Finally I had reached the 10 mile mark, but I was dragging. That's when a girl with "33" written on her calf cruised right on by me. I saw "Vanessa" written on her bib and knew it was this speedstar from New Mexico. Foreigners. I let her go, there was no way I could chase her. Plus, as long as I finished second, I knew it would guarantee me the series title. I had slowed to an 8:30ish pace because my legs just couldn't move any faster. My friend Sue had staked a spot out right near the 10.5 mile mark, so it was uplifting to see her and hear her words of encouragement (I just couln't muster much back). Then with 2 miles left to go, I started counting to try to just bring myself home. I had stopped looking at my watch on the 2nd loop because I didn't want to depress myself with splits and I was doing such a good job of staying positive. Finally I trotted up and over the last hill, past Steve and our friend Kevin and into the finisher's chute. I stopped after the finish line and looked at my watch and saw 4:48:02 and thought I would die and go to heaven. I had bettered my PR by 16 minutes and beaten my triple A top secret goal time by two minutes, even in the heat. And I had taken the series title. And won an automatic Clearwater slot (not even a roll down one). It was the perfect ending to an already fantastic season and I couldn't have been happier.

Final Stats:

1.2 mile swim- 29:10

T1- 2:51

56 mile Bike- 2:28:03 (22.7 mph)

T2- 1:16

13.1 mile run- 1:46:44 (8:09)

Thanks for reading and I'll try to keep up with the reading and the writing, but these promises have become so empty that I don't even believe myself anymore.

One last thing: I signed up for the Austin 70.3 race (with my friend Barb) on October 17th so I can have one more tune up race before IMAZ. I'm more excited to go to Austin to shop and party because I've never been there before, but I guess the race will be fun too.

Here is a picture of the tri club kiddos who did the Ironkids race the day before.

Centurion Colorado Century Ride Recap in Pictures

2010-07-27T07:45:00.011-06:00

Last weekend (July 18th) Steve, his man clan, my friends Barb and Sue and I rode the Centurion Colorado 100 mile bike race. It was a flawlessly executed event , and one that I will continue to do in the future. They also have events in Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada, so if you live in either place, I would highly recommend doing it. (Also, if you click on the link to the site, Barb and I made their photo slideshow, we're the third picture to appear in the top right corner!)

In a nutshell, we rode a 100 miles (my, Steve's, Barb's and Sue's first century ride) of flats and hills, climbing over 9,000 feet when all was said and done. The course took us through some of the most beautiful parts of Colorado and had plenty of heartily stocked aide stations with friendly volunteers to help with whatever was needed. It was by far one of the most outstanding events I have ever done.

Here's how it went, in pictures:

Pre race, milling around aimlessly

Checking out Steve's Subaru Baja (that's not a typo), aka "The 'Ja"

The owner of "The 'Ja,"

aka "the motorized mullet" (business in the front, party in the back)

KK, Barb and Sue (in front of The 'Ja)

Starting Line

Ready to go!

This is where I accosted the cameraman for said picture on website slideshow

Steve and Mike (man clan member)

First climb, chatting with Barb the whole way up

Steve- Top of First climb on the Peak to Peak Hwy

Barb and me-heading into first aide station

Sue and me, stuffing our faces

Back on the flats

Hardest part of the day-SuperJames at mile 70 (15% grade)

Almost there!

Sue's Garmin-100 miles!

Ice bath in the crick

Sue's gams in the crick

Well, there you have it. Thanks to Wendy, Kevin's wife (other man clan member) for scoping out various places on the course to snap some of these pictures-the rest were from Sue-she can climb and chat and snap pictures all at once.

Also, if you go back to the Centurion site, I made their on course promotional video (I think it's cuz I was standing next to The 'Ja-it exudes star-like quality). Scroll down to the first of two videos, under Centurion Colorado Videos and Photos (I am interviewed right at the beginning). The video also provides a pretty cool recap of the whole day.

Happy riding!

2010 Boulder Peak Race Report

2010-07-17T10:58:00.012-06:00

Sisters (plus a bun)

Well I have officially turned into the biggest blogging DB on the planet. Sorry, but thanks for bearing with.

Anyway, last Sunday I raced the second race in the Boulder tri series, the Boulder Peak. It is an Olympic distance comprising a really challenging climb on the bike portion (15% grade) and a run with only one measly tree the whole way, giving about 1.5 seconds of shady respite from the scorching sun throughout the entire 10k. This race is hard, but I love it.

Well coming off such a glorious victory in the Sprint, I had put a lot of pressure on myself to keep the streak alive with another solid race. This translated to me being a nervous wreck the entire two days leading up to the race, which was not fun for me or anyone else around me. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I prefer to set the bar low because it almost always guarantees a strong race without half the fuss. But, noooooo I had to go and set it as high as it could almost possibly go at the Sprint and the nervousness this caused had me wanting to commit myself rather than race.

The Swim: Another chestnut of a factor for this race is that it always has us swimming straight into the sun. This year they tried to mitigate the effects of the glare by reversing the start from the right side to the left, but it still was no picnic looking into that ball of fire the whole way out. I found my friend Barb again before the start (she finished 3rd in our AG with a smokin' fast race!) and chatted with her for a while before we were corraled into the water. Then I started off in the front, got out ahead of everyone right away, and then settled in to a steady state for the duration, remaining untouched the entire way. It was also awesome that my AG was the second wave to go off, an act of mercy from the powers that be, as every second one can start sooner is one degree cooler on that scorching run. Finally, I finished the swim and saw 23:xx on my watch and thought "wow, that was right on." (Typically in these races the swim has been either short or long and I thought this time it was exactly the right distance.)

T1: I knew I was one of the first out of the water for my AG so I hustled up the beach, across the parking lot and into transition as fast I could. Put on shoes, helmet and glasses, grabbed my bike and was off without any hassle from anything or anyone, namely me wetsuit.

The Bike: Mounted my bike without causing a scene like I did at the Sprint and was off. The first 7-8 miles are a steady uphill culminating in aforementioned 15% grade climb that lasts more that 1/2 a mile. Steve had agreed to dress up like the devil (think TdF) with his friend Mike to cheer people up this hard part. So I hammered away, excited to see them on the climb. Finally I got there and charged up as best I could, but it's a doozy trying to climb on a tri bike. I blew Steve a kiss and said "Love you!" (go ahead, throw up in your mouth, I would if I were you) and then Mike chased after me, pointing his pitchfork right at my front wheel saying "move it! move it!" I managed to sputter out "Hey, watch where you're putting your tip" in between gasps for air and this whole scene distracted me from my innards coming up into my throat until I finally reached the top. Phew. After the summit it's a huge downhill where you're not allowed to top 35 MPH or you get DQed, so I crawled down on account of not having a speedometer or anyone else around me to gauge my speed. Finally I passed the cop with the radar gun and knew I was in the clear to go full tilt ahead. I finished the bike portion going as hard as I could without laying it all on the line because if you do, said run will chew you up and spit you out.

T2: This might have been my fastest transition of all time. Flying dismount, traded helmet for visor, put on new Zoot tempo racing flats (Love these shoes) and sprinted out in :38.

The Run: I always haul out of transition because it's flanked on all sides with spectators cheering their heads off for you so you never want to disappoint (Amy and Melissa were there cheering too, and I could hear them above everyone else, thanks, ladies!). Well, I think I need to control my emotions a little better because I got so ramped up I was fully sprinting out of transition which only left me breathless and exhausted for the entire duration of the run, which as I mentioned before, is already no cherry sundae. Right about mile one I saw I had done a 7 minute mile which is about 15 seconds faster than I had wanted to pace myself. I knew I was in trouble. At this point I was 1st in my Ag (having passed two girls on the bike) but a girl who had beaten me last year in a race flew by me just after the 1 mile mark, making me look like I was just standing there. Thanks. Knowing I wasn't going to catch her, I let her go. Then I just kept telling myself to stay strong but I was really tired already. Without getting into too much detail, I will say that for the rest of the run I had dug myself into a very dark, negative hole. I had gone out too fast, couldn't recover and was struggling to just keep running. So with two miles left, I started counting, which has never failed me before, as I repeatedly counted up to 20-each number synched with a footstrike. Finally I was into the home stretch...I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was about to reel me in, and thankfully no one was. I crossed the finish line in 2:26:22, not having been caught by anyone else, which was good for a
2nd place finish in my AG. I almost collapsed into the chip-taker's arms as he asked several times "are you okay miss?" Amy had to vouch for me that I was and finally I regained enough composure to hug her as hard as I could while she said how happy she was for me. (Sidenote: This was the first race she had come to this season and it was so awesome having her there-it makes me miss racing with her so much, but happy for her in her new phase of her life.)

Afterthoughts: Although I was really happy with my finish time and place, I was really disappointed with how negative I got mentally. It's the number one thing I need to work on (and it only ever happens during the run). I really wanted to go sub 45:00 on the run, and I finished in 45:50, a substantial difference. But this doesn't warrant the bullying I did to myself-I did the best I could and finished better than I had hoped. And now I am very happy with my finish, but at the time I was way more cranky than I should have been, so I am really going to try and fix that for the future because it's a ridiculous and unnecessary attitude to have and makes me not like myself or the sport when there's no reason for either.

Here are my official stats:
1500m swim: 24:24
T1: 1:14
40k bike: 1:14:19 (21.0mph)
T2: 00:38
10k run: 45:50 (7:24/mile)
Total: 2:26:22
2nd/128 AG
14th/550 females

Yesterday my husband, his man clan, Barb and my other good friend Sue all did the Centurion Colorado century bike race. Race report (short, I promise) and pictures to follow. A quick hint: It was a heap of fun with no pressure; makes me think I could really get into bike rides/races.

Pictures from the race (thanks to Amy for taking them and for being the best cheerleader evah!)

Me and the devil

AG awards-that's Barb and me!

KK, Kristina, Sue and Temple

About to lose my lunch at the finish

Barb and me-so happy to be done and to have podiumed!

Sue and me-she finished 3rd overall female!

5430 Sprint Triathlon Race Report

2010-06-24T14:46:00.003-06:00

This race was the best race I've ever had in my life. Here's how it went:

The race took place at the Boulder Reservoir, which is a short distance from my house, so I rode my bike there to get my legs warmed up. I was using a new aero helmet and didn't realize that my backpack jammed into it, forcing it over my eyes while riding, so right away I had to stop and take it off and ride the rest of the way with no helmet. Which is particularly douchey when you have to ride about a mile into the Rez with all the race participants in their cars silently judging. Or not so silently, as one dude who passed me on the bike told me they'd be checking for helmets on the way in, "just FYI," he says. Yeah, thanks. Thankfully I made it in hassle free, but I have to figure that out for next time.

After I got into transition to set myself up, I decided to go for a mini jog with a couple of strides (and by a couple of strides, I mean one. I hate strides), to get the juices flowing. While I was jogging, I could tell I was going to have a good race. The week leading up was a recovery week, so my legs felt pretty fresh (thank goodness I skipped that 90 mile bike ride Monday!).

Swim: Ironman now owns the event, so the swim started a bit differently. They had us all line up in corrals and then funneled us over a mat before entering the water for a water start. While I was lined up in my corral, I chatted with my friend Barb and that helped to ease my nerves a bit (sidenote, she did awesome, finishing 3rd in our AG!). Finally it was our turn to get in the water so we moved all the way up to the front. It was weird, for the first time everyone in my AG was sitting back. The whole front row was practically wide open. So I got up there wanting to get out ahead anyway. Thanks, ladies. Finally the gun went off and I high tailed it outta there. I managed to avoid the usual swim slaughterfest, so that was good. I started off so fast though, my heart was in my throat. So as soon as I could see that I was alone, I dialed it back a bit and found a good rhythm. Then, all of a sudden I swam right over the top of a man from the wave before me who appeared to be doing Savasana in the water. No joke. WTF? I didn't know I was swimming on top of him until his head knocked my right goggle off my eye, filling it with water. Well, this being a sprint I wasn't about to stop and fix it, so I swam the rest of the way in with one eye open. I kept thinking "arrrrr" the whole way.

T1: Exiting the water I knew there were only a couple of women ahead of me and there were huge crowds flanking the chute up to T1. I heard a couple people cheer for me and one person yelled, "Lookin good, Katie!" That's always nice to hear. I looked at my watch and saw 10:21 which I knew meant a short swim. Nevertheless, it's always good to ride the wave of a fast swim into the rest of the race. In T1 I put my helmet, glasses and shoes on before running out and trying to mount my bike. Well, while mounting, my legs were so shaky that I missed my pedal and almost toppled over. Slick, I know. Thankfully I recovered and was off on my mission. I knew that if I was to do well in this race, I'd have to hammer the bike.

Bike: I immediately started passing a lot of dudes. My legs felt awesome and I felt in the zone. I kept passing people one by one wondering how far ahead of me the other women in my AG were. We were the first women's AG to go off, so I knew there were only a couple of females to catch and I made it my business to try to hunt them down. The course goes right behind my house and Steve found the USAT cowbell from Nationals so he went out to the road to cheer us all on. I waved to him as I was passing a mass of 4 dudes and yelled "Hi babe!" before continuing on. I think he wasn't expecting to see me so early because he looked like he didn't recognize me. Anyway, right after that was when I caught a girl from my AG and passed her. Then shortly after one guy passed me saying "There's two back" but he didn't say how far. Picturing them hunting me down like the scene from 9 to 5 when the women hunt down Dabney Coleman with torches in the office, I pedaled even faster, determined not to let them catch me. I continued to pass throngs of dudes and didn't get passed by more than 5.

T2: Finally I made it into T2 with a beautiful flying dismount (if I do say so myself)that propelled me right into transition. Except I was running so fast trying to find my spot, I over ran it by one rack so I had to backtrack and go under the bar before racking my bike, but not before it almost fell over from doing so with too much momentum. Awesome. I quick put on my racing flats and grabbed my visor and number and exited T2 as fast as I could.

Run: As I exited I heard more people shout my name and also say "2nd female! Go catch her!" and "You're about a minute back!" So now I knew the race was on the line. I knew the girl ahead of me was Teri Cady, as she is a local tri celebrity who is virtually impossible to beat so I didn't focus on catching her so much as holding everyone else back. Now, I know I'm not a slow runner by any means, but the running leg is always where I end up screwing the pooch. I knew if I wanted to podium in my AG then I would have to stay strong and run as fast as I could no matter how much chunder was making its way up my throat. I really wanted to podium in my AG for this race because the Boulder races are always so competitive and I knew it would give me a lot of momentum going into the rest of the season. But I also knew there were some fast runners behind me so I had to keep on motoring along. I kept my head straight and tried to maintain a fast turnover, applying all these strategies my amazingly talented triathlete friend had told me about. I passed the first mile and saw 6:45 on my watch and thought, "Darn, that's pretty good." But then I also wondered if I could maintain it for the duration. I finally got to the turnaround, dreading what I would see on my back, as it's an out and back course so as soon as I hit the way back I'd be running face to face with the warriors hunting me down. Well there were no warriors. For a while. I was shocked. I finally saw the next two about a minute or so back and realized that if I held my pace, there was no way they could catch me. Except one girl looked like she was running so fast that she could defy math and catch me. So that's when I just put my head down, started counting my strides and tried to maintain my pace until the finish. My second mile had slowed to a 7:17ish pace so I knew I had to pick it up. Finally I was cresting the final hill and leaning forward into the downhill and right into the finish, finishing in 1:18:56 which was a 6 minute PR from the last time I did this race. I was astounded. And exhausted.

Post Race: After I cooled down and chatted with some people I made my way over to the results. I wanted to see in writing that I had podiumed. I found my name and saw 2/120 for division and then saw 3/555 for sex. Now I think that effort had jostled something loose in my brain, because it took me a second to figure out what that really meant. At first I thought I had dropped down to third in my age group (I actually considered the prospect of having been slapped with a time penalty on the bike). But then I looked back and saw "2/120 DIV" and then realized, no I did get second in my AG. Then I saw the word "sex" again in front of the 3/555 and realized I had finished 3rd overall for all females. I almost passed out. I had to stare at it for a good 10 seconds before I believed it. Then I thought, "well, the race isn't over, we were the first female wave to go off, there are still women finishing who could put down a faster time." So I went and called Steve and told him to come up so he could take pictures of my 2nd place AG podium finish and then talked to Amy and told her how well I did. Then I went to the beer tent to have a celebratory beer before I finally went back to check the results one last time. Sure enough, when the race was well over, it still read "Sex 3/555." I could have died right there and gone to heaven.

Here are the official stats:

750m swim: 11:17
T1: 1:13
18 mile bike: 43:48 (23.6 mph avg)
T2: 00:51
3.1 mile run: 21:50 (7:03 avg)

As the award ceremony began, the former race director started saying that the overall male and female winners should start making their way up to the stage to claim their awards. Steve started nudging me saying, "go up there" but I couldn't, I had to hear him actually call my name before I could believe it was true. Then, standing next to two women I never thought I'd be standing next to (unless we were standing in line trying to buy merchandise from the Ironman tent, one of them was the first amateur female finisher at Kona last year or the year before), I smiled from ear to ear soaking it all in. It was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Here are some pictures of the award ceremony:

On Monday there was no time to rest on my laurels so I hit the pavement again for another hefty training week. Tomorrow I leave for MI for 9 days for Amy's baby shower and a little vacay and I'm not bringing my bike. Am I worried about that? Yes. I'm hoping the hay is in the barn for the bike and I can always ride a stationary at a local gym if I need to. I will be able to run and swim so I'm hoping to get in some quality speed workouts. Since I won't be back on the 4th, I'll wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!!!

Learning from Past Mistakes

2010-06-14T14:02:00.003-06:00

Is anyone else getting sick of me being on summer vacation yet? (Don't answer that, Amy.) This is my third post in about week, which is quite a departure from the once-every-five-weeks-posting-frequency I used to produce. Heck, I'm even starting to annoy myself.

Anyway, the reason for this post is important. It's to evidence, in writing, that I have officially learned from my mistakes of yore.

Interestingly enough, I boasted in my last post about staving off sickness with a day's rest, magical potions and yadda yadda yadda. Well, after the two girthy efforts I had midweek last week, Saturday I started to feel run down and sore throaty again. At some point in the weekend we were supposed to do a 90 mile ride with climbing, but Saturday we awoke to some atrociously cold and rainy weather, so we put it off until Sunday. I wasn't feeling 100 percent under the weather, so I headed off to my swanky gym to make up the missed 1500 m swim from Thursday in a cushy, 82 degree, saline pool. I also went to a yoga class in hopes that some of its hocus pocus zenny effects would rub off on my immune system. Then we carbo loaded Saturday night and took it easy in preparation for the big ride Sunday.

Well, Sunday arrived the same way Saturday did so we made the executive decision to bag the ride altogether. Everyone else involved could postpone it to a future weekend and since I have the whole summer off, I could make it up any day of the week (I planned for today). Well, as Sunday pushed on, I felt worse and worse. Yawning washed over me like a series of really close contractions and it was only 2pm. We were at a 4 year old's birthday party and I had holed myself in a corner watching the World Cup while simultaneously flashing Steve some "can we leave now?" puppy dog eyes in hopes for a return home with a midday nap. He cooperated.

So I napped, took it easy all night, went to bed early and today I woke up at 10:15 am. Despite feeling better, I am taking today off too and skipping the 90 miler altogether. This is a recovery week for me (with a race on Sunday) and I don't want to start it off with the 90 miler feeling only 75%. I can fit it in next week on a Thursday, before I leave for Michigan, in a non recovery week. For now, I'm going to relish these two consecutive rest days.

If there's one thing I've learned from last year, it's the importance of rest and recovery. My "A" race is still far enough away that I can afford to rest now. Obviously my body is telling me that's what it needs and I'm finally listening.

Training Update and a 5k Race Report

2010-06-11T16:10:00.006-06:00

As of my last post I was coming down with a sore throat after having dodged being sick virtually this entire year (which, if you read my blog last year, you know what a large miracle from God that is). No way was I going down like a chump the first week of summer vacation, so Sarurday I took a rest day, downed massive amounts of my new favorite magical healing potion, cancelled all extracurricular activities besides workouts and essential appointments (like getting bleach trays for my gross teeth) and voila, I was healed! I even managed to get in my 86 mile ride Sunday which made me feel tons better because trying to make up the long stuff never happens.

Some may say, "KK, why the long ride when IMAZ isn't until November?" Well, fair reader, Steve and I have signed up for a century ride (with over 6,000 feet of climbing) in late July, so we need to make sure we're prepared for the slaughterfest. And next weekend I race a sprint tri, the following two weekends I'll be in Michigan for Amy's baby shower /annual summer trip home (with no bike access) and the following weekend after that I race an Oly and the weekend after that is the century ride. So you see, I really have no choice but to hop to it, skipper. But I have gradually built my milegae all winter/spring, so things are happening just as they need to be.

Here is a link to the site and course profile.

I have never done a century ride before, or even an organized bike race for that matter, so I am pretty excited.

In other training news, last night I attempted to do my first Stroke and Stride of the season. Amy and I used to "enjoy" these races two summers ago, and they consist of a 1500 meter open water swim followed by a 5k run. Well Amy's not racing this year for obvious reasons so I was forced to face it solo. I was totally depressed not having her there. Then, as if my sister sorrow wasn't enough, right as I had lubed myself up with Body Glide and gotten halfway into my wetsuit, thunder and lightning began to strike and continued for the next 45 minutes.

**sidenote, does anyone else hate the word "lube?"**

So they canceled the swim but still offerred the 5k as soon as the storm rolled past. I needed to run the 5k because I had scheduled my long run yesterday in two parts-7 miles in the morning with the additional 3 of the race and I would have been damned to settle for just 7.

So, having run 7 in the morning AND having done a 42/6 mile bike/run brick Tuesday, I would have been happy with anything under 30 minutes. The gun went off, I put my game face on and started hauling. Reaching the first mile marker I saw 6:12 on my watch. "That was short," I thought. But I really wanted to believe it wasn't. Second mile and I saw 12:37 and thought "no way am I still running this fast." But was secretly happy if I was. The whole last mile I had a back cramp and thought I would lose my lunch at any moment. My eyes were even starting to go all googly in my head because of my effort. Finally I finished in 20:30 which is a whole minute faster than my previous 5k time. That's when I knew the course had to be short. I immediately accosted someone with a Garmin so I could verify and sure enough, it was only 3.01 miles. So I quick did the math in my head and thought "if I had kept running at the same speed for a tenth of a mile longer which is equal to two trains travelling at the same speed while an apple falls from a tree, carry the one, move the decimal to the right one place and record the remainder" then by my calculations I would have finished in about 21:10 for a real 5k, which is still a PR by 20 seconds so I was muy happy.

I came home and had pizza and wine with Steve to celebrate while we sat on our front porch and observed the happenings of various neighbors. I love summertime.

2010 Bolder Boulder 10k Race Report

2010-06-05T18:35:00.003-06:00

This report is a week late but you have come to expect mediocrity from this blog so this tardiness should come as no surprise.

Every year I try to run the Bolder Boulder 10k race, as it is a hometown favorite with awesome crowd support and a challenging, scenic course. Some years I get sick and can't run (ahem, last year), other years I go out too fast like an idiot only to suffer the last 4 miles. And some years I set a PR, which fuels my motivation to keep up the speedwork and spend the rest of the Memorial Holiday drinking and eating heavily. Guess which scenario played out this year?

That's right, folks, C. I dropped 2 minutes off my previous course record. Here's how it went:

I wasn't sure what to expect; I have a lot of miles in these legs. But all late winter and spring I have been following, to some degree, the "Run less, run faster" training program and I guess it's paid off. The program calls for just three runs a week, but each of those runs is a speed session of sorts. I find that doing 3 sessions/week while training for an IM is way too much stress on the body, so I've only been doing 2 a week (a track workout and a tempo sandwiched into a brick run or long run). Some may say that even that is too much but running is my biggest limiter in triathlon so I've really been working hard to improve.

Anyhoots, the morning of the race I just wanted to see what I could do and where my fitness was. I had an idea of what I could hold if the cosmos aligned, so I set off trying to maintain that pace. Mile 1 was 6:48 or something and then mile 2 went up to the low 7s, miles 3 and 4 were uphill and around 7:20s and then when the course flattened out for miles 5 and 6, I got my splits back down to low 7s. I felt pretty good for the majority of the race and my legs didn't give me trouble like I had anticipated. I went iPodless because I was supposed to meet up and run with a friend beforehand but that didn't pan out. I was glad I didn't wear anything though because the sounds of this race are pretty unique: mass fans cheering (it's only a 10k but it feels like a marathon), local bands playing covers and original tunes and even two gaggles of belly dancers (which I could have done without, but whatever). The last .2 of the race funnels you up a driveway and into the CU Buffaloes football stadium (Go Buffs!) and you end up running around the field. The whole gig makes you feel pretty important so you can see why 50,000+ runners migrate to this race each year.

I finished in 44:33 which is a new 10k PR for me and course PR by two minutes. I was so happy I went home and took a nap and then Steve and I drank and ate copious amounts of beer and food at a friend's house for the rest of my Memorial Day. It was a glorious occasion.

I have been on summer vacation for one week and I feel busier and more stressed out than I did when I was working. I've been trying to cram in errands and social events and it's caused me to run around like a madwoman. In fact, this morning I woke up with a sore throat and I haven't been sick since last October. My body is trying to tell me something: Lay off the extracurricular activities and slow it down for a bit. I took today off but have to get a long ride in tomorrow. If I'm not feeling better by Monday then I'll take Monday off to ensure more rest. Then I plan on toning life down a bit so I can get back to the improtant things like watching Regis and Kelly and blogging.

Good luck to those who race tomorrow and congrats to those who raced today. Summer is here!

Barkin' Dog Duathlon Race Report

2010-05-12T20:52:00.004-06:00

Yes, folks, you read that correctly: Barkin' Dog. And if you think that's bad, I dare you to click on their site. As if the name isn't bad enough, they actually have an audio of a dog barking.

Well the race is better than its name. Last year I did this race and came down with strep throat immediately after and thought I had mono for a month following that. I love it when I set the bar low. Actually, last year's splits were really fast for me so this year I was eager to see how I would measure up given that I am putting in the training that I had wanted to last year.

Well, they changed the course this year and made it longer, so I had to abandon any hopes of a direct comparison. So I went into Saturday's race feeling at ease telling myself to just do the best I could, be present and enjoy the race.

First off, it was cold. I mean like high 30s cold. I was so thankful I didn't have to swim in that crud. But then there's always the debate of what to wear: whatever you will need for the bike will undoubtedly leave you sweating your tail off on the run. I opted for capris with tri shorts under (did not do wonders for my inner thighs), a long sleeve Nike dri fit shirt and a windbreaker with gloves.

I started off on the first 5k (which was actually just shy of 3 miles) fully dressed in this and by the end I was desperately needing to shed the coat no matter how sorry I'd be about that decision on the bike. Well besides sweating my heiny off, the first run went really well. Had it been a full 5k, I would have set a new PR. My age group was the fifth wave and as soon as the gun went off I tried to chase the lead pack. One girl (girl who who beat me last year) was too fast. No way I was catching her. Two other girls (that I could tell) finished before me. I finished in 20:35 and felt like I had a solid run.

T1 was terrible. Hands were frozen and I couldn't get my bike shoes on. Plus it was amateur hour with people milling around everywhere. I almost ran into one dude on accident before yelling "on your left" and porting my bike up over a curb and out onto the course. Phew, that was close.

The bike was a little longer than last year and the roads skirted through Cherry Creek State Park. Last year we went up and saw some miles on a flat dam road which was nice for getting some speed up. No soup for us this year. It was all rolling hills and the roads were crap-bumps and holes everywhere. This made me a little skittish, as not a week earlier the elbow rest on my brand new tri bike cracked in half while doing 26 mph on an open road. I did not want that to happen again so I was extra cautious going over the bumps. Also, my legs felt heavy and lacticy right out of the gates. I did not feel speedy like I did last year. Couple this with gusty winds and well, you have a much slower split. Last year I finished in 47:xx and this year I came in just under an hour. WTF? Was this year's bike course longer? I told myself to forget about it and to stay focused and do the best I can for the rest of the race.

T2 I experienced a quad cramp. This is very weird because usually I am not prone to cramping. I wondered if it was from the cold or because I was standing weird in transition. Whatever the cause, it hurt and I hobbled out of T2 after barely being able to manipulate my frozen fingers with my quick tie laces.

Off on the 2nd run I just wanted to hold on tight. My quad was hurting but I kept telling myself less than 5k to go. The course was uphill at first until a turnaround and then pretty much downhill on the way back. I knew if I could haul a$$ to the turnaround that I would be able to coast a bit on the downhill heading back. By this time I couldn't tell who else was in front of me besides the girl who beat me last year and she was far enough ahead that I wasn't catching her. So I concentrated on not letting anyone pass me. No one did on the bike so I wanted to keep that streak. I finished the 2nd 3 miles in 21:24, quite a bit off of my first split but oh well.

I finished 3rd in my AG and 6th overall.

At first I was a bit disappointed with my seemingly slower times than last year. (It's hard not to when you're looking at the cold hard numbers). But once the results were posted I did some analyzing and realized that my runs were faster and the bike course and conditions were harder than last year so I can't compare. I did the best I could and I am happy with how I performed and feeling confident for the rest of the season.

Summer is almost here. We have 11 days left. 11 friggin days, people. I hope that will free up some time for me to blog and read blogs again because this is atrocious.

Here are my official stats and a couple of pictures:

3 mile run: 20:35 (6:52 miles)
T1: 00:50
34K bike (Garmin measured 20.5ish miles) 59:25 (20.8 mph)
T2: 00:47
3 mile run: 21:24 (7:08 miles)
1:42:59

Happy training all!

Savasana

2010-04-21T20:57:00.005-06:00

Ummm, what day is it? Did I black out? I have no idea where the past five weeks have gone. I just know that since I've started official Ironman training, free time has waved bye-bye to KK. And I'm only one month into it.

Anyway, even though my days are jam packed with workouts, work, coaching and keeping up with daily doings, I am happy. Last week I logged 13 1/2 hours of training and the week before was 11 1/2. This includes 2 swimming workouts, 3 cycling workouts, 4 running workouts and 2 yoga workouts. Sometimes I do bricks, sometimes I go long, sometimes I go short and sometimes I go fast. It's sort of a hocus-pocus approach to training but I think it's working because 1) I feel stronger and fitter after just one month and b) I'm getting them all in because I'm staying healthy, which is a heck of a lot more than I could say last year at this time. I feel great.

I think one thing that is helping me tremendously is the yoga (okay one thing besides the lack of 29 germ-infested kindergarteners in a classroom overflowing with asbestos and a moldy apartment). I used to be the biggest yoga naysayer on the planet, until I actually started doing it. The combination of stretching and strengthening is helping to keep my injuries at bay while building strength. This was proven yesterday at tri club practice when the coaches bet the kids they couldn't complete a set of suicides without walking. The deal was if no one walked, the coaches would do push-ups. Guess who didn't walk? This ended up in 80 push-ups for the big people while the little people hovered over us chanting things like "nose to the ground!" and "lower!" and "you call that a push up?!" At one point a kid suggested we finish a set doing one-arm push-ups with a kid on our backs. Ahhhhh, children. Gotta love 'em. Point being, in my non-yoga days I think I would have topped out at 40. And by 40, I mean 15.

The last thing I want to mention about yoga is my love for the final pose: savasana. For those of you who are not familiar, it's the "corpse like" pose you do at the very end of the class for a couple of minutes where you just lay there on your back and free your mind from everything. It's totally silent (unless some turd is jingling his gym locker key) and you can completely relax. I imagine that the person who invented savasana is the same person who invented the siesta. I want to marry that person (don't tell Steve). I mean, if I could stay in savasana all day, I would. Because when every millisecond of the rest of the day is packed with some sort of activity, it's nice to be completely inactive during this temporal bliss.

I'm going to try to be better at blogging. But I was going to try to be better at it a month ago and look where it got me. I don't know what to expect for the rest of this journey, so I am making little promises. One promise I am making though is to be present in whatever I do. From a month ago to November 21st, I want to enjoy it, savor it, endure it, learn from it, conquer it. For me, that's what this race is about.

Inaugural Boulder Spring Half Marathon Race Report

2010-03-14T19:19:00.005-06:00

Thank you all for the supportive, encouraging comments on my last post. I am happy to report that things are going pretty well for the two new students; they are learning English and making friends. They were even invited to a classmate's birthday party this weekend: a big 4th grade blowout bash at the local skating rink. Welcome to America!

Okay, back to sports-related topics. Today I raced the inaugural Boulder Spring Half Marathon and it went very well. I wasn't sure what to expect as my only other race benchmark for the season was two weeks ago at a 10 miler and 13.1 miles can sometimes seem almost double that. It was also quite frigid and windy this morning
(35 degrees). And this on the heels of a 60 degree, cloudless day yesterday when I couldn't refuse a 36 mile bike ride offer from Steve while I was supposed to be resting. Whatever. It's been so miserable and gray here all winter I had to get out. Bad things happen to KK when she's trapped inside all winter. Anyway add all that up and I started today just hoping for a solid, steady effort.

The course is a relatively hilly out and back, similar to the half I did this past fall. In fact, it shares most of the same roads. Overall I think this course is harder though because the start and finish areas cover a stretch of tough, undulating and grassy terrain with many turns and no good footing. You don't want to charge into the home stretch of this race on tired and wobbly legs because one false move and you've got yourself a sprained ankle. But thanks to my digger in the 10 miler two weeks ago, I was extra cautious today.

So the out leg of the course is mostly uphill-a steady ascension with a few minor downhills all the way until you turn around. The roads head north and west. Well, there was a NNE headwind this morning so that combined with hills had me wanting to put it on cruise control for the whole first half. For once I did. I wanted to average around 8 min. miles and I think I came in just under that.

Then I hit the turnaround and with the wind now mostly at my back and a gradual descent ahead of me, I knew I could start firing away. I started averaging anywhere from 7 min miles to 7:30 miles and felt pretty good doing so. Mile 10 saw the wind again and then for the last two miles it was all I could do to just keep one foot in front of the other at a reasonable rate, but I was really starting to get fatigued. My legs were tiring faster than my lungs but I'm not gonna lie, my lungs weren't far behind.

Finally I hit the final homestretch into aforementioned treachery lane and I thought I might topple over into the fence or twist my ankle or barf or endure any combination of the three. I finally crossed the finish line in 1:40:58, a new PR at altitude by 2:27 and a new course record by 3:00. I just missed an all time PR by a mere :13, but that PR was earned on a flat course in FL at sea level, so I've been walking around all day like it was a PR anyway. And by "walking around" I mean laying on the couch trolling FB because my stomach's been majorly jacked ever since I crossed the finish line (which further proves that it was a PR effort).

My Garmin measured the course at 13.22 miles and I came upon each mile marker after my watch had dinged, so I am wondering if the course was long or if I just did too much weaving because I was fartin around not paying attention. I'll never know!

I am now going to finish this week of training before taking a week off, where I'll be in Florida visiting my family over spring break. Then, it's on to official Ironman training. Yikes.

Maria at the Door

2010-03-07T17:33:00.007-07:00

There is not one thing on this Earth I have to complain about. Or at least, should complain about. I have a supportive family, a kick ass husband, wonderful friends, a rewarding job and the physical ability to enjoy doing the things I love. And I get to enjoy all this in a place that is beautiful and safe.

I was reminded of my fortune this past week at school.

Two new students arrived. They are refugees from Palestine. They speak very little English. They left everything familiar to them to move to an astonishingly foreign place; one that hopefully would provide a safer environment, rich with opportunity.

They showed up at school on Tuesday to enroll so they could be ready to start on Wednesday. They had just arrived in the U.S.

I met them in a span of one minute as they were taking a tour (I was rushing to meet two students for whom I was to proctor our state exam). They were accompanied by their very pregnant mother, toddler brother and 7th grade sister. They all boasted smiles as wide and beaming as the sun, although I was immediately told "they don't speak a word of English. They speak Arabic." I shook their hands, flashed the biggest, most welcoming smile I could muster and was on my way to sit in a confined space with two current students to contemplate the magnitude of the situation.

While my current group diligently filled in an endless sea of bubbles, I began to wonder many things.

What was their life like there? Were bombs, guns and smoke a part of their daily surroundings? To what degree? Is their family still there? How did they get here? Did they leave everything behind? Is Palestine a country? Is it even where I think it is on the map? Are they scared?

Then I transitioned to more practical questions: Where do I start with my teaching? Arabic is not an alphabetic language, do they know the English alphabet? Do they know any words in English? How are they going to understand me? Are there certain gestures that are culturally offensive? Have I already made any of those gestures?! How will they make friends? How will they get their lunch in the cafeteria? How will they ask to go to the bathroom?!

F*ck. This is going to be hard.

During the rest of the exam, I mentally jotted down some ways to teach them basic survival skills and help them to acculturate. The rest of the day was a whirling haze as I tried to gather as many resources as I could.

Wednesday came and right away I was called to the office to meet them. Dad was there to drop them off, only it was just Dad and the 3rd grader (the 4th grader was to come later due to said test that he obviously didn't have the language skills to take). Dad speaks a little English and has been here since December ironing out logistics such as establishing a place to live and securing a Colorado Driver's License. He works in IT at a local company and has one of those Visas for people who have a necessary skill. I marveled at his resourcefulness; I doubt I would have the same gumption to put all these things in place in his country.

Later the 4th grader came with the family liaison (she is an unrelated woman who has helped them to adjust and put things into place. Her name is Maria.) I asked her a few key questions that had eluded me the other times I had the opportunity to ask them: lunch money, who's picking them up, more questions about their situation and prior schooling and if they have any books from home they could bring to break up the 6 1/2 hour Charlie-Brown's-teacher-sounding day.

After lunch it was time to meet with my fourth grade group. I met my usual Spanish speaking student along with the new boy. I had no idea what to expect, so I planned very loosely. First I was going to try a name game, then sight word BINGO with picture cues. The new boy was having none of this. He was not defiant; he was just demonstrating major anxiety. My heart went out to him. We would attempt the game while he would ask me all these questions in Arabic. I just kept shrugging my shoulders saying, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're saying." I felt so inadequate. My Spanish speaking student, sensing my desperation, then tapped him on the shoulder and said kindly, "Dude, let me try. What are you trying to say?" That melted my heart and made me laugh all at once. Finally, on like his 6th repetition of a version of the same question, he said the word "Maria." Okay, Maria. Now we're getting somewhere. "Maria what?" I thought. Then, I picked up the word for door that she had taught me that morning: al beb. "Maria al beb?" he asked again with wide eyes? "YES!" I enthusiastically clapped. "Yes, Maria al beb! Maria al beb! I'll take you to meet Maria at the door!" His anxiety seemed to marginally subside as he continued with backpack gestures and motions toward the door. I think he wanted to leave right then. I didn't blame him. "No," I said, "at 2:30" (fully aware he didn't comprehend. It's comical the things we find ourselves doing in these sorts of situations. I must have looked like a clown to him.). I got out a scrap piece of paper and drew a clock while I wondered if numbers and clocks are the same in Arabic. What the heck, worth a shot. I drew 2:30 on the clock. "Maria al beb at
2:30." He nodded and managed a sliver of a smile as we all sat back and sighed with relief.

I can only imagine what these kids have gone through, what they are currently going through and what they'll continue to endure. Neither one of them took off his coat the whole day and the 4th grader didn't eat lunch all week. He wouldn't even go out to recess. By Thursday the anxiety had subsided a bit and they both participated in some beginner-type games and activities with the rest of my groups. The other kids were so empathetic and noble; showing them this and that and explaining to them things that were impossible to understand. But it didn't matter because it was the symbolism behind the gesture that underscored how remarkably unifying the whole experience had become.

I am very grateful that they are now in a safe place with many opportunities before them. I feel fortunate to be a part of their new, challenging world.

And when I start to complain about Steve not emptying the dishwasher, oblivious drivers, laundry, lack of motivation for workouts or too much froth in my latte, I will punch myself in the quad and remind myself of how easy I have it. And how good the world can be.

Race Report!

2010-02-28T09:55:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I ran my first "official" race of the season. It's actually the second race I've done, as the first one I ran with a friend and we chatted the whole time. I only consider it a race if I'm on the verge of puking or in excruciating pain at some point. Yesterday was both.

It was a 10 miler, the third and final race in a series that began with a 5 miler in December, a 10 miler in January and ended with this 10 miler.

My training thus far has consisted of building mileage, trying to establish some baseline fitness before IM training ramps up in April. Well, after 4 weeks of doing that I was starting to crave some of my speed back. I lost a lot of fitness this fall after the marathon. So in early February I slowly added a little speed here and there and was eager to see how my fitness was evolving.

I woke up with a slight sore throat, but nothing a little nap after the race wouldn't cure. I downed a bowl of cereal, glass of OJ and three immune booster vitamins. Then I enjoyed a cup of coffee during the hour ride down to south Denver.

I got to the race with little time to spare. I had to scramble to pick up my race number and make a potty stop. I finished up with about 3 minutes to spare. I made my way over to the starting line, found Dimity and Katherine, chatted for a bit and then the gun went off.

***Sidenote: For all you running mothers out there, check out Dimity's new site, a forum for like-minded women to share their thoughts and experiences on running and motherhood. Her book is coming out shortly, too!

My strategy was to go off conservatively and then speed up a bit and see what I could hold for the rest of the race. Being that I had only added short speed workouts once a week, I was unsure as to what pace I could keep for 10 miles.

The first two miles were flat and windless, so I clocked 7:25 miles. I wondered what kind of trouble I was brewing for myself for later in the race. The next couple of miles went uphill, but they were still windless and iceless. I maintained 7:35s to 7:45s. Then the race snaked around for a while and I was running in a fog of slight nausea, as the coffee and gerbil food-like vitamins attempted to make their way back up my throat. When we finally were on the way back, the wind had picked up something fierce. Funny, I didn't notice a tailwind on the way out, so where the heck is this headwind coming from?! Miles 5-8 were brutally exposed to this wind as we trudged around a footpath that was winding and icy. I was down to 7:45s-7:55s but I didn't care because I was giving it my best. At one point I caught up to this woman and followed closely behind her for a bit before I was to make my move to pass her. Well, we were in a spot of hills, wind and ice so every time I would go to make my move, she would speed up a bit and I'd have to drop back. This whole cat and mouse game resulted in me chasing her for longer than I had meant to, which also meant I was breathing down her neck. I felt horrible. I kept thinking how annoyed I would be at me if I were her, but I couldn't get around her. Sorry, lady. Finally, the terrain leveled out and I slingshotted myself past her with all my might. I was so happy not to be annoying her anymore.

Finally I hit the last two miles, excited to throw down the hammer with what little gas I had left. But, we were back to flat paths again and there were huge patches of black ice. At about mile 8.5 I came upon a massive frozen puddle in the middle of the path with nowhere to go around it except a narrow strip of muddy grass to the left. I merged over to get some traction in the grass, but hit some of the black ice before I could get all the way over and immediately ate shit right there in the middle of the path. I let out a beastly obscenity before collecting myself and heading to the finish. The whole way back I kept eyeing the open road that parallelled this path of icy treachery and wondered why the heck officials didn't reroute us on the clear road. Oh well. It was hard for me to get my momentum back but I finally did. I managed to avoid the rest of the icy pitfalls before I crossed the finish line in 1:16:08. I was VERY happy with my results, especially given the conditions.

My pacing was right where I had hoped it to be (7:37s), so I am looking forward to continuing with the light speedwork. But not before I take today off to ensure recovery, stave off sickness and watch darn good hockey!

I also felt a lot lighter than I have in the first two races. I am starting to lose some of that off season weight and it has done wonders for my fitness and wardrobe.

I have a half marathon in a couple of weeks that I am anxious for. I'm also excited that it's almost March-one month closer to spring, one season closer to summer.

What's Happening

2010-02-24T19:45:00.003-07:00

It's been like 14 months since I last posted. I can't seem to find the time now that The Olympics are on. I am glued to the TV every night, except when I go to bed at 8 pm because I have a 5 am workout the next day, which has been more often than I care to admit. But regardless, I can't keep up with blogging so I am blaming it on The Olympics.

I don't have any major news to report, other than a few things that I'll just list because it's a commercial break and I'm trying to save time:

1) Workouts are going well. I am really enjoying training. I'm hovering between 6-8 hrs per week of training and it is perfect. I wonder if I can carry this amount right through peak IM training phase? Wishful thinking.

2) I am regaining some confidence in my running. After the marathon it had slowed tremendously as a result of my extended time off (which is to be expected). But there was a good while when I felt slower than I was when I used to jog with an extra freshman 25 and it was starting to bring me down. But yesterday I did a 2 mile tempo sandwiched in a five miler and maintained a 7:15 pace for those two miles. I need to be able to extend that for longer now. But at least I hit the pace.

3) I am back to loving my gym. They added a masters workout on Wednesday mornings and I haven't had any more run-ins with toddler time at the pool. Luckily we only had three people that were all the same pace so it worked out (the group is confined to one lane). I don't know what will happen when more people start coming (it's three lanes only).

4) I just got back from a three day ski weekend with Steve, Amy, PT and my parents at Beaver Creek. It snowed every day we were there which made for heavenly skiing, especially because the slopes have been barrren all winter. My parents are 66 and 64 (sorry guys) and they still ski everything the mountain throws their way. I hope to have a fraction of their fitness when I'm that age. We also shared many laughs and fun; I always feel so fortunate to be able to spend QT like this with my family.

5) I am not a fan of Lindsey Vonn, unlike my huband Steve, who is her number one fan, especiallhy on FB. I would be pretty bummed if I were Julia Mancuso, too.

6) Speaking of The Olympics, Canada has done a remarkable job with this year's event. I loved the opening ceremonies! Seeing all the shots of Vancouver and BC makes me want to plan another trip, STAT (I traveled there with Amy and my parents in High School and Steve and I skiied Whistler in 2001-it was epic).

7) We had our first informational Youth Triathlon Club meeting last night. We saw many faces from last year's squad as well as many new ones. I am so jazzed for another season; I wish somehow I could make this coaching my full time job. Hmmmm.....

Okay, back to The Olympics. There is drama on the slopes tonight!

Maiden Voyage

2010-02-02T19:22:00.004-07:00

On Saturday I took the new P1 on her inaugural ride. Steve came too and happened to be sporting his new Specialized Tarmac (it was a gift to himself on account of his new promotion). It was a very special day.

We meant to maintain a nice Z2, maybe low Z3 effort (okay I meant to, Steve isn't nearly as neurotic as I am when it comes to workouts, or anything else for that matter) but it was impossible on our new rides. As soon as we hit the open road we both took off as fast as the bikes would carry us until I felt my heart in my throat and had to back off a bit.

I love my new bike.

Everything about it screams "go," including the brakes, which are so flimsy and delicate that it feels like my mammoth hands are going to snap them right off at each pull. I felt strong, fast and natural the whole ride, except this slight twinge in my lower neck, upper back. I think it's due to my new position, which is dialed back a little from the settings on the road bike, causing my head to lift up rather than out. Although it was also kinda chilly out so I had on some extra layers, which I took off for the way back, which made it less bulky in said region and less cumbersome. Is this normal though, when one is just starting out on a TT bike, to feel muscle strain in that area?

Everywhere else I felt solid: steady and powerful with my pedal strokes and balanced in my legs and hips (there was no tugging on muscles/tendons on either side that would sometimes cause my left hip and IT band to tighten after about 30 miles on the old bike). I am so glad I never second guessed my decision to purchase this bike-it is going to pay huge dividends this season, not just in performance but in confidence and peace of mind as well. Even if I am just dreaming all this up, at least it is psychosomatic and tricking me into thinking I will be better.

In gym news I must admit the honeymoon might be over. Today I got there at 4:30 and the three lane pool was packed. I would have been FINE if it were packed with just swimmers trying to get a decent workout in (ahem, people with a like-minded agenda), but it was packed with toddlers for swim lessons. What? I did not sign up for this! And you're going to allow swim lessons but you won't offer the masters workouts that everybody has been asking about? C'mon people, get it together, or I will be forced to stage a bloody coup d'etat. Or at least write a strongly worded letter.

Also, after my workout (2750m, read: I was tired and hungry, which = cranky) I was showering when all of a sudden I heard someone singing monk chants in the whirlpool. Excuse me? What is this, Tibet? I have to admit the person sort of had a good voice and it was kind of soothing to listen to, but what kind of person assumes that an entire locker room/hydrotherapy area of people wants to listen to her singing/chanting?! This is the kind of stuff that happens in Boulder. A lot.

My mother always told me if I don't have something nice to say, then come sit next to her. Kidding, she didn't teach me that. But since I obviously don't have anything nice to say, I'll do us all a favor and sign off.

Happy Training!

No, I Would Not Like Any Feedback, Thankyouverymuch

2010-01-21T17:09:00.009-07:00

The other day I was right in the middle of a 5 x 200m swim set with some peppiness to it when I stopped at the wall for the mere 20 second rest I had allotted myself when a lurking male presence hovering above me on the pool deck asked, "Would you like some feedback?"

The first thought that went through my mind was "Who the f*&% are you?" The second thought was "How rude." The third thought was "Would you like some feedback on your lack of socially appropriate behavior? The fourth was "Thanks for taking up all my rest." And my final thought was, which I actually verbalized, "No, not really."

He then added "Well you do have a nice flip turn" and then "Can I share the lane with you?"

I mumbled "yes" right before I ducked and pushed off the wall, streamlining underwater as far and as fast as I could to avoid any further interactions.

What kind of idiot waltzes up to a stranger, in the middle of a set mind you, and asks if he/she wants any feedback? (I might add this person sported a mullet and banana hammock.)

After the set was finished he continued to make small talk, which I continued to avoid. I would offer a two word response, which I considered to be substantial, before I would continue about my swimming business. After about 5 exchanges like this, I started to feel bad. Why did I have to be so rude? He obviously is desperately in need of some attention. I wasn't going to give that attention to him, but I also didn't have to be so mean about it. I finally stopped and explained "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I am trying to complete a workout here."

"Oh, that's okay, I understand," he laughed, as if his response were funny. "My tough workouts start next week. This week I'm just takin' it easy."

Was that meant to impress me? By this time his sidekick, who happens to be an employee at the gym, is chiming in too. "How far are you swimming today?" "Are you a triathlete?" (I had my Steelhead cap on.)

What is it with these guys? If this is an attempt to pick up chicks, it's a sorry one. And aren't the both of you blinded by the shimmer from my $14.99 sterling silver Target wedding band? Well, you should be. I'm happily married, not interested in making more friends and definitely not interested in any of your feedback, thankyouverymuch.

I thought this was a story worthy of sharing for two reasons. One, has this ever happened to any of you (the random offering of feedback, not the casual stranger interaction) and b) if you're the guy who offered me feedback and are reading this: I'm not interested.

In other news, I've been motoring right along with my workouts and feeling pretty good. For the past week and a half I've started to feel rundown but I've managed to stave off illness with an arsenal of Airborne, plenty of sleep and moderately intense workouts. Today I was starting to feel the sickest yet, so learning from last year I skipped my swim workout (another interaction like that could have pushed me over the edge) because it is not a crucial workout and it's better to skip it than do it and feel even worse. I might mention too that since the start of this year, I have been sick only one time. That's right: ONE time. By this time last year I had been sick for 10 weeks straight.

I love 2010.

Now excuse me while I continue to skip my swim workout and get some leisurely reading in.

Hello 2010, I've been Waiting for You (pretty much since January, 2009)!

2010-01-11T20:41:00.005-07:00

Thank God last year is over. I mean, what a turd of a year for me. I'm not going to dwell on it; just want to really emphasize how happy I am that it isn't 2009 anymore.

I've started the new year doing awesome things like skiing, hanging with friends, drinking, not drinking, working out, not working out, eating healthy and not eating healthy. I'm not making any resolutions because I consider myself a work in progress all the time.

Oh, and it took me so long to post because I have a very part time gig reviewing manuscripts for Pearson Education (a publishing company) and they happened to send me an 800 page manuscript that needed to be read and reviewed by January 10th. It was all I could do to not dump a gallon of gasoline all over me and light myself on fire while trying to get through it. But it's finally done and now I can enjoy some down time in the evenings.

Anyway, since this blog is for running and tri related stuff, I'll get right down to business.

My new gym opened up on December 29th and as soon as I rolled back into town after New Year's I went there to run and I've been there every day except two ever since. I love it there. It's like the Ritz, but for gyms. Which is a big deal for me since I'm used to recreation centers that boast such luxuries as hairballs in the middle of every swimming lane, hairballs all over the locker rooms, towels you have to check out, screaming toddlers and teenagers in the acoustic jungle of a locker room and crowds everywhere.

This new swank factory has plush towels, uncrowded whirlpools (one in each locker room), hydrotherapy, massage therapists, a plethora of classes tailored to the most diverse fitness needs, plenty of parking, no screaming toddlers or teenagers anywhere and only one measly hair that attached itself to my goggles like a week ago (I considered letting the staff know so they could drain and refill the pool to ensure the cleanliness I have come to expect, but quickly decided against it). Honestly, if I could move in to this place, I would. The higher-than rec-center-monthly-rate is a small price to pay for luxury and comfort, both of which I'll need every step of the way until this f***ing Ironman is over with.

My workouts thus far have been very minimal. I am just trying to get a base down so that when I ramp it up come April, the transition won't be that difficult. I have been doing one workout a day, alternating running, biking (in the form of spin classes) and swimming (about 2500 m per session, 2x/week). And here's the big news of the year so far: I started doing yoga.

That's right folks, I finally put my money where my mouth is. My first experience with yoga was way back in like '00 at my sister Wendy's house in Florida. She woke me up so we could do a yoga tape together, insisting that I would love it. Well guess what? I don't love anything that I have to wake up for. And thereabouts began my hate affair with yoga. Until last Monday when I attended a Vinyasa class at said gym. Although I was woefully ignorant of the poses/postures, the combination of stretching, strengthening and mind and body balance generated from a 60 minute session has me wanting to pack my bags and head for India. Except then I'd have to say goodbye to my gym.

Anyway, I am really hoping that it helps to keep me flexible and well stretched, especially the muscles that get so much pounding from repetitive stress and overuse.

So there you have it. I am excited to have returned to structure, routine and minor discipline as I was feeling a bit cashed after a two and a half month long binge on laziness, social affairs and HGTV (it was desperately needed).

Happy New Year and Happy Training!

Here are some pictures from Christmas and my trip home to MI:

Happy Holidays and Reflections on 2009

2009-12-22T09:55:00.006-07:00

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanzaa and every other holiday in between.

Steve and I will be skiing together on Christmas day and then Saturday I head home solo to visit my family (I only require one Kohl family trip of Steve a year, and this isn't it). Then when I get back, I'm heading straight up to the mountains to ski with Amy and PT and her friends over New Years. So, this is the last time I'll be checking in before the new year.

I've done a lot of reflecting on this year, especially with this Ironman on tap for 2010. Last year was one of the hardest years of my life. I struggled through a job that ended up being worse than I anticipated and it also left me sick for seven months straight. That's not a joke. A few weeks ago I went back to read some old posts, and virtually every post from November to May had some mention of sickness in it. Of those 7 months, I only felt healthy for about four weeks, and those weeks were sprinkled throughout that time, not consecutive. It is really hard to put your best foot forward when you are feeling only 60% and frustrated that you cannot give more. My triathlon season, among other things, suffered as a result.

I struggled to get workouts in every week, and many weeks ended up skipping three or four consecutive workouts, only to feel more frustrated and futile. When summer finally rolled around, I was so depleted that most days all I wanted to do was lay on the couch watching Regis and Kelly, yet I had a half Ironman left to complete and it wasn't going to complete itself.

Being sick so long had taken the passion out of the sport for me. It made me hate it. It made me hate myself for being so negative and down on myself all the time. In the middle of summer when I had nothing better to do than coach and train, all I wanted to do was quit. I have never felt like that before and I was mad at myself for feeling that way.

This is not meant to be a pity party, but rather a reflection on how and why I got to that point.

Last year was the only year I enlisted the help of a coach. In reality, that coach had me doing more volume than my body needed or could even handle. Not wanting to disappoint, I kept plugging away when I should have backed off. I began to realize that I am a "less is more" kind of athlete. I do well with less workout quantity, but more workout quality.

I have also realized that as an athlete, you are your own best advocate. Nobody knows your body like you do. Nobody knows your strengths and limitations as you do. Nobody can (or will) listen to you like you are able to listen to yourself. I learned all of this the hard way, but I am glad I came out clearer on the other side.

So, after my "A" race at Steelhead, I took some time off, dedicated little training to the Baltimore Marathon (25-30 miles per week with no speedwork, only focusing on getting my long runs in) and just coasted to that race on fumes. I ended up running my second fastest marathon on a very hilly, windy course. Yeah, less is more indeed.

I have since taken a lot of time off. I have laid on the couch not feeling guilty one bit (ok, some days I feel a little guilty, but it's mostly because my jeans are getting snug) and I have enjoyed doing non-triathlon related activities. I have been more social and domesticated in the past three months than I have in all my 32 years on this planet. And I have loved it.

Taking this break has allowed me to put some much needed distance between me and last season. It has helped me to welcome the idea of training. I am starting to feel passionate about triathlon again. Which is good, seeing as I now have an Ironman to contend with.

I am not saying that I am now expecting 2010 to be all lollipops and candy bars; I know it won't be, especially training for IM. But thinking about the mistakes I made last year will help me to not make the same ones in the future. And like in all relationships that are meant to be, its absence has helped me to grow fond again. Except I hate the word fond. It has made me realize that I do miss it and with a healthy distance between us, I am ready to forge ahead in the upcoming year.

Thanks for the support during the last year. Here's to a happy and healthy 2010!

It's Sorta About the Bike

2009-12-13T11:50:00.008-07:00

A few posts ago I announced the purchase of a new bike. But, in doing so, I kind of glossed over some key details about the fitting, which is why I opted for a tri bike in the first place. So, I'll attempt to de-trivialize the whole process now.

I have always been a firm believer in "it's not the car, it's the engine." Which kept me complacent in my decision to ride a road bike since the inception of my tri career. And to be fair, I have loved riding a road bike and never really entertained the notion of an upgrade until this past year or so when my road bike was becoming noticeably older and functioning less and less efficiently.

Then I signed up for what I am starting to refer to as "this f*ing Ironman" and I realized that if I am to make the switch from road to tri bike, there's no time like the present. I had heard through the tri grapevine that Colorado Multisport does wonders for bike fittings. For my last bike, I went into a local bike store, hopped on several models, took each one for a spin, decided on the one I felt "fit me" best, then had them do a fitting to fit said bike to me. Well, at CMS, they do the opposite. (If you want a more technical explanation of the process, click here.)

First, they do an athlete interview where they ask you about your riding style, injury history, goals, strengths, weaknesses, etc. and then they do a body evaluation focusing on flexibility, core strength and other important factors. Then, they put you on a Serotta Size Cycle and use Computrainer's SpinScan analysis in conjunction with Real-Time Video Feedback to determine what kind of power you generate and how efficient your pedaling is. Then they do some switcharooing with the handlebars and seat height to determine what bike position will give you the most bang-for-your-power-buck. Then, based on all of these factors, they recommend a bike that fits you. Imagine that!

So, based on my results, they recommended an Orbea and the Cervelo. The Orbea recommendation was a carbon frame, to which I politely said "no thank you." The Cervelo recommendation yielded two bikes: a 48 cm one with 650 cm wheels or the 51 cm option with 700 cm wheels. I tried both (both were on closeout so there was no financial incentive for one over the other) and decided that I like the 700 cm wheel version. But, they had to order different aero bars to maintain the integrity of the Serotta fit which has my elbows closer to my knees (which the factory Vision aero bars would not have been able to yield).

So they ordered some Profile Design aero bars and when they arrived they had me come in for a final fitting to make sure that these aero bars would provide the fit needed. They did. AND they adjusted my road bike to the Serotta fitting results so that I can still ride my road bike for climbing and other "less intense" or goal-less specific rides.

And the best part of all this is that they put the $300 cost of the fitting towards the bike you end up buying from them. If they don't have the bike in stock, they order it for you. But, if you decide to buy elsewhere, they still encourage you to bring your bike to them to make sure they can dial in the settings based on the fitting results. Now THAT certainly is big of them , isn't it?
I was lucky in that not only did they have the bike they recommended, but also it was on closeout. It was an early Christmas miracle!

So you can see how I really couldn't refuse this heck of a deal.

Here's another picture of her. Anyone got any ideas for a name?

So, to Lance Armstrong I say, "Hey, Lance! It's kinda about the bike."

I almost forgot that this was my 100th post...

2009-12-10T18:56:00.007-07:00

I was trying to think of something clever to do for this 100th post. But then I realized I'm not very clever. So, instead I will post pictures from my recent girls' trip to Chicago. My mom and my three sisters are the most important women in my life, so it's only fitting that this milestone is dedicated to them.

Christmas Tree at Macy's

Saturday Morning at Dunkin' Doughnuts

The Whole Gang

Outside Macy's
(notice the elaborate window scene)

German Christmas Market

Hotel Lobby

(before dinner Sat. night)

Dinner-A French Restaurant

Outside the Restaurant

(near original water tower)

Jude Nicholson

(she forgot her reading glasses at the hotel)

Chicago at Night

Later...at the bar

A Closeup

(Yup, those are candy canes on her ears.

I had to kiss a chubby, sweaty Santa for those!
Relax, it was on the cheek.)

Where much of the fiscal damage was done

Look closely, that sign says "The Reagle Beagle"

(think 3's Company)

The Girls

(L to R: Wendy, me, Amy, Tracy, Mom-AKA, Jude)

One of the Rooms

The Other Room

Hotel Lobby

From The Other Side

There was a lot more that happened than these photos reveal, such as gluehwein drinking at the Christmas market (hot, spiced wine. Sounds yucky, but it's divine), carriage rides around the city, lots of shopping, mucho chatting and just generally feeling fortunate to have such great friends in the form of family. Thanks, Mom, for making it possible. I hope this is a new Kohl girl family tradition!

Anticipation

2009-12-01T19:39:00.010-07:00

On Friday Amy and I leave for Chicago for a girls' weekend with our other two sisters and Mom. I am so frickin excited I've almost forgotten that I just signed up for an Ironman. We are staying downtown at a cute little boutique of a hotel called the Hotel Monaco. It's a place that women go gaga for and men wonder what all the excitement is about. It's perfect for a girls' weekend. I feel very lucky to get to do this; it's an early Christmas present from my Mom (thanks, Jude). I'll post pictures when we get back.

In triathlon news, I bought a bike this past week. I've decided that if I'm going to invest billions of hours on the bike this summer, then I'd better finally get a tri bike, and get fitted for it. I've been riding a Bianchi Giro road bike since '05 but every time I have to take it apart and reassemble it after travel, it never rides the same. And lately it feels older and more crotchity than ever. I am very sad that she will be relegated to the garage most of the summer, because we've had the best of biker/bike realtionships. But, she's just not performing like her old self, I have an Ironman to do and I want her to enjoy her last days. So, I'll still take her out occasionally on her favorite scenic mountain rides (she's a climber), so she and I can relive the good ol' days. But I sure will miss that sea foam green smile.

Back to the tri bike. It was on closeout and I got to put the $300 bucks I spent on the fitting towards the bike. I love it when life works out like that. It's a Cervelo P1. I was skeptical of the Cervelos because someone once told me the frames crack easily, but the guy at the store said "that's not true at all." And he used lots of fancy words and had shiny tools so I really trust what he says. He let me test ride the aluminum frame $1400 bike (down from $1800) and the $36oo carbon frame bike, just so I could experience the difference. Besides the carbon frame bike being lighter and more intimidating to my wallet, there was no noticeable difference. He added that another difference is the vibrations the rider feels on longer rides (less vibrations with the carbon one). Well, since I only plan on doing ONE Ironman, I decided I didn't need the carbon frame. Plus, he cinched it when he told me that he's a pro and rides an aluminum BMC. Great, I love not feeling like I have to spend more money than I have.

The one advantage I will be taking away with me is the better fit I'll have with the tri bike versus the road bike. Basically I will be situated more forward on the tri bike, with the bulk of my core weight being centered on the aero bars which will translate to more power and less fatigue of other muscles that were previously strained when stretched too far on my road bike. I'm hoping all this will translate to less bouts with IT band injury and, of course, faster run and bike times. I don't get the bike until next week, but that's okay because it's turned frigid outside so I won't be riding it before the trip this weekend anyway.

Lastly, Steve just bought me new ski boots for Christmas. I've been skiing in my current boots since I was a sophomore in high school. I'm 32 years old. Yeah, it was time for a new pair. And we are staying here in Colorado for Christmas so I'm hoping to test them out Christmas day. I am excited to get in some quality skiing this winter before I ramp up the tri training in March.

Oh, I almost forgot. This is my 99th post. Anyone got any fun ideas of what I could do for my 100th?

Cheers!

P.S. My friend Jen just did IMAZ and her husband made a kick ass video of her set to a really fitting song by The Decemberists. Check it out.

Never Say Never

2009-11-24T21:12:00.005-07:00

Jen was right when she commented after my last post where I so convincingly declared I wasn't doing an Ironman next year.

"I don't believe you," she wrote.

And guess what?

She was right.

I have gone up and down on this see-saw of a decision ever since May of 2008. But I guess it probably goes back even earlier than that. Once you enter into this sport, it seems as though Ironman is always looming in the distance. It's not a matter of "if," it's a question of "when." Even for those of us who excel at the shorter distances. For me, even though I hammer away training 10 plus hours a week during a typical training season, I still feel like I am not a true triathlete because I haven't done the Mac Daddy of them all. And I don't think I have anyone to blame but myself for feeling that way. It's just the pressure I put on myself knowing that something bigger is out there and I haven't done it. So I guess you could say it has always been in the back of mind, trying to creep forward despite my repeated efforts to jam it back, telling it "not now" or "enjoy your non-Ironman, balanced life."

Well, watching Amy in Kentucky this past August caused it to creep the farthest forward it has ever been. Then all fall, enjoying the perks of a much less demanding job, my motivation receptors began to sense the presence of that triathlon spirit that had eluded me all last season. Finally, tracking Jen online all day Sunday brought the decision to the frontiest part of my brain and I woke up Monday morning knowing that 2010 was going to be my year. I needed to stop making excuses about it and just get it over with. Because I'll never feel like a whole triathlete if I don't. And let's face it, I'm not getting any younger. Or less busy. Or less cranky.

So after three hours of pacing the floor in front of my computer Monday morning, wondering if I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life, I finally sat down and pulled the trigger at 12 pm MDT. And 25 minutes later, the b*tch was sold out.

I immediately felt relieved to have gotten in, yet overtaken with nausea and nerves. I called everyone in my family to tell them to save the date next year, then I posted it on Facebook to make it official. And now I feel a mixture of anticipation and apprehension for another year of my life dedicated to the sport I love, yet hate. But regardless of the emotion du jour, I can finally say I'm committed to the King of them all.

But there's still the question of balance. The one you've heard me drone on and on about for the past year. The one I will undoubtedly be giving up by entering into this 9 month-long contract. The one that I chased all last year and am now sending packing its bags with a one way ticket to hypocriteville. And to that I say "thank you in advance for reading this hypocritcial blog and listening to me b*tch and moan and for offering advice about the demands of Ironman training and the lack of balance it causes." Thanks.

*Hey, I also said I would never have a cell phone and now I have a BlackBerry. And a pair of skinny jeans. Don't hate me, I needed them for my new brown boots. *

Well, at least now I can stop thinking about the decision of it all, and put my head down and go. I'm told I won't regret it.

2009 Baltimore Marathon Race Report

2009-10-12T18:37:00.010-06:00

On Saturday October 10th, Steve and I raced the Under Armour Baltimore Marathon. It was a very cool experience, especially since it was Steve's debut marathon.

Steve grew up just outside of Baltimore, so when I was trying to talk him into running a marathon with me a year ago, it was only fair that I choose a place that is meaningful for him. (I know, I'm nice like that.) Also, being that The Wire is our all time favorite show, we thought it might be cool to run through Charm City's finest neighborhoods.

So, we made a nice little 3 day trip out of it: we left Thursday pm, got in late that night, and made the most of our stay until it was time to head back to Denver late Sunday afternoon.

The race went pretty well for me, but Steve was a little disappointed with his performance.

Here's how it went:

My strategy was this: start out at a pace that I could seemingly hold tight for 26.2 miles and then hold on for dear life. Also I didn't want to dwell on the fact that I am 5 lbs heavier than I normally am when I'm at my racing peak (read: I welcomed the off season before it was time to officially welcome it this year), but it's hard to ignore extra weight when you have to carry it around for an entire marathon. Also, I was only running about 30 miles/week during training which is low mileage, especially when I had to take an entire week off due to IT band problems two weeks out from the race. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I didn't have any major expectations for this race.

We stayed right downtown (about two blocks from the start) at a Holiday Inn which was pretty nice but the best part was that it was right across the street from a firehouse which is to say we heard sirens pretty much the whole time. But it was convenient to shopping and restaurants and great for a mini jog to the starting line.

The race started at 8 which is awesome for sleeper-inners such as moi but Nervous Nelly Steve wanted to wake up at 5:30 anyway. What is he, a rookie or something?

We woke up, ate bagels and cream cheese, coffee, a power bar and a banana all before we left to head to the start at 7 am. Now for Steve and I, music is our mojo, so we really wanted to wear our iPods, but race regulations strictly forbid that so we left them in the hotel not wanting to get hauled off the course Kathrine Switzer style. But when we made our way to the start we saw tons of people wearing them and after a quick confirmation from a race official that they officially didn't care if people wore them, we sprinted back to the hotel to retrieve ours and I am so glad we did.

The gun goes off and about 3500 runners were on their way. Steve wanted to run between a 3:15 and 3:30 so he lined up near the 3:30ers, but I knew that was way out of the question given aforementioned factors. I wedged myself between the 3:30 and 3:40 pace groups, romantically entertaining the notion that maybe just maybe I could scoot in just under 3:40. That was before I met those hills. Steve took off and I was left with my emotions, which always leave me quite verklempt at the start of any marathon. if I ever do an Ironman, I know I'll be hyperventilating.

The first 4 miles or so were uphill through the West Side of the city, projects and all. Steve confirmed after the race that a thinking person would never venture through those streets alone at any other time than when the entire Baltimore City Police is out in full force manning the intersections. It definitely humbled me to run through a reality that I'll never know, yet blatantly exists all across this country.

At about mile 5 or 6 we started to go back down into the city and I was then clocking 7:30-7:45 miles on that downhill. That was probably my favorite part. At the beginning it was super hot and humid and I wondered if I had made the right choice in clothing (sports bra, tank top over with Tempo shorts and a hat rather than a visor). I was sweating profusely and desperately wanted to shed my top and hat. But by the time I got back downtown, the wind had picked up and the rain set in and I was glad that I had on what I had on.

We snaked around the Inner Harbor area and I began to get tired and it was laborious to pick up my legs every step; they really hurt. I was worried that all of this pain was setting in prematurely so I took two ibuprofen and it helped a little. At mile 13 we met up with the 10,000+ runners who were starting the half marathon, as this race boasts a unique feature where half marathoners start at the halfway mark of the marathon so that everyone finishes up together between Camden Yards (Orioles) and M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens). I don't really like that feature because it meant that right when the wheels were starting to come off for marathoners, 10,000 peppy runners were just starting their journey right alongside us and massively overtaking our space on the course. But on the flip side this type of start garnered huge crowd support so it was very uplifting to run through a mass of cheering people. Okay, so it wasn't that bad. I also had to take two more ibuprofen because my legs were really starting to hurt again.

Now we were on our way back out of the city around mile 15 or so and let me tell you it was one giant hill from that point to mile 20. By far it was the most challenging part of the race, but I kept my head down and managed to maintain 8:45 miles which boosted my ego greatly. Then we got to Lake Montebello and it flattened out a bit and the weirdest thing happened to me: I got a surge of energy. I never get a surge of energy late in a race. I even waved enthusiastically to a cameraman and it turns out I was on the local station's broadcast of the race (Steve's mom saw me! I fee like such a celebrity). Anyhoots, I looked at my watch and realized I could still go sub 3:40 if I really hammered it home (I'm talking 8 min miles) and I thought to myself "it's now or never." So I turned on my reserve jets and started running faster out of the park right in time to see another giant hill heading west back into the city along 33rd street. "No problem, just keep on chuggin.'" When I got to the top I realized that it wasn't the smartest of race ideas I've ever had as I was exhausted yet still had 4.2 miles left to go. I just tried to hold on to bring myself home by that point, which thankfully was mostly downhill.

Finally at mile 25 I wanted to prove to myself that I could still finish strong so I went as fast as I could for the whole last 1.2 miles, which I never do because I am usually so tired and unmotivated to care about picking up the pace for that long. My Garmin had cut out for some reason during the last 2 miles so I have no confirmation of how fast I went but I felt like I was flying. It was an awesome downhill through Camden Yards and ending up in front of M&T stadium and I was so so so happy to finally be done, 3:42:04 later. Little did I know that Steve had finished just before me in a 3:40:39.

We celebrated with the standard beer and nachos before heading back to his Mom and sister's house for our nephew's birthday party and then a feast of crabs and Natty Boh beer. If you ever go to Maryland, you have to have crabs and Natty Boh beer. My heaven will be stocked with them when I'm there.

Afterthoughts: I was very pleased with my results, especially given the fact that I was ready to be done with the training two months ago. It is my second fastest marathon out of five total on a hilly, windy course carrying two, 2.5 lb saddle bags on my rear. I was also so excited for Steve in his first performance, finishing with a smokin' 3:40 despite a major slow down during the last 10 miles. He also has agreed to run more with me and I feel very fortunate to be able to do this with him.

I would highly recommend this race to anyone, as Baltimore is a very unique city with a lot of history and you get to run through the coolest parts. I would also recommend watching The Wire before you do, preferably the first 4 seasons.

I am taking the next two months off completely: no training, no energy food or drink of any sort and I may take a hiatus from blogging, although that's been going on since the start of the school year anyway. I want to come back fresh as a daisy come January so I can have a year that is the complete opposite of this past year.

I have done a lot of thinking about signing up for an Ironman. I was very inspired by my little sister when I was in Kentucky, and, truth be told, I had already been thinking of doing one last year before I was stupid and accepted that job as a kindergarten teacher. Anyhoots, short story long, I have hemmed and hawed over it for the past couple of months and my current status is no, I still don't want to do one. Scratch that, I don't want to train for one. I am happiest when I am the boss of me and not a coach or a training plan or an ultra distance event looming on the horizon. I want to be happy this year, and above all else, I want to be healthy.

I hope you all are well. I look forward to having some down time now and to catch up on your lives (after parent teacher conferences this week!) . Thanks for your support this year; it pushed my through some very difficult times. I am glad it's finally over.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Cheers!

Quiet Firehouse

Infamous Domino Sugar Plant

Johhny Unitas Statue (M&T Bank Park)

Packet Pickup

Carbo Loading with Mom and Howard

Prerace

Postrace Crab Feast with Anita (Steve's Mom)

YUM!

Steve's niece Jenn and nephew Jason opening presents

Indian Summer Half Marathon Race Report

2009-09-15T19:45:00.012-06:00

or Shucks, I Spoke Too Soon

Steve and me before the half marathon

On Saturday I oh-so-ballsily-typed a comment on Kristen's blog singing the praises of my new found approach to injury free running. "You see, the key is switching running shoes," I declared confidently. "Wearing one pair for weekly short runs and then another for weekend long runs." As I typed it I felt very high, as if I were sitting atop a horse or something.

And then like an idiot I wore the wrong shoes to race Sunday's half marathon in. The ones I am supposed to wear only for my weekly short runs. The ones that don't have my inserts in them, but that I love because of the superior cushioning. The ones I shouldn't have worn because it was time for the long run pair. C'mon, what kind of rookie BS mistake is that?! Well karma adequately punished me, as I suffered that old trusty IT band pain during the entire last quarter of the race.

This was Steve's first half marathon, so I wanted to make a big deal about it and celebrate the accomplishment, plus thank him for all my annoying training and racing he has to put up with during the year, so I took him out to a nice Italian dinner and then to a comedy show Saturday night before the race. (Are any of you Flight of the Conchords fans? It was Kristen Schall (who plays the crazed fan Mel) and funny man, Paul F Tompkins. Two very huge heroes of comedy, IMO, but I digress). Anyway, to make a short story long, I diverged away from the usual prerace staple of pizza and red wine and inadvertently ordered an Alfredo dish. In my defense, the menu said "light cream sauce," but what I got was a heaping pile of pasta and cream and cheese. And while it was filthy and delicious, it was probably THE WORST possible thing I could have ordered when I was already feeling sluggish, heavy and not in the mood for a peppy run. Oh well, it least it cushioned the wine. So race morning rolls around and I feel sluggish, heavy and lacking my racing feet. Which is sinful because it was ideal race conditions: 60 degrees and cloudy, but no wind or rain.

We suited up, headed out and I was surprised to see my race belt still fit without me having to adjust it to "Alfredo" size. And clothes wise, even though it was cool, I knew I would be hot within the first two miles so I decided on a tri tank, Nike tempo shorts and arm warmers. It was perfect.

We parked at the Rez and see Uli right next to us. "Hi Uli!" Then we were off to warm up.

The gun goes off and I feel heavy. I mean really heavy, even heavier than the day before. Then my left knee twinges a little and I think "oh god, why did I wear these shoes?" Well I know why I wore those shoes: I got cocky thinking they were keeping me injury free and I wanted more cushion to combat said feeling of heaviness. Well, they didn't do the trick for either condition and I paid for it later in the race.

Right after the gun goes off Steve sets a real fast tempo and starts to pull away. I don't even try to stay with him, thinking everyone is going out too fast and they'll pay for it later. He didn't. He went on to run a blazing 1:36 for his first half, leaving little doubt as to his natural running talent.

Anyhoots, wanting to stay present and focused on my race, I kept a steady pace, around 7:40 miles. My HR was low Z3 and I felt good, except for weight issues. Now, I really don't mean to sound so negative about this weight thing, especially since in the grand scheme of things I know I am at a perfectly healthy weight. But as athletes we are very attentive to our bodies and any changes that may occur in them and I am telling you it is really hard to run as fast as you normally do (and even feel good about yourself) when you are hauling around 5 extra LBS. I'm just saying, I could notice the difference and it was making me slightly depressed and even mad at myself.

So the first part of the race is slightly uphill overall with some gentle rollers mixed in. I stayed strong and held steady. In the middle of the race I started to breathe a little heavier, but nothing to worry about. The last quarter my knee really started to get tight and sore, the way it usually does before full on IT band attack. First on the side, then underneath, then all around but most acutely on the outer portion of the knee. I had to stop and stretch just after mile 8, wanting to be able to finish the race. Then I pressed on, still wanting to do as well as I could (read: I had my fightin' gloves on-I had put up a good fight so far, why stop because of a little self-induced knee pain?). Then knee started acting up again just after mile 9 so I stopped to stretch a little once again. This time 3 girls (all looking about my age) passed me and that's when I decided to throw caution to the wind (I only have one more race in the season) and just go for it. Sucking on air, I gave it my all the whole way in, knee pain and all and finished in 1:44:57, which is one minute and 32 seconds slower than my PR at altitude. But, while throwing it all on the line those last couple of miles, I managed to pass all of the three girls who passed me while I stretched, until one passed me back with less than a quarter of a mile left to go. But my finish was good enough for third place in my AG so I won a $25 gift card to a local running store.

Here's what I bought:

Until I realized they give me blisters, so I took them back and got this:

Yes, those are paisleys and a label that says "Horny Toad"

Plus another cute something or other for my big sister Wendy's birthday in October. And that's all I have to say about that (read with Forrest Gump voice).

But Steve seriously did some major a$$ kicking with his performance. He maintained 7:20 miles for the whole thing and said he felt great until the last mile. I am so happy for him; he trains so hard and is very dedicated, he deserves every ounce of his new (and first official) PR!!! And he finished 5th in his AG. Way to go, Steve-O!!!

We celebrated at our favorite establishment, The Hungry Toad (not to be confused with aforementioned "Horny Toad"). It's a British pub that serves the best nachos around. Go figure.

Oh, the diet didn't start until Monday...

P.S. I took today and yesterday off and will resume running tomorrow. It's the standard two-day rest period that I implement after a bout with my IT band. I'm pretty confident that by tomorrow...you know what? I'm stayin' quiet this time...and wearing the shoes with the inserts on my next run.

My Sister is an Ironman!!! & Other Current Events

2009-09-12T10:43:00.008-06:00

Here is a link to Amy's blog with a full race report (most of you have already read it). Anyway, I finally got the chance to read her report last night and it is one of the best reports I've ever read.

In other news, our computer contracted a virus a couple of weeks ago so I have been limited to checking email and only checking email (at work), as my district computer network doesn't allow access to FB or any other time-sucking sites of the nature. Well I nevah! Well, last week we finally got a new computer, so I'm back, hooray!

One interesting thing I've learned through this trying period is that I have a serious addiction to the interent. At first when I wasn't able to login to FB, check blogs, or even dink around iTunes, I felt pannicky, like I was suddenly disconnected from the entire world. Then after a few days, I got used to not being connected to all things internet and I actually started getting some things done. It made me feel sorta guilty for all the time I tend to "waste" on the internet.

Then I read my sister's race report last night. I was so excited to be sitting and reading blogs again that I could hardly contain my excitement (could have been that I was on my third glass of Cabernet...). And after reading the comments you all left I realized that the time I spend on the internet is not wasted time at all. To the contrary, it's actually very productive. Connecting with triathletes and friends through blogs and FB allows me to get to know people I otherwise would not be able to because we live so far apart, talk to friends I haven't seen in years, gain inspiration from other people's triumphs and learn a lot through others' experiences. And yes you can waste time on the internet doing things that aren't poductive, it is a whole other world on that web, but when I am reading your blogs and learning from you and sharing in your joys and glory, I think about how great the internet really is and that I shouldn't feel badly about the time I spend here because it brings people closer and promotes supportive relationships that otherwise wouldn't be possible.

So, enough of the soap box. I just wanted to say that, just like everything, internet in moderation is healthy and good and that is what I learned when my computer had a virus and I couldn't log in for three weeks straight. Good lesson, eh?

P.S. Steve and I are running in a half-marathon tomorrow. It's his first. I have no expectations other than to just stay present and focused (thanks Suze and Amy) and try my best. I have put on probably 5 pound since Steelhead (no joke) and I can feel it when I run. I'm not trying to be that stupid high school girl who obsesses about her weight, but I am telling you that you can't argue with the data and my Garmin data show that I.am.slower. because of all the extra junk I'm hauling in the trunk (I gain it in my butt first). So, short story long, I'n not expecting a PR.

Good luck to Kristina, Mike, Temple, my coach Craig and the other HEP athletes and fellow Fleet Feeter Claudia (her first), all of them are doing Wisconsin this weekend. Go get 'em!!!

Here are some pictures from the "Amypalooza" party we had for her before the IM and the race itself.

Pictures from Steelhead and Updates

2009-08-16T21:17:00.008-06:00

All packed and ready to go.

I tested this bag for USAT Life and holy guacomole is it awesome!!!
(Made by Zoot)

Fits all your racing essentials and more!

Packet Pick Up

Lake Michigan the day before the race

Beautiful

Steve and Family at dinner the night before

They made Tshirts to wear on race day!!!

Lake Michigan the night before the race. If it only it could be this calm on race day...

Swim Finish with long run up to T1

Transition Area

Me out of the water-waving at my family not knowing Steve was on the other side taking this photo

Heading in to T2 after a long and windy bike

Blowing kisses to my fans! (notice the super cool Tshirts!)

So happy to see my family!

I know this sounds cheesy but I just have to reiterate how appreciative I am that Steve and my family came out to support me during the race. I know you guys know how awesome it is to feel loved and supported when you're going through the mental challenges of an endurance event. It makes me really glad we're going to be there for Amy at IMKY.

In training news I have my first official week of training for the Baltimore Marathon under my belt. I am loving not having to factor in a swim workout before work or try to edge a bike ride in before the skies open up with hail and lightning. There is definitely something to be said about just grabbing a pair of shoes and heading out the door.

And I completed a 13 miler yesterday and felt really strong except for when my IT band started to give me problems a little before the 13 mile mark. I was feeling so good lungs-wise that I was going to attempt to maybe do 15 (ran with Steve and he had to do 16) but when the ol' girl started protesting, I decided to stay true to my new training plan, which is called KK's Listen To Your Body Ultimate Marathon Training Plan. (The "Ultimate" makes it sound really official, doesn't it?) It's your average plan consisting of easy runs, speedwork and long runs but the best part is that you have to listen to your body no matter what happens. So in the spirit of my new plan, even though I wanted to run more yesterday I stopped instead. I'll let you know how this plan works out come October (and if it works well you can bet I'm slapping a patent on this beeeotch). Anyway, I figure I spent so much time this past year NOT listening to my body (save for Kansas) which landed me a slightly-better-than-mediocre race season that I have nothing to lose since I have no goals for this marathon other than to enjoy running it with Steve. I love it when the pressure's off.

Well, I just caught up on your blogs and I must say there's a lot going on: New PRs are being set, first time distances are being conquered, Ironmans are fast approaching and fun is being had. I must say the common thread I've read about is that people are staying tough in the face of adversity but also being smart when their bodies are protesting. I always learn a lot from you all and enjoy reading about your triathlon/running related endeavors.

Happy training.

Steelhead 70.3 Race Report

2009-08-04T11:21:00.002-06:00

Hi all!

Here is the quickest race report I have ever written. (You're welcome.)

Swim: AWESOME! The swim takes place in Lake Michigan and initially I was scared of swimming in such a big body of water (it's like the ocean, only fresh water). But since I was able to get in Friday before the race and get my bearings, I discovered the water was a) warmer than I thought it would be and b) not that frightening. I had brought my full wetsuit expecting the water to be freezing (I packed the sleeveless just in case something happened to the full), but the water was over 68 degrees so I am so glad I packed the sleeveless because I ended up wearing that and the full would have been way too much suit. Anyway, the start was cutthroat as we all started together and had to round the first buoy in an annoying mass, but after that things straightened up and thinned out and I swam untouched for the duration. It is worth noting that right at the start we all started in very shallow water so everyone ran at first before diving in to start swimming. Well, these two women in front of me fell before they actually dived forward so they ended up falling in like a foot and a half of water and swimming while I was still standing and trying to run because it was still so shallow. I think had they known it was so shallow maybe they would have tried to stand up again and run but they didn't have a clue as to how comical they looked swimming in such shallow water. I was afraid their falling would have caused a swimmer pile up but it didn't so that was a major relief. The rest of the swim was actually very enjoyable, save for the difficulty sighting because the waves were so big. Posted my fastest swim split yet in a half (even though I've only done 3 halves total) in the high 29s. We swam WITH the current the whole way and I definitely think that helped. Swimming with the current also meant we had to walk the 1.2 miles south of the swim finish to find the swim start (it was a south to north swim and they change it every year based on which direction the current is flowing), but it wasn't that bad of a walk. I was really missing Amy on that walk though.

Bike: The 56 mile course looped around some of the most chopped up and gnarly roads I have ever seen. I felt like I was riding on cobblestones during some parts. It was so rough that my aero drink came loose at about mile 5 and I spent a good mile cruising at a snail's pace to refasten it, only to then have my chain fall off at around mile 18 due to more crappy road. Other than that I tried to lay it all out there, until we reached the 18 mile return on a highway that was adequately paved, yet the wind had picked up as weather was beginning to move in so we faced a 15-20 mph headwind for 18 miles that did not help me in the form of a tailwind on the way out because it hadn't existed at that point. What doesn't kill ya sure makes you frustrated! I was glad to be off the bike after 2:42 :something.

T1 and T2: Both were relatively speedy, despite the transition area that was long and spread out and required much jogging back to my spot both times.

Run: The course was pretty and had two four mile loops after the initial two mile stretch leading to the Whirlpool corporate campus. The run followed county roads, neighborhood streets, parking lots and footpaths and was lovely. It had three major hills but they weren't that bad. I walked through all the aid stations to take in Gatorade and water and grab sponges and really just to have a short break. Doing that is a huge motivator for me, especially because the aid stations were not in the same spots as the mile markers so I had two things to look forward to within each mile. The middle miles were mentally challenging as I kept think about how much I had left to go. At about mile 9 I realized that if I kept a decent pace I could PR so I stopped to stretch my calves (my Posterior Tibialis was acting up) and then tried to hammer it home. I set a new PR doing so with a 5:04:09 which was good for 7th in my AG and 18th amateur female overall. I didn't stick around afterwards to see if I had won a roll down slot since I a) am burnt out on tris right now b) am running the Baltimore Marathon with Steve in October and don't want to tri train on top of that and c) we had to motor it Up North pretty quickly after the race (a four and a half hour drive) to make it in time for pizza and chit chatting with extended family members.

Final Stats:

7/106 AG
18/479 Females
29:59 swim
2:14 T1
2:42:06 Bike
1:31 T2
1:48:20 Run
5:04:09 Overall

Overall I would recommend this race unless you cannot stand roads that are ripped up on the bike course.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my whole family had come to support me during the race and it was awesome to see them at every point before, during and after a transition. It was sooo motivating and I feel so lucky to have their support.

Hope you all are racing and living well. I am taking a break this week with some light running and then back to marathon training next week. Thanks for reading! (Pictures to be posted next week.)