CTC - REV3 Cedar Point Training Day Recap!

This past Saturday was the first of two CTC-REV3 Cedar Point Preview Days for 2011.

Strong storms had rolled in late Friday and just before I got home from work, the storm had taken down a tree and all the power lines up the road so we had no power from 5pm until about 4:50am Saturday morning.  It had been boiling hot and my house was so hot, I don't think I slept at all Friday night.  I just tossed and turned sweating and then went downstairs to try to sleep on the uncomfy couch.  No luck.  All the windows were open and storms just kept coming through banging loudly and shaking the place.  I had planned to get up at 4:40am so I could leave at 5AM to make the 1.5 hr drive out to Sandusky and I went about that getting ready by candlelight until 10 minutes later when the power finally came on!  At least that meant I could have some much needed coffee for the drive!

The drive out there had me a bit concerned as it was quite an impressive lightning show and I wondered how many folks would stay away.  However upon arrival, I was happy to see it looked as though we were getting a break and got everything set up without any rain.  We had a nice little setup of a little bit of everything out there that morning including stuff from Fleet Feet, Muscle Milk, Bike Authority and IDUTRI.

After check in, I went down to the gorgeous beach at Sawmill Creek to get ready for the swim.  Today I was lube queen and started getting folks all lubed up with some TRISLIDE!

Then of course, I lubed myself up, tossed on my super awesome TYR Hurricane wetsuit and headed down to the swim clinic put on by Leah Nyikes of Liquid Lifestyles.  We went over sighting, the course, entering and exiting the water and of course got in some swimming.

We were fortunate enough to get in the whole clinic except for maybe 5 minutes when the storms again rolled back in and we saw a crack of lightning and it was time to get out of the water.STAT!

I was ferried via golf cart thanks to the awesome staff of Sawmill Creek to my car and headed inside their gorgeous facilities to change.  If you are looking for a place to stay for the race, I cannot recommend it highly enough as the place is gorgeous with restaurants on site and the staff really has embraced trying to help us (triathletes) out in any way they could with setting up tables, coolers, opening up the restaurants early, giving us lodging discounts and more.

We had a rain delay which pushed back the bike start by 45 minutes while it dumped some major water and lightning was everywhere!  Thankfully that gave my boy, MV, from Bike Authority time to tweak my ride (which was SOOO needed!).  Thank you Mike and Bike Authority for coming out!

I had plenty of time to make sure I had my nutrition ready.  Of course I was stocked with a couple bottles of First Endurance EFS fruit punch, an aerobottle with water and some First Endurance Liquid Shot!

Finally it was time to ride as it appeared storms were moving out.  Everyone grouped up in A, B and C levels based on the speed they wanted to ride and we were off!

We started on wet roads and down an alternate route which was fine and the weather just continued to improve.  The dampness kept things cool and the sun finally came out and warmed things up.  At least I think it was the sun but part of it could have been the fact that our group all tucked in behind AJ (our new Cleveland Pro who came out to ride and speak for us) when we hit 113 as he took a monster pull and we hung on for dear life.  YES, that was SUPER FUN!

I think the group was happy when around mile 42 we stopped in Berlin for the rest stop being staffed by SSSMT-members, Andy and Leah!  Huge thanks to you both!  Cold water, fig newtons, cookies, sports drink and more!!!  

And then again, it was TIME TO RIDE!  Most of us headed back to Sawmill Creek to wrap up 60 miles.  I had planned to ride 80 miles but the time was going to be too tight (due to rain delay) as I wanted to grab a quick shower before the speakers which started at 2PM.  

As a note for those who were interested, I would say the roads are in much better shape than last year.  The roads that had fresh chip and seal have all settled and smoothed out quite a bit.  Roads were in very good shape.  If you are not familiar with the course, it is pretty flat with some small rollers and the only thing that should be noted is you may be dealing with some nice headwind out there!

Post ride, I grabbed some post-workout nutrition and headed into Sawmill to grab a quick shower and most of us ladies were using...you guessed it....TRISWIM samples!!!

The group met up inside the nice air conditioned Big Bear Saloon and listened to the speakers.

Coach Angela Forester offered up a lot of tips and things to think about!

Fleet Feet Cleveland owner, Jody Herzog, explained all about compression and answered a lot of questions about it.

Cleveland's newest pro triathlete, AJ Baucco spoke about his training and things he has learned  training on his own and as a part of  The Triathlon Squad.  Also entertaining was the shared memorable quotes from his Coach, the infamous Paulo Sousa.

It was truly valuable to hear what they all had to say!  It was another super awesome training day and I got the opportunity to meet many new people who I will again see on race day, several of them from out of state who had made the journey out!  Now I will be looking forward to the next CTC-REV3 Training Day which will be Saturday, August 20!

Friday, Friday, Friday!!!

So I sit here today having a hard time focusing on work, because I am really looking forward to the weekend!!

My husband is going to be pretty occupied with his own stuff as he is attending a class on one of his hobbies (which he is super excited about) so that leaves me to focus on my own things (not that hanging with him is not fun ;-) .  Two other guys also attending the class are staying with us so this required a fair amount of house cleaning this week.  Yuck!  But it is always nice to have a clean house!

So tonight will be dinner out with the hubby and our company.  Then of course I will be packing up my First Endurance, TYR wetsuit, Avia shoes, samples from SBR SPORTS (guess who will be lubing up swimmers with TRISLIDE???) and the rest of my never ending tri-stuff, shower stuff and ctc stuff, etc!!  Then tomorrow will be a bright and early wake up call to head up to Sandusky for the CTC - REV 3 Cedar Point Training Day.  Last year these easily ranked as some of my favorite training days of the year for so many reasons-

1.  Preparation on the course:  I felt so prepared on race day knowing where false flats were, where I was, what the roads were like and it was just a great confidence boost.  It is so nice to do a key race and you have an opportunity to get out on the course ahead of time.

2.  The people:  Lots and lots of friends, other REV3 CP racers and other triathletes that just want to get in a quality training day.  It made race day even better to see so many familiar faces.  Each of the training days last year were easily in excess of 100 people so everyone had people to ride with at a variety of levels.

3.  Lessons learned:  It was great to share stories from others that had went the 140.6 distance.  Angela Forester, an esteemed area coach and triathlete spoke last year and is returning this year who offered phenomenal tips.  I am also very excited that Pro Triathlete, AJ Baucco will be speaking about how his training has changed over the years and training with power.  Another huge powerhouse to the lineup is Leah Nyikes with Liquid Lifestyles who will be putting on an open water swim clinic for anyone who is interested.  Hands down I can say, when you get the chance to learn from Leah, you should definitely take advantage of it as she is awesome!

There are a million other reasons why I love these days.  As Cleveland Triathlon Club is such a big part in my world, these training days do a nice job of showcasing what the club prides itself on, which is offering area triathletes training opportunities, promoting local races, getting triathletes out there doing what they enjoy and having a sense of community.  AND also near and dear to my heart is REV3 through my relationship with the REV3 / Trakkers team.  I totally love the idea of getting people excited about REV3 and hope that the Cedar Point Race Venue will be around for a long time!

Recap on Saturday will be forthcoming....

Then I will rush home for a cookout at my place Saturday evening.

Sunday's training plan calls for a 35/40 mile bike and then 6 m run at medium pace.  As I might have mentioned, I am a people person so I was scratching my head trying to figure out who I could do this workout with and after lunch with my friend, ET, I found a taker.  So the plan is we are going to hang out at the Fairport Harbor Tri which is a sprint that starts at 8.  I will cheer and hang out (which it seems I so rarely get the chance to do) and then commence workout.  I will at least have company for the bike!  I had thought about racing Fairport, but for now I just want to focus on high quality workouts and the sprint is not exactly what I need.  I am guessing I will have time to kill when I am done before the husband gets home so I might just bring my bikini and hit the beach!

GONNA BE AN AWESOME WEEKEND!

I hate being "that guy"

I hate being rushed.  I hate being the one that shows up to a group training session at the last minute or being unprepared.

Last night it was me.

I had got off work with plenty of time to spare and I was excited to head out to Chagrin Falls to do the normal Tuesday night ride.  I left downtown Cleveland at 5 and had made it out to Chagrin Falls at 5:45, with plenty of advance to the 6:30 start time.  So I hit the grocery store to buy a pack of buns, something cold to drink and change my clothes and then headed over to the parking lot at about 6.  I cleaned the trash out of my car and walked over to Starbucks to hit the restroom and braid my pigtails.

About 6:15 or so I started pulling out my helmet and shoes and the bike, which should've been all set to go.  But of course that would be too easy!

Flat rear tire.  CRAP!  So I go into rush mode.  I am doing my very utmost to change this stupid tire which I HATE doing and really probably have rarely did it by myself.

BUT, everyone should be proud, I got it all changed ALL BY MYSELF pretty quickly but now I am just dripping sweat everywhere, covered with grease and already stressed out.

I did not have time to fill my bottles properly as I had planned (and it was crazy hot) but it was time to go.

Just as the large group was ready to roll, I went to pedal only to realize my chain was not put on the front ring. so I had to stop and fix that.  Holy crap I was crazy covered in grease.  Ughhh!

The group went out and caught the light right away and several of us missed it.  You know those stupid lights take 4EVER when you are in a hurry and by the time we finally got the green, the group was long gone.

I led out straight up the hill for a ways.  Near the top another rider took over the front but now I was tired after the ascent at the start and those 3 were on a mission to catch up and I needed a minute to recover.  I felt like the air was thick and my asthma was right on the edge.  Yet, I did not have a minute to catch my breath and got dropped.

Discouraged, I sulked and pedaled up the road.  I was trying to figure out what my problem was.  Have I just lost it with the injury setback?  Clearly circumstances to start this ride were just not ideal.

I knew my husband was pedaling from home out to Chagrin Falls so I just called him and diverted course to meet him.  Upon seeing him, I settled down and started to again enjoy the ride which was when I realized my front brake was rubbing.  So I stopped to fix it.  As I got going again I still heard rubbing so I stopped again and realized my rear brakes were really rubbing and waaay out of alignment.  Perhaps this had something to do with the rough start to the night and not being able to keep up.

Anyways, I guess it worked out ok in the end (although I was still mad at myself) as I got home earlier than usual and had an easier night, which probably made this morning's early 12 mile run a little bit better.

So on the plus side-
+ Good tiring changing practice and pretty successfully fast for this girl
+ Good 12 mile run this morning

Let's just forget those negatives and perhaps keep in mind in the future to-
*  air down tires when the bike is going to bake in a hot car forever
*  take the time to check the brake positioning (and give it a good once over) before riding
*  always nice to save a few minutes to cruise around parking lot before getting going on a group ride to make sure everything is working as it should.

Hopefully I will not be "that guy" again for awhile!

Getting the job done

Sitting here in a pretty good mood for a Monday.

Coming off another fun sunny warm weekend in Cleveland which is what I live for!

The weekend was a nice mix of family and friends, sister's pool, rolling around on the scooter and of course squeezing in some workouts.

Since last post, I got in the 10 miles at lunch Friday (as planned) which was supposed to be done at an easy pace of 8:45-8:50 (ended up 8:34 avg).  I had went out by myself which is not my preference and I knew I could have joined my lunch time group but I knew I would likely end up running way too fast so I opted for the solo run with my DJScene podcast!  I actually enjoyed having a nice easy run along Lake Erie.

Saturday I planned to get in a 30/4 brick.  I knew sis and her friend were meeting out by Hiram to run on the Headwater's trail at 8:30 so I planned a route to end there, so I could wrap up with them.  I left out by myself at 7AM and rode 700N to Gville, 88 to lover's lane to 14 to 44 in ravenna, then up 44 to mantua, then 82e to Hiram and back down 700 to the start to finish just over 30 miles by myself.  I kept a steady pace and while I never prefer to do my workouts solo, it was nice to just feel very focused on doing what I needed.  Then I changed into my shoes and pulled on my headphones and started running along.  Wrapped up my 4 miles with a 7:13 avg pace which was a little fast (target was 7:32).  Then I backtracked a bit to finish up the last mile ez with sis and AP.

Sunday I headed out with the Cleveland Touring Club for their 77 mile Ravenna Arsenal ride.  My schedule had an 80 miler on tap so I figured this would work well.  The ride started in Burton and I left from my house to ride the 8.5 miles to the start.  I hate when I don't give myself plenty of time and then feel like I have to hammer to get to the start on time which of course included the steep climb up Huff.  I did make it in time and there was a decent turnout including 7 others that maintained a decent clip for the most part.  So it made the ride very enjoyable as it circled through all my old stomping grounds that I know very well.  I am beginning to feel my biking legs coming back.  Too bad my seat area still seemed a bit aggravated which was likely due to not lubing up on Saturday and then adding insult to injury on Sunday.  Oh well, if that is the least of my issues, I am not complaining!

I already nailed the key run for this week's training schedule this morning which was 3x1.5 mi at tempo.  So check that one off the list and onto the next one!  Looks like a warm week on tap but thankfully at least I do most of my workouts in the morning!

Super excited for the REV3 Cedar Point Preview Day coming up this Saturday!!!!

Back to the regularly schedule program

This week I have jumped back into the training program at week 9.  Back to figuring out how I will fit it all in and having to make sacrifices to make it all happen.

Monday was a nice easy day after all the biking over the weekend.  I slept in and worked through the day before heading out for some hiking with the husband in the evening.  We went over to Nelson Ledges which is only 3 miles or so from my house.  I have wanted to go there forever now but just never had made it there.  It was gorgeous and a lot of fun to check out.  Nelson Ledges is known for its spectacular rock formations and sandstone cliff formations and the scenery did not disappoint!

Tuesday was back to the grind and my 4 week mark post crash.  I did my interval run speed workout for a total of 6 miles and then I did my first swim since I crashed.  I just swam a nice easy 1000 m outside in the gorgeous lifetime pool.  It was nice to not have any pressure to go fast and just to be thankful I was swimming.  It seemed to go fine and was not aggravating my shoulder.  That evening I went out to ride the with Cleveland Touring Club Tavern Ride.

It was quite enjoyable to be back and many were surprised to see me back so soon.  I did feel rather flat on that ride as though I was working harder than I wanted to stay with the folks I usually rode with.  I am not sure if it was the 149 miles over the weekend, the tough interval run in the morning, that I am not back or if it has to do with my intake (more on that later).  Regardless, I pushed through the 30 miles and was glad when I was done as I was tired.

Wednesday, got up to run my 10-12 mile run and after 7 miles, I decided I was done.  Thursday, I hopped in to pool for a nice swim.  It felt awesome.  I just swam a nice easy 2200 meters, feeling rather refreshed when I was done.  Friday am, I did my focus bike on the computrainer which had me sweating bullets and I am beginning to think the computrainer is a torture tool but they say it makes you stronger.  Planning to get in those 10 miles from the other day at lunch today.

All I know is that I am guessing that this weekend might seem tough as I got two pretty hard days on tap but the plan is to get them done.  No one said coming back was easy.  I am trying to take it in stride and put in the work now and know it will come.  I would be lying to say I did not feel a bit behind where I was before I crashed.  I really had wanted to race Milton Man tri next weekend but I think the smart thing would be to focus on my training for now and hold off racing a little longer until I feel more confident that I can race to my ability better.

The other thing is the husband has become very focused this week on nutrition and we have been eating much healthier.  He has been pretty closely following the Paleo/Primal 'diet' and has been much more active and already results are a bit amazing but I suppose when you get active and clean up your diet, it is bound to have a noticeable effect.  I have been sort of loose with it but have really enjoyed getting in more fruits and vegetables and have not had much in the way of bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, etc which is different.  Thankfully, the many Amish produce stands out by us are really coming into all of the produce so it is really easy to get lots of fresh stuff easy right now.  My husband's mom also is letting us use her Vitamix blender so we have been making up some really good stuff in that like our Peaches and Ice dessert thing last night-YUM!  I have already dropped off weight this week which is likely due in part to this and in part to the increased exercise volume.  Now to make sure the intake is sufficient to keep me fueled on workouts and not leading to me feeling flat during them.  To be continued...

Game on!

Tomorrow will mark the 4 week anniversary to my crash.

Today I returned to the doctor.  It was kinda of comical in my opinion.  The radiologist remembered me and asked if  I was the one that had the bike crash, right?  She said they had not really seen the broken scapula from a bike crash before and went on to ask about if I had seen my Xray.  Guess I made an impression with that last one!

Then I went upstairs to see my ortho doc, Mr. Susan Joy with the Cleveland Clinic who I had picked when I broke my radius last year (mtb crash at Ray's MTB).  She has been great if anyone ever is looking for someone to go to as she specializes in women's sports injuries.

She had a couple other people shadowing her and pulled up my Xrays and asked what I had been doing activity wise.  I mentioned I was biking indoors, running and I could not take it anymore and rode my bike outside this weekend (I left out the fact that it was 149 miles of riding...more on that later).

I was shocked that my xray really did not look that different than before.  It was still very visibly apart on today's Xray but you could see some light shadowing where it must be healing.  They felt my shoulder blades and clearly you can still feel that the left had a bone still sticking out a bit.  Then she put me through some tests: both arms out, push my hands up as she held them down and similar other ones to see where I was at.  Those got a few comments like, "Wow, amazing", "Unbelievable," and "You're tough!".

She said obviously I was healing fast and that I could resume activities but of course told to listen to my body and probably would want to hold off weights and be careful with yoga type stuff like planks as that would load the area too much.

She also said I could start swimming again and in fact it would probably be good for it.  They also gave me exercises to use with a band to build those muscles around the scapula area.  Follow-up in 4-6 weeks to make sure healed properly.

So pretty good news there!  I was already thinking swimming was in the near future after playing around at my friend's place (pictured) below where I had taken some strokes without difficulty on Saturday.

So back to the biking...I RODE MY BIKE OUTSIDE THIS WEEKEND!!!  (Picture me doing cartwheels about that).  I had planned to wait until after today's Dr. visit but I could not wait any longer.

The plan was to do a test ride by myself to make sure I could ride with a group over the weekend.  It was not much of one as the storm decided to blow in right as I was clipping in but I decided I figured that I was ready!

Some local Bike Authority Fleet Feet teammates were all riding early Saturday and I really wanted to ride with my ole riding buddies so that was the plan.  Yes, this ride would be one of those "straight into the frying pan" days, being it was my first ride back and most of these people were in peak cycle but I did not care.  I just wanted to go!

I met ST out in Mantua just before 5AM.  I hooked up my lights but it was a bit darker (or shall I say, pretty much pitch black) when we started.  To be honest, it was slightly nerve-wracking not being able to clearly see the road, hoping to avoid any issues.  In the end it was fine, fresh pavement on 82 led to a nice smooth ride out to meet the rest of the gang.   Then the 5 of us made our way out towards Brunswick where ST and ES really started their hammerfest.  I hung on with some effort, so I was pleased that perhaps I did not lose too much over my little hiatus.  Over the course of the day, I mainly hung back trying to make sure I did not overdue it and was just content to get the miles in.  ST and I peeled off so we could make the way back to Mantua and before 9:30 am, we had rode 78 miles!  It was GOOD TO BE BACK!

My legs definitely felt a bit tired and heck I was tired from waking up at 4AM in the morning to ride that day but after a rather late Saturday, I was determined to ride again on Sunday with the Cleveland Touring Club.  The plan was 75 miles of hills but at a relatively conservative pace.  I really thought my alarm clock was playing a mean joke on me when I awoke, but I wearily got up and dragged my heavy sore legs down the stairs to head out for more biking fun!

A few definitely seemed shocked to see me there so soon.  We rode out of Mentor Memorial Middle School and I think we rode every single nasty hill around the greater Kirtland area.  It was a great morning to ride and I got to ride a lot of hills I have never rode, along with quite a few other hills I remembered altogether too well as they had left an impression on me before!  I really had no zip but I pushed through the miles, taking care not to overdue it and just trying to get in the miles.  As we made a stop at N Chagrin nature center where I was gulping down my favorite, First Endurance Fruit Punch EFS, I learned the route was 86 miles, not the 75 miles I thought.  So in the interest if time, GG and I split from the group and made our way back.  I wrapped up with 71 miles Sunday for my grand weekend total of 149 miles.  Not too shabby for my first outdoor biking weekend back!

I really need to get my garmin plugged in to see Sunday's elevation profile!  The biking did not bother my scapula to speak of, so that is good!  Now I just need to get back to full strength as I do feel a bit behind with the intensity of the workouts, but I'm trying to get my base back safely first and most importantly not overdue it.  Super stoked about all the progress!  I think to mark my official 4 week anniversary, I will have to head out with the Tuesday night group tomorrow night!

Last but not least, congratulations to all my Trakkers teammates on REV3 Portland finishes!  Sounded like an awesome race!

TGIF!!!

A short week still goes by to slow!

I am so excited for the weekend!  I am totally going to have to ride the bicycle outdoors this weekend.  I cannot take it any longer!  I went for a short test ride and I think things should be ok.  I am planning to ride with some BAFF friends tomorrow so that should give me a good gauge as to where I am.  Time to again break out the First Endurance and get in some good seat time!!!

My running form seems back.  I was short on time this morning but decided to do my tempo run with a very short warmup and cooldown and put in the 3mi at 6:58 pace without much difficulty.  I have been running completely normal this week and my arm swings just as it always had :-)  I have also been ramping up easy base running miles a lot.  Happy to say with the easy miles and quite a few of them on soft surfaces, the build has also went well.

This weekend looks to be a quiet one which is fine by me after the whirlwind last weekend.

My garmin 305 arrived yesterday which brought on the happy dance!  How do people live without these things?!

In other news, the Cleveland Triathlon Club in conjunction with REV3 Tri rolled out the REV3 Cedar Point Preview Dates in case anyone is interested.  These were a HUGE hit last year bringing out over 100 people at each and were a fabulous way to familiarize yourself with the course and also fun in that you meet many others that you will see again on race day.  I am also pretty excited about the speakers which include a very popular local coach and accomplished athlete, Angela Forester and local triathlete, AJ Baucco who recently went pro and got picked up my a new team!  So mark your calendars for Saturday 7/23 and Saturday 8/20 and check out all the latest information here!

2 Tired Today to Think of anything clever

This morning I slept in instead of waking up early to workout.  I was SLEEPY and decided I deserved to stay in bed longer and so I did and it was nice!

As I noted last week, my consistency in workouts has been pretty good.

M: 18 mile bike, 5 mile run
T:  3 mile run
W:  20 mile bike, 4 mile run
R: 6.5 mile Run
F:  30 mile bike
S:  13.3 mile run
S:  6.2 mile run, 28 mile bike
Week Totals:  96 miles biked, 38 miles ran 
Notes:  Pretty significant bounce back to training after not doing much the first 9 days after I crashed.  No swimming which means my legs are getting some serious mileage.  All runs were easy except Thursday.


This week has started off a little slow on the biking front, but I will work on that the latter part of this week.
M:  8.3 mile run
T: 8.1 mile run
W:  8.5 mile run

My legs were feeling quite tired today and I almost gave myself an easy day, but when I got a window to get out at lunch time to get in some miles, I seized the opportunity to get it in with the downtown boys.  I paid for that a bit as I just felt hot, tired, borderline asthma and just was not really feeling the pace even though I doubt it was all that aggressive.  Perhaps tomorrow will need to be an easier day!

Oh I cannot wait for my new Garmin 305 to arrive this week.  I hate training without it and have missed it so!!!

The one good thing about being able to swim is getting in exercise without giving your legs a beating...that is lacking at the moment!

It was amazing over the course of the past week how much strength has returned to my left arm.  Last weekend, sitting on the computrainer and moving around was awkward but felt good to go this past weekend.  DYING to get back outside on the bike with all this gorgeous weather!!!  I have a follow-up appointment Monday 7/11 with more Xrays.  Question is can I wait until after that to ride outside?  I was thinking about an easy test ride tonight with the husband to see how it felt.  Hard not to be outside riding as I am oh-so-inspired with watching the tour!!!

Way to go Cadel yesterday....!  Love watching the American teams do well (even if Cadel is Australian, he is totally kewl by me and even shares my maiden last name!!!)

Oh and I rode my motorcycle for the first time post crash on Monday.  It felt ok but turns and stops could have felt better.  Thinking I will give it a little more time before riding motorcycle far or much.

Ok, back to work for me!

Fast Friday Thoughts

*  Why do pre-holiday weeks seem to to drag on even more slowly than normal?  I am literally the only person in the office today!

*  My garmin 305 was also a casualty of my bike crash.  How do people live without them?  I ordered a new one today!  THANK GOODNESS!

*  The garmin ordering was compliments of the insurance check I got from Aflac.  That accident policy paid off. Funny, I never had given it much thought but I am actually really thankful that my boss had got it set up for us.  There was a waiting period on the policy and mine went into effect 6/1/11.  I crashed 6/14.  I guess the timing could've been worse!

*  Arm movement is returning more everyday and the shoulder hurts less and less. Ribs still ache.  Running motion is becoming more and more natural which leads me to...

*  Yesterday I went out at lunch to run with the Cleveland lunch run guys.  They were doing tempo.  I did not run with the fastest ones but ran with another guy at I'm guessing was a respectable pace (SO WISHED I HAD MY BELOVED GARMIN).  It was probably the first time I ran sub 8:30 since I got hurt.  Actually it felt very good, albeit a harder effort.  Sort of felt like a breakthrough confidence run and I was incredibly pleased with it...actually it made my day!  (Yesterday also seemed like a good day as I have a few other irons in the fire that I am crossing my fingers on and feeling slightly optimistic about...more on that if one of them actually pan out!)

*  My training efforts and consistency this week have been pretty good and I have been actually doing well dragging my butt out of bed early.
M:  50 min bike, 5 mile run
T:  3 mile run followed by some squats and lunges (easy day)
W:  60 min bike, 4 mile run
R:  6.5 mile run
F:  90 min bike

*  I got the worst blisters on my feet from my shoes yesterday.  :-(  SO NOT COOL.  I know they say not to pop them but I just cannot walk on those water bubbles so I did it anyways!

*  Super stoked for the long weekend.  Yeah I might be more excited if I could ride bicycles outside but I will get in a couple longer runs and a solid computrainer workout or 2!  Tonight will rock with dinner at our favorite Mexican joint with ESpeed and SSquirrel and the men before we go see Transformers!  Oh and I will be hitting sisters pool and lots of parties..of course!!!  BRING IT ON!