Big Baby!

One upon a drunken spring break day in Mexico with more than a few beers in me, I drew a sunshine and explained the colors, rojo and anarillo that I wanted my sunshine tattoo done in. Maybe not the wisest choice, but heck, I was young and carefree!

So I have talked about perhaps getting some different there for about 6 of the last seven years....and....

Lots of sweating....

Heart is racing...

Kind of want to vomit....

Trying to breathe....

Need some orange juice...

Trying to relax but my tense body won't listen...

"Are we done yet?"

...and two hours and fifteen minutes of sheer pain later.....

Yup, got myself a new tattoo and yet another excuse to slack on my swim sessions. (No swimming 2-4 weeks while it heals!! I figured I better get it now as I could not take 2-4 weeks off closer to the season! Now I just need to get my body is to kick ass shape to show it off when I wear my bikini!!

Chili Bowl Update & A PR!

Well after carb loading with some Dos Equis at the Mexican restaurant Friday night I went home and put together my speed-inducing playlist for the day. I awoke early to head out to the far side of town for the Chili Bowl run. Met up half way with some friends and got to the race with plenty of time to spare. I quickly spied Liz and after a bit we were off on our warm up run.

The warm-up sort of stunk as the snow started to fall with a vengeance and it kept getting in my eyes. I was starting to think that the conditions were just not ideal given it was only about 15 degrees, snow and there was a light wind that would hit our face for a bit of the course.

The game plan was to hang with Liz who was using it as her tempo run and shoot for a PR. In my last 5K I had broke my old PR and thought that if I could just get close to my last one that it would be an accomplishment.

Upon the ring I was off. There were about 500 people racing and this race was chipped so it was a tight start. I was looking around a bit for Liz with all the people and before long, decided I was just going to go and not worry about it.

Mile 1 I was rocking out to I Like The Way You Move by the BodyRockers and was just moving along into the wind. I felt good and the crowd started to spread out a bit which was nice. I turned the corner and hit the split at 6:35 for Mile 1. A little nervous thought popped into my head hoping that I would not blow up with a fast first mile, so I backed off a bit. I made another turn and started picking off a few other runners. I got passed by this one female in this stretch that was clipping along at a good pace (incidentally later I watched her pick up the first overall female award--must have ran a nice negative split race) Still cranking the tunes and not feeling too bad I hit mile 2 with a 6:58 split. I started the one out and back section and had to slow a bit for a u turn and started heading back. I was happy I had run this part of the course in the warm up as I knew exactly what was left and I started to pick up the pace as we headed back. A few hundred yards I started pushing and was hoping to pass the only other female in my sights. I was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with this pace but I knew the end was near. Hit mile 3 with a 6:38 split. I picked up my final kick and the lady heard me coming and sped up as well. The end was slick and I just decided it would be too close so ended up sailing in behind her as I watched the clock read 20:51. Official chip time, 20:45, a 6:42 pace and a new PR!

Sweeeeeeet!! I was stoked as this was way above my expectations. On top of that, even as I manuevered a with the wintry conditions, I felt generally pretty good especially compared to many of my other 5Ks. So all & all, happy for the day! I ended up with a 1st age group award and 8/211 females and 58/484 overall.

The best thing in my opinion is the improvement. Last year at the Chili Bowl I was so excited as it was the first time I had ever broke 23 with my 06 time of 22:56. Then I danced around in the 22-23 minute range for most of the year and breaking 22 was this goal for the 2006 that I had for myself. Finally at my last race of the year I broke my 22:07 PR with a 21:37. Goal accomplished! I had thought about my goal for this year but still was not sure how things would go and then I came out first race of 2007 with a 20:45. All I can figure is my speedwork is helping! So we will just keep putting in the work and see what happens!

After the race, I cheered a few friends in. Liz, who had ran a nice even race according to plan, went for a cooldown but I was already starting to freeze so I declined to head in and change out of my wet clothes. The best part of these races is the aftermath and getting a chance to chat it up with fellow running buds. We goofed around snapping some pictures and BS-ing with others before I headed off for breakfast with a few pals and my long day of taking down wallpaper!

Quick Sunday Long-run Update

Well the schedule called for a 17 miler. I totally had not organized the plan so I was on my own as pretty much most of my normal running pals had something going. The weather conditions continued to deteriorate and I was not looking forward to a long cold run by myself. The towpath where I normally have been doing the long runs is currently buried and not really an option. So I decided I would meet the Sunday SERC group and hope I could keep up. I was even more nervous when I showed up the lone woman with about 20 guys. Oh well, I brought my headphones in case I ended up alone....just so I could find my way, I would be OK with that.

Always a good choice to run with others when it is crappy out. About two thirds of the run was slick but had some easier wet surfaces for a little while. I ended up running with 2 guys for the first 10 or so and then one split off as he had already ran 8 and was going to wrap up the 12 loop for 20 total and call it a day. The other guy and I continued on with two others to do the 15 mile loop. Some of the hills were slippery and I was kind of tired as my long run pace on this slick surface felt a little faster than normal, yet I was too headstrong to let up. We ended up back at the parking lot as snow men 15 miles later in about 2 hours, 10 minutes, so I guess we ran approximately 8:40 min pace. So not the 17 the schedule called for, but had got in the unscheduled 5K the day before and had ran 17 last week, so I am OK with that for the day. My warm shower when I got home felt so good!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

This morning I woke up early to look outside and see that the snow was still falling. My sweet Valentine, Joey, had been out plowing for most of the night. I had went out plowing what his freebie route last night which included a few friends and family who live close and after almost getting the truck stuck in one 3.5 foot deep driveway (partially caused by drifting winds) I knew he was most likely having one long night.

I walked downstairs to check the internet to see if my Jewish Community Center where I workout was listed as closed. I noted the Summit County one was closed and was nervous that I may drive all the way there at this crazy hour through horribly deep snow only to have it closed. So I went back upstairs to bed flipped on the tv and called Joey. I decided to take his advice to wait awhile before heading out as the roads where pretty deep...so I went back to sleep. I am such a slacker as I have all the equipment I could want right there at home...but this weather seemed to call for staying in bed, so I listened. An hour and a half later my alarm woke me up and I got ready for work. I was leaving a bit early in the hopes that I may get to work on time and as I grab my purse I see that at whatever crazy hour my husband left last night, he took the time to place a really sweet card in my purse. It is just these little things that mean so very much! So hope everyone else out there can find a smile on their face this Valentines Day even if you are looking at a lot of snow!!

Training Update ...it has been awhile

All & all things have been progressing well, except swimming, of course!

Mon 1/29 60 min spin, lower body weights

Tues 1/30 7 miles treadmill, 1 % incline

20 min w/u, 3-1600 at 6:49, 1 min recoveries, 15 min c/d

Wed 1/31 60 min spin class, abs, upper body weights, 1000 yds swam

Thu 2/1 7 miles treadmill, 1% incline

2 miles easy, 2 miles @ 7:24 pace, 3 miles easy

Fri 2/2 60 min spin, 40 min stat bike, lower body weights, abs

Sat 2/3 Dirty Dog Trail Run - 6.2 Snowy Miles 57:36

Sun 2/4 9 miserable miles at very cold temp

Mon 2/5 60 min spin, 1000 yds swam, upper body weights

Tues 2/6 7 miles treadmill, 1% incline

1 mile w/u, 4-800's @ 3:20, 2 min recovery, 8:13 pace for cooldown miles

lower body weights, abs

Wed 2/7 60 min spin, upper body weights

Thu 2/8 abs, 6.3 miles treadmill, 1% incline

1 mile easy, 5 miles at 8:24, 1 mile easy

Fri 2/9 60 min spin, 3.2 miles treadmill, 1% incline, interval training

Sat 2/10 1 hr, 45 minute trainer ride incl 1 hr spinerval dvd

Sun 2/11 17 mile run with Liz - watch messed up but were hitting around the desired 8:45 mile splits for the most part (although slowing down at the end) despite less than optimal conditions

Mon 2/12 Rest

Tues 2/13 7 miles treadmill, 1% incline

20 min w/u, 1200 (5:12), 1000 (4:14), 800 (3:17), 600 (2:41), 400 (1:34) , 200 m

RI, cool down; 3 miles stat bike, abs

10K's are not supposed to be this tough!!!

Well for some reason I found myself really looking forward to this race. Perhaps because I enjoyed it so much last year, mabe because I was planning to run for fun and not a fast pace, but I think because I was looking forward to hanging out with my friends!!!! I cannot say enough about my pals the journeyed out with me, most of them had to drive aways, it was crazy cold & I am thankful for every one of them!!

I woke up early Saturday as I wanted to make sure I was ready as everyone was supposed to meet at my place. Well needless to say I woke up way earlier than nescessary but it gave me plenty of time to prep my cold weather stuff. My trail shoes were in my car and I wanted to get them in the house early to warm them up before the race.

My pals started arriving and soon we were off to the race. We got there early to see that Mosquito Lake had ice fisherman tents all over the place on it. (you can see them in the backgound of the pic) It was cold as heck and the wind was not helping the temperature AT ALL!

For this race there was no awards and prizes were selected at random. I was psyched because I won a Vertical Runner technical shirt and both TriSaraTops and my friend, Beth won prizes too! There was no warm up and we ended up sitting in the car until 5 minutes before the race started. I was dressed warm as could be, complete with these huge insulated mittens, but I am a freeze baby that doesn't mind sweating, but hates to be cold....and it was really freiking cold. I hate to mention it as I am not sure how cold, but I am guessing it was around 8 when we started but with the windchill, it had to be below zero. We lined up and hung out long enough for me to start getting rather cold with numb toes before we were off.

We started off in a group and BS'd for awhile before my running partner Bob and I moved ahead. The terrain was tough to say the least. We crossed many a trees, 3 streams which I got one foot a little wet, and a ton of drifted snow. I would say at least every 15 steps or so I would loose my footing in my trail shoes and was all over the place. Bob and I manuevered around the path running with some dogs for awhile and trying to not twist an ankle. The course was gorgeous, covered in snow and everyone in good spirits. We ran throught the woods out by the frozen lake for awhile and then went through this path by the water which was a little deeper snow before heading out to this field by the main road. This was a tough section, the snow was deep and Bob seemed to pick up the pace and it was majorly tough to pass everyone in snow that was not as packed down. Half way in I could tell I was rather fatigued from the deep snow. There were very sparse, short, random sections we would hit where it was not snowy and it was unbelieveable how easy they felt.

As we went back through the trails there was one corner where many of us were confused if we should turn or go straight. We ended up standing there for a minute trying to figure it out and then making the turn which was the right call! Thank goodness as we were getting tired.

Of the most importance.....on the way back one of the volunteer appeared to be having medical trouble. As we ran past, we were all concerned and although I am totally in the blue what happened and the outcome I wish him the very best. As if it is not hard enough to run outside in this weather...I cannot imagine how cold the volunteers must be just standing there. THANKS TO ALL THE WONDERFUL SOULS WHO VOLUNTEER, ESPECIALLY IN THIS COLD ASS WEATHER!!!

So anyway finally we made it to the finish. I finished in 57:36, a 9:16 pace. I supppose I am not proud of this time, yet I was not running for time. I ended up 32 of 101 overall, 2 of 22 for women. Yet, I can say that it was not a 9:16 pace by any road race standard. I really felt like the conditions were so tough that I worked hard just due to these conditions.

I ran back to the car afterwards to grab my camera and grab some shots of my pals as they finished. I started to get really cold as I waited and by the time my last friend crossed the line I was running to the car to get warm.

I had so much fun hanging out with the girls afterwards at breakfast telling racing stories and tightly gripping my coffee cup trying to warm up. I drank more coffee at breakfast than I have in a really long time.

Highlight of the day---all my pals coming out despite this weather!!! Friends make it alll worth it!!!!!!

Tri Tag Time

Tri Tag Time

Just staying warm after our cold morning Dirty Dog run, report to come later after I have a chance to upload some sweet pics!! OK, so as not to let TriSaraTops down, I guess I am it...so here goes!

1. Describe a memory from your first triathlon ever.

A short and sweet small local tri out at Monroe falls, the SummiTri. I had went to the park and practiced with friends and we were not 100% sure of the course but had a pretty good idea of what it would be. On race day I was just moved my way through the course we practiced and did not pay much attention to the sign and had ended up totally missing the run turnaround and tacked on an extra quarter mile or so. Smooth! Somehow it really did not bother me much as I was happy to have completed my first tri with friends!!!

2. Describe a memory from your most recent triathlon.

At the Great Lakes tri which turned into a Duathlon due to the lake small craft advisory, I remember being totally relieved not to have to swim in that water. Even though the event did not turn out as planned and in the face of some strong winds, I learned that you have to be flexible out on the course....that and friends and support really can make the race!!

3. What's the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you in a tri?

While I have a rather embarssing marathon story, knocked a bike rack over in a duathlon, probably still the only real embarassing thing about a tri has been my sweet backstroke last summer in the Cleveland Tri. Forever a weak swimmer I just tried to make my way through a long swim (for me) even if it was going to have to be swam on my back! I zigzagged around the lake like crazy as spotting was even more difficult, but I made it and I was not last! Let's hope we never have to see that broke out at another race.

4. What's the most thrilling thing that's happened to you in a tri?

My most thrilling memory about a tri was at the Cleveland Tri downtown Cleveland. I had joined the Cleveland Tri Club early in 2006 and just several months later at the tri I was overwhelmed by the sense of support and camaderie among the fans and other members during the race. This course had many loops back and forth and the amount of positive comments duing and after the event really just made the day.

5. What is something you discovered about yourself by doing triathlons?

It is all about perspective. What I once thought was this huge accomplishment can become a reality with some work and then I am always dreaming of something bigger.

6. What is The Big Goal that you're working towards?

Hmmm, improvement overall. 2007 A races for now will be half ironman completion and a marathon PR with that BQ goal always in the back of my mind.

Clue about new toy.....

Triumph Daytona 675 Named 'International Bike Of The Year'
Dec 20, 2006

From a press release issued by Triumph:

DECEMBER 20, 2006 - It’s official: The Triumph Daytona 675 is the International Bike of the Year with praise from the professionals heaped on its incredible performance, unique character, stunning looks and superb handling.

Topping the prestigious 2006 International Bike of the Year (IBOTY) poll with a comfortable majority of the votes, the Triumph Daytona 675 has well and truly confirmed its status as the premier high performance motorcycle on the market.

This stylish machine crushed its closest competition, amassing more than twice the number of votes as any of its rivals and was awarded maximum votes by an astounding 6 of the 15 leading motorcycle magazines that participated.

This prestigious honor rounds off a superb year for Triumph’s newcomer, which has scooped a wealth of accolades from the world’s media. It was also victorious in the Supersport class at the world’s biggest sportsbike shootout, Masterbike, and has been named as bike of the year by various publications across the globe, from the USA to Australia.

Triumph’s Commercial Director, Tue Mantoni, commented: “Winning the International Bike of the Year Award with the Daytona 675 is a superb achievement for Triumph and we continue to be extremely proud of the bike that we have created. The Daytona 675 has now won nearly every motorcycle comparison test going, and we are confident that it will continue to achieve great things, as will the rest of our range for 2007.”

The Daytona 675 has redefined the standard for high performance sports bikes. It offers the perfect combination of handling, performance and looks. New to the already eye catching array of colors is a sleek black option and with its unique triple engine, which provides a rich and glorious growl, this exceptional motorcycle is undoubtedly the coolest model on the market.

ABOUT TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES

Triumph Motorcycles, the iconic British motorcycle marque, is solely owned by Bloor Holdings Ltd. First established in 1902 and now located in Hinckley, Leicestershire, Triumph has always set the pace for category winning machines. From the iconic Bonneville to the mould-breaking Daytona 675 Triple, Triumph offers a blend of design, character, sex appeal and performance that combines to create truly distinctive motorcycles.

www.triumphmotorcycles.com

Week recap

Another decent week in the bag, despite my fall. Can't keep this girl down!

Mon 1/22 60 minute spin class, Upper Body Workout

Tuesday 1/23 -Rest & recover from fall :-)

Wednesday 1/24 60 min spin class, 5 miles ran on treadmill, lower body workout, 1000 yards swam

Thursday 1/25 7 miles ran treadmill, abs

Friday 1/26 60 min spin class, 4 miles ran on treadmill, Upper Body Workout

Saturday 1/27 New Vision Cycling 2.5 hour butt kicking-speed drills kill me. Now that I have this nice new computer with cadence counter I really am working on keeping cadence in specified zones, my sweat puddle is so wrong at these!

Sunday 1/28 16 mile snowy run - Ran with normal friends and some extras. A couple of the extra guys were running just enough fast for us to try to keep up, yet faster than we probably would have normally went in the conditions, so had to work a bit on this one!

This was week one of lifting at the gym with my cousin on my lunch breaks. She is getting reacclimated to the gym and I really enjoy the company...hopefully the soreness will not scare her away!

Put money down on a new toy which I am totally so excited about!!!!! Details later!

Not my week...

Warning to others...don't run downstairs on a commerical break of 24...just a bad idea! For cying out loud I even have a DVR that if I missed 10 seconds I could still watch it.

Anyway Monday night decided to switch the laudry on a commercial break and proceed to run downstairs in these tractionless slipper socks. You see I have one of those 200 year old houses in which the basement stairs are the little wooden scary ones with no handrails and about the second step from the top, I slip right off and went down on my back side to the bottom. I sat there for a minute trying to collect myself as I was already in a good bit of pain before walking back up the stairs (forget about changing the laundry). Both of my elbows were bleeding, bruised and were swollen with golf balls on them and had hit so many areas on my back side on the way down. So I sat on the couch and the hubby brought my ice packs for my elbows and I did not move the rest of the night.

I always make fun of my mom as she is somewhat of a clutz (although she will never admit it) and recently my dad took a fall. This of course turned into me making fun of him for hanging out with her too much. Apparently I was hanging out with her too much too! Originally I was concerned that I had seriously did something to my left elbow but after moving around on Tuesday I knew I was just bruised and all body parts were still functional. Tailbone is just killing me though this week doing situps!

So then Wednesday I head to the pool on my lunch break in which every minute is critical as I am always rushed to fit everything in. Upon walking into the pool area the lanes are pretty busy with people splitting every lane except the fast lane. Now at this point there is a 2 slow, 2 medium, and 1 fast lane and even though I consider myself as slow, lunch hour crowd there is typically older folk that who go really slow. As a courtesy before entering the lane you are supposed to notify the person that you are splitting with. So I wait AHWHILE thinking I have no reason to feel bad swimming in the fast lane as this lady I am waiting to notify is barely moving. Finally I let her know and hop in and start my swim. Not more than 5 minutes later I see a middle age man standing at the end wanting to get in and circle swim. I knew this was not going to work with slow old lady but what can you say. So I say fine and start. It was horrible. Slow me would catch up to both of them within a few strokes and then have swim 3/4 of the pool at snails pace. I was getting agitated as I lost count of my laps and could not get in any rhythm. I felt bad because the slow lady would stop at the ends at let me pass but she said she felt bad she was holding me up. I did not want her to feel bad but she had to know she really should not swim that lane. I guess I was the most annoyed with the guy as he was not much faster (at all) than the old lady and I really felt he had no business going to the fast lanes and asking the people to circle swim. I don't know...much of the pool ettiquette is new to me and I never would say something to make one feel bad but this just had me absolutely frazzeled. Never thought slow me would have so much trouble with slow people in the fast lane.

Week Recap-

Wow has our weather changed this week! As much as I believe I was meant to live in the tropics, at least I married someone who plows snow so that I actually don't mind so much when it snows so he can make some $$. So this weekend it was time to suck it up, bundle up and head out into the snow.

I must say that every time I get out there and run it is really not too bad!

This week has been full of training and I have been feeling pretty good. Here is a quick rundown...

Monday 1/15 16.5 stationary bike, 2 miles treadmill (This was probably about the hardest I have pushed myself on a stationary bike doing an interval workout but doing alternating 30 seconds normal cadence and 30 high cadence at each level.)

Tuesday 1/16 7 miles treadmill, Lower Body Workout (Squats and lunges had me aching the following two days pretty bad)

Wednesday 1/17 Slept in instead of hitting the gym at 6AM, 1 hour trainer evening

Thursday 1/18 6 miles on treadmill -arrived to gym late so had no time for the originally planned 7th mile, but felt strong the whole run

Friday 1/19 1 hr spin, abs, 1000 yards swam

Saturday - Brick with Jodi which was 3 hours on trainer, 40 minute run. When she emailed what she had planned for the day I thought that sounded like an incredibly long time to be training. However it is amazing how fast time flies with friends and before I knew it, we were done.

Spent the rest of the Saturday cleaning house which was so overdue and was so tired I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30!! Wild & crazy Saturday night I had!!

Sunday, awoke nice and early for my 16 mile run with some friends out on the towpath. I decided to get splits on the run to try to gauge what pace we are doing most of our long runs. Despite the snowy trail we were very consistently hitting them at 9 flat. I figure given the conditions that it was fine by me. On my last long run 2 weeks ago which was 14 miles I was really waiting for the end to come as I felt a bit fatigued. Strangely this week on the snow I felt extremely good and could have kept going with no problems. What an awesome way to feel after a long run!! This was an extemely good thing because then we spent the day moving my hubby's sister! Is it bedtime yet??

Yeah, I know...I will put in a rest day next week, but at least I slept in one morning!!

Training update!

Well sneaking in a couple minutes to at least log my training for the week as I am ready to hit the hay already after my fun-filled day mostly filled with baptism activities....!

Mon 1/8 - 1 hr spin class, 2 miles treadmill, Lower Body workout...very sore from the lunges for the following 2 days

Tues 1/9 - 7 miles treadmill (req'd more effort than usual to get in before 60 minute cutoff); Lifted Bi, Tri, Shoulders

Wed 1/10 - 1 hr spin, 15 min stationary bike; swam 1000 yards; lifted chest back; abs

Thurs 1/11 - 7 miles treadmill (increasing speed intervals 6.5-8.5 with .5 increase per minute, finished comfortably in 58 min)

Fri 1/12 - 1 hr spin, upper body workout, abs

Sat 1/13 - 15 minute warm-up followed by 2 hour New Vision Cylcing class

Sun 1/14 - 9 mile outside run (long run cut short this week on account of full day's schedule)

All & all felt pretty good this week. Went 5/5 with my 6 AM hour gym arrivals so that was an accomplishment in itself! Good night folks!

PS- Jack Baurer is da man!

First an aunt, soon a godparent!!

As my aunt responsibility it is again time to talk about my two favorite little cutie pies!!!

So in other non-tri news Sunday my husband & I, as well as my cousin and his wife will be standing up for Erin & Alyssa's baptism. So all this stuff is pretty new to me and if anyone has any traditions, great gift ideas, or things I should know, feel free to let me know.

Guess I will be missing my group Sunday run...may have to have a lonely one!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well where to start...it has been awhile.

I am working on wrapping up all my side consulting work here in the next week or so which will relieve a huge weight off of my shoulders as this final push has been a tad much to say the least. Then I can focus not only on my full time job, but also all the training and other things that have been significantly impacted.

The training has been going pretty well despite some minor aches and pains. I have had the opportunity to enjoy some long runs the last few weekends with some great company. Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, ran a hilly 13.1 mile run with Southeast Running Club. Then New Years Eve I followed that up with a 5K New Years Eve race. After my morning run I was not overly optimistic about what my performance would be on this hilly course, but ended up with a 22:46 and 2nd in my age group. Not too bad especially considering the decent turnout for the event.

This morning headed out to the towpath for a 14 mile run with some friends which was a nice consistent effort which went pretty well. As a side note these last three longs runs have been the best in a very long time as I have not had to make a bathroom stop on account of stomach issues on any of them. Whatever the reason, this is progress!!!

On the biking front, a lot of credit goes to my hubby. For Christmas he bought me a bad arse new Butterfly seat as he must have got worried with me complaining about my female area so often. My old seat was the original one and let me just say it was definitely not all that comfortable. He also got me a new computer which has the cadence counter, so that has been very helpful with the Spinerval DVDs (thanks again Lou) and the New Vision Cycling workouts(which are totally the coolest, yet tough workouts). Other than that I have been getting in some variety here with some great spinning classes, spinerval workouts, New Vision workouts, and just time in on the trainer cleaning out the ironmans saved on the DVR.

Swimming is still not my strong suit and my focus here is probably not helping. I try to swim 3 days a week on my lunch break at work, 1000 yards a time. I am strongly considering hitting the Orange Masters swm, but somewhat concerned that I may not be able to keep up with the easy folk. I guess there is only one way to get better and that is to take things out of the comfort zone...so we'll see!

So many other things to mention which I will save for some other posts which I am hoping to get back in the habit of making on a more regular basis.

If nothing else, I want to try to at least keep a running tally of my workouts a bit better which I will try to keep up to date.

1/1 90 minute trainer ride
1/2 30 minute bike, 2 miles treadmill---50 mile motorcycle ride (since when does this happen in January??!!)
1/3 1 hr spin class, 4 miles treadmill, 1000 yards swam
1/4 Upper Body Workout
1/5 1 hour spin class, 3.2 miles treadmill
1/6 2 hour New Vision Cycling
1/7 14 miles, towpath

Finally I have finally decided to send in the money today for Cleveland Marathon!

07 Tenative Season
2/3 Dirty Dog 10 K Trail Run
2/17 Chili Bowl 5 K
3/4 Youngstown 1/2 marathon
3/10 St Malachi 5 mile
4/5 Hinckly Buzzzard Du
5/6 Silver Spings Du
5/20 Cleveland Marathon
Sunday in June
6/24 Summi Tri (Spint)
July --Sweet Corn Century Ride
8/5 Cleveland tri (sprint)
8/12 Greater Cleveland Tri (1st half!!)
9/16 Portage Lakes
Fall Marathon to be decided

Short and Sweet!

The magic 22 mark finally went down this weekend at the Reindeer Run 5K!

21:37 for a 7:00 min/mile pace!!

Yeah!!!

So I know many others can handle this without too much difficulty....but it has taken me a bit to get here...so definitely a good way to head into the end of the year!!

Details later when I have more time......

Tidbits

So I am having trouble finding time to post, clean the house and all those other general things that are being pushed to the wayside momentarily....but one more week and hopefully things should get better.

Taking the Series 7 test next Wednesday 12/6 and would much prefer to put in some extra studying and pass than the alternative!!

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Okay so now I must mention how totally excited and thankful I am for my early Christmas present from my parents. A new trainer!!!!! It came Monday. It is a Kurt Kinetic trainer that I found thanks to Jodi! Last night I put it together and hoppped on my bike to try it out for one minute before we had to head out the door. I can't wait to actually try it out. For some reason though the bike seems crooked. I am not sure if it is my old floor or something is not adjusted just right. I will have to figure this out I suppose. The only thing I don't like about biking is figuring out all the gadgets and what is wrong.

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Training has been going pretty well. Today hit 1 hr 6 AM spin class followed by 4.2 mile treadmill run and then cam eback to the gym on the lunch hour for 1000 yard swim....hence why I am just not feeling overly energetic for a trainer ride tonight.
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I totally fell off the eating wagon over the holiday with a million family gatherings...but the good thing is I have gotten back on it!

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Did the Pigskin run the day of the OSU / Michigan game. Go Buckeyes!!! Total time 22:40 at a 7:22 pace. Holy fan support downtown Cleveland!!
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Lastly, turkey trot run on Thursday was pretty awesome. First and foremost the last two years I barely made it downtown Cleveland for the event on account of horrible driving conditions. This year it was sunny and around 50!!! I was enjoying the morning and seeing many friends at this race of nearly 2000 people.

I had made myself a new playlist on my Ipod which I swear makes a huge difference when I run. I decided to just see what I could do on the race. It has been so long that I don't have my splits anymore but I ended up with a time of 36:13 for the 5 miler at a 7:16 pace. They were giving away pies to the first 50 females and the first 50 males. I guess the far-fetched goal in my head was to win one, not because I really wanted a pie, but I just wanted to win it. No such luck with that though as the 50 for females was somewhere in the 35s...there are so many fast women in this darn town!!

So since I missed that far-fetched goal I will just have to focus on another one for this weekend's Reindeer Run 5K of somehow breaking that 22 minute mark that I have yet to accomplish...last shot for 2006. If nothing else, I will go out trying!!

Quick weekend recap....

I had spent the evening Friday hitting a few stores in the hopes of finding a windbreaker which would help keep me warm during Saturday morning's du. On the 4th store (thankfully the hubby was also in pursuit of a garment he could not find either) I finally found an insulated windbreaker at Target in the boys section for $14.99 that I thought would do the trick...major score as it was way better than the $50+ ones I was scoping out at Dicks.

Saturday woke up to a crisp morning and hoped I would watch my temperature rise as I left the house at a cool 28 degrees. It warmed a bit until I started dropping into the valley where the event was held. My car, G-unit (as it is a Pontiac G-6) said 27 degrees. Brrr....oh well, I shound warm up on the run anyways.

There was 8 of us doing the event. I was pretty sore from weight training & Friday's spin class but with the countdown I was off. I tried to hold back for a little while on the run and just tried to stay close with the only other female, melanie who was running strong. 3rd one in of 8, 2 mile run one, 14:11. At T1, I had planned to put on my new windbreaker but I was so hot from the run, I did not bother.

Lesson of the day- Test the bike befoe every event. So I started off only to hear my front brake dragging. I kept trying to fix it while I rode for the first 4 or 5 miles and then I just decided to deal with it. It was not too bad once I just quit worrying about it. I managed to catch Melanie (who totally kicked butt as she was on a mountain bike) and then just tried to keep a steady pace. My body was plenty warm but I could not wait to get off the bike on account of very numb toes. 13 mile-ish bike time 44:39.

As I entered t2 now in second (behind this guy who just destroyed the rest of us), I complained a bit about my toes and was off. Ouch, ouch..poor numb toes. 2 miles later (17:15) I came in to the finish still in second with a total time of 1 :15:35. I will take that 2 plus minute improvement over two weeks ago, even with a dragging brake. (2 weeks ago it was 14:39, 45:10, 18:08 for a total time of 1:17:57).

Totally a great morning despite the cold. I tell ya that the best part about these events is doing them with a great group of competitors and volunteers. I cannot say enough about the volunteers who cheered everyone on in the cold!

Sunday morning, woke up early again to head to the 5K on the other side of town with TriSaraTops, Buckeye Runner, and many other familiar faces. This race is one that counts for points in the Hermes Road Race series, so I was not sure what to expect on legs that were far from fresh. However before long I was off. The first mile heads down a small hill and up a medium one. I was attempting to hold back a bit the first mile which was 7:19. I had felt pretty comfortable at that point and started to pick it up a bit. There was some wind in the face for mile 2 and was trying to pick up the pace a bit mile 2- 7:04. On the last mile as I tried to con myself in to dealing with some pain for just a little while longer, my quads started to tighten as I rounded the final stretch. When I saw the timer I was disappointed to see the clock ticking over 23. Final time 23:04. As it turned out, the race director said the race was a bit long at 3.2 miles. So slight redemption.

The time was good enough to get 1st in my AG. Trisaratops was right behind me for the unofficial 2nd in our age group. (Her chip did not work, so she got screwed out of a cute tuffed animal).

At any rate, today I took off on acount of some sore legs after my busy weekend!

Weekends are not for resting...

My body will adjust here at some point.....

At the moment I need to give myself an assist sitting down and I am willing to take the stairs up but not down...ouch!

All this variety in my workouts with weight-training and spinning has really woken up some new muscles which is a good thing, right??? I tend to think so and I can say I have really enjoyed the challenge of new things.

However....

This weekend I had planned to do the Cleveland Tri Club duathlon on Saturday and then my Hermes Road Race Series 5k on Sunday. So even though a bit sore, I will just go ahead and attempt both, even if it means a PR is not in the cards. So here is to the start of another fun weekend!!!!!!!!!

22.5

22.5% body fat. 133 lbs

Somewhat embarassed to put it out for all, but that was the number the trainer this morning came up to. He did the 9 spot caliper pinch measurement following another solid workout.

It was an interesting conversation as we talked about where the different numbers in different areas could be improved and which areas will be more difficult on account of my high cardio training (stomach...grrr, I am going to find a way to show it can be done).

My takeway is to not worry about calories so much, but focus on intaking quality food (not high fat content, etc.) and probably add more lean protein.

Recent nutrition (minus the Halloween party-too many beers!) has been improved and I find myself really enjoying all of my additional weight lifting in addition to my normal runs, swims, and bikes. The weight training has led to a lot of muscle soreness over the last couple weeks, which hurts on one hand but sort of feel good on the other.

So for now, I have a reference point in writing to work with. These numbers will be coming down..............!

Time crunch!

So it seems hard to find the time to even look on the internet, let alone manage a post. I have been doing some quick browsing of my peeps when I have a minute but have rarely even taken the time to comment.

However, that does not mean I am still not trying to find time for training. First off I am proud to say that after more than a month off of swimming I hit the pool today for the first time at the new gym!!!! Aghh, 25 yards is way better than 15!!! Perhaps now I know what is up I will start to swim again on a regular basis...which I really really need to do!

Other than that, it has been some decent runs, spinnning classes, and weight training. The new gym had 2 free trainer sesssions so I took advantage of that. The trainer had me do a bunch of weight lifting which really got my heart rate up. I could really tell that I worked some different muscles and have been a good sore from that. I find it totally awesome to just get different folks perspectives on some different routines. I will definitely try to incorporate a few ideas of his.

Oh the duathlon last Saturday, I felt as though I was still not yet quite recover ed from the marathon as I was somewhat fatigued the entire time it seemed. It was a 2 mile run, 13 mile-ish bike, 2 mile run. My splits were 14:39/ 45:10/ 18:08-total 1:17:57. So not too bad. Finished 1 of 2 females. 9 of 15 overall.

In a hurry at the moment as usual as we are having huge Halloween bash thus weekend and heading out the door to shop.

Vow to self!!!

Must work on nutrition!

I always ensure I do what it takes to run/bike/swim what is nescessary to put me where I need to be. Now I need to use that sort of focus with my intake, as it seems to be causing me many too many issues. Definitely Goal #1 going forward!

Goal #2 recover and get IT Band and all other minor issues healthy!

Columbus Marathon Recap

Forgive any errors, wrote fast...

We will just start at the beginning. Last week I took this fantastic bootcamp class but unfortunately these crazy fast switching lounge moves resulted in a very bruised knee cap on my good leg. The IT band on my other leg still hurt, yet I have become accustomed to the pain. So despite these minor annoyances I was still pysched for my second marathon. My only other marathon was Columbus in 1998 and now I was heading back.

My husband, Joey and I hopped in the car for our 2.5 hour trip to Columbus. First stop, Starbucks for my non-fat Pumpkin Latte which was oh-so-delicious and then to my old college roomie, Liz's house just outside of Columbus. The 3 of us headed down to the expo which was stacked with people. After some browsing and grabbing things, we headed off to dinner at Bravo. After dinner we watched some movies and I hit the hay.

Race day woke up feeling pretty good. The three of us drove back into town as I ate a Clif Bar and I took in the excitement. It was the first time my husband and friend had been to an event like this. So many people, music, and a general excitement in the air when so many others are still in bed.

I made my way to the start and with the gun started off with the 3:40 pace group. Perhaps I should have started off slower....but I was feeling pretty good and figured if I had a shot I might as well try. The Clif Shot pacer was right on every mark. 5 miles in, I was right where I wanted at 41:52. The group was so big and there were so many people that with every water stop when I slowed it seemed like a challenge to get beck to the pacer. I hung with them until just after mile 7 when I felt my IT band grab. With 10 steps it seemed to feel better, yet I was now nervous and more than anything I just wanted to finish so I decided to slow down.

Just after 8, I spotted Joey and Liz and trotted over to shed my jacket and earwarmers. With a quick sweaty kiss (of course to Joey!!!) I was back off. About that time, the insides started to churn. Crap! I started looking for Port-O-Potties (POP) with no line, passed the half way marathon point at 1:55:18 which was not far off my half PR of 1:53. Then I made a stop at the POP and was back off.

About this time I started thinking that so many others had headphones and now I was running by myself and was really wishing I had mine. I started to think that now that qualifying for Boston was totally out of the question (even though it was a far-fetched notion I suppose now) I really did not care about how fast I finished, just so I did finish. My pace was really slowing.

I was feeling OK about this point but before long my insides announced they were not fine yet. About 15, I was in a lot of pain as I needed another POP. The one at 17 could not come soon enough and there was a line. It seemed like the longest line. I watched the 4 hr pace group go by and finally it was my turn. Then I realized why the POP line was moving slow, no TP. Just great, had to improvise. Finally I was back out. I kept alternating between feeling pretty good and picking up the pace to my numb aching balls of my feet, my super sore knees, and my knotted insides. One lady running by was encouraging...she said she should know something it was her 131st marathon...holy cow I thought! I marvelled over the many different people you see out on the course. The music along the course and fans helped. I was still really missing the headphones.

Finally to 20 now at 3:12:55, I ducked into the POP for a third time. I was excited to start counting down from that point. My pace was discouraging but everytime I picked it up, my insides seemed to get worse, so I just kept things slow and steady. Around 24 or 25 I thought about hitting the POP again, but I just kept trying to con my body into letting me just wait until the end. There was an older gentleman running with another man who yelled out in pain which really put it into perspective for me that I had no reason to whine. I think he had a cramp, but his running buddy was helping him through it.

I was so excited to round the final corner and see the finish line. I picked up the pace significantly for the last 200 and passed several people. After crossing the line, I was psyched and in a ton of pain. Total time 4:17:56 so a 9:51 pace. Total time in POP, way too much!

I do not recall feeling so spent after my first one. I was in a lot of pain. Walking was hard. Both knees were really sore. I think the balls of my feet were bruised. So many other things hurt too. I kept thinking I cannot imagine how the ironmen and women do this whole thing after swimming and biking so far.

All in all, my husband and Liz totally made the day with their support. I was so thankful for the crowd suppport & volunteers and all my training partners who have helped me to once again finish another marathon. 2006 time 4:17:56, 1998 time 4:40...so I will take that improvement. The thing here is given all of this races isssues, I know I can do better next marathon...to be continued!