So close...

My forgetfulness made me miss the optional swim this week. I was just finishing up weight lifting on Saturday, mentally preparing for the swim when I realized I forgot my goggles and swim cap at home. DANG IT!!! No optional swim this week but I did every other workout and put in an extra strength training session.

Overall, the training is going quite well. On the Saturday run I felt some twinges of pain - just a matter of getting use to the distance after taking some down-time after the marathon (still ran, just short distance). Then the Sunday ride...

I woke up, checked the weather and it said occasional chance of shower. I looked outside - no rain - so I headed to Gainesville. Prepping of the ride was cold but still no rain. I layered up, borrowed boot covers from Coach Ed (thank you, thank you, thank you) and we headed out. Within the first ten miles the rain started coming down, fingers went numb, and the day started looking miserable. I wish I could say it got better. By mile 40 I was wondering what the signs of hypothermia were - I couldn't stop shaking, my heart rate would not go above 104 (even up the hills), and I couldn't feel my finger or toes.

On the plus side, I felt great for the 48.6 miles and we finished about 15 minutes faster then I expected (even on a dry day). The ride itself was the perfect mix of hills, flats, and pretty scenery. It also was not nearly as difficult as I remember which I take to mean I'm getting stronger.

We went to Foster's for cheeseburgers and beer after the ride. Then I went to Dude's for a super hot shower. He put the throw blankets in the dryer and bundled me up in them, made me some hot tea and left me so I could warm up and nap. Wow, he spoils me and I love it (sigh)!

This week is recovery week, so I'm getting a massage this evening. Then some "easy" training all week.

I'm Tired!

I sit here pondering this evenings ride. I'm tired!

Did I mention I did all of last week's training?! And I've done ALL of this week's training thus far (including strength). I'm tired!

Dude's was gone all week so the sleep I got was restless and cold. I missed my human heater and cuddler. I'm tired!

This week at work is crazy busy - after last night's workout I worked til 11:00(still made swim this morning). I'm tired!

I'm pseudo-boss for the next two workdays so no skipping out early on Friday (or showing up late on Monday). I'm tired!

I have an 11 mile run and a 50 mile bike ride to look forward to this weekend. I'm tired!

Pondering is over.

I'm tired but I'm heading out to get my ride in. 70 minutes in Zone 2 then a much needed training day off tomorrow.

It's IRONMAN - NOT Sissyman!

1st Time In...um ever

I did every single workout in the Team Z 140.6/Phase 3 training plan last week, to include the optional swim!! In the past, I rarely do strength training - to the point it doesn't count against my #32 in 101 in 1001 dollar totals. Throughout marathon training I skipped a practice at least once a week. And I've never made the Optional swim - there's a reason it says optional!

What's changed? This was the first official week of IMS training (it was considered marathon training before). I'm bearing down on only 4 months to go, and as Ed said, it's amazing what fear will get you to do. The bigger driver is I finally joined a gym - X-Sport Fitness. It's less then a mile from the office and Jason is a member so he is holding me accountable for the strength training (and got me to lift and swim after the Sat. run).

The shooting pain down my leg is gone. I did have some issues in my arch after running Saturday so I'm testing the Asics 2140 this week. They have quite a bit more stability then my Cumulus so we'll see how I like them.


The long ride at Glen Echo on Sunday rocked! I love my bike - so comfortable! My average speed was 15 mph so right now I'm looking at a 7 1/2 hour IMS bike split. Granted, Glen Echo is a hilly ride so maybe I can shave off a couple minutes. There was one near death experience when a truck came to a complete stop at a speed bump (bleeping idiot!!). Tires slid this way and that but somehow I did not fall. Heart rate got up to about 170 during that little slip-n-slide!

All this exercise left me exhausted. Poor Dude...we were sitting on the back deck talking last night and it was a struggle to keep my eyes open. When he went to cook dinner (the best ribs ever) I took a nap. It's going to be a long 124 days!

Looking forward to Week 2 of IMS training - let's see if I can do a repeat!

Mail Call

I have had two AWESOME mail days in a row!

Day one - three, yes, count them, THREE checks showed up.
Check from Robin for the Rumpass in the Bumpass relay (ka-ching)!
Company check to reimburse my cell-phone/blackberry bill (KA-ching).
And finally, the grand-daddy of all checks - my income tax return(KA_CHING!!!). Let me remind you what a portion of that went to...

Ahh, Pretty Penny!!!!

Day Two - Recieved two packages, yep TWO!!.
Penny's wing:


And a book I ordered: Becoming an Ironman: First Encounters with the Ultimate Endurance Event on Amazon. Let me explain...I've become obsessed with reading Ironman race reports. I can spend hours google-ing, searching blogs, etc. just to gather more nutrition tips, see where others went wrong, learn from peoples successes, etc. So, I found this book and last night I was awake until midnight reading about people's experiences.

Yaaawwwwnnnnn - swim practice came early this morning!

What can I say, I’ve been busy so here goes what’s happenin’ lately…

Thursday – Swam in am/Dinner with friends in pm

Friday – Gave blood – Just Do It!!

For dinner I made incredible Mussels in Saffron and White Wine Broth . Changes: I quartered the amount of mussels (2 pounds) but halved the sauce. Only other change is I did not have any ½ & ½ or any other dairy - didn’t miss it. I served this with some sautéed scallops because they are Dude’s favorites and some Italian bread for sopping up the broth.


Saturday – Attempted to run at Burke Lake - turned into a walk/ran due to back/butt pain. Made appointment for a massage. Ended day with dinner with friends.

Sunday – Cuddled with Dude – love to cuddle with Dude. Headed out for massage. Now, back in the day, getting a massage was relaxing. I’d lie down and within minutes I’d be sound asleep. Times have changed!
The massage therapist from Rejuvenating Massage Therapy was incredible. And by that I mean she awakened muscles that I did not know I had. It hurt a bit as she dug in but right after she was done I felt incredible. I followed her advice and drank plenty of water, took a long hot shower, and relaxed/stretched for the remainder of the day. I woke up around 11pm in pain – I mean tears in my eyes pain. Struggled to get a couple hours sleep and awoke on Monday feeling like someone used my back as a punching bag. I think this was normal reaction since I haven’t gotten a massage in years and never deep tissue. And with all the training, my body was in desperate need of a massage. I’ll go back – my plan is to go the Sunday before recovery week starts (after the long bike ride) or sometime at the beginning of recovery week. If you head to this place, despite the pain, I recommend Sarah. Vicky was also recommended if Sarah is unavailable.

Monday – Snow/Pain Day. Played hooky from work and ended the day by spinning. This was kick-off day for training for my A race (that’s IMS by the way). All I can say is HOLY COW!!! – seeing all of the volume that is planned for this month – this is the first time I’ve felt truly confident that I will be able to finish IMS...if I follow the plan!

Bedeep, Bedeep, Bedeep, That’s all folks.