New Year!

Schedule

Monday (1/6), Wednesday, and Friday are big work days. Probably not much longer than 8 hours, but won't have time to leave in the middle of the day. I will get in early though so I can make it to the pool for the 3:30-6pm lap swim time. I might have to go to masters these nights if the day gets to long. Does that make sense?

Saturday- 1/11 - I will have to work for a couple of hours.  Finish up some stuff from Friday.

Other- Have gotten in contact with an MSU trip club member and a student senator. They are planning on putting on a race in the spring. I think April. I don't know how they are going to pull off anything good in four months. Further, everybody I have talked to says if I want MSU support for putting on a triathlon it should to be student directed. I call BS on this. We saw what happens with that this year with the cross race. Students come and go and have no long term interest in keeping a race going.

So this got me thinking and I think I am going to try and meet the pool director tomorrow. I might not even need MSU support to put the Bobcat on. I might have to pay to rent the pool, but I don't really care about MSU engagement for the race. The ultimate purpose would be to put on an awesome Montana race. It always has been.
Stay tuned.....

Nothing super exciting happened this week. My asthma went away on Friday. I guess the Advair really works. Maybe stress.

I got back at it on Friday and after some really good sleep Friday night felt so much better.

Saturday
Swimming was an adventure.  The 50 m pool was all lap swimming with one lane line in the middle of the pool. I was telling someone this and they were thinking we had to duck in the middle, but no the other way. I am so glad school is starting and I can swim at MSU on weekends if I need to. Worked a lot day. Came home and rode the trainer.

Sunday
Masters swim. I had fun. We did lots of sets of 14. In the end we had sprints and there were three of us. Tried to all sprint in one lane at the same time. Good open water but in the pool practice. It was pretty funny. Then we raced each other with just two each time. Ran after the swim. It was cold outside and the ground a little precarious at times.
Am feeling good about my run right now. One hour is pretty easy. I remember this not being the case in the past couple of years.

Monday
Swam. It was okay. Feeling a little off this day. Very wiggly when I try and go hard and have to breath on one side.
Rode rollers and watched bad TV. I feel guilty about it but I really enjoy the rollers in the winter. I like bad TV I guess. I don't like riding outside when it is cold.

Tuesday
Met a friend for the swim. She is usually faster than me but I held her this time. Excited about this! Also excited to maybe have a swim partner at MSU. I like having people to chase when I am supposed to go fast.
Got engrossed in my Bobcat planning and ran for an hour. I'm having a hard time finding a good 45 minute loop.

Wednesday
Ski was just shy of 3 hours. Wow, I am tired though. The snow after the 5 mile mark was really heavy and not recently groomed. I am blaming that on why I am so tired.  Went uphill for 8-10 miles and came down the same way. Beautiful. Love skiing up there.

Christmas

This blog isn't going to be very good. It's Wednesday night and I am pooped.

So some thoughts and highlights of the week. May be a little scattered. I keep thinking it is Sunday.

Sunday masters was Christmas fun day. We did the 12 days of Christmas. For example 5 golden rings was 5 50s doing a flip every 5 strokes. 8 was diving off the blocks 8 times which for some turned into  front flips etc. It was really fun and even hard. I was worked in a lot of strange places when it was all said and done.

Monday- the MSU gym is remodeling making it very easy to sneak in. Lawrence came and did the swim with me. We raced on the builds and really pushed the descends. I was keeping him in sight which has never ever happened. He even said I was getting faster. I can attribute a lot of it to my super awesome flipturns since I practice them so much in that pool.
BTW- why so much kicking with fins and strong kick? A more consistent kick? Stronger kick.

A cycling girl in Bozeman who is also a PT has two computrainers. I chatted with her about cycling a bit. Can we revisit power? Annalisa could set me up with some numbers (threshold test) and John and Lisa have the equipment I could borrow. I would like to get faster this year especially for doing those shorter races.

A downer of the week
I seem to be having as bout of asthma right now. My chest felt very tight yesterday skiing and I used the nebulizer 2x today. I think I would have been okay after the first time but Erik's moms is full of animal hair, dust, and smoke from the wood stove. Since my lungs were already bad I don't think that helped. Not actually feeling very well right now. Not sure what triggered it. Maybe have a little cold coming on. So, after all that I didn't get to enjoy my wonderful Christmas run.

Some quotes I accumulated in the last couple of days

My mom bought me a t shirt in a cute little bike shop in Wisconsin called Zuzu pedals "for a groovy bike life" the shirt says "run wild, my child"
Suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance, character. (I am not religious, but I got that from the bible. The bible says that character leads to hope but I don't really understand that last one yet, maybe someday)

Schedule-
Long work day Friday. A few hours of a work day Saturday.
Next week, not much going on. Lawrence is out of town and I am not sure I want to swim a long set by myself on New Years Eve? Thoughts?

Wouldn't mind skate skiing again. Either on the weekend or New Years day.

Hmmm (can't think of a title)

I changed the settings so if you go to those video links that I sent you last week they should work. I think

I think I should get a C- this week for my ability to read instructions and actually execute everything on the list. My ride on Sunday left me a few minutes short which made me suspicious because you never and I will repeat never, get the timing wrong. So upon further inspection those high cadence intervals were supposed to be done 3x not 1x. I was sooo tired though and it was already late. I didn't have the energy to do it. Then in the pool on Monday I ended up at the other end of the pool and didn't have my workout so wasn't sure what I was supposed to even do. Missed a 25 FAST. Made up for it by doing a 25 FAST but not in the correct order, so am not sure how effective that was. Also, forgot to use the paddles for a 200. Really not sure what is wrong with my brain.Suggestions for brain superfood?

Schedule- In Bozeman for Christmas. I only get Wednesday off. :(  However, I am going to take Tuesday off but am going back to work for a big day Thursday (ugghh). I was hoping to get in some good skiing on Tuesday or Wednesday. Most likely Tuesday. Will definitely have time for a run or ride on Wednesday. I need it after spending the morning with the mother in law.  Maybe a little ahead of myself for New Year's. When are you gone? Not sure about what we are doing. Also, only get Wednesday off. It would be fun to go on some sort of skiing or hotspring adventure.  I still need to think about it some more. Or, an epic New Year's eve day swim. I might even be able to round up some people. Will you write me something fun?

This weekend- Home with nothing but errands and some shopping for Christmas. Wouldn't mind getting in a ski!

Friday-
Wow, I was tired on this day. Masters swim on Thursday was a 1300 warm up. Long warm up, 800 descend, 600 (100 fast/100easy), 400 (50 fast/50 easy), 200 easy. 3300 total. I got lapped on the first 800 so only did 3200. My arms were tired and on Friday's swim my arms were more tired. Full PT session included all of the stretching. I woke up on Saturday feeling like I got beat up. Probably good to have a couple days to recover. Monday felt great!!

My weekend got kind of ordered around by my mother. Which means no inclination that I might need to get some exercise. It was a very nice Saturday though, so I am not really complaining. Lots of family in one day. My cousin makes chocolates, cookies, cakes etc. and I think I ate my fill for the whole year. Her's are just so delicious. I don't have much of a sweet tooth and still feel like I need to counter it with salty and vinegary. Feel like I gained 5lbs (stepped on the scale and have confirmation, need to get rid of that).  Sunday I got up and went for a run in Laurel. I decided these runs are my days to make peace with the wind. It was so windy I think I was stopped more than once and blown off the road when I finally got a crosswind. Got home from Billings/Laurel at around 6 and got on the bike. You already heard about that above.

Monday- Swim. Good swim. Finished 2700 in just about an hour. Liked those faster sets. Also heard about this above. Did this swim at lunch but had a huge work day. Left work at 8. Got on the rollers at 8:24. Got off at 9:24.

Tuesday- Went and did full PT session after work. In about 30 minutes I got in most of it.
Masters swim was very fly focused. In the 50m pool, so drills were 50m long. Chest press drill. I think it helped my fly. That is too long for me to swim lots of 50s. Focused on form etc for 25 and then swam free if I needed to. Did 2 400s where we did either 3 or 4 fly off the wall. That was really fun. Made the 400 hard but also broke it up. I could handle some of that in more workouts. Good solid swim

Wed- Another good solid swim. Liked this workout too. Going home to ride rollers.


That's about it. Nothing exciting. Not much new. Feeling good about the swim. Oh, I have bought some good shampoo but still go around feeling itchy, staticy, and like my hair is dirty.

Bobcat

First, I have decided to move forward with the Bobcat. I composed a letter appealing to the MSU year of Engaged Leadership and am sending it to a bunch of offices/people on campus to see who will bite. I was very nervous to hit send on that first letter. We will see how it goes. I think that if I can get permission to use the pool and campus the goal would be to have most of the ducks in a row before the Grizzly. Advertise at the Grizzly and maybe even open registration the Monday after. If I don't have things organized enough to do it by then, then maybe the race will start in 2015. A lot to do, but I need to get MSU permission first. Fingers crossed.
Can we talk a little more about the insurance. I don't really understand how you save $15,000 so was hoping for some more details. I am all about trying to save money so that it can go back toward the racers.

Also, should start trying to take a harder look at races and schedule? I can work on that this week. Got signed up for Calgary!!

Schedule- I am going to Billings this weekend for my Aunt's birthday. Probably a good weekend to go. No Masters because of a swim meet and no MSU pool because of the holiday schedule. Will leave mid morning on Saturday and come home Sunday.  Maybe a list for the weekend would be good. I can run in Billings on Sunday morning and can ride Saturday morning and Sunday evening. But I think a list would be less stressful.
Next Thursday I think I am going to some Christmas play with my mom. It probably starts around 7 so no Masters that day. As far as work, so far I am free. Have a meeting in a couple of minutes so will know more then.

I had Lawrence film me at the 30 minute swim. Out of the water, but thought you might like to have a look. I am the one in the awful black swimsuit. We had an ugly swimsuit competition and Audrey is the one wearing the skirt.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?pid=5955140980780659634&oid=116359595224112393355

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?pid=5955139337978423490&oid=116359595224112393355

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?pid=5955138091404705922&oid=116359595224112393355

(By the way, I may have tried to share these videos with you through google. I am still trying to navigate the google apps. I think I found a way to store them and thought I could email the link. I don't think it worked)

30 minute swim- I felt good about it. 1585. Stayed within 50 of almost everybody in my lane (a few were ahead by a bit more) at Masters and only missed the flip turn 2x. I think in the past my speed on the 30 minute swim was about 2:00/100. I think this year it was more like 1:50/100.

Did Sunday's run on the treadmill.It was still in the negative digits outside. Got a lot of Bobcat stuff workout out in my head. I cannot run fast on the treadmill. Not fast at all. This is one day where I was feeling particularly slow. Put the machine on random so I did go up lots of hills though. Is that bad or should I force myself to go a more normal outside pace?

Monday- Had one of those "couldn't deal with the day" mornings and called in sick. Finished my letter for the Bobcat and did some stuff around the house. Went to the pool and had a great swim. Was feeling really good. Did the whole PT routine. I did some straight leg dead lifts instead of the exercise ball for my hamstrings. There is another one called hamstring exploders that we used to do in g-fit. Is that okay? I find that plank, bridge, the back exercises etc really work my lower back. By the time I get to the hamstrings my back is so tired I don't get in much legs. Even if I do the lower back and then the hamstring it is tired. I guess I could do hamstrings first? What do you think.

Tuesday- Oops. Missed the pickups. Gave myself 30 minutes on the treadmill before meeting my mom for lunch. Didn't remember there was more to the workout until I was starting the run but then couldn't remember what was more to the workout. Ran faster than normal if that helps.

Rode the trainer in the evening. Since I have been avoiding all my bike issues since IM Wisconsin my cleat still had two screws in it. Ended up getting stuck in my pedal and I think I broke the cleat trying to get out. Crap. Why didn't I just fix it earlier? I meant to have Erik look at it. The metal part is still stuck to the pedal. Might have to switch to different pedals and shoes until I can get new cleats.

Wed- Swim. Looks pretty doable. Am going to get in a good PT routine tonight too.

Thankful on Thanksgiving

I had a couple of glasses of wine on Thanksgiving which I think was helping me to feel incredibly grateful to everybody in my life. I held back though and didn't start sending out random emails and texts. Still feeling so grateful for the incredible life I have gotten to have so far and all the people in it. Elliot, you are still my rock. Thank you very much.

The highlight of the whole week! I raced(really went after) the Huffing for Stuffing. Did the 10k in 45 minutes flat! The race was actually 6.63 miles or something so my final time was more like 47 minutes. 11th overall and AG 5th. I have never run a 10k that fast and I don't even think a 5k at that pace. Super stoked on the possibilities. It hurt very badly, but I was sort of in the mindset of cyclocross. It was supposed to hurt very badly. Otherwise I wasn't really racing. The girl that got 2nd overall and another one that beat me are the girls I run with at lunch sometimes. Good running partners I would say!

Second highlight of the week. I swam those 200s in 3:00. The first was 3:02 and the 2nd was 2:57. In the past I don't think I have been able to swim a 200 in 3 minutes. It would have been 3:10. Super stoked on the possibilities here too! After talking to you I focused on taking the pain out of my shoulder. It did stop hurting so hopefully I am actually using my lats not jut doing something wrong. Will have Larry watch me on Sunday.

So, about Friday. I was wasted on Friday. Back and shoulders were tired from swimming and legs shot. Erik made plans to meet his friend at Chico. I was going to stay home and ride outside but decided I don't often have a good chance to go and soak. Art also went (independently of us) and did a nice road ride before soaking. I could have been into that, but oh well.  So Friday was a pretty lazy day. Got the skis waxed for West on Saturday though!

Heading to West! Got in around 10 miles. Not epic on skis but fun. We were out for around 2.5 hours. Lots going on with the ski festival. Headed over with Art. Haven't spent that much one on one time with him which was nice to get to know each other better.

Sunday
Swimming was Sunday Fun day. Have you ever tried doing a backwards butterfly. Doesn't really work but makes you laugh. Lots of relays. One 50 doing the doggie paddle.  Not a super productive swim but a lot of fun.
Easy run. Felt pretty good. Legs sore from skiing and racing but hip and even hamstring felt okay.
Good PT session post run.

Monday
OMG those DPS were killing me. Some days in the pool are good, others are not. Just not feeling it this day.

Tuesday
The run was killing me. Some days running feels good this day it did not. It was also late. 7pm and I hard just gotten done working. I don't think my body wanted to cooperate. Did force upon it a good PT/core/hamstring session.

Schedule-
Sunday- 30 minute swim and masters holiday party in the evening. Prizes for ugly suit and sweater!

Work is not very exciting next week. Probably just lots of analyzing and maybe setting up one experiment.

This week is supposed to be cold. Good week for lots of swimming!?

Got an enticing email for Calgary 70.3. Should decide this week. 199.00. Plus a pretty limited race in size, a lot of Mont Tremblant slots, and a raffle for a new bike. Have a friend who will do it with me. Thinking that I may do this and not Saskatoon. Saskatoon is the same weekend as the Bozeman race and like you pointed out staying home is much cheaper. Race date is July 27, I think. Haven't signed up yet. Waiting until tomorrow when my firmed does. I don't want to sign up then close before she does. Don't really want to fly solo to Canada.

Had Larry look at my swim again. My elbow is doing much better. Now I need to think about rotation.

Ready to get after it after a pretty mellow and more "fun" oriented holiday.

Other: Since the Tritons are not holding the 1/2 distance race, I have been thinking about how although I didn't really like the race, there were a few people who did it every year and some triathletes who would like to do it because it was the only one nearby.  So, what if I put it on.  Maybe though a little ( actually completely unofficial). We could do it the Saturday before the real race. Change up the run course. Stash aid on the bike and run course. A bunch of triathletes meet for a competitive training day.

Also, I haven't given up on the Bobcat. It dawned on me the other day though that I have to get the MSU tri  club on board otherwise I probably won't get university support. Keep trying to meet with them but response time is very, very slow. I guess they are going to put on a race in April too, but not sure how good they are at planning. Also, I am not yet sure if I want that much commitment. I don't want to do it unless I am committed to many years and if this year goes as I would like it might take a couple of years to get that commitment. Sometimes I wish I had a trust fund and could just be a volunteer.

cats

This is the funniest most true cat owner description I have seen. If you have never owned a cat you might want to skip it or you might just think we are crazy.

http://distractify.com/people/personal/agonizing-struggles-that-prove-cat-owners-are-the-best-people-ever/

Schedule-
Tuesday (12/2) Big  mouse (24) experiment. This will take me at least 9 hours with not a lot of big chunks of time for breaks. Big day.

Thursday (12-4) I am planning on doing another experiment. Not huge, but a 4 hour incubation time. This will probably keep me at work pretty late and timing for Masters on this day will be pretty hard. (I have tried to think it through, but think it will just stress me out) I think I could get over to the MSU pool at some point for the 3-6pm time period though.

Think I am going to drive to West one day over the weekend and go skiing. Not sure which day yet though. Art and Lawrence wanted to go.

The week
Thursday- Masters swim. Got in around 3000. Did a ladder 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200,100. Was really working on keeping the elbow on my left arm high. I think I figured out what I have been doing. I have been entering the water with my elbow pointed down. Sounds weird, doesn't it? But, it is hard to keep it pointing up. I don't think the muscles in my back and arms want to go that direction. Someday. Do you think it would help to try using some light weight (like this cables) to get my arms used to the proper position?

Friday- Another big swim. I was pretty tired after this day and definitely woke up Saturday morning with my back and shoulders feeling like a have been swimming a lot.

Saturday- Mellow day. Erik's brother, family, and friend were all down for the Cat/Griz game. Hectic in the household. Makes me not want a bunch of kids. I like my quiet time. After they all left for the game and tailgate I went on a nice run. It was a beautiful day and I even got sunburned.  The run was really good too. Hard and consistent. Rode the rollers and did some PT.

Sunday- Master's swim. I tried to work hard and keep up with my lane. Still can't stay on toes doing backstroke, but was okay for the free. We did some fun stuff. A lot of one arms swim drills, which I think helped. We also did a bunch of focus on flip turns, which helped a lot. In the 50m pool I have a tendency to slack on the flip. We did a bunch of 100's starting in the middle forcing us to flip 2x.
Was so tired in the afternoon for some reason. Having Erik's family around always makes me a little anxioys. Like I said, I like my quite. Rode the rollers for 70 minutes. Did my PT and some core and then sat by the fire and read for a while. I even read work stuff so I was feeling super comfy but productive. For being so tired though, I couldn't sleep at all this night.

Monday- Swim and PT and core.

Another November week

Still super excited about my swim stroke. We can talk more about this if you want.

Schedule-Pool closed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There is also no Masters Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Masters and MSU are open for business on Sunday (December 1st). 

December 8th is the Masters 30 minute swim followed by (in the evening) the holiday party. There is also talk of laser tag. Imagine that, all those competitive swimmers chasing each other around with guns. I love laser tag. Super stealthy. 

Think I signed up for the 10k Huffing for Stuffing! Didn't get a confirmation email so will look into that. They have a list. I guess if I don't get on it in a couple of days I will know I didn't sign up. Haven't just run a 10k in a long time. It will be fun to see how it goes. Then be fun to be tired for eating a lot of food.

Have next Thursday and Friday off from work. 

Not much else to report on. Kind of a boring blog. 

Thursday- Ran at lunch and did PT. I think I did a bunch of core work this day because I was so motivated about it after talking to you. Masters swim after work. Nice to go to Masters. Group is so much fun. 

Friday- Swim and PT

Saturday- Had to go into work to run flow for my experiment on Friday. Got called to go to lunch with my sister and mom for my birthday. Met Lawrence at my house and we rode trainers (I rode rollers) and watched the Kona movie that NBC makes. We rode for something like two hours. Just kept chatting. I didn't get in the 60 minute trail run but Lawrence and I did run for 30 minutes post ride. Erik's Dad and brother and various nephew and friends stayed at our house on Sat. night so spent time hanging out with them. Am glad that the last Bobcat game is Saturday so don't have to entertain them all the time. Bad on PT this day. The whole day was really hectic. 

 Sunday- Masters swim. Lots of 50s 100s and 200s. Good swim. Had Jamie watch my stroke. Had a very lazy day after that. The weather wasn't bad but I just wasn't super motivated. Went grocery shopping and did some stuff around the house and then rode the trainer for an hour. Had a good PT and core session on this day after the bike. I now remember why it was such a mellow day. I have two friends from Bozeman who did IM Arizona. I spent a lot of time that day tracking them. Art had a really solid race and got a PR. Am happy for him. I am sure he is happy. Watching them race was giving me a little race envy. I am glad to have that back. It was missing for a while there. Maybe I will try IM Arizona some day. The course seems kind of boring, but the sun in November looked nice. 

Monday- Finished up the timecourse experiment. Ran flow at 5 so that I didn't have to do it Tuesday morning. Did the swim, which was short, because I didn't read the instructions very well. Did not do PT this day because of work and the swim. 

Tuesday- Birthday- Went to work in the morning. The boss called a meeting telling us that he is interviewing in Vermont. He already interviewed at Penn State but this feels a little more like he is really going to leave. So it looks like I need to find another job. Hate the job insecurity about this position. That will probably be some stress and take some time in the next few months. Left work around noon and went on a run and then did all of my PT and core work. Went home and made some lunch and went on a nice ride on the cross bike. Climbed some big hills and rode some trails. Very glad I did because it was a beautiful day and today (Wed) is yucky. 

Wednesday- Swim

Swimming

Haven't shown you picture of the new speakers or amps lately. Or Mrs. Man or handsome Mr. Man.

Anyway, this stupid thing is on centered justified and cant get it to change. Except I lost the picture of Mr. Man and the amps. Plus the picture got cut off. 

PT

Core, core, and more core.

The exercises I have been doing to help align my SI joint seem to work but not be helping in the long term. The PT is concerned this could be the beginning of a chronic back pain. So now I really need to do core work. 3x a week forever. No slacking in the summer when training is intense. This work is actually going to take some work too. I realized today that maybe with strength and stretching I may be just going through the motions (a little bit anyway). He wants me to be able to hold plank for 2 minutes. I am dying after1 minute. 

Here are core exercises adapted from what I have been doing.

Plank

Side plank (both sides)

Lay on stomach on exercise ball and hold a 7lb weight. move up and down holding weight to chest. Move down in 3 seconds hold at top for two. The lowering motion is what will build strength. (3 sets of 15, add weight when that gets easy)

Lay on back and do bicycle, except go slow and reach right hand for right knee and Left hand for right ankle. Dont grab knee or ankle, just touch. It is a pilates thing. Get up to being able to do 50 on each side. I only did 20 and was tired.

Schedule

My birthday is Tuesday. Have something fun in store? I was thinking of taking off the afternoon. I have an experiment to do on Monday and will probably stay late to finish it, so that I don't have to work so much on Tuesday (so something in the evening on Monday would be best).  Will probably go out to lunch with my sister and mom.An adventure bike ride in the afternoon would be fun?  Then I hope Erik makes me Pho. 

Other 

We are going to be here for Thanksgiving. Can I do the Huffing for Stuffing? Can I? Can I? What do you think 5 or 10k? 

I think I mention this somewhere else, but I think a Thursday Master's swim would be good. 

Thursday

Swam wwith my friend Katie. She swam in high school and college and is really fast. She showed me a really cool drill where you start in fetal position floating in water, you extend your arms and legs, start to kick, and then put in the arms. If gives me a really good feel for the water and being balanced. Further she said that I need to push out my chest more. I am rounding my back a lot. When I did this I felt so much better. My shoulders opened up for a cleaner rotation. Her tip for the day was to think plank. I lose the plank when I breath. 

Friday

Arms are getting a bit tired and I am starting to have a taste of being in the water often. The MSU pool is cold and I don't much like the first 100, especially if I'm cold to begin with. Maybe as this continues 2x a week with Masters might be better. The Swim Center is also much warmer. 

Saturday

Had a very late morning. This weeks time change was killing me. Super tired. Did a whole bunch of stuff around the house. Cleaning and getting organized. Rode the recycling on the trailer to be dropped off. I thought it was fun. Then did a ride around town. Probably 1:30 or so. 

Sunday

Swim was great! I went for it and stayed on the toes of people in my lane. Didn't think to much about form. Just swam. Kind of a good break from all the thinking. Went on a steep hike/run with Lawrence. Then met with Matt Parks about triathlon in Bozeman. He is on the same page. More than would have thought. Good things for Bozeman/Montana triathlon and races

Monday

Rode around at lunch. It was such a beautiful day. Got so overheated in the clothes I had on. 

Swam after work. Good swim. Still stop doing catch up and breathing on my left side. Katie said it looked like I wasn't getting in a very good rotation when I went to breath. 

Tuesday

I love running. Enough said. 

Wednesday

I will get the swim in, the bike however, might be a bit of a bust. I haven't put together the TT bike after Madison yet. Isn't that sad? Then yesterday I was thinking about this and can't for the life of me remember where the pedals are. I have a one set for the TT bike and the road bike that I have to change over and neither are containing pedals.  I might have to spend the 30-45 minutes tonight looking. 

Woop

This ended up being a pretty good week as far as sticking to the plan.

Have been doing the PT. It seems to be helping, but it is sort of funny the places where it will hurt again. Doing breast stroke kick gets it to flare up. I have another appointment next week with David, but in the meantime might email Jason. I feel like David is treating me like a Chiropractor. Just keep coming back in. I really want to get a more holistic sense of what is going on. Lawrence suggested getting a second opinion. I know these exercises are helping, but should I be doing something to prevent this problem in the long term? Strength work, etc? I guess I will ask David these questions next week. Okay, sorry about that. Thinking while typing.

I committed to helping my sister, which wasn't super productive on my part, but Erik did a lot of work so I suppose that counts. However, on Friday night I made up for the missed ride on Saturday. We did an Alley Cat. Basically a scavenger hunt on bikes. It was really fun. Erik, Bender, Mike and I stayed together. Being a Bozemanite, I knew where everything was and they rode fast dragging me along from place to place. Not that this ride was about winning, but we were so close to being the first ones in. I got first female and I think Bender and Mike were 3rd and 4th male. Better cost to benefit ratio than most cyclocross races. We rode like crazy for a couple of hours, drank a couple of beers with everybody after the event and got home at 11pm. Woop, what a day. Alley Cat's are the best excuse to be total hooligans on bikes. Road rules forgotten. Oh, I also did the swim workout that day. The sculling was really interesting. I played around with it a lot. Slicing my hands through the water, scooping the water. After eight 25s I definitely had enough, but also the right amount to really get a good feel.

Sunday was also another really fun day. Swam with Masters in the am. The workout consisted of lots of 50's some fast, some slow, some IM, some diving off blocks. I think for where I am fitness wise with swimming this was an awesome workout. I tried with all my might to stay on Lawrence's toes during the fast parts and I was pretty happy for doing it. The harder efforts aren't killing me like they do the first time back in the pool after a while. After swimming we got coffee and lunch with the Masters and listened to Flora tell us all about the horror movies she owns and has seen. (she has Down's Syndrome, I think). Then Lawrence and I hiked to Second Hump above the M. It is probably 2/3's of the way to Baldy. We went straight up. It was a really good hike and great company. You are my rock and Lawrence is my anchor.

Swimming-
I would like to mention a few things that I notice while swimming and a few "epiphanies" that I have had.

1) When I do catch up drill, which I think is really good because it is helping my reach, I try and breath every three. When I breath on my left side, which is the side I like to breath on, I loose my balance and stop dead in the water. I can fix this while concentrating and I think it is because my right arm is crossing over to the left or that I turn my head too much not my body. What do you think?

2) Swimming with paddles the other day I got my roll to be more accentuated. I felt like it was much smoother and with a lot of thought maybe gave me a better catch. I felt like I was really pulling myself with my back all the way over to the other side. I try and emulate this without the paddles but it doesn't always work. Should I have somebody watch me with the paddles and without and see how it looks? Any other suggestions?

3) Kicking on side- What is the point of this? Head up or head down? I was putting my head in the water and just trying to take breaths when I needed them. I have a tendency to arch my lower back doing these. Should I concentrate on keeping my core tighter?

Mulex

So I have a question for you. I looked up Austin results because I knew Charisa was racing and wanted to see how she did. You had 4 pros racing Austin, didn't you? You coach a lot of really good athletes. Here is the question. I have to be pretty low on your totem pole. Do you have space to keep coaching me? 

That was quite the week. Super busy with Mulex and work and still being sick. I was stuffed up and coughing all the way through Sunday.
I was pretty bad about following the prescribed plan. I am looking forward to not being so busy and having time to myself to exercise.

I was doing a 30 minute run. Super excited about it. I haven't run in a long time. Had my music in and the weather was beautiful. I passed this kid on the trail and he flagged me down and asked if he could run with me. I was a little annoyed because I was enjoying my run, but I couldn't say no. He ran probably 20 minutes with me. Then when we parted wanted my phone number so that I could let him know when I was going to run again. During the run I was telling him about Mulex. He showed up at Mulex. He raced the beginner race and won a helmet which was great since he didn't have one. So long story short, I have a protege.

Mulex was a success. The weather was awesome and we didn't have any insurmountable setbacks. I think I was a little to relieved it was over on Sunday night because I drank the bottle of champagne I won on Saturday plus a bunch of beer from the keg and was so hungover on Monday I had to call in sick. I was in good company though, managed to get John Curry as drunk which is pretty hilarious.

I raced (very last minute) on Saturday and not so very last minute on Sunday.  Saturday was awesome. The course was 100% designed for me. Up and down and around corners. I could have gone around 10 more times. Plus, my stuffy nose and cough is not related to me being sick because once I got warmed up I felt great. Sunday was a bit tougher. There were some longer stretches of bumpy ground and my legs were starting to buckle the last couple of laps. Still had a good race though.  I really, really like to race cyclocross.

anyway, I might be convinced to go to Kalispell for the state championship in two weeks. Especially if the whole Bozeman crew goes. However, it is time to get back on a plan.

One more thing. PT update. I have one more appointment with the PT on Wednesday. But as of right now I have a list of exercises to do.

Hamstring- put leg up on wall and just hold it for a minute or so and switch sides.
Lay on my back on a foam roller and make angel motions with my arms. Do 20x or so.
4 exercises for my SI joint. Hold each 6 seconds and do 6x each.
Also, whenever I run, I am going to do my Achilles stretch.

Sick

So this week was quite the bust. I did a whole lot of nothing, and a little more of a whole lot of nothing, followed by a trip to Urgent Care on Sunday to start antibiotics, and as a side, a whole lot of nothing. Still feeling coughy and snotty on Monday afternoon, but it is a beautiful day and I am ready to dig the hell out of Rose Park. Give the City a big fat FU, but that is a whole different story entirely.

Went to the PT last Tuesday. This was the back PT. He gave me some exercises to do and wants to see me a few more times. I didn't get much of a long term plan from him like I do from Jason. Looking forward to going back to Jason. Healthcare is expensive. I just want to be healthy but hate paying for it.

Races-
Have you heard of the HITS series? What do you think? There is a race in Grand Junction Colorado in mid-May. I have a buddy to go to it with. The other option for the last week of May is a paddle, ride, run in Bigfork. I don't have a boat, but could find one  and that race has cash prizes. The HITS series is only 150$ if I register in January. Lots of pros and cons for both. Still deciding. The races are on different weekends, I just don't forsee myself driving to Colorado one weekend and then Flathead the next.

I am just not into Troika. Thinking a little about St. George again. Also, thinking about Rev3 Portland but that is right in the middle of the summer. Sort of messing up with my idea of a couple of blocks of races.

This would give me a couple early races and then a block of later races.

Other for sure races:
Grizzly
Big Horn
Spring Meadow
Polson
Heck why not: Garden City

Other ideas: An Olympic distance race in Saskatoon. My Dad has a friend there and has been wanting to go.

I had a list with dates the other day and lost it. Sorry this is a really bad blog. For some reason MuleX this year seems like more work. Also, being sick has left me taking quite a few naps.

Do you see anything taking shape here?

Thinking and planning

So I have been thinking about what you said last week. The idea of racing triathlon like racing cross is appealing to me. Maybe I won't try and throw a half in there and just keep everything shorter, do more of them, and have a lot of fun.  So, honestly, what keeps me hesitant, is that in my mind shorter races means less training. I love the training. Probably even more than the racing. I love how IM training makes me feel. So, let's talk about this, but I want you to promise to kick my ass for these shorter races.

So what about two blocks. Instead of April to August, maybe I could find some early season races and then take a few weeks to sleep in, dawdle over morning coffee, and then jump back into a summer series of races. Now that being said, I am going to start looking at races.

I have also had a lot of thoughts about racing triathlon and racing in general. Last year even, I thought, okay, one more Ironman and then I am done. I was looking at racing triathlon as something that I was either all in, or all out and that I just had a couple of years to get good and that I could get good in a couple of years. I am starting to think differently about this. It seems like there is a lot of work to do and it takes a long time to get "good". I guess, some people can do an Ironman, and be very good, but there are those that have to work at it.  It seems the ones that are just good right off the bat, maybe aren't very mature about it? I don't know about this, for sure, but it seems that people who are long term racers are very mature. I like the idea of being a "triathlete" something that is part of my life that I don't give up on. 

So going back to the first paragraph. Why not try racing some other distances? Why not take this winter and maybe next winter, to really focus on swimming? I have years and years of racing and training and working at it to get better. 

Racing cross this year has been really interesting for my perspective above. The first race I did here in Bozeman felt awesome. I felt like I did really well and I loved it. Then I went to Helena, felt like crap, and got my ass handed to me. Then I go to Victor and Saturday I felt okay, but not great at all and this masher on a mt bike beat me. I didn't even care to chase here down. Then Sunday, I didn't even see that woman. I was so far ahead of her the whole race and even got compliments from Erik that I was looking really good. Even better than a few years ago when I was really training for cross. It is so amazing and interesting how some days are good and some days are bad and it doesn't matter what kind of training you put into that one day. Ironman Kona had a good example. Heather Wurtele rocked the year, and I don't think she even finished that race. 

So, this year for triathlon (or next year, if all of a sudden I get pregnant) let's do the above (first paragraph). Let's rock the triathlon scene. Over a bunch of races, I will get a good picture of my fitness, my ability, my weaknesses etc. It will be a really good platform to work off of to get better.

Now to a few of your questions:
In general. Bender was sick all weekend, and I stayed in the same house as him etc. I think I am coming down with something. Felt good Monday morning but started feeling that sore throat and ache in the afternoon. Am going home to rest. Don't want to catch this bug very bad.

G-fit. I want to figure out what I will be doing for PT before I start doing G-fit. I really want to get working on this. My lower right back hurts so bad at the end of a cyclocross race and I am sure it is all related.

Wednesday night race. Maybe race, maybe not. See how I feel on Wednesday? Can I have a back up plan?

Feel much better cyclocross racing on Sundays or after a day of riding. Can I do a hard cyclocross bike ride on Friday? Maybe go over the where we do Wed. night races and ride some hard laps. Then practice turning around trees for a while. Rolling Thunder brings more pressure than other races and I want to at least feel good.

Dear Endsley you will be missed

A friend of mine and a close dear friend and neighbor of my sister died this weekend from a very tragic car accident. Oh, Endsley, you were truly one of those amazing people. A very bright light that not only lit up the room but all the people in it. You are going to be missed. My heart goes out to your family, Wells, Claire and all the others that were so close to you. I am thinking of you.

Okay. I had to write that. Feeling a little helpless with everybody feeling such a loss.

So on the brighter side. I raced cyclocross on Sunday and got 2nd to Anna! I was super stoked. Annalisa who is a strong road rider was breathing down my neck for the first lap and even tried to pass once. I had it in me to demoralize and fired away. I didn't have 6 laps of that but could have done it a few more times. Started feeling good the last couple of laps. Even passed my husband. Not his kind of course. I had a really good time and was hoping we could talk some more about my new swimming schedule. Can I start that in a month and do cyclocross for the rest of the month? It has been nice actually seeing some of those people again, and I really do like to race cyclocross. Last year I wasn't into it, but this year I almost feel like I need it. It was so amazing to have a race without any problems. If this doesn't work with the rest of my goals though, that is fine too and I can start swimming but.....

So, this is hard for me to think about what I want to do since I am not running. Usually I do all of my important thinking running. 

However, I did come up with some ideas.

#1 I absolutely want to be triathlon focused this year. Triathlon is what I love.  I love to swim, bike and run. Just one of those just ain't gonna cut it. Also, I am envisioning a future with a lot less time, which might mean a lot more running. I can store that away for later.

So with that being said. The races I really want to focus on are going to be the local Montana races. Especially the Grizzly and Polson. Those two races are where all the competition comes out. I will have to work the hardest even if my results aren't the highest (make sense).

I would also like to focus on one half ironman distance. I would like to discuss this a little more. Timing etc. My options are to 1) stay close to home and do a non Ironman race or 2) Lawrence is going to sign up for Vineman. I mentioned to Erik that I didn't think I should because of cost and vacation, but he kept trying to convince me to go. So, I just might. One thing I learned this year is  that I really like having a buddy who is racing. The experience seems to be a lot better. We would be able to carpool and we both have family in the area. Registration for this race is November 1. So I have a month to figure this out and see what the refund policy might be.

As far as vacation. If I can plan it, and afford it, I would like to go to Belize on a week or so long trip in April. I am still researching the best time of year. I was thinking that this could be a treat after the Grizzly.
We are also going to be building our house this spring. Hopefully, keep your fingers crossed. So, vacation might be out of the question. I think part of this vacation thing is my not letting grass grow under my feet.

Other races:
I would like to plan on 24 hours of Rapleje. That is a Team Muleterro event. I love the camaraderie. I had so much fun at this last year.

 So as I was writing this, I had a Julie great idea #1. What do you think of my idea below?
Do a couple of Olympic distance races before Polson. Use them to work out how to race that distance. I don't feel comfortable at the Olympic distance. Not sure how hard to go. So maybe try and get in a couple of those before Polson. This would mean Spring Meadow and another one. I might have to find it somewhere other than MT.

Other:
Did I mention I am the race director for MuleX. I did this last year too. It really isn't a ton of work except for the weekend of the race.  I also have a lot of down time at work and this is a good way to fill in the time. This year is going to be great. We are going to have a secret unveiling.....

Work this week- Crazy day Wednesday. Usually I have 20 mice and it takes 8 hours. This Wed. I will have 30 mice. I really hope it doesn't take 12 hours. 

Plans, plans, plans

The week
So, I kind of broke a rule. I went on a hike and decided I don't actually like to hike. My fingers get swollen. I couldn't help it and had to run a little. I kept it slow and concentrated on form. Ran up steep parts and walked down steep parts. Felt so good to get the lungs going. Felt so good to get out. Was getting a little worried I might not want to exercise again. Slept so good after the first hike and felt so much better the next day.

Rode the cross bike a few times. Did a 2-3 hour ride on Sunday. Felt good to do some quick stuff.

Went to a yoga class on Monday.

Made a lot of pickled things. Made plum jam from tree to table. That was pretty cool.

Races
Winter triathlon
Grizzly
Rapelje
Headwaters relay
Spring Meadow
Lake Como
Bighorn triathlon
Polson
Bangtail 38k
The Rut
Bridger Ridge Run
Butte 100

Maybe one or two halves- Troika, Rev3 Portland, Oliver? Try and have an awesome 1/2 distance race.

International trip with Erik. Maybe Greece and run the Athens marathon.

Another vacation with Erik, not doing any racing. Kayak tour in Belize.

Am on the ball with the Bobcat. Found a super great organizer who works at MSU who talked to somebody who has the in. This somebody thought it was a great idea! Still working on it.

Am having some insurance trouble. They are not billing me correctly and it is very, very frustrating. Got a bill saying I owed the Orthopedic place 250.00. It should have been 15.00 plus extra for the x-ray. Need to figure this out before I can go back. Note: think it is getting sorted out. Will make an appointment on Monday.

Okay, so here it goes. My life plans. First, I am curious how many athletes you coach explain their life plans/spill their heart and soul out  to you before most other people in their lives know? Anyway, we
talked about this a couple of years ago too. I am not doing an Ironman this year or any other race that requires a very early sign up because I think that this is the year for me to achieve some of life's other tasks and by this I mean have a baby. I don't know when or how long it will take to get pregnant but after that I guess I will have 9 months until their is an actual baby and after that I would think another couple of years before I have time to dedicate to Ironman. However, as I alluded to in last weeks blog I am seeking redemption. Right now in life I don't want to quit or give up. I still want to try and have an Ironman of a lifetime and qualify for Kona, I just might be doing it in the 40 age group.

I think that the best way to proceed with this year is like I don't have these plans though. I still need to learn how to swim and who knows what is really going to happen. It might not even happen.

Never done tri ing

So far I haven't done a thing but ride my bike to and from work and a little hike on Sunday. It is Monday and I am actually a little stiff from that hike. It was nice to be out in the mountains. I would like to do that more this fall. Maybe tonight?

I've definitely had more thoughts about Wisconsin as the week has gone on. That race was the hardest thing I have ever done. I found a quote before I left. "It is not about finding your limits, its about finding what lies beyond them." I think I went further beyond my limits on that run than I ever have before. If you really think about it, that is an accomplishment in itself. However, I also feel a little sense of redemption. I don't see myself at this point retiring from IM racing. I need to go back at some point and have the race of a lifetime. This year is going to be the year of learning how to swim fast. I need to come up with a plan for how this is going to happen. Will you help me? PT/g-fit, lots of swimming, finding a person who can run and watch me often, some sort of camp?

The other think I need to do is figure out what is wrong with my hip. I need to call the orthopedic doctor and get in with an appointment. When I last saw him the only thing I could think about was racing, we hardly even talked about what it actually might be, just that I wouldn't permanently damage myself my doing the race. Further, once I talk to him I want to talk to my PT and see if he can give me a bunch of G-fit strength stuff to do that is specific for 1-triathlon, and 2-some of my running problems and 3- hopefully have some knowledge on swimming and dryland exercises specific for swimming. I have asked him before and I don't think swimming is a huge area of expertise for him, so I may have to find someone else.

This week has definitely been more like the off season. Erik's Korean mentor has been in town. We went to his lecture which even featured a bunch of Erik's work and then out to a fancy dinner with all the architecture people. Also, Erik received an AIA award so we got to dress up and go to that banquet and ceremony. It is really cool how respectable everybody is to Erik. I drove around on Saturday with my Mom and looked at houses in the Parade of Homes. I was hoping to get a sense of what I liked for our house, but ended up taking lots of pictures of what I don't like.

MSU now has a Tri club. I guess they have been around since last spring. I talked to the guy who is their head coach. He mentioned they want to put on a race next spring called the Bobcat. I am going to meet up with him at some point here soon. I sent the last email and haven't heard back yet. I am a little worried because we don't necessarily get along. He was all weird when I got you to come and do those clinics rather than him. Personally, I don't think he is a very good coach. I'm going to insert gossip here. He had a couple who he coached for CDA and they got pulled on the bike. Their longest ride of the year was only 80 miles. He does training rides with them on his 50lb single speed while they ride tri bikes. How demoralizing. Also, he is very USAT (level 1 certified ;) ) Anyway, back to the Bobcat. Here is the thing. I have a vision for this race. I don't want it to be diluted by too many cooks in the kitchen. I will meet with him and see what the kids in the tri club think. However he isn't getting back to me. I am hoping that won't get their ducks in row and I can just get the Bobcat done without them. Is that terrible. I don't like race organization with a committee.

Not really sure what you are thinking for the next few weeks, but I am still feeling very tired. This year seemed hard. Was it harder? I think it was. My friend is finalizing his 2014 schedule. He is very type A but just being that organized made me tired. Interesting though, I was just going through my calendar and making a list of all the racing I have done this year. There was quite a bit. Quite a few bigger races too. Anyway back to scheduling etc, maybe some checklists would be good. Not a specific schedule.

IM Wisconsin race report

First, I finished. I am happy to complete the event. Not just happy but very accomplished. 2nd, the spectator support was absolutely amazing. Third, the transition and the helix running and riding was pretty damn cool. 4th, I pushed the bike hard. Maybe blew myself a little for the ride home, but wanted to try. 5th, the run took us through Camp Randall Stadium. What other race does something that cool? 6th, the weather was cool. Not 90 degrees like the day before or the day later. 7th, the finish chute brought me to tears.

But, oh my lord, that was a long day. I chatted with another girl at midnight when we were cheering in the final racers and we summed it up. The swim was choppy, the ride was windy, and the run was hilly. Further, I had my own unexpected issues. My cleat almost fell off during the bike. I probably spent 10 minutes finding a screwdriver to keep the two remaining screws in place. Second, I felt like I lost my gut on the run. Felt nauseous on the bike and had to use the outhouse at least 5 times on the run. Couldn't keep food in me. Not vomiting, the other direction. Perform turns out to be a fairly good drink. It was hard because I knew I had to keep getting I'm some calories, they just kept coming out.  Erik said he felt crappy all day and is convinced we ate something bad. I have never had gut problems like that on the run and have used the exact same nutrition plan for long rides all year.  Getting through that marathon was difficult. Did you see the times though? Slow. Everybody cooked themselves on the bike. My run, I thought, was horrendous, until I saw the times. I followed what you said though and focused on form. Especially on the steep downhills. My hip hurt very little, but I felt it could creep in. It almost hurt worse sleeping that night. I could not roll over on it.

Mentally, I was not super into the event. Not like the past couple of years, where I embrace the long day. I really had to force myself to enjoy it.  I don't think I enjoyed more than five minutes of the run. Watching my times was demoralizing, just felt like I was in a crappy place all day. Looking at the times, if my run had gone well I was probably better off than I had thought. 

Can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Taper week thoughts and worries

Are you kidding me. I have a UTI. Spent Tuesday morning in Urgent Care and at Walmart getting it taken care of. It is harder to get the the start line healthy than I thought. Remember we talked about this a while ago? On antibiotics for a week. None of the nurses seemed to think the antibiotics would have any side effects. At least I won't feel some uncomfortable for the rest of the week.

Rode the two loops of the course on Monday. I love it. There are a couple of pretty steep hills but it wasn't up and down the whole time. There were lots of flatter, settle in, sections. I guess most people aren't used to Battle Ridge or Kelly Canyon or Bozeman pass or Hyalite or all of them in one ride. It is really fun to ride lots of turns, different scenery, and road types. Some of the roads could stand to use some work, bumpy.

This write up is pretty crappy. Don't have a ton to say. Enjoying relaxing and hanging out with my Mom in Wisconsin Dells. Am not yet very nervous about racing. I am excited. The bike course is really fun and the run is going to be great. I get to tour downtown Madison 2x. What better way to sightsee. I guess a race strategy would be a good idea. I was thinking I would need to hold back on the bike but now not sure  how much. Who knows what is going to happen on the run. Hopefully my run will be okay without that last couple of weeks. What do you think? Should I expect to be okay, or be a little slower? Should I shoot for a goal time for this race, or just go as fast as I can without looking at a watch?  If I could shoot for a goal time it would be 10:30. Faster than IM Canada, but I know this is course is slower so I don't want to set myself up for failure.

Okay, tired. Off to bed. Talk tomorrow.

Woot! 5k no way!

Now that it is Sunday and I missed the long run, I am a little anxious about my running. Having a hard time remembering why I was so confident in my run on Friday. Other than that little worry though, I am ready. I am feeling very ready for this race. Nervous, but super stoked.

Schedule - leave for Madison at 1:30 on Saturday. Get in around 9 pm. Will stay in Madison that night and head to Wisconsin Dells midday or later on Sunday (something about rental car timing). Will spend week riding the course?:) My bike has been shipped and should arrive at the condo before i do. Head back to Madison on Friday and will stay there the rest of the time. Did I tell you I think the condo we have in Wisconsin Dells has a somewhat long pool with lines on the bottom? Otherwise I need to find a lake to swim in. Shouldn't be too hard.

How do I feel? - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, felt haggard and tired. Came around for the ride Saturday. Was tired Sunday but a lot from accommodating Erik and his little bike tour with Cory. Feel pretty good now, on Monday. Feeling fit and organized. I am not super stressed. (Oops, wrote a lot of this already below. A work in progress)

I read in this magazine on Friday during all of my super anxious waiting at the doctors office (I think that took some time off my life) that "balance" is a buzzword these days. I completely agree. Whoever says they have good balance in life is perhaps way too organized, and maybe not very good at anything they do. I think that in reality to do something great you have to put off other things. Then later you can do those other things great. One cannot always be great at everything, and the important thing here is that we have to realize that is okay!

Wow, Thursday and Friday were very challenging days. I didn't realize how much I wanted to do IM Wisconsin until it could potentially be taken away. I felt like I had put all my eggs in one basket and was going to be left with a very quiet ending to this amazing summer. I also figured out how I am going to feel about the results of IM Wisconsin and I kind of what I want to do next year. Not completing this Ironman did not fit in with those plans and I was left wondering how to fill the potential void. Hopefully, now everything is going to be okay. I might have to face not running well, but I am not going to worry about that right now.

Before Thursday and Friday I was feeling pretty fatigued. I was having a hard time sleeping and didn't have much of an appetite. My friend at Colombo's gave me an extra large salad plate and told me I look like I need to eat. I was feeling ready for IM to be over. However, now that it is Friday, I feel much better about the next two weeks. Getting scared can make you feel a lot more grateful for what you have. I do hope I get in some good rest in the next few weeks though.

Monday- Ran 30 minutes. Don't remember hip hurting.

Tuesday- Rode bike around town for an hour. Rode up to parents because they had my cash card.

Swam on my own at lunch. Had the masters coach write me a workout. Busted out 4000 in 1:30. Makes me think about Masters and all  those slackers, talking all the time. So hard to get in good yardage. Maybe I should start an MSU swim club. Swam with a really fast guy today.

Wed- I did the 3+ hour ride inside. The TV show, Alphas, is very entertaining BTW. I broke the 2:30 up into 15 minute intervals at which point I ate and drank and in my mind had a clock going around in circles at 15 minute intervals. I was pretty proud of completing that ride and I rode hard too. Then I headed out onto the run and am still mystified at how bad my legs hurt at Polson because at the beginning of Wed. run  my legs felt great. Then my hip started to hurt and I almost went home more than once.

Thursday- PT and made appointment with Orthopedic doc. Was terrified and in tears all day. Met a couple of girls at the pond for the swim. I didn't stop and talk with them once. Just kept on going for 60 minutes. My left shoulder was kind of sore for lap #2 (of 4 laps) but went away. Got sort of sick of swimming the last five minutes.

Friday- Can't believe it is Friday already. Doctors appointment in the morning. Didn't get to work until after noon. Feel bad about not being at work but without experiments going on I can be pretty bored. Rode to appointment and to work. Need to do some errands that I put off yesterday for getting ready for Madison so am going to skip ride. Will do run. 20 minutes only. Then maybe hike.
Reported on run recon mission.

Sat- 122 miles. 4 big climbs. Worked hard and was worked when I was done. Pushed hard on the climbs. Wanted to see if I could blow myself up. Thought a lot about pace. Rode too hard for IM. Also got some more mental fortitude training. Which, by the way, I have had enough! My thinking is that I ride all those hills in Wisconsin like I am going to ride each one forever. Never let my legs start to hurt. Hold back a little in the beginning. Need strong legs to run. Hopefully.

Sunday- Woot! I don't think I have ever swam 5k before. 40 f**king 100's. I'm a mental bullet. (That better make you smile)  Was going to mix it up a bit with some builds, maybe some pulls etc. Once I got to the pool though, I understood the purpose of 40 100's. I found my pace. 1:46/100. I held it the whole time! Very comfortably.  Now at IM I need to swim straight and closer to the buoys.

Rode to and from pool. Rode back to work a little later and to the grocery store. Think total riding was probably an hour. Hopefully that was okay. Super tired. Packed bike last night at 10:30. Erik left on a ride today and things were hectic.

Monday - swam the 1800 today. There is no way I will be able to schedule that in tomorrow, with such limited pool hours.  Felt slow and had a hard time getting rhythm. Likely just tired from yesterday.

Polson race report

Question- I ride and get off the bike and run fairly often. It has gotten easier. So, depending on the race length and the effort is it more difficult to transition?  My legs on Sat. were horrible. Should they be, or was this really not my running race. See more below.

Schedule- There is not more Masters until after Labor Day. Something about pool maintenance. Looks like the rest of the swimming will be at the pond or MSU. Can you write me something for Tuesday?

Definitely have to ship TT bike next Monday. Talked to UPS today. Will have road bike to ride. So, a long ride on Saturday would probably be better than a long ride on Sunday. 

The Bozeman Century ride costs 50$. I don't really want to pay that much just to ride 100 miles. Plus, part of the route is actually one of my least favorite rides in the area. Not worth the money.  I would rather go climb up some hills or something. Can probably get Erik to ride with me since Lawrence is going to be doing Canada this weekend. 

Work- Have a big mouse take down on August 27th(Tuesday) and August 29th(Thursday) with Wed. and Friday being busy running flow and analyzing. Way to pack it in there Julie :). The boss just gave me all this stuff to do. So this week I guess I will work on packing and getting my stuff together. 

Feeling- Monday morning after the weekend. Didn't sleep super well last night so am feeling tired. Looking forward to an easy 30 minute run and getting some other stuff done. I need to start thinking about getting my bike packed up and shipped. Hopefully get some better sleep tonight. 

Race report:

7th. Really wanted top 5. You know what? I really want to be better than everybody else. I guess that is my competitive nature. I need to find something that I am amazing at.  The conclusion of Polson, in my mind, is that I am a little disappointed. I felt  more pressure to perform at this race, especially since Matt S. is the race director. I got #3 and Ali had #2 and Sue # 1.  I respect Matt, a lot, and feel like I let him down. I rode with Ali on Sunday and she said the same thing, since Matt is coaching her. That would not be fun, so thank you so much for not making me feel that way! So, basically my swim time sucked and I had a hard time making up ground on the bike. But, you know what. I actually was feeling good about my swim before I saw the results. I did a good job of sighting. Didn't stop, but kept the sighting as part of my stroke. Even did a little bit of bilateral breathing. I should have been better about swimming right along the buoys.  Felt good on the bike. Was working pretty dang hard. I finally got into the top 5 at the end of the bike but I think I had a dehydrated bonk. I underestimated how much water I would need for the bike(Polson is humid). On the run, first of all, my legs would not turnover, and I was sooooo thirsty. Got passed right off the bat by a Polson track coach and then a little while later by a 17 year old. Demoralizing.  Just never felt good on the run. After more thought, though, I am not sure I could have done much better than 6th. If I had felt good, I know I could have gotten 6th. After the race, sat and drank two bottles of water and a coke. Was not going to run the extra 6 miles because I felt so crappy but after drinking felt better. Ran the second lap slower, but felt much better. Could actually get my turnover and pace up a little if I wanted to. It wasn't an easy extras 6 miles but felt better. I was so tired after the race. I think a bit out of it. Slept really well on Saturday night and felt good again on Sunday. 

Next year(depending on what happens in Wisconsin, obviously) I think I am going to change up the game a little bit. No expensive IM's and be a Montana race warrior. Maybe the GWN.  I really like racing and it would be fun to be able to be more prepared for races like Polson and the Grizzly. Also, after some thought while swimming on Sunday, maybe really swim 10x a week and see if I can get faster. I hate losing the race on the swim.

Tuesday- Friday- Can't even remember what I did all week. Work experiment turned out pretty good. Getting some good results.  Was super tired all week. Erik kept bringing people over in the evenings. On Thursday night I could barely move off the couch and I told him he had to keep them in the garage. Went to bed early on Thursday and felt much better on Friday. Its amazing what a good nights sleep can do. Did change up some stuff a little. My bike was in pieces on Wed so just rode the commuter around a little after work. Didn't get in the full time though. Was super tired, but did go raid the parents garden for fresh beans, peas, and lettuce. Got the TT bike together for racing on Thursday evening, so rode that for ~ 45 minutes in the am on Friday rather than taking a long commute to work. I like to test out the wheels etc. before racing. Still commuted to and from work. Other than that, followed the plan. Swim on Thursday was really good. Didn't help me much, but felt my arms get going a little better each 50. 

Sunday- was disorganized on time and didn't get in 60 minutes right away. Swam 30 minutes. Rode with Ali for 3 hours. She took me on a fun ride around the valley, into the trees at the base of the missions, a water stop at a vet clinic. It was nice to get to know her better.  Swam 30 more minutes when I got back. There was a lot of chop for the 2nd 30 minutes, but it was really fun. Felt good swimming. Uggh. Hopefully that is better than nothing. Sort of jealous of the awesome swimming venue.  Beats the pond for sure. Could have stayed in for two more hours. Jumped off the dock a few times for fun!

I survived

It is Monday and I am feeling tired. Duh! The 20 mile run was hard. It was hard for me to keep it together. I was definitely tired for it. More on that below. Everything else seems to be okay. My hamstring is getting managed and the piriformis keeps raising its ugly head. Fortunately I can go to PT if I need to and I keep on stretching. Bike fit for the new shoes went well.

As I am sitting here writing this, I don't really have any questions popping into my head. I think you worked me into delirium this week. All I can think about is eating and sleeping.

Schedule-
Polson- convinced my Mom to go with me and get a fancy hotel. The one that is right on the lake. Woohoo! Girls weekend. We haven't done one since Oliver a couple of years ago. She knows I will need to do something on Sunday though. I was thinking probably am ish so that we can get back to Bozeman at a reasonable hour. She has a cousin who she is close with to entertain her.

IM Wisconsin- I think I am going to ship my bike out there UPS. If I ship it ground it is pretty cheap. I think for it to get there in time and avoiding problems with weekends and holidays, the best day to ship it will be August 26 or 27. Is that going to be a problem. I can ride my road bike for those few days in between right?

Work- The boss is officially back on August 19th. His wife had a baby a few weeks ago. I might need to stop blowing work off when he gets back and after IM I can't take a holiday and I have to work weekend for a month. I am just kidding, but at some point I need to start being a little more mindful about being at work. Just an FYI. I have no experiments scheduled for the week of August 18th-24th.

Wow, this week has been intense!

Tuesday- Super super tired. Masters just about killed me. Actually got out at 2800. Don't usually do that.

Ride on Wednesday was really good. I was really tired on Monday and Tuesday and on Tuesday's run my calves/achilles got really tight. Wore compression all night and all day Wed. The pain was gone by Wednesday evening. Went to Amsterdam/Churchill area where there are a lot of rollers. Good terrain to practice IM Wisconsin on. Was pretty tired when I rolled home but when I started the run my legs felt great. Finished my usual 30 minute run in closer to 25 minutes. That was super motivating. Feeling fit!

Thursday- Good swim with Masters, nice EASY run. At Masters did a bunch of 100's. Played with my pace and how I feel at different paces. I think I feel better going a bit faster. I think if I have to I can go that pace and then take a few easy strokes here and there. I will anyway sighting, going around buoys etc.

Friday- Ride was hard. Wow, that was a serious test of mental fortitude. I didn't realize how many 14 could be. The hill I chose to go up and down that also had a headwind. It was a blustery day. It got a bit tiring. The ride was a little short (20 minutes or so), and maybe the hill was a little too steep because I definitely did not take 3:30 to 4:00 minutes between each up. I actually didn't do a lot of pedaling downhill. I did think about riding up and down hills though, and wasn't not pedaling because I was resting. The hill was just steep.

Saturday- That was a hard swim. Total time was something like 1:25 or 1:30. Worked hard and thought a lot about Ironman pace. Did run right after swim. It was good. I was pretty exhausted after these though. Thought about bailing on our trip for the next day. Wanted to lay on the couch and go to sleep.

Sunday- On Saturday night Erik, Lawrence, and I drove to Wise River. It is the closest place to Bozeman where we could start  a ride on the Pioneer Scenic Byway. It was great. There was a little restaurant there where we ate. Camping in the FS campground was free. The evening was cool. We all got some really great sleep. In the morning left from the campground, rode to Wise River, rode south on the scenic byway, rode to Jackson, rode to Wisdom, and then back to the car. The scenic byway is beautiful. Into Jackson there is a huge pass. Then we got surrounded by thunderstorms, lightning, crazy wind, etc. and it didn't let up for the next 60 miles. Other than being worried that if I got too wet I was going to get really cold, we were totally fine. Had some crazy tailwinds. Erik was going 40 MPH. Also, winds that felt like you could just get blown off the road. Total ride was 119 miles and I have to say I will never forget it and I am very glad we did it. (Will try and post some photos)
Did you know the Beaverslide comes from that area. Have a cool photo of a huge pile of hay.

Monday- I have to do what today? This has been in the back of my mind all week. Blew off work because I knew that if I went to work in the am, the run would really, really suck. I don't like runs to really suck. I little suck comes with the territory, but in general they need to be awesome. Anyway, mapped out an interesting, but very hilly run. Left the house prepared and with the legs feeling very tired right off the bat. Ran about half of the planned run, which was really hilly and then changed my mind and made the rest a lot flatter. This run hurt, I cannot say it was awesome. I had a really hard time settling in and finding something to think about. Kept thinking about how far the road in front of me was. Once I got home I remapped my route. 21.5 miles. It took me about 3:30. I think the first part of hilly town trails really slowed me down. Had a standoff with a cow. That was interesting. He was on the trail and would not move. Had to just walk by him. He didn't seem to mind. I didn't get chased.

I had to blow off the swim. Blew off too much work and just don't have the energy to try and fit it into my schedule. I'm sorry, but I think it would have killed me anyway. Too much mental fortitude building this week.

Life

After a totally debilitating day at work. I am still in tears. I found an article that somebody posted on Facebook. It is called "30 questions to ask yourself before you die"  Lots of great questions that makes you realize little work issues are so petty, that people are petty, and that is sucks because there are so many more important things out there, so many more fulfilling things.

Here is the article
http://www.businessinsider.com/30-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-you-die-2013-7?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer88bd6&utm_medium=facebook

Have been thinking about Polson. What should the plan be for the weekend. I have two options. Go up there Friday, race, come home. Or go up there Friday, race, and stay in Kalispell through Sunday. What is training going to be like after race? Would it be good to stay and swim and ride and/or run in the Flathead? Checked out the registered list yesterday. I am so irked that Linsey Corbin is racing. Is that bad of me? The only races in Montana she shows up to have prize money and she doesn't even have to race to get the top spot. I was looking forward to trying to duke it out with some of those girls, but (I'll stop writing what I want to say). You know how you have to be pro to win prize  money in USA triathlon. I think pros should be exempt in these little races.

So, I have been thinking and sort of stressing about how I think about this. My goal going into IM Wisconsin is to qualify for Kona. Sometimes, I question why. These races make me so full of anxiety going into them, Kona doesn't even sound fun and I haven't even qualified. However, it seems like the ultimate goal. I won't ever be a pro, but I can MAYBE do this. I am ambitious, I want to passionate, I am competitive, and I am also a bit of a dreamer. I guess those are a few of the reasons I want to go. So here is my problem. Did you see that maybe? I really wanted to be faster at Calgary. Those top two girls were smokin, but I still came in right below the 10% mark. That seems to be a pattern and it worries me. I did have a few problems such as shifting and losing two places on the run because I had to use the outhouse.  I don't know how much of that is an excuse, or if it wouldn't have changed anything. So tell me what you think. Yeah, nay? How is Wisconsin going to go. I need a little pep talk, either way. The emotions are running low.

More thoughts on Calgary- my bike was missing a gear. Found it in the bucket Friday. I wasn't going crazy when I kept dropping the chain on the warm up ride before the race Sunday. After analyzing the numbers and converting km into miles I ran Calgary faster than I have ever ran a half!

Next weekend- looks like it isn't going to happen. I should have known. My sister never ceases to disregard our plans. I should have learned by now to not make plans with her. Anyhoo. I might be better to stay around here. I get in a better weekend, not take a whole day off work, and not include 12 hours of driving. 

Maybe I can find some sweet ride to go on and I can still take some time if I should need a long weekend.

Swim- can I get a confidence boost swim. 4k in the pool or a good hard pond swim. Felt like I could do another lap at Calgary, but would like the confidence.

Schedule- Got called to jury duty next Tuesday(13th). I have to report for the whole day. Hopefully it will get called off, but I can't plan on anything for that day. I was going to do an experiment that day, but will now have to push it to Wed. So Wed. the 14th will be a very busy work day. Nothing during the day, and could be a late day, past 6:30. 

The week

Mellow week. Did ride on Wednesday. Easy on the my bike, but I was very emotionally charged and had a lot to think about. Ended up riding into the dark. Even Erik was a little worried. Friday, missed ride. Still had race wheels on bike and shoes with no cleats. Poor planning and my mechanic was not being at my beckoning call.
Saturday was a great ride. Good company and a good not so hard pace. Went over Battle Ridge, stopped in Livingston for coke and French fries, and then over Bozeman pass. 85 miles. Amazing how I didn't feel all that worked.
Sunday- the ride was maybe a little less productive than normal. Decided on an adventure which kind of failed and ended up being a lot of walk a bike. The run was great though. Maybe not flat, but a perfect 1:45 loop on trail.

Calgary 70.3 race report

I need to stew over this race a little longer but figured I could write a technical report.
Race was good in general!
Time 5:04
Swim- In this crazy, man made community lake. I had to be careful not to run into people's docks. It was fine. Lined up on the far edge of people, and started out slow until I was used to the water. Swam on Friday evening so knew what to expect.
Ride- an adventure
Caveats- the ride was 2 km short
               - my bike decided to stop shifting on the second half of the course. I am incredibly lucky and maybe my parents were praying for me because the gear it was stuck in worked very well, the course was a fast downhill, and I could still shift up I'm down in the front. So other than the distraction of my bike making noise before it broke and the stress of getting up a steep hill if there was one I was okay and probably didn't lose time.

Run -felt good most of the way. You are not supposed to feel good near the end, correct? Pushed hard to get 5:04.

Had a great time at the finish chatting with Canadians. I love Canadians. They recommended the Great White North. Something about trains.

A good week

This week seems like it has been very good for training. Lots of good key sessions that were done with motivation and purpose. Until the weekend got here. Was tired going into Saturday and Sunday. Rallied though and now that it is over feel very good about it. Had some great company on Sunday which helped.

Calgary- We are going to leave Friday morning. Hopefully get there early enough to check in and get our packets and swim? My idea is that we get our bikes ready to go on Friday and then bring them to the T1, likely do a ride on Saturday, and then drop them off. All in one fallow swoop!! We will drive home Monday morning.

Schedule- Am starting a big experiment that I will take down the Tuesday we get back from Calgary. I shouldn't plan on doing anything during the workday.

PT- Didn't get to see regular PT last week. He was out of town. The other one just did the dry needling. Was doing the prescribed stretching one day last week and really felt my hamstring release!!! Woohoo!!! Anyway, the run after the ride on Sunday felt really good. No left leg pain.  I am going back to the PT today to get another run evaluation and more dry needling today, so I can ask him more.

Tuesday- am ride was great. I got up made some coffee and headed out the door. The day was blustery and only got worse as it went by, so the am ride was perfect. Had a a good set of 3 minute intervals. I kept running out of road though. Two minutes recovery didn't give me enough time to get back very far. Oh well, it was fine.
Masters swim- Also great! I was motivated to get in some good yardage. One of my favorite things is how I feel post a good hard swim. It seems nicer to make a delicious dinner. My lane at Masters is driving me crazy though. For one, the fast lane now has very fast 19 year olds in it. So, the old lane 5 fast people are moving down to lane four. That makes the lane faster than I can handle. Also, they talk a lot, and all finish after 3000. See Thursday for more....  Anyway, got in good yardage.

Wednesday- At 3pm saw a warning for severe thunderstorms in the area until 10pm. The sky looked mildly cloudy, but not bad, so I hightailed it home and got on the bike. Good thing I did. The last 20 minutes of the ride or so were pretty spooky. Lightning in my path and a good old soaking in the rain. Had a good hard, pretty hilly ride too. Funny how in Bozeman it can go from 90 and you think you are going to melt, to getting caught in a thunderstorm. I have to confess, I didn't do the post ride run. I felt like I had enough adventure for the day. By the time I was making dinner it was sunny again.

Thursday- One hour run at lunch. It was hot out, and I wasn't feeling super snappy. Started thinking about Calgary. I am really excited to go up there and race. That got my legs turning over a little better. I don't think that there is a huge # of people doing the race. On the swim start heats it said 250 AG women. I am excited to race those women.
Swim- Demoted myself to lane 3. We really need 6 lanes at this point. One super fast lane, one fast lane, one medium fast lane etc. Anyway, I was totally fine with it. I wanted to get in a good workout that was at my pace. The workout was really good too. Some longer swimming to get a good rhythm, some IM but not an overwhelming amount, builds, fast, etc. There was only one other guy in the lane and I actually had a good time with him. It is amazing how fast the yards go by when you don't stop and listen to everybody talk for minutes on end. Actually finished the workout. 3000-3500 or so.

Friday- I think you could call that run more of a waddle. I stretched my piriformis yesterday and maybe held it a little too long. Those muscles on both sides were sore. I also wanted to take it easy to rest up for the weekend. Did the PT afterwards. Felt my hamstring release!! Woohoo!! Rode to and from work and to and from downtown for some dinner. John and Lisa showed up really late for dinner, so we sat around waiting for them for a couple of hours. It made for getting home a bit later than I wanted and also for being tired on Saturday. I need to be more careful about socializing to much on Friday nights.

Saturday- Swim in pond. It took a little over 3 minutes to get to the other side, so I added two extra intervals. I was tired this morning and was really having to rally to get motivated.

Ride- Rode with Lawrence. We rode up Hyalite, to the nudey bar, out to the mouth of Gallatin Canyon and home. It was about 65 miles and more like 4.5 hours. A little longer than prescribed. I was super tired after this. Hangry.

Sunday- Lawrence, Art and I did the Castle Mountain Tour. It starts in Ringling, then Martinsdale, Checkerboard, White Sulpher, and back to Ringling. It is also a bit longer than prescribed 88 miles and about 5:15 of ride time. It is a great look to settle in and those 25 minute intervals were perfect for it. Really liked the 25 minute intervals. Was really tired going into this morning. Started intervals out a bit slower, but comfortable. Really focused on IM pace. It was great though, because as the day went on, I felt better and better. The last 25 minutes was climbing this little pass out of Checkerboard and I felt amazing!!!

And the joy wears off

One thing I have noticed with this Ironman racing is a much more awareness of my body. Specifically how I feel because of hormones. I usually have 5 days or so right before my period where I can't sleep. I also seem to have a few days of being down and sometimes kind of pissy. I really started to feel the down on Thursday which is definitely exasperated with my little mt bike accident. Hopefully this is part of a monthly thing not and not a new general low setting in. Did I ever tell you I got my period the day before Canada last year. Do you think it could have had an effect on my race?

PT- did prescribed exercises after the run on Thursday. After the needles in my butt I sat in pigeon for a good long while and it really released that knot in my ass. I think a couple more sessions will be good. Maybe not as hopeful about my hamstring.

Canada 70.3 - I'm ready to really just go for it! PR my 70.3 distance!?

Tuesday- Booze cruise. It was fun, lots and lots of fun, but fine to do only once a summer. I would rather be riding my bike than drinking in the middle of the day.

Wednesday- Nice little 30 minute run at lunch. Met up with Lisa for a ride after work. She was ambitious. I followed her for most of her ride bit turned around early. Ended  riding for a little over 2 hours. Went really easy and it was downhill for the second hour.

Thursday- Running partner is in Russia. Lucky her. Anyway, ran at 11. Nice run. Did I tell you about the dive bombing bird? Or the kid who squirted me with a super soaker. Makes me smile every time I go by there.
Swimming - was super motivated before getting to the pool to get in a great, long swim. The lane had seven people and we did a 1500. Everybody else was using paddles and fins. They kept lapping me. Demoralizing. Moved down to a slower less crowded lane. Ended up not getting in that awesome swim.

Friday- nice bike ride up Moody Gulch that turned into a bloody mess and a nice walk down.

Saturday- Urgent care visit left me to rest for the day. Get ants in my pants. Feeling anxious to be out. Did get my blood work done at Urgent Care. Was curious about my iron levels. They are normal. Everything was normal. Woohoo. Feeling healthy

Sunday - Nice long ride with Lawrence. Found some rollers for hills, not any big long mountain climbs. Went at a pretty relaxing pace. Feel really good post ride. Feeling good about the distance.