Christmas Fun

What a difference a day makes!  I'm still tired but my tummy is almost back to normal. Michael had a bit of the bug too but we both sucked it up and hit spin class this morning for a nice 2 hour sweat fest.  And, only 2 bouts of dizziness so it was good to be inside.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas:

Christmas wishes:  a camera for Char and a Nintendo DS for Iz

Isabelle on Christmas Eve

What can I say - Christmas Fun!  (is it over yet?)

My sis Nicole and her fiance John

Isabelle and Grandpa in a game of checkers (um dad, you look like you're ready to kick some ass in the game, she's only 6!!!!)

Santa brought a DS!!

Charlotte cannot WAIT to learn to ski like her big sis.  She has been wearing the goggles non-stop around the house.  

Grandpa and Nana and the girls

Tough Day

I was thinking that this post would be all about the cool things that have happened over the last week.  There was the epic ski day with Michael and our friends, the overnight that my kiddos had with their gparents, and the really cool 5000 meter swim (yes, straight).  There was also seeing all of my Inverness Masters buddies, an awesome 6 mile run, and a party with some neighbors we hadn't seen in awhile.  And, of course, Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas Day at our house with my family.  I mean, really great stuff to write about!

But no.  I shall blog about the miserable run I had today.  It was supposed to be GREAT!  And I had been looking forward to it all week:  Tyler's Run.  A 17 mile out-and-back in a pretty scenic part of town with a little brunch action afterwards.  Now, I should have listened to my body yesterday.  When my tummy started to do flips and turns and backward somersaults, I should have listened.  And last night, when I couldn't sleep because the tummy wouldn't settle I knew that this could be bad for the run.  And when I got up this morning and had diahrea (tough, it's my blog I'll write about poop if I want), I should have just gone back to bed.  But that is just not what I do.  

So I braved the 6 degree weather (don't get me started on wind chill!), and met up with Tyler, Steve, Andrea, Barry and Laura.  The run actually started out pretty well - a nice easy pace, frozen eyelashes, and relative warmth.  This out-and-back essentially was uphill for 4 miles, and then downhill for 4 miles.  Turnaround and do it again.  And these were tough hills.  As we approached the BIG hill at 3.5 miles, for some reason I was with Steve.  And he gave me the signal to stay with him.   That was probably mistake #182 for me.  I kept with him though and felt OK.  It was only near the top and as we crested that I had the first indication that vomiting could be in my near future.  But we continued on and the nausea faded.  I actually felt great to the turnaround.  Now, I wasn't eating much because my body just thought that was silly but I was drinking a slushee from my water bottle so I thought I was OK.  

At the turnaround we picked up Christy, Rob and Keino and headed up the hill again.  I pushed this hill like I did the last big hill and it was OK, I hurt at the top, but recovered decently.  At mile 10.5 though it all went bad for me.  I was dizzy and really thought I was going to puke.  It passed.  I tried to take in a gel.  Another wave, then another, and then another after that.  I was reduced to walking a couple of minutes and trying to jog a couple of minutes.  My biggest worry now was staying warm:  it was probably only 20 degrees and a bit breezy, and my clothes were wet.  The group had dropped me by then and it was just a matter of getting back.  There were even a couple of times where I thought about taking a nap in the sun???!!!  I had my wits still with me though and knew that was probably a BAD idea.  Finally, finally I could see my finish point and got some words of encouragement from Andrea.  I had just walked/jogged 6 miles to the finish.  YIKES!

I managed to put down a bit of chicken noodle soup at brunch and got warm.  But I just needed to get home to the couch.  I took a nap, watched a movie with the girls, thought about eating, and then just took a shower instead.  I figure the appetite will come back at some point right? And I know that I consumed enough calories over Christmas in the form of (in no particular order) cinnamon rolls (best ever thanks PIC), ham, potatoes, cookies and chocolate that I will not waste away anytime soon.  HA!

It is not always butterflies and roses for my workouts and I can't wait for my next one.  More fun posts to come:)

Jingle Bell 5k

Yesterday Michael and I woke up to a beautiful morning.  Snow was falling, it was just starting to get light out, it was a very peaceful time of day.  The weather-people had said a cold front was moving in and the high would be 16 degrees.  Which would be perfect (kind of) for the Jingle Bell 5k.  The run started at 10:15 so there was plenty of time to warm up to that balmy 16.  But we turned on the TV and saw that it was only 4 degrees.  And with the wind chill?  Yep, feels like -21.  What?  No, no, no....it's supposed to be a toasty warm 16, not 4.  And certainly not -21.  I mean, this is Denver, not CANADA!!!

So I texted StevieP Coach Extraordinaire to get his take on the day.  Silly me, he pretty much summed it up by saying that my competition probably was already outside and didn't think it was that cold.  Grrrrrrrr.  Wait, no Brrrrrrrr.  I headed upstairs and took out every single piece of warm clothing that I owned to figure out exactly how I was going to dress for an hour warm-up and then a 5k race.  I decided on fleece:  tights, long bra, inner shirt, outer shirt, overshirt, coat etc.  And handwarmers and toewarmers.  Gloves, mittens.    

The sun came out as I pulled into the parking lot.....it really was gorgeous out.  I just didn't look at my temperature gauge that kept flirting with 0.  Steve, Sonja, Tyler, Rob and Christy were all there too so we left to "warm-up".  Ha.  

I was hoping that I would PR this race and get a good qualifying time for a decent Bolder Boulder wave in May.  But with the snow pack, cold temps, and Yak Trax it didn't look like it would be the day.  After warming up, I stripped down to just one pair of tights, took off my fleece coat, and put on my wind vest.  Then (after consulting with PIC Son of course) I put my Yak Trax (LOVE these things) over my racing flats because it just seemed kind of bad-ass!!!  We lined up and off we went.  

I was off pretty fast even though I knew I was supposed to descend my miles.  But it was cold and I just wanted to get back in the warm car!!  I thought I should back off a bit and started to but then a girl pulled up right next to me - as in touching my elbow - and so I went with her.  And then dropped her.  I checked my watch at mile 1 and saw a 7:18.  Hmmm.  A bit fast but my breathing felt good and I just tried to keep my pace.   In the distance I saw the bogie girl Steve told me to keep up with (white coat) and another girl (blue coat) who flew off at the start.  It actually looked like I was gaining on them - slowly.  At 1.5 miles, I heard some jingling behind me (we were given bells to wear!) as someone was going to pass.  I saw red shoes - it was Boo Yah Tyler!  Man he looked good - strong, steady, and in complete control of his game.  I wanted to hang with him but that didn't seem to be an option for me.  He did, however, pull me closer to blue coat girl.  I pulled up on her shoulder and then she pulled away.  Darn it.  Unsuccessful pass.  I tried it again.  Nope not this time either.  We played cat and mouse like this until the final turn.  In the meantime, we passed bogie white coat!  As blue coat and I made the last turn to the final stretch I could see the finish banner and picked it up.  I finally passed blue coat!! 

My time?  22:37.  Yee Haw and a big Boo Yah - a new 5k PR!!  And this after running 12 miles on Saturday.  After putting on warm clothes we headed back to the finish line because Sonja had placed 2nd.  But then the WEIRDEST thing happened.  I heard my name on the loud speaker....I was 4th woman overall!!!  In a running race!!!!  I am just very excited - what a great morning!  

Me and Sonja drinking hot tea at the finish and trying to stay warm!  

Is  that not the coolest 4th place medal you've ever seen?  Oh and that is a snowflake on my check, not frostbite!

On a side note, I didn't actually descend my miles. I, in fact, ascended each mile. The first one was actually 7:05. Whoops. But I held on and will take a PR any day of the week. Bolder Boulder here I come!!

70.3

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Isabelle and Michael decorating the tree.  We are finally getting the ornaments off the bottom branches!

Charlotte managed to hang 14 ornaments on the bottom branch.

Michael and I on a date night.  Clearly, it's been WAY too long since we were out alone..... 

So back to the title of this post.  The 2009 season is really starting to shape up, and I just signed up for my first race!  OK, my second race.....World's already demanded a nice $$ sum. But I'm doing a race and a distance I haven't done before.  70.3.  A half-Ironman and I am excited!  The location?  Kansas!!  

More details to come on next season although sadly it will not include what I was most excited about (Napa marathon).....

18

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early, well maybe not bright and I guess it wasn't all that early - 6:30 (sleeping in for me!),  to run 18 miles.  I had been dreading it just a bit all week, that run and the annual company holiday party Saturday night.  But I did want to run all 18 miles.  I still wasn't sure about the party.  My knee has been giving me just enough trouble to make me think twice about the distance and you never know what the weather is going to bring.  But Saturday morning was BEAUTIFUL.  A balmy 35 degrees to start, clear skies and no wind.  A perfect morning for a long run.  And my knee felt great.  I decided that Highline Canal would be the best place to put in the miles, a gorgeous trail that cuts through what I think is one of the nicest/prettiest parts of Denver.  Plus, it is completely flat and since it's an out and back, it has built-in bail outs if my knee decided to scream.    

I had put out only one or two invites for the run, and I really didn't try all that hard for company.  As much as I love running with all my buddies, every once in awhile I think it is good to just get out there by myself and do it on my own.  So that's what I did.  I also decided to run it based on heart rate and not worry about time.  Michael (awesome hubby) gave me the luxury of not having to shuttle kids around to ballet in the morning so I didn't have that extra time anxiety.  As I started out, I just relaxed and  I felt GREAT.  I also felt like I had to pull the reins in too - I wanted to go faster but I needed to stick with my heart rate to make sure I had a great run.  The miles just kept ticking by.  1.5, 3.5, 7.5 and it was time for the turnaround.  Now there were some challenges in the run:  1/2 mile pick-ups at miles 10, 12, 14 and 16.  First one was hard, second and third were even harder. Fourth not good.  But I did it.  And I never walked (OK, for 30 seconds after the fourth pick-up).  

As I started my last mile, and about the time I was starting to get tired of myself, I saw friend Noell!  I was soooo happy to see her, she was in the middle of her run and we stopped and chatted for a minute.  (OK, that counts as a walk too) And then I was done.  I had figured about 3 hours for the run, but I finished up at 2:47, average heart rate 149, and I felt strong at the end.  My pace never fell off and my pick-ups were pretty quick.  I saw coach/friend Andrea at the finish and walked with her for a bit and caught up.  So, all-in-all a fabulous morning!!  

And then the REAL fun began.  I got home, got showered, ate, and ran off to get my hair done for the party.  After all this, I had approximately 1/2 hour to get ready before the sitter showed up and we were off to downtown.  I have been so unenthusiastic about my company party this year, I suppose the markets may have put a damper on my mood.  But as always, the company puts on one helluva party and we ended up having a great time!!  The bad part?  Getting to bed at 1am......OOPS.  

So, the recap:

Best part of run:  Seeing Noell and Andrea

Second best part of run:  No time constraints (ILU Michael)

Third best part of run:  Knee held up pretty well!!!

Best part of party:  Re-writing and singing "White Christmas" with dinner table.  Words went something like this

I'm dreaming of a bull market

Just like the ones I used to know

Where technology stocks glisten

And Wall Street analysts listen

And IPO stocks (forgot the words, freakin' hilarious)

Second best part of party:  Recycling LAST year's dress by putting a cute sweater on it....nobody knew the difference!!!!  Look at me being thrifty!!  

Masters part II

It's true, just a few short months ago I actually said that I loved the HR Masters program.  Clearly, I was delusional.  Or was I just that bored from all the alone swimming I had done in the prior five months that any type of group swimming interaction seemed wonderful?  Whatever it was, the feel-good endorphins have worn off and I am stuck with the reality that Masters is a Bitch.  

OK, I admit, HR Masters is a great program.  Very good coach that writes workouts that seem to go on forever but are rarely boring.  And very fast swimmers in the pool - like 3 lanes of quality, fast, talented swimmers.  It/They are kicking my booty.  I have begun to question my fitness every time I show up because I simply have to work HARD to keep up!  That's right, going anaerobic during warm-up.  That makes for a LONG practice.    

Granted, my fitness level should be a bit different now than when I first showed up in August.  I mean, this is technically the off-season right?  Ah yes, LSD in the pool (reminder: Long Slow Distance), I'm thinking nice long sets on a very reasonable and comfortable interval.  But not for the serious Masters swimmers.  Nope.  Their season is about to begin and their intensity is ramping up.  So I find myself in the middle of a brutal 4 x (5x100) set.  ICK.  The first set is breaststroke.  WTF?  I don't DO breaststroke, never have, never will.  And I have a woman in my lane who can actually kick breaststroke with a board faster than I can swim it.  Huh.  Next set, thank goodness, freestyle.  But did I see that interval correctly?  By the end of the workout I can barely lift my arms out of the water and am trying to figure out if breaststroker chick will be offended when I ask her to blow dry my hair for me.....

But here's the good news (I think).  I made all the intervals.  And I didn't take any extra time on the wall.  And I met one of the fast girls in my lane and maybe even made a new friend!!  And, Tyler and PIC Son were there so it was a great morning. 

Happy Training!! 

Weekend Update

Ahhh, what an awesome weekend.  It was relaxing, tough, fun, fun, and fun!

I met with StevieP on Friday for a quick swim lesson.  Yes, I know, a swim lesson?  But here's the deal:  I learned how to swim and competed at swimming years and years ago.  So my stroke is "old" school swimming and there is "new" swimming.  Kind of like new math (I am completely frightened by the prospect of my 1st grader teaching ME math).  

So we worked on some drills, I drowned just a little bit, and we did more drills.  This is going to be tough.  I understand where we are trying to go - a more efficient, powerful stroke.  Plus, if I can take another minute off of my 1500, YAHOO!  But really, it is hard to reprogram years and years of coaching on the old stroke.  But we figured out a good couple of drills at the end that I will work on and if I don't actually drown while doing them, maybe we'll see some improvement!

Saturday was a trail run at Lair O' the Bear.  It was an absolutely beautiful Colorado morning: clear blue sky, and a cool, crisp temperature to start.  My goal?  To hang with Steve, Tony, and Sonja for the run.  StevieP wanted me to run the 7.5  miles to the top but I have been fighting this silly cold for 2 weeks and wasn't sure how it would go.  Sure enough, we get going (they had already done 5 miles), set a great slow pace on the first uphill and I feel fantastic!  A few lung cookies coming up but now I felt I could go the entire 15 miles.  I had brand new trail shoes on, my traction was awesome and I really couldn't have asked for a better morning and better running partners.  

We made it to the tee-pee and the rocks above for a stunning view of Mt. Evans and the foothills.  Very cool.  I don't have pictures but my PIC Sonja does.  She even has a cool video of the day check it out here.

 

On the way down I led for a bit and then John, Barry and Steve decided to pick it up.  Hmmm.  I tried to bow out but Finchy was behind me and just pushed me ahead and said you're fine.  Hmmm.  The lung cookies were expanding now and my heart rate was telling me to back off.  I hung out with the big kids for a bit longer and then pulled off the back.  John and Barry had as well so we had our own group on the last downhill and still managed a pretty good pace.  What a cool run.  15 trail miles with a great group of people, we chatted lots, caught up with one another, shared food (thanks Sandy!), posed for pictures and video and just really had fun.  

Saturday night put a nice bright pretty bow on the entire day.  Michael and I went out to dinner - well, not dinner, SUSHI!  It has been awhile since we ate sushi and we sure did eat lots.  It was Yummy!  And how cool to have alone time to just hang with my hubby?  Yep,  it was awesome.  We then found a really cool wine shop and bought a bottle to bring over to our great friends home:  DF and WSM.  We shared the wine, talked, laughed, got cupped, played games, and had a great time!  Cupped you ask?  Well, my friend WSM is in her final year studying eastern medicine and we decided to that it made sense to cup me to get rid of the lung cookies and Michael claims it was to get rid of spousal stress.  Here are the results:

My back, doesn't look too bad today.  And lung cookies??? Pretty much GONE!

Michael's back.  Apparently the spousal stress is pretty bad.

I won't use her real name here because I know these pictures may freak some people out.  But she is VERY talented at her new career and will be opening up her own shop in about 9 months.  It's been pretty cool to watch her go through the process of deciding what she wants to be when she grows up at the ripe age of 39 and then going after it.  

So Sunday rolls around and it's time for a nice LSD ride.  DF Andy led the way and took a few of us on a great ride.  Kudos to Troy (PIC Sonja's hubby) for pulling a burley with a flat tire.  That looked HARD.   It's almost Thanksgiving so here is one thing that I am grateful for:  living in Colorado.  It is November 23rd, and at 10am a balmy 55 degrees for our ride.  We got to ride OUTSIDE!!!  Woo Hoo!!!  

And the rest of Sunday?  A horrible Broncos game, pre-Turkey day shopping, and a lovely dinner with the family.  I mean really, what more could I ask for in a weekend???  

Hope your weekend was everything you wanted it to be too!  

Break

I kind of took a break.  I didn't plan it, it just happened.  Although I know I was thinking about it.  A break?  What is that?  A week with no exercise?  No way.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't survive that.  And I really don't remember the last time I took time off from working out.  

Some would argue that it wasn't really a break and I see their point.  But fact of the matter is, I went an entire week without swimming (laps), running (except after children), biking, or lifting weights.  As in 7 days.  Why?  Well, I got sick.  First time I have been sick in a year I believe.  That god-awful head, sinus, cough until your stomach muscles hurt and you have to find your lung kind of sick.  And it happened while on vacation in Florida.  It completely sucked.  But, could I hide underneath the covers in bed all day?  Nope.  There was Sea World, the Magic Kingdom, and the Animal Kingdom to explore.  Princess dinners to attend.  Absolutely exhausting.  So maybe it wasn't the break I wanted, but sometimes you just have to accept what is being handed to you.  

Funny thing is, I have felt a bit aimless since Nationals and have had several lackluster workouts and weeks.   My motivation seems to have waned a bit.  I have had trouble concentrating on planning my 2009 race schedule and Worlds seem to be so far away.  Work has been horribly busy for the last 6 weeks and things at home have been a bit off-center.  It seems our family vacation was well-timed.  

So I took a break from working out.  I started watching what I was eating (something I needed to do anyway with all that Halloween junk candy hanging around the house), I started to focus more on next season and set some goals.  And, I enjoyed just hanging out with my hubby and my girls.  It was really nice to not have the pressure of getting up at 5am on VACATION to make sure I get my workout in.  My kids were a bit confused by this odd behavior, and so was Michael.  They are just not used to Mommy not going for "a little" run.  Michael knew I was sick when I didn't get up!

After we got home, and I visited the doc, I couldn't wait to get started again.  My night cough was improving so I decided to head to the pool for a light swim.  2200 meters later and I felt great.  I hit 2 spin classes over the weekend and worked harder than I planned but it was OK, the lungs held up!  

Of course, I paid dearly for my lack of pool time on Monday. It wasn't just from being ill, I really haven't been swimming much in the last couple of months.  So Masters was hard.  I mean, really HARD.  But with the break comes a new attitude, and the excitement to build again.  I'm even going to work with StevieP on my stroke and see if we can make some improvements.  Naturally, there will also be the on-going, never-ending run analysis as well as some fun computrainer sessions to look forward to.  But honestly, bring it on, I can't wait!

The race schedule is being finalized, I'm starting to plan for Australia, work is getting more manageable.  And, life at home has also settled down and feels centered and on-track.  I think the break was just what I needed.

Yep, Life is Good:)

Florida Vacation

We survived our trip to the f-ing happiest place on Earth - yep, Disney World.  And Sea World. It was a really great family vacation!  One of the best moments for me?  My birthday dinner at Roy's.....mmmm.  The best present ever:  the girls behaved themselves at a white tablecloth restaurant for 2 HOURS.  It was the BEST!

Enjoy the pics:

Up close feeding the dolphins at Sea World.  This was really pretty cool, you could "pet" the dolphins and the girls thought it was great.  So did mom.  And dad.

The girls while they still liked Shamu (Charlotte also called him Mashu and Shampoo).  They insisted on sitting in the splash zone (aka SOAK zone) for the Shamu show and thought it was great until Shamu decided our section needed to be hit.  Not once.  Not twice.  But three times with that huge tail.  We were drenched.  Charlotte cried and said "bad whale"!

Hanging with Pluto.

First day of the Magic Kingdom, and a lovely nap.

Isabelle, our Belle, getting ready for the Princess dinner.

Hello, Prince Charming anyone?

The family with Mickey.

Last day at Disney.  What you can't tell in this picture is that we renamed Charlotte "Screaming Bear".  That refers to our overtired, overstimulated three-year-old.  You know what happened after I took this picture?  She pulled up her dress, pulled down her undies, bent over and mooned the family.  And the rest of Tomorrowland.  I love the threes.  

We're Off!

Whew, these last few days have passed in a whirlwind!  I had 2  days to get at least 5 days worth of work done.  Man, that was tough.  But it is done and now we are on our way out of town!  I have a conference in Orlando and we decided to tack on a vacation on top of it - woo hoo!  So, work until Friday noon, and then play with the family until next Wednesday.  

Happy November!

Colorado Trail

Yesterday was a great day!  My pal Bethie organized a run on the Colorado Trail.  But this wasn't any ordinary or easy task.  There were 3 different legs with running options of 15.5 miles, 11 miles, 27 miles, or the whopper 41 miles.  The pick-up and drop-off points were in very remote locations and the volunteer drivers drove upwards of an hour to an hour and a half to these points.  But she made it happen and it turned out to be quite a day!  

The best part of the day was that Michael was with me!!!  He heard trail run and wanted to join the group and it was awesome to have him with us.  We lined up our favorite babysitter, told her we weren't sure when we'd be home and off we went! Hopefully, he will join us more often from here.  And who knows, maybe there is a triathlon in his future???

Pretty much everyone started the first leg of 15.5 miles together, it was 6 miles up Waterton Canyon to the trail head and then single track until the first stop.  We started out very conservatively and jogged the dirt road.  Everyone was excited and chatty which was a great distraction from the brutal wind that was blowing down the canyon.  My plan was to run the first 2 legs for a whopping 27 miles total.   I felt really good the first couple of miles of  trail, even as I realized I was pacing with Anthony and Sonja (super fast runners).  But their plan was to run 41 miles so I figured I was fine.  

I was trying to keep up with my fueling (Gatorade and pb&j sammie) but my heart rate was getting a bit high for my goal so I dropped off the back of the first group and ended up running alone for awhile.  It was so peaceful and beautiful on the trail, I tried to look up every once in awhile to really appreciate the beauty of Colorado and the day we had.....crystal blue sky, light wind, and only a few clouds off in the distance.  The front group stopped to take in the view and fuel and we all started down the trail to the first stop.  Once again I fell a bit off the back as the major down hill started.  I was really concentrating on my footing (trail shoes are in my future) as there were lots of loose rocks.  I also really don't like the downhill so I was trying to stay loose. 

 StevieP stayed back and waited for me to run with me the rest of the way because people were slipping and tripping on the rocks.  Of course, a minute later, I caught a toe, and went flying onto the trail, tagging a rock with my pubic bone in the process.  Ouch.  Steve was saying, don't worry about your clothes, take an inventory of how you feel.  I felt pretty hurt but I knew nothing was broken.  I wasn't actually checking my clothes but trying to be modest because I thought I had torn my tights where I had hit the rock and wanted to make sure I wasn't showing the world my parts!!!  I kept moving because that's what you do....if nothing is broken you get up, brush off and continue on.  My elbow hurt but it was just bruised and I had a bit of road rash.  But the bone - down there.  OUCH.  There is just no cushioning there to pad against a rock.  Bethie and Son ran with me the rest of the way down and I still thought I could continue on.  

We were greeted with awesome hoots and hollars from the volunteers waiting and from the next leg runners.  We have such a great group - everyone is truly happy for each other's successes and accomplishments.  Michael came bouncing off the trail not long after the first group finished - what a rock star!  He was just doing leg 1 so he was done for the day, but it was time for me to fuel and get back on the trail.  We started again but I immediately felt pulling and tightness in the injured area and felt I was limping just a bit.  Bethie helped me make the right call, hugged me and I turned back to the cars.  

I have a real tough time with these types of decisions.  I actually felt I had an "easy day" because I only did 15.5 miles.  I was disappointed in myself because I didn't reach my goal of the 27 miles.  I felt guilty!!  But Michael (and everyone else) helped me realized I had made the right choice.  

When I got home, I noticed several lovely bruises on my quads and elbow.  And I'm sure the deep bone bruise on the pubic bone is going to be real pretty too!!!  But I am so pleased with the run - I was actually keeping up with group 1.  Yee Haw!  Michael had a great day!  Anthony, Steve, and Son made their goal of 41!!  And everyone else having a great day too - once again a great Practical Coaching day.  And all thanks to Beth and the volunteers!  

Cheers!

Transitions

T1 and T2 are the easy transitions.  Well, you may forget to take off your cap and googles, or struggle getting out of your wetsuit.  You might take forever putting on your shoes and forget your race number (by the way, I've done all of these).  But really, these are the easy ones. 

These days I find I am trying an even tougher transition.  On-season to OFF-season.  Yep, there are absolutely no races planned on my calendar in the near future.  Sure, I could find some 5ks or 10ks and put them on the schedule.  And I still have the race voice in my head that says c'mon let's go!!!  But now non-racer chick voice is there saying, maybe you should just have another cookie.  There will be plenty of races next year.  Humpf.  What's a "now I love racing" girl to do?  

Apparently, there will be plenty of LSD.  Once again peeps, minds out of the gutter.  We are talking Long Slow Distance.  Base building at its finest.  Swimming 3000 meters.  Straight.  Running 10, 15 miles.  Yes, also without breaks.  No speed.  3-4 hour bike rides with no particular place to go or hills to climb.  And you know what?  It sounds almost nice.  Like maybe this could be fun too!  

So, I shall embrace the off-season, in fact, I believe it is the NEW on-season!  And, who knows.  Maybe I will find a little 10k.  Or a swim meet.  I mean really, we wouldn't want to get race-rusty, right?  

Another transition I am dealing with?  Check out these photos.  It's true, I am now a 4-eyed gal.  This is probably proving tougher than the off-season transition.  Glasses?  On someone who has not worn anything but sunglasses her ENTIRE life?  Yikes.  

My true feelings about wearing glasses

Yea, I know.  I'm no Sarah Palin......and the kitchen is STILL dirty

How about my girls?  Look at these adorable pictures

Isabelle is a midnight fairy

Charlotte?  What else, Super Girl!

Peace out.  Happy Halloween!  

Denver Half Marathon Pictures

Sonja, Me, Lisa

Practical Coaching after the race - can you tell what a beautiful day it was??

Denver Half Marathon

It's hard to believe but today I did my first half marathon.  I have attempted a half twice before....the first one I never even got to the start line due to tasting the Easter Bunny Cake batter.  Yep, came down with salmonella poisoning the night before the 2007 Platte River Half.  I was sick for 3 weeks.  Public service announcement:  eating cake batter with RAW EGGS can be very, very, very bad for your health.  The second time I attempted a half was just a couple of months ago:  the Pikes Peak Ascent.  Sure, it was uphill (to 14,000 feet to be exact) the entire way and I'm sure my time would have resembled a full marathon time but hey, it was going to be a half.  Well, I ended up doing 18 miles.  Sure, I've done a marathon (Denver Marathon 2007), lots of training runs of 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 miles long.  But never the OFFICIAL HALF.  

So today was the day!  PIC Sonja and I rode our bikes from the Rez to the Capitol for a nice warm-up.  It was 5:15 and dark! But we had a nice chat and NO pre-race nerves which was kind of strange.  I think I was more nervous about riding in the dark but that ended up being a non-event!  The only issue was the cold, by the time we met Troy (Son's hubby) at their car, my hands were cold and my feet were numb. It was 6:40 and the race started at 7.  And the line to the porta-potty???  About a zillion miles long.  There was NO way we were going to get through that line and make 7.  So, we did what any rational racer does, find an appropriate tree to pee.  Ours just happened to be in front of the courthouse.  Now I apologize in advance for the following details, but grow up, it's just poop.  Yes, I only pooped once before leaving the house at 4:50am.  And if you know me, you know I need at least 2 pre-race poops to feel good and ready to go.  Well, that just wasn't going to happen today.  NOPE.  But, whaddya going to do?  I lined up at the start, wishing I had gone #2, and started to run.

I had very specific race instructions today from Steve:  the first 2 miles at 8:45, then descend each mile by :05 from there.  That would be approximately 7:55 for the last mile.  In a perfect world.  First mile?  8:55.  Oops a bit slow but not a bad start, my heart rate was LOW.  So I picked it up a bit.  I missed my second mile split (turned out to be 8), and then looked down for mile three.  Oops.  8:00.  Huh, I should have been around an 8:40.  I was a bit concerned because it seemed too fast.  But my heart rate was still under control and I felt good.  Clearly 8's were the pace for me today because the next several miles I just kept hitting 8.   So my new strategy was to keep steady.  Now for a poop update:  I kept passing porta-pottys thinking I should stop in, but nothing was ever urgent enough, just that I should probably go feeling.  But I didn't stop because it just seemed a waste of time.  I hoped that this decision wouldn't end badly....Especially now that I was knocking down 8's, I couldn't remember the pace chart but I knew this could be good.  Even at mile 9 up the hill at Cheesman Park, 7:59.  And it was here that I started to feel I was working.  But I only had 3 miles left.  My last three miles:  7:34, 7:36, 7:21.  So, I guess all in all, I descended my miles and stuck to my original plan.   The last mile was really great, I started hurting a bit and my heart rate was climbing.  I heard someone shout my name (THANKS!) and I picked it up.  Then I saw PIC and managed a smile until she told me to get moving and finish with everything I had.  That made for a long 2 blocks. 

It was a really fun morning and the weather couldn't have been any better especially after last year's suffer-fest (drizzle, cloudy, COLD).  The course is great - running through downtown, past Coors Field, to 17th and City Park, then on to Cheesman Park and up Lincoln to the finish.  I kept thinking about the marathon last year, that was also an amazing day but for many different reasons.  And this year I was sooooo happy to make the turn today for the half.  

At the finish, I met up with all the fabulous Practical Coaching crew.  It seems that everyone had great races!  But the best part?  Seeing my girlfriend Lisa at the finish.  It was a bittersweet day for her as her family had to put their awesome dog Chaco (and Primo's buddie) to sleep on Friday and she misses him terribly.  But it was her 1st half and she knocked it out of the park!  And she did this in her brand new age group: 40-44. Happy 40th Birthday Lisa!!  

We all went for breakfast afterwards and had a great time talking, planning, catching up, and whatever else came to mind.  I finally got home and although I didn't feel my best (yep, issue #2) the family headed over to the community fall festival for pony rides, pumpkin painting, apple cider and more.  What a great day!

Results you ask?  In my last race as a 39 year old:

1:46:00 (8:05/mile I think)

22 out of 486 (not bad for an old lady!!!) 

Peace Out:)

Mexico

Katie, me, Anita hanging at the pool bar

Laura, Michelle, Lesa, Steph, Anita, Kristin, Katie and Lisa

Lesa and her henna tattoo 

Here are my favorite memories from Girls 40 Weekend!

Crunchy bloody marys

Ants!

Running "pick-ups" with Lisa

It's noon somewhere

Mayan sacrafice (that didn't happen....Lesa)

Lounge chairs

Getting pushed into the pool

Mudslides (go figure, no margaritas)

Mojitos

Marengue w/ Jose "the same the same the same"

Babysitting Steph (or was it Foster?)

Jimmy!!!

I kissed a girl and I liked it...

Henna tattoos

David and his awesome hands (clean it up people....poolside massage)

We left 5 hours ago and you are still in the same place when we left you (lounge chair on the beach surprise surprise)

Midnight pizza

5am thunder storm

She's a bitch!

Anyway, it was an awesome weekend with my buddies.  It's hard to believe that I have known these amazing women for so long.  Katie, Kristin and I were roomies in college and I met Katie the year before swimming (incredibly talented swimmer).  I met Lisa through Katie and we had a finance class together with a professor that had such a strong accent (the "yell" and the "x" axis) that I'm not sure how we passed because we could barely understand him!  The rest of the ladies I met shortly after college and we have been there for each other ever since.....dating, breaking up, engagements, marriage, babies, jobs, unemployment.  You name it, we have probably been through it together - the good, bad and ugly.  I can't say enough about these women, they are truly wonderful and I am incredibly blessed to know them!

GSW '09.......I can't wait!

Tick Tock

The clock is ticking......

Gold Coast Australia

I just received the official Team USA invite to participate in the 2009 Triathlon World Championships.....in Australia!!!  Yikes, so now Michael and I have to finally address the elephant (or T-Rex) that has been hanging around in our house for the last couple of weeks since Nationals.

There's the cost.  There's the distance.  There's the time - vacation time from work, possible time away from my cute kiddos.  Family?  Couples trip?  Girls trip with Sonja??? Oh, and did I mention the cost?  And, have you seen the markets lately?  

But, there's also the excitement of competing in....Worlds!!!!  I mean really, how cool would that be?  And exploring a place that I have ALWAYS wanted to see (I studied Australia in my international marketing class in business school).  Opportunity is knocking.  AHHHHHH!!!!  

So, the clock is ticking.  My deadline for accepting the spot is October 20......  

Happy Birthday Isabelle

Isabelle at 6 months

And today, the happy b-day girl

Oh my, my first baby is turning 6 today.  Holy Moly.  Once again, I am absolutely stunned at how fast time flies.  Was it really six years ago that Michael and I went to the hospital, watched a movie, watched a Broncos game, watched another movie, pushed for 2+ hours, and along came Isabelle?  

We had a great family "party" for her at Red Robin the other night with Nana and Capa, and Aunt Coli and John, and her friend Adriana.  Tonight, however, was just the four of us.  Isabelle wanted to go the Dusty Boot for macaroni and cheese (of course), and then we got home, opened presents and ate cake!  Yep, it was homemade too.....going for homemaker/mother of the year!!!  Little does she know, she has a FUN weekend ahead of her including a sleepover at Adriana's house and a trip to the Georgetown Railroad Loop. 

But now, it's time for me to finish up packing.  Me and the girlies (Kristin, Katie, Lesa, Lisa, Steph, Laura and Anita) are heading to Mexico to try to locate the bottom of a glass.  Please wish us luck.  HA!  All of us have know each other since around college days and we are all turning the BIG 4-0 this year.  And we determined several months back that the only proper way to celebrate was to drag our asses to the nearest lounge chairs in Mexico.  I don't know if I will have pictures when I get back.  This may be an "undocumented" trip.  

Adios Amigos!

P.S.  Gracias Miguel for-a el trip-0 (my spanish is pretty horrible).  Por favor kiss-o las ninas para mi. Te quiero mucho!

USAT Nationals Portland

My apologies for the long post but it is really hard to summarize such a stellar weekend!  

Practical Coaching on bike recon Friday

OK, I have to start even before leaving for Portland.  Going into this race, I was initially pretty nervous.  It really started last week, I couldn't sleep, was completely freaked out about getting sick, and was just kinda nervous.  Beth and I analyzed the start list of our age group, and frankly, we underestimated the  competition.  But that didn't help my nerves.  So I took a step back and realized it didn't matter who was on that start list.   All I wanted to do was have a good.  No, I wanted to have a GREAT race.  I also knew that if I did have a great day, I would have a solid race and a pretty good shot of qualifying for Worlds.  That is a pretty nice bonus of having a great race!!  So, I started to relax and got pretty calm.  As in, no butterflies.  No real stomach distress.  And I started sleeping pretty well.  And, of course, I continued to eat like a freakin' teenager.  

Hmmm, surprise.  Me, Tyler, Noell, and Sonja eating!

So that's how the trip started, strangely calm.  Which is a GREAT thing.  Sonja (PIC) and I were on the same flight out and we just did our thang and traveled really well together.  It was especially fun to think about the last time we were in Portland together....we had literally met like a week before last year's Nationals and decided to room together (best decision EVER).  She came to pick me up at the airport and that was the start of a beautiful friendship.  We were both newbies to Nationals, and it was Son's first Oly distance tri - at Nationals!!! Brave girl!!!  Anyway, we met PC teamie Noell in baggage claim in Portland, and Tyler came and picked us all up.  We were off!!

Sonja running down her age group

The major fun of the day you ask??  Heading to the Nike campus in Beaverton.  OMG.   Sonja's friend Myra works at Nike and she took us on a warm-up jog around the campus trail.  I'm sure she was surprised at how slow we were (umm 12/min miles anyone?  These people are going to Nationals??) but it was incredible.  It is the most beautiful corporate campus I have ever seen, the buildings all had names like the Lance Armstrong Center, Mia Hamm building, Tiger Woods building etc.  Oh, and the coolest track - imagine your every day, regular ol' track, put in a lush green forest in the middle of it and surrounding the track, and that's the Nike track.  Amazing.  I do have to mention green shorts stalker dude, he followed us everywhere:  the trail, the track, and the long soccer fields.  Pretty sure he was checking out Tyler.  Then we got to shop at the Nike Employee Store.  Yep....very cool.  

The Nike track as taken from a moving car

The Practical Coaching team turnout for Nationals was amazing:  Steve, Andrea, Beth, John, Sonja, Tyler, Noell, Jenna, Julie, Anthony, and Barry.   And the 4 greatest supporters I have ever encountered:  Priscilla and Michelle, and Sonja's parents Eric and Helen.  Having all of us together at this event was exciting and downright FUN.  We push each other each and every day in training and have the opportunity to share the good and not so good in training and just everyday life experiences.  My peeps:)  

Friday morning rolled around and it was time to head up to the race site (Hagg Lake) to hop on the bikes and preview the course and packet pick-up.  It was just as I remember it....hilly.  Up and down and no real flats.  The run course is tough, 3 hills on the way out and 4 on the way back (I know, the math doesn't really work out but trust me on this one).  Swim course looked great and I was ready to get going.  Still calm at this point which is something new for me.  

The bike course

Packet pick-up: me, Beth, Noell

Swim

Not my swim start wave but an awesome picture taken by Eric Willis

The swim had a great start: we lined up on the dock, sat down, and with 1 minute before the start, we got in and held onto the dock.  The horn went off but we had nothing to push off of, just let go and got a move on.  I tried to get out in front but in a controlled and non-sprint manner.  About 200 meters in I looked around and was still surrounded by women.  Rather than freaking out and thinking I was out of my league, I smiled.  Yep, I smiled in the water and said to myself, GAME ON.  This is gonna be fun!  By the first sighting buoy, the crowd had thinned out and there were maybe 8 of us with 1 or 2 clearly in the lead.  I settled on some feet for a bit (let's just call her Maria) but I kept hitting them and decided to swim next to her and in another girls wake.  By the turnaround I was swimming next to Maria, stroke for stroke.  I have never done this during a race before and I loved it.  At the next turn I saw another girl that we were catching (call her Alma), Maria saw her too and we went after her.  We were catching the wave in front of us (and yes, I admit, I swam over a guy, but come on this is nationals no time to be polite and/or nice!!!!) and even saw some swimmers from 2 waves up.  There were 3 of us now swimming together and pushing.  Alma tired a bit before the last turn into the dock and Maria and I dropped her.  I had no intention of being dropped by Maria, so we continued to swim next to each other to the end.  We both hit the mat at the same time!

21:31 swim time, tied for 3rd out of the water

T1: 2:05 (Maria 2:21 hehehehe)

Trust me, I was not going to let Maria beat me into transition.  I hauled ass up the boat ramp and into transition.  No major issues.  Helmet on, glasses on, goo in pocket.  Outta there.

Bike

Brrrr, it was cold starting off on the bike.  So I went like hell to try to warm up, and because, well, it was time.  I wanted to have a good strong ride.  I wanted to push the bike to where I would question whether or not I could run.  And I felt good.  My legs were ready to rock and roll.  I rode in my aeros pretty much the entire ride, even on the downhills where I normally hit my drops. I was passed early on by a couple of women in my age group that were very fast so they went on ahead.  But then Alma passed by me on a downhill and then had the nerve to slow down on the uphill.  Uh uh.  So I passed her on the uphill only to get passed again on the downhill.  Cat and mouse for awhile.  Finally, she pissed me off by not relinquishing her position on a pass and I was afraid of getting a penalty so I stepped it up and passed her for the last time.  It was about this time that I forgot where I was on the course.  I know, it's funny how race brain works but it's true.  I literally could not remember if I'd done the big hill twice and if I was on my second lap (I had and I was).  That was a strange feeling but then I saw the runners on the course and knew that I was in my final three miles on the course.  My legs were feeling the push on the bike but I was ready to transition.  

Bike: 1:12:15 (20.6 mph ave. on a hilly course!)

Coming into transition, apparently pretty happy about it

T2: 1:00 Toes were a bit numb from the cold and struggled with my shoes for a couple of seconds but no major issues.

Run

Heading out, I kept telling myself, start calm, relax, concentrate on form, and then push.  but it is so difficult to stay relaxed coming out of transition and everyone taking off like a shot around you.  But I managed to not blow myself up and settle in.  Feeling started coming back to my toes, I heard all of the cheering, hit a downhill and all was well.  After the first hill, Steve caught me and had some very encouraging words as he went by.  Another girl from my age group went by and I made a mental note to catch her after the turnaround.  And then came Alma, she said hey or something to that effect as she went by on the downhill and we played our cat and mouse game again on the uphills/downhills.  I had to let her go right before the turnaround because I was afraid of blowing myself up.  Finally, I hit the turnaround at the bottom of the three hills and it was time to head back and see what was left in my legs and lungs.  I tried working with a guy from the wave ahead of me, he said let's go so I went but he didn't come with me.  I passed Trista on the second uphill and she said hey, let's work together (really not sure how she put all those words together, I was reduced to grunting at this point), you pull the uphills and stay on my shoulder for the downhills.  OK.  I am in.  She pushed on the downhills and I stayed right on her shoulder.  It was great working with her.  She wanted to catch another woman in front (once again she is talking, me - grunting) of us who had passed me earlier and I tried to stick with her but not this time.  Coming into the finishers shoot was just unreal: lined with people cheering, hearing my name over the loud speaker, and crossing the finish line.  I looked at my watch and saw a number that I could not believe.  2:23.  Holy crap.  I was exhausted but elated.  What a great race!  

This was the final stretch of the run, Trista is a few steps ahead of me

In case you were wondering, this is how I look when I finish a race

Run:  46:28 (7:29 pace) fastest run EVAH

Total: 2:23:15, 17th in age group

Me, Son, Tyler after the race (another great Eric W. shot)

Best part of the day:  All the Practical Coaching folks had a great race

Second best part of the day:  PR in the Olympic distance 

Third best part of the day:  The best cheering squad ever

Fourth best part of the day:  Celebration hot tub 

A HUGE shout out to my hubby too.....thank you for taking such good care of the girls while I was gone.  I can't do this without your support.  ILU:)

Here are a couple more pics

Me, Matty, and Beth.  We are NOT stalkers.....

Relaxing after the race

StevieP Coach Extraordinaire.  Seriously folks, I call him that for a reason.  He is truly a great coach and has helped me realize my abilities and achieve my goals.  Thanks Steve!