Almost....

Monday night before my IRONMAN. Last weekend I rode a short ride before I shipped my bike. I took a right turn and there was water. My tires went out from under me and I fell on my right side. It was not good AT ALL but I survived. So now I am waiting for "GO TIME." I will run & swim this week and then do a little exercise while in Louisville. I AM READY!!!!

21 days away

We went up to Dallas this weekend to ride with Neil and to see some hills. We rode 83ish miles. It was great. I was proud of all three of us. Tomorrow (Monday), I am going to run my 15 miles. I have a pain in my right foot. It feels like a stone bruise. That worries me. Really, any pain I have worries me. I want to be in the best condition ever in 21 days.

Back up: Last weekend I rode 60 miles and then ran 2 miles. On Sunday I ran 18 miles and was joined by Kristi from mile 3 to mile 12is. It was awesome. I averaged 11.3 minute/mile. This was way under my goal time of 12 minute/mile. I feel good and ready. Ironman Kona was on today, just watching it on TV made me even more ready. I am beginning to train my brain. I am visualizing the places where I think I might struggle and I am pumping myself up.

I can do this because God gave me the ability and I have tons of support.

swim swim swim

So I did a brick yesterday. I rode 20 miles and ran 2. My seat is so uncomfortable. I have an appointment to get fitted on my bike. I hope this makes all the difference. I am so uncomfortable, I know this will help. I will ride this Saturday and I will push through it with meds.

This morning I woke up with no problem. 4:30AM. I scooted to the gym and completed my 2,000 meter swim. It was very productive. I am getting much more efficient. Tonight I will go to the Bike Barn sprint work out and then a slow jog on Thursday morning with IronKristi.

c-ya

Vacation Over...

Just spend one whole week in Los Cabos. It was good to have a break but I need to get back in it. The Saturday before we left Jay and I completed 80 miles on the bike and then woke up Sunday and completed a 6 mile run. We left for the airport as soon as my run was over. While in Cabo I ran 2 days and they were not good runs b/c our resort was located on a mountain side. It was a steep 3 miles but at least I did something. We did meet some fantastic people while at the 2nd resort. One of them, Jim, had just completed an IM and qualified for Kona. CRAZY. His wife, Melissa, was equally awesome. She and I had a great conversation about bike fits and how my bike is NOT fit to me yet. I am hoping to get that sorted out this week. There were some other really cool people in this group.

As for this week...I ran today (4.4 miles) and tomorrow I am going to ride 30 miles and run about 3 or 4 miles. I hope to get my bike fit on Wednesday. I know I can spend forever on the bike IF I get properly fit.

We will see.

jog and talk

Tuesday morning started early....4:15am. I was determined to get up and complete my workout. I did it. I got up, ate a little, organized my new planner, and then scooted to meet my workout partner. Kristi and I ran a little over 5 miles and it was a perfect combination of jogging and talking. I loved it. My plan was to run this morning and ride this evening. My plan got altered b/c of a storm. My new plan is this: wake up at 4:15am tomorrow morning and swim with my swim group. Topher, Kristi, Jim, Todd & John. After this I will come home and rest and eat. My babysitter will come over around 8:30am and I will get in a 20ish mile bike ride. Around 7pm I will meet up with the Bike Barn Tri Club to get in a sprint workout. Thursday I will sleep in and just go on a one hour bike ride. Friday will be a swim workout.

TOmorrow I will report back with my successes.
Stay dry.

rainy ride

Jay took off work on Friday so we could get our 80 mile bike ride in before we left for Rockport to spend the weekend with my family. We knew there was a chance for rain but we were not sure when it would rain so we took a chance and left the house at 6:15AM. We made it 20 miles before the rain started. It was just a sprinkle but the last 17 miles were an all out downpour. We decided to ride one loop only (40 miles).

Thoughts: A couple weeks ago we started out on a ride and it was the pefect day, sunny with no wind. About 15 miles into this ride I freaked out and had a mental break down. HOWEVER: yesterdays ride was the worst possible riding conditions yet I was mentally stable the WHOLE time. How in the world was that possible.

We did not go to Rockport yesterday because the weather was terrible. It rained all day and into the night. I am relaxing today and then tomorrow I will go on a 15 mile run. It will be a jog/walk. I want to run in the same pace I will run in the marathon.

Next week I will work out everyday and some days I will work out twice.

Get ready Cabo....here I come.

slt

blahhhhhh....

Wow, this week has been a week where motivation was hiding from me. I "rested" on MOnday (lazy), Tuesday I went for a swim, Wednesday had good intentions but nothing happened. I did wake up early and motivated today but I did not run b/c of rain. I did not go back to sleep b/c I want to practice my early wake up skills. I do plan on sweating today at some point. The plan for Friday is to ride 80 miles and then drive to Rockport. I will then run about 15 miles in Rockport, weather permitting. The time is coming.....

great swim

Tuesday morning Kristi and I ran 4 miles and then a thunderstorm made me not want to ride my bike in the afternoon so Jay rode his. I woke up this morning and made it to my swim workout. It was great. about 2,000 meters overall. I am still nervous for the bike ride. I will ride today. we'll see...

run...or not

Sunday morning: I wake up at 5:15 so I can run at 6. I end up leaving around 6:30 and my plan is to run 13 miles. I start my run at a snail's pace of 12min/mile pace. oh well, at least I am running. 5 miles in and I am a bit faster but I am not comfortable. My hamstrings are not happy with me. Jay, the best husband in the world, meets me to refill my water bottles but instead I get a ride home. My 13 miles turns into 7.6 miles. Lesson learned: do not do a new workout on a Friday before a big weekend.

Plans for the week:
Monday: swim
Tuesday: AM run 6ish miles PM ride 2 hours
Wednesday: swim with my group PM track workout with Bike Barn Tri Club
Thursday: ride 1 hour (intervals)
Friday: swim
Saturday: Brick ride/run
Sunday:???????

Happy Father's Day

not good, not good

so yesterday my friend amy and i did a track workout. i loved it but my legs got very tired. this was NOT a smart thing to do the day before a long ride. so this morning i got up at 5:10 to prepare for the 6:15 ride of 68 miles. our babysitter, ann, comes over and we are out the door. at about mile 25 i lose it. i am crying, mad, uncomfortalbe and i cannot believe i have 40+ more miles to ride. the only person around was jay so i took it all out on him. i was so mad/upset that i rode 14mph when really i should have been going about 18mph. there was no wind and i did not take advantage. instead i acted like a huge baby. i finally calmed down and we got to mile 30. here i ate my payday and i knew we were about 15 miles from home. i was very mad at myself b/c i have now shortened my ride and that was NOT in the plans. we get to fulshear and i decide that i really need to ride the full amount. we tack on some more miles and we end up doing about 60 miles.

what did i learn? do not try a new workout the day before a long ride and quit freaking out.

now i must refuel for tomorrows run of 10 or 13 miles.

heres to a fantastic week.
slt

swim...

Woke up this morning at 4:30ish and got on my scooter and went to the gym. I had a big swim workout planned but I was not motivated. I did half of it. :-( Today I am meeting up with my neighbor Amy and we are going to work through a track work out. She has been watching her high schoolers do it so she wants us to try it. Tomorrow we have a 4 hour bike ride and Sunday I have another 12 or 13 mile run. The run I never worry about, the bike is hard b/c you are alone. Jay rides with me and we talk but there are long moments where I am just watching him ride WAY ahead of me.

A good friend of mine, Kristi Robbins, told me a long time ago that your mind controls your body. When we get fatigued we tend to let our legs tell us we are tired and done but this is not the case. You have to remind your mind to control your legs and to tell them, "YOU ARE NOT FINISHED, SUCK IT UP."

Maybe one day I will invite everyone into my head you can see how crazy us IRONMAN people are.

slt

first blog: it is long

This is my first blog EVER. I am 33 years old. I have a husband and a 15 month little girl. In November of 2008 my husband, Jay, completed his first IRONMAN. In August 2009 I signed up to complete the Louisville IRONMAN in 2010.

My training: soon after having Jessica (March 2009) I began training for the Houston marathon. I was MUCH slower than I have been but at least I did it. In January 2010 I completed the marathon in 4 hours and 58 minutes. I was very proud b/c my recovery was so much better than it has been in years past. Soon after this Jay and I started training for the MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin. We completed this in April. After the MS150 I began focusing on the IRONMAN.

This is a typical week:
Monday ~ off
Tuesday ~ sprint work out at 5AM with 2 girlfriends. We run 1.5 mile warm up and will do something like: 400m 200m repeat 4 times. Run 1.5 mile cool down
Tuesday ~ ride 14 mile at about 5PM
Wednesday ~ Swim about 2000 meters at 5AM
Thursday ~ run 6 miles with my girlfriends (mile 4 will be fast)
Friday ~ swim or something else
Saturday ~ LONG BIKE RIDE
Sunday ~ LONG RUN

Now, this is not always followed. I would say " i am doing my best" but i am not. hence the blog. hopefully this keeps me more honest.

SO what has happened this week:
Saturday 73 mile ride
Sunday 12 mile run
Monday off
Tuesday DID NOT WORKOUT IN THE AM. ride 14/run 3 at about 5pm
Wesnesday DID NOT WORKOUT IN THE AM. sprint workout 6pm. run 10 minute warm up. 400 meters at 5K pace/90 second rest (8 times), 2 lap cool down
Thursday: 5.2 mile run @ 5AM

okay, i will post more often so they are not so long. feel free to send encouraging notes.....i know i can do this b/c everyone belives in me.