TriGranny's Training Blog

Training 2/6

2012-02-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

This was a good training week:

6 days of running, long run 8.2

2 spin classes

1 ride (meant to get another ride in on Saturday but it got cold!)

2 yoga classes

2 weight training days (yep putting it back in, darn dexascan)

Reasons running doesn't suck as much as you think

2012-02-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

Picking and choosing a few of my favorites from hellogiggles.com (thank you Kim)

You can lose weight by drinking nothing but hot water with lemon. Or you can run for an hour, treat yourself to a cookie and still fit into your skinny jeans. One of these options makes you witchy; the other makes you rad.

When your boss, your melodramatic friend and your nagging to-do list won’t leave you alone, calmly put on your running shoes and head out the door. They won’t follow you.

Running is the last place you have to “be a lady.” Sweat, snot and sneaking behind a bush to pee is not only liberating it’s fun, in that giggly-childish-naughty kind of way.

Girls are lucky; there’s an entire industry committed to making us look awesome while getting our sweat on.
Workout clothes come in all sorts of cool colors and designs. Jockstraps, on the other hand, will always be ugly with questionable stains.

Non-runners will sit on the couch and call you crazy. Those folks, sadly, will never learn what their bodies are capable of. You, on the other hand, will die knowing you completely, totally, unabashedly used up the body that was loaned to you. That’s not crazy. That’s freakin’ awesome.

Run-Yoga-Bike

2012-01-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hurray, back on the bike yesterday and today!!!

Good yoga class and 11 mile run. Run-Yoga-Bike makes a tri, I'm pretty sure!

St. George Half Marathon

2012-01-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Seriously I must re-examine the Wright family Budget! I paid to do the Runners Series, paid to do the Snow Canyon Half, paid to do the St. George Half all for the privilege of registering and paying for the St. George Marathon!!! That's true devotion for a guaranteed marathon entry. I really do love the St. George Marathon though, so I'm in for sure! Now to use the rest of the year to do some speed work. My goal this year is just to cruise, pushing my pace but not getting beat up, it will be my last long run for IMAZ. As for my St. George Half race report:
Craig and I got into St. George on Friday, picked up our packets at the Dixie Center, I bought this cool magnetic pocket that will hold a cell phone, key, credit card, etc. I really like it (RooSports) since I always run in compression shorts with no pockets. Neither of us slept well that night, when we woke up I had a head ache and it was raining! A little Advil solved the head ache, as for the rain....well it must have been the torrent of prayers from all the runners, the rain stopped as the race was starting. I have to admit I was kicking myself for not doing the 5K, think how fast that could have been over with! Started off with no HRM just the resolve to go out and get it done, at mile 2 I really started to feel good and just cruised, I lost the 2:15 pace group, which was unrealistic for me anyway but when the 2:20 group caught up to me I resolved to hang with them. I did pretty well until the last two miles and they got out of my sight, I was ok with that since my goal was 2:30 and knew I would make it. When I came into the finish chute and could see the clock It was 2:20 something......I ran as hard as I could so the clock wouldn't say 2:21. Here are my official results:

22    Melinda Wright                    Redlands  CA         5094   54     1103      2:19:55.6   2:20:43.4      0:47.8     10:40/M

I was happy to see 2:19 on the chip, which means  the pacers were a little on the  fast side...thank you pacers.  (Sorry about the font change, I don't know how to  change it since I copied and pasted) It did start raining the last mile which only     made me more anxious to be done.  So that's it--I package of Cliff Shots, 2      Vanilla bean Gu's was just about right.  Next project is to calibrate my foot pod, it showed I ran a 10:04 average    pace instead of 10:40, darn, I wish the foot pod was right!

Run Grandma Run

2012-01-15T16:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my long run, only 8.3, but I think I'm seeing the benefits of my 30 min/day no walking runs. I ran without walking, my favorite route, top of Sunset to the Temple, best time I've done, averaged about a 10:40 pace, yay!! Next week is the St. George Half, I would like to do less than 2:30, it's a flat course as opposed to downhill like yesterday.

2012 off to a great start--

2012-01-11T11:38:00.000-08:00

2012 is off to a good training start after some Christmas and New Years time off. We had a wonderful Christmas at home and then gathered all the kids, grandkids and Grammy and Papa for a cabin trip. What a great time. The weather was fairly mild, no snow :( we had to go to Brianhead to ski, so you might think I got my runs in...well not. But I'm back on track, I haven't done any make up runs yet, but I'm still logging 1/2 hour a day on my Slowtwitch log. I am doing a base plan until Be Iron Fit starts in April and I'm really enjoying it.

Craig and I are on for the St. George half marathon on Jan 21 (?) somewhere around that date--I decided to do the half which is crazy because I haven't done any long runs, but, that Saturday I will have a long run. This will make my second Runners Series race woohoo guaranteed admission to the St. George Marathon. Did I also mention that Craig and I are registered for the Utah Valley Marathon in June? Looks like I'll have three marathons this year. My best time is 5:05--goal--beat 5:05. Time to start ramping up the long runs and getting some "speed" work in.

2012 Planning

2011-12-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

January: St. George Half Marathon/5K still haven't decided which distance. Hotel reservation made. DONE!!!!!!!CHECK!!!!!
February: Tour de Palm Springs (maybe, not totally committed it's been so cold!)
April: Training plan begins April 23
May: St George Tri ????? Rio Salado Tri????
June: Utah Valley Marathon, Craig and I are in, registration done! BQ for Craig---
July: Spudman, July 28, gotta enter the lottery in Jan.
August: Thinking about the Utah Half Aug. 25
September:
October: St. George Marathon Oct. 6
November: IMAZ aka Death!
I need a half iron distance race around Sept. 15 for my training plan, it's looking like the Utah Half in August unless I procrastinate and then it will probably be Soma. I'll probably do the swimming event in Tempe Town Lake before IMAZ, maybe Rio Salado tri in May instead of St. George. Lots of maybe stuff going through my head but at least I'm starting to sketch it out.

Run-Yoga-Run

2011-12-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Run-Yoga-Run

I'm taking Sundays off from running so I did my extra run today.

Very slow.

96 more runs to go.

100 Day Challenge

2011-12-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

Oooh, I am a Slowtwitch lurker, I have followed their forums for years but never registered for an account. I have never cared to comment on Slowtwitch. I suppose it is the total intimidation complex I have. I'm not fast enough, young enough, witty enough etc. Mainly I just read, laugh, and learn, it can be really entertaining, educational and a great waste of time. BUT...this did it....the 100 Days/100 Runs challenge. I think I need that. The rules are simple, pretty self explanatory unless you ask too many questions!! 100 days---100 runs, minimum 30 minutes, no walking. The NO WALKING rule is what convinced me, I need this to get past my run/walk. So I now have a slowtwitch account, I'm in the challege (currently in last place--but that's not the point right!). Oh maybe it is the point, maybe I'm more competitive than I pretend to be. We'll see, I may not be fast but I am persistent. So anyway, if you check the standings, I'm "meldub". Oh and I only have 98 more runs to go.

Recovery!

2011-11-29T15:25:00.000-08:00

Ahhh....the total excesses of a Thanksgiving well done! What a wonderful weekend of food and family. I'm still recovering from the gluttony of it all. I got myself off to spin class this morning with a short swim before. I think everyone was there to work off their holiday indulgences and the class was killer. Seriously gotta be putting together my training plan and race schedule!

2011 Finish!

2011-11-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

This is the finish that my friend in line told me about, pretty exciting!

Scoop on IMAZ Volunteering

2011-11-21T14:18:00.000-08:00

Great weekend, ok I'm feeling it now, so much energy. Craig and I left Friday afternoon, we met up with my tri buddies on Saturday morning before the volunteer meeting! So fun, I will post a picture when I get it from Craig's phone. So the scoop on volunteering at IMAZ--We did morning/dry clothes bags, we got there at 5:00am and stood around not doing very much until close to the start time, and then the onslaught of bags!!! At first you can somewhat organize them, but at some point they start coming at you so fast all you can do is build a mountain! Inevitably people forgot things and left them in their bags, gu, swim caps, goggles--and believe it or not I think we found everyone when they came back (remember the mountain) no easy feat. It is a huge job to organize all the bags numerically in rows, some bags must weigh 50 pounds! It was also a little sad to have some of the swimmers who didn't finish the swim come back for their dry clothes. I talked to one lady who was doing her 21st Ironman she said she didn't know what happened, she wasn't sick, but just started coughing so much that she couldn't continue. After organizing the bags all of the bikes of the DNF's were pulled off the racks and checked, then we reracked the bikes and at 10:00 am or so we were finished. We hung out for awhile and cheered, especially for the last people coming in off the bike course, we should have stayed for the final finish, I kinda wanted to but I didn't sleep well the night before and knew we would be up early today. Jason, next to me in line this morning said it was the best finish, there was a lady all bent over (oh my visions of last year, been there!) who was so close but just wasn't going to make it, Mike Reilly went out to help her come in, she was leaning on him and still not making it fast enough, he literally pushed her over the finish line with not a second to spare. I'm hoping someone will post that one on Youtube. Craig had patients scheduled starting at 2:00 today so we were anxious to get home. Everyone said it was best to get in line for on site registration about 6:00am, since we wanted to get out of there early we decided to go down at 5:00am----good call. It was still a long wait but we were on the road by about 7:45 or so. I was about 20th in the volunteer line which snaked clear back down to the road. So here it is 365 days, I'm pretty jazzed, I just wish I could keep this feeling going for the whole year!
Oh yeah, and what to volunteer for the next time I volunteer, I would do Saturday registration for the current years athlete to do the following year (did that make sense?). Some nice perks with that one!

Defying Convention Wisdom

2011-11-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

7 mile run today. I have always been a very slow runner, this year I have decided that I need to get faster. I am old and am suppposed to be slowing down not speeding up, heaven help me if I get any slower! So I am attempting to defy conventional wisdom and get faster in my old age. Now remember faster is all relative--I haven't even hit a 10 minute mile yet, sad I know. Furman running has been too intense, I've made relatively weak attempts at it so I am following a Runners world training plan for the St. George half in January. We'll see how it goes. Yoga now!!

No gear=New running clothes

2011-11-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

So I think I've figured out my nightmares about not having gear! Friday Craig and I went to St. George so I could do a Runners Series race. No stress, I just have to complete a 5k with my cute daughter in law for company. We got to St. G, ready to check into our hotel, and guess what--no gear, that's right, I forgot the whole darned thing, and what's more I didn't even miss it till we got to St. George. Luckily I had my running shoes on and a quick trip to Target for some running tights and a jersey saved the day. A quick trip to Target would not save Ironman! One race down, one more to go, I think I'm doing the St. George half in January. I'll put up a picture of Ally and me when they're up. Craig and Kev did the half, it was fun to get to spend some time with Kev and Ally.

Nightmares already?

2011-10-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

Last year my most vivid Ironman nightmare was being there, it was a pool swim (interesting this was before the dam broke) and I couldn't find Craig, who had the car keys and all my gear was in the car. Last night I had my first Ironman 2012 dream. This time I had already swam and was in this huge locker room and couldn't find or remember my locker where my gear was, and I couldn't find Craig. So what is this recurrent theme of not finding my husband and having no gear mean-------

2011-10-27T09:27:00.001-07:00

Good strategy, got to the gym at 5:00 am signed up for a bike and swam for 1/2 hour before class. First swim in a very long time, great spin class today. I'm starting to get excited about IMAZ 2012!

Snow Canyon

2011-10-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Made the hotel reservations, paid the entry fees, Snow Canyon on Nov. 5. Craig is doing the half, I'm doing the 5k. This morning I got to spin class a half hour early and still couldn't get a bike, darn! I think I'm going to start going at 5:00 am when they open, sign up for a bike, swim and then go to class. Yuck, but the good thing is it will force me to start getting my swims in. This morning I went back to Redlands and ran,so it wasn't a wasted morning.

Doubled bike time!

2011-10-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday 10 miles, this Saturday 21. Next Saturday I'm driving sag for 3rd annual Temple to Temple. We had a dinner party at our house last night so I didn't get to do Save a Sister, fun dinner party though!

Bike

2011-10-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to be back on my bike...... I really do love to ride. Today I would have loved to do more but it's a busy Saturday with too much to do, but the bike and I are back together and ready to put in some miles!

Runners Series Sold Out

2011-10-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

I got Kev and I registered for the St. George Runners Series this morning. Good thing I was on the computer right when it opened, it sold out super fast. Now just get those two races done. I think Save a Sister will be first up.

St. George Marathon done, Toenails done!

2011-10-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to break 5 hours, I did 5:05, I ignored some intestinal problems until Mile 22 when I couldn't ignore them anymore. Maybe without my trip to the port o pot??? I don't know, it was still a PR with very little training so from that perspective I can't complain. I will work harder and have decided to do the runners series again :(. Thanks and thanks again for my sherpa! About mile 25 I was seriously thinking......."I want to do another Ironman???? What is wrong with my brain?" I don't even want to finish this marathon. Not to worry, I did.

Reprise, Really?

2011-09-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

A do-over?

Craig and Kevin did Ironman St. George 2010, Craig survived with many thanks to the calming influence of his sherpa (Kev). It was a one and done deal. But there were some very extenuating circumstances limiting, ratiionalizing or explaining how he did. The training leading up to it was practically nonexistent due to selling and starting a new business, a major move, family activities, cycling races etc. I kinda thought maybe he would like a do-over, but he has always insisted NOT. The other morning I mentioned something about him doing IMAZ with me 2012, and then I asked, would you rather do IMAZ or train for Revenge of St. George? He said St. George! I wasn't too surprised although I don't think he would have admitted it. I think future race plans will be the topic of our conversation on the way to the St. George Marathon tomorrow. Oh yeah and BTW I am requesting prayers, positive thoughts, good Karma for Saturday. Thanks!

Chain Gang

2011-09-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend in Utah meeting our new granddaughter, what fun to have a baby girl in the family! I am truly blessed. Craig and I left Thursday evening and went to St. George. Friday morning we ran part of the marathon course. Craig drove up the canyon (thru the chain gang!) and dropped me off by the side of the road.
Me: Really you're dropping me off here?
Craig: Well yeah, isn't that the plan, then I'll drive down hill and run up to meet, you only have to run down hill because I am so kind!

Me: Umm honey did you see those guests of the state, or maybe guests of Washington Co, I'm not sure, picking up trash?

Craig: Yeah????? What a great idea having them out here to clean the course, what is with all of these marathon/Ironman people training out here and leaving such a mess.
Me: Ok so you're fine with me running all by myself down the hill, through the chain gang.........

Yep I did it, he left me, and actually let me just give a big thank you to the guests for the great job they were doing cleaning the course that they didn't mess up.

Anyway, good run (note to self: don't wear pink Nike running shirt)
Great trip to visit with family, all in all a very nice weekend.

Run Undone!

2011-09-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

5 mile run this morning--breakfast good intentions, it all started with a bowl of steel cut oatmeal, so far so good, but completely undone by a healthy scoop of almond butter, bananas, sugar and cinnamon! But hey, I did hold back on the nutella and whipped cream!

Running, running

2011-09-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Just running M,W,F.S spin T and TH heaven forbid I get on my real bike! Not so sure how St. G will go but this year they are enforcing a very liberal cut-off time. Since they are enforcing the cut off time they have created a pace group for it, I figure if I can't hang at sub 5:00 (my goal) I'll party with the last group, I've got a feeling they're going to be a lot of fun!

Slacker!!!

2011-08-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Just got a new bathing suit, I liked it so much I ordered two more! First time in a very long time it wasn't a Speedo from swimoutlet.com! Just call me SLACKER!!

2011-08-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Still working on being St. George ready, no PR but it should be a fun weekend of family.

2011-08-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

Almost there, working on getting the yard ready for Kev's reception.

Shadowy

2011-07-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Can you see the concrete?

Health

2011-07-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Saw my doc this morning, my Vit D is low, got a Rx for a bikini and 20 minutes in the sun. Ahhhmmm.............would have rather had a bikini prescription twenty years ago, really! Running is going fair, spin class going ok, stress level, yep a little high, so much to do!

2011-07-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

Not too much training blogging going on :(

This morning, about 6:00am

About noon. We are rockin' and rollin'. This has to dry, but while that's going on they are going to start grading for the landscaping (or lack thereof, I want lots of deck!)

Summer of Family!

2011-07-09T09:52:00.001-07:00

Well the decision is final-no Vineman for me! I am excited, I think I knew in my heart all along that I wouldn't do it. I can't believe how sapped my desire to do another Ironman is. It is all well and good and exciting to train for one, and I do want to do another one but..........

Ally my almost new daughter in law is going to the temple on the same day as Vineman and I would like to be there, what is more important Ally or a race, I vote Ally.

We have been lucky enough to have Sarah and Bri, Kendall and Ker and the boys this week, and we're just having a good time enjoying the hustle and bustle and in and out of a busy house for awhile, I don't want to do a five hour ride.

The pool build is moving along fast and I still have a lot to do for Kev's open house and our trip.

I think this is the year to just enjoy family and not worry about races, 2012 may see me back to do IMAZ with Ker and anyone else I can rope into it.

Now I think I'll scrap my run and go to yoga!

Now can I give up my gym membership?

2011-07-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

Maybe not, it's not quite big enough for laps for but for fun YES! The back yard demo was my birthday present, it started on Wednesday. And to think it all started with a broken sprinkler head!

Cupcakes!

2011-06-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

http://caratunkgirl.com/2011/06/24/placement/

I love, love, love this blogpost, I wish I could have expressed this so eloquently! Now bring on the cupcakes!

16 Weeks Family

2011-06-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

photo credit: fastcory.com

We're in: Craig, Kevin, Ally, Kerri and I, Woohoo more girls than boys, what's happening to the Wright family? Are the training plans on?

2011-06-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Leaky goggles = ;(

Embarrassing My Children

2011-06-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

There are some mom things that I'm pretty good at, especially embarrassing my boys. Yeah, that's Craig and me leaving for our ride in Team Redlands kit. To make matters worse I was riding my tri bike. I am wearing Brad's old helmet in this picture, it looks better (gotta look right) with the TR kit than my pink and black one. Brad offered to sell it to me for $10 SCORE, it's a Giro Atmos.....oh wait, who bought that helmet in the first place??? Ok, maybe I oughta buy it from him for the $10 before he sells it to a friend for that price!

It is a beautiful morning here, I did a two mile run and my knee started bothering me and decided not to push it so I went home, got on my bike to go find Craig on his run and then when he was finished we rode together for a awhile. Not a "training" day but a super enjoyable morning.

10 Mile Long Run

2011-05-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Long run done----Yay! Since when did Fontana Days Half start selling out! I'm going to have to really plan a years events and stick with it (yeah right).

What Lisa???????????

2011-05-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Lisa pokes her head into my class and says, "I think we should do Vineman." Mmm, no Lisa I'm fresh offa no training (Lisa being fresh off of the grueling Mt. Baldy ride the day before, not at all thrashed). And Lisa what about them knees of yours? "Come on, we've already paid for it, we can do it." I think the word we needs to be used rather selectively here, Lisa the animal, can do anything, me I'm not so sure. But truth be known it doesn't take much to twist my arm and get me pumped again, so I shouldn't say I'm back in 'cause I've been in and out of this thing in my head ever since I registered, but at the moment--twelve week training plan on! Back in the pool this morning.

Ran 3

2011-05-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

Had to push through, but started running again. Wheels still MIA must remember to ask the boys where they are. Barrio Logan tomorrow, it will be a long day.

P3

2011-05-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

WooHoo, P3 and I am back to spin class! I picked the easiest one to start back with, took it easy and finished. I am heading back on the road, but there are no wheels on my road bike! Boys! Where are my wheels?

HCG Diet and Triathlon Training

2011-04-28T10:06:00.001-07:00

Ok, let me just start with a few disclaimers:
1) Uhmmm, the triathlon training really didn't happen, but more thoughts on that later.
2) I am not selling HCG or recommending it to anyone, this is just my experience.
3) I did not do this under medical supervision. I am healthy and had recently had a physical.
4) I did the injections, and no it didn't hurt, yes I am needle phobic but it wasn't a big deal.
5) It was not terribly expensive, I hear of people spending thousands per round, one 40 day round cost $100.

Ok, so this is the story. Last November I did Ironman Arizona, it was the culmination of a year of training hard, and eating not so clean. I finished, not in style, but I finished and am very happy about that. I did lose weight with my tri training but not as much as I wanted. After IMAZ I cut back on the training. A year of two a days, is hard on me, but also hard on my family. A cutback on training and menopausal metabolism is not a good combination. What to do..........as I'm halfheartedly training for Vineman and the weight is creeping up?? Then I saw a friend, who looks fabulous, I asked, what did you do? She told me she had done the HCG diet. I went home and researched it (forever) and decided to try it. It took some debating in my mind because you are not supposed to exercise.....What! A diet with no exercise? I thought I would try it but keep up my training. It worked for the first few days, but then I began wilting on my bike, I had to decide.... diet or exercise, I decided just for six weeks I could do without the exercise and see what happens, then I would pick back up and play catch up with training, and to be honest I was perfectly ok with scrapping Vineman, my heart just wasn't in it, even from the beginning.
This is how HCG works, you give yourself a daily injection of HCG, the first two days you eat a lot, they are loading days and you want to store fat. Then you start the diet. It is 500 calories a day, I know that sounds crazy low, but honestly I was not hungry other than occasionally before dinner. You eat two fruits, two vegetables, two breadsticks and two servings of lean meat. Let me just be really honest...I cheated on the diet. It's called peanut butter! Me and peanut butter have this thing, but for the most part I tried pretty hard to follow it. I didn't really count calories as much as servings.
Results: My last injection is tomorrow and then I have three days more of 500 cal/day before I start 3 weeks of maintenance, so I will post my total loss in a few days. But....I did not lose as much weight as people who are heavier to start with, part of it is because I was not as fanatical about the protocol as I should have been, but.......it works! I am short to begin with, and I have already mentioned that with menopausal metabolism, I have an impossible time losing weight.
I also am about 5 pounds short of where I wanted to be, if I had severed my relationship with peanut butter I might have made it!
Reality: The reality of the situation is I have lost most of the weight I wanted, I will probably do another short 3 week round of HCG for those last few pounds after the St. George Marathon and Tour de Tucson. I want to do those two events and register for IMAZ 2012.
Reality: I did not stop exercising completely, I walked about 3 miles/day and did occasional weight training. One of the premises of HCG is that you lose fat stores, not muscle. I believe this to be true after doing it. My muscle strength seems to be ok, but..........and this is a big negative, when you neglect cardio it goes fast! I think it is going to take awhile to build the cardio and enjoy the bike and running again.
Reality: Time magazine had an interesting article on weight loss the bottom line was, it's all about diet. After doing the hcg diet I can't help but agree. I had to make a decision between weight loss and exercise, I was not able to combine the two and achieve the results I wanted. Not saying it can't be done, there are plenty of people who clean up their eating, exercise and lose weight but it wasn't working for me. Partly because of the entitlement mentality (I just ran 12 miles, of course I deserve this cookie!). By separating weight loss from exercise I have been able to almost (those dang 5 pounds!) achieve what I wanted.
Reality: I have 3 weeks of low carb maintenance phase before I start adding (slowly) the carbs.
As with any other diet the question is can it be maintained. The premise of hcg is that your metabolism is reset and it is easy to keep off. I'll let you know on that.
Reality: Many people criticize the fact that this calorie is only 500 cal/day. I know it's hard to believe I wasn't hungry, but other than that for me it was 500 calories of good, non processed food. Fruit, vegetables and lean meat, I often left out the breadsticks. If you analyze the diet of a person you must analyze how many calories are coming from healthy and how much from junk. Are you putting in more than 500 calories of healthy food?
Reality: This is my big reality right now, yep I lost weight but my next challenge is to regain the lost fitness. I am hoping that being 15 pounds lighter will be an asset as I resume training for St. G, I already know it is easy to lose fitness and much harder to build it back up. Was it worth it, I think yes.

Spectrum 10K--done!

2011-03-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Kev and I did the Spectrum 10K in St. George, Kevin worked till late then drove down to the cabin, picked me up at the bottom of the mountain very, very early. Thanks to C for taking me down and sorry to everyone for waking them up with the snowmobiles so early in the morning! I did not want to do this race, I had a wicked cold, toss in a little altitude sickness and a jam packed weekend of driving..........it was crazy. We decided we would just walk it, Kev downloaded a movie on his phone and we were all set to watch a movie and walk. BUT, the top of the race is downhill, so let's not waste good downhill on walking, right, and the sooner we get done the sooner we get done, right! I ended up running all the downhill and a fair amount of walking on the flat. Average pace 12:00 miles, considering being sick, very tired, not wanting to be there etc, I am happy with the result and the fact that we got it done. We now have guaranteed marathon entries. I am seriously considering not doing the Runners Series next year and take my chances with the lottery.

Loading Day 1

2011-03-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

Loading day 1, there is just something inherently wrong here, it is 5:30 am and instead of being at spin class here I am at Dunkin Donuts with a bag of apple fritters and no....I'm not sharing! If Willam misses me I'll just tell him I'm on spring break.

Spectrum 10K

2011-03-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

March 18th--2nd Runners Series Race--Kevin and I are in, wahoo, get it done and then guaranteed marathon entry.!

Back in........

2011-02-23T06:11:00.000-08:00

I've been seriously debating Vineman in my head.......Ok, I'm in, I'm in!!!! My training has been rather lax, but some training is going on. Next Monday I will start following the training plan instead of doing what I want to do, ugg that means back in the pool. Running is actually improving, and the bike I'm just trying to maintain, but I've probably lost a lot. The boys are doing Callville Bay Classic this weekend, should be a fun trip (my excuse not to do more till Monday!). We are hoping for no rain but that's not looking so good.

Gotta pick a race...

2011-02-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

One more race to do in the Runners Series, hmm...too bad they don't have a "Tour de Donut" type race as I've had a great time with the doughnuts here in Portland! Kev asked me yesterday which race I was going to do, I'm not sure yet but should probably decide soon as the weekend calendar is looking pretty full. I'm anxious to get home, Portland and doughnuts....so good.....so bad!

Running on empty....

2011-02-04T07:54:00.000-08:00

I went to spin class this morning, sub instructor, different routine, but it was good. I bonked though about 2/3 way through the class. The food tracking with Lose It is going well, but I probably need to put a few more calories in before class. I have a Dr. appt this morning, house work and hope to get to Yoga class this afternoon. Tomorrow the boys are doing Boulevard....We decided to go out early tomorrow, yikes I think that means up about 3:00am, their race is at 7:00. The last two years this race has been miserably cold or snowy, keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow. It's clear and cold today. Trying to figure out when to get my long run in, by the time we're back from Boulevard I don't think I'll get it done, maybe I can do it this afternoon and take tomorrow as an extra rest day.

Lose It!

2011-01-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

One thing that was a frustration training for IMAZ was my weight. I wanted to lose 20 pounds to be ready for the race, I lost 11, and gained back 3 by race day. I somehow thought I should just magically lose weight with all the training I was doing, while only having a loose handle on the food I was eating, after all I needed it right. Well not exactly. This time I am going about getting a stricter control on my food intake, actually tracking it to the very chocolate chip cookie (that doesn't count 'cause I just ran 10 miles). After gaining a few more pounds back since the race I am now tracking with an app that a friend recommended. I just started it yesterday, it really is an eye opener how many calories you are alotted and what is actually going down.
It is amazingly simple to use and has a large database already. I will post every so often how it's working for me.

Heart Rate

2011-01-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

I'm supposed to be training with heart rate zones, I don't for several reasons, but will as soon as I get around to addressing those reasons. I am in no hurry, because well, I just really don't like being tied to technology, except during a race. How else will I know if I'm gonna make that cut-off time! I love my Cateye on my bike, it is simple to use and gives me just the info I want, better yet there is only one button to push and I don't have to charge it! And as much as I have failed at my Garmin school lessons, I never will master it, when it is set up properly by my loving and ever patient spouse, and strapped to my wrist (sometimes he even presses the start button for me, even though I really know how to do that!) I need it for running, I need to know my pace and average pace in a race. But back to this morning, I had a 45 minute zone 2 run, but apparently my body is still recovering from my Tuesday brick because every time I grabbed the HRM things on the treadmill it was way too high. Ok, good reason to walk more, but is that really helping my training? Well that's what they say! I do have a HRM that goes with the Garmin, but c'mon am I really going to wear my Garmin on the treadmill or spin bike? Also the strap is too big...............so maybe this weekend I will get around to going shopping for a stand alone heart rate monitor with a small strap. Also need to get a new phone this weekend, does this sound like a person who claims to hate technology?

Race Report--

2011-01-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

For a 5K--Sure why not. Let it be said I really didn't want to go to St. G, run in the cold etc. However once C and I decided to go Friday night my attitude improved considerably. I knew it would be cold (for me) but actually it was quite nice, I took off my jacket and handed it to Craig the last mile or so. Kev wasn't sure whether or not he would make it, he did, so that made it especially fun.

Kev and me, our traditional pre race pic!

Somewhere on the course, Craig snapped this one, check out the cool beanie, I swiped from Kyle and Brad.

Kev ran the half, it's gotta be more fun to run when someone other than mom and dad are cheering at the finish line!

So, what would I say about the St. George 5K, well it was around the Dixie Center but not the same course around the Dixie Center that I did for Save a Sister 2009. I think it was faster. It was nice and flat with probably 600 or so runners. I like a big field, it felt a little crowded at the start but it was chip timed, so not a big deal. My pace was 10:40, I'm still trying to get down to 10 minute miles, but this was good for me. One more Runners Series race to do, I was thinking about Spectrum 10K.

Yummy lunch with the best company!

Have I mentioned Cafe Rio is now in Redlands too, YUM!

2011-01-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

I love the title of this picture, "worn out woman on a treadmill"! Thursday's workout done!

St. George Runners Series

2011-01-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

I am lottery unlucky--obviously I have not won the CA lottery, (I did win an entry to a tri at a tri club meeting last year!) so when it comes to winning the St. George Marathon lottery, which I have lost a fair amount of times, the only sure bet is to do the Runners Series. It's even a race now to get entered into the Runners Series, but here is the deal: you sign up for the Runners Series, a nominal $10 and if you complete two Washington County races, one being a City of St. George race you get guaranteed entry into the St. George Marathon and a yucky cotton t-shirt, but hey it's only $10. That's pretty great deal except for the fact that I live in CA, it's a five hour drive to do a 5K. Yep I could do the half marathon, but it's cold there and I'm wimpy, so lets just get this 5K over with. Kev is signed up too, but he's doing the half. So it looks like this weekend is drive, run, lunch w/Kev, drive and Lisa D's big birthday party! Well the party part sounds fun!

2011-01-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

Shoulda--maybe I still will....

Did! Done!

Brick

2011-01-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Got my bike/run brick done this morning, yay, felt good! Ya know why they call it a brick? Bike + Run = Brick (Or is that just "ick"?)

Brotherly Love

2011-01-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

Kevin gave Kyle an appointment with Max Testa for his Christmas present, Kevin says he loves Kyle. Kyle is not so sure about that!

Dang it, Dang it, Dang it!

2011-01-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

So, I really did get kitted up and out the door, and guess what.....my shifter is broken. I have no clue what could have happened. Sadly, I have not ridden since IMAZ where my bike behaved flawlessly. Maybe something in transport, I dunno. Since all the men in my life are out of town I think it will wait till they can check it for me, otherwise I'm going to see Eddie.

I'm baaack!

2011-01-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

Pink iPod (fully charged)

Pink Floyd loaded (...on the iPod)

And the only pair of socks my boys absolutely won't touch...........yeah it's all good, (umm, yes, I really do have these socks, Craig bought them for me at a marathon expo) I'm back, 5 mile run today and dusting off the bike!

Training Plan

2011-01-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

I have been having a very hard time putting my training plan into action. It is cold (I know, I know it is So. Cal, but still for us it is cold), and when the alarm goes off I'm having a hard time rolling myself out from under my nice warm comforter. I have my training plan on my desktop in an excel file which I don't bother to open and look at, so today I have taken a major step forward or backwards technologically speaking. I have put my training plan on a calendar page and taped it to the bathroom door. This has always worked for me in the past, then I take a highlighter and cross off my workouts when they're done. Easy, right! There it is in all of it's pretty colors saying Yay, you did it! Hoping to say "Yay!" tomorrow, all I have is a 45 minute run. Come on Mel, get it done!

Stupid New Years Resolutions!!!

2011-01-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

I didn't go to the gym this morning, too busy crying my eyes out over Brent! No seriously we got him on the plane and he is off for a two year adventure of his life and along the way he gets to learn to speak Khmai and see places that are off the beaten track and give service like he never dreamed he could. I am happy! However at this moment I am annoyed, my gym, my gym has no spin bikes tonight---really! Ok, ok no excuses, I am off to the Highland version of my gym to see if I can get into their spin class. Training plan today 1 hour bike, 15 min run.

January 3, 2011

2011-01-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

Back from another trip to Utah brrrrrrr it was cold. My training started this morning with a half hour zone 2 run, amazing how hard it is to build fitness and how easy to lose! Started to clean up my eating today with the Paleo Diet. Maybe I should just call it the Paleo emphasis, I had a yummy lunch of steak with blueberries and raspberries and then we went out to dinner tonight with the boys. Tomorrow we put Brent on the plane for his mission. Two years in Cambodia, you would think after sending Kevin and Brian off on missions I would be good at this, but not so much, it will be a tough morning. He's flying to SLC, Kev will pick him up, and he'll get to see Kerri, Kendall, the boys, Bri and Sarah and Grandma and Grandpa. Training tomorrow, well maybe tomorrow night.

Countdown

2010-12-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

Yep, 2010 is rapidly coming to a close, I have really enjoyed the last 5-6 weeks off from tri training and indulging in all of the great food which seems to surround me everywhere I turn. Training starts again next Monday, but maybe tomorrow. It's been long enough that it will be hard to get back to it, but also long enough that I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine.

2010-12-20T21:37:00.001-08:00

The morning after IMAZ I had the option of going down to Tempe Town Lake and registering for 2011 IMAZ. No way...I was not going anywhere near that park. IMAZ sells their slots first to the currently registered athletes on Saturday (no thank you, I had enough to think about with the 2010 race looming). Next you can go to the park on Monday morning, the volunteers have priority registration, following the volunteers anyone onsite can register. Open slots are then put on active.com at 12:00 noon. It was a little after 12:00 as we were driving home I began to reconsider, maybe I will do IMAZ again in 2011..............too late, it was sold out! So, here it is my 2011 albatross (something that causes deep concern and anxiety) Vineman full, a trip to wine country to do what? These are my deep concerns about Vineman: 1) It has a 16, not 17 hour cut-off 2) It's in July, in California, the run could be killer hot 3) The bike course looks spectacularly beautiful, but I did love that flat Beeline! Training starts January 1 with Don Fink's "Be Iron Fit" plan. This plan calls for a yet to be determined oly in May and 1/2 the first week of June. And as for my current training plan...........does wallpaper stripping and painting count, I haven't been to the gym lately and have eaten my weight in See's candy.

Ironman Arizona 2010

2010-11-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

Ok I think I've finally calmed down enough to write a coherent race report. What an emotional weekend, a years worth of training coming down to one day. A day that could go any which way, depending on so many factors that you do and don't have control over. I was finally ready or not to do it.

4:00 am Alarm went off, it didn't matter, I was awake, I probably got more sleep than I thought I did, but it felt like I was awake checking the clock every 10 minutes. Ate toast and a banana, diet coke and a started on a bottle of water.

5:00 am Craig and Brent drove me down to Tempe Town Lake, our hotel was about 3 or 4 miles away. I almost started crying in the car, it was so overwhelming that I was on my way. Brent kept pumping me up with lots of positive comments, trying to keep me calm, he did a good job.

5:15 am Checked on my bike, filled by bottles, took trash bag covers off the seat and bento box

5:45 am Met Kate, we decided to start together, and got our wetsuits on

Brent took this picture of the lake, shortly before it looked like ............

This....the age group start, do you see me? Look close, I'm the one in the black wetsuit and the lavender cap.

7:00 am We are off. The water was cold, I heard anywhere from 59-61, I had a neoprene cap under my race cap and was glad I did. You hear a lot of horror stories about the washing machine swim starts. I started way in the back. I was afraid of not making the cut-off time. I had two hour and twenty minutes to finish the swim and not a second longer.

8:51 am The swim wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. I just tried to stay clam and keep going. If I ever do this again, I will definitely be braver and start a lot further up. Check out the clock, I made it! 1:51! I knew I made the cut off but honestly I didn't see that clock, I didn't see a clock until I came out of T1 and it was 2:02. WooHoo I had bought myself a half hour of time.

Craig-I think he was in a state of disbelief-I was out of the water!

Well for some unknown reason blogger won't load my pictures, so I will just finish this and add pictures later.
The bike mount area
Out on the course

9:02 am Next up, a long day on the bike, it's a three loop course which is great 'cause you get to see your family often. I started out strong on the bike course, but it didn't last long, it rained, hailed and the headwinds were ferocious. The good thing about the wind was that it was a tail wind on the out which is a false flat and a headwind on the downhill, Even though it was downhill sometimes I was only going 10-12 mph, it was a tough wind. I ended up with a 7:17, I was hoping for less than 7, but still had banked a little more time for the run. Some good advice I got from BMc: eat, eat, eat. And I did, I ate even when I wasn't hungry, and drank more Ironman Perform than I ever want to drink again in my life! Another piece of advice from me. I really stressed over what to put in my bike special needs bag, the only thing I wanted when I got there was my DZNuts Bliss (the she version of DZNuts). The volunteer got it out of my bag for me, I said close your eyes, and the rest of my ride was saved!
The bike finish chute-happy in an understatement

4:30pm Bike done, oh happy day! I now had 7 1/2 hours to finish this thing, I knew I could do it. I also knew that I would have to run, I wouldn't make it walking. I decided only to walk the aid stations and pretty much stuck to my plan, I walked a few uphills. The aid stations were incredible especially the police one, it couldn't help but make you smile every time you came through.

I kept going, it wasn't fast but it was forward progress, my Garmin went dead about 1/2 way through which was probably a good thing, it slowed me down more.
Kyle was at this aid station when I got there, My next comment to him was, "I hate Gu"

I didn't realize what was happening but I began to list to the left, have you ever seen anyone finishing a marathon or ironman bent over to one side, well that was me. I thought it must be something going on with my back after a long day of breathing to one side on the swim, staying aero as much as possible on the bike and running. I learned when I got home that is was brain hyperthermia. I was so happy to hit the last loop, but still at my pace that would mean two hours! I just kept going.
10:49pm Kyle met me at the cut-off for the finish line, I asked him how far it was. At the St. George Marathon you see the finish line a long time before you actually run through. He kept saying it's right there mom. Someone walking through the area said only 300 yards, really you're that close, at the last corner a lovely volunteer met me, saying something to the effect of Melinda, there it is, it's the finish line you did it, Mike Reilly is waiting for you, Chrissie Wellington is waiting for you. I was still running listing to the left, Mike Reilly saw me and said that is truly mind over matter and told the crowd to go crazy to bring me in.
I have never heard a finish line so crazy, and loud,thank you, thank you. They were incredible, I tried to stand up straight for the picture but I don't think I was very successful.
Finally crossed the line I wouldn't walk across the day before.

I was in at 15:49 and as soon as I crossed the line I was in Chrissie Wellington's arms getting a huge hug. Wow, the world champion, she had just set a new world record that day and she was at the finish line to greet me. I am her biggest fan, what a kind, wonderful, genuine person, she is very impressive not just as an athlete, but as a person.
Don't ask me what I went through for a medal, a t shirt and a hat!
Craig was just happy I was alive!

Thank you to all the volunteers, they were incredible, they would do anything to help you! Thank you most of all to my family for putting up with me for the past year. I was up early and off to the gym, Craig made breakfast and lunches for the boys, weekends were long rides and runs. My family never complained they picked me up after long runs and bike flats, encouraged me when I got discouraged and believed in me. They made sure I had great equipment, they wouldn't let me fail. On race day, they were there cheering for me all the way. I have pictures of Craig with tears in his eyes when I came out of the swim. The boys met me on every loop of the bike to cheer me on. The run course is three figure eight loops and Craig, Kevin, Brent, Kyle and Brad were always somewhere cheering for me. I love you all.

What was I thinking????

2010-11-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's that time, it is panic time. I have spent the whole day watching youtube videos and panic-ing, already. Will that prevent open water panic, just get it over with now? I sure hope so. One video shows the cut-off of last years swim, three swimmers didn't make it and they looked like darn good swimmers to me. I just sat there with tears in my eyes, what is wrong with me-----.
I am stressed, I can't concentrate. Friday I went down to Redlands Cyclery, I forgot it's their huge sale weekend, the guy outside told me I should leave my bike then and could maybe get it back on Thurs. Umm that's not going to work. I went inside and talked to Eddie, bike can go in on Tuesday and out Tuesday. Yay Eddie! Bike is basically ok, just an issue with a quick release lever, a general tune up and I'm going to put a cheap computer on it so the Garmin goes on my wrist.
I still haven't decided what I'm going to wear, okay so this is probably just a girly girl issue, but here's the problem: my Redlands Tri Club jersey has two ridiculously small pockets, so do I wear a regular bike jersey? Do I really need all that stuff I like to put in my pockets? I've decided just to pack every bit of work out clothes I own, tri jersey/shorts, bike jersey/shorts, run clothes, short sleeves, long sleeves, jackets, you name it I will probably have it with me. Usually I can pack for a week in a backpack and still not use everything, this time I think it will be the gigantic suitcase with the wheels, heck maybe even the whole set. I don't have a nutrition plan, I really feel like I just don't know what I am doing at all.
Oh and another thing, today was stake conference. I've always felt a little guilty about doing a Sunday race, 'cause really I have never raced on Sunday. So what did President H talk about today--secrets, sunburn and regrets. In other words are we keeping secrets that aren't congruent with our values, with our own integrity (perhaps that should be professed integrity), for example going to the beach on Sunday, do we compromise our values for sunburn and regret. Ok, maybe I should just bail now.
My thoughts keep jumping all over and I know this post is a little random, I'm not sure how to gather and calm myself.

Sag

2010-10-30T06:20:00.001-07:00

Sag today for Temple to Temple (Redlands to Newport). Wedding reception this afternoon, ride?

Open Water Swim

2010-10-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

After meeting up with Brian in Irvine for breakfast this morning Craig and I went out to Lake Perris to do some open water swimming. The water was warm just two weeks ago, today it was cold. I did not want to swim, it started out to be hard mentally to get myself in the water, in a positive mind set and get going. Once I did I actually enjoyed the water, I am still scared but I'm getting closer. Closer to what I'm not sure, a finish, yes a finish!

Bib Number

2010-10-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

2732

Making Friends

2010-10-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

I had a nice weekend in Arizona, even if it was just a quickie up on Friday back on Saturday trip. The boys decided not to go so it was a short chance to catch up with my husband for a few minutes. The purpose of the trip was to get in 112 miles on the bike. I planned to ride the whole course, but ended up modifying somewhat. We rode out from Tempe Town Lake, did four loops on the Beeline and rode back, total miles 103. The reason for the modification was my fear of traffic. To ride the exact course you would ride 3 loops, each with considerable traffic and lights going out of Tempe 7.7 miles and back in, 7.7 miles. My first out loop was a discouraging average of 13.something, what the heck, it was 15 last June. I made up for it on the way back in and managed to ride much stronger for the next three loops, bringing my average up to l6.2. I was very happy with that. My whole mantra was "making friends with the Beeline, Beeline you are a friend of mine" I think we succeeded, now if I can just make nice with the gods of wind and all things weather!
As we were about to leave I met two BT ladies, AZSunshine and LeahDD, how fun, as my friend Judy would say, it was Serendipity! Nice to meet you ladies, see you soon, and good luck with the last four weeks of training! I think I would much prefer real friends to making friends with a road!

Makin' a Beeline

2010-10-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Going to Arizona tomorrow, gonna ride the Beeline on Saturday.

Big Rock Triathlon Race Report

2010-10-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

First in my age group!

(by now you know not to ask how many were in my age group)

Well I think they posted the results right after I finished my last post. My swim was really 15:19, I know that is slow to a lot of people but I am really, really happy with it. The water was warm, no panic and the wetsuit was good. My biggest problem was swimming off course, I consistently veered left inside the buoy line. T1 was embarrassing, 9:14, so I had a little tea party in T1, actually I fiddled around with my helmet and then took it off to put on a jersey, which was hard to get on at the last minute. I didn't really need the jersey, but, well, lessons learned, hurry up in T1.

Bike was 47:43 which put me just over 15 mph, I had hoped to average 16 or 17 but I was strong on the two hills, one of the few places I could actually pass people. Thanks to living in Redlands you have no choice but to ride hills. According to my Garmin on the flats I was about 17, maybe less since my average wasn't so good, but still I'm ok with it.

T2 2:26 ok another T time that could be better..........

Run I'm not a strong runner just not, but I got 11:39 average with a little walking getting my legs back after the bike. So I'm happy again.

All in all for me it was a good day, it was cool and overcast which is always helpful. The race is well organized, plenty of volunteers, law enforcement support on the bike (I never had to stop).

The swim course is a long rectangle, buoys on the left, yay, great for left sided breathers like me. Well maybe that wasn't so helpful, my sighting is lousy! The bike has two hills coming out of the park, and then coming back in, other than that it is fast. The run is along a sidewalk in the park, nothing really to comment on. I would definitely do this race again, fun morning with hamburgers and hotdogs after.

Big Rock Tri-Fake Race Report

2010-10-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

Well I have failed at Garmin school again! Despite intense coaching and practice last night (I was sure I had it mastered) I messed up the Garmin again. I would like to write my race report but I don't have the stats yet. Mine weren't posted when I left and the timing company/event organizer haven't put them up yet. I am anxious to see them because as always my swim wasn't great, I came out of the water and the clock said 24 and some odd seconds. I was completely unhappy about that until Craig reminded me that if my wave started on time it was 9 minutes after the first wave. OHHHH, now I really don't believe I had a 15 minute swim but I can't wait to find out. More later when the results are posted.

Big Rock Tomorrow

2010-10-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Big Rock tomorrow, I won the entry and got a registration conf for the oly, it was supposed to be sprint, I emailed the race director and he said he would change it, hope so. I know, I know I should do the oly but being DFL just isn't so good for my mental psyche right now. Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn't make sense, but it's me. Now I gotta a 60 mile ride I'm out the door to do.

2010-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

First run this morning since St. George, felt good, the rest of my runs are all in 7-8 mile range, I decided I can't do those on the treadmill. I used Craig's headlamp this morning, left at 5:00 it worked out pretty well, especially since the weather is still on the warm side, early mornings are cool but not cold. 100 miles on my bike tomorrow--I've gotta get the mental going here, I can do this, I want to do this, I'll keep saying it. My new running mantra is "relax, smooth, enjoy--don't think" Kev added the don't think part, I had to use it in St. George. He said it takes too much energy to think, so just zone out. For me especially thinking is not good, I am just too hormonally challenged along with all the emotional part of feeling physically challenged and scared, so DON"T THINK really helps otherwise I would be crying all over the place.

Compression Sleeves and Snake Oil

2010-10-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

Promises, promises, first of all I got a pair of compression sleeves (for your calves, not arms). They promised improved recovery and 12 minutes off your marathon time. 12 minutes! For me that is a whole mile, how could I resist. You are never supposed to do anything new on race day, but since I bought the sleeves the night before we left, well...they got a true test by fire.

Results: Fabulous, I cannot sing the praises of compression sleeves enough, they worked and then some. I lopped 45 minutes off my last St. George time, granted I was better trained and last time was pouring rain, but this year was hot, so all things not being equal this was a $40 well spent.

The St. George Marathon Expo is a wonderland of fun booths. I purchased "The Stick", a very popular massage stick that I promised I would get Kyle and Brad. I have to admit that we all tested it before we brought it home and it almost got sneaked into Kevin's car. He did his best to take The Stick home with him, but I managed to wrest it away from him and take it home to Kyle and Brad, if anyone gets Kevin's name for Christmas...there you go, please get him The Stick.

And this purchase at the marathon expo I call my "snake oil purchase". This is a rubber band type bracelet with a hologram of pure energy. You wear this and you will have tons of energy, balance, run faster, recover better, you name it, it will happen to you if you simply wear this bracelet. Being a fine jewelry person this was just up my alley, you know rubber sports watches, rubber bracelets they're just me and besides it was within my jewelry budget allowance for the year. Well if the compression sleeves gave me 12 minutes that means that the Pure Energy must have given me, are you ready for this--a whopping 33 minutes. WooHoo, can I be a spokesperson.

St. George Marathon

2010-10-02T15:15:00.002-07:00

Finished in 5:09 (that is fast for me) smashed my old PR, very happy day. Maybe Ironman training is paying off. Craig was his usual fantastic sherpa self and ran the whole way with me since he doesn't have to qualify for Boston this year. Thanks!!

2010-10-02T15:15:00.001-07:00

Woo Hoo PR for Kev today too, 3:24, so proud of you son!

2010-10-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Too Much for Me!

2010-09-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hocus Pocus
Very few people except for Craig and the kids know that I am training to do an Ironman. I am semi-unsure, no, make that totally unsure of my abilities. I would rather not be confronted with well meaning inquiries on how the race went and have to explain failure. Not even my friend Jenn knows. Jenn and I had planned to do a pool sprint tri this weekend, it would be her first and I said I would love to do it with her and she could come stay at our house the night before as it is a shorter drive than from Malibu. Unfortunately Jenn has to go to Texas this weekend for the UCLA game. But there's no stopping Jenn, tomorrow morning she has her own personal tri mapped out. We were discussing it this morning, I am her support crew, back-up man, go-to person if there are any problems (which I am fairly certain there won't be). Hocus Pocus overheard us discussing it, after Jenn left she said:
"So how'd you do in the race?"
Me: "Oh I didn't race, we were talking about Jenn's race tomorrow."
Hocus Pocus: "Well I knew you biked, but all that swimming, running and walking has got to be just too much for you!"
Not long ago I was told I was too old for the outdoors, now a sprint tri is too much for me, and I think I'm going to be doing an Ironman in 81/2 weeks? Hand me the remote and the Oreos, I give up.

TMI

2010-09-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Let me just begin by warning, this post may be TMI, but it's my training blog and you don't have to read it if you don't want to. If you read triathlon boards you will always see posts from men complaining about their saddles and their quest for the perfect saddle to accommodate their junk. The quest for a perfect saddle is endless, until....you find and break in that perfect saddle; whether you're really breaking in the saddle or your sit bones or other, I'm not sure. Lately I have been forgoing my long rides in order to get in my run training for the St. George Marathon, (I know I will pay dearly for this later!) But this week was a recovery week, with no long rides and my long run was only 12 miles. It seemed like Saturday morning would be a great day just to get a nice leisurely, ride in.

Not even five minutes into the ride I protested, well, rather my she-junk protested. I Chamois Buttered like crazy to no avail. I am hating my saddle, and therefore hating riding, I cannot imagine getting my post marathon 100+ mile rides done. This has actually been bothering me for some time and I have suffered through, but I can't suffer through the ramp up, no matter how hard I try, it's not gonna work.

Craig put my stock saddle back on the bike after carefully measuring my current setup. No--that didn't do it either. Then I remembered when I did my Arizona ride I didn't have any problems and it was right after that SBR did some seat tweaking, pushing the saddle all the way forward. Yeah...come to think about it, I have never been comfortable since. So we started experimenting, slowly pushing the seat back, hmm better, more, lots more, no....back forward. Voila, hit a point where not only was the seat feeling good but the pedal stroke felt a lot better too. I wasn't expecting that too.

Craig rode home, picked up my TriStryke saddle and we decided to put it back on. Wow! What a difference. I will let you know what I think after my 95 miler next weekend. Oh...you really don't want to know---ok, just don't read.

OWS

2010-09-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

I had a really good run this morning, I did 12 miles, next week is 8, I'm tapering for the St. George Marathon, gotta love those tapers! After running Craig and I went out to Lake Perris and I got an open water swim in my new wetsuit. Wetsuit is good, makes my butt float more than the old one, heaven knows we need floaty butts. We were swimming in the swim area but there were no lifeguards, three guys run out and dive in. One starts calling to Craig and I to help him, he was struggling. There is no way we are strong enough to pull someone struggling in, but we start towards him talking and talking, trying to keep him calm. We finally got him to flip over on his back, fortunately we were not that far out and we were able to get him to the point where he could stand up. Whew, that was kinda scary.

When I am an old woman I shall.....

2010-09-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Wear purple with a red hat....Naw...when I am an old woman I shall ride my bike:
Now some may argue I am already an old woman; point well taken. In fact I have even been told that I am too old for the outdoors. I will choose to laugh rather than respond, heaven forbid my inhibitory neuron misfire.

Today I had a really good ride, lately it seems all my rides have just been slogging it out, but today it all came together and it was a good ride. It was the kind of ride that leaves you smiling and energized and happy with your accomplishment for those few hours. To make the day even better I actually made it to the Saturday yoga class, I haven't been in so long I didn't know the instructor was a sub, but she was great.

20 Mile Long Run Today

2010-08-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

Yep, I did my run, felt pretty good, came home sneezing, Craig and Brad's cold finally caught me, not so fun.

Triathlon Fourth Event

2010-08-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Many people talk of triathlon's fourth event. To some it is strength training, or transitions, nutrition, or juggling calendars. So what is my fourth event.............it is the event I have the most experience in. It is Laundry. I am the champion of all laundry, as only a mother of six children can be. Except now it is me generating an outrageous volume of work for the washing machine and the dryer.

Each day there is morning workout clothes, swim and run, or bike, evening workout clothes, any combination of the above, plus throw in yoga clothes and sorting paraphernalia, gloves, helmets, multiple pairs of socks, sunglasses, goggles, swim caps, and water bottles. There are the I'm home from work out, clean the house clothes, oh, now lets clean up a little and go get groceries and do errands clothes, hmm...Craig thinks a movie would be nice tonight, I guess a pair of clean jeans and a tee would be a good idea. I think I'm up to at least 7 or 8 clothing changes, maybe more in a single day, geesh, I guess I make up for not having a houseful of girls.

Do You Have an Appointment?

2010-08-20T20:19:00.001-07:00

Today was a 70 mile ride on my training plan, I only got about 48 done, it was blazing hot and I double flatted. I know I need to learn how to get my rear wheel on and off, it is not as easy as my road bike. I had a rear flat about 40 miles in, luckily I was just a few big blocks past Redlands Cyclery, I quickly debated my options, Craig is out of town so I can't call him, I can call a friend, I can call Kyle and drag him out of school or I can change it myself. I decide that if I attempt to change it myself, with my luck I'll get the wheel off and never be able to get it back on. Suddenly I remember, Oh yeah, I'm not that far from my LBS, where I'm well known, I'm in there way too often with the boys. I walk back, head to the repair section and handy mechanic asks what my problem is, I explain I just flatted, have you got a few minutes to fix it for me? "Do you have an appointment?" What----do I look like I have an appointment? Did I call you last night and line up an appointment in case I flatted on my ride? I say no....... and I could fix it myself if it was my road bike but I really struggle with the derailleur on my tri bike. So apparently I'm not so well known in there as I think I am. About then someone who knows me walks by says hi, he almost didn't recognize me in kit and now handy mechanic is nicer to me. Maybe it was just my imagination, maybe he was trying to be funny, I don't know, but he fixes my tube and informs me my front is also flat....good thing I walked back there since I only had one tube with me. Anyway I really am appreciative that he fixed my tires for me, that I wasn't very far from the store when it happened and that I remembered to stick my ATM card in my pocket that morning (only because I wanted to buy cinnamon bears and water at Circle K.)

Tomorrow 13 mile run and 3 hour swim clinic, not so looking forward to the swim clinic.

Story Problem

2010-08-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

If an elderly, small female does an 18 mile run, burning approximately 1800 calories and gains 1.2 pounds, how many cinnamon bears must this small elderly woman have eaten on her run?

Road bike vs. Tri bike

2010-08-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

This is my road bike. It is a Trek 2200. I've had this beautiful bike since 2004 and have puts thousands and thousand of miles on it. In short, I love this bike, it is comfortable, it fits me and together we have solved many problems. When I signed up for IMAZ I initially thought I would just throw a set of aero bars on my bike and we would be good to go. Kev said, no, no way, so I got fit for a tri bike and this is what Craig surprised me with for Christmas (I would have spent much less).

This is a Felt B2R, as I said I've had it since Christmas. When I first started riding it I was having "issues". I just didn't love it, which led to guilt because let me just say this was an expensive puppy for my level of ability. But it is now August and we have begun to adjust to each other. Since my crash my Felt has been in the shop longer than expected, so I've been back on my road bike, including several 50+ mile rides. Thursday I got my Felt back, I rode yesterday and today. Wow! That's all I can say. I love my Felt. It is definitely true about the way your legs feel, the road bike hammers my quads much more than the tri bike. The Felt is fast, and wants me to ride it even faster, the road bike just wants to go on a picnic. Let's be fair here, the road bike is older and aluminum, the tri bike is carbon and top of the line components. I am still not the best at holding aero but thanks to Kev for telling me no way on the road bike for IMAZ.

Back in the Pool

2010-08-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

I am healing well, road rash is unremarkable. I was back in the pool for the first time Monday. I was totally creeped out at the pool. I think I'm going to start using Highland's pool as much as possible. Their pool is right in front of the building, it has glass all the way around the front and across from the reception desk. Not as scary. Today: eight mile run, one hour in the pool.

Gutter Water Crash

2010-07-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

30 mile ride today, crashed turning in the gutter water right before home. A little road rash, bruises, broken shifter and cracked helmet. It could have been worse! Great excuse not to do my swim. My bike is in the shop til Wednesday, I got a new helmet with a little pink on it. There was a very cool gray, black and red one but we all know what would happen if I bought that one!

Tempe Town Lake--OH NO!!!!

2010-07-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

Oh no, Oh no, the dam at Tempe Town Lake burst, there is no more lake as of this moment. Big promises to have it repaired in time for IMAZ. I have a love/hate relationship with swimming, and I am scared like crazy to do this swim, to get kicked, poked, jabbed, swam over and spit out. Or maybe I'm just more scared about not making the cut-off time. I would gladly skip the swim......or so I thought. But an Ironman is an Ironman, and an Ironman is not an Ironman without a swim, call it a du or whatever, I don't want to be an Irondu, I want to earn the title Ironman. Please Tempe, fix your lake.

What Training Partners Do.....

2010-07-22T12:10:00.001-07:00

And

I told Craig I would never do another Ironman (after this) unless.......unless I don't finish. If I don't finish this I will be in line on Monday morning to register for attempt #2, and I will be in that line with him by my side to register as my sherpa. That didn't go over very well since he has already done his one and only Ironman (see race report) he won't even consider doing an "easy" Ironman like Arizona. Nor, (sadly) will he consider being my sherpa. But what he will do is just about anything he can to help me now. I'm down to my last 16 weeks of training and have already checked out on cooking dinner and pretty much laundry too, he's picking up the slack without complaint. Every night he asks me what time to set the alarm for and sets his alarm (so I can't roll over and turn it off) and gets up to do whatever it is that is on my training plan with me. This morning it was three miles of swimming--no I didn't do three miles, my training plan thinks I can do that in 1hr 15 minutes, but I did swim the whole time. When we got to LA Fitness the lanes were full (left to my own devices I would have just gone home), so instead we drove over to Highland--nice club BTW and swam. Craig left a little early went and bought diet coke and peanut butter since we were out of my training staples and came back to get me. That's what training partners (who don't want to be sherpas) do.

2010-07-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

Good ride this morning!

Now I am just waiting for water aerobics to be over so I can go swim, have I ever ranted on here about water aerobics. I hate water aerobics, note: not the cute ladies who do water aerobics, or the workout, it's dang hard, I hate water aerobics cause they take the whole pool, couldn't they just save one lane for lap swimmers?

Swim done--good day, if I swim as well as I did today I will make the cut-off!

Terrible, Horrible, No Good Ride

2010-07-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe I should save that title for another day, there are sure to be worse rides. I am reserving the right to reuse it!
This morning I had a chance to ride with Craig, he didn't have to go to work till a little later, I slept well and was really looking forward to my ride. I didn't know what the problem was specifically, but everything was a problem this morning. Maybe it was the Desoto shorts I was wearing, maybe the bike tweaking last week wasn't so great after all, maybe it was the run I did yesterday. I squirmed and squiggled in the saddle trying to get comfortable, I tried to pick up my pace but even on the parts where I always go fast and it's easy to go fast I couldn't. I told Craig, it must be the shorts, (note, I have always loved my Desoto shorts) "from now on I'm wearing my team kit shorts". His response, "that's a good idea, at least your tan lines will be right" a little sarcasm yeah right, of course it's the shorts! I plugged on, and he finally commented, "you're really not into this ride this morning are you?" NO! I bailed on the Loma Linda part of the ride and we headed up Serpentine, come on, come on, I never have to use my small ring the first time up (maybe if I'm riding loops). Then, the aha moment I hit a pot hole or crack in the pavement and felt my tire hit the rim, I was flat. Craig checked the tires this morning, but I think I must have picked up something right away that started a slow leak. At least this is what I'm hoping is my reason! Now I am going to mop, dust and vacuum, put in another load of laundry, fix my flat and see if I can at least get in a decent Sunset loop.

Rock Cliff Jordanelle Oly Race Report

2010-06-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have ever had so much go wrong in one triathlon, and yet despite all my problems, and my first DFL, I loved it.

The boys said I should look at the positive side, it was my first race on my new bike, first win on my new bike and I was first in my AG (of course you have already figured out I must have been the only one in my age group!) and first race in my new Redlands Tri Club kit.

I took my bike in for a little fit tweaking on Friday and I am really happy with it, we ended up lowering the seat, and moving it forward, it felt good, I was able to maintain aero a lot better.

The race: first of all I know I need a new wetsuit, but I keep hoping to lose a few more pounds before I do it. The swim is always hard for me but I was determined not to panic and do well. I didn't panic but struggled big time out to the first buoy, after resting with a paddle boarder for a minute or two I was able to get into a rhythm, I briefly thought about only doing one loop, scratching the oly and just doing the sprint, but by the time I finished the first loop I was swimming well. I wish I had splits for each loop, I would like to know what the second loop was compared to the first, it felt a lot faster, but it would be nice to see the numbers. My total swim was 47:49, it was probably a few minutes better than that, Craig stripped my wetsuit for me before I crossed the timing mat. I was happy knowing that I could do a mile in about 45 minutes even with a bad start.

My bad swim set me up for a bad bike, but I didn't care, I was coming off a good training ride in Arizona and feeling good about that, I would just go out and enjoy. So with no expectation what could be worse. Well, I went off course, you are supposed to make a turn, but I thought the oly course went straight, so straight I went up a monster hill and on aways, till I realized this just can't be right. I saw a race marshall who sent me back down the hill and back the right way. Already being last I didn't need this. This was also the first time I used my Garmin in multi-sport mode and I wasn't getting speed or average speed, I really need to see where I am speed wise. Bike was so bad a race marshall directed me in, I had my own personal escort. Bike time 1:46:49, it could have been better if I hadn't gone off course especially up a hill and if I learn to use my Garmin right. I just refigured my bike averages without my mistake, 17.1, I'm happy with that.

Run--well, it was just a run, the first three were slow getting my legs back and the second three weren't quite as slow. Run time 1:05, putting me at 10 minute miles. Again I struggled with the Garmin, I never did get it to run mode. Oh and my race marshall escort, he escorted me out on the run course to make sure I went the right way. Thanks guy. Craig met me on the run and said, "what can I do for you?" I said just run it with me, so Craig (in his jeans) ran the whole six miles with me. He got water for me and handed me shot blocks. Totally against USAT rules but I didn't care, and I don't think anyone else cared either. When I came through the first loop, they announced my name, and that I was heading out for the second loop, so I got good cheers, amazing what crowd support and "good jobs" can do for you.

Things I learned from this race:

I need to warm up on the swim, as much as I hate to, I know it takes me awhile to settle in.

Bike- I need to be aware of my speed, the course route and push harder.

Run-Just run more, do more bricks, less treadmill and more road

Get serious about losing some more weight.

Even without my mistakes I am sure I would have still been DFL, but I sure didn't need the mistakes.

The race itself: the water was cold with a lot of debris, but very manageable especially if I had warmed up by swimming, not just chillin'.

Should have been doing a warm up swim.

I made it!

Bike out, on the way back in a car stopped in front of me opening all of their doors, I screamed "get out of my way" didn't know I could scream so loud.

I don't think I could do tri's without my support team and my sherpa. I am just about done, with Craig by my side.

I thought this race was well run and organized, I would do it again. The bike is really pretty (when you're on the right course), the run not so much, but it's a run. They had security in the bike area, Craig rode Kev's bike down to pick up my bike with me, since it had a race number on it and he didn't have a wristband they almost wouldn't let him take it back out. Kevin had a good race, he didn't enjoy it as much as I did with some bike mechanicals and he also stopped to chat during the run.

Note! The medal is not a finishers medal, it is a first in my age group medal!

2010-06-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Pulled the trigger....Registered for Rock Cliff Jordanelle Olympic Distance Triathlon, hope I make it through the swim.

Suck it up Buttercup!

2010-06-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

11 mile run today, a good one, I'm happy, no complaining. I want to do the Rockcliff Jodanelle Triathlon (Oly) next Saturday. Problem: water temp is 52, can I do it? I honestly don't know if water that cold will send me into a panic, I don't want to be hauled out. So do it, and just suck it up, or not.....not sure yet.

IMAZ Bike Course

2010-06-13T07:45:00.001-07:00

Reconn ride yesterday. YES! I loved it. I have been so scared about the course and making the cut-off times. I still am, but I gained confidence yesterday. I was able to average 15 mph for two loops, 75 miles. That will do it, if I can maintain for the third. I do need to work on nurtrition, and of course I have to make the swim cut-off just to get on the bike course. Thank you to Craig, we left Friday after he got off work, drove to Arizona, got up, rode two loops of the course and drove home. Craig had two flats and one tube. He changed it the first time, the second time a nice guy gave him a tube, thank you. On our second loop Craig thought he saw the same guy with a flat on the other side so he dashed over to see if he could help but it was someone else with the same bike. He was able to help a lady who was struggling to fix her flat, nice to be able to pay back in some way.

First IMAZ Nightmare

2010-06-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last night was my first IMAZ dream/nightmare. I dreamed we were there and I couldn't get into my hotel room and I couldn't find Craig. Everyone was in their wetsuits in the pool (it was a dream--remember), except for me, I was standing around in shorts watching everyone get ready to race, all my gear was in the car and Craig had the keys. Interpretation: ? I think it means I'm not prepared, so true. Registering for Rockcliff Jordanelle Oly.

Spin

2010-04-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

I was watching the clock before the warm up was even done.

Focus

2010-04-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Focus, Focus is all it takes. Training is going well, I am being positive.