Boulder 70.3

This picture cracks me up!

My body chemistry was working with me this weekend and I was so thankful for that! We left the boys home alone again and drove to Boulder on Saturday. I love this time of year in Colorado and driving to Boulder reminds us of why we love living here. Warm weather and the view of the Rocky Mountains as we drive along I-25 is spectacular. I found a new hotel in Broomfield for a great rate, so we traded a bit more driving for a really nice room. Given the choice, Steve would have chosen the dumpy room and less driving, but it was my turn to make reservations! We checked in, hauled a tremendous amount of equipment to our room and took a nap. The looks we get when we roll our bikes into the hotel lobby, up the elevator and in our rooms are priceless! If you don’t know triathlons, surely you think this is all crazy. Now that I think about it, even though we do know triathlons, it’s still crazy!


We have started a tradition of eating our pre race dinner at the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder with friends from the Pike’s Peak Tri Club so we met up at the Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed a great meal mingled with plenty of triathlon talk, prior races, highlights and lowlights.

We were up well before the crack of dawn (did I actually go to sleep??), consuming all the things we prepared for our pre race food. I usually have a protein shake while Steve has a full breakfast of eggs, toast, milk, juice following by gels, a bagel plenty of fluid. Since this was a longer race I had a couple pieces of wheat free bread toasted with peanut butter. We prepared our food for during the race (peanut butter and jelly for me, almond butter and jelly for Steve) and packed our Sport Beans, jells and Gatorade in the appropriate places. We hauled all our gear back down to the car (didn’t we just bring it up not more than 12 hours ago??) and headed to Boulder Res. Being the early person Steve is, we didn’t hit traffic and parked way up front. When the race is over I’m thankful we’re up front, but this early in the morning I would have preferred to sleep a little longer!

We head to the transition area with our bikes and gear, get our timing chip, get numbered and set up our transition area. Since we got here so early we have like hours before the race starts, so we head back to the car and chill.

Steve starts the swim first and I visited with my age groupers. I met a woman in the last race in my age group and we started chatting again. This was her 1st half ironman and she was anxious. Being the very experienced 70.3 triathlete that I am (after all, this is my SECOND 70.3) I was available to give her lots of advise.

I am relaxed during the swim, pushing a little bit, but not stressing about it. I focus on my form and avoiding swimming over people. My moment of glory is when I start passing athletes from earlier waves. Since I never get to experience passing people on the bike, I enjoy these moments immensely!

Swim to bike transition was fine and I headed out to the bike course. The bike was uneventful but enjoying riding along the beautiful countryside outside Boulder with the Rocky Mountains to the West. I beat by bike time from my prior 70.3 Boulder by almost 30 minutes so I was ecstatic about that. My new Cervelo is doing the trick!

Now the run. I was concerned about my endurance level for this race and as it turned out, my concern was well founded! It was difficult this summer to get my long runs in and prior to the race, I had only done 2 10 mile runs. That doesn’t support a 13.1 mile run in a tri very well! I started off on the run course and within a few minutes Steve passed me on his 2nd lap of the run. I was feeling tired already so did my run/walk pace. I finished the 1st lap and Steve had finished his race and started running my 2nd lap with me. I could tell he was really tired and told him not to run with me but as usual, he didn’t take my advice! As we were running along, I felt myself getting even more fatigued and turned to Steve saying “This is going to take a REALLY long time!” Despite my fatigue, I was in good spirits and mentally felt well and grateful to be out there doing this. I was disappointed that I couldn’t keep up a faster pace, but realistically knew I hadn’t trained enough. We jogged/walked the 2nd lap of the run and before long I was at that stupid hill about 200 yds from the finish line. It is a very small hill but at the end of the race, it feels like a mountain! I crossed the finish line and was elated!

Crossing the finish line is always a completely satisfying moment but this year felt even more intense. With the tough year I had, I felt like I really had persevered and overcame some hurdles and challenges to not only get to the starting line, but to finish. The training, the early mornings, getting in the pool at 5am when what I really wanted to do was sleep, and doing long rides when mentally and physically I just didn’t feel like it. After I crossed the finish line we walked to an area where I could sit down. As soon as I sat down, emotion overcame me and I put my head in my hands and just sobbed. After I got that out of my system, we walked around, ate and chatted with friends.

Steve wanted to qualify for the 70.3 World Championship but it didn’t look like this was going to be the race. A friend checked the results and Steve was posted as finished 17th in his age group. So we packed up and were debating on whether to stay for the awards. I checked the results again and they were not posted correctly the first time – Steve was 7th in his age group. He still didn’t think he would qualify, but I encouraged him to stay for the awards ceremony. He did qualify and immediately got his credit card out to pay for the World Championships in Clearwater!

Overall, a great day and my recovery period has officially started!

Boulder Peak 2010

Ah… the freedom of being able to leave the boys home alone overnight! Steve and I drove to Boulder on Saturday so we could rise at 4am rather than 3am. We were both dragging so had dinner by ourselves, went back to the hotel and crashed early.

Steve is up before the alarm goes off, stealing at least 10 minutes of sleep I could have had. Some days the chemicals in my body are in harmony and I’m a reasonable, friendly, positive and enthusiastic person. And some days the chemicals conspire against me and I’m grouchy, fatigued, and my enthusiasm is about equal to that of a sloth’s. This is my 3rd year for this race so naturally my desire is to beat prior year’s times. Knowing it’s not going to be one of my better days, I don’t even bother to look at prior year’s times, thereby not setting myself up for disappointed and berating of myself on the course. I riding my Cervelo and am nervous about getting up Old Stage Road on it so try to focus on subjects other than how foolish I will feel walking my bike up the hill.

The swim went well. I’m comfortable in the water and don’t have any elbows to the head or bodies swimming over me. On to the bike. It’s on the bike course that I understand just how much the mental stamina and focus play in a triathlon. Today, I’m not focused and most of my mental stamina was over about the time I got out of the water. Since I had already dished out the money to race, hauled my fatigued body and resistant mind out of bed, and couldn’t leave anyway, I figured I might as well get on sweet new ride. My new Cervelo is way beyond my ability, and wonder if I should cover my face and bib number so I cannot be identified as the novice riding the expert level bike. I’m pretty much in a “I don’t give a hoot” frame of mind, so I act like the novice I am and run with my bike to the mount line clip in one foot, swing my leg over the frame, push off, and eventually get my other foot clipped in while the more “experienced” triathletes mount their bike in one smooth motion and fly past me. So what I say! I have a Cervelo and new tri top and I look good! Off I go and before long I am thinking of that stupid hill. To distract myself I begin keening observing all the cyclists passing me and send telepathic messages to them in hopes they get leg cramps. Soon enough I’m at the bottom of Old Stage Road just starting to climb and have myself so psyched out, that somehow I lose balance and have to unclip and stand on the ground to keep from falling. Do you know how hard it is to clip in to your bike pedals going uphill? It took me 10 starts before I could get clipped in again. Thoroughly unfocused and pissed off, I get about 100 yards farther up the hill before I give up and get off my bike and walk up the hill. It was during this walk up the hill where I tested my mental strength. It took all I had not to turn that nice Cervelo around and ride back to the start. It wasn’t that I couldn’t physically do it… I was at the end of my mental rope. The thing that kept me going was I could imagine facing Connor when I got home and telling him “I quit”. We talk about not quitting, giving it your all to our kids, so what kind of example would I be if I quit because I was grumpy and didn’t feel like going on? With that in mind, I walked up Old Stage Road as quickly as I could, got back on and rode hard the rest of the way.

The best part of the run was seeing Steve running towards me on the other side of the trail. He had finished his race and was coming back to run to the finish with me. The 2nd best thing about the run was catching up to my 73 year old friend Kay. She is an amazing woman! We chatted for a bit and encouraged each other as Steve took photos and we had a few laughs. As I keep running, I think about the 1 triathlon I have left for the summer and think about Kay. She is also doing the 70.3 next month, and 2 weeks after that, she is doing the Pike’s Peak Ascent; I keep pushing on as I think about how much Kay inspires me.

Steve runs ahead and is waiting for me as I cross the finish line. Another race complete! I am satisfied that I overcame my mental negativity and didn’t give up. Triathlon is a combination of mental and physical fitness and one of the things I love most about it.

2010 Bike MS

Total Miles: 172

Total Climbing: Almost 10,000 feet (I’m trying to find someone whose odometer showed a couple hundred more feet than mine did so I can claim 10,000 ft!)

Completed my 3rd Bike MS! It was another fantastic ride. The Colorado Chapter of the MS Society has this event so well organized and supported that the pain of the ride is easily forgotten. I have to go on a diet after the ride because there is so much food and I way over estimate the number of calories I’m burning. A 3rd brownie? Why not? A 3rd lunch? Why, I think I will! There were around 3000 riders again this year and it’s an amazing experience to see all the staff, riders, and volunteers out for the weekend to support this cause.

We had a team again this year and had 15 riders. Several participated for the first time and it was great to see them take in the experience for the first time.

I like to give myself a challenge every year and this year, I wanted to do the Century ride on the 2nd day, so my day one ride was paced so I’d have energy for day 2. Steve used day one as a training ride, so he was off after rest stop one, and Jamey and I rode together and had a great time solving all the problems of the world and enjoying the beautiful scenery. I made sure to stop at all the rest stops and eat everything I could put in my mouth (I need the calories for tomorrow, I rationalized) and snagged as many free mini cliff bars and shot blocks as I could stuff in my jersey. Lunch today was a full buffet with sandwiches, salads, chips, brownies, cookies and drinks (only the hydrating kind at this point in the event). The best rest stop is the last one at around mile 60. By then, it’s getting hot, I’m tired and I’m wondering if it will storm tomorrow so I have an excuse not to do the century. But then, I pedal into the rest stop and they have Snowcones! With the water bottles refilled, a short rest, a snowcone and various other food items, off we go to Horsetooth Reservoir, the big climb at the end of the ride. As I started climbing, I see Steve coming from the other direction. He had finished and rode back to ride with me. The first thing out of his mouth was “we’re going to have to ride 3 more miles when we finish”. I’m huffing and puffing up the climb by this point and was sure I was hearing things because surely my husband isn’t telling me I have to ride more AFTER I finish? He had calculated that he would be at 97 miles when he finished, and you can’t just quit at 97 miles, so we have to do 3 more to get him a century on day one and I’m his support crew, so I have to do it too. I decided to pretend I couldn’t talk through my huffing and puffing otherwise I might have said something I might have regretted. We finished the climb and then got to my favorite part of day one: riding down Horsetooth Reservoir into Fort Collins. It’s all downhill to the finish and it’s a blast.

Day Two

Steve and the Fort Collins riders on our team did a Century last year, only they did a slightly different route than the official route and Steve thought I would “enjoy” this route too. Steve, Mark and I started at 6:30 am and headed up Rist Canyon. It was beautiful going up the Canyon – we had a fox trotting in front of us for a while, a stream running along the road, and Aspen stands. Then… we got to the really steep part and I forgot to look around. I had to get off my bike twice and walk a bit. If the ride stopped at the top of the Canyon I would have gritted my teeth and powered up but all I could think was “after I get to the top of this canyon, I have 75 miles to go”! As we were climbing, Jay rode by us like we were standing still. He was kind enough to wait for us at the top though and we took a break and took a few photos.

Steve set his land speed record on the Rist Canyon descent last year so he was quite eager to top that. The guys took off and flew downhill; I look for ways to avoid pain so I didn’t chase them. I eventually got to the bottom to hear the boys comparing speed records “I think I hit 55; at least that is the last number I saw!” “I think it hit 57!” “I only touched my brakes once!” Yea, I only touched my brakes once too – I started braking at the top of the hill and didn’t let them go until I was at the bottom. It was a beautiful ride, but really? Rist Canyon at the beginning of my first century ride? After yesterday’s ride of 72 miles? Why do I listen to Steve?

I was feeling much better having gotten that out of the way and comforted myself knowing I had rest stops and lunch coming up. I started panicking though, when we hooked into the “official” route and I didn’t see any riders. We got to the next rest stop and they were tearing down. I went into serious depression. WHAT IF THERE IS NO FOOD FOR ME THE REST OF THE RIDE? This rest stop still had some water and bananas and kindly let us dig in. We didn’t stay long, driven by my need to ensure we got to the next food stop before they were gone. We got going and started catching other riders. Before long we were at the lunch stop and I rush of relief came over me when I say the buffet still set up.

We reached the last rest stop and Steve though someone said the finish was 11 miles to go. Given that calculation, we would have arrived at the finish at 98 miles. Seriously?? As it turns out, hit the finish at 100.71 miles; it would have been a bummer if Steve had to ride my bike around the parking lot 2 more miles.

This is the part where I express my gratitude and pride for Steve. All kidding aside, he knows when to push me to challenge myself and when to encourage me. He let me draft off him almost the whole ride the 2nd day and I don’t know if I could have done it without that. He tells me I can do it when I’m tired and mentally questioning whether I can. This is the 3rd year he’s ridden with me on the 2nd day to cross the finish line together and when we are riding together towards the finish line and the people are screaming as if they came out just to watch us, and I look at Steve and realize he’s the one with MS that I’m riding for, I choke up and get emotional. He is my hero. He has MS and there is never a day that he complains about his pain, he never uses his MS as an excuse to not do something, and he inspires so many with his will and commitment. When I think about quitting the ride early, or think about how much I hurt, I remind myself of Steve, and so many others with MS, who live with pain every day and know that I can live with it for a few hours.

Boulder 5430 Sprint Triathlon

My first Triathlon of the season was today – the Boulder 5430 Sprint Triathlon. If your attention span is only a minute long, here is the short version:

• I had a great time.
• Race went well:
• My swim went really well; I was fast and I beat the pants of many of the men in my wave and was 9th out of 68 women in my age group.
• My bike was pathetic. Don’t look at the race results online. This was the first time on my new Tri bike and I rode pretty conservatively as I’m still in the formative stages of our relationship. For having a really cool fancy Tri bike I should be riding a lot faster!
• My T3 transition was awesome. 53 seconds. For those who don’t know what that is, you’ll have to read the long version.
• My run was good (for me). Don’t look at these results online either because if you are a runner, you wouldn’t use the word “good” and run in the same sentence after you saw my pace.

...End of ADHD version...


...Begin longer version for those with longer attention spans or not enough to do...


Steve signed me up for the Boulder Triathlon series (Sprint, Olympic and ½ Ironman distances) in January when it sounded like a really good idea and I had plenty of time to train and get ready. Here it is June 20th and the first triathlon is already here. I don’t know if everyone feels this way, but no matter how much I train I always uncover those things that I haven’t done enough of and think I’m not ready. I didn’t run enough! I didn’t do enough bricks! Oh no – I haven’t done hill training in weeks! Nevertheless, time marches on and they didn’t ask me if they should move the race date out because I wasn’t trained enough.

Steve had the weekend off, and wasn’t racing, so he was support crew. Thank you Steve, for getting all my gear ready, telling me what time to get up, making my Gatorade and taking care of all the details and getting to the race 3.5 hours before it started (everyone should know I was complaining about how early we got to the race). We had a great day Saturday taking our time leaving home and getting to Boulder for packet pickup. We stood in line for a million hours to get my packet and once we had that acquired headed to our hotel. I had big plans for a nap and Steve had big plans for a long bike ride. I settled in for a long winter’s nap and Steve took off. Who didn’t let the other guests know I was napping? Must they YELL in the hallways? I drift off and am awakened by Steve knocking on the door I had security latched. He was a mile into his ride when he got a flat. He picked up his wallet to buy more tubes and headed back out and I jammed my ipod headphone in my ears in the hopes of drifting off into a blissful sleep. I had forgotten that blissful sleep and hotel don’t go together. I did have some relaxing and restful quiet time though. Once Steve got back we headed to Pearl Street Mall in Boulder to meet friends from the Pike’s Peak Tri Club for dinner. What a great place! Street vendors, street performers and an eclectic combination of people. We met up with the gang and headed to the Cheesecake Factory to fuel up.

4:45am: Steve’s alarm goes off and it’s up and running. Bikes in the car, sunscreen on, fruit smoothie for breakfast and off to Boulder Reservoir. Steve’s #1 triathlon rule is you MUST arrive at the transition area first to “get a good spot”. When you are competing for a spot to the World Championships, I can understand that. Me? 15 minutes more sleep would be good! Thanks to Steve though, we are never rushing around before a race and today, we parked in the FIRST row! I got my body marking (for those not familiar with triathlon, this isn’t some kind of tattoo ritual, but rather they way they identify the athletes. They write your race number and age on your arms and legs. Should you be unlucky enough to drown in the swim portion of the triathlon, they have a way to identify your body. It also comes in handy when you are cycling and running; you can look at the person who just passed you, identify their age on their left calf and determine if they are in your age group. If so, you better pick it up! If they are 20 years younger than you, you can feel better about yourself when you are passed.)

After body marking, I have practically the whole day to rest in the car because Steve got me there so early. I don’t start my race until 8:20. Triathlon lesson #2: they start the athletes in “waves” by age group so all the athletes don’t start the swim at the same time. This race had 1600 athletes; can you imagine 1600 athletes all starting the swim at the same time? The lifeguards would earn their pay if that happened!

I ate another breakfast in the car while waiting patiently for my wave to start – yogurt and my homemade granola. Tasted good at the time, and again several times during the race. Yogurt may be a good idea, but the granola didn’t seem to work. Plug in the ipod and damage my eardrums listening to my music to get the energy flowing. Soon enough, it’s time to head to the swim start. The wetsuit donning process takes a long time; I think it would be easier to just paint it on. “It’s supposed to be tight” Steve keeps repeating. After stuffing myself into wetsuit, I waddle to my fellow Wave 11 athletes and make the typical pre-race small talk. We move along the beach and pretty soon we’re in the water waiting for the horn signaling our race start.

If you haven’t done a triathlon, I’ll try to paint a picture of what it’s like to do the swim in the reservoir with hundreds of your closest friends. At the announcer’s signal, the athletes walk down the beach and get in the water and approach the start line. The fast swimmers get in front and you all tread water until the horn goes off. I got up towards the front in this race and found myself among the men in my wave; the horn signals and the next 100 – 200 yards are spent trying to get a swimming rhythm. I put my head in the water and can only see a few feet in front of me – the water is murky and there are no black lane lines at the bottom to guide me. I immediately run into the swimmers in front of me, and have to pick my head up while swimming to see how I can get around them. There are about 5 across so I opt to squeeze in between a couple of them; why lose a couple valuable seconds? Feet and arms are everywhere as I swam through them. I get going again and get into a rhythm of swimming a few strokes, picking my head up to spot the buoy (does anyone remember doing Tarzan swimming in swim practice? It comes in handy in a Triathlon). It’s a 750 m swim and the course is marked with buoys. I pick my head up to spot where my next buoy is and look directly into the sun rising over the reservoir. Seeing spots from looking directly into the sun, but not finding the buoy, I look for other swimmers ahead of me and swim towards them. Without lane markers on the bottom of the pool and the churning water, I don’t swim in a straight line but swim to the right, so I have to pick my head up every 4-6 strokes to see if I’m headed towards the buoy or towards the kayaker stationed on the course to keep us from drifting off course. Once in a while, I swim along another swimmer and let them to do the spotting. Before long, I’m at the turnaround buoy and so are about 20 others and someone swims over me and I cut someone else off. Heading back to shore isn’t as bad because when you look up to spot, you’re not glaring into the sun. Swim Time: 14:36

Here is what the swim start looks like:

As I get out of the water I look for Steve and can’t find him among all the other fans cheering for me (or are they cheering for the athletes next to me?) I take off my cap and goggles and fiddle with my wetsuit zipper trying to get it undone. As I stumble towards the 1st Transition (called T1) and get the top half of my wetsuit down and run to my bike. The transition area is where you transition from one event to the next. T1 is transition from swim to bike. All the bikes are in rows and my gear is carefully arranged by my bike for a quick transition. I remembered where my bike was (thanks to Steve for getting us there 10 hours before race start, my bike is on the end of a row) and strip off my wetsuit the rest of the way, barely avoiding falling over as I get my legs out of the wetsuit. I put on my sunglasses, helmet and try to drink my Bing energy drink and end up spilling it all over the front of me. On go the socks, bike shoes and gloves. Grab the bike and run out of T1. T1 Time: 2:27.

The bike was good. This is only the 3rd time I’ve ridden my new Cervelo and we are still in the very early stages of our relationship, so I will use that as my excuse for my slow cycling. My fancy Tri bike far exceeds my ability but I love the bike! I promise to train so my ability matches my bike’s capability. The course is beautiful and it’s great to be out there with all the other triathletes. I passed a few people (fortunately some athletes ride mountain bikes in this race affording me the opportunity to pass someone) and got passed. 17 miles later I’m back at the transition area (aptly called T2). I spot Steve among all my other fans as he takes photos of me coming in. I dismount, run to my row again, throw off my helmet, gloves and trade biking shoes for running shoes and take off again. T2: 53 seconds.

Running after riding a bike never feels good! That first mile is like running with lead in my legs and it takes a while to get in the groove. I fiddle with my Garmin watch for a few minutes and can’t get it to switch over to the “run” mode. I fall into a good pace and repeat over and over “Pain is temporary, pride is permanent”. For me a 5k run hurts as much as a 13 mile run! I keep up the pace I wanted and reach the finish line and get my medal, wet towel and find Steve.

Run Time: 29:24

Carie Nolan (CO Chapter President), Dr. Weiner and Michele

Dr Weiner, Michele and Steve

I hosted a research reception through the MS Society tonight. Dr. Howard Weiner was our guest. Dr. Weiner is a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and has studied MS for over 3 decades. It was fascinating to hear him talk about his work, the new breakthroughs in treatment and the new medications that are in FDA process. I am thankful for people like Dr. Weiner as it is people like him that will find a cure for MS so my boys will never hear the words “you have MS”.

Lemonade: Just when we needed it!

Steve had today off so we got to do our long bike ride together. This is one of my favorite rides around – start in Sedalia and ride to Palmer Lake and back for a 48 mile ride. I was feeling energetic, so we added 10 miles on in Palmer Lake. The ride from Sedalia to Palmer Lake is rolling hills with elevation gain of 3000 ft, so the ride back is a blast. The road we ride on is a 2 lane highway at the foot of the Rockies. The flowers are just coming out and the grasses are green. On the way back, 4 boys had a lemonade stand set up so we stopped for a quick lemonade and to support the young entrepreneurs! Rides like this are what keep me pedaling.

Kansas

We are in Kansas for the Kansas 70.3 triathlon. Steve is doing this one and I’m glad I was wise enough to not to sign up for it! It’s too early in the season for me to have gotten the proper training in and it’s blood hot here! While Steve rested today, I went to a bike ride. I started off thinking I’d ride an hour because I didn’t know the area and didn’t want to get lost. Once I got going though, I felt great, stayed on one road and didn’t make any turns so as not to get myself lost. After about 20 miles it was time to turn around because my water and Gatorade supply were running low. It was really beautiful with all the lush green vegetation, cute farm houses, and miles of hills covered in the crops of the season. I rode back to the campground and decided 38 miles wasn’t going to get me through the MS150 or the ½ Ironman in August, so I filled up with water and headed back out. The next 8 miles were ok, and the last 8 miles just plain sucked. The heat settled into my body, my legs were fatigued and my brain was cooked. They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, I generally curse, whine, question my sanity, slow down, bribe myself with rewards (which generally involve chocolate), and wonder how I’m going to cycle 150 miles. But something keeps me going. Is it my commitment to accomplishment something? Is it thinking about so many people who would love to ride a bike 56 miles but can’t? Is it a sheer unwillingness to give up? Is it that I have my goals and if I don’t train I don’t meet the goals? Yes, it is all those. But mostly, it’s the fact that if I don’t ride my butt back to the starting point, the only other option is walking the rest of the way in those silly bike shoes… click, click, click…

Does This Count as Training??

Connor and I took another road trip this weekend. We went to Roosevelt Lake to spend the weekend with my brother and his family. I always have great intentions with my training and things generally go well when my schedule doesn’t vary. Driving 12 hours and playing at the lake definitely changed the schedule but I was able to fit in some training. We got there on Friday and I was immediately reminded why I love Colorado in the summer – it’s not 98 degrees at 4pm on the Friday before Memorial Day! I have my schedule though, and the schedule says a 5 mile run today and a 2500 yard swim. I had to forego the swim but decided it would be a good idea to do my run. I waited as long as I could for it to cool down and at 5pm decided to head out before I bailed altogether. It had cooled down to about 96 degrees as I ran the first 2.5 miles uphill, into the sun and wind. I hadn’t felt 96 degrees since the one day last summer in Colorado when it got about 95. Can humans actually melt in the sun? I was thinking there was some potential there as I starting seeing images of cool lakes and snow covered mountains. Thankfully my sister in law had frozen margaritas ready when I stumbled into their RV.


I rode on Saturday before the sun and all the people rose. It was a beautiful morning and I climbed a monster hill. It took me 58 minutes to ride up and 14 minutes to get down. What a blast. By the time I got back everyone was up and ready for some boating so I threw my bike back into my car and traded my bike shorts for a swim suit. My brother taught me to surf in the morning and I was happy that I got up on the board and was able to stand up long enough for a photo. We found a spot under a bridge and I thought it would be a great idea to practice swimming in a lake with my wetsuit, so off I went for a short swim. I learned to wakeboard in the afternoon and was so tired that night I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk again. Fortunately, my sister in law came to the rescue again with another batch of frozen margaritas!

We went out again on Sunday and I surfed and wakeboarded again. I’m not sure this will be transferable training for the Bike MS or Triathlons, but it sure was a blast! My brother was set to go out again early Monday morning and I had to cry uncle; I didn’t think I would be able to make the drive home if I went out one more time! I left the lake and made the 12.5 hour drive home by myself. What a fun weekend; I love summer!

The Unplanned Day Off

4:30 am. I don’t need to get up this early today because I only have a 1500 yd swim and 3 mile run on the schedule. My body’s internal alarm apparently didn’t get this message and I’m wide awake. I’m not excited about getting up though and it doesn’t help that Steve is still in bed and isn’t showing any signs of getting up. 5 am. “Steve, are you going to the gym?” “No”, rolls over and pulls the covers over his head. Looks like I’m going to have to do this on my own. Out of bed and off to the gym. I pull my running clothes out of my gym bag and discover that in the dark, I grabbed the wrong bra. I stand in the locker room in my swim suit for 5 minutes contemplating the merits of running in the wrong bra. It was just the excuse I needed. I pack up the suit and running clothes and take a really long hot shower, appreciating the YMCA for paying for my indulgence. I had thoroughly rationalized and justified skipping my training this morning, but in all my rationalizing and excuse making, I forgot to take into account the “Locker Ladies”. Who are the “locker ladies”? They are the women who have a similar routine as I do, who use in the same locker row as mine, we make small talk about the weather, the pool temp and always wish each other a nice day. I know their routine as well as they know mine. Yes, we could exchange names, but somehow that never comes up. The teacher does the stairmaster first then swims then showers. She wears the same perfume I wore in 6th grade (Charley??) and has playground duty twice a month and has to cut her workouts a bit short. The German lady swims first, then showers and does weights downstairs. She’s in the pool by 5:10 and swims in lane one. As I’m drying off, the “locker ladies” come in. Now, you’ve read my last post about routines, so you’ll understand the locker ladies surprise when they saw me showered, changing and ready to go home so early. I wasn’t prepared to have to verbalize all my rationalizing with the locker ladies, but I was, quite literally, caught with my pants down. Since we’ve been locker row buddies for a while now, I felt I owed them the plain honest truth. “I just didn’t feel like swimming and running today, so I’m taking the day off”. As it turns out I didn’t have to justify, rationalize or even give one excuse; the locker ladies jumped in with words of support and encouragement “everyone needs a day off, your body needs a rest, take it easy today”. Feeling validated by the locker ladies, I left the gym, got a cup of coffee and went home, sat on the couch and read a book until it was time to go to work.

The Comfort of Routines

I operate best when I have a routine. For my training , the routine takes away (mostly) the procrastinating, or waffling about “what should I do today?” Steve put together my training schedule for my Bike MS and 3 triathlons so I know what I need to do each day. I also have a routine for the training days. Monday and Fridays are swim and run days. Steve swims MWF and is up by 4:15am and I am usually up by 4:45am. As soon as my feet hit the floor, Tracker jumps off Connor’s bed and stands by his door whining, waiting for me to let him out. I let Tracker out of Connor’s room, let the cats out of Dylan’s room and close their doors so they can keep sleeping. Tracker, Hobbes and Sunshine lead the way downstairs and I get a coffee mug, fill it with water and microwave it for 60 seconds. While the water is warming, I feed Tracker. I take my warm water upstairs and check email while I drink my water. Hobbes sits on my lap while I scratch his ears and Tracker sits beside my chair begging me to pet him instead of Hobbes. After I triage email, I get dressed and make my protein shake (1 can V8 Fusion juice, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1 scoop Psyllium Husk, 1 quirt Trace minerals, 1 scoop Flax Seed meal and some frozen berries). I let the pets back in the boy’s rooms and head to the YMCA. I use the same locker every time, as do the women around me. My swim comes first and there my routine intersects the other swimmers routines. Steve is already in the pool, in lane 2. George is always in lane 3. The German lady is in the last lane, the tall guy who does weird flip turns is always in lane 4 (but he was gone for a while because he had knee surgery), our 2 triathlete friends share lane 1. It would be a great social science study to observe what happens when a new person comes in and gets in someone’s lane! I get in Steve’s lane and do my swim, rinse off, get my running clothes and head downstairs to the treadmills. The 90 year old guy who is always on the end treadmill greets me with his usual “hey young lady” (my boys think I’m old, but someone thinks I’m a young lady!), we smile and exchange hellos and if someone isn’t on “my” treadmill I put my ipod on, and start running. Susie usually stops by for a quick chat before heading to the elliptical machine, Dylan’s English teacher stops by and gives me an update on Dylan’s last and upcoming assignments (can you imagine a fate worse than being a HS Junior and your English teacher sees your parents several times a week?). Steve is 3 treadmills over (“his” treadmill), and I don’t bother him because he’s in the zone and it’s not cool to talk to an athlete in their zone. I finish whatever my run for the day is, head back to “my locker”, and chat with the cool ladies whose routine intersects mine. I don’t know most of their names, but know one is doing the Boulder Long Course this year, one is a teacher, one is from Germany and is retired. I love the predictability of it and the familiar faces and conversation on these days.

PRs

I have no idea what happened! Was it running with the wind? No, because I was faster when I turned around and ran into the wind. Was it the Bing energy drink I had? Maybe, but I didn’t have one on Friday and had a PR run. Speed and interval training? Maybe. Whatever it was, I had 2 great runs. Friday was a 5 miler and I ran on Sante Fe Trail North from Woodmen and had a PR. By a lot. I was happy with that and figured it was a fluke, but Saturday I did a 10 miler and had another PR. By a lot. I’m not going to post my pace because for the fast runners that read this my fastest run is equivalent to their cool down pace. I’m not in their league, so I don’t measure my success by comparing myself to them, but rather to my own improvement and I was ecstatic.

On Sunday, Steve and I met another TriForMS bike team member and did a 40 mile loop in Fountain. I had visions of 50 miles, but was too fatigued from my command performances on Friday and Saturday to put in that extra 10. Molly started me off right with a chocolate covered strawberry and we had a great ride. Steve got a good ride in too as he rode ahead, rode back to meet us, rode ahead.

Snow Again???

Snow?? Again? My hopes for a sunny outdoor ride have been dashed and it’s another indoor spin. I watched “Spirit of the Marathon” to keep myself distracted from thinking about how little I enjoy spinning on my bike in the living room.

Long Run

Who put the lead in my shoes at mile 7? I had a 10 mile run today and the first 7 miles were bearable and the last 3 were the makings for an all out belly aching session. Fortunate for any of my running partners they were not with me today and didn’t have to endure an all out whine fest.

Running Partners

Some days it just doesn’t come together. This was a recovery week, so I had a 6 mile run planned. It was a bit chilly so I bundled up, got Tracker outfitted in his Halti collar (so he doesn’t drag me down the trail) and left the house. Tracker is great on the trail when he’s not on leash – he obeys voice commands, is well behaved and a great running partner. But lash that leash on him and he makes me a believer in animal euthanasia. As I stepped of the curb on to Wahsach he performed one of his most annoying habits: he goes from a run to a dead stop right in front of me. I run over him, trip and fall flat on my face in the middle of the street. I made every attempt to make a graceful recovery and get up in front of oncoming traffic, but I suspect that I made a great story for someone that morning. The run didn’t get any better, and after a mile I turned around, headed home, took a hot shower and went back to bed.

What happens when technology fails

My training schedule says today is a 10 mile run day; let it be so! I haven’t run one of my favorite trails in a while, so headed up to Woodmen road park and ride and ran north on Sante Fe Trail through the Air Force Academy. It was a day of one minor problem after another. I started off with a missing Garmin watch. For those of us that run and/or bike, doing a workout without your GPS device is like eating Oreos without milk – it just can’t happen. In desperation, I snuck into Steve’s gym bag and borrowed his Garmin. For those who don’t understand what a major sin this is, let me explain. Steve tracks every single workout. The miles, the minutes, the pace, the power output, the heart rate…. Over time he accumulates average pace per week/month/year. Now, by wearing his Garmin watch, I have totally destroyed his average pace once I upload the Garmin data because my average running pace is equal to Steve running with his shoes tied together. I opted to log my own data in my tool and delete my workout from his Garmin to save him the disgrace of having my workout show up in his data. Now that I think about it though, wouldn’t it have been fun to let it be and he would be looking at that particular workout and try to figure out what happened! Knowing Steve, he would have figured something was wrong with the software and deleted it because it messed up his average pace. So, with the technical difficulties addressed with the Garmin, I set off on my run. Shortly into the run, my ipod on my iphone started messing with me. It would play about 30 seconds of a song and go to the next song. Now, the ipod on my runs is as critical as the Garmin. If either the Garmin or ipod is close to dead battery, that is sufficient reason to delay the run. With only a mile down and 9 to go, I had a serious dilemma. Fortunately the genius’ at Apple and Pandora have given me an alternative and I can listen to Pandora while I’m running. Not as good as my customized running list, but enough to get me through the next 9 miles. Once I had my Garmin on, my tunes going, I motored along and it turned out to be a beautiful day and had a great run.

Tucson

March 27 – April 4th, 2010

Tucson! Spring! Sun and warmth, oh how I love thee. My fondness for Colorado Springs wanes this time of year and I yearn for time outside. We weren’t able to go to Tucson for Spring Break this year and after spending several days whining and complaining about it, Steve all but packed my bags for me and kicked me out the door. Road trip! Alone! I packed the van with my bike, sunscreen and a swimsuit and headed South. Had a great week with mom and my own personal triathlon camp.

I rode several times with the Cactus Cycling Club and had a great time. Really friendly people and some great rides. My favorite was from Amado to Arivaca. 50 miles total. Met some really great people and the return ride was a blast.

Totals for the week:

130 miles cycling; 6500 ft ascent

20 miles running; 1400 ft ascent

3000 yards swimming

Here is what training in Colorado in March looks like:

And a week later in Tucson:

Steve has the weekend off, so we did what any parents with self sufficient teenagers would do – we left town! Boulder is close enough to get to with a short drive and has a lot to offer outdoor athletes. We ran at Chautauqua Park which sits just below the Flatirons. The trails were covered in packed snow, but the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it was warm enough to run without looking like the Michelin Man. For those who live in climates where “cold” is temperatures below 60 degrees – the temps today were about 40 degrees. Anything above freezing on a sunny day is warm enough for me to run in! We had a great 2 hour run/hike in the hills and finished just as the clouds rolled in. We headed to our hotel and I soaked in a hot bath, did some yoga, and took a long nap. There is nothing like a hard exercise to take my mind off the stressful things in life!

No Opportunity Wasted

Life has moved to an even more frantic pace and if I am honest with myself, I have to admit I bring a good majority of it on myself. You see, I have this problem; I read about an opportunity or hear of something that interests me and I simply can’t say no. I have so totally bought into the no opportunity wasted, no time like the present, challenge yourself way of living that I have created my own chaos! I take those motivational speakers that encourage their listeners to get out and do something seriously and I sign up for EVERYTHING and I have to do it NOW. I need a motivational speaker that tells me “ you have to let some opportunities go! You can’t do them all – or at least you can’t do them all at once.” So, I am signed up for 3 triathlons this summer and the Bike MS, and I am totally having to hold back on registering for that meditation class. And wouldn’t it be cool to become a certified yoga instructor? And what about joining another running group? And I could do that bike ride because that ONE weekend this summer isn’t already filled. Gotta go: I have to go update my website, create a new FaceBook page for TriForMS, teach Connor to drive, help Dylan get a job….

More Indoor Training

Another snowy weekend in Colorado, which means another weekend indoor bound for training. Yesterday’s run was at the Y on the treadmill. I thought by watching TV on the handy little TV attached to the treadmill I could pass the time quickly, but the insanity of TV frustrated me so badly, I switched to music after 10 minutes. We don’t have TV at home, so we never watch it. When presented with a TV watching opportunity, I get my hopes up that I’ll be entertained by tuning in only to be disappointed every time I turn a TV on. I must have clicked through 40 channels only to find 80% of them trying to entice me to buy some product or another. The benefits of music while training get me energized and I get through my 90 minutes of running followed by some yoga. There is nothing like yoga to finish a workout!

Today’s training was another spin workout. Netflix delivery on Friday brought us Stomp the Yard, which was great to spin to. I was stomping on my bike until a loud “pop” sent me off my bike saddle with a scream. I was working so hard my back tire exploded. Perhaps I should have changed the tire when I noticed the bubble in the tire when I started my ride? I hate changing tires, and Steve was working so I opted to ignore it and take the chance. I won’t tell Steve I knew there was a bubble though. “I don’t know what happened! I was just riding along and it popped. Can you PLEASE change it for me? “

And Other Days...

And then there are days when I have my training workout to do and it’s all I can do to get through it, let alone perform well. Today was long bike day. The weather is still too cold to ride outside, so it’s another indoor spin workout. Riding on the trainer, in the living room, for anything more than about an hour bores the heck out of me. Today’s boredom distraction included watching part of a movie, using a small glass for water so I could get off the bike and refill it 5 times, reading my Toastmaster’s magazine, putting in a load of laundry, oops – forgot my sweat towel and had to get off and fetch that…, and finally crank up the ipod and blast the music into my head to get me pumped up to finish the ride. By combining actual riding with distraction techniques, I was able to actually ride 90 minutes.

Beautiful Run

There are days when I am outside doing my run, or hiking or walking and things just seem right with the universe. These are the days when I have beat down the negative thoughts and I have stopped listening to the self doubt. My thoughts tune in to what’s possible and all the reasons it can happen. Tracker and I went on one of my favorite runs today – Sante Fe Trail north through the Air Force Academy with a stop to enjoy the beauty of ice lake. It was a bit chilly running North (40 degrees with a breeze) but the sun was shining with just a few clouds to add some color to the beautiful blue sky. I had my itunes blasting in my ears as I sang out loud and ran. Singing out loud only presents a problem when someone faster than me (that includes about everyone else on the trail…) overtakes me and I’m singing so loud I can’t hear them approach. I’m saved from embarrassment only when they are wearing their headphones too and I hope their music is loud enough to drown out my singing.

After my 8 mile run, I went to Sunflower Market to pick up a few things and there was a woman doing foot reflexology. Not one to pass up any kind of massage, I got situated in her lounge chair and she proceeded to do what reflexologists do and I immediately started calculating in head how I could fit a weekly foot reflexology treatment into our current budget. My feet were sore from running and she made them feel like I hadn’t done my run. She also pointed out all the things that are out of balance in my body, and she nailed each one! She was explaining to me that there are reflexes in the feet that correspond to every part and organ of the body. Applying pressure to particular areas can point out imbalances in those areas and relieve tension and bring them back into balance. Sound all woo-woo? Well, she pointed out that my hormones are out of balance (and she hasn’t witnessed my wild swings!), my kidneys are depleted (yep, I always need to drink more water), and other things. If nothing else, the relaxation and taking care of my feet was a great way to recover from my run!

We don't rise to the level of our expectations...

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.” Archilochus, Greek Soldier, Poet, c. 650 BC

I love this quote, not only for training for an athletic event, but for anything I work for. It could be a speech that I want to deliver well, or a new yoga pose. I can want it, but it doesn’t happen unless I train for it and practice, and work to achieve it. It reminds me that I will only do as well as the effort and work I’m willing to put in to it to get the results I want.

I gave my 3rd speech at my Toastmaster’s meeting today. (If you are interested in improving your speaking skills and learning from some terrific speakers, join us! (www.pikespeaktoasmasters.com). My speech is titled “What is your Ironman” and the message of the speech was to inspire others to think about a really big goal they have, and challenge themselves to make a plan and then do it. I am a terribly nervous speaker and expended plenty of energy the week before the speech thinking of any excuse I could use to bow out of my speech. I exposed myself to anyone with swine flu, ate rotten foods to see if I could get food poisoning, and wore extra high heels in hopes of spraining my ankle. All to no avail, and I was healthy when I woke up on the morning of my speech. So, despite my fear of looking and sounding like a failure in front of an audience, I did it anyway. I have no idea what I said, because as soon as I start speaking, I go to a place where I detach from my body, go into auto pilot and can hear the words I’m speaking, but once I finish, I can’t remember what I just said. It’s like a black out from drinking without the fun. I know I forgot many of my profound points and my humorous stories and I unintentionally re-organized it as I went along, but I somehow made it to the end and made it back to my chair without assistance. So, why do I put myself through this?? That’s a topic for another day…. What I wanted to share today was what strategies I use to get through a fearful experience. I have been doing a lot of yoga lately and it’s cool how the things you learn in one part of your life flow into another part. I can’t stand in mountain pose at the front of the room and lay down for Shavasana when I finished, but when I sat in the room waiting for my turn and I felt like throwing up, and started hyperventilating, I remembered the breathing. I could hear my yoga teachers “just breathe. Deep cleansing breathes. Be present, focus on your breath” and that got me through the moments leading up to the point in time when I have to stand up and walk to the front of the room. With knees shaking, and hands trembling, I brought to mind the grounding techniques I’ve learned in yoga. Breathe, and feel my feet planted firmly on the floor. Stand tall, drop my shoulders, expand my chest and press my shoulder blades together. Oh, yeah, don’t hold my breath. Breathe again. Now, I’m in the front of the room and I began to talk. My hands are still shaking and I didn’t know what to do with them; my natural stance is to fold my arms in front of me or hold them in the prayer position. But remembering the strong mountain pose, I can let my arms hang naturally at my side as I get going. As the speech starts to flow, I can feel the flow of energy through my body as the tension releases from my body. I finish my speech and sit back in my chair and enjoy that great wash of relief when you work hard at something, feel the fear and do it anyway.

Fridays

I love Fridays. Fridays are the present of weekdays. I feel a little less rushed to get to work as Fridays are not as jammed packed with meetings. Fridays are for rising early again doing a swim workout and a run on the treadmill. The icing on the cake is a Friday morning 75 minute yoga class at the YMCA. The teacher has a great energy about her, and does a nice job educating us on proper technique to ensure we are safe yet getting the most out of the class. I leave the YMCA on Friday mornings calm and ready to finish out the work week and start the weekend. I wonder why yoga isn’t a required activity for all of us?

Winter Trail Running

Tracker and I hit the Cheyenne Mountain Trails today. While we may not have nice warm weather here all year, we have some of the most beautiful trail running around!

Is it coincidence?

I don’t want to claim victory yet (and Dylan reminds me it’s just a coincidence) but I haven’t had wheat in 2 days, and I feel better than I have in 2 years! Brain fog: gone. Energy: I almost forgot what it feels like to have this much energy! Enthusiasm: I’m ready to take on the world! If there is a connection between my health and wheat, it’s asta la vista to French bread, pasta, bagels and cinnamon rolls. I love you all, but I can’t believe how good I feel without you!

No Gluten??

I’m still looking for clues in the health puzzle. Since a low stress, relaxing 2 week vacation didn’t restore my vibrancy I decided to try a recommendation from a friend I saw in Tucson: cut out gluten. I’ve never had food allergies or sensitivities that I’ve been aware of, so I have my doubts. But I’m willing to experiment with any alternative to medications, so good bye gluten! No more bagels. Out goes the French bread. Pasta for dinner? No more. I hope I don’t die during this little experiment.

2010 Training Begins in Tucson

It’s the new year and that means it’s time to get focused on the tri training! August to November were cycling focused to prepare for the Tour de Tucson, and post Tour de Tucson, training was haphazard, incorporating more hiking and walking and whatever I felt like doing. Steve signed me up for the Boulder Tri series and I signed up for the Bike MS as soon as it opened, so some serious training needs to commence! I love being in Tucson in the winter because you can still run and bike outside. I hooked up with the Cactus Cycling Club and enjoyed one of their group rides. Had a couple great solo bike rides, including a couple rides through Saguaro National Park. Hiked/ran in Sabino Canyon and swam outdoors at the OTT YMCA.

New Year, New View

Good-bye 2009 – I am shedding you like a rattlesnake sheds his skin. It’s time to shed the ill fitting skin, and make room for new growth. 2010 is the year for new skin, new opportunities and change. I am thankful for the lessons I got to learn in 2009 but am ready for some easier homework in 2010. I am still not feeling great health wise; in fact, I am still battling the fatigue, exhaustion, brain fog, and general low energy and low enthusiasm. My big test was a 2 week holiday over Christmas and New Years. Connor and I took a road trip, first stopping at Kay and Richard’s for a relaxing couple of days. Then on to mom’s in Tucson where mom took care of me, I had no pressure, no obligations and time to spend doing whatever I wanted. Then on to dad and Julia’s for a visit before heading home. The test was if I didn’t get my groove back in this low stress, no demand environment, then the health issues aren’t work related, or stress related. The results: I felt terrible. No energy. No enthusiasm. Foggy brain. Wiped out.

I made some changes while on holiday that felt right and helped center me though. The first change was I committed to giving myself about an hour before bed to do yoga, meditation, breathing exercises and time to wind down and bring peace and balance to my mind and body. I downloaded some yoga and meditation podcasts (the iphone is the greatest toy in history!) and before my normal drop into bed, read 10 minutes and fall asleep routine, I isolated myself in my room and did my yoga and meditation. While I’d like to say I committed to and stuck to one hour, some nights it was 10 minutes, some nights it was 45 minutes. No matter how long though, it did bring a sense of the day ending, a sense of internal reflection and relaxation.

My dear friend Kay (you want stories about me? Ask Kay – she’s known me since we were in 7th grade) gave me a set of beautiful journals and a pen which inspired me to make the 2nd change. Each night when I finished yoga, I pulled out the journal and wrote 3 things that happened during the day that I was thankful for. This focused my thoughts on the gifts in my life and steered me away from my tendency to dwell on all that is wrong.