I cheated on triathlon today...

For my other love.. photography!

It's Thursday night and I get an email from Augie telling me that he received a last minute cancellation to a class that I've been wanting to get in- SCORE! He's next class would have been in January and that'll be during my prime training for IM St. George so was really hoping to get into today's class! Photo class was 7 hours long... learned all types of new settings on my Dslr... hours of aperture talk, shutter speed, f-stops, sunlight, open shade, good stuff! All that I learned today should come very handy for my trip to Kona during IM Worlds week and of course during my trip to Aussie land!

Two photos I took of my partner Jenny during our on-site session class today-

Other happenings during my week... word has it that Monique is well on her way to recovery from her accident which is great to hear! She even began twittering again :-). On Tuesday, Coach gave s a 52 minute interval in the pain cave. Followed it up on Thursday with more @ss kicking!

Photo: pain cave.. Steve Fried made these shirts for coach's athletes. Front: Question (h)authority

Photo- back: NOT!
Went to watch some friends race at the Santa Cruz Triathlon last weekend! Below- Dana and I:

Below- my favorite photo of the bunch that I took:

Workout summary-

Swim- 1 hour and 37 minutes

Bike- 6 hours and 25 minutes

Run- 0 hours and 0 minutes

Strength- 2 hours and 0 minutes

Total workout- 10 hours and 2 minutes

It's tough...

Training with a heavy heart and a heavy mind...

But not nearly as tough as an athlete who is surviving being hit by a mini- van while training on her bike. It was Thursday about 5:40am when Bo tells Nicky and I that Mo had been hit by a car while riding her bike. As we learned more details of the accident and Mo's injuries, devastation, shock and heart break rises. Here is an article the Marin newspaper wrote on the accident-

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_13361629?source=rss

There's isn't too much else I want to say about this as it's been tough just accepting it. And for it to be tough for me to except it, I can't imagine how her family and close friends are dealing with it. I wish them all the strength they will need to stay positive in this situation. More importantly, I wish Mo all the strength and the positive energy she needs to get back to the life that she wants-- whatever that may be!

Mo also has support page on Facebook. If you get a chance, please log on and send her some love and support! It's going to be a long road to recovery but I think knowing she has the support from friends & strangers will help immensely!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monique-Petrov/163668823942?ref=ts

I would like to end this week's blog with this: cars PLEASE be careful in areas where you know cyclists are training. Be careful around cyclists in general. Yes, I know, we don't always stop when we're supposed to all the time but please know that 2 wheels are much more vulnerable than 4. If a cyclists is taking a lane to descend, please be patient and just stay behind leaving much room until the hill flattens out. We take the entire lane for safety reasons! If there is sun glare while you're driving, slow at an intersection even if you don't have a stop sign to tell you to, really, you're only giving up a few seconds of your time to make sure it is safe!

Workout Summary-

Swim- 0 hours and 50 minutes

Bike- 5 hours and 20 minutes

Run- 0 hours and 15 minutes

Strength- 1 hour and 0 minutes

Total workout- 7 hours and 25 minutes

Nautica Malibu Triathlon!

Lessons of the weekend ...

Conquer our mental demons.. a life without gratitude is a sad one... the things i think about during a race!

Pre- race thoughts- I like the thought of Olympic Distance because it's short but not a fan of the intensity!

Breakfast- the usual- almond butter sandwich, 250 cal bottle of infinit nutrition, 1 gel 1.5 hours prior and then another gel 30 min prior to start and a bottle of water in between the gels.

Swim- 43:21-oh boy! those ocean wave breaks! apparently my timing was off and i got caught in one of the waves even though i tried to swim down when i saw wave coming! got swallowed up and spit back out by the big wave. when the wave was done with me, life guard pulled me up and pushed me back out after i nodded to his, "are you ok?" once i got out of the breaks and into the calmer waters, i was fine to swim but it wasn't easy to sight during this point to point swim. i got through it but i wasn't happy with my time..

T1- 4:23

Bike- 1:24:41 the only good thing about my slow swim is that i passed a good amt. of ppl on the bike! pretty uneventful bike course but pretty. little wind out but kept focused and pushing as hard as my legs would let me!

nutrition- 1.5 bottles of Infinit.

T2- 3:04 had to put my socks on..

Run- 1:04:47 really wanted to go under an hour here but my legs would not muscle through! Had one potty stop here- i hydrated well- what can i say :-0...

nutrition- gel flask- 3 gels.

Total- 3:20:17

Overall- 746/1258

Women- 172/410

AG- 48/110

Overall race thoughts- I didn't have the time that I thought I would have with the swim and the run but I had a good time muscling through the race as it helped me deal with many different mental thoughts that were going through my head. Stuff like.. do i really want to finish this race? do i really want to do this race? it's so short? it's not an ironman? does it matter? and my answer is yes.. of course it all matters..it's still a race i set out to do! gotta love those mental demons! The most entertaining part of the race however was watching all the waves before us start the swim! Mel and I were standing there watching and laughing in fear-- those were big strong waves fighting athletes trying to get through the ocean breaks! Good times.. I might be back next year :-)!

Thanks to my friend Minnie who invited us to stay in her beautiful beach house in Marina Del Ray! Photos from race to come next week :-)

Fastest $603 I've ever spent!

It was Monday afternoon...

I refreshed the page on the Ironman Canada website and there it was- the icon to click on for a slot to race in the the highly sought after Ironman Canada! Heart rate is rising as I am filling in all the questions they require of you and while doing so, I am texting my friends telling them that registration was open since IMC was quite quiet about it this year. Bing! Confirmation-- set for Ironman Canada 2010!

Shortly after, I sent coach an email, "Ironman Canada slot Secured! Looks like it'll be a double next year with IM St. George & IM Canada.. hope it's a good idea... (insert coach reassurance here)!" He responded, "Yes!" So there it is, I am set to take on two Ironman distances next year! Key to next year will be to keep myself injury free (thanks to my massause, sports chiro & ice baths)! A bunch of others signed up for Canada so it should be a great time up in Penticton!

Highlight workout of the week took place on Saturday. I drove over to Mill Valley to meet my friend Jennie Eddy (who also secured Canada slot) for a 3 hour ride and a 20 minute transition run. We set out early enough that the roads weren't too crowded yet during this holiday weekend. Afterwards, brunch at the Dipsea and their yummy biscuits! 

This Friday, I will be heading down to Malibu for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. I am signed up to do the Olympic and Kara is set to do both the Olympic and the Sprint, I haven't look at the celebrity start list yet but I hope it's a good one. We're staying at my friend Minnie's beach house in Marina Del Ray so should be an awesome weekend! Before you know it, it'll be time to leave for Kona and then after that my trip to Australia! Soaking it all up so I will be mentally ready to focus on my Ironman goals next year!

Workout Summary-

Swim- 0 hours and 56 minutes

Bike- 5 hours and 22 minutes

Run- 2 hours and 35 minutes

Total workout- 8 hours and 53 minutes