Goodbye 2010... hello 2011

2010 flew by!

Where did 2010 go? This was probably one of my most dynamic years lived thus far. I managed two Ironman finishes, strengthened relationships and listened to my body and took 3 months off of focused training.. probably more than my coach would have liked but it's what I felt I needed mentally and emotionally. Through all the ups and downs of the year, I'm thankful for the experiences and am especially thankful to end the year on a high note!

Some of the year's most memorable...

1. Hardest training day- triple brick for IM Canada prep..it felt harder than I thought it should.

2. Hardest race moment- IM St. George bike- second half of the second loop.. it really looked gloom!

3. Best moment at an IM- Seeing Mike on the run course.. he was racing too.

4. Funniest pain cave moment- Abbey calling coach a jerk for insinuating she was fat (he did not).

5. Unfinished business - finding a saddle on the tri bike that I can be friends with!

As I look to 2011, I am getting excited again to get focused and train. I'll be taking on Ironman #5... prior to do that will be Oceanside 70.3 and the Wildflower Long Course... same schedule as two years ago. I will have a new address, as well as, a changing job scope! Thank you 2010 for being a good one..

Welcome 2011..I think you're going to be great!! Happy New Year everyone!

Thanksgiving 2010

Hope everyone had a warm Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was one of my favorite Thanksgivings. I spent the morning having breakfast that was specially cooked.. then spent a few hours giving back before enjoying the rest of my day with special peoples! The home was warm.. the food was great... the company made me happy. I felt very thankful yesterday and I hope you guys did as well!

I spent some time thinking about my year and what I am most thankful for. My answer seems to be very similar every year yet very true.. I am thankful for life and all that it brings. Sometimes you go about your way the way you're used to or the way you think you're supposed to and something along the way changes your perspective and if you're lucky, for the better. I was lucky this year :-).

Congrats to my IM AZ friends!

I guess it can be cold & windy too at IM AZ!

It was rainy, cold and windy at IM AZ this year. The weather was so poor that you'd think I was racing since I am known to come with bad weather! Anyway, no in particular order, congrats to my friends that either toed and/or crossed the finish line (hope I didn't forget anyone):

Nicky Barber
Abbey Dykhouse
Bo Arlander
Erik Svans
Ritch Viola
Mimi Winsberg
John Dahlz
Helen Tsai
Sedonia Yoshida
Flick Joyce
and lastly
Mike Kyle

I am happy and proud of every one but I am most happy to see Mike Kyle, AG(50-54), cross the finish line as he had a helping hand in me crossing my first IM finish line at Louisville a couple of years ago. Bad hip and all.. blame it on training.. blame it on old age .. but he ran a good amount of miles with me doing whatever he could to help get me there that night. Seeing that he crossed the finish line after a DNS in 2008, a DNF in 2009, has brought back good memories of the Team and what the journey of IM was all about for me.

Over the years, the meaning of Ironman has evolved and changed (for me) and now has changed and revolved back again. At one point, my life revolved around Ironman. I guess now you can say as I've evolved, Ironman has to revolve around my life.

Gobble Gobble everyone!

to Northface or not to Northface

That is the question..

And I have a feeling that might be a question in my head for awhile.. maybe even until race day! Ha ha. And the North Face I am speaking of the is Northface Challenge 50K trail run. My coach says it will help keep me focused... except I am not sure that I am ready to get and be focused.. I know that when I am ready.. I will have to stay on the focus train until the end of June! My alpha female buddies are asking why I would want to do that as they don't see the benefit ... and I can see their point too. Mike seems to think that I can do it but he thinks I can do anything so kind of biased there. It's 7-8 weeks away.. I've ran an hour at the most.. my heart rate would make anyone's eyeballs go big...but I guess it comes down to what I want to do... which is sleep these days!

As of today.. I think I want to just be there and support Mike as he is going to do the event! If it changes tomorrow.. I will let you know!

Rest month...

Has come and gone..

I took the entire month of September off.. conversation with coach went something like this..

Coach, "You should take 2-3 weeks off post Canada."

Me, "I am taking the month of September off.. :-)!"

So September is over and here is October.. where did this year go? September has been difficult in many ways.. aches and pains lasted so much longer post IM. There would be times when my back would freeze up while sitting at work and oh.. major ouch! Last thing to go from Canada? My pinky toe nail.. good bye! I am once again reminded how much of a toll IM really takes on you.. mentally.. physically.. all of it! Maybe it's because I did two this year?

Which brings me to next year.. I have IM CdA on my schedule.. it will be a do- over from the year prior.. my reward for doing the goal time I have in mind?! If I achieve my goal time.. there will be a huge incentive (in my opinion) reward at the end. It's an idea I decided upon earlier this year.. I don't want to say what it is as I don't want to jinx it. I've jinxed too many things already this year so mum is the word. It's likely that CdA will probably be cold.. raining cats & dogs because that's what I seem to bring with me at races.. yes sometimes I believe my karma over powers the 2200 others that are out there ha ha! But maybe my luck will change next year.. doesn't hurt to hope! Some won't see my reward as an incentive but I do! I'll announce what it is on June 27th, 2011!

So.. I guess I better get my butt off the couch,,, dig up motivation from somewhere and start base training for 2011!

IM Canada 2010 Race Report

O' Canada..

I will start by saying this.. if you want to have good weather at your IM race.. don't sign up for the same one that I do! I've come to terms that every race I decide to do.. weather is just going to be crap!

Swim- 1:33:1 7 (PR'd by 20 minutes CDA) - wowsers.. how the heck did I swim a 1:33?! I know every one else had a fast swim as well by 10 minutes or so but I took 20 off!! Stoked! I started sorted of back of the pack just to the right side of the buoys. I waited with J.Eddy how about 30 seconds before diving on the swim. I knew there were 27 buoys I had to get through so that helped to know, for me anyway. My swim went pretty smoothly.. Tricia has been drilling in my head "right hand at 2 o'clock" and utilized Coach's method of looking ahead to get the full pull of my left arm stroke! Didn't really have any struggles despite having people around me throughout the swim (not used to that!) ..there were times when I was caught btwn aggressive guys but I sped up to get pass.. the clouds hid the sun so that helped tons as I can see point to point! I swum until I can scoop sand with my hand so limit the amount of walking in the water I had to do to get to the timing mat..jogged up timing mat.. looked at the clock.. sweet!!! Overall, I was more than happy with my swim time especially when coach hardly had me swimming between St. George and now.. my focus was on bike and run.

T1- 7:03 - tons of people in the tent.. i didn't get a volunteer helper :-(

Bike- 7:37:38 (PR by 2 minutes CDA) - My HR was in Z4 or Z4+ up until the right turn at the Shell Station at Oosoyoos. I tried to calm myself to get my HR down but it seemed like the only way my HR would go down is if I just stop and Coach said no stopping so I kept going. Bike was good up until the out and back portion where the winds kicked up headed back from the out and back. That didn't bring my spirited down though..I was still focused moving along... AND then the monsoon came with heavy big rain drops and wind gusts..and I thought to myself, "are you kidding me?! seriously?!?!" Monsoon lasted up Yellow Lake.. and beyond...temps dropped and it was starting to get mentally tough especially when I was feeling my right knee flare up. My back was locking up as well.. bummer but hey.. I swum a 1:33!! My HR dropped into Z2 when the strongest of wind gusts hit for a bit but was able to eventually get it back up into Z3. Got through the bike the best I could. The descends down Yellow Lake were awesome! I max'd out at 45 mph and at that point, I stopped looking at my speed because I didn't want to get scared and slow down. Got back into town with a massive head wind welcoming me back! I couldn't have possibly expect fair conditions, can I?

T2- 6:55 - I got helper this time but I have to admit.. the winds were blowing the tents back and forth. I was a bit hesitant to go out on the run!!

Run- 5:39:41 (PR by 25 minutes IM St. George) Got started on the run and just tried to stay in the moment and focus looking for that next mile marker. While I tried to stay focus, I was really thinking, "I hope I'm not doing permanent damage to my knee.. I hope I'm not doing permanent damage to my knee!" My focus was getting to the halfway point for my special needs.. I needed that tylenol in there! Mid-way through the run, upset stomach hit..went on pepsi and water.. tried the chicken broth but stomach didn't like that so back to pepsi and water. I made more potty stops than I would have liked with upset stomach on this run. At mile 24.5.. while every one was running towards the finish.. I was running towards the potty! Sucked!! The positive thing about this run though.. I stayed focus during the 2nd half of the marathon (where walking usually happens). I have to be happy about that!

Overall- 15:04:23 (PR by 1 hr and 5 minutes CDA 2009). Upset stomach cost me the sub 15 :-(. I PR'd but I would have liked to PR'd some more!!

2010 triathlon season ends for me here! It was an action packed year starting with Oceanside in March, IM St. George in May and now IM Canada. I was doubtful that I can do two IM's.. I barely finished my 1st one back in 2008 (not personally coached) but my coach said I could do it so I went with it!

Between St. George and Canada, which one do I like better? I'd come back to both but I have to say that St. George holds a special place. And I can sum up the reason with this, at the event merchandise tent, Ironman Queen, Paula Newby Frasier asked my friend Raf if he did St. George as he was wearing his finisher shirt. He said, "Yes." Paula then said, "I'm impressed.. that's the real Ironman!" Not to take away from other Ironman races or it's difficulty level but I feel like SG makes you gut it out like no other!

Looking to 2011- IM CdA! That's right, just 1 for me next year!

IM Coeur d'Alene 2010- A different view

Going to IM Coeur d'Alene 2010 as a sherpa, spectator, bike marshal...

Wow, where do I begin? Once I set foot in CdA, Idaho, it didn't seem real that a year ago, I was there racing! This year, I wasn't racing but I sure ate like I was going to! Lots of calories were consumed.. junk food as well! Mike, Nicky, Coach, Nicky's Mum, Mark, Nicola and myself stayed at a house that was 3 miles away from the race area in Fernan Lake... needless to say it was an entertaining household!

Aside from the role of sherpa, I was also able to volunteer as a bike marshal. Tricia got me in touch with Jimmy, the head referee, and it was an experience that I was glad to have had! I met up in the race marshal area a little after 6am.. my motorbike guy and I were scheduled to set out at 8:30am. They send a motor bike out after about every 100 or so AGers start the bike course. Being on the motor bike gave me a totally different perspective on IM racing. My duty was to give out penalties anytime I saw fit. I gave out a total of 6. One for going over the center yellow line, one for passing on the right and the rest for drafting. The ones who received drafting penalties accepted it with no contest. The guy who went over the yellow line was trying to plead his case which even included the line, "you ruined my race!" No buddy, I didn't ruin your race! The guy who I gave a penalty to for passing on the right, "how are you supposed to pass?" ON THE LEFT!! Seriously?? There were a bunch of other close calls but for the most part, I was hoping that if my motorbike guy and I rode up next to a suspicious bunch.. that they'd spread themselves out which for the most part they did. I learned that refs never really want to give penalties out but when cheating or violation of the rules are blatantly in front of them.. gotta do it!

On to my favorite part of the day... seeing Mike finish his 1st Ironman!! He had 2 flats and a crash when a volunteer called a truck out to traffic not seeing that Mike was coming through. Mike avoided the truck but into the ditch instead. Like Mike, he didn't panic, got himself together and finished his 1st IM in 11:20:19.

Next morning... we signed up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2011!

Ability To Forget Pain!

Ability to forget pain = multiple Ironman finishes!

I log onto Ironman.com and found a great article that Kevin Mackinnon wrote titled "Ironmanlife: Gotta Love Utah." At first, I am thinking, you've got to be out of your mind! And then I read the article and thought... wow it was a very beautiful course... and then I thought... I really didn't train for Utah or at least not consistently. I got back from Australia in December. Started in January but then was sick in February which made me miss a key block of training in Tucson and then I displaced a rib which kept me from swimming or training hard for a bit. All those thoughts led me to thinking... "hm.. maybe I do see another IM St. George for me in the future...?!" Not next year but maybe in the future...

Article linked is here: Ironmanlife: Gotta Love Utah and my favorite paragraph is pasted below:

Even though they were freezing in the far-below-normal water temperatures at Sand Hollow State Park, I defy any of the athletes who competed at Ford Ironman St. George to try and say that it wasn’t a beautiful spot to start their day. Out on the bike course the scenery continued to astound – again and again you can’t help but be bowled over by the beautiful views. The run was equally as scenic, but by then pretty much everyone in the race was simply hanging on for dear life – as beautiful as the course is, it’s also a tough one. While there are possibly harder Ironman bike courses out there, there isn’t another race in the world that has that hard a bike followed by that hard a run.

Training for IM Canada is starting up.....

IM Utah 2010- race report

Ironman St. George, Utah.... you did not disappoint in the pain factor!

Pre-race- Coach comes back from having ridden one loop of the bike course and says, "well.. there will be no racing tomorrow.. it's going to be about survival!"

Race morning- Got up at 3:15am, had breakfast starting at 3:45am, headed down for the buses to take us to T1 at 4:30am and got to the start at around 5:15am for the 7am start!

Swim- 1:57:11- Oh the swim was cold!!! They kept saying it was 59F but it was not 59F. It was maybe 56F and more realistically 54F... it was later confirmed to be more like the latter. The swim here was tough- cold, very tough to sight as the swim caps were the same color as the buoys- wtf?! The helicopters did not makes things easier creating swells in the water but what are you going to do other than just keep swimming! Felt like the longest swim ever!!

T1- 8:59- fingers were frozen and so hard a tough time getting stuff off and on... thank goodness for the volunteers- all I had to do was tell them what i needed from the bag.

Bike- 8:16:56 - I am still in awe of my bike time. Seriously?! 8+ hours?! Bike was tough especially during the 2nd loop of the course when I really wanted to throw in the towel and call it a day!! The winds picked up and my body just didn't want my nutrition bottles anymore. The bike course here does not disappoint in to intimidation factor or the difficulty factor. At one point, I didn't think I was going to make the bike cut off and I think a part of me didn't want to because of what was going to come after that, the dreaded hike of a run! But towards the end of the ride, with about 3 miles to go, I looked at my bike computer and thoughts, "crap.. I am going to make the bike cut off. F*ck!" Now I am going to have to give that run a go!

T2- 5:56 crap crap crap I made the bike cut off.

Run- 6:04:18 - I PR'd my marathon by 17 minutes- go figure! The run profile on this course would make anyone want to puke! There were no flat sections, either up or down and the signs on the rode telling you that this hill is an 8% grade does not really help! I gave myself time goals for the first half of the run which I made and I was actually running "pretty well" during the 1st loop and then the second loop came and walking was the only thing my body wanted to do... I even had to make it run the downhills as all it wanted to do was lay down and curl up!

16:33:20 and I am giving Mike Reilly a high five!

Overall race thoughts- Holy sh*t of a course- never again in Utah! I've never seen so many walk the bike up the hills and I've never seen to many people walk the run!!

This course does a lot to screw with you! Aside from the swim caps being the same color as the buoys, the "screaming" downhill they claim to have at the end isn't really screaming because there's a headwind which essentially turns any downhill into a flat which means.. pedal pedal pedal. The downhill run at the end... well if every part of your body hurts towards the end.. it's almost more painful to go downhill than it is to go up!!

I feel like there's Ironman and then there's Ironman St. George. This course made me think that I couldn't do it and then I did it-- that was the very feeling I felt crossing the finish line. Having my finish time start with a 16 is something I could have done with out but I survived and that become the goal for the day!

2300 people signed up. 2100 registered for their packets. Just under 2000 decided to show up on race morning and 1600 finished which makes this the 2nd highest DNF rate in the history of Ironman!

Race course described by folks at Ironmanlive.com-

Can you say ... tough course?

A drive through the course today was an eye-opening experience - this is going to be a tough course! Starting at about 3,000 feet at the swim in Sand Hollow Reservoir (which, by the way, is rather cold - below 60 degrees F, last we heard), the course eventually reaches an altitude of just under 4,700 feet.

The course features a lot of long, steady climbs, along with a few really steep ones, too. At one point there's a steady stretch that features a grade that varies between 13 and 17 percent. And, just to add to the fun, the athletes get to do all of that climbing twice.

There are a few upsides to this challenging course: first, the athletes get to enjoy a simply spectacular course that offers some of the most incredible vistas you'll find in triathlon; then there's the payback after all the all that climbing which ends in a screaming descent back into town.

If the bike is tough, the run course here in St. George is every bit as much of a challenge. The long, steady climb to the turnaround features an eight percent grade at one point - and that's not for just a few seconds. No less a runner than Lisa Bentley took more than three minutes to get up that part of the climb when she was checking out the course the other day.

Like the ride, though, there's a definite upside to all this - both the incredible beauty of the countryside here, and all the downhill parts of this course, too.

So, as tough as this course might be, it's also likely to be lots of fun. Besides, it's an Ironman - it's not supposed to be easy.

IM Utah 2010- Day 3

Day 3...the day before race day!

After a good night's sleep... breakfast... did a little 15 minute bike followed by a 10 minute jog... packed my T1 and T2 bags and off to bike drop off I went! Boy was it windy at T1... hope it's not like that at all tomorrow..

Oooh forgot to mention.. last night was also the Athlete Meeting. Mike Reilly was throwing out stats and splits.. largest field is M40-44 at 19% ... one of the larger women fields in IM at 22%... which means for every woman, there is a 40-44 man.

Last night was the athlete meeting and today was our coach's meeting. Coach rode the bike course in the morning... came back and said.. "well... tomorrow is not about racing.. tomorrow is about survival.. there will be no racing until the 2nd loop of the bike course!" No exaggeration... it's THAT windy here especially in the valley! Heart rate 150-160 are going to be my magic numbers.. 155 is the sweet spot for the day tomorrow and after what happened at IM CDA last June, I have a spare heart rate monitor in my T1 bag!

Had an early dinner here with the gang at 4:30pm.. and another little dinner about three hours later but not before I received a care package from Mike~ chocolate covered strawberries and happy face sugar cookies ~ sweetness!

Until tomorrow folks! Wish me luck!

IM Utah 2010- Day 2

Day 2-

Woke up... ate breakfast... drove out to the swim start/ T1 which is about 20 miles away from the finish/ T2... did an easy 25 minute test swim. Water was cold.. colder than I expected... definitely not in the 60's... more in the 50's.. definite ice cream headache worthy!

Came back..went back to the expo to get body marked. I am now temporary tattoo'd #176 on both arms and 32 on the left calve..saw my friend Clemens at the expo who made it from Germany despite the volcanic ashes. Then came home... 1 hr bike riding the run course ... a 20 minute run ... and then back to the house to relax.

Not much else today.. tomorrow is gear check in day!

IM Utah 2010- Day 1

Destination: SFO -> SGU

I left SFO this morning at 6:08am to Salt Lake City connecting to St. George, Utah via little propeller plane. Two more minutes in that thing and I would have puked for sure!

Landed.. waited for my bag at baggage claim... met a new friend name Paul at baggage claim. Paul and I decided to share a cab to downtown. We grabbed our grabs that were dropped off by hand on the baggage slide and walked outside thinking there would be a few cabs waiting. Nope, that the case. Called all the airport extensions for cabs.. no answer. Called from my cell phone.. bingo! Cab driver asked me if I was one of those crazy people that swim 2.4, bike 112 and run 26.2. He couldn't grasped the idea that there could be THAT many crazies in one vicinity! Oh St. George, you just wait! Got to our IM home... sweetness!!

Waited for Ariane here at the Mansion... went to check in.. Bib # 176. Went to Albertson's thinking we can get deli sandwiches.. wrong.. we picked up a roll.. was handed some turkey meat and a packet of mustard to make our own sandwich... weird! Drove bike course shortly after.

BIke course thoughts... this isn't too bad. The course profile on paper looks big and steep but driving it, it's all gradual but if it was windy like today, holy mother of uh oh will occur!! Today, we saw tumbleweeds blowing across the roads along with cute little and big cows crossing the road.

Tomorrow... a little swim.. a little bike and a little run. Hydrate hydrate hydrate and drive the run course before packing the bags!

Stay tuned..

IM Oceanside 70.3- 2010 Race Report

What a relief!

Going into the race, I didn't feel quite ready for a 70.3 distance. I hadn't been training consistently this year due to illness or the most recent rib displacement..was feeling very doubtful due to lack of consistency. Spoke to coach about maybe not doing Oceanside this year and he looked at me as if I was crazy to think such a thing. According to him, I should still go and give it a try.. at the very least I would learn something... even if it was extra level of pain. Anyway, race morning approaches and here it goes...

Upon arrival, my priority was finding out what the water temperature was-- 59F-- sweet! Anything above 56F is good enough for me!

Swim- 56:25 - officially my slowest swim time for a half- i know your eyes are bleeding- ouch! (51:04 last year). swim was a bit rough once the guys behind me caught me and on the way back was probably not swimming in a straight line.. AND not consistently swimming as of late due to rib may have had an overall effect? AND to the guy who kicked me on the right side of my goggles with your breaststroke kick-- come on buddy!! Waters were too rough to be breast-stroking it!

T1- 5:34 (7:38 last year) - took 2 minutes off my T1 :-)

Bike- 3:32:14 (3:31:15 last year) Oh the bike was windy!! Windy! I had real trouble getting my heart rate into z3. I spent most of my time in mid z2++ bordering into z3. I had a tough time getting my heart rate into race zone even on the climbs but I didn't force it.. just went with it and worked with what I could.

Wind was unexpected compared to last year but just put my head down and got through the mid section - Camp Pendleton- in the shortest time I could. I did have enough in me to speed up on the last section and into T2.

T2- 3:13 (4:07 last year)

Run- 2:24:30 (2:23:23 last year)- confession this includes 3 potty pee stops!! I tried to run and pee but couldn't do it. Run felt TOUGH for me but my mantra was "the fastest way home is to run" and that's what I kept repeating to myself especially during the second loop when knee/hip joints were starting to sore.My neck for some reason was really kicking in with soreness.. maybe because I felt the need to keep my back straight during the entirety of the run due to rib? On the flip side, may have helped with my run posture!

Overall- Mixed feelings. I am not thrilled with my time on the other hand I know I haven't been training as consistently. So mixed feelings.. I know I have better in me but just not yesterday...onward to IM St. George! According to my coach, I am going to give that a go as well!

1st race of the season!

It's here already.. Oceanside 70.3!

Last year, this was my favorite race. I hope it's equally as exciting for me this coming time! I am not sure how it's going to go with my back not having healed yet but I'll do my best.. give it go and see what comes of it! My top wish for Oceanside... please let the water be warm! And by warm, I am thinking 58F or above! Beyond that, I hope for sunshine and little wind.. don't we all?!

So more details about my injured back. Weak back muscles + stronger shoulder muscles as I started to pick it up in swimming + poor posture at work from sitting in front of a computer all day long = displaced rib. Displaced rib = inflamed T7 vertebrae. I can still swim, bike and run but swimming causes slight pain... post swimming causes an increased feeling in the pain... biking is fine unless if I have to take deep breathes.. usually happens when coach puts the hammer down in the pain cave and painless during the run except post run.. I usually REALLY feel it especially if run includes intervals.. needless to say.. I've been keeping my run workouts mostly steady these days.

Anyway, best of luck to those of you heading down there! See ya out on the course!!

How does one displace a rib?

No idea but that's what I did.. apparently...

So the past week, I’ve been feeling this BIG knot in my back muscle. It never went away like I thought it would and it bugged me to the point where breathing while cycling was tough which made for the 4+ hours that I was out there on Saturday a bit difficult. It was a beautiful day nonetheless so the weather didn’t make it seem too bad and plus I had the company of Raf and Mary which made time pass by that much more pleasantly. I had my long awaited massage appointment with my magician of a masseuse, P.Whiting, on Sunday and the first thing I told him about was my back muscle. I was looking forward to him using his magic hands to make it go away. I came away learning that I actually displaced one of my ribs!! Go figure?! I’ve never done that before hence the pain I was feeling was foreign to me but being like most other athletes in training.. it much be a sore muscle!

Lesson for the week- time to see my masseuse more regularly- hopefully every other week and if I can fit in an ice bath beforehand.. all the better! Getting beat up on the table this past Sunday wasn’t very enjoyable- progressive but painful!! I was actually gripping onto the sheets underneath the massage table .. more frequent visits should mean less gripping!!

Cheers!

Oceanside Countdown...

3 weeks an a few days..

Just enjoyed a long weekend getaway to Puerto Vallarta! I highly recommend it!!

Photo: Los Yelapa, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Anyway, as I was saying.. 3 weeks and some... Oceanside 70.3 will be here! I started my season last year with Oceanside and absolutely loved the race. I was very close to not starting the race last year because of an open water scare I had the week prior at a training weekend (allergic reaction to something that was in the lake water). I remember getting to the start line and thinking.. "i can't do this!" And then I thought, "Sh*t my coach is here.. I have to do this!" I laugh about that now but I should probably get in open water before my race just to get acclimated to the water temps!

Training lately has been getting better and better. My body has forgotten how to swim but my cycling and running is beginning to come around. The biggest difference I am currently feeling is in my runs. Last year, I was barely able to hit my z3 heart rate zone during my run sessions. Lately, it's been pretty attainable! Doing them on a treadmill helps me tremendously! Too bad I didn't discover this last season but better late than never!

I've been feeling better with my cycling but this morning's pain cave session would not support that! Coach gave us 6 x 5' at about 125% of our T1 effort- OUCH!! I was barely able to hold on, probably from my run efforts lately. Anyway, the funny thing about class this morning, after the 5th interval, I was excused to go pay the meters while others still kept on. I never got off my bike so quickly- don't have to tell me twice- my quads would not fire- painful! Odd thing is that my run off the bike felt pretty strong- I'll take it!!

I heard a funny quote today from my friend Julia, "If your relationship still works, you could train harder." This made me laugh. Lucky for me.. I have a partner that drags me out the door to do my training and he even does them with.. even though I know it's painfully slow for him sometimes!

So bike is coming around.. run is feeling pretty good.. now waiting for my swim to make it's appearance!

AIMP Tucson Camp media!!

As promised...

Finally had the chance to to sort through the 300 photos I took at Tucson Camp! Enjoy :-)

Video of photos here-



Video of ride up Mt. Lemmon here-



On MY training front, things feel like they may come around! Had a great ride on Saturday with Raf and Mike that included a climb up Stinson Beach. I asked Mike, "How long is the climb?" Mike. "Oh.. 20 minutes." Halfway through the climb.. I asked, "20 minutes for you or for me?" Mike, "Oh.. for me..." Well 38 minutes later... we were descending but it was nice to get a good climb in my legs having missed camp and all!! Now is only my swimming will come around!! If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears, until then...

What Happens in February?!

Tucson, Arizona for AIMP!

Tucson is the site for the annual AIMP training camp held by coach for his athletes.. also fondly known as... fat camp! Tricia and I flew out Thursday and came back Tuesday 1st thing in the morning. We landed in Tucson, I texted Coach for him to come get us, he pulls up in a Maxima sudan as if he was driving his truck and off to dinner we went after a quick stop at our hotel.

Camp for me was supposed to be a solid block of training to really jump start my training for the 2010 season. Well, my immune system had different plans for that! I started to get a tickle in my throat on Wednesday and by Friday, it was full on sore. I didn't swim at all, didn't run and did minimal cycling per Coach. Although, on Monday, he wanted me to attempt Mt. Lemmon and I was planning on it but morning came and I acquired the cough of death. Lemmon would have to wait another year.

Having missed this solid training block (my 20 hour training week turned into 7), I became a bit nervous for my two upcoming races during this first half of the year. I have Oceanside in 4 weeks and IM Utah to follow after that. My training thus far for this year has been less than ideal because I haven't been able to get myself 100% health wise.I thought a possibility would be to just scratch those two and focus on IM Canada but leave it to Coach to say.. no no.. you're racing.. both of them! He said that I am much more fit than this time last year and that fitness will come back quicker than I thought.. that I'd be surprised. I just have to get myself healthy and stay there! So, that's the plan!

Stay tuned!! Photos from camp coming soon. I may have been down and out in terms of training but my inner photog couldn't stay away!