plan b and lots of random thoughts

guess where i'm not at? i'm not in Tennessee! why you ask? well, the answer is not that simple but i'll do my best to explain my logic.

here's the lowdown...60-75% chance of rain for the 3 state 3 mountain challenge. for those who didn't take Earth Science in school, 60-75% doesn't mean a 60-75% chance that it will rain. it means that 60-75% of the area WILL get rain. i'm not about to drive 10 hours to maybe not be able to participate in this ride. i know some cyclists don't care about riding in the rain, but this cyclist does and apparently, so did the rest of the group we were going with. i might think differently if this were, oh say, an ironman race but it isn't a race and it isn't worth risking injury on the slick roads and with fast mountain decents. also, i would be in the worst mood if i drove all that way to then have to turn around and drive another 10 hours back because of the weather. the reality is that staying home equals way more cycling miles than having made the trip to TN anyway and more time in the saddle really makes me a happy camper. all was not lost except for the entry fee which compared to most race entries was peanuts. so plan b it is - a 100 mile ride in the hills, a no rain guarantee, with my pals who also decided not to risk the trip. even better, tomorrow's century will put me at 304 cycling miles for the week...dang! i love it!

i thought today would be a good day to share some random thoughts with you, that have been swirling around my head lately.

~ i think they main guy who sings on credit report dot com is really cute. i think it's his hair.

~ i haven't worn real "running" shorts in years because of my biking tan lines but decided this week, out of the blue, that i needed real running shorts again so i bought some very nice one's at Target. they rock! and they  cost less than half the price of all the popular name brands. take that Nike!'

~ sometimes when i'm bored i look through the biking section of craigs list and get a good laugh. it's a shame the way people spell basic words incorrectly, especially when the brand name of whatever item they are selling, is right in front of their face. for example: For sale - Litespeed Altimate...last time i checked, Litespeed sold an model called the Ultimate, not the Altimate. or how about a Rare Exotec bike...instead of exotic. sounds like they are trying to sell a reptile and not a bike. how about 2 bikes for sale, 1 rode bike, instead of road bike and 1 triathalon bike instead of triathlon. don't you love when people throw an extra vowel in triathlon?

~ this next craigs list listing deserves a space all of its own. Cervelo P3C, brand new, rider/owner put about 50 miles on it, novice rider - couldn't get comfortable in the tri/aero position. bike has Zipp 404/808, purchased for $8500. ok, what the hell is a novice buying a bike like this for? either you are an idiot with more money than brains or you are a poser with more money than brains. don't get me started on this subject! and by the way, 50 miles or 1 mile on the bike means it's no longer "brand new."

~ and then there's the guy who wants to let you know that the heat is comming - get a motor and you won't care. he's selling motors you can somehow rig on your bike to make it gas operated.

~ i sure wish all of the supplement companies that make gel based nutrition like gu, powergel, clif shots, etc, would redesign their packaging with rounded edges instead of the razor sharp, pointy edges that cut into my back thru my tri top.

~ i made a big mistake this week and swam around 2:30pm, when the sun was at its worst. even bigger mistake, i didn't put sunscreen on my face. even though my face is down in the water, the reflection of the sun on the bottom of the pool did a number on me. this will never happen again. i now have this as my weapon:

ok, i think that's all i've got for now. i'll report back in tomorrow with a century ride report from tennessee florida.  much love and peace out!

wonderful wednesday

yesterday was my last day at work for the week, so now i'm officially on vacation until monday. i had planned to wake up at my usual wake up time of 4:15 am but for some reason, i turned the alarm off (didn't even bother hitting snooze) and just closed my eyes for a minute. when i opened my eyes again, that minute had somehow turned into 45 minutes. now i'm looking at the clock with eyes wide open and it reads 5:00 am and i'm mad at myself. my plan to run went down the drain so i improvised and got in all of my weight training, abs and hundred push up challenge done, so all was not lost. the j-man and i had planned on riding when he got home BUT he did not get home until much later due to some last minute stuff he needed to get done at work before his official vacation time began. we did get our very windy ride in but the swim i had planned on doing after our ride did not happen. we got done a lot later than i had projected earlier in the day and knew i wouldn't have had enough time to get a decent workout in before closing time so i did a 4 mile run right off the bike.

today was a really good day. once again, i set the alarm to wake up. ok, this time it wasn't set for 4:15am but more like 5:15am. however, this time, instead of turning it off, i decided to hit snooze over and over again until it was 6:30am. i guess you could say that i slept in. so i had a little coffee and headed out for a quick run,

then came back and quickly gobbled down a half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before heading out on the bike with the j-man. (fyi: i only use natural peanut butter and all fruit as "jelly" and only use whole wheat bread.) we did our criterium in the hood ride and ended up with a solid 35.5 mile ride. the first 8 miles felt really hard to me and i think it was because of the brick i did so late the day before. i couldn't wait to finally get to the pool and give these leg muscles a much needed break. i got to the pool around 2:30 pm and got in a good 3100 meters. i had the whole pool to myself for a while, which was kind of nice. as soon as i got home, the j-man put me to work. like i haven't done enough already today. we washed and waxed my car. these are the days i wish i drove a mini cooper but no, i drive an suv and it isn't a small one either. note to self: next car will be just that, a car...not a truck, not an suv. finally by 7 pm, everything was done and i am, dare i say, a little tired. i really need to start packing for our little excursion but that can wait until tomorrow. nothing like last minute packing.

i'm a bit behind on my blog commenting but have been reading everyone's race reports and every day happenings whenever i get some free time here and there. you all keep me very motivated and entertained all at the same time. with that, i'll leave you with a quote i came across that i think is pretty funny...

"Swim like you're gonna drown, Ride like you stole it and Run like they are chasing you."

much love and peace out!

very good training week & misc. stuff

this week's numbers were good all the way around. the swimming, the cycling and the running just fell right into place. nothing was sore (my left piriformis is behaving very nicely thanks to lots of stretching out) except for my wrist. an old cycling injury to my right wrist decided it wasn't having anything to do with pushups after monday's workout so i decided to let it rest. i'll have to repeat week 5 of the hundred pushup challenge this week. the first test of the season is coming up may 15th. i'm doing the olympic distance florida international triathlon at siesta key. i'm very happy with my swimming the last couple of weeks and can tell a difference that the extra time i'm putting into it is going to pay off. here are my totals for the week:

ran:
total time: 4:00:00
total distance: 30.5 mi.

biked:
total time: 12:32:00
total distance: 251.75 mi.

swam:
total time: 2:46:00
total distance: 7100 m.

hundred pushup challenge/weights x 1 (stupid wrist)

coming up this weekend is the 3 state - 3 mountain challenge. it starts in tennessee, rolls thru alabama and then georgia and as the name implies, you climb 3 mountains. here is the elevation chart:

looks like fun, huh? this is why we've been busting out butt in the hills the last few months. i'm looking forward to it very much. keeping fingers crossed for good weather and get a load of this, every participant is eligible to win this frameset:

an Archon C-series frameset, compliments of Litespeed!!

so keep your fingers crossed for me. i would love to win that frame and have my wonderful master bike builder/domestique/love of my life build it up for me  us.

now for the misc. stuff:
~congrats to Chloe at Chloe is running with a bottle of wine and Kate at Going the distance who participated in the St. Anthony's Triathlon today. good job ladies! can't wait to read all about it on your blogs.

~Tonia over at Racing with Babes is doing a Tarma Designs giveaway. i have a Tarma necklace and it is way cool so make sure you visit her blog to find out how to get in on that.

~congrats to Matt at Staying strong and positive. he kicked some serious ass today at the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio. he finished in 3 hours, 20 minutes and 4 seconds. i think he will be qualifying for Boston very soon.

~good luck and positive race vibes going out to Bob at One hour Ironman who is doing ironman St. George in Utah this weekend coming up.

~congrats to Maria at 2010 Brings Racine who PR'ed at the Drake Relays half marathon!

~thanks to Scott (aka: Big Daddy Diesel) at Tri Diesel for bestowing upon me the "cool blog of the week" designation. you are too kind!

~last but not least, congrats to everyone who ran the Boston Marathon on Monday! it is a wonderful experience whether it is your first time or your 20th time. it's just special.

much love and peace out!

keepin' it real yo!

ok my friends, as promised, here is my honest scrap crap...10 of them! thanks again to Mandy and Kate for tapping me to do this. i'm a sucker for these things.

uno - eventually i would like to get my nose reshaped...rhinoplasty if you will. the only thing stopping me is the down time from training i would have to endure. i might go coo-coo for cocoa puffs!

dos - i was adopted when i was 6 weeks old. so that makes me special. at least that's what my parent's always told me. i believed them.

tres - i eat the same breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner monday thru friday and never get sick of it. makes my life easy.

quatro - i'm a homebody. don't really care much about going out to eat or to the movies.

cinco - would love to adopt a child within the next few years to pay it forward.

seis - i don't like talking on the phone at all. if everything could be done online, i would opt for that.

siete - not a single day goes by that i don't think about my mom, dad, and granny in some way. wish they were still on this Earth with me. does that feeling ever go away?

ocho - if i weren't so terrified of living without health insurance, i would quit my job, sell all of my material possessions in a heartbeat (except for my bikes, running gear, and related apparel), buy a farm in Nevada or North Florida, raise miniature donkeys and live off the grid. Seriously. In other words, simplify my life (but don't ask me to get rid of the iphone).

nueve - i have a hard time sitting still for very long. drives the hub's crazy sometimes. i really feel like i have ants in my pants.

diez- i've fallen in love with blogging. i thoroughly enjoy reading the comments left behind and reading your blogs too. you all really motivate me everyday, you make me laugh, you teach me a thing or two, and make my day more fun. thank you!

so there you have it. not too exciting but true nonetheless. ok, gotta go now. time to hop on the bike and catch up on all the blogs i haven't had a chance to read yet...technology is a beautiful thing.
much love and peace out!

tan lines from hell!

how many of us can relate to this? crazy ass tan lines! and you can't do anything about them except if you go to a tanning bed on a regular basis and who has time for that? i've actually come to love my weird tan lines since i've had them for what seems like forever and i'm quite proud of them. for the longest time, i had the bike short and sleeveless jersey tan lines but now with the swimming, they are getting a little funkier because of the criss-cross back straps and higher cut legs.

it's been a very busy week and my blog took the back burner. even though i don't post every single day, i do try to read as many of my favorite blogs as possible. sometimes i have to make a mental note to go back and comment when i have more time. i wish there were more hours in the day sometimes.

i've had an awesome week so far, i've gotten some really good runs, bikes and lots of swimming in and the week is still young. i was lucky enough to see a shooting star this morning on my run and yes, i did make a wish on it. it really made me smile when i saw it. i felt lucky to have been looking up in that particular direction at the right time. i have a feeling today is gonna be a really good day!

i was recently tapped by 2 of my favorite bloggers yesterday to list 10 honest scraps about myself.
thank you Mandy at Caratunk Girl and Kate at Going the Distance. i will get on that sometime today, promise. also, i'd like to change the title to "honest crap" instead of honest scrap.

good news...it's almost friday!! much love and peace out!

do it, do it, do it til you're satisfied...whatever it is!

i was very satisfied with my training this week. everything fell into place nicely. i know that not all weeks will but this one was a memorable one. as John at John's Ironman Adventure said, i got the monkey off my back. yes, i did! and i plan on keeping it off my back by doing open water swims on a regular basis. this week's numbers look like this:

ran:
total time: 3:57:00
total distance: 30.0 mi.

biked:
total time: 12:01:15
total distance: 243.10 mi.

swam (much better this week):
total time: 2:35:00
total distance: 5700 m.

weights/hundred push-up challenge x 3
abs x 2

since i knew early on that the weather was not going to be conducive for the planned 50 mile ride, we went and did groceries instead. all the while, i was planning how i would get this 50 miles done. as soon as i got home, put the groceries away, filled up the water bottles, grabbed the iphone and off i went on a long ride to nowhere. i had a feeling that i wouldn't be able to go non-stop for the full 50 miles on the trainer and i was right. so i did 30 miles, then a few hours later, finished up the last 20 miles. the buckeye training log that i've been keeping for almost 3 years (see side bar for "my workout log"),  is set up with my training week beginning with sunday so i didn't want to start the week off already getting behind. i'm glad i got it done even though i had to split it up.

a big THANK YOU to Cynthia O'H at Balls in the Air for bestowing upon me this lovely award for writing a blog that motivates/inspires her:

maybe if Saucony made a stiletto, i'd wear them but until then, no can do. i like my feet and they take enough abuse as it is without wearing such torturous contraptions. i do love the thought behind it though!

much love and peace out!

quickie post

i can't believe i'm still awake at 11 pm but my eyes are getting heavy. i had a really good ride today in the hills with the 3 J's and a new guy who joined us named Tony. we did 76 miles in exactly 4 hours, 3331 feet of climbing and a 19.0 avg which is really good for the terrain. i was happy with that and feel like i'm ready to tackle the 3S3M ride in 2 weeks.

i was surfing the net earlier, doing some "window" shopping if you will. see, i hate real shopping, like going to an actual store or mall. just hate it! i especially like window shopping for workout apparel mostly not real clothes. i'm a clothes horse for workout threads for sure.

so as i was looking at different cycling jerseys, i found these beauties. seriously, does anyone ever buy these jerseys? have you ever seen anyone wear one of these? would you ever buy one even if it were like on sale for $5.00 with free shipping and handling? would you ride with anyone who wore one of these?

that's all for now, good night! 50 miles cycling in the morning for me. much love and peace out!

my first REAL open water swim

yesterday, i did my first real open water swim(thanks Dineen for the picture!). i say real because the few that i have done in years past, have been more of a baptized by fire experience. thinking back to the handful of tri's i did in the late 90's, like St. Anthony's twice, i can't believe i actually went out there as unprepared as i was. that was plain crazy but what did i know. my mindset was just survive the swim and i did but it was ugly, it was scary, and it made me not want to do triathlons anymore (or at least not for the next 12 years). i did do a sprint tri around 2005 but the swim was ridiculous. it was a much shorter swim distance than advertised (i was done in like 6 minutes), so any non-swimmer could get out there and look good. it was not a challenge to me at all.
i got to the courtney campbell causeway, the swim locale, a little early, so i parked in the shade, facing the water in order to look for sharks!

but instead of sharks, i saw one of these out in the distance. i didn't know that's what it was until coach bill was giving us some warnings tips about swimming in open water and mentioned seeing a manatee hanging out earlier and to not get too close to them because if you spook them, they could possible bump you or smack the crap out of you with their mermaid fin and kill you. no kidding! i always thought of them as slow pokes but if they get scared, they haul and you better not be in the way. coach bill also said, in all of his 7 years doing open water swims there, he hasn't seen any sharks.....(long pause) until last year when he saw 2 nurse sharks. not to worry he said. they are small and if they bite you, it isn't to big of a bite. in all seriousness, he did give us some good tips about shark behavior, what to do and what not to do if we see one and how to tell the difference between a shark fin and a dolphin fin. all stuff i never knew.

we also had to do the sting ray shuffle going out and coming back in. no big deal. been doing that for years having grown up in florida and spending many summer family vacations at the beach.

the workout yesterday as presented by coach Bill, aka: TriFloyd, was quarter mile swim followed by 1 mile run. i did it 3 times. was going to do it 4 times but i missed the turn around point on the 3rd run and ran about an extra half mile and then started feeling the blisters rubbing behind my heel from going sockless. note to self: put glide on the back of your heel and the part of your shoe that rubs. so i called it a day. a very successful day. more than anything, it was exciting to finally breakdown the huge mental barrier i had built up in my mind all these years about not being able to swim well or not being able to swim in open water. i've done many races that were very special achievements for me personally but yesterday, although not a race, ranks at the top of personal goals. most people wouldn't think it was that big of a deal but for me, it was beyond words. i got past a wall that was holding me back for so long. glad it's behind me now! i will be there again next wednesday. oh, and i almost forgot to mention that the water was ROUGH and soooo CHOPPY but it was warm, so no wetsuit needed. so starting off with the worst possible conditions was a plus.

had an awesome run this morning to get this fine thursday started. blisters that were created yesterday were not an issue. thank you bodyglide! hope everyone has a great day!

much love and peace out!

hit rewind

i thought it would be kinda fun to go back into the deep archives of my infant blog (all 4 months worth) and repost my very first post since many who are reading my blog probably started somewhere in the middle or just recently. i like when other bloggers have reposted old posts that one wouldn't normally go back and read, especially as a new reader. it's fun and interesting to see what makes a person tick, what motivated them to start their blog, what their goals were starting out, where they are now and where they plan to go.
but before i do that, let me take care of some other business that i've been avoiding. honestly, i've procrastinated writing this post because i'm embarrassed of my swimming last week and didn't want to put it out there for you all to see(sigh).  i take some of the blame for it but you know who gets most of it...the evil YMCA! blah on them! however, i plan on redeeming myself big time this week in the pool and i'm doing my first OWS on wednesday. prayers are requested, thank you. and of course, no worries about not getting enough running or cycling in. ok, so here are last weeks numbers:

ran:
total time: 3:20:09
total distance: 25.25 mi.

biked:
total time: 12:04:40
total distance: 250.15 mi. (did a century on saturday with the 3 J's - one of the best rides this year by far)

swam: shameful
total time: 44:00
total distance: 1600m (basically crap!)

weights/hundred pushup challenge x 3: (this is coming along nicely and Jeff, I'll be sending you pics of lightning and thunder to post on your blog soon)

abs: big fat zero here folks : (
but, the good news is, i still see at least a 4 pack so i'm happy.

ok, and before i repost my very first ever post from december 23rd, i want to ask all you Lost fans a question that has been bugging me for years....

please tell me how, after all these years on the island, Hurley hasn't lost a pound, yet all of the contestants on Survivor look anorexic by week 4? i was a big fan of Lost for the first 2 years, then i started feeling like they were playing games with my head, so i quit watching it.


 
 

 

*****************

here is my very first post from december 23, 2009:
 
after all these years of day dreaming about doing an ironman (or just an official ironman distance event), i've finally started to put all the pieces of the puzzle into action. i turn the big 4-0hh next year and wanted to do something special to commemorate/celebrate it since i believe in getting better with age. slowing down is not an option here. my goal is to do the great floridian race on october 23, 2010. this race is an ironman distance and in a very hilly part of florida too!


a little bit about me: i love to challenge myself and i'm my own worst critic. i expect the best out of myself. i was always very active as a child but once i got into the teen age years, it wasn't "cool" anymore, so i followed the crowd and became a couch potato. i didn't play any kind of sport in high school but was eventually talked into doing cross country my senior year so i could have something else listed in the yearbook besides just a class picture. needless to say, this couch potato could barely run 3 times around the track without gasping for air. so sad! i even remember my first c.c. meet and i think i finished 2nd to last and back then i believe that it was a 2 mile distance and if my memory serves me correctly, i finished in about 28-29 minutes. disgraceful! did i continue to run after that? hell no! back to couch potato status. eventually, i had an epiphany of sorts thanks to the most important person in my life, and decided to make some serious changes. i did not like the unhealthy road i was heading down. i joined a local fitness club on valentine's day 1989 (yes, i remember that day very well) and i have never looked back. i have worked out ever since and it has evolved widely. started out with just weight training, added a little stairmaster for cardio, bought a fully rigid mountain bike, started riding the trails at flatwoods before anyone hardly knew these trails existed, went to the university of south florida and got a degree in exercise physiology and made it my life's work. all of a sudden i found myself running a little, bought my first roadbike a steel lemond-alp'd'huez, started dabbling at north shore pool in the mid to late 90's and felt fit enough to do St. Anthony's a couple of times and a few sprint distance tri's. eventually, i lost my way to the pool (no secret that i'm not fond of swimming) and started really hammering out the marathons. to this day, i've done 4 boston mary's, 3 ultra marathons, and about 25 other marathons. but enough of the marathons already. i need more! and that leads me to now. with such a solid base of running and cycling (11,000+ miles to date for the year 2009), i am ready to add the swimming in...my weakest and most loathed activity. i sound negative about it but really, i'm looking forward to it very much and can't wait to get started. the love of my life asked me what i wanted for christmas and i asked for a year membership to the Y by our house so i can really work on the swim. i am determined now more than ever before to get it down this time around. i want to embrace swimming like i do the running and cycling. i will begin my swimming on January 4th and will be blogging about the good, the bad, and the ugly as i go along.


Much love and peace out!


 

tgif...getting wild and crazy

this week more than ever, i'm so glad the weekend is upon us. i ended up having a real easy day at work and since i was pretty well caught up, i took a half day. i was outta there by 11am! not a minute over either. i tied up a lot of loose ends that were hanging over my head all week, i took a nap, did all the laundry, even put all of it away instead of leaving half the stuff in the dryer like i usually do.

here is my version of the above photo......................
my version of a wild and crazy friday evening...powerade zero on ice!! today, i decided to ride inside even though the weather was fine outside. my reason: to not get anymore dehydrated than i already am since i have a long, long ride in the hills planned tomorrow. my doctor's office called me yesterday and said everything looked fine except my BUN and creatinine levels were higher than they should be, which to me, means i'm dehydrated. i knew that. i think i'm always in a state of slight dehydration and i really try my best to drink plenty of fluid all day long. i think it is a combination of sweating a lot and drinking too much caffeine in the form of coffee. i love my coffee and have no plans to give it up but i may cut back a little...just a little.
ended up doing 22 miles on the bike and drank all of my powerade zero and water. i still feel thirsty! maybe i need an IV? Noooooo! no more needles in my arm for as long as i can help it.

good luck to Teresa @ Tri-A-Licious who is running the Aflac IronGirl 15K in Clearwater, Florida tomorrow. and good luck to a bunch of you doing the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, also to Jeff @ Dangle the Carrot who is doing the Gateway to the Bay sprint triathlon tomorrow. can't wait to read everyone's race reports.

much love and peace out!

are we almost there yet?

tomorrow cannot get here soon enough. it's not that i wish the weekdays away but i'm over the hustle and bustle of this week. had a good day yesterday except for the never ending inconsistencies at the pool. just when you think they've got their shit together, they don't. i may need to take a close look at the end of the year to see if i will renew my Y membership or not. i'm leaning towards NOT. you wouldn't think that a few minutes here and there would make a difference in the training schedule but it does. for example, yesterday, i got up, did my warm up run and then headed to the pool to swim for at least an hour. i pull up, feel very excited because they finally have the covers off on time but no, the gate is locked and everyone is standing around waiting for the lifeguards to locate bolt cutters. it takes 30 minutes and stupid me waits around. needless to say, i got a half assed swim in. seriously, there's only 1 key? shouldn't there be a spare key? one would hope that common sense would dictate that having a "back up" key is a good idea just in case a set is lost or someone takes the keys home by accident. basically, it boils down to poor communication from the top all the way down to the bottom. so my plan this morning was to try to get the other half of my swim done and hope that it would be a half way decent session but i started getting a sharp pain down my arm from yesterday's botched blood draw.

i went to the doctor yesterday just to get my blood drawn for my thyroid levels and  to get my script renewed. i really don't like going to the doctor, so i always prolong it as long as my meds last. anyway, with the revolving door of doctors at this place, you never know who you will get. i think this chic was a physician's assistant who curiously asked how it is that i haven't been there since last june and how did i have enough medication to last? i told her that i had a lot of extra refills left online at walgreens and that's why and that i felt perfectly fine and didn't feel the need to be seen every 3 months (read-i need a longer leash doc!). so she agreed to see me again in 4 months, not 3. we'll see about that since she gave me refills to last til next year. so before i leave, i have to see the phlebotomist to get my blood work done so they can tell me what i already know...that my thyroid is perfect with the medication and don't change a thing. believe me, i know when it isn't working right. it isn't right when a 3 mile run feels like a marathon and my heartrate is 240. anyway, i don't know what the hell she did, but i felt more pain in my arm than usual when she stuck me and it hurt for a while.

then, last night, i felt this uncomfortable shooting/stabbing pain down my arm, to my wrist. it hurt during the night so my sleep sucked. still hurts this morning, so that's why i dismissed swimming this morning as i think i would feel it and i decided to just sleep in a little longer. i actually felt like i needed the extra sleep after riding balls to the wall tuesday and yesterday evening...lots of fun to push the pace though.  maybe if the arm feels better later, i will go finish what i started at the pool yesterday.

hope everyone is having a good week of training. the weekend will be here soon thank goodness and the weather is looking perfect for some long rides... bring it on!

much love and peace out! 

in the zone

after a full weekend of riding almost 140 miles between both days, i was a wee bit tired on monday morning to say the least. for some reason, after a very active weekend, i don't sleep all that well. plus, a 3 hour nap on saturday didn't help when it came time for bed as i was wired. so monday morning i had every intention to run, swim and bike but my mind and body had other intentions. i listened to my body and backed the workout down by just doing weights, which included week 3-day 1 of the hundred pushup challenge and a 5 mile run. boy was i not feeling it on the run. it was a rough one physically and mentally but here it is tuesday morning and i look back and am glad i did it versus taking a full rest day.

this morning was a zen like run. the kind of run where you feel like a well oiled machine, where every step is smooth as silk. hell, i could have run a marathon this morning if need be but i was satisfied with all 8.25 miles. i wish i could bottle that running zen!

this evening i have a 30-35 mile ride scheduled with my favorite domestique (from wikipedia: a domestique is a road bicycle racer who works for the benefit of his team and leader. The French domestique translates as "servant". ...). but first gotta get this thing called "work" out of the way, then on to the fun.

much love and peace out!

sunday stuff and training update

a great easter sunday here so far and the day is still young. woke up to some thick fog this morning so waited it out a bit and got started on our ride around 8:30am. it was still foggy/misting but i could tell it was going to burn off rather quickly. took off the shades as they were full of mist and i couldn't see very well...then i crossed my fingers that a flying bug wouldn't end up in my eyeball. i'm happy to report, my eyeballs are still intact, thank goodness. about 4 miles into the ride as we were getting ready to make our right hand turn onto the main loop, i saw a guy at the water station filling up his bottles. he was wearing a florida ironman finisher jersey and was riding a cervelo p2...i know this guy! ok, we've never officially met but we follow each others blog. now i can say that i have met a fellow blogger IRL (in real life). meet Iron Bob from One hour ironman blog. he joined jc and i for almost our entire ride. it was a pleasure meeting you Bob and keep up the solid training for ironman st. george, utah, which happens to be right around the corner on may 1st. we ended up with 50.5 miles and a 21.4 average speed at the end. felt great considering the ass kicking my legs took yesterday in the hills...mantra constantly cycling (no pun intended) thru my head yesterday during the ride:
That which does not kill us makes us stronger~Friedrich Nietzsche
so, so true!

well, i can't believe that we are already in april. a quarter of the year is behind us. that went really fast folks. i began swimming again on january 4th of this year, after a long, long lay-off. basically, because i sucked at it and still do but not nearly as much. i've gone from really super crappy swimmer to a crappy swimmer, so i'll take that improvement and go from there. can't expect miracles in 3 months. i've been running for 20 years and biking for 17 years, so i figure the swimming will take some more time being that it is, in my opinion, the hardest of the 3 disciplines to master. at least for me it is. i will never give up on it; not this time. here are my training numbers from jan 1 thru march 31:

run
distance 354.46 miles
duration 46 hours 39 minutes

bike
distance: 2155.95 miles
duration: 106 hours 28 minutes 

swim
distance: 32.17 miles or 51772.5 meters
duration 24 hours 55 minutes

good overall totals i think but need to up the swimming a little more. maybe 1 more day a week but for a shorter period of time. i officially start my 6 month training plan for the great floridian ironman distance race on may 15th. that's the same day that i'm doing, my "comeback" race. an oly distance race in sarasota/siesta key. looking forward to it and this time around with a lot more swimming under my belt. shouldn't be as pathetic as st. anthony's was in the late 90's for me. no sink or swim this time. this time, i'm swimming with no fear!

this weeks numbers were good too:

run
distance 28.25 miles
duration 3 hours 50 minutes

bike
distance 270 miles (this is normal distance for me this time of year, until around october)
duration 13 hours 40 minutes

swim
distance 4600 meters (had to cut a session short to meet up for a ride)
duration 1 hour 45 minutes

hundred pushups challenge - week 2, done!
abs x 2

my goal this week is to plan 2 open water swims with this coach, who has on-going, wednesday evening open water swim workouts, starting at 5:30pm. i have no excuse. it's very close to where i work and i can time my work schedule accordingly.  lord knows i need to do this for my psyche. to know i can do this without freaking out. i know deep down i can do it and having others around me will help. plus, i'm dying to try my new wetsuit out.

in a nutshell, i think my training is going as planned. i think Alan Lakein said it best, "failing to plan is planning to fail." with that onward and upward!

much love and peace out!

short and sweet

just a quick post since it's way past my bedtime. today was a really good day in the saddle. spent about 4 hours and 30 minutes climbing and cranking through the streets of west central florida with a great group of friends. it's nice when everyone who is riding is on the same page with what the goal is for the day. every now and then you get a rebel tagging along that likes to upset the apple cart. i keep my fingers crossed for more rides this year like we had today.  the ride started at 7:30 am and it was a little nippy but i decided to go sans arm warmers since i figured it would warm up pretty quick and it did. first few downhills were chilly!  a few climbs later and i was warm and toasty. as usual, we have a few close encounters with cars here and there who still don't get the 3 foot rule but the saddest thing was a group of motorcyclists came by us with no other vehicular traffic to hinder them getting around us, and one lady (i use that term loosly) who was "riding bitch" shoots us a bird and yells at us "to get the f**k over."  i think that her man should buy one of these and stick it on the back of his ride:

anyway, we ended up with 87 miles at a nice 19.4 average speed.  i was toast after that and was already starting to take a nap on the drive back home. the love of my life has nicknamed me the "nap queen." i kindly reminded him that he gets about 2 hours more sleep each day than i do so i have to make up for the loss of sleep during the week on the weekends. i did just that too...3 hours worth! i think this was my longest nap ever, which is probably why i'm still awake now.

tomorrow we will do a 50 mile ride around home and should be done super early with plenty of time to chill and get stuff done...like color my hair, which i consider, very important stuff!

HAPPY EASTER...

much love and peace out!

thursday randomness

i'm just exaggerating a little with the picture above but i sure could use a double...a double espresso! this week has actually flown by but still, i'm always ready for the weekend, especially as the warmer weather begins to take full effect. on tap for this weekend, at least 120 bike miles between both days. probably a good 70 miles or more in the hills and a 50 miler the next day, locale to be determined later.

i love running in the morning. i do a lot of thinking on my runs and can usually work out just about anything that is bugging me. i solve the problems of the world on my runs. on my run this morning, i got to thinking about how all of this running began. i've been running for about 20 years now but probably "really" running for about 13 years. it started with wanting to lose a little weight, tighten up, get a HOT BODY, all vain reasons. my oh my, how priorities evolve over the years. if you ask me now why i run, i will tell you, because i love to run, because it keeps me sane, because it sets my mood for the rest of the day, it helps me think clearer, overall, it just makes me feel centered. i knew the moment i crossed the finish line at my first marathon, the disney marathon in 1998, that there was nothing that could stop me. i knew from that moment on, that i could do ANYTHING i set my mind to and thinking back, i have reached every goal, personal and training wise, that i have set for myself.

i honestly believe that running improved my quality of life ten fold. looking back at my school years, i lacked focus something awful in elementary school and in high school. thinking back on that now, i probably had some issues with a.d.d.but didn't know it. focusing was a huge problem for me. however, around the time i started college, i began to dabble a bit in running, and my grades began to improve drastically. i had finally found the one thing that helped me to focus and at that time, the only thing i really did  physically was run.

when i finished my run this morning, i had a big smile on  my face. i'm so happy i found running or maybe it found me. we'll never part ways, i'm sure.
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