"I think I'm done pretending"

It's official- I'm done pretending to enjoy running in the snow. Two Thursdays in a row, Boston has been socked with lots of the white stuff and both days I was scheduled to run 10mi. I embraced the first storm. An early season snowstorm that dropped 10" of snow in a matter of hours left the City in automobile gridlock, which allowed Greg and I to venture out and enjoy the serene winter wonderland. About an hour into the run, I was pooped...running in freshly fallen snow is HARD!! It's like running on the beach...it takes a lot of our your legs.
Yesterday's storm, not so heavy on snow (maybe 3") but still heavy on the legs!! I ran with Laura and Betty...and about half way through our slushy cold run I proclaimed "I think I'm done pretending, there is nothing enjoyable about this run right now...I'm miserable" I might be confined to the treadmill for the balance of the snowy, winter season. Boo.....

My focus is on Boston '08

With the threat of a blizzard this afternoon and talk of another storm this weekend, I'm convinced that winter is here (even though the calendar doesn't say 12/21 yet!) What is more fun than planing a 10mi run in the middle of a 10+ inch snow storm?? All these distractions make it easy to forget that in less than 5 months, I will be running the Boston Marathon for the 5th year in a row!
I've taken some time to relax and enjoy the last couple months with no pressure to workout hard, or train all that often, but in a couple weeks the New Year will be here and then I will feel the pressure to perform in Boston this year. I have a lot of work to do! Many miles to run and many dollars to raise!

I sent out my first TNT fundraising email last night...here is a link to my website to donate if anyone feels inclined :)
http://www.active.com/donate/tntma/dmg2008

My focus is on Boston '08. (April 21, 2008 to be specific!)

Well, well, well….long time no blog

There hasn’t been a lot going on with me lately as far as training, so I seem to have turned into a mute! Life gets busy (VERY BUSY) and before you know it months have gone by! In a fluke accident in October I tripped and pulled a hamstring (not an overuse injury, just a fluke!) So I nursed that back to full strength and I’m back to running and biking regularly. I continued to swim while recovering, that seemed to really help it! I also went to Boston Bodyworker for some deep tissue massage and I KNOW that played a HUGE role in my recovery!! So that injury had me down in the dumps some, but I’ve emerged with some exciting news!!

I am now the proud owner of a Cervelo P2C Carbon bike WITH an ergomo powermeter (http://www.ergomo.net)!! I could NOT be happier with my new bike, my only wish would be that the weather warm up enough so I can take it on the road!!

I love the lightness of it, the Dura Ace components are noticeably better than the 105s my road bike has and with the ergomo setup, I should be in MUCH better (biking) shape come spring!! I do my first FTP (functional threshold power) test this weekend which allows me to get a baseline watt number to train from. I still need to download the Cycling Peaks software and get familiar with it so I can learn what all these numbers actually mean! I know this form of training will transform how I ride my bike. I cannot wait!

Well...that's all my exciting news for now...

It's not often in life you get a chance to do a "DO OVER"....what a difference a week makes!!

Let's start with the BAA Half Marathon on Oct. 7, 2007. I had been signed up for months for this race and had trained and planned on running it. Well, race day came...I got up and went through my usual routine, but had some stomach issues right before the race. I chalked it up to race day jitters...I started the race, felt great but around mile 3.5 began to get side stitches, forcing me to walk...I listen to my body and never go beyond my limits...that perfect running day in early Oct was no different. I felt dehydrated, sluggish and downright tired at times. I'm guessing I walked 10x that day...and still finished in a respectable 1:54:59 (8:47pace- Just one minute MORE than my PR of 1:53:24- 8:40pace) I crossed the finish line to a very supportive husband (who did not run, but came out to watch me.) And knowing my goal for that day asked "what's wrong?" I exclaimed "It just wasn't my day, I don't know...I didn't feel right." I don't even think I wore my metal home (in true race tradition...you earned it, wear it home from the race!) but not me, not that day.

So fast forward to the week to follow...I was sick, tired, felt like I had the flu and a stomach bug...I still don't know what was wrong with me, but I took a nap 3x after work that week...had zero energy to say the least.

By Thursday I was back to my old self....seemingly "kicked" whatever bug my body was trying to fight off.

I knew the Bay State Marathon (and Half Marathon) in Lowell, MA was that next Sunday (Oct. 14) and part of me wanted to go run it. I had something to prove (only to myself, really) that I had a better race in me, I JUST KNEW I did....

So after a 2.5hr bike ride with Greg on Saturday and going out to a softball get together...on the drive home Saturday night Greg asked "what are you pondering?" He knew I had "the itch" to "DO OVER" what I couldn't do properly the week before. Sure enough he caught me pondering if I should run the Half Marathon in the morning.

I stayed up late Saturday night watching the Ford Ironman Championships on the computer (waited to see my coach, Patrick, cross the finish line in Hawaii!) and watch the Red Sox go into extra innings...

Sunday October 14, 2007 I woke up at 6am and said "I'm going to do it, I'm going to run the Half Marathon" So just like the very day one week prior, Greg and I packed up and headed up to Lowell...

Unlike last week, I was relaxed and calm....no stomach issues to speak of. The weather was PERFECT...it was chilly and sunny...a little windy :)

Off with the gun and I felt great...I started out a little faster than I wanted to (my goal was the same as the week prior, to break 1:50, I hoped for better results this time!)
I felt AWESOME, strong, steady and confident...the miles just ticked away! It's a two loop course that ends in the Lowell Spinners Baseball stadium, so I got to see Greg cheering for me around mile 5, the halfway point and again in the stands of the stadium at the end!! I was so happy to see him and even happier to report that I was feeling SO MUCH better than the week before!

The second loop seemed so much windier than the first, maybe because there were less people around me? I felt great, never stopping (not once!) along the way...I took gels at miles 6 (:48) and 10 (1:20) I had NO finishing kick today :P (maybe it was the bike ride on Saturday before I decided to run the race that took out my "kick" legs?) It didn't matter, though...I crossed the line at 1:46:01 (8:06 pace), bettering last weeks race by NINE minutes, and an EIGHT minute PR!! I crossed the line, found Greg in the stands and exclaimed "now THAT is what a race should feel like!!" He was excited that I reached my goal (sub 1:50) and I was SO glad I didn't drag him out for a second week in a row to watch me crumble...I knew I had a better race in me.

What a difference a week makes!

Here are my splits-
Mile 1: 8:11
Mile 2: 7:54
Mile 3: 8:00
Mile 4: 7:55
Mile 5: 7:57
Mile 6: 7:54
Mile 7: 7:54
Mile 8: 8:03
Mile 9: 8:03
Mile 10: 8:12
Mile 11: 8:08
Mile 12: 8:05
Mile 13.1: 8:17

Today I swam with the big kids....

...well, really I just moved up a lane in the pool, I had been delaying the inevitable. I knew I really should move up a lane and push myself to swim harder and get better/faster....but I was too afraid to leave the comfort of the "slow lane" because thats where I'd always swam and where I was comfortable with my friends. But the last few swim sessions, Greg had moved up into the next lane and I thought "well, if he can do it, so can I"...so I did. And you know what?? It wasn't "that" hard!!

Here was our workout:
200 w/u
4x25
3x50
2x75
1x100
1x200 pull
2x100 kick
4x50 (1:05)
1x200 pull
2x100 kick
4x50 (1:00)
1x200 pull
2x100 kick
4x50 (:55)
1x200 pull
2x100 kick
4x50 (:50)

Total: 3100yds (just under 2 miles)

Well, it's official....

...Greg, Laura, Kim and I have ALL signed up for Ironman Wisconsin (www.ironmanwisconsin.com) September 7,2008 in Madison, WI.
If you don't know what that means, here's a peek at what we will try to accomplish!
140.6= magic number
2.4miles of swimming+112miles of biking+26.2miles of running=140.6miles completed.

I know I have a LONG year ahead of me! I hope to chronicle my (our) journey through this blog to keep our family and friends informed so you know what we're up to and why we're not calling or writing or hanging out late at night (triathlon tends to be a sport for morning people!) :P

Training becomes a way of life in order to achieve 140.6, it will require an average of 15hours/week of training for approx. 10months. Which is approx. 660hours of training to prepare for this event. I will guesstimate that I will log ~300miles of swimming, ~4500miles of biking and ~1000miles of running (this is all give or take, just an estimate!)

Greg and I are taking a somewhat easy month lately, logging about 10-11 hours of training per week...a typical week lately might look like this in my training log:

Greg and I recently ran the Susan Komen 5k in South Boston, we both had fun and ran hard :)

The next race on my agenda is the BAA Half Marathon on Sunday Oct. 7, 2007....