Favorite Friends Friday

   

My friends are my happy place! 

Here's a shout out to a few of my favs who have stuck by me through thick and thin ... rain and shine ... wind gusts ... steep climbs ... downhills ... listening to me talk about swimming, biking, running, family, work, etc ... laughing with me or at me as I get the lyrics wrong to every song I sing ... saying YES when I ask you to do a race with me ... sharing a glass of wine and lots of laughs (lol) ... believing in me ... encouraging me ... and, last but not least, putting up with my crazy high energy! LOVE you! xoxo

Andrea, Anna, and Me at Oliver 70.3 in 2010

Cami, Jen, & Laura

Lora, Me & Pat - After the New York Marathon 2009

Jana, Me, and Donna (these girls don't exercise, but they love me jut the same!)

Me and Rebekah in Colorado

Claudia (bottom left)... amazing support friend! Has been to two races with me! :)

Polly, Pat, Me, Robin, Laura (Heather & Jen on TV!)

A brick anyone?

What exactly is BRICK?

Here's what I found:

Brick

Commonly, a combination workout that includes a bike and run back to back. Comedically, "Bike/Run It Can Kill" or "Bike/Run Ick". It can be any combination of triathlon sports with less than 10 minutes between sports.

For me, my BRICKs have been long bike rides of over 2 +hours, followed by at least a 30 minute run.  There are a lot of philosophies out there on how long you should run following a long bike ride, but to tell you the truth, I'm just following Coach Daryl's plan! ;)

Oliver 70.3 in 2010

I've been doing BRICK's consistently since the beginning of November in preparation for Ironman Canada.

Finish Line at Oliver 70.3 in 2010

If you're reading this and have never tried a BRICK before, give it a try!  The first time is the hardest and you might even feel like your legs don't want to move, but they will!  Shortening your stride, quick turnover (stride rate) and focusing on good posture is key!

Happy Brick to YOU! ;)

The Wine Gala with a 6.5 Mile Chaser

I just had my first time trial of my Ironman training.  Coach Daryl's instructions were to run the 6.5 mile race at a hard, but sustainable and even pace, paying no attention to max heart rate this time and trying to negative split, if possible.  I thought to myself:  WOOHOO!  I don't have to watch my heart rate and I can actually let it go over 146 bpm.  This is great!

However, in the week leading up to the race, I found myself antsy with anticipation and I was worried that the only pace my body would recognize would be the dreaded 9:30 to 10:00 minute pace it had been running for the past 10 weeks.

To make matters worse, I completely forgot that the night before, Dean and I had our annual Wine Gala.  I couldn't skip on the Gala, because it comes just once a year and I love my wine!  What the heck!  It's just a time trial ... just like another training run really.  I wasn't really "racing" anyone, per se.

So off we went to the Gala on Friday night.  The meal started with these yummy fried appetizer balls filled with a risotto and some spicy garlic shrimp.  I enjoyed a sparkling Rose Wine and then some Prosecco during the apps phase.  Then the main course was a beef with sautéed onions and peppers in a rich brown gravy broth with a side of asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and sprinkled with goat cheese.  Following the meat dish, we had an arugula Salad and a sampling of three yummy cheeses.  Paired with the meal, we tasted 6 different wines from Spain.  All of this to say, yes ... I think I consumed an entire bottle if I had to add the liquids together.  To soak it up, I just HAD to have everything at the dinner table!

Wine Gala

The BIG DAY:  January 8th - Lake Samish 1/2 marathon and 6.5 mile run.

I awoke feeling great with a headache.  Uggh. Two Three ibuprofen and some coffee was the start of my day.  I left early to take my daughter to her soccer game and then headed for the race.  I arrived at the vanpool early and headed to Lake Samish to check-in.  My friend, Robin, was the race director and everything went smoothly and was well-organized.  I got my number, and then waited for others to show up since I was an hour early.  Ohhhh, my tummy was a rumbling!

Running Friends pre-race

My friend Meghan, who is also coached by Daryl and is doing IM Canada, showed up.  She suggested we run together, which I thought was a great idea.  I had no idea how fast I could possibly go today.  She was hoping to aim for an 8:30 pace.  That sounds great, I say ... an 8:30 is typically my marathon pace.  I should be able to,  "should be" are the key words, do that for 6.5 miles.

Meghan and I head out for a little warm up and it is chilly out (1.34 miles, 9:51 pace).  Low 30's.  I am feeling good, but still a little anxious over my stomach, thinking how slow I might be, ...ohhhh my stomach, too much wine last night, and my friend Kristi said I looked like TRON.  See the photo below.  HA!

The race started with a count down and we took off for one loop around Lake Samish.  ONE LOOP (thank goodness!).  What is an hour out of my life?  I can do this for an hour, right?!

First mile:  8:11  (oopsie ... a bit faster than we intended).  Some guy is breathing right down our necks then blowing snot rockets ... ewww!

Mile 2:  7:47 .... oopsie again.  How ya feeling Meghan?  Okay, she says.  Me too.  Uggh.

Mile 3:  7:40 ... getting into the grove and pressing on.  Meghan and I are not talking anymore, but we are side by side with our stride.

Mile 4: 7:51 ... big hill, we pass a lot of runners at this point, (you know the type, the ones that started out going balls to the wall).

Mile 5:  7:38 ... we are hanging on.  We have Carol in our sights.  Meghan and I use her as our Rabbit.  She is an awesome athlete.

Mile 6:  7:33 ... faster yet and Meghan and I are huffing and puffing, not in unison.  She says she's going for it in the last half mile.  You go girl!

Last 1/2 mile:  7:33... Meghan pulls ahead and I keep on her tail, but finally let her go.  I am running as fast as I can right now and just want to keep it up to the end.

THE FINISH!!  Woo HOO!  Finish time: 51:03.87 (although I didn't stop my watch right away)

I hugged Meghan and thanked her for a great run.  I looked at my watch and noticed my average pace ...  7:46!!! 

Average heart rate:  192 bpm.  WOW ...

I gave it everything I had and could not go any faster at the end.  I was very pleased with my time as it was way better than I expected.  I hurried and emailed Daryl to tell him the news, secretly hoping that he would see that my heart rate is abnormally high for threshold running and maybe he would adjust my easy pace running just a tad higher.

All in all, a great morning!  I felt great and am thankful I had Meghan to push me through it all.

Moral of the story ... a wine gala with a 6.5 mile chaser is not so bad, especially after it is all over.

You Have Man Thighs

My friend Lora tells it like it is.  She looked at me the other day and exclaimed, "you have man thighs!"  I looked down and frowned ... sure enough, I have man thighs.  I looked back at her and gazed at her long and lean legs, then looked back down at my legs.  Yep - my thighs are twice the size of hers.

Even as a child, I have never had those cute petite girly girl type legs.  My legs have always been muscular (although as  teenager, I'm pretty sure I called them FAT).  I have never really felt comfortable wearing skirts and I always prayed God would make me grow one more inch in my thighs and calves so everything was proportioned just right.  It didn't happen.

I have to admit, Lora calling my thighs "man thighs" kinda stung.  I don't want MAN THIGHS! ... I want thighs that are strong and lean and look great in a skirt and high heels.  I don't know one girl who would want man thighs, but, as she went on to explain, she meant it as a compliment (or, so she says .. ha ha).  For her, she sees my thighs as the catalyst propelling me up the hills on our long bike rides, or pulling away from her as we start our intervals in a bigger ring.  She covets my man thighs!

Me and Lora before running the New York Marathon 2009

I have always dreamed of having model-like legs, long and lean, (just like Lora's) BUT, I am happy with the two strong ones that God gave me.  Maybe it's my age now, but at any rate, I will use my man thighs to their fullest potential.

Go man thighs!

Look Ma ... no pull buoy!

Yes!  I did it.  For the first time in the two years since I started swimming, I swam freestyle for a total of ... get this ... 200 yards!!  AND - I did it twice during my workout.  :)  For some of you that may not be a big deal, but for this girl who enjoys the shallow end of the hot tub, I was happy beyond belief.

To be quite honest, I don't even know how I managed to swim 1.2 miles for the 1/2 Ironman last June (oh yeah, I think I doggie paddled).  That's another blog post completely.

For now, I will be happy with my baby accomplishments and work towards my goal of swimming 2.4 miles by August 28th! YIKES!!

Motivation to TRI when the weather is nasty

As I sit at my dining room table and write this, I can hear the wind whipping around our homestead in NW Washington.  It is a frigid 21 degrees and the streets are a sheet of ice.

I was planning on swimming tonight, but after taking nearly 40 minutes to get home, it was going to be another 40 minutes to get back to town to swim at the aquatic center.  Should I be depressed I'm not following my plan?  Am I not motivated?  I AM MOTIVATED ... to do two workouts tomorrow!  Run for an hour, then swim.  Doable.

But, what about the bike?  Looks like another week, at least, of riding on the trainer and running on the dreadmill.  How to stay motivated, you ask?

I have several suggestions:

1.  First, don't let one missed workout get you down.  I will do two in one day (aka...tomorrow! ;)

2.  Find the silver lining ... as I get to ride my trainer, I can catch up on those really important shows I DVR'd last week, such as Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

3.  Think of getting fat.  This always does it for me in a pinch.

4.  My coach will be disappointed I'm not with the program.  While I don't mind missing a workout or two, ultimately, I want to follow coaches plan to a T.

5.  My motivation might just make someone else motivated.  Has anyone ever told you, "Thanks!  If it wasn't for you meeting me to run at 4 am, I would have never gotten out of bed!"  That always make me smile!

No wind, no ice, no snow is going to keep this tri girl from staying motivated!

...gotta go... my show's back on ...

Maddie

Meet Maddie.  She is no ordinary bike, she is a Trek Madone 4.5 wsd.  She is built for speed and responsiveness to the road.  With a light blue and white carbon frame, she not only is stylish, she makes her rider look great as well! ;)  Just recently, Maddie got a style makeover and is rocking a new set of aero bars.  Her rider doesn't quite know what to do with them yet.

Maddie wonders, do you have a name for your bike?