A better day

Great run today! 8 miles on the IMSG run course in an hour. The kind of run that leaves you feeling on a high when you're done. Yum!
First couple miles the legs reminded me of what we just did Monday and my heel was tight, but after that the legs and heel and I got feeling better and enjoyed the rest of the run. Threw in six 5-6 minute intervals. What a course. Some serious climbs, as well as some fun descents. Some fantastic views too. I would've taken pics, but today was a down to business fast run. Race day should prove to be a good time! I look forward to running both out and back Saturday.

A little course map for you......looks fun doesn't it! :)

Knowing what's to come this weekend I decided to indulge in a contrast bath. We have a pool here at the complex that they don't heat or cover during the winter and it worked perfect. Seriously did not expect it to be as cold as it was. Just as cold as when my tub is full of ice! I only lasted 6 minutes the first time. My 4 year old tried to convince me to swim laps. Um....NO!

Jumped into the hot tub for 10 minutes,

then back into the frigid painful water for another 7 minutes. Painful for sure, check out this coloring

But beneficial for sure. There will be a repeat of the icing fun Friday afternoon, don't you even worry.

Oh, and the best part of my recovery today? Even more than eating lots of yummy food?
A nap with my sweet baby

Dear St George....

Thank you for the dry roads clear of ice and snow, but come on -
is 45 degrees and overcast the best you can do???

I shouldn't whine, I hear it's snowing at home, and riding outside there is almost impossible and I've already logged 70 miles outside down here.
Yesterday about 12:30pm I got started on my first long ride for the week riding from T1 through 1 loop of the bike course. The red rocks riding away from Sand Hollow Reservoir are so beautiful. The ride into the next city, Washington, had several good climbs up, and several good descents as well. Nothing longer than a mile though, actually there are no sustained climbs on the whole course longer than a mile, just a ton of shorter ones. Once into Washington I got to ride on the new road running parallel to the freeway. Nice new black paving and not a car in sight. Went down one hill thinking I might topple head over heels it was so steep. I did actually say "Wee!" near the bottom of it though :)
Finally made it into St George and started the section of the course I've already ridden. Riding west toward Santa Clara I actually rode the correct route (got lost last time) and it takes you through some lava fields, pretty neat. I don't really care for that section through Santa Clara and Ivins, very monotonous and just feels like they're trying to add miles by having us make weird turns here and there. I just wanted to get out on the highway.

Anyway, the highway leading to the Gunlock turnoff seemed to come quicker this time, and the miles up to the reservoir weren't too bad. The lake isn't much to see, but this pic below shows it and the interesting climate layers you can see on the mountains. That small roller is also a good representaion of what you're always dealing with on this course. They're not all that small though..... ;)
It was the point of leaving the town of Gunlock at about 40 miles that I had kind of had it mentally. I was excited to be over halfway, but I was cold (mostly just my feet, they were frozen for sure despite the socks, shoes and neoprene toe covers I had on), and probably a little low on calories although I had been paying attention to things well. I actually stopped on the side of the road, drank my protein drink moved my trail mix from my back jacket pocket to the bento box right up front, and went on my way. Once I finally got up to Veyo, my highest spot in elevation, I saw snow on the sides of the road unlike I had elsewhere, and it was even colder. I stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom (really, just an excuse to get my feet dethawed a little in a warm place), and took off ready to be done. I remember being upset a the course at this point the last time I rode the course because there was an extra hill past the Veyo hill and I had forgotten about. This time I remembered and was mentally prepared and once I got through with that I was pleased with the renewed spirits I had as I FINALLY got to ride above 20pmh. In fact, I probably averaged 25mph those last 15 miles back into St George. I arrived to our condo very cold but to dinner on the table. I was a little colder than expected and had to endure the painful sting of frostbite on my feet while standing in the shower. OUCH! I hate that!

Anyway, long story short, yesterday's ride was had it's ups and downs both literally with never ending rolling hills and a headwind for 50 miles, mentally with times of confidence and others of great discouragement, and physically with low energy levels or dead legs or something, but no injuries or pain which is the up for sure. My nutrition went very well. I was dressed as well as I think I could have been, and am hoping for a little bit warmer and sunnier weather for the next ride on Friday. I averaged the mph average I was hoping for (but just barely, possibly a little under), so I'm confident with more training, better equipment, and race atmosphere I'll be in a good position to get that bike split I want.
Tomorrow I'll do some tempo work on the run course. I'm excited to feel the course out with my legs vs just the car. Probably sneak a swim in too. I hate paying to swim (I don't since I work at a fitness center at home), but our pool here unfortunately is waiting for a part to come in that was due yesterday......of course.

I don't usually post all of my goals and their specifics, but I will post Friday's. The plan is to ride 2 loops of the course giving me about 85 miles. It is something so hard to wrap my mind around right now, but something I need and want to do. The mileage is a little scary yes, but it's the hills and mental challenge that are the bigger players. I may be able to hook up with a local triathlon club riding the course that day for my second loop, but any and all encouragement I can get from my faithful readers will be much appreciated! I'm shameless, what can I say :)

End of the week

Ok, so that whole detailing the week didn't go so well. Sorry about that. Here's how the rest of the week looked though

Wednesday: a quick 1200 yd swim before my 6am water fitness class
Thursday: 2 hours of good hard Computrainer time with Charity in the morning which was really good, followed by a 2000 yard swim snuck in right before the fitness center closed at 1pm
Friday: lovely sunny 6 mile canal road snowy run after the Christmas hoopla had settled down. Perfect run! Went out just to run however felt good, and fast felt good - those days are the best!
Saturday: 2400 yard Master's swim in the morning, 9 mile run at the Oval with Jonathan. Plans for that morning got a little turned upside down and it was like 17 degrees for the high, so the Oval at 3pm actually ended up working out well. Good old Jonathan, he can really push the pace well for an old man ;)

And today we drove down to St George. I'm excited for a good quality week on the IMSG course. Tomorrow holds a 70ish mile ride. No super warm weather, but hey 45 is better than 25. Beggars can't be choosers :)

A training week documented

I decided to document the next 2 weeks of training, this week being a little more normal than our St George week next.

So this morning started with a 5:30am wake up call. Some days it is near impossible to drag myself out of bed, like I wish they made bed that could turn cold and hard when it was time to get up, along with some windows that light up impersonating the sun. That'd make things so much easier.
Anyway, off on a super foggy 5 minute drive to Master's swimming I go. Master's is kind of like adult swim team. We workout in lanes according to speed and have a coach and do sets. It's great! We've been doing the 12 weeks of Christmas as swimming where we add 1 x 100 every week, so this week we culminated with 12x100's on 1:25. For all my running friends, a 100 is 4 lengths of the pool, probably equivalent to a 400m or 1/4 mile interval. Not forever long, but long enough to be fatiguing. And 1:25 is fast, usually it's 90%+ for me to make them all (we leave for a new 100 every 85 seconds). Some weeks I haven't made them all, and have been 2-3 seconds behind. That's frustrating. But I'm proud to report today that I made all 12 and probably averaged 1:23! It was great! I was pushing hard, but probably only 80-85%, still in control. I had a lane mate Chris who was great to pace behind. Thanks Chris!
I'm really happy with how I'm swimming lately. I'm at a point where I am comfortable pushing through pain, I'm mentally prepared and ready for whatever is thrown at me. NO whining.

Sorry for the blurry pic, our camera is out of commission and the camera phone was still sleepy too :)

Went down to Aaron at Peak Performance for some bike adjustments today. He unfortunately saw the tech-newbie in me. I've ridden for 10 years sure, but I don't honestly know much about bikes and apparently not so much about "ankling", or pedaling correctly. It was great to have someone point it out and I look forward to the day I have a bike I'm excited to show off. And hopefully learning how to actually ride a bike correctly :) will yield me even better results.

Tonight before I taught my class it was time for a tempo run. I forgot to take a pic, sorry! I left the house late after making dinner, teaching the kids a little FHE lesson about Christ and Christmas, and putting my baby to bed so had to condense the workout a little to 3 x 7 minutes at 7:30min/mi pace w/ 3 minutes @ 9 minute mile in between plus warm up and cool down.

A good day. I'm pooped! Goodnight World!

Dear Santa...

I'd like a massage for Christmas.

Wait, scratch that, I NEED a massage for Christmas. I have really been up-ing the training, swimming especially. I put 10,000 yards in just last week. That's 400 lengths of the pool. And my neck and shoulders are feeling it! My legs are pretty darn tired too, and I'm not particularly sure why. I did put in 3 good bike sessions on the trainer downstairs, but that's not unusual, and only got a couple runs in. Hmmm....
I've struggled mentally a bit in the last couple weeks. Just not feeling as energetic as usual and fearful of the endurance needs I require for IMSG. Like a friend Charity suggested, I probably just need a down week. I'd really like to push that out 1 more week out so I can do it over Christmas week. Then we're headed down to St George for a whole week where I'll put in LOTS of miles! Looking forward to it!

Thanksgiving day race and other stuff

Sorry for the lack of creativity in the subject line :) I'm still waiting on a cute pic hubby's cousin took of our family on Thanksgiving, but we all ran the International Thanksgiving Day Run in Orem. It's a great 4 mile race hubby's family owns. I met up with a friend Jonathan whom I ran the first 2.5 miles with at a solid 6:50-7:00min/mi pace. I was feeling great, so took off and ran the last 1.5 pretty fast, not sure how fast though. I finished the 4 miles in 26:47, good enough for 1st in my age group which meant I won a turkey! Yep, we have a nice 10lb Norbest turkey in the freezer. One of the more useful prizes I've won :)

I kind of want to do a few more shorter speedy things like this to enjoy my speed before it may give way to endurance with IMSG looming. I am actually curious to see what happens to my short speed as I work more slow twitch muscles than fast twitch. I'm not convinced I'll lose it. We shall see!

Anyway, the hubby who has only picked running up regularly since June or so came in only 4 minutes behind me at 30:59. Way to go babe! I was surprised to see him so soon. That's not knocking him, that's giving props. I better watch out ;)

And our 6 year old daughter and 3 year old son ran this year too. The 6 year old had her first race experience here 3 years ago and it wasn't a good one unfortunately. She felt pressured and shy with all the other kids around, and I got really upset and played stage mom. I learned a lot about both of us from that experience and I've become super relaxed and supportive with them now. Her success that day came from finishing the 1/2 mile with no crying, no coaxing or bribery from me, and only 3 10-second walk breaks. Way to go Mckayla!
And this was our little guy Talmage's first race (well he did do a fun run back in the spring, so maybe not, but still) and he had a great time. Smiled along the way, and seemed to enjoy his 1/4 mile. He's a sweet happy little guy.

Great way to start the day for sure! No running for the baby yet, but next year I'm sure she'll make her debut ;)

In other news, IRONMAN St George is now under 5 months away! It's open for Volunteer sign up now too. I went on a ride last weekend with friends and it was harder than I would've like it to feel. I've been taking a college class and it's sucked my time dry this past month - 2 more weeks to real training back - yay!!!

On said ride, my friend Te Koi let me try some of his Mint Chocolate -I dare say the word.... GU. Now if you know me at all, you know I DON'T use GU! I'm a Hammer girl all the way, but this stuff is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! They only come out with it once a year for the holiday's and it taste just like an Ande's Mint - Yum! Random information - gram for gram, Ande's Mints have twice the calories the Mint Chocolate GU does. So if the craving hits.....eat a gel??

Hope everyone out there is doing well! Add on the layers (of clothing, not holiday food which = pounds) and get out and enjoy the sunshine and brisk temps!