Family Swim Day

Training plan for the day:

Swim: speed day
wu: 400 continuous. last 50 in each 100 is kick
main: 10 x 100 EBEH (each 100 = 25Easy, 25Build, 25Easy, 25 Hard)
cd: 4 x 25, each slower than last

Bike: 1.5 hour with some climbing or low cadence work if you're on the
trainer. RPE 3-4 on the flats and allow yourself some out of the saddle work
of RPE 7-8 on the hills

I took this morning off and had a nice relaxing time going to the store with Ethan and Elle. Ok, actually, no part of it was relaxing, but it was nice to have plenty of time to do it. Ethan fell into the shopping cart and got very sad,  so I had to get a band-aid for his elbow from the manager. Don't ask me how you fall into a shopping cart, but that's what he did, and luckily his head landed right on my purse which probably wasn't too padded, but more padded than the shopping cart.

While Ethan was at school, I was going to take Elle in the bike trailer to do my ride, but after trying, unsuccessfully, to hook the trailer onto my bike for half an hour, I went with Plan B and put my bike on the trainer. This was kind of fun because I have Stardust from Netflix right now so I got to watch that. I still haven't finished it because I had to hurry and go pick Ethan up before it was over.  

It wasn't too hard of a workout, I didn't get up to RPE 7-8 like I was supposed to (that would be about 170 heart-rate, and I only got up to about 150 for about 10 minutes), but I didn't take it too easy either.

When the kids got home from school, I got them to clean their rooms so they could go swimming when Pete got off work. They did a great job so when Pete got off, we picked him up and headed up to the pool.

We did call to make sure the kid pool would be open before we left so there would be no disappointments this time. Unfortunately, the lap pool wasn't going to be open until half an hour after we got there, though, and I had a meatloaf in the oven so we couldn't really wait around. There is a lap pool in the kid pool area, though, and I was able to do my laps there. The water in this pool is much warmer and murkier and it tastes more strongly of chlorine. I don't like to think of the reasons for this. I just did my swimming.

I don't like to be cold, but I must say that it is harder to swim (especially a speed workout) in such a warm pool. I got my workout done just fine, though, and kept my 100s between 1:45 and 1:50. Then I played with the kids for a few minutes, and we hurried off to get showered and get home before the meatloaf burned.

It was not burned, and it was a huge hit with the kids - they all at least had seconds, Ethan had thirds. Pete is averse to ketchup and this one does not have that offending ingredient so he will eat it, but he says it does not compare to the meatloaf a lady made him while he was on his mission. Oh well, it's the best meatloaf I've had, and that will have to do. Here's the recipe (I mixed the cheese in and made 2 loaves out of it - one to bake and one to freeze. This was the frozen one that I thawed out over night.)

My sister is going to have her surgery first thing tomorrow. I'm glad she's getting it done, and hope everything goes well. We will keep her in our prayers.  

Beginning Base 2

I am now starting week 12 and base 2. For base 2, I'm going to be having "theme weeks" where I focus on a single sport. This week it is swimming.

Today I was supposed to do this:

Swim (80 min.): long swim
wu: 4 x 250 (4 x swim, kick, pull, swim)
main: 1950 ladder: start with 300, then 275,250, 225, ….until 25.
Cd: 200 easy

But I also wanted to do my long run from yesterday:

R: 1.5 hour long run at RPE 2-3 steady.

I really don't want to miss any long runs. I'd hate to end up with a broken foot again.

I started out planning to go running early, take Mindy and Pete in then go up to the gym for my swim. I was getting my running stuff ready last night when I told Pete what I had to do today. He then informed me that he had to go in at 7 so unless I wanted to go running at 5am, I wouldn't be able to do that. He also tore some workouts out of our current Runners World magazine for me to do that strengthen your hips to help you avoid injury. I found this video on their website that helps me understand them a little more. Pete is insisting that I do them before my runs.

I probably should have planned on doing my swim in the morning and my run at night, but I knew that I would end up not doing whatever I planned for in the evening, and I didn't want that to be the run, plus I was just psyched to go running! So I did the run at the gym this morning. I did my new exercises first, and that took about 20 minutes. Then I ran for an hour and a half. I took it pretty easy. I wore my heart-rate monitor, but I forgot my watch so it was pretty much worthless to me and I took it off after a few laps (hopefully discretely). Most of the time I wasn't breathing very hard, though. 

I kept telling myself that I should be able to do 9 miles in 90 minutes and that I would catch up, but as I got to 7 miles I was still behind so I picked up the pace a little. I got to my last 5 minutes, and In Your Honor by Foo Fighters came on. This is such a good ending song! It just builds and builds and you just keep holding yourself back and holding yourself back. Then he says, "for you to feel the life" or something like that, and it just breaks free, and you break free. Then he screams and you feel like screaming, but in a good way. I felt like I was flying, I was smiling, and I seriously about started crying. It was an awesome feeling! If you don't have this song on your running playlist, I would suggest it. Unless you don't want to push yourself too hard. I probably push myself too hard whenever it comes on. Great running song. 

I still didn't finish 9 miles in the 90 minutes, though. I couldn't just stop there, though. I had this goal of doing 9 miles, and I had to finish it. I ran nice and easy for 5 more minutes to finish out the 9 miles. That is if I counted right. That's 81 laps, and I can't say I'm sure I didn't miss a lap here or add one there. But I did about 9 miles, and I got my time in so that was good, and man am I feeling it now! I think I'm mostly sore from those exercises at the beginning, but probably partially from that hard push at the end too. Oh well, it was fun. The kids ended up being in the daycare for a little over 2 hours, and they were actually ready to go when I picked them up.

As for the swim . . . You guessed it, I didn't get to the gym this evening for the swim. Whenever I think about swimming, I really dread it, even though when I'm swimming I enjoy it. I just hate getting all changed, and getting up there, getting cold and everything that goes along with swimming. Thinking about going swimming for 80 minutes just doesn't sound like fun, either. I really wanted to get all my workouts in this week, but since I'm going to be swimming pretty much every day, I'm not too worried about missing one. I'll just rest my tired legs tonight.

For family night, we played Jenga. Elle is really good at this game, it's amazing! She's so careful with what she does. She's usually not the one to knock it down. Ethan is just so antsy when we play it, it drives us crazy! He's jumping and dancing around and bumping the table like crazy. It's usually him that knocks it down. It's interesting to see what qualities games bring out in people.

Also, tonight, we found out my sister is back in the hospital with her heart problems. They are going to be doing the open-heart surgery in probably two weeks. It always seems so sudden when this happens. She was doing just fine last I heard, and just got a great new job that she will not be able to accept any more. Our prayers are with them. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of these problems.

12 Weeks to Ironman

Today has been a hard one for me. I was released from my calling as 1st Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency at church.  Last week we had kind of a farewell party for the president and the other counselor, but for some reason I thought I would be staying on. I don't know why, that's not how it works. The president is released, the new president is called, and she calls her new counselors. I must have had a very big head thinking she would choose me so that there would be someone from the old presidency still there. It was selfish of me to want that, the new ladies who got called probably need this calling as much as I did. It is hard not to take it personally and get upset when I wasn't picked, though. I kind of feel like I've been dumped (see, I've been spending too much time with teen-agers), and I've been feeling a little depressed all day. I didn't cry as much as I thought I would in church, and I got to go to Young Women's one last time so that was good, but I did stay in bed longer than I usually would when it was nap time.

I found out I would be released on Thursday when a member of the bishopric stopped by to tell me. I was totally shocked. Even when he first got here and started telling me about the changes that were going to happen, I still thought he was just letting me know about the others. He wasn't going to release me. I thought, "Why would they release me? I'm not going anywhere. I haven't been in this calling long, and I just love it so much." The girls really mean so much to me, and I hate the thought of not going to the Tuesday night activities and being in class with them on Sundays. 

After he left, I struggled and cried a little with the thought of leaving, then Pete reminded me that callings are inspiration from God. I decided that I needed to have faith in this. The new president was called of God, and if she didn't feel inspired to call me as one of her counselors, then that was what the Lord wanted. It must be time for me to move on. As I was getting ready for bed, still thinking about this, I opened my scriptures to Doctrine and Covenants 101 and read a verse that I had highlighted.

16. Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God.

I had left "Zion" un-highlighted and I remembered my seminary teacher, back in high school, telling us to insert whatever our problem was here. I immediately started crying because this was an answer to my unspoken prayer. I know that my calling and my release were from God. I know I am in His hands, and I was comforted. He cares for us and will comfort us even in little things like this.

Next week, I will go to church feeling a little lost, like I'm new in the ward again. I'm a little nervous for this, but I know it will be good. I'm sure my new calling will be something that I need and I will end up loving it too.

Riding On The Edge

Today I had a great plan to get my workouts in and make it so everyone would have fun. This is what I was supposed to do today:

S: 1000m continuous, open water if possible.

B: 2 hours, RPE4-5. Try to get this in after the swim. Try out post swim
nutrition timing to see how your stomach handles the bike effort combined
with the unavoidable swallowing of lake/pool water

Well, there was no way I was going to do an open water swim! Brrrrr! So, I thought we could all go to the pool and I could play with the kids for a few minutes before doing my laps, then leave them with Pete and ride my bike home. 

We had a late morning, had pancakes, and I cleaned my bike (since last time I rode it in the rain,  it was REALLY dirty) before we got out the door to go to the pool. By the time we got there, there wasn't going to be time for me to do everything and be back in time to take Mindy to ballet so I thought I'd just cut my ride a little short.  Then we went into the kiddy pool and the kids had been playing for just a few minutes when they told us that anyone not taking swimming lessons had to get out. The lady evacuating us told us we could "wait around for an hour" like we have nothing better to do with our lives. I couldn't go swim in the other pool either, because they were having a swim meet in there. We really need to check the schedule before we take the kids swimming there again. They were all very disappointed to have to get out, and I can't blame them. Pete let them play on the climbing wall for quite a while, though, and took them for slurpees afterwards.

I ended up only riding my bike for 1:14, but that's better than nothing. It felt much better to ride with a clean chain too!

On the way home, I was coming down a pretty steep hill (Val Verde in Bountiful), and going pretty fast so I did what I usually do in that situation and ride close to the middle of the lane so that I'm less likely to hit some gravel or the curb and get thrown from my bike. I was doing this, concentrating on the road, when a car honked at me. This is quite startling because when you're going fast like that, all you can really hear is the wind rushing past your ears, and you don't always realize a car is behind you. I got kind of mad and did the, "Hey, watch it buddy!" arm gesture to him as he passed. It's not like I was going slow. I was probably going close to the speed limit, and he didn't get to the bottom of the hill very much before me at all. I was just thinking, "Would it have killed you to just slow down a tiny bit?!" It's a good thing he turned before I got there because I might have been tempted to stick my tung out at him or something.

Once when I was riding with a friend, we had a car honk at us like that (only we weren't going really fast down a hill so it didn't really scare me as much) and she said, "I hate it when they honk."  I hadn't really thought much of it and said, "I'm sure they were just letting us know they were there." It's interesting how much your state of  mind can change how you feel about something like that. I'm sure this guy today was just letting me know he was there, and not trying to be rude.  I'm sorry for any mean feelings I had towards you, guy, if you're reading this.

It just makes me wonder if I was in the wrong. What do you do, dear readers, when you are riding your bike really fast down a hill? Do you go in the middle like me or try to stay on the edge? Or, are you on the other side of the picture? Do you honk and drive by the person on the bike, or do you just slow down a little and stay behind them until you get to the bottom of the hill? I don't know what I'd do if I were the driver. I'd like to say that I would be the one to slow down and wait, but I'm not sure. It's easy to think that you're more important than someone else no matter what side of the picture you're on. I need to try not to do this, I need to try to imagine what other people are thinking more.

Save Your Pennies, Kids!

Today was scheduled as a day off! 

Last night I was thinking about trading it for Sunday because I have a one and a half hour run scheduled for that day, but then I started noticing that I was sore from my little run yesterday. That helped make up my mind to keep today as a rest day. I think I'll do my Sunday run on Monday.

I had a dream last night that I was with a friend in St. George and her car got broken into. I looked up and saw someone going through a backpack by another car so I yelled, "Hey!" She dropped the backpack and stared running. At this point, I was going to run after her (yes, "her," she was just like a college student) and I was very confident that I would catch her and get my friend's stuff back because I'm such a fast runner now! :) Then I woke up, so I never got the chance to try. I did lay there in bed for 20 minutes thinking about it though. Do you ever do that? Lay there in bed and try to figure out how your dream was going to end?

Anyway, what I did end up doing today was going to the zoo. Yesterday, the kids and I counted the change in our change jar to see if there was enough to buy a year pass to the zoo. They were very good at helping me count. Ethan just loved it, and he counted out several piles of 10 pennies for me, and Mindy did 2 nickel rolls and one dime roll herself. We ended up with about $96 in coins and a pass to the zoo is $90! Actually, there was more than that because I gave each of the kids $2 in pennies. They thought this was so great too.

We had a lot of fun at the zoo even though most of the animals were inside do to the inclement weather (that's what the signs say, I need to start using the word inclement more often). We rode on the carousel and Pete got us cotton candy. Those were the highlights of the trip. And now we have a pass so we can go back whenever we want! This is good since the playground was basically flooded and Elle got her tights soaking wet when she tried to climb onto one of the slides. They love the playground there.

Elle just loved these "cute little monkeys!"

We got a pretty good view of the leopard.

So instead of me going running for an hour and a half, the kids got to run around for a couple hours, and we did some walking. There are some pretty big hills at the zoo and our children we not daunted, lest of all Elle. She is so funny, and when she gets running, her little left arm just gets pumping. It's so cute! I don't know why she only uses one arm. I kind of hope she grows out of it before she's old enough to get made fun of for it, but for now it is just the cutest thing to watch. Pete and I just walk behind her laughing. We sure love that little girl! (Pete got some video of it, I'll see if I can add it later)

Awesome Run Day

This morning I brought Ethan and Elle to the daycare for 2 hours and did both of my workouts inside at the gym.  Here's what I did:

R: 45 minutes with strides every 5 minutes. Mostly RPE 3.

S: 8 x 300 as 2x(300 easy, 300 kick, 300 easy, 300 pull)

Doing strides is just fun! When I saw that I got to do them today, I was so excited because, to tell you the truth, I'm getting sick of all this "recovery" business. I had a great run. I kept wanting to go faster, but then I would check my heart-rate and say, "Wow, 177 is way too high!" and try to get it back down to 150 in between strides. The fun thing about strides are that you get to feel really fast for 20 seconds. I love just flying past everyone else on the track!

At one point, I even had the fast lady (Or, as Elle would call her, the orange and white lady) passed me again and I tried to stay close enough to pass her when my next stride came. I caught up to her and passed her quickly, then, "Dang, 177 again!" I ended my stride and she just passed me right back up. This lady is pretty much always there when I go run, and I'm glad she's there. I kind of have a goal to get as fast as her someday. She's kind of an inspiration to me, and it's not like she's running that much faster than me to make it an unrealistic goal. I wonder how fast she does run. Maybe one of these days I'll get the courage up to talk to her. 

I DID run faster today, though! I did 5 miles at exactly 45:11!! That is a hair away from 9-minute miles! I know some of you are looking around saying, "She thinks that's fast?" But, for me, it is. I was so excited when I got to mile 4 and saw that it had only been 35 minutes. I couldn't believe it, I mean, I was going pretty slow between strides to get my heart-rate down - at least, I was trying to go slow anyway. Then I realized it might be possible to finish 5 miles in my 45 minutes! This of course, made it hard to take it easy between strides, but I think I did ok at it. I'm just so excited that I did 9-minute miles for 5 miles! Wahoo! Maybe all that recovery business really did me good!

As soon as I walked one lap to cool-down, I headed down to change and get into the pool. It was nice and cool and felt so good, my face was red-hot after that run! I was quite a site, I'm sure. 

The swim was nice and easy, and I stretched my arms and legs in between my sets of 300.  (Oh, dang, I just realized that I only did 4 sets of 300. I didn't do everything twice like I was supposed to. Oops. No wonder it was so nice and easy!)

I got the kids out of the daycare just before they were in there for 2 hours. I hate leaving them in there for that long, but it was nice to have all my workouts done for the day without having to wake up at 4:30 am. This is my recovery week remember? ;) 

We even had time for the kids to play on the climbing wall for a few minutes before we hurried home to have lunch and get Ethan to preschool. They get so excited about little things like that. I got to stretch a little more while they climbed/played around too.

"The sun did not shine. . . .

It was too wet to play.

So we sat in the house

All that cold, cold, wet day.

Oh no, not me. I'm not going to let a little rain get in my way! 

I say:

I know it is wet

And the sun is not sunny.

But we can have 

Lots of good fun that is funny!

- The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss

Today I took Elle with me to the gym after dropping Mindy off at school. Pete was working from home so Ethan wanted to stay with him (he probably played on the computer the whole time.). I planned on getting back by 9:30 for preschool because I had a pretty quick swim, but of course that didn't happen.

Here's my plan for the day:

S: recovery swim
5 x 200
150 easy

B: 60 minutes, same as yesterday, just spinning and lots of stretching.

I kept reminding myself that this was a "recovery swim," but it's hard to take it easy when you're trying to hurry at the same time. At least I got home in time to get Pete to his meeting on time and that was the important thing.

It rained and it rained and it rained, all day. What could I do on this "wet, wet, wet day"? Well, I went for a bike ride of course!

I bundled up pretty good because it was really cold, and put on my rain jacket that has a special hood made to go over your helmet without getting in the way of your vision. I put Elle in the bike trailer with a pillow and blankets and closed the cover nice and tight. I got her so nice and comfy that she went to sleep right away and slept the whole time until we got to the ducks at the end of our ride. I have never really road in the rain like that before, and it was pretty much the same except I had to avoid the puddles for Elle's sake (I don't know if the bike trailer was made to take that much water), and my sunglasses kept getting water drops on them. It was pretty good other than the fact that I forgot to put my toe covers on, and my toes were pretty much numb for half the ride. I was glad it was only an hour ride.

When we got to the ducks, Elle was just so happy! It made all the difference for her to be able to look at the ducks for 5 minutes. She loved it, it was great! Then we came home and had hot chocolate which is a good recovery drink when you've had a cold ride, especially if you make it with milk so you get the protein and dark chocolate so you get the antioxidants.  I tried not to complain about my toes being cold too much, whenever I start to do that I just need to think of the people in the Donnor Party again. My toes never were cold!

Distance Update:

Since I bought my new running shoes, I have run 113.7 miles in those babies! I wanted to tell you when I got to the 100-mile mark, but I hadn't added it up in a while so sorry about that. 113.7 is pretty cool, though. I will add more tomorrow!

Then our mother came in

And she said to us two,

"Did you have any fun?

Tell me. What did you do?"

And Sally and I did not know

What to say.

Should we tell her

The things that wen on there that day?

Should we tell her about it?

Now, what SHOULD we do?

Well . . . 

What would YOU do

If your mother asked YOU?

-One of my favorite books to read to my kids

I Was Talking to My Babies!

This morning, at around 10, I was having a hard time getting Ethan to stay off the computer (Gee, I wonder where he gets that from.) so finally I just said, "Ok, you guys wanna go in the stroller?" Pete was trying to work from home, but he's also got our family cold so I thought I'd give him a break from listening to Diego computer games and fighting kids. 

Here is what my training plan said to do today:

B: 60 minutes inside or out, just easy spinning, RPE 3.
R: 30 minutes easy RPE 2-3.

I took the kids out and ran for 15 minutes then headed back. That is about the perfect length for taking kids in the stroller (unless they are asleep, then you can go for longer) because they were still interested in looking around at the sites and spotting robins. When we were about a block from the house, they were asking to get out and walk, and this was perfect because I was just about finished with my time, and I got a little bit of a cool-down walking with them. Actually, they didn't walk. They ran. When Ethan got to the house, he sat down on the porch steps breathing heavily saying he was tired, so when Elle got there she did the same. She is so dramatic! It was a fun little outing. 

We had lunch, then got ready to take Ethan to school. Pete actually rode his bike in to work today! I'm glad he's able to do that now - and not because I don't want to take him in. I kind of enjoy our time together in the car when I drop him off at work, but I'm glad that he's feeling well enough to get back on his bike.

I debated on whether I wanted to hook the bike up to the trainer because that's kind of a pain, or the bike trailer because that's really a pain. I decided to go with the bike trailer because Elle would enjoy that more, and I might want to use it again tomorrow so it will already be ready. I went out with plenty of time to get the bike trailer onto the bike, and amazingly, it went right on! Maybe I've just been going about it the wrong way all this time!

After dropping Ethan off at school, and convincing Elle to get back into the bike trailer by telling her we would play on the park when we picked him him, I rode around with her for an hour. I kept it really easy, reminding myself that this is my recovery week and that I'm just out there to get the blood flowing and to help my muscles not forget how to do stuff. Elle was so cute, she slept for about half the ride sitting on the floor with her head on the seat. Am I a terrible mother for allowing her to do that and not having her totally strapped in? 

When we got home, I put Elle into her room because she started throwing a fit about wanting to go see the ducks when she woke up. I told her I could take her in the car because we were already home, but she wouldn't stand for that. That means, she got to go to her room. I went to my room and stretched while I listened to her cry. She didn't cry for long, though, and pretty soon I heard her in there talking. I heard her call out something about wrapping her baby up so I told her just a minute. I finished stretching then started to open her door to go help her wrap her baby up, but she quickly pushes the door back and says, "I was talking to my babies!" Then she went back to talking to her babies. It was so funny, and so cute! I was able to take my shower and everything while she did that and she was perfectly happy. It was great!

Another Broken Clavicle!

Did I scare you with that title? Well, someone else did just break their collar bone, but not me. For those of you who don't follow him, it was Lance Armstrong. It was his right one too, that just sucks! He seems to be toughing it out pretty well. This is sure to have an effect on his comeback to the tour. Get well soon, Lance!

Today was my rest day, and it was really nice to not have anything to do. I felt really tired today too. I'm planning on going to bed early and getting as much rest as I can out of this rest day.

I thought I'd take the extra time I had to work on editing some video for Against Malaria, but that didn't end up happening because I don't have Final Cut installed on this computer and I could not find the serial number to install it! Arg! I will hopefully get it figured out tomorrow. 

I've been thinking a lot about high fructose corn syrup today and how it seriously is in EVERYTHING! I thought I had done so good last week and not had any, but then I realized that I had a few graham crackers. Dang! It almost seems like the high fructose corn syrup is targeting our kids, and pretending to be healthy as it does so. 

I found a site telling about how great a snack fruit snacks are (My kids are obsessed with fruit snacks!). It even has this listed as the down-side: "None really, although it's not the snack for everyone." Then right after that, it lists the first four ingredients:

1. Fruit (Grapes, Strawberries)
   
2. Corn Syrup
   
3. Sucrose
   
4. Gelatin
   

Well, at least #2 isn't "high fructose" corn syrup, but shouldn't that at least be considered a down-side to the snack?

I just feel like we are being brainwashed into thinking things are good for us, when really they're not. The graham cracker box even trys to make it look like it's a healthy snack. Palease!  Just because there are "5 Grams Whole Grain!" "Low Saturated Fat" and "No Cholesterol." Maybe we're trading a little fat for things that are worse for us. I used to not believe that was possible. I used to think, "What is worse than fat?" If it didn't have fat in it, how could it be bad for you? I used to think that getting Cool Whip instead of whipped cream was the healthy option because there is less fat. But really, does that make it better? I just recently realized that Cool Whip is mostly high fructose corn syrup. 

When I first decided to stop eating as many processed carbs and to cut high fructose corn syrup out completely, I told Mindy that we weren't going to buy white bread anymore, and she had a little melt down. I think I broke her little heart, and it almost made me change my mind. Almost. Now, we have our bread that has no sugar and no HFCS in it, and she devours that almost as much, but I don't feel quite so bad about it. It's those empty calories that I worry about now.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. I need to get back into training so I have something else to think about! :) I just want everyone to be aware of what they are eating. Nowadays, we don't always know what it is we are putting into our bodies. I don't think this is a good thing, no matter what it is.  It's hard to get the truth, though. I've found some really anti HFCS sites, but then their site, Sweet Surprise, claims none of what the other guys say is true. It also explains why it is in everything. I'm not saying this makes it ok, but it answers some of my questions like, "why does HFCS need to be in crackers??"

13 Weeks to Ironman!

I did every one of my workouts this week! Well, except for today, but since I decided that I wouldn't do the Sunday workouts when I first started training, I don't think that counts. That means I got a good 14 training hours this week! 

Next week is a recovery week so that will be really nice! I have tomorrow off as well as today, and only 8.5 hours all week. I'm kind of looking forward to a more relaxed week. But then, my plan also says to reduce my calories to match the reduced training. That will be hard. I really like to eat. I was pretty good this week with not eating any high fructose corn syrup (this is harder than it sounds, start reading the ingredients on your favorite foods and you'll be surprised. Even foods that are supposed to be heathy have it in them. It's a conspiracy! This is why I've started making my own bread), not too much refined flour or sugar - until I made those brownies. They were so delicious too!

Last week I had a question about how to work the Against Malaira site, and I realized that it's not very user-friendly so I thought I'd post the directions here again. Here they are:

There's a button towards the top that says "Sponsor now!" that you click on. It's kind of weird wording because I don't think of it as you "sponsoring me" but I guess you are. I don't know.

Anyway, click that link, then you put in your name, town and a message if you want to (This will show up on my page, so whatever you want people to see), then you click "add details."

This will update the info in the little chart below, and a new button will appear that says"next" so click that.

Now you can choose how much you want to donate, and what currency it is in. Put your name and email address (twice) and click "next."

It will take you to a page where you make sure all your info is correct (make sure you check the box saying it is, then you click on "donate via world pay."

Next it will take you to a page where you choose what kind of credit card you want to use, click on that, then you can put in your cc info and click on "make payment."

That should do it. I hope that helps and doesn't make it more confusing!

My little sister is in China right now, and with all this talk about mosquitos and malaria she said, "Way to freak me out, Coke! You know there are so many skitos here, and they leave huge red marks!" I hadn't even thought that she was in danger of getting the disease I'm trying to prevent. Of course, it's most deadly to little kids and pregnant women so I probably don't need to worry about her too much, but it is kind of scary to think about. I'm so grateful we don't have it around here anymore. I know the pioneers really had a hard time with it and most of them suffered from or died from it. They called it "the shakes" or "The Ague."

I've got a couple followers from India, and I'd be really interested in hearing about if and how Malaria has affected your life, if that's not too personal.

Wind Wisdom

This morning when I woke up, I again felt sick and thought about canceling this workout, but, as Pete reminded me, this was the last workout for the week and I will have done them all! Plus I get 2 rest days after today. 

Here is what my training plan says:

B: 3 hours long bike. If your breakfast routine last week worked, repeat it
again here, if not, experiment with something new.
R: 30 minutes recovery at RPE2

I was supposed to use the same breakfast routine as last week, but last week I rode in the afternoon, and had whole wheat pancakes with blueberries. Today I wanted to leave by around 8:00 (though, this didn't exactly happen) and we didn't have baking powder or maple to make pancakes so I just had my usual oatmeal.  Another thing I didn't have was Hammer Gel. This is what I used last week along with my Perpetuem, and since I didn't have any this week, I just mixed up some thick Perpetuem to put in my flask. 

I did the same route as last week. This time I knew the route so I didn't have to spend as much time looking around or wondering where I was, I just tried to go as far as I could in an hour an a half. I kept imagining that google map and hoping I could get some more mileage in.

Coming down the first big hill, the wind was gusting really hard, and I actually yelled, "Woah!" because it was really pushing me sideways. I didn't get scared, though, I just kept going. I should have realized, after feeling this and turning in the direction the wind was blowing, that the wind would helping me out a lot, and also hurt me coming back. I was so excited when I zoomed past where I turned around last week, though, and I kept going for quite a while. I actually made it to a new town! Kaysville!

Then I turned around and remembered the wind. Holy Cow, it was blowing really hard! I had to fight against it pretty much the whole way home, so the way that I had planned on being easier ended up being a lot harder. I also road on Beck Street on the way back because I thought that would be easier, but it wasn't as downhill as the bike path would have been so that was kind of a bummer. It wasn't too bad to ride on, though. There is a pretty big shoulder. 

It took me 2 hours to get home, and I was pushing really hard. My total distance was 46.2 miles. I did that in 3 1/2 hours so that means my total was 13.2 miles an hour. That is better than last week's 37.6 miles which was 12.53 miles per hour. A little more than half a mile faster an hour. With that speed, I would finish the 112 miles in 8:48. Ug, that's still a really long time!

Anyway, when I got home, I ran for half an hour. I went really slow. I was really tired, and by the time I got home I kind of felt like I was going to throw up. I don't know if this was because of all the Perpetuem or if it was just because I pushed it so hard on the bike. I didn't feel good, though.

After a bath, some food, a chocolate protein shake (Thanks for going and getting that for me, Pete. You are a life-saver!) and some time, I felt better. We actually took our kids, and my friend Ann's "Little Ethan," to The Living Planet Aquarium. We met my dad there so we were able to keep pretty good track of all the kids. It was hard work because there were so many people there, but it was a lot of fun too. They had some cool stuff there and the kids were all really excited! We had dinner at Simply Thai on the way home, and our Ethan was the only kid to eat. Oh well, I'd say it was a pretty successful outing by my lack of wanting to pull my hair out.  Now everyone's asleep and I can finally relax!

Apple Butter

This morning I woke up at 4:45 and almost went back to sleep because I really felt like that cold that's been floating around here had finally caught up with me. I thought, "How much will it hurt to skip one workout this week?"

Then I thought about how I would have to get on here and tell you all that I was slacking off again, and I didn't want to do that. I also wanted to make sure I got to the gym to put flyers out. Pete made me some awesome flyers last night. I figured that since the State Swim Meet was going on at the gym, and there would be a lot of extra people there, now would be a good time to try to get the word out about raising money for Against Malaria. I even thought, "I'll at least go take these flyers in, if I don't feel like swimming, I won't." Of course, by the time I got there I figured I might as well get in the pool.

The pool was extra cold because of the swim meet (for some reason, a colder pool makes you swim faster?). I hate being cold, but once I got in and swam a few laps, it was fine. It even felt really good when I was ready to cool down!

Here's my plan for the day:

S: race-specific
wu: 2 x 150, last 50 in each is backstroke.
main: 4 x 500, 1 is RPE 3, 2 and 3 are RPE4, 4 is RPE 5
cd: 150 easy

While I was swimming I started counting laps with letters again, and for my first 500, I was thinking up only food words, and most of those words were not very healthy. I've been really missing my deserts lately. I've been so good for the past...3 days! 

For my next two 500s, I played that little game where you try to make up a story and each word has to be the next word in the alphabet. Here's my favorite one:

Apple Butter Can Do Everything. Freddy Guesses He Is Jealous. 

That dang Apple Butter, always thinking it's better than everyone else!  Poor Freddy.

I didn't time my first 500, but my second 500 was around 10:15, and the 3rd 500 was around 10:30! That was just pathetic, so for my last 500 I stopped playing games and just focused on swimming as fast as I could. Well, as fast as I thought I could go for 10 laps anyway. I worked hard and got in at 9:48! 

I left the pool feeling great and very glad that I went. I really hope at least a few people pick up my flyers too. If you're here because of the flyer, please let me know! :)

It was another beautiful day today, the kids are actually playing in the sprinklers out back! I made bread, and right now I'm baking brownies. It is the weekend, I can have a little break right? Yum, brownies....

Long Run with Long Socks

Training plan for the day:

S: speed day
wu: 350 continuous. last 50 in each 100 is kick
main: 10 x 200 EBEH (each 200 = 50Easy, 50Build, 50Easy, 50 Hard)
cd: 6 x 25, each slower than last

R: 120 minute long run. Keep RPE at 3, no harder! Stretch well afterwards
and have a good recovery meal.

I woke up at 5:00 this morning and had a little oatmeal with blueberries, then headed to the pool. I ate too much though, so I wasn't feeling great for the first little while, even though I didn't start swimming until half an hour after I ate. It should probably be an hour. What is it they always tell you about eating before swimming? I should know this.

Here's a nice little article about it.

It was ok, though. After I got warmed up, I felt fine. I did my 200s at around 3:50 (at least the ones I thought to time), and I thought this was pretty good. I only ended up doing 7 out of the 10, though, because people were coming in for a swim meet, and I was afraid they would kick me out before I got to cool down. Still that is 1,900 meters - more than an olympic tri.

I hurried and went home to help Pete get Mindy ready for school, and move the coffee table he bought last night out of the jeep. Then I headed out for my 2-hour run. Pete was great to stay home for the morning and take care of the kids so I could do this!

When we were up at Coeur d'Alene last year for Pete's Ironman, we saw a lot of people wearing compression socks. It was something I had never even heard of, but it seemed pretty big up there. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about so I bought myself a pair. The most expensive pair of socks I have ever seen. So far I have only used them for recovery, and they've been really nice for that. They help my calves not feel very sore at all after a big workout. 

Today I decided, since it was my long run, to try running in them. At first I was just glad to have them because it was cold. I dressed in just a t-shirt and shorts, thinking about how I got hot last time. Well, last time I ran in the middle of the day so it was a little different! It was ok, though, really just my hands were cold, and they warmed up after a little while. 

I did the full 2 hours, even though I was tempted to cut it a little short when I got to my house at around 1:53. I didn't stop, though, I ran around the block and past my house again until I finished my time. I have no idea how far I ran since I did a lot of it on the trails. I would say probably about 11 miles, though. That's quite a big jump from 8 miles! I hope I don't regret it. If I were running at a good 10-minute mile, it would have been 12 miles, but both Pete and my training plan said to take it really easy so I didn't push it. I tried to keep my heart-rate at around 150 (it tends to want to be at 160 when I run), but I also tried not to putt along too slow either.  

My legs felt pretty good. They were tired, and at the end I kept kicking myself in the ankle, but they didn't really hurt. I'm pretty sure I remember my legs actually hurting on my last long run. I don't know if this is just coincidence or the work of the compression socks, but I was happy with it! We'll keep trying it. 

When I got home, Pete and the kids were gone to help a friend, so I stretched, had a nice relaxing bath then made myself some eggs, sausage, toast and a protein drink for lunch. This protein drink is also from Odwalla, but it wasn't the chocolate one. I think I'll stick to the chocolate one from now on. This one was a little too gritty for me. 

Drinking and Riding

I got sunburnt today! Just a little bit. It was such a beautiful day and we had play group/preschool outside at one of the Mom's houses. I did remember to put sunscreen on before my ride, though, or I would have been really burnt. 

My plan for the day:

B: 90minutes, big and small ring. Find some hills to play on...

This lovely valley doesn't really have many "rolling hills" to "play" on. It seems to be either basically flat, or going up the mountain, and I didn't want to take the bike trailer up the mountain! I just headed up the bike path to Bountiful. It was pretty good for fun hills, I guess. Nothing too hard, but still challenging - especially challenging with the bike trailer. Luckily I dropped Ethan off at school on my way out so it was just Elle, sleeping peacefully, all slumped over in her seat. Funny girl. She slept for about half an hour, which was about how long it took to get to the end of the bike path. 

It's a lot harder going up that hill with that bike trailer, and I tried to push it really  hard today. I kept my heart-rate at around 150 (It stayed in the 130s a lot on Saturday). Pete says that's what I need to do to get my speed up on my long rides. I just need to get used to going fast on the road, and stop being such a chicken! Being careful is good, but I think I'm a little too careful. I don't need to slow down half a block away from every corner or stop sign. 

We got back to town with a half an hour to go, so I headed over to the river where the ducks tend to congregate. When we got there, I told her to put her boots back on and watch where she stepped, but then we didn't have her other boot! Somehow, even with the little plastic door snapped very tightly shut, she still managed to loose a boot. No worries, though, we just got back in and retraced our steps (uh, pedal strokes...). It turned out to be just around the corner so we got it and went back to the ducks. It was actually better this way because when we got back, a bunch of little kids were there feeding them Chereios so that was really fun for Elle. 

Last week, when I bought my new tri shorts, I was telling Pete about how Chrissy Wellington wore them, and he couldn't quite picture what she looked like so we got on google images and looked her up. Then he looked up the girl that he had thought I was talking about to show me how buff she is. Here name is Desiree Ficker and look at how she's just drinking while in her areo bars! I thought, "I can't imagine ever getting to the point where I will feel comfortable enough to do that."

Image from Bicycle Newswire

Then today, while I was riding home, I was just cruising along in my areo bars, and my timer beeped for me to take a drink so I grabbed the water bottle and started drinking before I even realized that I was still in my aero bars! I felt totally fine with it too! I don't mean to brag, but this blog is all about  milestones, and drinking in the areo bars is a pretty big milestone don't you think?!

Note: I am not endorsing drinking alcohol in this title. I've never had a drink in my life and don't plan to, thank you.

Temple Day

This morning I woke up bright and early (Ok, it was still dark so I guess I can't say it was bright...) and met the Young Women/Young Men group at the church at 5:15 so we could go to the temple before they had to go to school. It was a great experience as always, and I took this picture on the way out. It was just getting light. 

Elle still has a yucky cough so there was no way I was taking her to the daycare today, but I still wanted to get my workouts in today:

B: 2 hour small chainring only effort.
R: 50 minute solid effort at RPE 3-4

I did 2 hours on my bike on the trainer while Ethan and Elle just ran wild and free doing who knows what all over the house. They put on Land Before Time XIII (no joke!), then didn't stay around to watch the whole thing. I got to watch it all though. Quite a treat, and it sure got me spinning when those scary dinosaurs started chasing them! Did you know Cuba Gooding Jr. was in it?

After my ride, we had lunch, then I got Ethan and Elle into our double jogging stroller (you inspired me, Sun) and literally ran Ethan to school. They are so heavy! I haven't tried to used that stroller for running since Ethan started getting so big (so when he was 2), and it is a lot more work running with that thing! But this isn't all just fun and games around here anymore so I sucked it up and went for it. I pushed it pretty hard and my heart-rate stayed at around 165. I ran to school, dropped Ethan off then ran home to get sunscreen and a hat because it was hot and I know I would have been burnt. That's right, I said it was hot! It was 65 degrees today! Not really "hot" but I did get warm quick running. Isn't that awesome! I'm so excited for summer! The sun felt so good, even though I know it's going to just fry me like chicken this summer, I still love it.

Elle fell asleep almost immediately after we dropped Ethan off, and she slept for the whole rest of the run. I mostly ran on the road so I wouldn't jar her to much going on and off the sidewalk. 

I got done with my run just in time to pick Mindy up from school since she had a half day, so we all walked home. Elle insisted on getting out and running, and I forgot about her cough until she had run half a mile (seriously, she probably ran almost half the way home! She's my good little runner!) and suddenly sat down and started coughing. Oops, I shouldn't have let her do that. Poor little thing. She's ok, though.

This evening, we had a baby-sitter come over so we could go to our Stake's Temple Night. We didn't even recognize anyone we knew, though, so I'm not sure we went to the right place at the right time. It doesn't matter though, it was still good to go to the temple, it's been way too long. I'm glad I got to go twice today, it was a double boost of spirituality that is always good.

Here is a little video The Church put out that explains Why Mormon's Build Temples. If you've ever seen a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and wondered what it was, here you go:

For more info, you can also go to mormon.org. Have a good night everyone!

Talk about a long swim

Last night/this morning Elle came into my room at least 10 times. It seems like the smart thing to do would be to just let her sleep with me, but I can not sleep with a little wiggly person laying right next to me, or more likely, trying to lay on me. So I kept putting her back, hoping each time that this would be the last time. 

Finally, when she came in at 4:30, I just said, "That's enough." and got up. I read her a book and actually got her to go back to sleep - now that I needed to be awake. I had a little oatmeal with blueberries (the usual) and sat around for a little while to make sure she really was going to sleep, then I left for the gym. She was still in there coughing just before I left (poor little thing) so I figured she'd be up in a few minutes and in sleeping with Pete (he's nice, he lets her stay).

My training plan for today said:

S: long day
wu: 4 x 75
main: 500swim, 500kick, 500pull, 500swim, all RPE 4
15 x 100 (25Easy, 25Build, 25Easy, 25Hard)
cd: 100 swim, 100 back

It sure was a long workout. I was in the pool for an hour and 40 minutes. It went from hardly anyone there when I got there, to everyone sharing lanes, to hardly anyone there when I left. I shared lanes with a really fast guy. He made me feel like a row-boat next to a motor-boat. This is always good, though. I don't want to be thinking I'm too fast and get complacent. 

By the time I got done with all the 500s it felt like I should be done, and I was tempted to cut it a little short and only do half the 100s or something, but then I thought, "No way, I'm not going to get up at 4:30 only to not do my whole workout!" And I finished the whole thing.

It was a total of 3800 meters. That is almost 2.4 miles! I did have a bunch of little rests, but I tried not to stop for too long, and I was pushing pretty hard for some of it so maybe that evens it out. A swim time of 1:40 wouldn't be terrible. I'm shooting for 1:30 since that's about what Pete did. He's amazed that my plan is having me do this much swimming already. Hopefully I will be totally ready and confident on race day!

I got home just in time to get Mindy to school. It turned out that Elle slept like a little angel for Pete while I was gone. I woke her up when I got home trying to rush Mindy out the door. Then I took Pete to work, came home and had my "second breakfast." I had bacon, eggs, toast and orange juice. I felt nice and energized after that, but I still wanted to relax so I watched part of The Secret of Roan Ish with Ethan and Elle before taking Ethan to school. That movie's just fun to listen to the little girls Irish accent. So cute. 

I really hoped to take a nap while Ethan was at school, but by the time I got Elle to sleep, we only had half an hour before it was time to pick him up. I did sleep for a few minutes before rushing back off to pick the kids up, go to Costco, then take Mindy to ballet, come home for dinner, having family night, get the kids to bed.... It just never ends does it? I'm going to go to bed early tonight since I've got another early morning ahead of me tomorrow. Goodnight!

14 Weeks to Ironman!

It just seems like time is flying by! We have raised enough money for 13 nets with Against Malaria! Wahoo! Can anyone help me add to that number? Click here if you want to help!

(See the comments section for this post if you're having trouble figuring out how to use their website. It is a little confusing.)

I was supposed to put in 14.5 training hours this week, and I only ended up doing 9.5 hours. What a slacker I was this week! 

I still kind of have that feeling like a cold is trying to catch up to me, but I'm doing my best not to let it! We're taking our vitamins every day and drinking a lot of orange juice. I'd like to try really hard not to miss any workouts net week. It is supposed to be 16 hours of training for the week, though 2 of those hours are on Sunday again. Since there is no rest day to trade these workouts with, I will probably just make my run longer on Saturday again and skip the bike on Sunday. So, I guess that will be 14.5 hours. This is what my training plan says for next week:

This week's intense effort will be in the pool and road on Thursday. Try to get them in back to back, swim then run if your schedule allows. Take fluids and gel with you on the run.

Remember the question from 2 weeks ago about nutrition? Have you made any changes yet?!

Um, no, I haven't really made any changes with my nutrition. I think I've been a little bit more conscious about it. That's a start. My eating today has been really good! I'd say I'm at a 9 so far. I haven't had dinner yet, though.

Tomorrow is my long swim, and I think I've missed my long swims for the past two weeks so I really need to make sure I get this one done. I'll probably go in early so I don't talk myself out of it after dropping Mindy off. 

GoTribal

I just found out about this website from Chrissy Wellington's blog. It is called GoTribal and it's "An organization aimed at empowering women and promoting triathlon around the world." It seems like a really cool site, and I just wanted to put a little plug in for it. It's got a really cool quote on there from Chrissy Wellington where she says,

"Four years ago I was asked whether I would ever do an Ironman. My response? ‘No way, you must be completely mad to do something like that!’ Imagine if I had never gone back on my word, if I hadn’t changed ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’, if hadn’t dared to push myself harder, and most importantly what if I hadn’t had people to support, encourage, mentor and most of all make me believe in ME?"

Go check it out!

Also, this picture of Chrissy Wellington on the front page does show her wearing the shorts I bought, only they're pink. Mine are blue flowers. This might be why I didn't pick up on it at first.

First Brick!

A brick (in triathlon training, not architecture) is when you run immediately after your ride to get your legs used to running on tired legs. Today I did my first brick of the season. My training plan said:

B: 3 hour long ride.
R: 30 min very easy run at RPE2 after the bike

But for tomorrow, it has me doing:

S: 30min continuous. Long gliding, focus on form not speed.
R: 45min with strides.

Since I don't workout on Sundays, I decided to combine the two days and do the 45 minutes with strides after my ride today.

It was such a beautiful day today! I just wore a thermal, long-sleeved jersey and fingerless gloves, and I was plenty warm! I went up to Bountiful again, but this time I didn't go all the way up the freaky hills. I went up to Davis Boulevard instead of Bountiful Boulevard, and I really enjoyed it. I had a 2-hour bottle of Perpetuem and a bottle of water that I switched off drinking every 10 minutes (I have a little timer on my bike computer that beeps every 10 minutes), and I took a Hammer Gel before I left, and at the half-way point. 

When I was getting close to my 1:30 turn around time, I saw that the streets were in the South numbers again so I was trying to remember what town is after Centerville, when I saw Lagoon! I looked closer to the street signs, and I was in Farmington! This was just so exciting because I made it into a new town, and Lagoon always seemed so far away. 

I road in 5 towns total: 

1. Salt Lake City
   
2. North Salt Lake (yes, that is an actual city)
   
3. Bountiful
   
4. Centerville
   
5. Farmington
   

Yeah!  I really liked riding in Farmington too. I saw a lot of other cyclists, looking all cool in their flashy jerseys, and they would wave to me like I'm one of them. This just always makes me feel so good! One of the great things about cycling, and triathlons, is that there's this cool sense of camaraderie that you get. It's like being part of a club, and people just automatically like you when they see you out there riding. I don't get this much around my neighborhood, people usually just stare at me, and maybe smile if I say hi to them. 

The way home was fun and fast, and I got back just 5 minutes short of 3 hours. I did 37.6 miles which is 12.53 miles per hour - a lot slower than I want to be. If I do the 112 miles that slow, it will take me 8.94 hours to finish the bike. That's about how long it takes the pros to do the whole race! I would probably not make the cut-off if I go that slow either. I guess I wasn't really going as fast as I could go. I was taking it pretty easy. This is a good eye-opener that shows me I really need to try to go faster. Maybe I enjoyed it too much.

When I got home, I stopped in to go to the bathroom (I know it sounds weird, but this is a good thing to practice since it definitely plays into your race) and get my shoes, ipod and hat. Then I hurried out to do my run. When I first started, my legs were feeling really tired. I was thinking, "Maybe I won't do the strides," or "Maybe I'll just do 30 minutes with strides." But, after about 20 minutes, I was feeling pretty good, and I was able to do all the strides. I probably did about 4 miles. That's not to say I'm not tired, though. 

When I got home, my dad and his girlfriend were there with the kids, and Pete was home with his friend from his conference. I stretched really good while drinking a bottle of Recoverite, then took a bath and drank a delicious protein shake called Odwalla Chocolate Protein. I saw an add for this stuff in a magazine and wanted to try it. If you're looking for a protein drink, you should try it. Pete's response to his taste was, "This is awesome!" It's like a really good chocolate milk. 

While I showered, Pete and his friend put the kids to bed and got take-out from The Red Iguana. Yum! I'd say I've made up for at least most of the calories I burned on that ride. I'm very glad I've already got my lesson for church tomorrow ready. I just want to relax!

Friday Flashback - Pete's Ironman

I did nothing today. I did go in and do my speed swim workout last night, though. Thursday night is not a good night to swim at my gym. They had Masters going on and a water aerobics class that took up all but 2 lanes. I shared a lane with 4 other people. It was two ladies and their teenage daughters who are training for the Women of Steel Tri in June. It actually worked out really well, despite having 5 people in a lane. One of the ladies even told me I am a really fast swimmer! :) I was doing intervals, but still, I always love to hear that!

Today I was planning on taking the kids to the daycare because Elle seemed so much better last night, but when I looked at her nose this morning, I had second thoughts. I was also feeling like I'm getting sick so I decided to just rest up, and drink lots of orange juice today so that I will be ready for my long ride tomorrow. I can not miss that! I also had to find something to do with the kids tomorrow because Pete will be in a conference all day, but I just talked to my dad and he's going to come up. I'm excited to get going on the bike again. It feels like it's been forever.

Speaking of long rides, I just signed up for 2 more races this summer: 

Little Red Riding Hood which is an all women's 100 mile ride 2 weeks before the Ironman. It's a little closer than I would like, but Pete did a ride even longer than that on the same day last year so I think I'll be ok. I would feel a lot more confident to have that under my belt on race day. It's also a really fun ride that I've been wanting to do, and Pete's aunt (who just started reading my blog, yeah!) just informed me that she's doing it so I thought I'd join her. It will be a fun girl's night/day out!

and Spudman which is an olympic distance triathlon where you get to swim downstream in a river so it's really fun. It's actually a lottery to get into that one this year, but we've got connections so we're pretty sure we'll get in. It is in July and Pete's doing that one with me. And he can't wait to get back on his bike. One more month hun!

Ok, time for my quick flashback. 

I finally got around to editing the footage I got of Pete's Ironman last year. I have to warn you that I was not in the least bit professional when shooting this. I was much too emotionally involved (It was like trying to shoot a family member's wedding, only much harder!), and every time Pete would come around, I found myself too worried about cheering for him to get a good shot. Sorry about that hun. Anyway, here it is. Let me know what you think. Watch for the blind guys, I got a shot of on of them (there were 3 in this race) in each section. I also have a small cameo, so watch for that.

Pete's Ironman from Colleen Lasko on Vimeo.

Shopping!

Elle slept all night last night! I was sooooo happy about that! She did wake up at 5:30, but this was ok because I needed to get up anyway. 

R: 100 minute long run combined with tempo effort.

75minutes at RPE3, last 25 minutes at RPE5

S: speed day--tough!
wu: 300 continuous- (alternate 25 swim, 25 kick)
main: 20 x 75 hold constant pace for each-so judge pace in the first few,
RPE 5
cd: 200 easy

I put her back in bed, dawdled around a little bit since it was so cold and dark outside, then layered up and headed out. I wore Pete's base layer pants and shirt under my usual running attire along with a pink beanie and gloves, and I was nice and snug the whole time! I had never really been running in the dark before (at least not around here) so I was a little nervous, but the moon was out and almost full, and I stuck to the well-lighted streets so it really wasn't bad at all. People just seem more sinister when it's dark, though, don't they? With their dark jackets and hoods on. Well, I would probably have a hood on too if I were out that early in the morning. None of them turned out to be lunatics waiting to grab me so that was good. I actually felt really blessed to be out running instead of on my way to work like a lot of those people.

I ran for 50 minutes, then stopped at home for a shot of hammer gel and a bathroom break. I also made sure Mindy was awake so she could be ready to go when I got back. Then I headed back out to finish, and those 40 minutes went by so fast. Already, they are a blur to me. I did the last 25 minutes at a faster tempo, and tried to keep my heart-rate around 170 instead of 150. I did 90 minutes because I'm 10 minutes behind the schedule. Don't worry, I'll catch up though. 

I was sad to find out that I only ran 8 miles. That is if I calculated right with google maps. How could I run 8 miles in 80 minutes last week then do 8 miles in 90 minutes today? I was hoping to do 9. Running outside just has a lot more variables. 

When I got home, Pete was making pancakes for the kids. How sweet hu? I always just make them eat oatmeal. I just had time to stretch, then I took Mindy to school and Pete to work. My plan had been to head up to the pool after this, but I decided against it because Elle has a goopy nose. I debated a little thinking, "I'm sure it will be ok." But then I thought about how I wouldn't want someone else to bring their sick kid to the daycare so why would it be ok for me? Especially as it is RSV season right now. I wouldn't want any babies to get sick.

So, I decided to go shopping! I have been wanting to get some Zoot tri clothing so I found a store that caries that brand and headed over there. It turned out that they only had one tri top in my size, though, and it was ugly. The sales clerk told me that their other store has more, and gave me directions. Like usual, I didn't listen very carefully to the directions because I thought I knew what she was talking about. I ended up getting lost for a while, and had to call Pete to get me the address.  Finally I found the store, though, and they did have a lot more stuff, including a whole 50% off rack! 

The guy who helped me seemed to know a lot about tris and Ironmans and stuff, and he gave me a lot of good advice. When he asked if it was my first IM, I said, "Yeah, it's pretty scary." and he was like, "Scary? It's not scary, it's fun! It's just a long day." So I'm going to try to adopt his attitude, and just have good time. He said, "If you've put your hours in, you'll be fine. Even if you don't put your hours in, you'll still be fine." This was very comforting.  Then he went to answer the phone and said, "This is B.J." I froze. Was this the BJ Christenson who I've read articles by and who got 2nd place at St. George Tri last year, and has at least won it once? He's like a celebrity to me. I didn't dare ask him his last name so when I came home, I looked it up, and yep, it's him. I felt so dumb because I had been talking to him about St. George Tri last year and saying how hard it was, and how I was the last one out of the water and bla bla bla. He was probably like, "what a newb." He said this is the first year in 6 years that he's not doing it. 

Anyway, I did end up buying a new tri top and shorts - not exactly the cute Zoot one that I wanted, but they were 50% off! When I checked out, B.J. told me that those were the shorts Chrissie Wellington wore when she won the world championships in Kona again this year. This reminded me that I haven't gotten around to watching that yet. He ran and grabbed a picture of him with her along with a signed poster of her to show me. Pretty cool! She looked so tiny next to him! She's just so cute and seems like a cool person. I will proudly wear the same shorts as her. I tried to find a picture of her wearing them, and I couldn't, but she's wearing my top in these pictures!

I also bought some more Hammer Gel, Perpetuem and a pair of compression socks. BJ was raving about how great the recovery compression tights are, but I didn't have enough money or time to get measured for them. Maybe I'll get them some other time. He said I will want them. As it was, I spent almost $200, and that's with the clothes being 50% off! What an expensive sport.

I took way too much time at that store - Ethan was 20 minutes late for school. I really need to get better about getting him there on time. Then we came home, and Elle and I were just hanging out (since she slept while I was driving around lost in Holliday) when Pete called to tell me that Mindy had a short day today, and that they had called him because no one picked  her up! I hurried over and picked her up, and I could tell she'd been crying. Poor girl. I had it written on my calendar, but I just don't look at my calendar enough. I told her I was sorry, and we came home and had Oreos to make her feel better.

I'm going to go in tonight to get that swim in. Don't worry. :)

Sorry this post was so long, by the way! Can you believe how much I can ramble on about one little shopping trip?

Mid-week respit!

Ahhh, no workout scheduled today. It was so nice! I had so much time, I didn't know what to do with myself!

We did preschool at our house today so that was fun - crazy, but fun. 

I also worked on a little video that you will get to see on Friday so stay tuned! 

I have to wake up early to get my hour and a half run in before Mindy needs to go to school so I'm going to bed. Pete keeps reminding me that I like running now. I keep forgetting.... Good night!

Happy Anniversary!

March 10, 2001 - St. George, UT Temple

Today is Mine and Pete's 8th anniversary! We made it past the 7-year itch, and it didn't even feel a bit scratchy. :)

I saved my "Flashback Friday" for today because I wanted to flash back to when Pete and I first met today.

When I was in college, my roommate had a boyfriend who was also in our student ward, and one day he asked me if I knew the guy who worked at the computer lab for my program at school who was in our ward. I couldn't think of who he was talking about. A short while later, I went into the computer lab, and there was a guy working there who I didn't know so I asked him if he was in my ward. He was. I remember he was reading some fantasy book, and he assured me that he usually doesn't read fantasy books.

He started off asking me all about my roommate who he thought was cute, and for the next couple of weeks (it turned out that we also had a class together) he was trying to get me to hook him up with her. That soon passed, though, and we just started hanging out all the time. He'd take me rock climbing and I'd cook him dinner.

This picture was taken when we just barely started dating. (yes, I just took a picture of my scrapbook, sorry)

Our first date was to see a comedian. It was a free show on campus so he hadn't even really planed it as a date, he just asked me if I wanted to go with the qualifier, "But it's not a date." So I said, "Why, don't you want to go on a date with me?" He said he did, so from there on out it was a date. It was Frank Caliendo and he was so funny (much more funny then I've ever seen him be on TV)! It was awesome. When we first got there, Pete said something about how if I had a good time, I would associate that with him which I thought was cute. I think we went to Denny's or something after the show. I can't really remember, but I do remember having a great time. We doubled with his friend and the girl he liked. They ended up getting married a year after us, so I'd say this was a pretty darn good first date.

Here's a picture of us about a month later. I was 19 and he was 21. Wow, that sounds so young now! We were married almost exactly 1 year after we started dating, in the St. George Temple. Life has just been wonderful ever since.

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Today my training plan said:

R: 60 minutes easy run with strides every 5 minutes.

B: 2 hours, mostly easy pace, find some rolling hills if possible

I dropped Mindy off at school, then I put off running as long as I could, cleaning the kitchen, because it was so cold! Finally, I got myself all layered up and went for a run on the Jordan River Parkway trail. The ground was a little bit icy so I had to be careful not so slip. I got to the golf course in 24 minutes. It used to take me half an hour to get there when we first moved here 10 months ago. Maybe that means I'm faster now, but maybe it means I don't have a very good memory or I wasn't very exact on my timing back then.

I got back just in time to take Pete to his doctor appointment, then we rushed home, and had sandwiches in the car on the way to take Ethan to school and Pete to work. Elle was asleep when we got home so I could have gotten on the trainer and did almost the 2-hour bike ride before picking the kids up, but I really just felt like I wanted to stop moving for a few minutes. That's what I'm doing now. Well, my fingers are moving, but it's hard for me to completely stop moving.

Tomorrow's supposed to be a day off, but I think I'll switch that with the Sunday workout in order to keep Sunday as my day off. I already feel bad that the race is on a Sunday. I only found out after I signed up for this one, that there is an Ironman distance race in California that takes place on a Saturday. I would have rather done that, but it's too late now. I'm pretty invested in this one.

Snowing in March?

I don't know why I'm alsways so suprised when it snows in March. It does it every year around here. It just doesn't seem right, does it? It's Spring Break for crying out loud!

Training Plan for today:

S: race-specific
wu: 5 x 75
main: 2 x 1000, both are RPE 4
cd: 250 easy

B: 90 minutes, easy pace, RPE3

The kids didn't have school today so I got to go to the pool early, but not too early, and I didn't have to rush too much. I did my first 1000 (20 laps down and back) in 21:24. I don't know what my time was on the second one because the clock I was watching got reset somewhere around lap 10. I could tell it was close to the same amount of time by the analog clock on the wall, though.

I got home just in time to make Pete some hot chocolate (I'm trying to get him to drink a lot of milk to get the calcium for his bone to grow back - amazingly, his doctor didn't even suggest this to him. It was one of the main prescriptions my doctor gave me with my stress fracture.) then take him to work. 

The kids and I did a little cleaning, made rice crispy treats for family night, put some chili in the crock pot, and finally got Elle down for a nap at around 2. 

I took this opportunity to do my bike ride on the trainer. I just did it on a nice, easy gear, but at a quick cadence, for an hour and a half. Now that I've started riding on the road again, it seems even more tedious to ride on the trainer. Ethan complained to me, "There's nothing to do when you're riding your bike. It's so boring." I told him I was sorry and that it's boring for me too, but that I've got to do it. It is a good time to practice your form, though, and get stronger. 

I drank about a half a bottle of water and a Hammer Gel. It wasn't a hard workout, but I did work up a  little bit of a sweat. Mindy kept asking me if I was hot and fanning me with her little hand-held fan. She was really good and cute while I rode. She cleaned her room, then made herself a little "house" out of chairs and blankets that she is sleeping in tonight. She also entertained me by doing "tricks" with her book. She would take her bookmark out and magically still know where her place was! I could usually see the hair barrette or whatever it was she would put in the place, but I didn't let her know that.

I got done just in time for a snack of apples and bananas with peanut butter, then I took Min to ballet and picked Pete up from work. I didn't realize my legs were tired until I tried to hurry up the 2 1/2 flights of stairs to Mindy's ballet studio. I guess I got a better workout than I thought today.

This week is going to be hard. Every day, except for one have 2 workouts a day with a  total of 14.5 hours of training for the week. I hope I can do it all, and I don't get burnt out. Next week will be even harder - 16 hours! 

Oh, food rating for the day. I give myself a 6 again because of those dang rice crispy treats, and the Oreos I got for Pete to help him drink more milk. Hey it even says on the package, "Milk's favorite cookie." I've only had 5, and I'm keeping it at that. So there.