Nurse Colleen

I hate to say it, but I did nothing in the way of Ironman training today. If you missed yesterday's crazy-super-long post (sorry about that), Pete broke his collar bone yesterday in a mountain biking crash. On top of that Mindy threw-up first thing this morning so she did not go to school. This was kind of good because I had to run across town to pick up Pete's pain meds as soon as I got up, and I didn't really have to hurry back. 

I spent today playing nurse and getting the house clean (it was a mess from our crazy day yesterday). Pete found this little video that explains how to break while turning, and I thought it would be a good thing to put on here (for all my die-hard mountain biking readers - though I think it would be good to know for any kind of biking):

Tips for Brake Use in Mountain Biking Cornering -- powered by eHow.com

So, be careful out there everyone! I know I'll be a lot more careful on my cornering. 

Mindy is feeling much better after a day of resting and watching movies, but Pete's not feeling too great. We think the Lortabs he's on are making him nauseous. Either that or he's got whatever Mindy had. Whatever it is, it's not fun, and I didn't want to leave him alone with the kids, even after they were in bed, to go do my long run. I will do it tomorrow morning. 

Tomorrow we also get to go in for the surgical consult so that should be exciting!

A Smashing Ride!

This morning it was so beautiful and warm! We made sure to leave early enough for school that Mindy got to ride her bike. She was even wearing a skirt and didn't complain about it being cold! It was so nice!

So, when it came time for me to ride my bike, I didn't even have to think about it, and got all my gear on to ride outside.  As I picked up my sunglasses, I thought, "Hm, it doesn't seem very bright outside." Then I notice that it's actually pouring rain out there! What the heck?  So, I debated for a little while about riding on the trainer, riding later, or just going in the rain. The kids would be pretty protected in the bike trailer... So I finally decide that we're going anyway, and put on my rain jacket just in time to hear Ethan yell, "It stopped raining!"

I kept my rain jacket, thinking it might rain again, but it never did. I was pretty toasty in there by the end too.  I only had about half an hour to ride until I had to pick Mindy up from school so I just road around the neighborhood, delivered a few invitations for the Young Women's program tonight, and we went to the river to see some ducks. It was a nice little ride. Then I got to ride home with Min, and that's always fun!

My friend, and fellow counselor in the Young Women's presidency, Ann, called me to see if I could make cookies for the program since she didn't have enough ingredients to make enough. She couldn't get more because her car had been broken into and was un-drivable. Our president wasn’t going to be there for the whole thing because she is having a really dificult pregnancy, and our adviser’s husband got laid of yesterday. What a day for everyone!

I told her of course I would make cookies, and that that would be fun for the kids. First I had to pick Pete up from work, though. Then he headed off to go mountain biking on the hill above the capital (not too far from our house). He's working on getting stronger for a trip to Moab with some guys from work in a few weeks. He went out the door saying, "I hope I can see ok" because he wasn't wearing his glasses. I told him to have fun, then got down to business making cookies. 

The kids helped decorate them with food coloring to look like they had paint splatters on them. They turned out pretty cute, but Elle ate hers before I could cook it, and got food coloring all above her lip. Of course, that doesn't come off easily, and we were running late to help get things set up at the church so I just left it. 

A few minutes after I got to the church to help set up for the program, I got a call from Pete. He said he had had a really bad crash and needed me to pick him up. I asked him if he was ok, and he said he didn't know, but that he couldn't move his arm. I hurried and left, apologizing for leaving, but I said I would try to be back in time. I thought he had just hurt himself bad enough that he couldn't ride home so I would just need to pick him up. But when I was almost there, he called me again, and said he'd been talking to his brother who is a doctor, and he thought he either dislocated his shoulder or broke his clavicle (collar bone). 

Now I'm starting to get more nervous, and I found him a few minutes later just sitting on the ground by his bike. Both very dirty. I helped him into the car, put the bike on the rack and got in the car to drive him to the hospital. I called my president and told her I wasn't going to make it back, then we called our insurance to figure out where we could go and headed to the nearest ER.

After I got Pete all checked in, the kids were already getting unruly, so I took them home. We grabbed some Wendy's then stopped back in at the church. They were just finishing up, and just having refreshments (The part the kids didn't want to miss) so we hung out for a while, and everyone already knew about Pete. I told Ann that I needed to go back and she offered to put my kids to bed and stay with them while I did that. What a life-saver!

When I got back, Pete was in X-ray. Once they wheeled him back in, it didn't take too long before the doctor came in and just showed us this picture:

Not much explanation needed there! Definitely broken. No mountain biking trip to Moab with the guys in 2 weeks, I guess. What a bummer. The doc said that he should have surgery done on it, and that would make the recovery much shorter. We will schedule that tomorrow. Amazingly, we were back home by 9:30 (He'd crashed just before 7), that was the fasted ER visit ever! 

We were very lucky that he didn't break his neck. I'm glad he had his helmet on too. It's always amazing to me how a split second thing like pushing your breaks to hard while going around a turn, can affect your whole life like that. 

Back to the Basics

Today my training plan said:

R: 45minutes very easy run, RPE 3.

Pete was working from home, so I left Ethan and Elle with him, after taking Mindy to school, and I got to run outside! It was nice and warm, maybe 40 degrees, and I just ran in a t-shirt. It was about perfect. I was maybe a little bit cold, but nothing too distracting. I ran 4.6 miles in 50 minutes. It was supposed to be very easy, though, right? I sure can feel the difference in my knees between running on the track and running on the sidewalk. I guess this means I need to start running outside more so my knees can get used to it. I will do it gradually, though. They weren't that sore, but more than when I run on the track.

When I got back, Ethan was spelling out words on pbskids.org and Pete was helping Elle put a puzzle together. They were both doing a really good job! What bright children I have! I had a drink and some Hammer Gel, then I took Ethan and Elle to the daycare at the gym and did this swim workout:

S: speed day
wu: 400 continuous. last 50 in each 100 is kick
main: 8 x 100 EBEH (each 100 = 25Easy, 25Build, 25Easy, 25 Hard)
cd: 6 x 25, each slower than last

This is my last "prep week" so my plan is having me do the same thing as the first week. I don't really know why we're doing this, but it's nice to kind of take it a little easier. On my easy laps, I tried to focus on my form. I tried to reach as far as I could and push the stroke all the way through, not cross my hands over in front of me, and keep my feet up. My 100s were all between 1:50-1:56 so that was pretty good I thought.

I can't say I had any interesting thoughts while I was working out today.  What was I even thinking about? I have no idea. It was nice to run outside, and I'm so excited for the weather to be warming up! I'm sure we'll have another cold spell before the winter's really over, though. I'm trying not to get too excited yet.

17 Weeks to Ironman - Rest Day

Welcome to all my new readers! I'm so excited to have you here. Just for your info, the first 3 entries in my archive are the last 3 races I've done: St. George Tri, Echo Tri and the St. George Marathon. In case you're interested. That way you can see what kind of a great athlete I am NOT.

Here is a post introducing the charity I'm trying to raise money for with this Ironman. It's called Against Malaria. Please take a minute to check that out.

A little while ago, I had a friend ask me how long I had until the Ironman, and I told her the number in weeks. She said, "That's like pregnancy counting!" We had to laugh a little at that, but now that I think about it, it is kind of like pregnancy counting. I can see a lot of similarities between the two. For both:

1. You feel excited and a little bit (or a lot, depending on the day) nervous. 
2. You have a certain amount of preparation that you want to get done, but if it doesn't get done, the day still comes.
   
3. You wonder if you're going to be able to do it.
4. You know that the day at the end of your countdown is going to be long and painful, but also very rewarding.
   
5. You know there is a chance that you might get hurt, but chances are pretty good that you'll be fine.

I don't want to say that doing an Ironman is even close to as amazing or wonderful or challenging as having children, but it seems I can always find some way to compare triathlons to life.  For all you mothers out there who are doing your best to raise children in this world, I salute you. You are wonderful and I think you deserve a trophy. 

But of course, we do get trophies don't we? When you see your little baby smile for the first time, or your 2-year-old hugs you so hard it makes you want to cry (but not from pain), or when your 4-year-old looks at you so sweet and says, "I love you, mom," or when your 6-year- old starts reading books by herself and starts to be a real help with the baby. (I don't have any kids older than this so I can't say what other trophies are awaiting in the teenage years - though the thought of that scares me to death!)

Just because it's not a tangible trophy, doesn't mean it's not real.

Today in Young Women's our lesson was "Attitudes about Our Divine Roles," and I cried through most of the lesson. This is probably why I'm thinking so much about motherhood right now. The teacher shared a poem with us that most of us have probably heard part of before. It was so beautiful, I'd like to share it with you now:

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World
Blessings on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mother's first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow--
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky--
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

- by William Ross Wallace

Antelope Island Ride

My training plan for the day says:

B: 120 minutes long bike again this week.

We were very blessed with beautiful weather and a baby-sitter so Pete and I could go for the long bike ride together!  Pete was talking about going on a ride with some friends from work, so I decided to tag along. I also got one of their wives, Tiffany, to come too. I was so excited because I'd never really been on a group ride before, and it was fun to have another girl to ride with. 

We met up with them at the entrance to Antelope Island State Park. As soon as we got out of the car, we realized that it was much colder and windier than it had been at home. I was so relieved when Tiffany offered me her extra jacket and ear covers (she was smart and bundled up good), and Pete let me wear the toe covers and warmer gloves (what a gentleman). I would have frozen without them!  

We got started, and I immediately regretted not bringing my camera. It was so beautiful! It was all blue and white: water, snow, sky, and mountains. There were even white birds out on the lake, we thought maybe some kind of crane. It was very nice.

We rode out the "the ranch", and took a little break. The guys were still hanging out, but Tiffany and I were getting cold so we started back. I was just telling Tiffany about how I had been hoping to see buffalo while we were out there because I had heard about them, when we rode past some Antelope. That was pretty cool, and I was content, but a little sad about no camera again. 

The guys showed up after not too long, riding in their pace line. Then we got in the line with them. A pace line is what you see them doing in the Tour d'France where they ride real close and draft off of each other. It's something we're usually not allowed to do in triathlons so I'd never done it before. It was really fun. I was amazed how much easier it was when  you were drafting as opposed to when you were the one in front pulling. Before we got into it, Pete kindly informed me that it is not good edict to ride in the areo bars when you're riding with the pack. Good to know. I was careful not to do that, but I found myself wanting to be in the areo bars a couple times. Also good to know.

Then we saw some dark shapes in the distance, and I was excited to get to see the buffalo after all! I mean, it wasn't that exciting, they just stood there a ways away, and we rode past, but it was cool.

The last few miles were pretty hard. Tiffany and Paul just booked it across the causeway! I couldn't quite keep up, and my toes were numb by the end. We did 37 miles. I don't know how long it took us exactly since I still didn't have my computer on my bike, but probably about 3 hours. It was a really fun ride, though. I'm glad we got to go. It was much more fun than riding on the trainer, and much more challenging. I'm sure I'll do that ride again, and I'll try to bring my camera this time.

Water World

Disclaimer: That title was just the first thing that came into my head. This post has nothing to do, nor is it in any way affiliated with the movie, Waterworld, or the water park, Water World. This post is just a woman rambling about her swimming adventures this morning. 

Now that I've got that straight, on with the post.

So, do you think I got up at 6:00 this morning? Nope, I didn't. Pete talked me out of it last night saying that cutting 2 hours of sleep out is not going to be sustainable and that I'm going to need more sleep as I train more. I'm also having doubts about if I should even do the preschool group I was a part of planning the other day . There are just not enough hours in the day. Maybe if we switched it to Tuesdays and Thursdays. We'll see how it goes next week.

Pete was working from home today so I was able to leave Ethan in bed when I left to take Mindy to school and Elle came with me to the gym. When I dropped her off, she said, "I not have anyone to pay with." She's used to having her brother there so I was worried it would be a problem, but it ended up being fine and she played with the other little girls in there. I was happy to leave Ethan in bed, and apparently he slept in until like 9:45! Hopefully that will help him get better.

My training for the day was a long swim. Here is what my plan said:

S: long day-mental toughness day!
6 x 500, odds are RPE3, evens RPE 5

I usually swim in the little shallow-water lap pool, but today I swam in the deep water pool so that was different. I got to watch all the legs of the people doing deep water aerobics alongside me so that was...interesting. At one point I saw a guy that looked so much like a cartoon frog with a big belly, float belt, and booties that made his feet look kind of webbed. It was kind of funny, and I could picture him suddenly springing out of the water to catch a fly. I tried not to think too much about these people though, because it's great that they're out there doing their water aerobics. It just looks funny from underwater, that's all.

So, 6 sets of 500 meters means 6 sets of 10 laps. I still have to convert it in my mind before I start so I don't get confused. I still was confused when I came home and told Pete I swam 6,000 meters, and he was like, "That's a lot!" But once we went over it again, it turns out I did 3,000 meters which sounds more reasonable, but still a lot mind you. 3,000 meters is 1 and 3/4 miles. The 2.4 miles I will need to do in the Ironman is 4,000 meters (actually, 4,000 meters is about 2.485 miles, so a little less). That is 80 laps. So, I would only need to do 2 more sets of 500. Cool.

My faster sets (evens) ended up being about 10:30 and the easier ones(odds) were around 11:00. I counted laps by watching the digital clock and trying to keep my laps around a minute each. This method works pretty well, and lets my mind wander to things like, "what am I going to write on my blog today?" 

I should swim in this pool more often since it has the digital clock facing it and the other one doesn't. I rested in between sets so I was probably in the water about an hour and 15 minutes total. It was almost 2 hours when I picked Elle up from the daycare. Whew.

Weight Resistance

This morning I got up at 6 am to meet my sister, Katie, on skype. She is in China teaching English for the next 4 months.

If this doesn't make you want to go to China, I don't know what would.

She never showed up.  I actually didn't mind, though. It was nice to be up while the house was still and quiet and have a little time to myself. Then I decided to make breakfast burritos with my extra time, and they were really good! Plus we weren't even late dropping Pete off at his 8:00 meeting for a change, and Mindy had plenty of time before school. I need to start getting up that early from now on. I think that would make my life a lot less stressful and easier to get the training hours in. Come back tomorrow to see if I actually do it.

Anyway, here is what my training plan said for today:

B: solid 90 minutes at RPE3. Middle 30 minutes on aero bars if you have them, but keep easy effort. Notice if the position is comfortable to hold and if you can output the same speed for the same effort as when out of the bars.

Today was a nice sunny day so I decided to do my bike ride outside! I went back and forth on it for quite a while because Ethan stayed home from school sick, and it was still cold out there. What got me to choose outside was that Ethan and Elle both wanted to go, and it did look pretty good out there. I bundled them up good and put them in the bike trailer. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it for a few minutes because it was really difficult getting the bike trailer hooked up to that bike. I got it on, though, and off we went!

About 85lbs weight resistance here.

We didn't even make it a mile before my little bike computer fell off. I hurried and stopped, but couldn't see it anywhere on the road when I looked back. I was just thinking, "oh crap," when I saw that it was just in my water bottle cage. Whew. I didn't dare or want to deal with putting it back on so I just put it in with the kids. The nice thing about having the bike trailer with you is you can put your stuff in it - like a camera, extra jacket, gloves, stuff that falls off your bike, toys and kids. You sure can feel that bike trailer though! 85 lbs is a lot to pull up a hill.

The road I like to ride on is a little hidden gem of Salt Lake. It's not even 2 miles from our house (maybe 4 from downtown), and after about 10 minutes you're on this little road among fields, farm houses and cows. I want to take a picture every time I ride by here, and today I brought my camera:

We saw cows, a horse, some Canadian Geese, airplanes and helicopters. The airport is just on the other side of those fields too (I think that's what that tower is). The kids actually had fun, and were really good except for one minor incident with fighting and crying that was easily fixed.

I just road for 45 minutes, had some Hammer Gel, and turned around at around the spot I usually get to in half an hour.  It took me almost exactly 90 minutes for the entire ride. Elle slept a little bit on the way back, but Ethan started coughing a lot. I felt a little bad for taking him out in the cold when he's sick. It wasn't really that cold, though. In fact, I had to take my gloves off after 10 minutes, and they wanted their blankets off for a while. 

It felt so good to be riding outside again! One of the beautiful things about riding outside is that you're not constantly thinking about how uncomfortable you are or how much time has gone by. There are so many other things to think about like: is that car going to hit me, am I going to make that light, am I going to hit that rock, or how hard is that hill going to be? Plus you get to look at all the beautiful scenery and feel the wind on your face. Ah, it's great!

Also, I felt really comfortable in the aero bars! It was probably 99% better than the first time I tried to ride that bike. The stem is nice and solid now so I actually feel like I'm in control when in the areo position. I don't remember thinking for one minute that I was uncomfortable. I rode in the areo bars for most of the time (probably more than the middle 30 as the plan suggests), other than starting out and ending in town.

On the way back Ethan, who loves to see new places, said, "We should come here in the car sometime."

I said, "Ok, we can do that."

Then he said, "We could go a lot farther." 

Yes, I suppose we could go a lot farther in the car. I didn't tell him that that wasn't the point of our ride. I'm just glad he had a good time seeing some new fun things.

"And let me Please remind you...

we can send a car to find you if you ever loose your way."

Today I decided I wasn't going to have time to do both my long run and swim, so Pete suggested I do the long run. Here is what my run schedule says:

R: 90 minute long run, easy pace. Strides begin at the 40 minute mark. Just like Monday, go for 20 seconds, then return to normal pace. Repeat every 5 minutes until run is finished. Stretch well!

Pete also suggested that I do 70 minutes instead of the 90 because I'm not quite ready for 90. Going from 60 to 70 minutes even breaks the 10% rule, but not by much (only 4 minutes). What's the 10% rule, you ask? Well, when ramping up your running time/distance, it is smart to only add on 10% per week to avoid injuries.

I remembered my ipod today, but I've only got an hour worth of songs on there and I'm getting a little sick of them so I swiped Pete's ipod out of the car to listen to instead. His is bigger so I had to hold it (I have a shuffle that I can clip onto my pants), but it was worth it to get some new music. I listened to Cake the whole time - Comfort Eagle and most of Pressure Chief. If you aren't a Cake fan, then the title of my post will be a mystery to you until you listen to Comfort Eagle. It's a great album. I won't recommend Pressure Chief to you, though, because it does have some explicit lyrics (hey, it was Pete's ipod...). I don't like it as much anyway.

I forgot to put my heart-rate strap on, but I just got started anyway and said, "screw my heart-rate, I'm just going to have fun!"

It was pretty fun. It's always much better running with music, I think. I started my strides at 30 minutes (instead of 40) so I still got in 40 minutes of strides. I love doing strides. It's so fun to get to run really fast for a lap! Plus it really helps the time go by. You'll be recovering from your last stride then realize, "Oh man, it's already been 5 minutes again!"

I brought hammer gel and water, and drank them around the 60-minute mark, and I think that helped me. If not with the last 10 minutes of the run, then with not feeling woosy afterwards. 

Guess what else I did today.... I actually counted my laps! Yeah! I did 7 miles + half a lap in the 70 minutes so that was keeping with my usual 10-minute mile pace. My first mile was closer to 12 minutes, though, so I was a little faster in the end. 

There was a girl who started running just as I started my last stride and I was able to keep up with her until my stride was over. She was fast! I hope it's really possible to get faster. Sometimes it just seems like I'm doomed to run at a 10-minute mile pace forever. I will keep working on it, though.

When I got done, it was 10:00, and that was when I was supposed to be meeting with some other moms in my ward (church group) to talk about starting a little preschool for our kids (because I don't have enough stuff going on right now I guess). I got there half an hour late - no shower, still in my running clothes. It was ok, though, we were still waiting for one more mom for a while anyway. We will be starting the preschool next week and just rotate houses every week. It should be fun!

Fun with the kids

Today the kids didn't have school again because of teacher conferences or something, and I thought we should probably do something fun today because we just stayed at home yesterday. 

When we dropped Pete off at work, we went to the library. The Main Library (Or so they call it.) here in Salt Lake is huge and it's a really cool building.  The children's section takes up most of the basement and they have several different "caves" where the kids can go in and play. They had a lot of fun, and we even picked out a few books. Here's a picture of the library (not mine):

The thing I hate about doing things downtown is that it's hard to find anywhere you don't have to pay for parking. You can park under the library for free, but only for half an hour. I tried to get the kids to come when it was time, but everything always takes forever. We had to check out our books, then I had to get Elle to come out of the little tunnel between the check-out desk and the area we were supposed to be in, then we had to get all the way back down to the car, and of course Elle wouldn't let me put her in her seat. By the time we got going, we were like 10 minutes over the half-hour limit, and I had to pay the whole $1.25 they charge for the next half hour. I almost said, "Ok, never mind, we're going back in for 20 minutes." But I figured we'd just be late again, and didn't want to go through the whole getting-in-the-car thing again.

On the way home the kids wanted to do something else like go to a museum or go get a treat. The problem with a museum was the whole parking issue again, and didn't want to pay for a treat either. I told them we'd make cookies when we got home, then maybe go swimming after my bike-ride. 

We made oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars and they are half gone by now. I'm going to end up an accomplice in helping Shane win the contest he and Pete are having over who can loose the most body fat. Whoever looses has to buy the other one a climbing harness. 

My training plan says this for today:

B: 60 minutes, easy pedaling on mixed terrain, overall effort still low.
Warm up and cooldown 10:00 in low ring, spinning easy. Use big ring for middle 40.

I did my ride on the trainer so, obviously it wasn't on "mixed terrain," though that term really makes me itch to get riding outside! It was a nice workout, and I felt pretty comfortable. I'm going to keep wearing the tri shorts, they're definitely better for me. I just drank water since it was just for an hour. I'm kind of avoiding the Gatorade because I don't like it. I'm going to have to hunt down some of my lemon power-aid.

After my ride, I picked Pete up and dropped him off at home since he still had some work to do, then the kids and I headed up to the pool. We have a family pass there, and I kind of feel bad because I'm the only one using it. It's fun to go swimming for free! They have a really fun kid pool with a little playground and a lazy river and stuff.  We probably played for an hour, and they had so much fun. They did not want to leave when it was time.  

Another thing I love about this pool is that they have family dressing rooms complete with a shower, toilette, sink, baby changing platform, and a little platform for putting your stuff and your kids so they don't get wet (at least that's what I use it for). It was great fun, and we got home just in time for dinner (leftovers yeah!) and bed!  

I'm glad I got to have a fun day with the kids today. Sometimes I feel like I'm not giving them enough attention with the amount of time I'm starting to be away from them for training. Only 4 more months of this, though. I think we'll make it. :)

Winter's Not So Bad

Today the kids didn't have school and Pete worked from home so I just got up at 7 and headed to the gym. Ok, so I didn't really get out of there until 7:30, but I was trying to hurry. In fact, I was in such a hurry, and so worried about waking the baby that I forgot my ipod and a towel. Did I just go home, though? No way!

Here is what my plan said to do today for running:

R: 60 minutes. 10 minute warm up, then do 20 second strides before returning to RPE 3 pace. Repeat strides every 5 minutes until the end of the workout.

I also left my plan in my bag - down in the locker room - so I had to go off of memory, and for some reason I thought it said to start doing strides after 40 minutes. I don't know where I got that from, now that I look at it, but that's what I did.

I don't know what the deal was today, but I just wasn't feeling it. Where were my endorphins today? I had to run down to use the restroom about half-way through. The track is on the third floor of the building, and I ran up all the stairs on my way back. This probably wasn't the smartest thing to do because my knee hurt for the rest of the time. This made me think of how my knee felt for most of the marathon and I was just not feeling excited to do it again. In fact, let me think, yep, I'm still not excited to do it again. It's just not as fun to run without music, so I'm blaming it on that.

I brought Hammer Gel and a water bottle this time so I drank those as I walked my last lap. I think it helped because I felt fine for the swim:

S: speed day
wu: 300 continuous. slowly increasing pace each 100
main: 20 x 50, odds at RPE 4, evens at RPE 9! (They put that exclamation point,  not me)
cd: 150 easy, hold form

This was a pretty nice workout because I got to swim as fast as I could for a lap, then take it easy, then go fast again and so on. My even laps were usually about 1:00 and my fast laps were about :50.

I used their built-in blow-dryer and my running pants legs to get dry - in case you were wondering how that worked out. It actually worked out surprisingly well. I never need to bring a towel again! (Oh come on, you know I'm kidding)

It was nice to go home and not have to go anywhere today, but I think the kids all got a little stir crazy and watched too many movies. Elle took a really long nap, and I had dinner in the crockpot (Orange-Apricot Pork Chops, so yummy!) before she even went to sleep. 

I used all that time to be lazy and read my book. If you're ever feeling like you're having a hard winter, just read Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party. Actually, don't read it if you get squeamish. I'm afraid some of the mental images are going to be in my mind for a while. But it is also such an amazing story of heroism and survival.  What some people went through to save those who were trapped is amazing. And talk about stir crazy - being shut in a little cabin, covered in snow all winter!

Anyway, I'm reading it because I just love history stuff... did you know that they came right through the Salt Lake Valley? They actually kind of made the road that the Mormon pioneers used to get here the following year, and I've actually ridden my bike on close to the same trail. Man, what a hard trip. We are so blessed to have cars and airplanes and sturdier clothes and easier to pack food and warm beds and.... My list could go on and on. I just peeked in on Elle, and I'm just so happy to see her tucked in all snug and content in her bed. We are surly blessed.

18 Weeks to Ironman!

Man, these weeks are just flying by, aren't they? 

First of all, I would like to welcome all my new followers. I know you've been here for a little while, but I haven't officially welcomed you. So, welcome, and thank you for stopping by! The fact that I have 9 "followers" now just makes me so happy!

I'm going to put a little plug in here for the charity that I'm trying to raise money for with this Ironman. It's called Against Malaria. Here are some facts from their site:

• 1-3 million people die per year of Malaria
  
• 70% of them are children under 5 years old
  
• Malaria is the largest killer of pregnant women
  
• Malaria is preventable and treatable
  
• A net is the most effective means of prevention 

100% of the money they raise goes towards long lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN). Every US$100 they raise equals 20 nets in place and saves the life of one child.

I've never tried to raise money before, and I'm not very good at asking people to do stuff like this, so I really need your help. I hope this blog will end up being a way to save some lives. I've been thinking lately that it would be really cool to raise enough money for 140.3 nets because this is the total distance I will be doing in the Ironman. Each net is $5 so that would be...$701.50. According to their statistics, that would save about 7 lives. That doesn't sound like much, but it sure would make a difference to them. I know I can do it with your help, dear readers!

If  you have any advice for me on raising money for a charity, then I would love to hear it. Also, if you could mention me, my Ironman and this cause on your blog, I think that would help a lot. Just link to fasterthanpete.com (that's easy to remember right?) to send them here, or http://www.AgainstMalaria.com/colleensironman (almost as easy) to go directly to my sponsorship page.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day should be celebrated every day. What a great holiday where we get to express our love to the important people in our lives and be grateful for those we love. I really am so blessed to have so many people I love and who love me!

Here is what my training plan said for today:

B: Long bike again this Sunday (ahem, Saturday). Try to find couple hills to throw in but keep climbing efforts seated.

As I laid in bed, luxuriously, until after 8:00, I wondered to myself what the weather was supposed to be like today. I thought maybe I'd take my long ride to the streets since I got my new stem yesterday. It's so nice and stable now! Then I got up and looked out the window. It was all white outside and still snowing. Here are the kids waiting to be covered up with snow. Needless to say, they weren't patient enough to let this happen.

Another thing my training plan says for this week is:

Mental Health: Try to get in outdoor workouts in the best and worst weather possible. The more cold, wet, windy, and sweltering conditions you experience while training will carry over to much higher confidence come race day. You can’t prepare much physically on race morning, so confidence and motivation reign supreme.

I do agree with this recommendation, but I think going for a ride in a snow storm is a little extreme. I think I will take my chances that it will not snow on race day in the middle of July. Watch me be wrong on that one! I do hope to get outside soon, though.

I made heart pancakes for breakfast (Whole wheat, of course.), which was fun. 

Pete took Mindy out to lunch and to get her hair cut. She got bangs! Meanwhile, I got Elle down for a nap then did a 2-hour ride on the trainer. I watched Clue while I rode. This is a family favorite and is always fun to watch. Pete and I had planned on watching it on New Years Eve, but didn't get it in time, so I decided to watch it today. The kids watched it with me, but I don't think they were able to follow it very well.

I had a bottle of water that I sipped every 10 minutes and 2 servings of Hammer Gel that I took every 50 minutes. My one bottle of water didn't end up being enough to last the whole time so I had Pete refill it about half way.

I decided to try wearing my tri shorts today to see if it seems possible to wear them, and I actually felt more comfortable than ever before! That was kind of unexpected because tri shorts (for those of you who are unfamiliar with the nuances of triathlon vs. cycling clothing) have much thinner padding so they can dry out quicker and be easier to run in. Maybe the padding on my cycling shorts was getting in the way and making me sit on the saddle wrong or just rubbing wrong or something. I don't know, but I'm happy to know that I should be able to wear tri shorts without a problem. I think Pete just wore his cycling shorts for the long bike ride. (correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, hun.) Pete even said that I looked much more comfortable in the aero bars than he ever felt, and that is really comforting. Maybe I will be able to do this!

After my ride, I stretched, drank some recoverite and had some apples with peanut butter. 

I made lasagna for dinner, and some truffles for desert. We all dressed up to have dinner at a "fancy restaurant." This was all Mindy's idea, and we had the flowers Pete got me as a centerpiece. I love how excited she gets about everything! That girl sure has a lot of energy!

It was a fun Valentine's Day. I hope everyone else had a good one too!

Big Cats

Well, this morning I did NOT wake up at 6 to go swimming before Mindy had to go to school. Are you kidding me? Doesn't another hour of sleep sound so much better than swimming for an hour? Not that I slept good, I was up 3 or 4 times during the night with various children. Luckily they all went right back to bed. It could have been worse.

I went to the pool after dropping Mindy and Pete off, as usual. I love having a gym with a daycare. I don't think I could do this otherwise. 

Here is what my training plan told me to do today:

Swim: long day

Warmup: 6 x 100, concentrating on different part of stroke each 100

Main: 4 x 500, keeping each 500 (that's 10 laps, just so we're all on the same page) even pace

Cool down: 2 x 150 pull

I must also share my training plan's description of this weeks goals:

This week we introduce Neuro Speed….training the body to move fast and efficient while not stressing the body. 

We'll do this on the run through strides(also called accelerations). Strides are short efforts of running fast by slowly accelerating allowing fast, quick footstrikes and an efficient form on the upper body. These strides only last 20-30 seconds but are not run "hard." 

By slowly accelerating from normal run pace to near top speed, but over a very short time, you should not feel at all fatigued but your body will begin to neurologically what it feels like to be swift--think cheetah!

"Hm," I thought, "Cheetah would be a good one for C in my animal counting game. Much better than Cat." Then I moved on to thinking that it would be cool to think of a big cat for each of the letter up to J (becasuse that's 10, still on the same page?), and I was all excited about this since I already had one for J!

I was stumped immediately by A. Here's the list I finally came up with: 

1. Aslan (Min and I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia)
2. Bobcat
3. Cougar or Cheetah (yeah!)
4. Dingo (I know, that's not even a cat, but "Maybe a dingo ate your baby!" I just couldn't help it.)
5. Elephant (couldn't get away from that one either)
6. Fast cat
7. Giant cat
8. Hungry lion (look out!)
9. Ice Leopard (Ice is almost the same as snow right?)
10. Jaguar! 

Pretty pathetic list. Can anyone come up with better ones? I wasn't even close was I?

I realized, while swimming trying to make this list, how helpless I am without the internet right there. Ok, here's my new list with the help of the World Wide Web: 

1. Aslan
   
2. Bobcat
   
3. Cougar or Cheetah (yeah!)
   
4. Dandelion (Pete came up with that in a split second)
   
5. Eurasian lynx
   
6. Felidae (this is the Family of big cats)
   
7. Great Cat (that's really what they call them)
   
8. Hungry lion
   
9. Ice Leopard
   
10. Jaguar! 

That's better. I also realized, while swimming and trying to come up with these, that this was taking way too much brainpower so I only did 2 of the 4 sets using this method. The last set I actually just counted using numbers can you imagine that!

I was in the pool for an hour and 10 minutes, and my fingers were so wrinkled and getting tender by the time I got out. Pete took an hour and a half for the Ironman, though, so I need to get used to it - and hope to get that good of a time. 

Night Rider

Surprise, surprise, I didn't end up going swimming last night. I was feeling really tired and sore when the evening came around, plus Pete was going to need the car. He reassured me that I am doing really well with my training so it's ok to miss a workout. I ended up staying home and frosting heart cookies!

Today, I decided to try something new and do my trainer ride after the kids were in bed so that I wouldn't have to rush to pick Ethan up from school afterwards. Instead of riding during Elle's nap, then, I spent an hour taping and mudding our downstairs bathroom that is still recovering from a small flood. We will get it finished someday! I actually don't mind doing the work - it's even kind of fun - but I just don't have tons of time to be spending on it.

I don't know if it was worth it to wait until the kids were in bed to ride because I never want to workout in the evenings. (Remember last night?) This is supposed to be my time to just relax a little. But I did do it! Yeah!

My training plan says:

Bike: 55 minutes, on trainer if possible:

Warmup: 10: at RPE 2-3 (RPE is kind of the difficulty level between 1 and 10)

Main: 4 x (8:00 at RPE 4-5 fast spinning, 2:00 at RPE 2)

Cool down: 5:00 work down to RPE3 then RPE2 to finish

I don't know how I could work down to RPE3 if I'm finishing out the set at RPE2, but whatever. I just basically did a 7 minute cool down.

I made myself a bottle of Gatorade to drink every 10 minutes, and this time I only used one scoop. It wasn't as bad, but I still don't like it. It will do, though. I'd hate to waist it. Besides, Pete said that they had Gatorade at every transition in the IM so I should probably get used to it right?

When I got done, I made some Recoverite and stretched then took a bath for WAY too long. I was reading my book about the Donnor Party, and it was just so nice to sit and read, I haven't done that in a long time. I couldn't believe it was 11:00 when I got out! And I was thinking about waking up early for swimming tomorrow. I should be asleep right now!

Goodnight all!

Endorphins and Mean Babies

We were very rushed this morning, trying to get Pete to work by 8, and of course, he was late. After dropping Mindy off, we went straight to the gym. My training plan for today said:

long run again, easy pace

Short and sweet. I just decided to do an hour again. I don't know how far I went because I gave up trying to count laps after I lost track around 5 or 6. I'm sick of counting laps. I decided to just listen to my music and enjoy running for an hour. It was really fun, but I must remind those of you who still hate running, that you have to run longer than half an hour to 45 minutes before your endorphins are released. The feeling you get from your endorphins, I think, is one of the things that make running fun. If you only run for half an hour, you miss out on a great feeling! 

I just looked endorphins up on wikipedia and here are some interesting facts:

Endorphins work as "natural pain relievers"

(The word) consists of two parts: endo- and -orphin; these are short forms of the words endogenous and morphine, intended to mean "a morphine like substance originating from within the body." (Sweet!)

Runner's high
Another widely publicized effect of endorphin production is the so-called "runner's high", which is said to occur when strenuous exercise takes a person over a threshold that activates endorphin production. Endorphins are released during long, continuous workouts, when the level of intensity is between moderate and high, and breathing is difficult. This also corresponds with the time that muscles use up their stored glycogen. Workouts that are most likely to produce endorphins include, boxing, running, swimming, cross-country skiing, long distance rowing, cycling, weight lifting, aerobics, or playing a sport such as soccer, basketball, rugby, lacrosse, hockey, tennis or American football.

However, some scientists question the mechanisms at work, their research possibly demonstrating the high comes from completing a challenge rather than as a result of exertion.

So, I don't know. Whatever it is, running for an hour+ is way better than running for half an hour. It might seem weird, but I've heard this from other people too.

After my run, I was feeling really tired, like I needed something to eat or drink other than water. I should have thought of that. Workouts that are longer than an hour really need some kind of nutrition, at least for me. I will bring some Hammer Gel next time.

I was in the locker room, trying to decide if I should do my swim workout, just swim a little bit or skip it all-together, when I heard "C. Lasko, please come to the daycare" over the loud-speaker. I quickly got dressed (I had already changed into my swimsuit), and rushed to the daycare, hoping there wasn't anything seriously wrong. I got there to find Elle looking like this:

One of the babies had apparently hit her with a dinosaur. Poor thing. She was being very brave, though. She wasn't even crying, just pointed out her "owie" to me. I had to sign a little form so the gym wouldn't get in trouble for this, and I said, "No big deal, this could have easily happened at home." In fact, Ethan did give her a bloody nose yesterday. I never found out what happened either... Anyway, we just came home after that. I couldn't get myself to just leave her after being assaulted by a 1-year old. I will try to get to the pool tonight. We'll see.

Our House

...is a very, very, very fine house.

This morning it snowed again and I really wanted to get a current snowy picture, so here you go. I'm trying to notice the beauty of winter since I hate pretty much everything else about it.

Today felt a little more laid back than yesterday. I was able to get the house pretty much cleaned up, and that's always nice. Also, notice the nicely shoveled sidewalk?

My plan for today said:

Bike: 60 minutes road or trainer, like last week this is all small chainring work (uh, what?), low effort. 

Like I could even do an hour on the small chainring. Boring! Actually, I didn't realize that's what it said until just now. 

I just did 55 minutes on the trainer because I wanted time to stretch before picking Ethan up. Yeah, I cut it that close. I didn't have it on a super easy gear, but I didn't touch the hardest gears either. I tried to keep my cadence at 90 - 95 the whole time.

I promised a picture of my new seat (it's the one with white on it):

I'd like to say that I got on my bike today with this new saddle and just felt like I was sitting on a cushion, but that wouldn't be completely true. It was still uncomfortable, a little painful even, but I think it felt more manageable because the pain is in a different place. It seems like I should be able to get used to it, or at least put up with it better than the old saddle.  I hope I made the right choice.

I made myself a bottle of Gatorade to drink while riding because that's all our ghetto Smith's had. I usually get Power-aid, and I usually do two scoops per bottle so I just did that with the Gatorade. WAY to strong. I felt almost like I had to chew it, and I wasn't looking forward to it every 10 minutes when I took my sips. Next time I will just do one scoop.

Tonight I went grocery shopping with my friend, Ann, and she's looking at buying a house in Sugarhouse. That is a really cool part of town where Pete and I had originally wanted to get a house, but it was too expensive. Now, lucky for them, the house prices are going down so it looks like they might be able to get into that cool neighborhood. I'm so jealous, so I just need to keep reminding myself how great our house is and that we like our neighborhood and not think about what might have been. I just need to be happy for her, and I am. Plus, look how nice our street is:

Now I have that song in my head! "Our house is a very, very, very fine house...."

"Deep Down I always believe I can win."

Francie Larrieu Smith

Mondays Are Too Much

This morning big, beautiful, fluffy snowflakes were falling from the sky. Here is Elle in our backyard on the way to take Mindy to school. I guess all the talk about snow in Heber yesterday made Salt Lake jealous. :)

I went to the gym today and started out with a run. Here is what my training plan says:

Run: 45 minutes. 10 minute warm up, then do 20 second strides before returning to RPE 3 pace. Repeat strides every 5 minutes.

I would like to say that, doing the strides, I was able to be faster than my usual 10-minute mile, but I was at almost exactly 4.5 miles when my watch hit 45 minutes. I pushed it pretty hard on the strides, but I did try to take it easy and keep my heart-rate down otherwise.

After my run, I got a drink of water, stretched really good, got another drink of water, and headed to the pool. Here's what my plan said to do:

Swim: speed day.
Warmup: 300 continuous. concentrate on form weakness.
Main: 10 x 100 descend 1-5 and 5-10.
Cool down: 200 continuous, alternate 50 kick, 50 swim.

I did my 100s (that's 2 laps remember) at 2:00, 1:55, 1:50, 1:45 and 1:40. I did this twice, and I wasn't always exactly on those times, but I was pretty darn close! When I came up after my second 5 and saw that I had made it on 1:40, I just had to smile.  The lifeguards probably think I'm a little loony. I was pretty happy with how it went. It was a good, hard workout. 

When I got home, I made quesadillas for the myself and the kids, and I drank a recoverite before taking a quick shower and getting Ethan to school right on time.

Then, I went with Pete to pick up his new suit, then he wanted lunch at Pei Wei, but I just had a lettuce wrap to share with Elle. I dropped him off at work just in time to pick Ethan and Mindy up, then it was home to do homework before taking Mindy to ballet. After that, I hadn't made dinner so we went out for family night to Simply Thai (oh, man, they need a new website though!) all the way down at 106th S. It is the most delicious place. If you're ever in the area, you've got to try it out. So good. The owner does a lot of the cooking herself and she comes out to greet all the guests. She makes the best coconut ice cream too! Yum! Last time we were there, we had a really big group and she gave it to us for free because we had to wait so long. We didn't have any tonight, though, because Elle was getting too restless. We stopped at Iceberg on the way home for ice cream cones, and boy did that little girl make a mess! The  kids went to bed like little angels when we got home. That's the nice thing about a busy day.

Today was just a little too busy, though. I've hardly had any time to be at home and relax. Plus my legs are sore from my run, and I'm just really tired. 

Mondays are always such a shock after enjoying a nice relaxing Sunday. The alarm goes off Monday morning and it's just, BOOM! Back to work and school and training and ballet and family night..... It was a little worse than usual today, though. I need to make sure to plan a crockpot dinner next week.

19 Weeks to Ironman

As I lay in bed last night, thinking that today it would be 19 weeks until Coeur d'Alene, I could feel my heart-rate start to go up and my breathing quicken a little bit. What I think this means is that I'm nervous. Just a little bit nervous. Or, maybe a lot nervous. Depends on when you ask me. I spent last night on the internet looking for outfits I could wear, what would look good but also be practical. I think I've decided on this purple one.  But then, I have a red and gray bike, so that might clash too much. Maybe something black or gray? But then Pete said, purple would make it easier for him to find me than if I wore a black one. Decisions, decisions. Then I laid down and thought about how many weeks I have left. Ok, my pulse is quickening again as I write this. Just breathe....

This morning we got to sleep in. It was so nice! I didn't set my alarm because I thought there was no way I'd sleep past 8, but when I woke up, it was 9:30! We had to be at my Dad's before 11:30 so he wouldn't be stuck taking the kids to church alone. Actually, he wouldn't have even been able to take them since we had the car seats. We were quick, though, and made it there with half an hour to spare. I kind of thought I'd have to get the girls' hair done before we left, but I don't know why I was even worried. My dad did 3 girls' hair by himself for how many years? I can't say I was the most stylish girl in town, but he did a great job! 

My dad is amazing! For those of you who don't know, we lived with my dad in Heber for 2 1/2 years before moving here to Salt Lake so the kids are really close to him. They miss him a lot, and he misses having them around so everyone was excited for the sleep-over last night. His girlfriend even came over with loads of things for them to do. They made their own personal pizzas, heart-shaped cookies, and decorated picture frames. 

They were all pretty sleepy in church from staying up so late, but I think that's ok every once and a while. Elle actually fell asleep in nursery, then woke up, started screaming and ended up staying with me after that. Mindy insisted on staying with me too because she was too tired to go to primary, but Ethan (who is usually the one to put up a fight) went right in to Primary and had a great time! We were excited about that.

After church, we got to see Sabel and she looked really good! She said she was feeling much better too. She just needs to be careful not to get sick because that is what set her heart problems off. Hopefully she'll just take it easy, but not get too bored! Maybe she's reading my blog right now. Hi Sabel! :)

We also visited my grandparents and had a YUMMY dinner with my dad before heading home.

The last 3 times we've made the trip to Heber, it's been snowing. It makes me feel like Heber is constantly in some state of snowyness. Christmas day it was a total blizzard, but today it was just tiny white specks floating around in the air. It was kind of cool. It is always weird how much colder it is there, though. We were starting to feel like it's spring here because the snow is all melting and it's been pretty warm, but it's 20 degrees colder in Heber! It's a cold, but beautiful place. 

Here is a picture from last year when we really got dumped on in Heber. This year is not nearly as bad. Or I should say as good. Depends on who you are I guess. 

This picture was taken Christmas 2005. I think it was Ethan's first time ever seeing snow since we lived in St. George until then. 

New Saddle!

Today my plan said to do 1 hour on the bike, but I decided to do 2. I kind of was planning to go outside, but I was a too nervous about the stem still being wobbly. That's right, I never went and got that temporary stem from the bike shop.

So I did 2 hours on the trainer, and I had a 2 hour bottle of Perpetuem and alternated drinking it and water every 10 minutes. I tried to keep a cadence of 90 rpms, except when I had to stop the kids from killing each other and stuff like that.

After my ride, I drank a bottle of Recoverite while I stretched. Then I wanted to take a nice hot bath, but it ended up running it too cold, and using up the hot water with the cold, while I helped Elle go potty. Pete told me I need to work on my bath-running skills.

We took the kids up to Heber, and left them with my dad so that we could go to SBR Sports and try out bike seats. The girl working there was really helpful, and I tried out 3 or 4 different seats on their trainer, and I got one that's way more comfortable than the original one. I'm so excited about it!

Then we came back to Salt Lake to go to a party to get to know some people in the ward. It was really fun, and I'm glad we drove all the way back here for it. Now we get the whole night with no kids! Yeah!

Swimming ABCs

This morning my alarm went off at 6 am, and I just sat straight up in bed, amazed that I had actually slept through the whole night! I was worried I wouldn't be sleeping because Elle woke up at about 9:30 last night with an almost 104 degree fever. We don't know exactly what it was because we just have one of those strips that you put on your forehead and it changes colors according to how hot you are, and the 104 box was turning a little bit yellow on her hot little forehead. I gave her some Motrin and juice, put her back to bed and, amazingly, she slept all night!

It was quite serene getting up at 6, before the kids. I was actually less tired then usual. I grabbed half a banana and hurried out, not wanting to wake Elle. I went to the pool, and this is what I did:

• Warmup: 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull, 200 swim. (Same warmup we always did in Masters)
• Main: 1 x 1500
• Cool down: 4 x 50, each one slower

I was actually able to count my laps quite accurately by using the alphabet instead of numbers. Once I got to the end of the alphabet, I just needed 4 more, and I can count that many. 

While doing my ABCs, I would think an animal that starts with the letter I'm on, and as I counted my strokes, would think of that many of each animal. This actually gave me an incentive to keep my stroke count low because you don't want to have 24 cats, dogs, or elephants for that matter! Sometimes I would find myself thinking of a small, cute animal like Kittens, and that wouldn't do so I would change it to something that would be worse to have 24 of, like Kangaroos. Of course, I wouldn't really want 24 kittens either, but kangaroos seemed a little worse since they're bigger. The same goes for llamas and lions, turtles and tigers. Most of the time I could keep my strokes at around 20 with this method so it must be a good one. I should write a book! :)

I got pretty thirsty while swimming, but I never bring a water bottle to the pool. Maybe I should, I don't know. It just always seems like it will make me need to go to the bathroom, and I hate to have my workout interrupted.

I got home just in time to take Mindy to school, and Pete had everyone ready to get right in the car. The house smelled delicious when I poked my head in. Pete had made pancakes because Mindy asked for "something other than oatmeal." I guess my kids get sick of having oatmeal everyday? I know, I don't understand it either. Anyway, good job, Pete, for making the morning wonderful for everyone! 

On the down-side, right after I dropped Pete off at work, Elle threw up all over herself and her carseat. The weird thing was that she wasn't acting sick anymore. She was so happy and talkative, then the throw-up just came out of nowhere. She has seemed fine ever since too. I don't know what it was all about. I'm glad she's feeling better, though.

Update on Sabel

My sister, Sabel, gets to go home from the hospital today! The bad news is that her heart is in pretty bad shape. Three out of the four valves are leaking, causing lung pressure. Some of the valves are also too tight. This means that she will be having open heart surgery in a month or two. They say it is not an immediate concern, but that if it's not fixed, it could kill her.  Luckily, the doctors seem to know right what to do to fix her heart now, and they aren't too worried about it. She just needs to take it easy until the surgery. One of the things that Garison said about the doctors is that "they handle stuff like this all the time just with people 65+ years old."

If you're wondering why a 25 year old is having problems that are usually found in 65-year-olds, I think it's because when she was little she got Strep Throat, and they didn't find out about it before she got Rheumatic Fever from it and that damaged her heart. I remember her having to go to the doctor a lot and getting a lot of tests done. Then, afterwards, she was really weak for a long time. I really hope this open heart surgery fixes things for her.

Hit The Road Coke!

If you couldn't guess, I didn't go running last night. Isn't that always what happens when you put off your run? Pete just ended up having to work later than planned, then there wasn't time between that and his band practice. Go Curse of San Pedro!

Today, Elle is feeling sick again. She was asleep by the time I got home from dropping Ethan off at school, then she slept for the next 2 and a half hours. 

While she slept, my awesome friend, Ann, came over so I could go run. She brought her little 3-year-old boy who is also named Ethan. Elle calls him "The Little Ethan" or "The Tiny Ethan." It's pretty cute, and I'm sure she would have loved to play with him if she hadn't slept the whole time. It's probably better that they didn't play though, I wouldn't want to share germs.

I ran 5.6 miles. It was my first run outside since the marathon so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had almost forgotten what running outside was like, especially running in the city. I had my run all planned out, but I didn't realize how big the bridge over the train tracks was. Then I think I turned on the wrong street, or maybe google maps was wrong about there even being a street there, because I ended up stuck in the Gateway. I felt really out of place running through there. One lone runner amidst all the shoppers and people going out for lunch.

I kind of hoped I would chance to see Pete there because I know he does go there for lunch sometimes. But I had to just wave to him in my head as I ran past his building. 

Then I turned onto my second choice street for heading home, and just as I was getting to the train tracks, the gates started to close. I was really tempted to just run across really quick before the train got there, but I knew that was stupid. I ran up and down that block a few times just in case it was a short train, but it wasn't. I headed up to the next street that goes over the freeway. 

It was a little bit frightening crossing that bridge with so many cars coming from so many different directions, most of them strait from the freeway. Plus, when the big trucks drove by, the ground shook! A little scary, but I made it over, and back home in almost exactly an hour to find that Elle was still sleeping. How nice.

I downed a bottle of Recoverite as soon as I got back, then stretched and did some quick ab work and took a shower in time to pick Ethan up from school.

Thank you, Ann, for making this run possible!

Barrel Racing

This morning I decided to just do my swim workout so that I wouldn't rush it and cut it short again. I'll do running tonight. 

Again, I forgot my plan so I used my photographic memory to see what I needed to do, and you know what? It actually worked! Here's what I did:

Warm up: 4 x 75, last 25 in each is backstroke. 

(I hate backstroke, I always get water in my nose!)

Main: 3 x 400, each one a little harder. 

(The weird thing about this is that, though I was pushing harder at the end, it was actually harder for me at the beginning because I wasn't warmed up yet or I wasn't in my groove or something yet. By the end, I was having fun just flying through the water. I probably pushed a little harder than I was supposed to.)

Cool down: 100 easy with every other 25 being backstroke. 

(My plan says 150 easy, but I'd say I did pretty good at remembering everything!)

After my workout, I just had a drink of water, and half of a waffle with butter on it when I got home.

On my way home from the gym, I was a couple cars behind a guy who hit one of those construction barrels with is right side-view mirror. I couldn't believe how much it shattered, and how high it flew into the air. It actually took me a minute to realize what was going on when I saw all this debrey flying in front of me. Pretty crazy. It was an old man too, and I felt sorry for him. It was one of those instances where something happens so suddenly, then it's gone. He doesn't have a right side-view mirror anymore. Of course, just because I felt sorry for him, didn't mean I wanted to drive close to him anymore. 

Note to self: Do not hit those construction barrels when you're going 65 mph. Not good.

New Parts

Today I did an hour on the trainer. I decided that I really do need to get a new saddle because it was hurting so bad, I just wanted to cry after like 20 minutes! There's no way I'm going to be riding for 7 hours on that seat! You've got to be kidding me! As soon as I got off, I went and looked up tri bike saddles online. This, of course, helped me be late picking Ethan up from preschool. And I was late dropping him off because I was so busy cleaning the kitchen. His teacher must hate me! At least he's been going to school happily and enjoying it lately, though.

Back to saddles. It looks like there are several out there that people really like, but Pete says that it's such a personal thing that reading what other people think isn't really going to help me. We are going to try to go to a tri shop so I can try some out maybe this weekend. 

I had one of my wonderful readers ask me about my nutrition, so I'm going to start posting what I eat/drink during my workouts. Today, I just had a water bottle and one serving of Hammer Gel. Apple Cinnamon. Yummy! I ususally would just do power-aid for an hour-long workout, but since I didn't have any (I need to add that to my list...) I wanted a little more so I added the Hammer Gel. I need to be used to using the Hammer Gel every hour or so anyway. I probably didn't need it today, though. Afterwards, I also drank a little bit of Recoverite. Just half a bottle. Again, for an hour-long ride, I usually don't do that, but I'm trying to get into good habits.

I've got a new stem on order at Contender, but there aren't any of the smaller size in the 60mm so I'm getting a 70 mm. I hope it works out well. They're pretty cool over there, they said I can bring my bike in and they'll put something on for the time being so I can ride it until the part gets there. Pretty awesome. I might do that tomorrow because I really want to get out on Saturday, and it's pretty wobbly right now with the broken stem. Mike (The Fit Right guy) thought it was pretty crazy that Pete was riding on it like that!

"There is no happiness...

...except in the realization that we have accomplished something."

Henry Ford

No Sleep Day

Last night was one of the longest nights I've had in a long time - not caused by Elle. I don't think I got more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep. Pete would look at me and say, "Of course you slept." But I really felt like I just laid there all night. I'm wondering if my body is getting too used to working out every day so when I take a day off, it's just not tired. Maybe I should start taking Sunday evening walks or something. I did take a nap yesterday, but again, I don't think I slept, I just laid there for an hour or so. Pete's laughing at me again, I'm sure.

I prepared myself (all night as I lay in bed trying to sleep) to be really tired this morning, but I really wasn't. Maybe if you're not asleep to begin with, it's not as hard to wake up.

Today I started on my new training plan (which my coach, Pete, has now approved). Well, I'm going to be basically using it, but moving things around a little so that I can still have Sunday as my rest day, and Saturday as my long ride day. I'd also kind of like to stick to the pattern I've been doing because that's what I'm used to.

I went to the gym and ran for 45 minutes. I was supposed to be doing a "very easy" 45 minute-run, according to the plan. I tried to run easy, but my heart-rate stayed at around 160 which is pretty high, and I would look with longing at the lady who kept breezing past me. I wish I could run that fast! She ran for as long as me too, so it's not like she was just sprinting. Then my heart-rate monitor lost it for a few minutes, and Muse came on. Uh oh. When I got my heat-rate back, it was 174 so it took me a while to get it back down.

This is something Pete keeps telling me I need to work on. I need to learn to hold myself back a little. There's no way I'm running for 5 or 6 hours with my heart-rate at 174. Oh well, it wasn't a long run, and I'm trying to get faster so I think it was ok. Plus, if I can run faster, I won't have to be running for 5 or 6 hours, it will be more like 4 or 5.

I also did about 6 sets of strides towards the end of my run. I did about 4.5 miles. You know me and counting, I could be off by a lap or two, but I think that's right. I need to get a new battery for my watch with the lap counter.

After I stretched, I did some supermans, planks, metronomes, and bridges. Then I ran downstairs to the pool.

I did 2 kick board laps, 4 paddle/pull buoy laps, and 2 slow swim laps to warm up. I'm still not quite used to the swimmer terminology. I should say, I did "100 kick board, 200 paddle/pull buoy, and 100 slow swim." It just seems easier to me to say how many laps I did, but then I guess it's easier to figure out distance if you do it the right way.

Of course, I had forgotten to bring my training plan so I didn't know what I was supposed to do other than that it was a speed day so I did 3 sets of 3 trying to do it on the :55. I should have done more, but it was really hard to even get those times. Plus I was in a hurry to get the kids out of the daycare before much longer than 2 hours.

I would love to take a nap right now, but I don't want to risk not being able to sleep tonight. I guess I could clean out my fridge... Or I could have a brownie. :)

20 Weeks to Ironman!

Not even sore when I woke up this morning! Wahoo!

Today I taught the Young Women (girls 12-18) in church. I was so worried that the lesson was going to be terrible because I didn't look at the lesson until 8 or 9 last night, and the bulk of the lesson was to be from me getting a guest speaker. Well, I don't know very many people who I could call for that, and I didn't think I should call someone with such short notice so I just ended up looking up some conference talks. The lesson was "Finding Joy in Our Divine Potential." The speaker was supposed to talk about the joy of being a woman so I looked for things relating to that. Here are the talks I used:  

If We Want to Go Up, We Have to Get On  

My Soul Delighteth in the Things of the Lord  

Celebrating Womanhood  

Now, I didn't read the entire talks to the girls, but I took some parts out of the first and second one, and paraphrased a little of the third. They are all really good, though, and I would recommend reading them if you have time.

The lesson actually ended up going really well. I cried practically the whole time because the Spirit was so strong. I let them all know how much I love each of them, and bore my testimony that I know Heavenly Father loves all of us, we are all his daughters, and that being a woman is something special and wonderful, no matter what our circumstances are. That we shouldn't just disregard the nurturing abilities we were born with. They are not a weakness. We are not weak, we are strong. 

I'm not very good at expressing how I feel, but the Spirit was there and it did the teaching. At the end I gave them time to stand and bear their testimonies, and several of them got up and bore their simple witnesses of the the Atonement and the Young Women's program in the Church.  

It was a wonderful meeting, and I just really felt I should share a little of it. Questions and comments are welcome, as always. :)