It's Not All Hard Work

We're in the final four weeks counting down to Pac Crest 1/2 IM. Although I'm somewhat undertrained, I'm feeling pretty good about race day.

My swims have been short and somewhat infrequent due to my shoulder, but I did finally get into my wetsuit for my first open water swim of the season this Wednesday night. You might remember I did the Mock Tri a couple weeks ago but the swim was short and I didn't have much time to let anxiety set in, so I was still somewhat concerned when I headed up to Vancouver Lake the other night. I had a quick moment of feeling nauseated and anxious but it ended as soon as I warmed up and then I had a great swim.

I've missed a few big rides to keep the family happy and my longest ride of the season - a 72 miler last Saturday - was cut short at mile 40 due to a broken cable that left me unable to shift. grrr.

My runs were great up through the  Eugene Half, but I've cut back a little bit - usually leaving off one scheduled run per week or cutting one short - due to whatever is going on with my heel. Last weekend's 1/2 marathon went well, but today's 14 miler has me currently unable to put pressure on my right heel and my ankle is swollen. The good news is that my runs don't seem to make the situation worse other than immediately after the run. The foot is painful and gimpy all the time regardless of whether or not I'm running. I'm sure that if I completely stayed off of it for a time it would be good for it, so I'm giving up all runs this week prior to The Wild Canyon Games and then I'll see about next week as it comes around.

My favorite part of tri training - THE PEOPLE - has been going great, though! Nothing like a post brick stretch in the sun...

or patiently waiting for beers and burgers...

or sometimes (like today) even a nice shot or two of beer at the 11 mile aid station...

Don't forget to enter my fundraising raffle for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!!! Go HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for more information!!

Vancouver Mock Tri

I finished it...as in...completed it. My actual plan going into Saturday's "Mock Tri" was to skip out on the run - or only do a mile out and back, but I did it all :-)

Every year, The Portland Tri Club puts on a Mock Tri for everyone to get their feet a little wet before their actual first race of the season. This is of great benefit to people new to the sport to be in a race setting without actually having the stress of worrying about things like a full distance swim or timing chips (which aren't a part of this practice tri) - but gives abundant opportunity to get out in their wetsuits, practice transitions and maybe even get to change their first flat.

I was a little nervous going into Saturday only because I do have an annual freakout with my first open water swim - or more likely my first yearly encounter with my wetsuit is what initiates the freak in me. I tried to resolve this issue by wearing my wetsuit in bed the other night for a few minutes, but then just gave up when I started to sweat.

Saturday dawned bright and early and I arrived in Washington way ahead of schedule and actually got a spot on a rack this year instead of leaning my bike up against a tree (which looking back...worked out quite fine for me last year) and then I set out to find friends. After sunbathing for a bit...

... I made my way back to the crowd to hear our mission moment from Coach Jane. Her mom was a long time runner and participant with TNT and she passed away several years ago. Jane brought along her mom's license plate that has her motto imprinted on it: Awhynot

Jane said people used to ask her mom all the time why she did all the crazy things and runs and traveling she did and her mom would just say "Ah...why not?!" and continue on with her zest for life.

Shortly after our mission moment, we headed out to the water...

...where I found a friend who had also not done an OWS yet this season. As we headed on out side by side, I realized that I was breathing to the right while she was breathing to the left so with each breath we took we could see each others faces. This kept me entertained enough to squelch any anxiety until someone swam over me and I took in no less than a gallon of swampy lake water. I couldn't catch my breath and the anxiety swelled over me until suddenly I realized that I was all alone in my part of the lake. I had just rounded a buoy and could see the next one, but the masses were all swimming wide for some reason. I assume one person swam wide and everyone followed, but it worked well for me as I had absolutely no traffic and I was able to bring my anxiety back down in my solitude. I came out of the water about 34th out of 120ish, so not too bad. Since I've only been swimming once a week this season...for about a half hour at a time due to my shoulder, I know it was not because I was speedy. I simply can swim straight :p

Onto the bike for a quick 28 miles with no issues other than I had to pee horribly from mile 3 onward. I had tried to pee in the lake but I guess I had performance anxiety with it being my first swim of the year - and it was only a 1/3 mile long so no time to work it out. I pulled into T2 unsure if I could hold it in before I got to the restroom which was shortly into the start of the run. At this point, I saw one of my coaches and I told her I probably wouldn't run all of leg three, but after a 37 second pee in the ladies room (TMI...hahahaha...I timed it!) I settled into a nice pace with little heel issues after about a half mile, so when I hit my first turn around option, I opted to keep going and made it all the way!! Talk about making my day! The last 1-2 miles I had some heel and arch pain, but not enough to stop me...and the best part was I was no worse for wear the next day (well...no worse for wear as far as my foot went).

So...at the finish line, I was served an amazing burger that immediately went all over and into my face just as my name was called as a raffle winner from Upper Echelon Fitness for a bike fitting. My friend had been anxiously waiting for her number to be called for this particular prize so I handed it over to her. I know that my bike is not suitable for me from the get go, so a bike fitting at this point would be a waste for me and a win for her. I called it a day and headed home to fall into some pizza and apparently a little too much wine as we watched Super 8 (LOVED this movie and the music in particular). We always make fun of Jack's one disco dance move that he knows, so he broke down and did some robot for us at the end of the movie:

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Sunday morning arrived way too early and even the 2 am intake of multiple nuun tablets did not help me enough to make it all the way through our 50-70 mile bike ride. I followed these sweet cheeks...

...up some pretty long hills before deciding at the bottom of Larch Mountain that I was going to give a mothers day present to myself and end the misery of the headache, dehydration and heartburn at 40 miles. There will be plenty of other days to ride 70 miles in the heat. This particular day was better spent with my kids!

So...the deal with the foot? I'm stretching, rolling, and icing like it's nobodies business. I'm pretty excited about The Wild Canyon Games coming up in just a couple of weeks, so I need to get this foot in good shape by then.

INKnBURN Review

Hello people!! If you are in Portland today, Hello SUNSHINE!! What a great day to race - but first I want to do a review of some lovely sporting clothes. I contacted INKnBURN a few months ago to see if they would be willing to donate an item from their line to my on-line fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Keira Henninger responded with a VERY quick YES! and said she had noticed on my TNT Page that I run in Nike Shorts and thought that I might like to try one of INKnBURN's running skirts. Well...I'm WAY over my Nike shorts and have been running in mostly skirts or capris for a while now, so I said I would love to try some out. Not only did she send me this beauty...

...but also a tank!

I'll start with the skirt first. So, my first impression was C.U.T.E. I especially loved the undershorts...

My next favorite part of the skirt was the feeling as soon as I slid this skirt on. It was that immediate feeling of "THE" right fit. I'm definitely an apple shape, so lots of times running skirts will either not come up high enough to "hold" my tummy (instead they uncomfortably cut it in half) or they will slide down. This skirt does neither of these things. It is SO flattering on me that I cannot help but wear it ALL.THE.TIME!  I wouldn't say the waistband comes up too high, but just at the right spot on me. It can also be rolled over for a shorter style waistband.

The skirt is not too short, and in fact I think the back end seems a little longer than the front - but I've only noticed that while doing squats and it is not noticeable otherwise. The bootie shorts are not long by any means, but I use body glide on my thighs regardless, so that has not been a problem, but if you are one of those people that likes your undershorts longer and with grip, these are not those kind of shorts. I do not feel them bunching up, though - they are a complete non issue as I don't even realize they are there...except when I show them off to people, which I do all the time :p

This skirt has been worn a lot. It's been washed a lot. The material and shape has held up well and they smell great. TMI? Well...this is a huge issue with me. I hate when my workout clothes start to stink and whether it is this particular skirts design/material or the awesome Tide Sport that Kim turned me on to, it smells like nothing....the way it should be!

I cannot tell you how many compliments I've received on this skirt. EVERYONE loves it! I've biked in it, I've run in it, I've taught bootcamp in it, I pick up my kids from school in it and I grocery shop in it. I've also drank wine in it, run the Eugene Half Marathon in it, and eaten a donut in it. Is is obviously quite versatile.

On to the tank. I love tanks.  I prefer to workout in tanks but I have this glorious old age (and a few pounds too many on this body) problem and so I often opt for short sleeves to hide the dreaded fat hunk caused by my sports bra around my armpits for the start of the season and then by the time summer hits, I try to find tanks that are flattering. They are definitely out there and this tank fit the bill. I ordered a large because my back is pretty broad and also because medium tanks usually fit pretty tight around the waist and my "apple" doesn't like to be hugged that tightly. I probably should have gone for the medium as the bra part of the tank just doesn't give me enough support to run in on it's own. I can bike in it sans extra bra and I LOVE it. I think these tanks are actually tailored to give some nice support in the boobage area and then are a little looser draping around the midsection and I totally appreciate that! So I have worn it on the bike and it has a great little bra pocket for gels or keys or whatever (LOVE!) and for running I will add a sports bra underneath for extra support.


I was hoping to have a great picture from Eugene with me in my cute skirt but I was so fast they couldn't catch me on film. I also don't have a great picture of me in the cami, but here's proof I wear it :D

I can't say enough about INKnBURN. They were totally NICE, helpful, supportive and speedy! Check them out - their designs are outrageously fun!

So...the race...the first race of the season. I ran into a friend at REI yesterday and he was super nervous about an open water swim he was doing early this morning so as soon as I woke up around 5:30am, I sent him a text wishing him well and he sent this picture back to me from his drive over the bridge into Washington (we were both heading up to Vancouver)...

...and I immediately knew that I was blessed to have this glorious day for my first race day of the season. So...I will tell you now that I really had no plans to finish my third leg today. If I was to run at all, it would be for only a mile or two (my heel has been THAT bad), but since I've run out of time to talk about my race until tomorrow...I will just let you know that (obviously) I survived my first open water swim of the season and I also ran the FULL distance of Leg 3 =D and it all started with a little bit of sunbathing...

More on this race tomorrow....after my 50-70 mile Mothers Day bike ride...

Stuff

Too much stuff to put into one post, so I'm going to pick and choose and then break it down over a couple of days. Today I'll go with a post race picture of Raina and me after Eugene.

Then I'll move on to what my 7 year old has been doing since we got rid of cable for the summer. She's literally climbing the walls ...and going crazy. It's going to be a long summer. Video is for her grandparents and anyone who is bored enough to watch my kid be a kid.

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And a few pictures of boot camp this morning...

...I love it when you can call a friend on a whim and have him deliver a big tire to your front steps in time for a little outdoor bootcamp! That thing was H.E.A.V.Y. ...and hard to get started off the concrete. A little grass would have been nicer on our hands. I couldn't resist moving a few of our stations outdoors today since the weather is finally AMAZING!! It's going to be a warm warm sunny weekend...

And tomorrow will bring my first triathlon of the season...and I haven't been in a wetsuit OR in open water yet - and I can't run because my heel hurts- ...and...well...I'll come back with a race report tomorrow along with a review of this sweeeeet skirt

and this cami

 from INKnBURN who have some great sleeves in my on line raffle that will start on Sunday!

Half Marathon PR!!!

When you last saw me, I was a dirty mess from changing two flat tires on my long Saturday ride and was heading into an ice bath to hopefully revive my legs for the Eugene Half on Sunday. Probably overkill, but I stayed stewing in that ice for a full 20 minutes before heading down to Eugene. The kids and I headed out to pick up Kathryn...

...who was running her second full marathon in Eugene and then settled in for some pretty terrific soreness in my hammies and glutes the whole ride down South. After we made it out of the car I started having doubts about Sunday, but I had a great visit with parents and brother and SIL and nephews, however, in the back of mind all I could think about were those two dead legs and how sore and tired they were. I did some stretching and foam rolling and Mom made the perfect pre-race dinner before sending us off to bed.

I woke up to no race day anxiety and with my wheels feeling pretty normal. YAHOO!!!!

The shuttle bus had me at the start line in no time and after lubing up my thighs good and checking my bag, I went wandering around to the pre-race music. The first song I heard perked me right up...(she's going to kill me for posting this, but I can't help myself....it makes me so happy!)


...and I knew Raina must be somewhere close by! This is when the first odd thing of the day happened. Two girls walked by me giggling and one of them looked me dead in the eye and said "I'm a triathlete, too". Weird. Trying to figure that one out, I stumbled upon Raina and we shared our race plans and parted ways so I could go get in one of the many lines for the honey buckets. My line had about 300 people in it and it took me all the way through the national anthem and beyond to get in and out and hop over the fence in time to start running.

My pace band had me at 9:05 m/m to get me across the finish line under 2 hours. The first mile I felt like I was running pretty fast, but I was mostly just dodging people and trying to get in a nice space where people wouldn't trip me up. At mile one I was at a 10:30m/m. Poop. Mile 2 was a little better and then I found my groove and started picking it up. By mile 7 I had a good 2 minute cushion and that was when the jerk behind me thew an entire cup of gatorade on my back. Weird thing number two. I turned around to see what had happened and he just gave me the stone face. So sticky elbows, a see through skirt and gatorade mixing in with my body glide could have ticked me off, but that 2 minute cushion had me way too happy. My original goal had been to pick it up in the last half, but worst case scenario, I know I could hold this pace to the finish and I would have my sub 2!

I don't remember much except that the ending was a lot different than last year. In 2011 as I headed into the final miles, I was able to pick up the pace, pass a bunch of people and kill it once on to the track, but this year, I was pooped. I had given it my all and I had nothing left to push at the end. Unfortunately, Eugene didn't get any photos of me during the run, but Raina figured out how to capture me crossing the finish line from the video. Thanks, Raina, YOU SEXY THING!

I got my sub 2!! With change!
I crossed at 1:56:47 and PRd by almost 8 minutes!

Now I'm just wondering what I could do with fresh legs =D
It felt good to keep up the pace and I couldn't be happier! I think my goal after this next 1/2 Ironman is to focus on running and yoga for awhile.

After the race I ran into some TNTers and then made my way to just outside Hayward Field to watch for full marathon friends to come through. I turned around to find Amanda and her entire family standing right behind me so together we got to wait for and cheer on Raina and all the other fast peeps as they came heading through for the final .1 mile of their race.

After Raina came blazing through, Ronda  and I caught up with her for a quick hug and picture of all of us PR girls...

...and then I headed home to get some cheers from my family before heading out for pizza and wine - the post race meal of champions!!!

I'm on a nice little running high right now....other than the chest cold I've caught and the fact that my heel is not playing nice.  I have a 12 miler on the schedule for Saturday, so we'll see how I feel about this running stuff then :-)

It's All Fun And Games Until Someone Gets A Flat

Saturday down...Sunday to go...

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Beautiful Brick

This weekend held for us the longest Brick of the season so far: 42 mile bike, 6+ mile run. Weather forecast suddenly made a change for the better from all the dreariness we've been experiencing and although we woke to a little drizzle, I had high hopes the weatherman was going to earn his pay for the day. My team headed out in shifts - the early shift (aka: slow peeps) took off sometime after 8am, with the late shift (ie: fast as lightning peeps) trailing behind us....and eventually passing us and still getting back into transition before us>>>they are ROCK STARS, I tell ya! Most of them are heading on to Ironman Canada in August. The ride started fast and flat before we hit 13 miles of pretty steady climbing. I was trying to keep up with my rabbit, but she was on her new fast bike yesterday and my lungs were having NONE OF IT! I dropped back just a tad, still having a bit of trouble keeping up with two friends. Flats are a huge struggle for me. I think I've come to be a much better climber than speedster.

We eventually hit The Portland Women's Forum and stopped to take in the view and snap some pictures.

Diane, Me, Lauren

Diane, Hani, Me

About a mile or so later we made the turn onto Larch Mountain where the climb gets tougher...although admittedly much less tough than it has been in previous years! The best part was arriving at the aid station and then getting to bomb back down to the bottom...and then a fast 12 miles back to our starting point. 42 miles done!

Slip on shoes, a visor and some body glide and we're off on our run. The sun is shining down nice and bright by now and we finally get to work out in some heat that we'll need prior to our hot race in June. Diane and I kept up a nice 9m/m pace for the first few miles. We let it drop off a little in the middle and picked it back up at the end. I felt great about our run!

Back home to walk the dog with kids in tow...

...then to Jack's baseball game...and unfortunately no ice bath. My legs feel pretty lovely today, though...and I've got a 45 mile ride on the schedule for today.

Speaking of legs...Eugene 1/2 Marathon is coming up next weekend!! I DO have a 55 mile bike ride the day before, but I was in the same situation last year (I think last year it was more like 65 miles) and my legs still held out for Eugene. Track workouts have been great this season. We did some mile repeats on Tuesday with me running some of my speediest miles since probably 2003! First mile was an 8:05, 2nd was 8:15 and 3rd was 8:10. I was more than happy. My heel felt fine until I slowed down for my cool down laps...and it wasn't too bad the next day. I'm planning on trying to get my sub 2 at this race - so I'll be printing out a pace band and getting my play list ready this week!

>>>>>>>>If you are going to be in Eugene and haven't gotten the blogger get together info from Raina yet, leave me a comment and I'll get the meet up info to you!<<<<<<<<

I also want to announce I will be starting my fundraising raffle next week. So far we have some great items from:

Sheebody

INKnBURN

GymBoss

Bondi Bands

and a new donation of a $25 Gift Certificate from Sarah Wilson at Fashletics!!

I hope you'll all consider making a donation to Team in Training and enter yourself in the drawing. I will hopefully have some more items by the end of the week, but don't let that stop you from entering now. You can go to my PAGE and donate $5 for one entry, $10 for 5 entries and starting next week you can get add'l entries by tweeting and/or blogging about it! Thanks for all your support! Just make a note on your donation that you're entering the raffle :-)