Sometimes, it's just hard

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend.  The weather was good for us here in our neck of the woods and I managed to get out to enjoy it.  Sunday's long run was absolutely glorious -- despite snacking on the gnats.   I did a much longer run than necessary but it was just too nice out to cut it short.

This past week was not a good week for my training.  I only missed my long bike workout due to bike difficulties which I will explain later, but every...single...workout felt like a struggle.  My body seemed to be rebelling against me.  I tried to do my zone (interval) workouts, but I had nothing in the tank.  I was fuelling properly and I couldn't figure out why this was so difficult, so I had a couple of mental breakdowns this week.   Add to that the fact that my bike mechanic discovered a six-inch crack in my carbon fibre bike frame that is beyond repair and I'm ready to snap.   This means the purchase of a new bike, which, in itself, is not a terrible thing.  I just didn't want it to happen this way and certainly not three-and-a-half months before my Ironman race. 

I know I shouldn't be panicking, but this bike course in Lake Placid is new territory for me and I'm a tad obsessed about being prepared for it so missing a four-hour bike ride is a big deal for me right now.   I'm trying to stay positive and I keep reminding myself that there's plenty of time to train, but every once in a while the doubt creeps in. 

My husband and friends help me keep things in perspective -- at least they keep trying to remind me.  Thanks, you guys.  You're the best!

I'm taking donations to the Get Me a New Bike Fund ;-)



It sure is pretty, isn't it?

Around the Bay Race Report: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This was my seventh Around the Bay 30K.  Here are some of my thoughts on yesterday's race:

The Good:

• Awesome weather.  Running in a tank and running skirt in March:  priceless!
• Free parking and change area at a local news station, thanks to some running friends
• Tons of family/friends doing the race, too
• Friends and spectators along the route.  Nothing gives you a boost better than that!
• No black toe nails.
• Hearing about people's PB's after the race
• Dinner and drinks after with the same amazing friends and family
• My own 12-minute PB -- still grinning ear to ear

The Bad:

• Running alone for 30K.  It was my choice.  I was running slower than some friends and faster than others so I decided to go it alone
• Fighting the gerbil in my head when it was getting tough
• Hmm....thinking too hard if there was other bad stuff, so I guess there isn't any more

The Ugly:

• One woman running behind me 10 feet from the finish line yelling:  "Get out of the way.  Get out of the way.  Get the f^#k out of the way."   Completely uncalled for.  This isn't a BQ race, for Pete's sake.

Clearly, the good outweighed all the bad and the ugly and I'm proudly walking gingerly, like many of my friends.  I'm looking forward to scaling back on my run distances now that my total training focus will be Lake Placid. 

Here's a photo of some of the gang that ran yesterday.  So proud of them!

NYC Race Report

I love NYC!  I think I've said that before, but it's so much fun when you go with a bunch of gal pals and shop till you drop and then throw in a half marathon just for fun.   I don't know how New Yorkers do it, but this past weekend saddled them with a double whammy:  St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday and then the Half Marathon on Sunday.  Lots of road closures and lots of congestion.  Lots of fun for us, though.  Lots of drunken fools at 9:30 a.m. the day of the parade and it hadn't even started yet!  Everyone's Irish for a day on the 17th.

So...race report.  Sunday morning started off a touch cooler than predicted.  According to the weather report before leaving home Friday, it was supposed to be 17-19C and sunny.  Actual race day weather, at 7:30 in the morning, was more like 5-7C and cloudy.    Not bad, but I'm glad I brought a fleece throw-away.  I took it off at 7:30, but since we still hadn't moved for 15 minutes, I put it back on. 

Last year it only took us about 10 minutes before we got to the start line.  This year, the elites passed us before we hit the start pad!  That meant they were done 10K before we even started.  Just an FYI that the guy who won the race finished in 59:49 -- holy Speedy Gonzales!

The course was slightly different this year.  They reversed the direction in Central Park and we only did one full loop instead of one and a bit.  They cut out the loop up along the Hudson River to add the extra distance, but we went further down along the River and passed the partly built Freedom Tower where the Twin Towers used to be.  Very cool!

We finished in Tribeca in Fulton Market.  It's pretty crowded at the finish line, but that's what happens when you have 18,000 runners.

This race is so well supported and there's tons of entertainment along the way.  The ladies have decided that this is going to become an annual event -- providing we get into the lottery again.  We're keeping our fingers crossed.  If we don't get in, we'll just go down and shop anyway.  Speaking of shopping, here's one of my purchases that I just love:

No, I didn't wear them after the race.  I don't think my feet would fit in them.

 
This weekend is the Around the Bay Race.  This is my target running race this spring.  I hope to PB here which would mean sub 3:07, but I'm secretly hoping to be sub 3:00.   Yikes!  I've put it out there so now the pressure's on to follow through.

Hope everyone who is doing the Bay has a fabulous race!

"Strength does not come from physical capacity; it comes from an indomitable will."  Gandhi

New York City Half Marathon, Here I Come!

I'm leaving for New York City tomorrow morning with two of my girlfriends.  We're heading back to do the Half Marathon.  I LOVE NYC!


Last year the weather was cool, clear and absolutely perfect for running.  So far, the weather reports are calling for 19C and sunny for race day.  Shorts and tank top is definitely called for.  I know I shouldn't like global warming, but if this is one of the benefits, then I'm ashamed to say that I'll take it. 

This is going to be a fun run for me again this year.  I'm not looking to book it for a PR because I'm saving that for next week's race at the Around the Bay. 

I love this race and I am definitely looking to beat my best time here.  

NYC will necessarily involve shopping, too.  One of the ladies coming with me should be a professional shopper.   She can spend money like nobody's business.   It didn't surprise me when she sent me an email with the subject line, "Our Biggest Sale of the Season..."  Lord and Taylor, watch out!  The ladies from Ontario are doing some damage. 

LRM, are you sure you can't come?  I'll be sure to take pictures of pretty shoes and text them to you ;-)

Ironman training continues and I'm looking forward to reducing my run distances after the Bay race.  I've been doing a lot more distance than necessary at this point in my training so I'll be cutting back after next week.  I can't say the same about the swimming and biking, though.  Those continue to increase, especially the cycling.   If this weather keeps up, I may be riding outside sooner than I thought.  All is still going well there and I'm feeling stronger and stronger every week.

Next post:  NYC recap and update on the Bay.  Enjoy the gorgeous weekend.





Vacation Training

Oh, how lovely it is to go on vacation.  My family thinks I'm always on vacation, but 95% of the vacations I take focus around a race my husband and I are doing or a close friend is doing.  I'm not complaining, because it is time away from the responsibilities of the office and of things around the home.  And they are ALWAYS fun and amazing trips.

This time, though, we went to Cancun, Mexico, and really had a relaxing vacation.  I don't think my husband thinks that training on vacation is really relaxing, but when you're training for something as big as an Ironman, you need to get the training done.   It wasn't as intense as the training I'd been doing up to now in terms of distances, but I still managed to get in three runs, three swims and some weight training in the gym.

The gym.  There's a whole different breed of people that train in a gym.  I should preface this by saying that I don't do a lot of working out in a traditional gym and there's a reason why I don't.  I don't like it.  Plain and simple.  I like working out with people and I find that gyms are a bit too solitary for my liking.  

The gym at our resort wasn't very big, but it was certainly a lot bigger than some gyms I've seen at hotels/resorts.   There were five treadmills that were occupied all......the.....time!  My husband and I learned our lesson when we showed up the first time at a not-so-early time because, after all, we were on vacation and I didn't want to get up at six in the morning.   While we didn't go at six in the morning after that, we did show up at seven and had some better success at getting a treadmill without as much delay.  

The most amusing part for me is watching the men that do weights.  Two men were actually walking around with their coffee mugs and newspapers and would read/sip in between their sets.  Not being a gym rat, I found this quite entertaining.  Do people actually walk around with their coffee in the mornings at the gym?  I might reconsider training in a gym if I can do that.

The piece de resistance for me was the infinity pool at our resort and the fact that it was HUGE!   Based on my time for two laps, it had to be a 50m pool.   I don't think people were expecting somebody to be doing laps upon laps upon laps in the pool, but I tried to do my swims in the morning when there weren't many people in there.  One day I did it in the afternoon because I ran in the morning.  I think I added extra distance going around all the people.   No matter, it's all training.

So while I did do my training, and relaxing was definitely on the agenda, my husband is, shall we say, bordering on ADHD.  I think he would have snapped if we sat around the pool/beach for the whole time we were away, so we went on an excursion and did some ziplining, swimming and rafting in some caves that were covered in stalactites and drove an "amphibious" vehicle.  Ziplining was definitely a rush, but I made my husband go first.  Shameful of me, but he's heavier so I figured if the cord could hold him, it would definitely hold me.  I should have mentioned that I am deathly afraid of heights so being able to scratch this off my bucket list was exciting for me.   In the photo below is the end of one of the ziplines.  You land right in the water after going through that waterfall.  So much fun!

So now it's back to reality and I'm glad I didn't come home to snow!  Thank you, Mother Nature.  Now, if I can only get through my 30K run tomorrow.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquest of it."

Back on Track!

Well, I'm happy to say that my training is back on track.  After that disappointing week, I got my mojo back and didn't miss a single workout.  I had some pretty strong workouts and was feeling great, and then I tried out my brand new, pretty running shoes and things got a bit ugly with my right foot. 

I have some nerve issues around the ball of my foot and some cortisone shots seemed to help out.  Then Nike decided to change the cushioning of their new Lunar Glides and my foot did NOT like it.  I decided to do the smart thing and took the week off of running and went back to my old Vomeros just to see if that made a difference.  It most definitely did so I went and bought a new pair of the Vomeros and things felt better....until yesterday's snowy run.  Clearly, my foot does not like uneven terrain, even with the new shoes.   The last 13K of my 26K run were not pleasant at all.  In fact, I even walked the last 3K.  I guess we've been a lot spoiled this winter and my body has forgotten what it's like to run in the snow.   Mother Nature, continue being nice to us and give me back my dry winter...please!  Major thanks to my running buddies for getting me through it.  Singing Black Eyed Peas along the Northshore hills made it fun.

But my exciting news is that I finally got my Garmin 910XT!!  They finally came in, and I was the first one to get it from the store.  Woohoo!  I spent part of the weekend playing with it, but I haven't used it yet.   The hubby and I are going on vacation and, although I'll be training while I'm away, I don't think I want to chance losing my new toy. 

My goals while I'm on vacation:  Rest, Train, Drink, Train, Sun, Train, Explore, Train.  And then train some more.

Accountability

Sooo, how's my training been going?  Well, it started off with a bang and the first three weeks were fabulous.  I've been swimming two to three times per week, running three times per week, but lagging a bit on the bike rides.  I need to start being consistent with the bike as that will probably be my nemesis at Lake Placid.   Teaching a spin class alone will not get me to the top of Whiteface Mountain!

This week was a bit of a bust with my training.  I only got one swim in, one bike and one run.  I'm not happy about it, but it definitely makes me angry enough at myself to re-focus and get my a$$ in gear for this coming week. 

This has been a challenging year for me already, but I am determined to stay focused and to work through whatever obstacles the universe decides to throw at me.  I have an amazing husband, great friends and family and a renewed hope for what lies ahead.   Quoting from a horoscope one of my best buds sent to me:  "A big change is happening in your life...  this change is building momentum and will bring great happiness, opportunities, and rewards for the karma you have earned."   There's a lot more good stuff it said, but let's just say that, if it's right, I'm going to be one freaking happy camper this year!

...And I was born in the Year of the Dragon so this, apparently, is my year to shine!  Bring it on, I'm ready!