Ironman like weekend

I kind of freaked out last week. I thought to myself "there's no way that I'll be ready for the Ironman in November". I've gone through all of the will I be ready and will I have done enough. I'm hard on myself. It's only August for gosh sakes and I'm totally panicked. My aching body and hurting muscles don't help, but I must say that the last few days helped a bit. But let me back up.

Last weekend we were in DC with my family. It was an awesome trip to celebrate my parents' birthdays and anniversary! The 6 of us went to a baseball game, took a duck boat tour, rode segways, ate way too much, toured all the museums, the Capital, Printing and Engraving, etc. It was so much fun. We got there Friday night and Saturday morning had mapped out a 12 mile run from our hotel. Tom and I were amazed by the number of people running. When we run at home, we see no one. At one point on our 12 miles I said to Tom "do you think there's a race or something going on because I've never seen this many people just out for a run?". It was the best environment ever! Plus running by the monuments, the White House, Watergate, Arlington, Iwo Jima, the Mall, and the Reflecting Pool made it better pretty darn amazing. I just wish that my hamstring hadn't been bothering me. We also probably walked a million miles over the 4 days that we were there! It was kind of a nice change of pace.

We got home on Tuesday to a boat load of work. Tom hadn't gotten his bike back from Atlanta yet on Wednesday when we were supposed to do an 80 mile bike so we moved that to Thursday.

So Thursday comes and the bike started off well. We had a route planned out that would take us to a little town called Utica where there's an ice cream mill. Fitting place to stop and get a "refreshment"! Of course it's August in Delaware, Ohio though and that means chip-n-seal time. On the country roads, instead of paving them when they get bad, they put some tar down and then lay gravel on it. With the heat and whatnot, the cars push the gravel into the tar and a new surface is created. It's a great way to fix the roads, but it absolutely sucks on the bike! So of course we run into that and it throws our whole route off. Then I get stung by a bee. The little bugger was in my shoe and stung my ankle. Then when we were about 35 miles from home, my IT band starts to flare up. I haven't had any problems with it since the Ironman and counted my blessings each time I rode without pain. It reared it's big head in a major way on Thursday. By about mile 55, I didn't know if I could even go on. I stopped and stretched, bitching and moaning the whole way (thanks Brady for being a great hubby and not leaving me on the side of the road to fend for myself, even though that's probably what I deserved) and finally said that I could make it to my mother in laws which would give me 70 miles for the day.

Friday we swam 1.4 miles and I felt great. My darn wetsuit is tearing like crazy though and I keep fixing the holes with wetsuit glue. It's a mess. I'm hoping that it'll make it through the Ironman. It's only a year old. We don't leave it in the sun. We rinse it and hang it inside when we're done swimming. I never wear it in the pool. Anyone have a good recommendation for one that might last longer? Mine's a Vortex 2 and I loved it besides the fact that it's not holding up too well. I should swim without it, but then I'd be super slow...

Yesterday, we ran a half marathon. After my bike ride on Thursday and the 12 that nearly killed my hamstring the previous weekend, I wasn't expecting much. It was humid... upwards of 90% which if you've never had the pleasure of running in that, it's much like a sauna. I struggled to get comfortable all morning, but managed to run 8:43's and finish with my second best time ever for a half - 1:54:06. I was happy with that. Beats where I was last year at this time. I ended up feeling miserable the rest of the day though - maybe the heat, maybe some girl issues, who knows. I feel like it's always something!

This morning we woke up thinking we were going to get 70 more miles in on the bike. I don't know what we were thinking. We got to about mile 38 and I suggested coming home. It was HOT - right now the thermometer reads 97 and not a cloud in the sky. Good news... I didn't have any IT problems (that's probably because I stayed in my small ring all morning, but I may resort to that if I need to). Although I kind of feel like I should have done the whole ride, I think my body will thank me this coming week. We'll do the rest tomorrow which was supposed to be a rest day so that miles won't go unridden!

Sunday is my first half Ironman of the season. Tom's not doing it because he had such a horrible experience at the race last year. I'm a bit scared... I kind of still feel like my training might not be right on target for a 6+ hour race, but I'll give it a shot. No expectations which is probably best. I'm sure a lot of my performance will depend on the weather and how my hammy and IT hold up. Send good vibes my way!

Race update and more

Well hello there. Thanks for not losing hope on me as a blogger. You might want to grab a cold one and get comfortable. This could be a long post since I haven't written much in a while.

All is good in Colleen land - work is busy, training is finally feeling good again, we're traveling this weekend to DC with the fam for a long weekend. I'm happy...

This past weekend we raced at East Fork State Park. It's down south near Cincinnati and I should have learned my lesson with the Flying Pig Marathon that if it's down south near Cincinnati, it's gonna be hilly! :) Sadly, Tom and I actually had a little bit of a heads up from someone but we're gluttons for punishment! We headed down there on Saturday to get our race packets and just stay the night since it would be abut a 2.5 hour drive for us and that's a bit much on race morning. We stopped by our hotel (which was really a motel) first and checked in. I was a bit skeptical when we got there and did the drive through check in. Nothing but the best for us! :) The room was actually really nice - we always luck into the handicap rooms though and this one was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The bathroom was literally as big as the room. I wish I had taken more pictures. All I have is this lovely photo of my hubby cleaning our wheels before the race:After checking out the room for any skank (it was a motel after all) we went to the park. It was definitely hilly going into it and for some reason there was no beach. Weird... we come to find out after getting our packets that the place is actually flooded and the beach is buried under the VERY dirty water. I decided to get a short swim in and on the way out stubbed the bottom of my foot on the sidewalk that usually separates the beach from the grass. I get a cut on my foot. Ugh... what a way to start. Tom and I were going to go for a short run, but seeing as how we would have had to run uphill right away and it was hot we skipped it, went back to the hotel and hit up Red Robin for dinner. Nothing like a wrap and unlimited steak fries as a prerace dinner! :) Oh, I forgot that we drove the bike course and I threw up a little in my mouth. It was then I realized that I wasn't going to PR this race. :(

Sunday morning came fast. We packed everything up, grabbed some breakfast and went to the race site. It was busy and my stomach was doing flips. I don't know why. I've raced Olympics a dozen times, I knew I was ready, maybe it was the hills, maybe it was the steak fries. In any event, I hit the potties and Tom got things ready at the car.
We got set up and had plenty of time so I hit the potties again, and walked to the beach - well, where the beach should be. The water was calm which was a nice change from Saturday when I swam. My wave was the second to last so I did was I always do... waited and waited and waited. There were only 21 women in the Olympic so the swim wave was nice and calm. The bull horn sounded and we were off. I felt great - breathing was under control, I was calm. I thought "I must be on my way to a swim PR because I feel like I'm floating". Honestly I probably could have convinced myself that I looked like Dara Torres or something. Yeah, not so much according to my watch. It's so darn frustrating feeling so good and swimming so slow. Oh well... maybe next year I'll PR in the swim. Swim time was 31:49

T1 was uneventful. There were practically no bikes left on my rack so I was able to get through without anyone bothering me. HA! I can always find the positives of being a slow swimmer. T1 time - 1:44

The bike was difficult, but probably not as bad as I thought when I drove it the day before. I did ride in my small front ring a lot which isn't like me, but I knew that if I wanted not have the feeling of wanting to rip my IT band out of my leg later, I needed to conserve. I didn't pass too many people which isn't like me. I'm just not a fan of hills and quite frankly, I suck at climbing. I did hit 40mph on a downhill which was fun! And I did something I swore I'd never do - pee'd on the bike. TMI, I'm sure, but I had two options - not get enough fluids even though I was extremely thirsty but my bladder was so full, or release the bladder. There was nowhere to get off and hide to pee so I pee'd on the bike. It was super gross and I'll not do it again. I don't even want to talk about it more than that. It still haunts me. Bike time - 1:23:04 17.9mph BLAH

T2 I took my sweet ole' time. Tom beat me in T2. That says something (just kidding honey - I love you!) T2 time 1:36

The run starts uphill. Well you wind through the parking lot which totally confused me and then you run uphill. Just like in biking, I'm horrible with hills in running too. The first loop was a struggle. I just didn't feel right. Shocker, I know. That's the way all of my races have gone this year. The second time up the hill I passed two people, a guy who mumbled something about not being ready for the hills (me too buddy) and a girl who told me that I had a great cadence going and to go get em girl. Totally boosted my confidence and the second lap was awesome! Tom finished 20 minutes before me and was able to get pictures of me finishing. My run time was 57:07. Again, BLAH!
Overall, I felt like I had a decent race. I finished in 2:55 which kind of bummed me out, but then I remembered that I hate hills, avoid them at any cost and well, that means that I suck at them. :) I ended up snagging 2nd in my AG believe it or not so I shouldn't complain.

I do need to give the hubster props though. He was 10th overall on the bike and won his division. He's a rockstar. :)

Afterward, in true Ironman fashion, we biked another 1:45. We tried to stay close to the park and found a lovely hill that we decided to climb multiple times. Again, glutton for punishment. I actually think that the biking afterward helped my legs because I felt surprisingly good the rest of the evening. I look happy after the race, big ass 65 on my arm and all (the body marking kid was eating a burrito when he marked me and decided to take up the entire arm and leg with my number. Tom laughed and opted out of body marking)
So, the next race is August 23rd - Great Buckeye Challenge half ironman. Tom's not going to do the race and I just feel like I need something between now and the end of September. Last year the race sucked - it was 9 million degrees and they started the women half distance last at like 9:30 which meant that we were running a half marathon around 1pm. In August. With no shade. Hopefully this time around will be better. :)

The tale of the rabbit

I was the rabbit today. I like being the rabbit. On just about every run, I like to be a step ahead of Tom (or whoever we're running with). I don't know why... something about feeling like I'm chasing the person I'm running with if they are even the slightest bit in front of me. It's all mental, although then again, most of my demons are mental! :)

So today we ran with Tom's mom who we haven't ran with in probably 10 months. She's a great athlete and quirky as all get up, so it's fun to bring her along for runs. Today it was a 12 miler. It rained all morning. I dreaded it, as I've been doing for the past few weeks. I cried for about 20 minutes (not about the run, but just other stuff) prior to going so I wasn't expecting anything stellar. When Janet said she would come it didn't phase me, although I worried if I'd be able to keep up. She's been running hard miles. She's a sub 4:00 marathon runner on any given day. But, I forgot that when the three of us run, something kicks in and I like to lead. I like to be the rabbit.

I heard them say it a few times today. "Look at the rabbit ahead" or "Bring us home rabbit" and I couldn't help but smile. It might not have been the fastest 12 that I've done, but I felt great, ran a pace that I enjoyed, and just kept one step in front of them. I ran... they chased. Just the way I like it!

Then she pulled a Cavendish on me and ran past me the last 100 feet. Figures. But you know what, I'm still happy being the rabbit for 11 miles 5180 feet!

Thank you

Dear Mother Nature,

It's been rainy and crappy the last few days. I try to not complain, but really yesterday was just unacceptable. I was awake for approximately 15 hours and it didn't once stop raining. I know that the plants and grass and flowers needed it, yada yada yada, but really? No break at all? How am I supposed to become an Ironman when I have to summon the energy to train inside?

But again, I try not to only complain so - I just want to thank you for being kind to me today. The rain stopped and Tom and I were able to get jump on our bikes. Although you were blowing straight in my face for the first 21 miles, as to say "complain some more girlfriend", I really appreciate you not relocating while we enjoyed a pizza and salad. I really like the wind... but mostly when it's at my back and that's where you stayed for the last 21 miles!

Because of your kind gesture today, I'll let yesterday slip. Just try not to let it happen again.

Yours truly,
Colleen

Things that make me happy

It doesn't take much. Here's my most recent list:

1. A girl's trip in September. I've never been on a girl's trip and totally on a whim, my bestie and I booked flights to go to West Palm Beach for a few days in September, sans the hubbies! It's just the two of us as no one else wanted to come :( but we are going to have a blast. We know NOTHING about the place, but booked a hotel for super cheap through Priceline and have a rental car. I know that there's a beach and shopping and food. Really what more can 2 crazy girls want. R - we just have to accidentally on purpose forget to answer our phones if crazy Italian tour guide calls! :) Oh, and did I mention that the trip falls between hell week 1 and hell week 2 of training! It's going to be just what the doctor ordered!


2. Gummy vitamins for grownups. Silly, I know, but I'm the world's most horrible person at taking vitamins. And when I say horrible, I simply mean it doesn't happen. I've tried everything - the Women's ones which help your metabolism, kids ones, the chocolate knock off, etc. I couldn't stand any of them! These things are fab! They are little little gummy bears and I just have to chew 2 a day! They don't offer everything that I need in a vitamin, but come on - it's better than nothing!!!
3. Summer tv - I'm a dork and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Big Brother which I've come to associate it with summer. It's definitely brainless tv, but it so gets me excited on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights. It's the little things people! :)
4. The Tour - I try channel my inner biker when I'm out on my long rides while the tours on. HA! I wish I looked so fluid and confident on the bike as these guys. They are truly amazing. Not to mention that they all look awesome in spandex and well, a woman obviously didn't invent bike clothes! And although I've been calling it the Tour de Lance, I have to give that dude some props... he's pretty impressive!
5. Knowing that High Heels and High Hopes is coming along and the prospect of it being an amazing event. Tom made an amazing website for it (www.highheelsandhighhopes.com) and I'm getting excited to see how it all comes together. Just my little good deed for the year!
6. I'm about to start racing a lot in the next few weeks. I have an Olympic next weekend, a half marathon, 2 half ironman distances and lots of long training days coming - and I'm actually getting excited. The dread has started to subside a little and I'm looking forward to being pushed. Now if I can just ward off the crazy monster in my stomach that puts crazy demands on my brain to feed it all day long, I'll be golden! :)
7. I feel good with where I'm at right now in life. Friends, family, marriage, work, health, community involvement, confidence...things are really falling into place! YAY!

I'm back...

I just had an awesome 12 mile run. I negative split the second 6 miles by about 2 minutes and saw my overall pace go from 8:44's to 8:36's. I felt like I had my mojo back. It was awesome!!! I really owe this to my friends and family, which I know, sounds like I'm accepting an Academy award or something, but it's so true and here's why.

So last night Tom and I had dinner plans with our friends Rhiannon and Gabe. We were going to their house for a BBQ and Rhiannon had called me like a month ago and said, "I know you're busy, what day works best for you?". Sadly, this the was the first night that worked. So Tom and I were super excited for some R&R with our friends. As we're pulling up to their house, we see a few cars along the way that remind us of some of our other friend's cars (yep, you know where this is going). Tom said to me "what's going on and why are our other friends here?" I was a little confused because I thought it was just going to be the 4 of us and I wasn't 100% sure that these two random cars parked along streets leading up to the street we needed to be on were actually our friends. No one else was parked in Rhiannon's court so I didn't think anything of it. Tom was still a little suspicious. He thought I was in on something. Me, well I'm oblivious to most things so I told him he was nuts. Besides, we didn't have birthday's or anything that warranted a surprise party so why would they be doing something to surprise us. I rang the doorbell and was greeted with a big:

"SURPRISE" (and the toot of party horns which I must add were a great little touch).

Standing there 14 of our friends, my mom and dad, and my sister and brother-in-law. I was totally shocked had this weird smile on my face and just said "what's going on". I have to admit, I was confused. Tom didn't hide that - he flat out said, "I'm so confused". TMy best friend's answer was priceless -

"We threw you a surprise party because you're awesome."

What could possibly be so awesome about me and Tom??? We're just two crazy people who work out 2.5-3 hours a day on average, bike across the country, sign up and pay hundreds of hard earned dollars to race for multiple hours in one day, beat ourselves to a pulp each and every weekend, miss parties and get togethers because of long bikes and runs, etc. etc. To me, that just my life.

To them, that's awesome.

It was so cool! We ended up having a great time catching up with everyone that we haven't seen lately because of our crazy busy schedules. We laughed. We ate. We smiled. We forgot about the craptasticly long bike ride that we had that morning or the looming long run the following morning. It was amazing! Tom and I can truly say that we have the best friends and family in the world. And I couldn't stop thinking about them today on my run.

Quite honestly - THEY ARE AWESOME!

It must be summer

I keep telling myself that it must be summer. Between the sun burn, the kids screaming in the neighborhood, the ice cream man, the long workouts, the overall exhaustion, the lack of blogging, etc. I can tell it's summer! :)

I get this way every year. All of a sudden I look at my calendar and have an "Oh Shit!" moment. I had that this weekend. Where did the first 7 months of the year go and why is November coming so quickly???

And I wonder why I am freaking out!!!

We're finally in the groove of long training. Well, "in the groove" is kind of a loose translation of getting through the workouts for the time being. :) I know that it'll take some time to get adjusted to the long hours and overall pounding on my body, but I hate the self doubt that comes with that adjustment. Yesterday, during a 10 mile hot boring run, I broke down, cried to my wonderful training partner that I don't know why I do this and seriously wondered how I'll ever get to the start line in November. I know I can do it and I know why I do it, but at that exact minute, I questioned everything. I know this is all part of the journey, or at least I keep telling myself that it is and that I'll be alright, but it still makes things difficult.

Looking ahead, we have a lot going on. Tom's racing NYC and Chicago, we're both racing an OLY here in Ohio, 2 half IM's, 2 half marathons. We're heading to DC with the fam for a long weekend. Tom's speaking in Orlando and at a conference in Atlanta. We have century's planned, 20 milers scheduled, hell weekends already on the calendar. I talked to my mom the other day about a small one day trip that we're taking with my parents and I honestly said that one day would work better than the next because it's a rest day and that yes, my life does revolve around training now. Oye ve!

I'm seriously considering what the future holds for me in terms of racing and training. I don't think that another Ironman is in the cards for a while. Maybe it's short racing. Maybe it's not racing at all. I don't know. According to my hubby, I have to figure out where my heart is. Luckily I'm too busy right now to have time to make any decisions! :)