Goal Reached.

The weather has been hot and sunny and I have been doing some good swims and rides...unfortunately the hip issue I have been having didn't clear up completely...I continue to do my exercises, work on my posture and stay on top of stretching, etc but running wasn't something I could do with enjoyment or pain free...so over the last few weeks, I have done only 4 runs...but on the plus side I wasn't having constant pain so I took that an improvement. I had committed to doing the Bracebridge Olympic Distance Triathlon, as it was a qualifier to the World Championships for 2012 and SV and I had decided that was a race we want to do next year, so the last 2 months have been about trying to get to race day in some sort of shape to get one of the age group spots available. To be honest, I wasn't feeling comfortable that I was going to get a spot (only 2 per age category) my lack of running and the pain I was having, I had a feeling it was going to be a long shot but I wanted to give it a go because it was probably going to be the only triathlon of the summer....and we have a few friends that were doing the race in hopes of a qualifying spot also, which would make for a great vacation next fall.

This was my first Time Trial style start (they started each athlete 5 seconds apart, starting with the youngest to oldest athlete)...which meant through most of the race you wouldn't know where you were in relation to the other athletes you were racing...also, now that I am in the 35-39 age category I had a while to wait before I actually got to start and I ended up swimming through a lot of the field...to be honest, I didn't hate the time trial start but at the same time I didn't love it...hard to get motivated to swim as hard as I could have if there were others to race...but at the same time it was fun to pass so many people...but I think I prefer getting into a groove and swimming with others who push you to go harder...so although my swim time was ok, it wasn't great and I think it had a lot to do with manoeuvring through so many slower swimmers...plus it was my first non-wetsuit swim since 2002... The bike course up here is a great one and I am very familiar with it... we have been biking it a lot lately as it comes close to the house and is one of our new favourite routes... I continued to pass many athletes on the first 20 km of the ride and felt pretty good on my bike, SV passed me at 22km and he looked fast, really fast. I was pumped for him and cheered him on. I felt like I had a pretty comfortable ride, I was only passed by 6 men on the ride and while I could have biked harder, in the back of my mind I was a little worried about the run so I didn't want to push too hard... I came off the bike and a friend that was volunteering informed me that I was 90 sec down on SV...could I catch him...hmmm...didn't want to think about that...wasn't even sure if my hip would let me climb the hill out of T2 let alone run SV down....

Coming out of T2 the race has you climb a grass hill out of the park...I tried to take small steps and just focus on getting to the road...so far the hip felt ok so I just tried to focus on the people ahead of me and tried to not let my mind go to my hip...by the 1km point I could see my training partner Brent up and decided I was going to try to catch him...I caught him by 3km and then decided to just focus on the next man in front of me...this was my strategy for the rest of my run...Just before the 5km turn around I saw SV coming back, still looking strong and I was pumped that I wasn't too far behind him and I decided to try to close the gap a little more...I got passed by another local guy(Joe) and we pushed each other for the next 4km...I pulled ahead but that motivated him to run stronger...around 6km a guy in a pink outfit went flying by me, I noticed he had a 44 on his calf and I hoped SV had enough of a lead..because this guy was moving...I was able to see SV for the last 2km ...but I knew I wouldn't catch him... but I had gotten closer so that was great...I never felt like I was pushing too hard on the run, I was scared to truly go hard because of my hip, but the lack of run training made the effort I was putting in seem pretty hard and in the end I am happy with how strong I did run....I crossed the finish line pretty confident that I had won my age category and I had passed 3 of the men that had passed me on the bike! So that made me pretty happy.

It ended up being a solid day of racing for both SV and I....the flying man ended up passing SV in the last km and because of the time trial start...placed 1st by 16 seconds, but SV still earned his Worlds spot...I won my age category and also ended up placing in the top 5 of the overall women, which I wasn't expecting so I was happy with that....

The hip/leg isn't feeling so great today but I am going to take care of it for the next while and try to get recovered as quickly as possible, it amazes me how adrenaline during the race can block the discomfort...because once I crossed the finish line and stood around for a few minutes...trying to walk almost did me in, lol....but since I have my worlds spot my new goal is recovery!

I'm Alive

It's true...I have not fallen off the face of the earth....life just has gone on at an incredible pace and I wasn't sure that what was happening was "blog worthy" but it seems that one or two people out there still check in to see if I have updated this site and I feel bad that I have been disappointing them...so here we go..Take 76...

Arizona was great again this year...MD,SV and I had an intense training trip...which started off with missing our connecting flight, 2nd year in a row(we decided to drive in from Phoenix instead of waiting 7 hours for the next flight)...the week was full of incredible biking and outdoor swimming...a little bit of running (SV was coming off a metatarsal fracture and I was fighting a chest infection so running was put on the back of the priority list). We met some great junior athletes from Ontario, we have such great young talent emerging from this area in the sport of triathlon...check out the following link for one young man that inspired MD, SV and I while we were down there (http://www.windsorstar.com/sports/Ironman+athlete+fights+back+from+drug+filled+abyss/4935511/story.html )

We did a great deal of biking while we were in Tucson and I even bumped into an old friend from London while we were out shopping for gear!

It was great to come back with a great base, but SV and I decided to skip the Sporting Life 10km this year...deciding to enjoy the night life of TO with the 55,000 other people that were there to celebrate the first UFC fight in Ontario...maybe not the best way to end a training camp, but SV and I tend to roll a little differently than most triathletes.

Since then we have been busy with life...triathlon season has started and I am coming back from a bit of an injury, nothing serious just a little hip pain...but a visit with my favourite Dr...Dr. Peggy Malone http://drpeggymalone.com/ and I am on the road to recovery and actually running again after 3 weeks of missing it.... I have been enjoying swimming in the lakes up here and riding my bike as much as possible...I only have a couple of races on the calendar this year but I am enjoying the weekly bike time trial series that we have been attending...it is a great group of people, a killer route and something to love/hate each week!

Here are some pics of the last few months so you can see what I/we have been up to!

Arizona...

started this morning by sleeping in, i wasn't wanting to see the snow that was on the ground this morning...after the girls had a snow day on April 20th..it is beginning to feel like the winter that never ends...however, once we finally got out of bed...i started to get excited about flying back to Tucson tomorrow morning! a few friends that are down there training now have been doing some killer training and have been commenting on how hot it is...bring it on....I'm ready!

SV, MD and i are packed and ready to go...the girlies are with their dad for the week and i cant wait to be riding outside...in shorts no less!! I'm sure Barrie is going to work us to exhaustion..but that is part of why we are going back..nothing like a week of crazy training to get you motivated, especially when the weather here has been anything but...the other part i am really looking forward to is the yummy food..Tucson has some great restaurants...and we will be kicking it off tomorrow night with group dinner at zinburger....Kobe beef burger..best thing ever!!!

ooohhh and i am hoping to follow that with a Margarita or two with sc...3/4 of my ultraman crew back together...only thing missing is the great Peggy!

hope everyone has a great Easter weekend....stay tuned for updates on our AZ training!

...sorry for any spots where i don't have capitals...my phone is being stubborn...not annoying at all!

Good to see you again....

Holy...life sure has gotten crazy busy and time has been flying by...can't believe it's been 8 weeks since my last post...Sorry for those of you still check this thing...thanks for coming back...I promise to be more regular with my posts...the weather is getting warmer and things are happening...I have a bunch of pictures that I want to post and I should have some fun training stuff to share with you soon!

Things are great with me right now, other than being crazy busy...I am happier than I have been in so very long and I am enjoying each day...hope that you all are doing the same!

Give it a go

Last week SV pulled out the heart rate monitor for me to wear before we did a hard ride on the trainer, just so we could see where I was riding at...No big deal I thought, I trained with a HR monitor back in 2004 as I was training for Ironman, I figured I was pretty good at knowing where I was at and pushing the correct zone....Boy was I wrong.

Turns out I don't do what I need to do while I am on the bike...I like a certain area and even though I feel like I am working hard, the HR monitor betrayed me, I have been in the aerobic zone and not a bit higher. SV pushed me on the hard ride and another ride to hit the target zone for the workouts and I will admit that I cried like a little girl, yep big fat tears, lol. I am such a wuss.

It was a huge wake up call for me...for some reason I am able to push myself to the point of discomfort in the pool and on the run but I have never been able to do that on the bike...I guess I just back off and stay where it is manageable...maybe it is the years of just going out for a bike ride...even last year on the time trials I would settle into what I could maintain..never really going for it...maybe it is the thought of having to save something for the run...or maybe I just haven't figured out how to put power into the bike, but I don't seem to have the switch that I can turn on while swimming or running...SV is excited to have me finally start pushing myself on the bike and while the athlete in me is interested in the possibility of pushing hard and finding that next "gear" so to speak there is a huge part of me that is dreading what is coming...man this is going to hurt...So we shall see if this makes a difference...maybe I will finally get some calf muscles, lol!

Winter

I have never been a fan of winter...probably because I hate being cold and it has been tough to stay warm this year! We reached -6 degrees this week and it was "nice" but I guess after nearly 10 days of bitter-34 degrees anything will seem nice. I have gone soft living here...I used to love running outside in the winter and could manage the temps as long as I was bundled, but I have learned the hard way that running up here is a lot different then running in S.Western Ontario...the amount of snow and the lack of road cleaning (melting and refreezing) makes the roads pretty uneven and dangerous. I strained my ankle while out for a run with SV and MD, had to take a week off and let it heal... I decided to make SV happy and I gave up running outside until the roads are cleared and have been hitting the treadmill a few times a week with him...the bad part though is that I am finding myself doing hard runs in the middle of January, a time when slow and steady has always been all that I could do...so I guess either way I am in for challenging runs, at least on the treadmill the worst that can happen is that I fly off the back...lol, I'm just klutzy enough:)

Even though I have gone soft and taken my running indoors, I have expanded my winter activities, up here that is easy to do, so much snow so many things to try...we have been downhill skiing a few time with the kidlets. After my first attempt last year I wasn't sure that this sport was for me, but I am happy to report that I have improved a great deal (not hard to do eh Kim!) and the kids really enjoy it. We are having fun and I am even considering buying myself some skis...can you imagine me owning something not tri related, lol...but living up here it just makes sense...although you won't see me on a snowmobile anytime soon (they make me nervous when I see them out on the lake...notice all the tracks in the pics below!)

Between the skiing and taking my running inside, I have to admit I am enjoying winter more this year than I ever have...it is almost bearable...and it really is beautiful from inside the condo looking out...but I would still rather be back here...

New Year

Hey there, hope that 2011 is off to a great start for everyone... I have been trying to decide if I should continue with this blog...which began as a log of my training and experience for Ultraman and the short course races I have done since then...over the holidays I questioned why I still had this blog...I have no desire to do anything "ultra" anytime soon (more on that in a moment) but I have people in my life that think anything I do is "ultra" and since I am not as close geographically as I once was...this is blog gives me a chance to share with them what I have been up to and hopefully makes me seem a little closer! Now I have some catching up to do!!!

SV and I headed to Hawaii back in November...a dream destination of mine for sure. I remember watching Ironman Hawaii on tv and thinking that when I was done swimming I was going to do that...which is where this all kind of started. I qualified for Kona back in 2004 but didn't go, a decision I was never disappointed in (maybe because that year the winds were pretty intense, lol). My parents have been to Hawaii on vacation several times and it is their favourite spot in the world and to be honest it is now mine as well. We spent 3 days on the big Island and I fell in love with Kona...having seen it on tv and heard so many stories about this place it was amazing to be there.

I had always thought if I went to Kona it would be to race, but I no longer have that desire, we connected with some Ultraman friends that were on the big Island getting ready for the World Championships, it was fun to see people that had been such a large part of my experience in Penticton and to hear about the UMH course...they tried to talk me back into the long races and part of my brain did start turning again to be honest...we swam the Ironman course with Gary and Amber (she won UMC'09 and 2 weeks later went on to crush the UMH competition and record!!) it was a beautiful swim, however, it didn't make me want to swim 10km in it!

SV and I did a few runs while on the big Island and I suffered like no other, the heat was intense that first run and I thought I was going to die in paradise...but a quick dip in the ocean and I was feeling better. Our last run in Kona pretty much sealed the deal for me on the ultra racing...we were running along the highway, to our left was black lava rocks to our right a few palm trees and the distant view of the ocean...we were out for a 12km run...at the same moment we both said there is no way we could do this for 84km...84km with nothing but lava rock, heat and distant ocean and a single road...I have no idea how I managed in Penticton, it had to be my great crew, but the turning in my brain shut off there and then...I no longer like the idea of doing something for 9+ hours, let alone more than 20!

So what is my plan for 2011?? To be honest I haven't quite figured that one out yet...a lot of changes have happened in the last 2 years and life is finally settled down and each day is better than the day before. SV and I have thrown a few ideas around for the race season but we have avoided committing to any races...still not 100% sure what we are going to tackle this year but I know we will have fun training together whatever it is we finally come up with!