Recap.

No bruises today but there was blood....this photo doesn't do it justice...really...I promise this rub mark is HUGE and so painful...ok, you don't believe me...SV didn't give me a whole lot of sympathy either, lol!

Great brick workout today, pushed hard and took 2:30 minutes out of SV's lead on me from last week...I can't wait to do it again....but I think I may wear socks next week...

In the Groove

It has been an interesting few weeks, getting back to classes, learning new things and attempting new training. I have been busy! It's great to be back in classes and although it's going to be a hard semester we are a pretty close group of students so we are all helping each other and I think it will be a great semester.
It looks like the nice weather is finally here to stay, we had some really chilly days the last 2 weeks, even had some snow and riding outside was not fun, but now the forecast is looking great...it is a beautiful time up here..everything is in full bloom, so fresh and pretty..the smell of lilacs (one of my favourite smells while riding/running)in the air, all the trees are full and gorgeous, the lakes are clear and blue, the sunsets are breath taking...I really love it up here...being outside is easy, even with all the black flies!!
I have been doing some really great training, I am trying to break my Ironman/Ultraman mind set and push myself in doing shorter races/workouts...and even though they are intense and painful..they are done quickly and then the rest of the day is free...I enjoy heading out for a long ride but it is nice to know that I can go out do a hard 50-70km ride and it is enough...I have always liked the long stuff, but I am enjoying not having to go long right now...my life is busy enough to not have to try to fit in 4-6 hours of biking and 2-3 hours of running in on the weekends!
SV had me do this crazy brick workout last week with him, it was intense and I figured I would hold back a little because it was only the first time I was attempting it...and I was learning how to get on my bike like a real triathlete, I even have bruises, lol... it was a killer workout and I pushed hard...I felt really strong on the bike and run and I was happy with how well I did but man was I exhausted, but I loved pushing hard, didn't hold back and learned a few new things....however, I discovered that swimming the day after an all out effort can be messy...really messy...but now that I have that first one under my belt I am excited to go out and try it again today...the sun is bright, the wind is blowing and we are off to suffer for 2 hours!!

Mothers Day!

".. is who I am because of my Mom!!"(kvk) A friend of mine wrote that on her facebook and I couldn't agree more...I truly do have the greatest Mom and she has given me so much strength and support in my life that I wouldn't be me if she wasn't my Mom.

My Mom is one of those ladies who tells you how it is, good or bad. She has a beautiful smile and strong arms that give the most amazing hugs....My Mom has cheered me on every step of the way and has one of those voices that, in a loud swim meet I could always hear her cheering, over everything else....She has always been there with an idea or way of making things easier, a shoulder to cry on or a kick in the ass to keep me in line (she says that is why I am so much taller than the rest of the family...lots of kicks in the ass, lol!)

I know I have given my Mom (and dad) several challenges over the years but they have always been there through those rough times never wavering and always making things and life better. She has taught me to be strong, to never give up and to always stay true to myself. She has the biggest heart and her relationship with my dad proves that love is meant to be constant and fair and all consuming!

I love that I have such a strong, beautiful role model, that she is my friend as well as my Mom and I don't know what I would do without her.....Mom......I LOVE YOU!!

Sporting Life 10km

I have to admit that the Sporting Life 10 km is becoming one of my favourite races. I did it for the first time in May 2009 and it was my first race in a long time and it was at the start of a new chapter for me and I had been so inspired at the start and during that run, the sounds and sights of running down Younge St in TO...I had loved every second of it and I had run a 40:30...so I was pretty happy with that race, SV has been doing this race for years and it is one of his favourites as well.. When we had decided to go to the AZ training camp we were a little disappointed to see that the Sporting Life race was on that same weekend that we would be getting back in and we didn't think that we would be able to race it this year...we talked about it and decided that we should still do it, we booked our flights so that we would get to TO Saturday night and be able to pick up our kits on Sunday morning do the race and then pick up my girlies...we knew it wouldn't be the ideal way to race after a training camp and flying and time change but we decided it didn't matter it was more about just going and having fun and being there together.

The week of training camp was insane and I have never been so tired, honestly I am very pleased with the quality of workouts that we did down there but I was dreading how much the 10 km was going to hurt on Sunday morning.

I had an ice bath after our last ride of the camp and although I hate getting into those things they sure do help. My body felt a little better on the Saturday and luckily all our travel went smoothly on the way home and we arrived at the hotel just before 8pm...SV was thinking that we wouldn't be able to sleep that night because of the time change but Barrie exhausted us and we slept like babies. Waking up was a tough one but we got ourselves organized and to the race start very early...so early that using the port-a-potties was easy..no line ups...twice...we even had time to sit in Starbucks and drink coffee...anyone who knows SV will realize how impressive this is!! (just teasing babe). It was a pretty smooth morning and we enjoyed watching all the other athletes starting to get anxious, with 14000 runners/walkers this year we had several people to amuse us.

We headed out to do a warm up run and that was eye opening, everything hurt. Felt like I had cement blocks for legs...we had talked about it and figured we would just run as hard as we could and whatever the time said that was what was going to be...this was just going to be the icing on the top of a great training week and then it would be time for Eggs Benedict!

My time from last year put me in the first coral with SV, just behind the elites. It was a fast start and the first km went by a little too quickly...I wasn't wearing a watch so I wasn't sure about how fast we ran it...but itwas a 3:33 SV told me later....I settled into my pace for the next 3-4 km...the 10 km is something foreign to me, go hard and go harder until it is over...in those 3-4 km I was trying to remember that I needed some for the end but this race just has a way of sweeping you along...so many people running and bands playing and people cheering...it is awesome! SV was slightly ahead of me during that time and I knew we were running hard but it was nice to not know just how hard we were running...By the 5km mark I was still feeling good and I wanted to try to push hard until the end, my legs felt alright, I just kept thinking "GO" ...I started to pull ahead of SV and I knew that his legs were hurting...but I also knew that he would continue to push hard...I saw a few girls ahead of me and my competitiveness got a hold of me...focus on one and reel her in...then on to the next girl...I admit I am not competitive before or after but during it is handy, lol. (SV told me later that we went through the 5km mark on pace for a 38:30...which is a PB for me at 5km distance) Around the 7km mark I was hurting...legs and lungs...I wanted it to be over. I knew I could ease up and it wouldn't hurt as bad, but I thought about everything that had happened since I did this race last year, how much I have grown and learned and I wanted to stay strong, that the suffering was worth it...I wanted to close this past year on a strong note, I told myself I deserved to be strong and not to give up it was almost over...and that it would be worth it.

I somehow missed the 8km marker so it was the longest km in my mind..I was going through so many different thoughts and couldn't figure out why I wasn't making any progress but then I saw the 9km banner and the bridge that means the end is just around the corner..there were 2 girls ahead of me and I pushed harder to catch them...I ended up passing them both, (one re-passed me just before the finish though)...but I gave it my all...when I saw the race clock I was surprised but excited...could I really have just ran that fast... I finished and the body was so happy to be done...the hamstrings and calf muscles were screaming but I barely noticed...never had I imagined that I would come off that week of training camp with a best time let alone one that was almost 2 minutes faster...I was thrilled but also felt a little ill...SV came in and his legs were toast, his calves and hamstrings were burning...but we had done it...we ran strong and got to the finish!

As we made our way out of the finish area I was hurting...we had planned to jog back to the hotel but neither of us were going to make it, we were soaking wet and cold, legs were cramping and my tummy was upset from running so hard, we took a taxi instead, lol.

We checked the results online...I had ran a 38:36.20...I placed 177 out of 11918 runners(making the first page on Sportstats results,lol), 19th woman overall out of 6691, 6th in my age category out of 1224. (also I almost even split the race, only adding 6 seconds on the second 5km) I am very happy with how I did...I didn't think I would break 40 minutes in the 10km and now I know that I can push hard with a body that is beat up, it was gives me some confidence heading into the race season...SV was proud of me despite being "chicked" lol, his time (39:40) was where he had hoped to be after the week of training....but man were we sore the rest of that day and I am still hurting today!

Final Training Camp Day

Waking up on the last day of the camp was tough...we had gone out for a great dinner with the group...(seriously the restaurants in Tucson were great--Zinburger, Sauce, North, Saffron...yummy!) but that Friday morning was a tough one to get up and get going..the legs were sore and it was a little chilly out but we managed to drag our tired bodies to the pool. The water was warm and Sean gave us a long 5500 yd swim to do. I was actually feeling good once I got going on this set and I really enjoyed the workout he put together for us. SV had a great swim and I think it helped loosen our legs up a little.

The only thing we had left to do was a final ride and Barrie thought that SV, Taylor and I should head out on this great last ride...the wicked smile on his face should have tipped me off to the fact that it was going to be a challenging one,lol. It ended up being a 115 km ride, probably the flattest ride we had gone on but the majority of it was into a strong head/cross wind. It was a tough ride and with all the biking/climbing we had in our legs I was beat. For the first 50km of the ride we were all chatting and taking pictures and having some fun, the wind was annoying but we were all still in good spirits...at one point we came upon some cows crossing the road and one got a little spooked and took off...I thought SV was done for, the cow came close to hitting him...scary but also pretty entertaining, lol. By the 70km mark our ride got very quiet..we were all down to nothing but a little bit of water and no stores in sight, the wind was getting to us and our legs were done...it was a very tough section to get through, all 3 of us were wanting it to be over and wishing for a few minutes of no wind so we could just relax and take a break unfortunately it never came so we just had to keep on working hard...there was some swearing and Barrie wasn't our favourite person at that moment.. but we got through it and 11 miles from the end we finally found a store and got some calories in us...it was a great ride, a tough one to end a tough week!

I am really impressed with the camp, I wasn't sure what AZ was going to be like but after having the chance to be there I loved it. We put in some great quality rides and I know there are many more rides that we could have done down there. It is a beautiful area with some of the most breathtaking sunsets I have ever seen. I was in awe of some of the views we had and the mountains were beautiful...so different from anything we have here. I would love to go back again and do some more training!!

Barrie put together a great camp and really made sure that each athlete was getting what they needed for their goals. He put together a very well organized camp (SV and I were even early to training events by the end of the week!) and challenged us in a way I didn't think I would be challenged down there. He took the time to talk to me about my training and racing and he put some new ideas in my head and has me pretty motivated to try some things. His knowledge and coaching style is great and I am so glad that we attended his camp and I got to know him better. He is a very impressive coach and I like the way he pushes his athletes. I look forward to doing more training with Barrie (check out his group and event http://www.c3online.ca/index.shtml)

Our goal going down there was to get fit and ready for the tri season...I think we accomplished this as I have never rode so hard in my life...my quads feel huge...ok maybe they aren't huge because my legs are a little scrawny but for me, they feel huge and I have the quad line now and I actually have some calf muscles!) We were both pretty sore and tired and bed time couldn't come soon enough for me.

We met some great people down there of all ability levels and we were able to train with some great young athletes: Sean Bechtel, David Sharrat, Andrew Woegerer, Taylor Reid and Nat Faulkner... their dedication to the sport is inspiring and I can't wait to watch them do some great things within the sport.

It was a great camp....we swam just over 25000 yds, biked almost 500km and ran 30km...a great week for me!

Day 5...Mt. Lemmon part 2

When we headed up Mt. Lemmon the first time I didn't know what to expect but once I was done I was really looking forward to attempting it a second time. SV and I were happy with how we had done the first time (I finished about 3 minutes behind him) but we decided to see if we could go up faster the second time... though I had some worries about pushing too hard and blowing up, it would be a really long climb if you pushed hard too early....Barrie split up the group so that the slower riders started at 8am, then a group of us went off at 9am and then the 3 young guys to leave at 9:30am...the goal being that we would all end up at the top of the mountain at roughly the same time.

As we were getting our bikes ready it was colder than the first day and Barrie was telling us that the wind could be a bit of an issue as it was pretty strong head winds...hmmm..that could make things interesting. SV and I started around 9:20 (I didn't think that I would be able to catch any of the people who started earlier and that the young guys would be catching me quickly). As we rode the 4 miles to the start of the climb, I told SV to not worry about me because I didn't want to try to stay with him and push too hard. Both of us were feeling all the training we had been doing and weren't sure if getting to the top faster was something that could realistically happen. We decided to have some fun and do the best we could.

The first 5 miles were good, challenging right from the start but we were chatting and checking things out, there weren't very many people on the mountain but we did see a giant lizard on the road. At the 6 mile mark, I realized we were in for a tough ride...we hit the head wind and it took my breath away. I could not believe the power of the wind and how hard I had to work to keep my bike moving upwards. When we would turn and get a tail wind it was a beautiful thing, unfortunately there were very few times when we had a tail wind. The gusts were pushing us towards the middle of the road at times and then at other times pushing us towards the gravel. I was gripping tight to my bars and scared by the feeling of my bike being pushed to the side...very intense. Close to the 12 mile mark we turned a corner into a very nasty section of wind and climb, one of the ladies in our group must have been knocked hard by the wind as she was trying to get back into her peddles but the steepness and gusts of wind were making it impossible for her, SV and I pushed hard but at times I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it, the wind was brutal.

We stopped at the 14 mile mark (windy point) and put on vests and arm warmers, it was getting cold and we still had 11 miles to climb. I looked at our split and didn't think it was possible to go faster today but with the conditions we didn't care, just getting there was going to be worth it. At no point along this climb did the wind let up...The wind added a great challenge but very exhausting. I was able to stay with SV until the 19 mile mark and then he started to put some distance into me...as we climbed I began to get really cold, the temperature was dropping, I had put some gloves in my jersey and it was difficult to control my bike and get them on but I managed...The last 5 miles were great, there is a section of down hill that I really enjoyed, it was so great to get a break and I worked really hard to catch one of our group members, Bob, who I managed to catch at mile 24. (he outraced me to the finish on the down hill telling me he couldn't get chicked at the end, lol). I caught almost everyone in front of me and the young guys didn't pass me, Yay!

Getting to the mile 25 mark was wonderful, it was so great to be done and to head into the warm cookie shack (they had the fireplace going and it was so warm!!) SV was waiting for me and we both ended up reaching our goal of getting to the top faster, SV took off a minute and a half and I took off just over 2 minutes (and closed the gap between us to under 2 minutes!! which I am pretty happy with to be honest, especially with how difficult the conditions were compared to Sunday...) We split a peanut butter cookie and a cappuccino which warmed me up, we sat in the warmth with the rest of the group talking and waiting for the others....a few people decided to bail on the ride down and I have to admit that I was pretty nervous, the way up had been dicey in sections and I was pretty intimidated by the force of the winds and the decent that I still had to do. SV and Barrie told me to just take my time and I would be alright. I was the first one to head off on the decent, I was dreading going down and I really just wanted to get it over with and I figured that the rest of them would catch me. All I can say about the decent was that it was rough. I think I held my breath for most of the ride and have never hung onto my bike so hard in all my life. I was tense and terrified in sections and have never been happier to be done a ride in all my life but at the same time I am proud of myself for doing the decent even though I was scared of it! None of the other riders caught me on the way down so that was pretty cool too, but I think everyone took extra caution on that decent. SV took some video of the decent that he and the 3 young guys did (they were not as cautious as I was lol..), I will post a link in the blog soon so you can see and hear how insane it was.

I am really impressed with the Mt. Lemmon ride, it is beautiful and challenging....and to make things even crazier they are doing an inaugural Mt. Lemmon Marathon this year...thought I would post the link because I know some of you out there may just be crazy enough to want to give it a go http://www.mountlemmonmarathon.com/

Days 3 and 4

Man, this camp is kicking my butt! Seriously, it has been a pretty intense camp so far, Barrie does a great job of making sure that everyone's needs are met and I am feeling it.

We headed into downtown Tucson to check out the area the other night and we found some great little places.

Day 3 we got to sleep in a little before we headed to the pool...we swam with the young guys and we did a pretty good workout. Caron then led the group in a core/yoga workout on the grass. The weather was insane, when we left to head out for our ride the car read 94 degrees..very stifling..a group of 5 of us headed over to do Gate's Pass while the others stayed around here and did their ride. Gate's Pass was a pretty good ride, but at times I felt like I was in a sauna...it made breathing hard and the last climb was so intense because of the heat. I have been getting my butt handed to me by the guys here, but I am holding my own pretty well I think. At times the testosterone levels get quite high and I get dropped, but never by too much. I am enjoying having people to chase and I know that if I get a flat one of them will be changing it for me, lol! After the ride Barrie had put in an optional run off the bike...I wasn't thrilled about doing it but SV and I decided why not...so off we went...I am really noticing the altitude on the runs here, not sure why it effects me on the runs compared to on the bikes, but add that into the 90+ temperatures and I suffered on that run...but it was a short one, so even though we were pushing hard it was over quickly...Day 3 was a tough long day with over 5 hours of training done...My body was tired and I barely managed to stay awake through dinner.

Day 4...hard to get out of bed...but we had a speed run to do today..I could have gone on a long aerobic run but if my goal is to try my hand at some shorter races I figured I should attempt some speed....man what a silly idea! There were 6 of us that did this run, it was 8 x 600m (with a run back recovery on 6 minutes) Sean and Taylor are these fast running machines, seriously it is impressive to watch! I found this a very tough workout, not a lot of rest by the time I ran back to the starting point and by #6 I felt like I was going to vomit... After the fourth repeat Barrie offered me the option to do 4 x 400m to finish up along with the other girl that was doing that, but I had already committed to doing the 600's....but it was tempting...To say the least I am tired now..speed work is an aspect of running I have never enjoyed, well not true, I really enjoy that it is over now!! We are just about to head to the pool for our swim which Sean promises will be a lot of pull!

So far the camp is great, intense and a great ass kicker for sure. I am tired, hungry and sore...what a great vacation!