Long Run with Cate

The weekend is the time for the long stuff. Long runs, long bike rides and brick workouts.
A brick means doing a ride followed by a run.

So, today since Cate was sick and nothing could seem to make her happy, I decided to bundle her up and take her along for the run.

She must have enjoyed it. She never made a peep!

I ran 7 miles with Tammy and Cate in the jogger. It took us 70 minutes. I really find it challenging to run with the jogger. Especially going up a hill. I kept asking Tammy- this will make me stronger right? Hey, what's our pace now? (When I felt like we were running fast). Hopefully, this will make me stronger. I am happy Cate does seem to enjoy it.

The rest of the day was spent holding Cate most of the day. Poor thing was miserable. I was sure to suck on lots of Cold Eez and take extra vitamin C. Not sure if it really works- but it does seem to help me feel better.

Time for bed.

It's been a long time

I'm registered for my first Half Ironman................ It's on July, 20 in Sonoma, CA.

Right now I'm building my base. This means training at a consistent level and keeping my heart rate pretty low.

I'll use this as a means to keep track of my workouts. It may be a bit boring- or perhaps inspiring. Just think, last year I didn't even know how to swim. It's my 1 year anniversary this week.........

I never got to blog about the PF Changs Half Marathon. Well, I didn't quite reach my goal of 1:50. Didn't have it that day. But, I'm really happy with my time and made PR(personal record) of 1:53:49. That's an 8:40 average pace for 13.1 miles. So, my running has improved. Last year I did the same race in 2:39. WOW!!!

Okay, Cate is sleeping, so I guess I better get on my bike trainer.

12 miles and a baby jogger...........

The PF Changs 1/2 marathon is just a short 3 weeks away.

We're in our final weeks of training and the miles are starting to pile up. I ran 11 miles on Sunday. My friend and training partner Tammy left today for Utah to go skiing over Christmas; so we decided to do our long run this morning.

This meant that I had to take Cathryn with us.

I usually don't like running with the jogger. I can't swing both arms, and well it's just a bit awkward.

Okay people. It's challenging enough to run 12 miles, but try doing it pushing a 25lb baby.

Hey, I did it. This will make me stronger, and I'm really happy our long run for the week is over.

I do wish I had a camera. At about mile 11, Tammy was helping me push. Tammy is about 5' tall, maybe even 4'11" and me, well I'm 5'9". I'm sure we had several chuckles from passers by.

We made it to the end, and Cate never made a peep!

I'm tired!

1K Swim 28Mile Bike 6.55 Mile Run

The Soma Quarterman- October 28, 2007

I had a really stressful week, and day before the race, so I wasn’t really as excited as I usually am about doing a race.

The swim is always stressful. But, really no one likes the swim, except those who are swimmers. So I try to keep that in mind.

I kept myself at a comfortable pace all throughout. I did have a moment in the water when my goggles fogged up – it was hard to see and I was thinking I didn’t quite want to do this. I focused on Team Hoyt, and all of my own training, and decided what a waste it would be if I quit. Plus the thought of quitting, is worse than swimming. So I just decided to take my swim very relaxed and that seemed to do the trick.

The bike ended up being 29.2 miles, hilly, crowded lots of sharp turns, lots of debris and water bottles in the road which at times was very nerve racking. A larger woman who was reentering the bike course (maybe she had a flat) almost took me out- my heart was in my throat.

The run was hot, which prevented me from going faster. I don’t like racing in the heat at all. I just kept on telling myself the entire way just race your own race. Then I saw Bruce @ about the 4 mile mark. As I passed Bruce he was saying he was having joint issues. I ran past him telling him just to race and don't talk. Okay, I love you too he says.......

I was racing. He was racing. I was focusing on my race. I can't talk except for a couple of words- everything I have is going into racing.

I did have lots of fun (mostly on the bike) and had a huge smile on my face when I finished.

Since this was my first Quarterman, I didn’t have a goal time- I just wanted to finish. I finished in 3:03. 8th out of 41 in my age group.

Triathlon season is over.

Now it's time to focus on the PF Changs 1/2 Marathon in January.

Fun, fun fun

Time Flies When You're Having Fun............

Chasing after a busy toddler. It's hard to believe that it's been 3 months since I last posted. No, I didn't lose the triathlon bug. No, I haven't lost my ability to type. But, I have lost my ability to blog since Cathryn has been mobile and wanting to do everything I'm doing. Including typing on my computer. We've given her a old mouse to click while she sits on my lap- she's almost figured out that the one she plays with doesn't work. Hmmm.... What to do next?
She's sleeping right now. We already swam this morning, so hopefully, she'll be down for a long nap.
Yes, I'm still a triathlete. I haven't missed a beat. I've completed 2 triathlons since my triathlon in May, and I have 1 coming up in September and 1 coming up in October. Bruce may make his triathlon debut in September also. We'll see............. It's a long swim for his first race, and his heart hasn't been in it. He has a lot of stuff going on, so training has been last on his list. Except for cycling. He does consistenly ride his bike 3x per week.
In the heat of summer it means we get up very early here. My alarm goes off at 4:15am. We're out of the house by 5:15-5:30. Yes, it's early. But, the sense of accomplishment I get from finishing my workout before most people are getting up is good for me. It sets the tone for the whole day. Okay, so I'm practically asleep by 8:30pm. But, for now that schedule works. And I guess I do enjoy sweat, having my muscles burn, and pushing myself when I think I can't.
My goal is to be faster. I have improved in swimming, but I have a long way to go. I've been swimming for 6 months and I can say that only recently have I been able to "feel" the water. My endurance has improved, so now I'm really focusing on my "feel" for the water and my pull. I'll get back to taking pictures. It's something to see people of all ages out there during the group workouts.
Swim drills and strength training this afternoon................

I AM A TRIATHLETE

That sounds pretty awesome. The day was great. I had fun! My family was out to cheer me on! And our Tri Club WON the Club Championship.

Our day started early. I woke up @ 3:50am. I made some coffee, and had my usual oatmeal and blueberries. I only had one cup of coffee since the butterflies in my stomach were already hard at work. I packed the car the night before, so all I needed to do was eat, go to the bathroom and get dressed. I met our group of friends at the Y. We were all very anxious. We followed each other down to Tempe and set up our transition area. We set up near the Bike Out/In section.

It was pretty nerve-wracking waiting for the swim start. The race director started the race and realized after the first 2 waves that he had given us the wrong instructions - or the buoys weren't set up correctly. We had to wait for the first 2 waves to come in, have the buoy's reset and then we were able to start.

I somehow got myself in the middle of the pack, rather then on the end like I wanted. But I did survive being swum over, pushed, etc. and didn't have a panic attack (YEA!). I was really glad I was in a wetsuit.

Finally, the swim leg was over. I can't tell you how happy I was. Then it was off to the bike. I was excited for this part, since it's my favorite and I feel pretty strong on the bike. Well, not on race day. I struggled to get my legs going for the first 5 miles. I felt like I was turning lead logs and my bike weighed about 50lbs. There were some slight hills, and I think I probably put my bike into a big gear too soon. Oh well, live and learn. I only passed one of the gals we train with at the Y on the bike. So I was thinking that I'd never catch up to the others.

I dismounted my bike too early because there were 2 others at the bike entrance that were dismounting. Sh-t. I should've just kept going. I lost a few seconds there. So I got out of the 2nd transition as fast as I could and just continued to go at a steady pace. I saw a little gal with a white hat and a ponytail bobbing far ahead of me. I wondered if it was Tammy, so I just kept on focusing on that and sure enough it was Tammy and Maryann. After I saw Paige on the turnaround I was able catch Tammy and Maryann and eventually pass them. Tammy told me to go for it - but I wasn't sure if I could make the whole 1.5 miles if I started running really hard to get Paige - she's pretty fast. I just kept on staying focused and kept my pace steady, passing one runner at a time. Finally, the end was near and I was able to sprint it in after the little annoying hill at the end.

I finished in 1:19:33 and came in 7th out of 19 for my age group. I feel really happy about that time for my first Triathlon.

The kids were so excited I could hear everyone cheering for me at each transition and then again at the finish. That really did help alot!

What fun we had. Now it's time to plan for more races. We've got 2 picked out for late summer and early fall. I'm going to sign up Bruce as well. We still need to figure one out for summer.

Thanks to everyone to supported me and cheered me on. I greatly appreciated it!

Sporting a Wetsuit

My second day of training in the pool with a wetsuit. Much better than yesterday. There's Paige in the background in the pool trying hers out as well. I swim 32 laps in 17:10, which is faster than yesterday. I wasn't racing, but just trying to go at a nice easy pace. I felt good. That's all that matters to me right now. Then after my swim I hopped on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It feels good to be done with my workouts! Yeah!