TS Fay GO AWAY!!!! And new addition to family

No, it's not mine! New nephew. Congrats Mike and Allison.



Ok, I'm so over this weather! Yes, I'm happy that where I live in FL has been the least affected by TS Fay, which is a blessing since we were originally slated for a direct hit. But, the rain all week and again today is trying to sabotage my IM training. Went to bed last night not sure of where/how I would get in a long ride today. Heard some heavy rains on and off all night. Shut off the alarm at 5am and went back to sleep. Decided it was going to be a trainer day. Spent three hours in the position you see above, staring at crank arms with pain in my legs. Spent majority of that three hours just under my lactate threshold which is painful. Me, Troy Jacobson and the rest of the masochists on the "Tough Love" spinerval spent quality time together. As he says, three hours on the trainer is worth at least four hours on the road. Took one break to refill water bottles and get more Gu Roctane (thanks Gu for the freebie Kona pack). It actually went by pretty fast until about 2 1/2 hours and then I really had to dig deep and remember why I was doing this. I thought about standing on Dig Me beach in seven weeks with anticipation, fear and excitement to be competing in Kona again. The motivation was there for sure. Spent my cool down period watching the end of the women's basketball gold medal game and Lisa Lesley talking about not being afraid to set big goals because anything is possible, or something along those lines. Very appropriate at that point. Then onto the brick. Only 35 minutes. Of course, like every other run this week, it started raining as soon as I got out the door. No worries, I don't mind running in the rain as long as there's no lightening. All done now and proud that I survived the mind fuck of three hours on the trainer! Could have used some company but the Dane is back in Denmark for now. IM is a solo event after all....
Kia Kaha

possible new suit design for Kona.....

Click on the red X (I don't know how to get it to come up otherwise).
May amend but will sleep on it.
Love Splish suits!!

Beijing and Fay

Thanks sis for the poster - very neat, I thought. She leaves for Beijing today. Sis-in-law has new baby tomorrow. Exciting.
Had another good training week last week. Got rained out of long run last Thursday night so pushed it to Sunday, after two hour ride. On Sat before, did 90 miles with small group in the hills - my longest ride out there and I wasn't trashed. So Sunday, decided to do "long brick". We lucked out with overcast skies and had a good ride and great run, surprisingly.
We, then, awaited the arrival of TS Fay. Originally, we were supposed to get a direct hit so we took the appropriate steps in case this occurred. The Dane was supposed to leave for Europe but had to postpone this a few days in case of this storm. Turns out, we didn't get the storm, thank God. This storm has been quite strange, strengthened over land of all things, very unusual. Anyhow, cloudy skies and wind don't keep me inside. Hopefully won't have to move workouts around this week!
Kia Kaha

Remission and IM training...

I heard a wonderful word at my recent visit with my rheumatologist.........remission. He said that based on my steady progress, x-rays, lab work and overall assessment, my RA is considered to be in remission. Although, he didn't recommend (nor would I agree to) going off my medication due to the consistent inflammation in my left wrist. I've had this for almost 11 years and have been pretty stable for the past few years and am so grateful for that!
Our long ride scheduled for Saturday morning was not to be, the weather got the upper hand. Not the rain I mind but the lightening which, in Florida, is a regularity. I bonked on my brick run for reasons I'm not really sure of but still got most of it in. We salvaged much of Saturday boggie boarding in the rain which actually was a lot of fun. I was disappointed to not get my workout in in it's entirety but decided living to fight another day was going to have to do. We had clear skies today and made the most of it. Had a good long ride, just the Dane and me. Spent a couple hours on the sunny beach today and now watching the Olympics. Week one of IM training in the books, less than 9 to go 'til Kona. Yippeee!!
Kia Kaha

The OOOOOOOOlympic Games!

Yippee! Few people know just how much I love watching the Olympics. I will watch any sport at any hour but unfortunately, most of the action will take place live while I'm snoozing. Bummer. I will still love it anyway. The first Olympics (I'm mainly speaking of summer) I remember was '76 watching Bruce Jenner win the decathlon. I cried my eyes out when Mary Decker (my idol) fell to the ground in '84. I had the wonderful experience of seeing some of the '04 Games in Athens - dragged my sister and her husband to watch the women's triathlon, very cool! My sis will be heading to Beijing in a couple weeks to attend her 4th Olympic Games.
Pretty good training week. Swam my first real overdistance swim this morning, 5500Y. Ran long last night, 2 hours in real heat - 91* at start with heat index well over 100*. If that doesn't prepare one for Hawaii, I don't know what will. My hammy is being pretty bothersome but not much I can do for it now, 9 weeks out from IM. Couple of long rides this weekend should finish the week off right! Still playing with the bike fit but I feel dialed in much better now. Nothing like 8 hours of cycling over two days to really test that! That which doesn't kill me will only make me stronger! Besides, I want to earn my massage on Monday!
Kia Kaha

Pics from Top Gun...

enjoy..

Top Gun sprint tri RR

Ok, so the race was insignificant to the Dane coming home late Friday night! He was signed up for the race but the late arrival back home Friday night and the fact that his tri bike hasn't seen the outside of it's bike box since Rhode Island meant that he'd be volunteering! The weather all week was significant for morning thunderstorms and clouds and humidity all day long but we were in luck! No rain upon rising at 4AM. Yipee! Clouds, breeze and humidity were fine with me. I always forget that this race attracts more people than one would normally expect - over 800 were signed up. A major credit to the awesome race directors!! Anyhow, I was set to go off in wave number 5 with the 35-49 women which usually pits me against the strongest women overall....not today. This race was one for youth! The younger women (girls) went off a couple waves ahead of us so I knew if I had any chance at the overall, it was going to be a time trial effort, me against myself. I have no problems with that, I can push myself pretty hard and did. So, back at the beach, the water was a tad choppy but not bad by any stretch but the current meant keeeping the sighting in the right direction. I got a great start, off with two others in my wave but ahead of them after the last turn buoy. I figured I exited the water first in the wave and ran fast to T1 (long run to transition, I love) and got on Lucille (my bike). I was really motivated not to repeat the shit ride I had in Rhode Island (I know, it's totally different but I have issues) and rode my heart out. Nobody passed me (10 mile ride) and got off the bike ready to kill more people. I rode about 2 1/2 minutes faster than last year. Went out of T2 in a 6:16 first mile and knew I was going to pay! No worries, that's what sprint tri's are for.... pain!!! I loved it and wanted more. I was on a solo effort against the clock but died a bit at the end. Understandable since I haven't done much training in the past three weeks except easy, aerobic stuff and weight training. In the end, ended up first for masters, third overall female. I will say, when I looked at the results and splits at home later and saw #1 after each (for my wave) swim, bike and run - I was shocked. I don't think I've ever accomplished this in my triathlon life. Progress. This is my goal. Balance. This is also my goal. Slow to come, hard to get, but very worthwhile. Looking back over results, I had top 4 OA (female for all) swim, top 3 on bike, second fastest run. Who'd of thunk it! I am overall pleased with the effort, especially after looking at power numbers from the bike. I can say, the two girls who beat me (overall), should be followed for the future - they are fast! Alex Lechner and Alyssa Burkert are stars of the future, should they chose to pursue this sport! Go girls. I have no issues being beaten by girls this young, 21 and 16 - I applaud them and love to see this level of competition at our local sprint tri. Props to our great race directors!
The Dane and I rode 3 1/2 hours of fair tempo today and I wasn't trashed in the legs! Last time I'll feel that until Kona, I'm sure! Official training begins tomorrow and I'll try and get it all done but the last three weeks of winging it has been fun.
Kia Kaha

Ch ch ch ch changes......

So I just found out this morning at 5AM masters swim practice that our coach at this pool (I attend two different masters swim programs) is leaving and we may not have a new coach. WTF! I have IM Hawaii in 10 weeks and cannot deal with major changes to my training routine at this point. Bad enough that the coach at the other program changed a couple weeks ago but we do have an intermin coach who is really good and I hope she stays on. Holy crap! I don't like swimming on my own, making up workouts and challenging sets - I have no background in swimming and hence no creativity! Oh well, I'm sure something will work out.
Racing tomorrow, Top Gun sprint tri. Hopefully this crappy weather we've had all week will subside long enough for the race to go off. No goals just an hour of power and/or pain. Start training for Kona next week, officially. I've enjoyed just winging it with the training since RI 70.3.
The Dane got delayed in his travels back to the U.S. - was supposed to return home yesterday. He is scheduled to arrive tonight......hopefully
Kia Kaha