It's all about the SUP

Boards sleeping in the pool

Owe, that hurts!

Our lovely launch spot

The Audi is packed!

The Audi likes carrying stuff

So, as if we need more physical activity and sports in our lives leading in to Ironman time, we have discovered the SUP. For now on, understand the SUP means 'stand up paddleboarding'. Cuz I don't want to keep typing 'stand up paddleboarding'! So, we saw these last October while we were in Kona but didn't rent because we were dead set on surfing. I am not a good surfer and I'm still not a good surfer. If I lived in Hawaii, I'd likely become a good surfer because it's all about loving the water and becoming one with the elements which I love. Here in FL, I have to mix work with training which doesn't leave much time or energy for watersports. And, the "surfing" on the Gulf just aint that great. I know, you can drive over to the East coast but we simply don't have time for that. That said, for some reason we rediscovered the fasted-growing water sport in the world, SUP. It is described as 'walking on water' and it really is......once you get more more comfy with it, I'm sure! So we have sought out a few shops who actually sell these boards locally and got some demos this weekend (the shop insisted on it......and they can't keep stock because there is such a demand). I had a bit of a shocker the first time out. I, first of all, had a board that was a bit narrow and short for my skill level, which is......nil. We had to launch these monster boards in water that was calm, not choppy and with a sandy bottom (preferable to oyster bottom...ouch to the feet). Went to a little park near the Sand Key bridge, under which runs the fast current of the Clearwater pass. I got up ok on my "narrow" board and paddled a bit but ended up in a bit of a current which I found which was more than my amateur self could handle. I fell off the board for the umteenth time and found I was getting swept in the current and got a bit panicked. I got off the board and swam with the paddle in one hand to the shore as as fast as I could with one arm. The board, paddle and myself survived but I was spent. I tried to carry the board and paddle back to where we started but the Dane came to my rescue and carried it for me. My arms and shoulders were done. I went back out but avoided the current, I learn fast! We went out again today, found a calmer launch spot, and totally enjoyed the workout (that is after our 3 1/2 hour bike). We found calm water with dolphins and fish jumping, it was nice. My shoulders are pretty rocked but I'm all in. Swim tomorrow will be ugly but that's ok. On the injury front, my foot is ok after a week off of all running. Had ART on thurs and found where the pain really is so going back tomorrow for more torture. i'll likely get back running this week. We're 11 weeks from IM Canada so I don't want to take much more break from running. I think I'm heading in the right direction so feel good as I can without running (thanks Powercranks). Cheers.

Givin props

Another great weekend on the beach in FL. I failed to mention and thank my greatest weapon and favorite training partner and man of my dreams, the Dane. He has been a huge part of my success this season and I wanted to make sure that he got proper cred. He knows this all of course but I'm not sure that anyone really knows how much of a positive influence he is on my training and racing. The music fits so don't shut it off......
Val (from Outspokin) did great yesterday taking over one hour off of her prior best in the Hawaii 70.3 after losing 40 pounds - we are very proud of her accomplishments and look forward to more from her!
Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to keep an open mind...

I like this

We are two weeks into our "summer mini off season" and I'm actually enjoying it, believe it or not! I feel totally out of shape but that's how I'm supposed to feel on a mini break. We start our big build for IM Canada in a couple weeks then, God willing, further push to Kona. We'll see. I have a painful left foot and I can't quite pinpoint it but I'm not at the point where I think I need to stop running all together so, I won't. Not much running going on now anyway - just beach runs after open water swims, nothing organized. I'm enjoying getting back on my sweet road bike, such a nice ride. In fact, the leader and likely winner of this year's Giro is riding the same bike - awesome ride on the Giant TCR Advanced. I highly recommend a test ride on it if possible, go to Outspokin's new store! Our new bridge opened yesterday - Belleair Causeway bridge which replaces an aging draw bridge and gives us a really nice 13 mile loop with three such bridges to climb on the bike or run (although no pedestrian traffic allowed yet). We also had great opportunity to try out a stand up paddle board today from one of the owners of Nekton surf shop (nektonsurf.com) who was gracious enough to take us to his house and try out his board. I instantly fell in love with this! So many toys, so little time! We're going to check out a few other shops prior to laying down any coin on this but it's definitely in our future! We have a few friends racing right now at the Hawaii 70.3 on the Big Island so many positive vibes going their way. Some local folks also racing Mad Beach Tri tomorrow and likewise to them for a safe adventure. Race wise, we are going to spend most of June doing beach 5K running races and a sprint tri in July then onward to Penticton, Canada for the epic North American Ironman race the end of August. All's well that ends well! Hoping the body holds out for a few more but I've had a great run thusfar. Thanks for all the well wishes after Florida 70.3, I really appreciate it!

Recovery

Nothing intelligent to say (not as if there is ever) but we are getting cabin fever here in "sunny" Florida. We have slept in (til 6am) every morning all week which is really a treat. Wanted to swim but felt I needed the sleep more at this point. We did a road bike ride this morning (off work) and found my legs are still dead. We'll ride through the weekend and try and open water swim if the water cooperates but otherwise no programmed workouts for now! I'm eyeballing my kayak! IM Canada is on the horizon and I want to be hungry!! This will happen.........
Cheers!

Fun pics at Florida 70.3

Since I'm sitting around doing nothing now, figured I'd post a few pics

Our little cabin feast!

The Dane tired post-race!

I'm a bit more elated post-race

Ah, the awards.....finally getting the big one!

5 tries, one AG win... Florida 70.3 race report.. never stop believing in yourself

Got back from Disney yesterday morning in a full-on Florida downpour! I fully expected we were going to crash and die in that rain but, luckily, I wasn't the driver! Once again, we hit the right weather for the race on the right day! We got to registration and what not on Saturday around 1pm with our housemate Linda M (female 55-59 ass-kicker) and all went smoothly. Had no real issues and didn't forget anything this time - pays to have a couple races in the bag already! Tom Z does a good job as RD and should be commended! I didn't feel particularly great in my workouts during last week but that never really means anything. I did have quite a bit of stress at work and figured that would eat away at my energy and likely did somewhat. We had such a nice Saturday afternoon with our house mates and just sat and relaxed. Luckily, all of our waves went off around the same time (Linda at 6:30, me at 6:36 and the Dane at 6:42) so we needed to be to transition early to set up. No issues here except it was quite dark out! It is very strange starting a race in the dark, I think sunrise finally came when I turned the last buoy for home! This swim start is hard because you aren't "allowed" in the water prior so all warm up has to be dry land - something I'm not very good at, not being a swimmer from birth. I had a really good start and lead my wave about half way to the first turn buoy until my left arch of my foot started cramping - a brand new thing for me! Had to let that work it's way out and slow up a bit. In doing so, another purple cap (my wave) got ahead of me - granted, since I breathe to my left, I had no idea what was going on on my right even though I took a gander every now and then. So, I jumped on her feet and let her navigate me through the throngs of other swimmers from the earlier waves. Not much contact so I didn't get too freaked out. I lost my navigator every now and then due to the traffic but found her usually. Towards the end of the swim, which I thought was quite long, I had another cramp in my foot and had to let it work out, weird. Now I'm thinking if this is something that will come back to haunt me today. Got on dry land and hauled ass the long run to T1, managed to pass 2 purple capped gals in the process - knew I didn't have a good swim at this point. I let it go mentally, no use in getting down about it. On to the bike and I felt tired and moderately sluggish. I had to work way harder to push the power that came easily in New Orleans. Luckily, my SRM kept me honest and I tried no to lollygag too long. Passed another two in my AG on the bike. The drafting was pretty bad, mostly with the men that I saw. The Dane finally caught me after mile 40 and seemed to be struggling to lose the pack ahead of him. The wind kicked up the last hour on the bike but nothing like it was in New Orleans so I handled it mentally pretty well - wish my legs handled it as well! Got off the bike without issue and onto the run. Actually left T2 with the Dane just ahead -found he was cramping in T2 trying to get his shoes on! I had a bit of a bounce in my stride and ran through the first mile in 6:40 - either short mile or my pacing really sucked! I felt the vague twinge of a side stitch building and didn't want a repeat of Kona '06 so had to slow up and regulate the breathing pretty much the next 8 miles or so. I never felt good but never felt horrible although had a couple spots where I thought I was going to pass out and managed those ok. I broke the run course down in my mind and it went pretty fast until the third and final loop. I had no idea of my placing or anything so just tried to push the third loop even though I thought I was going to puke at any moment. Finished strong and waited for the Dane who looked great finishing. We all gathered in the CAF (Challenged Athlete's Foundation - awesome charity) and they were awesome to sit with. Seeing all the folks with amputations of various extremities do the same thing I just did is really awe inspiring! Linda finished strong and crushed her age group.....again! The Dane finished strong also but had many cramping issues that we'll work on figuring out later. I didn't know I won my AG until we found the unofficial results page. This is my fifth time doing this race (missed last year due to Europe trip, well worth it) and I finally got a win! The time wasn't fast and I thought I could go faster but I went fast enough. Never stop believing in yourself. If anyone wonders how hard it is and how much dedication and consistency it takes to finally win one of these (70.3) races, just ask me but you better have a lot of time to hear my answers! I was very gratified that, even on a day when I didn't feel my best, I could do enough damage control to be competitive. We'll take a little mental and training break now before embarking on IM Canada training. Thanks to all who sent us well-wishes, it really does mean a lot to me. The groups that I train with in the pool and on the bike really have helped make me a better swimmer and cyclist. I hope I'll continue but for sure I'll continue having fun!
Cheers

Just a thanks

I am honestly astounded by all the friends that I have. I guess we realize these things on such days as birthdays. I have had so many B-day greetings and well wishes it makes my head spin. I can't possibly thank everyone individually, which I'd like to do. So, instead, I thought of every single one of you and remembered cool times I've had with each. I really did. I also got a massage (pre race type of thing) and spent time on the beach with my man, which is my favorite thing to do. We are racing Sunday and will go 110% as usual but will have fun, most of all! Wish us all luck!
Thanks again to all!
Cheers!

Great weekend!

Beach at it's best in FL

The picture says it all for me! Awesome beach weekend in FL! Good heat taper training, sun and plenty of fresh air. We did an open water swim with the kids from the pool we do masters at and that was fun. Rode the bikes there and back and then hit the playa for sun and more sun. Today, did a short ride then a brick and find my legs are still quite tired so this week will be really chilled - just some focused workouts and not much else (except stressful work). Spent the rest of the day today on the beach with L&L and that was fun and relaxing. Happy Mom's day to all and congrats to Jennifer my niece for having a new baby. Here's to a great week!

Episode #13 - Kara Goucher 20M Pre-Boston Workout | Workout Wednesday, Season 3 on Flotrack

Episode #13 - Kara Goucher 20M Pre-Boston Workout | Workout Wednesday, Season 3 on Flotrack

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Check out this sick, freak workout prior to Boston Marathon. Only for true fans, watch at your own risk...

Sunday ride

Last hard ride until we taper (once again) for last half ironman for the spring campaign. Group ride today which, after 71 miles in the hills yesterday with hard run, was a daunting task. Just went through the motions and found I finally get warmed up after about 30 miles. So, we head to Trouble Creek out and back which isn't terribly hard then the ride back to Outspokin was hard hard....for me. The ride back from Trouble Creek was about 7 guys which are really good riders (including the Dane) and me into a stiff headwind. I just kept hanging on to wheels because I knew if I had to push against the wind on my own, it would be slowwww at this stage. Made it almost all the way with the small group and hung on and was proud that I could do that after yesterday's ride/run. I'm pretty much done and confident in my cycling fitness, just need to recover. I'm hoping that the next half IM will be better than New Orleans 70.3, we'll see.
Props to the folks who conquered St Croix 70.3, especially Jeff C who laid down the law like he said he would when we saw him last weekend. You're the Man, JC!
Cheers.

!

Thanks Ken for the pic!


Had a good ride in the hills today, 71 miles at a good clip with a fast crew! I wanted to go 60 but when you are in the hills and you don't know the way, you follow wheels, shut up and ride! I felt pretty horrid this week. New Orleans 70.3 three weeks ago, check. St Anthony's last weekend, check. Another half ironman in two weeks, check. 42nd birthday upcoming in two weeks, check. The old body just doesn't do what the younger body used to......amazing! That said, had one last go at a long run this week and it was, in a word, awful. I got through it and trained my mind to just HTFU. That's all half ironman racing is anyway so it was a mental training effort. I felt horrid coming out of that then my good friend Mary D wanted to go out for "a glass of wine" and, yada yada yada we are stumbling home on Friday night. Had a bad week at work so that's easy to get sucked in to! No worries, up at 5am today for a committed ride in the hills and I actually didn't feel nearly as bad as I thought I would so went with it. The run wasn't perty but got through it and another shot at character building (thanks Linda M) and mental HTFU training. Swimming long course a bit now so that is a good thing and I feel good in the water - I'm ready to swim in a triathlon!! So, tailor the taper again and see how it goes. The Dane seems cured (I wish I got over injuries so quickly) and very hungry to race a half IM! Watch out! Good luck to all the fun folks we know doing St Croix 70.3 tomorrow.
Good luck Jen and push that baby out!!

St Anthony's tri, er, duathlon - sort of

So, the winds picked up on Saturday in St Pete, just as predicted on the Weather Channel. I wasn't too concerned about the wind - after surviving Kona in October and getting through New Orleans 70.3, I felt it wasn't going to be anything new. Get to transition on Sunday morning, doing the normal bike checks and finishing touches and the announcement comes, the swim for the amateurs is cancelled. The girls in my wave were all sort of standing around wondering if it was a joke and if the elites would get the option to swim. No joke, no option, no swim for us. I've been busting my butt and swimming quite well (in the pool) for me so ready to get a new PR for this course. Not to be and the rest of the day was very strange to say the least. The Bay was a washing machine and the pro's, who had to swim, echoed this for the most part. I had a nice long run warm up with Cassie M then we headed for the "line up" for our time trial start. A start I've never done as I'm sure most people here hadn't. Totally not warmed up, we sprinted through transition, got our bikes and started the bike portion of the race as if it was a normal race. It wasn't. It's really hard to go into the bike hurt box with no warm up. That said, we were all in the same boat. I rode really hard at the outset, wanting to get warmed up in a hurry. It was quite windy but not as bad as New Orleans, IMO. I settled down into my pre-planned power zones and went for a new bike PR for the course. A few packs of girls got away but I had a couple girls that wanted to keep trading the lead and we did the last ten miles or so legally pacing which kept me engaged mentally. Got off the bike and had my usual slow transition but got out onto the run and didn't feel hot but I've come to the conclusion, I'm not supposed to feel good off the bike if I ride hard enough. Settle in around 6:30 pace but gradually slowed and wanted to be done! I got passed in the finish shoot and though not happy about it, I couldn't do anything. Felt bad because Brian Harrington was saying such nice things about me (Bri, thank him for me!). I wasn't happy about my overall result but the positive is I biked a PR and ran about 2 minutes faster than last year. We can all pontificate about what the swim would have done or not done but the result is what it is for everyone. I likely won't do this race next year because of New Orleans 70.3 which is going to be one week prior and I know I can't recover that fast - I barely recovered enough in three weeks! Age is a real buzz kill! The Dane got his top ten finish and hardware he so desired and his body is ok so we can move on. We will do some open water swimming and see what 70.3 races we can do to get the Dane into Clearwater since Disney is closed. We had a lot of fun post race hanging out with everyone and trading war stories and made sure the beer tent volunteers were busy and entertained! Thanks to everyone who cheered me on and if I didn't acknowledge you, I heard you! Onward.

And, oh by the way...

If you haven't seen this, (and who hasn't) it inspires me on a whole 'nother level. Go Kara G.(she reminds me so much of Cath, my BFF).

Pre St Anthony's Tri

Cool flyover in NSB

Relaxing in NSB

So, we're on the eve of St Anthony's tri. One of the biggest olympic distance triathlons in the country and very competitive. Time to bring the A-game. Unfortunately, I think I left my A-game in the Big Easy. That said, I am racing tomorrow in the Elite Amateur division so the ass kicking will be big. Got a target on my back (locally) and that's ok and a compliment. The expo was awesome and the Dane worked his arse off and hopefully, helped Outspokin. I, on the other hand, can't sell anything! Off topic, the Dane and I just watched "Seven Pounds" and I only recommend it if you have a box of kleenex nearby! It did, however, remind me how lucky I am to be doing this sport on this level. It was only 11 years ago that I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and thought my athletic life was over. It wasn't totally over, just slower and I truly appreciate every athletic adventure that I can embark upon because I do really think of all of this as a gift. If you ever wonder, just ask me. So, my only message is to do what you can with what you have because you never know when your body will take a nosedive on you! As Spencer (smith) says, go to the hurt box and embrace it! I will do that tomorrow and be at peace that I am able to still do this. Tick, tick, tick......
Kia Kaha

Pics from New Orleans 70.3

I'll walk you through this agonizing blog. First pic, yup, took the time to remove my wetsuit prior to hitting to swim timing mat, duh. Next is biking the bridge, headwind is ugly here (no, I wasn't drafting, just getting ready to pass). Next, boy, I didn't think I said anything nasty to that girl but I sure have the bitch face on! Next, yes, it was hot (note red face)! And, finally, glad as hell to finish!

Fun weekend, not racing!

Gorillas in the mist, er fog

The Queen of the Fort and me

The Athena battle starts!


We pretty much took most of last week off from training due to soreness, my cut up feet, generalized fatigue and getting slammed at work. The Dane is still rehabbing his bum hip but we think we've nailed down what it is. We got to go and watch the Escape From Fort Desoto sprint tri on Sat which we normally race but we were not in any condition to do so this year. It was super foggy, very strange for this race - normally, it's so windy that fog never has chance to form! It figures I miss the one year that there is no wind on the bike! We had our fair share of wind in New Orleans 70.3, that's for sure! It was a lot of fun to see people I haven't seen in a while because this is usually the first race of the season for local triathletes. We had a guest appearance by Cassie M (an age group, mine of course, 70.3 World Champ) and it was fun to spend some time with her; she, literally, ran away with the overall win for the women! Bravo Cassie. We had the Mad Dog party after that and the 70.3 World Championship lottery give out, I don't need one for '09 now! for Easter Sunday, an easy ride today with the Dane, short run then an open water swim in the chop. A perfect Easter Sunday for us - a long day on the beach! Two weeks to St Anthony's and hoping the legs come around this week so I can do some fast running and hard biking to prep for that race. Hope everyone had a great Easter! I think the race director for New Orleans 70.3 should put me on the payroll because I told everyone I know that it was an awesome event and we'll be back in '10! Official invite for my family to join us for a super fun event!
On to Easter dinner that chef Anders is cooking!

pics from Nola

Click the link, I'm not buying these but I liked the suit I came up with...

http://brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=48245&PWD=&BIB=3102

Laissez les bon temps roulez 70.3

This race was on the calender because I've never been to New Orleans so it was a good excuse to go. Since I end up using all my vacation time from work doing triathlons, I like to make them count as "real" vacations whenever possible. It also was very early on the schedule, much earlier than I have ever done a 70.3 distance race so we had to be good about training early on when it was still cold. Luckily, we have a great group of people who braved the cold with us many mornings to get workouts in, be it swimming or biking. Thanks to all our great training partners who braved the long winter (for Florida).
On to the trip, er...race. I always thought of this trip as a cool trip with a race in it. I wasn't going to compromise too much on the fun aspect or the walking around aspect, it is New Orleans after all. I figured if all the fun bar hopping we did hurt me, so be it - I'm on vacation. As with any traveling race, if you forget things, which we all inevitably do, you can pick stuff up at the expo. Usually, not here though. I'm sure that will improve - it is a first year race after all. We got into NOLA early on Friday morning and got checked into the hotel and got familiar with our surroundings. We found a micro brewery near the race hotel so tested it out on our way to pick up our packets. Got our packets after an entertaining mandatory race meeting and all was smooth as silk. I'm sure we found another bar on the way back to our hotel on the edge of the French Quarter. Had to assemble the bikes prior to anymore bar visiting so did this then got back out. We ate at an Italian place called Bacco on Friday night and it was yummy. One thing for sure, there is no lack for restaurants in NOLA. Anyway, we did do a short run Saturday morning and felt pretty good in general - should have, I took both Thursday and Friday off which I don't normally do but I was really tired and worried the taper wasn't "kicking in". The bulk of Saturday was spent traveling to transition (you NEED a car for this race), standing in line for the mechanics and checking out the largest transition area I've ever seen. That's why they were saying it's the biggest 70.3 race in the world! Got racked with no issues and headed back to the hotel to gussy up for dinner. We went to a place called Attiki for dinner (actually, just went there for a couple beers but ended up staying) - really good, Middle Eastern flare type of place. Back to hotel early to get up early race morning. I woke an hour before the alarm (3am) with some nerves and excitement for the first race of the year. I looked out the window and it was very cloudy and windy. Got the Dane up and we planned to drive to transition (then take shuttle back afterwards to drive back with bikes - thanks Phillip L for the advice here). I brought oatmeal but had no way to eat it (no spoon, bowl, etc) so just consumed most of a Cliff bar and felt that was going to have to do - mistake number one. Got to transition (which is a Katrina tour each trip - very eye-opening) and had no issues. I had until 8:30am for my wave - the last wave of the day. It was raining a bit and that added a few extra challenges but I felt ok. Did a little run and felt ok. Walked a mile to swim start with 3000 of our best friends. The pro's got off at 7am. Lake Pontchartrain was calm as the winds were out of the south. The Dane was in the wave right before me which was good because we could sit around together and figure out where to line up, etc. The swim is a straight shot, west to east with bouys on the left demarcating the edge. I had a good start but tussled with a couple girls early on and had no draft the entire way - bummer. Got out onto the bike and could feel the wind straight away. I also could see that my SRM was not registering speed (or distance as result) so this would be my "power only" race. The roads for the first 20K are pretty bumpy concrete but not unreasonable. The roads also, some of them major highway, WERE COMPLETELY CLOSED! This, my friends, is a treat. I was concerned, being in the last wave, of the bike traffic but it was pretty well spread out and pretty easy to get around people - which is what I did for 56 miles. I went by power only and pretty much nailed my numbers. It was very windy, second only to Kona in my experience, but I concentrated on my power numbers and that kept me very engaged on an otherwise releatively boring (unless you like swamp land) bike course. The only hills were the bridges heading out and back in. Not much drafting going on except for the guy on the P3 who felt the need to sit on my wheel for a long stretch - not much draft off a 105 pound 41 y/o woman, must be desperate! Anyhow, totally uneventful ride but the wind gets to you after a while - the last 20 miles or so (no odometer here) was into a block head wind and reminded me of the Queen K so I kept my head about me. What I didn't do, is drink enough or take salt - mistake number 2. It was very humid and I was sweating a ton but I was totally focused on getting around other people and not getting my front wheel into a hole in the road. Off the bike, back onto the feet-cutting mile long transition area. Onto the run and I knew straight away I wasn't gonna have the run I wanted. The first 3.5 miles were into a really stiff, steady headwind. I felt horrible and tried adjusting pace to get better - the only adjustment that stuck was running much slower. Saw the Dane at just over mile 5 standing there waiting as he had a hip problem and couldn't continue. I was worried but he told me to continue, so I did. The only other gripe about the race was that the aid stations were 1 1/2 miles apart on the run when I'm used to (and plan for) every mile. This wasn't good as I was already dehydrated and not feeling well at all. I got quite dizzy and woozy at mile 9 and had to full stop. I thought I might pass out for a minute but gathered and walked a bit - there wasn't an aid station in sight. I jogged again and once at the next aid station, took everything they had. I was quite warm and humid at this point and wanted cola......bad. They had no cola at any aid station which is not something I'd planned for (these races always have cola at least later on). It was brutal and I had blood pooling in my shoe a bit from the chunks of skin I'd lost in transition area. I was ready to be done. Got to mile 12 and saw 4:52 on the watch. I wanted (and expected) to get under 5 hours so really had to hustle here. You get closer to the finish and thus closer to the French Quarter, it is amazing and loud. This finish gave me goose bumps! It was second only to Kona in number of people and excitement level - I thought I was winning the Olympics or something. I didn't quite get under 5 hours (went 5:00:11) but felt like I did what I could on the day. I hustled around to get on the shuttle back to transition area to find the Dane because I was worried about him. Got there and he was sitting on the curb near his bike, poor thing. We hobbled back to the car and drove back to the hotel. Got to the awards party right on time, took my Clearwater slot (thanks Pam K - I owe you) and went for a wonderful dinner at Nola. Pampered and fed, we hit the town for a while and just absorbed New Orleans. I loved it and will be back. Aside from the cut up feet, saddle sore the size of a walnut and one toenail coming off, this was an awesomely fun race in a totally unique locale. I'm sure it will get more competitive next year but I'll be ready and hopefully, won't make all the rookie mistakes. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and everything. We're going to heal up, volunteer at Escape From Fort Desoto sprint tri Sat and prep for St Anthony's on 4/26. P.S. the woman on the song that pops up, Irma Thomas, sung our national anthem for the race. The whole town of New Orleans was so nice and positive - you get such a good vibe here. Great for racing! I'm sending an official invite to my family to join us next year for all the NOLA fun!

quickie report from NOLA

I'll do a proper report from home but wanted to say a few things now while my body still feels the pain of racing. First, this was one of the best, coolest races I've ever done. We had the roads all to ourselves and a finish line experience that was a very close second to Kona. I wasn't particularly pleased with my times but a win is a win. I actually won overall Masters which I've never seen awarded at a 70.3 event so that was really cool. We have to pack up to return home today - wish we had another day to hang out. The Dane was rocking this race until something seized up in his hip early on in the run - he couldn't run through it and was very hobbled to even walk. He was really upset about this because he was having a great race. We'll return home to repair our bodies and move on. Thanks for all the well wishes.
laissez les bon temps roulez

Hi from NOLA

From my most awesome iPod touch, blogging from restaurant in Nola. Bikes are checked and ready to rock. The Dane and I are having a real vacation, it's nice and fun. Race tomorrow, NO expectations.
Peace.

Taper sucks but other things are fun

The horses begging for a ride


So, one week or so of taper for NOLA 70.3 and we both feel pretty crappy physically. We had a bugger of a cold front come through yesterday (wind wise) and today (wind, rain, cooler temps) but had specific workouts to fit in. The week early on brought mile repeats on Tues and I ran faster than I have in a couple years for sure - no big deal though, I haven't done speed work in 7-8 months. Weds brought speed swim at masters and I really sucked - don't think I've gone this slow all year. Weds evening was threshold repeats on the bike/trainer with hard brick. Thursday brought our last "long" run, only 8.5 miles and went really slow and boring but all in all, faster with lower heart rate in higher heat outside. Sat was a two hour ride with some 10 minute sub-threshold sessions which are difficult in 20-25mph winds! Nothing like Kona winds mind you, but annoying, none the less. No brick Sat so we got ourselves out to the beach and the waves were starting to get kicked up with the winds. Got some much needed sun and the body surfing was really fun - we didn't want to leave. To bed early Sat (read, no social life) and awoke to thunderstorms on Sun morning. No worries, only an hour on the bike with more 10-minute sub-threshold sessions, doable on the Computrainer. Got the bike done then it was a 30 minute brick, zone 4 out and zone 2 back. This was not fun and I quickly felt the legs are not ready to race - thank God we have one more week! Went to the mall because it was still raining, to our favorite watering hole at International Plaza (we get there like twice a year) and couldn't find anything to spend my hard-earning money on. Came back home and the sun was back out so, back to the beach. The waves were bigger, the wind was on-shore and the air was cooler. We saw a perfect opportunity for some great boogy boarding. We made a pact not to get hurt - there is history of injuries here (not me). Water felt warm and the waves were definitely ripping so we stayed fairly shallow and safe but had some good rides. An awesome weekend of wind, waves, biking and running. Hoping for good legs in one week! I don't have anyone left to root for in March Madness so guess I'll choose as they go.

Last race rehearsal day before IM New Orleans 70.3

Mock transition, planning ahead

We had a good training week. I finally put in a run "speed work" session (better late than never) which consisted only of 2 x 1 mile repeats. Not much but I feel pretty healthy with the running now, finally. It is only March after all! Last long run of 90 minutes, which is about all I can muster this time of year without hurting myself. Have done 4 x 90 minute runs so which have all be faster than the last at same heart rate. I feel good about this. All in all, I'm running quite well for me for this time of year. So we had our mock transition areas set up in the house (not outside because I need privacy to change my shorts - don't want to moon all of Belleair) and tried to keep it pretty quick. It was quite breezy out on Saturday morning but not cold, around 60. We had a little bit of a warm up time then rode steady for 56 miles. I got to motorpace off the Dane, which is no easy task with the cross winds blowing! Anyway, good ride on tired legs then off for a 6 mile brick. Suppose to "ease" into the run, which we did, running 7:15 pace. Negative splitting, ended up averaging 7 minute/mile pace - goal pace but realistically, would be happy with 7:15's on race day. Today was supposed to be a day off but I don't do days off very well. So, we jumped into an open water swim with a couple of the Masters guys. The water is nice, not too cold but I was happy to have my wetsuit I can tell ya! Got a new 2XU V:1 Velocity suit and it got a workout today! The water was pretty choppy so it was annoying and after 2.6 miles or so, I was DONE! I don't have good patience with open water swimming which is why I need to do more of it! Since we live a mile from the Gulf and have good open water swimmers to go out with, no reason not to do it! We had some nice relaxing on the playa afterwards so a wonderful weekend in sunny Florida.
Oh yeah, Go Jayhawks and Boilers - gotta love March Madness!

Happy B--Day mikey!

Another Kona view

Today's my brother's birthday, so happy one to you. Also, little Dane's B-day as well, happy 12th to Johnny.
On the training front, let's just say I'm on a whole 'nother level than I've been this time of the year in the past. Yes, Cyndi, that's a good thing. We had a really hard week/weekend of training and, with a solid taper, I feel pretty good about a solid half ironman in three weeks. I have managed to string together two 30-mile run weeks which I know is not huge for most people, but good for me because I'm usually injured this time of year. We did a really hard threshold trainer ride on Weds with a brick. Long run on Thursday and some at pace swimming all week. Sat brought a hill ride with the group that I really had trouble with for some reason. Was it the week of training? Was it the stress of work? Was it nutrition? Was it that I wasn't slow but everyone else was really fast? I don't know really. We ran off that ride in the hills and 7:30 pace felt easy "all day" pace. That's not something someone who has really bonked says. So, I feel I got dropped because I got dropped. It is what is is and you have to get over these things. The Sunday ride out of downtown Clearwater has grown every week and now we have some really strong roadies on this ride which changes everything. The Dane and I pulled the whole way until the TT section just to control the pace a bit. The TT section was just tempo for me cuz I was pretty dead from the week. Normally, the route back is pretty steady pace and sane. Not today! I elected to try and hang on to the roadie group on the way back home, into the wind. I made it and it made me feel much more confident than I came out feeling yesterday. Even the Dane said it was hard. He is clearly in shape and one of the best men on two wheels in this area. I just try and hang on. Then, we ran 6 miles. Let's just say it felt like an Ironman run and the 55 degree pool felt good at the end! It was a beautiful, chamber of commerce weekend, weather-wise! We couldn't be more lucky to live in such a lovely environment! The beach was heavily populated but heavily enjoyed by us! We are three weeks out from IM New Orleans 70.3 and taper is everything at this point. I am pretty nackered in the legs but confident I will recover and, hopefully, carry this over for St Anthony's the end of April. We'll see but I have truly done the work. I will race with Aloha, always.

Belleair Classic 10K

Another 10K run in the books. Didn't really know how this one would go since my running has been hampered over the past 8 weeks or so with nagging pains and mini-breaks. I had absolutely no goal today......except to run hard. We didn't taper at all, obviously with New Orleans 70.3 in 4 weeks. We did move our "long run" (only 11 miles for me) to Weds from Thurs and then I did my bike threshold intervals (3 x 10min) on the computrainer on Thurs. Legs quite dead, as expected so, hence, no real goals. This race starts about 1 1/2 miles from our house so it was nice to ride over on the mountain bikes! Thanks to Outspokin, we were able to leave the bikes in a guarded corral. This course is deceptively hard and rolling. I know it's Florida but there are some rollers on this course. The Dane and my advantage was that we run on these roads all the time. The Dane felt he was defending his home turf; I, on the other hand, just didn't want to be slow or get injured. Well, the good thing is, I didn't do either. Started out way too fast, 6:05, then cooled down into a remarkably steady set of miles the rest of the way that were between 6:33 and 6:38, depending on the hills. I am quite happy especially since I haven't done ANY tempo runs or speed work since maybe September. Something to work with, I think. I came close to breaking 40 minutes which I haven't done in over a decade I'm sure. The Dane ran really well, a full minute in front of me - time he hasn't run since the mid '90's!
We will do some tempo TT riding tomorrow and a longer brick and call it a week. The fitness is ok, maybe not great for a half IM in four weeks but something to work with. We did an open water swim today too, whew - cold water! Now's the only chance I have to swim in water as cold as (or close to) what we'll face at IM Canada in August!
Good day, good week so far and got to catch up with friends, esp Sharon B, that I haven't seen in a while. Good times and perfect weather now!
Aloha

kickin' it

Old school, that is. Put new music on, from times where I felt I could do anything (athletically). I would put up more, except my mind is a bit scattered. Good week, though it's not over. Sunday is forecasted to be horrible weather for us babies here in Florida. I'll ride in some rain but not thunderstorms and 40mph winds. Anyhow, got in some hill (read bridge) repeats on the run this week. Long run up to 11 miles at good clip also. The hip pain is certainly better - bothers me more in bed when I roll on it than running! Good signs. I fear I'm starting back running a bit late for 70.3 race in 5 weeks but you never know. I like the old school music because it reminds me of a time in my life that I was fearless. Trying to regain that a bit for this year.
I got smoking hot new aerobars - 3T Brezza. My first ride on them today and they were very nice. Different position for sure but they are very nice. Too bad I left my good legs at home today! We had planned a "race rehearsal" ride/brick today but the ride was a bit slower than I would have liked. The brick, well, it was just hard. I had no legs today but managed a six mile brick at about 7:20 pace - slower than I want to race at 70.3 but I'm working on it. The Dane, well, he's Hell to keep up with anymore. Except in the pool. Our "speed Wednesday" in the pool was a broken mile (short course) - 3 x 550 with 30 sec between, add up the time, blah blah. I did quite well (for me.. 22:xx) and am happy with where my swimming is. We keep wanting to do an open water swim but these cold fronts are really churning up the water and making it difficult to get in any swimming. Maybe next weekend. I won't even bring up the pollen issue! It's making my life pretty miserable! So, a little recovery from today's workout and the next goal is Belleair Classic 10K on Sat - my run speedwork for the week. I'll post pics of new cockpit, have to eat now!
Aloha

Gettin' healed

Another really good training week in the books. I didn't fair as badly riding in the hills on Saturday as last week, always good. The Dane was more aware not to leave me out there on my own. Must have been something I said! It was cold at start there but we were there when many others weren't, hopefully this will pay off down the road. We did 70 miles in the hills Sat then a pretty hard ride today, the hard part at threshold working on TT pace/effort/power. Ran off the bike today, 4 miles again, a little faster than last week but effort the same on REALLY tired legs. I did manage a long run this week, just about 10 miles. I visited the podiatrist on Monday and bitched about my right hip killing me and it must be the orthotics because I didn't have this problem prior. He made an adjustment on my right orthotic and I'm feeling better with the hip pain. It's not gone but it's definitely better. He told me to keep running so I adjust accordingly, just not fast - I told him not to worry, I don't run fast in training! So, hoping to have a pain-free body in the next couple weeks.......yeah, right! I do need to get in some long runs, I figure up to 12 or so, prior to New Orleans 70.3 which is in 6 weeks. I can't believe it, 6 weeks! We have never done a long tri this early so it'll be interesting. One thing is for sure, the Dane is in really great shape. He's pulling the group along today at 28mph.....then accelerates leaving us all gasping amongst ourselves. Then he runs so fast that I surely cannot keep up with him on the brick. I'm happy to have the training version (as opposed to the traveling version) of him back! At least I can still whip him in the pool! So, we'll keep plugging along. I would say more here but this is all we do - work, sleep, eat, train. I wouldn't have it any other way! Aloha.

Happy Valentines day

So, we had a lovely Valentines Day together, smelling the fresh, cool spring air. Riding in the hills today was special. Haven't been up there for 3 weeks and I felt each hill dig into my sad, sorry quads. The Dane, on the other hand, is in another league right now. We had a small 6-people group so no hiding on this 75 mile venture. 75 miles, why am I riding this far - I'm only training for a 1/2 ironman for crying out loud. The Dane left me out on the road with the rest of the group but I got some good steady state TT training in by my lonesome Well, I may not be able to run in New Orleans, but I'll sure be able to swim and ride. ! I set 2 PR's for 200y in the pool this week (n the same set) so I feel really good about my swim training. My "hip" was killing me after the duathlon on Sunday so I saw my massage guru who made it even worse! We figured out it's my TFL (tensor fascia lata) insertion on the iliac crest that is hurting so much. I ran 4 miles on Thursday and flared it right back up. I only have 7 weeks til New Orleans 70.3 (now dubbed the biggest 70.3 in the world.........and I'm in the last wave, lovely). I have to run now, no more time to take off. Decided all my runs now will be quality, no "junk" miles. I will work on pelvic stabilization also, hoping that will help cure me of this nagging torture. We'll see. We have another hard ride tomorrow which I'd like to say I'm looking forward to but not right now!
So, I hope everyone has a more romantic V-day than us! We'll be sleeping (really) early!
cheers

Chilly Willy Duathlon....and the REAL race

The first multisport race of the season is done, thank God. It was ugly and painful, supposed to be I guess. I have managed to lose a lot of run fitness in my run break and it showed today. What showed more was my complete lack of power on the bike. I was really disappointed with my bike today but I realize that I've been working really hard on the bike over the past few weeks and I was really tired-legged. No excuses, just a "C" race anyway. I failed to win my fourth title here but lost to a very quality competitor, Rachel Chambers, who is racing as a professional in duathlon this year and a really nice girl. I managed to squeak out second overall thanks to my being pissed off on the second 5K run (because of my bad bike) and having to run down two girls who passed in me in T2. I definitely didn't feel anything close to good today but I really competed as well as I could and was happy with my overall effort. The Dane did really well, after he collected himself after a not-so-spectacular first 5K! He killed the bike (on his new-ish Cervelo P3) and went on the finish 7th overall for the men (second in his AG by a sliver). We had a good time and got to see a bunch of folks that we haven't seen for a while which is one of the many reasons this sport is so cool. Val from Outspokin was awesome as the sponsor and, in doing so, this race has grown to be the second biggest duathlon in the country (second to the national championship). Thanks also, of course, to Fred and Joe as RD's putting on another most excellent event! They are really top notch and put on, I think, the best and most organized multisport races in the country. I also have to mention something that has been foremost in my mind all weekend. Wendy J. of MSM (great race director) suffered a very serious medical event this week. She is doing the REAL race, the race for life. We did a moment of silence for Wendy today and I thought about her often during my race. I'm doing something that she couldn't do today and I wanted to make the most of it. I also want to mention that Wendy gave me entries into her races before she ever met me - she believed in me and wanted me in her races and believe me, that goes a long way in my heart. So, lots of prayers for Wendy.
Anyhow, I have some hip pain now from my new orthotics and need to deal with this and get this better. I don't think it's anything serious, just may need to take a couple runs off -something I hate, of course. On a good note, the achilles feels fine and trust me, I tested it today! Congrats to all who raced today and toughed it out!

Come on springtime!

Frost everywhere

More frost

That's why I'm doing this - Computrainer love


It's been a cold winter by central Florida's standards and my standards! Managed to get in some really solid training though. Trying to break in my new orthotics and I'm having a lot of hip soreness, all muscle though so I'm hopeful I'll get through it! Did a long run of 7.3 miles this week though - woo hoo! I have a long way to go and only 9 weeks until IM New Orleans 70.3! On a good note, the swim is going quite well and I'm definitely getting stronger on the bike. Spent 90 minutes on the trainer yesterday morning (hence the picture) doing endurance intervals then a quick 4 mile brick most at 7 min/mile pace. We did a tri-geek group ride today and it was chilly for sure! The Dane and his mates were really putting down the pace after a nice 20 mile warm-up (even after he chased Spencer Smith down Sand Key yesterday) but I had good time to sit at my threshold power which was hard but I'm learning how to make myself suffer more on the bike (something I have no trouble doing on the run). I'm hopeful by the end of August this will pay dividends, not sure how much prior to that.
So the Tampa Bay area is wild with the Super Bowl in town and we are staying in - plenty of beer in the fridge! Go Cards!

All I can say is thank you....

Thanks to my cousin Nik and my sister Cyndi for posting this amazing video. Please let us never forget why we can bitch about the daily sh!t that we do. It's because of them........

Done spectating

All this and we live here!


A really good, cold (for Florida) week of training. I hope now that I'm ready for our "10 weeks to half ironman" program in prep for Ironman New Orleans 70.3. I'm really looking forward to this race. The earliest 70.3 race I've ever done and starts us in to an extremely busy/ambitious spring racing season. As it is, 3 races in April........hopefully. If I can remain healthy, that's the plan. My achilles is feeling really good after the running break and I'm ready to gradually build my run back to where it was. I'm now sure I made the right decision by taking the run break even though I was running really well. We rode 75 miles in the hills yesterday with the temperature at the start in the mid-30's, not pleasant. It did manage to warm nicely though and we had a really pleasant ride with a great group. Four mile run off the bike was a bit ugly but it is January after all! I'm feeling stronger on the bike and best ever for the "winter" on the bike. We've never really done rides consistently in the hills this early so it's a real coup to be able to get these rides in before it warms up. Since the bike is my weakness, it is always good to work on this in the "offseason". We'll see how this pans out as the year progresses. I'm not really going to expect much until my "A" race for the year, Ironman Canada, at the end of August. Obviously, if we qualify for Kona, that would be the "other" A-race in October. Cross that bridge if we get there! Another nice, chilly ride today with some TT (that means "time trial", mother) work in Trouble Creek but the legs were dead. I feel sufficiently tired today and don't have anything hard planned until my Wednesday date with the Computrainer..........I'll be ready! I will be ready for that bike ride come IM Canada, or die trying!!
Aloha and kia kaha

Spectating

The Dane on one of the four bridge ascents


So, I'm back in commission. I ran twice this week with no pain or sensation of any type in the achilles. I am also breaking in some new orthotics which I didn't like at all the first run but they weren't so bad the second run. I visited with the podiatrist again today for an orthotic "follow up" and all is going as planned - he feels I'm gonna do well with them. We'll see.
So anyway, the Dane ran the Clearwater Halfathon half marathon yesterday. We/he didn't train specifically for this what so ever, mostly use it as hard run effort and marker. I didn't run for obvious reasons - yes, back in the day I would have sucked it up and ran anyway even though I'm coming off injury. I'm maturing (read getting old) and my body needs TLC now, sucks. Truth be told, I don't enjoy watching people do things that I'd rather be doing but I was determined to be a good crew and help the Dane out as much as I could. He had a really good run, went 2 minutes faster than the last time we did this in '06 - not bad for an old guy! He was 3rd in the Masters category which is also good. It was chilly and I had multiple layers as I was all over the course on my trusty mountain bike. I did go for a proper ride later so the training day wasn't totally wasted! Had today off, thanks MLK, so did a swim and bike. Trying to get in as much riding as I can. Swimming is going very well right now, best winter I've had in the pool. I actually PR'd in the 100 in swim practice last week. Hopefully that will translate into better open water times when I need them!

semi out of commission

Out on fishing adventure from Maui

This one refers to my body, not my iMac. In all honesty, I never mentioned the really, really sore left achilles I limped around Kona on in the days after IM Hawaii. Strange things happen with the body after an Ironman. Different body parts feel injured that didn't cause any trouble leading up. Maybe it's just because I'm old (that's what Linda M. says) and these things happen. Anyway, I did have quite a bit of achilles tenderness after IM Hawaii but took a week off and felt it was just one of those "ironman" injuries that resolve with a few days off. I began running again about a week after IM because, frankly, I love running and was in damn good run shape! So, I stretched and stretched and dealt with this nagging pain in my left achilles. I could run through it so couldn't be that bad (yes, that's how my mind works). I raced Turkey Trot with it and won Masters. I raced the St Pete Bowl 5K with it and won overall. You think I want to take time off running now, not! Well, I must be growing up because this past week, while limping around in the morning because this damn thing hurts, I decided I should probably take some time off now to let it, whatever IT is, heal. Better two weeks now than 3 months in the middle of a busy triathlon season! I also got new orthotics when I felt I might have some sort of biomechanical issue and am still breaking these in. They are much different from my old orthotics which are literally duct taped together! I saw a podiatrist who took an hour watching me walk and talking to me before making a pair of orthotics that he says will keep me healthier, running-wise. When that happens, I'll promote his office! On a good note, I'm riding the computrainer during the week with the goal to get stronger on the bike. Sometimes these running setbacks give opportunities to get better in other areas. This is one of the many reasons I love triathlon - there's always something to work on! Either way, we're are currently 12 weeks out from the first big race of the season, IM New Orleans 70.3, so I'm not panicking. I spent about 10 hours this week on the bike......this is offseason (what ever that is). We did 70 miles in the hills yesterday (2500 feet climbing - thanks Garmin) and another 50 today here. The trainer rides are very difficult so I don't spend much more than an hour at a time at this point. I am starting to regain motivation for training.....takes a while after a long season and a beyond-difficult race to end the season (IM Hawaii). This is good and I'll be healthy, count on it. And, hopefully, my bike splits will improve. I'll die trying anyway!
Training with aloha.\

out of commission

Thought I was out of commission for a bit when my beloved iMac didn't restart after an update. Not knowing what to do, I got on the Apple website from the Macbook and quickly scheduled an appointment with the "genius bar" at the Apple store in International Mall in Tampa. Not that going to this well-appointed mall is a bad thing, but we had spent the previous evening in New Tampa at a party with people we do a lot of our hill rides with. Because of that outing, we decided, smartly, to get a hotel room nearby and then drive 15 minutes to the hills (as opposed to 60 from the house) on Saturday morning. So, anyway, we had a nice ride in the hills though someone, namely me, had imbibed too much at said party and didn't feel so great. I got through the 54 mile ride (2500 feet climbing) happy that I didn't fall over. I wasn't looking forward to our trip back out to Tampa after we got home from ride/party/stay over but knew my beloved computer was ill. Got to the crowded Apple store and thank goodness we had an appointment! The lovely Genius bartender got my baby up and running in 30 minutes and a short lecture later about backing up, updating and whatnot, we were leashed upon mall world. Unfortunately, or fortunately for my wallet, I wasn't in any mood to shop. We ended up in a fun sports bar watching NFL playoff football with a couple of Kona beers (miss them dearly) and suddenly feeling really tired. Went home, had dinner that the Dane whipped up and fell asleep on the couch.....sad! We did, however, discover there is a Great Horned Owl living in the tree in our backyard and we love to stare at him while he does, well, nothing but sit there. But it is amazing to see how big he is when he flies off his perch.
We had overall, a really good week of training, especially biking - got in more miles than I normally do for an Ironman week! No wonder my legs are dead. We have a couple road races upcoming, for me a 10K in a couple weeks and the Dane is doing a half marathon the same weekend. I'm not doing the half marathon for many reasons which I don't care to go into here but anyway, I feel a 10K is better for my training at this point. The Dane killed us in the hills yesterday then again today on the group ride but we're all better for it! I hope! My household trophy is not long for this world....
Hoping everyone had a healthy and safe New Years - we were sleeping through it as usual.
Training with Aloha!

Too many horses in the barn?

The Primo horse - Giant TCR Advanced Womens specific sweet ride!

Too many horses??

Just thought, since we were cleaning out/organizing the garage (as much as can be with 9 bikes!) I'd line up the horses for a close up. Pretty scary to think there is still a bike hanging from the rafters from our vacant home in Largo! We'll eventually find some way to store these but for now, they keep each other company!
Happy New Year to all and go Gators!

Enjoying the holidays

The chef in his element

Not as surprised as I look over my new gadget!

One week of vacation time down, one to go. I really like not having to rush off to work every morning. We are getting some good training in. I have been able to ride a lot more which I like and need. Haven't run a lot this week - felt some left heel pain after the 10 miler on Thursday morning so am backing off a bit. Not sure why I'm having these issues but am trying to prevent any long-term layoff. I am getting new orthotics tomorrow which are much needed - have been duct taping my current orthotics for a while now! We rode in the hills on Sat (because it was warm) with a small group and this was relaxed and fun to be back out there again. There was a lot of traffic which wasn't nice but oh well. Did the Sunday group ride today, rode the Giant TCR Advanced women's specific demo bike and it is truly a dreamy ride! I hadn't ridden it with any real tempo until today and it did not disappoint! Thanks Val for letting me test this bike out! Legs weren't too bad considering we did over 3 hours in the hills yesterday. Tried to run but the foot was hurting so cut that short. No need to push any workouts this time of year! Thanks to my family for such wonderful gifts, we loved them all! Aloha!

Feeling blessed

I want to thank everyone for such a wonderful Christmas. We have had such wonderful weather all week and have been having "epic camp" training since we don't have to work. This is lovely and civilized! Getting up a reasonable hours to train vs getting up at 4:30 am the rest of the year and racing off to work prior to having second training session of the day is really nice. We did a 10 mile run then a weight training session in the gym this morning prior to enjoying the spoils of Christmas day. We feel tired and great all at the same time. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve meal of roasted duck ala Danish Christmas dinner last night which was wonderful. Tonight's menu is linguini with clam sauce and a wonderful cab! I love vacation time!
I am riding a Giant TCR Advanced women's specific road bike demo, thanks to Val at Outspokin and Giant bicycles, which is an absolute dream! This bike makes me want to be a bike racer. It is smooth as silk and faster than it's rider! More to come on that and pics to boot! I have temporarily installed my primo X-mas gift, Garmin Edge 705, on the bike and cannot wait to ride it more. May need a new horse in the garage soon!
I wish all a very Merry Christmas and great training! Or, just good weather to walk around and enjoy the world.
Training with aloha.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I am sitting awaiting my Christmas Eve dinner that the Dane is cooking, yummy. Poor duck didn't have a chance! Inserted a pic of our little Christmas tree - my first real tree in many many years! We enjoyed a couple hours on the beach today as it was a perfect weather day. Sorry to all of you freezing but, hey, I chose to live here!
Love to you all!

Sunday ride

Resting after racing on Saturday, not in our world. We have gotten on routine to do this group ride on Sundays which is good for me since I don't love group rides (fear of crashing) and it gets really hard at times which, I hope, will make my overall cycling stronger. Today, we had a guy that is leaving in a couple days to begin training camp as neo pro for a European pro cycling team. This guy leads out sprints at 42 mph and that doesn't feel good when you're at the end of your rope as I was! Anyway, hard ride today but the weather was awesome, no fog today, just sunny skies to greet us. This ride seems to get bigger every week but at the end, the same folks are still there. Lucky for me, I'm one of them! I like that I have moved up a notch on my VDOT (for the run) and am able to stay in the front group for the Sunday ride. Hope it pans out for faster bike splits in my '09 tri's! I'm ready for a recovery day tomorrow. The Dane and I are off for a couple weeks but are staying home this holiday which allows us time to train and rest which we surely need! Just for good measure, we went to the gym after the ride today to lift weights for 45 minutes. Sitting watching football now and enjoying a nice cab - doesn't get better than this! I forgot to mention part of my "winnings" for the 5K yesterday was a free entry to the St Pete Beach Classic in Jan (which is very competitive) and a night's stay/VIP party the night before at the Sirata resort on St Pete Beach! I never would have gotten any of that in the local race! Like I said, Wendy Johnson puts on a great event!
Got a swim and ride tomorrow which will be at recovery pace!
Training with aloha!

Ok, I'm back....er....5K RR

So, as I was saying pre-first meal post race/beer! I love races that have beer at the finish! Quality event. Anyhow, we did the St Pete Bowl (new college bowl game) Fan 5K this morning. It was on the calender after we did Turkey Trot. The Dane really wanted to score a good time here. I, on the other hand, felt this was my "speed work" for the month. Honestly, we have been running during the week, nothing faster than about 8:something pace which is comfortable this time of year. The Dane has been racking up the run miles in his quest to return to FOP fitness. (FOP=front of pack) I merely wanted to try and go sub-20 which I haven't done for a couple years (sad, I know). Based on my 10K 3 weeks ago, I felt I should be able to go sub 20 on a fast course. We get to St Pete in pea soup fog and find the start area. It was wet, soggy but not cold. My second go in the Nike Lunaracers - highly recommended racing flats (if you can find them)! Got our packets and sat around and scanned the competitors. I seem to be very "bitchy" at the start of a race but I actually like to chat with others at the start - which likely drives them nuts! I had no plan other than to go out fairly hard but not too hard. The Dane got out good, ahead of me......until about 400meters. I went passed him and he let it happen so I knew he was having heavy legs (he blamed it on last night's sushi). I went by him and sat on a couple college guys, never a bad place for a 40-something woman! Even split miles one and two (6:10) but once we turned back on to Central Ave, I felt the false flat and began to suffer a bit! Felt the fitness from IM Hawaii would pull me through but if I needed to "kick", let's just say, not happening! The Dane told me during warm up exactly where he was going to start his sprint.......hmmmmm bad idea! So, running in the fog up Central Ave in the lead, for the women, I knew the Dane was back there, stalking me! Suddenly, the sounds of the finish line rang in my ears before I could see anything. I would take it, the illustrious household trophy! I had no kick, just a will to try and not slow down. Why do I love the Dane, well that would go on forever but let's just leave it today for the fact that he allowed me to have the finish banner to myself. He was sprinting like Carl Lewis to catch me at the end but allowed me have my "glory". All is fair in love and war.....and I have the trophy for the 5K! We enjoyed some networking post race and then had to get back home. One of the cool things about this race is every finisher gets tickets to the St Pete Bowl football game. We had every intention to attend but once back at home, we tend to stay home. Thanks so much to Wendy Johnson for such a great race, we'll be back for sure! We are now kicking back, relaxing and enjoying the time off from work. As I said, the Dane won the men's masters which he was very happy about and had to fight for in the last 100 meters! He is going to be a force come April, no more household trophies for me! Or, I will get REALLY fast! Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Whew!

Ok, I am still alive. Just got through the last week of work and now we have two weeks off to sit and do nothing........except train! Yipee, I love training. Anyhow, I'll do a mini-race report but the gist is we ran the inaugural St Pete Bowl 5k run this morning in the fog (it's snowing everywhere else in the country, so I can complain about some fog). There were a couple other races this weekend so you never know who will show. The Say No To Drugs race is closer to home but I like to support the MSM races, they are nice to me! Anyway, I won overall for the women and ran sub-20 minutes which was my goal. The Dane won Masters for the men too. Good day, all in all. Now we are going to eat. Later...
racing with aloha

20 hours in St Pete

The Dane and Mary D, we're out on the town

Room with a view

Pics taken with phone, not so good
Another ordinary week for the most part. Wonderful thing is that the week ended with the Mad Dog Triathlon Club Christmas party. A perfect chance for the Dane and I to test out the Vinoy in downtown St Pete (plus, we don't have to drive anywhere once there). It's always nice to see people we haven't seen in a while and hang out. The Vinoy was great, we loved our executive suite (got this on points!). Didn't really eat anything at the party so the Dane, Mary D and I went to Ceviche which was really great and really crowded! Had little more vino waiting for our table but the food was worth the wait! Once we emerged from there (after experiencing the loud Latin band in the basement, really cool), we headed over to where the post-Xmas party was to be held. To our dismay, they were packing up already! Guess it was a little late! Certainly felt late since we were up at 4:30 to swim and worked all day. Decided to call it a night and went back to our lovely suite. Slept in then ran the St Anthony's tri run course, since we were right on it! All in all, a really fun experience. We don't have much of a social life so it's fun to get out to new places and see so many friends every once in awhile. Sunday, we did the now routine hospital ride. Local group ride with some really sane people but also some fast people! Very female friendly ride. It's, technically, a no-drop ride but you better be near the front if you want to keep up! This is something I've gone away from in the last few years but during the winter, now, I want to do some hard group riding to keep my bike fitness up. Believe me, this ride is sufficient for that! It was windy and cold but pretty much has been every Sunday since we started doing this ride. All good, keeps the pressure on and the heart rate up! The Dane and I also started our power weight program this week, three lifts in and I've not got complete full-body soreness anymore, just partial body soreness! Hopefully, I'll get stronger, that's the goal. I love training this time of year because it's all just by feel and opportunity. We have the opportunity for a nice, hard group ride on Sundays, road running races and getting back in the weight room which I hope will all help when the season kicks off next Spring. We shall see..
Training with aloha.....