Marathon

This is my taper week for Sunday's Marathon. My sister in law finished her marathon in Burlington Vermont - 4:45:00. Yeah Amy! I go into this race with the thought that I need to finish under 4:30:00 as my own personal goal. If I don't finish with this time, I don't know if I'd be able to do an Ironman. There is a part of me that wants to just finish, but I have so many goals hanging in the balance. What if I don't finish? What If I finish in 5 hours. The real challenge (started to type problem and changed my mind) is the IM CDA lottery. Even if I do finish the marathon on 4:30:00 what if I don't get into the lottery? Will everything end?

The thing is - today I went swimming at the Y. I was amazed at the swimmers in the pool. There were 2 guys in the lane next to me that were amazing swimmer; fast. There were women on the other side; fast, too. I've never swam in a pool with so much going on and the muscles, good lord. At the pool in Steamboat there were older people and kids all going at different paces. In the Y pool in Portsmouth, I never saw as many fast swimmers. What's the deal? Maybe Granby is a mecca for the talented swimmers. Watching them swim so powerfully, so fast, I wanted to be fast. It motivated me. It was exciting. I can't wait to get in the pool again.

I'll be in the pool again tomorrow.
6 Days. 6 Days. I'm ready. I feel ready.

Bike, Run - Now just the swim

I biked today. It was a good day to bike. I biked 10 miles. I'm just glad to be on the bike.

I ran yesterday. It was a good day to run, yesterday. With 2 friends, Tina and Julie. We ran around Innsbruck, a neighborhood in Granby. There were a lot of hills; I still don't like hills but I think they are making me stronger.

I still need to get my Y membership. I committed to Masters Swimming on Tuesday and Thursdays at the Y by emailing coach Gretta Fosha. Sometimes committing myself in writing, to a person, makes me do all the things I want/should do. It's kind of like clicking submit on a race website (http://www.active.com/ primarily).

10 days to Steamboat Marathon
11 weeks to 5430 Long Course Half Ironman Distance Triathlon

1 year and 40 days to Ironman.

1st Race of 2008

Today I ran the Coyote Creek Trail Run in Kremmling. The 8 mile course.

This is where we ran.

I finished 1:32:00. Not great, but the hills were really- how do I say - hilly. There were a bunch of Steamboat runners and triathletes competing. I wish I could've been faster. Note to self: work on speed.

That &^%# Hill

I rode my bike outside this morning. It was 35 degrees when I started which goes again my 60 degree requirement. I just wanted to go out so bad. It didn’t seem that cold with the sun out. Now there are no temperature excuses.

I rode for 40 minutes. The thing is…. This. There is a hill. I imagine it is a 15% grade. It’s long, it’s hard. It’s the only way to get back to my house other than a dirt road that I don’t want to ride my road bike on. The thing is I have to ride up this hill every time I ride. I still refuse to drive somewhere to run or ride. I’m still trying to figure out the shortest route to the Y for swimming. The other game I like to play is that if I swim, I can only run or ride my bike to get there. The thing is – I hate driving in my car; anywhere.

It was great being out on the flats of Route 40 riding my bike and just spinning; no hills. I’m so happy training again. I’m so happy again.

Side Note: It sure is fun riding down That Hill.

My road to Ironman is going to be fun. My road to Ironman is going to be hard.

MY Road to Ironman

I’ve been thinking a lot about Ironman. I read so many blogs and websites everyday about Ironman I feel like I know everything. But I’m also worried about my training plan. It is May 12, 2008 and I haven’t been on my bike outside yet. Winter has lingered this year and I worry about the weather at this time next year? I ran in 3 inches of snow 2 days ago and the forecast is 7 inches tonight. How can I be ready for a 100 mile bike in June 2008 when the winters are so long here in Grand County? What if I have to move in order to train for this important event? What if I don’t get into the race on June 23rd? What if I don’t finish Steamboat Marathon under 4:30 (my goal)?

A lot of ‘what ifs’.

I guess I need to Learn to Love the “what ifs”

Rest

I didn’t run or bike or swim the last 2 days. I’ve been feeling tired and decided to take a break. The weather hasn’t been cooperating either. Yesterday we had a full blown snow/hail/rain storm for about 3 hours. This morning it is 34 degrees and there is a snow on the ground. After taking a break, I’m ready for my morning run on the trails with my dogs.

I got my new sunglasses in the mail yesterday.

Daisy chewed on my ‘old faithful’ sunglasses that I’ve had for years. It will be nice to see through scratch-free sunglasses. I also got my recovery drink: Endurox R4 Fruit Punch. Now all I need is a tri bike, wetsuit, and bike shoes.

Morning Run - Morning Head Games.

Today's run began on the trails of SolVista, again. I'm a creature of habit and these trails are awesome. Dropped off the dogs then had to finish my scheduled mileage. As I run I have to play games with myself to keep running. Today I decided to run to the top of the hill and sprint to the gazebo. Picture here:



So now I have a game I play. Every time I run by the gazebo, no matter how tired from the hills, I will sprint to the top and hopefully, one day, I won't have to stop to catch my breath.



Training in Fun.

Official 50 Mile week

This is the first week I ran 50 miles. I feel great, no injuries, and my endurance is getting better. It is exactly 30 days until the Steamboat Marathon.

No workout today - Active Recovery

I love that term - active recovery. After my 3 hour run yesterday, today I took the day off. My active recovery consisted of walking the dogs in the morning (IN THE SNOW) and in the evening. I will run tomorrow morning and will have my first 50 mile week evah.... (stealing Bold's terminology) [I know I refer to him a lot but he's truly the coolest person I know, and he knows so much about being Ironman]

In other news around the globe: I get to be a shoe tester for Trail Runner magazine. I just applied and they said okay. How cool is that? I'm not sure they have testers with size 11 feet, but I'm ready to be the best tester evah.......

3 Hour Fun Run in the Snow

Well, I did it. I ran for 3 hours. I didn't run 3 hours without stopping, but I started at 5:55am and finished at 8:5am. I'm not sure what the mileage was but I'm going to assume around 15 or 16. It snowed the entire time.
At 5:55 it was really coming down and I could barely see. It was 29 degrees when I started.
At one point, running on trails I stepped through the snow and immersed one foot/shoe entirely in cold water. I ran about 15 minutes then headed home for a shoe change. While I was there I changed outfits; my pants were soaked as well.
I'm tired now. I took an hour nap and now just catching up on email. Will most likely go to bed at 7pm.

Speaking of Nutrition

I saw this article in Runner's World. I'm a fig newton girl, myself. Since I love to eat food, I hate to use supliments or gels. However, since I'm running 2+ hours at a time, I've been alternatively training with gels and fig newtons.
My mom sent me a pack of Mocha flavored Clif Shots which I don't like that much. The goo tastes very plasticy. My favorite is Honey Stinger Chocolate which I will use during the Marathon. I used this gel the first time during the Denver Danskin in 2006. I remember it so well because I didn't train using gel but saw other people doing their gels during the bike and thought I should too. It sure did help and gave me energy on the hills.

From FOODS FOR ENERGY:
The trick to finding suitable alternatives to bars and gels, nutritionists say, is to know what your body needs and to give everything a trial run (or several) before you rely on it to sustain you during a long effort. "The goal is to consume 30 to 60 grams of easily digestible carbohydrates per hour on runs lasting longer than an hour," says Amy Jamieson-Petonic, R.D., manager of the Fairview Hospital Wellness Center in Cleveland. And, of course, those carbs must sit well with you, so be sure to experiment. What works for your running buddy may not work for you.