Busy Bee!

I cannot even believe how busy I have been lately-it seems I barely have time to return a phone call lately! When I decided to go back to work last October-working nights seemed like a good idea-frankly it was my only option. Ian is only 8 and he needs his mom in the morning. They all do for that matter. However, I did not really consider what it would be like working nights in the summer-NIGHTMARE! For the most part I have been going for at least 24hours w/no sleep at least one day a week. The kids have swim practice in the morning from 9-12 so that is when I've been doing the bulk of my training. Let me tell you-it is amazing how the body and mind can adapt. Some mornings I'm just falling asleep at the wheel driving home from work. A couple of cups of starbucks later-I'm on my bike and suddenly feeling energized! On these days I do take an easy route on the bike-one w/little traffic and few turns because I know that the sleep deprivation has to take a toll.

So here I am-less than 2 weeks out from Ironman USA (lake placid) and 4 weeks out from my first 24 hour adventure-Dirty Girls 24 hour ultra in Ontario! Tonite I met w/the other runners who will be doing Dirty Girls. Three of us are doing the 24 hour and the other 2 are doing the 12 hour. We are very fortunate to have our local phenom-and world class ultrarunner-Jill Perry as our crew! Not too shabby! I am very excited for this new adventure-although I have to say I have not thought too much about it as all of my energy is tied up w/Lake Placid right now! I am just hoping that the base I have will be deep enough to carry me through 24 hours of running. And...that I am recovered enough just 2 weeks after ironman to pull it off!

As far as training goes I am just really hoping things come together on race day. I feel like I am always so tired lately that it is hard to judge where exactly my fitness is. I can say that I finally ditched the ISM Adamo road saddle that I have been fucking with for way too long. I got the terry butterfly and took my bike in and had another fitting. I rode a few hours the day after my long run (so there was no reason my legs should have been feeling good) and I felt the best I have felt in a long time on the bike. Ray only made a few minor adjustments but DANG it made a big difference. Thanks Ray!! While my legs were feeling great...my back was not. Last week I was doing a trail run w/Matt in the evening. Sun was setting and I shoulda taken my sunglasses off. I tripped on a root-didn't go down but it took about 6 steps to regain my footing. There was a lot of momentum and I really jarred my back. The next morning I was quite sore. It has been absolutely fine during swims, runs, and all other activities of daily living. However, when I am on the bike and aero it really hurts. I'm fine for an hour or so and then it just starts throbbing. So I'm heading to see my massage therapist and hoping it will be feeling better by LP. The sinus thing is not 100% but much better. I think I have my swimming mojo back. I'm doing a masters open water 2 mile swim in Canandaigua lake Saturday and very excited about that! Time for bed.

Inspirational Video - The Don't Quit Poem

Glass Half Empty

Usually I am a fairly positive person. Lately it seems, I am being followed by gloom and doom and I'm starting to wonder about the law of attraction and the role I might have in all of this negativity. This has been a shitty week-simply put. S.H.I.T.T. Y. It started on my ride tuesday when I got my first flat of the season and then almost got killed when I was flying down Sweet Road in my aero bars when a complete dumb ass who was driving towards me decides to completely cross the center line and drive straight towards me on the shoulder to retrieve her mail. It all happened very fast and honestly I don't think the douche bag (are you sensing the hostility/negativity??) ever saw me! I didn't even have a second to look over my shoulder i just swerved way out into the lane and luckily (see there is something positive in every situation!) there were no cars coming up on me. So really I should just be grateful that it all turned out ok but I am still festering inside and since I know where this lady lives I have considered (not really) knocking on her door and introducing myself as the mother of three that she almost killed on Tuesday. sigh...

So Wednesday came and I was looking forward to my first open water swim in Caz Lake w/Kristen. It is my favorite swimming hole and we haven't been able to swim there because they were treating the water w/some nasty chemical to try and kill the weeds. From the get go negative thoughts were creeping in. I felt like I was wheezing everytime I took a breath. We were swimming hard but honestly we were not pushing the envelope. At our turn around point (about 32 minutes into the swim) we stopped for a moment to fix our goggles. Immediately I felt a surge of panic and I seriously almost reached back and unzipped my wetsuit which I felt was completely strangling me and cutting off my air supply. This never happens to me in the water. I talked myself out of a panic attack and didn't say anything to KRoe. We continued swimming and the negative thoughts were there and I kept telling myself to keep swimming. I knew I would feel worse if i stopped. And then I did. Kristen stopped and asked if I was ok. I said, "no i'm freaking out". She was awesome and talked me down before I sprinted the 2-300 yards to shore. I don't know what has gotten into me. I feel like i'm losing my shit. I've always felt strong and confident and most importantly I love open water swimming. So I gotta get a grip. Had a great talk w/coach Mary. Feeling better about the swim anxiety and have a strategy for next time.

And so to top off a sucky week I am sick again. I thought I was starting w/allergies yesterday and now i have a full blown sore throat, cold, stuffy head...AGAIN! So I'm forcing myself to rest today even though i'm in that last month panic stage before Lake Placid and feel as though i should be spending every second training. I'm getting myself a cup of tea and I'm going to think only positive thoughts!!

Defeated-Eagleman Race Report

It seems this race was doomed from the get go. First, being the sickest I've been for years all last week was not the best case scenario going into this race. The second part of my nightmare was hearing this would be a no wetsuit swim. We got this fabulous news as we were walking into transition race morning. Anyone who knows me-knows that I suck in the pool. Put me in a wetsuit in open water and I'm a different person. Whatever my weakness is as swimmer is significantly compensated for with a wetsuit (probably a balance issue). Obviously it is time to work on this! I gotta say I was freaking out at the thought of not wearing a wetsuit. To be quite honest, I am still traumatized by my swim ordeal at Ironman Coeur d'Alene last year. My heart rate waiting for the swim start was 145-my average hr for the entire swim was 146-not good on both ends (shoulda been lower for the start and higher for the swim). Negative thoughts were in my head the whole time. I was not aggressive-in fact quite the opposite-I found myself literally swimming way around people in order to pass them so that I would not come into contact with them.
At the beginning of the bike I felt really good. In fact I was worried that I was pushing too hard-I was holding my planned watts-but I was playing cat and mouse w/another racer who I know is way stronger on the bike than I am. Stick to your plan-it doesn't matter who you are passing or being passed by-as long as you are sticking to your plan. I felt great for the first 20 miles. Then my hamstring (an ongoing issue) started nagging-then hurting. I found myself from mile 30 on out of the aero position more than I was in it. This cost me for sure.
I was unable to pee on the bike so took an extra minute in transition to pee while I was putting on my sneakers-then I stumbled w/my garmin. From the get go I had a side stitch on the run. It stayed with me the entire 13.1. I never ate a thing-not even a gel. I was thirsty and I drank too much. Lots of coke and ice water=lots of sloshing in the tummy. I passed alot of walkers-this messes with ones mind and makes one think they are running stronger than they are. I was ranked 23rd of 170 on the swim and 25th on the bike and run. Overall 25th out of 170 in my age. I'm usually top 10 in my age for swim-so very disappointing. Not my day. As I said to a friend, "I pr'd my worst race ever!" Definitely have some work to do and the right coach to get me where I hope to go!

All grown up...

In November I turned 40. Two weeks later, my oldest son Nate turned 13. Then in February we went to get him new sneakers and suddenly he was a size 12 shoe. On the way home from getting the shoes I said to him, "I can't believe you are wearing a size 12". His response, "Mom, you know what they say-big feet big junk!" Needless to say I will forever be traumatized by that conversation. Now it is June and my baby is taller than I am! Where does time go? Seems like just yesterday that he was calling me momsy! He has grown into a handsome, smart, kind young man-everything I could ever want in a son. I love you Nate!

Lake Placid Training Camp

Spent last weekend in Lake Placid with some great training partners. We lucked out with some great weather and as promised by the Mirror Lake Inn staff-mirror lake was WARM!!! We got there Friday afternoon-swam 2 loops of the swim course (2.4miles) then headed out for a 40 mile ride. The roads in Placid were a MESS! Huge cracks everywhere-it was sunny and the trees combined with the sun made it really hard to see-lots of weird shady spots. I was very nervous riding over those cracks-and there was more traffic than usual with it being memorial day weekend. Saturday we rode 100 miles and then ran off the bike. The bridge on the out and back to hassleton was being repaired so we had to do this ridiculous 5 mile loop 4 times to make up the distance. As Barb said, "it felt like groundhog day"! Sunday was a 14 mile run followed by a 2 loop swim. Good times were had by all.

A little inspiration...

From the blog of kick ass ultrarunner Yassine Diboun http://runforyourlife-yassine.blogspot.com/


As you journey through life, choose your destinations well, but do not hurry there. You will arrive soon enough. Wander the back roads and forgotten paths, keeping your destination in your heart like the fixed point of a compass.

Seek out new voices, strange sights, and ideas foreign to your own. Such things are riches for the soul. And if, upon arrival, you find that your destination is not exactly as you had dreamed, do not be disappointed.

Think of all you would have missed but for the journey there, and know that the true worth of your travels lies not in where you come to be at journey's end, but in who you come to be along the way.