What Works For Me

I have been thinking lately about what works for me. This is a pretty broad topic obviously but i mean in the big picture of triathlon, training, lifestyle and most importantly HEALTH. I think it's very easy to get lost in the training/racing/image and forget that it should be about our overall physical and mental health. If something I am doing is "hurting me"( and i dont mean a sore hamstring, etc) I need to check back and adapt my lifestyle.

One example i have is when i got Melanoma. My lifestyle of staying in the sun from 9-2pm had to change.  I had to be suspect of suntans and wear my sunscreen. When my Iron has been low, I have to realize that when I work out harder I need to eat more red meat. When my family says they appreciate me being with them and not running out to train, I listen and remember that my family is more important to me than any training piece that day. When my husband was dying I really really thought alot about what sports and my lifestyle meant to me, and this year, my first summer without Rich I have a few thoughts i wanted to share.

So What works for me at 47 yo. Believe it or not I still feel I can get faster.

1) NOT doing Ironman every year. Dang that's a tough one to swallow. I think if i lived in a warmer climate maybe i could, but living in MN, and at my age i think its hard enough for women over 35 yo ( sorry that is young i know but its true) to keep muscle. IM training is very catabolic. We are slowing down as is, so even tho it hurts in a different way, doing short and fast has been something I think i will keep doing. Ouch i know.

2) Strength and PT specific pre-hab. Note i didnt say Cross Fit or Boot Camp or TRX or p 90x or...
Go ahead and do that, but for me? I know where my weakness is and I know what works for me. What i do is VERY VERY non glamorous. Oh boy is is not glamorous. But i do it 3 x week for 30-40 minutes and I do it till i fatigue. I know i am fatigued when my glutes are sore in the morning, but they arent a "OMG i cant run sore, " just a " yup those guys are working," sore. I used to just do thru the stuff and go " check, check, check.." now i go thru it and keep it going till i know i have fatigued.
Trust me ALOT easier when i am not riding 100 miles and running 20. It was really hard to do the strength on top of the IM training. That being said i think that is when we need it. FORM falls apart in long distance. Racing short makes your muscles work differently, not saying you dont need it for short distance, you do, but for Long Course i think the strength is even more critical.

3) Rest/Recovery/Sleep. This summer i have had some things personally that have made my sleep less restful. We all know our sleep needs. And we all have reasons we may not sleep soundly, kids being one of them. I Find naps to be super helpful even for 30 minutes. I know not everyone can sleep 8hours a night, but maybe skipping an early workout is ok once in a while to sleep in.

4) Trusting the Plan and the Coach. I have learned the hard way that its just a plan. Sometimes the body doesnt want to bounce back as fast as my head does after a race. My coach reminds me that its just a plan, its not the bible and its not set in stone. I do trust my coach and If I didnt I would be in deep doo-doo. I would overtrain and I would push the envelope a bit more. Jen keeps me honest with myself bc I dont think I am 47.

5) More bodywork. In addition to PT visits 1x month ( give or take) for strength updates I see alot of people to help keep my body moving. Some of you may roll your eyes and say " that sounds lovely" but trust me, its not all fun and I dont look at it as a luxury ONE single bit. I am able to do the massage bc i have a membership and its reasonable.I also see a Rolfer who consistently unwinds my Rt Lumbar muscles and gets my body all connected so im not being rotated or torqued right.  My DC puts my first rib back where it belongs and moves my lax ( loose) left shoudler joint back where it should be, Then we talk for 10 minutes about biking. The Docs at Spine and Sport ( DC as well) do the deep work and ART that hurts alot but has kept my Left Hamstring and my Fascia all loose. There isnt too much rhymre or reason to when i get all this stuff done, Ideally I see someone every other week and often its weekly. ( not all of them, but one of them) knowing how bodies work, and injury usually doesnt just HAPPEN unless its acute and trauma. Overuse injuries creep up on us, so I try to stay ahead of it.
And yes you guys in your 20's and 30's, just wait:) You will see.

6) Nutrition. This is where i tell you i follow a regimented Gluten Free and No sugar diet.

NOT.

You know I respect anyone that has to do that. I m glad you know your body. For me I dont put a heck of a lot of time or thought into what i eat as long as its not making me sick. I eat well.I eat a variety of things and I try to eat frequently and not alot of processed stuff. But last week i had wine and beer the week before Lifetime. I had candy bars. I just think moderation is the key. I am way over the " I did this amount of exercise so i can eat this..." mindset. Half the time after a race esp a longer race i am so sick of sugar all I want is a burger and a beer. At onepoint this summer i had food poisoning. Spinach and Beets were the cause. So honestly I have been eating lighther greens and havent had raw spinach in weeks. Very sad bc I was eating that ALOT, but I can eat kale. Cooked:)

7) Lastly and most important in the WHAT WORKS post is faith in myself. This sorta taps into what Hunter Kemper talked about ( still owe you a post on that) as he talked about all the injuries he had, one question we had was how he kept so positive? I know deep down inside that any race i do I am going to lay it out on the line, I am going to take chances and go for it. The worst case is I fail and I get passed or I dont do what i thought i was capable of. Or someone else has a great day! I have no control over that.
What I do have control over is that no matter if i win, lose or DNF, or DNS ( boo!) is that I am solid in who i am. If I go into a room full of friends or family  I tell ya most of them dont really care how i did. They ask, they support or they say " oh bummer," and then the topic moves on. Strip away any suntan, any PR, and race win and what I have left with I am pretty happpy with.

Rich used to remind me that he loved me for who I was and I was perfect just as God made me. This stuff is all fluff. Whether or not you believe in God, we are all equal in God's eyes and so at the end of the day, win or lose, epic training or simple 20 minute walk, we can all be thankful for what we can do and the chance to do it without a facebook post or a shout of glory as you cross a finish line. Its funny. I dont do this stuff for the accolades. Dont think I dont like them, I mean we all love doing well and if you are a competitive athlete its sorta just in you. But at the end of the day we choose how we let it affect us, and we all know that as quickly as you are on the top, many others will be a top soon as well.

Keep your head on straight and enjoy the ride.

Mpls Tri-Lifetime Fitness Triathlon aka "Let it Rain Let it Rain."

 What a long day! First off I am so thankful we got to even race. Another race was totally cancelled bc we got so much rain ( 5 in ) and the lightening and thunder was ongoing. It would NOT let up!



I got up at 330 am, when the storm started. Ate and got moving to the race site to park. With 2300 athletes btwn the OLY and the Sprint it would be a busy parking area in the neighborhoods around Lake Nokomis. Got parked around 445 and waited. and waited. and waited. The rain continued and the lightening and thunder were ongoing. The Lifetime group did a great job communicating " STAY IN YOUR CARs" till the storm passes yet it didnt seem like the storm would pass.

Transition was to close at 645, Pros at 7 and my wave the Elite Master wave was going off with the Elites and was at 716. I think i got into Transition around 645, and obvously it didnt close! It was ongoing rain and at least the thunder seemed to stop. We had a few updates from race officials and at 745 am we got the final word that we would be starting the race at 9 am. UGH. Pros would go off and do two loops then we would go off in a TT start, no more waves for the elite, which was fine actually just get us moving. The big change was that bc of the flooding we would all be doing the Sprint Course. I had "HOPED" that we would get to do the OLY swim and OLY run but no luck. It was a full on sprint and honestly it was the best decision to keep us all together and to get the race safely underway.

It was actually fun. To hang out with some fellow racers, do a warm up run ( I wore my kiwami skinsuit to warm up!) and get to know a few of my fellow rack-ees ( those who racked near me) a bit better. Right before we started we sorta all said "oh dang that was fun, girlfriend time." :)

Race was not wetsuit legal which was GREAT. I just wore my kiwami race suit and prayed for a good swim. We went off in 2 sec intervals with another racer. Very well done. I think i covered the 400 M in 6:55, which was decent. Sorta funny it was so wavey that we all were getting thrown around. The storm had kicked up a wave pool. I was super thankful i had not worn my wetsuit at all in the last 2 open water swims. Sure makes a difference. I felt great, just hard to see where i was going but cleared the water fast and got moving.




Here I am looking like i am trying to get my move on thru the LONG transitions! I looked at how slow we all were but that is bc they moved a few things around to make it fair, bc they had to change the bike course ( extended the sprint) to avoid flooding.

So onto the bike. The roads we were to ride on were the better of the course, which honestly i was thankful that we didnt have to ride the backside by harriet bc they are rough and with standing water it would have been really really hard and dangerous. The night prior I had a broken cable on my bike so I had to make an emergeceny stop back at the Expo where Kevin, the great owner of my sponsor GEAR WEST BIKE AND TRI, helped me out. What a nice guy. He said " this is easy!" and i was in and out in a flash. I had been told by none other than Hunter Kemper, ( I want to blog on him tmmrw!) to lower the pressure in my wheels if wet. I Was really glad i had. I heard Hunter talk at a Sports Medicine Conference the day prior to the race. He really made my day, what a great positive guy, a great family man and a great athlete as well. More on the adversity he has faced later. Anyways.....

Bike was GREAT. UNtil i heard this "flapflapflapflap" about 4 miles into the ride. I thought i had a flat. Then it just sounded like something was hitting my back wheel. Well i slowed and didnt fully stop but I wasnt flat and i didnt see anything on my disc so i thought " as loud as this is I am moving on!" And then it stopped. It must have been my number form the seat post, it was so wet that the number had gotten so wet it fell off. I also realized the cover i have on my disc valve was gone, that little hole, you know if you have a disc what i mean. So btwn the two of those it surely didnt cost me too much time but i had to get it back up to speed pretty fast or lose the girls i was hunting down. Ended up riding legally with 2 girls i know, we took turns taking over the front( again legally as the moto went by us as well) and anotehr girl was dangling off the back never taking the lead so...?? anyways. I just rode my race she did whatever she thought she had to do to hold on i guess.

We all came in together and ran out together other than danging girl on the back who was from New York, and later i learned was 47, so phew on that that we dropped her like a hot potato on the run. 

Ran out with Two girls and we pretty much ran the entire time together. Sorta fun actually and i was breathing SO LOUD I decided I had better pipe down since i know heavy breathing isnt really a sign that you can GO if one of them goes! :) But suddenly around mile 2 I sorta started to pull ahead. I didnt really mean to pull ahead i just sorta did, and maybe they slowed down but as we got about 1/2 mile from the finish i realized i was alone. Not by much but enough that I "thought" I could just keep it going and not have to sprint anyone at the finish. I am 100% ready to do that but for the sake of recovery I would rather not! 

So as I got closer and more familiar with where i was on the lake and closing in on the finish i just picked it up, and heard people cheering and cowbells a ringing and turned around quickly to be sure there wasnt a stealth non heavybreathing kid in my shadow. There wasnt and I just got on home. And felt really Ill afterwards:) The timing of the race sorta messed with fueling. But as you can tell the gel for my run is sitting in my top. There was NO Way i could swallow that during a 5k, and it was a good thing I didnt take one thing on that run bc coming out of T2 I had a sidestitch. Shut it down, nothing going in for 20 minutes and it worked. 

Ended up 1st Master Elite, 6th OA i got beat by like 6 seconds by a 16 yo. Ha, that is funny. Last weekend it was a 22 yo, they keep getting younger! The reason we arent near each other is that we TT started the swim:) I Also realized the girls i was running with started the swim about 6-8 seconds ahead of me, so i realized when i was running at mile 2 that i need to just stay close and that if worse came to worse finish with them. 

What a day. The post race food was sorrounded by a mud pit, getting my award i had to take my shoes off, and the shower i took after the race was pretty full of mud and dirt. Im really amazed we got to race!

I am super thankful for the chance to race every single time i do it. And thankful for people like Cathy and Liv to push me. Liv and I talked about that after how if done legally riding together ( she and I exchanged legal riding pulls at Waconia as well.) is really awesome bc you just make each other go faster. And you know what I mean with LEGAL exchanges of the lead, no drafting in my playbook.

Not wishing for a sprint yesterday, but I never think getting some extra speed work is a bad thing. I wanted an OLY to practice for nationals but at the same time other than the swim, the bike was SOLID 17 miles and i blew my watts out the sky roof, run too, was great, much faster than i expected. So all good.

Makes me wonder why i think i want to do IM next year:) I am really loving the short and fast right now!

Thanks for reading and I do want to blog about Hunter Kemper, he just really had some great take home's that Id like to share! Have a good week!

Lake Waconia Race Report aka remembering how to suffer!

My directions from Jen for this race were pretty funny. One said " turn yourself inside out" the other was " smile and enjoy yourself. " Hmm. Lets see how those two meet in the middle. I think that the later was had after the race was over, tho the picture here shows I wasnt going to be a focused cranky old lady the entire race: Yes we get to swim in nice lakes when we get outside the metro! I feel very lucky just sad when the season is SO. SHORT. #notfair

So, without further chit chat about the unfairness of now 2 months of summer...race report.

I had a bad week. I think i had food poisoning or a bad case of the nerves or i had the stress outs  ie LIFE stressouts. I didnt feel good and my diet was not sticking to my ribs as i hoped. Lets just say that i was debating how much immodium i may be taking race morning. I have cut out Dairy and Whey and it "seems" to be helping. This is a HUGE BUMMER in that i have been having Whey in the AM EVERY day now for over a year. hmm. Not totally convinced but lets just say I have been better without it. So that had a mind game going on me that week as i just felt FLAT all week. Sleeping alot more, bad GI, and so my real honest plan for this race was to give it what I had. And i did. 

Swim: Lined up with the elite men and women. I didnt get clocked like i usually do maybe bc i let David and Kevin and Steph go ahead. Steph comes back to haunt me about 5 seconds from the finish. Oh well. I Swam well, sighted well and came out with two women in my AG and decided i needed to ride like i stole it. So after i smiled for the camera i did just that. 

Bike: Rode hard, its a rolling course, we had SOME wind but not enough to really feel like i rocked me and usually with that deep a front wheel it will move me around over 12 mph so i guess it was less than 12. Not hot at all, actually i was shivering in the water before we started. Water temp was 75 and air was 60. Where was my humidity?! 

I got passed around mile 5 by a girl i had just met. I diecided this was good, and Sarah a girl who is in my AG and raeally strong was about 400 feet ahead i could see her the entire time. So as i played cat and mouse legally with this girl by mile 10 i was closing in on Sarah. Finally after i took my nice lovely Gel I had rocket fuel and i was off to catch Sarah. Around mile 15 i was sad the bike was ending. I guess this is good for my next race that is 26 miles, todays was 20+. But i did think "uh oh, hope i have legs bc the run is NOT FLAT!"

Run: Despite using my running shoes many times, of course the insoles bunch up race day, never in T practice. So running out with both liners bunched up proved to be a good exercise in "ignore it." I didnt feel too sharp going out. I really had no idea who was ahead of me, but i did know that Sarah had snuck back to me at the end of the ride. So i knew she was lurking behind me. 

I just ran and at the mile 1 water stop a top cemetary hill ( yes its a hill and its a cemetary, fitting for how you feel) I heard "2nd woman." I was like " oh crap!" And then i made that feeling go out of my head and thought " ok, now you have 4 miles to run and you have to make this count." I started the rollers into town and made sure to try to take another gel which was not welcome. Thank you for trying but no thanks. I had about 1/3 of it and grabbed water to get rid of the sticky mouth. As we turned at mile 2 ( out and back, darn!) i saw the train of women behind me. One was REALLY CLOSE. But the one i knew was the threat was Steph:) D 1 Swimmer and runner. Fast girl. Anyways I just ran i didnt look back bc i knew i couldnt go any faster than i was going. In the final stretch where you go DOWN cemetary hill ( yes thank you my quad is quite unhappy today with that muscle breakdown) you also get to rise up again before the finish and just before the chute two peeople said to me " GO. YOU HAVE TO GO NOW." well....when a leg with 23 F runs by you and you do the math you think to yourself " well played, good run!" and not much else. I had nothing to grab her and nothing to get another kick, just hoped nobody was with her. 

 

Photo thanks to Nick Morales ( tri juice) and Terrence Lee who was working so hard to sprint for me in this last one! Terry's wife Cathy is a super triathlete too and i had to wonder where she was, she flatted which is a bummer but then she ran her new baby up the hills with the jogger and finished with a good wkrout for sure. 

So. I was 3rd OA! Yay me! I was super pumped bc i was happy with how i executed the race, took chances and also turned myself inside out. And i did smile. So mission accomplished. 

Tom also raced and he did great, would have won his AG but he raced elite so i think he is bummed not to get a beer mug. I have three now so I sure cant drink 3 beers at once and happily offered him one of mine :) 

Here is the winner, Suzie, Me, and Steph cooling down. 

So, what is the take home? The take home is that some girl was in the AG and actually beat both me and Steph. Sorta stinks but i guess she is pretty new, she is a good athlete and we have talked about her entering Elite, and hopefully now she will. But that sorta was a bummer, for me, not for her! This was a BOUS race. And I was one off the podium for that but in all honesty? I had such a great time in CALIFORNIA in October 2010. I loved it. I would be honored to get a pass down but likely would let someone younger and new take it. I cant top Orange County in October with a trip to La Jolla after with Rich. ITs a good memory and i may leave it as that.

Rich did race with me. He comes with me in some form, often a prayer card, and in this case it was on my number:


Next up is the cabin, lake superior, family time, Dairy Queen ( haha, lets test that Lactose thing) and then a few more tune ups before Lifetime Fitness. I sorta feel like I need some more rest. I have loved the speed but i also feel like i am more beat up than IM even makes me, its a different beat up. Still feeling like I want more IM in 2014 just deciding which one ( yes i know you already heard that) but now i am narrowed to IM Canada ( Whistler) or IM MT or Wisconsin. I sorta feel there is unfinished business in Madison. But that is a blog in and of itself. But here is a teaser 2011 "newbie, no clue what i am doing and my nutrition was messed." 2012 "rich died about 2 weeks later,not my strongest 11+ hours" 2014 "Settle up."

Happy summer y'all.....

And in other news.....

Well I did my first TT in a LONG TIME. I guess i did one this spring but i hardly call that real bc it was like 45 mph winds so it was more an exercise in staying upright and bike handling, not that you cant still work hard. 

Back before I knew my friend Tri. A. Thlon I did this series, its about 8 races and its every other tuesday. Back then the traffic was just horrendous but now getting to the western burbs after 4pm is utterly annoying. So i am not so unhappy to not be doing all of these. ITs safe the roads are wide the traffic is still there but for the most part unless you pull a total bonehead move you are safe. 

I wasnt going to post a full size pic but why not,. Its my blog. I surely look like i am working hard and most likely to be sure i am fully aero i need to lift my head so that aero tail is on my back not pointing upwards. Then i had a run with some fast stuff in it, then i didnt get home till late and as you can guess slept Brilliantly horribly! Well then i got up and went to the lake, on the clear other side of town. AS much as i groan and was tired, this is the sort of thing I LOOK FORWARD to all winter. ITs here and its then gone. June is almost over and i swear i am doing more TTs even if i dont sleep after and if i have to get up at 5 to get to the lake, bc it all ends too fast when you live in this crazy state. 

So how was my time? IT was ok. My power numbers were good, and i am pleased with how i am biking even tho my biker friends do this stuff every day I am still really happy with my power numbers and that i can still ride with them even though they do this every day, no swim no run. I just really enjoy riding my bike hard! no matter where i end up. So much of it is weather and knowing the course and choosing the best gears!

Well we had two days with out rain that was really nice. Now we are in the rain cycle again, but at least its above 60 so no complaints. I just know that if we could get out of the 80's and into the 90's its too hot for much bad weather unless a front comes in so i hope we can get a few days of 90 just because we deserve it. My pool is behaving for the most part. I am having a little party tmmrw night mostly for the kids, and despite the tornadic winds we have had ( and more coming) i think its salvageable. All the rain makes the pool more alkaline so i am feeding it all sorts of good things ( read chemicals)  to make the water better. ITs like my Pet. I need to name it... any suggestions for my PET Pool? I take good care of it most the time! I like  " PET POOL! "

So what else is going on? I am really enjoying the shorter training, tho i told JH Today that I was tired! I havent been sleeping well due to a shift in my personal life, more on that later. But I also know that all the short and hard stuff is SO DIFFERENT from IM Training. I played tennis and basketball and I also did an immense season of BOUS training and i did get fast! So i know i can do it and its just a matter of remembering how to suffer the entire race, I was at the track yesterday and after 2 intervals ( 8x 800) I hurt so bad i was thinking had to stop. But i realized that the digging deep not just cardivascularly was what i needed to be able to run a 5k or 10k in a shorter race. So I soldiered on and no i didnt have a miracle and feel better at the end, i felt worse, but i finished it up and wasnt totally off my goal times.
And today i can walk and i am so thankful every single day to be healthy and do this crazy sport!

As for 2014, crazy that I am already shopping for next year. Lots of plans for an IM, just not sure if i want to step off the reservation and try something other than IMMOO. I know i have to act fast when those signups open so that is why i bring it up. I know Boulder has a new one ( meh, not really interested in Boulder sorry my pals that live there) looking more at IMLP, MONT T, WISC or AZ.
Still throwing it around!

Hope you are all enjoying summer finally! Thanks for reading.

Liberty Half Iron Distance Race Report

My overwelming thought during this race was " I am bored. " NOW that may seem arrogant and silly, and mocking the distance that i actually do like. But having not done this distance since last May ( 2012) at St Croix, USVI and on the doorstep of my hamstring injury that prevented me from racing until Ironman Wisconsin and more pertinently, on the doorstep of Rich's death.....I felt a bit OUT OF IT......

I wanted to wait for pictures to do this RR, but heck, who knows when and if those will appear. They maybe as elusive as the USAT officicals i saw eating hotdogs in the post race area, and well, i saw one on her bike in the run. But why is the race USAT if there are no officials visisible on the bike course. Just wondering.

So my taper week was hard. I dont usually have an issue with taper, the more the better. Rest is good. Food is good. I dont often feel Like I NEED TO DO MORE. It is what it is. But this time it felt alot worse. The weather had a HUGE part of that, and the anticcipation of a cold swim and a cold bike,etc had me anxious. Not to mention that i swam OW on WED and my Legs post swim had such bad shivering that i actually spasmed in my Quad and it was very present even friday. The weather here has been awful. I mean 50 and rain, no sun for over a week, and just dreary. So its been bad. Chicago feels my pain, the rest of you just ignore me.

So saturday came and I packed up to get out there by 5:45, The race had an OLY distance too and I was amazed how i felt on the ride espec, thinking " WHAT am i doing this distance for???" Anyways on to the race.

Swim: I got sucker punched in the nose by a dude that had to have had the worst shoulder ROM ever. He wasnt even able to reach, i literally sat up in thewater as his poor tight shoulders went on to beat up a few more faces. I have never been hit so squarely in the nose. It hurt and i saw stars. All i could think was that despite it causing me a bit of " shock " and slower to start that if it was bleeding that the cold water would be good for it. Moving on i got behind another dude that was playing zig zag swim. So my effort to find feet was futile, as the fast elite swimmers all went ahead and i was in the middle in front of the" not as fast as me " elite wave. When a few guys from a wave behind us came thru i did jump on them. they were fast and fluid and swimming straight. Horray. REally people, learn how to sight and learn how to not punch people.  Time was 33:xx not great but not terrible considering all the water temp anxiiety. I think it was about 62. Fine.

T1; Fine, still need to work on the wetsuit removal. Its just hard, and i seem to have a hard time in tall grass too. Oh well. Lots of stairs up but i was out and on my way. I Also made the decision to put on a jersey, and i dropped all the fuel out of the back pockets when i put it on. More time getting that out of the grass. La dee dah.

Bike: Now as " warm" as the swim was, recall the shiver affect in water that was about 4 deg colder earlier in the week. LUCKY for me the sun was out but it was still chilly and well, my legs arent too sturdy so they were cold. I felt like my legs hips everything HURT the first 10 miles. I kept swearing at Jen " Be patient, be patient, be patient...why am i doing this distance again?" I stuck to my fuel plan,  a new one, that i am not totally sold on yet ( more on that someday) but i did it bc its the plan and you have to think that up front on the bike you may not feel great. Of course i didnt remember this bc it hadbeen a year since i did this distance.
I had to really put out of my head that i was not doing well. I was getting passed right and left, but i stuck to my watts assignment and my fuel plan and kept saying " be patient, be patient." Not sure but i suppose that helped. Around mile 25 my legs started to feel better. I got a bit less focused on how bored i was, and started to think that i was doing the bike just fine. I often have this angst about not being a stronger biker. But it is what it is, and the fact that i was at the high end of my watt range was good. I was doing fine. I was doing my fuel right but i had a tummy ache. Sorta not what i wanted. But i did get stronger as the bike went on and luckily we had a tail wind, so that may have helped the last 10 miles. 2:43 ( oh and a nice little detour thru a neighborhood took some time but it also was a nice respite for the legs!) this area is hilly, rollers, nothing is flat but it wasnt like DairyLand Dare hilly by any means.

T2; Fine. Said stomach issue put me into the porta potty briefly but all was ok, but still another 30-45 sec  ineed to figure out. IT was colder so i didnt finish all the bottles i had, i also am not as easy to pee on my bike as some of you, so I sometimes just figure its not hot i am not dehydrated it will all work out. and it did.

I figured i had about 500-600  Kcals in gel/bar/blocks on the bike ( 100 before the swim) and then I dont know the Kcals in the Perform but two 20 oz bottles, and  honestly I couldnt have taken more.

Run: I had no clue on the course, etc other than paths. IT was very rolling LONG LONG gradual downhills and some more steep uphills and since it was out and back you knew wha twould greet you the last 3 miles. Ouch. I kept to my plan of starting out around 7:20's but i also knew that once i hit mile 3 and the rollers started that i wasnt even going to LOOk at my watch. Why look at the Garmin? I knew how i could run and i knew that it would just distract me. So i looked at it when i finished, that is it. I nailed the HR and i know that i couldnt have run any harder ( well now, I do think i could have run harder to start but i was feeling bored again from mile 1-6 so i just ran) i did what i did at The half mary in March once i hit mile 7 i started to focus game face on and i just ran.

I geled on schedule, cant stand HEED and just was thanful for the cooler temps and not needing more than water. I had a 2nd gel i choked down around mile 9 and that WAS IT. Full on GI YUK. I could barely drink anything when i finished. At mile 9 i just really started to hit it home. The pace may not have changed and again it was uphill alot but i was passing back some of the kids ( young) that passed me on the bike. Tough thing is that some of the more competitive women arent starting Elite. Not sure why. But you are in a sprint with them when you see the results. ITs hard to race when you dont race head to head. But such is their choice.

I finished in 1:36, course was short but that is ok, Everyone had a short course:)

total time was 4:56 xx and i got 5th OA and 1st Ag. Yay me.

Tom raced too and beat me by a few minutes, but i think he heard the pitter patter of my feet coming after him Had i had a few more miles!

And the Body report:) I am usually thrilled to death to do a race and  not have a body part to report to my PT that next day. ie " this hurt after mile X" or " I think i reinjured...xx" But man my calves are beat up. I cant even walk. Honestly I have never had calf issues EVER, and this spring i have already had one bout with mostly soleus issues, do tight i honestly cant walk, i look like a wooden solder. I am keeeping faith that its the cold water and the cooler temps. The shoes i wear are what i have worn for a few years but i am open to change. Saucony Cortana. I may be shopping for new shoes. Its a bit depressing to feel 100% recovered energy wise in 24 hours but be afraid to get out of bed and go downstairs. The only thing that hurt when running was my Braid digging into the side of my head from my visor. Next time i am wearing a hat:)

yup.

I will post pics if they ever are available. Congrats to everyone that raced this weekend. I am pretty sure next year is KANSAS or bust. Love that race and as much as its nice to be at home the mental game at home is sometimes harder for me.

Gear West part 2

Blogger is messing with me so lets start over:
Here are some pics, I should have waited longer. Thanks to Drew for these:)

"Hi i got up at 4 am and its nearly 8 and i want to race"

Lets see if i can embarass Tom, of course i can!

Coming around the corner about 1/2 way thru Run 2. Knowing i am being chased. 

Looking a bit serious arent we?

It took alot of energy to muster that smile:)

Gear West Duathlon and "Please Stop Raining."

So what update would be complete without a weather report? Gotta love that two weekends ago it snowed. Last weekend we had 40 mph winds and I stayed upright on my TT bike, and this weekend it rained nearly nonstop. 
LUCKY for us it stopped long enough for us to have this Du. This shamless steal from Steve in a Speedo ( in the funny shorts) shows the only dry pavement we ran on. The rest is mud. Seriously. I was going to wait to see if any pics showed up bc there were people taking pics but who knows if they will share them. So i am tucked in here under Thad's elbow( Thad has a GW skinsuit on) I have a visor on. Ha, wishful thinking. 

Then the rest of the run was on ballfields and in and orchard and well it went something like this "SPLISH SPLASH SINK SOG." I brought two pair of shoes and really why bother? I just realized as i came into T1 that there was no need to ruin two pair of shoes.  So onto the actual race. My goal here was twofold. 1) Try out a new pre race nutrition plan and 2) Go as fast as i can. Honestly I didnt look at my paces or my computer on the bike once. I just rode as hard as i could and ran as hard as i could. Which during the 1st 5k sorta had me thinking "THERE IS NO WAY" i can ride hard after this. I was shelled. I came in 7th or 8th woman. I am not sure. I Was in and out of T1 in a heartbeat. 
On the Bike i passed one gal who is in my AG after we danced around for a few miles, and on a descent ( thank you Sub 9 disc) i just kept going. I knew that in order to possibly stay ahead of her I had to really really dig deep on the ride. She is a faster runner than i am, so i figured i would either dig such a hole that i would get passed on the 2nd 5k or i would create enough gap to hold on. I had no idea which would turn out. 
Tom was racing too, and he passed me about mid ride ( 28 K) but i kept him in sight. I was having a good ride, the disc was awesome and i had a 303 on front bc i sometimes get thrown around if i have a deeper front profile. All good. 
CAme into T2 with one girl who was way younger than me ( hello 27yo) and just figured i would get in and out as fast as i could. The 2nd run is lonely.I knew Julie Hull was about 30 sec up and i saw her, as was Jen S, and even though i got closer i was still pretty much alone ( and hoping to not get lost) last year i missed a turn, This year i just was DYING. I really had no clue how fast i was going and i just figured as we hit the out and back sections i didnt want to see who was coming. I sorta could tell that the silouettes were men not women. But at the same time i was redlining so i had nothing more so figured i would just keep motoring on. 
This hurt BAD. When i finally got up the STEEP hill and the 200 Yard track run i sorta thought I wasnt going to get caught but distances are deceiving and when Marta said "keep digging" I got afraid there was someone back there. There wasnt and in my glory we got to run down the tenniscourt sidewalk ( not on the tennis courts, that would have been awesome) up to the finish chute. Now had they had a bonus " serve a tennis ball into the ad court" for a 30 sec bonus i think i could have challenged for 1st place :)
So i barely out ran Ann who is super fast and super nice, but i know she will be riding alot and getting stronger. WE have ALOT of fast 45+ women up here, Dang. Well and 40+ Women too. And well, everyone is fast! I missed the podium by 30 seconds and got 6th OA and 1st AG, which truth be told really made me happy.
Tom was right behind me and once we get him to not have a seat in T1 and T2 i am sure he will be ahead of me. 
He told me to revel in my victory, but honestly? I am happy but i just go out and do the best i can and whatever happens happens. 
I realized this summer that while i say "oh this summer is for fun and i dont really care how i do," of course i do, but i am not ready to act like a PRO. I want to eat well, rest alot and remain injury free, but i want to keep this in context of my family and friends. I am drawing a huge amount of fortitude and strength from Rich right now. He was egoless and he never complained. He raced GW last year and i still can see him doing the jig around the track ( really) and waving before he had even finished. How Selfless can one be in dying? I hope i dont need to experience that again anytime soon but it sure has made me feel that i am a heck of a lot stronger than i knew. And i dont mean in triathlon.

Big Picture is this is fun. I know you may think that redlining and feeling like you are going to die isnt fun. But I like this sport not so much for the races as for the comraderie, the strong women in my AG ( darn you!) and for the Gear West Family i have. And I like to see how fast i can go. This year there is no IM, which I have been struggling with, but at the end of the day I am happy with that decision. 

Being a homeowner has challenged me enough, leaks, swimming pools, yard people that decide a day ago they arent in business anymore meanwhile the dandelions are setting up shop. At least the Box Elders have a month or more till they come out. 

Thanks for reading, will post pics if i get any! And i did, read on! 

Is It really April 28th?

Well hello my pretties. I seem to keep telling myself i need to blog and then i go "meh, not much going on." I didnt want to complain about the fact that we hadnt seen 60-70 deg in 187 days. I had to get thru those snowfalls last week:

Yes this was tuesday, the same day i was supposed to be riding outside. Nope that didnt happen.
Luckily by about thursday it had disappeared. Well not at my house, i have tried to invite the neighbor kids over to make snowmen in my shaded area but they were more excited about the "summer" they had in their driveway. So it goes. We have had a nice weekend, and will see a few more days of nice before it gets all 40 and 50 on us again. Bah Humbug.

I did a little race yesterday. Half marathon. I Did it 2 years ago in pouring rain and 40 deg. Yesterday it was nicer, no rain and light winds. Still amazed me how 65 and sunny can feel hot to me. Guess me few days in Tucson didnt really acclimate me. or perhaps it was bc i was running like a 10 min mile up the canyon that running 7:xx yesterday zapped me. Nonethe less it was a good effort. I told Coach Jen i was mostly THRILLED( alert if you are under 35 or maybe even under 40 you will have no clue what i am talking about) that I didnt finish totally crippled. USUALLY some body part talks to me about 9 miles in. Hence i realize i like 10 mile races. But even tho i am sore today nothing during the race made me take pause or have to do damage control. I just got tired but then around mile 9 i got a surge uphill and killed it. Passed a ton of guys who then after the race were all "Worship" like to me, which was sorta funny. I managed to pass the leader in my AG about 1/2 mile from the finish and since i dont really know runner people I just had sorta guessed she looked my age, and at the turn around ( mile 9) she was about 1/2 mile ahead. So that was fun ( for me, not her). I got 10th OA so i will take it. Big race, huge race where the 10k and 13.1 share the start and the course for 5 miles so that is a mess. I had to stopmyself from turning off early, haha, kidding, But once all those 10k people left ( and ate all the salted nut rolls, shame on you) It was alot more open but also alot harder.

So here is my take on the half mary. I always think i SHOULD  ( bad word i know) be able to run faster. But then i get into the heat of the battle and miles 5-9 just seem like Im being dragged to who knows where. Then around mile 9 i shake out of it and say "4 miles, just move it along." Now, this isnt always true. I have had death marchs ( last March) where the last 4 miles literally were a slow decline in the ability of my quads to work. No gel or no water would help that.

Yesterday i just felt like i needed more water. I sure took the gels i needed but they had limited water on course, which for a day that i am acclimated to " 40 and rain" would have been fine. So there i was at mile 9 taking a gel that sat in my mouth all clumpy gave me a not good feeling. Finally got water at 12 ( a bit too late) but by then the gel was sorta just hanging in my mouth. Ok no more on undigested gel, you get the drift.

Then last night had a little early birthday party with Tom, my parents, my sister and my nephews and Rob, my brother. Aimee had to work:
Guess who that is and you get a free tennis ball. Answer at the end.

I also went to JHC Camp. A few snowfalls makes that seem like last year. IT was awesome as usual. I loved the style of living, condo style, and i think everyone at camp worked hard. I really felt like i was not prepared as well just bc i hadnt been outside on my bike AT. ALL. I Want to get there earlier next year or stay later bc all in all riding my bike 2 times was a sad pouty face for me. I had a mechanical with the Di2 shifing so i will think twice about that bike again. I tell ya Going up Lemmon doesnt get ANY easier. Sigh. JEn and JErome pour their hearts into camp and I am so grateful they like to do it. ITs really a high light for me. Very sad that i felt like i should be there longer riding with Rich, so next year I hope to go earlier, stay later, ride a few routes we used to do like Madera and Aravaca. Any takers? :)

View from Windy Point 

 Me and Liz at the cookie cabin

The gang hanging out, maybe Jimmy was telling stories again!

New venue, day after mechancial: Gates Pass/McCain Loop

It doestnt look all that steep does it. heh heh heh, just wait and see. 

  

Pippi looking all TP like and resting like a champ before we GOT to ride home!

And how many wait people can we get to rearrange the restuarant for us? 

Well that is all I have for you. Birthday fun this week. I am super sore and who knows how things will play out this week but lets hope i can be back in the swing of things this weekend for some more quality training. First du is coming up May 19th!

Thanks for reading.

Mardy Fish

Irish for a day 10 miler race report

A few days ( a week) late on this but life got in the way. Alot of life is getting in the way lately, taxes, refinancing, job, well you get the drift. Onto the race.

The forecast early in the week looked great, but as we got closer to the weekend the forecast turned to:

Twin Cities In Motion

March 8

Irish Runners: With the potential for freezing rain still in the forecast for tomorrow morning, Twin Cities In Motion asks 100% Irish for a Day TC 5K and TC 10 Mile participants to:

-- Be aware of the most up-to-date weather forecasts

-- Dress appropriately for projected weather conditions

-- Stay tuned here, to Twin Cities In Motion and your email for updates

If dangerous or icy conditions exist that would force TCM to cancel the event, TCM will do so no later than 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

With the thought of a race cancellation in my head I asked coach to load me a treadmill workout so that i didnt go to my basement and run 10 miles at my goal pace = aka "try to beat my treadmill in the basement." Always a rewarding and dumb thing to do I think, race at a race. Dont make your training the race. But you know we all get nuts if the race gets cancelled sometimes. The reality is that i spent all  of friday emailing and texting Angela( of Cream Cheese frosting blogs) what we would wear and what we would do if it cancelled. Truth is that i didnt really decide till i was sitting in my car at 8 am what to wear.

So race day dawns and we are all on for the race, the rain is just rain and my thought that i would not go to a race i couldnt safely drive to, was eased when i didnt fall down in my driveway. I settled on a baselayer, hat and pants, at 30 deg and a ligth drizzle i didnt need a rain jacket but i also got cold warming up bc of the wind and so i ran back to get a t shirt to put over my underarmour. all good. 

IF you are here to actually hear about the race, sorry bc i can write way more about the crappy weather we have been having. But i wont, haha, i promise. I will say my feet were freezing before we even started. I lined up at 7 min pace and really how do people start in the 6 min area and then they run a 9 min pace? get out of there people. So the 1st mile was a cluster not only due to bodies but due to the course:

No that isnt me, I must have nicely avoided the cameras, but we spent a good portion of this race dodging puddles, jumping over snow banks and icey patches to get on and off the path, from the road. I am glad i didnt pull a hammy:) At the same time i didnt want to go out too fast as this winter has been hard on me running. Not sure why but my confidence isnt really there yet with the running, and maybe its bc we have had some tough conditions and i have been on the TM alot more than i am used to? I am not sure. But Jen said to start at 7:30's ++ and then go down if i felt good. So i really just ran by feel bc I hate looking at my Garmin and also the Heart rate is saying i am in Tachycardic fib, or that my hr is 200 bpm so ijust ignore it. Dumb Garmin. 

I did keep an eye to make sure i didnt go too fast at first and i was settled in pretty comfy till we hit some wind on the north side of calhoun. Course is 1 lap of harriet, 1 lap calhoun then one more lap of harriet, and for those not in MN these lakes make this a figure 8 course, not too much elevation, a few punchy hills but pretty flat. The wind off the lake along calhoun was a bit of a downer, i had my slowest miles there but wheni crested the hill to get back to harriet it was either my stellar fitness ( yes that is what it was) or the wind reprieve but i had my fastest miles and hit the last 2 miles sub 7. I felt great, passed about 5 women and ran myself to a 1:14:xx, I had wanted to go sub 75 and I did it by nearly a minute. 

Now those that love to play garmin games, I ran an extra 150 yards so I am sure that i really ran a 1:12:xx. Kidding. I have no idea what I would have run not having to dodge puddles, but the takehome is i am really glad they didnt cancel it and I was really happy with how my fitness looked saturday. 

I was sad to not see Angela ( who rocked sox coming in 2nd OA) bc we both got so cold we took off. But i did see her and her lovely family at Landon's 1st birthday party the next day.

So what else is new besides this race? Gearing up for Tucson, and I can honestly say that it had better be 90 degrees and i wont complain if it is. or if its 100 I wont complain either. I am so sick of the above weather. 

My BF Tom, seen looking like a stud here skiing the Birkie, fell and tore a ligament in this thumb. For you people that love this stuff its his ulnar collateral ligament and he cant pincer grasp for 8 weeks. So i took him to surgery friday and sadly he cant swim for a bit and  he has been my magic swim help since he laps me every 500 or so i have to swim faster to keep up:

I do have great pics of the surgery but i wont post those since you may spew your breakfast. 

Other random things: I need some lulu clothing but i am not wild about the stuff i have been seeing there, so i guess i can save some money. I havent been drinking any wine, i must have had too much in january. I want to get some recovery pump boots, anyone have them and like or dislike them?

Glad I am not doing an IM today. Yuk. 

Ok enough dribble from me, stay warm and those of you in warm climates, dont tell me you are too hot:) I would trade you in a second. 

Swim Meet!

thanks to Sarah for this:) how true is this, other than the naked ness.

In the spirit of my lovely coach I am finally writing a race report on the swim meet. There are a few things I love about swim meets and a few things I hate.
Loves:
I am not a trained swimmer, so anything I do is just fine. There is no "wow I used to swim.....when I was 7 yo or 17 yo." It's all good.
They move along pretty fast and people are really nice. For the most part.
The water is usually alot colder and less chlorinated than at my pool and getting wall pad splits and seeing your name in lights is neat!

Hates/Dislikes:
Being cold. It can get COLD btwn events. Answer: change of suits!
Even tho "it moves along pretty fast" the 1650 or 1000 is always LAST. And each meet i have closed that place down. ( yes and i like to talk usually so that is partly to blame)
I realize I cant sprint. My 50 split is pretty close to my 100 to my 200 to my 500, you get the point. The longer the better!
I realize that even tho i think i have lats i dont, well compared to some swimmers!

So lets cut to the week before the meet and my swimming build up. I just do what Coach Jen tells me and I would say I turned a corner in Florida this January getting in some solid longer-ish swims without any shoulder or neck issues. I have had a few issues in the past from hypermobility in my Gleno-humeral joint on the left. Couple that sloppiness with a bit of weakness compared to the Right and sometimes things go south and all the sudden my neck is working too hard of my shoulder just needs a break ( and visit to the DC who resets my humeral head back where it belongs)

I had been doing really well! Then that skiing thing got in the way, oh i mean the ice and the downhill cornering we were working on and i fell on my left shoulder. It didnt bother me at all till 24 hrs later.
I moved a few wkroouts around and tentatively swam on the WED before the meet, and it felt ok. Then friday i did a good wko and my shoulder felt ok. Lets go! ( my thought on alot of those "niggles" is they just take time. why push it. an extra training day means nada if you cant compete come race day.)

My first event was the 200. I had no idea bc i hate 200's and I never had done it! But it was the first event and otehrwise my next event was the 500, event 13. That is a long time sitting on cold bleachers after your warm up. So the 200 came and went. ouch. I thought it was like an 800 in track, you wish it was a 400, and you wish it was a mile, anything but what it is!!! No rhythm really just counting walls.

Drank some Ultragen, drank some EFS, ate 1/2 banana, ate some licorice, then realized i had to do the 500 soon! I was talking with a younger swimmer from Florida, 24 yo, she was a breasttroker, eventually she went 1:02 in the 100 free but that was SO LONG for her. She was way out of shape. Cough cough.

I had told myself i really just wanted to break 7. Last year I didnt feel too good and went 7.08. I was sorta mad bc the year before i did 6:58. So i even took a bit of a Powerbar Kona gel. A bit of cafffeine. I dont usually do caffeine as an aid but i thought i would just try it. IT worked, but i also felt like i might throw up the entire 500.

I seeded myself 6:57 bc I figure you have to believe it, if you want to do it. I was side by side with two people for the first 200 and then they were gone. Well I was gone. I had the most even 50's and my fastest 50 around 300, which is unheard of! I felt so light and fast the EASY the first 100 I knew it was going to be good, I knew i could break 7! And when i came into the wall I saw 6:48! WOW! The results i saw had me at 6:47, so not sure how i lost another second but i will take it!

After that the 100, which was about 4 minutes later hurt like crazy but I even went 2 sec faster in that than last year even if Speedo Steve beat me! My quads HURT. They had that dead leg feeling. Which did come to haunt me sunday when i had to do a long run with speed. That was ugly. I didnt FEEL tired but i felt FLAT.

Oh and then i hung around for the cool down 1650. Seeded 24:45 and swam 24:02, which came back in results as 23:57. Like i said not sure why the official results favored a lower time but i wont ask! I do know i would love to do the 1650 when i was a bit more mentally prepared, and maybe thinking more about what i was doing and less about "I wonder when i am going to blow up?" That is one mentally hard event, and if you are a bit sloppy on turns ( me) I likely lost alot of time on the walls. I broke it into 500's and it wasnt till about 300 into the 2nd 500 that i started to lose my mojo.

As much fun as i had i did think, "I wonder if i could drop another 20" on the 500?" I dont know if my tiny lats and puney shoulders could take it. They LOVE LOVE LOVE endurance open water IM training. not sure they are too fond of sprinting which is what i would need to get alot faster. OR so i think, Actually i dont know that for a fact!

Special thanks to Steve H for staying around and Miscounting for me and making me go faster bc he put #59 down twice and didnt put the card down at all before that bc he got distracted:) haha, but i did go faster! And special thanks to my boyfriend Tom who swims way faster than me so I try to swim faster too so that he doesnt have to wait for me afterwards. And of course Thanks to Jen who tortures me and USUALLY has just the right amount of tedium in the swims before the hard stuff comes and I can stop thinking "this is tedious." haha. 12 x 75 "kick drill swim" anyone?

Other than that things are ok. Training is ok., the bike is always a chore this time of year. Running outside is impossible but i continue to try, even if the ice makes my legs all crazy, i need to get out. Skiing has sorta stopped but i would love to get out again as long as i dont fall:) I dont feel super fast, but then again its March and i would rather be fast in July and August than now.
Thanks for reading!

And still spending some time with this guy. Charlie. He needs to meet Ruby:) 

 Charlie realizes how good Almond butter is for you so he has to get it all out of the jar.

2013 plans, Florida Trip, Skiing ( on fake snow, grr), Life in General...oh my...

Greetings from sub zero MN. Land of cold and no snow. I will lead off with the disappointment I have that we have so little snow. I guess it is what it is, and the only consolation is that eventually it will be time to hit the road on the bike and maybe that will be easier without as much snow. At the same time I suspect we will get socked in March. Touche! I can ski at a few places that make snow, one being a downhill area but obviously ever other skier goes there too, including the high school teams. Sorta like a treadmill or spin class for skiers, all penned up. Not all that fun. Anyhoo....

2013 plans. Are still all over the place. I had planned to go to BSLT 70.3 but they pulled the Kona slots and my partner in crime REALLY wanted to go for that reason only. I was like "whatever, sure  I will go" but she isnt going and its a really really tough place to get to from MN and its expensive. So no go on that race. Leaving  me with a few choices ( and please, you guys/gals can tell me what you are doing so i can meet up with you!).
I may go back to Kansas. Love that race, have a great homestay and for me familiar is good. ITs a drag going alone, its a long drive and Renne is not into it this year so I'd be solo. Which is ok since i know the drill and have a friend there, Leslie C! Otherwise I may stay here and do Liberty half. I would really like a Vegas slot tho, so that means ponying up and getting to a race that can qualify me. Not too excited about Racine in July. So unless i go to NO 70.3 in April, which sorta appeals to me but having cancelled the swim two years, not so much.
What is for sure?
AG nationals is for sure.
A few local races are for sure.
Maybe Vegas or maybe LC nationals ( half distance) but i really want to run the TC 10 miler so that october half seems too late in my head.
Signing up for an IM in 2014? Yes thank you. Not sure which one but again. 3's a charm. Madison. Gotta love the course and I do love that course. And the ease with which you can get there and train. But again. Open to ideas...IMLP Maybe. Ive heard its a beast but is it more of a beast than Moo? or just a different breed? I like the idea of IM Texas still...but its early. I do know i do best in a warmer climate so CDA is out. Maybe IM Canada in its new location. Lots to choose from i know.

Enough on that. Will hope to regain a bit of speed and obviously I have "stuff" to do here, more on that in the LIFE section of the blog.

Florida trip: Photos! While i went to Drive mr and mrs Mairs ( Daisy) around I did get in some fun.  We had a great time with my former Piano teacher Marianne Tobias. She has a house there, and lives in Indianopolis. She is a concert pianist and travels the world. Her son Jim was my brothers best friend and tennis teammate. While she has had some obstacles and tragedies in her life ( husbands lost, marriages broken) she remains generous and so lovely to all of us. We miss her in the twin cities!
Here we are the first saturday we are there, on her deck watching the sunset. It was that warm out!

 Then sunday we went out on greg's ( Gilligan)boat. He owns Captiva Kayak and he docks at MA's so she got him to take us out to see the sunset. IT was super cloudy so we didnt think we would get a good sunset but little did we know what was to come. In the mean time MA had her jug of white wine I think it was Pinot Grigo. And a pic with my mom and dad as dad kneeled down he got a quad cramp so he was trying to get up when the pic was snapped!

 The Boat was in the Xmas parade so here it is looking at North Captiva with the snowman ready to take a dip. North Captiva is only accessible by boat or air.

And while this pic doesnt do it justice they called this "BLUE SKY PINK" it was the most vivid and lovely color I had ever seen. I was so thankful to see this! WE then motored back into MA's dock and headed home to get some pizza after the lovely evening she had planned for us.
She had to go home to IN so we missed her after that weekend!

While getting pizza i found these: I love the KCCO and of course had to get the Dog charm too!

Here is a boring sunset:) not really, but we never saw a green flash. Ive only seen one from the beach in LaJolla.

 In addition to driving my parents and seeing sunsets I got in some swims. I would go to Sanibel/Captiva JUST to use this pool! Last year I had run the Naples Half Marathon and was beat up good so my pool wrkos were a bit recovery ish. This year i go to tear it up a bit more. I also got in some really good runs. I do have to say that my lower legs were not happy with cement and flat flat flat. I am happy to be back in the midwest!

We ate alot of seafood, and had one of the best meals at the Mucky Duck. I loved these signs:

I knew JPH would appreciate the Stressed=Dessert one!

 And. The jury is still out if the SOAS kit is cuter than the PRINCE tennis outfit. Very different and each has its use. NOT interchangeable Im afraid!  Dad and i hit some balls and had a blast, then 45 min later a front moved in and it Dorothy and Toto were flying around outside our windows. Funny how fast that happened!

And for your viewing pleasure. My dad didnt want to be taped! All I can say is holy slow motion tennis. 

 My dad's sister lives in naples and we drove to visit them. How it can take so long to go such a short distance is beside me, but Im glad we saw them. They dont travel as much as they used to, and my mom and dad are pretty mobile still so Im glad i could be a part of another Mairs party! 

Now onto the final chapter of today's blog. If you are still here!
Life in general! Ive been pretty tight lipped on my life outside triathlon and skiing and that is fine by me. I am doing well. I would never have imagined i would be doing as well as I am right now. While this merits its own blog entry I just need to say and want to say that I really do appreciate all the concern and care many of you have expressed to me. Some from people i dont know in what i would say " inappropriate delivery" but I know you all care.
Im spending time with  someone who means alot to me, and I am smiling and laughing and feeling happy. Its not that I wasnt happy with Rich, but none of you walked in my ( our shoes) the last year or his life. I am forever changed because of my love from and for Rich, he wont be replaced. At the same time I trust myself and I trust that Rich is with me guiding me in all aspects of my life.
People told me i would see things ( not ghosts!) but signals that he is with me. I have.
I smile.

Thanks for reading and stay warm!!!