run down, defeat and a dash of spring fever

I didn't feel encouraged last night until after the workout when I was surrounded by my friends who, even in the midst of my physical struggles during training, they tell me that I can do it. They've seen the progress, the work and the ambition, but when I'm in the middle of the pool and feel like drowning, those voices and all the hard work I've put in seems to go away when I'm struggling that much.

This is not about defeat, it's about the limitations of the human body. And I'm ok with the fact that my limitations are different than others, but I hit a wall last night. I don't know if it was because my mind was, what it seemed like, in an entirely different place and I couldn't focus on what was in front of me. The fact that my mom had surgery or that 2 kids at my school broke an arm and a finger within 2 hours of each other, well let's not get into all the other stuff that was probably filling up my brain last night while in the pool that made me feel like I weighed 200 pounds while in the pool...sigh.

Enough rambling, today is a new day. It's raining and let's be honest, spending so much time in Georgia, running in the rain is in my top 5 things I love to do. No iPod, no music, just me, my spandex and the rain pouring down...oh not to mention sopping wet shoes and the hot shower I get to take after the run. April showers, you are precious to me...with or without a rain jacket. Speaking of running, I'm going to Moab today with several others and although I don't mountain bike (as it is the mountain biking capital for those west, and for that matter, east of the Mississippi), I wonder why exactly it is that I'm going. My sweet roommate today reminded me that there are several terrific trails to run down, to go spend time in Arches National Park and well Laura and I will spend quite some time painting while we are there. Looking for that inspiration that takes me out of my Boulder self and takes me somewhere new. New trails, new adventures...if only for the weekend. I think it will be good for training purposes to shake it up a bit, get out of Boulder, and just have fun. Get back in touch with some of the reasons why I'm doing this race and spend time with some outrageously genuine and funny people.

be my potter and i'll be Your clay. mold me and make me something beautiful for You.

another brick tonight

BRICK TONIGHT!

the weather is beautiful, not too windy, blue skies, temperature seems close to perfect and we are doing our first outdoor brick tonight.

A little run, a little bike and another run.

This is going to be good. However, I do have a little bike maintenance that needs to happen before the ride tonight. Thank goodness for Mazanti who got me a new shifter and put it on the bike for me. I'm so fortunate to have friends that are so skilled in bike maintenance. I should have taken advantage of this a long time ago. I have so much to learn. What is going to happen if I leave Boulder and still don't know exactly how to change a bike tire, properly that is...

Well, here's to another brick, another day of training, and a few chocolate covered almonds that I'm about to enjoy...
protein + good fat + chocolate = rocking that brick tonight :)

genuine encouragement

We talked about transitions last night for the race. Transitions seem to be an event in themselves. How to put your bike on the rack, where to place your towel so your feet are drying, how to begin taking the wetsuit off while putting your helmet and sunglasses on. I'm afraid of getting disqualified for not clipping my helmet on before the mount line. So many things to consider in a triathlon. However, I'm just going to start practicing and folding all of my clothes neatly in the locker when we do bricks so I can change quickly and practice those skills...you know it's obviously not JUST about athleticism.

After talking about the transitions, we got into the pool to do a bit of a speed workout for the night. Because I hadn't been in the pool since last Tuesday I was nervous about how strong I'd be in the water. However, I'm feeling stronger and a lot more fluid in the water. But at the end of the workout, Jeff, our coach, was extremely encouraging with my form and how I've improved over the past month or so! This is such a boost of encouragement and even the other women said that they were in the water and Jeff had used my stroke as an example for them.

I just have to say for those that aren't super fast in the water, just dive on in, have fun with it, and work hard.

mizuno magic

As posted yesterday, I was going to Fleet Feet for the first part of our training class...let me just say, no matter where you live, I would suggest anyone and everyone go to Fleet Feet to have them measure your feet and get you in the shoe that fits your "natural" foot perfectly. I've never been anywhere that looked at my foot and measured it with such precision. Seriously, she knew how I was going to walk BEFORE I started walking...

Well, in the end, after trying on several pairs of shoes, mid-stability running shoes if you must know, I ended up with a Mizuno. I used to play volleyball in them, which brings me back to bump, set and spike it days, but these shoes fit like a glove. I feel like I'm running barefoot and we could sit here and argue that running barefoot is the best way to do it for your foot, but it's freaking cold in Boulder, even in April. I mean if I lived in parts of Africa, we might having a different conversation, but I like shoes and they like my feet. I ran in them this morning, I'm doing hip hop in them later, I just hope I don't wear them out before the race in June...maybe I should get another pair.

Instead of running last night, I woke up this morning at 500am to hit the gym for a run prior to the Sculpting class. Well I ran for a bit on the treadmill and then thought it'd be a good idea to get a weight training "head start." So I worked out on a few machines, no big deal, right? WRONG. Halfway through sculpting I thought my arms might fall off. Bad idea, you live and you learn, maybe I'll have definition sooner...sleeveless tops? thank you spring!

Continuation of the day...since I didn't sleep very well the past three nights, I figured I should try and run my physical body down, so last night I thought I was headed to a hiphop class but there was a sub there who was going to teach **ZUMBA**
I've only taken zumba once, but this was so much fun, all the latin music you could ask for, shakin it all around. If you've never been to a zumba class before, I'd suggest going, it's high energy, the steps are pretty basic but you can heat it up with your own sizzling chili style and energy.

2 months, 5 days

The time until the Boulder Sunrise. I was in DC this past week during my spring break. For the first time in a long time, I was on a road bike. We rode around the city, climbed some urban "hills," but it got me all fired up to start riding here in Boulder...oh and when I came back, it was 78 degrees outside, blue skies. I have a new shifter for my bike to replace the broken one and I'll be out riding. old stage here I come!!!

Tonight we are running and doing some kind of talk at Fleet Feet http://www.fleetfeetboulder.com/index.html about shoes, running, etc. Should be interesting. Excited about random factoids that will help my running, maybe all I need is a pair of shoes with magical powers.

ohh I'm going to get my...

butt kicked today at training. I didn't go for my run this weekend and let me be extremely honest, I did not eat the best foods for me this weekend either. I felt slothful and a little bit lazy and I absolutely hate that feeling, especially after such a great week. Can I blame it on the weather? No! Saturday was gorgeous, but I was not feeling it at all. Instead I dyed my hair, watched Grey's Anatomy, ate a Caprese sub at Half-Fast (quite delicious), danced to a Mirimba band at the Draft House Saturday night...and Sunday almost felt like a repeat a little bit, except this day included church, mid-afternoon coffee, and learning the Argentine Tango for 2 and a half hours during the night. So I guess it wasn't a totally lazy weekend, but as far as training is concerned I slacked a great deal. Can't dwell on it though, just be prepared for an extremely difficult week of training.


Well, here's to Monday!

swim, swum, swam and a little victory

It's 910am and I've been up for 4 hours already. As my alarm clock on my phone went off at 508, I miraculously hopped out of bed, put my bather, sweatpants, fuzzy boots and puffy jacket, grabbed half a banana with a T. of crunchy peanut butter (mmm delicious) and headed out. It only took me 8 minutes to get to the gym, realizing green lights and no traffic are a gift at 525.

Here comes the other surprise, I got on the scale and I'm at 142 (4 pounds less than when I started this little blog/training extravaganza) so that was totally encouraging and I am feeling stronger, well that was quite the motivation to get in the pool and do the advanced swim workout on our schedule. The workout was a challenge, but again, it just felt good. I did not lift weights yesterday (which I was supposed to do...), so I felt fresh as I got into the pool. 2200 meters total, a few drills, some speed work, but still just building endurance. The hardest part for me is really remaining in this "midline," centering the stroke around this. It is exceptionally difficult towards the end of the workout as I'm tired and sometimes I feel myself getting sloppy in the stroke (or maybe the sloppiness tends to happen in the middle, I notice it, and change it), but either way, there is a point in the workout where I don't look like a swan like I would like to in the water.

Looking forward to a Saturday of hard, but fun workouts, but tonight, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day!!!

Oh, p.a. last night when I came home, I made this delectable Southwestern potato (I haven't had a russet potato in years, but the combo of southwestern flavors was such satisfaction) and oh, I got to enjoy the other half of the potato with said toppings this afternoon for lunch. Being a vegetarian rocks.