Full Moon

My bike ride this morning was absolutely gorgeous! The full moon was setting as the sun was rising. You must need to be a pretty good photographer to do justice to the moon, because for all the times I have tried to take photos of the beautiful moon, all I get are photos with a little pale dot in the middle!

I don't think I am going to be able to crack 2 hours for the tri. I have 4 days until the triathlon and I am certain I am not going to improve my fitness in those 4 days. Today it took 59:45 to ride 12 miles.... of course, that includes time crossing a highway (X2) and stopping at redlights. Last year in the tri, my bike time was 46:44. I think the only thing I am likely to improve this year are my transition times. We shall see.

No matter what, I will enjoy the event and all that goes with it.

Yesterday I called the folks at Skirtsports - they are supplying the race shirts - to ask them what color the shirts are this year. I wanted to buy a hat to match, but I changed my mind when I found out the shirts are BLACK. I am happy they are not pink, but I don't want a black hat.

Last Year

I look like such a goon! I showed these pictures to my daughters and they laughed and laughed and laughed. And I had to laugh with them! I am smiling in every one of the bike pictures. I love to ride, I guess. I don't know why I have my shoulders hunched like that in this picture.... oh well. Hopefully I will look a teeensy bit better this year. I will concentrate on looking appropriately GRIM and not so mindlessly happy!

Today is my rest day. Really this morning I would rather be out riding my bike, but I will honor my body and give it a rest.

6 Days

I just took a 1 hour run. I am not even going to say how many miles this was. I may go buy the book "No Need for Speed" today. I am so freaking slow. It felt extremely hot even though it was only in the mid-seventies. I was out in the sun for an hour. I felt good, but I still can't believe how slow I am.

My triathlon is one week from today. This time next week it will be all over. I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to getting back to focusing on running and training for my next half-marathon in October.

I had company all weekend and feel like I ate like the last days of Rome. We went out for nearly all our meals and I have so many styrofoam containers of food in the fridge. They brought a bunch of peaches from western Colorado and I baked a pie yesterday, just in case the gluttony wasn't complete. Now I have half a pie sitting there mocking me. I think I will cut a slice to eat later today and freeze the rest. I feel very full of food. I need to get my nutrition on track this week so I am strong for my race!

Another Brick in the Wall

I had a great workout this morning! I rode 12 miles and then ran 3.69 miles. It took too long, but I felt good. I could have kept running, honestly, I could have. Slowly, but comfortably.

I wish this picture would have turned out better. It is a little bridge on the bike trail over Bear Creek. There were wild flowers everywhere. It was (and actually still is) a beautiful morning.

The guy is coming to look at my sprinkler system in a minute. He just called with the refrain I have heard all my life "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?" And then he quickly added, "not very good, without a working sprinkler system!" cute.

Have a great weekend everyone!

look what I saw!

on my run this morning! Yikes! And silly me, walking right up to it so I could take a picture!

I had a great and fabulous work out this morning. I took a 10 mile bike ride - started out before sunrise. I got to see the sun come up and the long shadows of the morning. I had to slow down several times in the park as I was riding through huge flocks of birds! Why did I have to watch Alfred Hitchcock movies as a child and get all these crazy fears?

I hopped off the bike, put it in the garage, ran upstairs, changed shoes, had a sip of powerade, grabbed my iPod and ran out the door in 2:54 minutes. I then ran 2.20 miles. I could have run more, but I was having "digestive issues" and needed to get home.

I am feeling much much better about my readiness for the tri. 10 more days.

Progress, well, kind of...

One of my favorite places to run... it is pretty and remote.

I had a 6:30 meeting this morning and will have a 5:30 meeting tonight, so I chose today for a rest day instead of my usual Monday rest day. Yesterday I ran 5K in the morning before work.

It is 11 days until my triathlon. I am not training as seriously as I would have liked. It is freaking hot outside. I have houseguests coming this weekend and they will just have to bear with me as I do my morning workouts. But I definitely won't be spending my day Saturday driving across town to take an open water swim and bike ride.

The race will be what it is. I am doing the best I can. I wish it was more, but it isn't.

Thanks for your support.

Confession

I had such a headache this morning that I went back to bed and slept until almost 9:00! That is almost inconceivable for me to sleep that late! When I woke up, I felt pretty terrible about missing church this morning and also a workout. I had intended to be up early enough for a bike ride and a swim before church.

At almost 10:00 a.m, in 90 degree heat, I headed out of here on my bike. I intended to take a brief swim at the lake, and then hop back on the bike and come home. But when I saw how many bodies were in that water, I opted not to swim. I rode 10 miles in 50 minutes. I need to take my bike to some flat lands to see how fast I would go without hills - because my training times are abysmal.

But the confession part is that I missed church because I didn't feel well enough... but I felt well enough for a bike ride. Oh dear. The truth is I didn't feel well enough for a bike ride either, but I thought perhaps it would help my headache, and indeed it did.

Saturday Change in Plans

Thanks so much for the kind comments about yesterday's lethargy. Imagine, I started my day like that and ended up staying awake until 2:00 a.m! Last night my daughter and I upheld our family tradition and stood in line for the new Harry Potter book at midnight. It was fun. We went to a movie while we were waiting for midnight to make staying up that late more palatable.

So, last night I ended up getting 4 hours sleep. Based on that fact, I opted not to get on my bike this morning. The last time I was sleep deprived and got on my bike, I went over the handlebars and broke a rib, ending any further work outs for months! So, I went out for a 5K run this morning. It was nice. My time wasn't bad... especially considering how hot it is outside. Tomorrow I will get in a better workout.

I am excited about the tri - it is only 2 weeks away. I hope I can get under 2 hours. Last year I missed it by 3 minutes! If I could just get my transitions down, I could take a bit of time off.

Now I am going to hit the shower and go back to bed!

Help!

I seem to be having an attack of laziness! Yesterday was my day off, today I woke up and just thought - I cannot run this morning. I just cannot. I was up half the night (insomnia) and I am tired and I just cannot run, or bike, or swim this morning.

I guess I just need not to panic over this one day attack of lethargy. Please dear Lord, let it not turn into more than one day. It is a terrible feeling. I don't like it - at all.

Waterton Canyon

I joined a friend for an after work ride up Waterton Canyon. At the end of a 6.25 mile ride uphill, we stopped for a second, and this is a cell phone photo of the view. It really is a pretty ride. It is a well-tended gravel trail, very good for a mountain bike. Then you head down, like a bat out of hell, for 6.25 miles. All this takes a little over an hour and is a good work-out.

I had intended to run this morning, but I am suddenly plagued by some mysterious hives or something - and I didn't sleep much last night. I have taken benadryl tonight and I hope they go away and I get some sleep. If not, I will have to go to the doctor tomorrow. I asked three nurses and one doctor at work today what they thought it was, and got three different answers. I chose the one I liked best.

a) spider bites (multiple) ---- no thanks.
b) shingles ----- no thank you.
c) hives ---- OK, I can accept that.

Ow!

These things were screaming at me as I did the run portion of my brick this morning!

I got my road bike fixed up yesterday and hit it first thing this morning. Oh man, it felt SO GOOD. It just glides down the road... the gears change seamlessly, I could get it going up to 30 mph on the straight road. It felt great. I rode for 10 miles, and it still took me 53:43.

I set my Garmin to time my transition time to get ready to run. It was 3:08, which probably means nothing, since I don't have to rack my bike and move far from a bike finish to a run start. I headed out and ran slowly for 3.51 miles. I felt like I could have run a lot further. I felt good. Now, when I say slow, I mean slow. Like around 13 minute miles.

I am on my way to sprint distance triathlon fitness!

Frustrations

I drove out to Cherry Creek State Park this morning to take a swim and a bike ride. The road to the swim beach was gated and locked until 7:00, so I waited for a half hour to get in. I was the only person swimming and I don't know why, but I felt silly. But I got a little swim in. I decided while swimming that I was going to drive over to the expo for the Danskin Tri that is tomorrow and register for it. I reasoned that I am in good enough shape to do it, so why not! They have a new deal this year that you have to "rack" your bike today - the day before the race... and I thought that would work because I had the bike with me!

I was really looking forward to riding my bike - my bike I use for racing. I have been using my mountain bike for training, but now it is time to get on the "real" bike. I took it to the bike shop yesterday on my lunch break to get the tires inflated and make sure they were OK....

Well, I got out of the water this morning, put on my helmet, my gloves, my sunglasses, my bike shoes, my socks... and unlocked my bike, took it from the rack, hopped on - and had a FLAT TIRE!! Grrrrrrrr. I tried to inflate it, but it wasn't inflating and I was getting irritated, so I gave up. Not only on that particular bike ride, but on the last chance I had to register for the Danskin. Oh well, it must not have been meant to be. I drove home and got on my mountain bike and rode down to a park right by my house. I will be ready for the Tri for the Cure on August 5 and I will enjoy it - who needs to do TWO triathlons in one summer?

I got a 16 mile bike ride in. It took over an hour - but once again, many hills. I took the picture above on one of my little breaks for a sip of water.

Have a great weekend everyone...

Just a Trainin' along

I have to say: I really like training for a triathlon. I wake up in the morning and think "What am I going to do for my training today?" Yesterday I got ready for a bike ride/swim/bike ride... but ditched that idea when I saw it was only 50-something degrees outside. So I did a bike/run brick instead. (that is a picture from last year's Tri for the Cure.)

Today is my rest day and I am really glad. I went to see the new Harry Potter movie with my daughters and my son's friend last night and was up WAY past my bedtime! It was fun though.

Weight, Pace, Times, Plans

I just went out and ran a beautiful 3 miles in the rain. I didn't realize it was raining when I set out, but it was, and it was very pleasant. I really hit it hard today and I feel really good about my times. The first mile, which is straight uphill and took me 16 minutes on Sunday, I got done today in 14:28! I was thrilled with that. So thrilled, that as I got to the top of the hill and checked my time, I threw my arms in the air in a celebratory gesture and my iPod went flying! I lost a few seconds retrieving that, and I am sure I looked pretty silly, but I don't care.

So, that is a bit of a segue into what I want to talk about. I guess I want to talk about what I am not talking about. Weight. I weigh a lot. I am not going to tell you how much. I have done all the telling and waiting to tell you all about how much I have lost, and trying to "motivate" myself by shame about the way I look and the numbers on the scale. Those days are over. I used to weigh over 200 lbs. I used to be very heavy. I started running when I weighed that much. The weight fell off for a while. Then it stopped falling off.

I wear a size 12. I used to barely squeeze into a size 16. I am happy with a size 12. I am happy with the way I look. I am ecstatic to be a healthy 55 year old woman. I have recently had a bunch of blood work done. All of my lipids are good. My cholesterol is good. My triglycerides are good for the first time in my entire life. My resting heart rate is 58. My blood pressure is 100/70. I am a healthy and fit woman! What more could I want than that?

I could focus on the fact that I have a belly, I am not stick-thin, I don't run "fast", or probably even "run" at all by some definitions. But I am thrilled as can be that I look good at my age, I feel healthy and happy and I can sit around and ponder what races I am going to do and what my times might be like. I can be very very happy about that.

I think I have been confusing in my ponderings about races. I am registered for the Tri for the Cure on August 5. I was also considering doing the Danskin triathlon on July 15, but decided not to do it. I will start training for the Denver Marathon as soon as I am done with the Tri.

Have a great day everyone!

I spoke too soon...

About registering for the Danskin Triathlon - I didn't know that while washing my hands in my bathroom, the "cold" handle was going to come off in my hands... the internal mechanisms shattered. The coolest thing is that I called my daughter -yes, my daughter! She came over and took the old faucet out, we went to Lowe's for a new one, and a few hours later Presto! I have a new faucet in my bathroom that works! This all ended up costing about what the registration for the Danskin would have cost, so I am going to forgo that race. It is probably just as well. A triathlon really takes your whole weekend and I could find other things to do next weekend, like maybe spend some time with my family?

This morning I got up at 4:00 so that I could get out and run before it got hot. It was a lovely, lovely run. The first mile is straight uphill, and took 16:00. The second mile was 12:06 and the third was 13:56. The truth is, I really enjoy slow running.

I guess Pearl Izumi would call it "jogging". I saw the latest ad in the August Runners World and think their advertising agency should be fired. It is about how the "runners" find the dead bodies, while running through the dumpsters. The "joggers" take the trails through parks and stop for a snow cone if they feel like it. What a stupid campaign and it really does make me not want to wear my Pearl Izumi hat anymore. Who wants to find dead bodies? ... it is just dreadful and tasteless.

Swim, Bike, and what? Oh, Run! I forgot to run!

I went out to Cherry Creek Reservoir this morning for a little tri training fun. Their swim beach was closed, so I drove over to Aurora Reservoir. by the time I got there it was after 10:00 a.m. - on a hot day.

The swim was fun! The water was cold and felt great! I got to talk with a bunch of other women who are training for the Danskin (july 15) and the Tri for the Cure (august 5). I swam 800 meters in 27:38 - which I was happy with.

I hopped out of the water, walking sideways as I sometimes do after a swim, and got on my bike and rode 20K in 1:09:28. I am not thrilled with that time, but you should see the hills I was climbing! I felt good the entire time, even though it was over 90 degrees by the time I got on the bike.

It was a great workout and makes me think I should register for the Danskin too! I know I could do a tri next weekend. My times may not be the best, but I could do it. I will mull this one over.

Yesterday I went and I tried on that skirt I was so excited about and it looked terrible on me. It is definitely made for very small teeny little athletic people. Not big lumbering athletic peeps like me!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Bricks, Tri-suits, Skirts, etc.

Remember when I said that I had already purchased all the stuff I needed for a Tri? Well, I remembered that last year when I saw all these cute skirts running by, I decided I really MUST have one. Do any of you ladies own one of these skirts? See those cute little buttons on the waist band? Those are actually to fasten your race bib to! How cool is that? (and Randy, a tri suit is just something that works for swimming, biking, and running... so you don't have to try to change your clothes during your transitions.)

So, I meant to do a bike/run brick yesterday - but I only did a bike ride. I got up at 4:30, made a lemon meringue pie for the picnic I was attending later... then I meant to get my work out in... however, I didn't realize I didn't have vanilla in the house, so that added an additional 30 minutes to the pie preparation time. I went to church at 8:30 and came home and hopped on the bike. By the time I had completed 8 and a half hilly mountainous miles, it was so hot that a run was Out of the Picture. Today is a rest day.

I have printed out the training schedule posted on the Tri for the Cure website and I think I will try to follow it - within reason.

I am excited about training for a tri and I am really really glad I decided to do it. Thanks to all you bloggers for the encouragement.

I'm Gonna Tri!

This morning I decided not to run but to ride my bike. As I was throwing on my bike shorts, I decided to wear my tri suit - and ride down to the lake for a quick swim. See above photo. It was so beautiful, the moon was above the mountains, the water was clear and cool... it was fabulous! So I had a nice swim, hopped back on the bike and rode home. It was really exhilarating and reminded me of why I like training for a triathlon!

That little excursion this morning made my decision about the triathlon for me. I registered after I got home. It is the Tri for the Cure, it is on August 5 at Cherry Creek Reservoir. And I will be over 55 years old - which is a good thing. I think I am in the second age group wave.

Thanks for helping me process this yesterday. You bloggers are the BEST! When people wrote about how much money this stuff costs, I thought about the fact that I have already invested most of that money into the tri suit, and all the rest of the stuff. In fact, I thought about that as I left it all unattended on the sand this morning as I walked into the lake. But I got back and it was still there!

So, I am excited about this upcoming event!

Dreadmill

Ran 2 miles on the dreadmill yesterday afternoon. I set the pace for the first mile at 12 minutes. The second mile I did in 10:20. I actually didn't hate it the way I usually do. It was 100 degrees outside and it was nice and cool in the gym. I hope to be able to get back to doing 3 miles on the treadmill regularly the way I used to. I really did used to be a lot faster back in the day before I discovered the wonders of s-l-o-w long distance running - which I LOVE.

I am debating whether to register for the Tri for the Cure on August 5. I can definitely do it. And since I have started doing tri's, I have been waiting to be in the 55-59 age group. I think the competition may thin considerably from the 50-54 age group. As I have said before - my daughters did last year's tri with me. The year before, one of my daughters did it with me. I was alone the first year. I am having a really hard time getting excited about going out and doing this alone - the training AND the race.

The other issue is $$. It costs $80. That is not a lot of money, but I seem to be hemorrhaging money lately and this is just one more $80. I registered for a 4 year Bible study program last week - and that cost a boat load of money - not that I mind... It is totally worth it. I also need a new pair of running shoes ($130.) And that pesky Mortgage! And car payment! etc., etc....

And.... one more thing. I AM registered for the Denver Marathon in October. I need to start training for that. I thought 2 months from the tri would be time enough to train for the half marathon, but right now I don't know. I feel like I need to start training now. I only ran 35 miles in June (after the half-marathon on May 20) and I feel like I lost all my fitness.

How do you like reading stream of consciousness??? Thanks if you have read all of this...