Time Flies

Time is a funny thing, you wake up go to work, train, eat, sleep, wake up go to work, train. You get the idea. Yesterday as I was uploading a few workouts into traingpeaks I realized that I have a half Ironman in 10 weeks holy hell. Although I have been getting in most of my training I have lacked a few swims and long bike rides. In fact since Iron Star in November I think I have been on my tri bike 6 times. Once again I know I can do the distance but I would like to do the distance better than the last time.

Since Iron Star my grandmother passed away, my hubby and I went to Florida for our anniversary, then there was Christmas and New Years and all of these things have given me excuses to miss a workout. Oh and my best training partner is not doing Ironman Texas 70.3 so that has also thrown me a wrench. This weekend I will run in the Houston Aramco half marathon and then there will be no more excuses (yeah right) for missed workouts. This year for the half marathon I have no expectations, I simply signed up for this race just to see if they would pick me for the lottery. Well they did, so I will run for fun and see where it takes me.

Post Race Update

Since my last blog I have not done a whole hell-ova-lot. Coach G gave me the rest of the month on November off and although I ran a hand full of times swam twice and took one spin class, i really enjoyed the time off. I planned to start training again over the weekend of Thanksgiving and it started with an easy bike ride that ended up in a crash-not my fault. One of a stupid lady driving while talking on her cell phone, who did not notice six of us riding in a straight line when she decided to turn in to us. I am ok other than a swollen and scarped up knee and nobody else was hurt thank god. I am sure after a friend and teammate told her off bad enough to bring her to tears she will learn to pay attention while driving. Last night I did a three mile run that was a hrt rate test, in the test I had to stay within 2 beats of 151. If I went over i had to walk and if I was under I had to speed up. Work out went well it was an easy run for me, but today my knee is throbbing and I am thinking more rest may be good for it. Tomorrow the hubs and I are celebrating our anniversary. Cant wait!
I am looking forward to getting back to the training, I have a half marathon coming up in January and a half IM in April.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

Iron Star 70.3 Race Report

All I can say is wow what an experience. I woke up Sunday morning and it was colder than a witches tit, when I headed out to transition. I found a few of my teammates and we discussed what we would do to stay warm on the bike. I decided to swim in my tri shorts and tri bra under the wetsuit and after I got out of the water I would add the tri top and long sleeve tech shirt. When transition closed several of us headed to swim start and waited for pre race instructions and the national anthem. Our swim was delayed by about 10 mins to allow the fog to lift off of the water. Finally at 7:18 I was on my way into the water, it was difficult to see since the fog was still low but I got in a good groove and started swimming, I bumped into a few girls a couple of times but it really did not bother me. Each time I sighted I looked for the colorful swim caps and stayed on coarse since we could not see a buoy until you were right on top of it. Before I knew I was at swim out and making my way to transition. 1.2 mile Swim 45:30.

I skipped the wetsuit strippers and took on that task myself. I dried off and put my warmer clothing strapped on the shoes and helmet and made my way out of T1 5:34.

I headed out of the bike with high hopes of no wind, but hope was not good enough because it was windy. I had ridden this coarse or part of this coarse more than once and I must say this time was the most difficult. It was nice to know where I was at all times, but I got to the point that I was wishing the miles away. At least I saw all of my teammates at some point on the coarse so a familiar voice from time to time was excellent. Around mile 29ish Jenny's family was on the side of the road and as I went by the cheered for me too. Thanks to Hanna and Keith and all the rest of Jenny's family for being out on the coarse. As I headed back through the resort to transition, I saw Scott, Tarrah and Logan. Logan followed me to transition and told me how great I was doing and that he was proud of me. Bike time 3:35:05 avg pace 15.6 mpg not what I wanted but I am not terribly disappointed.

I changed shoes and out of the long sleeve top because it was now a nice 70 degrees and I hit the pavement for my 13.1 mile run. The run was 3 loops part of each loop was on dirt trails and grass but most of it was through the resort neighborhood that lots of shade. I had so much support out there during the run that the miles just ticked away. I tried to run as much as possible but took a brief walk break at each mile and sometime at each half mile. 1/2 marathon 2:31:55.

Coming into the shoot and all I could do was smile, When I crossed the finish line my mom gave me a high five and then the tears came but I kept them brief and enjoyed the moment. I stayed at the finish line until all my friends were finished. The hugs and smiles will last forever. I am so blessed to have completed my first half IM distance with such a great group of friends.

A huge thank you to my friends Russell, Robin and Kathleen for coming out and supporting me it was great to hear your voice and your cheers. Also thanks to my teammates that made it out to volunteer and cheer us on. Thanks you to my teammates families that were there cheering for us and taking pictures. Thank you to all the volunteers. And to my family that came out to cheer me on. If I forgot somebody I am sorry but please know you are appreciated as well. I have the best husband in the world who has been so patient with me through all of my training. We have missed many dinners together and have not been on a lot of dates lately. Coach G your are the best thank you for believing in me and making me believe in myself. And to all my teammate, who have been there blood sweat and tears and many hours of training. I could not have done this without any of you.

Total half IM 7:01:59. Now to enjoy recovery!

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

2 days

In 2 days I will embark on my journey to 70.3. 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on the bike and 13.1 on foot. 4 months ago if you had said to me "Misty you will be doing 70.3 by the end of the year" I would have laughed in your face. But here I am 2 days away from something I swore I would never do. NEVER say NEVER! Through the past few months of training I have had some highs and some lows, I have missed some training and I have trained hard. Sunday will be here soon and I am excited to finally be here. Tomorrow I am guessing the Oh shit will kick in, but I know I have trained for this and I know I am ready. On Sunday my expectations are to finish, no time, just to finish. I am sure there will be tears when I am finished, but I cannot wait to complete my first 70.3.

Good luck to Team sTRIve in IM Florida and in Conore this weekend.

Low

Yesterday I was feeling very low, about as low as I have felt in the last three years since I started training for half marathon, marathons and now triathlons. Yes I love training and yes I love the sport, there are just so many small scarifies. I have missed out on family dinners and outings, Logan's golf tournaments, various birthdays, going away parties only to name a few. I have not cleaned my own house in months, I have not been to the grocery store in at least a month. So by yesterday it all hit me, I was feeling like the worst wife, daughter, granddaughter and friend. Feeling this way I called up a friend because I know from conversations with her that she too has felt like this at times. She assured me that this was normal to feel like this and that this was only temporary. Thank you my friend for making me feel better.


Hope to see you on the roads soon!

A weekend of workouts amd a little bit of fun

As the days tick by and Iron Star gets closer and closer I feel crazy about missing a workout. This weekend was a very productive weekend for me, after feeling ill last week coach decided to reduce my 14 mile run to 10 miles on Friday night, although a little warm and muggy I was able to finish with a 10:50 avg pace. After our group run we headed to Nit Noi for yummy Thai food and a cold beer. Saturday morning several of us headed out for an open water swim at Lake Windcrest, this was the first time I swam across the lake and back. Saturday the wind was blowing hard and made the swim over pretty rough, I started doubting myself and thinking I was stupid for thinking I could do the swim in my upcoming race. Once I got to the other side I took a few deep breaths and reminded myself I can do this and started swimming back, by the time I got back I had worked on the head case I created and now know I will make the Iron Star 1.2 mile swim. Sunday morning about 15 of us headed out to Montgomery to ride most of the Iron Star coarse the weather was warm and muggy and we had alot of wind but I felt good coming off the 50 mile bike ride and was able to maintain a 16.8 mph avg. This bike coarse is quit hilly for south Texas and I found myself fighting the wind and the hills. But again I feel confident going into my upcoming race.

As far as the fun Saturday night Big John had a hog roast to celebrate his accomplishments in Kona earlier this month and also to celebrate friends, family and teammates on all upcoming and past races. Thanks to Big John for a great time and fellowship. Sunday afternoon we watched the seniors golf tournament that was in our back yard, great time with friends and neighbors. Congrats to Fred Couples who ended up shooting 29 on the back 9 and coming away with a huge win.

Weight watchers update finally (last Friday) in week 20 I met my goal weight down a total of 18.2 pounds, now its time to maintain it.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

Stomach bug not appreciated

This week I was attacked by the stomach bug and it was very unappreciated. 2 days of well you know, along with major cramping and not being able to enjoy food majorly cramped my training. I missed my track workout on Tuesday plus a run and a swim on Wednesday.. Boo. Don't you know I have 70.3 in just over a month! I have high hopes of an hour on the bike tonight and hopefully a swim and a bike ride tomorrow.

Saturday will kick off a weekend of great races for myself and many of my friends and teammates. Saturday for myself and many others will be 10 for Texas, which is a great 10 mile run in The Woodlands, the weather is to die for right and I cannot wait to do this race again. Also on Saturday my friend and teammate will be doing Ironman Kona, Big John you will do great my thoughts will be with you all day long. On Sunday many of my friends from the Woodlands Running Club will be in Chicago running the marathon. Good luck to all racing in these races and any others where ever they may be!

Hope to see you on the roads soon.