Looking good

I just got a special delivery this week...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   My brand spanking new custom made Berg bike!!!! I have been waiting for this beauty for quite some time. It took a lot of convincing for my husband but once he say the look on my face when I started riding it around my house (yes I rode it in my house) he knew I was one happy chick!                               I got to take it out on the rode yesterday and all I can say is WOW!!! That is one awesome bike. Custom is definitely the way to go.                                                                                                        Some other good news is I got back in the water Monday night after avoiding the pool like the plague from my terrible triathlon swim. I'm still upset about it. I know I just need to move on but there is always that how could I have done better instinct. Well for one if I had been doing all of my training with the Underwater Audio ipod shuffle I would have been first out of the pool ; ) I wrote a post about this the other day and one of the questions was how did I find out about the Underwater audio ipod shuffle  and I thought it was through my friend and Mentor Gillian Clayton. I was wrong. I had googled mp3 players that work in pools last year because I was getting sooooo bored in the pool.  It was around Christmas time when I was checking out Gillian's blog that it reminded me how much I wanted a Underwater Audio ipod shuffle  so then my wishlist began. Underwater Audio has fabulous reviews so hopefully someone is listening to my wishes and will grant me a fabulous Underwater Audio ipod shuffle to make my swimming complete!!!                                                                        Now that I am training for my first Ironman I need this more than anything. So is anyone listening to my wish???? 

The Body is Capable of Amazing Things

I've neglected my blog lately. Not on purpose. I'm a mom, with two kids, and a great dane dog. One of my kids and the dog wrecked my computer. No, seriously they did. There is a reason I ask that no food or drink go near the computers.                                                                                                                           This past weekend I completed my first Olympic distance triathlon. Most people might not think much of this especially since my biggest goal is yet to come... My first half Ironman. However this time last year I was laid up on the couch from a mountain bike accident. Broken ribs, twisted clavicle, separated ac joint. Then 2 weeks after the accident I got called in for knee surgery. Yup, I never dreamed I would be racing an Olympic distance.                                                                                                                        I went in not knowing what to expect. I have been training but this is just the beginning of the season.  My coach had set a goal of 3:15:00 After a training session together 1 week before the race he switched it to 3:00:00. I had no idea if I was capable of this goal. I started off with my pool swim. Despite doing all of my swim training in a pool during the winter I still do not like pool swims. I much prefer open water. I am known for being a great swimmer, however my race did not reflect that... at all. I learned a few things at this race. My trisuit has some horrible drag to it. Next time I will just wear a swimsuit. I had a bad cold going into the race. I have some sort of chest cold that my doctor tried to help me with so I could still race. When I was in the water I felt weak and could not breath. All that being said I think if I had been training with the Under Water Audio Waterproof iPod shuffle I don't think my swim would have been a problem at all ; )    I would be jumping at the chance to go swimming so I can listen to all of my music. My little escape from life. I don't know about you but I dread heading to the pool. I love to swim but for some reason getting my butt there is the hardest thing. If I have my music waiting for my I guarantee I will in that pool daily. Remember this post? A Few of my Favourite Things.  Yup still waiting for one. I discovered this awesome gadget from browsing my fav pro athlete and mentor Gillian Clayton's blog.  She is so fabulous that I know if I get one I would be just as awesome as her.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Once I got out of the water and onto my bike I actually started feeling really good. I had a great bike time and still had power for the run. I have to admit, it was bloody cold!!!!! When I headed out on my run it took a good 2km to feel my feet again. No, seriously. I am not kidding.                                               I am the first to admit, I am a slow runner. I have been working really hard to lower my running times but man is it tough. Fortunately I am a slow and steady runner so despite being slow I still manage to pass the odd person.                                                                                                                                        The one thing that surprised me most during this run is once I got on the bike I felt great. I had no niggles, I had no mental drama. You know, the one when your mind tells you to stop this is too hard? Or I'm feeling tired I'm just going to walk for 1 minute. I had none of that. I was extremely surprised. I actually meditate daily to try and limit the mental drama so it must be working.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              My good friend Rikst cheering me on for the last push to the finish. Yes, I am fighting back the tears.                                                                                                                                                                                 I know I'm close.                                                                                                                                        I am happy! I cannot begin to express how happy I am. I felt amazing crossing that finish line. I did not meet my goal of 3:00:00. I missed it by 5 minutes. I'm a little disappointed about that because I really wanted to hit that 3hour goal but you know what? I learned so much during this race that the time doesn't matter. I did it and I felt great.                                                                                                                              *I hope you enjoyed my extra tid bit  about Under Water Audio. I'm trying to win myself one through a contest they are having. I've been wanting one for months and now that my husband is out of work I probably won't be getting one anytime soon which makes me very, very sad.                                               **Also apologize for the lack of spacing and alignment in this post. Looks like my computer didn't fully recover from the kids and dog dumping water on it.

Take Two

I had a fabulous post all ready to go earlier today. It was fun, quirky and informative and then BAM! I went to publish it and it completely disappeared. ARG!!!!!! Worst part is my husband is a computer geek (I think I'm allowed to call him that) and even he could not rescue my post. So alas here goes another attempt...

I am starting to get Spring Fever. I live on Vancouver Island where our winters are quite mild. We don't get much snow but we do get a lot of rain in the winter months. So I do a lot of my bike training indoors on my wind trainer. Lately I have been dreading going into the Dungeon of Death aka my garage to climb on my old faithful and sweat buckets while my family enjoys themselves inside by the warm fire. 

I vowed that this was going to be the weekend to get out on the road. I convinced my great friend/awesome training buddy Steph to get out there with me. Rain or shine we were doing it. It turned out we had a great day but it was a little chilly. I had on a tuque (winter hat for all you Americans), winter gloves instead of cycling gloves, a neck warmer, 5 layers, and bike shorts underneath fleece lined tights. To top it all off I also wore my ski socks. 

Despite the cool air we had a great time. It felt so good to be on the road and challenge myself a bit more. We pulled into my driveway two hours later with great big smiles. 

I enjoyed myself so much that I went out again today for a 90min ride.

My other big new is these gorgeous babies:

~Don't mind my big babies paws~

I LOVE them!!!

I am a minimalist runner. I switched two years ago after a meniscal tear. My running life has changed in the best of ways thanks to minimalist shoes and my favourite minimalist shoe is New Balance. The only problem was as I increased my mileage anything over 15km gave me really achy feet. So I decided to make a stop at the best running store around (in my mind) Frontrunners Victoria. Every time I go in this store they are ridiculously helpful. The store clerk came up to me right away to help me. I explained my issue told him what I have been running in and he right away recommended the New Balance 1400. He had me try on a few other pairs too just to see but the New Balance once again came out on top.

Seriously I have a few pairs...

A girl needs a trail pair, a road pair and longer distance pair right?

Anyways, I got to try them out the other day and it was like Angels were signing when I ran in them. Sigh, New Balance I LOVE you!!!!

On another note, I am still recovering from my little injury but after my second appointment with my great physio (she just happens to be the lady above whom I love training with) my quad is feeling so much better. It's only up from form here. 

Let The Injuries Begin

A few weeks ago I was out for a long run (before I hired a coach). As I was getting ready I thought to myself that maybe I should just do a short one but my competitive side said- buck up baby it's your long run day, just do it. So I grudgingly set out thinking I will be glad I did this. Fast forward to now and I am being treated for a quad injury. An small injury compared to some of the doozy's I've had before but none the less it is an injury. So I confess to my coach that I've had a little twinge for a month or so. He says when did it start? How did it happen? I think back not really remembering a specific time that I thought oh no I just wrecked something. Nope, it was gradual and it all stemmed from that terrible long run. 

What happened? Where did it go wrong? Well I should have listened to my body that day and just do a short run instead of letting my pride get in the way. I was tired and kept pushing. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you need to push yourself and test the limits but that day my body told me today was not the day to push and now I am getting intense treatments so I can keep training. My coach keeps bringing up this advice of listening to your body. Don't push if it's not right. For a while I couldn't figure out why he was babying me so much. Now I realize he was just trying to prevent me for doing something stupid.

So the damage is done. what do you do now? Good news is I'm still a long ways away from my "A" race so an injury now is much better then an injury a few months down the road. I can still run, bike and swim. I just have to take it easy. The other thing that needs to be done? Take care of my body. I am doing yoga 3 times a week, I used to meditate but as of yesterday I will be doing that daily. The other thing which should be a no brainer for a massage therapist is do my stretch and recovery post workouts. We tend to rush through this part and I really do believe it is one of the most important parts of a workout.

I am glad for small injuries. It really makes you come to terms with how you are training and treating your body. I have learned my lesson and will move onward and upward. This is just another reminder to listen to your body.

Not all races end well.

Don't let this post race photo fool you. Behind that smile I am fighting the urge to pass out...

~my friend Lisa and I at the finish~

Normally running races don't make me nervous. I'm guessing it's because there is no pressure. Running is definitely my weakest sport in triathlon. The sport I can improve the most. So when I went to bed the night before the race feeling week, dizzy and sporting a massive headache I should have known something was about to happen.
My race was an easy 10km basically out my back door. The run started and ended at my daughters elementary school. I knew the route well so why was I shaking when I picked up my race package? My good friend Renee knew I wasn't feeling a 100% and questioned whether I should be racing. She knows me well enough to know the answer was absolutely! After picking up my race number I had a chat with my triathlon coach Wade. I mentioned feeling a little under the weather he chocked it up to nerves (I think he still needs to get to know me better). So we head over to the finish line, coach has me do some warm up drills, Renee curses that he's making us do this, I feel like I can certainly do this.
Renee and I stay at the back. I prefer to pass people then have people pass me. We start out slow.

Renee is in this picture she is behind the lady in red, you can see a side swoosh of ponytail to the right of the lady's head.

I start to get into my grove and even crack a smile (this rarely happens when I'm running)

I managed to maintain a 5:30/km pace which isn't too bad for me. I was aiming a little faster of a pace but to be honest I'm actually lucky I was able to maintain that. All was going well except that I had to stop at the 2 water stations to sip gatorade. I was one of THOSE runners, gingerly jogging while holding 2 cups trying to settle my stomach without completely stopping. I was trying hard to hold it together. 6k in I got a little surge in me and caught back up to Renee. The route was pretty flat (thank god) I thought I might be able to kick it up a notch. I was getting into the zone. I decided with 1km to go I was going to sprint those last 5 minutes. Then the stitch hit. A stitch like no other. I've had a stitch or two before but this one had me doubled over struggling to breath. I tried to dig my fingers under my ribcage to try to alleviate the discomfort while I slowed my pace down. I told Renee to keep going push hard to the finish. I had tears in my eyes as people were passing me wondering who this person was making these crazy animal sounds. I did not want to walk. I had to make my goal of under 55:00. 

I came around the corner and heard the announcer. I was so close. I just had to push one more time. I could see the clock was 55:20 but I was at the back so I had no idea how close I was close to my goal. I ran as fast as I could and crossed the finish line at what ended up being 55:11. I doubled over into my friends arms with tears dripping down my cheek. I finished and it was uncomfortable. I got home that afternoon and I was ill. It turned out I had a bad case of the flu. Dizziness, headache, body ache, fever, and all of the other fun things that go along with the flu. Should I have run? Should I have pushed when I was breaking down? Was it worth it?

Well, this is what I learned...

Even when I'm not feeling well I can push through the pain.

When you wake up not feeling your normal self you are probably coming down with something.

Trust your instincts.

Do what is right for you.

Recovery is the most important thing.

Be proud even at your worst, you did it!

I have done races before when I've been under the weather but compared to yesterdays race I don't think I have ever been that uncomfortable during a race. I am proud of myself for pushing through that uncomfortable feeling because I have a feeling Ironman will test my will to its maximum. 

I'm a wimp

Well it's official, I've decided I am now a wimp. Those that know me well might be a little confused. I workout daily and not easy workouts how can I be a wimp?

This is a picture of me gearing up to do a run. It's been a little cold here on Vancouver Island. It may not sound that cold to others but -8  it is very cold to us. Can you see the hesitation of going for my run?

Here's the thing I never used to be a wimp. I grew up in Southern Alberta where we can get -50 wind chills. I was a ski instructor for 5 years and I had to stand out in ridiculously cold conditions trying to make skiing look fun (which by the way isn't when it's that cold). 

For some reason after we moved to the Island I have acclimatized myself to not tolerate cold very well. So how do you keep motivated and keep your training going on these cold days? You get creative. I unfortunately don't run on a treadmill so I do have to go out into the cold however if the conditions are dangerous i.e.. Icy roads or poor visibility (yesterday was a great example). So I stuck close to home and did running drills instead. I then went to Masters at my local pool. 

Today was again very cold so I went to a bootcamp and did some weight training and tonight I will go out into the garage and get on the wind trainer. Thank gawd for Sufferfest!

Fortunately this cold will pass very quickly. Tomorrow I will probably get to do a run in this:

Winter is a great time to get creative and test your toughness. I could very easily make excuses but with a lofty goal only 6 months away it makes you stick to the plan.

Stay warm and keep sweating on.

~This Sunday will be my first running race of the year. I'll let you know how that goes next week.~

I might be a little crazy

 I've been waiting for the right moment to announce this crazy dream. Like most triathletes I've had a lofty goal, to attempt an Ironman. I had a plan: this year compete in some Olympic distances and do one or two sprints. Next year do all Olympic and try and do well at them. Then when my littlest is in kindergarten I would attempt a 1/2 Ironman. Why wait? Well I wasn't sure I had adequate time to train. I've always said the family comes first and it always will. However, after chatting with some people and reading some training books and in the spirit of New Years Resolutions (yes I do stick to mine) I took a giant leap of faith and signed myself up for Calgary 70.3!

The minute I hit register I was flooded with emotions. I'm scared, excited, nervous you name it, it stirred something in me. Now I can see why finishers bawl their eyes out. Yes! That will be me. I get emotional just crossing the finish after doing a sprint. 

                                      
I have a lot of work cut out for me. Luckily husband and kids are on bored with full support. Even some of my fab friends are sticking it out with me. You know who you are... the lovely ladies who come and kick my butt on those early mornings out in the garage. Even my extended family have vowed to cheer me across the finish.
So I would love to say I have kicked it into full gear but I am actually embracing my last lazy days. Come Monday January 21st I start my road to Ironman. Please follow along while I document my crazy journey. I'm sure there will be some laughs and many tears and possibly some crazy moments.