Running is my favorite thing. I just love it. I’ve always loved it and I’ve always been good at running for a long time. One of my favorite things as a kid was a jog-a-thon fundraiser.  People donated money on a per lap basis, for example $1 per lap and then we ran for a certain amount of time. I think it was an hour because I remember running about 5 miles and people thought that was pretty great.  I remember loving that I beat all the “fast” kids, because I was able to just keep plugging along the whole time. I also remember my friends and I wanting to dress up like Florence Griffith-Joyner (Flo Jo) wearing a one legged uni-tard and press-on nails.  Thank you, mom for saying no.   As long as I can remember I’ve wanted to run marathons.  I even remember reading about a 100 mile running race when I was in 5th grade, and thinking that I wanted to do that someday (more on that later).  I was also pretty young when I first watched the Hawaiian Ironman and promptly put on my bathing suit and ran around “training” for this thing.  My head always wants my body to go further than it wants to.  My head and my heart want to run long and fast all day everyday.  The rest of my body however seems to think this is a stupid idea.  The Coeur d’Alene run course was no different.  I wanted my body to perform, and it just said no.

The run started out like any other Ironman run, running through the wonderful crowds of people cheering on all the athletes.  I’m zooming past all these walkers who have given in to their bike legs already.  I was not planning on being one of them anytime soon!  My legs felt great, I kept checking in on my garmin making sure I wasn’t going too fast (my biggest mistake in Ironman Arizona).  I was. I was running around 8:20 to 8:30 pace, I kept telling myself to back off, settle in at 8:50 for the first few miles.  I was very afraid of experiencing the same pain I felt in Arizona, nightmarish-delirious pain and suffering that lasted 2.5 hours of that day. Yuck.  I jogged through the first aid station, I wanted to just relive my run from IM CDA 2007. It was perfect and fun, the  plan this year  was to do that but run with a little bit more confidence, a little bit more experience, and  little bit more speed.  The first 2-3 miles are nice and shady, and I was already feeling pretty hot.  I really let this get to me (yep, already)  I was wondering if the compression socks were a good idea in the heat.  I felt like I had on way too many clothes. I grabbed ICE, sponges,  and ice water trying to cool off.   I kept checking the garmin, checking my pace, suddenly at mile 3ish it was saying things like 9:30 min/mile 9:45 min/mile.  I would try to tell myself to suck it up and run I’d try to pick up the pace and then see a 9:15.  Still too slow for a 4 hour marathon, dang  it.  After a few more miles of battling with the garmin, the brain, and the body.  I decided to take the garmin off and run what ever race my body said to run.  I was sure at this point I was already off the 4 hour marathon mark, and just wanted to try and enjoy myself and maybe find more energy out there if I could get my mind off the clock.

I finally found my support crew out on the course.  They could immediately tell I wasn’t running the race I had planned.  I told them I was hot, but ok. My legs felt good my stomach didn’t. My mom, as always, told me to eat something.  I told her I was.  Brett and Chris told me I looked awesome.  It was so great having them out there.  I didn’t want to give up on my goal, but I would try to pick up the pace and instantly feel bad: stomach hurting, heart racing, foot aching, something.   The run course is outstanding. You run through town a bit and then it’s just smooth sailing out along the lake. Here is a picture from the run course taken on my bike a few days before the race.  I remember from 2007 just being blown away by the beauty surrounding me during this race, and being so energized by the environment, the spectators, and the athletes. I was searching for this energy and just never found it on this day.  I could never get outside my head.  By mile 15 I was walking a lot, even in between aid stations (which I don’t believe in).  I was definitely slowing down.  I had bad moments where I was mad at myself for walking, and then would remind myself I was still moving and would get going in a minute.  It’s hard to know when to let go of things in races.  Is letting go of an unattainable goal in a race still giving up?  Or is it better to move on to plan B? I always feel like I need rules like this or, like walking at aid stations ONLY. Once you let go of that rule you’ll walk when ever you want (like I did this day).  Which leads to LOTS of walking in an Ironman.  Usually I’m strict and tough, even in training. I just didn’t have it in me this day.  Slowly but surely my mental strength gave into tired and frustrated Katy.

Most of you know I’m a pediatric oncology nurse, so I’m always finding inspiration in my patients and their families.  These people are tough cookies. They are way tougher than I’ll ever be. When I’m hurting in training or racing I can always think of them,  and it puts it all back in perspective.  I’m fighting a clock,  they’re fighting for their lives, suck it up Katy.  I feel like I’m sucking it up in this picture,  I’m battling the heat, I’m barely holding it together, my garmin is already off, I’m running just for me now, and you can see my special ribbon on my right strap.  That ribbon is for one of my patients, she and I talked a lot about her toughness and my racing and how they were perfect for each other. She was definitely an inspiration throughout my training and especially on race day.  I told her I would race for her, she thought that was funny and cool.  She endured more pain than anyone ever should and she did it with tons of grace.  Just having that ribbon, that little piece of her, reminded me if she could endure that I could endure this.  This was baby pain compared to her pain. Suck it up Katy.

Just before my last turn around, so around mile 20 I asked a spectator what time it was.  I don’t remember what he said now, but I had about 6 miles to go at this point with one big hill, and I knew if I really worked for it I’d at least still PR on the course.  I had let go of the goals that were already out of my reach and I really just tried to dig in for this one last goal.  My plan was to walk only through aid stations when needed and just focus on knocking out the miles one by one.  I got to the big hill and ran up it one last time, it was awful and I hated every step but I had to do it just for me to remind myself I was tough.  Heading back down I realized it was really almost over, I only had a few miles until I was an ironman again.

Each mile really did take forever and I really do remember it all so clearly even though it was almost two months ago.  There was one more baby hill and an aid station. I started walking at the aid station grabbing  few things, after the aid station I just kept walking, talking with a few other athletes.  Most of the people I chatted with for these few minutes were still on their first lap.  For some reason that inspired me, I think I felt like they were soooo tough for still being out there and having so far to go,  I can suck it up for them.  So after quite a long walk break,  I started jogging again.  Then I found a buddy this is the BEST at the end of an Ironman.  We had 4 miles to go, we talked about families, about racing, about how we felt that day, about the heat, about the course, and then I told her about my friend Brooke.  My friend Brooke’s birthday was that day.  I was so worried I’d forget to think of her on her birthday I told her I would dedicate mile 25 to her.  I was telling my new friend I was worried I’d forget she said she’d help me remember.  We were just chatting and running, then we got to an aid station at mile 24.5 she slowed to walk.  I had to wave good-bye because I was suddenly in a new groove. I couldn’t stop.  I hit mile 25 and I started thinking about my wonderful friend Brooke.  We’ve been friends since Jr. High so I just talked to her in my head for all of mile 25, thanked her for her friendship, told her about my day, thought about all of our hilarious escapades in the past 16 years.  Before I knew it I was at mile 26, you know what that means folks .2 miles to go, and I was a new girl.  I was flying by people left and right, I was so ready to be done with this day.  All of the bad, sad, and negative was out the window.  I was done, and I just did something huge, and I was proud of myself.  Heading towards the clock I saw it read 12:40:32 I accomplished my last goal.  Just to PR on the course.  I held it together (for the most part) those last 6ish miles, when I mattered I could still pull it together.   I was done, I was an Ironman, AGAIN!

Thank you MOM, Chris, Brett, Melanie, & Sandy for cheering me on in CDA!  Thank you EVERYONE for cheering for me on-line! Thank you Brooke for making mile 25 special (not to mention the last 16 years), and Thank you Ally-D for showing me what tough really is!

I grabbed my bike and hopped on hearing a few cheers for me on the way out, those little moments where you know your friends and family are watching and cheering for you are sooooo super great.  I was thinking to myself, “Ok, you’re on the bike get your head together, focus on nutrition and hydration, watch your heart rate, and have FUN!”.  I could NOT get out of my head that I swam a 1:17. I started doing every math equation possible to see if sub-12 was even still an option.  Had I even factored in a bad swim?! Damn it.  It took me a good 30 to 50 miles to quit analyzing the swim and move on.  I was kind of obsessed with how poorly I had done. I really don’t know what happened out there.

The way out of town along Coeur d’Alene lake is sooooo fun and beautiful, there are a couple hills to get your legs warmed up for the real climbs around Hayden Lake, but it is mostly flat and fast.  This section is about 18 miles out and back so I was able to cheer for all my buddies out there on this first section. After the turn around we head back into town, I got to see my family and hear some cheers that lifted my spirits again. I was feeling great, my average speed was looking good and I was cruising with my heart rate right where it was supposed to be.  All those long difficult rides and cycling drills (ugh) were going to pay off today I could feel it.  Riding out of town, I was happy knowing Team Katy Moe was now heading out for their hard earned breakfast before driving around to iron-spectate all day.  I was SO happy and feeling so loved by my support crew.  Knowing I wouldn’t see them for a while I tried to just get the swim out of my head and get going on my ride.  Once you ride out of town you hit the real hillies.

I tend to call huge hills, hillies because it makes them sound small and cute.  I’ll say things in my head like, “ok, heading out to my favorite hillies”. It’s all just a game, if I say funny positive things before I let my brain think the ugly negative things sometimes I never get around to thinking the negative.  The bike was chock full of these tricky positive thoughts especially early on trying to distract myself from dwelling on my sucky swim. I pulled them out  again at the end when I was hot and tired. I remember thinking around mile 85, “I’m not really in the mood to do those last couple of climbs”.  The hillies are tough, and climbing them always makes me a little nervous about having legs to run with, but just like riding here locally the bigger the climb the better the VIEW!  Some of the views from this course are spectacular, they kept a smile on my face the whole time.

One of my favorite hillies, over looks Hayden Lake and on the first loop with the early sun shining on the glassy (maybe we can move the swim to Hayden??) water was chill inducing.  I always try and chit-chat with people on the bike especially on the slow climbs but most people don’t feel like talking while climbing.  One guy almost fell over while I was pointing out the beautiful day to him. Oops.  After the hilly section, it’s flat and fast back into town we hit the first out and back section again and that’s where we pick up our special needs bags. I was really looking forward to my bagel and my redbull!  Just before the aid station,  the girl in front of me stood up on her bike and before I knew what was happening, I was being sprinkled with her urine.  I mean this girl HAD to pee.  It was disgusting!  My arms, legs, and a couple drops on my face (yes, my face) we sprinkled with PEE!  Shouldn’t  there be a  pee warning sign or something?  Like stand up and yell, “PEEING”.  I don’t know, and we were RIGHT by the port-o too!  I mean, I get it if you are winning, or you are 1st in your AG, or something……but peeing on your fellow competitors when your riding with me?  Doesn’t seem worth it.  The whole race I really wanted to tell her she peed on me and just couldn’t do it.   :)  The rest of the race when anyone stood up in front of me I would panic!  Who get’s peed on twice in a race, not me!

I had a little trouble getting my PB & honey bagel down, I saved it for a nice flat spot, and I felt really hungry,

it’s just so hard to chew, breathe, pedal, drink, steer, not draft, chew, breathe, smile, turn…. Phew. I got about 3/4 of it down, but it was right before those darn hillies again, and I found myself struggling to keep it down while I was climbing.  Everything  else was going well, my 1/2 way splits on the bike were right on for my goal of riding a 6:30, I was hydrating & peeing (in the port-o), my legs felt good, my only worry was how warm the day was getting. It was perfect weather for a nice long ride, but a little hot for a nice long run after. I tried to stay focused on drinking, eating, and pedaling, but I couldn’t shake the idea of a hot  hot run.  I took a bathroom break around mile 80, it felt good to get off the bike stretch get sunscreened with a little neck massage!  The volunteers at this event always go above and beyond.  I hit mile 85 and got to see the support crew out there again, apparently they had just woken up from their nap to come see me at mile 85 then it was time to head out to the run course for all of us.

Pulling into transition I couldn’t believe the race was almost over. I was excited to run, as this is my favorite part. I always tell myself, “YES! you get to run now”. I was super happy with my bike split and I knew all I had to do was run like I had been running in training.  The plan was to  run smart and run tough and finish this thing in less than 12 hours.  I got into transition, (this part is always so exciting because there are TONs of people around cheering just for you!) found my transition bag and started changing into my run outfit.  This may sounds silly, but just pulling that pink run dress out of my bag got me pretty excited to do this run.  ** Looking back, I’ve never actually had a great run in this dress so maybe it needs to be retired??** I slipped on my compression socks with ease (thanks to my tutorial from Scotty-B.) and I was off!  Well, first a quick visit to the port-o but then I was off and running.

Looking back I feel that overall it was a positive experience and I’m happy with how I handled my day.  When I start thinking about the messy details like times, or when I question if I really truly gave it my all, or if I really truly pushed as hard as I could have, or if I ever really believed I could break 12 hours I get really sad and frustrated.  The worst part is I don’t have the answers to these questions and not knowing the answers makes me replay the down parts over and over searching for them.

My race week went very well, I did all the things I usually do. Our little cabin was very cozy, quiet, and relaxing.  I was hanging out with some of my favorite people. I was so excited to be racing in Coeur d’Alene again, as this was where I fell in LOVE with Ironman distance racing. The day before the race, I dropped all my transition bags and my bike off at the expo, and went to meet up with my family.

They were wine tasting. I was jealous.  I mean I maybe had  little sip. You know, to calm the nerves.

I just propped my feet up and enjoyed the beautiful day while everyone else sipped away.

Many of my favorite pros were racing, Hillary Biscay, Bree Wee, and Desiree Ficker to name a few. I really looked forward to seeing them around the expo, and cheering for them on the race course.  Sadly all of my favorite pros had bad days too, some of them DNFing.  I did get a picture with Desiree (a pre-race highlight), and I did get to cheer on Hillary during the run (see pic).

Reading  in their post-Ironman blogs about the struggles they dealt with that day made me feel little bit better about my race, but then I got really frustrated because they all get to race at least one more ironman this season. They get to go home and refocus for another race, and I have to wait OVER a year to do it again. Suck.

Race morning I felt good, not too nervous, just excited and rearing to go.  I got to my bike and got everything ready to go, got body marked, got my wetsuit on, and before I knew it I was heading down to the water.

Coeur d’Alene 2007 I hated every minute of my swim, and I really thought it was because I didn’t place myself well on the beach while lining up.  So this year I thought I was such a smarty, lined up right near the front on the FAR right of the buoys  (the swim is rectangular, counter-clockwise course; see map below).  The gun went off and we went for it, within 5 minutes I was practically drowning, and thinking, “this is NOT better! this is NOT better!. This is the closest to actually drowning I have ever been, and the most I have ever panicked in a race.  It was AWFUL, but it’s not like you can stop and catch your breath, there are at least 1,000 swimmers coming up fast behind you. You just have to cough underwater, gasp for air when you breathe, and flail those arms like a shark is chasing you.  Out to the first turn is about 800 or 900 yds.  I was still swimming way out to the right searching for clear water and avoiding the massive collision that is always at the first turn.  The way back in to shore felt fast and I found some pretty good open water, things were looking up. I was trying to enjoy swimming thinking about my form trying to swim long and stretched out like coach says to.  Before I new it I was in another mass pile-up of people heading up the shore, (we had to exit the water, run up the shore through  a narrow tunnel over timing mats, and back down into the water) people were walking and waving at family grrrr…..I was running behind them, get going people!

I checked my watch before jumping back in the water it said 36 minutes. I was hoping to swim faster than that, but I thought for sure round two would be faster as I probably wouldn’t have any near drowning experiences.

I was still thinking I’d be sub 1:10 or right around it, especially if I got focused and just went for it for the last 1.2 miles! Yay.  The water still seemed really crowded and I was instantly annoyed by people swimming in zig zags ahead of and directly into me! Grrr, I can’t stand it, lift your head up and watch where you’re going people. I did do a little back stroke to stretch my shoulders out, and said thanks to kayak volunteers when I could, and I did float for a few seconds to pee (imagining that was faster than doing it in transition). The rest of the swim though was all business.  Back to the first turn buoy I was feeling good, and I was absolutely sure I was getting faster. Nearing the turn the water got SO ROUGH. It was like a speed boat just went by, or like I was in the ocean. It was CRAZY.  I kept my head down and just went for it trying to get that section over with quickly.  When I lifted my head to spot, I was still next to the turn buoy. What the what?!  I wasn’t moving! This went on for a while and getting through that back 150 yards was a nightmare.  Once I was to the next turn buoy, I was feeling tired. I knew I only had about 1,000 yds. to go and I could get on the bike yay!  I don’t remember much about the rest only that I was trying to stay focused on being in the moment and enjoying the cool water, but even that is pretty hard when there are flailing swim-body’s everywhere that you are dodging. Please Coeur d’Alene, switch to a 1 loop swim course. You’ve got PLENTY of lake for it!  Maybe it’s a safety thing? I don’t know, but if you can’t safely swim 2.4 miles don’t do the Ironman is what I always say.

Again, when I exited the water there were people stumbling and walking all over the place, I wanted to shout, “Get out of my way, I just swam a 1:17 and need to make up for it in transition!”. Ha ha…no, actually I was just pissed at myself and confused. I ran up the shoot to the wet suit strippers (I love them!), I flopped on grass and with one yank, my suit was off, I was back on my feet, and heading to T1. (The picture isn’t me, btw). Sadly, I have to say the dressing room ladies were not that helpful inT1  and there definitely weren’t enough helpers. I basically got dressed alone, and this had me again questioning if I should attempt to put on compression socks in T2. I mean  if I wasn’t going to have my very own personal dresser. :/

I was dressed and out the door in a flash, it already felt hot to me…dang it. I looked down to check my watch out of transition, and it was TOTALLY  FOGGED over.  Good job TIMEX IRONMAN watch, way to live up to your name.  BTW: the watch never recovered, it’s completely dead now. Couldn’t even survive the swim. Lame.

To be continued….

Now, pink has been my most favorite color since I can remember seeing that pink crayon. Wow, the pink crayon. I remember, we (my brother and I) always had our favorites. Mine was red, Chris’s was blue…and then one day…. what’s this?! It was like a pretty, delicate, red….it was PINK and I was in love. I had to have been like 3 years old, and oh yes, I remember it clearly.  That beautiful pink crayon.

It’s not like I wear pink everyday or anything.  I mean, in “real life” I actually don’t wear pink that often (and “real life” doesn’t include work, because I do actually own A LOT of pink scrubs * awkward side glance*).  My “real life” clothes are usually tan, brown, black, white, off-white, denim…..booooooring.  It seems that maybe working out brings out my alter-ego: DIVA KATY MOE, suckas! (imagine that font is  pink and flashing).

So the whole point of this post is me trying my darndest to explain that I’m not a real DIVA,  despite almost always wearing pink while training/racing, and frequently wearing skirts (sometimes floral, sometimes zebra),  insisting on wearing a pink dress in my Ironman and hoping it doesn’t clash with my ZOOT socks because the pink compression socks just feel a little over the top, and of course my pink nail polish was packed before my cycling shoes, and…oh right, back to the point. The point is this…..I have done something diva-ish and I’m about to share it with you.

I blinged-out my garmin.  Yup. Blinged-it-out.  (This would be more funny if you could hear me say it, promise). I mentioned the possible bling-ing of my garmin on Facebook, but now I’ve actually done it.  I laughed the whole time I was doing it (and these things take time), I laughed for my whole first bike ride with it, as all the bling was kind of blinding me *giggle*, and I laugh REALLY hard every time I show it to anyone. So please enjoy my blinged out GARMIN!!!

TA DA!!!!

Happy Training,

Iron Diva Katy Moe

It just doesn’t happen that way. It seems that I’m usually still really really tired, my workouts are kinda flat, some are even bad, and I’m preoccupied with the planning for the trip etc.  so I don’t even feel like I have a ton more time.

My last long brick was a couple of weekends ago.  It was HOT.  We started our ride around 7 am, it was supposed to be a 2.5 hour ride with a 8 mile run.  It turned into a 3 hour ride and a 7 mile run. I probably started my run around 10:45 or 11:00, and I don’t know how hot it was when I started, but I was BAKING about 3 miles in.  I hadn’t really planned out my 8 mile loop back to the car, but knew I had some shorter and some longer options….and I was NOT willing to go for the longer ones.

I definitely some down moments on this run, with lots of self doubt.  These are the times where you question all of your training, and evil little thoughts start flying through your head.  ”…if I feel like this now, how am I going to feel in my marathon?!?” & “if it’s hot in CDA I’m screwed”  & “what if it’s raining and windy?!?…” This way of thinking can quickly spiral into a deep dark depressed slow sufferfest if you don’t get it in check.  So, I made myself start thinking of all the things I was thankful for. The first thing I thought was, ” well, I am NOT thankful for this heat”….not quite right.  That’s how much of a brat I am that I even make snotty remarks to myself when I’m trying to get myself out of a funk. Idiot. Sooner than later  I got on the right track.  It started with my legs, I’m thankful for my strong legs that I’m running on right now, I’m thankful for my heart who LOVEs to run, I’m thankful for my family who taught me to enjoy being active, I’m thankful for my mom, brother, and Brett for going all the way to CDA to watch me pull together 9 months of training and pack it all into 11 hours and 55 minutes *wink*…..the list went on and on and on and on…..but I totally perked up and felt pretty good my last couple of miles. It’s amazing what a good attitude on a run can do.

This past week I feel like I’ve been on survival mode a little bit.  Working, cleaning, organizing, packing, planning, list-making, cleaning, chore assigning, vitamining, hydrating, can I carbo-load yet? I’m kind of an over achiever when it comes to that. Mmmmm, food.

I have a few pics to post that I hope you’ll enjoy (I’ll post them in a new post)….the thumbnail is from my final brick…and I was thankful for the beautiful view!

My friend Katie had recommended a 4 hour ride she had just done with some friends, and it was something I hadn’t done so I set out for that adventure.  The first stop was Millerton Lake via Sky Harbor road.  The last time I was on this road with tons of HUGE hills, I was running it so it was a nice change of pace to ride it again.  It’s about 10or 12 miles (round trip) out to the lake and back and I’m pretty sure there re NO flat sections, you are either going up or down.  I got to the end of Sky Habor road, and there’s a little picnic area so I used the restroom, filled my water bottles, ate some bars, and took some pictures.

I headed back to Friant road, from the lake.  It was so refreshing to do a ride I hadn’t done in over a year, I was starting to get excited about my day. I was also getting excited to run Sky Harbor again soon.  It’s all I could think about on the way back. That’s definitely on the to-do list for after IM CDA.  Friant Rd. took me back to Auberry Rd. where I headed up to Prather.

Prather is a frequent stop for me. I think they know me in the gas station now. I almost always fill my waters in the store, and usually buy something.  This day, I bought a mountain dew and some cookies.  It wasn’t even hot, and I had lots of bars/gels/blocks to eat, but I just felt like something different. I sat outside eating, and came across this little guy.

He was running around, sprinting into the store, sprinting out of the store, chasing bugs, sprinting in and out, chasing any paper that moved, any thing that moved really.  He was constantly moving and chasing and attacking.  It was so entertaining!

He even checked out the Orbea.

Of course my camera wasn’t ready when he poked his head through my spokes and looked up at me.  After my mini-lunch break, (with entertainment) I headed down Hwy 168 back towards home, I don’t usually descend 168, because it doesn’t have a great shoulder for riding in, but there wasn’t a lot of traffic, and again it was fun doing things a little differently since I seemed to be missing a large chunk of motivation for the day.

Since the day was already in the record books for Most Breaks Taken, & Longest Breaks Taken During a 4 Hour Ride, I just couldn’t pass by these cute cows without taking their picture.  I actually even, rode past them and had to turn around to get their pics.  I mean come on, they are totally cute right?

And that my friends is how you turn a  four hour ride, into a six hour ride!

While I was on trisports.com ordering my elbow cradles (and no that’s not the technical term) I also ordered a quick mount for my garmin to go from bike to run, or actually just to sit on my bike because I’m really starting to get some crazy garmin tan lines.  Also, my cateye holder broke in like November so I’m completely relying on my Garmin for all my speed info.

I can’t believe I didn’t get the quick mount as soon as I ordered my Garmin.  It is fantastic. First of all the run wrist band that it clips onto is soft and velcro!  Waaay better than the stock Garmin wristband.  So basically you just take the body of your Garmin and clip and un-clip it from bike to wrist! Awesome!  Maybe I’ve been in the stone age without this device. But  I’m recommending it to everyone now!

I had a fantastic 20 mile run yesterday. I ran out and met my long-run-Sunday-friends. They were all doing 14-16, so adding my run out to meet them and run home, I would hit 20 perfectly.  I’m happy to report I had no gear malfunctions yesterday, but I did get a lot of attention for wearing my HOT pink CEP compression socks.  Let me tell you, my legs felt fresh and bouncy until the end! I love those things.

I’m working on some t-shirt designs for my mom and Brett and some other supporters to wear at my Ironman.  Brett says he’s ok wearing a HOT pink shirt….I might get black for him…but it will have pink writing.  I’ll post pics when the design is final!

Ironman CDA is officially 4 weeks away!

Happy Training!

It’s the new flavor of GU! How exciting is that?!  It’s from Charisa Wernick, she’s a pro triathlete who’s blog I read.  I commented on her site and she sent me the NEW GU!  How cool is she?! I actually just featured Charisa on my BLOG of the WEEK page, a couple of weeks ago.  So, for more information on Charisa, just check that out.

I realized I did have a couple pictures from yesterday.  No reenactments of the gear malfunctions yet though.  I have my new post-long-training-session routine down now.  Get home, make recovery drink, sip on drink while stretching, take recovery drink to go get 20 lb. ice bag,  start warming tea, finish recovery drink, quick shower, change into ice bath clothes, get reading material, timer, turn music on loud, get in the tub, and FREEZE.

I fill the tub with cold water (which seems awful enough right?!), then I open the ice bag once I’m in and settled. It takes about 1 minute after I open the bag to get below 55 degrees (here’s an ice bath article if you’re interested). So that one cooling minute, and then the next four are not good, not good at all.  Yesterday I was guzzling my tea thinking warm thoughts.  I always keep my toes out for most of the soak, because I feel like they are literally going to freeze off.I have the perfect tub for ice baths, there’s a safety rail and everything.   I was reading VEGETARIAN times yesterday while soaking.  It had some great articles and recipes and got me very excited for my post-run meal.  I made a vegan scramble with tofu, spinach, onions, peppers, mushrooms. It was fantastic.

I loved how with just a dash of turmeric the tofu turns yellow, so you really feel like you’re eating eggs. I mean, it totally tastes like tofu, but it at least looks like it could be a baby chickens in the making. gross.

I’m not too incredibly sore today (thank you ice bath and ZOOT recovery tights!).  At swimming this morning coach was having us do a kicking drill with resistance from a vertical kicking board out in front. UGH.  I’m pretty sure I wasn’t moving.  He finally let me swim back to the wall…..after I caused a dramatic scene in the pool.  It was probably good for my legs to kick all that soreness out.

I bought some Chia seeds, and some Antioxidant Oil at whole foods today and put them in my oatmeal.  My MD says my good cholesterol is low which is bad, and my bad cholesterol is low which is good.  So, although all I ever eat is stuff with good cholesterol, I guess I have to up the ante a bit.  Also, I just reserved Brendan Brazier’s book Thrive at the library. I can’t wait to read it. He’s a vegan Ironman who has created his own line of vegan supplements  for training.

Happy Training.

I ran 18 miles today, and it felt wonderful and fun.  How great is that?!  I had some minor gear-malfunctions. These “malfunctions” were only moderately embarrassing, but ended up being massively painful.  I wore my running skirt with tights under, and my camelbak fanny pack for hydration.  My skirt kept riding up and tucking itself up under my camelbak exposing my booty. Yes, my booty was covered by my tights but these tights are made to be covered so they’re pretty thin.  It was pretty awkward to have my fellow runners run up behind me and yank my skirt down.  So, in my feeble attempt to prevent further embarrassment and booty flashing I put my pack higher on my waist so it couldn’t snatch my skirt up again.  With my pack higher my shirt kept creeping up, so for the majority of the run my pack was on my bare skin.  So, in saving myself some embarrassment, I rubbed lots of skin off  a massive 4 inch square patch on my back. Now, that’s what I call chaffing.  You know how you find all your chaffed areas in the shower.  Wow….just wow.  That was the most painful part of my whole day.  That’s gonna leave a mark.

I’ll wanted to post some reenactment pictures of these gear malfunctions and my huge chaffed back spot, but didn’t get around to it today.  Check back later and maybe I’ll do it tomorrow.