My new, hopefully favorite and lucky, number.
(aka my bib number for Ironman Wisconsin).
Bring it on!
(aka my bib number for Ironman Wisconsin).
Bring it on!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
AAAARRRRRGGGGGH!
Do you SEE that countdown timer over there on the right-hand side of the screen?
YIKES!
Not that long ago, it read something like 300 days and 2 million hours till Ironman Wisconsin.
Now..... yikes!
For the most part things have been going well. Training has been mostly fine (meaning I've been getting it done. Slower than most every one else, but getting it done).
Over the last couple of weeks, people have asked me: "Uh, so... how is the training going?.... No injuries yet?"
As if one was just waiting out there for me. As if I was the proverbial "bus" on its way to "pick up" the injury to take it a ride.
"No.... nope. No injuries so far", I would reply.
I may have been driving that bus past a grave yard while whistling (or how ever that metaphor goes)...Anyway, you have to know where this is going...
Hubby's daughter got married last week on Friday. Lovely wedding. Lovely reception. Lovely bride.
At some point over the weekend, either as part of the 15-mile run Hubby and I did together on Saturday OR at some point during my bike/run on Sunday, I felt a little tug where my left hamstring is located.
"Uh oh"
Really gave no thought to it. Just a little tweak.
Then swam on Monday; tried to run home on Tuesday.
"UH OH".
The tweak became a twinge became an impediment to my gait which became a shuffle which became a walk home from work which became a bunch of worry.
Was I, in fact, INJURED???
With three weeks to go until the big race, was THIS going to keep me from finishing?
I think NOT!
Out came the ice bag. Out came the free samples of Bio-freeze. Out came the Ace bandage. Up came the Internet and the Google search on "Hamstring injuries".
Fortunately, the pull does not seem to be tooooo bad. (Probably "stage one" according to the web sites I accessed for research. Gotta love "the google".)
Ice, bio and ace seemed to help, but the real miracle occurred when I went to see John, sports massage expert, at my health club last night.
He worked on my quads and my calves and my hips and my hammy's for 50 glorious minutes. He pushed and prodded my aching muscles in a really good bad way.
And my hamstring feels better! YEAH!
I'm still taped up today, but I swam this morning (felt fine). I may bike a bit this evening and tomorrow. I'll run and bike on Saturday and then have my last, full blown bike ride on Sunday before settling in to taper.
I'll see my chiropractor tomorrow morning for a little fine tuning and already scheduled another appointment with John early in the week of IM WI for one last tweak. I think the hamstring will be a big non-issue on September 12th.
I'm excited, nervous, anxious, full of dread and excited all over again.
Still worried about cutoffs, but.... still...
Wonder if John could work out those kinks better known as "the bike course hills"?
YIKES!
Not that long ago, it read something like 300 days and 2 million hours till Ironman Wisconsin.
Now..... yikes!
For the most part things have been going well. Training has been mostly fine (meaning I've been getting it done. Slower than most every one else, but getting it done).
Over the last couple of weeks, people have asked me: "Uh, so... how is the training going?.... No injuries yet?"
As if one was just waiting out there for me. As if I was the proverbial "bus" on its way to "pick up" the injury to take it a ride.
"No.... nope. No injuries so far", I would reply.
I may have been driving that bus past a grave yard while whistling (or how ever that metaphor goes)...Anyway, you have to know where this is going...
Hubby's daughter got married last week on Friday. Lovely wedding. Lovely reception. Lovely bride.
At some point over the weekend, either as part of the 15-mile run Hubby and I did together on Saturday OR at some point during my bike/run on Sunday, I felt a little tug where my left hamstring is located.
"Uh oh"
Really gave no thought to it. Just a little tweak.
Then swam on Monday; tried to run home on Tuesday.
"UH OH".
The tweak became a twinge became an impediment to my gait which became a shuffle which became a walk home from work which became a bunch of worry.
Was I, in fact, INJURED???
With three weeks to go until the big race, was THIS going to keep me from finishing?
I think NOT!
Out came the ice bag. Out came the free samples of Bio-freeze. Out came the Ace bandage. Up came the Internet and the Google search on "Hamstring injuries".
Fortunately, the pull does not seem to be tooooo bad. (Probably "stage one" according to the web sites I accessed for research. Gotta love "the google".)
Ice, bio and ace seemed to help, but the real miracle occurred when I went to see John, sports massage expert, at my health club last night.
He worked on my quads and my calves and my hips and my hammy's for 50 glorious minutes. He pushed and prodded my aching muscles in a really good bad way.
And my hamstring feels better! YEAH!
I'm still taped up today, but I swam this morning (felt fine). I may bike a bit this evening and tomorrow. I'll run and bike on Saturday and then have my last, full blown bike ride on Sunday before settling in to taper.
I'll see my chiropractor tomorrow morning for a little fine tuning and already scheduled another appointment with John early in the week of IM WI for one last tweak. I think the hamstring will be a big non-issue on September 12th.
I'm excited, nervous, anxious, full of dread and excited all over again.
Still worried about cutoffs, but.... still...
Wonder if John could work out those kinks better known as "the bike course hills"?
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Last Tri.....
Waseca 1/3 Iron distance tri was last Sunday...my last tri before IM WI....
I always hate the time when triathlon season starts winding down. I wait, wait, wait all winter long to be able to be outside swimming, riding and running and then WHOOOSH.... it seems to be over in a blink of an eye.
I know that, with IM WI looming, the season isn't really over. There are still four pretty intense training weeks ahead, followed by a two-week "taper" of some sort, but, summer has definitely gone from feeling like there are endless weeks stretching ahead of me to "how long until Labor Day weekend?"
This year was the second year for Waseca's event. The field was pretty small. Only 100 people did the 1/3 Iron distance, which was really a 1 mile swim; 33 mile bike ride and 8.8 mile run. Of the 100, only 34 women did the distance.
A couple of people I used to train with from time to time also did the 1/3 Iron distance; Steve Stenzel and his brother-in-law did the sprint distance, so I could catch up with a couple friendly faces while waiting to get in to the water.
The swim was trouble free. The water was very warm, but they allowed wetsuits. Honestly, I would have been fine if they hadn't allowed them, but since they did, I took advantage of the extra buoyancy and feeling of security.
The race website warned us of potholes on the bike course, but honestly I didn't encounter any. (They may have been referring to the sprint course having potholes). I was actually quite impressed with the quality of the roads.
My legs were tired on the bike. Maybe a little aftermath of Chisago... could have been the fact that I rode some hills the day prior to Waseca with one of my old coaches, Greg Rhodes. He gave me some great tips as we (I) trudged up some killer hills in St. Paul.
In any event, I didn't think I had much mojo on the bike ride, but my pace was holding steady. Until, of course, a turn on the course pushed the bikes right in to a headwind. Not a huge one, but enough of one that my mph dropped from 18 to about 14. Depressing.
That stretch of road seemed to go on forever, but I was able to pass a couple of people -- and eventually the course turned out of the wind and pedaling was easier.
By the time I came in to T2, the sun was blazing hot, the humidity was high and I thought long and hard about just going home.
Rationale? "Well, this is really just a C minus race for me... why do I need to finish this???"
Why? Because.... that's why.
So, I got out on to the run course and did my run/walk thing. No particular "schedule" of run/walk, but just plodded along. The 8.8 mile course consisted of two-loops around Clear Lake. Pretty course with very little shade.
About mile 3, I bumped in to an old friend from work and we ran/walked a bit together. He was just about to finish the race and I still had a second loop. It was nice to have the company for a bit.
But then he zigged to the finish line and I zagged out for the second loop.
Again, I felt okay enough despite the heat and sun to keep doing the run/walk. I passed about four others during the second loop, which made me feel pretty good.
Not long after starting loop two, I was looking towards the finish line and then it was over.
I had fun, I was happy with my time and I thought the race was very well organized and the volunteers were great.
Now I'm focused on the Urban Wildland 1/2 marathon, which is this Saturday. It will be Hubby's first 1/2 marathon and I'm hoping we both have a great day.
In the meantime, I continue to get my training in....swim on Monday; bike today; open water swim and bike tomorrow; spin and run on Thursday; stretch and core work on Friday....
Tick tock, tick....tock....
I always hate the time when triathlon season starts winding down. I wait, wait, wait all winter long to be able to be outside swimming, riding and running and then WHOOOSH.... it seems to be over in a blink of an eye.
I know that, with IM WI looming, the season isn't really over. There are still four pretty intense training weeks ahead, followed by a two-week "taper" of some sort, but, summer has definitely gone from feeling like there are endless weeks stretching ahead of me to "how long until Labor Day weekend?"
This year was the second year for Waseca's event. The field was pretty small. Only 100 people did the 1/3 Iron distance, which was really a 1 mile swim; 33 mile bike ride and 8.8 mile run. Of the 100, only 34 women did the distance.
A couple of people I used to train with from time to time also did the 1/3 Iron distance; Steve Stenzel and his brother-in-law did the sprint distance, so I could catch up with a couple friendly faces while waiting to get in to the water.
The swim was trouble free. The water was very warm, but they allowed wetsuits. Honestly, I would have been fine if they hadn't allowed them, but since they did, I took advantage of the extra buoyancy and feeling of security.
The race website warned us of potholes on the bike course, but honestly I didn't encounter any. (They may have been referring to the sprint course having potholes). I was actually quite impressed with the quality of the roads.
My legs were tired on the bike. Maybe a little aftermath of Chisago... could have been the fact that I rode some hills the day prior to Waseca with one of my old coaches, Greg Rhodes. He gave me some great tips as we (I) trudged up some killer hills in St. Paul.
In any event, I didn't think I had much mojo on the bike ride, but my pace was holding steady. Until, of course, a turn on the course pushed the bikes right in to a headwind. Not a huge one, but enough of one that my mph dropped from 18 to about 14. Depressing.
That stretch of road seemed to go on forever, but I was able to pass a couple of people -- and eventually the course turned out of the wind and pedaling was easier.
By the time I came in to T2, the sun was blazing hot, the humidity was high and I thought long and hard about just going home.
Rationale? "Well, this is really just a C minus race for me... why do I need to finish this???"
Why? Because.... that's why.
So, I got out on to the run course and did my run/walk thing. No particular "schedule" of run/walk, but just plodded along. The 8.8 mile course consisted of two-loops around Clear Lake. Pretty course with very little shade.
About mile 3, I bumped in to an old friend from work and we ran/walked a bit together. He was just about to finish the race and I still had a second loop. It was nice to have the company for a bit.
But then he zigged to the finish line and I zagged out for the second loop.
Again, I felt okay enough despite the heat and sun to keep doing the run/walk. I passed about four others during the second loop, which made me feel pretty good.
Not long after starting loop two, I was looking towards the finish line and then it was over.
I had fun, I was happy with my time and I thought the race was very well organized and the volunteers were great.
Now I'm focused on the Urban Wildland 1/2 marathon, which is this Saturday. It will be Hubby's first 1/2 marathon and I'm hoping we both have a great day.
In the meantime, I continue to get my training in....swim on Monday; bike today; open water swim and bike tomorrow; spin and run on Thursday; stretch and core work on Friday....
Tick tock, tick....tock....
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