Bittersweet and Sweet: Pigman 1/2 Iron Recap

Bittersweet:
Still reeling from having to euthanize Gorby on Monday night. Sad, crabby and eating every thing in sight. (I'm an emotional eater, in case you haven't figured that out...)

I did receive a curious call from the U last night. The doctor how had performed the initial necropsy yesterday called to ask if Gorby had been euthanized or if he had died on his own. She said the report didn't reflect what had happened.

I told her that we had to euthanize him and then asked her how extensive the tumors were in his midsection. She said they were multiple tumors all over his midsection and that the rate at which they reoccurred was "astonishing". She said that I made the right decision for him, which helps, but doesn't make the decision or the loss any less painful.

Anyway...

Sweet: Pigman 1/2 Iron Recap:

For those of you who like the "short version" .

Did I have fun? Yes

Was it hard? Parts of it

Will I do a 1/2 iron distance event again? You bet!
The stats:

Swim 1.2 miles: 49:18

T1: 5:02

Bike 56 miles: 3:45:51

T2: 4:28

Run 13.1 miles: 2:55:40

Total: 7:40:17

Long, drawn out version with PHOTOS!
I drove down to Cedar Rapids my good friends: Marcia and Marty L. Marcia has been training partner of mine and Nat's for many years and a veteran of many triathlons and marathons.

In fact, many of my running friends say ""MMMDI (Marcia Made Me Do It) because she gets us involved and excited about participating in lots of crazy events and activities. Marty is newer to this whole marathon thing, but has two under his belt: Marine Corp and Grandma's.

We met Natalie at the 'official' hotel, where many other triathletes were getting settled in to their rooms, getting their bikes check by Gear West, picking up their race packets and milling about.

The first thing Nat said to me was "We have the cheapest bikes here".

This is pretty much what all the other bikes looked like:

This is what our bikes looked like:
Actually, Nat has a very nice bike, complete with Aerobars. I have a great hybrid from Marin (the Fairfax). It is light weight, comfortable and gets me where I need to go. I'm just much slower getting there...

None the less, we felt woefully under equipped. And the race wasn't until the next day...

We wanted to check out the actual race area and get in to the lake for a test swim. This was a recommendation from our coach Greg. He also told us to check out the bike route, which turned out to be a very smart idea.

The start of the race is about 13 miles outside of Cedar Rapids -- Palo, Iowa. We got to the park and found a few other athletes checking out the lake and transition area.

Race officials were marking the swim route and the buoys look to be a L O N G way out, covering a L O T of the lake. More panic.

We got in the water and did a couple of quick laps, which helped relieve my anxiety quite a bit.

Once I got in to the rhythm of the swim, I thought: "Okay, I've spent a lot of time training this summer; I've put in the time and the effort. I just have to remember to put one foot in front of the other; take one stroke at a time and I'll be fine".

Driving the bike course was also helpful, because the map of the course was NOT very helpful. We got lost a couple of times, but made mental notes of the right turns; the location of hills and "rumbles" on the road.

Both Nat and I got very quiet during our course drive.

"Damn. Fifty-six miles IS a long way...."

We made our way back to the hotel, picked up Marcia (who had been volunteering at the check-in desk) and Marty and went to Olive Garden for dinner.

Marcia had prepared goodie bags for us filled with lots of fun treats, including Goldfish, sunblock, and funny glasses:

After dinner, it was time for bed.

The alarm went off early -- 4:15 am.


Nat and I got every all our stuff ready and caught a little bit of the Olympics. I think NBC was covering the popular sport of Four Square at 4:00 am....Here is a shot of Nat eating the first of many energy bars for the day watching the rousing game between Albania and Turks/Caicos...


Finally, we were ready to go, and I took this self portrait. Mostly "just in case" so that if I didn't survive, Hubby would have a photo of me:











We got to the event, set up our transition area and freaked out.


Marcia volunteered to do body marking:
And then it was time to start.

Nat and I signed up as Athena's, so we were in the 2nd wave. The Elites went in to the water at 7:30 am; we went in at 7:31 am.

The water was cool enough that we could wear wetsuits. That extra buoyancy really adds confidence! I felt really great in the water and did the ENTIRE swim without taking a break. That is a triathlon first for me. I was very surprised when I looked at my watch and it indicated that I took 49 minutes to cover 1.2 miles. I was very pleased.

Transition 1 took a couple minutes longer than usual. The day was going to be very hot and sunny and I needed to make sure that I had some sunscreen protection.

Finally got out on the bike course and had to walk through a couple of early mental challenges. "Man, it is going to be a really long day out here."

"Geeze, I don't really want to do all these HILLS".

"I should quit!"

But, I didn't! I just kept pedalling. Up and down; Up and Down; UP and down: UP and down

Marcia and Marty were driving the course to find us at various spots to provide cheers, water, ice and comic relief. At one point, they both were wearing the glasses/nose combo, which was hysterical. It was great to see them out there.

As tough as the hills were, I really had good energy along the course and at the end. I ate fig newtons (from Target -- deelicous, by the by), some Clif Shots, and Gatorade Endurance Formula with some Carbo Pro mixed in.

I was very surprised and very pleased that I didn't bonk at all nutritiously out there on the course.

The bike portion took me 3:45:51. I was much slower than I thought I'd be, but I contribute that to the hills and the Barbie bike...

Run: Okay, so it is now 11:50 am on a cloudless, hot August day in Iowa, where there is lots of corn, hogs and soybeans, but not many Maples or Oaks...

No shade on the run course.

No kidding.

I knew that I'd finish the race. There was no doubt. I decided that I was going to really just "have a day" out there and not kill myself for time. I was so happy with my swim and so happy that I wasn't about to keel over from hunger that what ever time that 1/2 marathon was going to take was fine with me.

So I "ran". Meaning I ran some but walked a lot. In my defense, there were a ton of people walking the course. I think the sun wore out a lot of us.

The course was very well organized with a water stop at every mile. Each was stocked with adequate water, Powerade, pretzels, animal crackers, oranges, bananas and ICE.

Wonderful, fantastic, refreshing ice. Ahhhhh....

I was amazed at how fast the miles clicked by, even though I was really taking my time.

I finally saw Natalie again right after mile 4 for me; about mile 8 for her. She looked great. She was taking her sweet time out on the run course as well. We chatted for a moment and then moved on.

Marcia and Marty were again out on the course. By now, they were the "new best friends" of many of the athletes on the course, since so many of us saw them at so many places. There aren't many spectators out along the course so I think a lot of participants were very happy to see Marcia and Marty multiple times during the event.

The last three miles of the run are uphill as you go back in to the park. That was the only real tough, tough spot out on the course. I found Marcia one more time, with about a mile to go. She hung with me until I turned that final corner and then I took off for the finish.

Crossed the line and felt unbelievably happy, proud and accomplished.

I found Natalie, who was also just beaming. (A grimy, sweaty beam, but beaming nonetheless).

We all hung around the finish area for a while and then got ready to go back to the hotel.

Cathy Yndestad, a triathlete from Apple Valley, came in first for women at the event. She is an amazing athlete.

The win at Pigman was her 11th win out of 12 starts THIS YEAR.

She was leaving as we were leaving and I went over to introduce myself and to tell her congrats. She was very gracious to all of us and heartily congratulated Nat and I on our accomplishment.

The nicest thing she said to us was that it was a tough day and a tough course. That made Nat and I feel like we were champions, even if we did ride Barbie Bikes.

Marcia and Marty took lots of photos too. When I get copies, I'll post some, and promise to not write as much...

Gorby

I finished Pigman 1/2 Iron tri yesterday. Nat and I did a great job and had a lot of fun. Our very good friends Marcia and Marty were in Iowa with us and provided the best support triathletes could ever want.

I'll post a full race report with photos in a few days. I just am not up to it today.

I drove back to Minneapolis today to sadness.

Over the weekend, before I left for Iowa, we noticed that there were wet spots on the bed where Gorby had been spending his days.

We thought a first that we had spilled some water, but Hubby noticed on Saturday night the Gorby was "dribbling". He was starting to lose his ability to control his bladder.

His appetite had not picked up much -- even with the prednisone and was continuing to lose weight.

When I got home today, I called the Vet at the U and we determined the cutting his dose of prednisone might help.

I felt relieved with that diagnosis -- until he tried to get off the bed.

Gorby couldn't really stand well, his back legs collapsed several times under him. He made his way in to the kitchen and plopped down on the floor.

Kirby and Lefty, two of our other cats, came to stand guard over Gorby, but this was clearly the sign that I had to have that enough was enough and I had to help my friend get to the Rainbow Bridge.

Hubby came home. We called the U and told them we were coming in.

We got Gorby in to his carrier and took the very long, sad ride to the clinic.

The people at the U and the set up has always been impressive to me. They have a very comfortable space for both the humans and the animals to say goodbye.

We took our time with Gorby; he purred and we cuddled.

Then when we were all ready, the very nice vet with the very hard job injected the medicine to stop Gorby's heart while I held him close to me and I sobbed my heart out.

I got to hold him for a while longer and then the vet took clay impressions of his paws for me.

I'll get him back in a few weeks after his autopsy (necropsy) and cremation.

I just hope that I was the very best support to him that he could ever expect.

Look at that COUNTDOWN TIMER!

Yes, we are within 1 day and 20 hours of Pigman TRI! Yikes!

The summer of training just flew by.

Do I feel stonger?

Definitely.

Am I ready?

Hope so!

Am I nervous?

Absolutely.


My goal: enjoy the day and do the best I can. Finish the race with a smile and be proud to say "I am an 1/2 Iron(wo)man.

A shout out to my friend and fellow Pig: Natalie.

We are going to ROCK!

I am not a Mountain Goat...

The story, as it goes, is that I was rather klutzy as a child.

I don't remember it as such, but, I've been told.

Actually, I've been told that my mother first noticed this.

She remarked to someone after one of my falls, that had I been born a Mountain Goat, I would not have survived my first year.

She was certain that I would have fallen off some cliff or mountain side and would have never made goat -- er, I mean HUMAN middle-age.

Well, some things never change.

Since moving up to bike clips this year, I've fallen about 5 or 6 times. I've broken 3 mirrors. I've had bruised hips, hands full of road rash and a very beaten up ego.

Why ego, you ask?

With the exception of the crash that happened a few weeks ago, when I was riding over the Mendota Bridge and a kid, going the opposite way, crossed over the middle line and clipped my handle bars causing us both to fly off our bikes, every single fall has happened when I was either coming to a stop, or STOPPED.

Yes, stopped.

I'll clip out of my right pedal with no problems, glide to a stop and then WHAM! Fall over on my left side when unable, for whatever reason, to not be able to get my foot out of the saddle.

Fortunately, I have not done this in traffic.

Unfortunately, I have done this in front of other bikers, small children and many, many friends.

I fell last week, broke the mirror and scrapped my knee. Also had a wicked tender spot on the inside of my upper thigh on the left side, where the saddle landed -- hard-- in to my leg.

Today, my wonderful friends Marcia, Gary, Kathy T, Cheryl and Julie all joined me for my last "long" ride before Pigman.

We rode together for about 2 hours and then the team was going to head on back to their cars and I was going to go do one last little burst-of-speed blast.

I pulled off the trail to say goodbye, clipped out of the right side, stopped, and WHAM. Fell over to the LEFT, re-scraping my poor scabbed up knee, and re-hitting that tender spot on my thigh.

The mirror did not break.

Note to self: Find someone or figure out the way to loosen up the clip on my left bike shoe.

Bigger note to self: Mom was right.

Updates: Cat, Toe, Training - cha cha cha

Several updates today.



I'll start with the easiest:

Training:

I did a ROCKING swim yesterday with friends and fellow triathletes Marcia, Gary and Dave. We went to one of Marcia's fav places, Little Long Lake, which is a nice sized, clean lake just outside of Minneapolis. Gas boats and "large" boats are not allowed on the lake, so if there is any boaters, they are in small motorized fishing boats, canoes or kayaks.


The lake is secluded enough that there are not pesky policemen waiting to bust you with a $125.00 ticket for open water swimming. It is not so secluded that there were several other triathletes doing practice swims, so we were definitely not alone in the water.

We swam from the boat launch to a dock, to the other side of the lake, where we encountered about 25 campers, who looked to be about 12 or 13 years old and who were getting ready to go on to the lake for a little canoe adventure. I'm sure we looked like creatures of the sea emerging to attack the camp when we came out of the water.


I did not wear my wetsuit in preparation for the possibility of the lake at Pigman being too warm to allow us to us them. Usually, I depend on the wetsuit for that extra buoyancy in the water.

Yesterday, though I felt very good in the water without it. Hurray. Progress!

Toe:

You might recall Nat's "toe of woe" story from June where she ripped off her big toe nail while trying to put her bike rack on her car.



It took her several weeks to scab over and now she has this cute little bacon strip looking thing where her nail used to be. Looks oh, so chic. (See pics on her blog).

Well, never to be one to let my friends suffer alone, I had my own toe incident recently.

Actually, the actual "incident" happened in July at the Richfield long pool. I was helping to put the lane lines in the water for one of our practice swims and a rung from the line slipped under my big toe nail. Someone pulled up on the line and SNAP went my toe nail.

Hurt and bled like a muthafocker.


What I didn't realize until last Sunday, is that when it went SNAP, it really snapped the nail at the nail bed. I was taking off nail polish and realized I could lift the entire toe nail off my toe, except at one tiny corner where it was still attached to the nail bed.

yeech.


I could see that I had a new nail forming under the old one, so I just clipped the old one off. My new nail does not look like bacon, but it sure does look strange next to the others.


So Nat and I are TOE-ins. (Say it quick; should sound sorta like TWINS).






Cat:

You are probably sick of hearing about Gorby, but it is what it is. He had a recheck with an oncologist at the U this morning and the news was not good at all.

Tumors are back (surgery was a little over three weeks ago). This is a very aggressive cancer indeed.

The Vet, a very, very nice man, outlined a range of treatments including chemo, feeding tubes, blah, blah, blah to doing nothing but making Gorby comfortable.

The chemo course does not really do a lot for him -- it may extend his time a little. It may not.

The "do-nothing" course is also a crap shoot. We don't know how long it may be (or may not be) until he loses his appetite all together, is in pain (or not), is no longer having any quality of life.

Very sad news.


Hubby came with me this morning, and that was very helpful to have the extra support and pair of ears.

Right now, this moment, I'm leaning towards some minor medication to help relieve inflammation and to just let him enjoy what ever time he has left, spoiling him rotten.

I really don't like my friends (furry or otherwise) suffer alone.


And this absolutely breaks my heart.

Urban Wildland --

I got back from SFO, safe and sound. The trip was successful work-wise, Hubby-wise and training-wise.

I had that awesome hillwork out (see previous post) and also got a swim workout in. No, not in the bay, but in a pool at Club One. My hotel had discounted guest passes, so I took advantage of that.

The pool was small (only 3 lanes and 25 yards long), but I got in 2000 yards in a little less than an hour. I've been very, very spoiled by the 50 meter swims at Richfield this summer. Going back to 25 yards is "weird".

The shorter lengths also means I'll have to spend lots more time in the lake before Pigman, which is ONLY 14 days away. In fact, in two weeks, I'll be on the bike course of the event right about now....

Urban Wildland 1/2 Marathon was yesterday. It was my third time running the race.

Urban Wildland is a very well organized, pretty race. It starts at the Richfield Pool park (more officially known as Veterans Park), winds through a couple of nature preserves, through some nice neighborhoods, where the folks come out to cheer, and then finishes back at the park.

Last year I PRd at Urban (2:16:47 -- 10:24 per mile) This year, no PR.

Two of my friends, Cheryl and Carla, also ran the race yesterday. We all started together, but quickly started to do our own thing.

I ran really well to mile 11. I got there at 1:59 on my watch, which equates a 10:49 pace. I was doing my 7 minute run/1 minute walk thing and was feeling pretty darn good.

At mile 11, it was as if someone deflated the "feel good" balloon. It took me about 26 minutes to cover the last 2.1 miles. (Pitiful).

Finish time 2:25:02, or 11:04 per mile. Sigh.

The good news is this was my third best 1/2 marathon time....I also had a very FUN time, so that is good. I also have officially "covered the distance" for Pigman, so I know I can do it.

Cheryl and Carla also did really well yesterday, so it was a successful day for all.

So now, I move in to the last week of all out training for Pigman. Natalie and I were supposed to bike this morning, but it was raining so we decided to do our own workouts. We will hook up at some point this week to hammer out a swim or bike or run.

---
Cat Update: Thanks to Sabrina and Ginna for doing such a great job cat sitting. All the cats are doing well, although Gorby's status remains a mystery to me.

He seems a bit thinner and, although still eating, is not eating with the same voracity he was just last week. I'm supposed to get more information this week from the Vet -- so I'll have more info to make decisions and / or have a better understanding of what's to come.

Hill Work in the Mecca of Hills

Fast and furious business trip this week to San Francisco.

The trip was planned long before Gorby was diagnosed with cancer. I feel a little guilty for leaving, but work is work, and Gorby is doing remarkably well. And, I've got some ACE cat sitters taking care of the house and the critters.

THANK YOU GINNA AND SABRINA!

One really nice thing is that Hubby had to be here too for work so, although we traveled separately and arrived and will depart on different days, we do get to hang out a bit here.

My training plan is "suffering" a bit here, as I don't have a bike here. (Yes, I know I could rent one, but....)

My coach, Greg, did write out my training plan to accommodate my travels: yesterday called for hill work.

I did a nice warm up going from the hotel down to the Ferry Building, over past Fisherman's Wharf to the beach where other triathletes do their open water swims.

I continued past the beach and went out on the breakwater. Turned around and started hill repeats at the entrance of Fort Mason.

The entrance is open to pedestrians and bikers only, so I didn't have to worry about anyone trying to recreate the "Karl-Malden-Michael-Douglas ARE the Streets of San Francisco" thing.

WOW. Talk about a hill for repeats! Zowie!

Up and down; up and down; upanddown; upanddown; updown. You get the drill.

After my run, Hubby and I went Circa for dinner. The head chef is one of the folks that was on Top Chef - Chicago last season. Food was very good (salmon and brown rice for me; sea bass and garlic mashed potatoes for Hubby). We split a slice of really SUPER DELICIOUS key lime cheesecake for dessert.

Hubby is on his way back home now; I leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

I have a swim workout planned for later today. No, not in the bay (call me "Weenie"), but a nice pool at a health club near the hotel.

"4" and "2" -- hours EACH

This was a big weekend for training activities. Pigman is only 20 days away...so it is PEAK training time.

My coach, Greg, scheduled a four-hour bike ride on both Nat's and my calendar for Saturday. We met at my house at 6:45 am yesterday and took off on the trails. We rode routes between Minneapolis and St. Paul for two-hours and then hooked up with our friends Marcia, Marty and Gary at Lake Nokomis.

They were also doing a ride, so we figured "the more, the merrier". We all rode together for about 50 minutes, and then Nat and I turned around to head back to my house.

The ride was actually not too bad. We both determined that we did not bring enough to eat, though. My two fat free Fig Newtons just didn't cut it.

We covered about 50 miles over the 4-hour ride. We stopped a couple of times for traffic lights; once because I fell. At a stoplight.... Not moving..... Just clipped in to my pedal on one side and did the classic BOOM and went over. Hurt my pride more than my hip, which landed squarely on the curb....

We both were hungry and tired after the ride, but it was a confidence builder. We both now think that 56 miles is attainable. Hurrah for us.

Greg, who is also Nat's coach for Pigman, is trying to work with both of us on the "nutrition during the event" thing. It is a delicate balance that we haven't quite mastered.

I also have been experimenting a little with hydration options. I really like Gatorade Endurance Formula. It has a little extra sodium and because I sweat so much when it is hot, I think this is helpful.

I used to be able to buy GEF in liquid form at a local grocery store. But, it must not have been a big seller, because it is no longer offered. Instead, there are shelves and shelves of the "new" Tiger formula. (Named for you-know-who, the Golfer...). That formula also has some extra sodium, but not the same as GEF.

I finally broke down and bought the giant TUB of GEF powder. I found it at a local running store. This works out well for me, because I can mix the formula's strength to my taste a little easier.

But why leave well enough alone?

I had read about Accelerade and found that Target carries it. I picked up a couple of bottles and have used it, but don't like it at all. It has a milky taste to it that I don't care for. Rule out Accelerade.

I had received two bottles of ABB Carbo Force at an event earlier this year. Finally tired those out and they were okay.

I think I'm going to just stick with GEF -- tired and true.

------

Today's plan called for a 2-hour run. It was very hot and very humid outside. Typical August weather for us, but since the summer has been so unusual, I'm not totally acclimated to the humidity.

Generally, I don't mind the humidity -- it does take a little bit of time (like, oh let's say, the month of June...) to get used to it.

I left the house and felt very good for about 75 minutes of the run. At 1:15, I started to lose steam. At 1:33, there was no gas in the tank (see "nutrition" comments above). At 1:53 of the run, I was D O N E.

It took every ting I had to just talk myself through running those last eight minutes.

Finally, they ticked away and I was done. Hurrah for me.

Buca, Brick: boy, oh boy!

So I've been pretty good following Weight Watchers over the last several weeks. My company started a WW at Work series and I signed up for the 12-week series.

I've lost any where between 12 and 15 lbs, depending on which scale I use, when. (I'm sure many of you know and can relate to the drill: weigh yourself at home, nekked, in the morning after you pee and it is one number. Go to the meeting, which is held after you've had your first Venti Coffee from Starbucks, are wearing your work "uniform" and it is another number...)

Anyway, I'm glad that I dropped some lbs and am -- for the most part -- eating "cleaner".

Training has ramped up and I find that I'm hungry A LOT.

Yesterday, Hubby and I were driving to work and drove past Buca di Beppo -- home of the biggest, most deeelicious family-style platters of artery-cloggin', gut-bustin', Eye-talian food.

Someone else's voice came out of my head: "Man, I could really go for Buca!".

Hubby said "Yum".

We were going to meet Stepdaughter for dinner anyway, and it was way too hot to cook so, like lemmings drawn to the cliff, we made reservations for 7:30 pm and had a food fiesta.

Hubby was right: Yum.

Today's workout schedule called for a brick: bike for 1 hour; then run for 30 minutes.

I could not drag my pasta-laden carcass out of bed at 5:30 am today, so I had to wiggle the brick in during the middle of the day.

Oh -- Summer, which has been rarely seen here in Minneapolis this year, made an appearance today: It is in the high 80's and humid.

Perfect for heading out midday for a bike and run.

WOW.

All I can say is I'm glad it's done. The bike was pretty good. The run was tough.

The only good thing is that I kept reminding myself that being out in the middle of the day is good practice for Pigman.

I figure that the swim/bike for the 1/2IM will take me about 5 hours (plus or minus many minutes). Race starts at 7:30 am, so that puts me starting the run sometime after 12:30 pm.

No reason to do training runs at 7:00 am when it is cool and comfortable, when I'll probably be out there in the middle of Iowa, plodding along in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, Nat and I will do a 4-hour training RIDE. Our plan is to do part of the ride with our friends Marcia, Marty and Gary.

I hope the humidity breaks!

Crack o' Dawn...

I met Nat at 6:00 am today for a swim in Channhassen's lovely Lake Ann.

Nat's toe has mostly recovered -- she still has a scab where her nail used to be, but no pain and no scariness, so she is back in the training saddle.

It was a little tough to get up at 5:00 am since it was still dark out. Thank heavens for the timer on our coffee maker.

I can just about stumble out of bed, head in to the kitchen and have that sip of coffee to help convince me it is NOT time to get back under the covers.

We met in the parking lot near the beach just as the raindrops started to fall.

We tried to "convince" each other that we should alter our plans, but then the reality that Pigman 1/2 Iron is less than 30 days away.

There was not threat of thunder or lightening, so we trotted down to the beach, put on our wetsuits and went swimming.

It was a good workout for us. We took the same route I did with our coach -- Greg -- a few weeks back. It took us about 3/4 across the lake and back, for a total of about 40 - 45 mintues.

Then it was home, kiss the just-waking-up Hubby, shower, feed the cats, and zip to work.

I'm not sure that the workday will be as fun as the swim...

Workouts from sunrise to sunset

Just a quick update:


I had a very early conference call with folks on the east coast yesterday, which cut in to my regular morning training schedule.

I was able to still get a good bike workout in yesterday by riding to and from work. May not sound like the "best" bike workout, if you equate "best" to "intense", but when you are running short on time, you get in what you can get in.

I swam with my Tri Club's Masters group last night -- had a really great workout over the hour.

warm up 200 each: IM (I do breast and free); freestyle drill; free build

2 sets each: 100 all out, 50 easy, 10 second rest; 100 at mile pace, 5 seconds rest; 100 at mile pace less 5 seconds, 5 seconds rest; 100 mile pace, 50 easy, 30 seconds rest.

300 free, trying to take two less stokes for each 100. I could cut back by one, but not two...

GLIDE, GLIDE....

I'm really starting to notice how much daylight has disappeared over the last few weeks. I'm up at 5:00 am and usually out the door for my first workout of the day by 5:30 or 5:45... and it is still dark now.

Last night, the sun was gone within 45 minutes of hitting the pool. We wrap up the outdoor workouts for the summer next week. Then it is back to the boring, 25 meter indoor pool.

Time really flies....

Gorby Home; Back to Training

Gorby came home on Saturday -- one day after surgery.

He was doing so well postoperatively (vitals were good; he was eating and drinking) that they let him come home.

It is great to have him back in the house. He is moving slowly, but doing all the right cat stuff -- eating, drinking, using the box and, best of all, purring.

I'll have a full biopsy report in about a week. I am not expecting any miracles.

I will talk to the oncologist about what to expect. My current plans are to spoil that cat as best as I can.

Thanks to you all who posted thoughtful comments. I know he is just a cat, but he is my cat and he means a lot to me.

----

Back to training --

I did a brick workout on Saturday with my good friends Marcia and Gary. We swam at Lake Nokomis for about 25 minutes and then went on a 25 mile bike ride.

Gary is an avid cyclist and lead us on a great route that went through Minneapolis, St. Paul and some of the near by suburbs. We rode on beautiful trails, near the Mississippi River and through some great parks.

My training plan scheduled for Sunday was a 3-hour bike ride. I liked the route Gary showed us so much that I pretty much repeated it, adding some additional miles to get to 3-hours. According to mapmyrun.com, I went just about 35 miles.



My only problem yesterday was a crash that happened on one of the bridges over the river.

I went riding later in the day, when the weekend warriors were out. Many families were taking advantage of the nice day. I was on a bridge heading back in to Minneapolis from Mendota Heights and there was a dad riding with a daughter going the opposite way. Behind him was his son (about 8 years old), who's attention was on the river, not the path.

He was veering over to the middle of the path and I had no where to go. He didn't hear me call out to him, "Heads UP!"

His handlebars clipped my handlebars and we both went flying down.

Fortunately, neither of us was hurt (no blood), but his hand hurt and my hip is tender today.

The boy apologized profusely -- I did too. The dad was not mad (hurrah) and we all survived.

Made me very leery of bridges for the rest of my ride, though.

-----

The next couple of weeks will be filled with lots of intense workouts. I'm okay with that. It will help me keep my mind off of other things.

Out of Surgery but not out of Woods

Gorby is out of surgery.

Did "well" -- tumor is removed. He is still sleeping off the anethesia.

Doc said the tumor was large, but no evidence that it had invaded the bowel (good).

Lymph nodes are "huge" (not so good). Partly because they were near a blood source and partly because of the cancer.

If the sutures hold and he starts to heal quickly, he could be home by Sunday/Monday.

Then we take it one day at a time.

Running; Cat Update

No clever title for my post today.

Just a couple quick updates:

Gorby is in surgery as I write this. The U found a donor cat to supply blood if needed. The blood thing is a big deal -- found a bunch of info on it via my friend "The Google".

Most interesting info was found here.

I should know his status in a couple of hours by the latest.

Sigh...

In the mix of all of this, my training has really taken a back seat. Too tired; too exhausted (which are two different things if you think about it...); too drained.

But, unfortunately, that countdown timer to the right of my blog doesn't stand still just because I have a sick cat and Pigman is coming up soon.

I actually got my tush out of bed this morning and went for a run.

I had a great run. Felt really good, felt like I was running at a good pace, didn't take any walk breaks between my house and all around Lake Calhoun.

I walked through a small parkway for about a block on the way home and then ran the rest of the way. Covered 4.29 miles in less than 45 minutes, putting my pace at slightly less than 10:29/mile.

I'm happy with this because my running has been very ragged this year. Today felt really good.

It has also been tough keeping my appetite under control. The good news is that I'm not raiding the candy jar. I'm just not being as diligent about points right now.

What can I say?

I'll post when I have more news about Gorby.

Gorby at the U; waiting for surgery...

Quick update: Gorby is at the U waiting to have the tumor removed.

The procedure falls under the Palliative Care umbrella.

For those of you non-medicals (like me yesterday), Palliative Care is any form of medical are or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than halting of delaying progression of the disease or providing a cure.

In other words, we are taking the possibility of an intestine problem (perforation, constriction or obstruction) off the table by taking the tumor out, but are not getting rid of the cancer.

Apparently that is not an actual possibility.

Very hard news to take, especially since the cat "looks" so healthy.

The surgery was scheduled for this morning, but there is a shortage of cat blood in Minnesota! (Can you believe this????)

They have to try to shore up supplies before they can do the procedure, which will probably be tomorrow.

When the Vet called me to tell me this today, she said that the "donor cats" aren't due to donate, but that another Vet Tech had cats that were already screened, so they are going to try to use them today.

(I have have visions of cats reclining on chairs, donating blood and then eating liver pate cookies and drinking mouse juice afterwards to help get their strength back....)

Anyway, my current thought is that if the surgery doesn't happen tomorrow, it is a sign from God/Buddah/Allah/Jehovah/Mother Earth/Krishha or who ever that it shouldn't happen and we should just bag it.

At least that is my thought at 3:28 pm today.

Today is a bummer day...

I take Gorby back to the U today for a "surgical consult" with Team One to determine the course of action regarding his intestinal tumor.

I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place:

If I do nothing, the tumor will grow and cancer will spread OR the tumor will grow and either obstruct, perforate or constrict his intestine, which, along with the cancer, presents a whole new set of problems.

I've got a list of questions a mile long to ask and reask Team One about the procedures, the recovery process, the recovery success, etc.

Depending on all the answers, Gorby will either spend the night there and have surgery tomorrow or come home with me, untreated.

Gorby, during all of this, just keeps trucking. Eating like a horse; drinking; "eliminatining"; looking for attenting and getting lots of love.

I was going to post a picture, but the Blogger template is a little weird today, and I don't see the icon to upload photos.

I'll leave you with this: =^..^=

My Name In Lights and "Stuff"

There it is! My name in lights! First place in my category. Yee ha.




First things first:


This "stuff" with Gorby (see post from July 11th) is very wearing. I've talked with the vet at the U; my regular Vet; my sisters, Hubby, friends, etc. All "roads of advice" point to really the only option, which is a crappy one:




Get the cat in for surgery to remove the tumor as soon as possible. Won't cure him, but will (hopefully) stop the chance of a perforated bowel or obstruction or blockage, which may be even more horrible than just having cancer. Then, continue to make decisions as more info is revealed.
I'm trying to get an appointment for this week, as much as I dread it.


Thought I'd post a couple of pictures of him taken today as we sat out in the backyard enjoying the summer. He doesn't look sick does he?










Other photos to post today are some shots from LifeTime:



Jill Goodwin, another Goody Girl from Columbus, participated yesterday at LTF. We both were wearing our Goody uniforms, so we found each other. Hubby took a picture of us:






Here I am rocking out of T1.


Finally, my time on the Podium.... that was kind of fun, I have to admit.

Unlike other years, they didn't have the trophy at the event.
They said they would mail me my award.

Wonder if they could just award me a cancer-free cat?

3:25:02

Short version of my results at today's LifeTime Fitness tri:

I knocked slightly over 15 minutes off of last year's finish time and 17 minutes off of my finish time at Rochester.

Yippee!

I came in first in my age division (Athena 50 and over). Even though I'm only 49, LTF is a USAT Sanctioned event, so participants race in the age group category of their age on December 31st of the year.

This year, there were two of us in the 50+ group.

I finished first in my category 2 years ago (a field of 1); I finished 2nd last year (a field of 3); this year, 1st (field of 2), but I also landed in the middle of the whole Athena pack. Hurrah)

-----

(Slight side note: There are a couple of reasons I sign up as an Athena at LTF.

1) We get in to the water early. My start time was 7:12 am. There are over 3,000 participants at this event and the number of waves and start times go on forever. I want to be in the water early to get things rolling.

2) The field is small. This year, the whole Athena group had 23 participants. Clydesdales had three waves totaling 66 participants.

I'm sure that the women's group is so much smaller because of the "stigma" of the weight category. (Women have to weigh 150 or more lbs; Men, over 200 lbs).

I believe the men could care less who knows that they weigh over 200 lbs. Women on the other hand, have been shamed about our weight for a long time. I'm guessing that women who could enter as an Athena won't or don't.

We could all debate the "fairness" of a weight category in endurance events (pounds stretched over a very tall, very fit frame is not the same as pounds stretched over a "regular" frame; or in some cases, like mine last year and this year, pounds very close to the minimum requirements versus many pounds over the minimum), but I'm not up to that today.

Today I'm just reporting results for ME (because it is all about ME today...) (wink wink)

-----

Swim 1.5K: 40:13 (over 10 minutes better than last year)

T1: 5:18 (includes ripping off wet suit and taking a potty break)

Bike 40K: 1:28:17 (over 7 minutes better than last year)

T2: 3:01 (it was a LONG way to from my bike to the RUN OUT spot...)

Run 10K: 1:08:12 (slightly 3 minute MORE than last year).

Total time: 3:25:02 Last year finish time: 3:40:09

Hubby and Sabrina came to the event to cheer me on. It was great to have them there. I'll have some pictures to post tomorrow or Monday.

"Master Spreadsheet"

LifeTime Fitness tri is tomorrow. I'm excited and "ready" -- I think.

I have a larger issue occupying my brain today, though.

I'm a cat person. Hubby and I have four of them -- Lefty, Callie, Kirby and Gorby. We love those fur balls of wonderfulness.

Gorby and Callie were my cats; Kirby, Hubby's and Lefty is "ours". We adopted him after we were married.

When I adopted Gorby, he came to live with me and my first cat, Dinki.

Dinki came in to my life in 1977. I was going in to my sophomore year at Wisconsin and was moving in to my first "off campus" apartment. She was abandoned by her former owners and was hanging out near the porch of the apartment.

I took her in, we shared a lot of tuna (I was following the Weight Watchers program then as well...) and that was that. She stayed with me until she died, 22 years later.

Gorby came to live with Dinki and I during a very difficult stretch of time for me. My father had passed away and a very good friend of mine, Marlene, had been killed in an accident while we were on a trip to Chicago.

Yes, we. I was with her when she was hit by the car.

So it was a particularly bleak time in my life then when I went to the Humane Society and found Gorby. He was a very welcomed and loved addition to my life.

So I have a l o n g history with these animals. And, as any animal lover will tell you, they have a way of wiggling in to our hearts as true members of the family.

Gorby developed a mast cell tumor on the top of his head about a year ago. Typically, these tumors are not a big problem for felines.

I saw my vet and then took him to the University of Minnesota Veterniary Teaching Hospital -- an amazing place. Because of some additional issues with Gorby (a heart murmur and a bout of kidney disease), I opted to not have the tumor removed. It wasn't bothering him and there was no evidence of any other issues.

About two weeks ago, I took him back to the U for a recheck. The tumor had grown and I wanted to see what my options are. The doctor said the tumor was really not an issue, but went on to find a mass in his belly during the exam.

Gorby had an ultrasound on Wednesday and it revealed a large tumor, which is wrapping itself around his intestine. His lymph nodes were also enlarged. The Vet took some samples and I got the lab results yesterday.

The news is not good.

The cancer is "aggressive" and the prognosis is not positive.

At a minimum, he'll have to have the tumor removed. (If not, either the cancer will kill him, or the tumor will eventually get so large it will constrict his intestine or block it or rupture.)

The Vet said that surgery and chemo won't cure him -- but could give him 5 to 15 months. I am still waiting to find out more information from an oncologist about what treatment options are available, along with the risks, ramifications and issues treatment will bring.

I hate this part of owning a pet.

So what does this have to do with a "Master Spreadsheet"?

The year that my Dad was sick was obviously very stressful. It is hard to watch some one you love start to fail and everyone in the family was very worried about him.

I went to the bank one day to take money out of the ATM machine. I put my card in and when to punch my code in to the key pad and I could not remember my PIN. The same PIN I had had for many years.

No recollection. No hint. No clue. No nothing. That piece of data was permanently erased from my brain at that second, never to return again.

Yesterday, while waiting for the Vet to call me with results, I was composing an email to our Management group about reporting some information back to me for a project. I included an Excel spreadsheet that they could use to report their data.

I was trying to explain that they could use the spreadsheet I attached to the email for their data and then they could return it to me and I'd enter the info in to the......

Ummmmm........

Ahhh...........

"What do you call that again?"

The BIG spreadsheet? No..... The MAIN spreadsheet? No..... The one that is on the Web???? Noooo....

For the life of me, I could not remember what the dohicky was called.

I knew then that the same stress and preoccupation had returned.

Bleah.

At least my memory bank retrieved the word by the end of the afternoon.

The MASTER spreadsheet....

Doesn't really help with Gorby's health issue, nor does it help me understand the Master Plan...

What a Weekend it Was...

The Forth of July has come and gone.

Kaboom. (ohh, ahh)

It was really a wonderful weekend, full of great activities. Hubby and I golfed, grilled and gardened.

We also got together with friends and went on a 39-mile bike ride along the Cannon Valley Trail

The trail is wonderful. Well paved and mostly shady, it winds (downhill) to Red Wing, another wonderful Minnesota river community.

It was wonderful to ride with Hubby, Marcia, Marty, Kathy, Marc and Matt.

Nat and her boyfriend, Rich, were going to join us, but her toe is still on the mend. Hopefully she'll be back in the bike saddle soon.

Like every other "endurance event" I've participated in, we were all chatty and peppy on the way to Red Wing.

Here is a photo of us on the way there:

Note the happy, smiling faces, the great postures, the "let's go get 'em" expressions.

Once we got to Red Wing, we took a well deserved lunch break. Food and conversation were both great.

Then we started our way back to Cannon Falls. Although the trial is not really hilly, there is a slow, steady grade. Now were were winding our way BACK UP the trail.

Here is a picture of us on the way back:

Note: less smiling faces, less enthusiasm, less pep.

Regardless of our energy levels, we got back to Cannon Valley without incident.

(Well, except for seeing a snake along the trail, which freaked me out totally....).

Good news for me is that the ride, just shy of 40 miles, helped me with my confidence of being able to handle 56 miles during Pigman. I know that 16 miles is a lot -- and that precedes a 1/2 marathon, but I still have 5 weeks of training to go to prepare.

After we all got back to Minneapolis, we went to a BBQ hosted by another good friend of ours. We ate lots of great summer foods. Always a favorite part of mine...

I also got together with my good friend Mary K., who has been busy (overwhelmed) with managing kid activities this summer. We had a chance to catch up over coffee and to make some plans for a picnic dinner for later this month.

-------

Training continues...

I did a course preview yesterday for LifeTime.

Rode my bike to Lake Nokomis, then hopped in to the water for a test swim without my wetsuit. The temperatures have risen and I'm not sure that, by Saturday, wet suits will be legal.

I've gotten to rely on the buoyancy of the suit and if we can't wear them, I want to make sure that I feel comfortable in the water.

It was hot and humid yesterday -- our first 90 degree day of the summer. The beach was packed and lots of recreational swimmers were splashing close to shore. Past the ropes, where the water runs deeper, were "my people" -- other triathletes getting ready for Saturday.

I got in the water, got past the ropes and swam for about 20 minutes. It went pretty well.

Then I ran the 10k course, which loops the lake twice.

LifeTime always seems to happen on the hottest day of our summer (one year it was in the high 90s and the water temp was 82...). This year, it is expected to be hot and humid (again). Being out there yesterday was good practice for this weekend.

I'm hoping to have a better finish time than at Rochester, but I'll be happy to just participate and enjoy the day.

Oh, what a beeeauuutifullll morning!

Lots of great things today:

1) I'm on PTO (taking a Paid Time Off day -- vacation; not at work; FREE!). I have a long stretch of days ahead of me, as I won't go back to the grind until Tuesday, July 8th. Hurray.

2) The weather is great. Although it is cool today (low 70s, which is highly unusual for Minnesota + July), it is not raining; birds are chirping, sun is shining.

The good weather is supposed to last throughout the weekend. Hurray!

3) I met Greg, one of my tri coaches, this morning at 6:30 am for an open water swim and bike practice. It rocked. HURRAY!

We met at Lake Ann Park in Channhassen -- a suburb close to Minneapolis. The lake is very pretty -- no motorized vehicles allowed, so it is pretty clean.

It was only in the 60's when I got to the park, so I was a little nervous about getting too cold doing the swim. Thank heavens for that wetsuit!

Greg is a young, very fit guy. Was a swimmer in high school and college. (He swam with my swim coach, Dave). Did all sorts of athletics pretty much his whole life: skiing; biking; swimming; boating, you name it.

The last tri he did, he placed 9th. In the whole event. I'm lucky to not be 9th from the bottom.

He works with Ben, the head coach of Endurance Athlete. Ben is a skier, biker, marathoner, ironman, etc. Again, built for power and speed.

I LOVE these coaches!

They have never been condescending or doubtful about my (aka "middle-aged, back-of-the- pack, Athena-weight-ranged") abilities. Always encouraging, always challenging, always great.

I highly, highly, highly recommend them.

Anyway: Greg's plan was to swim across the lake. He said we could get to the other side and then, if I wasn't feeling confident, we could walk the path back to our starting point.

My plan was to splash a little bit around the swim buoys.

Greg's plan prevailed.

We started out and (again or as per usual) my goggles leaked. I was nervous -- but this time, no buoy to swim up to to rest. Instead, I had to just tread water or sort of dog-paddle/breast stroke (dog stroke?) until I could move forward.

Greg would wait and rest with me. Or he'd float on his back. Or he'd otherwise occupy himself while I got my act together.

We paddled to the other side and then he says: "let's swim back".

Huh? What happened to "walk back"?

He said "You can do it".

And I did.

In fact, I swam all the way back without stopping once!

The goggles found their seal, my stroke felt good, I could site the beach end-point easily and I just did my thing.

HURRAY!

Even Greg was impressed that I made it back with out stopping. (At least that is what he said).

After the swim, we went on a short bike (about 40 minutes). Did some hills, got some pointers and burned some calories.

All in all, it was a great workout and a great way to start my PTO.

I've got a couple of fun and challenging workouts on my training plan to complete this weekend, including a long bike ride that I'll be doing with Hubby and some friends.

Hopefully I'll have some photos of that one.

Hey, if you have a minute, give a shout out to Nat. She is still on the toe-mend. She has more really wonderful pictures on her blog.

Happy holiday weekend everyone!

Victorious and EWWWWW!

I am victorious!

I did send in an inquiry to the Timing Folks about my swim time at Rochester. The record had me taking 6 minutes longer than my watch recorded, which I thought was odd...

Here is their reply:

"You were listed as going off in the 4th wave. I have switched you to the 6th wave, which will show up in your results on the next upload."

Yippee! I took less than 40 minutes to complete the swim (39:53, NOT 45:39).

My finish time also gets dropped by six-minutes, putting me at 3:42:06 -- less than two minutes off from last years LiftTime Fitness tri.

...

On a second note: check out the really gross photo of Nat's toe! EWWWWW!

Natalie takes One on the Toe...

The post after this one has my full, exciting, race report from Rochester.

Short version: Swim=45:53; T1=4:34; Bike: 1:44:09; T2= 1:34; Run=1:12 Total: 3:48:06. (I may dispute the swim time. My watch had me at 39:53 and there was a mixup with my swim cap being a different color from my wave. Don't know if my chip was attached to my actual wave or my chip...)

I've included some interesting photos: Including the one above of poor Nat's toe, that she stubbed after the race, after we got back home, as we were trying to reassemble her bike carrier and get it back on her car.

She basically tore the toe nail off and actually had to have her boyfriend drive her to Urgent Care tonight to have it removed....(yech).

Steve in a Speedo?! Gross would be proud!

Here is another blurry (thank heavens!) of it:
She is out of commission until a scab forms on the toe -- should be a couple of days at least.

Here is the "pre-toe incident" story: we got to Rochester about 5:30 pm on Saturday -- just in time to pick up our race packets. Got to the hotel, checked in, made two trips to the room with all our STUFF.

We were both amazed at how much stuff we needed to bring with us for one night at a hotel to take part in a little Olympic distance triathlon!

And the stuff didn't really include all the FOOD we brought:

Even with all that food available to us above, we wanted to have a a nice pasta dinner so we went to a restaurant called Victoria's. Quite yummy. Then back to the hotel, then to sleep.

We got up at 4:45 am and got ready to get to the race.

It was cold (60 degrees), cloudy, drizzly and windy (17 mph) when we went to get in the car. I know the exact wind temps because I looked them up on Google after the event. This was just the beginning for us!

We were not particularly psyched about doing the event in the cold and the rain. I'm sure if we weren't with each other, we would have turned the car around, gone back to the hotel and ordered room service...

By the time we got to the park, the weather had not improved at all. Now over 400 triathletes were contemplating joining us for room service.... (Note grey skies in the photo.)

Then, miracle of miracles, 20 minutes before the race started, the clouds parted -- the sun poked its head out and the temps came up.

"Windy"decided to keep "kicking around the streets of the city" though: by the time we were on bike course, winds were NW at 25 mph, gusting between 30 and 32 mph. YIKES!

Combine that with hills and it was one tough, but beautiful course. (see comments in Race Report below).

Suffice it to say we both finished the event. It was a challenging course, but very well organized and a lot of fun. We even got medals, which is always a nice touch.

We drove back to Minneapolis -- stopped at DQ for a little treat. (Gotta love the crunch cone...) and then home.

And then Nat stubbed her toe....

rochester

Brief race report: Info basically posted to the log I send to my coaches: 

Mixed bag of results at Rochester.

Good news: cut time off of my swim compared to last year's Lifetime Fitness tri. Last year, did the .9 swim in 50.50. This year at Rochester, my official time was 45:53. BUT, I am not entirely comfortable with that time. My watch, which I started when we started the swim, had me finish the swim in 39:53, so I'm not sure where the extra time came from. (Was not transition; more about that in a bit).

The swim was two laps in the lake. First lap was pretty disastrous. My goggles leaked and I was not smooth in my swimming stroke. Stopped alot.

Second lap was a confidence builder.

Got that dang seal to fit and then just swam. I really did not stop at a buoy or noodle line (well, I did once). Felt much better and was NOT last out of the water. Pretty dang close though.

T1 was 4:34. (Greg, Natalie told me that you are watching our transition times. While I know that 4:34 may seem like I took some time to eat some bon bons, I really didn't. My T1 time for LTF last year was 5:35, so I was a minute faster.... still can improve, however).

Bike was very disappointing, especially in light of how much work I've done on the bike. However, in my "defense": the course was incredibly hilly and it was very, very, very windy today. My chain also fell off TWICE, which added some time as I got of to track it back on the chain.

My MPH was a very disappointing 14.2 (last year at LTF, I averaged 15.6). LTF is much less hilly, so I'm hoping to improve on that on 7/12. I did manage to pass three people on the bike course. Quite a feat for a slow poke.

T2 was 1:34. Last year at LTF it was 1:56, so it was slight improvement there.

Run. I thought I was out on that run course for a million years.

Although my legs did not feel too terrible at the start of the race, I did not have a lot of mental steam working for me. I had several long conversations with my self: "What hurts?" Nothing. "Why aren't you running better?" Because. "Because why?" No real reason in particular.

I did have a "horse moment" when I turned a corner and found myself at the bottom of a big hill. I just stopped. I had had enough hills on the dang bike.

I was very surprised to see my time. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a pathetic 1:20 or more. Although 1:12 is a big drop from last year's LTF (1:02), it really was much better than I thought.

All in all, my time was 3:48:06. Last year LTF: 3:40:09. I was second in my age group. (There were only two, so this is not that big of a deal, but will score points with my sedentary co-workers...)

I think if I can keep my swim up; get my cadence up on the bike and not drop a chain (twice) and get my head in the game for the run, I should be able to improve before 2008 LTF on 7/12.

"Those girls can swing!"

Quick post before I leave for Rochester to do the Rochestfest Tri tomorrow.  Nat and I are doing the event together to help us get ready for our 1/2 iron distance event in August.  

We both are doing the Olympic distance (.9 swim/24.something bike/6.2 run).  It will be Nat's first Oly -- my third.  

I'm also using Rochester to help me gauge how my training has been going.  I've been very diligent with my training plan over the last few weeks.  It's been very helpful working with Greg and Ben.  Most days, I'm biking in the morning (for a minimum of an hour) and then either running or swimming in the evenings (also minimum of an hour most days).  Of the three disciplines, my running is the most problematic.  I'm slower and it is much harder than last year.

I finally have my weight down in "reasonable land" -- that is the range of pounds where, when I get on the scale,  I am reasonably comfortable with the number.  I am very close to my WW lifetime goal number again, and within site of my weight last year at LTF.  

Yet, I'm running much slower.  

When I really look at it, last year I had been on that dang treadmill three times per week for three months before marathon training started.  (I was on a weight-loss/fitness program through my health club last year).   I had a much more solid base before training for Chicago/New York started.

This year, my running has been spotty.  I was pretty good when training for Fargo 1/2, but got lazy there too.  I can't blame everything  on my running club falling apart... my motivation really has to come from me.  

Anyway, I expect the run tomorrow to be fairly slow...

My swimming feels stronger -- thanks to longer workouts at the 50-meter pool in Richfield.  Coach Dave has put together some nice workouts for that venue and I think it has helped me with my water endurance.  

The swim tomorrow will be two loops in the lake.  We even have to get out of the lake after the first loop,  run 200 yards to the water entry point, and then do the second loop.  I've heard of that happening at some tri's but have never experienced it.  

I'm trying to use that as a psychological edge to get me through the swim:  "I only have to swim less than 1/2 a mile before I can get out for a small break".

(uh oh.... as I'm posting this, a big thunderstorm is blowing through.  Rochester is about 100 miles to our south -- maybe it isn't raining there and the roads will be dry...)

I'm excited and nervous about the event -- pretty much SOP for me...

---

The real reason I wanted to post today, though, was to give a "shout" to the LPGA.  Yes, the Ladies Professional Golf Association. 

The U.S. Women's Open is being held at a course located within a hop, skip and jump from our house.  

I picked up tickets to the event as a holiday present for Hubby and me.  Hubby had other plans, however:  his son just graduated from High School and turned 18 (woo woo), so the two of them went to some weird game convention in Ohio.

His loss!

I invited my friend LaVeta and we had a blast.  (LaVeta and I play golf on Friday nights with our husbands in a Couples League.)

I got a chance to see all of my favorite, rocking women players:  Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, Kerri Web, and Christina Kim and Natalis Gulbis (Love the first five for their playing; love Christina for her sassiness; Natalie is Natalie).  Also got to see Michele Wie.  Although Wie is a good player, I've never warmed up to her.  I know I'm not alone.  

It was awesome.   

If only I could hit the ball like they do.....

Wonder how they could do competing in an Olympic triathlon?

Nice weather -- FINALLY!

After our cold and rain during April, May AND June, we finally have had some nice weather. Hurrah, hurrah.

I'm hoping that the sun and warmer temps will work some magic on the water temps in our lakes so open water swimming won't be so cold.

Although I shouldn't complain: Geekgirl is doing Couer d'Alene Ironman this weekend and the lake temps are in the 50s. BRRRRR. I wish her all the best of luck.

My training is going pretty well. I'm enjoying the variety and am feeling stronger with the bike and the swim.

Ran last night for 90 minutes. First "long run" in a long time. It actually felt pretty good. It was a beautiful night to run around the lakes. Lots of great people watching and nature watching.

Tonight's plan calls for a bike and a swim. It may rain, so I may have to take a "rain check". Ha ha.

Avoiding like the plague....

Yes, I know it has been an abnormally long time since I've posted any thing.

I've been avoiding my blog like the plague for two "very good" reasons.

1) I did my first outdoor tri on June 7th and had pretty pitiful results.
2) I have LifeTime and Pigman coming up and wanted to avoid looking at the countdown timers I've posted to help me manage the days before the events.

Yes, I' was heavily in to the "eyes-averting, if-I-can't-see-it, it-doesn't-exist, what-me worry?" methods of issues management.

But, like all good ostriches, I pulled my head out of the sand last week and got rolling on an official tri training plan -- with coaches and every thing!

They put me on a plan where I'm training six days a week, doing some "two a days". I actually like the training so far.

Of course, it's been one week.

But what a week it was!

I did three swim workouts (over 2200 meters); biked for over five hours (probably 75 miles or so); ran a couple of times, included a hill workout after a bike session.

This is more training activity put together than I've done in months. Yee ha.

It did come on the heels of a pretty lousy showing at the New Bri Tri on June 7th. I could blame it on cold lake water (65 degrees) or a hilly course or some other nonsense, but the truth is I was just not very prepared.

I did finish and I was not last of all participants, but I was pathetically slow in the swim; just marginally okay with the bike and much slower than last year in the run.

My next event is on June 29th in Rochester -- an Olympic distance event that I'm doing with my friend, Nat. It is one of our warm-up events before Pigman 1/2 iron distance, scheduled for August.

The only really good thing about having a lousy finish time for New Bri is that there is hopefully nowhere else to go but UP from there.

I just have to get the sand out of my mouth...

Far Go-NE with the wind......

Fargo 1/2 marathon was yesterday. It was a very well run, fun event.

My race was not very well run, however....

The truth of the matter is that I just didn't train particularly hard or well for this event.

My original goal, when I signed up last fall for the MARATHON was to finally have a personal best time, having missed it at New York Marathon by 3 seconds.

Ha!

I was in much better shape last fall. I've lost some conditioning and gained a bit of weight since then, due to the happy, seemingly never-ending Minnesota winter of 2007/2008.

I finally threw in the Marathon towel about six weeks ago and switched over to the 1/2 marathon distance. I had done several long runs covering 14-plus miles, so I knew I could cover the distance.

I just didn't do it very well.

----

The event itself was a blast. I drove up to Fargo, North Dakota with two friends, Marc and Kathy T. Marc was going to run the Marathon and Kathy, who was not racing this time around, came along to cheer us along. Hubby was going to come too, but ended up having to stay in Minneapolis. His work schedule has been a bear lately and he just couldn't get out of a couple calls in order to join us.

We stayed at the Days Inn across from the Fargodome, which was both the site of the start and finish for the races.

After I checked in, I changed in to my Team Stay Put uniform and went over to pick up my race packet. I handed out a bunch of Stay Put elastics to very enthusiastic women.

Marcia and Marty, two other very good friends, had also signed up to run the 1/2 marathon. We met them at the Fargodome, along with some other runners from our club, and enjoyed the pasta and Lefse feed. (Lefse is a traditional Swedish bread... it is very flat and pretty tasteless...Fargo is FULL of Swedes, so this was a very traditional item to have at dinner.).

The weather was clear and temps were warm, but the wind was incredible! Pretty steady at 20 - 30 MPH, with gusts over 35 mph. Race day was expected to have pleasant temps, but again, very high winds.

Race day morning was beautiful. Cool, crisp and sunny. The winds were very calm when we lined up for the start. Marathoners and 1/2 marathoners all started our events at the same time and we ran together for much of the race. The course veered off three times to add the extra 13.2 miles for the marathoners.

Crowd support was wonderful. We ran through many residential neighborhoods where the entire block was full of residents out cheering and having a great time. There were lots of bands and entertainment along the course, which is always very helpful as you're plodding along the course.

It was interesting to me that parts of the course reminded me of sections of other courses including New York,Chicago and Twin Cities.

We also ran through parks and the downtown area, having a pretty good tour of Fargo.

I ran with Marcia for a little bit at the beginning. She was going to do a six minute run/one minute walk routine and I had trained doing a 7/1 routine, so we soon split up.

Despite having a bit of a cold (picked up two days before the race), I ran pretty well until about mile 9.5. My 7/1 routine served me well and I was not feeling too tired or sore. The winds had started to pick up though, and running head-long in to them was very tough and tiring.

I caught up to Sarah Reinertsen, an athlete who is missing her left leg. She was charging right along the course. I ran past her, said 'hello', told her I liked her commercial and she said "thanks". What an inspiration!

I stopped at a portapotty and after that, I could have very well been done with the race. I'm not sure if I was just tired, or hungry or what it was, but I had very little "stuff" in the tank. I ended up taking two walk breaks for every 8 minutes of running.

I kept plodding and by the time I got to mile 12 -- one lousy mile to go, I was really spent. I tried to muster some thing to get me going in to high(er) gear, but nothing came.

Alas.

The finish for both the marathon and 1/2 marathon rounds the outside of the Fargodome, eventually turning in to the building, where spectators are sitting in the stands and runners 'Finish' is captured on a Jumbotron screen. That was pretty cool.

My time was 2:38:59. Certainly not my personal best, but it was what it was.

(You get what you train for, no?)

My friends had mixed results. Marty kicked some serious butt. Marc and Marcia both said they had tough races. The rest of our crew also had some serious challenges with the winds and the day.

But, we all got through it and we all agreed that the race was fun and a great event.

So now, I start training in earnest for my next two biggies: LifeTime Tri and Pigman.

Let the training begin!