There May Not Be an "I" in Team, but there is a Nat and Gary...

Pigman 1/2 Iron distance triathlon took place last Sunday in Palo, Iowa.

Nat and I did this as Individuals last year. It was the first 1/2 iron for both of us. We both actually trained for the event over the summer and were ready to go -- not really knowing what the day would bring.

If you are looking for a challenging, well run event, this is one to consider. The bike course has lots and lots and lots of rolling hills. The run course may have one or two trees along it to provide shade, but mostly, you are out on a shade-less course.

However, the volunteers are great. The support along the course is wonderful. And, there are NO TIME LIMITS! Key, when you are on the putzy-side, as is yours truly.

We were signed up to do the event again this year as Individuals. After finishing Chisago, we had a little conversation about doing Pigman as a relay team instead.

I really vacillated on whether or not do change over to a relay. I wanted to do the event as an Individual for a couple reasons: I was pretty sure that I could beat my Chisago time. I am also seriously considering doing Ironman Wisconsin next year and thought if I completed two 1/2s this year, that I at least would have the mental imprint of knowing I'd covered the distance.

I did end up deciding to move over to the Relay though. I volunteered to do the swim (!). Nat wanted to do the run and we recruited our friend Gary to do the bike portion.

We named our team the Swine Flew Crew and hoped that people would have a sense of humor about our making fun of the H1N1 bug...

We drove down to Iowa on Saturday. The road trip was a lot of fun. We got to the hotel, checked in, ate a little dinner and then tucked ourselves in.

Oh: we did a little check of the weather before we went to bed. You know, as a "just in case". Last year, the weather was very typical for mid-August. Hot, humid, sunny.

This year? Well....

The weather gurus were predicting rain. Rain all night, rain first thing in the morning, rain though out the day.

OH! And wind. Lots and lots and lots of wind.

Uh oh....

So Ms. SmartyPantsMe (aka "The Weather Genie") said: "Oh you know those weather people. They are never right. We'll be fine".

And this is what we woke up to....

Rain, rain, rain and wind, wind, wind.

We all were very unsure about what to do. We could have very easily just said "let's go back to bed for a few hours and then order room service".

Instead,we got our gear, loaded up the car and drove from Cedar Rapids to Palo.

It was drizzling just a bit when we set up our spot in transition. We kept telling each other that if any of us wanted to back out, we could and it would be okay. We kept setting up. It got to be time to get out of transition and to get in to wetsuits and to line up for the water.

You know how hard it is to get a wetsuit on under regular conditions? Try putting a wet wetsuit on a wet body! Fun, fun, fun!

The first wave was elites and teams. I looked at Nat and Gary and was secretly hoping that they would say "OH NO! Don't go!". But they said "Good luck" instead.

Drat.

I lined up, the race started and I was off. Fortunately, the water was very comfortable. I got in to a nice groove on the way out, although I missed a buoy.

I got to what I thought was the last one out. I looked to my right and saw another one. Looked to my left and saw a support boat. I went right. Went a pretty long way before I heard the boat guy calling to me: "Hey! Hey swimmer! You missed a buoy".

His boat had blocked the buoy from my sight. Great.

I swam back to the left to round the buoy and then started to swim the next section of the course, which ran parallel to the shore.

That is when the sky decided to open up and it POURED. Drenching, pouring soaking rain, making it very hard to see more than about a foot or two ahead. All I had going through my head was "stroke, glide, keep my elbow up; stroke, glide, keep my -- HEY! what happens if it thunders while I'm out here??? --elbow up; stroke, glide, keep my elbow up"...

Finally, I got to the turn buoy and started my way to shore.

It wasn't too long after that that I got out, saw Nat and wobbled in to transition, where Gary ripped the chip off my ankle, put it on his ankle and took off for his 56-mile adventure.

I can not tell you how impressed and in awe Nat and I were of the competitors that went out out on that bike course. The winds were unbelievable. According to Weather Underground:

• 8:31 AM: winds: 5.0 mph, gusting to 21.9 mph
• 9:00 AM: winds: 20.7 mph, gusting to 26.5 mph
• 10:oo AM: winds, 18.4 mph, gusting to 31.1 mph

You get the picture...

In the meantime, poor Nat, who had just been soaked by the downpour while waiting for me to get out of the lake, was freezing cold now. Gary was going to be on that bike course for quite a while and I knew that Nat would have to find some warmer, drier clothes to change in to if she was going to be able to stick it out until it was her time to run.

So, we left transition, got in the car and rode part of the bike course to cheer on some of the bikers. No one looked happy. Everyone was struggling with the wind and the hills. We saw quite a few bikers on their way back to transition. Not because they were so speedy and on the way back to WIN!. Rather, they had just said "enough" and decided to bag it for the day.

We passed Gary at his mile 15. We cheered him on (and checked to see if he wanted to give up the ghost...) but he pressed forward on the course.

After we cheered him on, we found a teeny town with a convenience store and found some coffee. Lousy coffee, but it was warm. I only felt semi-guilty drinking it while Gary was pedaling on that windy course...

We were now back on the road looking for a Target. Eventually, we found one and Nat got a couple of things to change in to. That -- and coffee from an actual Starbucks -- made all the difference. No more chattering teeth.

Back to Palo, back to transition and back to waiting for Gary. It wasn't long and we saw him come across the timing mat. He did not look any worse for the wear. Very, very impressive.

Chip off Gary; chip on Nat and she was off.

The rain had stopped and the winds had died down bit, but it was still mostly cloudy. This worked in Nat's favor. She got a break from the sun. Gary and I drove along the course and cheered her on in a couple of spots. She really was running very well out there, keeping a nice pace and looking very strong.

Gary and I drove back to the transition area and waited for her to cross the finish line. It was a really great feeling to see her run though that chute and to know that the Swine Flew Crew finished!

I feel a little bad in that I really had the easiest part of the whole day. Even with swimming during the downpour, I was essentially done in less than an hour. Gary and Nat carried the day and really deserve the credit for our posting a successful day.

After the race, we wandered around the finish area and ate some dee-licee-ious food and shared stories with other competitors. Everyone -- including the winner of the race, Dave Thompson, and Nat's and my personal hero, Cathy Yndestad, said that this was by far the toughest race they'd ever competed in.

Amazing.

We rock!

Chisago -- awesome swim; okay bike and then.....

Chisago 1/2 Iron was yesterday....there are some good things to report and some, well, not so good things:

First: everyone in my posse of friends who signed up for the event finished. That is good news! For Gary, Marc, Dave, and Joe it marked their first 1/2 iron distance event. I saw them all at one point or another along the course and, although they wouldn't agree, I thought they all looked strong and magnificent.

Marcia, Mary and Cheryl did the course as a relay team. They rocked the house. Again, I saw them all out there on the course and they all looked great.

Nat -- ah, Nat. She and I started the event in the same wave. Once the gun went off, so did she and I didn't see her again until I passed the finish line. By then, she had already had a snack, rested and PICKED UP HER TROPHY. Yes, that is right: she placed 3rd in our division. She PRed by over 35 minutes. GO NAT!

Other highlights: seeing Steve Stenzel, who was racing, along with his CVA Tri team...finally getting to meet his lovely bride, Pharmie...even if it was a "meet and great" as she was running back in on the 1/2 marathon course and I was walking out. (Yes -- walking. More about that later...)

So -- where does that leave moi? Well, here we go:

I actually had a very good swim. I came in at 43:26, which was almost 6 minutes faster than I did at Pigman last year. I felt totally comfortable in the water, just did my thing and enjoyed the swim. What a big difference from years past where the water freaked me out totally.

My T1 time was also better than Pigman -- about 2 1/2 minutes better. Zip in, zip out.

Bike -- okay, so the new bike is great and all, but for what ever reason, the position of the saddle did nothing but bug me for 40 miles.

When I bought the bike, I didn't have my bike shoes with me and, Bob -- the really wonderful guy at Now Sports, told me to bring the bike and shoes in before the race so I could get the saddle readjusted.

Did I listen? No. I thought "how much different could the positioning be"? Well, apparently it could be a LOT different.

The bike seat hit my seat in a very uncomfortable way -- especially where my left sitbone connected with it. I squirmed a lot trying to find some comfortable spot, but really couldn't get in to a comfortable position. I tried to overcompensate my position, which impacted my lower back and neck, and, well -- you get the picture.

The course is pretty flat, with a couple of exceptions The first exception is at mile 40, where there is a short, but steep incline. I started going up the hill and shifted down, but couldn't get my gear to drop from the big ring to the little ring. I lost my mo-jo, cadence and speed and had to get off the bike to walk it up the hill.

That is when the friendly bike support guy showed up. He pulled over and helped adjust my gears so they would slip easier. (Apparently they were a little too tight). I asked him if he could adjust my saddle and, voila! He did and the ride got a whole lot better.

I came in over 6 minutes faster than Pigman.

But, when I got in to T2, I was spent. I was fully convinced I was not going to do the run. At all. I was going to DNF and I was really okay with it.

Mary and Marcia were in T2 and when I told them I was done, they said "What? Huh?".

I had to give it a minute or two to work myself through the idea of at least getting out on to the run route. The only way I could do it was to say "I can turn back at any time".

So, I got on my shoes and walked out of T2. (Even with all of this, my T2 time was 45 seconds faster than Pigman).

So -- dear Reader, you must be saying: All of these great times! Much better than Pigman! She must have PRd!

Ah, not so much.

I walked out of T2 and pretty much walked the entire 1/2 marathon. I could not get it together to run much more than a minute or two at a time with very long stretches of time where I just walked.

I had a mental cut off point for dropping out. If I got to Mile 4, there was no turning back. (Logic: If you get to 4 out, you have to come 4 back, and that is 8, which is more than half the total distance...)

Let me tell you, I had plenty of conversations with myself at Mile 1; Mile 2 and Mile 3. But I kept my head down and my feet moving forward.

I got to 4 and figured I was in for the long haul. Fortunately, there were lots of people walking on the course. The big difference is that they were walking IN. I was still on my way OUT.

I just could not muster the will to run much at all. Walking felt okay, but running did not.

I had another dark spot between mile 6 and 7. The part of the course is a one mile loop around a residential area. I was the only person out on the course -- I thought: I'm done. I'm getting to mile 7 and I'm dropping.

I got to the water stop and asked the friendly volunteers "Am I last"?

"No".

"Really -- drat! Can't quit if I'm not last..."

Then I asked "What would happen if I wanted to drop? Would I have to walk back or would I get a ride"?

The head volunteer said she didn't know and proceeded to make a call to the Race Director.

The Race Director didn't pick up the phone, which I took as a sign and pressed on.

Marcia and Mary, who had parked themselves near the water stop at mile 5/10, were STILL there when I got back to 10....They had their own marathon, just sitting there waiting for me.

Marci volunteered to go to the finish line and to then walk back to meet me to walk me in -- a very kind, motivating gesture.

So, I trudged on until she found me and some how I got to the finish.

Here is the interesting part: All in all, my finish was less than 10 minutes slower than Pigman, so...not really as dreadful as I thought.

And, even though I was S L O W walking those 13.1 miles, there were actually people that covered the distance taking more time than I did. (They just happened to smoke me on the bike....)

I'm glad I toughed it out. I'm fine with finishing the way I did. I'm grateful for friends who stuck with me till the end and I can't wait to do it again NEXT YEAR -- although I'll probably need to do a few more bike-to-run bricks, you think?

One week to go: Chisago

Chisago 1/2 Iron is next week Sunday.

Am I ready?

No.

But...it will be what it will be.

What will be fun about the event:

A bunch of friends are doing the 1/2 event too: Nat, Gary, Marc T and Dave H. (It will be the first 1/2 event for the boys).

A team of friends partnered to do the 1/2 as a relay: Marcia will swim; Mary K will bike and Cheryl will run.

It is always nice to have a posse of people all doing the same event. You can cheer each other on or commiserate or fret or even congratulate.

It will be fun to have so many familiar faces in the transition area and out on the course with me.

What will not be so fun about the event:

As evident by my complaints in this blog, this has not been my year of dedicated training. Sure, I've biked; I've swam and I've run, but I really didn't put in the total time I should have for the races I'm doing.

So, I'm expecting a bit of a painful race.

It will be what it will be.

--
Last week, I was in Charlotte delivering a week's worth of training. I had hoped to get in a lot of uninterrupted workout time, but got laid up with a nasty head cold. So instead of killing myself with workouts, I babied my self with sleep.

I did do some training while I was out there and then wrapped up the week with a really great long run yesterday and a 3-hour bike ride today.

So -- it will be what it will be.

---

The ride today was a sponsored ride hosted by my tri club. Riders could go up to 100 miles -- Nat, Mary, Mark, Dave and I only went out for about 3 hours.

It was a good ride, but Marc ended up with 3 flats and Nat had one. Marc's tires are very old -- so he had the same tire pop three separate times. Nat has "sensitive" tires, and popped her tube while riding over some fine gravel.

At least they both figured it out today and could take care of the problem. Next week, flats during the race would be a big drag.

---

After the bike clinic, I met Kathy T (Marc's wife) and Sarah at Lake Harriet. We all went to a Women's Sailing Clinic. I shared a boat with Sarah. Cynthia, our skipper, was a really great instructor and, even though we had very little wind, we had a great time.

--
After the clinic, Hubby and I grilled steaks and veggies and were able to enjoy delicious food and a beautiful evening.


It was a very full weekend and a great way to move in to taper week.

LTF finished: the "short" RR

Today, Lifetime Tri went much, much better than Rochester Tri did two weeks ago.

It really, really, really helped that the wind today was only about a quarter of what we had in Rochester. I was able to sustain 17.1 mph on the bike, as opposed to the paltry 12.7 I did battling 20+ mile headwinds in Rochester.

My swim time was much better than last year (go me).

My run was slightly slower than last year but significantly better than Rochester.

All in all, I'm happy, considering the extra lbs I'm carrying (and didn't really "see" until Hubby took all the photos below. YIKES! ) and the mediocre training I've been doing.

Came in first for my age group/Athena category again. (This ain't no big thing, since usually there are only one to three people in my category). This year, I was in it alone. Still nice to see "1" after my name.

Of all Athena's, I was solidly in the middle of the pack. I feel okay about this, since I was the oldest of the bunch.

THANKS to Nat, who volunteered as a body marker (and got to the course at 4:15 am); Hubby for being there to cheer me on; Mary and Marcia for coming down to watch and who helped keep me going.

Next up: Chisago 1/2 iron. Oh boy.

Lifetime Fitness Tri: Tomorrow. YIKES.

By this time tomorrow (10;25 am, central), I should be wrapping up the bike portion of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon, Oly distance.

Should be is, of course, the plan/hope.

Reality could be different. V E R Y different.

I'm not racing as well this year as I was last year. (Stubborn pounds that won't go away and mediocre training add up to lousier finish times...).

BUT I am out there and having fun, which counts for A LOT.

I'll break in the new bike tomorrow too.

I've ridden it a number of times already and really like it. It will be fun to race in it and not have to worry about things like:

• stop signs
• idiot pedestrians that walk on to bike paths without looking
• little kids that ALWAYS turn to look when you call out "On your Left", which causes them to steer LEFT

The weather is supposed to cooperate -- high in the low 80s. If this holds, it will be the first LTF tri I've done where it wasn't the hottest day of the summer.

The bottom line for now is I'm excited, nervous and dreading the event all at once.

I'll be getting over to the Expo in a few hours and then on my way home to get my bag ready, carbo load and to "sleep".

Catching up...

A few minutes to catch up on "stuff":

Rochester Tri, June 28th: Second time participating in the Olympic distance event for me and my friend Nat. The day was hot and very, very windy.

The swim was good, but when I got out of the water, a course marshall asked me if I had rounded all the buoys.

"Huh?"

Then she pointed to one I may have missed. (I am unclear, as my head was under the water for about half the swim).

I told her I thought I had hit all the buoys, but if I hadn't, why didn't one of the happy kayakers come over to me. (I DID see a kayaker -- actually several of them -- as I was swimming along. Not one of them paddled over to me to tell me I had missed a buoy).

The "I think you missed a buoy" news threw me off my game a bit. And I got a little pissy about it.

Then I got on the bike. Did I mention it was windy? So windy in fact, I almost pulled off the bike course... About eight times.

I had problems with my chain falling off, HUGE winds (20+ mph plus gusts), gears grinding and just not feeling "safe" on the bike.

I spent a lot of time using very bad language while trying to not tip over going up hills or blow over going down hills.

I struggled through the bike and then went out on the run. I really was not having any of it that day. I just did the best I could, which was not very good.

Ended up posting my slowest tri time ever.

Nat kicked some butt out there, fighting the wind BUT I think we were both glad it was over when it was over. She finished third in our division, but the race director screwed up and gave her award to someone else..... grrrr.

Then I had another really rotten thing happen. I either lost (dropped some where in transition) or WORSE someone stole my digital camera.

Okay, I'll admit: I was an idiot for carrying it with me in the first place. (I usually have Hubby take photos and hold on to the camera, but he wasn't with us). The camera isn't a great camera but the memory card had hundreds and hundreds of photos on it.

Irreplacable photos. Europe; my birthday; Hubby's birthday; the holidays; friends; events.

And NO, I did not download all of the photos prior to the event. (So I'm an idiot again).

I want to believe that I dropped the camera, but: I placed a Lost and Found ad in the Rochester paper. No call. I emailed the race director. No response. I called the park where the tri was held, no camera. Hubby and I even drove back to Rochester to scour the transition area, the parking lot and the roadside going from transition to parking. Nothing...

I also think if someone found the camera, they could have looked at the very last picture, which was of me and Nat showing off our body-marked arms. The could have IDed me (by looking at other photos), then looked at the race results to find my name and then did a google search.

Seems like a lot of work you say? HA! I would have done it if I had found the camera. It's the right thing to do.

Again, the camera is one thing. Keep it, I say. Return the memory card. It is useless to any one but the memory holder....

I don't want to believe that a fellow triathlete would steal the camera...that is just lower than low, in my opinion.

But...lessons learned. 1) don't bring a camera in to transition. 2) download all your photos as soon as you can, not "tomorrow".

---

Last item on catching up. After my poor performance on the bike, I finally broke down and bought a road bike. I got a Jamis.

I'm hoping it will help me "catch up" on my bike times. I'll find out this Saturday, when I participate in Lifetime Fitness triathlon.

Past and Present

Unless you live in a cave or do not have access to any electronic device at all, you know that both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died yesterday.

Both had significant impacts on my life, whether I liked it or not:

1971: I'm in 7th grade -- Mr. Rotinni's class: In addition to having to do the dreaded President's Physical Fitness test (which I always hated, being on of the two fat kids in class...), our gym teacher taught a segment on Square Dancing.

She'd partner up boys and girls and we'd square dance the hour away -- well sort of. The boys, who decided all the girls must have cooties, would pull the sleeves of their shirts over their hands so they wouldn't have to touch us.

Then, during doe-se-do, while we were supposed to dance in a circle with our arms/hands linked to our partners, the boys would add a little "whip the tail" in to the dance by releasing us, pretty much hurling us in to the wall.

Mr. Rotinni heard of these adventures and was very disappointed in us. So disappointed that one morning he made us move our desks to the side of the classroom to open a big, wide space, right there in the middle of the classroom.

Then, he made us square dance -- holding hands and being polite and everything! (At least we didn't have do do math...)

Something very strange happened that morning.

The boys decided the girls weren't so bad after all. As a matter of fact, the very next day, someone in class (I forget who), invited us over to her house after school for a "party" . A SLOW DANCE party.

So we showed up and slow danced the afternoon away. After that, we probably had slow dance parties at some one's house at least once per week. It was 7th grade heaven.

One of the songs that I remember from those days was "I'll Be There", by the Jackson 5. I LOOOVEED that song and especially LOOOVEED that song when one of the boys I had a crush on would ask me to dance while it was playing.

I have fond, fond memories of those parties and thank Michael Jackson for singing that song.
----
1976 -- I'm a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, Madison: I'm 17 (started college early). I'm wandering up State Street after class, feeling overwhelmed and lost in a sea of 40,000 other students.

I walked past a poster store and saw it hanging in all it's red swimming suit glory: The FARRAH poster. Megawatt smile, mountain of hair and that swimming suit. I pretty sure my reaction was to just stop and stare. I'm sure I thought to myself "shit. great."

Feeling already lost and insecure, overweight and struggling with an eating disorder, there was no way I could measure up to that image. And every freshman boy in Madison and across the country had that image hanging up in their dorm room. Great.

I hated her.

Well, obviously, time passed and I got over my issues with food AND Farrah, thank heavens.

I grew to appreciate her talent ("Burning Bed", "The Apostle") and fell in love with her after watching the documentary of her fighting her battle with cancer.

She seemed like a genuinely caring and kind person. I'm sorry she lost her fight.
----

Present: Rochester Triathlon is Sunday. Olympic distance. It will be my second year participating. I'm ready for the swim and the bike. I'm still struggling a bit with my run. BUT, I'll be participating with my friend Nat and we'll have some fun.

We'll also be on the look out for Beth to wish her happy trials out there at the event.

My plan for when I'm out there hobbling through the 6.2 mile run will be to take my mind off my tight quads by fondly remembering Slow Dance Parties and life at Madison.

And being grateful for being alive.

Ms. 60 goes Aero...

Minnetoka Tri was today. First time doing this event and I had a blast.

I'm really have so much fun doing triathlons. I enjoy the activities, the events and the courses. It is also fun to watch other competitors. I'm sorry I didn't discover this sport sooner, but... it is what it is.

Sometimes I worry about the time that I'll have to give up participating. At some point, I'll either be too slow, or just tooooo old to be spending a lot of time in performance wear.

Having said that, there are plenty of people in their 50's that compete. Even 60's and older are out there on the course. So if they can, I can (God willing).

The weather was much, much better today than two weeks ago when I bagged on New Bri tri. Then, it was cold (41 degrees air temp) and rainy.

Today was very different...it was sunny and warm. Summer has finally, finally arrived!

Hubby is away on a business trip, so I went to the event solo, which was a little lonely. I set up in transition, went to the portapotty about a million times, got on my wetsuit and followed the masses to the start.

I stared at the lake for a little while, turned around and there was Nat. She had come to see me do the swim. I was very happy to see a friendly, familiar face. It was great that she showed up for me.

I was a little nervous about the swim. Not about the mechanics of the swim, but about the water temperature. My fears were for naught. The water was crisp, but with the help of my wetsuit for my core, I was just fine.

The swim is a little different than other tris. Instead of being an out and back, the course runs parallel to the shore line. I was in the last wave -- got in the water, started swimming and didn't stop once.

Not stopping is still a big deal for me. Not long ago (like last year...), I'd have to stop, re-adjust my goggles; let some of the stronger swimmers get by me and relax.

Then I had my "no stop" break through last year and it has been smooth sailing, or shall I say swimming, ever since.

I got through the 1/2 mile swim in just over 17 minutes. Not tooo fast, but certainly not tooo slow. I passed people from different waves, felt strong and just did my thing. I was very happy with my time.

Transition One (T1) was a little putzy. I was a little dizzy coming out of the lake (normal from rolling side to side in the water). I got tangled in my wetsuit but eventually got it together and got on the bike and out on the course.

The bike course was pretty, but hilly. Hillier than Chisago's 1/2 iron course. As I was getting out on to the course, this woman zipped right past me. Her age, according to her leg, was 60. She rocketed by me on her slick tri bike and immediately got in to aero position.

All I could think was "you GO, Ms. Thing" and "I got to get me another bike!".

We rode from the lake through Excelsior and out to Lake Ann Park (site of my "no stop" swim break through) and around that area.

I felt pretty fast and strong, although some of the hills were tough. Still, I passed plenty of people -- who then passed me when my chain slipped off. Twice.

After I finally got the chain back on, I caught up to and passed the posse, bringing myself in to T2 in under an hour.

Quick change of shoes and out to the run. My legs were stiff -- hills and just general stiffness, so I was slow going getting to the actual "running" part.

Eventually I got it together and started to run. I was slow, but got through it. Again, passing plenty of people, which is highly unusual for me.

At one point, I saw a familiar leg: it was Ms. 60, just ahead of me.

I decided to smoke her, which I did. (Evil grin).

I pulled in to the finish line at 1:53:48, which I believe is a PR for me for this distance.

Next up, Rochester Oly on June 27th.

So GLAD tri season is hear!

Previewing Chisago's 1/2 Iron Ride

Yesterday, Nat, Gary, Mary K and I drove up to the site of the Chisago 1/2 Iron race.

The bike shop that is sponsoring the event hosts three preview rides of both the Sprint and 1/2 Iron courses. This is a wonderful perk and we were glad to be able to see/ride/feel the course before the event on July 26th.

There were about 40 riders in total, but the majority of people were going out on the Sprint course. Our day was going to be a little "longer" -- like twice the mileage.

We drove up to the course venue (about 1 hour away from Minneapolis) at 6:30 am. It was nice to see the park and the lake. Before the ride, we went down to the beach to check out the water temp.

Brr.

Also checked out the water level.

Low.

Also checked out the water clarity.

Weedy.

Should make for a fun swim in six weeks!

We started biking at about 8:15 am. The speedy bikers (with "real tri bikes") dusted us at about mile 3 and then we just did our own thing.

Mary and I had to cut the ride a bit short (pulling off about mile 45). We had to get back to the city for a couple appointments. We picked up Nat at mile 53 (SOOO close to the end) and drove back. Gary finished the whole course -- mucho kudos to him.

So what we learned includes:

The course is really pretty flat: Much flatter than Pigman's 1/2 iron course. There are some rolling hills, but nothing like you find in Iowa. Truth be told there is one really steep hill on the way back, but it is steep and short, so gearing down got us through it. Nat reports that there is a second steep hill on somewhere after mile 45 but before mile 53...Note taken.

Oh yeah: Nutrition: Despite each of us being experienced marathoners and/or triathletes, none of us remembered to bring any thing to eat while we were on the course. Fortunately, our new best friend, Joe (who works at the bike shop and provided sag support), carried a bunch of mini Clif bars with him and handed them out like candy.

Pedaling in to the wind is H A R D: Oh yeah (part two). I felt like I was flying like the wind for the first half of the course. Then we turned around. WIND. That sure took the smug out of my mug pretty fast.

We are going to make it: If nothing else, previewing the ride helped our confidence for the race in July. We may be slow, we may not be pretty out there, but we will finish the race.

Today's training plan called for yet another hour on the bike followed by a 30-minute run. Gary, Nat and I slogged it out this morning -- and now, I'm pooped!

I am a Wuss

My first outdoor tri of the year was today, except I wasn't in it.

We had a very unusual cold snap roll through last night, bringing lots of cold rain along with it.

Although I had my gear all packed last night, when I woke up this morning and it was 41 degrees, I looked at Hubby and said, "That is two degrees too close to the 30s" -- I'm not getting in the lake".

My friends and I had tried a brief open water swim last weekend and the water temps were "brisk" to say the least.

It may have been one thing to swim .4 of a mile in cold water, but this tri has a 1/2 mile swim, which takes me a bit of time to complete.

The thought of following that with a 14-mile bike ride (while wet) and then a 3-mile run just wasn't cutting it for me.

I may have let my mind get the best of me, but I do have at least one "good" excuse:

I may have a bit of Raynaud's disease. (I'm still in denial about probably having it, as I have the symptoms -- lose circulation in my fingers while I'm running in the winter ; they go white and get a little numb. It can take quite a while for them to get pink again. I have to wear both mittens and gloves to keep my fingers toasty... I'm in denial because I don't like to think of myself having "issues".)

Although this primarily only happens in the winter, symptoms do crop up if I get overly cold.

I was worried that swimming in the cold water would trip the trigger, causing me to lose circulation, which would be very hard to get back on the bike (also making holding on to the handle bars or breaking problematic) or the on run, where it would just be annoying.

So, I bagged the tri. There were 435 people signed up and, according to the race results, only 87 were DNS. That means the majority of people braved the elements and competed.

I really felt like a wuss after learning that.

The only redeeming thing about this whole day was that I did do a tri (of sorts). I covered the same distances from the indoor comfort of my health club.

I swam .5 miles; rode a spin bike for one-hour (surely covering 14 miles) and then ran for 3. I felt good, had circulation in my hands the whole time.

Tomorrow, my friends Nat, Marcia, Gary, Mary S and a new friend, Joe, are scheduled to do Buffalo. (.4 swim/13 bike/ 3 run). The weather is supposed to be much more cooperative for their event.

I'll be there to cheer them on.

I just won't have a spiffy new tee shirt to wear...

NY = No Go, Buddy Can You Spare a Dime???

So, lottery results are in for New York, but alas, I am not.

I have at least one friend who IS in, but I'll wait for Friend X to let the world know...

I'm bummed, but not totally hopeless.

I could potentially get in by being a Charity Runner. I'll be mulling over this option for a day or two and then decide.

There is a part of me that says "Okay, you didn't get in. Let the chips lie where they may".

Another part says "HEY! You are only getting older. You want to try to get in to NY next year AND potentially do IM WI? What are you, TWENTY? New York is already expensive, why not just buck up and run for a good cause???"

In the meantime:

I'm wrapping up my time here in Charlotte. I've been here on business the last few days. Nice city, polite people, interesting downtown. Loooove the weather. Hot, humid -- just my cup of tea.

Not so much back in Minneapolis, where the temps have been "reasonable" but the evenings still chilly.

My first outdoor tri is Saturday -- yes, THIS Saturday -- and I'm already preparing my list of "I won't do the event if..." list.

The first big IF is IF there is still ice on the lake.

Ha ha.

Giving Back and Cold Water

I've participated in a lot of events over the last decade. Marathons, half-marathons, 10Ks, 5K, tris of all distances.

They are a ton of fun to participate in and, as race directors and organizers will tell you, a lot of work to put together.

I've also tried to do my best to "give back" by volunteering at a few events each year. I love doing it. I get a different perspective on the event, of the participants and feel like I make a difference to a runner or triathlete when I'm able to look 'em in the eye and say:

"Nice job, 5624", or

"Way to go, 623", or

"You've got this 7822".

I had my first chance to give back yesterday as a volunteer for the first Minneapolis Marathon. I worked the finish line for both the 1/2 marathon and marathon and had a blast.

It is always such a rush to see the faces of all the finishers: the people who've just run their PR beam. The one's who are doing this as "just another Sunday" cock their head as they gaze at their watches and usually give a knowing smirk. The first timers are my favorites, though. They smile from ear to ear and just look sooooo happy with themselves.

Even the folks who end up with a time that they aren't happy with are interesting to observe. Some take in the news with the grace of understanding that, for what ever reasons, the Gods of Running did not smile kindly upon them that day...

Others beat themselves up for not making the mark. You can just see their own disappointment in their eyes and posture.

The other selfish reason I like volunteering is that I leave the event re-energized and excited to be part of the running/tri communities.

So I got all revved up after the event and I was lucky to be able to meet my friends Marcia and Gary for a quick run around the lake and then our first dip in the lake.

Our first events of the summer are coming up this weekend. It was time to get in the lake for a quick feel of temps and to remember what it's like to not have lane lines.

YIKES!

I'm not sure any of us were expecting the lake to be THAT cold. And I mean cold! I had my wet suit on; Marcia and Gary braved the chilly water without theirs.

Maybe all the volunteers for next week's events could send a little volunteer warmth by way of New Brighton and Buffalo so all the triathletes can have a warmer swim...

Fast and furious

No, not me unfortunately. Well, furious, maybe, but certainly not fast.

The truth was glaringly apparent yesterday, as I did a little workout with my friend Nat. We decided enough of our usual 'pussy-footing around' workouts and went for a little speed work by running pickups last night.

Did a little warm up (also at a pace that was faster than current-usual). Then we did six one-minute pickups with some longer recover pieces in-between.

YIKES.

I could feel every single lb of stored winter (okay, SPRING) weight that I've packed on. Nat really got ahead of me on the pickups, which was fine and depressing at the same time.

Proved to me -- again -- that I have got to get it back together and get in to training. Not having fun, but training. (Not that training isn't fun.... it's just hard.)

This also applies to biking and swimming.

We have a whole, huge Posse of people that are training for some tris this summer. None of us joined a formal training program this year, for one reason or another.

For one, most are waaaaay to expensive. For another, we can't find one that any of us really love any more. Most of us really, really, really miss having a training group. The one that we were all so heavily involved with evolved in to a really not-very-fun place to be, which is just a shame.

I really envy the bloggers that I follow who have great tri or running training groups.

Our group is pretty good about getting together and getting workouts in. Truth be told, though, we are all a little bit on the "let's just take it easy" side.

I need someone like Jillian from Biggest Loser yelling at me to do "MORE! FASTER! STRONGER, HARDER!"and to "PUT THE FORK DOWN for chissake!"

Anyway, I digress:

The Posse got together for a bike ride last Sunday. We were out for about 2 hours. Great company, great back on the bike, great trail. Except for Nat, who got a flat tire.

In any event, fun (but slow) ride.

As far as the furious thing... well, that is a topic for another post.

The Gang's All Here.. (was there...)

Yesterday was one of the best weather day's we've had all spring.

FINALLY warm and sunny. We've had some rain, so plants were green and blooming.

My running pals and I got together early for an easy 5-mile run.

It was the first time, in a long, long time, that we were all togther in one place: Nat, Mary, Marcia, Cheryl, Gary and I trotted along the Downtown Train, over to Cedar Lake, then to Lake of the Isles and back.

It was marvelous.

Far GO!

.

Fargo 1/2 was last Saturday.

I had lots of fear and anxiety about the race.

I've resembled a slug for most of the winter -- swimming a bit here and there; running about once per week; spinning about twice per month.

Not really sure WHY I've been such an unmotivated individual, but that was what it was....

My friends Mary, Nat and Marcia, who were all signed up for the race too, were also less interested in training this time around. (Marcia was the most dedicated of all of us, with Mary close behind....)

But, time moved ever forward, as it is known to do, and POOF, there we were last Friday, in Fargo, North Dakota, picking up race numbers and fearing the worst:

Cold temperatures, wind that would knock you to your knees, cold temps and a weather prediction for rain and snow. In May.

None of us were very excited to run in the rain, wind and cold. We had lots of excuses that we were going to pull out of the bag in the morning to allow ourselves to NOT run.

BUT!

We woke up and the sun was peaking out from the clouds. The winds were minimal at best. Rain? What rain?

It was cloudy, but other than that, a perfect day for a run in North Dakota. The temps were in the high 40s, the pavement dry.

The crowd support fantastic, the bands and music along the course engaging.

We all started together and stuck together for most of the race. We did get a little split up from about mile 7 to 12, but then each of us ran together again.

The last mile, Marcia kicked it in to HIGH gear and took off. She looked very strong and just gave it her all. (Shows you what training does, huh?)

Mary and I crossed the line together and Nat came in just slightly after all of us.

I think we were all really happy to have this one in the bag.

I was most happy that for parts of the race, I felt like a runner again. This was a happy reminder of what I love about participating in races and actually doing the training
So, my alarm is set for 5:15 am so I can get to my Master's swim class at 6:00 am.

My first outdoor tri is 4-weeks away!

Home and getting back in to a routine....

We got back from Europe last week Monday evening.

It took me (us) a couple of days to readjust to the time change and to cope with Chocolate Crossiant withdraw.

I'm getting back in to a "routine" -- but surprisingly, have not yet started to get all wrapped up in to work, goals, deadlines and all the trappings of "9-5".

The serenity won't last much longer, I fear. Work is ramping up and I have a pack of 25 new reps coming in for two days of training in seven days.

I'm just going to try to continue to breathe, relax and be grateful.

Fargo 1/2 marathon is in 12 days. My training has really been non-existant. I've run a little, but certainly not like in year's past. I'll be content with finishing the race standing up.

I did get out for an 8 mile run this morning with my friend Mary K, who is also doing Fargo 1/2. We intended to do 10, but it started pouring when we hit four miles and it was also very cold. We turned around, trotted back to her house, where her love, Tom, had coffee waiting for us.

What is freaking me out a bit is the reality that my first tri is in six weeks! I finally got my bike out of the garage yesterday, but have yet to get on it. I've been swimming, so I'm not so wigged out about that, but I do feel very behind the 8-ball as far as training goes.

So... lots of work ahead of me.

In the meantime: Round One of photos from Europe. Enjoy.

Me sneaking a Starbucks in England...

Keukenhoff gardens (above and below)

Paris street scene:

Amsterdam canal:


MORE Keukenhoff....

Paris (really?)

Fastest post ever...

Only four minutes left on my internet access back in Amsterdam....

My how time flies. (Internet and vacation time).

Lighting recap:

Picking up from our time in Paris:

London was amazing. We were there at total of about 10 hours and packed in about as much as two people can, including a really delicious lunch at The Narrow (a Gordon Ramsey restaurant).

Cologne was very cool. We had rain yesterday, but we still made the most of it. Warren ate about 3 feet of sausage. Really.

We are back in Amsterdam and leaving from here tomorrow....

Back in Mpls tomorrow night and will post LOTS of pics after that.

About 30 seconds left...

Paris

Hubby and I took the train from Amsterdam to Paris last Monday.

The trip takes about 4 hours, traveling through lovely countryside views in Holland, Belgium and France.

Our apartment here in Paris is in the 7th arr., very close to the Eiffel Tower. Literally-- we walk out of our building; turn right; turn right again and we are at the banks of the Seine, looking up at a view of the tower.

The tower is several blocks away, but we see it and can get there very easily. Monday evening, we spent a lot of time at the park near the tower taking pictures and people watching. We had a nice meal at an outdoor cafe and then returned to our apartment to do a little laundry before going to bed.

Today, we went on a very long walk, starting at our apartment, over to the Trocaodero, then to the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs-Elysees, through the Jardin des Tulieries, to the Louvre, over bridges to Ile de la Cite, Notre Dame, the Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation, THEN over to the Latin Quarter, where we found some wonderful pedestrian and neighborhood steets to wander.

We did a lot of window shopping and store hopping -- ate pain de chocolate TWICE-- multiple coffees, split a truely delicious hot dog/french bread baguette sandwich and some popcorn.

We avoided the gypsys at Notre Dame, who apparently won't beg to just anyone. You have to speak English in order for them to thrust the tiny note from their hand to your face, which asks you for money.

When we were here two years ago, the gypsies were staked out at the Effiel Tower. This year, we didn't see any at the tower, but plenty at Notre Dame. When we were approached today, and they aksed if we spoke English, we'd say "no", and off they'd go, looking for the next English-speaking person.

We took the RER (subway) back to our neighborhood and ate dinner at one of the cafes. We sat next to people from Spain (on our left), Germans (on our right) and a bunch of Brits close by, who were glued to the soccer game being shown on the T.V.

Photos will have to wait -- but we have some good ones!

Hello from Holland

Hubby and I are in Amsterdam.

Unfortunately, the internet cafe we are visiting right now does not allow uploading of photos, but when I can do it, I'll have lots of really great ones to post.

We planned this trip about a year ago after NWA and Delta merged. I was afraid I'd lose all my frequent flyer miles, so we got free tickets and then just saved up Euros.

Once the markets and economy started to tank, we thought long and hard about taking the trip, but decided to just forge ahead.

Hubby and I love to rent apartments when we travel, and we found a couple real bargains via http://www.vrbo.com/ for places in Amsterdam and Paris.

Our apartment here is right across the street from Vondelpark. The place is very spacious and has huge windows in the front and back, letting in lots of light and air. We have a little balcony where we sit and watch the world go by.

We left about three days ago. We went to Keukenhoff gardens -- wonderful, green fantastic flowers. After we toured the gardens, we rented bikes and wandered through the little villages and tulip fields. Unbelievable colors, interesting archeticture and landscapes.

We went to the Van Gogh museum -- there is a special exhibit of his work that focuses on evening scenes, including "Stary Night". Wonderful.

Yesterday, we wandered the neighborhoods. We found a great open air market where vendors sold fresh fish, veggies, cheese, clothes, bakery and more. Great bargains; great people watching.

We also ended up at Westerpark -- a little off the beaten path for tourists, which we love.

We've been eating great food; drinking rich coffee and finally, finally FINALLY unwinding.

We leave for Paris tomorrow -- we'll be there for a few days; then to London for one day and then to Cologne, Germany before we fly back.

Fortunately, we've got a great house sitter, so the cats won't be lonely and I don't have to worry about them.

I only have to worry about finding the next interesting place to have coffee...

Hubby's TRI umphant event today

Usually this blog is all about me, me, me.  

And then, after I'm talking about

 me, there are PHOTOS

 about me, me, me.

Today, the entry is about Hubby, who participated in the Lifetime Fitness Indoor tri today.

The event consists of a 10-minute swim, 30-minute bike ride and 20-minute run.  

May not sound like a lot to some of you out there, but it really is a challenge, especially if you a) don't do this much (as in "about once per year") and 

b) you really don't like the water.

Hubby can swim, he just doesn't like it much.  He had some bad experiences when he was a kid that soured him

on the whole "head underwater" thing.

Yet, today, he got in the water and did his thing.  

Then he got on a spin bike and did his thing harder.  (This too was a big deal, since he usually rides a comfy

 recumbent bike.  Today, he was riding an official SPIN bike, where the resistance was set by the race officials.)

Finally, he got on the treadmill for his run.  He had trained for several weeks (on a regular exercise bike and the treadmill), so he was fully ready for this part of the event.  

He finished in grand style and I am very proud of him.

My husband rocks.

Out of hibernation

I must have fallen asleep in a cave.

The last entry I made was on March 13th, which feels like a very long time ago.

The last few weeks have been sort of "blah". Nothing too much to report.

Work is okay (which, I suppose, is news in and of itself these days).

Home life is okay.

Weather is pretty typical for March/April in Minnesota. We've had some snow, some chilly days and a few hints of spring.

Lake of the Isles is almost all open water now. Lake Calhoun is working on melting...

I'm anxious to start open water swimming but know there is a long water-warm up process that needs to occur.

My "training" has been spotty. My right knee is squawking. Not really sure what is going on with it. Achy; a little swollen. I saw a chriopractor and he thinks it is nothing serious. Just annoying.

The biggest news is that Hubby and I will be going on a little vacation next week. We are excited to get away and to recharge.

Hopefully we'll come back to open water, blooming daffodils and a true beginning to Spring.

GOOD LUCK to Steve Stenzel and Slim-down 220, who are both doing the half IM NO event this weekend.

Friday. March. What more can I say.

Although the sun is warm, there is still snow on the ground and we (I) are (am) at our (my) breaking point....


At least it is supposed to be in the 50's by early next week.

BEST $20 bucks I ever spent...

Hubby's birthday was last week.

We had a small celebration on the "official" day by having dinner with Sabrina at Famous Dave's BBQ (one of Hubby's fav restaurants) and then cake at our house.

For his gift, I redeemed the two free nights I had accumulated at any Kimpton Hotel and found cheap airfare to Midway Airport in Chicago. We flew there last Friday and came home yesterday.

We love Chicago -- I used to live there and we both love the vibrancy of the city, the cool stuff you can do at any hour of the day, the great food, fantastic people watching, and, of course, the "El".

Unfortunately, it rained all weekend. And I mean RAINED.

We were lucky in that it didn't rain when we walked from our hotel to the Art Institute, where we waited in line for about 30 minutes to get tickets. (Apparently a rainy day spent inside the Art Institute wasn't just our good idea...). I love this photo because it is so "touristy"....

We spent pretty much the whole day at the museum and had a blast.

We went to a hip, cool trendy restaurant for dinner on Saturday night: Sushi Samba. Dee-licious food, fun atmosphere. The rain also let up enough so we could stroll back from the restaurant to the hotel.

Sunday, the rain gods were not so kind. It poured all day. Buckets and buckets and sheets and sheets of cold, March rain.

We slept in late and then took a cab to Gino's East to indulge in some really great deep dish pizza.

The cab driver was a nice, friendly guy and we chatted about stuff on the way to Gino's. Thanked the guy, paid the fare and went in to the restaurant.

Being the nice (vain) girl that I am, I wanted to go to the restroom to wipe the rain off my head when I discovered that I LEFT MY PURSE IN THE CAB.

AAARRRGGGH. Panic! Fear! AARRRRGGGGH.

My ID, my credit cards, my camera, my make up, my cash, my PURSE! Left in a cab in a city with millions of cabs.

The waiter at the restaurant said "Just call the cab company".

Under normal (not pouring rain) circumstances, this would be a smart idea. But, because it had been raining so hard when we hailed the cab, we just jumped in, rode to the restaurant and jumped out.

"Company?" Ummmmm, errr, ahhhh. No clue.

For once, I had no idea what to do. Usually, I'm pretty good in a pickle. I can figure out "Plan B" probably faster and quicker than most (if I do say so myself...).

This time, I was stumped and fearful. I could certainly cancel the credit cards, but how do you get on an airplane with NO ID? How do you replace pictures on a camera?

After a few minutes of fretting and using the "F" word (a lot), who walks in the restaurant, but our friendly, cheerful, honest, WONDERFUL cab driver, who says "You forgot your bag in the cab".

I ran over to him and hugged him, which I think surprised the heck out of him. I was very, very grateful.

We went to the cab, I got my bag and give him a $20.00 for finding it and returning it. To the left, you see the bag, on the table, at the restaurant, with ME!

Hubby and I were able to enjoy dee-lish-e-ous pizza and the rest of his birthday weekend.

After lunch, we hopped on the "El" back to Midway and the birthday adventure was over...

A HA! It all makes sense now...

For a few weeks, I've been trying to figure out why I've been so loooooowwww energy. Why my runs have been sooooooo hard. Why sleeping more hours every day than a cat sounded soooooo appealing.

I've been sick!

This may sound gross (at least it sounds gross to me), but I have shingles. It is an aftereffect of chicken pox, which can lie dormant in your nerves.

(Sidenote: The chicken pox thing was also a surprise, as the only childhood disease I thought I had was the mumps (were the mumps??? Is "Mumps" as a disease singular or plural?))

Apparently, once you have chicken pox, the virus stays lurking in your nerves. Some people go the rest of their life with no sign of the virus.

Others, like me, get shingles. The virus decides to pop its little head out of sleep and runs wild through your nervous system.

Symptoms are rash (my rash is on my neck) and swollen lymph glands, bumps, etc. which tend to congregate on one side of the body (my left side of my head is where it is showing up: my head, ear and neck are all swollen and very, very tender).

Bummer -- BUT may explain why expending energy was a big issue. Why I've been so achy for the last few weeks.

Stress is a factor that can help wake up the virus, and heaven knows I've been a bit stressed lately, so that must have been the trigger.

The doc gave me a Rx to help fight this thing faster and I've been asked to "take it easy". (What does that mean again?)

Training? I'll do what I can, when I can.

Fargo 1/2 is really only a placemark race for me this year. I won't start tri training in earnest until the end of April, so I have some time.

I'm kind of mad this happened, though, because I really don't get sick much.

Perfect timing!

(Similar to the "perfect timing" of the delivery of the Girl Scout cookies I ordered in January coinciding with my re dedication to Weight Watchers.....")

Starve a cold, give a cookie to a shingle...

Sooooooo sick of winter.....

Tomorrow is the last day of February.

Thank heavens, is all I can say.

I'm really sick of winter.

Sick of snow, ice, cold, freezing, white, mittens, boots, scarves and Chapstick.

Looking forward to heat, humidity, sunshine, grass, open water swims, tee shirts, birds and barbeques.

TAG: I'm It...

Nat tagged me to answer some questions.  

It is not 25 random things, just 5 short, simple questions.

So here it goes:

1.  If you could travel to any time/ place in history, when/where would you go?

Probably the 40's -- around and after WWII, here in the U.S.  Women were gaining more "independence", the U.S. was pretty exciting.  I would either like to have lived in a big city like Chicago or New York OR, I would have liked to have lived in Milwaukee and have been friends with my parents.  It would have been very interesting to know them when they were young adults. 

2.  What is your biggest dream for 2009?

Honestly, my biggest dream is that this economic nightmare would stop.  It would be great if the economy would get back on track so people could get back to work and 401k/investment balances would be restored to pre-recession levels.   I'd love to see infrastructure spending and Green Technology lead the way.

Personally, my biggest dream is my same dream as always:  that all my friends and loved ones (including me) are happy, healthy and live to see another year.  (OH!  and many be one golf score for me this year under 100!)

3.  Which do you like best:  Swim, Bike or Run?

Varies from year to year.   A couple years ago, it was running.   Now, I'm really in to swimming.  Probably because I've spent more time in the pool.  Running feels "hard" right now; biking has been limited to spin classes.  

I reserve the right to re-answer this question in July after my first 1/2 iron event for the summer...

4.  What is your "go to" song on your iPod when you need a boost?

"Ballad of John and Yoko".  No kidding.

5.  What is your favorite season?

Duh.  Any one with no snow on the ground and temperatures above 70.

Wanna play?  Add a comment that says "Interview Me", and then just post your answers on your blog.

Another video (because I figured out how to upload it...). Earlier in the event. My arms are in much better position and I have pretty good hip rotation.

Checking in

A little experiement here, with a video of me swimming at Tri U Mah. Must have been later in the event, because my arms are not recovering very well.

Sigh.

Spent most of last week in Tempe, where it was "cold".

Cold, of course, is relative. For me, temps in the low 60s felt fantastic. For Tempe-ians, it felt frosty.

I cracked up the morning I drove to the office and passed many people walking to what ever destination wearing hoodies, jackets, scarves, gloves and Uggs.

Heck, we Minnesotans would be breaking out the wet suits for our first open water swims....

Anyway: my goal was to work and to work out like a maniac.

I only worked like a maniac. We had number of very big meetings slated for Thursday that I was helping to orchestrate.

Late, late nights; early, early mornings and not much else in-between.

Fortunately, I found a Whole Foods about 2 miles from my hotel, which was also next door to Starbucks, so I had healthy food and good coffee all week.

I came back to truely cold Minnesota (temps only touching the low 20s) and to my loving hubby on Friday.

We spent a great Valentine's Day together, complete with a yummy seafood dinner (seared tuna and white bean salad, seared scallops and spicy squash).

Today, I SHOULD have gotten up early this morning to run with my friends, but I just couldn't drag my carcass out of bed. After I finally got up, Hubby and I took Sabrina shopping to help stimulate the economy -- er, I mean help her update her wardrobe.

Hubby and I did make it to the health club tonight, though. He biked and I swam. Felt good to move again.

Speaking of moving again, I found out I placed 3rd in my age group at Tri U Mah. Third out of eight, so not such a big deal, but big enough for me.

Goals for the week: Keep my committments to friends for swimming and running; keep off the sugar. Keep moving forward.