More Idaho Pics

We don't believe in scrimping while car camping.

Before and after we moved in.

The extremely dependable raft and cat carnage at Lochsa Falls.

Me and California Kelly in camp.  The Rainier beer in the background is definitely not mine!

Because this is how I roll.  Even in the woods.

Ken coming through Lochsa Falls.  Can you spot him?  He's the speck of red heading into the meat.

Me taking my shuttle bitch/photographer role very seriously.  I missed them coming through House Wave because I was trying to get this focused in the side view mirror.  Fail.

Eric tearing it up in Pipeline.

Heading home.  :-(

Rest Week in Da 'Ho

I know, the weekly recap is late again.  Like a week late.  But I was out of town for Memorial Day weekend (Who da ho?  Idaho!  That never gets old.) and then fell right into peak week upon our return.  So you know, I've had tons of free time.

This was my last recovery week for IMCdA, prior to heading into peak week and then taper.  It coincided nicely with a 5 day camping trip - our annual pilgrimage to the Lochsa River in the Bitterroot Mountains.  It's a haul of a drive, but it's worth every hour in the car compared to what I gain in sanity.  This year's forecast was for cold/rain and epic high water predictions.  Combine that with $4/gallon gas prices, and the camp grounds were pretty bare.  Which meant that I got extra quiet relaxation this year.  As it turns out, the water levels were fantastic.  And the sun made more than a brief guest appearance.

While the boys were out playing on the river, I was out trail running.  The Bitterroots are not friendly.  The trails go something like this - up up up up UP UP UP UP UUUUPPPP up up up, dooooooowwwwwwn.  Over a week later, my calves and hamstrings are still trying to recover.

When I wasn't napping or running, I was cooking (dutch oven meals rule!) or eating.  Overeating + rest week = ugh.  But you can't camp and not have smores!

Swim - 1800 meters

Bike - 23.75 miles (hahaha, that is so weeny! especially after almost 200 last week.)

Run - 19.24 miles

Strength - 0.5 hours

Total = 7.1 hours

Weekly Recap: TITS

Lots of TITS this week.  TITS = Time In The Saddle.

Peak week #1 (there's one more left) went okay.  I missed my key swim workout.  Not so worried.  And my key run workout.  Very worried.  But I rode almost 200 miles this week.  And finally nailed my nutrition and pacing on the bike.  My 114 mile bike/4 mile run was AWESOME.  I felt peppy, my legs were fresh after the ride, and I wasn't sore afterwards (except for the, um, lady bits).  My race kit tested out beautifully.  My new bike fit was cozy.  And it was my first long training day in the SUN!  It was just the confidence boost that I needed right now.

Swim - 2700 meters (well that's embarrassing now that I see it written down)

Bike - 194.27 miles

Run - 13.85 miles (hmmm, not feeling so good about that either)

Strength - 25 minutes

Total = 18.03 hours

I get a rest week, one more monster week, and then taaaaaaaper time.  Oh, taper.  We shall have so much fun together! Friends, family, and coworkers - you have now been warned.

The notorious hills of Felida?  Ain't no thang!

Speaking of sun.  Sunscreen.  Use it.  Don't be like me.

Gooey

Gels.  They are everywhere.  Not including the enormous cabinet in the kitchen dedicated to training nutrition.  Stickiness has consumed the household.  Those of you who know me in real life know that I am a housecleaning freak.  Everything is spotless and in it's place and arranged at precise angles.  Usually.  So now you know the reason why we don't have house guests during Ironman season.

Various locations in the pain cave.

In the bento box (and scattered on the floor around the trainer).

In both fuel belts.

On the passengers seat of my car (and in the side panels, and in Ken's car, and on the floorboards).

In the washing machine.  I know, seriously.

In the bathroom.

And all of the other locations that didn't get captured on camera before someone picked them up.  "Someone" not meaning me.

Weekly Recap: Making Progress

It was a mixed bag this week.  I got by.  With a little help.  From my friends.

Swim - 8820 meters
Bike - 144.65 miles
Run - 17.33 miles
Total - 17.23 hours

First open water swim of the year!  I met up with my Beginner Triathlete friend, Bonnie, at Klineline Pond for an after-work dip one night.  It was awesome to finally meet her in person.  The water was chilly, but tolerable, and we were able to stay in the water for about a half hour.  Hopefully I'll get a few more sessions in before race day.  The biggest lesson learned?  I need a new wetsuit!  This one is too big and it drags and isn't very flexible in the shoulders.  I keep putting off the purchase hoping I'll lose weight.  Time to buck up and just get one already.

Julie rallied with me for 35 miles of WIND on the bike on Friday night (after my 4200 meter swim).  Unfortunately I didn't snap any pictures while we were out there.  But here's one from my marathon session in the pool before the ride.

The highlight of the week was meeting up with Bonnie again on Saturday morning for the longest bike ride of the year so far.  We started in Beaverton, headed out to Hagg Lake, did a few laps around the lake, and then back to Beaverton.  Total distance was a little over 90 miles, with about 5000' of climbing.  I am much slower than I would like to be at this point.  But I'm trying to be thankful for just having the ability to ride.  Speed is just icing.  And we don't always need to have the icing.

My savior from a trip to Bonk Town - POPTARTS!

And you know you're in good cycling country when you see signs like this on the rural stores.

I topped off the week with a swim, run, and recovery ride.  And a trip to Athletes Lounge for some triathlon bling!!!!

Weekly Recap: Hard

Some weeks are just hard.  This was one of them. 

Julie and I were talking about this photo the other day.  That's me, working my way through a few levels of personal hell at Ironman Arizona 2009, about to be passed (lapped?) by Mr. Thumbs Up Guy.  From my fuzzy Ironman memory, this was somewhere between miles 4 and 10 of the marathon.  The heat was bearing down on me.  I had been puking and couldn't keep anything down.  My stomach was beyond bloated.  My feet were starting to blister.  And I was trying to grasp the concept that I may feel this way for another 16-22 miles.  But check it out - I'm sucking it up, moving forward, one foot in front of the other.  And eventually things got better.  It cooled off, I was able to start eating again, and my feet eventually just went numb.  And I had the Best...Time...Of...My...Life.

My body is refusing to lose any weight at all.  The little aches and pains that come with the training load are making themselves known.  The blows at work keep coming.  Chores, mail, and laundry are stacking up to a disgusting level.  The weather has made me it's little bitch.  But you know what?  Gotta keep on moving forward.  And I have to believe that things will get better.

Some bursts of sunshine during my week:

- Jessica kick boarding next to me during an entire 1:45 pool running session.

- Coworkers who rallied and doubled my fundraising in one single morning. (Go here.)

- A Mom who listens to my daily bitching updates every morning on the drive into work.  Mostly egocentrically talking about myself and training.

- A husband who brews coffee each morning and fixes dinner (and pre-dinner and post-dinner) each night because I'm too busy or too tired.

- Julie laughing with me while I bawled on the side of the road in the pouring rain with another 4 hours to go.

Weekly Totals:

Swim - 6350 meters

Bike - 136.75 miles

Run - 19.21 miles

Total = 15.66 hours

Weekly Recap: Recovery

Ahhhh, recovery week.  How many of you long and yearn for some rest days, and then absolutely hate it when they get here?  I turn into a complete and utter MONSTER.  A grouchy, bitchy, stomping-my-feet-everywhere monster.  Who eats anything and everything I can get my hands on.

So I filled my time with distractions.  I worked a lot.  I baked 3 dozen cupcakes and 4 dozen cookies for friends and coworkers.  We rearranged the furniture in all but one room of the house.  And redecorated the living room and main bedroom.  I took a 13 hour "nap".  And got a really long massage.  About 10 loads of laundry finally got done.  I spent an afternoon with my best homegirl.  Had an overdue dinner date with the hubby.  And went on no less than 3 coffee dates with girlfriends.  However, the fridge is still empty, because I really hate grocery shopping. (Mom?  Will you please come visit again?  Please?)

Oh, and I still did some training.  Obviously I have some work to do on my mental game, but y'all, physically things pretty much sucked too.  I couldn't hold even a 2:10 pace in the pool.  I got schooled on the bike by someone who was hungover and soft pedaling (in my defense, she's really really fast).  And I topped out at a 12 minute mile.  I'm trying to buy into Coach Liz's "cumulative fatigue" theory, but it's always disappointing when you aren't able to do what you think you should be capable of.  Moving forward!

Swim - 4000 meters

Bike - 42.1 miles

Run - 8.44 miles

Strength - 0:25

Total - 6.43 hours

Photos! Fun!

Washington's version of "spring" during a long run.  Shortly after the taking of this photo I was covered in hail, followed by sun, followed by gale force winds and heavy downpour.  Followed by sun.  And hail.  At the same time.

Return of the ice baths!

My Mom came to visit.  Yay!  She played Zombies on her iPad...  while I did intervals on the trainer.  She did come run with me afterwards though.  And she cooked a freezer and a half of meals.  And ironed.  And grocery shopped.  I love Moms.  My Mom, specifically.

Packages on the doorstep during Ironman season are the best!  This is the first chance I had to try the new PowerBar Perform formula.  SO MUCH better than Gatorade.  It has my seal of approval.  The sad thing about this photo?  This might get me through June.

More "spring" in Washington during a bike ride.  Unfortunately, the race course in Idaho probably looks quite similar.

I'm Alive

I'm still here!  Sorry folks, I got carried away by real life for awhile there.  Tomorrow will mark 8 weeks until show time.  That means 5 weeks until taper starts.  Seriously, where did the time GO?  I'm in the middle of the last build series, and while I've botched it up quite a bit, I think I'm still on track for a finish before midnight on June 26th.  Status check:

Swim - My swimming is pretty solid at this point.  I've logged double the volume in the last 4 months than I did in all of 2010.  Open water swimming will start soon too.  (Note: Lake Coeur d'Alene is currently 42 degrees and it snowed on the course last week.)

Bike - Let's face it, I'm still too heavy to climb efficiently.  Race day is going to be painful.  But I can't go back in time and fix it, so I'm going to try and be positive and let that carry me through the hills on the course.  This WILL change before Arizona.  It has to.

Run - I'm not going to set any records, but I'm feeling confident about the distance.  (I would also say something about being injury-free, but I don't want to jinx it, so there will be no mention of such things.)  If nothing else, being severely undertrained for 3 of my last 3 marathons has taught me that I have the will power to get through the miles.  And I'll have a fun time doing it.

And in case you're wanting a volume update...

A couple of weeks ago:

* I was still recovering from being sick, and still dealing with major allergy issues.  I did well on the bike, but had a hard time getting enough oxygen while running.

Swim - 6550 meters

Bike - 117.25 miles

Run - 11.96 miles

Total - 13.12 hours

Last week:

* This was supposed to be a 16 hour training week, but I ended up logging around 80 hours at work.  So, I'm going to view almost 13 hours of training as a major win.  I also did a long swim of 4000 meters and a long run of just under 12 miles.

Swim - 6750 meters

Bike - 82.03 miles

Run - 18.23 miles

Total - 12.52 hours

Weekly Recap: Meaty

The training note from my coach on Monday read "OK - things are going to start getting meaty around here."  No joke.  Especially after looking into the future a couple of weeks.  I was a little unsure of myself, since I was still a bit sick and heading out of town for a 6-day business trip.  That didn't sound like a recipe for success.  But I DID IT!  I'll fast forward to the summary:

Swim - 7286 meters

Bike - 96.25 miles (ALL on the trainer)

Run - 15.91 miles

Strength - 45 minutes of TRX (ouch, it's been a while)

Total - 13.12 hours

If you want to hear some of the gritty details, forge onward.

Monday - I got to see an alligator.  Up really really close.  This has nothing to do with training, but how cool is that!  I said "see you later alligator" to people the rest of the day.  I was very amused with myself.

Tuesday  - I had my long run of 2 hours on the calendar.  It was impossible to do this before the 7am start time at work, so I opted out of the group work dinner and headed back to the lakes near Louisiana State University.  There were dozens of walkers and runners out until the sun went down, so I felt safe and right at home.  Except that it was 75 degrees and not raining, which is very much different than home these days.  (Dear Pacific Northwest Weather Gods, it's not funny anymore.)  The temperature was perfect, a nice breeze was blowing, and the mosquitoes weren't too bad.

Wednesday - I started the morning with a little TRX.  I had also done some strength training on Tuesday, so by this point I was having a hard time bending over to put on my shoes.  Good stuff.

Wednesday night (after a good southern crawfish boil) I headed on over to the most disgusting excuse for a lap pool I've ever seen.  I wouldn't have been so annoyed had I not paid for what was advertised as a "25 yard pristine lap pool".  So, in Louisiana, 25 yards = 15 yards, pristine = so murky you can't see the bottom, and lap pool = no lane lines or painted stripes.  Oh, and 90 degrees is apparently the optimal workout temperature.  However, the 350 pound ladies doing water walking provided a bit of open water swim experience.  And at least I had access to the spin bikes afterwards (which were indeed spin bikes as advertised).

Thursday/Friday - Rest days.  Unintentionally.  What happens in Baton Rouge stays in Baton Rouge, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Saturday - I made it back into town late on Friday night, so Saturday was a rough start.  After a 2 hour trainer ride (seriously, weather gods, enough!) I headed to the pool for the longest session this year.  And I had a new gadget courtesy of my Mom to track the laps.  Thanks, Mom!

Sunday - Oh my.  This day sucked.  It started off with practicing my Ironman morning nutrition, which was by far the best part of the day.  Can't I just practice eating all week?  Oh wait, I do.  Then I was off to the pool for another 2500 meters.  And then back home for FOUR HOURS on the trainer.  FOUR HOURS.  (Alright, I give, what would you like me to sacrifice?)  And then a 3 mile brick run.  But I did it.  And I'm really proud of myself.  This day is what the guts of Ironman training are made of.  The days that suck and hurt and you find the gumption to get through it anyway.  This is what makes us ready.