Oops... Did I do that?

So... I have a co-worker who is a dear friend and an avid cyclist.  She has done a couple of triathlons in the past and on my urging was going to tri again this season.  Sometimes life gets in the way (in her case an engagement and medical issues) and you just don't get in the training you would like.  This morning she transferred her race entry for this weekend (a sprint tri) to me.  I'm excited.  I didn't expect to race much this year (given the biggie at the end of the year) but this will be a nice bonus race.  And look at the medals!  So cool.

I'm starting to put some serious training time in.  Usually I have more than one workout in a day.  Today I will swim, bike and run.  I swam this morning before work.  I'll ride after work and put in a quick transition run after the ride.  My body is tired and I'm finding sleep and nutrition are incredible important.  I just feel better when I'm treating my body better.  Reminder: treat your body better!

I also find that my spare time is dwindling.  I'm really trying to make my time with family and friends count.  I snuggle with the kiddos every chance I get and really try to make an effort to be in the moment instead of on my phone or thinking about something else.  With 3 months until Ironman I know my spare time is going to become non-existent.  I really need to focus on making every choice a good one.

A picture of the geese on my run last week.  I was only about 5 feet away.  No fear of me.  They were happily in the water on my way back.  Wisconsin in the spring and summer is gorgegous.  It almost makes you forget about the winters.... almost.

TRI Season 2016 is here!!

Whoo hoo!  Tri Season 2016 is officially here!  Last weekend I traveled to St. Louis to compete in the 1st Annual St. Louis Triathlon.  After a very up and down off season I was excited to race.  The STL Tri offers a sprint and olympic distance.  Since I have a half ironman tri in less than a month (GULP), I went for the olympic distance which consists of a 0.9 mile swim, 26 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run.

Swim: Definitely was not my best but not my worst either (Please see my 2015 Tri Season begins! post for more details).  My sighting wasn't up to par and I had issues trying to find open water.  Lots of bumping other people and stopping to readjust directions.  After talking post-race with many different people this seemed to be the trend of the day.  I will be happy when we start OWS practices.  But considering I had only been in the pool 3 times in the last month prior to the race I'm trying not to be too hard on myself.

Bike:  I am pretty happy with this.  Bike was pancake flat with the exception of one small hill.  It was a two loop course.  My watch malfunctioned after the swim and I could not get it into bike mode.  I had no idea how fast I was going so the first loop I hung with someone who seemed to be going at an ok clip.  After the first loop, I thought I could go faster without trashing my legs for the run.  I think I did but I have no data to back that up.

Run:  I stopped to go to the bathroom quickly out of transition (porta potties were after the timing chip) and then started to run.  I did not take hydration on the run because they promised aid stations every mile.  I severely regret that decision.  It was HOT!  The first two miles were good.  Then I slowed down mile 3 and 4.  At mile 5 I hit a wall.  I think lack of fueling and hydration really hurt me. 

Overall not a horrible race (3 hrs. 15 min) but I was a bit disappointed in my swim and run (especially my run).  After Augusta I made a promise to hydrate well throughout the race but I didn't deliver on that promise and I paid the price.  I will certainly be working on this over the next month to ensure I don't do this at Milkman.  

Milkman Half Iron Triathlon 24 Days

Ironman Wisconsin 108 Days

Injury and Anticipation

Forgive me Father for I have sinned, it's been 3 months since my last blog post!

Wow!  It has really been FOREVER since I posted.  Now that Ironman Wisconsin is only 130 days away I will likely be posting more often.  I have so much swirling through my head and writing this blog helps me make sense of a lot of it.  

The last 3 months have been full of ups and downs.  I ran a 10k with friends in March and I had my best 10k ever! (Ok, ok so it’s my only too).  I joined a local triathlon team and training was going really well.  At least it was and then I had surgery 2 weeks ago and it all came to a screeching halt.

I was having intense pain in my abdomen when I stood up or was sitting down reaching to get something on.  It did not happen all the time (actually it was really infrequent) but when it did happen it was VERY painful.  I went to my surgeon in January and he thought it was a hernia.  Ordered CAT scan and nothing, nada, zippo.  Fast forward 4 months and pain starts coming more frequently.  Go back to dr. he says it is likely a hernia and we need to do surgery to fix it.  Schedule surgery, he opens me up and find nada, zip, zero.  Ugh!  He does clean up some adhesions but we have no idea what was causing the pain.  On the bright side, no similar pain since surgery but I also haven't been doing anything strenuous.  I guess only time will tell.

First race of the season, the St. Louis Triathlon is in 3 weeks.  I'm scared.  I have already done all the distances this year but being lazy the past few weeks definitely concerns me.  I have a 40 mile ride following by a 3 mile run this Saturday and a 9 mile run scheduled for Sunday (Happy Mother's Day to me).  If these go well I should regain some lost confidence.  

Getting it done :)

So, this is my promise.  I will blog at least once a week until IMWI.  I should have enough to talk about given how much my training is supposed to ramp up.  Hopefully I make it through this is one piece and my surgery will be the only real hurdle I have in my way.  As unlikely as that is I will continue to keep my fingers crossed.

St. Louis Triathlon  17 Days

Milkman 70.3  45 Days

Ironman Wisconsin  130 Days