SCAN 5K

This morning Bart and I ran the SCAN 5K at the Short Pump Mall.

I'm smiling here post race in front of Crate & Barrell because I PR'd - by over two minutes.

Official finish time - 26:10.

Yes, that's in the 8:30s.

I'm still smiling.

Training my mind

I need to train my mind to believe.

To believe that my body can go where I push it.
To believe that I can keep going even when it hurts
To believe that I can achieve what my coach tells me I can.

I've talked about this before, but I go through a period of self doubt each time I receive a race plan. This week is no different.

Its just a little 5K I tell myself. You ran that this morning after a hard bike without even blinking an eye. You've hit all of your track repeats below your target pace this Spring. You've been through this before . . . and, you always suprise yourself.

But still, I doubt. And this is where I still need to work.

To train my mind. To smile through it and go after it.

And Believe.

Time Flies...

The time since my last blog has flown by. Work has been particularly busy and workouts are up to two a day for most days during the week. I haven't had much time to relax or blog. In fact, right now I'm multitasking in the Chicago airport while I wait for my late night flight. Here are some snippets of my HIGHS and lows from the last week.

Bart and I celebrated our 3rd "at sea" wedding anniversary last Saturday. I made a vow that next year, we'll celebrate where we should celebrate. . . on a boat in the BVI.

I am learning to like my long runs in Pocohontas. For those of you in Richmond, or visiting, Pocohontas is a FANTASTIC park. The trails are not too technical (less opportunity for a sprained ankle or a skimmed knee) and the park is peaceful. Its also hilly (great preparation for Placid). I really struggled my first weekend there, but last weekend went by a little bit faster, and I felt a little stronger. I even made it up all the hills without my HR skyrocketing beyond control or walking. Could have been my fresher legs, but I enjoyed it.

I am SOOO ready for warm weather and I definitely could not live in Chicago. I feared I would turn into a Popsicle the past two days and I can't even imagine having to train outside in this stuff. Last weekend's ride in Richmond was plenty cold for me.

Anything steeper than a 6 % grade makes me really work on the bike. I love my new Garmin Edge.

My stomach is still rejecting wine. :( Despite that, I still have had a glass or two. Call it an emergency.

I had a GREAT track session on the treadmill. I never thought I'd utter those words since I hate running on the treadmill and would rather swim long or bike if it is to cold or gross outside to run. That said, I had an appointment with Coach Michael on Tuesday morning for 600s at the track. I tried to cancel the night before because the weather was predicted to be in the low 20s. A regular run in the 20s is doable, but speed work for me is not. My legs just never warm up. So, after I tried to persuade Bart to go in my place (and he quickly refused), I sucked it up and headed to EF. After a warm up where my legs felt slow and heavy, we started a "warm up" 100s. Having no control over the buttons on the treadmill is a good and bad thing. Good, because you can't control the pace and have to hang on no matter what and Bad, because you can't control the pace. The 100s went pretty smoothly and soon it was time for the 600s. I must run an inconsistent pace on the track because believe it or not, my 600s on the treadmill almost felt (shhh... you didn't hear this...)easier. I'm thankful to have a Coach who pushes me and oftentimes believes more in my abilities than I do.

I'm thankful I don't travel for business every week. It totally screws up my schedule and my diet. I admire TriJones for working hard to juggle travel, work, home and training. Its tough.

I love gadgets. The latest I'm considering is a power meter. Two years ago my focus was more shoes, now its training gadgets. LOL!

That's all for now. Its now Friday - TGIF!

I want a new stomach . . . but I'll keep my bike!

My cleanse ended a week and a day ago. While my weight loss during the cleanse wasn't as much as I had expected since I had given up EVERYTHING good to eat and drink, my stomach felt fantastic for those 28 days. Other than the 4th day of the detox (when my body was in complete shock), my stomach was perfect . . . no issues whatsoever. It was nice for a change to get up and go for a workout without any worries of how my stomach would react.

Since the detox has ended, I've kept up my healthy eating, managed to drop a few pounds but on Friday and Saturday night added back in a few glasses of wine, a smidge of dairy and last night, some red meat. As much as I hate to admit it, my stomach is rejecting one or all of those things. Both Saturday and Sunday mornings have not been pleasant in the stomach department. So, while I wouldn't have traded in the fabulous dinner TG40s husband cooked last evening, I guess I'm back to detox style eating (minus the shakes) again this week.

Deanna and Richard getting ready for the ride. . .

While I would trade in my stomach in a heart beat, I am definitely not trading in McQueen. Yesterday was again a beautiful, sunny perfect bike riding day. TG40, Richard, SanDee, our sponsored er Pirate and Dennis set out for the Ashland roads around 11:30. We took the new route that Richard showed us last week up to Ashland. Its a perfect route with lots of beautiful surroundings, good less traveled roads, some rollers and a good climb into town.

At Ashland Coffee and Tea

We were certainly not alone on the roads yesterday. It was awesome to see so many other cyclists on the road. When we arrived at Ashland Coffee and Tea, there were so many riders there that there was hardly a place to rest our bikes. We refueled and TG40, Richard and I set off for another 30 miles. On the return trip, Richard guided us to a new side loop by the fire training center that included a surprise double climb.

Richard testing the speed limit. . .

For February, my legs felt great yesterday. I was able to ride much further mileage at a lower HR and higher cadence than this time last year. And, McQueen's saddle didn't even hurt after the 50 miles. At the end, I my legs burned on our last push into the head winds but it was a good tired.


While I didn't want the ride to end yesterday, the best part about the finish was that I new I was headed to a post-ride massage. Kim at Therapeutic Massage worked wonders as always, and soon, I was relaxed and ready to head to a fabulous dinner at TG40s.

Our post ride self-portrait

Its another awesome day outside today. Hope everyone heads outside to enjoy it! I'm headed to Pocahontas State Park for 2 hrs of trail running. Will have to bring some bread crumbs and keep my fingers crossed that I don't get lost!

I Need Some Sunshine . . .

It's February and to my disappointment, Punxsutawney Phil yesterday predicted a longer winter. Cold sub30 morning workouts are not my favorite. In my mind, February should be warm OR I should be headed to someplace in the Caribbean to do some winter open water training and get my much needed dose of sunshine. I've been green with envy reading the sites of some of my favorite Hawaii triathletes, Bree Wee and Rachel Ross, as they train in such beautiful surroundings and conditions. And so, I've spent some of those cold runs or trainer rides dreaming of living in warmer weather or at least escaping to my favorite place, the British Virgin Islands.

Here is me last year, getting a dance workout in aboard our 50 foot catamaran.


We got a small glimpse of Spring on Sunday and oh the difference it made. The temperatures rose to the lower 60s and McQueen was begging for a ride outside. Bart and I rode with TG40, Richard and Kermit on a great 30 mile loop towards Ashland. I got to test out my new Edge 705 (I love it by the way) and the route was beautiful with some rollers and one decent hill to test out our winter fitness. The ride with friends and the sunshine made a perfect Sunday, to be topped off with the cherry of the weekend, a Steelers Superbowl win!

Unfortunately, this morning, I woke up to snow on the ground and 30 degree temperatures again. Rather than motivate myself to the track, I slept in, still tired from a hard Guppies workout yesterday morning, a long workday and my attempt at yoga during the lunch hour.

Our trip to the BVI is out this year -- our funds are going instead to two trips to Placid and our Ironman training. So, I'm back to praying for warmer temperatures to return and pulling out pictures from trips and fond memories of trips in years past to bring a smile to my face.

So here's to a warm winter day for this Saturday's ride. I hear it might be in the 50s! :)