Do Not Be Afraid

St. Croix Half Iron Finish 08

There some things in this life that can't be avoided, people get hurt, people get sick, people treat you (your family, your friends etc.) un-fairly or without respect. These are the facts of life. I don't like it sometimes any more than I like stubbing my toe, or failing at something. They hurt, they make our soul bleed sometimes, they change our outlook, our attitude, our perspective. The world never stops, although sometimes it stops us in our tracks and forces us to examine ourselves, why we do what we do, and our reaction to these types of things.

Even if we don't admit it, at some point we are all afraid of something. It could be we're afraid of loosing a loved one, or it could be doing something we have never done before. How will we react? What will we say to others? Will we hide behind a positive exterior while feeling our stomach sicken and our heart become weary? Will we let it out for the world to see and feel vulnerable, yet more at peace?

I ask these questions because so much has happened this week, this month, this year - so many changes, so many people around me having health issues, so many things I could constantly worry about if I really stopped to think about it.

Just this week I read a blog where a wonderful girl talked about dealing with issues of depression, anger and just raw emotion while recovering from a bike accident earlier this year. It reminded me that we are all the same, a bit of each of us can empathize with this person, and can feel a bit of their pain, even understand from an outsiders point of view, what they are going through.

My husband saw a terrible accident this week. Actually, he didn't just see it, he was almost in it. He witness the entire thing, start to finish- jeep rolling in the air, people flying out of the car, and he stayed beside the road with the 28 year old women with broken legs while he realized her husband didn't make it. I saw his eyes afterward and they were so incredibly sad. He felt the helplessness, the anguish of this women, and mourned for her loss. These things are real, this is life. It would be abnormal if he didn't feel that way. We're just human.

My point seems to bring me back to thoughts of racing, and why we/I do this. Part of me loves the competition, part of me just likes being outside, part of me wants to see my athletic side continue to evolve in a new sport (or three sports). I love the feeling when I cross the finish line of a race, I feel completely alive, and so thankful just to have the opportunity to be out among the crowds. I also think of those who wish they could race and they can't for whatever reason, and I do it for them too, even if I don't even know them.

Deep down though, I have some ghosts, some of which may be familiar to even you. They are also real. Ghosts like being afraid to fail, afraid of the pain that sometimes comes with competition, and even being afraid for my safety as I ride for hours upon end in training and racing.

Truth be told, my track record at anything over an Olympic distance triathlon isn't that good in terms of safety etc. I've had such nutrition issues (loosing bottles, dyslexia about how long the bike was and just not finishing bottles...you name it) in both of the last times I've raced a half ironman race. Unfortunately, at some point or another in the race I've been crawling.

At St. Croix, I was so close to the finish line, I could smell it, people were cheering loudly as my name was called over the speaker, but I was out of fuel. There was nothing left as my legs began to fail me. Sadly, there were no choices, my mind could not overcome matter for 20 more feet, and I fell to the ground in front of hundreds of people, which is when Kyle started yelling my name.

I couldn't hear anything else, only him. As the medical team was asked to come out onto the course, I knew it was crawl or DNF. It took everything I had to get my body moving on all fours, knees scraping the ground, mind dizzy and confused. They followed me as I crawled and the crowd was going wild as Kyle screamed "don't touch her, she's going to finish." He knew my heart, and he knew that was what I would want him to say in that situation although looking back, it was probably very painful for him to see me in that state. Once an arm was over the line, I did a final collapse but before I hit the ground, I was scooped up by four men on the medical team, and rushed to the medical tent where I would receive 6 courts of IV fluid before feeling better.

At that point, I didn't know if I was first, or last, and it didn't really matter - Hawaii Slot or no, Hawaii Slot, I am not one to quit if I can do anything within my power to avoid it. I'm not saying anyone would have been any less for stopping right there, but that day, that moment, I just refused with a strong will, and more importantly a stronger savior.

I am not telling this story to make myself look heroic, it's so far from that it's ridiculous. I'm telling it because like Marit, I feel it will help me to get it out there. If I talk about the fact that I do think about that day sometimes, and a part of me is afraid it will happen again, maybe I can move past it and race with the heart (and hopefully this weekend with good nutrition) that I know I have done in shorter races, and will do again this weekend at Whrilpool Steelhead half-ironman.

The Lord said, "Do not be afraid, I am with you always," and now I have to trust that, believe that, and know that more than ever. This weekend I will face my fears, my demons, and once again put myself out there. I have been praying, and will continue to pray, that I have a safe day, as do all of the other athletes out there.

So many (including my family) say, "why put yourself in that situation of possible harm, there's enough things in this word that can hurt you?" It's all about lines people, on this side of the line stands someone who has not yet discovered what I can do at the half-iron distance, someone who doesn't want to be afraid and is willing to keep trying. On the other side of that line on Saturday will (hopefully) stand someone, who with much help, has learned more about fueling her body, and can feel confident about moving up to the next distance in the not very distant future.

Why do it - because we can, because we aren't going to let fear stand in our way, because not doing it, is not an option.


I do some mummy double work in my spare time :)


So, wish me luck on Saturday in Michigan, and please pray for all the people in the race & other races too - safe bikes, good nutrition and a great day for all!

Flip Turns...

Until this point, as a triathlete, I never saw the need to actually embark on the journey of learning to flip turn. "Where are the flip turns in open water?" I would ask as other masters swimmers would comment on my open turn habit.

To be quite truthful, I just didn't see the point in learning when I wouldn't use this skill at any time during an actual race (unless it was in a pool, which I don't think I will be doing too many of at this point).

However, at the swim meet I attended earlier this year, I did feel a bit out of place being one of the only people in my lane NOT to flip turn. I was happy to just complete the 1600 meter race and not be the last one done in my heat! Still, I quickly forgot about this feeling as the next master meet practice came and I reached the other side of the pool gasping for air and being glad for that big breath before pushing off the way to return!

Lately though, something has been changing. I guess it started about two months ago when I tried a few just to see what would happen. Truth be told, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined it, granted I was only doing one, then stopping! My breath control was leaps and bounds ahead of where it was the year before, and I thought I might like to try a few laps that way every once in awhile. Enter - burny nose. This is the thing I am not fond of about my experience with flip turns because it seems inevitable that it can happen, and will happen at some point. I think my mind thinks I'm going to breath underwater or something when I get tired and forget to blow out. Who knows, but I don't like it.

Despite burny nose, these last few weeks I have been doing more and more flip turns and it almost seems more natural to do that than to open turn (which I think will give me shoulder problems if I keep it up for years because I do such weird stuff, don't even ask-too weird to describe!).

So, I have an announcement to make, today, I did flip turns for an entire workout. Granted, it was only 1500 yrds, granted I was all by myself in a lane (sometimes my aim is off & I don't go completely strait) and there was no pressure. I have never done this before, so I was a bit pleased about it just to now say that, well, I can if I want to I guess. I did get burny nose once, and I just blew out hard and kept going.

Who knows if I will ever incorporate this into workouts with other actual swimmers, but I do think it helps with breath control even more and you probably don't even notice that "I missed my breath at the wall" feeling after awhile (which I still had today a few times, but once I got on a roll I was NOT stopping!).

In other news, my husband finally sent me the pictures of the Pitt Triathlon. Only a week or so later. We've never been known for promptness! Better late than never I say..

Thumbs down for the flat tubular, but I am thankful I could keep riding & still finish!

The Podium at Pittsburgh was one of the nicest I have been on in awhile, big screen and everything. Check out my fish, made by a local Pittsburgh artist. Very cool!!

Whew... That Was Close

I almost had a serious blog withdrawal, not just from not writing, but from not reading anyone else's blog for about a five to six day period. What that means for me? I'm not exactly sure (is there such a thing as a blog addiction - think about it), except I did think many times over the last week "wow, this would be great to blog about" and yet, there was either:

A. No Time
B. No Internet connection (or one that was available for the bargain price of 9.99 for 12 hours)
or
C. No motivation to type because I was too tired to move my fingers, let alone get up & press the power button...blah blah.. you get the point.

To sum up my last week I have one word. Insane.

There are a couple of things contributing to the insanity. The first is traveling for work, which always takes things up a notch (being away from husband, living out of a suitcase, trying to fit in workouts around scheduled work deals). The second has definitely been the preparation process of getting our house ready to be put on the market.. talk about a pain in the ass. I mean, honestly, the amount of work I'm actually doing is about 2% compared to the 90% Kyle is doing and the 8% his mother is doing (she actually came down to our house and worked all weekend WHILE WE WEREN'T EVEN HERE! - can you say, Saint). Either way, this is a process like I have not yet experienced, and I think I might not ever want to move again. The list of things that HAVE to be done before we take the final pictures and put it up on the market is dwindling, and I am very, very, very, very thankful for that (mostly because I feel my husband might actually start becoming a human again, who talks, and I see once in awhile, and when I do see he isn't running around frothing at the mouth talking about what he needs to work on next or constantly going to Home Depot). I do wish I could help more, but considering this word, that I say sometimes.. rhymes with.. Tironman (ok, so nothing rhymes with Ironman), I just can't really.

He really is doing an amazing job, and I wish our house was like this the whole time that we have actually lived here! It's like an oxymoron. We go to sell, let's make the house nice. It reminds me of using those seat covers in your car, why are you using them, no one ever even sees your real seats!! I guess you know in your heart they are nice and untouched under there. I say SCREW the seat covers, this is life here people, don't be afraid, and LIVE IT seat cover free. Spill stuff everywhere, that's what I do as I'm flying down the road at 60 miles an hour trying to eat two power bars, drink gatorade and put on makeup before work!

Anyway, the quick version is, Philly was fun, we had a great party, and I got all of my training in. Actually was a really good girl, going to bed every night and getting my sleep! I know borrrr-innng! I came back on Thursday and took the race wheels in to get some magic worked on them at Big Bang Bike Shops where I am proud to say I will receive two new tubular tires this week! Yippee! Just in time for Steelhead Half Iron this weekend. Thank you Big Bang!! You're the best!

I trained hard on Saturday, well, not hard, but lllloooonnggg.. Let's just say, I started at 7am, finished at 3:30pm and was so hungry, I cried. That's right... I said I cried. I feel it's better just to state the facts. Like, this is some support group "Hi, I'm Kim, and I'm an Ironman trainer who get's emotional from lack of sugar/carbs." You're going to get one of two things when I'm hungry- mean & nasty Kim, or sad & I can't do this anymore Kim. So, I guess it was the second this weekend. Luckily, I had a nice talk with a person much more sane than I was at that point to sit me down and demand I immediately eat a pound or so of pasta and drink some milk while eating a brownie. I devoured the whole thing without even realizing what happened. Eight hours of training will do that to you I guess! It's all new to me!

After a drive to Clarion for Kyle's grandfathers Birthday party that night, and then two sports nutrition talks that I gave to the high school athletes at Clarion University's cross country camp on Sunday, I was back to the house Sunday night. The girls (and a few boys) were wonderful and they seemed to really get something from the talk (all questions were answered correctly!). I even met one girl who wants to go to Penn State, major in nutrition and try to walk-on t the cross-country team. I think she might be my clone just 7 years later!

That should get everyone up to speed on the latest happenings. I am missing all kinds of fun stories from this week, but don't worry, there will be plenty more where those came from! I've read at least the last few of my favorite blogs and I feel much, much better... That really was close, I almost needed blog CPR or something. Don't worry, I've given myself a good talking too with the theme...Let's not let it happen again.

Pittsburgh Triathlon Race Report

As I sit here at the Pittsburgh airport, tired legs and all, I have to say this is a crazy day for me, not only with racing, but with trying to get ready to leave all in the same day! I didn't want to miss the race though so some things just can't be helped.

I only have a few minutes before boarding so I'll give it a good shot!

Our day started out at 4:45am when the alarm brought our nice slumbers to an end. We headed down to transition arriving at 5:35 or so and everything went very smoothly! This is a small race so transition is rather small. I thought this would HELP me find my stuff...more on this later.

Once set up, I did my usual warm up (10 mins or so of running) and since this was a NON-wetsuit legal race (I guess this warm weather brought the water temp up around 82 degrees) I got into my skinsuit which Kyle kept yelling around and telling people "hey..look at this girl here, she's putting on a wetsuit" He even had his camera and interviewed me as I was trying to get this SKIN tight thing over my body. I think it shunk 4 sizes since St. Croix. It felt soooo small! Not sure what that was about... too many cookies probably. Anyway, the swim start was crazy as usual and there were probably around 150 women or so in the heat (all age brackets). I felt I sighted pretty well up to the first yellow bouy where we were to turn around and head down stream the opposite way to the finish. Everything was going very well, although I never seem to find any feet to hang on to. The best I can do is try to avoid the slower men in the other heats before us as I make my way through the masses! At one point it started to pour and I thought, "huh.. this is different. I'm already wet so o well!" I came out of the water feeling decent and like I might (no clue, even now) had a good swim. The reason I have no clue is because my watch decided to change to some other setting right before the race and I couldn't get it back to the right mode to have stop watch & heart rate. I chose heart rate.

I came out of the water to a VERY long transition run uphill and then found my bike and headed out. It was very slick on the roads and I was worried about this particular course in the rain. It is all uphill in the HOV lane out of Pitt and then a very fast downhill on the way back, you do two loops. I was heading up hill and passing both men and women with my heart rate in the 170's. My speed was low - 14.0 or 15.0 mph, but I was passing every other minute so it kept things interesting. I like hills so I just tried to keep my turnover high and keep moving.

On the way down I hit a number of bumps and I noticed that I could hear my bike wayyyy... more than usual. I wasn't sure what was up, but I was having scary thoughts of how I put my bike wheels on myself and visions of the whole back wheel just disengaging while I was riding. The magnet seemed to not be on right in the front so it made a whomping sound every time it passed. There was definitely something going on with my back tire, but I thought it might just be rubbing or something, maybe I putt it a little too close to the bike frame when I locked it in... Ummm.. NO.. much worse. Didn't find out until after though!

I'm just rounding the stadium when I get passed by another women, I try to respond and feel like I am standing still. What is up I think, surely I should be able to at least keep her in sight!! My heart rate is climbing and I am wondering if I should just get off and check the bike. I decide against it, it seems to be working, nothing fell apart on the downhill, I'm sticking with it.

I head up the HOV lane again, working hard, but seeming to gain little ground on the passing women or the men in front of me. I work harder, I don't get much back. Doubts are filling my head about what kind of shape I am in, "maybe with no speed work I just don't have much in my legs, maybe I wasn't ready to race, I just felt like I was, but I wasn't." I just keep trucking but I saw at least 3 girls ahead of me at the first turn around during the first lap. Geezz.. lots of people up there to catch, but that's good, makes for a fun run.

Even going downhill, I'm pushing, but guys on huffys seem to be passing me easily, that's right, I said guys on huffys. Listen, I have nothing against, huffys. Heck! I think I even had a huffy in my younger years, and my bike isn't anything amazing, but it certainly should be keeping up with these guys WHILE I'm pedaling on a downhill!! I'm aero for the love!

As I pull into transition I am generally kind of out of it, but determined to get some people back on the run. Wait, I can't find my towel. I thought I was in the right row...I see Kyle on the side of transition (yes, 5 rows of transition and I can't find my stuff) and he's yelling, "right side, right side Kim!" I know I'm going to get the "rookie move" lecture after this race... yipppee.

Kyle also tells me I am 5 down so I "better run hard" as he gives me a perplexed look about why I biked so slowly! No time to explain now, on to running hard like he said! My legs felt rather good so I tried to push each mile and I ran past the first three women within the first 1.5 miles, I passed the 2nd place girl around the 3 mile mark and I could see how far back I was to first because it was a turnaround course. It was VERY hot and muggy, but I was determined to do as well as I could on the run to make up for the bike situation. I wasn't gaining on the first place women so I settled in to run the last mile hard and push it in. When I finished, I felt good that I had crossed the line with a good hard effort.

After the race was over I saw Kyle and we talked about what might be wrong with my bike, I explained that since I put it together myself, it could be any number of things! Finally, when I checked the bike out it didn't take me long to see the back tubluar on my 404 Zipp was flat as pancake. I thought "well, I guess that explains that!" Men around me were looking at what I was looking at and one said, well, I guess that answers it, you can ride on a flat tubular for 15 miles or so... I said, "yeah, in some cases." My wheet didn't appear to be damaged, but I'm going to take it in on Thursday to have someone check it out. I will also be getting new tires immediately. It was already on the docket, but I should have done it wayyyy before now!

All in all, it was a good day and nothing to complain about. I raced hard, overcame some adversity and I was thankful it didn't happen during a half ironman that I had to travel 7 hours to, and instead happened right at home in Pittsburgh during a small not as important race. My final time was 2:23 and I have no doubt I could have gone faster if I hadn't had a bike incidence. I had a huge cheering section from my fellow masters swimmers that weren't competing and it was AWESOME!! Thank you guys!! I kept feeling like a celebrity when I heard my name, it surprised me as I came out of the water and I almost feel over!

This week I'm in Philly for a food show and I just got done with my first 5 hour floor shift. It's a good thing I don't have a lot of training today because between the race & standing, my legs are not in great shape. Tonight, our Super Bakery party is on tap with 2000 of my closest friends... and a person dressed up a donut costume... are we weird, probably. I don't think you could pay me enough to stand in that thing all night talking out of the donut hat!

Tidbits...a glimpse into the scary mind of a triathlete

Pittsburgh Triathlon July 2007, AG 25-29, 4th female overall

I have quite a bit of different things swirling around in my head right now. Its been this way for a couple of days. Unfortunately, work has taken on a life of it's own because I am traveling to Philly this Sunday for our national school show which seems to happen on the same day as the Pittsburgh triathlon for oh.. the last three years or so! Most of the time, I do the race, grab an award, take a shower and get on the plane (in that exact order, well, throw in putting on some clothes and eating also I guess).

Back to the things swirling around. The first one is called:

The Taper - A tribute to things I get to do during the taper that I wouldn't otherwise

• Paint my nails


• Clip & paint my toenails


• Plant flowers
• Water the newly planted flowers (note, other flowers died from lack of H20 & attention)


• Stay up later (ie it is now 10:35pm, would I ever see this on a training eve, I think not)


• Eat dinner at a normal time (aka between 5pm & 7:30pm)


• Deep condition my hair (not a chance of this happening normally, although my hair feels like straw, and might fall out from all the chlorine)


• Stay at work later than usual to finish things up (things I should be doing on a regular basis (shhhh.. be very, very quiet)


• Talk to my friends (well, I do this other times, but more so on a taper week, I do the infamous scroll of the cell phone and say.. humm.. who has called me and I haven't called back in ages... whoops! Sorry!)


• Shave my legs (I also do this normally, don't fret, but I was sitting next to a co-worker who last week said "girl, don't you shave anymore!" I promptly responded "No, I'm not shaving until the Ironman".... KIDDING

So, that covers some of the main ones. I certainly don't need to do all of these things all the time, so I'm fine with the fact that they seem to correspond with the taper. I love the taper. If you don't love it, your weird. I'm kidding, I know there are plenty of you out there who forget how to sit around. I don't sit around much, but I do I re-discover personal hygiene and "girly" practices I have long since forgotten due to running around from pool to work, to home, to running, to sleeping to 5:00am again. You get my drift.

The other thing I have been thinking about is my gym bag. I know, I'm a bit strange. If you're like me though, you have a real relationship with the gym bag. First of all, it's my Big Ten Conference Bag, that you only get when you actually attend a big ten conference championship meet in college. Since we were able to get to two a year (cross country & track) I really racked up the bags. I have a gym bag, a garment bag, a back pack and something else that I may be forgetting. Anyway, it's old, at least 5 years old, and it's not the most organized (no pockets inside, well, one small one, other than that, it's a big old tube). So, here's to you gym bag.

Ode To My Gym Bag

You get pushed around, shoved in trunks with smelly clothes rotting all day in the hot sun. Every night, you suffer through getting packed with multiple sport equipment, you try not to smell (but you have to work on this part). You never complain, as many times as I throw you around, or kick you when I forgot underwear at the gym, again. You just keep on trucking, or gym bagging it...or whatever. Someday I will want to get more organized, but for now, I'll just throw everything in a massive heap inside of you. You do me proud gym bag. You rock. Thanks.

Someday I won't have to plan out my entire life the night before, but that day is not now. Now is a time of looking ahead on the schedule and seeing what I need a few days in advance. How I will get things in, what I will wear, is it clean you ask.. probably not.

In other news, I will be racing this weekend at the Pitt triathlon and I am excited about this race. It's small (probably 400 people), but well run and it's great to sleep in your own bed prior. I've been tapering with the best of them, so I can only hope for a good day for everyone, a safe day for everyone, and a fun race. Here we go!!

No More Bees PPLLEEAASSE!!!

This was my manta for Saturday's long ride. I think I should start at the beginning though.

Here's my question. As a triathlete, what am I supposed to wear for long rides? Cyclists wear jerseys, during triathlons I wear a bathing suit (a two piece no less), and some triathletes wear those "I'm a jersey, but I have no sleeves" type tops during a race and in training rides. When this bad tan line situation started to occur, I started to rethink what I was wearing on my long rides.


You see, a year or so ago, when I was out there for a couple of hours on a Saturday, no biggie. Most of the time, I was wearing whatever I had left in the old drawer that was still clean at the end of the week. Oh, you have some weird Target workout top in the drawer, no problem, it's only two hours. MEMO - We are now in a completely different situation here people. As you might have guessed, and I am now finally learning, a ride over 5 hours is going to get me up there in mileage & I need to be bringing & wearing, the correct stuff or all kinds of foo foo can break loose. I had 5:30 on the schedule, with a 30 min t-run on Saturday and we rode 92 miles. I'm not saying that is fast, I'm not saying that is anything big. What I am saying is, I rode 92 miles in my Nike tank type top, which is no longer going to work because of the bees.

Couple of things the Nike top does not have:

1. Pockets in the back for when I start to pack my suitcase of stuff that I have been needing for these rides.

2. A higher neck so that when I am down in aero position every living creature that flies does not end up having a cup of tea together and a crumpet while hanging out in my top.

3. A long enough back to prevent me from getting this weird tan line across the bottom of my back (see picture as example A).

It's not that I'm cheap. It's just that I was never really sure what I should be riding on these things. I do have two jerseys. One could be called a full out cycling jersey, and the other has little cap sleeves that could be termed a "hybrid" so to speak. It's blue, it's cute, but I get hot so I want my arms exposed like that will help air everything out a bit.

At some point during the ride, a bee, or a horsefly, I'm not really sure which, flew directly in the top (do not pass go, do not collect 200.00, go directly to Kim's bust and sting crazy). He followed directions well and really let me have it. If I wasn't on a moving piece of carbon, maybe it wouldn't have been such a big deal, and I didn't want to wreak, but I wanted this thing out NOW! I started yelling some things I don't want to repeat in the blog, and tried to stop ASAP. I pulled out parts of his body while trying to figure out where he was, but the whole thing in it's entirety never surfaced. I got to ride around the rest of the day with a big welt in my shirt, rubbing and stinging as it got sweatier and swelled! At one point, I thought I had another one in there, but it was just a regular bug and I said - THAT'S IT! NO MORE BEE'S PLEASE!!!! So, I swore off the top forever, and will have to spend some money to get something with a higher neck, or zip up something, or whatever I'm supposed to be wearing (hopefully, someone will tell me).

Other than not knowing what to wear, it was a nice ride with hot conditions (8am-2:00pm) which is good for Hawaii training. I try and relish the heat these days knowing that will be something I will need to be used to riding in by October. I know, it's not HI heat, but it certainly is better than nothing. In other crazy news, my t-run after felt, well, great. It makes me wonder what the deal was. It was my first t-run after a 5+ hour ride and other than my heart rate being off the chain because it was hot, I was fairly pleased with how the legs were holding up! Surprising!

Like a bad girl, I didn't swim that day because the husband and mother-in-law (I hate that phrase, let's just call her Miss D) were home working their little behinds off and I didn't feel right about jetting out for another 1.5 hours after being gone for seven! Don't worry I got it in Sunday/Monday coach.

On Sunday, I had a grrreeeattt (as Tony would say) long run and although the legs were tired from Sat, I am starting to get used to that feeling a bit. To be honest, I didn't feel like going at first since I knew the feeling from last week on the LR. Once I was in it, I was fine though.I ended the long run with a lovely ice bath in which I wore my "I am warm and I am thinking about Hawaii or somewhere warm" red hat. After we took this picture my husband promptly said I was "a goof" and he "couldn't believe I was putting this kind of stuff out there for other people to see!" Well, that's what blogs are about right...sharing the good, the bad, the ugly the goofy or whatever you want to make it.

So get your goofy on.. and somebody tell me what to wear! Please.. before the bees come back! RUN... Its BEES!! and they sting crazy!

TGIF!

Fridays are good. Who doesn't like Fridays. It is a beautiful day out and it is almost quitting time. The weekend is on it's way and I am one happy camper.

I want to send out my love and support to all those racing this weekend, you know who you are! Especially those who will be racing their first ever triathlon this weekend - talk about exciting! Ahhh.. the fond memories of my first triathlon.

It was a cold, dark, morning at the Bulter YMCA Triathlon. Ok, so it wasn't cold, but it just sounded better. It was June so I'm sure was similar to this weekend's forecast, 70-80 degrees and sunny! I didn't pre-register because:

A. back then, you didn't have to registered 4 years in advance & promise your first child before registering

&

B. I didn't even know until that morning if I was going to do the race

At some point I had convinced myself that I wanted to do a triathlon, despite the fact that I couldn't really swim (no biggie right?). Well, I take that back, I could breast stroke with the best of them and I could also side stroke (aka pick apples from the tree & put in the basket), and I could even float if necessary. So, I was all good if I got into a pinch...no problem.

Just think of it, what if you swam past someone who was side stroking or floating today while in a triathlon. I might do a double take, say, "yep, I was there once" and keep on trucking! Anyway, Kyle did drive to the race with me and the entire way I kept saying, "well, if I just get up there and decide not to do it, you won't be mad will you? It's no big deal if I change my mind, this isn't my thing anyway right?" I was looking for some kind of confirmation that no matter what happened, it was cool. We had just gotten engaged a few months before, but Kyle knew me very well none the less. He politely agreed, as the purple grape juice and toast (triathlon breakfast of champions I know!) stirred around and churned in my stomach. We both knew better though, and if we were making the drive, I was doing the race, whatever stroke it was I chose to use!

I signed up apprehensive and confused about where to go, where to put my items & generally overwhelmed by the experience. I kept thinking "watch what the other people do, that will tell you the answer - where to put what etc." Great, that really helped. Remember, this is the local YMCA sprint, people were wearing wetsuits and not wearing wetsuits, spraying themselves with cooking oil (ok, so now you smell like a buttery roll, now what & more importantly, why?), loading there areas up with small packages that looked like space food (gels I'm sure) and there was every bike imaginable, from road bikes to mountain bikes! It was a mecca of craziness, and there I was confused, burping up grape juice, and ready to take on this sport of triathlon. I didn't swim any warm up (I didn't want to give away my secret, which was, that there was no secret, I couldn't freestyle but 20 yards!). Instead, I just waited until the gun went off and was amazed to see people swimming all over one another. I wasn't remotely interested in partaking in that insanity! I just stayed back and then once the road was clear, I started breast stroking ferociously. Without any thought to form, I just hammered out the strokes as fast as I could. It was great for sighting, terrible for energy conservation...but at least I could breath which was my issue during freestyle.

Ten minutes later (400 yard or so swim), I emerged victorious (who cares how the rest goes, I just made it out, alive!!). I ran to my trek road bike, and of course, changed into my bike shorts first, before heading out for 7 miles. Once again, I road with reckless abandon and couldn't believe how many people were both in front of me (I must have been almost dead last), and how many people I was passing. I wasn't saving anything for the run, heck, that was my strong point so whatever happens, happens on that part! I saw Kyle a couple of times, and he would say things like "you look strong" and I would think, "compared to what??" We had no point of reference! It was still nice though.

A picture of my second triathlon, YMCA Sprint at Moraine State Park July 20, 2005 - Look I learned in one months time to ride in my bathing suit (which was embarrasing, but people said that was what you just did!) I almost wrecked getting my bike to stop (you had those dang lines they wanted you to stop before crossing, weird?) and then I racked it and tried to figure out what I would need to run. Race number, check, hat, check, just wear the bike shorts, check, shoes, check, ok.. that's good enough, I'm off! I sped out of T2 like my shorts were on fire. This 3.1 mile run was going down. I didn't see many people so I started wondering if I was still on the right course. I asked one guy and he said yes, as we huffed & puffed up this hill. It was definitely a hilly run, and my legs were tired, very tired from just not being trained for this type of activity, but I was so used to running hard, I didn't think much about it. I passed a few women but wasn't sure where I was place-wise, nor did I care! It was my first triathlon and it seemed to be going well! Splits, no idea what I ran (probably around 21 minutes). I saw Kyle and I really started sprinting it in, and when I ran by, he yelled, "you're first, push it all the way in!!!" I was excited and surprised but most of all, I was elated to see the finish line, this triathlon stuff was tougher than just running.

After the awards, Kyle and I went to Sears & the Bon Ton (department store in a small town..no Macy's here people), to register for our wedding. On my arm still remained my number written in black sharpie. At one point, since I was wearing a tank top thrown on my sweaty body after the race, a store employee asked "WHY I had that number on my arm??" I said, I did my first triathlon today. He said, "how'd ya do?" I just smiled and said, "pretty well." Right then and there I knew that day would not be my last tri, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Two Friends in 2005, second triathlon and the beginning of something they both grew to love!

Beth & Kim
So, here's to firsts, however scary or challenging. Firsts are always fun and exciting because they are just that. Go get em this weekend if it is your first, or your 117th. It's your day!! Have Fun!

Attitude Adjustment

Sometimes I hear parents say this to their kids, but today, I am saying it to myself. For the first time a few days ago, I was able to see my training schedule the entire way through October 11th, race day.

The way my training works is through the Mark Allen Online system where I log in and I can view my workouts, usually about a month or six weeks at a time. On Sunday I needed to be "loaded up" with more workouts to get me through the next period so I contacted my coach to ask him to hook the program up. It calculates these workouts based on previous training experience, current swim, run and bike mileage, age, and workouts that you would like to have per week. Yes, you can choose 9, 11 or 14 workouts per week based upon your scheduling needs. At the beginning, I talked to my good friend Beth about this, since she has been doing this program for a year, and really liked the training, In addition, her results showed wonderful improvement. We discussed how the 14 per week might be challenging at times, but considering our situations (no children right now), and how to get the most from the program, I decided I wanted to try 14. If it was too much, I would back off to 11 workouts per week. I also liked having a day off completely from training on Fridays, no workouts, no thinking about workouts, just sleeping in and being "normal" for one day per week.

This seemed to work very well for me during my half-iron training. Thursday's were a little rough with a speed run session of about an hour, 3000-3500 yards of swimming (1 hr 15 mins) and then a long bike in the evening (2 hrs) of course, still working my 8 hour day in between 2 morning & 1 evening workout. It was tight, but fine.

Getting back to my coach releasing the workouts, he let me know in an email that day that he had released ALL the workouts right up until Kona. To an athlete, that is in some ways a double edge sword. You mind goes something like this.. "do I want to know, NO, I don't want to know, one week at a time, no peeking, I HAVE to peek, seriously, what will I be doing on say... August 27th.. WHAT!!! 7 hours of biking.. that must be a typo. Shoot, this program (unlike me) doesn't do typos! How will I ever do that!!"

So, I looked, that's right.. I was a peeker. I now know what I will be doing for the next 13 weeks of my life, every day... Thursdays will get longer and more intense, Saturdays will be longer, training wise, than my average work day. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it.

Then this morning I got the attitude adjustment that I needed. Here it is.


A Great Story A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?'. The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes' too. For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island . Father and son went on to complete the race together.


I've seen this story different times associated with the Ironman, but you know how sometimes things seem to come at the most opportune (or sometimes what we feel is inopportune) times? My mother sent me this video and I almost didn't watch it because I had seen the story before, but then I did. Wow is all I can say. My eyes welled up with tears from start to finish, and I got goosebumps all over.

Until you have children, I doubt you can truly understand what it means to be selfless and fully willing to give everything up for someone else. Having a spouse is one thing, and it approaches this level. However, children are so young, so innocent, and rely on you for their very well-being. To think this man was not only willing to do the Ironman, but to endure the pain and joy that was brought about by pulling & pushing his son through the event makes me feel like a big baby. Who am I to complain or think that my training is too far, or might be too hard or too long. Who am I to have one negative though associated with the pain I will endure that day during 140.6 miles. This man, much like our savior, endured it all, for every one of us... and whom am I to ever question or bat an eye at the path he has chosen for me right now, this very second.

Not one more.. that's what I say. Not one more negative thought, not one more squint at the computer screen when I see something I've never done before. People train for the Ironman everyday. These people who have more responsibilities, with more constraints, with crazy jobs do it day in, day out, just like me. Every time we step up in distance, whether it's running a marathon or a even an Olympic distance tri, we do it with the confidence & fortitude to know the training is done, and though we have never done it before, we are prepared, we trust ourselves and our faith, and can handle it. We will finish. This man didn't even know know if it could be done, he did it anyway. The beauty of the human spirit... it shines like no other.

So, yes, I've got it now (speaking to the man upstairs). Thank you for my attitude adjustment, I needed that.

Speed Bike Outside = Ride like a Rabid Dog

I have a confession to make, sometimes I like to ride on the trainer. Yes, that's right.. my name's Kim, and I use the trainer in the summer.


For those of you who do not know what a trainer is (and there are some out there which is fine - shout out to my Aunt Dena who I heard now reads my blog), it is a metal device that allows you to lock in your back bike skewer and then slide the back wheel against a resistance roller. You use your gears to adjust how hard or easy the resistance is, and therefore, how much effort you have to use. See picture below.

The Trainer.. Hated in the Winter, No Longer Enemy No. 1 in the Summer


Ok, now that we have everyone up to speed (he, he, up to speed, get it!). There was a time when I loathed the trainer. I would say that time was around March when I had been riding it consistently for at least three rides a week since NOVEMBER. After four months of the trainer, yes, I wanted to burn it, kick it, hurt it. I even yelled at it sometimes (ie. "stupid trainer, why do you make me ride you you dumb thing, you're ugly"). However, I have this particular Mark Allen Online Workout that always seemed to work well with the trainer. It is called "speed bike" which involves either a long hard tempo type ride (higher heart rate but still aerobic during base phase) or later in the training block, intervals at bust your gut heart rates and paces. Even though I found it a bit hard to get my heart rate up on the trainer at times, or in spin class, once I was there jamming to the music, I barely noticed the time was passing (except on the gut buster days toward the end).

I even managed to reach a heart rate of 190 once on the trainer..seriously, a feat for me! I thought my heart might just bust out and do a dance right there in front of me! Anyway, last night, for the first time EVER, I did my speed bike on the road, while it was raining. Nothing like going 26 miles an hour on the flats with rain stinging your face like bees, while pushing yourself along side cars going almost the same speed! The road started off decently smooth, but then decided to cut out in certain places and get really bumpy.

I didn't know what I was in for when I started, but I could tell my legs were a bit sorer and tired from the weekend long workouts but I decided to just grit my teeth and bear it when it got a bit tough. As the ride started I really had to work to get up around 150 bpm (beats per min) where my heart rate needed to be. I started pushing hard, and the miles per hour just kept climbing. It was quite the experience trying to stay on the road, while not getting hit, in the rain (steam rising off the road like I was in some movie), while jamming pretty hard. I kept wanting to back off, just for a minute and let the HR drop to below my 10 beat zone, but I didn't (which was good practice for the Olympic Distance race I have coming up on July 20th).

At some points I was holding on to the bike for dear life, as I sped over the rough terrain at 24-27 mph. I think I might have lost a part of my body out there.. left it right there on the road. I grunted and groaned as I encountered hills, but it was a nice change from the fast turnover of the flats. I even had to run up on a car who was just lollying around, looking at the flowers.. I thought "I'm trying to bust a move here people! Let's Go!"

All in all, it was a good workout, and it gave me some practice at going hard while dealing with obstacles and outside factors which is one reason our coaches do say we should do these workouts outside every once in awhile. As for speed bike next week, I think I may go back to my 6am spin class or my good old trainer.

I typed "speed bike" into Google images and this is what I got. What is going on with this guys quads? Real, or not real, I'll let you decide (and if this is what I get from speed biking, I may have to rethink this whole deal).

This morning, it was off to swim where my masters group has been doing MY MAO (Mark Allen Online) Wed. tempo swim workouts which has been awesome. They always comment that they are hard, but good & I think it is becoming a staple in their week. I swam 3700 yards and felt really good (plus I think the swimming helped to loosen up the sore legs not created, but added to, by speed bike last night).

Tonight.. what's on tap you ask? Well, no more workouts for the day (swim & lift this AM), a nice dinner, and into the wild is on tap. I am REALLY going to watch it this time..!

How You Know You are Training for the Ironman - List 1

I thought it might be fun to examine my life lately, and see what the start of ironman training is like. I plan on doing another list later in the summer (List 2) to see how things have changed. Some of these are probably just inherent to triathletes in general, but some are specific. I know this because I used to enjoy certain aspects of my half-iron training that have since changed.

This is how I figure you know you are training for the Ironman in July (Racing in Oct)

• You get up before 5 to start workouts because they are getting to long to do and still make it to work

• You wonder if your work has some sort of sabbatical option, much like maternity leave, except it's called Ironman leave. If they don't, they should really look into it.

• You think about food 24/7, although you don't always have time to eat it (because most of the time you are training)

• On Saturdays, your long ride + t-run + 3000 yrd swim start to approach the same amount of hours you sleep at night (7-8)

• People keep asking you what the distances of each sport are within an Ironman, and then proceed to tell you "you're crazy, seriously, you are!"

• After asking you the distances of the events,...3..2..1 "wait...all of that in one day??"

• Your pee is never clear (something I prided myself in previously), I mean never...drink 3 more bottles of water today, guess what.. not clear

• You ask people to ride with you and the converstations go like this You -"wanna ride on Saturday?" Them-"Sure, how long you goin?" You-"Six hours or so" Them - "you know what, I'll have to pass, I've got this thing going on, it's called children & having a life"

• You have enough food stashed in your car to eat for three days without leaving should you become stranded. You need it for prior, during, and after workouts...plus, you have wrappers shoved in every crevice (oh.. and your spouses car too.. "honey, that was not me".

• You carry the equipment for all three sports in your car at all times, like a walking locker room, you change in there also so you can make it to the next workout to complete it before it gets dark.

• You read other blogs of people training for Ironman to make yourself feel better, you're not alone, the crazies are many!!! Form a human chain you crazy party ironman people!

I'm sure there are many, many more.. but these are just a few I am thinking of right now. It should only get more interesting as I start to do 4 hour rides on Thursday nights AFTER work (used to be my Saturday long ride now = short Thursday ride..hummm?).

I love Ironman training. I really do, it's the best!

Weekend Workout Stats!!

There is good news, and then there is good news.

The first good news was we had a wonderful weekend of seeing family, friends and eating lots of picnic food that was delicious! The other good news is my training went extremely well, and there was NO RAIN (shame on me for complaining last week about the weather). I couldn't be more thankful for a great three day weekend and of course the last good news is our septic system is completely functional (mad props to Mr. Rooter!!- you would think they are sponsoring me I've talked about them so much lately!).

Once everything was functioning, flushing and working on Friday, it made my weekend much more enjoyable and I was able to focus on getting ready for my first century ride ever on Saturday.

I rode with a friend from Grove City where we met with bikes loaded and ready to go at 8am. I was well rested after a day off on Friday and ready to rock & roll when we pulled out of the parking lot. To be quite honest, it really wasn't bad at all, and the first 50 miles passed with me barely noticing the miles or the time, but instead focusing on the scenery.

I thought it would be fun to sum it up in stats - so here goes!

1st Century Ride Stats!

Miles Ridden on Saturday - 100.1 (there was some debate since my trip was lower)

Critters that almost got hit by my bike - 3 (rabbit, groundhog & snake - luckily avoided!)

Sunburns - 0 (yes Mom, I do listen... see)

PowerGels eaten - 7 (yep, I'm going to be eating pounds and pounds of this stuff this summer)

Water Bottles Drank - 6, 24oz bottles, one per hour

Ride Time - 5:32

Time out with potty breaks & water fill ups - 6:00

Average miles per hour - 18.3

Average cadence (for you bike geeks) - 85 (which I was happy with, high = good)

Average Heart Rate - 145 (also good, see coach, I listen!!)

Towns Visited (quickly) - Grove City, Mercer, Greenville, Pymotuming (wow.. can't spell!)

States Visited (quickly) - Ohio (yes, my first interstate ride)

Calories burned - 2500 (wow..! Not sure I ate that back in picnic food)

Bugs Eaten - 2

Bathroom Stops - 2 (not counting me peeing behind the car before we started)

So, that about sums up my day on Saturday. I actually felt so good around 87 miles I decided to kick it back into town a little (without going over my heart rate zone) and see what I still had left in my legs. My partner was having a hard time hanging on, but we made it!

Kyle and I then headed to Clarion (my hometown) for a picnic with my family!

On Sunday I ran my 2:20 long run and my legs were a bit sore when I started. They continued to feel a bit tired, and it was hot, but I kept pressing on and finished 15 miles around 2 hrs. 13 mins.

We are working hard on our house right now in order to sell it in the next couple of months. We did plenty of raking, shoveling, and planting yesterday to attempt to make it prettier on the outside!

All in all, it was a great weekend and I was encouraged by the great ride & run. I just saw I have 5:30 riding + 30 mins of running next weekend, Ironman training, here we come!

Pump, Baby, Pump!!!

So, Mr. Rooter is here. Thank God for Mr. Rooter. I am hoping in one fell swoop of the micro-scrubber, we can get this problem solved and in the process figure out where our septic tank is located (something we have never known since we bought the house two years ago). Since we will be selling it this year, it is important to know these things (that's what the husband tells me!).

Anyway, it is also important not to have poop in your basement when you try and sell it, the smell immediately gives it away that it's down there. You walk in expecting to smell lysol and flower, whoopps.. nope.. you get poop.

Ok.. I've been blogging way too much about poop lately, I'm sorry. It's just that it's pretty much all I think about these days. I had to go to the BP today, just to make a bathroom stop and all I could think of is.. is this what my world has come to??

For a small fortune, today, Mr. Rooter will hopefully work a miracle down there with this machine (which is very loud by the way, and scary since I kinda know what it is doing & you couldn't pay me 100,000 per year to be Mr. Rooter).

In the mean time, I am taking my usual Friday off from training, completely, which I love and I'm about to make an Angel Lush Cake for our 4th of July party back in Clarion today. There will be lots of great food, a live band, fireworks and a port-a-potty, which is better than what we have right now!!

I plan on eating myself to Bolivia so that I can get some fuel for the ride tomorrow. Well, maybe not quite to Bolivia, but I do love home cooked food & desserts so this is my kind of picnic.

I'll let you know how it turns out with Mr. Rooter. I also pray you never have these types of problems, but the fact of the matter is, at some point in your life, you probably will. When that day comes, you will realize just how thankful we should be that we you can flush, and never see it again!

Here's to Mr. Rooter... pump, baby, pump.

Seriously, We're Not Supposed to Be Building the Ark Here! Are We?

Rain, Rain, go away. This is getting ridiculous. I think it might have rained like five days out of the last seven, and I hate complaining about the weather, but it is causing more than just overcast days (more on this later)!

If I could, I would wear a permanent rain coat and go out to train in it everyday. I don't really mind that much on the run (which I did this morning for 50 mins in monsoon like conditions!). The bike is the issue. I'm sure some of you out there can empathize, as it is pelting you in the face while you are doing about 20 miles per hour, you can see, you can't feel your toes (even though it is 60 degrees outside) and you basically, can't function. It's the wind on the bike that kills me when I'm wet.

This weekend will be my first century ride, ever. My longest ride to date is about 75 miles and the weather conditions have been rather perfect for most of my long rides (I will switch days when necessary to avoid riding in pelting rain). There's cute rain, then, there's the kind of rain we have been having lately, and that my friends is not cute at all. Lately, it's been the steady kind, the "I'm going to soak you to the bone" kind, the really wet kind (wait, never mind, they are all wet). You get my drift.

Fourth of July weekend and guess what is in the forecast for all three days of this three day weekend.. you guessed it. Rain. On top of all the fun training in the rain (I think someone up there thinks it's April and we need May flowers, not July), it may be causing problems with our septic system and I have poop in the basement. That's right... I keep a very clean house, I work really hard at it.. and there's dang toilet paper and something else that may or may not be actual poop (or might just be old crusty poop-look alike, not sure, I've never been in this situation before) bubbling up from our drain. Have you ever seen the move Money Pit with Tom Hanks, well, our house might just be turning into that rather quickly. I am what they like to call "not a happy camper," without my husband to help me deal with it. During my showers I've been catching the water in the tub and too afraid to let it drain, during my bathroom visits I now have to go by a saying that I was hoping never to use again in my life "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down." You HAVE GOT to be kidding me. This is my life right now, yellow vs. brown. Needless to say, I do a lot of my "business" on purpose at work. Sorry to have to share all of that with you, but it's a fact of life & ELF was right, training for Ironman will likely increase the number of, well, movements per day due to the sheer amount of food you are eating!

Hopefully, some professional person can come in and tell us what is going on. Please don't tell this person, but at this point, I would be willing to pay a thousand dollars just to fix it. I hope I don't have to, but I need to have my house and my basement back in working order since I am going husband-less these days.

Wait a minute, I think this was one of the reasons I got a husband in the first place, to fix things like this!!! Men, can't live with em, can't live without em.

So, this is my life. Poopy basements and rain. In other news, training is going very well and I am off to do my last pool workout before a full day off tomorrow from training. Our goal is to work on the house and clean up the mess (of which I am pretty sure I will be putting Kyle in charge).

Rain, Poopy basement or no poopy basement, I'm riding a hundred miles on Saturday! Wish me luck!

I've Rediscovered the Radio

Hawaii 2006Periods of tranquility are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up. Alfred Northwhitehead

TV is sooo overrated. It could be because we only have basic cable, but honestly, I just don't watch that much TV. I would say on average, I watch four hours per week (that's right, 7 days, four hours... you do the math). I do think if we had the Discovery channel it would make a difference, but the fact of the matter is, I just don't want to spend that much time sitting here watching it, so in a way I'm glad we don't.

These next few months are going to be pivotal for me in many ways. My husband may get made about this, but I'm just going to hope for the best in people and most of your don't know where I live anyway so it won't matter - I'm living alone for the next four months during the week at our house. Most people who read this blog are friends so I don't really consider it a safety hazard. Then again, I understand his reasoning for me not to say anything to most people and I won't (I'll just put it on the web where a bunch of strangers can read it and start to stalk me!! Awesome!!).




So, I'm sure the next question for those of you who don't already know is logically, "why would you do such a thing, you're married!!!" Trust me, this isn't my ideal situation or anything. The fact of the matter is, this is the way the big man planned it, and I don't ask too many questions. Kyle and I have wanted to move home (to our hometown where we are both from originally) forever. About a month ago, the opportunity for him to work for a great company there arose. The interview process happened very quickly and just like that, he had the job. This is where the question of what I was going to do surfaced. Obviously, I had to ask my boss if he felt like I could work at home, and like a gift from God (just as I had always hoped), he was willing to give it a trial period. I had to decide when this trial period would start, and well, that was more difficult.





My true family is at home, but my training family is here. The masters swimming group, people I run and ride with, and the nicest gym facility ever is available to me 15 mins away, all here. We had a very tough decision to make, and luckily (Kyle being the understanding husband that he is), said whatever I needed, and wanted, to do was fine with him.

Thus, the pivot begins. It feels like going back to college after living with someone for two and half years. I remember those days, only seeing each other on weekends. I used to cry when we would have to leave each other on Sunday nights. These days things are little different, and although I will miss him, I feel secure in knowing we are together, in each others hearts, and it's only a matter of days until we will be together again.

In the mean time, I get to remember what it was like to spend time alone, gathering myself, doing some things he doesn't like, or thinks are weird (like sitting here with bunches of candles lit, writing a blog, and listening to the radio!). I think this will be one of the harder times in my life with all of the Iron training, but hopefully I can also search within myself and learn some things about the girl who used to do many things alone on a daily basis. I haven't seen her in awhile, and I know she still exists, she just hasn't had to rely on herself and take care of everything all solo for awhile. I guess I'm not taking on this journey they call Ironman myself, it's more that I'll have time to focus and train during the week which will be good, and on the weekends I'll be able to get back in touch with the person that matters most. We'll miss each other, but absence makes the heart grow stronger right!

In other news, my workouts are going well, although they are getting long enough I am going to have to start splitting them (which I hate since it means doubles every day). They are just getting to long to do everything before work (unless I want to start at 4am). It's kind of a bummer, but maybe I will find I like it in the end and get more out of both (today I rode for 1.5 hours and then ran for 1:20 right after). I had an amazing run, like I used to feel in college, even despite my extreme lifting soreness from squats on Monday!!

Let me raise my glass of red to being a little more independent, doing some soul searching, and listening to the radio (which totally rocks.. Summer of 69!!.. seriously, this thing is good, you should listen to it!!).