Doubt Kills.

“The moment you choose to listen to your doubt it wins. Believe in yourself and what you’re capable of and you’ll find you’re capable of so much more than you ever dreamed of.”

This is going to be part of my mantra for the next 10 weeks. Eeek, yes, we’re down to less than 75 days and under the 10 week mark to Ironman Lake Placid. Training is ramping up like a boss and the big day will be here before I know it! Craziness.

Now I just need to trust the process. Trust the training. Trust my coach.

Day by Day, Stroke by Stroke, Step by Step until I toe the start line on the edge of Mirror Lake…

As the workouts are getting longer, my mental toughness and enthusiasm for swimming, biking and running needs to grow – in whatever way I can make that happen! I know these next weeks are going to be mentally and physically demanding (what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger… right?) and I’m getting prepared however I can. This includes, but is not limited to, talking to my coach about the training plans in more detail, commiserating with my friend KA who is also training for IMLP for her first full IM experience, talking with my friends and family, and grabbing as much rest and recovery that I can between working, workouts and whatever other social activities I am trying to fit in!

Nose to the grindstone. Here’s to the 5 am wake ups, the hours and hours of biking and running, and the laps upon laps in the pool!

Weekly Workouts// (a.k.a. where the rubber meets the road… or the lycra hits the water…)

• Monday – 1 Hour 45 Minute Run. On a treadmill… at a hotel… got to love work travel!
• Tuesday – 40 minute recovery ride
• Wednesday –  3100 yd swim planned… got to the Y and they had to close the pool for some reason… pretty sure a kid threw up in the pool (the joys of community pools) so I scooted home and jumped on the bike instead…1 Hour 45 minutes, Z2 Ride, 21 miles.
• Thursday – 1 Hour 45 Minute Bike, 2×15 Z4 workout – 27.5 miles
• Friday – 3000 yard Swim
• Saturday – 5 Hour 30 Minute Brick – 4 Hours, 45 Minute Bike & 45 Minute Run – 75 Miles on the bike and 5 Miles of running!
• Sunday – 2 Hour SLOW Run. My coach is telling me to back way off my pacing… I had to psych myself up all week for this. Ran a 10:15 pace… 11.75 miles. Training to go slower is mentally painful.

Total Time: 13 hours, 45 minutes

• Swim: 3000 yards/50 minutes
• Bike: 123.5 miles/8 hours 25 minutes
• Run: 27.5 miles/4 hours 30 minutes

Weekly Photos//

The fact that this was the first text message I ever received from my Dad is just perfect. 🙂

Packing up for my 5 Hour 30 minute brick in the hot temps – perfect training for IM Raleigh in a couple weeks!

Bronco was cracking me up this weekend. With the heat, he just kept flopping down everywhere and anywhere.

Yea, so… apparently I lost one of these beauties during the big move last Fall. Ironic since I was trying to be SUPER careful about NOT losing any of the pieces to my soft top since it was already off the Jeep…

So, top down on the Jeep all the time until I obtain a replacement. Hope the weather stays good.

Cross training this week came in the form of landscaping. My house has zero landscaping from the prior owners so I’m starting with a clean slate! And holy cow, is this going to be some WORK to do. I may have to put the rest of the landscaping initiatives on hold until AFTER July 26th…

 So, I have a little problemo with the sand washing out from under my deck… turns out the prior owners never cleaned out the gutters. This is what approximately 7 years of leaf debris looks like as it comes out of the gutters. (As you can see, Roxie was just about as impressed as I was…)

Finally, I put my flower planters together last weekend. Love doing this every year & so happy that spring is here!

  What did you do last weekend, anything fun? If you are in the Northeast, did you enjoy the weather – so crazy that it was 85+ degrees out! 

Running Around…

… except not actually running. Since I’m still on IR. (i.e. undergoing PT) <— let me find a couple more abbreviations for being injured… we like abbreviations in sports – DNF, DNS, PR, RICE, NRR, XC, XT…

Anyhow, the point is that life has gotten cRaZy busy these past few weeks and I have a LOT going on. Definitely more than usual, hence the quieting down on the blog front. Travel has increased, big changes are going down in my life, and I’m working on repairing my poor calves…. oh and starting to attempt to master a new sport! (oh hai cyclocross.)

But, with all of this going on, I have taken a vow: “I solemnly swear I will stretch and strength train properly during my Ironman training…”

Now, someone please just keep me accountable to that! I’m really a lazy athlete, I like to skip the important in-between stuff that I know I should be doing – luckily my coach and my PT (who is also one of our T2 coaches) are kicking my butt right now for that, which will hopefully make me a bit more accountable on this front.

In lieu of the topics that I really want to write about, (I have a number of ideas for entries that I would like to spend time weaving into words but I am pressing pause until I have a little more time to devote to them, letting them simmer a while longer in my notebooks.) I’m going to bombard you with a lot of pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Oh, and this: 31 Dog Reactions for Everyday Situations.

Seriously, you can thank me later.

Photo Recap//

No Ragnar for me this year… so I volunteered!

Post Volunteer Session Bike Ride, had fun going out and cheering everyone on as they ran through the Saratoga County countryside! 

Pumpkin Beer Season is here! Time to stock up before they change to Winter beers… 

He kills me. “Guarding” (or maybe just sleeping with) the toy so Roxie can’t have it…

Stretch, PT, Ice… Repeat the next day…

Someone is super helpful with PT exercises. 

A trip to Washington DC with my LEAD NY Class. So excited for year #2 with these amazing people. A trip to Ottawa and Africa are next up – then we wrap up the program – the time has flown by and we’ve learned so much (and will learn SO much more!)!

Along with the DC theme…. Love Kid President.

Love more, hate less. 

Wednesday night a few of us ate at the Founding Farmers in DC. If you’re ever visiting DC, you should definitely eat here – it was amazing!

Visiting Gettysburg on our way home from DC. 

Bronco is loving this. 

Back on the toy front…

Also, this week marks 1 year of having Bronco as a member of my little family!

He has definitely added a lot of love to my life! 

Friday Night Football.

Well, that sums up some random aspects of the past 2 weeks…  exited for PT sessions this week, the plan is to start some supervised running on a treadmill. I’m hoping I will be given the go ahead to start mixing in some light running again. Although, it has been fun to focus more on strength sessions, swimming, and of course biking!

Dear Life, “Uncle”.

That’s right. I’m calling Uncle. Life has thrown me a lot of crap in the past two weeks & I’ve been looking for a break ever since.

Typically, on this blog, I try to focus on the positives. I try to not give the negative aspects and occurrences in my life space or time here. Maybe it makes my life seem like it’s always awesome and amazing (don’t get me wrong, life is good, but not always perfect). Maybe that makes it seem like I’m not being totally real on this blog (so be it, I favor optimism over pessimism). However, if I used this space to just complain all the time, I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have anybody wanting to read my ramblings… I’m already shocked that people do!

Anyways, back on topic, life is not always completely awesome or amazing. Which I appreciate, because I believe the not so great stuff allows you to enjoy the good stuff even more. However, a bunch of stuff collided these past two weeks which had me down and out for the count for a few days. So here’s your last warning – the next portion is a full on complain/rant of things going on. If you want to avoid the complaint section, I’d just skip to the weekly workouts or photos… 🙂

First, you’ll know from my prior post that I was ready to throw the towel in on my long course events. I was really struggling for about a week and a half with why I was continuing to pursue these goals of redemption at the Syracuse Ironman 70.3 and tackling the 100 mile bike ride. I turned that around by the end of the weekend, and I’m forging ahead again. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you only think about the end game, and not the process leading up to it.

Must. Stay. Focused. On. The. Journey.

Second, I discovered that my friend E will no longer be able to participate in the Tour de Cure with me on June 1. That 100 miles was already starting to feel daunting, now it’s going to be all the more trying to conquer that thing without a buddy! ESPECIALLY after I finally reviewed the bike course and found out it has some serious elevation to it. (Thank you ADKs… however, this is definitely my own fault for not checking it out prior to signing up!)

Third, I found out my friend R has a running injury, so she might not be able to run the LP Half Marathon with me. She’s still waiting on the final ruling, so cross your fingers this one doesn’t come true.

Fourth, I had testing done for some food issues that I’ve run into. I seem to not be able to eat anything white that is carby or starchy. My doctor ordered a bunch of tests to be done which included fasting for a day (not so easy while in a peak week for workouts) which came back as inconclusive. So no answer yet as my intolerance for pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, pancakes and other delicious carby items continues to grow more severe right as I am trying to ramp up and finish out my 70.3 training. And please, before you jump to gluten being the culprit… research gluten. Not all these items contain gluten, and I feel like people are just jumping on the bandwagon. For 1% of the population, celiac disease is a serious thing, and I sympathize with the fact that those truly affected must stick to such a restrictive diet. However, about 18% of people are following a gluten free diet by choice which I find somewhat crazy. I think Jimmy Kimmel nailed the gluten topic. Please watch this clip because it cracks me up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdJFE1sp4Fw

(Alright, official end of gluten rant.)

Fifth, work has been out of control stressful. I just had my weekend getaway to OBX, but it was not long enough. I feel like I’ve been drinking from a fire hydrant trying to stay on top of things since early March!

There is more I could complain about, but I’ll just stick to these. Now that I’ve told my little sob story, it’s time to move on! Time to pick myself up, brush myself off, and forge ahead again.

Weekly Workouts//

• Monday – Recovery Ride 1 hr
• Tuesday – Scheduled Rest Day
• Wednesday – AM – Swim Speed Workout – 2050 yards, mostly as 50 yd sprints. (Splits were between 35-38 seconds – yay speedy yards!)
• Wednesday – PM – 50 Minute Run with 6×2 Cruise Intervals (Intervals at 6:55, 6:39, 6:14, 6:25, 6:37, 6:51 – more speed work!)
• Thursday – Bike Hill Repeats Scheduled – however due to being sick from the testing earlier in the day, this turned into a 1 Hr 20 Min Recovery Ride
• Friday – 2300 Swim broken into 300s
• Saturday – Brick 4 Hr 20 Min – Group Ride with T2 & run with my coach.
• Sunday – 1 Hour 55 Minute Run at 70.3 Pace <– on dead tired legs due to my decision to fix all the things around my house on Saturday!

Weekly Totals//

• Swim – 4350 yards
• Bike – 2 hour 20 minutes – on trainer for recovery rides
• Run – 2 hours 45 minutes, 17.25 miles
• Brick – 4 hours 24 minutes, 62 miles
• Total Time – 10 Hours, 55 Minutes (was supposed to be 12 hours, but my swims were quicker than planned, Thursday’s bike shortened, and my brick was also completed 15 minutes faster than planned.)

Weekly Photo Recap//

Bird Food or People Food? Trying different types of Rice mixes for hope of being able to eat them… no dice.

Monthly Stride Box arrived while I was traveling – some good stuff this month!

Post Medical Test – Breakfast at Jolime Cafe! Love breakfast food, especially after not eating for 24 hours!!

Best Friends. Or at least willing to lounge in the sun together.

This made me laugh. Therefore, it’s included in the photos this week:

Planting Flowers!

Super Cow makes another appearance…

Tackling the house ‘to-do’ list that has been building since before grad school… three years deep!

Trying to sort out what types of plants will actually grow in the shade. Thanks to my cousin, I have an awesome reference guide!

Sorting out my nutrition for the 70.3 – sodium and electrolyte deficiency was an issue by the end of the race last year. Trying to avoid that mistake!

Trip #2 to get plants – herbs & vegetables!

Trip #3 to the garden center…

Shady area garden. Now to keep the squirrels out.

Switching to the soft top on the Jeep! Bronco was giving his best “I’m bored…” guilt trip pout.

I’m not a soda drinker, and usually avoid it, but after my long runs lately I’ve been craving one of these. Strange, but I completely gave in to the craving this week. And it was so good.

Thanks to Bark Box, my dogs eat better than I do.Davidson Drafters Gear for the Tour de’Cure Century Ride is in! (Feel free to donate to the cause… I have 100 miles and want to make it worth it!)

Passed out puppy – I don’t see how this is comfortable.

Hope you all had a great weekend and have a wonderful week!

Cheers!

Rest Days, Feller Bunchers, and Battlefields – Oh my!

Based off that title… I’m sure you’re wondering what I am talking about. I had an interesting and busy (no surprise there) week! I have a lot to talk about but once again, you’re getting the abbreviated version…

No denying it, my life feels like a bit of a whirlwind lately. Between work travel, wrapping up a couple of classes, making trips home to see my family & grandmothers, and scheduling in my workouts – I don’t have much free time. That’s why when I finally had a rest day scheduled last Monday, I took full advantage. I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a rest day so much. I left work a little late, but once I left I ran home, threw on PJ’s and fully embraced the rainy evening to chill on my couch, read, and hang with the dogs. Pure bliss. I do enjoy staying active and busy but I must admit I really enjoy a down day when I have one. And it turned out that it was a good thing that I enjoyed my Monday because Tuesday morning my day started early with a swim and the rest of the week brought on all the chaos of this life I have chosen!

Last week brought the wrap up of both the class that I have been taking through EdX – Food for Thought – which was taught by McGill University. Last week also marked the end of year 1 for LEAD NY.

First, Food for Thought was an interesting course – it gave a high level overview of a number of food topics and dug into the science behind various issues. Basically it worked to try and debunk many of the popular “health” myths and to help explain some of the reasons why various diet choices are better or worse for individuals to consume (Hint: the proper diet varies by each individual). In addition to the overall diet they looked at various marketing claims made by different food companies and groups – for instance, what you are really purchasing when you purchase organic. They explained how organics still use pesticides – just not synthetic ones, and the fact that there is no nutritional difference when grown under similar conditions (soil type, water, sunlight) as conventionally produced foods. Another item that the class analyzed was the various controversial topics in food (hormones, antibiotics, GMOs) and the science behind them. Again, what is heard and reported on in popular media and promoted by food marketers is not necessarily the truth when you really look at the facts.

From my perspective, it is very sad how food is marketed and sold. Food is something that is emotional, it effects everyone, and it is a tool to nourish the body. However, it is also a business and provides many livelihoods. As someone that works in food and agriculture, it supports my own life and career. It has supported my upbringing on my family farm, and agriculture and food is made up of many good people. My biggest take away from the class is that you should try to maintain a healthy diet, avoid processed foods, but also try to be realistic and enjoy some of the fun things about food too. (Maybe its more of an ‘everything in moderation’ type of take-away).

For LEAD NY last week, we were in Cortland, NY and learned about forestry. It was a very interesting class. To start, we took a tour around a sawmill and boy was it loud!! I can’t imagine working there everyday – even with earplugs it was more than I could handle for an extended time. Despite the noise, it was really interesting to see the entire process of the logs coming in, being sorted, debarked, then cut into various sized planks and graded before heading to the kilns to dry. Next, we headed out to the forest and learned about how they walk various wood plots, select which trees to cut down, and how they work to promote regrowth of trees for 30 to 50 years in the future.

As part of our woods walk, we learned about canopy cover, and some of the other considerations for tree harvest. We also learned that deer are one of the largest difficulties in working to get a tree lot to regrow. The deer like to eat young trees and will often eat away at the seedlings before they have a chance to really establish themselves and grow for the future. Finally, we discussed some of the equipment that can be used in tree harvest, and I have to admit, due to my three year old cousin, I felt really smart due to his obsession with his toy feller buncher – I actually knew what the lumber guys were talking about when they were discussing feller bunchers (Thanks G-man!)! If you don’t know what a feller buncher is, it’s a giant tractor that grabs a hold of the tree and cuts it down to minimize risk from just cutting down a tree with a saw. Pretty cool. (You can check one out here: Feller Buncher).

After LEAD NY and our Year 1 graduation ceremony on Saturday, I headed back to ‘cuse to do laundry, go for a run, and pack up for another week on the road. Sunday I was able to get home and spend some time with my family. This involved going to church, visiting both of my grandmothers (who seem to both be doing better!) and then spending a few hours on my bike. It was so great to spend time with the family and also to get a ride in outside…. even if I did get a little disoriented at one point, it just meant that I had the opportunity to better understand some of the roads around Saratoga County and see some additional beautiful countryside!

I think the bike story is best told through pictures, but let’s just say I was looking for a battlefield and took a detour to the lake instead. I eventually did find the battlefield and the detour to the lake actually helped to fill my time and mileage so all in all it was not a bad thing. Except for having a bee fly into my helmet at the battlefield and sting me… but I digress. All in all, it was a great day – mid 70’s and sunny, even if it was a bit windy! (I swear I can’t get through a weekly update without talking about the weather, I’m just happy ecstatic it was a good weather update this week!)

Weekly Workouts (Recovery Week)//

• Monday – REST DAY! (Yay!)
• Tuesday – 1800 yd Swim
• Wednesday – 2500 yd Swim
• Thursday – 50 Minute Z2 Base Run
• Friday – Rest Day (Two in one week! Although… with LEAD NY, it didn’t feel like much of a rest day…)
• Saturday – 50 Minute Z2 Base Run
• Sunday – 3 Hour Endurance Bike Ride on a Hilly Course

Weekly Totals//

• Swim – 4300 Yards (2.44 Miles)
• Bike – 3 Hours, 47 Miles <– First long ride outside, I have some work to do as far as my speed goes….
• Run – 1 hour 40 minutes, 11.5 Miles
• Total Time – 6 Hours, 6 Minutes (much different than the 10 hours, 30 minutes last week!)

Weekly Photo Recap//

 Chillin’ with the pups on Monday night – turned into a competition for who can get the most attention from me…

If you ever spent anytime during your college career at Dunbars in Ithaca, NY… there is no explanation needed. The fact that this was on the radio made me really happy.

Probably ranks up there as one of the best emails I’ve received. You know you’re going to have a fun day when…

At the sawmill. Sorting out logs in the yard.

The de-barker at the sawmill.

One of the saws cutting a log. I know it’s hard to see what’s going on here, but I swear that’s what’s happening…

Boards getting ready to be graded, sorted and then sent to the kiln.

Our group out in the wood lot.

While a bit chilly, a gorgeous afternoon!

So one of my classmates owns his own winery. Finally got to take advantage of that – purchased some wine to sample and give as gifts!

Our Year 1 graduation picture for LEAD NY.

Ragnar Shirts & Swag. Gearing up for some Ragnar fun at Seneca 7 in a couple weeks!

My grandmother’s cat, hiding in her new apartment. (I was tasked with trying to get a good picture. Easier said than done, especially due to the fact I only had my cell phone with me…)

My detour to Saratoga Lake

And just when I thought I was really lost, this little guy saved me! (Got to love stone markers! – Yay History!)

And my official bike path for the day. Love when things work out perfectly. Especially when not 100% planned…

And that’s all for this week! I have a few articles and things to share with you, but I think I’ll save them for a shorter post. However, I can’t resist throwing in this crazy collection of dog pictures. For a random distraction, feel free to check out the 26 Dogs Who Totally Redefine Perfection. You’re welcome.

Cheers & Have a Great Week!

The post that never was. Until now.

 

 

So I uploaded a bunch of pictures to share will you all about a week ago but never actually wrote or published my post, so I guess I’ll just give you all a little update on my first full week of 2014, a week late!

First of all, this guy…. who eats like that?  He must have been really hungry/feeling protective of his meal. Everyday is an adventure with Bronco.

 

Speaking of adventures with Bronco… spinning on my trainer is quite the adventure with Bronco around. He likes to play the game of trying to bite my foot every time the pedal comes near his face. Not too productive…

Pretending to enjoy all the bike sessions… my new coach’s plan is quite intense and I’ve had to snap back into things… 2 hours on the trainer anyone? Guess I just have to keep that 100 mile bike ride in mind… (more on that later, yes another post still in draft form waiting to be shared!).

So the first week of the year was BITTER cold. But, here’s a little proof that even something that seems miserable on the outside can bring unexpected beauty into your life – caught this out of the corner of my eye as I was leaving my house for the Lights on the Lake run.

The bitter cold meant less outside time for the dogs… and some serious pent-up energy, so we braved the temps and headed to Highland Forest to snowshoe! Bronco is definitely a bigger fan of this than Rox, but she was determined to come along for the trip! The trails at Highland Forest are amazing any time of year, but I thought the forest was especially pretty with all the snow!

 

Rox is definitely happy to be done snowshoeing.

Curled up and ready to rest on the ride home!

Oh the joy of the swim outlet grab bag… I’m going to be SUPER fashionable in the pool for this round of training.  Luckily I still have my crazy red patterned suit from last year’s grab bag, and I have some other swim cap options, so maybe this won’t be too bad… or maybe I’ll just rock the look they gifted to me. 🙂

I started a new DIY project with these little gems found at an antique shop near my parents home. It’s going to be awesome. Stay tuned.

And finally, I just wanted to throw this in here… Sam is awesome, and so is Alaska. She’s been working on convincing me that moving to Alaska would be the most logical step in my life… again, she had a point when we were facing subzero temps and Alaska was having a nice little streak of relative warmth. I love and miss this girl. Luckily, she’s only a text away!

Other than that, I started training on January 2nd. And if I had posted this on time, it would have marked my first full week of training. As I mentioned above, we jumped right in to this round of training. No messing around at T2. A little recap of the first full week:

Monday – Rest Day.

Tuesday – 1500 yd Swim.

Wednesday – 50 min Bike.

Thursday – 50 min Run.

Friday – Rest Day/LEAD NY Session (spanned Thursday – Saturday).

Saturday – 30 min Run.

Sunday – 90 min Bike.

During my half week before, I was in the pool for 1900 yds, on the bike a 60 minute and a 90 minute session, and ran 4 miles at Lights on the Lake.  Like I said. No fooling around here.

Hope you all enjoyed your first few weeks of January!