Strength Is Earned, Not Given.

Strength is Earned, Not Given.

As I start my Ironman training for Lake Placid, I can’t help but think about this phrase. Strength is Earned Not Given. I am so excited be be starting this journey and working towards the goal of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles, crossing that finish line in the olympic oval in Lake Placid and having Mike Reilly (aka “The Voice of Ironman”) announce my name. The trick is to be able to put in the needed training, navigate my work and personal life schedule, and arrive at the start (and finish) line injury free from essentially a zero base due to the injury that sidelined me back in August.

It’s going to be a lot of early mornings in the pool, miles and miles of running on the treadmill, trails and roads, and hours of time spent on my indoor bike trainer and cycling around Upstate New York. Additionally, it’s going to take strength and weight lifting sessions to focus on my weaknesses to help me accomplish arrival to Lake Placid injury free.  Happily, even with just my first 2 weeks of training under my belt, I can tell that despite my down time this Fall – I’m entering this training cycle much stronger than last year. By some miracle my swim pace is right where I left off and my swim stroke is stronger, my biking while not where I ended the season – seems to be much stronger than where I started last year, and I know my running will come back to me over the next few weeks. Also, I’m just much more mentally and emotionally prepared for the journey ahead.

Strength is Earned, Not Given.

While I will be putting in the time with strength sessions, in the pool, on my bike and with my sneakers, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the fact that my journey and finding the necessary strength will also take an army of support to help me arrive at the start line. Family, friends, training partners, my teammates, my coach, my Betty Sisters, and the CNY triathlon, biking and running community, along with the other random athletes I have yet to meet on my journey this year! I pull strength from each and every one of you that will help to support and encourage me along the way these next 7 months. So I would like to thank each and every one of you now, and throughout the season for your support for all things triathlon and non-triathlon related.

Speaking of non-triathlon related – I would like to switch gears a bit… I started drafting this post a few weeks ago and ironically the title of this post has become the perfect mantra for my family in the past 10 days. Life definitely threw us a curve ball bringing a whole new meaning to the title of this post, and showed how much support my triathlon community, family and friends also provide for everyday life.

Strength is Earned, Not Given.

My sister and her husband are finding this out and earning strength at this very moment as I type. Ten days ago, my sister was at home taking a vacation day to prepare for Christmas. In the middle of making gifts, her water broke – 60 days before her due date. Long story short, after immediately going to her doctor, being sent to the local hospital and then being rushed by ambulance to Albany Med, my sister was in labor for about 13 hours before an emergency c-section had to be performed due to the baby being at risk. As it turns out, my sister’s baby had a condition known as hydrops fetalis – which essentially means the baby had fluid inside of it’s body. In this case it was in the abdomen, lungs, and head. The doctors are still not sure what exactly caused all of this and I’m not going to get into a lot of detail on this blog since this is my sister’s personal life. I’ll just leave it at the fact that my sister, my BIL, and my family had a very scary first 48-72 hours of welcoming my new nephew into this world. Baby J was given a 10% chance of survival at birth but is truly earning his strength (and my sister and BIL have definitely earned their strength) as he has survived this bumpy ride into our world. Happily, Baby J is in the NICU and is progressing and making steps forward on a daily basis. As those of you who are friends with me on FB would know, on Christmas my sister was given a HUGE gift in that little Baby J was taken off the ventilator and started breathing on his own – which was not expected to happen for a few weeks!! While this has been a scary time, it has also been a very exciting time for our family as my parents became grandparents for the first time and I became an Aunt! (Can’t wait to spoil the little guy!)

Weekly Workouts//

Week 1:

• Monday – 1200 yd Swim
• Tuesday – 60 minute Trainer Ride
• Wednesday – Rest Day
• Thursday – 35 minute Run
• Friday – Rest Day (bumped workout to weekend)
• Saturday – 75 minute Trainer Ride
• Sunday – 1500 yd Swim & 40 minute Base Run

 Week 2:

• Monday – 1400 yd Swim (was supposed to be 1800 but I messed up the workout… ooops!)
• Tuesday – Rest Day
• Wednesday – 75 minute Trainer Ride & 25 minute Strength Session
• Thursday – 35 minute Run & 20 minute Strength Session
• Friday – 1800 yd Swim
• Saturday – 45 minute Strength Session & 100 minute Trainer Ride
• Sunday – 45 minute Base Run

Photo Recap//

ELF Party at T’s!!

YES! I got spaghetti and syrup in the gift exchange! “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”

Not how I had anticipated my Wednesday going, but was happy to be able to help my sister and BIL in a time of need (also why I’m so glad I was able to move back home this year!)

Adventures in dog sitting. Hanging with my sister’s dog Roxy – yes we both have dog’s with the same name, but mine is older and spelled Roxie 🙂 Also, fun when you call for 1 dog and get 2 with only 1 command.

 Due to the events of the week, I became the cookie baker for our family, friends, and employees on behalf of my mom. This way she was available to visit at the hospital more.  (As you might notice, Bronco was always standing by waiting to help.)

Christmas tree with wrapped presents (a miracle that this all happened!)

RB for the win on the best Christmas present ever!

Bronco and his toy from J – luckily he successfully eliminated the squeaker within the first 10 minutes… for a full action video of the toy prior to it’s early death, check out my instagram.So many cookies!! Getting ready to put them on plates to hand out…

   

Bronco begging for Christmas presents on Christmas morning… (he had already opened and destroyed his during breakfast…)

Roxie’s awesome rope toy!

Dog Shaming, Christmas Style…

My adorable nephew on Christmas morning! Favorite part of Christmas was going to visit my sister, BIL and Baby J!

Special Delivery! (More on this next post…)

The hat requested by my sister for Baby J. He needs itty bitty hats for when he’s out of the incubator!

Best invention ever! Heart Rate monitor for your wrist – good by chest strap and awful chafing!

Well, that about does it – it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. I’m so happy to have a week off from work where my only obligations include swimming, biking, running and spending time with family and friends!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very joyous New Year!

Cheers!

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles. in laughter, in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.

–Seasons of Love, RENT

Looking back on the past year, I just cannot believe how much has changed. How much has come and gone from my life. All the new experiences, adventures, people and places.

With Thanksgiving being last week, I was very busy working on prepping my house that I’ve owned for all of 3 whole weeks, buying food, and figuring out how to cook a full Thanksgiving meal for my family in between traveling to Syracuse for work, finalizing my prior house for sale, hanging out with friends and sneaking a few workouts in.

To say the very least, the past two weeks were quite the whirlwind of events (per usual, welcome to my world). However, despite the fact I was super busy, I also felt very relaxed, happy and definitely extremely blessed.

I know that most people typically wait until the New Year to review the prior year and look forward to the next, but Thanksgiving just seems like the appropriate time for me to take a step back and really look at everything. I cannot believe what a difference a year can make. There have been so many changes in my life. Last year I was struggling with a relationship that ended, I was struggling with whether or not I would race a second 70.3, and was questioning a lot of things in my life. This year I have moved to a new city, a new home, I have completed my second 70.3 and signed up for my third AND for my first full 140.6 Ironman event. I have made new friends, joined a new triathlon team with T2 Multisport, experienced new things (hello CX!), somehow secured a spot on Team Betty 2015 (still so pumped!) and worked to embrace life to its fullest taking the bad along with the good.

Despite feeling a bit lost this time last year, I did know and hold on to one fact – I had an amazing childhood and an amazing family that continues to love and support me. They have proven that they will support me even when I do crazy things – you know, like sign up for an Ironman event, or make the decision to move to be closer to home despite holding a job in a city 2.5 hours away – I know that I am truly blessed to have this support.

And I also found that I had a few truly amazing and steadfast friends that helped me immensely this past year – through cups of coffee (or pints of beer), workouts, conversations, and even a little assistance packing up a moving truck – you guys have been amazing and I can’t thank you enough.

I don’t know what this next year will bring, but I do know that I am excited for every experience – both good and bad – that will come with the next five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.

 

Weekly Workouts//

 Week 1:

Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday – Work conference in Indianapolis/embracing the “off” season…

Thursday – 20 Min Bike, 3 Mile Run

Friday – 30 min Strength Session

Saturday – Swim Ladder 1800 yd

Sunday – 3 Mile Run

 Week 2:

Monday – Rest Day/Buy Local Bash & Travel

Tuesday – 30 min Strength Training

Wednesday – 45 Min OUTDOOR Bike

Thursday – 1 Hour Trainer Ride

Friday – Sick Day

Saturday – Run 3 miles

Sunday – Sick Day… should have just taken it easy on Saturday!

 

Weekly Photo Recap//

Our company tied in a community service project with a few other companies and the Indianapolis COLTS with the Thanksgiving season. Had the opportunity to participate in the Million Meal Marathon in Indianapolis!

Airplane time = thinking time.

So I’ve owned the new house for 2 weeks and a couple of trees fell down on my deck… this is what I came home to.

We WILL be replacing the blinds… good ole Bronco.

Date Night! (Can’t believe there was agreement to this…) With a little help… the fallen trees are now next year’s bonfire/campfire wood! 🙂

Officially Official! Loved seeing the announcement and the start of our discussion forum – so many amazing stories of amazing women! Not sure how I was selected but so excited to be a part of #teambetty15! A little reminder from a fellow Betty:

Buy local bash at the Landmark. Crappy picture of a gorgeous building. If you have never been inside the Landmark Theater in Syracuse, you must go

Clarks Ale House is open and I’m back in Syracuse. Obviously this had to happen:

Got to hang with this dude in Syracuse this week.

Yes, it happened. Can’t wait until next year’s CX season!

Just 3 hours after my outdoor bike ride… winter wonderland has fallen on us!

Mini pumpkin pies for all!

About mid-point on cooking the Thanksgiving Feast!Had to get a little creative with the oven space…

Whoo-hoo! First ever full thanksgiving meal that I have prepped! AND we managed to fit all of us around my kitchen island/dining room table mish-mash.

Bronco is thankful for puffy vests that fall on the floor!

Yep, claimed this one.

Family photo time!

Outside lights are up!

I have a lot of railings…

Remember the GIANT knitting needles that I shared in my last post? We’ll here is the finished project! A blanket in about 3 hours time!

Absolutely LOVE how it came out – and it was a fun and fast project!

More good news! I qualified again this year – sadly, I once again will be unable to participate since it is the weekend AFTER Ironman Lake Placid. Maybe next year…

Last (but certainly not least) Miss Roxie relaxing. Not sure how this position is comfortable, but she seems to be happy with it.

Cheers! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!

 

Maine, July 4th & the start of running miles and miles.

Well… I had started to work on this post Monday, built up the basics of my weekly post, and then never got around to finishing the text portion of the post.

Due to travel, work, spending time with family and friends, I’m finding that it’s now Wednesday night and this post is just not writing itself.

In other words, real life is getting in the way of the virtual one – but I think that is a good thing! So instead of my normal ramblings, just know I’m on the road again, juggling work and training and my social scene!

The pictures below will fill you in on some of the high points – although I must admit I missed quite a few opportunities to documents various things last week because I just didn’t feel like whipping out the camera! 

Weekly Workouts//

• Monday – Swim 1600 – Fast 50s / Splits 39-41s
• Tuesday – 50 Minute Base Run (around Portland!)
• Wednesday – Unplanned Rest Day – cancelled workout due to insane traffic issues
• Thursday – Track/Speed Workout – 6 miles 
• Friday – Endurance Brick – with 5×1 Mile Hill Repeats on the Bike
• Saturday – Rest Day
• Sunday – 2 Hour Run- 13.1 Miles

 

Weekly Totals//

• Swim – 25 minutes – 1600 yards
• Bike – as part of brick workout
• Run – 3 hours, 40 minutes – 24.6 miles
• Brick – 2 hours, 25 minutes – 30 miles Bike/3 miles Run
• Total Time – 6 hours, 40 minutes

 

Weekly Photo Recap//

Monday morning swim session at the Saratoga YMCA – thought I had spotted a bag under the counter… jumped a mile when I realized there was a dog by my foot! (ignore the crappy picture quality – first, cameras are not allowed in the locker room; second, I was trying to be covert since the owner was next to me…) 

Found this baby in New Hampshire – I am SO ExCiTeD & Happy! My favorite wine ever! (Also, makes me want to hop a plane and head back to NZ to visit my friends again!) 

Portland was such a neat city – want to go back when I’m not working so I can actually explore! 

Running around the Back Cove Trail in Portland, ME – it was hot & humid!!

Happy Cows… 90 degrees outside, nice a cool inside the barn, thanks to lots of fans & shade! 

Methane Digester at Stonyvale – they take cow manure and food waste and convert it to energy to put back on the grid! This baby powers 800 homes! 

Learning all about the digester. How it works and the process in which the farm went through to build it and keep it running successfully – the farm has a full time engineer to keep it going!

Yes! My very own Stonyvale shirt! …it only took me 3 years to visit to get my shirt! 

Big Mutts. AKA Bronco. 🙂

Live filming of a zombie movie in Portland, ME…  zombies took over the froyo shop!!

 

Hanging on the pier in Portland, ME.

…was sent to Eventide on our search for a delicious lobster roll… 

So close to the end of my drive, yet so far… Albany traffic was a mess on Wednesday!

After 5 Hours of driving… only 30 minutes from final destination, after sitting in traffic for 2+ hours, I gave up and went for a burger and beer…

 

More traffic, post dinner…

July 4th Eats!

Bronco’s New Collar – Made of old bike tire inter tubes & with beer bottle opener!

Not sure if Bronco is trying to stop me from going running, or if he is hoping to go with me…

These beauties popped up in my black-eyed susan patch – not sure what kind they are, but they’re pretty! 

Cruising with the pups. Scouting the neighborhood… leaving their mark… letting all other dogs know who is boss in these parts. 

Someone loves the Jeep!! 

As seen on my Sunday morning Run. Love me some country roads!! 

13.1 Miles in 2 Hours. Not my best, not my worst. A solid start to marathon training. 

 

My traveling buffet table for long distance runs (aka my hydration pack). A foundation of friendship was laid down this spring… and a summer of marathon training will create an even stronger bond. 

Family party inclusive of lots of food tables. Time for Doggie Jail. 

Tired pups, post all day party. Not shown, Roxie hogging half of the backseat leaving Bronco without enough room to lay down… so, sleeping while leaning on the seat is apparently the next best option.

Working on notes to motivate a few IMLP athletes!! 

How was your July 4th weekend? Do anything fun?!

Whatever plans you had, I hope it was great!!

Cheers!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A week of ups & downs…

From a training standpoint, this week was a week of ups and downs.  Which means I need to vent about my bad workouts and celebrate my good ones. Which also means that this post is all about training this week… so if you’re not following along for the training part of this blog, feel free to skip to the photos at the bottom.

Monday morning my swim ended up being pretty intense. A few laps into my 2,500 yard swim (which is 50 laps down & back in the pool…) a swimmer asked if he could share my lane. Usually, no big deal – I’m pretty used to sharing a lane at this point. Having a single lane to yourself is a rare luxury… however, this swimmer gave me a whole new appreciation to lane sharing. Let’s just say, I was able to get some good training in for the start of the swim. This guy managed to make the entire swim feel like a battle to break away from the crowd! And I had validation that this was an intense swim session when at the very end of the swim the swimmer in the lane next to me offered to let me share his lane – he had swam with this particular swimmer before and had experienced the um, well experience of swimming with this guy. It really was not fun!

Due to travel to Kansas City for work this week, my mid-week workouts were focused on running since I knew I had  a treadmill available to me at the hotel. Training at the hotel gym was not super great – it really is rare to find a hotel that has a decent fitness room. These mid-week workouts were a lesson in being flexible – and the down part of my workouts this week. Day 1, 15 minutes into my run all of the treadmills died… the circuit breaker had flipped and nobody on staff at the Embassy Suites could fix it. Being a farm kid, I wasn’t very impressed, I like to solve problems not just wait for someone else to figure it out! The other reason I wasn’t super impressed was due to the fact that I got up early to fit this workout in (I really really love sleeping, so if I get up early to workout, I want to workout!). Day 2 was the most successful day of workouts on the road – I was able to do my workout from the day prior without too many issues, despite how hot the room was! And finally, day 3 which was supposed to be a rest day, I got up to do the workout that would have originally been scheduled Wednesday. However, the heat of the room got to me & ended my workout about 15 minutes early. Bleh.

Luckily, the rest of my workouts for the week were pretty good. In fact, my workout on Friday was quite awesome! I had a 2,000 yard swim with some speed intervals. I discovered that I now have shaved off over 25 seconds from my 100 yard pace! I was pumped and so was my coach! (You just have to love getting an email reaction like this): Saturday brought a brick workout where I suffered through the 3 hour 20 minute bike ride. I’m still messing around with my bikes, and riding my road bike for workouts right now. I definitely need to make a few adjustments to make it fit me correctly again – I haven’t had a re-fit in a few years and I can tell that it’s about time for an adjustment! Luckily, the weather was pretty nice, the scenery of Saratoga County farmland was gorgeous, and the 15 minute run at the end was strong for me which made everything seem better!

Finally, Sunday. Sunday was Easter and I knew I wanted to go to church and have time with the family for Easter dinner. Due to the events of the day, I decided to get up at 6 and get my workout in early. I had so much fun on my run (I know, kind of sick if you’re not into distance running…) but I ran all around the area I grew up in. I did one big 14 mile loop and covered quite a bit of territory! It was a beautiful morning and again, I had beautiful scenery to enjoy!

All in all, it was a good start and end to the week for training with a bit of struggle in the middle – but I think that’s what makes the good workouts so good – those crappy ones in the middle that challenge you to stick with it & keep going!

Weekly Workouts//

• Monday – 2,500 yd Swim
• Tuesday – Plan: 1 Hour Run with Speed Work <— Actual result: death of the treadmills at the hotel… so this turned into a 15 minute run – 2 Miles.
• Wednesday – Plan: 50 Minute Z2 Base Run <— Decided to make up the 1 Hour run with Speed Work – 6.8 Miles
• Thursday – Plan 1: Rest Day <— Plan 2: Make up 50 Minute Z2 Base Run <— Plan 3: Due to Sauna like environment of hotel fitness room & lightheadedness, stopped after 34 minutes/4 Miles.
• Friday – 2,000 Yard Swim with Speed Work
• Saturday – Brick: 3:20 Bike with Hill Repeats + 0:15 minute Run (50 Miles Bike, 2 Miles Run)
• Sunday – 2 Hour Run – 14 Miles Total.

Weekly Totals//

• Swim – 4500 Yards (2.56 Miles)
• Bike – 3 Hours, 20 minutes with Hill Repeats -> 50 Miles
• Run – 4 hours 20 minutes, 28.7 Miles
• Total Time – 9 Hours, 10 Minutes

Weekly Photo Recap//

Rox is helping me work remotely before catching my plane to Kansas City…

Thursday was National High Five Day. Since I haven’t posted since then, here is my High Five to you!

Another ROAK Gift is on it’s way… Here is part of the gift (don’t want to give away the entire surprise) – Hope the recipient enjoys it!

Getting ready for my Brick Workout on Saturday – Nuun’s keeping my hydrated along the way! (P.S. – if you haven’t tried the Pink Lemonade, you should – it’s delicious!

You might be training for a triathlon if… all the room on the drying rack is full of clothes so you have to use your dog’s crate as a second drying rack!  All this training requires a little carb loading…. Making sure my precious cargo get’s home safe!

Bronco’s friend Harlan visited!

Bronco waiting for me. It’s pretty awesome to have a dog that want’s to be with you all the time, but heartbreaking to think he just waits the entire time… 

2 Miles into my 14 Mile Run. Gorgeous day!

Another view on my run. This photo doesn’t do the scenery justice.

Bronco, waiting again. (He’s really good at making me feel bad.)

My dessert I made for Easter dinner… Mini Lemon Tarts – if the dessert is mini, it just means you can eat more of them – right?!

And so that you all don’t think I just neglect Bronco all the time…

It wouldn’t be Easter without Peeps!

I hope you all had a fantastic week & an awesome Easter Sunday! Cheers!

A few updates… long overdue.

Happy New Year! I hope that you have had a fantastic holiday season and are looking forward to a great 2014!

So if you’re a reader of this blog, you would know that my posting fell off here at the end of the summer and has essentially been nonexistent  this fall. And along with the non-blogging came a bunch of non-training. I was still running once or twice a week, but that was about it. I won’t lie, the 2013 racing season along with some other things that were going on, I came out of the summer completely burnt out and in need of some down time. My need for down time turned into a bit of traveling to Alaska in September and Texas in October. Meanwhile, I started a leadership class that is offered through Cornell (which I absolutely love!).

On the running front, Ragnar ADK was at the end of September, and a few of us received our double medals for running both Ragnar Cape Cod and Ragnar Adirondacks in the same year!

After Ragnar, I had one final race on the calendar – the Great Pumpkin Challenge 10K with my mom and sister in mid-October.  This race is in Saratoga State Park, and this year had both trail and road sections to the course – I loved it!  Also, I managed to surprise myself with a PR despite my lack of training (bonus!). I’m still really excited about all the progress I saw during the year with my paces and looking forward to what 2014 might have in store for my running!

The same weekend of the Pumpkin Challenge, I also added to my family by adopting a new dog!! Bronco joined Roxie and I and is Roxie’s (big) little brother, weighing in at a mere 90 lbs! He is a rescue dog which was found wandering the streets of a suburb of Syracuse.  He’s about a year and a half old, and a ball full of energy! And I am happy to report that he loves to run with me!

Bronco has definitely brought a whole new element to life! It’s fantastic, and I love having him around. The rest of the year had a lot of focus on the holidays and spending time with family which is always good for the soul. Now with the passing of the holidays and the beginning of the new year, I have decided to take the plunge in 2014 and give the Syracuse 70.3 another go. I left the race last year happy to have finished but disappointed in how the bike and the run had ended due to the breakdowns and the extreme heat/humidity. So shortly before Thanksgiving I signed up for the race, and I started looking at various coaching programs for the upcoming season. I loved working with Coach K last year, but I’ve decided that I need more of a team and group for training and support, so this year I am excited to share with you that I have joined the T2 Multisport family for the 2014 race season and will be working with a new coach!

I officially start my training for the 70.3 tomorrow (about 8 weeks earlier than last year) and I can’t wait! I can’t even describe how happy I was today when I opened up training peaks and saw workouts loaded and waiting for me – I was like a kid in a candy store… well except  no candy, or apparently cookies since there was a friendly note from my coach to throw out any leftover Christmas cookies and to focus on eating healthy…. so here we go – hours of training and my pending complaints about my longer swim workouts will be coming soon, but honestly I am so excited to be on a set schedule again!

Also, as a slightly random note, I went running outside yesterday – in the snow and wind with the dogs and it was glorious! I forgot how awesome running in 20 degree weather can be. I bundled up and quickly realized I had managed to overdress despite what many would consider terrible running weather (it was GREAT running weather)!

And to wrap up this slightly random post, I’m starting off 2014 with the following reminder to myself and others….

Whether it is reading, running, relaxing, writing, praying, spending time with family and friends, taking a hike, a swim, or cursing around on a bike.

As long as it’s good for the soul, pursue it.

Leave the negative behind.

That’s my wish for myself and for you this year.

XO