Summer Lovin...Lovin Summer

The sun was out full force today, I love it.
Training was pretty low key today, biked to and from work and did a little extra spin on the way home to make it an even hour.
Spent some time in the backyard just chillin and soaking up the vitamin D.

D and I spent the evening together out and about. It is so nice to have warm evenings and daylight until 10:00!

I am really looking forward to the weekend, the forecast looks fantastic, we have a great ride planned Saturday (hopefully we can stay awake for the concert!)a great Sunday Run and we are both looking forward to a weekend away.

We are celebrating some great things happening for both of us! All of Darin's financial planning wizardry is paying off really well and for the first time in my life I am going to be debt free! Those student loans have been a big weight over the past 6 years... We have a lot of big plans in the works and it is really nice to be in a positive cash flow situation :)

Training for the day: Bike 60mins
Massage

Back to the real trails...

First real trail run of the season, out of the city anyway.
Had a great run, it was a beautiful evening, perfect night for a run.
Had a good turnout, 9 of us plus 4 dogs. Celine and I drove out together to the Jumpingpound trail.
Did a nice 75min loop which was pretty tame compared to most of these runs. I guess it helped that Hugh did a 100km trail race on the weekend...good grief. Nevermind that he is in his 60s.

Got home at 9:30, starving!! D whipped me up some dinner while I was in the shower...damn I love that guy.

Training for the day: 75min Trail Run

Happy Tuesday

Started the day early with a swim. Had a fantastic workout, did some really challenging drills and it felt good to do everything I was supposed to. Had a flushed face by the end of it- shows how hard I worked!

Biked in to work as fast as I could as I was a little chilly in my sleeveless top and shorts. Felt good after work though, did a great spin with Celine before coming home.
Then did a short run off the bike with D (who did a 100km ride after work!) and went out for a late, but yummy Codo dinner.

Training felt awesome today. Looking forward to a trip to the mountains tomorrow for a trail run!

Training for the day: Swim 2900m 1hr15min
Bike 50km 2hrs
Run 30mins

Feeling Great

My energy is back and feeling myself again. Had a fantastic run today- it was beautiful out and I got to run on fresh legs for a change! What a difference that makes!
Did 90mins on pathway/trail and felt good enough to push it and felt like I could keep going.

Had a chill evening with D. Went out for a while and then home to relax and early to bed.

Tomorrow is an early swim, bike to work, bike after work with Celine and then a run so I need a good rest tonight.

Training for the day: Run 90mins

Mission Complete

Today was a big day. A culmination of 3+ months of planning, working, worrying and stressing. The book launch turned out to be a great success. Our room was packed, 252 seats full plus staff and volunteers. My intro went really well- the video rocked. Jay's presentation was awesome and I am excited to find out how much money we raised for Millennium Promise.

Darin was a huge support through all of this and I am so grateful to have an amazing, generous and dedicated man! I am truly blessed to have such an awesome partner in life...

We celebrated with a massive sushi feast and wine (yes 2 nights in a row :-0 )

It feels so good to have this monumental event complete. I feel a huge weight has lifted and am looking forward to moving forward at work.

Took today as a rest day and will do our long run tomorrow.
Good news is that I feel back to myself energy wise and I think I have beat whatever I have been fighting all week. I am so ready to get back to normal training this week, and am looking forward to our road trip this weekend to Edmonton to see the Police Live!
We will also get to do some training in a new area- we are staying all weekend, Darin booked us a really nice hotel downtown and we are going to make a training holiday out of it.

Some other exciting stuff happening at the end of the month as well...I will wait until it happens to post about it ;-)

Yeah Sun....

The sun came out today and it was a GORGEOUS day out for a bike ride. We decided to drive to BRAGG and ride the Chinook half course in reverse. It is a tough ride! I think the heat of the sun was wearing on me today, I drank both of my bottles and was out of water with 45mins left to ride.
I took it really easy today, stayed in zone 2 as I have been fighting something all week and with the biggest event of my work life in 24hrs the last thing I need is to be sick.
Did 90km in 3hrs 20mins, it was a tough last hour. My neck was sore, my legs were screaming and I felt more tired that after 140km last week!

Ah well, it was a beautiful day to be out. We had a nice lunch in Bragg after our ride, Darin did 100km in under 3hrs, and said he was taking it easy... ugh.

Spent some time in our backyard, finished my intro video for tomorrow (it kicks ass) and enjoyed some wine to wrap up the evening.

Life is GOOD.

Training for the day: Bike 3hrs 20mins 90km.

Is it May 24th- or Dec 24th??

Did an indoor spin tonight for obvious reasons.This is definitely a recovery week, my energy is just not 100%. Felt pretty good spinning in zone 2.
Went out for Darin's dad's birthday dinner which was great.

Most of the snow melted through the day, forcast is 19 for Saturday so we should be able to get out for a nice long ride.

Training for the day: Bike 60min

Tired Tuesday

I feel really beat today. My workouts today all involved speed work, high HR training. Unfortunately my body was not cooperating.
I did my swim and BR all at the talisman as I still have to teach a class later this evening and did not have time to go home and back again.

Swim was 1hr15 and 3000m. I felt really slow in the water, especially with the little swim team girls flying by in the lanes next to me!
BR was a brutal workout for me. W/u followed by 4x 10min B 5min R in zone 3/4 with 2' btw sets. I felt like throwing up nearly the entire time and I am worried that I am coming down with something. I feel really tired, chilled and have a hint of a sore throat.
If I could I would go to bed early, but I still have a class to teach from 8:30- 10:00. I am a little bitter about that...
C'est la vie. I will take my vitamin C and meditate on feeling better. I have made it through the entire season without being sick, I don't want to break that now.

Training for the day: Swim 1hr 15mins 3000m
Bike/ Run 80mins
Core/ Stretching 15mins

Great Training Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend of training- and the beauty is that it is Monday and we still have a whole day before it is back to work!

On Friday we decided to do our long swim before heading out of town. I was at the pool a bit before Darin and got started. I had a fantastic swim and managed 3800m in 1hr 22 mins, doing 400 w/u 2x (500 pull/paddes, 500 pull, 500 free) 400 c/d.

After our swim we stopped for a bite and a starbucks and hit the road. I am really glad we decided to head out for the w/e. Sylvan is a relatively short drive and there is some great riding around there. It is not BC but it is a nice change from here and it doesn't take 2 days of driving.

We arrived at dinner time and checked into our hotel. Our friends Frank and Keri had already arrived. We chatted with them a bit, made our morning plans and went out for some groceries and a snack.

The next morning we were up early to ride. The weather was cold and windy. It was only 3 degrees when we started out so we were really bundled up as you can see by the pictures! We wanted to do a 4-5hr ride and were hoping for 140-160km depending on the wind. Darin and Frank took off into the distance while Keri and I rode on our own. Keri was out for her first big outdoor ride and was not accustomed to the wind! I took it easy for the first couple hours, sticking close to her. On the last hour we were straight into a wicked head wind and had a series of climbs. I put my head down and began to push. We made it back to town and caught everyone up. We decided to do another shortened loop and with the sun coming through the clouds it was actually shaping up to be a decent day. We all rode pretty much on our own until the turnaround road where Darin had already rode out and back to meet us arriving. The big UCTC crew were out and we got to see a bunch of friends there.
We waited to catch everyone up, and when Keri arrived she announced she'd had enough and wanted Frank to go back and get the car to pick her up. The two boys took off together and me behind to head back to town. I did my own pace and managed to feel really good and pick up the pace as I went. I arrived back to town about 10mins after the boys and saw Darin was already out on his run. I got back to the hotel, did a quick change and headed out for a short T run. I felt fantastic, but started to get really hungry. I kept it short and sweet, but felt like with a gel I could have kept running forever, my legs felt surprisingly fresh.
All in all we were all very happy with our days. I did 140+ in 5hrs 22. Darin got in 165 in about the same time. Considering the weather conditions it was hard earned mileage!

We all went out for a great dinner and then it was time to relax. We were in bed by 8:30...amazing what fresh air will do!

The next morning started early again as we headed out for a 2hr run. Once again Darin and Frank took off and Keri and I stuck together. My legs felt pretty good, but my pace was far from fast! We did part of the Sylvan half course, and ran all the trails we could find in the campground. We did 20km in 2hrs which is a nice LSD pace for me.
Once again I was starving by the time we finished, and after a quick shower and pack up we headed out for a fantastic brunch at the Golf Club.

We said our goodbyes and headed back to Calgary. Again, it was so nice to be home before 3pm with lots of time to unpack, clean up, get groceries and relax. We got some movies and spent the evening with a bottle of wine, relaxing on the couch.

Today it is raining cats and dogs in Calgary so we are going to do a nice recovery swim.


Training for the weekend: Swim 3800m 1hr22
Bike 140+km 5hrs22mins
Run 20km 2hrs

Monday
Swim:20mins
Run: 15mins

One more sleep till the long weekend...

And man am I happy for it. I am beat and really looking forward to a weekend away- even if it looks like we will be riding in winter weather :-0

Went to mec and picked up some booties, some new training digs and all kinds of bars etc to try. It will be fun to get out in a different area no matter what the weather. Darin and I are just looking forward to some alone time :-) No computers, no phones ahhh..

Took it pretty easy today, feeling tired and very PMS-y. Sore sore back today.
Just cycled to and from work and took the evening off.

Training for the day: Bike 45mins

Humpday

Started the day with a long swim. 3300m but with the rest breaks that I actually took it was 1hr22mins.

After work did a long run with Celine. Ran from her place to Shouldice and back, 90mins at a good pace ave hr was 156.

It was the hottest day of the year so far today, by the time we got out for our run the clouds came out so it wasn't super hot...much to my chagrin.

Training for the day: Swim 3300m 1hr 22
Run 90min

Sunny Sunny Sunny Days...

Had a great ride today in the SUNSHINE. Bike to work and then headed out after work on HWY 8. There was quite a crosswind that kept things interesting, but what a great day for a ride. I love summer.... I think I am addicted to the sun.

Did a short run off the bike with some Z3/4 efforts.

Training for the day: Bike 2.5hrs
Run 15mins

Wonky Weekend

Well I learned some good lessons this weekend, and really should have titled this entry "Carpe Diem".

We did our usual swim Friday night, I was feeling a bit off after an aggressive massage so I did 2.5km rather than the 3.0+ I usually do.

Saturday was a beautiful day. My schedule called for just a 30 min warm up run for the race Sunday, but what I REALLY wanted to do was go for a bike ride. Darin headed out in the morning and I did my 30 min run. I was really grumpy that I was not riding on the sunniest, least windy day of the spring! I debated going anyway but decided to stick to the plan and hold off. I was scheduled for a 90min ride after the race on Sunday so I would have to get my fix then. We did some yard work, went for lunch and hung out in our backyard for a while before heading down to race city speedway to watch James race.
It was cool to see how much James has improved, he was racing in Cat 4 for the first time and did very well. It was very windy and cold down there so we didn't stick around to watch any other races.

We saw the weather forcast for Sunday was rain/snow and 3 degrees. We were both bummed about the thought of running in the cold rain and decided if it was pouring in the morning we would skip the race.

6:30 the alarm went off and the rain was coming down in buckets. We decided to wait an hour and see how it was. At 8am the rain was still coming down so we decided to stay home and went back to bed.

By 9am the rain had stopped. We were both a little disappointed that we didn't race but it wasn't an important race for either one of us. I was more bummed that I hadn't gone out riding the day before with Darin and I decided I would ride today crappy weather or not.

I headed out in the cold wind and quickly realized although I had lots of clothes on I was under-dressed. I decided I was paying penance for skipping the race and kept going. I went to Bragg and for the first time ever I was the only cyclist there. I didn;t stay long because I didn't want to cool off any more, just a quick bathroom break and off I went. Now I was really cold so I put my head down and pushed as hard as I could, figuring I would both warm up faster and get home faster by doing so.

It was a hard ride, but still was good to get out for a good workout. I rode 79km in under 3hrs, not bad for the wind and cold.

We took Darin's parents out for dinner and had a very nice visit with them.

Overall a weekend that was not as planned but turned out alright just the same. I am looking forward to Sylvan next weekend to get some big training miles in.

Training for the weekend: Swim 2.5km 55mins
Bike 2hrs 50mins
Run 30mins

Oh yeah and I got some BEAUTIFUL new cycling shoes!!! They are so comfortable, light and best of all they match my bike :-)

I love my bike...

Yes LOVE. For an inanimate object.

Had a great ride today on another beautiful sunny afternoon! The wind was from the east today so had more of a headwind on the way out for a change.

Only had an hour on the schedule today, but did 95mins, it was too nice to turn around any sooner. Kept it pretty easy, stuck to zone 2 with some higher cadence spins on the way home and some standing climbs on the way out.

Somewhere along the training road I have begun to love biking. It has always been something I wanted to love, but it has been so challenging for me that most of my saddle time was in some form of struggle or frustration. I finally feel about riding the way I have felt about running for years. And I find myself wanting to ride more and more. Which is a good thing whilst training for IM.

Keeping in mind the reality of that "natural ebb and flow" I am just enjoying the flow right now.

Training for the day: Weights 30mins
Bike 1hr 35 40km

Trail Run Wednesday

Darin and I headed to North Glenmore to run the trails after work. The weather was a bit cooler today, but we were happy that there was no rain, and in the cover of the trails we were pretty warm.
It was a stellar run. The trails were outstanding, and I had new trails shoes that had me dancing the trails as light as a feather.
We did a great 90min loop and finished with the uber hill up to the parking lot.

It was a great night, and I am feeling very happy and grateful for my life.

Training for the day: Trail Run 90mins

Lovin the sun so much the wind doesn't even matter...

Great training day today- as per the last post the natural ebb and flow of life and energy and training has be back feeling fantastic.

Started the day early for my swim. Great workout 400w/u,10x 50free, 50 drill, 10x 50fast,50dps. 400 c/d for a total of 2800m.

Had a short day at work, the sun and my bike were calling me so loudly I couldn't concentrate so I decided I'd be better off just answering. ;-)

Only had an hour on the schedule for today but it felt so good to be out in the heat that I took it a little longer and managed 47km in 1hr40. The wind was out as usual, but I was so happy to be out it didn't really matter. The ride home was definitely faster and I put it in the biggest gear I had and pushed hard the whole way.

When I got home I went straight out for a 20min run with some good pickups.

Total Training 2800m Swim 1hr10
47km Bike 1hr40
Run 20
Total 3hrs10mins

Training peaks and valleys

Well today was a reminder that I will always have great, stellar amazing training days...and days where I feel like I am 90. Today was on of the latter experiences.

Darin and I headed to Fish Creek park to do our long run, 1hr 45 was the prescription and we were looking forward to dancing in the woods on the trails all throughout Fish Creek. The sun was out full force and that alone made for a happy day.

The trails were spectacular and I couldn't have asked for a nicer environment to run in. But unfortunately my body was not as keen as my mind and spirit were! I had niggling issue in my left leg- my toe, my calf and then to my knee and hip flexor. It just kept getting progressively more irritating. I also felt like I was running on 90 year old legs and had to work for every step. This was hard to deal with mentally, as we were on some great trails that I would normally fly through.

But, as the wise sage D reminded me, in IM training, just like life, you take the good with the bad.

Although I felt good after yesterday's long ride, I guess my body was fatigued. Of course this is good mental training for the IM run, which is about how it felt!

I called it a day after 90mins and did some good stretching. At least we had a beautiful day over equally beautiful terrain. Even a bad day here isn't so bad.

I spend the rest of the day outdoors, putzing in my yard. I did the spring cleanup/ weeding in the flowerbeds and planted some new flowers. Then I cleaned out and organized the garage. Darin came home from studying in time to help me finish up and enjoy a cold beer in our backyard.

We then went out for a fantastic sushi feast and a walk on 17th ave. This weather really brings everyone out- it was great to see people everywhere enjoying the sun.

I am looking forward to a rest day tomorrow and then back at it for another week of fun. Syl emailed to say that we'd be taking it easy this week to save my pep for the race on Sunday. I really want to have a good day!

Training for the day: Run 1hr30mins

Got Wind?

It was another wicked windy day. Good thing it is making me stronger..
Rode from home out lower springbank to springbank and the on to Bragg. Took 2hr15 in the unrelenting headwind. Had a quick rest in Bragg and then headed back to ride the tailwind home. It was so fun- averaged 35-45km/hr with hardly any effort. Darin met Geoff in Bragg and they had some more headwind fun going up Powderface.
I made it home in 1hr 15 for a 3.5 hr total and then headed out for a 30min transition run. Felt crappy for the first 20 mins but found a groove and actually felt pretty good by the end of it.

Had an awesome lunch at Nellies and came home to chill. Looking forward to a trail run tomorrow.

Total Training: Bike 3hrs30
Run 30 mins

Yay Friday

Happy it is Friday. Had a good day, had lunch with Nicole at the Farmer's Market.

Darin and I did our Friday night swim date at MRC. Was planning to do 3500 but felt great so did 3800m while Darin did an even 4k.

Now just having a chillin evening at home. Hoping the roads dry up enough to get out on the road in the am.

Training for the day: Swim 3800m 1hr15mins

Rainy Day Thursday

I was considering building an ark today, as the rain was relentless. There were even a few snow flakes to freak us all out! When I left work and went to my car, I was greeted by a lake that was deep enough to cover half my tires! I had to do some creative thinking and yoga moves to get myself across the puddle and into my car. The only near casualty was my purse which fell in the pool momentarily. Luckily, I grabbed it before it had time to sink and there was no damage incurred.

The bike ride prescribed for tonight was moved to the indoors, and Darin joined me at MRC for a spin. I then hit the weights which have been added to my schedule twice a week while Darin hit the track to make sure he was still a blistering fast runner.

The rest of the night was fueling and resting, we are always pretty tired by Thursday.
Looking forward to the weekend, hopefully we can get out for our planned ride on Saturday.

I am working from home tommorrow :-) happy happy me.

Training for the Day: Bike 60mins
Weights 30 mins

Humpday Long Run...

Had a productive day at work, and was able to get out and for for lunch with D which was a nice mid-day treat.

Had a 90min trail run on the books and I thought I would be doing it in the rain, but amazingly it cleared and turned into a beautiful warm evening. I decided to do Darin's "80min" loop through North Glenmore onto the JackRabbit trail and back. I met up with Julie on the Jackrabbit and she gave me the nickle tour of all the trails in that area. It was great as I haven't done much exploring yet in the area and I now have an idea of how to do a longer trail loop through there. The loop I did took me 2hrs. Not exactly the 80min loop Darin described, but I felt really good and enjoyed the run. I got through 2 new albums that I just downloaded- the new Finger 11 and the new Good Charlotte. Both were pretty good- it was nice to have some new music to listen to.

I was surprised and happy to see D's car when I got home- he did his swim and skipped studying to come home and hang with me... lucky me :-)

Training for the day Run 120mins

Tuesday Tri Day

Started the day with a good swim, a 2800m with the main set 2x (5x100 pull, 5x100 desc)200m kick
I was a bit short on time cause I slept in until 7:00, so I skipped the resting parts and finished in just over an hour including 400m w/u and 200m c/d.

I was at work a bit late and didn't get home until 6:30 so I decided to do my bike/run at the gym. I jogged over to MRC with Darin and did an hour spin on the bike and then a 20min run on the treadmill with 2x 5min fast, 5min easy.
I had some funky stomach cramping in the third set and ended up walking out the last 5 mins cause I couldn't get it to ease.

Overall good training day.
Swim 2800m 1hr03
Bike 60mins
Run 30mins
Total training 2.5hrs

Oh yeah in non training related news we bought a condo! Well actually, we bought a green dot on a board that symbolizes the condo that will be built. It is an investment property that we will sell when it is complete (sometime after Sept. 08) This is perfect for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that it will allow us to be debt free by the end of this year and have a serious chunk to put down on our own home sometime in '09 when we are all hitched up and official :-)