Hurt Sooooo Good

This morning started with a cold and dark run with a client. Fortunately, the sun came up and we were treated to an amazing sunrise!
Later in the day I enlisted the services of "coach Troy" and had a grande ol solo sufferfest in the basement. These workouts are killer and I usually feel like puking, passing out, crying, quitting and cursing at various points of the session. I only ever curse though, and usually I am too out of breath to do even that.
Tonight I am enjoying the feeling of being tired. Not tired from life, but the sweet fatigue that a tough training session brings. This feeling was the norm for so long, it took an absence of it for me to appreciate how good it feels :-)

TFTD: Run 30mins
Bike: 75mins

noloha

I finally made it to the pool today. It is hard to swim in a pool now... no fishies, no dolphins or sea turtles, no swim up coffee bar... oh my Hawaii has ruined me!
I had a decent swim although I am feeling my lack of swim training! As I am getting back into some training I definitely notice a loss of fitness from the months of duff sitting. But rather than be disappointed or frustrated, I am actually excited. If feels good to have a challenge and to know that I will get some good rewards as I re-gain the strength, efficiency and motor skills.
I also did a short run with April tonight and some good ab work :-)
I am exhausted, but not from the exercise, but from spending the afternoon/evening with the girls...those girls wear me out!'

TFTD Swim 45min 2200ish KM (lost count)
Run 45mins
Core 15mins

2009 Race Schedule

Well D finally finished our 2009 race schedule. Our goals this year are to get faster and do more local racing. We are sticking to shorter distance and are hoping to nail the 70.3 distance with 3 chances to practice.
Our biggest trip will be to Victoria for the Shawnigan Lake 1/2 which we are pumped about as we both wanted to travel there. One of my clients is moving there so it is also a great excuse to visit! We will be back there in the fall for a marathon, since we couldn't go a whole year without a 42.2km race!
We are also looking forward to getting more involved in the local scene. I may be putting on a tri a tri here in GP as my plan is to run a Women of Strength learn to tri course this winter.

Now the decision of whether to hire a coach is left to be answered. I am leaning towards yes, as I am so busy training other clients, it would be nice to have someone helping me train myself! D has encouraged me to hire Syl Corbett again as I had great results training under her and she is a great person as well as a phenomenal coach.

Today I finally got a chance to run in my Newton racing shoes. I did 90 mins and really liked them. I can definitely feel the energy return with the support under the forefoot, and although my running fitness has suffered, I felt surprisingly good.

This afternoon D and I babysat all 3 of the girls for Jay and Sarah. We managed pretty well for rookies and we definitely have a deep respect for parents...it is the toughest job out there! And in a couple short hours these Ironmen were worn out!

Here is the plan for 2009...

May 10th; Grande Prairie, Brian Harms Memorial Run 8km
May 24th; Vancouver Island, Subaru Shawnigan Lake International 1/2 IM
May 30th; Grande Prairie, Daily Herald Tribune Press Run/ Walk 21km
June 7th; Hinton, Mountainview Triathlon- Olympic
July 5th; Stoney Plain, Great White North 1/2 IM
July 12th- 17th; Tour BC 800km+ in 7days
August 2nd; Ironman 70.3 Calgary
August 30th; Grande Prairie, Don't Get Lost In The Woods 21km
September 27th; Grande Prairie, Fall Classic Road Race 10km
October 11th; Royal Victoria Marathon

Mental Toughness!

Today was our first Saturday hosting a basement bike class. We had one joiner today, Duncan, and are expecting more as the weeks go on.
We did the Spinervals "Mental Toughness" workout, 90mins and a 9.5/10 difficulty rating. I was certainly feeling the pain today. It has been a long time since I've pushed that hard on the bike trainer...and I am happy to be getting back at it.
I still haven't gotten out to try my new Newtons...the wind has been gusting at 90-95km the past 2 days! I hope tomorrow is better I want to get out for a 90min jog.

Here is a shot from a ride we did the day after our wedding. This is on the old Pali highway which goes over the mountain range and connects one sider of the island with the other. The new highway has a concrete tunnel, this tunnel is formed by the trees and vines...very cool. It was quite a climb and there were stong winds that day as well as being hot and humid. By the end of the 4hr ride I was spent! It would be an amazing place to train though, the weather is always beautiful and the scenery is out of this world.



The next one is from the Diamond Head Crater lookout

So much to say...

Well since my last post much has happened, many great adventures, and we became Mr and Mrs Hunter!
I have all kinds of things to post, but it will take some time. The pictures are loaded on facebook, the professional ones are in the mail.
I started another blog to post our wedding/hawaii adventures, so that this one can return to being a triathlon training blog. Wait, that would mean I have to start training again :-)
To be fair, I did quite a bit of riding, some running and some amazing ocean swimming in Hawaii. Since getting home Tuesday I have ran and biked and done one strength workout. I am putting together a training schedule to get some structure back and I am excited to sink my teeth into some solid training :-)
Life is good, great in fact. I am a happy wife in every way and things just keep getting better :-)

CIBC Run for the Cure

We went out today for the Run for the Cure. It was great to see a bunch of the Women of Strength crew out and everyone did awesome to complete the 5km that was actually 7.7km!!
We had a great lunch with friends, packed and then went and hung out with Jay, Sarah and the girls. I got some baby time and loved every minute of it :-)
Tomorrow we leave for Edmonton and then Tuesday bright and early we are off to Hawaii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am just a little excited...
Some pics from the day

Jasper Weekend FUN

We had a blast on our Jasper weekend getaway. Despite the rain on Saturday we had the most amazingly fun mountain bike ride! I swear I was smiling ear to ear the entire ride...well maybe not when I was sucking wind up some of the climbs- but it was still the most fun I have had in a long time. We were covered in mud and the bikes were a mess- I am so glad we rented them!
Sunday we went for another great adventure, hiking/running mount Edith Cavell, and then exploring the ice caves beneath the glacier. It was stunning up there, and a preview of winter!
All in all the weekend was good food for my soul. The scenery is breathtaking with the changing colors, we were able to have lots of fun outdoors, and we enjoyed the company of our good friend Alan.


In other news, last Friday we welcomed the newest member of the family! Angelina Sarah Faith Morris was born at 11:22am weighing 7lbs 13oz. She is healthy and beautiful, and the whole family is doing great. I can't believe how blessed we are to have 3 beautiful nieces that we can watch grow up and whose lives we can be a part of. They bring so much sparkle and joy to my life! It is impossible not to be happy around those girls!