Summer Fun

It's crazy sometimes how fast time goes.  I blink and Texas was almost 8 weeks ago!  Texas was the kickoff of my busy season and I've had so much fun over the last couple of months I thought I would share a few highlights.

After Texas we flew home for a long weekend of wedding celebrations!  My cousin tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony and we had a blast dancing the night away at the reception.  My cousin and his girlfriend (now wife!) lived in Arizona when we moved here.  I feel so blessed to have gotten to know her over the last few years and was honored to stand up for both of them during the ceremony.  These two are what make family so special and I look forward to many more good times in the future.  Texas 2015???  :-)

Paul and Desiree

 The weekend went by too quickly as usual.  But I did get to see all of my nephews and my niece, and we spend a little time together on the dance floor!  My sisters and their hubbies have done a wonderful job raising them.  While other kids were running amok, they were well behaved, ate their dinner quietly, and joined us to boogie down on the dance floor.  I think they were ready for another song when I was ready to crawl into bed for the night!  In my defense I haven't worn heels since... well... I cannot even think of the last time!

Me with a couple of my favorite kiddos!

The wedding was only a week after Texas so I was still in recovery mode.  I told my coach I had access to a cruiser-type bike and would be happy to ride it or run while we were in Iowa.  We have a beautiful rails- to- trails path that runs for about 70 miles.  I'm pretty sure I had a giddy-stupid smile on my face the whole time we were biking.  It was a gorgeous day and I don't often get to enjoy the green trees!!

Cruising on the Wabash Trace.

Soon June was upon us and we were settling back into training for the fall.  My team, TriScottsdale, does a "best ball" golf tournament every year and this year we decided to jump in.  In my mind, I was thinking that this would be a fun event.  And we did have fun, but the small problem that I encountered is that you still have to actually be able to hit a golf ball.  Never having played before, this was quite comical as I whiffed tee off more than I actually contacted the ball.  

We were divided into teams of 4, and each player had to tee off.  Then each person plays from the best position for the remainder of the hole.  I was definitely the weak link until we got onto the green and then I could shine.  Don't ask me why, but putting came pretty easy and I was happy to be able to contribute a little to my team.  But it wasn't all serious... We had one hole where we had to tee off blind folded.  Another time it was "fastest" to the hole.  And then we had the triathlon hole.... where we wore swim caps and goggles (barefoot) for tee off, and then changed into bike helmets and running shoes for the rest of the hole.  Made for some good laughs.  

The triathlon hole... 

Duty calls, and the end of June found me in San Francisco for a continuing education meeting.  I have visited the city numerous times for business and pleasure, and I have my favorite running routes all mapped out.  Coach assigned me hill repeats one day--  there is nothing like hill repeats in San Francisco...  and then agreed to let me run my favorite 20 mile route from Union Square where I was staying to the Golden Gate Bridge and back.  I LOVE the Golden Gate Bridge.  I'm not sure why, but it is so intriguing to me.  I am terrified of heights and couldn't actually stop on the bridge to take pictures.  (I tried once and when I looked up at the pillars my world started spinning and thought it best to keep running and not stagger off the bridge into the cold waters below!)  I did capture this beauty when I crossed into Marin on the other side before I headed back.  

Golden Gate Bridge

Back in Phoenix, I got a text message from a Team HPB team mate of mine.  It read, "Have you ever biked to Payson?"  So, for starters, I had biked most of the way to Payson (a town heading into the mountains about 70 miles from where I live).  Last fall, a friend and I hopped on our bikes and headed that way.  A few hours later some more friends got in the car and drove... when they caught us we hopped in and did some hiking, and had a picnic lunch before heading back.  But I have always wanted to finish the ride.  So I took it upon myself to arrange a little bicycle adventure, and over the 4th of July weekend, we started out from Fountain Hills heading toward Payson.  Our little group of 6, quickly became 5 as one of the riders had multiple mechanical issues from the start.  He had arranged his own SAG and so just called it a day after the second or third issue.  

For the first 2 hours I felt so slow as my legs were shaking off the rust, but soon enough they came around and I was climbing comfortably the rest of the way.  The weather was perfect.  Just a little bit overcast, and the temps dropped noticeably as we increased in elevation.  As the morning wore on, 3 more riders suffered multiple flat tires, a saddle that wouldn't stay put, and road debris caught in the rear cassette.  By the time we reached Payson our 5 hours of ride time had taken us 7 hours of actual time.  Since we had only one SAG vehicle and it was late in the day now we made the decision to have part of the group start back as we tried to figure out how we were going to get 5 bikes and 6 people into one little Xterra.  Within 20 minutes, we got the call to pick up one of the riders with another flat.  So we loaded as many bikes as we could into the car, sagged the remaining rider, and drove back to Fountain Hills where we dropped everyone off and then I headed back out the collect the last rider standing.  He made it within 15 miles of Fountain Hills when I picked him up... looking happy as a clam!  

Loving the ride!

We made it to Payson.  

        We decided in the future it would be best to have at least 2 SAG vehicles, one to lead and one to sweep.  That way, when someone suffers a mechanical or a flat everyone else can keep riding and the SAG vehicle can help solve the problem and then drop the rider off down the road with the group.  

I also kept our packing list of items that we had available in the SAG car for my future reference.  

Gear box:

Extra tubes - be prepared for various wheel types!  We had 80 mm tubes and standard 48 mm.  

Extra CO2

Floor pump

Patch kits, chain lube

Spare tire (preferably something bullet proof!)

Towels (these came in handy when we had to stack a couple of bikes for the ride home, and for the sweaty bodies on the seats!)

Multi-tool

Ice chest:

coke

diet pepsi

gatorade

water

watermelon, grapes

Gatorade cooler (the kind with the screw on lid, and spout...):  filled with ice water!!!

Food bin:

salty snacks- we had pringles, rice crisps, and some other salty snack foods

snickers bars

salt capsules

extra gallons of water to top off the cooler as needed

We also encouraged each rider to bring a small bag of personal nutrition/ hydration needs.  Mine included Osmo hydration, Honey Stinger chews, Bonk Breakers.  

Overall this was an awesome ride and the road was in way better condition than I had expected (despite the flat tires!).  The scenery was beautiful and it was challenging but not so much that you couldn't enjoy what you're doing.  Next time, I want to be able to go there and back- with an earlier start and more support cars!

First to the top!

Along with my epic ride to Payson, I've been spending most of my time it seems on the trails.  It's been wonderful to be able to explore some of my favorite parks that I haven't been to in a while and try to conquer my more familiar trails at a faster pace.  Unfortunately, as one friend reminded me, the trail requires blood sacrifice at times.  And my time came due!  After a particularly speedy 9 miler I was in the final section heading back to my car.  My toe caught the gravel and down I went with a pretty good skid.  Wounds heal and battle scars are badges of honor!

It looks better than it actually was.  I did a pretty good number on myself!

And last but not least, we have added to our clan.  After laying Zorro to rest in March, our house was particularly quiet.  The boys (Gus, Brady and Blue) are all getting up in years with the youngest being 9.  I decided it was a good time to bring in some younger life.  I think as a pet owner, I worry about all my pets aging at the same time.  We don't know the exact ages of Gus and Brady, but we believe they are both 12.  Blue has never been an only cat.  Anyway... you see where this is going...  So a friend of mine had several litters of kittens that she had been fostering.  One litter was ready to be placed in homes so she let me do a trial weekend with two of them.  Needless to say, they never left!  Our little Moo and Blackie have been a fun and loving addition to our home.  They make us laugh every day with their antics.  It's been so long since I've had a kitten I forgot how playful they are!  They will literally play for hours until they collapse from exhaustion.  Then they sleep for 15 minutes and play again!  And the older boys are teaching them the fine art of napping and snuggling.  

Love these faces!

As summer nears it's turning point we are settling into the last 8 weeks before Ironman Wisconsin.  We've got some more summer fun before then with a couple of races in Flagstaff and a 50k in Tahoe.  I've been having so much fun training I almost don't want summer to end.  Then it's time to get into serious race mode and I feel I have so much work yet to be done.  

Happy Training!

Humble Pie

"Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's level of aspiration and expectation."

After a couple of fantastic weeks of training, and feeling really strong and ready for my Ironman race (which happens to be in less than 7 weeks), I was served a giant slice of humble pie.  The humble pie tasted really good, and I've had a second slice.  And a third.  Humble pie is good for you, if you don't eat it all at once.  Sometimes if you consume the whole pie, it can derail you.  But if you eat it one bite at a time, and taste everything the pie has to offer, you might learn something about yourself. 

Humble Pie, Slice #1:  The Open Water Swim
My first slice of pie was consumed on Saturday morning.  I had signed up for a 3000 meter open water swim with some friends.  The swim was in Tempe Town Lake and we thought it would be a great warm up for Ironman.  We planned to swim and then go for a leisurely bike ride. 

A few days before the swim, it was announced that the water temperature was 84 degrees, and therefore, due to safety reasons, wetsuits would not be allowed.  Now, I consider myself a pretty strong swimmer, but I was not super excited about the non-wetsuit swim because I wanted to really practice for race day.  (Please, God, let it get colder in the lake before November!!!)

Just before the start of the 3k swim.

The course was 750 meters.  Do the math... we had to circle the course 4 times to equal 3k.  The first two loops I felt pretty decent.  There were very few of us in the lake- maybe 30?- so really, we were quite alone after the mass start.  I passed a few people.  A few people passed me.  The third loop I started to get really tired of the non-wetsuit aspect of the swim.  The sun was out in full force, and every time I looked up to sight not only was I blinded, but without my wetsuit on, my non-buoyant body did not return to the surface as I would have liked.  With my feet and rear end sinking, my shoulders were taking a beating fighting to drag myself through the water. 

*Sigh*  Finally, half way through the third loop, when the negative thoughts were battling full force in my brain, I made the decision that I would use this opportunity to practice my focusing strategies, and positive self-talk.  I repeated my mantra IAm-A-Strong-Swimmer in 4 stroke cadence over and over in my head until the negative thoughts were drowned out.  When I was certain that my thoughts were lying dead at the bottom of Tempe Town Lake, I took a break to assess where I was at.  Really.  Honestly. 

I reminded myself that there were no guarantees that IM is a wetsuit legal swim.  I reminded myself that everyone is in the same boat, wetsuits give all of us the same advantage and without them- we all are at the same disadvantage, save a select few.  I reminded myself that I am still a strong swimmer even if today is not my best day.  I reminded myself that I still have 7 weeks to go before Ironman and several more opportunities to practice in open water.  And before I knew it, my 4 laps were up.  My time was not great, 56 minutes, but I felt like I had learned a few things and more importantly, I got to practice a real-live in-race refocusing strategy.  And it worked! 

After my friends got out of the water, we hopped on our bikes for a leisurely 20 miler around the lake.  We stopped for breakfast (pancakes!) and then I went home to put my feet up in preparation for my second slice of humble pie.

Humble Pie, Slice #2:  The Javalina Night Run 
A few short hours later, I was heading up to McDowell Mountain Park for the annual Javalina Night Run, put on by Aravaipa Running.  Runners have the option to run 1,2, 3 or 4 loops of the Pemberton Trail for a total of 25- 100k.  Being in IM training, I chose the 25k.  But I had to be at the airport at 8 pm to pick up my husband, so I elected to start at 5 pm with the 100k folks rather than 6:30 pm with my appropriate group.  So while I had the benefit of daylight for approximately 8 miles, I had the punishment of 100 degree heat at the start of my loop. 




Me, getting ready for the start of the Javalina Night Run.


I hadn't run Pemberton in several months, sadly, but I had secretly hoped for 2:25 finish time.  I tried to hydrate, and prepare for the heat as best as I could.  But my muscles were plenty fatigued at the start and I felt it.  I sort of thought that since I was starting with the 100k group, they'd be pacing themselves for the longer distance.  Since I only had one loop to run, I figured I could just run my pace and I wouldn't have anyone pushing me.  Wrong.  For 8 miles I ran with a guy just off my heels. 

For about 4 miles I stayed far to one side, thinking he'd eventually want to pass me.  But when I slowed, he slowed.  At one point I tried to strike up a conversation, only to realize he was listening to his ipod.  So I was just his pacer.  I don't have any real issue with that, except that one of the things I love most about trail running is the solitude.  I'm breathing heavily.  But when I have to listen to 2 people breathing heavily it makes me feel like I'm working way harder than I need to.  I knew that an aid station was coming up, and began to think of how I could either go through really fast or really slow as to separate myself from this runner. 

Then, as fate would have it, about a half mile before the aid station, I dropped one of my bottles as I tried to snap it back into my Amphipod belt.  I stopped to retrieve it, forcing him to go around me.  I took my time snapping it into place, giving him about a 90 second lead on me.  Plenty of space for this girl.  I happily settled into a slower pace and listened to the sounds of crickets chirping when I wasn't sucking wind.  

I cruised through the aid station, refilled all my bottles, and then started for the final 7 miles.  Finally!  The downhill.  It was beginning to get dark, but I refrained from using my headlamp until I had about 4 or 5 miles to go.  I'd prefer to run without one, but it helps to outline the various changes in terrain that can easily trip one up in the darkness.  Eventually I passed my running-buddy from earlier in the downhill.  He was looking strong, but appeared to be without a headlamp which may have slowed him down.  Or he was just taking his time as he still had quite a long ways to go that evening. 

I enjoyed the remaining miles solo.  The moon was full, and with about a mile to go, I began to hear the singing of the coyotes which I love.  Such a beautiful sound.  Wild.  Free.  Gives you enough of a chill to realize you're not alone in the park after dark.  I cruised into the finish in just under 2 hours 27 minutes.  So not quite the 2:25 I had hoped for, but well under my requisite 10 minute per mile pace. 

I refilled my water bottle and changed quickly before jumping into my car en route to the airport.  I mixed my recovery shake, knowing I was going to be on the bike in a few short hours for my long ride.  But I couldn't force anything down.  I sipped it slowly, but my stomach was not happy.  I really didn't want to eat anything.  My husband was waiting for me when I arrived and he presented me with a delicious, frosted sugar cookie from a famous bakery in Springfield, Ohio.  I did manage to get it down, so at least there were a few hundred calories in my system but not quite the recovery meal I wanted.  We fell into bed shortly after 9 pm.

Humble Pie, Slice #3:  The LONG Ride
Way too few hours later (aka:  5:15 AM) the alarm rang.  Ugh.  I was so not looking forward to this 100 mile bike ride.  I crawled out of bed and my legs were screaming at me.  GO BACK TO BED!  They urged me.  I stumbled into the bathroom to get ready for the ride.  At this point, I hadn't eaten a proper meal since 2 pm on Saturday afternoon.  I was out of my usual breakfast staples and had to settle for a glass of OJ to start the day.  I just knew this was not going to be a good day.

We left our house and headed through town toward the beeline.  The plan:  3 x beeline loops with 5 x 20 minute intervals at half IM pace.  Intervals?  So didn't happen.  We hit the beeline, my husband yells 'Go' and promptly leaves me in the dust.  I fought the headwind up the beeline.  I fought my fatigue down the beeline.  My stomach fought me the whole way- intermittently nauseated from lack of food, and then from being fed more sugary gels.  I was ready to call it quits at 40 miles.  Round and round and round we went until finally, after 3 loops of the beeline we hit 84 miles and headed back through town toward home. 

"There is no way I'm doing a transition run," I announce as we get closer to home.  My husband kindly informs me that I have to run at least 20 minutes.  I can do 20 minutes, I think, but not a second more.  I change my shoes.  Deliriously, I head out the door to tackle my 20 minutes.  My usual 9 minute per mile pace was no where to be found.  I averaged 10:15 for the two miles. 

Happily back home, I showered and laid down for a second in the darkness of my bedroom.  I swear I had no intention of falling asleep.  But in a matter of seconds I was no longer conscious.  I woke with a gasp at 1:35 PM, realizing that my husband should have been home from his run at least 5 minutes ago.  I ran down the stairs to see him bent over in the yard, apparently trying to keep his nutrition down as well.  Guess all the travel and not-the-best-nutrition over the last 24 hours got to him too. 

Humble Pie, Slice #4:  The ATI Swim and Tempo Run
The rest of our Sunday was uneventful.  We ate a little, or a lot actually.  We watched some football.  We hit the racks early.  On Monday morning we had an easy recovery ride followed by our anaerobic interval swim workout.  This week's workout called for a mainset of 6 x 500 yds ATI.  A few weeks ago we were hitting these at about a 1:25/ 100 pace.  Today, we were lucky to cruise in right at 1:30/ 100 pace.  Oh. So. Slow.  And painful.  There was nothing fun about this swim, and I couldn't understand why in just a few weeks I was swimming so slowly.  (Hello, fatigue?  Moron.)  I had to quiet my brain down again and move on with my day.  

And then it all came to a head on Tuesday.  I got up early to run my tempo run with my husband, using him to pace me through the 3 mile middle section of my run.  I was able to hit my pace with a bit of effort.  But then, I was done.  I could barely keep my eyes open when I got home.  In return for his pacing duties, I offered to pace him through the remainder of his long run.  So instead of falling asleep, I got the mountain bike out and returned to the roads to track him down.  I found him pretty quickly and rode next to him for the final 5 or 6 miles of his run.  I think he was hoping for lively distraction, but what he got was exhausted me, yawning every few minutes. 

After we finished his long run, we headed to Endurance Rehab for our weekly session.  I cruised through all my exercises and stretches in about an hour and then fell asleep while enjoying the Normatek Recovery Boots.  After my manual session, being pulled, stretched and manipulated, I returned home to my bed and fell asleep for an hour.  I think I could have slept all day, but I had another torture session scheduled with Solid Foundations Massage that afternoon.            

So after 4 days of back-to-back-to-back hard workouts, my body is tired and reminded me today to take a break.  I'm not worried about race day.  7 weeks away, or actually 6 1/2 weeks now.  Next week is recovery week.  Then there's taper.  My body will be rested and recovered come race day.  But boy, I really got used to those fast workouts where everything felt easy and I felt strong.  It's good to have a slice of humble pie every once in a while to remind myself of why I am training, and why I need to keep training.  It's not race day yet.  There's more work to be done.  There's more hay to be harvested.  But for today, I'm just going to burrow myself a little spot in that hay and take a nap.  Cause sometimes that's the best way to digest that humble pie. 

Tales from the Trails

My weekends for the last 2 months have been filled with trail running.  Every Thursday I look at my schedule and decide which trails I'm running and how far.  I love trail running.  Aside from making me super strong, trails are a great escape.  Stressed?  Hit the trails.  Mad about something?  Hit the trails.  Happy and content?  Hit the trails.  I can't get enough of the solitude, being away from cars and the general noise of life for a while.  Even when I have the pleasure of company on the trails, I feel like I am escaping from the crowds. 

Last weekend, completely jet lagged from our return to the mainland, I ran the Javalina 12 hour Night Run put on by Aravaipa Running.  The beauty of a timed event is that you can run as far or (in my case) as little as you want.  Since my husband came with me out to McDowell Mountain Park, I opted for one loop as he would be very bored and half asleep waiting on me to run further.  So I made the most of it.  When the clock ticked down to race time and we were told to "GO!" I took off.  My goal was to make it through the rocky climb at mile 3 before needing my headlamp.  The sun was quickly setting, but I made it past the worst of the rocks before I needed a little light assistance.

I discovered quickly that I should have changed the batteries in my headlamp.  The beam was very dim and did little to light my path.  Luckily, I had a small flashlight for backup and dug that out of my pack to help out my dying headlamp.  I didn't feel great.  My legs were trashed from rehab on Friday (learned a new routine!) and my tummy was yucky after a normal day of eating.  Being a morning runner, I almost never eat before running.   I find it difficult to fuel for an evening run.  I tried to be very careful, eating things that were easily digested, but it went awry somewhere around 3 pm after which time I was bloated and generally not in a good place.  (I'm pretty sure it was the iced coffee drink that I thought would give me a nice caffeine boost...) 

Despite all of that I ran hard and well for the entire 15.5 mile loop.  My friend LM passed me at mile 4, flying in her very first trail race!  I was excited for her and thrilled that her first experience was such a great one.  And MPS caught me around mile 7 or 8.  We ran together for a couple of miles before he finally left me with about 3 miles to go.  Overall I was thrilled with my effort.  I finished 21 minutes faster than last year, and was 3rd woman and 10th overall in the single loop division.  After the race, and into the next day, I complained that I felt like I had run two loops.  My already defeated legs were not happy about my hard run!  Sunday morning we slept in and had a leisurely bike ride to our favorite breakfast place in an attempt to palliate my limbs.

Between work and family stuff, the week flew by.  Soon it was Thursday again and I was contemplating my trail plans for the weekend.  I decided to check out a couple of trails that I had never run out at Pemberton on Saturday, planning for around 15-16 miles.  On Sunday, I would tackle the 5.6 mile loop at San Tan with my friend HP. 

Saturday I was up early.  Having woken at about 4 am, I was in and out of sleep and finally decided to get out of bed at 5:10 am.  I hit the road at 5:30 ish and headed out to MMP.  My legs were sluggish from the 28 miles accumulated already in the week.  I didn't have my usual pep in my trail step.  At 1.8 miles in, on perfectly flat, sandy trail I totally hit the dirt.  My toe caught a rock and in seemingly slow motion, I hit the ground with my hands, right knee and finally right shoulder before I slid to a stop.  I laid on the ground for a moment, my already beat-up body now even more so.  I crawled to my hands and knees and surveyed the damage.  Pretty minimal cuts on my hands and knee.  My shoulder took the brunt of the trail rash, but was covered by my T-shirt and therefore contained limited amounts of debris.  I used my hydration pack to rinse the wounds and got moving again, being more careful to pick up my feet. 

At 3.5 miles, Dixie Mine Trail diverged to the left.  This was where I began exploring, and I loved every minute of it.  Dixie Mine took me up and over the ridge and down down down to the valley floor only to rise again on the other side.  It was rocky, steep ups and downs, and overall just the challenge I was looking for.  I had a map I was following, but I didn't know exactly how far it would be taking me.  I could have turned around at any time, but I was enjoying it so much.  I ended up taking DM to it's dead end before I turned around.  I stopped, checked out the trail head, ate the contents of a Peter Rabbits Organics pouch, and hit the trail again.

By now I was 9 miles in and feeling a little fatigued.  I had to walk a couple of the steeper segments but I ran the entire gradual climb back to where Coachwhip Trail diverged, the second of my new trail adventures.  CW was another fun trail to explore.  Very runable.  I bumped into a handful of mountain bikers, the first people I had seen all day.  About 2 1/2 miles later I was back onto Pemberton, at mile 14, heading toward the Tonto Tank Trail.  I was cooked.  I took my second PRO pouch and took some salt capsules. 

I hit 15 miles just before Tonto Tank.  Finally, a nice downhill stretch!  I coasted down the trail.  Not super fast, but holding a 9:20 pace which was decent at 17 miles in.  With a mile to go, I turned back onto the Pemberton Trail heading toward the parking lot/ trailhead.  I stepped into the open lot just as I took my last sip of water from my hydration pack.  Couldn't have timed it any better.  I had run 18.6 miles.  Little bit longer than planned, but worth every step. 

And I can't help but wonder, is it wrong that I wear my trail rash like a badge of honor?  I have been showing it off to everyone.  Yes, I am a clutz.  But I'm a badass clutz.  18.8 miles and some bruising and scrapes to show for it. 

Looking forward to next weekend:  The Cave Creek Thriller!  First of the fall trail series by Aravaipa Running.  My goal is to beat my time from last year by 45-60 minutes.  (I bonked bad last year and ended up walking about 6 miles...)  I heart trails!