Happy. Healthy. Heathen.

Whose idea was it to plan the heaviest training around the holidays??  Doesn’t Ironman New Zealand know this?

Middle Tennessee has also had some pretty brutal weather this past week.  Not a problem when you are strength training or swimming, problem when you are running and biking.  Layering up has become an art form, especially when you throw in a little rain.  Jesse has been skiing with Ben in Colorado and has taken the camera with him, so at this point there is no pictoral evidence of my new system:  when I cycle in the cold, I can get everything comfortable except my face and eyes, so…I have been wearing ski goggles.  Laugh if you will, honk if you pass me, I don’t care – I’m warm, I can see, and I don’t lose my speed to keep from getting too cold!  To help you picture it:  bike helmet, scarf around my neck, ski goggles, and a smile that comes with a great training effort!

The new bike is fantastic; I put it in the shop yesterday to have the computer and aerobars installed.  It is such a race car and I couldn’t be happier with it.  Now I have new running shoes and I can’t wait til Monday’s brick to try them out. 

Just learned that the camera was a casualty in a fall Jesses took on the slopes, so it may be a while before I can post pictures again.  I head out to Colorado on Saturday to have Christmas with the kids at Ben’s house, but I’ll keep up the training and blogging…we’re down to about 80 days til race day.

Thanks for reading!

This is me staying in good spirits over running and biking in the cold and rain for the last month, and next 3 months to come.

In spite of the slippin and slidin it was a good run – dogs were cavorting, iPod battery died so I just listened to Uga’s snorting and my sneaks squishsquashing. 

Had a great strength training session and 1000 yard swim on Monday.  My training schedule has suffered at the hand of my travel schedule, but it feels good to be back in the groove.  On the Ironman New Zealand website, there is a live-time countdown (to the second) that just won’t stop…helps the athletes plan the freakouts.

So no iPod, no favorite, but it was a great day to run in the cold mud!

Thanks for reading!

My new BaixBaix:

Just a quick 20-miler on the Greenway to see how she feels…and the answer is:  delicious.  Even fresh out of the box, with no computer, no aerobars, no other toys, bells, or whistles, she just sang.  She’s so smooth and she shifts like a dream (of course, my last bike experience was 350 miles on a trail bike on gravel).  It’s a little bit like driving the Corvette – you know how a sportscar just wants to giddyup?  That’s what she feels like.

I haven’t yet spoken with my LeMond – we’ll have to re-negotiate the terms of our relationship, but, like all relationships, this one has evolved over time, and to stay viable must transition according to the needs of both parties.  It will involve compromises, patience, and understanding, but if we each stay focused on the goal of mutual satisfaction, with respect, admiration, and gratitude we can arrive at a new, successful definition of bike and rider.

Anyway, she is a fabulous new ride and I couldn’t be happier with her.  Lots of miles between now and March 6, and I’m looking forward to every one!

Now if only new running shoes would make the same difference in the run…

Thanks for reading!

Good to be back to something besides bicycle riding, at least for a week or so…

Today I had intended to run about 30 minutes on the property, but because it was such a beautiful day, and I was feeling so good, the dogs were with me, I’d been on the bike for 8 days, I just kept running.  Did the loop 3 times, so it was close to a 7 mile run, about and hour and 25.

Here are my running buddies:

Also had a great strength training session at SportsCom.

Three-way tie for iPod shuffle:  Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, Dylan; Beautiful Liar, Beyonce; Here We Go, Dispatch (Live version)

Thanks for reading!

This blog is being temporarily hijacked to follow Gayle and Jesse as they follow the Potomac, Monongahela, and the Alleghany Rivers.

This day began at 3:00 am when we woke to the alarm for our 5:30am flight.  The bikes were packed into their snug cardboard nests for the trip, and we carried by hand the 4 saddlebags, and even wore our biking clothes.  The flight was uneventful to Cincinnati, but that’s where it got ummmmm, interesting?  For whatever reason, the second engine would not start (not good) as our plane from Cincy to Pittsburgh began to leave the gate, so back we went, where we snoozed(Jesse)/read(Gayle/people-watched(both) for a couple of hours.  Reboarded, then 45 minutes later, Pittsburgh.  We reassembled the bikes in the airport baggage claim, strapped on our helmets and took off.

The access for the trail was surprisingly close to the terminal, and Jesse had memorized the directions to get there, so within about 2 miles we were sailing along a nice, flat, fine-graveled surface.  The temp was perfect and there were lots of walkers, runners, bikers, and even some roller-bladers on the path.

We had a great time, put in 40 miles, but because of the 2-hour delay, we arrived at our first night’s destination after dark, cold, hungry, and tired.  We were picked up at the trailhead by our Bed-and-Breakfast host, got settle into to our revolutionary-war era log cabin, ordered food from the local pizza place, took scalding hot showers, and are just about to crash.

I can’t make an assessment for the whole week yet, but if today is any indication, this trip should go on your Must-Do List.  I reserve the right to alter that endorsement, if I spend much time in cold, wet biking gear.

Sorry about the pics – check back on tomorrow’s entry to see if I’ve had any success, or just piece together the blog and FB pics!!

Thank for reading!

And with a couple of clicks of the mouse, I’m registered.

I’ve been waiting til now, just to let it simmer in my brain for a while, but the rates go up Oct. 31.  I have opted out of blogging the actual cost of registration, because if ever the blog were to serve as inspiration for someone to ultimately compete in an event like this, the cost alone would have a staggeringly defeating effect!  Look it up if you really need to know, but also understand that the financial cost is the least expensive of the costs…

Training this week has gone well.  Today’s weather is not cooperating too much, so the brick gets put off one more day – a lake swim/bike ride.  I will instead go to the gym for a lap lane workout.  I had two fabulous runs and two very strong strength training workouts.  Next week is going to be a little funky; we are travelling Monday to Pittsburgh where we’ll unpack the bikes, leave the airport on the bikes, and ride the C and O canal to Washington DC.  I won’t add any running or swimming, but will use the 50 or 60 mile days on the bike as the training.  I hope to keep up the strength training by adding some body weight exercises through the week.  I intend to blog and put up pics of this most interesting ride, but internet access may be a bit sketchy. 

Back to registration.  The race website is www.ironman.co.nz and there are some great pics of the lake and bike/run courses.  There’s also a very menacing countdown clock in the upper left of the home page, that just ticks those seconds away, one after another.  I have the ability to request a refund, so no huge drama about having the money on the line, but it did have an impact on me to click through that registration form:  age, emergency contact, reason for competing, etc.  As if I weren’t before, but now I really am training AND registered for an Ironman event!

Form drills in the pool today, again thanks to Fran, then brick tomorrow.  No iPod today so I can focus more sharply on task at hand.

Thanks for reading!

“Swim in a tube”

“Add some plyometrics to your workout”

“Kick from your hip”

“To swim faster, don’t flail faster, make your stroke more powerful”

These are words out of the advisory bag of my swim/strength training coach, Fran Cegelka.  He drove to Murfreesboro today to help me with a session in the pool and the weight room.  Then, unlike MOST coaches, he also gave me the most wonderful massage EVER.

The direction in gave me in the weight room was so helpful, and the coaching in the pool was invaluable.  I can’t wait to apply all the tips and advice to my workouts.  I’ve  got someone lined up to help me with the running, and I’m good on the bike, I think, so I’m ready to improve, speed up, become stronger, and more efficient.

Brick tomorrow – bike 25, run 6 – I’ll try to have some new pics to add!

Thanks for reading!

I love my bike.  It’s a Lemond, I’ve had it about three years, and we are completely bonded.  I’m in an argument with my entire family about whether or not to purchase a new, fancy-ass, traithlon bike for this event.  Their argument:  “When else would you purchase a tribike if not for completing an Ironman?”  My argument:  ”       “.   I know they are right; I just can’t picture breaking it to the old girl that she won’t be making the trip to New Zealand.  But that’s a blog for another day.

Today’s bike-related issue is about yet another bike.  Jesse and I have purchased new trail bikes for an upcoming tip the end of October to the C and O canal.  It runs from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC, and is an old mule path/rails to trails conversion, almost every mile of which is gravel.  Not appropriate for our road bikes, of course, which is why we’ve gotten the new trail bikes.  Nice, fat tires, upright posture, not quite a mountain bike, but not really a hybrid either.

This trip will take place in another two weeks or so, so Jesse suggested we take them out for at least a short spin before we’re out with no bike stand/tools/etc.  So for today’s 25-miler we hit the road (or Greenway in this case) with the new Treks.

We were on a paved surface, and did 25 miles, and even so, we were both bitching about them when we finished.  My back hurt, my hands hurt, my wrists hurt, my elbows hurt.  I think most of our issues can be resolved with some tweaking here and there, but miles and miles on gravel on this bad boy does not hold much appeal.

It was overcast and wet in Murfreesboro today, but the Greenway always offers its own brand of beautiful scenery…

It’s my intention to blog from the trail when we do the trip, but I don’t know about the cell reception for the internet, so we’ll see…

Today also included a strength training session, which, if you are keeping track, is my favorite workout, and today was a great one.

iPod random shuffle of the day:  Chuck Berry, My Ding-A-Ling

Thanks for reading!