Random thoughts......

So the base period is going well with regards to triathlon training, I can't say I've been doing a lot of swimming, once a week if I'm lucky, I am spending 3 days a week of significant strength training which I am loving, running 4-5x a week and biking 2-3x a week. I am feeling stronger but have a huge amount of guilt not being in the pool, I really need to make the effort but a little more time away hopefully will get me more motivated to swim hard starting next week.

The first two races of my season will most likely be the Great Stew Race in Peabody in early February, a 15k very hilly running race and then followed by either the Hyannis 1/2 marathon or the Black Cat 10 or 20 miler the first week in March ( which is located in Salem, Mass, thus very local and easy to get too so most likely this will be my choice.)

With some obligations to our Foundation and things I need to do on the weekends from January to June most of the races ( plus or minus 1 or 2) will need to be local and not require much travel, thus a lot of my early season races will be running races and a few duathlons. I will update you regarding my triathlon schedule very soon as I'm trying to work out my "A" races for the season.

Anyway, Thanksgiving went by without a hitch, I didn't need to cook an entire meal this year which was nice but we had to travel to the south shore which with traffic took us 2hrs down and 2hrs back, with 4 kids in the car asking, " are we there yet" a million times I think I would rather cook dinner. I decided not to run a Thanksgiving race this year because honestly, even though my foot is better and I'm laying down some nice miles during the week ( 25-28 a week) they are all zone 1-2 pace with no speed work just yet. The heel is so good right now and this week is the first week we are going to tap into some speed, so selfish me didn't want to run a 5 mile race and average 8:30 a mile, I decided to do 10 that day and just be alone for awhile, much better in my opinion.

I have one my cyclocross race scheduled for this season, the Ice Weasel in Wrentham. This race could be really cold, icey, snowy, all the above, who knows, so you ask, " Why would you sign up", well, the beer that they serve and all the costumes people wear and just the plain fun. Racing this off season in something I've never done before and just laughing and having no expectations has really just allowed me to have fun, to work really hard at something but to not have any regrets about the process or the finish. Just wait till I try my first winter duathlon or triathlon this season, " did I say that I've never done cross country skiing before- hee hee_. A girl has got to do what a girl has got to do.

Lastly, I'm just really greatful for my family, my friends and all the wonderful people who help me out with my life on a daily basis. Phil and I are celebrating 13 years together today and my 4 kids as hard as they can be somedays are just the best, my friends are just priceless, always calling me, checking in on me, always there for me when they know I need them, and of course my support team when it comes to keeping my body together and my mind, Sara my physical therapist, what can I say about her, she's become a really good friend and confident and she has fixed my plantar fascititis and my sciatic issue and I'm finally coming together. Can I say Janda, my coach who changes my workouts whenever I have an issue ( which is often) and is always supportive, I couldn't ask for more and lastly Jeremee who leads our extreme fit class on Mondays and Wednesdays, who pushes my limits with regards to my strength, my core, my everything until I'm the only one ready to puke after 1hr of strength training. He also takes into consideration what Janda is asking of me and what sarah knows my body can handle and he works on all my limiters, what can I say, I'm a lucky girl.

With all this said, I am going into this season with a fitter body and mind ( I'll talk about how I'm working on the mental side of things on my next post) with expectations but not expectations that if I don't achieve them will define who I am. I will go into every race this season with a goal but in the end make sure I've enjoyed the journey and the effort I put out that day. Its about being happy with who you are and what your body is capable of doing. Anyway, enough jibberish, we'll chat soon.

So many little things going on

This weekend was a big weekend, not for me but for my kids and my good friend Keri Boyle. I'll start with my kids.

My son Alex had his first USA swim meet yesterday and at age 7 he placed 6th in the 25 back, 7th in the 25 free and with all the 10,9,8 ,7, 6yr olds he placed 19th I think for the 50 free, 47 seconds, not bad, and with a really good flip turn and no breath off the turn, so impressed.

The few things that stood out for me with his swim meet were, 1) he had so much fun he wanted to do more, 2) he said to me he loves swimming, 3) he said, " some day I'd like to beat Michael Phelps mommy". He had a smile on all day ( yes, swim meets take forever but he was a trooper). So his next swim meet is in Andover in January. Yeah!!!!!!!

Then today was a big day for the two oldest boys, they were competing in the North Shore Flag Footballs NFC championship game for 7-8 year olds, they were competing against the Arizona Cardinals, a team based out of Hamilton/Wenham who were undefeated, and basically killed everyone 50 to 10 all season. We did come close to beating them 24 to 6 ( they were our only loss) so to make it to the superbowl today we had to beat them. Let's just say the odds were stacked against us and I think no-one in the league, the parents gave us a chance. My husband Phil and our good friend Tim coach the boys and they worked really hard trying to figure out ways to beat the cardinals, they worked their defense and offense and today was the day ( the battle of the birds) that the Falcons came out on top, 18 to 12. It was great, the kids played so well, they showed great sportsmanship, it was awesome. We went on to play the Browns in the superbowl and won 26 to 0. We will go on to play at Endicott College on Dec 5th to go against the best of the North Shore, so much fun. We went out for pizza with the whole team and parents and then home to watch the patriots beat the Colts, the day couldn't of been more perfect.

Its so much fun to see them sleep in their football clothes and their trophies on their bed, they deserved this win so much. I would also like to note that the other team ( the cardinals) played so well and all of their kids showed great sportsmanship and even wished our kids good luck on the superbowl game. I know some of the kids on the other team and their parents so to watch these kids play with such competitiveness and grace at the same time shows what good coaching and parenting is all about. So Kudo's to the Cardinals.

On to my friend Keri who is still at this time competing at IMAZ right now and in 10th place in her AG on the marathon. She has a great chance of breaking the top ten and probably besting her ironman time by well over an hour and a half, so go keri.

On my front, I finally got to see the doctor today and was diagnosed with a sinus infection and put on antibiotics, thank God. 10 days of dayquil and Nyquil was enough. So hopefully I will start feeling better in the next day or two. I had to take off the whole weekend from working out because I knew I would dig myself into a deep hole if I worked out and felt like shit, so hopefully I will get in some good stuff tomorrow.

My next post will be my race schedule for this next season, lots of new stuff and some races that I need to go back to, to get that monkey off my back.

It's coming along, slowly but surely....

So this weekend I had a cyclocross race on saturday and my long run on sunday. Cyclocross was fun but the course was hard, very muddy, sand, gravel, barriers and run ups that probably weren't run ups for most but the mud and sharp turns even in my lowest gear I couldn't get up, I was faster just to run. I was a bit discouraged on saturday because I got a good start finally and was in the front pack but a woman crashed on my left on one of the first turns which threw me off my game and then after a real muddy section I changed my gears too quickly to get up a hill and I dropped my chain, which took only about 10 seconds to fix but 6 or 7 women passed me which got me pissed. I eventually passed about 3 of them but couldn't catch the others. Cyclocross requires a ton of skill, tactics, agression and being on the frontline when the gun goes off, if your not there then your chances of making it to the front aren't realistic, unless your lynn Bessette or some other uber cyclist. Anyway, I still had fun and worked hard so another learning day for me.

Today was my long run, zone 1-2, not to raise my HR about tempo range on the hills, watch my mechanics, work on form and nutrition, it was a beautiful day to be outside and running or doing anything physical. I did one of my normal run routes that have a lot of rollers and some longish climbs, I was pleasantly surprised that my run fitness is starting to come back and that even though I still struggle a bit at the beginning, around mile 5 or 6 I start to feel strong, I feel my stride coming on and my HR drops, its just funny to me.

With all my strength training I've been focusing on these past 7 weeks I'm finally recruiting muscles on my runs that I didn't before. Whenever I finished a run in the past all the muscles that typically hurt no matter what the terrain were my quads, sometimes my hammies would be tight but my quads would be barking. Now, that isn't the case at all, my quads haven't hurt on my past few long runs and I'm starting to feel my glutes, and hammies more but not pain just that I'm actually using them.

I haven't done speed work for many months so all my runs with my injury since July have been zone 1 to zone 2 effort. Since my heel has been getting better we have been working on rebuilding my endurance, focusing on form and making sure that my heel doesn't flare up again. so far so good. Today I ran 10 miles, I haven't run 10 miles since July. I averaged an 8:44 pace and my HR was dead on low zone 2. I felt good, I watched my form, took in my nutrition and what I was most happy about was that my last few miles were my fastest and my HR didn't go up ( granted it was the flattest section of my run, but I'll take it).

I am rebuilding, working on form, getting my mojo back, relearning how to run, playing around and doing different things. I am excited everyday to workout and try new things. I am planning on doing a winter triathlon this January in WEston and the duathalon. Now, I've never cross country skied before but I'm going to rent some at our local ski shop and try it out this year, why not, cross fitness is fun and what the hell. What's next, Everest?

What's next and how are things going.....

WEll first, before I go on about what is happening on my front, I want to congratulate to of my bestest friends for completing the NYC marathon yesterday in cold/windy conditions and doing it in great times. They have trained hard and for a long time and both finished strong. I can't wait to start running with them again after their recovery, my friends continue to inspire me everyday. Thanks Vicki and Jess for making me a better person for just knowing you guys.

Also, I follow a fellow triathlete and her blog, Mary Eggers and she competed at Ironman Florida this weekend, despite having some serious GI issues on her bike and run she completed the ironman in 11hrs and 40 minutes. This certainly wasn't the time Mary was hoping to achieve but she was so proud of herself to just finish given what she was experiencing out on the course that she's leaving Florida with no regrets and a lot to learn from. I am very proud of her and I look forward to hearing more about her experience there.

On another note I have one more cyclocross race this weekend in Plymouth, Mass, I'm still greatly enjoying the experience and hoping that over time I can become competitve in this event. I went out on my TT bike yesterday for the first time since september and riding it felt so easy compared to the cross bike, my bike handling skills were better and I wasn't so afraid to go over sticks and rocks. You do have to be more careful because the tires are more susceptible to flatting and things like that but overall it was super fun to be out there. My biking right now feels really good, for almost 2hrs my avg watts was 180 and my norm watts was 190. So excited to see those numbers in November. What I have to do now is believe in those numbers and believe in myself that I can produce those numbers and numbers higher than that on race day. I am working on that as we speak.

My running is coming along as well, my heel pain is almost completely gone and I can feel the difference in how I'm running. I'm able to fully run now and push off the front of my foot, I have no lingering pain after I run but I still ice after for precautionary measures. I've cut down on the Motrin and only take a couple pills a few times a week, so all in all I think things are starting to turn around.

I am procrastinating on returning full throttle to the pool though, I don't know why, I love swimming but with my strength training ( which is sort of hard core right now) biking and running I feel sort of tapped for time, I'm hoping to start back with the Masters soon so I can rebuild back my swim fitness that I worked so hard on last season.

Anyway, things are better both mentally and physically, I'm still trying to follow a clean diet ( I'm eating a bit more complex carbs because of the amount of cardio I do) but overall the diet is good, I' m down about 6lbs. I fell off the wagon a few times with the Halloween candy, boy scout popcorn and a few glasses of wine but I think since I'm eating pretty well the majority of the time so my body is adjusting.

Anyway, thats it for right now, will post my race schedule soon now that my foot is so much better I can think about registering for some events. I can tell you, there will be a lot of running events this year to build back some speed and confidence.

needing to vent.......

3 years ago my father in law passed away and we knew after 43 years of marriage she would be very lonely, so we gave her one of our two cats, (shadow- the black cat) to keep her company, she loved the cat. Shadow was the typical street cat, who knew what her family tree was and she was healthy as a horse. She was given to Phil and I as a wedding present 13 years ago and she was 1 at the time.

My mother in law travels twice a year for a few weeks and some long weekends away, during those trips she has had her neighbors and their kids feed/water and change her kitty liter and things have been fine. Cats are pretty resilent and they might be pissed that you've been gone but as long as they food/water and a place to do their business their fine. We weren't so lucky this time.

My mother in law lives in Salem and she flew in from England last night and took a cab directly to our house, there was no way she was going to spend hours in a cab trying to get to her house on Halloween. I drove her home this morning along with my sick daughter and Shadow was just lying there on the couch, she typically hops up and runs away or comes over for a quick pat and toodles off but this time she didn't really move. She was breathing but her paws were cold and she looked awful. We noticed that her food bowl was full but their was no water and the toilet lid was down, we didn't know how long she had been without water. Unfortunately, the family who said they would take care of her wasn't home so we couldn't get the full story so we just called the vet to make an appointment today to have her get looked at. She was either severely dehydrated or for some strange reason got sick and was dying. I left to bring my daughter to the hospital to get a chest x-ray and made sure to have my mother in law call me when she was at the Vets, 1hr later she called and said that the cat was so dehydrated that she was in full blown kidney failure and she was truly suffering, giving IV fluids most likely at this point would only prolong her suffering, so my mother in law decided to just put her to sleep . She called me to tell me and I was just so crushed and knew I had to tell Phil ( it was really his cat) and knew he would just be so torn. ( he was).

About 3:30p my mother in law encountered the neighbor who was supposed to feed and water the cat and his response to it all was, " the kids were so busy I just forgot", I may have gone in once somewhere in the middle of the two weeks, I can't remember" My mother in law said, " she's dead because you didn't give her water, I need to leave now".

He showed no remorse, he didn't care, nothing. Who does this? No compassion or anything for the animal? Did he not care because she was a cat? She suffered badly the vet said, it wasn't a peaceful death, she suffered until we gave her the shot to put her to sleep, who does this? I am so sad right now and angry, I so badly wan't to yell at him and force him to pay the $115 dollars it took to put her to sleep, but I won't. No matter what my mother in law is suffereing in silence, another death, my husband is really sad, his cat of 13 years is dead for no other reason then somebodies selfish reasons and forgetfullness. It's not acceptable to do this to people why should it be ok to do this to animals.

On another note my daughter got diagnosed with a right middle lobe pneumonia today, her fever that was trending downward since her initial spike on Thursday came back with a vengence last night after she trick or treated with her cowgirl outfit on and only a long sleeve and scarf, anyway, I knew something must of erupted so I brought her in and low an behold a pneumonia.

An animal death, my daughters pneumonia, mother in laws flat tire today, what next. Going to bed.