Untitled by donnafurse at Garmin Connect - Details
yesterday was a good day and a humbling day. I was racing my second open marathon and in my mind really hoping to qualify for Boston. The training had gone well, I wasn't injured and I had no excuses. Baystate is known for being relatively flat, its not flat/flat, it has some nice gradual climbs but nothing over maybe 3%-4% grade and certainly not long, a few bridges and that's it. Last years marathon yielded me a 3:55:55 which was 55 seconds over a BQ time, so hopefully an easier course profile would buy me some minutes. My realistic goal was to finish around 3:40-3:42.
I met up with my friend Keri ( IMLP queen) we went to get my number and hang until start time. The weather was cool but not crazy. I did wear some throw away gloves for the first half marathon but after that I was so glad to be in a tank and shorts.
the course had water/gatorade at every I think 1 1/2 or 2 miles and gels every 7 so I decided not to carry my water bottles with me ( good decision).
I didn't wear my IPOD this time because for some reason my fully charged IPOD ran out of batteries right before the start. Oh well, listening to my own thoughts and other peoples for the next 3+ hours, oh joy.
The first 14-15 miles went really well, at this point I believe I was still around a 8:23-8:24 overall avg pace, I knew this would get me in at this point in my goal time. The wind started to pick up a bit and my right groin and right quad started barking a bit. I kept plugging along but I started to notice my running pace was slowing just a little. At times when it got flat my pace would quicken but with any incline I slowed a tinch. My nutrition was spot on, I took in water and gatorade at every stop and my gels every 5 1/2 miles. I did have some salt on my face at the finish so I'm not too sure if that caused any of my pains during the run but my calfs and feet were fine.
When I hit mile 20 I was still under an 8:30 pace average but I knew I had to dig deep, my heart rate was spot on but my legs hurt, I know this is when the marathon really begins, what can you do to bring it home can you increase your pace, can you get your HR up? I saw so many people stopping, stretching, slowing down, two people where taken away in an ambulance for injuries, it was so weird to see so much carnage in just a running race, typically you see this in ironman, so weird. Not having my IPOD had me really tuning into my surroundings and the other racers, I ran side by side with two people who I swear where the loudest runners ever, their feet just slapped the ground ( bang, bang, bang) so heavy on their feet it sounded painful. My legs at this point were sooo tired I couldn't get ahead of him to stop listening to him, thank goodness he started to slow and I didn't need to hear him anymore. Then I kept hearing this loud music around me, I didn't know if spectators had music going or someone was on a bike playing music, then I saw this kid running with a radio/boombox on the back of race belt blaring pop music, I'm sure that thing was heavy and I bet he has some serious chaffing from it. I'm not sure I liked it though it was very distracting and it was super loud. Just weird to see on the course. I wonder if that would be legal in ironman?
Anyway, the last mile came and I knew I just wanted to finish, my watch had clicked at 25 well before the mile marker it was such a tease, then I ran by the mile marker and then it was another god knows how long before the next sign said 1 mile to go. I just put my head down and started running, trying to get my HR up and just wanting to get home, I picked up the pace just a tad and ran it in. 3:45:49. BQ time qualifier. YEAHHHHH.
I was very happy with the time, I definitely gave it everything I had, I have to figure out how to manage those last 6 miles as that it what happened in Plymouth last year. I didn't get my 3:40-3:42 but I still bested my time by over 10 minutes so I'm happy.
As for the 2014 Boston Marathon it is closed out for qualified runners so unfortunately I won't be able to run it this year unless I wanted to do a charity spot which I don't. That means I will apply for 2015 once registration opens. Baystate is one of the last marathons that can qualify you both 2014 and 2015, so yeah me. I am also signed up for the new Challenge Atlantic City full distance ironman event in June 2014. I am really looking forward to this as I can drive and it is significantly less expensive then ironman. The course is capped at 1500 athletes and the roads are completely closed. I am also on the fence on registering for 2014 IMFL because I would still like to do it. Well thats it for now.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Pumpkinman Race Report and the incident that happened at 3:45am
All things considered my training was ok going into Pumpkinman, it wasn't perfect especially my swimming, I could certainly get the distance done and have fun but how was I going to do, " I had no clue". Its been an up and down season this whole year starting since getting injured last August before IMMT, I'm kind of writing off this season as a rebuilding year in both fitness and confidence. I mean racing only 2 triathlons in a year isn't going to get me where I really want to go but it was all I could do. Anyhoo, coach Pat put me in a really good place and we god knows he has had to tweak my schedule more than once ( I won't even give you the number). Okay, lets chat about the day.
As I was leaving home at 3:40am I needed to stop off and get gas on route 128 south in Beverly, as I headed out onto Rte 128south it was dark and I was still a bit tired, as I was driving by exit 22 I noticed something really weird, to my left traveling right beside me was a car going south on route 128N, I didn't believe it, rubbed my eyes and took another look,, " Holy Shit", I couldn't believe my eyes, WTF, this car was traveling fast and going in the wrong direction, "HOlY SHIT, HOLY SHIT". I immediately grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911 and got put through to the state police, they kept me on the line so that I could describe the car and tell them where it was traveling, everytime I saw an on coming car I started to cry, I would tell the dispatcher/policeman on the phone, OMG there is going to be a crash, somethings going to happen, please get here fast. They needed me to stay on the phone and follow him so they could get the exact location of where he was traveling, eventually after what seemed like 20 minutes they were able to get him right before Reading, Mass, 3 State Police cruisers for 3 different directions cornered him off and he pulled over. Thank God is all I said in my head and told the dispatcher that the vehicle had pulled over and nobody was hurt, we hung up. I then had to turn around and head back on 95 to head to the race, at this point I was getting nervous because it was 4:20am and I didn't know whether or not I was going to make packet pickup in time, Kat told me to be there no later than 5:30a so I really had to move it. That being said I was still very shooken up about what happened, afraid to see another car on the 128N side of the road as I was now driving on it, just freaked me out a lot. I still think about what happened quite a bit since Sunday, just insane and very scary. What could of happened.
Anyway, I got to the race venue on time thank goodness, got all my stuff ready, packet picked up, saw some friends and headed to transition. I saw my friend John Young briefly, gave him a hug and wished him luck, he is such an inspiration to me in so many ways, I hope he realizes that he touches so many peoples lives and hearts, just a true ambassador in my opinion. As I got transition set up my phone rang and it was one of the State troopers who had pulled over the vehicle this morning and he wanted to call and say thank you for what I'd done and to make sure I was ok. He told me that the man was completely beligerent and drunk to holy heaven and thank goodness nothing happened. I think he was still in shock. I wish I knew what happened to the guy.
On to the swim start, started walking to swim start, a sense of calm was over me, the weather was absolutely perfect, saw some friends, Amanda, Jessica, Mironda and Meaghan and then went to my corral. I knew my swim was not going to be my best and not even close, I had no top end speed just lots of aerobic base, so I knew that what I should do is to just swim my zone 1 pace and keep it long and strong and not get my HR up too high, we had a big hill to climb to transition and I wanted to set myself up for a good bike/run. Siting was a bitch, the sun was right in our eyes, even with my goggles it didn't help, mulitple times I had to stop to try to find my way and on the second loop it just got completely congested. It was what it was, my HR was great coming out of the water.
33:53 on my watch, they got me at 34:07. Really slow, really really slow, but zone 1 pace spot on.
3rd in age group, whatever.
Bike: The bike course was fun, just enough small climbs and just enough long flats to really build up speed. Good bike support out there and good markings to make the course easy to follow. On the second loop the wind started to pick up, it wasn't too bad, I did start to notice my right groin and my right hamstring started getting sore and I knew this was because I hadnt spent enough time in aero in training, I had spent more time in aero in training this year than in the past so it was better but I knew this was the reason. I started complaining in my head that my run was going to suck if this pain didn't go away but I just tried to stay positive.
2:52- 19.4mph- Getting better, high zone 1, low zone 2 HR average, spot on. Thus this is an improvement in my bike performance in a race keeping the HR where it needed to be. So hopefully my run was going to be good.
Run: 2 loop course, and I really liked it. I have to say again, it had enough climbs, flats and downhills to make the course interesting. The volunteers were awesome, tons of stuff to get on the course and the most important, the sponges were super cold when I got them, "perfect". I felt good coming off the bike, the right groin and hamstring went away after about a mile, I was able to get off the bike and keep my HR where Pat told me while averaging an 8:15 for the first mile. things slowed a tiny bit after that to keep the HR where it needed to be but I was ticking off 8:35's and I didn't want to push it till mile 10 if I had anything left. I loved seeing all my teammates on the course and friends, the weather was great, the wind was blowing hard at times but it was really fun. At mile 10 I knew I needed to pick up the pace, I ended up averaging an 8:05 for the last two miles and bumped my HR from 158 to 164 by the time I finished.
1:52:xx, 8:37 average. Best time I've run off the bike in a half ironman ever, and I know I can go faster.
5th AG F45-49. Overall time; 5:24, pretty dam close to my personal best ( did Patriot a few years ago faster but the swim was about 9 minutes short, so who knows)
It was a good day for me and I'm happy with my performance given the year I had. Besides Baystate marathon coming up in mid October I have a lot of thinking to do regarding what I want to do for races next year. I know in my heart I really want to do an ironman but don't know which one would be good for me and my family and what would be practical. I've signed up for 3 ironmans over the last 1 1/2 years and I've not made it to the start line of any of them, I don't want that to happen again. Do I concentrate on building more speed at the half distance and do 2 of them next summer and maybe try to qualify for the World championships, is it even possible, I'm not sure. What I do know is that I had fun at the Boston Triathlon and at Pumpkinman and know that I continue to love to train and compete. If anyone has any suggestions let me know, maybe the Triple T or the Zufingen, but regardless getting to either Kona or the 70.3 world championships is on my bucket list of wishes.
As I was leaving home at 3:40am I needed to stop off and get gas on route 128 south in Beverly, as I headed out onto Rte 128south it was dark and I was still a bit tired, as I was driving by exit 22 I noticed something really weird, to my left traveling right beside me was a car going south on route 128N, I didn't believe it, rubbed my eyes and took another look,, " Holy Shit", I couldn't believe my eyes, WTF, this car was traveling fast and going in the wrong direction, "HOlY SHIT, HOLY SHIT". I immediately grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911 and got put through to the state police, they kept me on the line so that I could describe the car and tell them where it was traveling, everytime I saw an on coming car I started to cry, I would tell the dispatcher/policeman on the phone, OMG there is going to be a crash, somethings going to happen, please get here fast. They needed me to stay on the phone and follow him so they could get the exact location of where he was traveling, eventually after what seemed like 20 minutes they were able to get him right before Reading, Mass, 3 State Police cruisers for 3 different directions cornered him off and he pulled over. Thank God is all I said in my head and told the dispatcher that the vehicle had pulled over and nobody was hurt, we hung up. I then had to turn around and head back on 95 to head to the race, at this point I was getting nervous because it was 4:20am and I didn't know whether or not I was going to make packet pickup in time, Kat told me to be there no later than 5:30a so I really had to move it. That being said I was still very shooken up about what happened, afraid to see another car on the 128N side of the road as I was now driving on it, just freaked me out a lot. I still think about what happened quite a bit since Sunday, just insane and very scary. What could of happened.
Anyway, I got to the race venue on time thank goodness, got all my stuff ready, packet picked up, saw some friends and headed to transition. I saw my friend John Young briefly, gave him a hug and wished him luck, he is such an inspiration to me in so many ways, I hope he realizes that he touches so many peoples lives and hearts, just a true ambassador in my opinion. As I got transition set up my phone rang and it was one of the State troopers who had pulled over the vehicle this morning and he wanted to call and say thank you for what I'd done and to make sure I was ok. He told me that the man was completely beligerent and drunk to holy heaven and thank goodness nothing happened. I think he was still in shock. I wish I knew what happened to the guy.
On to the swim start, started walking to swim start, a sense of calm was over me, the weather was absolutely perfect, saw some friends, Amanda, Jessica, Mironda and Meaghan and then went to my corral. I knew my swim was not going to be my best and not even close, I had no top end speed just lots of aerobic base, so I knew that what I should do is to just swim my zone 1 pace and keep it long and strong and not get my HR up too high, we had a big hill to climb to transition and I wanted to set myself up for a good bike/run. Siting was a bitch, the sun was right in our eyes, even with my goggles it didn't help, mulitple times I had to stop to try to find my way and on the second loop it just got completely congested. It was what it was, my HR was great coming out of the water.
33:53 on my watch, they got me at 34:07. Really slow, really really slow, but zone 1 pace spot on.
3rd in age group, whatever.
Bike: The bike course was fun, just enough small climbs and just enough long flats to really build up speed. Good bike support out there and good markings to make the course easy to follow. On the second loop the wind started to pick up, it wasn't too bad, I did start to notice my right groin and my right hamstring started getting sore and I knew this was because I hadnt spent enough time in aero in training, I had spent more time in aero in training this year than in the past so it was better but I knew this was the reason. I started complaining in my head that my run was going to suck if this pain didn't go away but I just tried to stay positive.
2:52- 19.4mph- Getting better, high zone 1, low zone 2 HR average, spot on. Thus this is an improvement in my bike performance in a race keeping the HR where it needed to be. So hopefully my run was going to be good.
Run: 2 loop course, and I really liked it. I have to say again, it had enough climbs, flats and downhills to make the course interesting. The volunteers were awesome, tons of stuff to get on the course and the most important, the sponges were super cold when I got them, "perfect". I felt good coming off the bike, the right groin and hamstring went away after about a mile, I was able to get off the bike and keep my HR where Pat told me while averaging an 8:15 for the first mile. things slowed a tiny bit after that to keep the HR where it needed to be but I was ticking off 8:35's and I didn't want to push it till mile 10 if I had anything left. I loved seeing all my teammates on the course and friends, the weather was great, the wind was blowing hard at times but it was really fun. At mile 10 I knew I needed to pick up the pace, I ended up averaging an 8:05 for the last two miles and bumped my HR from 158 to 164 by the time I finished.
1:52:xx, 8:37 average. Best time I've run off the bike in a half ironman ever, and I know I can go faster.
5th AG F45-49. Overall time; 5:24, pretty dam close to my personal best ( did Patriot a few years ago faster but the swim was about 9 minutes short, so who knows)
It was a good day for me and I'm happy with my performance given the year I had. Besides Baystate marathon coming up in mid October I have a lot of thinking to do regarding what I want to do for races next year. I know in my heart I really want to do an ironman but don't know which one would be good for me and my family and what would be practical. I've signed up for 3 ironmans over the last 1 1/2 years and I've not made it to the start line of any of them, I don't want that to happen again. Do I concentrate on building more speed at the half distance and do 2 of them next summer and maybe try to qualify for the World championships, is it even possible, I'm not sure. What I do know is that I had fun at the Boston Triathlon and at Pumpkinman and know that I continue to love to train and compete. If anyone has any suggestions let me know, maybe the Triple T or the Zufingen, but regardless getting to either Kona or the 70.3 world championships is on my bucket list of wishes.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Tyler Place Family Resort in Vermont
So we just got back from a week long vacation in Northern Vermont, 3 miles south of the Canadian border, it was awesome. We stayed at a family resort called, The Tyler Family Resort and it certainly lived up to its billing. The basic format of the resort is that your kids get split up in age groups and they spend, 8:30-1:30p with their group and then again from 5:30-8:30p for the younger kids and 9p for the older kids. They play games, they go boating, kayaking, fishing, hiking, biking, swimming, you name it they do it. During the times from 1:30-5:30 is called family time and thats when we get to do tons of stuff with our kids together and actually enjoy each others company. Mom and Dad get the time that the kids are at camp to themselves and they can do a million organized activities that the resort puts together for you or you can do whatever you want to do with your time. There is cocktail hour at night and great food, the scenery is amazing and the activities were awesome.
Some examples of adult activities:
canoeing, kayaking, ropes course, mountain bike tours for all levels, fishing, yoga, basketball games, soccer games, tennis, sailing, cooking, knitting, etc... All water sports as well, tubing, banana boating, water skiing, etc...
The other goal of Tyler Place is to have the adults get acquainted with the other adults and build hopefully long term friendships, they do this with cocktail hours and also mixing up breakfast and dinner tables so that people get to meet everyone. The kids do the same and by the middle of the week your hanging with good friends and doing activities with them and just having a blast. The kids hardly wanted to come with us during family time because they wanted to go tubing or doing other activities with their new friends, this was great in a lot of ways and sad in others. They are growing up.
The counselors were amazing, most of them where from over seas, S. Africa, Australia, Poland, Russia,, etc. They absolutely cared tons for our kids and you could tell. Lots of guys and girls which made it so great for my boys. One counselor actually came to camp on his day off just to play with Kellen and Alex in a ping pong tournament. I was also impressed with the fact that there were some children with special needs who were assigned a one on one counselor and those kids had a blast and the parents got to enjoy there own time too. I can't say I've ever heard of a camp that all kids could enjoy the same activities and feel completely involved as everyone else. It was great.
On a side note, I was able to do my training as much as I could. I was able to ride my bike on the Vermont roads and run, they had two small swimming pools that I could enjoy and of course Lake Champlain. Pumpkinman is coming up next week and I'm glad I could get in some decent training before the taper.
On a side note, I did an advanced mountain bike ride ( of which I've never done before), thinking that riding cross and mountain biking would be similar, well not so much. It was so hard technically, the climbing up and going down was super hard, rocks, roots, mud, bridges, crazy shit, I worked really hard but I kept u with the boys and they helped me and educated me on how to do things, it was great. Riding on a road will forever be easier then riding in the woods, that is for sure.
Here are some pictures from our trip.
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Some examples of adult activities:
canoeing, kayaking, ropes course, mountain bike tours for all levels, fishing, yoga, basketball games, soccer games, tennis, sailing, cooking, knitting, etc... All water sports as well, tubing, banana boating, water skiing, etc...
The other goal of Tyler Place is to have the adults get acquainted with the other adults and build hopefully long term friendships, they do this with cocktail hours and also mixing up breakfast and dinner tables so that people get to meet everyone. The kids do the same and by the middle of the week your hanging with good friends and doing activities with them and just having a blast. The kids hardly wanted to come with us during family time because they wanted to go tubing or doing other activities with their new friends, this was great in a lot of ways and sad in others. They are growing up.
The counselors were amazing, most of them where from over seas, S. Africa, Australia, Poland, Russia,, etc. They absolutely cared tons for our kids and you could tell. Lots of guys and girls which made it so great for my boys. One counselor actually came to camp on his day off just to play with Kellen and Alex in a ping pong tournament. I was also impressed with the fact that there were some children with special needs who were assigned a one on one counselor and those kids had a blast and the parents got to enjoy there own time too. I can't say I've ever heard of a camp that all kids could enjoy the same activities and feel completely involved as everyone else. It was great.
On a side note, I was able to do my training as much as I could. I was able to ride my bike on the Vermont roads and run, they had two small swimming pools that I could enjoy and of course Lake Champlain. Pumpkinman is coming up next week and I'm glad I could get in some decent training before the taper.
On a side note, I did an advanced mountain bike ride ( of which I've never done before), thinking that riding cross and mountain biking would be similar, well not so much. It was so hard technically, the climbing up and going down was super hard, rocks, roots, mud, bridges, crazy shit, I worked really hard but I kept u with the boys and they helped me and educated me on how to do things, it was great. Riding on a road will forever be easier then riding in the woods, that is for sure.
Here are some pictures from our trip.
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Sunday, August 4, 2013
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Race Report of the Boston Triathlon
The Good:
1. Nice Day to start, warm ocean water, friendly people, close race and of course won my age group.
The Bad: My swim- Yikes 14: 48 out of water, 15:07 to mat, thats just horrific on all counts.
1. Oh where do I start.
a. goggles got foggy and filled with water, swam off course a bit, couldn't site for shit, swam longer than I should. I'm not sure it was just a bad swim for me or my swim mojo has really taken a hit on my times in the open water. That being said all the times were pretty slow but I had the fastest swim time in my age group by over 2 minutes. Need to start swimming with some peeps to make swimming more enjoyable.
b. Getting to T1, what the hell, 1min 50 seconds, what the hell was I doing in there. Let me tell you, putting my aero helmet on backwards and wondering why the hell I couldn't strap the thing to my head, couldn't get my bike shoes on. You would think I never did this before.
c. Trying to understand on the bike why I still feel in a sprint that it takes me so long to get the lactic acid out of the legs, it was a short bike, very congested and small travel lanes. For such a congested course there were lots of marshalls out there. We had to do 2 turns twice both of which made you slow down significantly and once an ambulance made me stop for someone who crashed on the bike.
Bike: 24:13, 21.8mph, fastest in age group
The Ugly.
1. My run: 35 minutes, 7:59 pace or 8min flat per there computer. The first thing that went wrong was when I put my sneakers on the insole on my right sneaker rolled up, why I wouldn't fix it and decide to run on it I'll never know but that bothered me the whole run.
When I got off the bike I knew something wasn't right, I was a bit bloated and couldn't get my HR up past what I was averaging on the bike. At times I actually thought I would need a porta potty to go the bathroom, and it wasn't number 1. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it to to the finish. I finally saw the finish line and once over the line bee lined it to the porta potty which I spent quite of bit of time in till the awards ceremony.
2. Getting home I went the bathroom some more and then finally threw up all over the bathroom. It felt so good to get everything out, I felt less bloated and felt so much better. I have a low grade temp of 100 so I know things were brewing but at present feel a bit better.
What I will need to work on over the next 4 weeks:
1. Get my swim mojo back
2. work my transitions like there my bitch. Come on, bike helmet on backwards who does that shit- " I do, I guess".
3. Stay as healthy as I can and get some more fitness.
4. Maybe look to do another small local sprint or swim race before Pumpkinman.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Activities of summer
Lots of stuff going on with the kiddos this summer, my oldest is flying down with daddy to Coco Beach Florida next week for the 5th grade AAU national basketball championships, my 8 and 10yr olds are swimming in the New England Regional Swim Championships this weekend and then off to Harvard University the end of July for their 12 and under Age Group National Swim Championships. My 7 yr old continues to play basketball and tennis and keeping quite busy. I'm trying to stay focused on keeping sane and training and heating as healthy as I can.
Over the last 2 months I have chosen to eat gluten free and as paleo as I possibly can. I am trying to decrease bloat and GI distress that I have had since I was a little girl. I have been very successful with decreasing the bloat but still trying to manage not having the carb input that I had before. I haven't been too happy with the gluten free products out there so far but continue on my hunt. I have added probiotics to my diet and aloe juice to my smoothies. Life is good.
Training has been going well. I went away with my qt2 peeps to Lake Placid 1 1/2 weeks ago to get in some good training and to hang with my friend Keri who will be racing in a few weeks, it was so much fun. I was very nervous that I wouldn't beable to handle the volume of training since I'm not doing and ironman anytime soon but it was very doable and I came out of it unscathed. I met some really great people and I can't wait to return to Lake Placid on the 28th to route on my fellow teammates, campers and friends.
Well, time to rest, just finished my zone 3 bike and hill bounding sessions for the day, may try to squeek in a recovery swim later today before hitting the pool hard tomorrow.
Just signed up for the Boston Triathlon in August with Pumpkinman in September and the Baystate marathon in October. Here's to a great finish to the season that hasn't really started for me yet.
Over the last 2 months I have chosen to eat gluten free and as paleo as I possibly can. I am trying to decrease bloat and GI distress that I have had since I was a little girl. I have been very successful with decreasing the bloat but still trying to manage not having the carb input that I had before. I haven't been too happy with the gluten free products out there so far but continue on my hunt. I have added probiotics to my diet and aloe juice to my smoothies. Life is good.
Training has been going well. I went away with my qt2 peeps to Lake Placid 1 1/2 weeks ago to get in some good training and to hang with my friend Keri who will be racing in a few weeks, it was so much fun. I was very nervous that I wouldn't beable to handle the volume of training since I'm not doing and ironman anytime soon but it was very doable and I came out of it unscathed. I met some really great people and I can't wait to return to Lake Placid on the 28th to route on my fellow teammates, campers and friends.
Well, time to rest, just finished my zone 3 bike and hill bounding sessions for the day, may try to squeek in a recovery swim later today before hitting the pool hard tomorrow.
Just signed up for the Boston Triathlon in August with Pumpkinman in September and the Baystate marathon in October. Here's to a great finish to the season that hasn't really started for me yet.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Qt2 camp Lake Placid 2013
So, I was off to my 5th time of training on this amazing and most humbling course with my Qt2 peeps. I'm not racing this race this year but I needed to get away and have some fun and get some really good/ well needed training in that is sometimes really hard to do at home. My friend Keri and I arrived Wednesday night unpacked and fell asleep.
Thursday morning: Breakfast and a swim TT around the lake, what a way to start camp. When I was putting on my wetsuit I ripped a big hole in my groin. 10 years with this wet suit, not so bad but come on really, this is a timed race and everyone else is in a suit. Oh well, my friend Keri let me borrow her skin suit so at least I wasn't just in my bathing suit. Anyway, 3rd female, 34: 53 for 1.3 miles. Sucky time but without wetsuit considering not awful. Then it was off to a 2 hour recovery ride and then a 1hr run. Lots of fun meeting new friends at camp, Liz, Amy, Bridget, Jim, Paul ( aka as Tweety in his yellow and black cyclonauts tri suit) Barbra, Dan, Mary, Matt, etc.. so much fun.
Because of the weather the schedule had to be changed because of the rain that was expected ( torrential on friday) so our long run was friday f/b a 2hr bike. Running in the rain was great and my pace was solid. The 2hr bike could be done on your trainer or you could go outside, Keri and I decided to go outside, I just couldn't go on my trainer anymore. It was great. Long day, great conversations, and tired legs.
Saturday: Early morning swim 1 loop around f/b our long ride, 6 hours + a little for two loops. It was still raining a bit and it was a bit humid but all in all I felt strong, my HR was stable and I nailed the nutrition. The ride was great, Keri and I eventually formed our own little group, we did some talking but mostly focusing on nailing our nutrition and making sure not to blow up. It was the longest I have been on my bike in over a year and only in April did I do a 4hr ride on the trainer so to finish this ride on a very hard course feeling good made me happy. A quick T-run later feeling good. Our talk that night was going on the course and any race questions, it was so funny with coach Tim and Cait presenting, soooo informative and sooo much fun. Crazy how much experience and knowledge these coaches have to give to the athletes, absolutely priceless. The comedy show was extra. I haven't laughed this hard in awhile.
Sunday: 2 loop swim in mirror lake, nice and easy. So funny, I thought I was with the main group until I realized that I started yet another loop when I was following another pack of people, totally overswam the 2.4miles, Keri couldn't stop laughing. Stupid silver cap swimmers. Then it was off to pack the car and get everything ready for our 2 1/2 hour ride that involved a 4.1 mile TT effort for time on the old out and back. My garmin had died so I had no time or power so I just went as hard as I could given the legs I had left over from yesterdays long ride, it went fine, no gold medals won but it was a good effort. Then we had to climb back up Whiteface to get home ( so unfair) and then off to a 40-60 minute T-run. I could only manage 40 minutes, I was hungry and tired and was ready to be done.
Most memorable moment of camp: On Day 2 I got to meet a man named Jim, he is an older gentleman, very soft spoken and very sweet. He is from Michigan and he told me that it was his second time to Lake Placid. Jim told me he raced LP 2 years ago ( I think) and he crashed on the second loop of the decent into Keene. He doesn't remember the crash as he was med flighted out of Keene to the hospital and he said that he woke up 3 hours later. He doesn't remember much at all but was determined to come back and counquer the descent as well as finish the race he started a few years ago. His son who was not at camp but was at the race 2 years ago ( currently in medical school) was very nervous for his dad being there and was checking in with him multiple times, especially after our ride on Saturday. All day saturday I thought of Jim, how was he doing, was he ok, did he make it down, how was he feeling. I honestly wanted to get back to camp and give him a hug and make sure he was fine, Guess what he was, and happy. He was able to ride with Cait which was awesome. Myself and the rest of the campers were so proud of him and rightfully so he won camper of the weekend. So proud of Jim and I can't wait for him to cross the line at IMLP and have Mike Reilly call out his name and say, your an Ironman Jim. I'm still in awe that he came back to do this, what courage. See you in 3 weeks Jim, you will be an ironman.
Thanks Qt2, thanks Jessie, Pat, Mary, Tim, John, Cait, Matt, Courtney, Kai for running an amazing camp as usual. The hospitality, the program, the goodie bags, the friendships, the training was amazing. See you guys soon.
Thursday morning: Breakfast and a swim TT around the lake, what a way to start camp. When I was putting on my wetsuit I ripped a big hole in my groin. 10 years with this wet suit, not so bad but come on really, this is a timed race and everyone else is in a suit. Oh well, my friend Keri let me borrow her skin suit so at least I wasn't just in my bathing suit. Anyway, 3rd female, 34: 53 for 1.3 miles. Sucky time but without wetsuit considering not awful. Then it was off to a 2 hour recovery ride and then a 1hr run. Lots of fun meeting new friends at camp, Liz, Amy, Bridget, Jim, Paul ( aka as Tweety in his yellow and black cyclonauts tri suit) Barbra, Dan, Mary, Matt, etc.. so much fun.
Because of the weather the schedule had to be changed because of the rain that was expected ( torrential on friday) so our long run was friday f/b a 2hr bike. Running in the rain was great and my pace was solid. The 2hr bike could be done on your trainer or you could go outside, Keri and I decided to go outside, I just couldn't go on my trainer anymore. It was great. Long day, great conversations, and tired legs.
Saturday: Early morning swim 1 loop around f/b our long ride, 6 hours + a little for two loops. It was still raining a bit and it was a bit humid but all in all I felt strong, my HR was stable and I nailed the nutrition. The ride was great, Keri and I eventually formed our own little group, we did some talking but mostly focusing on nailing our nutrition and making sure not to blow up. It was the longest I have been on my bike in over a year and only in April did I do a 4hr ride on the trainer so to finish this ride on a very hard course feeling good made me happy. A quick T-run later feeling good. Our talk that night was going on the course and any race questions, it was so funny with coach Tim and Cait presenting, soooo informative and sooo much fun. Crazy how much experience and knowledge these coaches have to give to the athletes, absolutely priceless. The comedy show was extra. I haven't laughed this hard in awhile.
Sunday: 2 loop swim in mirror lake, nice and easy. So funny, I thought I was with the main group until I realized that I started yet another loop when I was following another pack of people, totally overswam the 2.4miles, Keri couldn't stop laughing. Stupid silver cap swimmers. Then it was off to pack the car and get everything ready for our 2 1/2 hour ride that involved a 4.1 mile TT effort for time on the old out and back. My garmin had died so I had no time or power so I just went as hard as I could given the legs I had left over from yesterdays long ride, it went fine, no gold medals won but it was a good effort. Then we had to climb back up Whiteface to get home ( so unfair) and then off to a 40-60 minute T-run. I could only manage 40 minutes, I was hungry and tired and was ready to be done.
Most memorable moment of camp: On Day 2 I got to meet a man named Jim, he is an older gentleman, very soft spoken and very sweet. He is from Michigan and he told me that it was his second time to Lake Placid. Jim told me he raced LP 2 years ago ( I think) and he crashed on the second loop of the decent into Keene. He doesn't remember the crash as he was med flighted out of Keene to the hospital and he said that he woke up 3 hours later. He doesn't remember much at all but was determined to come back and counquer the descent as well as finish the race he started a few years ago. His son who was not at camp but was at the race 2 years ago ( currently in medical school) was very nervous for his dad being there and was checking in with him multiple times, especially after our ride on Saturday. All day saturday I thought of Jim, how was he doing, was he ok, did he make it down, how was he feeling. I honestly wanted to get back to camp and give him a hug and make sure he was fine, Guess what he was, and happy. He was able to ride with Cait which was awesome. Myself and the rest of the campers were so proud of him and rightfully so he won camper of the weekend. So proud of Jim and I can't wait for him to cross the line at IMLP and have Mike Reilly call out his name and say, your an Ironman Jim. I'm still in awe that he came back to do this, what courage. See you in 3 weeks Jim, you will be an ironman.
Thanks Qt2, thanks Jessie, Pat, Mary, Tim, John, Cait, Matt, Courtney, Kai for running an amazing camp as usual. The hospitality, the program, the goodie bags, the friendships, the training was amazing. See you guys soon.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
ooooh its been along time
Well, It's been a long time since I wrote last, I feel like I just didn't have anything to say and who wants to read my jibberish anyway. Its been a long few months and my kids lives have been so busy that its just been the status quo of a life with 4 kids.
It's been almost a year since I last raced a triathlon and about 6 months since my marathon in November. I am biting at the bit to race but as you know I need to fit it into my family schedule.
I unfortunately was unable to race IM Texas due to the lack of training since January r/t many things but that decision was at least made by me and my family about 8 weeks out from race day. I guess I could of just gone down and raced with the fitness I had but in hindsight and based on what so many athletes experienced I'm glad I decided not to go. It's one thing to race ironman when your completely prepared but its a lot different to race it when your not and in the conditions that the experienced that day. Congrats to all the athletes that competed that day especially if your from the NorthEast, way to tough it out.
Anyway, I took a small hiatus from 1:1 coaching and just trained on my own, tooled around and kept my fitness up. I also had my annual visit to my cardiologist and my every 3yr calcium CT scan and cardiac stress test. If you guys don't know I have familial hypercholesterolemia and elevated lipoprotein A levels which increases my risk for blood clots and athersclerosis. I have blood work every year and these tests every 3. I am trying my hardest to not go on medication to manage my cholesterol so diet and exercise have to be the way I control it. My last round of blood work last June was ok, but my TC was still a bit too high. With the rough winter I had put on a few pounds ( not a ton) but enough for me to be pissed at myself and I had to take a long look at my cardiac health. My calcium ion CT scan came back perfect and my stress test was great, its so funny to see the nurse who has to monitor my blood pressure when I'm at a 22% incline on the treadmill and at 6.0mph, they always say they never get patients to this point so they never know what to do, its really funny. anyway, no immediate signs of death on my EKG during the stress test so all great news.
What I go out of my meeting with my cardiologist was that if I want to continue with no meds I need to continue what I'm doing but maybe take a look at my diet and try to tweak things and see if we can drop my TC with dietary changes. I also had my weight checked that day which showed a slight increase in poundage and I wasn't happy. I left that day needing to make changes especially with wanting to be around for my kids for as long as I possibly can.
So with that said I decided based on my visit to the doctor, my long history of GI issues and my need to lean out I went completely gluten free the following day and have been following as close to a paleo diet as possible. It has been 4 weeks and 2 days, its the longest I have ever gone without any bread or any products with wheat in it, Im eating tons of fruits and veggies ( just more than I did in the past) and I've added in aloe juice to soothe my GI tract and probiotics twice a day. Well I feel really great, I am significantly less bloated and I am leaning out, the most important is that I'm less gassy and feel like I can actually mingle with people more ( ha ha)
Anyway, I'm back with my coach again since I've gotten my life back on track, I'm leaning out and have lost those pesky pounds I gained. I am hoping to lean out more and keep on the healthy track. I hope to be racing soon in a sprint but finding a local sprint the weekend I have to race is posing a problem. My goal races this season are Pumpkinman 1/2 in September and the Baystate marathon in October. I hope to race some other small tri's in the area but at this point its about getting really healthy nutrition wise, getting leaner and being happy.
I do want to thank all my friends who have been super supportive over the last 5 months of family craziness and to my coach Pat from QT2 who never ceases to amaze me with his support and kindness. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Family life and triathlon, how do you make it work?
Hey guys,
Long time no write, its been busy here at the Furse household, lots of stuff going on and most of it not good. Let me recap the last 3 months.
After a fun/hard and decent marathon in November I had a 3 week recovery period and then it was time to get back on my bike after 5 months and start training for Ironman Texas in May. My program was for a good 5 months ( no biggie) easy to do to build to Texas. ( not!!!!)
Starting in December my kids had 17 days off for December break, its really hard to get to the pool or head outside for rides and runs when you have 4 kids that aren't of age for me to leave at home. Let's say I did the best I could and did a lot of treadmill running and trainer rides.
January- 7 yr old with emergency appendectomy- out of school for a week at same time 11yr old diagnosed with strep
10 days later in early feb during major snowstorm we had to drive 7 yr old back to ER for emergency CT scan for r/o abscess to his appendectomy site, fever 5 days, ended up going back to school for 1 day following week and then out of school that next day, double ear infection.
In short, sinus infections, stomach bug, fevers of unknown etiology, ear infections, vacations, parent teacher conferences, you get my drift, its been a long 3 months. My kids haven't been this sick ever and its been really hard to get in consistent training with being exhausted all the time and being up all night as the primary caretaker of the kids. I was able to do stuff on the trainer and on the treadmill but my swimming has suffered, sometimes only 1-2x a week have I gotten in the pool. Normally I wouldn't mind if this lasted a few weeks or even a month but 3 months isn't funny especially when you need to do a 2.4 mile swim, it just sucks.
Last week was a decent week for me with regards to working out, I actually got in 16 1/2 hours, it wasn't perfect and I had to tweak things but I got everything in except a 3rd swim again. Well along comes this week, Sunday night my youngest started vomiting at 11pm and it didn't stop till 7am, I was exhausted my husband was exhausted, and he had a fever. Unfortunately I had to put my little guy in the car so I could drive all my kids to school and then I had to bring him with me to the car dealership because I had to fix my right front flat tire. He was so sick sitting there, I felt sooooo bad for him. At 9:30 am on Monday I get a call from my kids school saying my 11 year old hit his head twice and probably had a concussion. I had my mother in law grab my little guy ( who then proceeded to vomit in her car) and I brought my son to the ER. He was evaluated and diagnosed with a mild concussion.
The day proceeded as normal but when my 11 year old woke up in the morning yesterday his concussion symptoms remained and then he started vomiting, and vomitng and vomiting. I called the doctors office multiple times, I wasn't too sure if it was the same stomach bug that my 7yr old had or his concussion was now a subdural hematoma. After trying to give him fluids over several hours and his symptoms worsening I decided to bring him back to the ER for evaluation.
Now during this time my daughter was starting to feel bad so I sent her to bed with a bowl and hope for the best. My 7yr old was doing fine and my 9 yr old was at baseball practice. I ran over to our neighbors house to see if her daughter could watch my two kids while I brought my 11 year old to the ER. I was able to get him to the hospital and they evaluated him and drew bloodwork and put in an IV, he was severely dehydrated and needed lots of fluids. I got a call about 30minutes after I arrived at the hospital and my daughter had vomited everywhere in her room and bathroom, I think my new sitter was horrified and had her mom come over to help with cleaning her up. I felt so bad leaving her in that situation I was just hoping my daughter didn't get sick till I got home.
While Kellen was sleeping on the gurney getting fluids I was starting to get sick as well and proceeded to vomit in his emesis basin and trash can in his room, the poor physician felt so bad she gave me zofran as well to make sure I wasn't going to pass out either.
It was a long night in the furse household, we didn't get back till 12:30am and my son, daughter and myself were still not feeling great this morning. Alas, another day and no workout and not getting to the pool.
Life is life and family always comes first, its been a tough past 3 1/2 months for us and I'm hoping there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's so hard to try to do everything, manage the kids, the house, being a class parent, training and trying to stay fit and do ironman or anything longer than an olympic, its just becoming a job trying to manage getting in workouts. I'm not burnt out from training, I actually love the training when I can get it in, I was just hoping that Texas would be a good race for me, that I would actually go in healthy and trained correctly. My coach has been amazing and has made lots of adjustments to my schedule and has been very patient but I have to say my situation isn't ideal.
Texas is coming in 5 weeks, I have hopefully 2-3 weeks that I can get in some solid work to make me feel okay but I'm not too sure how this race is going to pan out for me. My swim most likely won't be my normal swim time ( which will bum me out), the bike hopefully will be okay and hopefully I'll be okay on the run if I pace/watch my nutrition and ride smart. I'm just bummed that its played out this way. Such is life, we move on. We;ll see what happens.
Long time no write, its been busy here at the Furse household, lots of stuff going on and most of it not good. Let me recap the last 3 months.
After a fun/hard and decent marathon in November I had a 3 week recovery period and then it was time to get back on my bike after 5 months and start training for Ironman Texas in May. My program was for a good 5 months ( no biggie) easy to do to build to Texas. ( not!!!!)
Starting in December my kids had 17 days off for December break, its really hard to get to the pool or head outside for rides and runs when you have 4 kids that aren't of age for me to leave at home. Let's say I did the best I could and did a lot of treadmill running and trainer rides.
January- 7 yr old with emergency appendectomy- out of school for a week at same time 11yr old diagnosed with strep
10 days later in early feb during major snowstorm we had to drive 7 yr old back to ER for emergency CT scan for r/o abscess to his appendectomy site, fever 5 days, ended up going back to school for 1 day following week and then out of school that next day, double ear infection.
In short, sinus infections, stomach bug, fevers of unknown etiology, ear infections, vacations, parent teacher conferences, you get my drift, its been a long 3 months. My kids haven't been this sick ever and its been really hard to get in consistent training with being exhausted all the time and being up all night as the primary caretaker of the kids. I was able to do stuff on the trainer and on the treadmill but my swimming has suffered, sometimes only 1-2x a week have I gotten in the pool. Normally I wouldn't mind if this lasted a few weeks or even a month but 3 months isn't funny especially when you need to do a 2.4 mile swim, it just sucks.
Last week was a decent week for me with regards to working out, I actually got in 16 1/2 hours, it wasn't perfect and I had to tweak things but I got everything in except a 3rd swim again. Well along comes this week, Sunday night my youngest started vomiting at 11pm and it didn't stop till 7am, I was exhausted my husband was exhausted, and he had a fever. Unfortunately I had to put my little guy in the car so I could drive all my kids to school and then I had to bring him with me to the car dealership because I had to fix my right front flat tire. He was so sick sitting there, I felt sooooo bad for him. At 9:30 am on Monday I get a call from my kids school saying my 11 year old hit his head twice and probably had a concussion. I had my mother in law grab my little guy ( who then proceeded to vomit in her car) and I brought my son to the ER. He was evaluated and diagnosed with a mild concussion.
The day proceeded as normal but when my 11 year old woke up in the morning yesterday his concussion symptoms remained and then he started vomiting, and vomitng and vomiting. I called the doctors office multiple times, I wasn't too sure if it was the same stomach bug that my 7yr old had or his concussion was now a subdural hematoma. After trying to give him fluids over several hours and his symptoms worsening I decided to bring him back to the ER for evaluation.
Now during this time my daughter was starting to feel bad so I sent her to bed with a bowl and hope for the best. My 7yr old was doing fine and my 9 yr old was at baseball practice. I ran over to our neighbors house to see if her daughter could watch my two kids while I brought my 11 year old to the ER. I was able to get him to the hospital and they evaluated him and drew bloodwork and put in an IV, he was severely dehydrated and needed lots of fluids. I got a call about 30minutes after I arrived at the hospital and my daughter had vomited everywhere in her room and bathroom, I think my new sitter was horrified and had her mom come over to help with cleaning her up. I felt so bad leaving her in that situation I was just hoping my daughter didn't get sick till I got home.
While Kellen was sleeping on the gurney getting fluids I was starting to get sick as well and proceeded to vomit in his emesis basin and trash can in his room, the poor physician felt so bad she gave me zofran as well to make sure I wasn't going to pass out either.
It was a long night in the furse household, we didn't get back till 12:30am and my son, daughter and myself were still not feeling great this morning. Alas, another day and no workout and not getting to the pool.
Life is life and family always comes first, its been a tough past 3 1/2 months for us and I'm hoping there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's so hard to try to do everything, manage the kids, the house, being a class parent, training and trying to stay fit and do ironman or anything longer than an olympic, its just becoming a job trying to manage getting in workouts. I'm not burnt out from training, I actually love the training when I can get it in, I was just hoping that Texas would be a good race for me, that I would actually go in healthy and trained correctly. My coach has been amazing and has made lots of adjustments to my schedule and has been very patient but I have to say my situation isn't ideal.
Texas is coming in 5 weeks, I have hopefully 2-3 weeks that I can get in some solid work to make me feel okay but I'm not too sure how this race is going to pan out for me. My swim most likely won't be my normal swim time ( which will bum me out), the bike hopefully will be okay and hopefully I'll be okay on the run if I pace/watch my nutrition and ride smart. I'm just bummed that its played out this way. Such is life, we move on. We;ll see what happens.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
How was your day?
6am wake up call by 2 kids, " can I take a shower, can I take a shower". Key the sound of the door locking and the other boy screaming for 15 minutes to get out and saying, " It's my turn, its my turn"
2. Breakfast of champions, cereal, bagels, coffee you get it, all 4 up and atom no later than 6:45
3. all gear ready for the day of sports
4. Hubby leaves to coach game #1 of the day by 8am.
4.a. tech guy comes to fix internet and cable by 8am
5. 8:30a travel basketball game for 10 yr old-manchester
6. 9:30am daughter soccer, danvers
7. 10am, 6yr old basketball manchester
8. 12:30p leave for pool for 9yr old swim team practice, beverly
9. 1:15p bball game for daughter, manchester
10. 2:30pm basketball game for 9yr old that just finished swim practice
11. 3:30p-5:30pm bball skills and drills for 10 year old in Marblehead
12. 6:15p basketball game in manchester for 10 year old
13. 7:30pm basketball game in manchester for 10 year old
I'm just saying, having 4 kids under the age of 4 in diapers was much easier then trying to figure out logistically how to manage 4 very busy sports related kids.
p.s. I did manage to get in a long bike ride while my son played bball for 2hrs at the JCC in marblehead, thank goodness these places have gyms.
Sunday is a much better day.
d
2. Breakfast of champions, cereal, bagels, coffee you get it, all 4 up and atom no later than 6:45
3. all gear ready for the day of sports
4. Hubby leaves to coach game #1 of the day by 8am.
4.a. tech guy comes to fix internet and cable by 8am
5. 8:30a travel basketball game for 10 yr old-manchester
6. 9:30am daughter soccer, danvers
7. 10am, 6yr old basketball manchester
8. 12:30p leave for pool for 9yr old swim team practice, beverly
9. 1:15p bball game for daughter, manchester
10. 2:30pm basketball game for 9yr old that just finished swim practice
11. 3:30p-5:30pm bball skills and drills for 10 year old in Marblehead
12. 6:15p basketball game in manchester for 10 year old
13. 7:30pm basketball game in manchester for 10 year old
I'm just saying, having 4 kids under the age of 4 in diapers was much easier then trying to figure out logistically how to manage 4 very busy sports related kids.
p.s. I did manage to get in a long bike ride while my son played bball for 2hrs at the JCC in marblehead, thank goodness these places have gyms.
Sunday is a much better day.
d
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Stay at home mom
In todays world and most importantly my group of friends, we are all very busy and just trying to make it through the day. Gone are the days of sitting in front of a T.V. eating bon bons, its just full all out busy. ( Yet, I don't ever remember having the time to eat bon bons and actually I don't even know what they are).
Anyhoo, I digress, when I was working full time in the hospital there were weeks I worked 40 hours and there were weeks I worked well over 90, sometimes I slept in the on call room and just got up in the morning to go to work. It was exciting when I first started having kids and staying home, being busy was just different. After being home now for 10 years and raising 4 great kids who are still only 10,9,8 and 6, it gets old when people say to you, " What did you do all day?", " Why couldn't you just do that when it would of only taken a few seconds?". There are a million questions like that but just like it was when I worked in the hospital as a Nurse Practitioner, there were days that were so busy I couldn't take a call, never mind stopping off at the store to buy groceries or make dinner I was just soooo busy. Again, busy is just different as a stay at home mom. But why do I have to justify "busy" as a stay at home mom when I never had to "justify" how hard I worked at the hospital? Hmmmmmm.
Let me get straight to the point, I'm not complaining, yet sometimes I really want to, I love being home most of the time, I do miss work but I wouldn't change seeing my kids do everything and being in the classroom with them ever. The only thing I ask is that I get some respect for what I do, that just because I don't have a defined "job" title perse, I work really hard, just like all of us do everyday, its just different. I shouldn't have to write down on a piece of paper a list of what I did all day to prove that I was busy, I shouldn't have to account for what I did all day to justify not picking up the phone or not calling back, sometimes its just busy. My life is no different then anyone else's we all have busy lives but I just need to know that what I do is important and that it is clearly as important as any other job that someone does, again its just a different job. It's just weird that I never had to do this when I had a paying job in the hospital only as a stay at home mom. Just my 2 cents, rant over. Back to sterilizing the house.
Would love anyone's input.
Anyhoo, I digress, when I was working full time in the hospital there were weeks I worked 40 hours and there were weeks I worked well over 90, sometimes I slept in the on call room and just got up in the morning to go to work. It was exciting when I first started having kids and staying home, being busy was just different. After being home now for 10 years and raising 4 great kids who are still only 10,9,8 and 6, it gets old when people say to you, " What did you do all day?", " Why couldn't you just do that when it would of only taken a few seconds?". There are a million questions like that but just like it was when I worked in the hospital as a Nurse Practitioner, there were days that were so busy I couldn't take a call, never mind stopping off at the store to buy groceries or make dinner I was just soooo busy. Again, busy is just different as a stay at home mom. But why do I have to justify "busy" as a stay at home mom when I never had to "justify" how hard I worked at the hospital? Hmmmmmm.
Let me get straight to the point, I'm not complaining, yet sometimes I really want to, I love being home most of the time, I do miss work but I wouldn't change seeing my kids do everything and being in the classroom with them ever. The only thing I ask is that I get some respect for what I do, that just because I don't have a defined "job" title perse, I work really hard, just like all of us do everyday, its just different. I shouldn't have to write down on a piece of paper a list of what I did all day to prove that I was busy, I shouldn't have to account for what I did all day to justify not picking up the phone or not calling back, sometimes its just busy. My life is no different then anyone else's we all have busy lives but I just need to know that what I do is important and that it is clearly as important as any other job that someone does, again its just a different job. It's just weird that I never had to do this when I had a paying job in the hospital only as a stay at home mom. Just my 2 cents, rant over. Back to sterilizing the house.
Would love anyone's input.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Frigid 5k race report and post christmas stuff
What did we do during break, a little skiing, sledding, some movie watching, lots of basketball, soccer and swimming and some friend playdates. We worked on some school projects as well. But did I say they are back to school, yeahhhhhhhhhh me.
Ok, so during the 17 days it was tough to get everything in from a workout perspective. I either had to put my bike on the trainer and pop a movie in for the kids or run on the treadmill while a show was on it was hard. I only got to the pool a few times because that would require getting a sitter and believe me no-one wants to sit my 4 kids so I can go for a swim. During the afternoon and evening my kids have sports so its hard to go to the pool then and realistically I'm exhausted by the time my hubby gets home at 7p and all I really want to do is chat with him and then go to bed at 9p. Anyway, thank goodness we are still in base mode so coachie wasn't too upset at the sporadic nature of my workouts but I was getting frustrated because my only outlet to my angst is working out and I just need my endorphin rush for a little bit everyday, it just makes me a better person. Well, its back and my time is back so I can get in what I need to so hopefully I haven't lost too much fitness.
So during my 17 days of craziness I had a 5k to do, I begged and pleaded with coach not to have me do it, I was feeling gross and fat and lazy after this unintended minimal workout phase for two weeks but he said lets just see how you do. I used a few choice words for him which I won't post but I went yesterday to Quincy to run the Frigid 5k. Quincy is were i grew up so it was fun to go back to my old stomping ground and drive around and see familar places, it was cold but not too bad. The course was laid out to be fairly flat with about 1 long hill between 1.4-2 miles so a little over .6 miles of climbing, but then it was downhill and then flat to the finish. I believe the course was a little short but whatever. I ran the course in 22:08 they have me at 22:10, whatever, 7:10 average, my best is a 7:06 pace, avg HR was 163. I was pleased with my performance, not ecstatic but pleased given my fitness level at this point. I placed 1st in my age group, 6th overall female so that was good. My good friend Brian Hughes was there, owner of Fast Splits multisport in Newton, Mass and fellow Qt2 teammate, he came in second overall with a blistering pace of 17 minutes total, good lord and after being sick for 3 weeks.
Anyway, I have a 5 mile road race coming up in 3 weeks and then the Hyannis Half Marathon which I seem to do every year but for some reason it kicks my butt, lets hope for better results this year.
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