coming soon

I promise I will get a race report done some time soon. Just so busy enjoying the fact that I finished and had a wonderful race that I have not had a chance to really sit down and recap/write it all down yet. To hold you over here is a couple of pictures thanks to my mom...

The Tri-style crew



Yellow Lake


Eating an orange mile 6ish



New Tattoo (Kyle took this one for me)

MacBeth Watson is an Ironman!

ok that is it good night. It was an awesome day - had the best time(I was the annoying girl that never stopped smiling no matter what) but now it is time to crash.
Ok I have to add I finished under my goal time -
swim 01:33:32
bike 07:06:55
run 04:57:29
Overall 13:50:52 !!!!

IMC eve quick update

Things have been very busy with the last couple of training stuff and event stuff - I will be sure and post a full report later with pics and everything. But right now I'm getting ready for bed and I just wanted to say that I still feel good about tomorrow. We drove the bike and run courses so I have my plans and I think no mater what the weather does it will be an amazing day/experience. I trust my training and feel well prepared thanks to Col (and I guess my whole tri-style crew for their support) both mentally and physically. I know I will do well and will survive the challenges because that is what it is all about. I can do this and I will do it as best I can.
Ok good night I will see you on the other side.

we have arrived

No work out today - unless you include long hours squirming in teh car on the long drive to Penticton. Actually it was not to bad we had a couple breaks to move the legs but mostly we just cruised into town and found our lodging, wandered around town, spent some money on IMC labeled gear and got dinner. Now the guys are playing with bikes and I will be heading to bed shortly.

almost time to go

Since Sunday I have been dragging - I'm not sure if it is the taper or other things but non the less I skipped my work out for Monday/Tuesday. Yesterday I think I fell asleep during my massage and my brain would not function. I took today off of work so I could get some rest and take care of all the loose ends before heading up to Canada. I think it was the best thing. I slept in till 7:30a this morning and took my time getting to the pool to do a swim. I was still pretty tired and probably should have had some espresso before but went for it. Col wanted me to do 300 warm up, 200 hard then 500 moderate and repeat 3 times then a 100 cool down. I had a hard time doing the 200s but managed to keep them around 3:54ish which I was happy with. The nice thing was I felt good and did not use the pull buoy once :)
After the swim I did a bunch of random things the most important was getting a cappuccino - yummy - so I could function. I broke the news to Col that I had not done my work out the days before so she suggested if I felt like it I could run 2-3 miles hard. I had to do some more random things so I put it off and then Kyle called and wanted to switch massage appointments with me since he could not make his earlier one so I was sort of rushed to get my run in and I forgot to grab my garmin - I even had the heart rate strap on but alas no watch part.. At least I still had my normal sport watch on so I could time my laps. I managed to get 2 miles done in about 17 min - just ran a 1 mile loop around my house twice. I finished with just enough time to clean up a bit before heading out for a massage.

I spent the rest of the day prepping my bags and packing so now I'm all packed and Kyle is pretty much packed as well so I think we are as ready as we can be. The crew will head up north tomorrow morning not to early but early enough. My mom and her friend Jerry are going to come up on Friday so they can watch the race and last night she made a sign for us to see as we go by them on the course which I think is super cute.
I have to say I'm defiantly getting excited. I feel confident in my training and my plan A and B. I think I will do just fine :) (fingers fully crossed of course lol). I hope that I can have some non-caffeine induced energy soon but I think I will have no choice with all the energy of the race and everything once we get up to Penticton.

the taper is messing with me

It was planned that Kyle and I would go over to Stephs' place on Lake Samm and swim Sunday Morning but at 8:30a she txt me saying it was nasty on the water. So we stayed in bed and postponed our swim a bit longer. At 9a not much had changed - it was rainy and wavy on the lake - in all not a ideal long swim situation so we bailed on swimming in Lake Samm. The weather was really unmotivating. We talked with Col and Bryan and they felt similar so we all decided to postpone the swim till later in the day and hope for the best. Kyle and I chilled around the house watching soccer and ate some breakfast. I checked in with Bryan a few times and finally they decided they would swim at 1:30p at green lake so we choice to join them. By this time I was tired (not sleepy tired but just tired). I'm not totally sure why since I had done nothing all day thus far - but all the same I was. We got stuck in some traffic of course going across the bridge and finally got top the park and I realized I had forgot my garmin at home :( so I would not know how far I actually swam.
Anyway we got in the water as the rain stopped falling - the water was warm, rather calm and the lake was empty. Col adjusted my training plan from a 90 min swim to a 70 min swim which I was all for. Once in the water they were off at blazing speeds - I still felt tired and just went my own pace. I sighted off them them and just fallowed behind. Around 15 min they hung out and waited for me - probably about 5 min or more I would guess and they were off again. No big deal the nice thing is I know I can swim forever even when I'm tired - I'm just not as fast as the rest of the crew. But otherwise I felt just fine. We reached the docs on the other side and I was at 34 min so I could just turn back but they were not so them swam out to a buoy and added some more distance. I just cruised back to where we started - they passed me about half way. It was better on the way back - the lake was completely glass and the shore is on the right so I swim straighter since I can sight on almost every breath rather than sighting forward. Which would explain why the way back was 1 min faster then the way out. In the end I swam for 68 min which was close enough to the 70 goal. Though kind of a bummer no fun maps or graphs because I forgot my garmin :(

As far as the tiredness Col reassured me that I should be feeling this way and it just the taper - my body is recovering from all the work I have dome over the last 6 months(year) and it is a good thing. I will go with that and continue to trust that I will be set for Sunday - yes this Sunday... It still does not feel real that I will be actually doing an Ironman - who would have ever thought. I feel prepared and look forward to the week to come.

a warm brick

While Kyle went to the Beaver Lake Tri at 5amish I got to sleep in till after 9am - it was wonderful. I took my time - had some breakfast and folded some laundry till he got back. It was really nice to not be rushed.
Once he got back and got ready we headed out for a bike ride around Lake Samm. It seemed cool out so I started with arm warmers on - which was very nice on initial downhill to the lake road. By the time we got to the round about I was pulling them off. The ride was rather uneventful - the only annoyance was that since I don't have the bike mount for my garmin yet - I wore it on my wrist and it kind of slipped around and I had to keep adjusting it. My right hamstring/hip felt a little tight from time to time but not to big a deal. I tried to eat even though it was such a short ride - so had a full bottle of accelerade, 2 salts, and 2 gels. I had the 2nd gel about 5 miles from the end of the ride with the idea to sort of prep for the run portion. The ride was just under 22 miles and took about 1:24 (which included waiting for a few stop lights and stuff - I need to figure out how to set up the auto pause when I wait at lights).
Next up was a relatively quick transition to a run. I took a salt and rinsed my face, as well as the usual switches(change shoes ect).
We headed out and quickly stopped for a min to chat with Col and Bryan who were driving by. Once we got going again - Kyle pulled away from me rather quickly(as usual) - I just did not feel much like forcing my pace so I just sort of cruised along. My legs felt pretty good and teh 1st mile went by quickly. I'm not really sure why I decided to walk a min every mile but I did. I guess as well as getting used to running off the bike I wanted to be sure that I would be good with a run a mile and walk a min (sort of like walking an aid station or something) and the get back running again. So that is exactly what I did. It was way hotter now and I started to get really thirsty - I had a very small bottle of water - mostly for having something to wash a gel down with - so I took a sip or two of it to try and help. Somewhere in the 2nd mile there were some sprinklers going - so I of course ran through them - it felt sooo good and was a huge savior. I felt better after that - still very hot but better. I went out 3 miles turned around and started to head back - I took a gel at mile 3.16 and finished off the water I had with me which gave me some much needed energy to keep going. The route I ran is a very gradual incline and heading back it is mostly uphill and to add to it there was some headwind. It was hard and my left knee started to tighten up a bit - not a ton but just enough to be annoying. The 1 min walks helped a lot since it always hurt less afterwards and helped keep me motivated to keep going. By the time I got to mile 5 and change I was really thirsty - I even grabbed a few blackberries on the side of the road to try and help. I did a few pick ups mostly just to get back sooner to get some water.. I was so glad to see Kyle walking out to meet me with a water bottle. I even kept going past the 6 mile mark so I could to the bottle sooner lol and once I did I drank most of it before we walked back to the driveway. Total mileage was 6.05 in 1:01:03 which is fine considering I walked every mile for a minute.
After I got my fill of liquids (including ice cold Endurox) I immediately took an ice bath, showered, and put my feet up until I just had to see the graphs from my garmin (yes I know I'm a nerd). I'm glad we did the brick when we did because about an hour afterwards it started raining and sort of continued into th evening.

got it done

I'm not sure what the deal is but this week felt kind of crazy. I really did try and almost did get my brick work out in on Wed but I ran out of time before my massage apt and who in the right mind exercises after a massage - it would just undo all the good.

Yesterday (Thursday) I got home from work by 5pm and headed out on the bike for 15ish miles with my new toy (garmin forerunner 305) all set up. I headed down to the lake road and was surprised by how much traffic there was so I took it easy on downhills. It was also very windy - seemingly from all directions esp a head wind and some side winds to make things challenging. I did a few intervals - mostly to make it through lights before they changed to red - but what ever works I guess. The entire ride I felt good and strong but mostly just enjoyed being out on my bike. It was short ride so I only drank half a bottle of accelerade and that was about it - not even a gel. In all I rode 15.45 miles in 59:18 (which includes some time waiting for traffic).
I got back and did a quick transition to run - I also had to figure out how to change the mode on the garmin - so while I changed my shoes I quickly looked through the manual and found out how. Super easy - hold down the mode button till a menu shows up then scroll to run and hit enter - very nice. I hit the start button and was off - it took a second - as usual for my legs to realize I was not on a bike any more but that was short lived. I just cruised along and did a 1 mile loop - with no pain in my foot or legs - it was great - I think it is the first brick that I can remember that I have had no issues at all. I LOVED it. I would have kept running but I needed to head out to meet my mom for dinner and to help her make some fun skirts for the crew in Canada. Anyways I ran 1.05 miles in 8:35. Another quick transition and I was off to my moms for pasta and sewing.
Oh yeah and the best part I got to see all the data mapped and graphed out - such fun. I'm sure eventually I will get used to it but right now I think it is just the coolest thing so bear with me I will stop raving about it someday.

After work I met Col down at green lake to get a open water swim in before the sun went down. I wanted to see what my heart rate was like and the distance for the swim so I put the garmin watch part in my swim cap while I swam - looked silly but oh well. We sort of estimated about 45 min or so till the sun went down so I pressed the start button and we got started. As usual I fallowed Col and she slowly pulled away from me but I felt good just kind of did my thing. The water was a bit choppy but not to bad on the way out though I had a harder time on the way back - I felt like I was being pushed into shore more. Otherwise I felt good the entire time - only got one big wave of water up my nose and just cruised along as the sun creped down. Around 40 min we decided we could be done and swam to shore. now the fun part was I pulled my garmin out from my swim cap and found out how far we went (well Col went a bit further). She estimated based on pace and time we probably swam a mile or so and low and behold the garmin said exactly 1 mile :)
Now the funniest part is when I uploaded it and looked on the map and it is all zigzags lol - I did not swim straight at all. Oh well I'm just happy there will be big buoys all on the right side of the swim - which is perfect since I breath right - so no worries.

As far as Ironman I feel rather calm - I know I have prepared as best I can both physically and mentally. I'm also excited to see how I do and be a part of something so huge. I remember last year the energy was so inspirational and positive. Don't get me wrong I think it will be a hard day but I'm looking forward to the challenge and the experience. You only get to do it for the first time once and I don't want to waste any energy or time stressing or freaking out when I could be happy and positive. I think it will be a wonderful experience in so many ways.
Ok enough about that. Off to sleep so I can have energy to train/play tomorrow.

where did the mornings go

When did it start staying so dark early in the morning... So I got up at 5 to do my ride and run brick but it was way to dark to ride with out lights and reflectors - non of which I have on my bike so instead I came into work early and will thus be able to leave work early to go and do my ride run brick after work and before my massage :)

make it a short

I'm going to do this quickly so I can go to bed and then wake up early to do a brick...

First thing I did after work was stop by the Seattle REI and got me a Garmin forerunner 305 and a cadence thing to go with it - sadly it requires 3 hours of battery charging before using so I did not get to use it tonight.

Next I did about a 4 mile run around green lake - including 3 tempo intervals (at 15 min, 20 min and 25 min) then picked up the pace for about the last half mile (though I don't know for sure how far it was). My right foot only hurt a bit at the start but once I was warmed up it was fine. No lower leg pain in either leg - not even any real tightness to speak of :) In all it took me 31:56.

I finished my run about 5 min before Col arrived for an open water swim. I quickly grabbed my swim stuff out of my car and headed down to the water and got in my wetsuit. Col had planned a 45 min swim - so we swam out paused for a moment at around 10ish min and she told me to do two 1 min hard intervals before we turned around at 23 min. So I did the 1st one at 14 min and the second at 19 min - both times I was surprised at how quickly a min went by. I then turned around to head back at 23 min and took a second to see where Col was in relationship to me. Col caught up with me about half way back and told me to be back at the dock at 45 min - which would require me to swim the next 10 min hard to make it... So that is what I did. I kind of went between full all out hard to a more moderate hard but really that 10 min was hard work.. When I got back to the dock it took me a good min to really catch my breath but hey I did it - I was back by 45:07 :)

Kyle is attaching my cadence thing and then off to bed for me.

trail fun

This morning I went and did my 8 mile run but I choose to do it on the Bridal trail 3.5 mile loop. Kyle let me barrow his garmin to see how if I liked running with it - since it is so bulky. I had to wear it over a sweatband so that it would just fit better and so it would not hurt my wrist. Anyway I left a bottle at the start for trh loop and started the garmin up and was off. I remembered to take a salt but not a gel so I was dragging a little so by mile 2 I ate a gel before my usual 3 to 4 miles. It helped some but my legs just felt kind of heavy and out of it - luckily Col had told me to go easy to moderate so I did not force it to much and just kept moving. I walked up the steeper hills so I could continue to breath. All the while I knew exactly how far into my run mileage I was thanks to the gps - which was wonderful motivation to keep going. I also knew that if I walked or what ever the garmin would know and show it so no cheating.
At the end of the first lap I grabbed some cytomax and a salt before heading out for lap 2. The second lap was no easier - my left knee got a bit tight but nothing to sharp so I just kept going. Again I walked the step hills and ate a gel around mile 2 into the lap. Somehow the time passed a little quicker even though I was not running any faster - but I'll take what I can get.
I finished the second loop and was up to 7 miles total so I turned around and ran back out the other direction on the trail - this is when the garmin came in very handy - I was able to go explore another trail for some variety all the while it told me how far I was and right at .5 miles I turned around and went back.
So in all I did 2 loops of the 3.5 mile loop then ran out half a mile and back for 8 miles which took me 1:19:46.

Now the fun part since I wore the garmin and its heart rate thing when I got home I was able to simply plug it into my trusty mac and with a really simple synch it filled out my training peaks and I could see my workout all graphed out. I love graphs so this is so much fun - I can see all the ups and downs of elevation, pace, heart rate and it even puts it on a map. check it out. The elevation looks a bit wonky since it shows a big decline once and I'm pretty sure I was on the same trail twice. But all in all I was surprised that it was not to uncomfortable and for all the things it does I feel like it could be a reasonable trade off. Though I still really wish they had a smaller version. Now I know I like it and would like having it to train with but the question is do I want it now or after IMC...

swim + hills

I'll start with Friday night I did a short 22 mile bike ride - kind of an out and back around part of lake sammmamish and back home. My right foot was still rather tender but otherwise the ride was good and uneventful.
Later in the evening I changed my rear tire - Kyle supported me but I did it. I think I bruised my right hand trying to get the tire off - I was slow but eventually I got it done and know that if I have to I can do it at IMC.

This morning Kyle and I met Col and Bryan at Staph's house to do a swim to bike brick. We started out by swimming from Steph's dock on Lake Sammamamish. The plan was to swim for 60 min total so I swam out for 30 min and turned around. the rest of the crew is faster so they swam further than me but I was bale to keep them in sight so it was no big deal. Te water was not to rough but the ski boats did make some big rolling waves every so often that really tossed me around. Then I had a hard time not swimming into shore the last 10 min - it felt like I was having to swim against a current or something. My right hand hurt a little bit - otherwise it was a good swim. I focus on my little mantra reassuring myself that "I'm a strong swimmer" and it kept me going. In all I swam for 62 min - I was tad slower coming back. Kyle had his garmin gps thing and it said he swam 2 miles (I probably swam maybe 400 yrds less than him) which is very cool. I have to say I'm a bit envious of his garmin and am considering if it would be useful for me to get one... I'll come back to that though.

Next up we did a non-rushed transition to our bikes to do a very hilly 45ish mile ride out to Snoqualmie ridge and back. We headed out via the short way around the lake into Issaquah and made the call to go straight up via SE 56th St which was probably not the best call - it was crazy - about 1 mile climbing and almost 400 ft elevation gain... It was hard and I was mostly out of the saddle. The good thing was that there was little to no traffic so I was able to do some switch backing to help but even so it was plane hard - esp to breath haha - but I made it just fine.
We got on to Issaquah Fall City Rd and headed towards the stair step climb to go down. But first Kyle got a flat in his rear tire so he quickly changed the tube and we were back at it.
I was able to go down the stair step hill with out to much braking - there were a ton of people out riding up the hill (I assume prepping for the Beaver Lake Tri next weekend). We dumped out on to 202 and headed to climb up to the top of Snoqualmie falls. We paused at the top to grab some water and regroup a bit before climbing up to the top of Snoqualmie Ridge - the climb always reminds me of the Hawaii 70.3 ride - I think because of the wide shoulders and how gradual it is.
At the top we refilled the rest of our water bottles at Starbucks and started back down. On the down hills I really tried to let them roll and not brake as much as I could handle. At the bottom of the falls we hit a nasty headwind which was kind of surprising. We headed back to another long climb back up the 2 mile long stair step climb. My right hamstring and IT band felt really tight and made the climb even more difficult so I just spun and did not attack it to much. I was starting to get kind of tired as well - I don't think I ate enough. From there it was just some rolling hills and down back around the lake.
I got separated from the group with all the traffic on East lake Samm road I could not see any of the crew and I did not know which way they went around the lake.. So eventually(after calling Kyle) I just headed the short way back to Steph's. Kyle called me back and they waited for me at Bobby's House and we all got the rest of the way back. It wound up only being about 42 miles but I think that is just fine considering all the hills.

Ok so that was my work out today.. Now on to my thoughts about the Garmin Forerunner® 305. The pros are all the things it can track since it has gps, heart rate, optional bike cadence and it can all be uploaded to my mac (polar does not work with macs) and put into my training peaks stuff so Col can really see what I'm up to. The cons are how big it is - it is huge - much bigger than my wrist. I would have to wear sweat band underneath it so that it would not leave my wrist bone all bruised. I'll probably keep contemplating it and see if the pros out way the annoyingly large size.

catch up

Lets see it has been a few days - so just a short recap of what I have been doing for training. I'll try and get back in the groove of posting daily but things have just been busy at work and of course with training so it is hard to find the time with out loosing sleep time.

Monday evening I met up with Col for an open water swim at green lake after work. The lake was surprisingly calm and kind of a bit chilly to start. We swam out for 25 min and then back for a total of 50min. I felt really good, just focused on my form and had a good time.
Afterwards we went and got jamba juice and talked about my nutrition and overall plan for IMC.

Tuesday I ran 5 miles. My left leg felt a bit tight but surprisingly not to bad. My right foot has been acting up and it hurt to start - I probably should have run on a softer surface but it was easier just to run on the road. It seems to hurt more when I'm just walking around than when I'm actually running esp after the first couple miles. In all it took me about 42:34 with hills and all.

Wednesday I had a great massage - she went to town on my legs - and otherwise it was a nice rest day.

Tonight/Thursday Kyle met up with me and we ran around the Bellevue park loop. He brought his gps thing so we finally found out the actual distance - .42 of a mile for a loop - which is retarded since all the signs says half a mile.. Anyway so I ran 8.5 loops or about 3.5 miles. Col told me go hard and do some tempo work so I did. I managed to forget sunglasses or a hat and I wore all black which sucked because it was sunny and rather hot. My first couple of miles were difficult - my legs felt heavy, my foot ached, I was squinting in the sun and I was burning up. I finally loosened up around almost mile 3. I still went hard every other loop and moderate hard on the others. I was pleasantly surprised that my left leg did not hurt at all - always good :) In all it took me 27:28 to finish up the run and I walked a bit more to loosen up and kind of stretch.

2 out of 3

Last night I found my car key - clinging to a magnet in one of my purses... Then this morning I found my camera in the back seat of my car. Now if only I could fine the cell phone I misplaced.

Before

After - straight

After - normal curly

last long weekend

Saturday morning I had to do another long run - so I thought I had to do 14 miles (which is the longest I have ever run) but in reality I had to do 15 miles (+ 1 if I felt good). As you can imagine I went out with the plan to run 14 miles. I wanted to run on a softer surface to give my leg a fighting chance - the Snoqualmie Valley trail that I ran a 12 mile run in the pouring rain of November - it is all gravel or very compact dirt. My only concern was if something went wrong I would have to walk a ways to get back to the car. Kyle was sweet enough to ride his mountain bike and carry water and he got to play with his new garmen forrunner 305 - so he was also able to give me my mile marks.
We started at the Farm place and since I did not want to go to far out one direction I first went to the right 2 miles and back (for 4 miles). As usual it took me a mile or so to get a rhythm going but by the 2 mile turn around I felt good - no pain - no real tightness to speak of - the hardest thing was not stopping to grab some of the ripe blackberries along the side of the trail. It actually felt like the miles ticked away rather quickly because Kyle and I chatted away about all sorts of thing and when ever I asked he told me my mileage. My first couple miles were at sub 9 min/mile pace but by mile 4 or 5 I got into a good pace of right around 9:05 min/mile pace which I was able to maintain for the next 4-5 miles.
I went out the other direction for 5 miles (or to mile 9) and headed back which was great because the trail gradually climb up and so when I turned around to go back it is all gradually downhill - a really wonderful thing. I felt good - I ate a gel every 4 miles or so, had a salt every 20 min and had some cytomax or water when I felt like it (and of course some with the gel or salt).
My left leg was gradually getting a tad tight and every once and a while my right foot would hurt but I kept going - I only walked when I ate a gel and for no longer than a minute. Even so I felt good and I was able to keep my pace under 10 min/mile. - I was actually right on my usual half marathon pace 13.1 in 2:02ish which I was very content with.
Around mile 13 my left leg started to get pretty tight but not bad enough to walk or anything - actually at 13.5ish I started to gradually pick up the pace and then at 13.75ish I really tried to pick it up so I had Kyle go out in front of me so I could see how far I had to go to hit 14 miles (like a finish line or something). I pushed myself all the way even though my leg got tighter I just ignored it (sort of) or at least kept going. In all it took me 2:09:15 and as soon as I finished my left leg hurt. Once I got home I took an ice bath, did an ice massage before going to a massage and then iced again before going to bed.

This morning I woke up stiff but no pain. We slept in till almost 9:30a (completely unheard of for me) but it was great to get so much sleep. Kyle and I eventually headed out for 70ish mile bike ride up/out to Snoqualmie Ridge. Kyle figured out a good route with lots of hill training. I was very happy that my knee did not hurt at all from the start - though my right foot did. My legs felt really heavy on the first climb up Inglewood hill but they felt better up the next one - Ames Lake Rd Hill. We just kind of cruised along - it was really nice the entire ride Kyle and I stayed mostly together - of course he would climb and descend a bit faster than me but he never had to wait to long. I was able to hold his wheel pretty well - even when we were going over 21 mph. I was actually really surprised at how well I was riding considering I ran long the day before.
We climbed up Snoqualmie Falls hill and then after a short break climbed up to the top of Snoqualmie Ridge - a very long gradual climb straight up. It seemed to go on forever - it reminded me of the Hawaii 70.3 ride. At the top we stopped at Starbucks to grab some water and a chai for Kyle and latte for me. Afterwards we got to go back down both hills and I did not use my brakes - haha.
Rather than doing the stair step climb or going back over the sammamish plateau we headed back into carnation and back towards Ames lake - then took Union hill into Redmond.. It may have been a bit shorter but way more climbing - either up or down. I was surprised at how good I still felt. Once back into Redmond we climbed up Bell-Red Road and back home but we were 2 miles short so we passes the house and actually went down a hill on 164th and had to climb back up... With a final ride time of 4:25.
I think the best part if the entire ride was that Kyle and stuck together - yeah he would pull away from me but I was never very far behind and it never seemed like he had to wait long for me to catch up or anything. I love that I'm strong enough for us to ride together - it is just way more fun to do things together. Now it is more like when we ski together :)

In other news I got my hair cut just long enough to go in a ponytale because as Kyle told me "shorter is fast" lol. I would post a picture but like so many other things (car key, cell phone) right now my camera has gone missing. In any case it is wonderful not having as much hair to deal with :)

And now Col has told me the taper begins.

last couple days

Tuesday morning my leg still hurt some so rather than running I did the same mileage/time on an efx/elliptical at the gym. It was boring but it was easier on my leg - in all I did 34min but it felt like much longer. Afterwards I stretched out and massaged my leg as much as I could.

After work I met Col for an open water swim at green lake. I made sure to remind myself many times before and during the swim that "I'm a strong swimmer". It sounds dumb but I felt a lot better the entire swim, it did not matter when I was behind Col or when I got a bit tired I just reminded myself that I could do this and "I'm a strong swimmer" and I kept going. The water as usual was choppy but luckily i think I only got some up my nose once - always a plus.
Col pointed out that I was not rotating as much as I did in the pool so the rest of the time I focused on that. I always feel like I'm going to roll over the other side in the wetsuit but I swam a tad faster -or at least it seemed. I swam for about and hour and afterwards I felt a lot more confident for Canada.

Wednesday was rest day so that I would have plenty of energy for the weekend so all I did was sleep in and take it easy - oh and iced my leg and foot for good measure a couple times while at work.

Thursday morning I got up early and did a 4 mile run - I was rather reluctant to get out going because my leg still feels tight and all that. Luckily once I got going it was alright. I ran 2 miles down hill then had to do the same back up hill. It was a tad chilly so I was glad I wore a long sleeve shirt. In all the run went well, my leg got sort of tight around mile 3 but nothing to bad.

This (Friday) morning I did a long (3100yrds) swim in the pool. I sort of rolled out of bed but made it to the pool around 5:45a. I did not want to mess with much math so I planned long sets.. 400 warm up, 500, 100 hard, 400, 100 hard x 2, 800, 100 hard, 100 cool down. I focused a lot on form, and on the 100 yrds hard I was able to pick up the pace to 1:46 which felt great. I was surprised at how easy it was to swim long sets - I remember when 500 seemed like forever. I finished up in 1:03 which also made me feel more confident about Ironman Canada. I know I could swim another 1100yrds in under 30 min which would put my swim time at around 90 min :)