recap, the bullet version

I was going to do a recap of my rest week, but as usual, time has run away with me and it may be a bit late.

Just a couple highlights then:

• I did get out to run some trails with JoLynn (and the adorable Boomer). I always enjoy my time with her and don't get enough of it. That's one problem with being so scheduled. Not a lot of spontaneity. But she's the first one I ping when I have a workout that lends itself to company.
• Bike test...winning!  Not to brag....ok, to brag a little....I had a really good bike test. Never as good as I'd like it to be, but pretty darn good. I bumped up 10 watts, and that might not make sense to either of you, dear readers, but let me tell you....any time you get an email from your coach that involves capital letters, it's either really good or really bad. Yes, this was a good one. (And yes, I have, on a rare occasion, been on the receiving end of one of the other kind.  That one is now posted on my 'motivational' board.)
• Had a good visit with my PT. I can actually extend my left arm over my head now. Which let me tell you, is pretty important for swimming.  And even if it did feel like an elephant stepped on my ribs the day after, it was worth it.

In other goings-on, my first race is in a bit over 2 weeks!  Woot!  And whoa.  That sure snuck up on me.  I'm looking for some good things on the running legs, and the bike leg....well, here's the profile.

Yeah, that's going to be a challenge. But then again, that's what this year is all about, challenges. The bike course is on a route known around here as the 3 bears. I think those are Mama and Papa. I'm not sure if we also cover Baby, but it's a lot of bears. My legs should be good and smoked by the end of the duathlon. And that, folks, is what it's all about.

ode to rest week

Oh rest week, how do I (mostly) love thee?  Let me count the ways......

1. Dear rest week, you allow me to meet up with awesome people like JoLynn (as long as the rain holds off tomorrow) for fun stuff like trail running.  And she brings The Amazing Boomer for an extra dose of awesome.
2. Lovely rest week, you give me "naked" workouts so I can practice not obsessing over my pace/distance/HR numbers.
3. Beautiful rest week, you offer some challenges like bike tests, which I'm looking forward to since my bike legs feel like they've been coming around.
4. Awesome rest week, you give me reason to tell my trainer, "Soooo sorry, gotta' take it easy, it's rest week." Altho I do not recommend wearing any "Iron" workout gear during this negotiation.  That will invariably elicit comments to the effect of "Are you an Ironman or a mouse?!?!" *ahem* Or so I've heard.
5. Amazing rest week, you free up HOURS and HOURS of my day.  Wait a minute.  Where are my hours and hours of free time?  I guess nature really does abhor a vacuum, as whatever 'free' time I have is automagically filled in with activities.
6. Dearest rest week, all because of you I'm able to stay awake long enough to watch an *entire* movie.  (As long as it's not one of the scary ones the husband prefers.....)
7. And mostly rest week.....you prepare me to tackle the next weeks of challenges that the ELF has prescribed for me.  You make me say.... BRING.IT.  (But not loudly enough for the ELF to hear, lest she actually BRINGS.IT.)

thursday thoughts

A quick jumble of things going on (either in my head or in real life):

• Bam and I are having a battle.  I think she's winning.  She goes out and digs up the dirt onto the pavers, I go out and sweep it back into the dirt area.  She goes out the next time and I imagine her thinking, "What the hell?!?!  I know I dug that up already!"  And digs it up again.  Rinse, repeat.  Yeah, she's definitely winning.
• Training is going...pun intended...swimmingly.  I have moments of feeling all glidey-glidey in the pool.  And I feel like I may actually have some biking legs this year.  Best of all I think my Fizik saddle has finally given in and conformed to my, ahem, parts.  Ahhhhhh.
• I occasionally have moments where I slap my head and say "WHAT was I thinking signing up for an ironman."  Yes, already.
• I was told the other day that I may want to consider the idea that while I have A LOT of heart, I will probably never be fast.  To that I say, "Thank you.  And fast is relative."  I just want to be fast compared to the previous versions of me.  I'm not so deluded that I think I'll ever be "fast".
• I added an early season duathlon to my schedule.  To any of you locals who are familiar with the 3 Bears bike ride, that will be the bike section.  Yes, I may have lost my mind completely.
• Work is stressing me out.  I've said it before and I'll say it again....for a tiny (30-ish people) company, there is more disfunction than I thought possible.  But as my friend says, "We put the 'fun' in disfunction."  Yeah, *something* like that.
• I had lunch with my former coworker, and friend, that was diagnosed with lymphoma last year.  He is doing FANTASTIC.  In remission and planning his comeback to triathlon this summer at the South Maui Olympic.  He's doing it with Team in Training and is their Honoree.  So, so happy for him.
• My appetite has increased a lot lately.  So I'm eating more.  Which is evidently okay, as coach tells me I should *not* be sitting at race weight right now.  Of course in my usual OCD manner, I am taking that very seriously and eating.  And eating.  And eating.  So it will not be long before I am very far from race weight.
• And lastly, I *may* have indulged once too often in a peppermint mocha this holiday season.  I got this in the mail:

Yes, I am a gold card holder for Starbucks. 

Oy.

what a concept

I'm not getting any younger.  I know, I know, this may be a surprise to some of you out there.  (If you could see my roots in the week before I'm due for hair color however, you would definitely believe me.)

In the past, I've worked on my body parts on more of a crisis management mode.  Have the PT fix/work on something.  Get assigned some homework.  Don't do it.  Then have him fix it again.  Or fix the next issue.  Rinse, repeat.  And while I keep saying I need to do something to fix that, so far it hasn't stuck.  Oh, I have all the tools of the trade to help keep my body from breaking.  Foam roller, 2 varieties in fact; the stick; tennis balls and golf balls (for the feet), blah, blah, etc, etc.  The problem hasn't been in the acquisition of the tools, but in their application. 

With my next IM attempt on the schedule this year, and the whole aging thing, I've decided that I need to take this a bit more seriously.  And how about not only using the tools that I have, but maybe throwing some yoga on top of there too?  Okay, that may be getting carried away.

But I'm going to give it a shot.  Do the work the PT sets up for me.  Stretch.  Recover, recover, recover.  And who knows, maybe this year my entire FSA budget won't go to paying for my PT appointments.  *snort*....not likely, but stranger things have happened.  

inside voice

I'm sure any of you who have been around kids at all have heard the 'inside voice' phrase.  I'm talking about the *other* inside voice.  Or voices.  The ones inside that talk to you.  And yes, sometimes tell lies.

Since I started back with tri training, I've been doing all my training sans music.  Instead I'm trying to listen to my inside voice.  I had a "no brainer" kind of thought as the year was starting.  You know those workouts that are supposed to be at 'easy' pace, just cruising?  Yeah, I never really thought about it before, but those workouts are *ideal* for working on form.  Not just swimming/biking/running easy and mindless and chilling out to music.  Those workouts are the best time to really think about how the workout feels, how the body is doing, work on form.

So I'm trying to stay in the moment.  Checking in on myself.  Dialing in nutrition on a schedule.  Working on recognizing the negative voices for what they are....simply thoughts.  They too shall pass.

Of course, I reserve the right to plug my headphones back in when the swim/bike/run gets up to epic IM proportions.

new year

New year.....new opportunities.

2012 is going to be a good year.  Yep, I've just declared it so.

Before the calendar year was over I put together, at least in my head, some resolutions for my "tri-life".  I won't bore you with the details here, but the summary is......do the work without over analyzing every little thing.  That's the ELF's job.  My job is to give it my best effort and let the results fall where they may.

I have some ideas for what I'd like to do with the other parts of my life for 2012, we'll see how much comes to fruition.  Some changes I've been contemplating may happen eventually, but a wrench was tossed my way today, so we'll see. 

One thing I know for sure....no one can make the changes for me.  That's up to me.  For this change averse girl, that can be tough.  It may be finally sinking in though that life is just too short to be worried about all the 'what-if's'.  Sometimes you have to jump and trust that wherever you land will be okay.  It may not be the spot you thought you'd land, but if you don't even jump you'll never know.

So welcome 2012.  I'm looking forward to getting to know you better.  We've got some great adventures ahead of us.