UGH . . .

I have a race on Sunday and I feel very unprepared.  I don't like this feeling. I'm hoping that the end of the school year will bring me more work out time. 

I'll keep you posted on my the big race on Sunday.  Tempe International OLY distance

El Tour de Phoenix

My race today was AWESOME! Ron and I were very proud of how we did. We took about 20 minutes off our time from the 66 mile ride in November. I'm so happy to see my training pay off! I'm also very happy Ron and I found something we can do together. I love riding with him.  We finished the race in 4:46:00. We would have been faster but Ron got a flat. That added about 11 minutes to our time. Ron said he could really see my training paying off when we hit a 4 mile climb at mile 60. He usually leads up the hill but this time I lead and he was wiped out. Ron and I finished side by side. I loved it.  Look how cute we are in our matching bike jerseys!  Here are some photos from the day.   

.  

Kate's Race Report

Ford Ironman 70.3 California
2010-03-27
Oceanside, California
United States
Ironman North America
Weather:  Sunny

Triathlon - 1/2 Ironman
Total Time = 8h 27m 10s
Overall Rank = 2127/2152
Age Group = F40-44
Age Group Rank = 92/97
Pre-race routine
My pre-race started roughly. I had a very long and hard week of work and didn't get to San Diego until 3:00 the day before the race. By the time we got up to Oceanside and checked into the hotel it was 5:30. My bro-in-law Peter took me to the check-in. I got super nervous at check-in b/c everyone looked like tri gods and godesses. He then took me to the swim, my biggest hurdle, to check out the course. It looked rough and choppy b/c the wind was blowing. We looked at it from 4 different views and it freaked me out.

After check-in we went to eat and it was 8:00 when we got back to the hotel. I was freaked out I hadn't had time to properly prepare for everything. I was hoping to meet up with my friend Leah but it was late and I was a mess. I got everything ready the best I could and went to bed.

Suzanne Peter and I met up at 5:05am to ride down to the race start. It was still dark and pretty chilly. We were layered up and had all of our stuff in our back packs. We got to transition and set up our stuff. I racked my bike and found my buddies again to get body marked.

There were a couple nice ladies racked next to me who made small talk as we got ready. By this time my nerves were sky high. One helped me zip my wetsuit and I helped a first time tri person setup transition.

I went to find Peter and we hung out with Theresa until we went to the start. As we watched the pros start, I had a calm feeling come over me. Nothing I could do now except give it a shot. My nerves relaxed, I said goodbye to my family and I headed to my wave. No turning back!
Event warmup:

There was no warm up. I really couldn't eat anything b/c I had a nervous stomach. I had a big dinner the night before so I felt OK about not eating.
Swim Comments:

I entered the shoot and tried to find my wave. Unfortunately, the put the waves too close together so we were all jammed together like sardines trying to get into the right groups. I felt bad for the people trying to wiggle their way through the sardines up to their groups. We were like cattle stuck together. We couldn't do anything but move with the crowd.

I am a bad swimmer and Open Water Swims are my greatest fear. Luckily, I was in a calm zone when I got to the start. I was just moving with the crowd observing and moving. When I got the start I dropped my flipflops and got into the water.

The water was about 58/59 degrees. It wasn't as cold as I thought. I had prepared by wearing a skull cap under my race cap and I pee'd in my wetsuit to keep me warm. (That's what people told me to do!) It was a 75 meter swim to the start. I immediately put my head in the water to get myself use to the cold. Not bad. I could handle it. The water was very salty. Slight shock but I had done a salty swim about a month ago. It was good practice.

As I got the start I went to the far right edge of the group. The bouys were on the left. So far so good. Calm and not freak out panic like usual. My group was ages 40-44 and older men. I felt pretty comfortable.

We got the start and I started! I was calm and cool and kept moving. I knew I was slow but I was pretty steady. The life guards were pretty good at keeping everyone on course. I kept going and moving. I felt decent the first few hundred meters. I'd get off course and then correct again. When we doglegged out of the harbor I knew I was getting mixed up. I'd swim and get out of line. I was trying sight but it was hard to see the bouys. I finally turned the corner but I knew I had messed up my mojo. I was getting passed right and left. I saw pink caps, blue caps, red caps, white caps, yellow caps and I think some purple caps.

As I came approached the last 500 meters they were funneling us all into a narrow alley. There was alot of contact and people were pushing me out of the way right and left. You could tell the good swimmers were totally annoyed that I was blocking their path.

I finally reached the end and was so happy to get a hand from the wet suit strippers. I did it!! I totally did it!! I was slow, I was steady but I did it!!

As I took off my skull cap I could feel that I had been rubbed raw under my neck. Yuck!

What would you do differently?:

I really need to work on the swim. I not only finished the BOP of my age group but I also finished the back of several other age groups! UGH! I think I need total immersion swim training or something similar to help this ugly situation. It was UGLY but I did it . . . and I'm PROUD I did it.

T1Comments:

I ran into the transition with a big old smile on my face. I did it! I did it. After the swim, I knew I could do the rest! Hooray!

I got back to transition proud but a little uncertain of where I was at compared to others in my division. When I got back to the rack I saw the lady who helped me put my wetsuit back on. Whew. At least someone in my division was still around! I had a hard time getting out of my wetsuit. Had a hard time deciding what to wear. The sun was shining but I was cold from the swim. I opted to put a short sleeve shirt over my trisuit. (too chunky to wear the tri suit all by itself) I sat down twice. Once to get the wetsuit off and once to get my shoes on. I was clearly flustered now that I look back. I finally got it together and took off.

What would you do differently?:

I would have a better plan of what I needed to wear. I would also practice my transitions more before the race.

Bike Comments:

I started the race and was sky high the first 20 miles. It was beautiful, I had a decent pace, and I had survived the swim. Awesome! I even got a little emotional at times. I was ready b/c I knew the hills were coming and I had to be on the look out. I had done a practice ride on a computrainer for the hills. Unfortunately, the computer ride didn't do the hills justice. They were rough! I was going 3 to 4 mph up those babies! My proudest accomplishement after the swim was that I didn't have to walk up the hills. I powered through them just as I practiced but they kicked my rear end!

Besides the hills I had to battle the wind. During some spots the wind was so tough I dropped down to my little chain ring so I could keep going. No fun!

The last 15 miles I tried to push it to up my bike time but I couldn't get it over 14 mph. UGH.

I was happy with my nutrition. I took a couple salt sticks, I ate bananas when they were offered. I drank ever 15 minutes. I did a gu every 45 minutes unless I got food on the route.

I was disappointed with my bike time but I was happy I got through it.

What would you do differently?:

I need to work on my biking. I have no technique. I need to find some. I think I might be a decent biker with a little coaching.

T2 Comments:

OK transition. I don't remember much of this one. I was TIRED after the bike. As I ran out of the transition, I immediately stopped and got some water and washed off my face. I was TIRED!

What would you do differently?:

Get faster.

Run Comments:
Wow. I hit the wall on the run. I planned on running the first 6 miles. I couldn't I had to walk at mile 2. I was TIRED! I walked every aid station and took a little bit of water and gatoraid. About mile 4 I had to keep walking. Luckily, I had a woman come up to me named LyLy. She said she had been trying to keep up with me the whole race. I said "you caught me, Good luck! See you at the finish." She was so nice and said, she couldn't do much more than what i was doing so let's do it together. We started walk running together. We then met up with Dave. Dave had hurt his knee and needed some motivation too. The three of us walked and ran the rest of the way together.

On loop two we were all losing steam. Dave's knee was hurting. I was ready to send them on their way but they stuck with me. The three of us knew we were ok b/c we had calculated the cut off times. We had time to finish even if we walked the rest of the way. We powered through together and kept going. When were about making our turn to go back the last 3 miles we met up with another guy named Scott. He like me and Dave was also from Arizona. He like the rest of us needed the extra push to keep going. Dave came up with the idea to walk a light post, walk a light post. It got us to the end.

Around mile 11 we saw the last athlete on the run go by starting their second loop. We knew he was the last athlete b/c he had a motorcyle following behind him. It was a weird feeling knowing I was that close to the end of the cut off. When we finally came to the end, there was a bridge we had to cross. We all decided we would run when we hit the bridge to the finish. That was less then a mile at that point. LyLy took off and I was chasing her, Dave and Scott stopped. As I was turning the corner I heard my friend Leah's name being called at the finish. I soon heard LyLy's name then mine!

I did it!! I finished and within the cut off time! Thank goodness! I owe Dave and LyLy and Scott a big thank you for keeping me moving. I don't know if I could have done it without them. If I could have, it wouldn't have been as enjoyable.

What would you do differently?:

I needed more run training. I knew I was neglecting my run.

Post race

I went through the finish line, got my medal, got my hat and started back to the bikes. I was looking for Leah b/c I knew she had recently finished. I walked through the food tent and to the bike but didn't see her. As I got to my bike I sat down and stretched. I had a woman take a photo of me with my medal and packed it up. My sis came and got me and we walked back to my family waiting in my van. It was a good day.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Weight was a big factor in my performance. I know I could do better if I was about 20 to 30 pounds lighter. I also need to work on my technical skills in all three sports.

Event comments:

This was a good race. Challenging, beautiful, great weather and awesome volunteers. I think I have to sign up again to try to beat my times!

Today was a good day!

It was a great day in Kate's Triathlon World. (1) I was able to get up the computrainer hills and they were not as bad as i thought. I was slow and steady but I did it. (2) I had a great chat with a tri coach. He was administering my computrainer ride. He was pleasant, informative, easy to talk to and happy to help me. He had done the CA70.3 before and is doing it this time too. He also raced IMAZ twice! I'm going to see what I can set up with him after this race. (3) He reminded me that I would be racing in the 40 age group this tri season. Guess what?! That gives me like 15 more minutes in the swim!! Hooray!! I feel ike a ton of bricks have been taken off my back.

70 Miles! Wow! I did that?

Today me and my buddies rode 70 mile on our road bikes.  I'm so excited.  I can't believe I did it.  I got my bike in April of last year.  I could not go over 16 miles an hour, I was spent after 13 miles, and I was scared to ride down hills.  Today we averaged 16.5 miles per hour, traveled 70 miles, and my fastest time was 40.5 miles per hour going down hill.

If you really think about it, I shouldn't be able to do this.  I'm an overweight mom of two who is going to turn 40 this year.  I can't swim well and I've had a road bike less then a year.  How did this happen?  Well, anyway, enough about me. 

The ride was great.  Suzanne, Peter, Ron, Denten, and I took the 70 mile challenge.  It was a beautiful day for a ride.  Gary met us in Phoenix and rode the rest of the way with us.  We road to the end of Pecos road on the South Side of South Mountain.  I love being around the mountains.  At mile 56 I was TIRED!  Luckily we stopped and fueled up at a bagel shop.  It was just enough to get me home.  It also helped that  Gary was our pacer the last 10 miles.  He had us going 18-20 miles an hour on my hardest stretch of the ride.  Thanks to him, we kept our average speed up to 16.5 mph. 

I'm proud I did the ride.  It was a great work out.  I hope it helps with the Half Ironman! 

PS - I dedicate this ride to Judi for her 50th birthday! 

Firebird Triathlon Race results

The race results are up for our triathlon.  Suzanne kicked BUTT and finished 1st in her age group and 8th overall for women.  She is a rock star. Peter did well too.  He was not a "Suzanne type" finisher but he did a good job. 

Here are my times for the event. 

Swim = 16.19 for 600m
Transition 1 = 2.50
Bike = 44.18 minute for 12 miles
Transition 2 = 1.56
Run = 37.32 minutes for 3 something run.  (people think it is long)
Total time = 1.42.56

At first I was really bummed with my performance.  The swim was not what I was hoping for.  I thought I had my open water swim panic issues under control so I was truly dissapointed I had to flip to my back to get my heart rate down.  After seeing the final times I am ok with this race.  It is the first race of the season and I'm just working out the kinks for the big race.  I have improved quite a bit from my first races.  I just need to keep moving and remember most people wouldn't even attempt something like this. 

Firebird Lake Triathlon

Here are some photos from today's Sprint Triathlon at Firebird Lake.  The distance of the race was 600m Swim, 12 mile bike, and 5k run.  The photos are of me and Peter and my internet training buddy Lisa.  I'll add more and give an update soon. 

Suzanne was there but got there too late for pictures.  She did awesome.  She finished 8th overall for women and 2nd in her age group.  Oh, to be young again! 

29 Days . . .

WHAT THE HELL AM  I DOING?! 

I can't believe I signed up for a Half Ironman.  I'm almost 40.  I'm overweight.  I'm slow.  I can't swim.  I'm  really starting to freak out.

All I can do at this point is QUIT or work my ASS OFF!  I choose the latter.  Quitting isn't an option b/c I've invested too much time, money and energy at this point to turn back.  Plus I told too many people I am doing it!

So in the triathlon training world you should go super hard the next couple weeks and then I take it easy before the race.  With this in mind I have planned a big weekend.  I am going to do a long ride up to the towers at South Mountain.  To ride all the way up to the top you have to ride up hill for about 7 miles.  It is pretty steep so I doubt we will have many other riders with us.  The total ride will be around 50 miles and I want to start climbing after about 30 miles.  I'm also going to do a long run this weekend.  I'm hoping for about 8 miles.

I have also been in touch with my swim coach.  For the past year I have taken adult swim classes off and on.  My coach's name is Jonny.  He is a former British national champ and a former Arizona State University swimmer.  I am going to set up an hour long private lesson.  I've come a long way since I've started swimming but I think I could pick up some time if I had better form.  Hopefully Jonny is a miracle worker!

Wish me luck!  It is going to be a crazy couple of weeks! 

Good week for the Biking Ninja!

This was a good work out weekend for me.  I was able to do a couple things I didn't think I could do plus I received some good news. 

1. Peter and I did a double work out on Saturday.  We did a 2000m swim followed by a 6.2 mile run.  I was so relieved that I was able to swim the full distance on my hurt shoulder.  Peter thought I was faster than I was before my injury!  YES!  I have been paying more attention to my form so that was nice 
2. Today I went on a 65 mile bike ride.  I was so excited that I was able to complete the distance in a timely manner without my "girly parts" being damaged.  It was a beautiful day for a ride.  I ended up taking my longsleeve shirt off and then realized I was dressed in all black.  Jake said I looked like a Biking Ninja.  Made me laugh!
3. Today I found out that I will have an hour and 29 minutes to finish the swim portion of my Half Ironman.  thank goodness.   I was worried about making the cut of time.  This time will give me some room to freak out and still make it!

I'm feeling much stronger and much more confident after each long work out.  40 days to go.  No time to mess around!

No turning back now . . .

Well, it is real. Our athletes' guide for the half ironman came via email today. Wow. What a motivator.

I am now thinking about how I will spend the next month or two. There are only a few weekends left to fit everything in. This is what I have on the books so far. (See below) I need to get another half marathon in and a an open water swim or two scheduled.

February 13, 14 - Long ride on the 14th = 60 miles
February 20, 21 -
February 27, 28 - Long ride Silent Sunday South Mountain replicate CA70.3
March 6, 7 - Firebird Lake Triathlon (OWS)
March 13, 14 -
March 20, 21 -
March 27th - Race weekend

Not a great week . . .

This was a very rough work out week for me.

This week i had my first day back in the pool since my accident. The swim was much more painful than I thought it would be. I was VERY discouraged. I could feel pain doing my warm up strokes. Not good. I am going to have to work my tail off to be able to do this race.

Next, it rained on the day i was going to do a nice long ride. Instead of 50 miles I only got in 20 miles. THEN during my 20 mile ride I got a flat tire. UGH. I started to feel like this was not meant to be.

I was sitting waiting for my hubby to come change my tire feeling very sorry for myself. I was thinking about how he would take me home and I'd probably go for a run. But then Ron came, changed my tire and i was back on my way. I had a great ride! I made good time and I know i am a much stronger rider than i used to be. Maybe I can do this?!

Yes, I know I can do this, but I will have to work my butt off until the race. Literally! I have to drop some more weight. I know I can do the bike. I know I can do the run. I just have to meet that swim cut off time.

Wish me luck!!

Silent Sunday at South Mountain

I'm very excited about my ride today. We tackled South Mountain! It was "silent sunday" which means the roads were closed to traffic so bikers and joggers could enjoy the park without dodging cars.  At the very top of the mountain there are TV towers that we can see from our house in Gilbert.  1300 feet in elevation changes.  It was a ton of climbing with 4 and 5% grades. We drove it yesterday and I was sure I would have to walk some it.

Well, it was a success! I climbed it and felt pretty good. I can feel my biking skills getting stronger and stronger.  Ron said this is now his favorite ride.  It is up there for me but probably not my favorite.  It is cool having the road to yourself!   

I am hoping to get that ride in again but after some front end mileage to try to replicate the half ironman course.  A girl who did the California Half Ironman last year said that South Mountain was good practice for the half ironman.

I ruined the great day of exercise by eating everything in sight. Oh well. At least I'm working out!

Here is a link that shows the ride up to the TV towers.  Make sure you hit the elevation button under the mileage so you can see how steep it it!  The Half Ironman route with elevation is shown on the bottom right hand side of the page.  http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/az/phoenix/825124310682582761

78 Days??!! How did that happen??!!

Seriously?!  How did we get down to 78 days already?  I just put up the countdown calendar and freaked out when it told me the days until the race.  What a reality check.  I need to get my shoulder back to normal and log a ton more time working out. 

I am ready.  I can do this.  I am NOT scared.  I am strong.  I can swim 2000 meters.  I am so fast going up hills. 

The Big Crash

Yes I crashed, I'm back, but I'm not 100% yet. Actually, I'm sore as hell!

This was my first bike accident and I'm very thankful I wan't going down hill at 35 MPH! I took a turn too fast and hit a brick subdivision wall in the Blvd. Yes, hit the curb and straight into the wall. UGH! I blew my tire and smashed the side of my helmet as I turned my face away from the wall. As a result, my shoulder took the full force of the wall. I was a mile from my house and I couldn't get ahold of anyone. I put my chain back on my bike and walked my bike the whole way home.

When I got home everyone said I looked like crap. I decided I should take a shower and regroup. I knew things were bad when I couldn't take my clothes off. I couldn't lift my shoulder. My MIL had to come in my bedroom and undress me. Embarrassing! Everyone said I should go to urgent care and get checked out. I was going to try to sleep it off but I was in too much pain.

Went to Urgent care and they said I seperated my A/C joint. 2nd Degree seperation. I didn't realize it at the time but I busted my knee. The shoulder was the biggest pain but as the day moved on I realized my knee was big and swollen. I also had a huge bruise on the opposite thigh. What a mess. They gave me vicodin and muscle relaxers. It helped but I was totally out of it. I've been off the meds except when sleeping the past couple of nights.

I've been doing little bursts of exercise. 30 minutes every other day. It feels like nothing compared to what I've been doing. I'm going on a ride this weekend too. I figure I need to get back on the bike right away.

I have a half marathon in a couple of weeks I'd like to do if possible. Our race is coming up too! We only have about 11 more weeks. The problem is I'm sore but I know I should be training. Push myself or rest myself? UGH!!!

Kate - December 16th

Here is a quick update for everyone.

Ride: This weekend's ride was great. We did a super hilly ride and I can tell I'm getting stronger. I'm still not fast and I'm still the back of the pack. I do feel a bit of improvement and that was nice. I like the new seat Ron got me. No soreness. The hole in the middle of seat really helps. I'm still a little anxious to see what would happen on a 60 mile ride.

Weight loss: I've been doing good with my food logging. I'm using the DailyPlate.com on the LIVESTRONG website. I think I am at the wrong activity level. The site tells me I can eat 2200 calories a day. I don't have a problem meeting that. Even though I've logged a ton of exercise time this week I still gained 2 pounds. I am going to take my calories down a bit to about 1700. Hopefully that puts me in the right balance. I really need to lose more weight if I want to perform better in these races. (or I need to be ok with finishing last. No thank you!)

I've got a lot of nervous energy for the HIM right now. It is going to be a wild ride!

Good news! Personal Best!

Good news! I got my Personal Best time for the half marathon today!! Hooray! It was by 21 seconds. The best part about besting my best is that my old best time was from 2004. I was stoked! There is something to this cross training thing. The last half marathon I did was January 2009 and my time was over 3 hours. (I didn't train very well) This time is huge for me! Not only did I have a decent time I felt good the whole run and had a little extra in me to push at the end. I didn't hurt myself either. I felt great!

I really enjoyed this race. It was the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon. The run was through Scottsdale. The race was well staffed and had our times every hour. This race also had the best medals and a nice technical shirt. Pretty cool.

Because this run went well, I am going to push through and gear up for the full marathon now. I have a long way to go this next 6 weeks!

PS - Suzanne had a personal best too!! (of course!) Peter . . . he opted out of this race for Vegas. I'm sure he would have had a great time too.

Kate's update

Kate Checking in! Here is my latest update. Peter, Suzanne and I have a half marathon on Sunday. 13.1 miles of fun! Peter and I are supposed to be training for a full marathon in mid January. Peter has been doing a great job with his running. I have not. This half marathon will determine what I do for the full. If it goes terribly I might have to down grade to the half marathon. If it goes well, I will GO FOR IT!!

Work out: Today I went to my new YMCA and did an hour long bike ride on the brand new lifetime fitness bike. I chose the hill circuit called "around the world". It was fun and I like all the information the machine gives you. I was able to watch myself climb, see my heart rate, see my rpms and mph AND watch the news! I need to have someone help me with the bike seat and help me decide what level to start on next time. I just guessed at both of those. I figured I'd know a little more then the Teenage girls working the front desk. My goal is to up my work out hours and meet my training times that my training plan laid out this week.

Shoes: I got new shoes today! My in-laws got me a gift card to RoadRunner. I am supposed to be training for a marathon so I need to upgrade my shoe. It came down to the Brooks and the Saucony. The Brooks seemed too clunky compared to Saucony. I've been wearing Brooks and like them but the others felt so light and cushy. I'll take them for a test run tomorrow.

Wish us luck on the half marathon!

The holidays are here!

I had the Holiday crazies this weekend. I was responsible for Thanksgiving dinner and with two little ones we had to get all the fun Christmas stuff going ASAP. We did the tree, shopping, present wrapping, and house decorating. I'm wore out.

Work outs: Unfortunately all the Christmas fun has cut into my workout time. I've missed 3 days or work outs. (1) I skipped the day after my long ride to rest. (2) I took Sunday off b/c it was my girlfriends 40th birthday. We had lunch, drinks and went to a movie. (3) I went to swim this evening with my new YMCA membership and the pool closed 5 minutes before I got there. Of course I was wearing my suit and flip flops so I couldnt' switch gears. UGH! I decided not to beat myself up about too badly. I needed to do everything I did for the family. I also feel pretty well rested. Tomorrow is another day.

Tri Training Plan: I have been off on my tri training plan. After the first 3 weeks of the plan I have been off by 3 hours, 2.5 hours, and 1.75 hours. Not the best. To help get my hours up I have signed up for a YMCA membership. It is brand new and only 2.5 miles from my house. My goal is to go over there after my kids go to sleep at 8:00. They also offer a 6:00 a.m. spin class. If I can get a few more hours in a week I will get myself on schedule. Now I think I have close the perfect set up. I have a top notch work out facilty at work, one close to my house for when I can't go during work hours, and great weather in case I miss both.

Bike ride: My 60 mile ride went really well. The ride was 58.5 miles and we finished in about 4:09:00. We were happy with that b/c that time included all of our stops. Our Tucson ride took us 5:03:00. Tucson was 66 miles so we did take some time of the ride. I started to have my ride break down around mile 53 this time. Ron thinks we should build on these rides - distance and speed. I'm up for that if I can get comfortable. We have also mapped out some great hills too. Hopefully I'll be ready for that HIM ride!

My lady parts were super sore again. We acted immediately this time. Ron bought me a new cut out bike seat so I'll give it a test spin soon. I also got some new Pearl I bike shorts. There is an outlet near us so we went and got some stuff. I got a jersy for about $45!! (Marked down from $89) The shorts were $90 marked down to about $54. If I was a smaller size I could have scored some cute ladies jerseys for about $15.

Eating: I over ate. Pecan Pie is SOOO good!

Half Ironman & Ironman

My mind is racing thinking about how I'm going to do this 2010 Ironman race. I can not allow myself to think about it though. My goal is to give full attention to the Half Ironman in March. We are on week 18 and after this weekend I have a long way to go.

I have learned a few things lately though.

1. I need to get a YMCA or gym membership so I can workout at night. I'm usually anti fitness center b/c I like to be outside but it is too dark in the morning and evening to do anything. A new YMCA opened up about 2 miles from my house so I think I will go there.
   
2. I think I need to get my act/Sh$T together! Since time is a factor for me I will have to be as efficient as possible in my training. Understanding bike cadence and Heart Rate will make things so much better.
   
3. Nutrition - I'm eating everything in sight. I always seem to think that a big workout or race gives me the green light to eat ALL WEEKEND long. I'm going to log my food starting now. I know 20 pounds will greatly help me before the Half Ironman.
   
4. After 2 weeks on my plan it is obvious that my "planned to actual" workout times are not good. I need to come up with a better training system.
   
5. I can't do all these little races in 2010. Heck, I've been doing a race almost every weekend this month. I am realizing that the races take away from my long training days. I want to be more selective in 2010. I want to have fun but balance it with good solid races that help my training.

I'm ready to let the training and the research begin. I want to successfully complete this Half Ironman without hurting myself.

Ironman AZ - 2010

We did it!! Peter and I just signed up for the Ironman Arizona in 2010. The picture above is me standing in line to register. I can't believe it! This is going to be an interesting year. When I get home tonight I will post the photo of the two of us at on-site registration. Wish us luck.