The snack lady likes her space so get out of her lane!!!

After 2 days of heavenly rest I felt like a new woman today. Last night I was so excited to go swimming today that I couldn't fall asleep. I usually get in bed around 9-9:30 and fall asleep right away. However, last night I didn't fall asleep until at least 10:30. I know my alarm was set because I usually check it at least a million times (or at least it feels like that) before I go to sleep.... but for some reason it didn't go off this morning. (Or maybe it did and I was just so tired I turned it off in my sleep.) The good news is I woke up 5 minutes before I need to leave. I jolted out of bed scared to death. I dunno. I definitly wasn't myself this morning. When we arrived at the pool I feel out of the Coach's car... not quite sure how that happened... I guess I am just not coordinated when I jump out of bed. :)

Swim practice went great. It went by super fast and lots of people (16 in all- everyone except for Walrus basically) showed up. The only bad thing about that is that almost everyone was swimming in MY LANE!!! Not only was I claustrophobic with everyone around me but no one swam the same speed so everyone was on top of each other the entire time. I hate that. I think Coach is trying to torture me. She knows I like my own space and like to swim in my own "bubble". She tells me that she is just getting me ready for the knockdown drag-out punching/kicking match at IMFL. I am sure she is right... but I really do hate it. Grr.

I am officially the snack lady of Team Vortex. This was established on the car ride back from swim practice today. On the weekends when we have our bricks I will be organizing people to bring recovery snacks/drinks. It should be fun. It reminds me of when I was a little kid and all the moms would signup for snacks on soccer game days. Ahh to be little again.

Penguins lost tonight.... 1-2. We played a good game. I didn't go out with everyone afterwards because I have to go to bed early. (I can hear the crazy IM youtube video playing- for those that have seen it... you know what I mean.) I figure I have to draw the line somewhere if i decide to keep playing soccer...

Today's workout: Swim
Warmup: 500 free
Main Set: 2x400 R20 (within each 400 is 50 hard; 50 easy. Repeat until done)
500 pull
2x200 R20 Breath 3,5,7
Cool down: 200 back

Total: 2,400 meters
Time: 45ish minutes

First brick since last October.....

This morning was my first brick in a really long time. It felt pretty good... well as good as a brick can feel. :) I hate to admit it but I was in a bad mood for part of it because we had a group of riders with us that normally doesn't come and they were going super fast. At one point we were going 21mph in a headwind. I could keep up but that wasn't what we were supposed to do today. Luckily this didn't last for the entire ride.

The run was pretty low key. XXX, Alisha, and Little T ran with me. Little T kept saying that Dowden Rd has a downward slope. I'm not sure what she is talking about... maybe a downward slope of 1 foot stretched out for 2 miles??? XXX gave her a lot of crap for that. Every 20 steps he'd say, "Love this downward slope."

Today's workout: Bike 25 miles and Run 4 miles in zone 3

Bike 24.6 miles
Time: 1:27
Avg speed 16.9mph
Avg HR 138

Run 4.01 miles
Time: 41.54
Avg pace: 10.27mi/hr
Avg HR 149

Total Calories burnt: 1666

Fire Alarm + Towel and Duct Tape = An Interesting Practice

Friday's practice was filled with lots of excitement. We met super early... 5:15am so we could get a run, foam roller/abs, and weights in all before 7:30. Everyone was super chipper on the run. It rained a little bit so everyone was cracking jokes about melting and that we should turn around. Coach didn't buy it. :) We all give her a hard time... almost on a daily basis. It sure keeps things interesting.

During the foam rolling class the fire alarm went off. We were told that they were testing the alarm and that it might go off frequently. Well it lasted what seemed like forever. The sound was piercing... so we came up with a make-shift fire alarm cover. I went and found some duct tape and together with the help of XXX we covered it up with a towel so it was a muffled sound. We were all rolling (literally) on the ground laughing.

Picture of our fabulous taping job of the fire alarm:

Friday's Practice:
Run 25 minutes in zone 2 (approx 2 miles)
Foam rolling
Weights- upper body

Sleep walking

Last night I went to bed in my normal shorts and t-shirt pj's. This morning I woke up in my bathing suit.... and I'm not sure how that happened. Hmm.

Today's workout:  Swim
Warmup: 200 pull; 200 kick
2x500 long distance pace R30
6x50 sprint on the minute
Cool Down: 200 back

Total: 1,900m

Run Threshold Test

Wednesday I figured out what a run threshold test is. For those that don't know... it is when you run the fastest pace you can maintain for 30 minutes without having to call 911. :) The goal is to figure out what your max heart rate is that you can sustain for a prolonged period of time. I ended up running about a 8:15 min/mile pace and my average heart rate was 185. I guess we will be doing this once a month to see if we are becoming more effecient.

Wednesday's Workout:
Run Threshold Test
30 min run at the fastest pace you can maintain

Swimming a 400 = (1,2,3 breath 1,2,3,4,5 breath ) flip repeat until done

Yesterday felt like heaven. It was a rest day. (This is a recovery week. Hallelujah!!) I got to sleep in till 7:20. Wow! Unfortunately, I really didn't sleep that well past 5:30 because of Mr. Tubby. Tubby stormed by bed like a cyclone at 5:30 running in circles like he had a wild hair up his butt. After a little bit of shouting he got the hint that it was NOT time to get up.

Today we swam at the Aquatic Center again. I swam in a lane with Amy. This was only the 2nd time I swam with her. It went really well. She is a great lane buddy. However, I do miss Jenn.... my old lane buddy. Hopefully she will be back next week. :)

Soccer tonight went well. No bloody noses or bruised knees like last week. We tied playing with 1 girl down. I love my Penguins!

Time for bed now. I heard we have a real doozie of a practice tomorrow. Threshold run test. Fabulous. :)

Today's workout:  Swim
Warmup 4 x 100 as 50m pull, 50m drill of your choice
4 x 400m Descending within each 400 from long course pace to short course pace.
Cool-Down 200m back.
Total: 2,200 meters

Almost died today

Yes, it is true. I was almost taken out today by a car. I was running in a pack with some of my buddies in Lake Nona and a car that was turning right did not see us. He didn't look or stop at the stop sign. Alisha and I had to literally jump out of his path to avoid being creamed. Let me just say that we were not running in zone 2 for at least the next 30 minutes after that.

Today's workout:
8 mile run (trying to be in zone 2)
Avg HR 152
Calories Burnt 812
Avg Pace 12:05
Time: 1:38

Vortex Idol, Team Mascot, IV's, Catheter's.... oh my!

Rode 50 miles today. Had a great turnout.... almost 30 bikers! It's crazy how much stuff you can talk about over the course of 4 hours. The highlights of today....

1. Steve and I decided that there should be a "Vortex Idol"... similar to the American Idol show. (It is only fitting because our tri club is called Team Vortex. I am going to be the DJ who plays the music (b/c I always have Pandora playing). Steve is going to be the host. XXX is going to be our version of Simon.... and Coach Beth is going to be our first singer. (I don't think she knows it yet.) Vortex Idol will be debuting on our next long ride... (b/c hey you've gotta have entertainment when you are going L.O.N.G!!)

2. Tubby (my fat cat below) was nominated to be our team mascot. I thought of a great shirt slogan... "Couch to Ironman" then insert of yours truely below.



3. IM needs to change the rules so that IV's and catheter's are legal. I am sick of having to count every stinking calorie of everything I eat/drink so that I consume at least 300 calories/hour on the bike. That takes too much effort. Just put me on a slow drip IV and I'll be happy. Secondly, having a catheter would sure beat squating in the bushes... I should market this idea and become a millionaire.

4. For anyone who ever rides with me, you can rest assured that I will always have kleenex or toilet paper on hand. If you would like some, it is only $15 a square (tax is included).

5. My friend Keren from the Avalon Tri Club rode with us today. :)

Today's Workout:
Bike 50 miles in zone 2
Avg HR 133
Time: 3:13 (approx 4 hrs if you include breaks, etc)
Avg Pace 15.5 mph
Calories Burnt 2206

Walrus' don't use ladders

Friday morning practices are always interesting. You never know what to expect or what crazy things people might say. Today Ryan was there and was making comments about how yesterday at swim practice he was like a walrus trying to get out of the pool. When asked why he didn't use a ladder he said that walrus' don't use ladders. That was a good laugh. (I think he has now earned the new nickname Walrus.) Then moments later Preston chimes in saying she was flopping around on the pool deck yesterday with a calf cramp. Overall though it was a pretty quiet morning because XXX was not there.

Today's workout:
foam rolling lower body
15 min core
weights- arms
1.5 hours

Soccer might be a bad idea but I'm gonna do it anyway.

Today's swim felt great. I feel like I am finally getting back in the groove. Today's practice was really long and a bit boring but I felt smooth and felt like I was moving pretty good without trying super hard.

I'm not feeling sick and nothing really hurts (hips, etc.). The only exception is my nose is really sore from this guy running into me full speed on Tuesday night at soccer. It bled and now it is a bit swollen still. Oh, and my knee has a huge bruise on it from soccer. Not sure how that one happened. Deep down I feel like I shouldn't play soccer anymore because I might get hurt and that might ruin everything. However, I love soccer and love the group of friends I have met... Oh, and running while playing soccer is a whole lot better than just plain running. I wore my gps in a soccer game a couple months ago and clocked it at 2 miles. That's pretty good! I was pretty excited about it... except for the people on the field because it would beep everytime I stopped moving.... and since you stop and start running about every 10 seconds, there was a lot of beeping going on. Haha. :)

Today's workout: Swim
5x500's rest 90 seconds
Cool down: 200 back
Total: 2,700 meters Time: 1 hour

P.S. I just figured out how to type a paragraph instead of it looking like a big blob. Wow. Maybe there is hope...

Running S.L.O.W.

This mornings run went pretty well. We ran very slow (heart rate- zone 2) and cadence 150-180. Coach brought along this really annoying (but effective) peeping machine so we knew what cadence we should run at. :) It drives me crazy to run so slow. But right now we are trying to be effecient, fast feet, with low heart rates. I am so thankful to have a great coach and a tri club .15 mile away from my house. I seriously don't know what I'd do if I had to do this all on my own. Having a bunch of people to hang out with and chat with as you run sure makes things so much more enjoyable. Sometimes I feel like I'm not working out.... instead it is is just a big party were peole show up in workout clothes, move around, and crack jokes. :) Today's Workout: Run 50 minutes run in <3 zone 2 cadence 150-180 (not focused on pace) My Avg <3 132 Cals burnt 247 3.6 miles Pace 14.06

Wall Monkey

Well I'm feeling better today but still not great. Early morning wakeup today- 4:30. It is too cold to swim at our pool in Lake Nona (and the pool heater is still broken) so we had to go to the Aquatic Center again today. I really like swimming there. It is setup in a 50 meter format so it makes counting really easy. :) This morning I was definitly not my "Flipper" self- as Preston would call me. Swimming when your head is clogged with crud is never a good sign. I found myself being a Wall Monkey today quite a bit... resting too much on the wall. Oh well, I guess we have to have bad days to appreaciate the good ones. On another note, tonight is the first night that the Penguins are back at it. I play on a soccer team in Winter Park on Tuesday nights. We are always some version of Penguins. This season we are the Thirsty Penguins. Don't ask about the name because I have no idea where it came from. :) Swim Workout: Warmup 200m pull; 100m kick Main Set 1X400m long distance pace then 2X50 up-tempo Repeat 4 times Cool down 200 back Total: 2500 meters in about an hour

25 LB Alarm Clock

Early text this morning from Coach saying our bike practice was changed to spin at 6am, so I went back to sleep. Unfortunately, my 25 lb alarm clock AKA Tubby my cat thought this was an awful idea and proceeded to lay on me until I got up. He really is a great furball. Spinning went well. I took it easy because I still wasn't feeling that great. Speed-E was the instructor and he did a great job whooping my butt. XXX and Little T was there. At one point I thought XXX was going to fall off his bike because his face was so red. A 45 minute spin class really goes fast when you have good people to hang out with. No work today. Yay! MLK Day... going to be resting up on the couch. Today's Workout: 45 Min spin class 19 miles

Ready, set, GO!

Well here goes... I've never had a blog before... and when it comes to technology I am pretty much a dinosaur. So if this even works I'll be surprised. :)

I decided to start a blog to document my journey to becoming (hopefully) an Ironman. I got this crazy idea in my head a couple of years ago when I went to Panama City Beach to watch a couple of my close friends (Becky, Christina, and Tim) compete in the IMFL in 2010. Then just a couple of months ago my good friend Leslie told me she was going to compete in it next year. She along with Coach Beth from Team Vortex persuaded me that I was capable of doing this. So here I am!

Headed to bed now. I've been sick today and yesterday (sore throat)... but am hoping to get back at it tomorrow with a bike ride on the trainer at 5:30am. Eek!