Bumbles and Waddles

For Ryan’s pre-race ride, we went out off Warm Springs and did sprint repeats to blow off the lactic acid. FUUUNNN!!! That was a blast. My legs felt great. Then I biked into Shu’s for my run.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 06/12/2008
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 00:45:00.00
• Average Heart rate: 126
• Max Heart rate: 176
• Calories: 436
• Distance: 7 miles
• Average Speed: 9.33 mph
• Max Speed: 25 mph

Today was my EMI group ride…So to start it off I biked down to Luke’s to meet with Wyatt. We biked from there to Ryan’s house and picked up him and Petey. Then on to where we meet EMI. Jeb, Don, and Kurt were there. Woohoo! Good odds being a girl, 6:1! It didn’t help that my bike shorts sported the words “On demand” either. At my suggestion, we rode back into Boise to try to meet up with Lost River and go on their Wednesday ride. Because we had time to kill, we went and did the Warm Springs/Boise Ave loop around Lucky 13’s. Don, Ryan and Kurt’s pace had me pedalling my little brains out. And that was their “We’re going slow because we have a girl whining in the back” pace. Well, with our detour we were 1 minute late and missed Lost River. Sad face. So at that point we all just branched off and went home. Except for me! I kept going back out to Eagle, determined to keep going. The only way I’m going to get better is to push myself when I am tired. Ryan suggested climbing Seaman’s Gulch. Good idea. Halfway there, Liz calls on my cell phone–she wants to do Seaman’s with me! So I double back and meet up with her. At the top of Seaman’s, I took a picture of the Hidden Springs tower to prove to all those doubter boys now popping open cans of beer that we did do it, then we went to my house. My tummy was queazy when I finally unclipped from my bike. But I did it and I felt GREAT!!

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 06/11/2008
• Time: 16:00:00
• Total Time: 4:00:00.00
• Distance: 56 miles
• Average Speed: 14 mph

Today’s the first day of my new “training schedule”.  I’m supposed to do a 25 minute swim followed by a 35 minute cycle, mimicking part of the tri.  I got 20 mins of swim time in, and a longer bike ride.  I met Ryan and Wyatt at Java in Hyde Park and we went up Bogus Basin Road.  Another new ride for me…I’ve been getting introduced to so many new trails and rides…I love it!!!  Today was just a 1500 ft ascent up the road over approx. 8 miles.  Tough, but I managed it fairly well without stopping and I stayed out of my granny ring.  I wasn’t even in my granny gear of the middle ring.  Woot woot!!! 

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 06/09/2008
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00
• Distance: 16 miles
• Average Speed: 16 mph
• Ascent: 1,200 ft
• Descent: 1,200 ft

I haven’t been swimming…bad, bad me…but after I got off work this morning I biked over to the REC and swam some easy laps.  Nothing complicated; 4 laps with a kickboard, 4 with hand paddles, 8 laps freestyle, and then a couple more with the kickboard.  Felt good.  Not in good swimming shape, but my fitness level carried me through the workout.  Then I biked home. 

Workout:

• Type: Swim
• Date: 06/09/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

I joined up with Lost River Cycling for their Sunday ride.  I intended to ride with the “pro group” but ended up on the Tourista ride.  They were a blast.  Their pace was definitely hard for me to keep (too slow) but it was a nice change from me trying frantically to keep up with my EMI teammates.  We did Hilltop, a 5 mile 1000 foot ascent up Hwy 55.  My leg’s felt amazing!  I kept a steady pace and really impressed myself with how good I felt and did. 

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 06/08/2008
• Time: 11:00:00
• Total Time: 3:00:00.00
• Distance: 32 miles
• Average Speed: 10.67 mph
• Ascent: 1,000 ft
• Descent: 1,000 ft

I moved to the North End for the specific purpose of biking to work.  Today was the first.  It was fun!  I’m definitely gonna keep it up!

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 06/06/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 00:10:00.00
• Distance: 1.5 miles
• Average Speed: 9 mph

I have always ran on my own.  Occasionally a friend would tag along, but mostly its a solitary journey.  Lately, though, I have been missing the companionship of other people.  Therefore, yesterday (Thursday) I went and checked out a running group at Shu’s Running Company.  5 miler@8:42.  That pushed my limits a little bit.  When I have other people running with me, I try so hard to keep up.  It hurts but I sure can sustain a higher pace for a longer time.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 06/05/2008
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 00:42:10.00
• Distance: 5 miles
• Average Pace: 8:24.2/mile

Today was just me, Wyatt, and Bryan riding.  s/p the Ironman, Bryan wasn’t feeling up to doing anything too intense and it was Wyatt’s first day back on the bike.  Soooo, we took it slow.  Rather, I pedalled my buns off and they coasted….grrr, what I wouldn’t give for longer legs or stronger muscles sometimes…My “speedy” mode is their cake ride…oh well, guess that gives me something to shoot for…

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 06/04/2008
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

I got to be a “peeler” for the athlete’s when they hopped (or crawled) out of the frigid +/-50 degree water…It was amazing to see the types of people.  Large. SKINNY. Determined.  Laughing and giggling.  Moms.  Professionals.  All of them together.   And when they were doing this they all looked the same–like athletes.  The courage of every last one of them astounds me.  The weather was frigid at the start.  Having the guts to say “Ok, this really sucks, but let’s kick its ass” really was a gut check this morning.  My best memories of the day were right before the finish.  Little kids clamoring and climbing over the barricades into their dad’s waiting arms–then running or walking over the finish line together.  Whoever said that running is a lonely sport should have seen it today.  Not one person crossed the line without a handful of people cheering them on.  90% of the people I cheered on weren’t even from Boise, much less someone I knew.  It left a burn in my veins–then I remembered that I have my own (my first) triathlon in July.  Then that burn turned ice cold.  Seeing it in person is daunting.  Scary as hell.  Mine is in a small town about 4 hours from here.  1.5K swim, 40K ride, and a 10K run.  Definitely not an Ironman, but still a large demon to me.  I drooled over the bikes in the corral and felt that my own bike was quite antiquated in comparison.  I don’t have a heart rate monitor, or the fancy time trials handle bars, or the gu packets oozing out my pores.  I felt woefully inadequate and wallowed in that for a moment.  Then Sue, my fellow peeler, pointed out another bike similar to mine and said “They made it, didn’t they?”  Good point.  I am a plugger, determined and stubborn as hell, and I will finish this tri.  It won’t be pretty, in fact, it may be quite ugly, but it will be my own work of art. 

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 06/01/2008
• Time: 20:55:33

Ran yesterday with Sparky.  After the run the day before, my legs were like lead!!!  I felt like a “penguin” in every sense of the word.  I had to walk parts of it.  But the day was bea-u-tiful!  We picked up Riley and Maximus and took them for a walk downtown to check out the setup for the Ironman…dude, that’s exciting!  I’m volunteering with it and can’t wait!