Better Late............Or Maybe Not

About a hundred years ago my parents took me to Vermont.  Ok.  It was last month.  It feels like a hundred years ago. I did "compete" in a triathlon, but I also was a tourist as this was a tri-cation.  We had a ball.  It was so much fun having my parents all to myself.  Usually I am wanting for attention while they throw money and candy at my children and tell them how cute they are. 
We left outta Houston on Thursday.  All day my MIL who was at home taking care of the kids was searching for the keys to my truck.  I can just picture her searching every nook and cranny because she is focused like that.  Not like me.  I start looking for something and while I am doing that I find something I had previously lost, like a book, then I start reading it and forget what I was doing.  (Kinda like this story........)
Anyway right before I checked my luggage I got an idea.  I opened up my suitcase and there were the keys to my truck.  Shaye had been helping me pack.  I was worried about what else she might have stuck in there.

My mom and I turned into a giggling mess while the safety precautions were being recited on the plane.  My dad tried to pretend he didn't know us.

Oh!  It's been a long time since I have pushed my mom around in a wheelchair.  I guess she had forgotten she permanently fired me from that job.  Hey!!  I only let her go down an incline once.  I only ran into another person once and I did do ANY donuts!!

Once in Vermont we made plans to see the sights.  My mom told my dad.  "We are not going to ____________.  If we take her there she will tell everyone we only took her to lame stuff!"  FINALLY!  I have struck fear into the hearts of my parents with my blogging influence.

First we got lost in Burlington.  I think part of the problem was map scale.  We were looking at the map of Vermont as if it were the map of Texas.  I guess maybe we should have paid more attention to the scale and less attention to the beautiful GREEN around us.
Second we got lost in Burlington.
Third we got lost in Burlington.
:)
Friday before the race we headed to New York and see Fort Tygonorrhea. 
Who knew you could take a thirty minute car ride and be in a whole other state.  Cool.
Fort Typonderosa is a fort used in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.

Apparently they shot boats invading from Lake George.  I was just trying to sound smart there.  I don't know the name of the lake.

My dad broke off from the tour and was clearly trying to decide if he could round up the necessary materials to fire this cannon. 

This is my reenactment of a boat landing at Fort Ticonderoga.  (Yes.  That is the real name.)
After the race we tried to go see the house of Ethan Allen.  There are no pictures of that because we never found it.  It was three miles from us and we drove thirty miles to try to find it.   Again....scale.  During that trip we did go visit what my parents insist was an island, but it was clearly connected to Vermont by a strip of land.  My parents and I are just going to have to agree to disagree.
The landscape there was gorgeous.  Everything was so green and lush.  I hate the cold, but I would love to return for a (short) visit in the winter to see it all covered in a blanket of snow.

The food in Vermont was delicious!!  The night before the race we went to a diner and I was afraid to order anything good because I didn't want to puke on the course.  Soooooo. We returned immediately after the race and I pigged out.

This was my first lobster roll and it was DELICIOUS.  Also it was 1400 calories.  I know because they had the calories listed on the menu.  I noticed that last time I was up north too.  I wish they would start doing that here in Texas.  I feel a need to know how many calories are in chili con queso and guacamole.

My dad refrained from ordering the 2000 calorie dish he really wanted the first night, but he dove into it the next day.

Sadly he had to abort his mission.  He just couldn't finish the meal. Really he barely made a dent in it, but he was exhausted from trying.

All in all I had a great time.  It was so very incredible of my parents to haul my adult butt up there and entertain me and watch me race.  Next year the race is in the same place and I hope to be able to return with The Coach.
My parents stayed in Vermont after I left and got out just in time to miss the bad weather that plagued the area.  I hope that Vermont bounces back from the flooding soon.  It is a beautiful place and all of the people I ran into there were super friendly and welcoming.

I Lovermont

At the beginning of the summer I blogged about how I had qualified for the triathlon National Championships and my parents were taking me.
They did.
Today I am going to write about the race and then tomorrow the trip itself.

Swim

Here I am enjoying a pre race cocktail.  Really it's just gatorade. 
I think I was in the 87th wave to start.  The waves before me had swum in deceptively straight lines leading me to believe there was little current or pull.  So I jumped in under that false assumption and started about ten minutes of treading water.  While I was treading water the announcer announced, "Susan Williams is in the water."  Susan Williams is THE U.S. women's Olympic medalist from the U.S.   I was swimming with her.  We were neck and neck.....right until the horn sounded.
I quickly realized that I was out of my league as the rest of the field pulled ahead of me.  I dealt with that through the first and second buoy and I was being overcome by the next wave at the third.  Then it all fell apart and I considered quitting as a lifeguard tried to beat me into returning to the course with his oar.  The sun was in my eyes, I was swimming in circles, I had a cramp, and some jerk told me I was swimming sideways.  (Just for the record....I MEANT too!)

I am the one splashing around out there WAAAAAYYYYY of course.

The only thing that kept me from giving up was thinking that my parents had funded the whole trip and my mom had walked all the way to the race start.  If I had quit then it would all be a waste.  I never did see that fourth buoy, but I did spot the fifth and figured I might live, so I continued swimming and finally made it to dry land.  I thought I had been out there forever, but it turns out it was right at 38 minutes.  Not much off my usual pace.
Swim - 00:38:17

 Does this outfit make me look fat?


I managed not to pull a glut getting out of my wetsuit and headed on to the next phase.

The Bike
I had rented a very nice tri bike for the occasion instead of paying for my own bike to me dismantled and rebuilt numerous times.  It was awesome.  Shifting was different as were the aero bars and the handle bars, but all in all it was fine.
The idea of hills had me intimidated ever since I signed up for the race.  The first 2.5 miles were total incline.  And to mock me the people ahead of me were FLYING downhill to finish up their bike.  Usually my heart rate is usually only around 180 when I am going all out.  On the bike my heart rate stayed around 225 the entire time.   It was definitely hard, but not impossibly so.  Vermont was beautiful and I had plenty of time to see it. I figure I was in last place because whenever I rode passed a volunteer or officer they started up their engines as if they were done with their shift.
It was quite exhilarating to look down and see my speed as 37.00 mph after the turnaround.  Since I had never ridden the bike other than on the trainer for the fitting I was really praying the brakes worked.  Whew.
The cramp I developed in the swim was noticeable on the bike, but not traumatic.   (That's foreshadowing by the way.)
Bike - 1:27:30

Hallelujah! I survived the bike.  Oh darn....it's time to run.

Run
The run is never my strong point and the feeling that I was in last didn't help.  Neither did the half mile climb to start us off.  UHG.  I walked it and my side was killing me by the time I got to the top.  I walked/ran as best I can.  Five people from my age group passed me which filled me with hope AND despair.  Each time I thought, "I wasn't last!  But I am now."
At one point I was walking and a nice older (very older) lady competitor ran by me and asked if I was injured.  I told her I had a bad cramp and couldn't breath and she encouraged me to run with her nice and slow.  I did run with her for probably a mile and a half and I am so thankful for her encouragement.  She was a previous world qualifier and very interesting too!  By the time she ran off I only had a mile left.

Run - 1:13:22
Finally I reached the finish line and received my finishers medal.  Both my dad and my mom were there to congratulate me.  (Everyone else had packed up and gone home.  Ok.  Not really.)  I was very glad my mom was able to see me race.  I was even more glad my dad had pre agreed to a big honking LUNCH!!
Total - 3:23:46

Can you see them rolling up the carpet after my finish?  Kidding.

Sometimes it is important to just keep going because it turns out I didn't do as poorly at the race as I thought I was doing. I was over my best olympic distance time by about four minutes.  Really with the hills and the unfamiliar bike and all that wasn't too bad.
I came in 106th out of 107 in my age group.  Of course if I were just basing my performance on that I would be disappointed, so it is a good thing I am not.  It's like I told my dad.  I was still getting passed, but I was getting passed by a much better class of athlete!

I was really looking forward to putting that 1800 calories back in my belly!! 

I was an experience I am lucky to have had.  I hope to get a chance to return next year and do a better job since I have one national championship under my belt!  Can't wait.  (Mom and Dad - I will try to save up some money between now and then!!)

Tomorrow I plan to fill you all in on the vacation part of this trication.
Try to contain your excitement.

It Was Hot

Sorry.  Not describing anything scandalous here.   Just a race recap.

I did the Bridgeland Tri on Sunday.  It was a sprint length tri, 500 m, 13.5, and 3.5.

I haven't raced since June what with the cruise and then signing up for the race in Vermont.  I was really looking forward to this race.  I wanted to knock it out of the park.  I wanted to beat this chick at practice who has been slacking off and telling me how it is hard to workout when she would rather sit on the couch with her new boyfriend.  I wanted to run 3.5 miles at a 9/mile pace.

Instead here is what happened.

We showed up early on Sunday after listening to the fishing report.  My group of loyal supporters was happy to be there.  Don't they look like it?  Body marking and transition were WAY backed up.  There was talk about delaying the start.  I got ticked.  I was already a bit miffed that all of the men's waves started before any of the women's.  Great.  I wanted to run in the searing heat.  My bike rack was the one furthest back.  Uhg.

I had to stop and remind myself I can not change the weather, or my bike placement, or the timing of the waves.  As I read in an Ironman's blog not long ago, "The only thing I have control over is my attitude."  I wish I could say I only had to remind myself of that once, but by the time I stood in an ant pile waiting for my swim wave to start I had already reminded myself multiple times.

I swam well.  My strategy was to start WAY left.  It added a couple of meters to my swim, but it kept me out of the "scrum" of swimmers and that was nice.  It was a straight swim course with no turn around which was also nice.  I was able to swim in the proper position without having to stick my head out of the water to check my position. My time was a whole minute faster than in practice last weekend.  Probably it was the best swim I have had this season.
Time -11:39, 16/54

My attitude was improving as I had one leg under my belt and I felt like if everything went well.  I felt I could make my A Goal time of 1:27:00.  I figured that time would put me in the top ten in my age group and assure that I beat the chick who was hanging out with her boyfriend!!  My bike sounded so much better than it had in the past since I had some minor repairs done.  The bike route was crowded.  There were a few instances of scary passing. At mile 8 I saw the chick pass me.  I wanted to keep her in my sights in case she had a rough run and I could still catch her.  I spent the next few miles really pushing myself to keep her in view.  By the time I finished only two people from my age group had passed me.  My A Goal was still within reach, but it was going to require the best run of my life!
Time - 41:17, 17/54 (19.6 mph)

 All summer I have been working on my running and finally it was beginning to pay off.  Conversely the week before the race I had run for crap.  It is Africa hot here and running in it is hellacious.  It's awful.  I tried to run in the heat about four times the week before the race.  I have to say that none of those times was I completely successful.
I started to run and my legs already hurt.  I figured I had gone out too hard on the bike.  I told myself to ignore it for 30 minutes and move on. I had heard a hard core triathlete from my team talking about how the pain just had to be ignored.  I was ready to try it.   Mile 1 - 9:29.  Mile 2 was through a nature trail.  I started sneezing and snorting and coughing.  Other people were losing time blessing me!!  I told myself to ignore it for 30 minutes and move on.  Mile 2 - 10:20.  I got discouraged.

Did I mention it was hot?  I am not using this as an excuse.  It was hot for everybody and many racers handled it much better than I did.  I am just saying....HOT.  I weight myself before the race.  After the race I drank two cans of Coke, a can of grapefruit juice, and half a bottle of water.  Then I weighed myself again. I was still down three pounds.  That is a lot of sweat!!


By mile 3 I had let the heat, the allergies, and all the people passing me affect me.  I slowed way down.  I walked a few steps.  Walking in a triathlon seems to do something to me mentally.  I felt totally defeated.  I walked a little more.  Mile 3 11:20.  By the time I got to the turn many ladies from my age group had passed me.  It is really hard to finish top ten when eleven people pass you on the run!  I did run the last .65 of a mile at a decent pace to finish that infernal inferno run.

Time: 40.14, 33/54 (10:52 pace)
Total: 1:35:17, 23/54


By the way...I did beat the chick with the new boyfriend.  She had two flats in the bike.   I feel bad for her.  She was having a good race.  I didn't want to beat her like that.  It doesn't exactly count.

You got any regrets lately?

(Side note - Wednesday morning I was scheduled to do a hard bike/run brick.  I ran a 8:35 mile.  That was the first time I had run under a 9 minute mile probably EVER.   Why didn't I do that on Sunday?)

Saigie's Try

Saigie did a triathlon on Saturday.  I couldn't be prouder of her.  It was the Bridgeland Kids Triathlon. 

The distances were supposed to be one lap of swim in the pool, a 2 mile bike and a .5 mile run. 

Saige said they made her swim 100 meters like the big kids even though she kept, "trying to tell them."

At the finish line I waited for her and told her brothers it would be two more minutes before she got there.  Right when I said that she showed up and she was TRUCKIN'!! 

I was so happy for her accomplishment.  As was the rest of her athletic supporters.

 Shaye hollered for about thirty minutes straight.  It was the cutest thing.  "Go Saigie!!"

And remember no matter what the pesky brothers may claim about Saige's athletic prowess.  If it were easy, they would call it football!! :)

Inevitable Crash

 It was bound to happen.  Sooner or later I was going to crash my bike.  It is a wonder I am still alive.
(By the way that whole statement was a slight exaggeration.  As is the rest of this post. I was not injured.)

I have had to change my approach to riding since I signed up for that Vermont race.  You may remember me whining about the hills.  So I had to practice hills which I am unfamiliar with.

I got distracted and I fell.  The following picture may be hard to look at.  (Not really.)

See?
I would usually go for my Sunday ride outdoors in the 100 degree heat.  I would usually peacefully coexist with eighteen wheelers and road kill.  My coach suggested though, that I stack some books under my front wheel to simulate hills.  I did this on Sunday.  (See, history does come in handy.)

Out of the kindness of my heart I didn't wake up any of the older kids to watch the babies.  The Coach was at a baseball game.  I figured the babies would eventually get bored of watching me ride in place and go watch cartoons. I would have been better off with the trucks and the road kill.

They kept coming over to me trying to hand me things, or in Shaye's case just staring at me.  Then they emptied my night stand.  After that they jumped on my bed.  Then they really started making a mess.  At one point I turned my handlebars while yelling at them to turn off the bath tub water and put the cat down and my bike fell off the stack of history books I had them on.

Whew.  I didn't fall over.  It about gave me a heart attack, but no real damage was done.

The last fifteen minutes of the ride Tayte finally did get tired of watching me ride in place and went and drew a picture.

  Here it is again.  His explanation of the picture - It is a hot dog person and a biscuit person. 

The hot dog person has glasses.

When The Coach got home he asked, "Did the trainer ride not go well?"  It turns out he was asking that based on the state of our bedroom when he returned.  Hmph. 

Please tell me I am not the only person who has ever tried to crash while ON the bike trainer!!

For Real This Time

You might wake up one morning thinking, "Why can't you sweet babies sleep past 6:30?"  You might roll out of bed and start fixing breakfasts not even thinking about Vermont, or even knowing there is such a thing as USA Triathlon National Championships.

You might turn on cartoons and sit down to read emails with a peach, strawberry, spinach smoothie and you might open up an email that says.

Congratulations HEATHER , you have qualified for the 2011 USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals after your finish in the TriGirl Super Sprint Triathlon ranked among the top 10 percent.

You might do a little dance and be amazed since you never even knew such a thing existed.  For a few moments there might be ponderments (yes a word) about if it would be feasible to go.  After remembering the cruise that is about to happen and the 40th birthday girl's weekend coming up in the fall, you might decide to just forget all about it.

UNTIL

Until you mention it to your dad and he thinks August in Vermont sounds like a great idea.

The next morning Dad may call and say he and Mom have decided to move their summer vacation from San Antonio to VERMONT and they would be glad to take you with them!!!!!!!  (You may have the best parents EVER!!!!)

Your husband might sigh lovingly and say, "Have fun."

That's right ya'll.  I am going to the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship!!  IN VERMONT. (All the second person was kinda lame, but I was referring to myself.)

I registered and then I looked at the course maps.

 I think that little box down there represents hills.  It looks like about 400 feet.  Can someone break this down for a coastal type girl?  Is 400 feet that much??  Am I going to die?

Here is me all registered to go.

To Do List
Rent wetsuit.  It's going to be around 60 there I read.
Learn to change flat.  Wouldn't that blow if I got all the way there and blew?
Figure out how to ship a bike!!
Get faster.  I have about 50 days.

And as an added bonus.
I won't be able to do the Clear Lake Race with this.

Darn schedule conflicts.

Has anyone done one of these races before? 
Any advice?
Should I stop eating bacon and egg hamburgers now?  (Better yet stop mentioning them?)

Do you think the numbers of participants in this race is low because it is clear to Vermont and that is why the e-mailed me?  Probably.  I don't care.  Don't burst my bubble.

This Just In

Nothing is "just in".  Nothing is exciting.
I just couldn't think of a better title.

I haven't written about tri training lately, so I am going to do that.  Just in case you think all I am doing around here is grounding kids and taking naps. 

I have three areas to discuss.  (Really just two. I'll have to think of a third one while I write.)

1. Nutrition
I texted my sista-girl buds and told them for our girls night I wanted to go to the 59 Diner and have a fried egg hamburger and a milkshake.  Sarge texted me back that it sounded like a great meal for an athlete.  It's ok.  She can make fun of me all she wants since she called me an athlete.
Other than that we are holding strong on the sugar limitations.  No sodas have been in the house diet, or regular.  As far as I know there have been no pop tarts.  It turns out that left with no other choice the kids will eat strawberries, blueberries, cantalope, watermelon, apples, and oranges.  After about two weeks they will even quit griping about it.

Here is Saigie enjoying a peach.  Do you like her hair feather??

I finally ventured into the realm of smoothie-ness.  I have been making delicious sugar free smoothies with greek yogurt, berries and peaches and spinach even.  It is good to get some protein in the morning and even a couple of servings of fruit/veggies.  I hope to keep this up when school starts.  Rushed breakfast is the hardest time for me to make decent food choices.

Here is Ty lamenting the loss of his morning Pop-Tart.  He did admit though that his workouts are going a lot better when he eats something more nutritious for breakfast.

2. Failure
I could really use a win.  I don't think I have completed a run in like two weeks.  That completion was awesome.  The first time I have run six miles in under an hour!!  Woot.  Followed by two weeks of crap!
For example, this morning I was supposed to run 7 miles starting at warm up pace and slowly getting faster.  I didn't make it.
Biking has been more difficult than usual.  Two workouts a week I am supposed to get up to zone 4 heart rate and my legs just aren't cooperating.  They kind of feel like big useless sacks of sand. 

My imagine reasons are: resumed weight training, heat, workouts geared to building back up to olympic length triathlons, waking up to late and then dealing with heat.
My imagine solution: fried egg hamburger and beer and a cruise.

3. Critters
I have seen a lot of critters lately. 
I have seen snakes, bunnies, squirrels, armadillos, a deer, buzzards and one possum who was walking right down the sidewalk at 5:30 am. 
I don't know about vermin behaviors, but I guess the severe drought has them searching for water.  Or maybe they are searching for Popsicles because the snake was right on my front porch.  (Oh why didn't I take a picture!?)
The neighbor lady I accosted when I first moved in told me today she was running over the weekend and ran right past two coyotes thinking they were deer.  She said one was pissed and lunged toward them.  I guess after that he decided it was too hot to attack her or her dog.  I will be on the look out.

It started raining today during my run which was nice.  My arm started stinging and I realized I had through a swam of flying ants.  There were about fifteen on my arm.  These are the last five or so that managed to hang on for the entire run.  (It is hard to take a picture of my own arm.  Even more so when this creature is hanging on to my legs letting me know she was NOT happy to stay at home with the brothers while I ran.)

 I got slightly spoiled by the Texas drought and I was quite shocked when I woke up to rain the other morning.  I had to set up the bike trainer.  I asked Ty to come take my picture. He smiled and said, "ok" then I never saw him again.....so just imagine me riding my little heart out here.

I thank all of you with low entertainment thresholds for making it through the whole post! 

Do you know if any tried and true solutions for sand bag legs?  Do you like fried egg hamburgers?  Have you ever fed a snake a Popsicle?

Clear Lake Tri

 Sub Title - My Butt Thanks YOU, Dad

My dad took pity on me and my repeated lamentations about my butt.  More specifically my bike saddle was killing my butt.  It got to where I didn't even want to sit in a regular chair any more.   Which is unfortunate as is hard to drink wine lying down.  I mean it can be done, but it is messy.
Anyway he offered to buy me a new seat.  I declined because expensive.
I went to the bike store to get a new fit and the bike guy pointed out that the rails on my seat were bent.  He gave me a loaner to try out.  I can't say that I like it. 
My tri coach suggested a different seat and it was in fact expensive.  I called Dad up to see if the offer was still good. It was.  Whew....he hadn't spent the money on my pesky brothers.
It has gel and it is one of those "cut out" seats.  I have used it twice now.  Once on the road and once on the trainer.  The road day was terrible as far as zones and speed and I was afraid it was the seat, but now looking back I think my legs were just toast last week for some reason.  It feels good and I can sit in a regular chair again.  That's good.  The red wine stains were ruining the couch.

Next Sub Title - I Hate Sadist Triathlon Route Planners

My next big race is supposed to be the Clear Lake Olympic Distance Triathlon in August.  I haven't signed up for it yet.  Here's why.

You probably don't remember but this big causeway was mile five and six of the Kemah Olympic Distance race I ran in April.  It was a killer. 
For some reason the event planners of the Clear Lake Tri have decided to use this damn bridge again except this time for the bike. 
Are they freaking kidding me?
I mean I live on the coast.  There are plenty of miles - you can actually see them - stretched out end to end not changing in elevation at all.  In fact they are pretty much at sea level.  I do not know why the planners had to put the bike route out of the way to include this structure.  I hate them.  I am sorry. I do.
I know some of you encounter hills daily and I respect you. 
You know that saying, "Run for the Hills"?  Well I don't do that.  I run from them.  Bike too. 
Sigh.
What is a wimpy triathlete to do?
Anyone know any good hill workouts to do when there are no hills in the area?

What do you like to avoid?  Heat?  Hills? Wind? Cold? Dairy Queen?

Matter Over Mind

I know.   It's backwards.
Yesterday I competed in the Tejas Triathlon - Sprint distance in Sugarland, Tx.

I posted a goal for this race as 1:18:00  based on my times in my last race.*
After I posted it I laughed.
Then I cried.
Then I was sickly.
Then I couldn't breathe.
It got hot out.
Then as the race got closer I kept thinking of humorous ways to write about my failure.  Thinking up failure recap posts before packet pickup has even occurred is probably a bad thing.
This race kicked my arse last year in a bad way.

The night before the race The Coach found out the next game in his baseball tournament was at 8:00 am.  He wouldn't be able to concierge** the race for me for the first time ever.  I was resigned to having a crappy race.

I trucked myself up to the race and before I had even completed the mile walk to transition I realized I was having some severe digestive problems.  (To put it mildly.)  I made three more porta can stops before I even got in the water.  (At that point I wished I had made another.)  I texted The Coach that I was having problems.  Too bad he wasn't there to take pictures of the porta shitters as he calls them.

I got into the water determined not to swim an extra 100 meters as I had at this race in the past.  I started off on the far right with the plan of staying close to the buoys.  By the time I got to the second buoy I had crossed diagonally through the wave of swimmers and situated myself in the most crowded place possible.  I am sure that was just as enjoyable for the swimmers I ran into as it was for me.  It was crowded and I tried to hang, but many people were doing breast stroke.  Getting kicked by a breast stroke kick is way more painful than a flutter kick.  It is also harder to get around a breast stroker.  I had swallowed duck poop water and had a goggle full of water, but really I should expect that by now.  I finally had to breaststroke too in order to map out a better route.  The rest of the swim went smoother.
Time: 14:40 - This is actually the time for both the swim and T1 as there seemed to be some timing glitch?
Place: ? (Probably 9)

I transitioned to the ride feeling no better about the whole race.  That is the feeling that comes when your bike is the last one on the rack after the swim. I soon started to feel better as my mph seemed pretty solid.  I saw a pack of ladies in front of me and I thought if I could just hang with them I would be doing well.  Honestly I didn't give more than a passing though to saving something for the run.  I was thinking my run would suck no matter what.  I kept the pack in sight for the first loop and then I lost most of them on the second loop.  The bike seemed to be over before I knew it and I felt pretty confident.
Time: 36:36:4
Place: 10
Pace: 21.3

T2 was long.  Probably because I was dreading the run.  This run kills me every year.  In order to make it less painful this year I tried to familiarize myself with the route before race day.  I do better when I can spot something I recognize along the way.  I thought back and remembered that the path along the drainage ditch is always the part that has done me in in the past.  This strategy seemed to help.  At least no one with a walker passed me this year!  I didn't see anyone from my age group pass me, but the head of the 35-39 pack blew by me in the last mile.  I just kept saying to myself,  "run, run, run".  My strategy was to skip water stations until the last one where I poured water over my head and took one sip of Gatorade.  I made the turn into the drainage ditch and tried to keep my pace under 10:00/mile.  Finally I saw the little white bridge that signaled proximity to the finish.  I kicked in it probably too late I could have started running faster sooner.
Time: 28:34:8
Place: 12
Pace: 9:31

Total: 1:21:11.9
Place: 11/20

The reason I call this Matter Over Mind is because my mind had highly underestimated what my body was capable of .  I so badly wanted to do better than last year.  And I did.  I improved on my time by ten minutes.
I didn't think I would though.
I thought I would suck.
There is a difference between psyching yourself UP and psyching yourself OUT.  I did the latter.  My body had to override my mind this time and prove myself wrong.  If those two would ever get together I might be phenomenal.
I don't know that I could have hit my goal time, but I probably could have shaved off another minute in transition and maybe another minute in the run if I had been in a better mental state.

So to recap the recap................

On the pro side
Good bike. (Must have been a fast route all the times were good, but that's cool.  I can live with that.)
Did my first race solo and lived, or more to the point didn't get lost and mugged.
I realize I have got to spend some time working on my swim which used to be my best leg.

Con side
No pictures as I was solo.
Sucky attitude caused me to forget to enjoy the first half of the race.
Drought caused lake to extra duck poopy.
My son called me in the middle of my post race nap.  Grrr.

*Apparently when I originally set my goal I failed to factor in that last year is was an 11 mile ride.  12 miles at 19 mph should have been 40 minutes.  This would have made my goal time 1:24:00.


**Term stolen from Rock Star Tri who is currently on hiatus.

So.  Overall all, not bad at all.   

What experiences have exceeded your expectations lately?

Can You Hear Me Now?

As you all who are following my life with anticipation of my next move will recall, I fired my triathlon coach.
Then the next day I rehired him.

Since then he has acted a tad like he may be scared of me.  Than again maybe he is just squirrely.
I just wanted to use the word, "squirrely".  Now I have.  I can move on.

He called me today.  He asked me how my workout plan was going and asked if I was doing ok and if I was happy.
I told him I was fine and that the only concern I have is that I have been exhausted lately. 

He was concerned about my exhaustion and asked if it was the workouts specifically or just life in general.  I told him it was life in general and that I wasn't getting any sleep.

Interruption -
For some reason  have been waking up about 2:34 am every morning for about the last three weeks.  I then cannot go back to sleep until about 4:00am.  My alarm clock goes off at 4:30. 
I have been falling asleep while driving which is what I always do when sleep deprived.
Back to story.

He suggested that I take a break and have a slow week the week after my next race.  I agreed that as much I didn't want to do that it would probably be for the best and maybe between a workout break and the first week of summer I could get some rest.

He said, "Your son will be out of school.  Is that your only kid?"

Interruption -
Remember I took Ty with me to the team fartleks the other day?
I used to take Saigie to the team track workout, but I decided it was traumatic for her to see me near death wheezing and cussing.
Remember one of my problems with this coach was that he didn't seem to remember me from one week to the next since I hired him in February?
Now he has SEEN and spoken to two of my kids.  I don't expect him to remember them, so that is fine.  A lot of his clients probably have kids.
Back to story.

I explained to him both when I hired him and when I rehired him that I cannot rely on group workouts because of my schedule with my FIVE kids.  I explained to him that if the crux of his plan was group workouts this team was not for me.

Back to the phone conversation, I told him (again) that I have FIVE kids.  I told him Ty was my oldest and that they ranged in age from 15 to almost 2.

He said, "HOLY SHIT!  I am impressed you manage to do any workouts.  I would be tired too.  You have five kids?" (I am sorry Mom, but that is what he said.  And I am nothing if not completely accurate on this blog.)

I wasn't mad about it.  I am not exactly annoyed by it, more like humorously confused.  I started ruminating over some of our past conversations.  I just wanted to use the word ruminating.

Once I faked embarrassment while we were taking our shoes off that mine socks didn't match.  We were commiserating on the hardship of finding two matching socks and I said, "Seven people's worth of socks are impossible to keep on top of."  What did he think I was talking about?  Was he listening?

Another time he was admonishing me for not running faster, yadda yadda yadda, at a track workout and I responded, "I just come here to get away from my kids!"  Well it was more like, "I GRUNT just come GASP WHEEZE here to get GASP away from WHEEZE my kids."  What did he think I was talking about?  Was he even listening?  He laughed so I assume he heard me.

The workout feedback he requires we complete after workouts often includes things like, "I would have liked to swim the other 500 meters, but I had to pick up a kid up from school, take one to art, and take one to the doctor to get a Polly Pocket shoe extracted from her nose."  Does he even read the logs he insists I keep?  (Does he not read my blog?)

Sigh.

I am not going to fire him again.  He is knowledgeable and I have shown improvement.  The Coach is disappointed by this decision.  He was still hoping to have a reason to beat him up.
I am not even really trying to complain about the fact that he does not remember me or more specifically my situation.
I just am wondering, "Does he ever listen?"
If not he is missing out on my number one excuse for any failure in my life including, but not limited to, a messy house, late grading, forgetting friend's birthdays and running slowly.

Are there people in your life like this?  Do you do this?  Do I?  (I guess you wouldn't know.  Unless I have done it to you that is.) 

I've Got the Shirt

My next race is Sunday and I am getting a little freaked out. 
I have done this race before a few times.  It was actually the first real sprint I ever competed in.  It is a nice race, close to home. 
I would like to win this race and if just one year they would change up the divisions to be something other than age groups I might have a shot.  For instance there could be a group for people who have completed an Ironman.  Those people have discipline.  They are truly in a class by themselves. 
I however, could be in the Wine Drinking Mom Division.  Maybe I would have a better chance at first place.
I would like to enjoy this race but every year it kicks my butt.

I have a myriad of excuses reasons why.
It's hot.  Of course it is hot in Houston, but it is the first truly scorching race of the season. 
The race directors always throw in a couple of extra bouys to trick me and I have historically ended up swimming an extra 200 yards just for fun.
The race includes the longest three mile run in history.  I don't know what it is about this particular run, but it kicks my butt every year.

To makes things worse the last three weeks my training has been sub par.
I have a myriad of excuses reasons why.
It is hot.  (I am not complaining.  I am just pointing it out.)  Sleeping an extra hour and a half Friday morning seemed like a such a good idea until I had to do my ride after school.  It was 96 degrees and I think every 18 wheeler in town was headed west with me.  My easy zone 2 workout climbed to upper zone 3 even though my average speed was 15mph.
I am exhausted.  I keep waking up at 2:36 am and twiddling my thumbs for no apparent reason.  I seem to fall asleep about ten minutes before that 4:30 alarm. 

Still though I do have a goal for this race.  (No I don't.  I just typed that and realized I need a goal.)  I decided to apply my last race times to this distance and calculate a goal.  It wasn't easy.  I suck at math.

600 yard swim  - 18.00. That's terrible.  I am going to adjust that to the same time as last year - 13.00.
12 mile bike at 19mph - 34:48
3 mile run at 9:05 pace - 27:15
Transistions - 3:00

Total (rounded) - 1:18:00
Last year my time was 1:31:26.
Wow. 
That is quite a reduction.  I am not sure if this is a reasonable goal.  Great.  Something else to think about at 2:36 am.
A time of 1:18 puts me 13th out of 31 according to last year's results. 
I bet I could be top three if I was in the Got Laps in During Adult Swim - Division.

Do you have a race that is your nemesis? 
What division would you win?
Ever go through the training blues?  Do you have any tips on escaping them?? 

Ty Fartleks

Fartleks. 
The good news is track workouts are no longer my most hated tri workout.
Guess what is?

My first experience with fartleks was awful from the moment I got lost, confused and frustrated trying to find my team in Memorial Park until I gave up running and stumbled cramping and sweating back to my truck for a smoke.  (Kidding.  I don't smoke.)  I think the whole experience was payback for the times The Coach and I would ride through Memorial Park before church looking at runners while we were eating donuts.

After the first attempt at fartleks I came to the obvious conclusion - Misery LOVES company.

I informed my son, Ty, the next day that he would be attending fartlek training with me next time.
He informed ME that he likes to run in the neighborhood so if necessary he can stop in for a brownie.

A little while later he came to me and we had the following conversation:
Ty:  So hypothetically if I went to run with you at Memorial Park, how long is the park?
Me: The park is quite large.  We would just run a portion of it which is a  three mile loop.

Ty: Who in the hell made such a long loop?  That's stupid.
Me: Ty, I was planning on running it twice.

Ty: I may go with you and run it once, but while you are running around it the second time I am going to sit and eat a cheeseburger.
Me: Yeah.  Try that in the park with thousands of hungry runners.

Fast forward two weeks - during this two weeks please imagine many failed workouts.  These failures span anywhere from not starting the workout to giving up on a five mile run after two pit stops at 4:30 am. Also throw in there some nutritional difficulty that left me wanting to eat my own arm about 3:30 every afternoon, but instead resorting to Taco Bell.

I had given Ty a choice: he could either go with me to run fartleks or he could stay at home to babysit and The Coach would go with me.  (Little did he know The Coach had already refused.)
Ty decided reluctantly to come along, but he did complain about his legs, sore from football weight lifting.
(Also there was a slight discomfort which apparently occurred when he applied Icy-Hot to his upper thighs in too close of proximity to his "parts".  For reasons that are not clear he has been begging me to blog about this ever since.  I guess he didn't want Tanner's "ball sacky" hands to get all the attention.)

I told him jogging would help loosen up his sore legs.
His reply, "My coach says that too, but I don't think the claim is backed by science.  I think it is just something people say to fat kids to make them run."

He promptly fell asleep on the recliner.  He never does this so I took pity on him and decided to leave him.   When I got ready to leave I couldn't find my keys, so I had to wake him up as he drove the car last. (I know.  It keeps me up at night too.)

I was already running late so of course he decided he wanted to go.
He got a shirt out of the dryer which is where he has been getting all his clothes for the past two days.  At some point I am going to have to point to him a dryer is for DRYING and a dresser is for storing.

I got lost again, but we finally found my team.
The plan was to run a mile warm up and then alternating hard/easy quarters miles for the next five miles. Ty's plan was to run the warm up with me then wave goodbye.

It was awful.  Apparently the gods really frown upon eating of donuts in front of hungry runners.  It was 96 degrees at 6:30p.m..  I cramped up immediately. I tried to just keep on going.  During the "easy" quarters my heart rate wouldn't slow down.  I finally just started walking/running.  When I finished the first loop I ran in the opposite direction to find Ty.  I didn't really have any worries that my man sized son had been kidnapped, but I was shocked that he hadn't made it any further.  When I finally found him I started walking with him.  Within two minutes he said, "I just don't understand why we have to walk so fast!" 
We were walking a 14:30 mile.
We met back up with the team and I informed Ty it had taken him one hour to jog/walk three miles.  I knew that was pathetic even for him because he can run a nine minute mile.  He informed me that for twenty minutes he had been in the "porta shitter" and he had "destroyed" it.  I let him know how much the running community probably appreciated him.

Overall fartleks still suck.
But the company did make it more enjoyable. 
Ty was quite impressed with the other, faster, runners on the team.  Overall I think it was a good experience for him. And he got a McFlurry for his trouble.  (What can I say?  The kid has some persuasive dimples.)

What is your most unfavorite type of training?  Would company help?
Any other suggestions on making it more enjoyable?
Also do you think I could blame my crappy performance on giving blood that day??
Or am I just crappy?

Tri-Girl Super Sprint

Sunday  I ran a super sprint tri.  Basically it is a very short triathlon.  I had posted my goal the other day as 53:00:00.  Did I make it??  Stay tuned.

We got up at the butt crack of dawn as usual.  Saige got to come along as well as The Coach's folks who have been visiting for a couple of weeks.  Mia (The Coach's Mom) took pictures which was nice because when I got the camera back I actually had pictures of the race instead of other women's boobs and port-a-potties.

Here is Saige and I messing around before the race.  Actually I am messing around and she is trying to pretend she doesn't know me.

The water was cold, but at 200 meters the swim was not long enough to mess with a wetsuit.  I am just slightly in second in this picture.  We started from land which I had never done before.  My plan was to start at the outside and then cut over in front of everyone there by missing the "scrum" of swimmers.  Had I executed that plan I would have been good, but instead I swam about 30 meters then made a hard left into that densely packed group of gals.  The getting run over and under definitely slowed me down.
Swim 6:07.5

 I put the swim behind me and headed off on the bike.  I concentrated on focusing and riding faster than 18.0 mph.  Not too many people from my age group passed me.
Bike 25:19 (19mph)

 When I got off the bike I saw The Coach and he hollered, "You better run if you are going to make it!"  I started thinking that maybe my swim was worse than I thought.  My plan was to run fast no matter how much it hurt.  It was only two miles.  I figured I gave birth to five kids I could do this.

When I ran past the coach toward the finished he looked shocked.  Later he told me, "I thought I had two more minutes to wait for you and then my mom said you were coming around the corner".

Run 18:10:04  (Let's take a minute to enjoy that.)

I have never run faster than a ten minute mile in a race.  Actually I haven't even run close to a ten minute mile.

Look how hard core I am.  I was even injured!  (There was a rock in my shoe from transitioning from the swim to the bike.  I didn't want to stop to fix it.)

I enjoyed a water with The Coach while waiting for the results.  He is not drinking coffee out of a pink mug here.  That it my finishers prize!  I am wiping my mouth because there was water on it.  He is wiping his mouth because I kissed him and he claimed I was sweaty and yucky.  Hmph.

Finally the results were up and fought my way in to see them. 
Final time - 52:18!  I beat my goal by 42 seconds.
AG Place - 5/60.  I have never been 5th in ANYTHING.  I spent the rest of the day smiling!!
Total Place - 54/326

I am proud of myself for putting the swim behind me even though I was sure it sucked and I am proud that I focused on running fast (for me) for two miles even though it was uncomfortable.  What I have learned lately is - running fast is uncomfortable, but not deadly.

After the race I came home to this future triathlete and ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and mac and cheese.  And wine. 

I played ladder golf with the family and I am pretty sure my brother, Uncle Bachelor, and I were the Champions of the Entire Civilized World. 

Do you have a competitive hobby?  What is your greatest acheivement at it?  What did you do (and eat) for Mother's Day??

Mother's Day Goals

My goals for Mother's Day are:
1. To sleep late without anyone bringing me breakfast.
2. Rake in a lot of gifts. 

Kidding of course.

I have a race Mother's Day morning so I will not be sleeping late.  I would like to get up and drag all the kids and The Coach to the race with me, but we have a logistical problem.  Five kids, two adults, a bike and a double stroller don't all fit in the Armada.  I could drive a separate car, but I don't drive so well and it's early, plus that would be irresponsible gas usage.
This race is a super sprint so it is fairly short - a 200 meter swim, 8 mile bike, and a 2 mile run.  I did pretty well last year, but I was slowed down by the two minutes it took me to get my helmet on.  (Thanks whichever kid was messing with my helmet the day before.)
This is the first triathlon I ever competed in back in 2008.  It is nice to see that all that working out has paid off and I can actually almost sprint the entire race when my previous goal used to just be lurching across the finish line so I could have a Coke. (And a donut, who am I kidding?)

Last year I did the race in 57:24.5.
I am going to go out on a limb here and put forth a goal time. 
54.00

Whew.  I wasn't nervous until I actual wrote that down. Now I am a wreck.  I think that is going to be a real stretch.

Here are some things that may work against me.
1. Swim - It is unusually rough in Lake Houston this time of year.  The first year I did the race ladies were having to be pulled out right and left.  (Their screams for help made it really hard to concentrate.)
2. Wind - It has been REALLY WINDY here lately.  I fail to understand how I can go for a ride and be against the wind both out and back. 

Here are some things I have going for me.
1.  I have been riding in the wind a couple of times a week so hopefully I am used to it.
2. I have been doing way more speed work than I have at any other time in my triathlon training, so I am thinking an under 20 minute run is possible.  I will keep telling myself I gave birth to five kids, surely I can run fast for twenty minutes.  (Right?)
3. I know to check my helmet before I leave transition.

So that is my goal.  Barring that I hope I at least do better than last years time.  It would be discouraging to do all these workouts and then not be any better off than I was last year. 
Regardless it will be fun.   My in-laws are in town and they are going to come watch the race.  My Sweet MIL says she will take some pictures.  I am pretty sure there won't be any pictures of other women's boobs on my camera when she is done.

What are your Mother's Day plans?
(And........Ya got any triathlon tips for a sista?)

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I have had some minor running victories lately which of course led to the inevitable crash reminding that I am a mere mortal and a clumsy, old triathlete.  (It's ok.  I am good with that.)

Tuesday I headed to the track to do the speed workouts with the rest of the team.  The workout was:6 x (400 zone 5, 800 zone 4 - 40RI)  I got there early because I figured it might boost my self -esteem to not be trying to finish the workout as maintenance guy is locking up the track.  I was about halfway through with the workout when the coach got there and for a surprise decided we should run the hill. 
There is a big astroturf covered hill at the school.  It is very steep on one side and just steep on the other.  He decided up and over would count as one and we should do six.  (Ok.  Maybe he said six to eight, but I was keeping focused on that number.)  I did six and then he told me to do another.  He hates me.

Wednesday's plans provided for an easy zone 2 run.  No problem. Except that because of my recent running improvements I thought I could do an entire zone 2 run at a sub ten minute pace.  I took off running and I did the first two miles around 9:45.  Then I fell over in a zone 4 heap and some middle school kid had to resuscitate me.  Not really.  But I definitely BONKED and I was lying dazed on the sidewalk (not really) I thought of the all the things that may have hindered my performance.
1. The 7 hills and speedwork I had done the evening before.
2. The 92 degree heat.  (Ok.  It was only 88, but I have taken literary license with the rest of this story.)
3.  The guy who drove by and honked and yelled, "Hey Baby!"  Because as everyone knows that IS the best way to pick up woman.  I had to stop running and track him down.  Not.  (But I did consider getting in the car with him because he was headed in the general direction of a Sonic.)
I went home and vowed to run the plan forever.

Yesterday's plan = running intervals.  Again it was 92 (88).  Again it was afternoon, not my best workout time.  But I went.  Halfway into that epic fail I realized - now back on the plan I was doing three hard runs in a row.  I gave up and decided just to do the easy run I had ruined with ambition the day before.  Even that sucked like a Hoover.  I did it though.

I no longer remember what the point of this is besides that I had written about training in a few days.
Oh yeah!
FOLLOW THE PLAN!!!

How good are you at following the plan??

Snippity B

Yesterday I called for a vote on who should write about the tri coach firing/rehiring saga.  Those resilient folks who read my entire post claimed they wanted to hear both sides.  So.  Here it is.  My husband wrote this.  I interjected as needed.

As you may know, my wife has hired a triathlon coach.  I don't ask questions........I just tell her,  "Yes." whenever she wants something.  I think there may have been three times in the history of our relationship I've told her that she can't do something.

I am sorry.  I cannot write for laughing SO HARD.  Three times?  I am not saying the obsessive  over protectiveness is not sweet I am just saying, The Coach has a plethora of rules.

We vacationed to Hawaii when she was eight months pregnant, I told her she couldn't climb to the top of Diamond Head.
So there we were climbing to the top of Diamond Head.  We got about halfway up.  You would think I would have been concerned that she would go into labor.  Nope, all I was thinking, while trailing her and mentally writing my last will and testament was,  "Please don't slip and fall", because I don't think I would have survived her landing on me.

Really funny, Girl Scout Cookie Boy.

We ended up turning around and going back down.  We definitely got some crazy looks from people on the trail as we were retreating.  I just kept telling everyone that the mental hospital called and I had to get her back.  We couldn't be late.

The only other time I remember telling her no, when she wanted me to buy a pair of chaps.  After I picked my jaw up from the floor and looked in the mirror at my fat a$$.  My response was, "I'm not in the Village People. I'm not gay. I like women. Are you wishing I was gay. Do I need to hire a "pinch hitter" to wear some chaps for you?  Are you out of your f*$#^%@ mind!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?"

The Pioneer Woman's husband wears chaps.  I am just saying.  I wasn't imagining my husband gay.  I was imagining  him a cowboy.  Hello?

 Back to my point.  About 95% of the time my wonderful, loving, awesome, hot ass wife gets what she wants.  Seriously, she does a great job taking care of the kids and being the mom and dad during baseball season, so I have no problem with her getting her way most of the time.  Maybe I've spoiled her, I really don't know, BUT she now (not all the time, but most of the time) thinks that she must get her way with everyone!

I whole heartedly agree with the first part of this paragraph.  I'll have to give the second part some thought. 

For example this coach she hired (I hate him.......can't stand him.......would punch him right in the lips if I ever saw him........would pee in his gatorade before a race if I had that chance.)  I've never even met the guy.  I'm a coach, it's my job, I know how to coach and help my players.  This guy isn't a coach, he's some weenie with ears that writes triathlon programs, puts on races, and take people's money while being lazy.  He's worthless.  Heather would be better off getting reading tips from Stevie Wonder or taking babysitting tips from Michael Jackson.

Why wouldn't he have ears?  Don't we all have ears?
He has been helpful. but I didn't feel I was getting my moneys worth.  I did not sign up to be on a team.  If I were able to do that kind of rigid schedule I would still be wetting my pants at step class. 

Heather was all ready to fire him after this last race - you know the one with the 27 trips to the "port-a-shitter".

I went twice.

I was excited.  She was going to do it over email.  I was actually hoping that he would pop off to her in his reply and give me a reason to drive to his office and pimp slap his scrawny ass.
She emailed him and told him she was letting him go and his services were no longer needed.  I wanted to write the email.  She wouldn't let me (something about harrassment and jail time.)  He replied back, and Heather forwarded that to me.  I read it and laughed.  I also read her reply to him.  Then I walked out of the dugout at my game, called her and told her that she was a real snippity b!%^h in that email.

Her response was classic.  WELL.......I WAS TRYING TO BE!!!!!!"  I said to myself, "Self, at least you aren't the only one getting the royal treatment."  I would never say that to her.  She would pee in my Post Toasties in the morning.  I did tell her that if that was her goal, she most definitely accomplished it.

(My husband doesn't eat Post Toasties.  I would never TRY to be a Snippity B. to him.)


The tri coach had two main issues with the firing.
1. It was a shame I hadn't actually done a race before I quit so I could accurately assess the benefits of his training.
2. If I was unhappy why didn't I say something sooner so he could fix the problem?

I had two responses.
1.  I DID do a race the previous weekend.  His race.  He SAW me.  I went on to say that the fact he didn't seem to know who I was despite our repeated meetings was most definitely part of the problem.
2.  Fair enough.  I let him know that he does not communicate with me.  His services promise weekly progress reports.  I didn't get ANY.  I don't need to pay another person for the privilege of nagging them.  Furthermore I have better things to do than to log all my workouts so that I can get no feedback.  I told him I didn't hire him to attend scheduled groups workouts exclusively and he felt that was the crux of the program then we just weren't a good fit.
I went on to tell him if he thought he could fix those things I would continue service with him.  

Ultimately he did agree that he had not given me the attention I deserved and he outlined his plan to correct the situation.


In the end I got home from my game last night and we talked.  She didn't end up firing him.  She kept him on for another month.  I can't believe it.......actually.......I can.  I told her to give him another chance and maybe he'd make some changes.  If not, she can fire him next month and I might still get my chance to break him in half.

This post seems to have different points for each of us. 
The Coach's point - I am spoiled.  I can be a snippity B.  He wants to beat up someone.

My point - I should not have assumed  the tri coach could read my mind. (Why DO men have such a hard time with that?)  People sometimes deserve a second chance.  (Hopefully they won't need a third. )

Running Down a Dream

I haven't written any training posts lately so I thought I would today. 

For you non crazy runner types - Read it anyway.  I'll be back to posting wonderful parenting tips, and overall genius tomorrow, or at least I'll have another story about injury and exposure.

Here are the training workouts I have done this week.

Sunday - 2 hr bike - Zone 2

Monday 1hr run - Zone 2

Both of these were nice.  I saw many flowers and even more road kill.  I have strange tan lines.

Tuesday am - 35 minute bike - Zone 2

Tuesday pm - Track torture - 4.5 miles - Zone 2-5 (Puke)

Wednesday am - 45 minute run - zone 2 (Sleep running!)

Wednesday afternoon - 1 hr bike - Zone 2

****I did not do this workout.  I had to take a nephew to baseball and a guinea pig to get a pedicure.  

Yes.  Really.

Then I had to find a child who was MIA and go to P$'s birthday party. 

Thursday am - 55 minute bike - power intervals.  Ha.

Usually I would not ride on the morning of track, nor would I run six miles the evening before.  BUT I fired my coach, and then two days later I re-hired him.  (Another story for another day.)   During those two days he switched track from Wednesday to Tuesday.  (See?  He is trying to kill me.)

We ran 12 x 400

I won't write them all here, but my best time was 1:56 and my worst was 2:16. 

The fired/rehired coach tried to help me with form.  Imagine trying to help a pigeon toed chicken run better.

He also pointed out that I had improved over my February track workouts which is true. 

I guess I am impatient and ready to see real improvements that translate to faster actual RACE running.  Preferably I would like to do this without breathing hard or hurting.  :)  My legs are very sore.

I have included these two (completely narcisstic and self indulgent)  pictures.

1. Race in September before hiring/firing/rehiring a coach.

2. Race last week after three months of coaching. 

Do I look any faster?

I kid.

Are you becoming impatient about any goals?

Or better yet.

What goals WERE you impatient about that finally paid off?

And.....

Rock Star Triathlete has told me a couple of times that improving the bike is the way to improve the run.  Can anyone share any other methods of improvement they have had?  Especially ones that involve eating pizza!!

One last thing and thank you for reading this far.  Apparently I created a monster when I let The Coach post.  He now has written a recount of my firing/rehiring my coach.  Who would you like to hear the story from?

Me?

Him?

Both?

Bye now!!