Here, I am, in my hockey gear, watching the USA play Canada. Again. Except this time, it’s for a medal.
It’s been a busy week, just getting workouts done and going to the office and such. Nothing too exciting.
Yesterday, we decided to do some furniture moving in the house, which required organizing some of the stuff stored in the furniture. For 7+ years, I’ve tossed ribbons, show photos and title certificates into a large dresser drawer in our guest bedroom. Digging them all out was like rediscovering old treasures, remembering the memories that went with the trials and shows. I ended up filling this entire bin with win ribbons!!! Mostly Max’s but Stanley is responsible for some pretty big ones (BOBs and specialty wins) too.
Today I had my first good long outdoor ride of the year! Despite all the on and off rain we’ve been having, the day ended up being perfectly sunny!
I got to finally wear my IM AZ kit!
This time of year, everything is green and beautiful out!
I was thrilled to do one of our regular hilly rides and see that all my winter work on the trainer is paying off – the climbs didn’t feel hard! I also didn’t get dropped by the boys :)
Training totals for February 22-28: Swim: 6500 yards Bike: 67.1 miles Run: 15.3 miles Strength: 1 hour Total time: 10.6 hours
February Totals: Swim 23,750 yds/Bike 198.2 mi/Run 62.3 mi
*Stanley and I spent a lot of time together this week…appointments all week, off to the groomer on Friday, and the boys spectated a local dog show with me today. I think we are starting to really form an adult bond and partnership as he matures. This makes me happy.
*Getting groomed is exhausting, according to Stan.
*I ran intervals yesterday and tried out my new racing shoes (Asics DS Trainer) for the first time. It is unlikely the shoe is to blame, but WOW I had some fast-for-me times. I crossed a barrier in pace I’ve never done before!
*One of my dogs, we’ll call him HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED, clobbered me in the face with his paw in an overenthusiastic effort to say hello to a beardie person at the dog show today. I tasted blood. B*astard.
*Olympic hockey is serious business in this house. No matter who wins the US-Canada game tonight, it’s our (Sharks) guys so we’re happy.
*My legs are really tired. I had a hard long-hill repeat simulation on the trainer today and…OW. Where’s my foam roller?
Training totals for February 15-21: Swim: 6400 yards Bike: 64.7 miles Run: 15.1 miles Strength: 1/2 hour Total time: 10.5 hours
This time of year, it’s sometimes hard to think about the sun, as we may go days without seeing it. But as soon as it makes an appearance, I know we’re all running out to enjoy it – swimming, biking, running, heck even just basking in its warmth.
The sun is a wonderful thing! BUT…(there’s always a but, right?) skin cancer and sunburns are not so wonderful. We’ve all had a race day where we didn’t protect ourselves enough and ended up suffering for it later. Not to mention wrinkles – who wants to look older than they really are because of a bunch of sun damage and wrinkles?
As a true northern Europe blend mutt, I’ve been made fun of for being blindingly white. But hey, I must be doing something right if I still get carded with a suspicious look at the ripe old age of 33. I’ve always made a point to apply, and reapply, and make a habit out of sunblock.
I was stoked to learn that Kinesys, an awesome local sunscreen company, would sponsor me this year. I was even more excited to get my first package from them last week, right before I left for San Diego!
So far, I have only positive things to say! I’ve been using their facial sunblock daily as a base layer. I also used the spray-on alcohol-free product to lounge all day poolside in the San Diego sun, with nary a burn or change in skin color. I can’t wait to use their (water-resistant, sweat-resistant) sunscreen in my next race!
It’s been a completely crazy week. I don’t even know how to explain it, and it’s not something that I can go into detail about yet, but suffice it to say I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to balance a host of logistics.
Jeff and I did our own celebration of Valentine’s Day yesterday. He got me a Lululemon gift certificate and surprised me with…tickets to Ovo after dinner last night. It was awesome – amazing performances all-around.
I surprised him with…a PowerTap wheel!
My coach gave me…a really painful bike/strength workout (please excuse our messy garage).
Good times all around. Except maybe the part where my legs started cramping up before the show was over. Oh well, you can’t win them all!
Thankfully my week has ended on a better note than it started. Post-race fatigue and soreness and major work stress combined for a doozy of a week. Add in a missed workout and I’m never happy. However, a nice little weekend trip (more on that tomorrow) and appreciation of the loved ones in my life has left me in a better mood today.
In the “a few of my favorite things” category….
My first and forever heart dog
The goofball who took my breath away the day he was born
The one who brought me flowers at the airport this morning
Perhaps proof of our old-married status…our Valentines dinner tonight was Mojo burgers and shakes (celebrations are delayed a few days since I traveled this weekend)
Training totals for February 8-14: Swim: 4150 yards I missed masters one day :*( Bike: 51.5 miles Run: 15.4 miles Strength: 1 hour Total time: 8.75 hours
Yesterday I got to watch my very talented sister Mimi perform with her Chinese orchestra for Lunar New Year.
There were pieces with the whole orchestra plus she did an instrumental duet! My grandparents were there, as well as a very good friend with her munchkins, so it was a lot of fun to see everyone and cheer for Mimi!
Today it was a different kind of family outing – my first race of 2010!!! 2.5 months ago, when I finished IM AZ, this moment felt like a million years away; 2 weeks ago, it felt too soon! Today it felt just right. I know my running legs aren’t exactly where I want them for the year yet but they were still in darn good form!
My mom and my sister Cai were going to run the 3K event, while I was running the 10K along with Jenn, her husband David, my aunt and her husband. My family arrived a little earlier than expected this morning, and so we got an early start driving over to Santa Cruz.
It’s still dark out! But we were the first ones to check in. And the first to christen the portajohns. Mom and Cai were still heavily bundled up here.
After staying warm in the car for a while, we spotted Jenn and David and my aunt with my uncle and her friends. Lots of nervous chatter and then we headed down to the start line to watch the 1K kids run go off. SO. CUTE!
Shortly thereafter they were ready to start the 3K run. My mom only started running in the last couple months (she has a cute little story about figuring out at IM AZ that she was capable of running). When I talked her into this race, she worked hard to build up to the 3K distance and then started working on getting faster doing it. She set an ambitious goal for herself for this race. Once they started the race, I began my warmup run, while also taking pictures of my mom and sister heading out. I got back just in time to cheer my mom as she sprinted in! 1 MINUTE FASTER THAN HER GOAL! Yay, Mom!
And then it was time for the 10K. When I laid out my goals for the year, this was more of a B race, a chance to see how my legs were doing after AZ. I thought it would be nice if I could match my PR but in December and early January as I got back to running, I questioned even that. My last few long runs leading up to this ones though had been good ones so who knows? All I knew for sure that it would hurt.
We’re off! You can *almost* see me in a teal tank and green visor right behind the guy starting his watch.
My aunt’s awesome shirt says “I’m only doing this so I can post a picture on Facebook.”
As per my instructions, I held back the first couple miles and then picked up the pace every mile thereafter. I got passed by what felt like everyone in that first mile. But I steadily passed and was never repassed after that. Holding back at the race start is not easy but I knew I’d need it to not blow up later.
The course for this race is lovely – starting in the shade of Natural Bridges State Park and heading immediately out to the shoreline to run along the Pacific Ocean to and from the turnaround. Surprisingly it was sunny and WARM today and I was feeling that heat by mile 3. By the last 1.5 miles, I was just trying not to focus on how much I felt like barfing (I’ve already been there, done that when racing so I knew it was a possibility). As I rounded the last turn and headed downhill to the finish, it looked…so…far…away.
Almost there
And then finally I was done. Too bad I couldn’t be bothered to smile nice at the finish like my mom did!
I managed a PR by 2 minutes and 15 seconds! And upon further review of the data, I negative-splitted each mile perfectly.
From there it was time to jog my cool-down mile while cheering in friends and family. Everyone did fantastic! I was so proud of Jenn especially for her first running race!
With Jenn
With my sister, mom and aunt
Eventually we all wandered up to the “expo” area, looking for water, snacks and more warm layers (fog was rolling in again), while they announced awards.
My mom and sister were both 4th in their age groups! And then to my surprise…I won my age group!
Suffice it to say, 2010 is off to a good start!
Training totals for February 1-7: Swim: 6700 yards (and let me add, 50 of those yards were real honest-to-goodness BUTTERFLY stroke) Bike: 15.8 miles Run: 16.3 miles Strength: 0.5 hour Total time: 7.25 hours
%5B3%5D.jpg "Evelyne Working hard at the finish (2)")
%5B3%5D.jpg "Jenn with the Champion (2)")
