The "haps" as of late...

I have officially come down from the Ironman high. We started XP2 last week which is P2's cross training/low intensity program that will run through the end of November. It feels good to be back on a schedule. I was lost there for a month not having a set plan to go off of. I had gotten so used to that, so feel like I NEED it now.

Something I thought was cute were the comments on my coach's website. He posted results of all of his team who competed in Ironman Wisconsin. Here was mine:

How true. I smiled A WHOLE helluva lot that day. How could I not?? Actually, I could have not, due to the 112 mile headache, the blisters, the debilitating leg cramps, but when it came down to it none of that really mattered. I was out there and I was doing it, and I was SO HAPPY about it! I am glad others noticed my joy that day. :)

Although I love having a training schedule again, it doesn't require I give up 4-8 hours every weekend day anymore. I have time for other things (a life outside of Ironman!? What is that?) which is so nice. Unfortunately, the next few weeks those 'other things' will be working, but last weekend I was able to get out for a bit!

Stacy is part of the 'MN Challengers Club'. Just as the name implies it is a group of Challenger owners who all get together for various events, like car shows and cruises. We cruised through SE MN last weekend and it was a beautiful day for it. Close to 17 Challengers were out that day and some even came from as far as South Dakota!

Here's a few pictures from that day. A whole lotta horse power comin' atcha...

GREAT quote of the day.

Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.

~George Sheehan

Race Report - TC 10 Mile.

I finished the TC 10 Mile! (There's that exclamation point that implies positivity.) :)

For starters... I have now come to terms with it, I have had a ROUGH running year. There are never great running years for me, but this one was especially bad when I was hoping for it to be the best yet, simply due to all the hard work I put in. I know when it all fell apart too, when I developed plantar fasciitis in my foot back in early spring. I ran through it for a couple of weeks until it got really painful then I finally went to the doctor to get it checked out. He did fix me up (thanks Dr. Folske at Folske Spine & Rehab Clinic!) but that was after taking a few weeks off of running. I substituted biking when I had runs scheduled. I was happy to be able to get all of my scheduled weekly training hours in, but biking and running are not the same. Only running helps running. Especially when running is your weakest of the three sports. I've only had a sports related injury one other time in my life and that was way back in my junior year of high school swimming. I guess you can't expect to be injury free your entire life, but hopefully my foot continues to heal and I won't have to worry about any injuries for another 15 years.

Nonetheless, I ran the TC 10 Mile and I had a great time. I felt pretty sluggish and slow body wise, but mentally I was just fine. I could have run for much longer, but was very glad when that finish line showed up. :) I love the course and the day was BEAUTIFUL; you couldn't have asked for better running weather in my opinion.

The highlight of the day was cheering for all of my friends and teammates who ran the marathon. Everyone did absolutely amazing. There were PR's set all over the board! I had lots of fun and was very grateful (and somewhat jealous, as I have yet to ever run a marathon in temps under 85 degrees) of the perfect day everyone had.

Here's a pre-game shot of us in the dome, and a post race shot next to "The Beast"!

 

TC 10 Mile... here I come!

Ummm... Do they allow segways on the race course??

Sometimes I wonder why I do what I do. Like back in May when I didn't get a guaranteed entry into the TC 10 Mile after running the TC 1 Mile, I was bummed, and wanted IN. In July I entered the lottery and lo and behold... I got in! Now it's here... in one day... and I am less than three weeks out from Ironman. What was I thinking? I have been able to run, but I am still extremely slow and I feel no where near recovered enough to 'race'. It's not like I set land speed records in running races anyway, but I always like to push it and shoot for a PR. I'm trying to accept my 'not up to par' state and am still going to show up and do it as a fun run. The real fun will be AFTER the race when I can bundle up, (it'll be PERFECT marathon weather on Sunday, nice and COOL!) get a warm cup of coffee, and CHEER on all my friends running the marathon! Can't wait for that part of the day! :)

This is the least I've trained for a race, EVER. I'm going in with the fact that I must have some sort of base left over from the last 10 months of Ironman training. Right?? :|

A little geek humor for your Friday...

I wear many hats besides just the triathlete one. I am a systems anaylst full time and also owner of my own computer consulting business. (In other words, anything relating to technology makes me giddy!)
I saw this cartoon on TechRepublic this morning and had to share. My sentiments EXACTLY.