Week one in the books!!

Last week went pretty darn well minus the one day that I cut short and only powered out 1.5 miles because wine was knocking at my door.  The real highlight of the week was my trip home to Spokane to participate in Bloomsday a 14k race with 57k of your closest friends.  It is one of those races that you say sorry at the beginning for bumping into people around you and that "sorry" should cover you for the whole race!  As you know my training only called for a 5mile run but instead I did a 10.3 miles walk and I was not prepared for that.  Live and learn I guess. I was good physically and with my wind but my feet just could not handle the the distance without getting many blisters on them.  It was a great day for an event as my mom likes to call them because she says she is not racing anyone just participating.  I have a few pictures from the day that I stole from my Aunt Patti who flew in from Cali to do Bloomsday with us.  I will leave you with a few pictures of the day and will fill you in on this weeks training later on this week.  As a preview it is much of the same distances as last week as this is just the getting back to running phase.

It is tradition in Bloomsday to throw your unwanted clothes at the start line in the tree to be donated!

The start

The Church that always has their bells ringing and choir singing as the race is always on a Sunday!

Carrying the Flag the whole 7.4 miles!!

This is a picture of the hill of all hills called Doomsday Hill.  

Here is another shot of the hill.

another Bloomsday tradition, the Vulture at the top of the hill to greet you!

There is it almost done Mile 6.

This week I have 2-3-2 and a weekend run of 4 miles.  

-RR-

Marathon or Bust

      I have a new goal and training starts now!!

I have singed up for the Portland marathon on October 4th 2014.  I will say that I did complete the Seattle half it was a walk not a run but it was completed.  That is not the goal I have for the Portland marathon.  I want to do it like for real run the whole way and check the marathon off my list.  I got the idea to do this when I was thinking about doing a full Ironman.  I was thinking that it might be wise to conquer the marathon first before I bite off a goal of an Ironman.  So when my boss sent me a link to sign up for the Portland half marathon.... I just clicked the full button and not the half I thought why not.  I have taken time off from the training world and I need to get back at it.  I need to have something to blog about trust me my "normal" life is too boring to share.  I need some accountability to keep my butt in gear.  

This week's training:

Monday: Rest Day  Its the first week of training so I will be doing a gym activity of sorts swimming or lifting.

Tuesday: 2 mile run

Wednesday: 3 mile run

Thursday: 2 mile run

Friday:  Rest

Saturday: 5 mile long run.  Rest day

Sunday: Walk 30 mins. I will be doing a race with my Mother and Aunt in Spokane that is 7.4 miles I believe, so this will be the long run for the week with a rest day on Monday.  I am out of shape so this will be a run walk combo. As some of my runs will be until I get back up to my old running self.

I have not had any real motivation on this front I just think of this a goal far out in the distance this will truly be a big test fro me to see if I can stick to this plan and get ready for a full blown marathon.  Here goes nothing.

-RR-

Post race blues

   Anyone who has done a big event knows the highs and lows of training and the joy of finishing an event.  I have now found a new portion of this process called the post race blues or laziness is maybe a better name.  I was so excited to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted when it came to my time and diet.  This has resulted in a dusty bike that may still have my race number attached to it because it had not been ridden since the race, a swimsuit that was pulled out only to be used at a water park and my running shoes that have been pulled out one time for a walk to the store.  Needless to say I have given up on being active because it was a big part of my life for so long.  I am now reaping the wonderful benefits of being lazy, like buying a bigger pair of pants to wear to work and looking at people that are out and about exercising like they have done lost their mind.  Well this 6 week lazy bone cocktail fest is OVER!!!  I have Signed up for the Seattle Half Marathon so I can get out there running and feeling good again.  I realize that I was a little brunt out and that I may need to balance working out and life a little better so that I can do both all the time with out feeling like I need to cut out one or the other every 4 months.  So back to a manageable training program of 3-4 day of training a week with short manageable runs during the week and no double days.  My training begins next week with a 4 mile run.  I may need to change the name of my blog again to a Half Marathon adventure.
-RR-

AM I a Half Ironman????

Well this is long over due and with crazy training I just didn't blog what so ever.
Well it was race weekend if I was ready for it or not.  I am not sure if you ever feel satisfied and ready the weekend of a race.  You know you put in the work but was it enough?? Did I do enough hills did I open water swim enough did I tapper too much.  Then you breathe and say it is here anyway and I am going to do this.
With my Mom and sister by my side we went to check in to the hotel, and to Ironman Village.  I must say they know how to put on a race and it well worth 360,000 pennies it cost to get into the dang thing.  My sister Keri happens to be a photographer and she has graciously shared her photos of the day with me. I will let them do most of the talking.  ENJOY

Race day started early.

 A good luck card from my nephew Ryland so cute!!

 The pre race schedule so people would know where I was on the course if all goes well.

 Preparation

 Body marking in the morning I will tell you this once those markings are on you it seams like you blink and you are in the water starting the race.

 transition before the race begins

 The swim course, thank goodness they have a line under water you can follow because it stayed this foggy the whole time during the race very hard to see.  I guess I didn't need those polarized swim goggles after all.

 Wetsuiting Up.

 Practicing the swim stoke on land.. Or hamming it up for the camera??

 Thats me ready to go giving the thumbs up.... It must be because ignorance is bliss.

 Well I made it out of the water and it is time for a 56 mile ride..  Lets do this.

 Riding off a blistering speed.

 NO WHITE FLAGS.  This is what started this whole journey.  My step brother was Diagnosed with ALS 2.5 years ago and was living life with a do not give up attitude and I thought I can do that too.  So I am going to do a half IRONMAN.  He started Team Gleason bringing awareness to ALS. The theme and Mantra is NO WHITE FLAGS.  And if you have followed my blog you know this race was supposed to take place last year, but with my Mom in the hospital fighting for her life (and that she did) it became a 2013 Goal.

 Here is a picture of what all of us are chasing today.... a piece of metal that says you did it, that same piece of metal goes to the person who finishes first and to the one who finishes last. A true family that shars a common goal... The Finish line.

 There they are again, a symbol that means soooo much.

 The run. Here is where my tears started coming into play.  After a few steps back on the bike like my chain falling off twice and in that process crashing.  I was beginning to worry I may get pulled from the course.  You see this is a a shuffle-run-walk for 13.1 miles and that shuffle-run-walk was not looking like it was on pace to hit the cut.  I looked at my family on the end of the first loop in tears pointing to my watch saying I may not make the cut.  They just stood there and screamed and yelled and said that I could do it and to just keep moving on.  That is what I did. Shuffle-run-walk. N.W.F.

 There is it the end the finish a goal accomplished.  The folks on the left side of this picture I met on the course and if you can see are wearing Team Gleason shirts.  They finished 3 hours before me and when they heard I was still out there, they wanted to stay and watch me finish.  At this point there is only one person behind me on the course.

 2nd to last is what I finished.  But I have a mental I have crossed the same finish line as everyone else and I completed the same course as everyone else I am now apart of a family I will never forget.  IRONMAN 70.3  FINISHER!!!!!!!

 Team Gleason Ladies:)

Anthony who I raced beside the last 6 miles. awesome man!!

 Me and My Dad.

 The support crew.  I can't say enough about these people they made the day what it was meant to be!!!! Oh and if you were wondering the woman on the far right is my MOM, A walking miracle.

                                                            THANKS YOU EVERYONE!!!!!

For the First Time.

    Well for the first time I can honestly say I have been busy with training and if I have a free moment it is mostly filled by sleeping.  I had hit panic mode as I had mentioned before because I felt behind.  Like I can't run for an hour and a half and that is what training had been calling for.  The good news is that I had counted my training weeks wrong and when I thought I was on week 9 I was really supposed to be on week 5.  So it looks like I am right on track.  I have been slacking in the department of half marathon training but that is not my "A" race so I am not too concerned about that.  I have not been putting in as many miles as that training has been calling for so we shall see how the weekend of May 19th goes.
Update on Training:
The struggles I seem to have hit are time, time, time and time.  Where do you find the time.  Last year during this adventure I was living alone and worked from 9-5.  This year I have a roommate and I work from 9-6 and my commute home is now longer then .8 miles.  This has created some interesting workout hours and and my Friday nights at the gym are a lot later then they used to be. Oh I also forgot to mention that I have cable now.  So my workouts motivated out of pure boredom that I had last year do not exist this year.  So I find myself having to find a little more motivation from with in.  Which some days is harder then others.
    Currently, I am on week 7 and this is the hardest week of my second build phase. Next week will be a "recovery week" and then I start building again.  To give you an idea of the workouts this week I will let you know what my long workouts on the weekend call for. Friday-1,900 swim and a 50min run with 12 x 30sec sprints worked in. Saturday-is a 2 hour ride, Sunday-is a 1:20min run with a 2,300yd swim.  Tallest order to date but next weekend will be a bit of a rest. :) Still a 2 hour long ride, 45min run and 1,200yd.  I have relief in sight.
  I have a big weekend ahead of me but I am excited about it! Weekend update to come (hopefully sooner than later).
-RR-

Weekend Update ( not by Seth Meyers)

The plan to get back on track has been working great but not without snags.  This past weekend I got to travel to Spokane for a lovely baby shower for a friend of mine.  For those of you out there with a 6 day a week training schedule with 9 workouts in it you know that traveling is hard on a schedule.
Friday:
 I did my swim during my lunch break I had pain in my shoulder that had been there all week and it felt a bit like over use so I am letting my arms rest for a few days after Friday's swim. I skipped the run but I kinda had to but I had a great trainer session on the bike the night before that lasted longer then it was supposed to so I went with it. Knowing I was going to be on the road I pushed it a little harder Thursday night on the bike.
Saturday:
 I needed to spend 2 hours on my bike..... Well I didn't have "my bike" so I asked my mom if I could used hers.  It is a nice Felt but the frame is a bit small for me but a any bike is a better then no ride. So I powered off for my scenic trip around Spokane WA.  Water consumption was a bit difficult because the cage felt like it was on the ground because the seat post was so high but over all  loved riding back home and on my mom's bike.  Things I discovered during this ride... I want a new Bike, Spokane is cold and I also want a new saddle.
Sunday:
This is supposed to be my long run day and long swim with a rest on Monday.  Someone was too tired for a run and had a bbq to go to in Seattle so my time ran short. so I had an impromptu rest day on Sunday. Did some birthday celebrating and headed to bed after the basketball was over.
Monday:
Time for my long run.  Now I believe I was only suppose to run for 50 mins but since I am training for a half marathon in May that training program called for 6 miles so I went for the 6 mile run.  The run was great and I lucked out with great Seattle weather.  I got home around 8pm and it took me about an hour and 20 mins to finish my run but I had a draw bridge break on the way that added some time in:).  Due to the arm pain I am swimming and biking on Tuesday so that I can get a little more rest for my shoulder.  All in all only one workout was postponed and it didn't seam to effect my long run so that is great to see.

I will sending another recap at the end of the week to make sure I keep up with this grueling but awesome adventure of triathlon.  Hopefully with my next update I will be able to tell you that I was a successful with the 8 lbs weigh loss challenge I entered at work. It was a pick your own goal challenge and I chose to lose 8lbs in March I have until the 29th so pray I made it. I am down 6 lbs right now so we shall see....
-RR-

The good, bad and the ugly.

The Bad:
Its has been some time since an official training update and I would like to say it is because I am so busy with my training that I have not had the time.  That however this is not the case.  Confession I have been a slacker at best in my last 2/3 weeks of training.  Yes I have run every week and only missed one swim workout but I think that someone may have done something to my bike that actually repels training all together.  I look at it and it looks like a foreign object, and my bike shoes what are those they do not look like sneakers or flip flops so I must not know how to put them on.
The Ugly:
 In short I have hit panic mode.  Like can I even do this? Why is triathlon even fun? I could be traveling and exploring the world but I spend money on this sport that literally feels like torture sometime ( lately all the time).  It does not help that in the off season I have put on some extra insulation ( that right I got fat).  And that, is never fun getting back at it and remembering you used to be faster or clothes used to fit a little different.  I am sharing this with you all mostly for some accountability and to help me snap out of the funk.   I am not sure if any of you have felt this way but its not fun feeling like you may have made a $360.00 mistake!!

The Good:
I have a plan!!!  I have added a few races to my schedule that are event specific so that I have small, short term goals to reach.
SWIM:
I will be doing a 1.2 mile open swim race on june15th. The point of this is be able to just focus on one event and when it is over its over no bike no traditions and no, I did the swim great but everything fell apart after that feeling. I still get the open water experience and this will bring some of the fun back to the sport and confidence. 
BIKE:
I will be doing a century ride( 100 mile) on June 9th.  This will give me confidence in the race because if I can do 100 I can do 56.  Again it is only a ride so I will be able to really focus on just one thing and practice nutrition, because a 100 mile ride should be about as long as the half iron give or take. Mentally is it nice to know it is just one discipline at a time.
RUN:
On may 19th I will be doing a half marathon. I am doing this to make sure I get my running mileage up because in triathlon training they measure training in time not distance.  For us slower runners this is not ideal because a one hour run is not going to be 6 miles it may only be 4.5 or 5, and for that reason when training I want to be sure I can tackle the full distance of the run.

TRIATHLON:
I will be doing 2 full blown races before my A race that will work out kinks in transition and doing all things together on the same day in race atmosphere. Along with all of these small goals I have joined a triathlon club which will help me with group rides and open water swimming. I will also get the comradery of being around other athletes.
I have the plan in place and now it is just time to do it.  I will be more active in my blogging about training reports and struggles of the sport to help me stay on track and I will also pray.  And I mean the quite literally right now I need some help and I know where I can get it!

"Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
-Isaiah 40:31

"Awesome Aint Easy" - Steve Gleason

-Rookie Runner Out!!