I'm not crazy...I'm just bored!!

Hubby and baby didn't sleep well last night, so I used it as an excuse to not get up this morning. I regretted it as I slugged out the miles on the TM at the gym. 

I was short on time when I got to the gym so I only got 5.5 in before FIT class (AP: 8:43), then I went to class and Jen was the sub today. Oh man alive her classes are brutal! Did more arm work than leg work which was welcome today, but I'm not sure washing and brushing my hair will be all that easy tomorrow.

I wanted to do at least 6 miles and I had 5 min after class before day care pick up, so I jumped on a TM and did one (yes, just one) yasso 800. I wanted to see if I even felt like it was possible to run 8 at a 7mm pace (a 3:30 predictor time), honestly it wasn't all that bad and even pulled the speed down a couple times on the last 1/4 mile. On a good day I might be able to pull that off on the track. Tomorrow the BBK's are meeting for speed work, the race is literally on now...6 weeks to SGM and if I want it I gotta start believing it and pushing myself and NOT listening to my whining self. I can and will.

Speed work with the BBK's! I finally am starting to feel good and hit some decent paces on speed work. It's nice to finally feel slightly recovered from Ogden and UVM and nasty injury plagues this summer. 

Nice and easy warm-up for 3 miles and then we hit the track.

We did a mile of warm-up with the last two laps doing pick ups on the straights, then the fun began. Many in the group had done the SV half and so weren't quite ready for speed work, had I known that I may have chickened out and not done it, but since I'm always so behind I started about a half-lap early and never noticed until half way done that only a few had stayed on the track - the die hards! :)

3X400M with a 200M recovery and then 2X1200M with a 400M recovery between. Repeated twice with a 400 between sets. I forgot to lap the first 2 400's; maybe it was because I have been too afraid to record my splits for speed work yet this year, but I finally felt I was hitting something well so I lapped my 3rd 400: (1:36 - 6:13 pace). Not too shabby. The best part was the whole first set only the super speedy guys passed me! No one ever lapped me like usually happens, now I was a little ahead, but I still usually start that way and get passed. Not even Michelle and Peggy caught me until the very end!! :)

Splits for the rest are as follows:

1200 X 2 (5:20, 5:23 - Garmin has the 5:23 @ 6:55 pace, because it was recorded long at .78)

400 X 3 (1:41, 1:41, 1:40 - 6:40ish pace, love that the last one was a tad faster! Not as good as my last one in the first set, but still not too shabby for me!)

1200 X 2 (5:32, 5:32 - 7:09mm; still not as fast as my 2 the first round, but not all that much slower.)

Finished with 2 cool down laps around the track then some good chatting before we left :) I'm proud of myself for sticking out the track work and not slacking off, but pushing myself of tired legs from Saturday, then hitting some decent paces to boot! I really like that my 1200's weren't all that far off of my goal pace for 800's to predict my 3:35 marathon time. Gives me confidence. Like I said yesterday, it's time to dig in and get it done. No more whining. There is do or do not - make a decision, plug in and do it.

AP for 11 miles: 8:17, probably my fastest ever double digits run!

Heel and outside, bottom of R foot is buggin' me. Just a little squaking. So, since I did just run a marathon and then did speed work, I decided the best prescription for the day was rest and icing. No running, but I did end up doing 4 hrs of yard work (including mowing the lawn since my husband is still slightly incapacitated) and then cleaning the kitchen, sweeping, mopping and topped it all of with folding laundry for a good couple hours. Wish I could've just sat on the couch and put my feet up and eaten popsicles all day :)

Another great BBK run. Three mile warm-up then a re-group to hear the workout. They had an 8 mile tempo on the docket. Foot was feeling better, but I didn't want to push my luck, so I opted out. 

There was only one problem. I was the only 'slow' one there today. Luckily Aaron said he wasn't doing tempo so we just plodded along at a good clip, but we got to the top of the S curve on the trail behind the pool and he chickened out. Okay, so his Achilles has been bothering him and he didn't want to have to run back up. I decided to brave the last mile and then turn around by my lonesome.

YIKES! I think I am a big pansy. I didn't like running on the parkway before dawn alone. Then one of the fast guys from group came tearing around a corner of a bridge and nearly made me scream. The last of the group was only about .3 in front of me (.15 to my turn around), but I decided to just hang with myself anyway - I was feeling a little braver.

I didn't realize that my pace was increasing or that I was pushing a decent tempo until about 1/2 mile from the finish. Made me feel good to see some decent splits when I thought my effort was remaining consistent out and back. I could tell I was a little faster, but I didn't think it was THAT big of a difference. Feels good to be able to hit sub 8's and not blink an eye. I remember just a few weeks ago doing an 8:15 tempo for 6 miles just about killed me.

When I got back to the park everyone had taken off- yup, days like this it is VERY apparent I am the slowest one of the group. Missed having company, but I think I push myself harder when I'm alone and don't have anyone to talk to. Chad was still hanging around, so I roped him into a mile cool down. I love it when an 8:48 pace is a good cool down! :)

Came home and got kiddos ready for picture day at school then went to the gym for yoga. Man am I gonna miss it! I'll have to remember how to do it and do my own class at the rec center next month.

Foot is still doing relatively well. Better than yesterday even. I must be doing something right! I'm excited that I have the tri with my daughter Saturday so that I don't feel like I have to put a ton of miles on my foot and can give it a bit of a break.

AP: 8:44 splits: 9:35, 9:27, 8:57, (tempo-) 8:52, 9:15, 8:57, (alone-) 8:35, 8:42 (huge hill UP), 8:05, 7:52, 7:47, (cool down-) 8:48.

I was going to run this morning, but my compadre backed out on me, so I bagged it :) I know I probably would've been fine, but the foot wasn't as happy as it was Thursday so I decided it was best not to push it and go out on my own just for miles. 

I slept in and then went to spin class. It certainly was a good one today! She had us working on cadence, but UP a hill. I've really come to like Jen as an instructor (still not sure we'd get along outside of class, but she is a good instructor!) and she pushes me harder than any other instructor. She just doesn't take whining or excuses and yells at you to keep you motivated. For lack of a better analogy I'd compare her to Jillian and I like that kind of coach/trainer! I need someone yelling at me and telling me I'm full of it when I make excuses and to stop being a pansy and just get it done. Anyway, last week at her class - good times!

No time to TM after class, had to get home to pre-school orientation.

I'm really kind of bummed I'm far away from hitting 40 miles this week. I've been trying to stay minimum at 40 miles/week and this is the first week I haven't made it. I keep trying to find time in my head that I can get a few more miles in. It's getting frustrating for me. I don't know if I'm making too big of a deal out of this foot problem or if it is serious. It's usually the worst in the morning, but once I get it warmed up and moving things are better. I just don't want to screw up SGM. I've worked for a full year to hit this goal and I had to give up my chance to do it at UVM due to injury and now I'm fighting stupid injury again. Uggghh. I'm just really frustrated and feeling down on my luck.

My second tri and a good time had by all! This was my daughter's first tri and she did AWESOME! I'm a bit of a proud mama today :) The alarm comes too early at 4:30 on a Saturday, but it was worth it to get a great transition spot and have time to hang around and talk out the race before hand.

They had the full distance racers go first and just had you line up at the pool by est swim time. I stayed in the middle of the pack between 8-9 minuters and I was spot on! 8:30 finish time for a 400M swim. I was passed a couple times and I passed a couple people, so it was near perfect. I liked that they spread you out almost a full pool length! Ran to the bike, hopped on and I was off (excellent T1 time, 4th fastest).

I wanted to really push myself on the bike this time. Last tri I was a little too comfortable and having too much 'wheee' time,  so I pushed and this was the perfect nearly flat course to do so. 2 loops of the  5 mile course, Down Center St in Orem to the Parkway trail then back up 800S (Will's pit stop/Costco street). The hill down was fun, but the hill back up was nasty. Only good thing was, it was short and over with quickly. Really overall a good flat course! I was only passed by one female, but I caught her less than 1/4 mile into the run and she was only about 90 seconds faster than me anyway. Plus, I still have my big ol' clunky Wal-Mart bike. Someday I'd like to see what I could do on a nice bike. But, like I told one guy who passed me (with praise for hittin' it hard on a mtn bike) "give my husband a raise and I'll get a nice bike!" Finish time was 37:16.5 (18mph) - good enough for 10 overall fastest bike time.

I don't know what happened on the run transition. I thought I went pretty quickly, but I was SO slow compared to many others (this will come back to bite me later). I think it has to do with the fact that I have to tighten and tie my laces (double knot of course). If I had the quick tight laces things might've gone better, well faster. I was off on the run and determined to run faster than the 3.2 on the last one. This meant my goal was to keep my paces under an 8mm. I knew I could do this, it wouldn't be hard. C'mon girl -- what'cha got?!? I was lovin' passing people on my first loop. I'd see the female out in front of me, reel her in and pass her. First mile split came in at 7:45. Okay, legs finally getting over jello stage - faster now. Next split was 7:25, nice! Just going up from here. Well, I must've topped out 3rd split was exactly the same (7:25) which makes me frustrated, because it was the downhill section. Not that there was much either way. It really was a pretty FLAT course! The second loop was hard, because by this time there were many others in front of me and it played head games as to whether or not they were really ahead of me or on their first loop. I just tried to stay strong and push ME. At least my last .25 split was better for my finishing touch: 6:49. Which gave me an AP of 7:28 and a total time of 24:21. Not a killer 5K time, but for jello legs after a bike it was all right.

So, I finished well and was excited to see 1st in AG and 2nd overall female. Woo hoo! I knew it was a smaller race, but it still felt good. Until I realized this was unlike a running race. Because we were so spread out in the beginning in the pool, someone 5 minutes behind you could really be in front of you. Craig had said Lauren started her run just a few minutes before I finished so I ran backwards on the course to find her and run her in. Such an amazing girl! When we'd practiced she would always whine and want/need to stop before even a 1/2 mile into the run. Well, when I saw her about 1/2 way through the 1.6 mile run she was running and going strong! She didn't stop the whole time. I ran her in and watched her finish, seriously proud mama!

So, we waited and waited for awards. I did get a nice massage which is always a good perk! Hubby and boys had come to watch and cheer us on so we played and ate a bit. When awards came I was announced as 2nd in my AG - well poo! But, the first place girl was only 10 seconds in front of me. Double poo! I figured at that point they had taken overall finishers out of the AG's so I wasn't going to be there. But, when they announced them the 1st place finisher in my AG was 3rd overall! So, if I had made that T2 time just a tad shorter or pushed the pace on the run just a bit more I could've done 1st in AG and 3rd overall - a double dip! DANG!! Oh well, that is how the cookie crumbles and teaches you to push harder even if they aren't in front of you next time. Here is the worst news about the whole 10 second thing. Where did I slack and let her beat me? Not the swim (1+ min faster), not the bike (1+ min faster), but the RUN! uugggghhh! I don't let triathletes beat me on the run. Her T2 and run time were the only ones faster than mine. That is what really frustrates me about it all. Oh well, like I said: next time I will see her 10 seconds in front of me and take her down! :)

Lauren's overall place was 8th in the Novice category (200M swim, 5 mile bike, 1.6 run). She was frustrated with her goggles and had to keep emptying out the water :( Her transition times were GREAT and her bike time was pretty good for a 10 year old on a mtn bike too. She made it up the hill without having to stop! Tough girl :) Her run? oh yeah, 5th overall! Gotta love that girl. Only thing that made me mad was they only did overall awards not AG awards in novice. I really wanted her to get a medal :( Kind of bummed about that and almost asked for one just because she was the youngest, but decided to let life be real and not coddle the kids. She said the swim was her favorite part, which doesn't surprise me. Too bad she did the best on the run :) Maybe I'll make a runner of her yet! Overall finish time: 58:13 - 8th overall. Only a 14 yr old and 16 yr old would've been in her AG and the 16 yr old finished a couple min in front of her and she beat the 14 yr old by 14 minutes. Yup, that's my girl :)

So, I do like triathalons, but so much goes into them and I'm just not ready to buy all the crap. It's fun and sometimes I think if I can do this well untrained, what could I do trained and on a good bike? Oh well, I'm happy running now and using biking and swimming for x-training. Especially when my foot is being a poo head! Overall a wonderful morning. I really couldn't have asked for more...except 10 seconds faster (grrr).