Zillion thoughts at once

* We're on. We had a death in my husband's family and it looked like the Peak might not happen this weekend. Not sure how we were going to get there, but an impromptu trip to California was suddenly on the horizon. It kind of felt like a bike crash. You worked so hard to get to race day, but alas, you don't get to pass 'Go' (or Old Stage Hill) and you don't get to collect $200 (or the cool Boulder Peak race shirt and swag bag.) I was sad, but there's nothing you can do about it. You make triathlon your life, but believe it or not, there really are some things out there that are bigger. I realized that if the hubby went to Cali without me, I'd feel guilty, and that long lonely run into the finish line would be made that much more awful without the hubby cheering me in. Life. It's always good for a few curve balls.

But... after much roller coaster planning and emotions, we're now staying in town with a visit to California to be made at a later, calmer date. Boulder Peak, here we come!


* So, we're on again! The Peak. Let's see what we've got on deck this weekend:
- Several long steady miles uphill as we ascend to complete 2/3 of a mile at a 15% grade - Check!
- Some history with the Peak - Check!
- Lots of long slow training, but very little at the pace I'd like to be at this weekend- Check!
- A forecast of 100 degrees on Sunday - Check!
- The last female wave start in the race (= later, hotter, and lonely finish) - Check!
- Lots of pro athletes signed up that will start shortly after me, and will surely finish long before me, but I do get to check out their hot bods as they pass me on the course - Check!
- Big wave of men swimming right after me (more realistic to say they'll be swimming on top of me) Good Ironman washing machine start practice! - Check!
- Late start means a late arrival on the run course in the heat of the day - Running by myself long after everyone else finishes - More great Ironman training! - Check!
- Lots of freaking out on my part - Check!


*I'm so nervous. It's supposed to be a 100 on Sunday. Please, please don't let me completely die on that run course... I want to do well!!!!! Man I wish I knew how much to push/not push on my bike.

* And one last thought on a whim--Today was a moderately flat stage in the Tour de France. My man Big Tom gave a hard sprint finish and won the stage. *Eyelashes flutter flutter flutter*

Some Boulder Peak History

Okay, turns out mom is a loyal follower of the Triturtl blog, as evidenced by her confusion of the Hubbardusky corporate sponsorship. Matt and Dani will surely be floored to find out that she hasn't heard of the Hubbardusky corporation! She thought it was pretty neat that I had to wear corporate logos though! Boy, if only I were that cool!

So... As mom prepares for her first visit EVER to Florida this fall, and I prepare for my first triathlon this season (yikes! The stomach butterflies have started!) I'll share some Triturtl BOULDER PEAK triathlon history:

Four years ago -

the Triturtl says to soon-to-be-fiance, "I'm loving this triathlon thing. The Boulder Peak sounds really cool. I want to do that race."

Fiance's response? "You're absolutely, positively nuts!!!! Do you know what the people that do that crazy race look like? They're absolutely scary!!!! Have you seen the hill? Make me a deal, let's volunteer at it, and then if you still want to do it, we'll do it next year."

The deal was made, we helped out. I wanted to do it more than ever before...

Three years ago - With mule-like stubbornness, we signed up for the Boulder Peak. I was going to do this! Unfortunately, I also finished a master's degree that Spring and found myself in the midst of my wedding, honeymoon, and new job that summer. Training definitely didn't go as well as planned, but I tried my best and felt proud as can be that I just finished.

Finishing time: 3:49

Two years ago - No masters degree, no wedding, no new job. Trained more than ever before. I took fourteen minutes off my time. I was still pretty sad because overall I knew that my time wasn't anything to brag about. My husband reminded me that I made huge gains that summer and I should be absolutely proud of bettering myself. He reminded me that you'll ALWAYS find people much faster. You have to do the best YOU can do, not what anybody else can do. He was right. I did well for me. I even placed in the top ten (out of 17!) in the Athena division.

Finishing time: 3:35

Side note: 5430 Half-ironman is now tempting me... Hubby makes me volunteer before I can sign up. I'm hooked. I will be doing that race next summer!

One year ago - This was to be the summer of the half-ironman... Spring training starts out awesome! You know how most accidents happen five miles from your home? Yep... Bike crash, major road, less than five miles from home, May 31... Hadn't signed up for the half-ironman yet, because unlike this year, it didn't sell out early. Luckily I hadn't signed up yet. Boulder Peak was another story. I was already in for that one because it always sells out early. Since I slammed my shoulder on the pavement (gave me a whole new respect for the crashes in the Tour de France!) swimming was out of the question for a month and a half. I didn't start swimming again until two weeks prior to the race. I had started biking a little sooner, but not much. I did however, spend a good solid month power walking and doing some running with arm in sling...

So race day last year...

Swimming and biking will probably suffer. Under the circumstances, I'm okay with that. But I'm hoping I can do well on my run...

The result? Exactly, to the minute, same times as the year prior on the swim and bike, and four minutes slower on the run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finishing time: 3:39

Alas, here we are TODAY..................

The Boulder Peak is this Sunday. I've been training more than EVER before, but... I've been doing a lot of long distance stuff, and practicing at speeds that are way slower than my previous race times. Hmmm.... Will race mentality make me faster? Will the adage that you race the way you train hold true???? I'm thinking that it's a realistic goal to take two minutes off the swim. The bike? Not sure. Previous race splits will require that I push myself. And the worst part...... It's HOT here, folks. The run, my worst event anyways, is always hot, hot, hot!!!! It is also completely exposed. There is NO shade. The key is for me not to walk. But that's so hard when it's 96 degrees out (that's what happened last year.) It's looking like we'll have similar temps again this weekend. The balancing act exists here: I know I can push myself on the bike and do what I did the last two years, but I MUST save energy for that dreaded run that kills me every year. How much do you push? How much do you save?

Ahhhhhhhh........... The Boulder Peak Triathlon.

Hubbardsky Athletic Supporters

You know you have arrived when somebody believes in you enough to offer their sponsorship on your athletic prowess.

On our doorstep today I found a package.


The letter inside the package stated:

"Congratulations!!!!! You have been selected as the HUBBARDUSKY Sports Couple of the year.... Enclosed is a selection of energy and recovery aids assembled by our talented team... By using said items, you agreed to corporate sponsorship and will follow all terms and conditions, comply with corporate quality standards, and maintain proper hygiene.... You also agree to affix the enclosed professional decals on either or both of your bike and helmet at angles appropriate for optimal camera viewing... Our logo is professionally designed and crafted as a stylish addition to your athletic equipment and one you will obviously be proud to display...."

Now I can't tell you how very, VERY excited I am to have received the enclosed nutritional items. There is a post yet to be written on the costs of triathlon, and trying this or that nutritional supplement is a 'must do,' but a 'can't necessarily afford' for something I might not even like! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Hubbardusky corporation for allowing me the chance to try the Powerbar Endurance drink (I'm already a devout follower of the Recovery drink.) I've read the glory of both Clif Shot Bloks and Perpetuem, but have yet to try them!!! I can't tell you how thrilled I was to receive this package today!!!!!!!!!!!!

The corporate sponsorship that my husband and I have to bow down to, sell the name of our first born, and proudly wear?????????

Thanks Hubbardusky's! You're the best!!!!!!

p.s. Do you think you could have put a few more labels on the box for the mailman to see?

He's back in green!

He did it. He's back in green today!

I'll be a good girl now and leave big Tom out of my blog for awhile as they head into the mountains.

Oh to be a podium girl! Sigh..........

Ain't nothin

Went for a mid-week 2 1/2 hour ride today. It
was pretty boring really.

Big Tom dropped to second in the standings for the green jersey at the Tour de France today. Bummer. I wonder if he knows that there are married American women drooling over him right now... Sighhhh.

Go Tom!

Biker ramblings and some drooling!

The Tour de France started on Saturday. This can only mean two things: 1) It will be a GREAT tour because it started on my birthday, and 2) Absolutely nothing will be accomplished around our house for the next three weeks while my husband is glued to the "Vs." network.

Speaking of the tour... My Mr. McDreamy is in the green jersey today! Big Tom Boonen! Is he not the CUTEST cyclist ever!!!!!!!!

asdlfjlk;uli Oh, sorry, I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard......... Y'know, Robbie McEwen is a little cutie pie, too, but Tom's got the eyes and smile. Sigh................................

On to the ultimate amateur in cycling... Me. I'm done with my two week house sitting stint. I mention this for two reasons: 1) My husband said I could use the money I made to buy myself a new Garmin!!!!! So... the Garmin 301, or the newer version, the 305???? Powerbar has a $50 rebate coupon for the 305... Decision made! More to follow when it actually arrives this week in the mail! 2) I BONKED HARD ON MY LONG RUN THIS WEEKEND. Why? Because I was housesitting, and had no GU or water bottle to take with me on a 2 hour and 15 minute run! I know that was stupid. I had run clothes, shoes, etc. But when do you not have 5 empty water bottles rolling around your car at any given time???? Apparently I cleaned my car out recently. Huh.

Anyways, the long run started well enough. I took it super slow... So slow I've yet to mention publicly how slow I really am. The good thing was that I thought for sure I could pull a negative split. And I truly feel I could have if I had brought proper nutrition. Ladies and Gentlemen, this will NOT happen again!!!!! I had to walk a large portion of my last two miles because I was just spent. (I made it 10 miles in that time... You do the math... not good.)

Thoughts while running (I love having a blog because it gives me something to think about while running and biking--'I'll have to put that in my blog!'):

* I love Colorado (yes, that is a recurring theme.) I love to do my long runs in a canyon just outside of Denver. It's a dirt road that follows a river about 6 1/2 miles back. It's beautiful. In the wee morning hours it's filled with runners and some mountain bikers. As the day gets warmer, it's more mountain bikers, hikers, families, and fishermen. In the spring and fall, the big horn sheep will stroll down the canyon. Pretty cool stuff. It's usually too warm for them to come down in the summer, but there was one lonely big horn roaming around this past Saturday morning. Cool. Also saw a beautiful heron.

* While running in the canyon, I noticed three mountain bikers go by. Now these aren't your average mountain bikers (there are some single track trails at the end of the canyon.) Usually the bikers here are either hard core mountain bikers, or average family Joe's on their cruiser bikes just doing the fire road. Well these three guys were DEFINITELY road bikers on mountain bikes. How do I know? They were skinny little dudes with all the gear, EXCEPT the camelback! Why oh why do road bikers refuse to wear a Camelback? Why oh why do mountain bikers insist on it? I don't own a Camelback, but when I did the Triple Bypass (120 miles, 3 mountain passes in one day) I took a backpack with food and rain gear (and it did rain mid-afternoon) and people DID comment on my backpack... but I don't regret wearing it!

Thoughts while biking on Sunday:

* Ha! I brought a stack of GU today!!!! And you know what? I DIDN'T BONK!!!! Yeah for me!!!!! I'm gonna get this nutrition thing down!

* I only did 60 miles in almost five hours, I was really hoping for over 70, but I climbed Lookout Mountain and took on a couple thousand vertical feet (after already riding for 2 1/2 hours!.) I did way more up than I did down (can't wait to get the Garmin so I can document it!) AND I DIDN'T BONK!!!!! I'm patting myself on the back big time for this one!

* Yeah for me! I also got a flat tire going 30+ mph down the mountain. I pulled over. Fixed it all by myself. (Rear wheel! ha!) and off I went. Good job me!

* Another observation of macho men: the bike path crosses over the freeway a few times. At these lights, bikers will often gather and then the green light creates a "Who goes first?" dilemma. I'm slow, I know it, so I always let the guys in all the bike gear go first. So I'm at a light, bike gear guy arrives first, I arrive second, and two guys show up after me. The two guys are on road bikes, but one is wearing hiking shorts, and the other is wearing khaki's with a leather belt holding them up!!!! I'm no stud, but I'm in all my bike gear, I arrived second, doesn't it SEEM like I should go second? I totally paused to see what the two guys are gonna do, they don't hesitate for a second and take right off in front of me! Okay, I'm not a bike snob. I'm not! But once on the trail, they start riding like 5 mph talking!!!! They felt the need to cut me off for that garbage????? They did kick it in high gear later and went flying past me, but only after another girl came through. My husband said they didn't want to let TWO girls pass them. Who knows?

* Biker chivalry: So this leads me to note. Full-on biker dudes in all their glory are on a mission to ride and ride as fast as they can. No worries. I won't talk to you, I won't even look at you. I will not interfere with your game. But, if I'm at a light with a 40 something guy, that isn't completely hard core about it--he always talks to me. ALWAYS. Why is that? Not that I mind. I've met some really nice older men. Most ask me how far I'm going and tell me what they're riding, they let me go first when the light turns green, only to pass me once back on the trail. It's nice. And then there are the guys in their khaki pants and leather belts that feel the need to cut me off!!!! What the?

* So in all my maybe, kind of, male ego bashing... I did get asked out for the first time on my long ride this past weekend. Not by a biker, but by a guy in a car on a side neighborhood road. He did a U-turn, pulled up next to me, and told me I looked "pretty." Which is great because I'm in bike helmet, sunglasses, flat tube sticking out my back pocket making me look completely deformed, and he says I'm "pretty." Yeah, whatever! I'm very complimented by the offer for coffee, but let him know that my husband probably wouldn't approve. I look down and realize my bike gloves are hiding my wedding ring. I hope the guy doesn't feel too much like a smuck. I tried to be nice. He really did make my day... Now if only Tom Boonen would ride up beside me and make small conversation... Sigh...........

GO BIG TOM!!!!!!!

Recovery Weeks Rock!

As if it needs to be formally spoken--recovery weeks rock!!!! Why can't they all be like this? (Because you'd never improve! Duh!) Today I had to swim and run. My run was a 10 warm-up, 20 minutes pushing it, 10 minutes easy. It was soooooo nice!

Yesterday I did an open water swim. It made me excessively late for all 4th of July festivities, and in the end, I was tired, really late, really hungry, and smelled like lake water... I ended up not going to my friend's BBQ. Nobody ever said your social life would be at the top of it's game when you're training for an ironman.

Least favorite moment of the open water swim yesterday: You have to look up and sight a lot because there are other swimmers coming at you. I thought I saw someone in a white cap coming towards me. I continue sighting it. As I get closer, I see that it's a large DEAD fish floating in the water! Ugh!!!! Suddenly the water, I know you can't smell in the water, but I kid you not, all of a sudden the water smelled like fish!!! Ick! And of course I had to swim by that nasty fish two more times. It was 12 inches or bigger at least! I'm sure the smell was all in my head, but Yuck!!!!

Got in 3000 meters of open water swimming though! Took almost an hour and a half. That was with breaks. It makes me hopeful that I can do 4000 meters in two hours, just need to continue to work on it--and be able to have the endurance to do it without breaks. At one time, 2.4 miles of swimming was incomprehensible. I'm not saying two hours of swimming will be easy, it's going to be dog hard, but I'm starting to get my head around it and think that it might be humanly possible.

The latest

I think I'm doing well. No injuries. Hurrah! I'm following my training plan like clockwork, and I'm doing it. Still pretty worried about time. It's funny how friends that don't understand will tell me, "I can't believe how much you train. You can absolutely do it! You just have to win the mental game." That's nice, and to some degree they are right, but there is oh so much more that I need to do before I can get to the finish line on November 3 before 11:59 p.m.

I'm kind of excited about my Olympic race on July 22. The Boulder Peak. I also have my first ever half-ironman on Aug. 12. The 5430 Long Course. I'm excited, and scared. I'm putting the training in... I just don't know what will happen on those days.

I was thinking that my coach was really pushing me overboard on the training since I'm not working over the summer. I'm a little disheartened as I've done some searching, looked over other training programs, and looked at other blogs. I'm basically doing the distances I should be--just a slower than I should be. Here's what I had for last week:

Swim - 4.63 miles
Bike - 108.25 miles
Run - 19.25 miles
+ weights & core = 16:40 hours

Thoughts for the week:
- Had lunch with a coworker/marathon runner. It was SO awesome to talk to someone that gets training! She skipped the end-of-school year party because she had an important run to do that night. Alcohol is a big no-no when training is heavy. I was just so happy, I'm not a total freak.
- NEED to talk to my buddy that did IMmoo last year!!!!
- Summer is flying by. Relaxation time? Where is it?
- Long Sunday bike: 63 miles. It had me questioning how on earth I can do a 56 mile half IM w/o stopping.
- Liked the route for my long bike ride. Colorado is the best state ever!
- On lng bike I saw: 3 flat dead big snakes, rode over 1 baby not sure if it was dead snake, saw 1 flat frog, 2 mules--like the Eddy Murphy character in Shrek!, one Jeep with Mule butts in it that felt the need to scare the daylights out of me as they honked while going by, about 100 horses, about 400 cattle, about 25 goats, too many hills, a nice school teacher in my district that also likes to bike, and a Vitamin Cottage store strategically placed at my turn around! Yahoo!
- Don't like Vitamin Water
- Need to spend the $$$ to really get the ideal nutrition on my bike rides and get my plan formed. It's still not even close to figured out.
- Finally got the Bike Fitting. Only small tweaks needed!
- Aerobars are now on!!!! Pretty shaky using them, but I'll get there!
- Recovery week is next!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Headwinds Batman!

So I go out to my moderate distance bike yesterday. This week called for a 2 1/2 hour ride. (I have the long ride on the weekends, and an hour fast ride on Tuesdays.) Holy headwinds!

I'm not staying at my own house right now (house/dog sitting money = easy money for the Bank of all things Triathlon!!!!) so I thought I'd try something different on the side of town I'm currently living. I opted for some roads that I knew were part of a big century ride offered every June. Of course I did it backwards and along a major, major freeway here in Colorado. I don't know if it was because of the freeway that goes uphill, or if it was just the weather... I don't know. It was the type of wind that made you adjust your footing when standing still so you don't fall over. It was unbelievable. I was riding on the frontage road because I know my sanity can be sometimes questionable, but I do know better than to ride along a freeway, especially a major metropolitan freeway (I-25.) Still, everytime a semi went by... Whoosh!!!

I thought the frontage road would continue down to the next major town. It did not. I had to come backwards and hop on a side road. I think it took me 5 minutes to travel what just took me 15-20 minutes to ride out. The tailwind was amazing... but oh so not fair to only have 5 minutes of rest when I worked so hard to get out there!

I turn down a side country road. It's great. There's no shoulder, but there's also very little traffic. Unfortunately I have a small crosswind, but there are some trees so it doesn't get too bad until later on. Off in the distance... I see... No! Please tell me that hill is a side road... No! No! Yep. That car that just passed me is going up that hill... That's where I'm headed... I go up the hill. Not sooo bad. Oh, hey, look a good downhill... Oh no... lots of downhill... Holy smokes, that downhill never ends!!!! OMG! THIS IS THE MONSTER HILL AT THE END OF THE ELEPHANT ROCK COURSE. I'll have to come back up this! Noooo!!!!!

So down, and down, and down I go. Should be fun, but eventually I get out of the trees and the crosswind picks up big time. I naturally get scared around 30 mph (I'm a big chicken.) But the crosswinds are scaring the crud out of me! I'm braking to around 25 mph and praying that fews cars go by because I have to steer into the wind (and road) to stay on my bike.

I finally get to the bottom of the hill. Whew. I stop completely. Get some Gatorade and let my heart settle down. Rats. I'm only at an hour. I know it's going to take me lots of time to get up that monster hill, but then I'll have a tailwind on the frontage road. Okay. Let's ride up 15 minutes and then turn around and see what we got. Okay, now, do I go uphill with a tailwind, and then turn around downhill with the headwind??? That's the route I go. Turns out I went more uphill with headwind and more downhill with tail wind. I ride out 16 minutes, it takes me 4 minutes to get back. I kid you not!

I peddle up the hill. It wasn't as bad as I remembered from last year. When I did it last year I had to wait for a friend every couple of miles, and when I'd stop, I always remembered being happy to have the breaks.

I made it back out to the frontage road with 40 minutes left to ride. Ugh... All this wind... I peddled back to another side road. Mind you I'm now riding uphill again, into a headwind, and it's uphill to the high point between Denver and Colorado Springs. All major weather that doesn't start in the mountains, starts over this high point. And the clouds are getting black... Oh do I want to turn around.

I plugged through it, and I turned around with 20 minutes left to go. I flew that next 20 minutes with the tailwind--and I was now facing Denver, which had blue sunny skies...

I made it back to my car in 2 hours 30 minutes and 30 seconds. I couldn't have planned that better if I tried. And while I didn't have rain--I now have the training ride from heck that I can look back on and know I did endure!!!!!

Week Summary 6/18/07

Wow. This was a big week. My body is tired...

Swim - 3.7 miles

Bike 105.87 miles

Run - 17.7 miles

Hours - 15 hours, 50 minutes

Random thoughts that I've had this week:
- I need to write a letter to my grandma. I think her crocheted handkerchiefs give me good luck when I bike with them.
- This really is a part time job, especially when you add to that 15 hours all of the time driving, getting gear together, etc.
- Good nutrition? What exactly does it look like? Because I'm getting to a point that I really need to start focusing on it. No junk food!
- Good nutrition is expensive!
- Triathlon nutrition is expensive! Recovery drinks + power bars + Gu = $$$$
- Will Greg let me finally schedule my bike fitting? My birthday is only two weeks away now. (He did!)
- Hmmm... Upcoming dogsitting money could buy me a Garmin... ???? 301 or 305??? Dare I?
- Long runs.... It's officially time to start sitting in cold baths afterwards...
- PB & J sound really good on my long rides... Not really feasible to take with me though. Need to talk to Kirk about meals and long rides. Need to talk to Kirk and Gina anyways...
- Did Greg ever pay Kirk for the aerobars?????
- Amy...
- Double the distance of everything I did this week, and do it all on one day. Will I be faster? Doubtful. When I do the math I see that if I don't improve my speed, I'm not going to finish the race in time... Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!
- I've had some people reference the fact that I can't get pregnant doing this... How are those comments affecting me mentally?
- Holy Smokes it sure is hot out...

There's more, but I'll end there. Right now I need to do the last of my sit-ups so I can truly enjoy the next 24 hours of doing nothing but resting my legs...