OUCH

So the real deal is...I'm SUPER busy these days. I'm in school 4 days a week, training 6 days a week and sleeping during any extra hours that I have. That does not leave much blogging time...so they might be far between. I'll try to recap the last few days...

Yesterday I did an open water swim out at Saguaro Lake with Dave, Brig and Jason. Stupid me decided to wear just a sports bra and top instead of my swim suit. AND, I didn't wear bodyglide. Not just my arms are burned but my sides under my sports bra too. It's so painful! I won't make that mistake again...bodyglide is my friend! Anyway....we swam for an hour and I felt really good. Maybe it was because I was familiar with my surroundings, but it felt much better then when I swam my 1/2 a few weeks ago. The part I didn't care for was the lake weed touching my legs. That did put me into somewhat of a panic in a couple areas. I can't stand that! And when he made us tread water I had a pretty challenging time...I don't know why I have these panic attacks.

I'm officially part of the racelab Saturday bike ride group. These are some serious contenders too! There are about 20 or so riders on any given Saturday, most of which I believe are already IM so I do have to push to keep up, which is great because Dave is pushing my speed. (Oh, don't let me forget to tell you about our brick workout Tuesday) Last Saturday we rode from Chandler to Coolidge and back, which was my longest ride of about 70 miles. Well, it was not intended to be my longest but I followed the leaders out and ended up doing an extra small loop - oops.... Next time I'll stay with the pack and let the leaders go without me :) The best part of the whole ride was jumping into the pool when we were done. PERFECT!!! Total time was just under 5 hours. Not bad, but Dave wants better. The previous Saturday we rode the Tour de Scottsdale route which took us through Fountain Hills. Yeah HILLS is right!

Speaking of Dave...we did a brick workout (bike/run) the other day and although I think he was not super excited about my run performance (he is really pushing me out of my comfort zone these days) I was happy. Let me tell you why...I remember when it would take me an hour just to ride 10 miles. For my brick I biked 12 miles and ran 2 miles in an hour 5 minutes. My transition was pretty pathetic, but he's not too worried about those during IM. So my speed is improving, but I still have far to go.

Today is my day off and let me tell you - Thursdays are my most favorite days! Tomorrow is our last Friday gym workout. Dave is changing my schedule so not sure what we will be doing. I'm a little sad about it because my gym workouts are my most favorite. We'll still do them on Monday...just not Fri too.

I'm leaving for Tahoe tomorrow. I'm going to hike some trails, bike some single track and gamble until I'm broke! HURRAY FOR ME! Have a great week....

It's been a long time...

It's been so long since my last post that I'm not even sure where to start or what to say. It's like seeing a long lost friend almost.

Well, these past couple of months have been a challenge, to say the least. I did my first 1/2 Ironman and had a blast. I did so much better than I expected and while I was there (in Northern CA) I remembered why I signed up for all this....then I came home to AZ weather and suddenly it all changed.

I've had some real struggles with getting my workouts done in this heat. I fear I'm at a breaking point. When it's 104 at 9AM everyday it takes the fun out of everything I do and I dread my workouts daily. I told Dave today that I feel so far behind....I can't do anything quickly in this weather and the fact that it's getting me so down is starting to weigh on me. It's not fun and I just don't care to do it anymore. Unfortunately for me, quitting is not at option, but each day that passes I get more and more bitter. I just need some cooler weather so that I can enjoy being outside again.

I'm starting to do my long weekend rides with racelab and I'm happy about that. Last week we did part of the Tour de Scottsdale route and man...it was not my best day. I started pretty nervous about riding with people I didn't know and I wasn't sure where I was going either so I didn't eat much and ran out of water. I managed 4 hours. I'm not in the IM to break any time records but I do want to make the cutoff times so I'm worried about my speed. My hope is that I do fine. I did the 1/2 bike in 4 hours and it was all hills...

Sunday I have a 10 mile run on my schedule. I'll be up at 4am trying to beat the heat and home before the sun is up. Man I am really hoping for just a section of cool weather along the canal. Knowing that I can actually run 10 miles is a little surreal to me. Sometimes I just can't believe what I pull off. I do breakdown long workouts. I plan 5 miles out and don't count the second 5 home so it doesn't seem so bad. I think that's how I'll get through IM too...it's just 3 bike loops and 3 run loops. Easy - right?

I staring at this screen desperate to remember why I signed up for Ironman. I'm trying to remember how I felt on the Mill Ave. bridge waiting for Dave and Windy to speed by on their bikes when they did IM. Why am I doing this, really? I need that motivation and that desire back in order to finish this. Why? Why am I doing this? I don't remember and that scares me. I need a nap. And that's another thing! Am I the only IM in training that is always tired? After a workout I shove food into my mouth and sleep for 3 hours...