Speed or Survival.....

Well today's run was supposed to be a speed run - BUT with the heat this am it turned into a survival run......:) HA
8 miles - decent run but the last hill I think killed me! Felt solid (despite the heat)- running really strong right now. Body (well the lower half) feels good. I honestly believe that the yoga and Dr. Jason (my chiropractor) is really helping.
He asked me not to swim today to give my shoulder a day of rest. Tight traps are causing some issues. I carry all of my stress in my shoulders and I think that it is playing a part in my shoulder problem. Wouldn't you know it - hammy starts to heal and the shoulder goes:) HA
Tomorrow swim/ride. Crazy afternoon at work...... so today is survival:)

OH MY GOODNESS

Well all that I can say that my training is going very well right now. I am scared that the bubble will burst (hopefully not next weekend at my first race). Sorry - I just realized that I have not posted since last Thursday (I do have a valid excuse that I will go into in a bit).
Thursday - most excllent swim - open water with Bay, Angie, Dave and Coach T. The water was nice - (and also counts towards my ice bath quota). 7 mile run squeezed in - went very well and feeling strong. Also - did YOGA last Thursday so quite a busy day.
Friday - 2 mile pool swim. My shoulder is bothering me for some odd reason. I went to my chiropractor today and he said that my traps were so tight that I am not able to swim tomorrow. I will ice my shoulder tonight. It feels like something is caught. I am lucky in the fact that I have been a swimmer since the 6th grade and I have never had any rotator cuff problems (why now but I guess it is what it is).
The challenges now come - we picked up Torun Grace from school on Friday night - drove home, opened the door to the Tahoe and Torun Grace surprised me with a projectile vomit episode (to the point that I had peaches dripping from my eyebrows). The entire night was vomit after vomit - so needless to say Torun had the flu:(
Woke up Saturday and she was still running a little fever and coughing. TJ (bless his heart) hung out with her so I could get my run in. I had a fantastic run (and I don't know why - no sleep, no food and no hydration) - 1:32 for 12.8 miles??? AHR was 164 (factoring in Valley Creek hills and Stone Mill).
Sunday - 2 hour ride as that is all I could be away from my girl. She feels better but still has a little cough.
Taught today - Aerobic Endurance - nice ride. Tomorrow I will increase my run mileage slightly as I am not able to swim (my shoulder does need a break).
Looking forward to getting out of town for the weekend. Open water swims, biking with the bears (hopefully I don't see one) and running with the wolves (hopefully I don't see one of those either!) HA

Crazy Week

Sorry that I have not posted as much as I should have. I traveled this week for work so that threw me off a bit.
This week started out with a great spin class (anerobic intervals - perfect after Sunday's half marathon of 100% anaerobic!- HA). Headed to KC for the first part of the week and had a great run on Tuesday am. I really like the city and traveled there often for work so I have my routes down. I didn't run into coyotes this time so that was good!
Wed brought a fantastic time trial loop on my bike. Beat my time by 11 minutes over that same route with Smurfette (my old bike) - Holy crud!!! It is amazing what a little money will do in purchasing a bike. It is about the motor but it is a little about the mechanics of the bike. Challenge riding over all of the tar spots - so I need to clean up my bike a bit:( Swam last night - easy 45 minutes of drills.
This am started out my day with a dip in Carver Lake (no ice bath needed today;). Thanks friends - it was awesome. Now off to do 7 miles and I have YOGA after work tonight before the TCM meeting. Busy day.
Feeling good. Hope to get in my long ride tomorrow.

Long Weekend

What a crazy couple of days that I have had. Friday way too much going on. I had a 4 hour brick - great workout. Swim (75 minutes), bike (2.5 hours) and a 2.5 mile run with speed. I had to cram in my Sunday workout as we ran the Apple Blossom 1/2 marathon yesterday.
Saturday - I ran around at the Twin Cities Marathon children's event. We had roughly 1200 kids. It was awesome to see the eagerness of the children. I am so proud to be a part of helping to shape the fitness and health habits of our children - such an honor. It was amazing to see what a "great job - keep going - you can do it" can do for a child.
Sunday - as mentioned we did the Apple Blossom 1/2 marathon - HOLY SHI$ that is a difficult course. I would much rather ride those hills than run them! Afton is such a beautiful area. It was fun to run with Shannon and Steve - we have such a great time together. I have had better runs - out late Saturday night and didn't eat much on Saturday spells rough run for Tiff! It kind of felt like the run on Chisago Half Ironman from last year - ha.
Well I am off to the airport to try and balance travel for work and my training! FUN FUN
Have a great day - it's raining in Kansas City:(

Running in the rain - I am running in the rain!

Yesterday brought a great 2 mile swim - even did most of it without props - I know - WOW! I did do some of my swim the paddles - Bay I need to give you those back and holy cow my shoulders are killing me today. Yoga should help tonight. Those things are a rotator cuff injury waiting to happen.
I followed my swim with an hour on the bike. I watched UP on the i-Pod - kind of a sad movie - not what I expected. Great ride though.
I did 6 miles outside - base today. Ran in the rain - have I told you that I LOVE to run in the rain. Still rather cold out. Ran in 3 layers - what is up with that? Yoga tonight before Torun's swim lessons.
Tomorrow morning early swim 75 minutes, 2 hour ride and a 2.5 mile speed run. Saturday will be an off day as I have the TCM kids event and Sunday brings the 1/2 marathon with Shannon and Steve - busy weekend - looking forward to it.

Plate

Sorry that I have not updated since Saturday. It has been crazy. I am going from a plate to a cafeteria tray. It is tough to balance. Work is nuts.
Sunday was Mother's Day and I had a great one - hanging out with my girl. Light workout as I was coming off my recovery week. Monday - I taught spin (again - great class and LOVE LOVE LOVE my group). Tuesday - 7 mile run - incredible workout! 800 repeats with a strong headwind - it was good. My swim was drills which helped. Today I have an hour swim and an hour spin to try and jam into my day.
I desperately need to catch up on some sleep tonight. Nutrition this week is decent.
Would love to be able to race this weekend but I have a Twin Cities Marathon Kids event (I sit on the committee) so am not able to do the Oakdale Du. Good luck to all of those racing. Sounds like we are going to do the Apple Blossom 1/2 marathon on Sunday.

Chilly Morning

Who would have thought I would need to wear long johns in May? I was dressed as if it were January today and I was toasty warm.
2 mile swim. My swim went well with the exception of the chemical smells that were in the pool. The club has been closed for the last 3 days for a deep clean. I actually started to get a bit naused from the smell and fumes.
12 miles outside with Shannon and Steve! What fun. Great friends, great workout and great conversation!
Hips and legs feel good. I was supposed to do 7 miles but shhhhh don't tell coach. Oh ya - she reads this - whoops.
Palamino tonight for dinner so I had to run some extra miles to bank some dessert miles:) HA
Tomorrow is going to be difficult - cold and all of the bikes are in storage as they are resurfacing the floors so perhaps it is an eliptical day (which is fine!).
RUN ON!

Busy Day.....

Today was nuts...... between trying to get work stuff done (I couldn't make a customer happy to save my life), kid stuff, training, chiropractor appointment, cleaning the house and mowing the lawn - I think that I am ready to fall over...........
Swim today was kind of yuck... just didn't have anything in me for some odd reason (perhaps residual from my great run yesterday). That's ok - it's a recovery week. And hey - I didn't drown so progress was good:) HA
Drills in the pool. Man I suck at kicking. I am grateful for zoomers or I would probably still be in the darn pool.
Tomorrow morning up early as I need to be on the pavement by 5:00 am so I can get my run in before my roadtrip with my customer. Heading to Duluth -- whoo hooot! No YOGA however - two weeks in a row of missing it - man I was doing so good. The club is closed tomorrow anyway so it wouldn't have mattered.
Friday is an off day - oh what will I do with myself????
Time for bed.... Baked Cheetos for a snack I think.

Base Run Turns Into Excellent Run!!

So my question today -- why when your coach gives you a base run that you go out and try and do an easy run to only look down and see a 7:30 first mile - WHOOPPPSSS! I felt awesome today. My other question - what contributes to a good workout? I had few calories, a stressful day at work and not enough sleep. Other days - I go out thinking - I am well fueled, good sleep, lots of liquid the day before and I have a horrible run. The body is a strange machine.
I have been very achy lately - not sure if it is my lupus acting up or what. My recovery takes longer than it did in the past. Well it doesn't help that I am 2 years older than my last Ironman. I should probably go in and get it checked as I have not had tests taken in quite some time.
Anyway - solid 7 miles today. Well I better go take care of a screaming Torun Grace - she is 4.5 right? WOW - the tears come quick:)
Tomorrow - Chiropractor at Life Clinic and a 45 drill session in the pool and that is it! What will I do with myself? Perhaps some laundry so I can find the carpet in the closet;)
RUN ON!

Hillz

Well I move into my recovery week (which usually leaves me crabby). Today I taught class - hillz! What a great group of people. LOVE LOVE LOVE my class!
Crazy day at work today (just the way my week is shaping up as well) - just the way I like it!
Have a great day - and RIDE ON!

Giddy Up

Today I had a long ride. I did opt out of riding outside in the toto - Wizzard of OZ like winds (yes I know - a wimp) - but hey I ran in it yesterday:) HA It was a good ride. Legs felt a little rusty for the first 45 minutes or so (lactic acid build up - must not have drank enough yesterday) and then the last 2.5 felt good. Base to AT throughout. AHR was 130 or so - good fat burn.
Watched Hangover on the i-POD - man does that make your time go by quick. Funny movie.
Now to putz around the house. Teach tomorrow morning at 5:30 - HILLZ - fun!
RIDE ON!

Ice Bath Was CHILLY

Good run today. Man oh man was it windy today. I like the wind at my butt pushing me along but darn it when you turn the corner that head wind sucks a$$. Hard to dress today. Bill and Bay showed up looking like a nice summer day - I had my mittens, pants and two shirts on:) Hey - I don't like to be cold.
13 miles in the wind - we are going to count it as 15. Hey that means more Dairy Queen cake tonight.
My ice bath was ......... refreshing - there better than chilly. I made it 15 minutes and 3 chapters in my smut book (that helps the time pass).
Hammys tight today - WOW! Now for lunch a little nap and some house work.
We are still deciding if we are going to ride inside or out tomorrow as I would rather run in 30 mph winds than ride in them. I have no problem sitting inside for a couple hours with good company (Lisa's class) and some good music. I have 2.5 hours tomorrow so not bad! Another day to sleep in!!!!!!! WHOO HOOTT.
Torun's at her Papa's this weekend. I miss her:(
Have a good day and RUN ON!