OMG - 94 days to go

I have a confession.  As IMMT is creeping up, way too fast if you ask me, I am becoming terrified of this race.  John had a heart to heart talk with me a couple days ago about my training, or lack there of.  There have been a couple personal things in our lives that have distracted me from training and then our son, after almost two months of no episodes, has had another reaction on the weekend and we ended up in the hospital and he is now on IV antibiotics again.  I know he will be fine but it would be nice to find out what is causing this.  We are seeing another specialist next week.  Hope he has some definitive answers for us!!

I am not doing IMMT to be competitive, I am not a competitive person. I am just going to finish.  I did have a finish time in mind but have come to realize that I don't think it will happen.  The training (the getting your ass out the door part) is really hard and I love just being a great Mom and wife (I have a very spoiled husband - as I am sure most of you know!).  Every now and then I NEED to look after my nest, ya know what I'm sayin'??  

I started off strong in January, then I had a lull for a couple of weeks the beginning of February.  After that I had a good round of training, then hit another training road block mid-April.  And here we are now - the last couple of training weeks have been almost non existent (nesting!  lol).  During the week I would run only once, maybe twice, but I think my saving grace is that I have rode my long slow rides.  WHICH have been 200+kms and these LOONNGG rides have had hills, big hill, lots of hills, lots of hills..... did I mention hills! ;)   That is 10+ hours of riding each time.  As for my swimming, it has been a month since I was in the pool.  I was swimming 3km comfortably at that point.  I honestly do not want to swim again in the pool.  The lakes/quarry should be warm enough soon, right?? 

So, hats off to those who can stick to a training plan, you are far more disciplined than I.  For my fellow followers, but mostly for me as I only have 94 days left until my Ironman, I am going to pull up my socks and try to stick to the rest of my training plan.  I feel I have a pretty good cycling base.  I am riding another 200kms this weekend and have three more rides of that distance planned.  I am also going to Mont Tremblant to pre-ride/pre-run the course in June.  Pretty excited about that!  Wish me luck people!

Thanks for reading!

Tri-World

I was reading the 'Get Out There' magazine and I came across a great poem written by a 60-year old age-grouper from Oakville, ON that I wanted to share - he has completed many triathlons and three Ironmans.  Hope you enjoy - 'cause I know I did!

In my world
the water is cold,
the wind is unrelenting,
and the road ends at the horizon.

In my world,
there are no limits,
there is no end,
no past or future, just now.

In my world,
there are no losers,
only the inspired,
chasing their dreams.

In my world,
the people are extreme,
for limits, like fears,
are often illusions.

In my world,
it's about stretching the boundaries,
to experience those incredible moments,
that inspire all other memories in your life.

In my world,
to simply exist is not good enough,
it's about digging deeper,
about not just living, but really living.

In my world,
the pain of pushing yourself pales,
next to the pain of regret,
and the bragging rights last a lifetime.

In my world,
it's not about finishing first,
it's about being unafraid to go places,
you never thought possible.

In my world,
emotion trumps effort,
and success is not measured in medals,
but in guts and determination.

In my world,
to finish is to win,
changing your life forever,
emotionally, mentally, spiritually, socially.

In my world,
it's about the competition, and
the memories you've earned the right to cherish,
every single day for the rest of your life.

In my world,
there are only dreamers,
some say dreams never do come true,
I say they're wrong, I know they do.

In my world,
the word "can't" does not exist,
and we scream from the mountaintops,
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Because, in my world,
if you have to ask why,
you will never understand,
for I am one of just 72,000.

Almost habit

As Matty-O said to me on my last post, "come March you had better get your head in the right place and just do NOT think about working out, just do it".  Well Matt, I am Doing IT!  ;)

The last 3.5 weeks have been spot on.  I have not dreaded dragging my butt to the pool at 8pm and  I have decided to start running during my lunch hours, which helps A LOT.  We do not have showers at work so I just use baby wipes, lots of body spray and deodorant to mask my smell!  lol  My hair is never the best after but oh well.  Ya don't like it, don't look at me!  HAHA   I only missed last Thursdays training day but my priority was my son that day. 

Here is the story:

Dylan was at college Thursday and messaged me saying he got bit by something, the swelling was the size of a toonie (got much bigger as the hours passed) and that there was a red path going up his arm (to his armpit to be exact).  I told him to go to the medical clinic they have in the school asap. When he did as the infection progressed SO quickly they immediately put him in a cab that took him to emergency where as soon as they seen him they called the doctor and hooked him up to IV antibiotics right away. The doctor cannot say for sure what exactly caused this but diagnosed him with cellulitis. You can see on his wrist where something did bit him though...spider maybe!  They put an IV shunt in his arm as the CCAC nurse came to hook up a an IV pump to him at our house that night which supplied a very strong antibiotic right into his blood stream every 8 hours, plus he is on an oral antibiotic prescription, plus the nurse came to the house for the next three days to change the IV bag and monitor him. We had to go back to the hospital yesterday for a follow up and the doctor said that it looked very good and after his last does of the IV meds we can take the pump off him. SOOO scary!  We are now going to put Dylan in a bubble.  ;)

More on the training, about 10 of us who are participating in IMMT are renting a cottage in Mont Tremblant in June to go pre-ride and pre-run the IM course.  I am really looking forward to this!  



L-A-Z-Y



Yeah - I KNOW, stop nagging me!!!!!!!!!!!

Me - I'm going to get up early tomorrow to get some sort of work out in
Me in the morning - ummm..... no (goes back to sleep)
Me on the way home from work - I feel good, as soon as I get home and am going to get some sort of workout in
Me at home - uummm....  fuck it ( assumes the position of couch potato until bed)

Repeat, repeat, repeat

I've got problems........and food is calling to me....  all kinds of food.  They won't stop calling to me!   

What the hell Fran?!?!?  Only 24 weeks till IMMT..  get with it will ya!!!!   Dork! 

Randoms

I was tagged by Adena at she said I need a goal to post 11 random facts about me.  As Adena said is her post, there are strict rules to this game of tag.
Here are the rules:
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 Random things about me:

1- I hate fish and seafood. Taste, texture, smell - yuck, yuck, yuck! 

2- I was very young when I had my first child...and my second, but I found the strength inside me to persevere and not be swallowed up by the system as many young girls do.  I wanted to give my boys a better life and the opportunities that I did not have.

3- I always have to have the toilet paper on the dispenser a certain way.  It needs to come out from the bottom, not the top.  I don't know why I have this little O.C.D. thing but even in a public or work washroom I will take it off and turn it around before I use it.  Yes, I am a wee bit crazy!  lol

4-  I love nature. The interior of Algonquin is my favorite place. 

5- I want to travel and backpack and/or cycle in Europe.  This is on my bucket list.

6- I have broken both of my wrist in my life time.  The first time I was in grade 4 and I jumped off of a swing when I was swinging really high.  FAIL!   The second time was in 2007 while mountain biking.

7- Speaking of which, while mountain biking - I have bruised my tailbone really bad, but continued to ride for 4 hours afterwards to prove I am not a sissy girl to John; Bruised my ribcage, again continuing to ride as I did not want to ruin Johns ride; and when I broke my wrist I said that John can continue his ride and I walked my bike out of the trails and it over hour back to get back to the car......WITH A BROKEN WRIST.  Yeah, that's right, ME = NOT A WUSSY!

8- I thought I would give triathlon a try in hopes that I don't hurt myself so much!  I have come to discover however, that triathlon is a whole different kind of hurt!

9- I am a great listener and very laid back.

10- I am pretty good with directions, regardless of what my husband says.

11- I hope that I can regain my motivation for my IMMT training.  I fell of the wagon hard about a week ago!  BOO me!

Adena's Questions and my Answers:

1. What is your favourite ‘weird’ food to eat? Chicken noodle soup with ketchup..  when I tell people this they look at me like I am a freak..... but it is really good.  YUM

2. If you could have any job/career at all, what would it be? Hmm...  this is a good one.  When I was young I wanted to be a biologist (marine).  But I love nature so anything having to do with this would make me happy.  I also think about being a Midwife as I am a nurturer and love helping/caring for others. 

3. Do you know how I can get my safari address bar back permanently? I don't even know what you are talking about!  Sorry!

4. What is your best race memory? seeing my husband waiting for me at the last feed station during my half Iron in Peterborough and he followed behind me to keep me going! 

5. What is your favourite song right now? hold on I have to ask my son the name again.............  OK, it is called 'Help I'm Alive' by Metric.

6. What is your favourite training/racing gadget? my Garmin

7. Do you prefer to train with a team, or alone? Why? I prefer to train alone as I am slow and don't want the pressure of holding someone back or pushing myself and risk injury.

8. What is in your fridge right now? What isn't in my fridge? lol  If I have to list what I can think of it would be - zucchini, peppers, cucumber, lettuce, onions, apples, oranges, mango's, strawberries, carrots, spaghetti squash, cauliflower, avocados,  tomatoes, cantaloupe, milk, orange juice, dill pickles, olives, hard cheese, cheese slices, goat cheese, butter, eggs, pepperoni, black forest ham, mayo, ketchup, mustard, Italian dressing, vinegar, iced wine, beer, jam, clamato juice, yogurt.....  I cant think of anything else but there is not much else.

9. Favourite TV show? (if you watch TV) True Blood

10. Favourite book? don't have one.

11. Do you have any pets? If so what, name, age. no pets unless you count John..  jk!  ;)

With this game I am supposed to tag 11 people but I don't even think I have 11 followers so I am going to forgo this part. 

Hope you've enjoyed my post.  Cheers!

PUMPED!

New year’s eve - clean house, organized bike and run stuff (John's mess), prepare spare bedroom into stretch/yoga room/sanctuary, put up photos of Chrissie and Craig, put my training plan beside the bed so I see it every morning and every night to stay motivated and focused (also hang plan on fridge, on my jail cell cubicle wall at work and in the yoga room).

New Year ’s Day - marks the first day of my Ironman journey. I am happy to report that it has been a successful week. Not one workout missed. WOOOOHHOOOO. However, yes there is a however, my runs have been cut in half. BOOOO. My flippin' IT band is wreaking havoc on me. I took the last two weeks off prior to the start of my training plan (it was for resting the IT band and to eat myself into oblivion over the holidays lol) in hopes that it would help. My first run was not fun. I got about 7km done of a scheduled 14km. With that I am back doing physio and am told I have very strong, developed quad muscles but got nothing in the rear end or hammies to balance out my upper leg which puts way more stress causing ITBS. I guess my sciatica is acting up too which is causing my hamstrings to be extremely tight and not allowing the full range of motion while running. Regardless, I am doing what needs to be done - exercises my physio gal pal given me to do 3 times a day and a DVD I need to watch and practice about ABCD sequences (running technique).  I will be good as new before you know it. I am pumped to have nailed all my workouts and look forward to the many more positive weeks.

On a nutrition front, I have purged the entire house of sugary substances.  Bad sugar! 

What to say? hmm

I am finding it hard to find time or the creativity to write my posts.  I am not a very good writer and I am one to just say things how they are with no real fluff involved. 

That said, I am happy to say that I have been hitting all my runs this and last month.  I run about 11kms on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a long, slow run (16km) on the weekend.  Woohoo.  However, all of these runs have been on routes that have hills.  John says they are not big hills, but they are for me.  So I have a bit of pain in my right achilles and it feels really bruised just to the right of my inside right ankle.  I am not sure if this has to do with the achilles but I have been stretching it like crazy. To be safe I am going to take a week off from running.  Plus my left IT band is tight.  The good ol' foam roller aka pool noodle is back in action.  It is not enough pain to even notice really when I am running but it is there.  I figure as I am just base training now there is no need to push that hard.   can afford to rest for a bit.

John and I resting while on my first century ride!  :)

      In the meantime, my bike is going to need some work.  John and I have been getting up in the mornings twice a week to bike in our pain cave (ok, I didn't get up this morning with him but I rode tonight to make up for it) and I have to work on my cadence.  ALOT, so John says.  I agree with him.  I love having him coach me.  So tonight I pedaled my little arse off and my average cadence was about 85rpm.  It was hard!  I was sweating like a pig.  Good thing I set up the pain cave equipped with a big fan... ... right in front of me.  :)  Work*On*Cadence... this is my goal for the next couple of months.

With regards to my swimming, I have only been in the pool once in the last month.  I felt good but I hate the fact that our pool hours SUCK the big one.  It is the Wayne Gretzky Centre for crying out loud.  You would think that they'd have more then just one hour or one and a half hours of length swimming in the evening.  They have length swimming in the mornings for a measly hour long and it starts at 7am. Well I have to be at work by 8am so this does not work for me and I am sure not for many others.  I personally, like to come home, get my workout in and then unwind for the day.  Not come home rush to make supper, half ass relax, then go to the pool at 8:30pm, home at 9:45pm, then unwind and try to go to bed.  Like I said, it SUCKS!  The good news is that the Centre is undergoing a $50M+ renovation project right now and it includes the construction of another 25M pool.  I HOPE that this is strickly for lap swimming with better, more convenient hours!  Lets keep our fingers crossed!!