re-group. move on.

life gives us lemons. youve all heard it- make lemonade. well some times the lemons are bigger then other times. they make a bigger impact. sometimes the lemonade looks like a bit more of a complex recipe then to just add ice and water. and more often then not the stupid lemons get in the way of all of the fun. i am dealing with the current lemons thrown my way last week. i think it had to be a pretty big lemon to break the window of my car and have my beloved items of high value stolen from me. i am trying to see how to make light of the situation but the reality is i lost a lot of money, time and things that are irreplaceable. and it sucks. but the real reality is that i or anyone i love is not hurt and for that i very thankful. and in light of getting through this mess i hope it makes ironman seem simple, wonderful and a break from my current lemon.

to back up a bit- i had a fantastic 10 hour training day. it was the entire day to myself. to be selfish. to not report to anyone, anything but what i wanted to accomplish. i am so grateful for the boys, and katya, that pulled me around for 5hours on my bike. to the heat of the afternoon- made me nice and sweaty for my t-run. and for caroline coming to meet me for my second swim! i was definitely beat by the time the second swim came around. besides getting in some yards, it was unproductive in a physical sense. however- it was a huge confidence builder going into ironman knowing i have at least put together a 10 hour day in some fashion. it is possible!

i had an epic day on the bike with matt j in norcal last week. we rode miles of endless road without car traffic and big hills! it was very fun! despite the car break in, i managed to pull off being a bridesmaid and celebrating with a crew of friends and family all weekend in napa. all so over the top fun!! i must say- getting all new clothes, a bridesmaid dress over nighted and walking down the aisle, after what i went through, was exhausting. i really believe ironman will be easier then the weekend i just went through.

i, once again, feel very distracted from a race i should be a lot more focused on. time is still not on my side... but i have 3 weeks left. about 1.5 weeks of hard training and then a week+ of taper. i am really hoping i can pull it off. i know i can finish- its now just finding time!

this week i have my last long run of 3hours today! whaaawhooo! and my last big brick workout: 80mile ride with a 10mile t-run. i also need to get into the water... hoping to make some lemonade this week. empowering myself by doing what is necessary to clean up my lemon mess. re-grouping and moving on.

to your health,

C

whirlwind

i have not been blogging because i have been on an absolute whirlwind the past 2 weeks with the lcc swimmers. 2nd place finish for our girls team at CIF! 4th for boys. we won 10 out of 21 total events! the coach of the winning athlete is responsible to hand out the medals to the top 6 athletes... lets just say i was up and down all day! the kids are truly inspirational. they swim with heart and a love for racing. i feel honored to have been a part of their high school season this past year. its been truly rewarding to see their success!

all of the hardware.

please read how fast our 100 free styler is... girls!

two all star 500 freestyle boys. the one of the left got a CIF record in 4:28...

coach.

part of the crew- can you believe there are more then this?

the all star boys relay team...

we had our swim banquet on wednesday night so now swim is officially over. thankful because ive felt a bit overwhelmed the past 2 months! but it feels great to have put some closure onto a a very successful season and now change gears.... are you ready...

tomorrow's ironman training itinerary. the 10 hour day:

7:00- 8:15am am swim masters

8:30am- 1:30pm (with some change because of stops) ride with teamIMCDA crew

1:45ishpm- 3pm run off of bike

3:15pm- 3:30pm eat. and eat some more.

3:30-4:30pm lift weights upperbody/core

4:45ish- 5:45pm swim again, easy.

the purpose of the 10-hour day is to mentally and physically prepare myself for being active that long of a time. it would be too much to simulate an actual ironman for recovery purposes. it seems a little crazy but i am looking forward to it. mostly because i have never done this much in a day before (come close to it) but also because i get the whole day to do what i love!

to your health,

C

the list continued

32. you will hit your highest training volume

33. its okay to celebrate your 'longest ride/run/swim' every time you do it

34. upload new songs to your ipod because workouts are too long to put shorter playlists on repeat

35. mail in your heartrate watch to get a new battery before your training starts.

36. your bed may never be made again until after you race

37. wearing the same pair of socks in a row for two workouts is okay. just dont tell anyone. (ref.#2)

38. have plentiful types of sunscreen everywhere. car, bags, house.

39. your significant other at some point will say ' you sure have worn that helmet on a lot lately'

40. other people will say 'you did what?'

41. be grateful for any types of motivation. especially ones that come as small gifts.

42. fitting everything is a challenge.

43. you will think your legs have a mind of their own.

44. new running shoes will need to be purchased at some point in your training.

45. budget for new running shoes.

46.set small goals for your training.

47. the impossible will seem possible once you get out the door.

48. thank your friends for joining you for training.

49. thank your friends for holding you accountable to your training.

50. you cannot skip out on workouts. its an ironman.

51. nail polish color is now important for important workouts, not just race day.

52. its okay to live in compression wear.

52.5 you will bring fashion a whole new meaning

53. coke and snickers will always make you feel better on a long ride

54. a 3 hour ride will now seem short

55. a 6 hour ride will seem a lot more doable once you have done one or two

56. you may wake up and not know what day it is

57. tired has an entirely different meaning.

58. a sense of humor will take you a long way

59. you may develop an obsession with mapmyride.com

to your health,

C

moms day!

i spent moms day with my awesome queen bee gals! we did a loop up through carlsbad and we all had a great time all expect for maybe my legs!

my ride saturday was another for the books! 106 miles in 6 hours with over 4000+ feet of climbing! and i got to explore an entire new route. i went with teamIMCDA- that is the following group of guys: coach lewy (kevin), eric, kevin, riann and julian. ALL of them are doing IMCDA! this group really does exist- i swear! there was no way to get pictures on saturday. i was either climbing the side of a mountain or drilling my legs to stay up with the crew on the flats. then of course i gave them a hard time about how they all would slow down once they hit a hill... big mistake... then we were 'attacking' hills the entire way home. thank goodness i kept my mouth shut until after the majority of big climbs were over.

my state of delirium continued strait from 105 miles on a bike into my party dress, heels and blown out hair to celebrate it up with justins brother and family in la jolla. let's just say once i sat down at the party i had no desire to get up and move!

in the midst of my overly-busy-too-much-to-do schedule i feel distracted from actually taking in all of the ironman training. im getting in all of my workouts but feel like i just have to get them done. today i took some time and added up the past week: 202 miles on the bike- that is 12.25 hours of riding. 27 miles of running- which is 4 hours of running, 1 hour of swimming, 1 hour of upperbody/core workouts. so just about 18.5 hours of exercise. that is a lot on top of 45+hours of work this past week!! almost 20 hours of training is the most i have ever done and i am happy about it! even though i am distracted because of my real job and my swim job training is going well!

the light at the end of the tunnel is that swim season for high school is over in 2 weeks. i am hoping i will get some more sleep, some more swim time and some more social time. i miss my friends!

this picture is of me and my mom. probably what we were doing at some point on mothers day 26 years ago.

to your health,

C

tomorrows ride

out all morning with team IMCDA- will take some pics! 105 miles! whooaahhoooo!!

to your health,

C

#31.

#31. its okay to take a day off. or two.

my weekend was a whole lot of this:

although i had a blast this weekend celebrating with kristin and friends i am excited to re-focus my energy back to more training. i was reminded this morning at masters swim that i need to get ready for 'that ironman race' that is coming up!

back to the bike with team IMCDA this weekend (a.k.a. all of the guys that convinced me to sign up in the first place).

more to come!

to your health,

C

140.6

i am starting a list. 140.6 things to know about training for your first ironman. i should have asked for this list from someone BEFORE signing up for ironman... but live and learn! it is not complete today but i still have 67 more days to figure it out.

1. training for ironman creates a lot of laundry. mostly lycra/spandex.

2. there will be no more time to do laundry. or any regular chores for that matter.

3.training for ironman requires multiple granny naps throughout the week.

4. granny naps require time. you should factor that into your schedule.

5. you will be hungry. all of the time.

6. being hungry means you need to buy more food for the week.

7. long bike rides will take half or all of your day on the weekend.

8. waking up at 5am will be required 7x per week if you work a full time job.

9. tan lines will mostly result in a 'farmers tan' or 'raccoon eyes'

10. speed becomes irrelevant when you think about how long you have been running.

11. going into stores in your bike kit no longer phases you.

12. all of your 'free time' will be spent either swimming, biking or running

12.5 or sleeping and eating

13. be prepared to explain and re-explain to people what ironman means

14. be prepared to explain why you would choose to sign up for such a thing

15. enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when you finish a long workout

16. load the ipod shuffle ahead of time before your workout.

17. make sure the garmin is charged before your workout.

18. allow time in your schedule to remember to do little tasks of charging and organizing watches, phones, ipods, etc.

19. finding clean socks may be a challenge.

20. don't blame the dog when she has the socks- you've been gone all morning on your bike

21. even though you are tired you still need to be nice

22. do not hesitate to have a cup of coffee mid-day

23. enjoy the company when you have it but realize ironman must be done on your own

24. enjoy the solitude of a solo workout

25. be grateful that you are capable of doing such an event.

26. be aware that your facebook status may result in all 'training/workout' posts

27. you will most likely blog about your experience so others can read it with or without actually having to do it

28. the guys at the bike shop are your new best friends

29. attitude determines how successful you will be at completing an ironman

30. hard work is the only way to prepare for race day

to be continued...

to your health,

C