What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation

Hi everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. I know I did. Here's a quick summary of my 10 days back home in good ole Wisconsin:

1. Badger football game! I already blogged about that, though. But it was awesome! The Badger's are officially the most underappreciated 11-1 team in Big Ten history.

2. Green Bay Packers football game! Lambeau Field is always a good time. Unfortunately, the QB (sorry WI peeps, he should have retired 5 years ago) wasn't up to the game and the Packers got smeared. No Worries, I had to leave at halftime to get my 90 minute run done before the party people got back and wanted to go to the casino. And no, I didn't win. I never do. I'm not only the biggest Klutz you'll ever meet, but I'm also the least lucky person on the planet.

3. Milwaukee Bucks Basketball game! I've never been to a Pro-Basketball game before. 2 quick observations:

You know your seats are good when you are sitting in the same row as the owner (and state senator). Thanks Nikki and Tony for the tickets!

What is with the skank squad? Seriously, I must just be getting old, but those cheerleaders need to put some clothes on. Come on, knee high boots????

4. 10,600 yards in an 83 degree pool by myself. If that's not the definition of tedium and boredom, I don't know what is. The only thing keeping me alert was the pool that gets to 2.7 feet on the ends. Doing flip turns was like playing Russian Roulette.

5. My parents are awesomely amazing

Mom: Made me vegan stuffing for Thanksgiving and happily ate a vegetarian dish at the Indian restaurant we went to for dinner. I think that she made peace with my diet when she saw that I was healthy and not wasting away to nothing. She also became my "bike bitch" (her words, not mine) for my long rides and got me water when I needed it. Oh, and bought me the most coolest coat, hat, mittens, and scarf in the world! She also went to the Buck's game with me and we had a very fun time

Dad: Did my brick runs with me. He also helped me out tremendously on my 1:40 run Sunday morning. He ran the first 2 miles with me, then went to the store to buy me water, met me at 6.5 with the water, then drove to the end to run the last 0.5 miles with me. That was great. The 9.6 miles I ran will be my longest run before Vegas. 13.1 is totally within reach. And in the brand new Asics Kayano XII's that he bought for me. I really am such a spoiled brat.

6. Spent a lot of quality time with my sister in law. She went shopping with me the day after Thanksgiving, and, as always I got all my shopping done! Sweet. I also celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday on Saturday. Who knew there were so many things you could buy associated with Thomas the Train?

7. Went out with one of the two girls that I still keep in contact with from High School. Dinner, drinks, and guy bashing with an old girlfriend is good for the soul :)

8. Last but not least... drumroll please....

Last Tuesday I got word that my second primary authored publication was accepted. What does that mean? I have officially covered all the requirements for my PhD! Now there's that pesky thesis I have to write...

I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot because it was an action packed week! But I think that I have properly bored you all. Have a great night! It's going to be 60 degrees here tomorrow and I'm going for a run. Outside! And I get to do pick-ups into zone 3! That's right, I'm going to run like the wind. I assure you I will enjoy every second of it.

IM (University of) Wisconsin Race (game) report

I woke up early, as I do in preparation for all of my race (game) days and there was an air of nervous excitement about. Will I dress right? Will I be too cold? Too warm? How is my nutrition plan? Will I bonk halfway through the bike (game) ? I went through my mental checklist, had some peanut butter on toast, and it was time to go. The last thing that you want on race (game) day is to be late and have to rush in Transition (tailgate). So off we went.

As always we put in some race (game) day tunes to get us hyped up. Our choice today was the University of Wisconsin band T3 (5th quarter) CD. We were ready to race.

We arrived in T1 (tailgate) early and had our choice of racks (parking spaces). We chose one close to the run exit (the road) and began our preparation. Thankfully for me, I brought along a secret weapon. The legend himself, master of T1 (tailgate) and 60-65 age group winner of the Cleveland Triathlon Bob "The Cookie Man" Thomson had us racked and ready in 5 minutes flat:



No time to dilly dally we still had preparations that needed to be done. Here is a pick of MJ "The Shamrock" Thomson unloading some of her GU (Whiskey) flask for important pre-race (game) nutrition:



Taking her lead, I realized the importance of hydration before such an important race (game). I knew that just gatorade (coffee and whiskey) wouldn't do it for today, so I also got a bottle of water (beer) for extra hydration. I wasn't going to be caught unprepared for this race:



I know the saying- nothing new on race (game) day. However, I found a new supplier of salt capsules today. I knew that this could be a gamble, but I can't bear spending $1 on 6 enduralites anymore:



With nervous energy in the air, after standing around by the water for an hour, the cannon blew and we were off. The swim (walk to our seats) was crowded and brutal. At one point I took and elbow to the face which almost knocked off my beer goggles. Thankfully I was able to grab them and I was off again without missing a step



The bike (game) was quite amazing. The crowd support was phenomenal. Going up some of the hills, I swear the crowd was 30 people deep. Every once in awhile you would hear them roar with applause. I had heard of the flag guy from IM florida, who races with a large American Flag. I was impressed and awed to see that IM (University of) Wisconsin has its own flag guy:




T2 was uneventful and we were off to the run (drive home). Honestly I don't know what all the fuss is about. The run (drive home) was quite relaxing. I even think that I got a bit of a nap in to be honest. When I was halfway to the finish (home) I realized that there was another race (OSU Michigan game) that I would like to watch, so we even managed to negative split the run (drive).

As I was coming down the home stretch I knew there was something that I had to do. A lot of people like to complain when people do this, but I had no choice. My babies are too important to me. I had to pick them up and take them through the finishing chute with me. Here is a picture of them waiting for me:



Final time: 8:00.00


You people might think I'm crazy, but honestly this IM (college football game) thing really isn't that tiring after all. I still had plenty of energy to jump on the trainer:


While watching the finish of another race (game)



End note: Shortly after this my father officially qualified for sainthood. He ran my 20 minute brick run with me with 10 minutes left in the OSU/Michigan game. What a guy!

My parasite is back...

I am in the middle of a recovery week right now. I didn't even swim this morning (gasp!). So why, I ask you, am I so dang hungry???? I can't stop snacking on peanut butter and granola. So now I have barricaded myself in my room away from the food, and guess what I'm doing?

Making a new blog, of course! I've decided to keep a blog just for my recipes. Half for you guys out there who have made my recipes or asked for them, and half just so I don't forget them and can access them from anywhere. And who doesn't want to keep track of one more blog? I think this is getting a little out of control...

But here it is:

JT's plant-based recipes

In other news my life is crazy town lately. I'm trying to get everything ready for my trip to Wisconsin. It's a little nuts all the stuff I have to pack into my car. Bike, trainer, weights, stability ball, cycling gear, football watching gear (Badger and Packer game to attend, doncha know?), running gear, food, dog, dog food, and most importantly, all of my credit cards for my annual day after Thanksgiving shopping fest with my sister in law. I can usually start and finish my Christmas shopping all in one day and with fabulous deals. For a girl who hates shopping, this is a great thing.

Hopefully I'll have internet access while I'm on my trip. I'll try to check in from time to time, but if for some reason I don't get the opportunity to say this:

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Weekend recap

Wow, that was a busy weekend and I'm zonked.

Friday night I worked a little bit on the later side (I had a really cool experiment work out just the way I wanted- yay!). When I got home I still had my bike technique workout to do, and then snuck out with the roommies to have a quick glass of wine. Then I went home and passed out.

Friday night, after being awakened twice during the night by a running toilet I realized I had to be plumber Jodi on Saturday. But I was on a Saturday time crunch. I had to go to the gym to get my 40 minute run in, go to Home Depot to get plumbing supplies, go to work to take some petri plates out of the incubator, get home, fix the toilet, and set up my trainer for my 2+ hour bike ride... all before the Badger's 12:00pm kickoff. And I made it! I love when I can fix stuff in my house without help. For dinner I had Barilla Plus (high protein) pasta with broccoli, mushrooms, onions, garlic, fresh basil and pasta sauce. Then I worked on some graphs from one of my experiments while watching The Wedding Crashers with the roommies (I love that movie just as much every time I see it!)

This morning I met Jen and some other great gals for a trail run. I enjoyed it a lot, but my knees are complaining a little bit. For some reason, the worst surface for me to run on is uneven trails. Even worse than concrete. I think I might just need to invest in some trail running shoes. Jen was nice enough to wait for me to finish up my 90 minute run (she had a 60 minute run on the schedule) and we went out for bagels with peanut butter. Delicious. The only downfall of the morning (other than the pissed off knees) is that it was quite wet and now I have some dirty nasty wet Asics Kayano's to deal with.

Then I ran home, cleaned my kitchen, ate as much as I could possibly find to shove in my face (huge appetite this week), and headed back to the East side for the CTC newbies meeting. It was my first official newbie meeting. I'm going to try to help out Jen this year, because it's going to be impossible for her to manage the newbies all by herself and train for Ironman at the same time. I'm thinking of leading a newbie's open water swimming session. I love open water swimming. I won't take them out on my favorite days though. You see, I love swimming in waves. I'm weird like that. I don't think the average triathlete appreciates swells and whitecaps quite as much as I do.

Then I ran back to work, and headed home to a PB&J sandwich, and then did some cooking for the week. It should be an interesting quinoa concoction that I threw together. Hopefully it won't suck because it made 7 servings. Very healthy though, with muchrooms, onions, garlic, 2 yellow peppers, 2 cans of tomatoes with hot chili peppers, zucchini, tons of fresh basil, oregano, salt and pepper. I'll find out tomorrow if it's edible :)

Allright peeps, it's time for me to get my stuff ready for the week and do some reading. I haven't gotten my schedule for the week yet, so I don't know what I'm faced with- just that I'll have to do some of it in another state!

Random Thoughts Tuesday!

1. Sometimes I hate my dryer.

I'm the kind of person that thinks that an article of clothing is worthless if it can't be washed and put in the dryer. So regardless of washing instructions, that's what I do. My roommates are so much better than me. They take out appropriate garments and air dry them. Not me. So when I went to the dryer this morning to empty my clothes I was very disappointed to find one of my bras.... in 2 pieces. Like I don't have enough of an undergarment problem with the labrador that has a taste for my underwear! Pretty soon I'm going to be resigned to granny panties and sports bras. And I wonder why I'm single?

2. The Elections

New Flash.... If the exit polls are correct, for the first time in my 10 years of faithful voting I actually may have voted for a winner! Sad but true.

3. I joined a new team!

Blogger Wes has nominated me official trainer of Team HM Express ! It's a group of wonderful people in training for half marathons. Since I'll be tackling Vegas, and probably Cleveland as well, I thought what the heck! Not sure how great of a trainer I'll be, but it should be tons of fun. Anyone want to join us?

4. Organization takes so much time

I think I spend a good 30 minutes preparing for the next days workouts. I have it down to a science now. 1. Get food ready for the morning and to last through an entire day of >2 hours of training 2. Fit all my clothes and accessories for my swim and run into tiny little swim bag. I've become quite good at it, actually 3. Lay out clothes for the morning. This is essential, as my normally terrible fashion sense turns downright vile at 4:45am 4. Don't forget to set the alarm 5. Make note of things I forgot to do from said list so that I can remember to do them right when I wake up because I'm too tired and lazy at 9:45 to get out of bed to do it.

5. I discovered the world's most perfect recovery food:

It was a dark day in my history. I was 16 and still so naive to the ways of the world. I made myself a extra grande double expresso mocha from the bagel shop where I worked. That was the day my lactose intolerance got the best of me. 3 hours of bent over, fetal position style cramping abdominal pain. I haven't touched chocolate milk since.

Until this morning.

Sweet, sweet morning filled with sunlight and anticipation of the day ahead. I finished a grueling 75 minutes on the trainer and then I tried it.

Chocolate Silk

Approximately 15 seconds and 16 ounces of the sweet nectar of the Gods later I knew I had found the fountain of youth. Chocolate soymilk. I easily could have drank the entire half gallon. But I knew that would be robbing me of the pleasure after tomorrow's swim. It will be a post-swim meal to remember I'm sure.

Another Week Bites The Dust

I think I'm starting to understand the rigors of Ironman training. I just finished a week with increased volume (1500 extra yards in the pool and 20 extra run minutes) and I'm tired. But there's really no room to be tired. This week I have 9 workouts on the agenda:

Swim: 3 x 3500 yards (will probably be about 4 hours)

Bike: 1 x 1:15, 1 x 1:00 drills, 1 x 2:15 (for a total of 4:30)

Run 1 x 50, 1 x 40, and 1 x 90 minutes (for a total of 3 hours)

And 1.5 hours of strength

And it all starts at 6am tomorrow morning. Sheesh. But of course, you know I love every second of it.

I went to a great sports medicine injury prevention clinic today on the other side of town. It was free and it was so worthwile. During the 2 hours that I was there I:

Saw a podiatrist who taped up my toe. He said he wasn't sure if it is broken, but I'll be able to know by how long it hurts. If it's just badly bruised it should heal up in 7-10 days. If it's broken it will be 6 weeks. But he never told me I can't run! His wonderful tape job got me through a pain free 8.1 miles on the towpath today!

I also saw a massage therapist. I told her that my lower back has been killing me from my trainer workouts. Within about 10 minutes she had me all stretched out and I felt like a new woman. I was starting to feel very old gimpin around holding my lower back! Now if I can only come up with $60 per month so that I can visit her for an hour every month I'll be set!

And I also learned some great yoga poses. I can't wait to get to a yoga class. However, with 9 workouts per week it's going to be very hard to fit into the ole schedule. I'll try to make it work.

Finally I got to see and chat with TriSaraTops . Her hubby was in line for the podiatrist as I was getting my toe taped. Always great to talk to her! I'm sure I'll be asking her a lot of questions this year.

Now I have a question for you HRM trainer peeps out there. Any idea what affects your workout heart rates? Some days I can run much faster than others and stay below 156. Today was a slow day. I'm thinking it might have something to do with working super hard on the trainer yesterday, but who knows. I am starting to make peace with the slow running though. It keeps my knee healthy and my recovery is very fast. Can't argue with that.

Mind 1 Body 0

I think that I should be forced to walk around in body armour. All the time.

Last week I was getting ready to go out and was in a particularly good mood. I did a little dance while going up my basement stairs... and down I went. I landed directly on my patella tendon on my old un-carpeted stairs. Huge bruise didn't help my 80 minute run last Sunday.

This morning I topped it.

I was getting ready to ride my trainer. All excited to watch some football. Doing a little dance around my living room and BAM! Whapped my toes on my trainer. And, um, kinda broke my fourth toe.

So I'm writhing in pain on my couch looking at my bike. I know it's broken. Broken appendages feel different than sprained ones. If Miss Graceful knows anything, it's what a broken finger or toe feels like. So my toe and my brain had a little conversation:

Toe: Ow

Brain: You're just a toe

Toe: But I hurt real bad. I mean look at me! I'm all swollen and starting to turn black and blue!

Brain: Your point?

Toe: But it's going to hurt to put on those cycling shoes!

Brain: Yeah, well it's going to hurt to run 26.2 miles, too.

Toe: But that's different!

Brain: Suck it up princess. Put a sock on it and get on that damn trainer. We have a 135 minute workout to do.

That's pretty much how it went. I had an awesome workout. My heart rate was very low, so I put it in the big ring and hammered for 2 hours. I was sweating, it hurt, but in the end I feel great. Well, except for the toe. It's a little more swollen and a little more black. It better get over it. We have 8.5 miles to run tomorrow.

I'm Beat

So I am officially 34 days into my Ironman training and had my first day where I am totally beat. My run tonight was terrible. I usually start every workout raring to go. Tonight I just didn't have the spark. My heart rate showed it. The run was sluggish at best. There was a lame movie on Comedy Central playing at my gym and my playlist on my mp3 player (I have a whopping 128 MB of memory on that bad boy) has been through a dozen times now. I couldn't wait for my watch to hit 50 minutes. But alas it did. Time has a way of passing, albeit slowly when you're in pain. I limped my body home (after my ritualistic sprint to the car) and had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my dinner. And now I"m just spent. It's not even 9pm on a Friday and I can't wait to go to sleep!

Looking ahead to next week I have an extra workout on tap. 3 double days, with an extra bike ride thrown in. I am very happy for the extra bike time because I feel it is a real limiter for me and I need to work extra hard in the offseason to build up some muscular endurance. I also have to start weight training. I have been putting it off this week because I've been so destroyed at night. But tomorrow I need to fit it in, no excuses. I am such a wussy girl. I need some muscle definition dammit! No one is going to buy that this little flabby girl is doing an ironman. I need ab muscles! I need some triceps! I need a drill sargeant to make me do my weight training!

Tomorrow I am going to do my training while watching football again. I'd like to ride outside, but I know that I would be miserable. I just don't have the money to buy cold weather gear and the high tomorrow is 45. It's on my Christmas list, though, so I should be set for the March/ April/ May rides. You might just have to shoot me if I have to do a 7 hour ride on the trainer. That kind of feat deserves a Nobel Prize.

One last shout out to my peeps doing IMFL tomorrow. I'll be watching you and cheering you on in spirit. The weather looks like it is going to be nothing short of perfect. Enjoy your day:

EricH #206

Coach Angela #2319
CTC President Andrew Joyce #863
My CTC Buddy George Vale #849

And all the other great people that are out there giving it their all. You have come so far. You should all be proud of the committment, sacrifice, and dedication that got you to the starting line. Everything else is just icing on the cake. You will be Ironmen!

Casey Doobie Doo

I got these pics in my email today from my sister in law. This is my cute little nephew who turns 3 in 3 weeks. I am so excited to get to spend all of Thanksgiving week at home so I can hang out with the family and play with Casey. How fun!

Training is going great. I'm up to 2- 50 minute runs and 1-1:30 run this week. I am looking forward to the 90 minutes on the towpath. I'll have company on my run again! That's so exciting because running alone on the treadmill so so boring I feel like I could almost fall asleep.

Time for a running confessional:

When I go to my gym to run my slow 50 minutes on the treadmill I park as far away from the gym as I can. Then when I'm done I sprint to my car. Heart rate be damned!

Okay, you can all yell at me now.

70.3

It's official

Ironman has $210 more of my money

Active.com has $15 more of my money

Now I just have to book my flight Cali

March 31, 2007 I'll learn what it's like to be half of an Ironman

Then I have 2 months and 3 weeks to get up the courage to do twice the distance.

Who's with me?