Week 12

I have trained for 94 hours, 5 minutes and 36 seconds so far.  That's 3 days, 22 hours, and 5 mins.

Training:  Overall, I'm still feeling great.  The biggest challenge that I'm having is still fitting in all of the training sessions in and managing to be a mom, wife, and teacher. I will have to say that if anybody goes into this without great time management skills, then they will come out with them! 

I did my first 100K (63 miles) bike rally on Saturday.  There were tons of hills and I really got to know my bike.  It helped a lot riding with DB, who is a very seasoned cyclist.  He really showed me out to crank it down and get up the "beasts".  However, I don't think the hills in Texas are going to be anything like the mountains in Lake Placid.  I'm going to have to look into more climbing gears on my bike.

My hero:  Kylie is just trucking along with her medication.  She takes it every night out of habit and never complains.  She loved getting her face painted yesterday after the race!  She also has dance pictures tonight and she is so excited to dress up in her costume and get all gussied up.  Such a girly girl!  Her sister, Katelyn, and "Garbear" ran a 5K race on Saturday and did terrific!   

Please to help me with my "Journey to Placid" by donating to my fundraising campaign.  I have raised $5066.00 so far and my goal is $10,000.  I'm a little over half way there!!! I'm doing all of the work, you just have to donate!  What a deal! 

http://ctf.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1034366&lis=1&kntae1034366=31D76130C77A41A899ED7F3E1722928B&supId=358283427

Week 10-11

My how the time flies!  I looked at my last post and realized it was before my 1/2 Ironman a few weeks ago.  So let me start with a quick recap.

70.3 Texas:  I felt completely ready for this race.  I started the day pumped and eager to start.  I had my wetsuit on and jumped off of a dock to start.  I was a little nervous about the type of start, simply because it was foreign to me.  When I hit the water, I couldn't believe how cold it was.  Freezing.  Still feeling confident, I moved my way to the middle of the pack knowing that I am a strong swimmer.  The gun went off, I put my head under water to swim and I lost it.  I couldn't move.  I couldn't breath.  I panicked.  I knew that if I didn't get my head in the game I wouldn't make it.  I rolled over on my back and let the others pass me while I refocused and talked myself into calming down.  Luckily, it worked.  I tried swimming again, and this time, I was off.  Before I knew it I was exiting the swim and feeling great.  The bike was flat out and back course.  It went by without a hitch, well except for getting off the bike twice to go to the bathroom.  (Apparently, a skill of using the restroom on the bike works for some triathletes.  Maybe we should address that later.)  I really tried to stay focused on my coaches words of encouragement and I think it paid off.  When I transitioned from the bike to the run, I still felt great.  I started my run a little too fast and had to slow down, but over all I walked away from this race with a smile on my face.

Training:  This is just a glimpse of my training this weekend.  Friday:  Two hours on the bike.  30 mins strength training.  Saturday:  Two hour run.  (I was supposed to swim as well, but I was STARVING after my run, so I ate instead.)  Sorry, coach.  :)  Sunday:  I was on my bike for almost 4 1/2 hours and really felt beaten up by the time I got off of the bike.  Followed by a 30 min. run.  Let's just say that I took my 30 min. run indoors because the wind won today.

It seems like when I'm thinking "Holy Cow! What have I gotten myself into???"  Things like this happen:

That's right.  After months and months of trying, she's finally riding her bike without training wheels.  

Perseverance.  

Week 8-9

Half Ironman week!  Wow.  That went by really fast!  Training so far has been absolutely amazing.  I've spent more hours on the bike trainer than I would like to confess to and, before this journey is over, I may wear out my third treadmill. 

Sunday is the day.  I feel really great going into this race.  Mentally, I'm going to hold back and enjoy the entire thing.  I never thought I would actually say that I'm using a 1/2 IM as a training experience.  Sounds crazy. 

I know that my little hero will carry me through.  She is having another MRI next week.  All I have to think about is how brave she is when the doctor puts the mask over her face.  How she bruises afterwards from the IV and never complains.  How she takes her medication every night without any complaints, even when it results in throwing up afterwards.  She makes my journey so much easier and well worth it. 

Please help support me and my hero along the way...

http://ctf.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1034366&lis=1&kntae1034366=23D0BAE3CCA9427287C98F3D0FDC63E2&supId=358283427