Sydney Scissor Hands

Summer is here and the kids are out of school which means alot of free time to get up to mischief! I've been doing my workouts early in the morning and again in the evening so I can be around all day to do things with them.
Well the other night I go out for an hour run and my little Sydney decides to get creative with the scissors. I saw the development of this little mishap. Firstly cutting up paper, then string, then an idea sparked up in her little brain. Lets try my hair. There were a few snips around where we were making puppets...not a big deal...just an experiment. But thats pretty much where my attentive husband should have stopped it. Instead it turned into a trip to the bathroom where she went from her long and lovely hair to a shaggy do with a very sad looking half pony left. She finished her cutting job and ran to my husband asking him if she looked beautiful.
My husband speechless could only comment. "Just wait till your mom gets home! We are both going to be in BIG trouble for this one!"
All in an hour run!

Dealing with adversity! (or not)

Last week went very well and I got through the long rides/runs. This will be my biggest volume week going into Lake Placid and I am feeling it. I am trying to keep the focus as I know my taper is around the corner. Had a little breakdown on Tuesday as our weather has been beautiful but full of thunderstorms lately. You never know when you going to get caught in the rain or pulled out of the pool due to lightening. Tuesday I had the attitude of "I shall get this 4 hour ride in no matter what weather rolls my way!" Now I was heading out into some very black skies. I decided to stay close to home and do loops up my 2 least favorite sections of road....hospital and squankum...both hills followed by false flats. After a few showers which were enough to make the downhills a little to slick, I decided that misery likes company so I went to meet a group that I knew would be riding. They were waiting out the pending storm as they had heard thunder. I told them I would ride and come back for them in half an hour. If I didn't come back to call 911 as I had been struck by lightening. I did the loop, came back for the group, we get about 5 minutes into the ride and it starts pouring so hard that you can't even see the road. All but three of us turn back. Now I'm soaked,cold, and my hamstrings are so tight that you could make music on them. We are riding at 8 miles an hour...and my enthusiasm is wavering. We keep on and in the distance we see a sign of sun ahead. Fifteen minutes later we are riding free, well kind of. Traffic lights have stopped working and the roads are backed up. Roads are slick and the ride is slow. My buddy Bruce gets a flat. They tell me to keep riding so I go...probably a mistake! Five minutes later I get a flat. Second one of the week. I try see the positive,at least I get to change my flat on my own.....these awesome guys are always so quick to help and I never say no. I time myself....9 minutes...pretty pathetic I know but I had a giant staple I couldn't get out. Another ten minutes go by and I get another flat...AAAHHHHHH! I change it a second time but my spirit has finally been broken and I don't rush. I head back to my house as I have no more spares with me! I got 3 and a half hours in but it was by no means a quality ride.
As any good coach should do Paulo told me to get over it and that tomorrow is another day. I guess I am still writing about it two days later I must not quite be over it. But I have since then run a solid 34 miles, biked 80 miles and swam 4000 hard yards so my head is back in the game. Oh yes,and that was just 40 hours ago! I am definitely getting the work done!

Quote of the day!

"Concentration is why some athletes are better than others. You develop that concentration in training. You can't be lackluster in training and concentrate in a meet."
Olympian, Edwin Moses

I had a hour and a half run today that I really wanted to nail so I ran alone and really used these words. No music...just me and the sun rising over a beautiful calm lake. I felt my heart beat, I used perfect form, I pushed hard and I felt like I had really made the workout count. From now until Lake Placid I think I shall concentrate and focus more. I know I shall have to dig deep at times but I want to do this so I have no excuses race day!

Signs that an Ironman is near!

My legs are constantly sore.
I'm up every morning at 4.45 am.
I can't keep up with the loads of sweaty laundry.
My dishwasher is constantly full of water bottles.
My car looks like my wardrobe.
Chlorine is my natural body smell.
My hair is on the verge of turning green.
I take 3 or more showers a day.
My face is always sunburned.
My srm is always being charged.
I'm constantly eating.
I'm constantly in the bathroom.
Infinit Nutrition bottles are all over my kitchen.
My bike is always dirty.
My legs are always sore...oh yes I said that already!
I'm always thinking about how/where I can sneak a nap in.(seldom happens)
The TV is never on!
I'm constantly apologizing for my lack of being social.
I'm always TIRED!

Clarke Rodgers from Sportzfoto sent me these great shots from Eagleman!

I am smiling as I am on my last mile here!

This photo tells it all!

Clarke this is a classic shot!I was feeling the heat for sure! I would take two cups. One to drink and one for my head! The ice water on the head feels good for about 10 seconds and then its gone.