Going on vacation is stressful

I'm leaving tomorrow for Sea Tac airport at 5:00am. Luckily, I usually get in at o'dark thirty, so this isn't that early, but the fact I'm still up past 10pm, I'm sure I'll be tired. But it's vacation, so excitement will keep me bright and peppy. :)

This week leading up to vacation has been stress to the ful. I've been working 10+ hour days trying to get everything ready for me being gone for one measly week. It was comforting hearing people say "no! you can't go on vacation" when I told them I'll be out next week. At least I know I'm needed :)

My workouts kept up with my busy-ness this week up until yesterday... My body decided to say "no" on a tempo run which ended up not being a tempo run. It's been a while since I had a bad workout, so I was not super surprised that it happened this week. Stress, working a lot, lack of sleep, and tired legs all add up to disaster. I was still really bummed though! Just have to remind myself that not all runs can be great ones.

I thought I could redeem myself by getting in an awesome 3 hour ride today since I was planning to leave work early. Who was I kidding?! Leaving early the day before vacation? Ha! I ended up leaving 4 hours after I planned to leave, which was an hour later than I usually leave the office... awesome. With all the errands/cleaning/prepping for vacation I had to do, the long ride was squished into a pathetic 30 minute spin on my trainer. This was the last time I'll be on my bike until August 6th or 7th and it wasn't even a good ride. :( Sorry Masi! 

So I'm off to Northern Minnesota for a week of relaxation, fresh air, family time, water skiing, swimming, running, boating, out houses, amazing sunsets, and so much more. See you in a week!

Guest Post on Oiselle Blog

Hi! Just wanted to let you know I did a guest post on Oiselle's blog about my first time hittin' the track for a track workout. You should wander over there and check it out!

Biggest training month, endurance athlete? and vacation

I've been having a hard time thinking of a good post to write, hence the lack of posting. Since I can't think of a topic, I'm going to go with the easy escape - bullet list.

• I ran 8 miles yesterday. This run did wonders for my confidence in my training. I can't remember the last time I ran 8 miles, so I was happy that I did it at a 9:13 pace. 
• 5 work days left until vacation. Thank goodness! Since I started my job last November, I have only taken 2 days off. I am overdue for an extended period of time away from the office. Off to my cabin in Northern Minnesota!
• I'm on track this month to have the biggest training month, in terms of hours, ever. I'm really excited about this. I'm actually trying to beat July of 2010, which is currently in first. July was my peak month last year, but I think August will be even bigger than July this year cause I have a late September oly triathlon, so the training will continue pretty well through August.
• Do you think that training for an Olympic triathlon puts me into the endurance sport category? I don't feel like I'm an "endurance sport athlete" because I consider HIM/Ironman endurance sports. What do you think?
• I went on a 37 mile bike ride today. Before hand I ate about 300 calories for bfast and on the bike I only had 1 gel, 1 bottle of Nuun and 1 bottle of water. Should I be eating more on the bike? I felt fine the entire ride, but my stomach was growling as I pulled up to my house. Any suggestions are welcome.
• To everyone to raced this weekend whether it be the Ragnar Relay, IMLP or any other race, congrats! Can't wait to read all the recaps. 

A real post to come soon!

Got through a mentally tough bike ride

The training schedule called for 45 miles on the bike today, which I normally welcome with open arms and even get excited about, but today, I woke up to rain.

I am a fair-weather rider, so this was very discouraging. I could have sworn the weather man said it was going to be sunny and 70 today...lies! (or did I just make that up?) I went out to breakfast and all the while contemplated what I was going to do - ride the trainer for 3 hours or buck it up and ride in the rain.

Then I recalled Frayed Laces post about building mental toughness. One of the tips was heading out for a run or a ride in the sub-par weather and that this can help build confidence in your abilities. So I did it, I rode in the rain.

The entire ride was a struggle mentally, never physically although I was trying to ride fast to finish faster. The whole time I swear I was staring at my CatEye watching the miles slowly tick by. Most of the almost 3 hours I was on the bike I thought things like "I can't believe I am riding right now" or "this is going to take forever" "this sucks" but I kept peddling and finally was able to eek out 43 miles.

I got off my bike and was in awe about what I just did. It seemed like 15 minutes ago I tweeted that I didn't want to ride in the rain and now I was standing there, finished with the ride. A instantly felt happy and proud of myself. In hindsight, it wasn't a horrible ride - the rain held pretty well, it wasn't cold out, there was no wind and I kept my pace up - but during the ride I could not muster up a positive thought for the life of me. Strange, isn't it? But I survived and I guess they're right when they say "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and I believe that applies to us mentally just as much as physically.

 Have you pushed through a mentally tough workout? What got you through?

Seattle to Portland Bike Ride 2011

After last year's Seattle to Portland bike ride, I said I'd never do it again. It was painful, I almost cried and it actually made me hate my bike. Not good.

So when I found myself registering for this year's ride back in March I knew there had to be a change so this year's adventure would be better. Team Sweat (Rebecca, Thanh and myself) decided to take a relaxed approach to training and honestly, we only did 40-60 mile long rides before the big ride. Going into this ride, I was expecting it to hurt, but I was determined to stay positive and keep the smiles going over the 200 miles.

We had grand plans to start early-ish on Saturday, but somehow ended up being one of the last groups across the start line. They were literally taking down the start line stuff and the announcer was no longer present. Oopsie, better catch up! We quickly caught riders and soon were in the midst of it all.

Me and Rebecca

Lake Washington Blvd. probably 5 miles into the ride

Near 30ish miles

The weather was beautiful, the tail wind was present and the energy was high. We smashed out the first 100 miles with no problem what-so-ever. It was amazing! I kept expecting something to start hurting, but nothing ever did (well, except my saddle, but that's to be expected) - I was able to keep pushing and ride hard. The first 100 miles is ridiculously flat too, which adds to the easy-ness.

I tried to make stupid faces at all the cameras

After the first 100, the route adds in some rolling hills. Some more up then down, but we only had to get to mile marker 135 and we could rest for the night. I probably could have ridden past 135, but I was pretty dang happy to see Castle Rock High School, which was our camp ground for the night.

I slept in the back of a Subaru, which usually isn't a problem, but I didn't sleep well that night. Getting up and getting on the bike again was a little like pulling teeth, but knowing that we only had 70 miles that day was motivating. Plus, I knew a Sbux was just up the road, which really was the only reason I got on my bike. :)

Start of 2nd day

Rebecca & Thanh

Before we knew it, we were in Oregon! Yipee! We're there right?! No. Once in Oregon, the route still has 50 miles until Portland. We cross the Lewis and Clark bridge in Longview, WA which is 50 miles West of PDX, so there was still a good amount of pavement to be covered. 

The second day's scenery leaves much to be desired. For 40 miles you ride a long a busy highway and although some parts are pretty, most are not. And the cars passing by at high speeds doesn't add to the landscape. Once near PDX, the route goes over one of Portland's many bridges and you get an awesome view of the city and then thoughts of the finish line dance in your head. "We just have to ride there" pointing to downtown. 

Pretty bridge coming into Portland

I quickly ran out of faces to make

And then you near the finish line and the block is lined with fans/spectators and the biking adventure is over. Just like that. When we were done, I couldn't believe what a success the ride was for all of us. Rebecca and I both agreed that after this year's experience, we'd definitely do STP again. Well, probably not, but you get what I'm saying. And it was Thanh's first STP in his first year biking and he totally rocked it. If you're curious, we averaged 15mph over the 203 miles.

Why do I think this year's STP went so much better than last years? Here are my thoughts:

• I ate more. Cheeseburger at rest stops? Okay!
• I drank SO much more. Lots of Nuun!
• I knew how far 205 miles is. Last year I under estimated it.
• I took 6 ibuprofen over the two days.
• We took a more relaxed approach this year.
• The weather was fantastic both days.
• I was fitted better on my bike. No sore knees!

Have you done a long multi-day ride before? How did your body handle it?

3 Things Thursday - training, no life and 5ks

This past weekend I rode the Seattle to Portland bike ride, which is 205 miles over 2 days. I'll have a recap coming soon, I want to wait for my ridiculous event pictures to come in first. Hehehe.

So, I'll give you my 3 things, since it's Thursday.

1. Training has been going great. It's pushing me, but in a good way. I've been swimming more, biking more and doing more track workouts. I'm on my way to a successful Olympic Triathlon in September!

2. Lately, I feel like I've just been going through the motions of life. I get up, swim, go to work, work too long, workout again, drive home, eat dinner, go to bed. Get up and do it again. I don't even have time to watch my Netflix or read blogs (sorry!) What has happened to time?! I *hope* that when I actually move to Seattle, I'll gain about 1.5 hours to my day because my commute will be cut dramatically. Right now though, especially now that it's summer, I feel like I have no life outside of training and working and I'm not real happy about it.

3. I won an entry into the See Jane Run 5k from Tall Mom, so I'm incorporating that into my long run on Sunday. I plan to run the 5k, but not race it, then continue on for another 5 miles. I know there are some local blog ladies running it too plus a few Oiselle ladies, so it should be a sweaty social fest.

I'll be back tomorrow with a full STP recap and it's one you don't want to miss.

Holiday Weekend

Happy Birthday, America! :)

4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. Although we may not get the best weather for it most years here in the PNW, the weekend is always filled with fireworks, BBQ, beers, friends and family. But this year we lucked out - beautiful, sunny, warm weather all weekend long!

Friday I got off work early and went for a wonderfully sweaty bike ride with Rebecca and a friend of hers. We rode some serious hills that made me realize I need to ride more hills more often. They hurt so bad, but make you such a better rider.

Lush and green Washington with the Cascades in the background

Saturday, I was contemplating whether I was going to run the trail run I had registered for a couple months ago. I had originally signed up for the 10 miler, but downgraded to 5 because I'm not in 10 mile trail shape what-so-ever. It was a gorgeous morning, so I felt guilty not doing it, so I headed out and drove the hour plus drive to the trail. There were some stupid steep sections that everyone was walking up, but other than that, it was a fun trail run. I did manage to get lost, so I ran 6.4 miles instead of the 5.

It was hot in the sun

After the run, I headed down to Westport to visit my fisherman. I was able to get in my 40 mile bike ride on Sunday and rode a highway I drive all the time, but have never biked. I rode from Westport south to Tokeland and back. It is all pretty flat, but I was able to get in a few pickups to get the heart rate going. Here are some pics of an incredible view I got at about 10 miles.

Willapa Bay

Pretty

Sunday night, my fisherman bought some fireworks, or rather just things that go BOOM and we went to the beach to set a few off. The awesome thing about this part of the Washington coast, is that you can drive on the beach. It's SO fun! There were a lot of people down there lighting off fireworks/spectating.

Today I drove up to my parent's house, cleaned my bike, BBQed and now about to go for a run since it has cooled off. It's been a fantastic weekend, I'm just bummed I missed a swim that I was supposed to do yesterday. I'll have to make it up this week sometime.

Were you able to stay active this holiday weekend?

Half way review & what I'm excited about

We're officially half way through the year, can you believe it? I can't! I usually have mini monthly goals to reach, so I didn't set a big 2011 goal. Instead I just said I wanted to complete all the races I had planned and accept my body for what it is. (Read more here).

I have NOT completed all races I had planned, which I'm totally okay with - I had TOO much on my plate and I didn't feel like I could focus on a race with all that I had going on. My race schedule is now cleaned up so that my next A race is the Black Diamond Olympic Triathlon in September.

On the latter statement, I have been consciously eating more veggies and less processed crap, but I still have a weak spot toward cookies and sweets. I'm more aware of what foods will make me feel like crap later, so I've been better with my decision making. I'm happy where my body is at right now, which is a fantastic feeling. :)

Here is what I'm excited about for the rest of 2011:

• The Tour de France starting this weekend!! Go Andy!
• Vacation to lake cabin in Minnesota in early August
• Finishing my first ever Oly distance triathlon
• My 2nd nephew being born
• Finally moving to Seattle and out of my sister/parent's house
• Getting faster in SBR
• Going to Vegas for work in October
• Seeing my sister and bro-in-law in October

What are you excited for in the remainder of 2011?