Things are going well

Training is going slow but well. I am getting some good workout done at the Y and am working on getting things going at home. I work on-call so of course I worked 10 hours each on Christmas eve and day with no time for exercise.

Today I went with Linda & Brayden to Gig Harbor Y for a couple classes and to use the recumbent bike. I dislike that bike but the only spin class available while we were there was lead by Dana and shes a really shitty instructor. Her strength class is good, she makes sure you're doing it right, quality not quantity. but her spin is actually a good way to get yourself hurt so I avoid her.

We did Yoga which I enjoyed but Linda didn't and we did a strength class in the gym which was not structured well, another way to get hurt if you're not careful. I'll keep going to classes and will sooner or later find a bunch of them I like.

Tomorrow night is Triday Friday at Bremerton YMCA where we do a 15 minute swim, 30-45 minute spin & 20 minute run on the indoor track. Its just a lot of fun & a good way to get a workout in when you'd rather be at home.

For Christmas I was given a new helmet, neoprene shoe covers for cold weather and a nice weight set with 3, 5 & 8 pound weights. I know Lan paid a LOT for his helmet & this is the same kind so that was nice, very nice. I do already have some pretty nice cold weather cycling shoes but these will allow me to ride the tri bike with my tri shoes so I can be super used to them come Ironman time. All in all I received some thoughtful gifts and that means the world to me.

Linda has finally shared her Ironman race report with me. I know it would be long, she had said 16 pages before but I started reading it & only got to the 2nd paragraph before I gave up. Shes telling her life story, not a race report. But I'm going to have to read it all & give her feedback. Shit. I've already heard her story only about 14,823 times.

Horses update:
I've been using the slow feed hay nets for a couple weeks, have enough for all horses now + an extra and I LOVE them. I wish I had enough that each horse had 2 so I could prefill them. They have cut down the hay waste to a minimum amount, the horses are taking much longer to eat, they aren't going as long between meals and they aren't all pissed off when I do get into the barn to feed them. They have quit pawing the walls, Wifi doesn't whinny at 5am for breakfast and they have a bit of manners when they get the hay in front of them. 

I do miss the nickers that I used to get when I'd walk into the barn, I miss that a lot.

The poor horses have had no attention for a week besides being fed & stalls cleaned. The arena is too goopy for turnout. Maybe I should just haul mine to Sawda & let them run around in the indoor arena while I feed & clean with Amy.

Next Week

No more postponing.

Its been 6 freakin' months since IMCDA and I need to get my ass back in the water, back on the bike and back out onto the road, running. I won't have time to mess around any longer.

I have the book I received from Les for my birthday, its where I will write down all the things I have done each day and I need to buy a book with a plan in it. Linda had one, she followed it to a T each and every day and she was able to finish with 45 minutes to spare. I'll get the book & let Lan use it too.

I bought this book for Lan for Christmas for him to keep track of his Ironman Training. I know hes not going to like it but once its filled in and he is an IRONMAN, he will appreciate it. I plan on saving mine & giving it to a grand child someday. What a cool item to share with the kids!

This is the inside, enough space to write a lot of info, areas to keep track of weekly miles & year to date. The book I have is very similar to this.

I ordered new shoes online, a new brand. Usually I wear narrow but they were so tight they cut the circulation to my feet. Returned them, got more of the same size but they were too long so they are in the mail being returned too. Sigh. I hope size 8B fits well, if not, I'll be back to the damn stores again. I HATE trying on shoes.

Horses: I have bought 6 slow feed hay nets and absolutely love them but the horses took a while to get there. This is Mark, before he started training, right after I gave him his bath, eating out of his feeder. They waste so little hay now that I'm able to feed less and they are wasting less. I'll keep an eye on their weight, just in case, but I'm feeding about 2/3 of the amount of hay they had previously been getting.

Mark hasn't been to a lesson in 2 weeks, hes just sitting here eating hay & shitting. Since Terry decided to have Cathi sell him, nothing has been done besides me groom him, get him new shoes and put blankets on him. If Terry had left things well enough alone, Mark would have been sold already and they wouldn't have... I wouldn't have this horse to feed. They haven't put a penny towards his care except for 4 bales of hay & 2 big assed bags of grain meant for cows. Dumb asses.

Kate told Jean & Terry that if they want her to continue riding then Mark has to live at her barn so of course, that's not happening. Idiots. He had a chance to belong to Kate & live in horse heaven and be something.

In other horse news, the barn is full, 7 in all.

Poseidon, a 4 year old paint gelding, should be leaving in a couple weeks to go into training. He needs it and I'll be glad to see him go. I wish I could be here when Lauren is here so I can ask her if hes ever had weight in the saddle, I can give her just a few tips on more stuff she can do with him before she sends him to a trainer that's just going to charge her cash to do this same stuff.

 I got a new saddle.

Its an older Circle Y, trail type. This photo makes it look a lot nicer than it really is but its not in bad shape. It had been on Craigslist last summer, I inquired about it way before we went to Las Vegas in October, kept a note on my desk with the info on it, saying WATCH THIS SADDLE!  I sent them another email asking 'Since its been for sale for so long, would they take $275 instead of the $325 they were asking.' They said yes & I headed up to Sequim the next day. It fits Sunshower, who already has a nice saddle and I had been hoping it might fit Wifi. I'll see what its like on Sunshower next spring & if it fits better than her old one I'll sell that one and use this one.

I've got an old Circle Y 1 ear headstall & matching breast collar that I'll put together with this saddle so its a set. It does need a new latigo & off billet.

End of Year Festivities

The tri club Lan & I are members of, West Sound Triathlon Club, had its end of year Awards Ceremony & Christmas in Kona party today. There was a good turn out and I knew almost everyone there.

There's me, in the yellow.

It was fun to talk with everyone about their races this year, see the people who got MOST INSPIRATIONAL ( Linda & Terry), Suzie got one for something, Dan & Mike got most GEAR HEAD. There were several others too.

Me, Terry, Linda, June, Suzie (standing), Barbara & Rhonda

So many of these ladies are already signed up for many races & runs while I am only signed up for Yukon Do It Full marathon & Ironman CDA in June. It kills me that I can't be signed up for a dozen already.

I might not even be able to do Yukon, if they schedule me to work on New Years Eve morning then I'm screwed.

Sleep

If I could sleep enough every night I would be a happy person. I AM a happy person but I'd be happier if I got enough sleep. I'd like 7 hours of UNINTERPRETED sleep every night.

I was able to babysit yesterday evening, its such fun to play with the kids. Pasha is going to be 6 next week and she beat me at Chess.

Seriously, she beat me. I was going to let her win but not that fast! She insisted that we finish the game so I lost again with the remaining pieces.

I ran a mile with Lan yesterday morning so I could try out my new Timex GPS watch but I didn't get it figured out at all. I have the patience of a goldfish. I do know it was a faster mile than I'm used to (besides the fact I rarely run at all) because I stayed beside Lan the whole way and he runs faster than my slog. I'll guess it was a 9:30 mile. I'm good with that. And I could be exaggerating by a minute or two.

Back at it

I've taken way too much time off since Ironman Coeur d'Alene. I knew I was going to slow down & do horses all summer but I didn't plan on taking 6 months off from serious IM training. I've gained weight & lost all muscle tone.

 

Today we had my 50th birthday party & I was given 2 pretty pink Timex GPS watches. I'll take one back to REI and get Linda something really nice because she got me one of them & Lan got me the other. Shes going without her arthritis medications & spending $99.99 on pink watches for me & I feel bad. But I did give her a jacket she really wanted the other day when we went shopping; I said I was buying it for me.

I'm not really 50 until 3:53am Tuesday, December 11th. Then I can forget things and be mean to kids.

I'm going to get up that day and weigh in, take measurements of my whole body and take photos. I'm going to look worse than I did last year, ugh.

With my age comes a new age group too, I'll be competing against all older women. This theoretically gives me an advantage but if I don't do well I'll look silly.

Updates on races:
Race for a Soldier- I had to work so Amanda Arr ran with my bib. My new PR is 1:38:37 for the half marathon!! and its going to be a bitch to ever beat that time again, lol.

Seattle Half Marathon- Ran/walked this with Linda. Shes on new meds and they help but not enough to allow her to run. She had BAD pain in her left knee for more than half the distance so we decided to just walk and have FUN. We took a lot of photos and had good times with many people we knew. We finished in 3:29:14.

Jingle Bell 5k- That was last weekend and I did OK but no PR (got that last year running with Lindas bib, 29:21) this year finished in 31:14. I'm ok with that since I haven't run at all.

I want to try my new watch out so Lan & I are getting up bright & early to go for a run around the neighborhood. I've got to be back before 9:30 because the farrier is coming.

Oh, let me introduce you to Mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze06pT6d0co&feature=plcp
He is a 5 year old TB gelding that started race training but never raced but he got a bad habit of taking off when an inexperienced rider would raise their hands too high, then squeeze in fear. Mark belongs to my FIL & I found a trainer for Mark, got him looking good thru her riding & training & a decent diet. His hooves are current and hes been wormed.

Markster, September 30, 2012

This was 'Bubba' before I changed his name to Mark. He is 16hh. In this photo he had been at Terrys for a month, the trainers for a month before than & doing nothing the whole time. He lacked muscle so looked very awkward. I could see that with riding his back would come up, flattening his topline, rounding his croup, filling out his neck & deepening his chest. I don't have current conformation shots but he looks SO good now, can't wait to get some taken so I can share.

All my horses are fine and I can't wait to start riding again.

Black Diamond Olympic Race Report

Black Diamond Olympic Race Report: This was my second Black Diamond Olympic distance race (also in 2011); I've also done 1 Sprint (2010). This is the first race that didn't include rain.

The swim started normally for me,

an inside freak out that lasted until just past the 1st buoy then I was able to continue on for the rest of the mile mostly fine. It took a long time to do but I knew I was going faster than last year. It also helped that there was another woman in front of me that I was trying to catch and pass. I didn’t, she was standing & walking up the ramp when I was just touching the bottom of the lake.

Swim time: 42:16 Last year 45:28. I thought there was a bigger difference than this but I was wrong.

T1 starts at the lake shore then you have to go up the hill & into transition,

it’s a couple hundred yards. They’ve got it carpeted for the worst of the rocky part. I got my wetsuit halfway down before I got into T1 so all I needed to do was remove it from the waist down, take off goggles & head stuff, put on biking shoes w/o socks, helmet & glasses and was on my way.

I beat 6 people in the swim.

T1 time: 3:31

Last year: 4:21 Difference must be that it wasn’t raining, didn’t need a jacket & didn’t put on socks.

My bike ride was nice and went by faster than I thought it should. I’ve ridden the course a couple times before so I kind of knew it but didn’t have it all memorized. At one at spot I thought I was passing people behind me but they were in front of me instead but it gave me targets to catch. No wind or rain so it was a much nicer ride than years past. I only passed a few people on the course, maybe 10, one of them a guy, on a hill, I FLEW past him! Came into the park feeling really good.

My bike placing was 117, I beat 41 people on the bike, and I was in 134th place overall after the bike.

Bike time: 1:26:51 Last year: 1:38:13 There wasn’t wind or rain and I’ve had more training & have a better bike.

T2 Starts at dismount, run a hundred yards to transition. Shoes, helmet, glasses off, socks & shoes on, grabbed hat that had food & sweat bands in it & ran. I put the hat on after I was out of T2 & running so I wasn’t wasting time standing there. I use elastic shoe strings so all I have to do is pull them on, no tying involved.

T2 time: 2:00 Last year: 2:24 Way faster this year, considering I had to put socks on this time. Maybe it was the rain before that slowed me down??

The run was not fun and I didn’t have any time that I felt ‘in the zone’ at all. My shins were burning for the first couple miles.

It didn’t feel any better to walk than to run but walking didn’t beat on them. At the 3 mile mark I started running alongside Marianna, another TriBabe. We walked/ran the rest of the race together and finished side by side.

One thing I noticed was my head was hot with a cap on so I either need good running sunglasses and no hat or maybe try a visor.

I beat 5 people in the run.

Run time: 1:17:02 Last year: 1:09:28 Last year I ran the whole time and felt good but it was cooler weather.

Total time: 3:31:41 I was 8/8 in my division (women 45-49) and 142/158 total finishers. Not my best race ever and I felt a lot better after last years race.

Good News

Yesterday I received some really good news: I'll be working at the Bremerton Ferry Dock starting September 23rd, all the way until June 23rd, 2013. Coincidence? I think not.

I thought about it long and hard and kept coming up with the same answer to my question of if I should change docks or not: YES.

I'll have more time to workout because I am now low man on the totem pole of seniority and with the shortened fall/winter/spring sailing schedule there will be less hours available.

At Fauntleroy I had 4 people below me and I would be working almost 40 hours all winter. I can go back next summer if I want... IF.

I should be able to get to the gym or get an outdoor workout almost any day too because the dock is only about 4 miles away from the Bremerton YMCA. How convenient is that?? VERY. I'll catch the Masters swimming lessons so much easier.

This last week I once again didn't have enough time to workout much but I did get out to the lake once and this morning I did a spin class. Torrey is no longer going to lead them at the Gig Harbor Y, Dana will do them and shes a freak. Shes OK for Pilate's because she makes sure you've got good correct form but shes no good on the bikes.

This weekend I've got the Black Diamond Olympic tri in Enumclaw, did it last year in 3:39:55 and I hope to hell I can beat that time this year, even if its just by 5 seconds.