Haven't been feeling that great since the Half. Not injured - but sick & fatigued. The middle of February was really hard to do anything but sleep, eat, and rest. So this week I am happy & proud to say I have worked out 5x already, and have signed up to do a 45 mile group ride tomorrow. :)

Funday Monday

My friends and I have a joke about TRX. When I see the word, or hear it, I instantly think of DMX. And I start to hum the "What's My Name" song & sing "TRX" instead of DMX. It's a horrible association - I have the Ruff Ryders' Anthem stuck in my head on a weekly basis!

Did a nice ride to Marin & back today, hit up the beach and took advantage of the No Cars rule in Golden Gate (happens every Sunday & holiday). My Napa half is in two months, getting excited/nervous!

Kaiser Permanente Half

New PR in the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon today! My chip time was 1:53 - so I ran at an 8:37 pace. I was 495/3161 for women, and 1719/5923 total finishers. This race starts in Golden Gate Park then takes you down to the beach, then a small hill back into the park for the finish. We're having a heat wave in California right now, so my friends and I camped out at the beach post race beers. Absolutely beautiful California weather!!

Sort of a funny story: I misinterpreted the mile markers and literally thought I had only run 8.3 - 8.5 miles, and this was a very hot and sunny portion of the race. I didn't think I could make it another 5 miles. Then I saw the mile 10 marker, and realized I had been reading the miles incorrectly. It was quite the relief, but a pure hellish two miles for sure.

This was my first race of the year - feels like it started off right :)

The Week's WODs

Monday: Rest (post TRX certification)

Tuesday: 25 miles bike

Wednesday: 6 mile run

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 25 mile bike

Saturday: 13 mile run & TRX circuit

Sunday: TRX circuit

Good: I'm back to working out 5-6x a week.

Bad: Not cycling enough.

I don't care about swimming until mid-late February. I think time is better spent strengthening my body and getting myself up to 50 miles again on the bike.

Coming up next weekend: Superbowl Sunday Half Marathon in Golden Gate Park!

Doug

I started doing some lunch time rides with some of the peeps on the third floor at work. Doug is one of those peeps. Doug is a really good cyclist, he is really fast. He races on a bike track on the weekends. He schools me on our rides.

Doug is super nice. He answers my questions, and even though I don't always understand what he's saying, it's nice that he's helping. He told me that I don't have a spin yet. Guess I need to get that down. He also told me I don't need to buy clip ons for my bike, I can just rest my forearms on my handle bars. I tried it - he was right.

After doing TRX on Sunday my core was sore. Riding today at 25mph on California hills, my Lord, my sides were aching. I'm actually not even going to ride home anymore. I have class tonight & I want to make sure I'm alive for it.

Final Countdown

It has been six months since I stood in line at the Olympic Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid, NY. I was so nervous that morning! And I have six months to go until I'm back in that Oval, changing out of my wetsuit & racing off to bike 112 miles. I have no idea what's going to happen that day, and I hope that from now until then, I do give 100% in my training, and 110% on race day.

The most valuable thing I have learned since starting this - is that, if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want. I honest to God, never thought I'd get registered for one of these events. But once I made up my mind to do it, and took it piece by piece, it wasn't too bad. It actually made me re-elvaluate other things in my life. Are there things in my life currently that I wanted to change, but hadn't because the task seemed too hard?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm scared shitless. And there's a hell of a lot of work to be done. And I know I'm going to be in pain, and be tired, and will want to quit at some points. And I do worry... I worry about over training, not training enough, training incorrectly, disappointing people. But I suppose the best cure for that is to just go for run or ride, or swim :)

TRX!

I went for TRX certification this Sunday. I passed! I'm actually a bit sore today. I loved the course, and I feel like I never would have had the 1:1 time with the instructors unless I purchased a $400 trainer package at a gym.

Suspension training originally started in the Navy Seals - and TRX was founded here in San Francisco. You're using your own body weight in resistance exercise. Form is incredibly important - and your core is engaged 100% of the time. It's also fun & different. Honestly, aren't we all just a bit tired of the same old weight lifting routines?