Alright, I did it! And I think I did it in 1:38 or 1:39, but times aren't up yet. And unfortunately you only get your overall time :( So I won't know my splits, which really stinks, I wish I had thought about that and kept track.

Yesterday Beth was kind enough to let me come out to her parents house and swim in Aurora Lake so I could try out my wetsuit and swim in the open water, both for the first time!!! I must say that the wetsuit is great and it is neat how much cleaner you slice through the water, but swimming in the open water was tough for me and it made me really nervous for Sunday's race. So, pretty much all Saturday night I was second guessing myself and dreading that I decided to give Tris a Try this year.


Gary and I got up at 5 am today, so I could get to Clay's Park in plenty of time, mapquest said it should take 1 hour and a few mins. So, we left the house at 5:30 and got to Clay's Park at about 6:45 since there was one potty stop. I had plenty of time to get checked in (which consisted of grabbing your own bag) and get my transition set up. I had no clue what to do in transition. I think at most tris they have numbers up for where to put your bike, but this was a free for all. I thought I had done something wrong b/c one girl in my row kept giving me the stink eye. But I figured since there was a hybrid next to me, surely I was okay in my spot. I hit the bathroom a few times, chatting with Beth, Adam and Brandon and stood staring at the water for awhile. I was scared, but I was glad to know the lake was pretty shallow.

THE SWIM
The swim was in a shallow man made lake. The water was pleasantly warm, but


not too warm and clear, although it had a blue dye in it. You basically had to swim across the lake to the opposite shore, turn at a buoy, go down to the next buoy and then head into shore. There were 2 men's waves before us and then all the women. I'd say there were about 80 women total. I didn't know where I wanted to place myself, but I decided to get on the far outside. If you look at the pic, go all the way to the right, I'm the person at the front in the sleeveless wetsuit. Waiting as the guy counted down was the worst, I could just feel my heart beating out of my chest. They blew the horn and off I went. I managed to swim freestyle for maybe about 30 strokes, then I came up to sight and realized I was off quite a bit and did some breast stroke and side stroke back towards the buoy. At this point I started to freak out a bit. Every time I put my face in the water I would choke. But it was fine, I didn't necessarily feel too tired or like I was going to drown, just like I couldn't breathe. So, I just did breast stroke for awhile until I got to the other side of the lake, then I managed to swim freestyle the bottom of the rectangle, but also stopped and put my feet down a few times to get my bearings. On the way back I was better and was able to swim free most of the way, but was just way off course. I have no sense of direction when my face is in the water. I am a fine swimmer, speed and stroke wise, but would have been over back on the other shore if I hadn't brought my face out of the water every few strokes. Maybe I'll do better at an out and back swim where I have the shore on one side to look at. Coming out of the water was fine, I was able to get out of my wetsuit just fine and had it down to my waist by the time I got back to the transition area, which was about 200 feet away. I just walked it and used the time to get my breathing in check. I don't know how long the swim took me, either 12 mins or 17 mins. Gary told me 17, but the guy next to him was telling the girl beside me it took her 12 and she was right behind me. Gary just knew it was 8:27 and we were supposed to start at 8:10, but I don't know if we started on time or not. I'm going to go with 12 mins :)
Transtion 1

I had laid every thing out before hand and didn't have any issues getting my stuff together. Only bad thing is I forgot my Garmin and I was pretty pissed about that. I really would have like to have known my speed on the bike. You had to walk/run your bike out of transition which was on grass to the concrete path.

The Bike

You start off in the camp grounds and there is a lot of gravel, which is a bit unnerving. But after that you get out onto some country roads. The bike was 13 miles. There were some rolling hills to start with and one really large hill at mile 3 you got to go down, but oh man you knew you had to come back up it. I did really well on the descents, I didn't feather my brakes and tried to go with it. When we got to flat areas, I really hammered. I wish I knew how fast I was going. I honestly passed a lot of people and only remember getting passed once by a guy. Then there were 2 women I played leapfrog with the whole time. When the bike started,I felt really bad. My legs hurt horribly. I have never really felt like this before, it was physical pain in my inner thighs/quads. I think it was lactic acid buildup? I just tried to ride in a semi low gear and shake them out. By the time we got to the turnaround I was feeling better. The ride back was a gentle descent and I really picked up speed and passed some more folks. Then we got to the 3 hills and those were tough, but after Lake Placid it was nothing. I think the bike took me about 45 mins, not quite sure. I ate one pack of luna moons and drank one water bottle. I was sweating like a maniac though, it was so hot and there was no shade on the bike course. I wish I had brought 2 water bottles. I also know that I really need to work on taking turns, I basically stop and make the turn and I lose a lot of time that way.


Transition 2

I was kind of out of it so I took the time to drink and eat a gu. I don't think I took much time in the transitions, but I did walk out of T2 as I ate my gu and I lost a little time there. I also had no issues getting my bike racked back up or remembering my garmin! But then the F-er wouldn't find a signal, so I didn't have it for most of the run either. So, next time I will be sure to mount it on my bike handlebars and turn it on as soon as I get to T1.

The Run

Woe is me. I was ready to be done. It was well into the 80s and I was tired. But I managed to start off at like an 8:30 pace, which was not on purpose, just what my legs were doing. But I was walking soon enough. I'd say I walked about 4 times and between the walk I maintained between at 9:30 -10 min mile. Which was fine. The run took me right around 30 mins. It went through a camp ground and a lot of folks were out on their RV porches checking us out, thinking we were crazy. Parts were shaded and there was one water stop. You just ran 1.5 miles out and back. I wish I had had a little more juice in me so I didn't have to walk. It is what it is.

What did I learn? I have a shit ton of work to do with open water swimming. The swim may be the shortest, but if you are scared and blow up in the water, it ruins the rest of your race. I need to learn to make corners faster on the bike and I need to do alot more bricks to ensure I don't need to walk in the last leg. If you ask me today if I think I will be able to do GTC HIM, I would say no. I think I over estimated my abilities and underestimated the distance. But I won't make that decision until I get through my first Olympic race in July. Maybe if I swim OW weekly, I will feel different come august. But I think I can always drop back to the Olympic if I need to in Aug. A big thanks to Beth, she has just been so supportive and she had an AWESOME race today. Her and Adam and Brandon and Alyson all rocked the course. I can only hope someday to be 5-10 mins behind them, instead of 30! And of course hubby gets a big smooch for getting up so early and being there to support me and take pics.

I tell you what, I am just not a good swimmer. I don't know why I can't seem to get it together. I really think I need to just get out in the open water and practice, being able to touch the wall every 25 yards is just too convenient. I went swimming this morning and I do well for 25 and then I am just gasping for air. I try to slow down, but only really have one speed. Argh. I hope I can be out of the water in 20 mins on Sunday. I am ready for this race to be over so at least I'll have an idea of what to expect.


Swam 1500 yards this morning, tonight I will bike a few miles and then run short. Tomorrow I have a 6 mile run planned with the lovely Iron G and Salty. I am very much looking forward to that! Then later in the day I am going to head over to Beth's to swim in my wetsuit in Aurora lake. First time using it, should be interesting. Sunday is the big day and then I have a baby shower right afterwards. It's going to be a hectic day.

Here are some pictures from our trip to Holden Arboretum.

ahhh work has been crazy bloggy friends, so I am behind on my bloggyness, hope all is well with everyone. I was very lazy Mon and Tues, but made up for it on Wed. So far this week I have ran 5 miles, walked 5 miles, lifted weights once and swam once. No biking yet! So, I must bike tonight and Friday. I am meeting Janet to swim Friday morning. Sat I am meeting Iron G and Salty for a 6 mile run and Sunday is my tri!!!! I can't wait to right my race report. I hope it doesn't have any statements like - I almost drown, or I got a flat at the top of the hill or it took me 3 hours to finish. Busy, busy.

BIG SHOUTOUT TO TRISH WHO DID HER FIRST SPRINT TRI THIS WEEKEND! YOU CAN READ HER RACE REPORT IN HER BLOG- TRISH TRIS - FROM MY LINKS!

Day 15 already, yikes! That tri is going to be here before I know it! I am starting to think that I bit off way more than I can chew!?! Ah well, as long as I can get out of the water, I’ll be alright. I had a good weekend, the weather was beautiful! I had a very lazy Thursday(rest) and Friday (just weights!) so I tried to make up for it this weekend. On Saturday I got up early and I rode my bike on the trainer for 1:30 and watched a movie called – The Real Dirt on Farmer John – it was really good. Why was I inside you ask? Well it was humid and threatening to rain and I just didn’t feel like being out on the road! After that I ran 30 mins to make it a brick. The run felt okay, I find I actually start out running pretty fast off the bike I can’t help it, but I quickly slow down. My goal for the race is just to stay around 10 min miles. After 4-5 hours of working out, that will be tough enough. But honestly, I feel pretty good thus far on bricks. So after the 30 min run, I get my bike out and give it a much needed scrubbing. It is full of grit and dirt from the trip to LP and riding in the rain. Then the dogs and I take a nice walk to the library (about 2 miles round trip). After that I headed to the pool b/c I skipped my swim on Thursday due to a haircut taking too long and being upset about that haircut (they gave me a mullet people) and getting hubby to take me to dinner to cheer me up. The swim was okay. I swam 1500 yards. I’m just really not feeling my groove in the pool anymore. I don’t know if it’s b/ the pool is 10 degrees warmer than I am used to or what. Next week the outdoor pool opens and I will give that a try. All I know is I have to start swimming 2000-3000 yards again at least once a week, I can’t let that slide. Train to your weaknesses, race to your strengths as the wise Tea has said in her blog! Does anyone know if there are summer master’s swims anywhere? I’d really like to do some of these outdoor tri club swims but they are all so far away. Once it warms up I will have to swim at mentor headlands every weekend. Anyone want to join me? Say…starting June 14th? In our wetsuits. Wow, this blog is all over the place today. After the morning of monster exercise, I mopped the kitchen and then got cleaned up and G and I ran a bunch of errands. Sat night was an exciting night of….READING! Yep, I am so boring. I am reading a book called “Drowning Ruth”, I like it a lot.

Sunday morning I got up bright and early and met Gina and Ilana to run. It was a wonderful morning, perfect running weather. I was trying something new on Sunday. I had a scoop of carbopro in my bottle to see how the old gut reacts to it. I think it was fine. It got a little too sweet when it got warm. It’s essentially tasteless, but has enough of a taste to be gross. We ran 8 miles around Shaker Lakes, I felt good the whole time and it is so nice to run with people you really enjoy talking to, the time just flies by. We had to take a quick stop around mile 7 to check out the baby Canadian geese and giant koi in the shaker lake! I love living so close to such a nice place to run. I’m glad that after 6 weeks off and then struggling for 3 weeks that I am finally back to 20ish miles a week with no issue. I ran 18 miles this week. I’d really like to get to 20-25 a week and stay there until its marathon training time. The foot still hurts a little, but it’s been after my runs not during and I’ve been doing pretty well with stretching it out on the steps. I am going to go and give ART a try very soon. Need to get the number of the guy Daisy Duc uses. After the nice run, I went home and got the hubby out of bed and we headed to Holden Arboretum to check out the rhododendron garden. Unfortunately, I think we were about 2-3 weeks late b/c a lot were starting to brown, but it was still a glorious day and we got some good pictures that I will post later. We walked around that garden and checked out the lakes for frogs and saw sooo many cute frogs. I could stare at animals all day I find them so interesting. In another pond we saw the 3 biggest water snakes and sat watching them for awhile. We also went on a pretty strenuous hike through the woods and I am a dork and of course wore my garmin, so I know we covered 4.5 miles, we walked the dogs over a mile when we got home. So, 13 miles in on Sunday for me! Not bad. This morning I was tired. So, I slept in. Monday is supposed to be rest day, but I am going to make Saturday rest day since I have a race this weekend! (so nervous). So tonight I will lift weights. I have to take my bike to the shop today, so I might be forced back to spinning class. The ball bearings seem to be off and really something is just wrong with my bike.

Did I mention my bad haircut? Seriously people I just wanted to cry. I love my hair and I have often times thought about chopping it off. Mostly b/c these 2 gals that work at my hair salon have the cutest short short haircuts. I myself had short hair for 7 years, but it’s been about that same amount of time since it was short. Anyway, my hair had gotten really long, so I told my hairdresser, who usually does a great job, that I wanted it shoulder length and that I wanted more of a bang layer, but wanted that layer long enough to go behind my ear and I still needed to be able to get my hair in a ponytail. Well she cut this funky layered cut and I do have a layer that is shoulder length, but it is so thin and mostly in the back! So, I have what appears to be a chunky chin length bob with a long layer underneath. It’s awful. I can’t decide if I want to go get someone to cut the long layer off. I really don’t look good with chin length hair though b/c I have a full face. What to do, what to do. The worst is that she cut the layers in the back really short so I can’t really grab it all up into a ponytail, so I am stuck with this little woosy ponytail and the rest pushed back with a headband. It’ll take months to undo this damage! Maybe this is a sign that I should just go chop it all off again…. I just know that as soon as I do that, I will want to grow it out again.

And I don’t usually watch award shows b/c they are stupid, but nothing else was on last night and I was reading and needed background noise (can’t do just one thing at a time here!) and had the MTV movie awards on. Seriously, Transformers won best movie? Over Juno and Superbad? What the hell. Now I know the youth of today is really F’ed up. I couldn’t even get partway through that horrible movie and I’ll watch anything!

Ooooh I signed up for my first tri of the year, first tri of the EVER! It's next Sunday. I am nervous. I was going to wait until June 21 and make Summi my first tri, but my friend Beth told me about this NEO tri and the swim takes place in a manmade lake that is shallow and gets really warm. Plus, it's a small crowd, only like 20-30 women last year, so it should be a good tri introduction. I cannot wait. I need to practice getting in and out of my wetsuit. Before you even bother commenting, yes I know most people don't wear wetsuits for sprints. I don't give a flying F, I am not a strong swimmer and want the security blanket. Besides my friend said she'll be wearing one too and I am not concerned about the 1 min it will cost me in transition. If I can do the whole thing in under 2 hours I will be happy. Well, I'll be happy just to finish. It's 500 yard swim, 13 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run. Should be a good learning experience. I am so pumped. Now I really need to find a olympic race in June or July, any suggestions? I unfortunately can't do the MiltonMan tri b/c I am having a party the night before. So, July 13th weekend is out. I looked on Tri find, but couldn't find anything.

Last night after work, Gary, Natalie, Joy, Beth and I headed out for a 22 mile bike. I didn't have a very good ride. I was slow, my bike felt....off. I can't explain it, but I feel like I am leaning/floating to the right. Not like my bike is pulling off to one side, but just unstable, like the right side is lower. Does this make sense to anyone? We examined my bike and everything looks okay, my seat isn't crooked or anything. The handlebars are straight. I had this feeling all weekend in LP, but I just thought it was b/c the roads were slanted. But I guess that is not the culprit. Bloggy friends what could it be!!!! Had one little fall at the top of a hill that resulted in a good size gash on my leg. Beth tumbled b/c her chain fell off at the top of the hill and when she went down, I moved to help her and was of course still attached, so there we both lay in the middle of a busy intersection! Luckily we were both unscathed. The whole ride though was just a tough one for me, I could never seem to get my legs going. I am of course not going to beat mysel up as my legs had a Big weekend. But it was a nice ride nonetheless. We rode up Shaker and down to Chagrin River Road and then back up.

This morning I managed to get my butt out of bed at 5:30, it’s been awhile since I have done that. It only took 2 mins before I felt awake. I have got to remember that when I feel like it’s a better idea to turn off my alarm. I met Brock at 6 and we jogged up to University School and then used their track for some speed work. It was about 1.2 miles to get there. We decided to just do 1 mile since it was our first time doing speedwork. We basically ran 400 hard, then walked/jogged to recover and did another 400 hard when we got back to the starting line. There are 2 starting lines on the track, so the recovery is only 200. Then we ran home, so 4.5 miles total. This Thursday morning run is not on my plan, but I am including it anyway. I don’t want to only be running 8-11 miles a week which is what my plan calls for. Tonight I have a 45 min ride w/15 min run afterwards.

The weight loss is going pretty well. I am down a few lbs. Not a lot, but I know it’s going to come off slowly anyway. Is it Friday yet?

Good morning Bloggy friends. I am in a good mood today, how about you? It’s not often that I am happy and smiley at work. Usually I walk in and my mood instantly turns around, not today though! It’s sunny and bright, even if it is a little cold and I’ve had 3 good workouts in the last 15 hours! I got home from work yesterday and set out for a slow 30 min run. I’m not going to lie, it hurt a bit, my legs felt sluggish, but I was running between 9:30 and 10 mins the whole time. Although I did take 2 mini walk breaks. It was really nice out and I tried to just slow down and enjoy the run. Too often I find myself focusing on being done when I am running, instead of settling in and enjoying it. After the run, Gary and I walked the dogs and then headed to the gym. I did a short 1200 yard workout. I wanted to go longer, but the water was 84 degrees people. 84 degrees! It was like swimming in a hot tub. I find it hard to get my breath in water that warm. I felt pretty decent the entire swim even though it’s been over a week since the last time I swam. Bad monica. I should have gone longer, but it was already late in the day and I was hungry! So, I got out of the tub and headed home where we had some yummy chicken breast salads. It was already after 8 at this point. I hate eating dinner that late! It was also trash day and G had done a ton of yard work so we had about 12 big bags of yard refuse to drag to the curb, that was a workout in itself.

This morning I had my alarm set for 5:30 so I could go to the gym and lift, but I didn’t get up! Boooo. But I did manage to peel myself out of bed at 6:30 thanks to Tai’s incessant whining. He had to poo. I thought about blowing off my workout and just getting to work early. But instead I turned on VH1 and did my weights workout at home! So, glad I did. Tonight I have plans to bike with N & J. I met them the time I biked with the Shaker group. It’ll be interesting to see how I do. My legs are still pretty tired from this weekend. We’ll just do a 20 mile loop that is full of rolling hills. They will seem like bumps after Lake Placid.

Have a great day everyone.

Oooh hooo. 2 more hours and I can get out of this place. I am so ready for this trip. I unfortunately have quite a bit going on at work to leave my co-workers with. Today Kim and I are going to go for a short run. Tomorrow a 2 hour bike ride when we get to Lake Placid. Saturday a 56 mile ride (one loop on the IM course) followed by a 30 min run. Sunday a 2 hour run and maybe another short bike after breakfast, then we leave LP and head back to Rochester. I will then probably drive on home. So, 8 hours in the car on Sunday ugh.

I am contemplating going to see a nutritionist. Cleveland bloggy friends, any recommendations? I need someone who knows endurance sports. Why, why, why don’t long bike rides and runs just equal weight losssssssss. Grrrrrr.

Lifted weights last night. I really like the weights plan from the book I am using - The 12 week Triathlete by Tom Holland. Today the plan calls for a 30 min run and a 30 min swim. Both of which I will do after work b/c I overslept! Oops. I don't know yet if I am going to go to Master's swim tonight or not. My throat is killing me from screaming on Sunday and I am not looking forward to swimming tonight so I might just do the 30 mins my plan calls for. I am getting so nervous about this weekend. Kim has been sending me the emails from her coach about the course and it just sounds plain scary. I suck at hills and that's all lake placid is!

Well this is it people, I am now 100% officially in training for my HIM. Exciting, and it gets kicked off with a rest day J However, I am going to lift weights today though b/c I won’t be able to do it Friday. So in 84 days I will be half of an Ironman. I am excited to jump into this and really work my tail off. I have a little over a month until my first tri, I sure hope I can get a few open water swims in before then.

I had a good weekend. Did you? What did you do bloggy friends? On Friday night G and I went to Bonefish grill for our anniversary. The food was just okay, Mitchell’s is much better. We had a mixed bag of jelly belly’s for dessert, that was the best part and that came from Rite Aid. Oh well, actually the glass of Blackstone Merlot was the best part, I love that wine and it had been awhile since I had it.

Saturday I met Jen C and my Kim to ride the GCT course, we rode for 3 hours. We did one loop and then rode another 20 miles around Mentor & Fairport Harbor. It started out cold and rainy, and then just got crazy windy. I have never been riding with a crosswind that literally can blow you over, it was kind of a scary day for me. Wind and rain are not something I am used to riding in. I can’t say it was a pleasant ride. Good company, but a nasty ride. But hey you have to ride in inclement weather sometimes. Afterwards, Kim and I ran for 10 mins, my first brick ever! My legs actually felt just fine. My lower back hurt, but the legs were okay. From there I went home and took a nap, then G and I went to a street fair in University Circle, where the highlight was a purchase of a giant bag of kettle korn and getting to see a big giant salamander at the Watershed Preservation booth. I love wildlife, it was me and a 5 year old, giddy over the amphibian. That night we went to the Barking Spider with our neighbors and split a pitcher of Holy Moses and played some darts, good times.

Sunday morning I got up bright and early and met Sara and we headed to Starbucks where we met Tracie, then we all headed to the marathon to work a water stop. I won’t even get into my many, many freaking complaints about the marathon, like seeing one of the handicapped marathoners almost get ran over b/c they didn’t have traffic blocked, or seeing the walkers having to walk in traffic. But I won’t, there is no point. I will tell you however, Beth over at Perseverance 13 had an amazing race and just fleeeeewww past me at mile 17. I saw Janet, Elizabeth and Amy out there having a strong race. It was really fun working a water stop. I handed out jolly ranchers as well and those seemed to go over well. It was really neat being so close and seeing how fast those elite people go by and just throw water in their face, cheering on the first woman that passed us, etc. After standing on my feet for about 5 hours, my PTTD was really flaring up, my feet hurt badly. But I still went and ran a slow steady hour run with Kim and Sara. I am glad I did, but today I hurt. I hate this stupid injury. Sigh, guess I better get back to work. Have a great week.

I am having such a bad day at work and it’s only 9am. Can we start over? Go back to sleep and get back up and have it be Friday? I hate work stress. It just makes me mad. What I do is not life or death, but I still allow it to affect me negatively. In the end what does it really matter if XYZ happens at work. I wish I had a career that actually helped people and did some good somewhere. Okay rant over b/c I know it’s not safe to bitch about work online. Grrrr.

I overslept today. My cat was being a pain in the ass last night. Walking on my head, patty pawing the wicker furniture, pushing herself into my hand to be pet. Normally we make her stay out, but I had been letting her stay in the bed on good behavior b/c lately she has actually slept through the night a few times. Last night was a flashback to the old Dizzy and I could have thrown her through the wall by 4am. So, I didn’t make it to spinning. So, now I am stuck swimming and biking tonight. Oh yeah, swimming b/c I skipped masters yesterday. Sigh. I haven’t really talked about it, but I have some sort of problem with my stomach. And it was hurting yesterday and that doesn’t work well with swimming. I can just see myself vomiting in the pool, nice. I get heartburn/nausea/belly problems a lot. I kind of think I am lactose intolerant, and I will cut out dairy for awhile and then eat it (I had pizza Monday night) and get really sick. But it could also be fat that is making me sick. It’s hard to say b/c when I do break down and eat dairy it is nachos or pizza and they are fatty too. So, I am stuck between wondering if something is wrong with my gall bladder and wondering if I am just lactose intolerant. Gall bladder issues run in my family (dad and 2 sisters had to have their removed) and some dairy doesn’t seem to affect me. It has been a growing problem over the past year. I have never had heartburn in my life until a few months ago and it is a weird kind of heartburn, it feels like what I imagine a heart palpitation feels like. It’s hard to explain. I know I need to go see a doctor. But if I stay away from fat/dairy then I am fine. But I also find that if I eat a lot of sugar in the form of junk, like cake or something I get sick too. Although cakey type things usually contain dairy. Sigh, I just need to properly train myself to not eat fatty cheesy foods. I do well for a week or so, then have ice cream or pizza and pay the price. What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting a different result. That’s me.

But anywho. I am so geeked to go to Lake Placid next weekend! I need to hit the bike shop and pick up some extra tubes and CO2 and practice changing my tires before we go. My luck I will get a flat and I don’t want to be the person who can’t take care of my own bike. I also want to get a water bottle holder that goes behind my seat. I have 2 on my posts, but I use one bottle to hold my multi tool and Co2 supplies. So, that leaves me with one water bottle which is not enough on a 30+ mile ride. I am just counting down the days!

Ahhhh Monday. Another glorious week at my job. I saw an article in runner’s world about a new job trend…dog runners. Lots of people have dog walking businesses, but this is running. I saw it and my heart leaped, what a perfect job for me….but starting my own business scares the nee nees off of me b/c of the chance of losing a bunch of money and not making a salary scare me too much. I am not much of a gambler.

Anyway, had a nice weekend; although it was very much a study in what not to do. What not to do the day before your first group bike trip – weighted squats for the first time in 8 months! I lifted Friday morning and by the end of the day my quads were sore to the touch. I couldn’t go down stairs w/o pain, I knew I was in trouble. While getting ready to meet the Shaker Group, G and I discussed our strategy – should we just stay with them for 20 miles and then break off? Should we just tell them we only want to ride an hour in case they are too fast for us? But we ended up meeting the group w/no plan, there was no discussion about where we were going or for how long, we were just off and biking. Luckily, 2 ladies came out for their first ride too, so I was very lucky for that later. We started off just fine, there were about 20 in the pack and we had no issue keeping up. I stayed in the back, but that was on purpose, I was not feeling confident enough to get into the pack. About 15 miles in, the group leader dropped back to talk to me and the other 2 ladies and asked if we were in for 50? I said sure and he said “ever been to Holden Arboretum?” And I said – yes – turns out that’s where we were going and booooyyyyyyyy are there some serious hills on the way. I managed to stick with the group up until about mile 20, then I got to the top of a hill and went to shift and my chain fell completely off. I pulled to the side of the road and saw the group whooshing on and knew this was it. Gary was up with the pack. I yelled to the lady in front of me, but I didn’t think she heard me. I sat on the side of the road trying to figure out what the heck happened to my chain and having a hell of a time getting it back on. I had already decided that I was just going to head home, but the 2 ladies realized I was gone and turned around and they helped me by holding up the back of my bike and turning the pedal while I fed the chain back on. The whole ordeal took about 8 mins. The group was long gone. One guy was friends with one of the girls and he tried to call her, so they noticed we were gone. We got back on and hammered to try and catch up; but we got to a fork in the road and had no idea where to go. We sat at the top of a mammoth hill talking about whether we should go down this giant hill or not, a hill so giant it has a warning about it. Knowing if it was the wrong way we had to come back up it! Luckily I had my cell phone with me and it rang at this time and it was Gary. He was now lost from the pack too b/c he realized I was gone and fell back. He told us where he was and it was at the bottom of the giant hill so we got ready to take off. At this point 2 cyclists went by and we asked if they knew the way to Holden and they said to follow them. So, 5 miles later we were safely at the visitors center. When we turned into Holden, the group finally re-appeared and were on their way back. But at this point, we hadn’t rested or eaten, so we decided to just go rest. We refueled, hit the bathroom and took a look at a map to figure out our way back. The ride home was much easier. My chain fell off 2 more times, but I think I figured out why and it has to do with something I was doing with my shifting at the top of a crest. The 4 of us had no problem staying together and we averaged about 17 miles the whole way back. I was so happy to get home, my quads hurt so badly I just wanted to cry. My neck was a little sore too, but mostly I was hungry. I definitely didn’t eat/drink enough on this ride. We were on so many windy hilly roads, I never felt safe reaching for my water bottle and I slow down a bit when I drink, so I was trying to keep up. I haven’t decided yet if I am going to give the group another go, on one hand, it’s nice to try new routes, but on the other, I kind of don’t like being in a huge group on hills, I would much prefer to bike with 4 or 5 people near your level. I have a group ride planned for Thursday night with the ladies Joy and Natalie that I met. So, the whole thing pretty much went as badly as I thought it would J But at least I didn’t get hit by a car or a get a flat tire. Honestly if my chain hadn’t fallen off I know I would have been able to stay with the group, they aren’t nearly as fast as I thought they would be. Now, on the way back, they might have lost me on the hills if they weren’t as worn out as I was. I think next week I am going to do close to the same ride b/c I have a friend in town who wants to ride for 3 hours.

After the ride we were worn out. I knew that we should go for a walk or something. But we sat on the porch and devoured chips and guacamole. I knew I should have take an ice bath b/c my legs were so trashed, but instead I took a hot shower. I knew I shouldn’t lay down, but instead we took a 2 hour nap! See, I told you it was a weekend of what not to do. After the nap, we felt much better. We made some dinner and shook off the sleep. I had plans to meet my friend Lauren for a drink. So, at 7 I headed to Brennan’s colony and we sat on the patio for a few hours. My plan was to just have A beer. Instead I had 2 rum and diet cokes, ordered a third, drank part of it, realized I was drunk and switched to water. I also ordered nachos…I’m lactose intolerant. I knew that I had to get up early to run, so I at least had the sense to call it a night at 10. But I knew there would be stomach woes in the AM and there were. I met Debby, Sara, Ilana and Abbie to run at 9 am. I felt like shit. The run felt like shit. Not my body so much as my stomach, I kept thinking today would be the day I poop my pants. But it wasn’t! We ran 6 miles.
So, I got in a total of
13 miles running.
3500 yards swam
82 miles biked
1 strength session
Not bad at all! Sunday afternoon we took Gary’s mom to Mitchell’s Fish Market for lunch and ate so much that I lay comatose in bed the rest of the day on the verge of throwing up. Hmmm, maybe it wasn’t such a great weekend.

I ran 5 miles after work last night on a trail in South Chagrin with Sara. We took it nice and slow. It felt pretty good. My whole right leg is just really tight. This morning I got up and met Janet at the J and lifted and swam 1000 yards. It was the first time I lifted in FOREVER. So, it was very depressing. I am doing a weight training plan out of a triathlon book, it's a total body workout twice a week, every 3 weeks the workout changes. For the next 3 weeks, I'll be doing 2 sets of 12 of the following - chest press, bent over rows, overhead press (stand on Bosu), bicep curls (stand on Bosu), dumbell kickbacks, squats on Bosu, weighted stationary lunges, hamstring curls (use a machine for this), calf raises, toes raises (seated, put a dumbell on your toes and raise foot up, it works your shins), then ab work. I'm going to keep track of it in a notebook and hope to be able to double what I lift by the end of the 6 weeks, right now I mostly used 15-20 lbs for everything. The pool was super crowded when we got in at 6:30, but by 6:45 most people had left, so it worked out fine. It was hard to swim right after lifting, I haven't done that before.

I ran! This morning! 2 miles! Okay, it wasn’t the best 2 miles ever, I took two tiny walk breaks, but for the most part I felt good. My foot hurt. But I don’t really think it’s not going to hurt. I have rested it for 20 days and the arch still hurts. The PT wasn’t able to give me any real answers, Dr. Shah said I can run on it. So, I am going to run on it, just not 30 miles a week. I am going to shoot for 15 miles a week for awhile. After the 2 miler, I did my abs DVD. Tonight is master’s swim. Gary is going to his dad’s after work so I think I will take the dogs for a 45-60 min walk so I don’t feel bad about them being alone all night.

Last night Gary and I went to see “Ironman”. I give it 2 thumbs up. Very funny, exciting and enthralling. Robert Downey Jr. is dreamy. Who knew? My sister did, she lurves him. Before the movie, I rode my bike for 10 miles and made some yummy Jenni O turkey cutlets. It was a good night.

The diet is going well. I have been planning out all of my meals and logging them. My pocket sugar glider keeps me snacked. I should get my first reward this week if all goes as planned. I think I am going to head to target and buy a new sports bra or running top.

I had a nice weekend at home. I didn’t do much but hang around with my mom. Saturday we took my mom and g-ma to Shaker Town for an early mother’s day dinner. It was really nice. Not sure if everyone knows who the Shaker’s were, but they’re an old religious group that didn’t have sex, so they died out. Really smart. Anyway, one of their establishments is near my hometown and they use it as a tourist attraction and demo how the Shakers used to do things – shear sheep, dye wool, make tools, etc. Every school goes on field trips there. The restaurant is really good and they supposedly use old Shaker recipes. It was a gorgeous day and I got some nice pictures of the 4 of us. Our family does not take enough pictures. So, I am happy to have good one of my mom and her mom and will frame it and send to them. And my sister and I are very rarely in shots together and we got some cute ones. The weekend was not enough exercise and too much food. But I am not beating myself up over it. I skipped my weigh in this morning and I have a meal plan for the week. I have been logging for almost 2 weeks now and it’s clear that I over eat about 300-400 calories a day. So, I will be focusing on bringing the calories intake down the next few weeks. I have my first PT session today and my foot is feeling a lot better. So, I will for sure try running this week. I was doing 30 miles a week a month ago. But I think I am going to try and get 10-12 miles in this week and then work up from there back to 20 miles a week. With all the biking and swimming I don't need more than 20 miles a week. I did run 1 mile this weekend on the treadmill. It hurt a little, but nothing major. There is NO way I could have done the Pig this weekend.

On the way in to work today I saw the worst thing. A Canadian goose had been run over and its mate was standing on the side of the road just honking and running back and forth. It made me cry. That is too damn sad and I so wish I had gone another way to work and missed that site. Aren’t you glad I shared that with you? Now you can be sad too.

After work today I need to ride my bike for an hour and then G and I are going to go see “Ironman”. After a week of total slotheness (is that a word!) I am excited to get back to working out. I didn’t swim once last week! So, I will be making it to both master’s classes this week. I need to take advantage of them b/c I only have until June before HB closes. That sprint tri on the 22nd will be here before I know it. I am really tempted to find a tri away from here to do before the 22nd as a practice!