Safety in Numbers

Feeling good about training thus far in the journey to “Dot the M” in Coeur D’Alene! One of the coolest things about training with a group is finding new people to train and pace with during the workouts. It certainly takes monotony out of the countless hours and more than monotony, it’s challenging to break out of your comfort zone and rewarding when you reach a new breakthrough by hanging with people that you don’t think it’s possible to hang with…

A lot of that has been happening to me lately.

My cycling is on target and pace with where I want to be at this point. Similar to Ironman Arizona, I’d be thrilled with a pace at or near 17 mph for the 112 miles. It’s a solid effort which won’t deplete the reserves for the run. In addition to my long rides on the weekends, I’m hitting at least two T3 indoor cycling classes a week and riding with some new faces for the challenge and joy of getting to know wonderful new people…Dionn, Jen, Jane, Diane, Allison, Alisa, Shawnda, Laurie, Blythe…all great and incredibly strong women. I can afford to learn a thing or two from these chicks! (and not all of it has to do with cycling!)

Running has also been a new reward for me. I haven’t been to an official Gazelle workout since October, which is very odd (oh how I miss my Gazelle friends!!). A lot of my runs have been solo efforts, but I’ve also been trying to hit some T3 run workouts where I can…Again, a part of keeping the training fun and exciting is doing something DIFFERENT for a change.

I had a GREAT 18 mile training run on Sunday that started out with a very comfy sub 9:00 per mile pace with Lapuente. After 7 miles, we picked up Charles and Shellie who proceeded to pick up the pace and drop the hammer. They were only doing 10 or so, while yours truly was doing 18. Needless to say, those final few miles were tough, but I kept up until the last ½ mile.

Long Run: 9:03, 9:19, 9:02, 8:55, 8:43, 8:25, 8:30, 8:26, 8:05, 7:57, 7:44, 7:47, 7:46, 7:34, 7:26, 7:58, 7:10, 7:53 Overall Pace: 8:10 per mile (awesome for a training run!)

On Monday, I did a 7 mile recovery run with Michelle Metzler. We’ve been trying to find time to run together FOREVER and I’m so glad we finally found a day because she’s fascinating and our pace complements each other well. She’s getting into trail running, so hopefully we can move some of our “recovery” runs to the greenbelt for yet another change of pace and scenery.

Last night, I did the T3 Mile Repeat workout at O’Henry track. Like many others, I got an early start so that I could be showered and ready for “Gag Reflex” rehearsal at 7p…Coach Logan (who I adore) assigned us a warm up, 4 x 1 mile repeats which each one getting about 10 seconds faster than the previous one. While I didn’t hit the :10 mark, I did manage to knock time off each interval for a solid set of mile repeats…

1.5 mile warm-up, 6:41, 6:34, 6:27, 6:20, 1 mile cool-down
Hells Yeah Bitches!!


On the swimming front, I’m also happy to report a new breakthrough of sorts! My 100s are now in the 1:48-1:53 range due to forcing myself to swim in a more aggressive lane with Laurie, Audra and Lapuente on most mornings. Of course, that was until today when we had 12 x 100s and my times didn’t descend quite how they were supposed to :-)

So, as I continue on the journey of Dotting the M, I give thanks and gratitude to those who are encouraging me, pushing me, coaching me and challenging me to become better…faster…stronger. I wouldn't be having nearly as much fun without the group dynamic!