36 seconds...The AT&T Half Marathon Racap

Today was all about hubby Shawn. I had to put in 20 miles this morning, so I left the house at 5:30am to get 7 miles down before the Half-Marathon. I averaged 9:41 for that warm-up run and felt like I was running 8:00min miles. Yesterday's trainer ride and my general fatigue are definitely taking their toll. For me, it was just about getting the miles. For Shawn, it was different.

Shawn's goal for today was to beat his previous Half-Marathon PR of 1:47:58. He accomplished this last May on a very flat out-and-back course in Dallas called the North Trails Half Marathon. The AT&T Austin Half is not an out-and-back course and it's definitely NOT flat. Plus, today we were starting with over 10,000 others. In Dallas, we started with a couple hundred others. Big difference... (not to mention the fact that he was working at the hospital until Midnight last night and operating on 5 hrs of sleep)

I met up with him at 6:30am and we warmed up to the start. Almost immediately, we ran into Colleen who was also running the Half. We've been keeping up with each other's blogs as she is gearing up for IMCdA. Our seeding wasn't optimal as we entered the corral near the 4:45 pace group...much too slow for what Shawn wanted to accomplish.

The first two miles were spent weaving in and out of packs and trying to establish some kind of rhythm. I wasn't sure I could keep up with him based on how I had been feeling, but I made an effort to do what I could. It was a great marathon start with gorgeous clear skies and fireworks. The first climbs happen during Mile 1 so it immediately keeps you honest. Mile 1 was a restless 9:00min pace. Mile 2 was an 8:30. My heart rate was high so I'm sure Shawn's was too, but he was on a freaking mission! He was like a madman weaving in and out of people and I was worried that he would not be able to keep up this frantic pace. We were passing a ton of people and made up a lot of ground on 1st Street where we enjoyed lots of downhill running. By Mile 5, we were averaging an 8:05 overall pace and I was trying to keep him relaxed. We hit the downtown area again and picked up Thon at Mile 6. I was feeling surprisingly strong and so was Shawn.

"Slow him down," I said to Thon. Shawn was running with fervor and I was just afraid it wouldn't last for 6 more miles.

At Mile 8, he began to slow...Veterans Blvd and Lake Austin Blvd were tough. When we turned the Enfield corner, he started to suffer a bit. Here's where the hills really returned. Thon and I were really sticking with him and throwing the proper encouragement. Our pace had quickened to an 8:00 min overall average, but it was creeping down a bit. 8:03, 8:05, 8:07...The hills were nonstop on Enfield and the 15th Street hill at Mile 11 can suck the momentum out of anyone!

Still, he remained strong and determined when I know he was suffering. At long last, we had one mile to go and Shawn kicked it in. I'll be damed if they didn't throw in one more hill on San Jacinto. Damn those race directors!! The finish is a glorious downhill sprint on Congress and he was on fire at the end!

We crossed the finish line as people cheered. (best crowds ever at the Austin Marathon)

1:47:22

He beat his PR by 36 seconds on a much more difficult course!!
Avg pace 8:12!!!

Way to kick it babe!! I'm so proud of him for not giving up when I know he was hurting. It wasn't the most strategic race, but it worked.

In the Finisher's shoot, we excitedly ran into TriBoomer, TriGreyhound and his friend Kathleen. I also saw Colleen again and she was thrilled with her race. It was a great day for all and I'm happy to have finally met so many people whose blogs I read on a daily basis! It was definitely a highlight of my morning.

Of course-another highlight was meeting Thon for lunch at Taco Deli! MMMM....chicken mole and a fish taco.

Another Saturday Indoor Training Ride

In 24 hours, the weather in Austin went from rainy and 40 degrees to sunny and 65 degrees. Thank goodness the positive shift happened to take place on the morning of the AT&T Austin Marathon/Half Marathon!

Saturday, February 16th
The weather didn't cooperate, however, on the day I was supposed to ride 75 miles. Many T3'ers were switching their schedules around to run Saturday and ride Sunday, but I was running the Half-Marathon so there was no switcheroo for me. The weather conditions were downright Seattle-ish and deteriorating from there, so I set the ol' trainer up in the living room and proceeded to settle in for 4hrs 15min of stationary cycling. Yep--that's over 4 f*cking hours of mind-blowing boredom. To pass the time I watched an hour-long Ellen Degeneres stand-up comedy DVD (she's my comedic ideal), the Johnny Depp "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," a 45-minute "spinervals" training DVD and some of the Ironman World Championships that were on yesterday! If it's raining on race morning (which would be an oddity in Tempe since it is the DESERT), I promise I won't wuss out. I just didn't want to risk another illness or bike crash on the slick roads. It's not worth it to me.

So, I mixed up gears, tempo and trained for an 18.0 mph average, which is right where I should be for an indoor ride.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to stretch as I hopped in the shower and we immediately headed over to the race expo to pick up our packets. From there, hubby had to work for the evening and I was volunteering at the official Race Pasta Dinner. (Jill-you put on a fantastic event by the way) I was home and in bed by 9:30am for what was going to be a terrific and picteresque race morning!

I had to run 20-miles this week so my morning started around 5am. I left the house around 5:30am to do my 7 mile warmup before the Half-Marathon even started. Hubby Shawn was shooting for a PR of under 1:47:58. Could he do it? We met around 6:30am and jogged to the start. Fireworks kicked off this wonderful event and we were off...

Exciting Half-Marathon report coming soon

Another Ironman Milestone Achieved!

The Beauty that is Barton Springs Pool

I did it!! Yippee!!! Yay for me!!! For the first time, I swam the entire Ironman swim distance in open water! There were no paddles, no buoys, no fins, no snorkel...just me in my wetsuit on Barton Springs on a Friday morning.

This swim has always been seemingly impossible for me to fathom. Like most first time Iron-athletes that don't have a swimming background, 4000meters of open water swimming is completely daunting and downright dreadful. I've gone to Barton Springs on and off for four years and always marveled at the fact that it would take me 10 laps to do the distance! (each lap is 400m) A year ago, I was exhausted after three laps and it would take me about 10 minutes to do each one. Today, I completed 10 in an avg. time of 8:45 per lap. Only once did I feel my rhythm waiver and that was because I saw a freaking duck swimming under the water about 3 feet away from me. I thought I was going to have a heart attack as I thought it was some prehistoric sea animal!

There's no substitute for the feeling of conquering a new demon and realizing that day after day, this Ironman dream is truly coming into focus with each new milestone!

These are some of my favorite images of Barton Springs captured by my friend Sara. Check out her hilarious and always interesting photo blog here.

The steam rises from Barton Springs when the air temp is cooler than the water temp. The water is always 68 degrees. On this morning, the air hovered around 30 degrees. It's one of the most serene sites to behold. Swimming in the mist...

The pool opens at 5am, long before the sun comes up

Don't make me get in!! Sara captured this photo of me as I apprehensively took off my warm sweatshirt to swim.

Unfortunately, Barton Springs is also closing for 3 weeks for it's annual Spring Cleaning so I'll be doing my wetsuit swims in another natural spring pool called Deep Eddy. Unlike Barton Springs, this pool actually has lanes and lanes, but it's always cold so wetsuits are encouraged.

Wrap Up in This

My dork-meter just raised itself a level or two. I'm having a race shirt quilt made. I promised that once I completed the Boston Marathon in 2006, I'd have one made with several races (including tris) that led to that moment.

The patchwork has begun.

One more location for our cat to shed.

My Game Face is Back On

Is it gross when a chick spits? God, I hope not because I've been hockin' some doozies this week...my "remnants" from being sick last week with the wintertime crud. Real ladylike, huh?

It's been back to the game plan this week with full-on T3 workouts.

Monday, February 11, 2007
Went to the T3 run workout on Monday night. The Gazelles are gearing up for the At&T Marathon this week so their workouts are just quick taper runs. I've never gone to a T3 run workout before and, I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be as challenging as it was. I guess it's what you make it and I always try to push myself on my run workouts as I feel that's when I'm going to need to muster the most Ironman strength. Anyways, we did 1000m repeats. I assumed they would be on the track, but Logan threw a curve ball and made the 1000s up 12th Street (which just happens to be directly in front of my house). We ran up the hill to Meridan and back down again for each repeat. So, it was also a hill workout in addition to some speedwork! Damn him!!! I did a mile warmup, followed up 7 x 1000m repeats...

4:23
4:20
4:20
4:17
4:17
4:20
4:40 (cool down)

Tuesday, February 12th
AM T3 Swim Class: First swim workout after a week off...Didn't feel as graceful as it has been. I led our lane of four for the first two swim sets and then relinquished those duties realizing that I wasn't going to be able to keep that pace for long. There's so much pressure to lead a lane when there are others literally grabbing at your toes. It was an honor while it lasted since I'm not known for my swim leadership skills! 3200m total

PM T3 Spin Class: My extended workout dates with T3 continued last night with the Tuesday night spin class taught by Coach Pain (Chrissie). She's a freaking machine and never seems to fatigue with her coaching and training. Last night's 1:30 minute workout focused on some high cadence sets. Fine with me since I'm not big into the big heavy gears.

Wednesday, February 13th
10-Mile AM Run with Thon and Amy: Enjoyed a much needed 10 mile run with my pals Thon and Amy. My time with them has been so limited with other training obligations, travel, etc. It's always wondeful to turn off the training mind and just run for the fun and friendship of it. It was a trip through campus and Hyde Park on a beautiful cool morning. I screwed up my watch so I have no idea what pace we ran. Still feeling some fatigue and sore muscles, but I've just gotten used it.

PM Jack and Adams Core??? That's the plan!

My Apology to Susan Dell

If only I were only rich…

If I could quit my job, I’d have time to train too…

If I could hire personal trainers and the best coaches, I’d finish an Ironman too…
It must be nice being one of the richest people in Austin.

What does she have to worry about?

She can train all day if she wants to. It’s not like she has a real job…

Her husband is Michael Freakin’ Dell.

Those were my exact sentiments when I heard that Susan Dell was training for the Ironman World Championships in Kona back in 2003. “Oh big woop,” I thought. “She’s a gajillionaire with all of the best trainers at her disposal. I could do that too if I could train anytime I wanted to!”

Oops.

I’m here to formally apologize to Mrs. Dell.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last four months, it doesn’t matter who you are or what status you hold in this insignificant earthly life of ours. You still have to do the work to get to the Finish Line. Money was no substitute for her 6 hour bike rides. The best coaches didn’t do her brick workouts for her. She still had to get her butt up everyday and swim, bike and run. And you know what? She probably sacrificed a hell of a lot more than I have. She has young children. I don’t. She and her husband have their names and reputations on multiple businesses here in Austin including Dell Children’s Medical Center, Dell Children’s Museum, Dell Diamond baseball field and, oh yeah, Dell Computers. The only thing I’m sure my name is on is some random bathroom stall somewhere, but that's a story for another time.

So Susan Dell, if you’re reading this in between your own philanthropic endeavors, I’m sorry. I now know what an incredible feat you accomplished and I regret diminishing that achievement based on my own petty selfishness.

Now, can you pull some strings and get me into Kona too someday?? You Rock!

Thanks!

Carrie

(Dell Rocks)

100 Skull Numbing Miles and a Speedy Sunday Run

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Since I was pretty much down for the count all week long with limited workouts, I wasn't entirely confident about my first official century ride of the IM Training season. T3 was riding out to Buda/San Marcos and back. Because I was afraid of getting sick or being completely devoid of energy and stuck 30 miles outside of Austin, I decided to do a different route all together by myself.

100 miles on the 8 Mile South Mopac loop.
With a couple of trips to the car, it was 12 mind-numbing loops for 100 miles on the dot.

I intended this ride to serve a couple of purposes:
1.) Keep me close to my car in case I was too sick to continue
2.) Keep my speed and energy in check. I wanted to average between 16-17 mph and this is a good loop to practice time trialing and consistency.
3.) Ride 100 miles alone for the mental tenacity
4.) Get used to the repetitive nature of loops. IMAZ is a three loop course. I was doing 12.
5.) Ride within myself...talk myself through the lowpoints...focus on nutrition...reserve energy

The ride served those purposes and a much-needed confidence boost as the weeks draw closer and closer. It was a stunningly beautiful day today in Austin with plenty of sunshine and a high near 80. While it was cool in the morning, the clouds burned off and warmed up nicely.
Instead of focusing on the number of loops, I just tried to let my mind turn to mush really. I thought about everything but the number of loops I had to do. Low points were followed by high points, and while there certainly was wind in some points, it was a treat to get the tailwind on the way back.

Total Ride: 100.3 miles
Total Riding Time: 5:46:35
Avg Pace: 17.4 mph
Avg Cadence: 86

If I can do anything like that on race day, I'll be in heaven! Granted this loop is interesting because the wind and the hills get you on the way out, but you're usually blessed with a nice tail wind on the way back making the trip back almost like a recovery. Today was no exception. So, while I wasn't doing the same course my teammates were doing, I was suffering in my own way and, let's face it, 100 miles is 100 miles afterall.

Here is a recap of the laps:
#1 31:38 (from car and first loop)
#2 29:01
#3 28:00
#4 28:20
#5 28:21
#6 31:57 (loop and to and from car)
#7 28:32
#8 28:07
#9 28:04
#10 26:58
#11 27:37
#12 29:55 (last loop and back to car)

Nutrition:
Pre-Ride: Sweet Potato Pancake and 1/2 English Muffin with PBJ
During Course of Ride: 4 scoops of Perpetuum in one bottle, 2 bottles of water (one nuun)
At 50 miles: PBJ Mini-Bagel, 3 clif-blocks
At 70 miles: refueled water bottles with water and Gatorade and continued sipping on Perpetuum.

Felt pretty decent at the end...actually got off my bike and jogged about 10 minutes to see what it felt like to run on 100 miles! (ummm....not so good) :-)

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Had a rare and pleasant run scheduled with my hubby this cool Sunday morning. We're running the ATT Half Marathon together next Sunday so this was his last long run before the race. We ended up running 9 miles on the trail and averaged 8:39 for the entire run. He really pushed me through a lot of it and I know I wouldn't have gone that fast if I was out there by myself. My body is just so damn tired these days that I haven't been really pushing my pace on long runs. It was a great gradual pick up throughout the entire run ending with a brisk 7:50 pace on mile 8. We cooled down for the final mile and threw in a couple of hills in our neighborhood on the way back to the house (much to my chagrin) ;-).

Feeling much better and ready to hit it again this week...

My Unexpected Taper Week

Damn this training!! I swear I'm turning into one of those people that I hate...the type of person that complains all the time about not feeling good and being tired. I am in the throws of some heavy duty weeks (17-19hrs per week) and my body is letting me know it.

I felt great on Sunday when we had people over for the Superbowl after my 13 mile run. I woke up Monday morning feeling normal and had to attend an all-day conference. It was then that I started feeling bad...sneezing, sinus pressure, itchy eyes, sore throat. I had no idea if it was a cold or allergies so I took a little bit of everything when I came home and promptly fell asleep at 9:00pm after taking a Benadryl.

The alarm went off at 5:00am on Tuesday morning and my head felt like a Macy's Day Parade float. No swimming for me...Wednesday...same thing...even came home from work early. Don't ask me how or why, but I actually went to my Gazelle's running workout on Wednesday morning. We did 6x 800s with our usual 1.6 mile warm up and cool-down. I felt like crap the entire time. Thursday--no swim and no bike. While my sinuses are feeling better, my muscles are just achy. I wanted to spin in my house tonight, but just didn't have the energy. I've decided that this is just a much-needed rest week.

I've got a 100+ mile bike ride on Saturday and that's what I'm focusing on now. Mentally, I'm fine...actually glad for the break. Still 10 weeks out from the dance so it's no biggie.

The only numbers I have to report this week are the amount of pills I've been taking (insert poorly timed Heath Ledger joke here), the amount of Emergen-C I've been drinking and the amount of hours I've been sleeping.

Here's to a great weekend!

Am I Breaking the Cardinal Rule of Racing?

Last month, Ironman Event Stores held a big sale on their Ironman merchandise. I couldn't help it. I proceeded to the Ironman Arizona page and perused the goods. A lot of it was 2007 Finisher Gear, which I am NOT. However, there were a couple of items that I couldn't resist--an Ironman Arizona cool-max shirt and visor. Neither has a year on it and neither says, "Finisher." Therefore, neither are off limits to this 2008 participant.

Now I ask:

Am I breaking the cardinal rule of racing by wearing a shirt or donning a visor prior to an event I haven't yet completed? Am I disrespecting the sport or jinxing myself? I'm torn...

I mean, c'mon...look how many people push their kids in Ironman strollers along the trail. I'm sure a great majority of those parents don't even know what an Ironman is. Plenty of people wear their Ironman Brand watches and probably can't even walk a mile, let alone complete an Ironman. Ironman has branded itself on body scales, coffee, cars and other items with no law saying you have to be a Finisher to use.

So, really, am I breaking the law if I sport my shirt or am I just overly confident?

Super-Training Weekend

I have the passion for this Ironman stuff and I definitely have the desire. However, sometimes even those two traits take a back seat to the almost robotic nature of just mentally tackling these long training weekends. It can't be done on heart alone. There is a mental shift that must take place as well. Patience...perseverance...autonomy of the mind. I'm also learning that I must love myself unconditionally. God knows I spend enough alone-time with my thoughts these days. I can't afford negativity, self-doubt and useless "you're not good enough" chatter. The second those thoughts begin seeping into my self-conscious, I may as well throw away all of the desire, passion and countless hours I've spent so far at achieving this goal.

This was a big weekend for me filled with a couple of "new territory" achievements. I didn't enter them with fear, but with a very matter-of-fact let's git 'er done mentality. I already spoke of my swim in my previous post. I'm so thrilled to feel it coming together after years of struggle and self-doubt.

Our 90-Mile bike ride on Saturday can best be described as an Ironman Arizona Simulator. The course itself isn't all that hilly, but it's located in far North East Austin where the wind seems to blow in every direction at all times. Every Arizona veteran from last year has warned me about the wind gusts. Wind gusts are a cyclists villian. Well, I'm no fan of this Rosedale course because I knew it would involve such gusts, but what better way to practice, right? Of course, the beginning of the ride is very deceiving with the tailwind and the downhills. The first 10 miles were downright blissful at a very easy pace of 18.5 mph. Unfortunately, early on I hit a bump which launched one of my water bottles. I had to stop to get it while letting my pack of riders continue on. Katy and Jerry stayed behind and it become our ride for the rest of the day. This is also a slightly confusing course with about 4 different Cameron Road turns. Well, of course we got turned around and slightly confused about where we were at which was definitely a momentum killer for a while. This is where the patience came in handy. There was nothing we could do besides forge another route back to the turn around, which Jerry and Katy did. Instead of our first loop being 28 miles, our first loop turned into about 44 miles before we ended up back at the car to refuel. It ironically ended up being a blessing because instead of heading out on the 62 mile loop, we really only had to head out for the 43 mile loop again. For whatever reason, this mentally felt so much better knowing that we were just about half-way done. In a very serendipidous way, we ended up connected with the other pack of riders again with about 20 miles to go when our different paths converged and we ended up on the same road at the exact same time. I swear, it was fate and very humorous. We couldn't have planned it if we had tried!! It was good to have the group pull for those remaining tough miles.

You know, I'm glad we faced a little adversity in the beginning of the ride because it's how you deal with that type of stress that can make all of the difference. My ride ended up being 87.5 miles and I left it at that. I thought about finding the extra 2.5 miles, but I knew it wasn't totally necessary since I also had a 60 min run to complete. I didn't look at my average pace until I got off the bike and, instead, focused the whole day on form and energy output. At the beginning of the ride, I said if I can avg between 15-16 mph on this course at this distance, I'll be happy. We averaged 15.5 mph. Nice...I think I'm really getting to know my body. I gotta say, I felt physically and mentally strong the entire day even when we were battling the frequent head winds on the windy country roads. It was just a gorgeous day for a ride and I truly felt blessed to be out there. Yes, of course, there were a few dark moments of, "God I'm tired," "Get me off this bike," and "I wish the wind would stop," but overall it was a wonderful confidence-building experience, especially on a course where I have a negative history. I also played with my nutrition and that seemed to pay off for me.

Prior to Ride: 3 Sweet Potato Pancakes and bottle of water
I started the ride with a bottle of water with 3 scoops of Perpetuum. I sip on that every 15-20 minutes for sustained calorie intake and energy levels.
I also had 1 bottle of plain water and 1 bottle of water with a Nuun electrolyte tablet.

1 Hr into Ride: 2 Endurolyte capsules

2.75 Hrs into Ride (half way point): 2 Endurolyte capsules, small whole grain bagel with PB&J, 2 clif blocks. At this point, I also refilled my water bottles and put regular water in one and gatorade in the other for part 2 of the ride.

For the reminder of the ride, I continued to sip on the perpetuum, water and gatorade. I did also enjoy one of Katy's pretzel sticks too!

I got off the bike and actually had some fuel in the tank for my 60 min run through the Harris Branch neighborhoods. At my car/transition area, I quickly switched gear, took a power gel, grabbed water and headed off for my run. I couldn't believe how strong I felt on this post run after almost 90 challenging miles. Each mile was faster than the next. 8:52, 8:44...I passed some of our group who made reference to being speedy. It wasn't until Mile 5 (and about 18 minutes left) that I finally started hitting the energy wall. I could feel the energy literally leaving my body quickly. I was assessing what I would do during Ironman when this starts to happen (because it will). A gel didn't sound good so what would I do? Chicken broth? Coca-Cola? Both are wildly popular on the Ironman Marathon because it's usually the only thing people can stomach after a long day of racing. Both sounded palatable, but were obviously unaccessible at that point. I headed back towards the car passing a few more peeps along the way. The 7.00 mile beep and the 1 hr beep were almost simultaneous. I had run 7 miles off of a 90 mile bike ride at an 8:34 pace. Wow...a lot faster than I expected, but challenging nonetheless. Like I said, I was quickly losing steam and this is not my planned Ironman pace.

It's training days like that where I can hold my head up high and think, "Hell yes!" I celebrated by going out with some friends for dinner and having a couple of glasses of wine (because I can't sacrifice EVERYTHING). At one point, my friend Mike was saying, "You know...you're just a badass hoss for being able to do all of this." Normally I would say, "Ah-it's nothing. Anyone can do it..." blah, blah, blah...But, for the first time last night I had to agree, "You're Right. I am a badass." (albeit, a tired one).

Another "Holy Crap, Are You Serious??" Weekend

For all of my Ironman vets, this is the part where you kick your feet back, chuckle to yourself and smugly say, "Get used to it, sister. You ain't seen nuthin' yet."

Most people spend the week working so that they can unwind on the weekend. I spend the week working so that I can still gear up for the weekend. This weekend's workout includes another one of epic distances:

Friday: 3200m Open Water Swim at Barton Springs (which I accomplished this morning)

Saturday: 90 Mile bike ride followed by a 1 hr run off the bike

Sunday: 13 Mile Run and plenty of stretching before, during and after the Superbowl

That bike/run brick is a little daunting at the moment, but it's all part of the deal! Tomorrow's task (other than the obvious) is to really work on my nutrition!

BARTON SPRINGS 3200 M SWIM RECAP

My longest open water swim in my life up to this point! Woo Hoo!!

The workout was broken down into chunks which definitely made this new distance for me less daunting. I've been doing 3200 m in our pool workouts, but I've never done it in the open water arena. Check another thing off the list and accept this new deposit into the Bank of IM!

2 x 600m = 12:39, 12:41 (2:06) pace per 100m)

3 x 400m = 8:25, 8:24, 8:27 (2:06 pace per 100m)

4 x 200m = 4:10, 4:17, 4:09, 4:18 (2:05-2:08 pace per 100)

I'm consistent if nothing else! If I swim that evenly throughout the race, I'd be on pace for a 1hr24min-1hr25min swim. My original goal was 1hr 30 minutes at very best. Now, I know there are a lot of factors to consider, such as 1800 other athletes vying for the same space in the water, but with two months still to go, I'm feeling pretty good and right on target!

And Now for a Sincere (and slighty cheesy) Moment...

Saw a screening of "The Spirit of the Marathon" last week and still get chills when I think about it. This is the first time, in full screen, that someone has adequately put into words and film the impact that this sport has had on my life. I had so many "YES!!!" moments during the film and I realized that it doesn't matter if you are Deena Kastor or a 6:00hr marathoner...this sport changes you from the inside out in so many ways. (Or, in my case, from the outside in)

The best part about running and racing? The friendships that are made as a result...No question, my life has been utterly filled to the brim with wonderful, positive and energetic persons who have coached, guided, encouraged, challenged and laughed with me every mile of the way. There is no substitute for this type of euphoria. In fact, I just received very timely emails today from fellow Gazelles Frank and Jay who both expressed their gratitude for all that our friendships have brought to them. I couldn't agree more.

That, to me, is the True Spirit of the Marathon.

Here are just a few pics of wonderful moments brought about through running and triathlons over the last couple of years. There are so many friends and moments not represented in these pics, but rest assured, each person and finish line are all in my heart.

After the 2005 Chicago Marathon (the year upon which the movie is based) and my Boston Qualifier day!

I can't imagine my life without my post-run Saturday Mi Madres visits!

My 2004 MS 150 friends and team

After the 2004 NYC Marathon

Shawn and I after finishing the 2006 Eagleman 70.3 in Maryland

Bob, Tracy and Karl (friends from Ohio) at the 2005 Vineman 70.3

Thon and I after our kick-ass North Trails Half Marathon in May 2007

Katy and I at 2007 Longhorn Triathlon. We're now training together for Ironman Arizona. Hell yeah, we're tough!

Skud and I at the Boston Airport 2006

My coveted Boston Marathon medal 2006. The Spirit of the Marathon led me to that day.

The 3M 23.5 Miler

Thanks to Scott Wedge for the photo! I'm happy to see I was smiling at Mile 10 (which was Mile 20 of my run)...Definitely looking stronger than I felt.

Going to bed early last night paid off because I wasn't totally exhausted when the alarm went off at 4am. Let's be honest, the last thing I wanted to do was go run 23 miles, but at least I felt well enough to try it.

My stomach wasn't bothering me, but I noticed that I wasn't really hungry at all. Last night, Shawn and I went to Galaxy and all I really wanted was some chicken broth and a few bites of mac and cheese. I'm still trying to figure out the source of this nausea and lack of appetite, but it doesn't bode well during these long training weekends. I forced myself to eat a piece of bread with peanut butter and a banana. Usually, this is my food of the gods--(LOVE peanut butter and banana together all Elvis' style), but it just didn't sit well. I drank a bottle of water and drove up to our T3 Meeting point at 45th and Lamar.

So, the plan was to do a 10 mile warm up to the 3M Half Marathon start. In my mind, I was hoping to warm up at a 9:00min pace. Right out of the shoot, the fast folks were blazing a trail that was hardly a warm up for me. It was more like my scheduled race pace. Four miles into the warm up run and I was running an 8:37 pace and feeling like shit. I hadn't carried any water with me thinking that I could stop at a gas station or steal some from a water stop table that might already be set up. This was a mistake as I was completely thirsty and dehydrated. On top of it, the mild nausea had returned (probably as a result of the dehydration). I was running with Jerry who wisely advised us to slow down so that we didn't burn out. He also offered me some water from his bottle, which was a huge help. By the time we finished our 10.5 mile warmup, I was pretty spent and not feeling all that great. It's scary, especially since our final avg for that part of the run was a 9:05 pace. It's where I wanted to be, but not how I wanted to feel.

We arrived at the 3M Start Line 15 minutes before start time. I desperately needed a porta-potty pit stop before, but the lines were long. I decided to wait it out anyhow as my legs began to tighten and my temperature began to drop.

We made it to the start line in time and prepared for Part 2 of the day's run. I knew it was going to be a tough one for me, so I encouraged Jerry to "run his race." By Mile 1, he was out of sight and feeling good. I don't know how he did it. He had very little water and no gels. Before the start, I forced a gel down even though it wasn't tasting good at all. That was my first gel of the morning. It's an interesting perspective of running when you're not out there to be "the fast one." I was getting passed by a lot of people including many Gazelles who went on to kick some butt. Even Jay said, "What are you doing back here? Did you have a 100 mile bike ride yesterday or something?"

"Yeah, kinda...And I ran 10 miles before this race even started!" My original hope was to run somewhere between 8:00s-8:30s for this race...of course, closer to 8:00s. However, it just wasn't going to happen today. The first 5 miles clipped off quickly and I continued to ebb and flow between feeling good and feeling like total ass. Of course, it usually corresponded with whether or not I was on a hill at the time. Because I had neglected to drink enough before, I found myself walking the water breaks and taking two cups at every stop. I was so afraid of the tank going empty.

It's also weird knowing that this was also just a long training run. I swear, you put a chip on, bring out a couple thousand people and set up water tables and you can't help but kick into "race mode." I didn't mind being slower than usual, but I also didn't want to be humiliated either. I wish I had a t-shirt that said, "I ran 10 miles before the start of the race" just to let people know why I seemed to be struggling. Along the way, I chatted with a few Gazelles (Susan, Frank, Rachel, Brian, Jay, Ann, Amy F., Monique, Katie) They provided a much-needed boost every single time as our meetings were spaced out throughout the course.

I choked another gel down at Mile 8 and hunkered in for the North Loop "hills." It's no Mt. Bonnell, but they definitely pose a challenge when you're already fatigued. My splits continued to be decent for the shape I was in, but I was also paying a price for trying to run a decent Half-Marathon.

I saw Richard, Stephanie and Shawn at Mile 11 and stopped for a minute or so to visit with them. The last two miles are pretty fast so, again, I just put my head down and finished Miles 22 and 23 of my training day strong. It definitely wasn't a PR, but an 8:19 overall pace is still pretty damn awesome considering.

I still have to figure out what's going on with my body, but I'm definitely pleased with the training day. Did I mention it was utterly beautiful this morning watching the sun come up?

3M Mile Splits
1:49:06 (8:19 avg pace)

Mile 1: 8:55
Mile 2: 8:36
Mile 3: 8:24
Mile 4: 8:16
Mile 5: 8:00
Mile 6: 8:20
Mile 7: 8:05
Mile 8: 8:17
Mile 9: 8:44
Mile 10: 8:19
Mile 11: 8:38 (visit with Richard, Steph and Shawn)
Mile 12: 7:45
Mile 13: 7:42
Mile .1: .58

Swim...Bike...Run...Eat...Sleep...Epic Weeked

It's 7:24pm and I'm already lying in bed with my cat Brutus snuggled right next to me.

I remember in the good old days, I'd be having some dinner, getting my drink on and getting ready to go out for the evening. Now, I'm getting ready for bed on this wacky Saturday night. Why? Because I have to be up at 4am and running by 5am. More on that after today's recap.

This morning I was at Barton Springs Pool by 7:00am for my 2800m open water swim (seven laps). Believe it or not, this was a new distance record for me. I've never gone this far in one open water swim in my life! All felt great because I was just taking my sweet ol' time with each lap. I lost rhythm for a while, but seemed to get it back by the last two laps. It took me one hour to complete the swim. The main reason I took it easy is because I also had a 75 mile bike ride right afterward. Most people do their Barton Springs Swim on Friday mornings, but I've been doing mine on Saturdays the last few weeks to practice that swim-to-bike brick workout.

The bike ride was an out and back from Austin to San Marcos. After four days of cold drizzly weather, the sky opened this morning and the sun came out presenting a glorious day for riding. We started at 9:00am while it was still pretty cool outside so the first few miles were chilly. However, it didn't take long to warm up with all of the gear I was wearing. I rode consistently throughout and settled in to a nice sub-group with Nancy, Jeff, Jerry and Jane. T3 definitely has several sub-groups of fast folks, but I like my place as a "tweener" right now. My legs didn't hurt this morning, but I still didn't feel the need to push it. This route is actually one of the less hilly courses and, for the first time in a long time, there weren't any major wind issues.

A couple of things I noticed today that I have to work on... (oh my God, my cat is snoring right now)
1.) Heart Rate-noticing that whenever I was climbing, my HR also seemed to raise very quickly and I'd get a small wave of nausea. This could be many things including dehydration, fatigue, heart attack...not sure yet, but something to keep my eye on.

2.) My Nutrition-I'm not consuming enough calories during the ride. Today was weird because I have been having some sour tummy issues this week and I just didn't want to consume a whole lot. When I was nauseous, I definitely didn't want to eat or drink calories, but I knew I needed to. I know this is one of the major "crash and burn" factors at Ironman. People stop following their nutrition plan and invariably bonk. Again, it's something I'm aware of and monitoring. Right now, I'm trying to keep most of my bike calories liquid in the form of Perpertuum. I mixed 3 scoops of that with water and drank the whole bottle throughout the course of the morning. The taste isn't all that spectacular, but it keeps my levels consistent and doesn't make me bloated (like gels will). I'm hoping to save my gels for the run portion. I just noticed that when I finish the bike, I'm pretty depleted which is not a good thing knowing that I still have to complete a full marathon!!

3.) Form-I was in and out of aero-bars today more than I should've been.

Today's Results: 74 miles at an avg pace of 17.0 mph. It's my fastest training ride to date, but it's also one of the flatter rides we do. I keep telling myself that IMAZ is also pretty flat so I should do great!! My goal is to avg about 17mph on the IMAZ course so this was a good practice run (without the 40+ extra miles I'll have to do)

And now the reason I'm going to bed at 8pm? We have a 22-23 mile run in the morning! The 3M Half Marathon is tomorrow mornig at 7am, so a group of T3'ers are meeting at 5am to run 10 miles to the start line and then run the Half Marathon. I won't be setting any PRs tomorrow, that's for sure, but it's supposed to be a perfect morning for a run. I just hope my tummy holds up since it's been so darn queasy.

Completing this weekend will be a huge deposit into the Ironman bank as I continue to reach new distances and levels with all of this training. Of course, I'm also reaching epic levels of food consumption as well!

There are some pretty hot legs in the world:

Tina Turner has her legs insured they're so famous.

Marilyn had some sexy gams (or at least President Kennedy thought so)

and as strange as it may seem, cleanly shaven male cyclist legs are also pretty darn sexy.

Currently, here are the state of my legs:

Yep, they pretty much feel like tree logs with the beating I've given them this week starting last Saturday, January 19th!

Saturday, January 19th: 60 mile indoor training ride

Sunday, January 20th: Frost yer Fanny Duathlon that was full-on assault from my toes to my hips.

Monday, January 21st: 1000m Meridan repeats in the afternoon. I did 4x repeats, 3 backwards and 3 sprints (4:44, 4:50, 4:44, 4:50). I was still so exhausted and beat up from the tempo effort from the day before.

Tuesday, January 22nd: Morning Swim Workout and 1hr 45 min Evening Indoor Training ride where we pushed the big chain ring and hard gears for most of the workout.

Wednesday, January 23rd: Gazelle 7-Mile Fartlek workout with 10 1min fast/1min slow repeats thrown in between the warm up and cool down.

Needless to say, my legs are the functioninh equivalent of a pumpkin that's been tossed out of a window from 20 stories high. Unfortunately, I'm a little nervous because this weekend doesn't get any easier on them.

Thursday AM-Indoor Trainer Workout

Saturday AM- 75 Mile Bike Ride

Sunday AM-22 Mile Run

I'd like to say that "I've got a leg up" on the competition, but I'm not even sure I have legs at the moment!

You Can Never Be Too Prepared

I'm not the only one in training!


Shawn is practicing (and teaching) his life support skills in case he needs to use it on me during the Ironman! (uhh...let's hope not)




Is he also practicing for Fatherhood after Ironman?? ;-) Let's hope that's not how he holds a newborn--unless it's choking!

Thank God I landed a smart one! (and a cute one too)

How NOT To Land on the Podium at a Race

There are many ways you can lose a podium spot at a race.



1.) Getting a Flat Tire

2.) Bonking

3.) Crashing your bike

4.) Dropping out of the race

5.) Being Placed in the Wrong Gender on the Results



Can you guess which one just happened to me today?

I'll state the obvious. I'm not the most feminine chick out there. In fact, I'm downright scrappy and I'm definitey not a "girly girl." BUT--I'm all vuh-jay-jay and yet somehow I ended up in the Male 35-39 year old age group in today's "Frost Your Fanny" Duathlon!!

The good news: I still placed 8th in Male 35-39

The bad news: I wasn't able to claim my 2nd Place Age Group award in the Female 35-39 age group since I wasn't listed as a chick!!


Total Time: 1:53:18

5k Run #1: 21:13 (6:51 pace)
21 Mile Bike: 1:07 (18.6 mph)
5k Run #2: 22:21 (7:13 pace)


#10 Overall Female

#2 in 35-39 Female Age Group--I'm not 35 years old yet, but USAT Rules make you race in the age group that you will be in that year. Talk about making me feel older than I should be!!

Here I am listed in the Male Age Groups 35-39 :-) before it goes away.

http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/155728_223829_2008.html

Don't worry-I've already contacted the race director ;-) In fact, his wife is sitting on my couch right now watching the Packers game and she's not leaving until it's fixed!

Jack Lalanne - 10 Point Plan

Really, does anything else need to be said?

An Endurance Athlete Wife's Best Friend

I opened the front door on Tuesday night at 8pm having just returned home from my T3 Indoor Trainer Spin class. My day had started at 5:15am when I woke up to get ready for 5:45am T3 Swim class. In between, I had worked a full day, finished a load of laundry, taken the trash out, emptied the dishwasher and prepared dinner. Yep, I had prepared dinner that morning and boy did the house smell good when I opened that door.

Early that morning I had dumped soy sauce, white vinegar, garlic, pepper and a couple of pounds of chicken breast into a crock pot and left the house. Twelve hours later, I had returned and dinner was waiting for us, ready to go and smelling great. Shawn had picked up some steamed brown rice on the way home. We threw a salad together and, voila! Dinner was served.

I'm thinking the crock pot is going to save my life more often. It sure made me seem like a power-wife if nothing else. Training for an Ironman while cooking...it's ingenius!

My Life Resolution

Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than FALLING IN LOVE.

In a quite absolute final way, what you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination,

will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,

what you do with your evenings,

how you spend your weekends,

what you read, who you know,

what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love,

stay in love,

and it will decide everything.

This poem was read at our pre-marriage classes. I love it so much that I also read it at my wedding reception. Yes, I did my own toast!

Who Am I?

So, my dear husband signed us both up for the AT&T Half Marathon taking place in mid-February. However, he signed me up under my maiden name and not my newly-minted married name. Is he trying to tell me something? Thanks babe, I love you too. ;-)

Am I Still Gazelle-Worthy?

One of the biggest sacrifices of all of this training is that I can't make it to my Gazelle running workouts as much as I want to. My goal is running "maintenance" right now and hitting at least one workout a week. Of course, I've forgotten just how damn hard they all are. I've purposely slowed myself down at each workout instead of trying to keep up with the lead group. While it's good for me to be doing that at the moment (maintenance, remember?), it's also very hard to hold back. Unfortunately, I've learned the hard way that my long rides and runs suffer when I push myself so hard on these other workouts....not to mention the fact that I'm more prone to injury when running at full-tilt.


Last week I hit the 2000m workouts at Zilker. These repeats are pretty hard to pace because it's 1.25 miles of pure speed. 2000m is so very different than an 800m repeat. With 800s, you know the pain is short-lived. 2000s are a different story. Plus the loop that we do tends to go on...and on...and on. I have a tendency to go out too fast and try to hang on at the end. That also means I start seeing double by the 2nd repeat because I'm so whipped. This time, I slowed the first repeat way down and tried to settle in. It was a little more challenging as some of the gates were padlocked so we had to run around them.

#1 8:54

Pretty slow...time to pick it up for the next few.

8:23
8:11
8:11

Nice...Right on target.

Some were doing a 5th repeat, but I held back...There's just no reason to push too much when my "A" race is three months away.

This morning, I talked Amy into going to the Gazelle workout: Wilke Hill Repeats.

I'm not sure why I wanted to do this workout after my swim/long bike on Saturday and my long run on Sunday. Well, truth be told, I didn't want to do it, but I also want to feel like I'm still a part of the Gazelle bad-ass group by doing this workout. My goal was to just do 7 forward repeats, 3 backwards and 3 sprints. A year ago, I was doing 10 repeats and today I just committed to 7 since I hadn't done this in a while. As always, the first repeat is the worst as your lungs feel like they are going to blast out of your chest and your legs are burning with lactic acid. I'm so slow at these repeats, which can be frustrating as others cruise by, but I'm also consistent. Slow and steady...slow and steady...There goes Marcie. Damn, she's good at these. We started before the lead group and were eventually passed by them. It's cool...slow and steady...


I'm happy to say that we did complete all of the repeats and even took a longer cooldown run afterward. I definitely had energy in me for more, but knew it wasn't necessary. Maybe by March I'll be back up to 10 repeats. Maybe not.

Wednesday's workout is the dreaded 4-mile tempo run. There's no such thing as taking this one easy. Not sure yet if I'm going to attempt this one during this week. I'm scheduled to do 15.5 hours of training and already have 17 hours mapped out if I hit all of the workouts. I've got to cut back somewhere. Theoretically, I could and probably should sit this one out and focus more on my swim and cycling workouts.

We'll see as the week progresses! I hope I'm still Gazelle-ish after all this IM talk.

Coming soon---some changes to the blog. I already screwed it up recently so my next goal is to just completely give it a facelift. By the end of this year, tritobefunny.com will be much more than just my self-indulgent chatter.

Another Deposit into the Ironman Bank and A Moment of Embarrassment

It was another solid weekend of training and, as of today, I have 3 months exactly until I hit the starting line. In many ways, three months seems like an eternity. In other respects, it feels like every day is slipping away so quickly.

Saturday 1/12:

Barton Springs Swim

Because I had skipped my Barton Springs Friday swim, I had to get it in this morning before my ride. Turned out to be a great workout for me and I hit some new best times!!

2 x 600 (12:39, 12:40)

2 x 400 (8:39, 8:25)

2 x 200 (4:14, 4:16)

Technically, the 2nd repeat was supposed to be faster on all of the distances, but I'm just happy to have kept them even especially since the way back in Barton Springs is going against the current. I actually felt a flow in the water! I can definitely feel a huge difference in my endurance and energy levels with my swim. It's happening...YAY!!!

Bike Ride

We were scheduled to ride 50+ miles, which turned out to be the very hilly Bee Caves Loop twice, including a lollipop extension from Escarpment to Mopac on the first loop. Katy and I started and finished together, completing our best ride yet of the training season. Our ride ended up being 56 miles and our average was 16.3 mph overall (3:30). At the beginning of the ride, we questioned whether or not we were feeling stronger. At the end of the ride, we confirmed it. Several of the riders that we train with had cut their rides short and/or decided not to do a second full loop. Believe me, I wasn't excited about starting loop #2, but I'm glad we dug through it. I believe more than ever that I have to continue to train my mind even more than my body to fight through the low moments...the doubts...the sore legs and the wind. It wasn't blazing fast, but the course was 3.5 hours of hard work. Aside from the wind (which became more of a factor on loop 2), we were blessed with sunshine and mild temperatures near 60. You can't ask for anything more in mid-January.

So, on our first loop, Katy and I were on Southwest Parkway and we came to a stop at the bottom of a rather large hill. I clipped out with my left foot like I always do. Unfortunately, the bulk of my weight was still on my right side. I knew it before it even happened. I was tipping over and my bike was at a stand still. It was like watching a drunk person fall over. I couldn't get my right foot unclipped and just fell straight on my butt. It didn't really hurt at the time and I was truly more concerned with the bike. Katy was next to me and helped me unclip my foot. All of the sudden, I heard a voice from behind me.

"Carrie?" a male voice questioned?

"Yeah?" I said, still laying by the side of the road hot with embarrassment.

"It's Jeff," he said. "Is your bike ok?" He asked jokingy.

"Yeah, I'm fine...new pedals...blah, blah, blah."

In a moment, the light turned green and he was gone. Well, Jeff is one of my husband's work colleagues and last time he was at our house, he was admiring my bike and talking about how we should ride together some. Now, he was staring at me as I lay on the side of a busy road having crashed going 0mph! I looked like a little rookie who's never ridden a bike in their life!

A little embarrassing to say the least. Hardly the behavior of an Ironman in training!

Immediately after our ride, I headed to San Antonio where Shawn and I were spending the weekend at his parent's house. Being here makes me feel like I'm on vacation. I get to hang out on the couch, read a book, drink wine and not think about all of the things I should be doing!

Sunday, 1/13

Exactly three months to Ironman and an 11-mile run was on the agenda this morning. Shawn and I headed out at 8am and mapped out a challenging out and back course near his parent's house in NW San Antonio. We ran some hills and I was sluggish for this first half. Plus, my butt was sore from the fall the day before. Turns out I have a bruised butt-cheek!! Sweet. I won't gross anyone out with photos. I'm noticing that it is taking my body longer to warm up and ease into these difficult runs. I suppose it's natural since I'm going into the these runs on tired legs. Still, at 5 miles, we were averaging a 9:15 pace. After a quick water break at the grocery store, we made our way back and I began to finally find the run. I took a Power Gel and that helped me come alive. I ended with 11.69 miles at an 8:53 overall pace. Again, good for the mind and confidence level.

Austin Gets an Ironman 70.3!

Big news in the Tri World of Austin, Texas! Last year's Inaugural Longhorn Triathlon has now officially become an Ironman 70.3 Race! What in the hell does that mean? Well, it means the competition will be tough and the rewards are great. This race will hold slots to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship Race in Clearwater, Florida. So basically, if you're super fast in your age group, you could qualify to go to the World Championship Race!


This past year, I was 11th in my age group and I swear it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I'm just proud that little Austin is getting a big-league race (although it seems like they're handing out 70.3 races quicker than Barrack Obama bumper stickers these days).

I thought I'd relive that little day of hell with some pics taken by my dear friend Stephanie!

The Death March-lots of hills, no shade, 90+ degrees

Gutting it out in the Finisher's Chute

I swore I'd never do it again..

I lied.

"Spirit of the Marathon" Exclusive Austin Screening

Reserve your tickets now for the exclusive Austin screening of "Spirit of the Marathon" on Thursday, January 24th at Gateway Theaters.

Purchase your tickets at http://www.dickbeardsleyfoundation.org/ ...About 40 tickets remain on the second screen as one theater has already sold out!

I'll be in attendance! Oh yeah, so will some other famous runner guy named DICK BEARDSLEY who also happens to be in the film. ( I, however, am not)

The following is taken directly from their foundation website:

Join us at the premiere of Spirit of the Marathon, on January 24, 2008, at the Gateway Theater on Stonelake Boulevard. Running legend Dick Beardsley, who has an appearance in the film, will be in attendance at the screening, and at an event prior to the screening that will be open exclusively to those who purchase tickets from the Foundation.Spirit of the Marathon is the first ever non-fiction feature film to capture the drama and essence of the famed 26.2 mile running event. Filmed on four continents, the movie brings together a diverse cast of amateur athletes and marathon luminaries.As six unique stories unfold, each runner prepares for and ultimately faces the challenge of the Chicago Marathon. More than a sports movie, Spirit of the Marathon is an inspirational journey of perseverance and personal triumph; a spectacle that will be embraced by runners and non-runners alike.
Tickets for the event are only available through the Foundation for a minimum donation of $15 per ticket, with proceeds from these sales benefitting the Foundation.

To purchase your ticket, click here, and make sure to indicate in the note field that your donation is for Spirit of the Marathon tickets.
Thank you to our growing list of sponsors for the Spirit of the Marathon Fundraiser Team Spiridon, Twenty-Six.Two Marathon Club, Conley Sports, Maudie's Tex-Mex, Run-Tex, Jack and Adam's Bicycles - Austin

Check the Rule Books Folks

I have found my Ironman Secret Weapon.

Hell Yeah...that 112 Miles on the bike will be a piece of cake with this 7-person bike!

In fact, I already started training on this contraption! Here I am with my Barrett family on our way to the Trail of Lights over the holiday season. We were the first people to take a ride on this hilarious bike in Austin. Of course, we drew plenty of attention pedaling our way down Barton Springs Road honking our horns and shouting the whole way. Check it out at www.notyourusualbikes.com and watch out at Ironman Arizona. This baby is the wave of the future.

So, it's not very aerodynamic, but at least there will be plenty of people to talk to during the bike leg.

Who's in on my ride with me??

A Day of Mourning

I interupt this blog for one brief day of mourning.

My Buckeyes blew it AGAIN in the National Championship Game. I'm so glad my life and career doesn't depend on the outcome of one game. I'm also glad that in the sports of running and triathlon, no one is out to kill me and the only person shouting "you're overrated" is probably me.

I'm also glad I don't live in Columbus, Ohio today. That town (MY hometown) eats, sleeps and breathes Ohio State Football. Couches are probably burning in the streets and riots are no doubt ensuing as I type.

I still love you Buckeyes. Now, stop getting humiliated or I may have to repaint my bike! On second thought, my previous bike was yellow and purple like LSU's colors. Maybe I should just ride that one for the next year...

Uh no...

20 Mile Run...and an Ice Bath

So after yesterday's ride, I filled the tub up with ice cold water and endured the dreaded "ice bath." This brutal self-torture is almost worse than the actual workout, but the benefits border on miraculous. I soaked my aching legs for about 15 minutes, then hopped in the steaming hot shower. After the hot shower, I hopped back in the ice tub for another 15 minutes. The results speak for themselves. While I, of course, have some remnants of sore muscles, the stiffness and pain is much less substantial than it would be.

There wasn't much time for recovery as today's workout was an equally brutal 20 mile run. I wanted to get an early start so I braved it alone with my iPod and 2 Power Gels. As suspected, the first couple of miles were sluggish and a little "tweaky." My hamstrings and hip flexors were definitely making their presence known. I left from my house and did the Scenic Loop first, followed by the 10 mile Lady Bird Town Lake Trail Loop. I had to add 3 more miles at the end which I did on Lake Austin Blvd, Bonnie and on the O'Henry Track.

Once I got going, it turned into one heck of a good training run. My energy level was high and I spaced my power gels well. I started feeling really tired and dehydrated at Mile 18, but it would've been the time to take another gel anyway. As it was, I took a gel at Mile 6 and Mile 12. I completed the last 1.5 miles on the track across from my house so it was difficult making several loops and looking at my front door every time knowing that coffee was probably brewing!

This beast of a training week is now complete with over 18.5 hours of solid money into the IM Training Bank. Next week is a recovery week--yay!! Time to recharge...

Needless to say, I had another ice bath this morning after that 20 mile trek.

Here are the run details:

20 Miles
3:00:50
Avg Pace Overall: 9:02 (that's on target for a 4-hour marathon on very tired legs!!)

Mile 1: 10:12
Mile 2: 9:45
Mile 3: 9:20
Mile 4: 9:20
Mile 5: 9:19
Mile 6: 9:17
Mile 7: 9:09
Mile 8: 8:52
Mile 9: 9:01
Mile 10 : 9:00
Mile 11: 8:36
Mile 12: 8:56
Mile 13: 8:26
Mile 14: 8:46
Mile 15: 8:41
Mile 16: 8:46
Mile 17: 8:50
Mile 18: 8:52
Mile 19: 8:59
Mile 20: 8:41

95 Miles of Sweet Redemption

After a very intense week of training and a disappointing bike ride last weekend, I earned the redemption that I so desperately needed with a very strong 95-Mile bike ride. We rode an out and back from Austin to Johnson City and back. If that wasn't enough, we ended with one final loop on South Mopac to get us to the 95 mile mark. Johnson City is the home of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Did I mention that it's also in the area of Central Texas known as the HILL COUNTRY??? No joke...This ride was essentially a continuous roller coaster of hills. Some rolling, some steep, all very trying...The wind was blowing hard from the Southwest making the ride out much slower than the ride back.

All in all, I averaged 15.3 miles for the entire ride and it took me a little over 6 hours to complete with a serious negative split. The last 15 miles, I actually rode with Liz, Jim and some other dude who are faster than I am. I think they were starting to fade toward the end and I was finally catching them. I'm thrilled with how the bike rode today and I really felt the benefits of the indoor spin classes I've been attending. Seriously, I don't think I would've made it without those classes. My body also feels surprisingly well after being in a bike saddle for over 6 hours. My nutrition lasted through the ride, but I was definitely fading fast which probably means I need to eat more towards the end of the bike in order to have energy to start the run. I finished with a smile on my face but realized, "I have to do a freaking marathon after this?????" Wow....

I'm so happy to have completed this key workout and gain the ego boost that I've been needing on the bike. Like last week, there's no rest for the proud and weary because I've got to tackle a 20 mile run on Sunday morning.

Yes, this is the start of real Ironman training.

Nutrition:
3 small sweet potato pancakes pre-ride: about 400 calories
bottle of water

During Ride:
1 bottle of Perpetuum with 3 scoops of powder-consumed this during the entire 6 hours
1 bottle of water with Nuun tablet-sipped for duration of ride
1 bottle of water--replaced with a bottle of gatorade at half way point

1 Power Gel 2.5 hours into ride
3 Clif Blocks at half way
handful of fritos at half way
3 Clif Blocks at 4.5 hours into ride

Total Calories Burned according to Garmin: 4964
Total Calories Consumed: approximately 800-1000

Out to Johnson City: 42.49 miles
2:57:45
avg pace of 14.3 mph (wind and hills)

Back to Austin: 42.26 miles
2:39:59
avg pace of 15.9 mph (some tailwind benefit...hills benefit on the way back)

Last Lap: 9.01 miles
31:50
avg pace of 17 mph

What a Difference a Decade Makes

Me in 1998 at my going away party just a few weeks before moving to Austin. I'm the one on the left who takes up 90% of the picture wearing the sweet acid-washed jean jacket.

Fast Forward almost ten years....

Just mere seconds away from being passed by super-stud James, but not without a fight...but definitely without the extra 50 pounds I carried around.

My Christmas Gift Presentation

As told by my loving and supportive husband.



“We all know Carrie gets out of the water last in most races, so when she hops on her bike, she’s going to need one of these to let people know she’s coming.”

My new bicycle horn

“And then, when she blazes past people on the bike,

we want everyone to see her bike license plate.”

She has to be comfortable for 112 miles (and I don't want to render her sterile), so I bought her a new gel seat for the bike.

“She obviously has to look good so I bought her a long sleeve jersey and some new cycling gloves.”

“Of course, when she finishes Ironman, we’ll get to celebrate with some Desiree Chocolate Port.”

My tri friends will understand the humor and irony of the Desiree wine.

“But first…she’s going to need one of these magazines in order to pick out her brand new set of racing wheels for the 2008 season”.