OK, I am jealous. I'm not at Coeur d'Alene right now racing an Ironman. Its raining here, and lightening, so no bike ride today - Maybe I can squeak in a long run. As much as I love sitting here and watching ironman live, its not going to get the job done.
I had a PR on Wednesday at a great local race. Summer Solstice 14K put on by the Shawangunks Runners. Check out their link on the right. (its a little longer than a 14K) but I cut off 7 minutes and the course is very hilly. The first 3.6 miles are all up to Castle Point where you get a cup of water...then its all pounding downhills on rocks and babyheads with switchbacks to mile 5.3 where you get another cup of water. Then its flat all the way home until the last 200 yards that are like 12% grade climb on gravel. OUCH.
The post race spread is always nice with lots of fruit and cookies. I ended up winning 2nd in my AG! I never win anything so this was really awesome. The DH was very proud of me even though he missed me getting my name called in front of everyone. The problem is I don't like the bread. I wish I could have picked out my own flavor. I guess winners can't be choosers! ha ha.
Minnewaska Distance Swimming is open and the water has been really nice. I have been cranking out some great times for my training up there. 35 minutes for 2200 yards is nice and fast for me. Hopefully the water will warm up enough for me to wear my skinsuit instead of the wetsuit.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
update, its been a while...Mooseman RR
ok, I know its been like 6 months (or more) since I have blogged. I've been busy looking for a job. I've been busy training and racing. I just got back from Mooseman Half Iron in Bristol, NH.
Race Report - I was planning on just using the race as a training day. The weather was unseasonably hot. Like 95-98 degrees and the water was also warm (as the locals tell me. It was 56, people, 56 is not warm!) The swim was great, a little cold, but felt really good. The swim waves were small and the water was very calm and clear. I had no trouble sighting and could draft off people in my wave. I moved out to the side when I saw we were getting lapped by the group behind us. I hit the beach in my fastest time ever, 34 minutes! I was so under trained for the swim its not even funny how this happened. I literally just put my head down and swam...no stopping the entire time. I know that is what you are supposed to do, but this is the first time it seems to have actually happened.
OK, so i get to T1 and i can't get my wetsuit off....I almost fall over trying to get it off. So that ate up a lot of time. Then I get my act together and get out on to the bike course. First of all, the roads were crappy - just really torn up with lots of potholes and patches. Winter in new Hampshire is tough on roads. Lap 1 was good. I hit the hills in good condition and felt great. My nutrition was going well. My helmet kept falling off from every bump in the road, but hey you can;t have everything. i kept cool by pouring water on me and it really helped. I will do that next time too!
Bike Lap 2 - my nutrition started to fight back in my stomach. I started to bloat a lot and couldn't ride in the aerobars. Ugh. Burp. Water. Nutrition.....burp...burp. So the last 10 miles (who am I kidding, more like 15) I didn't eat anything. Big mistake, I know. What is worse, being under fueled or puking? So I finally pull into T2...(so happy to get off that freaking bike) Missed my desired split by 15 minutes....
Off to the run. Did I say it was hot? Like 96? Some people said 98? My car said 101! I shuffled to the first aid station...orange slices...gel...sponges....water. Shuffle up the big hill....see my friends all ahead of me! They all started in the wave 10 minutes ahead of me, because they are old! Ha ha! Its nce to have rabbits to chase....
They had music on the hill, and every time I went by it played the same song! That was pretty wierd. The Presidents of the United States, "LUMP" is apparently my new song.
I finally felt the gel kick in and then had another one. I was feeling better and running faster. My splits were getting faster. I needed ice and found it at a few aid stations. I would put it in my shirt, under my hat and in my hand to cool off. I also drank a lot more water than I ususally do and that seemed to help too. The volunteers were great. They had to work in that sweltering heat too. There were people who had garden hoses and were spraying us, which felt sooo nice. I wanted them to follow me the whole 13 miles. I saw Keith Jordan the RD at the turn around as I was swearing up a storm....great race Keith, sorry for the f-bomb.
So the second lap was better than the first, but not by much. i ended up not catching any of my friends out on the run, but beat 1 of them in overall time. I missed a PR by 4 minutes! Not bad for being undertrained and really hot out.
Things I learned - I needed to get my act together earlier on the bike. I had gels sitting there, just staring at me. I was afraid to take them, but they work so well for me. I love the PowerBar gels with 2x caffiene and sodium. I didn't take any extra electrolytes. I drank Accelerade mixed with CarboPro for the bike course (which is what was giving me trouble at mile 40.)
Race Report - I was planning on just using the race as a training day. The weather was unseasonably hot. Like 95-98 degrees and the water was also warm (as the locals tell me. It was 56, people, 56 is not warm!) The swim was great, a little cold, but felt really good. The swim waves were small and the water was very calm and clear. I had no trouble sighting and could draft off people in my wave. I moved out to the side when I saw we were getting lapped by the group behind us. I hit the beach in my fastest time ever, 34 minutes! I was so under trained for the swim its not even funny how this happened. I literally just put my head down and swam...no stopping the entire time. I know that is what you are supposed to do, but this is the first time it seems to have actually happened.
OK, so i get to T1 and i can't get my wetsuit off....I almost fall over trying to get it off. So that ate up a lot of time. Then I get my act together and get out on to the bike course. First of all, the roads were crappy - just really torn up with lots of potholes and patches. Winter in new Hampshire is tough on roads. Lap 1 was good. I hit the hills in good condition and felt great. My nutrition was going well. My helmet kept falling off from every bump in the road, but hey you can;t have everything. i kept cool by pouring water on me and it really helped. I will do that next time too!
Bike Lap 2 - my nutrition started to fight back in my stomach. I started to bloat a lot and couldn't ride in the aerobars. Ugh. Burp. Water. Nutrition.....burp...burp. So the last 10 miles (who am I kidding, more like 15) I didn't eat anything. Big mistake, I know. What is worse, being under fueled or puking? So I finally pull into T2...(so happy to get off that freaking bike) Missed my desired split by 15 minutes....
Off to the run. Did I say it was hot? Like 96? Some people said 98? My car said 101! I shuffled to the first aid station...orange slices...gel...sponges....water. Shuffle up the big hill....see my friends all ahead of me! They all started in the wave 10 minutes ahead of me, because they are old! Ha ha! Its nce to have rabbits to chase....
They had music on the hill, and every time I went by it played the same song! That was pretty wierd. The Presidents of the United States, "LUMP" is apparently my new song.
I finally felt the gel kick in and then had another one. I was feeling better and running faster. My splits were getting faster. I needed ice and found it at a few aid stations. I would put it in my shirt, under my hat and in my hand to cool off. I also drank a lot more water than I ususally do and that seemed to help too. The volunteers were great. They had to work in that sweltering heat too. There were people who had garden hoses and were spraying us, which felt sooo nice. I wanted them to follow me the whole 13 miles. I saw Keith Jordan the RD at the turn around as I was swearing up a storm....great race Keith, sorry for the f-bomb.
So the second lap was better than the first, but not by much. i ended up not catching any of my friends out on the run, but beat 1 of them in overall time. I missed a PR by 4 minutes! Not bad for being undertrained and really hot out.
Things I learned - I needed to get my act together earlier on the bike. I had gels sitting there, just staring at me. I was afraid to take them, but they work so well for me. I love the PowerBar gels with 2x caffiene and sodium. I didn't take any extra electrolytes. I drank Accelerade mixed with CarboPro for the bike course (which is what was giving me trouble at mile 40.)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Driving with Crazy in DC
So Saturday afternoon, I'm stuck in the back of a small SUV with 6 people (and a dog). Everyone is having conversations with everyone else. We have 2 different sets of directions and a map that has so many pen marks and circles on it you had no idea which mark was where you were or where you were going. The phrase of the trip was "we need to make a left somewhere." It ended up totally fine and we made it to the restaurant. If not, we would have turned into the Donner party .
We are in DC to run the Marine Corps Marathon Sunday. I have no idea how this marathon is going to go, but I'm here and I am going to make the best of it. This has turned into a nice family reunion for my husbands family. His uncle has run 50 marathons in 50 states and is getting the District of Columbia tomorrow. He has also run marathons in 3 provinces in Canada and is planning on running Vancouver next spring. My husbands cousin who has just survived breast cancer is going to run it too! Which for me is very inspirational.
So I am just chilling now and going to go to get a movie and go to bed for the race. It starts at 8am. Will post a report when we are back.
We are in DC to run the Marine Corps Marathon Sunday. I have no idea how this marathon is going to go, but I'm here and I am going to make the best of it. This has turned into a nice family reunion for my husbands family. His uncle has run 50 marathons in 50 states and is getting the District of Columbia tomorrow. He has also run marathons in 3 provinces in Canada and is planning on running Vancouver next spring. My husbands cousin who has just survived breast cancer is going to run it too! Which for me is very inspirational.
So I am just chilling now and going to go to get a movie and go to bed for the race. It starts at 8am. Will post a report when we are back.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Atlantic City Trip - Borgata
I had to go to AC last weekend for a "trade show" that lasted, oh about 4 hours at the TRUMP Taj Mahal. What a dump. I felt like I was at a retirement home with gambling. It was so depressing seeing all these elderly people in wheelchairs with oxygen tanks, and some really obese people in motorized chairs tooling around the casino floor. I know they choose to be there, but it still looked very sad, to me.
The parking garage smelled like urine. This was on a Thursday afternoon when we checked in.
The esclators were dirty. There was grime in the marble and garbage everywhere. The staff wasn't very helpful, and didn't seem attentive. Our room was even worse. The fabric on the chairs was fraying, the bathroom was clean, but poorly lit. Our room looked out over the ocean, which was really nice, but they are building a new tower and the construction started as early as there was daylight. The decor was so tacky. Big chandeliers, lots of mirrors, and the Police were playing over every loudspeaker, since they were playing there next weekend. As were ads for the TRUMP Taj Mahal, and a gambling hotline.
I guess I was just very surprised by the lack of quality, cleanliness and attention to detail in the Trump casino.
We went over to the Borgata casino for dinner and that was so much nicer! It was 2-3 years old and looked like a hotel with a casino in it, not a casino with a hotel around it. The lobby was clean, beautiful and full of glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly http://www.chihuly.com/installations/public/borgata01.html
When we walked into the casino, there was a woman at a desk to answer questions. She had copies of all the menus for the restaurants and gave us her own recomendations, which didn't involve pushing the most expensive restaurant on us. She called the Bobby Flay's to make sure we could get in, and then she gave us a map and directions to get there. We got a little turned around and a maintenance person walked us direclty to the door of the restaurant.
Dinner was quite good. DH had the oyster and lobster shooters, I had tuna tartare, and someone had fresh local corn chowder. The shooters were very yummy, but I didn't really get a sense of the oyster or lobster even though I picked out the oyster and lobster to eat seperately. Since you were supposed to "shoot" these like a shot you lost even more flavor of the oyster. BUT I think this could make a great bloody mary or ceviche or gazpacho.
For the entree I had the Hanger steak with Bobby Flays steak sauce wich was nice and sweet with a strong flavor of cinnamon and fruity chiles. DH had a Spicy Southwest ribeye with roasted red and green chile sauce. We had the wild mushroom mashed potatoes with white truffel oil, the cauliflower goat cheese gratin (absolute heaven, soo yummy) and the creamed corn with roasted chiles. The creamed corn was a little dissapointing, I should have ordered the creamed Kale.
The decor was very chic and warm, lots of natural wood & stone and a big bar for watching sports. They have 3 flat panel screens in the bar/lounge area. The restaurant was full, the bar was about half full. The rest of the casino floor was empty, but it was dinner time. Even after we left it didn't seem that the Borgata had as much gambling going on, as the Taj. What I really liked about the Borgata is they had seperate non smoking areas for gambling. That would get me to go there and gamble. I was sad to go back to our hotel after dinner.
So, final review, Taj - thumbs down, Borgata - thumbs up. I would go back to the Borgata.
The parking garage smelled like urine. This was on a Thursday afternoon when we checked in.
The esclators were dirty. There was grime in the marble and garbage everywhere. The staff wasn't very helpful, and didn't seem attentive. Our room was even worse. The fabric on the chairs was fraying, the bathroom was clean, but poorly lit. Our room looked out over the ocean, which was really nice, but they are building a new tower and the construction started as early as there was daylight. The decor was so tacky. Big chandeliers, lots of mirrors, and the Police were playing over every loudspeaker, since they were playing there next weekend. As were ads for the TRUMP Taj Mahal, and a gambling hotline.
I guess I was just very surprised by the lack of quality, cleanliness and attention to detail in the Trump casino.
We went over to the Borgata casino for dinner and that was so much nicer! It was 2-3 years old and looked like a hotel with a casino in it, not a casino with a hotel around it. The lobby was clean, beautiful and full of glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly http://www.chihuly.com/installations/public/borgata01.html
When we walked into the casino, there was a woman at a desk to answer questions. She had copies of all the menus for the restaurants and gave us her own recomendations, which didn't involve pushing the most expensive restaurant on us. She called the Bobby Flay's to make sure we could get in, and then she gave us a map and directions to get there. We got a little turned around and a maintenance person walked us direclty to the door of the restaurant.
Dinner was quite good. DH had the oyster and lobster shooters, I had tuna tartare, and someone had fresh local corn chowder. The shooters were very yummy, but I didn't really get a sense of the oyster or lobster even though I picked out the oyster and lobster to eat seperately. Since you were supposed to "shoot" these like a shot you lost even more flavor of the oyster. BUT I think this could make a great bloody mary or ceviche or gazpacho.
For the entree I had the Hanger steak with Bobby Flays steak sauce wich was nice and sweet with a strong flavor of cinnamon and fruity chiles. DH had a Spicy Southwest ribeye with roasted red and green chile sauce. We had the wild mushroom mashed potatoes with white truffel oil, the cauliflower goat cheese gratin (absolute heaven, soo yummy) and the creamed corn with roasted chiles. The creamed corn was a little dissapointing, I should have ordered the creamed Kale.
The decor was very chic and warm, lots of natural wood & stone and a big bar for watching sports. They have 3 flat panel screens in the bar/lounge area. The restaurant was full, the bar was about half full. The rest of the casino floor was empty, but it was dinner time. Even after we left it didn't seem that the Borgata had as much gambling going on, as the Taj. What I really liked about the Borgata is they had seperate non smoking areas for gambling. That would get me to go there and gamble. I was sad to go back to our hotel after dinner.
So, final review, Taj - thumbs down, Borgata - thumbs up. I would go back to the Borgata.
Winter IM Training, Protein Consumption & blowing off work
So, I am sitting here, (not working) and trying to figure out how much of this winter I will be on the trainer. I have all the winter gear that one would need, but not the heart to go out and put myself through that crap-ola. How can I do intervals while worring if some car sees me all bundled up or not? Hmmm. Maybe the rides outside will be limited to the long aerobic rides.
The other subject for today is protein consumption....i am not very good with this. I really love my carbs and fat. (well, specifically, cheese) Dairy seems to not be my friend right now. I want to eat my oatmeal, but wonder if I can put protein powder in it? I have heard about mixing in cottage cheese (YUK) or egg whites (double-YUK). I am trying to keep the weight in control and have gone back to my plan of no sweets or alcohol during the week. That worked to loose 10#! Now that I have lost the 10# I want to keep them off! (maybe go down a little more, but not too much) I just want to replace the fat with muscle, so if my weight goes up, well thats ok, as long as I get faster and stronger. Foods I love: Grilled cheese, quesadillas, french toast, pancakes, Oatmeal, baked pasta (lasagna, ziti) PBJ on toast..see the theme? ugh!
I have a great blender now and have to get back on the smoothie track for 1 meal each day. So today's smoothie is going to be:
1 banana
1 scoop protein powder (maybe this is how it going to be, for me)
pear nectar
1 cup frozen berries
Favortie Cookbook: Moosewood Simple Suppers - easy and yummy food. Currently since its fall, we are rocking the carmelized onion and blue cheese pasta. I also put mushrooms in it. YUM!
Music listening to: Radiohead, In Rainbows. I love Radiohead, this album is really great. I highly recommend you go buy it. The cool thing is they are selling it for whatever you want to pay. I paid $10.
KEXP - my favorite radio station. Its from Seattle and is a public station. you can listen online, www.kexp.org. Next week is the pledge drive and its actually something to look forward to. John and Cheryl (2 dj's) go absolutely nutz on air. Listen to them, seattle time, 6 am - 2 pm. John is on from 6-10, Cheryl is 10-2, but for the drive they both are on air the whole time. Very funny.
You can also get a FREE song every day through iTunes on the KEXP podcast. Well worth it. I have learned about so many great bands through this station. You should listen to them!
thats all for now. i have a project to get done at work.
The other subject for today is protein consumption....i am not very good with this. I really love my carbs and fat. (well, specifically, cheese) Dairy seems to not be my friend right now. I want to eat my oatmeal, but wonder if I can put protein powder in it? I have heard about mixing in cottage cheese (YUK) or egg whites (double-YUK). I am trying to keep the weight in control and have gone back to my plan of no sweets or alcohol during the week. That worked to loose 10#! Now that I have lost the 10# I want to keep them off! (maybe go down a little more, but not too much) I just want to replace the fat with muscle, so if my weight goes up, well thats ok, as long as I get faster and stronger. Foods I love: Grilled cheese, quesadillas, french toast, pancakes, Oatmeal, baked pasta (lasagna, ziti) PBJ on toast..see the theme? ugh!
I have a great blender now and have to get back on the smoothie track for 1 meal each day. So today's smoothie is going to be:
1 banana
1 scoop protein powder (maybe this is how it going to be, for me)
pear nectar
1 cup frozen berries
Favortie Cookbook: Moosewood Simple Suppers - easy and yummy food. Currently since its fall, we are rocking the carmelized onion and blue cheese pasta. I also put mushrooms in it. YUM!
Music listening to: Radiohead, In Rainbows. I love Radiohead, this album is really great. I highly recommend you go buy it. The cool thing is they are selling it for whatever you want to pay. I paid $10.
KEXP - my favorite radio station. Its from Seattle and is a public station. you can listen online, www.kexp.org. Next week is the pledge drive and its actually something to look forward to. John and Cheryl (2 dj's) go absolutely nutz on air. Listen to them, seattle time, 6 am - 2 pm. John is on from 6-10, Cheryl is 10-2, but for the drive they both are on air the whole time. Very funny.
You can also get a FREE song every day through iTunes on the KEXP podcast. Well worth it. I have learned about so many great bands through this station. You should listen to them!
thats all for now. i have a project to get done at work.
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