Swimming--It's been a while!

Today I got in the water for the first time since August 15 and in the pool for the first time since July 20. Yikes, it's been a long time! It didn't feel like it; in fact, I actually enjoyed the entire 600. Surprising. It was 200 warm up, 300 pull, 100 sprint (25 yards each, 20 seconds rest; 17.64, 18.21, 19.5, 18.99). Short and sweet.

Tonight was a ride with the Harpeth Club from Cool Springs. Stats from previous weeks and tonight are below. Tonight's ride was quite different since I was there riding with a friend. Even though it was super slow, we got to see an amazing sunset!

Tuesday's short Cool Springs route

8-31-10, 8-24-10, 8-03-10, 7-6-10, 6-29-10, 6-22-10, 6-15-10.

• 1:29:55, 20.94 miles, 14.0 avg (31.1 max), 1,206 cal, 130 HR (170 max);
  1:05:32, 20.89 miles, 19.1 avg (34.4 max), 1,257 cal, 162 HR (186 max);
  1:05:16, 20.92 miles, 19.2 avg (35.6 max), 1,266 cal, 171 HR (192 max);
  1:04:46, 20.86 miles, 19.3 avg (34.4 max), 1,318 cal, 166 HR (192 max);
  1:35:50, 28.26 miles, 17.7 avg (35.5 max), 1,763 cal, 150 HR (189 max) (rode from home);
  1:02:01, 20.01 miles, 19.4 avg (34.9 max), 1,249 cal, 172 HR (191 max);
  1:05:37, 20.69 miles, 18.9 avg (34.4 max), 1,291 cal, 164 HR (190 max)
• No lap splits because we didn't stay with the group past 0.2 miles.
  24:32, 8.9 mi, 21.8 avg, 154 HR (we were moving!);
  25:49, 9 mi, 21.2 avg, 162 HR;
  25:04, 8.87 mi, 21.2 avg, 161 HR;
  24:06, 8.91 mi, 22.2 avg, 145 HR;
  21:45, 8.01 mi, 22.1 avg, 171 HR;
  27:43, 8.81 mi, 19.1 avg, 160 HR
  
• No lap splits because we didn't stay with the group past 0.2 miles.
  41:00, 11.99 mi, 17.5 avg, 168 HR;
  39:26, 12.02 mi, 18.2 avg, 180 HR;
  39:41, 12.0 mi, 18.1 avg, 170 HR;
  39:34, 12.0 mi, 18.2 avg, 172 HR;
  40:16, 12.0 mi, 17.9 avg, 174 HR;
  37:54, 11.88 mi, 18.8 avg, 168 HR

Two Fun Mondays in a Row

Last week was amusing when, after a 5-mile run, some guy I'd just met at Target asked me to dinner (I actually had seen him around because he lives in the same apartment complex, so it wasn't that strange, I guess). Today I met another guy, Aaron, this time in the middle of a workout, who amused me just as much. He was there working out and, like I usually get, tried to talk to me while I was counting. It's hard to pleasantly answer, say I'm counting, and continue counting and focusing all at the same time. I was on the 40-second interval, though, and afterward made small talk and got his name. He was impressed by my workout list (thank you for the workouts, Will!), so maybe I'll try to recruit him to do them with me and to help me with manual holds/EDIs if I ever have those.

• 5 on, 5 off thru 40
• Lunge on crates
• Glute ham
• 1-leg squat (I love how he keeps putting this on the list knowing I don't do it)
• Squat with stick (thru 20)
• Push up (mostly on feet!)
• Curl (with 12-lb dumbbells)
• Scap pull up
• Crate crunch

Tonight I actually had time to play the piano and loved it! Not quite a rest day because of the lunch-time workout, but the afternoon was off so that almost counts.

Ironman Louisville in Pictures (and a few words)

Sunrise on the drive

Driving into the venue—The Great Lawn in Louisville, KY

Swim in

Watching the swim

One of the pro women starting the bike (not sure who)

Breakfast of Wheaties Fuel; thank you for the free, tasty samples!

Transition 1—age groupers leaving

Age groupers leaving on the bike—actually out on the road

The final swim finisher

After working in transition, watching the runners on the 2^nd Street bridge

11 The finish line on 4^th Street

Media waiting for the first female finisher (Rebekah Keat)

Bree Wee finishes 3^rd!

Bree in her media interview

I drove up this morning to watch and volunteer at Ironman Louisville. I had decided to go because Bree Wee, a very talented pro and an awesome person, was racing. I wanted to be able to cheer her on to a Kona slot, so I volunteered to help some of the other athletes while I was there, too. My job was in the women's changing tent beginning at 11:30, so all morning I watched the swimmers, watched T1, watched the bikers leave, watched the last official swimmer finish (he got out of the water with 20 seconds to spare on the 2:20 cut off, tripped on the timing mat, and pulled a muscle—I hope he was able to continue!), walked downtown to see the finish line before anyone got even close to finishing, and had some lunch. Then the fun really started.

It was at least half an hour before the first male came in, and he was at least 13 minutes ahead of the next one. It was almost 12:45 o'clock before the first woman came it, and she was around 10 minutes ahead of the others. There were a good 15 or 20 of us volunteers, and we couldn't all help each of them, so we just did whatever was needed or nothing. I did nothing until Bree came in, and then I helped her with whatever she needed. It was fun to see her come in within the top 5 off the bike (especially hearing that she'd had a flat)! She ran on her way, and I spend the rest of my shift directing athletes toward the run out, picking up trash, moving transition bags, and more. The only thing I didn't do was actually help people in the transition tent—the only other time I went back in was a 10-minute break to get out of the sun and drink some water.

From there, I changed and headed up to the finish line. Since the majority of the top women came in around 1, I figured it would be 4 at the earliest when they finished. By the time I made it to downtown, I'd missed the top 3 finishers (Paul Ambrose [8:29:59], Martin Jensen, and Max Longree), but I stayed long enough to watch through the top 21 (Evoe, Marques, Schloegel [AG], Beck [AG], Bless, Vondracek, Schrading [AG], Rebekah Keat [F 9:33:15], Killian [AG], Flanagan, Snow, MacFarlane [AG], Kovac, Kim Leofler [F], Garcia [AG], Sublett [AG], Monroe [AG], and Bree). I followed Bree from the sidelines while she did her media interviews and such and then walked over to her and talked to her. She's a great person—someone referred to her as "the people's athlete," and that seems to fit. The energy difference between her finish and the previous 2 women's finishes was evident. It was like when everyone realized that it was Bree who was finishing 3^rd, they were all so excited for her and glad she'd done awesome and felt connected to her somehow. That's the kind of influence I want to have on people, and I want them to recognize the love of Jesus and hand of God on my life.

Busy Day!

Lauren at the toy shop

This will be a weekend of little sleep. Last night I didn't go to bed as early as I'd hoped, and today I got up super early to run with Janet and Sherri. We left from BFY at 6, and my destination was home. After driving my car to the Y, I left it there and ran the following route:

Saturday run

Then I had softball practice, to which I rode my bike (thankfully remembering to ride to the Y after so that I could pick up my car).

Fellowship Softball Co-Ed Team Back row: Herb, ?, ?, Lindsey, ?, ?; Front row: Kevin, Tara, Jeff, ?, ? (obviously I don't know everyone yet)

Saturday ride

Lauren and I then went out for ice cream and wandered around downtown Franklin. We found some fun finger puppets that she was enjoying. The best one was a 2-finger clown/acrobat thing. I wish I'd gotten a picture of that one! Church was later (where we talked about Genesis being the foundation of our belief in God and His word; the cake was because at the wedding of one of our pastors, when they cut the first piece, the 9-layer cake fell due to a broken foundation), home to read some, then off to bed too late for how early I have to get up for Ironman Louisville tomorrow!

Wedding cake at church

Longstreet Drive

Hilly route from MFY

Longstreet Drive up

This climb is similar to what I did last time on Hillview. I went up and down twice, never quite making it to the top. It's 0.6 miles to the top, and I went 0.4+ miles.Todd said that the best way to get better on hills to to climb, so climb I will. Maybe once a week, I'll get out and ride hills. There are so many around me to choose from, so it will be fun!

• 57:24, 13.3 miles, 13.9 avg (47.8 max) 982 cal
• Lap 1 warmup: 9:23, 2.87 miles
• Lap 2 Heathrow Hills: 20:58, 4.2 miles
• Lap 3 recovery: 4:40, 1.09 miles
• Lap 4 climbing Longstreet Dr: 3:57, 0.43 miles (I forgot to start the timer for the descent)
• Lap 5 climbing Longstreet Dr: 3:58, 0.39 miles
• Lap 6 descending Longstreet Dr: 0:41, 0.37 miles
• Lap 7 cooldown: 13:43, 3.95 miles

Longstreet Drive up and down—short but steep (completed twice)

Then I headed back to the Y for something I do not enjoy: Yoga/Pilates. This was a "fusion" class, so I thought it might be tolerable. Plus I hadn't been in about a year and everyone says it's so great, so I thought I'd give it another shot. Still don't enjoy it. It's so boring and hardly beneficial. I should have done my 5 minutes of work, but I had to try.

Decent DHY Run

I decided to go another direction during my run today. I'd been going right at the fork; today I decided to go left and re-explore that side of the path. It was a perfect 5 miles out and back, and I felt better than I'd been feeling over the last few weeks. I wasn't fast, but I enjoyed just being outside, in the sun, moving forward, having fun.

• 42:56, 5.00 miles, 8:35 avg (5:59 best), 600 cal, 174 HR (197 max)
• Mile 1: 8:43
• Mile 2: 8:25
• Mile 3: 8:24
• Mile 4: 8:34
• Mile 5: 8:47

Tonight was my first night actually able to wear a Team Bd (evidently that's the correct abbreviation!) jersey. I was happy to have it on while cheering on Cali to 2^nd, Parri and Lisa C to 5^th and 6^th, and Anna, Valerie, Shelly, and Jonell to awesome finishes as well. Unfortunately their race was mostly overshadowed by a crash within the first few laps involving Lisa S and Cali. Cali got back up, brushed it off, and finished strong. Lisa, on the other hand, did not. They had to call the ambulance, and we found out later that she dislocated her right hip. I will definitely be praying for her recovery!

This was the last NashvilleCyclist.com crit race of the season, and that meant it was the awards night. Team B dominated the podium (Lisa C 3^rd, Parri 2^nd, and Lisa S 2^nd). Since Lisa wasn't there, all of Team B went up to accept her well-earned tiara. It was awesome to see them all up there on the podium as a team! Hopefully Valerie will share her pictures and I can show off the beautiful, strong women of Team Belladium!

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (you can listen to it here)

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown:
How pale thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!

What thou, my Lord, has suffered was all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! 'Tis I deserve thy place;
Look on me with thy favor, vouchsafe to me thy grace.

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

This song was on my mind this morning. I don't know why, but I know it's true. It's difficult to express how thankful I am for the sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf. I am so grateful He died, rose, and lives again and then because of that, I can live forever in the presence of God in heaven!

In the hopes of getting back to a routine and, I started back on the program Will gave in February. Today was 5 on, 5 off thru 40:

• Lunge on crates (thru 20)
• Standing ham (not GHR)
• 1-leg squat (thru 20)
• Squat with stick (thru 20)
• Push up
• Curl (10-lb dumbbells)
• Scap pull up (thru 20)
• Crate crunch

Then I rode with the Cool Springs group, doing the 21-miler (with the fast group for the first 9 and with Darin for the final 12, which, I'll be honest, was quite frustrating, since he would draft off to the side [that is, not all the way behind me] holding me inside and when I tried to let him lead he rode just off the yellow line; we ended up riding side by side most of the time).

Tuesday's short Cool Springs route

We didn't get caught (I never have), but Darin kept looking back and said right before he finished that he's usually by that time been caught. I said don't look back! We beat them by only 1:13 (one of my smallest margins yet), but we did beat them!

8-25-10, 8-03-10, 7-6-10, 6-29-10, 6-22-10, 6-15-10.

• 1:05:32, 20.89 miles, 19.1 avg (34.4 max), 1257 cal, 162 HR (186 max);
  1:05:16, 20.92 miles, 19.2 avg (35.6 max), 1266 cal, 171 HR (192 max);
  1:04:46, 20.86 miles, 19.3 avg (34.4 max), 1318 cal, 166 HR (192 max);
  1:35:50, 28.26 miles, 17.7 avg (35.5 max), 1763 cal, 150 HR (189 max) (rode from home);
  1:02:01, 20.01 miles, 19.4 avg (34.9 max), 1249 cal, 172 HR (191 max);
  1:05:37, 20.69 miles, 18.9 avg (34.4 max), 1291 cal, 164 HR (190 max)
• 24:32, 8.9 mi, 21.8 avg, 154 HR (we were moving!);
  25:49, 9 mi, 21.2 avg, 162 HR;
  25:04, 8.87 mi, 21.2 avg, 161 HR;
  24:06, 8.91 mi, 22.2 avg, 145 HR;
  21:45, 8.01 mi, 22.1 avg, 171 HR;
  27:43, 8.81 mi, 19.1 avg, 160 HR
  
• 41:00, 11.99 mi, 17.5 avg, 168 HR;
  39:26, 12.02 mi, 18.2 avg, 180 HR;
  39:41, 12.0 mi, 18.1 avg, 170 HR;
  39:34, 12.0 mi, 18.2 avg, 172 HR;
  40:16, 12.0 mi, 17.9 avg, 174 HR;
  37:54, 11.88 mi, 18.8 avg, 168 HR

Team Belladium: It's Official!

Today I met with Todd about racing for Team Belladium next year. Everything went well, and I am super excited for the opportunity to race with the lovely, strong women on the team next year. They will make me stronger, and I hopefully will do the same. I am looking forward to the opportunity to race on the road and focus on crits, but I am most looking forward to having a team to race with. Since Will left in February, I have missed having someone to train with; this will definitely give me strong women to ride with and a little bit of local accountability. Not to mention that Todd is a great coach, and I've seen how far he's taken some of the women on the team this year and his positive outlook for next year. I hope I can help influence the outcome of races and do really well!

After work, I headed out for a not-so-quick 5-mile run. The first 3 miles were run, the next 2 were do a few 1:30 intervals. At least 3 were uphill, but the 1 that was downhill ended up being 0.27 miles (best speed was 4:54!), so a great pace. I couldn't have sustained it for much longer (unless the hill had continued), but it didn't matter because the time was up. I then headed to Target for some $0.10 shampoo and met some guy (Jeremy) who lives in my apartment complex. He was nice enough, and asked me to go to dinner with him. I had to decline—little did he know I'd just run 5 miles and not showered! Visors and deodorant must do a fairly good job of masking sweat and stink :-)

Thoughts

Along with keeping training logs, I've tried to use this to track my thoughts—what's going on in my head not only while training but also while just living. This weekend, I had lots of time to think and pray and work through some things in my heart that God has brought into the light. I'm so grateful for His revealing them to me—I wouldn't see them otherwise. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." Jeremiah 17:9–10

And because God searches my heart, and knows what's in it, and reveals it, and tests it, I have hope—not in myself or my ability to change myself (because He knows I can't do it myself), but in Jesus, who alone is able to change hearts.

"Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit." Ezekiel 18:31 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God." Ezekiel 36:25–28

"As for you, [Kailin], know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever." 1 Chronicles 28:9. God's word is full of so much hope!

Today was a rest day, hence all the time to think. The rest of the week will probably be as much of a rest week as I can handle; I am really struggling to recover, feeling tired and frustrated with my workouts and exhausted pretty much perpetually.

Softball!

Playing softball makes me happy. I played fastpitch in high school and college, and I played slowpitch during the summers of both and after. When I moved to TN, I pretty much retired from softball to focus on tris. But when the opportunity arose to play on Fellowship's team, I jumped on it. It's a great way to have fun and represent Christ.

Today was our first practice, and it did not disappoint. I loved being out there on the field, loved hitting, fielding, sweating, having fun. And I met a few new people (Jason, Chris, Derrick, Tara, Herb, Keith, Brian, Mark, Troy, Jeff, and Rob), some of whom will be on the co-ed team and others who will be on the men's team. It should be a fun season, and I can't wait for the games to start!

I decided to ride my bike to Granny White Park; I know now how hard it would be to race if I were 20 pounds heavier!

1:01:30, 14.74 miles, 14.4 average (29 max), 806 cal, 144 HR (191 max)

Sometimes what I learn or hear at church can be uplifting. Other times it can be convicting. Then it can also be both. Today was one of those days where I was completely encouraged by the following words from Jesus:

Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:22–34

I was also reminded how much I could be like Michal from 2 Samuel/1 Chronicles. It was pretty much an encouraging, convicting day, and I hope I'll learn from these lessons that God's revealing to me and let Him change my heart!

Biking with Anna

Not having an agenda for the week has been good and bad. Good because it doesn't really matter what I do, bad because I like having a schedule. Today it was good because it didn't matter whether we rode fast or slow or long or short or anything. Basically it was a converstaional, leisurely ride. 1:28, 24 miles, 16.3 average (32.7 max), 1,332 calories, 157 HR (182 max).

I also did some isos, at least standing ham and wall squat, 5 minutes. Maybe more, but I can't remember.

Hillview

I found a new place in Brentwood where I want to live: Hillview Drive. It's exactly as it sounds—a hill. The following is from Shelly. A few women from Team Belladium went out and rode up this hill last week. I saw it and had to try it.

Super steep!

The elevation seems to be better represented by the picture above than by the picture below. It is definitely a higher gradient than 4%, but with mapmyride, the longer your ride, the less accurate your elevation. So the picture below shows what my whole ride was.

Thursday's route

Then the next picture shows what I did while I Hillview. My first attempt, up the route that Shelly mapped, was unsuccessful. I was sweating so much I couldn't grasp the handles tightly, and I just didn't have enough to ride up. So I dropped my bike on the side of the road and walked up. I took a few pictures, told no less than 3 drivers who stopped that I was indeed OK, then walked back to my bike. I wasn't about to give up, though. I got back on my bike, descended, then rode up from a different angle. This time: success!

I went up and down a couple times. Why is the descent a higher grade than the ascent when it was on the same road?

I went up and down a couple times on the loop (not all the way up) for fun, then headed back home. It was well worth it. A good 9-mile warmup and a rewarding 6-mile cooldown. It was a short ride in terms of distance, but definitely fun and challenging! Nothing like ascending 400 feet in 0.4 miles.

Oh, yeah, and I ran a couple miles at lunch. I went to DHY and realized how high the water was when I couldn't go to the left at the fork in the road (the water was covering the entire path that direction) and I had to stay on the high path on the left (the water was at least a foot high on the lower path).

19 Races!

So far this season, I've completed 19 races: 1 crit, seven 5Ks, one 10K, one 8K, one 10-miler, and 8 tris (1 modified sprint, 1 sprint, and 6 olympic). A few more races (5K, 10K, half marathon) are on the list. This has been a fun, busy season! Next year there will likely be more on the list if I race on the bike more often (3 races most weekends).

In 2009, I completed the 26 races: 10 crits, seven 5Ks, two 10Ks, 1 half marathon, 1 marathon, and 5 tris (1 sprint, 1 modified sprint, 1 olympic, 1 half ironman, 1 ironman).

It rained most of the day, so the crit was canceled and I didn't want to run and didn't feel like riding on the trainer. So I did 5 minutes of work: wall push up, lunge, standing ham, lateral delt (ext. slow), and curl. It felt good to not go to the Y :-)

What is the Object of Your Focus?

Today I'm re-listening to a podcast from last week's Let My People Think broadcast. Normally Ravi Zacharias is the teacher, but last week one of their other team members, Arun Andrews, talked about "What's Love Got to Do with It?" One of the points that he brought up is something I hadn't thought about before, and I'll try to summarize here. After God created Adam, he said it wasn't good for him to be along and put him to sleep. He didn't need Adam to be asleep for Him to take one of his ribs to use in form Eve—so why was Adam asleep? It was likely so that, after Eve had been created, the first person she would see, the first object of her focus, would be God.

That is how we still should be living. God is the one who created us. He knows us better than we could ever imagine, and He alone is worthy of praise and honor and adoration. I am not always diligent about remembering that, but this has been such a good reminder lately: God should be the first object of my focus.

Marriage is not standing apart; it is standing together, and transparency is the key.

At the end of the message, he prayed that God would help each marriage "celebrate transparency, trust, and teamwork." What an amazing prayer, a wonderful thought about what marriage is supposed to be--a representation of the eventual perfect relationship between Jesus (the groom) and the church (the bride).

As far as training went today, at lunch I headed to DHY for my favorite version of 5 minutes of work. First it was lunge, which I've started doing in the kiddie pool. It's amazing how much help 1.5 feet of water can be but how hard you still have to work to pull hard and keep your back knee off the ground. I was focused on getting through the entire 5 minutes, each leg, and this time I moved up closer to the 1-foot mark. I have 2 weeks until the outdoor closes, so that's my motivation to get up to actually doing 5 minutes of work, each leg, no support from water. After that and a walk around the pool deck, it was on to standing ham. The ground was hot, hot, hot, but I made it through 5 minutes without stopping to put my sandals back on. I like doing this all on the pool deck because I still have to work super hard but I also get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

I also managed to get a run in between the many patches of rain we saw. It was OK, nothing super fast, and ended uphill. I can't really avoid that, I just decide that it will make me stronger in a race that ends uphill.

8-18-10 (home); 8-12-10 (DHY), 8-10-10 (MFY); 8-09-10 (MFY)

• 58:25, 6.20 miles, 9:25 pace (6:50 best), 167 HR (187 max), 738 cal
  52:44, 6.20 miles, 8:31 pace (6:34 best), 172 HR (185 max), 744 cal
  51:31, 6.20 miles, 8:19 pace (5:59 best), 170 HR (185 max), 743 cal
  53:14, 6.20 miles, 8:35 pace (6:41 best), 165 HR (181 max), 741 cal
  
• Mile 1: 7:58; Mile 1: 8:04; Mile 1: 8:38; Mile 1: 8:40
  
• Mile 2: 8:25; Mile 2: 7:47; Mile 2: 8:03; Mile 2: 7:58
  
• Mile 3: 10:23; Mile 3: 9:30; Mile 3: 8:09; Mile 3: 8:38
  
• Mile 4: 8:24; Mile 4: 8:25; Mile 4: 8:19; Mile 4: 8:46
  
• Mile 5: 8:55; Mile 5: 8:37; Mile 5: 8:15; Mile 5: 8:11
  
• Mile 6: 12:45; Mile 6: 8:51; Mile 6: 8:23; Mile 6: 9:18
  
• Mile 6.2: 1:31; Mile 6.2: 1:28; Mile 6.2: 1:40; Mile 6.2: 1:39
  

Rest

Today was a rest day—my favorite! I skipped visiting Dr. Berger (hoping that my hip won't start hurting and that I'll be able to go in only once a month rather than once a week), did only a 5-minute wall squat at work during lunch, sat at the pool, and had dinner at Moe's with Anna. Lovely. Mondays are amazing!

During my conversation with Anna, I remembered how good God is. He knows me so well (He created me!) and started preparing me early last week for some stuff that happened later on. I didn't even realize it until the week was nearly over, but it made me so grateful for His love and care.

The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength.

Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.

Your testimonies are very sure; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, forever.

I hope you see how much God loves you—so much that he would send Jesus to die for all your sins but then raise Him from the dead so that we can live with Him forever. God is good!

Fall Creek Falls Olympic

Running up one of the many hills

Pre-race sunrise; though the flash went off and you can see my Team B t-shirt, you can also see the sunrise in the background—it's actually a pretty cool pic!

Today's race was great. I don't have much time to write today, but hopefully I'll finish a race report soon. In the meantime, here are the highlights:

• The best thing I heard before the race: "Race for Jesus!" It was from a man talking to someone else, but I decided it should be what I focused on.
  
• I swam well and knew I was in the top 10 coming out of the swim when I got out and heard, "Top 10, Baby!" from a man to his SO. But I knew if she was, I was too (at least in my wave)! Plus I could see 6 women ahead of me and one beside during our 400-meter run up to transition, so I knew I was close. I passed a couple of them in transition and at least 2 on the bike.
  
• I rode super well knowing how close I was to the front. Didn't see the first man (who would have started up to 9 minutes before me) until my mile 9 (his mile 15) on the bike and the first woman (Tammy, with Lynn close behind) until my mile 11 or 11.5 (their mile 12.5 or 13).


Out on the bike



• I actually ran down a girl on the run, but also got run down by a couple.
• My final time was 2:31:10, I was second in my AG, and 10th overall female. Woohoo!

In previous races, I had the following times:

• Knoxville (5-9-10): 2:41:01, 8 of 16 (AG), 39 of 107 (females), 164 of 359 (OA)
  female winner: 2:03:48
• Memphis (5-23-10): 2:35:49, 25 of 56 (AG), 92 of 388 (females), 395 of 1,119 (OA)
  female winner: 2:05:55
• Quassy (6-05-10): 2:53:05, 6 of 25 (AG), 23 of 134 (females), 112 of 375 (OA)
  female winner: 2:27:58
• Chattanooga (7-12-10): 2:41:26, 13 of 66 (AG), 57 of 406 (females), x of 1,234 (OA)
  female winner: 2:13:41; AG winner: 2:28:57
• Nashville (7-25-10): 3:09:12, 11 of 28 (AG), x of xx (females), x of xx (OA)
  female winner: 2:14:22; AG winner: 2:34:33

Shows you some of the hills in the area; if I remember right, we rode this road as part of our out-and-back bike route.

OK, here are the official results:

• 75/309 overall
  3/12 in AG (I ended up with the second-place award because the other girl was in the Athena category)
  11/98 females
  
• Swim: 22:21 (96th OA; 19th female, 10th in my wave)
  
• T1: 3:58 (71st OA; 19th female)
• Bike: 1:12:13 (77th OA; 11th female)
• T2: 1:04 (T-94th OA; T-28th female)
• Run: 51:36 (75 OA; 18th female)
• Total: 2:31:10 (75th OA; 1th female)
  

Finished! I try to stop my watch after I've finished so it's not in the picture, but evidently I was too early on this one.

Team Belladium: Women and Wine at the Vine

Team Belladium (Lisa S, Anna, Lisa C, Jonell, Shelly, Valerie, Parri, and Cali; not pictured: Lee) put on a great event!

Today Team Belladium put on a great event at Arrington Vineyards. About 150 women met for a 32-mile ride around Arrington, Franklin, College Grove, and more and then returned to Arrington for lunch and a chance to talk with some of the riders. Lisa planned the route, and it was absolutely beautiful. Slightly hilly, somewhat shaded but mostly sunny, hot, and great.

I started at the front with Lisa, and though everyone started together, we quickly had a group of only about 30 women. A few of the hills split us up, and after the super-quick rest stop, we ended up with only about 13. Lisa stayed back with a few of them after some other hills and a potentially confusing turn, and I continued on with about 8.

The route; it was a little hilly but definitely beautiful!

We rode the rest of the way in together, working well together on Horton Highway and letting one lady pull us most of the way on Cox. They were strong, it was fun to be able to get back on my bike, and I enjoyed meeting new riders. I didn't even know there were 150 women who rode bikes around here!

Pre-ride staging, waiting for the OK to start riding.

Lunch afterward—good sandwiches and brownies (mmm, peanut butter and dark chocolate!)

After the ride I had a bunch of errands to run, and then it was back to the apt to do laundry. How does one girl generate so many dirty clothes? I think between today and yesterday, I've done already 5 loads, and I'll have to do at least another after tomorrow's race. Part of it was pillow and cushion covers from the new (to me) chair that came from the Farkases yesterday, but most was dirty clothes from the week of running. At least I throw them in the dryer during the week so that they're not totally nasty when I pull them out of the hamper on the weekend!

Bag Stuffing with Team Belladium

Kathy, Lisa, Sarah, Lisa, Valerie, Lisa, and me getting the job done

Thursdays are usually the days I meet Valerie for lunch, and we walk around the pond between our office buildings. Today was the same as last week in that we didn't meet, but I still took the opportunity to walk a couple miles (going to DHY though, where I could shower after!). During that walk I had a lot of thinking time, prayer time, and general enjoying-the-sunshine time. Good thing I got to enjoy the sunshine then, because later in the afternoon it rained and the sun didn't come out again until after I'd run.

Today's run was so much better than yesterday's short, hot run. In fact, it was even slightly faster (on a different course) than Tuesday's run, too. Hooray!

8-12-10 (DHY), 8-10-10 (MFY); 8-09-10 (MFY)

• 58:25, 6.20 miles, 9:25 pace (6:50 best), 167 HR (187 max), 738 cal
  52:44, 6.20 miles, 8:31 pace (6:34 best), 172 HR (185 max), 744 cal
  51:31, 6.20 miles, 8:19 pace (5:59 best), 170 HR (185 max), 743 cal
  
• Mile 1: 7:58; Mile 1: 8:04; Mile 1: 8:38
  
• Mile 2: 8:25; Mile 2: 7:47; Mile 2: 8:03
  
• Mile 3: 10:23; Mile 3: 9:30; Mile 3: 8:09
  
• Mile 4: 8:24; Mile 4: 8:25; Mile 4: 8:19
  
• Mile 5: 8:55; Mile 5: 8:37; Mile 5: 8:15
  
• Mile 6: 12:45; Mile 6: 8:51; Mile 6: 8:23
  
• Mile 6.2: 1:31; Mile 6.2: 1:28; Mile 6.2: 1:40
  

I'm most excited about Mile 6, during which I did not significantly slow down my pace as I had in the previous runs. Mile 6.2 was slightly longer, but it was also half uphill (as opposed to at MFY where it is all downhill). After that run and my isos (I didn't make it all 5 minutes for either leg because I did this right after my run), I headed over to Jonell's to stuff bags for Team Belladium's Women and Wine at the Vine ride on Saturday.

Lisa, Valerie, Jonell, Lisa, me, and Parri after our job was done (Cali came later too)

10K Stats

Because I like to see stats, keep records, compare numbers, watch improvement (or decline), and all that good statistics stuff, here's a compilation of all the 10K-tagged posts:

• 8-10-10: 52:44
• 8-09-10: 58:25
• 7-25-10: 1:08:xx (Music City)
• 7-11-10: 53:21 (Chatt Waterfront)
• 6-11-10: 55:xx
• 6-06-10: 53:51 (Rev3 Quassy)
• 5-23-10: 59:09 (Memphis in May)
• 4-10-10: 49:06 (Purity Moosic)
• 9-07-09: 53:08 (Franklin Classic)
• 5-05-09: 47:xx
• 4-11-09: 47:12 (Purity Moosic)
• 3-06-10: 48:22 (2-17-09 through 9-14-08 are from this blog)
  
• 2-17-09: 46:29
  
• 12-13-08: 49:55
• 12-08-08: 49:58
• 11-20-08: 45:25
• 11-05-08: 48:39
• 10-30-08: 49:xx
• 9-30-08: 48:13 (not the right date since this was IM Loo)
  
• 9-19-08: 49:33
• 9-14-08: 51:08

It was hot today! The noon-time run didn't so go well because of that (I didn't make it the full 10K), but I still ran and enjoyed being outside. Then it was back to the Y for isos and off to Titans Stadium to watch Team B take 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th, and 6^th (and a few other positions later in the 15-woman field) in the crit. It is so much fun to watch them dominate!

What Do You Do?

This question is commonplace in our culture. After you find out someone's name, you typically ask him or her, "Where are you from?" and, "What do you do?" When I get that question, I usually respond with, "I'm an editor at a software company." But what does that really mean?


I work for Boson, which is indeed software company. We don't only write and sell software, however, and the editing I do is not necessarily on the software (though I do get to see some of it and do some QA testing on it before it goes out the door). In addition to writing software, we also write practice exams; the software is what we sell the exams on. These aren't just your average exams, either; they're for Cisco and Microsoft certifications: what you'll need if you want to become a respected network engineer or network designer.

The variety of the exams is vast, and there is always something new coming across my desk. By far the most enjoyable exams I get to edit are the Cisco exams (we recently released three new Cisco exams, ROUTE, SWITCH, and TSHOOT, and TSHOOT is by far the most unique of and different from any other exams we've written). The technology is continuously being updated, so the tested material change, too. Not only do I get to learn the tested material, I get to make sure it's readable and understandable. This requires staying in the know about the material (as much as possible) and about grammar and the English language (how it's spoken, how it's written, and how these two modes of communication differ).

For me, this is fascinating. Our ability to learn languages and communicate with words is inherent—though we learn new and different words often, we know how to speak and communicate because that is the way God created us. He gave only humans, who are the only creatures created in His image and with a soul, the ability to talk in understandable words. Animals communicate through sound, but it's unintelligible. Humans communicate with words, which are intelligible (albeit sometimes hard to understand).

We can learn other languages, too, something nothing else is capable of. In college, I studied Spanish and had the opportunity to spend a semester in Spain. There's something almost empowering about being able to have a conversation with someone of a different culture, different language, different background, and being able to understand it all. And all that study of Spanish gave me such a better grasp of English—while all languages are different, all were given by the same God and have many common characteristics, words, and rules.

Being an editor makes me appreciate my job, my skills, my God, my ability to learn, and so much more. Sitting at a desk reading might not be everyone's idea of fun, but I sure enjoy it!

5 Minute Lunges

Today's run was significantly better than yesterday's, but still it's not where I want to be. This might be an all-winter/all-off-season project. Still had one bathroom break again today (Granny White Park, mile 3), but hopefully that won't be a daily stop!

First, at lunch, I went to DHY and did my 5 minutes of work. I made it all 5 minutes on both legs for the lunge, no stopping, no putting my knee down. Will about fell out of his chair ("started to freak out" in his words) when I told him, but then he read my secret: 1.5 feet of water. It took a little weight off :-) But now I know what it feels like to actually do the entire thing without my knee on the ground, so hopefully eventually I can make it happen for real!

8-10-10; 8-09-10

• 58:25, 6.20 miles, 9:25 pace (6:50 best), 167 HR (187 max), 738 cal
  52:44, 6.20 miles, 8:31 pace (6:34 best), 172 HR (185 max), 744 cal
  
• Mile 1: 7:58; Mile 1: 8:04
  
• Mile 2: 8:25; Mile 2: 7:47
  
• Mile 3: 10:23; Mile 3: 9:30
  
• Mile 4: 8:24; Mile 4: 8:25
  
• Mile 5: 8:55; Mile 5: 8:37
  
• Mile 6: 12:45; Mile 6: 8:51
  
• Mile 6.2: 1:31; Mile 6.2: 1:28
  

Why Wait?

I'm not a pro. It's on my list of things to be when I grow up, but I'm not there yet. However, that hasn't stopped me from following the pros, reading their blogs (some of my faves are Bree Wee, Linsey Corbin, and Hillary Biscay), and generally following their careers. These three women are favorites of mine for all different reasons:

• Bree didn't grow up in the swim/bike/run world. She's turned her passion for surfing into great triathlon potential. Not to mention I've met her, she's super nice, and she gets to train with my parents in Hawaii. She lives where I vacation now (Kona) and lived where I vacationed when I was a kid (Siesta Key). How could I not like her?
• Linsey has persevered over the last couple years; she has a great enthusiasm for improvement—it has paid off, and she recently won her first IM! Tho I don't know her personally, I rejoiced with her when I read about her win.
• Hillary is an Ironman force. She has a couple IM wins under her belt, but what she's best known for is how many IMs she can do in a single year—or even better, in a single month.
  

For the pros this year, a new rule was instituted, and here are the basics: 1. Win and you'll get paid. 2. If you don't win, you must finish within 5% (or 8% in some races) of the winner's time in order to get paid.

This has generated tons of debate, controversy, strange behaviors, you name it. The athletes have spoken, and USAT has listened and is reneging the rule starting in September, but until them, if you finish outside the time limit, you don't get your money. Lately some athletes have been speaking with their feet. Yesterday, Julie Dibens won the Boulder 70.3 but paused at the line to give her competitors more time to finish. Last weekend, Kelly Williamson won the Steelhead 70.3 but stopped at the finish line to give the 3 other pro women a chance to finish within the allotted time.

Here's the scenario: Julie wins a 70.3 (half-Ironman). If she beats her opponents by more than 5% of her overall time (i.e. she finishes in 4:20; then the other women have 12.5 minutes to finish), the other women don't get paid. Instead, Julie and any other woman who comes in within that amount of time (and is in the prize money) split the unallocated money. So the faster you go, the more money you make because you blow away the competition. In yesterday's race, Julie stood at the line before crossing it to give her OPPONENTS a chance to finish within the prize money by making her finish time slower than it should have been.

This doesn't make any sense to me, an outside observer to the pros but a competitor nonetheless. Both Kelly and Julie stood at the line before crossing it so that their fellow competitors could finish within the 12.5 minutes and get paid. Kelly said something like, "There were only 4 women in the pro field and no one was going to walk away without a payday." If you ask me (which no one did :-), that's so stupid. If your competitors can't keep up with you, can't win the race, why should they get paid? This should motivate them to work that much harder!

As a side note, the same rule is in effect for the pro men, but I haven't read or heard anything about men standing at the line.

Some people have wondered, "Why couldn't you just win, and then square up with the other pros later if they've landed outside the allotted time?" But think about that: You make (earn) the money, it's your income, you pay taxes on it, all of it, then you give it away post-tax to people who aren't your employees? You can't very well give them all W2s or other similar forms, so they get gift money that they didn't earn and you're out more than you made because you paid taxes. So not only are they not as good as you physically, now they're taking advantage of you monetarily. Go all out, take what you earn, and be ready for them to be breathing down your back (or steps in front of you) during the next race!

Anyway, off my soapbox now, I still had to do a little training today. My plan for the week is 5-minute lunges R (2:55—maybe a new record, but still not 5 minutes), L (2:20) and 5-minute standing ham plus running a 10K loop at MFY (or DHY when I have to stay north). Isos: done. Run: done. It was not a pretty run; so much for thinking I was fully recovered. The first mile started out OK, and when I finally made it back to MFY 58 minutes and 2 bathroom breaks later, I was feeling good about only the fact that I'd finished. This was slow—a few minutes less than it took Bree to finish 10 MILES recently. I wanted to do really well to have a benchmark time for the rest of the week, but my body said, "I'm not going to give you that luxury." Thank you, Granny White Park and Chick-fil-A, for open bathrooms. It can only go up from here!

The stats are sad; I almost don't want to record them except that then I can look at the end of the week and see how much better I've gotten.

• 58:25, 6.20 miles, 9:25 pace (6:50 best), 167 HR (187 max), 738 cal
• Mile 1: 7:58
• Mile 2: 8:25
• Mile 3: 10:23
• Mile 4: 8:24
• Mile 5: 8:55
• Mile 6: 12:45
• Mile 6.2: 1:31
  

Sabbath

Today was a rest day, much needed. Slept in, ran errands, read the paper and the Bible, cooked, relaxed at the pool, and did not much of anything else. Tomorrow it's back to the real world of running and training.

Repeats

Today the workout from Will (6 to 9 × 400 @ 90 seconds with 90 seconds rest) came while I was already running what ended up being practically 400s anyway, so I didn't feel too bad about missing his workout (I'll do it some time, probably over the winter while I'm still trying to increase my speed). Instead, I tried to do some fast (but short) intervals; I tended to start out too fast and not be able to hold the pace I was at. And when I started to slow down, I stopped.

Then I tried something different. I went back to the car, grabbed my watch, and set the timer for 41 seconds, repeat at end. I hit the trail again, which is marked every 10^th of a mile. If I could run between each marker in 41 seconds, and make it through all 10, I'd finish the mile in 6:50 (410 seconds). I didn't make it through all 10 because this was my fourth attempt and not only did I start out tired, I became more tired as the intervals passed, but the timer thing definitely worked for me. If I got to the marker a little early, I'd try to slow it down a second or two. If I got to the marker late, I'd know I was off my pace and would stop, rest, and try again so that I would learn to run at a certain pace. Next time I'm setting my watch for 40 seconds and stopping/restarting the timer as soon as I hit the marker. That way I wouldn't know how early I was and I would stay at or under my pace. But doing Will's thing of running a certain distance for 90 seconds would have been about the same. He must finally be realizing how I like to train and what makes me feel like I'm improving.

It was kind of funny talking to him about it afterward, though, because he recalled how at this time last year, he had to fight with me to make me think I could even run a 7-minute mile, much less anything faster. Now I realize I'm not all that far away from my goal of a 6-minute mile and then adding more of the same to the end of that. I finally believe it, now I just have to achieve it and then build on it. Maybe I will have another breakthrough this winter when I won't be racing and it won't matter whether I'm ridiculously tired!

Easy

My body has been so tired lately and Will's been altering the workouts, I think. At least, he's been letting me ask for something different and maybe or maybe not acceding to my requests. Today he told me to do 100 altitude drops. I asked about substituting standing ham for GHR, and he said to do GHR. After my attitude-dripping reply, he said he'd meant standing ham. I was significantly happier about doing those. It wasn't necessarily that GHR is hard, which it is, but I was already so tired and it would have been like doing 100 GHR and 100 push ups, and I just didn't think I'd be able to handle it.

• Lunge
• Standing ham
• Bench, 30lb
• Curl, 24lb (couldn't do it all with this weight, so I lowered the weight. Will said later don't lower the weight, even if you can do only one rep at a time; do them all with the same weight and do them well)

For fun today, Lauren, her friend Virginia, and I went to McDougal's for lunch of chicken fingers and ice cream and then headed to MFY for fun in the sun at the pool. It had been cloudy and rainy most of the morning, and there was hardly anyone at the pool. That was great because the girls had fun playing in the pool, I could see them most of the time, and I didn't mind doing my workout while they were playing.

Lauren had made a cake during one of her art camps, so we took it to the pool with us to enjoy during one of the rest periods. It tasted great, and she did an awesome job decorating it!

Thursday

Today didn't go exactly as planned, but it ended up being OK. No AM workout meant that I could sleep in a little, no lunchtime walk with Valerie meant lunch at the Marriott with a couple coworkers, and a supposedly relatively easier workout ended up being pretty tough. It was 3.5 minutes extreme slow:

• Bench press, 55 lb
• Bench press, 45 lb
• Seated preacher curl, 30 lb
• Preacher curl, 20 lb
• Lunge L, R
• GHR
• GHR

I took about 3.5 min rest between each one. Bench press with 55 was OK, bench with 45 was a struggle. I think I worked really hard on the first (well, and on the second too) that I could really no longer do a controlled lowering of the bar. It was either hold it up at the top or hold it at the bottom; there wasn't much of an in between. The same was pretty much true for them all. By the time I got home at 6:30 I wanted to go straight to sleep. I managed to stay up for a little, just enough to chat with Will about tomorrow and think about next week's plan.

Toned Down?

What $1.27 plus good Qs and sales can get you at Publix

If this is Will's idea of toning it down a little, I wonder what it would have been!

• 200 phasic impulse reps:
• Standing lateral delt
• Leg extension
• Standing row
• Leg curl
• Bent-over row
• Repeat the following two 6 times:
• GHR, 3 reps, to top
• Squat, 3 reps, 55lb
• Russian twist, 5×3 each side
• Preacher curl, 90 seconds, 15-lb dumbbells, 2 times
  

I ran 3 miles at lunch, when it was 99*/feels like 110*, and it felt like 110! It didn't help that my legs were tired, but my few 1-minute intervals weren't very fast. Here are the sad stats: 30 minutes, 3.03 miles, 9:55 pace (6:19 best), 338 cal. Warm up: 1:23, 0.10 mi. Mile 1: 8:16. Mile 2: 9:47 (this was run 1min, walk 1min). Mile 2.92: 10:32 (more of the same only obviously slower).

The afternoon workout was similar to the morning one but slightly different:

• 200 phasic impulse reps:
• Standing front delt
• Hip flexion
• Biceps curl
• Hip extension
• Repeat the following two 6 times:
• 1-min standing extreme hamstring
  
• 3 russian lunges
  
• Push up, 90 seconds, 2 times
  

What $10.64 can get you (my second transaction wasn't quite as good as the first)

Here's what I got at Publix tonight:

• $1.89: Mott's applesauce
• $0: Publix applesauce: 1.59 – 1.59 (Buy theirs, get our promo)
  
• $4.09: Purity Chocolate milk: 4.79 – $0.35/1MQ doubled
  
• $2.39: Oreo Cakesters: 3.39 – $1/1MQ
  
• $0: Oreos: 2.99 – 2.99 MQ (buy 1 gal milk & 1 Nabisco cookie, get another Nabisco cookie free)
  
• $0.02: Velveeta cheese ×2 (1.99): 3.98 – 3.96 (Publix penny item)
  
• $2.09: Publix eggs
• $1.58: Ronzoni pasta ×4 (1.79): 7.16 – 3.58 (BOGO) – 2×$1/2MQs
  
• +$3.99 (overage): EAS bars ×2 (1.99): 3.98 – 0.98 (sale) – $3/2 PQ – 3.99 MQ
  
• $1.29: Nestle cookies ×2 (2.79): 5.58 –2.79 (BOGO) – 2×$0.75/1MQ
• $9.36 + tax
  

All this cost me $10.64 out of pocket (oop), and it should have cost me $39.34. I saved 73%, got some food (not just snacks, tho there are a few!), and had fun impressing the cashier.

Two Days in a Row

I cannot put together two good training days in a row, and it is very frustrating. Yesterday was great; this morning felt like a complete bust. The fact that Will said, "recover, stimulate your quads and hamstrings by visualizing," contributed to my initial angst at the workout, and then my attempt at doing so made it nearly pointless to even try. I can't recover if I'm trying to stimulate, and I can't stimulate if I'm trying to visualize, and I can't visualize if I'm trying to recover. His, "It's going to be awesome," didn't help at all. Basically I ended up setting my timer for 30 seconds, waiting, then continuing the altitude drop legs. For the altitude drop bench, I took 3 deep breaths and continued. The other three went OK because I tried to make myself have a better attitude about them since they were not as mentally taxing.

• Altitude drop legs, 10 sets of 4, visualizing recovery and stimulating the muscles between each set
• GHR, overspeed, 5 sets of 5
• Russian twist, 5 sets of 3 each side
  
• Alt drop bench, 10 sets of 4, visualizing recovery and stimulating the muscles between each set
• Crate crunch, 5 sets of 40 with 5-lb weight in crate, 30 seconds rest between sets

For the afternoon, half of which I did outside:

• Lunge, 45 sec, R leg forward
• Phasic leg curl, 75, L leg
• Repeat the previous two 5 times
• GHR, 5 sets of 10
• 1-arm-elevated push up, 45 sec, L arm on ground (lasted through all 5 R, then 1 L, before I couldn't hold myself up any more)
  
• Phasic row, 50, L arm
• Repeat the previous two 5 times

My goal for the afternoon was to finish with enough time to maybe run home for supper for definitely get to Healthways for the Harpeth Bike Club ride. Nothing better than a hard ride with sore hamstrings! I managed to finish in time to run to Publix for some sample food and a Snickers bar, arrive at Healthways with just enough time to pump up my tires, and then hit the road with a surprisingly huge crowd (it was nearly 100—the regulars thought that would have kept the others home).

A large crowd also means a fast pace, and tonight did not disappoint. Well, it seemed super fast until I looked at the stats and realized that it was 30 seconds slower than last time. I'm not sure how we lost time, because it felt like we were flying the entire ride!

Usually I can stay with the lead group until I turn off, but tonight I got dropped and was already a minute down on the pack when I turned off. Thankfully, three guys turned with me, so I had a little company and was less worried that the group might beat me. One guy was strong and took some good pulls, but he let me lead a lot, knowing that I am a triathlete. Of the other two, one was super strong downhill and on the flats but not so on the hills, and though he dropped us a few times on the downhills, we always caught back up and eventually left him behind; the other was strong but I think stayed back with the downhill rider so that neither of them was alone. I had been hoping that Downhill Man would get back on at least for a little so that I could help him understand that if he'd pull us downhill or on the flats rather than trying to drop us, we'd pull him up the hills and it would benefit all of us; no such luck. Maybe he'll be out again next week.

The guy who stayed with me (or did I stay with him?) would pull me some, and as soon as he let me lead I'd ride him off my wheel. I couldn't figure out if he was letting me go or if he just couldn't jump on and stay on. It confused me the entire time, but I kept going regardless, and we ended up coming in together and beating the fast, long group by 2:12.

8-04-10, 7-6-10, 6-29-10, 6-22-10, 6-15-10.

• 1:05:16, 20.92 miles, 19.2 avg (35.6 max), 1266 cal, 171 HR (192 max);
  1:04:46, 20.86 miles, 19.3 avg (34.4 max), 1318 cal, 166 HR (192 max);
  1:35:50, 28.26 miles, 17.7 avg (35.5 max), 1763 cal, 150 HR (189 max) (rode from home);
  1:02:01, 20.01 miles, 19.4 avg (34.9 max), 1249 cal, 172 HR (191 max);
  1:05:37, 20.69 miles, 18.9 avg (34.4 max), 1291 cal, 164 HR (190 max)
• 25:49, 9 mi, 21.2 avg, 162 HR;
  25:04, 8.87 mi, 21.2 avg, 161 HR;
  24:06, 8.91 mi, 22.2 avg, 145 HR;
  21:45, 8.01 mi, 22.1 avg, 171 HR;
  27:43, 8.81 mi, 19.1 avg, 160 HR
  
• 39:26, 12.02 mi, 18.2 avg, 180 HR;
  39:41, 12.0 mi, 18.1 avg, 170 HR;
  39:34, 12.0 mi, 18.2 avg, 172 HR;
  40:16, 12.0 mi, 17.9 avg, 174 HR;
  37:54, 11.88 mi, 18.8 avg, 168 HR

Working Hard

Today's workout is going to make me sore, but I decided I don't care. The harder I work, the stronger and faster I'll be. So I worked hard and hope I feel OK tomorrow. We'll see! 100 altitude drops:

• GHR (from arm's length)
• Legs (jumping off a 24-inch box)
• Lunge L, R
• Bench w/45 lb
• Bench w/20 lb (seemed so easy!)

I know I worked harder because when I had to stop to breathe (something I frequently forget to do on these exercises), I didn't stop on an even number--I kept going until I felt like I couldn't any more and frequently paused on uneven numbers (like 33). Normally I would stop at 30, but not today!

• 45-second lunge R
• Phasic leg curl L, 75 reps
  
• Repeat the previous two 7 times, then switch legs.
• GHR 10×10 quick-style
• 45-second 1-arm elevated push up on knees, L arm on ground (lasted through 7 R, then 3 L before I couldn't hold myself up any more)
  
• Phasic row L, 50 reps
• Repeat the previous two 7 times, then switch arms.
• Bench press, 7 sets of 3, 65-75 lb

Team Belladium Ride

Mmmm, these women make some delicious treats!

And this is what we do while waiting for coach Todd to show up—sit in the shade and chat!

My mango flower

I got to ride with Team B today and loved it. I wasn't the strongest but I wasn't the weakest, and I loved being out on my bike with fantastic women (and coach Todd). We also got to celebrate Lisa's birthday.

Last weekend I learned how to cut a mango, so I decided to try my hand at a few. They weren't as ripe as I'd thought (next I'm going to have to learn how to determine whether they're ripe), but I didn't mess anything up while cutting them! And although they looked like cheese, once the girls realized they were mangoes, everyone enjoyed them.