Melissa - Vain Triathlete

What an awesome Fall day this Saturday was. Great weather, catching up with the THE RUNNING CLUB, and yes, coming in first woman overall in the local 5k makes my day! The race started at 9:00 am. Did my longish warm-up, blabbed with the club, and off we went. We had about 8 members in this rather small race so we must have stuck out like sore thumbs.  We all had our singlets on to boot.  I forgot my watch this day. I always run with my watch. However, I decided that this could be a good thing and ran how I felt for once. At first I wanted Jeff Popper to let me know what my mile splits were since we would probably be near each other.  This plan quickly dissolved after he decided to take it slow. I think my first mile was much faster than I had intended but I felt I could sustain that pace for 3.1 miles.  That was... until.... I hit the 3 moderately challenging hills.. I slowed a bit and hung on.. Thankfully it was over before I k...

This week I feel as though I have turned a corner. It was only three weeks ago while training for the Half Iron during which I felt burnt out mentally. Not necessarily physically but definately mentally. All I could think of for two weeks was damn I can't wait until this is over . Well I haven't had a break in my training for a while now . I'm going to need a really long break to recover from this . And, it's been over a year since I started this training. It's no wonder I feel this way. On and on this went. This week has proven those thoughts to be not wrong but exaggerated. After an entire week of rest and no training I do not feel that I am in desperate need of a very long break. I'm not implying that I am going to continue to train HARD during the off season. I would surely burn out then. I'm just saying that my mind complained a lot more than it needed to. Bad mind. I was soooo looking forward to doing no training. None. Nunca, nadda.. I saw myself loun...

I think it's best to write up my report ASAP while everything is still fresh in my mind. So here goes. It is a little long and detailed so I can refer to it for my next Half Ironman . Up at 4:30 am to get to the lodge on time and to do all the other tasks that must be done by 6:30 to meet everyone on the beach for the meeting. Kathy was an awesome supporter. I don't know what I would do if she didn't go with me. It would be really hard to manage every detail. The water was nice. I had enough time to warm up for about 10 minutes in the water. I was really happy with that because I have found that, like my running, I take a while to warm up. Must be age I guess. I got behind the first line of women and we were off before we knew it. I swam hard. It was a small field, only 100 per wave which caused me to be unafraid to start up front. OK , so all went well for at least the first .2 miles of the swim. Then, when the guys behind started to catch me they, in their need to pass m...

Pumpkinman.. oh yes.. You are finally here. Finally. I can't wait for the gun to go off. I have been training for this Half Ironman for a year now. My first HIM was really to gain experience and to see what happens. This HIM is for racing. To really push myself and at the same time correct anything that went wrong at Mooseman. I'm REALLY excited to see how my swim goes. I've been such a slow swimmer in the past and now I feel like I'm an OK swimmer. No longer am I the slowest at the pool. It will be fun to see how I stack up. My biking is better as well. I now know I need to keep my heart rate in zone 4 for the entire ride. I think. :). My food on the bike his HUGELY important and I think I have that puzzle down pat. My running has actually improved since I started training for triathlon. It's a mystery to me but it really has. I PR'd all over the place in the last year. The 10k, 7miler, and Half Marathon. It's such a mystery because I'm way older no...