To Hog Island and Back

Took a crazy great ride to beyond Tomales, to Marshall road & back.  I can't help laughing when I think of my Triple A ladies and how even a 5 hour ride is not 'enough' for us.  Yesterday we were in the saddle 10:30am-3:15pm, with just the shortest break for a sandwich and we were still "Ok, so next time we'll go longer, the full hill and the full loop."  I have no idea how we got to be so hardcore that a 5 hr hilly & long ride is not considered a righteous ride!  I love it :-) Yesterday was gorgeous and sweaty and fast and painful (climbing) where I am thinking "why am I doing this again?"  Then I get to a gorgeous view or in a wonderful easy cadence or we have a phenomenal soul cleansing chat and I think "oh yeah, THIS is why."  I used to be so jittery and shaky on downhills or with traffic and now I am so at ease with big trucks zooming by.  I am still no speeding Sally on downhills but I have come to love the feel of the air and the brisk pace of a solid downhill.  I still loathe the idea of going face over handlebars and a good crash or tire blow-out but I no longer live/ride in fear of it.

My mind is constantly thinking about women-only triathlons to find, races & century events to put on my calendar.  I love love love love it :-)

Mom's snack jar :-)

Fish Tonight

Took the day OFF fitness. Needed it. In denial of sore throat, stuffy head & ears. Rest does a body great so I hear.

Weekend includes a mongo mileage walk with Awesome and 9-10 miler on Sunday. Next week: big bike tour on Monday (miles & hills), Tuesday light run and/or crankcycle or Ujams, Wednesday open water swim, Thursday crank or Ujams...then off to camp for 3 days. During camping hoping for lots of walks, one run & 2 lake swims. Also a few frosty cones :-)

Big goal next week is the Ujams extreme Zumba & Crankcycle. Getting out of my comfort zone & GOING! Also an SR cycle ride soon & solo ride (eek).

Core training for stomach & arms. Did a Brady Bunch workout on Wednesday & stomach still feeling sore which is rad & exactly what it needs!

Have loved the Mermaid email traffic, so many great ladies. I've discovered their blogs (fab) and hooked up with an SF Aquatics buddy I hope! Fitness rocks & makes you great new lady fitness friends I love it!

Very Hot & Pretty Cool

Awesome swim with Triple A *Blondie today.  Lake Sonoma, two loops!  I am betting on it being 400-500yds, maybe a smidge more...or less.  First loop was anxious for us both, not sure why.  Then on 2nd loop we spent the first part chatting & lazily swimming.  Really got us comfortable.  The entire 2nd loop back we got in the groove and freestyled next to one another without stopping, felt glorious!  I wish I could always swim in open water (or the OCEAN) like that, at ease.  Maybe some day...maybe not.  Tried swimming in water shoes, huge fail, had to jam them in my wetsuit, I will be leaving them on the beach for the transition and just hope no one else snags them, bad karma for them.  I still LOVE my wetsuit, best purchase ever.  Also love my new goggles AquaSphere, a bit too much visibility though, made the underwater view too clear, had to close my eyes so as not to see the lake zombies I KNOW are lurking :-)  Great seal on the goggles, can't wait to wear in the pool, I'm so used to the speedo vanquisher, wonder if I will switch for good to the bigger goggle.

Chilled on the beach a few minutes, Blondie fueled with PB sandwich (my belly was filled with an egg bagel from earlier, great choice) and we chatted about how RAD it felt to be out there DOING this stuff.  Walked the good distance to car & changed for riding.  Tackled some nifty climbs, we were both hurting from 9 mile runs the previous day & a full week of training.  Soooo crazy hot on the ride, sweat & salt coating the bod, felt fabulous.  I nearly rode over Blondie on my quest to get away from what I swear was a mountain lion rummaging in the bushes near the road on a climb.  Blondie laughed  so hard as she said it was most likely a deer or a squirrel...I'm not so sure!  Got my adrenaline pumping big time!

After the swim & ride we had lunch at Dry Creek store, best ever.  Just chilling out  while drinking Dr.Pepper, eating deli sandwiches & salted caramels.  Life is pretty damn sweet, you won't catch me complaining one bit.

*Thought of Triple A girlie who i'll call 'Babe' who wranked her toe something awful last night & is waiting to hear if it is broken and obviously couldn't join today :-( Injury can happen at any minute in life and/or training.  Gotta just enjoy the ride while we can, it's fleeting...

Kicking It

Great Triple A ride on Sunday except for the traffic, so glad I am not a weekend warrior, a luxury I know! Nice tidy 2 hr ride through freestone, bodega rollers, salmon creek rd, and back thru bodega.  Tuesday was a mega pms & girlie day but forced a 1 mile swim at the gym, so much easier & more relaxing than the ocean surf :-)  Today was a FANTASTIC AMAZING RADALICIOUS 9.5 mile run thru town.  Body felt great (teeny nagging right achilles tendon, call PT today!) and used a handheld water bottle which was great, my body needs more H20.  Kinda awkward to feel the sloshing of the bottle but needs to be done for higher mileage and marathons and .....ultras.  Feeling pretty groovy.  Just want to stay on track with run swim ride & crankcycle & ujams between all the camping & fun family events planned for the next few weeks.  Still need to work on nutrition and fueling big time.  I am not a breakfast person which proves difficult on a 9.5m run or long ride when you bonk or have that empty gnawing feeling in your belly and want to dive into a stack of pancakes mid-event but can't :-)

Capitola & Mermaid ROCK the casbah

Saturday was my Mermaid Swim Clinic triathlon training for Sept 25th Mermaid Triathlon.  I was so eager to get to one of their clinics just to see the water I would be swimming in (I took the ignorance is bliss approach for Alameda & it served me well but this time I wanted to know more) but being 3 hrs away I was nervous if I would make getting to the clinic a priority.  I finally decided that I was committed to being there~either spending the night before or leaving at 5am.  At the last minute my mom said she would come with me & I was SO excited for the company & mom bonding but despite that excitement I had the willies the entire week before the clinic.  Not sure if it was the 5am leave time that got to me or the OCEAN swim, whatever it was I was not feeling the mojo.  Left my house Saturday at 4:45am, pitch dark~huge moon, felt a bit crazy to be doing this but also felt ALIVE for doing SOMETHING!  Drive down with mom was easy peasy (except I was a bit tired, only having gotten at most, 3 hrs sleep due to nerves) and we made it in 2.5 hrs.  Capitola was gray but warm and I loved the town the instant I saw it.  I was a bit FREAKED when I saw the pier and the ocean but it was so calm and a few surfers were out there and that chilled me out.  My new motto is to just BE like a surfer in the ocean, every time they are lucky enough to get out for a ride, I don't think they are knock knee'd and nervous and thinking "oh sh*t I so don't want to go in the ocean!"  Probably the exact opposite, they are HAPPY to be out there doing what brings them zen.  So while I don't totally have the mojo yet, I am trying really hard to embody the surfer dude attitude as much as possible when entering the big old blue.

Clinic by Mermaid and Coach Heidi was AMAZING.  About 45 women, all shapes & sizes and abilities (*except a few rock stars, more on those ladies later).  Not sure if it was pms, nerves or the full moon but I was teary-eyed more than a few times during the clinic.  Heidi is so inspirational and motivating, so focused on "YOU can and you WILL do this!"  I love that attitude.  So first off we got in our wetsuits and hit the water right away, which I loved since I didn't know if I could absorb the course material on Triathlon 101 if the 'swim' was looming before me.  We did two loops around someone out about 50 ft on a paddle board to get comfortable and I was nervous because those two 'practice' laps were pretty good for me but we hadn't even really started yet!  YIKERS!

Overall, I did all right.  I was in the back of the front of the pack and was relatively calm through the swim.  Before we got in the water my heart was beating out of my chest, for no specific reason.  I wasn't entirely focused on sharks (Damn Shark Week on Discovery channel!), or the oodles of kelp, or the looooooong distance it looked like around the pier and back to the beach (although only 400 yards, a short distance for swimmers but a long distance for regular folks like myself).  I was just nervous in general!  During the swim I was very envious of the ladies who put their heads down and just SWAM, easily it seemed... how I swim when I am at the gym in the lap pool, calm, cool, relaxed...that's how some of them swam the practice, it is NOT how I swam.  I did half the course as lifeguard swim (head out of water) and the other half on my back.  I could not just chill out and swim like I do at the gym.  So overall I did all right, got it done, didn't hate it but didn't love it either.  Before we got in the water Heidi talked to us and I was so teary, she was talking to us like a 'team' although I knew no one there, we had all just met.  She said we would feel uncomfortable in the water, scared, nervous, overwhelmed and that was all OK~like yoga, just sit in the uncomfortable zone and let it be.  That this was all new to us and if we were pro ocean swimmers, we would not be in this clinic.  She was righteous.  She made it OK to feel exactly how I felt.

When I got out of the water my mom was there watching, all giddy and happy.  Even though she drove to the clinic with me I was sure she would go shopping or something but nope, she just sat and watched.  It was awesome.  She was so proud.  It felt like an 'event' vs a training clinic, it was really grand to share it with mom.  We toweled off and sat in our chairs and discussed triathlon 101, a lot I knew from my sprint in Alameda but I learned a lot too and took notes (NTS: get water shoes, it's a healthy 400 yard walk/run to transition on sand & pavement!).  It felt good to hear Heidi talk about the hills for the bike and how some folks have to walk their bike (some ladies looked nervous, especially the one who admitted her bike was from Toys R Us) and I was chill & thinking "Dude, my Triple A ladies and I eat hills for breakfast every Tuesday to Dillion Beach on our rides."  It felt great to know "I've got this" as far as the bike & run portion go.  Easy?  No, but I got game in those areas and I love that feeling of confidence.

So I may have changed my tune for the Mighty Mermaid in September and right now I feel unsettled.  I can either forge ahead and do the mighty (.9 mile swim) or switch to the Sprint (400 yard swim, the one I just did at the clinic).  The only bummer is that the bike and run portions for sprint are significantly less than the mighty and I was really looking forward to challenging myself on those portions since the sprint distance of Alameda was do-able and I even had energy reserves.  The swim portion though...I am not sure.  The Mighty is advertised for those who may need something 'MORE' than the sprint overall, or if they have already 'mastered' the sprint...but I have only done ONE sprint triathlon in my life!  ONE!  Mastered?  Ummmm....nope!

When I signed up for the Mighty length months ago I had visions of training like a maniac and being this amazing powerhouse of fitness and strength and confidence to accomplish a triathlon...and I AM all of those things right now.  I feel great, I am in amazing shape, am getting stronger everyday.  I have HUGE goals for myself that range from vanity (2-4pk ab muscles & sculpted arms) to insane (having the physical endurance and concentration to run an Ultra).  I just don't know if I can or want to swim .9 miles in the OCEAN.  I respect the hell out of rock climbers & huge white water rafters, their skill & determination but I never want to do those things, like ever.  So things may change over time for me but for now, if/when I train for an Ironman or Barbs Race, you better bet it will be in a LAKE environment and not the ocean, even Hawaii :-)

At the clinic, some of the ultra buff/tough looking ladies there were the 'pro' swimmers helping guide us through the swim clinic and...they were swimming the mighty distance of .9 AFTER they did the 400 yd swim with us.  GULP.  Heidi asked if I wanted to swim it with them after the 400 yd practice to know the mighty course and I was all "ummmm yeah, probably not today." My brain was screaming "WAIT!  Those ladies are swimming with me, then .9 again easily and they are the ones doing the event on the day of the triathlon?  I am so out of my league here!"  I didn't feel down or depressed or bad for being out of my league, it was just a gut reaction of "I am not ready for this part" which is a big thing for me to admit.  It is also hard for me to admit I might not ever be ready to swim a mile in the ocean.  I can swim in a pool or lake (thank you Lake Sonoma) no problem.  If this Mighty were in a lake, dude, no worries I would push myself to do the mile swim, I would get through it. I just have a deeply held anxiety about the ocean & I did not know this until I TRIED, which is awesome in itself that I am out there doing things that help me discover my fears/anxieties.

I asked Coach Heidi about it "I can swim an hour or more in the lap pool, I can swim no problem in a lake but in the ocean I lose it and can not get in the groove.  I can bust through the 400yds with pure grit but a mile seems LONG to not be in the groove."  She agreed, she was very supportive and encouraging "You need to be swimming a mile in the pool 3 times a week minimum to get core strength for this and you need one swim a week in open water, preferably in the OCEAN if that's your anxiety trigger."  So there you have it.  I know if I lived closer I would be doing that 400 yd ocean swim at Capitola every weekend to see if I can kick my ocean anxiety (some of the ladies are doing it and I am jealous!) but I don't live there.  I can do SF aquatic park a few times and I will.  I will happily swim once a week in Lake Sonoma for an hour, no problem.  Yet, none of that may help me at GO time for the Mighty in 6 weeks.  I don't even know if I would sign up for anything over 400yds in the ocean in the future, I just don't know if it is my cup of tea.  I can grin & bear it for 400yds and even finish in the front of the pack but it is not without it's energy sucking anxiety, before & during the event, which is no party & not why I do this fitness gig in the first place.  I thought about my friend Jessica who has done a lot of sprint triathlons recently, not sure how she feels about ocean swimming but I think she has the sprint experience to push her to the mighty level and right now I don't know if I am ready for that 'push' with only one Tri under my belt.  So I feel unsettled but not in a bad way, just a pondering way.

I felt like I was 10 feet tall after the Alameda Tri & after my Portland marathon.  I felt so amazed at my own prowess and fitness and ability to be out THERE and DO something.  I know that I will feel that same way after the Mighty  or the Sprint, I just need to decide which level I want to do for ME & what will be the most FUN not only during the event but the weeks leading up to it.  Since that's really one of the main reasons I do all this stuff, run, bike, swim...it really is a total blast of FUN and makes me crazy wicked happy & if it didn't, I wouldn't be doing it.

Inspired to the nth degree...

I am a big follower of the No Meat Athlete Blog.  This awesome woman's recap & insight has me so motivated and inspired.  The picture I have on my desktop & it reminds me daily that I can do MORE than I ever thought possible, if I want to.
Anyone can do an Ironman...

River Days break

Three days off running, cycling & swimming (except river playing & floating). Excited to get back on the training horse but loved the break & loved feeling sore from schlepping the kiddo & gear instead of fitness.

Slooooow Jams

Feeling slow lately, not sure why. Once I am running or biking I feel great but getting to the start line is a battle. Swam today again & felt as swift as molasses. Just not vibrating with unbridled energy like usual. Might be late nights of tv watching or diet. I'm not a big diet/fueling fan. I'm lazy, I eat when hungry but miss meals too often resulting in the dreaded bonk or the even more dreaded migraine. Not excited about it but going to take a closer look at my diet for fuel efficiency, if I see a difference I will snap out of my laziness towards food journaling & make a concentrated effort. Also need to make an effort to sleep more, my inner night owl is strong though.
Yesterday ran the treadmill, boo. Yeah for 2hrs of kiddo playcare though! I did realize I have been running too slow on the treadmill, hence boredom. I cranked it to 9:13 min miles & really enjoyed it (as much as a hamster can enjoy). Also did a 3% hill grade at 9:40 for 10 minutes, tidy little workout, proud of myself for pushing it.
Today swam 30 min, slow and not in the zone but got it done. Tonight aiming for 30 min run to stretch the legs.

In the groove

Settling back into the groove. Moving the body with my ladies & eating clean. Today was a smashingly fab ride to Dillion Beach via a new backside backroads sneak. Soul food conversation with the Triple A's and enough rollers to make the legs really feel the burn. Great tempo & just felt amazing to be OUT. I run & swim a good deal on my own but biking really feels like home. The pressure is on to continue this come a cool fall & wet winter. I just need to get geared up & get out there every chance I get with the ladies ~ it is my therapy...and it doesn't cost $125 an hour, wooooot!

Made great food choices today, said no to cheese & meat on a huge half veggie sandwich. Said yes to a tiny frozen yogurt with the dude. Made a huge dinner of: Amys vegan chili, Tri color cabbage & carrot slaw, avocado & mango! So tasty & hearty.

Thoughts today center on feeling...chill & balanced. Let things go, let things flow. Make lists & be prepared but be ok if I don't check everything off. Motivate myself to create my home in the reflection of Us. Clean out, make space, live simple & BE content. Stop focusing on the BIG things and be thrilled with all the small wonders of a single day~there are so many.

New kickers came today.....zoooooom!

Schooled

The past month I've gotten schooled by lack of accountability. Drats. I created this blog to keep myself accountable for being fit & staying active, creating goals & eating healthy. I've been pretty good with all of the above, not great but solid. I have not been good about blogging or journaling about it, which I need to do since it keeps me on track & shows me when I've gotten off the rails.

Last week was late night binge madness. Husband was away so I stayed up until 1am watching bad tv & eating Triscuits & cheese. Each morning I had a sleep & salt hangover~ick. When I eat dirty I feel dirty but when I eat clean I feel light, lean & good, I need to remember that at midnight!

Took a fantastic 6 miler today & pondered all my goals, near & far away:
Lose 15 lbs to make running easier & lighter
Gain 5lbs or more of muscle
Strengthen core big time
Shape arms into awesomeness
Stretch & PT until ankles feel like gold
Eat clean
Sleep better
Clean out the house & revamp it to fit our active lifestyle
Fall half marathons & century rides
60 mile Tuesdays
Mighty Mermaid
Maui Marathon
Napa Valley Marathon
Avenue if the Giants Marathon
Death Ride
Terrible Two
Barbs Race
SF Marathon Full

Summertime and the posting is...lazy

Summer has hit and I am lazy.  Not in regards to training but in posting to this fabulous fitness & life blog.  I am still running (need to more but toe has been irksome), bike (would love to spin 2 times a week), swim (need more time in the lap lane) and really want to incorporate UJams extreme zumba, Core strength & crankcycle (spin & arm workout) at the gym.  Super pumped for half marathons, century rides, Maui mary training and Mighty Mermaid.  Not super pumped for a 1 mile ocean sharkfest in a little over a month.  Need to change my mojo as far as that is concerned.  To DO list:

• Run, log more miles.  Follow Galloway method
• Bike, join SR cycle group for rides when triple A ladies can't.
• Swim, MORE
• UJam, GO
• Crankcycle, GO
• Watch diet, no junk.  High fiber, High protein, Low sugar, Vegan-ish
• Core strength, Fonda
• Choose some fall fun runs and centuries
• Sleep more
• Hydrate more, diversify water if needed (Nuun)

Quiet

Feeling quiet today.  Not bad~just quiet.  Some days I am bouncing off the walls and throw myself into running, biking, swimming, and sometimes all those activities in one day.  Not today, woke quiet and been that way all day.  Might be that lady time of the month on the horizon, I have an overwhelming desire to eat chocolate & watch bad Lifetime movies.  Have a lot of ponderings & family activities swirling in the brain, lots of passion for fitness & events...so it feels nice to be quiet for a day.  My bike crashed to the ground the other day in the backyard and I thought I had really damaged it, I was more upset than I thought I would be.  I was almost on the verge of tears, thinking about the amount of money & time it might cost to fix.  Then I got on bender of looking up new bikes online, faster, lighter, newer ones ~ one not picked out by my college boyfriend (although that was a sweet deal having a cyclist who worked at a bike shop buy/assemble & work on your bike. I am feeling the bike shop $$ rub these days, I gotta learn how to fix my own bike!) I took my bike to a local shop & they were great, said my bike wasn't damaged, a few parts had just shifted, it does need a massive cleaning & tightening & overhaul but it is rideable, whew!  Funny how entitled I felt when I thought they could work on it 'today' but instead they said it would be over a week to get an appointment.  No idea why I thought I might be the only one interested in getting my bike worked on during summer vacation & during the height of the Tour de France :-)

Last night I had a bad dream about my bike, it kept disintegrating and falling apart.  I was on a century tour with my dad and a few other random friends kept coming in & out of the dream, we were in a hotel room that turned into a water slide (so odd) but the overall feeling was unhappiness that every time I looked at my bike the wheel or fork or seat was twisted or mushy/melting.  I woke with the realization of how much I am loving biking.  I am of course watching hours of Tour coverage a day so I am sure that is a big influence too but....overall my love for biking and my ladies Triple A group of riding & open water swimming has given me a HUGE passion for activity lately.  When I was camping for a week, it felt like I was gone for sooooooo long, I think partly because I missed two Saturday century rides my friends did.  I was so glad to be camping & relaxing with the family but a big part of me was missing that exhilaration & bonding you get on a century ride.  Chatted with my ladies today about it and I was so happy & proud to see them shining & beaming about the ride, I love seeing that.  Just love it.

SO many things I want to do lately and not enough time to fit it all in.  Between Santa Cruz Mighty mermaid in September and Maui marathon in January, it isn't possible to fit in this 3 day ride in Santa Barbara but oh man, I really wish I could and am inspired to get it on the calendar for next year for sure:
Young Survivors Coalition Ride

So many things to ponder & DO....excited, motivated, inspired...but for today~happily quiet :-)

Busy

Been busy this week...camping! Eating too much (dairy, chips, chocolate) but walking everywhere, lake swimming daily & a few glorious runs 4.5 miles each. Ate dirt on one run, haven't tripped & fallen like that in a looooong time, humbling. Another run, I almost smacked into a huge deer. Scared me to pieces at first since I was worrying about mtn lions as usual. As soon as I realized it was a deer & not a saber tooth, it was cool, we locked eyes for a while, she was huge~again, it was humbling.

Spent a lot of vacation pondering running, triathlons, and missing my weekly triple A bike ride. Felt good to be so consumed with fitness thoughts. I also felt groovy in my swimsuit, I'm not perfect & my thighs are far from photo-shoot ready but I'm comfortable in my skin. That is very relaxing to me.

Camping & Training

Leaving today for a week of family camping. Planning on lots of sunshine, fresh air, Fonda, daily 2-3 mile easy runs & daily lake swims...I bought the wetsuit!

See ya in a week!

Feeling Life...

Absolutely LOVE this article from the Mermaid Series coach Heidi...

I have done one of their sprint Tri's and it was fantastic.  I am registered for a Tri clinic, Santa Cruz Tri & also their SF run.  A very inspiring series of events for women.

Click the link below to look at the events they offer:
Mermaid Series


Feeling Life, Not Just Moving Through It
Feeling uncomfortable is not a popular state of mind and I have many friends who think it's crazy when I push myself physically to states of discomfort that they think are unnatural.

I was running this past weekend with my husband in the woods and had to laugh at myself realizing once again how all things come together and how lucky I am to be a part of life. The most we had been running was around 4 miles as I have been recovering from a recent hysterectomy. We decided on a whim to go for one of our favorite runs which is around 17 miles. I'm not sure what we were thinking but well, what the heck, it was beautiful outside.

When we were 12 miles in, we kind of started to lose our minds, laughing at the silliness of what we were doing and then it hit me all of sudden how uncomfortable I was! I loved being uncomfortable. I know it sounds crazy but I talk to my team all the time about being in that state, and I was glad to be there. I hadn't felt it in awhile (self inflicted discomfort that is) and I remembered why I think it's so great.

When I've run too far, my body is so tired, I don't know if I can take another step. Each one I take feels like it is my last, it feels as if wherever I land in that last step is where I'll have to stay. Then I remember that I have to get back to my car. I find out that no matter what, if I have to walk to my car so slowly that I can see the flowers blooming along side the trail that I will get there. That really, no matter what, I will make it to my car.

Isn't life like that? It is in my life, there are many moments that I get dealt cards that I don't think I can handle and then I am reminded of times when I have run so far, pedaled my bike so many miles and swam for hours that I get to tell myself that if I can do that, I can do anything. Life is hard, it's beautiful but it's hard, knowing that I can get through moments that I didn't think I could get out of makes life's uncertainty less painful. I feel empowered knowing that I can tackle what lies ahead of me and gives me hope for the future knowing that if I can get through some of the physical tests I've put myself through I can probably get through anything life hands my way.

When I've run so far that I'm left with nothing but my thoughts... I am reminded of who I really I am. It's difficult when you are pushing yourself beyond your breaking point to not really be who you are. You can't hide behind any made up image or idea that someone else created for you, it's just you and yourself. It's sometimes a scary place to be but mostly it's a great place to be. When you've run far enough that you have run out of excuses to stop what you are doing, your mind is free, it has time to really think and to expand and to embrace what your life has to offer you. I find myself actually FEELING life and not just moving through it.

BEING uncomfortable as opposed to just seeing it and passing it by are two very different things. We are told so often to just by-pass discomfort, to do whatever we can (buy something new, move on from relationships, read some quick fix book,) to move as quickly away from the moment that we miss out on something extraordinary. It's easier to walk away from stress or from hard times than it is to sit in them. What happens when we do though is wonderful, just like pushing your body physically, when you do it personally, you see who you are, how far you've come and how much you want to learn and grow.

You might be wondering what this has to do with being a Mermaid, and as far as I can tell it has EVERYTHING to do with being a Mermaid. Whatever state you are in, having trained and raced for years or just getting started, you are bound to push yourself beyond what you thought possible. My encouragement to you, wherever you land on the scale of new or seasoned athlete, push yourself, trust your body and be confident in the idea that when you have pushed yourself beyond your comfort level, a new you will emerge and you will be happy to meet her. Your workouts will be more efficient, you will feel stronger and going out for your training sessions will bring more satisfaction.

Train hard, wherever you are, knowing that each stroke, each pedal and each mile makes you stronger heart, mind and soul.

Heidi Boynton
www.mermaidtriathlon.com
www.findingsophia.org
831-234-6724

Kenwood 10k

Did the Kenwood 10k today for the 3rd or 4th time. Always a gorgeous hilly course, so low key. No yahoos or racers. Came in at 1:05... Felt good, ran all the hills (albeit slooooooow), took 3-4 walk breaks for 30 seconds. Going to read about Galloway Method, seems like a productive & long term strategy!

A friend called me on my Fonda today, I need to be doing them. I'm not. It's like wanting to run a marathon but never doing the long runs, not gonna work. NEED to do the Fonda!

Metric Century & Maui Marathon

The Giro Bello metric century last Saturday was FANTASTIC.  Rode with two awesome ladies, one of my Triple A training partners, Blondie & the Mighty J.  Left from Analy high school, less than a mile or so from my front door.  7AM we rolled out, it was perfect weather, absolutely perfect.  The course was amazing, all along the back country wine roads of Sonoma County, I feel so blessed.  Passed so many gorgeous wineries and estates, it made the hill climbs that much more bearable.  Lots of rolling hills but no killer hills (like Table Mtn on Wildflower Century in Chico).  I LOVE being in the saddle, I think this every single time I get back on the bike after a few days, a short rest stop or stretch break.  As soon as I settle my body in the saddle I am so incredibly happy.  I have visions of doing some rad ultra rides across the gorgeous US in the next few years.

The day was long but the metric century was very do-able and I felt great....until I had to literally crawl out of bed the following morning.  SORE!  Wow!  Walked 4 miles after the century and then another 3 miles the next morning and I think that really helped but wow, my body sure felt the workout from those rolling gentle hills.  Took a 4.5 mile run through Spring Lake on Monday and after the first 5 min of working out the kinks felt great.  Thank you body for doing such a great job, I will continue to take care of you & push you to do more...and do my stretching & Fonda!

Next up on the goal list after a summer & fall of half marathons and triathlons is....MAUI MARATHON in January!  WOWZERS!  A girlfriend asked me last week over a chat, if I would at all consider doing the marathon with her as part of a mini girl vacation...as she was asking, I heard the words Marathon & Maui & January and although my brain was saying things like "I will need to ask husband of course and coordinate kiddo care and ....OMG the training"  I heard my mouth blurt out " I am SO there!"  ..... I love that I am in a place in my life & personal happiness & confidence that I find myself saying something like that.  While my motto for 2011 has been "why not me?" in reference to pushing myself to bike farther, run stronger & swim with sharks & zombies, "I am SO there!' is apparently my motto for 2012 and I like it.  It's a feeling that is hard to describe: pure joy, peace, centered-ness... strength & happiness in both mind & body.

Check out the course map below.  Three things I love about it: that the route is all along the ocean (YAHOO), the dancing palm trees at the top, and the fact that there is no longer a 20-miler course offered?  Dude, if you were going to do 20 miles, just do 26.2 already!

Course map of goodness, so excited:
Maui Marathon 2012

Giro Bello