Portsmouth & Sculpted Rock

Yesterday Morgan and I had a great day wandering around Portsmouth. We did a little shopping, then lunch on the decks, and finished with frozen yogurt and a walk around Prescott Park. In the afternoon I met Crystal at the gym and completed the track workout on the treadmill (much cooler that way!).

Today I headed up to Bristol to bike around Newfound Lake with Melissa. We took a slightly different route and saw Sculpted Rock in Hebron, NH. It was really cool to see the carved out swirling rocks and swimming area. We ended up completing a little over 21 miles. The weather was fantastic for a ride.

The last pic above is from Portsmouth--the rest are at Sculpted Rock.

Tonight I did a 50 minute swim workout at the pool (10 X 100s) and steady swim for a total of 45 laps :)

Virginia Roadtrip

Prior to leaving for a wedding in Etlan, Virginia, I completed a mini triathlon workout on Friday morning. Friday consisted of a 40 minute swim, 20 mile bike ride, and finished with a 15 minute run.

Then, we left around 4 for a long drive to Virginia. We ended up sleeping in Greencastle, Pennsylvania and then finishing the rest of the trip on Saturday. Saturday was the Nate & Kara's wedding. The ceremony had a beautiful view of the Shenendoah Mountains.

Sunday, I woke up in time for the sunrise (that is the picture above) and then went for a 5 mile run. I had the chance to see the lovely farms/rolling hills of Etlan in a way that I would not have seen them just driving.

Today, it was back to the pool for a 60 minute swim workout. I cranked out 10 X 200s and did 46 laps total for the swim. Then tonight I met Crystal at the gym for a little elliptical and some weight lifting. I am feeling strong and ready for the Blackfly!

Open Water

Yesterday I drove up to Bristol to meet up with Melissa for an open water swim in Newfound Lake. We did about 40 minutes along one of the beaches and it was really nice after we got over the initial shock of the 66 degree lake temp (I know that is not cold for my Minnesotan friends and family!). But anyway, it was fun and woke me right up!

Today was the exact opposite. I went for a 5 mile run in the morning and thought 8 AM was early enough--nope, not at all! It was so humid I almost fell over from the heat. Luckily, I brought a water bottle, but it was almost empty by about mile 4. I decided that I would run into Concord Hospital and drench myself in cold water and fill my water bottle. It was funny because there was this older man (probably some type of orderly or security guard) who looked like he was going to stop me, but when he saw how red I was and that I was not slowing down in my quest to get over to the drinking fountain, he thought better than to bother me :)

So, I left the hospital drenched with a freshly filled water bottle and plodded through the last 2 miles of my run. I imagine I looked like quite the site to everyone who passed me!

Tuesday Track

This morning I completed my track workout which consisted of the following:

1 mile warmup
300 @ 5K
100 @ Recovery
2000 @ 10K
400 @ Recovery

Repeated 3X---yikes!

Then tonight I met up with Crystal at Planet Fitness for some cardio and lifting.

I hope the weather cooperates so I can swim outside tomorrow!

Workout Update

This past weekend I spent some time up in Bristol, Vermont with Mark's family for Father's Day. It was a relaxing and nice time, but I did get a little behind on my blogging, so here is the summary of recent workouts.

Friday 6/18- 30 mile ride in Concord/Loudon
Saturday- 5 mile run followed by Tri-swim practice
Sunday- off

Today was an intense 60 minute swim workout (6 X 400s and warmup/cooldown). It ended up being 55 laps total! After the swim, I had some lunch, watched some HGTV, and took a little catnap. Then, tonight I did a nice 16 mile ride in Concord. Well, it was nice for the first 13 miles, but the last 3 on Clinton Street were stressful because the drivers were so inconsiderate! In fact, I almost got hit by a moving truck (ironically labeled "Gentle Giant Moving") that decided not to come to a stop at the stop sign as I was pedaling by! Arghhhh. It is summer and people are out running and biking, so drivers be careful please!

Waterville Valley Ride

I woke up bright and early today and cranked out 50 laps at the YMCA pool by 7:00. The workout consisted of 5 minute warmup, 10 X 200s (fastest one was 3:40), and then a cool down. It was such an adrenaline rush and I kept that energy throughout the day. Melissa and I drove up to Waterville Valley to do a test ride on the Black Fly course. It was pretty good, but the long climb on the final stretch dragged on forever it seemed! I also wandered into the reservations center and got a great deal on a room for the Black Fly weekend so I am psyched about that!

Back to Blogging

This week I started back up on training with S2. My new focus event is the Black Fly International distance triathlon in July. Tonight was track practice at Memorial Field and consisted of the following:

1 mile warmup
400 @ 5K PACE
400 RECOVERY
1600 @ 10K PACE
400 RECOVERY
400 @ 5K PACE
400 RECOVERY
1600 @ 10K PACE
400 RECOVERY
400 @ 5K PACE

It was very hot out on the track, but I finished the workout. I could feel every ounce of bad food and beverages that I ate and drank over the past week and hope to be much better for awhile!

Bring on the Black Fly!

Dear Mother Nature, what did I do to you that was so wrong?

At 4:30, this morning, Mark and I got our stuff together, got the bikes set, headed to Dunkin Donuts, and then up to Bristol for the Mooseman. We anticipated that it was going to be not great weather, but we had no idea what we were in for! It started to rain halfway up to Bristol and then we arrived at the parking field. It must have rained much of the night up there because the field was already a mud pit that we were not looking forward to trying to get out of. Then, as we were trying to unload all our stuff and do the 1/2 mile walk to the start of the race, a massive thunder/lightening storm hit. EVERYTHING got soaked, but we still made the miserable trudge to the course. Once we were there, we found out the swim was cancelled completely and the race was delayed!

We surveyed the area, checked in with a few people we knew (although, I couldn't even get to the S2 tent because it was flooded every direction I stepped). The race wouldn't start until 9:00 (it was only 7:30 at this point) and we really couldn't find a great place to stay dry. The race would become a dualthon with a shortened bike course due to flooding on various parts of the course. This was not exactly what I had in mind for my first big race. The announcers even stated that the race could be cancelled depending on what happened with the weather. Mark and I made the difficult decision to pull out of the race and attempt to get his car out of the mud.

This was such a heartbreaking decision for me...I've trained for months and was psyched yesterday when I picked up my packet. I feel like a wimp, but I was just not comfortable biking that distance with everything soaked. I did not even know if they would actually hold the remainder of the race (of course, once we started driving home, the weather cleared up a little bit).

So I got home, unpacked some of my soaking wet gear, took a shower, signed up for The Black Fly International in July, and went to bed for a few hours.

So, Mooseman 2010 was a bust. Bring on the Black Fly and bring on Mooseman 2011 (I will complete that race!).

Love the Taper!

The only one who can tell you 'you can't' is you. And you don't have to listen - Nike

Only 2 days until the Mooseman!!!

Workouts completed this week:

Tuesday- 2 miles run w/3 steady accelerations / 15 mile steady swim
Wednesday- 45 minute bike ride
Thursday- 20 minute bike ride / 20 minute open water swim

Tomorrow I am getting a massage, and prepping all my stuff for the big day. This is when all the hard work and training pays off!

Good luck to all the S2 team members!!!