Unplugging!

After this post I'm going to take a short blog hiatus until after the first of the year. I realize this is only a couple of weeks but I've grown accustomed to posting at least twice a week. Lately I haven't been feeling it so I'm taking a short break.

We got snow earlier this week. I mean real snow that fell (to the tune of 8" in some parts of the Las Vegas Valley) and stuck for a few days after.

Every year Brinley is surprised by the one snowfall that we typically get. This year was the most she has ever seen. After the initial surprise she gets used to it and then doesn't want to come in the house!

My truck covered in snow

We leave for Bimini, Bahamas, on Tuesday and return to Clean Green Boulder City on New Years Eve Day. Everything is lined up for us leaving: house/dog and cat sitter, bunny sitter (yes they are different), packing -- okay not the packing yet! This weekend for sure.

For this trip I am leaving the laptop at home. This is so NOT like me I like to have Internet access wherever I go but I've been spinning my wheels a bit as far as work goes and too much of my time has been spent on the computer doing non work things which makes me feel . . . UGH. Sigh. Lame. Etc.

So being burned out on the computer, I'm leaving it behind. Hell I won't need it! I'll be spending time deep sea fishing, lounging by the pool, running, swimming, spending time with Glenn's family, seeing Bobbi and Jerry who will also be there, renting bikes and riding around the island. . . oh yeah and sleeping!

Training has been going better. I ran another Nellis 5k in 29:29. YES that is 9:28 per mile! It was pretty chilly out -- somewhere in the 30s and about two thirds into the race I had to take my gloves off and wished I had worn one layer instead of two.

So lets look at my Nellis 5k times shall we?

28:32 (my 5k pr)
30:44
29:29

All of these times show under 10 minute miles. Nellis is a magical place. Either that or my run speed really is improving! I love these 5ks because they are so low key, fun and my age group is blessedly thin. My 29:29 time was good enough for 3rd place and I won a pedometer. WOO HOO! Oh and Coach keeps pointing out that I was not specifically trained for any of these races. I run them for fun with her blessing. FUN!

Coach and I have been talking about my goals for Season 2009 and have delved a bit more into why a run focus at the beginning of the season will not further my dreams of becoming a speed demon. Volume, efficiency, miles, focus and other things were discussed. I've been firing questions at Coach to better understand where we are going this season. This feels particularly important since I don't have a race on my 2009 schedule that packs the emotional punch of Silverman. Which feels different. Not bad, just different. Change is inevitable so why not embrace it. Plus you can't manufacture that kind of emotional pull. It's either there or it's not.

Anyway whenever I fire questions at Coach she fires back answers that are extremely clear and make total sense. Coach is awesome!

I am very, VERY excited about Season 2009 because I get to race with some awesomely cool bloggers: RBR (Rage), Mike (Battle at Midway and Utah Half) and the long list of folks doing B2B (Calyx, Donna, Sarah, Shirley, IM Able and I have left some out I know it apologies in advance), and Izaac (I don't know Izaac's 2009 schedule but I am ASSuming that he will do some of the local races. :-)

Anyway I will leave you with a photo that I took of our three fake Christmas trees in the yard.

Fake trees flocked with real snow.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Blah

The last couple of weeks have been pretty blah for me as far as training goes.

Didn't think that getting back into the swing of things would be difficult but it's been a bit of a challenge getting my motivation back. Since it's December I'm not that worried.

Coach gave me feedback on my 2009 goals and as a result of our talk I am dropping the Mardi Gras 10k and Red Rock Half Marathon off the schedule.

See, my overriding goal is to get faster! After experiencing how awesome I felt getting off the bike at Silverman and not really starting to hurt until mile 8 of the run I know, without a DOUBT that I have what it takes to get faster. Told Coach that I am tired of being slow and she proceeded to tell me what it would take to meet the time goals that I put down for the two Half Iron races that I signed up for next year.

A run focus at the beginning of a long season will not further those goals. Ok! I can live with it. More than that I am happy about it. Sometimes the pressure of racing gets to me more than I would like and now my first race is not until April. Last April I was SO FREAKING NERVOUS before Rage that Coach has to have a firm talk with me. Hard to believe that last year's Rage was the first Oly that I actually finished.

Woo HOO!

Anyway I'm working my way through feeling that I'm a bit soft in both the body and mind for the past few weeks. I'm pretty sure this is "ok' since I can still claim this as my "off season."

Been working on my new blog template too and am not sure that I like it. Well that's what weekends are for I suppose. I may revamp it all yet again until I'm satisfied. Getting up to speed on HTML is not something I want to spend tons of time on but there are lots of nice templates out there now. This is one of them. I like the photo a lot (reminds me of Lake Mead) just not sure about the layout, colors, etc.

Oh and we are going to the Bahamas for Christmas with Glenn's family. That should be FUN!

More later!

Season 2009

New season.

New perspective.

New races.

New PRs!

My 2009 season is taking shape in my mind and on paper. My race schedule and goals have been written and submitted to Coach, and the structured workout week has returned.

It will be different to not have such a strong emotional pull toward a race as I had toward Silverman. I may miss that.

But I'll probably find something just as valuable to take it's place. I hope so anyway.

The drive to train and race is still there and I do it because I love it, because of the friends I've made, and because training and eating right makes me feel like I'm getting younger every year instead of older. Exercise is the fountain of health and youth -- I really believe that.

So here is my 2009 Schedule, along with my notes:

Mardi Gras Masquerade 10k (2/21/09) C race

Not much to say here except that I NEED to get my 10 minute mile or less time at a 10k. This is the race to do that. The course is pretty flat with a couple of gentle inclines, nothing major.

Red Rock Canyon Half Marathon (3/7/09) A race

I like doing a spring 1/2 marathon and this year I picked a different one. The course is hilly and pretty difficult. I volunteered for this race last year. It is very well run and Red Rock Canyon is absolutely breathtaking to run through.

Rage Triathlon -- Olympic Distance (4/19/09) B Race

Last season Rage was the first Olympic distance triathlon I completed after a prior season of disappointment. Should be able to PR big time here!

Battle At Midway Triathlon -- Olympic Distance (6/13/09) B Race

Last year this stunning course yielded my best Olympic distance time and was a huge breakthrough race for me. I should also be able to PR here.

Utah Half Iron (8/15/09) A Race

This course is supposed to be flat. It will also be HOT. I've never raced a flat 1/2 iron course before and I hate the heat. So, I can't wait to see what I can do with this race! Also, I believe Mike will be racing it which is really cool. He is the one who informed me it will indeed be hot up there (darn it). Yes I know it's August!

I tell ya looking at a half iron from the perspective of having already done one is a whole different ball game. A lot of unknowns have been taken away. Not that I won't be nervous and ready and I definitely respect the distance! But still -- I'm excited to see what I can do here.

Pumpkinman Triathlon -- Olympic Distance (10/18/09) B Race

This race again falls on our wedding anniversary and for the past couple of years the weather has been perfect for it. I want to race my heart out and PR big time here!

Beach 2 Battleship Half Iron (11/7/09) A Race

I pulled the trigger and signed up for this race yesterday. The decision was a bit difficult because a big part of me wanted to do Silverman again. But B2B started tugging at me when Calyx blogged that she and Donna may sign up. Then I found out that a bunch of other bloggers are going, including the awesome Shirley, bartender extraordinaire at the Endurance Sports Bar! The B2B blog is HERE.

But the main reason I picked this race is that it looks like a great race (only in its second year) and doing it will mean I'm branching out with my racing. For some reason this is important to me.

Glenn's sister lives near where the race is held and more than likely we will wrap a vacation around it. I love visiting North Carolina. So the general area is not entirely foreign to me but it's enough of a stretch that it will present a new challenge. Oh and it's another FLAT COURSE. And the swim is in a channel WITH THE CURRENT.

Just sayin.' A half iron PR over Utah? MAYBE!!

I'm very sad that I won't be able to at least volunteer at Silverman but it's the same weekend as B2B. Oh well. Silverman will survive with out me, and I without it.

New season.

Change.

Change is good.