I bike commute to work quite often. It doesn’t really count as part of my training as it’s less than two miles from my home to work. Admittedly the proximity makes it pretty easy for me but I have a routine that makes it easier for me so I really wouldn’t mind if I had to ride further.

I pack special jewelry in little bags to make sure it doesn’t get scratched

I pack everything into a canvas bag to keep everything together in my backpack

I then just throw on shorts, a t-shirt, shoes and my helmet to ride in.

Do you ever bike commute? Any more tips to add?

Cory turned 32 last Friday and we were lucky enough to be able to take the day off work and act like tourists. I floated a few ideas past Cory and he decided that he wanted to ride the Cog Train from Manitou Springs to the top of Pikes Peak. While there were fantastic Views (see below) we weren’t that impressed with the overall experience. It was….ok, I would suggest driving to the top instead and saving a few bucks.

When we got back to Manitou Springs we shopped for a bit then headed to Adams Mountain Cafe

They adhere to a slow food model, descried as:

THE SLOW FOOD INTERNATIONAL MANIFESTO
Our century, which began and has developed under
the insignia of industrial revolution, first invented the machine and then took it as its life model.
We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes, and forces us to eat Fast Foods.
To be worthy of the name, <em>Homo sapiens</em> should rid themselves of speed before it reduces them to a species in danger of extinction.
A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life.
May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and
long lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of
multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.
Our defense should begin at the table with Slow Food. Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food.
In the name of productivity, Fast Life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. So Slow Food is now the only true progressive answer.
That is what real culture is about: developing taste rather
than demeaning it. And what better way to set about this than an international exchange of experiences, knowledge, products?
Slow Food guarantees a better future. Slow Food is an idea that needs plenty of qualified supporters who can help turn this (slow) motion into an international movement with the little snail as its symbol.

We sat on their patio and had the best food!

We then went for a 78 mile bike ride on Saturday that went surprisingly well. On Sunday we helped my parents settle in to my brothers house where they are staying for a few weeks while looking for a house here in Colorado. We also had the chance to celebrate my dad’s birthday with him for the first time in years. It was such a great weekend but it left me behind at work and home. Gees, how do you fit it all in?

That’s it, I am back on the wagon. After about three weeks of very little exercise I am determined to make it to Harvest moon half ironman in September. I have been plagued with injuries and illness this past month but I am ready to be back at it full force. I am not sure that my knee will allow me to get back to running the 30ish mile weeks I was before but I am hopeful that I will be able to pull out a slow half marathon anyway. I just know that I am up for trying.

Winston is disappointed that there will be less couch cuddle time but I am excited to get back to swim, bike, run, EAT!

72.3 miles (the bike course was 58 miles long) and five years of marriage.

Full race report later now we need to eat, rest and recover =)

I have a few anniversaries today but I will start with the most important one.

Exactly five years ago today I married my best friend, love of my life and partner in crime.

We had a beautiful day and a blessed life since June 24, 2006. I love you Cory, I can’t wait to see what the next five years bring.

Other anniversaries today have to do with my blog, it turn one year old today! I think I posted once a month or less at first but mainly I was enjoying reading other people’s blogs. Completely unintentionally this is also my 100th post, I think that it means that today will be an extra lucky day. I hope that luck spills over to tomorrow and I have some “race day Magic” as Beth would say.

I am pretty anal about race prep and the fact that I have the week off before this race makes it very easy to be even more anal about it. I even planned the day before the race out hour by hour. I didn’t do this for my marathon in May and ended up very stressed and running around the night before. I don’t want to do that again!

I love to make lists and lay things out in piles. Here are my piles for race day including piles for pre race, t1, t2, special needs and post race

I also planned out and bagged my nutrition for the day.

This is what I did for most of today, planned and prepped, tomorrow is also full of pre race activities. We did sneak in a 3 mile run with my mom to preview the 5k course and a two mile walk to the store. We saw the welcome sign for athletes and had to get a picture.

But the best part of the day was buying this super cute new tumbler with the best almond iced coffee ever!

Tonight will be filled with relaxation and going over plans for Saturday

How anal are you when prepping for races?

For us getting ready for our first half ironman is a big deal that started with lots of planning and packing

Driving from Colorado to Oregon for 22 hours straight (bleh). And hanging out with my really awesome parents and their cute golden-doodles.

On Sunday we road fifty miles on some of the roads we will race on but didn’t make it to lake Wickiup (where the swim is held) because we didn’t want to ride on dirt roads. Today started off with a fun and easy trail run. One of my parent’s dogs Zoey joined us for the run, she is a super cute mupet dog!

Later we went to the home owners association so we could get passes to swim for free. We will put those to good use tomorrow.

Cory and I in front of the original Sunriver sign.

This afternoon we drove out to Wickiup reservoir to check out the lake, it was advertised that there would be buoys in the lake so that we could swim but there weren’t any to be seen. Our dogs had a good time swimming

We then drove back along the bike course to see what we were in for. It was very intimidating to drive the entire way, I hope I have it in me! It is an incredibly beautiful course.

I have been terribly absent from the blogging world. Life got crazy with work and training so something had to give. I have been training and racing I just haven’t been able to stay up on blogging. Things really haven’t calmed down BUT I have missed reading everyone’s blogs so I have started to check in quickly but still haven’t had time to comment on yours.

Also I have missed writing my own blog, the point of starting this blog was to chronicle my training and racing so I could look back later and remember all the things I felt during this time. During the time I have been silent I have raced in my first marathon and Olympic triathlon plus put in some of my biggest training sessions I have ever done. I will be back to write race repots because I want to remember the races I did in May and June as well as recap some of the training for Pacific crest that is in a week and a half (yikes!) time to make blogging a priority again!

Cory and I after finishing the Colorado Marathon

Happy swim, bike, running everyone!

I learned the lesson “you get what you pay for” again last night. Cory called me on the way home from work to surprise me with sports massages for that night. He booked them a Massage Envy since it was last minute, a chain “spa” it’s really cheap, if you are a first time visitor you can get an hour for only $39. When we arrived we quickly filled out some forms before talking to the receptionist about why we were visiting. We explained that we were training for a marathon so we had tight leg muscles. She then asked if there was an area that we wanted the therapists to focus on, we stressed that our legs needed the most work. After being shown to our room the therapists asked us again what we wanted focused on (why did I just tell the other lady all of this information?) both of us again emphasized that our legs were sore and needed the most work, in fact Cory said his back felt good and didn’t need any work at all. So how much time did they spend on our legs? 10 minutes! After about 40 minutes on my back I was wondering why they even asked us what we wanted in the first place. The back work did feel good but it wasn’t what I needed after running 22 miles and biking 50. Lesson learned, next time we will go to a real sports massage therapist.

Moving on, the plan for this week is:

Monday: Rest =)
Tuesday: 16 mile bike, outside!! pm: Track practice with RMTC, we will do between 4 and 6 miles of intervals
Wednesday: am 1900 swim (not sure of exact workout yet), pm yoga
Thursday: 90 min spin class straight to a 6 mile run
Friday: 6 mile tempo run with an easy 1600 m easy swim
Saturday: I have to work a long day so I am unsure of our workouts……
Sunday: Either a long brick of 40 miles on the bike followed by a 12 mile run OR a 55 mile bike with hills and then a 16 mile run on Monday, what would you do?

Winston says it’s time to get back to reading blogs.
Yes we keep blankets on our couch, it’s new and we have three dogs.