First of all- Merry Christmas!

Right now, I am finally very, very excited for Oceanside Half Ironman in April. I am so happy that I signed up for this early race, as there would be no way that I would have the same motivation that I have now without this looming on the horizon. I keep thinking of how fun it will be to have a little get away just when the winter will be driving me crazy!

I am in the process of figuring out my races for next season, and getting some goals lined up and methodology on how to attain these things, which makes me excited. The whole process of learning from past seasons, making changes, and seeing where they go. For some reason, I love this part of training- the planning, the methodology, the experimentation.

One gripe session:
So today, I go to finish up my long training day (about 5 hrs of exercise) with a good swim. I am warmed up, plugging away on the main set and feeling really good. All of a sudden I get kicked out of the pool!! WTF. I am informed that the pool shuts down early today! I never thought I would say this, but there is one thing that I miss about Omaha- that 24 hour fitness! That place was like an industrial workout factory, complete stainless steel everything, mirrors everywhere, protein 'mass gainer' powder store, and a pool that was rarely used due to the, er, 'clientele' that frequented the place (more of the sauna/steam room type if you know what I mean). Although it was only two lanes, had some issues with chemical regulation (think on/off cloudy water and itchy skin), and overlooked the McDonalds on 81st and Dodge-- this pool was always open! None of this 'club hours' crap. And yes, there were times that I went to swim very late at night- it was great!

I have wondered this question for my entire educational career...

Do doctors have snow days???? I thought no, but the answer is...YES!

So on friday, Madison got dumped with a foot of snow wind, whatnot. The office was shut down that day due to the weather- I think it was a good idea.


So, what do you do?????

This is why it is so awesome to have a training partner living three blocks away- well within 'trudge through knee deep snow' distance- you get to wake up and instead of go to work, you get to hop on the trainer and pound out some 30/30s while the snow is still pouring and the wind is howling and the sun is coming up!


So, after IMFL I really tried to let myself atrophy a bit. Eat some garbage food I enjoy but don't normally indulge in, drink more booze, reconcile myslef with the mysterious black box in my living room that will play movies and tv shows, get some things done that have been put off WAY too long, and schedule myself around not training. I wanted to loose some fitness, get a new perspective, let the burnout fizzle away, and realize why I love to live the life that I normally live.

So, I worked out when I wanted to and did what I wanted to. Nothing too crazy, nothing regular, and nothing with purpose. I was purposefully off the wagon up until very recently. I have been on the wagon again for the past couple weeks, letting myself get back in the swing of things and realize what intensity is a few sessions before I do a baseline fitness test.

So, what is happening... I am swimming faster than I did pre IMFL. I am hitting my bike intervals about 10-15 w higher than I was last season at this time and still higher than pre- IMFL, and running, well that is keeping things with no pain at this point.

I do not understand this. I wanted to digress. I tried to digress. I make progress. Now, I'm not complaining here, but this goes against a lot of research that people spend a lot of time and effort in to make people like myself believe in it. If I don't know how to digress, then how do I make progress??

Fun in the winter wonderland!

Albeit I am in the land of cheese, surrounded by a tundra and white stuff- I am loving actually having a winter!! I have been skiing more times so far this month than I would have an entire winter in Nebraska- yay for Nordic trails everywhere!!

What have I been up to..

I cut my own Christmas tree!




Here it is in my living room...



I got my fireplace working and have been having fun sitting by the fire, making s'mores in my living room, and roasting chestnuts- yes, that's correct! (completely over rated by the way- I would not be inspired to write a song about this). The most fun part was probably cutting holes in the chestnuts so they don't explode! and drinking some 'Nog. :)

So, where did I leave off ???..

Yeah, so it has been more than a little while; however, I have been enjoying reading others' blogs and decided it is my time to contribute to society. 'Tis the season- right?

So, what have I been up to? First of all IMFL... I scribbled up a RR on the plane ride home, and haven't edited it yet. Yup, that's correct. Part of my 'official' off season is to think about training and racing stuff as minimally as possible. Not completely effective, but that includes scouring my race to every last detail.

Here is the 'clif notes' completely non grammatically correct version of the race


Lead up/ travel:
bad- flight got cancelled out of Mad-town for no reason, NWA didn't let me know until a 4am phone call the morning of departure. good- got out of Mad-town and to Panama City Beach (only took 12 hours and several cities when it should have taken about 3). bad- TSA thought it would be a good idea to give me the full pat down/bag search after I had spend the whole morning in the airport trying to figure out how to get to PCB, I happened to be carrying about 10 baggies of white powder (all of my race nutrition). good- TSA decided that it actually WAS a fine fruit punch flavored cocktail of maltodextrin, whey protein, sodium, caffeine and whatnot rather than the best drug bust of their career (you should have seen the look on their faces when they opened by bag!!). Bad- I was exhausted in the days before the race.

Swim:
Bad- woke up still exhausted and not really wanting to race, I would have rather slept in (in retrospect- I tried a little shorter taper this IM- it was too little taper, too long of a season, about four-six weeks too burnt out). Good- I swam aggressively in the 'usual' IM washing machine. Bad- very very cold morning! Good- decent swim time for the training that I had put in for the swim!

Bike:
Good- felt great getting on the bike, held perfect wattage goals. Bad- had sharp, stabbing abdominal pains at about mile 35- no known etiology- had to sit up, couldn't keep anything down, watts went way down, took in only a few sips of water, slowly pedaled until mile 50. At mile 50/SN I was feeling better- ramped the w slowly back up. Got back on track with nutrition/ hydration, water, whatnot. No mechanicals!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! PRd the bike, and met my time goals- way short on W goals but happy with the given circumstances. In retrospect- I am thinking that the ocean water may have had something to do with the meltdown. Got off of the bike mentally prepared to have a pretty full tank for the run because my bike was lower W that what I know that I could do in training.

Run:
Goal for this race was to have a solid run. I held myself back the first 10k hoping to keep a nice constant pace. I felt awesome! Forgot my caffeinated GUs at T2- used on course nutrition without a flaw! At the 10K mark, ramped it up to goal pace for the marathon. Held it until the park where there was some heavily slanted roads- bad news. This sent my IT bands down hill very quickly. I had made it through all of the training and mileage without pain by avoiding this one particular thing- slanted roads. The couple miles really got things pretty jacked up. One sided pain got to be two sided pain by the 13.1 mark. The last 13.1 miles were the most painful 'run' of my life- seriously.

Overall: Overall, I still PRd at the IM distance which is great. Happy with my race execution and how I dealt with things that day. Race plan went flawless on my part- dealt with the day's happenings when they came while being calm and pragmatic.
I finished healthy, and with a smile on my face. I am lucky to be able to race in this sport and realize that!


Epilogue:
I have not been able to run pain free for a long time since the race. I was scared, like, really really scared. I didn't know what to do besides what I have been doing (watch mileage, intensity, shoe wear, fall in love with using a foam roller, stretching, no slanted roads, massage, etc). I have never been in this position before where I have not been able to get over these things with common sense and good training habits. Right now, I have been running with minimal pain for the past couple weeks, and recently got up to 40 min with 3 stretch breaks. That is now what I need to redefine as progress. I don't like that, but it is what it is. Progress.

How to keep occupied during your taper...

1. Remove long standing toe nail polish and joyously realize that there are only two black toenails! Paint toenails a special new color (I now own three colors of nail polish!) for the upcoming race entitled "Don't Toy With Me." I thought that it was appropriate.

2. Clean my car.

3. Pack, re-pack, re-check, re-pack, re- double check all of the race gear.

4. I have a steady record of unpredictable catastrophic mechanical failures while racing which now plagues me with a somewhat paranoid take on bicycle preparation. I have already had the following dreams: that my chain broke and I didn't have a spare link to put it back together (I taped a spare link on to my bike in case this was prophetic), that I got to my bike after the swim and I had a double flat that used up all of my pit stop to realize that it could only be fixed by two new tyres (I am hoping that this one is not prophetic- but I may bring and extra spare).

5. Bake cookies for the 'carb loading' lasagna luncheon that work surprised me that they are throwing as a send off tomorrow. I work with some pretty awesome people.

6. Find both of my newer toe warmers that have been missing all while I have been using my old pair which are barely held together by a few remaining threads. I was pretty excited!

7. Remove things from my packing piles to go out for a quick workout, and immediately wash things up to return anything to its respective pile.

8. Get the dust off of my beloved road bike, and feel sort of naked riding around in what feels like a completely upright position without any sort of computer besides my watch. It is weird not having having W, hr, c, mph, kJ, etc. staring you in the face at all times- quite refreshing!

9. Get to finally crack open the last pair of size 10.5, 2006 Saucony Tangents! I have been saving these bright pink shoes for this race. In my book, they are the best shoe on the planet, and even better if they are worn fresh out of the box for the full 26.2 to preserve that extra-special 'new shoe sproininess.' Believe me, I will need all of the 'sproininess' I can get when I start that run this weekend!

10. See a few snow flakes flying outside, and find comfort in the fact that I will soon be down in Florida! :)

That's about it for now... Ready to get out of here and go have some fun!

Life is about Aerodynamics...

Great DZ interview here. He always seems to have that 'I just got done with a crazy hard bike ride and have so little glucose in me that I can barely think let alone speak right now' eloquence to his speech. It makes me feel better when I feel that way. I wish that DZ would run for public office, for the simple reason that I would love to see him in more interviews.

My new race nutrition plan... well maybe not, but it would be really cool to show up with a box taped to my aerobars.

It goes without saying what I have been up to the past few weeks. Always training makes me a DULL GIRL! Instead of a boring recap of what my peak volume weeks have consisted of, I present to you:

Ten reasons I know that I know that I am ready to start my Ironman taper...

1. My car is really starting to look like a locker room.

2. My dishwasher looks like this:


3. My refigerator is looking like this a lot of the time:


4. The flavor combination of 'sweet and salty' is really starting to loose its allure to the palate. I'm pretty sure I have grown some cavities over the past few weeks from this 'nutrition.' Yeah, only a triathlete would call a bottle of sugar water 'nutrition.'

5. I am loading up on every sort of medicament to not get sick. Vit C, Vit E, Eccinacea, Zinc, Multivit. It may all be smoke and mirrors, but I really don't care at this point. I even have been carrying purell around on my keychain. I have been eating a lot of curries and vegetables. All in all, there will be no repeats of getting sick right before an Ironman this year!

6. My freezer always has fresh ice since I have been using it by the tub load

7. The irony finally hit me while riding today: In Nebraska, I needed to search down hills and hilly routes to train on in the multitudes of flatland riding- at this time of my life, I chose to train for hilly races. In Wisconsisn, I need to search down flats to train on in the multitudes of hills- at this time of my life, I chose to train for flat races. Don't ask me why this took so long to figure out- yeah, I didn't plan things out well.

8. Lots and lots and lots of Laundry. Not to mention, my bike hasn't been cleaned in weeks. I am usually immaculate about the cleanliness of my drivetrain. Right now, my bike looks like a disaster hit it: bugs, mud, grime and grass around the derailleur pulleys, the cassette is black, the chain is grimy, and my white bartape is a combination of grey and goo. Needless to say, my buddy with be getting a nice scrub down tomorrow, and will be shiny once again! :)

9. I seem to have this look on my face a lot. This disaster was taken right after some hard intervals on a cold, windy evening. :)


10. Last but not least, I feel very ready for this race!!!

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OK, now is the boring recap:
All in all, I am very happy with where my fitness is right now. I am absolutely exhausted all the time. I have been sleeping more than ever, but I know that this is exactly what my body needs right now. I have gotten myself as close to the 'edge' as I safely want to be in my training for IMFL. I know it that the fatigue will improve over the next few weeks.

I am happy with where my weight is, and am the lightest I have been for an IM, possibly any race, ever. I am not teeny or anything, but to the point where I feel good but not weak. This is the hardest part for me to achieve when getting in quality training depends upon feeling good going into and during a workout. Focussing on proper nutrition before, during, and after has definitely helped out with this- it is am amazing how good you feel if If things go according to plan. I fought a little cold last weekend, which took my Sunday and Monday training away from me, but I am not worried about it (4 weeks out). I have been more consistent than I ever have been this past year + that I have been training for this race. I need to remind myself of what I have done to get myself here and everything that I have 'in the bank' from that.

Swim:
Training wise, my last race distance swim in training was 1:16 a couple weeks ago, which I will gladly take. Nothing earth shattering my any means, but I am satisfied. Although I took a bit off from swimming this spring, I feel great with the time that I put in this winter working on my form, this summer swimming open water, and now late summer/ fall getting in some good distance/ intensity work in the pool.

Bike:
On the bike, I have put my investments mostly into the 3-5 hour ride. Albeit, the very, very, very intense 3-5 hour ride. I have done so many of these I can't even begin to count. I have become at one with my SRM, and intervals at FTP have become my friend. When it hurts is when it feels good, right? I have only done two 100+ mile days, but many, many 100+ mile weekends with brick runs on both days. This is very different than my past training, but I feel very good with what I have done, and the progress that I have made. Lately I have been very fatigued on the bike. I have been hitting my numbers beautifully and progressively stronger, but I just feel like I want to pull over and take a nap in the ditch instead of ride- even with taking in caffeine on my rides. I am dismissing this to the fact that this is what these peak weeks feel like. If it weren't for the few hours of warmth and daylight that I need to fit my riding into, I swear would be napping in the middle of rides. A concern for the bike is my neck- I jacked it up in a bike crash mid Sept (rainy day + water covered pothole/manhole cover/ sidewalk paint = me + bike skidding across an intersection in the middle of rush hour traffic). I have been slowly getting used to my TT postition again after that day. You see, it has taken me about 2 years to get adapted to where I am on my bike (about 15 cm drop on a 48 cm frame). It is a delicate balance to achieve and it took nothing short of hard work to get there ( and very small changes, one at a time). My neck does not think that 15 cm drop a good idea anymore, but it is hanging in there, and things are feeling like they once did day by day. Thinks are looking good and tolerable at this time, and I am confident that some reduced volume on the bike will achieve perfection. Worst case scenario- I put a spacers under my stem (reason not to cut your steerer tube...).

Run:
I have never felt this good with my running at this point in my training. Have had some great long runs the past few weeks. I have never felt so strong at the end of a 2+ hr run. Did my last long run this past week- it was my best to date- what a great way to finish my long runs! My ITB has been great, and has luckily tolerated the increase in frequency and duration placed on it over the past months. I have been able to hold some good runoff paces, and have had some great runs after some long, intense sessions.

So, there you have it. What I have been doing for the past year and a half. Now all I need to do is not screw anything up over the next few weeks. :)

Big race rehearsal this weekend- doing the 2.4, 112, and 1 hr run. That's a lot of exercise, which means that I need a lot of motivation to get through it. That is where this evening's purchase comes in.

I have been hunting down this particular brew for a while, after hearing rumors about it. I have finally located it in the sense of finally stumbling upon the the Loch Ness Monter or Big Foot or something. Oscura- a coffee beer brewed by Furthermore brewing out of Black River Falls, WI. All I can say is that post swim/bike/run yumminess will await me!

On another note, got in a great 2 hr run today. My best long run so far, and I am excited to get in over two hrs next week before things start coming down. I am absolutely thrilled that I could not only run, but had minimal ITB issues. In fact, I felt GREAT for the last hour of my run. I am finding that I have more problems when I am running slower for the first parts, and when my gait changes into 'faster' mode, I feel fine. I don't have any paces since I have tossed pace out the window for my long runs since I am just trying to keep the ITB at bay and get the time in, but all in all I know it was a good clip for the last half. Nutrition and hydration went well- my plan that I am dialing in on for IM Florida is using a lot more caffeine than I have in the past, and I am testing the waters for using caffeinated gels on the run to keep my buzz going that I will have from the bike. It felt great!

This weekend will be the 'big test' of everything for the race. After all of the intensity that I have been doing on the bike, I am actually looking forward to doing some LSD-type work without anything resembling at or above FTP. I really haven't done this for a long time, but after pounding out 8-12 hours of really mostly intervals of some sort all of the time week after week, I know that this will feel like a breeze in comparison (well, as much as 6 hrs on a bike can feel like a breeze). The 'stupid switch' seems to be working really well this week- my runs, swims, and bike have so far flown by as far as duration; however, I am thinking that some new tunes for the iPod may be in order to help with the solo boredom factor.

The elusive perfect workout...

So, I don't have much going on in my life besides work and training until Nov 1. All work and no play makes me a dull girl. Oh well. I may be dull right now, but it will hopefully make me a fast(er) ironman! :)

So today I had my usual Tuesday fun- 1:30 of some pretty tough bike intervals followed by a runoff of 30 min. In this mess was some short z3 work to warmup, 3x12min @ z 4-5 (5'), and 2x4'(3') @ z5. In other words a lot of pretty hard stuff spent pretty close to or above FTP. Intervals are a love hate thing to me, I like doing them because they push me out of my comfort zone and I like the feeling of accomplishment achieved in such a short duration of a ride, but you know, they're work. Normally they get done, they hurt a lot, and they are what they are. Today, for some reason, the numbers just came- I felt great on the bike!! Don't get me wrong, my RPE was the same, I still had snot hanging from my nose, I still tasted that little bit of vomit at the end of each session, and every duration felt like forever, but today, my legs just said- sure! we can do that!! A rare feeling, but one that was savored like a fine wine or the bloom of an orchid due to the exclusivity and rarity of the experience. The experience that we chase after for an entire season hoping that we can elucidate what creates this beyond hoping that the planets and stars align to our favor. This bike was followed by the weightless runoff around the neighborhood- again, felt great!

notes taken on today (to hopefully replicate this...):
- food: b-fast, drink of orange juice (for Fe supplement), greek yogurt c/ granola, lychee black tea, multivit, vit C pill, vit E pill, Fe pill, zinc, ecchinacea (can you tell that I am determined not to get sick for IMFL :)...) lunch: Trader Mings (Joe's) kung pao chicken wrap, plum, pre ride- small handful of fruit snacks (hey, I think its the same as a gel!), H2O for the ride
- pre ride: 15 min nap
- weather: around 80, sunny- wore tri race kit c/ arm warmers to work out any kinks before this weekends race rehearsal
- setup: front training rim, rear H3 due to rear training tyre needing replacement, wicked fast 11-21 (or 23?) cassette to keep up steam on flat/ downhill sections and to make sure I can only keep a cadence of 60 on anything that resembles a hill. :)
- finally dialed in on a saddle height position this last week after much change- much higher now, and much more comfy aero, working great so far, and would never guess that I would feel good in this position.

So, that's it, I have finally become a real tri- geek by only talking about MY training on MY blog, and topping it off with talking about MY food. AHHH!!

Life update...

- yeah, so it has been, er, a bit since 4 July. The fact that I haven't posted is good- that means that I am very busy working, having fun, and making myself faster for the upcoming Ironman Florida

- A big shout out to two friends who became Ironmen right here in Madison last weekend. My friend Andy put together a very strong and solid sub 12 race after breaking T2 in his neck 1.5 weeks prior. This is for real- turns out is was a stable fracture and he was able to race- what an emotional rollercoaster during taper time! Jeremy finished sub 10 for an awesome race, and dialed in 38th overall in his first ironman! Way to go!

- For me training has been going well. It is that time of year that everything is ramping up and I feel as though I simply just work, s/b/r, and do laundry to feed my addiction. Emotionally, it is the hardest part of IM training. I am exhausted, hungry all the time, and ready to hop into bed and pass out every night. With that being said, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know that I am doing the right thing when I feel like this, and all of these 'deposits in the bank' are worth it for the withdrawal that I am going to make in November.

- It is funny how you get to know your body. I find that my body likes to pack on muscle at this time of training, which I don't really like. I am not a weenie triathlete to begin with- I don't need any cosmetic bulk to be hauling around a race course!!! It doesn't make me look cut, just sort of bigger. My clothes fit the same, it is just a slight increase in kg. Not fun, and I am trying to adjust my cho/pro/fat composition to avoid this without sacrificing recovery. Any insight is appreciated.

- As far as training, I am happy with where my swimming is. The 50m outdoor pool that I had been swimming at and spoiled in has closed for the summer, and the lakes are funky enough from the warm weather that they really aren't a healthy option. I am now stuck in 'regular indoor pools' but it is reassuring to have my times to refer to from where I was previously in 'regular' pools. Things are looking good, and I feel as though in the next few weeks, I can solidify what I need to do to have a good swim in FL. Biking is great- I am riding longer, harder intervals and T work that I ever have. Trying not to freak about the change in kg because FL is flat, and that I have raced my previous IMs heavier. I have some race rehearsals coming up soon that I am looking forward to, and I have found some great flat land to train on around here (a rare thing) to get myself used to being in aerobars for a really really long time. Just trying to dial in my position, nutrition, and pacing to have the ride of my life. Running is great- I feel like my stride and cadence is improving. Psychologically, my long runs have been dialed back in the pace department to keep some IT problems at bay when my volume was going up which I don't like. But I don't like even more is having to hobble home halfway through a run b/c I am in so much pain- win some and lose some I guess. Has delightfully worked so far, and hoping to conservatively visit my good friend M pace again really soon.

- The rest of life is great. Visited family in ND over Labor Day- saw many people who I haven't seen in a while. Great family and wonderful to see them.

- Work is great- I love my job, patients and dentistry.

- Have had some good company visit Madison, and have been enjoying getting to know some of the restaurants in my new home town better. Life is good.

- crashed on my bike last week coming home from a long ride in rain and 60 deg. It was one of those days where I needed to put on my 'tough girl hat' to get out the door. Ride went great- hit the #s spot on despite the conditions. 1 mile from home- bam!- his something hiding under a small puddle of water in the road (culprits- pothole, manhole cover, sidewalk paint), and slid across an intersection on my right side in the middle of rush hour (bike still attached, naturally). Thankful that a car didn't hit me. Bike ok for the most part, water acts as a great lubricant to minimize road rash, bumps and bruises, a jacked up neck, and a headache for a week. Fortunately things are healing well. I will be ok and my headache is finally gone after some worries. Just thankful it was not worse- training now resumed full force.

- So my life is pretty unidirectional right now; however, I know that it will be worth it when all is said and done. With that being said- after much much much contemplation- i signed up for Ironman Wisconsin next year. I can not pass up the opportunity to roll out of my own bed and compete in an Ironman with some 'home field' advantage.

Weekend happenings...

What a great independence day weekend! Accomplished all of the following/ made these revelations with some great company over the past several days

- attended my second 'concerts on the square;' this time with a nice, classy box of Franzia. Not just any Franzia, the classiest and finest of them all- the sunset blush. All we needed is some cheese from a can or individually cellophane wrapped slices, and the party will be complete.

- Rode a bunch in the beautiful weather including a ride out to New Glarus, home of two wonderful things: New Glarus brewery, producers of Spotted Cow Ale, and the New Glarus bakery- I returned home with a bag of herbed beer bread mix in my jersey pocket, which was immediately baked up for the cookout that evening

- why is it that I always run into people out riding right after I am done with a hard workout/ intervals and can barely ride?

- had an awesome cookout with grilled chicken and steak burritos, guac, and margaritas for the fourth of July - it may not have been burgers and apple pie, but we're in a melting pot- right?

- Played with some sparklers, and enjoyed the pletora of ilegal fireworks being lit off around the neighborhood. Gladly avoided all mass crowds and traffic jams associated with public fireworks displays

- night bike ride beebop around town with Sara- super fun, and realized how many people are fishing in the dark on saturday nights- weird. My favorite quote from Sara, "I feel tough with my pants leg rolled up while riding a bike."

- checked out ZuZu cafe and went kayaking with Michelle- super fun! new lesson: paddling in a 'sit in kayak'= you will get wet

- finally able to check out the coveted Michael's frozen custard. Yum...

- Went to picnic and see "Ah Wilderness!" at the American Players outdoor theatre/ theater. Learned about what a masters degree in costume design entails- very interesting.

- I ran out of coffee this morning, so this means that I get to go out to explore out a new local roaster and purchase some new beans! I am very excited! Not only that, but I get to finally use my newest aquisition: a coffee grinder! I am very excited to have this new machine and variable introduced to hopefully get me oh so much closer to brewing perfection.

- Had some awesome help to remove the upper trim boards from my garage so I can finally get the additional few cm of clearance to get my car+bike rack inside. In this process, I uncovered a carpenter ant colony. Now, after working the past nine+ years in healthcare, I promise that I have seen some disgusting things. I usually don't get grossed out by insects, but I will admit that uncovering this colony is towards the top of the list of disgusting things I have seen. This was a pile of the hugest ants i have ever seen, surrounded by hundreds of these disgusting yellow ant egg sacs. I am no entomologist; however I am pretty sure that I saw, and killed the queen ant of the colony- which was by far the grosset and hugest ant I have ever seen in my life. When all is said and done, I am glad that they are hopefully now dead, and that I now know what carpenter ants look like, and that I have not seen any of these creatures of the order hymenoptera (if I remember correctly from first semester bio in undergrad) in my home.

- sitting on the porch at night during a thunderstorm is awesome (what I am doing right now) :)

- I am so excited that the Tour de France is on!!! I love having cycling on ALL the time during the TdF!! On top of that, I could not be more excited the stage 4 time trial tomorrow, not to mention all of the super sweet TT machines to roll out of the start house. I paraphrase Phil Liggett, 'the best way to view the race of truth is on television.'

When best gets even better...

So, as previously eluded to, I have been in a bit of a training slump lately. Didn't know why; however I just didn't have the spark that I normally do to get out the door. A bit of apathy one might say, but I have been still getting my workouts done, while admittedly, a few somewhat reluctantly performed. Well, I had a recovery week last week, and am feeling much better to get back into things. I am very thankful to get that feeling back. It is a weird to not love to do the thing you love to do. I am pretty sure that I have my mojo back, and feel like I want to go on the swim a ton, run all over, century every day plan. :)

Whining aside, I am starting to get to know the roads here better, at least south of town. The roads are quite intertwined, and I still need to meticulously map out my ride if I am testing out new territory, not to mention construction surprises. I have definitely had my fair share of getting lost or getting stuck taking some not so bike friendly highways (read, high traffic high speed, and no shoulder). With that being said, I am absolutely in love with the riding here! The terrain is awesome, and every road is picturesque with foliage and quaint farms. No matter when I go ride, and how far, I always seem to see other riders.
Side note-
New theorem/postulate: only fast riders wave to other riders. No wave = slow.

For the past, er... way too long...I wasn't really swimming, and didn't care. I didn't get any better when I worked really hard at swimming, and when I didn't work that hard at swimming, I had some of the best swim splits ever. Things that make you go hmm. Anyhow, I think I have found the next best thing that will get my spark back for swimming- that is finding enjoyment in the mere act of being in the water and enjoying the world around you- that is open water swimming in Lake Wingra! When I first moved here I was getting mixed reviews on the swimming status of the various lakes and bacterial counts. I have gotten the final word from the tri-geeks and got the real word- it is a go! This means that I have my very own open water training grounds a perfect 4 downhill blocks away... Lake Wingra! There are no motorboats allowed on the lake, and there is usually enough of a handful of canoers/ kayakers/ small sailboats for company. The state games rowing/ crew championships were held there this weekend- those rowers are a pretty fit bunch, and it was fun to watch as I swam along the shoreline to stay out of their hair. I also ran into a nice group of wetsuit-clad people sitting around post swim when I rode there on Monday to swim. Found out it was an open water master's group composed of quite a few tri folk- I am going to join them tomorrow for an evening swim. Not only just having this lake so close, but I am very excited to have found a masters group that meets in the *gasp* evenings!!! (for some reason fishies love to torture themselves by getting up at 5am- tried for about 3 years to convert myself to working out at this time- never took.)


Not to leave out running, I have found the Arboretum which can be reached in a run of a little over a mile from my house. The Arboretum is a beautiful wildlife preserve run by UW in the middle of town with over 20 miles of dirt trails in addition to the secluded, shaded road through it. A perfect 1 hr run from my house, through the arboretum's main drag, and back. I really can't believe that there is trail running less than a mile from my house.

I am on the last steps of my long, drawn out unpacking process. I will hopefully be hanging pictures soon which is what I consider the final stage.

In the meantime, I have a DVR, and couldn't be enjoying it much more with all of the Olympic trials in swimming, track and field, and not to mention a little race in France that is going to start here in a few days. I have literally gotten chills/ teary eyed while watching the trials on TV. I am jealous of my Omaha friends who are actually there watching it. It is absolutely amazing to watch these athletes compete, not to mention break world records left and right. I am foreseeing nothing getting done when the actual Olympics are going to be on tv; notwithstanding, I am excited to have so much material dvr'd for this winter.

I can't even come up with a witty enough caption for this one...

Article: Athletes may be using Viagra for competitive edge

Interesting to say the least. This brings me back to my Endocrinology lecture in undergrad, some of my favorite and very memorable lectures include endocrinology behind bonking, and endocrinology/ pharmacology of erectile dysfunction and treatment.

Hy-Vee triathlon RR:
- At first it felt a little funny getting ready for the first tri of the season, then I was back in my element, found my official 'packing checklist for going to a triathlon' amongst the remaining boxes of stuff to be unpacked in my office. My fool proof list to accommodate for my scatter brained nature before racing. Got everything ready, cleaned the bike, popped on the H3s, and headed out the door for a nice road trip to DesMoines. Got into town at 3:59 and was able to run in to meet up with Andy and Rick for the 4:00 required pre race briefing/ propaganda show. Got the swag bag, realized Andy's car's parking brake broke in the 'on' position (not good), and left the car to drop off all of the transition goods at various locations around town. Picked up Dave, got some Jimmy Johns, and settled in for a good nights sleep at the Rodeway ghetto inn. Oh wait, we needed to be up at 3am to get to transition by 4am. Had a few canned 'double shot' coffees on ice, and finally felt ready to go.

Swim: Without swim training, go figure, I was slower. Oh well- it was an interesting experiment on my part and I got to know my body better. Conclusion of the experiment is that lack of swimming means It takes me a long time to warm up in the water. On a mental note, I was confident with my skills and the race until I got in the water. Then I thought- 'what was I thinking that I could do this after avoding a pool like the plague?' My lack of training haunted me and I literally needed to pop my head up once, look around, and question what I was doing. I then told myself to htfu, remind myself that I have done two ironmans, and focus on the good, efficient, relaxed form that I have worked on all winter. Second half was great- I enjoyed the rest of my swim, for it was a beautiful morning and the water temp was perfect. As far as water quality, fecal coloform does not scare me; I grew up swimming in the Mississippi almost every day.

Bike: Fun course, more challenging than the pancake + 1 hill of last year. Happy with the fact that I averaged about 10 watts higher than last year; however my time was slower. I'll take it. I saw the Kim West himself out on the course in his requisite devil costume, and popped him a wheelie!

Run: I have been working on a lot of intensity with my running all winter and spring very diligently and planned on using that for this race. For the whole run, I asked myself if I could be running any faster, and made sure that answer was no. In other words, kept the rpe where it needed to be. Although a hilly course, my plan still produced dismal results. A little disappointing to still chug out a snails pace run split. The reality of actually training hard, really executing oneself, and still sucking is a pretty big chip to swallow. I am still happy with being out there doing what I love to do and executing a solid race overall.

After the race, got cleaned up, had some good food, finally fixed Andy's car, and headed back to Madison. Overall it was a very fun weekend. I am pretty sure it got me re energized for this season and hopefully jerked me out of this slump that I have been in with training. As far as I am concerned, mission accomplished.


Other side notes on life:
- Got lost for the first time on a bike ride in Madison because a road was closed for construction. Ended up in the closest thing to the 'projects' in town. I coudn't find my way out of town for a few hours, I was pretty mad by that time, and ended up doing an adapted version of intervals through the 'hood' instead of on the route that I was looking forward to checking out. Oh well. Finally found a bike trail that I could take back to my house. side note: I am hopefully going to check out that route tomorrow.

- Got to check out 'the terrace' on lake Mendota and see what the fuss is about. Pretty fun place.

- Get well wishes for my friend Sara who came down with an MRSA infection. She is almost all better now, but still pretty scary for being a healthy, fit twentysomething. I guess moral of the story is it can happen to anyone.

- Planted some petunias in my yard today and also weeded and mowed. My yard looks awesome!

- Rode my bike over to 'concerts on the square' tonight to meet up with some friends, and meet some new ones. Pretty fun times!

- Fired up my new grill Monday- chili lime chicken burgers with grilled pineapple on grilled wheat bagels (someone forgot the buns at the store...haha) I am getting used to this whole grill thing. Next up was the roasted corn for salads- another success. mmmmm...

Yet another update on life...

- Did the final move from Omaha at the end of May. I have been saying that I would remove my rear view mirror on my way out of town; however, I didn't need to. The final load in my car was so full, it literally took me 5+ hours to back, I had knives under my seats, clothes jammed in every nook, and the back end barely closed, yet I did it! Literally, I had a hole for myself to drive, and that is it. The passenger seat was up to the level of the dash, and the rest of the car was densely filled to the roof, which had 3 bikes on top.

- With that being said, I moved in with my parents for a few weeks until I closed on my home. It was actually quite nice to spend some time with them. During my stay I got some beautiful riding in and around LaCrosse county. It was awesome to ride the ridgetops, and go into the valleys filled with beautiful mist and quaint little dairy farms. My stuff was in the garage in what I would call a pretty impressive pile. It is pretty funny when you actually take all of your stuff from its little nooks where it is all packed away- it turns out to be more than you thought- oh well, I guess I do have a house to fill.

- So, I am now in Madison, and officially a homeowner. Moving in went really really well thanks to some awesome people and wonderful friends. Fortunately, my home is perfectly fine with the apocalyptic flooding that has been going on around the area. While out running, I saw many many homes around the lakes in town that were pumping out their basements. All in all, I am thankful that my home is atop a moderate hill from nearby lake Wingra which I have been wanting to go kayaking on. I am loving Madison, and the neighborhood that I am in. I have wonderful local restraunts and shops within walking distance, beautiful trails to run on, the arboretum nearby with miles and miles of trails winding through beautiful green space, and a straight shot out of town to beautiful country roads to ride on. Every ride I have been on I have seen at least a dozen other cyclists out riding no matter what time. It is such a welcome contrast to see people out on bikes everywhere training, commuting, and bebopping around town, people are running everywhere, people out in parks and out on lakes sailing/ boating/ kayaking. I am loving this town.

- I got cable installed yesterday, reluctantly, but I was allured by having the Tour de France DVRd in high def so I can watch it whenever I want. :) So, within a few hours it stopped working. So, I called the cable company to see what the deal was, they couldn't fix it, but here is the catch. During the course of the phone call, the tech asked TWICE if I wanted to add movie channels to my cable. I asked her why I would want to pay for more channels when what I have isn't even working. She couldn't give me an answer, obiously. Naturally, I got things working on my own after the phone call.

- This weekend is the Hy-Vee triathlon, oh wait, duathlon, oh wait again, triathlon! I will admit, with all of this moving and nomadic lifestyle the past few weeks, getting to the pool has been pretty non-existent since Omaha- for real. I am not proud of it, but it is what it is- it unfortunately hit the chopping block pretty hard. So when they first made the announcement that the swim of the race was cancelled- I was really disappointed and bummed that I would be driving a long way (even longer due to interstate closures) for a 10K-40K-5K. I was secretely releived that I would not need to test my lack of swim training, but a little scared thinking how a 40K TT would feel after runing 10 K. Right before I was going to run before my ride yesterday to test the waters, the announcement came out that the swim is back on. Mission aborted- I am glad that I did not need to experience the horror and unnatural progression of a run-bike instead of a bike-run! Kudos to the race directors for pulling a new course out a few days before the event- I presume not an easy task. So, now that the swim is on, I have made a decision: to go into the swim cold turkey, and of course with a wager. :) No swim training, and I will hopefully have the same swim split as last year, or faster. I need to beat a 30:28 swim, and I will get a post race feast and drinks- bring it!

Update on Life...

In attempts to make up for my, er, lack of contribution to the blog world... I present to you... an epic post highlighting my life for the past few weeks.

- First and foremost, where I left off. Took boards. It was a long day, and it wasn't without its usual ups and downs in addition to simply getting things done. I now know that I have passed my boards, with a near perfect score nonetheless, and it is a super duper huge relief. The weekend itself was very difficult, mostly on the line of logistics, but it was fun to see some friends and meet up for some drinks and Thai food after the exam. All in all, this retake thing was horrible and I couldn't be happier to have it behind me. I keep waiting for the hatred to go away, but it doesn't. These examiners took something away from me that I can never get back. Included in the list is: a) over 400 training hours so that I can peak at the end of March (this peak was for nothing); b) the money (think $$$$) and time for a trip to take boards; c) about four weeks worth of sleep; d) time that my patients needed to take for this exam; e) Unfortunately, about 3 lbs gained, during the process, now gone, but it did put an unexpected halt on things for the past few weeks; f) I hate to admit this, a lot of tears, and I am a person who doesn't cry easily. Pic at dinner after boards:


- Graduated from dental school- I am now a D.D.S.! Pretty darn crazy, I guess, but it is a huge relief to close the book on one chapter, and begin the next. What this means is that I have about 10 weeks of what I am calling my 'first retirement' where I am essentially unemployed. Yes, you heard that correctly. I need to wait a while for all of my licensure to come through, so this is what I get. I am not complaining. :)


- with that being said, I am planning on taking full advantage of this time. I have two goals 1) move to Madison and get settled in 2) take advantage of this time off and race and train as much as I can. With the reconfiguration of my training to fit my, er, 'new schedule,' I am certain that I will find my breaking point.


- Got my SRM back, and got in my first race of the season. Coincidentally, I have found an increase in power #s with this new calibration. I'll take it. Won the cat 4 women at the elkhart TT. I'll take it for the first race of the season. Great race, good venue, horrible directions (note: if you want anyone from out of town to come to your race, please put more than just some geographical landmarks on your race flyer). Also raced the NE state championship TT this past Saturday. It was just one of those days that the #'s didn't come, and the legs never felt good. It was very fun to be back in the NE race scene, and I was happy to once again win the cat 4 state title before I leave the state. Pic from the podium:


A special yell out to my buddy Andy who stepped up to the plate from the tri world and raced his first TT and official 'bike race' this weekend. I give credit to anyone who steps up to the 'race of truth' because that is what it is- it doesn't lie. I have heard so many excuses along the lines of 'I'm not trained' 'I don't feel like it' 'I don't want to find out how slow I am' things. Here is the men's Cat V podium (they may need to work on their podium posing skills a little bit)


Another big shout out to everyone who was there and raced: M. Pav, Brian, M. Landen, Morgan, Jeremy, and the list goes on. It was a fun day with fun company, but all in all, I think it was a tough day for a lot of people.

- Right now, I am mostly moved out, living on an air mattress, with just my clothes, bikes, and a few kitchen utensils. Nothing more, really. It is almost a bit refreshing to live a more 'simple' life with out the clutter. I have internet courtesy of my neighbors, and radio to keep me company. I have been enjoying the Kim West Radio Cycling show podcast to keep me company in the evenings. In Omaha till next week sometime.

- My Brother, sister in law, nephews and niece came down to visit right before graduation Fun times. it was fun to visit all of the 'kid' places in town. All in all it was a great time with them, and this was their Christmas present to their whole family to have me cover this vacation. It worked out really well, and the kids had some of the most fun at the dental school. I tried to teach them proper infection control. :)



- Last, but not least, I have found a home in Madison! That's right- I bought a home that I will be closing on June 13! It was a crazy adventure last weekend! After racing, headed to WI to see the home on Sunday before the open house. Thanks to the interned, I have been able to weed out many homes before wasting my time driving to Mad-town. This is the first home that I have looked at in person, and bought. Some may say it is impulsive, some may say smart- I say I know what I want and this was the perfect house in an even better location. It is a bit scary dealing with this 'adult-like' and 'grown up' stuff of mortgages, titles, inspections, insurance, and the list goes on; however after living with 4-12 other people for most of the past 8 years, I could not be more excited to be going on to this next step in life. My 'new' (95 yrs old) home:

Twas the night before boards...

Sitting here in good 'ol MPLS. It is home to overcast skies, rain, possibilities for snow, wind, and fortysomething temperatures. I have the feeling like my execution is tomorrow and I am waiting for the governor to call to pardon me to get out of it. I'm not being too hopeful. :)

I guess the best similar situation I have to this in my life is the night before an Ironman. Here I am, sitting in a hotel, in a faraway place, with a lot of crap with me (instead of bikes, wetsuits, nutrition, etc, it is now $$$$$ worth of dental equipment). Friends are here to cheer me on. I have spent years to get to this place. The funniest part, is that boards makes an Ironman look cheap! :) However, when I think of what is to come tomorrow, it is not fun in the sun and pushing myself to the limits of what I thought is physiologically and mentally possible, it is just drilling out a few cavities. Not quite as alluring, but necessary nonetheless. Oh well.

Kelsey interviewed at a practice in town while I took a tour of the UofM dental school today before orientation. It was sort of fun to look at a different dental school and how their lives here in MN are different from ours in NE. Pretty much variations on a theme and crazy to think that I almost went here for dental school. All I can say, is I am glad that there is not a Noodles and Co accross the street from Creighton dental, or else I would have turned into one giant bowl of Pad Thai over the course of four years in school.

Took the afternoon to get a burger and beer at Sally's, a venue which has 'the best burger in town.' A pretty darn good piece o' beef. I had their signature burger with mozzarella and balsamic mushrooms. An interesting take on a classic, yet very tasty. Afterwards, neuroticly got my paperwork ready for tomorrow, and headed to Mall of America for a bit- it was great to get my mind off of things. It worked.

Now, it is go time. Ready to get this behind me.

Earth Day...

So, we bring ourselves to another Earth Day (also my friend Sara's birthday!)


I've known Sara (black dress, pictured above) since preschool, which is pretty darn cool. This weekend, she competed in her first tri and now has the bug big time! Good work Sara!

I find Earth Day an interesting phenomenon. I love the earth, I think its great, and I want to keep it clean, beautiful, and wonderful. I really don't know anyone who doesn't. I don't know anyone who says 'hey! I think this planet should be dirtier and uglier!'. I do what I can, which is more than lots of people, less than many others, but I don't feel the need to judge or degrade others or make my self feel better by bragging. It is what I do because I think it is the right thing to do; however, I am, by all means, not perfect. I'd rather call it 'living your life intelligently and conscientiously' than 'going green' or 'hugging a tree.' It is wonderful that we have a day to think about the world around us and what we can do to make it better and appreciate its beauty, but unfortunately I saw something this weekend that epitomizes all that is wrong with Earth Day.

Case in point. On Saturday, I was riding my bike through Elmwood park, more on the outskirts of Elmwood park (the road that parallels 60th, through the golf course, east of the park if anyone is wondering) heading to the Keystone trail to take it up north to ride. I was wondering what was going on. There were cars everywhere. The road was packed, the park that I could see below the road was packed, and people were parked all over the grass, every which way. One car tried to run me over on my bike. I was wondering what was going on since I hadn't seen this many cars in Elmwood for a long time. After my ride, I found out. My roommate informed me that it was an Earth Day celebration. I started laughing.

I will refrain from further comment an let the situation speak for itself.

this is why there hasn't been too many posts...

wake up.
shower.
get ready.
iron while water is boiling.
press coffee.
go to school.
do dentistry.
make phone calls to patients.
do related dental lab work. lots of it.
come home sometime late evening or early morning.
training. ( if not too ridiculously late)
If training can be done before 11 pm, assume crappy workout.
go to bed, get too little sleep.

repeat.

That's about it. other comments...

- Last week, a school bus driver decided that driving past a woman with a green trench (aka ME) and spraying her with the many wheels of a school bus would be common courtesy and that I wanted a shower of road grime. Yes, I too, thought that this only happened in movies. Wet wool pants smell like a wet sheep until they dry. I inadvertently started swearing at the bus, then I realized that it was full of elementary aged kids.

- my SRM is out of commision. Great. It is now in Colorado at the SRM hospital. I'm hoping that all this requires is a battery change and a re-calibration. I guess of all times, it is probably the best not to see my power numbers right now with all that is going on in my life not making a situation very amenable to quality training.

- there is no housing crisis. Believe me. If anyone can find a house that actually has some style in Madison, please let me know, because apparently realtors can't do it. (Isn't that what they do? aka their JOB?) Dear realtor: no, I do not want a 60's ranch.

- Dental instructors are really good at saying very ignorant, derogatory, and completely out of line comments.

- My board exam retake is this coming weekend. By the time that I start the exam, I will be so relieved to be able to start, that the dentistry part will be a joy. I don't think I have ever been so stressed out for so long in my life than in the weeks between my previous exam and this one.

Weekend occurences...
(warning, this got a little long...)

This nice weather couldn't have come any earlier!! What a beautiful weekend!

- Got a nice, long, run in on Friday evening. For some reason, it brought back memories when I first moved to Omaha when I would put my long runs in on Friday evening on a certain route. It was my 'me' time for the week, and also made a lot of people that I had just met why I always had 'something going on' on Friday nights. :) There is something just great about the monotony of a long run that makes you forget about everything that went on that week in academia. Went great and held a good pace. In addition, I was very excited that I hopefully have figured out how to keep the belly trouble that comes on my long runs away. Unfortunately, this requires some pretty intense planning as far as meals beforehand and timing, but it is completely worth it for the result. After an entire winter of treadmill running I have been conservatively making the transition to outside and now it is in full swing. I am pretty sure that the consistent and scientific bubble of the treadmill has kept my IT band happy and healthy all winter, and now I am trying to make sure that the changes in surface slant doesn't mess anything up (historicly speaking, this is one of the things that triggers it). Things are good so far. I can tell that my stride is different from what I have done this winter- I am pretty sure it is different in a good way. :)

- I am very excited for my buddies who were road racing this weekend. From what I hear of the preliminary results, things went well. Awesome. I am very proud and honored to know all of them, and know what hard work that they have put in to get to this point. Good job dudes!

- It was a little hard for myself to not be racing (the Altoona RR was my very first RR last year), but it is my own decision not to be there. On top of the fact that I have a mess of things to deal with my boards up in MN, a very soon move to Madison, and finishing up school, I have made the decision not to do any crits or road races until I have a disability insurance policy in effect. Some may frown on this decision and call it ludicrous and unfounded; however, the reasons are as follows:
(1) as it stands right now, my source of income and only hope of paying back my student loans next year is what I can do with my hands [dentistry]. Any damage to my hands/ wrists, and I am out of a job and the subsequent income. For a few weeks and missing a couple races, this risk is not worth it to me.
(2) if you think that the chances are the same that I will crash during a race versus just riding outside with friends or on my own, please spend some time in a Women's cat 4 peleton. It that isn't bad enough, please keep in mind that cat 4 women usually race with the cat 5 men. The men's cat 5 peleton is even scarier. Combine the two, which is usually the group that I race with, and you have what is called a 'crash factory.' Not a good situation.
(3) With that being said, I am looking forward to getting my racing fix in with some upcoming TTs and hopefully a 5 or 10K in the for the next few weeks (unfortunately, its not tri season yet). Then I am looking forward to getting in a few good road races once again.

- Did a breakfast and a ride at my place with buddies Jen, Todd, Matt N, and new neighbors Mark and Ann. Fun times had by all. The coffee, fruit, eggs, and take two on the 'mango, pineapple, banana, orange, oatmeal whole wheat pancakes' went well. Had a great time riding in the sunshine with some good company.

- As a soon to be dentist, I am intrigued and learning more and more about a phenomenon that I would like to call 'endurance racer mouth.' I myself am not immune to it. Characteristics include cavities galore that cannot be prevented or even stopped even with frequent and meticulous brushing and flossing in addition to high dose fluoride. I am pretty sure that it has something to do with concentrated simple carbohydrate consumption in a xerostomic environment for hours on end, possibly combined with a love for coffee while not exercising. Thank goodness I have all the free dental work that I want, but I am thinking that there has to be some sort of protocol that can prevent this from happening. This may be leading to some sort of research project...

- After a winter of putting it off (and not having a good place to wash bikes when it is 0 deg outside), I finally got to wash my bikes after riding on Saturday. This took WAY too long (think hours), but it was required to get the layers of hardened sludge of road grime, grit and grease off of my precious machines. Its like the pertroleum lube turned into coal which was fixed to everything. I'm usually meticuous about my bikes and how clean they are, but pragmatics took over this winter. Did the full and intense clean- once again, my drivetrains are actually *gasp* silver colored!

- Took the morning being lazy for a little bit, being productive for another little bit, and another few hours (not kidding) to try to find a missing knee warmer of mine. This only lead to a fruitless search, a delayed ride, and much frustration on my part. I have been using some old Nike knee warmers that I have, but these are the most unintelligently made knee warmers known to man. Making a knee warmer cannot be that hard- it is literally a tube of black spandex. However, Nike has found a way to screw up this simple task by making the tube too big, and putting a tight band of elastic around the calf. This is a nice recipe for your calfs to cramp on every single ride. If anyone wants to come over and comb my house for a black Descente knee warmer withOUT tight elastic, they will have a free pair of Nike knee warmers in return.

Real life... here I come...

So, after much and much interviewing, traveling, contemplating, and whatnot...not to mention approximately twenty three years of school (which will soon be over)... I have a job!

Come this summer, I will be joining the team at Madison Family Dental Associates as their newest dentist on board. I am so excited about this change and the practice that I will be joining. I am really looking forward to all of the new challenges, opportunities, and rewards of not only starting to practice dentistry outside of dental school, but to move to a new community, town, and area that I love.

What this means, is that this summer I will be moving to lovely Madison, WI. If anyone hasn't been there, in my book, it is one of the best towns ever- hence, why I am moving there. Lakes, endless roads to bike on, fun community, great culture, awesome people, and yes, winters... where I can cross country ski!!!!

I couldn't be more excited about what is to come, and if you are in Madison, you know where I will be. :)

Life updates...

So yeah, I've been a little lazy and haven't written for a while- back on the wagon. :) Things are going well here. On a recovery week- usually a lot of time on my hands these weeks, but school and boards has been sucking up the majority of the extra time. Here are my random thoughts from the past week...in... none other than a bulleted list.

1. Training wise, things are physically going pretty good, but scheduling wise things have gotten shaken up. This whole board retake thing has taken up the majority of this month's weekends (like, all of them) and I will not be able to do any of the three spring races that I really wanted to do ( Lone Star half iron, Altoona RR, and the race formerly known as Lincoln Plating). I didn't realize how much I was using these races as my motivation until I can't do them any more. The whole reason I wanted to do an early season half is to push me through the winter, and it did. I have put in over 370 training hours for these races, got myself as light as I have been in my adult life, set my training up so I would peak right now, and now the whole purpose for this is not there.

I am pretty sure that all of this is the root of why I am experiencing a, well, lack of training mojo. I haven't felt this way in a while (like, a really long time). Usually I love and cherish every moment that I can get out and enjoy these crazy and sometimes painful activities that we call fun. It is almost scary. Don't get me wrong- I am still getting in the majority of my training, but I am finding that my workouts aren't as focused as they should be and it takes me a really really long time to get out the door. I don't like this. @#$@#$!

Last weekend, I saw Dave R out riding, and surely enjoyed his company, especially after chasing him down for several miles outside of Ft. Calhoun. I forgot how much fun it is to ride with other people outside. I guess that is the one drawback of knowing too many fast people- you don't get to ride with them. :) With the combination of the weather still being frigid and the lack of training mojo, it just makes for a bad combination. If anyone wants to beat me with a bat with HTFU engraved on it to get me out the door- please feel free.

I have faith in the fact that this too, shall pass. I have reformatted my weekly schedule to hopefully make my life easier with the same training load. We'll see how this goes.

2. Yesterday, I think I was attempted to me hit by over a dozen morbidly obese drivers. It was weird- every time I car would get scarily close, I would look over and see a large person with a gut with the driver's seat pushed way back to accomodate for it. No exceptions- 100% of the time.

3. While riding today, cars were nice to me- only a few pickup truck drivers who feel the need to make up for their lack of genitalia with their vehicle got a little irate. Nothing new. Funny thing is that when I was riding through Dundee on my way out of town, I ran into circus people in the street. Little did I know that it was the Cirque du Soleil performers running around in my neighborhood promoting their show in town- hahaha!

4. I ran into my buddy Andy at the grocery store yesterday. It was fun to see him. As a fellow triathlete, he was loading up his cart with good stuff, but I will admit, this guy also knows his cookies and brownies. I took his word on a box of Betty Crocker cookie brownie bars. All I can say is wow- very very yummy- and exceptional straight from the oven. It is a good thing that I have roommates who don't let things like this stay around for long. :)

5. While out riding today, I was thinking about narcissism and endurance sports. Although the word may have some negative connotations, I am a believer in the fact that the trait is necessary for success in sport. Don't get me wrong, I realize that if you are bike racing, etc. there is a team effort involved- but lets face it- much of bike racing, triathlon, running is dependent upon the fact that you wholeheartedly toe the line thinking that you are awesome- no exceptions. I don't know exactly what I think of this, but I pretty sure that I like it. I like to be confident in myself, and to be around confident people. We all need to be like Narcissus every once in a while.

Well, thats it for now. Big news (think, huge!) hopefully coming soon... (and, no, I'm not pregnant...)

In the distant future...the year 2000...

Interesting article about the genetice basis of athletic performance. Being a nerd, I usually only prefer peer reviewed journal articles for my source of excercise science knowledge, but I found the topic of this one to be intruiguing, but unfortunatley it is from time/ CNN and no links to a journal article.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1724395,00.html

Dental boards, part bagagillion, day too many...

So, after a horrific weekend and not being able to even start my patient boards due to an examiner's call on a small unknown idiosyncracy of the patient selection criteria for the patient based board exam, I am being sentanced to retaking that portion of the exam at the U of Minnesota at the end of April. Needless to say, with this judgement call, the logistics behind completing this exam is going to consume my life for the next month and a half. Just with the dates of that weekend itself I need to miss out on my roommate's wedding and the North Platte tri (that I have been looking forward to for quite some time). Quite disappointing. I am trying very hard to accept my fate and not let the decision of that (insert long string of foul insults here) examiner consume me, but needless to say I have quite a bit of hatred and animosity built up in me right now. I don't like having this negative energy in me. It is not what I want or who I want to be, but I know it is there for a reason right now. On the other hand, I have been quite flattered by the support and friendship that I have gotten over the past few days. It is genuinely appreciated, and it is so nice to know that people care when life gets pretty crappy.

I guess one good thing from this is that every workout since this has happened has turned into LT work, whether it be planned or unplanned. :)

Well, things will get done. Like tomorrow- one more for the list. I am yet again, heading to the Prometric center to take another exam. Should be fun. In the spirits of yet another dental board exam, here is a picture of some oral pathology. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the only pictures that I have of oral pathology in my photo library is that of my dog, Rugbie. What would be at the top of YOUR differential diagnosis?

Calling a meeting of the minds...

I realize that this may be 'old news,' but I found out tonight that Lincoln Plating Stage Race is no longer- it is meerly a RR and crit, no stages involved. Needless to say, I am very bummed, and the race definitely lost its 'sparkle' on my calendar since I won't even get a chance to defend my previous year's title. There is something about the stage race aspect that I loved about that race. I know that it hurts to TT then RR on the same day, but you know what, I sort of liked it.

Now, I have dabbled in bike racing- that is it. I race cat 4 woman, and wouldn't even call myself experienced; however, this incident brings up an interesting idiosyncrasy of bike racing- sticking to the norm.

I realize that as athletes, we are all creatures of habit in some way, and that cycling is a sport deeply rooted in tradition and an overall resistance to change. I am not saying that this is good or bad, just an observation. It seems as though every race is set up in a very similar fashion as far as distances and disciplines- with the beloved TT often first to the chopping block.

So, what I was thinking is to come up with stages that are better, new, different, something to test all aspects of a cyclist, even if it may even test a *gasp*- weakness. I'm not talking hand to hand combat, an elimination challenge, or an agro-craig here (although...) - I'm talking about a new twist on a stage race.

Some thoughts...

1) a 100 mile or 100K time trial- what I would like to call the ultimate test of endurance. If anything, this would allow everyone to find their critical power. Ideally, this would take place on a pancake flat course, with a mild crosswind- no headwind here. To succeed, one must be spot on with pacing, endurance, nutrition, mental toughness, and also taint toughness to withstand hours on end in the aero position.

2) 1K time trial- this would be to promote the intermingling of track cyclists. From a standing start, this would test everyone's sprinting ability. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a true all out effort.

3) Net downhill road race. Keep it of traditional distance. This way, the race is more of a test of strategy and tactics, and less of a race of fitness.

4) Short road race- I'm thinking 10- 20 miles here, this way, it can be ridden more like a team time trial with the whole peleton.

Little, yellow, different...

It was finally beautiful and sunny for that past few days!!! just what I needed!!! YAY!

Even though I have been at school until way too late in the evening, I have gotten about a good 1-1.5 hrs of daylight left to get in some good workouts. This week I am starting my 'peak.' In other words, this is really when it is going to start to hurt. Good.

I am looking forward to this paradigm shift. I never thought that I would get to this point, but after putting in some very solid, consistent weeks this winter, this is one of the few times in my training that I am ready, and feel ready for a change, and am ready for more. Albeit nothing was perfect, but this winter, my tempo runs and rides were solid. My long runs have been dialed into some good M pace work. My long bikes have been strong and most I got them to the wattage that I wanted to. I know that the heavy drill and kick work has payed off in the pool. My lifting has felt like it has helped me out on overall strength. Besides the absurd amount of times that I have gotten sick, I have been feeling strong. Lastly, my weight has finally broken through a plateau that has plagued me for several weeks- I really don't feel that much smaller, and I know that I still have a long way to go (goal: get down to 140, which is not any magic number other than A) it is less lbs, and that makes my life easier, and B) then I can say that I have lost 100 lbs- sort of a 'century club' thing) and every bit lost helps and is less that I need to lug around a course. This morning, I wanted to crack out my summer cotton dress pants, but they did not even look good hanging off of my butt and hips, I guess I will consider this a good thing. :)

So, yesterday I ran easy from my house over to the track at UNO. Finally tried out this Daniels' "I" pace thing- never got to this point last year due to ITB crap. Yeah, it was hard, it hurt, and my body was really wondering what was going on, but I did it, and it was a good solid workout.

The one thing that I didn't expect, and came as a bit of a surprise to me is the stigma of the track. I went there simply to have a level surface to run on, and used my forerunner for pace (I thrive on consistency. :) ), but when finishing my warmup, my mind was flooded with all of my memories that went along with the track: lap running punishments in band, horrific mile 'run' fitness tests in P.E. classs. The only memories that I had of a track were from when I couldn't even run a lap without walking to catch my breath. I'm serious- I was that girl in gym class. The track was always something that I dreaded, a window that I looked into- never from, somewhat of a 'special club' that I did not even meet the membership criteria. I watched friends in their track meets, completely in awe, admiration, and respect knowing that I was completely and utterly incapable of what they were doing.

Now, here I was, running around a track at what I would like to consider a good clip. Me. Running. On a track. Being fast.

Wow.

At first the horrific memories of the track started to bring me down, and there were floods of thoughts of the self doubt and shame, but then there was this paradigm shift. I had business to do- and it was going to get done. There I was, doing exactly what I needed to accomplish that day. It is something that for some people, is not that great and possibly downright pathetic, but I know that for the person who I was several years ago- what I was doing was the unthinkable and impossible. I realized that yesterday, I had the opportunity to finally give myself a gift- and that is exactly what I was doing.