Sunday, July 3, 2011
I surprisingly don't feel sore from yesterday's mini-triathlon. I actually feel pretty motivated. I'm at my parents home, and since I fell asleep before 10 last night, I wake up early. Jim and I are already out running before 8am, and it is already scorching hot and humid. We run through a nearby park that's pretty shaded. But the humidity definitely takes a toll on us. We finish the water bottle we brought with us early on. I feel slow and sluggish, but I'm still on a high from yesterday, which keeps me going. After 50 minutes of straight jogging, I just can't stand to do anymore. So we run through the backyard and finish up with 55 minutes. I just can finish the last five minutes. What ran, took everything out of me.

Monday, July 4, 2011
Happy 4th of July! We celebrate by getting up early to run in the road race before the Grand Island parade. Warped sense of celebration. It's already hot and humid at eight in the morning. Our race starts at about 9:15 up a nice little incline. I didn't think Grand Island had hills, but this was a definite incline that was a bit challenging. The race feels excruciatingly long and hot. I'm wiped out before we even get to the mile-marker. Luckily, the race is only a 2.3 mile race, but with the heat, it definitely feels like a full 5k. On Webb Road, which is a residential area, a couple homes have sprinklers going in the streets, and one person is even holding a hose for runners to run through. That feels amazing. It is so hot, I can't even describe. I pray it isn't this hot on the day of Iron Girl. Finally, we get back to the parade route, and in a short while, we pass where my family and friends are sitting. Their cheering me on, keeps me motivated. Jim runs with me the whole way, instead of sprinting ahead, like I know he can. But at the end, I send him to run ahead and get pictures of me crossing the finish line. Check out those pictures in the gallery. He got some good ones. I actually look like a fast runner in them. I am terrible slow, and place in the two hundreds, but at least I wasn't last in my age group.

Thursday, July 7, 2011
I took the last two days off because I was traveling home on Tuesday and ended up working 13 hours on Wednesday. I was planning on going to the mini-tri yesterday at Jamesville Beach with the CNY Tri club, but I had so much work to do that I couldn't take the time unfortunately. And I couldn't even get the strength to do a 15 minute run.

Today, it's back to the grind. I get up early to go to Lisa Hill's tri training group at Green Lakes. I'm a bit late getting there, so I take the easier route to catch up with the group. It's still intense once I do catch up with them. We do out circuit training with squats, pushups, dips and all sorts of strength training. I'm so slow, and it's hard to stay with the group. I really hate being the slowest person! But I make it through.

After the crazy circuit training, I bike with one of the guys in the group. We do a good ten mile ride, and I feel great because at least I get a bike in this week. I feel like I haven't done much working out, so I really push myself today. It was great riding with someone because it keeps me going at a faster and more challenging pace versus slacking off and just taking my time. I definitely feel better after the bike.

But then I go to Kevin's running group that I go to every Thursday. I arrive late, but just in time to start the run. Thank goodness it's only a base run. I couldn't handle any tough training after what I've been through this morning. But we run 30 minutes, and I feel great afterwards.

I decide to experiment with fuel gels this morning. Man, do they taste gross. If you can get it down though, it's great. I didn't feel a jittery energy, but I did feel like my legs weren't protesting as much as they usually do. It made it feel easier on my muscles taking the gels. I will definitely continue training with the gels, but I'll have to come up with a better way to get them down. Whew! I'm exhausted!

Friday, July 8, 2011
My legs are killing me! I was planning on riding my bike for an hour and a half today, but they hurt so much! I only ended up riding half an hour because they were so sore. Then I barely made it for my 15 minute run. I'm perfectly content with what I did because my body needs some rest.

Saturday, July 9, 2011
It's another early morning as I have to be at Oneida shores for our Fleet Feet bike ride by 6:45. We ride the Iron Girl course and do some hill repeats. There's a new coach and she is awesome! She is yelling at us to get moving and pedal harder and challenge ourselves, which is really what I need to keep going. When I end up losing a group, I just pedal at my own pace, but she really makes me push harder and keep moving. It feels awesome!

After, I do a quick 15 minute run, which isn't bad. Then I walk with Sharon BuMann for about 30 minutes or so.

I am so exhausted, but it feels good.