Light at the end of the tunnel

Only 18 days left until I am done school. Yes! I am counting. Also Miranda and I move into our new house the day I am finished. I can't wait because we have out grown the place we are in currently. We really didn't want to move into a house until earlier next year but we could not pass up a house like this. Both Miranda and I just love the place.

Everyday Makayla is changing and it is so amazing to see. It seems like just yesterday we were taking her home from the hospital and now see is learning to say new words every day.

There is not much to say about my training. I was looking at running the Pheonix marathon in January but with this house thing I think I will have to pass this year. I am getting some running in, some weights and a little bit of biking in. Frank has lent me his bike that has the powercranks on. I am giving the powercranks a try to see if all the hype is correct about them. The first couple of times on then my legs were rubber after only 10mins. Right now my training is on the back burner until my schooling is finished.

Crazy Times!

I figured I should post because it has been a while since my last post. My triathlon season ended on a good note. With all the injuries that I was plague with this year I was still able to have a okay year. I had less time to train this year them the past since I started school again but maybe this is what I needed. Well, Muskoka 70.3 triathlon was the last race of the year and was my "A" race and I ended up coming 4th in my age group. I was expecting anything closer to a top 5th pace finish. After the race I took some time off from training and focused on my last semester of school.

This semester I am in the emergency department and just love it! I knew before going into the nurse field that I wanted to end up in the ER. Even though I love it, I am going to work on an inpatient floor for a min. of 1 year before applying to work in the ER. I believe I this will help me develop more as a nurse and give me the confidence that I need in the ER.

Last week I sign a contact with the hospital to work when I am done. It is nice to have a job before I am even done school. Also with school coming to a end Miranda and I have been talking about buying a house. Well we ended up looking at a couple of houses a week and a half ago just to see what we want in a house. We were thinking of making a serious effort to get a house in January but we ended up falling in love with this house and decided to make an offer. To make things worse is that we were biding on a house that had another offer on it. In the end we got the house and are moving in December 2. This is awesome because we will in our house for xmas and Makayla will have her own room.

Miranda and I was planning on taking a trip to Phoenix so I can run a marathon in January but buy this house throws a wrench in the plans. We still might go but it is depending on when I start work. I am still training for it but if I can't go I might look at going back to Boston again in April.

Half Ironman or Sprint

I am racing this Sunday but I am not sure what distance I am going to do. My foot is feeling better everyday but I am still feeling it after a run. So if I decide to race the half Ironman I might do more damage and be back to square one. Also training is starting to come back but still I am from where I can race and be a force out there. So it looks like I am leaning towards the sprint but this will be a decision I will make tomorrow.

This past week I have started orientation to the hospital. Lots to learn and almost to much at one time. I am nervous but at the same time excited to start.

The Flu again!

Makayla is sick again with the flu. Poor little thing. There is an up side to having her sick is that she is very cuddly. When she is not sick she just doesn't stop all day which can be very tiring for Miranda and I.

The past couple of days I have been in the pool and not just swimming. I have been doing this pool running which is keeping me from wanting to go out and run. I have read many articles on pool running and most have said that by doing this you won't lose any run fitness and that you can maintain the same level as before. I am going to give this a try. I have nothing to lose.

Today I also swam 3500m but I felt that I was going backwards the whole time. Maybe my arms are still a little tired from the weekend. Even though I felt like I was going backwards my time was not that bad than what I thought it would be. My main set was 15x100m on 1:30 and I held 1:20 for each of then. This is okay for the amount of training I have been putting in. I would love to see my time under 1:10 for all of them but that will come later on, I hope.

Pictures of me at Muskoka

Muskoka Long Course Triathlon

Yesterday was my first tri of the season. I usually have at least one before this race but I have been dealing with tendinitis in my foot. My foot was feeling better and I thought the tendinitis was all behind me. I was wrong. After yesterday race my foot is back to square one.

I didn't have any expectations on yesterday race because my training has been sparse due to school and spending time with the family. I wanting a top 10 placing in my age group and to see where I need to focus more of my attention on.

The swim was great. I started off fast but then settled into a very comfortable swim behind two other swimmers. It might of been a little to slow for what I like to be in most races but this race I sat back and let then do all the work. I came out of the water feeling great and warmed up for the bike.

My goal for the bike was to hold 33km/hr and again I reach that goal. From previous years this was a good goal because of the many hills on this course. I also started off slow to save my energy for when the hills really started to come. I finished feeling strong and better than I felt last year.

I was worried about the run and did not know if I would actually finish the race. I felt the pain in my foot every step but I kept on going. The first km my split was 4min and I thought that was awesome. The second and the thrid km my quads sieged up and force me to stop. The next two km I was seeing 6min for each split. After the 3rd km my legs loosen up enough to allow me to pick up my pace. I was only able to hold around a 4:40/km for the rest of the race. With 4-5 km's left my foot was really hurting but I wanted to keep going and get this race finished.

I ended up finish with a time 3:18 which is slower than last year but was expected. I was overall happy with my race and learned that I need more time to rest the foot. I was back at training today with a pool run. I want to get in the pool more to do some more running so I won't lose to much by not running outside.

Working through

The past week was hectic with school that my training with no existent. My mom and my grandmother was here for a visit. It was nice to have some family visit even though it was a very busy time at school. My mom and grandmother flew in on the Thursday and back out on Tuesday. They had a very nice time spending it with Makayla. She sure kept them busy.

I ended up booking an appointment to get my foot looked at. I ended up not being able to get in until this Monday coming up. My foot is feeling better but I still can feel it when I walk sometimes. I am hesitant to run on it yet just in case I re injure it.

Muskoka triathlon is coming up next week and I am worried that I won't be healed for that race. If all else fails I can pull a DNS. I hope not but I really need to get over this injury before deciding to race. If my foot is better I know my performance won't be great but I will use this race as a warm up to the season.

Still no run!

Yesterday I tried to give the run thing a go. Even though my foot was still injured it was feeling a little better and I wanted to see if a new pair of shoes would help. Well I ended up turning back after 1 block in and the foot is still in pain. I wanted to do something other than swim so I headed to the gym to try out the cross trainer. I see people on the cross trainer all the time but I have never tried it out, so I booked 30min session on it. I ended up only doing 20min because my balls of my feet were getting sore. I don't know if I was doing it right but I don't think that I should be feeling pain down there.

The good thing about yesterday was that I register in almost all my races for the summer. I have been putting it off to see how my foot is going to be but if I wait to long I might not enter into any. Also by registering for this races it will get my butt in gear.

My goal for the summer is to get in as much training as I can while I am in school and to use all these races as a good building tool towards Muskoka 70.3 in September. After that race it looks like I will be focusing back on my running get ready for another marathon. I have not decided which marathon I will do but Phoenix is on the radar. Depending on the group consensus is were I will race. I am not a big fan of racing a marathon but I do like the training with the group and also I like to make a vacation out of these races.

Frustration

I have not blogged in a while because I have been frustrated with my training. One thing to another has lead me to not be able to train.

Just over 2 weeks ago my training was going great. I was starting to focus more on speed but it soon came to an end. The flu was going around my family which started off with Miranda not feeling that well for a few days. On the Wednesday I got home from class and was getting ready to go coach and then a swim but Makayla ended up throwing up everything that she was taking in. This went on until Friday before Miranda took her to the hospital to get check out. We were worry and even called tel -a-health on Thursday to see if we should take her in. Well we were glad to have taken her in on Friday because the doctor said that she was extremely dehydrated and that if we waited any longer it would not be good. That night I ended up getting the flu and it was the worst I have ever had. It took me almost a full week to get over it. Well Makayla ended up coming home after 5 days in the hospital but it took a few days more before she was back to her self. I am glad she is back to normal it was hard seeing here in the condition that she was in.

I thought that with the flu gone I could start trying to train again. It did take a day or two to start to feel better at training without feeling so drained in energy. This didn't last long. The top of my right foot was very sore and made walking and running unbearable. So back to taking the time off and giving my foot some time to rest and get better. I don't know what I did but it is very sore to walk on. This has gone on for a week now and I am getting very frustrated with not being able to train.

I am hoping that this will go away by Monday as I am icing my foot every 15min now. I have to keep telling myself that this is just a set back and that not to push it because I might be out longer. Well Muskoka is in 3 weeks and I need to focus on the my swim and bike and hopefully when my foot gets back I will be able to get my run back quickly.

I did get in a swim today and was looking at biking but with Miranda working and with the amount of homework I am hopping to get out on my bike at 7pm.

Back to School

I am back in school now for the final push until I graduate in December. It looks like there is going to be tones of reading but it doesn't look to be that bad of a read. I am very excited to be going to Belleville for my clinical. I really missed being in a hospital last term when we had to do a community placement but now I am back. This placement I believe is in the Labour and delivery area. That is going to be exciting because I like working with children and this might be an area that one day I might try out in my nursing career.

The next 2 weeks is going to be a trial period for me to figure out my workout schedule. I don't want to overload my weeks with to much training even thought I would love to do that. I have to find a balance that will work for me and at the same time have enough time and energy left over for the family and to get in all my homework done. With figuring out my scheduling for training I am going to try and see if I can put a few group workouts every week into my plan. I really do enjoy training with everyone and it seem to push me to the next level which somethings I can not get there by myself. The only problems I see with going to group workouts is that I will have a time limit and I can't waste it talking or standing around at the start of every workout.

Tired

I did not get much sleep last night. Makayla was up a couple of times. I am not sure why, but it does create a sleepless night for everyone. I had to coached this morning so I could not even sleep in. With Miranda having to work 11-7 I ended up biking by myself. I did not mind it because my legs are still recovering from Boston. I ended up biking around 45km. This was my second ride since Boston and each time my legs are feeling better. The rest of my day I spent it chasing Makayla who is now walking. She is so cute when she walks. It is almost robotic and un-human like. Since it was nice outside today Makayla and I walked to the Y to go for a swim. She really loves the water. Maybe she will be the next swim star.

Tomorrow is my first day back to school. This will be my last long haul until I finish in December. I can't wait to be finish. Also tomorrow I am going to try to go for my first run since Boston. It will be interesting and very slow.

Boston Pictures

Boston Marathon

So, I did not make it under 3hours but I did get a PB by over 5 mins. I am happy with my overall race. I really enjoyed this race a little more than New York Marathon. Not that New York wasn't great but I was able to enjoy the crowds more because I did not push myself to the point were I was completely drained.

It was great to have a bunch of us at the athlete village because it helped passed the time waiting for the start. Once in my corral I pair up with Richard who was looking to run the same as me. With me starting in the 5th corral I did not expect the start to be very fast. At the first mile I check my split and I was already around 30sec off the pace. I thought to myself not to panic because there is still lots of miles left. I was able to get back that 30 sec and a few more before the half and I crossed the half way mark at my project time. I was still feel great and stayed at the same pace because everyone has been telling me that this race doesn't start until mile 16 where the hills start. I did not have much problems in the hills until mile 19 when I started to fall off the 3hours pace. I had to decide at that point if I wanted to push myself through that pain or enjoy the race. I went for the enjoy the race. Coming in to the home stretch the crowds where unreal and I soaked up all the cheers and crossed the finish line with a smile on my face.

The after party was awesome and it was nice to hear everyones story of their race. Overall it was a great trip and I might think of going next year but I could be pro sueded to do a different race. It was nice to get home and see Makayla. It is unbelievable how much she changes in the 4 days away from her. Even though Miranda and I missed Makayla I was the best for both of us.

The past two days I have been in the pool trying to get my form back. I feel like a brick in the water but it is starting to feel a little better each time. This is a good time to build my swimming back because my legs are not ready for a run yet. I am hoping to get on my bike but it is hard because Miranda has been working so much and that leaves me to care for Makayla. Not that I am complaining but I wish I had a bike carrier at this point so I could take her out for a little bike ride.

Last long run

Today was my last long run before Boston. I ended up doing around 1hour and 10min run with 3 x8min pick ups added in. I wasn't sure if this was going to tire my legs out more than what I want but with the peer pressure from Frank I quickly gave in. The pace was not under 4min per km and it felt really good. I am getting excited for Boston and I believe I will have a great race and maybe a new PB.

I am also coaching a beginner tri group on Wednesday and Sunday. I love coaching these type of athletes because they are so filled with passion and just completing a triathlon is the number one goal. Seeing this really helps put me in a different frame of mind when I go out to train. I try to make every workout fun and try to enjoy the time because I am not getting paid and so what else is there to keep me going.

My plan for the week is to try to stay rested and enjoy this week because once the marathon is over I must get my butt back at it.

Article in the paper

Click to read the article:
The Peterborough Examiner

Just over a week left until Boston

I have been cutting back on my running and trying to get some rest. I am at the point where I figure all the tough work is behind me and not to worry about cramming any more workouts than necessary. I just want to focus on staying rested and preparing myself for the run.

I have been left thinking what kind of pace I want to run this marathon at. I have been going back and forth on what kind of pace I can do. I just don't want to finish the race thinking that I should of started out faster or thinking I should not of gone that fast. I am leaving it to race day to figure out what I am going to run. I will of course have some times in mind before the race and will have done my research for what pace I will need to run to get these times. When I wake up I will she what my body will feel like and go from there. Maybe this is not the best way to go into a marathon but this is only my 3rd marathon in 9 years. I also look at these races as let go and have fun and hopefully get a great time while doing it. I will never be a top marathon runner so I might as well enjoy the race and all the time I put into it.

Fighting a cold

Yesterday night I decided not to go for a run. I am feeling that I am fighting a cold and I figured that a little rest might help. I don't want to get a cold this close to Boston.

I had to decide should I do my speed workout today or go for an easy run. I decided that an easy hour run was better since tomorrow I was planning on doing some tempo with the gang. I don't want to do back to back hard runs. The run was great because I was able to take Makayla in the baby jogger for an easy run.

After my run I headed to the pool where my main set was 1500m at tempo pace. With this being my second week back in the pool I didn't expect much. At 1000m into my swim I was at 13:50 and I finished the 1500m at 20:40. I know I will drop some time from this in a couple of weeks.

Great weather for a ride

It is finally starting to look like spring outside. Today I believe the weather got to a high of 15c. This is great weather for a ride but Miranda got called into work so I am at home dreaming of how nice it would be to ride outside. It has been a long winter and to much snow. Usually I don't complain of the winter but this winter it has carried on a little longer than I like.

Today I got in 2600m in the pool for a recovery swim. It was needed because my shoulders were sore for yesterdays swim. My run tonight is a speed workout which is going to be tough on my own but once I put my ipod in I will be ready. It is great to be getting some more workouts in while I have a couple of weeks break before I start another semester.

I think I should be including chasing and keeping Makayla out of trouble as a workout. That little girl never stops. Yesterday she took a couple of steps without holding on to anything. I think in no time she will be walking. That could be fun and yet I think it is going to be tiresome.