I'd ask myself why, but Y is a crooked letter.

Hello Blogo-sphere friends, I am back. You know, I stopped blogging because I felt like I had nothing of interest to say. Yes, I did do a variety of bike Fondos which sucked like hell because I am not a good cyclist, and I just completed my second marathon. But I felt like I had already blogged about my marathon before, what more could I say? I guess I could have mentioned how awesome my running buddy Heather was. She was actually the reason I did the second marathon, she asked if I wanted to do the training team with her and I agreed for some heaven forsaken reason lol.

Train we did, we became part of the Green team with Marathon Training Team and subdivided even further into Snot Rockets. Our coach Q has some maddening obsession with mucus, and so we were named. It was a great group, and I actually trained during the summer at the wee-est hours of the morning with Heather and her Midlo running group. What a fun group of people, we suffered through hills, miles and fartleks together. It was a great experience and I felt great. I got in awesome shape too, although the top of my thighs just won't let go of that pocket of fat they love so much.

Well I am outsmarting them, the stupid fat holders that they are. I am doing an, drum roll and dramatic music here, is the suspense killing you???? Do you wanna know what I am doing for really???? I signed up to do an IRONMAN!!! A full blown, 140.6 mile odyssey to see just how far I can push this body of mine. I decided it is time to thrill you with my blogs again. Official training doesn't start until June, but there is so much base training I need to get in between now and then. Too much fun to be had by all, aren't you glad I included you? So thus starts the journey, stay tuned my friends, buckle up and put your seat trays in their upright position. It's going to be a wild ride!!

Fondo, I'll take the Piccolo please...

Sometimes my husband has these really incredible ideas, like, "Hey, let's get you a diamond wedding band on this cruise to celebrate our anniversary". And sometimes my husband has these ideas that make me wonder if he just upped my life insurance without my knowledge and has this grand plan *insert mustache twirling and an evil style laugh here*, to do away with me and make it look like I was just trying to stay healthy or something lol.

So anyway, this weekend(much like Sharkfest Swim from Alcatraz)was one of those ideas, I did my first Fondo at Brad's behest. At least this wasn't the "Run from Wild Mama Bears After She Caught You were Playing with her Cubs Fondo (or something equally as ominous sounding)".

I had never heard of a Fondo in my life before a few months ago. How bad could this kind of bike ride be? You got to choose sizes for Pete's sake! When Brad asked if I'd like to ride a fondo I was all like "Yeah sure, I've got this..." Then he asked what distance I'd like to do, this is where all of those years of Italian came in handy, did I want to do the Gran, Medio or Piccolo? Well I was so sure of my big, bad self I said Medio. I'm thinking a medium bike ride, well duh, yeah, I can so handle riding 62 miles. Hmmmm, what I failed to take into account was the Appalachian Mountains. Because wouldn't you know it, they managed to send those routes through the mountains. Okay, I take a look at the elevation maps for all of these rides. The Gran had three climbs, the Medio had two of the Gran climbs and the Piccolo had the one climb in the middle of the Gran and Medio routes that was a category 3 climb. So much like Goldilocks, I decided the the baby bear ride, the piccolo one was just right. The miles were fine, the climb and subsequent descent had me freaking out BIGTIME, but it was really fine! I thought I would be panicked on the downhill, but wwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeee! I actually let myself go over 40 mph. It was rather exhilarating. Anyway, back to my story....

We go to Covington, VA where the ride is happening. We have to go into Clifton Forge to get our packets and I switch my distance. I want to do the Piccolo I tell the nice volunteer. She really was just as nice as could be. I get a nifty cycling jersey for being one of the first to sign up, a nice sticker for my car and huge case of the jitters. We meet up with our friend Mike who will be riding with Brad and hit up Cucci's for dinner for some of the "best" Italian food in the area, which was made just like Chef Boyardee used to make. There was also a sandwich on the menu called a Sloppy Cucci, which hard as I might, I couldn't bring myself to order. It made me laugh out loud when Mike asked stoically, What if there was a hair in it??

BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG, 5am comes way too early in the morning I have decided. Brad and I make coffee, eat our oatmeal and get to the shuttle. There were some really uber friendly volunteers here as well. One super nice lady offered to pick me up off of the side of the road while she picked up the arrow markers if I was still out there and bring me directly to my hotel room. Then we made some friends on the shuttle on the way to the start and we grabbed some coffee and a scone waiting for the race to start. I have to stop here and offer a big fat thank you to John Davis, one of my husband's friends who kindly rode with me the whole way and at one point even came back to find me when I was having a bit of trouble with shifting into my middle and big rings. We started the ride, I bid Brad a fond adieu and settled into a comfortable 19 or so mile pace with John.

Life was good until mile 14, that's when Pitzgers Ridge hit. I remember thinking when I hit the first plateau on the mountain that phew, thank goodness that was done. I did a slow, steady 6-9 mph here, but was barely cranking out 4-5 mph by the time that uphill spike hit. I was certain that we had done the whole Ridge, but lucky us, we had another 3 miles left woot woot!! I thought for sure, I would have to get off, but I didn't. I made the whole 5 or so very uphill miles without getting off of my bike. I did have to stand a few times, but I was strong and felt good.

I finished my ride in 2 hours and 43 minutes. I was sort of pleased, I had never ridden a category anything mountain in my life before, and toss in 32 more miles of very steep, hilly terrain, and ta-da there was my race.

I felt pretty proud of myself for going so far outside of my comfort zone, I am after all a reluctant athlete of any kind, but I have to admit I kind of liked being Goldilocks, the piccolo Fondo was just right!

I LOVE the Tavern, really I do!

Okay, I have to say it again, I LOVE the Tavern. Seriously, it was the best time, and, although I wish my biking were way stronger, I feel like I performed pretty well.

Rewind to last year, the James River did this goofy crest the morning of the race right before we got in. Think endless pool for the current and water higher then it was safe for us to swim in. But in we intrepid triathletes went and many, many rescues were needed by participants. Thank goodness for Chesterfield county police and the kayakers there to help everyone.

Fast forward to yesterday. Laurie had it changed to a totally down river swim, so even if a situation like last year occurred it would only help us, I personally was praying for that to happen so we could all swim like Michael Phelps hahaha, anyway as we were getting in, my swim goggles snapped at the side and needed to be fixed. I was like, my freakin goggles broke really??? Then I hear over the megaphone, Purple caps, one minute, one minute to go. I was thinking this is going to suck to have to swim without goggles for 750 meters in murky river water. But, as luck would have it, I managed to thread the goggles back together, get in the water, find a starting position and next thing you know, you heard the go siren. I would have liked to position myself better, but oh well. I swam pretty well, I could have gone a little harder in hind sight, but you know how the old saying goes...

I got out of the water, flew up the stairs, and ran into transition. No walking, no jogging, I ran, crossed the timing mat and ran to my bike. I have to admit I did have a little trouble clipping in, but once I was in I was off. The bike is the only part of my race I knew would be lacking. I have had minimal saddle time, and it showed. I managed to finish 6 minutes plus faster then last year, but still, if I had been riding more I could have broken an hour. Still, comparing apples to apples I did manage a better bike, but it should have been better then that even.

I managed some fairly okay transitions, that's free time so I really need to get better at those. No hard training necessary to gain an extra 30 seconds or minute, but they weren't unduly long so that is really good for me.

I did run faster then last year by a minute. Considering all I have been through with my running, and how training has been a long process getting back to any speed for me, the fact that I had a sub 29 minute 5k was very pleasing. I know I can't compare my last triathlon run to this one, but since they were both 5ks, although as different as night and day, I did better then that too by about a half of a minute. Yay, that makes me smile...My training is paying off with my run :)

So there's my recap of my race. Less then stellar compared to some, I'd love to say I finished first in my age group, I'd love to say I was the best of the best of the best SIR, I'd love to not wish I had done this a little faster, or that a little better, but given all I have gone through healthy wise and other wise, I'd have to say, I love the Tavern.

I survived graduation hell, and some long runs along the way.

It has been a few weeks since I have blogged. But really, I had a high school graduation, an 8th grade graduation and an elementary school graduation to get through. That and the relatives visiting and end of year hoopla that occurs on the elementary school level and there you go. I can't believe I managed any kind of training, but I did.

Second tri of the season happens this Sunday. The I Love the Tavern tri is a good open water triathlon, the first one I ever did, and I survived the great river debacle I have mentioned previously last year, so hopefully this year will be better. The only thing that really sucks is the heat is supposed to be triple digits. I keep hoping it won't affect me negatively. I will be fine in the swim, and the bike, but the run? I am positively panicked about the heat at that point.

My marathon training has been going pretty well so far. I have been keeping true to my miles for the most part. I am running my 3,5,3, 5 and whatever the long run will be. Last week, although I didn't go to Sportsbacker Stadium, I did go to the gym for my 8 miler. I have to say I was actually looking forward to it. I had had such success with my shorter runs that week, I was doing negative splits, finishing faster then when I started, and actually doing the last mile or so sub 9:00. Today's run, I did the last 1/2 mile at 8:24. I did one 3 mile run this week with a 2 minute walking warm up, followed by the 3 miles in under 29 minutes. It felt soooo good to be running a little faster again even if it was just on a treadmill. I miss being at 8:30 miles. I liked that pace. I liked feeling faster then my snail-y old self. I think I have my medicine figured out. I don't take it unless my blood pressure creeps over 120/80, which it hasn't been in awhile. Getting faster is prepping for those blasted cul-de-sac 5ks coming up. I PR'd my 5k at the last one last year, I don't know if that will happen this year, hopefully I may come close....hopefully. But to get back to my 8 miler, I ran the whole thing, it took an hour and twenty minutes, so it was pretty freaking long, but I felt GREAT! Really, really great. I wasn't breathless, I wasn't tired, I felt good. I feel like it was a good omen for the rest of my long runs. I am actually not afraid of them. So we'll see how they go. I am getting my legs underneath me again so to speak. Here's hoping they stay strong. I have a picked a massage therapist I really like at my favorite massage place and have warned her as my mileage ramps up, so will my appointments for her to work my legs.

I will keep everyone posted on how the Tavern goes. The bike has me a little worried, but I know the course, know when to pop out of the saddle to handle that hill there at the end of Manakin Ferry, and am hoping my legs will feel strong enough for the run to run faster then I did last year. If I could survive the hell of the last few weeks, I can live through the hell of 27 minutes of running right?

Open water, 2 times and fear for tomorrow....

I had planned on doing this open water swim. It was the pre-swim for the I Love the Tavern Tri in two weeks. All of this rain made the James look like it was chocolate milk instead of water, but one gets used to the soupy yuck I supposed.

We walked to the down river spot we were all jumping in to make it a 500 meter swim down current swim (which actually was 700 if you went to the dock instead of getting out where the kayakers put in which all of us did pretty much). Last year was a total fiasco. There was a crazy spike in the river level and current right as we were heading in for the swim for the race. There were more rescues then you can imagine, the 750M got shortened big time to maybe 400m when all was said and done it took so so swimmers like me 25 minutes to swim it. I had a friend who got so stuck in the current, it took her 45 minutes. Anyway, I like pre-swimming this course just to know I can do it. I like swimming this course because of all of the nifty things I get to pick off of my body when I take my suit off after a particularly murky swim like this, the things I do for entertainment! So we went to the possible new location for the swim start, and started by going in single file. I had the best swim I have to say. I wish I had my watch, because I'd like to say I finished the swim in 10 or so minutes. Now, don't go thinking I'm all Michael Phelps or anything, but the current was ripping us along and just WOW, I flew. I got out rather proud of myself and feeling strong.

At that point I probably should have said, Let's go hon! Of course Brad was out way before me. My confidence was soaring and I had a contact high of sorts, no rotting endorphins here! Anyway, we were given the option of staying for another round of swimming, jumping in and swimming up current for 10 minutes and back to the dock. Brad said he wanted to, and I figured what the heck? After the swim I just had, what's a measly 10 minutes into the current? Are you thinking this post will have an unhappy ending?? Sorry to disappoint Mr. or Ms. Half glass empty. I felt strong, even with all of the mass start kicking and elbowing that went on, I choppy stroked myself into that ripping current for 10 minutes, found a spot where I didn't get the crap kicked out of me and I almost kept up with the fastest people out there. I felt even better then before! My swim back took all of 3 minutes, literally, that's how fast that current was running, but I did move forward up current. I watched as landmarks passed, I sited like an alligator, I devoured that river like piranhas on an unsuspecting victim and got out leech free, ah, the perfect open water swim...

Now if this can carry over into tomorrow! I am still thinking maybe I hit my head on something shortly before I agreed to join the Marathon Training team again. Or maybe my twin from the other side of the sun, remember that from the Justice League how there was Superman and Wonder Woman et al from the other side of the sun whose costumes and eyes were black and they were all bad, crazy people, I digress, decided they needed to mess with me a little and put me up to this.

Who knows, all I can say is I hope the current moves me along for my run tomorrow, is all down river and leech free...

Yeah, I did just do that, what was I thinking?

You know, I was tripping along quite happily yesterday. Life was good, training has been training, I have been following my plan and happy. Then someone asks me to join the Marathon Training Team with her. I was like no, really I couldn't, easier then refusing seconds on desert. So why then am I going to be at Sports Backers Stadium, bright and early Sunday morning with a 7.3 mile warm up training session run in front of me?? Why am I doing this again? Well if the person who asked me was someone else, I probably would still be tripping along happily with no marathon in my future. But I like her loads, and her boyfriend is a great training partner for Brad, and they like doing crazy races together, so I figured why not? Why not indeed, why....

Oh right, I'm stupid....Running a marathon is definitely not like having a baby. I remember the pain from the NYC Marathon VIVIDLY!! It's not like I've forgotten that feeling of my hips and legs may never feel the same again. But wait a minute, that marathon I ran, I only trained for from August until October. When I asked my running friend Brenda, who incidentally is a running coach, to whip me up a training plan I now understand why she looked at me like I had an extra eyeball. Three months to train for a marathon, another hash mark goes in the I'm Stupid column. But she did make a plan, I did train for those three months and I did finish a marathon, and managed to do it in under 5 hours so I could get my name in the NY Times. Hmmm, maybe not THAT stupid, but stupid none the less.

Let me explain that there is nothing suckier then marathon long run training sessions in Richmond heat. 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 miles of nothing but running, sweating and wishing it was over already. I am not one of those Zen runners. I do not find my inner peace on long runs. Actually my husband teases me and tells me my endorphins sort of rot and go bad so instead of a runners high, I highly want to punch the person standing closest to me. But maybe if I have all of this time in front of me, two extra months of training it will be make a difference. I started the training team last year and had to drop out in August when I started taking my blood pressure medicine. I had a hard time adjusting, but I am used to what I take now, I know how I need to super hydrate when I train in the heat.

Did I mention I hate running? Long or short distance, I just hate it, and here I am faced with running 26.2 miles. So off I go, head long into my next race adventure.

Of course it will make great fodder for my blog mill. Maybe that's it, the frustrated writer in me needed more material for this blog so I decided to do something stupid like a marathon. Surely I could have found another muse...

No Excuses....

After my performance on Sunday, I had a long, hard look at things. There were moments of grace, I did better on the bike, thanks honey for your Flashpoints, felt great on my swim and fizzled on my run. I was chatting with my husband about it all and he said one thing that really made sense to me "no more excuses". How true, how true....I can continue to compete at the level I am, train at the level I am and place the level I do. And continue to make excuses, I'm afraid of passing out from my medicine, I am afraid of what will happen because of my MS. Or I can try a different tact. What's the saying, Go hard or go home? I have to admit the thought scares me. It scares me a bunch. What if I do pass out, like my husband said, someone's going to see you, they won't run over you, or at least they won't step on you and they'll get you some help. The whole MS thing doesn't really hold water either. Anything that happens when I over heat goes away, it's a pseudo-exacerbation, and overheating won't cause a real exacerbation anyway. I know that, but still it's scary when your vision gets all fluky, you know?

So why then, does this really scare me. I believe it's because I am afraid of disappointing myself. Ah, there it is, I feel sort of rubbed raw tender saying that out loud. But that is the truth my blogosphere friends. I am afraid to set higher goals then what I have in place right now. Really, coming in 14th out of a field of 47 is nothing to sneeze at, another point my husband made. But coming in top 5 has to feel pretty freaking good. So yes, I am setting my goals. I want optimal performance from this body. It may be too late someday and I don't want to have any regrets. I know somewhere in here is a top five finishing triathlete who is dying to bust out.

I know it's not realistic to hope for that this season, I don't know that there is enough time to train to get there, to get to the top five. What if I try my hardest and barely crack the top ten, what if......wait a minute, today starts No Excuses racing for me. So NO EXCUSES, I am off to swim 2000 meters hopefully I don't pass out....hahaha, NO EXCUSES!!

Wondering how I did, well here ya go...

Okay, I am semi satisfied with how I did. I had hoped to break 1 hour 15 minutes, I was off by three minutes, wahhhhhhh. However, I did wind up finishing almost 4 minutes faster then this race last year so there's something. At first, I thought I had finished same time as I did last year, so I was sad. I felt like, well crap, nothing got better. So it soothed me sort of to see I did do better. It made me try and analyze things too. I need to work on my run. It has been so slow going trying to get better since last summer and the Lisinopril debacle. But now I know I can run at least 9 minute miles, or there abouts. I need to push myself more during my training.

I am anxious to see my results. The best time I had for this particular course is 1 hour 16 minutes. I should really remind myself, that even with MS, I finished better then a bunch of people without it. But truly, I don't think that argument holds water. We all step up to the starting line with something we have to deal with.

On that note, I am going to go take a nap. I might blog more later, and I might not. Still in a gray and dreary mood sadly....Maybe a bbq, and a beer will make me feel better and hanging with the man who still puts butterflies in my tummy....Let the healing begin, at least 4 minutes of it!

Dreary day before my first tri

So I sit here, looking at the results from my previous Shady Grove Sprint tris and wonder what will be tomorrow. First race of the season for real this time. First race with my new wheels, those Eastons I got for mother's day are sah-weet, first race with my new saddle, my butt hurts a lot less thank you Adamo, first race....

Why am I not excited? Usually I have these butterflies and a hopeful heart that something good will happen. Maybe this time I can race and be done in an hour and fifteen minutes? Where is that subconscious thought?? Hello, hello, hello....All I hear is an echo in my head.

My running is terrible. I am still struggling to get back to where I was before this whole thing with my blood pressure hit (which still pisses me off when I think about all the exercise I do and I still have to take medication). If I am turning a 9 minute mile I am lucky, seriously. Maybe I can make the time difference up on my bike? My biking has gotten stronger. Hills in Tarrington, doing that half Century, trying to keep up with and drafting off of Brad etc. But still I am blah. Even my blogging has been half hearted. The frustrated writer in me is, well, frustrated I guess.

Maybe it's hormonal, maybe I am just a craggy wench right now. But I don't think that's it either. Part of me wishes Brad was still my training buddy, but he is so far out of my league. He's in with the big boys, the Ironman club. A club I cannot even try to get in until my kids are grown and not needing me so much. Do I still resent the fact that he did one without me, I don't think that's it...

Summer is coming and I definitely need a break from the hectic life I put myself in this year. I don't regret a minute of it, but my training get the least amount of my attention when I try to be a good mom to my four girls. It will be nice to not have school stuff interfere with training stuff too.

So on this dreary gray day, I wonder in my dreary way, what will happen tomorrow, dunno, but I guess I will find out won't I?

Races cancelled, plans to make....

So, this season started out with a fizzle more then a bang. We had our race calendar set to start this past weekend. Brad was starting on Saturday with his Wintergreen ascent. Then the Muddy Buddy, which holds a place close to my heart because it was how I dipped my toes in the ever addictive race font how many years ago now, 4 maybe? That didn't happen. Then we were doing Knoxville. The Rev3 Oly had my name written all over it. I was following a training plan, getting ready for it, feeling as confident as a reluctant triathlete could, but we are going to have to cancel, like we did the Muddy Buddy. Partially, due to my husband re-injuring his ribs, making it all but impossible to swim and run, partially due to the fact that our lives have been a non-stop, living, traveling, volunteering, room momming hell.

Brad graciously offered to go anyway to Knoxville and watch me compete. He is my best and biggest fan ever, and I would have taken him up on that if I hadn't been traveling every weekend since the beginning of April. Between that and my volunteering responsibilities, I feel so overwhelmed. I haven't had the time to breathe, let alone get ready for one more trip.

I like to think that the "Big Man Upstairs", as my dad affectionately called Him, was letting us know, in His own way, that it is time to slow ourselves down. That maybe Brad's re-injury is His way of saying, enough! You've been doing too much lately and something is going to give, namely you!! We are trying to reschedule the Rev3 for next year, we take it easy this weekend, and come out stronger for it. When my first race comes, I will be ready, and will be able to enjoy it instead of it being one more thing I have to slog through.....

So I will take this reprieve happily, get ready for my new first race, and hopefully pull out a great finish for me. We got handed some lemons at the start of the race season. I am enjoying a glass of lemonade, care for one with me?

New Years Day run and onward...

When my husband convinced me I needed to run with our fun friends on New Year's Day, I finally said yes with much trepidation. These people are great athletes but also a great time to be around, so I said yes. There's nothing like being firmly behind everyone for the whole run, but I was. We ran the trails in the city so the scenery was really beautiful. My running pals graciously waited for me at very scenic locations so I could catch my breath. But it kind of stinks when all you see is everyones back and have no one to talk to for 7 miles.

Truth be told, running has been the last thing on my mind. The holidays came, and did I mention we had a lovely stomach virus run through our family? Realistically speaking, in the days that we had it I might have gotten 4 hours of sleep total through those nights. Four kids, four viruses, and one me wide awake for way too many nights. That started the last two days of school before Holiday Break started. It set up the perfect scenario for me to get sick. And sick I did get. On the drive up to NY two days before Christmas Eve I lost my voice, then I got this chest cold. I couldn't talk for a week. I was up most of the night coughing my brains out. It was a pretty awful being that sick for Christmas, at least I didn't get that stomach virus like Brad did on Christmas Eve night. God bless him he was sicker then a dog. All I did was hack my lungs up. I am still dealing with some lingering reverberations.

I tried to work out, tried to do stuff. I did ride the trainer hoping for some aerobic benefit. I did short runs, 2 miles here, 3 miles there. We ran for almost 7 miles on New Years Day. At one point during our run everyone was running with someone, except for me. I was behind by a couple of lengths when we happened on a guy with two dogs off the leash. Well the German Sheppard dog trotted along side me, I reached over and scratched his head, then his owner said, "He's checking to see if you have any treats, he won't bother you for long if you don't have them" On cue the pooch doubled back to his owner and I said out loud "even a dog doesn't want to run with me". Kind of funny, almost a scene out of the Jerk. But it was what it was. I caught everyone when we got to the parking lot, we all chatted and laughed and enjoyed each other's company until we all got cold and said our goodbyes.

Fast forward to this weekend. Did I mentionSaturday was the first day of our 10k training team, and I knew it was going to be bad. I still cough like crazy if I run more then three miles, I still have a stuffy nose. Anyway, Brad convinced me I would be okay. It was billed as an easy 6 mile run, a distance I have done only once in the last month at least. It was supposed to be at conversational pace, a jolly jog if you will. But noooooooooooooooooooooooooo, what did I expect from the local road runners club? They said go, and that's all she wrote. I am in the slowest group mind, the 49 to 55 minute 10k group and my group took off like a dirty shirt in a wind storm. By the time we were at mile two, I was wheezing and one of our coaches turned around and ran back to me to check and see if I was alright. Once again, did I mention it was totally uphill until that point??? I had fallen off of the pace big, big, time. We finally decided I would turn around and run the two plus miles back to the start. I won't get into the fact that it was the stupidest thing I have ever done, running through the City by myself to the Cafe where we started. Did I mention the start is in an area that is being re-gentrified? It occurred to me when I encountered a group of young men, and I use that term loosely, that were across the street from me a few blocks to the Cafe we all started from. I guess they saw me notice them noticing me. I know I am not too far away from the start, that if I book it, I could get back to safety. One of them did make a move across the street. Was it towards me, hell if I know. I took off like I had rocket shoes on, cut through a lot, and made it to the Cafe. FAILFAILFAILFAILFAIL did I mention FAIL in a major way? Ugh! I felt like such a freaking LOSER. Not only did I not make the distance, I almost got myself mugged along the way. I felt so out of my league, I felt like a beginner. I know better then to be by myself anywhere like that. I was too busy dressing myself down for not being able to run the whole way to pay attention to my personal safety. Now I am pondering if I continue with the team or not. I just do not know. I do not want to be left alone in the city again, I don't want to be the only person who can't make the whole way.

Today we had a 4-10 mile training run on our 10k training team plan. It was 30 degrees and there were winds up to fifteen miles an hour. But Brad was a trouper and said he'd run with me. We did a 10k. I forced myself to run the whole thing, I got nauseous, felt like I was going to pass out at points, but I refused to stop. I need to be able to run at least six miles, I need to be able to run at least six miles well. So I did it. I was a sorry sight I am sure, but I ran it. Tomorrow we have a rest day, I think I will ride the bike.

I need to increase my aerobic endurance. I AM going to increase my aerobic endurance. I can do this can't I? I have run how many half marathons, a full marathon, how many tris have I done??? I can do this right? This training team will be nothing when all is said and done right?? But did I mention I am getting sick again??????