6 Weeks and Counting

Is it possible that Kona is just 7 short weeks away?  And that I leave in just under 6?!  Well, yes it is my friends. How does it happen each year that that I am so totally shocked that the end of the season is almost here?!  Kona marks the end of my season and the start of an off season that I look forward to each year. How could you not get excited about an off season that starts with a week of vegging out on an island in the Pacific? But before I start dreaming of lava flows and honu....

High above the Golden Gate Bridge

Being forced to take time off due to low iron back in late June/July made me super sad and maybe even a little OK a lot depressed.  There was a lot of poor me, and "what will I ever do if I can't race" thoughts. Sitting on the couch and eating bon bons just isn't my thing for more than a day and it had better be when I want it to be...not dictated by some low iron non-sense! Thank GOODNESS that  situation seems to have remedied itself with heaps of added iron to my daily regimen.  Mark tells people when they ask how I got my iron back up that I've done it by eating half a cow a day.  Poor guy doesn't eat any meat other than chicken, so the smell of me cooking beef frequently and him not complaining, must mean he really loves me!

So with iron back on track, what's been happening?  Lots of training, lots of eating, lots of recovery and not much social time unless you are also a triathlete/cyclist, or willing to come over and hang out before the hour of 8:30!  I think for the most part, that for a MASSIVE chunk of the season, I maintain a very healthy maybe too robust at times balance of being social, drinking vino and making time for friends and family.  But almost like clockwork, my brain senses that Kona is near and I all of the sudden go into "ohhh, salad DOES look better than pizza for dinner!" mode.  I start to focus even more on recovery...committing myself to 3+ times a week in  front of the TV with my fave Cytosport BCAA cocktail  (1 scoop Sour Grape amino mixed with a fruit punch nuun) instead of the usual glass of wine, stretching, rolling, compressing/icing and shaking my legs recovered with my Compex while watching the Daily Show with Mark.  I'm starting to see a bit more muscle here, and a bit more power there.

LA is NOT ugly....and it's HOT!

But this past weekend, was a BIT more of a fun adventure than normal.  Sister From Another Mother, Kebby, launched Coeur Sports recently.  I have been on the team almost since its inception and when Kebby decided to launch her own company focusing on women in motion, I knew that I HAD to be a part of it.  So going forward, I am a Coeur girl and hope that you all will try the new gear out, as I think you'll find it easy to love and there will be products for ALL of your triathlon needs, including apres training! So this past Saturday, I got my rear up and out the door by 6:15 for 90 miles of biking, followed up by an awesome brick run before BFF Jess came over with an SOS latte and we headed to the airport to go to LA to celebrate Coeur!  I got to see LA, run in a canyon and hang out with amazing friends while brainstorming ideas.

Canyon Running

I may have had to buy new sunnies

This upcoming weekend, I have my very first mini "training camp" planned at the very exciting location of....my house!  I'm taking full advantage of the three day weekend and adding an extra day.  I plan to swim,bike and run myself stronger and hope to recruit enough friends to join me so that it's also FUN. Strangely, I'm looking forward to the monotony of sleep, train, eat, recover, REPEAT for a few days.  The house has been cleaned in anticipation of my completely neglecting it during this period and I will have food delivery on tap and good neighbors to feed me and not laugh too hard when I show up in my compression pants with ice attached.  They see crazy going by at 6:15 on a Saturday while feeding their babies and offer to bring Dairy Queen over to replace all of the kcal's I've burned...OK salad is good, but I still need my DQ!!

I was so inspired by friends racing their hearts out over the weekend and also a quote from a coach that I read the other day along the lines of making sure that we're not just working out.  Each session has to count and you need to be asking yourself, if you are working out, or ACTUALLY trying to make yourself better.

For the next 7 weeks, I am going to try, each day to make myself better.

What about you?