I know my post below was mopey. I am having a hard time getting into a rhythm and it’s affecting me. When anything affects my schedule, I get grumpy. I like my freetime. And the extra hours at the new gig in addition to the horrendous commute has made for a pouty Heather. What can you do?

Well, one thing you CAN do is go for a bike ride. And that is exactly what I did this morning with Vello Bella EclectChick Dumbo movie download The Good Shepherd film

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(Rachel — a Vello Bella is a member of the team Vello Bella — and, no, I don’t expect anyone outside of the Twin Cities cycling community to understand what that meant). We met at the Manitou Sprint Tri back in early June and have been talking about getting together for a ride ever since — especially since we both live in the East metro and have both have had an equally hard time getting our fellow teammates out to ride with us on our turf (even though we consider “our turf” some of the best riding in the Metro).

At any rate, EclectChick and I got together at approx. 7:30 am this morning in an effort to avoid the heat that was supposed to bring us to a whopping 104 degrees today. A new Bella joined us in addition to my boy, James.

And, what can I say? The ride was really, really nice. It was a very low intensity (I averaged a HR of 124), flat ride. The weather was actually very cooperative with cloud cover most of the entire morning and spots of rain and we just ambled our way through 53+ miles of riding, chatting all the while. It was exactly what I needed. I’ve been in a funk and days like today remind me of how good my life really is and how blessed I am to meet such great and interesting people all the time. After the ride, we sat at the Caribou in Shoreview for a good 45 minutes to an hour chatting and eating our post-ride goodies. Then, I went home and took a nice 1.5 hour nap.

Nice.

Now, I’m on my deck. We’re fixing a grilled salad pizza out of Cooking Light (I’ll attach the recipe below) and enjoying a Belgium Triple Ale. I’m almost forgetting that it’s still probably 85+ degrees and I’m sweating like crazy (but refusing to sit in my home on a Summer evening). The breeze is nice. It’s still July. And I get to bite into my first ear of fresh corn of the season in roughly 20 minutes. In fact, I can smell the sweet corn-iness grilling as I type this entry.

So, there you go.

In other news, I went to another swim at Christmas Lake on Friday morning. My buddy Kristy and I hit the water at 5:45 am for a decent 50 minute crawl. I have no idea how far we swam (damn lakes don’t have meter marks), but it was a good workout and I’m feeling increasingly confident in the water. In fact, I’m considering not wearing my wet suit for Turtleman even *if* we’re allowed to use them — that’s how good I’m feeling.

I also got in a few short runs this week. My schedule didn’t really allow me time for exercise on Mon. and Tues. But I squeezed in a swim/run combo on Wednesday and then a 5.13 mile run on Thursday. And, as much as I gripe about not getting in all my training, at least I have that.

I also have another race report to get ya’ll in addition to my Danskin entry that I’ve yet to finish. I won’t go into any more details than to leave you with this video from two years ago and knowledge that something similar occurred:
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Oh, and the fact that I’m “injured” and my bike is in the shop.

Seriously.

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Grilled Salad Pizza
From Cooking Light

A great way to get a cool, crisp salad and cheese pizza all in one. If you have a square grill pan, roll the dough into a square for a better fit.

1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2/3 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
3 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped trimmed arugula (about 4 ounces)
1 1/2 cups chopped seeded tomato
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons oil. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, salt, oregano, and thyme. Add to yeast mixture; stir well. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into the dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 9-inch circle on a floured surface.

Heat a grill pan coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Place one dough portion on pan; cook 10 minutes. Turn dough over; sprinkle with 1/4 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Cook 10 minutes; remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and cheeses.

Combine 2 teaspoons oil, arugula, and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Spoon 2 cups salad onto each pizza crust using a slotted spoon. Cut each pizza into 4 wedges. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 wedges)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 357(25% from fat); FAT 9.8g (sat 3.3g,mono 4.4g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 15.5g; CHOLESTEROL 13mg; CALCIUM 269mg; SODIUM 572mg; FIBER 3.8g; IRON 4.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 53.5g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2001

Life is just, eeehh. I don’t feel like I have time. I don’t feel like I’m in a routine. And obviously I haven’t felt like blogging. I’m going to bed now — I have an early morning date with my bike and a Velo Bella.

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Today I was supposed to have completed the Spirit of Racine, my first-ever half ironman race. As you may have read a few posts ago, I dropped out. Not because I couldn’t do it, but because I didn’t want to do it. It just didn’t feel right and I had an out so I took it. Next year, I’ll do the race. Next year, I’ll train for it harder and better. And next year, I’ll be excited for the race, not dreading it.

That said, I decided to take today and still do something epic. I rode 95 miles (it was supposed to be a century but the route was a tad short) and I spent today doing something mentally and physically challenging. The Minnesota Tri Club sponsors a few century rides per season mostly for their members with the option for non-members to pay $10 to join along (and take advantage of the rest stops).

I RSVP’d that I’d attend yesterday morning. Of course, then I went off to my neighbor’s wedding and proceeded to drink wine and dance until midnight. That made getting up at 5:15 am more than a little difficult (especially with much of the wine still in my system).

I made it, though. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t know anyone that was riding. I was actually running slightly late and was more than a little relieved when I saw Scott The Red Baron divx in the parking lot. We took swim lessons together (with Sascha

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and another friend) and I knew he participated in the Club (he even forwarded me the information on today’s ride). But I didn’t know he was riding.

He turned out to be riding partner (and savior) for the day. Those final 15 miles were tough. The weather had heated up and my feet will killing me. The saddle time was taking its toll. That type of mileage is never easy — at least, not for me. I don’t know what it is — but the difference between 75 and 100 miles is mental and challenging. It’s like those final 3 miles in the marathon. “Just 25 miles” suddenly becomes a “whopping 25 miles” and today was no different.

A lot of the riders today opted for shorter options. There turned out to be one core group that was faster doing the whole thing (and then some). We’d catch up to them at the rest stops every 20 miles and I’d try to hang but inevitably would get dropped. I think there were one or two stragglers behind us. But the rest was Scott and I just plugging along.

It was tough. It was fun. And it was a good distraction from what today was supposed to be. There’s no doubt that I love to ride and today was just another enjoyable day. As much as those final miles always suck, I’m always amazed at how good I feel afterwards.

[stats: 95 miles, avg. pace 17.4 mph, time: 5:22:28, avg. HR: 137]

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Other than the wedding yesterday, I also squeezed in a 9 mile run yesterday morning (1:31:33, avg. HR: 140) and some yoga following. Nothing exciting — just good training hours in the bank. I should also note that I got up at 4:15am on Friday to make the 5:30 am open water swim at Christmas Lake with the swim coach. I think we swam either 1 mile or 1.2 miles. It was a little weird because my buddy and I started out with the coach and then he disappeared. We made our way without him, though, and had a good workout. I certainly want to do these open water swims more regularly because it was such good practice for open water races. That said, the water was freakin’ glass out there at that time of day! Calmer than the pool and soooo not like a race.

I have more to say, but I’m beat. I got less than five hours of sleep last night before the ride today. I did nap a little after the ride, but I’m about ready to crash — especially after the man and I totally scarfed down some nummy Asian take-out. He raced today as well (double-dipped in the St. Cloud crit racing Masters 35+ plus and Cat 3) — so we both are wiped.Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ipodMiss Congeniality hd

Holy Crap. That sooooo wasn’t the horrible experience I had at the Master’s swim at Lifetime in downtown St. Paul last year. The one where I almost drowned and then got the hard-sell from the trainer. The one that had me freaking out and promising to never-ever-EVER to try masters swim again.

Wow.

Tonight’s workout was fun. It was tough. The long pool was so much harder — my heart rate was soring at times. But I felt good. I got in a zone. I didn’t feel like a dork because I was in the slow lane and didn’t have to worry about any fasties because they were way on the other side of the pool. AND

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it was outdoors which was gorgeous — especially with the sun setting.

I’m totally doing this again.

I’m trying to remember what we did and the following is my best guess. We either did 2200 or 2400 yards. Next time I’ll pay more attention.

300 warm-up free
5 x 100 intervals as hard as you can go
2 x 200 on :15 sec
2 x 100 IM on :20 sec
2 x 100 (100 stroke, 100 free) on :20 sec
3 x 100 on previous +:15 sec
2 x 100 hard on :30 sec
300 cool-down free
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First off, I have started my Danskin race report. Promise. But I wanted to take the few minutes to update ya’ll on some big news that developed later yesterday.

My friends, I will not be doing my half ironman distance race.

In other words, I will not be competing in the Spirit of Racine this year. I’ve transferred my entry to next year and before you all get sad, please know, I am happy about this. In fact, I am relieved. I feel like an enormous stress has been removed and I am not at all disappointed or upset. In fact, last night, my buddy kept saying “Awwwww” all sad-like and I had to stop her the third time saying, “I’m okay with this! Really, I am.”

Now first off, I’m not injured. In fact, I’m pretty confident that I could go out and do this race tomorrow if I wanted. I don’t know how well I’d do, but I could complete it. The thing is, I haven’t been excited to do it. I haven’t been excited for the race at all. I have been dreading it. I don’t feel like it fits into my life right now and I don’t want to go into a race like that if I don’t have to. The only reason I was going through with it was that I had a teammate doing it, too. And last night, she informed me that due to injury, she couldn’t compete. So, it would be just me and that’s when I decided: no. I can save the money. I can save the vacation time. I can save ourselves from having to drive down to Wisconsin. And I can save my first half ironman distance for a time when I’ll be totally into it and ready for it — mentally and physically. I want my first time to be good, yo.

The other variable that makes this decision super easy is that a dear friend of mine (in fact, my next door neighbor) is getting married on Saturday. I’ve been very sad that we couldn’t be at her wedding because my race was planned way before her date was choosen. And after a call to her last night, she has room for us at the wedding. We can share in her day. So instead of spending Saturday night stressed out in bed wishing away a race, I can spend it instead drinking wine, eating cake and watching my beautiful friend begin the rest of her life with her new man.

It’s a no-brainer, really.

I’m going to do this distance. Don’t get me wrong. It’s in my blood and I’m just as passionate now about completing it as I was earlier this year. I just don’t want to do it this week. In fact, probably not even this year. And that’s fine because when I do complete my first 70.3, I want to be excited. I want to feel like I’ve put into it everything I could.

I wouldn’t be able to say that this year.

So, instead, I’m going to enjoy my weekend. I’m going to continue my training (I still have an Olympic in August). I’m going to do a Fall marathon in Wisconsin (am I crazy?) and will probably throw in a few century bike rides to boot.

It’s going to be a great rest of the summer even if it doesn’t follow the original plan.

+ + + +

All that said, tonight I’m heading off to my first long course swim. There is a 50 meter pool that my swim coach has practices at a few evenings per week. I’m super nervous. I know there are some real studs that practice there. But I also know the practice (and pool distance) will be good for me. Luckily, some other ladies from the team will be there so I won’t feel totally alone. And slow. And out of place. So, we’ll see.

Actually, I’m kind of excited. Knowing my half IM is on hold, I suddenly feel like I have all this time to concentrate on skills again. Good stuff.

I’ll let you all know how it goes.

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It was muggy. It was pretty warm. But thank goodness for the cloud cover. We got in 58 miles, averaged 16.2 mph (James was dissapointed, but this was right on track for me) and covered the distance in 3 hours and 40 minutes. We ended up heading out at 11am when it looked like the storms had moved out. We got sprinkled on a bit, but the first half of the ride was pretty pleasant. The stretch from Marine on St. Croix to Stillwater was tough when the sun came out and we were fighting a headwind. Luckily, Grumpy Steve’s offered us a place to refuel and get out of the heat for 20 minutes. The clouds came back, too, and that provided a bit of relief.

The ride home wasn’t exactly easy, but it wasn’t has wicked as it could have been had the sun been in full force. I have no idea what the temps were, but it was crazy humid and I felt like we were riding back in a bowl of soup. We averaged 17.2 to Stillwater and the final 15 miles dropped us down to the 16.2 avg. to give you an idea of how the heat, humidity and fatigue set in (oh, and the killer Murtle hill, too).

I took a few e-caps in addition to a Clif Shot, a few Clif Blocks, 1 bottle of sports drink, 2 bottles of water and the iced coffee and veggie wrap at Steve’s. It was a decent ride. And now it’s 4pm and I’m pooped.

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Damn storms. They don’t seem to be dying down. We’ve waited almost three hours and are finally giving up. I’m frustrated. Bah!

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If you are in the midwest (or maybe even just have been paying attention to the news), we are under one heck of a heat wave. Yesterday, the temps hit upwards of 100 degrees and, in Minnesota, that’s intense and less than normal. All day long, I thought about all those participants at the big Lifetime Fitness Tri (including many of my team members) and how they had it bad last year only to have this year match it worse. In fact, some of the courses were cut short — three miles were taken off the Olympic run. And there was carnage on the course. It was bad. Although, kudos to my teammates who had podium finishes — they rock! (I was going to go out and support them but I ended up catching up on my sleep instead — selfish, I know, but needed.)

At any rate, we got up super-early this morning on a Sunday to hit the pavement for a longish ride before the mega-temps set it again. Unfortunately, there are thunderstorms around and we’re sitting here in the house, waiting it out. The thing is, when I stepped outside at 6:30 am — it still felt friggin’ hot. And muggy, too. This weather is crazy. Maybe these storms will break it up a bit. I don’t have high hopes. But, who knows? I just hope they move out soon so that we can get on the road.

I actually went out yesterday, myself. After weeks of not really following my training program, I bit the bullet and pulled it up online to see what I should be doing in these last 7 to 8 days before my big race. I was slightly surprised to see a 75 minute run on tap in addition to a Sunday 50-miler. Truth be told, I was a little relieved. I’m not ready to completely rest because I don’t feel like I’ve trained as much as I should — therefore, these last two workouts can still be deposited in the bank.

Instead of just doing a 75-minute run, I choose to put some actual miles to the number and went with an 8-miler. Because we were out the night before and then I slept in, I didn’t actually get outside until 10am and it was already hot. The radio said 86 degrees. The run was tough. I was slow. I slogged through it and chalked it up to some additional heat acclimation. I did make the mistake of not carrying sports drink (I had water) and not taking any electrolyte capsules (I figured it was a short run). But I ended up averaging some sad 11+ minute miles with some minor crampage at the end. At first I thought it was a shin splint, but I soon realized it was muscle. I walked through that little episode and ended up finishing 8 miles in 1:30:04. Yikes. But, along those lines, I don’t feel bad about it considering the conditions. It was 96 degrees by the time I finished and I paid close attention to my heart rate the entire time. There was no way I could speed up the workout without breaking 85% and I wasn’t about to do that on a training run — especially a week out from the race. I can only hope that helped my body get slightly more used to that kind of activity in this kind of heat.

Okay. I’m going to check the radar again. And I know I still owe ya’ll the Danskin report. Hopefully, that will be this afternoon after I have 56 miles on my legs.

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I’m soooo not up for a race re-cap right now (although, I really should do it now) — but I had a good race. See below for stats:

Overall Rank: 142 of 3620
30-34 Age Group Rank: 20 of 379
Swim: 0:14:39 (rank 495 overall)
Trans 1: 00:03:05
Bike: 00:35:30 (rank 38 overall, avg. 20.9 mph)
Trans 2: 00:02:37
Run: 00:27:10 (rank 401 overall, pace 8:45/mile)
Final: 01:23:04

Note 1: this is Danskin. It’s all women. It’s mostly first-timers. So my overall rank isn’t nearly as impressive as it looks. Note 2: my bike rocked. I’m proud of that. Note 3: My transitions SUCKED because I had the worst racking spot in the world — it was so far away from the bike in and out and most of my time was running in and out with my dumb shoes on). More later, I promise.Class of Nuke ‘Em High dvd Mr. Nanny full movie

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All I can say is that I spent the last day of my four day weekend being active and I loved it. I started out with a 2500 yard swim that included maybe 400 yds of drills and the rest 200s of free with a 1000 yd time trial stuck in the middle. And if I didn’t think these swim lessons were helping before, I had proof that they were today. I completed 1000 yards in 19:56! That’s almost a full minute shorter than every other TT I’ve done. In fact, I also finished every 200 yd set in under 4 minutes — barely, but under. So, my lessons have slimmed some seconds from my time. That’s gotta be a good thing.

After my swim this morning and a quick shower, I came home and had a quick lunch before setting out on my bike to Northfield. James had a crit there and I wanted to ride out and watch. I did this last year and it was actually a really tough ride for me. I had a killer headwind and I was running late so the ride was frustrating and hard. This year, I wasn’t as concerned about time and I ended up with a slight tailwind (I’m more say a crosswind towards my tail). The ride was actually quite nice and I averaged 18.1 mph for the entire 45 mile ride that took roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes. James had already started the race when I got there, but I got to see the bulk of it. He finished 11th out of over 60 riders. And while that’s a respectable finish, he wasn’t totally thrilled with his performance. His legs weren’t there and he felt a little ill. But still? 11th. That’s pretty damn good.

We drove home together (after a stop for a much deserved beer for the both of us) and have henceforth had a nice, relaxing evening of grilling out and laying in the hammock. If only the neighborhood didn’t sound like it was center of a warground. My dogs are freakin’ FREAKING with the fireworks going off.

So, that’s it. Today put me at over 120 miles on my bike for the weekend and you add that to 2500 yds of swimming and 9 miles of running AND a day taken off for rest (yesterday), I’d say that’s pretty damn sweet.

We’ve also had a chance to cook and enjoy our produce from the CSA. I’ll share the recipes later, but know we’ve had the following wonderful things this weekend:

- Rosemary Lemonade
- Sugar Snap Pea and Cabbage Slaw
- Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad
- BBQ Chicken
- Grilled Pound Cake w/Strawberries
- Grilled Veggies in Balsamic and Olive Oil
- Pancakes w/Necatarines, Fresh Red Currants and Whipped Cream

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