The weather forecast on Saturday was calling for sub 10 degree temps on Sunday morning. My plan was to meet Snips for a 6 miler. I was aliitle nervous about the distance because I hadn't been running much. The temperature made my decision for me. It would be a Master's Swim day.

When I woke, the chill in the house made me want to pull up the covers and go back to sleep. I had already cancelled my run so I knew I had to go to swim. The thought of jumping in the cool water in the pool was flipping my stomach. I did get up and go and had a great workout.

Today is my mom's birthday. Pearl Harbor happened on her 21st birthday. She passed away 17 years ago. She loved Hooch so much. I will never forget the 2 of them on Hooch's first birthday. She never knew about Bino. He would have given her a run for the money. Dad still misses her alot also.

Waddling on a winter day..........................

THE SUCK ZONE

No this is not "TWISTER" !

Today at spin class, I had one goal which was to stay in zone 2 with my heart rate. This is extremely hard for me to do. I start listening to the music, competing with my neighbor, or just get caught up with the instructors enthusiasm. For my winter training, I want base build and stay in zone 2.

The 15 minutes went well. A friend was in front of me who has just done IMAZ and she was working really hard. Next the music began to rock out. Then the instructor walked around the room to pump us up. Before I knew it, I was in the suck zone. I was sucked right into zone 3 and 4. I pulled myself back several times. It is a challenge to stay in zone 2!

Waddling out of the suck zone................

What a story....

Check out Iron Snoopy and her story of IMAZ. I don't want to give it away.

I haven't set the world on fire with my training this week. I was reading a training book today and realized what my problem and frustration is. It is hard to explain though. I have been skipping workouts because I feel if I can only to a short one why bother. Not making any sense ---but I understand I need to drop my expectation of myself and accept where I am at.

Waddling into the weekend.............

THE JOURNEY BEGINS.....

December 1 is when the journey began. I got up early with an anxious feeling in my stomach. Today was the day that I intended to sign up for an Iron-Distance Race. The registration opened at 7am (my time). I was logged in to the event website by 6:15am. At 6:24 am, I checked the site and saw that registration had opened. I immediately grabbed my phone and called Tri-Sharkie. She was up also. I grabbed my credit card and within minutes I was signed up.

I called Tri-Sharkie back and she was also signed up for her first Iron. Her words to me were-"What did we just do?". We both were silent with a nervousness about the training ahead.

This month, I have several goals and groundwork to lay before official Iron training begins.

1. Start taking off several some weight to get to a loss of 15-20 lbs.
2. Weekly begin averaging 5-6 hours of training
3. Improve nutrition starting with drinking alot more water daily.
4. Keep training in heart rate zone 2

Tonight, I was at the gym and the dreadmill and realized how much work was ahead of me. I felt like I weighed one ton. My heart rate went up into zone 3 quickly and several time I had to walk to drop it down. I was glad when my 30 min. were completed.

Here we go---I am on my way!

Waddling to the start at the Beach.............

IT'S OFFICIAL ---2009

My Year For the Iron Distance!

I am so scared, excited, and ready to go for 2009! Here is the schedule:

4/19 Race That's Good For Like 5K

5/02 Indy 500 Mini-Marathon

6/23 Subaru Women's Sprint Triathlon

7/18 Evergreen Lake International Triathlon

9/05 Great Illini Half-Iron Distance Triathlon

9/19 U.S. Air Force Half-Marathon

11/07 Beach2Battleship Iron-Distance Triathlon

Waddling to plan training (woohoo!)........................