WINTER...

"In the midst of winter, I found there was within me, an invincible summer." -Albert Camus

That "invincible summer" has come in the form of a trainer and a treadmill. Despite FREEZING temps, snow and more snow, the training is coming along fantastically! I've found a "fondness", or rather an "appreciation" for the trainer and I am finding that the workouts are getting better and better. As George pointed out the other day, a trainer workout goes by much faster while watching the Tour de France and that is exactly what I have been doing. Right now I am in the middle of the 2002 Tour. Lance just had a victory at Plateau de Beille, but was not so lucky at Mt. Ventoux. Since I was not an "avid" Tour watcher back then, it is like watching it for the first time! Of course, I know the outcome, but it is exciting anyway...even without one of my favorites, Jan Ullrich competing (alright, I know he has been found guilty of doping, but Im still a "Jan fan"...sorry)!

The running has been coming along great and there is a LOT of it. Today's run #1 started at 15 degree temps...I went to the trail and did a snowy run by Belmont Lake. I find that running in the snow is REALLY fun, but I really suck at it. That's what my Garmin's average pace tells me anyway. No worries...I find that it is an AWESOME workout! Run #2 today will be done on the treadmill, however. This run will be much shorter and easier after a core and strength session at the gym. Treadmill running is nice because I can wear shorts, but I am certainly not the world's best treadmill runner. Give me a flat road and I am Golden...any deviation and I am not so "Gold", but as they say, "that which does not kill you makes you stronger", so bring on the snowy trails and the treadmill workouts! Swimming, of course, is easy during this arctic freeze, so I do this QUITE often! Alternating swimming with Aquafit and swimming solo...both of which I look forward to when the time comes. So, until I reach REAL summer (Arizona, Florida), I am finding that the brutal winter we are having is not bringing me down so much. I may even get out on the road this weekend! A first since Florida! :-)

2009

Happy New Year! I've finally decided on my training and racing plans for 2009! I will be heading to Tucson in February to train with twin superstars Kim Loeffler and Kelly Liljeblad for warm weather training , then returning home for a few weeks before heading to New Orleans to race the new 70.3 race there on April 5th. I am really excited to race New Orleans as it seems like a flat course with warm weather...my favorite conditions! I will be flying back to Tucson after the race to again train with Kelly and Kim as well as with Tara Norton! The four of us should be excellent training partners, all with different strengths! At the end of the Tucson training in April, I will head to St. Croix for another excellent 70.3 (and TOUGH COURSE) with Tara before returning home again for good. At least mostly for good, that is. I may have to travel down to Maryland for one of my favorite races of all time in June...Eagleman! That is not set, however as it is only 3 weeks before my "A race"...Ironman Austria on July 5th! My friend Erin will be traveling with me to Austria to provide race support. It should be a great time! After that, things are up in the air, but so far the schedule is set and I am really looking forward to it!

As I headed out the door to do Part I of my "split long run" yesterday I thought about the warm weather that I had just run in down in Florida and the warmth that awaits me in Arizona. I find that I get less tolerant for the cold the more I travel! All went well though. It didnt seem to be quite as bad as I had anticipated. Now if I can only get to the pool this morning. The roads seem pretty icy out there, so Im hoping the pool is open!

Training Camp

I've been in Florida for the past week and a half doing a training camp with my friends Tara Norton, Lisa and Kayla (both of whom I just met this weekend) and Matt Long. It was a last-minute decision to go down and train and I'm REALLY glad I did! We had 80 degree weather everyday and I put in over 42 hours of training in 8 days. Training with Tara is excellent as she is a PHENOMENAL cyclist! I knew she was great, but training with her this past week really showed me just how great she is. Throughout the week we swam double sessions every morning with the Masters swim team (coached by Marty) at the Hall of Fame Pool (except for Saturday in which we did the 5K "Rough Water Ocean Swim"), put in a LOT of miles on the bike and had some great run sessions as well. All as I watched the weather back home plummet into sub 20 degree temperatures!

Matt Long came here to log big miles on the bike and jump start his training for IM Lake Placid. I think he is going to see a tremendous boost in power and bike fitness after this training block. It was great to be able to do some training with him and I look forward to watching him race Ironman in July. Lisa is an open water swimmer and completed the "Around Manhattan Island" open water swim this past July! That's 28 miles of swimming (no wetsuit) around NYC. Wow...I can't even imagine (especially after my never-ending 5K swim the other day)! She did all of the swim sessions and some of the run sessions as well. Unlike Tara and I, she had time to do some beach time and sight-seeing, which was nice. Kayla came down to get a jump on her training as she is trying to switch from triathlete to cyclist. All three girls are from Canada (Toronto and Montreal) and it's safe to say that we are all dreading the cold weather that we are returning to!
I plan on writing more about some of the training from this past week, but for now I am getting ready to head to the airport. As for me, I plan on doing much of my winter training in Tucson (hopefully with super triathlete and runners Kim Loeffler and her twin sister Kelly Liljeblad) and in between I will brave the cold. Tara is heading to "Epic Camp" at the end of the month and when the time comes I'll post a list with her blog. It's incredible to read what they do at Epic Camp. Tara is one of only a handful of women to even complete it! I look forward to training with her again in Tucson!

Pics: Top Left: Lisa, Marty (swim coach), Tara, myself and Matt Long at the start of the Rough Water Swim. Middle: Hall of Fame Pool, Bottom: Tara and I after a morning swim session.

Short Update...

It's been just about 1 month since my last update and Im thinking that the very small number of people that actually read my blog have probably tuned out and given up on logging onto deesullitriathlete.com for the "extremely exciting updates" that I usually give. Two such "readers" are my Sunday co-workers at Runners Edge. After learning that I have let both of these co-workers down (I think they live for my blog updates), I have decided to write a short, possibly non-impressive, "update" with the hopes of getting myself back into the blog writing that I usually enjoy and at the same time cheer up my co-workers. Killing two birds with one stone, you might say. ;-)


The weeks after IM Arizona were great. Lots of downtime and enjoying myself, while keeping up a semi-decent training load. I have been able to pull off training a decent amount post-Arizona after discovering that walking for much of the marathon portion enabled me to bounce back quite quickly as I was certainly not as "beat up" as I have been after past Ironman competitions. In addition to a decent amount of training (up until the ARCTIC days that arrived this past weekend) I have gotten some new coaching clients (which I am very excited about), celebrated my friend Nancy's 60th birthday, went into NYC with George and Mike to watch the NY Velocity-sponsored "roller races" with a guest appearance by Christian VandeVelde (see picture to right...and, no that is not Christian...), had my friend Erin visit from D.C, and started planning my races and training camps for 2009.

So that's it. My first update since November 26th. I hope that my Sunday co-workers can now rest easy knowing that Im back. I can only imagine that they were on the edge of their seats after reading THIS entry! Just wait...there will be more for 2009!

Death march...

This past Sunday was one of the most frustrating Ironman finishes that I have had. It was my eleventh Ironman. Despite my 4th place finish in IM Lake Placid 2008 was a dissapointing season for me. However, my training was going great and I felt ready for Arizona. My friends were there, my parents and George were there and I stayed with my friend Michelle before the race. I was acclimated I was ready and I was psyched! The morning of the race came and I was quite nervous. The water was cold and I wanted to be sure to warm up...I was the first woman to enter the water. Without a warmup, I would definitely lose my breath in the beginning of the race (like I did in Boise 70.3) and I wanted to avoid that. After a long warm up, the pros lined up in the water and waiting for the gun to go off. Next to me was Tyler Stewart. She said hello and Good Luck. We both agreed that the swim was not our favorite part of the race. Soon the gun went off and so were we. It was one of the biggest pro fields to compete: over 60 men and over 20 women! I got into a good pack right away. We stayed together for the whole swim, sometimes I led, sometimes one of the others took over. I noticed that one of the girls in the pack was Tyler. Funny since we started together. I also noticed Haley Copper (fellow ZOOT Teammate). I exited the water and realized that the air was chilly! I quickly got on my bike and was on my way. Haley and Tyler were ahead of me, but in sight.

WINDY! It seemed that we had a good head wind on the way out (by good, I mean STRONG, not “good”). My legs didn’t feel great to begin with. In fact, they ached! Yikes…not a good sign...”just keep pushing” I said to myself. “You will open up soon enough”. I did get somewhat used to the pain, but I can’t say that they felt “great” or “effortless” at any point on the bike. By the end of the bike, I was fading a bit, but trying to keep up my 1:44-1:45 laps for a 5:15!! The last lap was a bit slower, but I still managed a 5:19 at the end of the bike! Woo Hoo! Actually, 5:20 according to the race splits. “Awesome” I thought…”I only have to run a 3:25 and I’ll be well under 10”! If I go sub 3:20 (my goal for the day), I’ll be in the 9:40’s!!!! I can DEFINITELY do that!

I started running and tried to “run how I feel”. Since I didn’t "feel great”, I didn't want to push an unreasonable pace. First mile: sub-7 min. “OK, Keep it steady and comfortable”. Next mile: 7 min. “Nice, Im going to have a great run!”. Next mile (including a bit of an incline) 7:25, next mile: 7:11. I ran by George and my parents after the 3rd mile, told them that I didn’t feel great, but then managed a nice smile…I still assumed I would run well, despite not feeling amazing. “Eventually the feeling will go away and you will feel fine... You will be on autopilot”. Soon after this I got a side-stitch. I didn’t want to stop. It got worse. I ran slower. Eventually, I stopped for a "bathroom break"…”Well this is just GREAT”! I thought. I started running again... It lasted a little while, then I slowed again. I ran past my family again and gave them the thumbs down. Bummer. The remainder of the marathon was running, walking, bathroom stops, walking, chatting with others. In fact, I even thought of the title for this blog during the marathon! I knew my “sure thing” of breaking 10 hours (going WAY under 10 hours) was gone. I wanted to quit, but couldn’t. My parents went out of their way to be there, George went out of his way to be there and I just couldn’t DNF. So, I got through it. I ended up running my slowest marathon since my first Ironman back in 2001: 3:50-something. I finished at 10:21.

I felt disappointment for myselfand for my family who all went out of there way to be there for me. I wanted to have that great race, not another rough day! I finished, disappointed, but soon after crossing the line I looked over and saw Geroge, smile on his face as I posed for a finish picture unenthusiastically...I had to laugh and it made all the dissappointment fade, for a little while anyway!

I do have great frustration with this race because I know that it was there and I only had to do what I normally do, but this is Ironman and it is a tough sport. We all put so much mental energy into what we do and so much physical energy into these races and we want it to go absolutely right on when we race. It just doesn’t happen that way. SO, a friend of mine (Bob Cook) said he thought of a great mantra for me..."Things will be fine in 2009". I like this thought. So I move on and learn from it, plan ahead for a fine race in 2009!

Sunny Arizona

All is good here in Tempe Arizona! I arrived last Wednesday night and am fortunate to do some acclimation to the dry weather as I stay at my friend Michelle's house. Michelle is the best! She always opens up her house to me and I feel like Tempe has become a second home! The temperature is a chilly 50-something in the morning, but once the sun comes up it warms up quickly! High in the 80's (we may hit a record of 86 degrees today) and EVERYDAY is sunny! Last Saturday, I joined the local tri community down at Tempe Town Lake (where the race site is) to do a "Splash and dash". Actually, I only did the "Splash" part of the race which consisted of a 2000 Meter swim. The rest of the race was a 3K run, but I opted out of that, and hopped on my bike instead. OK...the water is COLD!! I figured, Arizona=warm air=warm water...Not the case! The temperature was 64 degrees, and to me, that is COLD!! Im glad I did it though, as I am a HUGE wimp when it comes to cold water, and now I will be "mentally prepared" for race day.

After the swim, I hopped on my bike for a nice 3 hour ride with some Ironman paced intervals mixed in. WOW! The wind was CRAZY!! I felt like I was in Kona on a bad day! The wind was so bad that I was afraid to grab my water bottle for fear that I would get blown into the traffic on the highway! I ended up riding with two cyclists for a few miles and asked them about the wind. "They said it wouldn't be windy this time of year"!, I said to them... "You believed them"? is how they replied! GREAT! ;-) I spoke to another local after the ride and he said that it was the windiest day he had witnessed in a while...OK, so maybe it won't be so bad on race day! If it is, I guess Im prepared for that too! Always prepare for the worst, right?! Hey, at least we won't have torrential rain all day like IM Lake Placid!

I had a "day off" yesterday, so I drove up to Sedona, which is absolutely beautiful! I did some short (and easy) hikes and had a perfect day off doing nothing Ironman related. It was a great break! here are some pics from yesterday. Oh and being a "solo hiker" yesterday, I would carefully prop up my camera on a rock, set the timer, then run into postion and pose for the picture! It was very amusing! Below are pictures of Red Rock State Park, the Chapel near Sedona, and some other rock formations near Sedona:

Inspiration

This past weekend was the NYC marathon and Ironman Florida. I wanted to congratulate a couple of people on both races… Bob Cook, owner of Runners Edge a specialty running shop located in Farmingdale NY (http://www.runnersedgeny.com/), and also a great friend and boss completed Ironman Florida this past weekend. Bob is 63 years old and finished the Ironman in an impressive 12:53!!! Bob also finished 8th place in his age group out of 37 men! Not only did Bob do a fantastic job, but he did so with a “crash course” of training after finding out that he got awarded a slot to the race by Newton Running just this past September! It goes to show the talent that Bob has and the mental toughness to go along with his talents! He was a true inspiration this past weekend. I will think of him while competing in Arizona in 2 ½ weeks!

Another true inspiration is a friend Matt Long who competed in the NYC Marathon this past Sunday. I had first met Matt in Lake Placid in 2005 (Matt competed in the Ironman there in 2005). That same year, Matt came to Hawaii to watch his friend Frank compete in Hawaii. I too was competing in Hawaii that year and I can actually remember seeing Matt cheering on the sidelines. His love of the sport and his enthusiasm and energy was remarkable. I had the feeling that Matt was making a pact with himself to one day qualify and race Kona. I figured that it would be just a matter of time. Unfortunately, that December, Matt was run over by a bus while riding his bike to work during the illegal Mass transit strike in NYC. Matt survived the accident against all odds. He was left with special needs and a body rebuilt with metal.. When I was in Arizona training last April, I ran into Matt at the local bike shop. He was out in Arizona doing physical therapy and he was excited to report that he had just run his first mile post-accident (he had just had his 40th surgery before heading out to Arizona). Running a mile was a HUGE accomplishment! He told me that he wanted to run the NYC Marathon and I thought, “WOW”! I couldn't believe it, but at the same time I knew that Matt would in fact complete the marathon. His will and enthusiasm is contagious, but the amount of work ahead of him seemed unreal. I think I train hard? No way…
Here is his story: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/10/28/2008-10-28_three_years_after_being_hit_by_bus_firef.html
Well, Matt finished the NY Marathon this past Sunday! AMAZING is all I can say… He ran in Zoot shoes and Compression socks too...Go Zoot!
You can also check out the link to his foundation, “The I Will Foundation” at: http://www.iwillfoundation.com/, where you can read more about Matt and his story, as well as his foundation which “helps people overcome adversity and challenges caused by illness or traumatic injury”. Congratulations Matt on a huge accomplishment!!