Monday's Swim and Tuesday's Bike

Monday, my work schedule accommodated a mid-day (extended lunch, 11:30-1) gym visit for my swim!

2500m total
-600m easy warm up
-4x50m closed fist swimming 15s rest
-4x400m lvl 3 with 30s rest
-100m easy cool down

Tuesday is for biking! Strength Endurance Climbs 1hr 24min. What a beautiful day!

-20m warm up lvl 1
-6x5minute climbs at lvl 4 on 4-6% grade
-10m cool down lvl 1

Going to do my run workout tomorrow on the elliptical I think.... may make a game time decision and "aqua jog"!!

I also have a PT session tomorrow after clinic at 5, I'll report on that later in the week, unless something amazing happens ;)

Took a panoramic pic at the top of one of the climbs. I go over to "Mummy Mountain", good hills.... it's hard to see any of the city in the background, I was trying to get Four Peaks in there. The other two pics are workout summary screen shots!

Rest week/PT; RAGNAR 2013: GANGNAM STYLE!!

Rest week/PT:

I've had an "evolving" "niggle" (a term for a pain/irritation not keeping you from completing a workout/race) with my right foot since June....

In changing my running stride (from extreme heel strike to midfoot) I started having some posterior tibialis tendonitis/blisters. I tried using my custom orthotic again, bought new shoes, KT taping, stopped using my orthotic, had an insole made by RoadRunner....then gave up and just kept running....

fast forward 6 months to PF Chang's. The blisters and pain had pretty much subsided. Next was numbness; of my ENTIRE foot....so I finally went to a physical therapist. He told me to stop running for a month.....

Two days later I was planning to run 18 miles over 24hours..... so the "no running for a month" thing went right out the window!! More on how PT ends up later. I did do my 30 min aerobic run workout Wed in the pool , trying to be obedient and practice what I preach!

Overall, pretty mild workouts for rest week:
Mon: 1000m swim easy
Tues: 1hr aerobic bike level 1
Wed: 30min aerobic run (bought an aqua jogger to use in the pool....but forgot it in the car :( Oops!)
Thurs: 1000m swim easy

The fun part: RAGNAR RELAY 2013- GANGNAM STYLE (our team name)

Well, that was a CRAZY 32 hours!!!

202 miles split up between 12 people in two vans.

Casey arrived from the ATL Thursday morning and we had a delish pre-race meal from Oregano's around 7pm then EARLY TO BED!.

Our start time was 7am Friday.......in WICKENBURG, AZ (approx 1hr 15min from Phoenix). Which means alarms went off at 3:45 so we could meet up with our van members and get to the start by 6am.

Casey was our amazing photographer for the race. I surprisingly did not take very many pics with my phone so there are very few for this blog. Once Casey sends out the nice ones, I may do another blog dedicated to those.

I was runner #1 in Van #1. The leg was 8.78 miles....3/4+ UPHILL.....and it was approximately 32 degrees, in the sun!

I felt pretty dang good! I put some KT tape on my foot (which helped, a little). My foot did go numb, I only ALMOST fell twice (once uphill and once on the downhill within a quarter mile of the exchange) but, I finished in approx 1hr 20min ish (forgot to stop my watch right away). Not super fast but not super slow.

Casey was runner #2; Simon #3; Mike #4; Whitney #5 and Misty #6.

Weather was gorgeous!!

Here's Casey applying sunscreen during leg 4 or 5..... LOOKING EXCITED!!!

Once our van finished the first 6 legs (totaling 40ish miles) we met up with Van#2 around 1pm then had a nice 7 hour break. Chile's for lunch; Michael's for van decorating; Target for chapstick, iceyhot patches and other misc items; resting at the exchange area-which consisted of trying to sleep (Simon and Mike), lots of foam rolling action and an impromptu to yoga session taught by Misty!

Next up....NIGHT RUNS!!
Mine was a little over 6miles and started at 7:45. Was in the zone, felt great, did well.
We saw Whit (runner #5) off around midnight and we just HAPPENED to be heading right by In N' Out on Carefree Hwy and the I17 to meet her and get Misty started. So, we had a delicious meal at In N' Out right before they closed.

That's Misty in her NEON gear for the second leg. It was 1am......

We only had about 2.5hrs in between our second and third legs.....

We were EXHAUSTED!

Thanks to the most AMAZING mom in the world (mine, Barb Campbell), we got to take showers and lay down on beds/couches for a little while.

Another alarm at 4am!!! Time to head out to Cave Creek Rd north of Carefree Hwy!

I started my last leg (3.4mi) at approx 5:30. Thankfully Casey met runner #12 to get the slap bracelet while I had an EMERGENCY port-a-potty session.......

Off and Running for my last leg!!!!!!

IT WAS FREEZING, PITCH BLACK AND UPHILL.

I ran up Cave Creek Rd to where Scottsdale Rd dead ends into it...No wonder they make us wear headlamps....I did not see a runner between 1/2mi in until the "One Mile Left" sign....I totally thought I got lost.

When I got to the exchange area, I yelled out my number "83"!!!!! and Casey just happened to have walked RIGHT INTO ME! Apparently I was a little quicker than they planned ;) I felt great!

No one else was there so I wandered around looking for the van...

That's when a "jumping Cholla cactus" found me. Yup! Right into my BUM! After extracting the barbs from that, THANKS WHIT!, the rest of Van #1 ran their final legs, bringing us to Fountain Hills.

We again met up with Van#2 to hand off the "slap bracelet" and off we went for showers and some rest at Whitney's parent's house in Mesa.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, it was so nice to stretch out on the couch.

Around 2pm we packed up the van and met Van #2 at Tempe Center for the Arts to bring home runner #12!

It was super amazing.

I had no idea what to expect and it was SUCH AN AWESOME thing.

Next up, "Du in the Desert". Duathalon in the McDowell's.... this coming weekend....need some rested legs!!

So, this is what our day consisted of today (after our goodbyes to Casey):

 A lot of laying around......

Sickness, Putt-Putt, Babies....oh, and TRAINING!!

#2 cause of inability to train as scheduled= SICKNESS

😩

In the last couple weeks I've managed a few runs, a swim, and my hill interval bike ride (and currently a 3 hour bike ride indoors on the trainer....BORING!!!)

Early morning Tues 1/29, I woke up with a horrendous stomach ache. I will spare you the details if what followed the rest of the day and into the next night. Basically, I stayed in bed sleeping; not able to be less than a few feet from the bathroom.....

On to more fun stuff...the working out!!!

We went to see our good friends inSan Diego the weekend of the Superbowl. I did a couple 1hr runs around their house (1 included LOTS if hills). We didn't bring our bikes though 😢 should have brought them and the trainers!

We did play putt-putt. Not too strenuous.

We stayed in SD to watch the Superbowl and thanks to the blackout (or using it as an excuse), we stayed until Monday morning; 4:45 drove the 6h back to Phoenix; straight to work; straight to meetings until 10:30pm.

That led to Tuesday last week me punishing myself for the time off by doing my 1hr 24min hill interval workout then heading straight to the pool for a 2100m swim:
600 warm up; 4x50 drills; 3x400 level 3 with 15s rest then a 100m cool down.

Wednesday was a 1hr tempo run.

Thursday I had to be at work at 6:30, so I did my Friday 1hr tempo run after work.

Friday baby Elise Merrill was born!!!!!! Healthy and so sweet. Can't wait to meet her. I let it (her birth, chatting with friends from 6-7:30) foil my plan for my swim.....

😴 That brings us to Saturday! 3hr long bike.

I hope by admitting/reporting my struggles and "failures" (missing workouts), I will be more accountable and/or motivated to get to the Swim/Bike/Run as planned for the day/week.

Hope everyone/anyone who reads this is having a GREAT weekend.

Countdown to Ragnar: 13 days!!!!

Pre/Post PF Chang's 1/2 marathon AND a run test!

I apparently need to get better at posting if I'm going to document this process......

The week leading up the the half, I ran and biked my workouts as scheduled. I was feeling OK about my running. I've been working hard on my cadence and technique because I'm a PRANCER!!!!!! (Meaning I throw my foot out in front of me and land on my heel.....VERY INEFFICIENT).

Therefore, I have been attempting to completely change my run form for 6 months, it's been pretty tough.

Anyway, Simon's dad has come to run since 2005 which makes the race even more fun. (He beats us every year). He arrived Friday night and of course we had In 'N Out 😁

Saturday we did packet pick up at the convention center downtown but then headed to Tempe to meet my mom and stepdad for the ASU-U of A basketball game, instead of our usual lunch at Majerle's.

Following the disappointing ASU loss, we rested a bit then met at Oregano's for our traditional pre-race meal.

Bed EARLY (7:45!!)

Out of bed bright and early Sunday morning!

I forgot my watch AND my iPod shuffle.........

To say the least, I performed the EXACT OPPOSITE of my race plan. (Start slow and finish at 5k race pace....... i started out 9:15/mile and ended 12:42/mile avg uhhhhhhhh). I finished better than last year by only a few minutes, pretty disappointing since last year I had only run about 5 miles at the longest and 10miles total leading up to the race...).

The Willman Champion: Simon!!!! Simon beat Dave!!! And I had some good mental victories. (STAYING POSITIVE!!) my journey this year is all about "process" and developing MENTAL TOUGHNESS!

This past week following the race has been a rest week. 1000m swim straight (Mon/Thurs) easy; 1hr level 1 aerobic bike (Tues); 30 min level 1 aerobic run (Wed/Friday). However, I was supposed to do a "run test" over the rest week at Christmas and I did not. So, Friday, following the protocol (15m warm up then run 20 min ramping up to as hard as you can; record avg HR and total distance travelled).

I did pretty well!!

My pace/mile in the same HR zones is now 29sec better. Another win!

Today we have an hour and a half bike ride. It's POURING rain so thank goodness we have two bike trainers to use inside (Thanks Mom and Momma Jill)!!

Blog Renewal = Amazing Challange in 2013

It's been over a year since I've blogged?!?!?!?

Well to make it short and sweet (at least at this point).

Some already know because we saw you after Thanksgiving but, Simon (my hubby) and I registered for Ironman Arizona 2013 to be held on November 17th.

I felt obligated to create a blog to document (my struggles) and achievements in training and racing over the next 10 month (almost EXACTLY TO THE DAY) since I do not have kids (or any "on the way") to blog about.

Training has begun already (Base 1 building) however, we are participating in two running events prior ( PF Chang's Rock 'N Roll half marathon and Ragnar del Sol).

I am going to put some pics here from Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii where we volunteered in October 2012, for motivation???

LET'S DO THIS!!!!!! 

Distant view of the swim course from the run course along the seawall

Started the day at 4am for body marking

Had access to the pier for the start...soooo many bikes!

Lead male Pros coming in

Swim start from the pier....Amazing moment to see

My volunteer scrub top for the medical tent

Finish line, right before Pete Jacobs (the winner) arrived

After my 5 hour shift in the medical tent, most fun time to be at the finish line

"Hot Corner" on the bike route

 

Time to sudy!!!

6 years sure has flown by!!!

Seems like last weekend we (Kelli, Miranda and I) were apartment shopping in Scottsdale. We finally decided on Legend at Kierland. We chose a cozy 3 bedroom 2 bath. Why am I mentioning this?

Well, every 6 years we have to retake our national board certification exam and in order to get a head start on reviewing (especially for me since I haven't done anything except Orthopedics) we headed to Atlantic City and spent 8 days, 7 nights in a 2 bed hotel room (with a terribly functioning toilet and a beach bar blasting club music until 1am every night) for a CME Resources review course.

And we LOVED it!

 On to the pictures.

Mir and I flew into BWI on Friday around the same time. Kelli, being a fantastic friend, took the afternoon off work to pick us up.

First things first, luggage..... well, not Mir's :-(

Not naming names....

We were still happy to be together!

After a couple hours of window shopping.......

 Yes, they are snake skin shooties and no, I did not purchase them ;-)

Still no sign of Miranda's luggage.


So, off to Bethesda to see Tim and finally met the newest Karacki: Jiffy! What a sweet kitty!!

 We had dinner was amazing at Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro!

We had a delicious pizza roll app, then Mir and I split this fantastic salad and pizza, didn't take a pizza pick, too busy eating.

I'm not quite sure what happened to my pupil......

Go nuts for Doughnuts!!!

 
Saturday morning we were off to the Jersey Shore! Not to party with Snooki, but to study our booties off ;-)

Our residence for the next 7 days ;-)

The aforementioned, Beach Bar. Can only hear the music from 7pm-1am! Looked cool from our room. We came to HATE this place.

We decided we needed a little beach time before the grueling conference began. No guidos to be found.

Kelli and I introduced Miranda to 40 hands ;-) Well, we didn't actually play, just taught her about the game. $9 beer night!

Yes Mir, it's bigger than a bottle of wine!

The next 5 day routine consisted of the alarm going off at 6am, 8-10 hours of review, quick supper, a 2 hour practice exam, then trying to fall asleep by midnight to the "club music" raging at the beach bar.

There were not many pictures taken except for a few sporadic moments during the week.  Kelli did some research on places to eat, two of these included Angelo's and White House Subs, great finds!

Awesome salad, sandwich and crepe shop

Angelo's Chicken Marsala!!

Gyro and Chips

You have to have your act together to order in here!!!

We made it out alive, with our yummy subs!

Delicious chicken and avocado crepe!!!

Friday we were done a little early so we hit the beach and then headed to the beautiful Borgata Hotel for some fancy food at Wolfgang Puck American Grille Tavern.

I didn't get the memo to wear a pink/purple bathing suit cover-up

Entry of the Borgata

We tried our luck on the SATC slot...it wouldn't take our money.....

Mir ordered the bacon wrapped meatloaf (yes, I helped her)

I ordered one of my favs, Tuna Tar Tar

Alright, last but certainly not least, Mir and I flew out of Philadelphia on Saturday, what better to do than get some Philly Cheesesteaks!!!! It was a pretty tough decision on where to go. We asked many people. We ended up at Geno's. And what a GREAT choice it was!!!

Stood in the long line

Had exact cash ready

Had to have our order ready when we got to the window, there's no messing around

Success!!

Amazing!!!

With our tummies full of the "Best Cheesesteak", we headed to try and catch a glimpse of the Liberty Bell. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time before our flight. So, we went to the Visitor Center to get out of the heat and take in some American history.

 

 It was a long and tiring week. But I feel like I can speak for all of us when I say, IT WAS AWESOME AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN RIGHT NOW. I loved getting to spend the week with (at least half) of the girls I love the most!