Racing!

So, my first triathlon is coming up in less than 2 weeks. I think I'm ready for it. Most of my warm-ups are longer than the distances I'll be doing that day. Not to say that it will be easy of course. Sprints are always hard, because you have to go balls to the wall the whole time and I'm not really a balls to the wall kind of gal.

I also signed up for a half-marathon next Sunday. I'm not really prepared for it. I only run about 15-17 miles a week total, which usually consists of a weekday 5-7 miler and a weekend run of 7-9 miles. My hubby signed up for it though and he has only gone 7 miles on his longest run after his feet operation this January. My longest run in the last 6 months is 9.4 miles and that was yesterday. But, I felt pretty good during and after it.

Our plan is to try to run it together and aim for a 10-minute mile pace. No, it won't be anywhere near a PR for either of us, but the plan is to have fun.

I don't know what else I'll be racing this year. It all depends on what happens on our quest to become parents.

In other news, we have decided on our vacation this year. We are going to ITALY in mid-October! We'll fly into Rome, spend a day/night there, take a train to Florence, rent a car to drive to our villa in Tuscany, spend 7 nights there and then back to Rome for one last night before coming home. Can't wait! Neither of us have ever been to Italy. Anyone have any suggestions of things to do/see in the Tuscan region?

Missing in Action yet again

I think my attention span is getting shorter the longer I use Facebook. I mean I do read all of my friends' blogs (cyber and local) regularly, but it is much easier to post a status update than write a blog post. It hasn't helped that I've been super busy at work.

I've been here since 7:30 AM, so think I deserve a blogging break and will take it. My brain is fried anyway.

So, when I last spoke to you all, I was working on the flip turns. They briefly degraded badly, but then I got some awesome advice and I've been doing well at them since. I do not do open turns any longer. I can't believe it took me so long to get up the nerve, but once I did, I took to it so naturally. This is a big deal for me, because most things do not come to me naturally (other than mad computer hacking and numchuck skillz of course - no, seriously, mad math skillz is my forte). I think about flip turns all the time and can't wait to get back in the pool. I even prefer the longer sets now, because I can flip more. And, my times are starting to drop. Still not fast, but much better than last year. It is nice to be excited about swimming for a change - last year's slowness was a total downer.

My running is coming along too. I don't do the big volume like eSpeed, Daisy or Salty, but I'm up to 9 miles on the trails on the weekend long run. And, I feel awesome when I finish. I'm so happy being out on the trails and getting muddy again!

My bike is status quo, which I think is probably okay. I'm relatively decent at biking, so maintaining works. Matt and I rode the Old Mill hill the weekend before last. I'd never been on it before and had heard such horror stories. When I finally rode the hill, it was steep and long, but totally doable. I guess that is what I get for listening to others and not just trying it out for myself. During that ride, Matt called me "scrappy" for not letting myself get dropped and "most combative" for challenging him on most of the uphills.

Finally, I've been lifting weights once a week. That is not new, but I did buy a new strength training book geared to triathletes. I try out a few new exercises each week and so far, I've been sore for days after. You know, the good kind of sore.

In summary, all is going fairly well on the training front. It helps keep me sane during all the work madness and trying to get pregnant BS. As Eric says, "Game on"!