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Thursday, January 30, 2014

#Triathlon & stuff

Cleaner skies in the south!
I need to work on this blogging thing. Originally my goal was to post every week. It’s been a few weeks and I have so much to talk about. I have friends who are so great about posting every day, one in particular who is an inspiration in my blogging world – check her out at hungrymotherrunner.com.

I am on the uphill swing of being sick. I hate being sick and yesterday after a week of it, I just made a decision that I would feel better today. Do you think the mental state has something to do with the physical? I do. I’m not 100% yet but can see the light. The worst part of being sick for me is not being able to put the hours in for training. I had started feeling bummed about that last week, I missed a few training goals but when the week was over I still had over eight training hours. This week, not so much. I did computrainer Monday night and nothing since. It’s a fine line to push through being sick and knowing when the body just needs to rest. I actually had some run and swim testing planned for this week but the results would be skewed so maybe next week!

I am heading south to warmer weather tomorrow and plan on four hour ride. We did this a couple of weeks ago and I rode my longest ride ever and felt really confident. My half ironman (Ironmanmonterrey) is just over six weeks away so it’s time to start dialing in everything. Nutrition is key in longer races and I have been testing out different things to use on race day.

Some of my favorites so far are:

Feed Zone Portables - I made a couple of different creations with rice, eggs, bacon, potato flour and brown sugar. Weird sounding, right? They are so good and easy on the stomach.

Skratch Labs Electrolyte Hydration Mix – I mix up a bottle to sip on during the longer rides. This company was created by the guys who wrote the Feed Zone cookbooks so you know it’s a good product.

Osmo Acute Recovery for Women – I have a bottle of this mixed up and ready for me after a long ride or training session. What I like about this besides the taste is that it is made specifically for women. In fact their tag line is “Women are not small men”! Love it!

ShroomTech – this is an all natural supplement that you take before a workout and it enhances your energy. I started using this last year after my trainer talked about it and was amazed at the difference it has made.

My last post talked about my new team sponsorship with all3sports.com. Yesterday we had some exciting news with the announcement that All3Sports was selected as the top triathlon retailer in the United States based on vendor and consumer voting and rating. (see story here). I am so honored to be associated with this company and my fellow team members. I will represent with being the best that I can this year.

It has been two weeks now since hubby boarded a plane to Saudi Arabia with a one way ticket after being home for three weeks over the holidays. He is getting settled in at his new place and worksite. We are in a routine of texting and emailing daily with updates on life and hopefully soon, we’ll have the Skype thing going. This is a challenge for both of us but we know the rewards will be worth it. I miss having him home. I am grateful for boys who check on me and for great neighbors who are willing to help with the little and not so little things. The time will pass quickly!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Team sponsorship


Our Christmas holiday was spent in St. George at my mother-in-law's house will all the family. We came in shifts throughout the week so not all the family was there at any given moment but we did all get to see mom/grandma. We never did get one big family picture so I guess we will just have to do it again sometime soon.

I came home in time to have gum graft surgery on Friday. Not a fun procedure but hopefully it is worth it and my problem is fixed. I am such a party animal that I was asleep before ten on New Year’s Eve, so I had to wait until the morning to see the new year. Early to bed, early to rise! I had a run regression test on my training plan so hit the rec center before 7 am when I thought there would be plenty of treadmills available. I was right!

When I finished running, I realized I would be just in time for the first GPP workout of the year so I headed on over.  It was a doozy!

Each year a new rep gets added to each movement. Because of my hamstring issue, I normally stay away from squats but this day I did them just without any weights. Felt great to have the workout and test done before 9 a.m.
 
My big news this week, though, is that I have been selected to be a sponsored athlete on the all3sports.com racing team.  I am super excited about this for so many reasons.  All3sports.com is located in Georgia and I have bought several tri items from them online. What really got me interested in them though was how excited Swim Bike Mom’s, Meredith Atwood, was about them. I started following her earlier this year after reading her book. She tells a hilarious tale on how she decided to become a triathlete. I definitely recommend reading the book whether you are a seasoned triathlete or a newbie. Anyway she talks about not knowing what equipment to buy and that the folks at all3sports.com were super helpful.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would be a “sponsored” athlete. How cool is that? Now 2014 really does need to be my best year ever!

71 days to go until IM 70.3 Monterrey and 60 days after that is IM Texas. I have had a nice couple of weeks off for the holidays and training gets cranked up a notch or two come Monday…  Heaven help me.