TGIF :)

Good morning! It's a beautiful sunny day out there...-16 right now though...just waiting for it to warm up a little bit before a nice fairly easy 20km run i've got planned today. I don't think I mentioned my exciting news this week yet...I finally booked my flight to Boston for the marathon! It actually feels real now...6 weeks and 3 days till race day :) Wow it's really been creeping up on me fast and I like that i'm finally starting to get excited!

Yesterday was cold...which I don't mind...but the wind was intense...which made it pretty ridiculous...i just couldn't get out there so I did some hill training on the treadmill...actually turned out not too bad! I had a nice 10min warmup and then a half hour of slow uphill running...i held a good pace for the whole half hour and had a pretty steep incline going on the treadmill. It was quite the workout! I've never really done anything like that before...usually i just find a really hilly run to go on or run hill repeats somewhere!

Even though Boston is close and i'm excited...i'm really really excited for the Transrockies race in August...my brother and I have been making plans and lists...it's pretty cool. I'm trying to get some really good hill training in right now as a good base for this summer...more hills than I normally do while training for a marathon. I'm definitely noticing a huge difference in my strength and how much easier I find running hills than I used to. It's great!

After taking last sunday off from a long run for some much needed rest, i'm really looking forward to a big one this sunday. Sometimes I wonder if it's super weird how much I love running...how much I think about it...how much I plan my days, weeks, months, vacations around it...it makes me so happy. I love being a runner :)

Anyhow, since i've discovered the lovely world of blogging and found so many great other blogs to follow of people doing and loving the same thing as me...i realize that i'm not the only crazy one out there who thinks about running, triathlons, training as much as I do! I look forward to reading all the new postings each day of the blogs that I follow...it really keeps me inspired and motivated too...especially on those days when i'm really not feeling like going for a run or workout. So thanks everybody! :) I know that after a crazy busy summer of running and races that I've got planned i'm going to really need you guys to get me through my transition into the lovely world of triathlon...it's super scary for me but i'm totally up for the challenge, the excitement, the adventure :)

Have a great day and a super weekend!
Cheers!

I wanna be an Ironwoman too...

So...I have some friends that do triathlon...and a few more that do ironman...and it's always always always been something that has interested me...I wanna do ironman too! I get so darn excited when it's on tv...man is it ever inspiring. I've heard it's quite addicting once you start racing tri's as well...is that my problem, why i'm so hesitant to try one? I don't know...I mean i've got 2 out of the 3 sports down pat...I grew up as a competitive swimmer so there's no problem there...and i'm already a runner...sweet...i think what my problem is...is with the bike! I do have a decent road bike which I enjoy so why don't I just put all 3 sports together and race a tri and hopefully eventually an ironman?!

I think i've been watching too much Tour de France in the past...I know I won't be going anywhere near that fast but boy do I get freaked out when I see them wipe out on their bike. I have this fear of falling off my road bike that I can't explain! I remember reaching 60km/hr going down some crazy hills in Gatineau Park when I lived in Ottawa and I think I had my brakes on the entire way!! It's not quite the same when I mountain bike as I assume, or hope that i'll land somewhere relatively soft :)

I've been thinking so much about it lately and it doesn't help that i've been asking my ironman friends more and more about it. Unfortunately with all of the trail races i've entered this summer I don't really have any time to fit in training for or completing a tri along the way. Yet I still want to go to Penticton this summer, watch ironman and register for IMC 2010...what to do what to do...at least I have a lot of time to think about it! Who knows, maybe you'll see me in line signing up on Aug.31st!!

Anyways, it's most definitely on my list of things to do...I just have to stop being a wimp and do it already! If that 80+ year old Nun can do it, then why can't I?? As for today, I've got almost an hour left of work and then it's off to do a big hill workout...I'm thinking i'll take my frustrations out on the Calgary Curling Club hill as well as those lovely stairs and that will kick my butt nicely!