T-Minus 6 Months

Hey, we're under half a year until the race! Sorry for the delay in posting...the holidays, training, and life all got in the way.

Biggest Challenge This Month:

Now that I'm pretty used to the multiple workouts a day thing, I'd say it's ramping up the difficulty and length of the training sessions. I'm pretty consistently doing 2800m in the pool, and I'm up to 2:30 on the bike and 1:40 on the run. Fortunately, coach does a great job of giving intervals during those long sessions, and it helps keep my mind off the duration.

Another challenge this month was training during the holiday season. I'm happy to say that I kept going right on through (including a hill run on Christmas!), so I didn't lose any progress going into next month.

Oh, and finding reasonable accommodations in Coeur d'Alene! Happily, I did finally get a place reserved this month, so that's one stress off my mind.

Biggest Success This Month:

I learned to flip turn! Though I'm still awful at it, there have been a few successful ones in there, and I'm not getting water up my nose the majority of the time.

There was also the success at the Thanksgiving race, and a couple runs in the last week where I've really seen the improvement in my fitness.

How I Feel About Training:

Excited to see the change in my results! It also helps that the weather has taken a brief but dramatic turn for the better, and I've gotten to be outside the last couple days.

I also got some pretty cool running and biking gear from my family, so I'm eager to see how it all does. So far, everything I received has been great!

How I Feel About The Race:

Obviously still pretty nervous, as I started thinking about it during my run yesterday, and was completely stressed out by the length. I'm definitely making progress, though, and my training distances are now nearing (or surpassing, in the swim) half the race distance. Mentally, that's a big thing for me to know: even on a training day when I'm already worn out from previous days, I could finish half the race.

What's Next?

More strength work, and continued building of duration and distance. I don't have any races on the horizon right now, so it's just a matter of getting in the hours and staying healthy.

6 Months Out Theme Song:

Swim
Bike
Run
Work
Eat
Sleep

Wild Goose Turkey Chase

I just got back from my run today. Yes, I ran on my birthday. We just saw a story on Michael Phelps in which his coach said he trains on his birthday, so I figured I'd better get out there if I'm planning on winning any gold medals.

Today called for a hilly run, so I hit the trails at a nearby park. It was a nice, peaceful, snowy run in the woods, and I was just listening to some music and enjoying the afternoon. The trail was slippery, so it was a slow pace, and I was looking down at my feet a lot. I came around a corner, and saw movement on the trail in my peripheral vision. I pulled up, and suddenly saw what it was.

A GIANT wild turkey. Seriously, the thing must have been up to my waist. And after another look, I saw there was another one right behind it. And then I scanned the woods. Three, four...all the way to 17 turkeys surrounding me. I waited until the two on the trail moved away, then slowly walked through. Around the bend, there were another 6, bringing it to 23 turkeys. Good thing it wasn't whatever their version of Thanksgiving is, or I might have been dinner.

On my way back, I usually take another trail, but I looped back that way to see them again. They were gone, leaving nothing but their huge 4-inch turkey tracks in the snow.

Flying Feather Pictures

Neck and Neck!



Held her off. :)