updating the update

Click here for this week's dryland swimming workouts.......

Click here for a great article on the pros and cons of racing flats.....

Click here for information on our 2009 Lake Placid Camp!
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Day 21 of running camp is approaching, and I feel great. At the beginning of this camp it seemed like a large undertaking. 30 runs in 30 days? Would I make it? That's a lot of days of running..... in a row. Coach T would be proud.

All of the runs except for Sundays have been 30 minutes in length. 30 minutes is so easy to do. Anytime, anywhere, any feeling. I feel stronger and I have been tilting past E pace this week. My run test is December 6th and I will run this pace until I earn a new V dot. I am not a runner by nature, so this is my priority as I begin my season. This season I become a faster runner, and I do it by being smart and methodical. With my cycling and swimming there are times I can be less methodical..... those are the events where I can so often train by feel.

Nutrition is also going well this week as I strive to eat more primal. The funny thing is that when you seat more fruits and vegetables ...... you drop the calories pretty darn quickly. Good for weight loss (down 6.....) yet you have to make sure that you are eating enough for 12 hours of training per week. I know..... rocket science.

After a few days you crave the sweets so much less, and the sweet tooth is replaced by the sweet tooth fruit. I am hooked on Mango yogurt...... which is actually incorrectly named because it is literally just pureed Mango. My other new favorite dessert is Pumpkin Pudding. This more elaborate recipe has two entire ingredients: organic canned pumpkin and organic vanilla yogurt (saying organic makes me feel so earthy......) 1/2 cup of each and there you do. A dash of cinnamon and it is heaven.
I might become the pureed fruit girl by the end of all of this.

I have even taken a look at the people around me and who I choose to surround myself with. I have stepped back from some of the people who carry around negative energy. We all have hard lives, we all have ups and downs. But self created drama is draining. And I don't need it.

But I am learning. And feeling good. And so looking forward to what the season will bring this year. My main goal is to get my 70.3 time to where it belongs...... in the 4:45 range and to improve my overall speed. Ironman can just suck that stuff out of you, can't it?

This morning we began our group runs along the canal. We gather at 7am and as we start to run we split into our various paces. Each week we will get anywhere form 2-15 runners, and I love it. This morning I ran with Sarah, she's heading to IMAZ this week. It was perfect. How many long runs did we spend together this year? How many times did we lay in the parking lot at Pappa Johns? It's been her who I have leaned on in the wake of everything that has happened to me this season. And it is Sarah I will be screaming for next week as she tackles her third Ironman, second of the year.

Best of luck to all of you competing. It's a late one. No Ironman is easy but as the weather gets colder and some of us have already completed our off season, it gets mentally tougher. Funny thing is though...... that's what the Ironman takes.