And it turns out that camp actually could have been more fun, had she made it up from Under.

I ran into the gorgeous Ms. Balding fresh off of IM China at Hawaii 70.3 this weekend. We hung out with some pretty mediocre triathletes at starbucks after the race. I think they were a little in awe of us Timex gals, since they didn’t really want to talk about their races. It’s easy to be intimidated around Amanda and I.

Hawaii 70.3 is perfect practice for the big show, and it was one of those days where Kona gave all it could. Current and chop on the swim, and whipping crosswinds on the bike course. Couldn’t tell ya about the run course, as I played spectator for that portion, but it was hot out even standing at an aid station yelling.. those poor boys had to spend a whole 4 hours out there in that weather. It must have been so hard for them. My first DNF was a lot of fun, believe it or not, but it’s a long, rather whiny story, so if you want to read it, you can click here. I advise against it though, I think reading about others’ injuries is bad juju.

I kept hearing the music from this movie out on the bike course… I’ll try and keep this short!

The Good:
A new swim PR. In November I started swimming 4x/week, doubling my time in the water. I almost died from the boredom. It paid – took 5 minutes off my time and was out of Tempe Town Lake in 58:43. At the start Maggs and I jumped off the dock holding hands like total dorks. She swam smack into the bridge warming up, winning the dorkier award by a smidgen. It was chilly, and boys were mean to me and aggressively stole my draft until I gave up and swam it alone. It was a pleasant surprise to be told by a T1 volunteer that I was a top 10 amateur out of the water. He was likely lying, but don’t check the results and tell me, I don’t want to know.

The Bad:
The first loop was good. New scenery. Big saguaros like you see in spaghetti westerns. Wind, excitement, that scary disk noise coming from me.. I was thinking 1:45/loop would put me where I wanted to be. My HR was right where the coach said it should be. 1:45 exactly and I was back in town and saw both my parents. Then I had to turn around and go again.. which was fine, but the saguaros were not as exciting the second time around. The wind made me grumpy. My shorts were not cooperating. A bee tried to fly into my mouth. The tailwind on the ride home was nice, but the loop was 7 minutes slower. And don’t be fooled by that word “loop” we really just go out and back, over and over. Loop three was bad, and not in the Michael Jackson way. My HR was low. My shorts were still not cooperating. I was looking for a reason to do a 5+ hour ride and not finding one. My teammate Juli flew by a mile or two out of transition and looked so strong it was inspiring. We exchanged pleasantries in T2 while forgetting to put on our compression socks. She went on to win W35-39 because she is awesome. I finished in 5:29, a new personal worst, and told the nice volunteer they could have my bike forever.

The Ugly:
The run, my favorite part! Except there was this funny time warp going on. I was running 7 minute effort, but 8 minute miles were coming out. My heart rate was 20 beats too low. I have a plethora of excuses: my IT band insertion thingamajig, I ate too much on the bike, I ate too little on the bike, it was hot, I only ate 200 cals on the run, the world hates me, it was karma for running over that endangered endemic bird last week, I am a pansy.. pick which ever you like. It was the most difficult marathon of my life. Running past transition six times gave me six chances to use one of those excuses to quit. But my knee didn’t hurt, so I kept running. The marathon was 3:30.. another PW. I could make the report longer with more details – but instead I think I will sum it all up with: That course kicked my ass.

I finished in 10:03, right smack in the middle of my two previous IM times. BUT – it was good enough for 9th place among the women, making it my highest IM placing ever, which cheered me up almost as much as the giant burrito my dad had waiting..

I forgot a camera, so here’s what I’ve got:

My bike, making friends on the rack:

& My last ditch effort at getting faster by osmosis with Michael & Sergio:

Or Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup recipe.. whatever you want to call it.

The clearance holiday chocolate carried me through to the Valentines Day candy, when I discovered 2 lb. bags of all green peanut M&Ms (practically a vegetable) and by the time those were gone the Cadbury Mini Eggs came out. If only they’d throw a little protein in, I could write them off as recovery food..

But as the season gets rolling, we all know it’s time to start eating better. To fuel our training, not eat for entertainment. Or in my case, as 4pm rolls around and I realize I’ve eaten nothing but crap all day, it’s time to try to make up for it with a healthy dinner.

This Lentil Soup is quick and easy, loaded with veggies, fiber and vegetarian protein, and mild enough that it doesn’t hamper the evening masters swim workout an hour later (yes, I swim. It doesn’t show, but I do it anyway.) Your kids probably won’t eat it, mine didn’t. I found it in Good Housekeeping, as seen at your local dentist’s office.

Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (14 1/2-ounce) diced tomatoes
1 can (14- to 14 1/2-ounce) vegetable broth
1 cup dried red lentils
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bag (5-ounce) baby spinach

In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil on medium until hot. Add carrots and onion, and cook 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Stir in cumin; cook 1 minute.
Add tomatoes, broth, lentils, 2 cups water, salt, and pepper; cover and heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 8 to 10 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in spinach.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 2c serving)

Calories 265 Total Fat 5g Saturated Fat 1g Cholesterol – Sodium 645mg Total Carbohydrate 41g Dietary Fiber 13g Sugars – Protein 16g
Source

Congrats Kim & Kevin on baby Nora!

Kim, my friend Bree’s only goal going into her first ironman this October was to beat her labor time – maybe that’ll have to be your Hawaii goal this year..
I’m just here to link to Bree’s Blog about training for triathlon as a mom and how it changes things. See it here at breeweehawaii.blogspot.com

Hawaii moms – Bree Wee, Ingrid Rolles & me

Six weeks, no mention of the sport. No talk of gear, potential sponsors, coaching, races that might be fun to try. Triathlon is the new bad word and I’m not allowed to say it for six weeks. My seven year-old is the bad-word police; “Mom, he said the __-word!” is an hourly statement. Most recently it was the m-word.. I can’t imagine what that one was, but Henry knows. And it was bad.

After a year of goals the new goal is to not have a goal.

I have been warned of the Noise. I’m not sure what the Noise is, though my teammates will tell you it’s probably coming out of my mouth. I just keep seeing Kevin Costner making it all go quiet in some baseball flick. Is the dreaded Noise the year-end wrap-up, the tri-mag’s most-accomplished list, the she-only-beat- me-because-she-drafted blog? Is it the gossip of our sport, catty as a gaggle of freshman girls at prep school? For me the Noise is inside – it’s a matter of over-thinking things. Like when you learn to play Tetrus and play all day until your fingers hurt and then you go to bed and can’t sleep because your brain is unable to stop aligning blocks as they fall from the sky.

The past two years, off season has meant running a couple of marathons for me. This year it means running, biking and swimming when I feel like it, which means my goggles are going to rot under a seat in the minivan. Not talking about it, not thinking about it — no T-word for at least six weeks. This year it’s going to be about letting go. It might suck. It might require my husband telling me to shut up, or a loud ipod – but I’m going to cut out the Noise.
(I shouldn’t be writing this. Or thinking it. And don’t tell Henry I said the T-word.)