My first race is in twenty-three days. It’s the only triathlon I’m doing as a solo entrant this year. (I’m riding the bike leg of Titanium Man.) Race the River was my only race with an OWS in which the swim went well: no panicking, no back-stroking. I wasn’t the last person out of the water. All this, despite the fact I was freaked out by the wind chop and swell on Lake Coeur d’Alene and almost didn’t start (this was six weeks after a horrible swim and a horrible race at Pine Hollow), and I was in a swim scrum – something that has never happened to me – and I was kicked in the chest and swam over. Continue reading →

I refer the voice in my head as my Inner Coach. She’s encouraging. She pushes me without ever belittling me. Sometimes, she even becomes the voice of reason. Continue reading →

As I was walking toward the court club yesterday evening, an employee was heading in the opposite direction, presumably out to her vehicle. As she approached me, she exclaimed, “No one looks good in yellow, but somehow, you’ve managed to pull it off. That top looks great on you!”

That right there made to decision to not skip my workout a worthwhile one. Continue reading →

A week ago yesterday, I went for my first run since the Dirty Rat 15K two weeks earlier. I walked the first mile, slowly ran (ca. 14:00/mile, I think) a mile, then walked the next mile home. I never felt unduly stressed, so I think I did just the right workout. I rode home the next night, and then back in to work the following morning. Continue reading →

I am fearful. This may be an irrational fear, an overreaction, and just plain silly. Continue reading →

This illness started last Monday afternoon. At first, I thought it was an allergy attack. Because I already felt like I was drowning, I decided to skip Monday’s swim workout. By midnight, I knew it was a cold, not allergies. And now, a week later, I’m still sick.

Continue reading →

Monday, I wrote a blog post about last Sunday’s Sage Rat Run Dirty Rat 15K Trail Run. As I was nearing completion, IE crashed. There was no saved draft of my lengthy post, which is highly unusual. It’s now Friday, and I’m willing to take another crack at writing I Am A Dirty Rat! Continue reading →

I’m in the third week of training for Race the River Sprint Tri in July. I have a trail race coming up this weekend – the Sage Rat Run 15K trail run – and although I’m tired right now, I’m feeling ready. Continue reading →

It’s strange to be calling these “early season” thoughts when I have four running events behind me already, but this is the first week of training for my only triathlon this year. It makes me feel beginner-ish.

Continue reading →

This will be a brief entry. I’m using the touch screen keyboard on the Surface, and it frequently frustrates me.

My time for Bloomsday was better than last year, but still over 1:40. I felt good through most of it, but after mile six, my glutes were tired. I walked a lot.

Next year, I need to decide to train specifically for Bloomsday, walk it, or just treat it as a long workout and accept whatever time I get. Clearly, if I’m in good enough condition to run the Badger Mountain Challenge 50K, I should be in good enough condition to run Bloomsday.

More later…