Looks like it's been 8 days... hmmm. Well, I survived bike to work week- and LOVED it!! It made for long days, with lots of preparation time to make sure everything was accounted for, but it was a great feeling to get the workouts in and a refreshing way to start of the day. Friday was pretty intense as a group of us were racing a huge storm to work, but we made it with a minute to spare and the ride was awesome. There was a tailwind, but we were pushing hard as well and averaged 21mph over 28 miles. It must have been a big tailwind!! That and the fear of death by lightening! Watching all those 911 episodes in my younger years might not have been the best idea I am finding now.

This week hasn't been quite as strong, but there's been a larger variety... the normal including yoga, bodypump on Monday and the Thursday lunch swim. I was kind of frustrated this week because I had a couple of doctor appointments that required me to leave early from work therefore forcing me to skip my noon workouts. That has a tendency to make me crabby. I did however get some decent workouts in after work - a long, decent pace run on Monday night, a 29 mile ride on Tuesday, a quick 5k followed by a leisurely ride around the lake on Wednesday, a tough hill ride last night and a lunch ride on a cruiser as an off day today. The swim on Thursday wasn't super long, but it felt great for a change... found a rhythm for once. It was motivating.

Thinking (slightly) about doing that hilly race tomorrow, but the big event for the weekend is the half marathon on Sunday. My heel has been acting up again lately so I'm pretty sure it's going to top out as a supported long training run. I think it will be fun, as long as the rain holds off. We have a lot of friends showing up for it so that should be fun too. I'm hoping to do a loop on the Ironman course for a bike ride either Sunday or Monday, but we'll see how the legs hold up. I'm so happy we have Monday off!!!

With that, I should continue working so I can get out of here. Can't believe how nice out it is today... Naturally, on an off day, stuck at work! Happy training all!

Haven't been here for awhile... that's pretty sad. I'll start blogging more as training gets moving a little more... there are a lot of events coming up. I'm not going to bother trying to back blog... no idea what I've done so I'll just start with this week. It's bike to work week! yeah! Actually, it's been pretty fun. As of today, I have racked up 205 miles since last Friday. Last Friday was my last 5:30am class, at least until fall comes around again and class attendence goes back up. Taught Friday, 42 on Sat, 50 on Sunday, 30 to work on Monday, 32 commute and 10 lunch miles on Tuesday and then 26 yesterday. Today there are plans to ride to Oconomowoc from work which should be about 35 miles, but now the weather might hinder that... we'll see. Needless to say, I haven't accomplished much else other than riding. Got a run in on Monday night and a small swim on Tuesday. Did the normal yoga routine yesterday am and today might get a swim squeezed in at lunch, but that's not set in stone yet.

Signed up for the baby Horribly Hilly Hundreds ride which is June 12th. Had to choose the 100K cause quite honestly don't think I could finish out the 200k... those hills are brutal! Mark is much better at describing them though so tune into his blog for more info on that. Also going to sign up for the Madison half marathon which is next Saturday... I'm not super confident in my run, but I'm not going to race it so it'll really just stand as a supported training run with a tshirt... that'll be fun.

Speaking of the run... went to see the sports doc the other day for more of preventative maintenance and he was checking out my knee and said "As of right now, with your knee like this, there is no way you'd be able to finish the marathon" That's reassuring! I'm headed into physical therapy next week. It's an issue of my kneecap tracking is off (which doesn't surprise me since I dislocated my kneecap back in high school). I also have some tight IT bands so much work is to be done. I'm going to overcome that statement.

Finally, Mark and I have finally started up our Janus Charity Challenge fundraising. I know that Mark mentioned this in his blog but thought I would just give it a quick plug as well. We're raising money for the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA in memory of Mark's brother Steve who took his life this past February. We have started a webpage through Active.com which will provide more information about SPANUSA and our efforts. Please check it out, and if you know of anyone else that might be interested in helping, please pass along the word... getting the word out is more help than you know!! website is www.active.com/donate/stopsuicide. Also see Mark's blog for more info... I haven't been able to get to his blog to see what he wrote... thanks :) (always feel free to contact me with any questions or comments as well!! I love email!)

With that, I think I'm out of substantial information and have managed to procrastinate long enough and should get to work. Hope everyone is well and healthy! Happy training!

Well, as I'm sure you've read in Mark's blog, the relay marathon turned out very well. It was a tough run for me because it was very lonely with not too much to look at, but I managed to keep up a decent pace and finished it out without anything on my body breaking down. I was incredibly pleased with that. My teammates were awesome... both for running so well and letting me do the long leg considering I was the slowest of the three. Very cool for not worrying about finishing place as much as fun and getting in good training time. It was a lot of fun.

Last weekend was pretty hectic... Saturday went downtown to check out the Lake Monona 20K race. I love that course... it takes you on all these little roads that border the lake. It is very pretty! I was then dragged out to the land of the "horribly hilly hundreds" good times... Did 40 miles with some intense hill climbing. Not super impressed with my ability, but it is guaranteed that it will make the Ironman hills seem like anthills. I'll have to continue going out there... as far as doing the actually ride on June 12th? TBD.

Turned out to be a nice day weather wise. Good workout as well.

Sunday I actually had my chance to run the 20K Monona route in the SNOW!! Yeah, it was crazy... May 2nd and snowflakes as big as my head were dropping out of the sky. Like running in a snow globe. Very pretty, very strange and very wet. Kept my mind off the running though so that was nice. That was my longest run ever... making a jump of 3+ miles. I was happy. It was slow, but I felt like I could have gone for a lot longer... The biggest deal of this... I know I am capable of running that Madison Half Marathon at the end of May. I was worried about that.

Afterwards we headed over to help at a road bike race... well, kind of. Pretty much just hung around watching em race. Don't think I'll ever be interested in racing.

I guess that's it for now. Can't even begin to tell you hard frustrating it is to try to get a bike that I want! I just want it to end! That's all the detail I will into for now. Happy training all!