My 39th Year!

• On: 01/14/2010 05:10:11

I am starting my 39^th year off in style.  For my birthday,  my in laws were in town and I had work meeting, so it was not really an option to do what I wanted to do – so today, I was able to run with Dave this AM.   Today marks the first day of some hard running for me…and why not just invite Dave up to kick my ass?  He is talking like he is “jogging” away (he was) and I am fighting my breathing from 2 and 2 to 1 and 1 (1 step per 1 breath!).  I did not wear a watch or anything for that matter.  Why?  Just run hard until you cannot run any harder.  Then, he says (he has no idea where he is at) – ok, let’s kick it in (we were 1.5 miles out) – kick it in? I am a full throttle.  Nose is running everywhere, lungs are on FIRE (it was 25F degrees out – mild!), and what is fatiguing ???  MY damn arms!  All that swimming and upper body work that I did yesterday I am paying for this morning.  I am afraid to ask how fast (ahem) we are going…but he throws out what we were running when we finished and I was VERY happy.  Not too shabby for me in January. Keep in mind, Dave warms up @ sub 7 min pace.  UGH.  He told me to finish at the stop sign and I held it together until then…but not ONE step longer and I almost vomited.  NICE way to bring in my 39^th year! I love it.

I had a nice weekend away with my girlfriends!  We surely had a great time.  People are like you just go up to Stoughton and talk and drink and eat?  Um, yep!  It is glorious!  We celebrated my birthday again with some M&Ms and laughs.  We watched THE HANGOVER – it was great – light humor but fun!  I woke up on Saturday AM and drove into town to run 90 minutes.  Granted it was -15F outside.  NOW, my friends, THIS is cold.  THIS is Wisconsin.  WINDY and brutal outside.  I was fine…the one great thing about Wisconsin?  THEY SHOVEL sidewalks – I guess it is a village ordinance there!  What a thought!  It was great.  I was cold though. I ran right to the SPA and met my girlfriends there for our 6 at a time pedicures!  Ah, the life!  We shopped later that day in Madison…and just relaxed…went out for breakfast on Sunday…and otherwise laid around in our PJs and gabbed away.  We have so much fun!  This was our 10^th year doing this exact trip.  NEXT year..we are flying someplace warm to bring in our 40^th year.

Today my neighborhood girlfriends took me out for lunch.  We went to the THIRSTY VINE.  Um….we had a great time!

I finally did decide what I will do in 2010 race-wise.  I have gone back and forth on this since Clearwater…and I took my time.  I rested a TON.  Probably the most I rested sans pregnancy bedrest in all these years.  And, I just can NOT find the love for my bike.  I look at it…and the race TT bike is still in the bike box.  Yep.  Now, this is a bit ridiculous!  But, my trusty Pink Planet X is on the computrainer.  I went to my first computrainer class last Thursday and I had to turn the watts down from what I already thought was LOW due to me not being able to push those watts in January.  I want the love of the bike to come back..but it has not…and because of that I am opting out of the IRONMAN ROTH this year.  I just do not have the itch to do it.  I always listen to my gut.  And, my gut is 99.9% right usually.  The swimming and running would be FINE for me for IM ROTH…but I do NOT want to ride my bike for hundreds of miles for weeks upon weeks this spring.  Instead I have the urge to run and race a marathon and try to PR again before I get too old.  I still think I can PR at the marathon.  I have only raced 1 open in 2005…and that was coming off Kona in the fall…so, I had the miles but more slower miles in my legs…so, I think I am going to race locally – smaller and fun and ½ marathons and sprint Triathlons until Eagleman 70.3 in mid-June…peak for Eagleman and try to win my AG there again and then just focus on the marathon. 

I think I will run Chicago – YES it is crowded and stuff, but it is HERE.  It is local and I have a lot of athletes, friends and others running it…so, 10/10/10 will be the Chicago Marathon day.  In between Eagleman and Chicago I will race locally – lots of little Triathlons for fun – but cut the bike and swim back a tad…to focus on the run and really try hard to hammer away @ Chicago.  Then, after Chicago I will be done with the 2010 season- I may do Cyclocross b/c I missed that too this year – and perhaps some fall run races and be done!  Then, in 2011 I think I am going to go big as I enter the new AG 40-44 and Masters ranks.  Perhaps even Hawaii.  Gulp!  We shall see.

Jerome will still do IM ROTH.  I will probably still go to Germany because – well, why not?  OR I will stay here and do BOUS here in Illinois race….we’ll see.

I am excited about staying local.  I do NOT want to miss some kid things this summer and we only have a few short months to enjoy warm weather here – and I will still train, but I want to NOT ride 100 miles every weekend…and I can NOT and will NOT train for an Ironman, “Just to do it.”  Not really the way I do things. The IRONMAN is always there and when I am ready, I will be there.  The Ironman is not the end all and be all for me – there are many more fun things for me to do right now instead, I think.

So, I will be living my 39^th year local, fun and doing some fun things.  Honestly, you know when I get the most excited?  When I get to workout with my trainer on the TRX equipment and 1 hour of fun and different things.  When that gets me the MOST excited of anything, there is NO way to think I could or would train X hours/week for an Ironman.  I am either all or nothing.  So, for 2010, I am all in for local and fun!  And, I am looking forward to it all!

And, it is my last year in the W35-39 AG....so, I am going to have fun with it!