MARCH!

• On: 03/03/2010 08:09:17

I cannot believe it is March already!  I am so excited.  I ran early this AM and it was not in the dark!  Spring is coming.  This winter has been MUCH easier for me.  While we have had a tough winter in Chicago, it doesn’t compare to last year where we sat under nearly 70” of snow all winter.  And, you know what makes the difference?  I am not doing an early season “A” race.  Last year I was trying to get ready for Oceanside in California at the end of March.  Not only is that super early, but the Oceanside bike course is challenging for us flatlanders.  So, I feel NO pressure and it has really helped me relax this winter and take it as it comes.  Eagleman 70.3 in June is my first “A” race!  Yahoo! J

I am getting ready for a ½ Marathon in 3 weeks and I am SO excited to race!  I am really in a different spot this year.  I cannot explain it.  Well, I can, but I am not sure it is best that I do.  Because, I am sure you are sick of me talking about it, but I am feeling great.  My training volume is lower than usual and my strength/TRX is up 100% since last year, so the whole combination is promising for me.  I am taking care of the little things this year and letting the other stuff roll off my shoulders this year.  Amazing how freeing that is!

We were in Tucson this past weekend.  The kids were out of school for Friday so we jetted out Wednesday night w/ the kids and had 4 full days there.  Gosh, as soon as we get off the plane and smell the fresh air, we feel so at “home.”  Everything is ALIVE and sunny.  While Tucson is having an extraordinary cold winter, their bad days are Chicago’s best days.  So, no complaints from me.  On Sunday I was doing my tempo run in the pissing rain.  And, when I say RAIN I mean RAIN.  And, the people in the cars were looking at me like I was REALLY nuts.  I had to chuckle under my breath…seriously people….rain?  YOU have no idea what I run in everyday.  The folks in Tucson are sooo very spoiled!

Usually when Jerome and I go to Tucson sans kids we blow ourselves apart up and down mountains all weekend.  This weekend we were much more balanced.  We took the kids swimming EVERY DAY all afternoon.  We went to the Desert Museum on Friday.  If you are ever in Tucson, this is a MUST.  My friend, Jen Lynn lives in Tucson and every time we go to Tucson we either chat with Jen or do lunch.  This time Jen offered to watch the kids at Gates Pass (Saguro National Park) for a couple of hours so that Jerome and I could ride a couple of hours together.  What a nice treat!  Thanks Jen!  I have never taken her up on her offer, but this time we did!  And, you know how productive you are when you are on a time limit?  We did not mess around.  Up and down Gates Pass -  up and through McCain Loop – had a great ride! Then, we said good bye to Jen and her kids and had a picnic and then spent the rest of the day at the Desert Museum! 

No trip to Tucson is complete without a climb up Mt. Lemmon.  And, every time I do it I think, “this is nuts!”  I will say, I have climbed Mt Lemmon perhaps 12 times now and it DOES get easier each time I do it. This weekend was no exception.  Tucson was having a particularly rare cloudy and darker day.  I knew if it was 65 at the base of Mt Lemmon that I would be lucky if it was 35-40F at the top @ 8700 feet.  As I climbed, I did not have a computer, heck, I did not have a watch!  I don’t even wear socks when I ride –EVER… The only contact I had was my IPhone.  I checked my phone when I left the condo (about 13 miles from the base of Lemmon) and then I looked at my IPhone at the top of Mt Lemmon.  And, I had climbed Lemmon faster than I had at all times last year!  Even when I was in race shape.  Hmmm.  The cooler temps do help, of course, but STILL.  There were a lot of riders out there and a TON of cars heading to the top to SLED.  People in Arizona crack me up.  Yes, there was “a lot” of snow up at the top of Lemmon…but I was trying to ride away from the snow not into it!  Most find Lemmon very grinding and it is !  There is no reprieve…but the joy to getting to the top is worth every ounce of quietness and mental challenge during the 2+ hour grind.  This climb, to give you an idea can take anywhere from 2-3hours depending on how fit and fast you are!  If you weigh 140lbs, for example, to climb that hill @ 8 mph you need to put out 200watts!  For most advanced cyclists, this is not an issue, but this climb is NOT for beginners.  This is the climb below - of course, looks easy from this view!

Usually climbing Lemmon trashes me for the next day (clearly), but I woke up feeling FRESH and great the next day and I had a 10 mile TEMPO run on my schedule – so I climbed an 18% (yes, near Sabino Canyon) that I have always always wanted to do.  And, I nailed the run.  I felt fresh, light and fast.  I just couldn’t figure it out.  We slept a ton, read books (Graham is reading Harry Potter – I am reading Little Bee), ate good  food and I did not work one minute – so no stress.  IT was a real vacation!  I kept telling Jerome I cannot believe how good I feel.  I also think it had to do w/ running in shorts and getting out of the tights and COLD we have here at home too.  For sure!

Oh, and I would be remiss if I did not mention that I took my TRX out to Tucson and did 1 hour of TRX exercises before I climbed Mt. Lemmon.  I was not sure that was the smartest thing to do – but it worked out fine!

One of the things we needed to do in Tucson this weekend was to look at the house we rented for our upcoming Tucson CAMP later this month.  The house is huge (sleeps  12!) and is super cute.  IT is near the base of Mt. Lemmon.  We will be spending a lot of time on that mountain in a few weeks.  We checked out the pool we rented (thanks Jen Lynn!) and some other logistics for the camp!  We are excited and it will be another great 4 days of camp! 

Now we are back home and things go back to routine pretty quickly!  Ha!  While it is good to be home, I am already looking forward to our next visit to Tucson in about 3 weeks.  Until then, Chicago continues to thaw out a bit and the sun is starting to show its face again!  Happy March!  If you put in the hard work this winter in the dark and cold – this is when it all starts to pay off!