Option A or Option B? ... that is the question.

So I have been thinking about my options for the Ironman.

Option A:

I withdraw and get part of my 450$ entry fee back. This would only amount to 150$ :(. (Right now, I feel like I am not at the point that I would like to be and that I could have been way better prepared if I had not gotten sick.)

Option B:

I suck it up and just go with the flow.
(Same thing happened last year and I still made it, with an 1:35:44 to spare)


Monday I went to the IMAZ site because I wanted to see about 'Option A' and when the deadline was. As I navigated through the site, I found the link for the withdrawal. To my surprise, it was not working (it will be up later on today!). I thought, how am I supposed to know what I would have to do to get my measly 150$ back. (at least it is something, right???)

After my ride (that I posted about earlier) I went back to the site and I told myself that this time if it is not there, it is a sign. (For me, things happen for a reason and sometimes those reasons may not be known immediately, but they are there.) Once again, you guessed it, the link did not work and I had no Option A to contemplate anymore.

For now, Option B is the answer.

I need new gloves, aerobars, bike and computer dang it :) !!

I have not been here in a few days because I have been out hiking, swimming, or riding.

Sunday, I went on a 6 mile hike that has a part in it that is 1.7 miles of up and gains 1800 ft in that up! It was a hard hike and broke down the muscles in my legs. I was winded also on this hike.

Yesterday I went on my epic ride (well really not so epic, just like the way it sounds). It was a 54.36 mile ride that has a 12 mile hill when you get to mile 27. The hill is not that steep, it just goes on forever or so it seems.

During the ride I thought about a lot of things. I thought that my hands were hurting a little and I could feel my handle bar right through my gloves :( ! This is not a great feeling. I decided, I need new gloves because some padding would do nicely right about now. I next thought about the ride I was on. I was not sure how long it was going to be, but I put my mind to the route and was not going to deviate from it. The cars were great except one truck going by, that I thought was going to push me off the road. Every car/truck/RV that passed who gave me room, I told them thank you, come again.

As I rode onward, I was thinking that I have a gift cert that I need to use that would put aerobars on my bike. My race is coming and I want to be able to get use to using them again. I have a pair of syntace C2 that I used for my race last year. I think that I used them for only a month including the race (which I think consisted of 5 rides). Well come to find out, I really do not like them, they hinder me from using all of my handle bars. I did not like that one bit, so I have chosen to go back to the Air Stryke ones by profile that I used to have about 6 years ago. After thoughts of aerobars floated in my head, I started thinking, I really have to get my new intermittent bike up and running so that I could get used to that also! (and the aerobars should go on that bike instead of my old one!!)

Intermittent bike report --

My intermittent bike is now devoid of paint!! YAY!!(thank you, thank you to my kick a$$ boyfriend.) The next thing that will happen to it, is that it will be primed and then painted black. Where upon we will name it, have everyone write something on it with a paint pen, put it together and then christen it with a new ride.

Now we are down to why I thought that I need a new computer :) hehehe. I was thinking of all the stuff that I could be doing... (just think ripples now as you go off into dreamland)

There I was sitting at my PC, 50 gigs free and doing everyday normal tasks -- browsing the internet, using lightroom, playing games when all of the sudden blue screen of death! ( Now mind you, this is not the first time. My computer is an expensive POS, I mean coaster, that was recently formatted because it had 24 bytes in bad sector! :( ) Now everyday that I use it the blue screen of death comes back. It has nothing on it because I do not want to lose any of my work and nor do I boot it any longer, because pretty soon it will just not work! Dreamland part -- I thought if I have a new computer, I would be able to add more pictures to my blog, be able to process more of my photos faster, create new photos and just work that I need to do. I also then would not have to use my boyfriend's new Mac. Exit dreamland.

Report on dreamland! --

It looks like we will be getting a new Mac just for me, that I will be able to work on and do photo processing on! YAY. It might have a nice size screen also. I am really excited about this news. Just wish it would get here faster. Hehehe, but beggers cannot be choosers.

Side note --

I recently was also given a 300 gig external drive, that is supposed to be for my photos, but that had to be sent back, because you cannot write to the entire drive. :( .

Today, I went on another hike, it was a flat hike, thank god!! It was about 4.5 miles long. We took our time and enjoyed the rain as it fell. It was completely dark except for the light off in the distance, which btw looked awesome. I did have a light to use so that when we got to the rockier section, I could see what I was stepping on.

I am really tired today and am hoping to get a nap in!

Hopefully, everything that I need will be in reach soon :)! So, I will settle on the prospect of what maybe to come!

For now, have an awesome day...

Me and my trainer

Lately I have been riding my trainer, Sometimes 2 times a day. The weather here has not been to favorable, but it has not been that bad either. For some reason the indoor decision has been the way to go for me.

Today I rode 2 times for a total of 1:55:00. It was/is not that hard, I really should switch to my rollers ;). I end up though putting in a movie and just watching it (that is why the trainer is the better option, hehehe easier to watch the movie). I find that action movies seem to make the time go by and I actually forget what I am doing. I hope soon to have a movie completed while riding the trainer!! Not up to an hour and a 1/2 or 2 yet.

Today I have been at weENDURE, looking at the home page to see where I fall in the activity for the week. I am hoping that I can stay in the top 5 each week. This means at least 8 and 1/2 hours a week of working out!! I know that I can do that.

Next week, I need to keep up with the trainer and swimming while starting to focus on my wash walking since my running (well run/walking/wash walking) is lacking. I have asked a friend of mine to train with me. I told him that I could workout 4am to 7am then 9am to 2:15, then 4:45pm to 10pm. He asked me if I know what 4am looks like??? I just laughed. I know that you are not able to see anything that early in the morning. He said that we could hike first, ride second and then wash walk at night. Not sure what days these will happen on, I will keep you updated! 'til then everyone have a great night!!

Working out again

For the past couple days, I have been working out more! This is a really good thing, but it is crazy how tired you feel after the day is done.

I have ridden my trainer, ridden outdoors or swam the past 3 days. Yesterday, I rode my bike for 26.42 miles, swam an 800 (the swimming was 500 meters straight and then a 100 and then 200. Believe me, it really sux to stop swimmin and then start again! So my advice, don't stop hehehe) then rode the trainer for 40 mins and today, I woke up feeling like I had no energy, really tired, my upper/lower back hurt like anything and my arms had some ache too. I sat with a heating pad on my back in hopes that it would help. I think that it helped a little, but I know that the only real thing that will make it go away is more exercise! I have to get my body used to this again.

Tonight, my sister and I are going to go swimming and then I think that I will come home and ride the trainer. Hurting or not, it must be done.

The Ironman is multiple things in one day one right after the other, there is no room for I am tired or I can't. This is why when I am swimming, biking or running I think if this was the Ironman, I would have to keep going... bad day or not one stroke, one pedal, one foot in front of the other will get me there, keep pushing. And you know, it really does work.

Cold Weather!!

My sister and I went out and rode 10 miles yesterday! It was 40 when we left and seemed to get colder as we were riding!! BBBRRR It was a good ride and we stopped by a new park that was just developed. it is a 55 acre park dedicated to Brandi Fenton. Brandi we read was a 13 year old girl whose life was cut short due to a car accident just before her 14th birthday. :( The park is beautiful and although I did not know this girl, I am sure that she is looking down on this park with great approval. At the park there are soccer fields, basketball courts, dog run areas, equestrian area and play areas. It definitely has a lot to offer and there is a plaque for Brandi, colorful tiles, a giving tree for people who have donated organs. It is really nice. After we saw the park, we rode home and had some hot tea to warm up!!!

Today my sister and I rode on a trainer and rollers (it was a lot colder today then yesterday, so we felt like the indoor option would be a good one). She volunteered to ride the rollers... :) So I had it easy today. We rode for 40 minutes and watched a movie while we did. The Incredibles :), it is a good movie, with a lot of action hehehe. Tomorrow I am sure we will beable to get some more trainer time in and maybe some swimming! Yay. More to come later.

92 days and counting!

I have started my long road to the Ironman again with just 92 days left.

This week I was back on my bike! Yay. Seems like an eternity when really it has been a little over 2 months. I think that everytime you stop working out your body is at a loss, but your muscles never forget. My butt of course had for this week it was sore and I felt a little tight with aches here and there. All of this is to be expected, the pain goes away and you feel like you are finally accomplishing something!

I road 13 miles one day and then 24.12 the next. Today I rode on my trainer for 20 minutes. I had my boyfriend install my new sweet a$$ Brooks b18 Saddle in hopes that this will be the saddle that takes the pain in my leg away!! I used to ride the Brooks Finesse for 3+ years and then I just started to have pain :(. This for me was really sad, because I absolutely love that saddle and Brooks!

Today, I left messages with my friends that I would ride with every weekend to see if they are going to be riding anytime soon, because I have a lot of miles to make up and so little time to do it in. Dave, called me and said that he might be up for riding this weekend! (tomorrow is a bad day, because I have family in town, but he did mention Sunday, so that might be a possibility.) Dave is an awesome guy and an amazing bike builder too, here is his website Bohemian Bicycles

Oh and I almost forgot, I swam 500 meters a week ago...

Boy, when you stop swimming and then start again, it is really hard at first because your breathing is off. I really struggle for about the first week and then I find my rhythm. My sister thinks that I will be over a mile by the end of this month. Possibly, we will see. I hope to be racking up the miles in the pool soon, because I got a pass for the year and need to get my 50$ worth hehehe! (50$ is a real steal considering I used to pay 876$ a year for the Racquet Club and all I did there is swim) Plus we have some nice city pools.

93 days and counting... where will I be??? We will just have to wait and see.