October...rest???

So here's October. I initially played around with the idea of taking on a January marathon, but after deciding to go for a FULL Ironman (distance...it's not an IM brand race, but still the same distance. So..same race, but cheaper & easier to get in to) next season (??!! Yikes!)...I thought maybe a little 'rest' would be good. Which, to me...my idea of rest just means that I don't really have a 'set' plan or obligations to anything... But a part of this rest included starting p90x with Matt!! If you don't know what p90x is, it's a pretty intense strength program that you do at home with the DVD's. We're 2 weeks in now & it's going well! I'm still doing some sort of cardio... swimming, spin, run...every day along with the strength workouts, just not as long as I normally would. So far I'm enjoying it & feel stronger already! All a part of my plan to be 'leaner & meaner' to take on the IM (distance)! Now rewind a few weeks...I did the 'Hilly Hundred' back in the start of October.. This was a lot of fun...but if I'm being honest..I was a bit disappointed in the ride.. I thought it would be tougher! But there were some good hills & good times with some good friends..so it was...GOOD! It's the last weekend of October now.. We're heading to Baltimore to enjoy a visit with the in-laws and some fun at the Halloween party! I'm super sore at the moment..probably from a combo platter of swim, yoga, legs/back workout & a tough spin to sprint workout this morning (not all of that was today...I guess that was just yesterday & today, though..). But I'll rest up tomorrow, hopefully run on sunday.. I'm doing a 15k run up in Chicago the next weekend..probably at least 1 other run in November...so Stay Tuned!

Long Awaited (I'm sure) Update

SO! Wow...So much to tell! So through September as I trained for Age Group Nationals (AGN), I kept taking care of my "achilles injury" (in quotes for a reason...I'll explain later), so it was kinda tough. I felt great about my swim & bike, of coarse, but I knew my run was going to take a bit of a hit when all I was doing was elliptical stuff...not quite the same. But I soldiered on & did what I could. No races all through Sept until race day on the 25th (or something like that), BUT, I had plenty of traveling to do! We went to CO the 1st weekend to see my friend, Jamie Irwin, whom I did gymnastics at Ball State with AND rode my bike across Iowa with her and her family...and this was back before I really rode a bike!... so we went to see her get married. It was great fun & I'm so glad it worked out for us to go. Extra bonus...got to see my parents, who were so kind to meet us out there at their cabin to hang w/ Mason while we did the wedding stuff! So then, next up was the 'big wedding/vacation/tri' weekend.. We went to KC for my little bro's wedding on the 18th, then head out to NC for a weeks vacation on the beach with some friends & our little family....it was SO fun! Mason was awesome on the beach & he LOVED the water & "chasing the birdies". Just before we took off for that trip, I got a 2nd opinion from an orthopedic doc who specializes in foot/ankle sports medicine..guess what...he says my achilles is FINE! Now, after the MRI has confirmed it, turns out there's a tiny little extra bone way in my ankle joint (I was born w/ it & I guess something knocked it loose), which pushes on my nerves/bone any time I push up on my toes (ie: sprint, which is why it started hurting when I switched from the long, endurance focus to the shorter, sprint stuff) & causes pain. Magic words & all I needed to hear was "it's not doing any further damage to anything...it just hurts". So. New plan...I can RUN! So I got a couple training runs in before the big race..that's the best I can do at this point. But. I really did view this AGN race as a 'bonus' & not my 'A' race, by any means. However...I was in the vast minority in this view, which I realized once I got to the race. These folks were serious! BUT. It was a very cool race.. Well run, I think. It was warm, but good weather & a nice town.. It was Tuscaloosa, AL, which is 'Bama land.. It was cool to see another college town..I don't have many to compare to, other than Ball State, but it was nice. So I'll cut to the chase...race day... I got up nice & early. Matt & Mason had to drop us off at the race because we didn't have another car down there.. Ashley & I set up our gear. I talked to a few gals nearby, but..like I said, most had a pretty serious 'game face' on, so I let them be. We went down to the start area & waited for our wave. The water was too warm for wetsuits, so I was on my own on this one! Through the swim.. I was feeling good! Felt like a long way, but I thought I was going along really well.. Out of the water, I see Matt & Mason (aka Team Blunck!) & swing by to give Mason a lil' kiss (he's had a record of crying when he sees me & I have to keep moving & not stop to hang out w/ him, so I thought a little smooch would help keep him happy this time, since I wasn't worried about time.. It worked! Little man was VERY pleased with the extra attention)..truck on over to my bike... "what the....where IS everyone??!!" MAjor buzz kill when pretty much ALL the people on your bike rack (which means they're in MY age group!) are already gone. I'm not the fastest swimmer out there & I know that...usually my goal is to just get a rhythm & keep it moving, but MAN! I've never had that happen before. So I was pretty down as I took off on my bike. Took a few "just race your race. Don't worry about anyone else" motivating speeches to myself, but I finally pulled it together & wound up w/ an over 20mph avg..which, with those hills was quite a feat! So feeling a little better...still VERY aware that I would NOT be winning any awards here, but feeling OK with that & ready to take on the run. So towards the end-ish of the bike, I passed Ashley & told her that I would plan to run with her.. I kept thinking she'd be right behind me, but when she hadn't caught me by about mile 3, I thought I saw her/heard her call to me from behind me...so I just waited for her! Turns out, she wasn't feeling so hot & was happy to see me.. Which made me happy because it gave me extra motivation to help keep HER motivated...which made me not focus so much on my own pain! It was hot & it was hilly... but we kept a' movin & eventually journeyed to the finish! So even with the bummer out of the water, the hills on the bike, the heat & hills & a minor pause on the run...I still improved my overall time in the Olympic distance! Again...I was no where NEAR the front of the pack here...but it was a fun race & I think I did pretty well. I think my times were: 34-ish min for 1500m swim, 1:13-ish for a ~25mi hilly bike, & 54-ish min for a hot, hilly 10k for a grand total of 2:45, which was about 3 min faster than Chicago? So not bad... Plenty of room for improvement, but all in all, I had fun & did what I went to AL to do.