Garbage In - Garbage Out

So today I ran in a 4.5 mile footrace, my first run in a week. It's called the Jerome Hill Climb in Jerome, AZ. They refer to the race as vertically flat. It was beautiful and as I journeyed up the 1,000 foot elevation gain I had a few thoughts:

• Wow, this is really pretty
• I can see Sedona
• I wonder if I can see Cornville
• I probably shouldn't have eaten McDonalds for breakfast (but I have to get that last egg mcmuffin in before the weekend is up, binge week rules)
• I probably shouldn't have spent the week eating poorly, nah who I am kidding.

Oh well, I'm enjoying my food and my week. Plus I'm not all that unhappy with my 55:32 time (that's a 12:00 pace uphill), or my normal middle of the pack age group finish. The best part was I got to run behind Claudia (about 8 minutes behind), she and her wife Evelyn are here visiting from New York. They are very cool women and Kyle and I loved spending the day with them.

week long food binge

After last weekend's horrible ride I skipped most of my reamining workouts for the week. Then I made a decision, the type of decision that most women make at some point or points in our lives. I'm going to try a new fad diet. Something that will be pure torture for me and my love of food. I'm going to try the Blood Type diet. I've decided to give it 2 months. Sadly, I'll be giving up most of my favorite foods; red meat, shell fish, olives, pickles, whole wheat bread (seriously). So, I decided to take this week and binge on all the things I love.

It's been a week full of cheese burgers (Burger King and In and Out), trying to finish all the pickels and olives in the fridge (both at home and work), shrimp, scallops. Cheese and avocado sandwiches, lots and lots of bread and humas. Apparently my blood type does best on a vegetarian diet, you would think being married to a vegetarian would be good enough. I actually thought about calculating the actual calories consumed this week, but then I decided better of it.

Luckily I can still drink wine and eat white cheeses. There is still good in the world. Since it's a holiday weekend I have until Monday to continue my binge eating. Hopefully I'll be able to roll myself to my computer by Tuesday.

Dehydration and Humiliation

I sit here, waiting for the rest of my biking group to return to my house after a challenging ride down Bartlett Lake. Why am I home, you ponder? Well, coming back out of the lake I started feeling sick, light headed . . .like I wanted to throw up. Luckily my wanting did not last long as I actually did start to throw up. I had to call my husband to come pick me up.

I've seen this happen to others, I thought they were pussy's, unprepared. I was prepared, I had plenty to drink, or at least I thought I had. I suck, I couldn't finish my ride. Did I do the right thing by stopping, yes, I have no doubt that was the correct decision. Do I feel good about it? No, I don't.

Let the Journey Begin

I guess I should start by saying that I am no stranger to Ironmans, as I have completed two already. I did Ironman Austria in July 2006 and Ironman Arizona in April 2008. In 2009 I thought it would be a great idea to do two in one year. Cour d'Alene in June and Arizona again in November. After taking several (aka too many) months off from training I am coming back and building my base.

So, why the blog? It's more for myself really. I'm guessing no one will even read it. But I wanted a place to put my thoughts down. Maybe there is another woman out there in her mid 40's thinking she needs to knock this off her list. I'm not fast, or strong and I very much dislike swimming. My previous times are slow (16:04 and 15:04) but I love the training and I love the people you meet on race day. But the main reason I do it, so I can drink wine and eat cheese without having to worry about the calories. Did I mention that I am 4'11"? I like food and with my size my calorie intake needs to be small, unless I'm training for Ironman.