Ironman!

Ironman Maryland 2014 in pictures::

Getting registered

All the bikes lined up

Freaking out a little bit

Getting my bags all ready

Morning of

About to start!

I found my mom in the crowd!

The swim

The bike

Starting the run

I'm glistening from an anti-chaffing rub-down. Just in case.

I finished!! I finished!! I really did!! 

Finisher swag

Some aftermath

And finally relaxing on the beach with my new tan line!

Climb to the Clouds

Why I decided this would be a good starting century - I don't know. But I did it. Never mind that my Ironman is all flat. It started off with a pretty breezy 20 miles, then I had difficulties for the next 20 miles, but I summited! I climbed Mt. Wachusett! And then the last 20 miles were pretty nice. When I was at mile 36 - I didn't know if I would be able to climb to the top. I'm not a great climber. I was going REALLY slow. But I made it! And I felt GREAT throughout the whole thing (except for my legs being on fire and my lungs wanting to be bigger for that hour climb). I made my own nutrition (I got a new book called Feed Zone Portables about making your own, whole food for workouts instead of relying on bars and gels loaded with artificial things and sugar). So now I'm feeling really good about Ironman! If I can pump this out in 8 hours, then I should be sitting pretty in Maryland. :)

Day 4

I woke up to a bright and sunny morning, put on my sunscreen and headed out for a 40 minute run with 6 x 20 second sprints. I ran through Boston (Allston really) and it was chock full of exhaust and stop lights and busses. It was awful. From now on, I'll only head out.
Then I cycled home, and cycled down to Newbury street for lunch, then cycled home again. Not a workout, but fun. :) However, I am definitely moving into a first floor place in the summer - I HATE lugging that bike up 3 flights of stairs and all those doors! It's awful.

Day 3

Today I swam 1200 meters, with 4 x 100 m sprints. The pool is really small - but it's warm and there wasn't anyone else there. I just bought a waterproof iPod!! So Friday I will be able to swim with some music (it can get a little dull after a while). I showered off, and immediately got on the bike at the gym. I went to the spin room and put on some music. After 30 minutes, the lights shut off automatically - I guess I wasn't moving around enough! I had to get up and walk around the studio until they turned on again. I was focusing on getting into an aero position and pumping my legs. Then I did some stretches and core work. Great day! Before my workout I went for an hour walk along the Charles, and it was GORGEOUS! And there were baby geese. So fuzzy! I love springtime!

Day 2

Today was a 6 mile run - just under an hour - I have a lot to improve, but I feel great! It was sunny, and I realized I need to start wearing sunscreen! I'm so happy to have that problem after this long, long winter!

I also biked to work, because it was beautiful. Although it did start to sprinkle on me a little bit. :/

It's Official

I have just officially done something I will almost surely regret. I just signed up for Ironman, Maryland. I have wanted to do an Ironman, but never felt like I was strong enough, or fast enough, or whatever enough. I have only done a Sprint Triathlon and an Olympic Triathlon. Then a few weeks ago I decided to sign up for a century. I have biked about 85 miles before, and it's hard, but I can do it - so I thought a century was the next logical step. Then I started thinking about Ironman. I checked out a few books from the library and realized people a lot less fit than me have undertaken the journey. And I've been getting more and more comfortable with my fitness level. So I started thinking about it. And I realized this is the perfect time.
I am only working 2 days a week, so I have the time. It's springtime, so the weather is conducive to training. The race is about 5 months away, which is almost the ideal amount of active training time. The race is in Maryland, which is only an 8 hour drive, making travel feasible.
I might be a little crazy, but lately, I have been wanting to finish something. Something real. Something big. So here I am, training for Ironman. I am really, really excited about this.

I will be posting my workouts every day as a way to hold myself accountable. This is just for me. I don't expect anyone to follow along, but I want to do it this way.

Today was a work day, so I didn't get a lot accomplished. I biked for 45 minutes at a moderate pace. Tomorrow is a running day.

But I Love This!!

Look at all these trees!!

And rivers! And lakes!

Basically a cyclists dream!             

I Miss These

So very much.

Why Am I Here?

Sometimes I forget why I live in Massachusetts. It's definitely not because of the weather. This was in February right before Valentine's Day. Look at my poor little Mini Coop! She's covered from nose to tail!

 On the bright side everyone was outside playing in the snow the next morning. There was a travel ban in place for the whole state and all businesses were closed. So everyone was just home with their families, probably making waffles. I know we sure did! A few of us all stayed over at a house and had a ton of fun together. We did puzzles, made so much food, celebrated a birthday, and watched a lot of movies. Sadly it was not snowman building type snow. :(

The aftermath was pretty funny too! Luckily I have a driveway that is plowed, because street parking was out of the question. The snow was piled so high it felt like you were walking through tunnels.

Oh California, how I miss you!

Boston Calling

This is a sad story: A few months ago I bought a ticket to a concert. It was in downtown Boston and it was pretty cheap. I bought one for Eric too. Then on the day of the concert, there was a blizzard. And it was canceled. And I was very sad.

So when I was refunded I decided to use my money on another musical venture. This time I only needed to buy one ticket, so I could buy something TWICE as expensive. When I saw that The Shins AND Fun. were playing, I was super excited and Jerr and I bought tickets to go. I took the afternoon off work and was really excited - what better way to spend Memorial Day weekend?

 Fast forward 3 months and it's finally here! Leading up to the concert the weather was gorgeous and 75 degrees. On the day of? 44 degrees and raining. The absolute coldest Memorial Day of my life. Everything went wrong. My work went over in the morning. I was moving out of my old apartment and had to move my bed out before the next morning on no notice and it's hard to move a bed when you drive a Mini Cooper. I didn't think it would be that cold and only wore one sweater. People thought I was weird for bringing an umbrella to a concert.

They didn't give out the line-up in advance so I showed up at 2pm for the festival only to see my bands were playing from 6:30 - 10:30. Did I mention it was 44 degrees outside? And raining? I had to wear a rain poncho. It was not stylish. We persevered until 7:15, but then the element became too much to bear the the temperature was dropping as the sun disappeared. And then Jerr abandoned me for karaoke. When I finally gave up and went home I was soaking wet, cold, tired and I didn't even get to see Fun.!!

It was a sad tale of woe that eventually led to me deciding that all concerts from here on out need to be indoors. But at least I got some Chipotle coupons!

Quebeçois

 Over Christmas, I finally did it. I left the country, and I went to Canada! I have always wanted to go. But my passport has never had the privilege of the stamp. So about a week before Christmas, a few friends and I headed to the great north on a trip to Quebec. It was going to be great! Of the four of us, three spoke French (but don't worry we had the fourth member do most of the driving - resulting in getting completely lost because we also don't have gps or cell phone service in Canada, eh). And all of us love eating! Unfortunately, our budget was a little tight - so we had to settle for staying at the Le Château Frontenac. Okay, it was pretty swanky. And our 'tour guide' works for Fairmont - so all the foods were half price! Woo hoo!

Le Château - our hotel

Poutine

Speaking of food, we ate a lot of Poutine. In case you are unfamiliar with the Eastern Canadian delicacy, let me enlighten you. French fries smothered in gravy and topped with cheese curds.

 

There were plenty of macarons, but not quite enough to share... ;)

Slumber parties abounded, as did moving beds around, practicing perfect bed dives, and wearing monogrammed bath robes.

It was the coldest I have ever been in my life (quite literally) despite wearing as many layers as humanly possible.
By the time we got back, Boston felt downright balmy - which is saying something.

Overall it was a wonderful trip with wonderful friends and I hope to go back again someday!

Christmas Decorations!

 

This week my brothers all sent me pictures of their cute little decorated houses. I live in an embarrassing shamble of a house, that I share with bunches of people. So I will not be decorating my house. However, I did decorate my dental office!

Halloween

I wasn't too creative on Halloween... but I wanted a $2 burrito from Chipotle.

Washington, D.C.

I have never been to Washington, D.C. before (well technically I think I went when I was 4 years old), so when my friend Natalie was in D.C. for an internship, I thought it was high time I explored the nation's capitol! I took the midnight bus from Boston to D.C. and arrived around 11am (the bus was late, and I ended up stranded for several hours in South Station with nothing but McDonalds French Fries to tie me over). 

When I arrived, Natalie was at work, but we were able to have lunch together (burgers and a S'mores milkshake). Afterward I waited for Natalie to finish work, so with my backpack on I walked around the Capitol, the Library of Congress and The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I loved it! It was bloody hot, and everything was under construction (no reflecting pool, so national mall), but I absolutely loved the Library of Congress which was doing an exhibit on Books That Shaped America. It was so interesting and I added several to my reading list!

We went to the zoo and saw baby cheetahs!! and other fun animals (red pandas!), but the cheetahs were my favorite. I love that the zoo was free! I was so impressed, I thought it would be a dinky little zoo, but it was actually very nice. I don't know how they offer the zoo for free, but I surely appreciated it! I think I sent out about 12 postcards that day - many from the zoo!

It was a lot of fun spending time with Natalie, and it only rained once! After the zoo we went to a tapas bar (I think it was both of ours first time) and ate a lot of octopus. Well I guess nothing in tapas is a lot, but it was tasty nonetheless. We left the restaurant to go on a boat tour of DC, and when we got out of the metro, it was pouring down rain! It let up and we were able to walk Georgetown, but as soon as we got on the boat, it just starting raining like a monsoon! Seriously a lot of water! We couldn't even see the Washington monument from the Potomac. Ridiculous.
But it was fun, and by the time our boat turned around for the return journey, it had cleared up and we could see everything. So that was very pleasant. I saw the White house and many of the monuments around DC. I was surprised by the Martin Luther King Jr. monument, I didn't think I would like it. I have seen pictures and always thought it looked kind of odd. But seeing it in person, I really appreciated it more. I have to say it might have been my favorite. I also really liked this button on the White House fence. I was really hoping it was a doorbell and someone would answer after we pushed it. Shockingly, nothing happened. Michelle didn't invite us in for lemonade, Bo did not come bounding to the gate to meet us. It was a little disappointing. 
I took the afternoon bus to NYC and had dinner with a friend I met on the Berkshire trip, then the midnight bus back into Boston. I got into Boston around 4 am and was at work around 10 - as per my usual schedule. It was a fun trip, and hopefully I will be able to venture out more in the future!

Biking the Bershires!

Last week I went on a grand adventure! I have never been on a vacation by myself, but being the single gal that I am, I also don't want to miss out of fun and freedom- so I packed up my car and went on my first solo trip. For my birthday in February I signed up for the Mass Bike Pike Tour - which I affectionately refer to as Bike the Berkshires, because that's basically what it was. Thus on Wednesday afternoon, amidst pouring rain and a sore throat, I loaded my bike onto the back of the Mini and we took off on our grand adventure!
There were so many firsts for this trip. First time biking more than 70 miles in a day. First time doing a large group ride. First time setting up a tent. First time in my new tent. First real time in my sleeping bag. First time drinking Gatorade and actually needing to. First time feeling defeated by the road. First time using my light up frisbee.

Day One: Me and my new tent

It was originally meant to be a 5 day bicycle trip with 4 days of cycling, but due to an environmental disaster, it turned into 3 days of cycling and 1 day of running and swimming. The first day there was a chemical fire and we had to evacuate the area, so we moved up to New York. There was a pool there and I went swimming, set up my tent, took a nap, went running, and used my new frisbee. It was a relaxing start to a great trip.
The second day I woke up at 7am, thinking that was early. Man, was I wrong. I was probably the 5th to last person to leave. Ridiculous. Some people. 73 miles later I was probably the 10th to last person to finish. Woo! It was a tough 73 miles, especially since the longest I had done prior was most likely around 45-50. Did I mention we rode up a mountain in Vermont? Because we did. It was beautiful, and fantastic and there were about 4 times when I thought I was going to die - emotionally. That night I ate 2 dinners, and took the coldest shower of my life (on purpose).

Day Two: Another guy had this exact same outfit.

The third day, I wizened up and awoke at 6. Still not anywhere near getting out of there before 80% of the people. This was the day most people were going to climb Mt. Greylock - the tallest mountain in Massachusetts. After my measley VT mountain, Grelock was a big no in my mind, so I took the short 45 mile trail to our next camp in Lenox. This was a delightful ride, full of trees and shade and a rail trail. The only bummer was it got really hilly right at the end! I kept thinking I was done, and bam! there was a big ol' hill in front of me. When I finally crested the final hill, I was the very first person back at camp. Take that! (Sure most people did Greylock, but a girl can still be proud). A small group of us went into Lenox and had lunch, and dessert, then dinner. It was a wonderful evening full of happiness. Maybe we didn't go to bed until 2am.

Yes, I'm at lunch with a box of cookies in front of me...

Day four and I was up at 6, and on my saddle by 6:45. I meant business this time. I was not going to be the last person to leave. I was not going to be the latest arrival. I refused. And yet. AND YET! As I made my way up the freaking steepest hill I have ever ridden in my whole life (I've only been cycling 2 years) I noticed that there weren't too many people around. A few, of course, but not as many as I expected since I left so early. 65 miles later I straggle into camp only to realize that most people took the short route and once again, I am like the last person to finish. Well fine! Steal my victory. See if I care. I did care.

Scenic!

After the ride, I packed my bike and things back onto/into the Mini and we made our way back to Cambie. I just missed the rain on my ride, thank goodness, but it poured down rain the entire trip back. I was a little tired on my way home. So once I got home, I showered and said to myself, I deserve a little nap (as it was now only 5pm). So I crawled into bed for a 'short nap before dinner'. 6 hours later, I rouse myself barely enough to unpack and spread my tent and sleeping bag out to dry. Then I collapse onto my bed again for another 8 hours. By 8 am I am up and feel GREAT! I'm not sore, I'm not tired, I just feel wonderful. Which is fortunate, because I then proceeded to go to work.
So basically this was the best bike trip of my life. And I now feel entitled to call myself a cyclist.