The 5 am run

There is just something about getting up in the morning and running before most of the world is still asleep in bed. I love running in the morning dark and watching the sky slowly light up. I love startling the bunnies on the route who are wondering who this crazy person it! It feels like I'm in my own world and can focus on my thoughts, my running technique, the music playing in my ears. I've missed this as I stopped running for a couple of years because of the plantar fascitis. But I'm back.

Mind you, I'm not thinking about all of these wonderful things when that alarm clack goes off. All I want to do was turn around and sleep for another hour. Some days, that's exactly what I do. Luckily, that's not what happens every morning :)

I'm up to running 2.5 miles. I have only a few more weeks to go until the Irongirl triathlon. But when I consider that last year, I did not run at all in the months leading up to the triathlon, I know I'm in a much better place. I did run a "practice" 5K on Monday morning - hadn't planned on it but really wanted to do it. I finished just under 40  minutes!!

It got me thinking about what my times were last year. This morning I got on the website:
     Swim (800m):  14:23
     Bike (19m):     1:31.51
     Run (5K):        47:53

Chatting with Andrea last week on our bike ride on the Legacy Trail (nice new pic on your blog, by the way, Andrea!) we talked about our goals. And I need to revise them:

1. to go easy on the swim - I know that this is strange as the swim is my best leg. But I want this as a warm-up and not increase my heart rate too much so that I have to start my bike leg with a recovery period. That zaps my strength every time!
2. ride up the big hills OR fall off the bike trying - I believe that making it up those two hills is a mental issue. But, just in case those hills are too big for me to make it, I need to try or fall off trying. ONLY then, can I walk up the remainder of the hill.
3. run the 5K - It would be ideal if I don't walk at all. But considering it'll be at the end of a 2 hour effort, it'll be ok if walk a couple of minutes.

Starting off this week with a swim and a bike ride. I went to spin class last week because of all of the wind. Today, the warmth is not our friend but I think  Andrea and I will be heading out anyway to get some more time on the roads. 

Have a great week! I'm heading to the Rolex for four days but I'm still planning on getting in my workouts. I'll just have to be creative... maybe run alongside the horses?

Tri training coming along... slowly

Triathlon training is in full swing again! I'm back to my 5 am schedule - officially! I've now had two weeks of 5 am runs and swims, so I can say that it's back in the swing of things. Bike rides are always for the afternoons!

I love getting on the bike for the nice beautiful Kentucky rides. One of my most favorite things since getting involved with triathlons is the love I now have for the bike! The hills around here are great for getting back into shape, losing some more pounds, and getting ready for any hill coming my way. I'm talking to you, Atlanta Irongirl!!!

The Irongirl Atlanta is exactly 5 weeks from today! And I have to say, I think I'm going to rock it! I mean, I know I'll do better than last year simply because I've lost so much weight and I'll be able to run the last 5K instead of walking it. But I have a totally different mindset this year. Last year, I was still so new to triathlons and I had no idea what my limits were. This year, I realized that I still haven't hit my limits and I can keep pushing!

And I have a wonderful friend - Andrea - who keeps me motivated. We met for spin class today (20 mph winds today in Kentucky - for a bike ride really is not fun. See Nina hurt.) And she's planning on taking me for a bike ride down close to the Kentucky River so I can really know what a hill is - and that I can successfully overcome a hill. Or not. We'll see.

Oh, and I've already had my first fall of the season. Invariably, at the beginning of every bike season, I fall due to those damn clipless peddles. I clip out on the right and then lean to the left. Think of me falling in slow motion 'cause that's exactly what happened!! Andrea was kind enough to get a picture of that...

My nutrition is back on track after sliding a little bit. As we talk, I'm making a wonderful Kentucky Chili from the Weight Watcher's Slow Cooker cookbook. I think the only reason why it's considered Kentucky Chili is because of the bourbon thrown in there. I had some delicious buffalo burgers for dinner tonight on the cute little Weber grill I roll outside on the deck. It's a beautiful windy 80 degrees - perfect for grilling outside.

In totally unrelated news - I got some great news on Friday. For those of you who are not in psychology - I'm the Training Director for the predoctoral psychology internship at my work. You go on internship for one year in your final year of your Ph.D. program. It's accredited by the American Psychological Association. I had spent about 6 months preparing for the self-study (think 300 pages I wrote about the internship,) an evaluation from visiting APA members, and a whole lot of Storm und Drang. I called up APA on Friday to discover we have been accredited for SEVEN years!! It's the longest accreditation you can receive and it's so awesome to know that all the work and drama that happened has all paid off!!!!!!