Justin says...

We've all heard those three words of encouragement - "Break a leg". As you can tell from my prevous posts this is pretty da$% relevent to me right now...and I'm not happy about it. Ten months of planning, preparing, training, and it comes down to the fact that my leg is still far from 100%. I've run 1 mile in the past five weeks. So do I plan on running the marathon? Hell yes I do!

I mean, why not? Last race of the season, leg is feeling "better", insert lame incoherent reason here, etc. It makes perfect sense for me to give it a shot. Yes, I hear you...I'm like the alcoholic justifying why he needs just one more drink at the bar. I'm sorry, I just can't help myself. I'm addicted to the race day atmosphere. I love it, I crave it, I need it...would someone please get the bottle away from the crazy drunk guy?!

I know...I know...it's pure craziness, but I'm determined to get through this. What doesn't kill us will only set the healing process back another 8 weeks, or something like that.

So to all you crazy people like me, a little piece of advice. Get another round, it's last call...err wait...good luck on your next race. Do as I do and "Break a leg".

Go get em Michelle. Next stop...BOSTON.

5 days to go! Michelle says...

Less than a week until all of my training, resting, eating, thinking, planning and obsessing will come to a conclusion. Will or will I not Boston qualify? I feel so good. I am going to try and keep a positive attitude all week, sleep well, eat healthy and try to find an outlet for all of this extra energy from not training so much. This is my A++ race. I want to make 3.40 more than I ever thought possible. It looks like the weather should be ideal (mid-low 50's? in the morning and not too hot by mid-morning). I have my outfit picked out and nutrition plan. As you can see, my son Ty is also all about nutrition! This is where I found him one morning. Help yourself son!

Systems ready for launch!

Michelle

Michelle says.... swim,run,bike, run? What the?

Well, I'm sad to say that the triathlon season has ended here in Utah. The weather will be turning cold here in a few weeks so my final triathlon was the Inaugural Daybreak Olympic triathlon on Saturday. It was a great race except that the open water swim portion was cancelled due to 3 cases of roundworm reported in the area. Part of me wanted to risk it and swim in the lake but then I really thought about it and decided I didn't want worms in my butt. The race directors were as disappointed as the racers so they made a "make-shift" swim in a private pool 1 mile from transition. We swam 75 meters (3 laps) then ran 1 mile before we mounted our bikes. The bike route took us up 2 large hills before turning down a hill and cruising to turn-around at 11.5 miles. What comes up must come down though, so it was back up the hill we just came down and once up to the top it was smooth sailing back to transition. Once my shoes were on it was onto the run (again) this time 2 laps around Roundworm...I mean Daybreak lake. My legs weighed a ton and I just couldn't get them to turn-over fast enough. I passed a few women in the Olympic race and was pleased at that, thinking I may have a top 3 age-group placing. Justin was there to cheer me on when I crossed the finish line in 2.12.49 which gave me a 6th woman overall and 1st in my age group! Not bad, not bad! Of course I'm a bit greedy and want a top-three overall but I'm not too disappointed with my performance.

Goodbye tri's (for the season),

Michelle

Justin says...Stressed out - literally

Well it's finally time to get back on the saddle. I figured I'd take 4-6 weeks off of training just before the last A race of the year - St. George marathon (3:10 goal). Why you may ask? It's simple...my fitness was at such a high level I decided training was not needed. I'm sure I can simply roll out of bed and cruise to a sub 3 hour marathon. Easy as pie, right?

Yeah, right. I wish this was by choice...you might have thought I was clinically insane with that training plan, but at least I'd have been able to run around my padded room. Instead, I can't even manage to run down the hall right now. I think someone mentioned something about a drunken horse?

If you haven't guessed it, somehow, I've managed find a way to give myself a stress fracture in my lower left leg. Oh yeah, that's right, I'm out of action for 4-8 weeks, and St. George was only 5 weeks away at the time of the injury. PERFECT TIMING. Kiss that 3:10 goal goodbye...I'll be lucky to even finish.

Needless to say, I'm none too pleased right about now. At least the NFL season has begun to take my mind off of the lack of training I'm doing. Maybe I can be like the New England Patriots in week 1 against the Bills, and pull out a miracle. That's my only chance in St. George...

I'd write more, but I'm too busy stressing about how the he$# I'm going to keep from snapping this leg at mile 12. Man that last 14.2 will be a long way to walk...

Good luck Michelle...cheer me on at the finish line!

Michelle says...

Ahhhhh......I finished my last 20 miler. It felt pretty good. My left foot has plantar faceitis which is annoying but I think I can run through it. My nutrition strategy has been working great. I drink a-little-bit-often to stave off dehydration. I have been drinking gatorade at all of my "aid stations" and carrying H20 with me and sipping often. No more gels/gus! I may pop a underolytes pill of a few sport beans but nothing big. I'm doing my stomach a favor by having the substance already broken down into liquid form.

Time to taper,

Michelle

Michelle says..4weeks to go!

We are coming up on St. George so fast. Justin would love to halt the race for a few extra weeks. He is still down with a stress fracture with small signs of improvement. He is quite bummed out but still holding out hope. He changed his next triathlon from an Olympic distance to a sprint distance in hopes that he will be able to run 3 miles. As for my training, I'm feeling more and more confident. I have one final 20 miler this Saturday and then I will begin to taper. My 15 miles this past Saturday was great. It rained on my for 5 of the miles which made me smile and kept me cool. My nutrition seems to be working out okay. I will try again this weekend with just gatorade, water and shot-blocks.

Get better Just!

Michelle