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Showing posts from February 18, 2007

Lovin' it!

This has been a big week for me. I've already put in 210 miles of cycling since Tues, 10 miles of fast incline walking on the treadmill and around 7000 yards of swimming. And I plan on running tomorrow morning for the first time in 4 weeks! So it isn't quite "Ironman" training but I'm feeling strong, healthy and excited to race. This morning I layered up enough to keep myself warm at 6:30am. Instead of driving myself to the group ride, I pedaled my way over 20 miles to meet the Gearlink group at CVS. I never really realized how weak of a cyclist I was until I started riding with Gearlink. Of course barely hanging on this summer was a little insight to my poor cycling ability, but I love seeing my improvements. Towards the end of my training this year, I was at my prime and feeling great when I rode with the group. Now, however, the Gearlink guys are racing hard and riding strong! They are an amazing group of people, especially the leader of the team, Karel. What p

No Surprise....We live in Florida!

No Surprise....We live in Florida! Within one week of cycling over 180 miles, I've experienced minimal rain, crazy winds, extreme cold and now I'm finding myself unzipping my jersey and de-layering during my rides. I tell ya, you start to get use to the freezing temperatures and then the Florida weather gods increase the temps from mid 30's to mid 70's! At first the weather is welcoming, but if I'm pulling out the sleeveless jerseys in Feb., what's to come in June, July and August!!!! Oh my. This week has been a good one for me, from starting to get more involved with nutrition consultations, adding some mileage to my cycling, swimming regularly with the SwimFit Triathlon Swim Team at the Y (ok-so I'm doing the sets by myself, but it's nice to be around others) and I finally started "walking" again!!! Even though I'd much rather be running, I've walked over 9 miles this week on the treadmill (around 4 mph with 8-10% incline). Even with

Florida you say?

Unless you are a lifeguard or year-round swimmer (which I have been both) you probably don't worry about the weather on a daily basis. Aside from the Floridians who bundled up for our fridged sub 40 degree weather this morning, living in Florida is just wonderful for year round sports. I have had many moments this year where I have caught myself complaining about the "cold" temperatures (like today when I brushed frost off my car windshield), but I am very lucky to be able to train all year for my sport. Even though it takes me 30 minutes to bundle up with layers for a morning ride on my bike, I laugh as an hour into my ride, the temperature will rise over 10 degrees and the layers will have to come off. Yep, that's Florida. A couple weeks ago when I was in Bradenton for the USAT educational weekend (which was a big success), Lee Zohlman and I set out for a 6am ride, both saturday and sunday. And I must add that riding with Lee was awesome and I recommend him as not o

Freezing Temps & Wind...There's no stopping a serious cyclist!

As I pulled out the layers on Friday evening, I had no idea that Florida was capable of reaching freezing temperatures! Sometimes we (Floridians) take for granted how lucky we are to have no ice or snow storms during the "winter" months. It was a rude awakening come Saturday morning as I headed out the door for a ride a little before 7am. The 8am CVS Gearlink group ride turned out to be me and 3 other guys, which then turned out to be a 2 1/2 solo ride. No worries-I was glad to be out on my bike with a foot that is almost healed and ready to run. As I am a committed music listener when I am riding or running alone, I was bummed that I left my music at home and rode over 45 miles with freezing toes and a wind-burned face. Yes-it was that cold and I was riding in 30 degree weather in Florida! The music would have made me feel better about the chilly conditions, so I added some intervals to warm me up. After a quick protein smoothie and breafast, the rest of the day was spent in