Iron Distance Triathlon Coming to Colorado in 2012

It was just announced that there will be a Iron distance triathlon in Fort Collins, CO in 2012!

The HITS triathlon series is going to put on a full triathlon series including an open, sprint, olympic, half and the full distance.

I am excited that a full is finally back in Colorado, it is about a month after Coeur d'Alene on July 28th and 29th so I am so tempted to sign up for a second go at an ironman. I am not sure if this is a great idea, I will at least race the half.

Fort Collins is the cutest little college town, we ran our marathon there in May:

Marathon finish coming into old town.

We also ran our first half marathon there the Horsetooth Half Marathon in 2010.

The swim will be in beautiful Horsetooth Reservoir

Fort Collins is such a nice place to race! Who wants to come out and race it with me? Don't live in Colorado? I have a spare room!

Weekend Wrap-up

Cory and I had a great Autumn weekend, we started off Saturday morning with Running with the Buffalos 5K we then headed home where we tried to do some errands while watching the live feed of Kona. It was such an exciting race so happy for Chrissy and Crowie.

On Sunday we woke up very early so we could volunteer at aid station number one for the Rock and Roll Denver Marathon. It has just turned cold so we bundled up

Apparently Cory was still asleep...probably shouldn't have let him drive. It was dark when we arrived so it was hard to see the cups to fill them

I couldn't believe how big the aid station was, I have never ran in a race this big.

We then headed home, picked up our dogs and took the "long way" to my parents house to enjoy some fall color

After eating a quick lunch we headed to Anderson farms for some fall fun

Baby Goats!

My brother erik expertly lead us through the corn maze

Not sure what's going on here

We picked out some pumpkins

It was the perfect day, not cold, not hot with lots of sunshine. It was then back to the grind and a long work week. I am feeling ready to start ramping up my training. PT is going well, I am getting stronger and almost never have knee pain.

What is one of your fall must dos?

mine is visiting a pumpkin patch

Running with the Buffalos Race Report - and my first age group win!

It was not the best weather for a race, but it reminded me of running back home in Oregon. It was cold in the low 40's and raining hard. We got up at 5:30 am so we would have plenty of time to drink coffee (most important), eat and gather our things.

So weird to race in cold weather clothing after being hot for so long! This was a very small race so we showed up 30 minutes before the race start, grabbed our numbers, shirts and chips. We warmed up quickly and lined up. I knew I could have used a better warm up but my legs felt heavy and lungs full of crap so I wasn't really feeling it. We lined up heard some updates and took off. I tried to pay attention to where the other women were ahead of me but also run my own race. The course was nice mostly along a fine gravel trail with rolling hills. The rain lightened up to a drizzle for the race which was really nice. It was really nice to see familiar friendly faces racing and volunteering around the course. I love that we are really getting invested in the running/triathlon community, it makes it that much more fun.

I didn't feel very fast while running and was focused on controlling my breath so I didn't have an asthma attack. I did pretty well and finished feeling crappy. Yup I hate 5k's they hurt and suck. Don't let anyone tell you "it's just a 5k" they are HARD!

Cory was at the finish cheering me on as he had finished a few minutes before. I asked how he did and he came in 4th overall, I was so happy and proud!

We milled around talked to fellow athletes, Randi from RMTC was there (she is doing Ironman CDA too). We headed to the awards ceremony with hopes that Cory would win one of the coveted buffalo trophies, he didn't think he would get one as only the overall winners and first place age groupers get one. He was already making plans on how he could earn one next year when his name was called as the winner for males 30-39 I was SO excited that we would be taking home a trophy and that Cory had won his age group. I was talking to Randi (who took second overall, GO Randi!) about how great it was that Cory won that I almost missed that they had called MY name....wait, what? I won for women 30-39??? REALLY?!?! I walked up front to get my trophy, and Charley jumped in to say that Cory and I were married so we would be taking home a matching set.

There was a collective ahhhhhhh from the crowd, and we had our picture taken together. I have to admit that winning with Cory was pretty sweet, we both won our age groups and took 4th overall for our genders. Overall, a great way to start the weekend. The rest of the day will be spent doing errands and watching live feed from Kona, we were excited to catch the age group start and the pros go into T1.

Daisy is cheering for all the Colorado athletes out there today!

KONA

Anyone else super excited about the Ironman Word Championship in Kona? I am having such a good time reading about all the shenanigans that some of my favorite super athlete bloggers are having. Even if you aren't a tri-tard I suggest checking some of them out since yesterday was the traditional underwear run, their bodies are SICK! If you want to follow along check out Sonja, Michelle, James, Beth, and many others. I am excited to stalk them online tomorrow.

In other news I have to admit that I lied. I said I wasn't going to race in October but Coach Charley is putting on a local 5k called Running with the Buffalos. The race promotes health and wellness in Commerce City and there is great support from the local schools and community. Last year the prizes included shoes and (anatomically correct) buffalo trophies. So if you are in the Denver area with nothing to do come on out, I would love to meet you!

Tomorrow it should be about 40 degrees and raining for the race and I am having a hard time figuring out what to wear. It's been warm for so long that I have forgotten how to run in the cold (I will need to figure that out quick for all the long winter runs I will be doing).

I don't think I will need to dress in snow gear, although I will be tempted since I am not used to the cold. We had a very mild winter last year. This was taken in January.

I don't know if we will be so lucky this year.

Pumpkin Goodness!

Last night I was in the mood to bake so I looked up healthy pumpkin bread recipes and found this one from Good Housekeeping. I grabbed a few things on the way home from the store and put together all the ingredients I would need.











I used the recipe almost exactly except I added walnuts and made three mini instead of one big one.

I think they turned out great, easy to make and delicious. I added little spider rings for fun and gave one away to my PT Djimmer as a thank you as well.

At the store a couldn’t resist this pumpkin spice coffee as well, SO GOOD. Bailey and Winston like it too!

Share the Road

A friend sent me this photo this morning….talk about sharing the road!

This morning was back at normal training. I don’t start getting workout plans from Charley until November so I am still making it up as I go. In general here is the plan for October:

Mondays: Rest
Tuesday: am Interval swim between 2200 meters and 3000 meters, pm easy 2-3 mile run
Wednesday: am spin class
Thursday: am Interval swim between 2200 meters and 3000 meters
Friday: Interval Run (no more than 20-30 min) then 30-40 min elliptical trainer
Saturday: Long Ride (30-50 miles)
Sunday: Easy Run

This plan looks too easy when I write it out but I am not supposed to run for more than 20-30 min at a time or do any lower body strength training until Djimmer (my PT) gives me the green light. I will also be doing my PT exercises every night as well as plank and push-up. I can’t wait until my knee is better and I can start doing speed work and long runs again!

Don't miss SUAR give away of marathon bars!

Planning Races

Isn't it time to start planning for 2012 races! I know that it may seem crazy but it's weird to me to not have a race lined up. The only thing I am signed up for is Coeur d'Alene and that almost 9 months away. I will probably take October completely off of racing since it is already so busy. Here are the things I am interested in doing:

1. A turkey trot fun run (a must!) we will probably run the Anthem 10k since that is where my parents just bought their new house. I ran it last year, the course is beautiful and challenging.

2. A winter series, the last two years I have ran the winter distance series. This is a well run series and I enjoyed running the progressive series (5k, 5m, 10m) but I am getting a little bored with it too. I am considering the Chilly Cheeks duathlon series. It seems fun but riding my bike in the snow is intimidating and I would have to ride my mountain bike, bleh. Both series have races in December, January and February.

3. I would like a winter half marathon, I am thinking February or March, I am willing to travel but hopefully not too far from home. Any Suggestions?

4. We need a spring tune up half ironman, I am considering the RAGE 70.3 in vegas some time mid April, anyone raced this?

5. A late spring marathon. Last year Cory and I ran the Colorado Marathon and had a great time but I would like to run a different race.

6. CDA Ironman, already signed up....this is going to happen!

7. A summer or early fall ultra marathon, I am not sure yet I will want to talk to coach Charley about timing and ironman recovery.

I am already so excited about next year, I really hope that between having a coach and physical therapy I will be able to reach all my goals with no injuries.

I am off to help my parents move into their house, glad we aren't in heavy training now!

How far in advance do you plan your races?