48 days and I am just plain TIRED!!!

So, I am now 7 weeks out from Ironman Arizona. Ironman training is like being in a relationship. There are so many emotional ups and downs that I can't keep up. This week, I'm tired and just emotionally drained. With trying to keep up with work, training, coaching, eating and laundry (let's not even discuss it), it's been hard. I wasn't able to get in a long ride this weekend due to I had to work. I was able to get my long run in but it was AWFUL I tell you, but I got through it. I don't remember training being like this, or maybe I am doing a complete mental block. I do that sometimes, a good defense mechanism. Some good things that happened in the past week: My swimming is slowly improving where I feel that I am going to be AMAZING barring any leg cramps. I am dilligently working with Coach Allan and practicing everything he is telling me like a saint (I so am not). I felt amazing in my second CompuTrainer session of the week. It was hard, don't get me wrong, but something just clicked. My hands no longer hurt (you don't realize how much you use your hands until you try to drain a pot of pasta-don't ask). Also, my friend Skip took me to dinner on Saturday night at Leonardo's. I have a weakness for mushroom risotto....yummmmmmm. I just have to keep telling myself with everything that is happening, it is all for a reason. And that reason is Ironman Arizona and crossing that finish line with a big ass smile on my face. I am hoping this week goes so much better than last week...only 14 days before I unleash my marathoners onto the Chicago Marathon Course. I feel so proud of each and every one of them. I guess I'm doing something right when everything else is falling apart. : (

55 days: 20 miles/100 miles/Head Wind/Egg McMuffin??

So it is now 55 days until I race Ironman Arizona. This weekend was a HUGE Breakthrough for me. Let's start with Saturday. Saturday While everyone else probably was hungover, sleeping or getting ready for all of the college football games, I was preparing to run 20 miles with our Marathoners. We are literally 3 weeks away from the Chicago Marathon. Don't get me wrong, but I am not racing Chicago. I just train aweswome, fabulous athletes for it. It was such a beautiful day and I was loving every moment of it. See, I'm known as the happy runner and I say hello to everyone, smile, thank volunteers, whatever it is that will make a runner feel a little better about running 20 miles. After the 20 miler, I decided to walk from FFC Gold Coast to Osteria Via Stato for a quick lunch (I'm not really good at eating before I run, etc.) before swim practice. I felt really good after the run, not sore-crazy, right? So, what did I eat? The entire bread bowl with olive oil to dip it in, white bean spread with crostini AND a mushroom and fennel pizza. Oh yeah!!!! Swim practice: Oh, just 1800 yards. Felt good. Went home and decided to do: Laundry, carbo load and watch World War Z. That's how you prepare for a century ride. SUNDAY 100 miles of riding on a bike from Evanston to Kenosha and back. THe weather was nice (mid 60s and sunny) so that was promising. My friend Sally picked me and Beeker, my bike up and we headed to Evanston. Ok, now I had a total panic attack. I am REALLY, REALLY nervous about biking and this was to be a total confidence booster for me. Sally gave me so many tips to help me and I almost damn near cried. I don't get a lot of time outside riding due to my work schedule and I need BLOCKS of time (4-5 hours) NOT 1 hour here or there. Getting started, I was shaking so badly. I tried to think of 1 pedal stroke at a time and the one thing that helps is when I start singing (in my head) Prince songs. I decided on the album, "Parade" you know, the one from the "Under the Cherry Moon" soundtrack. Don't hate! You know you liked that album. I started to feel a little more comfortable, however the wind would not let up. It was like Arizona 2012 all over again, but without the pretty Red Rock Mountains. I made it to aid station #1 and I still felt like I was going to have a massive panic attack again. I ate a banana, had some gatorade, refilled my water and went off again. The next aid station was at mile 35 where they had Egg McMuffins, no really. I was starting to feel a little better but I still feel as if I am not a strong rider. I kept up with some others in our big gang of athletes. Ok, I did it. I still had 65+ more miles to go. Aid Station #3 (mile 57) was where we would see Susie and Ollie (a wonderful little puppy). That would be Kenosha, WI. Oh shit!!! The wind would not fucking let up. It was hell. I tried to keep my cadence up and just kept riding. I couldn't stop. The route was very well marked. Somewhere in this stretch, something happened. I started hauling ass and becoming a cyclist. I was attacking hills-is this me??? I know I somehow dropped my riding buddies but ended up riding with this one couple. We took turns pulling and it was A-MAZING!!!!! At one point, I passed my friends who were on the side of the road. I heard one of them say, "Hey, that's Joy!!!!" I don't know but I think I channeled my inner bad ass super hero!!! As soon as I saw Susie and heard the cowbell, I was good. I ate a little more (Peanut butter filled pretzels are the SHIT as well as cream of mushroom soup). Don't ask. We decided to take off since we had to make it #4. That would be 75ish miles. This was the hardest one getting out of due to the traffic. Oh, let me digress some...we were not in a good portion of Kenosha. Potholes for days. Now, back to heading to Aid Station #4, I have no idea where the Hell I was until I saw the Illinois State line. Hell yeah!! I tagged along with a guy named Vern, his friend Juliette and her husband. They were from Lombard and they did Ragbri (look it up). They were good to ride with. We took turns pulling and had a lot of fun just chatting. At one point, Vern looked and me and told me, "Don't let anyone tell you that you are not a good rider." That meant a lot. I'm with all of these amazing athletes and I sometimes feel like the slug of the group. At some point I dropped them and started riding with this guy who did the Seattle to Portland bike ride. We stayed together the whole way taking turns pulling and chit chatting. An awesome dude. Finally Aid Station #4. And who do I run into-my coworker who hauled ass to catch up. He's really that good. And also my friend Carol. Now around this time is when my inner thighs were seizing up but I kept going. I think that I didn't have enough electrolytes-damn gatorade (long story). I refilled my bottles some more and decided to take off with Carol. Trying to keep up with her was HARD but I did my damndest. Now at this point, we had to be careful going into Ft. Sheridan. You had to stop at every intersection, stop sign, stop light or risk getting a $150 ticket. Ain't happening. At this point, I causght up to the original couple and we are pulling again like crazy. The wind just would not stop!!!! I was starting to fatique. I could have taken a sag Vehicle but why the Hell would I. I had to do this for me, not anyone else. I made it to Aid Station #5, where all my buddies were but only to stop and start again, very quickly. This was suppose to be it! At this point, my friends left me and I was by myself for a while until I saw 2 hot guys and I decided to haul ass to catch up with them which I did. The one guy asked, "Why are you breathing so hard?" Me: " To catch y'all" So we stayed together, caught up with my friends and it just became, let's get this done. What should have been just 10 miles, was way more than that. I knew we were home free once I saw Evanston Memorial Hospital (or some name like that), I knew we were around the corner, over the woods and through the river. I just wanted off my bike and to get some food. By time I got off my bike, a smile broke out over my face. I went straight for the peanut butter filled pretzels before I got my finishers certificate. When the guy asked me my name, I told and he looked at my like, wait, your last name really is "Miles"? Yeah!!! After I finally got home, I took a shower but it took me forever to get those damn compression sleeves off my legs. After I changed into non-workout clothes, I went around the corner to my favorite Thai place, Indie Thai and ate the following: Shrimp Shumai, Shrimp Pad Thai, 3 pieces of Unagi and Crab Rangoon. Yeah, I was hungry. Went home to feed my cats and went to sleep. Around 1am, I woke up because I had to ice my hands. Why?? I don't wear cycling gloves and my hands swelled up to little sausages. So now we are to Monday. What did I learn or gain from this? 1. My friends are friggin AWESOME!!! The support was what I really needed. 2. Yeah, I rode 100+ miles in tri shorts! And my taint did not hurt!!! 3. I am much stronger than I thought. I just needed this as a little confidence. 4. This also helped my self esteem a whole HELL of a lot 5. I will CROSS the Finish line of the IMAZ. 6. Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels will be in my special meeds bag for the bike. I think that is it.

59 days: Have fun like a kid!

A lot of you do not know that I coach children's swimming. Yesterday was the first day of me back in the saddle coaching after a month and a half break. It was fun observing how excited and enthusiastic (well, most of them), about jumping in the pool. The first day is usually me evaluating them, trying to find what their skill level is at. I had some who went down and back (our pool at my club is only 17 yards), some only went half way and one girl told me straight up that she wanted to do Zumba. I convinced her this was a better option. Don't worry, I know her from previous sessions. Once they went through their evaluations, I spoke with them on what to expect. After that, I let them have free time (i.e. pool party play time). Just watching them play gave me a reminder to have some fucking fun in this crazy training called Ironman. There were kids who were afraid of the deep part of the pool (4 feet, hey , he's only 5) but he saw everyone else laughing and having fun so he joined in and guess what? He made it to the deep end. So, this morning, I knew what the CompuTrainer workout was going to be so I had my iPOD playlist created called Course ride mojo-this was an interval ladder workout consisting of a 15 minute warmup, 5 minutes to recalibrate and then 2 min at 75%, 2 min at 100%, 2 min at 75%, 2 min at 110%, 2 min at 75%, 1 min at 120%, 2 min at 75%, 1 min at 130%, 2 min at 75%, 30 sec at 140%, 2 min at 75% and then repeat this in reverse, but then we had 10 minutes at 90%. Somewhere around minute 6, I started having fun. I was in aero position for the full minutes and just rocking out to "Din Daa Daa" by George Kranz and "I Decided (the disco remix)" by Solange. This is what training is suppose to be-FUN!!! This is what I will be taking with me the remaining 59 days. It took a group of 5-9 year olds to remind me of that. So what is my full Course Ride Mojo playlist? *"C'est la vie (Fedde vs MartinClub Mix) from Azuli presents Ibiza 2008 Unmixed edition *"Conduction (Contains Accapella of Ladybug Mecca "Dogg Starr")from Om: Winter Sessions (disc 2) *"Din Daa Daa" by George Kranz *"Falling (Original Mix)" by Soulmakers *"Fever (Paul Woolford Mix)" from Om: Winter Sessions (Disc 1) *"Flawless (Go to the City)" by George Michael *"Get Right (Featuring Fabolous)" by Jennifer Lopez *"I Decided (Moto Blanco Edit)" by Solange *"Crown Royal (Shelter Remix)" by Jill Scott *"Oye Mi Canto (Original Dirty Mix)" by N.O.R.E. featuring Nina Sky, Tego Calderon, Gemstar & Big Mato *"Shotgun (featuring Camille Jones)" by Fedde le Grand

62 days: 6 + 2 = 8 and add 1 to equal 9 weeks to go

Ignore the fact that I am a numbers person with the title of this post. A lot of people around me are stressing out-they are not even racing. Why people??? Why??? Come on, I am the one putting in all of the hours of training, eating (getting better), sleeping (not really), but I guess they are living vicariously through me. Oh, this is funny as hell. Anyhoo, let's do a week in review here: the good, the bad and the downright ugly: The good: I had the BEST 2 mile swim in Lake Michigan on Monday when it was oh, 93+ degrees outside. Yeah, I got admonished because I swam by myself, but I got it done. Oh, and by the way, this hot chic damn nearly caused a bike accident with 3 bikers when I was coming out of the lake (I was wearing a workout bikini). The bad: CompuTrainer round 2-this shit was HARD!!!! 5, count them 5 7-minute intervals starting at 95% of our threshold up to 115% with a 3 minute interval in between each. I pushed through until the third interval when I dropped my power down to 175 from 192. Then, I came to my senses. I jacked it back up to 199. I'm training for Ironman. I'm a gladiator!! (Sorry for the Scandal reference). The UGLY: Not one, but multiple nose bleeds in the past 3 days and leg cramping that is not easing up from an 18 mile run. That's all I have to say about that. So what do I have on the radar for this week? Oh, a swim tonight at 5:30pm with Coach Allan (preparing to get my ass handed to me), a 6 mile, 8 mile and a 20 mile run, 2 CompuTrainer classes,2 more swims and a 100 mile OUTDOOR bike. I am actually scared of how my body will feel after the 20 mile run going the next day into a 100 mile bike. NO PAIN, NO GAIN!! Quote for the week: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill Song for the week: "Keep On Going" - Vivian Green

70 Days: A gaggle, a Divvy and an Expo-Oh My!

Today marks the 70 day countdown before IronMan Arizona. Work is getting very busy now. Although triathlon training is over for our athletes, I am still training athletes for the Chicago Marathon. The 20 miler is slowly coming around the corner. How did that happen? Hold up, how did September just sneak up on us? Can I get a Summer do over PLEASE? Oh wait, we are going into the 90s for the next 2 days-nevermind. A Gaggle: A gaggle of geese that is. On this past Wednesday, I knew that I had to go to FFC Lincoln Park to coach CompuTrainer but I didn't want to double back on a 6 mile run to hop on a bus through CUBS traffic. Have you been in East Lakeview/Wrigleyville during a CUBS game? Exactly! So, to kill 2 birds with one stone, I decided to run with my marathoners to Lincoln Park with a 25 pound backpack on my back. I know, what was I thinking. I wasn't, I just had to do it and I also consider that strength training. Now, where does this gaggle of geese come in? Well, if you live in Chicago and you take the running path South towards the North Avenue Bridge, you will pass Lincoln Park Zoo and Grant's statue. In between was a gaggle of geese or more like a gang in the middle of the path. I was like, "Oh crap!." You see, geese and I haven't liked each other since I tried to beat them down when I was about 2. True story per the parents or was it ducks. Anyway, they decided to move out my way and I made to FFC Lincoln Park. From the path off of Addison to the club is 4.23 miles. Thank you Garmin! A Divvy: So Divvy is the bike sharing program in Chicago. I needed to get to the Chicago Half Marathon Expo on Saturday after my 13 mile run so I decided to rent a Divvy. I LOVE Beeker, my road bike. I LOVE him alot. Divvy is really heavy, cumbersome and only has 3 gears. Perfect to bebop around the city, but not for speed. Really-I tried. I can truly say that I committed bike sin #1: I didn't wear a helmet. I know. Sorry?? I did make it to Navy Pier, albeit a little late and very sore. Rules to working an expo after a long run: bring a foam roller,use foam roller, bring food or have someone bring it for you like my friend Skip did for my on Friday. Oh, and wear compression tights, although I was wearing sleeves, they really didn't help. An Expo: The Chicago Half Marathon Expo was this past Friday and Saturday at Navy Pier in Festival Hall B. First, I dislike Navy Pier. Tourists, go visit it. Me, nope! The Expo was much smaller than last year with a significant amount of vendors missing. Maybe it is the sign of the times, but come on. This is my retail therapy. I got to see my buddies from Newton Running Company, Fleet Feet and Life Time Fitness, but not a lot there. Not even food. At least have samples of nutrition bars, gels, blocks. Hopefully the Chicago Marathon Expo will be MUCH BETTER!! The good thing about the expo was I got to hang out with my Team to End AIDS buddies and run my mouth off about Endurance Training oh and did I forget about Starbucks, oh yeah. So this week I have 18 miles for the marathon (my training plan says 15), 100 mile bike (I need to figure this one out-hmmmm, hello CompuTrainer) and a 2.4 mile swim-Lake Michigan, you better take a bottle of "Act Right!" That's just the nitty gritty of everything. And that is not including teaching, training or coaching. : P I can do this! My favorite quote and song to get me through this week: Quote: "You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Song: Breathe by Telepopmusik AND....we're off!

75 days and a bag of pretzels!

Yes, it is now 75 days until Ironman Arizona! What's with the bag of pretzels? I am downing right now a 4 1/4 oz bag of Rold Gold Pretzel thins because I need the CARBS!!! CARBS-Me want NOW!!! So what if it is 4.5 servings! I earned it after an 18 mile run yesterday (it was suppose to be 16-don't ask) and today a hard spin class that I taught and then 23.58 miles of the Big Foot Bike Course on CompuTrainer. I'm feeling better about how things are going. Yes, I am being selfish because I need some time to myself to train. Oh, and wait, I have had on average of 4.5-5 hours of sleep within the past 3 days. Now this, is epic! Why? I only average normally 2 hours of sleep a night. I know, this is NOT ideal for training for an Ironman but I have ALWAYS been like this. Now, I am going to get ready to train my Pilates Group of 3 women and 1 single client while I try not to fall on my face. Everything HURTS!! Go Hard or go home!

School's back in session and hug-bys: 77 days!

This past week in Chicago, we had the Chicago Triathlon on Sunday (and I was so proud of my athletes!), public and private schools starting this week and the start of me doing twice a week CompuTrainer! Yeah, I'm on a mission. Not a mission from God (That's a Blues Brothers reference, watch the movie!). But my mission, that I have accepted is to cross the finish line of Ironman Arizona smiling and maybe doing a dance or a pushup or 2. Crazy? No!! It's kind of funny when people ask me about why I am doing this race again, I turn around and ask them, "Why not?" Don't tell me what I can't do because I will prove you wrong or try my damndest to prove a point. It's the Leo and Year of the Ox in me. So where is my head at, right now? I feel ok. I had my ass served to me on a silver platter by one of our Endurance Swim Coaches. He found 2 goofy things going on with my stroke. Will be working on that for the next 77 days! Now what the Hell is a Hug-by? Well, when you are running on the lakefront path in Chicago (it's beautiful) and you see a friend running in the opposite direction, you look both ways and do a hug-by! I did it once the week before and twice on yesterday. Let me now get back to work to train my next Pilates client. Tomorrow is Labor Day and I have a do over of my 16 mile run from yesterday and a 2 mile swim. And of course get some work done.