THIS WEEK IN NUMBERS:
Swim:  11,750 yards
Bike:  147.64 miles
Run:  28.04 miles
Brick:  77.07 (included in bike and run totals above)
Total Time:  16:31:42 

Spring has sprung here in St. George……….YES!  In February!  I can’t quite believe it myself……… hold on because I’m about to make you all VERY, VERY jealous………I rode in shorts and short-sleeves yesterday!  It was 68 degrees!  I had to take off my gloves I was so hot.  To top it all off THERE WAS HARDLY ANY WIND!  I know!  You are so jealous you can hardly stand to read this post anymore…….to put you over the edge…..here are some pics:

Me with so many endorphins flowing that I can't help but smile!

It honestly was one of those days on the road that we athletes live for.  Mother Nature can dish out some nasty stuff sometimes, but then there are those days when everything seems to be perfect.  The winds are blowing your way.  That was Saturday.  It couldn’t have been better…..I enjoyed EVERY hour of it!

We are now into the meat of this Ironman training.  Saturdays now come in two categories…….Long and longer.  This week was a 4 hour ride with a 4 mile run.  In my twisted little-mind, it didn’t seem like too tall of an order and surprisingly it wasn’t.

I keep being certain that the bottom is about to fall out from under me like it did a few weeks back……..remember the dog ride…….but my body is handling the load.  Even after Heath Thurston joined us (read:  pushed us) on a 14 mile tempo run early Friday morning, my legs still decided to show up on Saturday.  Gluttons for punishment, I tell ya.  It just makes me realize the wisdom of my coaches.  Mahogani knows how to put together a plan.  She knows so much more about my abilities than I do.  Most weeks I look at my schedule and just pray that I will make it to Saturday alive and Sunday comes and I’m not only alive, but doing pretty darn well.  It keeps me excited and it keeps me motivated (let’s all remember this post the next time the “Dog Days” hit).

Craig and Heath headed up to Veyo just past "The 'Y'"

This Ironman journey is teaching me new things about myself each week.  I’m finding different gears, that I didn’t know I had.  I’m finding ways to manage fatigue that I only wish I would have figured out years ago.  Who’d have thought that sleeping in compression socks after a hard day make that much of a difference!  It really does.  I feel like I’m soaking up every day of this thing called “Ironman” and loving every moment of it.

I have to admit that when I committed to Ironman back in the Fall, I didn’t know what to expect.  I was a little cynical.  I had heard some horror stories from those who had gone before and wasn’t really sure I was ready to go down the same path.  But with each passing week, I’m finding more excitement in the journey.  Our family circumstances right now couldn’t be better.  Adam works from home most of the time.  When he has to work weekends it is Friday night (when I’m in bed) or Saturday late afternoons (after all my day’s training).  I see my husband and kids all week long because we are always home together.  Sure, I’m missing out on little things here and there, but I don’t feel like anything is passing me by.  I still have private clients and other “work” commitments to juggle, but it has all fallen into place.  I believe all the decisions I made about my life back in the early summer are paying off today!

Maybe I still have too many endorphins circulating in my brain, but THINGS ARE GOOD!  I knock on wood that they will stay that way.  I can do “hard”!  I expect “hard” in the week’s to come, but at the same time I’m relishing this time because the big day in May is just 13 weeks away……..which will come and go in a flash….

So there it is, the end of a good week………

A profile of beauty. This was from our ride on Saturday. Hills.....What Hills?