Taking My Taper to a Whole New Level

Wanna know how many miles I've logged so far this week?  Three.  Yup, THREE.  I'd like to chalk it up to a combination of being super busy at work, and taking tapering to the extreme for Sunday's race.  I'm sure I could have gotten in more miles, but I just want to make sure I have super rested legs that are ready to run 13 miles in two days :)

I got in my whopping three miles on Tuesday with my favorite group of running girls.  We met at 7pm which turned out to be the perfect time for a run.  I didn't have to rush home from work, it wasn't 97 degrees out, and we still had lots of daylight.  I don't know why I've never thought to run later before.

Our route took us over this super cool pedestrian bridge that I never even knew existed.  All the girls kept saying how I've ran it before during our half marathon training, but I didn't believe them because I remember cool things and this bridge was wicked cool.

We got in a little over three miles and it was a great little run.  Obviously by now you know how obsessed I am with my Garmin.  Well, Steph is just as obsessed with hers and after every run our Garmins NEVER have the same distances for some reason.  This run though they logged the exact same distances for the first time ever.  Pretty neat for us running nerds.

I was supposed to run yesterday, but ended up getting stuck at work and wasn't able to fit it in before the Share the Road meeting that Becca and I planned on going to.  I was a teeny bit pissed about not being able to run, but I'm telling myself it's for the better to let my legs rest before my race.  For four whole days.  Oh well.

Anyways, this Share the Road meeting.  It was put together by one of my local athlete idols Mary Eggers.  She's a crazy awesome triathlete and even raced Lance Armstrong in the pool for a fundraiser. I like to think me and Mary are BFF's even though she doesn't know who I am and I just religiously follow her blog.  It's fine.

The meeting was put together in the aftermath of a big biking tragedy a few weeks ago and the purpose was to educate and bring awareness to cycling safety and sharing the road.  It was a pretty cool meeting and there were some interesting speakers.  It's amazing how a tragedy can bring the cycling/running community together and inspire change so tragedy's like Heather's don't continue to happen.

Speaking of cycling, I signed up for this bad boy the other day:

I heart biking.

So, less than 48 hours until I'll be toeing the start line of another half marathon.  Today is my third day in a row of "rest day" -- I think I'm taking this taper thing to a whole new level.  Maybe I'll get a few slow miles in tomorrow to remind my legs what they're supposed to do on Sunday.  Maybe not.  Who knows.  Either way, wish me luck for Sunday...I may need it!

Cranky Clancy Tackles Another Week

Do you ever just have those days where everything makes you cranky?  That was like the story of my life this week.  Between work and training and mentoring and trying to have a social life I came to the conclusion this week that I am WAY over-extending myself right now.  And that made me cranky.

I still managed to get a little bit of everything in this week, and eventually sweated out all of my cranky-ness as the week progressed.  You know how it goes.

Monday
I was feeling pretty good after Sunday's 50-miler, thanks in part to the tennis ball I keep in my desk at work to secretly roll out my muscles during conference calls.  Recovery at it's finest in corporate America.

I wasn't feeling a big run or ride but wanted to get my muscles moving so Brie and I decided to ride down to the canal to get frozen yogurt.  Burn 100 calories and then consume 500?  Fair trade to me.

worth it.

We rode leisurely there and back and ended up getting in just about 9 miles.  A decent recovery ride.

Tuesday

On Monday night, Becca and I had made plans to ride together after work on Tuesday.  I woke up super excited.  And then my day got worse and worse as it went on and I got crankier and crankier.  To say I was in a miserable mood by 5pm would be an understatement.

I literally had to drag myself to Becca's because I was mad at the world and didn't want to move from my couch.  Becca turned out to be in a similar mood -- this was going to be an interesting ride.

Three minutes into the ride as we were going up our first hill my chain fell off.  Yes, AGAIN.  Wtf is right.  Not only did that make me cranky, but the fact that I had to continue climbing the hill with zero momentum was a fantastic way to start the ride.

I was so NOT feeling the ride at all and put more energy into being miserable than actually riding.  Becca and I were silent for the first 10 miles because neither of us had anything positive to say.  We were both real gems to be around.

When we finally spoke, it was to complain and to decide to cut our anticipated 30 mile ride short.  Not worth forcing it when we both weren't feeling it.  We made an early turn into the park and calculated we'd get about 20-22 miles in.  

Guess what happened at mile 18, right as we were finishing the loop in the park, so close to the end of our ride?  I GOT A FLAT.  Yup.  ANOTHER EFFING FLAT.  Normally this wouldn't bother me (case in point- Sunday's ride), but I was having that kind of shitty day that of course I got a flat on my ride.  When we pulled over it took a lot of will power not to throw my bike at a tree.

Of course it was an ordeal changing the flat and what do you know there was a stupid little stone lodged in my tire that I probably didn't clear out when I got my flat on Sunday.  Someone teach me bike maintenance, please.

We finally finished our stupid ride and thankfully Becca's husband was waiting for us at the canal to pick us up.  No way were we going to ride the extra 3 miles home.  Heck no.

finally done

so happy to be off our bikes
[helmets in the car - you never know with our luck.]

Usually I'm all OMG I FEEL AWESOME after a ride, but I was so cranky that day that I was just happy to be done with our ride afterwards.  Get me to bed, please.

Wednesday

I must have been on some little riding high or something, because on Tuesday night I agreed to meet one of my co-workers at the gym for a 5:30am spin class.  When my four alarms went off in the morning, you bet I was regretting that decision.

I slept in my gym clothes so really just had to roll out of bed and brush my teeth before I sprinted out the door.  Got there right on time and quickly realized that my legs were still in bed sleeping and wondering wtf I was doing.  

Our ride on Tuesday was hard and hilly and was less than 12 hours before spin class.  Bad idea.  Even hardcore Becca, who sometimes yells at me for being a baby, agreed:

True, it was a great way to start off my day, but I don't think 5:30am spin class will be happening the morning after Mendon rides anytime soon.  I spent a lot of time with Foamie on Wednesday night.

Thursday

A couple girls from work and I had planned to walk on the canal after work and grab dinner and drinks afterwards.  This was a perfect way to switch up my usual routine.  It was nice to just do some walking and talking.  Although, I really did underestimate the power of walking - man, I worked up a sweat and got more of a workout than I expected!

girls post walk!

We walked for just about an hour and of course I had to wear my Garmin - activities don't exist unless Garmin records them! :)

After our sweaty walk we got dinner and drinks.  We wasted no time chugging our pitcher of water and ordering some refreshing beers.  Yes, even walking requires refueling with liquid carbs!

Friday

My Friday consisted of absolutely nothing active.  My bike was in the shop and I didn't really feel like running.  Lifetime movies and the couch it is.

Saturday

Mentoring day!  I wish I could say that I woke up with exclamation marks exuding from my aura, but it was more like this: !(@&$(!&#)WTF.  I really just wanted to go back to bed and I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I was with the 5k group yesterday and we were running a course preview of the 5k race that they'll be running in two weeks.  For the first mile, I was a terrible mentor.  I just ran silently with the group and didn't talk to anyone.  I was cranky and didn't trust my mouth to say anything positive so I just kept it shut.

Once I heard my watch beep at the first mile, I knew I had to snap out of it.  Just because I was miserable doesn't mean that I can't try to make someone else's run enjoyable.  Trust me, it took a lot of willpower to be able to suck up my crankiness and start chatting with the runners.  And you know what?  Once I did I was in such a better mood.

The girls I was running with were great and I really enjoyed the last couple miles of our run.  It was their first time ever running that distance and seeing their faces when they finished was awesome.  The words on our mentor shirts couldn't be any truer!

Sunday

I had another early wake up call this morning and met coach Rob at 8am for a ride.  Not only did I wake up on time this morning, but I also left the house on time and got to Rob's early.  Yeah, my jaw was on the floor too.  I was so proud of myself for being on time and was patting myself on the back as we geared up for the ride.  Just as I was grabbing my helmet to go, I realized that I forgot my Garmin.  Nooooooo.  As you recall, no activity exists unless Garmin is there to record it.  HOW COULD I FORGET YOU?!?

After I had a little hissy fit and Rob rolled his eyes at me, we were on our merry way.  It was perfect weather out and we headed out to some country roads.  About halfway through, we stopped so Rob could make sure we were on course and it turned into a 7 minute pit stop because neither of us could figure out how to read our iPhone maps.  How are you supposed to know which way the map is oriented?!  Someone please enlighten me.

Anyways, we figured it out and were back on course which included a bunch of hills on the way back. Oddly enough, I actually kind of like climbing on the bike.  I dread hills when I'm running, but it makes things interesting (dare I say fun?) when I'm riding.  As much as I complain, I dig a good challenge.  Sometimes.

We got in 30 miles and considering it was about half of what I did last Sunday, I was pretty tired.  It was a great ride overall but I think the hills did me in at the end.  We averaged 14mph and I can't tell you our exact time or our elevation (ah!) because stupid Garmin didn't show up for the party.  But here's coach Rob's record of our ride to prove that it really did happen:

This is my last week to get in some good activity because on Sunday is the Geneseo half marathon.  I'm hoping that my lack of running won't make this a disaster...I mean riding miles and miles has to count for something for my endurance right?  Guess we'll find out in a week! 

Camel Clancy Tackles 50 Miles of Rochester

After a big mileage week last week and a big weekend, I opted for a light week this week, heavy on my favorite days - rest days.  I had great intentions of getting my zen on with some yoga, but why do that when I can be completely useless and just lay on the couch?

On Tuesday night I ran a 5k with some of the running girls and even though it was a sauna outside, it was a fun run.  The race raised money for a cause close to one of our running friends so we all went out to run and support her.  The course was flat and super fast - both Steph and Thea PR'd, and Laura and I came in right around 36 minutes.  There was pizza at the end so obviously the race was a win in my book.

girls post race, pre pizza

I don't remember why I didn't do anything on Wednesday but it probably ended up being a fantastically lazy "recovery" day.

Thursday brought another toasty day and it was time to ride with Becca.  I love riding with Becca because she always has a killer route planned out and I don't have to think about directions at all.  It turned out to be an eventful ride for a few reasons:

...holy heat.  Pretty sure we rode into the sun the whole time too.  I had a permanent sweat mustache for 30 straight miles.

...baby deer!  There were SO MANY of them!  Of course we stopped and took pictures and chatted with them for a few minutes.

...I got so excited when we stopped for the baby deer that I almost forgot to unclip and in the process of avoiding my fall I kicked off my chain ring.  Good thing Becca actually knows what she's doing and was able to save the day.

...sunflowers!  How cool does that look?!  I was riding out here less than a week before this and they hadn't bloomed yet.  Thursday they were out in full force - I guess the country isn't so bad after all :)

...And the other (terrifying) event that made this ride interesting - a super asshole douchebag reckless driver (excuse the language Mom).  We were riding through a green light, single file & in the shoulder, and a truck completely ran his red light (at about 50mph), making a right hand turn and completely running us off the road.  He then continued to gun it and turned in front of us forcing us to brake ridiculously and veer off the road again.  My heart still pounds thinking about it - if we were a teeny bit slower or if he was a teeny bit faster it could have been real scary.  Becca is a beast and got the idiot's license plate and we called and reported it.  It was terrifying and people need to learn how to share the damn road. 

ANYWAYS, besides our scary little encounter, it was a good ride and we covered just over 30 miles.  Not too shabby for a Thursday night!

After two accidental rest days in a row, I was ready for a long ride this morning.  Both Coach Rob and Becca were unavailable for a ride (don't they know their lives should revolve around me?!) so that meant today's ride would be solo.  

Solo rides I've done before, but 20 miles is about my lonesome limit.  I had big plans of tackling 50 miles today so I spent last night getting mentally prepped for it.  I mapped out my route, wrote it down, made sure someone knew my plans, and even had Brie on standby in case I needed an emergency pickup.  

At 7:15 this morning I drove to my starting point, pumped up my tires and hit the road.  It was chilly but PERFECT weather for a long ride.  I rode through Penfield and into Webster and passed the crash site turned roadside memorial again for Heather Boyum.  I felt intrigued to stop so I did and had my own little moment of silence.  

I had a few miles of downhill and was feeling good as I headed onto Lake Rd, which I would be on for 20+ miles.  When I mapped the route out on map my ride, the elevation map made it look like Lake Rd. was nice and flat.  Since I was doing a long ride, I was all about the flats in my mapping.  Well, turns out map my ride failed me and this is what greeted me about every half mile:

Hills! More like lots of rolling hills.  Thanks for the big tease, map my ride.  At first I thought maybe I was just not warmed up or something, but when I got home and looked at my Garmin data, the 500 rollers I feel like I encountered were confirmed:

Oy.  I pedaled through them like a champ though and was having a great ride.  At one point I stopped because I wanted to take a picture of the sun and how pretty it looked.  Solo ride perk - I can stop and take pics whenever I want!  Well, I'm still a clumsy mess when it comes to unclipping, and as I (successfully!) tried to avoid a fall, I kicked off my chain ring again.  Oops.  No oncoming bikers and no riding buddy meant Mollz was on her own to figure out how to put it back on.  A few minutes and lots of grease later, mission accomplished.

Is that a normal amount of grease??  I think someone needs to teach me how to clean my chain.  Anyways, I patted myself on the back and carried on with my ride.  I was halfway up the next hill when my bike started to feel really funny in the back.  I don't know what a flat feels like, but if I had to guess this would be it.

After huffing and puffing up the hill for a minute, I pulled over to check out my tire and sure enough - totally flat.  The good news - I was prepared with tire levers, tubes and CO2!  The bad news - I had absolutely no idea how to use them to fix my flat.

I made 4 phone calls for advice and help, none of which were answered (thanks friends).  So, I was left to my own devices.  I pulled up You Tube and looked for some videos on how to change a flat... let's just say that it's not something best learned via cell phone video.  

As I was swirling in the confusion of bike mechanics and about to have a panic attack for being stranded in the middle of nowhere, a car stopped and offered to help me out.  This guy knew what he was doing and all I did was stand there and hand him tools when he called out for them.  After a few minutes my newly inflated tire was back on my bike and I was ready to go.  I thanked the middle of nowhere kind stranger and he fist bumped me and told me to have a good ride.  BFF.

I carried on and hit some nice lake views along the road:

I felt great until around mile 30.  I hit a 10 mile wall as I was heading back and it was a brutal bunch of miles.  The road was nice and flat which was nice, but it was SO. BORING.  There was nothing to switch it up, and I was in the middle of effing nowhere Williamson.  No offense to your little town Williamson, but it SUCKS.  I was so bored and those were the miles I definitely wished I had someone other than myself to talk to.

I thanked baby Jesus once I finally got out of Williamson and it was pretty much the home stretch once I left the stupid town.  The last 5 or so miles were tiring because of course they ended up being uphill (please refer to above elevation graph) and my legs were kind of ready to be done.  I started doing the slow clap in my head as I turned into my starting point at the Penfield Y - 53 solo miles completed!

I definitely got quite the scenic tour of rural Western New York:

Overall it was definitely an adventurous ride and I felt awesome for about 90% of it.  My average speed was 15mph which shocked me because that is fast for me!  Especially for 53 miles?  Not too shabby Clance!  I feel like I could have kept going or gone faster if I wasn't all by my lonesome, but for my first solo ride - I give it a B+!

Based on how my legs (or more specifically my butt) is feeling right now, tomorrow may not even be a yoga day.  I'm hoping to pick it back up this week since the Geneseo half marathon is in two weeks and the Highlander is in three!  Here's to Camel Clancy picking up the pace for the next few weeks!

Hello My Name Is Camel Clancy

What a weekend!  I made it through alive and well, thanks to some good quality time with my foam roller and compression gear.  My legs are still really cranky so I'm currently (still) decked out in my new neon reflective calf sleeves and rolling around on Foamie to make them better.

Let's just say that a 10 mile run the day before a bike race isn't the best idea ever, especially when your 10 miler was much less than stellar.

Saturday's run was doomed before it even started.  First of all, it's been over 2 months since I've ran double digits.  My longest runs recently have been 5ish miles - not entirely conducive to jumping right into a 10 miler.  Also, I'm so out of my Friday night pre-long run routine that I did a terrible job fueling and hydrating the night before.  Whoops.

I woke up not so ready to go on Saturday morning but dragged my butt to Fleet Feet to run with a pace group.  I decided on the 13:00 minute group because I was just hoping that if I go slow I'd miraculously be able to bang out ten miles.  Here we are all smiles at 8am:

The first mile in I knew it was going to be a struggle.  My stomach was bothering me and I was already chugging my water like I was on mile 9.  It was warm out and I was sweating like a beast (I'm such a lady).  

By mile 3 I had drank all the water in my fuel belt and knew I was dehydrated.  I was lightheaded and my stomach was off and it overall just sucked.  We stopped at a convenience store to get water and Gatorade and I chugged through all 40+ ounces in like 5 miles.  

There was lots of walking at this point and some real tempting times I wanted to quit.  Does Triple A pick up tired and dehydrated runners?  Steph stuck with me the entire time and I honestly probably would have attempted to call Triple A for a ride if she wasn't with me keeping me on track and encouraging me.

Fleet Feet saved the day with a water stop around mile 8, where I filled up my fuel belt again and chugged even more water.  The crazy thing is that after all that water, I still didn't even have to pee.  Hello dehydration slapping me in the face.  80+ ounces of fluid and 2+ hours later....

....we completed our 10 miles.  One of the top 5 worst runs I've ever had and I only have myself to blame.  Lesson learned - hydration is extra important when you're running double digits!  During our two+ hours together, Steph gave me a new nickname - Camel Clancy.  Unfortunately I think the name is sticking.

After the run, there was an event at Fleet Feet sponsored by Brooks that I stuck around for.  There were a ton of cool things going on, and I even won a cool new pair of shades.  A big win in my book.

sweet shades

After pouring more liquid into my body and dressing myself in head to toe compression gear, I headed home to Syracuse to gear up for The Great Race on Sunday.  The Great Race is a team triathlon that consists of a run, bike and canoe.  My sisters and I did the race last year and had a blast, so we decided to make another appearance this year.

Team Keeping Up With The Clancy's

We spent Saturday night scheming and tshirt making and getting pumped up for our favorite event of the year.  Our goal this year was straight intimidation.  Tell me we succeeded:

We all did the same legs we did last year and have our system down.  Heather was our runner (5k run), I was our biker (10 mile bike) and Kelly and her boyfriend (an honorary Clancy for the day) were the canoeists (2 mile canoe).

start line!

The event itself is so much fun and there are a TON of people who participate.  My best friend from high school, Jennifer, does it with her family every year and would you look who I ran into at the start line:

jennifer!

bff's.

I was pumped for my leg this year because I wanted to crush my time from last year.  Last year my ride was a straight up disaster.  I was 25 pounds heavier, out of shape, riding a 10 year old bike and had no idea what the hell I was doing.  

how chubby mollz rode a bike last year is still baffling my mind.

I felt so legit waiting in the change-over zone for Heather to come in from the run.  Not only did I look like a real cyclist in my shorts and shoes, but Heather is a speed demon (21 minute 5k, no big deal) so we looked like one of the most intimidating female teams that ever existed.

I was terrified of clipping in my pedals because how embarrassing would it be to have my first fall in front of 600 people at the Great Race?  Clipped in like a pro though and I was off to show the course who's boss.

The course was comparable to Mendon with a few big hills and I was real glad I learned how to finally use my gears and get out of the saddle.  There was definitely some tough hills, but overall the course was WAY easier and faster than I remembered it from last year.  

My original goal was to come in under 45 minutes.  Around the 7th mile I switched my Garmin screen to show the total time so I could see how I was doing and I saw that I was doing better than I anticipated.  I changed my goal time to 40 minutes and booked it the last couple miles. And dun dun dun...

boom.

Under 40.  Almost twenty minutes faster than last year.  I averaged 15mph all on my own, without drafting off of Coach Rob!

I flew into the change-over zone and got yelled at when I forgot to slow down and accidentally almost took out the line of canoeists waiting for their handoff.  It was either veer towards them or fall of my bike - no way was I succumbing to the fall.

I handed off our sweaty team sweat band and it was time for Kelly and Eligh to get their canoe on.  I high fived myself for an awesome ride and found Heather to go cheer on our little canoers.  We kept looking for them at the finish and didn't see them until the came right up behind us.  Oops, somehow we completely missed you guys.  

2011 Great Race Results: 354 out of 378.  Fail.

2012 Great Race Results: 255 out of 369.  Total Domination.

Winning Clancy's 

Tough Clancy's

We had a blast at the race and you better believe we cashed in our free beer tickets at the end to celebrate.  Rehydrating at it's finest.

Great Race 2013 better watch out because Keeping Up With The Clancy's are ready to crush it again next year.  No one can keep up with these Clancy's.  Boom.

Double Time!

I did a darn good job kicking my funk to the curb last week and got pumped back up this week with a whole lot of double time action.

Saturday
Saturday is mentoring day and I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't all that excited when my alarm went off at 7am that morning.  I pulled myself together and got there right on time and ended up really enjoying the 3 mile run we did.  Seeing how excited these new runners get to be running is motivating to me and is what drags me out of bed at 7am on Saturdays!

wish i realized the mirror would make this backwards. oops

After a totally (un)necessary nap when I got home, I spent the day doing really important things like catching up on episodes of Keeping up With the Kardashian's and thinking about doing laundry.

Since a three mile run wasn't exactly enough to justify my completely worthless afternoon, I decided to hop on the bike a get a few extra miles in for the day.

3 run miles & 12 bike miles equals 15 fabulous miles on the day.

Monday

After a rainy and yucky Sunday, the weather was awesome on Monday so I took full advantage.  I rode in Mendon and had a really good ride.  I went out without a game plan and just rode - there's something about riding on the country roads that just puts you in a good mood and gets your mind in a good place.

I did an out and back ride, and killed every hill with the help of my new bike shoes.  I had decided to ride down one more hill before I turned around until I realized how steep and long the hill actually was.    Rather than continue, I stopped mid-way down and tried to go back up the hill - with absolutely zero momentum.  That was a really smart idea.  Minus that death climb, it was an awesome ride!

Afterwards as I was hanging out with my BFF foam roller, Brie came home and said she was going for a bike ride.  Even though I had just gotten back from my ride, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for another one - mainly just to keep Brie accountable for actually getting on her bike :)  We rode right around our neighborhood and it turned out to be a nice leisurely cool down ride.

26 Mendon miles and 7 cool down miles made for 33 total on the day.  Not bad for a Monday!

Wednesday

Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week because Wednesday is mentoring AND kickball all in one night.  The running workout for the 5/10k group was a 3 mile run, with two miles at a tempo pace.  I paced the 13:00 group like usual and had a real small group this time with only two other people.  

Let me tell you, these two girls were awesome and motivated ME to push myself!  We clocked in the first mile right under 13 minutes and then it was time to pick it up.  I was supposed to keep them around 12:30 but these girls were tempo'ing right under 12:00 and chatting away - who was I to slow them down?!  We kept that pace for the two miles and as their chatting dwindled I encouraged them along.  We finished the run strong and I was so excited and proud of them for pushing themselves (and me!)

After some high fives and quick stretching, it was time to strip off my sweaty mentor shirt, throw on my kickball shirt and get my game face on.

stunner shades on ready for gametime

It was our last game of the season, and even though we think we're pretty awesome, our 2-7 record probably more accurately reflects the skillz of our team.  We did end up winning on Wednesday though....because the other team never showed up.  Hey, a W is a W.  We (by we I mean the boys) ended up playing another random team while the girls took pictures:

almost

We're Kind of a Big Dill

Thursday

Yesterday was a special day because it was my first real life official brick workout.  Don't I sound like a legit triathlete now?  I started with a bike ride with Coach Rob and we set out on a route to Webster - new routes are so exciting.  On our ride, we passed the crash site turned roadside memorial where a cyclist was recently killed (story here).  I could go on about this, but I'll save that for another post.

Back to the ride - it was a flat and fast route and coach Rob enlightened me on how to draft.  Drafting is pretty much just following the person in front of you REALLY closely so that they're blocking the wind and pretty much pulling you along.  We clocked a few miles in at 19mph and I was shocked at how easily that effort came!  

Thanks for doing all the work for me coach Rob ;)  I did pretty good with my bike shoes and only had a couple close calls - between my speed demon speeds and staying upright the entire time, I felt pretty hardcore.  Minus the ever-present bike grease on my leg that just shouts newbie:

gotta work on that

We logged 17 miles on the bike and then it was time for a run!  Steph and Laura joined us for the run and the four of us headed off.  The first five minutes was more like a waddle for me than a run.  My legs felt like lead and I felt (and probably looked) like a fool.  I warmed up quicker than I anticipated though and felt pretty good once my legs realized that I was trying to run.  We were real slow but I ran the whole time, which I didn't think I'd be able to do.

post-bike run

Overall, I was surprised at how good I felt on the run after riding almost 18 miles.  HOW ironman people run a marathon after 112 miles on the bike is beyond me, but this gave me a little bit more respect for people that hardcore!  I definitely don't think I would have ran the whole time if I was alone, which is why I love having people to run with - thanks Steph and Laura (and of course Rob!) for keeping me going!

ladies post-run

17ish bike miles & 3ish run miles = 20ish total Thursday miles.

While I'm on the subject of brick workouts and triathletes, I want to give a shout out to Ironman-in-Training Chris.  Chris is the one who told me to buy that triathlon book that I'm now obsessed with and someday when I win a triathlon I'll credit him as one of my early influences.  Don't worry Chris, I won't forget about you when I become a big deal.

SO... what's on tap for this weekend?  Tomorrow I'm (stupidly? bravely?) attempting a 10 mile run after a 2+ month long-run hiatus.  No doubt that will be an interesting few hours tomorrow.  Hopefully I survive tomorrow because on Sunday my sisters and I are doing a team triathlon - The Great Race!  We did it last year and it was so much fun, so team Keeping Up With The Clancy's is coming back for round two this year.  I'm the biker for our team so I'll be doing 10 miles for my leg.  I did the bike leg last year too, and came in third to last place out of EVERYONE - the only people that finished slower than me were a 74 year old and a 6 year old.  That's not even a joke.  Sometimes I just shake my head at pre-active Mollz and wonder what the heck she did with her life.  Here's to hoping for a successful run and ride this weekend!