I had a very difficult time getting up this morning. Heather left this morning on the shuttle at 3:40 AM and I initially decided to skip my morning run and sleep in but I still had a difficult time dragging myself out of bed at 7ish. After a couple of false starts, I ended up driving into work with my bike in the back for a ride afterwards.

After work, I drove to the beginning of the park (past Dearborn) and went across I90 to ride Mercer Island. I rode the long side back and forth to get in some distance and speed.

26.4 Mile Ride @ 01:40:00

Getting up for swim practice this morning was very hard -- even though I was in bed BEFORE 9 PM last night! We did a distance workout and I despaired about swimming 2.4 miles when a 600 yard set kicked my ass...

2500 Swim Practice @ 01:00:00

I then ran reluctantly around Greenlake...

3.1 Mile Run @ 00:30:30

Got in a "do it yourself" spin this morning before yoga.

Spin Workout @ 00:40:00

Yoga class was exactly what I needed. Not strenuous and we held our floor stretches for 5-10 minutes each!

Yoga @ 01:15:00

I missed my bus to get in a lift this morning but did manage to make it into Core.

Core Class @ 00:30:00

Got my lift in after work :)

Upper Weights @ 00:30:00

Went for an early morning run with Barbara Rose (and Abby) from home to, and around Lake Union and back.

15 Mile Run @ 02:30:00

Got in a beautiful long ride with Ann and Barbara Rose. There will be pictures coming later because my mom dropped me off and was snapping away...

80 Mile Ride @ 05:50:00

Took a rest day and spent it being a tourist with my mom and sister.

Got in a do it myself quick spin before heading to the Triple Door.

Spin Workout @ 00:40:00

Today finds me continuing to be sleep deprived but I made it up and out for swimming and then dragged Oma and my sister to core class.

2300 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00
Core Class @ 00:30:00

Got in a short aerobic run around Greenlake between work and dinner.

3.1 Mile Run @ 00:28:30

Went to Yoga class this morning and got humbled by my mother who actually did the headstand inversion...

Yoga Class @ 01:15:00

Got in a lift and core class this morning.

Upper Weights @ 00:30:00
Core Class @ 00:30:00

I took yesterday completely off and took my mom around Seattle for a bit before Ruth gave her a massage :)

Today was the Mt. Si Ultra 50k and Barbara Rose picked me up at 7 AM. We could not have asked for better weather and we both felt very comfortable with the route because we had run the whole thing (separate times) before.

I don't have the time to write a super long race report but we had a very good run. It was an up and back so our way back was either flat or on a slight decline. We kept the pace strong and steady and were thrilled to hit our "secret" goal of finishing in 5 hours.

31 mile run @ 04:58:30 (9:36 pace)

Swim practice this morning was good and even though I got in the pool a few minutes late, the workout was still decent.

2300 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00

Made it to core class and will get in a lift sometime this afternoon. Definitely feeling a lot of things about how much my life is going to change after tonight. It almost seems as though this is my last day of being American before I start to learn about how to be Korean too. Odd.

Core Class @ 00:30:00

Got in a nice aerobic ride on the rollers this morning.

16.2 Mile Bike @ 01:00:00

Went for a nice run at lunch in the SUN. My legs felt good and were quite happy after taking yesterday off.

4 Mile Run @ 00:36:32

I have been feeling so very tired lately and that was reinforced by people telling me how tired I looked. I went to bed last night at 8:30 feeling just exhausted from battling cramps and all the emotional stuff that I am unable to just stuff anymore.

So when my alarm went off this morning, Wally and I decided that we should just sleep in until 7 AM and give ourselves some recovery time. It was luxurious. I packed my running clothes with the thought that I would get in a run during the day but I have decided to (yes, brace yourselves) take the ENTIRE day OFF. Yes, I said it and will say it again. For no reason whatsoever than whimsy, I am taking the ENTIRE day OFF.

Go me!

Got up super early to drive into the gym to get in a spin before the 6:15 yoga class. I did one of Triharder's workouts and managed to squeeze it in before class started.

Spin @ 00:40:00

Yoga @ 01:15:00

Got in a good upper body lift and finally included the one set I had completely forgotten about for the last couple of months! I wondered why I wasn't working my shoulders. Then went to core class before heading to work.

Upper Weights @ 00:30:00
Core Class @ 00:30:00

This morning was a nice 13 mile taper run in anticipation of our Ultra 50k next weekend. Barbara Rose, Abby (BR's very energetic black lab) and I met at Madison Beach and ran from there to almost Seward Park and back.

13 Mile Run @ 02:18:00

Then Jeff, Ann, Gisela, Barbara Rose and I suited up for our 4th annual Easter Sunday Swim in Lake Washington. Abby swam too, but she did not need a wetsuit and happily jumped in long before we did! Uwe took pictures and as soon as he sends them to me, I will post!

Easter "Swim" @ 00:00:02

I planned on getting in a Friday evening lift but I ended up talking with my mother (Oma) until fairly late and just crashed after.

Met the iron group at 7 AM at Japanese Gardens and we rode from there to meet up with the rest of the group in West Seattle for a hilly and occasionally rainy ride. It was pretty much a humbling experience all in all -- had to walk one hill and got my butt kicked by a couple of new girls on the flats. At the end, I still had to get in 30 more miles so Barbara Rose was kind enough to join me me for ride around the South end of the lake. I ended up only riding 70 instead of the 80 I was supposed to but I hope it all balances out because I was supposed to ride 70 last week and got in almost 80.

70 Mile Ride @ 05:15:00

This morning definitely came too early this morning. I did drag myself to swim practice. Because there is a meet tomorrow, this workout was designed for those racing tomorrow and not those with tired bodies and legs. However, I made it through most of it before getting out when they did some sets off the blocks.

2000 Swim Practice @ 00:45:00

Core was extra difficult this morning because Jon's boyfriend showed up and she kicked his butt. As well as ours :)

Core Class @ 00:30:00

It has been a month since my last time trial so I give it a shot again this morning (4 WU, 10 TT, 1 CD). My legs were very slow to warm up and about halfway through, I had to do some stern self-talking to stick with it. My 10 mile time trial was 32:30 - 18.3 mph (improvement over last month's 00:33:20 - 17.9 mph)

15 Mile Ride @ 00:53:56

I was definitely under-enthusiastic about another workout today but I did remind myself that tomorrow will be much easier. I also promised my legs that I would not ask too much of them tomorrow, except for maybe some kicking in the early AM. I got in a hill run during lunch doing 8 repeats @ 2:40-2:45 on the Beacon Hill bridge.

6ish Mile Hill Run @ 00:57:45

Swim practice this morning was TOUGH. Wednesdays are distance days and there was no shortage of hard sets ending with a 2 x 400 descending. My time was more like a bell curve - 6:45, 7:00, 6:43.

2600 Swim Practice @ 01:00:00

I then got in an aerobic run down and around Greenlake although I did really pick up the pace when I could hear these two girls running behind me and chatting. I worked very hard to stay ahead and when I started to slow, I made myself imagine that they were wearing race skirts :) It worked, or they just turned off the path.

5.5 Mile Swim @ 00:50:25

I made up for skipping last night's bike but getting up at 4:30 and driving into the gym to get in a "do it yourself" spin workout before Yoga. I was a bit tired for Yoga but it was not a bad plan at all...

Spin @ 00:45:00
Yoga Class @ 01:15:00

Got in a good lift before core class this morning.

Weights @ 00:35:00
Core @ 00:30:00

It was so beautiful out, I decided I wanted to get in a bike ride in the sunshine. However, as the afternoon progressed, I missed the bus and my legs communicated their displeasure with my idea because they were still a bit trashed from the weekend. I gave in to sloth and enjoyed a nice glass of wine on the deck while chatting on the phone. Awesome!

I met Barbara Rose at her place this morning for our 18 mile run She added another runner (a very cute one with 4 legs) and took me on a great route that included some nice hills at Carkeek. I am not sure how I will keep up with them as training progresses as I was definitely feeling tired near the end.

18 Mile Run @ 03:00:00

We had a 70 mile ride on the schedule for today and I planned a route that I thought would get us approximately the right distance. I was wrong...

We met at Gasworks and rode around the South end of the lake. In Bellevue, we went to Lake Sammamish through Factoria and to Marymoor. From there, we took the trail to Bothell and Jeff and Barbara Rose were very smart to take the trail back to the cars because we were already at 60 miles. Ann and I continued on and even though she was tired, she still dusted me on the hills. Definitely having flashbacks of chasing Ruth up many mountains...

87 Mile Ride @ 06:00:00ish

When the alarm went off at 4:45 AM, my bladder got me out of bed... But I was sleepily heading back to bed when I stopped and stood right between my bed and the bathroom - and had a conversation with myself about skipping swimming vs. going. Wally was not much help because he was not jumping on the bandwagon.

However, I was able to talk myself into going to swimming and was very glad I did although I did get out a bit early because I had not packed my stuff for the day.

1800 Swim Practice @ 00:45:00

Made it to the bus to catch core class and I am done for the day!

Core Class @ 00:30:00

This morning, the alarm woke me out of a very sound sleep but I managed to get into my bike clothes and get in an interval ride on the rollers. I did a 10 minute WU and then 3 minutes hard (@ 19 mph) and then 2 easy x10.

Bike Interval Workout 16.3 Miles @ 01:00:00

Got in a lift after work and changed up my leg work so I did not do the step up's and stress my knee. Also note that I did not do a run to try to rest it...

Upper Weights @ 00:30:00
Lower Weights @ 00:10:00

Wally and I took a vote this morning at 4:45 AM and decided against swim practice. Instead, we slept until 6 (luxury!) and then I got my butt out the door for a run down to and around Greenlake. I did pick up the pace while running around the lake, but after looking at the split (@ 28 minutes), it really does not qualify as a true tempo workout.

5.5 Mile Run @ 00:52:00