Wordless Wednesday: SNOWRUNNING

Weekend Snow Runs in Maine

Saturday:

A light snow and it was quite nice...

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Sunday's LONG run was a different story

More snow

Fortunes Rocks Beach covered in ice and snow

...and did I mention, 40mph winds??

ice-crusted eyebrows! eeek

Be safe! Thanks Donna 

snow day fuel

 The wind was so brutal, I was running wearing

a neoprene face mask-a definite first for me. 

Between the Atlantic Ocean and "The Pool" you could literally lean into the winds here
it was  pretty strong and blew us around quite a bit. 

Training buddy, Marc

I swear, this is the first time this boy has worn pants!
He's usually in shorts

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What are some extreme conditions you have subjected yourself to during training?

Do you prefer hot or cold training weather? 

Hello Timberman!

Has it been almost two weeks since my last blog post??
Wow...looks like summer -and my training schedule- have been taking up lots of my time!

It's been an amazing couple of weeks-I have had lots of family visiting from all over and of course, this means LOTS of time at the beach.  Training has been going remarkably well too. With only 5 weeks until Timberman 70.3, I decided to take a trip out to Lake Winnipesauke and ride the Timberman bike course. I was really nervous about this as I have heard "horror stories" about all the climbing on this course.

When we arrived at Ellacoya State Park (where all the Timberman action starts), I was taken aback at just how beautiful the area is. All the nerves seemed to settle into pure joy and excitement of what is to come! We took a drive around the lake to check things out and I could see the mile markers on the ground as part of the run course. The views were just amazing!

The plan was to swim and then tackle the bike course but since Ellacoya State Park did not open until 9am, we decided to bike first and then swim.



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I went into the bike with a plan to ride at a very conservative pace and to just enjoy the day. One experienced triathlete friend told me that the first 16 miles is pretty rough and the last 16 miles is even rougher when it came to the hills. I had also heard that the course was amazing-challenging-but beautiful (it was!) and to just take it easy on the climb and attack the downs.

The first thing that came to mind as we set out for the ride was how beautiful the area was and how lucky I felt that THIS course was going to be my first 70.3! I kept in mind to remember the beauty of this moment when I was in the hurt locker come race day and to focus on the majestic views should that hurt come on race day.

The bike course was not nearly as "bad" as I had heard. There was lots of climbing for the first 1/4 of the course-some long, steep climbs but nothing terrifying and there was some more climbing on the return. I really, really enjoyed the ride. My nutrition and hydration were on point. Granted, we only averaged in the 17's for this ride. The weather was great-hot (88*) and lots of wind. Some of the downhills were actually significantly slowed due to the winds but there were also some fun downhill rides where we were riding in the 40's (weeeee!).

After the ride, we ventured into the park and swam for a while. The chop of the water on this windy day certainly comparable to the ocean! But the water was beautiful and refreshing and we enjoyed it. Then we sacked out on the beach to soak in the sun for a bit and finished off our afternoon at a stop at Sawyer's Dairy Bar to scarf down some cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings and ice cream! I was certainly happy that my training partner, Marc spotted this little gem of a place on the return trip. Yummmm-

Oh and guess what??

Yup!! Chrissy will be there!

Feeling HOT HOT HOT!!

The hottest BABE on the BEACH!

It has certainly been a HOT one here in Maine~it's an official heat wave! All week it has been 90+ degree weather and we are making the best of it. I was actually quite sad last week to think that my fun-filled days of summer with Lola were coming to an end...BUT we have been blessed with another taste of summer! We have had some amazing beach and we are having a BLAST!

While this is not ideal running weather, I have been planning accordingly. Getting up at 4am to run, going to the gym and getting in some swimming.

I have been wearing my wet suit for my open ocean swims lately and last week my face and feet were FREEEEZING! But this week, the Atlantic has been beautiful! Hurricane Earl has brought some rough seas and rip currents to the mix-the lifeguards have been pretty strict on how far you can go out (not past your waist) so some of the swims have been interesting to say the least. I even got in lots of fun playtime in the ocean body surfing and boogey-boarding.

Taking a break to rehydrate and refuel before heading back into the wild waves! Notice the goggles are full of crackers!

Even Lola is having a ball playing in the warmer water and the big waves! I can't get her OUT of the water-even with the huge, crashing waves that the hurricane brought. They would knock her down, roll her around and she would get right back up~ready for more!

A triumphant moment for Lola!

Be one with the water!

So today is supposed to be the last day of HOT before the rains and high winds reach us. Today will be a long day at the beach and I will soak up every ray of sun and every wonderful memory of my summer with my girl. I really feel like the luckiest lady in the world!!

-more HOT notes-

As you may recall from my tantrum on Tuesday, I got my eating back in line this week and I am getting in some quality workouts-Finally!! I have certainly noticed an improvement in my attitude and the way I feel since getting back to basics.

I decided it was time for a HOT breakfast after my awesome BRICK workout this morning (biked 13.8 miles then ran 3.1) I had an egg-white omelet with leftover homemade turkey & bean chili from earlier this week and topped it off with some HABENERO hot sauce. Yummmm....

We had some fun family time! Lola and I got into our matching SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS PJ's and danced up a storm in the home gym~my husband was kind enough to snap a couple pics of us looking HOT in our cool jammies!!

We do have LOTS of fun!! Not sure how I ended up with one flip flop ON & the other on the floor but...

Finally, make sure you check the margin for some HOT new contests and giveaways. Sugoi recovery tights, the Marilyn top from Backpack sports and ALO yoga pants. I will also have my first giveaway coming up this weekend!!

Happy Thursday!!