Life Postpartum

I have to acknowledge how incredibly blessed I am.  I have a healthy baby boy, a wonderfully supportive husband, a great job, and place to call home.  Staying home with our little guy these past seven weeks has been nothing short of amazing, and I am so lucky to have had this opportunity to be home with him.  I never thought being a mother would be so fulfilling, but it really is.  Baby C just started interacting with Mr. Fury and I, and it has been such a trip to watch him track lights, study our faces, "talk", and "play" with his toys.  It has been an amazing experience to watch him learn and grow...and he is practically growing before our very eyes.  I have already had to pack up most of his newborn sized clothing which is crazy considering he only weighed 5lbs 14oz at birth.

Stay-at-home motherhood the past seven weeks has been so wonderful, but I definitely have needed to work in breaks (mentally and physically) for myself.  Thankfully, that's where my wonderfully supportive husband, Mr. Fury, has stepped in and either forced me to take a break or has been more than happy to let me escape for a run.  We have been introducing one bottle feeding to the little bugger this week so I have been able to escape and have some time to myself with a little less consideration to feeding times.

Getting out for a run has never felt so great, and that's not because I'm running fast or anything like that.  I just don't take my time out on the road for granted like I did before.  I know that I have to make every workout count now because it means time spent away from C-man and Mr. Fury, and free time isn't as abundant as it once was.  It's amazing how quickly life is put in perspective as soon as baby is born.  Given all the logistics that Mr. Fury and I have to work out to get free time to work out or spend time with our friends, I wouldn't change a thing.  All the joy, laughs, and love are worth all the extra planning to fit in the activities we once participated with ease.

A Whole New Life

Life has drastically changed since the last time I posted, and it has definitely been for the better. Mr. Fury and I welcomed a wonderful little bundle of love into our lives and became a team of 3. I now present you with our newest love, Cade, born 4/7/12 weighing in at a whopping 5lbs 14oz. Life hasn't been the same since he made his entrance into the world, and it has been amazingly wonderful.

On Love

Today marks two years of wedded bliss for Mr. Fury and I.  I debated whether or not to post about this because I typically don't divulge too much personal information on my blog, but since it's my blog, I'm allowed to change the "rules" whenever I want.  So, to Mr. Fury, thank you for your love, compassion, support and guidance over the years we have been together.  I don't just celebrate today, but every day and every second we have spent together, even the times we fought and disagreed and sometimes just didn't like each other very much.  You are such a blessing in my life.  Thank you for giving me all these moments and all the moments I have etched in my memory:

Above all, thank you for this:

I love you forever.

Two Posts in One Day?!

I just couldn't pass up sharing this.  I was just on my sister-in-law's blog and she posted some incredibly cute pictures of my nephew.  Take one look at this picture and tell me with a straight face you could pass up posting again about him.  Seriously, A and L, you made one cute baby!

Look at me, I'm two-posts-a-day worthy!

Preggers in the Pool

I decided that since I am past my first trimester and I no longer have debilitating bouts of nausea, that it was high time I got my growing butt cute pregnant booty in the pool. After work last week, I made the trek down to the club, and said a little prayer that my swim suit would still fit. I left my oldest and most stretched out suit in my locker at the club and really hoped that I had not grown too big to fit into it again. Thankfully, I was able to wear the suit without ripping a hole in it, but I did feel like a packed sausage. There’s little hope that I will be able to fit into that suit a couple of weeks from now because when I put it on again this morning, it felt tighter than the last time I wore it. Honestly, it might be smart to switch to a two-piece and just let it all hang out! That sounds cheaper than buying a new suit every few weeks.

I didn’t really know what to expect getting into the water. Every woman I have talked to about swimming during pregnancy said that the water is best place to be because the pregnancy weight feels like it has been lifted right off you. I soon found this to be true, and oh baby did it feel good to be in the water! I felt like an athlete again. There was little difference between Ironman Ms. R and pregnant Ms. R in the water, and to me, that feeling is priceless. I have struggled mentally with having to slow down my running and sometimes having to ride upright on my bike, but being in the water, I have little to no limitations. I think I will be swimming at least twice a week from here on out because I can get such a good (and zero bladder impact!) workout in the pool. I have to thank my sister-in-law for recommending the pool to me on multiple occasions because I really was nervous that the motion in the water was going to make me feel ill. Sometimes it just takes a little, repeated nudging to convince me something is a good idea.

Because I know you’re all dying to know about my eating habits, I'm sorry to report that I don’t have any weird or unusual cravings, but I did rediscover Flamin’ Hot Cheetos the other day at work. Oh momma, those things are delicious! I made the mistake of telling a lot of people in my office about how good they are and now there are none left in the vending machine. I need to learn to keep some things to myself. Apparently, Baby W loves spicy everything and I won’t be surprised if he/she comes out wearing a sombrero and shaking maracas. I can tell my tolerance for spice has gone up since I got pregnant, but sometimes it just seems a little bit out of control. I put Tobasco and Sriracha sauce on just about everything I eat, and oh, can I have a side of jalapenos with that? It’s a little concerning, yet comical, to Mr. Fury. The poor guy doesn’t really enjoy spicy anything himself, but he’s been a trooper when it comes to my cooking. I try to tone it down for him and add more spice after he’s taken his fill, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. I remind him that he’s just being a good daddy by putting up with my newly found obsession. Baby gets what baby wants, right?

Mr. Fury has been very busy with my dad the past few weeks putting in new windows upstairs. This is a project we started planning not long before finding out I was pregnant because the spare bedroom upstairs needed new windows in a bad way. Right after peeing on the stick and thinking, "Holy crap, there's no turning back now!" I promptly thought, "Oh #*(%, we need to order those new windows NOW!" We were not really in a rush pre-bun in the oven to buy the windows because they're so darn expensive. After consulting with my dad and shopping around, we got 10% off at Home Depot and an extra $125 off when they screwed up our order. We didn't mind making another trip into the store to get things corrected and save some more money so thanks Home Depot! Anyway, Mr. Fury and my dad just put in the last window and now we can go pick out new carpet so that can be installed soon too. Sheesh, this kid is already costing us a lot of money, and I hear it only gets worse!

From Ironman to Ironmom

Life has been a whirlwind since Ironman CDA. It seems like the race was only a month or two ago, so looking back, it's hard to believe that it's been almost four months. Mr. Fury and I didn't accomplish all the things on our summer 'to-do' list, but we did have a lot of fun running Ragnar together with some great people, celebrated his dad's new marriage, vacationed with family in Duluth, went to the cabin a time or two, got a few home projects started and some finished, and rounded it all out by getting pregnant. So, all-in-all, it's been a pretty eventful summer and fall since Ironman.

It's been a crazy transition from Ironman-in-training to mommy-in-training, and downright tough on my ego and self-esteem at times. The first thing I crossed off my list of things I'm able to do is speed work. I was really getting into doing speed work this training season and actually kind of liked it. There's something about your lungs burning that makes you feel alive. Well, no more of that until after baby comes. It's just too hard on baby, my belly and with all the heartburn I have had, I really didn't need to help the acid creep up my throat any further. The fatigue and nausea hit me pretty hard during my first trimester. Whenever I could muster enough energy for a run or didn't feel like I needed to hang out by the toilet, I tried to get out for a run. Unfortunately, those times have been far and few between since I found out I was pregnant, but now that I'm going into my second trimester, I'm feeling a lot better and looking forward to getting out on the trails again.

I really am aiming to stay active as long as my body and baby allows me. I have read some serious benefits to continuing weight bearing exercise throughout pregnancy for both mom and baby, and I can not sit still for very long until I go stir crazy. So, I look to you, my few lady readers, what pregnancy tricks and knowledge do you have to share? And to my partners of a pregnant lady readers, any partner knowledge to share for Mr. Fury or I? We're newbies at this whole thing and welcome any advice!

Ironman CDA

Sunday was up and down in more ways than one.

My day started with a 4:30 am wake-up call so we could leave the house by 5:15. Neil, Betsy, Mike B and I made our various race day breakfasts: oatmeal, bagels with peanut butter and banana and a big glass of water. We sat in silence as we attempted to eat. We all had the race day jitters and you could feel the anxiety in the air. I had so much anxiety built up from my last tri racing experience at Pigman last summer where I didn't finish. I was paranoid that I wasn't eating enough pre-race, I would get hungry during the swim, I was going to bonk on the bike and not even start the run. I had so much of this anxiety building over the course of this training season and I needed to prove myself wrong. I needed to really believe that I was going to be OK and fully rely on the hundreds of training hours I put in over the last 36 weeks.

At 5:15, Mike drove us down to the transition area where we dropped off our special needs bags for the bike and run, checked on our transition bags for the bike and run, and got ready for the swim. I felt marginally better when we arrived at the race site, but I knew that we still had an hour and a half before the cannon went off. Neil took off to check on his things while Mike B. and Betsy waited in the long port-o-potty lines and I put on my wetsuit. The four of us regrouped around 6:40, dropped off our morning clothes bags with the volunteers and then made the slow walk to the beach. There were so many people trying to get down to the beach that we only had to wait a few minutes before the cannon went off. When we got to the beach, we said our last "good lucks" to each other before the boys went closer to the water while Betsy and I found a somewhat comfortable area in the middle and off to the side of the pack. We ended up being more in the exact middle than we anticipated, but with 2,460 racers, it was hard to find your way to the perimeter.

The cannon went off at exactly 7am and all 2,400+ of us made our way from the beach to the balmy, 57 degree waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene. I had an idea of what the swim would be like based on my experience at Ironman Wisconsin where there was a mass start with everyone starting in the water. That was a stepping stone to the mass beach start. There are few words to describe that experience, but one of them is definitely, "Chaos." There were arms and legs everywhere, people swimming over other people, and I feel lucky to say that I only got hit in the face and kicked in the stomach once. It was incredibly difficult to find space the entire first lap of the swim, and with females comprising only 27% of the racing field, I was constantly surrounded by men. No offense to all the guys out there, but I don't like to swim by y'all. I hate to stereotype, but I have rarely found this stereotype to be inaccurate especially when it comes to longer distance racing: men are notorious for grabbing ankles, throwing elbows and being generally obnoxious in the water. I think I did a fairly good job of holding my own during the swim and made it out of the water without injury. In Ironman, that is called a successful swim. On the second lap of the swim, I noticed that my ring finger on my right hand was quite literally frozen in place. The water was so cold that my finger was stuck in a half-way bent position and I could tell that my middle finger was soon to follow. Thankfully, the beach was in site.

Swim: 1:17:21

(On a total side note, there is absolutely no shame during Ironman. None.)

The water was so brutally cold that getting out of the swim and going into T1, I couldn't feel anything. My legs were numb, I couldn't grab anything with my hands and my feet were white. I got my wetsuit stripped, grabbed my T1 bag and ran into the changing tent. Thank God for the amazing volunteers in the changing tent because without them, I would have struggled to get my bike gear on for another 20 minutes. The volunteer that helped me was great. She dumped out my transition bag and said, "What do you want to put on first?" and then she jumped into helping me get dressed. My volunteer completely undressed and dressed me all the way down to my socks, shoes and helmet. I could not do a thing and every time I tried to help she just said to me, "Don't worry, I've got it."

T1: 10:36

I was so thankful to be out of the water and on my bike that I didn't think much about the fact that I would now be biking for the next 7 hours of the race. I didn't care and it didn't much matter to me at the time since I was no longer in the water. Until mile 20, I didn't have feeling in my legs because they were numb. They were moving and they were doing the work I needed them to do, but I didn't have a clear idea of how hard I was pushing. I was grateful when the feeling finally returned; just in time for the hilly section of the course. From mile 20-45 the course consisted of all of the hills with the exception of 2 (which make their appearance at the beginning of the course). In between these two sections, there is a flat section that I looked forward to hitting on both loops of the course. This was by far the most challenging bike course I have ridden. It wasn't just the elevation gain that was a challenge, but the technicality of the course is unmatched in my racing history. This course is riddled with steep climbs followed by fast declines, sharp turns, and blind approaches. From the start of the bike, I couldn't get my nutrition under control. At first, I took too much. Then, during the hilly section of the bike, I couldn't take in enough calories. This routine unfortunately repeated itself on the second lap of the bike and I was really concerned about how I was going to feel on the run. Riding the flat section back into transition, I knew I was right where I wanted to be as far as my time. I came into transition around 8:30 hrs with my stomach still feeling pretty queasy and feeling hopeful that I could remedy my nutrition woes on the run.

Bike: 7:01:22

Transition 2 went much more smoothly than the first. I took care of dressing myself this time! I still couldn't really feel my toes from the swim, but I knew that when I started running, the feeling would come back. The volunteer that was helping me dumped out my bag, handed me all my items, and helped me put on my race belt. She gave me some words of encouragement, I grabbed some pretzels on the way out of the change tent, stopped at the sunscreen ladies just outside the tent and they slathered up my face, arms and legs, and then I was on my way out to the run course.

T2: 6:47

Starting the run, I knew I would have to pace myself. My legs felt pretty good coming off the bike and I wanted to be able to push it. My goal on the run was to run a 4:30 marathon. I knew it was possible, but I had to watch my pace and make sure I didn't push it too hard out of the gate. I tried to keep my pace and heart rate in check, but the excitement of being off the bike took over and I ran my first mile in 8:30min. I kept telling myself, "SLOW DOWN!" Finally, by mile 2.5 I found my pace and goal heart rate, and my stomach started to even out and feel better. I started the run eating pretzels, keeping that up between water stops, and I supplemented that by taking in oranges, bananas, powerade, water and finally succumbing to cola near mile 21. This seemed to calm my stomach and allowing me enough calories to keep going.

The same big hill we started on the bike was the same hill we had to run up and over, and then turn around and run up again and back down. This hill was a killer, but I decided early on in the race that I wasn't going to stop and walk going up or down either side of it. I gave myself permission to walk only during the water stops and that was it. I didn't want to fall into the trap of walking any other time during the run because it was so hard to get going again. I ran focusing on the pavement 10 feet in front of me, thinking about a quote from Clarence DeMar a friend posted on my wall before the race, "Run like hell and get the agony over with." So, I did. I ran like hell. I ran as fast as I could go without going out of my zones.

The first lap was a little faster than I intended so I knew the second lap was going to be a little slower. And, it was slower, and more painful than the first. The bottoms of my feet started to ache and felt like they were swollen. Everything started to ache including my skin, but I knew in just over 2 hours, it was all going to melt away when I ran down the finisher chute. I remained focused on the hill; up, over, turn around, up, down. Run to the water stop, orange, banana, Powerade, water, cola, start running again. This was my schedule, and I stuck to it. I saw Neil going up the hill shortly before the turn around, on the way back down the hill, I saw Betsy. We stopped to give each other some encouragement, and she laughed as she picked out some ear plug from my hair that had been there since the swim. We parted ways and I found Mike B. on his way to the turn around. He had a rough day and his expression said it all. I yelled to him to keep going, and he smiled and waved. I shuffled through the remaining miles, and got to the last water stop before the finish line. The last woman at the stop had chicken broth and she asked if I wanted some. I looked at her, smiled and said, "No thanks, I'm going home!!" She laughed, yelled at me, "Take it home!" and I was off.

Finally, I was to the split in the course; second lap to the right, finish line to the left, and I got to run to the left. Running around the corner to Sherman Ave was nothing less than glorious. The street was packed with spectators, I could see the finish line at the end of the street, and it was all downhill. Turning the corner, I couldn't help the flood of emotion. It felt as good as it did the first time I finished Ironman, and the tears came running down my face. (At least I was hydrated enough to cry!) I hit the carpet of the finish line, and the spectators in the bleachers were going crazy. I ran down the left side of the finish line giving high fives, and I found Mike and my cousin Paul in the crowd going crazy! I gave them both a high five, and then (literally) danced across the finish line. My dance wasn't coordinated or on beat, but who cares. I am an Ironman again.

Run: 4:31:39

Finish Time: 13:07:45

Adventures in Cooking and Stuff

I'm making my first attempt at cooking an artichoke for dinner tonight.  I'm not talking about canned hearts, but the whole damn thing.  I've never done this before and I've wanted to try for awhile so when I bought groceries online I bought an artichoke to try it out.  Yes, I did say that I bought groceries online.  I'm training for Ironman and I hate going grocery shopping so I figured it was a great time to try out the order online, pick-up later feature.  It was overall pretty awesome, and you should try it. I digress... 

So, where was I? Oh yes, I was just about to tell you about how I was assaulted by the artichoke which I was so excited to prepare for my delicious dinner feast.  I know very little about artichokes other than I find them absolutely delightful.  They're so deliciously buttery and my mouth is watering just thinking about eating them.  I've never touched a whole artichoke before it was cooked though, let alone cooked one myself so this has truly been a voyage into the wild blue green yonder.  Trimming the thing was quite entertaining.  First of all, did you know that artichokes have thorns?  Thorns!  I read this online and thought, no, really?   I had no idea artichokes had thorns.  I later found this to be true when I was trying to trim the artichoke and I got pricked. Hard.  The thorns look cute and harmless, but those suckers hurt!  Also, and I was not warned of this online, but the innards of this weird looking vegetable are also sharp!  What the heck?!  There's like a thousand little thorns inside it!  Well, I showed that artichoke who's boss and put it in a pot and steamed it.   It's still cooking so you'll have to ask how it tasted later.  

On to other happenings in the Fury household.  I finally got my new bike, and her name is Stella.  She's going to rock everyone's face off (including mine) when I finally get to ride her.  Unfortunately, I've been laid up with the flu this past week so she's been parked in the guest bedroom all sad and lonely.  She's beautiful, and the current love of my life.  Move over Mr. Fury! 

In racing news, I ran the Get Lucky Half-Marathon put on by Team Ortho a couple weeks ago with my friend SP (aka Asspounder).  He and I discussed our racing goals previous to this race and he really wanted to qualify for a corral spot for Chicago Marathon in October, and I really wanted to PR.  In order for him to get in the last corral before general entry he needed to race 1:50 or better, and to get the next best corral spot he had to race 1:45 or better.  Race morning we discussed what our plan was going to be, and we decided to go for the gold and try to cross the finish line before 1:45.  Hm...sounds like a challenge!  We didn't really warm-up before the race, which was pretty stupid considering our goal time, but we did take the first mile relatively easy at 8:25/mile.  We knew we would have to speed things up in order to finish sub-1:45, so we sped up to closer to 8:00 min miles until the turn around.  At that point, we knew we had to run sub 8:00s to finish with the 1:45 pace group.  Our plan at that point was to run 7:50s until we caught up to the pace group.  This plan is flawless*, right?  Well, it would have been more flawless if the 1:45 pacer was running a 1:45 pace, but as we later found out, the pacer crossed the finish line at 1:43ish and then cheered in his pace group. What?  Who does that?  Needless to say, we never caught up to the pace group, but it all worked out because SP and I crossed the finish line at 1:44:40.  He got his corral spot and I got my PR by 7 minutes.  Goodness, it feels good to PR and know that I'm not as slow as I thought I was in January.  After shedding a few layers of clothes and a major snow melt, it turns out I'm actually a half-way decent runner.  Thanks SP for pushing me because I really don't think I would have run that hard had it not been for you. 

In other really happy news, I found out two friends are planning on camping their way to CDA to cheer for BV, NH, and I.  I am so excited that we'll have an expanded cheer group out there, I can hardly contain myself!  I think this will be good for Mr. Fury also to have a couple other familiar faces out there during the race.  So, anyone else interested in going out to Coeur d'Alene to cheer us on?  

* I was starting to think that this was either going to be awesome or the greatest blow-up we've both experienced in racing. 

It Happened on a Wednesday

Everyone has heard of runner's high, but is it possible to achieve swimmer's high?  I think it is and last Wednesday, I also think I may have achieved it.  Approximately every six weeks I have a 400 yd test worked into my swim workouts.  Typically, this is the worst swim for me.  I struggle to get through the 400s fully focused and sometimes I have a really hard time getting into my groove and finding my stroke.  I think it's knowing that the distance isn't that long, but long enough to warrant some serious concentration.

I found during my second test of the season that if I thought about one person for every lap of the 400, I really could focus.  So, I started dedicating laps to my family: my brothers, sister-in-law, brother's girlfriend, mom, dad, husband.  It was amazing what it did for my speed and focus.  Without this focus, I was swimming a 6:40 400, but with this new focal point, I got my times consistently down to a 6:30.  Well, of course, I got a little restless swimming a 6:30 400.  I need to be stronger and faster and better than a 6:30, so for my third 400 swim test of the year, I wanted to beat the 6:30.

I think I chose a bad day to try to beat this time.  I woke up late for work, I had a crappy day, I was tired, and I had a million excuses to not get in the pool.  As usual, I made myself go with the thought that once I was finished with my swim, I would be happy I went.  So, I got in the pool and sucked it up like a big kid, and found that I regretted almost every moment of my warm-up and my first 400.  I looked at my watch, and I came in at 6:41 for my first 400.  Great, it's going to be that kind of swim. Ugh.  I tried focusing on my family, and that helped for the second 400: 6:32.  Sweet, back on track.  Third 400: 6:31, nice!  At least I'm being somewhat consistent.  I only had one more 400, and typically I swim the fourth one the fastest.  I reset my watch, and kicked off the wall.  For some reason, everything felt really good.  My breath was steady, my stroke was strong, and my kick wasn't all over the place like it was on the first 400.  I felt better and happier in the watter than I have all season.  I got through all eight laps, stopped my watch, and saw 6:19 frozen on the watch face.  What? For real!?  A-W-E-S-O-M-E! I did not think that I was going to swim it considerably faster than my second or third, but sometimes I do surprise myself.  So there it is:  Swimmer's High.

Ironman Revisited

Many of you that read my blog already know this news, but for those of you that don't know, I am taking on the challenge of Ironman again.  Yes, 140.6 miles of pure bliss is coming my way on June 26, 2011 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  I can't wait and I am really excited to race on an Ironman course again!  Although I am not in it for the prize purse, I am in it for pride, and I fully plan on racing against my previous IM times from Wisconsin.

I am on week 17 of training which is hard to believe, and next week is halfway through my training program which is even harder for me to believe.  I don't have an overall time goal in mind right now other than trying to beat my previous time of 13:57:40.  The one goal I have been working on all training season is to beat my previous bike time from IMWI.  I don't just want to finish the bike in the 6 hour time frame, I need to finish the bike in the 6 hour time frame.  7:22:42 on the bike was much too long, and I plan on doing much better in CDA.  

I got a couple new toys this year to help with that bike goal: a Garmin 310xt (I love it!) and on its way to me is a Cannondale Women's Slice 4 Rival.  I can not wait to ride her.  She's not here yet, but I am hoping she will arrive straight from the factory by the end of February or early March.  Speaking of bikes, I need to go ride mine in the basement!

Ride on.

Happiest in 2

I realized something on a run last night with Mr. Fury that is season changing.  I don't want to race anymore.  It's not that I never want to do a triathlon, marathon or road race ever again, but it's that I'm worn out mentally and maybe even physically from trying to become faster.  My workouts and racing have started to feel like a second job that is more stressful than my day job.  I used to love racing because it was fun not because I felt obligated to get a certain time or to place in my age group.  The increase in speed and faster times came from the years of training and my love of the sport, not from frustrating workouts at the track.  I feel like I have lost all sense of fun with racing and I really need to get that back. 

Last night I decided that there will be no attempt at Boston this year.  I'm going to spend as much time as I can in zone 2 because that is truly my happy place.  I made Mr. Fury swear that he would keep reminding me of this and not let me buy a GPS HRM because that will make me focus more on times and paces which is exactly what I don't want to do.  The hope is that by October, I will look back on this season and feel happy that I had fun.  I don't want a repeat of last year when I showed up to Brewhouse angry at the thought of racing and ran TCM thinking: Why the hell am I doing this?  It's hard to put my dream of Boston on the shelf for awhile, but I know it's what I need to do in order to salvage my love of running, triathlon and racing.  Someday I'll get there.  ::sigh::

In other (happier) news, it was my birthday last weekend.  Mr. Fury and I went to my parents' lake home with a group of our friends and my brothers to hang out and have a relaxing weekend.  It was a great time and I'm so glad we decided to celebrate there this year.  It was rainy and chilly most of the weekend, but my brothers and my friend Dave made the most of it by taking the boat out anyway and going water skiing.  Crazy kids...

I love birthdays, and mostly because I'm completely surprised by Mr. Fury and his tremendous memory.  This year he got me some awesome gifts that I had even forgotten that I asked for back..well...let's not say how early I start talking about my birthday, but rest assured, it's pretty darn early in the year.  He got me a wireless keyboard for my computer that I can use when I work at home and super tasty delicious brownies that he ordered from the Vermont Brownie Company.  Oh.My.Gawd.  They are so freaking good.  I tried the Espresso Brownie today and it was unbelievable.  Look at this tasty goodness:

Really, can it get any better than espresso beans inside a brownie?!  You get a chocolate and caffeine high all at the same time!  Genius!  Don't be jealous you didn't think of it first and go order a tasty delicious box of your own.  You don't even have to share unless you want to.  The best, and funniest, part of how I received the brownies was that they came via USPS while we were gone.  The mail dude put the box just inside the door, but the box was too big for the door to shut all the way.  The squirrels tried to bust into the brownies by chewing away at the outside box.  Little did they know that the Vermont Brownie Company is prepared for such rodent initiated box raids, and they package their brownies in a box inside a box.  HA! Take that you filthy animals!  No brownies for you!

Last night the birthday festivities continued when we had a rousing soiree at my parents' house for my younger brother's birthday who turned, brace yourselves, 25 years old.  25 YEARS OLD! I still can't believe it.  I still think he should be 12, and never grow older.  On the bright side, he's still one of the funniest and most smiley-est people I know.  Happy birthday dude, it was an honor to share a massive DQ birthday cake with you last night. 

Cheers!

GU, I Love You!

I reached GU nirvana a few weekends ago.  Seriously.  Traveling through Wisconsin to go to a friend's wedding, Mr. Fury and I realized we forgot all of our nutrition products at home and we needed some for our long run on Saturday.  We stopped at good ole' Scheel's in Eau Claire and picked up some GU.  The salesman at the store said the Jet Blackberry was a good seller and insisted I would love it.  Ok, not just love it, but LOVE IT!  I'm a sucker so I bought a box of six.  If I'm going to LOVE something, why bother with just buying one packet at a time?

Fast forward to Saturday.

Mr. Fury were out on our run, and I took my first GU.  Ok Jet Blackberry, prove the crazy salesman right, I want to LOVE you.  Honestly, after that first packet, I wanted to O.D. on Jet Blackberry GU.  It was so tasty, and with 2x the caffeine, I dare you not to like it!  So, that's my challenge.  I dare you to hate the Jet Blackberry GU.  You can't.  It's too hard to hate it because it's too good.  You can't even lie, the caffeine high will give you away. 

Dare I say it's better than Orange GU?

Ms. R, Where Are You?

Howdy dooody!  Long time no write.  Sorry to disappoint, but really, I have a life to live here folks and it has been busy.  A lot has happened in the Fury household the last couple of months: loss of life, new life, sickness (multiple times and simultaneously), and many yard projects. Here's a picture of the cutest happening this spring, our new nephew Liam:

We haven't met him yet because he lives in Seattle, WA, but we're looking forward to making a trip soon to meet the little guy.  He makes my uterus ache a little... 

The SF and I have been busy with random projects around the house.  We just replanted part of the garden to put in a fire pit.  Stay tuned, bonfires and parties pending.

Training is going so-so.  Motivation is not so much part of the problem as is staying well enough to train.  I tried out a new pool just over a week ago and it proved to be a big mistake.  I got a nasty sinus infection and I'm blaming it all on the murky water at the LTF in Fridley.  Maybe my dirty nose is really to blame, but I prefer to point my finger at Life Time Fitness.  I just recovered from that for the most part when I woke up with violent vomiting on Sunday morning.  It was a doozy of a week, and one that I prefer to never re-live.  I got back in the pool last night for my first workout in 8 days.  I was still a little weak from no eating the day prior, but I made it through 1700 yds before calling it a day. 

In other news, I'm going to try the marathon thing again.  Oh, how did TCM go, you ask?  So well I didn't feel it was necessary to write about it.  Actually, it was awful, and I swore I would never do it again.  Well, until about two weeks later when I realized that I still really want to BQ. No, really want to BQ.  So, a couple friends and I are going up nort to run Whistlestop Marathon in October.  I've heard great things so I hope it lives up to all the hype.  If nothing else, there will be beautiful fall colors to distract me.

The next couple of weeks are wedding filled extravaganzas.  We have a wedding this weekend, I have a wedding shower next Tuesday and then another wedding Memorial Day weekend.  It's going to be fun and exhausting!  Well, until next time, Ms. R out.

What are these magical gems I am wearing?

As part of my Gear West Test Team duties, I not only test products, but I also write reviews of the products I test.  I will post those reviews here in addition to sending them to Gear West to post on their website.  Here is my first review of the year:

Product

Sable WaterOptics 101 Tri Goggles

Rating

Two Fins Way Up

Similar Products Used

TYR Tracer, Speedo Vanquisher, Speedo Air Seal Tri

Today is the day.  Today I am finally getting back into the pool after a few months far, far away from it.  I don’t remember the last time I entered the pool with such excitement and anticipation, and all this emotion was over a new pair of goggles.  Wearing a new pair of goggles is like getting the first squeeze out of a fresh tube of toothpaste.  There is something so gratifying about the first few laps in a fresh pair of goggles. Maybe it is the hope that these goggles will actually deliver on their “no fog” promise, the clarity with which you can see the bottom of the pool through the unscratched lenses, or the cushy feel of the gaskets that are not yet digging into your eye sockets from laps and laps of usage.  The novelty wears off after you find that these hopes have been dashed, and your goggles fog up after your warm up, you scratch the lenses after the fifth time you literally have taken the defogging into your own hands and you look in the locker room mirror only to see purple ovals around your eyes.  Darn, foiled again!

You can imagine my dismay when my new pair of Sable 101 Tri goggles did not deliver on these disappointments.  Wait, I can get through a whole swim without cursing my goggles?  What are these magical gems I am wearing?  I seemingly made a mistake when I allowed my husband to try them on before getting a single lap in the pool.  He had a moment of envy when I exclaimed, “WOW! These are the clearest goggles I have ever worn!”  His response was, “Oh! Gimme, gimme!” so I reluctantly obliged and he, of course, got water on the lenses.  He handed them back to me and I said, “Oh man!  Look at what you did!  All the literature that came with the lenses stresses the importance of NEVER TOUCHING THE LENSES, even with your finger.”  He gave me that look that says, “Uh huh, get over it.” Clearly having lost this battle for now, I did what any spouse would do and filed this situation away for future use, just in case he ruined the anti-fog. ::Remember the last time I let you wear my new goggles, and you got them wet?  Yeah, well, the anti-fog hasn’t worked since!::

 In defeat, I put my new Sable 101 Tri goggles on and took off down the pool, and was not at all surprised when the little bit of water on the lenses turned into fog.  Deciding to tough it out and having hope that the anti-fog would do its thing, I was pleasantly and incredibly surprised when it actually worked and the fog cleared.  I enjoyed an entire workout without any recurring fog!  The other feature that quite frankly blew my mind was how much clearer the lenses are with the Sable 101s than any other goggle I have worn. The clarity of the lenses is unmatched.  I was much more impressed with the Sable 101s than I was the first time I used the TYR Tracers.  That is saying a lot considering I loved my new Tracers so much I did not want to take them off, and I almost went to bed wearing them.  After four swim workouts wearing the new Sables, I am just as pleased with them as the first time I wore them which I definitely couldn’t say for the Tracers.  As long as I care for them as instructed, Sable continues to deliver on their promises. 

My only complaint is that I do have a little discomfort around my eyes after long usage.  I have not figured out the optimal strap positioning for myself yet, but the positive aspects of these goggles far outweigh this negative.  When looking for the Sables, you may have a little sticker shock, but rest assured the Sable 101 are well worth the higher price tag.  For those of you that wear prescription lenses, Sable WaterOptics also makes customized prescription goggles so you can experience a fog-free, clear vision swim too!  Right now, I can neither confirm nor deny that I have tried to go to bed wearing them yet, but I will admit that I have recommended them to all my goggle-nirvana-seeking friends.

So, It's Been a Month

...and boy do I have a lot of updates for you! A lot has happened since I last posted. First off, I hurt my foot during my first 20 mile run, and now it's almost healed. I somehow moved a couple bones into the wrong position (weird, I can't imagine how that happened), but my chiropractor has been working on it and it's feeling a lot better. Now, to just get those bones to stay where they should be! It's a work in progress, but my speed training had to take a back seat while I try to heal. No biggie, I just have to readjust my goals for the race and that's A-OK. Sub-4 hour marathon is what I'm shooting for, and if the temperatures continue to drop like weather.com says they will all will work out. I'm being very optimistic. If you know anything about the weather during TCM, you're better off buying a Powerball ticket than successfully predicting the weather for race day.

I also have gotten a few massages from Stronghands Terri:

uh, huh. She's a leg-beater.

So I have a shin splints problem. Stronghands Terri feels very strongly about this, and she's not afraid to show it. I may or may not have dropped an f-bomb during this (beating) massage.

My older brother celebrated his 30th birthday, and we rang in the new year for him at the cabin. It was a fun time, but unfortunately, the weather was terribly confused and we spent the last weekend in August in jeans and sweatshirts. What the hey Ray? It's still summer right? Apparently not.

Adam and his friend, Andre the Giant

Wearing away the grass playing bean bags all weekend.

This white boy can't dance.

All he needs is a jean jacket. What a creeper.

This past weekend, Mr. Fury and I went to Madison, WI for Ironman. We had a great time volunteering and cheering on our friends. We spent the morning stripping wetsuits off the athletes, and it was crazy chaotic and so much fun. I can't wait to go back next year and do it again! Here we are in action:

This transition station was full of people yelling, "Here, here! Point your hands! Lay down! Point your toes! Have a great race!!" It's hard to believe that we had nearly 2,400 athletes come through to get their wetsuit stripped. We had the privilege of stripping (bow chicka wow wow) our friends Ironman Sean, Ironman Dana, and Ironman Becca. It was amazing that they found us in the mess of strippers and athletes so we could help them. I was really happy we got to see them so early on in the race and wish them luck for the rest of the day.

After chasing our friends around on the bike course, we worked at the finish line as catchers starting at 5:30pm. We got to catch some of the fastest age groupers racing that day and saw Jan Guenther come in soon after we started working. She looked phenomenal! It was hard to believe she just raced a 10:30 Ironman because she looked like she just raced a 1/2 Ironman. What an athlete!

Working at the finish line was a little emotional at times. I caught a man and brought him through the finish line area to get his medal, hat and shirt and then walked him over to his family. They were all in tears and his kids kept saying, "Daddy, daddy, we're going to Kona! We're going to Kona!" He came in just after 5:30pm so it was very possible he earned a slot to the World Championships. I dropped him off with his wife, and it just about brought me to tears. I really hope he earned his slot to Kona, he clearly put in a lot of work to get there.

As time passed, Mr. Fury and I knew that our friends were going to be coming in soon. Just after 9pm, our friend Ironman Sean crossed the finish line and I was there to catch him along with another volunteer. He crossed with a huge smile on his face and then promptly said, "I think I'm going to throw up." The other volunteer and I looked at each other and tried to get him off to the side, but there were too many people. IM Sean then said, "Um...Hurry?!" and we started yelling, "MOVE! MOVE!" and we got IM Sean to a garbage just in time. As he was clutching the garbage can, Mr. Fury came back from the medical tent from dropping off another participant. IM Sean stood up and said, "Wow, I feel better," and then we asked him if he needed anything. He looked at the table next to him with a stack of finishers medals, pointed at them and said, "Well, I would like one of those." He always makes me laugh, even when he's puking and half-alert. Congratulations Sean! You are an Ironman!

Sean and his beautiful lady friend J-Tub

After Ironman Sean finished and we walked him to his family and the rest of our friends, our volunteer shift was over. We went with Ironman Kimmi to find our other friend Dana on the course. When she got close to the finish line, we snuck back into the finish line area to catch her as she crossed. Her face crossing the finish line brought me to tears. She had the best reaction and she was one of the happiest finishers I saw all day. Pumping her fists and running across the finish line she ran to Mr. Fury and I and gave us a huge group hug. I was beyond happy to have been there for her when she crossed, and you could tell she felt the same to have Mr. Fury and I there for her. Congratulations Dana, you did it! You are an Ironman!

Right before Dana yelled to us, "I'm having so much fun!"

2 blocks before crossing the finish line.

Ironman Becca wasn't too far behind Ironman Dana. Mr. Fury and I waited and waited for a warning text message telling us she was coming, but we never got one. Finally, I heard Mike Reilly say Ironman Becca's name before she crossed the finish line, and Mr. Fury and I ran up to the front of the line to catch her. We were a little late, but we still got there to walk with her to get her picture taken and walk her to the huge group of family and friends waiting for her. She never stopped talking the entire time we were with her which isn't entirely normal for her, and suggested that maybe she meander over to the medical tent to get checked out. She was feeling dizzy earlier during the run, and you could tell the heat and dehydration had gotten to her. Being the wonderful doctor that she is, she refused to go right away, but eventually she was persuaded to stop in to get checked out. Congratulations Becca, you had an awesome race! You are an Ironman!

A big smile on the first loop.

Still smiling during the run!

I also want to send a big congratulations to Ironman TriChicKris. Awesome job out there, you fought your way through the bike course and hit it hard on the run. Hello, sub-5 hour marathon! You are an Ironman!!

Workin' it across the finish line.

Ironman weekend, whether you're racing or spectating, is absolutely exhausting. I'm just now starting to feel like I'm back to normal. After a great night of sleep, I sent Mr. Fury off this morning to his bachelor party in Las Vegas. All forms of debauchery to ensue, I'm sure. He just texted me a little while ago to tell me they landed safely, got to the hotel and were off to the buffet for lunch. Ha! Of course they're going to a buffet, where else is there to eat in Vegas?? I am only benefiting from this trip to Vegas since my brothers are going as well. No brothers in town means Gopher Football tickets for me! Have fun in Vegas boys...GO GOPHERS!!

This Deserves a Post of It's Own

Wow. Jan Guenther is a machine. Clearly she had the AG performance of the year at IMWI. Crossing the finish line, she made it look so easy. All in a day's work for one of the nation's best age groupers.

So close!

Mr. Fury and I went up to the cabin again this weekend for the third weekend in a row. Yet again, we had rainy, cloudy weather for the third consecutive trip, but at least it was warm this time! It was a nice relaxing weekend (kind of) with just my parents, Mr. Fury and me.

On Saturday morning, I had to wake up nice and early to beat the heat for my 18 mile run. The alarm went off at 6am, and I rolled over to look at Mr. Fury with a pained look on his face. He was struck with a headache with little sleep and poor nutrition the day prior being the culprits. Mr. Fury was out for a long run, and there was no way I was going to convince him otherwise. I got out of bed, went upstairs and popped a couple pieces of bread into the toaster. I reached for the peanut butter, which felt lighter than normal, opened up the top and was horrified at what I found. One teaspoon of chunky peanut butter left on the bottom of the container. There was no way that was going to cover two pieces of toast. What barbaric creature would leave such a measly amount of delicious peanut butter in the cupboard disguised as a full container? I searched through my memory bank to discover it was me. Whoopsies. I guess I had that one coming, didn't I? I made-do with the small amount of peanut butter and slopped some blueberry jam on top. I threw in a banana and I was pleasantly surprised at how satisfying it tasted.

After I got dressed and headed out the door, I walked to the end of the driveway, threw a full container of water under the mailbox, and started my run. It didn't take long to realize that the head and humidity were going to be a factor during my run. I said a little prayer that the sun would stay hidden under the clouds for the duration, and threw on my iPod to help distract me from the boring scenery. On tap today were three out-and-back 6 mile loops, all coming back to the mailbox to replenish my water supply. The first leg went swimmingly, as in I felt like I had to swim through the air more than run. I challenged myself on a very hilly stretch of road for the second leg, and then for the last leg went back to the first leg out-and-back. All I could think for the last 3 miles of road was, "Oh Dear Lord, I have to run 8.2 more miles on race day." It's easy to forget you have been through much worse when you're swunning in ridiculous humidity and heat. Here is my wish for race day: low humidity and 40 degrees. That would be puuuuuurrfect, but we are talking about Twin Cities Marathon so who knows what we'll get. I predict Armageddon-like heat, hail and sink holes near the finish line.

Anywho, back to my run. I ended my run at 2:36 on the dot. I had to do a double-take at my watch. 2:36? For 18 miles? 2:36 for real?? Yeah, 2:36. Track workouts and tempo runs are going to make this the best and fastest marathon to date for me (I hope). I calculated it, and if I keep an 8:40 pace for the full 26.2, I'll finish around 3:45. My goal is to finish around/under 3:55, and now I know that is absolutely do-able. The only frustrating part of all this is how close I am to a BQ! I realize TCM is not the race this year where I will BQ, but it's in my sights!

PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lifetime Fitness Tri was awesome yesterday! Everything went right although it didn't always feel like it. Ok, I'll revise that statement because the swim went OK; Everything went mostly right. My goggles that I love and adore decided to be leaky jerks so I had to stop and empty them about 5 times. Other than that, everything went really well and I beat my goal time of 2:45! Here are my results:

Rachel Holzemer
International Course
Bib #:	741
Age:	27
Gender:	F
City, State:	St. Paul, MN
Nation:	USA
Race Category:	International Age Group - Women 25 to 29
Triathlon Results - International Course
Finish Time:	2:42:47.0
Category Place:	10 out of 65 Women 25 to 29 finishers
Overall Place:	325 out of 1040 International Course finishers
Gender Overall Plc:	50 out of 296 Female finishers
Triathlon Splits
Swim 1.5K
Time:	28:11.6
Pace:	1:52 /100m
Category Place:	9
Overall Place:	226
Gender Overall Plc:	43
Transition #1
Time:	2:16.4
Category Place:	3
Overall Place:	67
Gender Overall Plc:	15
Bike 40K
Time:	1:19:59.5
Pace:	19.1MPH
Category Place:	12
Overall Place:	548
Gender Overall Plc:	79
Transition #2
Time:	1:23.1
Category Place:	4
Overall Place:	60
Gender Overall Plc:	13
Run 10K
Time:	50:56.3
Pace:	8:13/M
Category Place:	12
Overall Place:	394
Gender Overall Plc:	67

I was amazed at my run pace. I felt like I was going so slow and I figured that I was running around 9-9:30s. I was way off mark! Woohooo! My previous best time was 2:55:xx so it felt great to crush that time. I'll probably write more later, but I need to sleep and RICE my right foot. It's not too happy with me this morning. I think there was a little too much dancing at the victory party last night with the team...

Welcome to Amateur Hour

...or "First Race Report of the Season," or "Good Morning Brain, Welcome to Race Day! ..Er...Brain? Where Are You??"



Gear West Duathlon was just a couple Sundays ago on May 18th and I definitely felt like I had no business racing. Mr. Fury and I woke up around 5:30 am to pack up the car and head to Orono. It was a much better day, weather wise, than Saturday and I thought I felt prepared for a nice, fun Du. We got to the race site with plenty of time to set up my transition area, warm up, eat a little something and chat with my TNT buddies.

____________________

That is seriously how far I got on my last post that I started at the end of May. I haven't felt motivated to post because I haven't felt like there is anything major to report. My apologies to anyone that reads this and to myself because, really, I do have a lot major going on. Here is a brief (or maybe not so brief) summary of all that has happened:

• Gear West Duathlon - First race of the season, and yes, it really felt like it too. I managed to keep the covers on my clips for my bike shoes and proceeded to not be able to clip-in on my bike leaving T1. In T2, I managed to run two bike racks from my transition wearing my helmet; awesome. I finished strong though, and that's all that mattered. I just wanted to finish knowing I paced myself well througout the race, and I think I accomplished that.
• Gear West Test Team - It's official, we started testing products. So far I have tested the new Accelerade Hydro (it's delicious), Accelerade Orange flavor, Endurox Endurance (er..I think that's what it's called, and it's tasty), Skirt Sports bike shorts (tremendously comfortable), Skirt Sports tank top (it has a cleavage pocket!!! HAHA), Avia Avi Bolt II race flats (meh, not convinced they're worth the money), SLS Compression Socks (soooooo worth the moola), TYR Tracer goggles (I was a Speedo girl until I tried these out. Hands down, best goggles I've ever worn). Next up is a BlueSeventy wetsuit, aero helmet, and a set of Zipps with a Powertap. I'll be working at the LTF Tri Expo at the GW booth so come visit. Not sure what time, but I'll let you know.
• Team in Training - We're almost at the end of our season. It's gone by so quickly and Lifetime Fitness Tri is in two weeks. I'm really looking forward to race day, especially since my friend Isabel will be home from Des Moines to cheer for me and our other friend Erin.
• Wedding Plans - ...are chugging along. We're sending out Save the Dates soon to Mr. Fury's family. It will be here before we know it!!

There's my recap for the past few months. It's been crazy and busy and fun, and crazy busy fun!

Tri on.

Munders

This morning has been difficult, and so the story goes for most people on Mondays. To spice it up a bit, why not post about all the fun business that has been going on lately? I realize I haven't been posting with much regularity, but I hope that will change as I have quite a few races coming up this year (more than normal for me) and that means fun stories about training, I hope.

My biggest, most exciting news is that I'll be racing in the Gear West colors this season as part of the Gear West Test Team. There are 14 of us on the team and we'll be testing products from socks to nutrition to wheel sets. Trent at GW is still working on getting some bikes for us to test, but that's not looking too promising right now. It should be a lot of fun, and I'm really excited about it! We get to keep some of the products we test such as clothing and nutrition. Can you say a-w-e-s-o-m-e?! I can, and I have said it multiple times since they offered me a position on the team. Woohoo!

In other news, training with TNT has been great. The team has been working so hard and we did our longest run to date on Saturday. The other two training captains and I led the workout and I think we had a pretty good route set out for everyone (...if I do say so myself!). We started out at Minnehaha park near the falls and our route went back toward Fort Snelling. The 1/2 Iron team took the short loop around Pike's Island and then came back. The Olympic team ran to the base of Ft. Snelling (out and back), and the Sprint team went out two miles and turned around to our starting point. I love that path back there in the woods. It's on my top 5 list of running routes in the cities. There's nothing like feeling you have escaped the city while you're still in it! The best part of the run was when we got back and two of the ladies on the team said, "That's the longest I have ever run! I feel so good!" Mission accomplished!

Saturday after practice Mr. Fury and I went out for breakfast with a few other people on the team. We went to Grandview Grill which is so fantastically tasty. It's a primo spot to go if you love breakfast. They're only open until about 2 or 3pm each day so get there early. Yum. We had to run out of there in a hurry because I had a massage with Strong Hands Terri. Yowza, she really did a number on me this weekend. My diaphragm is really tight and it's not something I normally stretch (or really know how to), but let it be known that I will now be finding ways to stretch it out. Holy Mariah, I have never felt such pain from muscle tightness! I have been experiencing problems (ie: diaphragm muscle spasms) with my breathing so Terri has been working on it and sometimes I think that is a big mistake. Mostly I think it's a mistake when Terri is working on it, I have tears rolling out of the corners of my eyes and I'm pleading with God, "Please God, if you make her stop I won't ever roll my eyes again and pretend I'm listening when my mom won't stop blabbing on the phone. I PROMISE!" I realize this is not the proper nor most sincere method of prayer which makes it obvious that neither I nor God has held up our ends of the bargain.

So in the spirit of keeping the pain coming, Mr. Fury and I signed up for Twin Cities Marathon on Friday. My goal this year is to not only train but also race TCM. Cheers to not getting sick a couple days before race day again! Does anyone have a good marathon training plan? I've been fishing around for one but haven't found one I like yet.

Alright, it's time for more Monday goodness.