Swim Bike Crash Run Quit

This past weekend I competed in my first Half Iron Man in Burley Idaho. This race was specifically chosen for me because the swim was in a river...yes a nice moving on it's own river. Since the swim is my weakest link I need all the help I can get. On the morning of the race they bus you a mile plus up river, then you jump in and swim to the first transition area where you hop on your bike and ride into the sunset...or to transition 2 where you drop the bike grab your running shoes and you are now running your way to the finish. That is how most triathlons work...well mine was a little different than ideal. I did the whole swim portion, then I hopped on that bike just like I was told...I rode as hard as I could for 55.94 miles...unfortunately the course was 56 miles long. I crashed like .06 miles from the transition area. Let me back track this crash about 15 yards before I crashed I hit a ditch/gutter something that was crossing an intersection...I didn't see it coming - so I hit it hard, I think I hit it so hard I pinch flatted my front tire. Since this all happened so quickly I didn't even noticed I flatted. To get to transition 2 you make a small right turn...when I went in for this turn I was slowing down and turning just then my tire rolled off my front wheel rim. Yeah talk about Joseba Beloki 2003 tour injury...I slammed down on the ground pretty hard...I cracked my helmet and hit my face on the ground then I left a lot of skin on the road. If you know me you know how stubborn I can be so I grabbed my running shoes and tried to go for the run...well I made it about .5 miles before I turned back...my body was hurting...and mentally I'm not sure I was all there. So that pretty much sucked in a big way. I'm still shocked I went there to finish and I left as a 2/3rd winner. I'm pretty anti triathlons right now...so in a week or so I am thinking if I want to try again later in the summer.

Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

This is a very tasty treat. With berry season coming up I thought it may be a good recipe to have around.

1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey 1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
2 cups assorted fresh berries

Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour into 6 wine glasses so that they are 1/2 full. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.
Spoon the berries atop the panna cotta and serve.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo and Lemon Spaghetti

This dish is a fabulous summer time dish. I mix the Shrimp Fra Diavolo and Lemon Spaghetti together for a get combination.

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons
1 medium onion, sliced
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
3 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
3 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leavesToss the shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt and red pepper flakes. Heat the 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and saute for about a minute, toss, and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a large plate; set aside. Add the onion to the same skillet, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the pan, if necessary, and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices, wine, garlic, and oregano. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Return the shrimp and any accumulated juices to the tomato mixture; toss to coat, and cook for about a minute so the flavors meld together. Stir in the parsley and basil. Season with more salt, to taste, and serve.

Lemon Spaghetti 1 pound spaghetti 2/3 cup olive oil 2/3 cup grated Parmesan 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons) Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon lemon zest 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leavesCook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

Swimming in a River

As many of you know I am training for a Half Iron Man. On Saturday I had a great day full of Biking and Running, we even went kayaking. While we were kayaking I decided to hop out and swim a bit in the open water. Yikes! I hated it. When I swim in the open water I don't know where I am or how far I've gone...it is a miserable experience. Swimming is my weakness in all triathlons - it's a huge weakness. So with 19 days left until my race I am going to go swim in the lake everyother day. It's a good thing I found a triathlon that will let me do the swim portion in a slow moving river.

This Last Year Will be Pretty Hard to Top

I would have named you KingsleyMe Warming up for the Louisville Marathon

Me - BritBrit - Niknik at the Finish Line

Potato Gun

Snow Biking

Duathalon Pre-race

Moab, Utah

Ok Go Dance Party

Seth Eating His Words

The Women in My Family

Seth and His Friend Riding in Missouri The Boys and Their Bikes

Me with 2 extraordinary women

Pictures of My Life

Botanical Garden in Oregon
Riding

Me - Sister

My Cute Mom

MS 150 Ride Logan, Utah

Charlotte and I taking a Break from Riding in Oregon

Himalyas

The Lost Coast Century Ride

Seth doing Yoga

Backpacking in Utah with Friends and Puppies
Prayer Flags

Biking in Nor-Cal

4th of July with my Younger Bigger BrotherSister - Mom - Me

Seth on the Tibeto-Indian Border

Pictures from this Past Year

Kiowa waiting patiently for Seth to come home.Seth giving a child a health exam.
My Sister and I on a ride in Northern California.

Duner again

So you may be checking to find out which mile at completely bonked at...I applaud your interest. At mile 6 I decided to do the entire marathon, I was feeling really good all my joints and muscles felt great...I was pretty excited. So I passed the half marathon turn off without a doubt that the full marathon was for me...don't get me wrong it was the right choice. I would have felt cheated if I only did the half. I HAD to do the full. I felt great until mile 13...uhhh...yeah I still had 13 more miles to run. Every mile was torture and I don't think it was my lack of training or my injuries that made this race hard...the hills made this bad boy a beast of a thing. They kept taking us to parks with hills...we were going out of our way to run hills. It was a cruel and mean race. I don't think I have ever inflicted that much pain on myself since my teenage years and that was just emotional pain. This was some serious physical pain. My quads were tore up...I was tore up...my mind was fried, and then I finally crossed the finish line to my relief...my time was 4:25:25...So I give a shout out to my Mom who knew I would be too proud to quit.

I was 100 yards from the finish...I was toast by this point.



I am taking an ice bath in hopes that I will be able to walk again.

DNF - Did NOT Finish

I am afraid my worse fear has been realized...a DNF on a race record. Well I am going to get my first one this weekend. I am not very happy with that...actually I think my heart is breaking a little bit. My right quad is pretty pissed at me at the moment and I don't know what kind of propaganda she is telling the rest of my body - but whatever she is saying it's working. My ankle won't heal from the sprain that happened a 1.5 months ago. Also my hips are all jacked up...they're all super tight and not in a 'Man that girls got tight hips' kind of way, if you know what I'm saying. My knee hurts because of the stupid quad and her big mouth. Well my brain is the only one really on my side...she thinks we can do the marathon on our own and we don't need the rest of the body to agree. I am going to hate to inform that brain of mine that we in fact have to have a unanimous vote on if we are or aren't going to run that blasted marathon together or not. We can't really do it on our own. But I think we are still going to try are ‘darndest’ to do it. It’s just a stupid running race…it’s really a fake sport anyway.

I am still going to start the race and watch the train wreck happen…oh wait I am going to be the train wreck…this totally sucks! I’m not used to having my body reject my racing plans completely…my real big concern is that I have a half iron man to do in 5 or 6 weeks and I can’t be out of commission to too long before that race.

I think we should have a pool on which mile I will quit at. So put in your guess and if you are correct you will get a shout out on the page.

I hate running.

It's Not Going to be Pretty

(Deep Breath) It's a good thing I am not catholic...I can barely handle confessing on my blog about my training sins, let alone worldly sins. So it has been a long time since my last confession/post...where do I begin? Lets see...it has been 1 month since my last long run of 18 miles. Yeah...I wish I could tell you I did a lot of short runs instead, but I didn't because I am over running. I'm just done...put a fork in me. Last Saturday I strained my quad...it was pretty painful so I stayed off if it for the last week (it was pretty easy to stay off of it since I was barely using it in the first place). I was able to bike and swim just fine...I even put in a 140 miles on the bike and my leg felt great...but I just went out for my first run since I strained my quad. Hmmmm....It wasn't awwwful, but it sure wasn't great...it was really tight and that was just after 3 miles. I have no idea what will happen at the marathon on Saturday. At this point I would be pleasantly surprised if I complete it and especially if I do it under 5 hours. I am having a mild panic attack.



Also, this is a picture of me taking first place at a duathlon in Lawrence, KS...it was pretty awesome.

Apocalypse Now

I never really understood what Apocalypse meant until now. Apparently it means the end of the world and right about now that is exactly how I feel...I take that back I feel that I am standing on the edge of a canyon watching the end of the world coming my way...in slow motion...and no, the theme song for Chariots of Fire is not playing. Actually in my world the theme song for Darth Vader is playing it is full of darkness and doom...it plays every time I think about the marathon. I am running a 26.2 mile race that I have not trained for...yeah if that doesn't scare ya I don't know what will....because I am going to die. During my last marathon I would pass medical tents and see them packed full of suckers who tried to run the marathon but couldn't. This year that is going to be me. The worse part is that it is too late for me to even pretend to train. I am a dead woman...shhh what’s that sound...is that Darth Vader’s theme music playing? Which I now dub as my own. I think I am getting an ulcer. However I will have a game plan by the start of the race...I'm not sure what that plan will include but I am hoping to keep heavy narcotics out of it.

Swimming like a Mermaid....Who Just Got Caught in an Exxon Oil Spill

I am trying to swim more consistently...well I want to swim a lot before my half iron man. Whenever I do the swim portion of any triathlon I always think to myself - 'You idiot why didn't you just train for the swim. You know you hate the swim, so you'd think you would have trained just to make this moment in you life a little more bearable.' Well Miss. Split Personality I am training to make my swim more bearable and perhaps a little less pathetic. However my swim coach has made no such promise. So today I went swimming and I think I may have made some serious improvements on my stroke. My coach said it look beautiful. Now lets just hope it will beautiful when I am in open water with 300 other swimmers fighting for dear life. I have no doubt that I will resort to a panicked look and very ugly swim/float/try not to die stroke. Yes I know, I keep my expectation bar pretty high.