Happy Mother's Day to all of us Moms that try to do it all!!

Today was a really great day! As I think back to when I first became a mom, I was soo scared. How was I going to be able take care of a baby.. on top of that, my husband was just starting out as a Naval Aviator and was just about to go on deployment...OMGoodness...How was I going to do this?!?... I had many days, when I would go for a run or to the gym and feel guilty about leaving him with a sitter or with my husband when he was home.   I would drop everything to take my son to his theater class, little league and swim practice.. I have spent a lot of hours watching him grow up to be a great kid who is a honor student. I couldn't have asked for a better kid....It was hard back then when he was little, but  with a lot of help from friends, family and many time outs for mommy.. yes, I gave myself timeouts :) I was Donnie's mom..

Fast Forward to today.... My son, is 15 and will be 16 next month and he is my biggest fan and supporter for my training and my triathlons and my eating habits! He has told me not to feel guilty about training... in fact, he has encouraged me to go out and bike, run or swim..He watches what I eat and always encourages me to eat protein after a hard workout! He is, also, at the finish lines cheering me on to do my best!

Today I got the best gift ever from him... he posted a picture of me on Instagram and thanked me for being his mom.. What a great son I have! In addition, to the Thank you post on Social Media, I got a set of arm coolers for my triathlons! I know.. some moms would love to get flowers and chocolate.. I was really happy about arm coolers.

So, today's post is for all of us Mom's who try to do it all... We do not need to feel guilty about taking care of ourselves because what we are doing is setting an example to our kids... they love us and want us to be happy.. They know if we are happy and healthy, they work and strive to be just like us!

Happy Mother's day to all!
Eling

Donnie age 15, New Years 2013

Donnie when he was three 

Post Race Report and reflection

The  Ironman 70.3 New Orleans race was amazing. This was my second half ironman and I am hooked! The venue was great venue and the course is really nice too. I would recommend this to anyone who ever wants to do an early race.
Ok, the race. So, I woke up at 4:45 am to get to the swim start and transition area before 6:45 am (this is when the transition area is closed). I laid out my gear..(I checked and triple checked my gear the night before and I still forgot one item - sunscreen). Over the loud speaker, we get the water temperature: 64 degrees...BRRRRR... I am so glad I brought my wetsuit..We walk over to the corral area and I waited for over 2 hours. The coolest thing was to see the Iron Nun, Sister Madonna Buder take off on the swim! She is 82 years old, she started triathlons when she was 52. She was three people in front of me. She jumped into the water just like a pro.. I should say, she dove into the water like a pro.. Then it was my turn...I jumped in the water and my face was immediately cold.. I looked at the buoy and started swimming and I was knocked off course.. there was a current pushing us to the left, so I zigzagged back in line. I usually sing 99 bottles of beer on the wall but I wasn't getting into a rhythm, so I sang "row, row, row your boat." Great little song. I swam to the next buoy and made the turn.. I looked around me and I wasn't the only green cap around... there were many in front of me and many behind me.. Sweet..I wasn't last..made it to the next buoy and I started to swim.. About 800 yards before the swim exit, I heard a "scream for help".. OMGoodness... I didn't know what to do.. I panicked, "do I stop and help her or what".. I saw that someone else had stopped to help her, so   I just trended water until a boat came to her. You read so much about people getting scared and freaking out but I had never seen it before. So, I continued swimming and crawled out and up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, there were wetsuit strippers! Yes, someone to help you take of the wetsuit :)  I looked at my watched and was a little bummed..52 min (ten minutes slower than the last time I did this...oh well, I didn't want to mope.. I had the rest of the race to complete.
T1 - got my bike and took off.. I heard " Go Thunder!" What a great sound.. I took off and headed right into a head wind! I am so glad I practiced in the rain and wind.. I was able to maintain a speed of 13-15 mph.. I passed a lot of people on the way out.. One of the newest things, I started doing this year, was follow the nutrition from the "Feed Zone". I made me a rice cake. This was great! At about mile 20, I ate some stinger waffles and then had some of the rice.. Talk about getting a good boost of nutrition. I was not starving when I came off of the bike. I, also trained with Perform, so the drinking the Perform was not bad at all. During the bottle exchanges, I stopped and exchanged my bottles. I will need to learn how to do bottle exchanges, to help with time. I just did not want to risk a crash. Continuing on the course, I passed more people. I made the turn around and I was going 18-20 mph. I saw the beauty of the marshes and can totally understand why people wanted to live here. The area was beautiful! The breeze on the way back was soo nice.. I rolled into T2 and ran to my gear and racked my bike and I took off..
Oh boy, I could feel the sun now.. I ran out of T2 and saw sunscreen, what a relief.. I slather some sunscreen on and took off.. The one thing I forgot was my sunscreen. I need to remember this for my next race. As I started running,  I kept singing to myself, "put one foot in front of the other".. That helped because my goal was to run all the way and only walk the water stations. Running along the lakefront was soo beautiful. I saw all of the nice homes that have been rebuilt and the levee locks. I just maintained my pace and tried to make sure, I kept my feet moving.. At about mile 10, everyone I kept seeing, were telling me, you are almost there. After awhile, I stopped believing them because it seem like FOREVER....Finally, at the last turn, I heard my son yell "Go Mom Go!!!" I looked up and there he was smiling at me and my husband was talking to me to speed up.. and  he yelled " I am going to run faster than you".. I told, yes you are! I then said that I think I will make 7 hours and 30 mins, that is when he yell" Get your butt moving!" So, I tried to pick up my legs a little bit more to get faster..ouch.. that hurt. I turn the corner and I had the biggest smile on my face! I looked at my watch and I had beaten my stretch goal! What a feeling! It is a feeling of accomplishment that you can do anything! I am still slow, compared to the other Thunder teammates that were there, but I know one day I will get faster!
All of us has this within ourselves to do this! I am still a turtle, I am just becoming a speedy turtle, who is getting stronger. I plan to complete another half ironman this summer. Goal will still be 7 hours 30 mins.. My husband and I are going to do Ironman 70.3 Muncie in Indiana in July.. (a little hotter). After that, I will be watching my husband complete his first Ironman in Aug in Louisville. Who knows, I may end up signing up for an Ironman next year... We will see..
Reflection... I now know that to succeed, you must train and train consistently. In addition, believe in your training. I really focused this year and it has paid off. Going into the rest, my biggest worry was not finishing under 8 hours. I had worked so hard but I wasn't sure if I could do it. I just kept saying " believe in your training" Lesley knows what she is doing. My friends and family believed in me and knew I could finish under 8 hours..  I just had doubts... Once, I started the race, I started to believe..After this race.. I became a believer!

 I know there will still be days, that I will start making up excuses to not get out there and train, but I will have to ignore those thoughts and move forward.. 

Time to keep on training and getting ready for my next race in May.. Memphis in May Olympic distance..

Happy Training!
Eling 

2 Days and 9 hours and 25 min....

My second half ironman is on Sunday 21 April 2013.... I have ran, swam, and biked to prepare for this race.. Do I have butterflies?? Yes.. I do!

 I know I have completed this distance before but I wasn't as prepared as I am now. I tried to be dedicated, I tried to have NO Excuses this time... I worked hard and I have been consistent.. Now I need to BELIEVE IN MY TRAINING...

I have been thinking about the swim and I have in my head going, don't cross your arms pass your body, think of pulling your arms along the black line...Nutrition on the bike, eat and hydrate... run..remember to run... walk through the water stops...

Finally, I need to remember this: Focus on how far I've come and not how far I have to go...

 I will remember this and have fun...

I will not give up!

Happy Training!

Eling...

Believe in Your Training!!!

28 Days until IM 70.3 New Orleans...


This weekend was a big training weekend... Friday, I started out with a 2000 yard swim.. completed this in 49 mins..Saturday, I was supposed to ride my bike for 50 miles, but I didn't have a three hour time block because I had to be Taxi Mom.. (in the past, I would just skip the workout...) Not this time... I rearranged my schedule and ran my 8 miles on Saturday in 1 hour 45 minutes.. in the wind and rain.. Sunday, I rode my bike for 3 hours - the wind was over 25 knots with rain and snow.. not a good combination to ride a bike... 

Am I crazy?? I think I am.. I have exactly 28 days until I line up to start the swim for the Half Ironman New Orleanss.. Am I nervous, scared,  and ready to take this challenge on???  YES!! I will be ready to take on this challenge. I have been really working hard so far this season and really want to do well. The last time I did a half ironman, my training was done in the middle of summer.. The summer heat of Memphis...I, also, was not committed like I have been this season.  This time around, I have been training during the winter and spring.. This winter/spring has been really cold. We are in the last week of March and today we had snow flurries.. It rained over the weekend, so I wasn't able to ride my bike for 50 miles.. instead.. I rode my bike on the bike trainer for 3 hours.. I am following the plan and it is starting to be a habit for me. I am still nervous, but as my son's swim coach told me today, "Believe in your training".. I am going to continue training.. on the rode, the treadmill, the trainer and in the pool. 

I need to keep reminding myself that I can do this. There is a mental game going on in my head.. Everyday, I have doubts about what I am doing.. I come up with excuses to not do my workout, in the beginning of the day, then by the end of my day.. I pack my gym back and I am off to either go for  a run on the treadmill... my friend and foe..., or swim in the pool... I have a lot of arguments with myself on these workouts, but I feel soo good after I swim.. or I hop on my bike trainer and ride.. I try not to give in to the excuses... I have doubts about finishing the triathlon and I talk to my coach, my husband or my son (my biggest supporters). I just have to keep on believing in myself and Believe in my training... I am doing more for myself now than I ever had.. So, here we go.. In 28 days, I will be nervous, anxious and excited to jump into the marina..I will swim my heart out, run to T1, get on my bike ride out and back to T2 and take off and run to the finish line. I will do this because I Believe..

Happy Training, 
Eling 

Race Report: Germantown Half marathon!!

Before the race

What a day.. Today was the first race for my season. I woke up at 5:30 am... not a morning person (thank you Don for waking me up) and made a peanut butter, banana,  and honey sandwich.. I wanted to make sure I had enough carbs for the half marathon. As I got ready, I was wondering what the weather was going to be.. 53 degrees... ok.. on with the long sleeves and bring the gloves.

We got to the race site and met up with a lot of team members and everyone was wondering if I was going to be too warm... I was determined.. I have been running with my long sleeve shirt all through training and I knew I had to wear this.. I am sooo glad I did.. It actually got colder through the morning...

 I was nervous.. I had no excuses today.. In the past years, I never completely followed my training.. I wasn't committed, I actually would make up  excuses to avoid my workouts..so when I was done and I didn't do well, I could say.. "if I only did xy training, this would have been different."  Well, this  year is different.. I have followed my training and I wanted to do well. I have been consistent with my pacing and my nutrition. I was having fun and I wanted to do well.. So, away I went.. 

The beginning of the race was fast, I was going about an 11 min/mile and I knew I had to slow down.. So, I slowed down to my usual pace and ran.. There were hills .. going up hills, going down hills and more hills.. wow.. my legs were just running.. I passed people and thanked people on the way.. the entire time, I kept saying when are we going to run on flat ground. We finally turned and we were going on flat ground!! Yeah! I picked up my pace and took in my nutrition.. Just before mile 6, I looked up and on the other side of the road was my husband and my team mates.. It was so great to hear their cheers! I cheered back and kept on running.. At mile 7, I looked at the time and  at first I thought: " oh wow... I am going to finish this in 2 hours and 35 mins.." as I approached mile 8, I realized I added 5 miles at mile 7 and not 6 miles.. aw darn it... So, I recalculated in my head.. I am going to finish the half marathon under 3 hours... If you could only image how I felt.. I was going to accomplish what I set out to do..  then we turned another corner.. ughh... more hills... ok, I said to myself, " you run hills at home, you can do this" So, I picked my feet up and pushed up the hill.. The last three miles, trainers from Fleet Feet, kept pushing me along.. I was so happy to hear them. My legs were getting stiff and my fingers were frozen. All I kept saying to myself was.. "keep on running... keep on running.." to the tune of Dori on Finding Nemo.. I need to remember this for IM 70.3 New Orleans!.. I turned the last corner and a race volunteer said, "up the hill and you are done".. Ughh another hill.. then I heard my husband.. he was cheering me out and I pushed it to the end! I saw the time and I was going to make the finish line under 3 hours.. WHOO HOO!!... I smiled at the camera and I raised my hands!.. I did it! I pushed though the aches, pains and cold fingers and finished the race. My final time was 2 hours and 55 mins. This was 10 minutes faster than last year! 

What a great feeling! My coach was at the finish line and I gave her a great big smile and hug! It was a great feeling. I know all of my hard work made this possible. I just have to keep remembering to follow the training schedule. I need to keep on BRINGING IT.. 

What a great race!! Tomorrow will be back to training for New Orleans!

Happy Training!
Eling 

3 More days until my first race of the season...

This coming up Sunday, I will be starting my season off.. I know it isn't a triathlon, but it is a race that is helping me train for my Half Ironman.. Last year, I did this race in 3 hours and 10 minutes... yes I AM slow... but this year, I know I can do this in under 3 hours...I have been following my training and I am loving how I feel when I run.. So, even if I don't meet my goal, I will still have fun..

Time to bring it and get focused!

Have a great day!

Eling

My Night and Shining Armour!!!

Today was a big workout day for me! I had on my schedule a brick: 40 miles on the bike and a 3 mile run (it was supposed to be 5 miles,but I read 3 miles). I was so excited because today I would get to ride my bike outside and not on a trainer. I got ready and took off. The first 20 miles was great! I arrived at my SAG in 1 hour and 10 min. I grabbed more water, roasted almonds and a Cliff bar and took off to finish the last 20 miles.. A mile out, my back wheel just didn't feel right... so I looked down and sure enough I had a flat.. I pulled over and pulled the wheel off. I struggled and text my hubby and let him know that I had a flat and was changing my tire. Twenty minutes later, I finally got the tire off and was working on putting the new tire on.. and then I see another hole.. uggh... I called my hubby to pick me up. My knight and shining armour!

This is what I saw!! Doesn't he look so handsome!!...

Well, he wasn't wearing his uniform, but he pulled up and I was ready to put the bike in the car.. but instead, he brought me a new tire to replace.. When he found out that the outer tire had a hole, he had brought my other bike tire and put it on my bike. He was not going to be my excuse for not completing my workout.. Instead, he took the tire and put it back on my bike and made sure I had enough water and nutrition and told me to finish my ride. He is such a supporting man. I am one lucky girl.

The ride bike ride back was a lot harder.. the wind picked up and I had a head wind.. Also, I didn't realize that I had all of these hills to climb.. as my hubby would say.."It will make you stronger".. So, climb I go.
I make it home..Yeah!

Off  I go to run..wobble, wobble off I run down the hill and back up. I finished the run and the workout! Now, I am ready for a burger, beer and some carrot cake....

Have a great day... till the next workout!

Eling