The end of Week 3

**First of all.. HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING to everyone!**

We did our longest training as a team thus far. On Saturday we met for a swim, run and bike workout. The entire workout took 7 hours to complete. I felt great the entire day. Of course, today being Sunday is a completely different story. I woke up quite sore and exhausted. Thankfully we did not have a cycle ride scheduled. The only thing marked on our calendar for today was a 1 hour run and I was less than enthusiastic about doing it. Luckily my friend Rebecca was nice enough to run with me around the lake. We ran 6.39 miles in 1:02- averaging @ 9.44 mile pace. Not too bad for someone so sluggish and sore.

SATURDAY TRAINING SCHEDULE:
A) 1 1/2 hours of drill swims
B) 1 1/2-2hrs of strength training. *this included warm up and cool down
C) BRICKS: 1/2 hour of spin with specific drills, then hop off and run for 20 minutes **Repeated 3 durations

Highlights:

I had individual coaching during the swim workout. I was told that I had to over extend my reach with each stroke in order to keep my body afloat. At some point I would tire out and become a "lazy swimmer" with my strokes. The coach told me that I was much too petite to get away with that kind of form. Every time I didnt reach far enough out, my body would just sink below the surface. So NO LAZY SWIMMING for me.

We learned to feed our bodies. Snacks, small sandwiches and various electrolytes were on the menu today. For each hour you worked out, you should have consumed one bottle of water. We weighed in after each 20 min run and we were supposed to maintain the same weight as before the run. I lost 2 lbs... so that indicated that I wasnt drinking enough fluids. When you lose that much weight it results in losing 50% of your energy.

I was evaluated by the team doctor and strength coach. There was a concern about my reoccurring nausea and the possible causes. They believed that I may have a pinch nerve in my neck that could be the cause. It was recommended that i see a neurologist to be sure that i am okay physically... which I know I am. Dont worry I will go see the neurologist. I was also advised not to swim until an answer to my problem could be found... but thats not going to happen. I really dont want to get behind in my training. I will just continue to follow the swim workouts and if the nausea starts to set in.. I will just stop my workout. I will fill you in when I get any results.

As you may have already read.. I signed up for the AIDS Ride that will occur next May. I have spoken with a few past Ironman participants and was told that it would work out perfectly with the timeline of my Ironman training and it could only benefit.

Im loving everything about the training and feel like im improving and getting stronger each day.

As you can see.. im holding up my end of the bargain. I am totally committed to completing each endeavor. But I still need YOUR HELP. Please help me to reach my fundraising goals for each event. Both are very good Causes. There are people and their families that are desperate for help. Please click on either link to the right and make a donation today. Remember.. tis the season for helping others. xoxo