Second Blog Posting!

OK, I know, not the most original titles... I'll get better at titles for my posts as I get more comfortable with this!

It does feel a little self serving to be writing a Blog... but I figure I'll mess around with this and it'll fall into some sort of comfortable cadence! 

So here we are - second day of 2011!  It's been a great day.  Had a great run 18 km starting at 8:30 am (a later than usual start for a long run), ran 7 k with my four yr old malamute - Ippon.  He's awesome and loves to go for runs.   And of course also ran with my regular running partner Shannon.  Well, not as regular as we used to be!  Given where my current job is located - I have a tough time getting home in the evenings for us to get together regularly. 

It really was a great day for a run!   The weather cooled down from yesterday and there were the lightest of flurries.   The sun eventually started to come out at 17 km! 

Headed home after the run and then Graham and I hit a restaurant in the Beaches for french toast and bacon! Yum yum!   I think I run for bacon...

All in all a good day - did a bit of backyard clean up and now it's steak time!  whoo hoo!  

I'm off tomorrow (yeah!) and plan on a bike ride in the morning and a swim in the evening.   Should be a good day!

Did a little research last night - found what looks to be a promising swimming clinic for Jan 16th - I can use all the help I can get!  Also perused a few online training programmes for Half Ironman.   Longest one I found was 20 weeks - which I guess is just shy of five months of training.  I will start at it soon!  :-)  I'll be layering into that maybe a half marathon in early March, 30 K Hamilton Race Around the Bay at the end of March and the Goodlife Toronto Marathon in May.   Hm... I'm tired already! 
Well - over and out for tonight!

My first blog posting!

OK so I've decided to start a Blog.   It'll mostly be my ramblings so if you like to ramble too - perfect!  Read along!  :-)  I'll probably mostly talk about my triathlon training.  I have decided to do a half ironman this year.   Currently leaning toward the Welland Half Ironman in late June.   I guess it's a good time to get it done and test out the whole bigger fitness thing.   If it all goes well then I'll have to pick another goal which will be a full Ironman.   What the heck - why not.

I'm new to the swimming and biking thing so I'm hopeful that with the blog I can maybe get some advice from readers who are more experienced.   At least I've got pretty much three years of running under my belt and I throughly enjoy that 1/3rd of a Tri!    I have now run two marathons (qualified for Boston on my second Marathon), four 30 k races, two half marathons, three 10 milers, two 10 ks and the nasty nasty and very hilly 20 K Cape to Cabot in St. John's NL...   Running - I love!

End of Cape to Cabot

I started swimming in late July - I have been saying for a couple of years that I should really get into swimming - as a kid I swam a bunch but not seriously - just messing around in my Aunt's pool with my cousins.  You know - diving into the deep end and picking up rings and seeing who could swim the furthest underwater.   I took swimming lessons but for some bizarre reason never learned the front crawl!   So - I finally got around to it and in late July joined a masters swim programme.  The impetus being I had signed up for a "Try-a-Tri" in August and well, frankly, just had to learn to do the front crawl by then!  LOL!   I think the coaches were a bit shocked at my plan - you know - learn in a few weeks.  I knew I'd have to do the breast stroke for the most part but without a race in the pipeline I knew I'd never get around to trying to learn free style.

All finished my first Tri - Grimsby Try-a-Tri!

As for the cycling - well - I had a $150 cheapie from SportsChek but it is a bike and ride-able so did the trick for a bit.  I do think now that it might very well be made of lead!  ;-)  For my birthday (and Christmas, and Valentiene's Day and my Anniversary, and Groundhog Day, etc.) my husband got me a Cervelo S1.  I love love love it.  I am not sure what I'm doing on it for the most part but hey it's a bike at least I can ride it and only have opportunity to get better!  

The new Cervelo S1!

So my friend Trish Marek-Fortin and I have made a pact to do the Welland Half Ironman... it's now less than six months away and I am mostly concerned about getting through the swim portion - 2 k...eep!   A great perk of this race is the swim is in the Welland Canal!  Which is awesome as it's open water but pretty still open water.  Yeah! 

I guess that's enough ramblings for now...  Signing out and will see if I can get the hang of this blogging thang.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to 2011 - where lots of good things will happen!