Busy busy busy

First of all:
This is Jack. Our new puppy. He is a springer spaniel and the best puppy in the worl :-) We have had him for about a week now and he is potty trained, can do 3 tricks, walks on the leash and doesn't chew on things other then his toys!!! And he is only nine weeks old!!!
He might be the smartest puppy in the world ;-)
We originally wanted to name him Steve-Steve is our friend who introduced us to springers!!! But Jack just did not loock like a Steve.

On the training front:

I have been so busy with working and then felt like I was getting sick the beginning of last week. So I cancelled the Longhorn 70.3 and the SOMA Halfironman as well.

This week I am working every day, probably including Saturday, so I am not sure if I will start at the AMICA Championships in Phoenix on Sunday, even though I would love to.

But what I can tell you is that I am already really excited about the 2010 season. It will includes lots of great racing and training. More info coming in the next few weeks.

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Fall is just great!!!

Mhhh, the smell of leaves when you are in the forest-GREAT. Even though in Flagstaff we have mostly Pine trees, there are some Aspens and those are changing and letting go of their leaves right now. It is beautiful. I have to take picture of Snowbowl and post them later.

Right now is the time of the year where I wish I would have a MTB, so I could ride in the forest :-) But that would add another bike to our "bike store/house". Maybe in 2010.

This week has been very exhausting with training and working a lot. I now know why it is either or. Either work full time and don't train full time or work part time (like me starting next week) and train full time!!!

But I love work. Again I learned so much and it was so interesting!!!

I have 2 more weeks until the Longhorn 70.3. Like I said, I was really exhausted by the time Friday rolled around, my feet were hurting and I wasn't so sure anymore if I should go to Austin. BUT then I:
1. watched Kona
2. got all fired up
3. had a great TT long ride/workout
4. had an awesome long and fast run

Now I feel confident again, and I am ready to book my ticket. I am super excited about going to Austin.

2 more races and the season is over. That is crazy, this season went by sooo fast!!! But I have to admit: I am already hungry for the 2010 season :-)

Not sure when exactly my season will start, but here in AZ you can end your season with a Triathlon in December and start back up with the PF Chang's Halfmarathon in January!!!

Off to take a nap, so that I can go out later today and enjoy the sunset on top of Snowbowl.

USA Cycling certified coach

I am now a USA Cycling Certified Coach!!! Whohooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Payson Halfmarathon

I started training at the Flagstaff Medical Center as a PT Tech last week. It was a full time work week, with a full time training week. I did all my training early in the morning and after work at night. Since the sun is starting to go down earlier, I had to jump on the bike right after work, instead of relaxing for a second. It was a stressfull week, but I loved every second of it. Work is really great and training is so much fun. But I have to admit, by the time Friday rolled around I was almost ready to back out of running a halfmarathon :-) But the training plans said: HALFMARATHON RACE. No backing out now. It really helps that I have my friend Pam, who is ALWAYS up for crazy things like getting up at 4:30 to run a half or getting up at 5am to do a long ride :-)

So at 4:30 am the alarm went off and I thought I would be tired, but going to bed at 9 pm and 4 shots of espresso really helped :-)

I picked up Pam and off we went to Payson, AZ. Pam had asked me about the course when we first came up with the idea of running it and I said: There are like 2 little hills, it is not that bad.


OOOPS. The race went up and down with the lowest elevation of 4000 ft and the highest being 5150 ft.

The first seven miles were all uphill with about.75 of a mile at 12 percent (we didn't think it was thaaaaaaaaat steep, but a guy who has ran it before told us). After that it is super steep downhills and some uphills again. We actually decided after the race that the downhills are harder and slower to run then the uphills. You had to focus on every step to prevent knee injuries (it sure would have been nice to ride down those hills on a bike :-)

I ended up winning the women's division by 4 minutes and getting 4th overall men and women. The great thing was that the number one man was actually in sight until mile 10!!! That was a great fealing. The winning men's time was only 3 minutes faster then my time. Whohooooo.

It was definitely the toughest halfmarathon I have ever done, but it is great practice for the rest of the season and I am glad that we did it.

Here is Pam finishing up her Half:

Me at awards:
Today feels like a real fall day: it is cold, rainy, leaves are falling. I love it. And the best part: It is a recovery day with just and easy swim :-) Yippie.

JR and I are going to get a Pumpkin for our door today!!! Exciting!!!