I'm Tri'ing

Today I joined a group of folks from Houston and Austin to ride the Ironman Austin 70.3 bike course and I had a great time.  I always feel better when I can ride a course that I haven't raced.  The course was good, a few too many bumps (lost my water bottle on one but the SAG guys got it for me), some good hills, 1 killer hill.  This was my first time on BB (aka Black Beauty) that wasn't in the neighborhood or out in Boerne as well as my longest ride on her and I'm super excited.  My time was a bit longer than my Kerrville race last year but we weren't riding at race pace the entire time, much of it was a casual pace.  I had minimal saddle soreness but that was only towards the end and I think it's just because I'm putting longer time in on my bike . Training this week was a bit rough, my left arm is killing me, not sure if it was from strength training or swimming or a combination.  I bailed on 1 of my swim sessions and will see how I feel tomorrow on wh...

There are 5 weeks to Kerrville - 1st HIM race of the year.  I had a good week of training, needed to do some adjusting based on work schedule but for the most part I hit most of what I had scheduled.  My 3 hr ride got cut short today due to road closures but I'm heading up to Austin next Saturday to ride the Ironman Austin 70.3 course.  Since I haven't been up there I'm excited to ride that course, but I'm meeting a group of people I don't know so I'm a bit concerned about my speed and whether or not I can keep pace with everyone. I'm still getting comfortable in my new saddle - very little pain today and no chaffing.  I'm also still working on nutrition while riding, not the easiest thing for me.  I'm able to drink out of my aero hydration with little problems, even able to fill up the tank with another bottle.  Eating is still a challenge but I continue to practice. I've also been testing out some different nutrition - both for variety and ...

I start my new job tomorrow and I'm super excited but I'm also a bit worried how this might impact my training schedule.  I have been super lucky to get a few months of dedicated time for training but it's time to get back to reality.  I know I will make it work and I'll do what I need to make it work.  I have said it before but I'm the luckiest girl in the world because I have the most supportive husband in the world.  He knows that with me returning to work, that I will need to dedicate more time in the evenings and/or weekends for training and he is ok with that. I tell him all the time - he believes in me before I believe in myself, and everyone should be so lucky to have someone so supportive in their life. I think I have settled on a new saddle, the Cobb SHC, while I still experience some pain, it's far less than previous saddles and I know that more saddle time will help me get conditioned to longer rides. I'm six weeks out till Kerrville.  I k...

Life has been a bit hectic the past couple of weeks. I took a trip back to Maryland to see friends and family. The hubby was there for work and since I was unemployed it made sense to take a week to go back and visit. Right after our return one of our friends in Maryland was in Houston for a convention so she came over to see us for a long weekend.  My training suffered a bit but I tired to get as many sessions in as possible. This week is back to reality, less than 8 weeks till Kerrville 1/2.  Breathe Nicol! I've been having issues with my bike saddle so I'm on my 3rd saddle. Put in an hour yesterday and not bad, I have a 3 hr ride on Thursday so that will be a real test. Also switched out my gearing to hopefully give me a better ratio for climbing. Still need to work on building speed but I don't feel like the trainer and neighborhood rides really give a good reflection of my speed. Keep your fingers crossed that this one works. I've also been having issues hittin...