Yeah, that’s right I’m a pool jogger and as far as I know I still hold the title for longest pool jog ever know to the Howie Endurance Project team. So I had a 5.5 mile Z2 run today and contrary to what I had expected my knees didn’t feel fabulous this morning. Just simply ‘fab’ and seeing as I was clearly missing the ‘ulous’ I decided to pool jog my junk run instead of pushing through pain like an idiot. Yes, those of you who know your body is telling you one thing and you are doing the other…you are idiots. Listen to your body and find fitness elsewhere. So I did, find fitness up and down the lane. Afterwards I felt as though my knees were better off and was confident that if I ran my body would have been worse off. In opposition to my husband’s day , I did everything right.

I saw clients in the afternoon and continue to love what I do, sometimes it takes a little motivation to gear up for such a physically demanding job but when I’m in the moment with a client and feeling change within their body it just confirms that I’m doing what I was meant to do.

Had dinner with my favorite Skirt friend, Kristina at the Southern Sun. Gotta love those microbrews and burritos. 10:31 and heading to bed…up at 5am tomorrow for my big swim of the week. Definitely not enough slumber for me. I think I will sleep in my clothes to save the time of changing into my donut pjs.

Started the morning feeling fresh with 20 miles on the bike and .5 run. Mastering the bike to run transition. I recovered well yesterday and can only hope to feel this cherry every Monday. Worked for the college today, had lunch at South Side Walnut with BJ where I devoured a Trucker burger then wrapped up a solid day in the office. At 5 I headed over to the BCSM for the HEPster PowerMax class. First time on my tri bike since Timberman and the first hard ride since Timberman. Overall I felt strong and relaxed. During the intense sets, I just focused on a point, shut down my mind, relaxed my facial muscles and tried to take a snapshot of the feeling. It was extra nice to be in a group setting with my fellow teammates, I’ll be doing more of these classes throughout February and into March. I just felt that mentally it was so much easier to be at 110% of my threshold in this setting than by myself in the basement. My knees were feeling a little sore today and after the class so I did some indirect moxa and massaged them. Will have to see how they feel on tomorrow’s run….I’m betting they will feel fabulous!

Feeling a ‘good’ tired right now, 9:15…hitting the sheets momentarily. Aloha po.

Few pics of the last couple of days around the Gumkowski life. I finished the week strong (I think).

Friday morning I had big trouble getting out of bed at first but several gulps of Island blend coffee got me moving. Hit the pool for my short swim of the week 1600 yds. I figured it would be easy and quick. Much to my dismay I soon realized that it was my first tempo swim since before Timberman which was several months ago. The Z4 took alot of out me, even though it wasn’t much of the overall yardage. My heart and muscles haven’t worked that hard in the pool since the summer. I hit the wall Friday afternoon and was experiencing aching pain in left neck that radiated up over my head. About 5pm I called it a day at work and met BJ in the training room to stretch. Stretching was a huge help in relieving my exhaustion and also helped my neck. I continued with self massage that night and then slept with my Nap pillow that I use on the plane so that I wouldn’t further compromise myself during my slumber. I believe that this pain was coming from my swim earlier in the day, high intensity and breathing to one side during my main set.

Saturday morning woke up and my neck was back to normal, I felt rested - got 9 hours of sleep. Hopped on the bike at 7am for a quick 3 mile warm up for my long run. My sister showed up at 7:15 and we headed out for one of the windiest runs I’ve ever been on. I had 2 x .5 mile uphill Z4. Thank goodness there were only 2, my heartrate was at 187 and I was pushing just under a 12 minute mile. I was barely moving against the power of the mind bending wind. Finished up the run and headed to the pool for 900 yard drill swim. Swimming after a long run is so key, it flushed my legs and I felt completely recovered after getting out. Home for lunch then off to my office to see clients for the rest of the afternoon.

I used the last of my energy on my final client of the day and then was ready to have a margarita and relax. Fell asleep, sitting up with my glasses on…my husband was nice enough to give me a visual of what that looked like. At about 10:30, Harry and I crawled up the stairs and into bed.

Sunday - rest day! With another solid rest under my belt I enjoyed a leisurely morning, long walk with Bj and the kids. I cleaned the house, started on taxes and watched two episodes of Brett Michael’s Rock of Love. Wonderfully restful and now at 8:08 pm I’m looking to turn in for the night as tomorrow is a 5am wake up call.

On another note, I conned my sister and brother to run a relay team at the Cape Cod Marathon in October. I’ve decided to run the full and have a chance to run with both of them. It will be my brother’s first half marathon and if I have anything to do with it, certainly not his last.

Go Pats!  Hail the rest day!

After my brick yesterday, my legs felt worked, I think the bike to run element was the culprit. I predicted that I would feel sluggish and sore for my run this morning but much to my surprise, the brick was completely out of my legs and I started fresh this morning. The only challenge today was the frigid conditions. I headed out about 7am to the South Boulder trail, aka, the frozen tundra. My first hint came about 2 minutes into the run when I passed a guy who’s beard and eyebrows looked like moldy cheese, this guy’s face was covered in frost. He was cruising; a pace that definitely warranted a solid sweat but this man did not look sweaty. On the contrary, he was a shoe-in for the Frozen Dead Guy look alike contest.

I rounded the top of the hill and caught the sun just rising over the ridge, another unforgettable moment. For a nanosecond I thought that sun would warm me and make the run comfortable. Wrong, I turned onto the trail and it was like walking into, well, a walk-in. Despite the cold and growing frost on my person I had an invigorating run. I decided to forgo stretching (never a good idea) and opted for a steaming hot epsom salt bath. Double edged sword here….make sure that your core temperature is at least equal with that of the room before getting into a 100 plus degree tub. Ouch, eventually ahhhhhh…..

Just returned from seeing Spirit of the Marathon - motivating, truthful, validating and very much put into perspective that living in Boulder equals a skewed reality of athleticism. A marathon is a tremendous feat; a feat that I truly believe anyone can accomplish.

Final words, go for it always…push your limits…test your mind…define yourself.

Rode 24 miles Wednesday followed by a 5 mile run. I felt incredible, inspired and strong. My first brick of the season and throughout I was thinking of my last brick of the season which will be a 75 mile bike to a 17 mile run. For that workout, I will feel fit, the weather will be warm and I’ll be sitting pretty in some new 2008 Skirt outfit (by the way…the new line is Skirt-tacular!) Keep your eyes peeled…I’ll sure to be reporting on the pieces as they become available.

Saw clients in the afternoon and I continued to feel energized throughout the day. I felt better Wednesday than I did Tuesday, I think the acupuncture and massage treatments I received early in the week fell into place yesterday. I was light on my feet, positive in my mind and ready to rule the world. (Oh yes, I am working with an evil twin of mine to someday take over the world).

I actually got to sleep in this morning, 6am felt like noon….got 9 hours last night. Heading out for a 5.5 run now followed by a busy day in my practice. Bring it on!

Back in the pool today for 2100 yards. My arms felt a fatigued at first but I soon warmed up and felt right at home. As my first official Ironman swim training day I have to say, I feel like I could belt out the 2.4 tomorrow. Really looking forward to this greatest test, I can’t wait to drink a bottle of Rescue Remedy and start stroking at the sound of the gun. How can I feel so ready so early….I’m not ready, not even close but man am I psyched up for IM. I feel like I was meant to do this, I was meant to test myself and my limits. Sometimes I get tired of being out of my comfort zone but in the end, I wouldn’t change a thing. When the going gets tough I always say “I just want to be one of those women with skinny fingers who doesn’t like to sweat”. Maybe I could be her for a moment but for the long haul, I’ll take my muscular massage therapist hands and a sweat soaked workout any day of the week.

Gotta get to bed, another 4am on the alarm clock tomorrow.

First day back to training, rode 36 miles with a half mile run off the bike.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever been as excited for a workout as I was for today’s workout.  You see for the past 7 days all I’ve taken part in is input, there’s been no output.  I feel like I could train, not eat for a week and maybe, just maybe break even from my recovery week.  I drank wine, I ate cheese, pizza, pancakes, Chipolte burrito, burgers, fries etc. etc.   Input, input, input…zero output.  I was in DefCon calorie overload, definitely not feeling so fit right now.

So back to the matter at hand, 4am wake up call, I popped out of bed like it was my wedding day.  Pulled on everything pink and headed to the basement for coffee, half bagel and sub par television.  4:45 hopped on the bike and watched 4 episodes of Veronica Mars, gotta love the tales of a hot PI.   Off the bike and into the YakTraks for a quick run to jumpstart the legs into what will be 5 months of bike to run simulations.  Workout was fabulous, can’t wait for my swim tomorrow.  Still in need of some serious output.

Hit Southwest Acupuncture College for a session at 9am - working on my extremely tight neck and upper back.  Home to work for 4 or so hours then off to receive a 90-minute massage.  Self care day.  I don’t usually combine acupuncture and massage on the same day but based on the way I feel right now, it was safe decision.

I feel so primed for tomorrow and the rest of this week, month, year….can’t wait to shed some of my beer and pizza layers.

By some higher power I started to get really psyched about Ironman earlier today. Nothing planned, nothing I expected, I just found myself talking about it earlier and I was thinking ‘Ironman whatever, I can do anything…’.

Now that I’ve embraced my pending IM finish, I’m ready to start training. Run: bring it on….swim: piece of cake…bike: oh boy, gotta commit to some serious time in the saddle. I think the bike is where training is the most challenging, it’s just so time consuming and huge. Which I do realize is the most time consuming and ‘hugest’ part of an IM. But I will put the time in, I’ll do it all and when the time comes I’ll be prepared. I just know that I’m about to ‘go in it’ and there will be no rest until June 23rd. Part of me loves to realize things like, I’m going to be working my sweet skirt off for the next 5 months and then I will have an experience like none other before. I’m going to relish in the virginity of my IM life. As of today, I’m going for sub-14 and as close as I can get to 13. Again, I’m serious…I am this slow but as I’ve proved in the past I’m tough so I have no worries about me getting to the finish line (or maybe I’m just stubborn).

Enough about that, I still have 4 more days of waking on my own delight and not an alarm - believe me I’m going to enjoy it. I’m multi-talented you see, I can train just as well as not train.

Here’s a photo from Sunday’s race. I am running in this photo, my husband pointed out that I looked like I was walking. Much to the contrary, I’m actually running as fast as I can in this photo. Note to self: work on form in 08.

Having fun as always!

Overall I’m feeling very good and recovering well. Immediately after we returned to the hotel on Sunday I got into the pool and jogged for a half hour. I think that was key in flushing my muscles and joints. My quads feel like studded torpedoes but other than that just a little stiffness here and there.  It’s all good pain and there’s a part of me that enjoys it.

I got home yesterday afternoon and hunkered down with the dogs, did some work and soaked in a Epsom salt bath with immune support essential oil blend. I’m getting a massage this morning which will be key in eliminating soreness and restoring fluid movement. Took today off from massage and will be back in my practice tomorrow. It’s nice to get a little break from being a CMT because I miss it so much and can’t wait to get back into it.

I really want to run another marathon but I know I need to concentrate on Ironman training.  Coeur d’Alene has become much more of a reality over the last 36 hours.  Now that the marathon is over I have nothing to defer the inevitability of this huge-mung-ous feat.  I definitely get nauseous thinking about it but I know it will be one of the best days of my life.  When the time comes, I’ll be prepared (I’ll be nauseous but prepared nonetheless).

Great day today 4:56:10….beat my goal of 5 hrs and finished strong.

It started in the dark in downtown Phoenix, I was by myself and loving every minute of it. Headphones blasting Life is Beautiful by Vega4 as I took in some people watching, thought of my husband who I miss every minute I’m away from as well as my 3 4-legged kids (harry, lhasa, weke). I had not one ache or pain, I was cozy in my marathon dress, tough girl, hoodie and gloves. All just a luxury as the temps were not that bad, nothing compared to what I raced in at Denver Marathon or any of the training runs I’ve had leading up to this day. I felt so ready and quite empowered to be among thousands of strangers. I had a nice strong cup of coffee, some accelerade and many visits to my port a friend John.

The gun went off and I jumped into the moving corrals and started to jog. Wow, I really didn’t have an ache or a pain. I vowed to hold back the first mile, planning on a 13 minute first mile, I cruised through at a sub 10 with a very low heart rate (gotta love the descent in elevation). Within 10 minutes I saw the 5 hr pace group, I thought ‘well I’ll just catch up to them, stay with them and then take off at the end for a sub 5 finish’ this notion was immediately followed by ‘well I’ll just catch up to them, pass them and never see them again’. Thought #2 definitely more my style and necessary for the day ahead.

Pop, pop, pop - the sound of my feet, I concentrated on hearing my feet, focusing on my cadence and shutting that ole’mind of mine down for the duration. Hit the 10K time mat, half marathon time mat and headed for the 20. When I hit those mats I just kept thinking of BJ back in Boulder cheering me on, I could feel his support and encouragement, the steps over those timing mats were all for him. I knew he would be so excited and would celebrate each time check exuberantly with the dogs.

Just after mile 19 I met Bridget, thank you mother earth for that. We agreed that neither of us could talk but that our close proximity was paramount in keeping a certain pace. Bridget and I took it to just past mile 25 together. I fell behind at the mile 20 aid station as I stopped to stretch but caught up to her and lucky for me she was feeling a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th or 5th…) wind at that time. She said, ‘Jessica stick with me, I’m gonna tell you a story’ Let me preface this by saying she’s a New Yorker and her story was filled with all my favorite colorful lingo. She proceeded to tell me that she completed Ironman Florida in 2006 at age 44, signed up for Lake Placid in 2007 and entered the lottery for Kona. Won the lottery, decided to forgo Lake Placid and train for Kona. Went to Kona, great swim, great bike…mile 10 on the run her kidneys started to shut down and ended up having to DNF. Today she was out to reclaim her marathon finish that she lost in Kona. I then told her that I’ll be finishing my first Ironman in June….she quickly replied, ‘next aid station your not stopping, not walking, not stretching….and at mile 25 we’re picking it up. ‘ Music to my ears, I needed to push through the pain and finish today as quickly as possible. Just after mile 25 I needed to meet my goal and my friend was falling behind, I left her for my strong finish. At about 25.8 I saw my fellow skirt Chris and her fast hubby Craig (3:03:06 marathon today). Not sure if they realize that the 3 seconds I saw them gave me exactly what I needed to pick it up, get my legs moving faster and beat my goal by as much as I could today. I could hear Chris yelling about how great I looked then Craig popped to the curb with his finisher’s medal in his hand and yelled in a heavy metal tone ‘You want one of these….’. Yes please.

I picked it up and headed for the finish….mile 26 sign…..only .2 to go, push it hard, go faster, higher cadence, leave it on the course….finish line….finish line mat….26.2 #2 done. Thank you everyone who helped me get here, thank you coach, thank you to my clients who were so excited for me this week, thank you BJ for being the best husband in the universe and especially thank you to myself. Nice job Jessica, you worked hard girlfriend!

Thank you to my sister Susanne who traveled with me this weekend and ran the 1/2 today (with no training) and finishing with an incredible 2:17:51 time. Although she keeps trying to subtract her bathroom break of 2 minutes 30 seconds from her time. Can someone please tell her that you can’t do that?

Next stop….Ironman Coeur d’Alene.