I feel strong today.  I got the pool running burn.  When I get to the top of the stairs my legs are burning so hard it makes me nauseous but at the same time, me likey.  I ran in the pool for 2 hrs and 5 minutes.  Oh Madone!  I had 8 minutes in Z4, HR of +176.  Much of the time, I thought to myself ‘remember how you feel right now and think about it on the run at CDA, remember how hard you worked to get there’.  I feel like today’s workout made me stronger.   Another great day on the IM quest….I just wanna ride this happy bus all the way.

Got a massage today by a student at the college, he was unbelievable for just starting out.  He’s going to be an excellent therapist.  I’m pretty particular about the work I receive and  I’m always sure of what I need.  It’s extremely important for a therapist to listen to their client and work to meet their goals.  I was in need of a deep, very deep, brutally therapeutic session and that’s exactly what I got.   Neck, upper back, quads, ITs, hamstrings with a little glut thrown in here and there.  It was unbelievably intense at times but now I feel like my body is moving smoother and more fluid.  Joints open, muscles long and lots of internal movement that I can still feel.

Can’t wait to swim tomorrow, 2200 yds, 3 x 100 each of which  I pledge to do under 1:30.  Big serving of pesto pasta for me tonight.

Good day today, active day today. Up at 5am for my daily drug and half bagel, PB, honey. Then down to the basement for 3 back to back episodes of the O.C. Definitely passes the time with little to no cranial effort. Off the bike and into the pool for a 70 minute pool run with 40 minutes in Z3, heart rate of about 165. Today’s training was enjoyable and not mentally taxing. Why are some days just so damn hard and many days (like today) are enjoyable, not rushed and completely ‘doable’?

Total workout time about 3:40 and then off to my office for 4 hours of massage. I had a break before my last client. Saw an opportunity and headed to Cafe Sole for a cup of joe, spicy green chili burrito and some solace. Just what I needed to recharge and finish off the day. Feeling the burn tonight but just got in for another massage tomorrow. Love the double massage week, just can’t beat it. There’s a sports massage final at the college tomorrow and they needed bodies. I’m happy to be a body. Off to bed….125 minute pool run tomorrow. Only one more week in the pool then I graduate to the elliptical. Running is in the near future….2 more weeks. Woo-freaking-Hoo!

After resurfacing from the best birthday hibernation ever I started the day with 2850 yd swim. Long pre-sets - 300 focus on consistent kick, 300 focus on swimming downhill, 450 focus on full rotation. I was able to zone out and glide through even though I felt like a tank (a little heavy in the water today). Main set was 500yds Z3 then 8×50 Z3 at consistent pace. Speed was not my middle name but consistency was, I nailed each one of those 50s on the nose each time. Exactly the same time for all 8. I love the long sets of race pace stuff…not cardiovascular hurt just get in the zone and go.

Followed up the workout with a visit to the accountant, we have a good feeling this year, hoping not to do the major bend over for the feds (maybe just a little bend over). We’re still a little sore from last year’s antics so we’re hoping for the best. It is days like today that I envy the ‘9 to 5 get a refund people’ but the remaining 364 days in the year, I wouldn’t trade my flexibility for anything.

Worked for the college then saw clients in my practice. I feel rested and recovered, just need to hang in for another 10 days until I get my next stabilizer. I’m realizing that training for ironman is going to be very similar to racing ironman. Instead of just making to the next aid station, I’ll be making it to the next stabilizer. That’s training in and of itself folks.

Good Night, Sleep Well.

Yesterday was my birthday, I’m officially 36 (still mid-thirties according to my friend Kristina). I had the brains to think ahead and take yesterday off, everyone should get their birthday off, it should be federal law. Up at 6 and on the bike for 7am, I had 53 miles to do mostly low zone spinning, BJ had 50 miles so it was fun to ride with him. On the trainer the ride took a little less than 4 hours, just in time to throw on my yoga stuff and catch the noon C2 class at Core Power Yoga. I was ready for solid food to say the least, we hit Whole Foods for a delicious lunch then home for a quick shower and off to receive a massage. The other part of that federal law will be a complimentary massage on your birthday, as a tax payer that pays for a ton of crap I’m against, I would be quite pleased to help pay for other people to receive massage.

After my massage I hit Lucy to spend the gift card my sister gave me the night before and then home for my birthday dinner of ol’school NY pizza, wine and caesar salad. Just what I wanted, you see last year I got bamboozled at the St. Julien and spent my 35 birthday half drunk and hungover. I still don’t think I’ve recovered fully and this year I just wanted a health filled day with my hubby and animals. So a 5 hour workout followed by massage followed by shopping followed by eating pizza and playing scrabble in my donut pjs was exactly what I wanted and exactly what I got.

My mom and dad sent me a Peace Lily which is just the perfect gift for me, I need more house plants, BJ gave me the iPod shuffle so now I can have one iPod for working out and my Nano for massage music, Susie (sista) took me out to dinner Monday night plus a few presents (always too generous that one)…lots of calls and well wishes from people close in my life. I didn’t reach out to the world yesterday but felt touched all day. It was the low key lovely birthday celebration that I wanted.

Been in the duldrums (as my mother would say) this week, I feel like someone needs to tie me to something very high in the air and let me shake it out. I’m not quite sure what it is….my injury, complete exhaustion, falling behind on life, having second thoughts about my abilities or maybe it was the $3,000 car bill from the mechanic this week or being in Winter Park last weekend and not snowboarding for lack of a pass, fear of being injured and complete disregard of ‘just for fun’ activities that I feel I can no longer take part in until after Ironman….ok, maybe it’s all those things. Oh yes, and I’m feeling like I look very old lately, I wish I didn’t have a conscious and could use some horribly chemical means tested solely on animals to rejuvenate my looks. Fortunately, that is not an option and I’m just going to have to save up for the acupuncture face lift.

Whatever the driving force is behind my recent blahs, I’ve been feeling indifferent to my Ironman quest and frankly uninterested in what’s to come. I know one thing for sure, this all needs to change RIGHT FREAKING NOW. So instead of wallowing in my lack of motivation and poor me ‘I can’t run’ attitude…I thought I would bring back some unfortunate moments in my life when really I should have been in the duldrums but in the relisency that is growing up, I persevered through these times just as I will continue to do in my future.

Let’s start with the home perm (aka body wave) I received from my mother at age 7 (I actually have no idea how old I was here). At least you can say that this photo is somewhat cute? I don’t know, the yellow turtle neck may not have been the best decision although I am sporting the ever cool long sleeve under short sleeve look. A big sorry to my husband, BJ who believes he was the one to invent this look, somehow it just doesn’t seem that way anymore.

Next…oh yes, moving on to the infamous 8th grade perm. It was Christmas vacation and I had heard that the Carr twins both got perms and were looking hot to trot. I needed one too, so down we went to Cantebury plaza in Sandwich, MA for yet another body wave. As you can see here, I was just a mess. Mullet turned perm turned orange from my hydrogen peroxide dreams of becoming a blonde. Coupled with another bad turtleneck choice, blue eyeshadow and my sister’s sweater which I can still remember smelled like b.o. or I suppose the stench could have been from my mother’s 50 year old padded bra that I decided to wear that day. This day was obviously consumed by poor choices. Why did I EVER choose this class picture with the ‘look away’ affect. Why? Maybe it was to help me get out of my funk 23 years later. I’m cringing right now because this day is burned in my memory and I can bring it back like it was this morning. We need to move on….

Ahhhh, this permed out photo montage would simply not be complete without a ski photo. Sunday River with my dad and brother, I bought those glasses in the lodge, they were $27 dollars not including the matching de-glow croakies. The jacket….boy, there was huge drama over the jacket. You see it was $199 at Puritans in the Cape Cod Mall, I dragged my boyfriend John into the store and bossed the crap out of him to buy this jacket for me for Christmas. In the meantime, in Jessica fashion, I had a back up plan in case John couldn’t fork up the green backs for this stellar white CB…I told my parents about it and how I couldn’t live if I didn’t get this as my big present. Well, I ended up with two of the same jackets and returned my parents, kept John’s just so I could say that my boyfriend bought it for me. I remember his mother was so pissed that he bought this for me and I know she blamed it on me.

So why did I want this jacket so much? Hello? Can you not see that it matched perfectly with my rear entry boots, neck gator and rossignol ski’s? Need I say more? Really? Do I have to explain this photo any further?

So if I got everything I wanted, why do I look so mad in this photo. It could have been the fact that I was hanging out with my dad and brother or I could have just been having one of my moments or maybe it was the fact that those glasses hurt so bad on my head I remember I had grooves in the side of my face from them. But above all, the question at hand here is, where the hell is my helmet because what I’m about to go down looks pretty steep?

I’m so glad I shared these photos today, if you’re lucky there could be more coming. Or maybe I’ll post one of my husband with his 2nd grade mustache? Oooo, that is a nice photo. But for now, I’ll leave you with this….obviously I have survived tougher times then what I’m currently experiencing so starting RIGHT FREAKING NOW, I’m psyched back up for Ironman and cannot wait to jump back into the thick of things on Monday. Bring it on!