30 January 10: The Glamorous Life . . .

Posted on 31. Jan, 2010 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 2 Comments

Although I will never complain about being able to call triathlon my job, I think it’s only fair that I share its high and low points here. Sometimes the challenge in making a living at this sport extends beyond the 9:30+ hours on race day and the months of preparation for that event:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Team_Challenge_takes_2009_Barcelona_organizer_to_court_1188.html

29 January 10: Special Gifts for Me!

Posted on 29. Jan, 2010 by hillarybiscay in Blog | No Comments

Cloudy, rainy days in Tucson are a novelty. I just had to bring the waterproof camera out for our morning jog yesterday because I love the way the trails look so different in this weather.

It turns out that our friend Matty brought a special gift for me: the stomach flu! My Wednesday workouts were harder than they should have been given what my Garmin and the pace clock were telling me, and then yesterday Matty and I got in an easy jog before this bug knocked me out. Not fun. On top of the normal discomfort of being sick, I think that being sick as an athlete is even more miserable, because I add additional torture to what my stomach is doing by lying there worrying about missing training and… Read More

26 January 10: Matty's here!!!

Posted on 27. Jan, 2010 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 2 Comments

Last night the GCM and I received a special delivery from Bend, Oregon: our dear friend Matty Lieto (of beaver hunting fame)!! 

Of course he brought his Trek for some sunshiney bike riding . . . He is here for a couple weeks of training and we are SO excited to have a new training partner–and another person to serve coffee from our new machine. Matty’s order this morning: a large coffee with two espresso shots in it. Now that’s our kind of guy!

This is Matty threatening to take revenge on the GCM for dropping him in the first few miles of the ride at Ironman Lake Placid last summer.

The conversation went something like this:

Matty: “Payback’s a . .… Read More

24 January 10: Run Camp: Check!

Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 1 Comment

Flashback to another epic day for running . . . 2008 Ironman Lake Placid

After two runs and an easy swim today, run camp is officially complete. The forecast for today–particularly for today’s treadmill intervals–was not good. Yesterday I spent all afternoon pretty much glued to the couch, without energy even to make the phone calls on the list I had sitting in front of me. My legs felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to them.

Thanks to my lovely other half, I had a healthy dinner delivered to me on the couch. He was tired too, but whipped up a mixed-veggie salad and soy cheese pizza. I am not sure if it was the dinner, the quality time on the foam roller last night, or… Read More

23 January 10: What doesn't kill you . . .

Posted on 24. Jan, 2010 by hillarybiscay in Blog | No Comments

You know the saying. It’s one of my favorites. And it came in quite handy on today’s run. You see, this weekend marks the end of my run block and my run legs have definitely seen better days.

I had a plan for today’s long run that made me really excited. I didn’t care how tired my legs were; I wanted to finish run camp with a run up Mt. Lemmon. That’s 25 miles on the road up a mountain, starting at about 3.000 feet above sea level and ending at over 8,000. You’ve read here about our rides up the mountain; this ride is one of our favorites. But every time I am riding up it, I think, “Why not run?” It was one of my training goals… Read More