What Goes Up Must Come Down....Really?

(I meant to post this yesterday)

I'm sad to be going home today after such a great weekend!  My plan only called for a 60 minute run today but I had to capitalize on the gorgeous weather and scenery and strechted it to an hour and 50 minutes.  I haven't ran solo (except for the treadmill) for such a long time...I forgot how peaceful it is to just get lost in yourself for awhile. No music, no distractions....just me and nature!  I set off to run around the lake but didn't do my homework so I wasn't quite sure of the route...I turned it in to an out and back with a couple little diversions.  I was a little worried that I would be sore after yesterday's climb fest on the bike, but I felt great!  Here are a few pics I took while I was out there:

3 Weeks into My Training!

I just finished up my week 3 long ride!  Aaron and I decided to take a weekend away from the heat in Phoenix and go to Big Bear Lake in California.  I found a local cycling group (Big Bear Cycling Association) to ride with this morning...it was AWESOME!  I was a little nervous because I didn't realize the elevation was so high here, but it felt great!  I've never done so much climbing in my life...I actually didn't do so bad on the climbing sections but the downhills were scary!  I should have taken some pictures....it was crazy!  We drove the summit road to get to Big Bear and I remember thinking that there was no way I was going to ride it.  I'm glad that the group didn't tell me we were going to ride there!  I thought we were just going to ride around the lake but a couple of people mentioned wanting to get more miles in (me included) so that's where we headed.  The leader just told me to get in the middle of the group and hold on tight!  LOL  We did about 40 miles total.

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing my long run.  My plan only calls for 1 hour but I don't really have anything else to do so I'll probably do a little bit more :)  We'll see how the elevation treats me tomorrow.  

I forgot about how sensitive my skin is to the California sun...my arms are crispy!

So far, my training is going great!  I am so much more comfortable in the water and I'm still working on my confidence on the bike, but I'm sure that will come with a little bit more time.  I'm not writing as much as I had hoped that I would, but I'll work on that too.  

It's amazing what the body can do!  I never thought that I would be training for an Ironman and here I am doing it and feeling great!