I just wanted to give all my East Coast friends plenty of advance notice on a December event because I am hoping to see a lot of you there . . . While Maiki and I are having our New York City holiday, I get to take the train over to Fairfield, Connecticut for a night at the Trek store. On Monday, December 21st at 6PM, I will be doing a talk and having a Q and A session in the store. Details to come. Looking forward to meeting you there–save the date!

Maiki and I had a climbing extravaganza-weekend. And we loved it. Lots of hills with a little virtual-ironman-spectating (Ironman Florida) thrown in equals a fun-filled weekend for us.

Yesterday we did “Saturday Mt. Lemmon Day,” riding for a few hours, including our weekly Mt. Lemmon time trial (25-mile mountain climb). Then, after a little transition run, we hurried into Le Buzz, a yummy coffee shop near the mountain, to get on a wireless connection as soon as possible. There was no time to drive back across town, because we might have missed our friends in Florida finishing the race! So we settled in with our triple-shot soy lattes and salads for an afternoon of live video coverage of the race . . .

The highlight was BH’s 20+ minute PR of 9:35!! The wedding-week smashfest paid off! She was super-strong all day and finished in eighth.

Hillfest weekend, naturally, included running hill repeats today. This was a new workout from Coach Muffin–long hill reps–and it enabled me to show Maiki one of Tucson’s finer training venues, which he had yet to experience: ‘A’ Mountain, also properly named Sentinel Peak (pictured at top). It’s a lovely quiet road that wraps around this mountain, and is a favorite location for cycling hill rep sessions. Today during my “easy jog down” on the my running hill reps, I discovered what a crazy-huge view of Tucson the top of the mountain affords–I usually miss it while descending on my bike! It is an incredible view! Oooh and I also became painfully familiar with exactly which sections of the road are the steepest, etc….It hurt so good. I loved the smashfest and also especially appreciated the way that my Oakley Thump (mp3-playing sunglasses) covered up my dying animal noises. Poor Maiki. I only know because I heard them during the small silences between songs . . . Another big week of training in the books and it is time for bed! 6:30 AM swim tomorrow morning.

No, you are not going to be subjected to photos from all of my training sessions from here forward, but having Maiki alongside me for all of them right now, I am taking this opportunity to get pictures of some my favorite training sights that I’ve always meant to record on film. Plus, let’s be honest: this job keeps Maiki from falling asleep while being forced to run at my pace!

front side of Gates Pass

The photo frenzy will be short-lived as he did announce, just before swim session #2 for the day commenced yesterday, that he will never be volunteering for the role of whipping boy ever again. It might have something to do with this run for which he had the pleasure of joining me all morning yesterday. There were many longing glances directed towards his beloved Scott Plasma as we headed out the door . . .

Nevertheless, because he is a man of his word, he had three hours of running fun and you get to see it! The Gates Pass loop is a little run that I invented because it’s a beautiful loop over a mountain pass that people here in Tucson frequently do by bike, so I figured, why not run it? I’ve been running it since my first visit here three years ago, but I have yet to see anyone else for a jog out there. For some reason, it seems that my favorite three-hour run hasn’t caught on . . . Except with the GCM, who also enjoys it–just not so much as a “bonus workout” done at my pace . . .  I still get some crazy looks out there in the middle of the desert, on the narrow, winding roads, and also some words of encouragement from the more friendly cyclists.

heading down the back side . . .

the road down the back side . . . When traveling this route by foot, I find that I actually have time to take in the scenery–as opposed to flying through it on the bike.

heading out to Kinney Road . . .

left on Kinney . . .

all the way out to Ajo Highway, back towards town. Then  turn left on  La Cholla, and left on Starr Pass/ 22nd, back to the resort area (start) . . .

40th birthday party preparations are well underway here in Tucson. Touch wood, Ironman Cozumel will be my fortieth iron-distance finish. I can’t think of a better reason for an end-of-season party! Even more special will be to spend this birthday with some of my friends who will be celebrating their first ironman finish there in Mexico. I can’t wait.

This season is my longest tri season yet, as I raced my first iron-distance race at Challenge Wanaka in January, and will carry on through Cozumel (my 8th ironman this year), which is the last weekend in November. Indeed I raced nine ironmans last year, but I began with Wanaka and was more than ready for a big off-season when the Hawaii Ironman came in October.

Last week when I was a smashed crab, I had begun to think that this season’s length had begun to take its toll. But, with my legs back under me this week, my super-focused, make-every-session-count mode has returned as well  . . . Thanks to that mindset, the GCM, Coach Muffin, and the Gold’s Gym treadmill, I had an epic brick session yesterday. The warm weather has returned to Tucson, so it was in the mid-90s, which contributed as well.

Anyways, after three years of training under Brett Sutton, with some of the most amazing training partners one could ask for, it is not often that I have workouts–especially of the brick (bike-run combination) variety–that can equal or better my best sessions there. But yesterday’s session was one of them.

Today was a “swim-only” day, so in addition to having a season-planning meeting with one of my star athletes, Marc Rubin,  the GCM and I got a little reward for yesterday’s efforts! My family was having cupcakes back home last  night in honor of my dad’s “birthday week”; I was very sad to miss out,  so today we found Tucson’s new cupcake shop. Yum.

Yesterday was indeed a great day for running. How could one not be inspired by all of the various scenes from the New York Marathon to which we were treated throughout the day? I got goosebumps so many times over: first watching the online coverage, then reading results–and seeing Desiree Ficker in the women’s top ten with a 2:39–and then watching the NBC broadcast in the afternoon. It was just awesome to watch one of our own–someone I have had the pleasure racing with for years now–competing with the world’s best in the marathon and running at this speed which is–to me–unfathomable.

This was just what I needed to get excited about my Sunday morning run–not something for which I usually need extra motivation. But this week I had not had a good run since Monday. You see, my coach gave me a bit of free reign over my schedule while I was in San Diego, since we would have to switch things around a bit for the wedding weekend. Well, it turns out that I took this as an opportunity to do bonus miles here, there, and everywhere. Back-to-back long runs on the weekend also seemed like a good idea. Then I wondered why everything came crashing down after last Monday–why I had about five consecutive days of feeling pretty terrible in every training session. The only reason I can provide the aforementioned explanation for these consequences now is because Coach had to explain it to me–something I should have figured out, because it isn’t the first time I have done this to myself. Surprise. But this is why I have a coach.

After our dose of New York Marathon inspiration, Maiki and I hit the trails that we love so much, which begin just down the street our house. We’d been meaning to take some running pics next to the huge cacti lining these trails, so Maiki did the honors yesterday. . .

As soon as I started running, something felt amazing–and it wasn’t my legs. They actually felt okay, finally. It was my new miracle shoes:

The K-Swiss Ultra-Natural II. I mentioned my shipment of new K-Swiss supplies last week, and these were part of it. I’ve been so in love with my K-Onas from day one that it had never concerned me that I hadn’t tried these shoes; I didn’t think it would be possible for another run shoe to feel better. But after testing these shoes out on the trail yesterday morning, and then on the road in the evening, I sent the K-Swiss guys an email demanding why the heck they had been hiding these things from me all year?!? They seem to provide my foot with a little bit more support than the K-Onas (perhaps the shape is just slightly better for my foot), but are not noticeably heavier than the K-Onas. The feeling really is incredible. In fact just thinking about it has them calling my name right now . . . time for another run!

Christmas came early in Tucson this week. First, the airlines delivered one German Cycling Machine/ training partner/ better half to me. As if that wasn’t enough, K-Swiss Christmas also arrived about the same time.

Just the night before, I had actually donated my last pair of K-Ona S to the gym trash can in order to stop myself from wearing them one more time . . . Usually, I take my old shoes to the local running store, where they are collected for some sort of worthwhile re-use. But I had to physically separate myself from this particular pair of “well-loved” shoes.

Now I have beautiful new K-Swiss shoes and training gear for every occasion; there’s nothing like some cute new gear to make a workout that much more fun! Ooh and I have some fun new between-training wear–a.k.a. tennis clothes. I heart K-Swiss tennis skirts and dresses . . . They comprise my “normal clothes” wardrobe. Pictures of my new favorite K-Swiss stuff forthcoming . . .

And then tonight we have the GCM’s first Halloween! There isn’t much trick-or-treating going on in my neighborhood, so I wanted to take him to one where he could witness this tradition. But then I realized it would probably look really creepy if two adults were roaming around a little neighborhood with no kids of their own, just looking at children in costumes. Fortunately for us, however, trick-or-treating at businesses is apparently quite popular these days. We didn’t do that back in Palos Verdes. But maybe that’s because there aren’t really many businesses there . . . Anyways, soliciting the local shops and restaurants for candy seems to be the thing here in Tucson–and it also saved us from being totally creepy. Instead, we are camped out here at one of our favorite local coffee shops, the B-Line (on Fourth Street) with our computers and soy lattes, checking out the costumes–and having lessons on things like the definition of the word “candy” and where the name “trick-or-treat-er” comes from. My little sister, who is dressed in full costume as Sleeping Beauty while  doing up the New York City nightlife with her friends, told me that this makes us “nerds.” Probably true. Happy Halloween!

Maiki is back in Tucson with me! Unfortunately, a Germany-cold spell hit my town for a couple days just in time for Maiki’s return . . . Still, the skies are blue and the sun is shining, so he is loving it. My GCM is in his off-season now, since Kona was his last race for the year. He has kindly volunteered to play whipping boy for my last month of training before Ironman Cozumel, and then in December we will have a little vacation time. We’re going to take a couple trips without bicycles–imagine that–and I can show Maiki some of the parts of this country that he has yet to experience. In the meantime, he is being a real trooper; his “welcome back” day consisted of a long run followed by two swim sessions . . . Okay, so his playing whipping boy won’t just help me: project GCM-SWIM continues!

“Do we really have to get back in the pool in four hours?!?”

Between sessions, we indulged in one of our favorite pastimes: eating overpriced pre-made meals and drinking Kombucha at Whole Foods . . . So good to have my boy back!

FINALLY! Soon every day will be GCM day here in Tucson. I am about to go get my other half from the airport. He’s been home in Germany for just over two weeks and is coming back to Tucson for good this time! Well “for good” is a relative term in our world, but we will be here for more than a few consecutive months. We are very excited about this, and hope we don’t have to do even 2.5 weeks apart ever again. I can’t wait to have my training partner back!

until my little sister gets married, which will inevitably be the subject of many gratuitous bride pics here . . . Don’t worry, though, she will first have to actually accept a date with a boy–which is something she is rarely persuaded to do.

But now, more of Katya’s wedding weekend! She was indeed the most beautiful bride ever.

Thursday evening, we followed our long ride with a bridal shower–girls’ night! I was so spoiled last week with a girlfriend-overload. It was awesome. I set up Katya and one of my BFFs from the USC Swim Team, Corrie, who also lives in San Diego, and I love that they now hang out all the time. Here we are together.

Katya opened gifts–lots of lingerie and cookware. I contributed vegan and vegetarian cookbooks.

Then we had a busy day on Friday, beginning with the “Wedding Swim,” which I’ve already detailed here. Saturday was wedding day: 3PM. The week before, I had sent my coach an email about planning wedding-week training. I made a comment like, “It would be great if my long ride could be Thursday, because I don’t think BH will want to train for five hours on the morning of her wedding.”

Coach Muffin has known my BH for a long time, and knows her pretty well by this point. He called me and said, “Um, Katya doesn’t want to train for five hours on her wedding day?! I have a hard time believing that. Because I am pretty sure you will train five hours on your wedding day . . .”

He was right, as usual. I had to clarify: “Actually, ‘doesn’t want to train five hours’ was not the right choice of words. It’s more like it will be logistically difficult, since the thing starts at 3Pm and there are hair, makeup and picture extravaganzas to be done beforehand.”

A two-hour run was completely do-able, however. So that is what we did: a beautiful run along the coast. I couldn’t get enough of these last week, since I don’t get to run by the ocean so much these days.  I sneakily hoped that Friday’s swim smashfest would tire out my little runner friend, but no such luck . . . Wheew. I must say we never stopped talking and laughing for two hours, to the extent that some runner dude we crossed paths with yelled “(You are having) Too much fun!” But I was breathing so hard that I had to periodically ask BH to repeat herself over my loud noise. She can run. I loved it.

The I skipped hair and makeup and squeezed in a swim!

I’m not sure what the heck I am doing in the photo below . . . We were trying to make sure our K-Swiss logos were showing–always important! But I just had to post before and after pics. Below we are in downtown Del Mar, right by the wedding site, just after finishing the wedding-morning two-hour run . . .

and then here we are a few hours later:

Katya and her bridesmaids (her little sis Genevieve is to her left)

With her other half, the famous “Cupper” or, “Cupcake”!

Playing bridesmaid outside the church

With our friend Kerri!

With our “adopted mom” Jules, who did a reading (about bicycle riding, of course) during the ceremony

And one more of the beautiful bride . . .

Watch for her at Ironman Florida in two weeks!

I don’t know why the idea hadn’t occurred to me sooner–perhaps because my Better Half isn’t a huge fan of swimming. In fact I believe she enjoys it less than the GCM does. So because I am trying to be a good bridesmaid and make my training plan accomodate hers this week (It’s not too difficult given our shared affinity for smashing ourselves and the fact that we both have ironman races coming up in the next few weeks.), I had never considered sharing my favorite special-occasion gift with her: the birthday set.

But when I emailed my local friend, Tom, about meeting up at masters swimming this morning, and made the comment, “It will be a party,” he assumed it was a party of the aforementioned variety. When I tried to clarify, he wrote, “Disclaimer: In no way am I suggesting 100×100, but I tend to be stupid enough to be easily convinced (grad school at USC didn’t make us smarter, obviously).”

A thinly disguised challenge from a fellow Trojan . . . Well, it was worth at least mentioning to BH.
Her quick reply with logistical questions reminded me of one of the many reasons why I love my BH: she is like me in that no matter how crazy, once a challenge is issued or she gets this sort of “bee in her bonnet,” she will figure out a way to make it happen. 

And this is how the “Birthday Set”–or the swim workout comprised of 100×100 repeats–became the “Wedding Set” . . . And now will be used to commemorate any kind of special occasion!

Today, being the day before the wedding, we had a full day of activities, beginning with a 9AM wedding rehearsal. The Wedding Set enabled us to feel like we had actually done a decent workout in today.

I seem to switch up the intervals and equipment patterns every time I do this set, depending on how I’m feeling and with whom I’m swimming. This is how we did it today (in short course yards):

10 warm-up, swimming 75 free-25 back @ 1:30
20 swim @ 1:20
20 swim @ 1:15
40 pull with paddles, buoy, band @ 1:15
10 swim, 25 sprint-75 (50 free-25 back) easy @ 1:30

It worked really well because the bride was able to do her longest swim ever–8000 yards–by doing the first and last sets of 100s with us, and then doing the 80 as 75s, leaving on our send-off times. She realized that 8000 can be fun and will be hitting the 10,000 mark next time; in fact she would have done it today had she not needed to rush off to the church to practice that little wedding thing!