I have to admit, I had a pretty great summer and I’m sad to see it go (then again I’m ALWAYS sad to see summer go). I got in lots of riding and swimming with friends, and even some competing.
First up was the Max Performance Harvest sprint tri in June: unexpected 1st place! Even without really running (stupid injuries).
Harvest Tri Podium
In July, I did my first (only?) 10k swim at Swim With a Mission in New Hampshire. Training for this was my main focus for the spring and early summer, so I was really happy to complete it. My longest swim ever! I was also pleased that I did it a little quicker than I expected. My goal was 3 hours, and I came in just under. I was so lucky that Coach Bill Steele offered to be my kayaker. He took great care of me. He’s such a pro! Here’s some video from the day.
I thought I was done after my 10k, but in August, about a week before the event, I decided to do the Sharon Aquabike, another Max Performance event (they run great races). 2nd place to my sister, who was first! I made it to mile 9 before she went whizzing by me. I call that a win.
And because we always look for ways to extend summer, my husband and I signed up for a SwimTrek in AZ at the end of September. It was wonderful to get another week of hot sunny days and long beautiful swims.
And now I’ll start to hibernate until next Spring.
I’m not exactly sure why 1 team isn’t enough, but here I am, signed up with three. Go figure.
I’ve been on Team EnVision (TE) for quite a few years now – I joined to keep a friend company. Of course she lost interest. I remained.
This will be my 2nd year with AIM multisport. I decided to support them when they invited TE members to take part in their trail running and track series. I definitely need the running help! And it’s a nice group with great coaches: Karen Smyers and Becky Paige (coach for both TE and AIM).
Then there was the opportunity to join I Race Like a Girl (IRLAG). It seemed like a good organization: supporting women/girl athletes and all, so… three teams it is! IRLAG has members all over so there’s a big on-line community.
As part of IRLAG, we are encouraged to take part in challenges, always with a social media component (not my strong suit, but I’m trying). This month is the 25K swim challenge (yards or meters) – right up my alley! I finished that part pretty quickly. I’m working on the facebook/instagram part (I: swimlaurieswim), and then there’s the goal business. I figure if I’m going to bother doing this, I might as well come up with something good. I’ve been saying that I want to do a longer swim for a few years now, so I guess this could be that year.
10K swim, here I come! I hope. I’ll try. We’ll see. Yikes! Any tips? I’ve done a few 2-mile and 5k swims and survived pretty well.
I’ll be taking part in the Swim with a Mission fundraiser in NH in July. Can I hate war and the military industrial complex and still support our veterans? Yes. I believe there should be services in place for the men and women who serve our country when they come home. Reentry can’t be easy. If you are so inclined, please feel free to donate a few bucks to the cause: https://grouprev.com/swimwithamission2019-laurie-ellis
SWIM! My husband and I went to Baja with SwimTrek in December. It was great! It was a little cooler than I had hoped, so I was really glad I brought my shorty wetsuit.
Now I’ll be concentrating on increasing my yardage in preparation for July. I know I don’t have to go crazy yet, but I want to get comfortable with longer stints in the water. The mental part could be my undoing!
BIKE! Computrainer at Grace Bicycles on Sundays, a 3-month 1xweek Indoor cycling class through Lexington Recreation, and ZWIFT! I’m a new semi-convert (not a total zwift fiend. Yet). It sure makes trainer riding more enjoyable (if “enjoyable” is the right word). Gotta get ready to hit the roads again as soon as it’s warm enough. For me, that generally means not much below 50, preferably 70+!
READ! I’m slogging through The Historian right now. There’s a promise of vampires so I keep reading, but I’m ready to start skipping sections. It’s 642 pages and I’m getting bored. BRING ON THE VAMPIRES ALREADY!! I might fling it.
and EAT! Nothing exciting in this department. I need to get inspired.
It wasn’t that pretty, and I wasn’t that happy, but I survived my second Patriot Half Aquabike this past June. I’ve decided that this race does NOT need to be an annual event. It wasn’t awful, and I wasn’t that far off my times from last year, but I stopped having fun on the bike at about mile 30. Actually that’s not true. I got a little punchy at about mile 30, and the enjoyment (was there ever any enjoyment?) was completely gone by about mile 45 of the 56-mile course. From then on, it was just kind of grueling. The swim, of course, was great!
Unfortunately I had no desire to get on my bike again after the event. That’s not good. Luckily that feeling only lasted a few days, and then I was back to riding with friends and enjoying the rest of the summer.
After the Patriot pain, I did the swim leg for a couple tri relays: one olympic distance, one sprint. We won! Go us! My husband and I did the VT Farm to Fork Fondo – will ride for snacks! – and I rode a metric century with a friend along the beautiful New England coast.
And now it’s October. How did that happen?! Oh, right, it happens every year. And every year I get upset about it and start layering on clothes and complaining about being cold. I also usually say “THIS year, I’m going to embrace winter!” and that lasts about a week until it starts to get really cold. I’m nothing if not consistent, I guess.
Tri pics from summer ’18
Now what? I’ll ride until my hands and feet go numb, do some trail running with AIM, a women’s multisport group, and swim with my local masters group. I’m trying to ramp up my swimming in preparation for a SwimTrek this winter. Happy Fall, happy training, playing, and resting!
I wasn’t expecting to do the Patriot Half Aquabike again this year, but I went and signed up for it anyway. What was I thinking?! Maybe I’m trying to get over my racing angst? Maybe racing is fun? A lot of people seem to think so. I even said it was kind of fun last year. If only I could remember that feeling! If only I could get out of my own way and enjoy it! Actually, once I get going, I don’t even think about what I’m doing. – I just go. It’s the time leading up to the start that makes me crazy.
Well, anyway, the race is on June 16th, so I’m either ready or I’m not. The problem is that since I did this race last year, I have some performance expectations (no, I’m not competitive at all 
). Will I beat last year? I can try! I know a lot of people doing this race, so even if I self-destruct, it should be a good time socially.
As of now, this is the only race I’m doing so I can go back to my usual no stress swim/bike playing once it’s over.
Happy racing!
SWIM: same old, same old. Finally getting outside now that it’s warm enough.
BIKE: friends make my wheels go round.
READ: as usual, some good books (for example, Little Fires Everywhere, My Absolute Darling), and some lousy ones (not worth linking). I’m getting better about flinging the crappy stuff.
and… EAT!: I haven’t been that inspired lately, so no pictures to show or recipes to share.
It’s official. I completed my first century ride on October 1st: the CRW Cranberry Century. 101 miles to be exact. Don’t forget that ‘1’ – the last mile is always a killer!
It was a beautiful ride in Southeastern Massachusetts. We cruised the rolling hills of Miles Standish State Forest, saw cranberry bogs, and had our 73-mile stop at the very picturesque Mattapoisett Harbor. 
It was about 45 degrees when we started out (brr!), but warmed up into the very comfortable mid-60s.
Charles River Wheelers (CRW) puts on a great ride. Plenty of snacks at the well-placed aid stations – it was like doing 4 x +/-25-mile rides. I found it really helpful to think of the day in segments. And there was pie – Petsi’s pies – Petsi’s bourbon chocolate pecan pie – at the end. I think I’m in love.
Huge thanks to my two riding partners, Michelle and Melaney, for making sure I didn’t bail out in favor of the 66-mile ride (I admit, I was tempted), and for making the ride so pleasant.
Will I do it again? Sure! Or some other one. Now that I’ve done it, I think I can do it again!
Riding home afterward, the conversation turned to food, as it often does. Michelle mentioned stuffed peppers. So I made a couple. Yellow peppers stuffed w/a brown rice mixture of onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, edamame, cheese, various spices, salsa, random other stuff… More cheese (can never have too much cheese). See for yourself!
(photos, other than the peppers, thanks to Michelle)
I’m done. I was actually supposed to be done after the Patriot half aquabike in June, but then, silly me, I signed up to do the Cranberry Oly aquabike. And in between those two events was a 2-mile swim, and after Cranberry there was a 3-mile swim. That’s WAY more competing than I usually do. The weird thing is, I didn’t hate it. I (dare I say?) kind of enjoyed it! My self-talk has me saying that I don’t like to compete, that I get too stressed and crazy so it’s not worth it. Maybe that’s not as true anymore. Maybe it was a defense mechanism that I don’t need anymore. Granted, I’m not keen on the 4am wake-up that goes along with a lot of races…
SWIM: My last event was the 3-mile Quassapaug Open Water Swim Challenge in Middlebury, CT. Beautiful location. I hope the air will be warmer than 48 degrees the next time I do it, though!
Luckily the water was 70. If I actually train for distance next summer, I might even attempt doing all 3 swims to total 5 miles.
I’m probably done with OW swimming now, so it’s back to the pool.
BIKE: I was really happy (and a bit surprised) to average 19.3 for 26 miles at the Cranberry Oly! Now I can relax. Phew.
I’m working up to doing a century on October 1st: CRW’s Cranberry Harvest Century. It should be pretty. If it rains, though, I’m out!
READ: Some good books, some crap. I’ll be doing some beach reading soon, since I’m going on vacation. I recommend The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah, and Little Bee, by Chris Cleave.
and… EAT! Nothing very inspiring, although I made a great banana bread recently. Oh, I borrowed a dehydrator from my local library and dried tomatoes from our garden. Who knew you could borrow such a thing?! I’m eating dried tomatoes like candy.
On to “off” season. I get to do more gym classes and computrainer now! Fun!
Happy Fall
My first (and only?) half IM aquabike is done, and I’m pretty pleased with how I did.
1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike
It was drizzly on race day. Not ideal for biking, but I only *almost* wiped out once. Go me! I call that a success. I might write up a race report. I might not…
Picture from Capstone Photography. For some reason I look happy. Must have been the endorphins!
Tomorrow! I guess this 1/2 IM aquabike thing is really going to happen. June 17th had to come around sometime, after all. Am I ready? Eh. We’ll see. Shady and I are going to see the Wonder Woman movie today – maybe I can channel WW’s awesomeness during the race. After race reward planned? You bet! We’re going to see Dead & Co. Sunday night.
Wish me luck (I’ll just wish myself luck, since I don’t think anybody reads this anyway)!
In the throes of an endorphin-filled haze, I signed up for an event. Not just any event, but one of the bigger, more competitive races in my area: The Patriot Half IM. I’m not completely crazy – I’m doing the aquabike (since I don’t really run), but still: 1.2-mile swim + 56-mile bike is pretty ambitious for me! If you’ve read some of my earlier posts, you may recall that I run hot and cold about racing. Usually cold, unless it’s a swim-only event.
So how did this crazy lapse in judgement occur? COMPUTRAINER! Evil. Painful. And that glorious feeling of being capable of doing anything when the session was over. That feeling apparently lasted until I got home and whipped out my credit card to register. That was in mid-December. The race has been on my mind ever since. Now it’s a month away. Yikes! Am I ready? We’ll see!
So what else is new? In addition to the tried and true swim/bike/(hobble)run, I’m trying to do more regular weight-training. It’s not as bad as I feared! I had a few sessions with a personal trainer (LOVE my trainer!), and I take some circuit-training type gym classes. It’s really helpful having someone tell me what to do.
Swim: My usual pool routine, but now that it’s (finally) getting warmer, I’ll be wriggling into my wetsuit (and 2 caps, and booties – it’s not THAT warm yet) and heading out to Walden Pond and Mystic Lake for some OWS.
Bike: Ramping up mileage so the 56-mile Patriot course won’t completely destroy me (it WILL destroy me, but I’ll pretend it won’t for the sake of saving face). I’m riding with my friends again! It’s wonderful to be outside rather than stuck in spin class. Computrainer is a whole ‘nother beast from spin. I went to quite a few computrainer classes at Grace Bicycles over the winter, and I’m pretty sure my masochism has paid off in at least a little extra speed. That’s the hope, anyway.
Read: I read everything by Anita Shreve and Jodi Picoult, and lucky me, they both came out with new books recently. The Stars are Fire, by Anita Shreve, and Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult. Both are really good. I’m not going to give anything away. Get them. Read them. I also read a lot of crap, which I definitely won’t recommend.
Happy Spring! Happy Training!
I’m done swimming outside, and my long bike rides are coming to an end with the colder weather, so I’m back at the gym, checking out Harvard’s group ex classes. Every year I tell myself I’m going to step outside of my comfort zone (at least once) and try a new gym class. So far I’ve tried 5 new ones! And I will probably continue attending 2 of them.
Balletone! No. I flunked out of ballet once already (ok, I was 5, but still). At least there were some moves that could be called exercise as opposed to only floaty graceful arm movements. Requires more choreography than I care for.
Zumba! No. I guess I can see the appeal, but by the time I figured out the moves, the class was over and I didn’t even raise my heart rate or sweat. Actually I never did figure out the moves, and I felt more uncoordinated than usual. I’ll stick to straight forward exercise, thanks. No need to sugarcoat it for me. I do love to dance, but the deadhead in me doesn’t do well with specific moves or being told what to do. Maybe that says more about my problem with authority? 😉
Aqua Fitness! Fun, but unlikely to do again. If I’m in the water, I’d rather be swimming laps. I can see doing it in a pinch, though, or with a group of friends.
HIIT Cardio! Yes! Clear, obvious exercise.
Barre! Yes! I was a little worried that it would be too much like ballet, but the class seems to cull the exercise part from the dancing part. I can work with that. Lots of small movements that really focus on specific muscles.
What’s your favorite class? What should I keep an eye out for and try next?
And in eating news… my mom and I made cookies when I visited recently. They’re safe and secure in the freezer so they won’t disappear before Thanksgiving.
swim.bike.read. 