It's good to be GOLD!

I have a confession to make.

Yesterday morning, my friend and I got up at the butt crack of dawn and drove to Solana Beach to wait in line and see if we could get one of 50 remaining entries into the race this morning. I'm happy to report that we were #47 or 50, and thus "Team Smackdown" was born.....

We really didn't think about this until a few days ago, when we got jealous of all the other Divas doing the race. Since I'm a short-timer now and need to get as many CA race t-shirts as possible before I move, I just had to enter, but my body has not been feeling up to a full-fledged sprint a week after Pendleton. My crazy friend (code name "Cali Girl" -- hubby's nickname for her) got strangly excited about doing the swim leg of the relay, and of course, I would only bike.....so we went on a search for a runner. When everyone else rejected us, we ended up with our Assistant Coach. We'll call her "Uber Runner." You see, she's an Ironman many times over, but she just so happens to have a 21 minute 5K in her as well. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Cha-ching!

We hit the relay jackpot. This morning was awesome!!! Cali Girl got all ready for the swim and stood around in her wetsuit on the beach for over an hour and 20 minutes before her wave went off. Apparently, by that time, the tide was coming in but it was leaving quite a bit of shallow water to wade/dolphin dive through before making it past the break. When the first few relay swimmers came into transition, they said that there was a huge set that came in right as the relay went off and that quite a number of people got pummeled by the third wave. Crap! I was hoping Cali Girl just survived at this point....screw speed. Then I saw Uber Runner sprinting toward transition from the beach. She was going to stay with Cali Girl when she got out of the water and assist in the timing chip handoff.

"Where is Cali Girl?" I yelled. She said that she was coming, so I unracked my bike and watched as the other relay teams started heading up on the bike. Sure enough, she lived and made it to the top of the hill. She sprinted in across the mat and looked like she was in a world of hurt. Good times! Uber Runner grabbed the chip, put it on my leg, and then I took off out of transition like a bat out of hell. It's hard to run in LOOK cleats, especially on wet pavement, but I was sprinting and yelling at people to get out of my way.

The bike was a quick 9-mile course. 2 loops of relatively flat portions of the Pacific Coast Highway. (Pretty positive that was where we were) It was beautiful coming up out of Solana and down the big hill with the ocean coming right up to the road. I just felt so lucky to be out there. From the second I got on the bike, I was hurting. I didn't want to see anything in the teens on my speedometer, so whenever I dropped below 20, I geared up or stood up to pedal faster and harder. There was nothing pleasurable about the bike at this point, just a good old fashion grind. I passed EVERYONE. Seriously, I was never once passed out there on course and I took out everyone that ended up in front of me. Was I drafting??? Mmmmaybe. But not intentionally. Sometimes you had a huge group of slowpokes to pass and someone would swerve out in front of me and pass with me. But I'd pass them in the end. I didn't need to draft. I owned them! OK, just kidding...... But I really felt strong out there and gave it everything I had.

Coming into transition, I was pissed that there was no timing mat for the bike. That means my bike split contains both T1 and T2. So I looked down at my watch and had a split of 26:45 for the 8 miles. ROCKIN' good time for me on that course, I think. We'll see what the official split looks like and how much time we took in transition.

Cali Girl met me before I racked my bike, transferred the chip to Uber Runner, and then OFF she went to conquer the final 5K! I needed a moment to recuperate after my ride--- tummy can only handle redlining for so long. All the guys coming in off the relay were congratulating me on my riding and one of them said he was shocked when I passed him out there. Ha! Good way to stroke the ego.

When I was recovered enough, I grabbed my bottles and Cali Girl and I went to the finish line to cheer on our other, older Divas who were still out on course. Almost in a blink of an eye, I caught site of Uber Runner. She was pounding it!!! She looked totally miserable, of course, but she was flying. Reports on course from other relayers say that she was very strong and "impossible to catch." Fan-tastic!!!! We screamed and cheered her on, then ran to the beer garden and met her.

How exciting. 1:01:22. Still slower than some of the crazies in my age group, but the fastest of the all-women relay teams and quite frankly, a time I'm very proud of. We stuck around for the awards and got our well-deserved medals. It's not every day you can podium in triathlon, so we ate it up for sure.

So, without further adue, here's the victorious Team Smackdown!!! (We were supposed to be "Diva Smackdown," but who knows what happened to that)

Falling into Place.....my 2nd Oly Race Report

Race Report-- Camp Pendleton International

Finally. FINALLY! A race I can be proud of, where it all came together (mostly) and my training came through for me. I have to admit, after Iron Girl, I seriously questioned why I wanted to try my hand at an Oly again. That race really sucked the soul out of me....I cannot describe it in appropriate words, but it stripped away some of my love for triathlon and I didn't want that to happen again. But Pendleton was all about revenge on the distance. I was out for blood.

Pre-Race- Woke up insanely early, but was probably the last to hit transition around 6am. I blame it all on my Sherpa husband, who is worse than a woman when it comes to leaving the house on time. Parked my bike in transition right next to Carrie and Ly Ly, then got body marked and mugged for photos. I took my Sportlegs an hour before start time, then headed off to the start with my hubby and all the girls.

The Swim-Wow. It didn't look as long as Iron Girl, but it certainly felt longer! An out and back course, in the saltwater, but with no waves or fear or bizarre ocean creatures. I was in the second to last wave, and waded into the water toward the front. The whole time, we were all saying, "why do we do this? What are we putting ourselves through?" Seriously, it never fails to creep into my head during every single race.

Eventually, the horn blew and we were off. I tried to grab some feet and draft off of some of the faster girls in my heat, but nobody was swimming in a straight line! At one point, this random girl swam horizontal in front of us. It was almost comical, but I was getting annoyed because my plan was to draft.....and it just wasn't working out. I eventually settled into a groove and stayed there for the entire swim. It was pretty boring, to be sure, and the smell of the exhaust from the jetskis all around us was starting to turn my stomach a little bit. Bleh! Finally, I could hear the announcer say "and the first of the blue caps is coming in to the swim finish!" and I was pretty excited, because I was only five minutes or so away from the finish and honestly, I'm quite happy to be 5 minutes behind the swim leaders....


So, out of the water, looked at my watch, and it said 28:16. I felt phenomenal, and I let out a "score!" after I saw my time. HUGE smile across my face. Hubby thought I came out of the water too fast and was afraid I was going to be too tired to finish the rest of the race, but he was dead wrong. I had a comfortable swim and felt fantastic. Iron Girl was not a true swimmer's mile, but this one certainly felt like the real deal. I couldn't wait to get on my bike.




T1: HUGE run to transition. Up the sand to the asphalt, and then a long run into the transition area. I got out of my wetsuit as soon as I hit the asphalt.....I didn't want to try getting out in the sand and becoming a sand donut like Coach last year. I also knew the timing pad was ahead, and I would rather have the wetsuit removal come off of my swim time than be included in my bike time. (No transition times for this race--- the bike leg takes the brunt of the transition) I got back to my rack and noticed that there weren't many bikes out yet. And Coach's bike was still there, too. Woohoo! (Secretly, I wanted to make her sweat a little before I let her beat me...I mean, I did have a 5 minute head start. How embarassing if I lost it in the swim of all places?!) Grabbed my socks and overzealously placed them on my feet......ripping a huge gaping hole into the heel of the right sock. Oops. I just kept going with my low rent ripped sock, and headed out of transition. I saw 33 minutes on my watch at this time, so transition took at least 5 minutes. I could have run through the sand, but in retrospect, there really was no need. It all worked out.



Bike: Ah, the reason why I love triathlon. I love the bike, and this was no exception. From the start, I felt strong and determined to attack the course. I was in the big ring for all but two hills, and really pushed the downhills and flats to make up time. At Iron Girl, I got passed on all the hills, to the point where I was mentally deflated. Today, not a single person passed me going uphill. What a shock! I must admit, that Stuart Mesa hill seems like a little pansy compared to the Santiago Rides I've been doing every week with the girls. And having my hardcore bike training partner's voice in my head, shouting profanity at me while I climb, also seemed to egg me on a little. "You climb like a pussy!" (Yes, she says that.....and yes, it motivates me to try harder!)

I felt like I was flying out there......until I hit the turn around and caught my first glimpse of Coach on my tail. She started 5 minutes behind me in the swim, but there was no way she was more than 2 or 3 minutes behind me on the bike. I freaked out! The fear of her beating me badly on the bike kept me focused and motivated all the way back to transition. Thankfully (or not), I held her off and made it to transition by myself.


Nutrition wise, I only managed to take 2 sips of my gel and a few sips of electrolyte drink.....I craved water and that was all I really took in during the bike....everything else made me feel a little nauseous.

T2: Too many choices here. Do I bring my gel? Is it hot enough for Endurolytes? Should I spray sunscreen all over? Do I take my Arm Coolers? Next time, I'm eliminating the choices. If it's there, I'm wearing it/taking it/eating it. Otherwise, it's not allowed in transition. The Arm Coolers decision probably took a few too many seconds....I opted to forego them this time around, since it was still overcast and I wasn't very hot.

Run: Oh, my not-so-favorite part of triathlon. My nemesis. My limiter. But today, I had a secret weapon.

Lucy.

I have to admit, when I left transition I started to choke back some tears. My legs felt phenomenally strong and I wasn't feeling cardiovascularly challenged...but thinking of Lucy started to upset me......Since crying has resulted in hyperventilation on two occasions with me so far this month during my runs, I decided to save it for later.

The run was a 2-loop course, sort of t-shaped, so that you did a lot of back-tracking and got to see your competition multiple times. My first 5K was awesome. I felt strong, but the whole time there was a stalker behind me, coming up faster and faster. I knew that I would be overtaken eventually, but I just didn't know when...... Right before the turnaround, Coach (aka "marauding water buffalo") made her move, but not before she humiliated me in front of the Ladera Cyclery boys. It's all good, though. I've got a thick skin. Yes, Coach, even with a hangover and no formal plan post-Ironman, you can still hand it to me. I bow down. I'm not worthy.


Anyway, with that over with, I finished the first loop and headed out to loop #2. I was more tired this time around, and starting to get hot. At the first aid station, I could feel myself getting nauseous. The only way to keep it in check was to walk and douse myself in water. Anyway, the pain really hit at the top of the big hill, probably around mile 5. I saw Coach at the turnaround and told her I was starting to lose it. I think she secretly wanted to see me hurl....apparently you could see my face making that pre-barf look that is oh-so-sexy. I reserved that honor for my friend's mom.

Somehow, I managed to finish this race. I kept moving forward, backed off the pace, and tried to hold in the throw up. I was so relieved to see the finish chute, with my hubby and pals cheering me on. There was no sprint in me today....I just trudged over the line and stopped....and then threw up. Ah, gotta love it. I can't seem to control myself at the finish line these days, but you know what they say--- if you can't taste it, you didn't try hard enough.

I think I broke a 1-hour 10K for the first time in my life during this race. In fact, I'm pretty darn positive I did, and to be honest....I can't help but attribute it to Lucy. Surely, it took some divine intervention to keep me in the chase out there. Oh, and I am so thankful to Robin for her post-race Motrin and Denise for the miracle spray.....I have never felt so much muscle pain in my life!

Overall, I am exceedingly happy with this race. Yes, it took a lot out of me. Yes, it was hard. But I wasn't tortured like Iron Girl. The bike was amazing and fun. And the run was comforting because I saw all of my teammates around every corner. We had an amazing group at Pendleton today, and I was so, so proud to be able to share the course with them and to call them my training partners and friends. I never thought I was capable of throwing down an Olympic like I usually do with the Sprint, but I came pretty close today. (For me, at least--- the top age groupers are super human!) Personal bests in all three sports, and I had a blast in the process. I'm going to miss my Divas. :(

For Lucy

Isn't it funny how somebody you never met can touch you? Can strike a chord so perverse that you think about them in your daily life? Mourn for them? Want to make right by them?

Well, I'm usually not one of those people, but this past week I became enthralled in a fellow message boarders' fight for life. I read her logs, seeing how she'd completed Florida 70.3 in May with a smile on her face. How she was confused and scared about the gradual numbing of her body and limbs. And then I watched as her typing degraded and she was sent to the hospital...... Christine Rusher died of a brain tumor/aneurysm earlier this week, proving that life is too short and that nothing is fair. She was dedicated to triathlon to the bitter end, and she left many, many friends behind.

I never knew her. I never knew her, but her loss is really hurting me right now. I think it's because it happened so fast, and it could happen to any one of us at any time. It's just so scary, and sad. Christine (screen name "Lucy") had a dream of completing a 5K in under 30 minutes, and I understand she came pretty close to this goal several times. This evening, a race director in Florida is holding a 5K in Christine's memory. The internet world who knew her is signing up virtually to compete in this 5K, with some dedicating portions of their run in races this weekend in lieu of the actual physical race. And you know what? I signed myself up! I'm in.

Tomorrow morning, I will set out to conquer my 2nd Olympic distance triathlon ever. Instead of being petrified, I am going to be thankful. Thankful that I can swim in the ocean with friends. Thankful that I have the ability to hop on my gorgeous bike and cruise some amazing Southern CA coastline. ANd thankful that I have this run, where I can conquer my mental demons and try to make Christine proud. No, I never knew her.....but I think I will tomorrow.

I'm attaching a link to the thread that really got to me......As you can see, she's touched many people.
http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=123181&posts=230&start=1

We're.......

NOT PREGNANT!!!

Just had to get that out of the way. We've told quite a few people that we had big news for them, and they all suspect that we are with bebe'. No sir. Not me.

We're moving.

Oh, it's so bittersweet. In 2005, when we left Denver, we promised we'd get back in 5 years or less. It was just for my career, and then we'd drop it all and come back to our families. Well, that's a heavy burden to carry around with you. I have never felt like I was able to "settle" because of this promise. We rent. We don't make many friends or have a social life. We spend all of our vacation time going back to Colorado to visit family.

Last week, I snapped. I had been looking at our company's internal job postings for a while, and a position popped up last Thursday that sounded intriguing. I made a few calls and found out it was in a department headed up by a woman I'd worked with in the past. I knew we got along well, so I called her up and had a good chat. After getting my boss and old boss' approval to apply, I threw my resume into the mix and was asked to fly out to Denver to interview yesterday. (Yes, in the middle of my PEAK WEEK for Pendleton! The horror!!) So I flew out yesterday for the day, and went through a complete grilling by my future bosses and new potential team. I suppose I should be happy they took this seriously, but I was expecting a casual lunch and then to have them hand me the job. Apparently I had to earn it and beat out the internal candidates.

So, today was the day. They made their decision and extended the offer.

It's a lateral move "rank-wise." Salary stays the same, but do you know what that means between CA and CO? Well, a lot. I mean, even income tax is cut in half. Maybe I'll be able to buy a rotisserie chicken for less than $12 at the grocery store. (I'm really hung up about this at the moment....please, let me have this moment)

I wish I could say I am bouncing off the walls with excitement, but it's really quite bittersweet. I've grown to love Southern California. I love the beaches.....the weather.....the canyons..... And I absolutely adore my triathlon team. It's seriously changed my life and given me the most amazing friends to train with and get support from. I am devastated to be leaving them, and it really is the hardest part about this move. My goal is to keep being coached by my Coach and to join a tri club somewhere in Denver.....need to figure out which one has the most single guys because my 26-year old sister is a hottie and needs a date!!!

Anyway, the big move should happen around Labor Day. Until then, I'm going to concentrate on Pendleton and then aim for my last race with the Divas to be Santa Barbara. It was my first race last year, and I really loved it. It's almost like coming full circle.

So, that is the big news. Hubby is bouncing off the walls. In-laws are super excited. My family is elated. And I'm sad, but at least I'll have someone to go shopping with on a Saturday afternoon. :)

I'm Alive!

Seriously, I feel like #5 today.

It was my first time in the ocean since Dave Martin was attacked by a Great White in Solana Beach back in April. Dave died while swimming with a group of his triathlon team members, doing a morning practice that every one of us sort of takes for granted. I don't. I was flipping out about this return to the ocean since it hit the workout calendar. I know that the odds are excruciatingly low and that sharks don't seek us humans out when we are swimming, but it really hit far too close to home for me and I found myself thinking about it non-stop over the past few months.

I honestly don't know how I didn't cry my eyes out as I hit the water with my team and headed out to the first buoy. I guess I just felt like I needed to get this done to overcome my fear....you know, this "Year of Overcoming Fears" has sort of bled into two years, and I'm grabbing life by the balls and trying to deal with my emotions. So I followed my group, stayed in the middle until I felt comfortable, and then went about my mile swim.

Was it pleasurable? Hell no. But somehow the thought of shark was tempered by Sublime's "Caress Me Down" (I got this cool new music phone and I have some really random favorites that I listened to before I got in the water) and I just held off the bad thoughts. But I did think of Dave out there. How he probably didn't know what was happening and was hopefully enjoying his swim before he was bitten. And how he would probably be right back out there in the water swimming if it had happened to somebody else.

Anyway, didn't mean to go so off course with this post. Was originally intending it to be tongue in cheek, but I can't deny the fact that with every stroke, I thought of this man I never had the honor of meeting. While what happened to him gave me this fear, I do think that somehow he got me through that swim today, too.

Dave, rest in peace. Thanks for the swim.

More Randomness

I've been tagged. I'm supposed to tell you 6 random things about myself now, thanks to lovely Leah at Because I Tri. I'm going to do my best to find some random stuff, trust me.

1. In 6th grade, I traveled the state of Colorado playing the tenor recorder with the Recorder Club at my elementary school. I play a mean Recorder Rock.

2. I had 2 rats in college named Sex & Candy. (You know, the song?!) Except I returned Sex because he was totally unhealthy and ended up getting Wesley instead. He didn't match the whole Sex & Candy theme, but he was paired with my roommates' rats, Buttercup and Valerie. Yes, we had the Princess Bride rats. I loved them!

3. I hate cilantro more than anything else I hate on Earth. It is vile and it makes me angry when I see it.

4. When I was a kid taking riding lessons with my pony (and these weren't ordinary riding lessons--- I was with some serious "A'" circuit trainers with other motivated, talented riders and we oftentimes had entire lessons without stirrups) and I was in incredible pain, I use to sing the Don't Do Drugs song that they had on TV at the time, over and over and over again. "Users are losers, and Losers are Users, so don't do drugs, don't do drugs!" Yeah, you wonder why I'm so by the book now? It's because of riding lessons.

5. I didn't take my husband's last name. I don't like it, and I don't see why I have to give up my identity just because he's the man. To each his own, but thankfully he supports me 100%.

6. Every once and a while, the old Boston accent creeps into my conversations. It's usually when we start talking about lobsters and parking the car in Harvard yard. It's particularly bad after I speak with my grandparents or when I spend a summer in Maine.

The rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I guess I tag Confessions of a Chinese Food Addict and Amanda so that they can experience the fun and excitement of being random. ;)

Danskin Denver race report

Well, the race this weekend was hilarious.

On Thursday, I taught my mother how to shift her bicycle. She screamed every time it flipped into the granny gear and her legs turned over as fast as they could. So I took the bike in for some rear derailleur adjustments, then called it a day. Her mantra was "keep moving forward, and put it in "overdrive" on the hills" --- how crazy that her bike actually has a gear in the back called Overdrive!!

Expo was a blast--- my mom and sister loved Sally Edwards and were going around yelling "you go girlfriend!" all day long. Mom even bought a Danskin sweatshirt, Crocs, and shoved her bag full of swag....totally into it! But you should have heard the moaning and groaning about the 4am wakeup.

I had packed everything up the night before, and when the clock turned to 4am, I proceeded to beat on everyone's door and yell "triathlon time!!!" Nobody was excited, and we only managed to get to the parking lot 15 minutes after transition opened. (this in itself is still impressive, trust me)

It started with a 1.5 mile walk from the parking lot to the race site, UP a huge, never-ending hill that would eventually be the bike course. Talk about nightmare. We even witnessed a poor girl flip her bike going downhill....she couldn't feel her arms and I stayed with her until the paramedics showed up. Great start to the day...... I then showed my Mom how to rack her bike --- see bike here:

http://www.trekbikes.com/women/wsd_products/bikes/2008/bike_path/navigator30wsd

Since she is 5'1, she looks pretty silly pedaling totally upright with the saddle so low. :) She was sick with a horrible cold and couldn't stop coughing or blowing her nose. Her sports bra was stuffed with tissues and cough drops, but she was determined to do this bike ride. (I was secretly happy about this, even though the bike was to her detriment...she had a fever this morning and the Dr. says she now has bronchitis!!!......I just don't think I could handle doing a triathlon on a Trek Navigator!! I could not live those race pictures down. Ever)

Anyway, as the swimmer, I was in the 17th wave, starting a full hour after the first wave went off. They shortened the swim for fear of the Reservoir being too cold, which is total crap because it was a beautiful 65 degrees and felt like bathwater! Anyway, it was pretty windy, and over the course of the hour, the buoys started drifting closer and closer to shore! We were told it was a 400 yard swim, and the first elite swam it in 4:30, so I thought that that seemed plausible. However, with every 5-10 minutes, the course seemed shorter and shorter. I swam it in 3:38, and I swam faster than I've ever swam before, but it was nowhere near 400 yards!! 275 max, I think?? Anyway, it was INSANE. I couldn't catch a breath and just hacked my way through transition and for the rest of the day. I blame it on the air. Behold scary ear swim photo. I look like a turd:

My mom, who has only done 3 bike rides this year (two 8-milers and a 14-miler, all of them 2 weeks ago), ran that little bike out of transition and took off on a hilly, technical 10-mile bike course. I was so worried for her, you have no idea.....partly because I know what I'm like when I'm out on course, but mostly because she was on this rinky dink upright bicycle amidst fancy bikes and lots and lots of traffic. I sat at the bottom of the last big hill for almost an hour for her to return, flipping out every time I saw the support vehicle return. At any rate, I FINALLY saw her and was so excited-- I felt like we won the race! I ran up the hill as she biked it, cheering her on and watching her spin in her granny gear with a big ol' smile on her face.

She jumped off the bike and then RAN into transition. She later said she thought she was going to fall over because her legs were so heavy, but she was running on adrenaline and wanted our team to do well. I was so, so happy. Isn't she cute?!

I was psyched and totally not worried about my sister-- the pilot -- who was running the 5K. She was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt -- the only person with her legs and arms covered in the entire race. She feels "fat" and "uncomfortable" in shorts. INSANE!! I was a little angry with her for the wardrobe, but whatever. Anyway, she took off with my Garmin and I guess she was miserable the entire time. I later learned that she had had nothing to drink that morning, had eaten a piece of pizza and a cookie for breakfast, and that she started cramping very early on in the race. Still, she managed to knock out a 35-minute 5K and came into the finish strong--- I threw a pink lei at her, but she was so distracted that she wouldn't even acknowledge me!!! (I lei'd her afterwards to officially do it Diva-style, since she was at Pacific Coast with us last year)

Anyway, I put my mom in the finisher's chute with her, and they crossed the finish line holding hands and the announcer said, "that's the relay team coming in, Captain Bob's Girls!" I ran over to my Dad and he was crying he was so proud. My mom has lost 22 lbs since April and is looking and feeling better than she ever has in her entire life. He was so impressed with her doing this-- it made me smile to see him so proud and happy. I didn't want to be in the finish line photo, because I only contributed 3 minutes to the race and I've already been across it enough times.
I wanted the first timers to feel that finish line glory. I think they loved it.

So, that was the race. It was nerve-wracking for me because I hadn't been there to make sure they were adequately trained, but somehow we miraculously survived and my Mom and sister are feeling very proud of themselves!!!

I guess next year my mom is entertaining the idea of doing the whole thing. I'm psyched! But now I need to find her a group like the Divas and keep her healthy and active....and if I can get my sisters to follow suit, we'll be a triathlon crazy family. ;) Dad's already signing up for the Bolder Boulder 10K next May.

So, that's my race report! We were 8th out of 9 family relay teams, and our time put us 1100th out of 1600 overall. So it could have been worse! But this was an instant where I just felt happy that we finished.....

New Recruits

I'm getting ready to head to Denver in a few hours to visit my family, and I'm definitely excited to be going. It's been 6 months since I've been home, and in that time, a lot has happened! My dad has gotten a new job after retirement. My sister got her Captain wings. My other sister took a new job. And my mother has dropped 22 lbs on Weight Watchers and has found new energy and new life. I can't wait to see how they are all doing.

To top this brief visit off, I will be doing the Danskin Denver sprint tri relay with my Mom and sister on Sunday. I reluctantly agreed to swim, seeing as how I have no shame in a bathing suit these days, while my mom is biking and sister is running. Mom walks the dog on a hilly 3-mile hike every day, but she didn't touch her bike until last week, when she went apesh*t (pardon my French, but it's serious here) and went on (3) 14-mile bike rides in a row. She's still sore and tired, but I'm pleased to say she is alive. Suffice it to say her 10-mile bike will surely be painful to endure, but hopefully it won't take her too long and she'll enjoy herself out there. Little sister is running the 5K. She's been diligent in her training, although she's had some difficulties with asthma and has finally turned a corner with her new inhaler. This is the sister that watched me do Pacific Coast last year. I'm trying to calm her down about Danskin, telling her that the atmosphere is far more relaxed than Pacific Coast, but she is still a nervous wreck.

So my hopes for this trip are a bit selfish. I hope to motivate my mother to continue down this new healthy lifestyle path and to become more involved in sports.....and I want my sisters to become addicted to triathlon so that when I finally move home, I'll get some training partners!

At any rate, I'm out for a few days. Will post the race report on Monday!

Iron PS

She did it!

Coach is officially an Ironman.

In true Coach fashion, she hammed it up all the way down the finish chute and I could see her coming on Ironman Live for a mile away, it seemed. There was a party in Idaho last night, for sure. And judging by the look on her face crossing that finish line, there will be many more Coach watching parties in the future. :)

Congrats to all the other blogosphere finishers today, too. I tracked who I could, and it was great fun. Probably far more fun that actually doing the race, but you made me proud!

Iron Sunday

All I can say this morning is, it's a glorious morning for triathlon!

And I am not racing.....

Today is Ironman Coeur d'Alene. A little race in Idaho that my Coach has spent the greater part of 2 years trying to get to, so she can put herself through a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run, all before the clock strikes midnight. (Technically the cutoff is 17 hours, so not sure what that really equates to) But because she is a MACHINE, I have so much confidence in her that by the end of tonight, I will be watching IM Live and crying like a baby when they say that she is an Ironman.

Anyway, thought I'd make an "Ode to the Crazy Coach" post. I know she's a tough cookie, and she will get there.....hopefully quickly. So that's my day today. Eating, and watching IM Live. It's a glorious day!

A Pictorial Journey Through Mayhem

I just couldn't resist adding pictures of the race this past weekend. There was something almost absurd about swimming in a murky, artificial brown lagoon surrounded by roller coasters and Ferris Wheels. I can't help myself!

Behold the swim start, where 100 women are loaded onto a narrow boat ramp and held, by noodle, until the gun goes off. If you are in the back of said wave, instantly add 2 minutes to your swim time:

Here is the course, before it got crowded. It swam a whole lot like 500 meters, but that's awfully hard to tell with all the traffic. Remember the boat ramp? Well, that's also the swim EXIT! Ah, happier times. This is me on the bike. Suck it in and smile for the camera! Notice the full water bottles. No nutrition or liquid for me in this race. No sir! And I felt fantastic, so obviously this is a great strategy for sprint distance races.

Oh, and here's the best part. The finish! Except I really cannot explain the whole hands thing. I didn't realize I did this, but this is the 2nd finish where I have been documented to do this. It's not a "heck yeah, I finished the race and I am awesome!" finish. It's more like, 'thank freakin' goodness I am done!' You can see my rabbit in the foreground. She was in the wave in front of me and was the only person I wanted to beat in the race. Somehow I was content to just sit behind her for the entire race, because I'm.....lazy?!

And we cannot forget the team photo. Look at how big we are! I'm ashamed to say that even after all the name tag days and training sessions, I still don't know half the women who race with us. Maybe one day I'll get better with names. :) But this was our biggest team yet, and what a great place for the newbies to cut their teeth in the world of triathlon.

Now, wasn't that fun?!

Disney Madness!

This morning was my first Danskin triathlon, and I have to admit, it is definitely one I will remember for years to come.

There's something very unique and slightly crazy about 1300+ women in the happiest place on Earth. Leaping into a man-made, brown-dyed "Paradise Bay" whilst listening to carnival midway tunes and spotting roller coasters and Ferris wheels is crazy enough....but add hundreds of flailing and half-drowning women, and you have a spectacle quite unlike any other on Earth.

I had a tough time finding a balance today between my competitive, die-hard spirit and my compassion for the women who were doing their first triathlon today to prove to themselves that they could do it. I was them three years ago. I know what they were going through and how hard their journey was. But I tasted blood and I wanted to race! Oh, it was difficult indeed.

The race started out with a 4:30am opening of the transition area. Yes, 4:30am. To prepare us for the first wave at 6am. Yes, this is abnormally early!!! I got an end cap and set up shop, then walked around and visited with my friends. Because I knew this would be a crazy race, I had no expectations other than "turn and burn." No stress. No nerves. I was pretty happy.

They moved us into a staging area in back of Disney's California Adventure, between the parking lot and the Paradise Pier area. We never saw the swim course until we were loaded onto the boat dock, three minutes before the swim start. We went off in waves of less than 100, every 3 minutes. I was fortunate enough to be in the front row of my wave, giving me a clean first 1/2 of the swim.

Unfortunately, the rest of the swim was a bit of a nightmare. Lots of people over on their backs breastroking, forming solid barriers that were quite difficult to maneuver around. I saw lots of people hanging on to longboards and noodles....far more than I was expecting. I got stuck behind a lot of these people and rather than swim over them or make them more miserable than they were, I just stood up and walked. Disappointing swim for me, but what can you do?

My bike was fantastic. I was 30th overall out of 1300+ women, and I just felt like I was flying out there. Bike handling is getting better, so I could accelerate in my turns and maneuver around people. I pushed pretty hard and although my legs were a little dead in the end, I felt phenomenal.

T2 was a pain in the rear. Forgot a sock, struggled with my Garmin, and pretty much lost my fight. I ran out of transition, then walked as I put on my hat, watch, and race belt. I then granny ran my 2 miles to the finish line. I was tired, and I just didn't think I could run any faster. In retrospect, this was wrong-- it was all mental! So I have quite a ways to go to get my run in shape, but it was respectable overall with an 8:59 min/mile average pace.

I ended up finishing 4th in my age group out of 135, and 34th overall in the competition. I was floored by how well I did, but frustrated that I didn't try harder because there was only one minute separating me from the 3rd place winner. Next time.....next time I'll conquer the mental demons and have a breathrough race.

Anyways, totally surreal venue and an overall good experience. A lot of women completed their first triathlon today and have jump-started a healthy lifestyle because of this race. How can that be a bad thing?!

Ready to Rumble!

Well, I'm back from Atlanta.

Apparently, in Atlanta, I run fast and swim like a drowning cat.

So although my training week was a bust, I have been reveling in the post Mud Run glory. I have to say that the race was the most fun I've ever had while running! My team of five was phenomenally funny, and I loved every second of being out on the race course, mud and all. I can't wait to do it again, but I'm glad my first time I didn't "race" it. So much pressure is off of you when you are racing under a team name and your results don't show up on a "record." :)

Here is the race, BEFORE:

DURING:

And AFTER:

Glorious good times!!

This weekend is Danskin Disneyland. I'm not sure I'm at my peak. In fact, I gained 3 lbs in Atlanta (who couldn't--- they sneak butter into everything), so I am sure I'm slower than molasses. But I'm kind of excited about this race, because it seems a little on the "short" side. .35 mile swim (I'm thinking they'll be hard-pressed to get us to 500 meters), 10 mile bike, and 2.5 mile run, although I mapmyrun'ed the run and can't get more than 2.1. Anyway, this sucker is going to be fast and furious-- an all out puke fest! With the 6am start time, I'm thinking this will be an interesting race. My first Danskin, to boot, and the water is excruciatingly warm, so it'll be my first non-wetsuit race. I guess it's gonna be slow for me?

Anyway, stay tuned for the race report......more good times to come.

It's good to be home!

Distractions

I've been negligent on this blog for a few weeks now. I'm not quite sure why, but I suppose a lot has to do with the fact that I'm just not terribly interesting. I'm not training for something exciting like an Ironman. I'm just boring old me.....and even that bores me at times.

This past week has been pretty distracting. I turned another year older and hubby and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Along with those celebrations came a cake binge eating weekend and a night of fondue excess. Seriously, you could roll me through my next triathlon at this point.

I've been taking 2 days off a week, which makes me feel more lazy than anything else. I'm just having trouble keeping the aches and pains away. I don't like to work through them, but it takes me two days to recover from a swim, 2 days to recover from hill repeats on the bike, 3 days from a long run.... Well, you get the point. I'm barely still functioning, and I have to baby this big ol' body of mine.

Tonight, I was supposed to do a 5 mile trail run race. But my training plan called for 4 aerobic miles...... Since I know myself and know that I cannot be memorialized forever as slow because I did a race in my aerobic zone, I opted to run on a local trail closer to home....for free. And I sucked big time. It was good for the first two miles, and then I turned around and it all went to hell. Hip flexors ached, my heart rate skyrocketed, and I just could not settle. All I wanted to do was cry!! It's been so long since I've had a horrid run like this-- I suppose I was due for one with all my recent breakthroughs. But why now?? Argh. I'm just going to try to forget about it and blame it on the sodium overkill from my lunch of tortilla soup at a horrid local Mexican restaurant.

Saturday, I have been asked to substitute for a team member in the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. It's a 10K, with obstacles I've only seen in Full Metal Jacket. Oh, and hot marines to hose you off. While I can deal with the latter, I'm quite frankly a little concerned about the rest of it!! But my team has a weaker link than I, so hopefully that means we'll just keep chugging along and it won't be too difficult. I suppose I am actually more concerned with what to wear. Our "uniform" is a puffy-painted wife beater and men's underwear. Yeah, you tell me how that's going to stay on in the mud run. :)

Next Sunday is the Danskin Disneyland race. I'm psyched about this, because the distances appear to be getting shorter and shorter!! 0.3 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and a 2.1 mile run (if I measured it correctly)......turn and burn, baby! All I have to do is stay healthy and I think it'll be an amazingly fun race. It'll be my first Danskin, but my fourth women's race. Again, stay tuned. That will be a great story to tell. (Don't get me started on the 6am start time)

I'm spending all next week in Atlanta, so I am on a personal quest to find a lap pool in Buckhead. Since my boss won't spring for the JW Marriott, I'm thinking YMCA...... That, again, shall also be an adventure. But at least next week is "aerobic." Easy peasy!

So, those are my distractions. Reasonable excuses for laziness, right? OK, maybe not. But it's all I got.

PR, baby!

Well, this morning was momentous indeed.

Not only was it Memorial Day, but it was also the first time my husband has ever run a 5K with me. Or a 5K, period. It was incredibly memorable, for sure.

We were up at the crack of dawn, zip tying our chips to our shoe laces and figuring out what to wear on this rather chilly SoCal morning. We got to the race site 1/2 hour before the start of the 1/2 Marathon, and spent the next twenty minutes in line at the port-o-lets. I saw a few of my teammates in line, but never saw our halfers. (I felt like such a lazy girl doing the 5K, but who am I kidding? I've never run more than 7 miles in my life-- why would I start in a race?!)

Before long, we were in line. I told my hubby that I hope he wouldn't be offended, but I was going to run my own race and see him at the finish line. No problem from him! He was trying his MP3 player for the first time while running (hey, everyone else was doing it, and he has it on pretty low so he can hear people talking), so he was happy to just chill out and do his thing, which happens to be some random run/walk combination that he's been messing with for months. Hubby is very tall and covers more ground vertically than horizontally....you'd think the tall lanky body would reveal a fast runner, but he's actually got some form issues going on that keeps him pretty slow. (One day I'll fix it!)

We ended up in the middle of the pack, and that was a little annoying because I had to weave my way through hundreds of people within the first quarter mile. But I suppose it could be worse-- today was a chip start, so until we crossed the mats I wasn't worried about traffic.

The course itself was a lot of fun. We meandered through a retirement community, and all the adorable residents were outside in their driveways waving to us. I wanted to raise my hands up and say "woohoo!" for the first mile -- I just felt phenomenal and was enjoying the race. But then I looked down at my Garmin, and I did the first mile in 8:05. Oh, crap. I'm a 9:30-minute miler here. I've never run that fast before. I once did a 7:30 mile, but that was a track workout and I threw up afterward.

Anyway, I tried to slow down, but I settled into a comfortable pace that was under 9 minutes and I stayed there the whole race. What a shocker! The 2nd mile ended in an incline of ~75 feet and it crept into the 3rd mile, but then it was a 100 ft. downhill for the last 1/2 mile. (It was a point-to-point race, not out and back) Although I hate the downhills for my knees, I am not afraid to kick it into high gear for the race and just pounded that last hill, sprinting into the finish with all I had. When I looked down at my Garmin after finishing the race, I was floored. I broke 26 minutes!!! Now, this is slow for the vast majority of the population, but it was a major breakthrough for me. My last 5K was 28 minutes, and in my last sprint, 29:45. So I was praying I could break 28, but given my lack of training in the past 2 months, wasn't sure I was capable. So dropping over 2 minutes from my PR is huge, and I am still beaming about it.

I even finished with enough time to grab a water bottle, down an orange slice, and then find a spot on the hill to cheer hubby on when he made his way to the finish. He even finished RUNNING....you have no idea how proud I was. He sprinted in and ate that finish line up--- it brought such a huge smile to my face because I know it meant a lot to him and I think now he understands why I do all of this.

We hung out and then cheered my coach on as she came in from the 1/2......even saw the lady that smoked her while wearing Crocs. Oh yes, it was great fun.

So, PRs for two of us today. Popped hubby's 5K cherry, and whetted his appetite for even more. Wonder if I can get him to learn to swim now so we can do a tri together?!

Ode to the Shoe Nerd

Well, we all have our people we turn to in times of crisis. You may have a McTherapist like me, who finds ways to heal you and get you to the starting line of your next race. Or perhaps you have a favorite butcher at the grocery store who cuts your ham slices "just so." Others may have a girl at the bookstore who always recommends the best reads for your next airplane ride.

I have the Shoe Nerd.

Now, I haven't been particularly nice to him in the past. He is a bit of a low talker, with not-so-stylish hair and a nerdy look about him. He is an expert in all things shoes, from materials to the way your feet sit in shoes. He eats, breathes, sleeps shoes and feet, something I really cannot appreciate because I hate feet. But I digress. The Shoe Nerd knows all, and he is the clutch dude when you are having problems with your legs and there is no other explanation but the shoes.
At the start of the season, I went to the Shoe Nerd to see if I was in the right shoe. I'm a Mizuno follower out of familiarity, but was willing to go through all the testing to see if I was wearing the right shoe. In the end, he sold me on the Asics Gel Kinsei, which I promptly returned to the store after finding the heel to be absolutely intolerable. His other recommended shoes just didn't seem comfortable to me, and I was so pissed about the Kinseis that I basically refused to listen to him and then told him I would buy the new version of my old shoe, the Wave Inspire. So I buy the Mizunos, happy that I trumped the Shoe Nerd and went with a stability shoe.

4 months and 130 miles later (i know, pathetic, but let's not go there), I have had more runner's knee issues, a hip flexor strain, and achilles tendonitis. Insanity! I've resorted to many McTherapist visits, and I've taken to resistance training at the gym. So with no other recourse but to stop running, I decided to go to the Shoe Nerd once more, except this time I was going to actually follow his advice.

Saturday, I went to the shoe store and the Shoe Nerd was there to help me. He was looking all smug, like somehow he remembered me and he knew that I would be back. I ran on the treadmill for him, and he commented on how much he liked my "forefoot strike" and my quick turnover as I nonchalantly hit "6" on the treadmill. He then examined my foot, practically drooling over my "beautiful high arches." (yeah, yeah--- I have sexy feet. But why am I creeped out?!) Then he informs me that I have way more shoes to choose from this time, and out comes the onslaught of Nikes, Brooks, Mizunos, New Balance, and Zoots. The Zoots were just for fun. He wanted to know if I wanted to have some shoe fun. Why not? So I guess I have one foot that is perfect, and one that slightly underpronates. I have to get a shoe with lots of cushioning to protect the knees. I loved the Zoots, but I felt like I was running barefoot and this body of mine needs a wee bit more cushioning. I also loved the Mizunos I tried on, but decided to swap brands and try something new.

So I ended up choosing the New Balance.....some long 4-digit number in my least favorite color.....and I also allowed him to talk me into the inserts, to support my sexy high arches. I think the Shoe Nerd loved that I said, "I will do whatever you tell me to do, just make sure it helps get rid of my pain." He must not get many women telling him to do whatever he wants with them.

2 days later, I am happy to report that every time I step into my new New Balances, I have a footgasm! The Shoe Nerd was on to something.....my first brick resulted in NO PAIN at all on the run. None!! The shoes are like buttah.

And for as creepy as the Shoe Nerd is, I have to admit, he does good feet....and he can do mine whenever he wants from here on out. Shoe nerd, I not only salute you.....I submit to you!

Dam Sprint Race Report

or, Kicking it Old School

Well, today I went back to my roots. After this insane focus on doing the Olympic distance, I returned to 2 oldies but goodies: the Sprint, and last year's uniform.

And it was good to be back! Now that I've done an Olympic, I have no shame in saying, "I'm doing the Sprint." When you do Olympic, you get to go fast, but you have to play your cards right. In the Sprint, you just hammer it out. I prefer to keep it simple.

I went to packet pickup yesterday with my husband, which was nice because I had a chance to scope out the site and see where everything was going to take place. It was also an hour and ten minutes away, so driving it the day before took away a lot of my early morning anxiety. As far as races go, this one was quite small. I'm not going to venture a guess, but it was smaller than Bonelli and quite intimate.....but not in a bad way.

I left the house at 4:30am and was at the race site by 5:30am. Hit the potties, then went and set up my bike in transition. I had PLENTY of time, as the pre-race meeting wasn't until 6:30am, and I didn't have anybody there with me to distract me. I got an end, but it wasn't on the highly-trafficked side. It was a gamble, but in the end I'm not sure it added more than a few seconds of an impact...and in a race this small, a few seconds is no big deal.

I knew *1* person there. Just one. But that was fine, because I wan't as stressed as I could have been. I will admit, as I walked down to the water and pulled my wetsuit up, I was starting to think I was the world's biggest idiot for doing this alone. I mean, I really hate the pre-race. I psych myself out and convince myself that I am not worthy of towing the line. I lose my competitive drive. I just want to go home and go back to bed.

But before I knew it, we were waste deep in the shockingly warm (as in, imagine 50 people standing in one place before the race goes off and you tell ME why it was that warm) Lake and awaiting the gun. It was supposed to be a 750 meter loop, but we started 9 minutes after the first group and the leader of that pack (who was a good 100 meters ahead of everyone else) had yet to reach the turnaround point....... I suspected at this point that the course was a little long, and I still think it was, but we'll never really know. Anyway, off we went.

Despite the co-ed wading start, it wasn't too killer out there at the start. But unfortunately, it was super choppy on the Lake, and it seemed that I could not shake any purple caps for quite some time. (Purple was for women-folk and "everyone else," red was for "men 45 to eternity"....yeah, how fabulous is it going to be to get old?!) For the first time in 7 open water triathlons, I had a bit of a panic attack out there. I'd heard a lot of people talk about them, but thankfully I'd never been plagued and I always blew it off. But 100 meters into my swim, I was convinced that it was too choppy and that I was not a good enough swimmer to stay on course. I fought these insane mental demons that were telling me I was weak....that I was scared.... I mean, come on-- I'm in a freaking Lake!! What was going on? It wasn't even a heart rate issue. I just think for a few moments, I went totally nuts. Thankfully, I was able to pull it together and continue on. It helped that some of the men in my heat were floating around and commenting on what a hellatious swim it was....that made me feel like I wasn't in my own personal hell. I will say that this felt like my weakest and slowest swim ever, but I will wait until I see the splits to determine that.

I emerged from the water completely alone, with no women in sight. We had a very long run to transition, up the rough beach and then through a long grass lawn. They'd tied it all off with tape, so it was easy to find.....but I was tired! I remembered my Las Vegas run to T1 and decided that this time, I was going to catch my breath and try to recover. So, I walked. Just a little bit, but enough to not feel like I was going to pass out when I got to my cycling shoes. I had sand all over my feet, so I had to pour some water over them before putting on my socks....a first for me, as I usually just go for it and screw comfort. But today was a glorified practice for me, so I made sure I took my sweet time.

Was out of transition as quickly as I could and then headed onto the bike. This is where I saw my first woman, on her fancy, gorgeous, pimped-out Cervelo tri bike. This would also be the last time I saw said woman. We took off and my measly 20mph could not catch her. Ouch! The bike was mostly flat, with a small hill at the start to get us out of the Lake area. I was tired climbing this hill, so clearly my weakness is in coming out of the swim and onto the bike. Must train this more. Anyways, going down this hill was a blast. I even exceeded the 35 mph speed limit!!! And then I started picking off the dudes on their hybrid bikes. Bless them, they were trying so hard. Anyways, I got passed by boat loads of men with disc wheels and fancy tri bikes and goober helmets. More than I can count, I am sure.... I did my best to try to push an average of 18mph the entire time, but I wasn't sure how to pace myself. I've been training for 24 miles, not 12! So I think I left a little on the table in the bike, but not much....the final hill chewed me up and spit me out. I had to abandon the big ring and then join the painfully slow process up 400 feet in a mile. Which doesn't sound like much, but after pushing big gears for 9 miles, your dead legs are NOT in the mood for climbing. But with every climb is a downhill, and for good measure I threw it back into the biggie and finished the bike segment with a rockin' downhill.

T2 was not so bad for me, but I did take the time to grab my Garmin off my bike because my trusty old race watch was not working anymore. I grabbed my hat, watch, water bottle, and number and bolted out over the mat. I looked like a bag lady crossing that line, I am sure, but why put it on in T2 when you can get dressed later?!

The run was an odd one for me. Typically, I get out of T2 and I am thrashed. I absolutely HAVE to walk, or I convince myself to stay running for 5 minutes and THEN I die. Today, my legs had life. Even though I couldn't feel my feet (it was cold), I felt strangely strong and had no need to actually stop. This didn't stop my brain from trying to play with me, though. So today I decided to try out positive mental affirmations. I wasn't feeling like experimenting with nutrition, or clipped-in shoes on the bike, or new equipment.....I needed to work on my mind games. I had done a 5K time trial a few days earlier and knew for certain that I had the stamina to power through it without walking and to maintain a fairly strong pace. So I used that knowledge to fight back whenever I felt like walking. I passed the only girl out on course who had passed me (on the bike), and I buried her! Me, passing a runner...who would have thought the day would come?

The turnaround came and went, and I had only seen a very small handful of women coming back in to the finish. I was confused, but they were running so fast that I was convinced they had to have been in the front of the pack. As I made my way back to the finish, I started to see other women out there. I wanted to yell at them and ask them why they were hiding for the entire race!! We were few and far between out there, for sure. The finish chute was lovely....just enough of a runway that you could sprint and NOT vomit at the end because it was too long. I told the guy ahead of me to hurry because I was going to close fast, and we both high-tailed it in to the finish.

Overall, I felt pretty good. Disappointed in my swim, a little upset that my bike was so slow, but psyched about the run. I have never had a run where I didn't feel stomach cramps or feel like I wanted to die. This run was as good as it gets for me, and I had plenty left in my legs at the end. (Could have gone even faster, maybe?)

The real kicker of the day was that because there were so few women, yours truly was 1st in her age group and the 5th girl across the line!!! Now, I have no idea how many of us womenfolk there were, but there were only 2 in my age group so the victory wasn't that sweet. Regardless, I will take it. If for nothing else than the shock factor.

And of course, I attribute all of my happy thoughts to the day to my old uniform. It hides the belly pudge and carries good chi. :)

Just for Kicks

Tomorrow is my "freebie" race, the DAM Sprint, somewhere in the middle of the desert in a somewhat sketch artificial lake. I don't believe I'll "know" anybody there, and I'm not too upset about that. There's something a bit exciting about driving alone in the dark and throwing down a race without any distractions or expectations or any of that fun stuff. I'm just going to set up shop, listen to some tunes while I'm all bundled up waiting for the swim start, and then "git 'er done."

I'm not so nervous about this one, nor am I excited? I don't know....just another workout and hopefully a cool t-shirt that says "DAM Sprint." Been there, done that.

I've had quite a stressful week at work. So much uncertainty, bouts of inactivity, interspersed with random hysteria. So much so that I called my boss this morning and told him I just couldn't handle coming in to work today. My head isn't in the game, and I swear I will bite someone's head off if I show up. I just need a day off!!!

We're headed to packet pickup now, and then back home to pack the car and have a nice romantic, easy on the stomach dinner.

Will give a race report when I get back tomorrow. Fingers crossed the Achilles holds up. (But so far so good-- ran a PR 5K yesterday by accident, and it was no worse for wear)

Bringing Lazy Back

I feel a slight ping of panic just thinking about my training plan for this week. It was sparse to begin with, but it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that I abandoned my workout last night. Intending to do an hour on the trainer whilst watching ABC TV's Bachelor from last Monday, I only got 20 minutes in and the smell of burning rubber overwhelmed the room. Now, I love my tires, and I love my bike, so leaving half of my tire on the trainer's resistance unit was NOT acceptable to me. I had sunlight left in the day, but what did I do? I hopped off the bike and watched the rest of the episode from my computer chair. How LAZY am I? (and does the hand belong to Chelsea or Shayne?!)

It's killing me.

My Achilles is strained, but McTherapist doesn't think it's torn or anything serious, for the matter. Never mind the fact that I walk around like a slut after dark in high heels around my house....nope, it's not that major. Nothing a little iontophoresis can't fix, he says. He worked me on Thursday, too. Kicked my rear with all the toe lifts and calf presses and such. My ankle is still sore, but the Achilles? Well, I'll be damned, but it may be getting better.

With the freebie race next weekend, I am hoping I at least have a sprint base leftover.......hopefully this weekend I'll do a nice brick with the team and start to feel strong again.

I'm serious about my diet this time around. I'm going to go back over to my old blog and journal my points, and I am going to get this extra weight off. I know, I know....I keep saying I will, but then I get hungry when I get home and I eat. OK, it's not even that. It's work. They eat like pigs and I've become accustomed to taking just a little. And then I go out to eat and I've forgotten all that I learned while on program and fall into the trap of eating more points than I intended to. Like, Red Robin on Thursday night. I ordered my teriyaki chicken burger, sans fries, tomato, mayo, with the teriyaki on the side. So, basically, it was a plain bun with white chicken breast, a slice of cheese, and grilled pineapple. I took half the cheese off when I got it, too. Guess the calories? 800!!!! For that. I mean, what the hell are they doing to the chicken? I was floored. Here I was, desecrating my favorite sandwich on Earth, only to find out that it wasn't worth it. I could have gone home and eaten 20 English muffins for that sandwich. Argh. So, the plan of attack is to write it all down again. Journal, journal, journal, and only plan to fuel for my workouts. I need good thoughts for this-- I feel like I've lost some control here.

Work sucks, too. I used to be mission critical, and now I find that I am not. You lose your sense of self-importance and security when you are no longer "in the clutch." So that has me frustrated.

Hubby hates his work life, too, but my Dad recently offered him a chance to interview with his airline. Hubby turned him down. I know, what gives?!! But he's all about doing it on his terms now, so I am forced to sit back and let him do it. It's made for quite a strain, as you can tell. Some days I love him and others I hate him. I suppose that is normal. Could just be PMS. But I'm in the hating mode right now, mostly because he slammed the door and woke me up this morning. (Yeah, I have to get dressed in the dark every flippin morning with your sorry ass still in bed, so KISS IT-- I'm sleepin' in)

To top this all off, my morning coffee ritual at work has been severely interrupted this week. I find the break room to be a peaceful place for me, where I grab my cup every morning and deal with my lovely caffeine-induced headaches. But this week, we tried out coffee vendors for our new office. This total AHOLE came this week, and I swear, he never left. He wanted to be our own private barista. With a coffee machine. Self-serve coffee machine. I couldn't even stand to look at the man, let alone allow him to press a button on the coffee machine for me. I'm an independent woman, and I cannot tolerate his sorry attempts at service! So I told him my cardiologist said no coffee.....and then begged my admin to slip into the room and get me a cup. This went on for several days. One morning I had to wait until 10am for coffee--- I just about murdered the entire office. Argh!! Can you not see why work sucks for me? (I am joking here....but only somewhat)

So back to triathlon..... My race on Saturday. I'm going totally alone, sans family or friends. I'm going to have to get up at the ass crack of dawn and drive to early packet pickup, and then hope and pray it doesn't get too hot. I've heard some horrible things about the Lake I'll be swimming in, so it's tempting to spray myself in Lysol before I put my wetsuit on and maybe start antibiotics. :) But I figure nothing could be worse than the Long Beach Tri swim last year, so I'll take my chances with the manky man-made lake. Part of me is excited to do something without my tri team next weekend. There's always pressure to perform, but here, I can totally suck and nobody will care. I can show up, get it done, and then go home and go back to sleep with little fanfare. Hopefully, it'll be a great workout and I will learn to bring a little speed back into my life. Who knows? So even though I'm skeptical, part of me is jazzed. We shall see.

With that, I suppose I will cease the torture. I didn't mean for this to become a personal life vent, but I've got to have some outlet here! So apologies for the bad read......but at least *I* feel better. Ha!

My Body is Rejecting My New Hobby

I just have one question. One teensy, weensy question.

Why can people twice my size run twice the distance I can, twice as frequently, and NEVER GET HURT??? Are they superhuman? Can their muscles and joints, which are identical in structure and function to mine, sustain superhuman forces moreso than mine? How is this fair??

I swear, I am just floored that I am the only one on my team experiencing all sorts of injuries. It started with IT Band Syndrome. Then -- shocker --- runner's knee. A million dollars in physical therapy later, the hip flexor pain appeared. Yes, you can run through all of them, but the pain and potential for crippling aren't worth it. So you spend more money in physical therapy. Make sure the shoes are proper fit. Rotate the schedule to make sure you aren't stressing your body out too much.
And then.....the flippin' Achilles starts in. Seriously, I'm RUNNING OUT OF BODY PARTS HERE!!! I started feeling a little "pull" in the Achilles while climbing up those wrotten hills in the Las Vegas race. It was part of the reason I ended up walking the hill. You see, my Dad ruptured his Achilles fifteen years ago, and he's not been the same since. It was almost debilitating, so any tweak in that region freaks me out. Anyway, I had a fabulous bike ride last Monday, where I sustained the big ring for over an hour on some gnarly hills. I attacked those mofos! But then I felt tight in the Achilles again, which turned to soreness, and I stupidly ran on it Wednesday night and then on Sunday morning. Brilliant me. So I sit here now, happily in high heels (only pulls when it's flat), and waiting for my PT session on Thursday where we will yet again focus on a new body part. This time around, I am prepared to drop money on a bike fitting AND orthotics. Anything that'll help the cause.

I have to say, all these pings and pangs really get me down. So many people can follow the plans without any injuries at all. So why me?? I'm not overexerting. I'm not underexerting. I'm not exceeding distances. The plan is far from challenging at this point. Why why why why why why why????

Just to spite my Achilles, I intend to race on it next Saturday. I am signing up for the Sprint, which I will race by myself with the hopes of just adding a race under my belt. (And reintroducing some speed) I am not afraid about the race, but somehow I am freaking out about this Wikipedia article I just read about the dam and Lake we are swimming in. Apparently it is structurally unsound for a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, and the lake is 1.5 miles from the San Jacinto fault, which is more than capable of predicting one. In light of all the small earthquakes popping up in the US these past few weeks, I can't help but freak out a little about it. I mean, I guess if it's your time, it's your time, but I'll be damned if it happens to me in a free sprint triathlon I'm doing by myself.

I suppose I'm done bitching now. Hopefully the coffee machine salesman has vacated the kitchen so I can get my 2nd cup of heaven in peace.