under my own steam

yes, i'm still alive

2010-04-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

I have avoided this here blog and doing anything like blogging. [You're like 'duh, we can tell, you haven't posted anything since like January.']

But let's try it again.

I started this blog to talk about my journey to being in the best shape of my life. Until now, I have thought that the only things I should talk about are things that have to do with triathloning or other physical things I do. But, I've had a revelation: I can talk about things other than just physical exercise and training. You're like 'yeah chic, you can talk about whatever you want - it's your damn blog.' So, I'm gonna. Talk about all the other things that are part of my journey to being in the best shape of my life.

I might talk about architecture because I've gotten interested in it recently. I might talk about teaching because that's my job. I might talk about games because I love to play them. I might talk about my fabulous partners because, well, they're fabulous. I might talk about the kids because they are wonderful. I might talk about our dogs because they are Whacked, with a capital W! I might even talk about price of cheese or other random crap that's flowing through my head - why? Because it's my blog and I can rant if I want to.

Someday, I'm going to write a book and one of the chapters is going to be called the Seventh Grade Stink. It happens every year right around the beginning of spring when we have a few warm days. All of a sudden, the classrooms, the halls, the bathrooms, no doubt the locker rooms (but I'm never there) smell like 7th graders. I don't know if you know much about 7th graders but they are usually 12 years old popping off at 13 almost daily. And, hormones hit most during 7th grade. Why am I writing about it this now you might ask? Because this past week was the week - the week when it got hot enough for the students to sweat and pervasive enough for the new hormoneinduced-7th-grade-stink to permeate EVERYTHING.

More on 7th graders later.

I gotta go do something.

spin class

2010-01-09T17:25:00.001-08:00

What do you think about spin classes for off-season training?

Some of my thoughts about it so far...
It's too cold for me to ride outside - I know I'm not going to do it so I have to find another alternative.
I've thought about just doing trainer rides. I need to work on my pace and I don't mind getting a book to read while my legs are doing the work.
Today, I attended a spin class at a gym and I had a lot of fun.
The bike was a bit uncomfortable (but it's only an hour class and who hasn't been uncomfortable on their bike for at least an hour?).
The music was fun.
The encouragement was helpful.
There were a lot of sprints. I like sprints but for some as yet undiscovered reason they were more fun than helpful.
I did sweat a lot which was good. And, I need to lose more weight which seems like it might be a by-product of the spin class.

Thoughts, oh peeps in the blogosphere?

Beach2Battleship half-iron race report...(it's long so be warned)

2009-11-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

The basics according to my watch...

Swim - 31:44

T1 - 11:18 (I think)
Bike - 3:40:43

T2 - 4 minutes (not sure)

Run - 3:04:52

Total - 7:30:24

The results according to the official timing (which didn't work for everybody):

Swim - n/a

T1 - n/a

Bike - n/a

T2 - 5:37

Run - 3:04:18
Total - 7:29:53

My overall rank - 137 out of 156 (that finished) or 137 out of 163 (that started). In either case, about 85% of those the women in the race are better than me. (I view this as information to help me get better in the future not criticisim for now.)

_______________

The day...

We started the day at about 4:00 am (possibly 4:30 - not sure - it was too early for me to track). I had a bagel and a Coke. Believe it or not, I spent a LOT of time trying to figure out what to eat that morning and, yes, what I decided upon was a bagel and a Coke. I have a lot of work to do on nutrition. I know.

I took a shower, got dressed in the warmest stuff I had brought and we headed over to T1. (John our fabulous sherpa toted us over to the start, toted our bike pump back to the car and hung out with us until there was no reason to stay. I think we got there around 6:00 am and the temperature was about 36 degrees - yes, 36 degrees, which SUCKS for this Florida girl. Fortunately, I had some warm clothes.

We parked and headed over to the bikes to pump up the tires and fiddle with stuf f for the first transition. Then, headed over to body-marking which I like a LOT. I know - I'm weird. It's okay. I know it. And, we had a little fun getting cheesy for the camera.

By this time, it was about 7:00 am. And, we didn't start until around 8:50. Dude. That's an hour and 50 minutes. To do nothing. Except think about stuff. Torture. For. Me. Meredith headed over to swim start. I walked around more, checked out the swim exit and then finally hopped on the trolley to head over to the swim start.

The swim:

The swim start was at a pier that I think rented kayaks or something. When I arrived there were already lots of people hanging around. And, it was actually more fun and much less stressful than I thought. There were a couple of very cool people there like Carolina John , Missy and SWTrigal . We saw some of the full-iron distance folks swimming by so we cheered them on. Right before our start, we saw Sage (she's a coach, yogini, athlete - all kind of fabulousness wrapped into one person and someday we'll be able to afford to have her coach us). Then, we had to enter the water down a boat ramp and over a mat (to the swim start we go). The mat beeped when we crossed but it was just to indicate that we had entered the water. Our swim start was at 8:50 - that's how our time was noted. We got in the water and I felt incredible. EVERY other time I have gotten in the water for a swim I have had some immediate panic (can't breathe - panting even). I've learned that the panic passes and I can eventually swim. I did NOT have that AT ALL this time. It was amazing and magical. I felt at home - like this was my water - like I had been doing this my whole life. Totally weird. Totally awesome. Meredith looked great. She was getting settled in the water, finding her spot. The horn sounded and off we went. I felt great. I was bilateral breathing; I had smooth strokes; and, in almost no time it seemed, I was at the boat with the wiggly man (one of those human shaped things usually at car lots that has air blowing through it - and it's wiggling). This was pretty cool because it was at the wiggly man that we turn left. I lifted up out of the water and yelled "I love the wiggly man" - I was giddy-stupid at that point. The swim was going really well. I did keep getting pulled off to the right after the turn (with the current). So, I ended up swimming more than those who stayed in the 'fast lane'. But, I don't have any complaints - it felt incredible to swim that much with less effort than I imagined and in less time than I had planned. I realize that I had the current and I loved every minute of it (all 15 fewer minutes than I had hoped).

*Something to note for the future - when I have been swimming for a bunch of laps without stopping, I get a cramp (or that tightening feeling that you get right before you get a cramp) in my left calf. This seems weird to me because I don't use my legs very much when I swim. I'm one of those people that when I kick it actually slows me down. During the swim on race day, I started feeling that pre-cramp feeling in both of my calfs. Weird. I had to focus a LOT on keeping my legs relaxed for the last 10 minutes or so to try to prevent the cramping.

Transition 1:

We had to climb up ladders onto a pier, then walk a few meters, get our wetsuit shucked off (which was wonderful), then walk through a freshwater shower, then I got my shoes on and jogged (sloshy belly full of salt water and all) about 400 miles, I mean 400 yards to the transition area. I always feel a little strange when I get out of the water so this was a bit of an adventure. Finally got to my bike, Meredith was just about to head out of the transition area. She looked GREAT! There were others coming and going and there was this guy a couple of bikes down the row who draped a towel around himself to change - only it didn't really do the job. Reminded me of Carolina John's bike race in SC with the cocks-a-flopping. Anyhoo...

I got changed, got on my bike, and headed to the exit. I got to the mount line, mounted my bike and took off.

The bike:

A few seconds later, I noticed my bike computer was NOT working so I pulled off to the side to fiddle with it. Then started biking again. Still not working. Pulled off again to fiddle with it differently. Then started biking again. Still NOT working. Pulled off again to fiddle with it. Then started biking again. STILL NOT WORKING. So, I pulled it off my bike, chucked it into my pocket and biked on. I still didn't feel right. Usually the bike is comfortable and easy. Not this time though. I felt uncomfortable, unsteady and, well, icky. My tummy didn't feel good and I couldn't do anything to make it better. That's about how I felt for the first 5 or 6 miles - just not quite right. Then, the course took us up on I-140. We had a whole lane to ourselves for the length of I-140. AWESOME! There were police officers at each exit ramp and on ramp stopping traffic for us. Dude. I could get used to that. I felt better and better. I started eating Shot Bloks and drinking some water and I was just pumping away. I did decide to pull over somewhere on the interstate in order to take some ibuprofen because it usually does me a LOT of good during rides and runs. I got passed a lot which was kind of weird because I'm definitely a back-of-the-pack kinda girl. By the time we got to the end of the I-140, I had caught up to Meredith, which was tons of fun for me because I got to talk to her a little bit. Not much 'cause you are NOT allowed to ride next to each other or draft. By this time, we were riding north on 421 where the course is VERY VERY flat. I had a good pace I thought - focusing more on turn-over than powering through. Turned onto Blueberry which was where the first of the courses aid stations was located. Took a moment to pee, get some water and headed on. The next few miles was pretty good. Saw a lot of riders coming back (it was an out and back course), Carolina John was kicking some boo-tay at this point. Got to the turn-around point and, well, turned around. (From the end of I-140 on, the course was familiar to me - Meredith and I had come out a few weeks prior for a test ride.) This is where I started feeling not so great. It took a few miles but gradually pedaling became harder, then there was a head-wind and finally, my stomach just felt like there were rocks in it. I stopped at the last aid station before the end. Used the restroom again (didn't help), got some water and went on. I was able to get a good pace going, but every pedal stroke sucked a little more energy out. And, all the stuff that I had put into my stomach was not getting to my muscles. I did okay up until the last 2 bridges. By the time I grinded all the way to the top of that last bridge, I was empty. And, I was crying. And, I could not see any possible way that I was going to be able to do the run. I had hit bottom.

Transition 2:

I pulled into transition just behind Meredith. I had finally caught back up with her. I think she asked me how I was doing and I think I just busted into tears. I don't think I could even talk for a couple of minutes. I needed nutrition. Nothing I had taken in felt like it had hit my system and the bagel and coke were long gone. I sat on the ground for a bit, got on my shoes, and tried to imagine how the hell I was going to keep going. Meredith headed out. Another guy was headed into transition and, while I know he wasn't talking to me (I think he was talking to one of the volunteers), it seemed like it he said to me "I just feel like crying". I already was. Okay. So, I said to myself "get up and get going and, if you have to, you can walk it." Also, I really needed to take a gel but I didn't have any water so I decided I would at least get to the first of the aid stations on the run course so I could get some water and take the gel. As I reflect, I did have water on my bike, which wasn't with me at the beginning of transition but was magically there by the end (fantastic volunteers who took our bikes as we entered transition and brought them to our positions). My head was so foggy that I couldn't adjust to the water on my bike when my bike got to me.

The run:

Anyway, weeping and walking and running was how I exited transition 2. I tried very hard to run past all of the wonderful people who were cheering me on. I saw Sage again. Right past her, I stopped running, started walking and weeping. I got out of the parking lot and past the access road and saw the big bridge ahead of me and what did I see? Meredith up a ways and other people walking too! I was still in a deep dark hole but this gave me just a little bit of energy to keep going. I got to the aid station, got some water, took 2 gels this time 'cause I was in bad shape and off I went. Walking and running. I could see Meredith up ahead and I thought "gosh, I hope I can catch up to her at some point - I sure could use some Meredith energy right now". I slowly began to feel better - I was still crying every now and then but not as often and not for as long. And, I was able to run a little bit farther each time. I could still see Meredith up ahead and now she was running with someone else. I thought with a bit of a chuckle "Meredith made a new friend" (she makes friends wherever she goes). But, I found out later, that this person actually befriended her! How fun!

Anyway, I caught up and we ran the last 9.1 miles together. We saw the lead man and lead woman for the full iron distance -that was totally cool. But, dude, they were on the last lap of the run for the full (the last 13 miles of 140.6) while we were on the last lap of the run for the half (the last 13 miles of 70.3). Wow! They were amazing. We saw signs that said "be here" and "believe in your training". All of those helped. I felt better and better mentally - I guess my body finally started to absorb some of the nutrition. I felt more and more physically tired at the same time. The balls of my feet were hurting. My head was a little fuzzy. The bricks and the cobblestones on Water Street as well as the drawbridge were a little difficult to navigate. And then, we finished. Our peeps were at the end waiting for us, high-fiving us and ringing some serious cow-bell. It was awesome!

Post-race thoughts:

*I have got to learn more about nutrition.

*I have to have a stronger run base.

*Holy shit - I just did an half-iron distance triathlon.

*I do trust the training we did. There are certainly some things we/I will adjust next time around but it worked.

*While we were at the expo, surrounded by all kinds of 'serious' athletes, I thought "what right do I have to be here with all of these athletes with all of their wicked cool gear?" By the end of the race, I what right I have: I trained for this and I did it.

We rock!

________________

We went for a run today - in the icky cold rainy weather. Last spring, I ran in the cold and rain and was absolutely MISERABLE. Today, I was a little stiff and sore but other than that, I was okay. I was definitely NOT miserable. Mentally, it was easy. That's progress.

0 days (the night before)

2009-11-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

The countdown clock on my blog says 0 days! Dude. Wow. It's here. Tomorrow is race day.

Today, we picked up our packets; ate several times; dropped off our bikes and bags of gear per race instructions; and checked out all the transition areas. We did all of the stuff that we were supposed to do.

<--This is where our bikes are spending the night, without us, in the cold, waiting for us to emerge from the swim and take off.

This is where we had to drop our T2

(bike to run transition) gear.-->

Now, we just have to race.

I have this feeling that I might start freaking out in the morning right before we start the swim. I haven't freaked out yet, so it's gonna come right? We'll see.

I know there are people out there for which this is not a big deal. I hope someday (sooner rather than later) that this becomes familiar, festive and fun. There is a degree of fun in it for me now but it's a bit more distant or maybe removed. The fun factor is more like the light at the end of a very dark hall - it's there and I know it but it's there - not right here. Someday.

Tomorrow, I will attempt to do the biggest physical thing I've ever done (at least that I can remember). I plan to start and I hope to finish. See you on the other side of 70.3.

rant about stupid-isms

2009-10-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

Stupid-ism #1: A few weeks ago MFTLP and I were doing a LONG ride. We were about at the turn-around point on a state road that had been 2 lanes for quite a long way but had turned into a 4-lane road with a center turn lane. Plenty of room. This chic in the passenger seat of a white SUV leaned out as she was passing us and said something along the lines of "why don't you ride on the sidewalk?" with an angry tone and possibly an obscenity attached.

Um...well #1, a**hole: it's not legal to ride on the sidewalks where I live and it is legal (as in required) to ride on the right side of the road - "ride as far to the right as practicable" which still means riding on the right side of the what? - the ROAD. And, #2, stupid a**hole (this is where the stupid comes in): THERE WEREN'T ANY SIDEWALKS. Yes, that's right she yelled at me to ride on the sidewalks and there weren't any. You'd think because she was so blatantly stupid that it wouldn't bother me. But, alas, I am affected - frustrated by the fact that nothing I did impacted her - she was driving in the left lane with nobody slowing her down - and yet she had to yell something angry out the window to us. WTF!

Stupid-ism #2: Today, during the bike part of our brick, I had a flat. [I guess I didn't have to specify that it was the bike part of the brick in which I had a flat - if I'm going to have a flat, I would have it during the bike. Duh. Sorry.] So, having a flat today is pretty frustrating - I mean it's always frustrating to have a flat but today it was made even more frustrating because I just changed my tire like 2 or 3 days ago because it was flat AND (this is good) I HAVEN'T FUCKING RIDDEN MY BIKE SINCE I CHANGED MY FUCKING TIRE and it still went flat! Besides having to deal with a flat during terrible traffic time (cars zooming past at like 40-50 mph or more like 3-4 feet away from me) and dealing with the fact that there is something wrong with me and how I change my tires or something wrong with my tire (either one of which REALLY needs to be fixed before the race), some fuckhead yells out his car window "(something something that was garbled) bicycle fags". I suppose it might have been "bicycle hags" or possibly "bicycle bags" but people don't usually go out of their way to yell something like bicycle bags. They are much more likely to yell something which is intended to be some kind of insult I suppose. What exactly are "bicycle fags" or "bicycle hags" for that matter? And, does changing a tire on the side of a busy road during almost-rush-hour constitute us being "bicycle fags". I mean it's not like we were making out or anything (although I have to say that would have been far more fun than changing the FUCKING tire for the second time in 3 days). Or, what if it was "bicycle hags"? What's that? He was also traveling the opposite direction on the other side of the divided highway from where we were. So, nothing we were doing was impacting him at all. And yet, stupid a**hole had to yell out his window at us. WTF!

Anyway...there is so much anger out there about bicyclists riding on the roads. Why? What the hell did we do to you? You are probably the same a**holes that throw shit out the windows of your cars rather than in a trash can and chain up your dogs outside without water and don't give a shit about what happens to them and you are also probably the kind of ignorant motherfuckers who go out of their way to kill, torture or maim other creatures. Definitely the kind of people that need to be weeded out some variation of the darwinian way - like survival of the smartest - of which they would totally NOT make the cut.

Sorry, fuck is the word of choice today. I hope none of you younger folks are reading this. If so, edit out the bad words.

Today: the traffic got to me. It didn't used to - but it sure did today.

We have 16 days 'til the race. It seems very close. We have about 10 more days of pretty intensive training and then taper. My confidence is increasing in little bits and my excitement is growing. Yay!

Later dudes. Thanks for reading.

holy swimming, biking and running batman - it's only 22 days away...

2009-10-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I'm going to feel at the start of the Beach2Battleship. And sometimes I think that I might just find myself stuck at the start. Hanging with my homies until MFTLP finishes the race.

I haven't felt like this in the run races or the bike rides I've done. And, I don't remember this feeling doing the two triathlons I've done.

I remember the Pacific Grove olympic distance and how I felt standing there getting ready to get in the 57 degree water in Monterey Bay in a wetsuit and swimming for not-quite-a-mile. I was scared! The water was too cold and the distance was too long and the kelp was too, well, kelpy. I don't know that I ever thought I wouldn't actually get in the water and do the race though.

The fact that I have had these thoughts about not actually starting the race because I don't think I can do it is a new thing for me. There are at least 2 things that make this race seem way more doable than the other 2 triathlons I've done: (1) the water will be warmer (than Pacific Grove) and cleaner (than the lake in Hendersonville); (2) there will be no kelp. The distance is longer but I know that I can do the distance. I've already done the distance several times in training (just recently even - this past Monday). While I'm not fast, I get to the end.

Other random thoughts:

I'm looking forward to the bike so I can relax a little bit. Um - I think there's something wrong with that kind of thinking but I can't quite place my finger on it. Hmm. Oh wait - it's that riding a bike 56 miles in between swimming 1.25 miles and then running 13.1 miles is not exactly relaxing. But, with the way my head is working lately, it seems like the bike is going to be the "easy" part.

I'm worried that I can't sustain that kind of effort for 8 or 9 hours - even if I'm slow. I'm worried about the swim. I'm worried that my nutrition is going to suck and I'm going to seriously BONK. But, I think that's a 'normal' worry. I know that I'm learning more and more about nutrition. I experienced a serious boost in energy during a 10 mile run a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing how much taking a Gu helped!

Other times I think that I'm going to glide through the day and enjoy the fantastic experience of doing this race. That the experience of doing this half-iron will totally wash over me and through me and I'll 'enjoy' the day. That I'll be totally present at every moment. That, even though it will be hard physically, mentally it'll be easy.

Had a crappy run today so who knows what to expect.

priceless

2009-10-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

Wind in the face? pain in the arse

No motivation? serious energy drain

Bug in the glasses/helmet? scary

Completing the 55.1 mile ride with a 12 minute negative split? PRICELESS!

oh yeah....

2009-09-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

When we were running during that most recent 6 mile run, we got 'babied' or 'strollered' as MFTLP said in her comment. Yeah - it was a shining moment in our run.

I HATE getting passed. I'm already slow and I know it. When somebody passes me, it feels like they're saying "nyah, nyah, nyah, you slow-ass m_ther-f_cker, get out of my way". Yes, yes, I know, these people passing me probably don't even know that I exist and even if they do know that I exist they are not saying anything to me. But, those are the voices I hear. (You try to silence them 'cause I haven't had any success silencing them!) It was early in our run so I could say it was because we hadn't warmed up yet. But, even after we were 'warm', she stayed ahead - even gained distance. Sad.

Now, since the Bikefest a couple of months ago, in which I passed a LOT of people (some of which were men and I learned later that that was called 'getting chic-ed'), and I didn't scream at them, I have a little bit more room in my head for being passed. (It's a little bit different because it was biking - but it pushes the same buttons for me.)

Anyway, we got 'strollered'. GDMFS *(do not look below if you do NOT like cursing). Remember, the good news is that I was able to run 6 miles and had less pain after running than I had for several weeks before or even during that run.

Here's to getting faster. Sigh.

And, dude, 37 days. I'm just saying - that's not a lot of time. Eek.

Oh yeah, I ran again today (hoo-fucking-rah) with minimal pain. And, I got passed. But, it was by a guy running the other direction. So, in my the-voices-are-too-fucking-loud-in-my-head world, that was okay.

Now, I'm done.
________________________
*GDMFS --> god-damn-mother-fucking-shit --my favorite curse phrase

confidence issues

2009-09-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to figure out how to balance blogging, training, teaching and taking a class 2 nights a week. So, I haven't blogged. Duh, you say.

I have been having SERIOUS hip pain the past couple of weeks. We went for an 8-mile run a few weeks ago and while I finished the run, I could barely walk right after the run and had a really difficult time for the rest of the week. Since then, I've had some significant pain and limited use of my hips, specifically my left hip. My lower back has been very sore and stiff. To make things even better, I have these menstrual type cramps that occur NOT during my cycle, usually associated with some kind of intensive workout or speed work. They ramp up so fast and so bad that sometimes I can't do anything until the wave of pain has passed. Once, I was doing a trail run with a friend of mine and I had to lie down on the trail for a time because I couldn't keep going. Anyway, the cramps get pretty bad and for the past couple of weeks I've had them pretty regularly. So, for the past few weeks, I've been losing confidence in my ability to do the half-ironman.

My thinking has been something like "Well, I can do the swim. They're calling it a 'downhill' swim anyway and I know I can do the distance. Then the bike - I can bike 56 miles anyday. But, the run?! I don't think so. Maybe I can do the first couple of miles but what about the rest? I can probably do the last couple of miles but what about all of those in between the miles? How am I going to manage the pain?"

Today we were supposed to do a triple brick (15 mile bike followed by a 2 mile run - three times). The last time we did this, even though I completed it, I hurt a LOT. My biking was slow and every step I took hurt. So, I wasn't looking forward to the brick today. In fact, I was dreading it.

As chance would have it, it was raining this morning and the rest of the day was planned in such a way that we couldn't reschedule the bricks later in the day so we simply didn't do the triple brick. [We are not as hardcore as some of you out there (and it's a bit of a safety issue).] MFTLP had an idea - let's go out and run 6 miles. Given my recent hip issues and my waning confidence in my running ability, her idea did not thrill me. But, it was a good idea because it was a way to get some practice in my area of least confidence, it had stopped raining (finally), and the temperature was nice and cool. I slathered on some Body Glide, took a big fat dose of ibuprofen and off we went. I was going to shoot for 4 miles but I didn't want to push it. I decided that I would reevaluate after each quarter mile more than 4 miles to see how I felt and if I needed to walk - I could walk. That was helpful because it took the pressure off. Each time, I was able to get to the next quarter mile and by the end I was having less pain in my hips than I've had in weeks. Dude, like wow! Now, we did run slow but it was kind of fun just to have a 'relaxing' pace. During the run, I attributed my ability to continue running to the ibuprofen . And, by the time I got to the end of the run, my hip hurt way less than it had at the beginning - again, no doubt because of the ibuprofen, right?

Well, interestingly enough, my hip hasn't hurt all day. It's so weird. It's far past the time that the ibuprofen should be working. It seems like somebody waved a wand over my hip and all of a sudden it's better.

Today ended up being a confidence builder in a big way rather than the confidence drain that I anticipated. The 6 today could have been 8 miles (ragged 8 miles but still 8 miles) and that helps with anticipation of the 13.1 miles. If I have to - after those 8 miles, I can walk for 2 minutes and then run to the next mile marker then walk 2 minutes and run to the next mile marker. I can do that all day I think.

It's interesting the different level of training commitment and body impact doing this half-ironman is. I love learning all of this stuff - not only about training but about my body and what works.

Today, a thumbs up day in almost every way - especially training!

63 days

2009-09-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

I noticed my countdown clock today. Only 63 days. Wow! 63 days.

Lots of questions or statements tonight....

Am I going to be ready?

Can I finish?

I shouldn't have rested this week.

Do I have my nutrition figured out?

OMG - I have got to get out there and run.

Well, I already paid registration...

Nutrition - it's not just what's for breakfast anymore...

2009-08-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

The week's totals....

swim --> 2600 yds/55 min

bike --> 61.7 miles/4:01

run --> 6.1 miles/1:23

strength --> 45 min

Sadly, no walking on the beach this week.

I almost made it through my Daily Extras (butt day, chin-up bar day, etc.) I think I got 6 out of 7 of them.

Nutrition - it's not just eating breakfast anymore. I am still struggling with nutrition. I am no longer unwilling to do something different - which is good. Now, I just have to learn how. I am trying to balance eating things that are yummy (to me), with eating things that are nutritionally dense (like kale - I love kale by the way), with eating enough to fuel myself during training, with eating less so my already big butt and thighs don't get any bigger (yes, yes I know I shouldn't say that but there it is - it's part of the equation and I have to deal with it), with being used to using things like PowerBar (my most effective fuel) and Shot Bloks (the most fun) and Gatorade (old skool),

with knowing that Hammer products are on the B2B course, with knowing that if I'm going to use the course-provided fuel I need to get used to it now. (That's a lot of stuff to balance.) I can hear an argument that I can just take all of my fuel with me (stuff my bento box or the pockets of my bike shirt or whatever) but I'm not willing to do that. I don't like carrying things with me - too much to keep up with in that kind of situation - the kind of situation in which I need to be more focused on breathing and moving my body through space. So, I have to figure out how to use the Hammer products. I'm not unwilling - just...um...inexperienced with changing my nutrition patterns.

Then, there was Bikefest...it's a TOUR (not a race) of our county and bits and pieces of 2 neighbor counties. I had a great time. Me, MFTLP, our friend visiting from TN rode the Bikefest today. There wasn't really any pressure. It wasn't a race - it was a TOUR - so we didn't have to think about speed (unless we wanted to). And tour, we did. MFTLP did 35 miles, I did 62 miles and our TN buddy did between 75 and 80, (the other option for the tour was 100 miles not 75-80 miles but she marches to her own beat so she did her own thing). If you live in the south you know what I mean when I talk about the heat and humidity of August. And, we did NOT have that today. The sun came out at the very end of the tour but throughout the tour, we had overcast skies and significantly cooler temps than any Cackalackian has any right to expect on an August day. My personal goal was to push myself to see what I could do. For over 40 miles, I maintained just over 16 mph! Now, I know some of you Speedy McSpeedypants out there can do that with your big toe on your left foot but I don't usually. I'm usually a 14-15 mph kind of girl. (One thing I'm trying to learn how to do is to get faster on the bike). Now, I can bike to the moon (well, except for gravity and the absence of a land bridge) just not very fast. And, I don't have a problem with that. But, there's this RACE I'm doing in November and the word RACE implies a degree of speed. Hence, my focus. But, I have gotten off track. Back to the TOUR. Temperature was great. Fuel was pretty good. I did get very tired at the end. I think it was a combination of the distance (duh), the wind (which picked up in the last 10 miles and wind wreaks havoc on my mental strength) and fuel. BUT, with that said, I had a great ride. I had fun pushing myself. I even passed some guys (which is a big deal for me - I'm short and stocky and don't have much of a chance against a lot of you boys out there with your long, strong muscles). AND, I got to see significant portions of the county (in which I live) that I've never seen before. Woo freaking hoo. (I'm not being sarcastic here - I love seeing parts of the world I've never seen before - especially when I'm seeing them on my bike.)

That's all for now.

ramblings

2009-08-02T11:51:00.001-07:00

I got back from the beach (Carolina Beach - just south of Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach) Friday so I think I'll finally get to settle into a routine. I've gotten just a wee bit nervous about training because this is the 4th week of our 18 week training plan and I haven't been very good about doing all the stuff. So, now that I'm back, I'm looking forward to getting into a routine that will take me, fully prepared, into the half-iron.

Current thoughts about the half-iron: While I don't think the swim is going to be a piece of cake, I think it's totally doable - especially with the training that we're doing. I think the bike is going to be a fun challenge. It's the run I'm most worried about. The bricks we did in our first 18 weeks of training gave me confidence that I can get off of the bike and run, and at a not-so-bad pace, I might add. But, I'm worried about being able to do 13.1 miles after all of that. So, I'm going to focus a bit more on the run - strength training for the run and interval training. I would love to get faster in the run but mostly I just want to be able to do all 13.1 miles - without walking most of it.

Thoughts about biking: I consider myself a pretty good cyclist. My criteria are loosely based on my comfort level on the bike as well as my confidence that I can bike for a long time - NOT on my speed (which is interesting to consider). I haven't thought much about my pace until recently. I've usually approached biking as I gotta ride as fast as I can for the duration of the ride. And, I think I'm finding that my pace is slow. Well, by god, I want to be faster. I don't know what kind of pace to shoot for (except faster) or even how to increase my pace on the bike. I was talking to my mother about this the other day and she suggested that I move my legs faster. Um, thanks mom. The question is what do I do to my training or in my training to help increase my pace. I've learned in running that you do things like intervals to increase your pace. Is it the same in biking?

Totals for the week (pathetic I know):
biking - 2:56:47 (41 miles)
running - 46:49 (3 miles plus 10x100 drills)
walking on the beach - at least a couple of hours

Here's to being back at home, getting back into a routine....

why the hell do I feel like this...

2009-07-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

MFTLP and I did our run this morning. It consisted of 10x100m warm-up stuff (high knees, butt kicks, walking on toes, walking on heels and karaoke) followed by a 4 mile run. We started around 9:45 (I think) and it was already heating up but not miserable yet. The run is a loop and we had one very LONG hill and another hill that was not nearly as long at the end. We got to the top of the first hill (which was probably half-way through the run) and I felt tired but not terrible. Then we got through the next bit which was rolling hilly followed by the long downhill. By the time I got to the end of the long downhill, I felt worse than I felt at the top of the big hill. We had to wait for a light so that we could cross the road and I had to kept turning so that a different part of my body was facing the sun. I was miserable. It sucked. We finally got done and I downed a glass of water, I think had another one with ice and had some gatorade and weighed 0.8 lb less than I did when I woke up. So it seems, I lost a LOT of fluid during that run and I have felt terrible ever since. We went to run some errands and had some lunch (salad mostly, some chips with a little chili-cheese dip) and by the time I got home, I felt mo' terrible. And, all afternoon, I have felt like throwing up. And, even better - because I feel so yucky, I feel like crying. YUCK. Is this dehydration? Any ideas out there?

I got the book TriPower today (thanks Carolina John). Strength training has had a big impact on my tri-training and I want to take it to another level.

This week -

Swim - NONE (my intentions were good but I got busy and then showed up at the pool at the wrong time)

Run - 8.1 miles

Bike - 39.3 miles

Strength - I have only thought about my strength training plan this week so I have 0 official hours of strength. I did do a lot of yard work though.

Next week - I'm going to the beach with my mom for a couple of days. I will get some biking and running in - swimming will be mostly informal and fun and as far as strength goes - I'm going to read my book and implement my plan next week.

Thanks for reading.

2009-07-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

Ran today. Yay.

It wasn't easy. Sad. (Will I ever get to say that my run is easy?)

So far, here's what I have in my "each day has a different focus" plan...

Monday is plank day. (Core work is always good.)

Tuesday is thigh day. (My thighs are strong but, well, there's too much of them.)

Wednesday is butt day. (My butt is too big and needs to be a bit more - um - strong.)

Thursday is hamstring day (or the 'day after butt day' - thanks glaven). (I have learned that it's likely that my hamstrings and my lower back probably need to be strengthened.)

Friday is foot/ankle stretch day. (So I can maybe start swimming faster when I use my legs rather than slower.)

Saturday is lunge day. ('Cause I needed something for Saturday and I kind of like lunges.)

Sunday is chin-up bar day.

I may change the order or the focus. I'm not sure if these make sense for me. I have to live into my schedule once school starts.

And, this does NOT change the fact that I have strength training programmed into my training schedule. It just adds a little extra.

Til the next exciting installment of the habit forming activity....

next day of habit forming behavior

2009-07-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

We biked today. It was a good ride - short (14.5 miles in about 59 minutes) but good. MFLTP* kicked arse today - she took the lead on the later half and increased our pace by over 1 mph (in just half an hour). She pumped the whole way (no relaxing for her). It was awesome!

So, I have a training plan (which is what we're following to get ready for the Beach2Battleship half-Ironman in November) It's a good training plan - not a thing to complain about, but I want to add some degree of strength training each day. Nothing over the top - just a wee bit extra (mainly because my arms are just a wee bit too flabby and my butt is just a wee bit too big).

I think I'm going to designate each day a different strength day - like Mondays, I'll just work on planks. Tuesdays, I'll work on hamstrings. Wednesdays, I'll work on my butt. Thursdays, I'll work on _____________. I don't have it all figured out yet but I'm kind of excited about having a routine for this.

I did NOT put up the chin-up bar by GoFit.net today. I got too busy. I did spread a LOT of mulch.

Tomorrow - we run. Hip hip hooray!

Til tomorrow....

*MFTLP, sometimes MFLTP, sometimes MFTP, sometimes MFLP - sort of depends on which letters I remember - My Fabulous Training/Life Partner.

monday blahs

2009-07-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today it's raining. It's a good thing today is a rest day, otherwise, I'd be going stir crazy. Oh wait, I'm still going stir crazy. It's weird how difficult it is for me to sit still. I'm most comfortable when I'm moving through the world.

I got a new exercise tool - the chin-up

bar by Go Fit.net. -->

<--I got it so I can do this excercise.

Because I can't do this exercise

(yet) -->

Today, I soaked up all of the training that I did this past week. Yay!

'Til tomorrow...

(this is exciting isn't it - yawn)

here we go...

2009-07-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

We are on the second half - and absolutely official - training plan to lead us up to the half-ironman in November. And, I need to keep tabs on my training - 'cause this is the real deal. So, I am going to blog every day for the next 4 days to try to make it a habit and then blog regularly. Feel free not to read - this is just an exercise in creating a good habit.

This past week - not so bad. My swim didn't make me feel like a loser afterward - so that's progress, eh?

Remember these wind up swimmers? Their feet and arms move when the little dude is swimming. Me - I'm not like these wind up swimmers - I only use my arms, that is, until recently. Many years ago, I developed the habit of NOT using my legs, like at all, when I first started training for triathlon. During past swim workouts, I tried to change that and attempt to use my legs. But, alas, the workout was much 'easier' and (believe it or not) I was faster when I didn't use my legs. Later when the workouts got pretty intense, I got cramps in my calfs even when I wasn't using my legs during the swim!!!! Dude, that's totally not fair and way NO fun. Why am I going on about this? Something strange happened this week - I have been using my legs. They just move in the water when I move my arms - like the wind up swimmer. It's weird - like somehow they're connected. And, I'm not consciously saying 'move' - they are just moving. Of course, I am still slower when I use my legs (gotta figure that one out - I mean they are the strongest part of my body - gotta harness that power somehow). Oh well. Maybe someday I'll learn how to harness the power in my legs.

The run SUCKED _SS in the second half - still trying to figure that one out.

And, for the week I pretty much sucked on the strength training.

I LOVED being on the bike. I want more BIKE!

Since today is Sunday, here are my totals:

4hrs 25minutes

Ran 4 miles (MUST. RUN. MORE.)

Biked 36.5 miles

Swam 1550 yards

Strength training - ZERO.NADA.ZILCH. (I did do a LOT of yard work though.)

Til tomorrow...

You know there's something wrong when....

2009-05-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

...you think a double brick (2o mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run x 2) seems relaxing. WTF!

Let me give you a little background first. A couple of weeks ago, MTLP * and I joined this really cool running group called Team Sakina. If you get a chance, check out their website. They are a womens only group who runs and through fund raising financially supports a place in Tanzania called Sakina. By doing what we're doing, we are going to get to send several kids to school as well as help support the health needs of the families and communities there. It's wicked cool and it's totally awesome to be part of something bigger than just me.

What is not so cool is how much of a challenge being on a team has been for me. The first 'practice' was hill work and completely kicked my a**. Then, during the Saturday run, I got cramps. Later that day, during my swim, I got cramps again. S-U-C-K-S! Then, during the Thursday run this past week, we did interval training and I ran my intervals (800s) something ridiculous like an 8 or 8.5 minute pace! I thought I was going to die!!!!!!!! I don't run fast. I run slow - so that pace killed me. I almost started crying. I wanted to quit running and quit the team. I had all of these 'I suck' messages going through my head and I just felt huge and slow and mostly just too f*cking slow to have a right to run with these women (one of which, I learned earlier in the evening, runs 72 miles a week - yes, 72 miles in a week). But, I toughed it out that night, went home tried to ride on the trainer (I was supposed to have a 20 mile bike) but I could only tough it out for 30 minutes (which felt like an eternity). I was miserable. I finally got to eat something and then went to bed. This terrible-no good-very bad-training day was finally over!

What is cool though is that the coaches actually give a sh*t about my cramps. One of the coaches wrote me a big long email after having discussed my cramps with another of the coaches and the other coach loaned me her endurance running nutrition book.

The more I read and learn about myself, the more I think I have not been eating enough or taking in enough electrolytes. All part of training, right? Better to learn it now than at the race.

I fretted about the run today with the team. In fact, I was trying to find any excuse not to run with the team today but in the end I did. And, I'm glad I did. I didn't have cramps! Yay! And, I worked through some of my anxiety about being the slowest one in the group and my feelings about not being good enough to be a part of the team.

Then, we had a swim. It was 2400 yards - which I realize for some of you isn't very long - but it still is for me. And, I was particularly nervous about the potential for cramps. Again, I adjusted my fuel intake but I was still dragging my feet about going to the pool. When we got there, I sat in the car with MTLP and worked through some other stuff about training. Then, finally, when I couldn't come up with anything else to slow me down, we went in to swim. Guess what? No cramps. And, I felt better today than I have in a long time in the pool. Yay! I wasn't particularly fast but that's okay.

Anyway, all of the mental and physical struggles of the past couple of weeks impacted me to the point that this evening when I was thinking about our double brick tomorrow (biking without rain or dropping temperatures or wind and running with only MTLP**), I was relieved.

That's messed up.

*MTLP is My (fabulous) Training/Life Partner

**Last Sunday, we had a triple brick. So, we loaded up to get down to our starting/transition point. It was raining - had been most of the morning. We decided to get out there anyway because we do need to get some experience riding in the rain.*** So, we rode and it rained and the wind started up and then the temperature started dropping. Okay, so not only am I wet - soaked actually - but I'm also wind-blown which makes me cold even in warm rain but then the temperature started dropping - not just 1 or 2 degrees but like 10 degrees - down into the 50's or something. Again, I know for some of you this is ideal - not so for me. But, we were going to get at least one brick in - even if we couldn't get around to doing all 3 for the day. Then, I got a flat. I should have changed it and then went on. But, neither one of us really wanted to continue - we were freezing, wet, wind-blown and with a flat tire AND we were supposed to repeat this TWICE. Oh hell no. We quit. FAIL on the completion. FAIL on the toughening up. FAIL on repairing the flat.

***I realize that for some of you out there rain doesn't hold you back. I'm still in my 'toughen up' stage. Grr.

cramps and bricks and trail runs...oh my

2009-05-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

First of all, I still don't have this blogging thing into my regular schedule. Change takes time for me. I think about blogging often (like I think about titles and things to write about and pictures that I want to include, etc. ) but I don't have the timing as a part of my routine yet.

Cramps - I got cramps once before while I was swimming. It sucked. This time, it sucked even more. Why? 'Cause I got them in both legs - not at the same time though. Saturday morning we ran in the Philosopher's Way Trail Run (my first trail run-race). It wasn't part of our training plan but it was something local and something we wanted to support so we did it. I had a fruit smoothie and a Power Bar. The race was great (more on that later). I ate lunch (peanut butter and jelly maybe - can't remember right now). Anyway, after enough time for lunch to settle, we went for our swim - major swim of the week - something like 2300 yards. I realize for some of you that's nothing - but for me, well, I'm still working on it. And, yay ralla - there were no drills, just a ladder. JUST A LADDER. WTF. 50. Then 100. Then 150. Then 200. Then 250. Then 300. Then, holy crap, I was supposed to come back down the ladder. Well, my legs decided they didn't want to come back down the ladder. They just decided to stay at the top of the dang ladder. I got to like the last length of my first 300 and got MAJOR cramps in my calf. Did you know it's dangerous to get cramps while you're swimming? Me too, now. I stopped in the middle of the pool, grabbed my leg (rock hard - not like that Glaven) and the lane divider thingy - all the while, the lifeguard is staring at me. I informed him that I had cramps and inched back to the wall. I breathed ('cause all of those football players when they get cramps they take in oxygen so I thought if I breathed a lot it would help); I stretched ('cause it's the opposite of what was going on in my calf at the time); and I wished for a banana ('cause that's what everybody says you need when you have cramps). It got a bit better, so I swam back to the other side and took an extra long break - stretching and stuff. MTP (my training partner and just plain fabulous partner/girlfriend) checked on me to make sure I was okay - being the good girlfriend that she is. (Word to the girlfriend.) I was okay but VERY frustrated. I mean, I wasn't looking forward to the swim anyway but good golly I was there and I was doing it and I wanted the credit for finishing it. DAMN IT! She said that it wasn't safe to continue because I could get another cramp and if I wasn't careful then it could catch me by surprise and I could swallow water and, ya know, like drown. EEK. So, what did I do? Yep, that's right, I tried to continue swimming. But, I got about 2 or 3 strokes and got another MAJOR cramp in my other leg. Holy cannolli batman. And, it like moved - it started in one place and traveled. Did you know that cramps travel? I didn't. I thought they got real comfortable in one place and just tightened up. But, nooooooo. It started in one place and then either moved up or just invited all the rest of the muscles to join in the cramp party. It was then that I realized the cramps had gotten the better of me and that I needed to just through in the goggles - so I did. Literally.

So back to the trail run. (Hmm. Why did I start with cramps and then come back to the trail run? Weird.) It was great fun - humid and bee-yoo-tiful. The rocks were fantastic. The trail had all these great roots and dips and steep (but thankfully short) climbs. The support was fun (PBR at the water station - gotta love that - someday, I'm gonna drink one of those in the middle of a run - by god). They had music that drifted through the trees and there were all kinds of really nice people. Oh yeah, we made a couple of friends too. I saw some people that I knew and reconnected with others that I hadn't seen in awhile. All in all, a great time. I like this trail running thing. I like the shifts in terrain. I like that I can totally get into a zone but it's a totally different zone than the kind I get in during a road run. Trail running is very zen (like I know anything about zen - but if I did, I bet it would be zen). And, I wasn't last. I wasn't fast. But, I wasn't last.

MTP produces a much better race report, IMHO, so please check out her post/report here.

Now about the bricks. No, not those kind of bricks (except that is what my legs felt like the first time I did a brick). And, yes I did say brick-suh. That's plural - ride, run, repeat. Now for you seasoned veterans out there, this might not seem particularly challenging but I remember what my first brick felt like (reference the bricks) so I was a bit skairt. But, a little fear never stopped me before so why start now. We did our first 15 miles and it wasn't that bad - it wasn't that great but it wasn't that bad either. Then, we ran 2 miles. We ran slow but good-golly-miss-molly I felt progressively better during the run. That so rarely happens to me - the whole feeling better the more I run thing. Yay freakin' ralla! Then, we sadled up and rode another 15 miles (which felt not-too-bad). I'm pretty sure we had a serious negative split on the second half of the second 15 miles. DUDE. WTF. I have to confess though that we were okay with just letting the second brick go in the event that we felt a single raindrop. But, alas, the weather held perfectly for us during our second bike. We finished the ride with that fantastic negative split but I held out NO hope whatsoever of having a decent run the second time around. I mean c'mon my legs felt like bricks before, I was pretty sure they would feel like, well, um, lead-encased bricks.

But, ya know what? We started running and even though it was tough (because we had a faster pace than our earlier run) , we did it. And, the second mile of our second 2 mile run after our 2 15 miles bikes was faster than any of the other miles - that's like a negative split squared. Dude. WTF. Where the hell did that come from?

It was a huge confidence builder for me. Seriously though, this training thing - totally rocks! (Except when it sucks.)

how the ...

2009-04-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

... H. E. double hockey sticks do you all do it?

Not that - you dirty minded folks. I know how to do that. Jeez.

I mean keep up with all of this stuff - eating, sleeping, working, training AND blogging.

last week - spring break for me - my totals...

biked - 2:02 which included my first actually-for-real-out-on-the-road bike with humiliating wind
run - 9.7 miles in 1:54 (which included a half-mile done at a sub-10 minute pace - it's the little things)

swim - 2900 yards in 1:04 (holy sheet - that was way more swimming than I've ever done in a week)

strength - only 48 minutes this week (but that doesn't include the 18,000 hours of work I did outside on my yard and helping my friend build a shed - okay okay maybe it wasn't 18,000 hours but it was A LOT)

Thoughts for the week:

My totals are more than what I've done before. Yay me!
I worked harder this week than I have before. Yay me!
I have a lot of work to do. There were times this week when I was absolutely exhausted starting a workout. That's tough on the ole' brain and real hard on the confidence. My confidence took some blows this week. Riding in the wind on the bike was tough. Then, swimming after that with very little energy was really tough. I kept getting slower and slower. But, I finished it all (pat, pat, pat - on the back). I thought about all of you blogger buddies out there working hard and training. It helped to know that you were out there.

run envy

2009-03-26T18:54:00.001-07:00

That's what I have - run envy. We were at the track tonight doing drills and then running in zone 1 and zone 2 (how do you differentiate it?) and there was this guy there. He had like no fat on his body anywhere. He was a bit taller than me but not a lot and probably weighed about 30 pounds less than I weigh.

And, he was flying around the track. He made running look easy. He would run fast (not sprinting - just very fast) and then trot around the end of the track and then run fast the rest of the way.

I don't usuallly live with envy. I choose not to wish things were different than they are. It's not healthy for me to dwell on how things could be or might be or could have been or might be.

But, gosh, I sure do wish I could run faster. I wish I could run with as much ease as this guy. He was great to watch because he was so fluid in his movement. Running was totally his thing. It was cool.

I love to run. I really do. It's just that sometimes it's hard. I wouldn't mind if running was easy every now and then.

Oh well.

Happy Friday.

week of march 16 (a little late)

2009-03-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

This was the last week of the adaptation phase of our training plan. I am adapting my body to working out daily (or mostly daily) and (I suppose) adapting my mind to working out daily.

My totals:

bike (all on the trainer) --> 50 minutes
run --> 8.5 miles for 1:54 (slow but still 8.5 miles is 8.5 miles)

strength --> 42 minutes (I missed a strength workout)

swim --> 1800 yards for 54 minutes

Thoughts about last week

1. I drank (alkyhol) more than I have been. I had wine 2 or 3 days last week. Damn lush I am. Just kidding. I do consider it noteworthy because I have been trying to pay attention to how much I drink partly because I'm trying to lose weight and partly because I'm working on healthy habits (that's code for I-felt-like-I-was-drinking-too-much-so-now-I'm-drinking-less).

2. I missed a core strength workout and an upper body workout. I think it was supposed to be on Friday but I worked until 7 pm then went to a concert with a friend (her kid - also a friend - was singing so I went to support both kid and adult friend as well as to enjoy the beautiful music of these amazing kids). By the time I got home around 9 pm I was tuckered (that's code for I-was-so-damned-tired-I-couldn't-see-straight) so I didn't work out. It didn't bother me then because I thought I would make up for it on Saturday but then didn't - because I was so tired I wasn't motivated to do anything. I barely got in my run. But, I didn't worry too much about it then because I could do it on Sunday. And, Sunday rolled around and I could barely get in my swim workout. I finally wasn't exhausted anymore but I only had enought mental energy to play this fun game called Carcassone and drink wine.

3. I'm posting today when it should have been done Sunday.

4. For loving being on the bike as much as I do, you wouldn't know it from my training logs and I haven't actually had a training ride on my bike outside yet. Hmm. Weird.

Thoughts about this week:

A. I have already missed a core and upper body workout. I had good reason - our family celebrated last night. What did we celebrate you might ask? Some of you already know. My other partner got an offer and accepted the offer for a job. This is FABULOUS! It has been a bit stressful without his income so this is very exciting. It's even more exciting because the company sounds like a solid company working on cool technology stuff with lots of room for him to put all of his many talents to use. So, we celebrated. When we got back, I was too tuckered to do any strength training.

B. I don't want to start a habit of skipping strength training. I actually like strength training. I can feel the positive results of it already. And, I have done a good job with it so far. But, I don't like missing 2 workouts in a row. Does this ever happen to anyone else?

C. This next part of training is an aerobic phase.

D. I can't figure out the difference between zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3 in swimming. I know it has to do with heart rate and all that but I don't have baselines in any of them. So, I interpret it as zone 1 -->I swim normal (this is when I get my fastest time) zone 2 --> I swim faster (this is when I get my next fastest time), zone 3 --> I swim the fastest I can (this is when I get my slowest time). Okay, so I know part of it is that I'm a bit more tired at the end of my workout when it's telling me to swim faster but isn't this...a bit...ummm....f*cked up? I try to swim faster and it takes me more time? Dude. That doesn't do a lot for my self-confidence. Whatev. What I do know is that at that 'slower' pace - that zone 1 pace - I could probably swim all day (well - maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration - maybe not all day - but heck, I could swim longer than just a few minutes).

Anyhoo.

I had more kale on Sunday. It was fabulous. It was crispy and delightful. And, it was healthy. I gotta get more healthy stuff in my diet.

Tonight - I want chocolate icing. Sigh.

Tomorrow is a run day. And, it's supposed to rain. Sigh. I sure am getting a lot of practice running in the rain this year.

This is what I feel like at work this week.

Later dudes. Have a good week.

check this out (nothing to do with training)

2009-03-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

This video is wicked cool.

week of march 9

2009-03-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Week totals

Swim --> 1450 yards for 29 minutes (2:03 per 100)

Bike --> 1:36
Run --> 1:23 for 6.6 miles
Strength --> 40 minutes
Total time working out - 4:08

I got all my workouts in just not necessarily on the days they were scheduled. Oh well.

We ran in the rain today. Me again. MTP first time this season. It was in the 40's (temp wise) so it wasn't as big a deal for me today as it was 2 weeks ago. It was still a bit of a challenge. We started with 10x100 drills (2 skips, 2 karaoke, 2 walk on toes, 2 walk on heels, 2 butt kicks). Then, we ran for 3 miles. It was hard - the run in the rain. I was sucking wind the whole run and there were no hills. I'm not complaining mind you. It was a 3 mile run and at no point did I think I couldn't do it. It was just harder than I expected it to be.

Now on to other equally exciting news...

MTP (my training partner) and I decided to experiment with some food this weekend. We tried bee pollen, flax seed, wheat germ and I tried oatmeal. All in the same bowl. ICKY POO POO. First of all, I'm not a big oatmeal fan but I'm trying to eat better so I can train more. I can handle oatmeal and most of you serious endurance folks out there eat it so I tried it. I think the oatmeal would have been okay if I hadn't put bee pollen in it. Who knew that bee pollen would be so ... um... weird. It tasted kind of like a vitamin C tablet that you chew. I'm sure it works for some of you crunchy, endurance folks out there but it didn't work in my oatmeal. So, I simply ate a tablespoon of it. That was much better.

<--We also put wheat germ in the oatmeal. I didn't taste it.

And, we put flax seed in the oatmeal. Again, I didn't taste it. It does kind of look like fleas to me - only not black - um golden fleas (which is different than the golden fleece - just fyi). I know - weird that I would think of fleas. Why would I think of bugs first? Things that make you go hmmmm.

MTP knows the point of all those extras - me, not so much. She says she's going to try it. I say well, if she can do it, so can I. If she can be healthy, by god, so can I. Of course, I did have potato chips with my unwich (see footnote #1 below) today. She didn't. So maybe I can't be as healthy as she is.

We also had kale this weekend. Now, I like kale. My first official job was at Wendy's tending the salad bar back in like 1984 or something. I had to put kale around the salad bar to make it look pretty. I didn't know then it was edible. At some point later, I learned that kale was edible and, in fact, is pretty gosh darn good. Even later, I learned that it's packed full of nutrients.

On another completely unrelated note...

The Shuttle Discovery launched tonight. I watched it online. Wicked cool. Like OMG. We can do stuff like that. Wicked cool. They were announcing how fast it was traveling - the first one I remember was like 356 mph, then it was almost 1400 mph, then it was like 3300 mph, then like 7000 mph and the last one they announced was 14000 mph. HOLY CRAP that's fast.

Have a good week folks.

------------
I'm stealing the footnote thing from Glaven Q. Heisenberg but I don't know how to make it look like a footnote yet.

#1 Jimmy John's has a menu option called the Unwich. It's all the stuff of a sandwich without the bread which is fun because the bread is my least favorite part of the sandwich. The yummy meat and cheese is wrapped in lettuce. Mmmmm.

2009-03-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

I ran 3 miles AND I average a 10:35 pace which for me is tres awesome. I was concerned about my breathing during the run - like dude my legs are working just fine but I'm having a hard time breathing. Well, there's a good reason why I was having a hard time breathing - I was running faster. Yay.

For all of you fastees out there, I know it's slow. But, it's okay. I'm working on it. I want to be faster and I'm getting there.

week of march 2

2009-03-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

So, nothing nearly as exciting as the week before...

swim -->28 minutes (1500 yards with 1:56 per 100 yds --> this is good for me)

bike --> 1:45 (all on the trainer but with ILT thrown in)

run -->43 minutes (3.5 miles - slow but that's okay)

strength --> 1:29

Total time -->4:25

It's weird seeing that I spent almost as much time strength training as I did riding. I did like it - some arms, some lower body, lots of core. And, I felt it. A couple of days this week I was sore. We really did only have one day running. I didn't slack. I think I have more running this week. Even if I don't, I think I'll put some more in. I like to run and I want to increase my speed.

There were a couple of days when I didn't feel very much like doing anything (for various ridiculous reasons) but I did my workout anyway. Each time I did, I thought "hey, I'm getting stronger and this is helping me be able to do the half-iron next year - go me!"

Pretty boring right now. Maybe something exciting next week.

2009-03-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Month Totals

Bike 7:00
Run 17.8 mi --> 4:03
Strength 1:44
Swim 640.1 m --> 00:14

Total Duration: 13:01

I got stronger today.

2009-03-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

It's not like all of a sudden I can lift 1800 pounds or anything but I did something I didn't think I could do - I ran in the cold, wet rain. Not cold like 50 degrees - but cold like 35 degrees. HELL YEAH!

This is what it looked like on the regional radar. It wasn't just raining - it was pouring - you know - like cats and dogs kind of rain. I should have taken a picture but I think it would have ruined the camera. Yeah, it was raining that hard. And, it was like 35 degrees.

And, I ran in it.

For some of you, this is no big deal. Y'all are freaks. But for me, I grew up in Florida. I was born in Miami and lived a little bit north of Tampa for about 10 years. Just to give you an idea about my experience with the cold - we FREAKED out the first time we had frost - that was in Spring Hill, the little town just a little bit north of Tampa, not Miami, in case you were concerned that Miami got frost. We missed school occasionally - maybe twice, I think, but it was for a HURRICANE - not for ice or snow or sleet. I had visited my relatives and they had snow and stuff like that. It was all very exciting but it was NEVER where I lived (until I was an adult).

If you haven't guessed it, I don't like cold weather. I get grumpy when I'm cold. My extremities are NOT happy and the only thing I can think of doing is getting into a hot shower (which usually has to be lukewarm because that feels hot when you're cold). So, for me to CHOOSE to run in this insanity is nothing short of...well....insanity. I guess that's about what it was - I had some serious bad energy that I needed to use and I did.

You all probably would have laughed at me if you had seen me. I don't have clothes for running in the cold because, well, ...I don't run in the cold. [I can handle 50 degrees but much colder and I'm opting for the bike on the trainer with my book. I can stay pretty warm on the trainer.] I had some tights and some fleece pants, a pair of liner socks and a pair of wool socks that I got for riding on my bike, a louis garneau base layer, a technical shirt that I got at a race last year in San Francisco, a cotton t-shirt, a bright yellow (think safety) rain jacket that has a hood and I wore a baseball cap. I looked GOOD! Not. By the time I was done, my fleece pants were so heavy with water they kept falling off of my _ss. Thankfully, nobody else was at the track.

I started with 10@100m drills. Wow. Who knew I was in such bad shape? I did the butt kicks okay (down and back 2@100) then I did not-so-high knees (down and back 2@100) then I did strides (not so bad really which probably means I wasn't doing them right 2@100) then I did skips (not so bad either mainly because I LOVE to skip and I do it occasionally anyway 2@100) then I finished with karaoke (I'm not good at it in the bar and I'm not good at it on the track 2@100). I couldn't even get all the way to the end of the 100 today without stopping a couple of times. Golly gee willikers Mabel. Do I really suck this bad? "Well," I said to myself "you sucked this bad when you first started doing torture sets and you've gotten a LOT better - so suck it up buttercup." I think I said other things too but I shouldn't write them here.

Oh, and then - I ran (and I use that term loosely) for 3 miles. I ended up having to let myself run one lap and then run/walk the next lap so I could get through it. And, I did.

Did I mention it was raining? And, cold? That's the real strength training for me today - to have done something that I would have never imagined I could do. And, I did it. Today has opened up lots of new possibilities for me. Like, if I really need to run in the rain when it's 50 degrees I can. I definitely won't wear as many clothes.

Now, another thing to celebrate - my totals for the week (although I bailed on doing anything Friday - I did work out the 6 other days):

strength training - 53 minutes (should have been more but the weather got me all messed up this week)

swimming - 14 minutes (I know - not much. It was the Friday workout that I skipped. Bad Donna. Bad Donna)

running - 1:29 (did I mention it was cold?)

biking (all on the trainer - 'cause it's cold) - 2 hours

I'm finally warm (I'm sitting in front of a little space heater).

Thanks for all the inspiration. Maybe I can do this half-ironman.

Day 1

2009-02-23T15:15:00.001-08:00

Yay - day 1 of training for the B2B is done! It was just upper body and core strength training (53:17) but it feels good to have taken the official first step toward the half-ironman.

I'm still getting well - mostly well now. It was good to stay home one more day. The snottiness is almost all the way gone. I'm tired but I think that will pass in time too.

Yay! Thanks for all the encouragement.

week of february 16

2009-02-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Sick again. Yep - two weeks now. I limped through the beginning of this past week. Then went home early Thursday and went in Friday to get ready for the substitute and then came home. And, guess what? I'm not going to work again tomorrow. More importantly - wanna know how much I've worked out this week?

Bike (on the trainer) --> 1:38
Strength --> 16 minutes

Know what starts tomorrow? The first 18 weeks of our 36 week training plan to get ready for the half-ironman in November. And, I'm sick. It's a great way to start training, no?

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Doc says it's just a virus - 'cause I don't have any of the other symptoms that go along with the more serious stuff. So, what do I do to make it go away? Rest, drink lots of fluids, etc., etc. So, I've been doing that. Guess what? I woke up this morning with thick green stuff coming out of my nose (delightful, eh?) and coming up when I hack. Oooh fun! You wanna be me, dontcha?

It's hard for me to be still. I like to move. I like to do things. But, right now - no can do - because the minute I try to do anything (like ride on the trainer or lift weights or clean or anything that involves me doing something), I feel like C-R-A-P again. Yay rah!

It isn't easy being me right now.

week ob February 16, 2009

2009-02-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

My energy sucked all last week but I did start feeling better on Sunday. I ran 5 miles on Sunday and the last 3/4 of a mile felt pretty strong - that was fun.

Run - 1:25 (7.4 miles)

Bike - 1:52 (all on the trainer)

Strength - 22 minutes

Total - 3:39

just some ramblings

2009-02-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

The weeks from hell.

One of my partners lost his job so our monthly income went down - way down - like so far down that we are choosing to pay our utilities but not paying our mortgage. SCARY and stressful. I'm still employed - so that's good - but it's not enough. There are lots of things on the horizon for him so I am confident that it will turn around but it's still stressful right now.

And, I got sick last weekend. It sucks to be sick. It sucks to be sick and have to teach. It sucks to be sick and have to teach and have two of your core teachers (we have a team of 5 core teachers) be out for extended periods of time. If you teach, you understand the upheaval it brings to students and colleagues. It sucks to be sick, have two of your core teachers out and have a f-ing field trip to attend. I'm glad this week is over.

And, lately, I just feel like whining. There are so many stressful things out there and I'm letting them get the better of me. Works sucks. Money sucks. Some people suck (not my family or my friends of course). I'm over it though. I don't want to be negative all the time. So, suck it up buttercup - I say to myself. There are good things out there. Focus on those for awhile.

On the good side, I love my partners. I love our family. I LOVE moving through the world. I love making a connection with a student and being a conduit of confidence building. I love building things and creating things.

So, focus on those - right? Right.

Now, I need to create an upper body workout, a lower body workout and a core workout - stuff I can do at home.

Thanks for listening. Later gators.

week of February 2

2009-02-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

I feel sick today so I seriously doubt I'll do anything today.

But the rest of the week went much better.

Strength - 13 minutes

Bike (on the trainer) - 1:30 minutes

Run - 1:41 (10.8 miles total)

week of January 26

2009-02-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Totals

Run - 17:06 minutes
Strength training - 37 minutes

Sad.

I will do better next week.

totals for January (thanks RBR)

2009-02-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

Bike-4:50
Run - 5.2 mi - 1:04
Strength - 1:58
Total Duration: 7:52

Okay. So, I put these out there more as a kick in the arse. They are pretty lame. If I compare them to everybody else, I might as well quit now, right? Cause there is no way I can do a half-ironman next November. Not quite 8 hours? I mean c'mon. I can do better than that. I know it's cold. And, I hate the cold so I don't think there's anyway I can bike in the cold. I know I've been tired and overwhelmed with work. But, who isn't?

Sad. But, there's nowhere to go but up, right?

2009-01-31T18:37:00.000-08:00

I'm experimenting with this blogging stuff. This is a picture of me at my 40th birthday party - showing off my fabulous-40-dancing shoes.

not quite my week ending entry - just some whining

2009-01-31T08:33:00.000-08:00

I think this week was the longest week of the school year so far. I had so much to do. My days started at 7 and didn't end until at the earliest 7 each day - and a couple of days were later.

In addition, the language arts teacher on our team is out. She's also the team leader. And, yesterday, we found out that our social studies teacher's father died. So, he's going to be out for the next week.

There were so many stressors at work this week. And, I was so tired that I did nothing to take care of myself.

Today, Saturday, I'm doing some strength training and tomorrow I will run and then next week I'll get back to what should be normal.

How do you do it? Balance the stressors of the job, being exhausted mentally and training?

week of january 19, 2009

2009-01-31T08:30:00.001-08:00

Well so far I suck at entering stuff. I have to get better.

Running - 47 minutes - and it felt great - very slow though but that's okay because the idea was to get out there and run - not run fast

Biked on the trainer for 2 hours and 10 minutes

Strength training - 30 minutes (2 different days of torture sets and some reverse crunches)

week of January 12

2009-01-18T14:31:00.001-08:00

Monday - 40 minute bike on the trainer
Tuesday - nada
Wednesday - 1 torture set
Thursday - 1 torture set and bike on the trainer for an hour
Friday - nada
Saturday - 1 torture set and one hour on the bike trainer
Sunday -nothing physical at least - I'm working on training and food.
Reflections - My mental state got better and better as the week progressed. Training is becoming more of a habit again which is really good for my mental state. I'm still having a hard time with food. I'm working on making fruit smoothees part of my regular diet. I need more veggies. I like protein. It's like I have all the pieces but I haven't figured out how to bring them all together just yet. I'm tired of having extra weight to haul around. I don't need it. I'm a little frustrated because despite the fact that I have all but quit drinking, I haven't seen a significant impact on my weight. I suppose I'm taking in the calories from other sources but I haven't figured them out yet.
Goals for next week
1. Run at least twice 2. On the days that I do torture sets - do 2 torture sets instead of just one 3. Eat better - planning meals helps 4. Leave work at work