The Big Move

Actually it won't be that big- more like my bikes, bike box, clothes, and some pictures....
I'm still in San Antonio, and have been getting some good warm training. Yesterday I did an hour run with my local ART guy- Dale Londos- and that was phenomenal. We ran through Olmos Park and part of Incarnate Word Univ. It was pretty up-tempo and hilly with some trail. Back at his studio, I got in 90min of ART which left me feeling golden!
The plans for the Cali move have changed a little. Originally, I was going to drive out with my mom but she starts her real estate work like the 3rd of Jan and there's no point in hassling her with the long drive and packing stress. So, now the trip goes like this: the 31st I'll head to Austin in the morning and pick up Blake who gets in today and will be there training with a friend. We'll drive up to Dallas, spend New Year's Eve, I'll load up everything in the car as efficiently as possible and hopefully we'll be on the road the 2nd before sunrise. Blake's planning his move out to Cali as well so we kill two birds with one stone as he'll spend a couple of days out there training and looking for potential jobs.
We'll probably land in Mission Viejo around the 4th and I move in with the Magers on the 6th. It should be a fun road trip and hopefully my packing goes smoothly and I don't forget anything essential.
My mom and bro are planning a spring trip out there which will be perfect and a more relaxed way for them to enjoy SoCal and meet the Magers.
Training has been going great. The consistency is spot on and I've slowly been adding some bursts of intensity with no random fluctuations in HR :) I can't wait to be formally into 2009, settled in my new environment with full focus.
I'm happy to announce 2 new sponsors for 2009: Newton Running and Gu :)
My New Year resolution is simple: continue my love and appreciation for triathlon my family,friends, & sponsors that help make my dreams possible, and reciprocate by training and racing my heart out!!
Happy New Year

San Antonio

Well, I finally made it down to SA. I can't say I was very excited to drive down. Blake and I stayed up pretty late Tuesday night- nothing crazy just watching movies, but it still made for a harsh 7am wake up. We scrambled to get our stuff packed and I headed to Baylor for a hard 1hr weights session. Blake took off for Lubbock around 10:30 and I left shortly after....around 11ish. The trip was a little scary as I was very tired and nearly fell asleep a couple of times. I stopped at a rest area at one point to try and nap for a short 20-30mins but got paranoid of falling asleep alone in my car with my beautiful bike just begging to be messed with. Anyway, thankfully Austin wasn't a beating with the traffic and I stopped at Whole Foods thinkinkg I would nap there and then go inside to eat before the final hr drive home. Well that didn't happen. I went in to use the restroom and the yummy foods got to me so I ended up just eating and then continuing my drive. I got home and just crashed on the bed for about 45mins until it was time to go to my stepdad's for x-mas dinner. That went smooth...we were there until about 9pm, did some present opening, etc. No more wine for me last night. After a solid 3-4 nights of bottle-splitting with Blake it was time to wrap up the "holiday indulgence" until next year, less I end up in AA instead of Kona haha ;)
Today my mom goes to Houston with my stepdad for another gathering and my bro, dad, and I will be chilling here probably renting a movie or something relaxing like that. The weather is looking amazing for the next few days and today the plan is to hit up Stone Oak for a good 3ish hrs ride with my brother. He's pumped up about his new clip-ons, saddle, and Radars and it will feel nice to trash his little legs under the superstar equipment he's got going hehehe. Hey, it's good to kick his butt a little while I still can :)
So that's about it. Now that I'm settled here for a couple of days I should have my "Outliers" review on my lit. blog soon!
Well, I gotta get the coffee going...great training's on call!!

Reading for knowledge, power, and fulfillment

Check out my new blog: www.tatisreads.blogspot.com! I'll be analyizing literature as a means to promote creative and analytical thinking for myself and others. Finally I get to enjoy books on subjects that interest me and not because my teacher said to read :)

Texas is Bipolar

After practically a week of muggy conditions in the 30s, yesterday we were hit with mid 70s by the afternoon and today looks to be the same. But by tomorrow we're back to frigidness. No wonder people get sick at this time of the year...the body is in constant temperature shock.
However, I am definitely not complaining at any appearance of summer-style weather. My streak of pool-greatness continued yesterday. Blake and I stayed up a bit late so I didn't wake up for 7am masters. Instead I did my own workout with lots of stroke mixed in and I have to say that "fly" and I have a love/hate relationship that's building on the love side :)
Once home we had a quick lunch and headed to White Rock and got in a little over 2hrs on the bike. Boy did it feel good to get off the trainer! I thought I'd go for 3ish hours, plus I wanted to soak in as much of these conditions as possible, but the legs spoke to me and after 2 I circled back to the car and called it a day. No need to turn a solid ride into a breakdown workout.
Then we came home and got in my apt complex pool which thanks to mother nature is at like 50F- the perfect ice bath. The hot tub logically followed that and after we splurged on some awesome Alaskan King Crab legs that were on super sale at Whole Foods. Had that with some avocado, chili, and lime.
We decided to stay in so we ran over to Vino 100 picked up a good bottle of red and came back to watch a movie.
Today on schedule is a short 45min ish run, 90min ride, weights, and swim. I'm thinking DAM at SMU in the 50m pool. This and tomorrow's swims will be my last in the SMUs outdoor pool so I can't miss out.
I'm surprised at how well my body is responding to the build in volume this week. Lookng at my totals I'll have put in roughly 20hrs, and no sign of fatigue :) Next week I'll lighten up though as well as the following one which will have the added stress of moving. It's essential to get to SoCal fresh and ready to rock.
I just signed up for Surf City right now so that'll be my first feedback on leg speed for the year.
Well, not much else going on...a couple more pages left in "Outliers" and once the sun is up it's run time!

Almost the Holidays

I've really been enjoying this downtime. Usually my winter breaks were still a bit stressful planning the next semester and excitement was obscured by monotony. This time every new day is a step forward into the drastically different life that 2009 brings. It's a transition period that I'm soaking in as much as possible.

I'm almost done with the book. Gladwell really spoke to me on this one and I'll definitely get Blink and Tipping point after I finish. How our environment, culture, family upbringing, friends, and "chance" occurences blend together to either help bring out the best in us or make our fight that much harder is truly spectacular.

Anyhow, Friday my little brother gets out of school but I won't be down in SA until the 24th...I'll be leaving first thing that morning in time for the Holiday dinner at my stepdad's.

Blake is actually on his way up here to stay until then. We both decided our lives with everyone from school gone and this crappy weather were better off shared...misery loves company. It looks like Texas will show its randomness again and bring us temps in the 70s for Fri and Sat so we'll try and get in a 2-3hrs ride at the lake those days- grab 'em when you can!

Training has been going well...nothing structured- well at least not by my coach. I'm just writing my own day to day workouts right now, giving it some reasonable outline but nothing strict to feel guilt about if I don't feel up to it. I've been swimming masters almost every day and am feeling great in the water. Strength training's getting into swing now and my legs are feeling solid. It's all been about consistency and steady efforts- nothing speed related at all.

I think I announced my new coach, but in any case, I stopped working with Ahmed from Playtri when my collarbone broke back in July and coached myself through the end of the season. Before Cancun in Sept, I got in touch with Kevin Purcell and hit it right off. I found in him a deep care and knowledge that I had in Heather last year and I knew we could work very well toward my goals and build a strong relationship. He oversaw my training into AZ and what can I say, it all went good as ever!

'09 will be spent mostly staring at the black line submerged in chlorine. A lot of base miles, and mid season peak, then a short 2-3 week break to freshen up, and a hell of a peak going into Kona.

For now, it's all about living in the moment and hoping all is well for friends and family...wishing for a healthy and successful 2009 :D

Mellow days

It's Monday again, although other than a reminder to avoid rush hour, it's still a weekend in the freedom sense of the word for me. Today is in the 30s here in Dallas- a dramatic change to the weekend's temperatures. Yesterday I went to watch Blake at the White Rock Marathon. That was a blast and since it was in the 60s it was pleasant for sitting outside the AA Center and watching the race on the big screens. The male leader got led wrong, or took himself off course, but in any case had that little mishap which was a bit of a shame. Either way it's incredible to see the elites run, or actually fly! Despite the mild temps, the wind ended up being a big obstacle for the runners.
After that we came home and I went on a short run while Blake napped, took a snooze myself after the run, and then headed to dinner at Pappadeux. It was the perfect occasion to enjoy a glass of wine- my first in over a year! I got ID'd and loved pulling out my license...pretty ironic that once I'm 21 I get questioned and never before that haha.
On our way home we drove through Highland Park, gazing in awe at the incredible lights of those ridiculously beautiful homes. Once home I wasn't tired at all even though it was pretty late so got to bed around midnight.
But considering the tiny amount of sleep I need (or seem to need), I woke up without alarm at 5am to get ready for morning masters.
I've been loving masters the past few days- the water is just clicking. I'm looking forward to becoming a fish this next season, consistency and two-a-days will be key.
All that's left now is some light packing tonight and tomorrow and then maybe driving down to San Antonio- I'm still undecided because I don't want to put in those extra miles, or seat time, when I'll be driving to California in less than a month.
I repeat this pretty much on every post haha, but once again I cannot shut up my excitement for moving to SoCal!!!! Saturday I was even happier to hear that my good friend, Lisa Preeg, from Austin just bought a house near Solana Beach! I look forward to hitting the mountains and trails with her and others out there.
Well, time to open up this new book I bought- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell...it's the perfect fit for my current state in life. In short, it's about grasping opportunities with perserverance and achieving great success.

A short mental break

This post enables me to take a short step away from my paper, due tomorrow at the time of my last exam- 11:30. I cannot wait! I just got back from dinner with Jeannine and Roberto. We went to Kozy Cafe on Mckinney and I must say that place is hands down the finest dining in Dallas. I had a delicious caprese salad and wild salmon with vegetables that at any of the city's social hot spots would have cost 2-3times as much. I hadn't been there since they first opened a little over a year ago and they re-decorated it pretty cool. Also I love how it's still BYOB. I'm thinking of taking Blake there tomorrow or Saturday.
This weekend will be cool and next week I'll likely head down to San Antonio around Wednesday....after packing up most of my stuff to get it ready for the road trip to California!
My mom and I will be back in Dallas around New Years to load up my car and head for SoCal. It'll be a long time in the car seat but quality mom-daughter talks will make it fun.
Alright back to the dreaded paper...

THE week

This is it! Friday at 2pm I will be done with college. All I can say is that these three years flew by. In a way I'm very excited (can't you tell??) to put papers, projects, presentations, group stuff (I have a strong dislike for groups because I'd rather do it how I want , when I want to), deadlines, studying, etc, etc etc AWAY. However, a part of me is also scared. After all, my entire life has revolved around a school routine, not just at the micro level of class schedules but macro with Holidays and Summer. Now summer is a relative term- it'll just mean the weather rocks. My life in California for 2009 will be a completely new experience and one that I'm very grateful to be able to have. I've never been to Mission Viejo- last summer I was in Encinitas- but my internet research shows it's an excellent place for training and beautiful.
A lot is riding on my training and racing for 2009 as it will determine whether or not I can get my P-1 visa (for professionals wishing to live/compete in the US) at the end of the year so as to remain here for at least 5 more years. This is worth more than a million dollars for me so when I toe the line at races next year, although I'm not a pro and am not racing for money to feed myself and my family, (at least for me) I'll be racing for something equally as important- the opportunity to stay in this country by proving I can compete with the pro women.
Classes are over now, it's just finals. Tomorrow I have a paper due and an exam at noon, and then nothing until my last exam and other paper on Friday. Blake gets in Friday and it should be a fun weekend. I hope he kicks butt in the WR Marathon. I'll hae fun spectating with a warm cup of coffee :D
Training formally resumes this week. Last Tuesday was when I officially felt back to normal and when I finally got on my trainer Friday and did a short run I was thrilled that my legs did not feel like they'd done an IM at all! I'm confident that I've been able to successfully hold some IM fitness and transition it well into '09 training. I'll be sure to take it easy until I land in Cali and after that it's GAME ON!

I bought a lottery ticket today

I don't do this very often, practically never, but I figured yesterday was my birthday and graduation is next Friday so if Heaven wants to drop me one it's gotta be now right?!?! Damn I hope so :D!

Anyway, this got me thinking...

Everyone would be quite pleased with hitting the jackpot right? But in reality how many of us would actually do something useful with money? Or forget that, at a bare minimum how many of us could actually preserve this wealth so that our kids and grandkids could continue to enjoy the effects of our lucky day?

I think this was on an Oprah show not too long ago where various lottery winners came on and the majority of them had lost it all in a very short period of time.

"No fair" we think, "why did he/she have to win?", "I would have done so many great things with that money", or "I actually need it more than that person!".

Haha, yea, but life is not fair we know that. Money comes to many hard working good people, but also to others not so deserving nor kind at all.

But...and I get all excited and tingly thinking of this hehehe...IF I WERE TO WIN:

1) I would without any other thought crossing my head, take my mom for 2 weeks to one of the nation's best spas

2) I would give a large portion to my mom, nothing could ever repay what she's sacrificed for me but something's something.

3) I would put some away from my brother's education- the kid can swim but for D1 you never know :D

4) I would first consult with my step dad, but likely get a financial advisor. With their two heads together, and my mom's I would set some apart for some safe ROI stock

5) I would start a youth development center in Mexico, that would grow to become a staple in other Latin American countries too, for sports. namely for kids of very low income families. Too much talent is never discovered due to lack of money in third world countries.

6) I would purchse a modest (no MTV CRIBS style) house in North County San Diego...preferably more inland as Coast is more expensive and I like inland better (warmer!)

7)I would take the GMAT and get my Sports Management MBA in San Diego (they don't offer international student scholarships so the lottery is needed for this one)

8) Of course, I'm human so I'd buy my brother a sweet car (not something retarded that you can't drive in the US considering our pedestrian speed limits like a ferrari)...and him and I would deck out our triathlon equipment

9) The rest would go in the bank...probably overseas with our banker peeps here not doing so well

Would this change my or my family's happiness? Not really. I mean, and this is always the big money debate amongst people, we wouldn't love each other more or less..heck we could even turn greedy and end up in a horrible family fight! But sincerely, it would take 10 tons of stress off our backs and no one can argue that being stress free does not produce more content people. The way I like to explain it, and this is why people work their butt off throughout their life to attain a higher position in the company, start their own business, or "make it big" in whatever....money doesn't directly yield happiness it just makes things better. If one of my family members had a health condition and no health care, my family and I would be much better off with the financial ability to meet that situation.

Alright, a bit outside the topic of triathlon on this post....however, it does relate since I'd be able to train and race as much as my heart desired!

Wish me luck haha

2 - 1

When I was 15 I couldn't wait to be 21. I partied like a rockstar back then...YES I ACTUALLY PARTIED, ha.

I refer to it as my rebellious teenage times, we're all supposed to have those right? That's where my tennis started to plummet- go figure. I was spending too much time trying to be cool by staying up late, driving my mom's minvan (we called it the mommy-mobile) without a license from Saddlebrook, in Wesley Chapel, FL, to Tampa's night club area called Ybor. 15, with a fake ID, and hitting up the night life- what a stud huh?

That lasted about 2 years, during which time I gained weight by eating the absolute worst you possibly can, enjoying a few drinks, and skipping tennis practice.

In case you're wondering what drives me now, in my 20s, what's supposed to be the prime of your life, to be so disciplined in triathlon to the point that in all of my college years I've had tops a couple of glasses of wine spread out over monthly intervals, have not been to a single night club, or any party for that matter, and in fact gone to bed no later than 10pm ever....it's my incredible regret that I didn't appreciate the enormous sacrifice my parents made in moving with me to Florida and paying insane amounts of money, all for me to make it to the top level in tennis.

I had the talent, after all I was #1 in TX in my age. Perhaps I wouldn't have won Wimbledon, but I know that with the dedication to nutrition and fitness that I have now for triathlon, I would have achieved top pro ranks.

It's a sad fact, but we all make mistakes. Except mine was at the cost of my family's finances, and my health and untapped potential.

Sure there were some great times and experiences at Saddlebrook, my brother (8ish at the time) enjoyed the lakes and golf course...he was like Mogli (from Jungle Book) always running around barefoot, fishing, hitting golf balls, or kicking butt at the motor cross race track on the weekends (until he broke his arm and my mom decided it was time for a new sport hehe). I got to meet people from all over the world, and in a way some would say I "lived life".

Then it all changed. After the year in which I established some incredible friendships from my friends who were boarding at Saddlebrook from Latin America, they were going back home for good, and I became pretty depressed. I realized nothing in life is forever. They were leaving and I was stuck fat, out of shape, my family struggling to pay another year at the Academy, my tennis in pathetic form, and my schooling (due to the fact that we attended about 2-3 hrs of school/day) at an all time low.

That's when my mom and I had a serious talk and we made the move BACK to San Antonio. I returned to my old high school, Alamo Heights, that is nationally recognized as one of the top public schools. It was time to get my academics back together, and get into a good college because tennis was definitely not going to get me a scholarship anymore, and I was actually tired of it.

That whole summer I cut alcohol out of my life for good. I promised never to even go near a cigarette again (not like I smoked but I did one or two socially). I got my butt in the gym every morning and changed my diet 110%.

It's amazing, but when you eat healthy and MOVE you feel incredible, look good, and have a revived positive outlook on life. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?! In all seriousness though, in a matter of weeks I was feeling alive, I woke up at 6am without an alarm clock, I was in a better mood...it all made me realize that when we are stuck in an unhealthy routine, we don't know what we're missing. How incredible true wellness really is!!

That's why when friends tell me "you need to go out, party, live life", (I sound middle aged saying this haha) I know that I've been there done that. I feel lucky that I realized this so young and not in my 30s. As a triathlete now wanting to compete at the pro level, I cannot put into words how I look up to the people that have been steady disciplined athletes without faltering their whole life. When we're young we feel invincible but it is these years that set our bodies up to handle our older times.

Enough of my philosophical musings though...today I celebrate my 21st birthday with nothing but excitement and optimism for what my future holds. I'll be graduating and moving onto a new chapter of my life in another state with goals I never would have imagined only a few years ago.

I got a swim in this morning and am headed in a little while to Sushi Axiom with a group of friends, mostly triathletes :), in Ft. Worth. I've been on a sushi binge since Arizona because experience has taught me not to eat any raw seafood during the season :)

Other than that, it's a continuous grind with finals still going on for another week!

Cheers!

So close yet so far

It's been a great week of eating, sleeping, stretching, watching movies, eating some more, napping, and squeezing in homework here and there :D
Thanksgiving was spent at my stepdad's house, and we had an awesome smoked turkey. I've always had roasted turkey but who knew smoked would taste so good.
Friday I got in the water for a 30min easy swim, yesterday I walked 30min because I'm super intense haha, and did another 30 of core, push ups, pull ups, and resistance cords (all upper body). Then today my mom and I took my brother to Stone Oak so he could ride for 2hrs and she and I did a 90min walk. I was pretty tired after that, metnally more than anything because walking frustrates me :)
Tomorrow morning I'll fly back to Dallas very early so I can make it to 930am class. I have an exam and a HUGE presentation in the afternoon.
Then another exam Wednesday that I need to get an A in to avoid taking the final, a group project to finish by the end of the week, and a long take home final from a marketing class.
I'm hoping to have it organized by Friday because it's my birthday! 21!!!
In two weeks time I will be free of school!!!! Graduation is Dec. 13, however I'm not attending as I'd rather enjoy dinner with friends/family than sit and participate in a ceremony. Plus my friend Blake gets in from Lubbock that weekend as he's running the White Rock Marathon.
Finally after those packed two weeks I'll be driving home for much needed X-mas Holidays and quality time with my family that I probably won't be seeing again until a summer race (hopfeully Brazil!)
My race schedule is up...it's a toss up between Honu 70.3 and Brazil depending on financial aid, and that choice will determine whether I do Vineman 70.3 or Big Kahuna before my larger than life A race KONA :D

IMAZ

I meant to post this yesterday but didn't get around to it. After about 4hrs of sleep Sunday night I was up at 3am waiting for it to be 7 so I could head down and claim my slot. Finally the time rolled around and my mom went with me (my brother was still passed out in bed hehe). I get there and suddenly realize I don't have a form of ID on me- NOOOO! So I called my mom immediately and begged her to drive back to the room for my wallet. Luckily our hotel was only 3 miles away otherwise I would have been mortified. Anyway she made it back quickly and I checked off the most important task of the weekend :)
From there we came to pick up my brother and went to the awards ceremony. I loved the awards as they were outside in perfect sunny weather overlooking Town Lake.

It was amazing to hear all of the fast AG times in the older divisions. Joe Bonness is one amazing dude!!! After that was over we explored Tempe a bit, I packed up my bike that Tarp kindly agreed to drive back to Dallas so I wouldn't have to fly with it, and finished the evening in the hot tub followed by a hip-down ice bath in the hotel pool (the water was that cold and it was awesome!).
The weekend was better than I could have ever asked for. I really enjoyed visiting Arizona, although you really can't play tourist too much amidst all the race stuff. Saturday we went to the 5km run race that my little bro wanted to do and he killed it! I was so proud seeing him fly in at 17:43 getting 2nd overall :)
Then Sunday....
I woke up at the usual 3:30am, having slept soundly for 8hrs :) got my transition bag, checked it a million times, and went down to the race. I wanted to get there as soon as it opened, take care of setting everything up perfect and then just chill. I made the mistake of telling my mom and bro to meet me near special needs bags as I heard someone say that's where the swim start was- yea, but we were getting in near the ramp so I didn't see them before to give them a hug/kiss :(. Well, instead I found a little tree, laid down, feet up on it, and closed my eyes to replay the race a couple of times in my head through various scenarios.
After that it was time to get the wetsuit on and jump in! BRRRR, the water was cold hehe, but expected and it's actually nice temp for a 2.4mile swim. I found Jeanne at the swim start- how cool is that? I mean, one person out of like 2000. So she and I made our way to the front, not like we're 50-1:00 swimmers but it's a good position to draft. Before I knew it- BOOM! All I can say about that mass start is FREAKIN' COOL! The swim went by pretty smooth although I spent more time than I would have liked jumping packs and pulling my own water. The turnaround came quickly and with about 600m to go my left arm/wrsit was numb/not responding haha it was so odd. It must have been the cold. Good thing the ramp came soon after. I got out fast and had my wetsuit stripped.
T1- I sort of took a lunch break in transition haha. Time? 7ish minutes!!! Worth it? Yes because I wasn't cold for 1 second of the bike ride. I stopped to use the port-a-potty and then went into the tent to ut on all my dry clothes. Obviously the sports bra and shorts were hell to put on while damp. Then ankle to knee compression thingies, socks, arm warmers that weren't cooperating, helmet, sunglasses, shoes, and finally outta there!
Bike time :) The bike course was sweet. My plan was to be pretty conservative the first loop and build from there. I always start to feel great after 3hrs so I knew that would be the "high" to start laying it down from. I didn't know in what position I had come out of the water but definitely was not going to falter from my race plan....UNLESS...the runner girl in my AG that I had extensively researched passed me. In that case I would analyze her pace and as my coach said- you never know if they're crazy or super fit. Well she went by at about mile 25 and given that it was her first IM I chose to think she was crazy :)

We had a fairly challenging headwind on the first two loops going out but I loved tucking tight into aero and flying with the tailwind back! I yelled at my mom after the first loop that 2053 was ahead and to keep tabs on her. Lap two- port-apotty break to pee, well at least I was hydrating hehe. I started to find my comfort rythm and then pushed the tempo from there. About 10miles into the third loop I passed the girl back and thought "yes, it's go time, push a little here and gain ground for the run". So I did....after pee stop 3.
Back to T2- pee stop 4....this was good because I was worried Friday when we got here about the incredibly dry conditions. Saturday morning I had woken up light headed because I totally underestimated the amount of water you have to drink in a dessert- go figure!
Alright so this transition was less embarrasing :D And, I remembered to get sunscreen rubbed on me. Time to run!!! No more issues except from within could arise. Time to suffer haha...and suffer I did!
The first two miles came in 15min. A little fast, but I can hold that haha NOT! I actually felt very strong through the first lap. As always my salt tabs were an issue but this tme they didn't fall they just got wet. So eating them was, well, eating them vs swallowing them. eeewwww. Second lap, all was still good I banked on picking it up half way through the second one. But then- OUUUUUCCCHHH!!! Horrible, deathly, excrutiating quad pains. Not now, please not now. Oh, I forgot to mention, by this point I had seen my mom twice at the top of the bridge (about half way into each loop) and her words were "pick it up she's like a minute back!!". So at mile 14 the quads had to deal with it. just 12.2 miles and the would get their relief. I hit them, massaged them, put sponges on them, and they still hurt like hell. So it was time to deal with it on another level: On the last loop I saw my mom and she yells "just push as hard as you possibly can!". Ok, I thought, if I can pick up the pace then my legs are just being wussies. So I went for a burst (not a sprint, but a burst hehe). My body responded well to the change in tempo and the last 10km were a sufferfest of heart over mind and body. I wanted to stop so bad, I waned to jump in that lake and swim away. But, hell no! I had not covered 130 something miles already to be passed by some other girl and loose my trip back to Kona. Nor was I going to let temporary pain deprive me of the most amazing feeling of accomplishment knowing that I was able to suffer like never before.
Jeanne said before the start poitning to her head then her heart "don't let this (head) mess with this (heart)". Priceless.
One thing's for sure, if not for those incredible crowds of people that line practically the entire AZ course, my battle would have been much more hellish. With less than a mile to go I was in absolute euphoria. Taking that left toward the finish I knew it was in the bag and I started to tear up. I was also still kind of scared that my legs would sieze on me but thankfully the finish shute was in sight and I crossed.
My mom and bro were right there, I hugged my mom and said "I won, I did it, I won, I'm going back to Kona!!!" and started to bawl :)

Theme Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHWByjoQrR8

It's A New Day by Will.I.AM

Kona Baby!!!

OOOUUUUUCCCCHHH!!!!! That's all I can say right now haha.
Race report later...
Great day, great weather, amazing spectators/volunteers, awesome course and a PR with Kona 2009 written all over it :D

Pre-Race Kona Slot Mindset

Any given Sunday, no matter what...

Don't Quit

by Anonymous

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow -
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt -
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

The spirit of Ironman

I love Dr. Suess and I thought this an appropriate metaphor to the Ironman community- no matter who you are (amateur, pro, BOP, MOP, FOP), where you come from, what your intentions are on race day (finish, win), we're all there for the same reason- we love this sport. It's a community that I was humbled and delighted to become a part of and hope to never lose perspective of that as I continue my journey in triathlon.
Enjoy the read :)

Bellies With Stars

THE SNEETCHES
by Dr. Suess

Now the Star-bellied Sneetches had bellies with stars.
The Plain-bellied Sneetches had none upon thars.
The stars weren't so big; they were really quite small.
You would think such a thing wouldn't matter at all.
But because they had stars, all the Star-bellied Sneetches
would brag, "We're the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches."

With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they'd snort, "
We'll have nothing to do with the plain-bellied sort."
And whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
they'd hike right on past them without even talking.

When the Star-bellied children went out to play ball,
could the Plain-bellies join in their game? Not at all!
You could only play ball if your bellies had stars,
and the Plain-bellied children had none upon thars.

When the Star-bellied Sneetches had frankfurter roasts,
or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,
they never invited the Plain-bellied Sneetches.
Left them out cold in the dark of the beaches.
Kept them away; never let them come near,
and that's how they treated them year after year.

Then one day, it seems, while the Plain-bellied Sneetches
were moping, just moping alone on the beaches,
sitting there, wishing their bellies had stars,
up zipped a stranger in the strangest of cars.

"My friends, " he announced in a voice clear and keen,
"My name is Sylvester McMonkey McBean.
I've heard of your troubles; I've heard you're unhappy.
But I can fix that; I'm the fix-it-up chappie.
I've come here to help you; I have what you need.
My prices are low, and I work with great speed,
and my work is one hundred per cent guaranteed."

Then quickly, Sylvester McMonkey McBean
put together a very peculiar machine.
Then he said, "You want stars like a Star-bellied Sneetch?
My friends, you can have them . . . . for three dollars each.
Just hand me your money and climb on aboard."

They clambered inside and the big machine roared.
It bonked. It clonked. It jerked. It berked.
It bopped them around, but the thing really worked.
When the Plain-bellied Sneetches popped out, they had stars!
They actually did, they had stars upon thars!

Then they yelled at the ones who had stars from the start,
"We're exactly like you; you can't tell us apart.
We're all just the same now, you snooty old smarties.
Now we can come to your frankfurter parties!"

"Good grief!" groaned the one who had stars from the first.
"We're still the best Sneetches, and they are the worst.
But how in the world will we know," they all frowned,
"if which kind is what or the other way 'round?"

Then up stepped McBean with a very sly wink, and he said,
"Things are not quite as bad as you think.
You don't know who's who, that is perfectly true.
But come with me, friends, do you know what I'll do?
I'll make you again the best Sneetches on beaches,
and all it will cost you is ten dollars eaches.

Belly stars are no longer in style, " said McBean.
"What you need is a trip through my stars-off machine.
This wondrous contraption will take off your stars,
so you won't look like Sneetches who have them on thars."

That handy machine, working very precisely,
removed all the stars from their bellies quite nicely.
Then, with snoots in the air, they paraded about.
They opened their beaks and proceeded to shout,
"We now know who's who, and there isn't a doubt,
the best kind of Sneetches are Sneetches without."

Then, of course those with stars all got frightfully mad.
To be wearing a star now was frightfully bad.
Then, of course old Sylvester McMonkey McBean
invited them into his stars-off machine.
Then, of course from then on, you can probably guess,
things really got into a horrible mess.

All the rest of the day on those wild screaming beaches,
the Fix-it-up-Chappie was fixing up Sneetches.
Off again, on again, in again, out again,
through the machine and back round about again,
still paying money, still running through,
changing their stars every minute or two,
until neither the Plain- nor the Star-bellies knew
whether this one was that one or that one was this one
or which one was what one or what one was who!

Then, when every last cent of their money was spent,
the Fix-It-Up-Chappie packed up and he went.
And he laughed as he drove in his car up the beach,
"They never will learn; no, you can't teach a Sneetch!"

But McBean was quite wrong, I'm quite happy to say,
the Sneetches got quite a bit smarter that day.
That day, they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches,
and no kind of Sneetch is the BEST on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars,
and whether they had one or not upon thars.

I RAN, I RAN, I RAN!!!! YAY!!!!!!!

Actually, jogged haha....but whatever it didn't hurt. OMG it was like an early x-mas present :)

So I didn't know if my new Saucony's would get here on time and I wanted to break them in at least a little bit before Sunday....so I went to Luke's Locker and asked for Duncan- known for being THE shoe guy. I explained the pain I'd been having and that I hadn't run since last Wednesday. Did he think I needed new Superfeet insoles? He took one look at my shoes and said, "no just take those off and let me show you something". He was able to completely bend the shoe. The outer edge of them were beyond worn out.

So I tried on new ones and lightly bounced around the store. WOW!!!! My feet no longer felt pushed downward on their outer edge...they were back up-center :D

Without second thought, I bought them. Then the dilemma....to run, or not to run? I didn't have anymore pain, but would I just make that tendon mad again and set myself back once more? Well, like a drug addict with fix in hand, I got home and couldn't contain myself. Afterall, I wanted to wear them in just a little, right? :D

So I went out for an ez 20min run. AHHHH!!! I cannot express the joy. I was like a caged animal. I wanted to run for hours. But no, 20min and then icing.

No pain!!! Tomorrow I'll get ART, and then hold off for a 30min run until the evening.

Wed just a 45min swim and Thurs all three- 30min swim, 45min bike, 30min run.

Now is when I can look back and once more confirm that everything happens for a reason. I got extra rest and sparked an enormous fire inside me to RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN!!! And I still don't get to unleash it until Sunday hehehehe (evil laugh)

Well, now I'll be signing off until I arrive in Tempe Friday. There's much packing, school stuff, and errands to tend to in the next three days.

Later~

Race Week

Normally I'd be very anxious and excited to hop on the airplane for the race...but right now I want every second to go by like an hour in hopes that my foot will be 100% on Sunday. Saturday I saw Donald in the morning and got the deepest tissue work ever on the left leg- all along the anterior shin as it appears to be an aggravated peroneal tendon(s) that's giving me problems. I iced religiously that night and woke up feeling a lot better yesterday. At least now I can walk.
In order to be on the safest side, I won't run until the race...haha...wow, we'll see how that goes. I just have to remain positive that by resting it I will run like normal, pain free.
I am however doing little 30min sessions of water running and am really becoming quite the expert at it. Since July I probably will have logged 1/2 of my running time in the water- sweet.
It's possible that this situation can have a beneficial outcome. If I'm able to run pain free on race day, the added rest coupled with the non-impact preservation of form via water running and the absolute fire burning inside me to run HARD(!) will help me finish stronger than if this had not happened....or so I pray ;)

I'm Cursed

I do not seek sympathy or self-victimization in this post- it's merely sharing a series of events that lead me to only one conclusion: I'm cursed. Contemplate the following all before key races and perhaps you'll agree:

1) Dec. 2006 training for Hawaii 70.3- fall on the bike while riding on wet roads from rain the day before. we were slowly (like 5mph) turning and my wheel slipped on wet gravel. hurt my shoulder pretty bad. didn't have insurance then and didn't want to hear a doctor tell me I couldn't do certain things for certain amount of time, or that I need surgery, etc. (I don't really trust doctors much). 4 weeks of no swimming.

2) June 2007, actual race week! spent the 4 days prior to the race getting daily massages and going in and out of the hot tub and making regular rounds to the ice machine in the hotel....my low back/glute (which have given me problems since I was 12 from tennis....the side I served on) were ridiculously tight- it went into spasm after getting off the flight. I guess it was not happy sitting for 8ish hours from Dallas to Hawaii. I actually felt no relief until exiting the swim on race day!!

3) Sept. 2007, 3 weeks out from Hawaii Ironman a 10 day case of food poisoning. I went to a very famous Italian restaurant in Dallas with a friend before leaving for a final heavy training week in San Diego and stupidly ordered Sea Bass instead of something simple and safe like pasta w/ oil. Sea Bass was undercooked and it was hell!!!! In the 10 days I dropped to 99lbs and couldn't even run 5min. When I finally spent a whole weekend in bed just eating (literally, no exceptions, I only got up to eat and use the bathroom) my ease back into running was not pretty. By race week my metabolism went nuts and I gained 15lbs.

4) July 2008, before Chicago Olympic and in prep for my big race the Cancun 70.3 a runner cuts the path at White Rock Lake when I yelled on your left and I flew over him and my bike, broke my right collarbone and due to landing on the concrete with my hip/lowback/glute had major major contusion on the left side and lost some sort of muscle there (I think that's what it is) that now just looks like a dent in my back.

5) Last Friday November 2008, I get hit by a car on my bike while on my way home (details in recent post). Nothing major resutled thankfully just a contusion on my hip and sore right arm.

6) Three days ago Nov 2008, 2 weeks before IM AZ, I guess running my 2hrs and then 1hr Wednesday with the imbalance (prior to seeing Ron for chiro work which was Thursday) caused major compensation by my left leg. That, plus running on canted pavement and the occasional twist while in deep grass resulted in ridiculously tight peroneal tendon/outer shin. Since Wednesday after the run (the pain started 40min in, mind you it was an easy steady run, nothing out of the ordinary or stupid) I cannot even walk. Dr. Mulhall saw it yesterday and was perplexed. I've been icing, Kinesio tape, stretching...Ron even did ART on it Thursday too...all to no avail! Today after more intense stretching, arnica gel, ibuprofen, you name it, it's starting to feel a little bit better. I'm really banking on a miracle. At least now I can walk through the super market without limping.

So....paranoia, or a curse?

#2048

Race day cannot come soon enough!
:D

12 days left!!

And the countdown has begun :D

4am again, how strange....haha but seriously it will help on race day that this is (as of about a month ago) a totally normal wake up hr for me.

SMU pool opens at 6 (as opposed to 7) on T/TH so i'm off to swim in an hour. After that it's school through the afternoon (which is good as it will be rainy/muggy until then) followed by a 90min turbo workout and a short t-run.

The day will end with an awesome massage by Donald- I don't know what I'm gonna do to replace him when I move to California :( tear.

As an aside, Kinesio tape rocks my world! I don't get it...I've read and read about the reasoining behind it's wonders but it still amazes me.

I definitely plan on having my hip and shoulder taped by Dr. Mulhall Thursday before leaving for AZ so I can race with it on. I really suck at doing it myself especially on my hip because I have to lay down to stretch it and then can't see where to tape. On my shoulder I have no clue what's the proper way and google/youtube aren't much help.

Food FAST!

Unlike the weekends where I have lots of time to kill between workouts, Mon-Thurs are quite busy with school, errands, and training...especially with the parking problem at SMU where I have to leave my house 30min before class (I live about 2min from school) in order to make it on time. So that leaves me with MINUTES to cook something really good and healthy- sometimes as little as 10min- yup TEN! Watch out Rachael Ray your 30min are part of the dark age ;) Also, I don't have the energy to prepare something dauntingly time consuming.
Anyway I thought I'd share a few of my healthy quick tips on my favorite meals (in no particular order):
1) eggs and brown rice- my comfort food, I usually have a big bowl of brown rice cooked the night before and then scramble some eggs with it
2) playing with ezekiel's sprouted corn tortillas- these rock! I'll take some ground buffalo, grill it and then toss Rao's (the absolutely best marinara sauce out there!) on top and eat it with the tortillas and some diced avocado
3) of course veggies with olive oil I love steamed broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, asparagus, snap peas, you name it. They steam in minutes and tossed with fresh olive oil, salt, and pepper (and sometimes some Bragg's Amino's for a soy sauce kick)
4) smoothies with mango chunks, blueberries, strawberries, peach slices, whey protein, and flax seeds...I use either plain yogurt or Goat's milk
*Goat's milk has become a staple in my diet. I have trouble with regular milk and goat's milk is easily digested by most people who are lactose intolerant. Plus I like the taste better and it's higher in a lot of nutrients than regular milk and never ever treated with hormones, antibiotics, etc.
5) Buffalo burgers with spelt hamburger buns from Rudi's bakery. Just add some lettuce, diced tomato, mustard, avocado, and onion
6) Brown rice tortillas from Food For Life- I make egg tacos, salmon tacos, beef tacos, chicken tacos, you name it!
7) salads! I love raw vegetables and usually make these the night before. Right before I make a dressing of mustard, apple cider vinegar and some olive oil
8) healthy tuna: NO MAYO! I mush a big avocado, onion, cilantro, lime juice, tomato, and toss with the tuna. Sometimes I'll make a sandwhich with this and ezekiel bread
9) French toast with ezekiel, omega 3 eggs, and sweetened with agave or raw honey
10) hemp milk, gluten/nut free granola, and spelt flakes cereal
11) ezekiel bread with raw almong butter and 100% fruit jelly or agave nectar
12) Amy's lentil soup tossed with diced chicken breast
13) Amy's cheese pizza
14) Sweet Nothings- organic fudge bars sweetened with fruit

There, those are a few, more to come later....and some indulgences listed in there too :)

Success!

I'm soooo glad I went to see Dr. Mulhall today :D After more Kinesio tape and A.R.T on my calves, I had an awesome 2hr run! Almost always I like to get my key workout done first thing in the morning. As the day goes on I get a bit drained of energy especially with my 3:30-4:00am insane wake up hours! Ha.
So after getting home from Ft. Worth I headed out the door to White Rock and back. It took 30min to get rolling but wow, after that, I wanted to keep going forever.
Before seeing Dr. Mulhall I had some time to kill and wanted to make sure I had enough fuel in me for the run so I did a 60min ez spin, had a big breakfast and was set.
After the run I took an hour nap and then went to SMU to swim. My right shoulder/arm is pretty sore but a long warm up got me feeling awesome in the water. Overall it was probably one of my best swims, feeling-wise. Now I'm done with dinner, time for some homework and focus on keeping everything intact the days ahead.
The key thing right now is getting my arm back to its full strength and resting my whole body from the heavy load its undergone the numerous past weeks.
I have a couple of school things I need to take care of before next week, including 2 exams, so the taper comes at a good time ;)
Alright time for neglected homework...
This ended up being a good weekend afterall!

Day After

Well, I'm happy to report today went surprisingly good! I was so pumped to be riding that I nailed my sets (intended for the 5hr ride yesterday) in 4hrs on the trainer perfectly. No pain- just felt tight in the psoas/oblique.

After lunch and a nap, I went to WR to run for 30min. It felt a little odd at first, as my gait was altered a little but I got through it without discomfort and after warming up my stride felt pretty normal.

The only bad thing is my right arm which suffered with the collarbone injury was the one I put out to stop my fall yesterday so it's a bit sore, though not bruised.

I was gonna do some resistance cords and core today but SMU gym was closed for the game and it's better to wait until tomorrow to give my arm a bit more rest. Plus I can't do core because that's the one movement that KILLS right now haha.

Tomorrow i'm heading to Ft. Worth in the morning to see Dr. Brian Mulhall for some Kiniseo taping and ART.

After that I'll be doing my last long run and then a swim in the afternoon. I don't know if I can get through 1hr of swimming with the soreness but hope so.

Dejavu

Warning to all: never go cycling with or near me when I'm a month or less out from a key race- I'm bound to either be hit by you or do you damage.
This morning by 9am I was back in room 3, floor 1, of the Doctor's Hospital next to White Rock Lake- the same bed, tv, sink, desk, and emergency gadgets that surrounded me when I broke my collarbone that unlucky July day were once again my uncomfortable environment.
As planned, I got on my trainer and rode a little over an hour. When I realized the sun had come up I quickly got off and went outside- it was about 6:55. I made it to the lake without traffic as rush hour hadn't begun and did a loop. Barely into the loop, I decided after my 40min IM pace set I'd ride back home and get my a** back on the trainer. Despite toe warmers, socks, jacket, and undershirt, I was frozen. I forgot a key compoenent- GLOVES! That's one lesson learned for AZ that I'll take as a plus for the day. I couldn't even drink because holding the water bottle hurt. Yes, I am a huuuuge wimp for cold weather, way more so than anyone I know.
Ok so, I left the lake and I'm 2 blocks from home, on the stop sign by the Church on Adams Rd. I'm ready to turn right, a car is on my left with no signal seemingly going either straight or left. We see no cars coming, we both proceed to move forward...then he turns right WTF?!?! Before I could realize it, I was hit and fell on my right hip/pelvis on the cement curve. "Sweet, here we go again" I thought. Seriously, I just got through an injury before my much anticipated 70.3 in Cancun, now this before AZ?? Not cool.
So I pick up my bike, tell the guy to go- at this point I know I can at least make it home- much better than last time (my falling skills are improving!); and remember I was cold, so dealing with useless "you hit me, no you turned wrong" issues was not priority- getting warm was!
I slowly pedal home, get inside and evaluate: 1) get on trainer for remaining 3 hours ignoring the pain and potentially doing more damage and adding more bad stress to my body, or 2) stop, get it checked out, move schedule around and race healthy if you still can! So option 2 it was. I drove myself to the ER, checked in and 5 hours later (ugh) after blood is drawn, urine sample, IV, and x-rays, I get the news. I didn't fall from an airplane, why all this testing? Well, they wanted to make sure I hadn't done internal damage- ok whatever, I guess I want to make sure of that too :/
So thankfully everything came back ok. It's just a big contusion on my pelvis and I'll be playing the next few days by feel as far as training goes. I'll be on my TRAINER tomorrow seeing how long I can ride comfortably and trying as much of my last long run Sunday as I can without any discomfort.
Right now I'm waiting for SMU pool to open to swim- I'm sooo hyper from the adrenaline of the incident plus laying down in a hospital bed for 5hrs and the IV :)
Also, I think it will help loosen me up(?).
Some good things to take out of this (my philosophy is that everything happens for a reason and it's soo true that what doesn't kill you will make you stronger): powertap wasn't even reading so my 5hrs data would have been worthless, I am now exponentially more fired up than before about tearing it up in AZ, I'm thankfull for my overall health and tremendous luck- the time in the ER really slaps you into reality when you witness other people's major health problems, or parents crying, etc.
Well, that's it, pool's open so I'm signing off!
train safe :)

Oh boy

My wake up times are starting to get earlier and earlier. MUST STOP GOING TO BED AT TODDLER HOURS! Today I have a 5hr ride on plan and it looks like it will be done before 11am :) Since the sun doesn't rise until about 7, I'm gonna hop on the trainer at 5:30ish and do my first two hours on there. It works well since starting the second hour I have some specifics that I can control better on the trainer. What might not be so lovely is going out the door into the chilly 50s after being so warm inside. I'll ride over to White Rock just before the morning traffic starts getting bad and will probably end up doing around 6-7 loops of the lake before heaing back home.
I really really wanted to sleep in until about 9 and start around 10 when the temps will be more like 70s. Also I had told my friend Josh that we could start the South Ride loop (takes about 2.5hrs) at 930....I'll have to email him about my crazy schedule change :/
But there's little doubt that I'll experience cold on the AZ bike course so this will help (hopefully hehe).

My #1 Priority

It's November and in college (more so than in middle/high school due to the dorms) that means sickness EVERYWHERE! The change in weather and the months of close proximity in dormrooms contributes to this manifestation of germs that scares the hell out of me.
I walk into a building and can't escape the sound of a cough or sneeze. I've resorted to sitting either at the far right upper corner of the classroom or the very front edge. The two seats beside me are quickly loaded with backpack and clothes (jacket, sweater, whatever). I've seriously given thought to a face mask nuemours times as crazy as that sounds :/
Last year before Hawaii I fell into the worst illness ever, food poisoning. I'm not about to sacrifice having my best possible race again! Ironically, one of the downsides of reaching peak fitness is the susceptibility to getting sick.
At the airport I plan on being the odd person holding her breath at the sound of a slight cough, and covering my mouth/nose with my shirt :)
I'm feeling great as ever so all I need now is to protect the form I've worked hard to achieve and arrive at the race ready to battle!

Obama!!

Yay, such a great historical day :)
...on a triathlon note- I just got done with the best turbo bike workout followed by a 45min run. There's nothing like running when it feels effortless and fast as if you're being pushed forward.

What a week :)

The training deposits are in the bank (pretty much the only sort of banking nowadays, hehe), and this week I'll gradually start to taper. The week started out with me feeling kind of a like a train ran over me which I'm attributing to two things: 1) a sudden onset of PMS symptoms in my 20s, and 2) a shock to my body with mon-wed being fairly light days after the big weekend.
By Friday I was back to normal for the rest of the weekend but falling asleep when driving out for a long ride with Tarp in Ft. Worth. Since I decided not to go to San Antonio/Austin as the driving takes a lot out of me, I set up my 5.5 hr ride with Tarp and agreed to meet him at 8am at the Benbrook YMCA. It looked as if the Y had a swim team thing going on that morning so Aaron was kind enough to join me at the nearby 24hr Fitness for my prebike swim. Needless to say I had to be out of my house at just before 5 to make the 1hrish drive to Ft. Worth and had it not been for a Starbucks sent from heaven about halfway there, I likely would have fallen asleep behind the wheel! Not pretty. The coffee worked its magic though and the swim went well. I met Tarp and he had a wheel problem going on and was going to have to go home and get another rear wheel. So David, this guy I had just met, and I rode an hour before Tarp came back with a wheel.
We rode the awesome Weatherford loop and of course I had no idea where on earth I was EVER haha so I just followed Tarp's directions. About 5ish hrs in Tarp had some bonking issues and we were relatively close to the Y so I kept plugging along thinking I could make it back at 5.5 on my own....WRONG :) I did make it back but in 6:03 and after an exciting experience riding on the freeway, having to unclip and walk across the knee-high shrubs that separate the freeway from the axis road (that freeway was about to lead me onto a bridge as the only exit which led to another major freeway that would have taken me to the other end of the world). Back at the car I was feeling really good- the adrenaline from that little mishap sure helped hehe- and had a really good 30min t-run on the trail. Then back at home to eat half a farm for dinner!!
Finally my last adventure was on my long run yesterday. I forgot about the time change so when I woke up at 4am, it was actually 3- crap. So I ate breakfast, chilled for a while and left at 5am real time from my house out to White Rock. About 30min into the runa dog from some random house decides to join me- ugh! At first I was really pissed because he kept running around like crazy and in circles...really why do people with dogs not have them on a leash when they're out and keep them safe in their property at night?!?! 10min after realizing he was not going to part from me, I made the best of it and called it near me and ran with him at a great steady effort. In fact he actually made me feel extra safe as White Rock has definitely had its fair share of assaults/battery at dark hours with female runners :/
At an hour and a half in however, it got thirsty and tired (yes my unforgiving pace and stamina tired the dog haha right!) and I continued home on my own.
Well that's it in my little world for the week. Today is OFF day which I don't particularly enjoy when in the middle of such great training rythm but know I need. Friday I'll head out with Tarp again only for a ride of 5hrs very easy pace and Saturday a short brick s/b/r which I'll do on my own- Baylor masters, South Ride, and run at WR then one last long run and we'll be two weeks from the Tempe-tear-up! :)

Home Stretch

It's coooooold!!!! I'm so glad someone invented trainers otherwise my cycling in the winter would be non existent.

Now that i've actually felt the 40's and 50s again and it's not just some number, my plan for AZ is pretty much set: swim with a bathing suit only, under the wetsuit of course ha, and pack my clothes (sports bra, tri top, tri shorts, socks, arm warmers) into the T1 bag and change into dry clothes in the tent. so i loose 2-3mins tops but I gain basically the whole race because otherwise if my chest get's cold with dry air my asthma will make the race dreadful. Also, i plan on wearing thin socks but definitely toe warmers. If my feet freeze pedaling becomes nearly impossible.

By the marathon, temps should be high 60s-low70s and if there's a God it will turn unusually hot so I can put the hurt on some snow birds that will have smushed me on the swim/bike :) hehe.

So it's back at it today after an awesome rest day yesterday. Sleeping 11 hours will get you recovered from anything! Again i went to bed before 8pm so it's 5am, already breakfast #1 has been eaten, and am waiting for 30 more mins or so to hop on the trainer for a 2hr wall staring steady pace effort followed by a run in Antarctica (aka outside). I really should have bought a treadmill instead of a couch for my living room...hmmm next time.

This week consists of the biggest volume I've ever done so that's an exciting little challenge. There's not too much intensity as I've done quite a bit of that in the last couple of weeks so last weekend and this one are about becoming familiar with IM length and pacing again- lest I leave T1 at Oly pace and die at mile 30 hehe. I'll be back in San Antonio and that will probably be the last time I drive down and back Thurs-Sun, the drive actually takes more out of me than the training so three weeks out from race day is just right.

After ride/run this morning I'm off to the ice bath at SMU with my friend Sierra (track/xc runner for school) and then breakfast #2. Morning class got canceled-yay!

I just discovered YouTube playlist so ever since I'm sans Ipod (Dec or Jan I can't recall exactly) I've been musicless on trainer sessions. Now I can actually make it a little more entertaining to be pedaling indoors :D

Winter is here

How do I know this? Today I have to pull out a jacket, leg warmers, and socks to ride- it's 42F! I'm back in San Antonio...got in late (9ish) last night and went straight to bed. The good thing is I slept amazing all 8 hours worth :D
Today's a big training day and I'm ready to go except when I remind myself of how frozen I'll be haha. It seems like in just 1-2 days the weather does a 180 and we land back in dreaded winter time. My motto: suck it up for a month and enjoy the winter; hopefully with the peace of mind of having already secured my Kona slot so early!! That's actually one of the things that motivates me about IM AZ- it will be a true test of my mental and physical weaknesses. I probably will be an icicle until about 2hrs into the bike and my asthma will not be aided by the dry cold air. But getting through a not so ideal IM environment is awesome as it will only make me stronger. And, hey, if a record high pops up race day, I won't be complaining! ;)
So on the agenda, a 75min swim, 5:30 bike and 45min t-run, sweeet! Time to jump in the pool...

You can find me in Tempe...

(say that with Nelly's "Country Grammar" tune hehe) on Nov 23 racing the IM. No: after advice from numerous sane and trustworthy sources, I will not do it after Clearwater. 70.3 World Champs is off my calendar. The cool thing is this doesn't break my promise to myself of not doing an IM for at least a yr after Kona, since it's gonna be a month over by race day ;)
Time to ramp me up some last minute Key IM training.
Rock on :D

What would I do without caffeine?!

In 5 days (Fri-today) I will have put in 22 hours of solid training for Clearwater. I love being able to come home to San Antonio, be with my family and have full support of my eat, sleep, train pattern :)
I've been able to build up the volume well and throw in a couple of key intensity sessions. Yesterday's interval run was one of them. Unfortunately it rained hard so I landed on the treadmill- not the funnest of places. But I got that done first thing to hopefully allow my legs to feel somewhat alive today haha.
As soon as the sun comes up I'll be heading for a 4hr ride followed a by short run off the bike. Then I'll do weights late afternoon as I decided to drive back tomorrow morning. I have class at 9:30 and since I get up around 4am anyway, it's better to drive after a full night's sleep than tonight exhausted from training. Let's just hope I don't get pulled over- cops tend to be quite rude at that early hour.
I'll definitely stay in Dallas this weekend. I got Todd Terry to join me for my longish ride Saturday so we'll probably do the South Loop twice to stay the hell away from White Rock in the morning! haha.
But the following weekend, before I start to taper, I'll most likely be back here or going to Austin to train with George Fri-Sun. It's so nice that it's mid October and I'm still able to get awesome hot weather training. I heard Clearwater was unusually chilly last yr and am hoping it's the complete opposite this year. I'd give anything to hear the weatherman race morning "...and today expect a record high into the nineties"!!
Alright I'm out- cheers.

KONA 2009

I will be there.
...At least I will fight to the very last drop of sweat to get back to that Island and race the event that got me into the sport in the first place. Recently I've been glued to the internet looking at all of the pictures, seeing video, reading articles etc all about race week and I'm just crawling out of myself to be there!!
In about 1 month's time I will have my first shot at qualifying for Kona again in Clearwater. In any case, ff it doesn't pan out in November then I'll be picking my qualifier for mid 09 season (Oceanside sold out) ;)
It's on my calendar and on my mind 365 24/7. I've had an empty feeling all of this season with goals that didn't truly correlate with me, but now I have that same feeling I did in 2007- the burning desire and vivid dream that turns into reality.
Best of luck to everyone racing this year!

Early on a Saturday

As soon as I woke up- 4:30...I laced up my shoes and hit the road...I couldn't wait to get running! Ahh that felt awesome, over 48hrs of rest sure did my body well. The legs are still not 100% fresh/loose but by my massage tue or wed all the remaining kinks from the HIM should be out.
I'm taking my bike into the shop today before i ride to get my cassette (currently on my 404 rear that's got powertap on it) back on my training wheels. I really don't know how to use power/analyze it, and really there's not much that will change in my output in 4wks leading up to clearwater. So it's best to ride on my training wheels using HR as a guide (which I am very good at hehe) and save the money of tubulars if I flat.

Power training will come back in handy gearing up for the 09 season following a good 1wk break post Clearwater (yes that's all the break I'll take until mid-09, the collarbone set back was enough rest!). I'll be in the hands of my new coach in San Diego who can actually make use of the power data haha. Also, i think by the time my b-day rolls around which is near x-mas and coupled with my graduation ceremony, I think I can convince my mom to buy me a new powertap hub so i don't keep training on race wheels!

Not much excitement the rest of the day...I'll be swimming masters at SMU at 11 and then doing my 2hr ride at WR. I feel kind of left out with Longhorn 70.3 going on in Austin this weekend as well as the Toyota Open here in Dallas :( hehe but my race day will be here before I know it! Good luck to everyone doing the events tomorrow!!!

Rest & gear up

After roughly a week of little to moderate workouts and a good amount of stretching in the gym (more than my usual)...it's time for two days off before the real dense work begins for clearwater. My legs are definitely going to appreciate today and tomorrow as the extra stretching coupled with the deep massage got them pretty sore.
By Saturday I should be rested physically and mentally- which is good because I have 3 exams next week (AHHH!!). Then Thursday I'll leave for San Antonio since we have Fall Break (no school the following Mon/Tue) and that will allow for a great block of training.
Alright, back to being more useful with my time- homework!

My favorite new breakfast

Actually I can eat this at any hour of the day, it rocks!

1.5 cups Living Harvest hemp milk vanilla flavor
cup of Nature's Path spelt flakes
cup of Enjoy Life gluten and nut free granola
1/2 scoop whey protein
2tbs flaxseeds

Why I hate medicines

Yesterday, after itchy as hell eyes, nose, and throat I surrendered and went into CVS to get some Zyrtec for allergies. I knew it wasn't a cold when everything ITCHED. The result: I was asleep by 730, all the way until 5am. Breakfast and coffee somehow got me to masters for a 45min swim. I felt great swimming but OMG I came back home and slept 2.5hrs!! I felt fatigued as if I had done an IM :(
I know it wasn't the best decision, but I have to study some and get through the day so I had another small coffee just now to feel "alive". Thus I'll be bagging my 30min run as I have a massage in like 10min and definitely won't be running after that. Oh well I guess massage is a better way to get the muscles going than running today anyway as the race was less than a week ago.
GRRR I can't stand medications, I'm gonna suck it from now on up and just keep sneezing away until it rains and the pollen diminishes.
P.S. For allergies what usually works wonders for me is Quercetin, only right now I think the combo of post race/travel with mega allergies hitting NTX was too much. So if you have allergies, try Quercetin instead, it's a natural flavonoid that's anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant.

Travel Toll

Yesterday was spent all day in school and every minute in between either in bed or on the couch :)
Monday I woke up with a sore throat but figured that was just the race effects and when I felt a lot better Tues, shrugged it off as nothing. I even got in the ocean for 20-30min, to play more than swim, before leaving for the airport.
But after the travel and finally settling in at home, either there are allergies in N TX right now (I usually get them in Jan/Feb only) or I'm coming down with a slight cold.
The good thing is this whole week is all about recovery..by Sunday I'll be on the bike for 1.5hrs and have a swim and run too but that will be the peak day of the week. As for now, I'll continue to plug away at my short workouts as they'll probably help me rid whatever's bugging me anyway.
My layout for Clearwater is pretty similar to the training for Cancun- 6wks out- slow building back up next week, 3 key weeks (volume, strength, intervals, the whole dang thing), slight taper w/ some speed week, and uber taper/race week!
I might toss in the Canyon Lake Oly two weeks out, as it's an excuse to go home to San Antonio and possibly have my brother race the sprint.
I'm looking forward to some excellent competition in FL and ending the season well. Getting through the last 2, almost 3, months has taught me more about myself than anything else. I've regained the confidence and feeling of purpose that was slipping away as the first half of the season unfolded. I was uncertain in my goals and the means of achieving what I thought they were. Focusing on Ironman (70.3s included) is what I'm meant to do.

Cancun 70.3

I can only get 15min of internet right now at the biz center...so Ill post the race details later. The weather was HOT just like I wanted :) My collarbone was never even slightly sore, in fact I swam very well, so was stoked! Anndd I set a PR of 4:52, ending up 1st in my AG, 2nd amateur, and 6th overall F. Next up, Clearwater baby!!
-Mind over matter

1 day left!

I have to pack EVERYTHING tonight and hope it all makes it in the bag and arrives to Cancun. Tomorrow I'll be taking a taxi at 4am! UGH! Which means I need to continue my streak of good sleep by getting to bed early tonight. My flight leaves from one airport and arrives back in Dallas at another one so Taxi is the only way :(
I just picked up my bike at the shop, which was pointless because I won't be using the disk I had borrowed from Mina after all. I think it's a smarter decision, given the uncertainty of the weather and my long term goals, that I ride with my rear 404 which has the powertap on it. Good or bad race, without the download it's difficult to assess why I had a good or bad performance.
So after a short ride, short swim, and massage left today, I'll be done until Saturday. I'll do an ez ocean swim that morning with my brother, making him stay behind me otherwise I'll ruin my race if I let him lead and play catch up! Then a 20min ride just to check things are smooth with the bike before checking it in and a 15min jog...enough to loosen up and be ready for SUNDAY :)
I'll probably post an update Sat night.

Moving Forward

Ahh sleep has been phenomenal! Which is good to get me through all of the little things that need to be taken care of before I leave Friday :p
Today's non stop at school, no training though so that helps. In a little while I'm off to see Ron for some chiro work. Then after I get out of school at 5 (yes 9-5! ugh), hopefully I can make it to the bike shop for a tune up and buy gels, blocks, etc.
Because my training was so compact for Cancun, meaning I had to pack in A LOT in 4wks, and then last week was a dramatic cut in volume, I've had soo much free time and extra energy. Aaanndd what better way to put that to use than to plan what I'll be doing after graduation?! Yea, so here's where I hope to be in 2009: San Diego!
I miss it terribly and I want to take the "risk" of heading out there with a few bucks in my pocket and trying to make it in triathlon.
I have no other commitments and I'm young. Also, I've put my coaching hat on for at least next season and that gives me extra motivation.
I've decided (I know, I haven't even finished my big race of 2008 and I'm already looking at 09 but whatever) to race Oceanside 70.3 and hopefully snag a spot for Kona '09!!
Throughout this year I've made statements here and there that my focus was to train for the Olympics and thus concentrate on short course. But in all honesty, the short course drafting style racing never clicked with me. London, the Olympics, races all over the globe, representing my country, blah blah...it all sounded great at first but it truly never gave sparked the same passion in me as Ironman. Plus there are other factors that impacted my decision: the drastic swim improvements that needed to start happening very soon, the $ issue of traveling to so many races throughout the yr, and the fact that I've never really lived in Mexico and never want to leaves me little chance at any connection with the national team there.
Ironman got me into triathlon- Hawaii remains the greatest thing in my mind and I couldn't get rid of that as much as I tried. There's just sooo much I want to accomplish on those Lava Fields, whether I have the "talent" for it or not, that remains to be seen, but I have to go for it.
I loved every aspect of race day last October, and though am very pleased with my result, there still remains a lingering "what if" in the back of my mind as to what could have been possible had I not gone through that terrible 1.5wk bout of food poisoning right before the race.
So there it is..the fluctuations of an undecisive "young adult" about to hit the real world. I'll either be working as an Au Pair in the San Diego area, or snagging some sort of "marketing related" part time job that will qualify under OPT (optional practical training) allowing me to stay in the US an extra 14mths after Dec. 2008.
I don't know how I'll make enough money to eat enough haha or buy any type of triathlon equipment but the uncertainty draws me in.
Corporate America and my SMU degree can be stored in a drawer for later use, but my youth cannot.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams"- Eleanor Roosevelt

Ike!

The winds are starting to pick up here in Dallas. Of course, we're free of the worst part this far north and my thoughts go out to those in the coastal areas.
Luckily it's not affecting me training wise because I'm pretty much in full taper. This morning was perfect for a 75min trainer ride with some mid-intensity intervals mixed in. Later on I'll head over to Dedman Center to do some stretching and shower again :)
So not much excitement going on today. I've been doing homework all morning and playing online every now and then, ha.
I can't believe I leave Friday!!!!! I'll be traveling with my mom, bro, and stepdad together for the first time, so that should be interesting. He's never been to a triathlon, well except a little local pool swim sprint my bro did a couple months ago, so I'm looking forward to his reaction(s) hehe.
Strangely enough, I've never been to Cancun, only Cozumel, which is basically the same thing except less hotels/Americanization. Hopefully this whole hurricane thing will leave nothing but a clear hot day come next Sunday!
Overall I'm feeling really good, though since I'm coaching myself it's really hard at times to keep myself on track with the taper because I've been tempted to kick up the volume the past 2-3 days, but I've had my fair share of bad calls this year so no more ;)
Alright well back to more reading as this is the perfect day for that.

All down hill from here!

Finito...my 3wk (4 if you count the first week with decent volume and semi-ability to run normally hehe) training block for Cancun. I knew it was doable considering Ironman specific training took about 2mths, and my injury didn't take away more than 10-15% of the fitness I had from the rest of 2008. Afterall, walking, the ellyptical, water running, etc all keep your cardio up to par.
Anyway, I've coached myself through this one. I knew as smart as Ahmed is, neither he nor anyone else could know what my body could/couldn't do with the collarbone issue and immediately after it's healing.
So I pulled all my resources, went back to look at my IM trainnig, took all I learned from Heather, plus what I learned from Ahmed, and devised my 3-4wk scheme for Cancun.
That first wk I did roughly 17hrs, mainly 90-120min rides, some 30mins swim, weights 3 times, and run/walk workouts. The second week I kicked it up to 21hrs, and then 23 and this wk 25. All just increases from bike volume, long runs, kept the weights for sure, and finally was able to add full 1hr swims :)
So now it's a week of cutting that in half, adding more intensity, and then super mellow with light efforts race week!

Last night I got into Dallas, it was a LONG day. My bro and I went Saturday to do an open water swim at Boerne lake in the afternoon which was great, we had the whole lake to ourselves. So yesterday he asked to come to UT masters with me and since I couldn't drive him back, my parents came along and we spent the day tehre.

For some reason I got up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep, so at 6 my brother and I drove to stone oak so he could ride while I did my 90min run. That went awesome! Basically I ran up long a** climbs, back down, up, down and through some great trails that made me feel like I was in Cali again :) Oh!!! I also saw a deer!! :)
Once in Austin, we got into a bit of car trouble when my alarm system went crazy and anyuthing I did with the car (open doors, attempt to turn on the egnition, whatever) the alarm would sound, so we had to call AAA . I was petrified that I might have to take a bus to Dallas cuz no way can I miss school, and then my dad drive my car up Monday when service people from Toyota are available. But nope, AAA got it fixed, although now I have no car alarm, ha. Anyway, my brother and I then did a 30min evening run on Town Lake followed by Barton Springs and finally I drove home to crash in bed at 10pm.
So now that's it, off day today and taking care of school. I'm very excited to have trained myself through this, all of my athletic life I've handed over the reigns to coaches but this time I felt the need to be in full control. Perhaps I did too little, too much, exactly right, perhaps my taper will be lower or higher than what it should or I'll nail it. In two weeks time I'll find out. One thing's for sure, I'm head strong as ever going into this race, and I wouldn't change the last 2 months for anything else!
Cheers

A Day in the Life of....

Me :) hehe.
Yesterday I got A LOT of things done and was very proud so I thought it'd be cool to note them.
The alarm rang at 5am, I ate some fruit, grabbed my swim gear and was off to 6-7 masters at Baylor Center. After I quickly downed a powerbar, threw my run stuff on and ran from my house out to White Rock and back. A brick from the swim, 80mins run, comfortable pace z2,3 picked it up a little in the middle, added some great rollers and was home in time to cook a full breakfast of eggs & brown rice (my faovrite)...well I did have the rice done from the night before, and ate in the car on my way to class :)
I had class from 930-11 then rushed home to pack, read a little and was back for 1230-150 class. From there I went home, got my bike stuff and rode to the lake for a 2hrs mellow.
When I got home I showered, by now it's 430, got everything I needed for a weekend of training in my car, went STARVING to Whole Foods, ate, and drove home to San Antonio for the weekend!!! :) I got home at 10pm and collapsed in bed.
Today I was back at my last heavy weekend in the hill country, enjoying the last weeks of warm weather, and the lovely hills that I lack in Dallas. 4hr ride today, just got done with afternoon weights. Tomorrow will be 3.5hrs on the bike followed by a 45min brick run of hill repeats then swim in the evening. Sunday I'm getting in a 90min run firs tthing then driving to Austin to do masters, I LOVE LONGHORN AQUATICS' MASTERS PROGRAM, IT'S THE BEST!, After that I'll spend a couple of hours in Whole Foods eating and doing lots and lots of homework and then I'll finish off with a 30min eveining run on Town Lake with a Barton Springs cold soak to end the training for Cancun and begin taper! AHHH exciting!!!! Next weekend I decided to race the TX Man sprint, It's perfect little speed work just in time to get me firing for the BIG DAY.
Alright, homework now :(

Austin Triathlon success

Wow, what an awesome weekend!! I'm so happy it's crazy...
Let's see...I left Thursday afternoon for San Antonio. Friday and Saturday did two long rides and solid runs, one off the bike, one 1hr after ride and swim Sat evening (legs felt DEAD which was very beneficial!). Also I had a great long main swim set Saturday that made me feel close to normal in the water :)
Then Sunday my brother and I left for Austin early after his quick morning ride for the Austin Triathlon. He was doing the sprint, me the oly. I volunteered at packet pick up for a bit and then helped at bike check in. After the heavy traning the whole week (11hrs of it on Fri+Sat) standing at bike check in for a couple of hours had my legs/feet screamng for ice water.
So after that we rushed to Barton Springs Pool and soaked in there for about 20mins...OMG that saved my life :)That was followed by a trip to my Eden: Whole Foods Austin...we bought some awesome spelt blueberry muffns for breakfast race morning that I hope I can find at the Dallas store.
Anyway, I was supposed to stay with my friend George but when my bro decided to race we convnced my mom to book a hotel. She found a great deal at this new hotel about 10miles from the race and we slept amazing!!
Race morning we were trying to find parking and had no cash...everything was blocked or $7. So I had my brother ask the "manager" at Whataburger to let us park there and not tow the car. He said ok just be back before noon when it gets crowded. Sure, no problem we'd be way done by then...(more to come on this later)
RACE....
Ok now the most incredible part: I had my best race of the season!! haha. I never thought you needed to break your collarbone to finally get some good stuff your way.
My plan was to play the swim conservatve- swim solid but nothing crazy, take care of my shoulder, and hammer the bike and run- get a great speed workout in from the race.
So I lined up on the far right to have my right shoulder free of swimmers...I decided to race the Open/Elite wave so I had to be careful not to get knocked around at the swim start hehe.
That went perfect...I was clear and found a good draft immediately. The pace seemed effortless and I just kept my eye on this person. About half way in, he or she slowed down and I saw a small pack about 25m away. I'll throw in a little sprint to my swim I thought so I picked it up, caught them, and settled in with that group till the exit.
I couldn't believe after the race when I read that I swam a 23somtn! That's got to be one of my fastest 1500s and it felt soooo ez.
On to the bike... loved the course...it didn't have all of those crazy corners like Captex and weaved around downtown and near Austin High. I had some ups and downs on the bike but overall felt strong. The rollers felt like a cakewalk but at various parts my legs were defntely feelng the lack of rest from the prior week.
I fgured the run would be quite a beating but NOPE! For some reason which I'll never be able to comprehend...my legs felt close to new!! Again, I loved the course, simlar to Captex but with a tiny off road section :)
I don't know why but only in Olympic distance do I always have to pee starting the run. I was feelng great though and wanted a PR on the run so I didn't stop (maybe a good call, maybe not) By loop 2 I really had to go but by then it was pointless.
Either way I had one of my best Oly runs, a 41somtn :)
Well, that was that, I felt proud to have come from lying in bed between two pillows face up to sleep, being unable to speed walk 4 1/2 wks ago to this day. I'm very optimistic about Cancun now which is why I wanted to race before then...to get a sense of what I could expect.
I ended up 6th overall female, 1 spot short of 100 bucks :( hehe but they gave the top 10 a package of this organc coffee so given that I spend about $2/day on coffee that's bad ass!

BUT.....the rockstar of the race, at least in my un-biased (yeah right haha) opinion, is my brother! That kid makes me feel like a snail. He went 2nd overall, a minute behind his Icon1multisport teammate, who obviously kicks major butt too, Hunter Overly. Not only that, but he had the fastest run split and set a PR: 17:48 5km! Needless to say he was stoked.

Lastly, before I head out the door for masters swim (supposed to take the day off but I'm hyper haha)....the Whataburger fiasco: I got my car towed!!! OMG I was mad. The so called manager told us we could park there and not get towed! We were back at 9:55am!!! So I had them call the supervisor who called the towing company to wave us the charge. Thankfully it worked out, but we still had to drive, with my parent's car, to the towing place in some farm road about 30min from Austin. Haha...that I'll never forget.

Stellar weekend :) Off to swim!
Cheers!

Quickly...

My mom and I got to Dallas last night EXHAUSTED. I got in a solid ride in the morning of 3.5 hrs (1.5 of those with my brother) and then a 45min run off the bike. It was absolutley gorgeous outside and I did as many hills as I could find. While my mom napped I squeezed in a swim after lunch so we didn't leave until 4pm. Half way into the road trip we realize that when I lost my car keys the week before, the house keys to my apartment were gone too. So that meant waiting outside at 9pm with the locksmith for an hour, but that wasn't too bad cuz he was pretty hot ;)
Then finally we got into bed at like 11pm and I was so restless I slept about 4hrs. Today was nonstop school and definitely a day off! I got my massage with Donald which I missed terribly and chiro from Ron, they're truly amazing at getting my body fixed for more punding to follow.
On the plan is two more weeks of high volume build, followed by a taper/short speed week, and then 70.3 race week/big taper. Since Monday is Labor Day and Fridays I don't have class I'll be heading South again haha and staying in San Antonio through Sunday, then driving to Austin and racing the Austin Triathlon on Monday!! I'm sooooooo excited to race. I don't have any expectations on the swim and my legs will for sure feel like 100000tons each after some more mega mileage this week, but I'm looking forward to biking and running that race till I drop :)
Now it's time for bed, hopefully 9hrs of nonstop sleep before a big day tomorrow. School this semester is gonna be tough; lots of reading and presentations, but I love my classes and 4mths left till I'm all grown up, ha, yea right ;)

Last week of summer

Ahh... time has flown by! It's raining and muggy outside and I'm lovin it bcuz it's my day off. I only did some light stretching and playing in the pool. This past week I did it- I officially defeated the collarbone injury :) I got out for a ride mid-week and fell in love with the hills near Sonterra, north of 1604/281 intersection. Since the area is in development there are wide streets with virtually no traffic or people and amazing climbs! My shoulder didn't bother me one bit, even on a 3hr ride followed by a short 30mins run on Saturday. Yesterday I ran a bit longer- 80mins and was feeling on top of the world. As of Friday I can swim just like before the accident. I haven't tested more than half an hour, but so far no soreness there. I'm playing it conservative though and building the time and intensity in the water slowly this week. By next week I should be able to crank out some masters workouts in Dallas :)
So my last week in San Antonio means two long runs this week, 3 shorter ones, and 4 long rides (two 2 hr, one 3 hr, one 4hr, and one ez hr spin). Since I can't get that kind of biking in Dallas, I have to grind it out here.
I'm sooo happy it's hard to put into words. I know this will be a great race no matter what because I'm just so thankful to be lining up at the start. I just have to be careful not to get too excited with the water and overuse my shoulder before then haha.
Back to Olympics watching ;)

Back at it!!

Sweeeeet! I can train now nearly at 100%. Today I rode 2hrs OUTSIDE...at first I was pretty shaky and kept picturing another horrible fall. But a couple of miles in, some great hills (in north San Antonio) and my confidence was back! No pain at all for the entire ride :)
Then I went down to the pool after lunch and did 30mins of not "playing around" swimming, but actual laps of drills and full stroke! It was awesome. My strength in the water with the injured arm is not quite there yet and still gets a little sore every now and then but in 1-2 weeks more I think I can crank a full hour.
Tomorrow I'm planning on a 90min easy ride and Saturday a nice three hours early before traffic but nooo white rock lake this time! I'll be wondering the hill country where runners are no where in sight :) and hopefully no cars either hehe.
I'm really glad I didn't listen to doctors or other people who have experienced shoulder injuries but instead listened to my own body. Every human is different and I'm sure much of my speedy recovery can be attributed to not wearing the sling almost at all, keeping myself active even if it meant walking and floating at first, and bein very aggressive with the range of motion/resistance PT.
Anyway, all good news here! I'm stoked beyond words that I will do Cancun and that if things keep progressing at this rate my swim won't be a disaster.
I've got about a week left here and then it's back to Dallas for school...last semester!!! Ahh, it went by so fast, but I'm extremely ready to get out of college, even though I have no idea what the heck I'm gonna do to continue training and racing toward my goals with my whole citizenship issue- as the only way for me to stay in the US is with a full time job (aka visa sponsorship/green card).
Well enough of that, right now I'm happy to be living in the moment :)

Nice!

Daniel gets 9th at Youth Elite Nationals in CO Springs!! Yay, I'm sooo proud :)

http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/1781/RES-ELITES.txt

100m

I swam today nonstop freestyle!!! :)
the rest of the hour was spent on range of motion stuff, kicking, breast stroke, and just enjoying the awesome summer weather.
Every day's a better day and closer to CANCUN.

Laziness

That is on the blog end of things so today on an off day I thought I'd post. Off day from what? haha well I've kept up my training quite well despite the injury albeit with major modifications. After 2 weeks of stepmaster, ellyptical, water running, and as much time on the trainer I could stand on a sit up position (1hr max)...I finally RAN on Monday!!!! OMG I never wanted to stop but it's time to be smart so I only did a 30min total run with 5 min walks in between 10min runs. Then yesterday I moved up to 2x15 with 5 in between. Also, I discovered that in the pool standing in the shallow end I can do a freestroke motion and it doesn't hurt because my arm isn't vertically aligned with my body rather in front (make sense?) so I can pull water :)
Anyway, the xrays last week showed healing is well underway so I'm giving myself the go ahead for Cancun if I can meet three tests: 1) be able to ride 2-3 hrs outside and stand the pressure on the shoulder 2) swim at least a 2k without much soreness at all 3) run 90min again without pounding pain. The plan looks plausible for a good race, I have 6 weeks where I can get in some solid riding on the trainer and 2-3 outdoor sessions just to get the confidence back. I'll make running and strength training, including dryland swim workouts, my main focus.
Starting to look back on this as a thing of the past, I'm thankful that I was able to spend my last official summer with my family and that I could help my brother in loaning him my trainer as he geared up for Youth Elite Nationals which is this weekend in Colorado Springs. I'm soooo proud of him, he's an inspiration for me to get back into regular training and racing. After just a few months in the sport, he's loving the healthy lifestyle which I believe is a savior to teenagers and is showing amazing discipline. I wish him the best of luck and if any of ya'll are interested in tracking his triathlon endeavors check out his new blog: www.danielvertiz.blogspot.com, or add him on I am tri ;)