Blog Blurrr

This is a short little update on what I'm up to. I've had a lack of desire to blog frankly because nothing interesting is going on so there's not much to say. I train, I eat, I sleep. Woohooo!

Training has been good. I have some little bike issues that yield niggles here and there on IT bands, hamstrings, peroneal tendons etc etc...really very frustrating. I'm trying to get to the bottom of this issue that's been driving me crazy for the past couple of years. Through the help of Rob at Elite Care Chiro, John Howard, and my own intuition I believe I'm on the right path to getting this fixed once and for all.

Other than that, all is good. I'm not injured, just desperately trying to prevent "niggles" from transforming into actual injuries that bench me.

In two weeks I get to see my studly friends kick some arse at Oceanside 70.3...if I'd won the coin toss, I'd elect to go second, thereby I'm glad they go kick off and I follow the weekend after at Galveston's 70.3

Helps to see where the line is being drawn ;)

After Galveston I've decided to remain in Texas until departing for Hawaii at the end of May.

Why? I woke up 2 days ago with the feeling that I needed to be home. When a strong gut feeling hits me, I don't think twice. Usually when I debate things in my head, and/or seek advice it's because that instinct/deep-seated knowledge (or intuition) isn't speaking loud enough if at all. I've always been very close to my family and a homebody so despite the fact that I call Encinitas my home- the greatest percentage of my heart attaches to where my family is.

Also, it's already in the 80s mid day there, by late April it'll be in the 90s. Moreoever, I found some great bike rallies of 80-100miles pretty much every wknd before Honu, and on the few that don't have organized rides in SA or Austin, I'll be heading to Austin to swim at the Quarry, join UT masters, and get in some longer rides with friends I haven't seen in a long while.

Lastly, I will probably race Cap Tex Tri- one of my favorite Olympic distance races, or of any distance actually. Daniel is also going to race the Oly so it'll be just like waaay back in 2007/2008 :)


Some random fun stuff:
1) on March 29 I will be rocking out at the Lady Gaga concert downtown with Katya and an old friend from high school, Kailtyn- Ra, ra, Ra, ra, RA!!!
2) I finished Stieg's trilogy- Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played with Fire, Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest...and OMG amazing!! I went through them as if I were on speed- so thrilling! I love anything that has fraud, consipracy, murder, social/psycho analysis, etc so this was right up my alley.........now I'm onto Inside Wiki Leaks which is also really good I think I'll be done in just two days, ha. I had gone into B&N to get The Social Animal by David Brooks but they were out of stock so picked this one up and no regrets.


Cool, that's it.

Peace

Desert Tri

I felt the need to cover up that Vegas post with something triathlon related. I swear, I really do train & race ;)

This weekend was the Desert Olympic out in Palm Springs- it was my first triathlon of the season and I'm always very glad I do these local races before jumping into 70.3s, where I thoroughly expect to be in top form.

The race went a lot better for me than I anticipated- not in terms of times or placement, but in "feel". Since starting up training in January my run has felt sluggish and off. But in the Palm Springs Half Marathon, despite tired legs, I felt that little bit of lightness and spark and it gave me hope. Finally in the last couple of training runs I've had that spring in my step that makes you feel like a runner and usually results in the runner's high of wanting to go on forever.

Anyway back to yesterday's race...

The swim was a s*itshow for the first 5-10min and it's my fault for not remembering what I promised myself after my good swim in Cozumel: line up as the FIRST swimmer. Our wave was elite M&F and M25&U, and I had a couple of people in front of me when they said "go", so when I dove into the little lake I didnt go out far enough and basically stayed in place getting jumped on for what seemed like forever while the group of faster swimmers that I planned to be with- & honestly should be with after what I'm consistently producing in the pool- was off and away :(
So I got a bit beat up, at one point my goggles loaded with water thanks to a kind elbow, but once we turned that first bouey I found some good feet and got into a nice rythm back to shore.

From there all else was good- nothing to complain about. The bike is pancake flat and I just rode as hard as I could. It took me about 30min to get rid of stiff legs and get rolling, and found my way into transition chomping at the bit to put on my Newtons!

The run was the best part of the day :)! I came out in 2nd and held that for about a mile. Meanwhile, Erin S tucked behind me until a spectator said "good job ladies" and blew her cover (the whole time I heard breathing right behind me, I was like "please be a dude") haha...and that's when she passed me. I couldn't hang and she got me by about 40sec. So it was 3rd for me, and I'm psyched about probably one of my best runs in an Oly since I can remember. I'll take it so early in the year :)!

That's it. More training and 5 wks left for Galveston 70.3!!!

Vegas!

I get why they call it Sin City. What else is there to do on a couple of miles of barren terrain lined with nothing but posh hotels/casinos, restaurants, and nightclubs?!
Traveling with two other triathlete friends, Tawnee & Sara, I'd say we kept things at a more appropriate level than 99% of people- especially our age. Still, for those of us with the lifestyle of a physically active 70yr old- i.e. bedtimes before 9 (ehhm sometimes 7!), our primary source of alcohol being the miniscule amount found in Kombucha, multiple workouts a day, gluten free this, raw that....it was definitely a SHOCK to the system during our 48hr adventure.
Nevertheless, it was a blast, and so worth it. To be remembered, but perhaps not repeated...anytime soon that is, ha.
So we lett Friday afternoon and hit some traffic but managed to get there with plent of time to check in and plan out our night.
We Started out with a delicious dinner at Botero at the Wynn, and then I made a little money at the blackjack table :)

Then, as Sara's friend Chelsea is one of the acrobats for La Reve- a badass show that resembles Cirque du Soleil but all about water- she scored us free front row tickets! Not only that, but after the show we went backstage to see their wardrobe room and get an insight into how the show functions so smoothly night after night- so cool! Those people are incredible athletes...makes me feel like a wimp!

Following the show we went to a club called Surrender, but the guys were very disappointing and so after a couple of hours we decided to call it a night and save up for tomorrow.
We went to bed at a very innocent 1:30am. 7am ish, we were wide awake and eager to get some sort of workout in- yes, GEEKS!
Urban running on the strip! Powered by the frequent inhalation of cigarette smoke.

Then, since that wasn't enough, I googled a lap pool, which turned out to be pretty good, and we actually cranked out a pretty solid set of 3700yds. I was very surprised to have what I'd ordinarily call a good swim. Ironic.
Can you tell we just got done swimming?

How do you hydrate post swim in Vegas at 4pm?? Pre-drinking with a bottle of wine and two or three Diet Cokes & Rum, of course.
Night two was epic....

Stayin' classy we headed over to the Bellagio for dinner at Olives where I had an amazing buffalo sirloin (medium very rare, please!) with baconed brussel sprouts and mashed butternut squash :P

Time for the Black Keys! But not without a couple of shots at the Cosmo:

One of the highlights of the night was the guy with the pigtail-ed beard in a pink onesy- HOT!

The Black Keys were awesome!! Lots of head-banging and my-feet-killing-me-in-those-heels later, and more drinks at the Chandelier Bar before Chelsea once again hooked us up with a bouncer-escorted entrance into the Marquee.
But by then I was dead! The club was packed to the point of not having room to breathe- except outside but it was freeeeezzziiiing. Yes I had a large coat but I took that to coat-check right away so I lasted like an hour and a half before I told Tawnee I was out. She was supposed to come with me but we got seperated and we couldn't get texts/calls so all of us ended up going back to the room by ourselves in intervals of about an hour haha.
By the time Sunday rolled around we were ready to get out! I'd had enough of waking up to casino lights and cigarette smoke on my way to Starbucks.
Such deviations make you appreciate our healthy lifestyle so much. I don't understand those that live the nightlife for years.
My favorite form of trashing myself in one go is Ironman.

Palm Springs

What a fun weekend! I feel so lucky to be part of a team comprised of such great women!
Kristin & I drove out early Friday afternoon and got to Lori's in plenty of time to settle in & chit chat while she cooked up a delish dinner.
The next day we were up mega early (especially me with my crazy 4am wake ups, ha) to get rolling ahead of the masses for the century.
It was freeeeezzzziiiiing the first hour but then it warmed up quickly to the most perfect mid 70s in clear sunny skies. We were very fortunate with weather this weekend as this upcoming one is supposed to be roughly 20deg colder and possibly raining! I stripped off my top layer of pants, socks, long sleeve baselayer gloves, and arm warmers within the first 90min :)
I spent the majority of the ride with Polly who let me just say is a badass- she drilled the century at a solid pace as well as the half with our bonus warm up (more on this later) all with insane pain from a root canal!!
The ride was so much fun. We got to the house at 105mi at around 5:20ride time (I think).
The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging by the pool, which was the perfect ice bath temperature and definitely helped all of us for the half mary the following day.
Another yummy homemade dinner, more red wine, and then we took a short trip over to hang with the Rehab United crew. The night wouldn't have been complete withouy froyo so we hit up Golden Spoon.
Not enough sleep later, it was time for 13.1....however, I rallied Polly to warm up from the house to the race start with me which we had mapped out to be 3.6 miles. 50min of running later, we had warmed up like 6 miles to the start- we had to book it when we were told it was "about a mile and a half that way"... literally got there as the announcer was going "four, three, two, one!..." haha awesome.
Needless to say I had my gel before mile 2 :)
The great thing about this bonus run beforehand was that I logged in good mileage for the day without having to gun out a cool down jog after that race effort and it exaclty mimicked the feeling in the legs that comes in aorund mile 18-20 of IM marathon.
At 6miles into the race I was with a little group holding 6:20;6:35s and thought wow, I may just break 1:30 today. But then at mile 8 my feet were throbbing and my legs weighed a ton each. Holding sub 7:30s was a big task.
My coach was actually happy with this as it made for excellent training, and proved my run hasn't completely disappeared. Now a mellow week and then Sin City!

Finalized Schedule

On the right hand side....I think this is the final decision. I'm registered for all of them except Vegas which I still have to qualify for.

I was toying with the idea of not attending 70.3 Worlds again and using all the expenses tied into that race for a longer stay in Kona before Ironman. However, I actually want to race worlds now that it is in a hilly (hopefully draft-free) venue and close to home.

Also, there are some fast girls my age in those 70.3's, but wouldn't it be cool to be 70.3 and Ironman World Champ the same year?! Yes.

After my partially self-inflicted exhaustion, it took one day- last Monday- of full blown sleep to recover. Overtraining is bull- I adhere to the belief of under-recovering as the culprit. So once I recoverd I bounced right back and the fact that it took <2 days means I was not burried, I am simply working hard.

Friday was a swim only day so I scheduled the blood work that coach Paul has been asking me for since January of last year. I hate needles, but I obliged :) I highly doubt I am deficient in Iron as I have never, and will NEVER be vegetarian/vegan (anyone that knows me knows I love a good steak!). But at least Paul can see whatever it is that my blood results will reveal.

The weekend was much lighter in training than the past few. I drove north to ride Santiago Canyon and do a short trun on Saturday. Sometimes I just need to get away from the coast, change scenery, and ride by myself. It was a good day, warm and sunny. Then I hit Mother's Market for a good late breakfast.

Sunday was a long run that felt like mile 20 of Ironman the whole time...."are we there yet?!?!" But a fun Super Bowl gathering made up for that.

That brings us to yesterday which made it very clear that I need to stay away from wine, or any form of alcohol because I have zeroooo tolerance. A few glasses the night before and I was useless that morning! Instead of dragging my unwilling a** to the pool early, I ate breakfast and went back to sleep. Then kept waiting until I actually felt like swimming. Go figure, I swam well when I actually wanted to be in the water! That's all I did :)

Today... What happens when you go to sleep at 8:30? You wake up at 3:30. FML! So I'll be swimming by 5:30 only to have time to go back to sleep for a few hours before heading over to The Wolf Studio for a run LT test. Oh joy!

Last time I got tested was back in 2008- the whole deal- metabolic testing, VO2, bike/run blood LT. Honestly, I doubt my HR zones have changed at all but at least I'll know for SURE. Now that I have my new pink Garmin I might as well use it correctly. Who knows, training with numbers again might make me super duper fast. Watch out!

Almost time to hit the pool, I'll hopefully take some post-able pics this weekend in Palm Springs century/half marathon and put em up early next week.

First block of 2011 DONE

Things are going very well right now. Sunday I ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon, and though I didn't even come close to a PR, let alone break 1:30 (1:33), I am content knowing that I ran the best that I could on that day and after a tremendous 3 week build back into training.

I've tried not to sit still at all except on key recovery days and after 4ish- if I'm not s/b/r'ing you can find me on the tennis court! Bedtimes have been in the 7-8:30pm range which is grand. Sleep is great and I'm eating close to perfect.

The weather in San Diego has been spectacular- 70's by 10am pretty much this whole month! We are very lucky to live here...or smart.

There's really nothing exciting to report. I'm not going to Noosa for camp in March- it's too expensive, gets in the way of any work I have to do, and is a little sketchy immigration wise. Hopefully I get to go to Tucson, as that is another fantastic camp.

February will be cool. Our Nytro Women's team is heading to Palm Springs for that century/half mary weekend of the 11&12. Then I head to Vegas with Tawnee and Sara for the Black Keys concert the following weekend- stoked on that short escapade as I've never been to Vegas :)

I may sneak in Galveston 70.3 early April, but if not, there's no triathlon-ing in my radar until May.

That's my incredibly thrilling life for ya ;)

I'm Back!

AHHHHH!!! Words cannot describe the feeling of landing in San Diego this past Saturday :)

To make things even better, we had a little get-together for New Year's Day so I went from zero humans for the past month, to socializing with my favorite peeps!

Sunday morning I couldn't wait to get on the pool deck for masters. Hux signaled me over to lane 2, and though it hurt to swim longer than 45min at that pace, being in the water daily in Cancun paid off! My swimming is at an all time best, and I can't wait to work on it even more this year. I'll be in that lane huffing and puffing as long as it takes until I can lead it...hopefully that will transfer my Cozumel swim time into Kona.

Running also feels fantastic. Today I ran my longest since IM- 75minutes. Julie took me along the coast from Carmel Valley down to the fairgrounds and it was a great route- constantly rolling with like 2 long graduals. It was an awesome way for us to catch up too :)

Also, yesterday was my first "strength" workout at Rehab United and I loooooved it! It's a fun group of people and a kick ass session. No doubt it will play a big role in my fitness this year.

Lastly, I picked up my beautiful Colnago Flight at Nytro yesterday!!! Andrew helped me swap my parts from the Cannondale, and today I'm headed to Matt's for a fit. I know it will take about 3 weeks to feel "right" on the bike again, but I also know from how fired up I am and how great my body feels that 1) I was TRASHED after Cozumel...and 2) the long break sans bike and with all short non structured stuff is key to how AMAZING I KNOW this year will be for me.

I had A LOT, and I mean AAA LOOOOT, of alone time in Cancun to think about where I am in life, in this sport, and what I want and know I can accomplish this year and a couple of years from now. But more importantly, this year, as that is what's in the present. Being away from the US, specifically from the privileged place that is San Diego and the life I live here, with such a great support system in my family, friends, and coach, helped me realize more than ever how fortunate I am and how everything is set up like a fairy tale for my success.

I'm starting 2011 with what I guess you could call "resolutions" in my head. But most of them are concepts that you really cannot describe in writing or even verbally. They are modes of approaching situations, people, training sessions, races, achievements, and failures that stem from my 23 years of life. Every day you learn something new, but new years allow us to reflect on a much deeper level and offer a globally unified opportunity to "start fresh"- a great feeling!

Some of my changes will be noticeable, others not. Some might make sense to others, others not. But rest assured, I've thought things over and what I will do is what's best for me....IMHO ;)

Anyway, I snatched a bib from a seller on Craigslist for the Carslbad Half so that will kick off my racing for 2011! After that, Palm Springs Century and 1/2 Marathon in early Feb....and the rest is on the right hand pannel of my blog ;)