Ahmed

I heard about Ahmed, from Playtri Coaching/Racing, today. While in Kona, Hawaii for a training camp he was hit by an ignorant driver descending from a climb with a couple other guys. My prayers go out to him, Staci, his son Ali, and the rest of his family. I know he had big plans for this year, one of them being Worlds in Australia. His injuries- a broken collarbone, fractured ribs, and a punctured lung- will make it tough to recover soon enough. But if anyone has strength, determination, and a positive attitude it's Ahmed. I wish him the best and fastest recovery. Please keep him in your thoughts.

From one of my favorite poets, Pablo Neruda...

Queda Prohibido-

Queda prohibido llorar sin aprender,
Levantarte un dia sin saber que hacer,
Tener miedo a tus recuerdos…

Queda prohibido no sonreir a los problemas,
No luchar por lo que quieres,
Abondonarlo todo por miedo,
No convertir en realidad tus suenos,…

Queda prohibido no intentar comprender
a las personas,
Pensar que sus vidas valen menos que la tuya,
No saber que cada uno tiene su camino y su dicha…

Queda prohibido no crear tu historia,
No tener un momento para la gente que te necesita,
No comprender que lo que la vida te da,
Tambien te lo quita…

Queda prohibido no buscar tu felicidad,
No vivir tu vida con una actitud positiva,
No pensar en que podemos ser mejores,
No sentir que sin ti, este mundo no seria igual…

Saturday Ride- Lake Miramar to Julian

Yesterday was priceless. I made the drive down to Lake Miramar to meet with my coach for a long ride. I'd seen posts, pics, and heard comments about rides out to Dudley's Bakery (yes, food is always the focus and essence of a good ride hehe). So, I was pumped.
We left promptly at 8am, expecting, and looking forward to, rain and colder temps. It was drizzling the first 5 or so miles but then Murphy's Law held true and given that we wanted bad weather, we didn't get it. Granted, it was cloudy and cold enough for jackets and toe warmers, especially at the top in Julian, but no rain and no Dallas-like wind chills :)
I'm trying to expose myself to miserable weather in order to toughen up my wimpiness-uhhhm, yea.
Anyway, it was a blast. After about 2:30 we reached Dudley's I gulped down a sandwhich and a fabulous choc chip cookie and we continued upward. All in all it was about 7,000ft elevation gain, constant rollers and gradual long climbs even on the way back. We climbed up to Julian in 51min and then made the descent to head back. I loved this climb. Last year I did Palomar which is basically the other side and only slightly further from Dudley's. Palomar is a bit longer but neither presented any traffic at all, maybe it was just luck of the days to ride, but that's always a plus.
After I raced to Whole Foods and sinned on sushi once again (oops!), devoured a pint of Java frozen yogurt, and then went to Kristin's for a while to chat. She ran the Carlsbad Marathon today and absolutely killed, getting 2nd in her AG in 3:28!
That was it- an epic, must repeat ride. I'm feeling some great early season fitness and only hope to continue healthy and build up more and more.
This morning was an ez swim....about 70min, mostly IM work. Then I picked up the kids at their grandparents' and got in my run.
Now it's chill time and an OFF DAY tomorrow! It'll be good to get some errands done and squeeze in 2-3 naps :D

Bike Fit at Edge CycleSports

This is the best multisport/bike shop in the world! Hank rocks! I've searched far and wide for a good bike fit, unwilling to place myself at the hands of anyone inexperienced. In early 2007 I was fit by John Cobb, but after outgrowing shoes I started to tweak things and that led to removing shims, adding them back, moving the cleats back, then forward again, then back again, then adding more play, taking play away....A DISASTER!
By a miracle I emerged out of Arizona injury free and have been OK until now. Yesterday after a 5hr ride Saturday, the 2.5hr interval-big-gear ride did me in. I was tight as ever in my hips, and my right outer shin and knee were not feeling so good. So, I got in to see Hank and he fit me on both my road and tri bike. It was life-changing. I now feel like I can just pedal/ride and not constantly fight the pedal stroke and spend extra energy moving around trying to get comfortable. I can get into a more agressive position and hold it forever.
The tri bike is still at the shop getting the powermeter fixed as it has failed to read the last couple of rides. So tomorrow I will be taking the road bike on the 5-6hr trek with my coach up to Julian.
I'll be leaving MV early for San Diego, meeting Kevin, and then riding through Santa Ysabel, stopping at the famous Dudley's Bakery (YUM!), and up to Julian all for some long awesome climbing.
We're (yes, me included...now I have to turn crazy) searching for rain & cold temps to make it a true sufferfest. Sweet! Bring it.
A little run after the ride and then I'll drive back home to sleep until mid-morn Sunday :D

A New Tomorrow, Starts Today!!!

What a day! What an honor to be a part of this historic moment in time. Despite the few Presidencies that I've lived through, this man, Barack Obama, gives me the most hope. His persona radiates integrity, strength, determination, intelligence, and the desire to fulfill what America's Founding Fathers had in mind for this wonderful country.
It will take time to get us out of this dark hole that the past couple of years have led us to. But we must stand behind Obama, stand behind each other, and get this nation back on its feet- people out of unemployment, kids succeeding in school, smooth out foreign issues, and be a role model for freedom, peace, and global preservation and progress.
GO OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES WE CAN, YES WE DID, YES WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO...

Fly 'Till Ya Die

That was the theme for today's swim. Thankfully I got a great night's sleep. The kids spent the weekend at sleepovers and were finally home last night, pretty tired. I cooked some dinner, and then we all headed to bed. So this morning I was up early, at just past 4, made the drive to Starbucks, read the paper, and jumped into masters at 6am. Fly, fly, fly, and more fly. It was painfully awesome!
So scratch the thought of today being mellow and easing into the week, ha. An hr of each swim, bike, run, weights today. A long run tomorrow, med bike and swim Wed, long bike and run Thurs, Fri same as today, longER bike and t-run Sat, and long swim and run Sun- SWEET!! Next week I'll get a day off somewhere, after close to 3 wks sans one. But I actually love doing shorter workouts or ez ones to supplement off days so am feeling good as ever.
Surf City is next weekend and as of last night, Tritonman is officialy on my schedule which will be the first triathlon of the yr for me :D
The week looks like it will bring some cooler temps, 70s vs 80s haha...ahhh I love SoCal!

Sunday

A great end to the week! After two easier days Thurs and Fri, yesterday's long ride with Chris was awesome. His coach bailed out on us hehe, but we rode the "Santiago Canyon loop"...which I think I can remember for future rides :) Ez-steady pace for 5ish hrs, the last hr and change on my own. I got home to take a quick shower while my Amy's pizza was in the oven :D
The kids spent all afternoon and the night at a friend's house so it was a full recovery day in bed with frozen yogurt in hand. I have a weakness for Stoneyfield Farm's organic frozen yogurt (Java or Fudge Swirl flavors).
So I hit the pillows just before 8pm and got up at 5 to eat breakfast. Now I'm at Starbucks reading the paper, writing this post ha, and in a bit will head over to longer (90min) masters.
After that I want to take the kids ice skating or on the paddleboats at the lake and then finish off with a short run before dinner.
I'm not sure what next week's schedule looks like yet but am assuming a calm Monday and then ramping up as the week goes on. That's good as Mon the kids don't have school so I can take them to the park, theatre, or whatever.
I've been looking to add a few shorter races Feb & March- Tritonman Sprint and Desert International look like possibilities...we'll see what coach thinks.