The Giro Bello metric century last Saturday was FANTASTIC. Rode with two awesome ladies, one of my Triple A training partners, Blondie & the Mighty J. Left from Analy high school, less than a mile or so from my front door. 7AM we rolled out, it was perfect weather, absolutely perfect. The course was amazing, all along the back country wine roads of Sonoma County, I feel so blessed. Passed so many gorgeous wineries and estates, it made the hill climbs that much more bearable. Lots of rolling hills but no killer hills (like Table Mtn on Wildflower Century in Chico). I LOVE being in the saddle, I think this every single time I get back on the bike after a few days, a short rest stop or stretch break. As soon as I settle my body in the saddle I am so incredibly happy. I have visions of doing some rad ultra rides across the gorgeous US in the next few years.
The day was long but the metric century was very do-able and I felt great....until I had to literally crawl out of bed the following morning. SORE! Wow! Walked 4 miles after the century and then another 3 miles the next morning and I think that really helped but wow, my body sure felt the workout from those rolling gentle hills. Took a 4.5 mile run through Spring Lake on Monday and after the first 5 min of working out the kinks felt great. Thank you body for doing such a great job, I will continue to take care of you & push you to do more...and do my stretching & Fonda!
Next up on the goal list after a summer & fall of half marathons and triathlons is....MAUI MARATHON in January! WOWZERS! A girlfriend asked me last week over a chat, if I would at all consider doing the marathon with her as part of a mini girl vacation...as she was asking, I heard the words Marathon & Maui & January and although my brain was saying things like "I will need to ask husband of course and coordinate kiddo care and ....OMG the training" I heard my mouth blurt out " I am SO there!" ..... I love that I am in a place in my life & personal happiness & confidence that I find myself saying something like that. While my motto for 2011 has been "why not me?" in reference to pushing myself to bike farther, run stronger & swim with sharks & zombies, "I am SO there!' is apparently my motto for 2012 and I like it. It's a feeling that is hard to describe: pure joy, peace, centered-ness... strength & happiness in both mind & body.
Check out the course map below. Three things I love about it: that the route is all along the ocean (YAHOO), the dancing palm trees at the top, and the fact that there is no longer a 20-miler course offered? Dude, if you were going to do 20 miles, just do 26.2 already!
Course map of goodness, so excited:
Maui Marathon 2012
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
My car keeps me accountable
Just Enjoying
Feels like forever since I posted. Been busy riding, swimming in open water & running. need to be running more, it has gotten pushed down on the list & I can feel it & need to get back in my groove. Really hot weather by 9am and busy days during the summer with less kiddo care & shuttling him to classes has changed up my routine. Planning on a long run tomorrow, Friday & Sunday. Been riding & swimming with Triple A's, bliss. Metric Centry Giro Bello this weekend, should be a blast. Summer in full swing, classes with kiddo & just busy busy busy every day with soccer mom chores & friends & everything....can't complain :-)
Friday, June 17, 2011
Product description reminds me of a J.Peterman catalog
I might make fun of the description but this corn looks TASTY!
Fitness, Food, Fiver...
Just a short catch up post. Great week last week, fast hilly ride on Tuesday with A to Dillion and back. As I said earlier, she rocked it without a smaller granny gear, not walking once, we have come a long way. Great sunny, hot, sweaty ride! Later that day I swam laps for 40 minutes at the gym & shared a lane with a wonderful 73 yrs young woman. So inspiring & so full of life. She recently swam in a 1 mile race two years in a row, in the ocean...if she can do it...dagnabbit...so can I.
Thursday Triple A training hit Lake Sonoma again for a GREAT swim! We were stronger than before and swam our length 1.5 times. Compared to the ocean for the tri last weekend, the lake was pure bliss, I adored it! Then we got on our bikes and rode the gorgeous route to Dry Creek store. Fantastic sandwiches and then looped back on the quieter wine country roads to our car. I LOVE being on my bike, I am so relaxed & chill. I love to swim and run as well but man, I feel at home in the saddle for sure.
Today I really wanted to run, hadn't been on the road since a 2.5 miler last Sunday after the Tri ~ didn't have the kiddo care to get it done all week and man that made me appreciate my usual husband, preschool & grandma care all the more! Had a great lazy morning with dude and then hit the gym, he is currently in love with playcare (great for mom) and hit the treadmill. Was less than excited about running on a treadmill while it was breezy and cool and sunny outside but....had a FANTASTIC run! My music was thumping & body felt so strong and just good good good. No foot pain (totally forgot until tonight that it has been aching a bit again on runs, nervous since I already had cortisone shot. PT next week) or even fatigue, rocked it so strong for 5.5 miles at a hearty 5.9 pace for me, just felt soooooo strong. Great feeling and so surprised since I thought I might just slug out 3 miles to feel like "I ran" this week. Then swam and played with dude in the pool all afternoon, overall a great workout day :-) Ponderings of a late fall marathon are simmering in my brain...
Two fantastic links for today:
YUM!
Kale Salad
So INSPIRING:
A girl can dream...
A little snippet of the road to an Ironman, please click the link & read the whole story, so motivating:
Race morning couldn’t arrive quickly enough. For months, I’ve watched this race, all of its 70.3 miles worth of moments, play out in my head. Along the way, sacrifices made to make sure I arrived at the start line as ready as I could be. I gave up coffee. I went to bed early. I woke up early. I ate clean. I took supplements. I never, ever missed the recovery window. I arrived at goal weight. I compartmentalized my training. I brought in the babysitter. I balanced between my workouts, my work, my husband’s workouts and my child. I committed only to what it would take to achieve this goal. I listened to my body. I had a race plan. I wrote it out. I read through it over and over again. I worked my mind’s eye in overtime, going through the race. I arrived at race day not wondering what would happen but knowing how it could happen. And then ready to make it happen out there. I focused only on where I wanted to go. I focused only on my successes. I forgot I ever had failures. I found only proof for success. I searched through my race history and reconnected to every race I won. I went back through my notes. I made myself read and absorb. This is what I’ve done. This is what I can do. This is what I will do. I found my confidence by building it. And once I built what I knew it would take, I found a calm in my confidence. More importantly, I trusted myself, faith in knowing that I wouldn’t set the goal if I couldn’t do it. Trust is confidence.
Thursday Triple A training hit Lake Sonoma again for a GREAT swim! We were stronger than before and swam our length 1.5 times. Compared to the ocean for the tri last weekend, the lake was pure bliss, I adored it! Then we got on our bikes and rode the gorgeous route to Dry Creek store. Fantastic sandwiches and then looped back on the quieter wine country roads to our car. I LOVE being on my bike, I am so relaxed & chill. I love to swim and run as well but man, I feel at home in the saddle for sure.
Today I really wanted to run, hadn't been on the road since a 2.5 miler last Sunday after the Tri ~ didn't have the kiddo care to get it done all week and man that made me appreciate my usual husband, preschool & grandma care all the more! Had a great lazy morning with dude and then hit the gym, he is currently in love with playcare (great for mom) and hit the treadmill. Was less than excited about running on a treadmill while it was breezy and cool and sunny outside but....had a FANTASTIC run! My music was thumping & body felt so strong and just good good good. No foot pain (totally forgot until tonight that it has been aching a bit again on runs, nervous since I already had cortisone shot. PT next week) or even fatigue, rocked it so strong for 5.5 miles at a hearty 5.9 pace for me, just felt soooooo strong. Great feeling and so surprised since I thought I might just slug out 3 miles to feel like "I ran" this week. Then swam and played with dude in the pool all afternoon, overall a great workout day :-) Ponderings of a late fall marathon are simmering in my brain...
Two fantastic links for today:
YUM!
Kale Salad
So INSPIRING:
A girl can dream...
A little snippet of the road to an Ironman, please click the link & read the whole story, so motivating:
Race morning couldn’t arrive quickly enough. For months, I’ve watched this race, all of its 70.3 miles worth of moments, play out in my head. Along the way, sacrifices made to make sure I arrived at the start line as ready as I could be. I gave up coffee. I went to bed early. I woke up early. I ate clean. I took supplements. I never, ever missed the recovery window. I arrived at goal weight. I compartmentalized my training. I brought in the babysitter. I balanced between my workouts, my work, my husband’s workouts and my child. I committed only to what it would take to achieve this goal. I listened to my body. I had a race plan. I wrote it out. I read through it over and over again. I worked my mind’s eye in overtime, going through the race. I arrived at race day not wondering what would happen but knowing how it could happen. And then ready to make it happen out there. I focused only on where I wanted to go. I focused only on my successes. I forgot I ever had failures. I found only proof for success. I searched through my race history and reconnected to every race I won. I went back through my notes. I made myself read and absorb. This is what I’ve done. This is what I can do. This is what I will do. I found my confidence by building it. And once I built what I knew it would take, I found a calm in my confidence. More importantly, I trusted myself, faith in knowing that I wouldn’t set the goal if I couldn’t do it. Trust is confidence.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
A few rambling Tri thoughts
Tri ramblings.... I was more nervous than I thought the night before. Especially about the swim, although I had a great training open water swim in cold Lake Sonoma with Triple A the week before, this was the OCEAN, with a current. My stomach was knotted for a few days & I had some serious waves of anxiety. I took a great short run on Friday, really shook off a lot of that tension and I remembered "hey, you wanted to do this, no one is forcing you!" I still had a rough time chilling out Friday night and kept thinking crazy thoughts "Why didn't I just train for a marathon instead, I've done that." or "Maybe i'll switch to the Duathlon, that would be easier." Despite some mild nightmares about Jaws & ocean swimming I slept OK, big bonus. As usual my stomach was not eager for food the morning of but I knew I needed to fuel (running the P10 miler on an empty clenched stomach taught me a big lesson!) so I took little bites and sips here and there. As we got to our car at the hotel I saw a woman on the curb crying. I asked if she was Ok & she said she was just stressed out & had a migraine and didn't know if she would do the event...it made me nervous & calm all at the same time. It reminded me that this event, although for 'fun' was a big deal & also soothed me "wow, someone is as nervous, if not more than me, yeah!" I saw her on the course & high-fived her on the run.
Getting to the event at 6am (yikers) I started to feel more calm. So many shapes, sizes & ages of women (and women-only, whew!) and I started to chill out, not everyone looked like an olympian...far from it. I successfully changed my category from my age group to friends & family (rec'd for newbies, all ages, not as 'race' focused) and set up my transition zone. It felt so good to have all the right gear, a big thank you to REI online & a supportive spouse that did not grumble at all my random purchases over time. I had a bit too much time to mill about before the start and nerves set in. The ocean was choppy & grey, would have been a lot more attractive if it were blue skies, sunshine and clear! Mermaid put on a great race though, thumping music, great MC motivating people. I chatted with a lot of ladies and got some inside scoop on the swim, made me relax. Heading to the water ramp was freaky, I gotta admit, I really did not think I would be getting in the water or swimming, it just seemed impossible to wrap my head around. Thinking back I still can't believe I did it! They had a power boat and so many guys on paddle boards out there, I felt like I was very supported to succeed but also to be rescued if needed! Getting in the water was easier than I thought, compared to the windy air outside it was warm! I was one of only a few people in a sleeveless wetsuit but it was fine. Chilling in the water before go-time was fun, lots of banter & chit chat but I did freak out a bit when someone said we were to swim to the right of the buoys (out to sea) vs the left (closer to shore), EEEEK!
When it was GO time it was freaky, not the thrashing crazy flailing that people talk about (small group) but I felt like I wasn't moving. It made me nervous thinking about how far I had to go when I felt like I was sitting still. I flipped on my back and chilled out and kicked, I relaxed once I could see I was moving (half swimming, half being carried by the current). I feel a bit like I cheated during the swim because I swam lazy, I did backstroke & side stroke mainly because freestyle or breast was too difficult in the swells. The swim was by no means easy but physically it wasn't that demanding to just float along, I swim a lot harder in the lap pool. It was a 90% mental challenge for me, I forgot my fear of sharks even with random legs and arms touching me throughout the swim. I had one small freak-out at the halfway mark where I looked to shore and at how far I had to go and just went "WTF, I am scared!" but I just kept going going going. I was surprised at how not intense the vibe was in the water, not sure if it was a smaller group but it was not the crazy 'fend for your life!' that people talked about (or else I was good at keeping my distance). There was chatter in the water and I loved that, a few "wow this is hard", "I need a minute, wait", "I'm freaking out a bit here!" It made me feel normal. As I got closer to the turn to the homestretch I actually got more anxious, I couldn't get there fast enough! It felt amazing to climb out of the water, amazing! In hindsight I keep thinking "well, it wasn't that far, that's why it was easier than I thought" but it was a heck of a lot farther than doing nothing that's for sure. It was an OCEAN swim, something I (and many others I know) have never done, with choppy waves & swells (the race official afterwards denounced my newbie inquiry of it being representative of a standard swim section with "um nope, that was kinda dicey!"
Everything else was pretty easy, now that the swim portion was done I was elated. Kept on my danskin tri shorts, dried them off a bit but still pretty wet which was kinda weird to get on a bike in wet shorts. Transition to bike was easy, I love to bike, I am really relaxed on the bike. I had a fear of getting a flat and not knowing how to change one, thought I would be sidelined for a while, I did not see the type of SAG support we had on our Cinderella Ride. Yeah! No flat or bike trouble, just cruising on a closed course, a few bumpy sections of rough road that had me wincing and wishing for a mountain bike but all in all, the ride was so sweet. Saw a few ladies with ipods and that pissed me off since it was not allowed & also I could tell they did not hear me when I said "on your left" which is why it's not allowed! One random woman made my day as I passed her she said "You got this girl, go for it" and that just really got to me, loved it. I took two Gu's while on the 12 mile course, I really hadn't eaten more than a power bar and didn't want to get in that zone of the dreaded BONK. Getting off the bike and ready for the run was just a switch of shoes & adding a visor and I was off.
I forgot to worry about my legs feeling like bricks or feeling crunchy/achy but they felt great. Hit the restroom on the way, which was good, showed I wasn't dehydrated :-) The run was along the swim path and it was fun to look down where I swam and feel a sense of pride. A few people had ipods again & I was jealous for a minute since I had obeyed the rules and not brought one but I did great with no music. Generally I can't move without my shuffle but today was a breeze. So many women walking the run course but I felt strong & great as I ran, I was truly surprised. I was eager for the turnaround, 1.25 seemed longer for some reason than when I run at home (but I guess I don't swim & bike beforehand on a normal run day :-) The volunteer at the turnaround was AWESOME, she was screaming & yelling and bouncing around, she was just perfect. Coming into the home stretch I felt so great, not fatigued at all. My shoes & gear all felt perfect with the exception of my bra, or lack thereof. I wore an old Zoot Tri sportsbra but it was nothing compared to the $50 industrial strength running bra I usually wear and I could tell, note to self for next time, wear the better bra!
It felt so good & fun to sprint to the finish line, I was done! Accomplished, wooot! My time was 1:37 and all my individual event times were really good for me. I had figured 3 hrs to finish without feeling too sorry for myself so 1:37 is awesome. I see how this can be addictive though, my transition from swim to bike was over 5 min, I never even gave T1 a thought but now seeing that I lost 5 min on time by changing slowly & chilling out I might light a fire under myself next time. My T2 was over 3 min and all I did was change my shoes, some ladies had a T2 of 1 minutes, sheesh!
I think what I came away with most from this experience is how many different shapes & sizes of women were out there, sooooooo RAD. The top finishers were in their 40's, that is so motivating for me, not like ice skating or gymnastics were people peak at 13 yrs old! I felt really in shape, nothing was too difficult, I felt like I was ready, I felt like the bike was easy because of all my rides & hill climbing and the run was easy because I have put in the miles and time & love for it. When I did my marathon in Portland I was injured in a few ways & had 5 hrs of steady soul sucking rain, I still did it and finished but did not feel the way I did today: strong & fit. An amazing feeling and a motivator for future marathons and Tri's, to race when you're not injured & to feel strong & fit.
Thank you Mermaid for an amazing race, I will be back! Thank you volunteers for EVERYTHING!
**The Swag: A gorgeous hoodie tech shirt, pink & teal, fantastic design (pic to follow), beautiful sturdy fuchsia gear bag AND a silver biking gear themed necklace. By far the best swag of any event I've done, love it all! You can tell a lot of time & energy went into this event (full color picture BIB's, never seen that before), something women really appreciate!
Getting to the event at 6am (yikers) I started to feel more calm. So many shapes, sizes & ages of women (and women-only, whew!) and I started to chill out, not everyone looked like an olympian...far from it. I successfully changed my category from my age group to friends & family (rec'd for newbies, all ages, not as 'race' focused) and set up my transition zone. It felt so good to have all the right gear, a big thank you to REI online & a supportive spouse that did not grumble at all my random purchases over time. I had a bit too much time to mill about before the start and nerves set in. The ocean was choppy & grey, would have been a lot more attractive if it were blue skies, sunshine and clear! Mermaid put on a great race though, thumping music, great MC motivating people. I chatted with a lot of ladies and got some inside scoop on the swim, made me relax. Heading to the water ramp was freaky, I gotta admit, I really did not think I would be getting in the water or swimming, it just seemed impossible to wrap my head around. Thinking back I still can't believe I did it! They had a power boat and so many guys on paddle boards out there, I felt like I was very supported to succeed but also to be rescued if needed! Getting in the water was easier than I thought, compared to the windy air outside it was warm! I was one of only a few people in a sleeveless wetsuit but it was fine. Chilling in the water before go-time was fun, lots of banter & chit chat but I did freak out a bit when someone said we were to swim to the right of the buoys (out to sea) vs the left (closer to shore), EEEEK!
When it was GO time it was freaky, not the thrashing crazy flailing that people talk about (small group) but I felt like I wasn't moving. It made me nervous thinking about how far I had to go when I felt like I was sitting still. I flipped on my back and chilled out and kicked, I relaxed once I could see I was moving (half swimming, half being carried by the current). I feel a bit like I cheated during the swim because I swam lazy, I did backstroke & side stroke mainly because freestyle or breast was too difficult in the swells. The swim was by no means easy but physically it wasn't that demanding to just float along, I swim a lot harder in the lap pool. It was a 90% mental challenge for me, I forgot my fear of sharks even with random legs and arms touching me throughout the swim. I had one small freak-out at the halfway mark where I looked to shore and at how far I had to go and just went "WTF, I am scared!" but I just kept going going going. I was surprised at how not intense the vibe was in the water, not sure if it was a smaller group but it was not the crazy 'fend for your life!' that people talked about (or else I was good at keeping my distance). There was chatter in the water and I loved that, a few "wow this is hard", "I need a minute, wait", "I'm freaking out a bit here!" It made me feel normal. As I got closer to the turn to the homestretch I actually got more anxious, I couldn't get there fast enough! It felt amazing to climb out of the water, amazing! In hindsight I keep thinking "well, it wasn't that far, that's why it was easier than I thought" but it was a heck of a lot farther than doing nothing that's for sure. It was an OCEAN swim, something I (and many others I know) have never done, with choppy waves & swells (the race official afterwards denounced my newbie inquiry of it being representative of a standard swim section with "um nope, that was kinda dicey!"
Everything else was pretty easy, now that the swim portion was done I was elated. Kept on my danskin tri shorts, dried them off a bit but still pretty wet which was kinda weird to get on a bike in wet shorts. Transition to bike was easy, I love to bike, I am really relaxed on the bike. I had a fear of getting a flat and not knowing how to change one, thought I would be sidelined for a while, I did not see the type of SAG support we had on our Cinderella Ride. Yeah! No flat or bike trouble, just cruising on a closed course, a few bumpy sections of rough road that had me wincing and wishing for a mountain bike but all in all, the ride was so sweet. Saw a few ladies with ipods and that pissed me off since it was not allowed & also I could tell they did not hear me when I said "on your left" which is why it's not allowed! One random woman made my day as I passed her she said "You got this girl, go for it" and that just really got to me, loved it. I took two Gu's while on the 12 mile course, I really hadn't eaten more than a power bar and didn't want to get in that zone of the dreaded BONK. Getting off the bike and ready for the run was just a switch of shoes & adding a visor and I was off.
I forgot to worry about my legs feeling like bricks or feeling crunchy/achy but they felt great. Hit the restroom on the way, which was good, showed I wasn't dehydrated :-) The run was along the swim path and it was fun to look down where I swam and feel a sense of pride. A few people had ipods again & I was jealous for a minute since I had obeyed the rules and not brought one but I did great with no music. Generally I can't move without my shuffle but today was a breeze. So many women walking the run course but I felt strong & great as I ran, I was truly surprised. I was eager for the turnaround, 1.25 seemed longer for some reason than when I run at home (but I guess I don't swim & bike beforehand on a normal run day :-) The volunteer at the turnaround was AWESOME, she was screaming & yelling and bouncing around, she was just perfect. Coming into the home stretch I felt so great, not fatigued at all. My shoes & gear all felt perfect with the exception of my bra, or lack thereof. I wore an old Zoot Tri sportsbra but it was nothing compared to the $50 industrial strength running bra I usually wear and I could tell, note to self for next time, wear the better bra!
It felt so good & fun to sprint to the finish line, I was done! Accomplished, wooot! My time was 1:37 and all my individual event times were really good for me. I had figured 3 hrs to finish without feeling too sorry for myself so 1:37 is awesome. I see how this can be addictive though, my transition from swim to bike was over 5 min, I never even gave T1 a thought but now seeing that I lost 5 min on time by changing slowly & chilling out I might light a fire under myself next time. My T2 was over 3 min and all I did was change my shoes, some ladies had a T2 of 1 minutes, sheesh!
I think what I came away with most from this experience is how many different shapes & sizes of women were out there, sooooooo RAD. The top finishers were in their 40's, that is so motivating for me, not like ice skating or gymnastics were people peak at 13 yrs old! I felt really in shape, nothing was too difficult, I felt like I was ready, I felt like the bike was easy because of all my rides & hill climbing and the run was easy because I have put in the miles and time & love for it. When I did my marathon in Portland I was injured in a few ways & had 5 hrs of steady soul sucking rain, I still did it and finished but did not feel the way I did today: strong & fit. An amazing feeling and a motivator for future marathons and Tri's, to race when you're not injured & to feel strong & fit.
Thank you Mermaid for an amazing race, I will be back! Thank you volunteers for EVERYTHING!
**The Swag: A gorgeous hoodie tech shirt, pink & teal, fantastic design (pic to follow), beautiful sturdy fuchsia gear bag AND a silver biking gear themed necklace. By far the best swag of any event I've done, love it all! You can tell a lot of time & energy went into this event (full color picture BIB's, never seen that before), something women really appreciate!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Mermaid Triathlon Alameda 6/11
Geared Up
I was nervous!
Right before the swim I got really calm, thank you beezus!
Water was actually comfy, anticipation was worse than the actual event. They played music & were so amped for the start, that was a huge help. The numerous guys on paddle boards also made me feel relaxed!
Waiting for the start was calm & fun, lots of banter with the ladies
The swells were dicey, swallowed a fair bit of water & at halfway point I freaked out a bit but pressed on, nowhere to go but forward!
Riding high after the swim, whew!
I love to bike, that portion was relaxing & fun & easy peasy. I even forgot my fear of getting a flat, which was good, saw little on-course SAG support but no one needed it.
Finishing up the ride, great fun
Started the run & forgot two things: that my legs might feel like bricks (they didn't) and that I would not be able to run without music (didn't even notice!) Easy strong run, no side aches, just pure easy strides & joy
High on adrenaline, big smiles, a total blast~Mermaid Series puts on a fantastic race
Heading to margaritas, what a thrilling day~can't wait for the next one!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The power of pix
Here's a great blog post from one of my favorite bloggers, Sundry. I have followed her for years in her journey through motherhood, fitness, from loathing running to doing a marathon, crossfit, learning to swim, and a Tri. I have sneered at her posts when she is at the peak while I was at the bottom, and cheered her posts when she bares her soul & bod, to hold herself accountable for her own fitness & happiness. My fav thing about her post today is the pic of her in the cargo pants, you can just 'feel' through the lens how much more comfortable she is in her skin in the 'after pic.' Aside from looking better in her pants, there is a sense of confidence in her pose and I know that feeling, it is one we all strive for...if we admit it or not. We all know how good it feels to be comfortable in our cargo pants, face it ladies :-)
I might do the pix thing soon, I do have a good benchmark for progress come my Olympic Tri in September. I am really hoping my minivan mom second wave arms are transformed by then through training ....the power of pix would be so motivating. I guess I could take pix and then not post the before until I am happy with the after...
Sundry Blog Post, a great read!
The state of things-fitness wise
I might do the pix thing soon, I do have a good benchmark for progress come my Olympic Tri in September. I am really hoping my minivan mom second wave arms are transformed by then through training ....the power of pix would be so motivating. I guess I could take pix and then not post the before until I am happy with the after...
Sundry Blog Post, a great read!
The state of things-fitness wise
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Bombastic Ride
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Buddies
Diving IN
We did it! The Triple A training team got in the open water today and we rocked it hardcore! About a .5 mile swim in gorgeous clear lake, very cold and first time in open water for me. I'm just so damn proud of myself & the ladies for making the plan, trekking there, struggling into the wetsuits and diving in! Seriously, this whole fitness thing is 90% mental if not more, once we were in the water, we were golden. Took me a few minutes to warm up & took a really long while for me to stop freaking out about lake zombies and super size fish fears (still freaking out actually but I subdued the irrational fears long enough to enjoy myself). On the way back from the swim I put it in high gear, found my groove, although it was mostly breast stroke with my head out of the water...and felt really strong & excited. Still have a big issue with looking in the water but realized the faster I go and the more bubbles I blow, the less I see underwater! I think my two main concerns for Saturday sprint tri are: tracking, so I know where I am going without expending too much energy drifting away from where I need to go. The other big concern is getting kicked, sloshed, swam over, pushed under, water up the nose, goggles knocked off and general crazy chaos that is the swimming portion of a triathlon. Oh well, not much I can do about that...here it goes!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Priorities
Feels good to know that what I see as important daily affirmations have grown & cemented themselves in my brain over the years. I took this out of my journal & stuck it by my mirror, so every day I can stay focused on what's truly important...smile & love, and reading has always been my soul food too.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Who is this person?
I have a wetsuit hanging in my closet. A bike propped up in my living room. A gear bag in my laundry room with all my running gear stashed in it. I have 4 pairs of old & new running shoes strewn about. Daily I look up running blogs, calendar races, search for triathlon training clinics, and google things like "open water swim groups." I get peeved when it rains (again!) and I cancel yet another road ride. I get anxious, like today, as it is raining and wondering if I am going to have the gumption to sneak in a run before my date night with husband. I strategize on how to sneak in a yoga class on the same day I plan to swim or run. I marvel at how much enjoyment and bliss I feel when I think about running, swimming, biking, hiking or doing yoga. My diet has gone through a complete overhaul and I now prefer whole, fresh, clean foods to heavy or fried foods, meats & dairy. The thought of stuffing myself until I feel full physically & emotionally is a feeling that I am so unfamiliar with lately. I no longer get a thrill when I think about eating out, sure it's fun but it does not carry the same weight of pure joy it used to, which is a great thing. I feel more centered and at-ease than ever. Sometimes I laugh and look around at all 'this' and think "who is THIS person?" I sure do love her to pieces lately!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Just a day...
Not sure if it was the rain today (summer really? Not so much mother nature) or the emotional hangover from an amazing relaxing family weekend of doing nothing & loving it but I was a SLUG today. Slow Lazy Unmotivated Girl...SLUG...I felt bad about it for about 2 minutes before I let myself just write-off the day, don't we all get to do that some days? Today was not a day of amazing chores or accomplishments or astounding achievements in personal or professional prowess, so it is easy to feel like it was a day of nothing...but then when I really think about it, the day was quite full of awesome:
Got the dude fed & off to school in the rain, delivered him to preschool happy, dressed, with a lunch & eager for his day. Was going to go open-water swimming but paid attention to my gut (and the pouring rain) not to forge ahead, today was not the day~another day. Had a wonderful long girl chat, laughing & giggling over dorky things but also touching on heartfelt issues of happiness, marriage, parenthood, self-worth: chats like those for women are what i think of as food for the soul. Forced myself on a short afternoon run when it was almost the last thing in the world I wanted to do, continued to force the run through a ripping side ache, which almost made it a better than a glory run, almost. Picked up dude from school and chatted with a few moms for much longer than I usually do, really having good chats, making play dates & letting dude run around in the parking lot which this helicopter mom rarely lets happen. Made a healthy & tasty dinner for my family, watched as my kiddo was polite & sweet to me & dad and eager to talk about his day & share his feelings. Had a nice long chat with the husband after getting kiddo to bed...
So I guess I can't really say it was a nothing day ~ it was just a day, not terrible but not phenomenal but I am grateful that like any other day, I am blessed & blissed to be where I am...today.
On the moving and grooving front...FITNESS. I am scared silly about my sprint triathlon in 1.5 weeks, YIKERS! It is a great adrenaline rush to think of doing something for the first time in my life (I did a sprint duathlon in college that I basically just showed up to but we all do that in our 20's right?) but NEVER a triathlon. I run, swim and bike regularly and feel strong and am getting stronger every day in swimming and biking which is a great feeling. I have not trained on transitions for a Tri or anything like that, so we shall see what the event day holds~my legs might balk and scream "running after biking, you crazy woman! I'm not moving!" and if that happens so be it! I do know one thing...if I had not registered for an olympic tri in the fall there is NO way I would just be going for this sprint tri so casually ~ the threat & goal of a longer distance makes this sprint seem 'do-able' in my mind. Like someone training for a marathon, a half marathon event might not be as daunting but if you were training for the half it would seem huge. So basically what I am saying is I know people train for sprint tri's for months and they practice and get prepared, whereas I am just showing up and hoping for the best. This is sooooooooo not my usual strategy but......here goes nothing!
Got the dude fed & off to school in the rain, delivered him to preschool happy, dressed, with a lunch & eager for his day. Was going to go open-water swimming but paid attention to my gut (and the pouring rain) not to forge ahead, today was not the day~another day. Had a wonderful long girl chat, laughing & giggling over dorky things but also touching on heartfelt issues of happiness, marriage, parenthood, self-worth: chats like those for women are what i think of as food for the soul. Forced myself on a short afternoon run when it was almost the last thing in the world I wanted to do, continued to force the run through a ripping side ache, which almost made it a better than a glory run, almost. Picked up dude from school and chatted with a few moms for much longer than I usually do, really having good chats, making play dates & letting dude run around in the parking lot which this helicopter mom rarely lets happen. Made a healthy & tasty dinner for my family, watched as my kiddo was polite & sweet to me & dad and eager to talk about his day & share his feelings. Had a nice long chat with the husband after getting kiddo to bed...
So I guess I can't really say it was a nothing day ~ it was just a day, not terrible but not phenomenal but I am grateful that like any other day, I am blessed & blissed to be where I am...today.
On the moving and grooving front...FITNESS. I am scared silly about my sprint triathlon in 1.5 weeks, YIKERS! It is a great adrenaline rush to think of doing something for the first time in my life (I did a sprint duathlon in college that I basically just showed up to but we all do that in our 20's right?) but NEVER a triathlon. I run, swim and bike regularly and feel strong and am getting stronger every day in swimming and biking which is a great feeling. I have not trained on transitions for a Tri or anything like that, so we shall see what the event day holds~my legs might balk and scream "running after biking, you crazy woman! I'm not moving!" and if that happens so be it! I do know one thing...if I had not registered for an olympic tri in the fall there is NO way I would just be going for this sprint tri so casually ~ the threat & goal of a longer distance makes this sprint seem 'do-able' in my mind. Like someone training for a marathon, a half marathon event might not be as daunting but if you were training for the half it would seem huge. So basically what I am saying is I know people train for sprint tri's for months and they practice and get prepared, whereas I am just showing up and hoping for the best. This is sooooooooo not my usual strategy but......here goes nothing!
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