A Good Tired....

Good week coming off Mermaid Tri~feeling so empowered after ocean swim and the whole event overall was just righteous.

• Monday & Tuesday, lazy rest days.  
• Wednesday, hot & sweaty 15 mile or so hill climbing ride.  
• Today ran about 8-9~went out for 2 hours, more running than walking but walked a fair amount (all over body tired).  Was shooting for 10-11 miles but that wasn't gonna happen.  

All in all feel great but sore and tired...heading into possible Tri Girl Tri if I can get my butt out of bed for a winding and dark drive to Berryessa on Saturday.  If not, no worries.  Harvest run on Sunday, 5k if Tri and 10k if no Tri.  Loving Autumn, love.

Mermaid

Go!

Going for it!

Morning of Tri glory

Swag

Awesome

Well, I did it...the Triathlon not the Duathlon.  I did the swim I was so terrified of.  I didn't love it, it didn't get any easier, I loathed almost every minute of it actually but...I did it.

THANK YOU BEEZUS, whew!

I know now that if I had switched to the Duathlon I would have regretted it.  I do want to train for and compete in a Duathlon someday but in this case I would be switching to the Dua out of fear and that is never a good idea. I did try to change to the Dua and if it had been easy, I would have done it & been Ok I'm sure.  The Mermaids at registration pushed me just the tiniest bit to reconsider and I jumped on it, in my heart (even my terrified heart) I think I wanted to do the swim.  I may never reg for another Tri that has an ocean swim in it but at least I wrapped up my last ocean swim in a good way, getting it done & not bugging out!

The rest of the Tri was awesome as usual, transition to bike was a long walk uphill but I loved it, allowed me time to absorb the fact that I actually completed the swim! Bike portion was easy (except the one time I nearly smashed into a parked car when not paying attention, humbling!) The run was easy, slightly uphill but so do-able.  Only problem was I blew past the restrooms for some reason and I should have taken the opportunity...I spent 2.5 miles needing to pee!  All in all the Mermaid triathlon was nothing short of truly AWESOME.  The organizers are top rate and the women, so motivating, inspiring and supportive.  I can not say enough about them, just plain RAD.  I hope to do every Mermaid event I can and be involved with them for years to come.

TriGirlTri is this weekend, signed up when I was positive I would flake on the ocean swim.  Excited to do the Tri but bummed I have to drive 1.5 hrs at 6am....ick.  Oh well, time to pull on the big girl panties and TRI and like it!

To swim with sharks or not!?

Hmmmmmm ponder ponder

To Tri or....Dua something else instead?

This has been a sucky week of a cold, cough and sinus infection.  Finally got meds yesterday and feel so much better, I now longer want to keep my eyes closed all day due to sinus pressure & headache.  I still am not my energizer bunny self but I feel human again & husband has commented "you don't look so sad & miserable anymore."

Still not sure if I will do the Tri or the Dua.  The Duathlon has never appealed to me, did one in college and it was hot & difficult.  There is NO way I am bugging out on the Mermaid tho', I love the philosophy, I'm fit & I am so excited for the weekend but....the swim in the ocean is bringing me down.  Had no idea how much I loathed ocean swimming till I did it (I guess snuba'ing in Hawaii far out from shore near an old ship 15 yrs ago and being so afraid I puked my guts out should have been a clue).  So...we'll see.  I am having a very difficult time not feeling like a loser by switching events BUT if I had friends doing the Duathlon by choice from the start I would think they were rock stars, people do Duathlons as a career & fitness choice...why am I so hard on myself?

Just trying to decide if I should go brawn & just hate every minute of the swim but power through or go with honesty & admit I am terrified of something & do something else instead that I will enjoy most every minute?  I hate spiders and am not signing up to handle tarantulas for fun, I'm afraid of sheer cliffs and I don't feel the need to do the ropes at Half Dome...just trying to decide if this is when I decide I won't be doing any ocean triathlons & focus on lakes (despite the zombies).

I am putting my money where my mouth is though and signed up for Tri Girl Tri next weekend, sprint tri with a lake swim.  I keep saying I would be so excited for this event if it were a LAKE swim.  So now I will need to prove that!

Ok, so I'm off for a fantastic Mermaid filled weekend...report back soon!

Getting ready...

This week I have been dealing with a lingering cold that turned into an ugly & painful chest cough.  Just enough to drain my energy & confidence.  I took 4-5 mile runs on Sun, Mon, Tues and also spent time doing laps but was still not feeling the mojo.  Took a ride today with my Triple A ladies followed by a great lunch and the mojo is BACK.  Feeling excited and nervous for Mermaid this weekend!  Super bummed that my two other A's are unable to adventure with me but I need to focus on having a super blast & remind myself I do these things for fun & to get my blood moving moving moving.  Now I just need to drink water water water and eat eat eat, the two things I slack on big time and it comes around to bite me...cheers to a fabulous weekend and event and so many more to come!

Fishgirl

I love this wood carving (above) in the locker room at Ives Pool.

Ran 7.5 Monday at Spring Lake, looooove that place, I always forget how great that place is. So many people walking, dogs, babies...so motivating. Still wanna kayak in the lake, gonna do it next week or following. Started run way too late, 11am...warm & hungry. Pushed thru it with Nuun & powerbar gel. Hit my stride 3-4 as usual and would have continued but didn't feel the need to push it. Strong legs & core, nagging right achilles & teeny tiny feeling on outside behind right knee~felt tight. Stretched. Swam an hour afterwards felt slooooooow but good.

Ran today with E in Presidio, awesome. Was nervous about tired legs & bod but all felt good. Great pace & a few tiny side aches but all over fine! Yahooo. On way home snuck in 20 minute swim...felt like butter. So smooth, not work at all, adore those types of swims. Could have swam an hour more with the bod but didn't have the time, drats. Left foot near big toe is sore, swimming tomorrow but no running. Feeling groovy :-)

YumYum

Great bike ride last Thursday with new buddy J.
Took Fri-Sun OFF working out~gasp!

Excited to run BIG tomorrow
Swim 3 times this week
Ride with a buddy or solo
Hit SF to see a friend
See a movie (been forever, like 2010 forever)
Get my hair cut & colored~it needs some sass & snazz
Lunch with buds
Plant veggie pots
Celebrate FALL & welcome her in!

Wicked homegrown sushi

Gotta blog it before I forget what I did!

Brown rice with vegan broth base, pickled garlic, shredded carrot, natural oysters, sesame dressing, rising tide nori. SO insanely great!

Cha Cha Slide

Hit the road for a run today and it was ....blah.  Gorgeous morning but warm & sunny by 9:30, yikers!  I also ran 6 Monday and a 1.5 mile swim yesterday and I think I was just tired.  Was aiming for 10-12 but was sucking wind and so stopped at 7.5 which was really good considering I was about to call it at mile 1.  Was going for a no frills, no hills run but ended up going up Healdsburg incline 3 times, no idea why I always do stuff like that.

Shot powerbar gel tangerine and it brought me back to orange triaminic and my youth :-)  Needed some major inspiration & motivation to get my run in gear so I cranked up Cha Cha Slide and thought about Caz Slab dancing for a good 30 minutes, tearing up a few times thinking of my childhood summers spent there.

Shuffle keeps saying 'battery low' after it has charged for 24hrs plus...it is only a year old...so tired of throw away electronics :-(  been thinking of Portland 10-10 a lot and so incredibly thrilled I am not injured this fall like last fall (achilles, hips, hamstring) but really missing that milestone marker of my first marathon.  Will be eager to see if it is sunny and glorious for their run vs last year pissing rain for 5 hrs!  It was the most amazing adventure with so many friends, Giants games, Portland wandering & just feelings of confidence, accomplishment, love & fun.

Nuun

I'm a Nuun girl & proud of it...Loving on this stuff.  I used to run like a camel, no water at all.  Now I force myself to hold a water bottle AND I use Nuun and I can tell the difference in my running.  Rad.

Took a 6 miler on Monday (in Tri capri pants that I will wear for Mermaid, not bad), a 1 hr swim today (maybe 1.5 miles or more) and tomorrow is slated for long run.  Just re-orging my shuffle for the run & I am jazzed to be out there running to these new tunes.  Love feeling that way, that the thought of running makes me so excited I need to chill out to get to sleep!  Ride on Thursday with a newbie lady friend, can't wait.

Vesper Point...soul food

At family camp all weekend, such a total relaxing blast.  Love that my legs are sore from walking, walking, walking.  Swam a lot too in the freezing pool.  Camp food is about as anti veggie & vegan & local organic as possible, feeling a bit bellyaching.  The only downside to cutting out dairy & crap is when you eat it, you feel like JUNK.  Back to the fitness grind tomorrow with a run!

Own It Baby!

Owning it.......that is what I have been thinking about a lot lately.  There is SO much power in owning your thoughts, actions & emotions.  If you put something out to the universe but don't own up to it, there is really no power or strength in the action or statement, so why?  For me, being accountable for my thoughts & actions has brought me to a whole new level of understanding about myself, looking at things I want to change & also being proud of things I used to not want to admit.  So just a few things I have pondered owning up to lately, big & small in scope :-)

• I own the fact that I am currently addicted to running, swimming & biking
• I own the fact that I feel good & motivated after I swim, run or bike
• I own the fact that I can be crabby if I don't get in my exercise & that can have a negative result with Awesome or on my day
• I own the fact that I put physical activities at the top of my To Do list
• I own the fact that I need to balance my calendar a bit more and give more time to family fun & solo time vs. adventuring
• I own the fact that I have a crazy unsubstantiated fear of sharks, lake zombies & mountain lions...and crazy psycho people like in horror movie commercials that freak me out for the 1.5 minutes they are on TV
• I own up to being a Twicrack addict & even though the frenzy has waned a bit, I still love me some sparkle
• I own the fact that I adore teen fiction like Hunger Games & Divergent because it is emotional & simple
• I own up to sometimes going a week without making something green for dinner
• I own up to giving my kiddo way too many treats
• I own up to working hard at trying to laugh more with my girlfriends as we get older & life gets more gritty & real
• I own the feelings of anger & worry in regards to our current political system
• I own my feeling of wanting material objects while at the same time wanting to simplify my life
• I own the fact that I am getting grey hair but refuse to look or feel middle-aged in the slightest
• I own the fact that in the past year or so my attitude and actions in life have shifted, this has created some divides between myself & lifelong friends but has also brought me new & wonderful experiences & people.  I own the fact that this shift is scary but feels honest, balanced & solid
• I own my new philosophy of not talking about another person unless I am prepared to say that same information to the person's face
• I own the fact that while I strive to be a veggie & vegan as much as possible I still crave & eat pate.
• I own my ponderings of some day soon doing an Ultra marathon & finishing it even if it takes me 24 hrs (omg I hope not!)
• I own up to my fears of not fundraising for any of my races because I am terrified of not meeting my goal in some way.  I own the fact that I am 'this close' to committing to fundraising for a few big events in 2012
• I own the fact that at this current moment in my life I don't have a passion for a certain career or life path like I have in the past (counseling, HR, admin) but I feel ok with that
• I own up to my feelings of uncertainty about the desire or (lack there of) having another baby
• I own up to my fears of never successfully starting or finishing a garden & providing home grown food for my family.  This is something I desire but have yet to put one ounce of work into
• I own up to being a SAHM and having oodles of time in my day and yet, it has been MONTHS and "clean out the closet" is still on the top of my to do list
• I own the fact that I worry about coddling my son too much and having him be a mama's boy.  I own the fact that I have incredibly high hopes for him to be a strong, confident, loving, caring, phenomenal human being

More ownership to come....