Happy FRIDAY!!

It's Friday!! WOO-FLIPPIN-HOO!

*Officemate is out for the day so I have the office to myself.

*I already completed my 3 mile 'keep the muscles loose' jog around the 'hood.

*I have a wax/facial appointment at 2pm today so I'll be a girl once more!

Yesterday I had a great swim practice. I put Nuun in my water bottle instead of straight H2O and I think it made a difference. Or maybe my attitude made a difference? Hmmm...anyway the swim workout was building by 100s. The first set was 100 swim/drill, second set 200 swim/kick, third set 300 swim/build etc. It went up to 500 and then back down. I had to leave after an hour so I missed 500, but I did do the last set, a 100m as fast as you can go. I have it down in the books as 2:15. For me this is good. I was swimming consistent 2:20s last year, so I think I can bring the 2:15 down even more!!

Tomorrow is the much anticipated 100 mile ride to Shiner, TX! So far the weather is going to be cloudy in the am with little wind. YES! I realize that the wind will pick up and the sun will be a blazin' but the start will be good. If we can ride 30-45 miles like that I'd be stoked.

Well, time to shower up and hit the road. Thanks for all the suggestions, I do favor the all out tantrum. :)

OWS -

The first time I saw that I was like, "What the heck is OWS?" Open water swim. Yehaw. Tonight is supposed to be my first one of the season. I'm doing this instead of track practice tonight. Is it wrong that I'd rather run?? Getting into open water is a necessity however, and the sooner I do it, the better prepared I will be for my first event...on May 16th. Crap-o-la it's coming up quick!

I didn't run Monday afternoon, instead I listened to the Critter Ridders (not kidding) tell me how they were going to drain my bank account and make the squirrels move out of the attic. You should see what they've done with the place, very classy nests everywhere. It's the creme de la creme of squirrel flats! Anyhow, after that conversation I chose to eat and get back to work. I didn't run at night either, it was 90 degrees. Which is hot for here...for now...like the quarry is cold....for here...for now. Excuses. I know.

I ran Tuesday morning and had my session with Trainer at the gym that afternoon. Not my best session, not my worst.

Lunch today was a treat as I got to see Yoga Zen Babe and Little Zen, he's so adorable. I ask him, "Can I have a hug?" and he say, "Yes!" And then he runs into my arms and I scoop him up and he just hangs on me and I can feel the love. It's the best. At lunch I was telling YZB how I'm just cranky this week. I have no idea why. I don't like it. It's not me. It started with that bad ride, but COME ON..I'm so over it. In fact today we were cracking up at my outbursts on the ride. Weather change? Hmmm...need to figure it out and as Soul Mate would say, "Squash it!" Yes, need to squash the negativity, focus and have FUN with this training.

Anyone have any "feel good" tips? Any special way that you focus in on the positive? Anyway to face the fear in a "Eff yeah baby!" kind of way instead of my usual "Oh sh*t!" response?

And today...I'm so thankful

I'm so thankful that I have lovely readers who know just what to say when there really isn't anything to say. M always makes me feel like superwoman, Sexy Hippy is always my partner in crime and T finds a way to make what I say acceptable and funny, even though it really isn't. So...thank you for giving me my day to rant and rave and rage.


Monday is here and I about to go on my afternoon run...during work hours! That is what makes it so cool. Running during the day makes me feel like I'm getting away with something sneaky. Although my quads, hamstrings, calves and glutes will beg to differ. They'll actually beg for a rest day, that would be super sneaky right? But no...I need to run when my muscles are fatigued. How else am I going to run 13.1 miles after swimming 1.2 miles and cycling 56 miles? Well...I really don't know how that is going to happen ANYWAY (there is a way, I'm just not there yet!)


Okay, much better day today. A Monday of all things. Huh, never thought Monday would be a good day. I think Legs and Sprinter are rubbing off on me today. :)

Angry Post

If you are easily offended by cursing or petty complaining please stop reading now...

I FUCKING HATE THE FUCKING WIND! I had a really shitty ride today. I don't even know what the wind speed was today...hold on I'll look it up. 10-20mph winds with gusts. I was SOOOO angry (and obviously it hasn't abated yet...) on the way out. We had head wind and cross winds...meaning the ride in won't be fabulous and carefree. PLUS the fact that you're already beaten down by the ride out. I'm NOT a happy camper...at all. I'm being a sulky baby.

At one point Trainer had stopped, just so I could catch up and make sure that I was okay. And of course I bit his head off b/c when he does that it makes me feel even SLOWER...if that is even possible. Really I wasn't even mad at him, I was mad that I suck so bad. I was cursing all the people that were riding on their way back b/c I was jealous. What I really wanted to do was to stop and throw my bike at something. Lot's of rage today. And no, I'm not even pms-ing!!! I'm just angry, angry angry. Angry that after years of riding my bike I don't seem to be much better.

To top it off my bike is not shifting correctly after I just had it in the shop for its annual tune-up. To down shift on a hill I have to basically STOP pedaling...uh...great, then I have to work that much harder in the middle of a fucking hill to get going again...genius. I only got in 55 miles, just about the same as last week. Saturday is the 95 mile ride. I'm so screwed. At least there SHOULD be people that are slower than me so I won't feel like a fucking beginner.

In other news...well...I can't even think of anything right now. I need to go stretch and shower and maybe sleep.

Friday post...and it's SUNNY...for now

Yay for the sun before I go do my afternoon swim. Yesterday was a cloudy misty "looks colder than it really is" kind of day. But I still got my swim in. I was pretty pleased with myself. My training is starting to shape up, even with the set backs of last week. Officemate was out so I had to man the ship and that meant long days and late nights and little room for training. BUT, so far this week I have in two strength workouts, one run, one swim (soon to be two), and after swim I'll either bike or run. Tomorrow is a short bike with a longer run (brick) and Sunday is my 70 mile ride down Parmer. Somehow I'll get two of each in!

I've been checking in with my friends through Facebook. Sometimes I don't mind, but some days I want more than just to 'Like' this comment or that. I miss my AZ girls this week. I'll see them in November if everything goes as planned. I'm heading down to help and cheer on the Ironman athletes from my team and will stay longer to see everyone. I want to go and sing silly Karaoke with them, want to talk about their kids and how THEY are doing (aside from the mommy stuff), I want to drink good wine with them and tell them about all my training. I want to sit in a circle and sing as we used to... Ahhh, memories and longing. No singing for me in Texas.

Hmmm...maybe I am feeling less than stellar about my training and want to do something that I'm good at to make myself feel better? Gotta love self-analysis. Well, time to suit up for swim practice. Please Mr. Sun, stay out until 1 or so. Later gators.

Learning to Love....exercise

Let's start from the beginning... When I was born (in Garden, CA) I had a crust formed over my eyes. The doctors said that I was going to have severe allergies. They also told my parents that living in Los Angeles was going to cause problems for me because of the pollution. When my dad was offered a station change to Denver he jumped at the chance since he loves the outdoors and the opportunity that would come with move was great. The air was cleaner...but of course there were a lot more "living things" that I could become allergic to...which I did. I was on allergy (OTC) meds from the time I was in grade school. Then when I was 13 I had my first major asthma attack from sitting in choir. That's right...I was not moving, I was sitting and then couldn't breathe. I've never seen my dad drive so fast as when they picked me up from school and rushed me to the ER. :) He's a safe driver.

After that incident (the first of many) I got the full blown allergy test and started shot therapy, for the next 8 years. During all that time my mom didn't really want me to play soccer, because of the grass...couldn't play softball, because of the dust...couldn't participate in track, because it was outside. Haha, my brother used to call me 'Bubble Girl' because I was allergic to the outdoors. I got to stay inside and practice...the piano, the clarinet...whatever kept me indoors. Anyway, I didn't have that strong sports or athletic background.

College days, I carried 18-21 credit hours every year so I was able to graduate in 4 years, it was a 5 year program. The closest thing to exercise that I did was marching band. Now, don't get me wrong, it burned a LOT of calories, but it wasn't for the intention of going out and exercising.

After college I was working at Crapplebee's (where I met Trainer) and the only exercise I picked up was 16oz curls! Then after successfully navigating my way through my 20s, well maybe successfully is the wrong word...but I made it to 29 pretty much unscathed, my world turned. I've talked about this before in my Fear post, but not the after, not the daily.

I'm a lucky girl. Lucky to be here today and I'm grateful...thankful and I don't take it for granted. I also know that I don't have a terminal disease or something so serious that it disables me. So, please, this is not a "poor me" post.

I started exercising in 2003 because I had to. At first I was just able to walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes. It was exhausting and my leg would swell up even more. In 2004 I started a walk to run program and it helped. My doctor said that since I have no valve in my knee to keep the blood from going back down to my calf running is one of the best things for me. Oh my...running is hard for me. I am not one of those lucky people who tried running for the first time, loved it and miraculously run a 7-8 min mile. No, after YEARS of putting time into this silliness called running my fastest mile to date is a 9:45 min mile...once. My usual 1/2 marathon pace is an 11:30 min mile. Yes, I've run more than one 1/2 marathon.

In 2005 I started biking because Legs and her husband invited Trainer and myself to ride the MS150, a bike ride starting in Houston, TX and riding to Austin, TX. I bought a used bike for $200 and put about $100 in to it and I headed out to ride. I wasn't good at this at first either. I'm much better now, but after months off of not riding Trainer can still kick my ass on the road. Depressing...but I still do it.

In 2006 I moved to Austin (best thing we ever did) and I wanted to try to find MY activity that I could love. Something that was ME and that I could be good at. I tried sculling, and liked it, but it was hard to get down to the lake and after months I gave it up.

In 2007 I tried boxing and LOVED it, Trainer got me private lessons and then I started at a boxing gym. The jump roping started a stress fracture and I was out of the gym for more than 6 months. I could probably go back to that again, well have to see.

In 2009 my friend Mid West Girl was training for a triathlon and I decided to motivate her on the bike portion by going out with her a couple days a week. I was running at the time too (have to run) and she kept saying that I could do triathlons too. Well, my swimming lesson disaster in 2008 kept me out of the pool. But, I decided to try again and took a swim clinic with T3. And once again, I sucked at this too. And I'm still not much better, but I go at least once a week to practice. I joined T3 and I love the group, even though I haven't made any close ties with people yet (working on it.) Now I'm surrounded by triathletes that all pretty much kick ass.

I wake up with leg pain every day. My blood thinners cause me to be tired if my levels are the slightest bit off, which can be caused by simply eating too much broccoli or not enough spinach on and given day. I don't talk about it because I don't want people to think that I'm making excuses or whining.

When I exercise it's like I have a 1-2lb weight attached to my left leg...always and it's painful. I dress according to how swollen my calf is. And usually 6 days out of the week I figure out what kind of exercise I'll be doing that day. (Today is a run day btw, just in case you were curious!) I'm learning how to love it, the same way you learn to love a difficult relative. Maybe one day exercise will feel like a good marriage, I'll keep hoping.

Yawn...another week gone

Do you ever notice how the days drag but the weeks are flying by? Today, for example, the morning was a bit crazy becuase I'm on my own this week (YIPPEE!), but the afternoon is dragging minute by minute. But I'll blink and it will be Sunday night all over again! I just deleted my post...boring.

It said that I had a really hard and windy ride on Saturday, only did 50 miles, beautiful...but I really hate the wind. I don't care that it's supposed to make you stronger, it just makes me angry. :) Also that Trainer and I went out for crappy bar food (it really was crappy and I should have cooked) and a few beers on Saturday night before I passed out from exhaustion from the ride. Sunday was a chill day where I cooked breakfast and then spent the day with two of my favorite people in the world - Yoga Zen Babe and Little Zen. It used to be Baby Zen but he's 2 1/2 now! Too cute and he loves me. We shopped all day after some great tea and then I punked out on my long run.

Which meant....I had to run at lunch yesterday. Not a travesty. I love running in the afternoon, well, with the exception of the additional shower. After work I did an easy 46 min ride down the wind tunnel that we call Parmer Rd. and came home and made Salmon. Well...actually it was Steelhead Trout, that looked like salmon at the store and I just pointed...and that's what I cooked. I seasoned it with coriander and salt and it was delish. It was an early night and that is the trend in our house these days. We get ready for bed by 8:30p and are usually IN bed by 9. Now, most nights I have issues actually falling asleep, that will change when my training hours start to get longer.

I'm looking for new blog topics. I'm open to suggestions. Here are some that I'm tossing around:

Learning to Love...exercise ('cause I'm not there)
Personal Question that bug me
Everything is meant to happen for a reason...yes, even the bad stuff
Why, in my 30s, do I have both wrinkles AND acne??
Motivation...where does it come from?

So, those are the things that are tossing about in my head. Care to add some? Help me stir the creative juices? Please? :)

I'm off to help move furniture, cook dinner and possibly get in a run this evening. Here's a picture from my Saturday ride. My bike is the blue/purple one.

Fridays Rock

I love Fridays, well...my favorite day of the week is generally Thursday because it's the day before Friday. Work doesn't seem so dreadful on Friday. Most Fridays anyway, today is an exception. It's like the whole sales force got lost in a forest and they only way they can get out is by bugging me and Officemate. Seriously, I'm not sure how they find their way out of their houses' on days like this. Today I'm working part of my day from home, I would have been working it ALL from home but yesterday threw up on me and I had too much to do and it was just faster to go in for a couple of hours. I get to do this every other Friday, it's really nice...one of the ONLY perks at my job, aside from 100% paid benefits. That's the biggest perk.

Let's see...last I left you I had track practice. Here's the thing with me, I'm NOT an athlete (in my mind, but thank you M for saying that, you're sweet!) but I do athletic things. I take direction well, I could probably repeat word for word what the coaches have told me. However, when it comes to execution I just don't have 'it'. That doesn't stop me, nor will it ever, from trying and doing...no matter how slow or badly it is done. Track...didn't want to go, I mean I did, but then I didn't. I got stuck in traffic and thought, well...maybe I'll just go to the bicycle shop instead and get my team clothes...but my faithful car drove its way to the track, and I did a two lap warm up, then drills, then 1200m repeats, just three (in the same time that other people did 4 and/or 5...speedy bastards), and then a two lap cool down going forward on the curves and backward on the straightaways. TOUGH! But I'm glad I did it. My abs feel nice and tight and I was super happy that I had come home at lunch and pre-made dinner!!

Thursday was week #2 of swimming. This was my first attempt at the 9:30a class to see how full it was and if it would work with my schedule. I work from home from 7-9a, then take off for the pool (about 30 min away) then swim for an hour, drive back (30 min), shower at home and back to work within another 30 min. That is a 2.5 hour lunch! But then I go to work, and eat lunch there and usually work until 6:30p or so. It worked! Then today I went to work for that time, then left for swimming at 11a, did the hour and 15 min of practice. Came back, worked for an hour, went and had coffee with Trainer (that was really supposed to be my weights workout but I'm cashed), came home and I'm working once again. Well...I'm blogging while waiting for my forms to load!

So, here is my improvement with the swimming in just 3 workouts:
Swim #1 (Last Friday) Did 1000m in 45 min (couldn't do the full hour b/c of crappy endurance)
Swim #2 (yesterday) Did 1500m in 1 hr (still slow, but better)
Swim #3 (today) Did 2150m in 1:15 (getting better!!)

Please remember that there are rest breaks in between sets (kind of like weights), for those ultra good swimmers out there. :) Okay, so while I was swimming (after I was explained to my lane partner what one of the drills was) I was thinking...I can explain it...just not execute it! When I came back for rest the coach says, "I just don't know how we're going to get your arms to open up...*sigh*...this has been my problem for MONTHS now. And I supposed a 2 month hiatus didn't help.

Ack, you know what I forgot today??? Fricken sun screen!!! I can feel the burn setting in. Blah. Suckage.

Tomorrow is a 48 mile ride. I was going to attempt the 62 miler...just not sure about it. I really should do it since the Shiner ride is three weeks away...and is 95 miles. *eep* Ooh, you know what I just thought of?? I could do the 48m route, see how I feel and if good do the 13 mile route! Waahlaa! That would also mean that I could store food in my car as well as extra water...better and better! That's what I'll do. Settled. Whew....now time to close it up for the day and spend some QT with the pups. Peace out kids, I'll check in tomorrow.

THAT time of the month

Oh no, this is NOT a girlie post...well, it is because I'm a girl, but has nothing to do with my cycle. It was the time of the month to get weighed and measured by my trainer, who happens to be Trainer. I sometimes wish that my husband didn't know how much I weigh...and I wish I wasn't aware that we are always only 3-5 pounds away from each other. Let's not forget that he is 5'10-1/2" and I'm 5'6". Disheartening. Anyway, yesterday I was bloated (I always say and feel that on the day that I know I'm getting measured...I'm SURE it's in my head) but I let him pinch me with those silly calipers anyway.

I can't believe I'm going to put this out there, but when I started we didn't do a baseline, so what I have is starting in February, about a month into training if I remember correctly.
Feb - 31% Body fat
Mar - 30.5%
April - 30%
My inches have gone down body wise and my weight has stayed pretty much the same, only fluxing up and down by 2 pounds. Which I guess is a positive thing since I'm eating more?? Maybe? I've just bumped up my cardio (yay for swimming) so maybe by the end of this training I can be in the mid 20%? Hell, I'd be happy with 25% at this point. :)

Anywho, in other news...I told you I was perusing the web for new blogs and I've found some!!! I follow Sprinter's blog which is fab-u-lous. Fun, entertaining and real. Although sometimes I have to read it mid-morning b/c she's super chipper in the morning and we know that I'm SO not there. But I love it. Then this one caught my eye (I shop blogs by the title...sorry, it's just what I do) because I loved, loved, loved the book Eat, Pray, Love...so check out this one Eat Move Love. I found her on Sprinter's blog as well as this one The Empty Nut Jar, which I love because of the name and the fact that one of the first blogs I read stated that she eats way too much nut butter...HELLO sister! I love me some peanut butter, almond butter...etc. I guess I could have linked the names instead of 'one' right? Oh well....laziness set in and I'm not changing it. I deem all of these the 'blog-diggity'! I'm really hoping that I've made up a new word. How cool would that be?

Shout out to Sexy Hippy who is currently my hero. I sent her a card that I meant to mail off more than 2 years ago. Love you girl!

Shout out to all my T3ers that are 1/2 way through their IronMan training, crazy-ass people. LOVE them though, truly.

And really I have nothing else to say. Right now I'm just postponing work that I'm dreading. It's not even hard work...just boring. Track practice on the agenda for tonight. (I got to sleep IN this morning!!!) Tomorrow am swim, just in time for the cold front to move through...it figures right?

Fine, fine, fine...going to start/finish work now. I'll chat at you later gators!!

Just some random stuff

I was re-reading some of my older material and I have to say, it was kind of funny! I was witty and entertaining. My more recent stuff has been either depressing or just "blah, blah, blah..." rambling that is really not going anywhere. So, I'm going to try and go back to my previous self, no guarantees. Let's just see if I can recapture some of my story-telling capabilities. Of course there will be a LOT of training crap in here because that is what I'm consumed with at the moment...although you'd never guess that if you took a look at my training journal. I keep saying, "I really need to get on it because my tri is just around the corner...but look at all of these shows we have dvr'd..." And so it goes.


Here are some pics of Trainer's bday night:











This is probably Black and Tan #3...or so. Notice how the pinkie finger is sticking out. Please note that this is not a pretentious thing, but a habit picked up from years and years of torture...I mean practicing the clarinet.

And here is Trainer on his Black and Tan #...4? 5? Who cares it was his birthday!! I took some other pics of him, but I was buzzed...on the way to tanked...and they didn't turn out or do him justice. He's a hottie.

Oh, did I mention that I drunk dialed my old boss...like at 1am? Well, my phone did anyway, it's been calling people lately. Yeah...whoops. And I thought we had fallen asleep/passed out by then!! Also, after getting all gussied (that's for you Soul Mate) up and wearing the most uncomfortable shoes EVER I ended up walking barefoot back to the hotel. :) Yes, barefoot, in the city, about a mile. And I leave you with this...and only because I think it's a cute picture of me!

CHEERS!

Holy Swimming

One, Two, Three, Four....*gasp* and One, Two Three, Four...*gasp* and repeat. Yes, holy swimming and there was no praying involved. This was me, in my head counting my strokes and trying to re-learn how to breathe in the pool. I finally overcame my anxiety about getting back in the pool after a 6 (or maybe 9) week break.

Not coming from a swimming background (just really learned how to efficiently swim last July/August) I need to constantly remind myself that consistency is key to this part of my training. (Yes, I know that consistency is a key part to ALL of my training, but swimming most of all!) I managed to squeeze in 45-50 min in the pool. Well, realistically 45 since I probably stopped for 5 minutes throughout trying to stall...and catch my breath. *side note: This was the maiden voyage of my new suit, and it was a success! No "that girl" moment! Yippee!

After that little workout I went to see Trainer at the gym and did a 45 min strength session that KILLED my legs. The rest of my day off was spent doing nothing until it was time to do the monthly waxing maintenance. I swear, it's like one morning I wake up and I look fine, no stray hairs and then next morning I have a full 'stache and my eyebrows look like I just came from clown camp!! I know, I know...it's a part of life and being half Mexican doesn't help matters. But now I'm a girl again and I can go out in public and not talk with my hand in front of my mouth.

It is 10am on Saturday and I should be out on my bike right now, however my body is tired and I'm dragging. The team ride left at 8 or something like that. A lot of them are doing 100 miles. Can you imagine??? Right now I have my laptop in bed and I'm watching re-runs of Top Chef Masters. I will eventually go out, probably around 11 or 12, for 40 miles on my favorite route, which means two killer hills back to back on the way back home. Probably with a head wind as well, why not right? Crap, and I JUST remembered that I have to change my tire to my road tire, my rim has my trainer tire on it...bummer. Looks like 12 after all with a good dose of vitamin D! Have a great day everyone!