And once again...

It's now the middle of August....two months (almost) since my last post. I'm not sure what happened but I really stopped feeling like I had anything to say that was entertaining. Of course that isn't why I started this blog, but some days I think 'Wow, my life is dull and who the heck would want to read about it?' Out on my rides (that have gotten much longer) I think of all of these things to say and when I get back *Poof* they're gone.

I am getting ready for my next event, the Austin Tri Olympic. Last year this was my 'A' race and this year it's just another brick in the road leading to Longhorn 70.3. This past weekend was my longest weekend of training yet, I rode 70 miles on Saturday and ran 11 miles on Sunday. It was supposed to be 75 and 15, but sometimes your body just doesn't cooperate. All this training just makes you tired. I want to get to the point where I feel stronger! Not happening.

I cancelled my trip to AZ to see my best girlfriends and then watch my teammates race in the IMAZ. It was a fairness/money thing. If Trainer and I only get one trip this year (which has been decided) we should really do it together. So we found a week that works for both of us, Thanksgiving weekend, and made plans to go out of town. A nice, cheap trip that lands us on a beach and gives us some much needed time away from here - together. I guess I was being selfish, not really considering that he hasn't gotten away at all since our trip last year in October. I mean, why wouldn't he want to get away too right? So there you have it.

The pups are good, just trying to survive the summer like the rest of us in the blasted nasty humid really gross Texas heat. It wasn't too bad until the temps reached over 100 degrees with 91% humidity. Can't breathe....which makes it hard to do many other things...like train for a triathlon!!

Well, that's all for now. I'll come up with something witty this weekend I'm sure and I'll try to get it down so you have something entertaining to read! I hope I haven't lost all of my readers. Peace to everyone!

Has it really been that long?

It has!!! Wow the time is flying by and June is almost over. Just a quick update as I'm about to meet Yoga Zen Babe to go have tea and shop. LOVE these afternoons. Tonight I'm meeting up with Mz. Kitty and her crew, they just moved here from Utah and I'm SO excited. They wanted BBQ so we're taking them to Rudy's.

Had a 20 mile ride this morning followed by a 20 min run. Hilly route and I found out that I'm very allergic to coconut. Kind of sucks. I can eat it toasted but one swallow of the coconut water made my throat start to swell up. NOT good when it was my "nutrition" for the ride. I had put my carb powder in it so I just had plain water in the other bottle. Ugh, no bueno. My throat is still swollen, but I can breathe easier now.

Pups are good, Syd had another vet visit. She's scratching the heck out of where her hair is growing back in on her belly, leaving her with all sorts of sores and scabs. $200 later and antibiotics we're doing good.

Well, time to get going! Tomorrow is another 20 mile ride and then a 4 mile run, although I'm doing the run in the am and riding the 20 'recovery' miles with Mid West Girl. I'll try to update with more details next time! Peace everyone!!!

OH, and a very special shout out to my T3 teammates who are AMAZING and doing the CDA triathlon tomorrow. GOOD LUCK!!

I need to get my sh*t together

3 1/2 weeks until my next event. Last week I only got 7.5 hrs of training in, I was supposed to be in the 10hr range. You may not THINK that it's a big difference, but really it is.

See, I keep doing these silly things...like participating in this event called 'The Tour of Tens' which I had NO intention of doing!! This was a non-sanctioned/sponsored event put on by the Austin Hill Country Trail Runners (and I do have to say that the event itself was awesome, well thought out and fun in a Ireallyliketobetortured kind of way.) Anywho, the idea was to go to 5 of the hardest hills in Austin and do 10 repeats on each. When I saw it posted by one of my T3 teammates I thought 'Trainer would LOVE this' so I forwarded it to him and told him I would be the support vehicle. Little did I know that I would get sucked in.

I did two repeats (up and down the hill) at this really long hill called Jester (hmmm...yes, the hill was quite entertaining) and then ten at this other hill called Wilke. Now, Jester is 0.8 miles up/down and Wilke is only 0.38 miles up/down. However, Wilke is a steep mofo and this was my first time EVER doing hill repeats. Probably not the smartest thing to do while you're training for triathlons. I mean, yes...hill repeats are a good part of training, just not 12 when you've never completed 1 before in your life.

Sunday - Tapped out man. Couldn't even walk, there are knots in my FEET. IN.MY.FEET. Should have walked it out, foam rolled the calves (that were screaming wtf were you thinking?), and should have done so many things that I didn't do.

Monday - Uh, it hurt to walk to the bathroom in the morning, not a good sign for the day ahead. Did manage to take the pups out, although they were schooled in heeling once again.

Tuesday - Legs better, feet...not so much.

Today - Well, walked the pups. This afternoon I will swim and tonight after work I will run, possibly bike.

Trainer? Yes, he did two of the longest hills and ended up with 16 miles of hill repeats. He looked fabulous on the first hill and not too shabby on the second hill. However on the way to Wilke he cramped up and I had to pull over and shove salt tabs and nutrition down his throat. Thrilling. Really. But he was running on Monday, rode yesterday and probably got a run in. I swear if I didn't love him so much I would really hate him.

Side note - Went and saw my dietitian on Monday, we're going to tweak things, take ALL the salt out of my diet. I'm retaining on average about 5lbs of water and I drink about a gallon a day. SO, out with the sodium. Do you realize how much stuff has sodium in it? It's insane. No more lunch meat for me. I'll give more details about the meeting later. This is already a long post. :)

Peace to you kids out there!

Just a quickie

You know how I love those! Tee-hee-hee!

Kidding aside, I had a great weekend of training. It was rough adjusting to the heat and humidity, but overall not too bad! Got in two swims, a 35 mile bike ride with the team, an hour of core/strength and a not-so-successful-but-rolling-with-it run!

Stomach issues...well, we're still having some. However I'm willing myself to be completely healed by Friday when I go back to get my blood checked. :) Think it will work? I see my nutritionist on Monday the 14th so this week I'm documenting what I'm eating (again) and taking notes on what is less than pleasing to the tummy. Hopefully with her help I'll be able to get my 'issues' under control and have a good performance plan for the rest of my season! Easy Breezy (beautiful...always want to add that...)

I'll chat at you later!!

It's not going to kill me...so it better make me stronger!

I never intended this blog to be a whiny account of my life and ailments...but lately, really...WTH?

Saturday May 22nd - As we know I didn't do the Real Ale Ride, which by the end of the day was probably a good thing. I had my massage, good timing as my lower back and side were starting to feel really achy. I believed it was because of the adjustment. I figured that maybe the pain just transferred or that maybe it opened up some movement. Anyway, the massage felt great. Then I had dinner with an old HS friend and his family. We went to my favorite pizza place but I could hardly finish a slice. When I arrived home a few hours later I couldn't stand up anymore, the pain was bad...really bad. I was on my bed in tears and I couldn't breathe very well. I just figured it was a bad muscle spasm or something. Trainer helped me into a chair and we put heat on it and the pain subsided a bit. I slept with the heating pad.

Sunday - Woke up with the same pain in my side. No running. I cooked most of the afternoon for the week. Every now and then I would sit down and put heat on it, but sitting started to hurt as well.

Monday - No core workout. Woke up with pain, went to work, balanced myself on my left side all day b/c my right lower side/abdomen/back hurt. It was a constant dull pulsing in my side, hard to pin point and felt deep. I talked to a guy at work and he scared the bejezus out of me and convinced me that I needed to get the ER and have it looked at. I called my chiro to check and see if it was possibly related to the adjustment, it wasn't. But I had an appt with him Tuesday morning and he would check it out then. So, I waited.

Tuesday - Woke up once again with pain. It starts out dull in the am and then by the end of the day and especially when I ate the pain was super intense. Went to Chiro appt and he felt around in there and he hit a spot and I almost cried...again. He was convinced that it was my gallbladder and suggested that I go see my primary asap. Which was my next stop since I had to get my blood tested anyway. When I arrived there the nurse asked me how I was and I told her about my pain and I asked if I should make an appt. She told me to hang out and the Dr would be in shortly. The Dr came in and started asking questions, told me to lay back and he was poking and prodding my organs and when he hit my appendix it hurt so he was convinced that I had appendicitis. They scheduled me for a CT scan and told me not to eat, just in case I needed surgery. (He was prepping me just in case - WTF!)

Went to the CT appt, they asked if I had already drank the barium, which I hadn't since my Dr said it would be a CT without contrast. I was told that it wasn't up to my Dr and the radiologist wanted the barium AND iodine. Yippee. Not. Barium is disgusting, my happened to be banana flavored and I had to down about 22-24oz of it. I wanted to puke, however my better sense told me that if I did I would just have to drink more. You have to wait 90 min before you can do the scan so I went home and laid down. Went back, had the scan and my organs are clean! However I am still having the pain at this point...not a good thing.

Wednesday - The last thing to come in was my blood work, which showed both above and below normal white blood counts and an assortment of other inconclusive stuff. With the localized pain, type of pain and the fact that it hurt any time I ate and/or drank anything my Dr diagnosed me with an ulcer. He put me on Prilosec and took me off the aspirin.

Thursday - Nothing significant, except the fact that my Father in-law and his wife came to visit...not so good for the ulcer.

Friday - Dr Appt: I have two weeks to lose all of the symptoms, if not I get a GI scope, and THAT is something that I do not care to experience. We're (as in the Dr and his colleagues) looking into other kinds of platelet therapy.

Saturday - Nada. Although the pain has lessened. I've discovered one dietary change - no spicy food. It hurts ON the meds, can't imagine what it would be like without the meds.

Sunday - Ran 2 miles, some of the ugliest miles I've ever run. I almost puked on the way back. Awesome. The best part of Sunday? After we dropped the in-laws off we went to the Saucer (where I drank a heavy beer, less carbonation) and then back home to play Kissopoly....heheh...good times.

Monday - Not much, read a book. No exercise.

Today - Well, not too much. Worked, Dr, worked out, grocery shopped, came home and cooked and now I'm typing this. Which is super long...my apologies. Just had to get it all out.

I just updated my training log with my zero workouts for last week (except my 2 mile run) and I'm a little scared...because I have a tri in 6 weeks. Flippin' A.

Real Ale Ride: DE-nied

Better sense or maybe the pain upon waking this morning deterred me from going on the ride this morning. At first I tried to bargain with myself 'I'll just do the 30 mile, or maybe just the 15' but when I turned my neck and pain shot through my shoulder down to my hip....let's just say I fed the pups and sat up in bed.

Sometimes doing the right thing really sucks. I'm mad and disappointed that I didn't go, although I know in my mind that it was a good call. Pfffttt...that's what I say. Not sure what I'll do today. Maybe the pool will open and I can get some soothing laps in or something. At least I have the massage and dinner plans to look forward to. :)

One step forward...and then another

Yeah, you thought it was going to be '...and two steps back.' But, it's not. I took Monday off as my rest day. It wasn't supposed to work that way, but it did. Tuesday I woke up and did my 4.5 mile run. On the way out I was feeling pretty good, my muscles weren't too tight from the race, like I said - good. I have to cross over some railroad tracks on my route, usually not a big deal, however today as I was ON the tracks the lights started flashing, bells ringing and the cross arms started coming down...fast! Holy Sh*t! As slow as I am I ducked and crunched my neck and made it out on the other side as my only options were ducking and going under or going off into a ditch on the side of the road.

Whew! Close one that was. I kept on my merry little way down my route and on the way back the arms were down again...this lead me to believe that the RR x-ing is jacked up and that there was no train earlier.

6-8 hours later my neck starts hurting, bad hurting, but I didn't think too much of it...until I couldn't sleep that night. When I woke up in the morning (at 4:30am) I asked Trainer to leave me the number of his Dr. It hurt to breathe, raise my arms, move my head...well, it hurt to move. I went to work and looked up the Dr, they didn't open until 11:30 on Wednesday, just my luck, but I made it through lunch and they got me in late that afternoon. (bless them)

The Dr. said I had a compression injury, he said it was as if someone squished my head into my shoulders with a violent impact. I was thinking, 'Well, I did get tossed around in the water at the tri,' but really that was nothing too severe and for the pain to be so delayed? I didn't even think about the RR incident, but that is probably what happened. Just moved wrong and it ended up compressing two nerves, one in my neck and one in my back. He worked on me, manipulated the tissue around the nerves and sent me on my way.

Bottom line - I need to work on my posture doing just about everything: sitting, driving, cooking, reading...bah! The really jacked up thing? I am a MUSIC MAJOR, we've been taught to sit up straight with our shoulders back our WHOLE lives! I think the slouchy thing is a rebellious thing. Haha, I wish. It's just bad habit upon bad habit picked up since I graduated ASU in 1995...gawd I'm old.

Anyway, this weeks training has kind of sucked, I did manage to make it to 2 swim practices (I only made it through 30 min, but better than nothing), a strength workout and tomorrow I'm attempting the Real Ale Ride. The Dr cleared me to ride today, although he added that I will probably regret it b/c it's going to hurt. The good thing...I have a massage scheduled for the afternoon and then pizza with friends in the evening!

So, we just keep taking those steps forward, one foot in front of the other. The finish line is out there somewhere.