Last tri of the season

4:38 A.M. how did i manage to wake up 2 minutes before my alarm?
4:40 A.M. The alarm might be going off, and I may have just woken up before it...but I am still hitting the snooze.
4:50 A.M. Why again do I do this sport? (not a morning person if you can't tell)


Finally get up and drag myself up and out of bed only to hear puking from my: 'party like a rockstar' neighbor's place. Most of the time I can't hear my neighbor, but...now I really wish I couldn't hear my neighbor. Most weekends the contrast between our lives is stark. I'm usually up and getting ready to leave for a morning workout when I can hear him stumbling in from a long night out.

I finally sort myself out and get myself out the door. I easily find some parking and then proceed to pull my bike out of the car and pump up the tires. How I managed to deflate my rear tire and then STRUGGLE to get it inflated for some 15 minutes is beyond me, but I made it to transition about 5 minutes before they were going to close it. Whew.

I had made friends with a girl at the Cove a few weeks ago and she was doing this race too...but it was her first tri...which is super fun to be able to be a part of some one's first race. We had gone to the packet pickup the day before and I tried to answer all questions or give any advice that might help a first timer out. I felt a little bad this morning as I was running late and wouldn't be able to answer many last minute questions. But all was well with her by the time I arrived. Phew.

I set up transition pretty fast and prayed I had remembered everything and put it as orderly as possible. I attempted to body glide my arms to death as I had discovered some MASSIVE chafing on the underside of my arm after my last tri...but alas that seemed to be in vain as I still ended up with a massive chaffed area on the underside of my left arm.

Katie and Chris, Brian, and Dana said that they were going to be there for the race. Woooh, i might have spectators? Fun! As I was getting ready for the swim I heard my name and apparently turned in the right direction but they were herding us off pretty fast and I didn't have too much time to figure out if someone was really yelling my name or not.

Swim
The swim start was a deep water start which was a new one to me. Definitely helpful being in a wetsuit. The swim was pretty uneventful aside from trying to keep myself from thinking about the fact I was swimming in Mission Bay water...which is sorta gross.

Bike
The bike course was about 12 miles and involved 2 loops around Fiesta Island. We were LUCKY in that there was NO wind at all. There are sections on Fiesta Island that have gotten so windy that I have turned a corner only to discover that i'm faced with such a fierce headwind that i'm going a mere 10mph...literally. But today was all about the big ring. I felt pretty strong on the bike and tried to push as much as I could. There was a bit of difficulty I had on the course with the fact that some people would keep as many as 4 abreast....at one point I started screaming my head off: ON YOUR LEFT!! GET.TO.THE.RIGHT. It got a little frustrating at some points, but I felt pretty strong on the bike. What was weird though was that every time I looked down my speed seemed to be between 18-20mph...yet for some reason my bike computer decided that I had only done an avg speed of 16mph...I will have to wait til the race results come out to see really what it was.

Run
I transitioned pretty well...but I know I need to practice or hammer it into my head: PUT YOUR SHOES ON FIRST and then put everything else on WHILE running out of transition. I always try to put my hat on and fiddle with things I can do while running. Need to work on that, but I felt that my transition was pretty decent.

I came out of transition and i was flying. I suddenly discovered that I had a spectator section cheering me like I was a rockstar...which just encouraged the faster running. But it was weird as I was coming out of transition because my body felt fine running at the speed I was going but all I could think was: I.can't.breathe.must.get.air...gasp. I looked down at my watch only to see that I was going 7:10mpm pace. It was at that point I thought: hmmm...maybe the reason I can't breathe is because I don't run that speed except when I'm doing a mile time trial. But it got me thinking about the fact that my body can do that speed...but my HR was what was killing me. My first two miles were 8:20s and the last mile dropped to about 8:50...but I was pretty happy with all of that over all.

Over all the race was a good way to end the tri season. I have plans to do a half marathon in mid November, but work make be sending me to Europe during that time so that may not happen...but oh well. I will continue to train for the half mary until I know more about that.

I am starting to figure out what is next and what I want as I am not as tri focused for a bit. As a hint...i was busted when I was looking at track bikes yesterday at a LBS by some of my friends from track class. I had told them I was thinking about purchasing a track bike but was on the fence about it. Which I still am...i'm educating myself about what is out there and if that i something I want to invest in...but we've been talking about spending time at the velodrome this winter...hence it would be definitely worth it. Oye...what is happening to me??

I'll leave you all with the debate:















(The specialized would be kitted out to be a track bike...no brakes, no coffee holder, no fenders, track drops...ect. )

Women's Specific Bikes

I went to a spheel on Trek's Women's Specific Designed Bikes...here is my comment/thought/belief with WSD bikes...i finally figured it out. MAYBE i believe it...MAYBE i don't...know what I want?? I want the physics equations that analyze the differences, and account somehow for differences in centers of gravity. I want an experiment that takes a woman, fits her on a WSD bike and looks at power output and then fits to the same 'male' equivalent model in a bike manufacture and compares the power outputs. I want to know why they are different. I want to know really truly if they are different. A woman selling me the bike...maybe I believe her...maybe I don't believe the male bike fitter who swears its a load of crap...maybe I do...but at the end of the day...i want numbers. I want to know WHY. And by WHY, I want more of an explanation of "The top tube is shorter". I want: because the top tube is shorter, for a woman this puts her in a bla position and if you look at the numbers you can see that there is a difference in power out put. I understand how the bikes are different, I just want the proof...on paper...not a lot of 'explaination'. The explaination sounds nice and warm and fuzzy...it makes ya feel good that something really is different but at the end of the day I want the data. Show.me.the.data.

I am sure lots of people have anecdotal evidence of "i tried this bike and it fit better"...that's a good thing. Don't get me wrong. But I ride a 'male' bike. (Whatever that means) Should I? Should I not? Am I missing out on power output? Or would a good bike fit do the same thing? I'm a skeptic...that's why they call me a scientist. I don't believe it until I see the numbers so for the record I don't really believe it. But I don't really not believe it either(ummm...double negative). Its a possibility in my head. And that is ok.

I am rambling and not really looking for other people to answer my questions. This is what us scientists like to do. We pose some questions and think and ponder and chew on the question. Here is my framed question: What is the power output difference between a woman on a WSD trek and the equivalent 'male' bike?

They said tonight that the only difference between two of the lines they had for a model was the geometries....SHOW.ME.THE.NUMBERS. I know comfort can't be factored in and I know some women have been more comfortable on these bikes...i'm not arguing that...but the idea put forward that a WSD bike recruits more power because of the geometry differences...that is easy to test...gimme some numbers. Hmmm...maybe i should write Trek...interesting thought.

I hope its just the weather

I really hope it is just the weather making me feel icky and not that i'm getting sick. The Santa Anna's have taken a number on my ability to breathe or at least that is what it felt like tonight at the track. The first few laps my throat was so DRY and we weren't doing anything that strenuous. That turned into a desire to cough a lot...which then turned into an under lying feeling of ick...which meant I really just wanted to puke a lot. No...it wasn't from any REALLY hard efforts, it was just the hacking made me want to hurl. Nice...huh. And because I felt puky...my efforts were pretty limited.

The other 'option' is that i'm getting sick...and I don't like that option...so LET's blame the Santa Anna's. That makes me feel better. I had a pretty hard time breathing tonight. I even checked the air quality since there have been some fires here the past two days and it said that the air is OK...so I can't even blame that.

So on to the track...we had our first casualty on the track. No...not me...another rider rather unfortunately just took a turn too hard. My group was waiting off the track and I l look up and see them sliding down the bank. YIKES! This was in the higher grouped class...all in all the rider was fine and got back at it.

We played some games of cat and mouse...can we say...i suck at that. OH WAIT I discovered tonight that I pretty much couldn't hang on anything. Basically in cat and mouse you have two people who are the mouse/mice who get a head start and will then work together to try to stay away from everyone else. All the while the rest of the group goes really slow waiting until they are given the whistle to start. Once the whistle blows the 'cat' (everyone else) has to try to catch the mouse/mice. Basically everyone in the 'cat' has to work together to try to catch the 'mice'. You have to try to catch the mice in 3 laps or less. Basically with the cat it turns into:How fast can YOU make a pace line?

Each time I was in the group as the 'cat' the whistle would blow and it just seemed that by the time it was time for me to grab the wheel of the person in front of me, they suddenly were going 10x faster than they were a second before and I was off and there was no recovery from that. That happened 2x...and then I was asked to be one of the mice. (I soooo didn't want to be a mouse)

Um...yea....keep in mind, i don't know what i'm doing 99% of the time. They made it sound like I should let the other mouse pull since he was a stronger rider, but by the second lap I really should have come round and pulled us for a bit...but me and the other rider were having trouble communicating. I couldn't understand him. When I am going round and round the track the wind is in my ears hence...I couldn't understand anything he was saying. I'm saying: GOOOO and all i hear is 'mumble, mumble'. He was trying to tell me to pull to the front. The other thing was I didn't understand about the situation was if me and him were doing pace line etiquette (where the person in front pulls off and then tucks in behind the other person)...or if I was supposed to go around him. I didn't want to pull around and have him pull up...and crash...so i just hung on the back and yelled...oops. UNFORTUNATELY we still got caught...but not til lap 2.5...so not too bad.

Its week three and the camaraderie is starting to build amongst everyone taking the two classes which is fun. People are starting to be more comfortable with each other and you start to hear: Hey good job closing that gap. Or: Awesome job on that final sprint. I love watching the dynamics of a new group of people start to come together and be friendly with one another. It takes everyone some time to warm up in a new group where no one really knows too many other people.

I've so far found that most people are really encouraging. I was given a really nice compliment just with reference to closing a big gap. Compliments really are encouraging, especially when it can be so easy to get down on myself about being slower and having to drop off a lot. It is nice because everyone is pretty new and no one has a really big ego about being on the track. We all know we are learning and I have found people really encouraging and those that are more experienced are also willing to give some tips. Its turning into a good group.

Things I learned this week

• 20% humidity makes me hate the Santa Anna's and it completely straightens my hair.
  
• I am very thirsty all the time due to the afore mentioned % humidity.
• My contacts have taken to glueing themselves to my eyes because of this. Annoying.
  
• I have my last triathlon of the season on Sunday and it couldn't come sooner.
  
• I have triathlon bla's for no good reason...it's not like I was over training this season or this season was that chalk full of training or racing for that matter. I guess I need a change of scene.
  
• I laid the smack down on 10 miles of running this weekend and the next day there were no aches.
• I might like the track more than I like to admit.
  
• I get to go to the track tomorrow!
  
• Why my neighbor can't change the battery in his smoke detector and the fact he just lets it chirp all the time is beyond me.
• I meant to buy him a 9-volt battery and tell him to change it. I'm annoyed and if I can't sleep...it just chirps at me through the wall....Taunting me.
  
• When my battery needed to be changed it would scare the crap out of me every time it chirped so why it doesn't bother him...again...is beyond me.
  
• Work may soon be such that I will have to frequent Houston, TX like it is my second home. Anyone have anything exciting to say about that city?
• Life is pretty funny...most of the time. One just has to look at it in the right light with the right angle to see the humor. Although at times while it seems to be pretty funny it can have an equal portion of screaming involved. This week has had equal parts screaming and funny...and some of the funny made me want to scream. That's how it rolls sometimes.
  

Back to the track

As I said in my previous post...i have taken up track bike riding class. Thank you all for your concern about my physical well being...what I have to say from my observation so far...once you get the hang of riding a fixie it isn't that much more dangerous than riding on the road...by that I mean riding a track bike on a track...verdict is still out in my mind how I feel about riding a fixed gear on the road...but that is another topic. Sure riding without brakes sounds pretty dangerous. I agree...but being in a situation where NO ONE has brakes...there are no cars and it is pretty 'controlled' as far as there is proper etiquette the whole no brake thing actually isn't that bad. No one can randomly slow down like on the road when someone has a brake. The only thing you have to be concerned about is quick movement to the up side of the track. That is where the danger is because it is pretty easy to have someone who is not paying attention swing up-track and potentially cause a crash. Without breaks it becomes impossible to randomly slow down so basically the person behind you won't bunch up too, too much if you slow down. But that being said, I still do have some moderate level of concern about not having breaks as much as everyone else. But it really isn't as scary as I imagined it...so maybe that is what I mean by less 'dangerous'...maybe just less scary.

Now that being said there was a little interesting situation I came into tonight. We were working on pace lines, riding in the pole lane (or the sprinters lane at the bottom of the track). The people in front of me had sorta randomly slowed down(as much as you can on a track bike) and were starting to bunch a little. The way to deal with the situation is to go a little 'up track' from them by fanning out, grab a bit of wind to slow you down and try to ease off the pressure on the pedals...but not to back pedal if possible and when the speed evens out, get back into the pace line. So they are bunching, I go a little up track and the guy behind me somehow thinks that I am pulling OUT...which if you pull OUT now you have to go UP track and then have to grab the end of the line. So he has closed this gap where I had been...and now I cannot get back 'in' where I was. I have been effectively 'pushed' out of the pace line. We are not going very fast so I feel lame at this point because when you pull OUT it is because you are TIRED...i was far from tired at this point. But whatever. I now have to cruise to the back and hang on back there. Granted it was our first go around at the whole pace line situation, but of course I had to be the first one to be 'pushed' out. We all are still learning, so no big deal.

One thing I am learning is that if I get someone who can hold a really smooth line I am MUCH more comfortable holding a close distance to them than to someone who is squirrel-ly in their pedaling and hence their rear tire goes all over the show. I just hope I am holding my line ok...although i'm sure I'm not exactly the smoothest rider either...but trying to keep the pedal strokes even and smooth.

I am about 200% more comfortable on the bike this week. This week I just had to remind myself: DON'T STOP PEDALING and REMEMBER NO BREAKS. Instead of last week where it was at the front of the my mind the whole class. I let it rip a little bit more as we started doing paceline 'burn outs'...where we would practice a paceline, get some experience of pulling at the front and pulling out to the back...but after awhile the guy in charge would tell us to pick up the pace until basically everyone but the last 4-6 people were left in the pace line. If the pace gets too high and you can't close a gap...you have to pull out so that the people behind you can keep with the paceline.

In some ways its kinda fun because if a gap starts to form between the person in front of you and the person they are behind you get to start yelling: CLOSE THE GAP!!...until they close it or they pull out. I kept ended up behind the same guy on many of these drills and he would just wait forever on closing the gap...I know he was trying, but he just wasn't closing it and finally he would pull UP and OUT...but then there was this HUGE gap I now had to close. I did alright closing the gap, but unfortunately that ends up wasting a lot of energy early on so that when the pace got higher I burned out quicker. No matter...still fun.

Eventually the paceline would get to a speed where I couldn't keep up and I'd have to pull out....sometimes I'd do pretty decently and hang for awhile...so I felt pretty good in the fact I am probably in the middle of the 'pack' as far as strength of holding with the group. A couple of times when I came off the track I was shaking pretty hard so I knew at least I had given it a pretty hard go.

I am enjoying learning the new skill set. I'm having fun and meeting new people which is always good. Who knows...maybe I will become that 'track bike girl'....although i still like my breaks.

Take'n it to the Track

Well...I talked about it awhile ago...and it has happened. I signed up for a track bike riding class! I had my first class today and I'm still sorta not sure what to think. My friend asked me if I might deep down come to love it and...well...i just don't know to be honest. It sorta feels like that beginning stage of a relationship where you meet someone that you aren't sure you could date or not so you think: Hey let's hang out...let's be friends...let's see what happens. Will I love track bike riding? My answer: I donno...let's hang out...let's be friends first...let's see what happens. BUT it would sure beat the heck out of doing spin class in the winter. I would 100% rather be outside, in the 'colder' San Diego weather going round and round than stuck in a hot little room where inevitably I am staring at the clock 5 minutes after the beginning of the class.

I also felt like the bumbling idiot of the beginner class. First time around they had us just ride once around the apron (the part on the inside of where the actual track riding takes place...the apron is where you get on and off the track). They told us to practice getting our shoes in the toe clips (no clipless pedals unless you have your own bike). I used to have toe clips ages ago on my bike, but I quickly realized that I would stop pedaling when I wanted to get my foot in...but...you can't do that with a track bike. So the first go-round...couldn't even get my feet in the toe clips. Nice one there.

Second go around...they want us ON th e track but you can't GET on the track until you can get your feet in the toe clips...hello...minor problem. Fortunately I do sort that out quicker after being the person who's all: duh...i can't get my feet in to start off with.


Now they want us to start up against the rail which is at the top of the track (the high part of the track) with our feet at 3 and 9...IN THE CLIPS...hanging onto the rail with our hand. THAT was a fiasco...and once ON the rail...i actually had to have the instructor push me as I struggled along for the first time. I felt like a bit of an idiot. From my vantage point it didn't seem like anyone was struggling as much as I was. But I did get the hang of holding onto the rail and starting from there. One guy helped point out how to 'hug' the rail while I hoisted myself onto my seat. Other people seemed to be somewhat sympathetic with my stupid behavior.

Then it was drills. Now logically i understand that it is actually a LOT safer to ride in a paceline on a track bike BECAUSE there are no breaks so no one can stop suddenly...but I don't really like sucking other people's wheels when i HAVE breaks...and NOW you want me to hang on that guy's wheel...and I have no breaks?? You've got to be kidding right. I did get the hang of it with time...sorta.

I think part of my apprehension is just other people around me...without breaks. And ME without breaks. I think I would feel a lot better if I were just on the track by myself and not have to worry about anyone else.

So it's alright. The track and I are becoming friends. We will see where it goes. The class is 5 more weeks so with time and confidence it will come together. My biggest 'problem' was just being confident on the bike...and by the end of the class I was feeling more comfortable riding the bike. (But by NO means actually comfortable ON that bike...not comfy at all) Spend some time together...see if any more comes of it. But highly entertaining.

Is this a...*race report?*

An actual race report this season...ok there have been a few others, but yes...a race report for the OC Olympic Tri that was this sunday.

This is the first year for the race and on the website there really wasn't much info about the course profile how hilly and someone had said to me a few weeks ago: Mission Viejo...it's pretty hilly up there. So I was curious....and a little concerned to be honets...so I emailed the race director and inquired about an elevation profile but all I got back was: nope..we don't have one. This made me a little concered...AND then the week leading up to the race I got emails describing the course...and its hilliness, I have to admit I got a little nervous. While I have been riding a lot of hills and running on a lot of hills (how can you not around SD?) since I hadn't specifically trained for this race I was a little unsure race morning how it might go. I had previewed a little bit of the bike course and knew i could solidly tackle it, but since the pre-race emails I received about the run course were a little ominous, I didn't know how tackling the bike and then the run might go...but I figured while it might be a little ugly, I could probably finish it no matter what the run dished out.

The Swim
75 degrees...why on EARTH did I think wearing a wetsuit was a good idea after I swam all summer in the ocean at 70 degrees and was comfy? Not a good choice. And lake Mission Viejo is sorta gross...smells like sulfur, but it was nice not to be in salt water. It was VERY foggy and when you started you just swam out into nothingness...it was a little surreal...and just hoped to find the buoy soon. For a lot of the swim I was all by my lonesome...it was weird...i am neither really fast nor a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeallly slow swimmer...just a standardly slow swimmer so for a bit I was just by myself. Odd...but I was sighting where I could and I was on track. Overall the swim was uneventful. The water sorta grossed me out and I drank more water than I'd like to admit...so I hope I don't get sick. Blech.

The Bike....the cat and mouse game has begun

I hopped on my bike and watched a guy struggle with his shoes that were attached to his pedals and it took him forever to get into them. Not so sure that was a time saver there buddy. Reminded me not to attempt.

Now overall I'm an 'average-ly' competitive person. OK...it depends upon what it is if I am competitive or not. (or so I think). Academics...i used to be very competitive...music...very competitive...but sports...i've found I'll be competitive with myself but not be too much of the type of "I HAVE TO BEAT THAT PERSON OVER THERE" type mentality. I will want to finish a race strong but I thought that was where I left it. Push hard for me...but don't worry about the other guy sort of mentality. Let's just pre-empt it by saying new things were discovered on the course today.

So i'm on my bike and at some point this girl in my age group passes me. I don't think much of it...and then later...I pass her....she'll pass me a bit later...and back and forth...for the first 20 miles. I think it's funny at this point. From my vantage point, she seems a little frustrated because after she'll pass me she'll keep looking over her shoulder to see where I am. Every so often I decide to pass her mainly because we were going roughly the same speed and after awhile it would get old to try to stay out of her draft zone so I would pass her solely to make her deal with my draft zone. Or...we were going on the flats and I was having too much fun in my big ring and need to pass. Around mile 20...she got her wish. She passed me...and dropped me. Fine with me...I still had a few more miles to ride and this ominous 10K ahead. I didn't think much about it. I had had some fun playing cat and mouse and I briefly thought: Maybe I"ll see her on the run...but then dismissed that because I'm an average runner and don't always think of myself as the type who is able to run down someone. I have no idea how fast I went at this point...i just know over all I was pretty happy with my bike ride. I felt strong on the climbs and the descents weren't too steep so a scardy cat like me didn't freak out too much on them. I even tucked a bit and got in my big ring as much as possible. I really enjoyed the bike. It was awesome.

On to the run

T2 wasn't at the same spot as T1 which was a little odd...but worked out. The first two miles I was clocking 8:30 mpm...but I figured I was on a down hill. I was in the last wave and was catching people in waves ahead of me, but hadn't seen anyone in my wave for a long time. I thought: this run isn't that bad...and then...we got into the trails. And at first it wasn't really that terrible (aside from the volunteer who tried to tell us we were at mile 4 when we hadn't gotten to mile 3)...hilly...but ok and then...we got to this...WALL. To call it a hill...no...it was a wall. At first I tried to 'fake' run up it. Where you are only bouncing around acting like you are running when in fact you are going really slowly. And then I realized that just power walking up the hill would get me up there faster. And of COURSE all the volunteers kept saying...200 more yards...bla, bla, bla. Now I LOVE every volunteer on any course...i do...they are AWESOME...BUT there should be a clause in the volunteer book that says: DO NOT tell the participants how FAR they are from the end and do NOT ever say 'you are almost there' unless you are at a post that you can SEE the finish line from. Seriously.

I was in mile 4 and people are saying: almost there...bla, bla, bla...the hill is almost over...200 yards...but a MIGHTY long 200 yards I tell you. Once we got through the MOUNTAIN of a hill it wasn't too bad and I started clocking sub 9mpm pace again. I was shocked a bit...but just noticed the pace and kept going...and pushing.

My plan was to keep my HR around 160 until the last 3 miles and then push it into my anaerobic threshold region around 170...which wasn't hard on the hill, but takes some concentration once back on the flats. Again picking people off from waves in front of me...and then I see a woman in my age group...speed it up...yep...there we go.

And then....I see my MOUSE!!! THERE SHE WAS...the woman I was playing cat and mouse with on the bike. We are in mile five and it.is.on! I see her and kick it up a little to pass her and let her know I mean business. There is a little turn around not too far down the street after I pass her and I can see that I have put enough space between me and her that she's not going to close the gap. A big smile comes over me. I can't believe I won the game of cat and mouse!! I was so excited.

A sprint to the finish.
But the finish is not quite there yet...i'm breathing like an asthmatic by this point and pushing...although strangely it is my lungs that are giving out before my legs are hurting. I am quite close and I hear this woman on the side lines say to me (or so I think): Just pass this last woman and you are free and clear to the finish line.

I think: why is she talking to me? And there isn't anyone in front of me. I start to round the bend and can see the finish line RIGHT as I see the person this woman from the sidelines is talking to...she's not talking to me...she's talking to a woman who is passing me with maybe 100 meters to the finish.

All I think is: HELL NO!!

I don't know where it came from...but it just came over me. I was NOT going to let this woman pass me (who I hadn't seen the WHOLE RACE) in the last 100 meters without a FIGHT.

IT.WAS.SOOOOO.ON!!!

I kick and I kick HARD...and I manage to pull in front of the woman and manage to out kick her in the last few meters and cross the finish before her. It really got the crowd cheering. It was a lot of fun actually. :-)

Afterwords she comes over to me and says: great finish. I think I almost apologize (partly because I don't really know what came over me) but she says that was a great push to the end.

A few minutes later I see my MOUSE. We tell each other great race and good to push one another through it.

Overall it was a pretty awesome race. I had hoped I would finish near 3hours and I did...so that also was good considering the wickedly hilly bits...and I discovered that I do in fact have a competitive side when I am doing sports not just with myself either. It was fun.

come on...wear your helmet

This post is going to be a little story from my past...mainly in light of Speedracer's most recent post about wearing a helmet. This will be reason 421, 965 of why to wear a helmet. Maybe my dear readers aren't interested in a stroll down memory lane, but it does involve bike crashes, spine boards, puke, dogs, CT scans...do I have your attention? :-)

I've briefly mentioned it before, but I was in a decently bad bike crash when I was 15 years old. Looking back, I was sorta an idiot to get myself into the mess, but I tend to say 'yes' first and think later. I went up to the local ski hill in the summer with one of my best friends and her family to bike down the ski hill. They let you rack your bike on the chair lift and then ride it down. It was me, my friend, her brother and her exchange student biking while her parents and her little sister walked around. Now you have to understand, I don't think I had ever been on a mountain bike on actual DIRT. I road my dad's mountain bike around town...to and from tennis lessons in the summers, but DIRT? Never touched the stuff. So how I thought this might be a good idea is beyond me. Granted my parents didn't really have a say in it because they were flying back into the country this particular day so i must have been under the care of my college age sister. I probably just didn't tell her anything.

Anyway, we get there...load the bikes on the chair lift and then proceed to ride down. I do strongly remember thinking as we went down the hill: Dear God...don't let me die. I think I might die. Don't let me die.

I did manage to turn the bike out from under me a few times around some tight corners, scratch my knee up, but was doing fine over all...in all honesty. And then we got to the BOTTOM of the hill. The chair lift was in sight! I was so excited. My friend and I waited for her brother and exchange student and when they were insight we got back onto our bikes and started towards the chairlift. We weren't on a hill. We had made it down the hill. I wasn't dead...yet.

That was the last thing I remember...getting back on my bike to get started towards the chair lift. We weren't even on a hill by this point (ya catch that point?). The story goes that my friend got to the chair lift when the operator says: WOW...that looks bad. She immediately thinks it was her exchange student and freaks out, turns around and starts running and then she realizes it is me. She runs over to me and turns me over (OK...we were 15, maybe you aren't supposed to do that in first aid), and I...stop breathing.

I was wearing a helmet, but went over the handle bars somehow and manage to concuss myself. Here ....one of my best friends has me in her lap and I...have stopped breathing....for a second. Granted we were only 15, but she was all set to start CPR on me. This is why everyone needs to know how to do CPR...you never know when you need it. Fortunately I start breathing and she doesn't need to use it. And fortunately the bikers behind us happen to be the first aid rescue people for the ski hill. It is about this point that I do wake up.

I look up and from what I remember there is this beautiful man leaning over me. Now if you have ever had a concussion, you might know that that wonderful internal filter...um...can get a little shattered in the process and everything is discombobulated. It almost doesn't make sense why i wouldn't tell this man...that well...he's gorgeous. But somehow I do manage not to say something insanely stupid. HOW?? I will never know.

We go through the process of trying to piece together what happened and how much I understand of what has happened while in the background they are calling the main first aid station to come get me and take me to the front part of the ski hill where the first aid is set up. They bring a spine board, strap me on it and put me in the back of a car and take me to the first aid station.

Now keep in mind, my friends parents need to be found. They have been out walking with her little sister and dog for the day. Somehow they are contacted and head to the first aid station.

They take me strapped to the spine board in the back of a car to the first aid station and a woman explains to me that it is perfectly normal if I feel like I might get sick at any time that they will just 'flip' me over (cuz i'm strapped to the spine board) and there is a bowl underneath me to puke in. Nice and classy... I know. I think I have a few 'false flips' where they flip me over because I think I might puke, but end up just hanging there. That wasn't much fun.

In the meantime, my parents have been in Mexico on vacation and are flying in from Mexico on this day. My college age sister receives a phone call that sounds a bit like this: Um...your daughter has been in an accident. Should we life flight her down to the hospital??

My sister: DOES SHE NEED TO BE LIFE FLIGHTED DOWN??

The first aide people: Um...we don't know if that is totally necessary...we are still monitoring her vitals. We will let you know. (and they hang up).

My poor sister...she is trying to coordinate picking up my parents and then racing them to the hospital to meet me there and the first aid people have made the situation sound waaaaaaay more dramatic than it was. She pretty much thinks I'm dying at this point.

By this point I've been on the spine board for at least an hour or more. They are NOT comfortable things I tell you. I'm actually starting to feel pretty pukey and tell the nurse I AM going to puke an that I need to be 'flipped' over again.

RIGHT as they flip me, my friend's parents, sister and DOG come through the door while I am puking. Nice timing right? Upon witnessing me puke...what does the DOG do??? She....































PUKES!!!!!!!!! Yes folks...I made a dog puke!! Pretty foul, but pretty freaking hilarious too.

In the end I didn't need to be life-flighted to the hospital. Instead I got to have the beautiful man try to keep me awake the whole way to the hospital (since all you want to do with a concussion is sleep) while I was still strapped to the spine board in the back of a car. I was trying to bargin with him on the ride down...there were a few first aid people in the car with us. I kept saying: Just let me sleep for a minute. I'll be fine. Let me off the spine board. My back hurts.

No they wouldn't let me sleep or off the spine board. It was miserable.Upon arrival to the hospital I get my CT done to see if I broke my neck and the doctors first words were: You have all 4 of your wisdom teeth.

Gee...thanks, i already knew that. I just spent 4 hours on a spine board could you tell me if I broke my neck?

Thankfully in the end all I ended up with was a concussion and some scrapes. But WEAR YOUR HELMET!! I can only imagine how much worse this would have been if I hadn't been wearing it.

Good ol fashioned fun

The plan: Great Western Loop
40ish miles of hilly fun.
+/-4400 ft of elevation
The meetup: 730am


The plan was to meet up with Katie b. and co at 7:30...things started, um, not very well for me. I typically am not directionally challenged, but this morning, I think google maps fooled me into looking for the wrong exit and what do you know...I ended up in Alpine. We were supposed to meet near that thumb thing on the map that sticks out, so I was WAY off. I did manage to get there by 745ish but I hate being late and I HATE when I get lost on a map.

Great Western Loop is talked about a lot in these parts. But really...why it is called great western loop when it is clearly east of San Diego? That is beyond me. But it is talked about how hard and hilly it is, sometimes with a bit of hush and awe and it has made me a little curious what it is all about. Me and a friend of mine had been discussing this a few weeks ago and wanting to do this someday and when katie brought up doing it, I jumped at the chance. I've been doing a lot of hills lately, but I had no idea if I was up for the challenge that it might be, but I thought why not: BRING IT. A good attitude can help one push through tough challenges, so I brought an optimistic attitude of: just get out there and DO IT.

During the first 10 miles there is a wicked short, steep hill where I literally started to wonder: at what speed will one fall over/roll backwards? Because I was dangerously approaching that speed. I think its around 3mph...because when I looked down at my speedometer I was sadly going about 4mph and wobbling around. It was then I thought: Um...we aren't even into 10 miles of this...is this how the WHOLE thing is going to be? Fortunately we had a veteran amongst our ranks who told us that while the rest of the loop will be really hilly, we won't see anything that sharply steep. I breathed a sigh of relief.

The rest of the ride was good. Hilly. Hard. But really awesome. (actually the roads are pretty decent and not that traffic-y either) I discovered that I am beginning to really like hills. (which is good since I live in San Diego which is one big hill fest) Going up them my mind just falls blank, and all I think about is spinning and moving forward. So often I over think my life and whatever i am doing that there are times especially during training that my brain shuts off and it is just the best thing for me. Going up a hill does that for me. Long runs do too. Now going down a hill...um...notsomuch. I'm not a great descender unfortunately. I think due in part to a nasty bike accident I had when I was 15 and ended up on spine board for 4 hours. What has been really good is that this season I have seen improvements in myself with descending and relaxing and bit by bit I am keeping my hands more off of the breaks, so that is good. And that is really what is about. All accomplishments no matter how minor are good things.

Saturday as I walked around I wondered how I would fare on Sunday as I feared sitting down all of saturday because i worried that I might never get up again. But interestingly on sunday, while I felt a little tired they felt ok. Katie and I met up and went for a swim...which had to have been the roughest mile I've EVER swam. After our swim Chris came and joined us for 9 miles of fun running, and over and over I was really amazed how good my legs felt. We took it pretty easy on the run, but my legs weren't heavy or acting tired to me which was really great.

And so it is done...I just signed up for two tri's this fall. The OC tri up in orange county, Olympic distance on Sept 28th (in two weeks) and an all woman's tri here in SD mid oct. I also have on my mind to do the 50mile or metric century at Tour de Poway and Tour de Jullian in early November. Who can pass up apple pie?

Training Induced Narcolepsy

Training Induced Narcolepsy : Random and sometimes uncontrollable bouts of sleep after a hard workout. (term...made up by me).

This weekend I didn't have one bout of Training Induced Narcolepsy (T.I.N.), but two. So on Sunday after deciding that YES, an 8 mile run in the middle of the day, in a very unshaded place, while it was very warm, combined with a well executed faceplant on the trail (yes, me, the oh so graceful one, DID manage to bite it...once again.), following a reasonably tough bike the day before (lots o-hills), I got home, took a shower, pulled my robe on and planned to briefly lie down on my bed, you know, just for a second. I woke up an hour later to my phone ringing. oops. My face plant was a bit deja vous of my last trail running face plant, but I managed not to fall on my knees and therefore not induce a hip spasm that would take months to recover from, but I do have a huge bruise on my thigh now.

Then on monday, I ventured out for what was supposed to be a 28mile bike but got turned into a 38 mile bike after roads we thought were supposed to be open, were not in working condition. Again a hill fest like Saturday's ride, but this time I did get a little further into my day after coming home and taking a shower before the T.I.N hit. I was in the middle of doing laundry and sat down for a second and was out for a half an hour. Never know when it will hit.

(Random side note...there are dogs that are used to study narcolepsy. In this clip it is a doxin, but a lot of times they used Doberman Pinchers and Labs. Scientists may have found a gene that is linked to it in dogs.)


I didn't think I was that tired this weekend that I would randomly just fall asleep, but I guess I was. This weekend's training was pretty good, swimming friday in the ocean, a hilly ride sat, long run sun and a hilly longer ride on monday. Last weeks training was also pretty decent, found a new Max on my deadlift: 210 and on my backsquat: 139. Improvements are good.

Life in these parts has been good, really insane at work, my trainings is going decently and hence I am very behind on many blogs and writing on mine, but all around things are going well. I will catch up here one day soon. I hope. :-)

Has it been a month?

It does appear that it has been almost a month since i have been to crossfit...gasp. Work, travel and life has taken the insane approach and very sadly even though i'm only going to crossfit 1x a week sadly crossfit got dropped. Although that being said, in about 6 weeks time I may be back to 3-4x a week. I've pretty much decided on the OC tri as it looks like Pumpkinman is the weekend after I will be returning from an experimental trial that might be a little exhausting and I won't have enough time to travel to Las Vegas for the tri either due to travelling. So...i have approximately 6 weeks. It will be interesting. The only lingering question in my mind: Should I do the 50 mile bike ride (not a race, just a fun ride) the day before?

For crossfit today was 3x:
21 double unders
21 dumbell squats-jerk 20lbs (rxd was 25)
3 rope climbs

hahahaha...i can't climb the rope to save my life. I did improve (sorta) as the rounds went on, but I just lose the rope under me after I have hoisted myself up and then i'm just hanging by my arms. No good.

I did have to scale down the db squats-jerks but only to 20lb dbs and I felt I did those at a reasonable clip...still hard, and tiring but decent effort. I think the rxd 25 pounds would have put me on the floor, so a decent edge for me. Happy to be back though, even though I can tell the arms are going to be decently sore tomorrow.

Start value = 6.5

I have been watching a LOT of the olympics and recently when the individual events for gymnastics came up some differences in approach started to show. There were some athletes that would do a reasonably hard routine, but not go for the highest start value = 6.5. They would execute well and then wait and see if anyone could challenge the well executed, but maybe not the 'all for glory' type of routine. Then other athletes would go for the highest start value and basically go for gold. It was all or nothing baby. It was a mentality of 'in it to win it' and if they fell...they fell and that was it, game over...but if they executed perfectly it was all about the podium...all about gold.

This mindset has challenged me a little in general life, work and whathaveyou. I only get one shot at this life, why not go for a start value of 6.5 on things? I most of the time will do a 'no guts no glory' attitude on things, but today as I was putting together a plan for some experiments that I have to run off site, my co-worker interrupted me as I was still in the middle of the laundry list of things I wanted to do during this experiment and said: Are you on drugs?? (OK maybe I am asking a lot...but that's the way it goes.)

No guts no glory right? Shoot for the stars and you might hit the moon. But I don't always take this approach and sometimes, well...sometimes maybe it is worth it to go for a start value of 6.5 and just see what happens. Maybe I will fall on my face, but maybe I will stick the landing and then...gold.

Getting my legs under me

I just had a great run for me and now I need to share it:
Mile 1:10:07, 143bpm
Mile 2:8:49, 162bpm
Mile 3:8:54, 163bpm
Mile 4:8:37, 167bpm
Mile 5: cool down

The goal of the run, middle three miles to be in my LT which for me is between 160-170bpm. And the result...THREE MILES SUB 9MPM. OK...not superhuman fast but after months of being injured and months of fighting back and looking at my fitness a year ago and it being in the total trash due to my focus being graduating it just been a long road back. It has been a long while since I felt good about my running and fitness in general and I am starting to feel better about it all and let me just say: it.feels.so.good.

Ohhh update on my general aversion to masters swim: I didn't avoid it yesterday. THREE weeks in a row, YEA. Sadly the coach failed to show up so someone scribbled a workout on the board and my lane mate sorta helped me decide what to do. I still showed up...and that counts in my book.

Blame the Olympics

I don't even own a TV that I can watch the Olympics on, but I am glued to it at my friend's house. Little blogging I'm sure will happen over this Olympic time period. Olympics + crazy business with everything = me...not enough sleep, lots of work, and not enough sleep. But can I make one ity bity complaint? Can Micheal Phelps be just a smidge, just a smidge more excited when he get a gold medal? I mean we don't need a display like his excitment over the 4x100 relay(I mean who wasn't screaming over that one?), but to break a world record in the 200 butterfly and while earing the MOST career golds with.that.race. and have this look of disappointment. They speculate he was going for a faster time...but seriously...look sorta excited. Puuuuleez. (edit:so...today I found out that his disgruntled-ness may have been due to water in the goggles...but this is not the first ho-hum "gee I won a race/broke a world record." Come'on show a little excitement, it IS the OLYMPICS. But that is just MY opinion.)

I have to decide pronto on if I am doing an oly in 6 or 10 weeks...i'm leaning towards one in 10...but I may have a work conflict. I should know that verdict soon here.

Training is going remarkably well for having little focus. I have been swimming a lot more lately between masters and joining katie b and co for some open water swimming last week. I am finally getting my legs back under me with my running and starting to see my times drop, which is so nice. My 7 mile run last sunday, majority of the run was in a pace range I like and I am starting to feel like my hip is back to normal and my legs are just beginning to like the whole 'training' thing again where I am going faster for me, and able to start pushing some real boundries. It is starting to come together.

Round these parts...

It has been chaos in my little life. But things are just going all crazy and not much I can do about it but hang on for a crazy ride.

I had a pretty awesome weekend of training. I had a really awesome ride on Saturday. The group I went out with I was new-er to the group as I had only been out with some of these people (OK one of this group) the week before. So I had no idea where on the riding spectrum I would fall. We headed out and somehow I found myself with the 'fast cats'. Oh crap was my thought. But I did hold their pace for most of the ride and near the end when I started to fade a little, they kicked it back a notch so I didn't completely fall off the bandwagon, which I totally appreciated. I had a great ride and enjoyed the day.

Sunday I pounded through a 8 mile run that really was supposed to be 9 miles. Parts of it sucked like no other, but i think part is just reminding myself how to run on tired legs. That can be a bigger mental exercise than an actual physical one...especially when it is warm.

Total success on monday...i dragged my butt back to masters...woohoo...it was pretty funny though because there were 3 lanes. The REALLY fast lane, the FASTER lane and then my lane. (YES me with my spastic puppy swimming) The first two lanes were made up of people who actually knew the drills the coach was talking about and then there was me and my lane who contained a variety of knowledge, I won't speak for the other three people in my lane, but it didn't seem like there was whole lot of drill knowledge between the four of us on anything but freestyle. And considering we were doing 100m IM sets...only being familiar with freestyle drills only gets you 1/4 of the way through these things. So there was a lot of: What does she mean by that? Um...what? I'm just going to do freestyle. Now granted in undergrad I did take two semesters of 'swim class' so I'm not a complete newbie to doing drills and such, but but that was...gasp...over 10ish years ago when I actually took those classes. So this was me during the class:

Uh...what is the order of the strokes?

Uh...what if you can't actually DO the butterfly? (For the record...I do more of a butterflop) And you want me to do WHAT without choking on the water? And after explanation of one of the drills...this what went through MY head: how exactly am I to do a dolphin kick with breast stroke arms and not find myself at the bottom of the pool?

Uh...what do you mean by a breast stroke drill?Practice the leg part on my back? (what is this lady talking about)

Uh...backstroke drill? You mean you actually want me to do the backstroke in a straight line and not hit the other 3 people in my lane. Funny lady.

By the end of all our IM drills, I actually did attempt to do the butterfly for a couple of the 25m...one time I was doing actually ok (granted it was more of a moth than a butterfly...but the flailing did seem to be in the correct timing of the stroke) and THEN my calf cramped up and I nearly drown. So I went back to flopping around in the water. I think in total I made it once about halfway down the lane before I started to hyperventilate.

I was just happy I made it back to masters without coming up with a zillion excuses. YEA...swimming goal at the moment is to go to masters once a week and an open water swim once a week. I'm just trying to swim more and not worry too much about my pathetic slow nature in the water. Consistent swimming will help, even just increased endurance in swimming will help with my speed. I just need to get to the water on a consistent basis.

Speedy is IN!

And she crossed the line in 12:24! SpeedySpeedracer just finished the Vineman full course today! Woohoo! Send a congrats to her and for an awesome accomplishment!!! Great Job Claire!

Let's just be honest about it.

I am not a fast triathlete. I swim like a spastic puppy, I bike something akin to what other people can do backwards, and I run a little faster than slow. It is a reality that if I really, really focused I'm sure I could improve, but I have athletic ADD and that would be no fun...right? Maybe one of these days here I will reign in all my focus and focus on being faster, but i'm having way to much fun exploring all sorts of other fun things, so i'm happy just goofing around in the meantime. I know not very triathlete, type A+ personality, but my thought: meeeh. I try to adhere to the motto:"Do what you love, love what you do". I know people try to use that with respect to work, but I think that should be the same with training and exercise. And if that means doing a billion different things that I enjoy even though I may not go very fast, then so be it. I'm out and being active and that is way more important to me.

Tonight I sucked it up and went to masters swim again. Ok...i'll admit it, even after my first endeavor the thought of going back sorta made me cringe. So I found all kinds of excuses to not go. It's not that the first time was that bad, it just wasn't great, but I also am finding in my training i don't swim much either. Hmmm...maybe the lack of swimming is a big contributor to my spastic puppy swimming? Maybe?? So I sucked it up and went, and here is my observation that I have had a bunch of times: Me being slow doesn't bother me as much unless someone makes me feel bad about being slow. I realized the first coach just sorta dismissed my spastic puppy swimming and almost ignored those of us who were slower (me being the slowest). But the guy tonight gave everyone (fast or slow) the appropriate attention and equally...KICKED OUR BUTTS. While again the slowest, at least he didn't make me feel like a moron.

Main set, repeated 3 times:

4x50 kicks and swim
4 x 50 AS FAST AS YOU CAN SWIM (with little to no rest...3-4 seconds between 50s)
200 pull

There was other stuff in the warm up and cool down, but that was the bulk of the evening.

I then got a big yummy burrito and headed to the Velodrome to watch my new found friends from my Saturday ride, do their final bike track course/workout. There are bike track sessions at the Velodrome and my new found friends are trying to talk me into doing the next 6 week session that starts in 2 weeks. They told me to at least check it out today...so I did...um...yea...i'm leaning in a direction on this, more will be posted when I actually make a decision. (can you guess which way? Who has athletic ADD here?) I wouldn't even need to buy a fixie or a track bike, or whatever you want to call them. I could just borrow one there at the Velodrome. No gear required.

Another observation. I LOVE THIS. Bike culture is so fascinating to me. Rodies have STRONG opinions on riding bikes and types of bikes and road riding and even triathletes on road bikes for that matter. But mountain bikers also have strong opinions about other types of riding. And then people that ride 'fixies' (as they call a fixed gear bikes. Although I think a fixed gear bike can have breaks whereas a track bike has no breaks. Still trying to completely figure that one out at the moment.) are equally as passionate about their bike and how they think that type of riding is the only way. I love that people are so passionate about their bike and biking and such. OK i admit if they are being snobby about it, I don't really care for a person's attitude, but if they are just passionate about it, i'm all for it. I did notice this weekend that part of town I was in everyone was riding fixies. (I saw at least 10 people in a span of an hour on them) What is interesting is here in SD it does depend on the part of town what types of bikes people are riding and what is the 'norm'. It is an interesting subculture.

Questionable company

Saturday I decided to try a new group to ride with and it did suit me very well. I had a great time and was reminded how sucky my hill work has been as well as how little my my overall mileage has been, but alas...I had a great time. I think I just made friends with those people that a person's mom would say would be "questionable company". You know, growing up when parent's worry about who you are hanging out with, the 'questionable company' that puts silly ideas in your head or influence you in various (typically negative) ways. Well...I have to say two of the women on this bike ride might fit into this category(but I would argue, not a negative influence, just a bike variety influence). I mean I haven't been on a mountain bike since I was 15 and ended up on a spine board after wrecking, but the ride leader, more a mountain biker than a roadie, is convinced I should try it again (the jury is still out on that one). And then between the two of these women they have convinced me to come check out the Velodrome this week as they are taking some track bike riding lessons and I should have a gander. "You know in just two weeks they are starting track bike lessons again for beginners." Or even instilling some creative ways I might be able to bike commute at least part of my ride to work? I like more biking mileage, I just hadn't thought about their version. What in the world did I just get myself into? I think it is all a good thing, even though it does continue to support my Sports ADD mentality.

I did get in a great bike ride with this group and had a lot of fun. The Saturday ride did spark a lot more contacts of people to ride with so that was great too.

Today's 7 mile run was sluggish and slow. For San Diego, it decided to be muggy today...which took me by surprise as usually the humidity is quite minimal in this area. Sorta sapped it out of me like humidity does anywhere, especially when I'm not used to it. But I slogged through it and got it done.

I think i've caught up on all the blog posts I've missed over the past few weeks as I've been in and out of town and in the mean time chasing my tail.

Josh is not my friend

Meet 'Josh':
21 Over Head Squats (OHS)
42 pullups
15 OHS
30 pullups
9 OHS
18 pullups

Rx'd weight for women on OHS = 65lbs
My OHS weight 33lbs.
Blue band (middle resistance for pullups)

I really could have done more weight and was all geared up to do more OHS weight, but I had poorly preformed my warm up and was told my form looked bad, so stuck with the wussy bar. Today I added up those pull ups...90...no wonder my arms are having a little bit of a struggle straightening out my elbows.

I have been all over the show lately. Good stuff happening and some nutty stuff so it has made for an interesting week, but pretty good all in all. Been in and out of town and all around.

Twenty minutes

Thank God for time limits these days at crossfit. My gym has started putting time limits on workouts. This one had a time limit of 20 minutes. You were supposed to do 5 rounds or as much as you could in 20 minutes

5 rounds of:
15 Deadlifts
12 hang power cleans
9 front squats
6 push press

Men: 135lbs
Women: 83lbs

At first glance with the weight it doesn't seem so bad, really. I mean 83lbs and deadlifiting...easy peasy. 83 lbs and a hang power clean...err...now we got some issues. I can't even do one hang power clean at 83 lbs much less 12 of them. No, i'm not exagerrating. The guy leading out the class told me to do ONE and then we would scale it down. I did a lot of jumping and tried to get under the bar, but i think the lift sorta makes me nervous with the weight. Getting under a heavy bar sorta freaks me out a little. He told me I had enough momentum, but I wasn't getting under the bar. No matter, we tried to scale me down to 63 lbs. And while I could do 3 of those...we quickly discovered that was it...no more than 3. So I was down to 53lbs.

Out of the previous class of about 8 people (all who are AWESOME crossfitters and who I think were ALL doing at weight) none of them could finish all 5 rounds in 20 minutes. I got through 4 rounds, + DL +5 powercleans. (oh and i have a HUGE bruise on my left collar bone where I tend to rest/slam/hit/pushpress/front squat the bar from. It is UGLY.) One guy in my class who was doing full weight did finish in 18:18. They then speculated how many other people *might* even be able to do the whole workout. Even though I scaled it down, I feel like I had a comparable scaling of difficulty...meaning that I did about as many rounds as people who were doing full weight. Sometimes I've found when I modify my workout it ends up being a little on the lighter side and I fly through it too fast almost so I try to go for a modification that is 'similar' time wise to people who do full weight because the choice is always go heavier and do less or go lighter and do more. I tend to chose the latter. I actually like walking and going heavier can have some really nasty consequences. Going lighter doesn't mean I don't hurt like not other, but at least I am mobile.

I did get in a 4.5 mile run too. I did 4 fast-ish intervals for 1:30 each. First interval at a 7:22 pace, second interval 8:07 (I was going up a hill), 3rd interval 7:25, 4th interval7:32. I rested for roughly 3 minutes in between each interval and allowed myself to walk, slowly jog until my HR came down to 150 range.

Oh, and I think i may do this hairbrained idea. I had to play catch-up today and did 10 burpees. But tomorrow it is 5. I will talk more about this in a future post...i donno 100 days of burpees? 5050 burpees in total?? I kinda hate burpees to begin with...but then I think about the deltoids. Deltoids. I heart deltoids.

Burpee update: leaning towards no...solely because I can't really do them in my apt without waking up the neighbors and while I could do them else where, that is a 100 days of trying to figure out where to make a complete fool out of myself on a daily basis. I may give it a try and see when I fall off the wagon due to logistics.

I know...I know...I know

This was brought up with respect to my last crossfit post by Claire/Speedracer

Here are the answers:
If you answer yes to one or more of the following questions, you may be a crossfit addict:

*Have you sometimes failed to keep promises you made to yourself about controlling or cutting down on your Crossfit?

I said I was going to cut back on crossfit...I have. One day a week. I just miss it terribly. So NO I've kept my promises...even though I secretly want the off season so I can do crossfit 5 days a week.

*Have you ever had a traffic violation, or any other legal problem related to crossfit/the endorphins brought on by a crossfit binge?

um...no (see i'm doing great no problems here)

*Do you try to avoid family or close friends while you are doing crossfit?

They don't go to the crossfit gym...and I made friends at the crossfit gym...not a fair question.

*Are you having more financial, work, school and/or family problems as a result of crossfit?

Does constantly thinking about crossfit while at work count?

*Has your PT ever advised you to cut down on your crossfit?

I've been dismissed from my PT and I think that crossfit keeps me out of his office therefore...this question is really N/A

*Do you eat very little or irregularly during the periods when you are doing crossfit?

You can't crossfit and eat...that equals puking.

*Do you sometimes have the "shakes" after a CF workout and find that it helps to do a "little" deadlifting, pullups or functional mobility work of some kind?

Who doesn't have the 'shakes' after a CF workout?? Deadlifting can sometimes work out that nasty back spasm too.

*Have you recently noticed that you can't crossfit as much as you used to?

That's the point, less crossfit during the season so I can do more LT work.

*Do you sometimes stay at crossfit for several days at a time?

I do go to work. I promise.

*After periods of heavy lifting do you sometimes see or hear things that aren't there?

No...I generally can find the floor just fine, that is there, under my feet and that is me just lying on the floor, hoping that I will regain the strength to walk out the door. No hallucinating.

*Do you ever feel depressed or anxious before, during or after periods of heavy lifting?

Only depressed when I can't lift what is the prescribed workout of the day...which is most days.

*Have any of your blood relatives ever had a problem with crossfit?

They have no idea what i'm talking about.

Any "yes" answer indicates you may be at greater risk for crossfit abuse. More than one "yes" answer may indicate the presence of an crossfit-related problem or crossfit abuse, and the need for consultation with a professional.

Awwww...come on.

Claire/Speed Racer has brought into question of if I am addicted to crossfit. My answer...yes I already knew that...and your point is...??

If someone told me I would love crossfit, as insane as it is...and as much DOMS I have suffered I would have said...NOT ME!! But here are some of my responses to my addiction too:

Did you ever think that after 6 months of crossfit that you would actually start to see those muscles on your stomach that people call 'abs'?

Did you ever know how cool deltoids really are?

Did you ever think that one day you might actually be able to do an unassisted pullup? Or climb a rope?(Ok not yet, but soon)

Did you know that there are more muscles in your quads than just your quads and VMO and you actually might see them with bouts of crossfit?

Did you ever expect that you might think that lifting could be fun ?? Or that you might buy weight lifting shoes?

My answers were a resounding no to these questions up until the last 6 months of crossfit. Am I addicted...sure...is it keeping my injuries at bay...ABSOLUTELY...do my knees hurt any more from ITBS...no...hipflexor issues? Improving with strengthening my glutes. The goal of crossfit was to improve my injury situation and in the middle of it, I have become addicted. I readily admit it.

I'll be upfront and honest...Don't try it unless you are prepared for a possible addiction. I give that as a warning. It is addictive.

How to wreck havoc on yourself in 12 mins or less

How to wreck havoc on yourself in 12 mins or less:

5 rounds of:

5 DeadLifts
10 burpees(up-downs...thighs must be on the ground as well as chest and hands must be straight overhead on jump with arms by the ears.)

Men: 275lbs for DL

Women: 185lbs for DL

My thought for the prescribed weight: You have to be kidding me. OK there were a few more um...colorful words thrown in there.

Oh yea, you have to finish in under 12 minutes.

Me...while I know my deadlift max is 205lbs, i didn't know how I would fare with 185lbs 5x5 rounds. In the end I was 40lbs short at 145lbs, but i'm a bit of a crossfit weakling.

11:28 was my time.

I'm already starting to feel the soreness.

And I miss crossfit more than I thought I would. I may have to re-think my unusually low Lactate Threshold and whether I care as much as I thought I did about changing it.

Yoga Guilt

I was supposed to go ride this afternoon, but as I was running late for work I did not have enough time to throw my bike in the car for a ride after work. I decided to switch some yoga on Thursday with my bike ride and showed up to my local yoga studio and got to go to my favorite instructors class. This guy seriously rocks, he pushes, but within one's edge, he's an awesome teacher...he's great all around. But since I have a gym membership that has some yoga and I do this and I do that...my yoga going at this studio has been lackluster. But here's the thing...gym yoga generally = sucks. And the yoga at my gym ranges from sucky to ok.

So I show up and he's all "hey nice to see you? Busy with work? I hope all is well." And then I realize that i'm feeling guilty for not going to this class. I feel like I've been cheating on the yoga studio with my gym. GASP!! I know this is slightly irrational and I told myself to just 'do what you want'...but I found my emotions humorous for some reason.

The class...awesome as usual. I did get to ponder as we hung out in downward dog...how is it that that little spot below my knee can sweat so much. Odd. But I find it sorta weird to look down and see my shins sweating too. I was a bit of a goof in the middle of class though...we were getting ready to vinysa down to the floor and we were getting our bricks ready so that if you wanted to use them to help you swing through as you tried to get your legs to go from downdog into a seated position you could.(in the video she's going from seated to downdog back to seated...I'm so NOT close to doing anything like this) )Me...i was sorta out of it and a little tired at this point...so I grab my bricks and just plop my butt on my mat oblivious to the rest of the class standing getting ready to do the vinyasa. My teacher sorta laughed at me at my almost childlike glee of plunking myself down on the floor much to my embarrassment, instead of vinyasy-ing my way onto the floor...or should I say 'flopping' myself onto the floor. I am still a long way away from being able to shoot my legs from downdog into a seated position or reverse. I just sorta flop around on the floor and make a pathetic attempt at it. That generally seems to be the theme of my 'athletic' endeavors...i sort just flop around trying to make it 'look' like whatever i'm attempting to do desperately trying not to look too silly in the middle of it. Granted I still feel silly.

But after class I realized how much I really, REALLY love that class and as I am in the middle of trying to plan out the rest of my race season, I think i'm going to see if there is any way I can do that class on a weekly basis. I was also pleasantly surprised to see I'm still pretty 'yoga strong' for me considering I haven't done a ton of yoga lately. Want to hang out in chaturangafor awhile...go ahead...that's fun. Go crossfit!

I sorta can't believe that I'm mid-July and still don't have a training plan mapped out. That does seem to be the theme this season. I did start mapping some preliminary stuff for the OC triathlon at the end of Sept with Silverstrand stuck behind it 5 weeks later. I think i've come up with a plan on how to veeeeeerrrrrrrry slowly inch my running millage up so that hopefully I don't piss off my hip too much in the process.

Weekend Adventures

This nice three day weekend has had its share of adventures that have been pretty fun. The weekend, while packed has been also equally low key. I'm not sure how I achieved such a great balance, but it did work out that way.

Friday: Swim Fishy Swim

Friday morning I headed down for some open water swimming to yet reconfirm my LOVE of my new wetsuit. People were already all camped out all over the beach for the 4th festivities...at SEVEN IN THE MORNING. People seriously...come on. But I guess that is how it goes around here...you want to be on the beach for the fourth you must fully commit. I on the other hand had decided to STAY AWAY from such insanity for that day. I got a nice mile swim in, but can I just say KELP SUCKS!! It freaks me out a little and it is gross and it just sucks and for a good part of the swim you have to go through basically a kelp farm. BLECH. But aside from the freaky kelp the swim was really good. The rest of my 4th was pretty good too.

Saturday: Riding urban style

I live in a fairly 'urban' part of SD. It's not littered with bike lanes and I'm not too far from true 'down town' and there are lot-o-stop lights. Some days I'm not a huge fan of where I live because I am not as close to great places to bike to be perfectly honest, but I do also like where I live so I am always debating whether to move or not. On Thursday after my little lack of clipping out debacle that gave me a pretty massive bruise on my knee with a nasty scrape I had pretty much HAD it with living where I do. I don't know what the connection between the bike crash and my dislike for living in such an urban area really is since I was NO WHERE down town and riding near my apt when I fell...but somehow in my little head there was a connection. Can't think of what it is at the moment. Anyway, I digress...so recently I found another person in my neighborhood who wanted to bike around in my part of town. So i thought 'sure why not' might be fun not to have to drive somewhere to go for a bike ride. So on Sat I roll out my door and met up with my new riding partner.

Now we had discussed a little biking and running and stuff...mainly just looking for other people in our part of town to train with. I didn't really think that I would end up riding with this person as he is a much stronger cyclist that I am...so I didn't really want to hold him back, but he seemed to want to meet up anyway and go for a ride in my part of town. So i'm game to meet new people to train with and head out.

I'm going to refer to him from now on as Mr. Hills...as that was his constant suggestions "do you know this hill? We should go do it...or that hill??" Now granted living in the city, since you have to stop all the time for tons of freaking stop lights hill training is really good because you end up getting a killer workout in even if it appears you didn't go very fast since you had to stop for every stop light. But as we are flying through downtown heading down to the Pt. Loma and the coast I am starting to feel I'm in that Kevin Bacon movie Quicksilver. Except as we ride down the hills and through the urban environment I am internally screaming like a little girl. Not flying through intersections and track standing at stop lights (although that would be a REALLY useful trick to know in the city) like they do in the movie. In fact my riding didn't resemble anything as graceful as some of that bike handling in that movie, but flying through an urban environment gave me at least the feeling that might have been.

I'm not opposed to urban riding and oddly I can do it when I am with other people quite comfortably, but sometimes by myself I'm not too keen. Weird. I know. But in the end the ride was really good. Lots of hills. I thought I was going to have to cold water bath my legs by the end, but didn't and feel fine today even after then proceeding to take up a new sport that evening.

Saturday night: New 'Sport'???

Is salsa dancing considered a sport? I donno, but by the end of Sat night it felt like it should be. And actually this morning I was starting to ponder why my right arm is sorta stiff and sore and I realized that too much swinging around in circles can do that to ones' arm. It was a seriously fun evening. Unfortunately my planned long run has suffered due to this new endeavor. But no matter, I'm in a spot with training that that isn't too big of a deal.

I think I have finally decided on some races this fall. I am really thinking of OC tri Oly at the end of Sept and I guess I'm going to default to the Silverstrand 1/2 mary mainly because I don't want to travel at the moment for the races. Training will start to take some actual shape on that soon as I attempt to plan that out at the moment. I will throw down some sprints in between...possibly one this up and coming weekend and some other fun mixed in here and there. It will come together and it is bit by bit.

It was bound to happen

This is my fifth triathlon season and my fourth with clipless peddles. Everyone tells you "you will fall over trying to clip out at some point". But most made reference to when you have first gotten your peddles...not after riding with them for 3+ years. Granted I'm not sure if I really get to say that I fell over because I forgot to clip out. I did clip out. I clipped out, just like I normally do. It went something like this:

Left foot out. Left foot on the ground. Realizing that I need to push stop light button with right hand. Lean to the right to push the button. Left foot on ground. Reaching to my right. Right foot clipped in. Losing balance. Losing traction with left foot because I'm in stupid bike shoes. Still losing balance. Gaining balance. Losing balance. Need to clip out right foot. Can't clip right foot out. Half way still up. Am I falling? Can't clip out right foot. Slipping with left foot. Gaining balance. Losing balance. I'm ok. No I am falling. Falling. Not even sure how I hit the ground, but now right knee is bleeding. Nice. Feel like a total tool for falling over on my bike while technically clipped out. Really, I shouldn't be let out of my house. Granted I ran into my ottoman yesterday and gave myself a good bruise. I am safe nowhere.

The funny thing about it was...i was in a PISSY mood prior to the crash. But the rest of my bike ride I just had to laugh at myself because I was so lame.

I'm stuck in limbo for the next two weeks from all the crap that happened last week...so while things are better this week, i'm am realizing it is all making me really stressed and I'm 'dealing with it' in weird ways. Basically being a little overly dramatic over minor things. Its been kinda funny actually.

Last week I was so excited about my HUGE accomplishment for me at crossfit. I did SEVEN out of the eight hollow rock tabatas. I typically have pathetic core strength so these kill me every time. Hollow-rock tabata is you basically are lying on the ground, put your legs 6" in the air, put your hands either at your side or over your head, and 'rock' back and forth, but you can't rock too much so that you get to use momentum. Now do that for 20 seconds. Take a 10 second break and repeat for a total of 8 times. You can only count the 20 second session if you don't poop out in the middle of it. Previously I had only made 4 sessions...but last week i made SEVEN. There are a few tips and tricks to it...like don't rock too fast and i found that putting my hands to my sides didn't make my back hurt which also helped. Then I tried to do L-sits and made it literally about a second. OK... so my abs had had enough at that point. My L-sits are rather pathetic any way.