HAVEN'T HAD CABLE SINCE THE MOVE SIX MONTHS AGO. NOW I HAVE THAT DIGITAL BOX THAT I GOT FREE WITH THE GOVERNMENT VOUCHER. I'M HOOKED ON THE FREE USN CHANNEL (NBC) THAT PLAYS OLD KONA SPECIALS FROM YEARS PAST!!!
THEN OF COURSE FOR THE HOURS I SPEND ON THE TRAINER...
if you checked the portuguese word of the day to the right yesterday, the word was "trabalho" meaning "work." how fitting since this girl needs a J.O.B. it worked out that work was slow towards the end of my vineman training, but now that billing cycle is hitting hard and i'm B.R.O.K.E. luckily, work's picking up, and it looks like i'll be living outta a suitcase for the better part of the next month. this is gonna be good practice for getting my workouts in on the road when im brasil training really kicks in.
first, this week i'm off to the parker in palm springs, made famous in it's own reality show. really people, why do we care? here's a quote from what they say about their myriad of pools:
"Our two body-temperature indoor pools -- male only and female only -- are used for a variety of aqua aerobics and aqua therapies. Both pools also have their own designated indoor whirlpool if you simply want to enjoy a good soak. Our indoor pools are open 8 am to 8 pm. We have two outdoor pools. Our saline pool is completely chlorine-free, so don't worry about taking a dip after one of our treatments. Our jewel-box pool, located on the north lawn, is kept at slightly warmer temperature for those who really do not want much more than a plunge, and contains a whirlpool. Both outdoor pools are staffed from 8 am until dusk."
um, ok, that all sounds perfectly posh, but can i get my heart rate up in one lap?? no worries, i'm not swimming that much these days anyway. i really need to get an 8 miler in, and it's a gabillion degrees out there, so i may be headed to the treadmill. it actually looks to have a pretty nice gym facility, so i might do some core work while i'm there. check it out. they even have a pilates reformer:
i know i know, i ain't got nothin' to complain about. really, though, it's work.....
stay tuned for where i'm headed next. yeah, it's another spa...
THE BEST PART though, is that while i'm in palm springs i get to visit with my very first running coach!!! i haven't seen him in years!!! it's gonna be so awesome to tell him all that i'm up to now.
me with my "kathy switzer" pace group. there's about 85 runners in 10 pace groups all named after famous marathoners.
contrary to the previous post below, my runners had a much more enjoyable 18 mile run today. sure there were some that could not complete the mileage due to injury, some who are catching up in the mileage due to injury, but overall, today was a great day for them. the weather held out with some cloud coverage which makes all the difference. they did so well on staying together and keeping their pace. i struggle most with trying to slow them down and getting them to understand training pace versus race pace, but they're starting to see the big picture. they're training for both the florence marathon and the honolulu marathon while raising money for the aids marathon charity. it means so much to me to help these people realize their fitness goals and dreams and raise money for a charity and a disease that has affected my family and so many others.
i'm thinking i should maybe do my last long runs for nyc at the beach, but it's such a haul clear across town, and i already do it once a week to coach there and usually a second time to get in an ocean swim. but hell, gas just went down below 3 bucks, so maybe i'll splurge for those last long runs. it makes such a difference and hopefully nyc will be cooler than the last two times i ran it when they had record heat and humidity...
i tell my runners that i coach that i've done it all wrong so that they don't have to. today's 16 miler happens to be one of those instances. in a nutshell, IT TOTALLY SUCKED ASS. so get ready to laugh or maybe cry....
i got in last night from a two day shoot in san diego. not too late, but the drive back was in traffic and took us 3.5 hours as opposed to the standard two. upon getting home i was pretty beat and still planned to run today, but i needed 8 hours of sleep first. this delayed my start a little later than i prefer, but a run without good sleep is headed for disaster. then again, so is a run in the heat which is what i was looking at.
i decided to put the miles in at griffith park this time. the bowl is great for a shorter run, but it's only a 5k loop and i go nutty if i have to go around it more than 4 times tops. mind you, i have done a 16 miler and a 20 miler on the treadmill at the gym due to severe rain and smog, but that was torture beyond belief.
i planned to do a repeat of an 8 mile route in the park, pretty flat save a small hill, and easy to hide my gatorade bottles and snacks in the bushes at both far ends. you have to be careful at griffith when you hide your water bottles. for one, i've caught people actually trying to take my water and for two, you don't want anyone thinking you're a terrorist. as i'm putting them out, i'm already thinking "damn it's hot already. man this is gonna suck today" i took a last look at the thermometer in the car. it read 75 degrees. it was only 9:30am and 75 degrees already. why did i do that?? why did i have to look at the temperature?? why do i torture myself like that?? you know you're in trouble if you're already hating life before the run has even begun. as i set out for the first mile, i meditated on why i was freaking out so much:
1. this is my first marathon in over a year, also marathon #10, and this was the longest run i've attempted past a half marathon in all that time.
2. the last time i ran in the park (last year) i set out for a 20 miler which then turned into an 8 miler at which time i quit and proceeded to go home and defer my nyc marathon entry to this year. my first dnf ever.....
3. the last time i ever attempted a 16 miler, i fell in the 2nd mile, twisting my ankle and skidding across the sidewalk, yet i continued for 3 more hours. later at the emergency room, the doctor all but spanked me and told me that i didn't break my ankle when i fell. i broke it by continuing to run for 3 more hours. it's called a "chip fracture." gee thanks.
4. two months later, after a walking cast, acupuncture, and against everyone's advice, i ran marathon #9 in an ankle brace. it didn't suck nearly as bad as today's run, and it was my dream marathon that my runners the previous year had bought me a plane ticket to go run. really, i had a blast, ankle brace or no ankle brace...remember, i do it all wrong so my runners don't have to....
but i'm still running, and i know that if i go far enough, i'll either get over it or i won't, but I WILL NOT STOP BEFORE I FINISH THESE 16 MILES (ok, only if i trip and fall in the next mile or so). i'm thinking this would be a perfect opportunity to get caught up on a few episodes of the get your geek on triathlon podcasts. after all, i just discovered them, and they started a year ago, so i got 40 episodes to catch up on!! so for whatever reason, the episodes were loaded backwards on my shuffle, and the first one to come up has wil griping about her it band injury. um hello??? i'm trying to get 16 miles in here!!! i don't need to hear about it band injuries!! just my luck. ok, i suppose we all have dark training days, like the one i'm having today. so i rewind to another one where the kahuna records a lovely father and son big wave surf session. that one had me outta my head and thinking about the ocean. aaaah, the ocean. i love the ocean. now i'm distracted. i'm slowly coming up to a stride, but not a speed. i'm clocking 11-12 minute miles. would somebody just shoot me??
i'm halfway through and still distracted by the podcasts when i hear monica!! it's my dear old roommate, dante, and he's on a bike. i'd heard through mutual friends that he'd gotten in to cycling and lost a bunch of weight. he looked great. we chatted for a second and said we'd get each other's numbers and go riding soon. things are looking up.....until i get to mile 11.
i'm realizing that i'm out of fluids. no problem, i can find a drinking fountain somewhere. and then, just before mile 13 there's one on the horizon. so of course i gulp down the last of what i have left before i get there only to find out it doesn't work, but at the end of this loop is the travel town train museum. they've gotta have a drinking fountain don't they?
and yess!!! they do. so i fill 'er up and i'm on my way for the last 3 miles. slooooowing down all the way. in the end, about an 11:33 pace. are you kidding me?? ok, maybe not slow to some, but slow for me. i'm aiming for more like a 10:00 to 10:30 pace which could very well be considered slow to a lot of you out there. maybe this just wasn't my day. i'll get 'em next time. i'll have better rest, better hydration, and for sure better thoughts.
on my way home, i snapped out of it. i meditated again on these few important facts:
1. I JUST RAN 16 FRIGGIN' MILES.
2. I'M LUCKY TO HAVE HAD A FREE DAY TO RUN 16 MILES.
3. I'M NOT GETTING SHOT AT IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN.
4. like ice cube says: "TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY"
AND FROM THE "BRING IN THE NOISE, BRING IN THE FUNK" DEPARTMENT:
in the end, no blisters, but what is up with this nastiness??
tomorrow, my runners do 18 miles. i will pray that they learn from my debacles and all have a great day.........
we got back from monterey in pretty decent time saturday. that allowed me to rest up and prep for the hansen dam sprint tri the next morning. can't think of a better way to spend my birthday (ok, the day before my birthday) than to race a super fun race with a bunch of friends from la tri club. i wrote on my belly it's my birthday!! and then on my back it's my birthday, let me win. i even wore a tiara attached to my visor for the run portion (did it slow me down??), but clearly 3 women between ages 35-39 can't yet read. yeah, i got 4th place. i'm not complaining though. the race was so much fun!!! i think it's becoming a tradition to do a race for my birthday. last year, for the big 35, i raced my first half ironman in new hampshire at timberman. torrential downpour the whole race!!! but again, nothing stops this birthday girl from having her fun!!! i was so afraid to do that first half ironman, afraid that i'd think it was too hard and then never want to do a full ironman. but here i am a year later, 3 half ims under my belt now and about to start training for ironman brasil. soooooooo damn excited!!!!!
DISCLAIMER: MY POINT AND SHOOT DIGICAM HAS FINALLY BITTEN THE DUST. ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEO WERE SHOT WITH MY PHONE. WHILE THIS PAINS ME, I STILL THINK YOU'LL GET THE IDEA OF JUST HOW BEAUTIFUL THE SCENERY WAS. OK, CARRY ON...
the view off of the pacific grove bike path on the monterey peninsula
drove up to monterey with simko thursday to work on a shoot. i get to travel quite a bit for work, nothing too far off and exotic, but to some gorgeous locations nonetheless. this was definitely one of them. when i travel, if i'm really lucky, i can steal away for an hour somewhere and get a run in and see the sites on foot. most of the time though, i'm relegated to the hotel gym. if i have enough lead time, i'll search out the local ymca and go for a good swim workout, usually for free or no more than 5 bucks. i suspect my travel schedule is going to be my biggest challenge in this im training. there's usually very little notice of when or where i'm going, and obviously the bike will suffer the most, so if anyone's got some more travel advice, i'll gladly take it!!
simko called to let me know we'd be driving up (about 5 hours) and that the magazine had assigned us a huge suv, but we'd be shooting digital with an off camera flash, so about three small bags of gear. he's a golf nut and a former triathlete having lived in san diego at the time of the sports inception there. his idea was to leave early thursday and get up there in time for him to tee off about 2:00 or 3:00. he suggested i bring my bike along for a ride!!! are you kidding me?? i really get to bring my bike??? YESS!!!
simko teeing off at the pacific grove municipal course in monterey
simko picked the pacific grove municipal course to golf at. this happens to fall right on the bike course for the triathlon at pacific grove that's put on by the same race directors as wildflower. i've heard such great things about this race and was so excited to be able to ride the course!!! but then i learned that a full 18 holes can take up to 4 hours to get through (i'm completely clueless about golf). pac grove is an olympic course. i'd be done with that ride in no time. so then i investigated further and found a route for the entire monterey peninsula. first i rode south through the prettiest and most posh part of the peninsula, passing golf course after golf course and mansion after mansion. it was super windy, the windiest ride i'd ever done. i've heard of people being nearly blown over, especially when speaking about kona, but i nearly blew over for the first time!!! then i went north to the more secluded sand dune beaches.
the cliffs along the route at pacific grove
the ocean view from the top of a pine grove climb
the sand dunes to the north
man oh man am i one lucky girl!!! 37.3 miles of gorgeous coastline. and i'm getting paid for this!!! another one for the "next time you catch yourself complaining" chronicles...shoot went super smooth, we ate like royalty, then a nice drive back home. more on what i did the day after we got back in my next post....
met my buddy ted down at the bowl tonight for a leisurely ride. he's riding a century on saturday, and i'm still in this "i don't want to follow any schedule" mode that has me riding and swimming when i feel like it. turns out i feel like it all the time. ted is a pure cyclist, unlike me, a triathlete who used to hate cycling but is slowly learning to like it. he likes to take every opportunity to make fun of me and all things triathlon, but i can see right through his jealousy for my aerobars. he rides some fancy road bike made by some potheads up in northern cali. it's sick for sure, super clean at all times. ted doesn't play. he pushes me out there. i showed up tonight wanting to just spin and spill my guts about my retarded romantic situation. he entertained my yammering for about a lap and then asked me if i wanted some cheese to go with my whine, and we took off just a little bit more, but enough for me to forget all about the dumbass guy. our pace was still mellow by all standards, but it was peloton night, so everyone was antsy.
i complained that i couldn't get a good shot of ted. he replied "you can't catch smoke." what a dork. but thanks, ted. thanks for listening to my drama, and then thanks for letting me pull you to 30 on the downside (even though my puter read 28.7). have a great ride saturday.
please ignore the dork who walked into my shot. and notice ted on the far right itching to jump in
as i wrote in a previous post, our peloton night was in jeopardy here at the rose bowl. but thanks to all the pressure put on by cycling organizations, the city of pasadena has tabled the ordinance and will now form a committee consisting of residents, cyclists, and city planners to discuss options for the future of the bowl, that will include the long standing tradition of the peloton ride!!! there were even rumors that some professional cyclists threatened to boycott and dissuade the amgen tour of california from conducting it's final stage in pasadena. now that's some good dope they're on!!!
last night i raced at the final playa del run sunset series aquathlon. i know it's a weird word, but it's basically another hybrid of the triathlon. you got duathlon, aquathlon, and aquabike, an opportunity for any triathlete to race while eliminating their weakest event. for me, that's the bike, so i get a chance to rock at aquathlon. last year at the playa points series, i qualified to race at worlds in switzerland in aquathlon. it was a once in a lifetime experience!!! you can see photos here
the playa del run is another example of why it doesn't suck to live here in socal. where else can you race in the ocean on a thursday night??? only problem with a nighttime race is that it's difficult to balance your nutrition throughout the day. i started out the morning not being hungry but feeling tightness in my legs. i decided to go to yoga to try to get a good stretch taking care not to hold any poses too long or do anything too weight bearing. yoga went great, but afterwards, i realized it was 2:00 now and i'd still not eaten!! went to whole foods and grabbed some of my favorite israeli couscous, not too heavy and good whole grain fuel. i thought i'd need some protein as well so i added some chicken to the box. big mistake. i ate it too late for a race starting at 6:30. felt queasy going into the swim, and wasn't looking forward to the run at all, but by the time i hit the bike path with my shoes on, i was keeping a good stride, maintaining about a 180 average heart rate although my perceived exertion felt way lower. cut off 2 minutes in the swim due to wearing a wetsuit this time, a minute off the run, yet only a minute off overall due to my slower transition in getting the wetsuit off and being really picky about wanting to wash the sand from my feet. fun though.
today i had the day off from work, so i decided to stay over on the westside last night and went for my 7 miler on the boardwalk. got that outta the way and then went to lunch with one of my runners i coach. after that, i went to the beach and layed out in my bikini. it was so strange. i couldn't remember the last time i actually sat on the beach in anything other than my tri kit. so there i was, in my bikini, trying to even out that bike shorts tan, and reading my latest edition of runner's world. this time off is gonna get old real soon.....
so i've got ants. they've been lingering about a month now, and no amount of talking will get them out. you see, i can't kill bugs, which becomes a problem when you live in a woodsy neighborhood like mine. every time i get in the shower, i check for spiders and do my best to escort them out the door without drowning them down the drain. but the ants started in on my clif shot blox, and that's where i had to draw the line!!!
cut to this afternoon. some nondescript dude from terminix shows up between the hours of 1pm-3pm. not as bad as the phone or cable company for sure, but there goes that swim i was hoping to get in!! he's kinda weird, kinda snarky, kinda no-nonsense, doesn't seem to wanna make eye contact at all. i show him where the ants are trailing in the kitchen and then through the wall to the bathroom and then from the bathroom to the garage, but i'm embarrassed to open the door to the garage. he says, "that's ok. i don't do garages." ok, sure dude, handle your business. and off he goes, spraying the perimeter of the house first and then coming back in with some weird caulking gun of poison to "spot treat" the areas i've pointed out (except of course for the garage). he's pretty much ignoring me as he goes about his business, and i'm happy to check emails until his work is done. all of a sudden he comes out of my bedroom, and without much change in his monotone voice and still no eye contact, he asks, "so when's your next big race?" to which i reply, "well, vineman was my last "a" race this season, so i'm pretty much taking it easy the rest of the season 'til i run the new york mara..." wait a minute!!! how does this dude know i race?? turns out he saw my transition bag sitting on the floor in my room and the stack of competitor magazines in the bathroom and he deduced that i was a triathlete. great, now i can't get the dude to shut up!! and why can't he be cute???
it's funny how we seek each other out with the dead giveaways (mdot tatts and bumper stickers, bike racks, etc.). every time i see a bumper sticker on a car, i'm so quick to speed up and check out who's driving. maybe they'll see my usat sticker on my car and know i'm one of them? ok, well, not an ironman yet, but a triathlete all the same. we should start some secret society handshake, something like a "ro-sham-bo" of the hands to signify swim, bike, and run. i mean we pretty much have our own language already and are ready and willing to share even the most intimate and gross details of our bodily functions anytime anywhere. awe hell, let's just take over like the ants already!!
RECOVERY AND WHY IT DOESN'T SUCK TO LIVE WHERE I LIVE
i'm enjoying my post-vineman recovery time. while i'm ramping up the run mileage for the new york marathon, i've made a conscious decision to not have a structured schedule for any other workouts. it's weird!!! for months, i've had my training schedule entered into the calendar on my phone. i've known exactly what workout i'm to do on any given day for weeks in advance. although it's always been open for improvisation when work doesn't allow for what's on the roster, i've considered it a success when i can stick to it at about 70-80%. i honestly don't know ho you iron moms and dads do it!!
so before i officially embark on the training odyssey to ironman brasil in october, i'm taking some official "off time". who knew that training for a marathon (#10 btw), would be considered down time, but it's been nice to only run 3 times a week and occasionally ride or swim when i feel like it. don't get me wrong, i do feel like it all the time, but to know there's nothing on the schedule and to just go out and do it when i have time and want to is a whole other way to approach it all.
off time has also allowed me to go out and watch a race or two. that's right, it's not only fun to race but to support your friends from the sidelines at one of their races. sunday was day 2 of the international surf festival at manhattan and hermosa beaches. basically, it's two days of fun on the beach and in the water and a celebration of living here in so cal. again, i don't know how you guys on the east coast do it!! no doubt, we have it good here in cali. our tri season pretty much never ends if we don't want it to!!! the festival included a 2 mile swim from hermosa pier to manhattan pier without a wetsuit. some opted for the wetsuit, but couldn't be considered in the official rankings.
and from the "next time you wanna complain about anything, remember this" files, take a look at this guy:
i turned around to see this man coming out of the water. can't recall seeing anyone hand him his canes. did he swim the entire 2 miles holding them?? either way, i was overcome with that same feeling i get so many times while participating in this sport. that feeling that says "i'm alive. i'm alive. i am lucky for every day that i can get up and swim in the ocean, for every day i can ride a bike or run, and for every finish line i cross. anytime i wanna complain about the early mornings, the cold water, i need to remind myself that nobody is forcing me to do this. i am so truly fortunate for every opportunity to do what i love and meet so many great people who love it too. so thanks, swimmer #F378, thanks for the reminder...
ran my 14 for the nyc marathon this morning around "the bowl." only got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night and woke up to realize i didn't really have anything in the house to eat for a good training breakfast. i eventually found a small yet dense erin baker breakfast cookie still left over from my vineman schwag bag. ate that and washed it down with some FRS, and off i went. not a great way to head out the door, but it was just 14, and i was gonna go at a super slow training pace since i'm still trying to figure out what that is. with the lack of sleep and the heat, i'm still not certain what my ultimate training pace is going to be, but i settled in at just under 11 minute miles. it felt like i was going super easy, and i could have held that all day, so i know i can pick it up at the next long run.
if you're not from the l.a. area, the rose bowl is located in pasadena, just two miles from my house. of course there's the actual arena known as the rose bowl, home to the rose bowl football game on new years day. in addition, there's a country club and golf course that surrounds the arena all enclosed by a 5k loop of a road open to two way traffic. for the most part, the traffic is not very heavy as the bowl sits in a ravine which is also part of the natural arroyo here in l.a. up and around the bowl are steeper hills as well. with ample parking, the bowl offers an ideal meet up spot for groups of all sizes and a variety of rides. also located down in the arroyo is the rose bowl aquatic center, a state of the art facility, so it's a triathlete's dream!!!. since as far back as 1973, cyclists have utilized the 5k loop around the bowl for peloton style riding. they currently meet on tuesdays and thursday evenings, and it is an inspiring sight to see up to 200 cyclists all en masse whizzing by!!! world class athletes have come from all over to join in this ride.
sadly, the city of pasadena, who claims on their website to be "the most bike friendly city in the county of l.a.," just passed their "peloton ordinance." it outlaws cyclists from riding more than two abreast on any city streets. while this doesn't effect your everyday cyclist or even triathlete who wants to train with a few friends and do some loops around the bowl, it will shut down the long standing tradition of the peloton ride. this makes me so sad. sad that these amazing athletes will be left with no alternatives as safe and accessible as the bowl to ride and train at. sad that community government can't seem to educate their citizens on the real and true issues of cyclists and public safety. instead they chose to shut it down without much dialogue on how cyclists can coexist with pedestrians and motorists.
