xterra farragut

i was pretty excited about this race, i had a lot to prove after last year's disaster. can anyone say 51 minutes for a 1500m swim?
i was bummed after hurting my obturator internus at the onionman, but after doing all those kegels all week, i was feeling good and ready to show idaho who was boss.
we headed out early on friday morning. we met eric's mom in Ellensberg and dropped the kids off with her. they were so excited about a weekend with grandma that they could hardly contain themselves. we did the kid exchange and then we were off the rest of the way to idaho. we stopped in ritzville for lunch at taco del mar. we pulled in to the parking lot in our ghetto 14 yr old volvo wagon with our bikes on top and parked across from a fancy team car with top end road and time trial bikes on top. turns out eric knew those people, they are from a local team and were headed out to a stage race in montana. fun!
after a lot of hours we got to the race site and got ready to pre-ride. we parked next to some guy and he and eric chatted it up. when eric told him about his stellar swim time from last year the guys was like, what? were you dog paddling or something? then we were off. my stomach was feeling a little bleck from the fish tacos from lunch but i was hoping it was just nerves or something.
they changed the course a little bit, but it was still long, coming in as two laps totally a little over 21 miles. the course isn't terribly technical, but its hard and fast and there is a good amount of climbing. i was dying on the pre-ride. i kept asking eric if we were at altitude because i was dizzy and couldn't breathe. sweet.
we finished up the lap and then got suited up to go for a swim. we had heard from some peeps that water temp was 46. onionman was 55 and that was COLD, so i didn't even know what 46 could be like. janet lent me her booties and i was quite pleased with them when i stepped into the water. i got in about waist deep and put my hands in. they instantly hurt from the cold. eric went out, but i stood there, waist deep with my cap and goggles on and my hands on my head for about 10 minutes. eventually eric came back and i tookd a dive in. i swam out, turned around, was back on shore in a minute 12. not cool, or apparently a little too cool.
we were staying at the same place as last year, Macdonald's Bayview Resort. i love this place and someday hope to come out and stay a few days. they are so nice, the cabins are nice and the views are amazing. plus when i went to check in, the guy made the comment that i was the fittest person he had seen all day so i must be the lady there for cabin 2. they knew we were coming for the race, but he totally made my day, i almost hugged him.
then we went back into coeur d'alene to the MacKenzie River Pizza Company for dinner. we went there last year, and its our couer d'alene favorite. my stomach felt super blecky, so i was still worried maybe i had some food poisoning from lunch, but i piled some lasagna into my lasagna hole and it took care of those pesky tacos. i felt better after.
back to the cabin and chillin' watching Say Yes to the Dress for a few hours before bed, the whole time freaking out because we had no internet connection and i was worried about my Tiki Farm crops, afraid they were going to go bad or be destroyed somehow. i tried to block it out and we went to bed.
that's a whole lot of pre-race stuff going on there.

saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn, despite the race not starting until noon. we headed over to the race site and registered, i cornered the race director and asked him about the water temp. he said they hadn't decided yet, but yelled over to another guy saying they needed to go check water temp. we went back to the cabin and watched 2 episodes of law and order and ate breakfast and chilled out until it was time to go.

the transition area was tiny! they were saying 3 to a rack and everyone stood around wondering what to do with all of their extra space. it turned out to be more like 4 or 5 per rack, but still it was spacious. mat racked right next to me and eric racked one rack back. chris and shannon racked over that direction, too.

next thing ya know it was time to suit up and head to the beach. i got in and swam around a little. i knew when push came to shove i would be ok but it was super cold. they called everyone to the beach and said that all racers would be doing only 1 lap! hooray!!! then someone yelled - hey that buoy is floating away! so they had to go chase it down and re-anchor it.

the race director shot his shotgun into the air and we were off.

the swim:
it was cold. unlike onionman there was no contact, everyone was spread out quickly. i felt good the whole time and even got used to the water. i swam well until i rounded the 2nd buoy when the waves were hitting me weird and we were swimming through these giant pools of pollen that had settled onto the water's surface. but i got through it in considerably less time than the previous year. i was happy to get out and even happier that i didn't have to get back in for a 2nd lap. swim time - not sure, results aren't up yet.

T1:
OMG, we had to run across the beach and up this hill and these stairs and then across this field and then like 1/2 mile later you finally are at transition. the only good thing about it was that my hands were mostly warmed up by the time i got there so i was able to get my ear plugs out and then everything else went ok. i do have to mess with my gloves and that wrist brace so that takes forever, but finally i was out.

the bike:
the bike is really long, but i had decided i was going to go hard and concentrate on the bike only. i was done with the swim so i didn't need to worry about that any more and i would worry about the run when i got to it. now it was all bike. the only sorta technical parts are in the first few miles. last year there was a root that i had worried about for days but they bypassed the root this year and put in a smaller, easier root instead. there was also a steep road climb last year that they bypassed through the trails. it was still a good climb but much more tolerable. i passed a few people right away and then played cat and mouse with a few for the rest of the race. i also passed a girl from my age group right at the end of the 1st lap. finally i came to the end of the 2nd lap, when i realized i was at the end a huge smile overtook me because i was so happy to be done. i felt good for the whole thing but my back did start to cramp up at the end of that first lap and was killing me. i took two clif shots and went through a little more than a big bottle of electrolyte drink.

t2 & the run:
t2 was uneventful and sort a quick, i think? the run is lovely. it was the only part of the race last year that i liked. it goes along the lake and the views are great but this year i actually didn't check them out very much. i ran out of transition with a guy and ran with him for about a mile then i passed him. i wasn't going very fast but i felt like i was moving. i was even running the hills and feeling pretty positive. at 2.5 miles in we head up hill, for what feels like forever. at this same time my knees started to hurt and everything from my sports bra down felt like it was going to cramp and any second. 3.5 miles in that girl from my age group that i passed on the bike passed me on the run. she was flying! i might have been walking backwards for all it was worth. she was maybe 20 feet ahead of me and she rolled her ankle. i couldn't believe it. i felt horrible but at the same time picked up my pace. i did ask if she was ok, she said she was, so i took off. but that didn't last long. she shook it off and then came flying by me again and i didn't see her again until i was telling eric about her and she was parked in the car right next to us. i was trying to stay strong but my knees were on fire, i haven't ever had them hurt like that before. my obturator internus was fine but my knees! ugh!!! i tried to pick it up for the last mile and then had to stop for a truck that was crossing the course ??? and then up the last little hill, around the sand pit and to the finish. i was really happy to be done, i sat down in the shade instantly because my knees couldn't stand any longer.

a few things about the race:
i was happy with the swim
i didn't get lapped on the bike
i was out of T2 before the first finisher came through
i came in 3rd!! but need to check results because there was low turn out so i might have some in last, too. regardless i am happy with my effort, but bummed about my knees.
Eric came in 2nd overalll and won his age group!!
Chris won his age group and came in 3rd overall!!
Mat won his age group and came in 6th overall!!
Shannon won her age group and came in 3rd F overall!!

it was a good day!!

are you doing it?

i am on the road to recovery. i went to pt today and she said the swelling is down, but that there is something wonky with the muscle, as if there had been some problems going on with it for some time now. i didn't have to do the thing with the golf ball! but i did have to do kegels. apparently they help your obturator internus. so i did that a few times with the pt lady standing there asking me if i was doing it or not. then there i was laying there, doing my kegels when she said i had to start marching my legs and swinging my arms. what? i kept laughing because its actually pretty hard to do.
after work i did some aqua jogging. i did 20 minutes in the therapy pool against the current and then decided i was done with that so i got in the bigger pool and did another 10 minutes. i am pleased to say i can swim faster than i can run in the pool. only a little faster, but still faster. i was definitly surprised as to how warm i got and how tired i was after. hoping to be better soon because i'm not sure i can do much more of that.

diagnosed

i called the pt this morning and they told me the first available appointment with any of the therapists wasn't until June 8th. i wanted to cry. when they told me that i said, okok, i'll even see a dude, which i didn't want to do since my injury is strategically located. they still said june 8. i made the appointment plus a follow up. then i called back and asked if i could get in at their clinic's other location, and yahoo! they had an appointment open today! i jumped on that.
i got there, told the lady what was up, where it hurt and what was going on. i stood up, bent over, twisted, bent to that side then the other side. sat down, laid down, she pulled and twisted my legs all over the place. nothing really hurt too much, it was just very obvious that i have some very tight muscles. she said i had a strain of some sort on some sort of hip muscles, and maybe some minor tears, but she still couldn't figure out what the real injury was and what caused all the pain on race day. and then, bam, right there, she got it, the obturator internus in the below image.

yeah, so that was awkward. so its swollen and hurts like crazy, but she was just poking it and figuring out what was going on with it. turns out is all hip related, pelvic floor related and was likely aggravated when i got out of the saddle in that last mile of the race, to go up the shorter steeper hills and i pulled my knees out to keep them from bumping into the arm pads of my aero bars. sweet.
so i sat on some ice for a while and she came in to talk about the treatment plan, starting out by saying that next time she was going to give me a golf ball to, at which point i totally interrupted her with a yelp since i was NOT going to be doing anything with my pelvic floor and a golf ball, but she just laughed and explained i would not be doing anything graphic with it and instead using it to help with the spasm. still not so sure about that, but at least its a golf ball and not a roll of quarters.
good news is that it's not my back and it' not my hammys. she says i can do whatever training i want just as long as it doesn't hurt. so we'll see how that goes and hopefully it gets better soon! so now i'm sitting on ice wearing my winter coat.

onionman 2010

wow, i had been looking forward to this race for a long time. i've raced it twice before and i'd say its probably my favorite race. the first year i had so much fun and then the 2nd year i had taken so much time off the first year that i was so so excited. so this year i was looking forward to seeing what progress i had made. >eric was headed out to spokane for the 24hr mtn bike race, so my mom came with me and the kids out to walla walla. we left right at 8am on saturday. the kids were amazed when we got to walla walla that it was so close! after the vegas trip they just assumed we would be in the car for ever. they wouldnt let us check into our hotel yet so we went out to the race course and drove the course. its so beautiful, but the sky was dark and it was very windy. we got back to the hotel, checked in, i changed my clothes and headed out on my bike to pick up my race packet. i wasn't gone long but did a little tour of walla walla and then came back to the hotel to take the kids swimming. we headed out to dinner at the strangest italian/chinese resturant. totally weird. the kids both slept with grandma and i had a bed to myself! i didn't sleep too well, but whatever.the alarm went off and i had my normal pb&j and then just layed in bed. at 730 i packed up the car and headed to the race site. yikes! i was late apparently and had to park up on the ridge. but really i had plenty of time. i carried my bike down the rocky hill which i had decided if this were an xterra they would make us run up it to get to T1. i set up my transition and ran into janet and kate. then we kind of just hung around, listened to the pre-race meeting, janet informed me that the water was indeed cold as balls and then we went down to experience it for real. and yes, it was cold as balls, rumor has it 55 degrees. i swam for about 3 minutes but that was plenty.
the swim:
this year they started the race in waves. women and teams went 3 minutes behind the men. 10 seconds before the race started the woman in front of me announced to everyone that this was her first ever race, so i wondered what she was doing in the front row of the swim. i have never been in a swim with so much contact. it was crazy. i got kicked in the face, i was swum over, i got hit in the head. but i managed to be ok. the swim was two loops and i was still pretty cold but doing ok about 1/2 way through the first lap. i was swimming well and my left arm wasn't hurting at all like it had been in the last few open water swims. there was a funny little current by the 2nd buoy that kind of carried you right to it and around it, it was a pleasant surprise and i was looking forward to it on lap 2. finally i was out on lap 2, still getting pummeled, still having crazy people swim right into me, still all kinds of chaos. around the 1st bouy the water got choppy and i swallowed a few gulps but i was doing ok. i kept coming up on feet and being afraid i was going to get kicked. eventually i noticed my left hand was going all wonky. i started to wonder if i had broken my finger and not realized it. i was just flailing around in the water with each stroke and i had not control over it. i decided to just let it do its own thing. finally i got to shore and was happy to have enough energy to run up the hill to T1.
T1 - DISASTER. what is up with T1 this year?? i got to my rack and noticed janet's bike was gone! i was so excited to see that she had a good swim! yay janet!!! my hands were so cold that i couldn't do anything. i could barely get my cap and goggles off my head. there was no way my ear plugs were coming out but i kept trying. i managed to get my helmet on, but my abs cramped when i bent to put on my socks and shoes, both of which were taking extra time due to the frozen hands. i tossed on my vest since i was so cold and then i struggled with the ear plugs again, wondering if it would be totally weird to ask a volunteer to pull them out for me. thankgoodness they eventually came out. i saw kate run into T1 as i was headed out.
The Bike!
i was pretty excited about the bike. i'm a stronger cyclist now and i have been doing a few really good workouts lately, and i've been feeling good, so i was psyched. i was working hard and passing people right away. i was in my aero bars and big ring and pedaling hard. about 15 minutes in i caught up with janet and gave her a cheer, and then stuck to my orders to suffer more, chat less. the course is all up hill on the way out, then you turn around and go downhill the way back. i was caught by one guy on the way out but passed a lot of people and was feeling really good. i got to the turn around and was looking forward to the downhill only to find the wind to be very strong, so even going downhill i had to work really hard the whole time. i was caught by a few men along the way back and then a woman in my age group. i could see her ahead of me a ways and was determined that if i could keep an eye on her i'd be able to catch her on the run. finally we turned off the main road and started the 1.5 miles back to transition. i was noticing that i was having a harder time staying comfortable and was fidgeting on my saddle. with about a mile left there are some up hill rollers and it all went bad. i had an immediate sharp pain all up in my business. i wasn't sure what it was but it hurt like a mothrafarker and with every pedal stroke sent a sharp pain down my leg. if i stood it wasn't as bad but my legs were thrashed from the first 24 miles and i couldn't stand for long, i was breathing hard and i had to fight hyper ventilating from the pain every time i stepped down. i slowed to a snails pace, fighting the urge to just stop. i'd say 10-15 people passed me in this last mile and i saw several from my age group go by. i just had a terrible feeling of helplessness. i had no idea what was going on but hoped i'd make it to t2 and be ok once i got there.
T2.
i rolled up to T2, dismounted and hobbled in. two volunteers came running asking me if i was ok. i wasn't but kept hobbling in, not sure what to do. still on the verge of hyper ventilating, i got my stuff together and hobbled out.
The Run
i stopped and tried to stretch. strangely, the girl that passed me on the bike that i thought i would catch on the run came running by, slowing to see if i was ok. not sure how i wound up in front of her but then just watched her run away. i hobbled for a bit. i tried running but the pain was shooting down my leg, the stretching wasn't doing anything, didn't seem to relate to anything, so i walked. i resolved to walking the entire run, assuming that even at that hobble pace, i might still be able to beat my maui run time. :) i watched as more and more people passed me, and more from my age group. i watched as the men's leaders ran back in, and was surprised that a few of them called out encouragement to me. i'd run 20 steps or so, and realize my messed up gait was tweaking my back so i'd walk again. at around the 2 mile mark, 25 minutes into my run i tried running again and just kept running. the pain wasn't getting better, but it wasn't getting worse. then i got to the 3 mile mark and began passing people again, no longer being passed. i got to the turn around and saw Janet! I was hoping she would catch up to me so we could run to the finish together. As i was catching more people again, i got a 2nd wind and just pushed through it. i wasn't going fast, but i was getting it done and the last mile i started to work really hard, there were two people i wanted to catch, and i managed to catch one of them. whew i was done.
i hobbled to the girls to get my chip cut off and the girl looked at me and told me i had lost my chip. i was just like WTF, you have GOT to be kidding me.
turns out my chip came off at some point in the run so all of my splits were recorded.
i know that my swim was about 2:30 faster this year, despite the super cold.
T1 was 40 seconds slower 100% attributable to those ear plugs. not sure what would have happened had i just ridden out with them, but i wasn't ready to try it.
bike was 3 minutes slower. this bums me out. some of this is the wind, which i am totally fine with since everyone had to deal with the wind, but i know i lost at least 3 minutes in that last mile.
t2 was 5 seconds slower - i had a pretty good t2 despite my ordeal, which makes me laugh.
the run was 13 minutes slower. ugh. not horrible since i walked those two miles, but i had figured i would be under 50 this year, i was very much not under 50. not even close.
eric called within minutes of me finishing and getting my clothes changed. i cried to him about it all and then was over it.

the onionman is still my favorite race.
i was so happy to have janet and kate there.
i didn't get hypothermia from the swim.
it was sunny and warm
i worked hard and felt good with my effort on the swim and most of the bike
i am happy for finishing
i'm happy that that wasn't my garmin lying on the side of the road
i suffered the whole race although it wasn't all the right kind of suffering.

after the race, kate, janet and i shared race stories while enjoying the BBQ, then i headed back up the rock hill to see this dirty truck that parked in front of mine.
i drove back to the hotel, relaxed a bit with the kids, then headed out to pioneer park. who knew there were peacocks in walla walla. the day was beautiful, and the kids had a ton of fun looking at the birds and running around the park. i continued to hobble around, and try to stretch but just kind of felt blah. when we woke up this morning, it was raining and dreary for the 5hr drive home, but we made it back safe and sound. on the drive i realized that the whole ordeal likely has to do with riding aero. i don't do it very much, heck, the bars are coming off the bike today if i have any say in it, although i've been doing it these last few weeks when i've been on my road bike. i don't think there is anything really bad going on since i feel ok today, not worse. granted i've been sitting on my arse all day, but if it was really bad i think it would be hurting more than it is. i'm keeping my fingers crossed and will lay low for the next few days, try to see the PT this week and hopefully be better in time for the xterra idaho in two weeks. good thing we haven't registered yet, but i am hoping to be good to go. if not, hopefully we can get out to the one in oregon the following week.

cold as balls

you thought i was going to say ice, but no, balls.

yesterday i met up with annie and her husband to do a track workout. annie is super fast. she just started doing stuff, but you look at her and she emits fastness, so i was excited when she said she would come do my track workout with me. first off, she has a key to a track, so we got to actually run on one instead of the dirt. the workout was 8x400 and 6x800. i, being not so smart thought the 400 splits for the 800s were only 5 seconds slower than those of the 400s so i was really worried, then everyone filled me in and pointed out on the little piece of paper i printed out with 100 meter splits that really indeed it was 15! whew! so much easier! annie ran the first 400 with me, but ran faster for each one after that. but we all met up each time for the rest lap between which was fun. same thing for the 800s but it started to rain really hard and the temp totally dropped and my hands froze to the point of them being very painful, so we only did 4 of the 6. i was still really happy since the 800s didn't seem too bad! then i came home and slept for 2 hrs.
today i learned that there is a fine line between being a totally bad ass and hard core and being not very smart. luckily, annie and janet both chose to join me in almost crossing that border into not smartness, and despite it being 46 degrees and sprinkling, we went for a swim in the lake. this is where the cold as balls comes into play. at first i thought that really it wasn't so bad, until i was walking to the car to get ready for the cold as balls bike ride and i noticed my hands were purple. janet and annie both swam longer than me, they are either more hard core or closer to the border. :) i'll vote for hard core and bad ass.
next was a 1:30 bike ride, and although i put on knee and arm warmers, a hat, two pairs of gloves and vest and rain coat, i was pretty cold. eventually i warmed up some because i was working SO HARD to keep up with annie, but then we totally got lost. i had printed out a map, plus two sets of step by step instructions. note to self: when writing out instructions, make sure you know your left from your right. we got back on track and were flying around then we headed up hill but annie got a flat. we stopped to fix it but in doing so realized we had been out for a long time, we were both frozen pretty much solid and we were never going to get the whole route in. so we called it short, but wound up with about 20 of the 24 miles we were originally planning. just not all on the roads we were planning. hopefully i'll get to ride with annie, because she is super fast. i asked her if she was working hard and she said not really. yikes! so i've got a lot of work to do! but we did agree that if we head out again, we will bring someone who knows where they are going.
quick 4 minute transition into some running shoes and off on a 20 minute jog. by now we were kind of warmed up, but still the temp outside was only 51.
the race this weekend is going to be interesting. i really hope it warms up. if the swim is cold that is fine but i am not looking forward to a cold swim to cold bike. ugh.
now i have to figure out how to fix my gimpy wrist. i've been just getting by with it, but friday night at the pool i was showing off for the kids and did a handstand in the water. aaaak, even under water i cannot support any weight on the wrist, it was so bad and continued to hurt for the rest of the night. woe is my wrist.

i guess i'll blog about something

i am sitting here and have nothing to do. i caught up on all my reading of other blogs, there are no updates on facebook and eric is playing some game on the tv. what's a me supposed to do?
so this past weekend i ran the cougar mountain 5 miler. i did that same race in 2006. lets just say i had a pr by like a 1/2 hr or something like that. it was a good race. i wasn't feeling the race in the morning, wasn't sure how hard i'd be able to push it since i was feeling pretty tired and eh. i wasn't nervous, just not sure how much pain i was willing to be in. i started out at a pretty controlled pace. usually i go all out at the beginning, totally die and then real it in and then kind of fade at the end. so since i was already not sure of what i was up to, i went out at this good pace. i was working hard, just not like crazy. at about the 2.5 mile mark i started to pick it up. i had passed a few people and was feeling good and thinking, lets see what i can do. granted i did have to walk a few steps of some of the hills but my hr stayed high and i ran as soon as i was able, even if just for a few steps and still going up hill. i also ran really hard on the downhills which is not something i have done in the past. looking back at my hr data, my hr didn't drop at all on the downhills despite there being a few pretty long ones. this is good i guess, since it means i was working hard! downhill! who knew! with 2 miles to go i was really pushing, then with 1 mile to go i felt like i was flying. once during the first half of the race i was running behind this girl and she had awesome legs. i kept looking at her calves and being like, damn, those are some awesome calves. i almost said something to her, but then thought i better suffer more and chat less. i should have found her after the race though and let her know. i also thought in that last mile when i was running really hard about how my coach was telling me how the track workouts are really hard but they make you fast. i was totally feeling the benefits of the track workouts at the end. i was pretty psyched! i came in 12th F overall, and either 1st or 2nd in my age group depending on how you wanna break out age groups. they don't break them out, so i guess its 12.
after the race i got on my bike and rode an easy hr and 1/2.
sunday we went to the lake to swim. i was not really looking forward to this at all. i was worried it was going to be cold as balls and totally grody, but the water temp was ok and i realized that after las vegas, i don't think any water can be as grody as that. we swam for 20 minutes during which my left arm was really starting to hurt. i need to figure out what is going on. its got to be my wetsuit since i have no problem in the pool. ok, let me clarify, i have no problem with my left arm in the pool. after the swim we jumped on the mt bikes for a hard mtn bike ride. i was so stoked. i was having fun and i felt like i was riding really well. eric put some new brakes on there and a new, narrower handle bar and the set up and trail conditions were outstanding! it was so fun.
this coming weekend i'm a little nervous about this crazy track workout i've got on saturday. hoping to run on an actual track! an hoping to get through as much of it as possible! yikes!
pawpi on the other hand is all better. her whiskers and face hair is slowly growing back in. she seems so much happier and the other cats seem so too, although someone has begun throwing up all over the place. but now we can sleep better, too, since pawpi is no longer spending the entire night licking the plastic cone or scratching at it.

track workouts are hard

last thursday i had a track workout. 8x800. i went to the HS near by and they were having some sore of nutty track meet. so i went to another HS and tried to get some boys to show me how to sneak into the track since it was locked but they didn't think that was a good idea, so i went to the dirt track. puddles.
i got through all 8 of the 800s and was happy that i did. i was dying and really had to work hard to get through those last 2. i was happy with my effort tho. i felt that workout for the next few days and even felt it when i was trying to get on my bike 2 days later.
so today my workout was 10x400s at 90 seconds. i thought maybe my coach did some mis calculating but i said, ok i'll see what this is about. i didn't stress about it because i am instead stressed out about the open water swim on sunday. mothrafarker, that is going to be cold. so i hired a baby sitter! i went to the HS track and what? another track meet! so i went right to the jr high dirt track again. i did a little warm up and then started. the first one went well! the next few were ok and by #5 i was thinking this is going well and yeah, maybe i can get these all done. they weren't all at 90 but close, and definitely faster than anything i had done before, but then on my recover after #5 i was like uhoh. things weren't happening. so i did #6, and #7 and then i was like well, i gotta do #8 but then i decided i better stop or i might wind up with an injury. i got in 2 easy laps and then called it. yikes. hoping everything is ok, i imagine i'll be quite sore so we will see.
the other thing about thursday was that sirus had a mother's day event at his preschool. i left work early so i could go. they sang a little song and i had to fight the tears because i knew if any came out it would turn into full on crying and sobbing. i was so proud of him. then the mom's sat at the table and the kids brought us cookies and strawberries and lemonade. sirus made me a note pad with a flower made from his hand print. and he gave me hug after hug, and happy mother's day after happy mother's day. he is adorable and i love him.
today i went to masters swimming. we did a lot of IM. i kept looking at the board saying what is UP with that? why do much IM, since when did Monday turn into IM Monday. and then someone let me know its wednesday. and then i totally hit my hand time and time again until my knuckles were bruised and swollen. so i stopped with the butterfly and just did the other strokes. now it looks like i've been fighting.

Xterra West Champs - a 3 part series - race day

Morning:
Good grief I slept horribly. Eric and I slept in separate beds but I blame my poor sleep on worrying all night that Eric was going to suffocate in the compression tights he was sleeping in. Alas, he did not. I had my normal PB&J at 5:30 and then we just sort of hung out. I was totally parched and drank a bottle of water (maybe 2?) but still felt dry. Being right at the race site made for a very relaxing but also sort of nerve-racking experience. Everything was already done, there wasn’t any driving or organizing to do. Just waiting. At 630 we took our bikes and everything down to transition. We got our bodies marked and luckily we lined up with the person who was not putting the 3s on upside down! Then back to the room to hang out some more. With about 40-30 minutes to go we headed back down.
Swim:
I got in the lake and did a short warm up. The water was cold but felt good. I had picked up some new ear plugs (unfortunaetly from wal-mart, some sketchy US Dive brand) and was happy that I did. Next thing ya know, we were all on the beach getting ready for the start. First the pros, then Eric’s wave and then mine. Cori and I wished each other luck and then we were off.
The swim started off pretty well, I was moving through the water, feeling like I was keeping up. I was pummeled a few times but nothing that threw me off or made me panic. I was drafting off a guy for quite a while but finally had to give up on him because I kept creeping up on him and getting kicked. I wasn’t ever able to find anyone else after that. The time passed pretty quickly but I did stop a few times to do some breast stroke and to look around. I felt pretty good about the swim.
After exiting the swim you had to run for like, almost forever. At least it was pavement and it was flat, but it was far. I had to pee so bad so I ran right to the porta potty, finished taking of my wetsuit and took a little break right there. I am so glad I did because apparently I really had to go. While I was in there I heard the announcer say that Shannon was coming in and then went on to talk about beautiful Las Vegas Colorado and how not too long ago there was an Xterra in Saipan Colorado. At least that is what I heard but maybe I was already starting to lose it?
T1 was terrible. Not just because of the potty break but also because every time I bent over my abs would cramp up. I’d have to stand and bend backwards to stretch them out. I got my socks and shoes on and then had to fiddle with my gloves. I would have just waited until I was out on the road for the gloves I think but I have that wrist brace I have been wearing because of my gimpy wrist and I really needed to make sure to get that on. While I was in there fiddling around, I heard the announcer say “oh take your time – a slower transition will make for a faster race overall.” Again, did he really say that? Finally I was out of T1.
Swim time, plus T1: 35 minutes and some seconds.
Bike:
I had been thinking a lot about this race and how I was going to come and race the bike portion like I would a mountain bike race, not worrying about the run or anything else. Yeah, that was until the pre-ride when I started to doubt riding abilities and got freaked out about the gravel. The gravel bummed me out but I was also disappointed in myself for being so worried about it all. I went up the hills quickly but was in my 22 for a lot of them. I probably should have tried my middle ring more but that 22 was so nice. I had to push my bike up some of the hills because they were so tough but did manage to hop right back on at the top without resting despite all the huffing and puffing. I got lapped by Conrad Stoltz right at the top of the canyon section I described earlier. And I chatted with the blind rider and his guide, both of whom I had chatted with out on the course in Maui. I was still working pretty hard and concentrating on my riding, and other than the pros lapping me, I wasn’t getting passed but I was passing people. There was one hill where someone lost an Eddy Merckx water bottle. For some reason, on both laps while passing that bottle Balls the cat and his giant cat balls popped into my head and I had a chuckle. The one thing I did learn although I had heard it before was “look where you want to go and not where you don’t want to go.” I felt this was super important on this course and once I actually did it a few times I started trusting it more and feeling better about the course. To give you an idea of how steep some of the bike portions were, my garmin stops if I am going too slow. My garmin said my bike time was 13 minutes faster than the results. That’s crazy talk right there!! I drank two big bottles of discontinued LUNA Sport Electrolyte Splash in pink grapefruit and had 3 Clif Shots.
Eventually the bike was done!
Later we found out that Kris had the fastest amateur bike time and 8th fastest overall – way to go Kris!
T2 was better than T1 but you had to dismount your bike and then run almost ½ way around transition before heading in.
Bike and T2 time: 2:03 and some seconds. I should have been faster.
Run:
Oh the run. A few steps out I realized I had forgotten my back up Clif Shot. Oh well, I had just taken one towards the end of the bike and there would be drinks available on the course (I hoped!) so I should be ok. I kept going. I ran out of transition and felt pretty good. I was parched though so I got water at the first stop but kept running. I didn’t get to do a pre-run so I wasn’t sure what the course would be like. It was ok, with one major big climb that I can remember. There is a part that you head out to a water stop and then back around. Then there is a big long fun descent and changes into a kind of single track section. That part was fun and it is where Shannon caught me on her 2nd lap. I also met up with a guy from Redmond who works at MS and we wound up chatting and running for the rest of the race together (his gf won my age group!). He had been cramping really badly but my combo of running and walking some of the hills helped him out. Then we headed to the turn around. One of the best parts of the run I thought was that Kahuna Dave was out at that main intersection directing runners. I thought that was pretty great. By the time we got to the far water stop I was really dehydrated and a bit later got some chills. They didn’t last for long but still were a warning that I was out running in the desert. Finally down to the last mile and ½ or so and my Redmond running buddy was off the front. I was running pretty well, feeling good, probably since it was at the end and downhill but at the same time I felt like I was going to throw up. There was a tiny 20 ft patch of thick, green grass and a hint of shade that we ran through right before making a tight turn and up, up, up onto a ridge. At the end there I saw Eric and then down the hill, around the corner and to the finish line. Fantastic!
Run time: 1:06 and some seconds
Overall time: 3:45, 11th in my age group
Eric came in 4th in his age group which was amazing, I am really proud of him! Cori came in 9th and took something like 40 minutes off of her time from last year. Shannon came in 4th in her 2nd ever Xterra and Kris came in 5th. Nice work!
And Shonny won! How awesome is that?

real quick

i'm too tired to put in the race report so that will come tomorrow or something but before i forget, it was my birthday the other week. i turned 36. all day i was dreading the day, it was awful. it wasn't until almost right before bed that i realized i was turning 36 and not turning 37. i felt better.
i did 8x800 on the track today and it totally kicked my arse. i am tired.

Xterra West Champs - a 3 part series - the day before

After such a busy friday night of cruising the strip with the kids, we woke up early again and packed everything back into the car. We drove out to NW Las Vegas, to Eric’s sister’s house. The kids were so excited to see their cousins. In the few minutes we were there, Sirus climbed up onto the top of one of the bunk beds and had gotten stuck. After a short visit, Eric and I said our good byes and left the kids there to spend a fun filled day!
We drove out to Loews at Lake Las Vegas, parked and picked up our registration. We were lucky in that they let us check into our room despite it being only like 10am or something. We changed into our swimming stuff and then met up with Cori from the SLC LUNA Chix team and Kris and Shannon from Spokane down by the pool. The lake water was cold and a little grody. But I quickly got used to it and off we went. They warned that you would be DQed if you swam out too far so we stayed in the cove like we were supposed to and did 2 loops. We swam for only about 20 minutes. I felt pretty good but my left arm and shoulder felt a little weak. I hadn’t been in a wetsuit in a long time, so there was probably some adjusting there, too. I forgot my ear plugs in WA, and although I felt fine while swimming, I was pretty dizzy when we got out. I had also realized that I wasn’t freaked out at all while swimming. I guessed it was because it’s a man made lake so anything scary in it would have had to have been put into it by people. When I told this to Eric, he said I should be even more scared then because all the scary stuff would ooze up from the mud at the bottom, having been buried for hundreds or even thousands of years. Nice.
We got changed into our biking gear and fiddled with the bikes in the parking lot. We stopped by the LUNA truck and tent to see Chris Mathis and get a photo.
Then we headed out. It was really hot by now, close to noon, I think and close to 140 degrees. No shade, lots of glare and lots of heat. I took it really easy on the pre-ride. There were some good hills and then there were some bad hills, like really long, super steep, un-ride-able hills that were even hard to push the bike up! Once on the top of one, you head down and then bam! There is another one! I’m not used to riding on the gravel like a lot of this course is, so I was slow, even on the down hills. There was one downhill section you could see as you climb up another section – I turned to Cori and asked if we had to go down it. And yes we did! I got off and walked down it. Feeling a little wimpy but I also know I have a hard time on that loose gravel and I didn’t want to crash before the race even started. The glare in some spots reminded me of the glare on snow - where all you see is white - no bumps, it was all washed out. At one point we rode down through this crazy canyon, where the gravel was deep and the canyon walls were high on either side. Kris was just riding along, one hand on the handle bars, taking videos while I was holding on for dear life trying not to crash! Leaving the canyon there was this crazy section that must have been a bit of a mud flat at some point since it was smooth but had cracked in all kinds of ways due to the heat. check out Conrad Stoltz's photo of it, it was so cool. Not much longer there was a section that I can’t even compare it to anything I’ve ridden on before. Maybe it was an old river bed? Kris managed to ride it but the rest of us had to get off and carry our bikes since the bumps were so big up and down and all over and non-stop. I wish I could explain it better because it was crazy. After that crazy part the rest of the bike course was pretty fun with a short section of sort of single track but always with the gravel cramping my style.
Later we headed back out to NW Las Vegas to pick up the kids and take them to my brother’s. When we got there, Sirus was riding a big bike all around a park, just round and round. He did crash once, it looked pretty bad, but he got right up and started riding again. Seamus was on a push scooter just scooting along, getting themselves all worn out. We headed over to Rick’s and then out to dinner. I hadn’t seen Rick (or Carissa or Hannah) since Disney World, so it was fun to catch up. Rick is a funny guy. After dinner we dropped the kids at their house and headed back down to Lake Las Vegas. (yes, each of these trips was about an hour each way).

Xterra West Champs - a 3 part series - Travel

Week leading up to the race:
April had been a crazy month. It was busy busy with a trip to SF for the LUNA Summit, a ton of big meetings and presentations at work, a cat who is sick and isn’t getting better and just all kinds of craziness non-stop. I crashed into a No Trespassing sign and did a number on my left thumb and my neck and followed that up with a fun mountain bike race at Soaring Eagle Park two days later. I went to the PT during the week which helped with my neck and my thumb started to get better so that was good. We had our LUNA Fest on Tuesday, so I was out late but I managed to get all my workouts in. Late Wednesday night I packed my stuff for the trip, went to work Thursday morning for a few hours and then we were off.
Travel days:
Thursday we headed out a little before noon. We had arranged for someone to check on the cats while we were out but Pawpi was in such bad shape that last minute we decided to board her at the vets. After dropping her off, we headed south. The car was packed full and the kids did a good job on that first day. We stopped at a few McDonald’s for them to play in the Playlands and we made it to Boise, ID that first day. We woke up early and got a move on.
I was surprised at how beautiful the Nevada desert is, but also surprised by how much snow there was, too! The worst of it was from Wells to Las Vegas, which was 4+ hrs with no cell reception and no ability to surf the internet. I was going crazy, the kids were getting antsy and Eric had done a lot of driving – 18+ over two days. Eventually we got to the Excalibur hotel, dragged all the bikes and suitcases up the room and headed out to explore. I was supposed to get in a 30 minute run but I was too tired and I felt it wasn’t fair to the kids, so we went in search of fun stuff for them. Our first stop was M&M World – one of my all time favorite places, and then we stopped at the Hard Rock Café for dinner. After we walked up the Bellagio to see the fountain show, all the while feeling like terrible parents and the guys on the sidewalk tried to hand us stripper cards while we were walking with our kids. The fountain show was set to Celine Dion’s song from Titanic and as soon as it started Eric changed his mind about how cool the show can be. But the kids loved it, oohing and awing the whole time. Sirus, up on Eric’s shoulders even said “when I hear this song, I just have to stop and listen to it.” He is a funny little guy. Back at the hotel, we watched the 4-D SpongeBob movie and played a few games before heading up to our room for the night.

racin'

dude, i was so tired on saturday night. we went out for pizza with catherine and eric and their cutie little girl. it was different being out with another couple with their kid and us being kid-less. the kids spent the night at grandmas and had two fun days of going to the beach and exploring during low tide. saturday night i slept so well. i think since i was tired but also didn't have to worry about the kids i was just able to really sleep well. my neck was killing me and my thumb, well, it was doing its own thing, but other than that, i was great.
i don't know what time i got up, but i did, had some breakfast and then didn't know what to do - the race wasn't until noon! eric headed out to his race prolly around 9:30, just as i was finishing up a PBJ. then i sat around some more. eventually i decided to start getting my stuff together, changed my clothes, mixed some discontinued LUNA Sport Electrolyte Splash in pink grapefruit and headed out the door. i rode out by the same Private Property/No Trespassing sign that took me out on Friday and made it through A-OK. i headed through the short cut and up the road and then i realized i forgot my bottle with the LUNA Sport Electrolyte Splash in pink grapefruit. i determined i was too far on my way to turn around, but now i think i should have....
i got to the race site and registered. then i went out for a short loop through the course, riding the descent at the beginning and doing a little climbing. i headed to the car to take off my jacket, my vest, the arm warmers and knee warmers because by now i was sweating. i did a little more riding around, and some chatting and then got ready to line up.
they called up the women first! which was an interesting twist that no one expected. then we were off. i had a good start and was 2nd into the single track and into that descent. i was worried about being up front since i'm not a great descender but i stuck to the front girl's wheel and didn't let a gap form. after maybe 5 or so minutes the girl in the lead bobbled and went down. i took the lead! it was kind of fun since not only was i in front of my field, but i was in front of the entire category! but not for long. the SSers that started 3 minutes back started to catch me 10 or so minutes in but i hit the total tight hair pin turn at the end of the 1st lap with only 3 guys ahead of me. going into that turn i had two guys right behind me - i told them i was going to take it painfully slow and actually almost ate it right there in front of everyone but managed to only put a foot down and get going quickly again, and those guys took off. i was so sad to not have my electrolyte drink, but chugged some water on the gravel road and then it was into the descent again. the course was hard an the mud was sticky. i was working hard and it was tough. i was getting passed by more of the men, but i was happy with how i was riding and how hard i was working. as one guy was passing me, we totally bumped and leaned into each other, but we both stayed up right! whew! i was happy about that! then on one of the climbs one of the jr boys fell into me and i had to stop and get off and run up. the 2nd place girl was right there at the bottom of the hill! she was right on me for at least 1/2 of the 2nd lap and most of the 3rd lap until she passed me 1:02 into the 1:08 race! doh!! once she passed me she took off and gained a minute on me. it was fun, yes i would have liked to have won, but i was happy with my riding and how hard i pushed. plus i know the girl is a good racer, she works hard and when push comes to shove she can really push.
then off to the car to change into my running stuff. i really could have used that electrolyte drink. i had taken a clif shot with 1 lap to go and then had a few moons at the car. then i was off. gracious. for the first 17 minutes i was dying. pretty sure i was going to pass out right there and be eaten by the bears. but then i started to feel better. i did have to walk some of the hills, but i ran for most of it. i was not going fast. i was supposed to pick it up for the 2nd 1/2hr but yeah, i was just doing what i could to hang on. my hammys were cramping but i kept going. ok, so i did have to stop once or twice to check the trail maps, but i was working harder than i did in ogden. not sure if i was going any faster but at least i was running and working hard. i got onto the pavement for the last 10 minutes and finally kicked it up a notch. it was tough but managed the whole hour. yikes! vegas is going to be hard!!

pawpi

poor pawpi. she isn't so well off right now. if you recall back in february pawpi got poked in the eye and it got infected. she went to the vet, had her cheek shaved and the wound lanced. she was put on pain meds and antibiotics. it seemed like it was getting better but then she scratched her face or something and it opened up and got worse. we thought it was odd that they didn't put the cone on her but after another visit or two since it looked so bad they did put the cone on her, but only after charging us $20 for it. poor kitty was dripping face juice all over the house. not cool but so sad. she has been back to the vets a few more times, each time getting it lanced some more and put on other antibiotics. she went in on friday and they were very concerned. they don't know why she isn't healing so they decided to do some exploratory surgery and to clean her up a little. they put her under, took a look at her teeth, they thought maybe one was infecting and contributing to the problem, but really her teeth are ok, but they cleaned them up some anyway. they flushed out the wound and found some abnormal tissue and bone, so they took some biopsies and xrays. then they put in a drainage tube and stitched her up. through all of this, they took out her whiskers on that side of her face. i don't know what will happen with them, if they will grow back in or how that works, but she looks terrible. when we were checking her out of the vets i was looking over the itemized bill. at the very bottom, there was a funny note that said somethign to the effect of "this bill contains a consolidated discount of $209,456.44" i asked them about that and it was some wacky explanation, but i was just like wtf.
later eric and i went for a bike ride. i was supposed to do a 2hr-ish mtn bike ride followed by 20 minute easy run. but my thumb really hurts and my neck is all fawked, so we decided to do a road ride. the fact that my fabulous new mavic road shoes showed up on friday had nothing to do with this decision. i got all kitted up, decided to take my new tri shorts out for a spin since i'll be racing in them next weekend and they were fantastic.

we managed to make it home right before the big thunderstorm rolled through. tomorrow is a mtn bike race follwed by 1hr trail run. that will be interesting!!

crash

wow, so its been busy with a capital BIZ-E. lots going on in april, that is for sure. so that presentation i did, well, the sorta crazy thing about it was that i was out of town for it and someone else had to present it! i should have put the offensive hotdog in there after all. apparently the presentation went really well, so that was nice to hear. why was i out of town? i went to SF. it was the annual LUNA Summit where all the LUNA regional teams from around the country come to the bay area. this was my 3rd year. i am super lucky because i am able to get there early on friday and spend the day with allie! we all got to the airport with plenty of time, hung out at the gate, got on the plane and got to SFO without incident. all the girls dispersed to catch up with their transportation and allie came to get me. zach was with her and he had an itch. it was the funniest thing how he would raise his arm up and wiggle in his seat. it was a fun day and nice and sunny. we had lunch in SF which included bourbon spiked gelato. after we went to the park for a little bit and i soaked up the sun then we headed out on a little run. allie pushed zach in the stroller but she was still faster than me! i was dying, it was so hot, but we got it done. then it was off to berkely.
the weekend begins with dinner at ClifBar headquarters. they give tours of the building, we get to mingle with the pros, there are presentations about the Breast Cancer Fund and we get to hang out and catch up with the other teams.
saturday we headed out to aquatic park by the golden gate bridge for an open water swim clinic with retired LUNA pro Linda Gallo. After some of the girls went into the bay for a quick swim to which i said hells no. its too cold. then we headed out for a run along the water front up to the golden gate bridge. it really warmed up by then and it was great to spend some time bombarding Linda with questions. she's totally friendly and answered all my questions about her work and how she got into swimming and all of that. it was really fun. after we loaded up into the vans and headed back to mill valley. we sat in on some clinics, had lunch and then more clinics about LUNA marketing and other helpful topics to help our season run smoothly.
finally it was dinner and then we hopped on our bikes to head over to the LUNA Sport head quarters. LUNA Sport is a new clothing line. i picked up a pair of knickers which are THE best. i've now worn them twice and they are totally comfortable and i love them!
sunday we were up early to go mtn biking with Marla Streb and Katerina Nash. in the rain. it was pouring down so badly that they changed the route to one that had better drainage. we were only out for 1.5 hrs although i had hoped to get in 3-4hrs. bummer. one thing i learned on this ride - i am not a good descender and as such i should not try to follow Marla's line. :) she was jumping up and bouncing off of trees and up over big rocks and all kinds of crazy things. at the bottom she said she was just having fun, which i am sure she was, but yikes!! maybe someday i can do that, too. the ride was fun, i got to hang out with charity and cori from the SLC team. i raced with cori at nationals last year and i will see her again soon in vegas!
after i packed up my bike, i headed to lunch to chat with shonny vanlandingham. we chatted about the xterra season and what to expect in vegas.
later allie picked me up and we hung out. they are selling their house and we couldn't go home because they were having an open house. once the open house ended we went to the house to check out allie's handy work (totally awesome, not sure how she managed to get it all done!) and as i was curling up on the couch to take a nap they got a call that one of the people from the open house wanted to come check it out again. dinner plans changed and we headed out to chipotle. after dinner allie took me to the airport. i met up with all the other luna ladies on the flight, i think there were 9 of us and we found that the flight was delayed. delayed. delayed. until 130am. i was delierious, janet had me laughing so much to the point where i was crying - over and over again. she herself has a wonderful laugh and a great sense of humor, so it only fueled it more. but damn, i was tired. we eventually got on the plane, i passed out right away despite the really terrible turbulence. i was awake as the plane was landing. one of the girls we were traveling with is pregnant. i don't know how she managed the weekend but that delay and flight, too? i would have been crying out of misery if i was pregnant, but she was awesome. we all loaded into the car and got dropped off at various locations. i climbed into bed at 5am and got up again at 8am to go to work. if it weren't for the fact we had a bunch of people from out of town in the office and i needed to prep for a big meeting on wednesday and mondays are my busiest day anyway... i got through the day and even was up until like 9pm that night. tuesday i slept in and felt worse on tuesday than i did on monday. i went to bed early.
wednesday i got up at 5am to swim. i didn't do the masters workout but janet and i swam indoors. the big presentation went well, the day went well, the big meeting went well, it was good to see all of the out of towners. the weather was nice so i went for a trail run that evening.
thursday i did an easy trainer ride before work and then friday i swam at lunch (bumped into eric who was wearing his fancy speedo and looking pretty good in it actually)i did flip turns! like almost 1/3 of them were flip turns and it was ok. after i met up with matt and we went mtn biking. we rode the course for sunday's race and then just rode around for another hour or so. it was fun, the weather was nice and i was feeling pretty good. on the way back to the house we took a different route in, yeah the one where the entrance to the trail was kind of narrow, the one where i totally crashed into the private property sign and flew off the front of my bike. yeah, that one. dude, my thumb is killing me. my neck is all tweaked. i abs cramped up. it was classic. i just hope my thumb get better soon. its my left thumb so i only need it for shifting big, middle, small, but i do use those gears!
thursday we leave for vegas!!! yikes.

i'm done

so i was looking for some clip art for a presentation and i found this:

i found it to be very offensive. it did not make it into my presentation.
we had easter the other day. it was cold as balls out. i had to bundle up for the easter egg hunt. what you can't see is that the kids are wearing their christmas PJs. cold as balls.

i had two weird dreams the past two nights. saturday night i dreamt there was a a tsunami in the great lakes and it took out cleveland. no shart, for reals.
last night i dreamt i was on project runway. we were down to 3 remaining peeps. i spent all kinds of worry and stress getting my outfits together and was so super psyched that i finally came up with something good. i met up with my friend charity and told her all about it who reminded me ever so gently that i was supposed to actually make the clothes in the outfits, not just combined articles of clothing from my closet into stylish get ups. wow, i sure had a lot of work to do before the runway show after that.
went mtn biking on sunday. it was fun by windy. i was pretty sure a tree was going to come crashing down on me, but i actually got through it ok.
i've got a track workout tomorrow - yahoo!! and then its almost time to go to SF. i cannot wait.

conconi

i was worried about today. i told eric that ya know, they tell you to visualize, but i find the more that i visualize, the more i stay awake and the more nervous i get. i actually slept ok but then was up for like 2 hrs in the morning and then went to take a nap, and it wasn't even 9am yet.
eventually i got out of bed the 2nd time and we got ready for my test. i was doing the conconi test to help figure out my cycling heart rates, we seem to be still not quite right. the test involved a 30 minutes warm up then increasing effort in 2 minute increments until exhaustion. yeah, and then brick to 30 minute run building to high zn3...
eric mapped out a route for me, and we drove it first so i would know kind of what to expect and plus there was a light and a left hand turn to navigate, and that only added to the worry of it all - what if i got stuck at the light? would that ruin the test? what if cars were coming when i needed to turn left? the route was out in issaquah, i think eric said issaquah hobart road?, we passed poopoo point, and before i got started we stopped at the country store. we saw a ton of teams out there training, apparently i need to go and do this ride sometime, just for fun. i think it could be a good ride for that, someday.
my warm up wasn't quite a 1/2 hr like it was supposed to be, but it was windy as hell but at least there was no rain.
the first 2 minutes were good, the 2nd ok, the 3rd fine, the 4th i was thinking oh dear, the 5th i was like WTF, the 6th yeah, there was a hill coming up and there was no way i was going to make it up that at that effort without falling, so i think i crapped out a little early. to give myself some credit, i was at the point where my vision was all blurred and i couldn't breathe, so i had to have been close to maxed out, right? so i turned around, headed down the hill and back and around and over. a semi-quick change into some running shoes (yikes - i ran in a cycling shorts, leg warmers, jersey and arm warmers) and off i went running. up hill? yeah, the route we figured for me, i didn't realize it was going to all be false flat uphill. but it was pretty and gravel-y and i was working hard but feeling good, so i was happy.
eric was at the end with the kids, so he headed out on a run and the kids and i drove to the top of the highlands to pick him up at the end. we got there just about as eric was finishing, so we put on some layer and took the kids out for a hike. in the hail! sirus loved the hail and we determined that he is going to be a darn good trail runner someday.
later the window guy came to the house to talk to us about windows. the window guy loooooved pawpi. it was kind of funny. windows are expensive.

track

i did my first track workout of the season tonight. i was supposed to do one last week but it was raining really hard and i was tired and waaah waah waaaah. i just didn't do it and i just didn't do anything that day.
so today i was working really hard on coming up with an excuse to not do the track workout again.
this week has been tough. we had 10, yes, 10 house guests, 7 of whom were kids. that puts us at 9 kids in the house and 5 adults. everyone showed up monday night but i still got up on tuesday morning at 5 to get my ride in and then even got up wednesday morning at 5 to swim. wednesday afternoon when we ran, we saw two bald eagles and some other huge monster brown bird. i was really tired. that run was supposed to be an easy 45. we were doing 10 minutes miles and i was dying. i was really worried about the track workout the next day.

(see the scars from my crash in maui? and the scar from when i was surgeried upon?)
work was work, i was tired. i went to the drs only for that to be non-conclusive. i came home and did work until the work day was over. then all the kids came home and woke me up. i used that as the kick in the pants to get out the door.
the warm up was good and then it was to do 4x1200s at specific paces. and omg - i was able to hold the paces! i was shocked! and i wasn't dying! there were times when i wasn't sure i was going to get through them but then it would be a rest lap and i would be all recovered and ready to go. turns out this workout was just what i needed. i felt so much better when i was done and it totally helped my confidence. hooray! :)
now i just need to drop the thousand pounds i've gained recently. oh but not sure how that big bowl of ice cream i just had is going to help me with that....

(looking like a man. seamus said she is going to have a costume party for her next birthday and has asked that i pick a costume that makes me look not so much like a man)
poor pawpi. her face is still all messed up. she went back to the vets today and they put on a cone. they should have done that the first time she was there, we don't know why they didn't but after continuing to drop her face juices all over the house for over a month, now they finally did it. she's on the antibiotics again and her cheek is full of scar tissue. she seems like her old self, just with a cone.

mood

wow, have i been in one for sure lately. its been bad. like on the verge of crying all the time, total despair type of crap. except for wednesday, it was 70 degrees and sunny out! windy as hell but warm. i will take 70 degrees with a headwind any day before 45 degrees and a tailwind. yesterday i was in that crapola mood but today i feel a little better. i skipped my workout last night. ugh, that made me feel like a wuss and more worse, too. it was the first track workout of the year, 3x1600s in zn 4 to help set times for the following workouts. i had been worried about it all week. i was ready to go and just waiting for the work day to end so i could go but then the rain came. and not just drizzle but down pour. i frantically emailed my coach but seeing as she is currently on the other side of the international dateline, i wasn't really expecting an immediate response. so i emailed a few runner friends who basically all said to just say no. at least that is what i read it as. the thought of even trying to run in that, with the little water drops splashing up onto the back of my ankles was almost too much for me to bear. so instead i went home. i have been totally tired lately, too. the past two days have been a struggle to get through work (which has thank goodness been much better lately) and all i want to do is lay on the floor and nap. but i haven't.
swimming today was good. i felt like i could have slept through it :) but was happy to have gone. i am getting better, really i am. i think.
poor seamus! yesteday she was so excited because she was going planning on riding the school bus home from school today. they have a kindergarten only school bus that is filled with just kids from her class. since we live so close, she doesn't ride it but eric arranged with the teacher and the bus driver to let her ride it today. except she woke up with a sore throat, cough and fever. and next week is spring break, so no school bus for her for a while.
counting down the days to the vegas trip. we are going to drive. goodness that is going to be a long drive and i am keeping my fingers crossed that the old volvo makes its way down and back and doesn't strand us in the middle of the desert.
on other notes, i need to get my chowing down under control. eric is dropping weight like crazy but for every pound he is dropping i seem to be gaining 5. its horrible! gotta stop with all the crap all the time, but i love me some terrible foods! love me them i do!! i have no will power, self control, nada, nothing. today i accomplished something really big though. i went to target to get some tube socks for the 1970's themed party i am going to tomorrow night. i will wear them with my star wars shirt and gym shorts from when i was in the 7th & 8th grade at harvest park middle school. i was going to wear my princess leai - jabba the hut slave costume but eric said i wasn't allowed since that is technically from the '80s. plus the way things have been going, i think i would pass more as jaba than prince leia. don't even let me tell you what eric said about my cycling shorts... so i managed to get out of target for under $100 which is a big deal but also i managed to avoid target pizza hut. one of my true loves of redmond fine dining. i love it and it is so hard for me to resist! but i did and came back to work to enjoy a frozen entree that i picked from my grocer's freezer instead.

the ultimate warrior

dear friend EA sent this to me today to use as inspiration.

so much

yesterday sirus learned to ride his bike without training wheels! can you believe it? eric took the training wheels off, sirus messed around some, and then all of a sudden he was off! and even more impressive was in a matter of just a few minutes eric had set up a course on the driveway with cones and sirus was weaving in and out, hair pin turns and navigating it with ease! totally amazing little guy!
today i went on a mountain bike ride that kicked my arse. really hard. we went up to almost canada. we parked the cars and headed out. i knew right off the bat i was going to be in trouble because everyone was riding with so much ease and i was struggling with every bump. i was however really happy that i got up the first batch of switch backs but everythign else was tought! apparently i needed baggy shorts since i was the only one in lycra. there were 10 of us there, 3 training for la ruta, 2 training for bc bike race, one of whom is a pro, two dudes, and then two others who have some pretty awesome technical skills. i was the slowest of the bunch and not just slow, but like really really slow. i could keep up on the fire road climbs! and even on some of the single track climbs as long as they weren't too technical, oh and did i mention that my garmin said 33.3 miles and 10k ft of elevation? good grief. over 5 hrs of riding time. luckily there was some good stopping along the way! it was way fun, but really really hard. and then i drove the 2hrs home! tomorrow's run is going to be tough!

after paradise

so like i said, i had that sore throat on that ride. i felt terrible that sunday and skipped my swim and was a horribly, not fun mom to be around, on monday i finished up some stuff for work, ya know, all the late night friday drama that needed cleaned up. i had another rest day from training, too. then tuesday - ahhhh, day OFF. i slept in until like 830 or something. the kids didn't know i had stayed home so no one crawled in bed keeping me awake. i had 3 nights in a row of 9+hrs of sleep. i was getting caught up. i hung out at home for a few hours. just chilling out. then i went to bellevue square for some reason. i can't remember why. what was i doing there? but then i came home, changed real quick and headed out for a mtn bike ride. eric and sirus had picked up seamus from school, they had lunch, they took sirus to school and now eric and seamus were doing trail work. i rode around for a bit and came across the trails they were working on. seamus had her bike out there and was doing some mountain biking, too. after, we all headed over to pick up sirus. he didn't know i was home and when he saw me there waiting to get him he started jumping up and down getting all excited! it totally made my day!
wednesday morning i got up to go to masters swimming. i get up at 5, but really its 450 since my watch is 10 minutes fast. i get dressed, i get a glass of water, i get in the car and i drive there. then i sit in my car looking at email on my iphone. OMG - work drama at 524 AM. i took a deap breath, got out of the car and went to the pool. yeah, main set 8x100 IM followed by 5x100 free. it was good. after only a few minutes into the warm up i had let the work drama roll off and just worked on swimming. when i got to work i just did it. like i've said before, i like my job. i like the people i work with and i like what i do, just sometimes, it gets to be too much when it all kits at the same time and something is up because its hitting like crazy right now. i am trying to be very careful at looking at it objectivly and making sure my inability to deal is due to too much training, but i don't think it is, shit is really just nuts and once one shit is down the train, another one starts knocking at the door. so not cool.
on thursday morning i got up at 5am to ride the trainer for 2:15 in zone 3 and watch the movie 2010. thats a lot to deal with at 5am. more drama at work, more of the same drama - once we get one hole plugged another springs a leak, i wondered if the world really was coming to an end. later seamus lost her first tooth! ealier in the week we made tooth fairy pillows for the both of the kids. good thing - just in the nick of time! we also went to the art walk at seamus's school where we had the opportunity to buy her art work. it was cute and she seemed happy to be there and was excited to see her friends.
friday i made it to swimming. i sat in the parking lot and nothing alarming was coming over in email. i got out of the car, took 2 steps and realized i was in my slippers and i had not changed into my shoes... which was fun until while i was doing my sprints the masters coach who decided to swim with us since not many folks were there and he was getting soaked in the torrential downpour anyway, well, he was kicking with a kick board and was faster than my all out sprint. whatever.
someone in the locker room had made the comment about it being friday to which i replied - only 10 more hours and we are all set!
the first part of work was fine, slippers and all. at lunch i went to do my core workout in the gym. i warmed up on the treadmill then went to get the floor mat. as i walked towards the middle of the room i banged my knee head on into the metal foot plate of the seated row machine. full force. i felt it hit but felt nothing, but then it hit. my leg was completely stiff, i couldn't move it and all i felt was extreme pain all the way from my hip down to my foot. i wanted to cry but knew if i did i wouldn't be able to start. i almost threw up. i was thinking i was going to need to call eric to come pick me up, i didn't know how i was going to manage. after i saw there wasn't any immediate discoloration or swelling i decided to bend my leg despite still being in extreme pain. it was horrible. i dont' know if i have ever been in so much pain. i hobbled around and hobbled through my core workout avoiding anything that involved bending my knee or bearing weight on it. dude, it sucked. i hobbled back to my desk and within minutes found out that my personal email account had been hacked. muffa farker. minutes later i got a call and even more shit happened. unfreaking beleiveable. i just listened and said ok. i got through the rest of the day, eric and the kids picked me up, i cried in the car and then took a deep breath. i was going to enjoy the rest of my evening. and i did. i had two lemon drops with dinner, i got and gave lots of hugs and kisses and ya know what, i love my family and really that is all that matters.
today i ran for an hr of zone 3 on the treadmill. after the knee incident yesterday i was pretty sure my season was over, but it doesn't hurt to run, just to bend. after i swam, and it felt great. except when i would push off the wall, then my knee would hurt but whatever. when i got home we went for a walk. really i wanted to take a nap but it was so beautiful out that i wanted to be outside some. when we got home though i took a nap! its been a rough week, a rough few weeks. but dude, its going to get better here soon, right?

paradise

the other day i got a note from a designer friend if i would be a fit model for her for some photos for her portfolio. i of course said yes since i was indeed a super model before becoming a professional triathlete, and i love her, too, so of course i wanted to do it. and it was for cycling clothes, so that was fun, too. she was trying to decide where to do the shoot since she wanted good scenery and all. first we were going to head down towards crystal mountain and then go mtn biking and trail running after.
but once we all started thinking about it, we realized we'd be hauling 5 bikes and road riding gear, mtn biking gear and it was just getting to be too much. so location changed to Paradise up by Mt Rainier and we'd do a road ride and trail run. i hadn't ever been to Mt Rainier park before so i was really looking forward to it.
i met them at 6:30am and we got loaded up. we drove for a few hrs, met up with the photographer and then drove up into the park. we scouted locations, decided where we wanted the shoot and parked the van. burr, it was cold! super sunny, but burr! I took this photo with my iphone from where we parked. it was THAT amazing out.
we did the shoot which involved a few clothing changes, some riding towards and away, in circles and some standing there look good. then we had lunch. we drove down the mtn, changed into some casual wear and did some more photos. it was much warmer at the bottom. once the photos were done, we drove out of the park and said good bye to the photographer. we all changed into our cycling gear and got ready to ride back up the mountain. we had already driven up it so i sort of knew what to expect, but as we all know driving it and riding it are two different things.
on the way up i wore arm and leg warmers with shorts, a short sleeve jersey, a vest, booties and shortie gloves with some light glove liners under them. i packed a bunch of other things for the ride down since i knew it would be cold. the park was not that busy, but got much busier as the day when on. the drivers were mostly really good about having us on the road and a few would yell out words of encouragment as we were riding up. the grade was never so bad that i was ever dying. my workout was to be in zn3, so i was easily able to stay in it the entire 18 miles. the three of us stuck together the whole time, but we didn't do too much talking. while i was zn3 the whole time, the guy with us never got over 100bpm. he obviously wasn't trying hard enough. i had brought two bottles of discontinued LUNA Sport Electolyte Splash in Pinkgrapefruit and it was delicious. the wooded areas were amazingly wooded, and then we hit the snow. when we would be in the sun we'd be toasty warm, and then we'd hit the shade and it would be very cold. after almost 2hrs we were at the top. the trick to it all is to get up there, put on your layers and head down before you have the chance to get cold. so not a lot of enjoying the top, but enough to get a photo!
by the time we got up there, the parking lot was full and several people stopped to ask us about the ride. it is winter time and all... for the ride down i put on a dry base layer under my jersey, a wind breaker jacket, winter gloves over my glove liners, and a hat. i was pretty good temp wise for the ride down, but the ride down was really not very much fun. it was very scary. i'm not so big on going down hill, plus with the cold, the icy patches on the side of the road, the cars, the gravel.... it all lead to a stressful descent. i tried riding in my drops, but i have zero confidence in them and i'd just wind up going so fast that i wound up staying in my hoods for the most part. braking for 18 miles in the hoods is on the uncomfortable side. luckily, it wasn't the whole 18 miles, towards the bottom there are a few very fun miles where you can pedal hard, the road is wider and smooth, you are out of the snow and its just more fun. i think it took about 45 minutes to get back down. crazy! when we got back to the van, we made the decision to not go out for the scheduled run. i had a sore throat all day long already (i just didn't tell anyone) and it was getting late, almost 5pm, so we bailed on it. i felt like i had the energy to do it, but i also felt like if i did, i might be sorry. turns out i was right about that... but we headed back home and were treated to some amazing views of the sun setting on rainier - the whole mountain was pinkish orange! totally breath taking! once we got back to seattle, i jumped in my car for the 45 minute drive home. i was beat and feeling pretty thrashed.
sunday morning i was wide awake at 630ish and had not an ounce of ability to fall back asleep. not cool. it was a busy day and i felt terrible. my throat was so sore and the kids were driving me crazy. i felt back because i wasn't any fun at all and they were stuck with me since eric was out riding. they were going to a birthday party at 230 and would not stop about wanting to go to the party. they didn't want to go home or run errands or anything so finally i said fine, we will go and sit in the parking lot. for an hour. we sat there for a few minutes when sirus decided he had to use the bathroom and couldn't wait a single second so we left and went to the gas station. we all got back in the car and went to go wait the remaining 1/2 hr in the parking lot. we weren't even in the parking lot for more than 2 seconds when seamus decided she had to pee so bad that she was going to pee in her pants. i about lost it. we went into the birthday party place and everything was fine but OMFG. they had a ton of fun at the party and i just sat there. i didn't feel well, and i didn't know any of the other parents, so i just hung out. on the way home the whining started INSTANTLY. i couldn't beleive it, so we had no talking on the way home. i haven't ever done that before, but it was actually quite nice. i felt like a terrible mom, but ya know. sometimes no talking is best. and the even better part is that everytime i was about to lose it seamus would come up to me with open arms saying "awww, does someone need a hug?" aaakkkkk!!! NO I DO NOT NEED A HUG JUST STOP WITH THE WHINING!!!

so this morning after 10 glorious hours of sleep i feel better, not great but better. i did not do my workout on sunday which was just a short swim, and i am taking a total rest week today. i am taking the day off from work tomorrow, so i am just going to chill out and try to chill the hell out.