Gardening

For quite some time I have been wanting to plant our garden. Steven planted the tomatoes a while ago and they have little green tomatoes on them now. This is our garden plot. Nothing huge, but we managed to sew seeds for six different vegetables.

These are peas.

Chop sticks make good garden signs.

If you're wondering about Peter, do not worry. After Steven blocked his hiding place under the porch he helped us out and left on his own accord.

Our orange tree actually has a few oranges on it this year! I am still waiting on the lemons to turn yellow so I can make the famous lemon bars!

Worth the Wait

After racing triathlon on the original Softride, my Dad bought me a used Kestrel. I was in HEAVEN. It was the best bike EVER. I had no idea how much bikes cost back then and pretty much no idea that I was riding more of an entry-level bike with aero bars on it - I thought I was on the top-of-the-line, most awesome bike ever. That was until I signed up for my first Ironman, and upgraded to the Kestrel Airfoil Pro. This has been my triathlon bike for three wonderful racing seasons. It has carried me through five ironmans and the lava fields twice. The bike is smooth, it fits, I love it. So this season when I decided to get a new bike, I wanted to stick with Kestrel. I had hoped to race Oceanside on the new bike, but waiting a little longer is going to make the new bike all the better.

This much-awaited box arrived today.

Helllloooooooooo FUN!! This is WAY better than Christmas!!
More pics when I have everything built. . .

Fortune

This came with my lunch today. SWEET - sounds good! I tend to believe we make our own fortunes. Sometimes life is awesome and sometimes it is completely unfair. I think it's mostly how we choose to deal with whatever life dishes out that matters more.

This week I get a "mini-break" from my crazy training. I am not calling it a rest week because I really only get three days of easiness, followed by what has become a regular hefty training-filled weekend.

Ian is coming to drag me around the Henshaw loop Saturday on our bikes. He does not think the "drag me around" part is true since he doesn't yet know the route, but I'm pretty sure he will be a little spec on the horizon in my eyes.


Last week I decided to enter the Rock n Roll marathon which takes place Sunday. Kind of a last minute "this will be fun for training" sort of thing. I have been running long on the weekends and after getting bored of my route and relistening to every song on my ipod too many times I decided, why not just enter the race? So this will be the first marathon I have ever entered only 8 days before the race, on non-fresh legs, without tapering. I am going to call it good practice. Or maybe it will make for a really funny blog post when it is all said and done! And I know, it is a bit crazy. But really, isn't all of triathlon and endurance sport a bit crazy?!

Single Speed Adventures

I took Vincenzo to the pool yesterday. He doesn't know how to swim yet, so he enjoyed being ogled by other swimmers while he waited patiently. I am giving myself a few weeks to get used to single speed before I flip the wheel and go full fixie. I was afraid I might not make it up the hill by the pool so I threw my clipless pedals on the bike. I do not regret this at all - way more fun! My gearing is 17/44, for those of you interested. So far I think it is just about right for me and the hills I ride on my commute.

On this morning's bike commute I was grinning from ear to ear after making it up the even steeper hill by my office with my super heavy bag on my back! A motorcycle pulled up next to me and said "Hey - that is a SWEET bike!" Ahhhhh yes, and just as I was reveling in how wonderful everything was, pssshhhhhh, pshhhhhhh, pssshhhhhh.

Massive piece of evil metal in my tire!

And fixed gear bikes do not have quick-release wheels. Today the meat wagon came to pick me up since I did not have time to heal Vincenzo's wounds before work. . . thanks Barbara!!

I am currently painting some zip ties lime green (multiple uses for nail polish!) to secure my rear brake cable. And I know - real fixies don't have brakes. I'm not quite there yet though!!

Vincenzo

I could tell you about the beauty of my ride today, how I lost my legs at mile 5 and spent the next 110 miles searching for them in vain. Or how awesome John and Marit were for making a difficult ride rather fun.

But the most exciting riding I did today was actually on my new fixed gear, who I have named Vincenzo. I still have a bit of tweaking, pedal-changing and prepping to perform on Vincenzo, but OH HE IS FUN!! More pics to come . . . 

Spicy Wing Showdown

Our friend David competed in a spicy wing eating contest last night. I think it could be considered an endurance event. There were 4 contestants. In order to reach the next round you just have to eat one spicy wing. The only catch is that each round the wings get spicier.

Water is provided for drinking, dumping on the head, whatever works best.

After about 7 rounds David and another contestant were all that remained.

David's fan club cheered for 14 rounds.
His opponent made it 15 rounds.

The wing winner and David - post competition ice cream relief.

Nice work David - we are so proud! When you're racing IM Florida this year if you are not hurting as bad as you were on wing #14 you better pick it up!!

Progress

Yesterday I had three hard workouts. Today I have some more. This morning my legs quit working during my ride so I threw in the towel and rode to get some of this.

Instead of getting my coffee "to go" I sat down in a chair. Ten minutes of enjoying my dead legs being still, doing absolutely nothing. Sitting and watching people go about their day. I watched the guy across the street at Trader Joe's sweeping the entry. I watched the construction workers showing up to build their building. It was wonderful.

Last year I had a really hard time accepting that not all my workouts could be "great". I tend to set pretty high standards for myself and would continuously come home from a bad workout bewildered because my legs were not up for the workout on that particular day. This year I am learning to let it go - if the workout is not great, give it a rest, take a break and the next one will be better. Here's to progress!

The Little House and a Fire

We went to Little Italy this weekend and I found this house.

It was one of my favorite childhood books by Virginia Lee Burton!!

Roo organized a bonfire.
She even came equipped with tofu hotdogs for me!

Steven (actually almost everyone) wrapped bacon around their hot dogs for roasting. My only comment on this is [comment deleted].

A Long Ride

Fog by the coast led to hot, hot, hot inland.

The sound of my breath was the only noise other than a crow taunting me from a distance. Sweat slid down my chin, splattering on my bike computer, blurring the number on the screen. Although the steep hill, slow cadence and possible leg failure were providing more than enough information. My heart rate was really irrelevant at this point.

It seemed there was a head wind all day long. We changed directions, so did the wind. It was was somewhat humorous at first and as the hours ticked on, became irritating.

I am quite sure there is nothing better than our stop at the market where I always purchase coffee-in-a-can. Knowing I will stop for this drink motivates me to ride faster up multiple hills and try to keep my friend Allan in sight. Somehow the heat makes snapping that can open all the more refreshing.

I have probably said it before, but it is worth repeating. 

I really love how many places a bicycle can take me in a single day.

Simple Things

Last night after my run my legs were somewhat grumpy with me. They had been through the gamut of workouts the past few days and were on the verge of screaming at me to STOP! I finished my run on the beach, threw off the shoes and socks and jumped in - literally. It has been a while since I felt the sand squish between my toes and tasted salt water. I live by the beach, but often do not find time to get in the ocean. After ten minutes of letting the icy water take away any lingering aches in my legs I walked along the beach and up the long stairway to the cliffs above. I love how simple it was - just hopping into the crashing waves, getting sand in my shorts - and it made my day complete.

Tomorrow is bike to work day. It is pretty simple as well - instead of getting in your car in the morning, just get on your bike instead. Sure you might need to pack a bag of clothes to take with you, but I promise you it is fun. You will probably see things you never noticed before from your car!

Bike image courtesy of fellow cyclist and graphic artist Cody Gilbertson.

The View

View on my ride this morning.

View out my window at work today.

1-2-3

This was workout #1 today - on the bike. I learned my heart still works and this workout still hurts.


Workout #2 was in the pool. I tried moving up a lane today - you know, just for fun. This was indeed very fun until everyone started swimming away from me and I started flailing wildly to keep up. I did not die, so I still think it was good for me.

Workout #3 will take place in about two hours here. I think that will be a great way to end the day!

Hello? Can you come out to play?

Today kicks off a monster training month. I am ready to jump back in, but think I may need to catch up on some sleep first.

It all started Saturday when my nephew Jonathan called to ask if I could come over and play. He promised to take me out for a ride in a rare vintage car.

The twins golfed - both Wii and green grass golf.

Mom and I went for Mother's Day brunch.And we ended the weekend with a Sunday night concert. This really is the best way to ensure that on Monday the coffee tastes amazingly great!

Diedrich Ride

The road bike is all sparkly clean thanks to my friend Mike. Steven and my Dad were planning a ride that involved coffee, so of course I was on board.

Diedrich coffee is my all-time favorite California coffee. A couple of years ago they shut down almost all the coffee houses, or turned them in Starbucks. I was beyond sad. Then last year I discovered a taco shop / cafe that serves Diedrich's. And even better - it is on a bike route!

The cafe is 30 miles from my home, and I hardly ever drive that direction, so stopping to get coffee beans is a bit out of the way. Thankfully my Fat Cyclist jersey has big pockets. 

If you look closely you can see Steven in the background texting like a 13-year-old-girl! If there were speed texting competitions he would take me down in a flash!

This was my view for most of the ride. 

Although it didn't look quite so blurry through my eyes.

"May gray" came back to Southern California this week. It will lead to "June gloom". I actually kind of enjoy it for the first month, but by June I usually get tired of the gloomy, foggy weather. Happy riding!