Fresh

Weird - I went away for a weekend and my garden just took off! As in I can now eat it! These all went to work with me today. The lemon went in my tea to help me get rid of my cough. The veggies, they were awesome on their own!

Coming home is always nice. I am grateful I do not live where it is 110+ with 100% humidity in the summer. I slept with a cat on my pillow and the window open last night and it was perfect.

Buffalo Springs 70.3 Race Report

Driving to the race this morning it was lightning. And the wind was blowing HARD. Rain was imminent.

The Kestrel and I checked in and I ran into Elizabeth.

I'm in the middle of this picture by the Texas A&M girl. The water was downright HOT. I spent half the swim wishing I was not in a full wetsuit, and the other half trying not to cough while swimming.

Spectators were not exactly conducive to Steven's long-distance photography of the Kestrel taking off on its first race. The pictures don't give it justice - but the bike is FAST!

When I first got on the bike I felt absolutely awful. My legs felt bad, I felt bad, everything felt wrong. I have never DNFd and I was seriously considering it. Having been sick I didn't want to make myself worse and thought maybe I had under-estimated how hard it would be to race after being sick. I decided to eat a GU and ride easy for five miles. If after this point I didn't feel better I would drop out. Thankfully, something turned around.

With nothing to lose and maybe some to gain I decided to push the bike. In the process I got snot all over myself and the bike. Thankfully it ended up pouring and washing everything off. Somehow I ended up setting a PR on the bike and riding into the fastest female amateur bike split of the day, something I have never done before. I wish I had photos of the pouring rain as I headed back to T2 - it was awesome.

It quit raining on the run, which made it a bit steamy. I didn't feel terrible on the run, but I also didn't feel amazing. It was a run.

Somehow I earned myself and IV. Unfortunately though they missed my vein and emptied half the IV bag into my arm before I realized it and had them remove the needle from my swollen arm. They offered to re-stick me. I decided drinking would be a safer option.

Cathy and I decided we should race together more often. Both of us PRd the overall distance, I chased her on the bike and she chased me on the run. We finished 1-2 overall female amateurs. It was a fun day!

No Joke - It's HOT in Texas!

I spent the morning heat-acclimatizing in our friends' garage while assembling the Kestrel. I could not get the power meter to work at first. Steven tried to help. We finally realized I hadn't plugged the little computer in. DOHHHHH!

We set off to drive the bike course.

And found this porcupine! Steven got out of the car to try to get a close up, but our little friend waddled away quickly.

The bike course is beautiful.

And I can semi-breathe through my nose today!

As we drove back into town the bank sign said 99 degrees.
Bring on the salt tabs!

Bright

God bless the inventor of Kleenex with lotion built right in! My sore throat has moved on to the stuffy nose, head, etc. phase. Progress. I'm quite sure I will be snotting all over my beautiful new bike on Sunday. Awesome!

My bright orange bike is going to match my bright outfit. Betty Designs made a super fun race kit for me! All my favorite colors and I'm pretty sure Steven will be able to see me from a mile away. We leave tomorrow for Texas - stuffy head or not, I can't wait!

Sickly

Good health. Something I try to appreciate, but when all is well it is so easy to take for granted. There is nothing more effective than waking up with a screaming sore throat and achy body to make me appreciate (or miss) my health.

This weekend I am flying to TX to race the Buffalo Springs 70.3 Triathlon. My sickness has most excellent timing! Normally "taper" = cutting back. This taper = green tea, vitamin C, resting, reading, doing nothing and watching everything imaginable on the DVR. Yesterday included the entire Boston marathon, an ITU women's triathlon race, and a random track meet. Thankfully Usain Bolt's entertaining antics saved me from daytime TV.

And should my sickness decide to linger, well, I have never been to Lubbock, TX before. I hear it is amazingly beautiful this time of year for sightseeing!

Seven

Seven years ago today Steven and I tied the knot. It seems like just yesterday and it seems like a lifetime ago. I feel extremely happy to have met someone who compliments me as well as Steven does. We seem to be able to bring out the best in each other.

Here's to another 77 years! And yes, we plan to live past 110.

Scary Stuff

This is my friend Bryant's bike. He was hit head on by a jeep this morning, while training for his upcoming Ironman. He is lucky. He has a broken arm, a broken nose, lost 2 teeth and is beaten and bruised. If you believe in prayer he could use some.

In a little happier news I got to ride with my Dad today for Father's Day. I think it's pretty darn cool to have a Dad just as crazy as I am in that he trains for Ironman also. Happy Father's Day!

Cats and Gardens

I saw this cute thing on my ride the other day. The tiniest orange kitten I've ever seen. He was sleeping on the side of the road. I went back to pick him up and he ran away.

Probably a good thing because had he not run away I would have stuck him in my bike jersey and taken him home.

And I'm not really sure Tiptoe would appreciate losing the "center-of-attention" title in our household.

The garden is coming up fast! On the left side you can see the spinach is somewhat slow - I suppose salad without the spinach isn't much of a salad at all, but we'll manage somehow.

The color of this moss is just awesome and makes me happy.

What IF?

What if every time you toed a race starting line you forgot all your previous racing times?

What if you raced in the moment at each race and did not compare yourself to others?

Would it change the way you race? Would you enjoy yourself more?

I like numbers and statistics and seeing how fast I can go. I love competition. But at the end of the day numbers are only numbers - they should not define us or bring us down. If you finish a race and honestly gave your best on that given day then that is success.

What do you eat?

I have been vegetarian my entire life. I have never eaten chicken or beef. Serious. My parents are both vegetarian. (And they are not hippies.)

I get asked a lot what I eat and most specifically how I get enough protein when I train a lot. So here are a few of my favorites.

I recently discovered Oikos greek yogurt - it rocks. Lots of protein.

I love lentils. Lentil wraps are even better with hummus inside along with cucumber and tomatoes, diced real small.

I eat a lot of tofu in stir fries and usually make smoothies for breakfast and add protein to them. I never really think my diet is very different from most people's, I kind of tend to just replace the meat with some sort of tofu or legume product and it ends up being good.

I think it is possible to eat a healthy diet that includes meat. I just have never had any growing up and now it does not look good to me.

Feet are Neat

Life sometimes seems to move in fast-forward. If possible, it seems things have been busier than normal. We moved our entire office last week. I can not find notes, microscope specs, etc.

So rather than bore you with the chaos that is often my life I thought I would share a few things that I think are neat.

The first ironman I ever competed in was Coeur d'Alene and David Rozelle competed in his first Ironman as well. He lost a foot when a bomb went off under his truck in Iraq. He went on to Kona that year and my favorite part of the TV coverage is when he says, "I'm not an Ironman athlete, I'm a rugby player. These people are crazy - they eat tofu and wear spandex!" But actually he is an Ironman athlete and he inspires people every day, with only one foot.

Today I think feet are neat. And I am thankful I have two of them. I am also thankful for all the different people I have met through this crazy sport. They continue to inspire me to become a better person and for this I am very grateful.

Getting Lost

Yesterday Steven had a meeting in San Diego so I decided I would find myself some new riding scenery. I found a 100-mile "ride" that is done in March and decided to try to copy that loop, figuring the roads were probably decent if a century takes place on the route.

First stop was the Olympic Training Center. My hope was to ride around and check it out, but the guard at the gate said I had to take an "official tour." No time for this, so I hopped back on my bike.

On the blue planter beneath the Olympic rings it says "Amazing Awaits". I like this.

Part way through the ride I realized I was sweating all over my map and smearing the directions. Oops! Well, hills usually mean east, ocean west. I won't get lost.

The scenery was awesome. The climbing was tough. And it was one of the best rides I have had in a while. Just me, my bike and open roads. At one point the only car I saw over a 3-hour time period was a border patrol truck.

When I finally re-entered a town I reached a point where the next road on my map was not appearing in a timely manner. Realizing I was most likely lost I tried to figure out which direction I was going by looking at the sun, which was over my left shoulder. This meant I was going north. Doohhhhhh! (I needed to go south.) I pulled into a 7-11 to ask directions. Out front two ladies were selling strawberries.

ME: Can you help me figure out where I am on this map?

Lady #1: Ohhhhh no, we no live around here.

ME: Am I in El Cajon?

Lady #2: That's a nice bike! Did I cost you almost $1000?

My internal voice: Hmmm, how do I get them to focus on the issue that little white girl is lost and trying not to end up in Mexico?

ME: Do you know where Paradise Valley is?

Lady #1: Ohhhh honeeeee, you do not want to go there. It is GHETTO!

ME: Ok, so I need to go back that direction?

Lady #2: I used to be in shape like you, but then I had 3 kids. Look, now even my hands are fat! (She holds a pudgy hand up to my face).

My internal voice: Oh jeez, this is not working. 

The ladies were most helpful in trying to send me on the right path, although I had doubts when I rolled out of the parking lot that I had gained any insight.

Rain threatened for much of the day, but thankfully I only got sprinkled on.

As I finally rolled through the "ghetto" I was actually happy because I knew I was going the right direction again.

This is the elevation profile from the ride I had intended to do. I added about an hour when I got lost. I later figured out I'd made the wrong turn because I wrote the directions down incorrectly. Oops again!

It was indeed a most amazing and beautiful day on the bike. I can't wait to take some friends on the loop with me.

Oops

Last night after my run I couldn't find my phone. I finally found it, sparkly clean after being run through the wash.

I am tired. Between chaos at work, training and more work I am running out of time and energy. I fear my small and minoot social life may start to suffer. (The horror!!) 

My best friend Heidi and I always joke because we're both very talented at throwing a million balls up in the air and juggling them. I call her Martha (as in Martha Stewart). She works, bakes, makes crafts, and is the best mother I know to 2 kids (soon to be 3). I just work and train lots. Those lemon bars I made last week - the extent of my baking. I always tell her I don't know how she does it. She says the same.

Every once in a while we both seem to have all the balls we toss up in the air come crashing down on top of us in a massive heap. 

When she had her last two kids I was racing Ironman Coeur d'Alene both times. We had bets to see who would win - her in child labor, me racing Ironman. We are tied right now 1-1. This year she is again due to deliver her 3rd child the day of IM CDA. I told her I would go out and ride my long loop so we could race when she goes into labor.

As for the phone - I was thinking I might just return to 1984 and go without for a while. Until I realized I would be stuck on those rides where I require a meat wagon to come pick me up.

Eeeek snakes!

I do not like snakes. They creep me out. I know many will not hurt me. I still do not like them. We have a lot of snakes around here and I like to trail run. Therefore, I see a lot of snakes.

Tuesday night I saw one of these. A harmless gopher snake. I screamed like a girl when it came slithering out of the bushes. Jeffrey can attest to this.

Last night on my run I came across a large fat ugly snake. I have no idea what kind, but it was alive and I did not stop to check him out. I jumped about 5 feet in the air and hightailed it out of his way. My heartrate got right up to where I wanted it without any effort on my part!

This morning on my bike ride - nice big fat snake on the road. Only this one was squished. Ewwwww!

I see a lot of these marks on the running trails - snake slithering marks. If you run on trails in snake country watch where your feet are landing!

Hanging On!

I realized lately I have been studying and trying to master the art of hanging on. When riding with my fast friends I am usually trying to grab a wheel and telling myself "Just hang on!" When running track there are many times I do not want to hang on to the fast pack, but I know its more fun to run with others than by myself, so I hang on some more. In the pool I have become especially talented at hanging on to feet.

My hope is that all the hanging on can make me faster. Sometimes I think I may lose a lung, a leg, or even both arms, but then amazingly I survive and whatever I was hanging on to ends. The moment passes and my lungs are usually still working (although they might hurt) and my legs are still attached.

So I've decided to try to keep hanging on!

This is an actual gnome I photographed in Switzerland a few years ago. He still makes me laugh. He's hanging on, still smiling!

Organization

I'm in the midst of reorganizing my closet and was searching for some storage-type-stuff. I came across this ad. I get the idea, but please tell me WHO has a closet that looks like this with only one pair of shoes and three things hanging on the racks?! My closet is a massive chaotic mess of old race t-shirts, compression tights and bike shorts, mixed with a few "presentable" outfits that I wear when doing all things non-athletic.

Big Bike Bags and Lemon Bars

This weekend's workouts kicked my butt. There were some bricks involved at race pace. My legs came along for the ride, but I wouldn't say they were happy with me or moving at "race pace". However, I will tell you the great things about the workout: the weather was perfect - big puffy white clouds. My new Kestrel bike is awesome. There should be a special word for the feeling I get when finishing a really hard workout. The feeling of flopping onto the grass with my helmet and bike shoes still on, happy with endorphins and the fact that I do not again have to get back onto my bike and push the legs harder than they want to go.

After the leg-killing workout I went out in the garden and picked some of our lemons. I made Todd's famous family lemon bar recipe. And let me just tell you - it rocked! I took the lemon bars to my friend Molly's house for her party. And then I proceeded to make fun of her very large bike bag.

I think I asked her if she puts an entire pizza in it when she goes for a ride. She was nice enough to open it up and show me all the little gadgets inside. There was even extra room for her cell phone, should she get stranded on a ride. This got me thinking of all the awesome things I could carry on a ride should I invest in a larger bike bag. Sandwiches, spare socks, a toothbrush . . . the possibilities are endless!

Actually now that I look at the photo the bike bag doesn't really seem THAT large. Thanks for the awesome party Molly! Your bike bag rocks!

Stormy Skies

I tried to capture everything I had the privilege of viewing on my bike ride this morning. There is something absolutely awesome about riding your bike past stormy skies over a calm ocean.

Have a great weekend!