Four Things I'm Doing

Eating Veggies:
You know how I was going to do this vegan thing for six weeks starting April 1st? Well, I did it and then some. Actually, I guess I never became totally vegan as I take fish oil capsules every day. Also, I "cheated" by having sushi a couple of times. (Mmmmm. Crunchy shrimp rolls. Turns out they are more addictive than cheese. Who knew?) I guess I'm a mostly vegetarian girl with vegan tendencies. I will add back in eggs as soon as our friend who has an organic farm starts selling her chickens' eggs. I know those chickens are happy, healthy, and having wonderful little chicken lives. I don't think I'm going to add back in skim milk or cheese like I thought I would. I have found a substitute cheese that I like just fine. I know some people are all het up about soy products but I don't eat a lot of them so I'm not worried. In fact the only processed food I eat these days are my vegetarian refried beans, fat free pretzels, and my veggie shreds! Even so I try to limit them because, oh my, they have a surprising amount of sodium in them. The rest of my diet is fresh fruit and vegetables. I eat fruit and only fruit in the mornings, a big honking salad and sometimes a tostada for lunch, and mostly cooked veggies for supper. For snacks I have my pretzels, raw almonds, natural cashews, and a half an avocado here an there. I feel more fueled and more content about food than ever before in my life. I don't feel deprived or have food cravings at all. I have no idea how I'll feel in the Fall - as fresh fruit is harder to come by and I get cold. (Being cold triggers all kinds of food things for me!) But for now I'm relishing my happy relationship with healthy foods.

Getting Faster:
Sunday we had a longer double brick - bike 20 miles, run 3, bike 20 miles, run 3. Poor Donna was dealing with some serious hormonal grumpies and discomfort already but then at the very start of our first ride, she had a bizarre allergic reaction to something (maybe on her chin strap?) She itched and had welts and was miserable. But she refused to quit even when I suggested we stop and put the whole thing off until the next day (Memorial Day.) I had the first great ride I've had in probably a year. It was hard but I was in a great zone. And then we ran our first three mile set. Our paces were 11:17, 10:45, and 10:31. HOLY CRAP that's fast for us! (Seriously - a good day is when I can have a couple of miles that come in under 12 min/mile.) But our average for those three was 10:51! And it was POURING rain. (Miraculously it rained only while we ran, not once as we biked for the whole day. It was a little odd.) The rain was nice in a way because it wasn't stormy (just wet) and it cooled us off - but WOW were we soaked. My second run wasn't as fast, averaging 11:43 over the three miles, but each mile came in under 12 and I felt great when we finished. I'm thinking the consistent training, the new hill workouts, and the group runs with speedy folks are beginning to show some results. Yay!

Weirding Out During Recovery:
I think I need to learn even more about recovery. I keep having a significantly "down" day after big workouts. Sometimes I feel feverish, sometimes just out of sorts, but always needing not to be around other people for awhile. I'm sometimes a little sore, but not in a way that would keep me from working out if it weren't a recovery day already. (In fact after Sunday - the only part of me that was at all sore were two new bruises and the muscles in my arm from what Gazelles would call a "small falling down incident" when I tried to make a u-turn on my bike too slowly.) So I think I have my nutrition down but what's up with the blues?? Anybody else have this happen to them or know what I can do about it?

Balancing Everything:
I LOVE being a blogger. I thrive on the community and connection. Y'all are totally fabulous and my triathlon journey would not be the same without you. And my life journey wouldn't be the same without triathlon. But I'm having a hard time being consistent in keeping up - so here's my new plan. (OMG - I LOVE plans. I'm now addicted to them after following training plans that actually get me to my goals!!) I've been torn between limiting my blog reading or limiting my commenting. I've decided to do a bit of both. I've narrowed my reading list as much as I can (mostly weeding out the Russian blogs I used to follow that took me too long to translate anyway - so sorry Glaven - no more weirdness coming your way from them.) And I've got a plan to comment, not on fewer blogs - but less frequently, like once a week. I'll be in a perpetual state of catch up for some blogs, but I'll recover my sense of blogpeace. So - if you don't hear from me for a while, don't think I've stopped being a fan! I've got some great things going in my 3D world - like my kids all being home for the summer (yipee!!), a book project that's going well, and launching a new career that will dovetail with my writing/training/whole life. (<--More on that when I finish my training and the thing's taking off.)

TODAY I LOVE: bath pillows and dumpster diving (in the magazine recycle bin to make collages)