Reports From Around And About

Report from my weekend in Phoenix:
The city that gets like 6 rainy days a year - and which had a forecast that said "0% chance of precipitation" was engulfed in a DOWNPOUR for three of the the three and a half days I was there.  Still, it was a sunny kind of rain and I managed to be active even if I didn't get a run in.  (Trails I've never been on in the dark and in the rain - I just couldn't figure that out!! Next time though.  I figure Phoenix owes me.) 

Report from my kitchen:
Have you seen this book?  My fabulous partner Donna picked it up and welcomed me home with an amazing soup from it.  Seriously yummy stuff.  I can't wait to try more recipes! 

Report from my training plan:
If it's not going to be the year of the first marathon (and it isn't), then it's going to be the year I repeat a race.  I've never done the same race twice and I'm looking forward to it.  Of course the race we're going to repeat is the biggie.  I'm wanting to see if the 7 1/2 hours was a fluke or if we can better it!  I don't know that I can improve my swim or my bike much - but I know I have LOTS of room left to better the run.  I'm looking forward to our newly run-focused training plan. 

Report from my dogs:
They like grapes and carrots but really miss the days they used to get the occasional bit of bacon drippings on their kibbles. I'm thinking I ought to get them some of these. 

Is it Spring yet??  Peace.

TODAY I LOVE:  Reading books with my kids!!  Have you read The Hunger Games?   Are you collecting clues?  Don't you want to go to Camp Half-Blood?  You should.

In Which The Word Training Is Almost Absent

I have had a less than glorious training week. What work I've managed to get in has been ... blah. You know it's bad when I'm looking forward to the triple bricks so I can feel some intensity.

I think part of it is nutrition. As the weather changes, the food that has worked for me all summer is not only unappealing, but is actually repulsive to me. It's not cold enough for fall foods and it's too dark and gloomy for summer foods. I'm having a 'tween season food crisis. Help!! (Seriously - pomegranates are the ONLY thing I can think of to bridge this gap. They're fabulous - in a weird sort of platypus-of-the-food-world way - but it's damn near impossible to fill up on the darn things.) I repeat - HELP!! What are y'all eating right now?

In other news - I follow lots of ocean conservation blogs. If you didn't already know, I'm passionate about protecting and preserving our ocean environments. But I have to confess - that is not the main reason I read some of these blogs. No - the main reason I follow some of them is that where else in the world could you see a picture of a Bearsharktopus?? Or be asked the question, "Do you have a retractable sexual appendage on your forehead?" first thing in the morning. (To which I will answer, "No, never." But I'm not even going to begin to vouch for Glaven's answer to that same question.) So, if you're looking for some serious wackiness in between workouts you should totally become a marine life conservationist. (However, if you become one of those sea kitten freaks, I will have to cut you support your right to be a moron disagree with me, just don't tell me about it.)

Finally - congratulations to Carolina John (my soon to be neighbor!) for landing a sweet, new job! And good luck in Augusta to Wes and Kevin. Rock it guys!!

TODAY I LOVE: my dog Wasabi! (A woman was quite taken aback by him this morning and gasped, "He looks like a muppet!" Which may be true, but my actual thought was, "Which one?" A question to ponder.)

Orange

Color-based food cravings. That's normal, right? Right?! (Dammit - I can hear those crickets chirping.)

TODAY I LOVE: weird snack food combos apparently

Turning Corners In The Summertime

Here's how the summer's going so far:
I'm eating A LOT of this (so yummy!):

I'm seeing this on my bike rides/bricks (so pretty!):

There's plenty of this going on around me (loud but so much fun!):

(That's only four of the seven we have for the day - but the other two boys have gone bowling with friends and the Princessa is at a party. I can add ferrying kids all over creation to the list of summer happenings.) I LOVE having everyone (and their friends) home again.

In triathlon news, things are definitely shifting. In a good way. On Saturday morning we had a Team Sakina 7 mile trail run at Umstead Park. Now anyone who's been reading this blog for a while will probably expect me to start stressing about those seven miles. But guess what? Donna and I both realized that we'd turned some sort of corner in our training or confidence or something because neither of us was stressed about the distance or the trail or the pace. We were both the most stressed about getting good directions to the park!! The trail was GORGEOUS - lots of ferns, rocks, hills and trees everywhere. And our pace? We did seven miles in 80 minutes - which is an 11:26 min/mile pace!! (That's fast for us - especially for a hilly trail. In fact, I still find it hard to believe it was a full seven miles, but our leader and a couple of others said it was. Woo hoo!)

This morning we did a short brick (15 mi bike, 3 mi run). I felt great - centered, solid, perfectly fueled. I brought fantastic intenisty. I don't know exactly what the bike pace was but the run pace was 11:10 min/mi. (Did I mention that's fast for us?) Donna had significant fueling issues and totally, completely bonked. But have I mentioned she's a machine? She led on the bike, pushed me on the run, and put up the same numbers as I did. She may not have been a happy camper at the end of our brick but all it took for her to regain the will to live was some solid food. We spent a good hour afterward figuring out better nutrition/self care plans for the upcoming week. (Last week she worked at least 4 12-hour days and this week looks like more of the same. Thank God Thursday is her last day for the year!!) It's amazing how much we keep learning about adapting. I love this sport!

This week our training plan has three days of bricks, two long swims, a 45 mile endurance ride, a run with short interval speed work, and a 5K (Race For The Cure). It looks tough but doable to me. And that, my friends, is pretty much the nail in the coffin for the "old" me. I'll probably still freak out about stuff occasionally (that triple brick for instance) and I'm sure I'll whine about things (that triple brick for instance) - but triathlon has irrevocably changed me. (For the good I think.) I love this sport!! Hope everyone else's summer is going great too!

TODAY I LOVE: triathlon and locally grown, organic strawberries still hot from the field!

In Which I Am Suprisingly Empowered By Hummus

Thank you for the wonderful comments on my last post. I am envious of those of you who love, love, love beans and tomatoes! I am missing cheese but I keep telling myself that part is only for six weeks. (Forty more days to go!) Once the initial phase is over, I'm going to add back in skim milk, cheese (reduced fat or small, occasional treats of the fabulous varieties), and egg (whites). I don't think I said so in the last post, but I committed to this particular plan in support of my mother. She is more excited about this food plan than I have ever seen her about any kind of food or health plan. She has been so encouraging and supportive of me in myriad ways - it is literally the least I would do in order to reflect some of that back to her. There is great shared energy and solidarity in working a new food plan with someone else. (Which is why John is doing it with us too!) Don't get me wrong - I have been moving in this direction for months and I'm firmly focused on my own goals. But I wouldn't have become a vegan* (even if it's only for six weeks) for anyone other than my mom.

The first (vegan) phase is focused on resetting your taste buds, digestive tract, and your brain/food coping skills. It's working! Food is already tasting different and BETTER to me. (I still don't think I'll ever like wheat germ on popcorn.) But I am eating a huge variety of new and wonderful foods. I am eating as much/many raw fruits and vegetables as I possibly can. (The goal is a pound of veggies and at least 4 whole fruits a day. That, my friends, is a lot of food.) In addition, the goal is to have another pound of cooked greens, a cup of beans, an ounce (=handful) raw nuts, and up to a cup of grain/starchy cooked veggie (yummy potatoes) a day. Every single day. On the one hand it's a lot of work to eat that much food. On the other hand it's insanely simple. I wash and chop everything as I buy it, so if I don't feel like cooking, all I have to do is pick something up and start chewing. Zero thought.

The "cooking" part has been a bit of a readjustment. No sugar, no salt, no oil. No sugar is easy peasy for me. No salt is killing me. Mrs. Dash is my new best friend! (Thanks Stef for reminding me Mrs. Dash exists!) No oil? You know I loves me some olive oil drizzled on veggies (with sea salt!!) but I'm not missing it too much yet. The pear infused balsamic vinegar I've been using on my (giagantuamongo) salads is delicious as is and I'm lightly steaming veggies instead of roasting them.

And? BIG news. I like some legumes! Leh-gooooooms. Such a silly word. But did you know, hummus is a legume. Ok, ok - it's the garbanzo beans that are the ... well, beany part. I've been making my own hummus. From scratch! It is delicious. And easy. And cheap! Do this: take one can organic garbanzo beans including 2/3 cup of the bean juice (which in some of my cans is all of the juice and sometimes is just most of it), 3 Tbs lemon juice, a bunch of minced garlic, 2 Tbs tahini (which is sesame seed butter and is found with the natural nut butters), and (optional - but OMG it's my favorite part so I put in even more) 1 tsp horseradish (which bizarrely is found at my Harris Teeter in the refrigerated dairy section between the cheese and eggs, WTF?) and puree all that together. Eat it by the spoonful or piled on top of raw carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, or celery stalks. (When I add back in eggs, I'm making "deviled" eggs substituting my hummus for the traditional egg yolk/mayo part!)

Here's the even bigger news about hummus. (I'm sure you're thinking, "Who knew there could be any news about hummus, much less bigger news?" but at the risk of sounding like a wacko vegetable convert - this next bit has changed something fundamental for me.) Did you know you can make hummus out of other stuff? Maybe all of you bean-loving folks knew this but it's rocking my world! I guess it's probably not called hummus then - but it serves the same purpose (i.e. makes it possible to eat beans without gagging). My friend Coffee doesn't like garbanzo beans so she makes her "hummus" out of black eyed peas and pinto beans. I LOVE the way some people think. I'm so willing to experiment with some "rules" (e.g. big ole social conventions) but it doesn't (or hadn't until now!) occurred to me to muck about with set and standard food things. I have long known that my tomato aversion is largely texture based. The only salsa I like is one made by my friend (who happens to be Coffee's husband and whom I call Salsa Man!) His salsa is the least "chunky" salsa ever. It is ridiculously flavorful and not at all filled with lumpy, slimy bits! Ah hah. Total eureka moment. I like hummus. I like edamame. What don't I like about other beans? They are lumpy and slimy. Guess what I did? Last night I made black beans to pour over our allotted cup of rice - which I had mixed with the world's yummiest salsa for flavor and then topped with avocado. I left everyone else's alone, but I pureed the black beans for mine. Same yummy smell and taste - vastly improved eat-ability. Woo hoo! I may hummus-ify every bean I come in contact with and see if I don't find some more I like. I am totally optimistic now.

Speaking of optimistic... love and luck to all the racers this weekend but ESPECIALLY to Steve, Pharmie, Viv and Wil - who are racing the inaugural NOLA 70.3. And to AKA Alice who has the Train Run this weekend. Race hard, have fun, and I can't wait to read the race reports!

TODAY I LOVE: my mother and the unassuming little machine that purees the heckfire out of all those beans! (Of the two, I love my mother waaaaaay more but she'd kill me if I put her picture on my blog so the mini food prep is getting star placement.)


*I had the hardest time typing the word "vegan" and linking it to myself in any way. Vegetarian? A bit of a stretch, but really no problem. But vegan? Me? No freaking way. I probably shouldn't say this - it's akin to begging to be smat (again) - but the few vegans I've met have come across (to me) as righteous, obnoxious, and ... not particularly healthy looking. When my daughter announced last year that she wanted to be a vegetarian, I told her I would absolutely support her but that she was not allowed to be a vegan. Surely there are fabulous, kind, interesting, healthy looking vegans out there. If you are one of that kind will you let me know? Please! I very much want to change my narrow, bigoted perception. If you are one of the dried up looking, scrawny, preachy, mean kind... Why are you reading my blog? And why would anyone give up cheese (glorious cheese!) to be like you?

Home Alone

For the first time in a long time I am home alone. (Or at least - I'm the sole human. I have plenty of crazed, furry company in the form of two squirrel-mad dogs.) Today is John's first day of work! Yay! It's so exciting.

In training news - I did in fact go for that run (with Donna) last week in the rain for track drills and then 40 minutes at Zone 2. I think we were supposed to do 15' at Zone 1, but as I've said before, I don't have a Zone 1 run (yet). If I slow down enough to stay below Zone 2, then it's a walk. Sigh. I hope as I build up aerobically and drop weight that I'll end up having a Zone 1 run. Then, in an exciting development, our next run was a 4 mile run which I kicked ass on. We have a trail close by that's a flat 3 miles. To get in the extra mile we ran there and back home again which we don't usually do because from the trail to our house is STRAIGHT UPHILL. But we did it - and even with the hill, I had the fastest pace on any run since the triathlon last year. Woo hoo! (Of course it hurt and was hard and I wanted to stop pretty much every step - but I did it anyway!) Total "yay me" moment. We had a swim over the weekend with the main set being 50's at Zone 3 then Zone 2. It was bizarre how consistent I was. In Zone 3 my times were :44, :45, :44, :45, :44, :45 and my Zone 2 50's were all :47 with two of them being the exact same to the millisecond (or whatever that next smaller number is called.) I am enjoying the swim workouts right now. Oh - but someone please answer me this - what exactly is the point of doing a kick drill with fins on? (The lady in the lane next to me freaked me out by lapping me on the kickboard until I realized she had some help of the blue plasticy kind.) I don't really understand the point of fins in the pool. They make a TON of sense to me in the ocean when you're snorkeling and want to be able to stay out longer and move faster with less energy expended - but in the workout pool?

In nutrition news - I am a wack job. I'm totally turning into one of those health nuts. I'm seriously considering doing this six week vegetarian food plan. The hardest thing for me is that I don't like beans. At all. Or tomatoes. They totally (and completely!) squick me out. Legumes. I don't even like that word. It sounds ridiculous. Like there was once a contest to find the word that sounded the dorkiest when you said it and that's the word that won - legumes. Still - the more studies I read, the more I learn about nutrition, the more I think I have to go gonzo on the fruits and vegetables (and legumes) and step away from the animal products. I can eliminate meat with very little problem. Probably won't even notice that part. It's the cheese that I love with all my heart and every fiber of my (chubby) being. But I am committed and serious and focused about finally (finally, finally) losing this weight! I want to be my right size when I toe the line in November. Eating healthy food is so much EASIER than working out with all these extra pounds on me. If someone said - you can keep eating all the stuff you like right now, but you have to wear this 40lb rucksack for every workout from now until November - I would absolutely say forget it, skip the anchor - hand me the health food. The Zone Diet has been a great start for me but I need ... more. Nutritionally dense food - here I come! Do you think giving up cheese will be as hard as giving up caffeine? ('Cause that took me like two years - and I only have seven months!) Wish me well.

I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit/comment much since last week. I'll try to catch up soon - but today is another four mile run and upper body weight training. Tomorrow, pals.

TODAY I LOVE: learning about nutrition

In Which I Am Hardcore And Eat Bee Pollen

Did you get that? I am hardcore and I ate bee pollen this weekend. (Not I am hardcore because I ate bee pollen. The bee pollen is totally a side gig.) I am hardcore because yesterday I rode my bike on the trainer for 45 minutes then went OUTSIDE in the RAIN and FORTY-FOUR degree weather to do track drills* and run three miles and then went to the pool for my swim workout. That is the hardcorest (hardest core?) I've ever been.

[Insert your own segue here because I can't come up with one] on Saturday, Donna and I went to Whole Foods with the following list:
(<--)Bee pollen, wheat germ, kale, edamame, wine**, eucalyptus soap, barley malt, flaxseeds, and almond butter. The barley malt is for John's bread making endeavors and the soap is Donna's favorite. The rest of the bizarro things on the list? All for eating. I put them on the list. Me! Eating shit like kale and flaxseeds!! How did this happen?

As little girls in the 70's, my sister and I got dragged to the Good Life Health Food Store. It smelled weird. The walls were harvest gold, the letters on the sign were chocolate brown. (Those letters were the chocolatiest things in the whole place. Who on earth came up with the idea that "carob" is an adequate substitute for chocolate? Can we shoot that person?) Anyway, my mom wasn't uber crunchy but she loved that health food store. At seven, I tried to like it too, for her sake. The flowery herbal hair conditioner was nice. The vanilla protein snack sticks were ok. The carrot candy and oily peaunut butter? Not ok at all. They squicked me out. Did I mention the place smelled weird?

Then along came the 80's - woo hoo! High school meant my mother (whom I no longer wanted to please) was working as a news producer (i.e. never home). My friends & I were hanging out at McDonald's, the arcade, and the food court in the mall. Coca cola! French fries! And also bulimia! The 80's - not so healthy for me.

Then I was in the Navy and it was back to someone else being in charge of what I ate. I assume the food at the chow hall was moderately healthy. To be honest, I don't remember thinking about it one way or the other. What I do remember is lots of black coffee on watch, lots of exercise at 5 am and lots of alcohol on the weekends I didn't have watch.

Then I was in college - and ridiculously poor. I ate the most substantial food I could given my $15 a week (yes, a week) budget. There was a "Co-op" on campus that my friends dragged me to once in a while. (I was never entirely clear on exactly what the cooperative aspect of it was.) It was in a corner of the basement of the student union. It was part health food store, part weirdo cafeteria and was staffed by people with dreads and berets crocheted out of hemp. You know the kind of people who rub lava rocks on their pits and try to tell you that it works just as well as the toxic and environmentally irresponsible deodorant you use - when you know for a fact it doesn't work at all, much less as well - because boy, do those people smell bad? Yeah - the co-op. It was enough to put me off health food again for another decade or two.

Then came mommyhood and moderation in all things. I was now only moderately poor but also moderately obsessed with walking the right line between health food and junk food to feed my family. Of course I wanted my kids to be healthy but I also did not want them to be picked on. No way was I going to be that mommy who uses applesauce instead of sugar to sweeten brownies or the one who puts rice cakes soaked in carrot juice into the Spiderman lunch box. I was the kind of mommy who had family dinners by candlelight (because kids who can't see that it's green eat it without rebelling) and also the kind of mommy who would mix peanut butter and gummy bears into oatmeal. I think I must have found the right balance somewhere along the way because even though my kids live to be allowed energy drinks and pop tarts - they also eat their veggies. Saturday night the dinner menu was roasted chicken and veggies (broccolini, carrots, potatoes, garlic and kale) with Bakerella's Cake Bites (by way of Pioneer Woman's blog) for dessert. At the end of the night - there were some leftover cakebites but the kale and broccolini were gone! Three of the five kids had gone back for seconds on the kale. Woo hoo!

Somewhere along the way - I've found the right balance for me too. I no longer see the world divided into two camps: the smelly, lentil- loving, breathing-through-one-nostril, yoga folks on one side and the mostly manic, chardonnay sipping, tiny, overly perfumed and estee laudered, aerobics ladies on the other. I can be a little of both and neither, all at the same time. I can have my Zone and Eat Clean too! I am excited about my training for the half ironman and love learning more about nutrition so I can fuel properly. I'm braver in all ways. I don't mind trying a supplement or two. Bee pollen (for energy), wheat germ (for fiber)***, flaxseeds (for a healthy heart, hair, and skin) - sure I'll try that!
<---Tosca Reno is pretty damn hot - and she puts all that muck in her oatmeal*** every morning. You BET I'll try it! Did you know she's ten years older than I am?! Yeah, she doesn't look like she smells weird either. So now I'm off to eat a bowl of crunchy fiber twigs ****while I read race reports from the weekend! Ciao.

TODAY I LOVE: trying new things (even if some of them turn out to be yucky)!


*Didn't fall down once thankyouverymuch. And? That karaoke one? I ROCK at that! Those long ago tapdance lessons and aerobics classes (where we did the same thing but called it the grapevine) paid off more than I thought. Woo hoo!
**See? We may be turning into crunchy weirdos but we still like our White Burgundy every once in a while. Only, RATS! We forgot to buy wine even though it was on the list!! I think we got too distracted trying to figure out where barley malt would be.
***Do not believe anyone who tells you wheat germ tastes good sprinkled on popcorn. It doesn't. It tastes vile. And weird. And since I'm throwing out advice on this hippie food - let me also tell you that bee pollen is not sweet and delicious like all those bee pollen pushers say it is. It is dry and a little rank in a citrus-y kind of way. It tastes the way the froth from an Orange Julius smells. If you mix it in your oatmeal, you are condemned to a whole bowl of that taste. Next time just pop a teaspoon of it into your mouth and wash it down with a glass of water. Same burst of energy. Way less suffering. (Oh - and skip it entirely if you're allergic to bees or honey.)
****Crunchy fiber twigs?!! Who the hell thought the idea of eating twigs of any description, much less crunchy and fibery ones, was a marketing bonus? If that is the best that can be said about this cereal then I'm giving the rest of the box to my hound dog who eats deer poop. I'll let you know how it goes.

Loose Ends And A New Week

Left over threads (a great excuse for bullets):

• Thank you for the good job mojo! John's interview was long and intense and interesting to him. He thinks he did well. He certainly came away pumped about the company. We're hoping to hear something soon about whether he gets to the fourth round! (This or something better - that's my plea to the universe!)
• I didn't mean to leave you hanging on the (future) hedgehog's name - but there's explanation that goes with it - so when/if we get one, THEN I'll tell the whole story. Oh, weirdly, hedgehogs turn out to be compatible with having dogs! The gal we knew who had a hedgehog also had a big lab (or retriever?). We do have a hunting dog - a Redbone Coonhound named Tallulah, but she's never actually hunted. And her breed is the type to tree an animal and wait for you to do something with it. Though I have to admit, she is scarily good at shaking the stuffing out of her toys. We would be VERY careful and do more research before we ever put the two together.
  
• Donna and I ran four miles on the Tobacco Trail on Saturday. It was gorgeous weather and I was so very much looking forward to it. But it was not a good run for me. I was tired and empty and flat almost from the beginning. I think a week of barely sleeping and lots of stress caught up to me! I had good fuel that morning but not much the night before. I was disappointed but it made me more committed to ALL of the aspects of training. On the plus side - I was proud of myself for sticking it out; I made sure to have my recovery drink (strawberry milk* per Lisa's comment); and I stretched/iced a twingey knee afterwards.
• Sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways. Two separate pieces of info came together unexpectedly. 1) Donna got denied the grant to go to the National Math Teachers Convention at the end of April. (Grants are hard to come by in this economy.) 2) I have been planning to go to my sons' first communion in Nashville "sometime in May" since mid-September. After repeatedly pressing for more specifics, I found out a few weeks ago that the date was set for May 2nd. Then last night my ex calls to see if I'd be okay if they moved it to the Saturday night mass on April 25th. Sure. I will be there absolutely whenever. But then I looked at the calendar more closely. What does all this mean? I hope it means we get to trade this race that was on our plan for this half! Now if the universe would help us out in the moola department so we can register, that would be fine and dandy!
• I found a non-chocolate protein bar that totally works for me - and SCORE it was on sale this week so I stocked up! (Is this a good time to mention that I spent a total of $327 at the grocery store on $586 worth of groceries? Because I totally have to brag on myself. That's $259 in savings between coupons and sales - on stuff we always use in the brands we prefer. Woo hoo!)
• I met my last week's goal of 3 1/2 hours of training and I'm ramping up to 5 hours this week. I'm trying to build slowly to a level I can maintain through the training plan. Consistency is my new watchword!
  

Hope all y'all are off to a great start this week!

*Hey did you know they had BANANA milk? I suppose it's no weirder than strawberry milk (although I think strawberry milk is fairly odd so maybe that's not saying much!)

TODAY I LOVE: vanilla yogurt PowerBars - on sale even!

Happy Hour*

Let's talk about the best part of the day - the part of the day when you can rest on your laurels, and bask in the glow of your accomplishments for a short time before the thoughts and pressures and questions of "what's next?" intrude. Yes, we're talking about that happy hour* immediately after a key workout. You're done! You're sweaty! Your metabolism is ramped! And you are instructed to make sure to have a recovery meal within the hour.* Does anyone else have trouble making this happen?

I understand the benefits. I am all about the recovery process in general. Sleep more? Yay! Don't overtrain? No problem! And I am regretfully familiar with the shaky, plungey feeling of having waited a hair too long to ingest recovery calories. I'd like to avoid that feeling. Oh yes, I would. It's getting from the what/why to the how-to part of the equation where I experience a significant fail. A simple, one-line instruction gets complicated tenfold in this mushy thing I use for a brain. Here's a sample of what my post-workout, train wreck of a thought process is like, "Consume recovery meal immediately. Er? Consume. Eat. Recovery Meal. Eat Something. Eat Something Healthy. Immediately. Now. eatsomethinghealthynow. I'm with you! Eat Something Healthy Now. Like now, before I leave the trail head parking lot? Or like now, on the way home? Or like now, as in after I take a shower and don't stink anymore? And wait! What exactly are the parameters of a "recovery" meal? How many calories? Solid? Liquid? A combination there of? Does it count as a meal meal or a snack meal? And..."

Gels - like AccelGel promote themselves as recovery meals. Protein, small package, easily portable - sounds like a great idea. Until after my workout, that is. I cannot possibly make myself consume (another) gooey gel at that point. I've tried and tried. My stomach and throat become allies in gel resistance. I've read chocolate milk is a near perfect recovery meal - nutritious, delicious, easily accessible. But I'm not a chocolate girl. At all. Plain milk seems weird. Should I drink plain milk? Plain skim milk? Or beef it up by turning it into a recovery shake? How does that work? Thermos in the car? Five bucks at a Smoothie King on the way to work (assuming I had a job or knew of a Smoothie King)? Arrrgggghhhh.

So I'm throwing it out there. I need specifics, people! Even if you never comment - I need you to pony up today. Do you have something (other than gel/gu/shot blocks or chocolate milk) that works for you as a recovery meal? (And if you say shake, please Lord, give me details because the idea appeals but ends up being a complicated, unholy mess in my world!) Do you think it makes a difference whether your recovery nutrition is in the form of solid food or a drink? Do you suck it up and pay big bucks or do you have low tech and cheap solutions? Do you mix things up by having a different solution depending on whether you're racing from the gym to work or heading towards the comfort of your own home? Do you do something different if your workout is in the morning versus at night? Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope. Srsly.


*Hour? Or is it a half hour? Even more pressure! I read different articles giving differing time frames with no explanation of why the longer or shorter window. I'm really pushing it to ingest something within an hour. If I've really only got half that amount of time to figure it out - I am so hosed.

Frizz Advisory Et Al

I was checking the weather this morning and got punted either to a website that I have never seen before or to the one I go to all the time which has a new look. There was a "lifestyle" section I had never noticed before:Not sure how I would have adjusted my day if the "Frizz Index" had been higher. Maybe that's helpful to some people but frankly I don't see how.


Nutrition question: has anyone tried any Univera products? Kathleen, a woman I know well and trust and respect, has been taking their supplements for a year and it has changed her life. She looks better than I've ever seen her. (I mention the trust and respect part because the company is set up as a multi-level-marketing scheme which sets my teeth on edge. I have to work past that part of it. On the flip side, Kathleen is my mother's age, a therapist, and I had to be the one to ask her about it so I'm not overly concerned about the MLM razzle dazzle crapola.) Her son (a body building cop out in Colorado) has been using one of their products as a recovery drink. He says it has decreased his soreness in between workouts so that he's been able to recover faster and push himself more on the next workout. There are testimonials on the site from several "sports and fitness experts" like coaches and personal trainers - which impresses me not. There is also a plug by former Tennessee Titans player Brad Hopkins which shouldn't impress me, but does. :D Something I found out about the company that I really like is that they are partnering with some inner city/poorly funded schools with economically challenged student populations in order to provide healthier meals and increase student attendance. The scientific literature on their products makes as much sense to me as any of the literature on clif bars or myoplex. I'm experimenting with how the supplements work for me but thought I'd throw it out there to see if anyone had any experience to share.

Finally, today is a push up day. The first day of Week 3 means 14, 18, 14, 14, 20+. I may be on Week 3 for a loooooooonnnng time because that seems daunting to me! Ok sports freaks and tri peeps, have a good Tuesday!

Nerves And Noshing In San Jose

Ok - my countdown widget says 1 day and 16 hours. I'm beginning NOT to like that widget. It's been thus far motivational to see it there, but now it's just freaking me out.

The trip thus far -
The bad news: the Navy reunion is pretty much of a bust. For a while we had a big group coming out and then they started dropping like flies. Everyone except Lizichka has flaked, had family/job issues, been deployed to Japan, or shredded their knees. (Send some good mojo to my pal Jenn of the torn ligaments because her mishap has not only knocked her out of coming to Monterey for the reunion but also out of the 3-day Breast Cancer walk that was so important to her!) We'll miss the chance to see everyone else, but Donna and Lizichka and I are going to enjoy the heck out of our race.

The good news: met a great guy on the plane trip out (if you're reading, hi Andy!) We were partners in low blood sugar together. The first leg of our trip was 4 hours - 10:30 a.m. to 2:30p.m. I knew that Southwest didn't serve "meals" but I hadn't quite factored that into my morning plans. Most of my morning brain power had been taken up with the logistics of making sure the kids were all arranged for, trying to get both bike cases safely on the plane, obsessively going over my packing list wondering if I'd left something vital (like running kicks), etc. I'm lucky I remembered to have a protein smoothie for breakfast or I'd have been in a world of hurt. On that four hour flight, we didn't even get peanuts! We were offered our choice between 100 calorie packs of wheat thins or oreo crisps. Not enough! We were "through" passengers on the flight but got permission to jump off the plane in Denver and high tail it to the airport bakery/sandwich shop. Overpriced, stale sandwiches would have been FINE with me at that point. I was literally shaking. Instead I paid $8 for a generous roast beef/havarti sandwich on lovely sourdough bread with a giant, fresh, heavenly snickerdoodle cookie thrown in. Somebody in the universe loves me!!

More good news: the weather here has been gorgeous; I've had a great time hanging out with my college buddy Ray and his family; and I had a terrific (if short) run last night - just under 2 miles total but I did a third of a mile sprint (for me) at an 8:30 pace. Legs are the exact right amount of sore this morning and stretching feels wonderful. I'm off to try to find some sushi* and then to meet Donna and John who are flying in today. (Trying not to think about them flying on Sept 11th. Instead, am sending birthday greetings to Southbay Girl and belated happy returns of the day to Erin Leigh!)

*Final bit: what is up with my craving sushi? I've never been a big sushi fan. I mean, it's always been ok if that's what everyone else was up for but it's never been anywhere near the top of my list. Until about 10 days ago. When I suddenly started craving it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every day. Sushi and green tea. That is ALL I've wanted to eat. (The sole exception being in the Denver airport when sushi craving or no, what I wanted to eat was anything I could get a hold of. My paperback book was seriously starting to tempt me.) Ray and I went out for breakfast to a place called Hobee's and I could not make myself eat anything there. (NOTHING against the place! It was all good, healthy California food with turkey bacon or tofu options with the avocado omelettes etc. I just couldn't make myself order any of it. Not even the hash browns!) Forgiving me for food contrariness of diva proportions, Ray suggested we skip out on the pancakes and go find sushi. (Easier said than done at 10:30 a.m. but oh, so so so appreciated! He's a fantastic and incredibly understanding pal.) We managed to wait for a sushi place to open for lunch. It was a lacquered, relatively upscale restaurant. Dimly lit and darkly furnished but clean for all that. Inexplicably there was a big screen TV playing (wait for it).... Finding Nemo. That weirdness aside, I nom, nom, nommed my way through a California roll nicely and brought home a crunchy shrimp (ebi) roll for later noshing. You would THINK that that would be enough sushi for a while, but then you would not be acquainted with my metabolism. So, I'm off (on my own this time as Ray has class and his wife, work) to find sushi within walking distance. There are worse things to crave, right?

The Bonita, The Muse, & The Weirdness That Is Gel

Here is a more balanced review than what you would have gotten on Wednesday (or Th, Fri, or even Saturday! Yes, I was just that bitchy for that long!) *Note for the guys - you cracked me up with your comments about the girl gear. Sorry for yet another relatively gender specific post. You can skip to the Gel discussion towards the end or check back with me tomorrow for a more androgynous post!

The Bonita Skirt
Pros:
In terms of technical specifics - this skirt dries super (super, super) fast. It was RIDICULOUSLY humid today during our NINE (eek) mile run. For more than half the run I had sweat fringe dripping (pouring, cascading!) off of me from wrist to elbow. It was sooooooooooooo gross. Two separate guys we saw were soaked to the point they looked like they'd been swimming. I was ever so grateful for my cute and DRY skirt.

In terms of pretty - I love the way this skirt hangs! The slits are exactly right and the length is perfect. When the sun is behind me it's fun to see my shadow self with my skirt flipping and floating as I run. Maybe it's the conditioning from seven years spent in prep school wearing a short (as I could get away with) kilt, but wearing a running skirt suits me. My butt and thighs are covered instead of highlighted and exposed (<-- which is how I feel in running shorts). And yet, I don't look like a granny out there. Safe and still sassy - works for me!

Con:
Maybe I have mutant thighs - but the undershorts ride up. Grrrr! There was much bunching and chafing (and tugging and grumbling) on Wednesday's 4.5 miler. Friday and today I wore my under armour and was completely comfortable. Bummed to have to wear the extra layer, but cooler than I expected. I'm still in search of the perfect running skirt (i.e. one that is exactly like this one without the bunching!) but since I'd be wearing the under armour with either my old Nike skirt or any pair of running shorts, it's ok. In fact, it's ok enough that I'm going to wear this skirt for the half marathon in two weeks.

The Muse Hydration Pack
Pros:
Um. It's great for walking. The bottle doesn't spill and is easy to drink from. It is easily adjustable. There are two nice pockets - for gels, id's, phone, keys, what have you. There is even a little place to clip keys to so they're easy to retrieve. I'm sure it's well engineered.
Cons:
It drove me batshit crazy. It fit me perfectly around the hips but it didn't stay there when I started to really run (as opposed to the pretend run of two steps I did in the store and in my bedroom.) Grrrr. I had to cinch it around my waist. If I could have handled wearing it there, I'd LOVE this pack. It didn't jounce or slosh. However, I don't really have much of a natural waist and I am uncomfortable in the extreme having something high up on my stomach.

My review may have been a mere "Meh" instead of a decided "Bleck" if I hadn't had an even more tender tummy than usual on Wednesday. Have you ever cooked Jiffy Pop? Well, then you can imagine my stomach after about mile two. Sore, swelling tummy met unforgivably tight belt - no matter how I kept loosening it. I seriously considered slinging the stupid pack over one shoulder like a bandolier just to get home.

I tried to make myself try it again on a "better" day but I couldn't do it. I was so freaking irritated by having to mess with that thing that it will probably be months before I'm willing to hassle with it again. Is it so demanding of me to want to run & stay hydrated without having to tug and fuss? Probably. I'm not sure that any hydration belt/pack would have worked for me that day. Camelbaks are too hot and I can't see that Fuel Belts would have ridden any better. I'm quite sour and discouraged about the whole hydration situation. Luckily (or should I say hopefully?) I don't think I'll have to worry about it during the race. I expect there to be plenty of liquids on the course!

For our other short run this week, we just carried $2 and bought water at a little market on the route. We had a GREAT run that day. Today, John was our sherpa - biking ahead every two miles and handing out water or Gatorade Endurance or gels. He ROCKS! I had a rough mile 6 and 7 and did the math wrong about where he would be waiting for us. I was off by a quarter of a mile and when he wasn't where I expected him to be, I hit this sad, dark place. When we finally had him in sight, I was almost beside myself glad to see him. He had bottles in hand and started walking away from us to match our pace so we wouldn't have to stop to get to him, which was very thoughtful. Except when he started walking away from me before I could get to him, my heart plunged down to my toes. It was this wacked out emotional response, like he was leaving. Forever. I fought off tears and shouted, "Don't take another step!" I probably sounded like a mad woman, but I so very much needed to have him within reach. I tried to apologize but I must have been babbling because he gave me an odd smile. (I was much better after that. Long runs are weird.) He is a prince!

The Great Fuel Experiment
I know that everyone's taste buds and metabolisms are different but for what it's worth, here are the results of me trying every type of gel I could get my hands on this month.

Gu - my favorite overall. It was consistently the easiest to swallow, had a light flavor, and seemed to "work" quickly. I tried the Vanilla Bean (which tasted kind of chocolatey to me) and the Just Plain. The plain flavor ROCKS! I don't know that I would have been brave enough to try it on my own but Donna really liked it so I tested one too. Slightly sweet but really not much of anything to deal with either way. I want a case of these. And I want to try the Roctane (if they ever come out with flavors other than Blueberry/Pomegranate and Vanilla/Orange.)

Accel Gel - I wasn't sure what it was about this one that made a difference, but after reading some more I think it must be the protein. I felt GREAT after taking this at my halfway points and think this gel helped me get my recent negative splits. I tried the Key Lime flavor since I have so much strawberry everything else. It was a sickly neon color that might have made me change my mind about trying it had I any other options at that point. It was also slightly thicker and a bigger packet - so correspondingly harder to swallow. The light yet tart flavor was perfect though - especially on such a hot day. And I was less sore after the runs I had this gel. This one will definitely be one to keep putting in the bowl.

Carb BOOM! - Did NOT work for me. The Vanilla-Orange flavor tasted like baby aspirin (chalky aftertaste and all!) and this was the only new or even remotely unusual food I had eaten within 24 hours of the Jiffy Pop tummy issues. I still have an Apple-Cinnamon one in the bowl that already sounded slightly weird to me as a flavor but now will either go in the trash or to the first person who shows any interest in it. Bleck.

Cranksports e-Gel - I did not get a chance to try any of these but what I read about them makes me think they might work for me. Will keep looking for a way to buy a couple to try out.

PowerGel - The first one I had was the vanilla and OMG it was like eating cake frosting! I kept waiting to get sick to my stomach but I never did. I felt fine and had a decent run. Still, my first impression was, "Meh. Not on my repeat list." Then I forgot to take any fuel with me when I was traveling and Kroger's was my only source. The ONLY gel of any brand, any flavor they had was one six-pack box of Strawberry-Banana PowerGel. Surprisingly I liked this one better. It's another one for the bowl. The gel itself seemed thinner and the flavor was light. Not too banana-y. (You may have noticed that "light" is important to me, flavor-wise.) Also this one has caffeine - which is nice because most companies put their caffeine in the mocha or chocolate flavors, neither of which I can tolerate. Which brings us nicely to the end of the list.

Clif Shots - I wanted very much to like this gel! This is such a smart, innovative, conscientious company. I want to support them. I love their idea of a "litter leash" and the shot bloks are working so well for me! Sadly, my experience with Clif Shots was much like my experience with Luna Moons. I am (mostly) willing to give them a second chance. I'll keep looking around to find either the strawberry or vanilla flavor (though did I mention I'm sick of strawberry and vanilla?) Of the flavors I could find, Mocha seemed the best choice at the time. Mistake. So thick, so bitter, so ... gagly. Like smoked paste. Just...ugh.

I didn't try Hammer Gel since I've heard from a couple of people that you shouldn't mix it with other stuff. (At this point, I'm not willing to give up the things that are working for me like Shot Bloks and Gatorade Endurance just to spend (a lot) of money on a "complete line" of nutrition that may not even suit me. ) For the relative newbie that I am, this is a good enough start. I've got a couple that I know work for me. I've got two weeks until the half to think about and play around with which of those work best for me. And then I've got six weeks to tweak things around so they work in a triathlon setting. Phew. I'm done now.

There's Fuel And Then There's Fool

(<--Isn't this fun? It's like a bowl of tri peeps party favors. I got tired of having to sort through boxes and bags in the pantry so now we just keep our weird training snacks on the counter. It's unusually colorful right now because we're trying out every brand of gel we can get our hands on.)

Despite having access to plenty of healthier options, I ate the WORST crap yesterday. My poor body. One package of shot bloks got me through my swim but by the time I got to my bike ride, the Pringles for breakfast and the ICEE for lunch were coming back to haunt me. Good thing I was inside on the trainer and thus could hurl in the privacy of my own home. Gah. You know how you can't complain when you are hung way the hell over because you totally did it to yourself and deserve the misery? Yeah, it was like that. Only without the woo hoo of the alcohol buzz first. I was much smarter today (which, obviously, wasn't hard.) I had nutritious (real) food for breakfast (early), drank plenty of water, and then had a GU (vanilla bean - which is like vanilla for people who really like chocolate better) right before my four mile run. And get this! (For all you fasties - you can skip this part or you can read it with the knowledge that my time for Tuesday's same run was 3 full minutes slower!) My time was 47:40!!! That is a sub 12-minute mile average even though my first two were 12:15 and 12:12 respectively. Negative split! I haven't done that in a while. I wish I could say that I felt great on that run, like I was soaring. I wasn't. I was plodding... quickly. Nothing hurt though - no ITB issues, no achilles twinges. No pain and a faster than usual pace in drippy, soggy humidity? It goes down as a great run in my book even if it didn't feel like it at the time!

Now we'll see how the 8 mile run (alone since I'll be in Nashville seeing my children again) goes this weekend. I'm a little nervous about it but I think I've got a route figured out around Old Hickory Lake. I've even thought about how to leave myself a bottle of water and a gel at two strategic points along the route. It had better not rain on me and mess up my plans again! (I know I should not complain about rain given the insane drought conditions we have had, but dang, I'm tired of thunder storms!)

Digital shouts and virtual good luck hugs to the bazillions of you who are racing this weekend!!

Moving Right Along

Weekly Totals:
Last week? 18 minutes
This week (so far)? 6 hours, 30 min
I still have an hour run tomorrow. Yeah, this is a better training week than last.

Bike Ramblings:
Shot bloks and Gatorade Endurance continue to work for me. I felt evenly and well fueled. Thinking about trying some gels in the upcoming weeks. 36 miles today in 2:40 - with a headwind and the uphills all on the first half. Ugh. But nice on the way home. Also, no flat tires for two weeks running. Woo hoo! I love Vivian again.

Swim Notes:
Yesterday the lifeguard told me the pool was 25 meters, not yards. Fun! I've been swimming a (teeny) bit more each workout than I thought. I did 1200 meters steady in 25:44 which put me on a 2:08/100m pace. I was going for under 2:10 - so yay!

Run Worries:
I'm a little nervous about jumping up to an hour tomorrow. And excited. My plan is to run for 30 minutes straight (which I've been doing a lot of) and then following a pattern of 2 minutes walking and 8 running. I know I can do that comfortably pretty much 'til the cows come home. I'm working the half marathon run plan into the oly tri training plan. I'm already where I want to be for both the swim and the bike - so it's really a matter of maintaining that and working on my limiter: the run. We've done a lot of (half dozen or so) bricks recently and I'll continue to do one a week but I'm going to do them mid-week: medium length bike + easy run. I want to have my long runs just for running. I need that focus on building my run base.

Good luck to the racers this weekend: RBR (San Diego RNR Marathon) and Cindy (Tour de Cure)! Go pals go!! Everyone else hang loose and enjoy the weekend.

When I Say Low Volume

Yeah, last week was really low volume. The mock tri (obviously) did not happen on Saturday due to complete and utterly ugly life ickiness. It did not happen on Sunday due to my daughter's 13th birthday party. (We did the family celebration on the actual day and the party when her four best friends could all make it. Have you ever sat behind a group of sighing, sweet, slightly geeky 13 year old girls as they lose their minds over how cute Prince Caspian is? You are missing out if you said no.) However - when at first you don't suceed, tri, tri again! Today was the magic day. Mock tri done! The swim was great (solid, strong, fun), the bike was good (nailed the nutrition, beautiful weather, no flat tires!), and the run was ok (nice transition, slower pace than I wanted, but tender internal lady bits and creeping ITB issues to run through.) I'm proud of myself for getting it done. Often when I get "behind" on something it makes it that much harder for me to ever do. I decided that it didn't matter on this - late or not, it had to be done. I feel accomplished and energized (and tired and sore). I was excited to find out that Shot Bloks work for me!! I had the strawberry kind - which had more scent than flavor (which is a good thing for me). I cut them in half before I left home and that was the perfect size. They were still chewy but not as chewy as the Luna Moons. I'm going to order some margarita flavored ones (thanks for the idea Cindy!) and experiment with them as the weather heats up. Today was cool and sunny and gorgeous.

We're moving into the last phase of the first training plan, figuring out how to incorporate the half marathon training plan into it, and looking ahead to starting the next training plan - the one that will take us to the Sept 13th race. And finally? My dad called to say he was making reservations/plans to fly out to California to see the triathlon. Woo hoo! More on that tomorrow maybe, but it was a great day. Hope everyone else had a great long weekend. I'll be by to visit soon. Peace, my peeps.

Loose Ends

The Good: Turns out that it was Garmin that was dying, not me! Yay!! I replaced the battery in the strap on my HRM (the Garmin brain part being rechargeable in the wall) and VOILA! Instantly (over the course of 2+ hours) I was able to stay in my target heart rate zones.
Last week on the same route I was (supposedly) camping in Zone 4 with only short forays into Zone 3 territory. This week? Right where I was supposed to be Zones 1-3 (which is interesting to me because if anything this weeks ride felt harder to me.) Also in the Good category this week...sunscreen! Worked like a charm. And #3 in the Good category? MY RUN!! Now, my pace was slow but I ran the whole way except a tiny little bit when my ITB clenched at about mile 2. I stopped and stretched for a second, walked 10 yards and then ran on with my bad self! Yay me! The weather was GORGEOUS after a rainy Friday morning and afternoon. It was sixty something, cool, and breezy. (I'm sorry to rub it in West Coast buddies!! I know you're dying in the heat out there.) The Good outweighed all else this Saturday.

The Bad: there was still some bad but maybe it was only sorta bad. I did finish those Luna Moons on the bike. They were ... ok. Not as yucky tasting as at first but I won't be buying more. I had looked for the margarita flavored Shot Bloks Cindy recommended (margaritas being right up there in my book with Lemonheads!) but sadly they were not to be found. Also, my night before nutrition is still a struggle. Maybe it's where I am in my cycle, maybe I ate too late (again), maybe it's just that Friday nights are sort of crazy in general - but I still didn't hit it quite right. My nutrition plan is a work in progress.

The Ugly: Vivian (my bike) is pissing me off!! I've been having trouble shifting through my middle ring on hills for a while. She hates it! I can either ride in the largest ring or the smallest. If I try to shift down to the middle ring as I'm going up hill, Vivian dumps me down into granny gear. It is aggravating and I've done all I know how to do. (I'll take her in to a bike mechanic when I can - but you know that winning lottery ticket of mine? Hasn't shown up yet.) Also? My brakes are not releasing or staying centered. I kept checking my back tire because I felt like I was dragging something. We stopped at the halfway point and saw that my brakes were rubbing. They stopped the tire after one spin. Donna and I messed around with them a bit until my wheel would spin freely, but I had to stop TWICE more on the way back. Grrrr. And THEN! On the last half mile I wasn't going to stop again. I felt like I'd spent more of my time looking behind me than facing front on that ride and if the brakes were clenching again - oh well. Turns out, my brakes were fine, but I had a flat tire. That's three in three rides on the same wheel. I will do what I know to do until the pennies in the bike mechanic fund accumulate. Here's what I know how to do: clean my chain, take off my tire - check it out to make sure there's nothing inside that's killing my tubes, fiddle with my brakes some more to get them to stay adjusted, look to see if my wheel is out of true (although I can't do much about it if it is!) Does anyone know anything else I could learn (from a book or the internet) how to check out/fix? I finally feel like I'm building some confidence in myself on the bike and I'm losing it in my machine.

The rest of the weekend? Enjoyed being a vegetable and watching the Preakness. (Still laugh at hearing "Maryland, My Maryland". My first day of class at the U of Md was for summer school and when I heard the Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree song ringing out from the bell tower I thought they were having some big Christmas in July party or something. Who knew it was the state song?) Had fun with my kids. Had considerably way less fun grocery shopping for four plus hours over two days (but triple coupon days cannot be missed when you have a family of 8!) My daughter's 13th birthday is today and we celebrated last night. She cried when her four brothers gave her the sterling silver, engraved bracelet they picked out which says, "A sister is a forever friend." Good times all around.

Mmmmm. Tastes Like Chicken.

You know how I like a bargain, right? Well I got an un-advertised 50% more free in my tiny pkg of Luna Moons. (And here I must immediately digress to wonder if their product department gave any thought whatsoever to the redundancy of the name Luna Moons. I think it's weird weird.)
However, I was pretty excited to have scored an extra three pieces gratis. Until I tasted them. Luna Moons (of the watermelon variety**) taste ... yucky. So sad! They're cute - love the moon shape. They're chewy - which is sometimes a plus. They're even organic - but so is dirt. I just don't yike them. I very much wanted to. I think it's fantastic that there's a company intentionally designing products to meet the nutritional needs of female athletes. I want to support them. But egad - you know it's not good when something tastes better as you burp it up on your three mile run than it did going down in the first place. I have eight seven and a half (John took a nibble) of these suckers organic energy chews left. Maybe they're an acquired taste?

**Dare I try another flavor? Can't do the blueberry because I'm allergic to those (and raspberries too - which sucks, in case you were wondering). The only other flavor I've seen is pomegranate. As much as I enjoy the juicy, seedy weirdness of real pomegranates in the fall - I'm not a huge fan of pom-tini's and the like. I know - individual tastes and yada, yada, yada - but what say you?

EDITED TO ADD: Oh I am so sorry Luna Moon people!! It was not my intention to keep other people from trying these little chewy bits of, um ... ickiness on my say so. They might be JUST the thing for other people. They might even turn out to be something I can tolerate. (I am bound and determined to eat at least the rest of this package before I give up all hope.) I have strange issues with tastes. Really! I love salty things and have a hard time with sweet things (well, except Lemonheads and Jolly Ranchers - oh my word I love those). But I don't really like chocolate! See? Weird! Kevin, Lisa - you should at least try one package for yourselves. Who knows? You might like them. They might not make you burp. And it would keep me from feeling guilty about costing the maker of Moon Moons $2.50 in lost revenue!

My Butt, She Is Not So Aero

I am tired of losing the same freaking five pounds! Up, down, up, down. My scale is doing more reps than I am. Grrrrr. I am getting stronger. I am making gains in my base fitness (which is good really, because I can't afford any losses in that arena if I'm to have any hopes of finishing the oly!) Muscle weighs more than fat, blah, blah, blah - I DON'T CARE! (That is such cold comfort for this pudgy girl.) Seven months seemed like plenty of time to whittle away thirty pounds. And it was! But the race is now four months away (as of yesterday) and those thirty pounds? They are still hanging around my hips. They have officially overstayed their welcome. Out, out damn spots fat cells! Be gone and stay gone! I have a proven mastery of the general concept of "spending more than you bring in will leave you in deficit" (just ask my bank!), so why, why, why have I had difficulty applying this knowledge to calories?

One thing I recently discovered is that there is a difference between what I consider a tablespoon of peanut butter and what the diet world considers a tablespoon of peanut butter. "Heaping" is, perhaps, not an adjective conducive to weight loss.



Another thing I'm beginning to realize is being "bike hungry" (Cindy's wonderful term for that hollow, gnawing hunger that starts in your toes and claws its way up your body) is not an excuse to eat Krispy Kremes - even the whole wheat kind.

I've spent hours over the last couple of days trying to figure out intake, output, electrolytes and nutrients in order to come up with a healthy training/racing fuel plan for myself. I've come to realize (exactly as I did when I was pregnant, dammit - why didn't the lesson stick?) that there is no room for empty (or even only moderately full) calories if I'm to get all my nutrition in. Efficiency, that's what I need! Every bite (or splashy gulp) is sacred! I like fuel better than food anyway so this isn't a problem for me - except it's taking a lot of brain power. A lot. If thinking about all this stuff were an endurance sport, I'd have finished a half-iron by now. I'm just saying.

Monday Mashup

Thang One: HRM Saga (part one too many)
Here is my HR chart for today's 45 minute cycle on the trainer. Warm up, 6 X 20 second spin-ups with 1:40 min rest intervals, easy cadence (Zones 1-2) for the rest of the ride.
Warmed up, felt fine, did a spin up or two which felt ok - looked at my Garmin and HOLY HANNAH it said my HR was 224 bpm!!!! That can't be good. It can't even be right, can it? I did finish out the spin-ups - but I did the last three slower than the first three. When I look at this chart I know my Garmin is smoking crack because I didn't do anything for the last 20 minutes but spin easy. Yet there are five almost perfect stalagmites right there. And look at the one below. It shows my heart rate (red) in comparison to my elevation (gray).
Hel-lo, my bike was on the trainer on the tile floor in my bathroom. Very flat, I assure you. Not a single hill. That gray line should have been straight across! I'm not sure what to do about all this. I suppose I could just forget about the HRM, but (like RBR), I enjoy all that geeky number crunching. I like just running or riding and listening to my body talking to me, too. Shouldn't I have the option? Is it greedy to want as many training tools as possible? Am I total diva to expect my training tools to work?

Thang Two: Thanks for all the input about shoes and the sympathy for the sunburn. (<--I so don't deserve the sympathy though. I have great sunscreen - Mary Kay for my face and special long lasting sport stuff for my body. It works great when I remember to put it on!) The shoes though, I do think I'm going to try the Brooks. Now that I've heard so many good things and read some more about not only pronation/foot anatomy but levels of support available - it looks like it could be a good match for my needs. (Here's hoping!)

Thang Three: Sometimes this sport is a total crapshoot. (A nicer way of phrasing that is that triathlon is as much art as science.) There are myriad factors both controllable and wildly unpredictable: gear, weather (temp, humidity, chop, surf, surge, wind...), training, mental status, nutrition, terrain, hormone cycles, other racers, alignment of the planets, etc. I think about the range of emotional maturity staying in this sport requires. I am inspired by posts like Stef's where she comes to terms with a swim DNF due to dangerous conditions and like Shirley's where she overcomes (and possibly overcompensates for) cutting her foot in the race. (Digression of the saddest sort: I try not to freak out about people dying in races. I've read nothing that explains what has happened to these three athletes! The fact that this happens makes it that much more difficult for me to know when to push and when to regroup and try again later!) I'm trying to learn balance and flexibility. I want to be stronger and yet more patient. Connection to the world around me and being present in the moment are important. I want to expand my limits but I don't want to break myself! There is so much to triathlon.

Thang Four: Hydration and Nutrition. We were much more intentional about our night before and breakfast nutrition this weekend and it showed. For Donna particularly. She had a strong transition (=hard but good) from the 2 hour bike to the 3 mile run. She seemed to get better with each stride on the run. Granted - she is solar powered. (She grew up in Miami and completely thrives on sunlight and heat!) Still - she hit her calories and hydration just right for her and for that day. For me, I could feel everything working for the first 3/4's of the bike. (I found a great new breakfast of Nature Valley Granola bars sandwiched with PB in between. Just enough and not too much for me!) But by the end of the bike I needed more. I am getting more confident but it is hard sometimes for me to find the right time to eat/drink on the bike. I feel like a klutz fumbling around trying to get the bike bottle out or back into its cage!! I can't do it if I'm chugging uphill, zooming downhill, or worried about traffic - and I control none of those factors! I have read about taping the top of gel packets to your bike frame so you can rip the gel off and suck it down, but I know you HAVE to follow that up with water so I haven't tried this yet. (The pressure!) I love the structure of a nutrition plan like IMAble's but eeeep! I can't imagine being able to stick to something like that. Are there any tricks or is it just one of those things that only time and practice will help? Question 4B: What about these little dudes? Is this what people mean when they say "electrolyte tabs" or do they mean something else? I had some G2 on the run with me. I know I was already in deficit because of my sunburn and inability to ingest enough on the bike - BUT I wondered if something with a little more ooomph in the electrolyte department might have helped. Thoughts? I'd love to hear what works for others. (I'm supposed to work all this out in training but man, even a couple of months doesn't seem like enough time to try all the combinations out there! Any starting points or way to narrow the field would be helpful!)

Thang Five:

This picture cracks me up. My poor ITB if this is how I'm supposed to stretch it out. I do realize they have taken out the desk support in front so you can see the stretch better, but still! I have fallen and hurt myself in far less Twister-ish positions! On the other hand, I LOVE speed skating. If I can channel my inner Anton Apollo Ohno, maybe I'll be ok!

The Training Two Step

One step forward, one step back. I had a great ride (inside) early. I listened to the podcast by Taconite Boy and Bigun. <--That's the link to Bigun's website. I do not know how to link directly to the button for the podcast but it's there on the side. Quite honestly I have no idea how I managed to subscribe to the League of Triathletes podcast when I can't for the life of me get GYGO to work but I discovered it on my iPod after the last synch. I tried to listen to a couple of episodes a few days ago and had absolutely no idea what these guys were talking about. I don't know what was different about today. Maybe tri lingo has started to sink in? Maybe they were more coherent in this episode? Maybe I was less uptight about wading through macho, homophobic banter? Maybe it's because they used 20 synonyms for the word "interesting" - and pronounced the word "synonym" so it sounded like "cinnamon". (You know what a word geek I am!) I don't know but these guys completely entertained me. Bigun has a great laugh; Taconite Boy does all these expressive voices; the running gag for the episode was them trying to interview people by phone only to spend the whole time talking to answering machines instead of live people. It was clever in a relaxed, unpretentious way. I'm sure there was a bunch of insider/cool kids club stuff I missed. (And probably always will. Oh the heck well.) My 45 minutes on the bike was over before I knew it.

Off to a great start, I proceeded to completely blow the day food-wise. I've chosen not to drink sodas or alcohol until after the race in September in order to focus on healthier fuel, hydration. After working out I got busy and I "forgot" to eat until I had to go pick up my son - an hour and a half roundtrip to the boonies and back. No food (except the BP) on the way; no time to grab something healthy as I left. I stopped at the BP and bought not only a Dr. Pepper but a Snicker's bar. Bleck. I've been paying for it all evening with a chocolate/caffeine induced headache and stomach queasies. Not horrible but certainly enough to remind me NOT to upset the apple cart like that again anytime soon.

Ahhhh, the vicissitudes of training.