"...In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or
brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

~ Anonymous
(taken from Matt Erbele's, It Takes Time to Get Good)

Friday, January 16, 2009

Week 2: Where's the freaking pizza?!

I have now completed my second full week of Ironman training (pre-Ironman training? Ironman base building? I don't know what it is, but I know it is going to get MUCH worse). I am STARVING all the time. This is not a good sign. I have 5 months (and a shit load of more miles to cover) before I race at this thing. At this rate I will have to buy two plane seats to get there. One for each ass cheek.

Last weekend I ran part of my long run with LA Run Buddy. She was up for the weekend. She is building base miles after a knee issue and had run 6 miles the day before, so she was only doing 3 miles and I was doing 10 miles. We went to the Baylands Wildlife Sanctuary. It was a gorgeous and great run. Here are some pictures:

I REALLY love that I always look like a fucking man when I take pictures with
my gorgeous LA Run Buddy. Awesome.


The pelicans were back!!



It is my blog and I can post as many pelican pictures as I want.


The coots wading in the mud leaving cute little cootty tracks!


I wish I could tell you that she was excruciatingly stupid and mean to old people, but she is just as smart and kind as she is beautiful. Bitch.


The Palo Alto Duck Pond which really should be called the Palo Alto Seagull Pond.


Case in point


This walkway went out over the marsh to the bay. Beautiful views of the Bay.


Case in point.



There was a tiny airport that has the runway terminate right at the Baylands. Very cool. (Included for airplane buff, Willie's enjoyment)


Plane landing at the Palo Alto airport.

Work was crazy because it is the week before finals and I have had reviews with AP students every night in addition to this training schedule:

Monday:
Bike 45 minutes (12.5 miles)

Strength Training class 1 hour (I did 51 pushups in under 4 minutes! Holy shit. Even now, four days later, I still can't brush my own teeth or put my hair in a pony tail , but it's still pretty cool, right?)

Tuesday:
Run 4 miles (45 minutes and 23 seconds of the shittiest run ever. Seriously, actual shit was jealous of the shittiness of this run.)

Swim Masters 1 hour (Things you don't want to hear from your masters coach: 1. That is the exact opposite of what I want you to do. 2. Your backstroke is.... well, we will work on that. 3. We aren't in the old ladies leisure pool. Yep, swim masters continues to be one joyful, uplifting experience after the next.)

Wednesday:
Bike 1 hour ride scheduled (18 miles, 1:21. There were supposed to be hill repeats? Oops.)

Strength Training class 1 hour (We did Crazy 8's, 8 sets of 8 reps of 5 exercises. It is supposed to be 8 exercises, but we are beginners so she took it easier. It was for time. I was dead last. This has started to not phase me. I think that is growth.)

Thursday:
Swim Masters
1 hour (*sigh*)

Run 4 miles (45:01. It tried really hard to be as shitty as Tuesday's run, but it fell short. Just a little short. It was a close second.)

Friday: Rest (Thank sweet baby Jesus)

Saturday: Long Ride (on schedule 3:00, planned 20 mile ride First ride with the Cinderella training group)

Sunday: Long Run (on schedule 2:30, planned 15 miles)

I didn't sleep very much this week, and I had lots of things I want to bitch about but I am too tired. I will say this to all the husbands out there (mostly mine)

Just because a woman is hormonal does NOT mean that you are not being an asshole.

I'm just saying...

14 comments:

Jo Lynn said...

I love the pictures. The seagull one is perfect. Is that Mission Peak I see in one of them? Your last comment is completely true.

IronWaddler said...

I love the photos!!! After dealing with -27 degrees this AM ,it gives me hope.

I enjoy your description of your weekly training. All the feeling -I can relate to.

Diana said...

I miss a week of workouts like that. I'm trying to drop some more weight, so I can't go gun-ho like that...God, I miss those nice long bike rides, those nice long swims, and the long runs all done in one day! Maybe I "should" do a IM??!!
Your posts crack me up bitch!

Unknown said...

51 pushups in 4 minutes?!?! Holy smokes! I bow to you...

And you do *NOT* look like a man in that photo, silly woman.

I love the pics. I'm trying to imagine the sounds the gulls were making. I'm a geek like that. :-)

Stef0115 said...

Not sleeping very much makes me a total and complete BITCH! This is what does it, not the workouts not the fact that I'm always hungry. I can deal with those. But sleeping badly or insomnia . . . Look Out!!

You are doing GREAT with your training, sticking with it even when it sucks. If that doesn't signify growth I don't know what does. :-)

I can barely do 10 girl pushups in a row. Keep at it with Masters. Just when you think it can't suck any worse, it might get better!

Steve Stenzel said...

Great photos! And nice workouts!!

Get ready to eat. IM training made me eat like a BANSHEE!! I kept losing weight though, and so will you. So just stock up on the good stuff and get ready to cram your face!

ShirleyPerly said...

Beautiful scenery and photos!!

And awesome job on those push-ups! I'm sure I'm going to get some interesting comments when I return to group swimming next week. I've somehow managed to come up with a new little pain in my right arm that is perhaps tendonitis??? If it's not one thing, it's another ...

Anyway, keep up the good work. Sh*tty is better than nuttin, I say!

Bootchez said...

Eat some pizza! EAT, dammit! If you don't eat now, with all of this training going on, when *can* you eat?!

And 51 pushups in 4 minutes is, indeed, VERY cool. Personally, I think 51 pushups in an entire lifetime is impressive!

Aron said...

looove the pics and awesome job on your week!!

Ordinarylife said...

I so agree with your last line!

And the one about being hungry all the time! ALL the TIME!!!!

Carolina John said...

LOL, that is so true about husbands. i'm still impressed with all of those pushups. I'm screaming for ice cream after about 3. but then, us fat bastards don't get up off of the floor very often. and all of this running has left my upper body pretty weak.

good week of workouts! i'm ramping together a plan of tri training workouts, including starting my masters swim group tomorrow (holy shit). have fun!

Julianne said...

You are so damn funny. Seriously. I laughed out loud AGAIN reading your post. And you are NOT going to need 2 seats to your Ironman!!! LOL!

Klassenator said...

When I went to Menlo, I did a run here once... I agree with you about the seagulls!

Unknown said...

Just found your blog - F-U-N-N-Y!!! Thanks for the mid-day laugh. I don't feel as guilty for skipping my lunchtime workout today!