Today is my birthday

It is not a celebration of the day I was born, it is a celebration of the day I woke up....

Literally.

I have 17 years clean and sober today.


Go me.

Wow, that was hard

We started out in Aptos at elevation of 0 ft and climbed to the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains at about 2000 ft. There was a total uphill of 3,645 ft and believe me I felt every foot of it. I rode for a total of 42.3 miles. Although about 2 of those miles weren't recorded on my Garmin, because I turned it on and then promptly hit the 'stop' button on accident. Here is the elevation chart:




My tri training group divides the long workouts by distance and difficulty: the 'pink' group is the easiest/shortest, 'blue' group mid-range, and 'black' hardest/longest. My hubby and coach talked me into being 'blue' today. A fact that I did not for ONE SECOND forget as I was climbing those hills today.

Anyhoo, I was pretty nervous about the 'blue' thing because of the big climb in that ride. I knew it was going to be long. I am just glad that I didn't know how long or how hard because I am sure I would have wimped out and done the 'pink' ride which only went about 20 miles and only had one climb. We had ... um,... I have no idea how many. There was the one, 11 mile climb, that I remember quite distinctly, but after that, it was more like "Are you fucking kidding me? How can we be going back up again?" And I am not sure how many times I said that.

I do wish I had brought my camera because it WAS a beautiful ride, but I was more concerned with not being left in the dust, and, well, not falling off my bike, so obviously no pictures today.

The downhill was almost (Note, I said almost) as hard as the uphill, because you were FLYING had to watch for potholes, crazy, road rage drivers, and it was FREEZING! My hands and feet have never been so cold and my shoulders and hands were hurting because of gripping the handle bars and brakes for dear life.

I had one asthma issue, but it resolved relatively quickly with my inhaler. The moist air of the redwood forest got me.

Mean girls: I talked to a few of the women today and rode briefly with some. I wasn't the slowest, but I was close. It seems like they are warming up to me, maybe by the end of this damn thing I will stop referring to them as the 'mean girls', but I am not quite ready to make that jump just yet.

All in all, I am very proud of myself for doing it. It is my longest and hardest ride to date.

Ugh...

I am freaking out about today's ride. If the mean girls drop me and leave me for dead on the 40 mile ride today, it has been great knowing you all.

First double digit run since the marathon

Since I am training for San Diego Marathon on June 1st, I decided I needed to start getting my miles up. Today I ran 10.1 miles on my beloved bike trail. I was not daring enough to try a long run on real trails. Especially considering my penchant for getting lost. (Picture: Lone coot. My favorite water fowl and a regular along the trail.)




I started my run in a different location on the bike trail so I could change my scenery a little. The first three miles did not feel good. My legs felt sluggish like they have on all of my runs since the marathon. I kept my pace slow because I wanted to make sure I could complete the full 10 miles. The weather was perfect running weather, 55 degrees and slightly overcast (I wish you could have 55 degrees and sun, but oh well) It was a little humid so I was having a little trouble with my asthma. I had to use my inhaler twice for wheezing and I sounded AWFUL when I ran past people but I actually felt ok, so I kept running. (Picture: Bridge over the Los Gatos Creek)

At mile 5 I was exactly at a 12 min/mile pace which was what I was shooting for. I knew I would be a little faster on the way back, because the first 5 miles are slightly uphill, making the last 5 slightly downhill. (Picture: Around mile 4. This is one of my favorite stretches of trail. I call it the Tour of Homes I will Never be Able to Own)

At mile 6 I was ecstatic to see that my run buddy had rode her bike out to meet me and she rode the last 4 miles with me which was WONDERFUL. It was so nice to have someone to chat with (I am sure you are shocked to hear that I am a "chatty runner". I actually annoy the hell out of a lot of people, but my run buddy loves me anyway!)

The rest of the run went really quick with a buddy to help distract me. She was a little concerned with my breathing. She has seen a full blown attack and would rather not again, but I assured her I was fine. I finished 10.1 miles in 1:54: 16 (11:19 min/mile pace).

I was very pleased with the run. My knees are a little achy, but I stretched and iced and I am sure they will be fine for tomorrow's ride.

This week's workout totals:

Run: 15.1 miles
Bike: 48.2 miles
Swim: 2000 yards

Not too shabby if I say so myself!

Second swim workout of the week

This one was not such a rousing success. I went to my first pre-masters swim class on Thursday. I was pretty proud of myself for going as, you all know, I DID NOT WANT TO GO. I was bolstered by the "non-horrific" swim workout on Tuesday so I went.

Let's start with the good parts:

1. The pre-masters swim class was in the "bubble" (Picture: Swim Bubble. It is like a big round tent over the pool) at the local pool, so it was warmer in there and I didn't have to "strut my stuff" outside. A part of swimming that I TRULY detest.

2. The people in the pre-masters swim class were VERY nice and welcoming. There were only about 8 in the class.

3. The coach was very nice and laid back. He wasn't one of those freakishly tall, triangular swimmers with 0% body fat. He had great tips to improve my stroke and forced me to do bilateral breathing ( I only breathe on the left. I have never even tried to breathe on the right, although I hear for triathlons you really need to know how to do both.)


Things that didn't go so well: Ok, it was only one thing that didn't go so well, but it was a BIGGIE!

4. I lost one of my earplugs at the Tuesday swim practice and I didn't have time to get a new pair. I have equilibrium issues when I swim (read: I get sea sick. Yes, even in the pool) I wasn't sure if the earplugs helped or if I got over it. Uh, yeah, the earplugs helped. I was sick as a dog after about 500 yards and had to get out of the pool before I made myself VERY unwelcome.

I watched the rest of the class and learned some things and I will go back on Tuesday (this time with earplugs!) and try again.

Overall, training this week was really good.

I am going to head out on a long run in a little while here. I am planning on 10 miles today depending on how the ol' knees feel. It will be my first double digit run since the marathon. My tri training group has a big bike ride on Sunday it looks like I will be doing about 40 miles (Yikes!) I will let you know how that goes.

I finally made it to a swim workout!

Tri Clinic Swim Workout

Tuesday night I went to my first swim training with the triathlon clinic group and it went pretty well. I was so stressed driving there that I had created a list of conditions that would cause me to turnaround and go home.

If I hit traffic, I am going home.
If I get lost, I am going home.
If everyone ignores me again, I am going home.

Well, none of these things happened so I actually made it the the practice. As a whole women weren't any friendlier, but there were a few that were nice and introduced themselves to me. After the workout I was chatting with a woman that was going to be doing a 1/2 Ironman this weekend. She was nice. So hopefully, this won't be completely uncomfortable EVERY time I have to meet with this group.

We did drills and the coach gave me some tips that helped. I wasn't even the slowest swimmer, ok, so I was the second to slowest swimmer, but whatever. We had a relay at the end of practice and I felt like I might throw up when the coach sent me the fast lane where all the mean girls were (don't get excited, they were evening things out so it would be fair the slowest swimmer was out of the pool getting help from the masters coach so I was promoted to slowest swimmer). Great, now I got to the the mean, fast girl's handicap. Awesome. Fortunately they were SO fast that it didn't matter and we won anyway. They were SUPER competitive. This relay was SUPER important to them for some reason.

Whatever, I did it and I survived.

Wednesday's workouts (alternative title: Why RBR is a ROCKSTAR!)


I left school after I ditched the cherubs. "Can you stay after school? Sure, but be on time, I wait 10 minutes and if you are not here I am going running." I waited 11 minutes ( I am THAT caring) and bailed! Woo Hoo!

I went to the trail and ran 5 miles. Not a fun run. Afternoon runs after you have been standing on concrete all day, just suck, but I did it.

THEN....

I went for a 18 mile bike ride with hubby! Yep, you heard right, a two workout day. State is on Spring break, so I did not have to go teach the college cherubs last night. Go me!

It was windy, but it was still a pretty decent ride. My husband has made it his mission to make me more comfortable riding in traffic, so he drug (dragged? Whatever, stupid verb tenses.) me through the center of town, but it was good practice.

Easter Sunday Bike Ride

My run buddy is sick, so she had to cancel today for our long ride. I seriously hope she doesn't have the Flu of Death. Picture: My pretty purple bike with my pretty purple helmet!The bike was a Christmas present from hubby after my first triathlon and the helmet was a Christmas present last year.

Anyhoo, that means I was on my own for a 2 hour bike ride today. I am pretty proud of myself for going anyway. The ride I chose is a tough course for a pretty flat ride. It has miles of gradual uphill that can wear on you. I rode for 2:18 minutes for a total of 30 miles. The weather was absolutely perfect and I actually enjoyed myself. That is tied for the longest ride I have ever done. I rode 30 miles in Santa Cruz along highway 1 in 2005 when I was training for my first triathlon, but I have not ridden anything close to that long since other than the bike course in the actual triathlon itself which is 24.8 miles.

I learned an important lesson in these last two rides that I feel compelled to pass on to my female friends that ride bikes or are interested in riding bikes,

GET THE GOOD SHORTS! DO NOT BUY CHEAP CYCLING SHORTS!

I have been riding in REI cheapo shorts since I started cycling and I am ALWAYS uncomfortable. It is like riding on a HUGE maxi pad. I thought, what would change if the shorts were more expensive? Sure they fit better, or look better, but they wouldn't feel any better, down there.

WRONG!!

So very, very wrong! I was reading (read: Blog stalking) on one of my favorite blogs The Athena Diaries and she started this kind of advice for triathlete newbies series. Well, one of their topics was chafing and saddle issues and the subject of bike shorts came up. There was tons of great advice and I decided to purchase some of the shorts they recommended. I got the Shebeest Triple S shorts and the Shebeest Ultra D shorts from Team Estrogen (see link above). HEAVEN! Absolute heaven compared to straddling an ill-fitting, oversize feminine napkin for 30 miles.


Happy Easter! I am not a religious person, but Easter is special to me for a variety of reasons. The primary reason is a story for another time, but Easter also marks the beginning of spring and the end of the winter time blues. Plus I loooooove bunnies (Pictures: my bunnies Edgar and Ozzy) I also love pretty pastel colors and all of the commercial trappings of Easter!

Not the least of which is the ever perfect Reese's peanut butter Egg! It is truly the perfect mix of chocolate and peanut butter.















If you have not seen the picture on Willie's blog you absolutely MUST! It is hilarious! I hope you all had a FANTASTIC Easter!