Ironman Dreamer

I'm Not Tri'ing (duh)...

2009-05-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

I love the sport, but after my last attempt at Ironman (Canada in '07), I lost ALLLL motivation, fire, and drive. Of course, it might have something to do with my latest job (working for a major aerospace manufacturer) and the shift I'm on (I start work at 2PM). Almost all my energy goes into my job. What's left is devoted to my spouse, home, dogs,and other interests.

Hmmmm...I put up hummingbird feeders and took a video this morning. I need a way to view it with others when I'm not at home. I need to see if I can upload it. Never having done it before, it could be interesting. Not sure what type of hummingbird this is, either, except that I suspect it is female (because of the lack of coloring).

Here goes...

Assuming that works, enjoy!

Training Ride

2007-06-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so two weeks from today, I'm supposed to do the Seattle to Portland (STP) bicycle ride in one day. That's 200 miles of riding in one sitting (more or less). I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

I did an 80 mile ride today and my quads were killing me. I was trying to figure out why. Maybe my nutrition wasn't spot on? Possible. Then I looked at the bike profile as uploaded to my TrainingPeakstraining log. They have a beta viewer they are trying out and it's actually pretty cool. Anyway, this is what my ride profile looked like (the red line is my HR, the green is the elevation). It would seem I did a fair amount of climbing!

After the ride, I showered, went to the grocery store for dinner, cooked it, and blogged. Now I'm ready to hit the hay. I think the sun made me tired...or maybe it was just all the fresh air (which is so rural that the air was permeated with the smell of fresh manure!).

What's An Ironman Swim Look Like?

2007-06-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, it's been a while. I've been busy. The new puppy has kept us busy, but then I got laid off, had to find new employment and still try to keep up with my training for Ironman Canada 2007.

In the meantime, I like volunteering at Ironman Coeur d'Alene, usually because I know so many people doing it. This year, instead of having the heat of the past few years, we had wind. It made the swim portion challenging at best and, and worst, potentially dangerous. In fact, it was so bad, that the race officials offered up the option of doing a duathlon.

Anyway, I managed to snap a photo, from afar (if you are familiar with the venue, I was sitting on the steps near the Gatorade bottle) of the 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene swim start.

New Puppy Pics

2007-06-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Just because I've had people bugging me for them. :-)

Here's one that shows how much bigger than the cat she has gotten.

I caught this pose of her chillin' out on the steps leading upstairs.

Oh, and her name is Smudge (or Smudgers), for the smudge of white on her nose:

Our Little Angel Is Here

2006-12-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

And she is beyond being cute. She is so soft and so little, but thinks she's a *BIG* dog. Our cat, named Puppy, of all things (different story), isn't terribly impressed. And in true puppy fashion, our little Angel (which is what we are thinking we will name her), is busy chewing on whatever she can, sleeping, or peeing and pooping where ever she pleases. Oh, yeah. I'm looking foward to squishy toe stuff in the mornings (NOT!).

Since I can't resist, here are a couple more shots of our newest little darling and her proud surrogate papa.

Good-bye Empty Nest!

2006-12-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

Well, that level of freedom lasted all of a month. Pat just couldn't stand it anymore. The house was simply too quiet for his tastes. So, we will soon be getting THIS little doll. Isn't she just tooooo cute? We pick her up tomorrow and we can hardly wait.

And don't you just want to smooch on that face (yes, the one looking at the camera? Well, okay, maybe YOU don't want to, but I can assure you, she is irresistable to us.

She doesn't have a name yet, but she is a fawn boxer, born on 10/24, and currently weighs in at a whopping 6 pounds. She is not expected to get any bigger than 45-50 pounds which, by boxer standards, is relatively small, even for a female. We didn't care. We loved her as soon as we saw her picture (found her through a newspaper ad, but she lives 2 hours away). I don't mind saying we feel just like expectant parents.

This means the search for a motorhome is on once again.

Fall Flood 2006

2006-11-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the photos I took during the recent flood. Of course, there is a story to go along with the photos, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe you can figure it out. Let me just say, it was a sleepless night as we watched the river rise.

Here is a picture of my neighbor's picnic shelter when the river is running high, but not cresting the banks (taken in 2005).

This is the same picnic shelter as the water began to overflow its banks.

Before completely evacuating, the neighbor's son (?) took time to do a little "fishing." Just by dipping his net into the murky water, he managed to snag two salmon!

To add a little perspective, before it started to rain, this is what the river looked like (take from a bridge just a mile from my home and looking south).

Compare and contrast that with this picture, taken from almost the same viewpoint. The difference between the two is only 5 days and a whole lot of rain! Even at that, the river had not yet jumped its banks.

When it finally did, THIS is what it looked like.

Now, same bridge, same sequence, but looking north instead.

Note the depth from the top of the levee to the river in this picture is about 10-12 feet.

A few days later, the distance between the top of the levee and the river had been reduced to no more than a couple feet.

Sometime during the late evening hours, the levee had been breeched and began to flood the fields.

This is what it looked like the next day.

Meanwhile, back at my house, the water continued to rise all night. When morning finally dawned, this is what the back part of my property looked like. The picnic shelter is in back of that blue house in the distance. (Dang, this pic isn't cooperating. I'll put up a different one.)

This is half of the picture above and shows part of my property and my next door neighbor's flooded barn.

Taking a walk that day and this is some of what we saw.

Clearly, this is now the road to nowhere and mail delivery is NOT going to happen.

Just a few inches are what kept this house from being completely flooded.

This house is next door to the log cabin, but sits ever so slightly lower in elevation. The end result is evident.

I believe this mobile home park made national news. It is only a mile from my home.

Back in my yard...

Here is a photo taken somewhat from ground level and looking towards where the river should be. Note all the debris in the water.

What a difference just a few hours can make. Same view, but taken after the rain had stopped. The waters have obviously begun to recede. Again, note all the debris; that's someone's siding in my yard.

And in the midst of all the chaos is beauty, found in a sunset reflection.

Good-bye Precious, Hello Empty Nest

2006-11-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finally figured out why I never got the "empty-nest" syndrome when my kids moved out. I always had a house full of pets! When the kids left (well, they left, came back, left again, and with 5 of them, that's a lot of coming and going), I still had 4 cats, a dog, and a bird to take care of. My house was never really empty.

Shortly before moving into this house, though, we gave the bird (a Nanday Conure named Echo, who would always start squawking when you got on the phone) to someone better able to take care of him. Then, I lost my first cat (a gray long-hair domestic named Spanky) shortly after I moved into this house six years ago. He either ran away or was caught by a coyote (we didn't find him in the streets or anything).

This year has been one of the toughest, though. I lost PuddyRat, my most favorite and cherished cat, earlier in the year (followed on the heels of my mother's death). I'd had him for close to 15 years and he was most definitely MY cat.

Then, a few weeks ago, we made the decision to let our very vocal tuxedo cat go after a bite he got became infected. He was a good cat, but not terribly cuddly, so no one was really close to him. Still, it was another in a long line of recent losses.

Yesterday, however, we had to make the decision to let our dog, Precious, go. Precious was our Boxer Baby, and about as sweet a dog as one could ask for. She was always good around my grandchildren from the time they were infants, through toddler stage, to young children. She was a wonderful guard dog, always letting us know when someone was approaching the house or at the door. She was even more alert, barking constantly, when either of us was in the house alone and taking a shower, or if we were both home, but otherwise, um, engaged.

When she was still well, she used to like to zip around the yard as fast as she could. We'd stand in the center and clap our hands and she'd run around in circles around us. She had floppy ears and when she wanted to play, she'd get down on her "elbows" with her butt up in the air and that little docked tail wig-wig-wigging back and forth. She couldn't wag her tail as there simply wasn't enough there, so we called it wigging.

This month, Precious would have turned 10, which is moderately old for a Boxer, but not so old for a dog. As she got older, she became only a little less rambunctious. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. While she was no longer consumed with puppy-itis (that lasted about four years), she was still able to chase the squirelly squirrels and dig holes with exuberence.

However, while we realized she was getting on (she could no longer travel long distances in the car), we didn't realize how bad until we took her with us to a race. Pat was running a half marathon and I was standing on the sidelines. We parked our car and walked to the race start. It was only then that we realized she'd been dragging one of her back paws as the "knuckle" was raw and bleeding. This was the beginning of what I consider to be a fairly rapid decline in our dog's health. I mean, we knew she was getting worse, but I don't think either of us realized (much less admitted), just how bad she was.

In the last few weeks, she's gotten to the point where the nerve damage in her back was so bad that she was walking on her knuckles without even realizing it. She walked sideways because she had no control in where her back legs were going. We had throw rugs spread out in all the areas of the house with bare floor because she couldn't get any traction and her legs would splay out behind her. When her back legs weren't going opposite directions, she would trip over them and fall down. We would carry her up and down the stairs, but carrying 60 pounds of solid dog up and down stairs was a little much for even our aging backs. We got to the point where we would help her up the stairs by wrapping our arms around her middle (she didn't like the strap we had), and crawling up on all fours ourselves.

It was excruciating to watch her decline, but she was Pat's dog and I had to let him make the decision to put her out of her misery. My heart ached whenever I'd watch her walk or get up or down out of a chair. When it became evident that her front legs were also starting to exhibit some of the same symptoms, he finally decided it was time to say good-bye.

So, Saturday morning, she got to eat a whole steak all by herself. Pat cooked it for her. I lay on the floor with her for an hour just holding and cuddling her, and kissing her soft ears. Just before we left for the vet, I let her lick a large spoon with peanutbutter on it as I ate my toast. She sure did like peanutbutter!

When we arrived at the vet's, they took her weight, then took her into the lab (without us) to insert the catheter. Meanwhile, we were escorted into a small waiting room. The room comes complete with a stuffed couch and chair. Mats are placed on the floor along with blankets. I lay on the floor with her once again and held her. She was very excited as she was unclear about what was going on. She couldn't understand what we were so upset about and who was this man holding something in his palm. As we said our good-byes, the vet surreptitiously inserted the needle into the catheter. Seconds later, she was gone.

Pat and I both sobbed. Precious had been such a large part of our lives for the last 10 years. She was one of our surrogate children and one of the most favored. We didn't do anything without considering the ramifications to the her. We hesitated to go anywhere unless someone we trusted was able to watch her. Pat stayed home with her this last August while I did Ironman Canada because she was doing so poorly. I don't regret that decision. After a short time with her now lifeless, but still warm body, we left. We opted for a private cremation, so now we wait for their call saying her ashes are ready to be picked up.

When we came home, I immediately started clearing her things out. It was something I felt like I needed to do while I was still slightly numb. I also did it in the hopes it would help my husband, so he wouldn't have to deal with it. He is more devastated by her departure than even I. In the same way that PuddyRat was MY cat, Precious was HIS dog. We refered to her as "Daddy's Girl." She was his buddy, his pal, his best friend. She was always there for hime, always glad to see him, she never complained (even when she wasn't feeling well), and she never criticized.

I emptied her food bowl and cleaned it, then gave it and the left over bag to my step-son for his dog. I picked up some of the extra throw rugs and threw them into the laundry room for washing later (some I threw out). I collected her medicines and treats and removed them from the cupboard. As she became increasingly crippled, Pat had built stairs for her so she could still climb up onto our bed (yes, she ocassionally slept with us). I moved those out of the way. I picked up her basket and moved it outside.

Now I wonder if I was mistaken to do all that so quickly. Suddenly, my house feels so damned empty. I only have one cat now (called "Puppy" of all things, but that is a different story). I guess I've finally come face to face with that "empty nest" syndrome I've heard people talk about, but never really understood. I didn't understand because my house, my home was never really empty. I always had stuff going on. If one child wasn't living with me, another one was. When I finally didn't have any children living with me, I had parents living with or near me.

Always, I had a house FULL of activity. Now, I have next to nothing and I don't quite know what to do about it. We've chosen, for the time being, not to get another dog. While we are devastated by the loss of our pets, there is also a certain sense of freedom and relief that comes with it (along with a small dose of guilt for feeling free and relieved). Now if we want to take off to Vegas or Phoenix or San Diego or Mexico for a weekend, the only thing holding us back is money and time off from work. We don't need to worry about who will watch over all the animals. After all, cat's are pretty self-sufficient for about a week so long as they have food, water, and a litter box, so that is not a worry.

I suppose once Monday comes around and we get back into our regular routine of going to work and the general vagaries of life, we will feel the losses a little less acutely. For now, though, the pain is sharp and I suspect we will have at least a dull ache for some time to come. The fact that it's winter and the weather is quite dull, gray, wet, and dreary probably doesn't help us much, either. Stupid to blame the weather, but I can't help but think if we had sunshine it might somehow be easier. Then, again, maybe not. I don't and won't really know, now will I. What I do know is that it hurts and the silence is overwhelming.

And wow...if you read all that depressing drivel, I'm impressed. I wrote all this down for me and no one else. I've been so negligent about my blog, I find it unlikely anyone still pays any attention to it. I guess I really should finish my race report. At the very least, my coach will be expecting it.

Anyway, I expect I'll be back to my usual cheerful and chipper self soon enough. Rock on.

IMC 2006 -- The Swim

2006-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

The alarm went off around 4:00, not that I needed an alarm. I had slept fitfully most of the night. First off, I was afraid I’d miss the alarm and second, it wasn’t my bed. Nerves weren’t as big an issue this year as they were last year. Last year, I couldn’t eat for several days prior to the event and I darn sure didn’t sleep. This year, eating and sleeping weren’t really a problem.

After making some coffee and eating some toast, I realized I’d forgotten my Boost Plus at home. That was something I was going to ingest 30 minutes or so before race start. I would be starting the race out at a calorie deficit. That wasn’t good, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

I quickly ate my breakfast and got dressed, putting my special needs bags into a backpack. I remember all too well what it was like trying to carry the special needs bags by their skinny little plastic handles. They stretch out by the weight of their contents and those skinny little handles bite into your fingers causing pain before they cause numbness. I didn’t want whoever was going to transport my bags this year to experience that.

Feeling ready, I headed out the door. I reminded myself to take it easy getting to the race start. I wasn’t racing yet, I wasn’t late, so I didn’t need to hurry the mile or so to the race site.

Almost on automatic, I dropped off my special needs, got body marked and headed to the transition area. I checked my bike tires and they seemed to be fully inflated. I added my water bottles to my bike and filled my front aerobar water system. Before I realized it, the time had come to put on my wetsuit and head for the start.

On my way, I ran into Kelly Heizenger, an incredibly gifted over-40 athlete, who I am really glad will never catch up to my age group. Finally, after the Canadian national anthem was sung (the refrains of which I would hear in my head THE REST OF THE DAY – and I’m not Canadian!), we moved en masse to the swim start.

As I headed out to the beach, I saw Darcy on the sidelines. She waved excitedly and I smiled back, but in my haste to get in the water, I didn’t stop. I regret that now as she could have taken a picture that may have been only slightly more flattering than the one she did get of my swim exit (I’m astonished she was able to do that much).

I entered the lake and prepared to flood my wetsuit with the cool morning water. This first part is always one of the hardest for me. As soon as I get over the shock of the chill, I’m usually okay, but if I don’t do this first, I’m prone to panic in the first part of the swim. After a few strokes, I felt relatively comfortable and I continued to marvel at how calm I felt. Gone were the butterflies that plagued me last year. While some niggling doubt remained regarding my ability to finish the bike, I was feeling mostly confident.

Back on the beach waiting for the cannon to go off, I saw Seujan. We hugged and chatted briefly, then moved off to find our respective positions in the water. Seujan is a bit of a fish, so she moved closer to the front. I’m not as confident as that, but more confident than I’ve been in years prior, so while I didn’t move to the front of the line, I did manage to position myself somewhat in the middle of the pack. No longer did I feel the need to position myself way off to the side and in the back. I only hoped I wouldn’t get clobbered by anyone as a result of my decision.

Before I knew it, the cannon sounded and everyone surged forwards. It was hard to want to swim right away for three reasons. First, I hadn’t yet reached the official start line (a row of flags hung up over the water, second, I was still only knee deep in water, and last, because no one else started swimming until the water got a little deeper.

As I began swimming, I did my best to find the path of least resistance. That meant I did what I could to not run into other athletes. I don’t know anything about drafting and have yet to practice that particular art form. I wasn’t going to start it now.

One of the first things I noticed, though, was how loose my timing chip strap seemed to feel. Mind you, I have opted for one of those extremely comfortable neoprene straps. If you've never used one, I highly recommend you get one. They are so comfortable you don't even realize it's there, they don’t cut into your ankle like those damned plastic straps can, and they are just nicer looking than the plain velcro straps.

Anyway, during the swim, I was absolutely convinced the damn thing was going to come off and find it’s way to the bottom of the lake, then I’d be on the hook to cough up the dollars for its replacement. As such, I found myself doing very little kicking. Instead, I tried to pretend I had a pull buoy between my knees and I'd lift my hips in an effort to take advantage of the natural buoyancy of the wetsuit.

I managed to stay relatively contact free during the swim except a few times. This can be extemely difficult to do. Ironman Canada is a mass swim start (as are most Ironmans) and not the more civilized wave start of smaller (and usually shorter) triathlons. There was one time, though, when someone was touching my feet so repeatedly that I resorted to kicking very quickly and strongly just to lose them. Geez, but that was annoying. To be honest, though, I was worried that my chip strap was loose and I was afraid they would inadvertantly grab it and I would end up S.O.L.!

I remember NOT looking at my watch. I didn't want to be distracted by how much time had passed, how far I had gone, how much further I had to go, how fast I might or might not be, so through supreme effort on my part, I refrained from looking until I climbed out of the water. When I did, I was both surprised and thrilled. It read 1:33 and change. OMG! When did I get that fast? Of course, the official time was 1:34:44, but that was definitely faster than the 1:42 I did last year. Wooohooo!

I did make one mistake during my swim and that was at the swim exit. I learned early on to swim until my hands touched the bottom. I didn't do that this year and I should have. Since I didn't, I ended up losing some time just because I was fighting water that was hip deep when it should have been no deeper than my knees.

Well, lesson learned, and I headed in to T1...

IMC 2006 Race Report (continued)

2006-09-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just for Carole (she knows who she is)

Pre-Race
I drove up to Penticton on Wednesday. Seems I always feel like I'm in a hurry, even when I'm not. There was plenty of time to get to Penticton, but I felt the need to get there lickety-split which means I was speeding most of my way there. When I finally arrived, I figured I'd averaged about 65 mph the whole way there. Considering some of the roads I was on, that was pretty fast. Darned lead foot.

Once I arrived, I checked into my hotel, put some of my things away, and decided to walk down to the Ironman village to see what was up. Not too many athletes had arrived yet, so the hustle and bustle activity was at a minimum. I snooped around the merchandise tents, and bought a polar bottle and some CO2 cartridges.

Then I walked back to my room, taking a picture of the infamous "peach" along the way. When in Penticton and someone says they'll meet you at the peach, this is what they are talking about. It's right on the beach and you simply cannot miss it.

Wednesday evening was spent just relaxing and reading a book. Reading is something I enjoy tremendously, but finding the time to read while working full time and training for an Ironman is next to impossible. However, one of my co-workers had suggested I might enjoy reading Ken Follet's, "Pillars of the Earth," and loaned me his copy. I read the first paragraph while at work and knew I would be completely and totally engaged in the story. I vowed to use my spare time pre- and post-race to read the book and I'm not sorry I did.

I spoke to my coach, briefly. We concentrated our conversation on my nutrition (which is something I'm still working on dialing in) and hydration plan for the bike and run. She told me to figure out how many more calories I was going to need for the bike (what I'd told her previously hadn't satisfied her) and we talked about how I could carry that many. So that night I also spent trying to figure out my calorie and electrolyte needs.

Thursday, I got up early and met Lori and Darin "at the peach" for an early morning swim. Lori is both a friend and training partner and has also competed in two Ironman's, but it was her husband, Darin, that would be doing his first Ironman. He had only just learned to swim within the last year, so getting through an Ironman swim was going to be a challenge. I'm very pleased to say he did really well.

After our swim, I headed back to my hotel room where I changed and prepared for a short bike. I went out on the IMC run course for about 8 or 9 miles then turned around and went back. On the way out, I felt good and was encouraged by how fast I was going. I figured since I was lakeside that I must be on a slight, albeit imperceptible, downhill. Then, again, the thought occurred to me that my taper was doing wonders for my bike speed. HA! I should have known better. The answer to my speedy ride was answered when I turned around. I'd failed to notice how choppy the lake was, but I can assure you, I took notice when I turned around as I had a rather brisk wind in my face.

Later that day I went back to pick up my packet. I got weighed. That was fun for a change as I weighed considerably less at this race than I did at last year's race. I would love to have seen what the scale said immediately after my race. I'm sure we all drop a lot of weight (mostly water).

Friday was a short run day and I did a few strides along the Okanagen River. During the summer, thousands of people float down the Okanagen River (more like a slough) from Okanagen Lake to Skaha Lake. It's not a white water ride or anything. In fact, it's quite leisurely. There is a business at the start of the river that rents out floats. At the other end, is a bus that takes everyone back to the start. One of these days I'm actually going to float that river!

Friday night was the carbo dinner. My hotel was close enough to the Penticton Trade and Convention center that I could walk to it. I got in line with thousands of other athletes. I felt a little lonely as there was no one else there that I knew, or if I did, I didn't know where they were. I did my best to strike up a conversation with the other athletes in the line. All night, I found myself explaining that, "no this isn't my first ironman...I DNF'd last year...I came back to take my revenge on the course." By the time the awards banquet came around, I was at least able to say, "no this isn't my first Ironman, but it's the first one I finished" with a very large smile on my face.

I'm always touched and inspired by all the athletes at the carbo dinner. I saw a man with pink hair. Funny, I saw the same man at the Super JocknJill Half Marathon two weeks later. That pink hair and wild tights are a little hard to miss. I have no idea who he is. Anyway, at least one of the athletes at the dinner had done over 20 Ironman Canada's. That's impressive.

Saturday was a very lazy day for me. I only had a 15 minute swim and a 15 minute bike. After I did my bike ride, I had to check my gear bags and bike into the transition area. Later that day, Darcy met up with me and I nuked my pre-race dinner. We chatted while my dinner cooked and she hung around while I ate. She left early in the evening as she also need to get something to eat and I wanted my quiet time. I was eerily calm this year. Last year, I had been so fraught with nerves I was unable to sleep or eat in the days leading up to the race. I think it's because I knew deep down in my heart of hearts that I wasn't really ready last year. This year was different. I'd done the training. I had put an extra thousand miles on my bike. This year, I was ready.

Sure, I still had doubts, but Pat didn't. Neither did my coach. They both tried to reassure me by telling me that I'd put in the training this year. Last year I hadn't done everthing that I needed to do. This year, I had.

Finally, it was 9:00 on Saturday night and I'm really enjoying the story I'm reading. Then it dawns on me. Hey, dummy...you have a race in the morning! Like, hello? You need to turn out the lights and get some sleep. Before I do, I go to the door and look out at all the rooms around me (I had a pool view and all the doors opened onto the pool, so I could see them). Not a one of them still had a light shining. They were all dark. Everyone had gone to bed. So did I.

Ironman Canada 2006 Race Report

2006-08-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

Post Race

Just wanted to share a couple pics before I go into the race report.

People have asked to see a pic of my new tattoo. Mind you, I'm a 50 year old woman believes most tattoos should be reserved for thugs and sailors. But, I simply couldn't resist the allure of the M-dot tattoo. It was something I could take to my grave (or the crematorium) and show off in the nursing home when (if) the time should come. Only those who have completed an Ironman race are entitled to sport the tattoo.

Next, I want to share a couple images that greeted me when I arrived home. While I had friends with whom to share the IMC experience, none of my family including my husband were in attendance. All week long I had made a joke about my husband staying home to take care of the dog. This is entirely true. She is not well and I fear we will have to put her down soon. Like Flo's poor dog, Mz Nals, my Precious is becoming increasingly crippled. Going up and down stairs is a chore and running around the yard is no longer an option. So, Pat stayed home with Precious (yes, that really is my dog's name!).

In spite of this, we stayed in touch by telephone (oh, the miracle of technology). Unfortunately, on the day I was scheduled to arrive home, Pat had to go to work (he works a swing shift), which meant I would arrive home to a more or less empty (save for the dog and cats) house. As I approached my home, I got very excited. It just felt good to be in familiar territory again. Imagine my surprise, then, when I pulled into the driveway and saw this on my garage door. I was thrilled that my husband had gone to such simple pains to make a big deal out of my accomplishment.

My wonderful husband is full of surprises, though (life with him has never been dull), and he had one more up his sleeve. I was satisfied and content with the sign on the garage door. It meant the world to me and practically had me in tears. But when I entered my home and went into the living room, there were more streamers, a Supergirl (that's another story) balloon, and a congratulatory card. It was more than I could have asked for.

I AM AN IRONMAN!!

2006-08-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

YEEESSSSS!!!! I DID IT!

Late Sunday, I became an Ironman.

I've only just gotten home, but don't want to worry others any further. I'm home, I'm fine. My swim and bike rocked. The marathon sucked, but I prevailed and scooted in with less than 20 minutes to spare.

I'll write more when I have more time. Right now, I need to unpack the car, throw some clothes in the washer, and get more to EAT!

Oh, and, yes. I got the tattoo.

Time's Up!

2006-08-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

This is it. It's time. Today makes one week to Ironman Canada. One week from today, I hope to be calling myself an Ironman. Of course, it might be a week from midnight when I do it, but still. My bib number is 2483. Strange. My bib number from last year was 2384. That is just weird.

You would think with me being in full taper that I would have had time to add to my blog. No such luck. I don't know how the rest of the blogging world does it. I simply cannot train for an Ironman, work full time, and still find time to blog. I've darn sure had precious little time to read anyone elses blog. My thanks and my apologies to those of you that stop by occasionally to see if there are any updates only to be disappointed. I have several posts started (usually as it relates to my training), but none I've been able to finish. I'm not sure I'll ever get them posted.

Oh, yeah. I turned 50 last Wednesday. Funny thing about that. Remember that Tanita scale post? The one that gives us our relative age? Well, while I was busy turning 50 chronologically, the Tanita scale was busy turning back the clock on me and I turned 30...even 29 in there somewhere. Yeah!

One other funny thing about it. My mother always told me that life begins at 40 and even at 20 I believed her. Once I turned 40, I agreed with her whole-heartedly. So, for my 50th birthday, Darcy gives me a card that tells me "since life begins at 40, that means you are only 10 YEARS OLDS!" Yeeehaaaaw! I'm only 10. When I mentioned this to someone else, they asked if I would have to go through puberty again. Oh, Lordy. Thanks. I think I'd rather face menopause than go through puberty again. Looks like I'll be staying 50. But, I have to admit, I'm more fit at 50 (even though I still weigh 10 or 20 pounds too much) than I ever was at 40, 30, or even 20.

So, I admit that, while I am significantly better prepared this year compared to last, I'm still more than a little anxious about this race. I have some high expectations of myself, like actually finishing the damn thing. However, since I'm one for numbers, let me share a few with you.

	Swim (yds)	Hours	Bike (mi)	Hours	Run (mi)	Hours
2006	118700	54:46	2315.0	168:33	466.7	89:11
2005	141500	63:12	1253.3	95:37	403.9	80:12
Variance	-22800	-8:26	+1061.7	+72:56	+62.8	+8:59

I have quite obviously added traded off some of my swimming time for time on my bike. While I did have fewer yards swimming, I had significantly more miles cycling. Another interesting point. While I didn't have that many extra hours of running this year over last, the time it took to put in the extra miles is significantly less. To help compare and contrast, below is a table of my average times this year compared to last.

	Swim (min/100 yds)	Bike (mph)	Run (min/mile)
2006 Avg. Pace	2:47	13.7	11:27
2005 Avg. Pace	2:40	13.1	11:47
Variance	-0:05	+0.6	-0:27

It must be noted that the above table should be taken with a grain of salt. There are so many variables in the mix. For example, you'll notice I'm 5 seconds per yard slower in the swim this year than last year. However, I spent more time doing kick sets this year than I did last year. On the bike, it shows I'm only a little more than half a mile per hour faster, but it doesn't show what the average terrain was or weather conditions. The only place where the comparison is more indicative of my improved readiness and fitness is on the run. While it's true, I only show a 30 second per mile improvement, over a marathon distance, that adds up to being a full 8 (almost 9) minutes faster.

So, all there is left to do is launder my workout clothes and pack my gear. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Time is up. There is no more training to be done. There are some short workouts left, yes, but that's just to keep the proverbial pump primed. Training time has come and gone. Now I must have faith in my coach that my training will carry me through the day (especially through the bike and onto the run course). Wish me luck?

Latest Addition

2006-07-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

Announcing the arrival of Caitlyn Renee (grandchild #6 for me)! She was born on 7/12 at 12:20 p.m. Pacific time, was 20 inches long and weighed in at 7 pounds 4 ounces.

Here is a pic of the new arrival (just minutes old)
in her birth day suit...

A close up...

And another with the proud mama and papa (my son).

Ironman Coeur d'Alene -- A Different Perspective

2006-06-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

I've just returned home from a busy weekend in Coeur d'Alene, cheering on the athletes as both a spectator and volunteer. Congratultions go out to all those athletes that participated, whether they finished or not. To quote John Bingham, yet again,

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

Yesterday, all those athletes had the courage to start. They attempted something great. Many of them succeeded in finishing. Some of them did not. But the point is they all toed the line on race day. They gave it their best shot and considering the conditions, it was a spectacular achievement.

Speaking of conditions, they were brutal. The lake was cold (about 62°F). We heard stories of some people coming out of the water hypothermic. Others had problems with their stomach and were vomiting. Crowding was a constant problem and athletes were getting smacked, kicked, and clubbed; don't let anyone ever tell you triathlon isn't a contact sport...at least during the swim.

If the cold of the lake didn't get to them, the heat on the bike did. While many could do the first loop with relatively few problems, by the time they finished the second loop, it was hotter-n-blazes and they were dropping out. If you look at some of the bike splits, you will notice they started out like gangbusters, but dropped that their average bike times dropped by as much as 2 or 3 mph on the second loop. And this was for strong cyclists (or those who may not have completely dialed in their nutrition/hydration needs).

Note to self: Keep working on the nutrition thing. You are going to need it at IMC if it gets as hot this year as it did last year (95°F).

By the time everyone hit the run course, they were feeling a little the worse for wear. By 5:30, a good many of the athletes had been reduced to walking. Almost everyone posted at least slightly, and some significantly, slower run times. I don't yet know what the drop out rate was, but I'm sure it was substantial.

I want to give a shout out to another blogger, Shelley, for finishing her FIFTH Ironman. I kept promising to meet up with her in the women's changing tent during the afternoon, but we did not cross paths even though we were likely within a few feet of each other for at least few minutes when she came in off the bike. However, I did have an opportunity to meet her as I caught her on the run. Here is the picture I managed to snap of her.

As promised in one of her posts, she was there to have fun and I think this little dance she did for me, not to mention the Canadian flags on her head, exemplifies that. Congratulations, Shelley! Ya done good, girlfriend. I know you will find your reasons, or they will be revealed to you, when the time is right.

Many of my non-blogger friends/acquaintances/training buddies participated and deserve recognition: Carole (15:07:55); Mary (15:52:13); Iona (13:52:27); Julie (12:23:38); Patty (14:01:14); Diana (15:41:59). What is most significant about all of these women is they are ALL over 40! CONGRATULATIONS, ladies! You were AWESOME and I am proud of each and every one of you!

Okay, I'll update more later, but that's going to be all for now.

New Balance Half Ironman Race Report

2006-06-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do my best to publish this race report in a timely manner. I tend to get a tad wordy, but if you've been reading my blog, you know that by now. That's my way of saying it might take me two weeks to get the damn thing up. *sigh*

Pre-Race
The alarm went off at 4:00. Kathryn, Cheryl, and I were all sharing a room and we had instructions from our coach, Stacia McInnes, to be at the TZ in advance of it opening at 5:30. Thankfully, our hotel was only 15 minutes away, but with three women in the room, we needed the extra time go through our respective morning routines, get our food into us, and get our bikes and gear loaded into the car.

We arrived in plenty of time and had primo spots to get into the TZ. When they finally opened it up, I made a bee line for the next available end spot and took that. Kathryn and Cheryl racked their bikes next to mine. Later, I learned and saw for myself that Lori Bowden had racked her bike next to ours. Goodness, but even after a baby that woman is tiny! What amazing power she has packed into that little body.

After getting my TZ set up I headed for the porta-potties. It's not that I had to go particularly badly and, if necessary, I could always pee in my wetsuit, but I was hoping to poop. Against my better judgement, I'd had a large meal of spaghetti the day before. That might work for other people, but it doesn't work for me. Carbo loading isn't something that's done the day before a race, it's done in the days (plural) before a race. There is a science to it and just eating a large dinner of carbohydrates the day before a race isn't it.

Anyway, unsuccessful at relieving myself, I went back to the transition zone and donned my wetsuit. My suit must be too big for me, though, as I have almost no trouble ever getting in it. While other people struggle and wriggle, mine just slides on. I head for the water. The biggest mistake I can make before a race is not getting in the water a few minutes before the race start. I cannot just jump in and start swimming. I'm not that good. I need to get into the water, allow the water to seep into my suit, put my face in the coolness and generally just get used to being wet. I'm usually good to go after I take a few strokes, but feel the need to warm up first.

While I'm doing all of that, the young men's wave (19-39) goes off. As I frolic in the water (which was MUCH calmer than the day before when there were whitecaps dancing about), I watch a small sea of green caps head for the first buoy. Once they were gone, the purple caps (all women, except relay) congregate at the start line. Now, I typically position myself towards the back and off to the side for a swim start. This year, I found myself in the middle, closer to the start, but I was not surrounded by bodies. I stood a good chance of maintaining my distance from everyone else and not getting smacked, punched, or otherwise beat up by the other women in my wave, so I stayed where I was. It was a good move.

The gun goes off and we all begin. It doesn't take long and I notice, as I'm sighting on the boathouse half a kilometer away, that some of those women are really fast and are already far beyond me. But I settle into a rhythm, sighting every few strokes, and don't worry about anyone else except myself. On the swim, I simply must focus and remember to stroke, stroke, stroke, roll, and breathe, stroke, stroke, stroke, look up, roll, and breathe. The water was calm enough I was actually able to bi-laterally breathe the entire swim. My goal for the swim was to get as far as I could before I was overtaken by the blue caps (men 40 and over) who would start 15 minutes after me.

As I'm swimming along, I begin to notice that someone is getting perilously close to my space. There is plenty of open space to swim as I'm towards the back of the pack by now, and wonder why this person is getting so close. A few strokes later, I'm being touched, grabbed, and mauled, at which point, I respond with a push of my own. The mauling swimmer doesn't so much as break stroke and I notice her swimming off at an angle diagonal to me. I continue my 3 stroke count all the while keeping my eye out for her. Fortunately she is faster than me, but her sighting skills are deplorable. She swims a crazy zig-zag pattern along the entire course. She crosses in front of me again, but this time, is sufficiently ahead of me that she doesn't impede my progress. Someone needs to give her sighting lessons. She'd get out of the water a whole lot faster.

As I approach the second of the turn buoys, it occurs to me I haven't seen a blue cap yet and I begin to wonder just where the hell they are. If I'm to get run over, it's usually by the men, but even they will make an adjustment if they touch you. They don't typically continue to plow over you like the zig-zag woman did. It dawns on me though, that I'm further into the swim course this year than the previous year. I see that as a good sign and keep on swimming, concentrating now on making sure my hips lift up to take advantage of the buoyancy of the suit and glide along. I notice a kyaker paddling near me and I want to shout out to him, "Please tell me there are more purple caps behind me!" You see, I used to be the last one out of the water and this is still a concern of mine, albeit an unfounded one.

Pretty soon, as I approach the swim exit, I see one lonely green cap in the water. I feel pretty good about passing a green cap, but also feel bad for the green cap. It's almost not fair. He is evidently not much of a swimmer and it's hard to feel good about beating someone that swims that poorly. However, I don't know what his issues were; maybe he was just having an off day.

T1
I exit the water to the cheers of the crowd and do my best to run into the transition zone with out looking like a drunken sailor. It doesn't take long and I've got my wetsuit off. Kathryn's bike is gone, as is Lori Bowden's of course, but Cheryl is there still preparing to take off. As I'm getting my shoes and socks on, Cheryl leaves and I joke with one of the TZ officials about how comical we must all look hopping around on one leg trying to put dry socks on wet feet. She tells me they've all been there, done that. She's right of course, but not all the spectators have and were I one of them, I'd be laughing my ass off at the folks dancing around in circles on one leg trying to maintain their balance.

Bike
Okay, shoes, socks, gloves, race belt with number, and helmet on, I head for the mount line. One cleat on the pedal and off I go, swinging the other leg up over the back. Fortunately, the start of the bike is a slight downhill and as I finish clipping in, I get up to speed quickly.

That doesn't last long as I approach the first of the hills. I switch gears quickly and continue to spin as best I can. Spin might be a bit of a misnomer. I continue to pedal, but I can't say I'm spinning. My RPM's are too slow for spinning. This goes on for quite some time. Up, down, up, down, changing gears frequently to take advantage of the downhill sections, or preparing for the up hill ones. This is a hilly course, and I would be changing gears a lot. I was in my aerobars quite a bit, even when going uphill. I just didn't think about my position until a guy passed me and yells at me to get out of my bars. He very nicely continued by saying, "There's no advantage to it. Get out of the bars and open up your lungs." He's right, of course, so I thank him. It isn't until later that I realized I was in my bars because I was comfortable there, not because I expected any kind of aerodynamic advantage. Nonetheless, whenever I approached a hill after that, I made sure to get out of my bars to allow my lungs room to expand with the increased effort.

It wasn't too long after I left the transition zone that I passed Cheryl. And a few minutes later, I even pass Kathryn. While I'm pleased I passed them, I'm sure I'll slow down or they'll speed up and I'll see them later in the course. In what seems no time at all, I'm finally at the left turn that signifies the start of the loop section. We cover this same loop 3 times and there are a couple of longer climbs with some shorter steep sections along with some nice downhills, a couple of flat areas, usually with headwinds, and a few sharp right turns at the bottom of a downhill section. It is the hills and turns that make this a technically challenging course.

This year, I was gratified to find myself flying along some of the downhill and flat sections easily doing 25 mph or more. Unfortunately, those sections didn't last very long before I was going uphill once again where my speed would drop dramatically. Not once, though, did I get out of the saddle. I've been training to climb hills in my saddle. I was not going to jump out now to power up a hill and burn up my quads. I was going to need them later for my run.

One of the biggest problems I have on the bike is remembering to eat. My nutrition on this day consisted of two bottles of orange Gatorade Endurance formula laced with a full serving of Carbo-Pro. That meant about 350-400 calories a bottle. I don't think that's as much as my coach wanted, but it's what I had. Whenever I would see someone take a drink from their bottle, I would reach down and grab mine. I hadn't set my watch for any reminders as on this course, it was almost impossible to do. You had to grab your nutrition when you could because you were changing gears so often. I must have been doing okay in the nutrition/hydration department though as I actually had to stop at the aid station and pee on the first loop.

Loop after loop, I reveled in passing people and being passed. I chatted it up when and where I could and just kept pedaling. I thanked the volunteers and officers as I went by or flew through the intersections. At one point, I saw one of the race photographers standing next to a large motorcycle. I suggested he and I trade bikes. He just chuckled. I took that as a no and kept on pedaling.

As is common in these races, I would play leapfrog with certain individuals. Sometimes I'd drop them and sometimes they'd drop me. I must have really annoyed one gal as I passed her on a downhill telling her she could catch me on the next uphill. She did and I never saw her again. I kept on pedaling.

I have to admit by the time the third loop came around, I'd slowed down some. It was while I was on this last loop that I saw a yellow bike with a woman on it speed by me. I noted the saddle was white. Ah-ha! THAT, my friends, was Lori Bowden. This was confirmed just a minute later as a cyclist came at me from the opposite direction yelling, "That was Lori Bowden that just passed you!" I shouted back, "It was indeed!" I felt no rancor at being passed. In fact, in a weird sort of way, I was even a little happy to be passed by such an icon of the sport.

Thirty minutes or so later, I was thrilled when I came to the end of my third loop as this signified I was almost done with the bike part of the race. It was only a few minutes later and I was braking to approach the dismount line. As I got off my trusty steed one of the volunteers asked me if I could stand. I thought that odd, but realized there were probably many people that weren't used to riding that distance and would be unsteady. I smiled my assent and ran my bike into T2.

T2
I racked the bike, removed my bike shoes, slid on my running shoes, shucked the gloves off my hands, traded helmet for hat, snatched my Garmin off my bike, grabbed my running pouch, which was holding my run nutrition, and headed towards the run. As I did, Bill King (IMC announcer), made note of my progress. He announced to the crowd that I was heading out for the run, that I had previously done a half ironman in 7:39 and 7:37 last year, and that I looked to be on course for a personal best. I can't begin to tell you how exciting it was to hear those words as he was absolutely right and I knew it. I didn't know how fast I'd gone on the bike, but I knew I was faster than the previous year.

Run
The run started well and I was tryng to figure out how long I could hold out before I absolutely HAD to find a bush or if I could wait until I got to the washroom. Stacia said it was only 5 or 6 minutes down the trail, but her 5 or 6 minute jogs cover more distance than mine. I opted to wait as there were lots of folks still on the trail and I didn't wish to be too conspicuous heading off into the bushes in spite of seeing some man doing what I could not, basically, stand up and whiz away without getting his legs wet.

While I was contemplating my need to pee, I also tried to figure out what I was going to do about nutrition on the run. Stacia had told me she would be taking in 5 gels during the run. This told me I needed about 500 calories during the run. I had several bags of Sharkies (140 calories per bag) and I'd dumped them all into my pouch before starting the race that morning. It seemed to me if I could just remember to keep feeding myself Sharkies, I would be okay. When I came upon the first red kilometer mark, I decided that would be a good time to take a few. From then on, at every kilometer, I would pop two or three into my mouth. When I would come upon an aid station, I would walk just long enough to grab a couple ounces of Gatorade and then I would start running again.

Now the run course on this race is billed as flat, but that's not entirely true. While it may not have any long climbs, it is far from flat. There are several places where continuing to run at your regular pace is almost impossible due to the steepness of the terrain. However, all the hills are blessedly short, usually no more than a few steps. But when you are tired, each incline can feel mountainous.

In addition to the varied terrain, the run is all on hard-packed trail around the lake which means you are running on a slightly softer surface than asphalt, but also dodging rocks, roots, and stumps. In spite of this, I managed to run the first 10 kilometers in about 1:10. Since my 10k PR on flat ground is around 60 minutes, I knew this boded well for me. So long as I could keep up the pace, I knew I could finish the run in about 2:20-2:25. I was thrilled with this idea as it would put me close to my super secret goal of coming in under 7 hours. Of course, that goal was super secret because I considered it to be a real stretch of my abilities and I didn't think I would come anywhere near it. But now that it almost seemed attainable, I was fired up and determined to keep running.

I was doing well and maintaining my pace, though with all the trees, my Garmin faded in and out frequently and I wasn't sure exactly what my pace was. Sometimes it told me I was running a 10 minute pace while other times it told me I was running a 14 minute pace. All in all, I just tried to keep it steady and was doing so until I hit got to kilometer 15. That's when things started to fall apart for me on the run. I began to feel the need to go #2.

Folks, during the middle of a race, when I'm about to set a truly awesome PR is not the time when I wanted to have to finally relieve myself of the previous nights dinner. I mean, why couldn't I have done it earlier in the day? Never mind that by now, several additional hours have passed and I've asked my body to carry me through some pretty strenuous activity, but couldn't this please wait a bit? I only had 3 miles to go!

I slowed to a walk in the hopes my bowels would settle down. Every now and then I tried to run a bit, but I would once again be reduced to walking. The longer I walked, the harder it got to get running again. Pain started to manifest itself in my hips, buttocks, and thighs. I began to become fatigued. I was also getting pissed! I was watching one person after another pass me. These were people that I should have been ahead of and I knew it. I was faster than they were, but they were ahead of me on the trail.

Eventually, I came to a section of the path and there was no one in front of me or behind me. The highway was on my right with a field of high grasses between me and it and dense bushes on my left. Unfortunately, I remembered seeing a sign that read something to the effect of, "Caution: field and forest contain ditches." A couple of steps confirmed that there was a fairly nasty ditch on either side of the trail. Obviously, I was not meant to tresspass. Doing so, would be at my own peril. So, I just looked longingly at the secluded spots and wished I had the nerve to just pull down my drawers and go right there in front of God and everyone else.

I continued to walk for the next three kilometers. At every red kilometer sign, I continued to take in sharkies. I figured I still needed the calories. I would try to run for a bit, but it was getting more and more difficult. I finally came upon the last aid station on the loop and they asked if I wanted Gatorade or water. I shook my head no and said one word, "Washroom." They looked at me piteously and told me where to go. I was very glad to enter the stall.

When I emerged from the washroom, my business done and greatly relieved, I noted the trail appeared to me more crowded with athletes. Now how and when did that happen? When I entered the washroom, there was no one in front of me or behind me and suddenly, there were half a dozen. I took my place on the trail and tried to run again, but the left over soreness from my previous forced walk reared it's ugly head and I once, again, went back to walking. I ruefully considered what this would mean to me at Ironman Canada. Would I end up walking 16 miles of the marathon? God, I hoped not.

With only a kilometer left to go, I was passed by a woman with a "G" on her left calf. A "G" meant she was in the 50-54 age group. Hey! That's MY age group. Oh, no you don't! I am NOT going to let you pass me without a fight and I began running again. I did my absolute best to catch her and while I did gain ground, the finish line was upon us before I could and there I was, finishing strong, slightly out of breath, with Bill King announcing my name. Son of a gun. I finished another half ironman. That makes #3. (And no, as my friend Jayne Williams would say, two halfs do not make a full.)

Post Race Analysis
The numbers. It always comes down to the numbers. So here is a comparison of my performance for 2006 and 2005 for the same race, same course.

	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Overall
2006	48:44	3:12	3:39:35	2:34	2:34:13	7:08:16
2005	52:40	3:07	3:57:10	4:13	2:40:50	7:37:59
Variance	-3:56	+0:05	-17:45	-1:39	-6:34	-29:43

So, there you have it. A PR is on the books for me. I improved my time over the previous year by almost a whopping 30 minutes! But now I'm greedy. I want to go back next year and take off another 30 minutes. I think with continuted consistent training over the winter, I can do that. Of course, I think losing another 20 pounds will help with that as well.

So, any lessons learned? A couple. First, I believe my hydration was on track considering I had to pee once during the bike and twice while I was on the run (and I don't mean when I stopped for #2). Second, my nutrition during the bike/run was good, but I need to make sure I stick to MY eating schedule and not allow myself to be swayed by other people. I need to find just the right combination of foods and eating that will allow me to relieve myself BEFORE the race and not during it. Lastly, what I'm doing with my coach is working for me and I need to keep doing it.

I'm now looking forward to IMC. Last year, I dreaded it. It's still not going to be easy, but I no longer fear it the way I did last year. This year, I know I'll be ready. Bring it on!

More Cycling Adventures

2006-06-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, geez. I don't know how people work full time jobs, go to school, train for ironmans and ultras, and still have time to blog. I have a hard time keeping up with me, much less blogging and other bloggers. So, dear bloggers. It's not that I'm not thinking about you. I'm obviously just not as adept at managing my time and my other responsibilities as the rest of you seem to be.

But that's really not the point of this post.

I'm currently five days, and counting, away from my first "A" race of the season. To be honest, I've only got two triathlons on my calendar this year and both of them are "A" races: the New Balance Half Ironman and Ironman Canada. Of course, I add other races in as my schedule and training allows, but they are all done as training and not really as races (unless my coach tells me to go for it).

Two weeks ago, I had my longest ride of the year, so far. I began by riding my usual "flat" 15 miles. Along the way, I finally realized, though I'd known it all along but forgot, that this day was the day of the Rainier to Ruston relay. I had done this relay last year with my Y team members and I knew that they were doing it again this year. I was excited that I might get to see some of them and continued to make my way to South Prairie.

Once I arrived, I chatted it up with several of the people standing around waiting for the first ultra-marathoners. They had started earlier than the rest and the first ones were expected around 9:37. Since I had arrived shortly before that, I hung around for a bit. However, by 9:45, they hadn't arrived yet, so I decided to hit the exchange point closer to the start and hope I didn't miss my friends. Unfortunately, I did miss Rob.

To leave South Prairie and get to my next destination, I chose to climb the infamous Dog Hill. This time, I managed to climb it without getting into my granniest gear. In fact, I still had two gears left. I felt really good about that. Of course, my cadence was quite slow, but my legs weren't toast when I was done, so I saw that as a good sign.

Speaking of signs, after I crested the hill and went over a few easy (when did they become easy?) rollers, I began seeing signs that said, "ROAD CLOSED AHEAD." I wasn't sure if that meant there was construction, water over the roadway, or something else going on. I kept pedaling, though, as I didn't see any detour signs, just the ominous "Road Closed" warning.

Evenutally, the meaning and the reason became clear. With all the rain we had been having that week, there was a sizeable mudslide, complete with trees, rocks, mud, and debris completing covering both sides of the road. It wasn't impassable, so I dismounted my bike and walked it across the mud. There was too much debris in the way to ride it.
In retrospect, I should have carried the bike, rather than roll it through the mud. Not only did ooey gooey mud get all over the tires, I then had issues with small stones getting wedged in the brakes and making themselves known on my tire rims. The sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Not pleasant. Not having any plain water, I resorted to using my Raspberry Crystal Light water to rinse my rims (sticky stuff). In addition, I have speedplay cleats and they do NOT take kindly to being walked through the mud. Getting clipped in for the rest of the day became a chore!

Eventually I arrived in Wilkeson where Michelle's husband, Eric, was waiting for one of his teammates to come through the exchange point. We chatted for a bit and since none of the relay members had arrived yet, I hoped I might yet get to see Darcy and Michelle. (I later learned that Darcy had to withdraw due to a bad back.) After a few minutes, I decided it was best if I kept riding since that was my goal for the day.

I hopped back on my bike and started riding towards the next exchange point. Along the way, I kept hoping that my friends weren't in one of the cars coming down the hill and that I would miss them. I also wondered who was running that leg. As I traveled, I offered up encouragement to all the runners I saw along the way. Many of them offered it back as they were obviously running downhill while I climbed uphill.

It wasn't long and I was in Carbonado. I only got to spend a few minutes with them, but it was long enough to snap some pictures and hand out some hugs. I had to laugh as Sonya gave me a hug in greeting and stepped back commenting, "Oooh! You're all sweaty!" I'm quite certain she was all sweaty by the end of the day as well. Here is a pic of a few of the "Bustin' for Ruston" team gals. That's Michelle in the center with Sonya on (our) the left and Jenny on the right.

When I detailed my plans for riding up to Greenwater and beyond, Darcy told me the pass had been opened, which meant there would be more traffic. As an alternative, i could keep going along the road I was on. It would continue to climb, but it wasn't an unbearable climb. It was simply steady grinding away. To avoid the traffic, I opted to keep going. It wasn't long before Margaret came down the path and was relieved by Jenny. Then the team was busy collecting their gear and themselves to head off to the next exchange point. I bid them good luck and farewell and continued up into the hills.

The next stop was the bridge at Fairfax. This is what it looks like looking DOWN at the trees. I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure the trees are a good 150 feet below the bridge. All I can say for certain is, it's a looooong way down and makes my heart skip a beat!

Only wanting to stop long enough to collect pictures for the blog I can't seem to keep updated, I continued my climb into the foothills. It was a great day for riding. It wasn't raining, the sun wasn't too hot, and there wasn't a lot of traffic. There was one asshole along the way, however, that was annoyed because he had to wait about 10 seconds in order to pass me. I kid you not, this jerk made sure when he did pass that he got as close to me as he could without actually hitting me! Well, I don't take those kinds of things lightly and I let him know I thought he was number one in my book. Grrrrr....redneck dumb @%#$#@!!!

Okay, so I got over my ire and kept pedaling. Before too long I came to the part of the river where I could snap the following shot.

Not much past this point was the Carbon River Ranger Station. I stopped at the gate and asked if bicycles had to pay the $5 entry fee. Yup. I further inquired if they took debit cards. Nope. Alrighty then, this is where I turn around. At that point, one of the rangers informed me there was a slide a mile or so up the road that I wouldn't be able to get past, so it really wasn't worth my effort or my money. I thanked them and left.

The trip DOWN the hills was a major blast. I got to go fast. VERY fast. The road was totally straight, but the curves weren't too dangerous so I could let go. For one of my miles, I actually averaged over 30 mph! WOOOOOHOOOOO!

Well, all good things must come to an end and eventually, I found myself back in familar territory. By this time, I only had 5 hours of riding under my belt and my coach wanted me doing 8, so I decided to go tackle Mud Mountain Dam Road. Remember, this is a hill that climbs 500 feet in 2 miles with an average grade of five percent. Climbing that kind of hill when you've already been in the saddle for several hours is...well, tough. But I did it and I was darned proud of myself for doing it!

After that, it was back down Mud Mountain. Still needing to add time to my ride, I rode into Enumclaw, then back to South Prairie by way of Buckley. I stopped briefly to use the facilities and headed back towards Orting and home. Except when I got to Orting, I still didn't have enough time in, so I went back to South Prairie.

Now the route between Orting and South Prairie is one I travel frequently. One of the common sights along this part of the trail is the cow pasture you see below. There is really nothing quite like the smell of fresh manure on a early morning ride. Honest. It doesn't smell like "shit." It smells, well, like manure. It's different. Sure, sometimes it can be overpowering, but the other times it just smells like animals. Okay, I give up trying to explain. By now you already think I'm weird.

A not so common sight, but not an unusual one along this portion of the trail, are the buffalo, who share a pasture with the birds below. That's right, the buffalo share space with emus. Now, that's odd.

Well, after my trip back to South Prairie, I knew all I needed to do now was head towards home. As I got closer and closer, I realized I had some serious miles under my belt. All I needed to do was go to the end of the trail and then head home and I'd have completed the full ironman bike distance in that day. Funny thing is that when I hit the turn off for my home, my bike went on automatic pilot and there I was. Home. Nine hours and 108.9 miles later. I missed the Ironman distance by a measly 3.1 miles. Ah, well, I have several more weeks of training in front of me. I'm pretty sure I'll be covering the distance soon enough.

Of course, my day didn't end there. I had to do my transition run, too. Of course, I only had to do 15 minutes, but once I hit the point where I could turn round at 7-1/2 minutes, I felt good enough, that I kept running for another minute and a half. At 9 minutes I turned around and walked for 60 seconds. I figured it would take me longer to get back than it did to go out. Not today, it didn't. The entire round trip took me 18 minutes. I actually got faster on the way back in.

Wow. Something in my training is working. Some of you think it is focus. Maybe it is. I think it's just focusing on being consistent and following through even on some days when I really don't want to. It appears to be paying off. We'll see, though as I have my first race in a few days. More on that later (and I'm hoping not a LOT later).

Capital City Half Marathon

2006-05-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

This race is held in the capitol of our state, so I've never figured out why they spelled capital with an "A."

No matter.

This race followed my first century ride of the year. Mind you, I didn't finish the ride, and subsequent transition run, until after 8:00 p.m. the night before. The half marathon started at 7:45 a.m. the next day. That's less than 12 hours of recovery between events. However, considering I'll have just a few minutes between events at Ironman Canada, this was probably not a bad thing.

Okay, I'm going to post this now because if I don't I'll never get it up. Suffice it to say, this was a new course, with a fairly challenging hill between mile 9 and 10, which I walked and had no shame in doing so. The run downhill to the finish was great. During most the race, I'd occasionally trade places with these two young gals that were obviously friends. One had not had much training and the race was taking a lot out of her. By mile 10, I hooked up with her and encouraged her along. Doing so, helped me keep going.

When we hit mile 12 and there was only a mile left to go, which was all downhill, I told her we were going to pick up the pace. We did so and flew the last mile, passing a couple of people that had passed us back at mile 11. It was a rather victorious feeling to cross the finish line in just under 2:30. Considering that my PR for a half marathon (Seattle) is 2:22 and change, doing this one in under 2:30 while preceding it the previous day by doing a century is fairly monumental. I have to wonder how I would have done had I been fresh and tapered? Maybe I can find out some other time.

For that day, I was pleased. My cycling was progressing and so was my running. My endurance overall was getting better. All I have to do is keep it up until August.

First Century of the Year

2006-05-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

My first century of the year, coming a couple/three weeks later than I would have liked (interrupted by the whump, whump), was followed the next day by a half marathon.

First, the century (yes, it's a long report, but so was the ride).

My boss (James) is a great guy—he’s an avid cyclist, so he understands my compulsion and need to train. He does what he can to accommodate me without disrupting the group (I’m the receptionist at a smallish manufacturer, thus, when I’m gone my absence is sorely felt). Thus far, however, we had never ridden together. Typically, James rides with another of the employees (Ed) in our company. While James is a big guy, easily topping out at 6’4” (or more), Ed is several inches shorter and a good 50 pounds (or more) lighter. This means Ed climbs hills easily (having less mass to get up them) often dropping James along the way. James is a good-natured fellow, though, and takes it all in stride.

Ed (who works as a forklift driver in our shipping department) often stops in to see James and they will iron out their plans for their weekend of riding. Normally, my schedule and theirs are at odds with each other and I’m not usually in a position where I can ask to ride with them. This last week was different though. They were riding on Saturday and would be starting later in the day. Their plan was to go up to Greenwater (small town in the mountains) and back. Given that I’m the receptionist, female, and slower, I wasn’t sure if James (and/or Ed) would be all that crazy about riding with me, but I asked if I could tag along anyway. In the end, we decided I would be the “rabbit.” I would start out ahead of them and they would “catch up.”

I left my home around 10:45 a.m., which is a late start when you are going to be riding for 7 hours (coach wanted me doing 7:20 or more). Just as I started out, I saw a running buddy, Sonya, walking the trail. I barely said, “Hi, Sonya!” as I went flying past, but I was on a timetable and didn’t have time to stop. I felt bad that I couldn’t, but knew Sonya would understand later when I explained.

Fifteen miles (or so) into the ride, I arrived at my first hill. I’d already climbed a couple hundred feet, but when it is spread out over 15 miles, it’s not like you really notice it except your speeds are a little slower than regular flat ground.

First "Flat" Fifteen Miles

However, the Tubbs Road hill is more than just a slight incline. It has an average 5% grade for about a mile. James has nicknamed this hill, Dog Hill, because of the dogs that come chasing you just as you are preparing to crest the top and going at your slowest. Fortunately, today there were no dogs.

Dog Hill

I encountered a few more rolling hills but nothing like Dog Hill. Soon, I found myself in the town of Buckley and I was close to being on my schedule. Mud Mountain Dam Road intersects with Highway 410 in two places, upper and lower. I would start at the lower end and go to the upper end. It was my hope to reach the upper end by 1:00, but that wasn’t going to happen. No matter, as I called James and let him know where I was. He quickly confirmed that Ed would be at his place shortly and the “hunt” would be on. With that knowledge, I wasted no time in getting moving again. After all, they weren’t going to be far behind me and they were stronger, faster cyclists.

A few minutes later, I found myself on the lower end of Mud Mountain Dam Road. The first part of the road is relatively easy as it meanders through lovely farm land and horse pastures. The tough grade doesn’t come until later, and when it does, it can be gruesome. The hill on Mud Mountain Dam Road is a favorite of cyclists as it normally has little traffic, especially at this time of year, and is a steep climb, great for hill training. There are even a couple of stair steps which provide some respite from the climb. Once done, you have easily climbed 500 feet in the space of just under 2 miles.

Mud Mountain Dam Road

I was pleased once I’d reached the top and didn’t feel too wiped out. I was slow by most standards, but I kept plugging along. In fact, as I approached the hill, another woman cyclist passed me; she climbed the hill with relative ease. I remember being a little envious of her ability, but reminded myself I was also probably 15-20 years older than she was and came into this game rather late in life. Given those conditions, I thought I was doing remarkably well to climb this hill without walking (or tipping over) at an average speed of about 4-5 MPH. As I climbed, I concentrated on trying to keep the pedal stroke even and the cadence as high as possible. I have a triple crank set up front with a 12/27 cassette on the back and I think my average cadence was somewhere around 65-70. Ah, well. Practice, practice, practice, yes? I will say one thing in my favor. I never got out of the saddle. Climbing out of the saddle requires power and power means energy. I was still very early into my ride with a long way to go. The last thing I wanted to do was waste energy trying to climb the hill faster if it meant I would tank later in the ride.

At the top of Mud Mountain is a flat stretch of road before the hit the major highway. But, like the ride from my home to South Prairie, it is deceptive in that it isn’t really flat at all; it is ever so slightly uphill for the next mile. It’s just that after climbing Mud Mountain it seems very flat and is a welcome relief.

Addendum #1
I found this great picture on Google when I did a search for Mud Mountain Dam and wanted to share. It is an example of some of the trees that can be found in the park at Mud Mountain Dam.

When I arrived at the upper end of Mud Mountain Dam Road and the highway, I figured it was a good time to take a break. I called my husband to let him know where I was and that I was in one piece and waiting on my cohorts. Eventually, I saw two riders headed my way. (Oh, and the gal that passed me on the way UP Mud Mountain? Never saw her again. She got WAY in front of me. Maybe one of these days that can be me.) As the riders approached, I hurried to finish what I use as a power bar. When they got close enough, it was evident it was NOT James and Ed. They turned west to go down the hill (fun ride!) towards Enumclaw while I would be turning east towards Greenwater. Not wishing to wait any longer, I started pedaling once again.

Somewhere along the way, I had taken off my cycling jacket and stuffed it in it’s own pocket. But a couple miles into the ride on the highway, the skies got slightly darker, the wind seemed to pick up, and it got chillier. I pulled over, put it back on, and continued on my way.

The views were spectacular along this piece of road. The only detraction was the clear-cutting that blighted the hillsides. Such is the price of progress, I guess. I work in an industry that relies heavily on paper. Without it, I wouldn’t have a job. I suppose I shouldn’t bemoan the destruction of forest land. After all, it is a renewable resource. It’s just that it ruins the scenery.

The highway I was on ran parallel to the river that was formed as a result of mountain glacier and created the natural pass through the mountains. Given all the mild weather we’d had the previous week, the snows were melting rapidly leading to the swollen conditions of many of our rivers. This one, was no exception and it ran fast and furious down the mountainside, the water a slightly milky color from picking up dirt and debris as it tumbled along.

Since this is a highway, there were cars speeding by me doing 50 or 60 mph. I had often used this pass to come home from eastern Washington, frequently preferring it to the more common Snoqualmie pass for both it’s scenic beauty and because it is a less traveled road. The views of Mt. Rainier on the other side of the pass are stunning. And while traffic on this day was light, I still needed to use caution. On my left side were the cars. On my right the ravine that led to the river. In between was the shoulder I was riding on that was littered with debris. As you might imagine, logging trucks come barreling down this stretch of road with their heavy loads and pieces of tree (primarily the bark) flies off. These pieces find their way onto the shoulder where I was riding and can make it hazardous. It isn’t bad, but I had to pay attention to as not to end up in either the road or the ravine. That’s my way of saying I didn’t try to take a picture of the countryside or the river to share with everyone. Besides, I was still trying to stay ahead of James and Ed. I thought it would be fun to hit Greenwater and be there waiting for them when they got there. Well, THAT didn’t happen.

Addendum #2

While I didn't take any pictures, some kind soul out cyberspace did and this is a fine example of the White River just above Mud Mountain Dam and the river to which the highway ran parallel.

I was probably 5 or 6 miles out of Greenwater when I hear something/someone coming up behind me. Eventually, I see a rider to my left and there is James grinning from ear to ear. They had caught the rabbit. We exchanged hellos and he got in front of me. Ed came up along side me next and we did the same thing. By now James was no longer pulling me, but quite a ways in front. Ed took the lead and it didn’t take long before he joined James. At some point, they must have taken pity on me as they slowed down some while I tried to catch up, and we rode the rest of the way into Greenwater.

Once we arrived, our first and only stop was the local store. James informed me their restroom was one of the nicest and cleanest around. I didn’t feel any need to use the facilities, so I simply went into the store for a bottle of Gatorade. I also bought some beef jerky. Sounds weird, I know, but I was craving the salt. I was feeling crusty from my exertion and I didn’t have any salt tablets with me (I couldn’t find them before I left home). I figured the salt in the beef jerky, in addition to the Gatorade would work for me.

I’d also been experimenting, rather successfully so far, with a new (for me)carbohydrate replacement. I’m using a product called Carbo-Pro, which is a tasteless, colorless carbohydrate supplement. Two scoops of this stuff added to you favorite drink and you have an additional 244 calories and 56 grams of carbohydrate. Nothing else. No electrolytes, no protein, no vitamins. Pure carbohydrate. You can add it to any liquid, without changing the consistency of the original liquid, and I put a full serving (two scoops) into my Gatorade. I’d already added half a serving each to my two bottles of Propel (melon-flavored, my favorite). I also took the beef jerky out of it’s bag and put it into my jacket pocket for easy access. Then we were off again and on our way back the way we came.

Now, just for a little perspective, you might note the total elevation change from where I started to where we turned around. I started my ride, some 44 miles earlier, at an elevation of less than 100 feet. I was now at over 1700 feet. That’s 1600 feet of climbing. Granted, that’s only an average two percent grade, but a two percent grade for 44 miles is one very long damn hill! No, it isn’t all uphill, there are downhills in between, but is always going uphill. The first big uphill you see is Dog Hill. The second is Mud Mountain.

Beginning to Turn Around

So, the trip back down promised to be faster than the one up. Initially, I was not disappointed. James started out by taking the lead. I fell in behind James and Ed followed me. We were soon whipping along at better than 20 mph. YEEEEHAAAAW!!! In spite of what seems to be my propensity for flatting and the inherent danger it proposes, I love going downhill fast.

Pretty soon, Ed took over for James and James fell in behind me. Ed upped the intensity a little and we were flying along. Ed kept looking to make sure he hadn’t lost me, but I urged him on to go even faster. When I reviewed my files later on, we covered one of those miles at an average of 24.5 mph. I wish I had the power to go that fast on the flats for a sustained period of time, but for now it eludes me.

After 4 or 5 miles of traveling at these increased speeds, we came to some small inclines. These very same inclines had been downhills for us on our way up the mountain, but were now uphills on our return trip. I was unable to maintain the pace set by Ed. As James was being polite, he was behind me. I told him to go on ahead and I would catch up on the next downhill. I’ll be darned, I never did. While it’s true we were headed downhill, there was enough uphill on the return trip that, when coupled with the headwind I was experiencing, prevented me from traveling any faster. There were times when I think I slowed to 10 or 12 mph. Rats.

James and Ed got far enough in front of me that I could no longer see them. As I approached the cutoff for Mud Mountain I wondered if they had continued on down the main highway or if they turned off onto Mud Mountain. I decided if they weren’t waiting for me at the turn off that I would simply head on into the town of Enumclaw and make my way home from there. I knew the way and it was no big deal, but I had enjoyed the company while it lasted. No sooner had I made this decision than I saw them waiting for me where I had originally waited for them.

I checked behind me for cars and seeing none coming, I moved into the lane of traffic. None were coming at me, either, which left me free to make the left hand turn onto Mud Mountain Dam Road. I kept pedaling and left James and Ed to catch up to me which they did with relative ease. This part was fun as we were able to easily ride three abreast and chat without worrying about traffic. A couple of times, Ed had to shout “CAR BACK” and we would all move over, otherwise it was fine.

As we approached the major downhill section, I asked for advice. On my way up this hill, I’d noticed a few places where the road didn’t look like it was in the best of shape for a fast descent. James noted there were a couple of divots to look out for and there was a gravelly patch or two, but otherwise it was okay.

I allowed James to get in front of me. I thought to follow his lead going down the hill. Mind you, this hill twists and turns. It is not a straight shot. For two miles, it turns first one way, then the other. Some of the corners can be rather blind.

As James started careening down the hill, I took a quick glance at my cyclometer and noticed we were doing over 30 mph. I tried to follow James line down the hill which meant when he moved to the left to follow the apex of the curve, that’s what I did. I still found myself braking down the hill and I absolutely LOVE going downhill fast. But this hill scared me. Maybe in part because it isn’t a straight shot, maybe because I did notice some of the bad parts, and maybe just because I’m gun shy. Or in this case blow-out-flat-shy. When all was said and done, I topped out at almost 40 mph going down the hill. I believe the speed limit for the cars is around 25 mph. So much for obeying the speed limit.

Eventually, we all finally arrived back in Buckley. As we started heading for the road that would take James and Ed back to James’ home, we came upon another cyclist. He had just stopped to possibly attend to some mechanical issue and had hopped back on his bike about the time we all showed up. James was still in the lead, so this other cyclist fell in behind James and I came next with Ed bringing up the rear. What was interesting about out last minute addition, though, was his size and relative age. To my knowledge, none of us yet know his name. We are guessing at his age. We have all seen him on the trail now and again and he usually has a friend with him, another riding buddy. We are guessing he is 12 or 13. Now, it isn’t unusual to see a 12 or 13 year old boy out riding his bike, but it is a bit unusual to see him riding a road bike and wearing spandex like the grown ups. Not only that, but he looks as though he is wearing team colors. And, he is scrawny enough that James said the rubber gripper in his shorts don’t cinch up properly around his thigh. While we laugh about this, we also admire him greatly as he is evidently a dream in the making. For all we know, this young boy is another Lance Armstrong in the making. Maybe one day, when we are older and grayer we can say, “We knew him when…”

The rest of my ride was fairly uneventful. By the time I got to Dog Hill, I was alone and I flew down it anyway. Okay, I admit I hit the brakes around a couple of the curves, but this road has a good deal more traffic on it and I can’t just take up the whole road if I want to.

It was a great ride and I proved to myself I could get up both Dog Hill and Mud Mountain in the same ride. I proved I could go 100 miles, early in the riding season. My nutrition plan seemed to be working. I wasn’t wiped out as I’d been on earlier rides. The introduction of the beef jerky didn’t upset my stomach.

Once I arrived home, I quickly changed shoes and headed out for the 15 minute transition run my coach wanted me to do. I wasn’t thrilled with this idea, but I also know it is a crucial part of the training. If you don’t get used to making that transition during training, doing it while you are racing could be ones undoing.

Finally, I was done and I felt good. What remained to be seen was how good would I feel the next morning when I got up and had to run a half marathon. But for now, I was content to take a shower, eat dinner, and head to bed!. Lights out!

INVASION!

2006-05-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it felt like an invasion.

Wednesdays and Fridays are my swim/bike days. Usually, I do my swimming in the morning at the Y (where they have a wonderful 25 yard saline pool) and will ride in the afternoon. This morning, though, while I got up in time, I was simply not motivated to move quickly enough to get myself to the pool. Instead, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather we have been having and ride my bike to work.

I had a wonderful ride in. During lunch, I rode into town, grabbed my lunch from the Safeway, and rode back to work. After work, I rode home, after a little detour to add a couple miles to my ride.

That meant I had to swim in the afternoon. I don't like swimming when the pool is crowded with children, so I decided to wait until 9:00 p.m. when I knew all the kids would be clearing out and only the adults were left. When I arrived, there were still a few children/families playing, but there was an open lane, which I took. Within a few minutres, all the kids and parents had left the area. The only people left were a few high school kids and a couple of serious swimmers (me and one other person). This is what I live for. A quiet pool with a lane to myself.

A few minutes later, my solitude was soundly intruded upon. As I approached the end of the lane, I could tell there was someone on deck. I ignored them, did my flip turn and finished the lap. When I returned and got my feet solidly under me and my head out of the water, I saw several oriental men making their way to the kiddie pool. The kiddie pool? Well, whatever, so long as they stay out of my lane.

Not 5 minutes later, a bunch of women showed up! At this point, they all proceeded to congregate in the main pool and they had no compunction about barging into lanes without so much as a by your leave. My Y pool had been invaded by a chinese tour group! And they were really annoying. I mean, one gal had on a swim suit that had sequins on it with a flouncy skirt. C'mon! SEQUINS??? On a bathing suit?

Okay, so I reminded myself to take this as an opportunity to practice mental toughness and focusing skills. I managed the mental toughness in that I did my best to ignore them when they moved into my lane. I tried very hard not to be distracted by them sitting on the bottom of the pool and all the other antics that were going on. Eventually, I lost my concentration. I had no idea where I was in my workout. I no longer knew what set I was on, or even what repetition. I finally gave up and focused everything I had on doing a solid 500.

When I was done, I was supposed to do 6x50 of kicking easy, but I'll be damned. One of them stole my board! I gave up. I got out of the water and approached the lifeguard. I asked her if they had changed the adult lap swim times. She said they had not, that the tour group was just as big a surprise to her. In fact, she went on, normally it was pretty quiet in the pool after 9 p.m.

Well, maybe next time I won't skip out on mymorning swim. Lesson learned.

Bike Riding Progress

2006-05-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday (yesterday), I had the opportunity to actually do a bike ride with my coach. I wasn't alone. This was a group ride. There were about 20 of us of varying levels of fitness and experience. Some riders were faster than others, so they went on ahead. Those of us that were slower stayed closer together. Since Kathryn, Cheryl, my coach, and I were all going to be doing the New Balance Half Ironman together, my coach choose to spend most of her ride time with us. With all of us there, we would be making a day of it. A single loop was 55 miles, a double loop was 110.

To say the loop is hilly is an understatement. After all, it IS an island and islands in the Pacific Northwest aren't known for their flatness. Below is the elevation profile for this particlar ride.

What is significant about this ride, at least for me, was I didn't walk a single hill including the one they referred to as a "knee-popper." Knee popper. Terrific. One of my knees is already bad, and I don't (k)need (okay, bad, bad, pun) to make it worse. Even now, as I sit here and contemplate the 2-1/2 hour run I must still do today, said knee is not terribly happy (it's the one which had surgery a few months ago and also the one that slammed into the pavement during my little mishap a few weeks ago). Ah, well. It is what it is.

All in all, I felt like my ride was a tremendous success. My coach indicated I had made some real progress in my cycling skills since she tested me last December. That was good news to hear. After all, I didn't walk any of the hills. Granted, I went up a few of them at a whopping 4.0 mph, but that was usually only at the steepest part. Some of the downhills were a real rush. I think I maxed at just over 40 mph on one of them. Going down another, I was hitting about 30 mph when a gusty crosswind caught me by surprise and almost blew me over. I'm glad I wasn't aero at that point as I had more control.

There was another time when my coach and I were speeding down a road doing more than 30 mph and we slowed just enough to make a wide left turn. My coach was in front of me and I watched her back tire slide sideways on her. She recovered without falling, but seconds later, I was behind her. I'm happy to say, I had just enough time to slow my momentum down even further, but I still slid a bit, but not so much that I wasn't able to recover. So, twice, in the same day, I had more near catastrophes. I admit I'm just a wee bit skittish these days, but that doesn't seem to stop me from speeding down a hill at over 35 mph. More evidence, of course, as if doing an Ironman wasn't enough, that I should have my head examined.

I'll try to post more pictures later so you can get a sense of the scenery I had to put up with on my ride, but for now, I've got to go do a long run.

Arduous April

2006-05-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it was supposed to be arduous, but after my bike crash, it turned out a little less so. I had hoped to finish the equivalent of a quadruple ironman in April, but that little flat tire I had put a bit of a damper on things. I didn't even meet the goals for a triple (though I came close). Ending numbers look a little like this:

	Goals for April	Total to date	Total Hours
Swim	16800 y	12100 y	5:40
Bike	448 m	362.3 m	25:17
Run	104.8 m	68.4 m	13:08

Basically, after I went down, I was down for the count for the rest of the week. I did manage to get on my bike for a whopping 3 mile ride two days later, but that was just to "get back in the saddle" as it were and to make sure the bike was okay.

Funny story goes with that, though. Pat and I have the same brand and model of bike (Kestrel Talon). Because I didn't have any spare tires around (I didn't just blow a tube, the whole tire blew out!), and since he isn't riding his bike, I, um, "borrowed" the front tire off his bike. Well, of course, his tires were flat, so I had to pump it up. After getting the inflator valve on the tire and pumping it up, I went to take it off and the damn thing sprang back and bit me on the hand giving me a blood blister. Damn! That was just adding insult to injury. So BOTH hands had owies on them. But I rode the bike anyway.

A couple days later, I managed to ride the 4.5 miles in to work, then rode to town and back during lunch for another 6 miles (round trip), then rode 4.5 miles home. I got a total of 15 miles in that day and it felt good to do that, but the hip objected slightly.

Speaking of hip, this is what it looked like a week after it slammed into the pavement (taken as a reflection in my bathroom mirror).

That is a full 6 inches in diameter. Honestly, though, it doesn't hurt nearly as much as what it looks like it should. There is still a lump, even as of this writing, that hasn't gone away. I've seen a doctor, though, and he says I'm doing okay, considering.

However, for the last week in April, I admit to babying myself. Short jogs at work between the copy room and the phone would hurt, so running was out of the question. The abrasions on my hand and knee kept me out of the pool. Cycling was possible, but I was working some long hours (we are doing a software conversion at work), and between sitting on my bum (and on the bruise), for hours at a time, by the time
I would get home, I would be just too exhausted to think about doing anything else.

Had I been able to get in the pool, I would easily have made my quad goal for the swim. Had I been able to finish my ride on Sunday, I would easily have made my quad goal for the bike (especially considering I had another 7 hour ride planned for the following weekend). The run would have been harder to predict, but I had a 3 hour run scheduled for the following weekend (the day after the 7 hour ride), not to mention my regular weekly runs, and believe I would have come in close to a quad on the run.

But, given that I took a full week off in April for my injuries, I don't think I did all that badly. May won't have the same volume as April, simply because the way my schedule works out, I'll have two rest weeks in May and fewer weekends, but it will be no less intense as I'm preparing to peak for the New Balance Half Ironman in Victoria, B.C., in mid-June.

National Arbor Day -- April 28

2006-04-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

Well, a couple weeks ago, while Michelle was still recovering from her surgery and limiting herself to walking, I had thought to join her. However, I was a little slow on the uptake that day and didn't get to the park before the gang all left. That meant I took off down the trail hoping to catch up to some of them. I had taken my camera with me and along the way, I stopped to take a few shots. Even though I eventually did meet up with the Y group, I continued to take pictures throughout the morning. My focus seemed to be on trees and nature. As April 28 (Friday) is National Arbor Day, I thought it fitting to post some of the shots I took, especially since I'm not currently swimming, cycling, or running after the whump, whump, whump beating I took the other day.

First a quick look at the trail we Puyallup Y runners frequently run. This is about 3/4 of a mile from the main parking lot. Eagles or ospreys are sometimes seen on those two scrags in the middle of the picture.

Next, a little further along the trail, I spotted this tree. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, I was simply taken with the amount of moss on it. They say moss grows on the north side of a tree, but if that were so, then I was on the north pole because every side of this tree was covered in moss. I think all the moss simply indicates there is a lot of moisture in the area.

Upon leaving the trail and the Y Runners that day, I headed home, but not before making a couple more stops. A few weeks ago, you'll remember I talked about a ferocious wind storm that we had. It took out many trees, including, it would seem, this rugged hold out from days gone by. Not only is the tree now fallen, but its trunk was all twisted and gnarled, yet it continued to blossom.

Next up was this old abandonded farmhouse. Does this old house not make you wonder who lived there before and what their lives must have been like? My husband and I would dearly love this piece of property, but only if it came with the adjacent piece of property which is currently sporting a beaver pond. The dam is difficult to make out now that the grass is green and growing, but they (the beavers) did a fine job of building it and this pond is bigger than I've seen in 5 years.

Of course, the property that Pat and I have isn't all that bad either. We have several fruit trees: italian plum, golden plum, cherry, apple, apricot, peach, and walnut. During the spring, the blossoms are beautiful. The blossoms above are apple and the ones below are cherry.

Of course, no northwest garden would be complete without the requisite rhododendron. This is one of the beautiful early pink varieties. If you look closely, you will even be able to see the bugs infesting my pretty rhoddie!

Whump, whump, whump...

2006-04-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

...that's the sound your tire makes just before it decides to explode. At least that's what it sounded like to me.

I had finished the 50 mile Kapowsin loop of the Daffodil Classic when, after some strawberry shortcake (one of the benefits of this particular ride), I decided I'd had enough of hills and poor, chip-sealed roads. I was tired, but I still wanted to get in my 100 that weekend so, instead of opting to do the 50 mile Buckley loop, which would drop me back down by my house, I decided to simply go up and down the trail. I would be closer to home and I wouldn't have to climb Tubbs hill (that first steep spike you see on the elevation profile for the Buckley route).

It was on my way headed towards the opposite end of the trail, when I entered the intersection (that, coincidentally, leads to my place of employment), doing about 18 mph, when I heard the dreaded "whump, whump, whump." I hoped to get across before getting off my bike to investigate the sound, but almost before the thought could form entirely, the next thing I heard was POW. I found myself skidding to an abrupt halt with my bike on top of me, in the middle of the intersection. I had gone down. Hard. Very hard. Do you have any idea what it is like to go from 18 mph to zero in no time flat? Let me tell you, it hurts. A lot! And I know people had to have seen me go down, but nobody stopped. Why is that? Did they assume I was okay?

Initially, I was stunned. I knew what had happened, but all I could do was lay there for a few seconds to collect myself. Different parts of my body wanted to spasm. I willed them to stop. I didn't have time for cramps just then. I did my best to untangle myself from my bike. The intersection I was in wasn't terribly busy, but I didn't want to take the chance that some yahoo would come careening off the highway at 50 mph and hit me.

I gingerly tested my parts. Some woman was talking to me. She was on a bike. Some K-mart special by the looks of it. She had a kid with her. She was asking me if I was okay. I nodded my assent and got off the ground and picked up my bike. I carefully walked to the curb where she was. It was obvious I was shook up, but I had enough wherewithal to use my cell to phone home. Terrific. Answering machine. He says (my husband) that he checks it every hour. Hmmm...it's 4:05 p.m. Did he just check it? Will it be another hour before he checks it again? I'm feeling dizzy and need to sit down before I fall down. I plop myself on the curb. Now, I admit I wasn't really in the mood to keep riding that day, but having a blow out was not how I envisioned ending my ride.

The woman, Jennifer (very nice lady), offers to give me a ride home. She only lives a half mile away. I agree and while she rides home, I phone home again to leave another message. Fortunately, hubby answers and I tell him what's happened and ask him to come get me. When Jennifer shows up in her SUV, I thank her profusely for her kindness and generosity, but that my husband will come get me. She smiles her understanding and drives away.

Well, while I didn't hit my head (though some, like my husband, may still think I should have it examined), somehow my chin connected with the ground. Fortunately, for me, it would seem my (well padded) left hip took the brunt of the damage, along with my left hand and left knee, the very same knee that required surgery a few months ago. My right hand also took a couple of scrapes. I'd put pictures up, but they'd probably gross everyone out.

So, there went my plans for completing the equivalent of four ironmans this month. I've already got three, I think, or at least very close to it. But, with these open wounds, I don't see myself getting in the pool in the next few days. Running may also be difficult because of my hip. In fact, my hip has me especially worried. Besides having a huge goose egg there, it has taken more than 24 hours for the bruise to start manifesting itself and I don't think it is anywhere close to being as dark as it's going to get. After all, what g-forces are in effect when soft tissue and bone hit something as solid as pavement at the speed I was going?

Oh, and terrific. Now it seems my left shoulder may have been hurt as well. It's a good thing I've still got four months before my ironman.

March Madness & Mayhem

2006-03-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

Well, not really, but it was one of my busier training months, especially compared to previous months. Honestly, though, I'm just putting in all the swimming, cycling, and running demanded of me by my coach so that I may meet my goal of seeing the finish line at Ironman Canada in August. I'm also seriously hoping to meet her goal for me of finishing the New Balance Half Ironman in 7:15 or under. Last year, I was one of the last finishers with a time of around 7:39 (or so). I can tell you now, I won't be making up any of my time on the swim, but on the bike, as that is where I am spending most of my training time.

You may or may not have noticed, I've started posting my monthly goals and progress on my sidebar. I belong to WeightWatchers and am part of their on-line community. In particular, I participate in an on-line forum called "Fitness Challenge." It was on this forum, back in 2002, that I found the support and encouragement I needed to pursue my athletic goals. No one laughed at me or thought I was silly for wanting to do a triathlon. In fact, the thread I started on that board, appropriately named "Tri-ers Day-of-the-Week" (as it is re-started every day), has been going on for almost 4 years now. During that time, many dozens of triathletes have come and gone, though there is a core few of us that are still there, IronAyla included. Some of us even got together one year and did the Accenture Triathlon in Chicago.

My point is that one of our number, SpeedLeopard (awesome young woman, go read her story), suggested we start an Ironman Fitness Challenge. Each month, we encourage others to complete the distance of an ironman triathlon. For many, this is a great motivator and gets them out the door and on their bike or in the pool in order to post their totals to the thread. For others, they are using it to add variety and cross-training to their regular routines. For some, doing the ironman distance is too much and they opt, instead, to do a half ironman distance. We aren't too picky on this as long as they are moving their bodies (getting some form of exercise as many were/are former couch potatoes).

Well, because of my training, doing an ironman distance in a month doesn't present any particular challenge, so I started doubling and tripling the distances. In March, I chose to triple the distance. By the end of the month, my totals looked like this:

	Goals for March	Total to date	Total Hours
Swim	12600 y	18000 y	8:41
Bike	336 m	319.1 m	21:34
Run	72.6 m	62.7 m	11:33

While I did fall short of my goals, I did so only barely. Now that April is upon us, and their are FIVE whole weekends in the month and, for me, April only holds ONE rest week, I'm opting to quadruple the distances. Even with my long runs, though, I'm thinking I may fall a little short in that department. My coach only has me running 3x a week, and two of those runs are typically very short, only 30-40 minutes each. I may start upping those to an hour as that was what I was used to doing before. She is probably concerned with over-taxing me and wants to make sure I can get my long runs, and especially my long rides, in on the weekends. Now that Daylight Saving (not Saving"s") time is here, I may start doing my long runs in the middle of the week, thus saving most of my energy for my long rides.

So, that's it for the month of March. April should prove very interesting.

Success Card #9

2006-03-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

Until you try,
you don't know what you can do.
~Henry James

I laughed out loud when I read this quote. I was reminded of IronAyla. She has told me of her lofty goals and far-reaching aspirations many times over the last year. Each time, I tried to gently dissuade her because I didn't want her to become temporarily or, heaven forbid, permanently injured. Even still, I tried to encourage her training, but I was afraid for her, because I knew her fitness was slowing slipping away. She simply wasn't being consistent enough with her training to warrant going into a long endurance race like an Ironman or an ultra event. In my not so humble opinion (as if I were some expert, puh-lease!), she was foolish to even try. Then I read this quote.

Well, girlfriend, I'm right behind you all the way. You won't know if you can cross the finish line at IMCdA or not until you try (tri?), do you? Truth be told, none of us does. So, you just put in the training as best you can, and I'll be right there to support you all the way.

Northwest Beauty

2006-03-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures to make the rest of you all envious at the beauty we northwesterners get to enjoy on those rare days when it isn't raining.

This is a shot I took as I left my sister's home a week ago. It had rained that day (I think), but that evening the sky, the clouds, and the colors as the sun set was simply stunning. I HAD to pull off to the side of the road and snap this picture.

Just this last weekend was the dedication of the trailhead I've taken to using quite extensively as it is only 3 miles from my home. Here is the slab of granite with a plaque that was part of the dedication.

And this is the view across the street from the above-mentioned trailhead. Said trailhead is currently paved for 15 miles in one direction. Makes for some great running and cycling.

Success Card #8

2006-03-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

No journey is too great
if you find what you seek.
~Unknown

This is a twist on those "journey vs. destination" maxims we hear all too frequently. This is suggesting that your journey to an end, while difficult or even almost impossible, is worth it if you get what you were after. For me, the goal is the finish line at Ironman Canada. To that end, it means all the pain and anquish I endure during the trip to that finish line, which includes not just the race itself, but all of the training before hand, will be worth the effort.

I'll have to keep that in mind today, as I head out for my 5 hour and 20 minute ride. For now, I'm waiting for the fog to lift as riding in the fog is dangerous even when you have lights on your bike and mine have none. I don't even have a rear reflector (the reflective strip on my bike bag doesn't exactly count).

Yesterday was another challenge. I went out with my hubby to a local 5k/10k fun run. It was the inaugural event for this race. My plan was to do the 10k, which would take me in the neighborhood of an hour and ten minutes (I was figuring conservatively), then run home, which was another 7 or 8 miles away. If, by that time, I hadn't run for 2 hours and 50 minutes, I would just keep on running.

Well, I finished the race in 1:03:15. Not bad, but not a PR (dang), however, I admit to trying to hold myself back some as I knew I still had a long way to run that day (I did the same thing at last week's St. Patrick's Day Dash dressed as you see here--what you can't see are the green tights I'm wearing. We are such goofballs).

After the 10k, I found myself in the gymnasium chatting with my husband and several of the local running icons. One of the women is in my age group and training for her first triathlon (Ironman Coeur d'Alene), and was the overall winner of the women's division. In other words, she was f-a-s-t! I got some water, checked the results for my husband's time (mine weren't posted yet--just too blasted slow to matter), and discovered he took 2nd in his age group. Plus they were holding a raffle. That's the long way of saying I cooled off and since I was soaking wet from the run, I did NOT want to face going back out in the drizzly, sub-40 degree weather to finish my run home. I decided to stay untill my husband got his ribbon, then I would go home, change into dry clothes and head out.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans and all that. I ended up being delayed for another couple of hours after I got home. The reasons are irrelavent, but they were important to others. So, by the time I got back out to finish another hour and 50 minutes of running, I was definitely feeling unmotivated. I had to remind myself that I like to run. I kept telling myself on the way to my chosen starting point, "You are doing this because you like to do it, not because you have to. Remember, you get to run, not you have to run."

Well, I got my Garmin 301 all ready, then I hit the button and headed out. My plan was to go to Military Rd, turn around and repeat. Turns out Military Rd was about 3 miles away. On my way out, I made note of where I was 20 minutes into the run as I figured I would have to run out that far on the return trip. I was near the power lines by the end of the wood. Okay, got it.

After I got done with that first 6 miles, I was feeling pretty wasted. But I had planned to run those miles at about an 11:30 pace, and here I was holding a sub-11:00 with a 60 second walk break every mile. That meant my pace most of the rest of the time was a sub-11:00. Good Lord, how am I going to finish this run at that rate? For goodness sake, SLOW DOWN, idiot! This is a shot of the info garnered from my Garmin.

Well, after a 6 minute water/potty break, I headed back out on the trail. I was going to try and do 2 miles out and 2 miles back. By the time I hit 20 minutes out, I was almost to the powerlines at the end of the wood. That marked 1.75 miles. I couldn't face going any further. I turned around and headed back. My legs felt wasted. I was tired and if I didn't get some food in me soon, I would also turn really, really cranky. A cranky me is not a pretty picture.

Total miles for the day, between my race and my training run, 15.8. That night, after a dinner of New York steak, garlic mashed potatoes, and Caesar salad with an appetizer of chicken strips, I had to get on my trainer for a 30 minute recovery ride. I only did 7 miles in that 30 minutes, but that was the whole point, really. Recovery. I wasn't supposed to try to go fast, or crank up the watts. It was just supposed to be an easy ride, with a comfortably high cadence. I'd say I maintained that with an average wattage of only 86, and an average cadence of 90. But that's what I found slightly ironic. I ran more miles that day than I biked. In fact, I ran more than twice as many miles as I cycled. That was just weird to me. When I was done, I went to bed. I'd had enough fun for one day. I think I slept for the next 10 hours.

Today, my legs still feel a little like stumps. Just before I went to sleep, I was reading an article about overtraining vs. adaptation. It stated (more or less) that in order to get better, we have to stretch ourselves, sometimes to the point of overtraining, but not so far that we hurt ourselves. That part of the adaptation includes feeling slightly wasted like I do today, but not so much that I can't contemplate going out on my 5 hour ride today. While it was foggy out, I admit I wasn't looking forward much to my ride. Now that the fog is clearing and it is SUNNY outside, I find I'm a little more inclined to get out there and ride. It may even be fun.

So, the whole point of all of this is that crossing that finish line in August will be worth all this agony when I'm done. I'll have accomplished something I never thought I could. My journey will be complete when I hear those words, "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

Success Card #7

2006-03-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

It shall be done -- sometime,
somewhere -- so, why not by you?
~Ophelia Guyon Browning

Indeed! Why not by me? We, all of us, I think, are often busy wondering when someone will do something about the state of our union, the state of world affairs, the state of poverty in the world, the state of hunger. Why can't we be that someone?

Okay, so maybe we have a busy life and it's all we can do to get by. Is there nothing at all we can do to make a difference to someone else? Even if it is just to pass on a smile?

In the first couple weeks after my mom passed away, I was busy quarreling with my siblings and working on cleaning my mother's house, when I had to lead a caravan, consisting of my brother driving a rented U-Haul truck and my nephew, to my home. Before I exited the park where my mother's home was, I saw a young woman walking along the shoulder carrying a large plastic red can. She was obviously after some gas. She also looked like she was having a bad day. I'm not prone to picking up strangers, but something about this poor girl spoke to me.

In spite of my role as lead, I stopped for this young woman. I offered her a ride to the end of the street, which was only about a quarter of a mile away. She thanked me and got in, with her gas can on her lap. I looked at her and her bottom lip just quivered and her eyes welled up with tears. I asked her her name. I think she said, "Tammy." I told her that whatever it was, it would get better, that things always work out. I told her that my mom had just died and I was fighting with my siblings, but it would all be okay in the end. So, too, would it be for her.

I think that my small gesture of kindness made a difference to her that day. I told her the way to repay me, was to one day do the same for someone else some day--a kind of "paying it forward."

I dropped this girl off at the end of the street, since I needed to make a turn and she claimed she didn't have much further to go. As she exited the car with gas can in hand, she wiped her tears, gave me her condolences, thanked me, and then offered some encouragement of her own. I'm hoping my words stuck with her. "Whatever it is, it will be okay."

I do NOT condone picking up strangers. But sometimes, somewhere, it's going to be done. Why NOT by you?

Wild and Windy Winter Weather

2006-03-05T07:15:00.000-08:00

This last February was not the best of months for me. Besides everything else with my mom, we had some nasty weather to contend with. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a few pictures for you. I tried to do them in sequence from left to right. Unfortunately, I don't have a "stitching" tool with my current photo editing software. Does anyone have a good one they'd recommend?

That's not a tree, folks. That's only a branch, a 50 foot long branch. The tips of the smallest branchs on the end were as thick as my fingers. It took out 15 feet of my fence.

Here is a shot of the actual tree. That big white spot you see is where the branch came off. The white spot is 5 to 6 feet long and a good 30 or 40 feet (or more?) up from the tree trunk. This is clearly a BIG tree!

Not only was it very windy when this branch came down, it was bitingly cold. I was outside with my coat, hat, and gloves on for about 15 or 20 minutes snapping some of those pictures. By the time I got back into the house, I couldn't feel my fingers.

We are looking into having the tree taken down, but the estimates we've had so far are staggering. Everyone seems to want one to three THOUSAND dollars to take the tree down. YIKES! That's a lot of dough. However, that may be cheaper than replacing my neighbors house should another huge branch (there are two left) or the whole tree come toppling down. I'm not too crazy about the idea of it landing on my house either, for that matter. I wouldn't normally be too worried, but the weather this year has been especially weird. First it was the soaking rains, then the crazy wind. And it would seem we may be expecting more damaging winds later this week. In fact, it doesn't look great out there right now as I watch the trees swaying back and forth.

Oh, please. I really don't need any more headaches.

I Did Not Drop Dead

2006-03-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking. I did not follow my mother into the after-life. It just seems like it.

I was accused the other day of having some dark humor. True. I was referring to getting in a month of solid training so long as no one dies on me. Okay, yes, that was a little dark. But, hey, think about this.

In the last two years, I've had SIX people and my favorite pet die. It started in February '04 with my father-in-law, followed by a sister-in-law (that I admittedly didn't know), and my father. The kicker is that they were ALL in February of 2004.

Then, I got the news in November of that same year that my dearest friend in the world, who lived in Colorado Springs, was ill. She had brain cancer, which began as a melanoma that metastasized (wear your sunscreen!). She died in February of 2005 (but not before I got to visit with her).

In April of 2005, my middle step-son was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was only 27. While not married, he did leave behind a son.

Starting this year out with the death of my mother was almost more than I could handle. Too many people were dying and I'm not yet 50. While in some ways her passing is a bit of a relief (I don't have to worry about her living in that filthy house any more), I missed being able to talk to her about the Olympics (which she loved to watch). I would find myself on some days thinking, "I have to call Mom," except Mom wasn't there to call. I regret she wasn't able to live long enough to see the birth of my sixth grandchild (due this July), her ninth great-grandchild.

Anyway, added to all those deaths is then the passing of my favorite cat. Ah, you didn't know that part did you? Two weeks after my mom passed away, I had to make the heart-wrenching decision to put down my favorite feline. PuddyRat was absolutely the best cat in the world and I miss him terribly. Gone are the days when I would wake up in the morning and he would rush to beat me down the stairs just so he could sit on the back of the couch and meow at me to pet him. I had him for 15 years, so it is a terrible void.

A few days after I put him down, I got the call that his remains were ready to be picked up (we chose to have him cremated). That same day, I got the call from the mortuary telling me the same thing about my mother (who also chose to be cremated). And both of these were on Valentine's Day. Couldn't you just feel the love?

As might be expected, given the circumstances, I was starting to feel pretty darned bleak. I would get up in the morning and the crushing sadness was just so heavy, it was all I could do to get dressed and go to work. There was just no joy in my life. I knew the depression was temporary, but it was so overwhelming. I finally hit critical mass when I went home for lunch one day and got into a stupid, inconsequential fight over nothing with my husband. I stormed out of the house, got in my car, drove the 30 feet out of the driveway where I stopped in the entrance, turned off my car, and bawled my eyes out. The pain and the sadness washed over me. I would have stayed there for much longer, but I had to go back to work. I did briefly consider calling in, but chose not to. Instead, I went to work with streaked mascarra and red, tear-stained eyes. It was obvious to all that I was having a very bad day.

The next day when I got up, I felt marginally better. Whatever my problems were, I simply decided to let them go. Once I did that, I was able to start living again. So, as you may be able to imagine, at this point in my life, that I have any humor left at all is a very good thing even if it is a tad morbid. Grief is a process. I'm very busy processing.

Success Card #6

2006-02-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Clear your mind of can't.
~ Samuel Johnson

Okay, I admit I'm way behind the eight-ball when it comes to posting my success quotes. And this quote is quite appropos. I simply couldn't face getting back on here. All I could think was, "I can't, I can't, I can't." I was too physically tired, too emotionally exhausted, too blasted busy, just plain too worn out. There are times when can't is appropriate. We simply can't be in two places at one time.

But what I think this quote is referring to is the limitations that we place upon ourselves. Many people say, "I can't run." I ask, "Why not?" Usually it's because people say they either have "bad knees" or they are "too heavy." I can understand the bad knees part. Having run with a knee injury, I understand. But it isn't that we can't run, it's that we choose not to because, let's face it, running with bad knees is PAINFUL and may cause even greater injury. But too heavy? Uh, running will help take care of that.

Then I hear others say, "I can't swim." Again, I ask, "Why not?" Some folks are honest and admit they have issues with the water. They can't swim because of a self-imposed limitation: their fear of the water. Others say things like, "I just sink." Well, that's why they invented drills. To teach you to stay on top of the water. Frankly, we would all sink at some point if we didn't learn to float or tread water. In both cases, it a matter of choice. We either choose not to deal with the pain or we choose not to deal with our fear.

But back to the quote at hand. Removing can't from your mind. It brings back to me another quote, again on my sidebar: Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, either way, you are going to be right. If you tell yourself you can't do something enough times, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. You will be right. You cannot do that thing, because you have already said you can't, and you will then make the choices in your life to prove yourself right. You set yourself up for failure.

The same goes with telling yourself you can. This is clearly a case of "where there's a will, there's a way." If you go into a thing telling yourself you can do it, you set yourself up for success. There is always the chance that you won't succeed, but at least you don't defeat yourself before you ever get started.

Which is why this is so appropos for me right now. I did a 2 hour run on Saturday. Alone. In the wind. And the cold. I had to climb over a tree that had fallen across the trail. Later in the run, when I was already tired and felt beat to death by the wind and cold and my own dehydration, I was chased by a dog and almost tripped on some (rusty) barbed wire. It was the hardest run I've done in a long time. I wasn't fast. In fact, I was downright slow, even for pokey old me. I just felt beat to death.

On Sunday, I met a group of folks for a bike ride. It was 25 degrees at my house when I started out. I felt good starting out, but as the ride progressed, my legs got tired. I had no oomph left in them. I began to despair and I started to wonder why in the world I ever signed up for another Ironman. What in the world made me think I could do something so monumental. Who did I think I was kidding? Even as these thoughts entered my head, I knew if I didn't stop them, I would never succeed.

Fortunately, my coach called me shortly after these thoughts began. I shared them with her and she confirmed that we all have these thoughts, but that it was still early in the game and I still had time to be successful at IMC. It was some much needed encouragement.

None of us is immune to thoughts of self-doubt. I think what we need to focus on, or at least what I need to do, is to remember that they are just thoughts and that they will pass. As long as I continue with my training, as outlined by my coach, I'm confident that I will get better at both my cycling and my running and I will succeed. And for me, success, at least in this case, is merely crossing the finish line at IMC before midnight.

New Blogger in Town

2006-02-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

Check her out. We have a new blogger back-of-the-pack. She's a terrific gal and I enjoy running and conversing with her very much. I think she is going to be a wonderful addition to the blogging community.

Guilty Normalcy

2006-02-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

***C A U T I O N***
The photos in this post may be disturbing. Furthermore, clicking on the photos will bring up a huge file. Do so only at your own peril.

******************

Life is returning to normal. Not really, but I try to pretend it is. I get up. I eat. I put in my training...at least as best I can. I go to bed. But the task in front of my siblings and I is daunting, to say the least.

Mother left a will. It was understood by all the siblings (one boy, three girls), that the middle sister was the executor. Except the only will we have found is 15 years old and named her long deceased sister as the executor with the baby sister as the back up. Oh, Lordy! While Mom named some items, specifically, that were to be left to certain individuals, it by no means covers all of her assets. All she says is that the rest of her estate, such as it is, should be divided equally, whatever that means, between her living children (this is another story and one filled with much consternation--I'll leave my family squabblings out of here...for now).

I've already mentioned how my mother was a hoarder. But in the last year or two, it got really bad. I needed her consent to be able to do anything (regarding cleaning up), and as much as I tried, was unable to obtain it. She kept insisting on being allowed to give it a shot herself. However, she had gotten to the point where she didn't even throw out the garbage. What trash she had would rest on counters or on the floor. We found a bag of groceries with eggs that had never been put in the refrigerator.

Here are a couple of "before" pictures of the kitchen. And here is one where you can almost see the floor. My husband is doing what he can to soak the floor prior to scrubbing it. All of us are wearing these tyvek suits and gloves to protect our bodies and clothing from the foulness.

What disturbs me more, though, is that my sisters, at least so far, seem more concerned with cleaning up the mess of her house, than they do with submitting her obituary or even planning her memorial.

======================

We have made much progress since the above post with the clearing out of my mother's home. The carpet, at least the worst parts of it, have been ripped up. Some parts of the sub-flooring will require replacing.

I'll be having a huge garage sale. Wanna come? Mom had this habit (goes with the hoarding) of buying things brand new because she could get a good deal on them, not because she needed them. Or she would have some thought of giving an item to one of her kids and/or grandkids and then it just never happened. My sisters aren't interested in most of the stuff and they aren't interested in setting up the sale, so that will be left to me. They have told me I can keep whatever proceeds I get from it. If it's a lot of money, I'll split it with them as they are entitled to a quarter of the estate, just like I am. And "a lot of money" is a relative term. I will take into account how much time I invested in the project as that is not an inexpensive commodity in itself, especially since I still need to train.

And training. That is something I've almost given up on this week. I was doing okay the week just after my mom passed away, but I'm not doing so good this week. I'm just grateful it's a "rest" week, which means reduced volume if not reduced intensity. Fortunately, it is still early in the season, and I have plenty of time to get back to "normal," whatever that is.

So, just a few more pictures for your amusement (it's a little like watching a train wreck--while it makes you ill, you can't help but watch).

I have one of the 20 yard dumpster that is almost full.
And pictures of inside the house as we box things up and move them around, trying to decide what to do with them.
One of my lovely daughter (isn't she beautiful?) as she is cleaning the bathroom and smiled in spite of not being too thrilled with her mother taking her picture just then.
And then there is a picture of the freezer that was discovered frozen solidly shut. It took 3 days of sitting outside, unplugged, to become unfrozen around the edges. But look at it inside. I think my mother must have been very afraid of "running out" of something or of possibly "going hungry." I don't know what made her think she had to do this. I believe she was a very sick, sick woman and I can only be grateful that she is no longer suffering.

Success Card #5

2006-01-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

The value of life is not the length of it,
but the use we make of it.
~ Michel de Montaigne

This means more to me tonight than it did this morning. You see, this morning, I started this post out talking about how I could be related, in some distant fashion, to the author of the quote. Then I spoke of my American Heritage. Then I went and ran a race, but only as a training run. I came home. Dinked around on my computer for a bit. Thought about calling my mother, but got side-tracked by something else. Tried, unsuccessfully, to take a nap. Got up and made something to eat, instead.

Then, a little after 6 pm, my mom calls me. She is complaining of a pain in her back. A little more probing on my part and I discover that her pain is in the back of her shoulder. Her left shoulder. I ask if she was nauseous as well. She says a little. I told her I thought we should call 911. Her automatic response, "Do you think so?" "Yes, Mom. I do." Well, because of her hoarding she naturally didn't want to do that. I asked her if she wanted me to come get her. She did.

Twenty-five minutes later, I knock on her door. I try to open it. It's locked, of course. I hear her inside telling me she's coming. She steps onto the dark porch with her bag and book in hand, closing the door behind her. I ask her if she has a coat, for she is not wearing one. She says yes, then tells me she thinks she is sicker than she thought and asks me to take her things. I do.

I try to discover a little more about what is wrong with her. I'm holding onto her hand. Why does she think she is sicker? All she wants to do is sit down. There is a chair on the porch, but because of all the trash, it's hard for me to maneuver her there. She starts to weave, but is still standing upright. "Mom," I say, "Tell me what's going on. Tell me why you think you are sicker." But before she can respond, she collapses on the front porch. My mother is a large woman and there was no way I could keep her from falling. She smacks her head on the screen door.

Now I'm slightly frantic. She doesn't respond to my voice and when I try to sit her up, she is unresponsive. I quickly dig into my purse, pull out my cell, and put a frantic call in to 911. I tell them I need an ambulance and give them the address. I get transferred to the fire department. I repeat myself. They ask me questions. Is she concious? No. Is she breathing? Yes. Kind of. I can't explain to them what it sounds like. Yes, she's breathing and her mouth is moving. It's almost like she is snoring. They tell me to keep her warm, so I put her coat over her and take mine off to give her for added warmth.

Two minutes later, the medics arrive. Because the porch is dark, my flagging them down doesn't help. I finally yell just loud enough to catch their attention. There must have been at least a half a dozen people suddenly crowded around her trying to assess her condition. I try to succinctly tell them what her complaints were and why we were on the porch.

They very unceremoniously drag her off the porch and put her onto their gurney. The bundle her up and put her in the ambulance. One of the medics tells me they will let me know where they are taking her in just a minute. Then the aid truck is gone and another medic comes back to me. He tells me where they have takern her. He adds that he is unable to determine her prognosis, but he warns me it doesn't look good because of the kind of breathing she was doing. He further warned me that they would be intubating her on the ride to the hospital as well as pushing IV fluids.

I follow in my car, calling my sister along the way. I share with her what the medic told me, then tell her there is no sense in her going to the hospital as there really isn't anything she can do. She agrees and tells me to call her when I know more.

When I arrive at the hospital, I head for the emergency room triage nurse. I explain that my mother was just brought in by ambulance, but it occurs to me they don't even know her name. The triage assistant calls into the actual emergency room, briefly explains how she has a woman that says her mom was just brought in, and is put on hold. A minute later, the medic I was talking to at my mother's housecomes out. I'm delighted because he knows who I am. Another nurse comes out and takes some info such as my mother's name. Until then, she was a "Jane Doe."

Another minute later, I've got two nurses and a medic escorting me into the emergency room. They are trying to prepare me for what I'm going to see. They tell me there is activity on the monitor, but warn me it doesn't exist without them performing CPR.

I finally step into the room where they are performing CPR on my mother. The doctor quickly brings me up to speed, telling me that an ultrasound of her heart shows that it isn't beating on its own. I'm watching this young man working hard to keep my mother's heart going, but I shake my head. No, no, no, no, no. Don't. Stop. You can quit. She doesn't want any extreme measures to be taken to save her life. And in that instant, I realize my mother is gone.

I don't cry, I don't scream, I don't wail. I'm simply stunned. The doctors and nurses ask me questions and I respond. They are all very sympathetic. I finally push past all of them and go to her. I hold her hand and kiss her face. I call my sister.

=====================================

So it is with sadness and regret that I focus on this quote. My mother was 78 when she passed away. That would be considered a long life by some. I still think of it as rather short. But as the quote suggests, it isn't how long you live, but what you do with your life.

My mother an ordinary woman with an fairly ordinary, albeit interesting, life. She gave birth to and reared five children. As a former military wife, she had travelled extensively. She never let on how she hated all the moving we did. And because I didn't know she hated it, I was always excited to go to a new place.

------------

I have to finish this later. I went to be around 11:30 p.m. and woke up around 3:00 a.m. I've been awake ever since. It's now after 6. I need some sleep.

Seahawks Superbowl-Bound!!!

2006-01-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

Son of a gun! The Seahawks actually made it to the Superbowl. What a thrill! They played a terrific game today. It will be interesting to watch the matchup between them and the Steelers.

Go Seahawks!

As an update to my back, I laid off of all training after my swim Tuesday morning and did nothing that afternoon. I also did nothing on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. By Friday, I was starting to feel pretty good and expected I would get back on my trainer for my 90 minute hill cruise interval workout Saturday morning. Only problem was, when I woke up Saturday morning, I felt like I was back at square one. I hurt so bad, I once more wanted to cry from both pain and frustration. However, I took my pain-killing cocktail and sent a plaintive e-mail note to my coach asking for either wisdom or encouragement.

It was nice because she called me at home as soon as she got it. I didn't call her, because her weekends are her family time and I respect that. So it was nice she called right away.

Bascially, my coach suggested that I:
a) Do something, so long as it didn't aggravate the pain.
b) Get a massage.
c) Continue to see the chiropractor but only so long as it was helping me.
d) WORK ON MY CORE (as long as it doesn't exacerbate my pain)!

So, I:
a) Agreed to get on my trainer and do an easy 30 minutes on an easy (read FLAT) course. Turns out it felt really GOOD to get on and ride. There was some pain, but not unendurable.
b) Set up a massage appointment with a friend and training buddy. I'd rather she got my money than a stranger.
c) Already have my 4th appointment with the chiro for Monday.
d) Agreed to get back (oh, bad pun) with the program with regard to my core routine.

After the trainer ride, I was in a great deal of pain, but I took another pain-killing cocktail, used an ice pack, and chilled the rest of the evening. This morning, I got up, pain-free, but ate breakfast and took another cocktail. Then I met up with my Y group and ran 6 miles. It was a wonderful morning out (meaning it wasn't raining), I could see Mt. Rainier (sorry, no pictures today), and it felt GOOD to run.

Thankfully, this back problem happened during my rest week. This coming week will include increased volume on the bike and run. Strangely enough, I'm looking forward to it. Oh, dear. I must be more sick than I thought.

Got A Hitch In My Get-Along

2006-01-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

I'm ready to cry. I'm in pain. Yesterday, while I was at work, I merely tried to rise from my chair when I was in instant pain. I didn't DO anything. I just stood up. Something was wrong with my back. After what I thought was a muscle spasm passed, I was able to finally stand all the way upright. Whew. I felt "sore" but not in pain. I told one of my co-workers that I had a "hitch in my get-along." The rest of the day, I was very careful about how I moved.

This morning, I wake up and I'm in my bathroom putting on my swimsuit. Damn hitch didn't go away. I'm in enough pain just trying to pull my (new, thus a little extra tight) suit up that I'm perspiring. I can't bend over without hurting. Finally, though, I get it on.

I go to the pool with the clear notion that I only have to do 30 minutes. This is my rest week and I only have to swim 30 minutes today and 30 minutes on Thursday. On the way there, I decide that if that is too uncomfortable, that I'll just sit in the jacuzzi for a bit.

I'm moving rather gingerly and grimmacing a great deal as I try to contain the pain. I get in the water and do an easy 100 yards. Easy is a relative term and can mean so many things. In this instance, easy meant I didn't push for speed. Doing flip turns is another matter. Not only wearing a new suit, but I had on new goggles as well. I didn't get a good seal when I started the 100, so I ended up with one eye full of water for the whole 100 yards. I just closed that eye and kept swimming. I was trying hard not to be a wuss. But, I noticed my depth perception depends a great deal upon having two good eyes open. As a result of having only one good eye (and saying that eye was good may be stretching things a bit) open, I noticed I was misjudging the distance to the wall, thus not getting a very good push off the wall.

The first 100 out of the way, a little fanagling with my goggles, and I do some work with the pull-bouy. East stuff. Just some 75's while I concentrate on proper rotation. Or what I think is proper. I dunno. My back hurts, so it's hard to tell.

I didn't swim for 30 minutes, but I was in the pool for 30 minutes. Is that the same thing? I took lots of rest breaks. Between my main sets, I took a full 60 second break. Coach wanted me doing some fast 50's, so I'd do a couple of those on 30 seconds rest, then do an easy 50. Fast is also relative. Those 50's were fast for me, especially with a sore back. For some of the rest of you, it would be downright dogged slow.

Anyway, I got my 30 minutes of swimming in, but I still have the hitch. When I get to work, I take 1000 mg of Tylenol along with 800 mg of Ibuprofen. A dentist once told me that this combo will give me all of the pain relieving effects of two Tylenol 3s without the sedating effects of the codiene. It seemed to work because, after a bit, while I was still in some pain, it had at least abated.

I called a chiropractor. Got in to see him and got an adjustment (my pelvis is out of whack which is causing the pain). I have to return tomorrow and again on Friday, but the chiro thinks he can fix me up in a couple weeks. The good news is, he's training for a marathon. I hate it when a doctor I go to doesn't understand my compulsion to keep doing what I'm doing.

Anyway, this is my rest week, so the only other thing on my agenda for today was a 30 minute trainer ride with ILTs (individual leg training). But I'm bailing on the ride. I'm also supposed to do a 30 minute run tomorrow. I may bail on that as well and just hope I'm feeing well enough by Thursday, that I can do that day's swim/bike sessions. Instead of riding tonight, I think I'll opt to ice my back where it hurts and take some muscle relaxants and, well, relax! After all, it's my REST week, right?

Success Card #4

2006-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

From a certain point onward
there is no longer any turning back.
That is the point that must be reached.
~Franz Kafka

Animation of a neutron star X-ray burst. Credit: NASA/Dana Berr

I can really relate to this quote. I can remember thinking during my IMC swim, and most especially, during the bike portion, that after I reached a certain point, there was no sense in going back because I was beyond half way. It would take longer to get back than to continue going forward.

So, this tells me we must continuously strive to move ever forwards. To reach the point of no return. This requires a full comittment on our part.

For example, I could probably quit at this point in my training and turn my back on IMC. While I would be out a great deal of money (spent on gadgetry, coaches, and entry fees), I wouldn't be out a lot of time. But I have a lot of myself invested in this venture. I consider myself already beyond the point of no return.

CompuTrainer Review

2006-01-14T09:59:00.000-08:00

A rose, by any other name, would smell just as sweet. Well, in this case, a trainer, by any other name, is still just a trainer. Heavens, the word "trainer" is even in the name of the product, so what should one expect?

Okay, so I've had my eye on a CompuTrainer since I started doing triathlon. Of course, I could never justify buying one for several reasons, not the least of which was I didn't have the money. I bit the bullet this year, though, because I knew I was going to have to do some really long rides this winter and, since it was winter, many of those long rides were going to be indoor. If I didn't have something else besides football (while riding in front of the big screen in my living room where hubby controls the viewing) to keep me entertained, I was afraid I may not do what was required of me. Getting on a trainer for 30 minutes is pretty tough. Staying on for 45 minutes is incrementally harder. Doing an hour is almost impossible. Going longer than an hour...uh....not gonna happen?

But, if I want to succeed at IMC in 2006 and not do a repeat of 2005, then I was going to have to get on my bike over the winter. Riding the trainer isn't particularly difficult from a physical standpoint, but I find it mind-numbingly boring from the mental standpoint. I have no problem getting on my bike and riding for hours as long as I'm out-of-doors. But stick me in a stationary position for hours on end and I want to go out of my mind. The treadmill would likely have the same effect. I can use it for up to two hours so long as I have something to watch on TV to distract myself. If I don't, I won't last 20 minutes.

So I ordered the CompuTrainer at the Seattle Marathon Expo on a Saturday, the day before the race. It was delivered to my home by the Tuesday after the race. That's f-a-s-t! Great service. I'm impressed and very pleased.

When I opened the box, I have to admit to being mildly overwhelmed at all the pieces. And there were no less than 4 manuals to go with the thing. Unlike most new computers and/or printers these days, there was no colorful "Quick Start Guide" with pictures. I had to read the directions which I could find in one of those manuals, but figuring out which manual had the information I wanted was a chore unto itself. I may have to offer up a suggestion to the company that they should put in large script on one of their many manuals START HERE FIRST. Once I started reading, it wasn't all that bad, but figuring out where I needed to start was a little less than intuitive.

Please note that I consider myself fairly good at following directions. Doing so allowed me to change the timing gear in an old 1967 Chevy Impala I once owned. Of course, I had to figure out how to use the harmonic balancer puller to do it, but I eventually got that figured out too. Too bad the Chiltons Auto Manual I was using (borrowed from a neighbor, along with most of his tools) forgot to include the minor detail that you were supposed to drop the oil pan first and then replace the gasket once you were done. Sadly, the car leaked oil like a seive after that, but at least it ran.

Back to the trainer. So, after doing a little reading, I figured out that I needed to decide if I wanted to run my CompuTrainer in a stand-alone mode or if I wanted it hooked up to my computer. In the stand alone mode, I wouldn't have some of the pretty graphics or the spin-scan show up on my TV screen. That is NOT why I bought the thing. As the first part of the product name would imply, it was a COMPUtrainer, hence should be connected to a COMPUter. Okay, we were going for hooking it up the the computer.

After work on Tuesday, I spent most of the day re-arranging my office to accept the new trainer so I can hook it up to my computer. I did my level best to figure out a way to get the computer hooked up to my TV which is at least 25-30 feet away, in another room, but I wanted the thing hooked up now and I didn't want to fiddle with all the necessary connections and coax cables and such. That was a cluster I wasn't prepared to deal with.

What I simply could not figure out was where I was supposed to put this little piggie. However, after reading the paper that was attached to him, his significance became clear. He is the P.I.G. (Performance Improvement Guarantee). CompuTrainer guarantees that the original purchaser can return the product within 12 months if they don't see at least a 5% improvement in their cycling power (as evidenced by watts) after using their product three days a week for five consecutive months. Of course, there are a few other stipulations, but since I'm currently on this thing three days a week, it gives me hope.

================
The above was written shortly after I received my trainer. The following is written as I contemplate and prepare to get on for a 3 hour and 45 minute ride. Yes, you read that correctly, 3 HOURS and 45 MINUTES.
================

As of this writing, I have had my trainer set up for a little over a month. While the computer graphics make riding the trainer at least mildly entertaining, watching the spin graph and drafting off metal man or watching him get way ahead of me is, after all, still sitting on a trainer, and that just sucks big time.

However, it is scary to note, I am getting used to riding on my trainer. When I first started, riding for 20 minutes was a chore. Going for 45 minutes was excruciating. Now I find that the idea of doing 90 minutes is (almost) easy. Anything longer than that, though, is something I admit I fight.

Okay, so what are some of the main features and benefits?

First, and I believe foremost, there is a plethora of courses which one can ride. While the courses range in distance from a measly one-third mile flat course, to almost any Ironman course out there, this is a screen shot as I prepared to tackle the IMMoo (Ironman Wisconsin) course. Naturally, one of the rides I do most frequently is Ironman Canada. I am hoping that by riding the course multiple times before I ever return to Canada, that when I get there for the race, it will simply be second nature for me. I was in the mood for a change on this day, though.

In addition to being able to ride a variety of courses, if you have the correct software, you can create your own courses. I will have to do some additional investigation as to exactly what is required as I have the TopoZone software (purchased long before I got the CompuTrainer) they mention, but I do not yet know what it takes to convert my rides into courses for the CT.

Besides having all the courses available, if the course loops back on itself (start and finish are in the same place), you have the option of selecting to do 2 or more laps (not sure what the limit on laps is). Doing laps can be fun because you can try to improve your time from the previous lap. This is a double-edged sword, however, if you are supposed to be keeping your HR or your watts in a certain range.

You also have the option of starting anywhere on a course that you'd like. You simply select the mile marker where you want to start. You can also create courses manually, something I haven't yet found a need to do. I've not used all the courses available yet.

What I am also not yet familiar with is how to modify the courses I have to take into consideration things like wind. The program allows you to add wind, but I don't know how yet. For now, I've been riding in a windless environment. Having my fan on doesn't exactly count.

Another benefit is the "spin-scan." This is available as either a bar graph or a polar-type graph (tough picture to take as I was actually on my bike when I did it). Both of them show pedal stroke efficiency. It is designed to help you eliminate the "dead" spots in, and thereby improve, your stroke. I have yet to really get anything out of this, though it is interesting to play with it and watch the graph change as I change my pedaling. It becomes especially evident when I do one-legged drills.

While a funky pulse-meter that you wear clipped to your ear in included in the set up, I find I don't use it as it appears to be extremely unreliable giving me readings that aren't anywhere close to reality (300 bpm is not close). I continue to use my regular HRM for that data.

I don't think the software is all that intuitive either. I've been using computers, in one form or another, since 1978. By most standards, I would be considered a power user, at least when it comes to most windows-based applications. Features like "cut & paste" are second nature to me and I'm dumbfounded when people don't understand. I'm usually able to open and quickly pick up on how to use most software without reading the instructions. Not so in this case. I'll actually have to hit the books on it.

In the mean time, one of the things that can be extremely deceiving, when looking at the screen of your course is the course profile. What might look like a flat course, may actually have hills with an 8% grade in them. Likewise, what looks like a hellacious hill climb is nothing more but a series of ups and downs (like the IM Wisconsin course), with most climbs being no greater than 5%, but it looks like a 12%.

In addition, to use the trainer properly, the tire must be wiped down with alcohol before every ride and the trainer must be calibrated. Not a big deal, but an inconvenience when you just want to start your ride. Also, in the way of trainers, it can chew up your race tires. To alleviate this problem, I have just ordered this trainer tire, made by Continental, which is specifically geared for use on indoor trainers and is in now way an outdoor tire.

Another disadvantage, of course, is the price. This is not a cheap product. It regularly retails in the neighborhood of $1200. That will take a bite out of anybody's budget. Unless, of course, you are independently wealthy.

All that aside, the biggest disadvantage, in my view, other than the bike being stuck on the trainer rather than outdoors, is the fact that you must constantly pedal. It doesn't matter if you are going uphill, downhill, or on flat land with a tailwind. There is NO coasting. Pedaling is done non-stop, or you cease forward motion, even on a downhill. This can result in a great deal of leg fatigue. There is an advantage to that, though, in that you are increasing endurance. I guess it just depends upon your perspective.

In the end, though, computer graphics aside, trainer rides still suck. NOTHING can replace doing your riding outdoors in the fresh air where the scenery changes regularly. Even when it means dealing with weather, terrain, and inconsiderate drivers. However, if you are stuck indoors either because of daylight or weather constraints, this isn't a bad way to go. If you are a geek (or mildly OCD) like me, then you will enjoy the instant data feedback such as current, average, and peak MPH, watts, and RPM.

Success Card #3

2006-01-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Opportunities multiply
as they are seized.
~ John Wicker

Yes, I got Success Card #2 up as well. You can see it here.

Okay, so great. Now I get to focus on opportunities (Success Card #2 was all about being ready when opportunities arose). I wonder if there is a message in here for me, specifically? Anyway, I've always been a big believer and adherent to the notion that when a door closes, a window opens. So it goes with opportunities. When you lose one, another one presents itself.

In a nutshell, opportunities are self-propogating. As we grab, grasp, wrangle, tangle, and succeed or fail with one opportunity, another is there waiting. The thing with opportunities, though, is that they are fraught with risk. Which is why a synonym of opportunity is "chance." Chances and opportunities are not sure things. There is always the possibility of failure. I believe, however, that even failure is an opportunity in disguise.

For example, I had an opportunity last August to compete at Ironman Canada. While I did not succeed at completing the race, I had a chance, which I took, to sign up again. Doing so allowed me to objectively look at my performance and analyze my short-comings. Obviously, I needed some work on the bike. by signing up for IMC in 2006, I now had an opportunity to not only redeem myself, but to improve on my bike training.

Improving my bike skills will give me the opportunity to finish the bike portion in time to go run 26.2 miles (oh, yippee). Seriously, though, while success begats success, so can failure. The difference is in looking at failure as an opportunity to change, to improve to get better, rather than simply an end unto itself.

Bad Blogger

2006-01-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

I'm a rotten blogger. I think of stuff to write all the time, but finding the time to actually write it out is difficult. If I'm not working, I'm training. If I'm not training, I'm sleeping. If I'm not sleeping, I'm back to working or training. I just don't know where some of you find the time to blog and read each other's blogs and keep up. I know I'd like to devote more time to it, but by the time my day of rest comes around (usually a Monday), I'm exhausted and all I want to do is sit in front of my TV and watch as many of the shows that I DVR'd as I can and then go to bed. Early. For a change.

However, I was harassed today by Lady Lurker because because I have not yet kept up with my quote sharing. It's almost time for Success Quote #3 and here I haven't finished hatching Success Quote #2. The good news is, I did start it, but it's still in "draft mode." I may be able to finish that up today as there is nothing else on my agenda. At least, I don't think there is anything else I have to do. Except maybe get something to eat. Or take a nap. Maybe watch a little more TV. Besides. It's getting ready to rain again. Blech. I'm sick of the rain. Enough with the rain already! According to one TV station, we typically get .17" of rain a day during this time of the year. But for the last 18 days (maybe 19 by now), we have had a whopping .45" of rain EVERY FREAKING DAY. That's a lot of damn rain. The ground is so saturated, even for the Pacific Northwest, that mudslides are becoming a constant and serious concern. Gosh, I'm glad I don't live on a hill.

Okay, so off to finish my "Success Quote #2." And to update my weekly totals amount. And download my Garmin Forerunner 301 data. And, yes, to finish the CompuTrainer review (which is also currently in draft mode).

I shall return. (Where have we heard that before?)

Success Card #2

2006-01-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

The great secret of success in life

is for a person to be ready

when their opportunity comes.
~Benjamin Disraeli

This made me wonder how many opportunities I've let slip by because I either didn't recognize them for what they were or because I wasn't ready. It also makes me wonder about the definition of success.

There are many that would define success in the way that Merriam-Webster has, i.e., the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence. But do I really need a lot of fame, fortune, or prestige to be considered successful? I think most people would agree with me when I say, "I don't think so."

In the process of writing about this particular quote, I found myself wanting to focus on "opportunity" or "success" when the real thrust of the message is all about being "prepared mentally or physically [or both, in some cases] for some experience or action." Now I find, I want to replace the word "life" with the word "triathlon." In my case, success in triathlon is equivalent to finishing at Ironman Canada (IMC).

Triathlon, most especially ironman distances, is all about conditioning. Conditioning is nothing but preparing; making ourselves ready. We must condition our minds and our bodies to accept hardships. Being ready for IMC means being focused enough to put in the necessary miles, yards, and time requird to meet the goal. It means getting up early when I would rather sleep in bed. It means getting on my trainer when I'd rather watch TV or read or do anything else except get on my bike...indoors. It means making arrangements for an early morning run when I'd rather sit home sipping coffee and reading blogs. But if I did the alterntives (sleeping, watching TV, reading blogs), then I wouldn't be ready for IMC.

I see IMC as an opportunity to prove that I have "mettle." Ironman Canada is a chance for me to show the world and, most importantly, myself, that I can apply myself without hesitation or delay; that I can train both my mind and my body for the rigors of the race. Training is about preparing oneself. And being prepared is what allows us to succeed.

Monthly & Yearly Wrap-Up

2006-01-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Well, this was an interesting year for me. I started with a DNF at the Phoenix RnR Marathon in January. I had been having issues with my feet, and particularly my left foot, for about three weeks before the race. I was very concerned about it and saw the podiatrist. We couldn't determine that there was a stress fracture and decided to simply tape my foot in the hopes that would move the bones into the correct position and alleviate the problem.

When I went down to Phoenix, I went down with the idea of doing the half marathon even though I was signed up for the marathon. However, once I got down there, I just couldn't let the marathon slip through my fingers, so I gave it a go. Unfortunately, by mile 12 my foot was hurting too badly to go on. I stopped at the aid station there and they told me they suspected the stress facture of the fifth metarsal and did not recommend I continue. Since my primary focus for the year was going to be Ironman Canada, I happily withdrew as I did not want to cause any further damage.

In retrospect, I'm glad I opted to try for the full marathon course. Had I been on the half marathon route, I know myself well enough to know I would have gutted it out for the last 1.1 miles and possibly have hurt myself in the process. At least by quitting at mile 12 of the marathon route, it was inconceivable to go another 14.2 miles feeling the way I did.

My next DNF was at Canada. That was another huge disappointment. I had initially said all during 2005, that I was going to take 2006 off from IMs and just do some sprints and oly's with one or two half irons thrown into the mix for good measure. But within the span of seconds, I made the decision to sign up for Canada again. I was not going to let the course defeat me again.

I finished the year with my slowest ever, Seattle Half Marathon time. I can't complain too loudly, however, as I did just have knee surgery 8 weeks earlier. I guess I can say I was still rehabilitating. In fact, I'm STILL trying to get back some of that fitness. I'm hoping that with continued training AND continued weight loss, that I will get faster as time goes on.

So, began and ended 2005. While 2004 had been a year of PRs, 2005 was the year of the DNF. I DNFd at the Phoenix Marathon and DNFd at Ironman Canada. I'm hoping 2006 will be the year of no DNFs even if I get no PRs, though I admit to hoping for a few of those as well.

So, I think I had a great training month in December. I was in the pool twice a week. I got on my trainer three times a week. I even did a 3-hour CompuTrainer ride (yes, product review still coming) just three days before Christmas. It was gruelling, but I did get it done. I also ran three times a week. Most of them were short runs, and I frequently opted for my treadmill because of time and darkness constraints. Overall, my totals for December look like this:

Swim: 13,450 yards (6:43 hours)
Bike: 245.6 miles (16:38 hours)
Run: 45.9 miles (9:54 hours)

No, I don't move fast for the hours presented, but at least I'm moving.

I ended the year with the following totals:

Swim: 177,811 yards (80:44 hours)
Bike: 1,721.4 miles (130:00 hours)
Run: 533.0 miles (106:43 hours)

That's enough miles to get me almost all the way across the country! Okay, small potatoes to some of you other folks out there in blogland, but more than some others. Compared to previous years, the increase in my cycling has been significant even though my total distance and time in the other two disciplines has been less. But that is where I need to focus this year...on my bike.

Well, that's it for 2005. I think the most significant thing I did in 2005 was hire a coach. I have confidence that that is what will make the biggest difference between my success and/or failure at Ironman Canada this time. That and my willingness to do what is suggested/recommended.

I wish all the rest of you much success as well, whatever your goals and aspirations might be.

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone in blogland a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

Action Is Eloquence --Shakespeare

2005-12-28T18:52:00.000-08:00

This is the first of my "success" cards.

According to Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary:

Action is defined as:
...
4) An act of will.
5a) A thing done; 5b) the accomplishment of a thing, usually over a period of time, in stages, or with the possibility of repetition.
...

Eloquence is defined as:
1) Discourse marked by force and persuasiveness.
2) The quality of forceful or persuasive expressiveness.

We've all heard, "He's all bark and no bite." It usually means that the animal (human and otherwise) is perceived as harmless because he doesn't back up his yapping with any action. In the case of people, speaking and saying things without following through is nothing but noise. It's ineffectual.

It is one thing for me to say, "I need to lose weight." It is quite another for me to actually lose the weight. But I can't do that without taking the necessary steps. If all I ever do is parrot, "I need to lose weight, I need to lose weight," then I may be perceived as incapable and/or frivolous. My words are pointless, because I don't follow through.

It is only by doing that I can persuade others that I say what I mean and I mean what I say. If all I do is talk about it, then I'm just known as one who is "all talk and no action." But if I back up my bark with some bite, by putting my words into action, the results become obvious. What better way to show someone a thing can be done by simply doing it? What better form of persuasiveness, even eloquence, is there?

With that idea, I'll leave you with these words that are so profound to me, that I have included them in my sidebar since I started this blog:

"Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do,
begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it."
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Secret Santas

2005-12-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

I've been working at this company for just under a year now. Seems they do a voluntary, Secret Santa gift exchange every year at Christmas. Those that participate, draw a name of someone else that is participating, and a gift is purchased ($15 limit) and put under the tree. A couple days before Christmas, we all gather in my office, I mean, in the lobby, and have fun opening the gift from our Secret Santa. Of course not all the Secret Santas stay secret, but some do. Either way, it's usually a lot of fun.

I admit, however, to some disappoinment with my gift. Either someone didn't know me well, or just saw an opportunity to re-gift soemthing they received and didn't want; I got a diary, complete with a lock and key, and a matching address book. Um, hello? I'm a computer geek. If it isn't digital, I don't use it. I don't write things down on paper. At least not most of the time.

However, something my Secret Santa included, that they evidently had no use for, but for which I can find a purpose, were "Success Cards." Each of the success cards can be opened and inside is a pithy, motivational quote. There are 30 of them in the stack. While I would like to devote myself to opening one up every day, I'm going to limit myself to one each week and use the quote as a springboard for writing in my blog. Each week will be a new quote, and it will always be a surprise as I will not screen the quotes I get. I will take each one and write a few sentences about what it means to me, how it motivates or inspires me, my thoughts on the subject, and/or how it relates to my goals. Dull? Maybe, maybe not. Stay tuned to find out.

I'm Getting Younger!

2005-12-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, maybe not really but, on some days at least, my Tanita scale actually thinks I'm younger that what I really am.

To understand the relationship one develops with Tanita, you really must read Bolder's Dear Tanita post. It is certainly insightful and dead on.

Fortunately, while I also have a love/hate relationship going on with my Tanita, I'm beginning to like her. I mean, who wouldn't when she indicates that the pounds are continuing to melt away, that the bodyfat percentage continues to decrease, that the muscle mass continues to improve, and then follows all that up by showing me that I am, at least relatively speaking, physically equivalent to someone 10 years my junior? What's not to like? Except the fact that these things are only apparent in the afternoon. In the mornings, Tanita shows me that I'm all of my 49 years and then some.

I'm hopeful, however, that with continued perseverance, along with minute attention to my diet and rigorous training, the recalcitrant Tanita will begin to show me I'm younger in the mornings and not just the afternoons. When that happens, I will believe Tanita and I have a solid understanding.

Harried Holidays

2005-12-19T21:21:00.000-08:00

Not a lot of time available these days between preparing for the upcoming holiday, working, and training. In spite of all of that, I managed to take a few minutes out to snap a couple of pictures. As usual, I can't get enough of Mount Rainier and this last week presented some awesome opportunities.

This is one where the sun was just peeking over the top. I did make sure to put use a sun lense as the light was quite intense.

The one below was taken Sunday morning when it was 17 degrees Farenheit. That's pretty darned cold by anyone's standards. You can see the frost on the ground. This is taken from the trail where I occasionally run and bike. Is that not just a magnificent view?

Anyway, back to the harried holidays. Saturday was supposed to be my long bike. However, I still had Christmas shopping (and it's CHRISTMAS shopping, not that blasted holiday crap that I'm so sick of...I refuse to be PC, but that's another story...) to do, so instead of getting on my bike, I hit the local mall at 7:00 in the morning. I left around 5:00 that afternoon. My body hurt as though I'd run a marathon. All thoughts of getting on my bike fled from my poor fried brain.

Sunday, I got up to run the Orting trail with a few members of the Y-Run club (that weren't in Millersylvania running with Rob or IronAyla). As I sat there, waiting for some of them, I realized I shouldn't be there, that I should be on my bike. So, I proferred my apologies to those that were there and left to go hop on my bike. Before I did, though, I did stop to shoot the picture above. I couldn't resist, it was just so danged beautiful and clear out.

Well, I did get on my CompuTrainer. I chose to ride the Richter to Cawston section of Ironman Canada. I managed to get through only 30 miles before my alloted time on the trainer was up. It took my 2 hours and 40 minutes to go a whopping 30 miles. Okay, so Richter isn't exactly an easy ride, and neither is the CT, but I was absolutely toast when I was done.

That meant the long run I had planned for Sunday, got pushed to today and I added a swim to my schedule that wasn't originally on to this morning as well. Wednesday, I have a hair appointment, so the swim that was scheduled for Thursday morning is now switched to Wednesday morning. Oh, the hair appointment was for a cut AND color. New color in the pool the day after it's done? Don't think so. Give me a few days.

And I still need to make deviled eggs for a Christmas potluck at work and the potluck is on Thursday. Make those eggs too soon and they'll turn rubbery (gross). However, if I wait to long Wednesday, I may be too tired by the time I get home to do them. Making the morning of is out of the question.

Add to all of this, the need to purchase a few more presents as I didn't get it all done at the mall on Saturday, and needing to wrap said presents, not to mention, wrapping a few of them quickly enough to get them off in the mail this morning and, well, WHEW! Now you know why I'm feeling a little harried.

Okay, so I'm rambling. And I need to go to bed because I have to do a trainer ride in the morning, so I'll have the evening free to go to the mall, wrap presents, boil the eggs, address the Christmas cards (no they aren't out yet), yada, yada, yada.

Weekly totals (missing my long run, of course):

Swim: 3700 yards
Bike: 52.5 miles
Run: 6.9 miles (a little light here because of missing the long run)

Month to date:

Swim: 8750 yards
Bike: 126.4 miles
Run: 32.8 miles

I'm feeling pretty darned proud of myself. The Monday after Christmas I have my first baseline time trial on a CompuTrainer with my coach. I'm feeling a little intimidated, afraid I won't be able to live up to any expectations even though there are probably no expectations. Stupid, huh?

Not Fair...

2005-12-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

...well, not much in life IS fair, but that's irrelevant. And for the purposes of this post, it's certainly not important. But I've been tagged twice. What are the rules when that happens? Must I reveal TEN things about myself, or can I go with just the original five (I'm opting for the latter)?

Also, one of the taggers that tagged me tagged someone else I was going to tag. Oh, this might get old real fast. Also, I'm not going to check to see if any of the other folks I plan on tagging have already been tagged, so their on their own.

Okay, the rules as I understand them are:

Write 5 random facts about yourself, and then list the names of 5 people whom you in turn infect. Also, leave a post to these people letting them know they have been infected.

1) On October 4, I celebrated a birthday. Not a belly-button birthday, but an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) birthday. As of that date, I had 15 (yup, FIFTEEN!) years of sobriety. This coming from someone who didn't think she had a problem until, while in a meeting to support my husband who was the "real" drunk in the family, I heard a woman say (directly to me, of course, nevermind that I was in a room full of people), "Quit looking for the differences [between me and the drunk], and start looking for the similarities." When I did that, I finally had to admit, *I* had a problem with drinking, too. Damn. Made me cry, but I haven't drank since.

2) I was a grandmother the first time at the age of 37. Whoa! you say. Well, I married the first time at the ripe old age of 17. I would do anything to escape my mother's house, so I married the first man that asked me. That was a mistake and one which I rectified, but not until after I had two children, both of whom I had by the time I was 20. Now, between my current husband and I, we have five children (his 3, one of which passed away earlier this year), and five grandchildren with a sixth one on the way. I much prefer being a grandma to being a mom. Being a mom is tough work and I fear I wasn't up to the task. Hence, the daughter who walked in her mother's shoes (me) and gave birth to my first grandson at age 17. *sigh*

3) I'm a clutterbug and if I'm not careful, I'll turn into my mother, the hoarder. So, I try a little at a time, to de-clutter my belongings. It's a difficult process and I don't always feel like I'm winning, but once in a while, I just get in a mood and start trashing stuff. It can be quite a liberating feeling.

4) I failed trigonometry the first time I took it. In fact, I withdrew from the class to avoid the failing grade. That was one of the first times I ever came face to face with a limitation of mine. Everything was usually so easy, but not this. I actually had to think. Mind you, I passed my Algebra class with a three point six. I didn't think I'd have a problem with trig. But there you go. I guess I'm not as smart as I'd like to think, eh?

5) I'm a military brat. By that I mean I was born into the military and stayed a (United States Air Force) military dependent until I was married at the age of 17. But what did I do? I married a (United States Air Force) military man. That wasn't good enough for me. I already knew (without knowing I knew) that I needed to escape the monster (truly, he is a twisted, abusive, evil individual) I married and I tried to break free by entering the military myself. Yup. The United States Air Force. I was in for 28 days before I was honorably discharged. I was one of those few women that still had their menses during pregnancy, so the fact that I was several weeks pregnant upon entering basic training didn't become apparent until three weeks into the training. Hence the discharge. I would be allowed to re-enter the military a year after my child was born, but by then, I was already six months pregnant again.

Okay, now for the tags. Some of them may come as a surprise. And since it's late, and I need to get my butt to bed so I can go swim in the morning, I won't go into detail about why I chose those I did.

Here goes:

Shiela
KLN (aka Knees)
TryAthlete
Vertical Man
Tammy

Have fun! I need to go leave some posts.

Weekly Totals -- 12/5 to 12/11

2005-12-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

Not a bad training week, in spite of the kitty crisis. I was so tempted to use my kitty as an excuse not to get on my trainer Thursday night, but managed to do the workout anyway.

The only "bad" thing I did was go against my coaches wishes. She had told me not to do the Christmas Rush (10k), but I think that's because she thought I was going to try to beat an hour. The reality is, I already knew it would take me over an hour. There was no way I was prepared to do a sub-one hour 10k at this point. Last year, I did the same race in 1:00:26. This year, it was 1:14 and change. I'd like to blame my surgery for the difference in pace and in all honesty that may have something to do with it, but I think the real reason is the extra 10 pounds (15 maybe, but who's counting) I've put on since last year.

Well, I did manage to do the race as a training run and I did NOT try to race it. I just tried to manage a steady pace. About mile 4, my hips and legs started aching. Okay, that was mile 4 of the race. Counting the two miles I did in advance of the race, it was actually mile 6. I guess I shouldn't be surprised I was aching a little.

Since I went against the coaches advice, that means my Saturday workout was now on Sunday. That meant a 2 hour and 20 minute ride today (actual time may vary). Since it was quite foggy (as in very dense, can't-see-the-neighbors-house-foggy) AND with freezing temperatures, which would make the roads and trails icy and trecherous, I opted to ride indoors. Of course it took me until noon to make that determination. After all, I was hoping the fog would break (it didn't until around 3:00) and I could do my ride outdoors.

So, all things considered, I'm not displeased with this week's results:

Swim: 3700 yards (only going twice a week)
Bike: 61.6 miles
Run: 13.7 miles

That's it for now. Next week is a 2 hour 40 minute long ride and a one hour 40 minute long run. Hmmm...next week's totals might look a lot like this week's totals.

Product review on the CompuTrainer is coming. Tomorrow is a day off (from training, not from working), maybe I can finish it then. Maybe not, too, as I'll be bringing my cat home and I hope to be giving him lots of loves.

Kitty Update

2005-12-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

PuddyRat (the cat, not me) is still in the vet hospital. As of today, he at least attempted to eat something on his own. They were force feeding him at the hospital yesterday.

His blood levels are improving, but I've been doing a lot of research on feline Chronic Renal Failure and his condition, while treatable, is irreversible, progressive, and terminal. There is going to be a lot involved in keeping him happy and healthy and I don't honestly know if I've got it in me.

I love my cat, but I just don't think I can handle the expense or the emotional roller coaster. I'll bring him home for a few days and see how he does. If he doesn't continue to improve, I'll take him back to the vet and hold him in my arms until he is gone. I want him to know he was loved to the very end.

Devastated

2005-12-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Had to take my kitty, the one from which I draw my moniker, and the best cat I've ever had, to the vet. He's extremely ill and may even die. They suspect renal failure, but won't have a solid prognosis for another 24 hours or so. While my cat is relatively old (14), he is a well-loved, indoor kitty, and should have several more years of life left in him, so long as the renal disease doesn't kill him.

To say I'm devastated is a bit of an understatement. I'm terrified. Those of you that are pet owners will understand. If you aren't, and don't understand the attachment, pretend it's your child and you will come close.

Lousy Training Week, Great Training Month

2005-12-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

This week hasn't been a good one. After the Seattle Half (see very long, and probably boring, report below) on Sunday, I had a regular rest day on Monday. Tuesday was supposed to be a swim but because of the chafing I experienced during the half, I didn't think I could do it. Then I had a lightbulb moment. I covered the chafing with a bandage and wore my tri shorts instead of my swimsuit and actually got in the pool. And I loved it. I almost felt the oneness coming back, so I was very happy about that.

Wednesday was supposed to be a trainer ride and core work, but I spent most of the evening rubbing my tummy, which was starting to hurt, and re-arranging my office so I had room to put my new CompuTrainer up. I didn't get the CompuTrainer up, but I did get the office re-arranged. That was a huge job and it took quite some time. By the time I was done, it was time to hit the sack and go to bed.

Thursday was supposed to be another trainer ride, but I had been so miserable at work, that I just came home and vegged out. I was tired, my stomach hurt to the point of making me nauseous and I was cramping, so I took some pain medication and just watched TV until it was time to go to bed.

On Friday, I felt better, but still not 100%. Couple that with working a little longer than normal, and I just couldn't get to the pool or get my run in. My coach is going to be very disappointed with my training this week, but sometimes, we have to go with the flow and listen to our bodies. Mine was telling me to back off.

The good news is that I had a stellar month. I almost did more in the month of November this year than I did between September and February of last year. Okay, not quite, but certainly I did more in terms of my bike training and for that, I'm very proud of myself.

Totals for the month of November look like this:

Swim = 10,150 yards
Bike = 124.9 miles (last year it was 65 miles in 6 months)
Run = 52 miles

Maybe those aren't the totals some of the rest of you do, but they are good for me. Especially the bike miles (some of which are guesstimated, on the low side, for trainer work). Last November, my totals looked like this:

Swim = 19,700 yards (obviously swam more)
Bike = 16.9 miles (big miles there, eh?)
Run = 103.4 (I was training for a marathon)

So, bike miles have improved significantly while the other two disciplines suffered a little. I expect those to pick up in the coming months, however.

Today, I'm still not 100%, but I am better and I'm much closer to having my CompuTrainer set up. I hope to get it up and going here very quickly as I still need to do a 2 hour ride today (too much slush and snow on the road, not to mention colder than I'd like, to risk going outside) before my company's Christmas party tonight. And I still need to shop for something to wear! Eeeek! Oh, well. Good thing I have a back up plan for something to wear.

December's training will be interesting as I'm slated to do a three hour trainer ride on a Thursday. My coach slid this in in an attempt to keep Christmas free and to help me be "fresh" for my bike testing with her the day after Christmas. I have a feeling that is not going to be pretty. I just hope that whatever happens, I hope she will be able to get me into Ironman shape by next August. I'm going to have a lot of work in front of me though.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow -- Take Two

2005-12-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

The Pacific Northwest (at least on the western side of the Cascades) is known for its rain, not for its snow. It's always a major event when it snows in this area. Today was no exception, except this is the second time in the same week that we've seen snow. It doesn't ever stick around long, but it's fun and pretty to watch while it happens. Were we to get any more of it, or if it were any colder, some of us may not like it nearly as much.

Oh, and I'm not feeling well, so not doing much. I have a lengthy Seattle Half Marathon report in the works, but for now it's staying in the draft stage. I'll put it up when I have more time and don't feel so badly. Just wanted to share a little piece of our weather with those in sunnier climes.

==================

BTW, that's my husband and my boxer dog, Precious. She wasn't too sure what all that white stuff was. Funny how a snowflake practically obliterated my husband's face. Weird. I was late getting back to work from lunch, so I only had time to take the one photo.

WARNING -- (Very Long) Seattle Half Marathon Report

2005-11-27T18:13:00.000-08:00

I'm long-winded, not wanting to leave out any detail, so be forewarned. To make the long story short, I finished in 2:48:10 (chip time). Not a stellar time, and much slower than last year, but I was upright and vertical with a huge grin on my face.

Now, for the rest of the story...

This was my fourth consecutive Seattle Half Marathon. For some reason, probably the threat of bad weather, I just can't bring myself to do the full marathon. That and I've just started my own tradition of doing the half for the last few years.

As I am not one that likes to get up any earlier than absolutely necessary, and freely admit that I am a woman that is all about convenience and willing to pay for it, I usually get a hotel room in town the night before the race. This way, I can wake up an hour or two later than if I had to drive up. It also eliminates the problem of finding a parking space and/or freezing my ass off while waiting for the gun to sound.

So, at my leisure, I drove up to Seattle (I'm only about 35 miles south) and checked into my hotel. Once I got to my hotel room, I was pleasantly surprised to have this view out my window. It was way cool, especially at night when it is all lit up like the big Christmas tree that is on top. I tried to take a night time picture, but I did it from my room and it didn't turn out. And I wasn't up for going outside to try for another shot.

After checking in, I walked the half mile to the Westin hotel for the expo and packet pick up. As soon as I walked in the door, I realized I'd left my confirmation card at the hotel and we are supposed to have those in order to pick up our packets. However, I stopped at the trouble desk and asked the nice young lady if she was going to make me go back and get it. She said no, asked me my last name, pulled me up on her computer, and went to get my packet for me. Cool.

Next up was hitting the expo and getting my goody bag. One thing Seattle has started doing is having great Asics long-sleeved technical shirts for their marathons. Being in the northwest, having a long-sleeved shirt for long runs is a pretty nice thing. In 2002, the color was blue. In 2003, it was a gawd-awful orange. In 2004, it was a puke-green. This year, it was a much nicer brick red. Now, some folks might like the orange and the green, but I am not a fan of those colors, though I wear the shirt anyway. I actually like the red, though.

Now it was time to go poking about at the expo. I was interested in some cold weather tights. I wanted to pick up a pair that I could use for both running and cycling. Yes, cycling. I'm trying to train my backside to ride the bike sans chamois. I've discovered I have a lot of trouble with some of the padding in cycling shorts and would choose to eliminate that particular problem. So, I find two pairs, one by Sugoi and another by Adidas. I'm not very brand loyal so long as what I buy suits my needs.

I mosey around the expo, waiting for my friend, Carol, to call and find myself at the CompuTrainer booth. Of course, like many a triathlete, I'm a gizmo geek and this is one of those things that I've drooled over ever since I started training and racing. However, I could never seem to justify the expense. In talking about the trainer with the sales rep, he learns the name of my coach and then offers me an additional discount, over and above what he has already offered me. I tell him I have to call my husband first, which I do, but I knew what his answer would be, "Do what you want." So I did. I bought the darn thing. I figure if I'm going to spend hour after hour on my trainer this winter, I may as well train on the (simulated) courses I'll be riding. Cha-ching.

I finally meet up with Carol and eventually we head to my hotel for dinner at the local restaurant. Good thing we left when we did as it would seem the monorail got itself into a bit of a "jam" shortly after we left the area. Oops. Clearly, not one of someone's better days.

When we arrive at the restaurant, we have to wait for a few minutes before we are seated. While there were a few tables with people at them, it wasn't packed and there were plenty of open tables available. A few minutes later, a waiter comes by to take our drink order. A few minutes later, same waiter comes by to take our dinner order. I looked at my watch. It was 6:57 p.m. Twenty minutes later, I finally get the diet coke I asked for. At 7:44 p.m., we are finally served our respective meals (bare chicken caesar for me and fish & chips for Carol). Not wanting to jump to conclusions, I asked the waiter why it took so long to get our meal. He said it was the kitchen. Yeah, the kitchen is to blame for a 20 minute delay in the coke delivery, too. Not. I didn't leave a tip. Bad service doesn't deserve one.

Once dinner was over (much later than I would have liked), Carol and I went our separate ways and I head back to my room to get my clothes ready for the next day. I decided against wearing the new tights as that is a classic newbie mistake. And for all that the shirt in the goody bag is a technical one, it felt scratchy to the touch and I figured I better save that for another day. Besides, I'm a big one on not wearing a race shirt until after I've earned the right to do so (by completing the event).

Finally, I was able to wind down enough to go to bed and actually go to sleep around ten. Of course, six o'clock the next morning came way too early. But I managed to rouse myself, make some coffee, and looked out the window. Rats, the street was wet which of course meant it had been raining. And it appeared it was still raining. As I donned my attire for the day, I managed to eat a single Baker's Breakfast Cookie (Oatmeal Raisin, my favorite) and down just a few sips of coffee. This is not my usual breakfast, but I don't have a toaster handy.

Barb shows up while I'm dressing. Since we were expecting rather cold temps, and possibly rain (or even snow), I try to dress warmly. Once I'm done dressing, we head to the lobby where we meet up with Darcy IronAyla ) who is looking slightly chilled. The good news was the sky was clearing. We could only hope that the weather would hold.

We only had twenty minutes or so to the start of the race and Barb and I still needed to dump off our extra clothing at the baggage check. That done, Barb says she needs to use the potty, but that was no dice. Only 10 minutes to the start and the lines are longer than that.

The gun went off exactly on time. It took us three minutes to get to the start line. I had wanted to do a 5/1 run/walk ratio to ensure that I would finish the race. Barb and Darcy agreed to run that pace with me. Barb because she is having issues with her knee and Darcy would because she was just running it for fun and wanted company. We also decided we would probably run without walking for the first mile or two until it was slightly less crowded. I have a hard time with people that suddenly start walking in front of runners. In my (narrow) view, walkers should move to the far right (or left) and get out of the way. They should also not walk three and four abreast thereby impeding runners behind them. But I have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to racing. That's just one of them. You'll hear about a few more later as I'm quite vocal about my opinions and hold little back. News flash there to my friends and training buddies, eh?

So, there we are running down Fifth Avenue and me wishing I had a camera to take a picture of the buckled underside of the monorail. There was some serious damage done to that system and will likely be out of service for months. Bummer. Especially during the holiday season when many people use it to get from the Center to Downtown.

We weren't far into the race when I began to notice some chafing on my inner thigh. That didn't make sense though because these weren't new tights. I'd worn them many times before. I looked down and notice that the seam had started to split. Now, I know I've put on a few pounds, but that just wasn't called for. Well, I didn't bring a needle and thread with me, so I was just going to have to keep running.

About a mile into the run, you have the opportunity to be looking down on the crowd in front of you. It is an amazing sight to see thousands of runners around you, all with the same goal in mind: to get to the finish line.

The first few miles went great and I was feeling pretty good. I was actually surprised when an hour had gone by. We'd only done 5 miles by then, but I knew I wasn't going to PR, so I tried not to worry about my time too much. This was strictly going to be a test of my knee and I'm happy to say it fared very well.

About mile 6 or so, Barb needed to stop and use the port-a-potty. Darcy and I stopped with her. I looked down to examine the chafing and was shocked at how bad it looked. I wasn't quite sure what to do since I'd never been in that position before. But Darcy pointed out the aid station. It was unmanned, but had some "blister pads." I found one marginally large enough to cover the chafing and applied it.

After that, we were on our way again. Darcy kept pulling ahead of us and would then stand around and wait for Barb and I to catch up. I finally told her to just go. Goodness, Barb and I are old ladies and there was no reason she should hang back with us when she could go faster. She trotted off and seemed glad to go. I was happy for her.

It wasn't long before we approached Galer. Galer is a very short hill with a very sharp grade. I don't really know what the grade is, but it's pretty darned steep. The problem with Galer is the hill doesn't end there. Once you make your way onto Madison, you have to keep climbing. Last year, this was not a problem for me. I was able to actually run up Madison. This year I was content to walk. We began to run again once we topped the rise and began to go downhill again on Lake Washington Blvd.

I fully expected to walk up Interlaaken when I got there, but I was surprised to find I could continue to run for quite a bit. After a while, I admit we walked a little longer than our 60 seconds, but by then, we came to my favorite part of the route. It's the part of the course that goes through Interlaaken park. It's here where I meet up with another of my pet peeves.

Barb and I are running along, chatting with each other as we can, cautioning each other about slipping on the wet leaves, when I hear and see a Propel bottle hit the ground. I also immediately see who dropped the bottle and challenge her by calling her a "litterbug." She just looks at me. I was extremely angry at her careless and callous disregard for the park and her obvious lack of knowledge of course etiquette in spite of the two year old Seattle Marathon shirt she was wearing (as was I). I angrily shouted at her, "You pack it in, you pack it out!" Again, nothing from her that acknowledged that she did anything wrong. I finally told her she was a bitch and should be ashamed of herself. At this point her man-friend-husband-running-buddy-whatever says, "Okay, you've made your point now shut the hell up." Well, that just fueled the fire. Now, if they had apologized, or acknowledge the wrongess of what they'd done, I would have been okay with it. But they were clueless. Stupid. Moronic. And it annoys me when people exhibit that level of self-imposed ignorance. So, like a little kid, and certainly not like an adult, I told him to "Make me [shut up]." That the "Last time I checked, it was still a free country and I could say what I liked for as long as I liked." Okay, so not the most mature response in the world. They ran on ahead, and I didn't bother to try and keep up. Clearly, they weren't worth the effort.

Before I hardly knew it, mile 10 arrived. By now I was counting down, and while I was still walking 60 seconds every 5 minutes, and sometimes 10 minutes (I didn't always hear my watch, so I would keep going until the next time), I was starting to feel my hips and hamstrings.

I was getting excited. We were approaching the end. It wouldn't be long and we would see the finish line. I think my pace picked up just a little.

About mile 12 or so, guess who I see? Litterbug and her friend are ahead of me and I'm catching up quickly. I wasn't even trying, it was simply just easy to run at this point. So, naturally wanting to have the final word and to maybe soften the message just a little, I very nicely and quietly say as I'm passing, "Maybe next time you will reconsider throwing that bottle." They say something snide, to which I simply tell them in sign language that they are number one in my book. Another flippant remark from them, I don't remember what. He tries to make excuses saying it's a race. I try, unsuccessfully I think, to point out that that's what the aid stations are for (like, DUH! dude). I mention that I've done one or two races in my life and in some of those races, littering can get you DQ'd. He just keys in on my doing races and says something to the effect, "You sure don't look like it." At which point I just finally say, "Yeah? Well, I'm ahead of you now, aren't I?"

I stayed that way, too. I also managed to get ahead of the little chubby gal wearing the Red Wind Casino shirt. I turned to Barb after the race and asked her if we'd passed and stayed passed that shirt. I'd never mentioned my desire to pick it off to her, but apparently she shared my thinking. Of course, getting ahead of Litterbug and her man-friend was just icing on the cake.

As Barb and I were approaching the final hill towards the stadium and finish line, we were passed by the lead wheelchair athlete. While this guy may not be able to walk (or run) using his feet, he was clearly not the least bit disabled!

When we enter the stadium, I say to Barb, "If you have anything left, now is the time to turn it on." And she promptly does. It makes me grin from ear to ear to watch her.

And that's how I crossed the finish line. Grinning like a fool. Small wonder considering the fool I made of myself arguing with stupidity. You'd think I'd know better by now, but apparently not. I still keep trying to better this world one individual at a time. But who knows? Maybe, just maybe, Ms. Litterbug will think twice before she tosses the next bottle. And one day, maybe, just maybe, she won't toss it. When that day comes, I'll be vindicated.

The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen...

2005-11-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

...are in Seattle. At least the old TV show, "Here Come the Brides" would have us believe that. And being from the northwest, I can attest, it is true. But that only counts when you can actually see the sky. I took the picture below of Mt. Rainier a little over a week ago when it was still beautiful.

This is a picture of Mt. Rainier at sunset when it looks like a giant strawberry snow cone.

Both pictures were taken from my just outside the building where I work. The one below is the same shot, but on a foggy day. Unfortunately, we've had a foggy day that's lasted about a week now. And it's cold. Highs are in the low 40's. Brrrr...makes for some very chilly riding and more than a few numb toes.

Where is the Oneness...

2005-11-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

...I used to have with the water? It's disappeared. at least I don't seem to be able to recapture it. "It" being that elusive feeling of being one with the water.

Before my surgery, when I was swimming three or four times a week, I could get in teh water and let myself go. It was therapeutic, even cathartic to get in the water and start swimming laps. Some days, I could get in and swim lap after lap and, except for that pesky thing called breathing, could almost, almost fall asleep in the water I was that comfortable. The notion of swimming 200, 400, 1000 unbroken yards was not a problem.

But not now. Now, if feels like 150 yards is 100 yards too long. What happened to my oneness? Will that feeling return? Is it because I'm only swimming twice a week instead of three or four? Or is it something deeper, more profound? Have I lost confidence in myself? Maybe. I'm not really sure. I'd like to think not. I'd rather think it was just a matter of time; that I as I continue to swim, I will work once more towards that feeling of competence, even invincibility in the water. No, I'm not fast, but I can endure. I want to recapture that feeling of "YES! I can swim 2.4 miles with ease (if not fast).

Maybe we call all work together on becoming one with the water. All together now, "Aaaaaaooooohhhhhmmmmmmmmm......"

Another Successful Week

2005-11-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I've managed to make it through my third week of training. Volumes are light and intensity low, but at least I'm getting back into the swing of things. What is different this year is the amount of riding I'm doing on my bike. At the end of the 2004 season, I put my bike away in September and, except for a couple of rides on especially nice days during the winter, I didn't take it out again until early March. That's six months of bike training I missed. Between September and the end of February, I had a grand total of 65.7 miles on my bike. To my credit, however, I had 444 miles of running and over 72,000 yards (40 miles) in the pool.

Granted, in the next 6 months, I did my level best to make up for the huge deficit on my bike by riding over 1350 miles. But in 26 weeks, that's still only an average of 52 miles a week. Clearly, that is not a sufficient base for making it through an Ironman. In analyzing the data, I discovered that I also ran less than I did in the previous 6 months, garnering only 336 miles, but my swimming increased to over 91000 yards (51 miles).

Obviously, there was a flaw in the execution of my training plan (I was using the 26 week Ironman program in Gale Bernhardt's book, Training Plans for Multisport Athletes). I think the flaw was bailing on workouts because they weren't convenient, or it meant getting on my trainer (which I was loathe to do). It was just so much easier for me to bail on a workout if I was the only one to whom I had to be accountable. Now that I have a coach, I'm held accountable by someone else and I find that I am less inclined to skip a workout.

So, the training totals for this week (my weeks start on Monday, with that day off from workouts) look like this:

Bike = 36 miles
Run = 12.6 miles
Swim = 2150 yards

For the month, my totals look like this:

Bike = 94 miles
Run = 36.6 miles
Swim = 7000 yards

Already, just in the month of November, and the month is not yet over, I have surpassed my bike total for the entire 6 months of last winter. There may be hope for me yet! As long as I can continue this momentum, I may actually get through the bike portion of Ironman Canada in plenty of time to run a marathon (oh, now I'm excited!).

So, today was my last long run before the Seattle Half Marathon next Sunday. I managed to do a whopping 7 miles and it took me almost 90 minutes to do it. Yes, that means I was slow. I'm not sure if it was the cold 90 minute ride I did yesterday (brrr...I have simply got to visit Performance Bike for some cold weather gear) or if it was the trail I was traversing that made for such a slow run. I suspect it was a little of both.

To keep things interesting, the Y group has decided to change things up a bit so that we don't get bored with the same old run. Now, instead of regularly running along the Orting trail, we'll alternate between (nice, flat) Orting trail, the (hilly) Soos Creek trail, the (just as hilly) Pt. Defiance 5 mile loop, and a hosted run (please, give me more hills....NOT!). What all that means is I'm getting in some nice hilly, albeit SLOW runs.

No matter, though, as all this hill running is simply preparing my for next Sunday's race. Yeah, right, as though I'm going race against anything. I can't even race against myself this year. Last year I PR'd on the course. I don't expect to come anywhere close to that this year. In fact, I can't help but think that in order for me to even finish the race, I will have to stick to my plan of walking for 60 seconds every 5 minuts. Yes it slows me down, but considering that 7 miles is the furthest I've run since my knee surgery back in September, I think it may be a wise move on my part. More to the point, even my coach doesn't have me finishing the race any faster than 2:45. Even at that, just so long as I can finish upright and veritcal with a smile on my face, I'll be a happy camper.

Now I need to go plan my Thanksgiving Dinner. It's not nearly so lavish as VM, but it will certainly be plentiful. Have a great week everyone and a wonderful Thanksgiving. Try to remember all those things for which you are grateful. Health, family, friends, jobs. Remember, too, life is choices so if you aren't happy with anything, you are the only one that has the power to make any changes, even if the change is only in your attitude.

Golden Crowned Kinglet

2005-11-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of all the training we do is our communing with nature. Last Sunday, my Y group got together at a new location. While I used to live in the area where we ran, I hadn't been a "runner" when I lived there (1995 or so). However, I had just become a birdwatcher. I'm extremely amatuerish, but I don't care. I still watch for birds and try to identify them.

So, while I was out on my run this last Sunday, getting absolutely SOAKING wet, I was enjoying the scenery by the river. I remember hearing a bunch of birds twittering and thinking to myself that a flock of bushtits
must be flitting through the trees. Bushtits are a very small bird, only about 3.5 inches from tip to tail and fly in flocks of 20 or 30 birds of their own kind along with black-capped chickadees and/or juncos. They also tend to be a very busy bird meaning they will flit from branch to branch of a tree, rarely perching for more than 2 or 3 seconds at a time.

Imagine my surprise then, when I finally catch a glimpse of one of the birds in the tree and it isn't a bushtit at all, but rather another very small and elusive bird, the Golden Crowned Kinglet! Again, this bird is tiny. No bigger than the bushtit, but more colorful. The Golden Crowned Kinglet usually likes to stick to the top of conifer trees and because of that, is not often seen. But when you do, if you are a birdwatcher, you can't help but be enchanted.

So, this little bird, stopped me dead in my tracks during my run on Sunday. My only wish is that I had had my camera with me so I could have taken my own picture rather than relying on those taken by others.

Planning & Preparation

2005-11-15T17:52:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten how much planning goes into my training and into losing weight.

For training, I have to think ahead into the next day. For example, last night I checked my schedule and my coach had me swimming and cycling today. Fortunately, both workouts were relatively easy, only about 30 minutes each for a total of 60 minutes. But it took me another hour just to get prepared. I had to collect all my swim gear: swimsuit, towel, goggles, chest strap, and cap. I wear my swimsuit to the gym, so I won't need to change into it when I'm there, so I also wear a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt over it along with my flip-flops.

Since I'll be going to work straight from the gym, that also means I have to make sure I have everything I'll need to clean up after the swim and get dressed. So, the litany goes something like this:

panties -- check
bra -- check
top -- check
pants -- check
stockings -- check
shoes, can't forget the shoes (or the undergarmets for that matter) -- check
make-up (blush, mascarra, lip liner, lipstick, powder)-- check, check, check, check, check
soap, deoderant, shampoo, moisturizer (hey, I'm almost 50--I need the moisturizer -- more checks

Whew. And that's just to do the swim and go to work afterwards.

Now I've decided I want to ride my bike during lunch so I can avoid riding the trainer at night. That means not only do I need to coordinate which car I'm going to drive (bike doesn't fit well into my t-bird), now I need to collect all my bike gear. Here goes another list:

Bike in car -- check (including front wheel, not like Commodore)
Helmet -- check
Shoes (there we go with the shoes again) -- check
Bike pants -- check
Bike socks -- check
Bike bra -- check
Bike top -- check
Bike top (it's cold out so I'm doubling up) -- check
Bike jacket (told you it was cold out) -- check
Gloves -- check
Bike glasses -- check

Whew, again! Everything except the bike gets loaded into a bag and that gets put into the car, along with the bike. And it's loaded the night before. I don't wait for morning.

Okay, so I'm swimming in the morning and cycling during lunch. Ack! That means I won't get to eat, so I need to take something to work. *sigh*

Since I'm trying to lose weight, I must be careful about what I take. If I allow myself to get too hungry, I'll eat things I shouldn't, like the Tootsie Pops that are kept on my desk.

So, the next list:

Lettuce -- check
Black olives (this means opening the can and finding an appropriately sized container to put them in) -- check
Tomato (slice and dice and find another appropriately sized container) -- check
Chicken breast (thank goodness for Louis Rich, but it requires weighing, cutting, and another freaking container) -- check
Container *sigh* in which to put all of the above -- check
Lids for everything (well all except for the container that will hold all the containers; it's missing so for that I use foil) -- check

Hmmm...something to tide me over between breakfast and lunch.

Luna Bar (orange bliss, yum) -- check

And just in case a Luna Bar doesn't hit my fancy:

Oatmeal Raisin Baker's Breakfast Cookie -- check

And for afternoon snacking, assuming I can resist the cookie:

Baby carrots (oh, boy!) -- check

OMG! Finally, I'm done. Everything is ready. My food is in the fridge (will need to remember to take it out in the morning), my swim bag and bike bag, along with the bike are already loaded in the car. NOW I can prepare my dinner.

When I got up this morning, I was so pleased with myself for having everything ready. All I needed to do upon rising was get my clothes on, brush my teeth, put the coffee on, pop my bread in the toaster, kick back, check my e-mail, and try to wake up. (I fear the days when I could just hop out of bed and be out the door in 15 minutes are long gone.)

After consuming breakfast and pouring my coffee, I was out the door, ready to go for my swim. Wouldn't you know, though, in spite of all that planning and preparation I managed to forget something after all. I walked out of the house and got a mile down the road before I realized I didn't have a watch on. The watch that serves as my heart rate monitor. What good is the chest strap, which I already had on, without the darned monitor? Fortunately, since I was only a mile away, I could easily turn around and go back to get it, which I did.

I'm sure glad tomorrow is just a run during lunch. That should be easy to get ready for as the clothes are already in the wash. Now, for that list...

No Trainer For Me Today

2005-11-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

I'm happy, happy, happy to say that I didn't ride my trainer today.

I got up around 8:30 a.m. It was so nice to sleep in for a change. I don't do that very often...maybe once a week if I'm lucky. Anyway, I was hopeful last night when I went to bed and noticed that the skies had cleared somewhat. I even saw the moon.

This morning when I awoke, the skies were still only partly cloudy. I crossed my fingers and hoped that the weather would last for a little longer. I wanted to ride my bike outside, but knew I probably wouldn't be ready to get out there for another hour or so. I was still trying to wake up.

So, I ate my toast and drank my coffee. I entered some info in my on-line workout journal and downloaded my Polar data. I checked the skies again. Weather still holding. After several days of nothing but gray skies and rain, it was nice to see weak sunshine and a few patches of blue.

I tentatively changed out of my pajamas and got my warm tights on. I didn't even bother with the padded ones (in retrospect, I'm glad they weren't padded). I donned other essentials like socks, shirt, and jacket. Next, I had to get my bike off the trainer. Not hard, but harder to do when someone in the house is still sleeping and you don't want to wake them.

That accomplished, I put on my shoes, stuck a water bottle in a cage, stuffed my recently and fully-charged cell phone into my bento box, grabbed my helmet and cyclometer and wrote a brief note to my loved one on the whiteboard in the kitchen. To wit, "Riding on the trail towards Orting. Back around 11:30." And I was GONE!

The first few pedal strokes felt wonderful. My bike was moving. I was pedaling and my bike was moving. Oh, that was wonderful indeed. I wasn't going very fast, but I didn't care. I was instructed by my coach to keep my heart rate in zone 1, with 50%of my time in zone 2. That was it. That meant I was going to be going very slowly.

After about 8 minutes or so, I reached the trail. This is the same one I traveled a few weeks ago, just before Halloween. All the kids were out chasing pumpkins looking for a jack-o-latern. Today, a helicopter was flying overhead. I could tell he was near the tree farm and my first inclination was that he was spraying the trees. That notion disturbed me, but as I drew nearer, it became very clear what he was doing. He was moving batches of Christmas trees from where they were cut to where they could be loaded. It was an interesting process to watch as it only took him a minute or two to make a round trip. At first I thought someone had to be on the ground hooking him up until I realized that he was using a huge electronic magnet. The chopper would drop down on one side of the trail, pick up a load by turning the magnet on, fly over to the other side and drop his load by turning the magnet off. It was interesting to watch.

I saw lots of cyclists out that apparently had the same idea as me. They were going to take advantage of the weather as long as it would hold. My goal today was to ride for a total of 75 minutes. But I figured a few minutes one side or the other wouldn't hurt too much, so I rode out one way for 45 minutes. I reasoned that with the headwind I was facing and the fact that it would be "downhill" on the way back, I would return faster than I went out. I was right, too. When I looked at the data later, it took me 48 minutes to reach my turn around spot, but it only took 37 minutes to return to my start position. I average just under 13 mph (oh, that is sad) on my way out, but averaged just under 16 mph (with a 23 mph max) on the way back without an appreciable increase in my perceived exertion. Okay, so those times won't buy me a spot on the tour with Lance, but after not being on the road for most of the last two months, I was pretty proud of myself.

In total, I managed to ride for an hour and 27 minutes and it was the best hour and a half of my day. To complete my week, I only have to do a 70 minute run tomorrow. Piece of cake.

Turkeys

2005-11-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

If I want to be successful at Ironman Canada, I simply most lose some of this weight. It will make me faster and it will make climbing those mountain passes a lot easier. But I don't need to lose just 5 or 10 pounds. Nope, not me. I don't even have to lose just 20 pounds. No sirreee. Not me. I need to lose forty pounds to get back to my former weight. To help you visualize what forty pounds means, imagine navigating up a mountain pass on your bike carrying a very LARGE bag of dog food strapped to your back. You know, the size you would buy for a Rottweiler, German Shepard, or St. Bernard. Better yet, since we are close to Thanksgiving, think turkey. I need to lose the equivalent of TWO, not just one, but TWO 20-pound turkeys. ACK!!!

I have lost weight in the past. In fact, in 2001 I joined WeightWatchers and proceeded to lose 75 pounds over the course of about a year. But even after that loss, I still wasn't at my personal goal weight of 135 pounds. That's what I weighed when I married for the second time (which was over 16 years ago).

I can't even blame having babies as the reason for my weight gain. My children were already half grown when I started gaining weight. I can blame it on quitting smoking. When all was said and done, between re-marrying and quitting smoking, I put on over 100 pounds. That's FIVE of those dumb birds.

If I don't do something to get my weight under control, I may be packing those blasted turkeys up Richter pass with me in 2006. Trust me, that is not a pleasant prospect. I look at myself in the mirror these days and I don't like what I see. Why is it so easy to pack on the weight and so hard to take it off? Something about the equation there just doesn't seem fair.

Okay, so I don't know exactly what I'm going to do. I could try following WeightWatchers again, but I'm reluctant because I don't like being hungry and WW is very restrictive in terms of calorie intake. But, let's face it, in order to lose weight, one must restrict their calories. Darn it.

Ah, well. Maybe just by putting something out here publicly, I can motivate myself to eat just a little bit less. Maybe I can start by just losing one of those turkeys.

Letting Go

2005-11-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, this has nothing to do with triathlon, except in the sense that it may ultimately infringe on my training. Also, the following is not for the faint of heart as you may find some of the pictures in this post disturbing.

My mother is a hoarder. Most people don't know what that means, but I found this definition and it fits my mother: "Hoarding is the excessive collection and retention of things or animals until they interfere with day-to-day functions such as home, health, family, work and social life. Severe hoarding causes safety and health hazards.”

My mother is a severe hoarder. She does not realize how extreme her condition is, which just goes to show how deep her denial runs. This is the current condition of her master bath. In fact, this picture was taken a few weeks ago, so it is probably worse by now or, at the very least, certainly no better. The sink is clogged with dirty dishes because her kitchen sink (forget the sink, the entire kitchen) is too full. I alternate between being angry with her for keeping her home in such a condition, frightened for her health and safety, and saddened by the current state of disarray.

Things have gotten so bad in my mother's home (and while she knows and acknowledges that things inside her home are bad, I'm not convinced she realizes exactly HOW bad) that she will no longer even invite her children into her home. The only reason I have these pictures is I was asked to feed her cat while she was in the hospital. While she did warn me, and I had in inclination of what to expect, I admit I was stunned by what I found. You've already seen the master bath and the kitchen. Check out where she sleeps. When there is no longer any room on the bed, it (whatever it may be) simply gets knocked onto the floor.

This is not a new phenomena. It has been going on for years, decades even. I can remember as a kid that her bedroom was always "cluttered" with "stuff." Once all we children had moved out, she began to accumulate more and more things and they collected all over the house. At one point, I can remember a can of tomato sauce that must have been so old that it exploded all over the pantry. The ensuing mess didn't get cleaned up until she moved some years later.

Several years ago, she was out of town for an extended period of time taking care of a sick relative. While she was gone, my sister and I went into her home and "cleaned up." We purchased containers in which to put her copious amounts of fabric (which she has since replaced even though she has macular degeneration and can no longer see well enough to stitch a line). Some of the meat in her freezer had been there for almost 10 years. In fact, she had so much stuff in her freezer, all of which she was loathe to dispose of, that the door on the freezer no longer closed properly and she was using rubber bands to keep it moderately closed!

In addition to that, she had cans of food in her pantry that were so old they bulged. We made the decision to throw out anything that didn't have an expiration date on it (because it was purchased well in advance of expiration dates being printed) or anything that was obviously well past the expiration date. By the time we were done, we had, gotten rid of a couple of tons of garbage--so said the scale at the local dump. This is what it looked like when we were done.

Just a few years later, this is what it looks like:

I've been reading up on the condition of hoarding and it seems it is not merely a hold over from the depression days, though many people of that era are affected (my mother was born in 1927). It has more to do, however, with the inability to "let go." People that hoard are afraid of losing control. They are afraid that once they do, they will need the information or thing that "it" represents and then be unable to retrieve it.

It also has to do with an inability to organize and/or make decisions regarding that organization. Part of the problem is because there are so many categories of one. Hoarders see each item as unique which means it cannot be grouped with anything else. But hoarders are intent on trying to organize, so much so, that containers are purchased for the express purpose of organizing only said containers to become just the latest victims of the disarray. Such is the case as can be seen in the above picture of my mothers living room. Note the white plastic baskets near the chair on the left hand side of the picture. Note also the walker that would be impossible to use in this home as there is no place left for one to walk.

No doubt by now you have also noticed all the paper bags scattered throughout the home. Most of them are empty. Those that aren't may contain one or two cans of vegetables or some other food staple. They don't get put away, though, because the cabinets they would go into are blocked by, you guessed it, more paper bags with one or two cans in them. The cycle is vicious and never ending.

Another natrual consequence of the inability to throw out anything is even the ability to throw out the garbage. My mother has a large plastic garbage bag hooked over the handle of the vacuum cleaner (or maybe it's a carpet cleaner) in her bedroom. When she has something she needs to discard, it goes in this bag. There must have been fruit or rotting vegetation in the bag as it was teeming with fruit flies. When I commented on this to my mother and pronounced my disgust, her answer was to spray the bag with fly killer! Um, Mom...the answer is to take out the garbage...which, of course, I did.

Remember that carpet cleaner or vacuum from which the garbage bag was hanging? Well, this is the state of the carpet. I tried to suggest to my mother that not only would the carpet need replacing, so would the sub-floor since her cat has decided that any spare floor space is it's litter box. Mom's carpet is so filthy it is sticky.

Okay, this is really all I have time for today. I'll have to post more about it some other time. I admit to being a little lost as to what to do. My mother is perfectly senile. She does not have dementia. She has simply become so overwhelmed, she doesn't know what to do or how to extricate herself from the mess. She is also too ashamed to ask for any help, so I may be forced to call Adult Protective Services to help me (and my family) deal with the problem as it is clearly a problem.

If anyone else out there has had a similar problem, I'd love to hear how or if you solved it or what solutions you used.

I Survived!

2005-11-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

I survived my first week with my new coach, that is. I wasn't required to do a whole lot for a couple of reasons. First, I'm still recovering from my knee surgery. Second, I'm recovering from a cold that took me out of the game for a week or so. Between those two things, it means I haven't had any steady training of any kind for several weeks (5 or 6). That means my HR is up in the stratosphere somewhere, but my pace is a little slower than a slug on dry pavement. Still and all, this is what the first week looked like:

Scheduled:
Mon -- rest day
Tue -- Swim 30 min / Bike 20 min (bike means ride the freaking trainer--ugh)
Wed -- Run 30 min / 15 min core exercises (I'm such a core wuss...I was supposed to do 2-4 sets of 10-20 reps of just a few exercises. I was lucky to finish ONE set of a measly 10 reps. I sure hope this improves as time marches on.)
Thu -- Swim 35 min / Bike 25 min (Good grief--20 minutes was torture the other day)
Fri -- Run 35 min
Sat -- Bike 60 minutes flat to rolling hills -- weather precluded riding outside, so this was another (puke) trainer session
Sun -- Run 60 min

Completed:
Mon -- Easy!
Tue -- 1000 yards and felt like I could hardly breathe / Managed to do 23 minutes on the trainer
Wed -- Since I'm supposed to be keeping the HR down (yeah, right), I just did a simple 2 mile treadmill program. Funny, but it didn't seem to help keep my HR down. It still sky-rocketed. Then I did the core exercises.
Thu -- Swim 1250 yards -- not dying this time, but still quite winded and still slow / Okay, I managed 27 minutes on the trainer this time.
Fri -- Same treadmill program, but this time I didn't adjust the speed or incline at all and I only did 1.8 miles in 30 minute. Holy moley, but that's slow! (Well, it is for me.)
Sat -- OMG! If I thought 20 - 25 minutes was torture, 60 minutes on a trainer is nothing but pure agony. However, I have to admit it is all mental. My body could handle the challenge just fine, so long as I left everything in an easy gear. But getting my head wrapped around pedaling in place was tough. I can run in place with no problem, but cycling in place is certainly a challenge.
Sun -- FINALLY! Got to get outdoors for a change and run. Again, not fast, but managed to do 5 miles in my 60 minutes. Still haven't managed to figure out how I'm going to get through the Seattle Half Marathon that is only 3 weeks away. I'm thinking I'm going to be a hurtin' gal come the Monday after. Fortunately, that pain usually only lasts a couple of days. I'm actually still hoping to get in enough base training in the next couple of weeks that my HR comes down and I can turn the race into a decent training run. I won't be able to race, but I can at least get some good training out of it.

This is me (in the middle) at my very first Seattle Half Marathon (2002). I was having a blast. My good friend Barb is on my left (right side of photo). I have no idea who the tall gal is and she is tall. Barb and I are no slouches at 5'6". We are evidently laughing about something. Like I said, we had a good time!

Photo by Action Sports International

DNF Dreams

2005-11-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning and realized I just DNF'd in a dream. I don't have any idea what race I was doing. All I know is I got through the swim, got to my transition area, allowed someone to use my camera to take pictures of me in T1, then I proceeded to march off someplace that had nothing to do with triathlon. I also know that I was doing the tri without the approval of my coach. That meant I wasn't pushing things as I approached T1. For whatever reason, I chose to walk out of the water and didn't start running until I heard someone come up behind me. Then I slowly kicked it into gear. Funny thing about that T1--I don't remember seeing any bikes.

Anyway, after leaving T1, I didn't get on my bike, I went to a house. I'm not sure why and I don't remember what happened there, but somewhere along the way, I know my husband lightly chided me for not continuing. Feeling guilty, I put on my bike shoes and prepared to go run. Yes, I was going to run in order to finish the triathlon. In my bike shoes. Hey, it was a dream. It didn't matter that I didn't bike first.

I remember leaving this house, where ever it was, but it wasn't mine, and going out the gate (white picket fence, even), and seeing other athletes that had finished the race leaving the venue. About this time, I decided to go to the awards ceremony (it's not unusual for me to be in a race where the awards are handed out long before I am anywhere close to finishing), and tell the officials that I was going to DNF, but I was going to finish the run anyway. In my bike shoes. Why did it not occur to me that I hadn't BIKED yet?

Very odd dream. Not sure of its significance, if any. I haven't had a tri-related dream in a long time, so this surprised me. The thing I do remember about it, it was a half-iron. Too weird.

Oh, What a Relief It Is!

2005-11-03T05:41:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Flatman's blog and couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for tests, usually doing quite well on them.

So, I took the 8th grade math test.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

So, after passing the 8th grade math test with flying colors, I moved on to some other interesting tests. First off, my IQ. No secrets there. My logical intelligence is decidedly below average. Well, duh. Why else would I be training for an Ironman. That's not terribly logical, is it?

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average
Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius
Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius
Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Other than that, it looks like I'm a pretty smart cookie. What a relief. (Please, do NOT take this too seriously!)

Back in the Saddle Again

2005-11-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

Yeeehaaaw! Yup. Got on my bike today and rode for 20 minutes. Okay, so it was really for 23 minutes. I have no idea how far I went because I was on my trainer and my computer wheel sensor was on the front wheel, which went absolutely nowhere.

I also swam this afternoon. I won't try swimming during lunch again any time soon. I was a little late returning to work and I didn't dry my hair or re-apply my makeup. I felt a little, um, {nekkid} without it.

Anyway, woke up this morning and checked my e-mail only to discover my coach had finally got me up and running on TrainingPeaks. Had I opened my email last night, I could have prepared for my swim this morning, but that obviously didn't happen. Oh, well. At least I managed to get both the workouts in. Tomorrow is a short run and some core work. I think I'm gonna like this coach. Look out IMC 2006!

Less Than 300 Days Left...

2005-10-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

...to Ironman Canada. That's only 10 months left to train.

I had a chance to speak with my new coach this weekend. We talked a lot about how my focus is going to have to be on getting me through the bike as my swim and run, while maybe not fast, are at least consistent and I have a solid base in those two disciplines. The bike, though, well that's another story. We will start me out on the trainer two or three times a week, for probably 30 minutes to an hour to start. That's all. At least for the bike portion. Of course, weekends will be when I will want to try and get a ride in, but we won't worry about those too much until the weather improves. Of course, I don't stand a snowball's chance in you-know-where of doing anything like qualifying for Kona, but I should at least be able to finish the darn thing this time around!

At least she didn't have any problem with me signing up for the Seattle Half. Now I'm the only one that has a problem with it. I ran a week ago Sunday and haven't run since. Starting about Wednesday, I got a cold and it kicked my butt throughout the entire weekend. Now with the time change, I admit I'm feeling a little off center. But the half mary is only 4 weeks away. I'm very obviously not going to have a PR. Thank goodness Darcy has agreed to keep me company.

Reformatting

2005-10-31T18:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend I took the "BIG" step. After a year or more of trying to coax my computer along because I was a) too busy to fix it and/or b) too lazy to do what needed to be done, I finally broke down and bought a removable (meaning external) hard drive. I then began the process of moving the files I wanted to keep onto the removable drive, because I was going to REFORMAT my hard drive.

While in this process, I made an interesting discovery. Granted, my computer was purchased around 2001 or so, but is still a good machine. I could stand to upgrade the memory (for video and dvd burning, etc.), but other than that, it does everything I need it to do. What I learned, though, was that the external drive that I purchased was some 80Gb while the internal drive on my computer was a mere 40Gb. Go figure. I thought I had plenty of room to back up my whole hard drive onto the new external drive. Some two hours later, I note that the back up process has halted. Huh? Argh. Seems my computer's hard drive was NTSF or NTFS or whatever while the external one was FAT32. That meant the backup file was limited to 4Gb. Oh, well. Nothing to do for it.

Anyway, I'd finished moving all the files over and now I was ready to do what I dreaded to do. As always, this is a move of the last resort. Hard drives rarely need it unless you are giving them away. I was going to reformat my hard drive. EVERYTHING would be lost. Going back to a restore point was no longer an option. I had so many extraneous, superfluous, redundant, unnecessary (how many other adjectives can I use for the same thing) irrelevant, and non-essential files on my computer that it had slowed to a mere crawl. I had trojans hiding in the corners along with a few viruses, not to mention adware, spyware, and TWO (count them, TWO) operating systems. My computer was a mess.

For too long I had let the task go for fear of losing some important piece of information. Let's face it, I had all my contacts, e-mails, training plans, pictures, and race reports stored on this computer. Having a hard copy of any of these things would be nice, but could you imagine retyping all those race reports or re-entering all the data from my training logs? The thought alone was enough to make me cringe.

However, after spending most of Sunday at the task (Thursday through Saturday were spent being mostly sick), I was finally at the C:> prompt where I needed to type in the Y (for yes) when asked the question, "Do you really want to reformat the drive." Closing my eyes, I hit the enter key, then walked away from my computer. This was going to take a while.

Wow! What a difference a few hours can make. Yes, it's a pain in the kazoo because I have to reload all my software. I have lost some data (a year's worth of diet info in Fitday), but most of my pictures, race reports, and training journals are safe. I even managed to salvage all the data in my Outlook with the exception of my rules. Already I can tell a difference. Web pages load faster, programs open up quicker, and jpeg transfers are no longer sluggish.

To bad we can't reformat our lives sometimes. Wouldn't it be interesting if we could simply wipe out all the bad stuff, the extraneous, superfluous, non-essential stuff? But what would we learn if we did. I think we'd always have to be starting over from scratch. It's okay to do it to a computer, but human beings are a little different. Ya think?

Biggest Whiner

2005-10-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit it. I watch one of those reality TV shows. I'm not crazy about most of them, but I do like watching "The Biggest Loser." Why? Because I can relate to their struggles. Because I continue to relate to their struggles. Because I'm envious of their opportunity to workout with a trainer. Because I'm envious of their controlled environment. Because I would love to have a chef cooking for me. Because I used to BE (and still am, to an extent) like them. But that's another story. This is another rant.

Okay, Suzy is driving me crazy. Stop with the whining already! She complains about how it is oh, so hard on poor, poor Suzy (and the other girls) to watch the guys win the weigh-in every time. Those boys are just being so mean for not thinking of the poor girls' feelings while they celebrate their wins with victory dances. And as she continues to lament, her voice keeps getting higher and higher and higher until the woman is practically screeching. Somebody put a cork in it for her, will ya?

And Shannon has such a chip on her shoulder. She is absolutely convinced that all of the guys are against her. She complains about being dis-respected, but won't offer up even a smidgen of respect herself. Well, duh, honey, that's a two way street. You know, it's a wonder the Shannon and Suzy ever get any sleep as they are constantly partying. Pity partying, that is. I've never seen such water works. Between the two of them, they must have cried a river! OMG, ladies, GET OVER YOURSELVES.

Of course, Mark wasn't much better, coming right out and calling the girls "dirt bags." Like, dude, that's just so rude! Whatever your personal opinions might be, restrain yourself, okay? You're a cop. These girls aren't criminals. No wonder the girls are upset with attitudes like that coming from the boys. However, I did like Caroline's response, "Suck it up." Yeah, duh, huh? That was a toughie.

What saddened me, was the inidividual they let go. Pete had done such a great job making the pairs (okay, so you have to watched the show to know what that means, but it doesn't really matter so I won't go into it) that everyone involved actually seemed pleased. It was really sad to see him go, but wow! You should see him now. He looks spectacular. I wonder if my lamenting his departure makes me the Biggest Whiner?

Ghost Whisperer and Ghostly Research

2005-10-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

I'm incensed. Okay, maybe it's stupid and I'm just being a triathlon snob, but I hate all these screenwriters trying to incorporate the sport of triathlon into their stories without doing the proper research. The episode I just watched (I DVR'd it so the episode was a week or more old) was about a guy that died while doing a triathlon. Seems some numbskull kid on a Stingray-type bike (um, dating myself there) was allowed into the the path of the cyclist(s) and the cyclist ended up head over heels over the guardrail. Point is, the cyclist-now-ghost is saying how he was just finishing a 112 mile bike and getting ready to go on a 26 mile run. Give me a break. This guy was riding a road bike with flat handlebars (guess he didn't believe in going aero) AND riding in a pack. Can you say "drafting?"

Okay, like I said, I'm just being a snob, but I have yet to see a flat handle bar at an iron-distance race. You'll find them aplenty at sprints and olympics, and maybe even the half-iron distance, but not usually at an ironman. Drives me nuts. Right along with all those folks that pronounce triathlon as tri-ath-A-lon instead of tri-ath-lon.

I'm done ranting. I'll go to bed now.

Completed Races (2002 - 2004)

2005-10-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

My athletic/racing career (such as it is) begins in 2002 when, at the ripe old age of 45, I ran my first race, the St. Patrick's Day Dash in Seattle. Heck, it's when I started running at all. However, I had so much fun at that first race, that I haven't stopped racing since. The bib numbers (and t-shirts) just continue to collect.

2002 Completed Races

Date	Event	Distance	Time
3/17/02	St. Patrick's Day Dash	5k+	37:51
8/3/02	Sumner Fun Run	5k	31:21
8/10/02	My First Triathlon	Sprint	1:46:06
3/17/02	Danskin Triathlon (Seattle)	Sprint	1:53:18
9/8/02	Bank to Bay 10k	10k	1:04:03
9/28/02	NW Trek Run Wild	8k	48:13
10/6/02	Portland Marathon	5 miler	49:25
10/26/02	Halloween 5k	5k	29:26
11/25/02	Turkey Trot at Norpoint	5k	30:37
11/28/02	Seattle Marathon	Half Marathon	2:30:03
12/10/02	Christmas Rush Fun Run	5k	29:57

2003 Completed Races

Date	Event	Distance	Time
1/1/03	Resolution Run	5k	33:26
2/2/03	Las Vegas Marathon	Marathon	5:26:07
3/16/03	St. Patrick's Day Dash	5k+	31:59
3/30/03	Mercer Island Run	8k	51:29
5/18/03	Capital City Marathon	5(.2)m	55:18
6/1/03	Blue Lake Triathlon	Olympic	3:49:56
6/14/03	Sound to Narrows	12k	1:27:51
7/4/03	Firecracker Triathlon	Sprint	1:26:27
7/26/03	Seafair Torchlight Run	12k	53:12
8/2/03	Sumner Fun Run	5k	29:31
8/9/02	My Next Triathlon	Sprint	1:24:49
8/17/03	Danskin Triathlon	Sprint	1:27:51
9/7/03	Tri-America (Lake Stevens)	Olympic	3:41:27
9/28/03	Inexpensive 8k	8k	48:13
11/27/03	Turkey Trot at Norpoint	5k	34:35
11/30/03	Seattle Marathon	Half Marathon	2:27:25

2004 Completed Races

Date	Event	Distance	Time
1/11/04	Rock-n-Roll Arizona	Marathon	5:59:15
4/17/04	Y Run for Kids	5k	32:20
5/16/05	Capital City Marathon	5m	53:42
6/06/04	Blue Lake Triathlon	Olympic	3:15:00
6/12/04	Cascades Edge Triathlon	Sprint	1:34:45
7/18/04	Seafair Triathlon	Sprint	2:02:14
8/1/04	Troika Triathlon	Half Ironman	7:39:12
8/7/04	Sumner Festival Fun Run	5k	29:56
8/29/04	Chicago Triathlon	Olympic	3:30:28
9/11/04	Black Hills Triathlon	Olympic	3:39:00
9/12/04	Bank to Bay 10k	10k	1:07:05
9/25/04	NW Trek Run Wild	8k	53:53
10/3/04	Inexpensive 8k	8k	55:06
10/31/04	Run Like Hell	Half Marathon	2:28:20
11/25/04	Turkey Trot at Norpoint	5k	31:23
11/28/04	Seattle Marathon	Half Marathon	2:22:04
12/10/02	Christmas Rush Fun Run	10k	1:00:26

Soos Creek Trail Run

2005-10-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

Let me start out by saying that "trail run" is a bit of a misnomer. The trail is nicely paved. I was expecting a trail much like the paved trail I normally run on in Orting that is all flat. That was a mistake. This was much more rolling. It wasn't bad, but it meant my already sluggish pace was even more sluggish. My major difficulties were in the downhills and when the trail canted to one side or the other. Those two things would put added stress on the knee and it would twinge some. Not bad, but the twinges were there. In spite of that, I felt like I had a good run. I managed to put in 5 miles in about 62 minutes (told you I was a slug). Normally, I can at least get close to 6 miles in that same time, but I guess this is just my "recovery" pace. Yup, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Here we are congragating after the run. This is when we do our stretching, chugging of post-run hydration/nutrition, and general catch up which usually entails discussing which Starbuck's we will descend upon that day. I was very glad of this opportunity to chit-chat as I didn't meet up with them yesterday (when they run and I usually swim, but I still meet them at Starbucks afterwards).

Once we arrive at Starbuck's we tend to take over the place. Imagine, if you will, a lazy Sunday morning when 18 people suddenly swoop down on your estabilishment without any warning, and keep your barristas hop, hop, hopping!

Today was also the day my friend Barb, whom I hadn't seen in many, many weeks, and I had agreed to get together and run. Barb and I did our first marathon together in Las Vegas 2003, along with Lori, Darcy, and Seujan.

Today was a particularly fine day as there were about 18 of us that had gathered at Starbuck's . One of things I like about these group runs is the sense of camaraderie that exists. We enjoy each others company and love sharing our stories. In addition to talking about running, we also solve all the world's problems, come to conclusions about how to avert the next meteorlogical tragedy, and figure out which races we want to do next, either individually or as a group/team. In this fashion, we have decided upon races like the Rainier to Ruston Relay (50 mile relay or ultra), Rainier to Pacific Relay (150 mile relay), NW Trek Run Wild (8k), Y Run for Kids (5k), and Sound to Narrows (12k), just to name a few. The next group race up is the United We Run Marathon and Relay.

Going for coffee after our runs is not only social, it is often educational. Here you see Darcy (IronAyla) giving blogging lessons to Rob (RunningFurther).

But the really BIG question for the day was what to bring for next week's potluck. Food. We are all about the food. And coffee, of course.

Take My Breath Away

2005-10-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled. I got to ride to work today and I got to ride on the newly paved portion of the trail. I'm thrilled because I pick up the trail just shy of 2 miles from my house. No longer do I have to ride along the two-lane, 50 mph highway. I don't have to dodge roadkill, broken glass, tire shreds, or copious amounts of gravel. I can now ride along, in peaceful serenity and (relative) blissful quiet all the way to where I work. It was absolutely wonderful.

This morning, I rode past Christmas tree farms I didn't know existed. Other fields contained bright orange globes among which, in the afternoon, children would scamper about looking for their favorite jack-o-latern-to-be. People were walking their dogs while others just ran. All of us are glad this part of the trail has finally been paved. I was filled with wonder, contentment, and pure glee. I smiled all morning at work just remembering the ride.

Of course, the ride had a bit of a down side. My knee caused me some pain. Not much and mostly just twinges, but I worried about how my activies the rest of the day might affect my ride home. I was slated to hit the mezzanine with 5 of my co-workers and begin cleaning it up. To tackle the job, I brought my grunge clothes along with gloves and a dust mask.

The mezzanine is a no man's land. It is where everything goes that no one knows what to do with, as we have little to no storage, and we have a legal requirement to keep the stuff. It is also where excess supplies go. But as time marched on, for at least the 8 months that I have been there, boxes got piled on top of boxes, and we started to lose things. They didn't go anywhere, we just couldn't find them in the ensuing mountain of stuff.

Well, to try and make a long story short, I got in a heck of a workout just breaking down boxes and moving things around so that there was some semblence of order in the place. All the toner, most of it obsolte as we no longer have the printers they supported, is all in one place. All the forms we use are now in one place. All the cleaning supplies were collected and put in one place. It's still dirty, nasty, filthy, dusty up there, but at least it's an organized filth.

All of that physical exertion, though, put a strain on my knee especially as I tried to go up and down the stairs that led to the mezzanine. The rise on these puppies is not exactly within code. I discovered that while I could go up more or less normally, I had to stiff leg it down, one at a time. So, the ride home might possibly be a challenge.

Once it was 5:00 p.m., I locked the doors, changed back into my cycling clothes and I was gone! Once again, I picked up the newly paved trail. It was just as wonderful tonight as it was this morning. When I arrived at the junction that was the turn-off to my street, I was compelled, in spite of the knee twinges, to just keep going. I couldn't help it. It was just so nice outside. The weather was perfect. I found it particularly interesting when I would hit pockets of really warm air. I mean a solid 10 degrees warmer. Had to be. Of course, I didn't have a thermometer with me (my Polar S720i doesn't count), so I can't really say. It could have been only 5 degrees difference, I don't really know for sure, but whatever the difference, it was striking. It was enough so that it took me by surprise.

When I got to the end of the newly paved trail, I turned around and rode back. That's when I saw her. She took my breath away. She always does. She is so solid, so striking, so absolutely magnificent. Mt. Rainier is absolutely one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Majestic is an apt adjective. No matter how long I've lived here (30 years), the sight of her never fails to leave me feeling awed. Of course, living in her shadow, I admit to being slightly biased. Okay, a LOT biased. Doesn't matter. There is no denying the majesty of her presence. Of course, if you can't see her, it means it's raining and if you can see her, then it's going to rain. Only two types of weather forecasts in Washington; either it's raining or it's going to rain.

Anyway, after stopping to take a few pictures of Her Majesty, I rode on back to the intersection that would take me to my home. Once I arrived home, I couldn't help but think I should be doing a brick. My legs felt like jelly after even such a short ride.

Going up the stairs to the back door, my knee twinged again. Some of those twinges downright hurt. During my ride I wondered about the pain. I figured there has to be some pain, right? I mean, when people do PT as part of their recovery for a serious injury, there is always some pain, isn't there? I was just hoping I wasn't crossing the line between acceptable pain and unacceptable pain. How am I supposed to know?

Whatever the case may be, I managed, over the course of the day by riding to work (4.6 miles), riding to town for my lunch and back to work (6.2 miles), and riding back home via the end of the trail (7.9 miles), to put in a whopping 18.7 miles in one hour and 23 minutes. Okay, not breaking any speed records there, but at least I was back on my bike. That was a very good thing.

Amazing Amazon Dot Com

2005-10-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

I ordered some books over the weekend from Amazon dot com. Pat wanted a book on peanut butter and how to make your own. Amazon was having a special and you could get it along with the Ultimate Chocolate Cookie book or some such thing. He has the sweet tooth (I prefer salty), so I got the duo combo.

Then I noticed the books I had on my wish list. There was Chi Running by Danny Dreyer and Slow, Fat Triathlete by Jayne Williams.

I added those to my order. After all, if I used their super saver shipping, which could take 6 to 10 days, I'd pay nothing in shipping. I wasn't in a hurry, so I opted for the super saver.

Well, Amazon came through again. Of course, it helps I live in the Northwest where many of these books are warehoused and where Amazon Dot Com is headquartered. But the 6 to 10 days shipping turned into 4. Yay! I'm quite anxious to read Jayne's book, "Slow, Fat Triathlete." I've actually had the pleasure of meeting Jayne. She is a delightfully frank and witty individual. I enjoy her company immensely.

I'll tell you more about Jayne some other time but, for now, I think I'll hit the sack and take Jayne's book to bed with me. I look forward to her making me laugh.

I Can't Find My Groove!

2005-10-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

So Tuesday, I was going to go swim. But I didn't.

Today, I considered going for a spin class, but I was too hungry after work, so I just went home.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run with my friend Darcy (Ironayla, shown here at Ironman Canada 2003), but I want to attend an open house at the local school. I live in a valley and developers are ruining it's character by building huge housing developments within the valley and on top of one of the (chain of) hills. Unfortunately, the current infrastructure doesn't support the amount of development going on. Commute times have increased dramatically. Thank goodness at least I go against the primary commute when going to and from work.

But the increased traffic has also meant the more savvy commuters are finding alternative routes around the main in/out access. One of them is down my street and surrounding roads. My road, somewhat rural, used to be a safe road to cycle on. Anymore, I won't venture out on my bike at going home time. It's just too dangerous. It's a 35 mph road and people do 50 on it. But they do 35 on the 50 mph freeway. Go figure.

However, this has little to do with my groove. I spent all last summer getting up early to hit the pool or to go running. I would get up early to cycle into work. Weekends were no exception. Saturdays were normally swim and bike days while Sundays were run days. Then I did Ironman Canada. Okay, so then I tried to do the Ironman. I didn't finish it, but I still did a heck of a workout that day.

Now the race is over. I can relax. But not too much. We didn't want to lose too much fitness, now did we? So I kept getting up early and hitting the pool. Well, I did as soon as my sunburn healed (oh, that's a story in its own). So I swam and I ran (mostly ran). And I did it up until the day before my surgery.

Now I'm three weeks post-op and I've been running 3 times and swimming once. I want to do more, but am finding it hard to get out of my warm cozy bed in the morning. And once I'm home in the evening, I do NOT want to go anywhere else. I just want to curl up in my jammies and call it a night.

In fact, I think I'll call it a night now and go hit the sack. The older I get, it seems the more I need to sleep. Maybe I'll get my groove back next week. I sure hope so.

2005 Race Schedule

2005-10-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

So, this is (was) my race calendar for 2005.

2005 Race Schedule

Date	Event	Distance	Time
01/09/05	P.F. Chang's Rock-n-Roll Arizona	Marathon	DNF*
01/29/05	Resolution Run	10k	1:08:03
03/13/05	St. Patrick's Day Dash	5l	32:26
04/16/05	Daffodil Dash	5k	29:46
04/24/05	Mt. Rainier Duathlon	Short Course	1:56:08
05/08/05	Over the Dam Half Marathon	Half Marathon	2:36:35
05/15/05	Capital City Half Marathon	Half Marathon	2:23:12
06/04/05	Rails to Trails Relay	50 mile relay	7:59:36 team effort!
06/19/05	New Balance Triathlon	Half IM	7:37:59
07/16/05	Sumner Festival Run/Walk	5k	30:51
08/28/05	Ironman Canada	Ironman	DNF**
11/24/05	Turkey Trot at Norpoint	5k	TBD
11/27/05	Seattle Half Marathon	Half Marathon	TBD
12/10/05	Christmas Rush Fun Run/Walk	10k	TBD

*DNF -- Withdrew from race because of possible stress fracture, which was later determined not to be one.

**DNF -- Completed swim and bike, but failed to meet bike cut-off time of 5:30 p.m. (obviously need more hill work)

2006 Race Schedule

2005-10-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Okay so this is my proposed racing calendar for 2006 and doesn't include other events I might do (like organized rides, etc.), therefore it is highly tentative and subject to change.

Proposed 2006 Races

Date	Event	Distance	Time

01/01/06	Resolution Run	5k	TBD
01/21/06	Resolution Run	10k	TBD
02/11/06	Resolution Run	15k	TBD
03/12/06	St. Patrick's Day Dash	5k+	TBD
04/22/06	Daffodil Dash	5k	TBD
05/21/06	Capital City Half Marathon	Half Marathon	TBD
06/04/06	Blue Lake Triathlon	Olympic	TBD
06/18/06	New Balance Triathlon	Half Ironman	TBD
07/16/06	Musselman Triathlon	Half IM or Sprint	TBD
08/27/06	Ironman Canada	Ironman	Just to Finish
09/10/06	Bank to Bay	10k	TBD
09/24/06	NW Trek Run Wild	10k	TBD
10/29/06	Run Like Hell Half Marathon	Half Marathon	TBD
11/30/06	Turkey Trot at Norpoint	5k	TBD
12/03/06	Seattle Half Marathon	Half Marathon	TBD
12/10/06	Christmas Rush Fun Run/Walk	10k	TBD

Solitary Run

2005-10-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the trail I ran on this morning. It wasn't this nice out today, but it often is during the spring and summer. This particular shot was taken by the Tacoma Wheelman's Bicycle club. I just wanted to share the character of the trail with you. You can see the river peeking through on the right hand side of the trail.

Got up late this morning, but decided to meet the Y Runners even though I wasn't going to be on time. I wasn't sure until I awoke that I would even be able to run, considering how much my knee was talking to me yesterday. It didn't really hurt, it was just a little sore. So, I was just going to do three miles. If I showed up 20 minutes late, it would be no big deal, because I would then see everyone at the end and we could all go to Starbucks for our usual after-the-run social hour.

So, I get up, make my coffee, pop some bread in the toaster, and anticipated seeing all my running friends. I was excited at the prospect of running, because everyone should be back in town and I'd get to catch up on all their races. A couple folks had gone to California/Nevada for the Tahoe Triple. I had briefly considered going down to do the triathlon held that same weekend. The knee surgery took care of that idea. Other folks had been out of town at the Portland Marathon. I've done the 5-mile race there a couple of times, but have yet to attempt the marathon. It's just not been easy to work into my schedule.

Anyway, I head out the door and drive to the park in the nearby town where everyone usually meets. I'm stunned when I see only one car there and I don't recognize it. I realize that everyone must have met at another location that week and I missed the notice. I'm thoroughly bummed because it is now too late to figure out where they have all gone. Ah, well, nothing to do about it except go run all by my lonesome.

Funny, I use the term "lonesome" but I do so loosely. I'm rarely lonely when I'm running. I may be alone, but I'm not usually lonely. It used to be when I ran it was an arduous task. That was before I built up any kind of endurance or had any running friends. Now I find running is no longer a chore, it's a joy whether I'm alone or with people. I don't "have" to go out and run for 30 minutes or an hour. I "get" to go run for 30 minutes or an hour. The difference in perspective is what puts the joy into the run. I don't do it because I "have" to, I do it because I "want" to. I do it because I enjoy it.

Tale of the Torn Meniscus

2005-10-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Ten days before my Ironman race, I discovered I had a torn meniscus. It wasn’t a huge tear, but the doctor didn’t hold out a lot of hope for me finishing the race. He didn’t tell me I couldn’t do it, only that if I did, given the condition of my knee, it would really be something worth bragging about. He cautioned me against making any sudden sidewise moves that would put stress on the knee. He suggested that to finish, I would need to make sure I kept my knee in a constant forward position. In other words, knee over the toe. Then he wished me luck, because I was going to need it.

Now, let me explain a little more about my silly knee. Both my doctor and the orthopedic surgeon said that in a “normal person,” they would leave the knee be and not perform surgery. However, because of my goals and aspirations (marathons, and most especially Ironman), I was not considered, um, “normal.” Okay, I wasn’t considered abnormal either; I was considered an “athlete.” Me, a middle-aged, slightly overweight woman was considered an athlete. Somehow, I’ve just never seen myself like that and it still blows my mind that others perceive me in that manner.

But I digress. I wanted to explain about my knee as I went into my Ironman race. It didn’t hurt. Some people have the same condition as mine and can hardly walk. I could not only walk, I could run for a couple hours before it would suddenly “lock up” and cease cooperating with me. Then it would hurt and I’d have to hobble back to wherever my car was. Twenty minutes later, though, it would be fine and I’d wonder why in the world I quit running. I could go on hours-long bike rides with no ill effects and no pain. But I learned at the first twinge, to stop and head home.

So, when I went into Ironman, I knew it was going to take me longer than it normally would to finish my events. But I was committed. I was not going to let a little torn meniscus keep me from my goal. But, during the race, I did favor the knee and I deliberately held back. I didn’t push during the bike, for fear of blowing out my knee before I ever got to the run. But holding back meant taking more time, and in the end, I took more time than I should have. I didn’t finish the bike in time to make the cut-off time (okay, so I need a little work climbing hills as well), hence I wasn’t allowed to continue on the run.

Less than 4 weeks after my race (9/23), I had surgery on my knee. I’m happy to say it went very well. I was bearing weight, with the help of crutches, the first day. By the second day, I was down to one crutch. Monday through Wednesday, I went back to work, albeit just half days. While I don’t have a stressful job, it does require sitting down for long periods of time without the opportunity to prop up my leg.

Last Sunday (10/9), I attempted my first post-surgical run. The doctor had told me to wait until 10/14 for my first run, but I felt so good, I just couldn't wait to get out there. I managed to cover 4 miles in about 52 minutes. Not exactly a blazing time, but I don’t blaze anyway, so I thought I did remarkably well, considering.

Swimming was another thing I was supposed to wait to do, mostly because they wanted to make sure the holes made by my stitches had properly healed. Trust me, they were good and closed, so on 10/11, I put in 1000 yards in the pool. Interesting thing about swimming with a sore knee; it really made me focus on my kicking form. When swimming, kicking should be done from the hips, not from the knees. As runners and cyclists, we often kick from the knees, but that’s wasted power. Having the sore knee made me realize how much I was kicking from my knees without realizing it.

Two days later, on 10/13, I did another 4 miles (maybe more, probably less) of running. I ran with my friend and training buddy, Darcy (Ironayla). We only did 3 loops of a downtown area, but it was nice to just get out and run and catch up a little. I would walk every 5 minutes whether I felt like I needed it or not. It gave my knee AND my heart a brief respite.

Today is Saturday. I was going to get up and go swimming, but my knee started hurting last night. Now, as I try to put together my blog and make this entry, I’m sitting here with ice on it. It doesn’t hurt badly, just enough to let me know that I have had surgery on it and I need to take it easy. I must remember not to be so anxious to get back to where I was, that I injure myself further.

Anyway, now that the knee is repaired, and I’m s-l-o-w-l-y getting back into the training/running groove, my goal is to finish the Seattle Half Marathon. I started doing this race in December of 2002. This will be my 4th year in a row and I’m determined not to miss it, even if I have to walk most of it.

Vegas Vixens

2005-10-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Here we have Barb, Darcy, me, and Lori getting ready to celebrate the successful completion of the Las Vegas Marathon (and Lori's birthday) in February 2003. None of us had run a marathon before so it was a first for all of us.

The Las Vegas Marathon of 2003 was known as the year of the wind. We had sustained headwinds of 30 mph and gusts of 50 for the first 22 miles. Port-a-potties along the course had been blown over. Sand was in all the water. Here is a photo of me just after I finished. You can see the wind whipping my hair around and all the dust flying around in the background. My finish time was 5:26 and change. Not bad for a first, especially since I'd only been running for about a year AND had to face that horrific wind. In spite of everything, I was delighted to have finished and was ready to go out and do it again. I was so elated and pleased with myself, that I don't think my feet touched the ground for at least a week.

Inspired by Others

2005-10-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

I likely don't have time for keeping up a blog, but I'll give it a shot. I'm inspired by others that write about their comings, goings, and doings. Besides...I want the option of posting comments to OTHER blogs...like my ultra-distance running and triathlon training buddies/neighbors/friends Rob and Darcy.