Ok, it's official ....
Mood:  energetic
I LOVE MY TRI TRAINING!

Yep! That's right folks!!

Let me tell you ... last night was a major effort for me to get my ass to the pool. BUT (many thanks to my tribuddy!!) I got there (10 minutes early in fact!), stripped off, jumped in my fav. lane and started warming up. 10 minutes later I started to lap swim and count ... and count ... until ~30 minutes later I had hit my target 1,000 yard mark. Not bad :-) I love swimming, and I can't wait to get back with the Team this Saturday :-D

Also managed to play 1hr of tennis last night which was good .. helped work out my shoulders. Tonight's track with the Team - I'm going to pace myself and listen to my ankle (still niggling me a bit). Called the Doc about it and I'm to keep doing what I'm doing for it (remedial massage, stretching, physio, icing/heat/icing w elevation etc) - if it's not better in another 2 weeks - MRI. Fair enough. Now that I'm religiously attending to the ankle, it is actually feeling better.

Hmm, I wonder if the Team has any sports massage peeps that can work on us triathletes - will have to pose this question to my mentor tonight.

Righto ... work calls - catcha later!!

Cycle till your ass can't hurt no mo'!
Mood:  spacey
Now Playing: More than Love, Los Lonely Boys

I did cycling today at 24 hr fitness in fremont. Different machine, different settings, etc.

Today the reader claimed I did 10.8 miles on a Hill Course at Level 9. I stayed between 95-100 RPM. I was on for 30 minutes.

On Monday I also cycled 30 minutes and the distance was about the same. Difference is that I went much slower, and did a flat course on level 6. Go figure.

Today's cycle was much better, but again, i was not exhausted, but did feel a little bit of a burn. I also followed the 30 minute ride w/ a 10 minute ab work out. Over all - I'm just glad exrecise is done for the day.

Now I can get to work............

Short & Sweet
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: computer fan

oh.

hi.

long time no see.

Well, I wanted to chime in here becuase I've been totally swamped to come in here and chat about my tritraining.

So far it's been pretty cool. We had our first team workout last thursday and then the pool workout on Satruday. Things are really picking up in the workouts this week. Everyweek it's increased quite a bit, so staying up w/ the workouts is going to be so critical for me.

This week, I cycled stationairy for 30 minutes at around 83-87 RPMs and stuck to this weeks cycle. I think I did around 10 miles or so, but I am not sure because in my effort to change the course i reset the settings. Anyway, it was a good one, I prob could've gone faster and longer, but no point in overdoing it. Goal completed.

Today I did my swim w/ my class. Learned the breast stroke and whip kick (not good at either). I also learned some new diving techniques. I swam for 30 minutes after and completed my 500 yards of swimming. I was pretty tired after. What's interesting is that I don't really get "tired" like after a run - but just feel very winded.

Anyway - i have a ton of work to do on my fundraisier so more to come later...

How long can caffiene take YOU?
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Sheep - Pink Floyd
When all other energy runs out - caffeinate yourself. I need to figure out a better way to get everything done - more importantly find the energy to do it. I'm entering an huge journey so i better start thinking fast. In the meantime, i need the caffeine to keep me going. Tonight is one of those nights!

To comment on K's blog last night, the kick off was so inspirational and motivating. I really came to the realization that there is NO reason why I shouldn't do this. Even better, is that regardless of how impressive the coaches' resumes are (head coach - over 100 triathlons???!!!!), they are so down to earth and not at all intimidating. At least not yet!!

Today's workout was a 7 mile bike-ride to keep up w/ the training schedule. It was an easy one, I hardly sweated, but I stayed within the time limit at an easy pace. I also had swim class tonight and swam pretty steady for about 45 minutes. I lost count of my laps, but it felt like 14,000,000,000. I would've normally done one or the other (bike or swim), but i can't bail on the tuesday swim class, so this will be my schedule for at least another 6 weeks. I did learn how to dive today. Oh yeah.

Needless to say, I am tired, but must prep for tomorrow. Good night for now - Looking forward to more blogging as our new adventure really gets underway this week. We gotta shop for bikes and gear and all that stuff...... K's already got her fancy running shoes!! Go K!!

Good night.....

GO TEAM!
Mood:  on fire
Now Playing: Ken Davis 'Seashore Sunrise'
Kick-off night tonight and I am totally 110% excited about doing the Wildflower!!!

Met Deborah (my mentor) - she's a HOOT .. I can tell I'm going to have a blast training with her and the rest of the team :-D

The highlight for me tonight was seeing and talking with some of the honorees. These are the real heros, the real 'marathon runners' - as one proud Dad said of his son who is now into his 3rd year of remission.

Amazing stuff.

We have our training programs, and Feb 1st is bike. This week is relatively low-key, so I'm going to train at the Pro level in my own time. Thursday Feb 3 is the first team training session - we hit the track - I'm hoping to get some new shoes by then .. the ones I have are incredibly old and just don't support me in the right places anymore. Woo .. shoes this week ... also wanting to get a bike this week too. I am dying to get out there on the road with a racer - it's been years! I miss it so.

Righto - works done for the night, I'm on my last sip of bedtime tea here ... so it's off to bed I go :-)

Nite nite!

Sometimes, when i ask how you are doing, I really don't care.
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: hallway chatter
today is a busy day.

no time to write much.

i did my workout (cycle) this am, it was ok. I didn't give it 100%, but i did 7 miles. It was done, is how i see it.

Conversation of the day w/ an Engineer. Have I metnioned they have no social skills? Or sense of humor? This occured before my morning coffee in the hallway:

me: hi, good morning, how are you?
him: good, and you?
me: good thanks, and you?
him: YOU ALREADY ASKED ME , I SAID I WAS FINE!
me: damn, sorry

What i really wanted to say was " sometimes, when i ask how you are doing, i really don't care. This is one of those times"


Oh well... on my way to our kick off meeting.. more tomorrow.....

Air B.
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Ya Viene El Sol - Ozomatli
My body aches.

My body aches, a lot.

But I suspect I will be typing that pretty frequently. I think I am mostly sore in the legs from running on Wednesday. My quads are on fire, they ache so much.

Last night I didn't do any triathlon training, but I did get an hours worth of volleyball. I felt different on the court - more, athletic, more flexible. I'm not exactly sure what that means. All I know is that when I jump to spike - errrrr.. ok.. fine... when I jump to finger tap the ball, in my head I feel like i'm jumping so HIGH.. I know i barely get a few inches from the ground, I can only imagine how funny I must look to others.

Tonight's agenda is swimming. . We'll see how I do without my young coach telling me what to do.

I think I'm going to rest Saturday and Sunday, my body needs it before I go full throttle again on Monday.

Kudos Tri-Buddy!
Mood:  a-ok
Damn B! If that ain't a slice of 100% pure motivation and dedication right there - I dunno what is!!

Great job getting your w/o in amidst all the goings on (aka - life) yesterday mate!! Congrats!!

Yesterday was run day for me too. Left work round 5ish, picked up grocceries for dinner etc, joined a conference call at 5:30pm via cel. (blah blah blah thru to 6:15pm), got home n put on a roast & veggies, jumped on the treadmill for 20 minutes .. here's the stats:

5 minute warm-up walking
15 minutes jog 1.2miles Lvl 4.3 - 4.7
2 minute cool down

Not bad. i wanted to run 20 minutes last night, but at the 15 minute mark I could smell the veggies getting a little too browned - so had to leave it be at 15 minutes. Still - I worked up a really nice sweat and got into a pretty fluid movement throughout the 15 minutes. Rather than running flat out, I'm trying to find that sweet spot of just planting one foot in front of the other and going going going ... :-) My goal is to not walk any part of the 'run' of the Wildflower - even if that means going at a medium paced jog for the entire distance.

I'm looking forward to bike tonight! Planning to go at it for 30 minutes (not including warm-up & cool-down), followed by 30 minutes of core and strength training.

Oh - and as for the roast - was delicious!! Lean pork roll with Apple, cinnamon and wild rice stuffing, with baked red potato and sweet potato and some steamed organic brocs. Mmmm! Dave & I both have left-overs for lunch today :-D

just when you think you ain't got no juice left
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: Manny's Bones - Los Lobos
Today was one of those days where you just know from the moment you open your eyelids that it's going to be nonstop. It's some, twisted, almost normal feeling gut feeling. You just know.

Well it was, just busy. My hallway at work felt like a newsroom, mass chaos every hour on the hour. The blind leading the blind. Too many cooks in the kitchen. Pick your cliche.

I didn't get my mid day work out as I'd planned. I worked until 7 pm then had to do some shopping for a gift basket. It was 9pm by the time I was driving home and all I could think of was food and my bed. I grabbed a protein bar from my purse and as I munched, I visualized myself getting lean, and strong, and agile, and toned.....and with those thoughts i filled myself with artificial energy (also literally, from the protein bar) and just decided to go to the gym. 30 minutes, that's all. Just do it, I told myself.

Before I knew it, I was in the gym, changing into my gear. It was run day today, no wonder i lacked motivation. I hate to run.

Here is the summary:

30 minutes total including warm up.
25 minutes 2.1 miles.
I did run about 1-mile non-stop and the rest I ran & walked in intervals.
Walk - speed 4, and Run - Speed 5.5.
10 minute cool down/strech.

Eh, it was ok. I was beet red and my calf muscle bothered me a bit. I thought a cramp was coming, but managed to stretch it out before it got me. Must remember to eat a banana next time round to avoid those cramps.

Just when I thought I'd given it all I had, afterwards I still went grocery shopping, put together my gift basket, made myself a quick dinner, AND prepped all my stuff for tomorrow.

It's the little victories.

Yo K. sup witchu?

Learning my Lesson
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Alicia Keys - Troubles

Today was my first official swimming lesson. Like, ever.

It was pretty cool; the time went by really fast. It did bring me flashbacks of a traumatic experience and I was really close to turning around and leaving. But as Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt once said "Do one thing every day that scares you", and so i did.

When I was 7 years old (wow, this is turning into a therapy session), a friend had swim lessons after school. Somehow she convinced me to go with her, it didn't seem like a big deal. 7-year-old kids can make these decisions without their parents knowing right? So the next day I brought my bathing suit, and my towel, all prepped for swim lessons. I thought you just showed up at the pool and got to swim around. So I went with her, no permission slip, no money, and no idea now I would get home, just my towel and me. When i was ready to get in the pool the attendant told me i couldn't be there. I had to pay. Pay? Huh? My friend left me alone at the gate as she waved good-bye and hurried into that private area for the swim lessons. Meanwhile the attendant snapped at me in front of others "get out of here if you're not in the class". I remember feeling very embarassed. One of my earlier memories of embarassment (we won't count the time I was about 6 and and puked cheetos in the classroom.) But I digress.... So there I was, 7 years old, without a way to get home, no one to call, no clue what to do. So I walked. I walked to my sisters' school (they went to a different elementary school); how I remembered at 7 yrs I am not sure. Eventually, I ended up at my sisters' classroom (How i remembered my sisters classroom, i don't know either). No one had any idea what to do with me, not sure how they just didn't think of calling my parents. Long story short - that quick thinking saved me and eventually how I was able to get home - my sisters rescued me. I think till this day they may remember the day I bounced from one sisters classroom to the others after being rejected at the city pool.

Tonight, I had that flashback of that spring day at the Dixon Pool, and I was almost convinced that the pubescent after schooler working the front desk was going to shoosh me away.

He didn't. And today, at 32, I had my very first swim lessons.

I think I'm addicted already.

More later, I'm exhausted... overall it was a good 30 minutes of class drills + 15 minutes of my own before I got kicked out of the pool. Learned the crawl and backstroke and will work on technique next week. Also next week: diving! I'm so big time now