Pigs Can Fly

This past weekend, Nick's sister graduated from college in Santa Barbara.  It was an "On Your Own" workout weekend.  Saturday was a 10 mile run or 100 minutes (whichever comes first), which in my case will always be be the time as I am very very far off from ever being able to run a 10 minute mile!  I got to sleep in and take my time and it was an absolutely gorgeous day in Santa Barbara (after it had been pouring and very cold the day before).  When I got dressed to go running, Nick says, "You're going?  If it was 8, I'd go, but it's 9:30.  That's too late."  That comment made no sense to Miss Night Owl so I just said ok and I went running anyway (Pigs Can Fly #1.  Note: the pigs are flying not because I did my workout on my own, which I have done before, but because it was so easy for me to just say ok and not be influenced by someone who is sometimes referred to as  "Lazy Butt".  However, in his defense, how can someone who has completed 2 IMs possibly be lazy?).  


Anyway, after about 25 minutes in to the run, I realized I didn't have any music.  Since we can't use headphones during the event, we don't train with music (although one of the coaches has recommended to me some specific music to train with that I have yet to download, in order to help get my cadence up).  But, Pigs Can Fly #2 not because I was running without music, but because I didn't even think about running with music and then make the choice not to use it.  I never thought I'd see that day.     

Challenges of a Road Warrior

Consultants are Road Warriors.  We typically spend 80% of the month in hotels.  I'm fortunate that my current project is more like 60%.  Each week that I'm on the road, I have high hopes for getting all my weekday workouts completed.  However, reality dictates I get one in and maybe two, if I'm lucky. Last night, it was a miracle when a group of us left the building at 5:58pm.  In fact, since October, the only days I ever get to leave before 6pm is when I'm catching a flight home.  My coworker asked what my plans were for the evening and I mentioned I was planning to work out, which I did.  

So today I'm researching some issues in our Production system and this error pops up on my screen, which briefly pisses me off until I read the message:  

  

As crazy as this project is and as annoying it is they schedule meetings at 7am, through lunch and until 7pm, I truly like the people, which makes a world of difference.  And, when some of us end up staying at the same hotel, I sometimes even get a workout partner.

Now That's Crazy!

This past weekend was Bootcamp Weekend -- two long workout days designed to test our mental fortitude and nutrition/hydration plans.


The forecast said it was going to be very cold on Saturday morning.  As we started driving, I exclaimed, "Is that snow?!?!"  We don't get snow in these regions very often, let alone in the area that I am supposed to be riding my bike in! Sure enough as we started driving up the Livermore hills, the snow was more prevalent.  I was grumpy (as I am almost every morning) and got even grumpier when I saw a sign about ice on the road.  I am very grateful that Miss Sedonia climbed in the car with me and gave me a pep talk before the workout began. 


The bike ride was going to be all hills.  Unlike last weekend, where I could not get my head over Stupid Hill, I knew this weekend would be lots of climbing. About two minutes after the ride started, I had a brief moment of self doubt. But Nick coached me through it and we ended up climbing Lake Del Valle Rd and Mines Rd.  The ride was extremely challenging for me (I was riding a whole 3.9mph!), but after I got over the initial self doubt, I felt good.  Plus, it was just really awesome to be in such a beautiful and unique situation with the snow.    

Meet Iron Fred (smoking a tire lever) -- courtesy of Sedonia

After the bike ride, we set our bikes up on trainers and spun for another hour. Then we donned our wetsuits and had our first open water swim of the season.  The water was 51 degrees!  I have never felt anything like it.  It was equivalent to digging around in the ice chest for that one soda or beer you are looking for and not being able to find it.  Except that it is your entire body and not just a hand!  We were just supposed to be in the water for 30 minutes.  After about 15 minutes, it literally started SNOWING on the lake!!!  I said to Les, who was in a kayak next to me, "You know, people say training for Ironman is crazy.  I don't think it's crazy.  But, being in this water while it is snowing...now that's crazy."  I ride my bike because I need to get better and I run because I need to get better.  But being in that water was not going to improve my swim in any way whatsoever.  I grew up swimming in lakes and rivers so I'm not afraid of open water.  After 22 minutes, I swam back to shore (BTW...It took 56 hours before I got the feeling back in my all my fingertips).

From there we changed in to our run clothes.  By now the snow had turned in to rain.  And, we got to run in this mess!  

After the run, we were back on our spin bikes.  And, it rained and it rained, and it rained.  But, by that point, I don't think I even noticed it anymore.  

Sunday was a much more pleasant day -- weather wise.  We swam for two hours and I felt good in the pool.  I kept thinking how I would gladly keep swimming as I wasn't looking forward to getting back on the bike.  Unfortunately, I was "tender" in several new places because I got a new bike (woohoo), which meant I had a sore sit bones from the new saddle, and sore hands, shoulders, and arms (as the descents were a little jarring until I break it in).  After the bike and run, I recognized I definitely had a lack of energy.  I was clearly hungry.  However, after getting some food in me, we finished a core workout, another bike and run (which I now walked because I had my first blister of the season), and our second core workout.  

Fifteen hours of training...Bootcamp Weekend was done.  Of course, the workouts were challenging, but what I find very difficult is all the other stuff surrounding the workout -- the drive time to/from workouts, the packing and organizing of all the gear, the preparation of food and bottles and nutrition the night before, and the stretching and rolling and submerging in ice baths after the workouts.  If the goal of the weekend was to test my mental fortitude, then that mission was clearly accomplished.  I was exhausted.  And, I was envious that most of the team had President's Day off to recover and decompress, whereas I had to get up at 5:45am and fly to LAX  this morning.  But, I did it.  And, I even managed to smile most of the day.  

Out of My League

Yesterday, I completed my first Olympic distance tri – 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run.  This tri is an annual training triathlon in memory of Louie Bonpua, one of our team honorees that passed away.  I can’t watch this video on YouTube and not cry every time.  Every time.  Although we get marked and race bibs the only race is against yourself. They are training events.  So while I was nervous to get an Olympic distance under my belt, I also just kept reminding myself that this was just training and not to worry.  

76 is quite appropriate

The swim started out fine and I finished in a time I was happy with.  Just like the sprint tri, I took the time to change as it was 38 degrees out and I wasn’t going to ride in wet clothes. 

The bike ride was tough.  I have always had an issue with expectations and when they don’t go according to plan.  And, this bike ride did not go according to plan.  Our coach said, “it’s flat.” I saw the elevation map and I heard someone say, “It’s just 400 ft” to which I thought to myself, “That’s a piece of cake.”  So the first 5 miles of the bike were somewhat garbage miles through town trying to get out to the nice road.  I managed to hit every stop light.  There were also a lot of stop signs.  I blew through four of them (when it was safe, even though it’s illegal) because I was frustrated that I couldn’t get my speed up.  Finally I hit the open road.  It was definitely a beautiful place to ride, although I had some lingering frustration from all the lights I hit.  But, there was one hill in particular that ripped me to pieces and spit me out.  Sometimes hills are deceiving. You see a big one and think it’s going to be tough and you ride up it with no problem.  Other times it can look flat, but you’re riding in your little ring out of nowhere wondering how you are even climbing.  But, when I saw this hill, I said out loud, “Are you fucking kidding me?”  I know I have made it up hills steeper than this so far.  But I think it was the whole expectation of “it’s flat” that just really messed with my mind.  At some point I had to stop, get my mind back together, and get back on again.  After I got up what I will now call Stupid Hill, I was riding in a cloud of fog.  My glasses were wet, it was tough to see, and I was worried about a car coming around the bend since the visibility wasn’t great.  I got to the turnaround point where one of our team honorees was volunteering with his family.  They fed me, refilled my water, held my bike, and cleaned my glasses (thank you Team Frankie!).  But I was just still completely emotional from Stupid Hill.  I start to get my confidence back a few miles after the turnaround until some a-hole in a bigass Tonka Truck speeds by obnoxiously.  After that passes, I’m ok again.  I manage to tackle a healthy hill with grace and come down with a descent where I clocked 35.2mph in a 35mph zone (I'm pretty sure that was Stupid Hill on the backside), which gave me a little happiness boost.  The fog had lifted and it was just beautiful out.  As we roll back into town (now I’m riding with the Sweep because I’m last) and start the garbage miles again, we are stopped at a light where the only place for the cyclists to be is in one of the car lanes (where it even specifically has a spot on the ground that says the bicyclists need to share that lane with the cars).  Of course, once you cross the intersection, the road gets back to normal and we have a bike lane again.  However, another Tonka Truck rode up behind us, revving his engine and did the full “slam on your horn unnecessarily and for a really long time” honk.  I yelled “fuck you” to him even though he couldn’t hear me.  I was so completely rattled by that experience (which will be a later blog entry).  I couldn’t shake it for whatever reason.  About fifteen minutes later, I arrive back at transition.  My feet are frozen and I am the last participant (lovely).  I am already at 3 hours and I wanted to be done in 4.5 hours.  But, I knew the run would be full of hills and that wasn’t likely.  I take my time changing shoes, hitting up the bathroom, getting some nutrition, and trying to grapple with why I’m so emotional – the missed expectation on the bike, the stupid trucks, and the reality of being last. 

The whole being last thing is ok because this isn’t a race for me.  It’s a physical and emotional journey.  My goal is simply to finish.  But, being last means that everyone is going to be waiting for me.  Some of them will be waiting 2 hours!  And, I don’t like that unwanted attention.  However, the benefit to being last is I have people to walk with me.  We all can’t feel our feet so we walk for about 6 minutes before the blood starts to flow again.  And during that time I talk about how I have learned so many lessons about missed expectations in the past with work, friends, and boyfriends.  So why can’t I just apply those same lessons to this training?  Hopefully soon enough I will.

Waiting for our toes to defrost

Anyway, once the run starts to veer up, it’s time to walk as my walk is faster than my run up those hills.  It turns in to a really gorgeous and beautiful hike.  When we get to a point where we can run again, we do, and I feel like a football player doing drills, dodging major holes in the ground where a horse came through in the mud and left huge divots.  Then we get to the next section of the course and it was a full on hike – tree roots, rocks, streams and creeks to cross, etc., but it was beautiful.  So I just walked it, soaked it all in, and enjoyed it.  I wasn’t comfortable running the downhill with all those obstacles so we trekked down until I felt comfortable running again.  Then we repeated the first part of the course, picking up all the flags that marked the course along the way, since no one else was coming through.  I finished in 4 hours and 58 minutes.  Pretty pathetic.  I’m thankful my race in November is a flat run!

After the long car ride home, I had some trouble getting out of the car and walking to the restaurant.  And, I was literally laughing hysterically at myself at how hard it was for me to walk out of the restaurant.  But once you get moving it’s fine.  When I got home, I stretched and rolled, took my first ice bath (brrrrrrrr), and sported some compression socks.  Despite some slight cramping last night, I woke up pretty pain-free.  

So how do I feel?  I feel good, despite being out of my league.  It’s a little unfortunate that the 10K had all the elevation it did because it would have been a nice test for me to run the whole 6 miles and see how I felt.  I know the course was great training for my teammates.  However, I’m a novice runner.  Most of the team is fairly athletic with multiple Olympic Tri’s, marathons, and Ironmans under their belts already.  I was pretty impressed that I wasn’t fatigued.  My legs were tender after the bike, but did not feel like Jell-o.  I could have walked another 10K, if I had more nutrition to refuel.   And, I wasn’t in a dark place.  I was happy.  I enjoyed the hike.  And, because I was last, I had Jen, the designated Sweep, to walk and run with. 

The benefit of being last -- having a Sweep

"But it's a cheap sport"

Awhile back, a good friend was commenting about how training for triathlons is pretty cheap after you buy a bike.  I can see the merit in this comment and it *seems* like this would be the case, but this triathlon thing is really quite an expensive hobby.  Let me caveat this post that I am NOT complaining.  I am simply documenting (and educating).

Registration fees are costly.  Registration for Ironman is $613!  This buys me a t-shirt, maybe a hat, a medal, water, powerade, cookies, broth, bananas, and  cups of Coke on race day.  Of course it goes to pay for street closures, police blockades, etc. but with 2800 people paying over $600 per race, that's quite a chunk of money to shut down a small portion of a couple of cities for a few days.  Even the small triathlons are anywhere between $45-$95 a pop.  The big name ones like Alcatraz or Wildflower will set you back a couple hundred dollars.  

Besides the bike, gear is costly.  While not all of it may be *necessary* most of it is -- wetsuit, bathing suit, cap, goggles, tri top, tri shorts, a tri bag, a dry bag, bike trainer, bike shoes, bike pump, CO2 pump, bike jerseys, bike shorts, a bike rack, heart rate monitor, helmet, compression socks (if you like them), sport sunglasses, race belt, visor, and wicking socks.  Cold weather training requires arm warmers, bike pants or leg warmers, base layers, wind jacket, weather jacket, long sleeve jersey, and ear covers.  

Ongoing investments include tubes, tires, CO2 cartridges, body glide, sunscreen, chamois butter, running shoes that get replaced every 200 miles, bike shop maintenance, and nutrition!

Portable nutrition is a must with powders, bars, blocks, Gu's, water bottles, fuel belts, etc.    

Fortunately, I already had a lot of bike gear!  Of course, now it just means I want an even better bike and bike shoes, and helmet, and..., etc.  :)

RIP Night Owl

I'm a night owl.  Always have been.  I get super productive late at night, both with stuff around the house and with work.  Babies get cranky because they don't want to go to bed.  They think they are going to miss out on something.  I am the same way.  Even if I'm sitting at home by myself, and I'm tired, I still won't go to bed.  I liken it to the same behavior as a toddler.  However, I have yet to figure out what I could possibly be missing out on other than some well needed sleep.  


This training business is tough on us night owls.  Sleeping in can only happen if our schedule calls for an "On Your Own" workout.  However, all that really means is that it is not a coached workout and several people will take the ownership of coordinating local workouts.  Of course, that just means we start at 8:30am instead of 8am.  Whoopdee-doo for thirty extra minutes.  


Last night I passed out at 9:30pm.  Tonight (a Friday night no less) I'm pretty sure I'll be in bed by 10 (and, no, even with going to bed early I'm still cranky in the morning).  Goodbye, Night Owl.  I'll miss you.