Spin spin spin

I really enjoy my spin workouts these days.  The Ironteam spins were very endurance oriented and well....boring.  But, for the past few months, I've switched to a lot of interval training and high intensity workouts and I find them much more enjoyable.  At my house, I train on my old bike in front of the TV.  It's where I catch up on my DVR.  And, I'd like to think that my house is aesthetically pleasing.  However, when I am at Nick's house I set up in the garage.  After I was done with a workout the other day, I looked at my little station and thought, "Wow, that's pretty ugly."   But, I don't even notice the lack of aesthetics.  I have my iPhone to tell me what my workout is, my iPod to listen to my favorite songs, loud speakers, and a fan.  The set up is perfect.

Thankfully, a Win

Training for two events this year means I had the "pleasure" of completing two double brick workouts - ride and run (repeat).  All this traveling for work every week is killing me so I was pretty insistent on riding near my house this weekend.  Fortunately, the former TNT'ers training for IMAZ in the South Bay also had a Double Brick on their calendar for this weekend, too, so we joined up with them.  


First off, it was awesome to arrive and have so much support.  Since the South Bay coach is also training for IMAZ, he had routes, maps, water, ice, food, etc. and volunteered to sit out the first loop to watch our stuff.  There were at least a dozen people riding the first loop and six of us for the second.  Sedonia came down from Napa and rode the first loop and volunteered to watch our transition area for the second loop.  It's amazing what a difference volunteers make in the long workouts.  

The least we can do is provide chairs for our volunteers.
She finished 3 Sudokus and a crossword while waiting for us.

Our first loop took us through Woodside and up King's Mountain Road, which was gorgeous.  My climbing skills are not great, but the descent gave me a boost of confidence at how far I went up.  After the climb, I rode with Sedonia, which was another luxury (to ride with someone).


The first run was ok.  My foot is still hurting a lot.  It's pretty evident that the pain is not going to go away unless I have surgery, which isn't going to happen any time soon.  Because of that, I need to get a plan in place for what I am going to do in November.  


The second ride was much harder.  We went north toward Belmont and since it was later in the afternoon, the wind had picked up considerably.  Canada Reservoir had white caps in it, if that is any indication of how windy it was. I just kept telling myself it was good practice, right?  This ride had a lot more pitchy short climbs rather than a long sustained climb.  I thought my heart was going to jump out of my mouth when we were crossing over the 280.  

Phil had a big day because this is the first double brick he's done without barfing!

When I was in high school, we used to drive over to Half Moon Bay almost every weekend to see my now-stepdad.  I used to always see those cyclists out by Canada Reservoir and Crystal Springs and think, "How do they do that?"  Oh the irony.  


For the second run, I decided to purposefully walk fast.  I walk because I hurt and because I hurt I walk slower than I should.  My resignation at doing a fast walk meant that I didn't hurt and I really kept my heart rate at almost the same rate as when I run.  I didn't have my Garmin to see my distance, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was pretty comparable.  So sad, but if I can maintain a 17 minute mile walking (and I meet my other goals), I can still cross the finish line before midnight.  And, that is all that matters come November 20.  

6.5 hours later -- We are jello, but still smiling!  

Thankfully, a training win, finally.  Did I mention that the Sun Devils beat USC this weekend for the first time since 1999???  Oh, and the Sun Devils are playing Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium the day before Ironman Arizona.  Can I make it work????  Highly doubtful.  But the wheels are in motion....  

Lost: Confidence

I'm feeling pretty crappy about my training right now.  Officially less than two months to go!  Oh.  Emmm.  Geee.  Before Vineman, I was getting "wins" almost every weekend that visibly showed my improvement.  Each week would be a new milestone of some sort.  However, these past few weeks have not been going as planned (insert cliches here about it's all about rolling with punches and what the day gives you and sometimes you have to go to Plan B, C, D, etc.).  My ride in the butt-hot weather with all the climbing, swimmer's itch twice in four weeks, my "angry" Mt. Diablo run, my lost ride last weekend due to being unable to walk from that run, topped off with a couple of sessions of deep water running (where I feel like I did nothing for an hour and can barely get my heart rate above 120) have stolen my confidence.  Most of the time there is a direct correlation between my attitude before the workout and how my day pans out.  In all honesty, I have been in good spirits.  But, for whatever reason, the training days are just beating me up mentally and sometimes physically, too.  A very big day training day tomorrow.  And, very much in need of a "win"....

"Get the &#@% Away From Me"

Over the past 10 months, I've been tired, defeated, overwhelmed, inspired, happy, proud, stressed, worried, guilt-ridden, and devastated.  But I can't say I've ever been angry.  Until yesterday.

Our coach recommended a trail run up Mt. Diablo (mind you I have never even made it to the summit of Mt. Diablo on my bike).  I signed up for the Half and my coach said to drop to the 10 miler if my foot was hurting.  The first two miles were supposedly "flat" but that's an understatement.  I had this whole plan for running the first two miles and then lowering to a 4/1 run/walk and then if that didn't work to do 50 run/walk steps uphill, etc.  The climb was so steep that I couldn't even walk without dramatically swinging my arms forward to help me up the hill.  I kept thinking of Sedonia who likes to yell "Walk with purpose!" and pretty much thinking it would be impossible to walk up that hill without walking with purpose.  I was also on the verge of tears at this point because all I could think about was that I had to do this for 10 more miles.  At one point, I told myself I really only needed to go 4 more miles because then it would be downhill after that.  It helped extremely from a mental perspective. The climbs eventually became more gradual and I was able to start my 40 step run/walk again.  

In 10 months of training, I have yet to get a blister on my feet.  However, all that uphill walking put a lot of pressure on my heels and a huge one forming on my right foot.  At 4.5 miles it is another really really steep part.  I saw one of my teammates, Nate, coming down (who ended up getting 1st in his AG!).  Shortly after that I saw Michelle.  She said she also had gigantic blisters and turned around at the aid station instead of going up the last 2 miles.  I finally get to the aid station and mentally I am actually ok.  I think that I could probably make it up 2 more miles.  Nick is coming back down the mountain and sees me putting bandaids on my feet.  He said the next 2 miles is straight up and with my feet in the condition they are (in addition my injury), suggests I might want to consider turning around. 

I'm feeling good and rationalize that even if I don't go to the summit, I will just add the extra mileage in the "flat" part down below.  What a great idea!  Or so I thought.  All those steep parts wreak havoc on my knees on the downhill.  I can't even run down them.  I'm slipping and sliding and wishing I had my trail runners instead of running shoes.  I run the not so steep parts.  Around the 8th mile my legs are giving out.  My back hurts.  I can feel the fatigue in my muscles.  My shoelaces are cutting into my feet on the downhill creating more blisters on the top of my feet.  And I'm being followed by flies.  Seriously, these flies will not leave me alone.  It's not just one.  It's six!  I try to remind myself that almost everyone else on this trail is probably being followed by flies, too.  But a tired body does weird things to you, including making you angry at stupid insects.  I'm angry at the flies.  I'm angry at the dirt.  I'm angry at the rocks and all the acorns all over the place.  I'm angry at myself.  And, now I'm literally yelling at the flies to get the f--- away from me and to leave me alone!

Eventually I make it to the finish.  It took me almost just as long to get downhill as it did to get uphill.  I'm filthy and I'm done and I've logged 10.9 miles with 2600ft of climbing on the front half.  So much for my grand idea to tack on 2 more miles at the finish.  

I did a fair amount of stretching and took an ice bath.  My joints were in so much pain last night.  I slept for 11 hours.  Thanks to Biofreeze, my joint pain went away, but the sore glutes, hammies, quads, and lower calves made their appearance.  I woke up three times in the middle of the night completely conscious of how much I hurt.  We were supposed to ride 45 miles today.  Yet, I literally had to hold the bed and then the dresser and then the wall to get to the bathroom.  I don't know how I'm going to ride.  Nick says he decided he wasn't riding when he woke up in pain at 3:30am.  I still think we might be able to do it, and he reminds me that I'm not going to get any benefit out of today's training unless I do it right and in the condition I am in, I won't be able to do it right.  So I went to yoga and definitely felt better after that.  The relief lasted a few hours and then hit me like a ton of bricks again.  So here I am....sitting on the couch, with my feet raised, wondering how I am going to possibly get up and make myself some dinner tonight.   

Resolve

I've got a couple of things on my mind....


1.  Swimmer's Itch.  I did an hour open water swim yesterday morning.  And, by nightfall the itching began again.  This would be a perfect time to say, "FML," but I find that website straight up depressing.  For the record, I did rinse after yesterday's swim unlike last month when it was a race.  So I am pretty surprised it happened again.  I don't have as many welts as I did last time, but these are more like the size of a silver dollar rather than a quarter.  Not fun.  I guess I'll be sticking to the pool for the next month until the lake water goes back to normal.  


2.  Work wants me in LA for five weeks in a row.  Here is another time to say, "FML" but in the big picture I have a good life so why would I want to say that?  My suitcase is packed with an Aqua Jogger (since this foot injury has decided to taunt me and stick around), a swim tether (oh how I can't wait to swim in one place as if I'm on a treadmill), and a TRX.  My coach said this will be a big test of my resolve.  It's going to be boring as hell and I'm just going to have to figure out a way to push through it.  Originally, his plan is that I do one big workout during the week and one on the weekend.  However, with this new travel schedule, it means I will have to do back to back long workouts on the weekend. 


3.  Speaking of long workouts, I am registered for my first half marathon this weekend.  It's a Mt. Diablo trail run with 4000 ft of elevation, which means I will be fast-walking a lot of it.  I am a pretty conservative person yet I made some crazy-ass decision to train for an IM without ever having done an Olympic and now I am doing my first half marathon and it's nearly a mile high.  This is just dumb.  But, my coach is really into trail running to improve running fitness.  There is a 10 mile option as well.  We discussed that if my foot is being jammed by a fire poker on Saturday, then I will drop to the 10 miler during the event, which would still be a WIN for me.  I know I will be in general post-workout pain on Sunday from the run/hike, in addition to the foot pain.  But, I am preparing myself for the ice, the Rock Tape, the night sock, the Merrells as the only form of shoe that doesn't aggravate it, and the slippers I have to wear in the house because I can't be barefoot.   


And, that's my mouthful for the day.  I'm sure my next post will be something about how boring the water jogging or swimming in one place is.  I've already started thinking about which of my friends in LA, I can convince into coming to "hang out" with me on the pool deck so I can at least talk to someone while I'm running under water. :)

Whose Idea Was That?

Yesterday we had an 80 mile ride on the calendar.  I wanted to try something new so we settled on riding Patterson Pass over to Tracy.  Five of us met up in Livermore.  It was a 42 mile loop and we were planning to ride it twice.  "Planning" is the key word here.  Only 4 miles in to this ride and we are already climbing.  Three miles later it is serious climbing.  We were riding directly into the sun and at one point I felt like I was at eye level with it.  I was sweating profusely and my eyes were on fire from the sunscreen dripping into them.  I stopped to wipe them and I noticed Mary was on the side of the road behind me.  I hoped she was ok, but I knew I couldn't go down and climb that hill again so I kept going.  

Not even to the top.  We started in the city way down there.

I finally get to the top of Patterson Pass.  You know that feeling when you are on a roller coaster and approaching the top, but you can't see over the other side?  That is what this was.  As I am approaching the summit, I can't see on the other side.  I stopped to take a quick picture of the windmills.  This picture is pretty crappy nor does it give justice to size of the windmills. 

Just like the crest of the roller coaster, once I got over the hump, I could see all the way down as I started the descent.  I rode through the windmills for 2.5 miles.  It was pretty amazing.  If I wasn't on the downhill, I would have stopped and taken more pictures as I was right underneath them and they are gigantic.  And, at the bottom of the hill were more power lines than I had ever seen (getting all that power from those windmills).  I couldn't help but think about the cancer exposure in that spot and rode as fast as I could through that area. :)


I stopped at a 76 gas station when I got to Tracy to get more water.  The guy told me it was too hot to be riding a bike.  Thanks.  I figured that part out by now.  It was 95 in Tracy.  From there I rode over the 580 through the flats and headwind of Tracy (luckily not too bad) and began my climb back to Livermore.  By now I had already decided there was no way in hell that I was going to do that loop a second time.  Around mile 30, I see a car drive up with a bike on top and much to my surprise, it is Kristie!  She said she wasn't feeling well back on Patterson Pass and turned around.  I guess Mary also wasn't feeling well and she turned around.  Kristie figured she would come support us since she wasn't riding anymore.  It was such a relief.  She gave me more ice and water and told me that Nick and Phil didn't want to ride the loop a second time around either.  Thank goodness.  Once I got back to the cars, we decided to ride out toward Pleasanton instead. Around 51 miles I was just not feeling it anymore.  I was riding with Phil and he was pretty miserable as well.  He suggested we get caffeine at the store in a few miles.  So around 55 miles we stop.  I drink half a Mexican Coke and start to feel much better.  I've never had or needed Coke on the bike before.  But we've been out for 5 and half hours and my calorie intake is lower than normal because it is so hot.  We decide just to turn around and head back.  It took me around 6 and half hours to ride 71 miles (that should have been more like 5 or 5.5 hours).  I didn't feel bad about missing those last 9 miles.  And, I concluded that this ride would be a great idea for anyone training for Death Ride in Lake Tahoe.  But, I could pass on doing that again for the flat roads of Tempe and Scottsdale. 

It's Not a Selling Point

I have to pick on a very good friend of mine.  She commented on a Facebook photo yesterday and said, "Impressive group, two Ironmans and a soon-to-be-Ironman."  I know her comment is a compliment.  However, it pointed out EXACTLY why I am sensitive to touting all this training business.  It's why I didn't talk to my work about it for a very long time.  And, if I wasn't fundraising, I'm not sure how much I would have been blogging or posting sweaty pictures on Facebook (true fact: every time I posted pictures I received another donation!).  Ironman does not define you.  As another friend said, "If I let Ironman define me, I'd be living in a sad world of defeat."  It is an event in your life.  One that you worked really really hard for.  It's a proud moment and something to cherish forever.  But after it is over, every person that crosses that finish line still has the same personality, the same behavior, the same baggage, and the same laugh they had before they started the journey. 


And, sadly, if you are a single female, it is definitely not a selling point.  Men are intimidated by it or feel inadequate even though you'll be hard-pressed to find one that admits it (although Emily says every guy she talked to on eHarmony did donate to her TNT page).  Sure the ones that compete in triathlons themselves might find it attractive.  But, if only 1% of the population does an Ironman and 75% of the competitors are men and maybe 50% of those are actually available (probably even less), then you are looking at impressing a whopping .375% of the total population!   If I was on the market, I'd be keeping that fact to myself!

Victory Lap

This weekend I finally took my victory lap around the Vineman course.  I made an attempt to hit up all the wineries that made me gaze, smile, sigh, wish, and say, "one day" when I rode by. 

So with the help of some great friends, we spent the 3 day weekend up in Sonoma playing in wine country.  Of course, the thing about these kind of trips is that you NEVER get to all the places you wanted to go.  There just isn't enough time.  But, we knew that going into it and we still managed to cover a lot of ground and get some training in.  

I re-arranged my training schedule to have a recovery day on Saturday.  Nick and Robin went for a run and then Robin made us do the Ab Ripper for 15 minutes, where the host said, "the tip of the day is don't do this every day."  An understatement.  My abs are still recovering three days later.

OK, so on to the victory lap....

Our first winery of the day was Merry Edwards, which is not on the Vineman course, but she specializes in pinots.  And, I like pinots.  Definitely recommend going here.

From there, we went over to Rocchioli, which is around Mile 11 or 12.  They are a cult pinot provider and have a 5 year waiting list to get their single vineyard wines.  The wine was excellent.  The tasting room wasn't too exciting.  However, the vineyard was beautiful and I loved this cat just hanging out on the picnic tables.

Then we walked next door to Hop Kiln, which the girls really liked because of all the cute things in the shop.  The Cantonese boys had fun with all the "HK" or "HKG" signs.  And, the wine was really good, too!  It was definitely a lively winery.

The Asian squat

From there, we headed to Matrix, which is probably around Mile 17.  For some reason, this little lady out the front just always made me smile.  

As a pinot noir girl, I really enjoyed tasting here.  However, by now I probably also had too much to drink.  Or maybe I was just really really HUNGRY!

The next stop is supposed to be sandwiches at the Dry Creek General Store (another place I salivate at while on the bike), but in my tipsy state I kept calling it the Dry Creek Kitchen, which is a fancy restaurant in Healdsburg and not a deli on Dry Creek Rd!  Needless to say, I confused a whole lot of people, and we ended up in downtown Healdsburg.  I guess it didn't matter anyway because our cruise director kept reminding us there was no food to be getting if we were going to get to Bella in time.  Les calls and says he will meet us at Bella and that they have food there.  OK, fine!  So we get there and they only have baby corn dogs.  And, I don't eat hot dogs.  But I was desperate.

Maybe I've eaten a corndog as a child, but for all I know,
this really could have been my first corndog ever.  I'm not sure.

The corndog is not enough.  Phil and I are still starving.  Les thinks he has some nutrition in the car.  He manages to find us some Gu or Powerbar type of products and some Sport Beans.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Eating Sports Beans for lunch.  With wine.  Gross.

Hanging at Bella

On Sunday, we rode the Vineman loop.  And, I had a really really excellent ride despite all the wine consumption the day before.  I also finally got to eat at the Dry Creek General Store (after the ride, of course). 

Potty break around the halfway mark

Since Teldeschi is next door to the Dry Creek General Store, we walked over there for a quick tasting (Mile 25ish).  It was just weird.  Skip it, in case you were ever thinking about it.  Those of us that rode headed back to the house we rented to shower and change.  The rest continued their tasting adventures.  And, they must have had a really good time because they came back giddy, happy, and loopy (except the driver, of course)!

Things really slowed down on Monday and we hit up two wineries on Highway 128 (Mile 37ish).  First was Soda Rock, which is a sister winery of Mazzocco (one of the wineries I missed when I was riding) and Matrix.  This place is adorable!  Great wine, too.

And, I always said I would go back to White Oak.  I had used their bathroom once during a ride when it rained for at least 40 miles.  They are bicycle friendly.  I remember just standing in the bathroom for a good 15 minutes, grateful for the roof and heat and Kleenex, trying to get mentally prepared to go back out in to the pouring rain.  And, I told myself I would come back as a proper patron one day.

From the 128

Even prettier when it's not raining

And that concludes my victory lap!  There were 2-3 other wineries I really wanted to visit on the Vineman loop that I didn't get to experience.  But,  I know I'll be riding up there again so another time it shall be!   

The Sign Saga

I'm a scrapbooker.  And although I have not scrapbooked once in the past year, I think pictures and journaling and the idea of creating a time capsule is pretty important.  Pictures tell stories if you let them.  Gigabytes of pictures on your hard drive with no documentation on what it is and who is in it, will mean nothing to your family in 50 years.  But this blog is about training and not about scrapbooking, so enough of that ranting.  Where I was going with all of this is because I'm a scrapbooker, I own a Cricut.  And Cricuts make sign-making really fun!

The night before I flew to Penticton last year to support my friends at IM Canada, I spent HOURS making signs (and learned outlining/shadowing is not worth the extra time)!  My plane was delayed getting to Vancouver so I rushed off the plane to get to my connection flight and I left the signs in the overhead!  I realized this about two seconds after I got to Customs and there was no turning back.  I went through Customs, found the airline desk, and begged  the agent to call back up to the plane and see if someone could bring the signs down.  He couldn't get an answer.  Defeated, I picked up my bags and began to head to the terminal to catch my connecting flight.  Then the agent began to smirk and said to me, "Look around....look around."  I turned around and there was the flight attendant carrying all my signs above his head and he was yelling through the airport, "Look around, Robin!"  I gave him a HUGE hug and rushed to my connection. 

She told me she just wanted to enjoy the day and that when things weren't perfect
she was going to say to herself, "Look around.  You're in Canada!"

So when Vineman rolled around, it was time to make signs again.  There is a specific corner where all the California Ironteams hang out and that is where the signs were.  Nick left that corner to watch me finish and then "supposedly" those signs were put in someone's car who later said he didn't have them and so and so had them and she said she only had XYZ signs, etc. etc.  Needless to say, the signs are now gone and I'm still crying about it.  Mainly because Nick's sign from IM Canada is gone.    

A few others said, "Yes!" to this sign.

So why do I care about signs so much?  Because cheering for just one person makes for a really boring and long day.  But cheering for every single person that crosses your path is fun.  I want to put a smile on the face of every person riding or running by me.  That's why spectators are out there in crazy wigs and tutus and anything else you can imagine.  Nick's sister thinks Ironman-spectating is boring.  I'm pretty sure she thinks that because she was just there cheering for Nick and maybe only saw him four times the whole day.  When I talk to people that have finished, they say it was the kind words of the volunteers and all the spectators that helped them.  If the hour I spend making a silly sign created 250 more smiles on that run course, then it's all worth it to me.

The purple/green signs for all the TNT'er out there

The best part about making signs is getting to use up all my scrap paper! 

Nice Legs -- It always brings a smile

Who hasn't peed by the time they are on the run?
And, if they haven't well I hope they smile anyway.

Someone asked why I wasn't holding that sign.
And, that's because this sign was made specifically for him to hold! =P

The baby sign I made for Sedonia when she raced Couer d'Alene
 (we are "Two peas in a pod" besides the fact that she is a good 4.5 hours faster than me)
It folds in half so Phil could put it in his suitcase
and not forget it on the plane like I did.