Happy Tiki's First Ride

I'm not sure how I got so behind in my posts, but I guess there isn't much to catch up on anyway since I've been a slacker.


Last weekend the weather was gorgeous and I rode outside for the first time since Ironman.  Nick, Phil, Maria and I did a short 90 minute ride up Calaveras from the Sunol train station.  

I was happy to ride again, happy I felt good on the road, happy that I ran into Kristie and got to ride with her for most of it, and happy that I finally made it to the false summit without stopping!  What?!?!  You haven't ridden to the top without stopping?!?!  Correct.  There was a time where I physically wasn't capable of riding this route without stopping.  And, then when I knew I was capable and kept making it my goal for the day, I got a flat tire or sunscreen in my eyes or needed to take off a jacket or whatever other obstacle got in the way.  It turned in to a joke for me and was this silly carrot I was chasing.  


The best part was I didn't have to bring all this nutrition with me since it was only 18 miles.  Happy Tiki got to ride in the bento instead.

And, this past weekend finally brought the much needed and anticipated rain.  I can afford to be a fair-weather cyclist at the moment so I opted for the garage instead.  It was definitely one of the more challenging spin sessions I've done and will be telling my coach to give me more 30-30s.  


I can't make up for lost time over the past few weeks, but I do feel like I am starting to turn the corner finally.

Trying to Remotivate

I'm behind in my blogging because there isn't really anything to report other than I feel so damn unmotivated right now (I like to say that statement to the tune of TLC's Unpretty).  I've been analyzing over the "why" and it probably comes down to 2 (ok really 3) things:


1)  I'm tired of swim/bike/run.  I'm tired of regimen.  I am not burned out on swim/bike/run, I just want to do other stuff, too, like yoga, hike, hip hop, zumba, general gym time, etc.  But instead of being productive and doing those other activities, I am not doing anything because I can't mentally get over the hump of not wanting to swim/bike/run.  It's really backwards, I know.  It's a psychiatrist's playground about how our brains hold us back for really asinine reasons sometimes.


2)  I'm not afraid.  A lot of motivation for training comes from fear of having a bad day.  Training for an Olympic after coming off an Ironman doesn't light a fire under me.  Yes, it will hurt on April 1.  Yes, I may not feel good.  But I know I can do it.  As evidenced by Ironman, there was the possibility that I wouldn't do it in time, which motivated me to complete my workouts.  For Olympic, maybe I will be 10 minutes slower than I want.  Perhaps one day the time will motivate me, but I'm not there yet.  I'm still new at this and it's still about the accomplishment.   But in all seriousness, I truly hope fear sets in really soon and changes things. 


3)  Life changes.  Unrelated to this whole training business, I have very very big life changes ahead.  Good life changes.  It's exciting.  But there is a sense of loss as well.  My cute house.  The South Bay.  My travel routine.  My gym.  I have to move.  Refinance my house.  Find renters.  Become a landlord.  Co-mingle some finances.  Plan a kickass party.  Change a name.  I will have to find new shopping malls and eventually a new doctor, a dentist, and hair stylist.  No, I don't need to find those things now, and I don't really even need to after I move, but at a certain point, I really am not going to want to drive 80 miles round trip for a 27 minute teeth cleaning.


1 and 2 are easily fixable.  One of the easiest things I can do to fix it is find others to play with!  Since I was in town last week, I was able to finally make it to Coach Dave's spin class at Sports Basement.  

I got my ass kicked.  But I walked away feeling really great because I saw tremendous improvement in my fitness and sustained cadence since my old Ironteam workouts.  Coach Dave's spin workouts really paid off those 3 months before Ironman and this workout gave me the proof (despite being "off" the whole month of December).


Number 3 is a different story.  I just have to make lots of lists and prioritize and sequence and figure out what needs to get done first.  Last year the Ironteam calendar was daunting.  Phil advised me over a year ago that I couldn't look at the entire calendar and to only focus on what's in front of me.  Nick always told me to just look one week at a time, otherwise I would get overwhelmed.  So part of the solution to #3 is creating that calendar and putting my Toodledo (one of my favorite websites) on steroids.  And start managing it week by week.  I'm hoping that being more organized will get me out of my analysis paralysis mode which seems to have bled into my training schedule.

Camp Crop-a-Lot

It's no coincidence that I haven't picked up my scrapbooking supplies (other than to make signs for Ironman) since January 3 of 2010. I signed up for my first triathlon on December 31, 2009, as a 2010 resolution.  But, it was time to bust out my pictures and books again.  I'm 2 years behind in a hobby that always "runs behind" as it is.  


Camp Hammer is a kid's camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains that repurposes itself to scrapbookers in the winter.  The kids aren't in camp during that time of year so 110 women invade with a good 50 lbs each of paper, adhesive, pictures, and cutting machines.  We sleep in bunk beds.  The staff cooks for us.  Massage therapists are brought in.  And, people work on their albums until the wee hours of the morning.  I admit I was not feeling ready to go there, but as soon as I arrived I felt like I was coming home.  It's so peaceful there and the weather was amazing last weekend.  And, I hadn't seen a few of these friends since January of 2010.  


I was one of the last ones to arrive and my friends joked that we were at the "first" cabin on the right.  True statement.  But this cabin was way way way way way up a hill (and to the right).  A few of the girls strategically planned their day based on only going up and down that hill once.  Since I had been so bad about my workouts, I looked at it as an opportunity to go anaerobic a few times a day.  This is the view from our cabin looking down.  It doesn't look too steep, but it was.  The two girls at the bottom were only about halfway down the hill.  If we came up in the middle of the night, we stood on the platform outside the room to catch our breath so we wouldn't wake anyone up inside with our heavy breathing!

And this is the view from the bottom of the hill.  Really beautiful.  Again, the picture just makes it look flat.  Which it definitely was not!

Sitting for hours on end makes me stir crazy so we generally go for a hike on Saturday.  I had a strength/core workout on the calendar and told my friends I would be doing 45 minutes the next morning hoping someone would bite.  Thank goodness, Elizabeth did.  On Saturday morning, we did 45 minutes of core.  I think I was shaking for a good 30 minutes after.  And, by Sunday morning, I cringed every step I took downhill.  I also got in an hour long hike.  


Although it wasn't a swim/bike/run, I felt good that I at least did something productive.  As for my scrapbooking skills, they are a little rusty and I went slower than I wanted as it took me awhile to find my groove.  But I finished more than half of my Argentina trip.  Last weekend reminded me how therapeutic scrapbooking is for me and reminded me to do little bits when I can and not to take two years off again!  I will be searching for balance....

What Did I Do All Day?

Ever have a day where you feel like you are so busy, but at the end of the day you have nothing to show for it? This happens to me often.  Despite my excitement after meeting with my coach a few weeks ago, I'm really struggling with getting motivated to train again.  I'm lacking in execution.  I'll write about it later.  But in the meantime, this video brought me to tears of laughter because this is so spot-on of why I can spend an entire day at home, busy futzing around the house, and later wonder what I did all day.

IMAZ 2011 Review in Pictures

OK, so I realize that Ironman was almost six weeks ago now and I'm quite late to the finish line on this one (pun intended?).  I had hoped to put this together the week after IMAZ, but hope is the keyword in that sentence.  I was waiting on some pictures from a few people and finally gave up.  


Nan came to visit a few weeks ago and that was all I needed to finally get this done.  And, she was kind enough to put all the finishing touches on it for me.


Unfortunately, the video is not available for mobile devices.  Yes, I know how to make it available, but Youtube won't let me until I am granted permission (still waiting on one of the companies).  If you are at a computer, please press play.  If you're reading this on your phone, please come back later.  I'm glad I finally did this.  For those that talk to me regularly, they know my mind is still having a hard time accepting what I did.  This video makes it slightly more real.

Since I'm new to this whole video making thing, I couldn't quite get the last slide to slow down.  But, I want to reiterate.....


A HUGE thank you to my amazing family, friends, and teammates that cheered me on in Tempe:

Mom and Mark

Dad and Cathy

Baby Boy

Dad

Lisa and Kyle
Angeline and Rich

Natalie

Julie

Steve and Debbie

Head Cheerleader Kerry

Co-Captain Chrissy

Karri and Mark

Klayton

Sherpa Sedonia

Honey Badger Grace

Swim Twin Dana

Embo

Helen

Kristie

Rocky, Claudia, and baby Sophia

Coach Mike

Coach Lorraine

El Cazador Edward

Mike

Heidi

Phil

My future mom and sister-in-law

Forever indebted to her:

Robin

My best friend and partner:

Nick

You each played a very important part in a day that I will never forget!!!!

Back In the Saddle

Hello, Work!  Hello, Airport/TSA/Rental Car!  And, Hello Training Peaks!  It's been a nice respite from all three of you.  I'm not sure which one I dreaded the most today.  

The nice thing about the first day back after a shutdown is that everyone else feels the same way you do.  The whole team was just trying to ease themselves back in to work mode today.  I shouldn't have been so surprised when people started packing up at 3:56pm and stated they were going home, or better yet, to happy hour.  

It was a beautiful 76 degrees outside and the sun was still shining.  I had a 45 minute run on the calendar and convinced a coworker to head to The Strand with me in Manhattan Beach.  Of course, Happy Tiki came along, too!  I haven't ran in 41 days.  It felt good.  I felt good.  And, I had an amazing sunset to watch the entire time.  

Happy Tiki Reads

The book section at Costco....
The smell of Barnes and Noble....
The elation of buying a LOT of books at super discounts when Borders shut its doors....
Swapping books with friends all over the country....
The giddiness of the library....
There was some reluctance to switch to e-ink.  But for practical and environmental reasons it made sense.


This weekend, Happy Tiki was delighted to discover one very unexpected benefit of this Christmas present -- being able to read during warm-ups, long rest intervals, and cool downs on the trainer.

It sits perfectly on the aeros.  Changing the page takes no more effort than changing a gear. Happy Tiki is indeed happy!