Hello, Bike Gear

She was a little dusty and out of air, but Ruby was finally put back into commission.  I haven't ridden on the road since August.  Oh my!  I've done my share of spinning, but I had to remember what to pack and wear again.  Not that I actually forgot, but just having to actually "think" about it and not be on auto-pilot was different.  I was a little worried about the bike ride since it has been six months since I'd been on it.  I've gained some weight and was worried I wouldn't fit on it.  Luckily that was clearly an unfounded fear!

We had a swim workout prior to the bike ride.  Luckily, we arrived early and when Coach Dave asked me where the chalk was, I had a big, "Oh shit" moment!  We have all the chalk to mark the bike course at our house and I forgot it.  So we ran to the grocery store to get some chalk and then one of the other Training Captains and I went out to mark the course.  We made a few wrong turns ourselves, then had to go buy some water to "unmark" our wrong arrows and resume the real course.  Needless to say, by the time we got back to the pool, there were only 20 minutes left of the swim workout so I changed into my bike gear instead.

We love our Rubys!

Getting ready to head out

Since this was several people's first real bike ride, I knew my job this weekend would be to help the new cyclists with their bike handling skills and to provide any support needed to them.  I volunteered to sweep.  I know how much it meant to me to always have someone behind me so I wanted to be that for someone else.  We ended up having more novice cyclists than anticipated and extra help was needed to take them out on a trail before heading out on the road.  I went on the trail with one of the other coaches and worked with the girls on shifting and clipping in and out. After awhile they were comfortable enough for a short ride in the street to get used to the traffic.

In the end, I missed my swim workout due to the chalking debacle; and, my first ride back on the road was an extremely leisurely 10 miles rather than a good 25 miles.  But I reminded myself that I was volunteering my time for LLS.  Besides the small amount of fundraising I'm doing myself, I also get to help a group of people new to triathlon (who are also fundraising) grow into the sport.  Then they will be successful and love it so much they will come back for more and bring their friends, ultimately expanding our reach to helping more patients!   

Thankful Thursdays

I got to spend a lovely 3 nights in the Santa Cruz mountains without cell service this past weekend, which makes me just generally thankful to live among such beauty!

Fri - Scrapbooking weekend

Sat - Great hike in the redwoods and lots of fresh air and I finished my Argentina album. 

This was my favorite page in the book.  So simple with just black and white because the color of the buildings are super vibrant 

Sun - AKPsi - I figure I owe it my involvement.  It brought me a great college experience, best friends, and even a husband.

Mon - Tasty Bite's Madras Lentils

Tues - A super sweaty spin while watching the Americans 

Wed - WIT - I wasn't excited to attend as I wasn't interested in this month's topic, but I coordinated a Dress for Success drive so I had to go and collect all the donations.  I ended up running into an SAP acquaintance, who I really needed to speak with, and got to see several of my old customers!

Thur - Valentine's Day - as an adult, it's pretty silly.  But every Feb 14, I am reminded of how much I LOVED writing my Valentines and passing out cards in elementary school.  

Shoe Guts

I was organizing the garage the other day and laughed when I opened this box full of insoles and shoelaces.  I knew this was around somewhere, but forgot about it.

When either of us gets new running shoes, we change out the insoles and sometimes the laces. Every 6 months or so, we accumulate new pairs without "re-assembling" the pairs that have since been de-commissioned, which results in this:   

That's over $1000 in sneakers!  I think I might need to update our insurance premiums.... 

Of course, now that I found the box of shoe guts, I can actually reassemble the old pairs that were missing their innards and drop them off at Sports Basement where they will be collected and sent to Central America or Africa!  

Thankful Thursdays

My friend, Bryn, writes Thankful Thursdays.  These posts always make me smile.  I've done the gratitude journal before and then quickly lose discipline in writing every day.  So here's a new twist on the attitude of gratitude and things that happened this week for which I am thankful.

Fri - Ranch 99 - where I can buy things like spring roll wrappers, curry paste, gai lan and CP Wonton Noodle.  Plus, it's the only place in the world where an entire aisle is dedicated just to soy sauce.  Yep, the ENTIRE aisle!

Sat - Fresh local dungeness crab and 20% off Sports Basement coupons

Sun - Deveined shrimp (I bought veined once.  I'll never do it again.)

Mon - Another week of no traveling/airports

Tues - Getting in a good spin workout without ever leaving the house

Wed - 90 minute track workout (which I didn't want to go to, but was glad I did) followed by Rubio's.  I love that place and they are sparse in this neck of the woods (but near our track workouts so maybe that should be my motivation for going to team track workouts)

Thur - My coworker, Michael, who troubleshooted some "uncomfortable" areas of SAP with me today via Skype for over two hours 

What I Didn't Miss

Successfully completed my first week of official training.  I made it back to the pool for the first time in 8 months and made it to a coached track workout (any track workouts I did before were on my own and never with coaches).  I found some new ab and arm muscles thanks to Saturday's core workout.  Unfortunately, we didn't get on our bikes this week as some of the teammates don't have bikes yet, but I did get on the bike trainer on my own.  

This past week, I was reminded of a few things I didn't miss such as having to do more laundry and having tech tees and bike shorts and bathing suits hanging out to dry around the house.  But the main thing I begrudged was all the extra showering.  Don't get me wrong...I like to shower.  But there is no, "I'm going to take a quick shower" option for me.  The shower, itself, is fast.  But the post-shower business is a time suck.  If you didn't know already, I am part lizard.  The dermatologist has reminded me several times that I cannot use lotion in a pump and only the stuff that you can "scoop" is good enough for me.  Therefore, there is no way I can take a shower without then taking the time to dump my hand in a bin of Cetaphil and slather away.  I can't even think about not moisturizing my feet or they will be sure to punish me when they start cracking the next day. And, of course, we have to stay young, so there is the toning, serum, anti-wrinkle, moisturizer, eye cream ritual that must occur (although I guess that would be happening anyway with nightly ablutions).  But, even worse than the whole lotion routine is dealing with the hair -- the detangling, combing, anti-frizz, brushing, routine.  You're not supposed to wash your hair every day.  Let alone twice a day.  I am very aware that working out in the morning would be an easy solution to this issue.  Not only am I a night owl, but being back on a team environment equals evening workouts.

But, I suppose I can handle dry skin and messy dry hair in exchange for helping fight cancer. 

Ouch!

Ouch...it's what my legs are saying right now.  Why?  Because I finally started training again.  Nick and I both signed up for Pacific Crest this June.  We are training with Team In Training and I'll write another post later on our connection to the Team and the Cause.  

The last six months have been nice.  I got married.  I took several vacations.  I enjoyed every bit of the busy season that comes with the holidays.  I worked late without anxiety that I was supposed to be doing something else.  I didn't exercise as much as I should have, but I worked out when I wanted to.  I did not go to the pool.  And the only run I ever went on was through concourses and airport terminals trying to catch a connection.  

Both my brain and my body told me it was ready to be done with its self-proclaimed sabbatical.  Starting again isn't easy.  No matter what I once did or how far I could once go, it doesn't matter anymore.  Because I can't do that right now.  Yes, there is muscle memory.  And, yes, it will come back eventually.  But it's going to take awhile before I don't feel nervous or anxious before a run or a ride wondering how uncomfortable I will be and playing the mind game to not compare against what I could once do (otherwise I'll just feel awful).  

The one thing I know that has stayed the same is the skewed perspective of distance.  In December, Nick and I were at Pike Place in Seattle and needed to get to Capitol Hill.  We Google-mapped it and I exclaimed, "Oh, it's only 2 miles uphill, let's just walk it.  We'll get there in 44 minutes." So we did.  A few weeks ago I was driving in Minnesota and I was on a small hill.  With most of the area being pretty flat, there was this vast expanse of space and I could see the Minneapolis skyline in the distance.  It looked so very far away.  And then I realized it was only 13 miles away.  I suppose I could run/walk there if my heart desired.  It would hurt, no doubt.  But running/walking 13 miles is still in my vocabulary.

And so another journey begins.  It will be shorter.  But that doesn't mean it will be any easier.

Inspiring Others

Back in March of 2010, both the Bay Area Ironteams were having their training weekend down on the Wildflower course.  At that time, I had only been dating Nick for a few months and he asked if I would come volunteer.  It was very early in the morning.  I was cold, my feet were painfully numb because I forgot socks, and I was tired.  I stood on the shore and watched 50 people plunge into Lake San Antonio.  And, then I saw Jeff.  He removed his leg and literally crawled on his hands and knees across the dock, to get in the water.  And I started crying.  Crying because I was so inspired by what he was doing.  And crying because my numb feet were nothing to complain about.  After the day was over, he introduced himself to me and thanked me for volunteering.  I was too shy (yes, can you believe it?) to tell him how much he inspired me that day. 

Fast forward a year later, after my journey had begun and I was waiting at a left turn to start up Mt Eden when Ironteam flames passed by. It was Jeff training for IMC.  

And, a few weeks ago, we followed Jeff online as he went to Kona.  He crossed the finish line 25 minutes after midnight when most of the spectators had returned to their hotels.  But the president of Gu  was still there.  And, he wrote this wonderful article about Jeff's finish.
http://roctane.com/konas-final-star-jeff-schmidt/

A few months before Arizona, I was riding with Ron, the South Bay coach, and told him about my connection that happened at Wildflower Training weekend the year prior and what an inspiration Jeff was to me.  He told me Jeff would really appreciate hearing that story.  Unfortunately, I haven't crossed paths with Jeff since.  But next time I do, I will tell him. In the meantime, this entry is just another reminder about all the people out there that inspire us and don't even know it.  The ripple effect is amazingly powerful.