You Call This a Push Up?

Can you spot me? Hint: I the one who appears to be trying to ram her head into the ground. Good thing I'm wearing a helmet for safety.


This is us doing some core work before our bike and run in Nicaso, CA. It was a glorious day and I really enjoyed the bike(25 miles). The run (4 miles) on the other hand was a bit sluggish.

Then I went home and packed up everything in our apartment and moved to our new house! Phew.

It has been a busy week, but I'm glad I've been able to get out on my bike. A lot of the other stuff in my life doesn't matter in those few hours when I'm out there. It's a wonderful time meditating or chatting with friends. Has definitely kept me sane.

Training Weekend Insights

We just came back from our training weekend down at Lake San Antonio, site of the the race I am doing (Wildflower). It was a great weekend, despite some rain and camping mishaps. This is the 6th time I've been down there (3 training weekend and 3 race events) and each time I learn a bit more about the area and about myself.

So here we go (insert fanfare, but only a small one, 'cause these aren't exactly Earth shattering):

1. Wild Boar: I've always known there were wild boar on the land down there. You have to take some precaution with food and camping. It never occurred to me that you could HUNT for them! Chris has been looking for a place to go for awhile. One of my teammates stopped some hunters and asked them. Apparently it's just $2 for the day to hunt there. Mmmm mmm mmm.

2. Life is like a butterfly. On the way down there, I killed approximately 7,521 butterflies. There were yellow splotches a butterfly guts all over my windshield. There were at least a dozen of them plastered on my front license plate. When I took my bike off the rack, there about 7 full wings stuck in my bike pedals. On the way back, I didn't see any butterflies. Apparently, I killed them all on the way down. I actually felt really awful about the whole thing. I mean, they probably had just come out of their cocoons ready to great the wide world, and then SPLAT. But this TNT thing always make me think about the gift we have in our life and to be grateful for what we have. One of the honorees from another team spoke at one of our dinners. She battled Hodgkin's in her 20's and has been in remission for a while. But recently learned she was facing breast cancer, a common consequence of women treated for cancer in the 70's. She said to us, I am not angry at my doctors 30 years ago. I am not bitter. If breast cancers should get the better of me, I am still thankful for I have had a chance to live an amazing 30 years since my first treatment. So I am taking a lesson from the butterflies and from our teammate. Be thankful for the life that you have and make the very most of what you have right now.

3. Putting Self Doubt Aside. I went into this weekend, very worried and doubtful that I would be able to train at all, given my injuries and having missed so many training weekends. I had learned to stop beating myself up about that, and finally came to terms with the fact that I have had ALOT of stuff going on (bought a house, got married, moving, fundraising, training, mentoring, etc.) I am essentially overcommitted. So with that perspective in mind, I managed to put my self doubt aside and just "see what happens" with the training. I knew it was going to be a great weekend of fun, but didn't know how I would do. Turns out, I did just fine! The swim was fine. The bike was challenging, but completely doable. My butt was fine and I could even stand up on the hills without pain! The run was hard, but Molly and I did a little walk/run on the hills and got through the tough run just fine. I am realizing my self doubt often limits me in what I can do.

So there you have 3 insights of varying degrees of depth.

There are 4 muscles that are not sore

I'm finally back in to the full swing of training, and my body is rebelling. I have been waking up every morning and announcing to Chris "I'm sore all over." Then I roll back over and go to sleep again.

The first week back after vacation has been tough physically, but very good mentally. I am feeling like I will be able to do the race as long as I am diligent with my training. I may not have PR this season, but I know I will have a good time!

This week I:

• Did our first brick (bike and run) in the Presidio.
• Swam 2100 meters without loosing count of my laps at all!
• Did some hill repeats on my bike in the Presidio. Had a hard time on the hill on Arguello, but other than that, did alright.
• Ran 6 miles on Sunday in the rain.
• And. . . we did our first open water swim in the Bay! It was *only* 54 degrees. Balmy, compared to years past.

In addition to tri- training. I'm also all consumed with painting our new house and packing our old house. Busy busy times. Next weekend, we're off to training weekend to train on the course of Wildflower. Wish me luck!!

New Forms of Training

Well the last 3 weeks have been crazy. I've changed up my training a bit to focus less on swimming, biking, and running, and more on drinking rum and eating fried foods. Not exactly effective, I'm learning.

So we went on vacation to Colombia for 2 weeks. It was an amazing trip and I had a great time. I am hoping I didn't loose too much ground on the training front. I did swim in the Caribbean quite a bit, and even did three 45min+ open water swims. But then the pica picas (jellyfish like creatures) moved in. So I stayed on the boat and drank some more rum.

But now I am back and ready to pick up where I left off. I went to spin class last night, my first in 7 months. That went fairly well, though I am still pretty out of shape.

I am trying not to get to worried or stressed about my lack of good training this season. It's all for a good cause, right?

Anyhow, first open water swim with the team this weekend. 49 degree water here I come!!

Standing Still and Moving Forward

Today the team is doing their first longer ride out around Paradise Loop. I am at home in bed coughing up a lung, nursing plantar fascitis, and a sore bum. Last night I had anxiety dreams about being left behind in my training and not being able to do the race.

But as I sit here resting, thankful I am not on my bike, I remember that part of training is knowing when to be patient. Sometimes you have to slow down in order to speed up in the long run.

So today, I will work on my fundraising efforts (You can help! ), watch another stupid movie on netflix, and wait patiently for my body to give me the green light.

Round and Round Begins

Kickoff was last week in Berkeley. It's always a great time and gets me motivated all all fronts. Chris and I mentoring a group this season. We have six great folks, 5 of which are newbies to triathlons, which is very exciting. Hopefully they will have a great season. I know we will do our best to feed them well, at the very least.

Tuesday was the 1st official workout on the schedule. I swam for 30 minutes, and it went relatively well. No major pains in the tailbone area. I love these early swims because we don't have to count laps for distance. We just swim for 30 minutes, and I really love getting lost in the stroke and in the calming feeling of the water. Lots of people hate the repetition of swimming, but I love going round and round, and rotating back and forth, and listening to my breathing.

And today, we had our first coached workout at Kezar. I am happily running with the "Level As" as its plenty challenging, given my fitness level. Also, us slow-pokes have to stick together. I'm convinced that the slower folks are the funnest people to hang out with, anyhow.

I had to cut my run a bit short due to some pain, but nothing too major. Just being cautious.

And in other news, we bought a house today.

Comfortably Numb

TNT Kickoff is this Saturday. Chris and I are co-mentoring a group this season and looking forward to having the Fanciest Camp ever at training weekend.

I'm making slow progress on the training front, having run 3 miles 3 times in the past week. Each time getting a bit easier, though it's still pretty hard and slow. Have been pretty good with doing my physical therapy core exercise, too. I went to the doctor yesterday (the butt doctor as I affectionately refer to her) who gave me a small injection of steroid and Novocaine in my rear end. I spent the day poking my butt to see if I could feel anything. Good thing I was working at home.

This weeks plan:
- Get to the pool and make sure swimming to doesn't hurt.
- Put Speedster on the trainer and see if I can sit comfortably for 30 minutes.
- Kickoff on Saturday. Woohoo!