Chocolate

I like people who make things. I am all for supporting artisan creations and art. Especially created by friends or people I know.

A friend of mine, Dan Schreiber, from a computer science class freshmen year of college is now pursuing his PhD in CS still at Illinois. He is also into chocolate making. This weekend I received my order of handmade chocolate. It is delicious.

And tomorrow I should be picking up a painting (Sense) done by the girlfriend of a coworker/friend of mine, Emily Tarleton. I'm excited to find a home for it in my apartment. The walls are lonely with only a cork board and two Ironman posters.

And lately I've been perusing Etsy.com for all things handmade. Once I receive my clothing order I hope to post some photos. And maybe my sister will be nice and post photos of the food I ordered for her.

Five States

So I made it to five states in between October 6 and November 9, pretty much a month. Hawaii for the Ironman, back to California, Texas for a wedding, then California, up to Oregon twice for work, and finally to Florida (hahaha thanks Heather!) to spectate IM Florida. I spent A LOT of time flying, but it was all good. And now my sleep schedule is all messed up and I am blogging at almost midnight on a Tuesday night. But I only got under 20 hours of sleep between Thursday night and Monday and then 10.5 hours of sleep Monday night... ha.

Went to Panama City Beach, FL, most recently this past weekend to sherpa Jocelyn for Ironman Florida. Stayed with her teammate Scottie's family at this crazy condo on the beach, about a mile from the start. Spectating an Ironman is almost as tiring as doing one, and I got injured too! My left foot has been hurting since Sunday morning... figures. But it seems to slowly be getting better. Out of all the Ironmans I've been too, Florida seems like the biggest party. Which was great timing since I wasn't with my parents. Met some cool people, drank lots, good times.

So the off-season is in full swing. What with work and traveling consistency has not been my strong point. And with a foot in pain right now I'll have to lay off the running. BUT I am appreciating this flexibility and will continue it for at least the next 3 weekends, at least that's as far I can think about making plans. Currently looks like Soda will come up this weekend to hang out on Saturday evening in Midtown and we will ride on Sunday! Next weekend she says there is a time trial in the north Bay Area so I will go visit that area. And then the following weekend is Thanksgiving so will be in the Bay Area then. I'm looking forward to it! And it looks like CIM is out of the question with a bum foot, but maybe that is for the better.

(And no Olga I have not finished the apple cider... I actually haven't even touched it since the day I got it! Oops...)

Apple Hill

Apple Hill 8.5 Miler
Camino, CA

1:05:11 - 2nd 19-29 age group, 13th woman overall, 54th finisher overall (out of 491)

Missed 1st place by 17 seconds... oops! This was a 7:40 min/mile pace at about 3000 feet of elevation with over 1000 feet of climbing. Spent the entire race wheezing and it didn't occur to me until after the race that that was due to the elevation... ha

The first 5 or so miles are downhill... I did not pace correctly and instead of hammering the downhills I tried to hold back thinking I'd be able to make it up in the end. That wasn't the correct strategy. The race was not long enough to regain the time lost on the people ahead of me so I just ran out of distance. I went into the race thinking I would run hard though, and for the most part I did run hard. Just not as hard as I think I could have. But lesson learned for next year!

Deb and her husband drove me up since they were both doing the race. They also got half the gallon of cider I won for placing. I was like I'm one person, I live alone, what am I going to do with an entire gallon of cider? We also stopped at some country stores around Apple Hill and got lots of goodies. Mmm cider donuts! Makes me miss home.

The incredible KH was at the race and she talked me into probably running the California International Marathon so that looks like my next run. But it's going to be a "fun run" and I'm not going out to compete. For now it's trying to figure out next year's schedule... stay tuned.

Why Austin is Awesome

Flew down to Austin, TX, on Thursday for my friends’ wedding on Saturday evening. It was a lot cooler than I expected! I planned to work from Austin on Friday, which I did, dragging my laptop between my friends’ house, Austin Java Café, and Whole Foods Market. It was awesome. And I barely got lost driving around! That and after living here the traffic really doesn’t seem that terrible anymore. Gosh. How perspective changes.

Started a chilly Friday morning out at 6am at the Hills swimming with Jimmy and there were two of the same guys in the fast lane. Somehow, I was almost even able to keep up with them. And suddenly, I can kick! Not sure when that all happened… Pat stopped by the pool to say hi and then later she took a photo of my arm with the suntanned number in the locker room. Even got to see my old personal trainer! Hugs all around. And then since it was still before 8am Pacific time I went for a run on Lady Bird Lake. Did the familiar 7 mile loop between Mopac and I-35. Still chilly and a bit drizzly. Breakfast quesadillas at Austin Java Café like I always get, and some work.

Later in the afternoon ventured out to Whole Foods Market. It seems to have gotten even better, if that was possible. Either that or the ones here really do suck and make the one in Austin seem even more amazing. For dinner my friends and I went to Trudy’s with their Mexican martinis… man I miss Austin.

K's chocolate muffin ice cream sandwich

Saturday morning was an early morning again to swim and this time I got put into the fast lane. The guy in front of me kept farther and farther away and I was like boy I must be swimming slowly, and then I’d get to the wall and it’d be my normal times. Funny how that works. Got to see Chris who gave me a pep talk and told me I am not supposed to be an engineer. Good thing some people recognize that. Then FINALLY got to see K when we got breakfast tacos and muffins at Maria’s Taco Xpress and Taste No Evil Muffins. Just like old times! I miss it so much.

Wedding… fun… too much red wine, we’ll leave it at that. No action of course... I am not cool enough for that.

More breakfast tacos on Sunday, hurray, though I never think there will ever be such a thing as too many breakfast tacos too often. Another run on the lake… weather was beautiful in the afternoon and tons of people were out walking and running and enjoying. Another reason I love Austin. Got Amy’s Ice Cream with K and then… that was it.

Now contemplating what to do next. Long term I mean. Short short term I am volunteering at the local half marathon on Sunday at the start and finish areas and going to do a typical crazy Amy thing… short run to the start, help out for 5 hours, then do a longer run home.

THE RACE report

Ironman World Championships
Kailua-Kona, HI
October 10, 2009

The numbers:
1244 overall (1650 finishers)
13 age group W18-24 (24 finishers)

Swim- 1:19:31
T1- 6:52
Bike- 6:53:44
T2: 8:29
Run- 4:11:11 (5th fastest)

This was a tough day. It ranks up there with the first marathon I ran, Chicago, exactly 4 years ago to the weekend. However, I was actually a lot more sore after my first marathon than after this. I remember I couldn't straighten my right leg for 4 days after the run. I was going up the stairs two at a time 3 days after this Ironman.

Let's start at the beginning. The first time I ever heard of this event was back in 9th grade. It was on tv and I was sitting on the couch watching it thinking how incredibly insane such an event was. I do remember it was one of the emotional things I have watched on tv though and trying not to cry when the people the show profiled crossed the finish. Fast forward 5 years and I was running my first marathon. I picked up running in 11th grade since the crew team had to run a lot when the boat/people ratio was incorrect. The summer following my first marathon I was at school and saved up enough money to buy a road bike so that I could "learn" to bike and do a sprint triathlon that summer. I also did not tell my parents in fear that my mother would yell at me, which I predicted correctly since I had to use their credit card to register for the triathlon and my parents look at their credit card statements and my father told my mother and my mother called me and yelled at me to spend more time on studying. But I still did and survived the race. I almost drowned in the swim; Lake Michigan is freezing cold even in the middle of summer and I was not prepared to be wetsuitless in 67 degree water. I panicked when we ran into the water and put my face in, had to go hang onto a lifeguard floaty thing, and then side stroked the rest of the swim once I regained my breathing. FInally got out, hopped on my bike, and ran, and finished! I was hooked.

The next spring I spent in Austin, TX, and really got the bug. Austin is such an active place you can't help but want to work out! That summer I moved up to olympic distance races, and in the fall did my first half. It was pitiful... I wasn't really trained, especially not on the bike, and so the bike was just really long.

2008 (last year) was when I really got into it. That was the year I did a real half, was part of a master's swim group, and met Jocelyn who really inspired me! So I flew home, dragged Heather up to Lake Placid with me, and we volunteered so I could get a spot into this year's race.

So, onto 2009! Initially I had thought I would be living in Austin, training with one of the many tri groups, and having a fantastic time. With the extra vacation I would have had I wanted to take extra time off to go up early to train on the course. However, my plans didn't quite work out as, well, planned. Instead found myself in a completely new place, all by myself. First things first, let's find a coach. I found Mark Cavallaro on the Sacramento Triathlon Club's website and am I glad I did! As an ironman himself, he has plenty of experience and although sometimes the plans were crazy, they really worked for me and I was suddenly doing things I never thought possible! Podiumed all races this year leading up to Kona. Running faster than I ever thought I could and actually forcing myself to sit on the bike. This got me 2nd in my age group at Lake Placid and a rolldown slot to Kona.

Kona, the Ironman World Championships! The event I had watched on tv 9 years ago. The race I never even dreamed of doing because I never thought it was possible! But wait, I'm going? How is that possible? I basically spent the entire time between Lake Placid and Kona in a state of shock. It never really sank in that I was going to the big dance. And this is where I made too many mistakes. The focus I this race required just was not in the right place.

I arrived in Hawai'i 5 days before the race. My mother (who now very much supports my triathlon activities) flew in the same day and was very cooperative in sherpa-ing me around. So Wednesday morning we headed down to the pier so I could swim for the first time on the course and the first time swimming (not just floating) in the ocean. It was a lot better than I expected, I actually grew to love it. In the afternoon, after picking up race packets and getting my bike, we drove up to Hawi so I could test out the wind. I should have just biked near our hotel in Waikoloa, the wind was nastier there. Thursday was the Underpants Run and I did a swim. Friday was race eve. Short swim, bike, run. Dropped off my bike, they really cater to the athletes at this race, and went home to panic. And psych myself out. I had a goal of 12 hours, which I think started my downfall.

Race day. The best part was getting the stamped numbers. I even had tan marks around them now. Couldn't find my parents after setting up my water bottles in transition so put my speedsuit on and went to the beach. The second best part of the day was the swim (it all went downhill from there). I started in the back, decided it's better to stay out of the madness then get all frazzled. Swim was really good, felt strong aside from the painful chafing that was developing on my underarms, and stayed out of the fray. Came out of the water, into T1, out of T1. My bike was one of the last left for my age group as usual. Mark told me to go easy on the bike to conserve energy on the run and that was the plan. Even more people passed me going north on the Queen K but I resisted speeding up. I realized it was going to be a long day though when around mile 15, I got bored. The wind wasn't so bad going north until closer to Hawi. The wind picked up during the climb into town. The descent out was fine, but just about mile 65 the headwind started. And didn't stop until I was almost back to Ali'i Drive. It was a new form of torture I didn't know existed. I couldn't go easy because if I went easy I would completely fall off and there wasn't any harder than I was going. At one point it took 24 minutes to go the 3 miles from Waikoloa Beach Drive to the scenic point south of it. Pure hell. I contemplated getting off the bike and laying on the highway but remembered there had been an article about me in the blog of the group I currently work in and I couldn't go back to work as a DNF. Almost 7 hours later I was off the bike and into T2.

Onto the run I initially felt good. Despite the layer of white on my shorts I felt okay. The first 10 miles on Ali'i Drive went good. Lots of I-L-L cries and even a house that first yelled "GO CHIEF" and then on the way back after the turnaround was holding up a bright orange shirt with a picture of the Chief on it. Then I got up to the Queen K. Where I died. It started after the halfway point when I had to pee really bad. So I stopped and when I started again it just wasn't happening. 3 miles later it turned into a death run. I was falling apart. It was also starting to lose light at this point, making it even more depressing. Into the Natural Energy Lab I was having trouble staying moving. I still ran the entire thing but my pace became really slow. After coming out of the Energy Lab it was dark. There aren't many lights on the highway so it involved glow sticks and staring at the white reflective line. The annoying part was when athletes didn't wear glow sticks but were coming towards me and I couldn't see them until they were a foot away. This was becoming traumatizing. Finally back to Palani Road and down the hill to Ali'i and to the finish. I felt like death.

That was the most humbling thing I have ever done. I discovered there really is a limit to the amount of willpower and motivation. I need to push the limit out. I'll be back one day. I can do better than I did on Saturday, I know that for sure.

Thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged me and for everyone who has shared their enthusiasm for what I am doing. It means a lot to me.

Uninspired

Writer's block. But Heather wants a post. So here's a photo of me when I was dead hanging at the San Francisco Dragon Boat Festival last weekend. 119 seconds. After awhile, everything hurt. Biceps, abs, legs... so then I feel and missed the day's record by 10 seconds. Sad.

Truth

Pure, absolute, freaking GENIUS...


...and SO SO SO SO SO true!

The Auburn Century - Wildest Ride in the West

It took me 8.5 hours to ride 110 miles. Holy crap that's a long time, you may say. Well, there was at least 12000 feet of climbing, though my Garmin tells me it was more like 14k, but regardless, that's a hell of a lot of climbing! Particularly on a time trial bike too. The weather also decided to be weird, and it rained for the first time since maybe early June that I can remember. The ride was certainly an adventure.

The ride started in Auburn (1400 feet elevation approximately) and up and up and down and UP and down and up and up and up and up and (etc) and down and up to Robinson's Flats (6700 feet elevation). Then you turn around and go down and up and down and up and down down down and then down and up and rolly rolly rolly and up and then back to Auburn. I got to see some amazing scenery and towns that I would never have even known existed did I not ride a bike. I also rode with two great people, one who provides great insight on work/job/career and the other who is super speedy and a very nice person.

The century was very well run, the event director was found at many of the rest stops since he was driving around the course. The volunteers were super nice and the food was awesome! I even had an ice cream bar at the top, though that proved to be not such a smart idea since the temperature was dropping and dairy doesn't go down so well while biking... ha.

I felt generally okay on the ride, there were some extremely tough parts: Iowa Hill - over 1.75 miles climb 1400 feet; the 13 mile climb (mostly) from China Wall to Robinson's Flat which was over 2000 feet elevation difference including the last 3 miles which was about half of that; the short steep hill on Spring Garden Rd in Foresthill; the annoying rolliness of Foresthill Road from about miles 95-105; and the freaking hill from the bridge up into Auburn that I ride whenever I do the Folsom Lake Loop that no matter how many times I do it, never gets easier!

As I said, the scenery was fantastic though. Going up Iowa Hill I was like dang, if this wasn't a time trial I would totally stop and take photos, though I guess that would make continuing up the hill a serious bitch. Also along Foresthill, named quite correctly. It's basically a road cut up a hill in a forest. Lots of trees and as you were climbing up, you could start to see the tops of the surrounding hills/mountains since you were so high up. Truly amazing. The one downside was the rain during the descent of Foresthill Road. Never a fan of rain on the bike, even less of a fan when going downhill.

Still, overall a good ride, good people, good conversation. Will I do it again next year? Of course, this time the 140 mile version! And I will practice more on Iowa Hill. It wasn't as bad as I was warned, but it certainly wasn't easy.

two-zero

Twenty hours is apparently the time needed to be spent on training so that I actually feel like I'm training. It also appears to be the magic number where I can stop gaining weight just by looking at food. Both those observations are a bit disturbing; what's going to happen over winter? But hey, I'm really training again!

Blood, Sweat, and Beers trail run race 2009

Fleet Feet Sacramento held the inaugaural Blood, Sweat, & Beers trail race today. It was held in Auburn (endurance capital of the world) on supposedly some of the Western States course. Granted, since I just moved here this year, it wouldn't have mattered whether it was the first year or not except that they ran out of free beer and my friends and I had to wait around forever for them to get back. But that's not why I ran this race, oh wait maybe it was.

Race started at 8am, in waves. I went in the first wave since it was supposed to be 9 min and under milers. I had no idea what I could run since this was 3 weeks after Lake Placid and super hilly and traily. I figure I will decide in the first couple miles like last weekend when I decided during the swim. I start out, just trying to run with the pack, which is going surprisingly fast. It started on grass, then pavement, then a steep big descent on the trail. I hate descending, I hate descending even more on unstable trail. Slowed down and I think got a bunch of people stuck behind me. Then onto level trail and everything starts to blend together. What I have come to notice at most races is that many people can beat me on the descents but then I power up the uphills. So the girls that were impatiently stuck behind me going down got passed on the up and were never seen again.

Kept running, trying to go as hard as possible without tripping over my feet or the roots or the rocks. Sprint the straightaways, don't walk on the uphills, and don't fall down the downhills. Most of the hills were vertical, which made for interesting ups and downs.

I remember wanting to puke somewhere around 3 or 4 miles. Around 9 or 9.5 miles I started to lose concentration and almost tripped on roots twice. Mad sprint to the finish and crossed for a chip time of 1:32:44. This made for 2nd in the F20-29 age group and 7th woman, though don't know how many total. Overall 35/337 finishers though. Top 10%!

I think I can say I am mainly satisfied with the race. Saw the highest heart rate ever (196 bpm) and got the nausea feeling. I am not really sure where I could have run harder and still stayed uprigh.

Folsom Olympic Tri

Folsom Olympic Tri
Sunday, August 9, 2009

Overall: 136/451
Female: 19/147
Age group: 1/2

Swim - 30:24.1
T1 - 3:59.6
Bike/T2 - 1:14:08.8
Run - 46:56.7
Total - 2:35:29.3

I did this race for fun. It's right in Folsom - swimming in Lake Natoma; biking along the trail, past work, and out into parts I've never rode on; and running along the trail which I've done numerous times. I had a friend from master's swim doing it and then I found out another woman I had met back in March at the ride in Sonoma County was also doing it. Kind of expensive for an olympic race, though I think prices are going up nowadays across the distances. AND since I finally legitimately won my age group I got some free schwag that made up for it anyways.

So luckily didn't have to get up super early since it was barely a 10 minute drive from my apartment to the race site. No assigned racks unless you were part of a club, and since I was racing in my usually FIT jersey I have no club affiliation. Found my friends before the race and got into the water about 3 minutes before my wave was to start. Lake Natoma is cold (somewhere in the mid 60s I think) so wasn't too interested in being in the water more time than necessary. Luckily today my feet didn't go numb and my chip didn't fall off my ankle even though the strap got loose at the beginning. Couldn't really see the buoys at all so mostly just trying to follow the caps in front of me. On the way out the sun was in my eyes and on the way back the buoys were not in a straight line!

T1 wasn't as long as I thought, though it felt like I was dawdling in there forever. Got on the bike, first/last parts were on the bike trail, then onto the road for an out and back course. For some reason I thought the course was flat and I wore my aero helmet. However, it was not like a pancake, though not super hilly either. Got passed by one woman on the bike and passed a few myself. Not really pushing too hard, just trying to keep going. The scariest part was seeing so many people on the side of the road with flat tires.

Back into T2 and I think this was one of my faster T2s. Ran out and was kind of worried because my legs didn't quite feel upbeat. Got passed by one female who was definitely clipping along so I figured I just had to keep her in my sights. Saw another female up ahead. Tried to keep a 7:30-8 minute pace on the way out along the trail and tried to count how many females were ahead. Legs found themselves between the 2 and 3 mile mark so was able to push the way back and pass a few women. One woman did come flying by and I tried to hang on but she was flying.

As usual, felt good at the end. Guess I still need to learn Olympic distance pacing. Still, set a PB and finally went sub-2:40 despite doing an Ironman two weeks ago. The funny thing is that they seemed to have forgotten my age group at the awards so my friend went up and pointed that out. Got a lot of free schwag! A medal, bottle of wine, goggles, tshirt, some other stuff. Not too bad! Next up, a trail run in Auburn that has free beer at the end.

Whoo-hoo

My awesome coach, Mark Cavallaro.

T1

Jocelyn wants an explanation of why my T1 was so long. First of all, Mirror Lake and the Olympic Oval (transition changing tents, bike racks, gear racks, etc.) are not exactly next to eachother. You stagger out of the water, get your wetsuit ripped off, then have to run down Mirror Lake Drive, cross Main Street, and finally you get into transition area. You're still wet, carrying your wetsuit, and the carpet is slippery.

.1 mile run in no shoes!

And then I had brought both helmets and had to decide which and then put the number sticker on, and stuff my pockets with rain jacket, tubes, pump, etc. Then had to get bike and stuff it with food. Then finally got to mount line in a chaos of people and had to get on bike without falling off.

Plus I normally always have long T1s anyways. Taking my time!

IMLP

I think I am suffering from post-event depression. Today is day 4 of no exercise and eating tons of crap. Donuts, chips, Cheetos, cookies, ice cream, 8 slices of pizza (minus the end crust) at a pizza buffet... but nothing really tastes good unless it's really salty or cheesy or sweet so hence the choices of food. AND my immune system is rebelling and it hurts to swallow, yawn, and sneeze. I guess I am also still stressed since there are some lingering personal issues and now the realization I have to keep training. I mean, I LIKE training, I like it a lot but I guess I was interested in a break. Though I'm not sure what I would do on weekends if I didn't train. I know I have friends here, but they are the ones I swim or bike with, not necessarily the ones I call to go to the mall or see a movie or get dinner or grab a drink after work. But anyways, this is supposed to be a race report, not a rant report.

IM Lake Placid
July 26, 2009
Total time - 12:33:37
Overall place - 801
Age group place - 2/7
Swim - 1:18:56
Place - 1406/6
T1 - 13:13
Bike - 6:48:39
Place - 1333/4
T2 - 6:52
Run - 4:05:58
Place - 340/1

The race went by a lot faster than I expected. I trained for 5 months and then poof, all done! I beat my goal of 13 hours by over 26 minutes, beat my bike time despite dying on the second lap by 11 minutes, and almost nailed the run. My Garmin tells me I did a 4:01, but I stopped at the porta-potty twice.



It rained before the start, making me really nervous. Apparently it rained during the swim too, but I was wet and didn't notice. Didn't get too kicked or beaten during the swim despite over 2200 starters and tried to draft as much as possible. The swim was nice such that I didn't really have to sight that much. I lifted my head mostly to check how far along the course I was. First lap was faster than the second since there was a larger draft and I had more open water on the second lap. The second lap just felt long and I could see some blue sky peaking out and I really wanted to get on my bike.



Ran to T1 and had to decide which helmet to wear. Went with the non-aero which was a good choice since it got sunny and warm during the bike. Almost fell off at the mount line since it was chaos and the girl in front of me abruptly stopped just as I had gotten on my bike. Once on my bike I felt like I was flying. Felt so good for the first loop, passing lots of people. After passing through town at the beginning of the second lap I could feel my quads start to tighten up. Which then just keep tightening and by mile 80 I was so ready to get off my bike. My butt hurt and my shoulders hurt. By mile 96 my crotch hurt too and I was getting really frustrated. The last 12 miles of each loop is uphill and the last 16 miles of the bike was the most painful since probably the first marathon I ever ran. Average speed for the last 20 miles dropped to 13 mph.



Finally got back to T2 and was so happy. Got on my shoes, had a gel, and took off. The first 5-7 miles my stomach was bothering me and I switched from gatorade to semi-flat cola, which seemed to help a lot. My coach said don't walk, so I didn't. Only times I stopped were when I went to the porta-potty. Ran up the big hills at the end of the run loops too. I have never figured out a good strategy for marathon pacing, and since my coach said keep an even pace I was doing 9 minute miles for the first loop that got slower for the second. Overall it felt like I really wasn't out there for that long. I think I could have run faster too, but since I had fucked up my bike pacing I didn't want to fuck up the run too, and kept it conservative. But since I was fine by Monday night, at least muscle wise, I guess I had more in me.

My awesome friend Deb who I swim with at master's and turned 50 on race day! She's on my list-of-people-I-know who are my heroes.

I can't believe my first ironman is over. Nor can I believe I got a Kona rolldown slot. Like I never ever even thought that would happen. But I've got a plane ticket! What I know I need to figure out for Kona is my nutrition, mostly for the bike. I was getting sick of Clif Bars on the bike and found the Pop-Tarts kept crumbling, making them hard to eat while moving. I ended up with 3 Clif Bars, 1 Lara Bar, and maybe just over 1 packet of Pop-Tarts as my solid food, plus 1.5 bottles of Gatorade in my bottle and whatever I managed to squirt into my aerodrink and also drink while passing through aid stations. My run nutrition seemed to work though, since my legs didn't hurt much at all. 5 gels total, one approximately every 5 miles at an aid station, with water the aid station after, and 1 cup of cola per each 2 aid stations after those. Repeat that 5 times. And luckily the weather was warm for Lake Placid, but just pleasant for me compared to what I've been training in here.

Most importantly, I want to thank all my friends who supported me along the way, my parents for coming, Heather for being my awesome sherpa and putting up with my crap during race weekend, Jocelyn for always encouraging me, Stan for riding with me and putting up with my shit during training, and most especially, my coach, Mark Cavallaro. Without him I don't think I could have gotten here!

Completely Unexpected

Well I totally did not expect what happened yesterday AT ALL.

2nd place (with fastest run time in age group)!

AND I got a rolldown spot for Kona. NEVEREVEREVER did I think I would get to Kona, let alone in my first Ironman. I'm still stunned and at a loss for words. However, my mom has already booked a hotel.

Race report to follow once my brain recovers. Too much white fried food today. Donuts, cinnamon roll, bread, curly fries, fish fry, caramel corn, etc.

Counting Down

Got to Lake Placid this afternoon. Picked up race registration stuff and picked up my bike. Went for a bike ride. I think during the ride I finally realized that the race is in 3 days. Frightening.
Giant blow-up Gatorade bottle next to the Olympic Oval (aka expo area/transition area/finish area).

Something interesting I've noticed so far is that there is like 3 times the amount of male competitors versus women. It's like 1-1930ish for male (minus maybe 20 pro women) and then 1936-2600ish for females. Hum. On my bike ride today I got passed by a bunch of guys. Not a surprise.

Adult-Onset ADD

I have a really hard time sitting around my apartment by myself and not eating. Which is why I think I don't sit around my apartment without anything to do... But I've run out of things to waste money on right now. So I guess after the race I will somehow have to find some way to pass the time. The problem here is that it's so hot that it's not even comfortable to sit outside by the pool. Sad. I think that's what I used to do a lot of.

I realized I really don't think I can live here permanently. The only good part about this area is the cycling. Other than that there really isn't anything to do. Maybe I should research some museums. Or go wine tasting a lot in August.

I leave for NY on Wednesday midday. Get home late that night and drive up to Lake Placid probably midday Thursday. I was thinking about getting some barbecue on the way up, since that's relatively healthy. Oh, and some awesome frozen custard. Stay tuned for my list of places to eat AFTER the race, as long as I finish of course.

I think I need to work on my nutrition strategy for the bike. Goal is 7 hours on the bike, 200 calories per hour, plus maybe an extra 100 just to be safe. So that's 1500 calories approximately. I've been eating Pop-Tarts on the longer rides along with Clif Bars and Lara Bars. I was using Bonk Breaker bars but I think they don't agree with my stomach. One Pop-tart pastry is 200 calories, a Clif Bar is 250 calories, and a Lara Bar is 200. I will drink Gatorade and water from the course. I don't want to rot out my stomach so I'm sticking with solid food on the bike and gels on the run. A bottle of premixed Gatorade is 150 calories I think. So 2-3 bottles of Gatorade and 1050 solid food calories. I think that would be 2 Pop-Tart pastries, 2 Clif Bars, and 1 Lara Bar. 1100 calories there and Gatorade. Not sure how many gels I need on the run though... I can get by with 4 on standalone marathons along with Gatorade, but that's when I go into the run with full glycogen stores. But there will be cola and maybe something salty at the aid stations so I may use those too. For some reason lately I have been craving pretzels and salt, not sure why. I usually only crave sugar.

Heather's Rules of Taper

Tomorrow begins the first of two weeks of taper for Lake Placid. Luckily I had three good workouts today - fast-ish long run, 50x50 swim, and an easy spin on the trainer while appropriately watching the Tour de France and reading chick lit.

If anyone knows me, they know I hate taper time. I'm like, what am I suddenly going to do with all my free time? Luckily Heather, as a former competitive college swimmer, has a list of things to do, or not do, during taper:

1. Do not run when you can walk.
2. Do not stand when you can sit.
3. Do not take stairs when there is an elevator.
4. Lightweight shoes.
5. Always sleep by yourself.
6. Don't get hit by cars.

So out of those 6 things, I feel I can only really do number 6. Maybe 1 since I hate running in flip-flops. And I don't think there is an elevator in the building I currently work in.

TWO WEEKS!! And congrats to Jocelyn for winning overall female at the Korea Ironman!

Swimming Backwards

Somehow in the past month, maybe due to stress, maybe due to lots of biking and running, my swim stroke deteriorated. Like to worse than it was when I got here in early February. And somehow I knew that, since my swim times were increasing and I suddenly realized I wasn't actually going anywhere in the water. So instead of doing something productive about it, I took a week off from swimming. And in that week of course, my life fell apart. Work issues, training burn out, personal issues... it's always like an avalanche. One thing pops out and everything crashes down. Luckily I was able to resolve my personal issue and I ran a lot, and I think I'm back on track there. Work still sucks, but at least the manager who hired me is siding with me. So I think I'm feeling a little better overall, though unfortunately work plays such a large part in my life I haven't regained all my focus yet. And I think when I lost that focus (whenever it was) is when my swimming started to suck also. It takes a lot of energy and concentration to swim well! And it gets awfully boring, and it takes longer to get to the pool and start swimming, and excuses excuses. So I decided to try to solve my problem. How did I do this? I first took another swim lesson to figure out what is going wrong and to recognize that and then to try to fix it. Secondly, I went back to master's swim. I realized maybe the reason I liked swimming so much last year is because it was FUN to swim with other people. And chat too, of course. And chat in the locker room after. And I missed that this year. There is no entertainment swimming by myself. So to get into the pool today, I told myself I'd do my own set and then join the master's workout. And it worked! And I got to talk with the coach and the regulars in the group. Hopefully this momentum continues...

Another Epic Weekend

The week preceding this weekend was far from epic, aside from me crying twice in 6 days, once on the bike while headed down (or up, since apparently the people who built the road thought it'd be fun to create a hilly road on the way down to the lake) to Folsom Lake. It wasn't pretty.

So I told myself I had to make up for the shitty week this weekend. Despite the record high temperatures (yesterday was 101 at least and today was at least 108) I got 101 miles on the bike on Saturday that I followed up with a 5 mile brick run. At the very end of this run I ran up Scarborough Road, this super steep road in my friend's neighborhood. Since the first time I tried to run up it I had to stop midway and put my head between my legs, I was proud that I made it all the way up without stopping. Then today I ran 20 miles in the morning (finished around 1140am when the temperature was already 98) and then 9 hours later, did an easy 3.5 mile run. This totals 101 miles biked and 28.5 miles run in one weekend. I actually ran 57 miles this week total since I decided I didn't want to swim anymore. That's the most I've ran since early 2008. Luckily, to make up for the current detesting of swimming, I bought a long-sleeve wetsuit today.

AND to top this weekend off, Jocelyn came to visit and do some heat training for her upcoming iron in Korea. It was fun to see her and go out to dinner with her and some of my friends from work. Unfortunately we didn't get to train together, but she would have kicked my ass anyways!

The Great Experiment

How little sleep can I get by on while still training 20 hours a week? We will see... tomorrow is another 7 hour ride and then a brick run... and it will be in the triple digits. And then Sunday is my longest run. I feel like I'm back in college when I would get 6-7 hours of sleep and then go run.

I am also trying to figure out where all my time went... training fewer hours per week and also sleeping less. Oh right, work. But that's a whole other story. And something else too, but that is yet another tale in itself.

Does anyone know if it's illegal to work through lunch while an exempt employee?

L is for Loser

Usually when I am in a bad mood I like to blog. But apparently I am in such a foul mood that I don't even know what to say here.

I did a 2.4 mile open water swim "race" this morning. It was really windy though (we have both wind and super hills here) and one of the buoys got blown off course so the swim was short. My time was a 59:30, which was second to last in the 20-20 age group (haha) but at least I was not tired at the end. I wasn't sure how it was going to go because I've been slightly nauseous since Thursday evening, I swam 4000 yards after work on Friday, my head was throbbing, and I was (am) sleep-deprived. The wind made the water super choppy and I swallowed more lake water than I cared to and actually ended up choking, especially on the second lap. Not pleasant. Towards the end of the last loop I got so fed up with the waves and swallowing water that I tried to pick up the pace. I don't really think it worked, but I got out and felt completely fine. Only thing that bothered me was my right arm because I sight in such a way that the arm gets strained more than my left. Still wondering if I should get a full-sleeve wetsuit for Lake Placid. I think the water temperature today was around 75, but I've lost more weight lately and I was cold. Even my sleeveless wetsuit seemed looser around the middle. Argh. It certainly helps with the running but I'm not sure about my general health. I think I've hit the bottom, but the bottom seemed to keep dropping.

"I tri, therefore IM"

Title is courtesy of Heather, who is also requesting this update. I was waiting to make sure I could say this: 27 hours and 12 minutes of training in this past week. That is equal to 55 minutes of lifting, 15,550 yards swam, 218 miles biked, and 42 miles run. Biggest week EVER! And I feel pretty good at the end of it.

Yesterday was my longest bike ever, at 113 miles. It took over 8 hours to complete but it was all easy easy riding. I know that because my average heart rate was only 130 bpm and I spent pretty much the entire time talking to Stan. I also rode the entire thing on my tri bike to test it out for Lake Placid. I think it will work.

And not only did I train a lot, I was working over 40 hours. I finished the second week in my current group... and realized most of my coworkers aren't so bad. I like that they are all relatively new college graduates so we're about the same age. However, my mentor still appears to have a stick up his ass.

Okay I have nothing insightful to say right now.

World's Toughest Triathlon aka Auburn Tri Half-Iron

78/202 overall
10/49 women (I think)
2nd in age group because 1st was a 22 yr old pro

The times don't separate out transition times so I think both T1 and T2 are included in the bike time.

Swim: 38:27.8 (113th overall)
Bike: 3:49:48.4 (114th overall)
Run: 1:49:37.7 (41st overall)
Total: 6:17:53.9

So not bad! My family came to town the day before to watch the race and hang out for a week. I had a large piece of cake that day. Interestingly I didn't sleep very well the few days before the race (I was a wee bit distracted) so I was kind of worried that may affect the race and perceived exertion.

My sister was nice enough to get up in the early morning to drive me to the race. She dropped me off about 3 miles from the swim start and I rode my bike down. This may have been a good way to warm up I think. This race has two different transitions due to the elevation/terrain so I had to make sure I had a plastic bag to put my stuff in labeled with my number that would get picked up after everyone had left T1.

Swim was uneventful as usual. Really didn't push the pace at all, tried to make myself pee in the water so I wouldn't have to go on the bike. Folsom Lake was quite comfortable water-temperature-wise so I was good in my sleeveless wetsuit. Got out of the water, took the usual nap in transition (had to stuff everything in the bag), and got on my bike. I used my road bike with aero clip-ons. Reminded myself not to hammer the initial large climb and spent the miles watching all the guys standing up as they went up the hills.

Don't think I went very hard on the bike, got kind of sleepy at places, bored at others. Had a chat with some riders out for a "frolic" while climbing one road. Tried to remind myself to eat and drink. I need a better system for this because waiting until I start feeling a bit woozy is not such a smart strategy. Saw my family twice on the course. Took it mostly easy on the way out (and up) and then hammered more on the way back. This is also when my right aerobar became really loose and was banging up and down. Later I discovered the spacers had completely fallen out. Into T2 and found blood on my sock. Spent some time investigating and found a blister on the bottom of my foot. I got nervous this would hurt throughout the run. Luckily it didn't bother me at all.

Legs weren't too sore off the bike so I just started to run. I was surprised to see 7-8 minute mile pace on my GPS. The air temperature at this point was quite comfortable; had it been 5-10 degrees warmer I probably would have been in trouble. Took two and a half gels and a lot of water since the aid stations seemed to be every mile or so. Since I had run the majority of the course in weeks prior to the race, I wasn't too worried. Felt pretty good and before I knew it, the race was over.

Finish time was a lot better than I had anticipated. And also finishing condition. I have to thank my coach for putting so much training time on my schedule and also my friend/co-worker Stan who accompanies me and puts up with me on long bike rides. Without either of them I don't think I would have had such a successful race.

So next up, Lake Placid. Maybe some short stuff in between, but I think it's time for the big mileage. The big BIG mileage. The next post will probably be about my new job. When I actually get time to write, that is...

Toasty Legs

My legs are toast after this weekend. 80 miles on the bike Saturday with either 8600 or 10300 feet of climbing. Up up up. The Auburn Tri course race director is nuts. Oh wait, he is a former pro triathlete. I don't even know how I'm supposed to race the course... it's more like it will be a test of staying upright and on my bike. Then a short just under 4 mile run in 90plus degree temperatures with little shade in my friend's neighborhood. I stopped halfway up the big hill and bent over and stuck my head in between my legs. I spent the entire time running up the hill looking for possible places to puke in the neatly manicured, really green grass. Sunday was a 14 mile run on the Auburn tri course with little shade and over 2000 ft of ascent. Finished the weekend up with a makeup swim in what felt like a bathtub.

This weekend of course was preceded with strength training and an "easy" bike ride on Friday. I think I've been in a constant state of soreness since Friday. BUT I have to say, I had a fantastic time the entire weekend. I really enjoy riding and running with the friends I have made here.

And lastly, congrats to Jocelyn who finally got her pro card!!

Wildflower Olympic 2009

Race season began yesterday with the Avia Wildflower Olympic Triathlon at Lake San Antonio in central California. Despite feeling that I was going to do poorly, I somehow pulled off 3rd place in the 20-24 age group with a 2:46:36.

Overall: 3rd place in age group (20-24) @ 2hr46min36sec
Swim: 18th in age group @ 27min50sec
T1: 5min1sec (SLOW!!)
Bike: 2nd in age group @ 1hr25min8sec (17.5 mph average)
T2: 1min27sec
Run: 1st in age group @ 45min56sec (7:24 min/mile)

I think that is a PR for me, which is surprising considering the hilly course. I felt strong through the entire race though. The training must be paying off! Especially for the run. I didn't know I could run that fast. Or that I'd ever swim a sub-30 minute 1500 meters.

Jocelyn and I went down to camp on Thursday and brought one of her teammates along. We set up camp on Thursday night, did a longer bike ride than expected on Friday, and met up with some people she had met. It also rained on Friday. Let's just say I am not a fan of camping and rain makes it worse. Saturday we did a run and tested out the water with the wetsuits. The water wasn't as cold as I would have expected. Then I got gelato twice while watching the long course race.

I went into the swim telling myself not to panic. I waded in slowly, avoiding the mass and started swimming. I spent most of the swim sighting and thinking about technique. That and reminding myself to kick so that my feet would not go numb. I ran into T1 to look for my sunglasses. I searched my sweatshirt, my towel, my bag before even trying to get my wetsuit off. Couldn't find the glasses so ate a gel and took off (5 minutes later). Since I had biked the course on Friday with Jocelyn, I was semi-familiar with what the hills were like, except the first hill. That was just long and annoying. But I mostly passed people on the way up and it continued like that. I think I wasn't passed by more than 5 or 6 people the entire time. Looking back I realized I probably could have pushed harder but I didn't want to blow up on the run. So into T2, another gel, and out. Put on my orange Avia visor from Jocelyn since I didn't know where my glasses were and took off. I did not get passed by anyone on the run. It was excellent. I didn't even feel like I was running that hard, and when I was coming down the last hill (the same hill I biked up and later down) I was like damn, I could keep running! Into the finish chute and I was finished with my first race of the season.

Overall I will say I had a very good race. I didn't expect much going in, especially since I figured there would be a very competitive field here. So I am especially pleased with the result. The hills weren't even that horrible compared to what I have done around here and in Sonoma County. And thanks to my coach for making me do speedwork on the run! Congrats to Jocelyn for a great race and to Soda for sticking it out.

And overall the weekend was a fun time. I still don't really like camping but it wasn't as awful as I expected it to be. The people I met were all nice and I even got a free pair of shoes for hanging out in the Avia tent. That and I found my sunglasses at the end, thank goodness.

I will say when I ever go back to Wildflower, I'm bringing an RV and doing long course.

Pie!

So I totally did not follow my coach's schedule for this weekend... but that's okay, I had fun doing what I did! Brick workout on Saturday with a friend and then I had lunch with his wife and their baby daughter. Nasty swim workout late in afternoon where I actually managed to swim 100 yards in 1:25. That's a first. And then some 100s in sub-1:30. Today I rode what ended up being 80 miles with above friend and two other coworkers, one of whom I rode the century with last week. The route we did included part of the Auburn Triathlon bike course... it's going to be a bitch I can say already. Probably more a test of will and leg strength the race will be instead of a ... race. We stopped to get food at a country market type place on the ride back to town and I got some pie. Maybe it was the pie, maybe it was the good company, maybe it was the super weather, but I rode back to the area where I live and added on 10 miles because for the first time since maybe last year, I felt like I could ride forever. It's a great feeling and gives me hope that I will be able to survive the last 3 months (exactly in fact!) of Ironman training.

I feel April was the turning point for me here. March was the bottom where I just felt like crap. But being more proactive in work and in finding people to train with has helped a lot in righting my mood and view of life. I think I was stuck in the belief that I had to find people within 10 years of my age (like in Austin) to train with. But I realized that even though we may be of all ages, having similiar experiences and life views is what is more important in finding friends. Sure I could hang around with the alums of the program I am in at work who are just a bit older than me, but I feel nothing in common with them. I would rather spend a few hours biking or running with interesting people then just forcing myself to hang out with people who in my opinion are boring. I would say maybe I realized this last year since many of the people I was friends with at the gym were significantly older than me, but we all shared the same interest in going to workout in the early morning. Something triathlon training has taught me is that time is precious, don't waste it.

WOW

26 hours and 31 minutes of training. Not kidding! And most of it was good! I finished the week off with a 20 mile run on the Auburn Tri course. Ran 13 miles of it with a guy from work who had done the race before. It was hot and the course is mostly unshaded. Race day should be interesting. That and the bike course part that I've been on is ridiculous. Granny gear anyone?

I've concluded after this weekend that I can totally do a flat Ironman. The problem is that Lake Placid is NOT FLAT. Ugh.

Bike Around the Buttes Century

I did my first organized century today, actually only my second 100+ mile ride ever. Ironically it was similiar to my first century in that it was almost completely flat even though I am not in the cornfields. I rode the entire time with a coworker who is my parents' age. It was a good time. California is just entering a mini-heat wave for this time of year so luckily today was just the first day and warm enough when I started to just wear a jersey and arm warmers but did not get super warm that I was dying. Except I got a lovely sunburn. I felt pretty strong for the entire ride, but I think currently my strength is on flats since that's what I was biking August-November and then on a trainer.

I was using this ride to gauge whether I think I can survive the Davis Double Century in just under a month. I'm going to hunt for an elevation map, but I think I may be able to do it in one piece. We'll see.

The one thing I really need to work on is eating while riding. I think I took in less than 1200 calories on the ride today which totalled 105 miles and 6 hours and 16 minutes in the saddle. That's not going to get me through a marathon.

Myself Again

So people who knew me in Austin and the tri club members at school never had to ask, why are you doing an Ironman? The Amy in those places was always on the go, ready for anything, with lots of energy. But somehow in the move across country to a place where I didn't know anyone or anything about, that Amy got lost. The new Amy was/is unconfident, lazy, unenergetic, unmotivated, and whiny. People here ask me why I'm doing an Ironman and I stumble over my response. I never had to explain it before. But FINALLY I think the old Amy is starting to come back. Solid 80 mostly hilly miles on the bike yesterday and there was no time during the ride that I wanted to get off and throw my bike down. And then I had a good swim. And today I ran 17.5 miles at a sub 9 minute pace despite feeling dehydrated/out of fuel for the last 4 miles. And I even went out and biked 20 more miles! Like unscheduled, easy ride. Now THIS is the Amy I remember. The Amy I liked. Only downside now might be that there is no Pat or Chris here to scold me for doing too much and not resting. Though I hope that this Amy does stick around for awhile. I hate feeling lethargic.

Next week I am thinking about doing a relatively flat century somewhere about 1 hour-ish northwest-ish of here. It would be my first organized century and my first flat-ish long ride. Even though Saturday was the first ride in awhile in which I didn't hate the hills, it'd be nice for a change in terrain.

FINALLY

So after crap ride after crap ride after crap ride... (this could go on for awhile) I finally had a very pleasant, decently strong-feeling ride. It reminded me of riding with Jason back at school. No egos, no hammering, just good riding. I even had an insightful conversation about work. YAY. I feel good for once.

Only downside is falling off and jamming/bruising my right index finger. In the past 7 hours I've discovered how awkward it is to have a stiff right index finger. But then again it was my fault since I was trying to be a smartass and take shortcuts. Lesson learned!

Dirt

I wasn't going to blog about this ride. But I've had some people ask me about it... so why not - a short recap since I do like to go back and remember what I did previously. Went back to Santa Rosa to do my 5 hour long ride. I think the first 30 or so miles were great... lots of climbing but at the top we could look down and see the Pacific Ocean. It was so blue! And then rode along Highway 1 along the coast... fantastic view. But then... came the dirt/gravel/pine needle/pine cone/etc road. Or what used to be a road and was now covered with all that junk making it difficult to ride on on a ROAD BIKE. So then 5 or 6 miles of torture. Fell off twice - once when I stopped paying attention and once at the very end of the dirt when I couldn't unclip. Third fall was when my chain got stuck in an intersection and fourth fall was when I couldn't unclip. Or clip in, I forget. It was like I had to relearn how to ride a bike. And once on the not-asphalt road, the only way out was to get to the end. Mental pain mostly, aside from my scrapes. And then of course I ate it while running also. I had a great view of the asphalt/concrete yesterday.

All in all, last week was a total of 24 hours and 18 minutes of training. I really don't understand how it adds up. Since most of my training is based on time I don't get why it's so much. I guess I did like swimming last week though - 17.6k yards.

Humbled

72 miles of mental and/or physical pain. Gravity was not nice to me today. I couldn't go up hills and I couldn't stay upright on my road bike. I couldn't even stay upright while running. At least 4 falls off the bike and 1 fall while running. I haven't felt like this since my first marathon. The mix of emotions that yes I finished, but did I give it my all and am I proud of how it went? I can't find my head this year... it's getting disturbing.

Impatient

So Sarah had the most timely blog post ever earlier this week. When I read it I all of a sudden started to feel a lot better. So it takes time. I guess part of me knew that, but part of me was hoping I'd luck out like I had before and find good people almost immediately. But as of my friend in Austin points out, they are just cool people down there. I have no patience... I think I need to work on that. I think that may be affecting my ability ride long by myself this year. I'm always on edge and jittery, seemingly looking for the next thing. I need to sit back and chill. I noticed this today when all of a sudden my weekend training plans may have been turned over suddenly and that made me really anxious. Luckily I think they are fixed now...

So far this week has been good. I had tough run/bike/swim workouts on Tues/Weds/Thurs respectively, and in my opinion, I think I nailed them. I don't think I had ever run that fast in training before on Tuesday with averages of 7:24 and 7:30 for the two sets of two miles. Like some of you may laugh because that is relatively slow for a lot of you, but considering I've spent the last 4 years in "cruise mode," I consider that an accomplishment. On Wednesday, despite the windiness, I averaged 18.2 mph over 20 miles. My bike really does work well in aero position. And then on Thursday, I completed my 21x100 (well 20x100 but I did an extra just for fun) on the given interval with plenty of energy to spare. I'm nervous about this weekend though... finally surpassing last year in terms of bike mileage. I did long bikes the year before last, but it mostly involved a lot of circles in the cornfields. Alone though.

And in between the training I have to do a lot of driving. Down to Pleasanton tomorrow evening for dinner/staying over at my aunt/uncle's house, then up to Santa Rosa in the morning to ride, and probably back down to Richmond for dinner with friends. Funny thing when I put "richmond, ca" in Google Maps it gave me directions to go to Canada.

I am at 15 hours already for training this week... I have at least 7 hours this weekend. Good thing I don't have a social life... ha.

Me?

Or the bike? Maybe the bike is why I feel like poo on the bike when I am not going on a mostly straight, flat course. Or maybe it is me and I am not eating enough. Or maybe it is both. Going to eat more, both while riding and in general. It's starting to get predictable that my legs run out of spunk within 20-25 miles.

So Friday night I drove down to the north part of the bay area to stay over at Soda's so that we would drive up to Santa Rosa early the next morning to ride with Sarah and a bunch of people on a local ride over there. I ended up riding about 58 miles, some good miles, some not so good. Despite my weak riding, so far I think it has to be my favorite experience I've had since I've been here though. Good people, good riding, good conversation. Those are all things I have been lacking since moving here. I used to make fun of one of my friends in Austin who said he needed to talk about triathlon to be motivated, but now I think he is right. I feel so much more excited about triathlon and cycling when I get to talk to people who share the same passion IN PERSON. I feel most people here don't quite get me, plus there is no one to talk to in person about the subject. That seems to make the big difference. And it was also fun to hang out with Soda, Sarah, and everyone who are very knowledgeable about the subjects. It's nice to not be the person who knows the most for once!

So since earlier this week I was sick, my training was downsized. However, somehow I still managed over 16 hours, most of it done since Thursdays. Thursday I did 1hr15min both in the morning and after work on the trainer, then 1hr30min in morning on the trainer and 3+ hours outside on Friday, something like 3hr20min yesterday, and a 2hr run and some swimming today. I think I'm getting bored of swimming. Back in Austin there would usually be at least someone to have a small chat with when I went swimming, but now the gym just feels so lonely.

Off the train(ing)...

onto my couch. Or chair I suppose is more correct. This is no good. But I guess one week won't kill me... I hope. I haven't swam since Sunday... haven't biked outside since Saturday... tried running Wednesday morning and almost puked. I biked on the trainer this morning. I felt okay when I started but after I was done I was like why am I so tired? This is getting frustrating. I was going to bike outside after work but that made me just feel tired... strangely though, the thought of biking inside on my trainer sounds much better and less tiring. Maybe it's the extra mental energy of biking outside? On the other hand, I finally regained my appetite today with a vengeance and have been hungry all day.

Need to save up my energy for Saturday... going to Santa Rosa and biking with Soda on a group ride!

Had Enough?

My immune system seems to have given up on me too. So my mind is gone and my body is falling apart. Though at least I DO have a job that pays me a salary so that when I leave around lunch (like today) I still get paid even though I didn't spend the entire afternoon doing work at home. So I've been sitting at home all afternoon/evening feeling awful all over.

The ride I did alone on Saturday was awful... started raining at about 2.5 hours when I was almost the farthest away from home as possible. And to go home I have to go downhill. So it was a scary, slippery, windy, slow pedal back. Strangely though, even though my riding is quickly regressing, my run seems to be getting better. I did my 12.8 mile long run on Sunday at a sub-9 minute pace. Normally I don't run long runs that fast unless I'm racing. And then my swim seems to be stagnating.

I wonder if I had someone to have an in-person conversation with that I would feel better. I think my biggest problem is that I am living in my head without anyone who understands me to talk to. That and my parents are not helping. If I say anything to them, they just tell me to "suck it up." It's not working, believe me, I've been trying. For the first time ever I am starting to consider counseling. I'm not sure how long I can last like this. If I didn't force myself out of bed in the morning to go work out, I would be sleeping 9-10 hours on a regular basis. And then some may say, but if you can work out then there's really nothing wrong with you. But I think it's more a fear of getting fat and soft and the guilt feeling afterwards of not working out that makes me get up. That and being coached. Though I think if I didn't have a coach right now, I may have ceased doing anything except getting up to go to work and then sleeping the rest of the time.

The only other reasoning I have for my current mood is my current diet, or lack thereof. Perhaps if I ate better I would feel better, but to eat better I would have to be in a better mindset. This seems to be an endless cycle. Ugh.

Winds

Is there anywhere in the world where there isn't wind?

This was a big week - came in at 23 hours and 26 minutes which included two strength workouts, 15.5k yars swam, 155 miles biked, and 40.5 miles ran. I think this may be one of my biggest weeks ever, though I can't say that for sure until I look back at last year. Regardless, not only did I survive, I feel really good right now!

So after doing the 48.5 mile bike on Friday afternoon, I did a 65 mile bike- 4 mile run brick on Saturday. Went up to Auburn and back down to Folsom, with a detour to where I think World's Toughest Half might start in May. I don't know if it was my cassette (got a 11-27 last week) or that I am actually getting stronger (especially from last week's hilly hilly ride) I did not have to get into my small front ring until I was right outside of Auburn when the road gets really steep. The tailwind that I had going up probably also provided some assistance since I really felt I was cruising on the way to Auburn when usually it's a struggle. And then what goes up must come down, I had a headwind on the way back to Folsom, which made the what-usually-is-a-flight-downhill into a I-hope-I-don't-get-blown-over. Stupid crosswinds. Even though my average speed ended up just under 15mph, the fact that I felt good after the ride and that I was able to run 4 miles at a good rate (my brick runs are faster than my normal runs) makes me feel not so disheartened. And then I followed Saturday with a 15 mile run and 3500 yard swim today. The 15 mile run was last 30 minutes at tempo pace, and overall it was the fastest 15 miles I've ever run in a non-race. Good times! The swim was good too, only complaint was the wind made me really chilly in the pool.

I say this was a successful week. I now have some hope that my confidence will return.

Finding My Legs

I finally had a ride this afternoon that made me feel good afterwards. Maybe because the weather was in mid-60s and sunny; maybe because it was supposed to be an easy ride, low heart rate, not hilly; maybe because even though I started the ride with co-workers I decided I was just going to do my own ride, at my own pace; maybe it was because I was finally able to shut my brain off. Whatever it was, the 48 and change mile ride was the best I've had so far this year. So I'm hoping this feeling will carry over to my 60+ mile ride tomorrow. But it's going to be hilly and cloudy and not so warm.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately (and a lot of training but next week is a recovery week!) and I'm starting to realize that I should have taken the equally unfun job in Austin, even though it would have come with a large paycut, instead of thinking I could recreate my life there here. I don't know why I ever thought a job in engineering would suddenly be better here than there. At least there I had friends. I realize now (hindsight is always 20/20) that I had probably as perfect of a situation as possible in Austin. My job itself wasn't great, but the people I worked with were awesome. And then my other friends at the company were great and the friends I met through swimming and the gym were also great. Like within a month in Austin (my first spring there) I had met people at work with SIMILAR interests and within a decade of my age, and I talked to people at the gym. It has now been 6 weeks here and I have not met really anyone within my age range with similar interests and people at the gym seem really stuck-up. If I go early, like 6-7am, no one talks to each other, and if I am there later, like 9am, it's all the stay-at-home moms. So when I put everything together, I just feel miserable. The bike ride today was the first time I felt any sort of energy. I used to be able to pop out of bed in Austin at 530 in the morning because I knew I was going to swim or row or something. Now I set my alarm for 615 and snooze a couple times. And then I lay there and think about how I don't want to get up. And then I can't fall asleep at night because I'm thinking about how awful I feel. I don't feel that energy I used to have anymore. I remember just going to run on Town Lake made me feel so excited and ready to go. Now everything just feels like a struggle. Ironically, the only time I feel sometimes fast is in the pool. That's something I could never say last year.

I'm trying to look for the positives here. I have a job and a good paycheck and health insurance. The riding conditions (aka lots of hills) are good. But the list seems to stop there. I'm breathing, but I don't feel alive. To put it succinctly, I feel like poo. And I hate it! I want to feel energetic. I want to feel unstoppable. I want to feel ALIVE!

Tradition

41 miles at 17.1 mph and then 2.7 miles at 7.1 mph. I think I should make it a tradition to do a bike and run on my birthday, and then a swim the day after.

See last year...

I think I got faster?

State of Mind

I survived my bike ride on Saturday. Did the entire hilly 66 miles (see map below). Talked to all the Mormons on the ride since it was organized by a group of them. But as usual, everyone was much older than me. I miss having swim/bike/running friends within a decade of my age! I mean, it's nice that I know coworkers who are cyclists but they're around my parents' age. It's just such different life experiences.
(attempt to outline elevation with thicker paintbrush)
After I did the ride, I did a brick run around the neighborhood the church meeting place was in. I ran past this house where a bunch of people were standing outside and a guy yells, "How old are you?" I yelled back my age (almost 23) and keep running. A couple houses down, I hear "Do you want my number?" I of course yelled back "No" and then a couple more houses down I hear "I think you're hot!" I rolled my eyes. The area was really rednecky. The creepy part though was at the end of my run when I was running back into the parking lot, I saw the blue pickup from outside the house pull over by the sidewalk near the church. I was like crap, but since it was a Mormon church I assumed they wouldn't go in. So I quickly got into the car and drove out, and the pickup truck pulled away at the same time. It was weird. I don't think I'm going back there anytime soon alone.

And yesterday I survived my 2 hour run. It was hilly and my legs were shot from Saturday so it was just 13.1 miles. A half marathon, haha! And then I went to Davis to eat all-you-can-eat sushi buffet with some friends. I managed to out eat them both, even though the food wasn't that great. It's funny in Austin I never had any Asian food aside from Whole Foods and here it's all I eat when I eat out. A lot of it is pretty mediocre though, particularly the sushi. Not such a fan of deep fried everything.

So last week totaled 20 and a half hours of training. Sort of surprising since I worked a lot, but explains why I felt dead today. I realized towards the end of the ride on Saturday, even though I wasn't super excited or anything like I used to be when riding in Austin, it's a lot of how I look at things that affects my mind. I can go into my ride feeling tired and telling myself I feel tired and then it sucks. But if I tell myself it's a good day and the sun is shining then my run won't be so shitty. And so by suggestion of Soda, and maybe something I did know all along, it's time to transfer work stress into workout energy. We'll see how that goes.

On a good note, I talked to my manager today and he said I did a good job last week. Hooray! And I talked to my other manager earlier and he said the earlier doubt he had of hiring me is gone away and I've proven myself.

I have another topic to blog about, but I'll wait two days for that. I've got more work to do right now. It never ends...

Broken

Work completely took over my life this week. Lost a lot of sleep, and the sleep I did get was full of dreams of work. It all hinged on this one document I had to create and finish by today. And I started it last Thursday/Friday. So barely one week, zero experience of writing such a document, and people breathing down my neck about it made for a very unpleasant five days. Numerous times this week I actually wished I was dead or asked myself why the hell am I in engineering. Not that this document was even that engineering-related! It was more the problem of dealing with an annoying, perfectionist work "buddy" aka bitch. All she did was assign me stuff to add and then criticize what I had. That and another coworker who just kept nitpicking. So two people nitpicking everything is definitely not a picnic at the park. It took all I had to not burst into tears a few times this week. Instead I'd have panic attacks where suddenly my heart rate would go up and I would start getting really warm. I really don't think it's good when work is affecting my physical and mental state that much.

And as a result of work stress and lack of a good sleep, I had a lot of numb workouts. Like I was doing what was planned, but it felt like I wasn't all there. I don't think that's good either. I guess my conundrum right now is whether to follow my coach's plan to a T even if my body doesn't feel so well or just do what I can. Like I really want to do everything, but I can feel myself starting to crack. Maybe next week will be better, I'm scared though if I don't do everything then I won't be prepared for Lake Placid. It is really hard to train 15-20 hours while working 45 hour weeks. Especially since it pretty much requires 8 hours of sleep a night, which is another 64 hours per week.

Tomorrow I do a 66 mile organized, unsupported ride. Here's to surviving and not getting a flat tire or other mechanical problem!

Conclusion

It is not possible to balance training and work and a social life if nothing overlaps. Meaning, if the people I hang out with don't have any athletic interests, then it is really hard to get together. And if we do, then I don't have enough time to do everything else. I went down to SF yesterday with a friend to see some friends and I mean, I do like hanging out with them, but I don't know if it's worth how stressed I am today since I have to cram all errands and the work I have to do by tomorrow midday into one day. That and since I had to go to happy hour on Friday evening after I had just done a 35 mile bike ride with coworkers. So all the lack of recovery caught up with me today during my run in the pouring rain, no less, and I almost started crying. So now it's time to prioritize. No more day trips until after Ironman, or at least until I feel I am fully settled in, like getting my dining table set up and getting a vacuum. Only having 24 hours to catch up on everything is not enough at all. So now it's time to prioritize. I think for now I will say work always comes first, and then training, and then friends? I mean, I want to survive on July 26... but then I have to make friends too? And that requires time. Argh. So frustrated and stressed right now I can't think straight.

Regardless, this week came in at exactly 19 hours of strength, swim, bike, and run training. Add 50 minutes for yoga. No wonder I'm wiped. In the past 3 days, I biked 91 miles (done in 35 miles Friday afternon and 56 miles Saturday early morning) and ran 20.8 miles (6.8 on Friday morning, 2.5 as brick yesterday, and 11.5 this morning). And swam today. I've started going to my coach's personal training studio on Wednesday mornings for a person training session. I miss the Hills. I'm waiting to see if my coach lives up to my trainer in Austin.

Up Up Up

I think I can call it a successful first weekend on my Ironman plan. I did a 52.5 mile bike ride on Saturday morning under partly sunny, hazy skies. Since I didn't really know how fast I could go I didn't want to pick a ride that had a set amount of miles. Instead I chose to ride the road that goes from here to Auburn. It apparently is a big climb to get there, though when riding it it's kind of hard to tell until my legs were so cooked about 4 miles out of Auburn that I decided it was time to turn around. Once I did that I was like oh look, I've been going up a hill. So coming back to home was fun. The road itself was a decent place to ride. Most of the time there was a wide enough shoulder to not be right next to the cars and the road was pretty smooth. Aside for around town and the town right north of here, it was pretty rural and not too high traffic (for California anyways). And then after the ride I did my first brick run of the year. My legs found themselves faster than I thought, so that was good. Today I did my "long" run. It was dry for the first 40 minutes or so, and then it started to rain. By the end is was almost pouring. Fun... not so much. Then I did a swim for easy recovery. Even though it's hard to get myself to the pool to swim nowadays, especially when it's raining, once I get in the water I'm okay. And I decided the best thing to do when it's raining is swim, since I certainly am not going to bike in it, and only run if necessary.

PLUS I have had a recent swimming breakthrough. I took a couple lessons, and somehow, I am swimming a 1:30 at the same amount of energy expenditure as I was barely making a 1:35 a month ago. Previous to these lessons I had swam one 1:30 100. Now I have swam a few. It's kind of exciting.

President's Day

I have to thank our first presidents since I got today off. It was much needed... otherwise I would not have been able to do everything Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I did my 2.5 hour trainer ride and then a 2300 yard swim, and went to Sacramento to watch the Tour. Late afternoon I drove to Napa (about 1 hour from Sac) to meet my father who had a conference there. The weather was just beginning its dreadfulness, though it looked rather menacing all afternoon. We went to this restaurant that shares it's name with the version of Linux I use, Ubuntu. It was an all vegetarian restaurant, very interesting. Oddly enough I had heard about it since it is also a yoga studio, but it hadn't connected that it was in Napa until the concierge mentioned it.

After dropping my dad off at the airport on Sunday, I went to Berkeley. It was a wet wet wet day. Got to visit the EECS building there and my friend and I also went to the Ranch 99 Market in Richmond. So exciting! I stocked up on some asian veggies (not that I can stock up that much since fresh vegetables go bad) and also got some yummy asian-style bread from the bakery. Then I proceeded to consume said loaf of bread in the past-not-even 24 hours.

The last big news is that I have my first week on my training plan for Lake Placid. I only slightly deviated from plan today by doing an easy ride on the trainer while watching the Tour of California on tv. I didn't even go swimming! I felt tired today so decided it really should be a recovery day, as the run was just an easy one. Now I just have to hope that I am able to get in all the rest of the workouts for the rest of the week... though oddly enough the planned training time this week is only 9 hours, compared to my usually 15 hours. AND I also need to stop eating so much junk food! It's getting out of hand again.

Tour of California

Lance's road bikeA time trialistCute rider on the Specialized teamJelly Belly neon colored uniforms
Lance and Levi warming up in the Team Astana tentTeam Astana's cool looking bikes (I will always be partial to Trek)Motorcycle escorts and team cars lined up waiting for their riders

So I made it to Sacramento on Saturday afternoon to see the prologue of the Tour. I have to say, it was a pretty awesome experience and made me more excited about cycling. I got to watch everything except the riders finish. I checked out the team buses and saw the riders warming up, stood near the start to see the riders line up, stood at the earlier part of the course and then towards the middle around the turn-around. It was all very exciting. I'll definitely be watching the tv coverage to see who wins.

Busy Bee!

So busy! Working, training, eating junk, sleeping, baking brownies to suck up to manager... leaves not much time for anything else. And once again, not even a break for the first two days of the long (hurray!) weekend.

Saturday - bike 2.5 hours (probably on trainer since it's WET here), maybe short swim, go to downtown Sacramento to watch prologue of Tour of California, go to Napa to have dinner/visit with dad

Sunday - run 90 minutes (hopefully, but it's supposed to be really wet and windy) in Napa, drive dad to airport, go to Berkeley to get brunch with friend, maybe go to Santa Rosa to watch finish of Stage 1 of Tour if the weather is not so foul

Monday - run errands and start real coached training!

I survived the time trials this week. 1000 yards swam in 17 minutes and average 177 bpm for run and 147 bpm for bike. Once I figured out the heart rate monitor it's actually kind of entertaining.

Will report back with photos of something.

HAHAHA

http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?aid=69906&storyid=54485

1:50:24 was official time for the Davis Stampede half-marathon. That means a 8:26 minute mile. Finished 214 out of 682 (top 3rd) and 9 out of 31 in age group (also top 3rd). Considering I really had no long distance training (like 4 10+ mile runs since December) I was surprised. I used to be happy when I finished in the top half of the group. But then again today my legs felt kind of trashed. Running Davis was similiar to running in Illinois. Mostly flat, with the exception of the overpass over the highway, and wind. The latter miles had a headwind, or offside headwind, making it tougher than the first miles.

This week I have to do a 1000 yard time trial and a 10 minute warmup-20 minute all-out bike and run monitoring my heart rate for my new coach. Which means I have to figure out how my heart rate monitor(s) work. That, actually, is probably the hardest part.

Eeeee!

My new baby! Got fitted today at Davis Wheelworks. They are awesome. The Thursday before I started work I spent 6 hours there trying out different bikes and I was there for 4 hours today getting fitted on the bike and trying it out. This was after I ran a half marathon... clock said 1:51:11ish but I think it took me 30 seconds to cross the starting line. I was secretly aiming for under 1:50 even though I am very undertrained, so almost, but not quite. Still waiting for official results though.

The End

I finally received my car yesterday at 8am. Three days late. It came with some remnants of the northeast/midwest - grime and snow dirt so thick that even after I took it to the car wash, it still came out filthy. But it was a nice touch of home I guess. Despite the beautiful weather here for the past 5 or 6 days, I would rather have stayed in New York for an extra month. I think I always get mentally messed up when winter is short or nonexistent. But I guess I better get used to it.

So since I basically got everything squared away (except the dining table which first I had to get some friends to carry it up to my third-floor apartment and now I can't figure out how to get the legs in properly) I decided to enjoy myself this weekend, aka swim, bike, run as I pleased. Yesterday I ran 5.3 miles home from the car rental place after I returned my car and explored some of the bike paths and where they don't actually lead to. Then I biked for 37.6 miles around the lake bike path. It was slow because I had to bike from/to my apartment to the path which involved lots of stop lights and also of course I just didn't know where I was going. I had to stop a lot and backtrack and even ask a guy where/how the path connected. My legs were hurting after that. Today I swam 5000 yards in the late morning and then biked 35.8 miles around the same above path. But faster this time since my legs were beginning to remember what it's like to bike outside and I knew where I was going. I am proud of myself - over 70 miles in the first weekend outside since early November! And this is despite the fact that I banged my head hard against the side of the pool this morning when I was kicking on my side and not paying attention to the end of the pool. Head still sort of hurts now...

January ended up with over 70,000 yards swam and an unknown amount run and biked. And cross-country skiied too. That means though for December and January combined, I swam over 150,000 yards!

Tomorrow is my first day of full-time work, or maybe, the first day of the rest of my life. Trying to decide whether to start it off with a run or a swim.