Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...is to eat

"Vacation" means titillating my taste buds. -- Brett Ratner

We're heading on our summer vacation shortly to Disney World.  I'm so excited!

(photo - wdwinfo.com)

After all, who doesn't love Disney?  And the thing I love best about Disney is eating.  (That and drinking my way around Epcot...)  I'm kind of old for the princesses and all that jazz.  I like the rides.  But I love the food.  Last time we went, we ate on the dining plan and I probably gained a hundred pounds...app, entree, dessert at 2 meals a day...so not necessary.  This year we are bypassing the dining plan -- in part because one of my daughters mysteriously turned into an adult at age 11 (in Disney's mind), making the price of the dining plan mind-boggling.

So instead this year we are going to do something different - older daughter and I are going to share most of our meals.  This is awesome, because I don't have to forgo having an app or a dessert with my entree necessarily - instead, she & I will split an app and an entree or an entree and dessert or we'll get a big app for the table...or some combination thereof.  In part I'm excited about this because we get to save money - in part I'm excited because (hopefully) my daughter and I will have an adventurous culinary experience together.

But in part, and to be really honest a big part, I'm hoping that I can make it through this vacation without gaining a ton of weight.  I know I'll be walking A TON every day - and bringing my shoes to run on the off days.  But I've been working so hard on my training and on my body weight that I don't want to blow it just because I love to eat.  And I love to eat at Disney.

A Much Needed Boost

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.  Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. -- Helen Keller

A fantastic weekend of training has brought me up from the schlumps I was in after the OWS fail.  38 mile ride on Saturday, 8 mile run Sunday, 41 mile ride Monday.  Bam!  Yeah, I was tired, and yeah, it was hard...especially Monday...but I made it and it didn't suck too bad.  I have some of my confidence back, and that's good.

Now I just need to conquer that other thing - the swim.  For that, I have hope.  Hope and confidence - that's all I need.  That and to spend the next 100 days training well and smart.  :)

101 days and counting!  Go me!

Training 5/19 - 25 ... and a mid-journey shout-out

If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter. -- Principal McGee (Eve Arden), "Grease"

Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement -- and we will make the goal.  -- Robert Collier

I guess I should counter some of the negativity of my last post with a dose of optimism.  I have a really great support system of folks that are encouraging this crazy-ass goal of mine, providing encouragement when needed and a kick in the pants at other times.  Obviously, hubby is the key to the support system, but there are others.  The kids are sweet, asking how my workouts are going and telling me it's OK when I tell them not so good.  The folks at the open water swims from Richmond Multisports and Peluso Open Water have been great when I've panicked.  My on-line mentors and friends at Beginner Triathlete have given great advice, as well as a few "suck it up, buttercups"...all at appropriate times.  And my real-life friends have talked me up (or down), trained with me, and offered to train with me (including offering to swim with me or teach me to swim...based on the qualification that she can teach little kids to swim...just kidding R!).  :)

So anyway, to all of you who have been there so far - THANK YOU!  And please don't leave me...because I still need you!

Sunday 5/19 - 55 minute swim, 2.57 mile run
Monday 5/20 - 58 minute bike (16.31 miles), swim lessons
Tuesday 5/21 - 6.32 mile run (tempo)
Wednesday 5/22 - 30 minute swim, 99 minute bike (24.11 miles)
Thursday 5/23 - REST
Friday 5/24 - 35 minute swim (pool), 2.64 mile run, OWS fail
Saturday 5/25 - 2 hour 36 minute bike (38.85 miles)

Open Water Swim...Current 1, TriMom 0

Being defeated is often a temporary condition.  Giving up is what makes it permanent. -- Marilyn vos Savant

Another open water swim...another failure.  The current was strong again, and I ended up behind the start line.  I panicked.  I couldn't make forward progress.  And I gave up.

Not forever.  But for the evening.  The problem is -- I need to have an OWS success pretty soon, or it's going to feel permanent.  I'm not sure I'm ever NOT going to feel defeated if I manage to have a good outing.  Hubby says it's all in my head (or most of it).  I'm not so sure - the current was strong again and I'm a weak swimmer.  I really truly couldn't make progress.  And then I panicked.

OK - yes, the panic is in my head, but the current pushing me down river away from everyone (including the safety kayaks and the instructor) was NOT in my head.  I felt like I was swimming, but apparently not strong enough to keep up with the current.  I wouldn't even mind a swimming "treadmill" - making no progress - but I got nervous when I sighted and realized how far upriver I had started.  (We are supposed to swim upriver and then come back down river.  I never made it past the dock we left from...

I'm not giving up.  But it is getting harder - and we're going on vacation soon, so my OWS opportunities will be nil for a few weeks.  I know next time it will be even harder - but somehow I have to get over this.

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way. -- Baltasar Gracian

Yesterday I had a long (75 minute) tempo run on my training plan.  Basically the deal was to run a warm-up 20 minutes and then do 7 intervals of 3 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy, followed by 20 more minutes of cool down.  Aside from the fact that I left home at 5:15 am before it was light, no one wants to be staring at their watch the whole run to figure out when to start running hard, etc. -- let alone remember which interval of 7 I was on.  Thankfully I have a really cool watch that lets me program a workout so that it will beep at the appropriate times (and even put on the screen what I'm supposed to be doing if I forget).  It's a Garmin Forerunner 305 and I got it a few years ago for Mother's Day.  I love it, even if it is a big honking thing.

(photo from Amazon.com)

Anyway, the point of this is not a love fest for my watch.  Rather, it was the realization of how far I had come since Mother's Day 2 years ago.  2009 was really the last time I felt like a rock star athletically.  I got hurt training for my marathon in April 2009 and then had a DNF (did not finish) in a triathlon in September 2009. 2010 was a really bad year for me.

But at the beginning of 2011, I decided I was tired of being an unhealthy, overweight shlubby lump.  I decided to train for a half-marathon in August with a training team -- if I have to show up every Saturday morning and run, I couldn't give up.  And it sucked.  I was the slowest person that was on the training team.  There was one other lady who ran about as slow as me and we would run together, but if she wasn't there (or if I had to run on my own because we were out of town), it was a struggle of epic proportions.  The coaches from the training team would come back and encourage me or run with me for a while.  But mostly I was alone.  So I programmed my watch to beep at 4:1 intervals or 3:1 intervals and I would run 3-4 minutes and then walk 1 minute, for 9-13 miles.  And at the end, when I got tired, I would flip the interval and walk 3-4 minutes and run 1 minute.

I had to finish the half marathon that I was training for in less than 3 hours.  A hurricane was coming into town, but they held the race anyway.  It was windy.  It was rainy.  It sucked ass.  But I finished.  In 2:59:56. Because the race director came back and yelled at me until I crossed the finish line.  (He yelled nicely - but he had to yell so I could hear him over the wind.)  Afterwards, I got in my car and cried.  **This is not an unusual occurrence -- I usually cry after races...**  Shlubby fat me.

Why am I writing about this?  Seems like a non-sequitur,eh?  Ha - just wait - I will tie it all back together.  So two days ago, when I was programming my watch for my long tempo run, I was out of spaces for saved workouts in my watch.  I realized the 4:1 and 3:1 intervals were still in there and I deleted them.  Now I run 90+ without walking at all - I don't need those crutch intervals anymore.  In two years, I have turned myself around...not as unhealthy, overweight, or shlubby anymore.  Even people who see me frequently have remarked on how much I've changed (at least my looks - I'll take the compliments!)  I've come a long way, baby!

And because I don't want the title of this post to be tied to a cigarette ad campaign, I'll leave you with a song from Fatboy Slim's album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby.

Tri-Family Race Weekend

Insanity runs in my family.  It practically gallops.  -- Cary Grant

It was race weekend at our house this weekend...and the weird thing was, I was the only one NOT racing!  For years it has been race weekend for me or race weekend for the family, but usually I'm part of it.  Not this weekend, though.  The girls did a kids' triathlon on Saturday and hubby did one on Sunday -- I played spectator, cheerleader, and gear-toter.  I was a little bit wistful, but it didn't make any sense for me to do the adult tri (and I'm just a little bit too old for the kid one).

I'm so psyched to have a tri-family - and looking around at these events, it seems to be that is how kids end up being in tris.  Most of the kids at the kids' tri had parents I recognized from triathlons, road races, etc.  It must be really hard to get into triathlons as a kid if your parents aren't already full of crazy (i.e., doing tris themselves).  Not only do I have two awesome tri-girls (and a tri-spouse), but one of them is even going to do tri training this summer through Endorphin Fitness as her sporting activity.  She had a lot fun at the race on Saturday -- the tri training will culminate with her doing another kids' tri in August.  (If the older one isn't too busy with soccer, she'll do the August tri as well.)

Training 5/5 - 5/18...and take this job and shove it...

Without work, all life goes rotten.  But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies.  -- Albert Camus


Holy crap.  The last two weeks completely kicked my butt.  I don't know how people with real jobs function.  :-)  Work was crazy crazy - some of it completely invigorating (but it was scheduled work, so I had to schedule around it) and some of it was completely soulless (although I could do it whenever)...which kills me.  The good news is that I'm nearly done with my soulless work.  But the crazy doesn't stop.  A busy week for the family the next week and then a week from then vacation!  I love my job - I do...this week, I say shove it.

In the meantime, I should let you know that I HAVE been training.  I missed a little bit of training this week (a small bike), but I'm still making good progress.  (On the other hand, I ate like a PIG the entire week because of work, so that was not good.)

Here's my training for the last two weeks:

Sunday 5/5 - 2 hour ride on Freyja (32.22 miles)
Monday 5/6 - 2.86 mile run, masters swim
Tuesday 5/7 - 65 minute bike (16.23 miles)
Wednesday 5/8 - 6.61 mile run
Thursday 5/9 - 40 minute swim, 47 minute bike (swim/bike brick)
Friday 5/10 - 45 minute swim...pool, river too high for OWS
Saturday 5/11 - CENTURY RIDE!

Sunday 5/12 - Rest
Monday 5/13 - 3.0 mile run, 30 minute swim (LESSON)
Tuesday 5/14 - 50 minute cycle (Freyja on trainer), 25 minute swim
Wednesday 5/15 - Rest
Thursday 5/16 - 5.69 mile run
Friday 5/17 - 40 minute OWS swim (* missed cycle)
Saturday 5/18 - 120 cycle (Freyja on trainer) - planned for tonight...weather has been icky

Slow to be Fast

Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. -- Voltaire

I had my first swimming lesson on Monday.  Paraphrased conversation with the coach before the lesson:

Coach:  What are you hoping to get out of lessons?
Me:  I want to swim faster.
Coach:  So you can swim?
Me:  Yeah.
Coach:  OK, how do you swim?
Me:  Slowly...
Coach:  No, I mean - is this for fitness, triathlons, what?
Me:  Oh, triathlons
(He didn't tell me this until later in the lesson, but apparently he did an IM last year where he was among the first guys out of the water in his age group - holey moley!)
Coach:  OK, what have you been doing?
Me:  I've been going to Masters - I thought I'd get faster, but I'm not.
Coach:  Oh, you've been swimming with Karen?
Me:  Yeah.
Coach:  You should be getting faster then.
Me:  That's what I thought.  It's not working.
Coach:  Hmmm.  Well, we can fix that.

I get in the water and swim a warm-up while he watches.  He stops me at the end of the first 100m.

Coach:  Do you know how many strokes you took per length?
Me:  Yeah - 28.  That's what I always take.
Coach:  Yeah.  That's not going to work for you.  Basically you gotta slow down to speed up.

So we swim and talk and drill and talk and swim some more.  Apparently I am 1) short stroking, 2) not gliding, and 3) breathing too infrequently.  Basically I'm doggie-paddling under water?  Who knew?

Doing some of the drills, I managed to get to 17 strokes per length!

At the end of the lesson, he had me do another 300, timed.  He told me to go for speed but try to use good technique.  I swam the 300 in a minute less than I did a few weeks ago at the time trial (the one that spurred me to need swim lessons)...which is awesome.  And I did the first 100 in 2:00 - which is really all I'm shooting for.  I don't need to be a speed demon.  I just want to be able to average 2:00/100m over a long distance.  And during that 100, I was at about 21-22 strokes.  The last 200 of the time trial, however, I swam 2:15 and 2:17...and by the last 100, my stroke count was over 30.  Yikes.

Stroking less and gliding more feels like I'm swimming so slowly - but the evidence is clearly to the contrary. Weird.

I have a lot of work to do.  I went last night and practiced - just swimming slowly, gliding, etc.  I never got back down to sub-20 strokes per length, but I was in the very low 20s.  I'm not sure about the breathing more often thing - it doesn't feel natural - but I'm willing to give it a shot if he says it will help.

My new swimming mantra - swim slowly, be fast...swim slowly, be fast...swim slowly, be fast...

In Which I Rock the Century Ride

Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.  -- Thomas Carlyle

I did it!  I rode a full 100 miles on my bike - and I even did it by myself.  Yeah, it was a supported ride and there were feed stations every 12-15 miles, but I rode without company...a whole 7+ hours on my own.  This century taught me an awful lot - most importantly 1) the 56 miles for the HIM is, without question, doable, and 2) I can get into my head and exert myself for a long time -- I can mentally do the HIM.  This was an awesome experience for me and I'm so glad I chose to do the whole century.

Here's the start of the century.  For the first mile or two we had a police escort out of town, which was pretty neat - it was like riding in a peloton, all crowded and stuff.  Things did spread out after that, but for the first half of the ride, I was near folks, even though I rode alone.  The course was beautiful, riding through battlefield parks and along a road that passed a number of plantations.

My plan was to go out strong for the first half (the turn around was at 52 miles) but leave enough in the tank so I could get back.  The wind was at my back for a lot of the way out, but I didn't realize how much until I was on the way back.  At the feed zones, they had powerade and water, as well as pretzels, granola bars, and other snack food.  I was also carrying a lunchable that I ate at mile 25 (second breakfast - I am a hobbit you know) and some pretzels of my own.  At the turnaround, they also had turkey & cheese roll ups.

You can't see my watch really well, but I was at 3:17:57 at 52.58 miles at halfway.  Yeah me!  Averaged about 16 mph on the way out, time on bike -- I stopped my watch at feed zones so I could get my riding speeds.  Unfortunately, this was a problem, because after I finished my lunch and started back on the route home, I forgot to start it again for about 3.5-4 miles.  Damnit.

The route back was less interesting - it was still pretty, through some tree-covered areas, but some of it was through farm areas...fields on both sides, flat as can be, and hot with sun.  But not too hot, because the wind was coming straight on at me - sometimes the gusts almost blew me backwards.  It was crazy.  The wind definitely slowed me down on the way back and I believe the route back had more elevation changes than the way out.  It was mentally hard, but I wasn't going to stop 30 miles from home.  I just kept riding from feed zone to feed zone and all of a sudden, I was only 15 miles from the end.  I was so jazzed I picked it up again and did well til the end.

Here I am back at my car after the ride.  I'm not usually into taking selfies, but I was pretty damn proud of myself at the moment and figured it was worth documenting.  Besides, check out my pretty jersey.  You would think I was vain based on how much I care for the appearance of my athletic equipment.  It doesn't actually carry over into real life though...I called my family and my brother to brag about how awesome I am and then I went and got the food they provided at the finish.  BBQ, beans, brownies, and beer.  I guess the lunch was brought to us by the letter "B" and the number "100."  :-)

Final data - 97.13 miles over 6:22:34 ride time (average 15.2 mph) - plus the 3.5 miles or so I missed, probably at the same pace, so we'll call it 100.4 miles ridden.  Counting the time for feed zones and lunch at the turnaround, I went under 7:30.  I was hoping to get in before they packed up the food at 4pm and I was already done eating by 3pm, so I definitely exceeded my goal.  Self-esteem and self-confidence...HECK YEAH!

Flood Stage

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.  -- Martin Luther King Jr.

The flood of fear or the fear of floods?  Unfortunately, after a moderately successful (for me) OWS experience last Friday, it looks like I'm going to have to wait a while until my next jump in the river.  The river is at dangerous levels and the OWS tomorrow night is gonna be cancelled.  You can look here if you want to see what the National Weather Service says.  Pretty, huh?  The river - not so pretty.

Unfortunately, I was just building up those dikes of courage to hold back my fears.  I had negotiated with hubby to go to this Friday's swim (he gets kid driving duty) because I wanted to scaffold last week's success to another and hopefully make some real progress.  It's easier to get back on the horse if you didn't actually fall off last time, right?

Mother Nature, on the other hand, has some other ideas about it.  And so I'm in the pool until at least May 17th (that's Syttende Mai for all you Norske out there - Happy Norwegian Constitution Day).  Hopefully I'll be celebrating with a successful swim in the river.

4 months and counting...plus my two girlfriends

Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things. -- Keanu Reeves

Four months from today I will be toeing the starting line at the Patriots Half Triathlon.  I will complete the swim before the cutoff time.  I will enjoy the bike, take in enough food and liquid to keep myself fueled without getting sick, and I will pass some people who are fast swimmers but slow bikers.  I will be thrilled when I get to the run.  Fast or slow, I know the run is mine.  I will finish the race before the cutoff, I will have barbecue and pizza.  I'll go out for dinner and eat even more food.  Four months from today.

But first things first, my two girlfriends.  I am in love with my tri bike Freyja - truly madly in love.  But it's like junior high love.  She's pretty and fast (not like that!) and she makes me look cooler than I am.  Unfortunately, the love is still superficial.  I'm still a little nervous to hang out with her because she might ditch me.  I know once we get to know each other better we'll move into a more stable relationship, but we're not there yet.

On the other hand, I am also in love with my roadie Baby - truly madly in love.  Like two old people love.  Like Carl, the old man in "UP."  She knows me and I know her.  She's slowing down a little but I can trust her completely.  She and I are so comfortable together, but it's not a flashy love.  She'll be there no matter what and I'll always know what to expect with her.

Today I went for a ride on Baby.  My plan called for a hilly ride, plus I was afraid I might get stuck out in the rain and didn't want Freyja to get soaked (and didn't trust myself to ride her in the rain).  Also, I wanted to make sure that she is ready for this weekend's adventure.  Although the ride on Freyja on Sunday went well (or better, at least), I felt so at ease today on Baby.  I guess, when it comes to bikes, it's not a bad thing to have two girlfriends.

Training 4/28 - 5/4...and conceding defeat...

Defeat should never be a source of discouragement, but rather a fresh stimulus. -- Bishop Robert South


Sunday 4/28 - 4 mile run
Monday 4/29 - 55 minute cycle on Freyja
Tuesday 4/30 - 20 minute swim, 2.26 mile run
Wednesday 5/1 - masters swim, 5.37 mile run
Thursday 5/2 - REST
Friday 5/3 - 3.74 mile run, 20m OWS swim training
Saturday 5/4 - 86 minute cycle (RABA (Richmond Area Bicycling Assocation) new riders' ride- 20 miles), 15 minute swim (time trial/coaching)

It is time to throw in the towel.  Not the whole towel, just the towel that assumed that I could improve my swimming sufficiently by going to masters and following plans.  I am not getting better fast enough and I am not getting faster fast enough.  The time trial on Saturday was just plain embarrassing - 7:36 over 300 meters, or 2:32 per 100 meters.  I need to swim better than that - ideally in the 2:00/100 meter range.  Hubby and I think it's time to to get some private coaching to get my form to where it needs to be - ASAP.  Doing some research today to figure out my options and which will fit into our budget.  Of course, I need to look at this as a long time investment - once I learn how to swim properly, I should be able to keep it up through personal practice and I will make improvements just by working masters swim, etc.  But continuing to swim poorly, even if I up my volume, is not going to cut it.  Thus - defeat becomes a fresh stimulus.

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with last week's training (except for that mental thing on Tuesday).  The RABA ride was a little slow, but part of that was my forgetting to turn off my watch while we were stopped.  It stops when I stop, but it started up again when I went to use the ladies' room etc., adding a few minutes here and there unnecessarily.  I had a much better ride yesterday - but that's for next week's training update.

Weekend plans

Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless. -- Bill Watterson

This coming weekend is the first "restful" weekend we've had in a long time.  Between traveling, racing, company, and soccer games, I feel like every weekend has been a race to the finish.  I'm not saying this weekend won't also be busy.  On the contrary - but there should be some downtime to do something completely pointless - or at least completely fun with the family.  

This afternoon after work, I'm going for a little run.  Tonight I'm going to another OWS outing...the river isn't too high (5'6") and it hasn't been stormy or raining, so hopefully the current won't be as strong as last time.  Tomorrow morning I'm going on a group bike ride with a local bike club - I've never ridden "with" them before, but I have ridden in some of their events.  Tomorrow afternoon, there's a swim time trial (not that it is really applicable to me, but hubby wants to go and we should get the girls back in the pool too), plus some swim coaching.  And then on Sunday, hubby and I will head out for a long hilly bike ride.

Yeah - it sounds busy - but really, it seems quite manageable.  I'm looking forward to most of it...OK, dreading the OWS a little after last time (and last weekend's race), but not so much that I'm not going to do it.

Blech.

Fortunately, I was supposed to look confused and disoriented because, God, I felt that way.  -- Dick York


I'm not good with changes to my routine, you probably already know that.  The last couple days have been thrown off due to an illness in the family we carpool with, meaning I couldn't skip out of work in the afternoon to workout...Monday wasn't so horrible because the plan called for a bike ride and it was raining anyway, so I just put Freyja on the trainer and rode.  Yesterday was a short run, short swim.  The only time I could go was after dinner.  But for many reasons, yesterday I was all discombobulated. I went out for lunch with a bunch of friends and ate way too much.  Uh oh.  And then I didn't really feel like eating dinner, so I helped cook dinner for the family and went to the Y to run on the treadmill and swim.  The run.  The whole time I felt really off - like I was not running straight or something.  I managed to get most of my run in...I cut it off early so I could get in the pool and swim before picking up my eldest daughter.  The swim.  Even more of a disaster.  I was completely disoriented - couldn't get my body position right, couldn't focus on my stroke, nothing was working.  I even grabbed some fins and tried to do the beginner body floats that the Masters coach had me do one night...even that didn't feel right.  I'm not sure if it was the change in routine or eating too much for lunch or what, but yesterday was not a good training day.  I realize those will happen once in a while, but yesterday sucked.

Of course, if I was Bewitched, I could just wiggle my nose and make everything better!