132.3 . . .

No that is not my current weight, thank you very much. I am, due to my intense training schedule, under that number at this time.

Rather, that is the number of miles that Vit & I rode on 9/11!

We had a 5-1/2 hour training ride on our schedule, but since we were going to La Jolla to do the La Jolla Rough Water Swim on Sunday, we thought "Hey, let's just ride the bikes there on Sat., swim on Sunday & call it a weekend?" We also had a 3-hr. ride on Sunday, but we just rolled that into the long ride! It turns out that La Jolla is kinda far away . . .

I am not going to give a rundown of the entire ride . . . just would like to say that it was a very nice day. We got to ride through Palos Verdes, which is some beautiful coastline!! I felt like I was in Northern California. Gorgeous.

We also got to ride through Wilmington, not so gorgeous. But, still full of its very own sights & sounds!!

We eventually made it to Oceanside - 8-1/2 hours of saddle time - total of 132.3 miles!!

My longest ride ever!! Vit's, too. We thought it was a really good training ride in preparation for IMAZ.

Oh, and the swim on Sunday was good, too. My hubby kicked butt. So did Vit . . . I did pretty good, even though I did cheat & wear a wetsuit. I guess technically it was not cheating, but I do not officially get a "time" for the swim. I really didn't care, because this was a training swim for me. And I plan on wearing a wetsuit for my Ironman. I felt no need to swim in butt-ass cold water just because everyone else did!

It was me & one other woman who wore a wetsuit - okay, she only had one leg.
Alright, so the physically challenged woman & I wore a wetsuit. I still don't feel bad!

Overall the weekend was a fun one. A really great training weekend.

We decided that this is the type of training weekend that we like - a lot. It takes us away from what can sometimes be "mundane" training. It adds some spice - some variety.

That's it for now.

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

What comes around, goes around . . .

Remember how I was so excited about running "all 10 of my miles"? Well, not so much anymore.

My knees, mostly my right, have taken a very strong stance on this whole thing. They have decided that running those miles was not so fun for them & they are pissed!! In fact, walking is an issue for me. It is more like "gimping" - an audible thump, thump, thump with my right foot. When I stand up, I have to take a second to get my knee to cooperate with me. It is quite painful.

My workout today was supposed to be an hour and 20 minute run. There was no way!! So, I decided to go to the gym & do the Precor elliptical - that lasted half an hour. OK, next. Treadmill with incline - no running. That also lasted half an hour. Very painful. It will have to be aqua-jogging for the remainder of the workout.

"Frustrating" is the word that comes to mind.

"Scared" is the other word that comes to mind.

"Worried" is yet another word that comes to mind.

If this is what happens with 10 miles, what will happen for 26.2? I may not be able to run all of those miles . . . let alone walk.

There is also the little matter of all the training that I still have to keep on doing.

What am I doing to my knees? Nevermind - I know that answer. Screwing them up - A LOT!!! Like, knee replacement time.

Just let's wait til after Ironman. Please.

Actually, how about we wait for another 30 or so years!!

Maybe it will be time to stick to smaller distances and/or aquabikes!

For now, I will have to take my Ibuprofen, ice & rest when I can.

Aquajog & walk. Maybe try some trail running. Or break my runs up into smaller runs.

Oh, and I am going to see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow for an exam & some x-rays.
Update to follow. All I know is this sucker hurts!!! Grrrrrr . . .


Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

Cocktails & Cupcakes . . .

That is what I am renaming the Santa Barbara Triathlon. I know it doesn't convey the sense of a triathlon with the name "Cocktails & Cupcakes"(C&C), but it might attract more people???

Well, in my head (scary place to be), that is what I call it!

Yesterday was the C&C Triathlon, which I did for the first time in 2008.

Back then it was called the S.B. Triathlon. Well I am happy to announce that this year I managed to shave approximately 10-11 minutes off my time from 2 yrs. ago!!! It would have been more, if not for the yucky swim conditions & the resulting ultra-long T1 time.

It was a foggy morning, air temp in the upper 50s. There were three of us there to race: me, Vit. & H.R. Pufnstuf. And, we had the wonderful spousal support of my hubby & Lola . . . and a new "jock strap", The Queen! She was über-excited to be there to see the throngs of people who thought it was fun to get up at the crack o'stupid, swim in cold water for a mile, ride hills for 34 miles & then run 10 miles!

I think she was excited to NOT be doing it. Please note that The Queen has done a few sprint tri's & is still a newbie. We are working on her . . . Mwahahahahaha!

Vit started his wave at 7:15. Between that time & my wave - 7:45 - the wind picked up & it was nasty cold. When it was my turn in the water, I was really more concerned with being so cold out of the swim that I would not be able to function. I should have been more concerned with the choppy, nasty, ucky waves that were slapping me in the face for the entire swim!! O.K., I am slightly dramatic . . . it was really only 2/3 to 3/4 of the swim! Seriously, it was a difficult swim & definitely was more demanding of my energy. I was 6 mins. slower on the swim. And it wasn't just me: everyone of my peeps - Vit, H.R. and me - was slower!

When I got out of the water, I felt beat up . . . not really tired, but like, "Who the hell pissed off the ocean god" - Oceanus is his name . . . I think - "& made that swim a churning stew of hell?"

I got over that & made it to T1 . . . where I was FREEZING my ass off. I had a lovely time wrestling with my arm warmers and socks to get them on my body. My hands were little icicles. I actually had a really fun time with Lola & The Queen looking on & taking a ton of pictures of every facial expression imaginable. I kept thinking that my time in transition must be bordering on "way too friggin' long." As it turns out, it was!! Like 5 mins. or so. Hilarious! I love that.

The bike was as wonderful a roller coaster of ups & downs as I remember from last time. I did take extra care on the downhills & rode strong in the saddle on the ups. I managed to shave off 2 mins. from before. Not as much as I'd hoped for, but I felt strong. And, that is really all I can ask for. Well, I would like some diamond solitaire earrings!!

Off the bike onto my favorite part - the run. My T2 time was about the same, no biggie.

The special thing on the run for me . . . a first of firsts . . . I ran - RAN - all my miles!

I have never, ever, ever done that. Never ran 10 miles. Never ran 6 miles. Never really ran consecutive miles without walking some of them. Never. Ever.

And, I felt mostly pretty good.

I was quite thrilled to see Vit early on in the run, which meant he was hauling ass. He was having a great day & I was happy to see that he was almost done!

Son of a bitch!


I mean - I love that guy!!!!!!

H.R. was a bit further back, but he looked happy & strong.

All in all, I took 15 mins. off my running time from 2008. w00t w000t!

Now if we can get back the extra-long time from the swim & T1 . . .

My final time has not been posted, but I know I was somewhere around 4:43-and-change-ish.

Happy to be done with all this mishigas - it was time for . . . say it with me . . .

COCKTAILS & CUPCAKES!!!





That's right. On to lunch with everyone & then dessert, baby.

For now, I am resting after a 500-yd. swim this morning & a rest day tomorrow - then back to the Ironman training. I believe we have 12 weeks to go!! I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

So for now, keep on keeping on . . . wear your helmets when you ride & remember to always laugh at your friends in front of their face! Not in a mean way, but in a "life is too short, let's have some G-D fun!!" way.

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

Vineman Aquabike 7/24 . . .

Yeah I get it, it's been about a month since I did this race, but I must tell you how I did. And, how much fun I had. I think I had fun because I knew I did not have to run 26.2 miles after the 2.4 mile swim & 112 mile bike ride!!! Not that it wasn't nerve-wracking for me! And not to say that it wasn't difficult - only it was kinda nice to know that when I got off that bike - I was DONE, baby!

So, here is a little race report:

Got up nice & early, had a bit of coffee & a peanut butter sandwich with agave sweetener. Made sure I had all my gear ready & we headed down to the Russian River.

It was a kinda cold, muggy & misty morning. I get into transition and set up - the usual - except for the running gear!! Then it was time for the Porta-Potty line . . . more than once. I hate that freaking line. I would love my own private bathroom with aromatherapy candles & running water with nice-smelling soap! Right? I know, I would never come out - the race would start & I would be on the pot, sitting there reading Triathlete magazine!!

Anywho, the water temp was supposedly around 68 degrees & I had decided on a sleeveless wetsuit. My wave went at 6:55 a.m., and let me tell you . . . my wave went @ 6:55 a.m. The race organizers really were on the mark with their start times. We got in the water & off we went!! Everyone was hootin' & hollerin' about, "Yeah, let's go!" and, "Go get 'em!" and then the gun goes off & we start swimming. As you know, this involves hitting, kicking & gnashing of teeth. You are gonna get hit in the face!! Deal with it!!! Apparently, no one told the guy in front of me . . . baby! And, I did apologize.

The swim went well. I felt strong, I found a nice line & just swam. There were parts of the river that were shallow & people were walking. I stood up once to pee. I just can't pee & swim at the same time. I did start noticing my arms getting cold on the 2nd loop of the swim. But other than that I was good.

Out of the water, I ran into transition & I was absolutely freezing! Shaking, teeth chattering, frozen-to-the-bone COLD. I managed to get my wetsuit down to my ankles, but I had to get my arm warmers on 1st! Then off came the rest of my wetsuit. I was able to put all my gear into a bag & pass it off to my hubby, so I did that. On the bike, we were able to mount at the bottom of the hill. No way that was gonna happen for me without falling over. I was way too cold. So, I walked up the hill, got on & off I rode.

Not much to say about the bike. Nice scenery. Rolling hills. Roads that were not that great. A couple of hills - Chalk Hill - two times. And some rolling hills just for fun. It did start to warm up, but never got really hot. I did, at times, feel like getting off the bike & asking someone to give me a neck massage. That's normal, right?

I also felt like getting off my bike & putting on ten layers of chamois. My girlie bits just needed a break. But, I pressed on & finished strong. In fact, coming down the finish "chute" I was up out of my saddle because I was excited to be done & I wanted out of my saddle. There was a woman in front of me on her bike & my husband thought I was trying to beat her to the finish line. I did not even see her!!

The only issue I had with this Aquabike was we had to dismount 20 feet before the finish line and run across with the bike. After all, there was a full Ironman going on & others had to do the run! So it felt a bit "uneventful" crossing the finish line. On the other hand . . . I was done.

And that felt good. As a matter of fact, I felt good. Not too beat up. I even tried to do a bit of running back to the car . . . eh, not so much.

Overall, the race went well. The support along the course was fantastic & luckily the day was not terribly hot.

Overall, very happy to have this under my belt. Very happy to have my hubby there along the way to support me - and, of course, the support from friends & family back at home.

OH, let's not forget the best part of the day . . . the 32-oz. beer at the end!

CHEERS.

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

Let me take you down . . .

because I went to Strawberry Fields! Well, it was actually a sprint triathlon, but it was Strawberry Fields all the same. A bunch of us had decided it would be fun to all get together & do a triathlon. Most of my peeps signed up for the Olympic distance, but seeing as this was my first tri of the year AND I am just starting my official IMAZ training program, I signed up for the sprint. This was gonna be fun!! Vit, G-Money, H.R., Wriggle Worm & Help Me were all gonna be there.

I was my usual excited & nervous all at the same time. I am not a huge fan or even a small fan of ocean swimming. So, that was not thrilling me. The swim was only 400 meters. In reality, it was only approx. 300, at best. But, the water was cold & I ended up swimming the whole time with my head out of the water. The entire swim took me 5-plus mins. with the run up the beach into transition taking 4-plus minutes all by itself. So, it appears as though my swim time is over 9 minutes!! Oh, well. I felt like I was finally getting used to the cold water - it was time to get out.

Got my bike, out onto the course & felt pretty good. It was just barely over 11 miles. That took me 38 mins. I was happy with my ride because I felt nice & strong. Hell, it's 11 miles . . . even I can push it a little bit!!

Back into T2, got my running gear on & off I went . . . again, I was feeling pretty good. When I exited the transition area I saw Wriggle Worm (who had on his "game face") and Vit as they were coming into T1 for the Olympic event. I was so excited. I tried to give a little high five to Vit. I missed. When I turned to continue my run, I caught an edge on the concrete aggregate on which I was running & I hit the ground - HARD! My visor fell off, I scraped my hand, my right knee, my right hip, right side - basically. Spectators around me gasped & asked if I was okay. I jumped up & said, "Oh, I do this all the time!"




In actuality, I felt kinda disoriented. I thought I ripped my tri shorts & was mostly concerned about that. When I looked at my right hand it was just a big ball of dripping blood. I did not know if I should cry, stop or what???

I saw my hubby & Lola, showed them what happened . . . and decided to just do the 5K run. I had enough adrenaline on board that my hand did not hurt until after the race.





So, I rolled my hand into a fist & was happy with my 12 min/miles. For me, this is good.

My overall time was slower than I would have liked, but given that I did feel good & did have a potty break - I am gonna take it & shut up. Good job, me!!!!


Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

Set up like a bowling pin, knocked down gets to wearing thin . . .

Dude, every time I get one step closer, I get knocked back down. I hate to sound like a whiny-ass titty baby (WATB - for future reference) BUT, it just pisses me off.

I had this great training schedule planned for the 4th of July weekend. I was going to start out with a nice long bike ride on Saturday, then have a big, long swim on Sunday, followed by the usual 4th hoopla & then another ride on Monday. This would set me up for the four weeks out from my Aquabike. I had this all planned out and I was feeling good . . . until 2 a.m. on Saturday morning!!

That's when I was struck with a nasty stomach bug. I thought I was dreaming that I had a horrible stomach ache & had to puke - when in actuality, I DID have a horrible stomach ache & I DID puke!!

Oh my goodness, was I in pain. Then a few hours later . . . came the other end. You know what I'm talking about. And NO, I am not sorry about the visual!!!

Needless to say, all my training plans flew out the window (with the exception of an hour-and-a-half on the bike trainer with Vit that we did Monday).

I was sad that I had to miss a 75-mile ride with G-Money & Wriggle Worm on Sat morning. :-(

Whatever this viral bug was/is . . . it really kicked my ass - hahahaha - seriously.

Ya know, I know that some people have a lot of other crap (hahahaha again) that they go thru in their training & I wonder if they feel the same way? I don't feel sorry for myself, but it does get me down a bit. Because the progress is there, then I feel like a roll backward.

Just frustrating. But, gotta keep pushing forward & keep looking at my goal - yeah, I say it A LOT . . . and I will keep saying it. For myself, mostly.

Thanks for listening & reading. Time for me to trot along now (that's for you, Vit).

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

I am such a mental case . . .

When I first decided to do a triathlon I just thought there would be a swim, a bike & a run. No big deal, right? Well, I've since found there is a 4th aspect to triathlon, which is nutrition. The longer distance you do, the more attention you need to pay to what you put into your body relative to your output; you will burn more than you should put back in to your body.

I really only did sprint triathlons until I jumped up to the Santa Barbara Long Course - I completely skipped an Olympic-distance event altogether (by the way, I am way off course of my thought process here, but bear with me . . . ) so my nutrition did have to change somewhat. It mostly had to change because I was essentially training for an Ironman, but I wasn't "training for an Ironman"! I was just hanging out with some of my favorite people on the planet, who happened to be actually training for an Ironman. So, if I wanted to hang with them . . . then this was what I had to do!

Thus I learned that nutrition was a major part of my triathlon life & I had to pay very close attention to it.

What I did not really have to pay close attention to was the mental aspect of all of it.

For instance, let's say Vit & G-Money had a 6 a.m. training swim of 4,500 yds. Well, I would much rather sleep in or maybe just swim 3,400 yds instead . . . after all, I was not training for anything in particular.

Don't get me wrong; I did 6-7 hour bike rides, swam & even did long runs. But there were definitely days I would take a "pass."

Well, now there are no "passes" to be had. There are no sleep-ins & no short swims. There is only hardcore, nitty gritty, teeth-gnashing pain & suffering!!!!

O.K. . . . maybe not so much all pain & suffering, but let's face facts: some days are just downright tough. Some days require all of my concentration to remind me of what my "big picture" is: What is this all for? I signed up for this & I need to be enjoying every minute of it. The good - the bad - the ugly.

Recently I read in one of my triathlete magazines that we should work on "quieting our mind" - this way our muscles can focus on working. I have been able to do this. It works pretty well. Except for the one tiny problem that I have . . . I can't seem to shut my mind up for very long!! I pretty much talk constantly to myself - both out loud & in my head. I will sing songs to myself. I will tell my legs to keep on moving to get up the hill. You name it & I tell it to myself.

When I get really ticked off, go ahead and try honking at me . . . I dare ya!

Seriously, the 5th aspect of triathlon is fo sho the mental training it takes to get to race day - let alone what it takes on race day. I have never done a full Ironman but I have done a 70.3. And there were parts of the race where I felt like I was going a little cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Today I trained indoors on my bike with Coach Troy. We rode in Louisville, Ky. It was a lovely day. We rode 3 hours, 26 minutes for a total of 75 miles. (Sure wish I could do that on the street!) My BFFTPFL Vit was out of town so I was on my own, which is good training since he will not be by my side during my Ironman. It started out a bit shaky, eased up, then I had to pee, got OK again, I tried to quiet my mind, that lasted a few minutes, tried different hand positions, peed again, drank, took nutrition, etc. In other words: I really had to mentally push myself to get through this one. I did it & felt really good in the end. (Well, not "the end" - if ya know what I mean . . . )

I know there are going to be a lot more days like this - especially as the training really starts to increase. I am still unable to run due to that dang ankle injury, but I am doing physical therapy & started aquajogging. Keep your fingers crossed.

I am going to be paying close attention to keeping my mind quiet & working on my mental training. I can see that it is ULTRA important, so it will be worth the investment of time - and in my case, energy - to work at SHUTTING UP!!!! and just training.

Let's get to it . . .

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX