Week in Review

HPCX this weekend:

I've been a remiss blogger this week, with no excuse during the week, but a busy weekend...

When the week began, it was a slow start. And man, it was a long week! My knee has been bothering me on and off, just kind of a dull throbbing thing going in, so I've been taking it easier than normal. It's also been gross and rainy, so motivation has been seriously in short supply.

But still. Tuesday I rode in the rain and dark to Busch to swim class. I was tired, achy and not in the mood. Stuck it out for the whole set and felt better for it, though still not happy. Cyclocross practice was canceled yesterday but interval ride on the trainer went well. Thursday was more swimming and a 21.5 min 5k on the treadmill, so I was happy about that.

Friday I woke up and thought I fractured my foot, it hurt so freaking much. So, weight set and then I headed into NY, forsaking any other workouts in favor of...

BUYING A TRI BIKE! Went to SBR to get the Trek Equinox 7, WSD, in red. It's so cute! I didn't get to take it home with me, Blake is dropping it off and fitting it for me asap.

(So, more on that and pics to come).

Then, Saturday my foot still hurt, so I just helped set of the Highland Park Cyclocross course for Sunday's race (more work and running around than I realized!) and rode a practice lap. Nothing fancy. It was Halloween but Robbie had a project to do and I was with the team, so we just spent the night at his parents' house relaxing and watching TV. And eating halloween candy... a lot of it!

I also, at 12:01, dropped a lot of money on Nautica NYC Triathlon, racing as elite amateur, and I'm so stoked about it!

Sunday was the Cat and Kitten CX race in Jamesburg, and we had to be there super early and I was brining Dad's leafblower. It's industrial, so it was like pushing two lawnmowers... my quads were beat.

The race actually went well. I wasn't amazing, but I was competent. For the most part. I finished 13th out of 30-something women, and I was the first collegiate woman to finish, so our team will get some points. It was a fun course, very muddy, and a lot of powering through muddy but not muddy enough to run sections. (This photo was at the top of one hill, I almost made it to the top and had to dismount about 2 feet from it!)

I think spectating is almost more fun than racing, especially at this race, when the whole team had to be there. I got to see everyone I haven't seen in a long time, and it was cool getting to spend a lot of time with all of them. I miss those guys when it isn't road season!

Before the race, my parents and sister showed up just in time, Don gave me a serious pep talk, and I had another awkward encounter with someone I knew a looong time ago. It was a fun race though, and while I'm still not totally into 'cross like some of the team is, I definitely will be racing more in the future. After the marathon though! I woke up today sore and with a huge bruise on my shoulder from the bike, and my knee is bugging me a bit. So I'll try to take it easy today. I also lost my phone as we were breaking down after the race, so it's somewhere in the Jamesburg mud, which means this morning I have to sit through class and then run to the Verizon store and try to get a replacement, and then get over to the gym, then work. What a huge hassle.

This week may end up being an "easy week" for another much less fun reason. Robbie's Grandma passed away last night, and of course, my priority this week is being there for him and his family. He was really close to her, and I loved her- we spent a lot of time with the grandparents since they live so close to Robbie's parents. It's going to be very strange without her around, and we'll both miss her. It's November, of course, the month that I lost all 4 of my grandparents, and I'm getting a seriously depressing deja vu because of it, and it's bringing back a lot of those memories. It's also hard because we both work a ton and have classes and such, and we don't have jobs that have personal days- we don't work, we don't get paid, and we both can't afford a lot of days off. I'm just trying to be there for Robbie... it's almost our two year anniversary, and with the holiday season around the corner, it's just a really hard time to lose someone. Of course, there's never a good time, but you all know what I mean. So it's going to be a rough week, which means my blogging may be pretty spotty.

More cyclocross pictures and race stuff to come...

Longest Run Before Marathon = Done.

Got somewhere between 23 and 24 miles finally done yesterday- nice to know that until the marathon, I won't have to go that long again! It was actually a perfect day to be running- low 60's, leaves changing color, the Delaware Canal from Kingwood to New Hope was well-populated with a lot of cyclists and runners, which is always nice because it's fun to people watch with Dad. Who, once again, slogged through 24 miles on the bike in order to shuttle my water, sports drink and gels, as well as warmer clothes, and a bunch of other things that I desperately needed.

It went pretty well, felt good and strong. I was wearing my knee brace, which kinda sucked, but because of cyclocross and last weekend's race, I needed the support. It hurt a lot when I woke up in the middle of the night, but it was fine this morning. Still, I'm going to take it easy today, get some housecleaning and stuff done- we're woefully behind on stuff like scrubbing the bathtub.

But anyway, back to the run. We started late because of family stuff, and I was set for 3-3.5 hours of hell. It turned out pretty fun and felt good though. Legs moving quickly, even passing some casual cyclists. The only thing I hated was at the bathroom stop about 2 miles from finishing, Dad got into a conversation while waiting for me with a woman triathlete prepping for an Ironman. She kinda got on my nerves offering A LOT of unrequested advice. (I had written more, but after snapping out of my bad mood I decided it was a bit harsh.)

I know she meant well, it was just annoying, especially since we were trying to finish a run but she just kept talking. I get frustrated when people see me and assume I need advice or help because I'm young. I'm great when Don or my Dad or someone who KNOWS anything about me (this includes people who read my blog, you know everything about me!) gives me advice. But when you know nothing about me, it gets to me.

Yeesh.

OK, rant over, it was a fun last couple of miles, and when I finished and felt like my feet were on fire, I got to soak them in the chilly Delaware River. Of course, as I walked barefoot out of the woods from the river, I ran into a gorup of men. "How's the water?" one asked.

"Chilly." I replied.

"How far did you go?" (I was carrying my sneakers)

"24 miles."

"of swimming?!"

"No, running."

Afterwards, when I was wondering about why they thought I was swimming so far in the freezing water, my dad made an acute observation: I was running in short shorts and a sleeveless top that basically looked like an athletic tankini. In short, I looked like a triathlete.

Other than that, I watched GI Jane and Domino because I love them, for a hefty dose of badass girl power, and because I was feeling lame about my short hair and wanted to see women rockin' it. And rode 3 hours on the trainer on Saturday. Tame weekend all around though.

Trying to make my knee feel better and get a lot of CX practice in this week, since I'm racing on Sunday. Just happy to be done with the long run!

More 'Cross (last one, I promise!)

I was in a good mood from all of the positive feedback from my 'cross race, both pictures and post-race discussion. I had a sweet 'cross practice on Wednesday, just learning a lot more in terms of skills. My shoulder is killing me though!

I normally wouldn't cross over facebook to the blog, but these comments were begging to be shared:George: This looks like its straight out of bicycling magazine. sweet pic.

Ken: Now, you look determined....

Vlad: Ooooohhhhhhhh yeaaaa! Now that's a mug I would like to chug - Duff Man

Dan: I feel like most of the time when I comment on your pictures, or status, or anything, I end up writing - "badass
This will be no exception. That's so badass.

Adam: molly "eyes on the prize" hurford

(another picture of me grabbing the guy's wheel: Don replied, "YES! YES, MOLLY! YES! so proud.")

I love all of these people!!

Ahem... (Embarrassing Story to Follow)

This morning, I woke up bright and early at 6, ready and rarin' to go for Master Swim. Except for one little thing... the past two nights I've had horrible insanely realistic zombie nightmares, and the Halloween spirit has us discussing the concept of zombies on a very regular basis.

It was still really dark out, and embarrassing as it is to admit, I couldn't bring myself to leave the house. So I missed swim class. Of course, I'm still going to head there right after class, now that it's light out, but now that it's light out and I'm fully awake, I'm getting hit with just how silly it was for me to be freaked out about going outside in the dark.

And that's my little embarrassing story for today. It's dumb because now I have to make it up, and I'm in class feeling gross because I didn't get my swim in. Dammit!

Week = Half Over.

Couldn't resist sharing a few more pictures from the race:(Don was exceptionally proud of this one... he told me to get on someone's wheel on the short pavement part, and I followed directions!)

(Slogging through mud to get up this hill was harder than it looked- I'm starting to master the art of "one foot down and push the bike!")

(At the bottom of a downhill aware that now it's time to hop off and start climbing the same hill, all the muddy, slippery way back up.)

And, the aftermath. My sister and I post-race.


All right, I promise, that's the last of the cyclocross pictures for now! I'm honestly just proud of myself for even trying it. Especially in those miserable conditions- my dad put it succinctly when he said, "well, you learned how to ride in the worst conditions you'll ride in, it should be easy now!"

I'm not sure if that's true, but we'll see. I think my biggest limiter is my not wanting to get hurt- after that tiny knee twist last January set me back months of running, I'm in no mood to do anything like that again. I'm in it for fun, not to get horribly injured. So that will slow me down a lot, taking everything a bit cautiously. My results were pretty pathetic, but hey- it was my first race and I finished it, which is more than I expected. Before the race, even at the starting line, I was wondering if I could just quit and walk away. So I'm glad that I didn't. (We all knew I wouldn't, but still, it was tempting.)

I'm pretty stoked about next weekend, since it'll be our local race, and fun no matter how badly I do!

Anyway... this week so far:

• Had Master Swim yesterday morning and managed to swim a 1:25 100 meter after having already put in a 500 meter warmup with drills, followed by 4 x 300 meters at a pretty hard pace. I was happy. Followed it up with another 9 100's, all at between 1:35 and 1:39. So slowly but surely, I am getting faster.
• Played with a breathing drill for the cool down, where I think I surprised Keith with how competent I am at holding my breath. "Swim Yoga," he calls it, and it's just 25 yards breathing every 3rd stroke, then 25 at every 5th, then every 7th, and so on... Did two sets of that, then went the whole 25 meters without a breath. How's that for yoga? Thanks to all the ocean swimming and surfing I used to do, I'm good at holding my breath unerwater- nothing like wiping out in a huge wave to teach something like that!
• Yesterday I also had what I consider my worst run of all time- maybe I shouldn't have done it right after eating leftover Chinese food for lunch, but I had a growling stomach and only 1:45 before I had to be fed, run, showered, and out the door for work, so digestion time wasn't really on the table. So, ran pretty much right after I finished eating, which just resulted in a quick step to the bathroom, then the rest of my pathetic 30 minute run hovering in areas near the bathroom and praying I wasn't going to throw up. But I went for 30 minutes... sometimes, it's the little victories.
• Spinning at night relatively hard for 30 minutes. Why? Frankly, I like cookies. So I decided whenever I want dessert, I have to do something so that way my metabolism is revved and ready to eat, so I don't go to bed with cookies sneaking their way onto my hips.
• Getting very tired of school, classes, tutoring, and nanny-ing. Considering becoming a librarian in order to avoid the human race. (I almost went to grad school for library science, got into the program and everything, so this isn't a stretch.) It won't happen, I'm sure I'll get over this hump and remember that I do want to teach English and work in a high school (read: coaching and free gym access, as well as summer off to train and race!), but right now, I'm feeling a bit frustrated and like I'm in a 'cross race, stuck in the mud, and spinning my wheels.
  

But, it's mid-week, soon it will be the weekend (then again, I have a 23 mile run on Saturday... maybe I don't want it to get here!), and I will be thoroughly enjoying two days of (relative) freedom. Is it just me, or as the days get shorter, does it seem like the weeks are getting longer?

Cyclocross Photos!

Some photos from the race on Saturday:




And my personal favorite, just before the finish:

First Cyclocross Race, Done!

Well, had my first cyclocross race yesterday!

And I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Granogue was rainy, muddy, cold, and miserable. But when I was carrying my bike up a hill sinking 6 inches into mud and trying to cough up whatever was stuck in my throat that was making it hard to breathe, coach Ken (Rutgers Cycling's awesome coach) yelled, "having fun yet?"

And before it really registered, I yelled back, "I kinda am!"

So I guess it was fun!

It was freezing rain and my sister was pointing out that my hair was actually freezing. I had to change in Matt's truck and he lent me embrocation to keep my legs warm- thanks Matt! Don wasn't there to go over the course with me, I couldn't find Blake, and we got lost en route to the race. By the time I was lining up, I was thinking "crap, can I just not race?"

Of course, we all know that that's never an option, so I rolled out with the rest of the women. I've never ever ridden in mud before, it's insane. You're sliding, you're slipping, you're almost falling, you're literally spinning your wheels and not moving. It's amazing what your body can do that you didn't expect. Even at the first lap, I had one foot down leading my bike, I was dismounting comfortably, and I was almost always able to clip back in, despite my shoes literally being coated with 3 inches of mud, leaves, and grit. I got smacking in the face with a thorn, fell in the deepest mud, tripped on one of the pieces of tape marking the course, cramped up my hands braking so hard, almost cut my side with my crank, twisted not one but two knees, slammed my pelvis into my stem and literally cried while riding because it hurt so much, fell about a million times, dropped my bike once, but finished the race, and wasn't last!

It was messy and it was wild- I think I'll do it again. I'm not amazing at it, but then again, it was a highly technical course in the hardest conditions that you could be stuck racing in. So I feel ok about it- it was a good first race in the sense that it'll never get harder than that. I hope. And Dad adds that if it is ever harder than that, especially weather-wise, we aren't going. He and my sister were awesome, as was the rest of the team, cheering for me.

And I have triathlon to thank for my doing semi-decently. It was clearly a runner's race, and even better, a triathlete's race. I have upoer body strength that most women don't have from swimming and weight lifting, so I can move my bike easier and faster, and I'm a runner, which most of them aren't. So while they kicked my ass whenever we were riding (or most of the time, anyway), I was passing them like crazy on the runs. Ha! And the guys make fun of me for being a triathlete...

So first 'cross race down. I'm not in love, but I have a bit of a crush on the sport. We'll have to see how the next race goes, but it is great to be racing in general. I don't know that I could go for more than a month without some kind of race- I may hate not getting to sleep in on weekends, but any kind of racing is good for me, it teaches me how to keep my nerves calm and focus.

So yeah. Bring on Highland Park Cyclocross in two weeks- should be an adventure!

Long Week!

Obviously, it has been a long week. Why?

Started on Monday when the 3 year old I'm a nanny for slipped on the bathroom floor and cut her chin. Lots of blood but I handled it well. Still, she needed cosmetic stitches so it won't scar. This meant that while the parents rushed to the ER, I stayed home with the 2 year old. It was midnight by the time that they got home, and I had been reading him stories for 3 hours straight. My voice was about shot.

So, got home exhausted and fell into bed. I ended up getting to sleep around 1 AM after eating way too many cookies- I was upset! Then, got up at 6 for swimming, and had a decent enough time trial.

The day got significantly better when I decided that running for an hour was going to take too long, so I decided to get speedwork out of the way in a much more fun way. I know a route that's roughly three miles, couple of hills, trails, road, a good mix for New Brunswick. So, I basically went out hard and stayed hard the entire run, sprinting when I could. You know it's a good run when you finish, walk into the driveway and realize that you are seriously considering puking. Now that's a hard run! It was acutally about 21 minutes, and the route is between 3-3.5 miles, so I'm seeing some major progress in my run.

The day then got worse when I had to babysit and keep the kids relaxed and not moving around a lot, since we didn't want to hit her stitches at all. Not easy.

It got better when Colleen came over with a lot of takeout food from the dining hall- vegan chicken nuggets and curly fries! OK, not the healthiest, but yummy.

Yesterday was a looong day at the office, designing a new window, doing a bunch of web stuff, video stuff, et cetera. I was starving by the time I hit the train, and I had cross practice immediately after. I had a cookie on the train and got home and ready as fast as possible. It was cold out though!

So, many layers later, headed to cross. It was chilly and windy and they're starting earlier now that it gets dark faster, so I'm missing a lot of the practice. I got there, FINALLY got my pedals adjusted. I only got in one loop, I had a really bad headache, maybe from the cold or being hungry. Charlie, Marcos and I rode home together afterwards, and we talked about Saturday's race- I'm pretty nervous and not feeling ready for it. But, that's kind of the point anyway- see how I do wiht little practice and find out what happens. If I'm good or tolerable, great, and if I'm not, I probably won't pusue it- I've got bigger fish to fry!

Tutored and did Iron Yoga, and this morning, getting up was pretty damn hard. Still made it to the pool for 3300 meters of various fast sets. I'm totally beat.

Still, thinking very hard about what I want for the next year. So here's the tentative list:
(Parentheses mean 'pending qualification')

1. Philly Marathon: Nov 22, 2009
2. (Boston Marathon): April 19, 2010 -or-
3. 1/2 Marathon in NJ: April 19, 2010
   
4. Jerseyman Half Ironman: May, 2010 (hometown race, should be fun)
5. Mooseman Half Ironman: June 2010 (not 100% sure yet)
   
6. Nautica Olympic Triathlon: July 2010
7. NJ State Olympic Triathlon or Steelman Olympic Triathlon: July 2010 (not 100% sure yet)
8. Ironman Kentucky: August 2010
9. Skylands Sprint Triathlon: September 2010
10. (Ironman Hawaii): October 2010 (hey, a girl can dream, right?)

It's a weird list because I'm not totally sure what I can afford to race. I may throw a couple sprints in, if they're in the neighborhood and cheap, since there are few places in NJ to do open water swims, and they'll be great brick workouts. It's just hard to figure stuff like this out when working 4 different jobs and trying to pay for school.

I'm also debating which tri bike to buy and how much I should spend on it. Money is just always a problem!!

Back to class and work...

Long Run, but Beer!

Oh dear.

I've been quite remiss in blogging lately. It's just... ehh, no real excuse other than the obvious lack of time. I meant to, really! Some weeks are just better than others.

Last week was pretty uninteresting anyway. After a painful cross practice where I finally mastered dismounts, if nothing else, did some yoga, and hung out with the boys.

Thursday was another swim, 3300 yards with 10x100 fast. I'm not that fast... or rather, my "fast" 100 is the same pace as my "fast" 1000 meter. Hmm... Clearly something needs work! This was emphasized today when we did our 1000 meter TT swim to see what progress we had made. In my defense, I was tired from a nanny's worst nightmare, tired from weight lifting, had no one fast to swim next to, and was TTing for the first time doing flip turns. Excuses, excuses, excuses- I'm full of 'em today! It was 15:55 for 1000 m, which was OK, but only a 25 second improvement- nothign to write home about. But then again, my aerobic swim was there already, now I just have to a)learn to swim, and b)speed up past what my body likes. Still, it's an improvement and I should be happy.

Friday was more weights and some riding around New Brunswick, but nothing fancy. This was because I knew Saturday was coming.

Saturday: on schedule was a 22 miler. This would be THE farthest that I would ever have run, since during the marathon I had to stop at mile 14 because of cramping. Yeah, I finished the marathon, but not running the whole way. So 22 miles was pretty scary. Normally, I know people don't do that much before a marathon. But between my lack of good nutrition while running and my cramping issues in the past, it makes sense for me to be running that much. Plus, it's pretty fun, as it turns out.

Dad and I set out with a bike basket full- extra long sleeved and sleeveless shirts, wattle bottle, sports drink, 2 gus, camera, phone, and driver's license. And handkerchief- I was very stuffy that day!

We planned a 22 mile route that was pretty much totally flat and would hit bathrooms eveyr few miles. Perfect! Plus, at mile 18 we would loop past the car, so if I was hurting, we could call it a day. The miles ticked off fast and easily- 8 minute miles, sometimes 7:45-ish, not sure of exact numbers since Dad was keeping time and we didn't always have accurate mile markers. Maybe it was the conversation with Dad, maybe it was kowing that while I was running, people were racing in Kona, where I want to be, but it went by quickly and with no real issues. I finished with a sprint and a smile, and Dad and I put my license to good use by celebrating with a half pint of dark porter at the microbrewery that I used to work at.

It was great! All muscle soreness gone- maybe it was the break, maybe it was seeing people I worked with and really liked, seeing my old friend Tim, who got me more serious about biking, or maybe it was simply the alcohol content. But I have a new long run routine!

Sunday morning was crazy- I woke up in NO pain! Shocking, I know. I had to head to northern NJ to meet Jackie for a thirty mile ride through the Great Swamp and I was worried- she smokes me on the bike in every race, so I was scared about riding after such a long run. Luckily, my legs cooperated, and we had an awesome ride- the Great Swamp is beautiful and soooo full of bikers!- and chat. She's going to be a HUGE help for training for IMKY and she's awesome at pushing me to do more. She's mentioned a few races I should do next summer, so I'm working on compiling the list now- a couple half Ironmans for practice, but a few well-chosen short courses for fun and potential profit.

Now I just have to get fast...

More later as I try to figure out what to do about a tri bike and muse more about everything, including my babysitting insanity of last night (hint: emergency room involved. Nothing major, but nonethless...)
For now, it's off to Child Psych.

Quads vs Pecs

I feel like this:




but it isn't my pecs.

I think my quads exploded tonight at cyclocross practice.



Robbie showed me this video and says it reminds him of me and my cousin in law, Tim, when we talk about training.


More yoga and stretching to follow.

Iron Fever

It seems like the whole world is heading to Kona this week, and it's making me crazy! I'm envious, I'm excited, and I'm thinking about next year and if I can make it.

In my life, I have watched a total of 1 sporting event on TV: the Superbowl last year. And yes, it was for the snacks. OK, of course, I watched the Tour this summer. But this past month, my new favorite channel has been Universal Sports, and every triathlon they have on, I'm usually watching it while riding or doing yoga. It's total immersion in a very bizarre way. I think Robbie is confused and confounded every time he walks in and I'm screaming at the TV or tearing up at watching a great finish. I gotta get a VCR and start taping these...

But anyway, my life. While I'm not Kona-bound, I do have big workouts coming up this weekend, and I've been working hard all week. After Sunday night's "practice" combined with the 6 year old antics, my quads felt like they were about to explode. So I did what any normal person would do: a kickass weight set on Monday, followed by a ride or two.

Then, Tuesday was early morning swim class trying out my new flippers and doing upwards of 3000 yards. I learned to do flip turns, and only hit the wall once- hard! I also worked on a lot of bilateral breathing, which is coming more and more naturally, and started trying out my flippers. Then, a kick set at the end destroyed what was left of my quads.

By the time I got home, my upper back aws feeling tight- I guess the bilateral breathing is changing the way I use my muscles, combined with the technique stuff I'm working on. So, ouch.

Normally, fro 2-9 on Tuesdays (and plenty of other times), I'm a nanny. But Steph ahd a family emergency so I was off the hook for the day. That meant time to a) sit around and watch Degrassi with Adam and stretch my back, b) a rare chance to see Robbie during the day, c) an excellent opportunity to go for a quick 6 mile run in perfect weather, and d) the chance to actually cook lunch and dinner and sit and enjoy them! It also left time for work, research, hair dying, Iron Yoga, and more Degrassi- I think I'm hooked!

I've also decided that in the off season (so to speak) I'd like to drop between 5 and 10 pounds. Much easier said than done. I don't really eat any more than I should, if anything, some days I fall short. It's just that I eat a lot of junk food and I really love night time snacking- I blame Robbie and Adam, who eat like crazy every night at 9 or 10. So I'm working on it. Kinda successfully. It's just hard to find the balance between eating enough to keep my training up and eating little enough to drop some weight. I'm also not weighing myself more than 2 times a week, since I don't want to get obsessive. Been there, done that, and it always makes me miserable.

Tonight is cyclocross practice and a run with Pete. I still need to sign up for the race I'm doing next weekend, or at least, the race I'm planning to do. We'll see!

Right Hand/Left Foot

I finally figured out my cyclocross conundrum this Sunday. I've been having trouble learning how to dismount, and I finally discovered why.

I've always known that for things like surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding, I favor my left foot- I'm "goofy footed." It's weird because I'm right handed. Apparently, 95% of people who are right handed are right footed. Not me! I'm in that little 5% block, and it throws off riding, apparently.

I thought about it the other day, and remembered trying to mimic Dad getting off the bike, and falling over. Then, I saw Robbie get off the bike and realized I was doing the opposite thing that he was.

So, instead of dismounting so I can pick up the bike on the non-chain side, I decided to let my body do the talking and decide how it wanted to dismount. Nice, smooth, and fast: on the chain side. Try to do it the right way and wobble wobble fall! Tried it a bunch of times and even though I didn't have barriers, I was practicing running and jumping. And it went really well!

So, I'm goofy. And I'll have chain marks everywhere by the end of the season. The point is, I can dismount!

This weekend, Dad and I are rigging a CX course in the backyard. Awesome!!

I also made friends with the little 6 year old girl living next door and spent an hour playing outside with her after practicing cross. Running, cartwheeling, tree-climbing, and pushing her in her out of battery Barbie jeep made for an awesome workout, albeit a weird one- I'm sore all over from it!

In very sad news, my 12 year old rabbit, Carl, finally passed away. He lived twice as long as most rabbits, and he was awesome. Robbie and I both really loved him, and so did my dog. I think my dad even teared up a bit when we buried him- he gave a little eulogy and everything. So, RIP Carl, aka Carrie (we may have given him some gender issues as a bunny.)

Here's us a couple years ago:
And with the dog... see, she likes him!

New Gear, Long Ride, Long Run, and Back in the Game!

Rest week is finally over, and now the work begins. And man, it hurts! A week off did a lot of good but still, getting back on the bike was no fun.

On the upside, I came home on Friday to my awesome new Steelman Triathlon transition bag, as well as my new suit from swimoutlet.com and these great fins that Keith recommended I try to even out my swim stroke:
And this excellent lap counter that I'm incredibly stoked to try:

Even better, the wonderful people at POM Wonderful just sent me a box of their amazing juice, which I am now totally in love with:
I wasn't sure how I would feel about it but Blake told me that he's heard people cut it with water and use it as a sports drink, so I tried it during my ride on Saturday.

50 miles, some hills, some flats, and done 5 minutes faster than my best time on that route. Then, off on a short 30 minute run. Gotta get more bricks in! My stomach was killing me on the run, which sucked. But, such is life. There were a ton of gnats too, and I ended up covered in them. Yuck.

Sunday's run was more eventful. I'm pretty sure I hit the "bathroom" in the woods within a few feet of a bear... heard a lot of something very big and very heavy ambling off, scared the crap (pardon the pun) out of me. Then, dropped my car keys while walking out of the woods. Didn't notice for a mile, and then had to go find them, panicking the whole time. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

But it got better. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE TRAILS! I did about 11 miles of hills and trails around Round Valley and it was gorgeous! That water in the reservoir is so clear, it's incredible. After 30 minutes, my stomach started acting better and the run went smoothly.

Afterwards, I couldn't help it, I had to take an ice bath in the lake! So I sat smack down in the lake for a few minutes, dunked under, and had the best cooldown ever!

Went home to another recovery bath and tested out my POM as a recovery drink- awesome!
Amazingly, I even stretched!



(check out my awesome visor- I "borrowed" it from a friend in high school and never used it until recently, and I love it!)



And of course, as promised, I'm working on the nutrition thing:
bananas, yogurt, fruit, low fat cheese and milk, hummus, V8, coconut water, and of course, all my POM!

This week, I'm weighing in, seeing if I need to lose weight off season, and if I do, how much. And back to my normal routine, with a super long (22 mile) run this weekend... I figure it's only fair I do a long run since everyone else will be racing at Kona!

Off Week

Well, not totally off. Only one Master Swim instead of 2, yoga, half the weight sets, and the only biking I've done is to and from classes (though that's a good 30-90 minutes a day) and to and from 'cross practice without actually practicing.

It's been tough. I don't sleep as well when I'm not working out as much, and my eating habits feel all off. It'll be nice to get back to my normal schedule soon, but I know I needed to rest after that race and after that season before I could really think about starting to build even more. Volume isn't always a good thing, no matter how much I like to think that it is.

I've also had a lot going on with work this week as well, so it's good timing, I suppose. And I've been trying to figure out a lot of boring stuff with my USAT rankings, training plans, and all that fun stuff.

Until today, only 2 of my races were appearing as USAT rankings, one race for midatlantic region and one for national. The weird part is that they were different races- strange. Now that all but one of my races is ranked in the midatlantic region, I'm ranked as 9th in my age group in the region! (And I'm still trying to figure out how to get another 1st place AG/4th overall race added to it. Yeesh.)

So if I can get my national rankings fixed, I'll be the happiest girl around.

In the meantime, it's time for yoga and a short run. Maybe. If I feel like it. (Which I probably will...)