Wow, race day is right around the corner.....2 days away to be exact. I'm going into this race undertrained....darn rib fractures! I have also been in NYC this week and flying home tomorrow, and racing the following day. Not exactly the perfect way to go into 140.6, but nothing is perfect, right?
Come Saturday morning I will toe the line and let the chips fall where they may. I'm going to give it my best....my typical "suck it" fashion, lol! Each race comes with its own set of challenges and its the ability to dig deep and to remember why I'm racing that will propel me to the finish line. Can't wait to see what my finisher's medal will look like......."4x Ironman"....kinda sound pretty bad-ass huh? :)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Already a 3x Ironman
Spoke to coach Tim last night. I explained to him that I feel better about going into Vineman since I had a pretty successful 106 mile ride on Saturday. He said, "look around your neck, you are an Ironman already. Of course you can do it." I have to keep in mind how much my body is capable of....last year I came back strong after my stress fracture.
I've finished 3 Ironman races, I know to expect the unexpected. I know that there are going to be dark moments on the course. I know it's going to be a long day. But I also know how to finish and to not let those moments of despair crush my dreams.
I've finished 3 Ironman races, I know to expect the unexpected. I know that there are going to be dark moments on the course. I know it's going to be a long day. But I also know how to finish and to not let those moments of despair crush my dreams.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Slacker....but good excuse!
I have really been slacking on updating my training here...not that too many people are really following, lol :)
In June I wound up in a stupid bike crash. I was on a beach cruiser, without a helmet on (yep that's the stupid part) and crashed. Road rash on my shoulder and legs, goose-egg on my head and fractured ribs. OUCH! There is nothing that can be done with ribs, just time for healing. Everything was painful! Getting in and out of bed would take 10 minutes, lots of cursing and plenty of tears. It was over 2 weeks until I could even reach my arm above my head!
Swimming and running were out of the question. I was still doing my CompuTrainer classes as the thought of hitting a bump on the open road while on my bike made me cringe.
Training is back in full swing with Vineman less than 2 weeks away. I am worried about finishing this race due to the loss of training time. I'm hopeful in what I lack in training, I can compensate with my determination to cross the finish line.
This idea of racing 3 Ironmans this season stemmed from the love of my family, my triathlon addiction and wanting to make a difference. It would be easy to opt out of Vineman, I have an excuse......but seeing my idea through and not quitting is so much more important to me. I'm not fighting anything as brutal as cancer, I'm just fighting to get to the finish line.
In June I wound up in a stupid bike crash. I was on a beach cruiser, without a helmet on (yep that's the stupid part) and crashed. Road rash on my shoulder and legs, goose-egg on my head and fractured ribs. OUCH! There is nothing that can be done with ribs, just time for healing. Everything was painful! Getting in and out of bed would take 10 minutes, lots of cursing and plenty of tears. It was over 2 weeks until I could even reach my arm above my head!
Swimming and running were out of the question. I was still doing my CompuTrainer classes as the thought of hitting a bump on the open road while on my bike made me cringe.
Training is back in full swing with Vineman less than 2 weeks away. I am worried about finishing this race due to the loss of training time. I'm hopeful in what I lack in training, I can compensate with my determination to cross the finish line.
This idea of racing 3 Ironmans this season stemmed from the love of my family, my triathlon addiction and wanting to make a difference. It would be easy to opt out of Vineman, I have an excuse......but seeing my idea through and not quitting is so much more important to me. I'm not fighting anything as brutal as cancer, I'm just fighting to get to the finish line.
Friday, June 4, 2010
I fartleked and swam!
Today was Masters swim, yikes.......the focus was butterfly. Soooooo not my stroke, hell I'm lucky I can survive with my crap-tastic free-style. Coach says 1,000 yards of fly and fly drills.....I though he was kidding, um NOT!
After that it was lots of kicking drills, wonderful (please note sarcasm here)! Thankfully we were able to use fins. I was so grateful to use fins that I even Googled the Swim fin inventor....Ben Franklin!
Later in the day I did a fartlek run...yes, saying "fartlek" still makes me laugh. It was hot over a China Camp, but I stayed on the roads. t felt like an over, but it was only 80 degrees.....I think it felt warmer than that because there was no breeze and was very dry. Oh well, great training for Vineman!
After that it was lots of kicking drills, wonderful (please note sarcasm here)! Thankfully we were able to use fins. I was so grateful to use fins that I even Googled the Swim fin inventor....Ben Franklin!
Later in the day I did a fartlek run...yes, saying "fartlek" still makes me laugh. It was hot over a China Camp, but I stayed on the roads. t felt like an over, but it was only 80 degrees.....I think it felt warmer than that because there was no breeze and was very dry. Oh well, great training for Vineman!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
June!
Wow, June already! Next month is my first Ironman of the season....time flies!
This weekend I raced a Half-Marathon in Southern California....the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon. I decided to run this race at the last minute, well technicaly a day before the race. Kinda bizarre to just decide on a whim to run a half-marathon, one of the benefits of training for Ironman!
I had run the day before so was not expecting much. Wound up only 2 minutes behind on my PR, not too shabby. I got to see Sheri, my sister-in-law, finish and see my niece and nephew do the kids run. I love that they are already racing! :)
This weekend I raced a Half-Marathon in Southern California....the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon. I decided to run this race at the last minute, well technicaly a day before the race. Kinda bizarre to just decide on a whim to run a half-marathon, one of the benefits of training for Ironman!
I had run the day before so was not expecting much. Wound up only 2 minutes behind on my PR, not too shabby. I got to see Sheri, my sister-in-law, finish and see my niece and nephew do the kids run. I love that they are already racing! :)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Suck It Up
Today was a brutal ride....so much climbing into headwind! Uggggg!!! Today I thought about what I write on my arm before each Ironman race, "suck it" because so many times in racing you need to suck it up and push forward.
Went for a ride with the tri-club, thankfully i was not alone or I might have turned around. We climbed up Big Rock, a huge thank you to the man on the massive Trek, he must have been 6'5" that let me tuck in behind him and suck his wheel for a while. I dropped him on the limb and then he re-passed me on the down-hill. I kept pushing trying to see how long I could go without him passing me......I kept him away for a while and when he passed he said "nice pace"
We re-grouped a few times along the way. I realized that my body cols down and heart-rate sinks like a stone pretty quickly. Makes it harder to get started again, especially in the cold.
At one point in the ride I really just wanted to cry out of frustration with the headwind. NO matter if we turned or not, it was always there, like my worst nightmare. The climbing is not as bad since you can see when the pain will be over, but the wind....sneaky bitch, you just can't see! And then just when you think it will be at your back, the wind changes direction!
I cursed so may times during this ride, but survived and am stronger mentally and physically because of it. I was so hungry during this ride, not having dinner last night was probably not the best idea. Within the last 45minutes when I was mentally losing it, I grabbed my Mint Chocolate Gu......ahhhhh, a little squeeze of heaven and I felt much better. Toward the end of the ride Eric said to me "you really need to be bigger, you are too small to block the wind for me!" Too funny!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Pay attention to the feet!
Got up and made it to Masters swim today, yay me! We had to do a bunch of pull sets....uggg I need a better pull! My swimming would be so much faster if I could just use fins all the time :) Bizarre thing today was that every time I pushed of the wall today, the ball of my foot hurt. I didn't think much of it and just kept swimming.
All day I was bit uncomfortable when I walked on it, but for some reason never thought to look at what might be causing the pain. Maybe it's because I've become used to a few random pains while training for Ironman and just push it from my mind.
Later on this evening I'm sitting on the floor and for some reason I remember the pain, so I take a look at my foot.....turns out I have a huge slice in the ball of my foot! From all of the sweat and multiple daily showers my feet have gotten so dry that they are cracked!! Guess it's time to double-up on moisturizer for my feet. They are a total mess. This pic was taken post-moisturizing! Note the pretty callus on the pinky-toe, lovely.
All day I was bit uncomfortable when I walked on it, but for some reason never thought to look at what might be causing the pain. Maybe it's because I've become used to a few random pains while training for Ironman and just push it from my mind.
Later on this evening I'm sitting on the floor and for some reason I remember the pain, so I take a look at my foot.....turns out I have a huge slice in the ball of my foot! From all of the sweat and multiple daily showers my feet have gotten so dry that they are cracked!! Guess it's time to double-up on moisturizer for my feet. They are a total mess. This pic was taken post-moisturizing! Note the pretty callus on the pinky-toe, lovely.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Random thoughts.....
Was really looking forward to my Master's swim this morning, it would have been a huge help if I had actually checked the Master's swim schedule first! Turns out Masters does not swim at 7am on Tuesdays! Ugggg! Wound up swimming alone. Muscles were a bit sore, so I made a deal with myself that I only needed to swim 2000 yards and then I could hit the hot-tub.
I got my distance in and then while in the hot-tub, 2 guys get in. Keep in mind that as a participant in triathlon, specifically long distance, a lot of men shave their legs. Both of these guys did not subscribe to the shaving way of life. Anyway, for some reason...maybe it was low blood sugar, but I kept having these images of their leg hair floating away in the hot-tub and me getting tangled up in it! Yes, gross! So of course, I got out immediately......and now I don't think I will be making a journey back to the hot-tub for some time.
Later in the morning I went to my Computrainer class. I call it my 90-minute sweat-fest. As I'm driving over there is a woman in her car on the side of the road smoking, eating french fries and chatting on the phone. I was reminded of fortunate I am to not only have the ability to train, but the drive to push myself as well. Accepting that I am responsible for my health.
As I drive by, another random thought......if at this very moment someone was to take your picture and capture your life in one photo, would you really want to be sucking down french fries and smoking? I'm not making judgments, but it made me think more about how we spend our days. The next time I find myself in front of the tv or wasting time online, I will think of someone taking my picture and think "if this were to be the last photo taken of me, is this my legacy?"
I got my distance in and then while in the hot-tub, 2 guys get in. Keep in mind that as a participant in triathlon, specifically long distance, a lot of men shave their legs. Both of these guys did not subscribe to the shaving way of life. Anyway, for some reason...maybe it was low blood sugar, but I kept having these images of their leg hair floating away in the hot-tub and me getting tangled up in it! Yes, gross! So of course, I got out immediately......and now I don't think I will be making a journey back to the hot-tub for some time.
Later in the morning I went to my Computrainer class. I call it my 90-minute sweat-fest. As I'm driving over there is a woman in her car on the side of the road smoking, eating french fries and chatting on the phone. I was reminded of fortunate I am to not only have the ability to train, but the drive to push myself as well. Accepting that I am responsible for my health.
As I drive by, another random thought......if at this very moment someone was to take your picture and capture your life in one photo, would you really want to be sucking down french fries and smoking? I'm not making judgments, but it made me think more about how we spend our days. The next time I find myself in front of the tv or wasting time online, I will think of someone taking my picture and think "if this were to be the last photo taken of me, is this my legacy?"
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Better to follow the heart than the training plan
Today's workout should have been the 4-hour ride that I swapped out yesterday, but my heart and mind were not in it. I needed to zone out a bit, not really conducive to riding on the roads with cars and other distractions, so I hit the trails of China Camp.
Along the way there was a dead lizard on the path, I'm guessing he was hit by a mountain biker. I ran past him and then doubled backed, took a rock and pushed him to the side of the trail. All creatures deserve a bit of dignity in death. I continued to run up to the top of the trail, pushing myself to the top of my own private Everest. I stopped along the way just to take in the beauty of the trail and the way the trees parted to give the most amazing view of the Bay.
I stood there in awe of my luck to have access to such an amazing sight, practically in my backyard. Suddenly, tears were rolling down my face. Sadness for so many who will never take advantage of what is in front of them and those who would give anything for the opportunity to run up a trail, but lack the physical ability to do so. I was reminded of what my grandmother said to me when I moved to California, "Abbala, (Jewish grandmother speak) God took everything beautiful ad gave it to California".
I continued on as my thoughts drifted to my current endeavor...3 Ironman races in one season. A total of 421.8 miles in racing, not to mention the distance I will train to accomplish my goal. I reminded myself that I need to stay focused on my goals and to enjoy the journey along the way. The finish line of each race is not my ultimate destination, it's pushing myself to new limits and overcoming obstacles along the way. Learning more about myself and what my body can accomplish.
Never waste the day or an opportunity to grow. On the way down the trail a deer stood in the way, I stopped and watched her as a huge grin spread across my face....this is what training is about, enjoying what is around me.....nature's therapy.
Along the way there was a dead lizard on the path, I'm guessing he was hit by a mountain biker. I ran past him and then doubled backed, took a rock and pushed him to the side of the trail. All creatures deserve a bit of dignity in death. I continued to run up to the top of the trail, pushing myself to the top of my own private Everest. I stopped along the way just to take in the beauty of the trail and the way the trees parted to give the most amazing view of the Bay.
I stood there in awe of my luck to have access to such an amazing sight, practically in my backyard. Suddenly, tears were rolling down my face. Sadness for so many who will never take advantage of what is in front of them and those who would give anything for the opportunity to run up a trail, but lack the physical ability to do so. I was reminded of what my grandmother said to me when I moved to California, "Abbala, (Jewish grandmother speak) God took everything beautiful ad gave it to California".
I continued on as my thoughts drifted to my current endeavor...3 Ironman races in one season. A total of 421.8 miles in racing, not to mention the distance I will train to accomplish my goal. I reminded myself that I need to stay focused on my goals and to enjoy the journey along the way. The finish line of each race is not my ultimate destination, it's pushing myself to new limits and overcoming obstacles along the way. Learning more about myself and what my body can accomplish.
Never waste the day or an opportunity to grow. On the way down the trail a deer stood in the way, I stopped and watched her as a huge grin spread across my face....this is what training is about, enjoying what is around me.....nature's therapy.
Monday, April 19, 2010
It's been a crazy few weeks, but I have been getting some trainig in, just have been lax about logging it here. I will pick up the slack on that :)
This weekend I was able to get some solid training in. On Saturday I did a 3.5 hour bike ride on "Sparty", my beautiful Guru tri-bike! A bit too much wind for my liking but it's hard to avoid it living in the Bay area. I did a bunch of climbing....nothing like taking a bike to climb a mountain :)
Yesterday I did a trail run. AMAZING day!! It was warm, the sun was shining and the sky was clear. One of those days where I could not imagine living anywhere else. Did more climbing and wow are my quads "thanking" me for that today. Ugg, it look like I need to make another date with my foam-roller, but it was so worth it!
This weekend I was able to get some solid training in. On Saturday I did a 3.5 hour bike ride on "Sparty", my beautiful Guru tri-bike! A bit too much wind for my liking but it's hard to avoid it living in the Bay area. I did a bunch of climbing....nothing like taking a bike to climb a mountain :)
Yesterday I did a trail run. AMAZING day!! It was warm, the sun was shining and the sky was clear. One of those days where I could not imagine living anywhere else. Did more climbing and wow are my quads "thanking" me for that today. Ugg, it look like I need to make another date with my foam-roller, but it was so worth it!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
No rain this morning, YAY!!! Went out for a 6 mile run this morning. I love running in the dark before everyone is up. Amazing solitude and I dont have to worry about anyone running me over on a bicycle or anyone pushing a stroller in front of me like I do on the weekends.
Saw dawn breaking just over the bridge.....wish I had my camera to take a picture of it.
Along my run today I phase came to mind...I dont remember if I heard it in a movie or read it somewhere, but it was "if you are not part of the solutiuon, you are part of the problem."
Ahhhh spring is in the air!
Saw dawn breaking just over the bridge.....wish I had my camera to take a picture of it.
Along my run today I phase came to mind...I dont remember if I heard it in a movie or read it somewhere, but it was "if you are not part of the solutiuon, you are part of the problem."
Ahhhh spring is in the air!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Uggg just a quick run while I am down in LA....it did not go well. Let's just say I would like to extend a hearty "thank you" to whoever decided to put bathrooms along Ocean Blvd in Santa Monica!
Yesterday was day 1 of the donation site going live, already $100 has been raised!
Headed back to SF this afternoon....in words of the great Dorothy "There's no place like home"
Yesterday was day 1 of the donation site going live, already $100 has been raised!
Headed back to SF this afternoon....in words of the great Dorothy "There's no place like home"
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
On March 13th 2010, my birthday, I woke up and went for a 3-hour bike ride. Along this ride, I took stock of how fortunate I am to be have the ABILITY to go our for a ride. It was cold, the sun was shining, but a great day to be alive and thankful for all that I have in life.
This lead me to think of those in my life that have or are currently battling cancer. My father, Mark, is undergoing Chemo for lung cancer, my uncle Michael is dealing with bladder cancer and my grandmother Marion who I lost to Breast Cancer almost 10 years ago. Cancer sucks!
As the cold whipped through my body an idea was sparked, why not do something to honor those in my life touched by Cancer? I already planned on racing 2 Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) races in 2010, hmmm, why not race a third and dedicate one race to each of my family members and raise money along the way for Cancer research!?
I immediately smiled and knew I would have to clear this idea with my coach Tim Fleming. I sent him an email outlining my thoughts and asked if "I should just book a lobotomy instead?" He said, "you're not crazy, just.....adventurous!"
3 people, 3 Ironman races and the goal of raising $3,000 for each race. So here I am, documenting my training and the insane thoughts and emotions that go along with it. Training for a larger purpose beyond just getting to the finish line as fast as I can. I'm not fast in the grand scheme of triathlon, but I am beyond determined to see this idea become a reality. It's going to be an interesting journey, I hope you enjoy following along and will feel compelled to donate as well!
This lead me to think of those in my life that have or are currently battling cancer. My father, Mark, is undergoing Chemo for lung cancer, my uncle Michael is dealing with bladder cancer and my grandmother Marion who I lost to Breast Cancer almost 10 years ago. Cancer sucks!
As the cold whipped through my body an idea was sparked, why not do something to honor those in my life touched by Cancer? I already planned on racing 2 Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) races in 2010, hmmm, why not race a third and dedicate one race to each of my family members and raise money along the way for Cancer research!?
I immediately smiled and knew I would have to clear this idea with my coach Tim Fleming. I sent him an email outlining my thoughts and asked if "I should just book a lobotomy instead?" He said, "you're not crazy, just.....adventurous!"
3 people, 3 Ironman races and the goal of raising $3,000 for each race. So here I am, documenting my training and the insane thoughts and emotions that go along with it. Training for a larger purpose beyond just getting to the finish line as fast as I can. I'm not fast in the grand scheme of triathlon, but I am beyond determined to see this idea become a reality. It's going to be an interesting journey, I hope you enjoy following along and will feel compelled to donate as well!
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