IM CDA week 10

Finally feeling healthy!

Five days spent laying in bed with laptop and tivo remote was more than enough for me! Being sick and weak for 5+ days was brutal...especially not being able to train. Coach's orders were to rest and do not re-engage in training until one day after I feel good. Out of curiosity, I had to ask him how many days it took to lose fitness....10-12 days he says! Holy crap! 10-12 days?! That's nothing!! Good thing, by day 6, I made it to CT class. Just in time for the 35 minute interval he had us do (intervals are usually 12 minutes)! Tough but I was just glad to be healthy again. I think I paid my sick dues for the year so no more please! 

So, like many other gals in the country, I was tuned into ABC's The Bachelor last Monday night. To my disappointment, Jason the Bachelor, chose to end things with Jillian. I found the reason he gave her to be very disappointing, "I don't know if I can keep up with you." WTF?! He was living proof on national TV that more likely than not, men are threatened by women who actually has an life of their own. An exciting life. Jillian gave the perfect answer, "I am not going to keep my life on hold just because I am single." You tell him girl! Now, Jason, what are you going to do with the 24 year old and the 25 year old you have left? Do you really think they are ready to be the step-mother to your child at their age? Dumb dumb dumb! Oh well, looking forward to Monday night. Looking forward to the finale and the "big shocker".

I am sad that the Tour of California has come to an end. I was glued to it like a fly on the screen. They estimated that over 2 million spectators came out to support the race. That is incredible! Being an endurance athlete, I appreciate what these guys do on a day to day basis that much more. There are others out there who don't thinkcycling is all that difficult and some won't even consider these cyclists to be top tier athletes just because the sport doesn't involve a ball. Well, obviously these people have never been on a bike busting their @ss for 4 or 5 hours a day...for multiple days! 

The ToC was only 10 days...Tour de France in July is going to be 3 weeks long. That means for the month of July, I will be sleep deprived and on my mind 24/7 will be the Tour de France! But being that Lance is riding the Giro as well this year, make May sleep deprivation month as well. Oh this can't be good with IM training! Congrats to Team Astana! 

Workout Summary-

Swim- 1 hour and 0 minutes

Bike- 4 hours and 13 minutes

Run- 1 hour and 34 minutes

Total workout- 6 hours and 47 minutes

IM CDA week 9

Bed ridden with a cold..

And training was going so well! What was supposed to be a 12+ hour training week turned out to be a 4+ hour training week because yours truly succumbed to the common cold...or at least that's what iI self diagnosed myself with. Caught it Thursday and now it's Sunday..still in bed. I was able to go to CT class on Thursday though since I didn't get symptoms until the afternoon. Coach is out at training camp in Tuscon so you know what they say, when the cat's out, the mice comes out to play. Class was especially whining and entertaining which made for many laughs in between hard 12 minute intervals. My favorite quote of morning in class was from Ted, "I'm going back into my cave..I'll see you in 12 minutes." I guess you had to be there. Between that and Matty trying to be a power weight lifter..it was a darn funny class!

So does anyone know how to fast forward a cold? Anyone? Anyone? Being bed ridden for three days is getting old. Coach says I am not to re-engage in training until 1 day after I feel normal. I guess I couldn't have chosen a better weekend to be sick as it's raining cats and dogs out. It's been my tivo, versus coverage of the Tour of California and my little buddy the Mac Book Pro! 

I am really enjoying the ToC! Lance is back so the excitement level is just that much bigger! Did you know that Lance can hold 600 watts for an hour?! Holy sh*t! Most top pro cyclists can hold 450..maybe 500 according to cycling God Ekimov...holy crap..600!!

How's that for inspiration?! Hope to re-engage early next week! Oh yeah, APB on Lance's stolen one of a kind Livestrong TT bike...whoever stole it is dumb as a rock. Where you gonna ride it? Who are you going to show it to? You can't so give it back and maybe karma might be back on your side. You can't steal something that is helping fight cancer.. come on now!

Workout Summary-

Swim- 0 hours and 55 minutes

Bike- 3 hours and 0 minutes

Run- 1 hours and 0 minutes

Total Workout- 4 hours and 55 minutes

IM CDA week 8

Lost some skin on the pool deck this week!

I am sitting here a bit tired from training this morning! IVC pool workout with coach at 9 am followed by a 1:20:00 run. Pool workout was tough! It was probably one of the tougher pool workouts I've had in a long time. Before the workout even started, Dora said, "I'm feeling sick." Halfway through the workout, Ted says, "Now, I am feeling sick." Haha. Head up drills...not a favorite of mine! Having to swim to the other side of the pool, pull ourselves out of the pool deck "coach's style" and swim back..repeat 4x...HARD! Having Ted crack jokes about "this is how the Germans do it..." was hilarious! That's where I lost some skin..having to get myself out of the pool. If you've ever been to IVC, the deck is higher than most other pools! After pool workout, had an awesome trail run with Ted. It was my toughest run of the season so far, had to hit zone 3 heart rate during the last 20 minutes but it ended up being a great run as I am seeing improvements in my mile pace! Sweetness!

I've never really trained with a heart rate monitor before and now I can't train without one. It's definitely made me work harder. For example, during a run, I used to be inclined to walk a bit because I thought I was doing to "die"..well I get that same feeling now and looking at my heart rate...I realize I am making it up mentally and it helps me push through as my heart rate says I am not nearing death at all. Haha. 

Watched the movie "He's Just Not That Into You" on opening day. Good movie! The story-line of Alex and Gigi below was by far my favorite! He is giving her the rules but then she ends up being his exception. "You're my exception." Too cute! I may just have to add Justin Long to my celebrity Top 5 now. He's gained a fan!

Which makes me think..can you imagine how much more straight forward dating would be if we reverted back to pre-technology times? No email, no facebook, no chat and no online dating. The only way to meet was face to face via friends or random. The only way to communicate was via phone, where you actually had to pick up the phone if you wanted to ask a person out, talk to the person, communicate with the person. In some ways, technology has made dating a lot easier in terms of accessibility but then in many ways, technology has made it a lot easier to skirt around which ironically makes dating a lot more frustrating.....wouldn't you say?

Workout Summary-

Swim- 3 hours and 10 minutes

Bike- 6 hours and 32 minutes

Run- 2 hours and 40 minutes

Total workout- 12 hours and 22 minutes

IM CDA week 7

Milking recovery week for all it's worth!

This week was recovery week which meant only one workout a day and shorter workouts during the weekend. My week went something like this...

Monday- I turned 31..took the day off work..went for my short 45 minute swim..took the camera over the GGB and snapped away!

Tuesday...went to M2 spin for the first time since October of last year. Boy, was it different! I've gotten used to Chris' 90 minute classes so the 60 minutes at M2 felt really short even though I spun 15 extra minutes to make up some time. 

Wednesday...went to see Dr. Rabbetz of Chiro Medical for my inner right shin. There was a bit of bruising and I wanted to see if it was external bruising or internal. It turned out to be internal, which is what I thought. Squirmed like crazy on the treatment table...has my pain threshold gone down? I walked into Dr. Rabbetz' office with my Uggs on and he responds with, "I can't win with you. In the Summer, you're in flip flops. In the Winter, you're in Uggs. Where is the support?" I giggled..what can I say? It's cold out!! We narrowed the problem to my shoes. I switched to wide width on my Saucony Hurricanes and while I haven't been getting blisters since, it's too wide for me and allowing my big toe to turn inward causing tendon inflamation..something like that. So back to the regular width I go!

Had a great master's swim in the evening!

Thursday..spin class at the bay club...I am seriously thinking about ending my membership to the Bay Club.. we'll see!!

Friday- I ran in the morning..TGIF!

Saturday- Bonded with my TT bike which I am thinking of renaming it- Chase. Don't ask, that name was just stuck in my mind through my ride on the TT. Kara and I went on a three hour ride. Started in beautiful sunny Fairfax out pass Pt. Reyes Station and turned around just when we hit Inverness and back. Saw a bunch of people out riding on thie beautiful sunny day! We had many "good morning" greetings and also saw many strange things out on the bike. One that stood out... actual neon green knit leg warmers worn while riding. Um....? Got home..passed out for an impromptu 5 hour nap followed by 8 hours of sleep!

Sunday- Another beautiful day! Felt great from all the rest I got yesterday. Had a great run..partly trail..partly crashed the Kaiser Half Marathon..bought a homeless man breakfast..a beautiful morning! Weighed myself..dropped 4.5 pounds since training started! Hope that's a good thing..have to ask coach about that one!

R.I.P.- Jesse Leon. A friend from UC Santa Cruz who passed away from a car crash on Highway 17. Drive safe out there everyone!

Workout Summary-

Swim- 1 hour and 45 minutes

Bike- 5 hours and 45 minutes

Run- 2 hours and 0 minutes

Total workout- 9 hours and 30 minutes