PARLEE Z4!

Another new bike? What?It's a Parlee Z4 road bike. Moment Cycle Sport team issued bikes.
Yes, it has finally arrived. Less of a wait than the Guru...but just as anticipated. Now we all have to wait for the parts to come in. hurry hurry! I want to take her out!

JT emailed me today telling me they were in and if I didn't come to the shop soon they were going to open them. Hello!? I took off for my lunch break and got to have Christmas morning all over again. Ah, the smell of carbon.Looks pretty similar to this:Yeah it is kind of weird that I "match" my bikes. Green and white. Black and blue. Hilarious. Both times I didn't know they would be coming. It's nice that I was able to head down there today. I can't wait to get out there and race!

Was thinking about names today. Mark Kenny had suggested Petunia for the Guru. And keeping with the P theme, I was thinking Penelope for the Parlee. Or Poppy... refering to the blue, double-bloomed, poppy from one of my favorite movies, Batman Begins.

rough waves

Fletcher cove, courtesy of google images.

Last night was rough. Not only in the Pacific. But in life.

I'm writing for the sanity of myself. To tell myself that things will be okay. Life moves on whether you're ready or not.

Before my life was turned upside down, I was as happy as I could be. I went to Fletcher, alone, and swam out past the breakers. I glided. I floated. I laid on my back and watched the sun set. I stared into that sun until it was burned into my eyes. Closed my eyes and that sun remained, even after setting. I stayed out there as long as I could handle it. I swam back in, truly at peace. Then I walked back to reality.

The ocean has always done that for me. It's been my place. To clear my head. To relax. To release. To lose all worries. To not care about time. To hammer. To help. To train.

I swim because I love the way my body feels rolling through water. I love the repetitiveness of it all, as crazy as that sounds. I love getting into a grove, counting my strokes, ever dialing in the angle of my arms pulling through the water. I love being technical and precise and not having either one of those overwhelm me. I love the control I have. I love that my feet feel like fins as I kick. Nothing is better than a wetsuit-less backstroke with the sun pouring in my face.

I hope the ocean will always be that for me. I'm going to need it these next couple of weeks.

Riding the waves of life, like always...only this time a breaker crashed on top of me and I'm a little disoriented. In time I will make my way to the surface again. And paddle my way back to life.

MN Wedding Weekend

Another one in the books. This weekend college friends Kayley and Nick got married in Fergus Falls, MN. I flew into Minneapolis on Thursday and met college roommates Kari and Katie and Katie's husband Phil. They rented an Xterra so the bike could fit. :) Made it to Fergus and headed out for the bachelorette party. Spent a good portion of the evening at Zorbaz, where everything iz zpelled with a "z" inztead of an "s." Here we all are on the dockz on Otter Tail Lake. Gorgeouz evening.Katie wanted to take a shot...so the bartender asked us if we had 2 more friends. So over come Kayley and Kari and we end up taking a "zhotzki"...which is a old children's wooden water ski with 4 holes for shot glasses. So funny...Kayley stood up when he yelled zhotzki (enough with the z's already!) and Kari and I couldn't reach! We failed and had to have a 2nd attempt. Hilarious. Following Zorbaz we headed to the town of Elizabeth for some fun at a local hick bar, the Silver Dollar. It was a rather young crowd. What do people in small towns in Minnesota do for fun on a Thursday night? Bean Bag toss tournament. No joke. Kayley's sister signed her and I up. Double elimination. We lost bad our first game 21-0. Second game was a nail blighter...we lost 21-20. All in all a fun weekend catching up with the Pink Ladies, and getting to know Kayley's high school friends.
Friday was pretty chill, so I took my bike out of the box and assembled it. Took her out for a ride in the 53 degree windy climate of Western Minnesota in my tri-top and shorts. Burr! Bridal luncheon and more relaxing followed by the Groom's dinner at the local golf course. Good conversation, food and okay wine made for a fun evening. Janice, Nick's mom, made us all purses as Kayley's thank you gifts. They were all so unique! Made me miss crafting a little. :)
Saturday was the wedding. The ceremony was perfect, although the rain prevented them from getting as many outdoor pictures as they would've liked. The reception was also beautiful, yummy food and good dancing. I hit the sack around midnight only to be awoken at 4am to head down to Buffalo for the triathlon. I'm sure my parents loved that!

Made it there, set up transition, found Nordica (high school/college friend) and Jesse (old friend) and got to see his wife and new baby, Ethan Jon. Found my brother and gave him the borrowed wetsuit. Headed down to the lake and by the time I knew it we were off!

I'll keep the race report short: Weather report: crap. Freezing. Drizzling. Overcast. Cold. Raining. Dreary. Any other nasty adjectives I could add? Swim felt good...and short. 5:37 and I was out. Headed onto the bike and felt alright. Later I found out I didn't tighten the seat enough...so it was all the way down...oops! I found myself distracted and not pushing (18.8mph average with some hills). Headed into T2 feeling like I was on a training day. The run was crap. I didn't expect anything better. Haven't ran in almost 6 weeks?! haha, so yeah 25min for my 5k. Wow. I was 5th overall in the swim out of 800 participants. One girl passed me on the bike, and four during the run, so I was 5th overall in my AG (of 64). My back felt fine, but I had some tightness in the hamstring and pain in my right hip...where this all started.

I need to get back into it. Frustration is not the way. I know I need to be careful, and ease back into it. Not sure on International at this point. I don't want to have a crappy attitude during that race...and I know I'm going to want to race it harder.

Sunday afternoon my family went to Uncle Al's house to visit cousin Harper and Aunt Claudia. Such an adorable child. On the way to the airport Amanda met my dad and I at Culvers for a quick hello. She was at the Blue Mounds Minnesota Climbers gathering, camping in the rain all weekend. Of course, flights were delayed. Toronados in Denver? Awesome. Made it to Denver and connecting flight waited 45 min for a couple of us to make it. Got into San Diego around midnight (2am central time...after waking up at 4am...long weekend!) only to find my bike didn't make it.

Still haven't heard back. It wasn't on the first flight into San Diego this morning. ARGH!!!

Back to reality. Normal work week. Club race this weekend. Trying to get the training back on track.

test results

were better? Sweet! Here is the previous post documenting my results. I won't go into such detail, but I was surprised at the outcome.

Here I am looking a little crazy on the trainer before the test started. (You wouldn't want to see the after results). Back was feeling good today, so I was trying to beat my previous max wattage of 280. I made it to 284, 10 seconds longer, but ouch it hurt. Max heart rate? 211bpm. Sick. Lost 5lbs and had a lower body fat percentage? Sweet.
Anyway, here it is broken down. The first number is today's results compared to the second number which was my 1st test result:

-resting HR 54/60
-Vo2 max: 52.5/51.2
-LT 40.3/39.0
-LT Heart rate 188/175
-LT watts 204/188

Greatest improvement was being able to lose weight, but still be able to increase my lactate threshold for wattage output. And really, doing all of this with very little training. He asked if I noticed a difference going up hills...well, yes, in fact, I had a great GWL ride on Sunday. Hmm... My "optimal" weight goal that he set is still 10lbs lower than what I'm at now. I know I want to be there before Ironman next year. It'll take a lot to get there...mainly self control, and having better alternatives while sitting here at work.

One more thing. Did someone say team bikes? OMG what did I do? Haha more to come later.
It's "Friday!" Vacation, here I come. Making Stephen A some delicious birthday dinner tonight, and a cheesecake I somehow whipped up during my extended lunch break today. I rule!

transition

May gray always leads to June gloom. Onto another month. Hopefully this one will be brighter than the last. I have much to look forward to so I hope my body will hold out for all of it!

I ran for the first time on Wednesday. It went alright. 2.5 miles. Had to walk/stretch in the middle. Chiropractor in the afternoon and a advil PM at night. Thursday rolled around and I wasn't really okay for JT's ride but I felt better as the day progressed. Friday was the first pot luck at the cove. yummy and fun. Been swimming with Mary and Nikee and apparently I'm under the "fellow injurdees" category now. Lovely. Those girls rock...and hopefully will sign up for the Pier to Cove race in mid June with me.

Friday evening it was poker night. High society...$10 buy ins and we all dressed up. Marike, Greg and Mysti above, and Marike (excellent drink maker) and I below with a yummy grapefruit martini.Saturday was another failed attempt at riding. Had epic plans that fell through because of rain. yeah suck. Made it to hockey on Saturday evening...back kinda gave me some grief. Sunday was finally a successful ride! I rode the GWL with a really cool group. We rode up into the clouds. By the time we got to the backside the sun was shining. On our way back down, into the sky again. It was eerily gorgeous. I went my fastest time and actually said "that was fun!" at the end. Sunday evening BBQ followed by awesome news from the landlord that he's putting the house up for sale. Not so awesome. I do not want to move. Now we'll just have to wait and see. Monday at work went by sooo sllloooowww! Of course because I was looking forward to 7:10 when Stephen's flight from Italy was arriving. So he's back. Yeah!!

Tomorrow is my last VO2 testing at the Fit Stop...I feel bad I've been injured most of the study. And after that I'm free! Or not really; I'm attached to the Peacock wedding itinerary all weekend. :) I'm heading to MN for Kayley and Nick's wedding Thursday morning at 6:30am. Stephen gets to fully enjoy his birthday and bring me to the airport...who needs to sleep in?! (uh, someone with a wee bit of jet lag...sorry bud!) Sad he won't be able to make the trip with me. Sunday is race day. It all comes down to this. Showdown between me and the brother. We shall see if 3.2 miles of running is enough for him to catch me.

Someone is:

Giving another weekend update:
Friday was a beautiful cove swim. “Raced” back from the ½ mile buoy in 11 min. I think someone was holding back. :) Friday night was poker…and I WON! Holla! Hot tub and pool time led to a late night and a lazy morning. Finally convinced Toly to get off his butt and out for a ride. We did possibly the slowest 20 miles ever…and yeah I tortured him the whole time. Someone was a little hungover. :) My bottom bracket was making a very strange rubbing noise and had a lot of drag. He got a flat as well. LOL great times. Saturday evening was even lazier than the morning. Pool time again.
Sunday was more productive…in perspective. Considering the very unproductive weekend I had. I coached Lou...someone is getting better! :) and Steve in Coronado in the morning and brought my bike to the shop. Hung out and watched Cory take the crank off 3x. Seriously, what is up? Sunday afternoon was cleaning and laundry…ahh I can breathe. A bunch of us met at Damien’s rooftop for a pool party Sunday evening. Sweet views of downtown and the bay. Actually made it to bed at a decent hour. Someone was smart. :) I woke up on Monday for a Great Western Loop ride. Was feeling great…got a flat at mile 7. No one waited. Tire was shredded. I have 650cc wheels and only had 1 co2 and 1 tube. I just figured I’d change it and head back rather than risk another. Four miles back I realized I left my sunglasses where I was changing the flat. Lovely. Rode back, found them, then rode home. Oh did I mention the bracket was rubbing again. Dropped it off at the shop. Again. Hey, I got a good 23 miles in. No climbing. No GWL. Somehow, someone ended up making me breakfast, lunch and dinner on Monday. :) Sweet! An evening La Jolla Shores swim capped off a pretty fun weekend. Work today has been eventful. I asked to transfer back to my Point Loma office. Not enjoying this horrible commute, as well as other issues. I start back down there, 1.0 miles from my house, tomorrow. Adventures ahead.
Short week this week and next (MN wedding). Stephen A is living it up in Italy…watched Cav win the Florence stage. Oh so jealous. He’s back Monday and I leave early on Thursday the 4th which is his birthday. Someone’s catching up to me and turning 25! :)

Virtual Scrapbooking

I'm a scrapbooker. I have 4 huge books that go all the way back to right around 8th grade. One is dedicated entirely to my senior year of college. Currently I'm into the 5th book; and progress is slow. With email, facebook, and now my blog of almost 1 year, my creative time is minimal. Oh yeah training and working... those tend to get in the way as well. Nice weather all winter? That doesn't really give me motivation to sit inside (with poor posture) and pop out some pages. Not that I'm complaining. I love San Diego, but I just feel like I've been neglecting something that is important to me. It was pretty easy back in Minnesota on those cold winter blizzardy days to camp out on the floor and create [a big mess]. We have a long weekend coming up, and I have plenty planned, but with the boy off to Italy, I'll have more time to myself. I may just have to break it out.

Anyway, this blog has been a nice organization of pictures, and thoughts. With scrapbooking, I usually don't write a lot about the actual event, and let the pictures do the talking. Here, I have the freedom to express my thoughts and report on my activities. Although I write in 1st person, this blog was started for me, not really caring about the intended audience. I like going back and reading my old posts, learning from my mistakes, reliving the adventures.

Where am I going with this? I just dropped $27 on that picture above. Ridiculous right? Not really. I got a quality picture of me on my bike in my first half ironman. Leading the race. Killing it, yet happy as can be. My biggest worry right there? "Stick to your nutrition plan... drink more... you are on what lap? you should have 1 bottle down by now... keep pushing."

My biggest worry now? "When are you going to be like that again? Pushing without being scared. Pushing without pain." Uh, there is always pain, as there was in that race, but now it's different. and I know only rest will cure it. I'm impatient. I want to run. I want to be better.

That picture is my desktop background. It's motivation to get back to it. It's to knowing that I can and will be back. This season isn't even close to over. A little over 2 weeks till my next race...hopefully I'll be racing. A little over 2 weeks till the Pink Lady reunion back in MN. Looking forward to two short weeks in a row! Yes! SDIT at the end of June, thinking about Solana Beach tri in July, Pendelton in August and SOMA half to end my season and kick off my Ironman training in October. Club races, cove swims, long rides with Stephen A as he prepares for IMAZ in November. Ah, this summer's outlook is great...and I don't foresee much time for scrapbooking. :)

There's something you can't do on paper. Ben Folds concert last night at the House of Blues downtown was awesome. The split audience participation on "Not the Same" rocked my socks off. He played some old, played some new. Hammering on that piano all evening. Neatest sound? He placed Altoid tins on the piano strings for a techno/nintendo-esk sound. So cool.

Life in SD

Monday night at swim practice I was doing a little thinking. All of this negativity surrounding my injury is not who I am. I know I need positive thoughts (along with PT) for a quicker recovery. Here's what I came up with:
I live in San Diego.
I get to swim long course in an outdoor pool at night. The moon is beautiful through goggles.
I get to ride my bike in the morning. Foggy or sunny, the Cabrillo National Monument rocks my Tues/Thurs mornings.
I have to run. But at least it’s along a trail by the bay, in the sun. No snow involved.
I have a job? yuck. bad topic.
My family loves me. Even though I don't see them often enough.
I'm active. In a city that only fosters an active lifestyle.

Toly and I chillin in the shade (stolen from facebook from john's ipone)

This past weekend I went to LA for an underwater hockey potluck tournament (without Stephen A, who introduced me to the sport last October). It was a hot day but the pool temp was nice. The bottom was not so nice (read: slow). My team finished third and received trophies. This was my first tournament being on a "winning" team. Hmm...maybe I'm getting better. I headed back late Saturday night and woke early for the Encinitas Triathlon. I volunteered to be a swim buddy and ended up swimming with 3 racers and 1 swimmer who was doing the 1 mile ocean swim. Probably ended up swimming over 4,000 yards...very slowly! Nah, it's all in good fun and I'm glad all my swimmers finished this year. The surf wasn't as crazy, so that helped calm the nerves. Sunday afternoon I also swam at the Coronado pool, coaching my new lesson takers. Made some cabobs with Stephen B for dinner and I was off to bed for an early night after a long weekend. Stephen A is in Italy for 2 weeks...and he gets to see the Giro! Unfair, yes.

Sadly I haven't ran in over 3 weeks. I lost my fitness as seen by my huffing and puffing up tide pools this morning. Hey, at least I'm back on the bike. I'm going to Minnesota in a little over two weeks for Kayley and Nick's wedding as well as the Buffalo Triathlon. I switched my entry from Olympic to Sprint distance because again, nervous about the run. This of course means I will be actually racing my brother. Hmm...game on!

SDIT is in 6 weeks. Signed up for the Olympic distance as well. If I'm not ready for that, then I'll switch my entry to relay and have Bethany bike and Katrina run...that will be a kick a** team.

Injured Weekends

Are no fun...but it does mix things up a bit. Other than that one long Sunday ride two weeks ago and 1 JT ride, I haven't been on my bike in 3 weeks nor have I run. This is seriously killing me. It's hard to watch all my friends race on Saturday (I volunteered at the club race) or ask about which ride, where, is next. It's hard to take vacation time to see the chiropractor/ acupuncturist/ doctor/ physical therapist or just lay in bed in pain. It's hard to understand why I hurt and why it isn't getting better. It's just plain hard to stay positive.

This weekend, however, was nice. Friday night, Stephen and I went to Julie's ballet at Spreckles Theatre downtown. It was beautiful and the last act even had a live orchestra. It was her last performance with her company and she will be moving on this summer, starting courses as Mesa College. Saturday I volunteered at the club race in Coronado. This was my first club race last year and as much fun as I had body marking with James and Nikee at the mandatory stop, I couldn't help wishing I was out there racing. Afterwards I went home, took a nice nap, cleaned my room (much needed!) and then headed to Moment Cycle with Stephen for new tires. We then went to Star Trek - such a great movie!! I'm not a trekie, yet I watched alot as a child (thanks dad) and this movie was very well done. Back to the shop for JT and Lynne's engagement party. Somehow we ended up in Pacific Beach and partied with the team at Firehouse and Open Bar. Yes, I went out in PB.

Sunday morning I had a coaching session with a couple guys at the Coronado pool. I started private lessons and am offering them to anyone who wants/needs to improve their technique...i.e. Get Faster! Anyway, that was fun and the pool is beautiful. The afternoon was spent on the ocean...in a boat! I was just telling someone how much I missed Minnesota because I missed being out on the lake, skiing, tubing and enjoying the sun...in a boat. Bethany’s friend Chris owns a boat and has it in a slip in Mission Bay. We headed out into open ocean and had a blast just chillin, enjoying the sun. I even jumped in. The water was 62, and without a wetsuit it was refreshing. Looking forward to a sweet summer, tubing and waterskiing in the bay. (My back needs to get better immediately.) After the boating expedition we went to Stephen B’s house for some Lobster…that Chris caught! Matched with sweet potatoes, salad, and some interesting pistachio pudding, dinner was a hit. 7 weeks until San Diego International. :) Yeah I got in…through a secret backdoor. Look for me volunteering at the timing chip booth at the expo.

WiLdFloWEr!

Tired from a long weekend in northern California. Started with a 4:24am meeting of carpoolers. Didn't make it out of San Diego till 5:30ish. On the road...took the 101 up north (beautiful...in between naps). Made it to the campground around noon...yes it was raining. Lovely. Hung out, went to the expo to pick up our race packets and then Stephen B and I met Nikee for a quick relaxing swim on the course. It was a lake (yeah!) but it was nasty (no!). It was weird to open my mouth and not taste salt...never thought it'd be that way, growing up in the lakes of Minnesota. But yeah, I'm kind of an ocean snob now. And I wasn't liking this water situation. And and and, that whole "more buoyant in the ocean" debate that I thought was crap...I now believe. Wetsuit and all, I felt lower in the water. This shouldn't be an issue, but with my lower back annoyances I was not okay with sighting and placing that extra stress on my back. Flipped over for a couple hundred yards of backstroke to loosen up and exited the water so we could head up for dinner. Friday night we hung out in the camper drinking with Flo...what an awesome dude. Taught me some German drinking techniques (don't drink a Heff out of the bottle) and we had our "that's what she said" laughs.

Flo making some magic.Teaching me the ways of the stein.

Bunk mates! Holy coffin. Me, Flo, and Stephenteam potato chips (cami, stephen b, and me)

Saturday was race day. Had a pretty relaxed morning as the relay wave was the last to start at 9:30am. Made our way down to the lake. Before I knew it the horn went off and wow so did everyone else. It was a mad dash to the first turn about 300 yards out. Full on sprint...bashing, pulling, beating, thrashing...people were doing everything they could to get that hole shot. Holy crap more like it! I lost my timing chip twice due to people pulling my leg backwards. I was frustrated and tired the entire swim. I wasn't in my own pace for longer than 400 yards and then we started passing the previous waves (the purple cap old woman wave...I know I should be nice...that'll be me someday.) Somehow finished, still feeling like crap, and began the run up the hill to the transition to tag Cami. 27:50. Bummer...that means Superfrog wasn't the correct distance. After my swim Stephen B and I headed back up to camp to chill, take a shower, and eat. We headed back down so Stephen could head out on the run. Cami came in as expected and S was out. I then found my roommate, Katrina, and cheered with her until Chris finished. Crashed his bike and flew over the handlebars into a ditch...crazy story.

Chris and Katrina after the race.

Saturday night the tri club had an amazing meal prepared as we all hung out by the fire. A pretty relaxed night actually. Sunday we awoke and started with the cheering squad on Lynch hill. Wow, really glad I didn't sign up for the olympic race. This hill was almost tidepool-esk. Yes, we saw some walkers. Flo and Jesse made this day so much fun. Sunday night we headed back to San Diego.

Flo opening my bottle with his teeth...no joke.

Flo and Jesse crashed the course, crossing the finish line

All in all a pretty sweet weekend. Thanks to Nikee and James for letting me stay in the tiki palace. :) Next year I'd love to do it all over again...but I'll hopefully be an Ironman in St. George, Utah.