Sad Anniversary/Happy Anniversary

Tuesday was the one year anniversary of my Mom's death. It sucks not having a Mom. Physically, she's gone, but all I have to do is look around and she is everywhere. She gave me the freedom to be my crazy, driven, creative self. She understood me even as others couldn't figure me out. She instilled in me a desire to always be creating. She wrote me this poem a few weeks after I finished Ironman Hawaii and had a birthday the same month:

Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

Have the greatest birthday!

You finished the race

With a smiling face

What more can we proud parents say?

We tracked you along the way

and we're so happy to say

That you did so well

and so what the hell

Celebrate for the whole day!

I have a number of things in my house that Mom made--some ceramics, some crewel work and a paper cutting that's framed in one of my bathrooms. I also have a bunch of phlox in my flower beds from her--curiously enough, they seem to have taken over, but how can you treat a plant that self sows so easily and rewards you with sweet smelling pink blossoms year after year as a weed?

I got my love of gardening from my Mom, but she thinks I got it from her Mom. Well, both, actually. Grandma (I never really knew my Dad's Mom, as she passed when I was only 4) could grow anything, and I still remember every time I went over there in the summer, I would quiz her about what each plant was and how to make it grow well. I didn't really start gardening until I met my ex-husband, Ken, and we rented a house that had a weeded-over vegetable garden, that we decided to till and plant vegetables, mostly. But then a neighbor gave me a bunch of zinnia seeds, and my penchant for flowers took off. When Ken and I bought our own house (the one I still live in), it had a few small flower beds, which we immediately expanded, and since my divorce, I probably tripled the amount of flower bed space all by myself.

I've given my plants to other people as well. I always say, "Show up with a shovel and you can take 1/2 of anything you can dig up!" I get to look out of my "office" window into my back yard and watch birds, squirrels, rabbits and bugs doing their thing. Occasionally, I have to go chase a rabbit away from munching my plants or a woodpecker from pecking on my house!

This summer, we get our crop of 17-year periodical cicadas! Turns out I was born in a year when they hatched (1956), so this will be my 4th time to experience them! I bet my Mom was none too happy being pregnant with me during a summer when these things were swarming all over the place. I don't really remember my first 2 times, but I definitely remember the last time they were here. It sounded like being on the runway at O'Hare airport, it was so deafening loud.

But what I'm really looking forward to is running and biking while they're here. If you think you have bugs around you while biking, you should come here in June! These things will be slamming into us people doing our thing outside! Since I didn't run or bike 17 years ago, this should be really entertaining. I am sure everyone will be complaining. Already the newspapers have an article about the bugs almost daily. Some women are freaking out that planned their outdoor weddings while they are here. I think this time I will actually eat one of them, since they are supposed to be quite healthy and tasty. I mean, come on, free food falling from the sky! How often does that happen?

My Mom only had four sightings of the 17-year cicadas in her lifetime. This is my fourth time, and I hope to have at least 2 more!

Mango Tuesday

I love mangoes, among other fruit. Today I got such a smile on my face while lining up my fruit selection for today: 2 mangoes, a banana and an avocado (avocado yet to be eaten). Good stuff! When I eat mangoes, I cut the skin off thickly, then cut the flesh into a bowl, and then suck on the hard pit thing (or whatever it is) over the sink to get all that great juice. Then I eat the flesh off the skin (the same way you'd eat artichoke leaves, which if you have never done, you are missing another real treat), toss the skin, and finally use a fork to eat the remaining flesh in the bowl.

I swear I can eat 3-4 mangoes at a pop, at least normal sized ones. I have had mangoes while in Hawaii that were monstrous, and the same with avocados. I once bought an avocado in Kona that must have weighed 5 lbs.! It was delicious, too. God, I miss the fruit stand in Kona, and all the different flavors of bananas--apple, pear, strawberry and even ice cream flavors. Dragon fruit, fresh lychee (in season), papaya, lilikoi (passion fruit), guava and even the ubiquitous pineapple.

Today's mangoes were so ripe and luscious I almost ate the skin! But I figured I was getting plenty o' fiber without it, so I only ate a tiny bit of it just to prove to myself that it would taste good on a piece of fruit so ripe.

Our basic Chiquita bananas taste better after eating a mango, too. Writing about this makes me want to make one of my (in)famous Hawaiian smoothies--throw fruit (whatever you have, including some frozen strawberries) into a blender, add 1 can Cream of Coconut, maybe 1/2 can of guava or lilikoi juice, about 1/4 to 1/2 bottle of rum (cheap is fine--it's all sugar, anyway), a bit of ice, blend until slushy, and then try not to drink the entire blender full by yourself! Or, as in my pre-endurance sports days of going to Hawaii just to spend time at a bunch of different beaches laying around and snorkeling, drink until you fall pleasantly asleep!

The weather was still nice today, so I rode LGL outside again. Wednesday through Friday are supposed to be cool and rainy, and that's fine by me--I have no issues with treadmill running, but I am officially on a trainer strike!

For some reason, I chose mango Gatorade to take with me. About :45 minutes into the ride, I was feeling hungry (despite the 2 mangoes and a banana and 1/2 bottle of Coke and my usual 250 calorie breakfast), and remembered I had Clif Shot with me. What flavor? Mango, of course! I laughed to myself that I was on some sort of mango binge, but you know what? I rode like a freaking maniac today!

So next time you want to put some zing into your riding, chow down on some mangoes about 2 hours before you ride (follow my eating instructions above), chug about 12 oz. of Coke right before you leave, and have at it! You won't see THAT in any of your sports nutrition books!

WeeklyWorkout Totals 04/16/2007-04/22/2007 and GIDDY UP!

GREAT week, AWESOME week! I am training, and feeling pretty good considering. I am always surprised every season when I kick it in, and while I do get tired like everyone else, it isn't as big of a deal as I think it will be.

Today I rode with a friend, Dan (who doesn't read my blog), and while I am not quite as fast as him, for the most part I can keep up, and he kept me motivated to push it the entire ride. I ended up riding at IF (intensity factor) of .85, meaning I averaged 85% of threshold power for the entire ride. That's like 1/2 Ironman wattage. So cool, for my first "big" ride out. We had wind, plenty of wind, heat, and some hills, although without the wind they would have been nothing. I totally enjoyed the way LGL handles in the wind--head, cross, you name it. I am still strong riding into the wind, even though this was my first time out this year! I had a blast passing lots of triathletes, who couldn't tell I was one of them since I was riding in "stealth" mode. At one point there was an entire pack of Italian bikes (a Pinarello, a few Colnagos, a Serotta and something else that escapes me), but unfortunately, we couldn't keep pace with them. Give me a few more weeks of solid saddle time, and that will surely change!

I am measuring my wattage based on my FTP from the end of last summer, 186. Even though I thought it had gone done to maybe 170 this winter, I think it's almost back, because 85% is a solid ride for first time out. We shall see.

I also met someone in person today that knows Dan that also knows me, just from reading my blog. That was pretty neat. His name is Fred, and he knows Lora. Apparently, Lora told Fred to read my blog. At one point, Fred emailed me about all my pink stuff, and I thought he was a perv (and I told him so today), but turns out he's just a regular guy. By the way, he had nothing but nice things to say about Lora, as did I!

The ride we did is called the Easter Ride, and they have egg salad sandwiches afterwards. YUM! I LOVE eggs. Earlier this week, I made some egg salad for myself and it was great. I still am a big protein craver/eater--I think it has to do with my Croatian heritage. I don't eat much pork (my pork weakness boils down to Italian prosciutto), really not much beef, either (but when I do it's usually a Porterhouse), but lots of chicken, turkey and fish.

As I was waiting in line to pay up for the ride, we heard that a few miles were being cut out of the farthest distance. The guy in front of me turns to me and says, "So you can ride 50 miles twice." I asked him sweetly (at least I thought so) what made him think I wanted to ride 100 miles today, and he said, "Because you are here early, and the early birds usually want to ride a lot." I told him I didn't really need to ride 100 miles today, then asked if he was going to do so. He proceeded to tell me about what he did the day before, and I surmised he was probably a triathlete, so I asked him what he was training for. "Ironman," he said. What a dork. The correct answer is either a) an Ironman or b) Ironman something (fill in the locale). The way he said it was such that I am sure he hoped to impress the hell out of me, so then I asked him, "Which Ironman?" Then he said, "Wisconsin." I said, "Great!" At one point he did manage to ask me if I had ever done "any triathlons," and I said, "A few."

Now hear me out on this. I respect anyone and everyone who trains for and competes in Ironman. But here's a little revelation: it is not the biggest deal in the whole wide world. I suppose I used to think it was, too, but it's not, and nowadays I'd rather cyclists assume I'm a biker, runners assume I'm a runner, and swimmers assume I'm a (not too great!) swimmer. There are those clever individuals who can tell from my physique that I am probably a triathlete, and probably a long-course one, at that. I always award such people extra points.

I do enjoy it when I meet a new person who says enthusiastically, "I'm training for my first Ironman!!!" That's cool. Be excited, be bursting at the seams wanting to show everyone how great you feel. But don't be, "Oh...I'm training for IRONMAN," like I should worship the ground you stand upon. Not cool. If you're like me and have done a few Ironman races, be the self-assured voice of calm, the voice of experience, ready to help anyone who needs it, but let them talk about their concerns. Listening can be so much fun!

There were these two women that were maybe going to ride with Dan and I, but man, were they helpless or what? Both had just gotten new tri bikes, and apparently, they didn't know how to pump the tires??? I said to one of them, "You mean you don't pump your tires before you put your bike in the car and drive to where you're riding?" I suppose it was a bitchy thing to say, but if someone tells me we are riding at 7:30, then I am READY at 7:30, and it was past that. So then we go to the tech area so these two can get their tires pumped, and they are worried because I tell the dude to go to 120, and the one chic is like, "I don't like them that hard it's not comfortable to ride." WTF??? This girl is not going to like her Ironman race, I can tell you that much. Finally, I grew impatient, and Dan whispered to me that they weren't very fast anyway, so we politely told them we were taking off. PHEW!

Before I started riding today, and I am not kidding about this, there were a few men that looked at my bike like it was a piece of ass! I guess you don't see too many women riding Pinarellos, at least I have never seen one. Then at the last aid station, a few men became enchanted with LGL and even took pictures of her (and me)! I am not sure whether they were "official" photogs for the ride or what, but they were very nice gentlemen, and I was happy to chat with them.

We shall see how I recover from my first big training week of 2007 tomorrow, but truthfully, I don't feel too badly at all. I think what helps is for me to stay on top of my recovery eating. Like last night, I passed out watching TV at 8:00PM, then I woke up at about 8:40 and ate a sandwich and went back to sleep. This morning I ate a Power Bar and about 350 calories of Glycoload, and I think I had enough calories while riding, but I still put a bunch in afterwards, and in the next hour I will be attacking a roast chicken and some green beans. I should have saved a few cannoli from yesterday, but I really don't need to eat that stuff, now do I? However, place your bets now, I bet I will be on the Food Channel (my term for needing to eat rather continuously from failing to replace all calories burned in preceding days) tomorrow, which probably means breakfast, swim, breakfast again, run, eat, snack, lift, snack, dinner, snack, bed (don't worry there is also WORK in there).

Here are the happy totals for the week. Notice for once, SOLID swimming! This is Ironman training, except for the bike volume, he he!


Weekly Totals 04/16/2007-04/22/2007
Swim: 10100 yards (5.73 miles) in 3.57 hours; 20% of weekly workout time; approx. 1249 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 128.92 miles in 7.62 hours; 43% of weekly workout time; approx. 3760 calories burned
Run: Approx. 34.91 miles in 5.15 hours; 29% of weekly workout time; approx. 2336 calories burned
Strength: 1.57 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 393 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 169.56 miles in 17.91 hours; approx. 7738 calories burned
Sleep: 8.36 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.43 hours. Massage: 0 hours