I Ching Guidance

Every now and then, I consult the I Ching in the way some people look to astrology; only whereas astrology is designed to be predictive, the I Ching is used to help you look inward at your current situation. I use an online divination tool rather than tossing coins or reeds (as is called for if you do it yourself). I won't say what my question was today, but it was interesting that one of the results was Qian, or Ch'ien (English pronunciation), which has never come to me before. I have reprinted the online text for it at the end of this post, but here is part of Confucius' commentary from the I Ching that I own by Alfred Huang:

Dragon lying low, do not use.
Your energy is lying deeply low.

Dragon arising in the field.
All under Heaven is illuminated.

The superior person, all day long initiating, initiating.
He is acting, proceeding in harmony with good timing.

Probably leaping from an abyss.
The Tao of Qian is transforming.

Dragon flying in the sky.
Heavenly virtue is being bestowed on this position.

Haughty dragon, there is regret.
Completion and ending correspond with timing.

When all firms change to yielding,
The model of Heaven is perceived.

I always find truth and inspiration in the I Ching. Today it tells me I am on the right path! If you are interested in a brief introduction to the I Ching, go here.

1.   Ch'ien - The Creative

      -----
      -----     above     Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
      -----
      -----
      -----     below     Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
      -----

 The Judgement

      The Creative works sublime success,
      Furthering through perseverance.

 The Image

      The movement of heaven is full of power.
      Thus the superior man makes himself strong and
      untiring.

 The Lines

      Nine at the beginning means:
      Hidden dragon. Do not act.

      Nine in the second place means:
      Dragon appearing in the field.
      It furthers one to see the great man.

      Nine in the third place means:
      All day long the superior man is creatively active.
      At nightfall his mind is still beset with cares.
      Danger. No blame.

      Nine in the fourth place means:
      Wavering flight over the depths.
      No blame.

 ()   Nine in the fifth place means:
      Flying dragon in the heavens.
      It furthers one to see the great man.

      Nine at the top means:
      Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.

      When all the lines are nines, it means:
      There appears a flight of dragons without heads.
      Good fortune.

Weekly Workout Totals 12/22/2008-12/28/2008, Miscellaneous Reflections and Recipe for Margarita Pie

It was a good week! We had crazy weather--snow, sleet, rain and ice for precipitation--and the temperatures ranged from the 60's down to about -15. Throw Christmas, a sprint and a 1/2 Ironman in there, and the entire week became something so unique that I will remember it for a long time! It is interesting to note that this is my second Christmas without my parents, and while I can fondly remember many with them, I am sure they'd be happy to know how much I enjoyed this one.

I received many special gifts this year, that I suppose, signify that I have friends and family that know who I really am:

• A fur zebra stripes on one side and black velvet on the other, blanket. I've already been cuddled up under it several times to read or just relax.
• The book Walden Two by B.F. Skinner. I will begin reading it in the new year to reconnect with my intellectual self.
• The book Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is a great addition to my small collection of books that remind me of my mission. Just reading the first paragraph has set the stage for my day: Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others. That is what I intend to do today.
  
• Beautiful leaded-crystal candelsticks. In lighting candles on them, I'm reminded of my inner fire and the beautiful glow that it can cast on others.
• A sparkly, pink, leopard-print camisole. How my niece found animal print that is also sparkly and pink, I'll never know--but she does know me well!
• A plush monkey that went through an "infusion of love" session with my healing friends who live in Pahrump, Nevada.

I feel like I am surrounded by love and joy and can say that I am at peace with myself. What a way to end this year! I figure this is a good time to note that for 2008, I did the most triathlons ever in a calendar year--5 sprints, 7 Olympics, 4 Half Ironmans and 2 Ironmans! That's a whole lot of athletic fun, and I treasure the ones I did solo and also the ones I did in the company of friends.

I've been reading posts in some forums written by people who did an Ironman this past year who, in looking back, feel like they sacrificed too much to get to that starting line. While I don't have kids, I think I manage to squeeze in a lot of living with the time I have, and I think that if that is how someone feels about Ironman, I certainly honor it--but on another level, I am thinking if that's how you feel then you are doing it wrong! Some of their feelings may be driven by the fact that it's their first Ironman--similar, I suppose, to having a first child feeling overwhelming but the second and subsequent seem easier. For most people, the first time you train for an Ironman, it beats the absolute shit out of your body, and if that's all you remember, then sure, you might not want to do it again. But if you look at your life and figure out all the ways you can simplify it so that you can pursue that passion, if it in fact is a passion for you, then the act of training becomes an expression of pure joy. I know it is for me! Long distance endurance training and racing is not for everyone, for sure, and we all need to make the right choices for our life situations. While there are certainly times when I'm training that it feels like work, 95% of the time I just feel happy that I am able to do it, and know that the mental focus required to keep doing it carries over into everything else I do in life. But I also tend to laugh my ass off at myself, triathlon in general, and how serious I sometimes I think I am. But hey, in the final analysis, all I care about is that I don't totally suck! And my personal expression of the complete and utter joy I get from training and racing is by doing NothingMans! If all the organized races were to be cancelled, I would still be out there training and doing my own thing, occasionally roping in some other athlete who "gets" me and gets this stuff.

I am scheming, in fact, to "organize" an event for 2010 that will be a 4-day stage NothingMan, with a sprint on day 1, an Olympic on day 2, a Half Ironman on day 3, and an Ironman on Day 4. That seems like it would be an accomplishment, no? I'm thinking of doing it in June, to allow for another extreme event in August or September. While there is no shortage of organized endurance events, I kinda like the idea of inventing one on my own. We shall see...

Oh yeah, I was supposed to post totals and a recipe. So here they are!

Weekly Workout Totals	12/22/2008-12/28/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by freakish winter weather in Chicago. We had it all--rain, sleet, snow, ice!
Swim:	8200 yards (4.65 miles) in 2.78 hours; 21% of weekly workout time; approx. 975 calories burned Canadian: 7498.08 meters
Bike:	Approx. 94.79 miles in 4.88 hours; 38% of weekly workout time; approx. 2417 calories burned; Total TSS=256 Canadian: 152.55 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 25.26 miles in 3.83 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 1744 calories burned Canadian: 40.65 kilometers
Strength:	1.45 hours; 11% of weekly workout time; approx. 363 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 124.7 miles in 12.94 hours; approx. 5499 calories burned Canadian: 0 kilometers
Sleep:	7.39 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.12 hours. Massage: 0 hours

Margarita Pie

From The Manhattan Chili Co. Southwest American Cookbook

Serves 8 (more like 10-12, if you ask me)

This makes a very tart, lemon-meringue type pie, but does not get baked. You’ll have a lot of egg whites left over which you can use in an egg white omelet or make some meringue cookies.

Do not serve this to children—there is a kick from the alcohol, and some adults (wimps) may not even like it!

Crust

1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup granulated sugar

4 TBSP. unsalted butter, melted

In a small bowl toss together the crumbs, sugar and butter until evenly combined. Pat evenly and firmly into a 10-inch pie pan and refrigerate.

Note: If I remember correctly the last time I made this in a single pie plate, there was a lot of extra filling. So I would suggest you use a deep-dish pie plate.

Or, you can be lazy like me and just buy a pre-made graham cracker pie crust, or even better, get those baby individual ones. The filling is enough for 15 individual pies.

Or, you can skip the crust altogether and just pour the cooked filling into unbuttered cups or bowls—perhaps margarita glasses would look nice with a slice of lime before serving!

Filling

7 large eggs

8 large egg yolks

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 1/3 cups fresh lime juice (about 9 limes)

Note: Do NOT use bottled lime juice. It will ruin this!

Finely grated zest of 1 lime

8 TBSP. butter (salted is fine), cut into small pieces

½ cup tequila (use something good, and a gold tequila is best)

1/3 cup Cointreau (I used Grand Marnier and really liked it)

Since you will be making a fast-setting custard, it’s best to have all your ingredients ready to go at room temperature before you begin, as it’s important to combine things at just the right time, otherwise you can end up with runny custard!

In a heavy-bottomed, noncorrosive saucepan, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. Gradually whisk in the sugar, lime juice and zest.

Set over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to heavily coat the back of a spoon. This happens rather suddenly, after about 9 minutes of cooking. Do like I do—set a timer for 11 minutes, and keep stirring and watching the timer. Depending on atmospheric conditions, it may set up after 9, 10 or 11 minutes and the amount of heat you are applying.

Remove from the heat immediately and stir in the butter all at once. Whisk until the butter is incorporated. Whisk in the tequila and Cointreau (or Grand Marnier) and pour immediately into the prepared crust. If you have more than enough to fill your crusts, simply pour the extra into bowls or cups or whatever. They don’t need to be buttered first, as this is good as a thick pudding!

Chill until set before covering loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight before cutting.

Serve with whipped cream—sweetened or not. Raspberries would be good on top, too.

ZebraMan 1/2 Ironman Race Report

Pics (lots of them!) are here.

I did the swim and the bike with a friend who had to do something else and so I did the run by myself.

We headed to my Y to swim. Most of the ice on driveways and roads had melted, as the temperatures had risen to 50 overnight, and it was raining. The weather forecast called for rain all day, and if it weren't for the rain, we probably could have biked and run outdoors! Well, we could have anyway, but biking would not have been safe, and I'd done enough running in the rain for the year already!

As we walked into the Y, I thought I smelled gas, but it could have been anything. When we got on deck, I took one pic of the lane we were going to swim in, and then I handed my camera to the lifeguard and asked him to snap a few while we were swimming. He exceeded expectations, and was snapping away while we swam. It was fun to see the flash of the camera every now and then, and he must have had fun taking the pics. I've never seen myself swim in so many shots before, and while I think I still suck at it, there are a few things I am doing right. We started swimming at 6:00AM on the nose.

I had decided we would swim 2200 yards, but it wasn't until this morning that I realized that was a little further than 1.2 miles. No worries! We both made a few quick stops en route, and the water was nice and cool, and we had just finished when the lifeguard blew the whistle. I know that Masters doesn't begin until 8:00AM, so I wondered why the whistle had been blown. Well, they told everyone that we had to get out because there was a gas leak in the building! I had been correct in smelling gas when we first got in. But, it wasn't so bad that you couldn't take your shower and stuff.

Swim time: :40

We changed into our biking clothes and headed back to my house to bike. Of course, it was still raining like crazy. I had some music queued up in the CD player, but we decided to start with watching Ironman Hawaii 2008. Once again, I found it difficult to pay attention to the TV, and we mostly ended up talking. When that was finished, we talked about watching either Spinal Tap or Monty Python, and we decided to go with the Monty Python. We watched about 1/2 hour that was in German with English subtitles, but it was still hilarious. My friend then left (I decided he could call it quits at 2:40 clock time because he's so fast), and then I finished up my ride to 56 miles, since I have my speed/cadence pickup on my rear wheel.

My bike time: 2:47

I took my sweet time transitioning to the run because I wanted to get some towels against the wall where I figured I'd get some seepage from all the snow melt and rain (it ended up not being too bad), and I dumped all the pics from the pool onto my laptop, changed clothes and decided what I wanted to drink. I think once I was off the bike that it took about :25 before I was firmly ensconced on a treadmill at the Y, after calling to be sure it was open. As it turned out, there wasn't a gas leak--they said it was "something outside."

On the way in, I ran into a friend who asked me what I was up to today, and I told him a 1/2 Ironman. He asked me what I was training for, and I should have said THIS! But I said I just had some sprint races coming up and that I usually try and do a 1/2 Ironman on my own by Thanksgiving, but that I was behind schedule for a few reasons. He rolled his eyes at me and told me I am crazy, but we both already knew that!

I got lucky in that I got the rightmost treadmill which is near to one of the entrances to the indoor track and also the ramp down to the free weight area, since that is one of the coolest areas in the cardio area, and also I had a personal ceiling fan! I was already pretty hot from biking, and it didn't take very long for me to become extremely disgusting, as I was sweating from every single pore in my body, and also my eyes! I had decided to try and run the same pace as I had a week ago for my 2-hour long run, which would be good if I could maintain it for a 1/2 Ironman. I was happy that my iliopsoas was feeling pretty good, and I rarely needed to stop and stretch it.

Another runner I know came to chat with me right about at 1 hour in. I had told him a week ago that I was doing a 1/2 Ironman, and he asked me again what the distances are. I told him, and then he was like, wait, what have you done already again? Sometimes it takes a few times of telling someone before it all sinks in. So I said slowly that I'd already swum 1.2 miles and biked 56 miles. And he asked again how much running, and I said a half marathon! I love the look on someone's face when they really realize just how far you are talking about, and then especially when you are just doing it on your own, and indoors to boot!

I also saw another runner that I'd seen last week towards the end of my long run who is doing Goofy Challenge. I asked him how many miles he'd done today, and he said 17. He is psycho, as he did it all on the indoor track, which is 12 laps to the mile! I said to him that if it made him feel any better that I was doing a 1/2 Ironman, and he said no, it didn't make him feel better! Truth be told, I'd rather do a 1/2 Ironman than a 17-mile run any day!

The first 7 miles of running felt great, and it wasn't until I was about 1:30 in that my legs were like what the fuck? But I pressed on, knowing that I didn't have much longer to go. When I had one mile to go, I wiped down the treadmill and headed to the track. Last week, when I did the same thing at the end of my long run, my legs were all peppy and snappy. Not so much today! But I still managed to hold pace, and it was nice to be in the cool part of the gym. I set up my camera to snap a few finishing photos, and then headed off to the showers.

My run time: 1:58

Total moving time: 5:25, not bad!

I thought I'd stretch a bit in the sauna, but my core temperature was predictably up, so I couldn't stand it in there and just got dressed and headed home. It was still raining. My preemptive strike against seepage had turned out to be spot on, and I really didn't get very much at all. I drank some Endurox and ate half a prosciutto sandwich and got ready to go to my brother's house for Christmas dinner.

I checked the weather forecast, and they had put out a tornado watch until 7:00PM, and just as I was about to leave, the sky opened up and a deluge came down. But I knew it wouldn't last very long, so I waited for it to ease up, and then I headed to my brother's. I didn't drive through the lake on my street as I had no idea how deep it was. I knew a route there that would avoid low lying areas, but man was there a ton of water everywhere! Almost all the snow (let's call it 2 feet or so) had melted, and it had already rained a couple of inches, so it was truly water, water everywhere!

About a block after I turned onto my brother's street, there was water over the road, and I had no choice but to go through it. My car made a nice wave, and then the battery light promptly went on and I could feel the power steering start to go, but I managed to make it into Mike's driveway. I shut everything down and then restarted the engine to let it run a bit and all was fine. Mike had a lake in his backyard, and he joked that we could have done our swim in it!

I had a really nice family dinner and lots of talking and we exchanged gifts and I ate like a pig, and I just had this nice inner satisfaction that I'd done a 1/2 Ironman. I did need to periodically lie down as I was pretty tired, but punch with vodka, a few beers, and a glass of wine or two helped with the pain management!

I didn't enjoy my own margarita pie until I got back home, since I needed a little time to digest the large meal I'd eaten, but it was really, really good, and I ate two of those little suckers with whipped cream on top!

I slept the sleep of the really sleepy, and this morning I feel a good tired. The rain is gone, my family room is nearly dry, I do not have to workout at all today (but I may swim--er--flop around), I do not have any house guests, I do not have to do any form of shopping, my house is clean--I get to just enjoy a lazy Sunday all by myself! I love hanging out with my friends and family, but I need some alone time, too, and this day is well-deserved! I had one of the best days ever yesterday from the moment I woke up to falling asleep. Friends, family, food, triathlon, presents, laughter--what could be better?

Wake the Fuck Up and do a 1/2 Ironman!

OK, I'm just curious who all else is doing a self-supported 1/2 Ironman today??? Nobody??? Robin thought I may have done too much yesterday, but I am training for Triple T and I am Crackhead, so no worries. I actually skipped the spinning yesterday because I just ran out of time--I needed to make these little margarita pies for this afternoon's family gathering, do laundry, wash the dishes, acquire provisions, try and get the ice off my driveway near the front door, and oh I did do a sprint tri and lifted for 1/2 hour. In the big scheme of things, a :30 spin just wasn't necessary.

Here are the margarita pies/tarts:
The filling is awesome! If anyone wants the recipe, leave a comment, and when I get around to it I'll post it here. Trust me, it tastes like a margarita, and there's a good amount of tequila and Grand Marnier (recipe called for Cointreau; the Grand Marnier tastes better, I think) in there. I got to lick the pan that I made the custard in, and yum, yum, yum!

Just as if I were doing a regular race, I woke up several times during the night feeling a bit excited, knowing I was doing a race today. As soon as I got up and turned on the light, I looked at my toenails and just cracked a huge smile. How can you not smile when your toes are zebra striped? I'm going to drink Ultrafuel in about an hour just so I'm fully carbed up. LGL is on the trainer (as she is all winter long), and I just need to load up some CD's for the bike ride, pack my swim/bike and run bags, do a little stretching and I'm all set to go. I don't feel any worse for the wear considering what I did yesterday, and why should I? The more you do this stuff, the more your body remembers what you've done before, and even if you know it might suck, it's not like there are any concerns about being able to do it.

What is it about these NothingMan's that the weather is always crappy? In 2007, for my first full NothingMan, it was cold as shit in Wisconsin. For this year's full NothingMan, it was raining almost the entire time. This past spring there were a few NothingMan's that I did where it was also raining. And guess what? Today it's going to be raining a lot all day. Since the ground is frozen, there are warnings out for flooding, and I am just hoping I don't get any water in my house. But, the show must go on, and I'll get things done no matter what happens today, and then I'll go and feast with my family who thinks I always eat like a pig since I've usually worked out at least 3 hours, and then I'm going to relax and try to sleep in tomorrow.

I am starting the swim between 6:00 and 6:15AM CST, and should be back home on the bike starting around 7:30, and back at the Y on the treadmill from 11-1. If you have my cell #, feel free to shoot me a txt msg. of encouragement. HTFU is always welcome!

Check back later for pics...not sure I'll have a race report until tomorrow, but you never know!

Here's today's race clothes (on black granite!):

Pre-race nutrition (no it's not beer--it's Ultrafuel):

Today's music selection for the bike:

Sprint Zebraman Race Report

Pics are here.

I hadn't planned on doing a sprint the day before the 1/2 Ironman that I'm doing tomorrow, but early this week I just figured, hey, I've done this before, why not put a sprint the day before? Besides, I am not worried about what pace I do tomorrow.

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't sure whether I was going to try and push it or not. My driveway, the roads and the YMCA parking lot were total ice when I left. When I got out of my car at the Y, I walked maybe 12 feet, slipped and fell. Good thing I had practiced falling yesterday while out skiing, so I did a nice tuck position into the snow! I laughed, got up gingerly (you'd need crampons to walk on the ice normally), got to the salted part of the sidewalk, and was glad that I'd be indoors for a little over an hour.

Since I didn't have anyone to time me and I didn't feel like looking at a clock, I decided the swim would just be 500 yds. I sucked, even though I was trying to push it a little. I didn't warm up or anything--just got in and swam. I've got 4 weeks to put a little pep in my arms. At least the water was nice and cool, which means it should be cool tomorrow morning for the 1/2 Ironman.

I tried to limit my T1 time to 10 minutes, since that is what they give you for the indoor tris. I went a little over because of the clothing I was wearing--I don't normally wear a long top (I just leave my swimsuit top on) or tights for the actual races. No worries, though.

I adjusted the Precor saddle height, hopped on, and right away I could feel my quads not too happy, but mainly because of my iliopsoas, which are a little jazzed from yesterday's weight lifting and also the skiing adventure. No worries--it doesn't matter how I do today. I actually did do some intervals, just to get used to this fucking bike again, since I'll be riding them at least once a week for the next 8 weeks. My plan is to do one bike workout per week on it, because they are not at all geared like a regular bike. Plus it gets my ass used to the wide saddle and not having a fan on me. I sucked on the bike, but not as badly as I thought I would. 4 weeks is plenty enough time until the real races start for me to step up the intensity in my bike workouts, which I've only recently added intensity to in the last 2 weeks.

Just like in the actual races, I gave myself 5 minutes before I began running on the indoor track. A friend of mine, Al, who lives just down the street from me, walked in and we chatted, and I told him what I was up to. He doesn't even flinch when I tell him about my exploits because he knows I'm a little nuts. He did look a bit wide-eyed at seeing me all decked out in zebra stripes!

I tried to take out the run fairly slow, but failed ;) It was nice and cool in the track/basketball court area, and I had some spectators in the form of a bunch of guys playing hoops. I'm guessing it looked a little funny seeing someone running laps wearing all zebra stripes. I felt on the verge of puking the entire time, which meant I was running the correct pace. I ended up running about my 5K pace, which was great, especially since I haven't been too impressed with my running lately! But I guess a bit of a volume spike has helped.

So all in all, I think I'm going to be well-prepared for the indoor triathlon series that begins in 4 weeks. I'm sure my first race will suck, but I typically improve each race, and I always know so many people there that it's always fun to cheer others and be cheered on by them! If nothing else, it will be tons of fun! Plus I have a friend who is doing all 4 races and I will be running about 1:30 after each one (OUCH!), and then we'll go get some foods and relax the rest of the day. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday in winter!

I still need to finish my strength workout today, which should take about 25 minutes, and I may spin on the bike for :30 since I bagged it yesterday, and then I need to get psyched for the 1/2 Zebraman tomorrow!

Woo hoo!!!! I am in zebra heaven!

Beginning of ZebraMan Weekend

But first a little food porn:
I was invited to my friend Matt's for dinner yesterday, as his wife was out of town with family, and Matt and I haven't seen one another since the infamous spring ride where he was taking pics of me peeing. Matt had cooked for his family who had been by earlier in the day, and he always makes tons of excellent food, so there was plenty leftover for me. That's one of his dogs, Micky, on the chair. I couldn't get her to look at me--she was too interested in Matt! I started with bruschetta, some olives and then the pasta was with a shrimp and cream sauce. Of course, TONS O' GARLIC!!! The food was great, and we had some Chianti that was awesome, too. We went downstairs into Matt's newly finished basement (it's like an Italian den of iniquity--travertine floor, beautiful woodwork) and continued talking non-stop, and then Matt showed me pictures from his most recent trip to Italy (Tuscany, to be specific). I swear I am half Italian! Anyway, the food and company was awesome, but I made it an early evening since I was pretty tired from lifting for an hour, skiing for about 1/2 hour, and then I tried to bike but gave up.

This morning I'm going to do a sprint ZebraMan, just because, why well not? Here are my race clothes (plus one additional item that I will wear when finished):


I did my toes up special for this weekend, too:

And finally, this evening, I will sleep in my brand new pirate sheets:

Did you know that pirates go with most any decor? ;) I do need to make a new duvet cover, and I'm thinking pirates on one side and zebra on the other...I am such a cliche!

Don't worry--there will be pics of me racing...check back later for sprint results, and have a great Friday!

Going Nordic

I got some new gear yesterday! I was invited to go and ski a nearby trail yesterday, but I didn't because I want a chance to go out on my own and just get used to things. I didn't need to get my ass kicked during my test drive!

We are not supposed to get any new snow today and the temps will be relatively mild in the 20's (eventually--it's only 7 right now). Then it's supposed to rain (ick) for a few days, so my next chance to ski won't be until next week sometime.

I haven't skiied in years, and I threw out my old skis as part of the remodeling/crawl space purge. I bought the new skis at REI, and I should not be allowed in that store! But I don't really need any triathlon gear, so it was a nice change of pace to buy something different. But, I am still psyched for ZebraMan, and I'm working on my zebra striped toenails today once I finish lifting, skiing and a short trainer ride, and then I'm off to a friend's for some food and laughs.

Merry Christmas, or should I say God Jul, everyone, and if you've got snow, use it!

Merry Christmas, Bloggies!

OMG!!! A regular picture of me! Thought I'd put my Christmas-y red dress (that I made many years ago--it's snuggly corduroy) and an assortment of jewels on, which I'll be wearing to a Christmas dinner on Saturday. I'm sitting on a gorgeous furry zebra blankie that I got from Cindy! I won't say what her card said, but let's just say it is true, true, true! I put out the only Christmas decorations I have (I gave away my tree and ornaments to my niece, Michelle, last winter) on the bar (which gets destroyed next fall and replaced by glass block with neon lights), and thought it would be nice to do a portrait picture. Yeah, I'm vain and narcissistic, blah, blah, blah, get over it...oops...you already have because you are reading this!



And not to put a damper on the Christmas spirit, but I DO have ZebraMan coming up this Saturday, and I am getting in the mode...I am really looking forward to doing another NothingMan!


Merry Christmas, everyone, and have a safe and happy holiday!

This is What I Turn Into this Saturday

Weekly Workout Totals 12/15/2008-12/21/2008

I had a most excellent week, save for the fact that my back is pissed off at all the biking (surprise!) that I'm doing. Oh, and I'm fucking freezing, as is a lot of the U.S.!

On Friday, I was pretty tired to start the day, partly from training a lot, and partly from enjoying myself Thursday evening (I thought of it as Friday, though), but I still got my 2 workouts done--a swim, which I executed pretty well, and an easy run, which while I did, my legs hurt like mofos the entire time.

Yesterday, I did a 3.5 hour shopping odyssey that included some Christmas shopping as well as (mostly) final buying of stuff for the house as a result of the remodeling. I decided to shop first and then train later, as the forecast called for more snow. I didn't start my workouts until 1:30, since I had to eat lunch and put away a bunch of groceries and assorted other crap, and well, I just didn't get to it until then. But I did this workout on the bike:

WU: 45' @ 65-70%
MS: 2 x (20' @ 80-85%, 10' Easy), then
3 x 6' (5') @ FT; cd 7';
10x30/30, cd remainder

Looks easy on paper, right? Fuck no. But these workouts will get easier. The great thing was that I enjoyed working hard, even though my legs were sore as well as my back. When I finished, I hustled my ass over to the Y to run for :30, and even though my legs hurt, I just made myself run at a decent pace. All good! So I finished up that workout around 5PM, came home, drank some Endurox, ate some food, and felt pretty well cashed. I went upstairs and got in bed around 7:45PM and must have passed out reading something, woke up to a phonecall, ate some Cheetos and went back to sleep.

I got up around 4AM this morning and got to various things, and was ready to head to the Y to run around 7:45, when I went outside and realized it had snowed again, and I needed to clear my driveway (I like a clean driveway). It was so cold and windy, though, that I decided to not use the snowblower, as I would just get snow blasted and frostbite probably. I had to change coats into my ultra low temperature parka and thicker gloves to get the job done.

I ran for 2 hours on the treadmill, and I even managed tempo pace for about :40 total! I was so happy that I felt so good running, especially since I'd ended my Saturday workouts so late in the day. I did need to stop briefly about every 10 minutes to stretch my iliopsoas, which made it look like I was doing the Time Warp dance with my hips thrust out. I saw a guy I haven't seen since last winter who had really toned up and I thought, geez the guy is a hottie now! I ran my last 10' on the indoor track, and ended up telling this guy (Mike) that he is a hottie, and he said I am too, but I wasn't fishing for a compliment. I just get so excited when I see someone transform from overweight and out of shape to total fucking hottie! Mike wasn't particularly fat--he was just a bit overweight, but man, he looks great, and I think people need to hear it even if they are married or whatever! He and his friend, Bill, are doing Goofy Challenge, and they look totally ready.

After the run and chatting with Bill and Mike, I headed to the pool just to swim 1,000 yards easy pull, which felt good, and then I hustled back home because I was starving. But I was also fucking tired, and after eating some crab claws, I got in bed just to stretch the legs out and passed out for about an hour. I am really happy that I am once again able to nap every now and then--in fact, I took THREE NAPS this week! That is like a world record for me.

I did some sewing and cooking and now I am just relaxing before an early turn in since I am still pretty tired. I feel really good as exhausted as I am, and know that I'm totally ready for ZebraMan on Saturday, and am really looking forward to it! I may even do a little sprint the day before just because, why the fuck not? There will be no taper involved.

GO FUCKING HARDCORE AGGRO OR GO HOME!!!

I hope everyone is keeping warm and toasty and is looking forward to Christmas!

Weekly Workout Totals	12/15/2008-12/21/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by fucking Arctic conditions in Chicago!
Swim:	9450 yards (5.36 miles) in 3.45 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 1208 calories burned Canadian: 8641.08 meters
Bike:	Approx. 100.63 miles in 5.75 hours; 36% of weekly workout time; approx. 3027 calories burned; Total TSS=328 Canadian: 161.95 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 34.37 miles in 5.33 hours; 33% of weekly workout time; approx. 2427 calories burned Canadian: 55.31 kilometers
Strength:	1.4 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 350 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 140.36 miles in 15.93 hours; approx. 7012 calories burned Canadian: 1.5 kilometers
Sleep:	7.04 hours avg./night
Stretching:	3.22 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

We are All at Some Level...

Yeah, Fucking POWER!!!

Hit this 1:30 bike workout today dead on:

WU: 15' warmup, 3 x spinups. 3x2' (1') Z3. 3' ez.
MS: 3x5' FT (5'). 10' 88-90%, 5' cd, 10x30/30. CD 5'.

I'm using my FT as measured late last summer, so it hurts a bit. But I'm sitting on FT, and when I did the 30/30's, I went well into VO2 territory...

I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY!!!!!

There's just something about being able to work out really hard that puts a huge smile on my face. And this was after I put the hurt to myself this morning with another almost :45 of strength work. All of the cylinders appear to be firing now, despite my back issues.

Speaking of which, I found the most excellent .PDF file all about the iliopsoas. There is something in there for EVERYONE. I highly recommend you read it, especially there are direct references to triathlon. And I'll put a link on my sidebar, since I think this is so important.

A Few Thoughts

This morning I was reading about a person whose friend is in the hospital with a neurological condition. It made me cry a little, and I realized that was a good thing. Why? Because despite our personal issues, one of the things that makes being a human so special is empathy. When I'm so wrapped up in my own misery that I fail to empathize with others, it's not a good thing. And I have been wrapped up in myself. Some of it was necessary; some not.

But in the way of the Tao, a person must become enlightened in order to help others along the way. For awhile this fall/early winter, I felt like I was way off track in my quest to grow mentally and spiritually. But as is always true, I knew there would be many lessons for me to learn as I experienced a number of uncomfortable situations.

Back in August, I was feeling that I was in a position to help others through difficult times. And then I guess I decided that I needed to subject myself to some additional (non-triathlon) challenges in order to make sure I was truly ready! A hallmark of a life well-lived is the impact you have on others in your sphere of influence. I am not sure who I have left a mark on in the last 4 months, but I hope there are a few people out there who have somehow benefited from my existence. Not because I did anything to do with money or things; but rather just being. I suppose one of my lessons from this time was that I can just be even while I am doing. Maybe that is what Sheila v2.0 is all about. I've always struggled with the doing thing, but fact is that if I stop doing then I'm dead. So I am going to keep doing and if that is what get me to be, then I'm fine with it.

I'm pretty sure that I am going to experience a number of sobering moments now that this phase of my house remodeling is complete. I am relearning how to just live in my house, rather than keep changing it around. I am relearning where things belong, as most every room has been reorganized to some degree. I am relearning to be relaxed and comfortable without creating additional stress on myself. I am relearning that beautiful things around me make me feel good, as shallow as that sounds. I am returning to my happy place, and think I've done enough grieving for myself now. I am really happy that through this last 4 months that I have worked hard at a few friendships that are deeply important to me.

Even though my physical body is still injured, I'm feeling like my spirit is rising back up. It's making me cry that once again, it is the result of a lot of turmoil and sadness. But such is life. The reason I'm Crackhead is that when the ups are happening I am taking 200% advantage of them, and I plan to keep doing so. Why wouldn't I? If it appears to outsiders that I'm a little manic when doing so, tough shit. Life really is too short, and there is too much good stuff to suck up, and when it all gets balanced out, I want to look back on my life and know that I lived it large and with integrity.

As I sit here, I'm looking at my poster of Madam Pele. While she represents the fire of the volcano, she also emanates peace. I am relighting my fire as I rediscover my inner peace.

Puttin' the Hurt to Myself

With my house remodeling done for now (a frozen pipe crisis in the new upstairs bathroom was averted yesterday) and my house put back together, I'm finding that I am getting myself back to "normal," meaning I am on my training plan.

Last week was a pleasant deviation from my written plan, since all I could do while out of town was run, but that was perfect. The weekend was great, as Shelley was willing to do what I needed to do or figure something out different for herself.

This week I am full on my plan, meaning all the strength work, running, biking, stretching, everything! As I've picked up my hours, I realize my diet needs to change. After I finish what's left in my fridge (or maybe before) of salad fixings, I am done with that shit. My body needs more carbs, so it's time for me to revert to my usual staple of brown rice or couscous with my evening meal. Besides, my body doesn't like digesting all that salad crap, don't ask me why! I've always thought my body was wired to process a lot of protein and very gentle carbs (and beer!).

As I've begun to add intensity to my workouts, too, my level of fatigue has increased, thankfully! Which gets me to sleep earlier and sleeping a bit longer. I'm not quite on my optimum sleep needs, but I figure that will happen soon enough, especially once I stop eating rabbit food at dinner!

My weight is about 2 lbs. up from where I'd like to be, and I feel like a total fatty. That will fix itself automatically as my stress levels go down, less drinking (not that I've been going overboard--but less is more in this case), more strength training, and I'll be good to go. On a positive note, I'm now up to 5 chinups (almost from a dead hang), so I'm pretty confident I'll hit my 10 in about 6 weeks!

That leaves one remaining challenge: the state of my back. This weekend will make 5 weeks since my little act of stupidity. I have nearly full range of motion in terms of twisting, and obviously, I'm able to do all my sports just fine, even getting through a 50-mile running week. I am experiencing no pain while exercising. I am now at the point where I am experiencing discomfort mainly while sitting, and through my own investigation and with confirmation from massage therapists, I am down to my QL (quadratus lumborum) and iliopsoas muscles being the last remaining ones that are still a bit distressed. Listen up peeps--these two muscles are key to triathlon and well, just holding you up, sitting, twisting. They are the workhorses for your back mechanics and hip flexors.

I had some awesome work done on these muscles Monday evening, and am arranging to get some quality massages during the next 2 weeks. These are deep muscles, and while I can do some work on them myself, there's nothing like having someone else put the hurt to me!

I have to say that 5 weeks seems like a long time to me to be dealing with unhappy muscles, but I know how crucial it is to keep the QL and iliopsoas happy, so I am being patient and conservative--although my definition of conservative probably doesn't match to most people's! My real test of the system will be ZebraMan next week, and I'm really excited about it! Ordinarily, I wouldn't take pics of event clothing before the fact, but hey, I got the suit, so here I am. Bonus, spot all the zebra things in the pics!

ABSOLUT TIKI HUT!!!!

More Pics from Weekend

We had some of my NothingMan pizza for dinner on Friday. I guess I'm always amazed at just how thick it is! And yes, we were wearing some crowns to be festive ;)

My bike nutrition on Saturday consisted of mostly Coke, but occasionally Gatorade.

Shelley was lookin' good, and our two bikes got along famously!

For dinner on Saturday, we went to Bistro Nami for some sushi. We started with warm sake, which was pretty good (and strong!)

We asked for our sushi to be put onto a boat, but the waiter said we didn't order enough for a boat? I counted 34 pieces total (yes, we ate it all), which I think would have filled a large boat, but we settled for a bridge and decorative plate which kind of looks like a boat anyway. It was delicious!

Weekly Workout Totals 12/08/2008-12/14/2008

I had a great week all around this week. My house remodeling is now complete except for a few minor things that will get done today, and I'm loving the results! My new big black and white bathroom is fucking nice, and I smile whenever I go in there. My living room is spacious and zebra-ed out! I can stretch out in there (there's room for several people to stretch, actually), hang out (I started a crossword puzzle laying on the smaller sofa yesterday afternoon), listen to music and just enjoy life.

I had the bestest weekend with Shelley. We had so much fun and so many laughs, and well, we need to get together more often! She gave me some beautiful crystal candelsticks which were put to good use last night ;)

I had a good training week even though it doesn't look like a lot of hours...I ended up doing a whole lot of running since that was the easiest thing to do while I was out of town in Orlando. I'm a teensy bit beat up from it, but a massage tonight will fix that! This week I'm home and back on my training program, and I know I'll be in good shape for ZebraMan!

Weekly Workout Totals	12/08/2008-12/14/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by zebra stripes and pirates!
Swim:	4300 yards (2.44 miles) in 1.55 hours; 12% of weekly workout time; approx. 543 calories burned Canadian: 3931.92 meters
Bike:	Approx. 68.55 miles in 3.92 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 1897 calories burned; Total TSS=184 Canadian: 110.32 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 42.75 miles in 6.67 hours; 51% of weekly workout time; approx. 3035 calories burned Canadian: 68.8 kilometers
Strength:	0.82 hours; 6% of weekly workout time; approx. 205 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 113.74 miles in 12.96 hours; approx. 5680 calories burned Canadian: 0 kilometers
Sleep:	7.07 hours avg./night
Stretching:	1.77 hours. Massage: 0 hours

See if You Can Spot the Crackhead in the Pics!!

Yes, I have a leather zebra jacket, zebra running tights, winter gloves and flip flops...

Working Through It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shelley arrived yesterday, and we relaxed in my living room that was now complete with the zebra carpet. We shot off some fireworks in the snow in my back yard, which was beautiful. Today, we rode for 2:40 and then I went and ran for :30, we each took the most awesome shower in my new bathroom, then we watched Ironman Hawaii (while eating nachos that I made and I'm drinking a bunch o' beers), then we are going to a tri store, then we are eating sushi and having sake, and then we are going to look at the gonzo Christmas lights in a nearby area, and then who knows? Below are a bunch of pics from our time together so far:

Remodeling Just About Done!

Go here. Check out the new bathroom. It's as awesome as I knew it would be!

Crying is Healthy

I realize that I'm going to be doing some crying this weekend with my girl. I think I've become pretty good at re-experiencing grief, and so I won't mind this one bit. I haven't really been able to cry on someone's shoulder these past few months--I've either been held captive in my own house or tried to be with someone else to get some moments of happiness (which is coming around).

So I'm looking forward to a little crying this weekend--I'm going to cry for myself, for Shelley, and we will both cry for lost loves.



I never had to say goodbye
You must have known I wouldn't stay
While you were talking about our life
You killed the beauty of today

Forever and ever
Life is now or never
Forever never comes around
(People love and let go)
Forever and ever
Life is now or never
Forever's gonna slow you down

{2X}
You'll never gonna see me again
So now who's gonna cry for you
You'll never gonna see me again
No matter what you do

You never heard me break your heart
You didn't wake up when we died
Since I was lonely from the start
I think the end is mine to write

Forever and ever
Life is now or never
Forever never comes around
(People love and let go)
Forever and ever
Life is now or never
Forever's gonna slow you down

{2X}
You'll never gonna see me again
So now who's gonna cry for you
You'll never gonna see me again
No matter what you do

Forever and ever
Life is now or never
Forever never comes around
(People love and let go)
Forever and ever
Life is now or never
Forever's gonna slow you down

{2X}
You'll never gonna see me again
So now who's gonna cry for you
You'll never gonna see me again
No matter what you do

Forever and ever
Life is now or never
Forever never comes around

FUCKIN A'

My upstairs bathroom will be finished today, and then I'll take some pics. The black granite is in as well as new tile downstairs! I have a lot of cleaning up to do today. Contractors just are not tidy! But I should have everything mostly spiffy by the time Shelley arrives, including the laying down of the zebra carpet!

After adding up my running between last Friday and yesterday, I ended up putting in a 50-mile week! That is a nice, unexpected surprise. I guess that means my back is really healing up! It does feel much better, and I find it interesting that this is happening in the midst of all this running! It's still not 100%, but it's much, much better and I am now confident that everything will return to normal very soon.

I'm really happy that I get to spend time with Shelley this weekend. We are going to train our brains out, watch some Ironman Hawaii, do some quality eating, laughing and general commiserating!

As much as I love spending time with my mens (and you know who you are), it will be good to have a girlie weekend. There may or may not be pics...don't you wish we were running a webcam in my house?

Here's a sneak preview of the new bathroom. The black granite rocks, the waterfall faucet rocks, all the black and chrome just makes me happy! I'll take the official pics later today once the bathroom is complete and the living room and family rooms are put back together!

Toilet installation will be completed today. Check out the knobs on the cabinet!

I can't wait to go for a swim this morning! I haven't swum since last Sunday. I didn't sleep too well last night because I'm all anxious about getting the house put back together, but so what, all I have to do rest of the day is a little work, a trainer ride and lift weights!

Make your own Bike!!!

I did this. Go here:

Here's what I made:



Notice that mine has lubricant right on the saddle!!!

Orlando Pics (yes, there's one of my ass)

Mark performing valuable geek services while wearing compression tights

My favorite place to buy swimsuits and assorted beachy stuff

Mark after our 2 hour run in the orange groves in Clermont (nice pecs, dude!)

Mark stretching (he can also pee while doing this, trust me I know!)

Me...um...flashing the moon...not sure you can tell but the actual moon is up!

Me feeling pretty happy I was able to run 2 hours

Me with the rising moon in the background

After swimming at the NTC (formerly owned by USAT)

Mark enjoying a brew after our 3-hour workout

Mark enjoying a burger