Saturday Morning at the Tiki Hut

Happy Friday

I'm up early. I wonder why that would be...?

Now who could this be?
















Also, I scored myself some new happy shoes. Now, you might say technically they don't qualify because the leather isn't pink, but if you zoom in you will see there is a little crystal butterfly that is partially pink--and it's made of Swarovski crystals!!!!

Overtrained and What I'm Doing About It

But first, check out those bitches and their rides--a lobster, a trout and a chicken. Feel free to pilfer the photo and caption it here.

I was starting to feel a bit overtrained last week. Is it because I'd done effectively 2 HIM's in 3 weeks? That's part of it. But the training was feeling good and all. I am going to have to chalk this one up to an overload of life stress.

Even though things are winding down in Dominatrix land, every few weeks I've had the pleasure of being insulted, directly or indirectly, by one or more of my siblings. How nice! And even though I think I'm brushing it off, well, it does take its toll.

I have always had this thing about being yelled at by anyone--whether it's deserved or not--and I know where it comes from. When I was a kid, being second to youngest, I got to observe all the antics of my 2 older brothers and older sister, and I did not wish to be punished, so my MO became always be the good child. And I pretty much was, up until the age of about 17. Although from the age of I think 2-4 or 5 (I'm not quite sure), I did this thing where when I wanted attention I would hold my breath until I passed out and then sure enough, Mom would come find me and revive me. My parents thought I had epilepsy, but as it turned out, I didn't (although I'm sure there were permanent effects), and I stopped that behavior and moved on to more healthy ways of getting their attention--getting perfect grades, behaving well, watching after my little sister, learning to play the piano and trying to stay out of the line of fire with the older ones. Mom and Dad were quite the disciplinarians with them, and again, I did not want to get the belt from Dad (I don't think I ever did--YAY!) or the broom or whatever Mom had handy. Now, I'm not saying Mom and Dad were abusive--from what I recall, it was just good old tough love. Nevertheless, I didn't want any part of it.

And you can guess where this led--to a blossoming perfectionistic/control freak/OCD combination. Whatever I could control and perfect by doing it over and over again and get rewarded or recognized for it, I was on it. School work, piano, violin (not sure why I stopped this but I think it had to do with the cost of lessons or an instrument), sewing, cooking. In my haste to perfect doing things, I failed to acquire or see the need for good social skills. I earned the attention of all my teachers, but Mom and Dad seemed to just be pleased that I stayed out of trouble. The same rules were applied to my business life, rollerskating/rollerblading, gardening, and you guessed it, now triathlon.

I did spend some time in therapy going over this stuff, and while I still have the same tendencies to want to be doing stuff all the time, I recognize that it's just part of who I am, and that in many ways (as I said a few posts ago), my greatest weakness is often my greatest strength. I mean, hey, I'm happy I'm good at so many things. I don't try and fight my desire to do things anymore. But sometimes I do need to stop and turn down the intensity. And I do work hard at trying to make and keep friends, although I prefer just a few close ones.

Of course, my desire for perfection has been applied in my role as Dominatrix (Executor/Trustee) in spades. The professionals I am working with are always telling me what a great (and fast!) job I've been doing. That makes me feel good, and I think it honors my Dad, but isn't it funny that even in his death I am still trying to show him how good I am? But it's the right thing to do, and I just don't know how to slack at too many things.

Now contrast the professionals I've been working with to 3 out of 4 of my siblings. No contest there! See I can never understand that when I think I am doing my best and going out of my way to help someone (and I am trying to help them get money, what could be wrong with that?) why they would treat me like crap. Hell, in the past 5 months more complete strangers have treated me with kindness than them! Thank you, countless strangers and friends who have been so considerate. But so it goes.

I know I'm still processing a lot of emotions because whenever one of my friends is having difficulty lately, it's like I channel their bad feelings and add them to my own. My manager sent this really nice video clip about telling people how much they make a difference the other day and I watched it and it just sent me off bawling for an hour or so. I know the bad feelings will dissipate, and I'm still much, much better than I was a month ago. Yes, I need a vacation, but I am still finding plenty of ways to enjoy myself until that happens. It's just still a bit tumultuous being me right now, and it's not entirely unexpected.

Circling back, I know this has created stress for me, and I guess I thought I had it under control. I still mostly do, but I have had to realize that 14-15 hours of training a week plus this shit has been overloading me. So last week I started to wind things down a bit, but I had great workouts on Saturday and Sunday so I thought I had things licked.

Wrong.

But you know me, gotta keep doing things to see if something will change or get fixed. Monday I felt fantastic swimming. But running later on, not so much. Tuesday I totally dug on riding my bike outside, but afterwards, felt like crap. Yesterday, the extremely long warmup of my swim felt great, but the anaerobic 50's put me over the edge. So I skipped running yesterday and I just kept eating and trying to rest. Here's all what I took in yesterday (and yet I woke up hungry this morning) in no particular order:

• Power Bar Triple Threat
• Some sugary Coffeemate in my coffee
• 10 oz. glass of orange juice
• Large banana
• Lean Cuisine (beef, potatoes, corn)
• Endurox R4, one serving
• 20 oz. Gatorade
• 2 or 3 pieces string cheese
• 7.5 oz. can of sockeye salmon
• 1.5 cups of a shrimp/vegetable stir fry (homemade)
• 1/4 cup of coconut
• 2 eggs fried in butter
• 2 pieces of toast with butter (eggs and toast were a 10PM snack)
  
• About 3 oz. of Gummi Life Savers
• Tigermilk bar
• About 1 oz. of cheddar cheese
  
• 1 Beck's beer

I didn't add up the calories in all that, but my guess is well over 3,000? I also took an extra multivitamin, magnesium and B complex. I'll take them again today. It's not like I'm going to gain weight--I'm trying not to lose anymore, because stress is catabolic, and I don't need that.

Sorry for the long ramble. Sometimes this stuff just comes out. I feel pretty good right now, but unless I feel *perfect* later on, no workouts today. It is really hard for me to hold back, but sometimes holding back is the right thing to do (and sometimes not, but that's another story!). I just feel like I need a complete year of "mostly good." But you know what? I've kept going through the last 3 years with tons of crap happening in my life and I'll keep moving forward. One thing that is critical to me is laughter. I really, really like to laugh. Hence the Tiki Hut.

The Barbies are bitches. Can't change that!

Amateur Day at the Pool

I guess all the people who swim one day a week choose Wednesday, because there was a continuous stream of amateurs while I was there, and I was in the water swimming by 6:30AM. I say this because I swim Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning (and sometimes Saturday), and I know that the Masters swim on Tuesday and Thursday, so odds are anyone who shows up on Wednesday is not there on Tuesday and Thursday, which leaves Monday and Friday and I don't see these people on those days.

I wore the pink Desoto whore suit (see post from a few days ago for a pic of me in it although not wet, and I have no idea what it looks like on me wet) and felt kinda nekkid in it. Shawn was there and he immediately said, "I see you got yourself a new party suit." At least that's what I think he said. I asked him if I looked okay in it, and asked him to be honest. He's married, but I know he flirts with other women at the pool, which is cool--I think that's part of the fun of swimming. Shawn does not need a nickname because he's a mellow dude and a good guy. Anyway, he told me I looked fine, and I jumped in.

Once I started swimming I almost thought the bottoms were going to come off, but thankfully 1) I don't do flip turns and 2) I cinched the tie fairly tight. I guess it was just a matter of getting used to a skimpy bottom. I mean I wear jeans that are that low cut from time to time and you just have to relax. But it's a little different when you are trying to stretch your entire body out to make it as long as possible, know what I mean? And they did gap a little bit at full extension, but hey, I shave!

Now, there was at least one amateur guy that showed up on deck that I don't particularly like (we had a small altercation way back when because he whacked me with his lazy stroking arm), who today catches a look at me and gives me a big wave and a "hi." I'm thinking WTF when did he think I became his friend, so I look over to the lane he is going to swim in and he's standing there and I swear he's got some wood going. You're welcome, El Dorko.

The Scenery arrived and got the lane adjacent to me which was cool, although I prefer swimming in the same lane with him, but it was OK because I've taken up a different breathing pattern so I was always breathing to face The Scenery, no worries there! Bonus is that the desire to watch The Scenery gets me to rotate better.

Huge Walrus Guy (who is actually quite a nice man and decent swimmer--he never collides with me and for his size doesn't make a giant wake) who was initially sharing my lane left and in came Skinny Scruffy Beard Guy, who I've yelled at in the past because he has a shitty breaststroke kick (if you can call it breaststroke) and has kicked me even when I've been way the hell on the other side of the lane. He now knows better to hug the lane rope on his side, and if I remember correctly, he, too, lingered on deck before getting in the lane with me. He had a look of shock on his face in seeing what I was wearing. He has commented from time to time, "You have a lot of nice suits." My Indian name is Girl Who Wear Many Colorful Suits With Words on Butt.

Skinny Scruffy Beard Guy doesn't swim very long so now there's an opening in my lane and I see Look At Me I'm a Fucking Triathlete Guy on deck. I call him this because of course he wears a swim cap from a triathlon, has a bag that he brings on deck that says "FAST" on it (he is a good swimmer), and some sort of designer water bottle that just screams , "I'm a big fucking dorkwad." Initially, he stood at the head of my lane stalking it, but he must have become frightened or something (maybe I looked bad???) and opted for a different lane. Which finally left me all to myself for my main set.

Huh...I guess you could call me the Pool Dominatrix. Thing is, everyone makes nice with me once I've pointed out that they have been hitting or kicking me, annoying me, or just being ugly.

50's, hardly any rest, I about died, and I was about done when Chad (a hottie, but alas, I have no pics of him) arrives, says hi to me and I could barely breathe. I toughed it out a little more, and then I decided I'd had it and I was done. I think somebody was trying to talk to me while I was organizing my crap on deck, but honestly I don't remember. I then timed myself in taking a quick rinso shower and getting to my car. 4 minutes flat!

Meanwhile...the Barbies are a little worked up and so decided to have a little phone sex in the Tiki Hut. Apparently one of them left a message for some guy...I sure hope he takes her up on it!

Return of the Tiki Hut

I think I'm overtrained, so I'm trying to take things easier for the next few days so I can still do Triple Dog Dare NothingMan. I rode OUTSIDE today for 1:30 and it was totally fun. Noodled around for a long time and then hit my interval loop for about 20 minutes of hard fun.

If it ain't hard, it ain't trainin'!

Oh yeah, the Tiki Hut is coming back online...

I'm Hungry!

I have a feeling that the giant Barracuda is going to clean out the fridge...I better start eating!

Weekly Workout Totals 04/07/2008-04/13/2008

It was a busy weekend. Saturday morning I ran about 12 miles (on the dreadmill, yuk) and then swam a little, and then I went to the bike shop to pick up LGL and drop Bitchie for repairs.


While there, I ordered carbon cages for LGL. I had tried to get some other ones last year but we couldn't get them, but I just had to have something new for the bikes so I settled on the Elite cages. They shall be sweet! While I was waiting for my mechanic, Anthony (also Italian--I seem to hang with many Italians), I felt myself getting hypoglycemic, and I had to grab a bottle of Gatorade out of the cooler at the shop.

When I got home, I finished stretching and then began preparing a good meal. My friend, Matt, had been in Italy a few weeks ago and he sent me the 3 bottles of wine you see. I cracked open a pedestrian Vino Rosso, which turned out to be stupendous! I also think it had a higher alcohol content than most wines you would buy here, because I got quite the buzz going. Anyway, what I cooked was chicken with olives and spaghetti with tomato/onion/anchovy sauce. Excellent! I only drank 1/2 a bottle of wine, and then I guess I decided I needed some more exercise, because I decided to spin some records and do a little dancing. When all was said and done, I ended up eating almost another meal right before going to sleep, knowing I had a solid workout today.

Well, let's just say this morning was not entirely pleasant. A bit hungover, but hey, I know I can ride a bike that way, so I went about some morning stuff, and when I finally got on the bike (trainer--another crappy day here), I had a great warmup and then got a solid workout in, despite the fact that my legs were sore from yesterday--I don't normally have an urge to go dancing after a 12-mile run!

When I started to run, OMG my legs were sore, but I've experienced this before, and after 10 minutes they didn't feel "too" badly. But I felt really overheated, and decided to go onto the indoor track for 10-15 minutes. Well, when I got there, I realized that my blood sugar was dropping precipitously, and so I ate a gel and sat down for a bit. I had broken out in a cold sweat, felt dizzy, all the usual hypoglycemia symptoms. I cut the run a bit short, although I was sort of chuckling to myself. I guess just Gatorade is not enough nutrition for me on the bike anymore!

I still got in plenty o' training for the week, and next weekend is the Triple Dog Dare NothingMan weekend, so there's no need for me to shell myself in anticipation. I guess you could say I had a little taperoni this week.

Weekly Workout Totals	04/07/2008-04/13/2008
Swim:	9800 yards (5.56 miles) in 3.5 hours; 24% of weekly workout time; approx. 1225 calories burned
Bike:	Approx. 86.05 miles in 4.92 hours; 34% of weekly workout time; approx. 2994 calories burned; Total TSS=315
Run:	Approx. 30.01 miles in 4.6 hours; 31% of weekly workout time; approx. 2085 calories burned
Strength:	1.65 hours; 11% of weekly workout time; approx. 413 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 121.62 miles in 14.67 hours; approx. 6717 calories burned
Sleep:	7.79 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.23 hours. Massage: 0 hours