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