Weekly Workout Totals 04/02/2007-04/08/2007 and Bike/Misc. Update

I got the bike, I GOT THE BIKE! It is absolutely gorgeous. I think the entire thing weighs under 10 pounds. I don't have the cages yet, but should have them this week or next, and I've configured the lettering I want for the front forks and found a great picture of her namesake that will go on both sides of the top tube. Whaddya think??? The lettering will be about 4" long, and will be white to go on the front forks, and the bird will be over the white part of the top tube, wait until you see the frame!!!

I also broke down and got a digital camera last night, so the battery is charging, and I will be taking pics and hopefully posting them tomorrow.

Since I acquired a new power meter (Ergomo), I had to mess with that today as well to get it set up for me to use it.

It has been snowing/raining all day--it sucks, but I guess it's a good thing while I get all my electronic gadgets configured and software installed on my computer.

My taxes are almost done and I don't owe much money (relatively)!

Serendipitously, I received an announcement about a sale on a particular trainer that I think (according to the tech guy I chatted with this morning) may fit the bill as a replacement for my old, trusty Blackburn, so I ordered that today. I picked up the newest Blackburn 2 weeks ago, tried it, and it's a no-go. The one I have ordered is a Tacx Satori, which is fairly top of the line, and given it has TEN resistance settings, and it's magnetic and not progressive resistance, AND it's used by pro cyclists, I am thinking third time is a charm. Let's hope, anyway! I told the tech guy what my FTP is and he said it would work. We shall see! Hopefully, by the time I get the thing I won't need it!

It looks like it will still be rather cold this weekend, so I will probably break down and change the rear tire on La Gazza Ladra and stick her on the trainer (I just can't stomach wearing down brand new Vittoria's on the trainer even for a couple of rides) to try her out and adjust the cleat tension and get used to those.

I tried my new bike shoe inserts (orthotics) with my Speedplay pedals on the Bitch, and while they do help me pedal better and put my legs/knees in a better anatomical position, it's creating some new aches and pains as my body adjusts to them. I rode indoors on Sunday with them for about 2/3 of the ride, and when I headed outside to run, my legs were totally fucked up--my adductors were like I had been on a horse for hours or something. But I'm strong, and I expect all this to resolve this week and next.

I may be heading to Colorado for a week on business, and if I go, I will probably take the new steedlet so I can ride some mountains!

I'm getting my real contact lens prescription tomorrow so I should be able to see properly again--the temporary lenses aren't bad, but they aren't my exact prescription.

So you can see I've been rather busy, and to boot, I'm inching up in my so-called "training." I still don't feel like I'm really training--just "working out." But I'm getting my volume back up, and I think a change in the weather for the good will be just the motivation I need to get prepared for Triple T. I'm still not excited about an Ironman, but who knows what can happen when the weather turns warm and you've got a beautiful new bike to ride?

I do not have a buyer for my Trek and I also have a Cycleops trainer for sale (CHEAP!) if anyone is interested.

Here's what I got done last week in the midst of a lot of other activity:

Weekly Totals 04/02/2007-04/08/2007
Swim: 8600 yards (4.88 miles) in 3.03 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 1062 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 84.59 miles in 4.83 hours; 35% of weekly workout time; approx. 2288 calories burned
Run: Approx. 28.99 miles in 4.5 hours; 33% of weekly workout time; approx. 2048 calories burned
Strength: 1.45 hours; 10% of weekly workout time; approx. 363 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 118.46 miles in 13.81 hours; approx. 5761 calories burned
Sleep: 8.46 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.25 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

More Crap

Wow, I even just created a new label for the category CRAP.

So the woman who swam into my skull on Monday sent me $150 cash. Why do I feel bad about using it? I guess I am almost in shock that she owned up and was kind enough to compensate for my loss of contact lens, although really it's not so much the money but the thought that counts.

The kid who's dog bit me lied about his phone number--but I will find that dog and its adult owner.

I don't have La Gazza Ladra--that happens on Friday. I had made an appointment for yesterday, but I called on Monday to check whether this was going to happen or not, and they weren't sure. So I call again Tuesday morning, and the bike was ready, but they don't have my shoes, cages or skewers. So I ask when they will be in, and they say Thursday. Great! Only Thursday I can't come in (massage day plus 2 hours of workout--sorry, no more time in the day for me!), so I'm going on Friday.

This morning I was awakened again by the same car/truck that has been waking me up at least once a week for the last 4 weeks or so. I really wanted to go back to sleep, but it was 4:15, and today that was not happening. So I put on my coat and go outside and guess what? There is my newspaper! So it's the newspaper delivery person's vehicle. Now it makes perfect sense, that that vehicle slows down in front of my house (the neighbor across the street gets the same newspaper) and then goes up the street slowly, makes a left, throws some more papers and then does a reverse back onto my street. I called the newspaper company today and had a nice chat with Customer Service. It was entertaining when the woman began saying, "Yes, ma'am, I will make sure that..." and then she sort of stuttered, and I knew she didn't know exactly what she was going to be able to guarantee me. I could tell (since I'm in Customer Service myself) that she was following some sort of script/process, and I wasn't going to be satisfied with some pat answer. So I chimed in and told her that I wanted to be sure she understood the issue, which is that this vehicle sounds as if it has no muffler (which is illegal, as far as I know), and that it is waking up myself and others on my street, and that the company will lose a number of subscribers if this persists. I also told her I don't want the driver fired--I am just requesting that he/she get the vehicle repaired so that it makes less noise and doesn't wake us up! She assured me she'd speak with the person's Supervisor. She had better!

It seems to me that the more crowded this world becomes the less many people consider the impact of their behavior on others. Couple that with a deep fear many people have of saying anything to these offenders out of concern for one's own safety, and one can infer that there's a lot of unnecessary stress going on. I'm sure not suggesting that if you are cut off while driving that you attempt to catch up with said driver to let them know or even flip them off (responding to poor drivers like that just compounds road rage incidents); but when an opportunity presents to have a rational discussion with another person about their behavior, do it!

Under duress, I can become quite vocal. When I was bit by the dog, it hurt like a sonofabitch, and it induced a screaming response from me. I know that must have frightened the young boy, but once he regained control of the dog, I calmed down, which is when I asked for a phone number (he gave me one but he lied). When I was slammed in the face on Monday and my goggles broke and flew off my face, my first response was to ask what the other person was doing. I always figure if there's some sort of rational explanation, I'd like to hear it, because sometimes there can be extenuating circumstances. Like let's say the dog's leash broke--OK, it wasn't the kid's fault entirely. Or I suddenly decided to swim in the middle or on the other side of the lane, even though I had been swimming on the one side for 2,000 yards. Hey, if it's my fault I owe an apology. If something truly couldn't be helped, then, well, that's life.

But nowadays people run into parked cars and don't leave notes, they clip their freaking toenails in public view in a locker room and think nothing of it even while being told it's disgusting, they get stoned and drunk and blare their stereo at 2:00AM, they blare their stereo while washing their car, they drop cigarette butts in your yard, they piss their dog in your flower bed, they walk their child in a stroller on an indoor running track, they let their young kids run around like wild monkeys in a gym, they believe turn signals are optional, they fail to look both ways when making turns and nearly run you down on your bike, they don't vote and then complain about elected officials.

Life is about 4 small words: DO THE RIGHT THING

To which I would add: AND WHEN YOU FUCK UP, BUCK UP.

Because we all fuck up every now and then. Lord knows I'm not perfect! And let's hope I never forget an "I'm sorry" or "Thank you." Because it's just as important to reinforce GOOD behavior as it is to own up to our own bad behavior.

Bunch o' Crap

That's all I can say. I'm not even posting my totals for last week--I will just summarize things that have happened in the past 3 days:

• Friday night: stupid stoner neighbor's dad is blaring stereo again until 2AM. I should have been able to fall back asleep, but I took some Tylenol sleep just to be sure.
• Saturday morning: Have a hangover from the Tylenol sleep, and I bag my bike workout after 1:15, and no run afterwards.
• Saturday afternoon: The chainrings that came with the Ergomo are defective, but my LBSG is going to swap out some Franken-combo of Shimano and FSA. I also now have a Campy front derailleur because the Dura Ace didn't fit on my miniature frame.
• Sunday: Get a good night's rest, but feel dizzy-ish; not sure why. Manage to have a good 1:30 run on a flat trail.
• Today: Having a great swim, almost done, and bonehead woman swims into my face! My goggles literally break in half and I lose a contact lens to the water. She calls it an "honest mistake." Not me, lady. On the plus side, she's offered to pay money to replace the lens. On the negative side, I'm not sure I have a legitimate phone number for her. I think she's got some mental issues. On the plus side, got an eye exam and switched to soft lenses, which will be a lot more comfortable, and the eye doctor is a triathlete!
• Today, continued: Call my insurance company to get them to fix THEIR PROBLEM of sending my flood insurance bill to the mortgage lender! This happened last year, and my mortgage holder yelled at me like it was my fault!
• Today, continued: Call my FSA holder because they sent me a statement but no check. Thankfully, they are cutting a new check for $200 to me.
• Today, continued: Received notification that my primary care physician is no longer part of the network I am in. It will suck to switch, but switch I must.

Some days, it seems like life is a bunch of mostly crap with some bright spots thrown in there just to keep you from "snuffing it," as my buddy Alex would say. While I am not having those sorts of thoughts, sometimes things can appear a bit overwhelming. And then I hear about others, like my coach, who has had a couple of bad bike crashes in the last few weeks (he's OK, thankfully--I told him to stop crashing), and yesterday I spent about an hour on the phone with my friend, Matt, who's in hospital in Germany recovering from back surgery. At least Matt will not be redeployed to Afghanistan, so in a perverse sort of way, his back injury was a blessing in disguise.

I'm sure that once the eyedrops wear off and I am no longer light sensitive or nauseous (light sensitivity and nausea go hand in hand for me) and I get in a short run and some weights that my outlook will improve! I don't think the week can get any worse, so here's to things picking up!

A Good Week, So Far

Even though I'm still having trouble getting enough sleep a few nights a week, it's not stopping me from doing anything.

Spring is HERE! I've been out early in the morning (well, once the sun's up) cleaning up my flower beds, and boy are things growing a lot this week! My front yard is almost officially ready for viewing--I just need to add the gazing ball back to its pedestal and use Roundup on my white trash neighbor's invasive sweet pea vines. In the back yard, I only need to cut down one more 5x8 foot area of perennial stems, and then we are good to go! Daffodils are blooming, and the hyacinths have swollen blooms that will perfume my front yard along the sidewalk within the next week. I received the seeds I ordered, but they can't be planted until late April or early May, depending on when we are about to receive our last frost. I just love this time of year when you have spring bulbs blooming, yet the trees haven't leafed out. I really love when the leaves are just appearing and they are a "young" green color, the forsythia bushes are blooming, and then you get magnolia trees blooming, and it's just beautiful.

I swam 3 times this week, and today, although I didn't sleep well last night, I am seeing my speed beginning to return! I'm so excited--me and my massage therapist have honed in on the offending muscles in my upper left back, and so far my left arm continues to be able to extend fully and PULL like it knows how! I told my coach about this, and that I am planning on a 1:10 swim split at IMLP, and this time I FUCKING MEAN IT! I definitely have the power--I know my upper body has developed a bit from my extra strength training and I'm lifting heavier on my lats and pecs, so now I'll just begin inching back up to a solid 10-11,000 yards a week and that should do it.

My house looks like a Fedex bomb went off in it--I received some Clif Nectar Bars I ordered (to replace the errant cereal they sent last week but that I ate half of anyway--the reason I don't eat cereal is that when I buy it I will pretty much eat an entire box in one or two sittings), I got my Ergomo 2 days ago (and of course, I lovingly fondled the carbon cranks), and today I got a box of Kona coffee and my other bike parts. Lots of gifts for me!

When the bike parts arrived, I was so happy, because now that I've taken them to the bike shop, we are ready for assembly to begin. I met the Sidi representative at the shop today, and he's a really nice man. This guy reps for Sidi, Colnago, Pinarello and all this high-end bike stuff. He told me my wheels (Fulcrum Racing Red) would provide a nice, stiff ride, and of course, I used the opportunity to reel off a line I've been saving up: "Well, you know, I definitely like a very stiff ride myself." Can you say 3 men turning a bit red in the face? It was fun.

I also ordered some more fabric--I spent some time browsing and found something for my Dad--he had asked me if I had any more shark fabric, and I said no, but I found something he will REALLY like as a shirt--it has classical composer busts all over it. Since he doesn't read my blog, no worries, he won't see this--but I know he will absolutely love receiving something I have made for him (as do most people). That's the cool thing about sewing--you can pretty much find something that fits people you know to a T. I also found some Star Trek and Star Wars fabric that I bought to make some pillows for my nerdly brother, Tom. I know he'll appreciate that. And then a few more things I can't talk about yet...it's all good!

I bought a new trainer for my Bitch. The old Blackburn is about dead and not calibrated well for me, and the Cycleops is made for someone much bigger than me (anyone want to buy my Cycleops? I'll sell it for $200 plus shipping--it cost close to $300 and has barely been used). I got another Blackburn, and I hope this one does the trick.

I'm looking forward to trying out the new trainer tomorrow, as it's supposed to be rainy here. And then Sunday, I'm looking forward to a nice long run on a trail that I dearly love, and I'll be cooking up some great Italian stuff again.

I'm still on target for 13.5 hours of training this week, and considering everything else that I'm getting done, this has been a wonderful week so far. My LBSG said he can get me decals from any image I can make, so that's my next project (until the fabric arrives!).

I located a new Fractal generating program (Google Fractint) that is AWESOME, and also some great tessellation websites (see my sidebar under "Mental Stuff"), that I highly recommend you visit if you are at all into M. C. Escher, my favorite artist.

And then another thing I need to do is acquire tickets for The Barber of Seville which will be performed by the Lyric Opera here in Chicago next year. OMG I looked at how much tickets are and yikes! But it will be worth it, PROVIDED I can get tickets when they go on sale in August. We shall see...who knows...maybe I'll be viewing opera at La Scala sometime in 2008!

Life is good!

Weekly Workout Totals 3/19/2007-3/25/2007 and Free at Last!

Thank God those indoor tri races are over!

Yes, I raced yesterday, and no I didn't take first place. Just call me Avis! On the plus side, though, I found out SBH is a track coach, so I am honored to lose to a "runner." I did have a good swim and of course, won the bike. My run sucked for whatever reason, I don't know, but I gave it my all. SBH and I did a great job of beating almost the entire 40-49 age group, though. I saw a friend of mine, Lori (sorry no blog for her), who is about my size, looking fit as hell. She's a great athlete, and smokes me easily, but she's younger than me, so no worries.

I ended up getting about :45 of massage yesterday, which any way you look at it, is a wonderful gift! I had Ken work on my upper back before I raced, and then he gave me at least :30 afterwards. We talked about food (he used to be a chef), exercise, music and other stuff. Ken commented to me that everyone he works on after these races has stringy, tough muscles except for me, so apparently all my stretching and massage is doing what it's supposed to do.

It was in the mid-70's here yesterday, so all of us racing were thinking, "What the fuck are we doing working out indoors?" So I thought how nice it would be to run outdoors afterwards. Bad idea. After the last 3 races I ran on the treadmill afterwards. After 1 hour on the road yesterday, my knees were so beat up that I decided it was enough! On the plus side, though, I got the beginnings of a suntan. I pretty much brown up if I just LOOK at the sun. I enjoyed that 1 hour run so much, though--here I had numbers on an arm and a leg, and I am sure that perplexed the hell out of onlookers.

Because of the thrashing my legs took yesterday, I'm going to take a day off from running and instead get back on my swimmng. I'm excited to see what I can do now that we're working out those trigger points on, under and around my left scapula. I should hit around 13.5 hours this week, and next week I'll add about another hour, and then before you know it I'll be riding a lot more outdoors on La gazza ladra!

Ciao!


Weekly Totals 03/19/2007-03/25/2007
Swim: 5225 yards (2.97 miles) in 1.82 hours; 15% of weekly workout time; approx. 636 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 92.34 miles in 5.27 hours; 42% of weekly workout time; approx. 2415 calories burned
Run: Approx. 25.95 miles in 3.92 hours; 31% of weekly workout time; approx. 1782 calories burned
Strength: 1.45 hours; 12% of weekly workout time; approx. 363 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 121.26 miles in 12.46 hours; approx. 5196 calories burned
Sleep: 8.29 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.55 hours. Massage: 2.25 hours

Deserving Happiness

Ever have one of those days when everything feels perfect? Your frame of mind, your health, your self-esteem, your financial security, your outlook for the future? When you feel relaxed yet excited, productive yet lazy, fortunate yet deserving?

I am having one of those days today.

When you're having one of those, ever have the simultaneous sense that something HUGE must be about to go wrong, and that maybe you don't deserve to feel this great, that somehow you are about to be punished for some misstep?

I had those thoughts briefly, but have decided to plow ahead with the good stuff.

In the past, when I would have the sense of everything being perfect, I would literally not allow myself to revel in it because I feared the bottom would fall out. When I would fear the bottom falling out, it would be just as bad as the bottom actually falling out, because whatever we think we tend to experience emotionally and neurologically (stress, eh?).

Is my life really perfect? No. There are some things missing from it that would be nice to have, and I'm not talking about money or possessions. But today, right now, it feels perfect.

Maybe it's because I was wise enough to tone things down a bit this week on training.

Maybe it's because my massage therapist and I have worked through an issue in my left upper back that allowed me to swim 5 seconds faster per 100 yards yesterday!!! And that on insufficient sleep!

Maybe it's because my new bike is coming together.

Maybe it's because it's springtime, and my bulbs and plants are beginning to poke through the ground, which means flowers are on their way!

Maybe it's because I've done a good deal of spring cleaning and my house is in "order."

Maybe it's because the weather is breaking and I rode my bike outside twice this week and may do it again today. I am reminded of just how much I love riding my bikes, how much I love being fit enough to ride fast, how I know I'm enjoying myself on a ride when I'm drooling slightly, when my legs are burning yet I have this perverse grin across my face (is she really smiling or is she gritting her teeth?).

Maybe it's because last spring I was so concerned with my Mom's condition and an upcoming Ironman and this spring feels like a cakewalk in comparison.

Maybe this feeling is because I'm racing tomorrow, and I really could care less how I match up against SBH, because even though she's beating me, I am still racing damn well considering I shouldn't even BE in race shape this soon. And I know I have put in 8 solid weeks of fairly hard-core training to prepare for Triple T.

Maybe this feeling is because I have been getting more sleep this week. Sleep tends to make or break me, and I have to honor my body's needs.

Maybe this feeling is because I have been eating a higher than usual amount of fat this week--avocados, cheese, steak, butter and even a little chocolate (I had to get some Fannie Mae Cream Eggs, damn the holiday candy makers!). I tend to eat so little fat much of the time that I neglect to treat myself, but realize now that I'm able to handle things in moderation.

In the end, why I feel this way is irrelevant. I am hereby turning off the analytical part of my brain and am going to proceed to continue on having a perfect day. I've already eaten breakfast, done the dishes, gathered up ingredients for tonight's cooking (Scallops Double Pepper Sauce from my Tabasco cookbook and Penne Puttanesca from a garlic-specific cookbook, so plenty of flavor in both dishes), planned out what I need to get done today, and now I'm going to get ready to ride.

Today is a fabulous gift that I've received, and the word "deserve" is irrelevant. It really is about Carpe diem!

New Bike Porn!!!!

My bike frame arrived at the bike shop yesterday, so I HAD to go look at it! OMG, the thing is a work of art! Photo above, plus pics of some of the components. Don't worry--once she's put together, I'll post pics of herself here!

• Frame/fork: Pinarello Dogma FPX, magnesium alloy (go here to read more about it)
• Gruppo: Dura-Ace 10-speed (no I did not go Campy--I trust Shimano and like it)
• Wheelset: Fulcrum Racing Red
• Pedals: Dura-Ace 7800
• Skewers: Salsa Titanium Flip-Offs, Red
• Bars: Salsa Carbon Poco (yeah, I'm small, he he)
• Cages: Arundel Trident
• Power Meter: Ergomo Pro, compact carbon crankset (yes, I would have liked the SRM Pro with FSA compact carbon crankset, but a girl's got to save SOME pennies)
• Tires: Vittoria Open Pave CG green sidewalls (to complete the Italian flag)
• Shoes: Sidi Genius 5 Mesh (of course I had to pick friggin' expensive shoes, to boot, but you know they HAD to match!)
• Helmet: Limar 908 (amazingly I did not spend over $100 on the helmet!)

You cannot believe this frame--to me it's just plain sexy--to my LBSG, it's "bad-ass." Yeah, I'll be a bad-ass on that thing. The frame/fork weighs maybe 1.5 lbs.? I held it up by my pinkie finger! Both the fork and the seat stay are unpainted carbon fiber, and are just plain beautiful! I have seen a lot of nice bikes, but this is in a different league!

It's tough to say just how excited I am about this--I should have my parts next week, meaning I may be on the thing in under 2 weeks!

And her name? La Gazza Ladra. Figure that one out!

Weekly Workout Totals 3/12/2007-3/18/2007 and Miscellaneous Stuff

Sorry this is a little late.

Recap of last week: I toned things down as I have been feeling like these crazy weekend race/long run combos have been doing a number on me. I've still got 2 1/2 months until Triple T, and I'll be ready for it, and then another 2 1/2 months until Ironman Lake Placid. No worries! Can you believe the Crackhead is not concerned about her training volume?

Truth is, I've been doing a bit of spring cleaning in the house. One thing led to another, and I am going through much of my house and doing detailed cleaning, which to me includes assessing every object and whether it needs to stay or go. I ended up shredding a bunch of old checking account ledgers (I've switched to paperless) and other financial stuff (word to the wise: if you are going to buy your own shredder, GET A GOOD ONE! The one I bought is a piece of crap and gets jammed if you look at it the wrong way), cleaning all exposed hardwood floors, vacuuming every closet to remove spider webs and dust bunnies, etc. I've got 2 cell phones that I am going to recycle, and an old IBM Thinkpad that is probably toast that I need to find an environmentally-friendly way to dispose of.

The other thing that's happened is buying a new bike has unleashed a spending binge of sorts, but on stuff I need. I already got 4 new swimsuits (my Splish addiction grows; but 3 of my old ones are nearly worn out so this is justified), I ordered shoes to match my new bike and the Bitch (I'm not talking about bike shoes here--these are REGULAR SHOES THAT MATCH!!!), ordered seeds and plants, some underwear (my basic Jockey stuff), a few CD's, a new triathlon book (I'll review it here when I've read it), a helmet, and I just ordered some winter cycling clothing for later this year and next year in my "big cycling year of 2008."

I used to be a real stickler about an insanely clean house, and then I took up triathlon. My house is still usually cleaner than any friends' homes I visit, even though they mostly have cleaning services, but I always think it could be cleaner. I've let go of a lot of my former cleanliness obsession, but getting back in touch with it on a temporary basis has been kind of fun. I remember in my pre-triathlon days when I'd have the house just so, and I would love spending a leisurely Sunday reading, cooking or sewing in a fully clean house! Now I'm just happy if I get the dishes done....

I've located a buyer for my Power Tap, and I'm close on selling my Trek road bike as well. Both will have great new homes and bring much enjoyment to their new owners. I hope I have the new steed next week!

I wrote to the head of a local bike club regarding membership, and I included my typical training paces. The response I received was that there are a "few" riders in the club that go that fast, but that most are recreational riders. Oh well, I'll keep looking...

Oh yeah--I have my last indoor triathlon this Sunday. Frankly, I don't care if I beat SBH--she's already won the series by beating me 3 times--but I decided this week that all my exercise is easy aerobic stuff--I am not doing a track workout on Wednesday, and I am not doing hard bike intervals except maybe today, and then next week will be my last week of rest, and then I really need to START TRAINING! My sleeping is improving--this morning I woke up at 3AM, and I read for 1/2 hour and then fell back asleep.

Have I commented yet about how my strength training has paid off this season? My arms, chest and back are all bigger and stronger than a year ago. My legs, hips and butts are still the same size, so WOO-FUCKING-HOO! For awhile there I was doing an extra session of upper body work, so I guess it has paid off. Funny thing is I haven't gained any weight, so my guess is my body fat went down maybe another .5-1%? Whatever, I can certainly tell how my new swimsuits fit that I've gotten a tad bigger across my chest and back. Now if only I would start swimming faster...whatever.

Happy Spring, by the way! It's only a matter of time before the daffodils are blooming, and I'll try and remember to take some photos of my flower beds, as the beautiful parade of blooms begins!


Weekly Totals 03/12/2007-03/18/2007
Swim: 7700 yards (4.37 miles) in 2.65 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 927 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 81.39 miles in 4.65 hours; 38% of weekly workout time; approx. 2131 calories burned
Run: Approx. 22.04 miles in 3.39 hours; 28% of weekly workout time; approx. 1532 calories burned
Strength: 1.48 hours; 12% of weekly workout time; approx. 370 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 107.8 miles in 12.17 hours; approx. 4960 calories burned
Sleep: 8.21 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.27 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

That's Amore! (free recipe included)

That's the helmet I just ordered online for the new steed. Hint: Italian. I love Italian stuff--Italian red wines (favorite is Barolo), Italian food (been cooking it for years), Italian men (Mario Cipollini would be proud of my soon-to-be bike styling), Italian cars (if only I could afford or even RIDE IN a Ferrari), Italian bikes (he he).

Speaking of Italian food, I must be cooking too much. My freezer is jam-packed with goodies! But they should last me a few months, and come in handy once I begin doing double long rides on the weekend.

I don't know what's up with my body--but I keep waking up starving. My guess is that I am way off on my calorie needs, especially since I don't wear my HRM any more to give me a clue as to what I'm burning. I feel like a damn Ferrari--I run on high performance fuel! A few other very low body fat athletes I know report the same phenomenon, so I'm really not complaining--it's just a bit unnerving to wake up at 4AM because my body is done processing my last meal (if you know what I mean, wink-wink!) and my stomach is growling!

This racing every other week with big, intense weekends has been fun, but man, it's exhausting. I am truly glad this will be over in 2 weeks. But the intensity has been revving me up in other ways, as evidenced by a recent sewing binge, and today I pulled down drapes in 2 bedrooms and took them to the dry cleaners, drove around looking for a helmet to match the new bike (gave up on bricks and mortar as you saw above), ordered seeds and plants for my flower beds (I always order a bunch of annual seeds and I need some fill-in perennials as well), managed to get in a 2:15 workout (I actually cut it short because I was bonking because I started late and should have eaten another meal before I started but oh well) and I just finished making 2.5 batches of the following, which you just HAVE to try, especially if you love garlic! If you don't love garlic--what's wrong with YOU????

Linguini Fini con Salsa di Noce (Thin Linguine with Walnut Sauce)

Ingredients:
1 pound Linguini Fini (the smaller linguini), or Spaghetti works great, too.

Sauce:

1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pignoli (pine nuts)
2 large cloves garlic (I’m like Emeril LaGasse—more garlic is better, so you might go for 3-4 large cloves)
4 TBSP lightly chopped fresh parsley (do NOT use dried parsley in this recipe--basically remove the stems, and your food processor will do the rest)
1 TBSP softened butter (salted, please)
1 TBSP olive oil (good, extra-virgin)
3/4 cup ricotta cheese (I used fat-free, and it works just great—otherwise you might need to drain the regular kind)
1 TBSP water (more if needed)
1/2 tsp salt (Kosher salt is the best in almost all recipes)
liberal grindings of fresh pepper (at least 1 tsp.)
pinch of dried oregano (actually about 1/8 tsp., which is like a pinch to me—you can use ground oregano, and it works quite well)
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese (Locatello Romano works best--don't use the stuff in a can)

Put all the ingredients into the bowl of your food processor, and process until smooth--there might be some chunks of nuts visible (not in my giant Cuisinart, though), which is OK. If it is too dense, add drops of water sparingly. This makes enough to fit into one of the 1-lb. deli containers, and keeps in the fridge for several days. It's good by itself! It also freezes well.

To serve, cook the pasta al dente (which is 8-9 minutes in rolling, boiling, salted water), add the sauce and toss with forks until blended. Yum!!!

You can double the recipe and only use a bit of the sauce at a time and freeze the rest. It freezes quite well.

More sewing and bike shopping

I made this shirt for my coach for his birthday, shown above finished and also a close-up of the print. I had this fabric in the house for a few years--I bought it in Kealakekua, Hawaii (on the Big Island) 3+ years ago. At one time I was planning on making a dress from it, but I ran across it and thought, hey, that would make a cool guy's shirt. I have no idea if the coach will wear it other than perhaps camping, but I think it's cool, and if it were mine, I would wear it when I was in a "Bite Me" sort of mood!

I have located all my new bike's parts except for the shoes I want, but those should not be a problem. It's been interesting finding things in my CORRECT size for this bike--turns out my existing road bike wasn't fitted too well to me, but the new steed will be perfect. I went nuts on the components, as this is my dream bike, so everything is going to be top-notch. This bike will be more precious than my Griffen, which itself is pretty high-end. Of course, I didn't NEED another power meter, but hey, that's what I like, so the new girl gets one, too.

If anyone is interested, I have a Power Tap built into a 700cm wheel that I am looking to sell for a good price. It's a Powertap Pro, very lightly used, but needs service, probably just the battery. Contact me if interested.

I seem to be recovering from the last weekend pretty well, although I'm still not sleeping consistently over 8 hours. Maybe I've just been too excited about too many things, who knows? If I can make all my scheduled workouts this week, though, that will be good. Only 2 more weeks until I'm back on a "normal" training regimen!!! Which is good, because by then, it should be more reliably warm out and I'll have a new bike and I'll be ready to rock and roll on it!

I'm in Love

...with my soon to be new road bike. My Bitch (pictured above chillin' in Kona) is going to have a new sister, and my existing road bike is going to be sold (anyone interested, let me know and I'll send you the specs and pricing information).

My new frame has been located. I'm told I will have a one of a kind because this frame is a rare bird--I suppose I could have named her "rara avis," but once I have her, I'll reveal her name.

In some ways, I'm a miser--I don't spend money on the "typical" things many people do--going to the movies, stylish clothing, makeup, fancy car, home renovation and decor. Since my 20's I've been saving as much money as possible, because I have never felt financially secure. Why? Because growing up I wasn't. My Dad had his own business for awhile, and when that folded due to technological advances (even though he's an extremely intelligent man), I believe he fell into a depression of sorts and didn't work for many years, and my Mom took over the family upkeep. I can't complain too much, though, because we still had a roof over our heads, we didn't suffer for good food (my Mom was a great cook--not the way I cook, but great for the family), and we still received Christmas and birthday presents, although they were usually necessities. I did spend a bit more while I was married because we had 2 incomes, but it's just me now, so I'm still careful.

I never felt like I was missing out on much because I had many things going for me--we had a piano, and I could play it. Out of 5 kids, I was the only one who was drawn to it instinctively. I began playing tunes I had heard in cartoons by ear at the age of 4. Mom threw some music in front of me by age 5, and I picked up the notation as if it were my native language, and I began lessons by age 6. That piano is still in my childhood home, and I believe my Mom has left it to me in her will, but I do not wish to take it away while my Dad is still living. It's a beautiful, upright Wurlitzer with real ivory keys. You cannot get ivory keys on a piano now, and I would not want them--but the piano was made about 70 years ago, and back then we thought we could kill as many elephants for their tusks as we wanted to make pianos and jewelry! I loved playing the piano--now I just have an electric Rhodes (88 keys, though), that I just tinker on every now and then.

Sometime during grade school (while my Dad was still employed), our ONE TV died, and Dad decided not to fix it (he had at one time worked for Admiral TV, so he knew how to fix it) for an entire summer. No problem! I went to the pool to hang out every afternoon, I taught myself to crochet, and Dad made us read books and do book reports. So I developed a love for handicrafts and reading.

I was into school from the get-go. Back when I was in grade school, it was acceptable for teachers to single out the brighter kids. Lucky for me, because I was one of them, and there were competitions held in reading and math, and I was all over that. So my competitive streak was developed beginning in the first grade! If there was a prize, I was going to win it, dammit, even though the age group was coed!

In 3rd grade, we had the first "election" for a Class President. It was me against a boy. The boy won by one vote, and I was crushed. Welcome to sex discrimination! That one incident set me out to excel even more and show that I could play with the big boys--I DID win the very next election, so I guess I was pushing for women's rights way back then!

By 5th grade, my teachers knew they needed to do something special with me, as I was well beyond the rest of the class, even the other bright kids. My parents did not have money to send me to a private school, and they had tried skipping me 3 grades when I was in first grade, but the principal wouldn't do it because he didn't think my emotional development could take it (in retrospect, I bet if I was a boy they would have skipped me without batting an eye). So early on I was progressing beyond the rest of my classmates, no thanks to a rich intellectual environment at home--we played a lot of mental games including "Go to the Head of the Class" (the precursor to Trivial Pursuit, only it wasn't about trivia), watched a lot of National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau specials on TV, and my Dad took me on regular trips to the Art Institute of Chicago and Ravinia Festival.

So in 5th grade, my teachers allowed me to "fast track" myself in math, reading and Spanish, and I would just "sit through" the other subjects and keep quiet, unless the teacher specifically called on me to answer a question nobody else could. I went to summer school beginning in 7th grade, not because I HAD to, but because I WANTED TO.

My high school was forewarned about me (still public school), since they would need to do something for me lest I be royally bored. So I studied 3 foreign languages at the same time (Spanish, Russian and German), became a teacher's aide in all three, and they put me in math and English classes with kids 2 years older than me, and I was still rather bored and threw off the grading curve. Yes, back then we had ACTUAL GRADES and we were all evaluated against one another. It was a beautiful world to me! I graduated high school as one of 4 valedictorians, but I am always careful to point out that I was the only 1 of the 4 who had perfect straight A's for the QUARTERS, not just at the end of each year! I also graduated with twice the credits required to graduate.

Oh, and the only sports I did back then was badminton--I was on a coed intramural team with this guy and we beat the pants off everyone else. The very first arrow I shot in gym class was a bulls-eye, but I never pursued that. I sucked at golf and kickball. I would ride my bike recreationally as a way to cool the mental jets and get fresh air.

7th grade was when I took up sewing and cooking and learned to type. My typing teacher was amazed at how fast I was right away (80+ wpm), and I told him I played piano, and I asked him if that explained it, and he grinned and said, "Yes, it most certainly does." I moved up to 100+wpm over the summer, and this enabled me to begin working part-time alongside my Mom.

The sewing thing was initially a necessity, as my Mom had been sewing my clothes, but since she had to return to work because my Dad decided to stay unemployed for awhile, she wouldn't have time to sew so much, and as a young girl, I wanted to be somewhat fashionable, so I taught myself.

My academic glories paid off, as I earned a full scholarship to Northwestern University, where I decided to "have fun," and didn't worry so much about my grades. In the end, I graduated with an A minus average, and I was perfectly OK with that. I started out pre-med, then switched to biomechanical engineering, then education, and finally, I majored in math. If I had honed in on math right away, I would have had a graduate degree in 4 years, but I wasn't worried.

I worked while I was in college, too--for 2 years as an assistant to a genetics professor (mostly feeding and cleaning up after fruit flies, ah, Drosophila!), and then doing night office work typing from dictation. The night job was a buzz, because they paid me for 4 hours no matter how long the work took! Since I was still a speedy typist, I would get the work done in 1.5-2 hours max. But I was so honest, I kept telling them to leave me more, and they just couldn't believe I was getting it all done so fast. After a few months, I began CORRECTING what I was hearing and putting little notes on the finished product to let them know what I had changed. After another month or so, they told me to stop leaving the notes, because they trusted me to correct things! What was I typing? Group insurance quotes from Underwriters. So as I typed, I learned another new skill. The year I took off from college to earn some more money (the academic scholarship didn't include extracurriculars like my Sorority dues), this company (Washington National Insurance) happily allowed me to work full-time, and even as they saw me work live, they couldn't believe what I could do. So they immediately promoted me (much to the chagrin of some other young women who had worked there for a few years), and asked if I wanted to become an Underwriter. But lucky for me, the Group Actuary asked to speak with me about a career as an Actuary. So I began taking those exams, finished up my last year of college, and during my last year I got a job at a consulting firm doing actuarial calculations and working with computer programs to calculate numbers required to be reported to the government about pension plans.

Through all of this, I lived frugally, because it was just how I had been raised. When I got the job at the consulting firm, though, I couldn't believe how much money they were going to pay me, and yet I still didn't go wild spending. And even as my career marched on through my 20's and 30's, it was always difficult for me to make big purchases. Still is.

So now I'm about to drop major cash on a new bike. All I needed was some encouragement from a few "enablers" to convince me I deserved the new bike. I do have the money, and even though I don't live as frugally as I once did, I still do not spend to the same level that many people I know do. But I also love the fact that I can cook really well, sew really well and even fix a few things myself. My Mom said, right up until her death last year, that she was always conflicted about how "independent" I grew up to be. Needless to say, it can get me into a bit of trouble with men, because I am not one to act dumb or helpless. But it applies equally well to other women, who can be puzzled by my assertive nature. Triathlon is a good thing for me because it allows me to be myself 100%, even if at times I appear overly aggressive in my goal setting or race expectations.

And I'm still cheap in some ways. But now it's more of a selective cheapness. I could care less that my kitchen could use an overhaul--I'd rather have a new bike! I should have the entire interior of my house painted, but I can't stand the thought of how much time it would take to move all the furniture (which invariably leads to assessing every single object and whether it should stay or go) and all that--I'd rather be out riding my bike!

My new bike comes at a good time for me. It seems that I go in 5-year cycles, where there is some major change. I suppose this new bike is sort of a mid-life crisis, but I don't feel like I'm in a crisis--just that it was time for me to be a little frivolous.

I'm not saying what the new bike is--when it's built, I will take pictures (good ones), and tell all about it. And now I need to begin saving for my 2008 exploits, which will involve my butt on that bike for many miles. I'm definitely going to California in February to ride the Tour of California ahead of the peloton, and someone gave me another idea for one of my dream trips--cycling in Italy! So those 2 things will bracket my next year, and I have no clue what will come in between, but I suspect my Bitch will feel left out if I don't fit in a few triathlons, at least 1/2 Ironman distance. But so far, 2008 does not include an Ironman.

I suppose I'm also feeling good today because I slept a solid 9 hours last night, even though I had my first near-death experience riding outdoors. Yes, that's right--my first outdoor ride, and I almost got killed! Good thing I was paying attention to the stupid fool turning right trying to run me over and was able to swerve to avoid being hit. The man apologized to me, but I told him, "You need to look BOTH WAYS AND USE TURN SIGNALS." Of course, that nice statement followed on the heels of an extremely loud diatribe, whose contents I will not reproduce here.

It's spring, I'm in love, life is great!

Weekly Workout Totals 3/5/2007-3/11/2007 and Race Report

I failed to best my nemesis, SBH (Surly Bitch Hag) today. What can I say? She was better than me on the day. But at least I looked good doing it and smiled and was encouraging to the rest of the racers and extremely thankful to the volunteers. Unlike SBH...

Maybe you think I am using a strong name for a person because I didn't take first place today. Not so. Me--I just didn't have it, even though I gave it the old college try, and I was bested by a worthy competitor. I am chalking it up to still getting less than optimal amounts of sleep and a crazy workout/racing schedule that has been making it difficult for me to recover. Oh well, my choice (except for the sleep thing)!

Two weeks ago I thought I had spotted my nemesis, and I was right, but today we got to be up close and personal, racing in the same wave. I am positive she knew who I was (#2, we tri harder, right?) and she commenced scowling at me from the get-go. Geez, lady, lighten up a bit! I know I am damn competitive, but that has never stopped me from wishing my fellow competitors good luck, thanking the volunteers (today my man was Ken, who had lost his wife to MS just 2 years ago-- the race proceeds go towards MS, so it was very poignant), and doing at least one thing to make the day fun, even in the midst of a hard effort.

Today I wore a hot pink/black zebra stripe bra top and my lowest of low-cut black Desoto tri shorts. NOTE TO ANONYMOUS: YEAH I LIKE SHOWING OFF MY ABS AND YOU CAN KISS MY NEAR BUTT CRACK THAT WAS SHOWING TODAY. And I looked damn good in the outfit. So SBH is glaring at me, perhaps because of how I'm dressed (tough shit, bitch I have aged better than you--just ask all the men taking a gander), or perhaps that's her way of getting her "game on" (I may get serious looking, but I don't think I've ever scowled at a competitor), and she knows we are closely matched in speed, and we are probably both out for blood today. No smiles for her, though! I am smiling, trying to be relaxed (as relaxed as I can be at the start of a race), SO thankful that Ken is my guy, encouraging the woman I am sharing a swim lane with (who I can tell is a poor swimmer--she ended up doing some combination of pretend backstroke/treading water, but hey, she's here, right? Better than 99% of the people out there) and frankly, as is the case with every race I do, just incredibly grateful that I can DO this shit, you know?

There was no snow to shovel today. I stretched for 20' at home and got a nice pre-race massage. The pool was a bit warm for my tastes, but I should be able to swim OK today, and I did. Still not quite as hard as I would have liked, and I may have even equalled SBH (who is at least 4" taller than me and quite the swimmer, but she was breaststroking there at the end).

Nice, quick shower, change out of my swimsuit bottom (I wore a black swimsuit bottom because I don't like swimming in the tri shorts and we have TEN WHOLE MINUTES FOR COSTUME CHANGE), and on to the bikes. I know SBH and I are pretty equally matched here, as I complete the first mile first in the wave. As we bike, there's a white board where volunteers move a little bike next to your bike number each time you hit a mile, so you know who is on which bike, and me and SBH were scoping one another out. She did complete 1 of 6 miles before me, but I was first on all the rest. So we had to have finished the bike leg neck and neck in terms of mileage completed.

Get off the bike, nearly puke, change shoes (I wear trail shoes on the bikes because they are stiffer than running shoes, and since the bikes don't have clipless pedals, this allows for a bit more power transfer), and head upstairs to run. About 5 other women in my wave, including SBH are at the front of the line. My thought is they can't all be that fast--and I was right--since the entire lot took off like stuntmen who had been shot out of a cannon. I thought to most of them, "I'll see you in a few laps," and I was right. I am certain some of them were surprised to be passed by me, but hey, I think I know what I'm doing.

I didn't even look at my watch or bother with splits, as I thought I was running well enough, but when I hit 1 mile I did look and it was uh-oh, I suck today. I did manage to pick it up for the remainder, but it just wasn't good enough today. SBH may have gone 3/4 lap more than me on the day. Even once when she passed me, I said to her, "Nice run," and I meant it. What did she do? She made some waving hand gesture like "WTF are you doing talking to ME?" Oh well, I tried anyway. When someone says that to me in a race, I try and at least make a thumbs up sign to show that I heard them and I appreciate it, since I may not feel like talking. When I would pass other girls, we invariably exchanged words of encouragement like, "Nice job," "Good pace," and mutual, "Thank you's," even as we are barely able to breathe!

As competitive as I am, hey, it's called COMPETITION for a reason. The word is derived from the Latin word competere, meaning, "to strive together." If there are no other people, it ain't no competition, and I am grateful for others out there pushing for their best and also pushing me to do my best.

So when it's over (after nearly puking, so I did give it my best), I see SBH, and come on, she knows who I am. I extend a hand to congratulate her and she puts her hand out like it was some big inconvenience! I think she only did it because there were other people watching. And of course, she didn't smile. I should have said the big, "Fuck You" right then and there. But I didn't. I said to her, "Great race!" with a smile on my face, and I meant it. But seeing that woman continue to grimace, you can imagine what I was thinking. I feel sorry for her if she couldn't get a bit of good feelings from doing what she did, especially since she won!

And next, I needed to run 1:30, but I couldn't use the treadmills at the race facility, so I gathered up some takeout snacks (they had pizza and pretty good guacamole and chips, YUM!), and drove home to run at my Y. I could have run outdoors, but I just wanted to control my effort and I did NOT want to run hills, and that's all there is from my house.

I had a pretty good run, considering, and I am pretty fucking beat up right now. Tomorrow I have to put on my happy face and give 2 presentations at a conference. Too bad I won't be wearing shorts, because I love to show off my numbers! If anyone tells me I look tired, I will be more than happy to roll up my left sleeve and display the evidence!

All in all, I really can't complain about my performance--it's my own damn fault that I am stacking these nasty fucker workouts over the last 6 weeks, but thankfully only 2 more to go and then hey, a 4 hour ride sounds like a piece of cake! I mean really! So that's the beauty of what I'm doing right now--it's all about making the next stage of training as well as the Desoto American Triple T go well, although let me tell you that will be no cakewalk.

No news on the new bike yet--stay tuned, this shall be done!


Weekly Totals 03/05/2007-03/11/2007
Swim: 5735 yards (3.25 miles) in 2 hours; 16% of weekly workout time; approx. 700 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 89.06 miles in 5.08 hours; 40% of weekly workout time; approx. 2388 calories burned
Run: Approx. 26.91 miles in 4.08 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 1850 calories burned
Strength: 1.43 hours; 11% of weekly workout time; approx. 358 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 119.22 miles in 12.59 hours; approx. 5296 calories burned
Sleep: 8.14 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.6 hours.
Massage: 2 hours

Goals from Last Week:

• Finalize bike frame and component: Well, I have the parts list together...waiting on some details.
• Kick ASS at the next race on Sunday 3/11. I gave it my best, and it was only good for 2nd place, but I'm good with it.
• Kick down the coffee one more notch. DONE.
• Enjoy the fact that I'm on MAINTENANCE STRENGTH TRAINING!!!! Yeah, baby!
  Increase the sleep. Did better than the week before, but still needs work.
• Lose that last stupid pound of weight that is hanging around (although I suppose it could be muscle, so it's not really a concern). DONE.
• Hope that nothing weird or strange happens and nobody close to me or any wild animals die in front of me or bite me. It was a good week.
• Enjoy the heck out of my next week of life. DONE.

Goals for Next Week:

• Improve sleep to over 8 hours per night.
• Less alcohol (hey, I couldn't eat pizza without a beer after a race, could I???)
• RECOVER!

Thank You, Slow Guy

Today I got to do my track workout. I skipped yesterday's bike ride because I woke up too early again and couldn't fall back asleep, but I slept well last night, so I'm getting there on my sleeping.

The track workout includes easy running, strides and a mix of 10K and 5K intervals. I was on my 3rd of 3 sets of the 10K/5K stuff when new runner guy shows up to the track. I had a few minutes of walking time, so I, of course, scoped him out. He didn't appear to be running too fast, but maybe enough to help me out with my next repeat.

So I'm running next to this guy and we're talking, and I'm supposed to be at 10K pace, but I'm running faster than I thought. Anyway, we are chatting (guess I can run faster if I can talk at 10K pace, huh?) and this guy has only run 4.5 miles at the most ever. He's doing a 5K race soon, and he tells me he is going to win the 40+ age group! I tell him he had better run faster if he thinks that (after he already told me this is as fast as he can go), and he says it's for charity so "real runners" won't show up, and I tell him yes they will, because we like to win stuff! Anyway, I'm hanging with him easily on my 6' at 10K pace, and then I gracefully tell him I need to pick it up (I needed to accelerate to 5K pace for 2'). Eat my dust, slow man!

But I must thank him, because all I needed was a slight challenge, and it got me running faster than I had in awhile; in fact I think I may have actually become slightly faster! I ran the 10K pace at 8:00/mile (I believe my 10K pace to be more like 8:10, but hey, now I think I can go 8:00), and the 5K pace at 7:23 (I have my current 5K pegged at 7:50/mile). Yes, that's SEVEN FREAKING 23 FOR THIS OLD LADY! Maybe there's hope for me as a runner yet!

This has me all fired up for my sprint race on Sunday, because I get to go head to head with my nemesis, who has beat me by a hair the last 2 times out. I am going to give her a run for her money, that's for sure. Since I've been at or beyond puking speeds in biking and running workouts for 4 weeks now, it's good to see something is paying off on the track, and since I'm rearranging my workouts later this week, I should be all nice and rested for this race (ha ha my definition of "rest" is just an easy swim and ride the day before).

There are only 2 words to describe how I feel right now--FUCKIN' A.

Weekly Workout Totals 2/25/2007-3/3/2007 and Happiness/Sadness

The week ended pretty well, although almost not.

This morning when I opened my front door to retrieve the Sunday newspaper, there was a youngish raccoon asleep curled up in a ball just outside my front door. The net net is that my neighbor called the police to have animal control retrieve him/her, who is hopefully, resting in peace in raccoon heaven. Poor little guy was either injured or sick, and while I truly wanted to take it to a wildlife shelter, they just won't accept the common raccoon. It did munch a little on a pine cone before it was taken away. I balled my eyes out. Again, I was thinking why do I continue to be tested? See, I'm a lot more sensitive to certain things than many people think I am. Ever since I was a young child, I would care for injured/sick wildlife and you win some you lose some. I appreciate the food chain in nature, yet it always pains me to see an animal suffer. I'm crying as I write this. I've watched every Jacques Cousteau, Nature, and any animal educational TV since I was tiny; so I appreciate all the variety that nature provides us. I am a many-year contributor to National Wildlife and the Audobon Society, and I try my best to live a life that has the least impact on the wildlife and environment that I can.

I did pretty well against my goals for last week and training, but not good enough. I can do better, but at least I know I'm coming around. I did go get measured for the bike, and sadly, the Eddy Merckx frames are too big, so now I've got my sights set on a Pinarello, and I better get it, because I already have a name picked out (secret until said frame is confirmed to be mine). I had so much fun at the bike shop yesterday, I can't describe it, and then I hung out at the nearby running shop to jawbone for about an hour. I am truly blessed in that I know so many excellent athletes who are all extremely intelligent and seem to share most of the values that I hold dear.

Well here it goes, and now I'm back on my old format:


Weekly Totals 02/26/2007-03/04/2007
Swim: 7900 yards (4.48 miles) in 2.75 hours; 21% of weekly workout time; approx. 963 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 77.87 miles in 4.45 hours; 34% of weekly workout time; approx. 2140 calories burned
Run: Approx. 24.12 miles in 3.78 hours; 29% of weekly workout time; approx. 1722 calories burned
Strength: 2.25 hours; 17% of weekly workout time; approx. 563 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 106.47 miles in 13.23 hours; approx. 5388 calories burned
Sleep: 8.07 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.47 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

Goals from Last Week:

• Work no more than 40 hours. CHECK!
• Sleep at least 8 hours per night. I average over 8, so CHECK.
• One less cup of coffee in the morningl. Not so much--but let's say 1/2 cup less.
• No alcohol for the foreseeable future. Well, the chicken fricasee tonight called for "a good red wine," so NOPE.
• Stretch :30/day except the day I get a massage. Not quite, but good enough.
• No more Valentine's candy until my weekly hours go over 14. Had to finish the last open bag. NO CIGAR.
• Back on strength training (I skipped it last week except for shoveling). CHECK.
• Get in 3 solid swims of at least 2500 yards. CHECK.

Goals for Next Week:

• Finalize bike frame and component (fingers crossed, you won't believe it if I get what I want)
• Kick ASS at the next race on Sunday 3/11. Since I'm going to be (cough, cough) SICK on Friday, I will have Saturday off.
• Kick down the coffee one more notch.
• Enjoy the fact that I'm on MAINTENANCE STRENGTH TRAINING!!!!
• Increase the sleep. It's coming, trust me.
• Lose that last stupid pound of weight that is hanging around (although I suppose it could be muscle, so it's not really a concern).
• Hope that nothing weird or strange happens and nobody close to me or any wild animals die in front of me or bite me. PLEASE GOD I'M BEGGING YOU!!!
• Enjoy the heck out of my next week of life.

Check Out My Jammies! (also free recipe)

I bet you thought this was going to be something racy....not today, sorry.

I finally finished sewing 2 pairs of flannel PJ's this morning. It's hard to photograph them 1) because I only have a stupid camera phone (no, I am not buying a digital camera just for blogging) 2) because the prints are rather large, but I did anyway.

The first picture is of the poodle print. It has pink standard poodles all over and their names--Fifi, Mimmi, Coco, Frou Frou, Lulu. But even better, EIFFEL TOWERS!!! So not only is this a French theme, but it is bicycling-related.

The second picture is of the Chinese takeout print. You can't see all the things on there, but they include: a takeout box, chopsticks, eggroll, fortune cookie, soy sauce packets, tea cups and a menu.

The third picture is of 2 pairs of what I call "pool pants." I have a number of pairs of flannel pants that I've made from my PJ bottom pattern that I wear all winter long for, well, basically trips to the pool/gym. They are comfortable, warm, and since I make them myself, I get to choose interesting prints. The pair on the left also has poodles, but they are enjoying a bit of lunch at a French cafe. The pair on the right are made of fleece, which is also warm and cuddly. You should see how excited little girls get when they see me wearing these!

I've been sewing since I was in the 7th grade. I basically taught myself, although I asked Mom if she'd help me if I got stuck. I took to it like a duck to water, and in high school, I sewed clothes for my entire family, because I enjoyed doing it so much. While I was married, I made Ken shirts, PJ's (we had matching plaid flannel for a few winters and then matching brilliant orange and black tiger stripes) and even a few pairs of shorts. All the throw pillows in my house were made by me, as are all the drapes, except for the ones in the living and dining rooms.

When I worked in downtown Chicago in my 20's and 30's, before the advent of business casual dressing, I was dressed to the nines in dresses and suits I made, most of which I still have, since I was tiny but skinny back then (now I'm tiny and muscular!). Beautiful clothes, I might add--as I have a penchant for haute couture designer stuff. When you make it yourself, you can have a beautiful suit for maybe $150 that would go for 10 times that were you to buy it retail. And yes, I do all the tailoring stuff, except that I don't make bound button holes (I use the machine). I've got some amazing "party dresses" that I pull out every so often just to put them on and marvel at my handiwork, since they are not the kind of thing you wear every day.

I had cut out the PJ's back in December, but you know what happened--I was into a big training phase for Goofy Challenge, and now my weekends are filled by crazy training and racing, and then I had a 3-week spell of working too many hours.

But no worries, I live in Chicago, it's March, and it's SNOWING AGAIN, so the new jammies have at least a month of use in them, sadly probably more like 2. This morning I also finalized my shopping list of parts for the new bike, and shortly I get on the Griffen for a nice 2:30 ride followed by a :30 run, and then it's off to the bike shop I go!

I slept really well last night for the first time in about 4 weeks, so I finally think the stress of work is wearing off. And I've decided I'm going to move my Saturday workout to Friday next week so I have a *taper* for my next sprint race. I'll show that woman who has beat me--wait until she sees what a Crackhead can do with a day's rest. Or at least I hope I show her something great. I may still not beat her, but I'm guessing it will be damn close.

So today is a wonderful, wonderful day--I slept really well, I finished making something nice for myself, I'm looking forward to my workout, I'm going to get fitted for my new bike and hopefully pick out wheels, and when I get done with all that, I'll be eating something I cooked that is so incredibly good--see below for recipe. It's not exactly low fat, but after what I'm doing today and for what I need to do tomorrow (1 hour swim and 1:40 run), it's not like I can't use the calories. And oh--that extra weight from one antibiotic pill is GONE!!! I am 1 pound away from my fighting weight (112). Next week, I go on maintenance level of strength training, so I will be even more rested up for my next race. And tonight I get to wear new, homemade jammies--I am not sure which pair I will break in first!

Life is SOOOOOOOOOO good!

Farfalle with smoked salmon

(1) 16-ounce package farfalle or bow-tie pasta
2 tbsp. butter
1 giant onion or 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
2 large carrots, grated
¾ cup dry vermouth or dry white wine (vermouth is better, trust me)
1 cup light cream or half-and-half
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
¾ lb. salmon filet, broiled and flaked
4 oz. Nova salmon, chopped into 1/2” pieces
1 small jar red caviar (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter. Add carrots and onions and sauté until onions are golden (about 2 minutes). Add ¾ cup water. Leave off heat until pasta is almost done.

In saucepot, prepare farfalle as label directs; drain.

Add vermouth to carrot/onion mixture and heat to boiling; cook 1 minute. Stir in cream, salt, and pepper; heat to boiling. Cook 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat; stir in salmon pieces and chopped fresh dill and parsley. Toss salmon mixture with pasta to serve. Top with caviar.

To make the dish even more heavenly, put some crumbled bleu or Gorgonzola cheese on top before serving.

Crackhead is Getting a Shiny New Thing!

I am in process of specing components to go on this beauty, the Eddy Merckx Carbon 3XM. Dura Ace 10 speed gruppo, Ergomo powermeter on compact crankset, Oval carbon bar, carbon cage, and now I'm wheel hunting, although I already know I'm getting red Salsa Ti skewers. What could be more fun?

I already ride quite a bit, and have plenty of opportunities to be on a road bike; but my existing one is cheap (-ish--it cost me about $2k way back when) and has a crappy gruppo on it. I was considering just upgrading the gruppo, but I was convinced by my coach-and-near-bike-shop (a total enabler, by the way), to just get a new bike. So I'm doing that.

I'll get to use the new steed at least for the 200K and 300K rides I have planned this year, and this would be a sweet ride should I decide to do Silverman (I wouldn't even consider that course on a tri bike). Next year, I'll be attending my coach's elite camp that will follow the Tour of California course, only we ride ahead of the peloton every day (and really, I won't ride every day--I'm not that much of a Crackhead).

What the hell, maybe I'll even smack my new bitch up for Desoto Triple T, as that course is VERY hilly. Whatever her name (sorry, girl, but "Bitch" is already taken by the Griffen Vulcan), she is going to suffer and like it!

Weekly Workout Totals 2/18/2007-2/24/2007 and Getting Back on Track

Wow, is all I can say to the last week of my life. I came out alive and kicking.

Yesterday I awoke to about 3" of not really snow--it was more like the remains of a Snow Cone machine--covering my driveway. I am a nice guy and didn't want to drag the snowblower out at 6AM on a Sunday (not even to spite my neighbor who was the cause of no sleep the day before), and I wasn't sure whether the snowblower would handle it. But I had to leave home at 7Am to make it to my race, allowing for extra time to travel, since it was sleeting now, too.

It took me an hour to shovel my 75' driveway, and I didn't even do it as well as I usually do, because I didn't have time, and the snow was so heavy. I started a little before 6 and when I got back in the house, I had estimated :45, but it was an hour! So it was 7AM and I had to get rolling. I had packed earlier in the morning, so there were only a few more things to get ready and then get out the door. I removed my thoroughly sweaty shoveling clothes (it was 37 degrees outside), put on my swimsuit and street clothes, and took a moment to decide whether I was still going to race. I knew I had just cost myself some speed and power by essentially doing a strength workout (I don't shovel slowly) first, and as my mind quickly recounted the week's events, I just about lost it. The streets were not in good shape, and was I crazy to want to drive anyway just to do an indoor sprint? I thought about what I had written the day before and decided HELL NO I'M GOING.

I went to the bathroom one last time, and just for dramatic effect, the toilet (which I swear wasn't clogged) decided to overflow, as if to give me one more test of my will. At that point, I began laughing like some sort of crazed monster who is able to crush anything in its path simply by looking at it. I've got a race, dammit, and I'm like a bionic mailman at this point, because no snow, sleet, freezing rain, blizzard or some stupid dog who bit me is going to stop me. And I am the mailman that BRINGS IT.

When I got outside my house, it was raining. Not just light rain--big, almost pouring, rain. Great. Let's do this thing. My residential street was a total mess of snow, ice and slush, but as soon as I hit the main street (literally, "Main Street") the roads were pretty clear, but there were patches of ice and slush, so I had to keep things to the speed limit or slightly less.

As I got to the destination town, Wheaton, I recalled the last time I had raced at this venue--2 years ago, and the weather was almost as bad. On the bright side, I had wanted to get my car washed, but the driving rain did a pretty good job of rinsing the salt off! I got to the club, and some nice volunteers asked me how I was doing, and all I could do was laugh hysterically. I couldn't believe I was there, wanted to put myself through a redline sprint race. But I was going to do it. To add even more to the event, I noticed that I was all bloated from taking only one of the antibiotic pills. My body just doesn't like foreign substances in it. I felt fat (the scale showed 5 extra pounds), tired, but determined.

I changed and went to the pool deck. I had to ask another woman to clear her stuff off a bench so I could stretch out my back. She asked me, "You need the whole bench?" I said, "Yep." She wasn't sitting on the bench--it was her precious dry towel that was on it. What a bitch. She's lucky I didn't deck her right there, but I was more interested in stretching.

I met my "person," or my personal timer guy, Cedric. SCORE! I got another hottie, just like 2 weeks ago. He asked me if I wanted him to do anything special while I was racing, so I told him what position the bike seat needed to be, and a few other things. He had done one triathlon, and asked me if I'd done any. I said, "A few." Of course, I smiled and told him it was around 60 now.

I warmed up 100 yards and felt all wrong. I think the torque applied to my core from shoveling had messed me up. Oh well. I still managed 500 yards, all the while struggling mightily to overcome my body's attempt to stop me in my tracks, as well as the pontoon boat swimming in the same lane with me.

Hey, I'm still moving around--I'm OK. Head to the locker room and ask someone to point me to the shower. Another woman racer asked me why, as if I shouldn't want to rinse off the chlorine? Come on, we had 10 minutes to change and get to the bikes. That is like an eternity of time! So I took my shower and went to change.

We got to the bikes, and my main man, Cedric is there with everything set up. I tell him I'll be on my own tunes, Best of Motley Crue (as always in these races), and that I won't be able to hear anything else. They start us off, and I'm doing my same methodology as 2 weeks ago. The effort is extremely hard, but it isn't painful. I think I can do better in 2 weeks. At any rate, I once again put out the most miles in my wave (all of whom were younger than me and a few men included)--5.96 miles.

As we mosied a few feet to the track (the bikes were inside the track), one of the other women asked me how I got so many miles. I told her it was a secret. I would write it here, except you never know who's reading! At any rate, it's more a matter of the stinking hard bike workouts I am accustomed to. This woman and I exchanged names of our coaches (I knew hers; she didn't know mine), she told me she rides Computrainer, and I told her I bet I still do harder bike workouts than she does. I've been training by power for almost 4 years now--and unless you've worked up to it, many people would have a hard time doing what I'm doing.

Anyway, the next gun goes off for us to run. Running does not feel so good--I can tell I am going to be a little off here, and I was right, but I start out at a good pace (my man Cedric is calling out lap splits for me), and manage to hold it.

In the end, I was only slightly slower than 2 weeks ago. As it turns out, 2 weeks ago I was in the top ten women overall! I hung out to get a massage (the folks from the school were happy to seem me again), and then I saw a couple of guys I know on the bikes, so I went over to harass/cheer them. One guy, Jason, only did 6.2 miles on the bike, and he's a good athlete, so I think that shows my biking ability. I hope to actually beat him on the bike in 2 weeks (he's maybe 30?).

On my way to the treadmill, I decide to have a cup of Accelerade. The company had reps at the race 2 weeks ago, only I didn't drink any then. I figured it couldn't hurt, seeing as how I needed to stay fueled for my next workout. I was going on cup #2, when the dude hands me an Accelerade water bottle and tells me it's mine. SCORE!

I needed to go get my long run in, so I headed to the treadmills. At this facility, the treadmills are upstairs. Not a good sign. It has GOT to be hotter up there, and it was, but not as bad as my silly Y. I was about :50 in and feeling plenty tired and wanting to bag it when a young woman gets on the machine next to me. She sees the numbers all over me (I had a volunteer who was new to body marking do mine, and at first she did really small numbers, so I taught her how to do them right, and ended up with extras), and asks me about the bikes. I ask her if she's raced before, and she says yes, and I ask her if she expects to win her age group (seeing as how she's asking about bike strategy), and she tells me she intends to win overall! So I ask her her name, and it turns out I have heard of her--Jennifer Garrison, a local oustanding triathlete. I am delighted to meet her, and we share all sorts of stories as she warms up, and I continue inflicting pain on myself (she was also going to do a long run after her race). It was great, because by having a conversation with her, I got myself to run longer than I thought I could. I ended up doing 1:20 on the machine, and then went downstairs to run :05 on the track, which would be good enough for today (I was supposed to run 1:40, but no worries, this week has been challenging enough).

I'm running on the track and people are looking at me since I have numbers galore, and am running a decent pace, but I smile since I am just about done working out for the day! I get one more massage, where one of the therapists tells me I should go to massage school since I already know so much about the body (she's right, and I am thinking about going to massage school, and I had asked the school's owner and teacher earlier what the cost is, and I can easily swing it), meanwhile the girl working on me is a bit tentative as she's only been to school for a month or so. Still, she does a great job and I tell her so, and I look forward to some pizza.

I head to the post-race food area, and they only have sandwiches, but I'm told pizza is scheduled to arrive in about :20, so I grab a small sandwich and walk around a bit, and end up talking to a couple more volunteers, who notice that I am salivating over the Clif Bloks. They tell me I can have as many as I want, so one of them makes a bag of about 20. I've never bought them, but I think that was another SCORE!

While waiting for the pizza to arrive, "Dumb and Dumber" is on the beautiful plasma TV (I am low-tech in my house--I don't want to make it more attractive to do something I don't need to be doing in the first place, but I understand the allure of big, beautiful TV's), which is perfect, as that about describes several of the people I've interacted with in the past week, only they aren't charmlingly dumb--just numbingly dumb.

The pizza arrives, and I get a plateful and tie into it. Yum! I eat pizza maybe 3 times a year, but this was great. I washed up and went back to the track to see who was racing, and I spotted the woman who beat me 2 weeks ago--well let's just say I could pick her out of the wave. She's about 6" taller than me, so of course, she's a torpedo in the water, and she looks incredibly fit, so my guess is she beat me again. But I'm at peace (pissed I can't win, but still at peace) with it, given my life circumstances, so I finally get in my car to head home.

It is still pissing cats and dogs as I leave the club, but hey, my car is cleaner than when I arrived! The rain is pretty driving, and I approach a railroad crossing in town and a freight train is at a DEAD STOP. WTF??? I look up and roll my eyes and shake my head and ask the higher being why do you keep testing me? I drove a few blocks to see if I could see beginning or end or a way to get over the tracks and home. Even though I was refueled, my body was insisting that I lay down now.

In less than 5 minutes, the train began to move--slowly, but it was going. I only had to wait about 5 minutes more, and we were clear to go.

When I am about halfway home, the rain changes over to sleet and then snow as I watch the thermometer in my car go from 37 to 35, to 34 to 33 in all of 10 minutes. Great! At least I will make it home before it turns into another bloody mess.

But by the time I get home, my driveway has another 2" of new snow on it, and I decide I better get a head start, so I drop my bags in the house and go back out to shovel some more. I get lucky, because my youthful neighbor, Matt, arrives back home, and I decide to have a chat with him about the noise levels. I had rehearsed a nice way to do this the night before, so I was prepared. I told him I needed his help, but that it was quick. Of course the guy doesn't wear "real" winter clothing, because he's a young hipster (er--what is it you call a stoner with a job?), so he walks over, we meet halfway, and I tell him I can hear his stereo loud and clear in my bedroom. But I don't want to be a fuddy-duddy, and I'm OK with it up until about midnight. But after that, not so much. He says he didn't know (and I think he was stoned while I'm talking to him), and he was glad I had said something. I told him I would have called, but his number is unlisted. I was nice, but let him know that if it keeps me awake again, I will not be getting out of bed and knocking on his door--it will be the police (not so good if you are stoned, huh?). I told him I hope it doesn't come to that, and he is actually a bit apologetic. At any rate, he knows that I was being honest AND nice, so let's hope I don't get awakened at 3:00AM any more!

Once I am safe and sound in my house, I decide to look up what my race times and workouts were 2 years ago when I did these races and won my age group to see how I compare now. Turns out I am as fast as 2 years ago, but with much longer and harder workouts the day before. So in a twisted way, I feel pretty good, and I believe I can go even faster. We shall see in 2 weeks, as I taper off the long working hours and a few more things.

Now it's time for me to get back to weekly goal-stating here, since I've been a slacker about it, and if I really want to race well in 2 weeks, even if I do a nasty 2:30 brick the day before and even if more snow comes and I'm tired when I begin, I want to do better.

So here's what I managed to pull out for last week in the face of too many obstacles to count:


Weekly Totals 02/19/2007-02/25/2007
Swim: 4400 yards (2.5 miles) in 1.5 hours; 14% of weekly workout time; approx. 525 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 77.13 miles in 4.4 hours; 40% of weekly workout time; approx. 2114 calories burned
Run: Approx. 23.02 miles in 3.54 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 1608 calories burned
Strength: 1.67 hours; 15% of weekly workout time; approx. 418 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 102.65 miles in 11.11 hours; approx. 4665 calories burned
Sleep: 7.57 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.47 hours.
Massage: 2 hours

Goals for This Week:

• Work no more than 40 hours
• Sleep at least 8 hours per night
• One less cup of coffee in the morning
• No alcohol for the foreseeable future
• Stretch :30/day except the day I get a massage
• No more Valentine's candy until my weekly hours go over 14
• Back on strength training (I skipped it last week except for shoveling)
• Get in 3 solid swims of at least 2500 yards

Gee, from the sound of it, these goals are to get me back in line with my usual life. YEAH, BABY!