Getting Stronger!

You all know how it happens. It's by doing this, right?
"Harder, longer, faster, tougher, repeat."
--Crackhead

There really is no other way. I've been on my plan now since December 1, 2014. 5 weeks in, and I'm lifting heavier again while increasing my FTP, my VDOT and my swim T-pace (all of which were in the toilet for well over a year). I would consider this week a marker of just how well I'm doing, because on Tuesday this week I:

• Shoveled snow for an hour (used the snowblower, too, but I like a really clean driveway), then
• Warmed up for :30 followed by a 1-hour Sufferfest video, The Downward Spiral, on the bike. While I wouldn't say it felt "easy," and I may regret saying this in 2 weeks, I enjoyed it. The video is basically a descending ladder of FTP efforts, starting at 2:00 (same rest as the interval) down to 15" by 15" decrease each one. And you do it twice.
• Lifted for :43. Mostly core and upper body
• Had my first MAT session, which did require me to move around a bit and do a bunch of isometric contractions. Received a compliment from the practitioner that I am quite limber in my hips for someone my age. NO SHIT!

Now, I should have been completely waxed after all that, but I ate well, and got up yesterday and did this:

• Swam 2500 (I'm doing shorter swims but am building them up again) with some fast intervals in there (for me) that I didn't feel like I was dying.The last 600 was pulling with paddles.
• Did my 2x10 press outs in the pool before leaving. Got a compliment from a guy who has previously scorned me for how much training I do--he called me Iron Girl and said he hoped some of my strength would rub off on him. He said maybe he could be Plastic Man! I smiled and tried not to laugh too much at that, as I was thinking of my Barbie dolls when he said it:

 

• Headed to the indoor track for my track workout. On my last 400, I went faster than I've gone in years. Maybe it is faster than I've ever gone doing intervals.  But on the LAST ONE! I pumped my fist in the air then stopped my watch. There was a young couple there that I'd seen on the track the last couple weeks. The guy (who looks like your typical sprinter--what a physique on him!) said I must have hit a PR. I told him I did, and he told me what great shape I'm in! I mean the dude knows nothing about me, he runs like a bullet (he ran track in college and also for Nike for a time), and he's telling ME I'm in great shape? I think I was blushing, and he said it a few more times as we continued to talk. I'd been feeling out of shape and a bit on the plump side. Maybe I've been hallucinating.
• Later in the day, I did another :30 of strength training, this time attacking my upper body but also getting some of my leg work in there. This week is week 2 of 2 sets of 8 reps at higher weight than I was at 4 weeks ago.

Today I just need to lift for maybe :30 and do a 1:30 bike workout, and I feel G-R-E-A-T. Sure I have some soreness here and there (I stretch :15-:25/day), but I could be a whole lot more fatigued. Last week, I was pretty rough, but knew I would adapt to the load. It's tough when I'm going through an increase in weight/sets/reps strength-wise, but I expect it and love when I can feel the results of everything coming together. Sure we all have our on and off days, but you don't put together what I've been doing randomly or without planning and purpose.

Today I might have shit for watts on the bike, but the overall trend is UP. And that is a great feeling. Only 3 weeks until my first "real" race (a supersprint), and only 10 weeks until a 1/2 Ironman, so this is all good. I am so happy to be back in the swing of "normal" winter training! It's been 3 years since I've been at this level at this time of year, and it is just an awesome feeling. Now is when I get faster and stronger, and then beginning in April I add the "far" so I am faster at farther. I wish everyone could feel this great. It's a shit ton of hard work, but I am happy to do it!

Fashion Update

I've been monitoring how I feel for months now, to understand if whether how I feel is tied to the synthetic thyroid hormone (I will just abbreviate it as STH from here on out), the high amount of training I'm doing or what have you.  I noticed when I began sleeping less, but I have years of data on how much I sleep alongside how much training I'm doing, and I decided that my doctor prescribed too much STH.

2 days ago, I left a message at my Dr. that I think they stepped me up too high, and could we change the amount because I have been feeling a bit edgy, sleeping less, and occasionally my heart gets jumpy (but not during exercise).  I had requested that my TSH level be medicated to 1-2, but it came back at .676 last test, which is technically not hyperthyroid, but I can tell that for me, I'm just a little bit too wired.  Anyone who follows me on Facebook no doubt has seen the dramatic change of me going from background or completely absent to highly active.  My friend Susan has been the victim of me talking close to the speed of light, and while I get close to that warp speed while in heavy training normally, this has become a bit much.

I didn't hear from my Dr. yesterday so I called and left another message.  This time, I was a little agitated when I left it, stating that while this is not a medical emergency and I do not need to go to the emergency room, nonetheless I need this to be fixed right away.  The pills I was taking are 75mcg, and my prior dosage was 50mcg, so trying to cut the 75mcg's to make something halfway between just wasn't going to cut it.  LOL I made a pun there, did you catch it?

So I did get a callback yesterday mid-morning, and I asked why Dr. had stepped me up such a big increase from 50mcg to 75mcg?  Previously, I'd started at 25mcg, then 37.5 mcg, then 50mcg, and then 75mcg.  So you see the other jumps were gradual.  Do you know what the fucking nurse said?  "We moved you to 75mcg because there are no pills made between 50 and 75."  DA FUCK.  Lucky for her, I was not inclined to jump down her throat (I actually commended myself for this).  I had to initially make a case for getting my TSH down to 1-2, and then they pull this shit on me and turn me nearly dangerously hyperthyroid? Cool.  Well it was fun while it lasted!  Before any of you become outraged at my attitude toward the nurse, know that I know she didn't do it, and I truly didn't react to her.  I thanked her profusely for calling me and answering a bunch of questions I had, and I am guessing the entire time she was like FUCK THIS WOMAN NEEDS TO CHILL GOOD THING SHE ASKED FOR LESS STH!

I now have a bottle of 25mcg pills, and I am to take 2.5 (which is 62.5mcg) per day.  They told me to buy a pill cutter, but assholes, these are tiny pills and besides they are scored, so I can just break them in half for the .5 piece.  I bought the pill cutter anyway, in case I need it down the road for something else, since I'm an old lady and who knows what the hell else will be wrong with me?

You may be able to tell from my writing that this little science experiment had gone a tad too far!  Also I noticed that all I want to listen to is NIN, but that usually occurs about this time in an Ironman training cycle, so it's tough to say whether that's from the training or the drugs.

At any rate, I need to be able to sleep more than 5 hours at a time.  I truly don't believe the STH has had any impact on my workouts...it has just accelerated my leaning out, MAYBE.  I say this because I noticed some fat coming off in early July which coincided with me going over 18 hours of training per week, and at that level, well, it just is impossible for me to NOT lose fat.

That is what makes this science experiment difficult to analyze objectively--the fact that some changes that normally occur with me at certain training levels are coinciding with the increased STH dosage.  Certainly my Dr. would have no way of knowing all the variables that are in play here in as much detail as I do.  So once again, I am glad that I keep track of not only my training hours, but how much I am sleeping, because without that, I wouldn't have been able to look back historically to see whether what I've been experiencing is normal or not.

Jesus fucking Christ am I typing fast!  I'm a pretty fast typist anyway (north of 100wpm), but it's like I can't get the words out of my head and into the machine fast enough.

It shouldn't take much more than a week for my body to settle with the new dosage of STH, and thank God because I know I need more sleep. 

On the plus side, I am just about at my fighting weight/body comp.  Thing is, I am not dropping weight, which means my fat/muscle ratio is shifting.  I can see it in my face, my abs and my legs.  Cool thing is that I am about 2 lbs. heavier than what I used to consider my fighting weight, and I don't think it's from more fat, hey!  So I guess I really DID manage to pack on some more muscle last year while I was allegedly noodling around doing nothing.  But I do plan on getting tested, that plus my BMR so I can see just how my body is performing, but I will wait for at least 3 weeks until the new STH level has taken effect.  I have a master "to do" list, and one of the items is QUIT BEING FAT.  I struck it out just now!

Here's a recent picture of me

I've been looking at older pics to see how I compare to other times when I've been pretty lean, and I think I'm there.  My legs are a bit fuller now, but that's OK.  Everything else it right in line with where it should be.  Another way I can tell is that when I'm running, men are nearly crashing their cars to get a look at the Crackhead.  I feel confident in rolling my run shorts down now, there's nothing disgusting there to see on my abs anymore.

Speaking of running, yesterday I did a tempo run and was about 1.1 miles from home when I saw this man on a bike (upright touring style) that I see frequently on my usual running route. We waved at one another (I started waving at him this spring, and actually I've been waving at any runner or cyclist pretty much all the time, which is fun because it makes me smile, and I hope that my smile is infectious), then he did a U-turn and I knew he wanted to meet me.  Turns out he's 57 and was a serious runner in college.  The first thing he said to me is that he'd always wanted to tell me how great my running form is!  I told him that was the best thing I'd heard in awhile.  Lots of people who see me running think that all I do is run, so his first question was how much do I run per day?  And well, then I had to tell him about the other stuff I do and I could see his brain working overtime to process what I was telling him. I rattled off what I did last week (35 miles running, 180 miles biking and about 10,000 yards swimming) and he was a bit incredulous, which is fine by me!  I told him that I'd only been doing endurance since the age of 42, he asked me my current age was a bit taken aback.  He also commented on my abs, and yes, I know this is why people stare--there aren't many women PERIOD who have definition.  Mostly I was just happy to finally meet this guy (his name is JR, which I will remember from the old TV series Dallas--now I guess this is another strange coincidence wow life is really throwing them at me lately), and so now when we pass one another we can shout our names out!  The poor guy probably thought I was a bit wigged out, because like I've said, my speed of talking has gone supersonic lately, and I really hope it chills out in another week.

So, to summarize, the way I know I'm at race weight/body comp is:

1. Men nearly crash their cars trying to gape at me when I'm running.
2. I want to listen to NIN and nothing but NIN.
3. I feel confident rolling my running shorts down (zero muffin top!).
4. I feel light as a feather running up hills.  Yes, this is happening now, too!
5. I have no problem taking and posting nearly naked pics of myself (the above is the fault of one Jeff H. who posted a pic of a little girl doing pushups next to her row of Barbie dolls, and of course I had to replicate it).  But I will avoid this mostly--everyone has seen enough pics of me nearly naked!

I am still pinching myself (despite the over medication) at how wonderful I feel.  Knowing that I really HAD trained a fair amount last year and seeing that I am able to pick up speed NOW is such a great feeling, and looking forward to being up at Ironman Wisconsin to cheer and then it will be only 3 months until Ironman Cozumel!

Life is good, but should be even better in another week or so!

Oops! I Did it Again!

Watch/listen while you read and stare:

Britney Spears - New Music - More Music Videos

So I woke up this morning feeling appropriately tired from yesterday's festival, including a little "fatigue headache," which is something that comes with the territory when I'm training this much. I had some breakfast, did some Intertubes, changed my bed and fired up some laundry. After I went outside (in crappy ass weather) to grab the Sunday newspaper, I brought in a new acquisition that inspired me to go ahead and do this little workout:

10 rounds of:

• 10 chinups
• 15 air squats
• 15 military pushups
• 5 dead bugs each side of body, extended arm and leg about 1" from ground; hold 10 seconds
• 10 1-2-3-4's, which are standard crunches where you lift your torso progressively 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and all the way up slowly and then back down the same way

It took 28:47, and then I capped it off with 5' of jump rope done as 30" easy skipping and 30" of fast, continuous jumps. So I kept the chinups and abs same as last week but added 50 squats and 50 pushups over last week.

FUCKING A!

I had company for the workout, and here she is:

This is before we started.

She had to have some help with the chinups, so I strapped her onto the bar!

Her Dead Bug technique isn't as good as mine.

Her air squats left something to be desired, too.

I can't believe she could do pushups on her fingertips--I can't, so I guess I suck!

Nothing felt bad during the workout until I was on the 8th round, and then it was just the chinups that got a bit rough for me, so that's my weak spot in this. Although I am not back at the point where I can do the clapping pushups, either, which I used to be able to do, but I guess that's just something I need to practice.

Here I am (all narcissistic and all, and no I did not wear that cheetah top while doing the workout--I was, in fact, topless!) after finishing up:

Crap my back still looks undeveloped.

It would appear that chinups and pushups are good for my upper body

Me and my workout partner. And NO we're not gay!

I've had this jump rope for over 10 years. It has served me well, and I'm glad to be using it again!

If I look a little tired here, it's because I am. I was a little light-headed, but nothing that some Gatorade and a hard-boiled egg couldn't fix.

Now it will be interesting to see if I can knock out a 2:15 trainer ride and :20-:30 swim. I predict a nap in my future!

TIKI HUT FORTRESS OF FUCKING...ER...SOLITUDE!!!

So it's really cold here. REALLY cold. And we've had a lot of snow. For the past week or so, whenever I look out my kitchen window at my neighbor's house, this is what I see:
That house has had no gutters on it for about 10 years, and while the new owner began replacing the roof 3 years ago, they never finished because they discovered the wall facing my house was rotted through. DUH!

Anyway, I've been looking at these awesome icicles, and since it warmed up to -5 today, when I got back from swimming, I decided I should harvest some of them and at least make a nice sculpture thingie in my yard, since the ice probably won't melt for at least a few days. So I began grabbing at them to get some really nice pointy ones, but I couldn't do anything with the one that has frozen all the way to the ground--it is just too strong! I didn't get really artistic or anything, but just made something that reminded me of Superman's ice palace, and this is what I came up with:


Not bad for a few minutes of work, eh? Just so you get an idea of how much ice I harvested, here's the neighbor's house after I pilfered:


But then I thought, hey, the Tiki Hut has never been outdoors in the snow...and you guessed it...

Here's the aerial view:

Here's the front view:

Here's the two horn dogs going at it, as usual:

And then I don't know how they got on top of that big hunk of ice, but they did!

ABSOLUT TIKI HUT!!!!

Bitch, Slut and Whore on Granite

That's the granite that's going in my foyer. I can't say for sure yet, but it may be nicer than the vanity top that will be in the new bathroom upstairs.

Aaaaaaaanyway...the girls are enjoying it...I hope to eventually, too!

Cali Girl Barbie Directs *NEW* Porno TV Cooking Show!!!

The Fun Parts of IMLP

I think this picture from Friday, July 18 pretty much sums it up. It was taken on the deck of the awesome house I stayed in with Shelley and Cindy. Shelley and I are both going back to race IMLP in 2009, and we will be staying in the same house!!! We sort of established a tradition this time that whenever one of us was on deck and someone else was arriving at the house or just driving or walking within sight, we'd flash them. I know there were at least a few appreciative passersby, even if there wasn't much to see when I was the one flashing!

Shelley is a real Crackhead enabler, I have to say. The Hello Kitty panties are a gift from her to me last year, and the Barbie crown and earring set are from her to me this year. The Tootsie Roll socks are just socks I got for myself. In case you would like some for yourself, head to Joy of Socks. They have lots of cool socks, and bonus, they almost work as compression socks!

If you zoom in on the photo (and yes, I know you are doing that), you will see a series of reddish dots just above my right nipple. Those are from something or somethings that stung me on Tuesday, July 15 while doing my last ride before leaving for Lake Placid. Cindy calls them my bee stings, as opposed to my tits which are just normal mosquito bites. Sorry, but I've never had anything in that department! You'd think at least the bee stings or whatever they were would provide some enhancement, but NOOOOOOO.

Later this same evening, Shelley and I had a really nice dinner and some wine on the deck, and then we headed into downtown Lake Placid for a walk--about 1/2 mile from the house. I left my Barbie crown and earrings on since I was feeling rather festive. I'm pretty sure I got a number of strange looks, but I know I was all smiles. We went to visit a mutual friend at his hotel, but he wasn't there, and I guess his wife wasn't too appreciative of our visit or message, which probably came across as two drunk chics asking for her husband. Oh well--we were having fun!

The picture below (that I lifted from Shelley) was taken after Shelley and I had gone riding the same morning on the run course. I bought pirate socks for Shelley, Cindy and me, and we all had fun wearing them, but I can't tell you how much fun it was wearing them while riding! Shelley was also wearing streamers that I had given her, and we were quite the sight! Many of the people who were doing the race had their game faces on and were confused by the sight of us, but several athletes got the joke/fun aspect and would smile and give us high fives or other gestures of approval.





















I don't think I have ever had so much fun in my life, I mean really. Sure, I had my worst Ironman performance in 5 years, but I have put that aside to focus on all the great things that happened during the last week:

• I drove 850 miles straight by myself in 13.5 hours on Tuesday--from New York to home! This proved to me that I can do an Ironman and then do another Ironman of driving. You may think the drive was boring (OK, so I had to speed through Canada), but for some reason it was just another opportunity to apply my focus on something and get it done.
• I got to be a part of other athlete's successful days. Cindy rocked the course, and I am so happy for her! Other friends of mine did the same. So what if it didn't happen to me. And the best part is nobody (at least to my face) said anything remotely like "you suck" to me.
  
• I learned some do's and don'ts for riding and running in the rain. Obviously, if I ever have to do it again, it won't be such a big deal to me.
• I got to be taken care of for a few days. By good friends, and by total strangers. It was the best!
  
• I set a new PR for number of times I peed in a single day. It had to be well over 50 times!
• I think other than during the actual race, I spent more time laughing than doing anything else!

While yesterday morning was an emotional blowout for me (pretty normal post-IM crap), by yesterday evening I was already looking forward to my next adventures--NothingMan is coming up, and I've already got a secret hardcore schedule prepared for 2009 that is beginning to take shape.

In the meantime, I am still a bloated pig with all the extra water I am carrying around--I look nothing like in the pictures above--I'm up about 6 pounds--and while still pretty tired, I'm actually going to go for a short swim today and looking forward to a weekend outdoors.

Life is FUCKING AWESOME!!!

The Truth About Tapering, Part III

First, check out my new bitch! Sorry, Cindy, she's mine! I pre-ordered her a few months ago and completely forgot and then she arrived on Tuesday! Here's another tip for your taper, while you're at home, anyway: arrange to have gifts delivered to yourself! It's really a mental boost to get something brand spanking new during your taper, considering that by this time everything you have for race day should have been tested out already.

Yesterday was another gorgeous day. I awoke after another good 8-hour sleep (I guess my evil plan of cutting out any mid-day training caffeine is working) to a crystal clear blue sky (once the sun came up, that is!). For some reason, on my training plan, I had a hefty swim workout planned for Friday, but that is the day before a swim race, so I had decided I'd do the big workout today (yesterday) because I only had to do a :45 run later in the day.

I have successfully not worn bike shorts on LGL or Bitchie for 2 weeks now, and as it's July, I stopped wearing a shirt over my swimsuit on the way to the pool effective yesterday. I'd rather not wear shorts, either, but CF has a wide saddle, and I need something over the bottom! It was almost 70 when I left for the outdoor pool, and I was glad to not induce extra sweating from wearing a shirt.

I got to the pool by about 6:20, and my posse of cops in training were there. We started chatting right away, and when I finally got in the water (apparently I was in no particular hurry), I demonstrated a bunch of drills to the guys. I'm trying not to bombard them but I did want to show them where this is all going. They are all brutally strong, but they already realize that swimming is about technique more than strength. After all, me, a tiny Yard Gnome, can move through the water pretty well!

Well, the cops were finished, and by the time we went through the drills and all it was 7:00. No worries, I have plenty of time to get in 3300 meters! So I was just about done with my warmup, and Chuck shows up. I stand corrected--he has not done an Ironman--he's done a number of HIM's--but still from what he tells me he trained like a complete fucking maniac when he was doing them. He picks up my baggie with swim workouts in it and inspects what I'm doing. I pointed out that I'd do the big workout today so I'm a little rested for Saturday's swim race (although I could care less how I do--it will just be nice to swim in Crystal Lake, which is beautiful). Chuck got in, I finished my warmup, and now it was time for my main set:

30 x 50 (20"), as odds very Hard, evens very Easy.
3x300 (20") pull at race pace

I haven't done this workout since last year, and for once, I was looking forward to all those 50's! Plus, I had Chuck in my lane, and that was plenty motivating. So I actually blew the carbon out of my arms and was surprised that I had some speed in me, but I tell you, after about 20 of those 50's, even though half of them are easy, your arms are pretty much screaming from the lactic acid buildup. And then I just rested 20" before getting onto the 300's, although I did one 300 and was sick of turning (in a 50-meter pool, go figure), so I swam 600 straight after that. And my pace wasn't bad at all! I was sort of in shock that I was able to swim well, especially since the water was pretty warm.

Chuck and I finished about the same time and then we just hung out in the water talking about who knows what, and we live near one another and so we agreed to meet for our ride home. I'm laughing thinking about us riding home because we rode pretty much two abreast and were just talking and talking and it was beautiful outside (bright sunshine, no clouds) and we both had good swim workouts and it was fun. Chuck peeled off about 1/2 mile from where I live, and he may make it to the pool on Friday, as will the cops, so that will be fun.

One of the things we talked about on the ride back was how there's a lot of riding uphill, because it seems much easier on the way to the pool, but we laughed that part of it is that we've just done a serious workout. But my legs were now letting me know, hey, dumbass, you pretty much did a race yesterday, what the fuck are you doing? Too bad, I just can't justify driving to the pool when it's so nice outside. Although since Chuck and I were riding side by side, I think we both may have been pushing the pace a bit even though we were both on hybrids--ya think???

Back home to work, and I'm feeling a little tired, like I actually worked out or something (go figure!). When it was almost time for me to go run, I could tell my legs weren't going to be too happy about it, but I only needed to go out for :45, so no worries there. I decided to go into the wind, which took me west and north. It is odd for this time of year to have winds out of the NNW, especially when it's in the 80's, but hey, I don't care.

Running this direction took me through a whole bunch of rollers, and I also made sure I ran right out in the open just to make it harder on me even though my legs felt like crap. That run had everything--tired legs, wind, hills, bonkiness and heat. You can't beat that! When I got home, all I could think was fuck, that felt kind of hilly, so I went to this website to check it out (I don't own a Garmin and don't really want one), and what the fucking hell, I guess I was right:





See, even though I live in Illinois, which everyone thinks is pancake flat, the nice little suburb I live in has a good amount of rollers. And I live in a little valley, so pretty much anywhere I go from home is up and then rolling, but this particular run was about one of the rolliest routes I've picked in a long time. But it's all good, since I run on rollers pretty much all the time, that I'm used to it, and I actually don't like completely flat runs (well ask me that in about a week!).

So I laughed at what I had done to myself, and then my legs were pretty much toasted and I wanted to take a nap or at least lay down, but I couldn't. I finished up working for the day, and then I headed to The Bike Shop to get my tubulars checked out, a final derailleur check and just to hang out a bit. On the way, I felt compelled to stop at Binny's to get some booze for the guys at the shop who take such good care of me and my bikes, and also a few liquor-filled candies, which Anthony and I enjoyed. I had Anthony reattach the X-nut on my Hydrotail, which had fallen out on Sunday (I needed a lock nut on the screw), and it was hilarious because he needed my small fingers to get the nut inside while he inserted the screw, and I'm telling him, "Wait, don't stick it in yet!" while I was positioning the nut over the hole. Well, it was funny at the time...

As soon as I got home, I had to mow the lawn, and I must say, I've never seen a better looking lawn in July, but of course, that's from all the rain we had in May and June, and I'm not complaining! My flowers are looking stupendous, life is just fucking awesome!

After mowing, I came inside and chopped ingredients for my dinner salad, popped a beer and stretched for :25, then sat down to eat dinner finally around 7:30. Last night's salad was greens, 2 hard-boiled eggs, a can of albacore tuna, 2 apricots, a handful of blueberries and a tomato, liberally doused in olive oil, balsamic glaze and a freshly squeezed lemon. Yum! I've gone through almost a dozen eggs in the last 5 days.

This morning I'm sensing a little sadness, as I can tell the days are shortening up, but that helps me to sleep a little longer, and I got almost 8 hours again. I'm going to do a flop around in the pool swim, and then I've got another brick workout to do, but I am not going (famous last words!) to go out at sprint pace--I don't think I can today, but we'll see. I'm going to ride Bitchie with the disk on and maybe the aero helmet. Scratch that. If I go out like that, I have to ride hard! We'll see how my legs are--while I ran hilly yesterday, I didn't run very fast.

It looks to be another gorgeous day. Have I said this is my best summer ever? Sometimes when I stop and think about that, I think how could that be when I just lost my parents so recently? But then I think they know how much I am kicking the living shit out of every day, and in the end, we all make our own happiness, right?

Tiki Hut Upgrades

Told ya, peeps!

Food, Awesome Deal for Ladies and General Updates

First pic is last night's dinner--it's farfalle with a sausage, tomato and cabbage sauce, and Ahi tuna seared in a sauce of Marsala, Vidalia onions and ordinary white mushrooms. Man can I cook or what? Notice the tri content--just got Inside (but you already knew all this crap) Triathlon, and I guess to match Tri(constantly repeating content)Athlete magazine, the feature is on the physique. They shoulda put me in there, I swear. Anyway, when you get it, you will see that some of the women weigh EVEN LESS THAN ME!!! I am 5'3" 110 pounds, and on page 55 you see this woman who is only 37, 5'3" 108 pounds, and while she is quite lean, I think I look better than her, so I guess those 2 pounds I have on her are good stuff! Anyway, it goes to show you why when someone says I'm skinny I sometimes go postal on them because I'm not.

The other 2 pics are of a backpack that I bought specifically for when I start riding a bike (the MTB) to the outdoor pool in a month. It's fucking awesome! I got it at the online Kiefer store for $25 plus whatever shipping, and it retails for $45. I'm thinking Kiefer made a mistake with the pricing since you can't find that low of a price anywhere else. As you can see, it also comes in blue. Anyway, I found its measurements (17" x 12.5", but I think it's actually bigger) and figured it would hold my kickboard (they don't supply those at my outdoor pool) and all my other crap. Which is why I took a pic of the kickboard, pull buoy and fins in there, and there's boatloads more room. It also has little pockets for an iPod, goggles and other stuff. The only thing is there is no mesh bag inside, but hey, I always bring plastic grocery bags for my wet crap. Anyway, I love how pink it is, to the point of *SHININESS*.

In other news, I received a bunch of plants that I ordered yesterday, so I'm going to have to plant those this weekend as well as a bunch of flower seeds. I have some interior painting touchups to do, I need new garden hoses (and I found *pink* ones!) and may need to make another trip to the bike shop if my MTB is ready with new pedals and shoes. Oh, and the Barbies got some new digs--let's just say the Tiki Hut is getting a severe upgrade.

In other news, as you can see from the time I posted this, I am still not sleeping much, but seem to feel OK. This week is pure madness with all the training I'm doing. I already did dishes this morning because, well the amount of bottles was getting out of control. And then I'm cooking, too, so it just adds up. I don't know how you people manage in households with multiple people--just my own bottle/dishes mess plus laundry plus general triathlon crap strewn everywhere is enough to make someone go crazy--duh, I already am :)

Tiki Hut Goes to Sea World

Bet you didn't think I could get all these things into a single composition!

Also, there's another secret text message for someone...

Look out Google searchers!

Just Another Ordinary Day at the Tiki Hut

Saturday Morning at the Tiki Hut

Overtrained and What I'm Doing About It

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wrong.

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

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

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

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

The Barbies are bitches. Can't change that!

Amateur Day at the Pool

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Return of the Tiki Hut

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

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

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

I'm Hungry!

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

Tiki Hut Update: Tiki Hut Still MIA; Barbies get New Furniture!!!

The bitches were growing weak due to only have one rotisserie chicken and a few cocktails, so they got naked to conserve energy, and some silent patron of the Barbie arts donated a fridge and some new furniture.

Man--these bitches sure can eat a lot considering how skinny they are! I also have no clue how they hoisted that bike on top of the fridge.

Thing 2, as always, is being lecherous, hiding in fridge drawers and staring at the girls.

And what's up with those dogs?

Tiki Torch Gaming Machines Launch Relief Effort!

Tiki Torch Gaming Machines Launch Relief Effort!
Pahrump, NV – updated 2 min. ago

Tiki Torch Gaming Machines across the State of Nevada have
joined forces to launch a massive relief effort for the
residents and guests of the Barbie Tiki-Hut.

“We stand in solidarity with the Tiki-Hut Barbies,” said
Tiki Torch Big Kahuna earlier today.  “We have machines in
Las Vegas, so we know topless!  We admire and appreciate
the perkiness of the Barbies, and will not rest until
their home is restored.”

Details of the relief effort are sketchy, but seem to
involve some highly risky skimming of pennies from
‘big bonus’ payouts.  If the Tiki Torch machines are
successful, they hope to send a shipment of poles,
tropical grasses, and hemp rope to the Barbies by
week’s end.