Facebook is the new Blogger

OK, OK, I can no longer take the assessment of my blog as "languishing" as an insult. It's become more of a valid observation. However, lately it's seemed that most everyone I know is on Facebook and we all get each other's concise and frequent updates (and, hey, I'm thinking concise is something that perhaps could serve me well...) plus lots of photos, too. It almost feels redundant to post photos here when I already put them up on Facebook. So languishing or not, I'm going with the strategy of using Facebook as my blogging crutch from now on when I'm not up for my usual verbosity.

ANYWAY...catching up again here...last weekend was another fun-a-thon with happy hour with Anh on Friday, a Storm Game + Karoke on Saturday (group efforts I participated in after several beers included "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" and "We are Family") and the last roof BBQ party I hosted on top of the Shoebox building on Sunday night. On Monday I came down with something that only hiking with HH could cure and we spent the day up off of Hwy 2 at Lake Serene. It was another perfect fun day...the tally of those this summer has gotten pretty high, for sure. HH was smart enough to hike with 2 pumpkin beers in her pack (and nice enough to put them in a ziplock of ice when I wasn't looking and surprise me with COLD ones at the top...SWEET!!)





I've also been to a new PT 3 times in the last week for the hamstring situation...not surprisingly, the problem seems to need: (1) rest from running and, (2) improved core strength that can only be achieved by doing exercises correctly (for godsake, isn't it enough to just DO them? Crap, I hate doing them RIGHT and figuring out how to turn "on" the TA muscles, doesn't someone just have a remote or something?). I haven't run in a week, but have been hanging in there with a bit of cycling, another mountain biking lesson (during which I had a short attitude problem, but eventually corrected it) and a lot of swimming, indoors and in the lake. I also have to admit that I've hardly been using my HR monitor at all and...here's the big confession...I'm starting to NOT miss it.

HH and I are road tripping to Sandpoint, Idaho, tomorrow for about 5 days to play...the forecast is stellar and I can't wait! Another chunk of summer...woo-hoo! I'm savoring every second of sun and fun as the end is unfortunately in sight...

Exactly Never

"Exactly never" is the amount of times I would have predicted a few months ago that I'd ever want to learn mountain biking. We know what's happened with that...I'm hooked. It's also the number of times a week ago, that I'd have predicted that I'd play soccer again-- or want to. As a matter of fact, I was having a glass of wine with my cousin, Liz, on Friday evening and she asked if I ever play soccer anymore...and I replied adamantly--as I have for several years now since college-- that "I'm retired." Enter the usual reason that "Exactly never" has translated into "That would be so much fun!" for the last few months, HH. At the time I was hanging out with Liz, HH (a veteran of 5th grade soccer, almost "exactly never" status as if she'd care anyway) was in typical "upgrade" mode at an "invitation only" opening night party for players in the FOB soccer tournament. By the end of the evening, she, of course had been recruited for a team and was scheduled to play 2 games the next day. On Saturday morning, I gave her my cleats, socks, and 22 year old college shin guards with some "go get 'em" wishes...and I went out for a long run. I ran, well slogged, 10 miles down on Lake Washington Blvd. and returned to the Shoebox to shower and head out to watch (that's WATCH) FOB.

Despite the fact that I was wearing jeans + chacos, and had just eaten a huge egg & cheese bagel on the way to the field, all I had to do was see the grass fields... and HH running around out there with a bunch of other cute girls... and it was all over--- I was twitching to kick the ball and completely jealous that she'd gotten hooked up with a team without me. When she caught my eye from where she was playing and yelled, "You should be out here!" a pit crew on the sidelines kicked into gear and before I knew it, I was wearing shorts, a jersey, and cleats and chasing the ball around...and I even scored a goal with my left foot and thought, "Maybe I still have it!" Note to self: a 10 mile warm up for coming out of several years of soccer retirement is not recommended. Intermittent Jello shots and beers, however, make the whole thing better (this event is, as Stacia pointed out, a "soccer" tournament. Clearly, the emphasis here is placed on more fun and debauchery-related activities than soccer to say the least---makes Pride weekend look kind of like nursery school). I only played half a game on Saturday due to a family event in town (dangit, I missed HH's first goal!), but it was enough to determine how and where I'd be sore by the end of the weekend...I was hurting already.

Enter day 2. Unlike the other teams, most of our teammates didn't go out on Saturday night (honestly, I stretched and tried to work on some small knots in my IT bands) and we proudly dubbed ourselves, "Team Stay at Home." This helped us start the games on Sunday with a little more energy than our hungover-yet-PBR-toting opponents. (We're talking players and referees drinking beer and the DJ thumping tunes on the field by 9:30 a.m...why was college soccer never like this??). We won both games on Sunday (was I the only one keeping score? They seemed to notice I was a little more competitive than a few of the other players, oops...) and, I must say, there was a pretty impressive goal scored when I passed the ball to HH and she executed a perfect shot. Way fun. By the end of the 2nd game, however, I think most of us had caught up to the rest of the teams in beverage consumption and the soccer part of the "soccer" tournament had pretty much been scrapped on all 3 fields. At this point, I did NOT care about that fact and it was an effort to even walk anymore. I think we ended up in 3rd place in our division, but thankfully the final "competition" was not exactly a soccer game...By 4:00, things had deteriorated (or do I mean improved?) into quite the exhibition of costumes and behavior unsuitable to document on a blog or Facebook... and I needed a nap and some food to recover for the real party at Cowgirls later that night. I would love to post a more detailed description and some photos of the weekend, but, well...let's just say that might not be a good idea. I will say that the short summary of Sunday night's closing party included HH skillfully riding the mechanical bull at the bar with several hundred cheering fans and leave it at that. We were completely levelled on Monday and I am still a little sore 4 (!) days later. This morning, after a painful shuffling 5-mile run, I got a new prescription for physical therapy where I will try to have my hamstring re-constructed starting tomorrow...

Gimme an A, and another and another!

Summer appears to be on a bit of a hiatus and the last 2 mornings have been a bit darker, soggier, and October-esque as I've driven to the pool instead of the lake. Attendance at the pool remains summer-session-sparse and I'm getting accustomed to having my own lane and tailoring the workout to whatever I dang well please. It isn't a sunrise at the lake, but it's not bad, either.

Unfortunately, I'm less enthusiastic about cycling and I think the weather is going to mean another conversation with myself to attempt to drag myself through a session on my bike trainer later today...ugh. I really need a summer resurgence and am hoping for some vitamin D this weekend...I cannot wrap my head around fall yet!

On the way to the pool this morning, my car seemed to be a bit loud and rumbly. Of course, my first impulse when I think my car is making noise is to turn up the stereo (head-in-the-sand strategy!), but I mostly resisted that urge and tried to figure it out. I coasted, idled higher, listened...WTF? I thought the rumbling was a bunch of stuff I threw in the back yesterday, turned the music back up, and took the stuff out when I got home from swimming. A little later, I was driving down the hill to work when people in various other cars started signalling, pointing at my car, and mouthing, "flat tire!" DUH. CRAP. I'd have thought about that right away on my bike, but hadn't even considered it in my car. I limped my car down the hill and into the parking garage since I had to hightail it to a meeting. After my meeting, I got out all my favorite tools to fix any problem: the phone, pieces of paper, the internet, and a credit card (oh come on, you didn't really think I'd wield a tire iron, do you?)! I read my tire warranty/service agreement (which, of course, conveniently expired about 2,000 miles ago) pulled out my AAA card (also expired) , and googled the number for AAA. Within 30 minutes, the tools had all performed in complete synergy and I had a renewed AAA membership (with an extra $20 fee for the "pre-existing condition" precipitating the renewal, they are not stupid), a changed inflated tire, and a nice interaction with a friendly and uber competent AAA worker dude with speedy and impressive REAL tools! Overall, it was a minimally inconvenient morning compared to how much of a hassle it could have been...I must admit, I love city living and convenience!

Campin!

I'd like to start with a rant...it is simply not cool that, for the last 17 days when the weather was mostly good and there were a zillion fun outdoor things to do, the Olympics---which I LOVE-- were on TV. But NOWWWWW...when the weather is crap and I'm home from the weekend camping trip...the Democratic National Convention is on TV on every gol-dang channel. What I wouldn't give right now for some abstract Olympic sport I'd never follow in real life like the equestrian competition...or rhythmic gym-spastics...or anything where people are vying for a medal.

But I digress... back to the fun topic of the latest camping report.

Things started off in turbo mode at about 6 a.m. on Friday morning as neither HH nor I were exactly packed and both or us had to run around to get things together to meet Michele, Jill, and Angie to caravan to the ferry in Anacortes...fortunately, as seen below, the most important of the "10 essentials," (wine, more wine, a flashlight, a toothbrush, a tent, and at least one camping pal) all made it to the campsite by that evening and waiting for the ferry wasn't painful at all.

Once we got to Orcas and set up camp, HH and I went for a really great ride around the Island...I had some nostalgic flashbacks of tour guiding and HH was nice enough to let me guide the ride and blather on. Along the way, we stopped at a shop that had "Mad Housewife" wine and it was a no-brainer that we needed to bring back a bottle for Jill. Fortunately, my prior guiding experience included the knowledge that a bottle of wine fits perfectly in a water bottle cage...as demonstrated here:

Upon receipt, Jill promptly demonstrated that the wine was the right choice...
On day 2, I got in an awesome morning swim in Cascade Lake and, after breakfast, everyone went on various hikes...HH and I hiked up Mt. Constitution and had a GREAT time!

When we got back from our hike, we went down to the lake where Michele, Jill, and their dog, Roxy, had Cathy paddling them around and enjoying the scenery.

HH, Indigo, and I were interested in getting pseudo-clean, but not so interested in taking a real shower, so we hopped in the lake as Diller did a little fly fishing on the shore (while wearing a very snazzy vest that I unfortunately did not photograph--it was way cool). Anyway, I got out first and was lounging on a picnic table in the sun when Cathy came urgently flying up in her car looking for Diller & Indie (who, at the time, was happily heading for the other side of the same toasty picnic table). Indie's plans for lounging were quickly thwarted as Cath explained that Bugsy, their pug, was locked in their vehicle back at the campsite, leaning on the horn, and setting off the car alarm annoying many of our fellow campground residents (and let's just say Bugsy was not the first one to call attention to our campsite on this trip...). Every time we've heard a car alarm since Saturday, we've looked at each other and said "Bugsy!!" Anyway, here's Bugsy with Indie...pretty fierce, huh? Oh, and the other irony is that the little old guy is, um, totally deaf. Gotta love it.
The rest of the weekend was really fun and included several more stories (at least a couple of which are unfit to print) and one major group decision. We're going to train as a group to hike in (and out!) of the Grand Canyon in about 13 months...as soon as we get the trip booked, I'm going to dig out my old coaching whistle (I've been appointed as the coach) and the group training will begin!!

Fortunately, it didn't rain until Sunday morning and we got out of there without getting ourselves or all of our crap TOO soaked...shew.

A few more photos of the weekend...

After a lot of campsite eating (ok, and drinking) all weekend and sitting around waiting for the ferry, riding the ferry, and sitting in traffic yesterday, I felt like a total slug...got in a 6 mile run first thing this morning and went to spin class at lunch. Spin kicked my butt as it was the first speedwork I've done since the race 3 weeks ago. I'm pretty dang sure I've decided there will be no more races this season...

Look out for your eye sockets!

I went to swim team this morning for the 2nd time this week...kind of depressing to be indoors when we SHOULD be in the lake, but it's been pouring rain a good bit and windy. I do love a good pool workout, though, and the pool is pretty deserted in the summer so I had my own lane again. By the afternoon, I needed to do something to wake myself up from the post-lunch slump and resorted to the elliptical machine at the gym. I haven't "hamstered" in months and (didn't I say this about the bike trainer on Monday?) I have not missed it.

I really need summer to come back and lake swimming to be appealing and wonderful like it was last week! Summer is so NOT over, that's just not allowed...especially with it being 2 days until the next camping trip.

Speaking of open water swimming, the first 10k open water Olympic swim was today in Beijing. Of course, I didn't see any of it on TV (big bummer), but I looked up the results/story online. When thinking about the distance of this race, I realized that it is about double the distance of Fat Salmon. If I were to double my Fat Salmon race and really beat the crap out of myself, I MIGHT be able to do it in 3 hours. Time for the 10k Olympic swim? Just under 2 hours. Geezis!! Although that little stat is beyond humbling, I did love the article on SI.com about the sport itself and how it's not for the faint of heart (even if I did weenie out and hit the pool this week instead, I'm still an open water swimmer,right?).

From the article, "...adding to... these things, is the intimidation factor.
Though open water swimming may appear a rather placid sport, it's actually a full contact aquatic roller derby. There is punching, kicking and slashing; the ripping off of goggles and caps; there are elbows rammed into eye sockets, and hands grabbing at legs. Overt violence is illegal according to the official rules, but some amount of jockeying within the pack is inevitable and anyway, the judges can't see underwater.
When you add all of these things together, this isn't a sport for the faint-hearted. Which brings us to Wednesday's most impressive first of all: When the 25 female competitors lined up for the open water start, among them was Natalie du Toit, a 24-year-old South African. Du Toit, who qualified for Beijing with a fourth-place showing at the 2008 World Championships in Seville, Spain, happens to be missing the lower half of her left leg. As she dove in at the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park, she became the first amputee to compete in Olympic swimming."

Dude. She got 16th without one of her LEGS, how amazing is THAT?!?!

Languishing???

From dictionary.com:


Languishing: becoming languid, in any way.


Languid:

1. lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow: a languid manner.
2. lacking in spirit or interest; listless; indifferent.
3. drooping or flagging from weakness or fatigue; faint.


Yesterday Tatyana accused my blog of languishing(!). Ouch! My cousin, Liz, also sent me an email a couple of days ago to see what was up with my lack of bloggliness. Not to worry!! Although there has been an short absence of regular posting and my blog perhaps has been slightly faint lately, I myself am NOT drooping, listless, or lacking in spirit...This is despite the fact that the weather has been crappy the last day or 2 and that never makes me happy. And for godsake, the Seattleites who say they want a "respite" from real summer weather make me want to shake them! Are you KIDDING me? Anyway, the weather was crap yesterday and I actually dusted off my bike trainer and dragged myself through 50 minutes of pedalling in the Shoebox...I love that thing in the winter, but have NOT missed it while being outdoors the last 2 months, that's for sure. Fortunately, the sun is predicted to return by end of the week.

Let's see...catching up...I had another mountain biking lesson last week with the group which was a total blast, although they probably couldn't tell I was having fun...I had to completely focus and couldn't really multi-task enough to participate in the ongoing banter on the trail. I actually fell, too, which was kind of cool and made me feel like I might actually be able to call myself a "mountain biker" at some point soon. I must, however, find some mountain bike shorts pronto (or, as HH would say, "Stat!") so I look like less of a roadie on the trails...

This past weekend was mostly consumed with working on the Danskin triathlon...I was the bike course coordinator again this year and managed to herd up about 40 volunteers, including HH who got up at 4:00 a.m. (champ!) to support the efforts, and a big team of Cheryl's group who handled the start/finish area uber-efficiently under Nancy's bossiness. I think I put on at least 6 dropped chains on the Day St. hill and pulled up at least 4 cyclists who fell over...but overall, the triage was very minimal and the event was great as always. My BFF, Heather, did GREAT and Karin G. took 6th overall...way cool!

Despite the languishing blog, there are some other writing ideas in the works. HH and I had dinner with her pals, Michele & Jill, on Saturday night and had a lengthy conversation about writing a book about HH's life and antics (yours truly has a serious writing fantasy going for putting this one together). We're at the point of having a title for the book and several of the chapters...and then, of course, everyone picked who they wanted to play them when it becomes a movie and I was thinking about the songs for the soundtrack...HH is hell bent on buying an airstream "Basecamp" which would be the perfect accessory for a book-signing/adventure tour...and guess what, there's one that's a screaming deal on eBay...

T-minus 3 days until the next camping trip...whoop!

Bring on the mountain bike!

Ah, recovery...when I chose to end this tri season at the beginning of August, I didn't even remember that the Olympics would be starting this week...how very cool to be done and watching the real deal on TV. But what the hell is a "water cube?" I just hope they show some of the open water swimming...and that maybe, just maybe, triathlon will get a little air time in between the vaulting, bars, and floor exercise...

So I basked in lazy recovery for approximately one day after last week's race before I started doing things again...but...to give myself a little credit, I have not been killing myself. There were a couple of great lake swims last week including a stellar sunrise swim on Friday... and a couple of short bike rides including one during which a water bottle cage completely broke off my bike and went tumbling with the bottle into the road near Leschi (as I was thinking, "thank god, that didn't happen in Spokane...").

The highlight of my recovery activities, however, was my first mountain bike lesson yesterday. As usual, it takes a village to put me together...Tatyana loaned me her mountain bike and Jenny P. took me to St. Edward's yesterday and very patiently launched me up my learning cliff. The first activity was Jenny making me bounce around in the parking lot on the bike to feel the shocks...when I got a little too excited and pogo-sticked the bike around and started yelling, she reeled me in and took me out on the trails where I promptly shut the hell up and hung on for dear life. As soon as we started, a little kid about 2 feet tall busted down the trail toward us with his dad...he had a cute little T-shirt on with a "95" on the back and clearly, he was about 95 times as confident as I was on a mountain bike...for godsake, this is a sport that could kill someone. I kept catching myself white-knuckling the handlebars and tried to relax a little...and I think I actually improved a little during the hour or 2 we spent out there. Here's what I like about mountain biking...it requires complete focus and attention. I am psyched about the possibility of an activity that can really provide a mental vacation. Although I love long road rides & runs, and swimming in the lake, they facilitate my tendency toward over-processing. If my mind had wandered yesterday, I'd have wrapped myself around a tree upside down (me being upside down, not the trees). I also like going over logs and roots on the bike, way fun. 180 degree turns...not so big on those (humbled, out of my pedals, several times...). Jenny asked me if I'd fallen in love with mountain biking and I said that I'm not sure about that quite yet, but I certainly want a second date. Lucky for me, HH will be back in town soon and I think there will be a group ride on Wednesday where I can embarrass myself in front of a whole bunch of people...She can get her paybacks --and then some-- for me calling her ZigZag in the lake a few weeks ago, that's for sure. Jenny and HH have both threatened to leave me at home if I try to bring a heart rate monitor or any gadgets...another new chapter begins...

Troika Race Report!!

Who knew that the best summer ever could get even better???

HH and I bagged the Seattle swim on Friday pre-road-trip and went for coffee with Tatyana, slowly got our crap together (oh, and HH bought a new Tri Top and some socks at REI on the way out of town because...well, why would you do that more than 2 days before a race, right?) and had a leisurely drive over to Spokane. We stayed with some friends, Barb & Ingrid, whose home could kick any B&B's butt (and let's just say Barb could take Martha Stewart hands down in any cooking contest...effortlessly). They are amazing hosts and we started off the weekend on Friday night with a great outdoor sunset dinner and some wine on one of their patios. Then we slept 10 hours...yup, I slept till 9:00 a.m. for the second time in a month!!

On Saturday, Barb busted out the usual amazing breakfast on their other patio and then we went to the bike shop...because, of course, HH decided to get a bike computer and some aerobars on her bike for the race the next day. Yup, that's right...brand new equipment, untested...that girl nailed the Shotgun Half Iron from beginning to end. And, of course, the bike shop dude, Tomas, was more than happy to fit her (in her skirt and flip flops, of course) to some sweet new bars. We also went out to Medical Lake and had a great swim on the race course...then to the athlete meeting and the big 'ol group dinner in town. Minimal beer, we actually behaved responsibly.

By Saturday night (when HH tested her aerobars for, hm, it must've been 5 whole minutes in her flip flops--good to go, no worries), I was definitely twitching and getting excited...in between laughing at/with her, as usual.

On race day, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and made myself go back to sleep for an hour...at 4:30, I was pretty much jumping on HH like a kid at Christmas and saying, "We get to race today! We get to race today!!" To which our rookie shotgun triathlete replied, "Can't this thing happen at 10:00?" She rallied, though, like a champ, and we were in the car headed to Medical Lake pronto as my phone started dinging with text messages from Tatyana that started with, "Ready to play hard?" Giddyup!

We beat all the shuttle busses to the lake, got good bike rack real estate next to Stacey in T1, and had plenty of time to visit the portos, set things up, and shoot some photos. It was only about 50 degrees and pretty brisk, so getting in the water was a welcome idea by 7:00 a.m.

SWIM: There were 2 waves...the first wave of yellow caps were the men and the second were pink caps of women and teams. It was a beach start (thus, had to pee standing on the beach, everyone was doing it) and I pushed my way up to the front as my stealth goal was to win my age group...busted right out and had immediate swim space with no combat...sweet. I busted out pretty fast and wondered if maybe it was TOO fast, but settled in pretty well and started picking off yellow caps by the second buoy. Love that. The water was perfect and calm and I had a great swim...31:51. I was the 4th woman out of the water and first in my age group, mission accomplished.

T1: Not the most efficient, but not too bad...I was out on the bike pretty quick.

Bike: First 10 miles: Brrr. It was shady and still cold...toes were numb. I warmed up by mile 20, but didn't feel the toes on my left foot till about mile 30. The bike course was beautiful...great scenery, rolling hills, no wind, some blazing descents...perfect. I kept seeing things like a really cool yard full of sunflowers and thinking that I hoped Heather and Tatyana noticed them (of course they did, we de-briefed later, they were all over the scenery, too). There were lots of big open spaces where I was riding totally solo and could sing when I felt like it...way fun. I made up a new nutrition schedule en route that I really liked...I'd done the usual fillet of PowerBars in my bento box and cut 2 bars into 5 pieces each. I drank Nuun and ate a fillet as soon as I was out of T1 and every 5 miles up to mile 40 and then went with the bottle of Perpetuem for the last 16 miles. Perfect. I really pushed this bike ride more than I have in any other race...I can honestly say that I really left it all out there and met the "slightly uncomfortable" goal. No wondering this time, "Could I have gone a little harder?" I was worried a couple of times (as I had been in the swim) that I might be a little closer to redline than I should be, but I was right on. I finally figured out how to "race" this distance! Psyched about the bike and killed my goal time: 2:58:12.

T2: Wow, they set this up so streamlined and supported...I think I was under 30 seconds. (Now let's talk for a minute about HH's T2 time of something like 3-4 minutes...I had to ask, "jesus, what'd you do, read a magazine?" I wasn't there, but I'm pretty sure the volunteers were telling her she had to get her ass out on the run course and clear out some bench space for the cyclists coming in behind her...too funny)

Run: I hit the portos right out of T2...had to pee for a long time on the bike, but waited till transition. As I headed out on the run, I was again a little worried that I may have pushed too hard on the bike and might not have left enough for the run...I could definitely feel it a little more than usual. But I figured wtf, I'm still learning how to race this and I'll know if I screwed up pretty soon. I set my intention to stay steady and inside my ability...and managed to keep that strategy for the whole run.

The run was out-and-back flat on a trail with some shade, but plenty of sun. Guess who forgot to put sunscreen on (I swear I forgot and didn't bag it on purpose), but fortunately, I didn't get fried. About 2 miles into the run, a chick went blazing by me and we briefly chatted about the fact that she should "just go with it" while she felt good and I laughed out loud when she said, "yeah, you know what they say...if it feels good, just wait, it'll pass!" The run was well-supported with great volunteers, sponges, etc...the only bummer was that they were giving out Heed and I can't friggin' stand that crap. However, I walked a little and drank some at every station religiously. By the turnaround, I'd only been dropped a few times and had counted about 10-12 women coming back toward me. I was feeling pretty competitive to hold my ground...I was also psyched to start looking for "my" people on the way back and saw Tatyana right away, looking strong like always. At about mile 8-9, Heather and I passed each other. She looked really strong, too, and of course, her smile was visible from a LONG way off, as always...so fun! And getting a brief kiss in the middle of the run course was (1) a first and (2) quite the energy boost (and fortunately, despite the fact this was Spokane, we were not assaulted by any offended locals in pick up trucks). I also saw Ann, Stacey, Deb, LaVonne...it way fun to keep high fiving along the route. By the time I hit the last couple of miles, though, I was feeling a little stomach-y and was thanking the universe that this was NOT an Ironman (and that there is no Ironman next month, too, btw). I was really getting DONE and didn't have much left...one more chick passed me, but she wasn't in my age group, and I had no interest (or capacity) for chasing...just finished it out respectably. I was, of course, crunching the numbers throughout and realized that I'd be able to smash my goal time, so I finished pretty beat, but sky high. I was psyched to hit the run under 2 hours. Nancy and Cheryl were at the finish and Nancy led me around like a mom to get some recovery food and my sweatshirt...very sweet.

Run time: 2:58:12.
(Run splits: 9:50--including porto stop, 8:40, 8:50, 8:46, 9:17, 9:21, 7:47 (huh? marker off, maybe), 9:12, 9:46, 8:39, 9:39, 8:43, and last 1.1 = 9:59)

Total time: 5:31:11!!!

I went 3rd in my age group and actually picked up a little hardware later!! Whoop!!!

I didn't have to wait very long until HH came in (Holy crap, 6:08!!). And let's just re-cap THAT story for a minute, shall we? Shotgun Half Iron Girl raced this thing with almost nothing she'd owned for more than a month (other than her sports bra and a pair of the crappiest bike shoes ever that should have been replaced)...her bike, running shoes, tri suit, aerobars, all new...oh, and a running hat of Cathy's she found in her Jeep about an hour before the race started. She also did 2 bricks in her month of training, learned to swim in open water, had no race plan, stopped to pee 6 (that's S-I-X) times during the race including once on the bike course...and basically napped in transition (when she wasn't putting conditioner in her hair post-swim, no I'm NOT kidding, cause a girl can't have tangles, you know). Did I mention she was not nervous one damn bit for this thing, either. All of THAT being said, she did a 6:08 (hmmm, exactly my PR prior to this race after I'd done 3 years of training). Pretty cool and couldn't happen to a nicer person!

Here's a shot of us de-briefing with one of our hosts, Barb, after the finish...

Here's a pre-race shot in T1...

Another pre-race shot with Stacey (in between her doses of Pepto Bismal...way to hang in there, Stace, rock on, sister!)
And another post-race shot of some happy happy girls!

Troika Race Plan

Yesterday was a nice easy 4 mile run near Greenlake in the afternoon. I felt pretty good and didn't need it to be any longer. Planning to get in a lake swim today before the road trip to Spokane, but it's looking pretty windy out there...

I looked over my race plans and race reports from the other 2 Half Irons I've done and have a decent idea of what my race plan should be. I really want to get my time down to 6 hours and hopefully I'll be rested and twitchy by Sunday. At this point, though, I'm not feeling that all the training has quite caught up...good thing it's still 2 days out.

Race Plan:

Swim: Get on the outside if possible and out in front. Settle in, this is the confidence builder...goal time 32-34 min. Smooth and strong, visualize T1 toward the end of the swim.

T1: Calm and efficient.

Bike: This is where I need to do some work compared to other races...I want to push up to "slightly uncomfortable" and be a little less conservative. My base training and hill work is in the bank, so the rollers on this course should be fun and will make me feel strong. For nutrition, I'll have Nuun (re-fill with loose tabs in bento box), 1-2 powerBars on the first half of the ride, and save the bottle of Perpetuem for the 2nd half of the ride. If they're giving out Gatorade, take it. Goal time on the bike: 3:15 - 3:20 (16.8 mph).

T2: From last year's Troika results site, it looks like this one will be super quick. Swoop through the porto if necessary...

Run: On the run, I want to relax and not go out too fast. I will walk briefly through all aid stations and will get ice, sponges, gatorade. Try to work on leaning forward and small steps. I know this course is flat (zzzz), exposed, and out-and-back. It should be really fun to see all the people I know on the run course and get/give energy...look for HH, Ann, Tatyana, and everyone else. Goal time: 2:00 - 2:05 (but with the heat, who knows...)

Total Goal Time: 5:51 - 6:05

Missing some synapses

So I've had a lot of miscellaneous projects and stuff going on lately and have felt a little scattered...I realized that there are a lot of plates spinning when I sent an email to my Aunt and mentioned that the birthday card I'd just mailed to my dad would probably arrive a day or 2 late...and she wrote back and reminded me that his birthday is a month away...um, the beginning of August is tomorrow, not the end of it. WTF!? Whoa, some little neuron guys are running around in my head missing their synapses (or however all of that works).

Anyway...taper week continues. Apparently, nobody told my appetite to taper, though, as I'm (still) hungry all the time. HH thought she bought herself a box of nilla wafers today and yours truly (Hoover returns) snarfed half the box before she knew what happened. That was at lunchtime --after a turkey sandwich-- and by 3:30 I needed yet another feeding...

After work and the various quests for food throughout the day, I went down to Triumph to pick up my bike from its race tune up. I got there about 5:07 p.m. to discover that they close at 5:00 on Wednesdays (huh?). I completely threw myself at their mercy, begged longingly through the locked door, and thankfully, they opened the door and let me have my bike. Shew! I busted home, grabbed my stuff, and rode over to Greenlake to meet Cheryl's group for the Wednesday bike group...caught up with Nancy and Karen D. on the way over and rode with them. I wasn't feeling the need to kill myself AT ALL and just did a few 1-minute pick-ups as the group did hills over in Ballard. I rode about 25 miles total with the to/from, but most of it was pretty chill...good to spin a bit and the bike seems ready for the race even if I'm not quite there yet.

2 days till the ROAD TRIP!!

Human ping pong balls

Ah, taper week...slept in today and it's looking like that could happen every day until race day on Sunday. Sweet! The weather today pretty much went to crap...showers off and on all day, cloudy, 60's, basically, the anti-summer. The only workout on the schedule today was a swim, but I just couldn't bring myself to go indoors, so I suggested a late-in-the-day lake swim for HH, Tatyana, and me. I'd driven across 520 a couple of times during the day and saw the choppy water, but figured what the hell, might be a fun challenge. I texted HH to tell her that it looked choppy, but adventure awaited and, being the consistently good sport that she is, she texted back, "I'm in!" Of course, Tatyana is the only person who's as good a sport as HH, so they were up for anything, as always.

The 3 of us met at Tatyana's condo and hopped off the dock into the cool waves. Pretty immediately, I felt like a ping pong ball in the bouncy water and had to laugh out loud at how ridiculous it was to try to swim with anything resembling a normal rhythm. But it was fun and we bobbed around making some forward progress over to the far side of Madison Beach. HH stopped for a while and when T and I circled back, she suggested a trip to the raft and the diving boards. Since the weather was lousy, the lifeguards must've been sent home early and the beach wasalmost abandoned except for the sign on the high dive ladder saying that the diving board was closed. We promptly ignored the sign and played on the diving boards, T and me following HH who did a perfect one-and-a-quarter (wetsuit protected) belly smack flip off the high dive to lead us off. Totally fun. After a few more flips (HH) and less-impressive dives and hops (T and me), we swam back to Tatyana's. By this time, I was, as usual, damn near hypothermic despite my insulated nerd cap (shoulda worn the neoprene socks, too, oops). T was a sweetheart and let us hop in her shower where I pushed her water heater to the limit while she made some tea.

My feet were numb and looked like cauliflower for a while there... I know there's a name for this condition (other than "I'm a pansy and always get cold"), so I googled, visited diagnose-me.com and self-diagnosed myself as having some form of Raynaud's syndrome, a disorder of circulation also called "wax finger," or, in this case, "wax toe." I must ask the nurse later if she can validate my diagnosis.

Lake swim/dive/bounce/laugh:

45ish minutes

Last Monday double

The rest of the weekend and my "rest day," pretty much kicked my butt...I was in charge of the Seattle Century's Marymoor rest stop and was out there at 6:15 a.m. on Sunday morning. The ride (oh, whose course, btw, was changed at the last minute to omit Cougar Mountain after I climbed that bad boy the day before, thankyewverymuch) was uber-supported with lots of food and pampering and I was at the fried chicken rest stop...yup, that's right, fried chicken. At 6:30 in the morning I found myself among a small mountain of boxes of defrosting/previously frozen Tyson fried chicken and by 8:00 a.m. I was witnessing cyclists actually EATING it...OK, and confession...by 9:30, I peeled all the fried crap off a piece and tried it myself (though I'm not sure I coulda done that if I were actually on the bike). Clearly, I was still hungry from Saturday's ride. Anyway, it was a pretty full day of fun things like putting peroxide on a dude's road rash, locating tampons for a rider, delivering a tube for somebody's flat, and dispensing the chicken, PB&J, etc. I got to see some friends come through the stop and it was a fun day (bicycle guide flashbacks and nostalgia). By the time I got done, I barely had time to get home and take my bike in for its scheduled race tune up. I was seriously considering going to the Storm game last night, but when I got out of the shower and opened a beer, it was all over...hit the wall, no way was it happening. Fortunately, I got the Shoebox cleaned up a bit, had another healthy feeding, and crashed early. Oh, did I mention that even after I gave leftover chicken away to a rugby clinic and a church picnic nearby in the park, there were still 20+ boxes of it to schlep back onto the truck?! Dude, that's a lot of dead birds.

Today I was up and at 'em before my alarm and early to the pool. Had a really good swim with Julie and later got in my typical Monday double and race week interval run (5 x 2 min hard/2 min recovery). The run wasn't exactly easy, but I felt pretty good and was happy with the pace I held on the fast stuff...and it went by pretty quick, that's for sure. I noticed on the downton reader board as I was finishing my run that the temperature was 60 degrees and thought about the fact that it'll be about 30 degrees hotter than that on Sunday at Troika...yikes.

This afternoon I had a major work-related victory and landed a presenting sponsor for next year's Tour de Cure...which I celebrated by going to the grocery store and making a big 'ol dinner for HH and me who should be arriving shortly. Yea!

Swim: 3,200 yards

Run intervals:

1 mile warm up
5 x 2 min hard/ 2 min recoery (30 sec walk, 1:30 easy run on each)
(intervals all .28 - .29 mile with Avg HR = 151-161, max at 171).
.8 mile cool down

4 miles total
34:55

Slammed Saturday

Today was my last longish ride before the taper week for Troika. I am volunteering for the new Seattle Century ride tomorrow and one of my tasks was to "rabbit" one of the routes today to check the signs and "Dan Henry" markings. I was dispatched with a big roll of tape and some extra arrow signs and rolled out of Magnuson solo about 9 a.m. The "50 mile" (nope, it's 60) route goes out to Marymoor, West Lake Samm....then UP and over Cougar Island (holy crap, I've heard of "zoo hill" for years, but had never done it...not for sissies, damn), back through Newport, over Mercer Island, past UW, and back to Magnuson. I felt pretty good throughout the ride...not super high energy, but OK. Definitely feeling the need for some recovery this coming week.

I was supposed to be back at REI at 1:30 for a meeting about tomorrow's event and was already pushing toward being late...but I went ahead and did a mini brick and ran for 10 minutes after the ride. I had no time to cool down and not much recovery food...just busted it back to REI for the meeting. By the time I got out of there, I had to hurry (again) home to shower and then barely made it in time to a massage...ah, slice of heaven and the perfect "one week till the race" activity...my legs feel like they weigh 100 pounds each. And finally...the next stop will be a BBQ with HH where I will be warning the host about how much food could disappear in a short period of time since I still haven't really had a meal today...Hoover, party of 1...

Brick:
60 mile ride
3:50
Avg HR = 121 (max = 161, holy Cougar)
Avg speed: 15.6 mph

10 min run
1.17 mile
Avg HR 141

Another perfect swim day...

Yesterday I was back on a "Ruth day" rather than a "Kate day." I was up at 5:15 and at the lake to meet Julie & Duncan to swim at 5:45. It was a perfect sunrise swim and the water was just like glass...we were loving it. Swam to the yellow house and back with Duncan and we took a break in the middle to continue admiring the day and the perfection of the water. That was the only workout of the day...thought about doing core and lifting weights, thought more about a nap. Unfortunately, neither the nap nor the weight workout happened, but a really bad funky mood sure did for several hours...

I ended the day at the FSA bike races out at Marymoor...I was really into watching the races, but could not stay awake and had to end the "Ruth day" with Stacey giving me crap and asking "isn't Kate here??!!", since I ditched out early at 9 p.m. to go home and crash.

More midweek fun

One of my BFFs, Shemille, is in town this week for a family reunion...went for a fun dinner with she & Joan last night then met up with the usual suspects at Purr. It wasn't too crazy late this time, but I did manage to sleep in yet again until 7:30 (pretty soon I fear that I will be rightly accused of being an almost-normal person).

Later in the day, I got in a nice 8-mile tanning run along Lake Washington and a mile swim with HH at Seward Park. I like it a lot when my "long run" of the week is 8 miles...have I mentioned that I'm looking forward to taper week next week? The sun was back today and Heather was much less zig-zaggy in the water. We swam the mile in about 35 minutes with a headwind on the way back and a tailwind on the way back in. Great day!

8 mile run
1:12:16
Avg HR = 142, Max = 157

Yesterday morning I was back in the pool and happy to find out that the same shoulders that felt like hamburger on Saturday had actually recovered...did the usual 3,000 yards including some fast stuff and they didn't hurt. Yea! Had a good swim with just Julie and me in the lane. Although the lake is my favorite, it's nice to be in the pool once a week, too.

Later in the day I got in some weights and then after work went for a 20 mile ride to Seward Park and back. When I got to Madrona on the way back, I ran into my friend, Peter, who I noticed in his new Tour de Cure jersey. He was riding the other way, but flipped his route and rode with me all the way home...great to chat with him and catch up. Then I ended the day lifeguarding HH so she could get in a swim at Seward Park. While watching her alternate between swimming toward Bellevue and swimming toward Lake Washington Blvd., I told her that maybe her new nickname could be "zigzag." She's kicking serious butt, though, in that lake, I gotta say.

Today was hill repeats on the bike...I did a quick warm up near the arboretum then did 8 repeats of the .5 mile Interlaken hill. I lost 1-2 seconds on each repeat, but was fairly consistent...they ranged from 2:55 - 3:10 and avg HR on each was 143-145. Good quick bike workout.

Camping trip!

HH invited me along to Westport this weekend for a super fun camping trip with her friends, Jenny, Indigo, Diller, and Amy...SO MUCH FUN!! A day or so before we left, we decided it'd be way better for me to take a vacation day today and for the 2 of us to stay for an extra night...brilliant plan. Somehow, in between hanging out on the sunny beach watching surfers and kiteboarders, chatting at the camp site, and generally having a blast, we actually did most of the prescribed training...


Yesterday, we had a brick on the schedule...it was a little cool in the morning before we headed out on our bikes and HH thought it'd be a great idea to wear her snowboarding socks as part of her cycling outfit. Of course, without even planning it, the socks with her omnipresent PINK, actually matched the bike gear...and I was cracking up the entire ride. The ensemble was a big hit with the group at the campsite. We were supposed to do a 60 mile ride with 2 x 10 mile TT's and then a 20-minute run. I was still a bit beat from Fat Salmon (2 Aleve necessary right out of bed in the a.m.) and my legs just didn't have it for the longer speedwork...I managed 2 x 5 miles within the 60 and the headwind on our way back when I was doing them made for a bit of a challenge (including me swearing very loudly at the wind more than once...). However, the ride flew by since the scnery and conversation were great, the run part was fine, and we were back on the beach for a really GREAT afternoon in no time.

Here's me with Indie, Diller, and Amy on Saturday afternoon...gorgeous afternoon on the beach!
Here's Jenny and her very cool dogs...she's the total surfer beach girl...they all were in their natural habitat on the beach and really cute!

And lastly, of course...HH in HER natural habitat...both outdoors AND on the phone with Stacia...

This morning we just wanted to get coffee and start driving back to Seattle, so we procrastinated today's run...by the time we got around to running, it was about 6 p.m. and we went to Seward Park. The run was to be a 6 mile run with 4 mile tempo, but...despite the fact that I slept in today until 9:00 (yup, that's NINE a.m.), I was dragging a bit...we did a 5-mile run alternating miles with moderate/hard/moderate/hard/moderate. I decided it was close enough and the workout was a good way to end a non-stop FUN 3 days!

5 mile Run:

1 mile/8:44/Avg HR = 143

1 mile/7:32/Avg HR=157

1 mile/9:16/Avg HR = 141

1 mile/7:29/Avg HR = 161

1 mile/9:18/Avg HR = 145

Fat Salmon Report

Saturday was the annual Fat Salmon 3.2 mile swim. As always, it was one of my favorite races/events of the year, but this year I wasn't feeling like hammering it...just haven't been doing super long swims this year. I was happy with how I did and how I felt (1:37ish, a little slower than last year, I think) and it was super fun to have HH there before and after the swim and to be in the water with Tatyana, Rebecca, Gary, Robin, and several other of the usual suspects.

After Fat Salmon, my shoulders were both really hurting, so I popped 4 Advil (as prescribed by the nurse on duty, HH), then HH and I packed her Jeep to the gills and took off for a camping trip to Westport with a bunch of her friends. They had taken their surfboards to the coast and were a few hours ahead of us...

Evening (!) Long Run

In the continuing spirit of "new chapter," I slept in until 7:30 a.m. today (!), my toenails became some wacky funky shade akin to candy apple red this morning while I was eating cereal (thanks, HH), and I did my long run in the evening. The color of nail polish currently on my toes has NEVER been on any part of me (I swear this crap will glow in the dark, it's that obnoxious- albeit a hit in the office with Chrystal and Nancy) and it's been several years since I did a workout at night on purpose. However...I must admit, there are some things that actually work for me about all of it.

Today's long run was a 14 miler...the one over-distance run before Troika. I drove down to Madison beach and ran out-and-back to Seward Park. Mere words cannot express how glad I am to not be doing a full Ironman this summer and to have this run be the longest of the whole freakin' summer...it was PLENTY long and there will be some advil before bed tonight (feeling like the tin man as usual). The good news, though, was that I had more in my legs than I thought I would and it was kind of fun to run in the evening with plenty of time...I had nothing planned for tonight and nowhere to be, so it was easier to relax and enjoy the sun and the scenery than it is in the morning...of course, it sucked to pass people having picnics in the parks and going past all the people at the BlueWater Bistro in Leschi sitting outdoors having drinkees (painful)...but there are some good things to be said for the evening run and I do love that time of day. Things smelled good and summery and there were a lot more people and bikes to watch than there are at 5:30 a.m. when I'm the only wacko out there. When I got back to Madison Beach, I hopped in the lake to cool down...another gorgeous evening on the lake.

As I drove home, I realized that I have been down on Lake Washington Blvd. at least once every day in a row for as many days in a row now as I can remember to swim, bike, run, lounge, or various combinations. I'm seriously coveting Tatyana's condo down there...in the summer, I really cannot imagine a better place on this planet to live than Seattle and I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing that lake.

Looonnnngggg Run:

14 miles
2:14:26
Avg HR = 140

Behind on posting again...

Whew, record keeping not happening on a daily basis these days...just the facts, then...

Tuesday...got in some weights and had a fun bike ride with HH around Mercer Island before book club. Being Ms. Mountain Biker, she humbled me on the hills...so much for being a good climber.

Wednesday was a really great lake swim to the yellow house in the morning with Tatyana, Rebecca, and Gary...a picture perfect morning and the water was glass. All was perfect until I locked my car key in the car after the swim...fortunately, I had the rest of my keys in my hand when I did it and Rebecca drove me home to get a spare key and back to Madison.

Later in the day, I got in some not-very-inspired speed work on the bike. The workout was 6 x 3 minutes hard with 1 minute recovery...after 3 of them, I was in the middle of Seward Park and took a longer rest interval, but otherwise, they were all as prescribed on the plan. Didn't have the legs to get my HR up as high as I shoulda, but did some decent work. The highlights of the workout were burning off a little work-related crankiness and then running into Tatyana and riding the last few miles chatting with her.

Bike Interval workout:

6 x 3 minutes: All Avg HR = 144ish, speed = 20.3 - 21.1

Slept in today after hosting a fun party on the roof of my building last night...still gotta do today's long run.

Interval Monday

I took a good rest day yesterday after the pummelling I took on the Vashon ride Saturday. Laid around Madison Beach with Tatyana & crew, tended to several dogs, got groceries, cleaned the Shoebox...and had several feedings including dinner at Cara & Robin's (the moms of the face-biting cat). Great sunny day and I slept great last night.

Today I was back on the training schedule with the usual favorite killer Monday routine. It was another gorgeous lake-tempting morning, but I know I need speed work in the pool so I looked longingly at Mt. Rainier from the Shoebox but went to SU. Julie and I had a good swim that ended with 8 x "Julie 50's" (hard down, easy back)...exactly what I needed. The highlight of the workout was that Emily commented that I'm looking "cut." She qualified it with "the tan helps, but you are looking cut..." As if I need more incentive to ditch the sunscreen and worship the sun, right?

I was out and about at meetings again today (think that's a conicidence?), so I did an interval run in between things along Lake Washington. The workout was a one mile warm up, a tough 6 x 4 minutes hard/2 minutes recovery, then a mile at the end and it really kicked my butt. I started out at Genessee by the dog park and ran down to Seward Park, part way into the park, and back for a total of 6.4 miles. The pace I held on the 4-minute intervals varied from 6:53 on the best one to 7:14 on the slowest one...I'll take it. It felt pretty hot, especially the last half mile on the blacktop, but I was thinking it's probably nothing compared to how hot Troika is going to be...

Swim: 3,100 yards

Interval Run:

1 mile: 9:00

6 x 4 min hard/2 min recovery

(all at 156 - 163 Avg HR, Max at 167)

1 mile: 9:08

6.4 miles total

53:09

Almond Joy

Yesterday was supposed to be a brick with a tempo ride included. And I fully intended to do it, honest. Tatyana and her friend, Matt, wanted to ride together and I'm starting to like riding with other people more and more so I was all over that idea. We went back and forth on Friday about routes and options...and finally decided to go over to Vashon Island and do an interupted brick with the run after the return ferry ride.

We started riding on Vashon a little after 9:00 a.m...and as soon as we climbed the first 1-mile hill right off the ferry and started flying downhill on curvy roads, I started realizing that the whole tempo idea on the hillly Vashon terrain was pretty much shot...oh well, hills are good, too. We picked up a solo rider, Christoffe (or he picked us up?) and the group became a fun foursome for the day. After the first Coke stop at about mile 22, my legs started really feeling it...I was eating all the regular stuff, but my legs and my stomach were starving and my legs really started falling apart. Of course, this was right about the time everyone else was really warmed up and flying...I started whining about how bonky I felt and Tatyana promptly saved my life by busting out a big bag of almonds...I ate a LOT of them (in addition to PowerBars and Perpetuem) and tried to hang in there the rest of the ride. All day my legs just felt like dishrags that someone had wrung out...I'd get a little energy and then feel like crap again. Fortunately, it was hot and sunny and the scenery and company were so stellar that I was really happy. And I was totally on board and thankful for a break every time we stopped to take photos. My workout plan was completely scrapped, but I still feel that I got a good enough butt-kicking and I can probably afford to go off the schedule a bit here and there. Overall, I'd have to say that my biggest physical achievement of the day was peeing in the bushes twice and never hitting my shoes.

We did 53 hilly miles and by the last 10 or so I'd pretty much abandoned the idea of running. When we got to the ferry dock, I sealed the no-run decision. We had a few minutes and there was a Mexican restaurant right there...I was still starving and felt like eating the equivalent of my body weight in cheese, so I got a really great quesadilla for the ferry ride...YUM!

My legs felt heavy the rest of the day and when I got home all I could do was, well, eat MORE (for godsake, I'm wondering by now, do I have a tapeworm???), grab a towel, and take my tired legs to Madison beach to crash in the sun for a while.

Later I had a super great evening...I met HH after her work day at Seward Park and we went for a nice mellow sunset/moonrise swim. It was a sweet warm evening and the water was great, although the 8 zillion boats made for a bit of an obstacle course. We got out of the water at about 9 p.m. and had a great picnic in the park. FUN DAY!!

Buy me drinks and call me Kate

Holy crap, it's Friday and I haven't blogged in about 3 days. I'll let the pictures tell part of the story and come clean with some of the rest (as if the photos aren't enough). Let's just say the "New Chapter" of my life happening this summer now has more footnotes, one of which is that some new cool people in my life have verified my lifelong belief that my name doesn't suit me...and now are calling me "Kate." I wish they had been my pals when I was about 7 years old so I'd have a better chance of adjusting ("Hey KATE?" "Huh? Me?"). Not sure it's going to fly, but I certainly appreciate the gesture and the idea of having a name that isn't for people only over the age of 70 is definitely attractive.

Exhibit A is the picture above from a mid-week happy hour that started in the sun at Linda's and got later and later and happier and happier...Toward the end of the evening, we met this guy from Boston at Purr and somehow, before I knew it, he and I had switched shirts. I'm crediting HH (see below at an earlier time the same day looking quite innocent) with this transaction as I'm pretty sure she negotiated it. Bottom line was that I got a great deal...the shirt I scored is WAY nicer than the old long sleeved T-shirt he left in.

While I was talking with shirt-swap guy, Kamala and HH took a zillion photos of themselves...am I hanging out with girls who have good smiles or what??

Needless to say, the 8-mile run that happened the day after this evening was not my strongest, but it was more than worth it...

In between a lot of sun and running around having way too much fun all week, I did get in all the workouts...and even one extra bike ride.

Quick re-cap:

Wednesday was a super fun mellow lake swim with Tatyana and HH...Heather is kicking ass and veering towards Mercer Island way less often now in the lake. That day I also got in a nice solo hour-ish bike ride to Seward Park and back.

Thursday was the hangover run...which was actually respectable (avg. 9 min pace) for having had beer for dinner the night before. Thursday afternoon I also got to ride with a pro racer, Monique Hanley, who is on Team Type 1 and in town from Austrailia...very cool and an extra hour on the bike in the sun during work hours...SWEET!

Today was a fantastic swim in the lake...the sunrise and the mountain were so pretty when I got to the beach that I was jumping up and down! Then the usual coffee and toast at the Essential...got in weights later in the day today.

This could possibly be the best summer Kate has ever had!!

Tuesday hill repeats

I had a meeting this morning at 7:00, so there was no morning workout...HH was up early and came over for breakfast and then went to swim at the gym when I went to work (she did a mile so I think Troika can now be classifed as no problem). I got in some weights at lunchtime, but there was WAY too much sitting today and I was really jonesing to get out in the sun on my bike by the late afternoon. I decided to do tomorrow's hill repeats today...my legs needed it. I went down to Lake Washington and did Madrona 4 times. Then I went into Triumph Multisport to get my self-shifting bike looked at. The dude was great and fixed it right up...smoothe as silk again now, yea! It was a really perfect hot sunny day and I sort of wanted to stay on my bike for hours... I hurried home, though, because Chase had invited me over for dinner. We barbequed some chicken and had beers and a nice chat. Great summer evening!

Bike Hill repeats:

4 x Madrona (.85 mile)
5:22-5:33 each, all Avg HR = 147ish, Max HR = 158

Total : 1:17
17.6 miles

Is the weekend over already?

The rest of the weekend was super fun...spent the day with HH yesterday and the weekend was over way before I was interested in having it end, that's for sure. She proved that she wasn't just blowing smoke about doing Troika and registered for the race, so we had a little swim session at Madison Beach yesterday afternoon. She did great and once she gets her own wetsuit and a few more swims, she'll be golden...I can't wait to see how kick-ass her race will be, especially since she trains in total "play" mode with no gadgets: no watch, no HR monitor, no bike computer, no aerobars...pretty much no worries. Hanging out with her is a good time, for sure...

Today it was back to the usual double-monster Monday training routine and even though I love them, it was a little bit of a tough sell after a fun long weekend. Since we had no masters' swimming last week, it was the first day in the pool in at least 10 days and those few lake swims last week had me a little rusty...but it was good as always to be back in the lane with Julie and Karen and the workout was fine once we got going.

I had a tempo run to do today, too, and got it in around Lake Union at lunchtime. It was fun to be out in the sun on another gorgeous day...well, as much fun as a tempo run can be, anyway. I did a mile warm up, 4 miles hard, and a moderate mile warm down. It felt slow and pretty tough, but I was happily surprised when the gadget reported that I averaged about a 7:39 pace for the 4 tempo miles and hit the middle 4 miles in less than 31 minutes...sweet, I'll take it!

My theme song at the moment is "Life is a highway," the Rascal Flats version.

Swim: 3000 yards

Tempo run:
1 mile warm up: 8:56
4 miles Tempo: 30:38 (Avg pace 7:39/mile), Avg HR = 158, Max HR = 170
1 mile moderate: 8:43

Total: 6 miles: 48:17

Balmy brick

Today was the usual Saturday brick day...I got to start the day having breakfast with HH and was not feeling particularly motivated for a 4+ hour workout. She went mountain biking, so I had no excuse to slack... so I got my crap together and rallied. It was 10:30 by the time I parked at John & Judy's near the arboretum and got myself moving. The brick was supposed to be a 70 mile ride with 2 x 5 mile TT in the middle + a 30 minute run. I rode the long side of Mercer Island and did the first 5 mile piece there, then over Newport to Lake Sammamish and out-and-back on East Lake Samm...2nd 5-mile piece there...then back the short way over Mercer Island for about 65 miles total. On the first 5-mile push, I felt my quads immediately and wasn't sure they were showing up for this program, but the higher tempo seemed to push out some cobwebs. By the last 10 miles, though, I was pretty tired and was also a little frustrated with my bike which has been shifting itself and not totally paying attention when I try to shift it...grrr....gotta get that checked ASAP. I got back to my car, grabbed my running stuff, and headed out into the arboretum. I had a partial malfunction (OK, it was user error) with the GPS and didn't set/re-set it correctly for the run...but I did manage to note the mileage and ran 3 miles, close enough to 30 minutes. I got a bit of a side/stomach ache on the run and was not having much fun, but pushed through it. The whole day it felt like I was in a terrarium...really humid. I think I was a bit dehydrated and that was the problem there on the run.

Despite the fact that I am making significant progress (if I say so myself) to branch into a new chapter of my life and be less of a creature of habit (remember, my last pedicure was not blue!), I think some of my creature-of-habit tendencies are hard wired down to my muscle fibers. I did those 2 TT's today on completely different roads/terrain and different parts of the workout (i.e. miles 8-13 and 38-43), but my time and average HR for both was exactly the same. I think in this arena, that's probably a good thing...focusing on doing things differently elsewhere...

Brick:

65 mile ride
2 x 5-miles TT: 14:44, Avg HR = 147
4:05:31 total
Avg pace 16.1 mph

3 mile run
27ish minutes

July 4

Today started with a good swim in the Lake with Duncan at 6:00 a.m. I needed to get in an early swim and Duncan was the only other person interested in swimming that early on the holiday Thanks, D-man!). The water was a bit choppy again, so we went roundtrip to the tennis club and called it good.

I hurried home and showered quick after the swim and headed south to cheer for Heather in her first tri of the season down in Elma.

Here's a shot of Heather & Chase. Heather and her pals, Effie & Veronica, did this race as a warmup/training race for Danskin and they all did great (despite the fact that the race was so poorly organized and presented that I was beside myself). I had a great time supporting them and hanging out with Heather's family, including a great lunch after the race in her mom's amazing kitchen in Montesano...good fun.

After the race, I started heading north and stopped by Stacy & Wendy's where I got to see the boys and Stacy's brand new shiny motorcycle...How cute are these guys???

I also stopped by a big 'ol girls' BBQ on my way home, checked on the biting cat (I decided to feed the little varmint afterall) and will get to hang out with HH later when she gets done with work...Good busy holiday!

Thundered out

As Bob Seger would say, "Woke last night to the sound of thunder...how far off I sat and wondered..." The thunder was slightly ahead of my alarm this morning and was the first thing I heard. The good news is that thunder and lightening is really fun since Seattle almost never gets a real storm. The bad news is that this morning was supposed to be a lake swim morning. DANGIT. By 5:35 a.m., I'd talked to Julie who decided to make a "safety first" decision and call off the swim. Shortly thereafter, I heard from Rebecca who, unfortunately, was already at the beach and bailed then, too. Everyone else, we learned later in the string of emails entitled "BOOM," had gone back to bed or to coffee...or something.

I decided that it might not be safe enough to swim in the lake during the thunder and lightening, but what the hell, I'll run under the trees in it (I know, I know)...so I grabbed some gatorade and took off for my long run from the Shoebox in the pouring rain. Today's long run was 12 miles and before mile 2 my "dryfit" shirt was soaked. It was dumping even under the tree cover of Interlakken. After the first couple of miles, though, there were just a few showers and it was a nice warm morning. I changed my mind a couple of times about where to go and ended up going down to Eastlake, along the trail to Gasworks, up Stone Way, through the trails of Ravenna Park, and back to the trail past the UW and back to Interlakken. At mile 8, I thought that 8 miles is the perfect distance for a run. At 10 miles I thought I'd really like to be done with this project. Then, of course, I had to go UPhill to get home and chose the steep hill by Karen D's house...ugh. I was definitely happy to be finished by the time I got home and walked the last few blocks as soon as I hit 12 miles on the GPS.

Fortunately, today was a pre-holiday short work day and the afternoon was free...I was pretty beat and felt like the usual tin man after the long run. I did get myself to the gym for weights since it's been a whole week since I've lifted...it kind of got scrapped earlier this week and it felt good to be back in the gym.

Other fun errands this afternoon included playing with Jenny P's dogs since HH was at work (cool dogs, much fun) followed by getting a new stupid blue tooth thing for my phone. I think I've had at least 10 cell phone calls in the last 2 days where 1 or both parties mentioned the fact that one of us was breaking the law under the new "must have a hands free device in the car" rule. I think I lost my old one in Hawaii and I figured a $40 re-stocking was worth it to avoid the $124 ticket I'm sure to get if I don't have one. The AT&T store was almost out of them...surprise, surprise. Hmmm....conspiracy by the evil cell phone providers??

The last errand of the day was checking on Luka, Cara & Robin's cat. I am cat-sitting this creature while they are at Yellowstone and, as we all know, I'm not exactly a cat person. After today, I'm pretty sure my dog loyalty is securely intact. OK, let's just start with the litter situation...no, thanks...I think that's the first deal breaker for me ever having a cat on purpose. However, I try to like individual cats and I thought I'd hang out for a while to give the cat some company and see if bonding might be possible. I was laying on the couch semi-napping with the news on TV and thought Luka and I might make friends as he hopped up on the couch and seemed to be getting social. Then the little F&^$%@! bit my face. That's right, BIT MY FACE. Wtf? Did I not open the cat food can and change your litter? Was I not making an effort? For godsake, give me a happy dog who provides affection on demand and is thankful for any attention (as was experienced 2 hours prior thanks to HH) over a snooty face-biting cat any time. Let's see who might have to open his own cat food can tomorrow, eh?

Long run:
12 miles
1:55:39
Avg HR = 138
Max HR = 158

Blog catch up

I've been a total blogger slacker this week...I've gotten in the training, but have been playing outside a lot, and just haven't had the time to update the records. Or sleep. But who cares...you can sleep when you're dead, right? My equation of late = Fun + summer > sleep. The weather has been stellar and is making me really really happy, although there were a couple of days/nights when the Shoebox was renamed the Easy Bake Oven.

OK, backtracking...Monday was a very necessary recovery day after Pride weekend, but I did get in an easy nice bike ride of 28 miles...from the shoebox, out around Mercer Island and back.

Yesterday was the (finally!) first morning lake swim of the summer...there's no masters swim team this week, so we're doing more lake swims till we return to the pool next week...works for me! Julie, Duncan, Doc, and I had a choppy bouncy swim to the tennis club and back...both Julie and I ingested a good bit of the lake, but it was still a good swim. Later in the day, I got in a 4 mile run...on pretty much zero energy and sleep, it was a total slog on fumes, but I made it...fortunately, this week is a bit of a recovery week after the Lake Padden race and thank god, there's no speed work for a couple more days. Last night, I was back at the lake with Heather and Chase to give moral support to Heather who was doing a short swim to test drive her wetsuit before her race in Elma on July 4th...

Today I had a meeting in Redmond and a window of opportunity, so I met Heather ('nother Heather, aka HH henceforth) at Marymoor for a fun chatty 22-mile ride around Lake Sammamish. With a couple of miles to go, HH asked for clarification on the distances involved in a Half Ironman and the date for Troika and promptly declared, "I want to do it..." I have complete confidence that she will do the race, it'll just require a few swim lessons and a wetsuit...and maybe a brick just for the heck of it. God knows, if there's a pink wetsuit on this planet, HH will own it by next week...and there will be a pink tri suit underneath, I'm sure of that, too. Good times!!