Fallin' for fall?

Last night I had a rare moment of restraint and chose not to go to Happy Hour with Anh...It was quite the dilemma and not an easy decision, but I was quite happy with my choice to re-group a little after week #2 of school and chill. I made a low budget dinner, studied a little with Jenny's dogs and then rewarded myself with 2 episodes of "Dalllas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team" on CMT. Ah, trash tv at its finest and the first 2 episodes of the new season were on (I know, how could there have been ONE season, much less 3!?) I love America. And cable. I was psyched to lounge on the couch and laughed out loud several times while texting various people to tell them they should be watching it, too. I stayed up till 10:30 before sleeping 9 good hours to start the weekend.

Today has been another gorgeous fall day...although I definitely prefer summer and 80-85 degrees, I have to admit that the fall season is growing on me. Sunshine and fall colors made for a good solo double loop bike ride around Mercer Island...got in 42 miles. One highlight of the ride was the observation of real PAVING of the chunky pavement between Leschi and Madrona...there will be some blissful smooth blacktop for the next bike ride down there and it's about time (could somebody send that crew to the Burke Gilman trail next, please?)! The next stop is the gay/lesbian film fest with Chase & Heather, then Hot Flash...and if I can stay awake, SNL!

Tubercles, condyles and fossas, oh my!

The last time I took anatomy and kinesiology was...um...about 22 years ago (yes, more years ago than the age of several of my classmates). I've been forced to admit that I may have forgotten a few things since then. Today in our kines class we had to locate a whole bunch of bones (like almost all of 'em) and boney landmarks. A lot of things sounded familiar, but I needed all the book photos and the help of my group-mates playing with a big skeleton to find it all. Fortunately, we had a few breaks in the middle as my head got a bit full and walking around the block seemed like a really good idea. It was another really good day, though, and the practical sessions yesterday and today were awesome...I even got some nice positive feedback from the instructors this afternoon about my body mechanics. I feel like there's a LOT to learn, but a lot has happened already and I'm looking forward to working on my friends soon. I'm really impressed with our instructors and the way everything is wholistic and integrated...it's really cool and I'm totally digging it. and liking my classmates more and more, too.

I'm hanging with Jenny's dogs and cat till next Tuesday and have been rallying them for kibble and a quick game of fetch-in-the-dark every day at 5:30 a.m. so I can rush off to work out. They are more reliable than the U.S. Postal service in their enthusiasm for fetching (cold, rain, dark...they beg for more) and they could go on and on and on...I play with them twice a day and am starting to fear for my rotator cuff! One of the dogs, Ruby, has been sleeping with me (for some reason I've been spared of them both being in my bed and actually have a little bed space) and I've slept like a rock every night, dreaming a lot of wacky busy stuff...I think it's just my subconscious taking a big burp with all the new stuff happening and settling in to school life. I've been in bed before 9:30 every night, but have craved a bit more sleep and recovery than I've been getting. I keep thinking I'll catch up over the weekend, but then I realize that I have a shitload of stuff going on this weekend, too...

This morning I went home to the Shoebox for a morning spin on the trainer and got in a short hamster session after school. Not so easy to do a late afternoon workout after a busy day, especially after swapping massage practice and feeling much more like a nap than a second workout...I was proud of myself for dragging my butt into the gym!

Tomorrow is Friday...sweet.

School is cool

It's week #2 of school and I'm still really liking it...I had a great day at school today (my Ethics Class and the teacher rocks) and also managed to get in a hamster session at the gym before school and a short (brisk, brr!) bike ride after. We learned petrissage today in the afternoon class and I volunteered to be the demo person... which meant that I got to be worked on by an instructor and then again by my swap partner of the day, Mari. Sweet! It was a really great deal, but meant I didn't get to SEE the demo that had been done on me by the teacher...and I've recently discovered (via a learning styles test we are taking) that I'm a visual more than a kinesthetic learner, so I might not try to be the first volunteer to be the demo in the future.

Anyway, I've learned effleurage and petrissage and tomorrow is friction. Bring it! I have planned practice sessions for this coming weekend to work on Tatyana and Liz...hopefully, I can put enough of this stuff together to imitate an actual massage. Yea for willing guinea pigs!

I'm still feeling like I have a lot of plates spinning and adjusments happening, especially with dog/house-sitting this week, but it's possible I'll get them spinning in synch...well, maybe.

Brain out of retirement

If chasing one's tail were an Olympic event, I'd have medalled this week...gold. Between a new schedule, bringing my brain out of retirement and into school mode, beagle and house-sitting, work outs, and some social stuff (somehow I managed to have plans every night but one this past week), I was pretty dang frazzled. Let's just say I'm reviewing my time management skills and next week will be (must be) different... I haven't NEEDED a weekend as much as I did yesterday in a loooonnnnggg time. But it feels great to have my head and energy wrapped around something new and very cool...I'm totally digging school! There are about 18 people in my class and, thank god(dess), I'm not the only one in my age group...there are about 3 of us. Of course, I'm old enough to be the parent of several (ok most) of my classmates, but it kind of keeps things interesting. One cool thing I noticed this week was that I was in tornado mode during almost all parts of every single day EXCEPT when I was actually in class at school...the place and the people have good energy and I was able to "land" and engage when I was in class.

It appears that I've started a house and dog sitting business on the side without really trying...I've had 3 dog-sit gigs back to back and just got another one starting tomorrow which will go for about 8 days. I'm pretty psyched to be re-locating up to Jenny P's house to hang out with her 2 cool dogs, Ruby and Rafiki and Noodle, the cat. These little gigs are helping to offset the financial crunch of school and things like, oh, spending $103 at Office Depot today for school supplies (a girl NEEDS colored pencils for the anatomy books, you know, but holy crap that stuff is expensive).

My stupid freakin' hamstring is still not 100% functional, not even close. I ran 4 miles on Tuesday (my only run in 5 weeks) and it got all mad again. I went to PT yesterday and Kristen gave me the "no go" for running for at least a week again and, of course, she found something else I'm doing mechanically wrong and gave me some exercises for my iliopsoas...augh.

After the deluge of week #1, I have a substantial to-do list this weekend. I knocked out a few things so far, but what I knew I needed most and first was a good long bike ride. Today was a cool but gorgeous sunny fall day and I went around the north end of Lake Washington...got in 50 miles and it was exactly perfect. I now feel more like myself again and ready to tackle a few more things...tomorrow...cause there's a Libra-palooza party tonight!

Beagle in da house!

This week I'm dog-sitting my favorite beagle, Rosie...it's my 3rd week in a row with a dog/house-sitting gig (thank you, universe, for throwing these my way as the starving student chapter is beginning) and it's been great to be around so much dog energy. I had a blast with Roxy, the little football impersonator chihuahua (pick her up and run), had fun with Kirby & Nacho while my pal, Stacia was off winning the national Tennis Championships this past weekend in Tucson (go Staishe!), and I'm really digging having "the little potato" beagle this week. I love love love love LOVE this beagle and haven't gotten to hang out with her in several months, so I was psyched when her humans got a hold of me the other day. We're doing the stealth beagle-in-the-Shoebox routine like we did last spring and I'm hoping it'll fly again. I'm not exactly allowed to have a dog in the Shoebox, but the Potato never (and I mean NEVER) barks, so I'm hopeful. I'm visiting her cat friend, Tink (yeah, another cat, WHATever) at their house every day, but we're shacking up at my place until Saturday unless we get busted.

I'm getting in my workouts, but the weather has gone completely to CRAP and the Rosie triathlon of sleeping, reclining restfully with eyes at half-mast, and walking leisurely if necessary seems like a good idea as the season is gets increasingly more cold, dark, wet, and windy (augh, shoot me now). She slept while I went to the pool for swim team this morning and napped while I was on the bike trainer this evening...and, from the looks of things every time I come home, she pretty much sleeps in between napping!

I was going to try running around greenlake today (PT gave permission last week), but it was so lousy outside, I opted for watching the news with the dog on the bike trainer. I'm thinking that my aspirations of being a golden retriever in my next life could possibly be replaced by being a beagle. Seems neither would suck if you have the right humans looking out for you.

Tomorrow is my first day of school and I'm really looking forward to starting the new chapter...my brain is pretty hungry and it will be fun to get things going!

What me, competitive?

Today was orientation day for massage school...don't think I've blogged about this, but I'm making a major life change and going to school full time to become a massage therapist. I'm totally psyched and school starts on Tuesday. I spent several hours yesterday working on a scholarship application essay and e-mailing it back and forth to my pal, Carie, in Colorado who is a great writer and editor to fine tune it (we ended up with 496 words on a 500 word limit). Between the 2 of us and our bantering back and forth online, I've been feeling more and more competitive and really want to (kick some ass and) win the scholarship...So that may have colored my mood today going into orientation.

Of course, as soon as I got there this morning I started sizing everyone up immediately (just like in the transition area when I get to a race...) and trying to figure out who could have possibly written an essay as good as mine. After the initial introductions (which included everyone answering the question of "What movie would you BE today?" I chose Thelma & Louise), we played an icebreaker "human bingo" game. As soon as they said that there were prizes, I went right to task. I'm happy to report that not only was I one of 4 winners, I was the FIRST winner to get a bingo. Hey, it was worth a $5 gift card to Taco del Mar, so I'm calling it a success and the starving student fund can certainly use some free food! Today a burrito, next may be the $2,000 scholarship!!

My last week before school starts seems to be flying by...I'm dog sitting again, this time for Stacia's dogs, and the last couple of days were still sunny so I was outdoors as much as possible. I played with Ja'Narah at Alki on Tuesday and yesterday I went out to St. Ed's Park to mountain bike with Jenny and Nicole...except both of them had to cancel. As soon as I got out there, I got text messages from both of them saying were stuck at work and couldn't get out to play with me. The perils of having real and important jobs, I guess. I was bummed, but was already out there and it was a really great evening so I did my first solo mountain bike ride. I managed not to kill myself or get lost...it was actually a really great ride--I had a blast!

Carpe Swimmin'

This morning I managed to talk Karin G. into another brisk and dark lake Washington swim...no one else was even moderately tempted, but she's a champ and rallied. We met at Madison Beach for a 6:15 a.m. launch with the stars still clear and the beginnings of an orange horizon sunrise. The water was calm and, I swear, it was a little warmer than last Friday morning. We had a great swim and Tatyana was on the beach when we returned. Karin flew off to work and T and I went for coffee and an overdue "catch up and process our lives" session at Starbucks. Great morning, god bless neoprene.

Yesterday I had yet another weather-inspired bike ride (after a swim in the morning and weights at lunch, guess who can't sit still as usual). I've been photosynthesizing on a bike 6 of the last 8 days which might be a record for me. My legs felt heavy all day yesterday, but the sun was just too much to resist and once I started riding I felt good, even on the hills. I had a great ride around Mercer Island and to Seward Park in a sleeveless jersey with views of Mt. Rainier...not bad for the very end of September! The idea of fall is much more palatable on a sunny afternoon in record-setting temperatures, that's for sure. I was in bed crashed out at 9:00 p.m.

Bachelor Blue

My toenail color is back to blue and I painted them myself...'nuff said... Fortunately, the blue color of my toes and, OK, a bit of my mood this last week, has been shared by the SKY and a last blast of warm weather has improved my disposition considerably. Thank god it's not raining all the time already as I just can't take it yet.

On Friday morning, I had a really great sunrise swim in the lake...it was basically a solo swim as the only other people there were 2 really fast dudes I don't know. After one of them helped me get my wetsuit on, I didn't see them again till we were back on the beach. It was a pretty dang brisk swim, but the moon and sky were amazing and when I stopped for a few seconds at the Tennis Club to turn around and clear my goggles, Mt. Rainier was totally clear and I could see the snow on it. Sweet...any lake swim at this point is total bonus as most people have already hung up their wetsuits for the season.

I road-tripped down to Olympia on Friday afternoon after PT (where, by the way, I got good marks for hamstring improvement) to hang out with Heather and Chase...exactly what I needed and they made a great dinner and I crashed there. Yesterday morning I went for a great 40+ mile bike ride around Olympia, out to Boston Harbor...lots of great scenery and hardly any traffic...really great. I also caught up with Stacy & Wendy for a little while and got to see part of Carter (age 6)'s flag football game which was about the cutest thing ever.

Today was sunny yet again and I went for another ride...I figure screw the rest day idea when it's sunny and 70 because it ain't gonna last. I had just gotten over to Mercer Island when my bike decided to become a single-speed and I couldn't shift the rear deraillier. And, of course, it was stuck in the hardest gear on the back. CRAP. I went right back across the bridge and to Triumph where the super nice dude (same one who first aided my bike on at least one other occasion) discovered I'd snapped the cable and replaced it. I was glad I had the emergency debit card in my bento box so I could pay the $12.50 and be on my way. I went back to Mercer Island again and got in a total of about 41 miles on a perfect sunny afternoon.

I managed to get invited over to Cathy's this evening for food and TV with she and Stacia...first episode of the Amazing Race is on tonight...cool!

The little Hoover

Today was my last day of house sitting for Jill & Michele...here's a shot of the little football impersonator, Roxy. She was totally fun to hang out with and is a quirky funny (did I mention spoiled?) creature, for sure.I've always been much more of a big dog person (as in big dogs, not big person although there was my freshman year of college when I gained at least 8 pounds on peanut butter alone, but I digress...), but I now have a new appreciation for little dogs. Roxy is a total food whore (as one of her moms says, I didn't say it first) and I'm starting to call her the little Hoover. She really lives for food like nobody else, even me. She also became a good workout partner...the other day when I was on my bike trainer for over an hour, she chillaxed the entire time in my chair right next to the bike...and at least twice when I've been doing my PT and core exercises, she has literally ridden along. One morning I was lying flat on my stomach on the floor bemoaning the fact that it was time to do planks when she climbed on my back, curled up, and camped out. I rallied and did my planks and she didn't move at all, just stayed on my back...this morning, I was on my back about to do bridges and she climbed on my stomach, curled up, and stayed there for the sets of bridges. On both occasions, it was a nice distraction and I could give myself credit for the extra 3 pounds of resistance...good deal.

Today's housesitting snafus included waking up and discovering that I'd slept all night with the back door unlocked, fighting with the cat (who, I'm sure I mentioned, hates me) at 5:45 a.m.-- and having to wield the hose to get her back indoors, and falling down the stairs this afternoon. My friends have a gorgeous and very immaculate condo...the pretty bamboo floors are clean enough to eat off of, I swear--it's a great place. I made the mistake of putting on some socks and starting to go downstairs while looking to my left at the cat (who, I'm sure was still remembering the hose episode from the morning and set this whole thing up) and next thing I knew, I was halfway down the stairs in a pile with a few things hurting and the F word flying out of my mouth...youch!

The day ended well, however, with a really fun mountain bike ride with Nicole at St. Ed's Park. It was my first kinda-rainy and very-close-to-dark ride, but really fun and Nicole is a total crack-up...she navigated the trails for us, frequently yelling back, "Got 'er, Otter?" to make sure I was OK, and it was really fun. I also managed to get through a turn on the trail that I've never made before and felt pretty good about it...way fun! We may need to get some headlamps before next week as the days keep getting shorter (grr), and she seems to think that I should learn snowboarding this winter...hmmm...

I've also started using the old heart rate monitor this week...I got in 2 good road bike rides and started tracking things again. It's been almost 3 weeks since I've gone for a run, but I'm trying to behave and am religiously resting the dang hamstring and doing my PT exercises every day...it's getting better and I haven't lost hope for doing the Seattle Half in November...we'll see.

Stealth swim

It's the first day of fall and it certainly feels like it. However, despite the "highs in the low 60's" forecast for today, I'm holding out a little longer and refusing to wear socks. I'm bucking up one day at a time here...can't handle it all at once.

I am housesitting at Michele & Jill's for a couple more days and taking care of Roxy, the (slightly spoiled) Chihuahua, and Zoe, the fuzzy cute cat who (as most cats do) doesn't like me so much. And I'm not making that up...this morning she just would NOT come back into the house, despite my rumbling of the treat bag and my 2 attempted mini-safaris into the bushes where she was camping out as far from me as possible and looking at me like, "yeah, just try to get me out of this corner..." I was unsuccessful and will go back later to work on my imitation of Jill's nice cat-enticing voice, but I'm not at all confident I can woo her indoors without the assistance of some tough love from the hose...

Anyway, I got up early in the mini animal kingdom today, got them fed, and headed for the pool at Seattle U...went in the door right on time, through the locker room, and onto the pool deck where I was completely alone. For the whole hour. No teammates, no coach, nobody. I think we must be in between sessions until next week...anyway, I decided to carpe diem the indoor open water opportunity and had a slightly lonely but decent 3,000 yard swim...

Gettin' out my ax

"If Mother Nature had a second home, Idaho would be it." I cannot stop laughing at the slogan we saw several times in Idaho travel literature. Every time we read it, we just busted up. Despite the ridiculous-ness of that quote, however, I can say whole heartedly that Sandpoint, Idaho is a GREAT town...and I'd definitely go back in a hot second. The short vacation flew by (isn't that the theme of the last 3 months) and both HH and I didn't want to leave...we maximized every bit of the trip and got home as late as possible. We drove over on Sunday-- singing through the state to an awesome ipod playlist of cheesy 70s tunes -- and stayed until Wednesday at this too-cute "Cowboy Cabin" right on the lake...so fun!



Lake Pend Orille in Sandpoint is 43 miles long with mountains all around...gorgeous. The weather was perfect and we discovered that the whole place is a big 'ol playground for biking, mountain biking, hiking, skiing, swimming, and pretty much everything fun. And with the exception of one confrontational bigoted jerk-face resident we encountered (hopefully the exception that proves the rule), the people in Sandpoint were friendly and really cool.

On Monday, we drove all around the area, and up and down the mountain to Schweitzer ski resort so HH could look at some property. The morning of gaping at the views and saying a zillion times, "I like it here!" continued into the afternoon as we went for a really great hike near town, followed, of course, by a brisk (brr) open water swim in the lake and happy hour on the dock by the Cowboy Cabin.


On Tuesday and Wednesday, we biked the same trail we'd hiked on Monday and I'm quite proud to say that my mountain biking ability (and thus, enthusiasm) continued to build some momentum...I LOVED riding up and down that trail with HH and am hoping to find more stuff around home that I can ride/learn this fall. I also got in another blissful solo lake swim on Tuesday afternoon while HH continued her real estate searching... I had a blast swimming around looking at the mountains and the lake front homes and then sitting on the sunny dock soaking up some late season sun and the view.

Unfortunately, things back on the Seattle home front are shifting into fall and after less than 48 hours of driving back from Mother Nature's 2nd home (and did I mention a near-miss speeding ticket when I was driving? Shew, just a warning), the trip already seems like the distant past and a bit of a metaphor for the entire summer (kick in the Elton John soundtrack, "Don't let the su-uh-nnnnnn...go down on me....").

My friend, Heather (the other Heather), has a saying I've swiped and use frequently now about people each having a pile of wood to chop--as in dealing with their own "stuff," and the fact that we all have our own "wood to chop." It appears that dealing with the transitions of the end of this summer is my wood to chop at the moment...so, along that theme, a visual from the Cowboy Cabin below. This summer has been so so so fun...and I'm not not NOT at all happy to be letting it go...chop chop.

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