Low Energy

It's 10 a.m. I'm looking forward to meeting a friend in Philly for dinner tonight. We're hitting a Thai restaurant I haven't been to before. A BYO, my kinda place. I'm hoping that I'll have a bit more "pep" by then.

We had a kickin' thunderstorm last night, and I was out sleeping on the porch. Really nice. I slept very well, with the exception of maybe a half-hour when I lay awake enjoying the lights and sounds and the very brief mist on my face. I fell asleep again with lights still flashing in the sky. When my phone's alarm woke me up at an unusually late 7a.m., I just wanted to roll over again and have another night's sleep.

I get like this sometimes. I don't know why. I used to think maybe I've inherited a bit of my mom's bipolar disorder, but now I think it might be more related to nutrition and just the everyday ups and downs of life. I am a bit over-sensitive in my interactions with other people. I do tend to take the wrong stuff personally and make too much of situations that are really benign. Whatever. It always passes, and so shall this, I suppose.

It doesn't really help that I'm taking a day off of the swim, bike, run thing. No training today. When things aren't going exactly the way I prefer, it's nice to concentrate on something I can control, my training, but today there is no time. Everyone says you should have a day off now and then, to rest, but I'm a HUGE believer in "active recovery." I'd rather have a low-intensity workout of some sort -- maybe a 25 minute run or a thousand meter slow swim -- than do nothing at all. Especially on a day like this. I usually get cranky if I don't have some sort of energy outlet during the day. Today I'm not cranky, though. Not yet. Just a bit down.

Today's goal: Pep up before dinner and have a really nice time with my friend!

[Photo is the view of Philadelphia from the Belmont Plateau, from the Creative Commons at Flickr: Sunrise at Belmont from Starbuddie84's Photostream www.flickr.com/photos/starbuddie/ ]

It's REALLY HOT and I don't Care.

(posted to Blogger two days ago.... diarnold.blogspot.com/ )

"What's that? You don't care?? This can't possibly be the same Diane?"

Well, it's true. It's been a scorcher lately. But only the second heat-wave of the season. We don't have a/c at our house, though our kids have window units in their bedrooms. And I've been sleeping on the screened porch on the really hot nights. What's different about this year, though, is that it's really not bothering me. I'm not complaining about it. I'm not losing my appetite. I'm not panicking when I get caught in the full sun. I first noticed this at a traffic light on the bike one afternoon. When you're cycling, the breeze (hot as it may be) feels good. When you stop, the breeze does too! That's when you notice how hot it is. But I've just not had the panic as I have in the past, standing in a crowd watching a parade, for example, feeling like I'll die (or at least pass out) if I don't find some shade.

Nobody can believe it's me.

This is also the first summer ever that I haven't had a sunburn followed by peeling at least once. It's also the first summer that I've been outside every day swimming, biking and/or running. I try to aim for the early morning or late evening, but often the hour-plus bike rides begin at 10 a.m. or 3 p.m. And believe me, I try to wear as little as possible. Over this past weekend with the heat wave, I did all three... swim, bike, run to try to give myself a taste of what the August 3rd race could be like. I think I'll do ok. That race is notorious for including an oppressively hot run. I, the notorious shade-seeker, feel prepared. What's with that?

I am the FAIREST of the fair skinned. Nobody has more transparent, awful skin than me. But this year, I'm also a bit "tan" (if you can call it that) for the first time ever. Without sunscreen I'd last about 10 minutes in the sun before I'd begin to burn. After half-an-hour, I'd been in big trouble. I've been using this stuff I found in March... Coppertone Ultraguard SPF 50 "Waterproof, Non Greasy, Moisturizing." It doesn't feel heavy like all the other sunscreens I've used, and I guess it's more effective! I can even use it on my face and it's just fine. With my luck they'll stop making it. I should probably go get another bottle while I'm thinking about it.

Has something physiologically changed with me? Is that possible? I know my body has gone through some pretty amazing changes this past year or so, but nothing has been as surprising as this to me. I like it! A lot!

It's Transition Day

www.youtube.com/watch

Today I make a fool of myself practicing transitions in my driveway. My son feels a yard sign is a good idea: Caution: Unstable Athlete Entering and Exiting Driveway at Random.

Very funny.

A friend I met through our neighbors is racing her first Ironman today in Lake Placid. I'm following it online. She's finished the 2.4 mile swim, and probably nearly all of the first leg (56 miles) of the bike, and it's only about four and a half hours into the race. After the second 56 mile bike she'll begin the marathon. I am in awe. Luckily, Lake Placid is much cooler (if also pouring rain) than it is here in Philly.

It's sooooo hot today. As a reward for all my hard work (and resulting lower times), I'll treat myself to a trip to the pool afterward.

You go, Carrie!!

Today I Went Shopping

I don't shop like a girl. I never have. I actually hate to shop. And these days, with "vanity sizing," I never know what size I am. I feel insulted -- like my time isn't valuable -- when I have to go into a dressing room repeatedly to try stuff on only because I have no idea what size I am. And it varies from label to label. So aggravating.

But something's come over me these past few months. Well, I should back up....

I made a vow in January (with a friend... an avid shopper) to "not buy anything for myself for six months," after seeing a video called "The Story of Stuff." It was her idea, but I was sure she'd cave and I wouldn't. I don't even like to shop. It's a piece of cake!! She mentioned that she'd probably need new running shoes before July, "but other than that...." I took that to mean "nothing for myself except workout stuff." I'm new to multi-sport. (New since the beginning of the year.) She's been doing it for a while, and she's sort of a fair weather weekender anyway... not that there's anything wrong with that... hey, if she can pull off a couple of races a year with minimal training, she's a better woman than I. For me, though, I've gone completely insane... hook, line & sinker. To train for the five races (so far) that I've done this year, one of which was a triathlon, I commute to work on my bike (15 miles each way) two or three days a week, swim three days a week, run three days a week. How many days are there in a week?? Yeah, it's become a lifestyle for me. And as I newbie to triathlon training, I still had LOTSA stuff to accumulate. I got a new bike, and running shoes (three times) and cycling shoes and other swim-bike-run stuff of all sorts. You get the picture. During my "six months of no shopping," I'm sure I accumulated at least as much stuff as I did all last year. I know it's because I like finding anything related to my addiction. (Eye protection. I just got the best glasses....)

My laundry is almost exclusively workout gear.

I pack a suitcase once a week for work when I have to drive. My fellow librarian co-workers usually comment, "Is it moving in day?" on the day I bring in the new clothes and haul out the laundry along with my recyclables from my "second breakfast" eating-frenzies. Other than that day, my contribution to the laundry basket at home consists almost entirely of running or cycling shorts and shirts, socks, sports bras, swimsuits, and towels galore.

So, for the first time in my life I like to shop.... for training and racing gear, at least. I have some preetttyy cool -- even matching -- gear. I still don't like to shop for clothes for work, though, but I've had to, a little. I've shrunk out of everything this year. So, my friend didn't cave (as far as I know), but I sure did. I needed new clothes every time the season changed. Does it matter that I didn't enjoy it?

But I digress... As I was saying, today I went shopping. I hit four stores before I made the purchase. I needed a pair of trishorts that wouldn't be too baggy in the water or try to fall off on the run, but wouldn't be too tight either. Before today, I had two pairs of trishorts that I love to wear on my bicycle commutes. I don't like a lot of padding. My seat is awesome and I really don't need it. I wore my favorite of the two pair (the shorter of the two) in my first tri (Thundergust) six weeks ago. They seemed tight enough all the times I wore them on the bike, but were so baggy in the legs in the water that I felt like I was wearing a skirt. Too much drag. (Well, not that clothes are going to help my swim time, but that's a-whole-nother issue.)

Today's mission was to find the perfect tri shorts for August 3rd's SheRox. And I did.

Well, I think I did. I'll know more Monday when I bike them to the pool. But I'm pretty sure I did score. They are Sugoi Piston. The pair I wore at Thundergust were also Sugoi, but made of a different fabric; the Piston's fabric is more like a swimsuit. (My favorite swimsuit is made by Sugoi.) I found them in on my last stop. I have a good feeling about these shorts. Not too long, not too short. A little tighter in the legs than the pair I wore at Thundergust. And, they'll look great with the tri top I already have.

Sixteen Days to SheROX!!

Last weekend was the Philly Women's Triathlon. I considered doing that one before my training buddies suggested to me last winter that I consider making SheRox my first. The mentoring program was the selling point, but as it turns out, I didn't really use it all that much after a few emails early on.

So I volunteered at the PWT with the Fairmount Running Club to be the rockin'est water stop on the planet! We had a ball and I got to observe some serious stuff. There are some pretty amazing athletes competing, but there are also a LOT of women who don't train at all for a race like this and last Sunday was a bit hot. We saw some pretty whipped women come through the water stop a mile from the finish line.

I realize women choose these races for tons of different reasons, but I personally think nobody has any business (even if you're just doing it for fun) competing in an event that will take her two-plus hours to finish without *any* (or very little) training. A couple of weekends before the PWT I volunteered with the same club for the Philadelphia Insurance Tri's water stop under the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. It was the Olympic distance race, and it was a lot different from an athletic standpoint. I learned a lot at both races.

So, I'll be doing SheRox on Aug. 3rd and since I already did Thundergust, (a small Tri in South Jersey... I blogged about it back then) it won't be my first. I've been trying to strengthen my weak points... my swim and my transitions. In the pool, my swim is actually not bad. It's hard to train the mass start and just swimming the whole 800 meters in a crowd, and those are the things that slowed me down at Thundergust. My training group is small, so our "mass starts" are about 5 people in one lane of the pool. It's fun, there's no stress, and I usually pull ahead of all but one of them. This is not what I experienced at Thundergust!! I'm thinking I'm just going to have to get a few more races under my belt to have the experience. I'm not sure if there is any other way to prepare for that.

I compared my Thundergust results to the Philly Women's Tri results and (even though it's probably not wise) I see that if I had done the same times (horrible swim, long transitions, and all) at the PWT, I would have been 4th in my age group. I'm now having fleeting fantasies of placing in SheRox, but only fleeting! It doesn't help that I have friends egging me on. They love to tweak my competitive side.

Training is going well. My husband, Dave, commented on the heat wave that began today, and I said it was a good training opportunity (in all seriousness!) and he said, "That's one way to look at it, I guess!" So I biked to work today (and it was my favorite commute so far, and fastest!) which means I'll be biking home again at 3pm, in the heat of the day. I'm well prepared and looking forward to it.

I got Swim Workouts in a Binder for Triathletes by Bernhardt & Hansen, which a friend recommended. It's waterproof and meant to use on the deck, which I love. My other workouts are getting pretty moldy in their plastic sheets. I look kind of goofy lifting my goggles to my forehead and putting on my glasses to read workouts in the pool, so I tend to use the same ones (memorized) over and over. I've been in a rut. I needed something to kick start my swim, and this book is good. Maybe as a bonus I'll even get stronger.

My run is up to about 14 or 15 miles. Rather, it's up to about 2 hours and 20 minutes. The next thing after SheRox is the Phila Distance Run, so I've been adding to my time on the trail. Someone suggested I try for the marathon this year instead of next, but I think I'll stick to my plan and wait until 2009 for that. The 2:20 run was NOT that great. The one before that, 2hrs & 5 minutes, was very good, but after the 2:20 run I decided I want to back off a bit. I'm at least going to wait until the heat backs off. I hate carrying water on the trail. (And it always runs out anyway before I want it too!) Also, I tend to go too fast on the longer training runs and I wind up tired and/or slightly injured before the end. I've been trying to get some discipline, but so far I'm terrible at it. On the other hand, for short distances, there's no harm in kicking it. My race pace on the shady trail at Thundergust was 7:55, and I'm wondering how I'll do on the asphalt in the full sun at SheRox. We'll see!

I'm going to Run for the Hill of It August 26th. It's a five miler on my "home court," Forbidden Drive from the Northwestern trailhead to Valley Green & back. I've been running that at lunch for almost a year now. It's my favorite training run.

[photo: Phila SheROX 2007]

Stuck on a song...

Not really the whole song, just this part:

"... Oh what good is it to live
With nothing left to give
Forget but not forgive
Not loving all you see...."

Well, there are worse things to have in your head as you plug through a user's manual, learning a program well enough to teach it next week! Maybe my subconscious is giving me perspective... telling me it's no good unless I make it fun.

Or maybe I'm just feeling "Swallowed in the Sea." www.youtube.com/watch

[Photo is "Sea, Swallow Me" from Bradley Allen's photo stream in the Creative Commons at Flickr.]

TOUGH Quiz!! I dare you to answer #16 with ONE word!!

You can only type ONE Word!
Not as easy as you might think. Now change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. You can only type one word! (Did you get that? One (1) word. hehe.)

1. Where is your cell phone?
Pocket.

2. Where is your significant other?
Out.

3. Your hair?
Everywhere.

4. Your mother?
Grave.

5. Your father?
Kansas.

6. Your favorite thing?
Outdoors.

7. Your dream last night?
Rerun.

8. Your dream/goal?
Crazy.

9. The room you're in?
Boring.

10. Your hobby?
Lifestyle.

11. Your fear?
Immobility.

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?
Wherever.

13. Where were you last night?
Heaven.

14. What you're not?
Done.

16. One of your wish list items?
Oakleys.

17. Where you grew up?
Plains.

18. The last thing you did?
Museum!

19. What are you wearing?
Nike.

21. Your TV?
No.

21. Your pet?
Reina.

22. Your computer?
Laptop.

24. Your mood?
Better.

25. Missing someone?
Yes.

26. Your car?
Civic.

27. Something you're not wearing?
Bra.

28. Favorite store?
Cheap.

29. Your summer?
Fabulous!!

30. Love someone?
Lots.

31. Your favorite color?
What?

32. When is the last time you laughed?
Today.

33. Last time you cried?
Tuesday.

34. Who will reply to this?
Nobody.

[photo: Reese Witherspoon trying to decide what her hobby is]

For example...

... this particular blog post took me 45 minutes to post... I only persevered because I am so outraged!

The title of this post was going to be "Outrageous Ad Blames Traffic Problems on Immigration."

I've just seen an ad in the Atlantic Monthly, paid for by "America's Leadership Team for Long Range Population-Immigration-Resource Planning," which blames the number of cars on the roads and resulting traffic problems on IMMIGRATION!!! They quote some statistics in the ad that show a large percentage of the population increase over the next 45 years will be a result of immigration.

There is nothing about the real reason we have too many cars on the road. No outcry for better public transportation and/or bike lanes, flexible working hours, people making saner choices about where they decide to live & work, or any thing else. It's the same old West Coast mentality that says, "Now that I'm here, close the door and don't let anyone else in!!" Only this time it's really amazingly over-the-top and aimed not just at West Coasters, but all of us. I'm so disappointed that the Atlantic Monthly published this ad. It's one of the few journals we get at the library that I usually try to find the time to read.

Here's the ad: www.splcenter.org/images/dy...062708.jpg

Tribe is on my last nerve.

It's been so difficult to get to Tribe and then once here, to stay here, that I've all but given up blogging. Clearly it has to be the time of day that I arrive, since I see plenty of other folks able to blog here. Maybe if I could get here when most of the West Coast is still asleep, I'd have half a chance.

It's frustrating enough to reply to a discussion in a tribe, only to have it not "take" because it timed out and I couldn't log back in.

(Yes, I've learned to always Ctrl-Save before clicking "submit" just in case tribe goes blooey, but sorry, I'm not going to save everything I ever write in a google or word doc until a future time when I can get back into the discussion!!)

So, for now, I'm on "summer vacation" from blogging. Y'all are probably bored with the race reports anyway! hehe.

Ciao!

"It's Such A Perfect Day"

As lyrics from my new favorite song (by Cold Play) say with joy ,at least to my ears, "Every moment was so precious.... Now my feet won't touch the ground."

I must say, I almost have no words for today. My first triathlon was not just absolute fun on a perfect day, but it was filled with some of the nicest, most generous people I have ever had the pleasure to be with. I finished 7th out of 7 in my division (age/gender)!! But I did fabulously, and the "loss" was due to the unbelievably elite field I was competing with. Apparently this is such a lovely sprint distance race that the really good athletes make it a regular "training" race, or maybe they just do it for fun, because I think the longer Olympic distance is considered a good training race. At any rate...

When I was getting ready to go at 4:30 this morning, I got everything that I had packed the night before and put it by the back door. Then I got the pump and topped off the front tire to the correct pressure. Moving to the back tire, I discovered I couldn't unscrew the tip of the presta valve. In fact, it looked like the tip was missing. Oh, damn! My worst nightmare, changing a tire, was coming true.

(The secret, Awen, is alive and well! How much have I focused on the possibility of having to change a flat during this race?)

But the good news is I had a choice, change the tube *now* before the race, and ride on a fully inflated tire, or ride on a slightly underinflated tire and risk a pinch flat, which would mean changing the tire during the race. Well, for me it was a no-brainer. Since -- without a valve that will allow air in -- the tube was now useless and sooner or later I'd have to replace it anyway as it continued to lose small amounts of air over time, I ought to just do it now. Trouble was, we were going to be leaving in less than half-an-hour, so I wasn't able to do it in that amount of time. I called Paul and asked if he could show up a bit early to look at it. As it turned out, he couldn't manage it in the short turnaround we had, so we loaded the bikes on my car and decided to deal with it in the transition area of the race.

We put the bikes on my car because Paul decided to take my suggestion and ride his bike home after the race.
Me to Paul on the phone: Gee, Paul, tomorrow is going to be like a day off for you. Thundergust will just barely warm you up! You'll need a 60 mile ride after that!
Paul: Hey, that's a good idea. Maybe I'll do that! Let me think about that. I need to figure out how to get across the river. Probably the Ben Franklin Bridge...
A half-hour later Paul calls me back
Paul: I really like that idea about riding back.
Me: Good. We can put the bikes on my car to get there and then I'll bring your stuff back.
Paul: Great! I'll see you at 5:15.

So we each got about 4 hours of sleep last night because of our various plans for the Friday night. Eh, didn't matter. We were ready to go. We met up with a friend of his, Margaret, from his tri training group. She wanted to follow us to the park because Paul had an interesting route to get there. Paul saw her the night before stuck in the traffic leaving a ball game and she told him she'd be missing the Saturday morning training because she was expected in Cape May by mid-day Saturday. Paul told her he was doing Thundergust, which is half-way between Philly & Cape May. He said, "You should do it too!" at 11:00 at night. She said, "Sure, why not! Sounds like fun." The Thundergust course was the sight of her first Triathlon some time ago.

We got to the transition area and put our stuff down. The three of us went to the registration and packet pick-up area first, since they weren't registered yet. We got our stuff and then got all set up for our transitions. Then Paul came over to where my bike was racked and had a look at the errant stem. Sure enough, the only solution was to deflate the tire completely and change the tube, but he wanted me to do it. He coached me through it while some other folks looked on. For the really crucial parts, I had him inspect my work and finish off certain things so that I didn't make a mistake that would cause a flat, but in the end, I got a great lesson in changing a tire. I'm not fast yet (by any stretch of the imagination), but I'm one step closer. After he left to finish getting ready at his own racked bike, I talked to some of the other people around me and they wanted to know if I needed any help or had any questions. They made some suggestions about the efficiency of my transition set up and I did some switching around. One woman introduced me to a bike shop guy who helped me reattach my chain, which had gotten wedged strangely during the tire change.

Then it was time for the pre-race "meeting" in which they explain the course and the entrances and exits for each leg. It was very, very well done and easy to understand. The water was a warm 82 degrees F (28 C), which disqualifies anyone in a wetsuit from placing. My chances of placing were nil, but I still wanted to race in the same way as everyone else, so I also packed away the wetsuit.

The first leg, the four-tenths of a mile (.64 k) swim, was a pretty bad finish for me... my time was lousy... sun -- just over the horizon -- was in my eyes, seaweed tangled around me, etc. etc... but everyone faced the same conditions; the difference was my inexperience. I knew my finish sucked because I passed a zillion people on the 16 mile (25.75 k) bike and 3.1 mile (5k) run segments of the race. Checking my results I see I am right... only a handful of the competitors finished the swim after I did.

My first transition was a bit slow... okay they both were. Three minutes and change for the first, a minute less for the second. Doesn't seem like a lot, but trimming a minute off of each would be a really easy, painless way to improve my overall time substantially.

In the fist transition, I threw down my already removed cap & goggles, squirted my sandy feet with water, dried them somewhat with a towel and put on my shoes quickly, sin socks. I put on my helmet and gloves, grabbed my bike and off I went, jogging to the mounting area. The air on my wet tri jersey & shorts felt *great!*

I averaged 18 mph (29 kph) on the bike. I had to come to almost a complete stop once due to truck traffic and even though I passed several people (men & women), no one passed me. It was a FUN, fast ride. I did some sight-seeing. I noted that New Jersey is an awful lot like Kansas, except it has lots more people and trees. Tall grasses, tractors on the roads, lots of farms. Good smells.

In the transition area again 48:47 later...
(Remember? my bike commute to work is 15 miles and takes me about an hour! This was a FAST course!)
... I reracked my bike, pulled off the helmet, gloves & bike shoes, and put on my lucky Bad Kitty socks They've never let me down! Then I put on my shoes, took a quick extra drink, and headed for the trail. I was handed a cup of water and drank that too. I began to slosh.

On the run my pace was 7 minutes and 55 seconds per mile, phenomenal for me. My 12k race pace in SF was about 7:45 and my best 5k pace (without having biked 16 miles first) is 7:38. To have broken 8 minute miles in a tri is *really* good for me. And I felt terrible, too, having drunk a bit too much coming off the bike. It was hot & humid, but I had too much fluid in my belly for comfort -- And I had to pee like crazy, but unlike Bay to Breakers, I didn't stop. Yay!!

The trail run was beautiful and shady, but felt long (when you gotta go.... !). My legs finally realized they were supposed to be running, not riding, after about a half-mile, and at that point the work of putting one foot in front of the other disappeared and I was able to get into my zone and stay there, except when passing people in narrow areas. I made encouraging comments to everyone I passed on both the bike and the run. At the finish, Paul and Margaret were waiting for me, cheering. As we walked together toward the food area, one of the women I passed close to the finish line crossed the finish and came to me and thanked me for my comments and said they helped her. How nice!

Paul won 3rd in his age group, Margaret won first in hers. Another friend in his 50s won second in his age group. These are all fantastic athletes! Paul said he was beat by a 50 year-old woman, telling me this so that I understood that the field was very competitive. I didn't need to be reassured, but it was nice of him to try to fend off any discouragement I may have been feeling. I wasn't feeling any. I was high as kite!

Paul, Margaret, two others of their friends who I had heard about on numerous occasions but had never met, and I went to Denny's for breakfast next. Two eggs, over medium, pancakes, hash browns, whole wheat toast, orange juice, coffee & water. Second breakfast. My favorite meal! And this time the conversation and companionship was just the icing on the cake for the entire experience. They were not just tolerant of my exuberance, they actually seemed a bit infected by my high, remembering their firsts and telling all sorts of tales from over the years, and also discussing their "what's next?" plans. At one point, I apologized for my giddiness and said, "Somebody just slap me," but they were all not interested in stopping me. Apparently it's a bit of a gas to witness and be a part of a Newbie's first time. Hehe.

After breakfast, hugs all around. We filled Paul's bottles with ice and gatorade, and off he went. My drive home was bliss in the heat! I listened to Cold Play's "Strawberry Swing" at high volume as I passed the strawberry fields in southern New Jersey.
www.metrolyrics.com/strawber...play.html

My stats:
Age: 47 G: F Swim Rank: 148 Swim: 16:01 Bike Rank: 119 Bike: 48:47 Rate: 18.0 Run Rank: 93 Run: 24:32 Pace: 7:55
Overall time: 1:35:39 Division rank: 7/7 Division: F45-49 Gender rank: 29/48 Gender: F Overall place: 131/159

photo: My lucky running socks. They sill haven't let me down!