Obstacles

Ok, had a "few" obstacles for training this week:

• First I missed Monday's swim due to a work meeting.
• Tuesday, I had a run with a friend at lunch and almost threw up because...
• I think I'm getting sick
• Flew out Wednesday to Chicago for work
• Realized that I packed my swimsuit (yeah), but I forgot to pack my goggles and swim cap (boo)
• Because of this, I had to walk 10 blocks Wednesday night, in Chicago's (sticky) lovely streets to purchase, these goggles (that or nothing, guess I should have gone with nothing):
• Got a blister walking 10 blocks in Chicago's (sticky) lovely streets because I insisted on wearing my new (cute) espadrilles
• Ate yummy Italian food and drank some lovely Oregon wines (training) for dinner.
• Woke up Thursday... walked across the street to Lake Michigan and walked up to the first man in a wetsuit I found to ask about the swim route.

• Wetsuit Man said to me, "If you're a good swimmer (as he looked at my ginormous goggles), you can go out to the second buoy and back to get 1 mile in"
(I mean, my big sunglasses can't even compare to the goggles!)


• Picking up his hint, I explained I left my equipment at home...
• And because he's from Chicago and a triathlete, he sweetly went back to his bag and offered backup goggles to me to borrow

Quick side note: Let me tell you something about me.... I'm a germaphobe. My nieces and nephews call me "Auntie Biotics" because I do Ironmans but am fearful of hotel rooms.

• So it was surprising even to me, that I accepted his kind gesture.
• ... and I swam my mile! BAM! How you like them apples??

Proof: That's me!


Thanks Chi-Town for lovely weather, fabulous food (!), an amazing lake to swim in and super friendly people whom I wanted to hang out with all day but couldn't... I was there for work after all!

Goldilocks Update: He continues to carry around his Total Immersion book... However, today he actually headed over to the pool at lunch to swim! Or at least, he attempted to head to the pool... Due to a traffic collision (see enclosed traffic log - sent to Adult Supervision and I from Goldilocks) on the 405 that took up 20 minutes, he couldn't afford getting into the pool to swim for 45 minutes on his hour lunch break. We gave him points on the attempt...

(...and laughed that he went through the trouble of tracking down the traffic report, sending it to us so that we would know a legitimate reason "why" he didn't get in the pool... again!)

I don't know why I'm making fun of him, I basically wrote a whole blog entry on goggles...

Recovery Week going strong through the weekend:

Saturday we did an easy 3 hours on the bike. That meant we only had to do one (yes, only one) loop through The Canyon. No one particularly felt motivated on this ride, but all of us were thrilled to only have to be on the bike for 3 hours.
(Yes, that last statement is the kind of statement an Ironman athlete "in the thick of it" would say!)

After the short three hour ride, we had a 20 minute run. After gearing up, all three of us walked... Yes, that's right... we walked our run.

It was kind of harmless at first. All three of us walking down Goldilock's residential street. Looking like we were facing the last fight in some showdown to save the city. At some point you'd think someone would push off and motivate the group to run... but no one stepped up. And no one was going to complain either. The fact is, the walk just felt too good.

Midway through 2010 Shannon's conscious got the best of 2009 Shannon. And I spoke up, "You know, I'm not going to complain but should we be running now? I'm perfectly happy walking, but I felt I should ask..." To everyone's surprise, Adult Supervision said this was good enough for her. We all knew Goldilocks wouldn't complain. Even with the debut of his new running visor. Let's just refer to it as a walking visor instead.

Perhaps, it made us feel better. Perhaps we wanted to "log" 2 miles. Or perhaps we just didn't know what else to do with our extra time having only did 3 hours on the bike... but we didn't walk for 20 minutes. We... geared up and looking the part of runners (i.e. with water and electrolytes, water belts and running/walking visors)... we walked the 2 miles it would have taken us to run for 20 minutes.

Sunday, Adult Supervision finished up her longest LONG run with 3 hours in Huntington. I hear through the grapevine she survived.

Goldilocks and I were scheduled to run 8 miles. However I text'd him at 7am to postpone so I could sleep in (I still refuse to admit I was a little hung over from the night before). Run time moved to 4pm... Ok fine! We didn't end up running. Instead we went to the 3pm showing of Inception.

So, net, net: This week was a wash. Next week we have our last LONG, LONG, LONG ride (7 hours). And Inception was a good movie. Kinda long and confusing at some parts, but overall a good thriller!

1 step forward, 2 steps back

Oh yeah! Last week, I thought... wow! The Family is totally looking like "serious, hardcore triathletes!" (or at least Adult Supervision and I were).

And then, this week happened:
2009 Shannon showed up (for the whole week). I actually have wine in my hands as I type this. Plus, I saw Jaws on Thursday... that means I won't get in the open water for a good, hm.... 2 weeks. Its recovery week... a.k.a. don't do any workouts, but eat like you already raced and drink as if you are celebrating.

Goldilocks... (I heard) has bought a copy of Total Immersion... so I guess reading the book = swimming. But to his defense, he did a lot of calling around to see if Adult Supervision or I had the book, looked it up online and ordered it. That in and of itself, equals at least 1 swim workout.

We all know Adult Supervision does more than any of us... but suspiciously she hasn't said much other to tell me (disappointed) that "other girls were at Club Noon this week!" Ah! I can't believe they are moving in on her territory!

The little countdown on Ironman Canada's website, says we have 36 days til the race. How did that sneak up so quickly??

Roadblocks and Bulldogs

Friday 2010 Shannon swam the buoy line with a friend from work. It was my first time in the ocean (in a bathing suit for that matter) since 2009.

For the record, I’m still haunted by images of Jaws in the water. I almost always have a “negative” split on my swim time heading back to shore. Damn you Steven Spielberg!

Adult Supervision opted for a day off Friday. Good for her! And I heard through the grapevine that Goldilocks declared he would be training for the race… not sure if that means more 1 mile repeats with Ritalin Dog or if he actually intends to do more than the weekend work. Honestly, it doesn't matter. He'll still beat both Adult Supervision and I by about an hour. Anyway, more to come on if he actually does train…

Ok, onto Saturday… so you know those days where you keep hitting a road block, but you are damn determined to not let that sideline you?? That was Saturday. Here's how it played out with The Family:

• The Family agreed to start at 6:30am. We had 6 hours to ride and it was supposed to be 'record breaking hot' Saturday. So, after searching for some (never found) sunglasses we managed to officially hit the road at 7:00...


• I take that back, after 3 miles on the ride, we had a major blow out on the bike and had to replace a tire (not just the tube)… so, back to basecamp we went, replaced the tire and we officially hit the road… at 7:45.


• 9:30ish: The Wives actually stopped talking to Goldilocks when “his” route took The Family up a huge hill in Orange/Anaheim.


• 10:30ish: The silent treatment continued as we powered away on the hated River Trail.


• 11ish: Down to Huntington Beach and onto the Mountain to Sea trail where Goldilocks tried to tell us “we are almost there” (there meaning where?? Adult Supervision and I knew we were only halfway thru)


• Noonish: Quick picnic for 2010 Shannon and shopping trip for Goldilocks at the Orchard Hills mini mart


• 1:00ish: Finally on our way back into Lake Forest/RSM area, and Goldilocks starts to feel the effects of the sun and heat.


• About the same time, 2010 Shannon believes we are short on our 6 hours and convinces Adult Supervision we need to head out again to pick up more time. No one wants to tell Goldilocks.


• 1:30ish: The Wives part ways with Goldilocks to pick up "this extra time we need", but 5 minutes in realize we aren’t that bad off for time as originally suspected, so off we go to find Goldy…


• 2:00ish: We found him. He was cooling down outside of Rock n’ Road Cyclery, and looked like a withered flower. The group… exhausted, hot and, now, not talking to each other… decide to finish this ride off once and for all.


• 2:45ish: Pulling up to basecamp it’s determined an hour run on the hot path is needed. Why? Why not? It's 95+ degrees and we should. Goldilocks is out due to the heat… like good wives we send him off to a cold shower


• That leaves Adult Supervision and I to run…


• 3:00ish: We are 30 minutes in, we look and feel… as good as you can look and feel in 95+ weather after a 6 hour ride.


• 3:45ish: 45 minutes in 2010 Shannon walks. Wishing for someone to pop out of the bushes and spray me down with a hose. Just because.


• 4:00ish Just before the hour, Adult Supervision walks. Wishing the same thing!


• 4:30ish… Pull up to The Tap House for a well deserved beer and sandwiches… A happy family once again. And as it should be... Goldilocks, can’t get a moment’s silence with The Wives.
  

Sunday, Goldilocks and I run our last long, LONG run in Huntington Beach: 18 miles. Adult Supervision thought we were crazy… we are, but I say, “hallelujah!” It was about 20 degrees cooler, we had cloud cover the whole time and it’s DONE!

We celebrated, as you knew we would: Bulldogs all around from Sol!

How I spend my Friday nights

Lots of planning goes into a long ride. And if you don’t plan you risk leaving behind something you need…. Like a purse. I did that not too long ago as I scrambled to get my things together one Saturday morning before our long ride. At which point Goldilocks renamed me, “Deadbeat Wife”.

Planning consists of:

• Emails/Text messages between the group to get everyone on the same page in terms of time to start (both meet time and actual push off time – push off time is approx 30min – 1 hour after meet time). No I’m serious. Negotiations on this can go on for a few days...
• Emails/Text messages to get on the same page in terms of route we plan to take (for the record I hate the River Trail… Goldilocks swears by it) Again, negotiations take a few days... often times with a passive aggressive approach by not responding to someone's suggestion
• Research on the weather - our group is pretty bad on this one and usually show up under/over dressed
• Wardrobe approval - Adult Supervision and I love this one!
• Organizing/Packing all the items needed for the ride, run and post workout
• Calculating calories
• Calling Adult Supervision to confirm I’ve got the right number of calories
• Doing a quick drop by at Rock n Road cyclery to buy more calories cuz I don't have enough (per Adult Supervision)
• Filling bottles, filling baggies with white stuff (our calories in transport) and pulling Gu/Cliffshots/Hammer Gels/Fig Newtons/Salt Tablets/Advil
• “Carbo” loading the night before - 2 glasses of wine
• Hydrating the night before -4 glasses of water to offset the wine
• And, ah! Finally relaxing after you have the bike, helmet, pump, shoes and running gear prepacked in the car so you can sleep in 20 more minutes...

So, because that's a lot to expect a single gal to do on a Friday night, I made a list which is on my fridge. Sadly, I have to check EVERY time I pack for our long rides:

Yup, purse is now on the list...

(And yes, it's true, my bike is on the list… you can never be too prepared)

News Alert!

I got in the pool today!

And, there was a cute, tattooed (nice also!) guy who shared my lane. I think I'm gonna like 7pm swim practice!

Adult Supervision is also enjoying her Club Noon practice... especially when she's the only girl there. She just is upset that "if you catch it and you keep it" doesn't seem to apply in the pool.

I agree it's a bummer! And kind of embarrassing when you do it... but now, we know.

It's official, we're delusional!

As if you're surprised... no one really deserved a gold star this week.

Monday, Adult Supervision and I headed over to Club Noon with Nova. It was my first time back in the pool with them since 2007 and a couple things I learned here:

1. They still have cute boys in the fast lane.
2. I can survive an hour swim!
3. Adult Supervision's suit IS super cute!
4. It's still really uncomfortable talking with people while showering in the locker room after practice. I'd prefer to do that after we have clothes on, thanks.

But most importantly, I realized I need to suck it up and reactivate my membership with NOVA, cuz I won't get this type of workout on my own. And so now, I'm a member of the NOVA club... again.

Onto the rest of the week, and I think you'll agree, but The Family has officially lost it.

• 2010 Shannon: 1 swim + 1 bike + 1 run every week = a belief I'll be running right along side Lisa Bentley at the finish
• Adult Supervision is trying to convince me that her nights watching the Tour de France actually count as rides
• Goldilocks is counting his 1 mile run with Ritalin Dog as a workout
• Adult Supervision actually started a sentence with, "well, I just did an Ironman"... back at Lake Placid... in 2006
• It really comes as no surprise when Goldilocks loses his gear. They are always put in weird place (i.e. Garmen in the hamper, goggles in his center divider, water bottle on the side of the house) but he has no problem blaming either 2010 Shannon of taking it or Ritalin Dog of eating it
• We have caught ourselves standing on the corner, dressed for the long bike ride, with coffee in our hands, just gabbing away... realizing there's no one we're waiting on.
• It always takes two people in The Family to help one member figure out the nutrition math for the day.
• When Goldilocks gets pregnant, he won't drink.
• We started talking about doing Vineman Half next year. Again, because we can wine taste afterwards...

Onto some good news: We rode almost 5 1/2 hours + 50 min run Saturday. Sunday, we turned around and did a 16 mile run in Huntington Beach!

7 weeks to go... at least 14 swim practices, 14 bike rides, 28 runs. Surely we can do that??! Can't we??

Fear

Goldilocks says he trained more for Ironman Arizona because he was scared of what he got himself into. He says this time, he's just not scared anymore...

I sure wish I had that confidence... with our lack of training... and less than 2 months to go...

This is how I feel:

The thick of it

Big weekend with some big workouts. We are just beginning our climb in miles to the first of two really big peaks in training.


In other words, we are in the thick of it . Or we should be.


The thick of it is that phase when you're extremely fit and trim, but also VERY tired and fried! That moment in the schedule where you still have work to do but you're so sick of swimming, biking, running, that your head's about to explode. Riding a fine line to burn out mode. But the only option you have is to continue to grind away at the schedule.

The good news about our Family's (lack of a) training plan is even when in the thick of it, we don't have the burn out mode! In fact, I think those reading this should thank us for finding a way to be in the thick of it while still avoiding burn out mode! Train late, train little and recovery often. That's it. Burn out solved! You're welcome!


Onto the weekend report:
So, Friday, 2010 Shannon had planned to do an hour swim. Originally it was to do the buoy lines in CDM. Then it turned into swim at the club. But by the end of the day, I didn't swim but met up with Goldilocks at a fabulous Shabu place near my house! I hadn't known about the restaurant in the area so again, I felt it was progress for the week...

Saturday was the big day. The Family had to get a 4 1/2 hour bike and 40 min run in. To be honest, we all slapped ourselves on the backs for a job well done. We did 2 loops (1 full loop and one out and back to Jamboree) through The Canyon. We had the hills, the wind and some completely Clueless biker who wouldn't let us pass on his left... all those obstacles and yet we still had plenty of energy for a 40 min run.

Saturday was a HUGE feat for me, personally. I finally nailed my nutrition! Here's my run down:

• Breakfast- 150 calories of oatmeal + coffee
• 3 bottles - approx 400 calories (3 scoops of CarboPro and 1 Motortab)/bottle
• 1/2 package - cliff shot blocks 100 calories

I needed to hit: 300 x 4 1/2 hours = 1350 and I managed to get: 1300

Sunday the group bypassed the 4th of July 5ks and hit the trail for a 14 mile run. Adult Supervision did hers in Huntington Beach. Goldilocks and I did ours at the Backbay.


Goldilock's and 2010 Shannon decided to try a new Recovery Drink at 333:

Adult Supervision stuck with her tried and true drink, but she admitted it was kind of boring.

Here's one final thought to end the weekend...

As I mentioned, on Saturday we encountered a "Clueless" biker who wouldn't let us pass him on the left. Hm, technically that's not true... He wasn't clueless. This man was perfectly happy riding along at his average clip... until Adult Supervision and I came up on his wheel ready to pass. Clueless decided he didn't want two girls to pass him. So he proceeded to ride in the far left hand side of the bike lane (those who don't know this it's not only proper etiquette but also safe for faster riders to pass on the left), refusing to let us pass and unsuccessfully trying to pick up his pace. After a few minutes, and because (we think) he wore himself out we passed him... on the right. Goldilocks just sat back and laughed as the whole thing played out.

Here's my point: People, this is an individual sport. Everyone has their own fitness and it varies depending on your goal. We aren't out to beat you. We are out to beat ourselves. Do not take it personally if we happen to pass you one morning because, as I've said in numerous other posts, there are hundreds of times when we are also getting passed... and sometimes that's by people who wear clip in sandals with socks.

So, stop letting your pride get the best of you and let a girl/someone older/a person with a double-wide stroller/etc pass you. Pull to the right, say a quick good morning and wish them a safe ride/run. We've got too many other obstacles to deal with on the open road, we don't need to fight each other too.

... and I'm off my soap box.

We're really gonna work out...

After the serious sit down on Sunday, the group hit the training schedule pretty hard. Well, we're trying.

Adult Supervision is on summer break so she can workout 24/7. Does she? No. But it's nice that she has the option.

She did, however, break down and signed up to do Club Noon (aka noon swim practice with Nova - where you tan as you swim). The highlight? People just LOVED her new swimsuit! (Adult Supervision has wonderful fashion sense!) Oh! And she swam with Jason Lezak.

2010 Shannon showed up for the beginning of the week (or at least on Tuesday) and so I headed down for my 5 mile run on the treadmill. At this time Goldilocks called me.

Here's how the conversation went:
"Hey, are you really going to work out tonight??"
"Yes"
"Seriously?"
"Yes"
"How far are you going?"
"5 miles, why?"
"I need a drink, Lola is killing me" (Lola, the dog that needs Ritalin)
"Give me an hour and I'll meet you after the run..."

Then there was Thursday night's text exchange:
2010: Are you working out tonight?
GLKS: Does walking Lola count?
2010: Depends, on how hyper is she. I need motivation to get on the bike...
(couple minutes go by)
GLKS: Did you find your motivation?
2010: No, cuz I'm still working
GLKS: Is that the only reason?
2010: No, but it's a pretty good excuse

As you can see, Goldilocks and I are enablers.