Using the technology

I try to keep my training a little low-tech.  I've almost never worn a heart rate monitor.  I trained with a power meter on the bike for just over a year (until the CPU was stolen!).  The most techy my swims and runs have ever been are a pace clock and a chrono watch.  But since my life went app crazy on the iPhone, I decided to try out the mapmyride app that incidentally links to Facebook and the online training application Mapmyride.

And, I have to say, it worked pretty good.  Even when I was out in the flats where cell phone service was nil... the map that I uploaded to the website was still remarkably accurate.  Three problems that came up:  1) I couldn't actually start the mapping until I had cell phone service... so I lost the first and last 4 miles of my ride (I'm house-sitting in the forest this week).  2) it doesn't record an end time... requiring you to put in your own ride time.  3) The idea that I would ride out of town, do a loop, and then use the same roads to return to town after the loop seem to be lost on the makers of the mapping function.  Let's hope the next version can fix this tiny problem so that it doesn't look like I picked up my bike and flew the direction-the-crow-flies to get home after the loop ends.

The reason I am posting this a week after the actual ride: have to have wifi to connect to the website, so you have to wait till you get to home/work/loving friend's houses where they let you reconfigure their router to accept WPA security (silly PC users.. today is the 25th anniversary of the Macintosh!  Embrace the awesomeness).  I've also been sooo busy.

Here is a link to the map if you want to check it out.

The Art of the Potluck

When I think of a potluck, food comes to mind.  And people coming together for these gustatory celebrations.  Sometimes, the potluck is centered around an event: Thanksgiving, Superbowl, the Inauguration.  Sometimes, we put a theme on the potluck ala Iron Chef: Everything must have chocolate in it, you must bring red food.  And sometimes, it is a competition, like a chili cook-off or a pie competition.  But, you know, more than the food that shows up, its the people that make the difference in a successful potluck, and the unique talents and gifts that they bring.

So, I suggest that a potluck can describe just about any group where the uniqueness of each individual is celebrated... even, say, a bike ride.  What got me thinking about this?  Well, I actually did start over with my training for the year.  No more sickness, dehydration, or snarky stummy.  And last week, was my first "base week".  And to help me get out the door for my long run/ride, I joined the groups.

On Saturday, it was the HOTV runners for a turn around Bald Hill, Mulkey Creek, and back to Oak Creek.  I jumped into the middle of Gerhard's and Jeff's 2:45 run for my piddly 1:10 (it will get longer!).  The potluck part:  Between the five of us, not one attended the same church, worked at the same place, or spent our free time the same way (even family time we discovered differs among us).  But, for that brief time, we were all running 7:45 miles, discussing the football play-offs, TV shows, Sports Illustrated, and of course food (we were hitting up Great Harvest for their anniversary celebration after the run... free coffee and cookies, baby!).  It was a potluck of personalities where we all brought something new to "the table".  Gerhard even brought a new runner :-).

On Sunday, I joined a different kind of group.  I met up with the OSU triathlon team (a collection of alumni and current students and faculty like me) for a little pedal-pushing.  And did I ever push those pedals!  These guys are pretty speedy, multiple Hawai'i Ironman qualifiers among them.  We headed for the valley, "stagnation inversion" be-damned (which I can't tell the difference) under clear skies and light winds.  After a little 10-mile warm-up, the groups split and I jumped behind the longer group and just held on for dear-life.  The ride proceeded like many others before... with people off the front, hills, pace-lines, pee-stops (where it was discovered that I am a girl when I jumped into the woods... up till that point I had fooled at least one of my fellow riders).  And then a dog ran into our group... taking down Ben.  He took it like a champ, rolling off the pedals onto the ground and only sustaining a sore shoulder and a de-trued wheel courtesy of running over the dog.  We gave the owner a piece of our mind.

I probably took it a little too hard this time, but it was hard to tell my fitness before-hand.  Among the group, I was one of the few who still had some legs on me for the final push.  And as it turns out, I got to go to a real potluck that evening... the best kind.  The impromptu kind where someone says, "Hey, I bought this huge salmon and it is about to expire.  Let's grill it up and potluck."  That's what we did.

I want to dedicate this post to my friend Smeth, who still gets my award for "Most classic potluck moment".  Smeth was bringing the bread and butter to our Thanksgiving celebration of the Usual Suspects a few years ago.  He was late, and we were all wondering where he was.  Within minutes he triumphantly arrived, proclaiming "I went to three grocery stores, but I finally found turkey-shaped butter!"

Thanks, Smeth!  Shaped butter always tastes better.

Back in the saddle

Ah sweet, sweet health (my cold is mostly gone, just some lingering sniffles and a sexy low voice) and workouts (got a swim at lunch today).  I hooked up with Meghan for a turn around Bald Hill yesterday morning.  And I have also put in a swim with the CBATS masters class that included an 800m IM (ouch!).  

I marked my return to normalcy with a mini-celebration that included Imagining Whirled Peace (the latest and greatest offering from a pair of ice cream geniuses and a tribute to John Lennon).  Or I could quote Bridget Jones and tell you that my most recent relationship is with two men simultaneously —Ben and Jerry.  I swear sometimes it feels like the only reason I do triathlon is so that I can eat as much ice cream as I want.  And spaghetti.  And Wahoo's Tacos... though, on that front, I guess there is no danger of going overboard since the nearest Wahoo's is 686 miles away, or about an 11 hour drive.

I have big plans for MLK Jr. week-end (they sadly do not include driving to Fresno, CA for Wahoo's), but I am currently house-sitting for Heather and Jim and they live a stone's throw from the Oak Creek entrance to the forest... I plan to take in some seriously awesome hiking and cyclocross riding this week-end to take advantage of the fact that the valley has been "dry" (no rain, just moisting) for the past week.  Yeah!

How does that go again?

When I start out my training season, I always stress a little about the first few workouts.  I wonder, "Am I going to hard, to short, to slow, to soon, to pink, to ???".  And all of this is compounded by the fickle winter weather. Do I wear the jacket or just stuff it in my pocket.  Which gloves do I need?  What if it is windy? Rains? Road-gritty?  And it is so hard to get out the door as I try to remember to air up the tires, lube the chain, second-guess the number of Clif bars I have in my pockets, and wonder for the 1000th time if I should try to replace my stolen CPU for my powertap or pick-up the Garmin 305 Forerunner (either way I am out a chunk of change) so that I can at least measure how far I've gone.  

Today, I took Dean outside for the first time this year... actually it's been longer than that, since October.  I forgot how great that bikes is to ride!  I dressed for a light chill... base-layer, jersey, jacket.  My light leg-warmers were plenty, but at the last minute I pulled on the shoe covers and the warmer gloves.  I started out the door into a "moisting"... not a rain, not even a mist... a moist.  I was heading due North to Adair, and the first ride of the Pacific Power/ Blue Sky team this season.  We were decked out in our new team kits; the blue on the jersey is sooo bright that it seems almost fluorescent.  Our ride was to take in the Cherry Pie Road Race course, a fundraising race we put on in less than a month to kick off the Oregon road season.

Ready to ride!

I felt great for the entire 8 miles out to the meeting spot (no surprise) and the first half of the loop (tailwind).  And even the start of the second loop felt good (I jumped in with a group of Cat 3/4 men doing a pace-line into the wind), but then I got dropped on a downhill when the group was jumbled passing another cyclist and I started to hear the fat lady sing.  Fatigue washed over me, and riding into the wind I found that there is no easy gear.  After a brief reprieve, I did manage to gather my scattered energy reserves in order to hang on to a group of stragglers like myself, even putting a little distance on them up the last climb of the course.

After leaving the group, I just soft-pedaled on the way home.  My quads were aching from the added strain on my stabilizer muscles, ones that don't really come into play on the bike trainer (must remember that for later).  I'll be on the foam-roller tonight.  But, I was super-psyched to have been outside in the air and wind.  I think it will be a lot easier to get out the door for my long ride from now on.

First ride.... success!

Fits and starts

How's your New Year going so far?  Been to the gym yet?  Made good on that promise to be nicer to people?

My new year has gone something like this:

Hanging with the parents... Good.

Running... Also, Good.

Reading a book for pleasure... Nice!

Drinking more water... I like the sound of that.

Violent vomiting... Wait a second?!

I suppose it was inevitable.  Let me explain.  Me Mum came down with the stomach flu on Jan. 1.  My Pops got laid up  Jan. 3.  I was feeling great right up until the moment that I picked up my luggage from the carousel at Portland International Airport.  Then, like a butterfly flitting toward a distant flower, I made my slightly dazed and un-straight way to the train that would take me to my car that would hopefully take me all the way to my apartment were I could then suffer in the comfort of my own bed/bathroom.  My brain was slightly dazed at this point and I started to do this weird gulping thing people do when they are trying not to burp.

I made it onto the train and to my car without incident.  I started by taking the highway at my usual 5 miles-over-the-speed-limit.  Then as the miles sped by and my hardened resolve to make it all the way home began to crumble as the realization hit that I might actually not make it all the way home, the speedometer crept up.  By the time, my exit came into view, I was a cool 13 mph over the 65 limit.  I passed two police officers like this, but they must have sensed the urgency, because I didn't even have to look in the rearview mirror to know that they weren't interested in me that day.

Into the house, bags left in the car, I headed straight for the....

(this portion of the account has been deleted for those of you that may not have eaten dinner yet).

I was aided merely hours after I got home by an emergency intervention.  Bill and Erika supplied me with some essentials: Tylenol PM, Immonium AD, toilet paper, and 7-UP. Two days later I emerged from my apartment, as if from a cocoon, to get the mail and rescue my luggage from the car.  Then I went back to bed.

Because a thing like just doesn't go away quickly, but lingers like garlic smell, my stomach is still out of sorts.  I've been running once (25 minutes), biking (to and from work, twice), and swimming.  I've got myself a triathlon.

No seriously, my training did go a little out of the window because I was sick.  So,  I declare that my New Year has not yet begun.  I am starting over... Who wants to ring in the New Year with me tomorrow?

Sunday is my fun day

My last day in St. Louis... it is colder than a witch's titty (okay maybe not that cold). My mom and now my Dad in turn have come down with the flu. We are talking in bed-shades drawn- toilet seat up-flu. I'm still good, and because they staggered out their infirmities quite nicely, I got to spend all day Friday and Saturday with my Dad and all day today with my Mom. Don't get me wrong, it is a shame that I didn't get to spend all my time with them. But the funny thing about getting sick, is that it always seems to happen right when you let your gaurd down... and I think that my parents may have been working so hard up to the time I showed up that when they took a moment to relax... that's when it happened.

But here's the rundown:

Friday my Dad and I went downtown to the SLU basketball game. The Billikins have a sweet new stadium and watching the game accompanied by the spirited jazz of the Alumni Pep Band was a good time. The Bills didn't play very well in the first half, going to the locker room with a 15 point deficit. Coming out of the locker room, they crawled their way back to parity with NC A&T, holding the other team to two points in the last 5-minutes of the half. The crowd really got behind their team, and with a minute to go, an SLU win was assured.

Saturday Dad and I went shopping. Or more like he chilled in the comfy chairs outside of Macy's while I tried on every pair of bootcut size 8-tall jeans in the entire mall (and some 6s). Can you believe that "tall" wasn't tall enough? It's not like I have disporportionately long legs or anything. I find it hard to believe that there aren't more woman out there with 35 inch in-seams. Or maybe there are and they bought all the jeans in the mall! After my disillusionment, the only thing left to do was see a movie at the art house theater in Plaza Frontenac. We saw The Reader, beautiful, and even for my romance-novel-tempered-brain, risque!

Today, it was Mom's turn. She was a little jealous that we saw a movie without her, so today she and I went to see Seven Pounds. But first, since we were in a different mall, I shopped around to see if all the size 8-tall women had bought out Chesterfield Mall, as well. I thought I was doomed to failure until I came across a pair of size 29 (as if women's sizing isn't hard enough, stores switch between non-standard 6,8,10 or 5,7,9 sizing, to waist size, even if you are buying low-rise jeans that come nowhere near your waist) -"extra-long" bootcut, nothing fancy on the pockets, no embarrasing fade pattern designed to draw attention to butt and thighs, perfect. I bought them without hestitation (and only slight sticker-shock) and hurried off to have Will Smith bring tears to my eyes for the second time in two years (tell me you saw Pursuit of Happyness).

Tomorrow.... I'm on the plane!

2008 Race Results (mostly)

Oct.-Nov. Cross Crusade I've raced #2, #4, #5

August 31 Portland Triathlon Olympic Distance 2nd Overall Female, 2:15:42 Race Report

August 2 Luna Women's Triathlon 1st Overall Female, 1:07:08 Race Report

June 28 Pacific Crest Half-Iron 1st Overall Female, 4:48:55 Race Report

June 15 Blue Lake Triathlon Olympic distance 1st Overall Female, 38:07 for the 10K! Race Report

June 7 Footzone Dirty Half 5th Overall female, 1st 20-29 age group 1:28:58 Race Report

June 1 Run for the Hills 1st Overall female 33:21

May 30 OBRA TTT Championships 1st Cat4 Women 1:11:12

May 3 Wildflower Triathlon 6th Overall 4:48:30