8/31/11
Wordless Wednesday–1st Day of 2nd Grade
8/30/11
TOTAL Immersion
Sold. Hook – Line – Sinker. This is the ticket. Total Immersion Swimming or to me…swim like a dolphin & glide. I said in my last post that I didn’t feel that there was really anything more I could do in the next 3-4 weeks before The Nation’s Triathlon to make any improvements – the gist of it was – just survive to tell the tale & hope somebody comes and takes pictures to prove it.
Well, then I got to dishing on the phone with Nineteen69 about this triathlon business and how we could improve on our swim. She had been looking into this concept of Total Immersion Swimming and looking for a coach. She hipped me to some video clips from the inventor of the Total Immersion Swimming technique - Terry Laughlin – and I was immediately impressed. I watched over an hour of a seminar he gave at MIT on the technique, made them a favorite on my iphone (Youtube app), watched 2 clips again at my gym and decided to give it a try.
As my soror and fellow triathlete, Roz would say – LIFE CHANGING!
Did I master the technique by watching over an hour of video? NO. But I changed my whole way of swimming and did my best to imitate the stroke, relaxation, hand position and NO KICKING and I felt like I was slicing through the water effortlessly. I did 70 laps – 1750 meters - pretty much NON-STOP – and was not winded.
He had me at the 20th lap w/o stopping. SOLD. DONE. Put a fork in me.
I’m getting that 10 DVD set (and will work the drills over the HA! – “off season”) and then my Philly Tri Soror’s and I are gonna get us that coach and over a girls weekend we are gonna become the dolphin. GLIDE!
I going to watch his seminar over and over for the next two weeks before I go to the pool and get my laps in. I’m hoping to do an open water swim the next two Thursday’s with MidMdTri Club and work it some more.
Fellow Triathletes Unite – Total Immersion Swimming – Become the Dolphin & Glide.
8/26/11
Biting off More Than I Can Chew
I’ve been wondering…feeling some kinda way since Iron Girl last Sunday that…well, maybe, I’ve bitten off more than I can chew this season with all of the races I signed up for and my work/family/life schedule. I actually contemplated blowing off Nations and then promptly remembered how much the registration was for that sucker and I don’t know about ya’ll…but I ain’t got it like that to just toss out the wind.
NO SIR REE!
So, what’s an plump, tired, undertrained, over nourished, professional drinker triathlete supposed to do…
Yep, CHEW THE DAMN THING! It’s time to dig deep, get fierce and do what I can do in the time that I have. I had to come to the realization that I will not be standing on any podiums this year (or probably next) but I CAN collect some great bling, cross the finish line on my own power and be all that I can be – HOOAH!
I could do all these wonderful things…get a trainer, a sports nutritionist, stop drinking (THAT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN – maybe cut back – MAYBE), close my mouth…but in the next 4 weeks…none of that is going to change a damn thing. I bit off a big ole hunk of triathlon whoop ass and now I’m gonna CHEW IT!
DAMN SKIPPY!
I have all my race bling (from the races I GOT bling from – can you tell I’m still bitter about getting NOTHING from MussleMan?) hanging from my dresser mirror. I look at it every day and it is a great reminder that – YES, I CAN!
Here’s the schedule for the rest of the “season”:
Sept 11 – Nation’s Triathlon
Sept 25th – Navy 5 Miler
Oct 9th – Army 10 Miler
WHEW!
Tomorrow…30 mile ride followed by 30 min run. Yep. Yep
So, what do you do when you bite off more than you can chew? CHEW IT! Quit is NOT in my vocabulary.
8/24/11
The Boys of Bayer Street
This picture brought me joy! Jordan & 2 of his lacrosse teammates are living off campus this year in this awesome house. Today was the 1st day of their Junior academic year. Looking good.
8/22/11
Race Report: Iron Girl Columbia
Sunday was the Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon – an all women Sprint+ Triathlon. What are the few things about this race and my tri-season that come first to mind from this race:
- I am consistent. Consistently slow…just above frozen molasses
- I have work to do, Lucy
- Whatever…I AM AN IRON GIRL!!!
and I have the BLING to show for the effort.
So, that goal I had of 2 hours or less…yeah, well, um, er…what had happened was…I’m just slow. PERIOD. And whoever that sinister psychopath is that created the Iron Girl Course (particularly the bike & run course) is probably best friends with Hannibal Lecter and needs to be taken down. JUST WRONG is all I can muster up to say about that crazy course creator mofo. HUMPH.
The Iron Girl Columbia course was one kinda hella hard. I know they put little mountain icon’s on the maps where there was a “big” hill. I think they left some off the map. For real doh. JUST WRONG.
So here is a recap of the past 3 months…the past 3 races:
Philly Tri MussleMan Iron Girl
Swim (850m) 37:30 Swim (750m) 23:48 Swim (998m) 34:15
Bike (15.7mi) 1:05:59 Bike (16.2mi) 1:07:06 Bike (17.5mi) 1:30:26
Run (3.2mi) 39:23 Run (3.2mi) 41:00 Run (3.3mi) 48.07
Final 2:32:28 Final 2:20:08 Final 2:53:40
When I first saw my results I was all depresses and feeling pitiful. I wasn’t dead last but I was pulling up the rear STILL. Then when I compared these times, reflected on how challenging the course was…well…not too shabby for an overweight lover in da house. Yeah, I’m a work in progress.
Despite my sniveling about the course – this was probably the most rewarding. EVERYONE was so encouraging & supportive. There were women of all shapes, sizes, colors – some with all of their limbs – some not. It was just so amazing.
I arrived at the park with the Queen Mother (My Personal Paparazzi) and Princess Erin in tow and as soon as they find their way around it starts to POUR down rain. That picture above looks like we just got out of the water. NOPE. We were just standing in the rain – 15 min race delay. Safety First.
SWIM: What is there to say? To me the swim is a mind game…and it messes with me EVERY SINGLE TIME. The 15 min delay and the fact that we didn’t get into the water until a little after 8 am (after being in the park since 6am) didn’t have anything to do with nerves, heart racing or anything. I felt calm getting into the water, but once I got out there and started swimming…well…I felt tired & winded. I just couldn’t get a rhythm going. I just swam buoy to buoy, resting when I needed to with a side stroke and then started again. Will there EVER be a day when I can do this thing in 17 min like the gazelle in my age group that came out of the water first? No matter. I got out without the need of assistance…but I didn’t look too happy about it. Funny – I never do.
Bike: Tough. Hilly. Mountainous. But I never got off the bike to walk it up a hill. Sheer determination and the fact that I had trained on the course so much that I knew what to expect was what got me through. I really thought I was bookin’ it but then you see pace times IN MY AGE GROUP of 20mph and I’m like WHAT THE HECK?! Will there be a day that I’m cooking it on the bike like that? Is it me or is it the bike? Hmmmm….
Run: Sweet Baby Jesus! Whoever came up with the idea to put a mountain at the 1.4 mile mark to run up, down and then up again was on that pipe or just plain mean. That run was no joke. There was a LOT of walking out there on the course (especially on that hill) and I was one of those walkers. HUMPH. That was just hateful. When I had about a half mile left, I was feeling might low…I was feeling real bad. But then I looked up and there was Jerrold & his son Gabriel yelling for me and pushing me on…that’s when I knew there was a GAWD. I took it on in and finished strong…in my mind.
Thank you to all of you that came out to cheer us on (Robin, Kenneth, Jerrold, Mom, Erin…I’m sorry if I forgot you). This was one of the most spectacular & awesome spectator crowd ever.
I AM AN IRON GIRL!!!! I AM A TRIATHLETE!!!
How Time Flies
Prince Jordan, Heir to the Empire, Protector of the Realm went back to college this weekend. SIGH.
He’s a JUNIOR…IN COLLEGE!!! Where did the time go?
He’s living off campus this year. SIGH. In a house with 2 of his Lax Bro’s (yeah, I’m using his terminology). Letting go and cutting the apron strings gets harder and harder each year. SIGH.
At least I didn’t do the ugly wall slide sobbing cry…that will come later as I start getting the bills.
SIGH.
I bet the parties are gonna be AWESOME!!!!
8/13/11
Get Busy Living
The recent death of a woman competing in the NYC Triathlon (read – Coping With A Swimmers Sudden Death) has been weighing heavy on my mind. Not because she died doing something she loved – clearly she did from the article – but because of the reaction to it. I started reading a lot of people saying stuff like “Well, maybe I shouldn’t do this (triathlon) because it’s dangerous”, “I’m really scared now of the swim, I didn’t realize that it could kill you.”, “I was fine until I read about this, perhaps I should pull out of the race.” and more with a similar theme.
Really? So let’s take that logic and carry it further/apply it to other things in our lives:
- According to the CDC, 1400 people out of 100,000 die each year in a car accident. You have a 1.4% chance of dying on your way to doing whatever you are doing. Should you stop driving or stop going to work – it’s dangerous.
- People have been know to have a heart attack & die after chex – should you consider abstinence since you could possibly die?
- Although the stats on air/water/space travel deaths is lower – only about 100 out of 100,000 die each year using other forms of transport – should you forgo that bucket list of traveling to those dream spots because, well, you just might be that one person that crashes & burns?
I say NO! We know not the day or the time when God will call us home, so it comes down to a simple choice – Get busy living, or get busy dying.
I CHOSE TO LIVE – LIVE OUTLOUD – LIVE NOW!
If you aren’t going to apply the principle that because I might have a heart attack, I might crash & burn, I might die so I shouldn’t do it to everything in your life – then why are you applying it to completing that goal you set for yourself – Triathlon (or any other noteworthy accomplishment)? Don’t let that little voice – the negative, the doubtful, the fearful keep you on the sidelines. You will REGRET it and then possibly, even worse, you might just succumb to the woe is me syndrome and become one of those people that always chimes in with the negative, trying to steal another’s hopes & dreams nonsense. A Negative Nelly Misery Likes Company Person that NOBODY of any salt would want to be around.
Get busy living, or get busy dying.
I’m often afraid. I have doubt all the time. I chose to beat those thoughts back.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon
Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. ~Edward Vernon Rickenbacker
My heart breaks that 2 people died during the NYC Triathlon swim portion of the race. I find solace in the fact that they were doing what they wanted to do, enjoying the moment and were living life. So, I keep swimming, I keep biking, I keep running, I keep cooking, traveling, building, achieving, learning, trying new things…
I’m getting busy LIVING…how about you?
8/10/11
Training Mind Madness
I just wasn’t feeling it today, but I went out and started to ride. It had to be done. I needed the mileage and to keep the feeling of the route on my legs. I got out there on that Iron Girl route and right after tackling that gruesome 1st hill (Mt Albert) Mind Madness – that not so quiet voice at the end of the day - took over, found room and made themselves at home all up in my head:
- Damn, this is going to be the hardest Tri yet with all these MFn’ hills.
- Who was the Bastid that came up with these routes.
- Damn, I don’t even get to start slowing down after this race…Nation’s Tri is Sept 11th followed by Navy 5 Miler and the Army 10 miler.
- Damn, I’m tired.
- I have got to come up with a plan to get my running up so I can slide into that 10 miler
- I don’t wanna.
- Damn, I’m tired.
- I bet you there is some likka back at da house instead of this energy drink.
- HUMPH. Fugg this shyt.
- Look at those
BytchesIron Girls out here doing it. WHATEVER. - Stop following me! Oh, you don’t know the route. What I look like…a damn map? *Be nice. Be supportive. Share*
- Yeah. WHATEVER.
There were some other ever more crass stuff that went through my head and that’s when I knew it was just time to turn Dominque Diva Dawes back to the house and take it in.
It happens to all of us. That moment of burn out. That moment when you just KNOW you need to turn up the heat, but the pilot light is out. Am I going to take a lot of time off…No. I’m going to do an open water swim tomorrow, take Friday off, do a long ride w/30min run (BRICK) Saturday and rest again on Sun.
I had to come to the realization that I will NOT make any earth shattering leaps in the next week before Iron Girl. It’s okay. Iron Girl Columbia is a VERY challenging course. At least I think so. Relax & Have Fun. That’s what I’m going to do.
After letting Prince Jordan fix me a “special girl sandwich” and contemplating my navel with my friend Makers Mark, I have decided that killing myself before Iron Girl isn’t going to get me to place so just have a good time and enjoy the moment. I decided that I would focus on the mile swim & running going into Nation’s and the two last road races of “my season” so that I can perform respectable but have fun.
The Madness went silent. For the moment.
So, how do you deal with Training Mind Madness?
8/4/11
Motivation in a Jar Project
Do you ever wish you could bottle motivation when you have it? Ya know, to use for later? (Because you know this is the type of thing that runs out…)
Do you ever wish motivation came in a jar? So you can just open it up and have some when you need it?
I KNOW that I do! There have been plenty of times when I was looking for ANY excuse to not do a workout or ran out of gas in my tank 15 miles out and wanted to call somebody to just come get me – I’m done.
Well, ChristieO over at Average Mom’s Wear Capes is asking for us to help fill the jar of motivation. Once the “jar” is filled, we will all be able to reach in and help ourselves when we need a little UMPH! to get us going.
Still not sure what I mean?
ChristieO needs YOU to be a part of the “Motivation in a Jar” Project, her not so supersecret project in which everyone in the fitness community can help feed the finite pool of motivation. This is for you! It’s for me! It’s for everyone who has ever needed motivation in health and fitness and weight-loss!
If you tweet or blog about fitness or health or even if you don’t but health and fitness is just IMPORTANT to you, whether you’re successfully living healthfully or trying to live healthfully, whether you’re where you want to be or whether you wish you were where you want to be, JOIN HER IN THIS PROJECT!
Go on over to Average Mom’s Wear Capes and join in on the project. I did.
Who’s with me?
8/1/11
TOP SUSHI CHEF
Saturday afternoon (yeah, after swimming 1/2mile & running 3), I executed one of my Liv.ing.S.oci.al coupons and went & took a Sushi Rolling Class at a place called CulinAerie in DC. It was a 2 hour course on how to make some basic sushi rolls and more importantly – how to ROLL a sushi roll into something edible.
AWESOME! It was a whole lot easier than I thought it was going to be. Even making the rice was way simpler than ever – if you use the right rice. After making a couple rolls (all were veggie California rolls), I was like where is my Sta.ple.s Easy Button…THAT WAS EASY!
I was now on a mission to test my new skills. This morning The Queen Mum, Princess Erin & Cara and I went out on a mission – 1st to pick up the Barbie Remote Control Car (kill me now) – and then to gather up everything I needed to make sushi for dinner. In addition to deciding what I was going to make ingredients, I needed sushi rice, noir paper (seaweed) & rolling mat. I found the mat at Be.d, B.at.h & Be.yo.d and the rest of the stuff at my local Gi.ant. I had a rice steamer at home (you don’t have to have one, but it makes life a lot simpler).
I decided to go with crab, shrimp, smoked salmon & some imitation lobster. Other condiments included cream cheese (Philly roll), cucumber, avocado, & carrots. I seasoned with Old Bay & or Seven Spice Seasoning.
So, I made the rice and while it was cooking I prepared all of the other ingredients ready & staged, covered my mat with plastic wrap (DO IT – or you will be pulling out rice out of the mat EVERY TIME). When the rice was ready, I let it cool a little, added the rice vinegar per package instructions and started rolling.
My combinations varied from the standard Philly Roll to Spicy Salmon to any ole combo of ingredients I felt would make a nice roll.
Here are a couple of tips that I learned in class and along the way to make the job just a little easier:
- Keep a small bowl of water next to mat and keep your fingers (of at least one hand) wet. The rice WILL STICK to your fingers making it VERY DIFFICULT to spread rice if you don’t
- Spread rice THINLY. No more than about 3 grains thick or the roll won’t close properly
- Wet the tip of your VERY SHARP knife when cutting rolls. Poke roll with tip of knife and then cut. The nori can be difficult to slice through.
- If your roll doesn’t exactly meet end to end – no biggie – you can hide your sins by pushing your slices together like served in a restaurant. Kinda like in picture above.
- Have fun
Of course, the proof was in the pudding. What did the family think? Well, since there was NOTHING left from what I made….
…I think we have a new family favorite. What would have cost us way over $100 for all of what I made only came to about $80 and will be even less the next time as I have the hard items (mat, rice cooker, bag of sushi rice, wasabi, soy sauce, spices). GO US!!
Have you ever made your own sushi? You should! We had a blast.