Holiday Hardcore-ness

I've been indulging in my favorite vice today...training!  Okay, I really like wine, whiskey and shoes, too. But my favorite is training.  As today was a holiday, I just had to squeeze about 30 minutes of lab time in, so I decided to make good use of my time off.  Here's what happened:

Swim #1: woke up early and hit up my masters' swim.  Turns out it wasn't a coached workout, just a swim with the workout written on a big board.  Tough workout!  Too tough for me.  Lots of fly and drills.  I just did my own thing.  Swam about 2000 yards in 45 min and worked on the stroke tweaks I learned at my lesson.  It still feels weird, which is normal and a good sign.  Means I haven't just returned to my old ways.  The pool was kinda crowded and not so fun so I bailed early.

Bike: My plan was to do a pretty tough 40 miler.  As soon as I started in on the first climb, however, I realized I would be better off doing a shorter ride.  My legs are so tired from Saturday's bike and Sunday's run.  I decided to ride the coast and hit the lab halfway through to do my cell harvest.  So, yes, I did bench work in my cycling kit and bike shoes today.  Clomp clomp clomp around the lab!  My PI (boss lady, super cool) was very impressed with my new bike and, I must admit, it's a beauty.  My ride included Torrey Pines and me smoking a group of pure, type A cyclist dudes.  Hey agro dudes, you just got CHICKED!

Swim #2: Oh hell yes!  2 swims in one day.  This swim I did at the gym pool.  I hate that pool.  Too warm, lots of chlorine and lots of people with pool noodles.  Still, got the laps in.  I was joined by a man built like a bull who wore both paddles and flippers who did the most violent flip turn I've ever seen.  In fact, a few times, I just stopped and watched.  Got out and hit the hot tub.  Oh yeah!  By this point, I had started bonking, though, and got very dizzy.  Showered, realized I had worn my cycling kit to the gym so I had to put my pajama pants and cycling jersey on.  Very nice outfit!  Hot pink checkered flannel pants and a hot pink jersey with skulls on it.  Looking hot!

Finished by stopping by a Mexican joint near my house for horchata and tacos!  Now snuggled under a blanket with the IronHounds.  Going to listen to a really amazing HIV scientist speak later this afternoon.  Why can't every weekend be a 3 day weekend?!

Awesome weekend

I love weekends!  And how lucky am I that I have a whole group of athletic friends who think it's fun to s/b/r?!

Saturday morning, we caught an early train from Solana Beach and rode to San Juan Capistrano.  Only about 45 min.  We rode the train with our bikes, which was sort of an adventure.  Only 3 bikes were allowed per car and they had to be hung (remember, objects are hung, people are hanged; that's your nerd lesson for the day) vertically against a wall with hooks.  The Amtrak employee was very grumpy and yelled at all of us.  Maybe she's not a cyclist?  Or she wasn't impressed with her own failed attempt at pulling off sparkly salmon eyeshadow?  Anyway, everyone except Aren made it.  The train was 2 minutes early and pulled away as Aren was in the elevator.  Good thing he's a speed demon and was able to catch us on our return.  When we arrived in San Juan Capistrano, we took a few minutes to become oriented and set off on a bike path south toward San Diego.  In San Clemente, we rode through hilly neighborhoods with gorgeous houses.  We got to ride through Camp Pendleton and next to the ocean back home.  What an awesome and super fun ride!  It was crazy windy, but we all pushed through for the promise of beer and pizza at Pizza Port after the ride.  We finished and promptly started drinking really good beer and consumed some awesome pizza.  The one I ordered had portobellos, asparagus, butternut squash, gorgonzola, mozzarella and BACON on a whole wheat beer crust.  So awesome!

Here's the train and bike crew (minus Aren)

Yes, I wore my super, super cute and comfortable new hot pink kit from Betty Designs (bettydesigns.com). It was awesome and I was very visible :)  It was a super fun day.

This morning I met my friend, Tammy (Team Badass and Team You Got Chicked), in Rancho Penasquitos Canyon for an 8 mile run.  I brought my Hanky Panky but left Rudy at home.  Kinda sad.  Rudy is good for about 7 miles, but he gets kinda tired after that.  He's 7.5 years old and I think his 20+ mile run days are behind him.  He got to stay home and snuggle with Daddy instead.  He had a pretty great time.  Tammy is a foodie, like me, so we talked about food the entire time.  We discussed making sauerkraut (gotta try it!), strawberry ice cubes, and cheese!  Lots of cheese talk...I'll come back to that.  It was a nice run.  We took it pretty easy and walked up the hills, but were steady throughout.  I like runs like that: fun, low stress, not worried about time or pace.  At the end, we ran into our friends and fellow Team Badass members Lauren and Li in the parking lot.  They had just finished a 10 miler.  So awesome to have athletic friends!  Lauren gave me an awesome sparkly (you know I love the bling!)  basket filled with cute little baby Larabars.  Thanks, Lauren!

All that cheese talked inspired us to go to Venissimo, a super fabulous cheese shop, in Del Mar.  We had a little time to kill once we got there before it opened and as we were driving in, I saw a sign for a dog bakery.  They were closed, but opened up when they saw us.  It was so cute!  They had a huge display case with tons of beautifully decorated doggie goodies.  Hank had a carrot cake sample and then I bought a few goodies for he and Rudy to eat at home.  I bought 2 boxer brownies, 2 pupcakes, and 2 strawberry brownies.  Hank and Rudy were both impressed and I kinda wanted to sneak a nibble.   Next stop: Venissimo, aka HEAVEN.  They were super nice and let Hank come into the store with us, so he didn't cry pathetically outside.  They had dozens of cheeses and we were able to sample as many as we wanted.  I bought a 4 year aged Gouda (Noord Hollander, awesome crystals!), a coconut cream cheese (Kokos, not a cream cheese per se, but a cheese containing coconut cream.  Yum) and a crazy good Tumin Rutulin (cow and goat cheese).  Yes, I'm eating the cheese now with a  glass of wine.  Great recovery meal, huh?  Then we went to Pannikin for super yummy coffees.  Such a fun morning!  Glad I have such fun friends!  Trips to Venissimo might have to become a regular occasion post-long run.

Little Man is worn out from his long run!

Today I registered for the Foxy Half-Marathon, a trail half around Lake Hodges in April.  It was time to put a running race on the calendar and this one sounds gorgeous.  Okay, the Baskin Robbins post-race treat they promised didn't hurt.

Big day planned for tomorrow.  Can't wait!

Friday triple

I got a triple in today.  There's really nothing that makes this girl feel more badass than getting in all 3 sports before work.  I rode the trainer (it was dark out), ran 4 miles with the pig ninjas and then went to the pool.  I did a little bit of swimming on my own and then I had a swim lesson with my coach, Sickie.  He gave me lots of good stuff to work on and I think my swimming will improve dramatically.  I was already gliding during the lesson (which is awesome, I have always found it impossible to glide).

That's all I've got for today.  On tap for this weekend: long run and ride.  Yippee!

I'm Baaaaaa-aaaaaaack!

It's time to start blogging again!  I'm been training, just not blogging.  Here's the quick run-down:

Swimming: I started swimming with the UCSD Masters' team, coached by the infamous and fabulous Sickie.  It's so much fun!  And I've improved already.  My current tt (time trial) swims are the 200 in 3:30, the 100 in 1:40, and the 50 in 0:43.  I know these times aren't fast, but last month I was swimming the 200 in 30s slower, the 100 20 s slower and the 50 a bit slower...so I'm improving and this is great news!  I have a private lesson on Friday with Sickie to improve my swimming.  Can't wait!  I credit these positive changes to 1) Sickie, 2) the fabulous mustachioed gentleman with whom I share a lane (there are sometimes others, but the mustachioed man is always there and 3) the disposal of the slut tits swimsuit.  Luke gave the suit this name because it was a bit, uh, revealing.  I bought it online in a grab bag.  You get to pick the size and they send you a suit.  Unfortunately for me, the suit that arrived was very tiny on top.  Not good for me!  I finally broke down and bought a one-piece and I have to say, it's much better, except for its air bubble issues.  Yes, it somehow collects air and releases it as I swim so it looks like I'm farting constantly.  These are not farts, nor trapped farts.  I'm glad someone is still willing to share a lane with me :)

Bike: Oh baby!  Big news here: I bought a new bike!!!!  Big thanks to my mom, dad and Luke who gave me the sweet moo-lah to purchase.  It's a Felt B16 triathlon bike.  Full carbon, full Ultegra.  This is my first super nice bike and I'm looking forward to riding a bike that doesn't fall apart during the Ironman.

Here I am on my first ride on my new bike in front of the Olympic training center

I put this sweet saddle on the new ride (from bettydesigns.com)

The new ride is sooooo awesome.  I just need to think of a good name.  Something like Zeus or Thor or something obnoxious to say.  "Load Thor into the car."  "I rode Zeus hard today."  You know, that sort of thing.  So far it's been awesome, but I haven't done any long rides yet.  Not worried :)

Run: I've switched things up a bit this season and decided that instead of a few high intensity runs each week, I'll do lots of zone 2 (pretty easy and mellow) runs.  I've been running 5-6 days a week with one long run, 2 medium runs and 3 short runs each week.  So far it seems to be working really well.  I don't have any weird aches and pains like I used to have with the high intensity training, it doesn't take me long to warm up and it's really fun.  The pig ninjas love it, too.  My IronBrother Mark suggested the nickname Ironhounds for the boys and I think it's fitting.  Also, I've been doing more trail running, which I like way more than road running.  A couple of weeks ago, we ran in Rancho Penasquitos Canyon and stopped to watch a huge hawk sitting about 6 feet away from us in a field.  Eventually he flew away, but it was really awesome!  Also saw an owl.

Nutrition: Still doing the paleo thing, but I've added in Greek yogurt.  I do well with dairy and really like Greek yogurt with berries and nuts in the morning.  I haven't noticed any weight difference, but I'm feeling quite strong and healthy...and bootylicious at the same time.

You'll hear more from me now :)

The formation of Team Badass

I decided a while ago that I wanted to do another Ironman next summer.  Decided on the full Vineman in Napa and Sonoma Counties.  This year, however, I don't want to train alone and that's where Team Badass comes into the picture.  I started riding with a friend from Team You Got Chicked (YGC) and then another YGC chick decided to ride with us.  From there, friends asked friends and now we have a regular bike gang put together.  Several are planning on competing in Vineman, a few in Barb's Race (an all-womens half-Ironman on the same course as Vineman on the same day.  On a side note, this was my first ever triathlon in 2006), and a couple are just into cycling.  It seems to be a pretty good group.

We had our first official ride last Saturday.  There were 5 of us total.  We did a 38 mile loop from Solana Beach out into the hills and then back along the coast.  It was one of those perfect, perfect mornings: crisp, sunny and gorgeous.

The ride was great.  In fact, it was the best ride I've been on in a long time.

Coming down the Del Dios Highway

At the end of the ride, we took some pics of Team Badass:

Yes, that is the ocean behind us. What a gorgeous day!

And, here's the whole group who showed up. Please disregard the fact that I look like a pig in this picture.  No, I'm not talking about my size, just my face and snout.

I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with my fellow Team Badass members on long rides and long runs.  It's going to be fantastic!

Ragnar Vegas

Since I've started training again, it's time to start blogging again.

A few months ago, my tri club sent out an email from a team looking for a runner for their Ragnar Vegas Ultra team. I responded and said I would love to be a part of it. Keep in mind, I have no idea who these women are, if they're crazy, and I hadn't been running much. So, a few questions you may have:

What is Ragnar? Ragnar is a series of relay races in which a team of 12 (usually, unless you're an ultra team like us and only have 6, which means we're more badass than everyone else) runs about 200 miles from one destination to the other. Here's the course overview:

Vegas? Isn't it hot in the desert? Oh, hell yes! It was over 95 degrees and I thought I was going to die.

If you're on an ultra team does that mean that you're more badass than everyone else? YES! 'nuff said.

What was your team name? Team You Got Chicked. Yes, it was meant to be.

Now that all of your questions are answered, back to the story. Luckily for me, my email was better than the other respondents, or at least the online stalking they did proved that I wasn't a complete nut...or at least I'm just nutty in an acceptable way, and they invited me to join the team. Imagine my joy to realize that it's a team made up of SuperBadAssNerdJocks. Really, a fantastic group. We had a couple of organizational meetings and it turns out they're all OCD, too. Most excellent!

Finally, the day we had to travel to the desert had arrived. We left on a Thursday afternoon in a giant van, with a second car leaving later that evening, and drove from San Diego to Lake Mead, Nevada. On a side note, Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the US. We arrived after dark to the lake, where we would be staying on a houseboat. The houseboat was super cool and I don't think I was the only one who considered firing up the grill, opening some adult beverages and playing on the boat slide instead of running the next couple of days. Finally, we went to bed since we had to wake up early for the excitement that awaited us the next day.

The next morning (Friday) we awoke early and began decorating the van:

Our van was definitely the best decorated, though we found out later that we did not win the best van contest. Team You Got Chicked was robbed!

We made our way down to the start to take some pictures:

Our team was sponsored by the Running Skirts store (www.runningskirts.com) and they provided us with our super cute matching outfits. We heard a bit of smack talk, such as groups referring to us as the cheerleaders. Too bad we then kicked their 12 asses with our 6 chick ultra team. There were 36 legs to this relay. As an ultra team, we each ran 3 times, so we would do 2 legs back to back. For example, our first runner, Leslie, ran legs 1 and 2, then Ashlee ran legs 3 and 4 and so on. I was the third runner and, by far, the slowest runner out of the group.

My first leg was right during the middle of the day and it was crazy hot. I vomited a couple of times but survived.

Just trucking along, trying not to barf or pee myself. Unsuccessful on both counts.

Just FYI: the desert is NOT flat.

First leg complete: handing the team slap bracelet off to Lauren (who was seriously insanely badass and ran 37 miles)

Here are some pics from the halfway point, from Loew's Resort:

We're all wearing reflective vests, because they were required between 5:00 pm and 7:30 am.

After running 189 miles (yes, the course overview says 188, but it was 189 at least) over 31 hours, we waited at the finish line for our 6th runner, Tammy, to bring it in:

We ran to the finish line together

and posed for some pictures. Still looking surprisingly cute after running and not sleeping for 31 hours

Then we drank some beer with an all-men's ultra team. They were drunk and the one who looks like Bradley Cooper was really obnoxious. 2 light beers and I was feeling it.

Our awesome drivers

Afterward, we headed to the Vegas Strip for burgers and supposed revelry.

I was able to surprise my friend, Danielle, at her bachelorette party. Wenchi and I had it planned for months. I wasn't a pretty surprise and I probably smelled bad, but I was happy to see them!

After my surprise visit, I walked back to the hotel, where I showered and fell asleep. The hotel seemed very luxurious after not sleeping, using porta-potties and eating bagels with pb for 3 days. The next morning we got up and drove back to San Diego.

Overall, I ran over 29 miles, up and down huge hills (like hills that were 4, 5, 6, 10 miles long. Seriously, my last leg was 10 miles uphill), fought some GI issues, survived on bagels and pb, peed on myself, in the desert, and toughed it out. It was a truly awesome and super fun trip with a great group of people. Looking forward to doing another, though not in the hot desert!

Paleo update

I feel so amazingly good! Granted, I'm not too crazy about it. For instance, yesterday I ate pizza...it wasn't even good. I wanted a nice fillet of fish and some grilled veggies. This morning I did P90X shoulders and arms and I was shocked at how much stronger I felt. And, I was able to lift more weight with less effort. Then, I had so much energy, I jumped on my bike and did a tabatas routine. Tabatas is an evil interval workout in which you go full-speed for 30 seconds, rest for 10 seconds and then repeat. Try to hit 8 fast intervals. Your booty should be exhausted! A crazy awesome workout in less than 5 minutes. It feels SO good! Followed it up with a protein shake and I've been going full speed ahead effortlessly all day.

For a delicious protein shake, I mix chocolate protein powder (today I used 2 scoops) with a straw of instant coffee (I used hazelnut), ice, water and blend. Tastes like a frappuccino...but with lots of protein and without the fat. Technically, it's not paleo, since there's whey protein in the protein powder, but I don't care. It's awesome and speeds recovery.

Last week, I ran a lot and it felt great. Unfortunately, however, little Hanky split the pad on one of his paws, so he can't run until it heals. I didn't run at all this week because it kills me to leave him behind. Shooting for my first outdoor bike ride since the Ironman this weekend.