Tri Tuesdays

Maybe writing about how I've lost my mojo brought it back.  Or maybe we simply had our first glimpse at Spring and I couldn't resist the great outdoors calling me.  Whatever it was it got me outside this weekend on my first 'real' ride since September.  And it was glorious!!

I met up with a few friends early-ish Sunday morning to do a relaxed out-and-back.  Only a few of them were actually training for something.  The rest of us were along for the ride.

Starting out my quad felt tight but it worked itself out for the most part and I reveled at my speed in aero position.  All is most definitely not lost!  And I'm back in love with my bike.

Don't be mistaken - I'm still a fair weather rider for now.  No use being wet and miserable just for the sake of getting a ride in - there are trainers and spin classes for that.  But if another nice day beckons in the near future count me in.  I think my next trip will be down around Lake Samish and back.  Nothing like the usual haunts to get you back in the spirit of things.

And on another tri-related note - did anyone catch the spectacular IM Melbourne race?  While it was up on Universal Sports (which sadly they cut it into four chunks and left me hanging at moments) I was glued to my computer screen.  I'm struck by the athleticism that is in our sport. A 7:57:44 time by Craig Alexander and the fastest bike split to boot.  He's not all 'run' folks.  That man has some serious talent.

Let us not forget the women!  Side note - Dear Ironman Live, please give the women a bit more focus in the future.  I know you have time to cover them after the top male contenders finish but it would be nice to pan back to them from time to time.   

Okay, off my soapbox.  Caroline Steffanie... Amazing!!  Rachel Joyce... Amazing!!  Miranda Carfrae... Amazing!!  You are all my idols along with all the other finishers out there.  But you ladies simply rocked that course.  Caroline posting the second fastest Ironman time at 8:34:51.  Her run looked strong throughout the whole race.  And on top of that, she showed us she was just like everyone else - pulling off to the side for a unexpected 'pit stop' cracked me up.

After that race I was riding the Ironman high the rest of the night.  Pondering if August will have me signing up for Canada 2013.  Nothing like watching the best of the best to inspire you.

Yes... I took a picture of Crowie crossing the finish line on my computer.  I'm 'that girl'.

Fake It 'Til You Make It, Or Not

This morning we drove down to Anacortes (mini road trip) for a scenic drive and breakfast.  We stopped in at Adrift and quickly looked over the menu - what great options!  Gabe landed on the special for the day which was a scramble with cinnamon black beans, chorizo, avocado, and salsa - YUM!  I went back and forth trying to decide between what my stomach was telling me I wanted - pancakes...eggs... bacon - and what my mind was telling me I should have - oats.

Sadly, I went with the chai oats and cranberries (of course it was fantastic but not something to write home about).  'Healthy Living Blogger' here I come!!  Or I'm just a poser because last night I had chicken and waffles during happy hour (and maybe 1 or 2 drinks).  Today was my 'make up' day.  I was feeling disgusting this morning and so the oats it was, followed shortly by clean detox tea.  

Alright, let's be honest, baking cupcakes as a 'hobby' probably doesn't qualify me for a 'Healthy Living Blogger' award BUT sometimes I try.  I typically eat fairly clean - low gluten, mostly vegetarian - but when you put something like Chicken and Waffles on a happy hour menu it's pretty much guaranteed that I'm going to try it.  And, eating oats at a restaurant is pretty A-typical.  What's the point of going to a restaurant for a meal if you're just going to pay for something you can make just as well at home?  So, yeah, I won't be doing THAT again.  It was a 'detox' moment, a slip in my better judgement.  

I know this post has been completely random - and for that I apologize.  Really I just wanted to pretend (if only for a moment) that I eat overnight-oats everyday, that my kitchen cabinets are stocked full of chia seeds, my refrigerator contains only leafy greens, nut butters, nut milks, and lastly that my eggs are not solely used for making baked goods that I devour and don't share.  But... that would be mostly a lie.  Time to go make chocolate chip cookies - the unhealthy kind... with a lot of butter!

Found My Mojo

Stumbled upon the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne LIVE feed on Universal Sports just now.  I think after watching this I'll have my triathlon motivation back!

Tri Tuesdays

 

I've lost my motivation. I'm not sure if it's burnout or the injury (more likely both) but either way when I think about what triathlons I want to do this summer I come up with the response, 'I dunno'.  This is despite the best laid plans.  

In reality, those plans have been put on hold until I can straighten out this knee issue.  Who knows how long it's going to take to heal.  I've purposefully ignored my race schedule in the past several weeks because I don't want to be disappointed by what I'm potentially missing (i.e. racing to a sub 20 at the Fun with the Fuzz).  Hence the malaise.  I do so much better when I have goals!  Races to shoot for.  Right now I'm just adrift.  Waiting to see what the next bruise fest (graston) holds for me.  Holding my breath as I gingerly do my 3 minute intervals of running, praying that there is no pain in my knee which will force me to walk.  

Aside from the injury though, the general thought of doing pool sets sounds boring.  Sitting on a trainer - even MORE boring.  Heading out to freeze my can off in the wind and rain - uninspiring.  It is THIS attitude that makes me think - burnout.  And then I'm thankful that I don't have a pressing 'A' race to train for!  Of course... there has been talk of venturing back North for another round of IronCrew and signing up for IM Canada 2013.  Maybe I'll have my mojo back by then.

So how do I get my mojo back? Well... the simply answer - I give myself time to heal and THEN see what happens.  I might be back with a vengence.  Ready to kill it at Padden, Clear Lake, Lake Samish, etc...   Only time will tell.  Until then?  I'm going to rock the yoga scene and see if I can't master a few poses.  Looks like I'll be starting with a little downward dog.

Road Trip

Yes, we drove to Phoenix.  Yes, it's far away.

The plan was to be adventurous and explore different areas we haven't seen before.  We were going to head down eastern Oregon to Lake Tahoe, visit my friend Lindsay in Tahoe for a day and then continue south through the Mammoth Lakes area, Death Valley, and then head East to Phoenix.  The plan didn't happen.

The week of our departure the Northwest was hit with snow - and kind of a lot per our standards.  That meant that our route through eastern Oregon (and more rural highways) was likely to be blanketed in snow.  The Prius... NOT a solid car in the snow.  We kept our eye on the DOT sites and readied ourselves with chains.

But alas, we woke up early Friday morning and made the last minute decision to stick to the I-5 corridor and the 'clearer' roads.  We left the house in the dark, slid on icy side streets and hopped on the freeway heading south.  Gabe took the first driving shift to get us through the Chuckanut/Blanchard hills and through the worst of the snow covered areas.  Surprisingly the roads were just fine.  Although it wasn't 'fast' going we made good time and there was little to no traffic heading through Seattle.

Somewhere south of Olympia the snow disappeared and the rain began.  We switched drivers around Salem and continued along our path.  The driving was not easy.  The rain made visibility poor, the road slick and the scenery drab.  I got us to Ashland and then switched it over to Gabe to get us through the Siskiyou mountains and into California.  The 'pass' was totally clear. Our worries about the pass being covered in snow were abated.  The day grew darker and then we hit Weed and snow.  

Speed now down to 30 mph and white knuckles on the steering wheel as we wove through the area around Mt. Shasta that we had forgotten about.  Popping out the other side wasn't much better - torrential downpour all the way to Sacramento.  Yes, we made it to Sacramento.  Yes, that's a long way to drive in one day.  Yes, we were exhausted not to mention starving since we hadn't eaten a real meal all day.  Not to worry, the car was at least stocked with a copious amount of Trader Joe's snack food.  But sustenance, it was not.  

We checked into a hotel right off the highway (thanks to my handy Hotels.com app that I downloaded before we left - iPhone FTW), hurried our bags inside between fat drops of rain and then proceeded to crash.  Oh, and we 'may' have grabbed food at Jack-in-the-Box because Subway wasn't open anymore.  I can't even recall the last time I ate at a Jack-in-the-Box.

After a day of driving this is how happy I am.

Day 2 we were supposed to head to Lake Tahoe but the weather Gods were against us once again and had dumped at least a foot of snow in that area.  So instead we detoured.  We drove West (away from final destination) and hit the coast, swerving along Highway 1.  

'Swerving' is really the best way to describe it.  I'm pretty sure by the time we headed East again, just before San Luis Obispo we were both a bit car sick.  But the scenery was gorgeous and the weather was bright and sunny - a welcome change from the constant rain the day before.

We made pit stops in Monterey and Carmel, snapping pics of the gorgeous scenery, but other than that it was just a lot of driving and once we started heading East again I think we were both a bit tired of being in a car.

That evening we made it to Barstow, California and to a total dive motel.  Again, we had driven to the point of exhaustion and ended up passing out - grumpy, tired, and slightly creeped out by our fellow travelers and the motel in general.  Note to future self - try really hard to never stay in a motel with doors that open out to the parking lot.  I've said this before but it really should be a life lesson that I follow.

 

Day 3 on the road - we made it to Surprise, AZ.  Phew!  Of course we made one small stop on the way at Lake Havasu so I could get my 12 mile run in (ended up being only 10 I think).  The temperatures were perfect, the location was dry, and the scenery was enjoyable.  After a quick stretch and a wet wipe shower we were back on the road.  Pulling into Surprise around 8 PM or so, grabbing a bite to eat at Red Robin and then calling it a night at the closest hotel I could find (doors opening onto a hallway this time).

Day 4 was my one and only day off for the week so we drove up to Sedona and explored a bit.  The red rocks were GORGEOUS!  We toured around, ate lunch, then drove back.  A nice little side trip.

The rest of the week went something like this.  Eat the free continental breakfast, work from the hotel room, work from the pool, work from Starbucks or Barnes and Nobel, run in the evening, relax and do it all over again.  Oh yeah, and there may have been some hotel hopping here and there (500 bonus miles for staying 2 nights... what's wrong with that?).

 

You may remember these fantastic things from a previous trip.  I thought I died and went to Mexico!

Leisure pool time.

Must... eat... froyo!  We don't have it in Bellingham (yet).

'Work' pool time while properly hydrating with a little GU Brew.

Out and about around the greater Phoenix area.

Sunset in Tempe.

More froyo.

Orange trees - love these things!  Too bad most were 'ornamental' and not edible (Gabe found out the hard way).

 

Scoping out the race course - looks exciting doesn't it?

Then of course the weekend hit and it was race time!  What race you ask?  Well this one.  I came, I saw, I conquered, and then I sat in the car and stiffened up over the next 40 some odd hours.  Immediately post race we packed up the car, grabbed a bite to eat at the Jack-in-the-Box next door and headed home.  9 hours later we arrived south of Fresno, California and crashed.  The next day, up and at 'em after a free breakfast, into the fog, then the wind, then the rain and made it back to the 'Ham around 2 AM Monday morning.  What a trip!

Must take a picture in front of a cactus!  Can't leave Arizona before doing so.  Yes, we're special.

 

Tri Tuesdays

Lance Armstrong and his return to triathlon... GO!  Talk amongst yourselves.  

Okay, so that's about as half-assed as I can get for a Tri Tuesday post but let's be honest folks, I haven't done one of those for weeks so you might as well be impressed that I even got on a computer, thought of a topic to post, and then spent time writing up this long winded description for why I'm lame.  Oh, and on top of that, wrote a ridiculously long run-on sentence.

No seriously though.  Are you excited that Lance is back?  Do you think it helps out the sport of triathlon?  If you're a pro - what do you think (who am I kidding! No pros actually read this!)?  If you're an amateur are you simply star struck or do you have an opinion on the matter?

There are several articles (like this one, and this one, or this one) that kind of make him out to be an a**-hole but in my honest opinion here's the situation:

1) A competitive athlete just got second place - why are we so surprised that he kinda doesn't want to talk?  Second place is the first loser and so that sucks (no, I don't actually believe this because I would kill to be second place... just sayin).  I wouldn't want to talk to anyone either.

2) Lance is kind of a big deal.  Like 'big' BIG.  He's bigger than the top pros in triathlon because he has competed and been the best in a sport that more people actually watch and care about.  Don't get me wrong - I obsess over Macca, Crowie, Chrissie and the like but if I talked to any normal person they don't know who those people are (let alone their nicknames).  So to be so popular and in-the-spotlight like Lance, would get a bit old.  I would ignore the press too if I was so famous.

So my opinion - Lance... Welcome Back.  We (triathletes) love having you and are excited about the exposure you'll bring to our sport.  Now, if you could only show up in Kona this year I would appreciate it since I'll be present as a spectator.

Source1 and Source2

MIA

Blogger fail.  I've been totally MIA since about... February 11th.  What have I been doing?  Well a whole lot of nothing actually but somehow that doesn't mean I wasn't busy.  Let's give a short recap shall we.

- Got back from Phoenix.  Bye bye tropical flowers/vibrant colors and magazine reading by the pool.

- P&C (yeah, you don't know who they are but I do) visited that next weekend before heading up to Whistler for a ski trip.  Yay for friends coming back into town!!!

- Discovered Nuun cocktails.

- Ran 4.5 miles one week out from my race and hurt 2 miles in.
- Work
- Became obsessed (okay, that's a little dramatic but I have been enjoying taking pictures) with Instagram and the #febphotoaday challenge.  If you have the app follow me at enduroTwerd!
- P&C came back to stay with us after their ski trip.
- Conned C into running the Greater Bellingham Running Club's 'Two for the Road 5k' with me in memory of Sherry Arnold - hurt on the later part of the run.
- Took a handful of classes at the local Bikram studio with Gina.  Left classes feeling 'swampy' but liked it all the same.
- Traveled back and forth to Seattle for work related things.

 - Got to visit with Collin, Demetra and Zoey while in Seattle.

 - Ran for a 3rd time and hurt a mile in.

- Took a handful of Power Flow yoga at Beyond Limits studio.  Realized that 90 minutes is a bit too long for me although I like the sequences and the variety.
- Steffanie came to visit and we tried out pool running - HARD!

- Ran a 4th time and hurt 2 miles in.

- Made desperate appointments for massage/chiropractic/physical therapy.
- Yoga at home.

So yeah, that's it in a nutshell.  A lot of yoga, a lot of running frustration, and a lot of days just slipping by.  I'm currently working on a post for my road trip to Phoenix.  Maybe I'll get that done before the end of this year.  Hold your breath!