Swim Workout & Playlist; My Favorite Comment from the Weekend
Today was another Swim workout, and I decided to do the “Group 2″ workout to see how it would go. That workout was:
WarmUp 300 EZ
3×50 25 kick on back/25 free RI 10″
3×50 25 Catch Up (CU)/25 free RI 10″
3×50 25 scull/25 free RI 10″
3x
25 kick back RI 10″
25 side kick (SK) RI 10″
25 3 switches (3SW) RI 10″
25 Body Balance Roll (BBR) RI 10”
This was supposed to take an hour – it took 40 minutes. So I threw in a 300 warmdown. Then I was up to 48 minutes. I couldn’t remember what a “scull” was or a “Body Balance Roll,” so for the scull I did sculling with my hands (feet pointed backwards, sculling by pushing my hands by my sides through the water), and for the BBR I just did more of the 3 switches. I have to look them up. The CU drill hurt my left shoulder for some reason.
LOVE my Otterbox…this was my Swim Workout Playlist:
Beautiful Day, U2
Womanizer, Britney Spears
Breakin’ Dishes, Rihanna
Standing There, The Creatures
Untouched, The Veronicas
Little Bitty Pretty One (Live), The Doobie Brothers
When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls
Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, Johnny Rivers
Reelin’ In The Years, Steely Dan (how appropriate (laugh))
China Grove, The Doobie Brothers
Little Willy, Sweet
Free Ride, Edgar Winter
Sort of eclectic, but it was fun to work out to.
And now, for my favorite comment of the past weekend. I remembered it when I was swimming and thought I should put it down here. During the Run “marker” set, I was still pretty cold, and Coach Simon was out there in shorts, standing around and not moving (and giving us our times). As I was running up to him, I said “Aren’t you cold?” I expected him to say something like, well, “No,” or “I’m okay,” or whatever. Instead he said, in all seriousness, “Oh no, I don’t shave” (motioning to his legs). For some reason, that just cracked me up and kept me going for the next couple of laps around the track, smiling. ONLY an avid marathoner dot dot dot.
Time to make dinner – I was starving after the swim workout and got 1/2 an egg salad sandwich, a 100 cal bag of Kettle Chips (not worth it – taste was bland but they were crunchy!), and a banana and a bottle of water. Gotta plan a little better.
Why We Are Doing This: Peter Warmerdam
Another friend claimed by a cancer that I am running to cure: Peter Warmerdam.
On November 7th, Peter passed away suddenly after a most courageous battle with Leukemia. He will be remembered as a man of faith, integrity, and spirit, who loved his family deeply. He is survived by: his son Matthew Warmerdam and Wife Amy; daughter Amy Warmerdam; grandson Eben Traywick; son Jonathan Warmerdam and wife Paige; daughter in spirit Katherine Sullivan and family; the mother of his children Sara Bardoni and her husband David. Brothers Leo Warmerdam And Wife Patricia; Ted Warmerdam and wife Joanne. Six sisters Ann Smorrenburg Thea Van de Mortel and Husband Joe; Connie Luiten; Betty Verger and husband Burt; Ada Van Ryn; Yvonne Van Lewen and Husband Jack; and 54 Nephews And Nieces.
I did not know Peter “personally” but only through the dancing community. Let’s cure this damned thing, and leave more wonderful men for us all to cut the rug with.
Run and Swim: First Team/Coached Workout
Yesterday, Moddie and Iron Mel and I drove together from Marin to Seattle – oh I mean Pleasanton 🙂 We had some pretty funny issues with Ms. Toyota (as Mel called the GPS in my van). “She” sent us a different direction than the written instructions – we wound up trusting the written instructions instead, and, at one point, they had us turning left into a parking garage in an industrial complex. We arrived about 5 minutes late to the workout, though 2 other teammates arrived after us…maybe they were tooling around the parking garage, trying to find the pool?
I was the “bottom of the alphabet” group, so had Run first with Coach Simon. He had us Warm Up doing 4 laps of the track. I tried to run as slowly as possible without just stopping altogether, but I still was hitting up in the 170s and once 180 on the Heart Rate Monitor. This is pretty scary. I really can’t believe I’m so out of shape. Maybe my new motto should be “Stroke or Get Stronger.” After the warmup, we did a number of “drills” including skipping on the track, “side running” (think: doing the hora while singing “Hava Nagila” – crossing one foot in front then the other), and then a “kick your butt in back while running” drill. The whole idea was to get us to really understand why we wanted to be doing forefoot running.
Then we did a 2 mile “marker” run. This was to basically get our “VDOT” – read more about VDOT here. My first mile was a 11:15, and my second one was an 11:28 for a combined total of 22:43, so my current VDOT is 25. This means my easy/long running pace is a bit over 14-1/2 minutes. Not so good. With a marathon pace of 13:39. That’s OK – it can only get better right? I did wind up “reeling in” 3 runners on my last lap – that old competitive streak busting out. Gave me something to “do” as well – otherwise you’re just trudging around the track. I had to figure out a strategy – “How do I catch up to those gals, without basically bonking and having to walk?” I was pretty sure I could catch 2 of them if I just increased my cadence (the cadence of my feet AND my panting), but I wasn’t sure about the last one. I think she let me catch her – she’s a veteran IronWoman. 🙂
Then we did some stretching and strength training with these strap-things that Coach Doug uses. We did them on the pool deck. They really demonstrated to me how “rolled in” my shoulders have become – most of these strap exercises are to counter that “rolling in” issue. You get it more and more as you bike, and even swim (think of a freestyle, it’s all “rolling the shoulder forward”).
After that, we changed and got in the pool. Coaches Mike and Sedonia “seeded” the swimmers into categories – category 1 for newbies, up to category 3 for hard core swimmers. I seeded myself into category 1, because my cardio is just not allowing me to even finish 200 meters without getting winded. Coach Sedonia came up to me and told me to move into category 2 – YAY YAY, something I can DO!!!! I asked her to keep me in category 1 for a while, just because of the cardio issues. But she even had me demonstrate a few of the drills. I felt WONDERFUL. OK, I know, swimming is the LEAST important of all the sports. But thank you, thank you, THANK YOU great Goddess of the Ironman for throwing me ONE bone.
The thing that occurs to me is that swimming is the only one of these sports I have ever had “coaching in.” Though I did numerous triathlons “back in the day” (and even the Big Sur Marathon with H), I never had an actual coach for the Run or the Bike – it was all just reading articles and trying to mimic what they said. This was also before YouTube and the like – so nothing to “see and emulate” either. And even though I have had a swim coach before, Coaches Mike and Sedonia broke it down into even more “baby basics” than I have ever experienced. This gave me so many “A-HA” moments that my head (swim cap?) felt full! So I’m wondering, once I get my cardio back, if I will be able to be more efficient in the Running and Biking, like I know I am with the Swimming? Now that I will have a coach in all 3? I bet so! That was its own “A-HA” moment.
After we got dressed from the Swim, we did some stretching, and I was next to Coach Mike. One of the other coaches said there was a bike trainer on sale for $150, and Coach Mike commented to me that this was a “great deal.” I commented back (ok, definitely pouting) that this was just too rich for my blood. I can’t even afford bike shorts yet. Not having any excess income for the past 6 months has maxed out my credit cards, and makes it impossible for me to spend dinero on stuff like this. I feel super frustrated and upset about it. It also means I can’t really be “coached” on the bike, since the “coaching workouts” are done on the trainer, where groups set up at places like Sports Basement during the week. Coach Mike said to me, “Tell you what, I will loan you my trainer for the duration.” He has a cast on his foot – I’m pretty sure he’s just coaching this year, not coaching and doing a race. I was shocked and really awed and honored that he would do that. So now, I can be part of the “cadence drills” and “trainer workouts” for the Bike. I KNOW that this will help me with my “most feared part” of the tri – Biking. Coach Mike lives in Danville, so I have to figure out how to get it – but WOW, such Team Spirit! Seriously!
My two car-mates and I eschewed the group meal, in favor of getting back home. I was able to catch H (at the hardware store) and he met me at Crepevine, where I got a chicken Tuscan crepe and a big salad and coffee. I have no idea why my body was craving coffee, but so it goes. I told him all about the day’s exploits, and especially the running drills and the like. He said that he would like to see these, and that maybe he could figure out a way to “share” our calendars back and forth, so that we could work it in a way that he can run and bike with me when it’s not with the team. YAY!! I told him the offer from Coach Mike, too, and he actually said, “If that doesn’t work out, I will buy you a trainer if it means that much to you.” I told him that actually, if he would buy me some bike pants, I would be eternally grateful, as would HE. (Happy cha-cha makes for Happy husband…OK I SO DID NOT SAY THAT)
Oh – nearly forgot – I also used the Alka-Blast, Super Greens and Prime pH drops as Stu Mittleman had recommended. It tasted a little like swamp water, but the theory is that this keeps your body pH more alkaline – and hence, you don’t have that much soreness after working out, and especially the next day. I have to admit, I feel COMPLETELY fine today – AND I did not crash later in the day yesterday, like I did after the Bike workout on Saturday. There might really be something to this. (Of course, Stu is one of the Biggies in Ultradistance running, so he knows his stuff!)
Today, it’s a swim workout – I got up late because I could (laugh) – H had a conference call so he took a later ferry, so I didn’t need to get him out of the house so fast. I also need to get the dog out – he’s happily lying under my feet, but we’ll get out as soon as I finish this. I’m excited to get in the pool and to try out the drills that we learned yesterday. Maybe I will try to see if I can do the “category 2” drills! I also want to start podcasting some time this week. I know a lot of folks just listen to the podcasts, and I haven’t even done a podcast since I started this whole Journey. So most folks will have NO IDEA what the crazy lady is up to!! 🙂
Continuing to eat the elephant…one bite at a time! Chomp Chomp Chomp. 🙂
Bento Box – who knew??
So, today was the 20 mile coached bike ride, with our Team In Training team. I had pretty much worked myself up into a lather about it, grumbling about the use of words like “easy” anywhere close to “rolling hills” and “20 miles.”
I got to Redwood High School early, and met the other folks. I must say this about Team in Training peeps – they are uniformly REALLY NICE. We had one little snafu – one of the gals had forgotten her helmet, so I drove back home and got H’s helmet and drove back – unfortunately missing the part I really wanted to see…how to change a flat. I really am going to have H walk me through this, because that whole thing scares me.
This is where I got to see a “Bento Box.” I have been listening to various triathlon podcasts, and Zen And The Art Of Triathlon happened to mention that he had a “Bento Box” on his bike, and how well it worked.
OK, so, remember, this is the gal who was trying to do drills that were designed to be done on a trainer on the road, because it didn’t say “this should be done on a trainer.” Well, I thought a bento box meant….a bento box. Like in a Japanese restaurant. You know, the black lacquer thing with little compartments. So the visuals I was coming up with listening to the Zen podcast about this “bento box” (not knowing it was Bento Box(TM)!) were just completely freakin’ hilarious. Where did he tie the box? Sounds like he has it right on the front of his bike. How does he keep things from flying out? Wouldn’t this be really un-aerodynamic? Yeah, Yeah, I know, what a bonehead, but that’s why I’m keeping this blog, to amuse the few of you who are reading.
A Bento Box(TM) is a little box that fits right behind your handlebars sitting on the top tube (it’s velcro’d to the upright and the top tube, so it’s very stable) and you can put like GU in it and the like. One of the gals on the ride had one. It said “BENTO BOX” right on the side and I nearly fell down laughing at myself. (Once I told her what I had thought when I had been listening to the Zen podcast, she thought it was pretty funny, too.)
OK back to the ride. We set off at about 9:20 from the Redwood back parking lot (totally takes me back to being 16 again – NO THANKS). I was in the middle of the people, and I realized that this was just NOT a good thing. I’m not confident enough. So at the first light I had everyone pass me. The route wound around and under the highway, then out and up Paradise going past Nordstrom’s (e.g., the fairly flat way).
Once we passed the Highway Patrol area and the shopping center back there (can’t remember the name) I was BY FAR the last. In fact, there was the pack, then Patty (the gal who was in front of me), then about a mile (well, not really but definitely far…I would see her if there were LONG straightaways), then me. I didn’t see the pack for most of the ride. I didn’t even see PATTY for at least the last 1/2.
I had some serious gremlins going. “Why am I doing this,” “I hate to be the worst one,” “I’m too old for this,” “I should really not be doing this,” you know, THOSE gremlins. I got down to Tiburon, where the rest of the gang were waiting, and just basically took a sip of water and we were off again. I didn’t feel tired – though at one point, again, my BPM was up at 180 which really is beyond too fast. I had to laugh because of course Stu Mittleman says on our coaching calls that you want to be pretty “easy” as you’re exercising, not really breathing hard, etc., and I think I was scaring wildlife with my steam locomotive panting. Ah well, no stroke yet.
We went down through Tiburon and then onto the bike path and back to Paradise. That one hill coming up Trestle Glen from the light was a total killer. My lord. I was in my easiest gear (I think that means “lowest”), blowing like a freight train, and just baaaaarely moving up the grade. And, my friends, this is NOT a steep grade. Seriously. It was nice though because the ride leader, Les, actually waited at about 2/3 of the way up the grade (there’s a stop sign), and was there to cheer me on, which felt a little bad (man, I really hate making people wait) and a lot good (thank goodness he’s here I don’t have to have Flat Anxiety any more). He actually rode with Patty and me on the way back, and we were pretty much a 3some so I’m pretty sure they just slowed WAY WAY DOWN so that I wasn’t left in the dust. Again, I felt bad (man, I really REALLY hate making people wait), but a lot good, and a little helpful (I did play a good “tail” and get drivers to let us into traffic so we could turn left, stuff like that. I remember that from triathlon training back when dinosaurs walked the Earth).
We got back somewhere around 11:20, so the ride took about 2 hours. And yeah, I am SERIOUSLY sore. My hands also (especially my left) went completely numb – it’s got to be the way you hold the handlebars closes off the flow in the carpal tunnel area.
I was REALLY glad that I finished, and really REALLY glad to be part of a mini-pack on the ride back. Everyone else probably did the ride in about an hour – if you take the time they had to wait for me in Tiburon, and then the time differential between when we got done and when they had gotten done at the end. Everyone was super nice to me, especially Patty, who I think really slowed down to at least keep something of an eye on me.
So, that’s done! Tomorrow – a swimming and running day, with coaches. At 0-dark-00, far, far away! I am carpooling a couple gals though, so I feel at least that I’m not taking the big van over for just me.
Bento Box. Who knew?
Down and Down
Today is a “Down Day” on the triathlon schedule. And it’s a down day for me, too.
Last night H “sat me down” (after I was complaining how exhausted I was – went to bed in the very early evening in fact), and said that he had been “thinking about it” and this “Ironman thing” was a VERY bad idea, and that if he had known more about it or thought more, he would never have said it would be Okay. As he said last night, he believes that I should have started, for example, with a Century bike ride as my “goal” (part of the Ironman, and something I can’t do yet, either), because he would have done it TOO, it would have been something we could have trained for together (like our hike down the Alps, the Big Sur marathon, etc.), and then I could “still” do the Ironman next year . . . and make my self-imposed “before I’m 50” deadline.
The thing is – I’m already IN. I’m sure there are “ways out” – but I don’t really WANT to be out. But he’s really very upset about things, like the fact that every day of the weekend (both days) there are “trainings” that I need to go to. Not like, generally, we would be doing anything significant from 9-12 on a Saturday or Sunday. But the deal is, that I will be GONE, and that I will likely come home and be tired. This weekend is the first trial of this – I have a 20 mile (oy!) bike ride Saturday morning, then a swim/run brick (in San Remote – oh I mean Ramone – no less) on Sunday. I am going to see if he will at least meet me/us on Saturday after the ride if we get something to eat, but my guess is, he won’t. And so probably staying after to have lunch or whatever they will do is a nonstarter for me. Because adding a whole social layer of friends that don’t have anything to do with him will be just Bad.
I actually get where he is coming from. If he suddenly “announced” he was going to get competition-level in Ballroom and so it would mean he would be doing a training similar to what I’m doing, I am not sure I would be happy about it. In fact, I’d probably be pissed off. And the fact that the time would just increase as training got tougher would piss me off even more. So I “get it.”
Who knows, maybe this was a big fat mistake. I haven’t said the fateful words, “Do you really want me to quit, I will find out how” yet, because I do not WANT to quit. It would be ONLY because he wants me to. But if the shoe were on the other foot, well…I would probably be feeling the same way he is. He’d be out, meeting other folks, socializing, etc. and it wouldn’t have anything to do with me or forwarding our relationship. It wouldn’t be something that “we” had chosen with our precious off time. Dunno. Maybe I was really way, way too fast at jumping into this.
Hence my getting up at 3 a.m. this morning and being unable to get back to sleep…
OK, THAT, and the fact that the more this goes on, the more it looks like a Richy Rich sport. I am SERIOUS. First, it’s just “anticipated” that everyone’s going to get a bike trainer. A used one is $100. (A bike trainer is a little contraption you put your bike on that spins the wheel and allows you to ride inside, if you didn’t know that.) THEN we’re told that we have to get bike pants – no, TWO pair of bike pants – where “the good ones, which are all you are going to want” start at $60. SIXTY BUCKS! For now, no trainer for me, and I’m going to have to make do with my 15 year old bike shorts, which have a small pad of chamois (leather) on the inside. OK, and underwear, and a pad (to be graphic). The idea of being “told” to shell out $ for this, that and the other is freaking me out. It’s assumed. YES, I will admit, that the short ride I took a few days ago I am STILL sore from. But the biking portion (which is always the one I like the least) is getting more, and more, and MORE expensive as it goes on. I guess it’s the one section with “Gear.” But holy cow. I had to break the bank to get my bike tuned up ($85, something like that) . MAYBE in a while I will get clipless pedals (seems unlikely), but that means you have to buy pedals AND shoes. Oh, and pants. And a trainer. And…
I did, however, get to realize why bikers wear those dorky bike shirts with the pockets in the back. I wore a jacket and put my stuff in the pockets, but when you’re riding, the weight of the stuff in your pockets pulls the pockets down and around, so that they’re right in front of your crotch. Not so comfy. However, not quite sure how the “back pockets” really work, as they are open. Seems like not the smartest place for a wallet and a blackberry, which is what I had. I guess I will learn….(I was given a bike shirt on the first day, because the bike guy asked if anyone did NOT have a bike jersey and I was one of about 1/2 dozen that raised my hand. Then I couldn’t wear it when I went out, because I felt like such a dork in it. I guess I will get over it – not sure I will wear it on this group ride on Saturday, I guess I should…)
Yeah, I’m down on the Down day. I’m really feeling like this was a huge fat mistake. The biking $$ piling up gets me so down that it makes my eyes tear up and my nose itch. The fact that H is not behind me on this – not that he should be, I think this was a pretty doggone selfish choice on my part, and probably not thought through, especially when I haven’t had any income for nearly 1/2 a year – is sort of the crushing blow.
Time to get outside and go grocery shopping – where are those coupons…mac and cheese, anyone…?
Run and Strength Day (including run playlist)
Tunes for today’s run:
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher
My Sharona, The Knack
Pony, Far
She’s Got The Who-Hoo, Sugar Ray
Jerk It, Thunderheist
Single Ladies, Beyonce
Daniella, John Butler Trio
Get The Party Started, Pink
Mony Mony, Billy Idol
Fuego, Pitbull
HipHip ChinChin, Club des Belugas
In These Shoes?, Kirsty MacColl
U Can’t Touch This, MC Hammer
I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas
Let’s Get Loud, Jennifer Lopez
So today, the training calendar blithely says that what I had to do “should be” 5 miles. I did a 10 minute warmup that took me from my house to California Street (0.61 miles), then did the prescribed 4 min run, 1 min walk 8 times – I got to A Street (so that’s a total, from my house, of 1.87 miles) and turned around and came back – at the end of the 8th 4min/1min session I was at the foot of River Oaks where River Oaks meets 5th Avenue, so as a total I did 3.44 miles (not 5). Makes me a little insane that I’m so far behind the curve. This is the VERY beginning workouts and the “presumption” is that I should be able to do 5 miles in the time. Oy.
Took me an extra 6 minutes to get from 5th up River Oaks and home. When on the way home, I glanced at my heart rate monitor – I was WALKING and my bpm were 180. Sheesh at that rate I’m going to have a STROKE. My “average” during the 4/1 phase was 155 into the high 160s which is really, really not good. My average is supposed to be 142. I couldn’t run any slower – I’m already trudging along like Frankenstein. I guess the only way to make my heart rate come down would be to walk for longer – but of course, that’s not the “game plan.” Hmmmm.
Strength Training:
Single Leg Squat: Did this on my stairs in the hallway. I could just barely do it to squat to the lower stair and up. Had to hold the wall.
Push Ups: Nope. Not even on my knees. Just too exhausted
Split Squat: Again, had to hold onto the wall. Could bend my knee “a little.” A LOT of knee popping and cracking.
Standing Horizontal Cable Row: Did this with the ‘bungees’ that you use for workouts (the ones with the handles?) – red bungee – tied to doorknob
Overhead Squat: This sucked. Could bend knees maybe a micron. Did not feel very safe.
Single Leg Row: Did this again with the bungee tied to the doorknob.
Single Leg Rotations with Touch: Had to hold on with my opposite hand – couldn’t even get CLOSE to touching the ground, did get to the calf on one side, and nearly to ankle bone the 2nd set, on the other side. Was holding on though.
Hamstring Bridge: This is no big deal. Not sure what’s up with that. Probably doing it wrong! Had feet together, hips up, hands palms together above chest
Side Plank: 15 secs each side, x 2. WOW, totally shakey, etc. Did it on my knees. A bit afraid for my shoulder.
Plank: Did this on my knees, 30 seconds. Really really wiped.
Now I gotta take a shower – and get to pole dancing! Man, not sure that I’m going to be able to do anything there – been off for 2 weeks, first because couldn’t get there, 2nd because had to do a presentation for potential business (that came to nothing). Will do the 1st hour (strength/core) and not sure how I’m going to do on tricks and training. Just feel super wiped out. HOWEVER, this was the first time in 2 weeks (since I started “testing out running”) that I have run and my calves have not gone numb! I have no idea where that was coming from – but it didn’t happen today. YAY!
First Training Bike Ride
So, today the workout was as follows:
Warm-up 10 minutes in middle-middle chainrings. Repeat the following drill set TWICE. Stay in big ring up front the entire workout, Shift to 3rd from largest ring in back. Alternate removing one foot from the pedals for one minute at a time, returning to two footed pedaling for one minute @ 90 rpm between single leg efforts. Repeat 4 times per leg.(12 minutes total). Shift to 4th from smallest gear in back. Pedal at 85 rpm. Focus all mental energy on the 1:00 to 3:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. Focus all mental energy on the 4:00 to 6:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. Focus all mental energy on the 6:00 to 9:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. Focus all mental energy on the 9:00 to 12:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. After second time throught the drills, shift to middle middle and cool down at 90 rpm for 10 minutes.
I have something to say that I found out LATER ON (thank you Sedonia I am still laughing…), but my thought on reading this was “How the HECK can they imagine I can do this? I can’t even barely balance to shift my gears.” So I was all pouty and feeling really upset (biking always has been my least favorite leg anyway), and so instead of doing the one-foot on, one-foot off, shake-it-all-about, Do the Hokey Pokey workout, I rode to McNear’s Brickyard and back. This is a steep hill down from our house, then flat to rolling hills with a moderate amount of traffic and broken tarmac (my wrists and hands are sore from the bouncing and jostling), out and back. I stopped at the bottom of the hill back home and walked the bike up. Actually – I was able to pedal up to the “no parking” sign – I have to remember that, so that slowly, slowly, as I get better at hills and maybe can some day reach my actual ROAD (much less my HOUSE), I have some way to gauge where I started.
Saturday, we’re supposedly doing a 20 mile “easy ride” that’s supposed to take an hour and 20 minutes. I decided I would go out for an hour on this ride, to see where I got, working fairly hard. I got 12 miles, and was VERY done at the end, thank you. Not feeling very confident about the whole “20 mile thing” that is for doggone sure. Was nice to be out though. And got better with shifting and all that jazz as the time went on.
So, here’s the route! And be sure to note below to see “what happened next”…
SO, I put a post on Twitter, starting with my daily quote. This is how it went…
Me (on Twitter/Facebook): My new mantra re Team In Training/the Ironman: “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.” ~ Jim Rohn
Sedonia Yoshida: Success is doing what it takes to make your wishes come true! See you Sunday! Hope you’re having a good week 1!
Me: @Sedonia: I am actually having a really good time, but getting more and more scared. Did a bike ride today b/c the whole “left foot in, right foot out” just sounds too scary to me when I can barely switch gears – did 12 miles in an hour. Isn’t Sunday TWENTY miles? Ohhhhhhh myyyyyyyy. 🙂
Sedonia: Don’t worry!!! That’s why we have 9 months to get you there!!! Nobody expects you to be able to do an ironman tomorrow! Baby steps and you’ll get there! you do know the right foot left foot thing is on a trainer right…NOT on the road?
Me: @sedonia OOooooooh!!! (Laughing so hard I just scared the cat.) No I did NOT know that. OMG. O….M…..G…..
Yeah…so I was “Unclear On The Concept.” Pretty funny, eh?
Why We Do This: My Brother’s Brother
So, is this the most gorgeous family you’ve ever seen, or what?
This is my brother Jeff’s brother, David. Yeah, that sounds weird. Let me explain.
Jeff and I met at the Kindergarten bus stop when we were like 5 years old. We hit it off and perhaps more importantly, our moms hit it off. It started a 40 year bff through-thick-or-thin relationship. If I couldn’t get a hold of my mom to tell her something, I would call Mrs. Rosenthal, because she was my “Other Mom.” One time, when I called her pretty doggone recently when something happened and my mom was away from home (got the machine – per usual), she said to me “Now Sandy, I want to be sure that you are JUST as excited when you tell this to your Mom when you get her.” Pause. “HOWEVER, I really like the fact that I’m usually the first one!” We had a good smile about that – I used to send her birthday cards to Mrs. O.M. Rosenthal on the envelope, standing (of course) for “Other Mom.” I met her at that point in my life when she would always be “Mrs. Rosenthal,” never Joan. But when I wrote, she could at least be “Mrs. O.M.R.”
But back to my brother’s brother. Jeff and I have said back and forth for years that we were really brother and sister. I remember one time in high school coming back from something or another together, he driving his parents’ big boat of a green car. (Impala, maybe?) He wasn’t going out with anyone, and I wasn’t either. We were just coming around a curve in the road (by Blackie’s Pasture, if you know Tiburon, where the road goes from 2 to one lane). We were talking about how our folks would probably really like us to date, since our mothers practically saw each other every day. There was a slight pause, then we said nearly at the same time, “I wouldn’t have to like KISS you or anything, right?” We cracked up and that was the end of that. TOTALLY Sister/Brother.
Well Jeff’s younger brother is David. David and I didn’t know each other that well, just because he was 4 years younger, and that’s kinda how it goes. Now about 15 years ago, David actually was diagnosed with Lymphoma. My mom called me – Everyone was very freaked out. David went in for aggressive chemo; he was a Public Defender at the time, and his workmates chipped in their vacation time so that he could have enough time and still be paid, to work through the treatment. The best part? He’s cancer-free.
I asked David if he would let me add him to my “Why We Do This” wall, and he graciously assented, and sent me a picture of his GORGEOUS FAMILY (aren’t they gorgeous?) I have seen them a few times recently, and I just love them to death. (That’s Mary, his wife, Molly and Jack, his kids.)
Without the sort of treatments that David was able to get, there would BE no Molly and Jack. That kinda freaks me out. And THAT is why I am doing this.
If you have someone in your life that has fought and won, or lost, their battle with Leukemia, Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, or other blood cancer, would you send me their picture and their story? The more I can see, the more committed I am to raising all that doggone money.
Why Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within can be hazardous to your…
…couch potato time!!!
This is HOW I got on my “Ironman quest.”
Back in the summer, I went to Tony Robbins “Unleash The Power Within” (the “firewalk thing”) with my bff Maria. I was pretty depressed about the economy, my sorry state of health and fitness (haven’t really committed to working out since 2006), and the like. In doing some of the hypnosis-esque exercises (which are crazy powerful, whether you like Tony Robbins or not), I was concentrating on the “health and fitness” portion of what I wanted to accomplish, and something happened that I’d like to share today.
You do each area of your life – relationships, $, health/fitness, etc. Near the end of what is basically a guided meditation when concentrating on Health, the vision that came to me wasn’t just me getting my butt out of bed and getting to the gym or walking the dog. Ho, no. It was a full-on vision of being on the bike in the Kona Ironman. I know the course, because Maria’s condo literally looks down on the course. Obviously, I fought that. I struggled with this “stupid vision” until I had a real “a-ha moment.” I remembered that “way back when” I was doing triathlons and such, I had as a goal to do “The” Ironman before I was 50. (Back then, there weren’t a plethora of Ironmans – Ironmen? – this was 20 years ago – it was really just Kona.) Back when I had this vision, “Olympic-distance” triathlons were all considered hardbody still – and so an Ironman was just completely out in the stratosphere insane.
One of the things Tony Robbins really talks about and gets back to your forebrain is what you have “given up on” in your life. It’s upsetting, breath-taking, sob-inducing…powerful. This was a big one that I had given up as “impossible.”
As I tried to dismiss it and concentrate on something actually “attainable,” my vision was poking me in the forehead, reminding me that “before 50” meant NOW. I’m way on the end of the 40s, and if I had as a completely crazy dream of “doing” Kona, I would have to do an Ironman “qualifying race” beforehand, AND get in in qualifying time, AND win the Kona raffle. Hmmmmmm, that means – getting my butt of the couch bigtime! I kept trying to get my mind to re-focus on, oh, say, going to the gym (even the gym PARKING LOT) 3 times a week. It kept delivering up me on the bike in the lava fields. Off the couch. In the lava fields. Off the couch. In the lava fields. Poke, Poke, Poke. It wouldn’t let go.
I remember getting back to the room that night, and telling Maria that my “get fit” goal had somehow morphed into doing the Kona Ironman and that meant I had to get going NOW. She is such a good bff. Her response? Not “oh my GOD how are you going to do that Ms. Trufflebuns?” No, it was “oh, that’s perfect! I will have cocktails for you at the end, at the apartment!” (Who loves her? ME!)
So after UPW, I was still musing on how to get this vision OUT of my head. But it kept poking me. I knew about Team In Training from various folks who had done it before, looked it up, and saw there was an IronTeam. I signed up to go to the Mill Valley introduction right after UPW so I wouldn’t chicken out. I was still not really sure I was going to do it (I mean, COME ON, I am so out of shape that small children pass me…). Until I got there.
One of the head coaches was there, Couch Doug. He was a total hard body scary hottie guy, but super patient talking to me about it, and really kind. He made me feel it was actually, possibly, “do-able.” I had another meeting in Mill Valley about 2 hours later, so I sat in the atrium of the place we met, and read through ALL the paperwork. (As a lawyer, I guess that’s part of my curse.) It included the crazy amount of $ that I would need to raise. While I was still sitting there, contemplating, Coach Doug came over again (I didn’t realize he was still there) and chatted with me about it, again. Then I called my husband, and we went through the cons (a lot of them) and the pros (me doing something I had wanted to do since way before we got together). He said that thought he wasn’t really sure it was the smartest idea – and that it would take a LOT of time away from “us” which he guards jealously, that he knew that both of us always do better with some sort of “goal.” We did the Big Sur Marathon together in 2002, and hiked the length of the French Alps together in 2004. (And stopped exercising totally together in 2006, concentrating instead on our passion for cooking and wine – bad!) So anyway, he bought in, though as I have blogged, I kept saying “Ironman” and he kept hearing “triathlon.”
When we were at Unleash the Power Within, I got a necklace, one that Tony himself wears. It is a Chinese “protection” coin and has great juju. When I went to the T Harv Eker Millionaire Mind Intensive, at the “penny exercise” (I am not giving anything up here, but if you’ve been to MMI you know what I mean), I got my penny – and actually superglued it on the back of my Chinese coin to remind me of MMI. Then, on my first run training for the Ironman (I still can’t believe I just typed that), I was out running on an old railroad track here in San Rafael, and I came across ANOTHER penny. One of the things you learn in MMI is that you want to pick up ANY $ that comes across your path – because the Universe doesn’t work in “denominations,” so if it sees that you will “stop to pick up $” it will give you more if you celebrate it. I picked up that beat-to-crap penny and did the whole “MMI happy dance thing” with it (kiss kiss kiss) – and then glued THAT to the back of my coin, too. It represents starting out on this journey of Ironman – and also following up on MMI AND UPW, both of which are combined in that one coin to me.
I’m kinda procrastinating here (gotta actually get the dog out – it’s a “free” day on the IronTeam calendar so I will hike Jake up the hill). But the last thing I have to say is to remind anyone who has been to UPW what we all promised (and if you haven’t, just stand up and repeat after me):
NOW I AM THE VOICE!
I will lead, not follow
I will believe, not doubt
I will create, not destroy
I am a force for good
I am a Leader
DEFY THE ODDS
SET A NEW STANDARD
STEP UP!!!!