Down and Down

Posted on by Sandy

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)

Posted on by Sandy

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

Posted on by Sandy

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

Posted on by Sandy

DSC03249So, 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…

Posted on by Sandy

…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!!!!

Team In Training IronTeam kickoff; first training day

Posted on by Sandy

Arrrrgh – just had a computer hiss-fit and it pulled down what I had already written here. Grrrrr…OK, “hit Save hit Save hit Save.” There now I might remember it…

SO, yesterday was Kickoff day for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. I had a couple of “familiar faces” there – Lizzie Duemig who I knew from S Factor and have kept up with on Facebook (she is doing the 1/2 Marathon to be more prepared for the running portion of her police fitness test), and Maria Afan, whom I have mentioned earlier. It was odd getting to Berkeley at a fairly early hour (about 8:45 a.m.). The streets were de-ser-ted. There was a Cal game later in the day (and church services), so finding a parking lot that wasn’t “reserved” for one of those two things was a little tricky (and pricey!), but that all worked out fine. I did get turned around though, and was coming up Channing trying to figure out where “campus was” – and I saw a couple folks holding TNT signs waaaaay down the street. That bright purple and green works every time! Again – super odd to be walking down a street that about 10 hours later I would return to, and weave my way between street vendors, musicians, strolling folks, etc. I would not have been surprised to see a tumbleweed rolling slowly down the tarmac.

The “group” kickoff was as you would expect – moving videos, stories, and the like. The whole “remember why you are here/when you are wearing your jerseys you are ambassadors; Be Courteous stuff. Then we broke into our “sports groups.”

(NOW, I am hitting “SAVE DRAFT” – this is about how far I got before)

We got upstairs to our sports group – IronTeam. I was definitely ill at ease: the only person I knew was Maria, and she just finished a marathon a couple days ago! I had met one of the coaches, Margaret from Napa, and she made me feel GREAT.  She was somewhere around my same age, and was super nice and cool. And not a super hardbody – just “normal.” I also “knew” Doug Li, the Strength Coach, only because he was the guy who sat with me after going to the original Intro Session, to answer a lot of my questions. He saw me and recognized me, and I actually KNEW that he really thought I could do this, “No worries.” That bucked me up.

Then the paperwork started. Not the “If you die it’s not our fault” paperwork (“those damn lawyers” tee hee hee) – the “training paperwork.” Oh my lord. They even passed out one of those big clear folders with sides and a “string lock” on it to keep everything in. It became obvious how important that was going to be, as we approached an inch of handouts!

There was an “uber-coach” – Dave (he was also the Bike guy), a Swim coach (Sedonia), a Run coach (Simon, who is the total image of my brother Jeff, it was totally odd), and Doug Li was the strength coach. I thought they were all great, though the whole bike thing really got me freaked out. I mean, the $$$ were piling and I mean PILING on. “Oh, subscribe to this training/coaching site, it’s ‘only’ $100/month.” And “oh, here are all the clothes – a good pair of bike chamois is somewhere around $100.” And then “Well, of course you have to have a bike trainer.” (I didn’t even hear the price on that. I didn’t want to know.) The Run coach, Simon, actually did make a little fun of all the “gear” that the bike guy had in the box. He split everyone up into folks who “Hated Running,” and those who “Loved Running,” and then those “in the middle” (I was in the middle). The bike/uber coach, Dave, was in the middle, as was Doug Li the Strength guy. So Simon (Run Guy) was talking about the “good things” about running, including the freedom, getting outside, and also that you just needed some shoes, socks, and shorts and could get out there (motioning to the huge box of bike gear). He asked if anyone in the middle was more or less inclined to move (after the discussion of the good – and bad – points) to either the Hate or Love group. The bike guy moved way closer to the hate group and joked, “You’ve reminded me – just not enough GEAR in running!” I had to laugh at that!

We did some Strength training out in the hallways, learned about bike Etiquette, lots of other stuff. I left still feeling pretty scared at what a stupid goal I had carried around for so many years. I mean – why couldn’t I be like my husband – who’s big goal is to eat at all the Michelin 4 Star restaurants before he’s 55? (smile) The one coach, Margaret, really made me feel good though. And actually the Strength training guy Doug Li with the whole “I know you can do this” attitude. I still have some issues about the bike – I’m going to be riding my old one (as per my previous posts), and I really am NOT sold that I have to get clipless pedals, though the bike/head coach guy was not at all friendly on the subject, not even an “hey, don’t worry, you can start the way you are.” The attitude I got from him was basically “man up, just do it.” That’s the sort of attitude that makes me Quit.

I called H on my way home from the meeting, and we met for martinis and appetizers at Il Davide. I brought in all the paperwork, and he was not very happy, giving me heck about how “we were never going to have any more weekends.” It pushed me down into a lower feeling, and made me think that maybe I really SHOULD quit, that I SHOULD give up on this “before 50 goal” that I had harbored for quite some time. In the end, though, he started talking about how he would have to go “get his clunker of a road bike tuned up, too,” and that “well, if the Coach says you need the clipless pedals, I will help you and we can practice,” and even (when I told him about the 3 “training groups” for swimming) “Well, if they had a Zero group, maybe I would train with you, since I can’t swim.” I think that after he started complaining and could see that it got me upset, he “husbanded up” (is that a new phrase for “man up”?) and started being supportive.

His big deal was of course that we would not be able to travel because of weekend workouts. I reminded him that when I was in training for the Nike Triathlon, we were in Austria and Italy for a month. I’d just had to find pools, and we’d even rented bikes together, and I had stayed on the schedule as best I could. I have photos in our photo album of me in various pools all over Austria. It was pretty funny. The thing here is that I would miss the “team” or “coached” workouts, which would not be so good. We’ll see how it goes. I really want to try to stay on the schedule as much as humanly possible – but I can’t leave H a “widow”…well, YET. 🙂  I imagine as the training progresses, it’s going to get worse!

Jake and Sandy smallThis morning, I did get up and do the training we were supposed to do – 10 minutes warmup, then 8 times doing a 4 minute run/1 minute walk repeat. It’s similar to when we were using the Gallway method to train for the Big Sur Marathon. Need to find my training watch…now all the folks have freakin’ GPS watches that can tell you where you are and how far you’ve gone – holy cow. I got up early, & got the training done with Jake by my side. It makes me sad that when we did the marathon, Jake was our “support team” – he wore a doggie pack and carried all our water, GU, etc. on the longer runs. Now that he’s 13, he really liked this training (I think I went 2 miles total), but I know as it gets longer he’s not going to be able to make it as far. He’s such a trooper, though. And always so HAPPY! He’s my hero 🙂 Anyway – got the workout done, got home, took a shower, and then made coffee and brought it up to Hizzoner in bed. That’s our Sunday “tradition” and his biggest issues surrounded us losing “relationship traditions” in favor of my training. I refuse to let that happen, as much as is possible (there are a lot of coached workouts on Sundays – which is not so good). I just have to get up and out earlier.

I have Jake as my energy and happiness Mentor for that – he just LOVES getting up, coming down stairs, and greeting the day. His “downward dogs” are increasingly stiff, but his attitude is such a marvel.

I was emailing my friends Caron and Judy on Facebook this morning (and yesterday after the meeting), and said that this whole Ironman thing reminds me of the old joke: “How do you eat an elephant?” “One bite at a time.” As Caron said, “The hard part is trying to figure out where to take the first bite.” Well, this morning, I was out there with my happy dog Jake, and I think I took the first bite. Not too bitter, not too sweet. Not bad.

Story about Mike Pigg; My first triathlon; Bike Tune-Up; Cycling thoughts.

Posted on by Sandy

BaltimoreTri1988Saturday is “D Day” – the first day with Team In Training where they get to see my face and hand me a training schedule. Yikes. I’m getting more and more “wary” about the whole thing as time progresses, but I am also listening to more triathlon-related podcasts and starting to feel a bit more “in the groove” with the whole thing. It’s like 20 years hasn’t passed .  . . I was listening to one podcast (Triathlete’s Coffee Shop) and they were talking about Scott Tinley, Dave Scott, Mark Allen, etc. – the “old guys” of the sport. They were running when I was running. Is this a word to the wise, or what? I’m not that wise…

How did it all start for me? Back in 1988, my girlfriend Leslie and I took a “challenge” published in the Washington Post for anyone who wanted to do a triathlon. It was published by a guy named Remar Sutton. The “challenge” started on New Year’s Day with “find your way off the couch” and ended with the Bahamas Triathlon over Thanksgiving.

The Bahamas Tri was sprint-distance – and a LOT of folks wound up taking the Challenge.  It actually freaked Remar out. It was funny. (He had offered to buy “anyone who took him up on the Challenge” dinner the night before the Tri – and he got letters from thousands of folks – and 10os of us actually did it. The Bahamanian authorities weren’t prepared, all that good stuff. I came in 6th Woman overall, but I think that was just a fluke.)

After the Bahamas Tri, I decided to do the Chicago Sun-Times Triathlon. I remember when “Olympic distance” triathlon was still what Ironman is today – “only crazy people” did it. I liked that feeling. In preparation, Leslie and I actually volunteered at the Baltimore Tri – where Mike Pigg was running. He was a total newbie as far as I can remember. The pictures at the left are Leslie and me – the bottom photo is us at Mike Pigg’s staging area. Someone actually TOLD Pigg we had done this – and the top photo is us with his 1st place roses, which he gave to us, and his towel, which we cut in 1/2 (and, yeah, believe it or not, I still have my 1/2). He was THE nicest guy EVER. We were so embarrassed someone had ratted us out. Heck, I think HE was embarrassed. Back then, “triathlon” was one of those “fringe sports” and I think that the fact he had “fans” was a complete shock to him.

I have always basically been a couch potato, though it’s gotten worse recently, with the whole hormonal “thing” going on. I used to be able to work out a little, eat a little better, and get back to my target weight. I am now 30 pounds higher than that, and it really happened almost “overnight.” Dang Hormones, Curses!! (shaking fist at sky). I knew that I needed to get a set program to get back “on the wagon,” and I also had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to do an Ironman. Sure, I probably should have started back with a tri…but I “know I can do” a tri. So – Team In Training.

I remember the feeling, when this photo was taken over TWENTY years ago, of really not knowing if I COULD do a triathlon (Olympic-distance). Man, things were so different, too. Lots of spaghetti dinners, little hydration, oh lord. I’m lucky I didn’t die. I remember when tribars first came out (and nearly killing myself trying to use them). Pre-GU. Pre-Power Bars, really. I owned the first pair of Oakley sunglasses. Yeah, I am OLD!

So now I’m back…I don’t doubt I can do it (well, MUCH); I feel like I did 20 years ago, with that “it’s not possible now, but I am SURE it CAN be possible…RIGHT?” feeling.

I’m rambling…OH, so, the bike story. I took my bike out of the cellar late last week, and brought it to the local bike place to get it tuned up, tubes changed, whatever it would take. This bike is easily 15 years old – though it was “top of the line” back then. (Well, not pro-top, but “as top as I could afford without thinking I was spending money like an idiot” top.) I went and picked it up, and the guy who brought it out was in his 20s – he was probably like 8 when the bike was new. He went on and on about how “great” it was to work on ‘such a classic.’ I voiced some concerns about the bike and the race, and he was just the cutest thing ever. He told me that “yeah,” it was an “old warhorse” (!!! like me? !!!) but that it would “definitely do its best” and would “take me where I needed to go” and such. He patted the bike in the sort of way that someone would pat a horse that’s going to be trained back up for racing…an “Atta BOY, you can DO it” kinda pat. I know that it’s going to get me a lot of looks when I show up with it…no doubt. (At least it’s not a mountain bike…) I also can’t do clipless pedals now – maybe forever – so I have the big cages on the pedals. (The only really BAD accidents I have ever had were with clipless pedals – so I am feeling allergic.)

On that Triathlete Cafe podcast, there was a recent episode where they were talking about what part of the triathlon is the most important – and one thing that came up (and I now agree with) is that cycling is really the most important leg. I was interested to hear each athlete stand up for his or her “sport” – but the arguments from the cyclists actually made the most sense to me. I never was really an athlete in any of these 3 disciplines – I lettered in Fencing at UC, and then also did karate. I never really particularly liked any of the 3 sports that make up triathlon. I am a fairly good swimmer, so I think I was and am lucky as a newbie in that I’m not “scared” of swim workouts. Sure, I still have the “is there a shark underneath me” issue that anyone who saw Jaws as a child has (my mom was SO RIGHT, WHY did I sneak out and see that movie?), but otherwise, I am not a bad swimmer. The one sport that I never really trained at – and spent the LEAST amount of time at – has always been the bike.

My mind actually always sort of said, “Hey, anyone can bike, right?” I didn’t really realize I was thinking this until listening to the Tri-Cafe folks. In my last triathlons before quitting (so, that’s now about 8-10 years ago), I really SUCKED on the bike, and it made the whole experience unpleasant for me. I always skimped on the bike training, because I liked to swim (so would do that more) and don’t like to run (so would do that more, to try to LIKE it more). And I thought: “Anyone can ride a bike.” I now realize this is a fairly stupid thing to think. So I am really going to concentrate on the cycling portion, which will be TOTALLY new to me. I think I’m also going to sign up for some Spinning classes at the gym.

That’s my update for now. I’m having fun blogging again. It’s far from my old blogs, fEmpowerment, and the like – but maybe not. I’m starting from pretty much zero – which my book discusses, though not from an athletic context. I’m so curious to see how this all goes. And I’m making friends online in the triathlon “world,” and feeling great about it. This happened when I trained for the Big Sur Marathon – folks out there who were marathoners on various websites got to be “buddies” in a way. Now, it’s the Ironcrew. And I like it.

Husbands Hear Weird

Posted on by Sandy

Before I signed up for the Louisville Ironman Triathlon in August 2010, I actually called and discussed it with my husband. We were on the phone for quite some time, discussing time commitment, work versus workout, and lots of things like that. I was actually trying to convince him to do it with me – he said no, but said he’d like to bike more, so he’d love to be part of the rides I need to do on my own, blah blah. Cool. Signed. A little scared, but signed.

I took my old tri bike (15 years “young”) to our local bike shop, and they worked it over. It was finished today, so I went to pick it up. Did like it when the little cutie-that-could-be-my-son (laugh) gushed about what a “classic” it was, and how he felt (I had actually voiced a concern) that he thought it could “totally tough it out” for an ironman. (As I have no dinero for another bike, that was good to hear.)

So I brought the bike home, and Hizzoner and I were talking about the training. I said something to him about wondering whether I would need to get broader handlebars (something I had considered a decade ago when I stopped doing tris, because my shoulders would get sore). The conversation went like this:

He: “Why are you worried? You’re not going to be on the bike all that long.”

Me: “Um, 100 miles is pretty doggone long.”

He: “What are you TALKING about? I mean all at once.”

Me: “Honey the race itself is over 100 miles, then you have to add training and stuff.”

He: “You’re doing a triathlon!”

Me: “Honey, I told you I was doing an IRONMAN triathlon. We went over this when I called you before I signed up.”

He: “WHAT? I thought you were just exaggerating!”

Me: “I’ve been talking about this and freaked out nonstop since I signed – I said I-ron-Man are you telling me you did not hear that?”

He: “Of course I did. But I thought you were just exchanging the word for triathlon. Or exaggerating. What the heck did you sign up for??”

Me: “You did, however, hear me and AGREE that I could do the I-ron-Man Tri-A-thlon in August next year, right? You heard that, right?”

He: “Well, yes, but I just thought you were mistaken.”

Me: “I’m signed up, you know. There isn’t any backing out now. I told you I wanted to do an Ironman before I turned 50. This is an Ironman. I’m approaching 50. I’m puzzled about what you were thinking…?”

He: “Well, yes, you’ve said that for the past 4 years. But I didn’t think you were really signing UP for it…”

Yeah. Really. He’s now a little spazzed out. Though I think he understands a bit more why ~I~ have been spazzed out. Funny though. Husbands hear weird.

Why We Do This: Team In Training Update

Posted on by Sandy

I received the following note from a long-time friend of mine. We recently hooked back up via Facebook (isn’t Facebook great?) She saw that I was training for the Ironman through Team In Training, and shared the following:

Flo-and-Dad_1_

My dad was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1994. After receiving his initial treatment, he suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair. For the next 13 years, he fought a brave battle against his disease, at the same time learning to live with his new disability. He rarely complained and faced his chemos and obstacles with humor and optimism. My mother tirelessly cared for him, allowing him to spend his final years at home with the assistance of CNAs who visited every morning for two hours. She bathed him, toileted him and gave him the best quality of life she could. When his body started to fail in June of 2007, we made the decision to withdraw treatment and helped my dad enter eternity with the assistance of the wonderful people of hospice. He had a peaceful and loving death, surrounded by his family and knowing he would always be loved and missed.

 

This is who I’m doing this for. Stories like this will help me as I train during this winter. Please let me know if you have any stories to share, so that I can have your loved ones’ spirits in the wind at my back.