The adventures of a non-athlete in pursuit of satisfying her competitive tendencies. Oh, and other things as well.
1.30.2010
New Pants and The Fast Lane
1.24.2010
Hungry, Hungry Hippo
Let me explain. I resolved to 'eat less' in 2010. I need to change that statement to 'eat better.'
Since I started Ironman training, I cannot feed myself fast enough. It feels like I woke a sleeping hippo in my tummy who now wants to eat everything in sight.
When I walked into the office last Monday, my manager, who I hadn't seen in a week, said I look different. He also asked me how I was feeling, and my reply?
"Like a super hero, actually, who could kick any one's ass at any time!"
At the beginning of the week, I felt great, just hungry all the time. My body felt tingly and I told Kevin that is how I know that somewhere inside of me, an Ironman is being made.
It's an odd feeling to go into Whole Foods and wonder if I have enough calories to eat.
In my business meetings on Thursday and Friday, I wolfed down PBJ sandwiches and granola bars like you wouldn't believe. I think it shocked a few of the other attendees at how quickly food could disappear. This would also be a good time to introduce the Table Temptation of the Day!
Thursday and Friday was definitely the hardest matchup yet.
Jason works for the other company in my meetings. He has a BBQ catering business on the side and makes some of the best barbeque I've ever tasted. As part of that, he also makes these brownie bites and brought 3 different flavors to the meeting–mocha, raspberry, and my weakness, peanut butter.
He even picked one out of the box and put it next to my seat in the conference room. Torture. Now, you may think that I ate it due to my current insatiable nature, but I didn't. That's right. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've turned down a peanut butter and chocolate combo and this was one of them.
Also, as a side note, I should mention how incredibly hard it is to keep up my blogging resolution. Now that I'm working out all the time, logging in my training information, eating non-stop, and trying to keep my marriage on course, blogging has fallen considerably on the priority list. But, this is still way more frequent that 2009, so I'm still technically on track.
Speaking of track, I went to Roosevelt High School today for Cycle U's Running 101 clinic. It was super cold outside, but the session was really helpful. I learned some great new stretches and strength training exercises.
Tracy Orcutt, local elite triathlete, taught the clinic with Coach Tom and gave they gave us targeted, individual advice after watching our running stride. I don't think it will make me an amazing runner, but it was nice to walk away with things I can work on.
1.17.2010
Ironman Training—Week 1 Completed!
1.15.2010
Carls, ... the Dancer?
1.13.2010
Fatigue with a Side of Rain
1.11.2010
First Official Day of Ironman Training!
1.10.2010
Tricky Try-ons
1.07.2010
No More Excuses
1.06.2010
Classic January Mistake
1.05.2010
Redemption … well, sorta.
I failed to mention that last week I attended the free women’s-only indoor TT at Cycle U. I was feeling pretty good, so I was excited to go. At Jess’ advice, I brought my actual TT bike. When I got there, there were a few familiar faces—Rhae Shaw (Cycle U,) Jenny Potter (IJM.org,) and my teammate Jess who was finishing her race (which she of course, won.)
I got all set up and noticed that the majority of the other women were on their road bikes. Oh well, I needed the practice in my aero bars. We were all (6 of us) going to race a rolling 10k course. I quickly fell to last place yet I was working super hard. It was pretty disheartening since my heart rate was skyrocketing. When it was all over, I was last and was about a minute and a half slower than the winner. Ugh. Rhae tried to console me by telling me that I get less power being in the aero tuck, but it kind of went in one ear and out the other. However, I did make this mental note, BRING ROAD BIKE NEXT TIME.
So, yesterday was my first session with my teammates at Seattle Multisport. Yesterday was also a time trial so that the coach could get a look at our current fitness. Great. Another time trial for me to miserably trudge in last place. However, I did bring my road bike so I did notice right away that I was pumping out a lot more power. This time, the course is only 5 miles and is completely flat. Yay! I am so much better when things are flat!
We get started and I just go, go, go. My chest hurts, my heart rate is through the roof, my stomach is cramping and I am sweating buckets. All the TT racers are teammates this time —Eileen, Lori and new member Tara. I take the lead from the beginning. After last week, I refused to be last. I was going to do all I could to not repeat that performance. It stayed pretty consistent—me in first, Tara in second, Eileen in third and Lori in fourth. I won! Actually, I won by about 30 seconds, which is quite a bit over a short time trial. I felt so much better about myself and it may have been just what I needed. Actually, Tim, the coach, said that I was just a handful of seconds from cracking his women’s top-10! Go me! Totally the validation I needed.
Hopefully, Tim will email the performance file soon so I can post more details. Hopefully 2010 will be a good year!
1.03.2010
¡Felicidades Mis Amigos!
Yesterday, I was blessed to see the marriage of my good friend Jen to the love of her life, Joaquin. They are the most adorable couple! They met in grad school in California, but she is from Federal Way and he is from Madrid, Spain!