The Shopping Gene

Is this a chromosome that only women possess? I ask this because of today's experience with my husband - which is basically the same experience everytime it happens. However, like childbirth, women must forget about the pain and hope that the next time will be much different.

I sent my husband out with a list - yes, today, on Christmas Eve. What was I thinking? But it was very basic: a birthday card for his nephew, a half gallon of skim or 1% milk, orange juice, a cake taker (if he could find one) and wrapping paper. Oh, and I asked him to put gas in my car and get some money out for those cash gifts - including the birthday gift. He was also going to find this swimming store to get me one more Christmas present that I wanted - a digital lap counter for my finger - I thought they might have one. He's never been to that store (neither have I) and I told him it's proximity and the other stores in the strip mall. All of this was written down on paper.

Two hours later - here is what he came home with. Gas in the car and wrapping paper (3 rolls, although one would have been fine. I guess you can't have too much Christmas paper) - successful. A 1/4 gallon of skim milk (ok, that's close), a Christmas card (not exactly the birthday card I needed) and a gallon jug of orange juice - ok he got that one right and he got the money we needed for cards. The rest of the time he cruised around looking for the swimming store that he could not find.

No cake taker - he said Target does not carry them. While he was gone, I thought of a couple more things I needed and knew he likely wouldn't find the cake taker. So off to Target I went at 11:30 a.m. At Target, I immediately found a cake taker for $4.99 (perfect) and the other two items I needed. I stopped at the bank for cash and found the swimming store right where I said it would be - although it was closed. I also picked up a sub sandwich for lunch and was home by 12:04.

I call that outstanding! Now why couldn't he do that?

Oh and on the digital lap counter - he asked me for another gift idea for Christmas. I gave him a link to it on a website so he would know what I was talking about and then explained that he could probably find it at that swimming store since it wouldn't arrive in time for Christmas via mail. Later he told me that the website charged $5 for shipping unless you had a $60 order - I said "Didn't you read the email that said where to go buy it?" - "Oh, was that in the email?"

Why do I bother.....

Happy Holidays - HO HO HO

Our local Shop N Save offers $10 off a $50 purchase every Thursday. Every Thursday is a madhouse at the store. I always forget about the Thursday-deal and attempt to go out for a few things on, you guessed it, Thursday. Last week the lot was completely filled -- so I went to another store to shop. Sometimes saving $10 just isn't really worth it.

Today, same problem. I absolutely need to get my grocery shopping done and once again, it's Thursday. I figure I will bite the bullet and do my shopping and grab my share of the $10 savings. There's a new twist on this whole thing. Everyone has figured out how they can get all their shopping done and take home more than a $10 savings. They bring extra family members and use extra carts. So that, if you were going to spend $100 or so, you would now be trailing along two carts.

What does this mean? It means the aisles of the store are doubly or triply (probably not a real word) crowded. And why do they have to have a multitude of displays blocking my path? You can't move your cart down the aisles, nor can you get close to the items that you wish to purchase without dodging and reaching around - lots of "excuse me"s being said.

This also means that the checkout lines are also doubled or tripled or worse - oh yes, those long lines snake down into the aisles. Doesn't this just sound like loads of fun? The store has done a good job of having checkers at all the registers.

You also get someone who parks their cart (sometimes with or without a person) while others are running around trying to make sure they've got everything they need and there's shouting - "Is this right." "No, I want the other brand" or maybe "get two of those." And, they all bring their little kids. Little kids run down the aisles (not exactly a doable task on this evening), walk backwards, lolly-gag walking down the aisles or scream at the top of their lungs.

Now, the coup d'etat - half of these people are talking on their cellphones the entire time they shop. Seriously, do these people take their cellphones to the bathroom with them - do they talk while they shit? Aghhhhhhhhhhh!

Semi-Skilled

Maybe I'm only half a person. Well, that's how I feel about my capabilities as a human being. I don't seem to be very good at anything - emphasis here is on VERY. I do seem to be somewhat good at a great number of things.

For example - I was always a good student. Always brought home good grades - never quite good enough for that college scholarship though. Being a good student though makes your parents very happy - that's a good thing.

My kids think I'm pretty smart. That's because I know about a lot of things. I don't know a lot about any one thing - but I do have a wide range of knowledge. Comes from being a good student and having a semi-photographic memory. What I don't know, I usually make up. And I do it in such a way, that most people believe me. The problem is, I usually end up doubting myself and questioning the answer I just gave - even if it is entirely correct.

I can kind of play the piano. I can read music, but I can't always translate it from my brain to my fingers. I'm also somewhat disabled in that I have very small hands - and feet - but I'm a larger person. I think there's a name for that, but I can't quite remember what it is.

I wish I could sing or dance - sometimes I think I can do these things, but those are generally when I'm sleeping or imbibing - ok, you're right, this is not a good thing. I love to listen to someone who can sing or watch really good dancers. One of my favorite shows is So You Think You Can Dance - love that show. Another one was Rock Band which was only on for 2 seasons - but those people on those shows are phenomenal.

I wish I could be an artist. You know that I tried, but whatever part of the brain that controls or affects artistry skills, just doesn't function on all cylinders. My house is decorated but I could never make it look like something you would see in a magazine. Same things with gardening - although I think my lack there is just plain laziness. I just don't want to spend the time it takes to design and layout a very nice garden. So I have a semi-nice garden and I keep trying different things until I come up with something I like. Oh yes, and I'm cheap too - another limiting factor.

I wish I could write. I did really well in school with papers and such, but that is just because I have a knack for organizing a lot of other people's thoughts in one place to support a thesis. I think my blog is kind of OK - it is a good way for me to put my thoughts into words. But I run into the same problem as with gardening, I get too lazy to think about just the right words to use or come up with something really clever - I'm usually a few days behind with the clever statements. I can come up with a few from time to time - but I have a definite delay before it comes to fruition.

I wish I could be a good athlete - no check that, a great athlete. Well, now that I'm 55 the odds of being outstanding in the overall community are rather slim. I can strive to be outstanding for my age group and I do try to do that, but I'm not convinced I can get there due to lack of skill and that damn laziness factor. When I was growing up, I was athletically involved as much as a female could be back in those days. My parents were fully supportive of active children - they were great about that and I did the same with my kids. I grew up in a swimming pool and had some nominal success. I played volleyball, basketball and softball. I tried my hand at gymnastics. I tried out for everything at school - cheerleading, pom poms, band/flag twirling, etc. with no success at all. I'm an OK triathlete today and get to win my age group in local races - mostly because no one else shows up - but that's OK too, since I'm out there trying as hard as I can to win.

Overall, I could generally feel defeated about my lack of success in all those things that I wish I could do and on some days, that is exactly how I feel. But, when I look at where I am today, I have to feel pretty successful. I have to wonderful, grown up, independent children who can take care of themselves and their families. In this day and age, that's damn good. So I'm really thankful about that.

Even though I consider myself semi-skilled, I have a great job as vice president of a company and pretty much the go-to person with all the answers - go figure (it's really that I can convincingly make up a good answer) - so I should be grateful for that - and I am.

I didn't do so well in my first marriage, but have a wonderful husband now that I have been married to for 19 years. He says he's happy - so I'll buy that and consider myself lucky to be married with a nice place to live and a comfortable lifestyle.

So, why am I whining you might ask? It's because of the fact that I've never been fully satisfied with what I have that has made me semi-successful and semi-skilled. So I guess I'll just keep trying to be more than what I am until I am no more. I don't think that's a bad thing at all!

Oops I Did it Again

So, an update on the whole bike wreck debacle is that bruises are fading (yay!), stitches are out of my elbow and my lip is all healed with minimal scarring. Ah but, the elbow.....since it was such a deep wound the scab is about 1/4 inch thick - do you know what that feels like? It feels like something that you just need to pull off - but it is not cooperating. In fact, everytime I mess with it, it gets a little puffy and sore - and today it had some pus exuding from it. I hope I have not done irreparable damage - meaning, I hope I don't have to go to the doctor and have them inflict another source of pain.

But this is a little off-track as it relates to my title. In the true Britney Spears-sense of the phrase, I went out running this morning. It was a brisk 40 degrees and my friend and I took off trying to keep warm. About a mile into the run, I felt a twinge in the joint of my right leg. This should be a signal to me to STOP and stretch or just STOP - but do I listen to those signals - of course not. I am an IDIOT who feels like it will just work itself out. So I continue on with the run, slowing somewhat because it is beginning to hurt. Than about 2.5 miles into the run, I decide to stop and stretch because the pain is increasing - but at this point it is probably too late. I do stretch for all of about 15 seconds - don't want to keep my training buddy waiting - and continue on grimacing the final 1.5 miles.

I can tell when we have finished running that this is not a good pain. In fact, when I get home I have to limp around because the pain is so intense. I did about 5 minutes of stretching and then I took my shower and got ready for work. Then I hit the 8 hour Tylenol - aspirin combo in hopes that the pain and any swelling will diminish - no not just diminish, but go away.

So, as of now, I feel a little better, but limping is still in order. I hope this isn't anything long term and that by Saturday I can be back to my stupid painless self.

Does it sound like I'm beating myself up - that is because I am.

I have made my elbow worse because I can't be disciplined enough to leave it alone and now my hip/leg is very sore and that is because I do not listen to my body when it says it needs to stop.

There you have it.

60 Miles Short of a Century

Ah yes, can you imagine starting the day around 60 degrees knowing that it wasn't going to get above 80 and you are off on your very first century ride. Ride the Rivers - doesn't that even sound fun? You get to start at a casino, cross the Missouri River, ride through the city and a couple of college campuses (Wash U and St. Louis U), ride along the Mississippi River, cross the River into Illinois - ride along side the Alton canal, ride a couple of ferries before getting back across the Missouri and riding back to a bar to celebrate your ride.

Oh, it sounded so lovely....my friends were all going.....couldn't get any better.

You know by now that there is a big BUT coming up - BUT, it will take me awhile to get there.

Start out by having difficulty with my tire pump - apparently a very key piece had fallen off the pump so air wasn't really getting into the tire. I found that piece a few days ago and didn't know what it was - but knew it looked familiar. I know I put it somewhere that I could find it because I knew it would be important - BUT (number 1), I couldn't find it. I did manage to force air into my front tire, BUT (number 2) heard something pop. Thought it was the tire BUT (number 3) it wasn't. Tried to pump the back tire and it flatted out. Maybe that was the pop? So I assumed there was a problem with the tube and got a new one. Got enough air into the tube to get it on the tire and on the wheel, BUT (number4) couldn't get the wheel back on the bike. The brake was closed too much and I couldn't get it on. My husband tried to help me with no success and I ended up yelling at him. I even yelled that I knew it wasn't his fault BUT (number 5) I was yelling anyway. I threw the bike in the back of the car and hoped someone at the ride start would be able to help me out.

One of our tri club members was there and he figured out that the brake just needed to be released at the handle and it opened right up - go figure! He got my wheel on and now I'm ready to go with everyone else. Of course, my Garmin also decided that today was not the day to work and wouldn't stay turned on - should I have read all of this as a premonition?

We got started on the ride and it was a great day. We stopped at the first rest area and proceeded onto the next stop where we were to meet up with one more friend. At one point of the ride we got on a trail that goes along the Mississippi River. I broke in my first road bike on this trail and felt soooo comfortable. A little wind at our backs, and we were cooking right along. For some reason, the ride had us exit the trail and out onto a main road. I didn't know why they did that as that trail should've taken us all the way to the 2nd stop. I'm figuring we were about 2 miles away from our next stop and were approaching a yellow light. There were three of us in a line and I was at the back. I yelled to go on through but for some reason, the lead rider hit the brakes, the second rider hit the first and I hit them both. Oh my gosh, here it comes, get ready for the impact and then BOOM! My face hit the pavement - I knew it hurt and I just laid there for a few minutes. A lot of other riders came by to assist us - bikers are really good about that and one even had a first aid kit.

When I got up, I realized that my elbow was pretty scraped up and my lip felt like it was huge. I was able to stand up and got a big bandage on my bleeding elbow. Went to look at my bike and therein lies a major problem - back wheel is pretty bent up. Joe (Rider #1) thought a semi was going to pull out into the intersection and hit his brakes which started the pileup. His bike also had a mangled back wheel but physically he was in great shape! Tori (Rider #2) had a big chunk missing out of her helmet - but thankfully, not out of her head. THANK GOD FOR HELMETS - if this doesn't make you want to wear a helmet, I don't know what would. She did have a swollen wrist (her Polar watch broke off from her wrist) and her hip was very sore.

If it wasn't for the injuries to the bikes, we would've made an attempt to continue onward - at least to the 2nd stop. Our friend waiting there is an athletic trainer and she would be very qualified to triage our injuries - but no luck with the bikes, so we were forced to get the sag wagon to take us back to our cars.

What a sad death march that was - of course we were all grateful that our injuries were minimal, but our spirits were broken and poor Joe was having emotional issues as he felt that he caused the wreck - they just don't make bandaids large enough to cover that type of injury.

Post ride injuries turned out to be a little more involved than initially thought. Tori ended up going to the ER as she could not put any weight on her leg. Luckily, xrays were negative. For myself, I had a protrusion from the wound on my elbow that looked really weird. I opted for an urgent care center and found out that was muscle hanging out. They ended up taking an xray (negative) and suturing the wound. Stitches have to stay in for 2 weeks - no swimming until that happens.

Bikes are at the local bike shop waiting to be repaired.....could've been better but could've been worse.

On Not Being in Kona this Week

Since I never plan on doing a full ironman race (it's not a definitive "no", but it's pretty close), I will likely never make the trek to Kona during World Championship week. Of course, there's an option to go there on vacation, but I don't see dragging my husband around for a week of "hottie" hunting. Honestly, I would love to know what these folks spend on this trip and how do they afford it.

I know I've said it before, and I'll say it again, triathletes have deep pockets and a never ending source of funds. I don't understand - I have a great job and make a very good salary, but just do not have the available funds to travel cross country for races.

So, in honor of those racing in Kona on Saturday, I will depart on my own "sufferfest" - I am planning on doing my first century bike race. Am I trained for such a feat - I don't think so - but I hope to tough it out. My mantra will be that I am doing 40.6 miles less than those doing ironman that day.

I have a group of sufferers joining me - all similarly undertrained for this event. But, come on, it's an organized ride. There will be rest stops with snacks and a lunch stop. There will be two ferry crossings (places to recover) and a trip around the city of St. Louis metro area. I think it will be fun! Ask me at mile 80...with 20 miles still to go.....

All I can say is, if those guys can get through 140.6, surely I can suffer through a mere 100!

eBay-ology

Would that be anything like the study of eBay? I have bought and sold many things on eBay and recently decided to clean out a few of my triathlon/biking paraphenalia that I do not use. So I put up four items - a Tyr triathlon backpack (hate it, it's too big for me), a 2 bottle fuel belt that is too small for my fat gut, a stock bike saddle and a Terry butterfly saddle.

I put a starting price of $10 on the Terry saddle. I think I paid about $90 for it, I only used it for one summer and didn't really like it. I also had it on my road bike which was replaced by my tri bike - that I totally prefer to ride.

I have received numerous questions regarding this saddle. Who knew a $10 saddle could generate so much curiosity. Like, how many miles did I ride on this saddle - I don't know, I didn't put a chronometer on the saddle. How many times did I ride on this saddle - oops, again, I forgot to count. One person wants to know if the leather is worn down and smooth - if you look at the picture I posted, you can easily see the designs on the leather - that doesn't seem worn down and smooth to me. Another wanted to know if it was such a great saddle, why was I selling it - let's see, no were in my ad did I indicate it was a great saddle. Actually, for me, it sucked - but everyone has different preferences which is one of the reasons there are no less than several thousand saddles to choose from.

There was actually one good question asking whether there were any splits or tears in the leather and since it is in great shape - I could answer "no" - no tears or splits. Another asked if the saddle was leather. I did post the link to the Terry website and specifically to this saddle so they could get all the specs - and yes, the website says that the saddle is leather.

So there you have it - at this point, I have 20 people watching this saddle and one finally bid the starting $10. So there you have it - a veritable bargain but definitely "buyer beware" before making that all important purchase.

Stepping Out of the Zone

I think I've figured it out. As we get older, our comfort zone expands (similarly to the waistline) which means that we become less and less comfortable when doing new or challenging things. It's been pretty much believed that the age limiter is due to a decline in physical ability BUT based on folks like Dara Torres, I think the real limiter is the comfort zone.

People say that if you are over 40 that there are just some things that you cannot do - some expectations that you will never realize and we listen to those voices. We should stop doing that and listen only to the voice that helps push you beyond what you think you can accomplish.

Case in point - it is no secret that I do not like cycling on hills. They hurt and I dislike pain. I also use my age as an excuse for not trying things - for example, I'm too old to drag my butt up that big hill. However, I do have to pride myself on the fact that I can hang pretty close to my training buddies who happen to be in their mid to late 30s. These girls are not slackers - they're out there giving it their best and they train hard. I have to give them credit for helping me see that there are a lot of things that I can still do.

Last week, I did a road race (although I had no intention of racing) that was wrought with big hills - two of which, I'm afraid to say, that I had to walk the last parts. It wasn't pretty and if I had been really thinking about it, I would never have done that race. But I did do it and I finished it.

Today, I stepped out on my own and rode from my house out to my master's swimming session. I was supposed to have a buddy ride with me, but he had to cancel due to illness. Now this ride had the potential of being a bit challenging and I'm always reluctant to be out on the roads by myself. But, I went ahead and did it anyway and I feel GOOD about it. That's it - another affirmation that these are things that I can do if I want to do them.

Bottom line, is that anyone who has a dream of doing something should not let age deter them. Now, I'm not saying that an obese person should suddenly get up off the couch and go run a marathon - but I am saying that if that person wants to do this, then that person should find out what it would take to achieve that goal.

There are no life limiters, there are only mental limiters. These can be overcome.

Along those same lines, I always say that I am too old to do an Ironman. I will still go ahead and say that because it comes down to me not wanting to do the work and put forth the effort that it would take for me to complete and Ironman race - but, if anytime I decide that it's something that I want to do - I believe that I will be able to figure it out and get it done.

New motto - No more limiters....rein in that comfort zone and stay in the game!

Putting Together the New Plan

It's not even mid-September but I'm already on my way to putting together the NEW PLAN. The plan for next season that will make me a better athlete and help me perform better in races. So, you ask, what is this NEW PLAN.

Here it is - Off-Season Intermediate Maintenance Plan by M. Ricci purchased through Training Peaks. I've set this plan up to begin on Monday, September 15. I usually don't start the official off-season plan until around November or so - but I'm ready to get going a little earlier this year. The same coach has another plan that segues from the Off Season plan to a half-iron training program - because next season without any injuries my goal will be to do a half-iron race. Which race? Stay tuned - more on that later.

Next, strength training is always the goal but has always been sporadic at best. Since I've located this truly awesome and affordable personal trainer, this goal appears to be more tangible. I've been working with her twice a week, for an hour each session (can you believe she only charges me $75/month???). Actually, I started at the beginning of July and truly believe that these sessions were instrumental in helping my hip injury heal. I'm hoping sticking with this program will help keep me strong and injury-free.

However, I have to admit that twice a week of going out to her house is getting a little old. And, with the colder weather hovering on the doorstep, it's time to begin planning on taking a lot of my workouts to the gym. The plan that I think will work best for me is to work with her one day a week and have her provide a program for me to do at the gym for the second day. This way, I should already be at the gym to swim, bike and/or run and I can add in my strength training while I'm there. The problem in the past has been the inability to plan some type of strength training to do. Plus, I will have to report back to her how my workout went and if I completed everything on the list. If I find myself slacking, I can always go back to working with her personally twice a week - so all the bases seem covered on this one.

Next goal is to begin planning the races I want to do. The definites at this time are Memphis in May and Hyvee in Iowa. I will probably also do Lake St. Louis again UNLESS the half-iron race I choose is Greater Illini - but according to the race reports, this is a no-frills race. I really kind of enjoy some of the fanfare and hoopla - so not sure this will work for me. My friends will likely be doing Racine again, but I just don't think I can handle a 1.2 mile swim in 50 degree water - remember, I hate wearing a wetsuit. So what are some of my other choices - there is a new 70.3 in Augusta, GA that boasts a flat, fast bike and my guess is that there is no wetsuit swim in GA. There was another one I was scoping, but right at the moment I can't remember what it was.

So, what has happened to all my participation in the local sprint tris? I don't know - but right now, I'm just not motivated to do any of them. I didn't do any of them this current season and admit that I haven't missed them one bit.

That's the plan today - you never know when it might change. So watch this space!!

The End of the Season and the Beginning of the New Plan

One of the best things about the end of the triathlon season is the expectations being set ALREADY for the next season. Two things - one, I'm so depressed to see the end of summer. I will miss the 3 hour + bike rides that I put in this year. Yes, I know, one can still bike for awhile - but once it gets below 60, I'm back inside for bike riding and there is no way to ride that long on a trainer - well, not for me anyway.

Second, I am coming off a huge HIGH based on meeting all my goals for my last "A" race. So, I'm totally stoked to keep that high going. I'm even thinking about doing an end of season local triathlon - one that I usually find too cold to do.

Enough about me, the look ahead is always so inviting and full of promise. It is so hard to contain the positive energy and find places for it to go! I love it!

The usual list of suspects - I WILL add weight training to my program. Oh yeah, and some yoga too. I WILL follow my training plans very closely so that I can be a model athlete.

Is that you? It is the litany of triathlete's New Year's resolutions. Because that's exactly it - we are looking towards a new year and a new year of possibilities and opportunities.

I hate the end of summer, but love the beginning of the planning season.

Day One Competition

Had the opportunity to sit (I have to tell you about this) and watch a lot of the competitions today. Saw the American women's VB team beat Japan, attempted to watch fencing - that is not exciting at all except that the American women swept - gold, silver, and bronze.

Swimming heats came up next - but they are heats and not terribly exciting either. Watched an American men's beach VB team get smoked by Latvia - that wasn't supposed to happen - hope they recover in pool play to get back in the game.

Here's what happened to me yesterday - I lost in a battle with a rose bush. I really hate my rose bushes and made the decision to get rid of them. Cut them back and then needed to dig them out - luckily there are only two of them. So I tried to dig one out and the ground was a little too hard. Jumped on the top of the shovel in an attempt to dig it deeper into the ground and my foot slipped and I fell backwards hitting my right butt cheek on the landscaping wall - today I have a beauty of a bruise and it's painful for me to sit down.

Right now the countdown has begun to the first gold medal attempt by Michael Phelps - the TV just flashed up 13 minutes.

Talk about pressure!

Opening Ceremonies

I am so naive - I did question in my mind, what the time difference would be between the US and China. But my husband was the one that said, "you know this is going to be a recording, don't you?" Well, no, I was thinking it would be live - but of course, it wasn't.

That does not diminish all the cool stuff they had - but, for $300 million dollars, it should be pretty freakin outstanding.

I really couldn't see any of the athletes from the American team that I wanted to see in the parade of athletes - they mostly focused on the basketball players and the women's beach volleyball - gee, now why would they do that?

I have to say that GB was looking pretty bored throughout the whole thing, but at least he stood and cheered on the US team when they marched in.

It's amazing how many countries I've never heard of and have no idea where they are - geography changes daily it seems.

They talked about the 2000 Sydney Olympics and some guy from some small country that barely could swim the 100 free. I was wondering how that happened since I know there are time standards that you have to meet in order to go to the trials. I ended up googling this and found out that there were some invitations to very small countries that allowed them to come to the Olympics since they likely never would be able to do so. I saw a film clip of this guy from Equatorial Guinea swimming his heat by himself since the other competitors in his heat were disqualified due to false starts. He was awful and just barely finished the swim. I think the article stated there was a female swimmer from the same country who was even worse.

I fell asleep during the parade of athletes but woke up in time to see them light the torch. The whole production was technologically phenomenal - but now - on with the Games!!

Let me also add that NBC does get the gold medal for number of commercial breaks - I'm pretty sure there was a break at least every 5 minutes.

Random Observations

Penguins move through the water by spinning their tails - have you seen their tails, they're very small but look like a rotary engine.

I can't flip turn if I hit the wall with my left hand.

My granddaughter said she won't get lost in the tunnel because she has "light-tricity".

Dara Torres spends over $100,000 a year on physical and massage therapists. She gets stretched about 8 hours a day - who has that kind of money and/or time???

No couple is ever happy for long on a soap opera - someone or something always messes it up.

Day One - 8/8/08

Opening Ceremonies are tonight. I'm currently watching the morning hype on the Today Show. They are promising an uber-something or other experience - whatever that means. But for me, it means I'm already very excited and ready to watch. Can't wait to see the USA team marching into the stadium.

OK - on another note regarding the Today Show, what are these dresses that Meredith Viera and Ann Curry are wearing - they are awful. I'm not a fashion maven, but Meredith is wearing a sack for a dress today. It's awful.

My Olympic Adventure

OK - so I won't be in Beijing or won't be competing - but in my very own way, I will be a participant in the Olympics. All of the ahtletes seem to be keeping a journal or blog, so I will do the same.

Every day of the Olympics, I will try to post my feelings about the races that I will be watching. As I stated - I can't wait - I LUV the summer Olympics!

My Latest Triathlon Challenge

This is a triathlon challenge because it deals with triathlon - however, it has nothing to do with me racing a triathlon. What does that mean, you ask? I participated in the Hyvee Triathlon, but my main reason for going there was to watch the pros as they tried to qualify for the final Olympic slots for the USA. Particularly since one of the athletes is a local girl from St. Louis - Sarah Haskins.

She got that slot - thank goodness! But the highlight is that the event was to be on national TV! I had set up my DVR to record the event. Spent the entire week waiting to sit down and watch the event. Got home in time to fix my lunch and sit down to watch the event and then when changing the station to NBC at the assigned time, I realized that the EVENT was not on but the Cards baseball game was on instead. OK - I love baseball and the Cards. In fact, I was incredibly lucky to be at the World Series winner in 2006 - BUTTTTTT, I really wanted to watch that triathlon.

I tried calling Dish Network - as it showed up in their guide for a station labelled WXIA - which did not exist on my program guide - but sometimes that happens and they can add it. The girl I got on the phone was pretty much an idiot and insisted that she couldn't find the program. HOWEVER, I'm on the dish network website looking at the Dish Network program guide - I had to argue with this girl for 10 minutes before she indicated that the station was regional and not available in my area - ughhhhh.

So, for the moment I had to give up. But, perhaps I could purchase a DVD of the broadcase from somewhere. Sent an email to our local NBC affiliate - the answer was that there was no plan to broadcase the event at a later date or time and that it was only a backup in case of a rainout for the baseball game. Also, no DVD available from them.

Next shot was looking for something on the Hyvee Triathlon website. Nothing. But, found the race director's email and thought he might know. I got an email back from him that indicated that I should give him a call. Tried to do that a couple of times with no success - got his secretary, left a message - but he never called back.

Today, I thought about contacting the local NBC affiliate in Des Moines - which happens to be WHO-TV (not WXIA which seems to be a station in Atlanta as best as I can tell). So I sent them an email asking about a possibility of getting a recording of that broadcast. So for now, I'm still waiting.

If anybody reads this and knows of a way to get that recording, PLEASE let me know. I really want it. I'm throwing everything I've got into this effort. Will it turn out as a DNF????

OverTrained

I've been on a training binge - 10 1/2 training weeks for the past few weeks. I think it's time to tone it down a little. I, however, have found a great trainer. She is so supportive and so affordable. In fact that's the name of her company - Affordable Training.

Here I am, almost falling asleep at the wheel everyday on my way into work and on my way home. That's why I think I'm overtrained. But I go to my training sessions anyway and I.get.through.them.

In fact, I push myself so hard it's incredible! I have to do these diamond pushups - and I find it hard to do them on my toes - but they are w-a-y too easy on my knees. So I opted to do half of my set on my toes but ended up doing the WHOLE thing that way.

These are things I would not do on my own. What is it about the ability to push beyond yourself for someone else - if left to my own devices, I might do a few but never an entire hour of pushing myself as hard as I can.

And, I guess, that's why triathlon works so well for me. I don't have to be talented or fast in order to push beyond myself.

Happy, Happy Summer

Once again I have lagged behind on posting - but it's because I'm having this incredible summer - which is going by like a freight train.

First of all, I was moaning and whining about my hip and after deciding it was time to quit worrying about it, it clears up and all is good to go again. Starting this week, I'm into heavy focused training looking at Lake St. Louis long course as my A race for the season. This alone makes me incredibly happy.

Add to that a week in Destin with my kids and grandkids. We had so much fun. The house I rented was very nice and afforded every couple their own room. The grandkids got to sleep in one of those beds that pulls down from the wall (I don't know what they call those) - but the kids thought it was very cool! The house was about 2 blocks from the beach and we were pretty much there every day. One day I spent bike riding and lunching with a fellow blogger who is a very talented triathlete. The weather was sunny and hot every day we were there - it was great fun. I didn't want to come home - I want to go there again - NOW!

Then I spent a weekend in Des Moines, IA for the Hyvee Triathlon. Now, if you were paying attention at all, there was a great deal of trauma surrounding this race - see previous post. But it all came together some kind of magical way and the race was on. Beautiful day, beautiful venue - not my best race by any means, but the most fun race I've ever done. Stayed to watch the pros - it was so exciting. Everyone in Des Moines was either a participant, volunteer, or spectator - they really go all out for this race. I came home tired, but happy from such a good time.

The next weekend I was off to Racine with my training buddies to participate in a training day for the Racine Half Ironman race - I won't be participating in that race, but my friends will. The moment we got close to town, the rains came and it looked like our swim in Lake Michigan was going to be a wash. Ate some lunch and drove down to the lake to check it out - the sun came out and all was right with the world. Check this out - they even have lifeguards! The water was a very brisk 62 degrees and we had to wear wetsuits. Don't know if you remember, but I hate wearing a wetsuit. I don't know why I cannot get in the groove like everyone else, but I find it severely limiting. It was quite breathtaking - not only from the cold, just from the view itself. Cold water aside, it was crystal (I mean CRYSTAL) clear. Very deceiving -you could be in 20 feet or more of water and see the bottom right in front of your face. After our invigorating swim, we went back to our hotel to unpack and clean up for dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant in the downtown area, named SALUTE and the food was very good. We were seated immediately which they said usually never happens. Good luck abounds on this trip.

The next day we got up for a fun-filled 56 mile bike ride. The hill out of the parking lot was the biggest incline of the day - the rest of the ride was wonderful rolling hills and all types of wind - a little tail, a little head, a little side wind - just kept changing up so you wouldn't get too bored. Ran a little afterward and enjoyed a hotdog lunch at the local beach bar. We were able to get our ride in before the rain came. Again, it cleared up as we were showering for lunch and then we made our way home. Another successful and enjoyable outing!

At this point, I'm wondering when it will all come crashing down. It's all been so wonderful.

If only every day could be like this!!! But mustn't get too greedy.

High and Dri Tri

Just when it looked like the weekend triathlon that was to be converted to a dri-tri (duathlon) the tri gods shone down on Des Moines and we are back in the swim. Now being me, of course I was bitching about the duathlon but began to envision not bringing a wet suit, not swimming in a churning pack of bodies, not being cold and wet, etc. This was starting to sound OK - I wouldn't have wet feet trying to get into my bike shoes and I had picked out a tri outfit that was more conducive to running and biking only.

So, after they said that there was no possible way the age groupers were going to swim, they do a 180 and now the swim is back in. I wore the shorts today that I will need for this weekend - so now I have to wash those. Since the weather has been cooler, I have to sweat a wet suit swim - I hate (did I say HATE) wearing a wetsuit - now I'll have to get it out and face the possibility of wearing. Although, honestly, if it's close, I think I'll swim without one. The wetsuit has not been working out for me at all.

My workout today - a mini duathlon to help simulate this weekend's race. But wait - that plan has changed!

Now I must regroup, wash my tri shorts and pray that the water is warm enough to preclude a wetsuit swim (I don't want anyone else wearing one either).

ONE MORE THING I FORGOT TO MENTION: MY HIP IS FEELING SO MUCH BETTER AND I THINK I CAN RUN AGAIN! I'm slow, but I'm running baby.

Ups Downs and All Arounds

It's been terribly long since I 've written. Mostly because I was tired of whining about my injury. It was just not healing and I was listening to the cash register cha-ching each time I went to the doctor or for physical therapy.

I made a decision to stop all the medical intervention and take over myself. Not that I have any knowledge, but the fact is that I wasn't getting any worse with doing minimal running and the PT and docs weren't making it any better either.

So I went on vacation to Destin, FL with my kids and grandkids for a week. It was truly amazing. We rented a beach house and everyone had an outstanding time. I'm also going to tell you that for now, I'm the Phase 10 master. Some goofy fun card game that I played with my kids and won - even under the influence of pineapple juice and Malibu Rum - yum yum and so good for you - well, it has fruit in it doesn't it?

I also met up with a fellow blogger in Florida and went for a nice long, hot bike ride with her. We had lunch afterwards and discussed our triathlon goals - mine of which this year have become non-existant - but more on that later.

Next up in the repertoire, is the Hyvee Triathlon which I have been looking forward to for almost 9 months. I was going to have this be my A race and then watch the pros qualify for the final Olympics slots for the Americans. But mother nature dealt yet another ugly card by bringing continuing rain to the area, causing flooding and ultimately the race has now been downgraded to a duathlon - 5k run - 40k bike - 10k run and me with a hip injury! As well, the pros have no interest in doing a duathlon and the ITU will likely change the qualifying to some statistical formula. At least my favorite, Sarah Haskins, will likely win through this method. The race site has been moved - so now instead of staying at a hotel 2 miles from the race site, it will be 12 miles and, AND, I'm not even sure if we can get there without re-routing around the flooding. At least (I hope), the schwag will be worth the trip.

Now the upside is that I did a longer run today, 6.5 miles, some of which I walked but I was able to do this relatively pain free. So maybe I'm on my way back.

Looking up, there is still one Olympic distance race on my calendar that COULD turn out to be an A race for me!! Here's hoping that by the end of August I can be back to my old painless slow self.

Declined

My weekend started out with a physical therapy session Friday afternoon. Those are particularly grueling and I hobble out of those sessions - BUT they are doing their job, as I begin to feel better after a few hours and my hip is recovering. I am able to run now.

Then on Saturday I spent the whole day at a resort called Innsbrook in Wright City, MO. This is an exclusive resort that only members and their guests can use. My previous coach rents a chalet for a weekend every year for a training camp. I was invited to attend this year and decided to spend the day working hard.

The weather was a bit on the chilly side - somewhere around 50 degrees. We were supposed to start the day at 8 AM at the lake for an open water swim. I was carpooling with another athlete/friend and on the way my cellphone rang. It was the coach asking if it would be OK to bike first and swim later in the day - Hooray! Exactly the idea that I was contemplating. This particular resort is extremely hilly and I don't mean small hills. So we begin with 6 miles through the hills and then out onto the flat/rolling countryside for a total of 25 miles. I had a great ride in that I felt fairly comfortable the whole way. Then we suited up for a swim - let's say the water temp was in the low 50's - very cold and I couldn't get my face in the water. After backstroking, sidestroking and swimming with my head out, we headed back into the shore. As I swam (really swam with head in), I finally became acclimated and was ready to swim some more - but the group was done. We found our way to hot tub - heavenly - and then went back for some lunch. Then it began to rain and thunder.

Luckily, she invited a bike-fitter in to talk about bike issues and to entice us with wonderful new bike toys we should get - like aero helmets, disc wheels or fancy Zipps, etc. When he was done, it did stop raining so we did a quick run and then off to practice transitions.

After that, we enjoyed dinner and watched/critiqued the women's tri Olympic qualifier from Tuscaloosa. Then it was 9:00 PM and really time to head for home.

After I got home, I checked the mail. I received a letter from the insurance company that we applied to for long term care insurance. Our agent talked us into getting this and it seemed like a good idea at the time. There was a health interview involved where a nurse called and asked about any recent doctor's visits. I'm currently being treated for a hip injury that I got when running. I told her about the PT and how nicely I seemed to be healing. The letter indicated that I had been declined for the insurance due to the hip injury - do you believe that! I'm betting that my couch-potato husband who likely has high blood pressure and other assorted ailments but refuses to go to a doctor, gets approved. But we are cancelling it anyway - I can't believe this.

Obsession Inconsistencies

Today is my birthday and I am now 55. This has nothing to do with the topic of today's blog - but felt it was important to mention in the event you felt the need to sing.

No, today, I want to talk about my obsessions and their success rate or lack thereof. For example, I feel that triathlon is an obsession. It's a great one to possess and difficult to avoid. I think that you either love triathlon or your hate it and if you hate it, you don't get involved or quit.

Stating that, I do believe that I spend a fair amount of mental time thinking about my workouts and my upcoming races. Am I working out enough, hard enough, what about injuries (now another obsession to add to my list)....so it's a fact, I'm obsessed about triathlon. Oh, did I tell you that I love the sport of triathlon?

Another obsession, is the need to lose weight. Notice I said "need", not the actual act of weight loss - which drives me crazy, as any good obsession should do. I very badly want to lose 5-10 lbs. How hard could that be? What do I need to do, cut off a foot? I keep vascillating between different weight loss programs. But here's the thing - I feel like I'm an expert on weight loss and nutrition. No formal training, don't play a nutritionist on TV or anything like that, but I've been dieting since I was 14 and considering today is my birthday, that's 41 years of weight loss obsession.

I was a skinny kid - there is a picture of me standing next to the skinny tree. We have a lot in common. But as all good teenage dieters do, I didn't eat to stay skinny and eventually my fat cells learned how to hang on for dear life. Once they've gone into survival mode, you are hard-pressed to get them to shrink - as shrinking is the best you will ever do, they will not go away. So any teenagers around? If so and you aren't obese already, don't diet until you hit your 30s. If you are already obese, than that's a whole other discussion that I won't go into today - but suffice it to say, get obsessed about some sport - how about triathlon? How about putting the Wii away and going out to play. Back on topic....

As my decades have piled on the weight has come and gone, but mostly come. My heaviest was 196 - pushing 200 brought about an awakening and I quickly got my act together - at least a couple of times. I never want to approach that number ever again. So 40 lbs or so later, I've been stuck for the last 10 years. Good that I've never gone back up, but I can't seem to break this massive plateau.

Don't get me wrong. I have wonderful intentions. I try to eat healthy - most people who know me give me a bad time about what I eat - always asking me if I ever take a break from healthy eating and the fact is that I take too many breaks. So I'm chastising myself here.

I love cookies and chips. I don't have too many of them in the house, but I find substitutes. So instead of cookies, I eat chocolate graham crackers. Well, they are probably just as bad. Everything in my house is reduced fat, except myself and my husband.

I went to a nutritionist two years ago and she said I needed to stop eating reduced fat food and eat REAL food and probably more of it. But that didn't work for me either. I did try that approach and either gained weight or lost nothing. I have all the latest diet books at my house - in fact, I could probably open a library of weight loss tomes and triathlon how-to's.

So my inconsistency is that I cannot reach a level of success in weight loss with all my knowledge and with my life revolving around the fact that I want to lose a few LBs. Actually, one of the reasons I got into triathlon was as a means of losing weight - NOT SO my little friend. You can exercise 8 hours a week and lose zero pounds.

Did I mention the various types of supplements I've tried that were recommended as having weight loss potential? None of those ephedra-type products. Tried one once and thought my heart was going to come out of my chest. Scary feeling - decided that was a bad road to go down. Dead does not equal weight loss and besides, I want to look really nice and thin in my coffin - but not from a disease that causes weight loss so I have to be careful what I wish for.

So that's the inconsistency - I want to do, I obsess about it and it doesn't happen. Did I mention today is my birthday? A full day of fun things to eat - and therein lies the problem...

Cycling Time Trials & Tribulations

This is so cool - one of our local bike shops is sponsoring a 5 week time-trial race series. I entered in the Women's 50+ category and have clinched the series. My competition in this series is myself - so where are the other women? There weren't even very many Cat4's - at most 6 and you get points through 5th place.

So the first night, I'm really nervous and decide to start on my own rather than be pushed. That was a mistake, as of course, I had trouble clipping in. I was hoping to be somewhere around 30 minutes for a 15k time trial. My time was 32:09 - so close. And, keep in mind, there was a terrific cross wind throughout the course. In fact, I considered not doing it because of the wind. But my friend signed up, so I felt obligated.

I actually had difficulty in the last 200m due to being on the verge of puking as well as a cramp that tried to settle in my right calf. I had to keep jamming down the peddle to try to avert the cramp.

Second week, I did so much better. My time was 29:33 - huge improvement. No impending pukage, however, still potential leg cramp in the last 200m. I even tried some endurolytes prior to the race to help alleviate any cramping.

Third week - I really pushed hard. No pukage, no cramping - yes! Check my time - I'm one second slower than the week before. Not what I hoped for, but consistent. A friend advised me to focus on relaxing my feet as I rode to try to keep cramps at bay and that worked!

Fourth week - I went to physical therapy for a running injury right after work with the intention of going right over to the time trial. Lucky for me, it was pouring down rain. No TT for me - due to PT. Session was especially intense and I don't think I could've raced if I wanted to.

But, the main thing is, after 3 weeks of first place points - I'm untouchable. I've clinched the series - not that there is anyone racing against me. But, if someone decided to - they would be relegated immediately to nothing better than second place.

Yay for me!

Latest on the Injury Front

OK - so here we are 7 weeks or so post-injury and I've changed direction. I quit going to the chiropractor and moved on to the best hip guy in the area. He could not make it hurt - so he prescribed 500mg naproxen and physical therapy. I think maybe the naproxen is doing a good job as I finally begin to feel more like myself. I ran 3 miles this past Thursday and had my first PT session on Friday. They call my therapist "Jillian" after the trainer on Biggest Loser, as she is somewhat of a drill sargeant. Suffice it to say, I limped out of there on Friday - but I religiously did my exercises over the weekend and had another session yesterday.

Today I ran 4 miles! And, I'm beginning to feel like my old self. There is a presence of the injury, but no real pain. So, I think, I hope, I'm on my way back. And, none too soon - Memphis in May is only 12 days away.

The Case of the Disappearing Snail

In an earlier post, I talked about my new hobby, playing around with an aquarium. This has been coming along very nicely. I had about 7 fish, 2 frogs (that don't need to breathe air??), and 2 snails.

The snails were rather large - one was white and one was blue. At one point, the blue snail starting hitching a ride on top of the white snail. Now what kind of behavior was that - exactly the kind you think. Obviously, the white snail was a female and the blue snail was a male. He turned out to be quite a horny bastard - constantly hitching a ride. The white snail laid eggs several times. Since I really didn't want any baby snails, I always cleaned the eggs out of the tank. Snails actually lay the eggs outside of the water, so they would be on the inside top of the cover.

Did you know there is a whole community of message boards that discusses aquarium behavior and what not??? Trust me, after reading some of the posts, I'm convinced these people do not have a life. But, to confirm what I thought, I searched through a message board to find out that indeed the snails were mating. I actually started to find this very annoying and gave my blue snail away to a friend of mine - yes, a home for wayward aquarium life!

So, now I'm down to one snail - the white one. This is a very active snail and is constantly moving around the tank keeping it clean. I really liked that snail alot. One day I came home from work and the snail was missing. This snail was about 1.5 to 2 inches wide - you can't miss it in the tank and there is no where for it to hide - although I looked everywhere. Well, perhaps the snail floated out of the top of the tank as it would crawl all the way to the top on many occasions. So I searched all around the floor and behind any furniture - no snail....

I have some girls who come to clean my house every other week (and trust me, I totally realize how fortunate I am to be able to do this). My best guess is that the snail did float out of the tank and perhaps it went up the vacuum or they picked it up and failed to tell me they threw it away. At any rate, I felt like they would think I was nuts if I questioned them about it. Like, hey, what did you do with my snail???

So, it will forever be a mystery unless some day it turns up all rotted somewhere in my house. The case of the missing snail....

A Very Good Day

Today is a good day to be positive. I went for an awesome 44 mile bike ride in a lovely part of Illinois called St. Libory - never heard of it, it was a long drive, but it was worth it. The day started out with rain predicted, but fortunately, we never saw it until we were on our way back home - in the car. I had one part of the bike ride around mile 20 where my back started hurting a lot. Luckily, there was a rest stop at mile 23 and I stretched out pretty good. After that, I was good to go.

Post ride, I went for a 20 minute+ run - running 2 miles. It didn't feel too bad and post-run, I have some pain in my hip, but it's not terrible.

Tomorrow I go to an ortho doc to check on why I'm not really improving the way I'd like. I reflect on my running capabilities prior to my injury and I would really like to return to that - maybe a little pain just because I'm old, but for the most part, I can just run until I'm too tired. I never appreciated that fact until now and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get back to that. I'm so impatient and tired of not being able to just go and workout as hard as I'd like. But we'll see what he has to say - I'm a little scared that I'm going to be told to halt all activity and that will be extremely difficult and depressing.

But for today, it was a very good day and I will revel in that.

Turning the Corner

Injury update - still not running, BUT, and this is a big one - I think my injury is finally going away. AND I blame the reason I wasn't healing on the shoes I was wearing to work - they had heels. This must be a very bad thing for hip muscles.

So, I'm very excited at the prospect that I might be back in the game. However, not to get too ahead of myself. I'm literally going to walk before I run. That is my plan for the next 7 days - doing a few walks to see if I can walk without any pain. If there is pain - there will be no running and back to the dr for more treatment.

Now onto better things. I did my first bike time trial Wednesday night. And did I say it was hard? Yes, the wind was 15 mph steady with gusts up to 30 mph. The route was hampered by crosswinds so you really had to hold onto your bike. But I did it - a 15k time trial and being that I was the only 50+ woman to sign up - I get to win!! And since it's a series of 5 weeks - I get the first place and only points for that night in my class. Hopefully, I can hang in there and podium each week and do well in the series. My bike was awesome - did I tell you that I love my bike. I really love my bike.

Checking In

I vowed to blog my progress every day and already I've fallen behind. Hey, I'm busy - busy trying to get myself healed so I can run again. So if I'm not running, what am I doing? Why don't I have time to catch up on my blog? I do not know and do not have any good excuse.

So much for the ramble - I thought I had eaten fairly well over the weekend and was completely surprised and upset when the scale clocked in at 162.6 - yikes! So knuckle under and get things back in check. Today was much better and I weighed in at 160.6 - maybe had some water weight or something hanging around.

Went to the pool and had a decent swim. Did a little bit of water running - wow, that's difficult and I'm not really certain it has any benefit. I don't get winded or anything, so there appears to be no cardio. I even tried to speed it up a little, but that's really hard to do in the water.

Tomorrow I'm planning a nice bike - weather should be good. I'm registered for a duathlon this weekend, but it's doubtful that I will participate - so that will now be two races that I've DNSd. I am not liking this trend one little bit.

Here's another reason why I have difficulty getting this written - my husband has the tv turned up really loud and then he tries to talk to me. Do you know how difficult it is to listen to a loud tv (because I'm trying to follow the baseball game), concentrate and think about what you are trying to write and focus on what your beloved husband is trying to communicate? Multi-tasking - not firing on all cylinders.

Nothing of any interest in this post. Stay tuned, maybe life will pick up tomorrow. I can hardly wait.

Boring - Read at your own Risk

Boring Day One: While my training friends got up early to go to the 1/2 marathon race, I got up early to go to church. Both are spiritual in nature - one takes a few hours, the other just shy of an hour. I prayed for my friends to do well and I prayed that I would heal soon and begin to join them again.

At home, I worked on putting new road-type tires on my mountain bike to make it more commuter-like. Then I cleaned that bike and my tri bike as well. Seems the Heed drink I use drips on my tri bike and is difficult to clean off - well, the cleaner I was using wouldn't get it, but plain ole water did. So I have clean bikes.

Then I planted some elephant ears in my garden and did a little weeding - got really dirty and muddy - add that to the bike grease and I'm one big mess.

Eating habits not too bad today - breakfast was a light english muffin with cheese, egg beaters, and turkey bacon. Also had some pink grapefruit. Lunch was two light hot dogs with bread, some light chips and some reduced fat chocolate chip cookies. I had a snack of mixed nuts and a banana in the afternoon and then fish, rice, salad and 1/2 ear corn for dinner. Dessert was some South Beach pudding - it's pretty good.

Here's something new I'm trying in my weight loss effort - Satiatrim - 50 calories and supposed to help you feel satisfied for 3-4 hours. It does taste pretty good - not sure that the appetitie suppression is all that good. But, I'll keep trying.

My friends had a decent race but neither got the time they were shooting for - the weather was outstanding here today. Actually saw one of my friends finish the race in a sports clip on the local news. I recorded it for her.

Today's workout - hopefully, some stretching and how about some upper body strength work? That's my plan.

Giving up the Ghost

Yesterday I volunteered at packet pick-up for the Go!St. Louis Marathon. You know, the race (1/2 marathon) that I was going to do this Sunday pre-injury. I picked up all my friends packets. And in my attempt to start thinking "green" I took our local mass transit - Metrolink. Not thinking, I went through the Expo picking up free samples of stuff for my friends bags (and mine too of course!). But then I realized, I would have to lug all this stuff back with me to the train. The station was only about 1/2 mile away - so it really wasn't all that bad.

Before I left though, it was important for me to turn in my chip - $30 fine if you didn't turn it in one way or the other. This however became the final moment, the moment at which the realization came that indeed there was no turning back, the race was not to be for me.

So that was it - with one toss, I threw the chip in the bin and the game was over. No race, no finisher's medal no finisher's hat - I really wanted that hat - no glory as I cross the finish line. Pretty dramatic stuff huh! Pretty stupid to whine about a very minor injury - after all, I can still ride my bike and swim. I can still do weights and yoga. I've gained two lbs sitting on my butt whining! This must stop!

So tomorrow while my friends are beginning their race, I will still be lying around in bed and then I will be getting my grip. I will try to run again either today or tomorrow because I don't feel too bad today. I didn't hurt too bad yesterday. I have an appointment on Monday again with the chiropractor - he really does wonders - and I don't even believe in chiropractors.

So tomorrow - it is a new day. I will begin again on my journey to lose 5 stubborn lbs (plus two more that I gained sitting around at my pity party). I will begin my journey to adapt my workouts until by old body is ready to run again.

Here's the other bummer that I'm having to deal with. There is another athlete in my age group that I've been trying to beat. I was hoping to get her last year at the Lake St. Louis triathlon (she beat me the year before), but she didn't race! She is, however, signed up to race the duathlon that I will be doing, hopefully, next Sunday. I would really like to beat her, but she is a much better runner than me and I think she might be better than me on the bike. So, without my normal running legs, I doubt I will even get close to her - which drives me crazy! But you never know, I will go out to try the best that I can with what I have - which on a good day, isn't very much.

Ok - so back to the weight loss issue. I'm going to use this journal, I am pledging to myself to use this journal to get focused again on losing some weight. I will write my progress up every day no matter how boring - anyone who stumbles upon this journal will just have to deal with it or bypass it.

I can do this if I really want to, so come on Terri, do it this time!

Today I Get to Run

April 2,2008
Yeah - a successful visit to the chiropractor and he says today I should try to run. I've been feeling pretty good and have been anxious to try it. The weather was awesome - just slightly under 60 and my training plan called for a 45 minute easy bike followed by an easy 15 minute run. Perfect! My bike ride was great - a little windy and a little cold on my face, but I couldn't wait to try running.

Post bike - change my shoes and walk down a long hill in preparation for a flat smooth trail run. I start off running and it's not bad but as I continue on, it feels like I have a bowling ball inside my leg - heavy and knotty feeling. But I keep running - I ran for twenty minutes and although it wasn't painful, it also wasn't pain free -- it was pained. My question is - is this OK? Will I need to run through a certain amount of pain before I'm back to normal - OR is is wrong to run with any pain.

Being that I'm almost 55, pretty much everything I do causes some sort of discomfort followed by some pain later and the next day -but it's that good kind of pain that says, I worked those muscles pretty good today.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. After I got home, I put an ice pack inside my bike shorts for 10 minutes. It was so cold that it felt like it was burning - you know what, I think it was burning!! Here's a helpful hint - don't put one of those freezer packs on your bare skin. I ate dinner and didn't really feel too bad - so that was sounding good. After sitting around working on my laptop, I stood up and the pain was just as bad as it had ever been. I had difficulty sleeping because everytime I turned - no matter which direction - it hurt!

April 3, 2008
I limped around all day today - this is not good. I think I'm back to where I was with the original injury and only ran 20 minutes! There's no way I could do a half marathon this Sunday - glad I decided that I wouldn't do it - I would've been severely disappointed.

Later in the evening, the pain has begun to dissipate somewhat - maybe it's not as bad as it originally was - maybe I'm a little better - we'll see. I really hate this!

And the Pain Goes On, the Pain Goes On

Eight days later and really no improvement. Saw the wizard chiropractor who says he can get me "fixed" for the 1/2 marathon this Sunday - that would now be 5 days away. He said I could run, he said it would probably hurt, he said I might not finish - but I could try. At first, I was elated with this news but as I reflected last night and pondered and worried, I decided that I needed to make a decision (can you decide to decide?). But I couldn't get beyond the pondering on my own, so I emailed my coach. I hardly ever have questions, but lately, I've been pretty annoying. So I asked him his opinion and he said not to risk it.

So, probably for the first time this year, I'm listening to my coach and have decided not to run this Sunday. Done - decision made - no turning back on this one. Rationalization - coach says no, don't want to risk the entire season on one "C" priority race, there will be other races.

So you know what, now I feel better. Maybe releasing the stress of trying to figure out how I would pull off this 1/2 marathon in my current condition, was actually making it worse.

I still don't know how I would deal with a lingering injury or one where your activity would be really limited - at least I can still bike and swim for now. The worse part is, I'm such a whiner about it. There are people who are in way worse shape than I am and yet I'm just concerned with me. I should be happy that I'm not severely impacted - and so I will be. Happy that I've made a decision to heal for a little while longer and be thankful that I should heal fairly soon.

Pain in the Hip

I am so fortunate to be able to train and compete at my age without serious injury. In fact, I've rarely had an injury that keeps me from my training. Is it because I don't push the envelope?

Well, last week I was pushing to do some outstanding intervals on my fartlek run. I have a half marathon coming up in 2 weeks (yikes!) and although it's not an A race, I would like to run a PR. Is it important - I say No, but inside I say Yes. So in trying so hard, I have hurt my right hip. I don't know why - but it made me cry. And now I'm worried that I won't recover in time to run/finish the half marathon in 2, count them 2 weeks.

What do you do? Since I never really have to cope with an injury - how do you cope with an injury? If it hadn't hurt so bad, there is no way I would've been sitting in my house on a sunny 65 degree day - but I couldn't really move - that's how bad it hurt.

I've been really motivated by other athletes' blogs - where they are taking it to the next level, finding the wizard, breaking through.... I don't think I've really worked very hard at hitting those types of levels because honestly, I really hate pain. But, I really am competitive enough to try to improve every race and not improving actually is a different kind of pain that might be worse than the physical.

For me, every workout provides some type of pain. At 54 years, getting out of bed causes some discomfort. Hell, laying in bed causes some discomfort - but it's not the kind of pain that you worry about. I didn't really feel like I was pushing all that hard when running - but I became injured nonetheless. So how do you find that happy medium? What is the secret?

New Year, New Post

OK - so it's way past the new year. So sue me. I've been busy. Nothing too exciting, though, or I would've had stories to tell.



I still don't have anything really good to report. But a little funny story - as those are the best kinds. My daughter-in-law and I always go to the Working Women's Survival Show every year. It's our tradition. But for some reason, this year, we really were having a difficult time trying to pick a time we could both make.



I was supposed to be out of town on the Friday of the opening day. On Saturday I needed to do a 10 mile run - so I could only go in the evening, but she had plans. Then on Sunday, I needed to go to a Master's Class and get in a long bike ride. And, they were only open on Sunday from 12:00-6:00.



Due to some really nasty weather, my flight was cancelled and I didn't have to go out of town - Yeah! So, now I'm good for Friday - but she has baby-sitter issues. So I volunteered my husband to watch a 3 year old boy who is a little strange - but who couldn't handle that for a couple of hours. I knew the only downfall would be if he pooped. So we made the plans and I emailed my husband about the plan. He responded back with one sentence - "What if he poops?"



Not to worry - we have cell phones, we can come home in the event of an emergency poop!