spoke too soon

so the arm that is not broken as far as the x-ray can tell. however, it is not broken, yet TOTALLY JACKED! i tried to swim twice and had to get out of the pool after 50 yds (try #1) or do kicks/fins only (try #2). i also had a failed attempt at a group ride. set off with the group and quickly realized after about 100yds that i cannot press the brake strong enough to clinch it. its like my body wants to move my arm, but the arm won't move.

so i've been relegated to running and bike trainer only. looks like goal #1 for 2008 is not going to be acheived (stay injury free). this is a huge bummer, especially today because james had arranged for MarkyV (who swims 500's under 5minutes and was first amateur out of the water at Kona last year) to check out our swim strokes to help make us fast!

i'm going to try to not get down about this, but it is tough since i was just starting to feel midly competent in all 3 sports and had just gotten my swim time for 100's back t0 what it was prior to breaking my arm in september.

but, i need to see this as an opportunity to focus on my run (even though i know this is the area i need focus least) before Carlsbad 5000 in 2 weeks. this will be my first 5k and i think it will be fun! last night i hit the track and did 3X1 mile repeats in 6:06, 6:12, 6:11...hopefully i can get those under 6 minutes one day.
so i'll be running a lot and other than that, i'm praying for my grip to come back soon so i can get in my long rides and out of the sweat-factory-garage.

other than that, james and i had a killer weekend camping in temecula and a fantastic relaxing easter together. check out his blog for the details, it was california at its finest. here are some pictures...
prepared to camp-salads and beers and sports drinks....what else do you need?

happy easter!
salad, wine, and artichokes at the beach...
grilled shrimp, mango salsa, jicama, yellow and green bell peppers, bean sprouts, mixed greens, carrots, and cabbage with homemade blood orange vinaigrette

can you buy x-rays in bulk?

bethany sent me a cute pic from our saturday trainer session. i look way happier than i actually was after 60 miles on that thing

okay. this story sounds sad, but its quite funny, because it was one of those.....for real? can-this really-be-happening stories you just have to laugh at:
on tuesday i went to the bike shop to get a more triathlon-esque fit on my road bike (yeah, see no-man's land position above...not tri, not road, not sure) i have also been feeling not-so-powerful and just wanted it all looked at and also to get a new saddle put on. blah blah blah. so i'm on the bike on the trainer on a 2 foot tall platform pedaling away and the F'ING BIKE FLIES OFF THE TRAINER WITH ME ON IT AND CRASHES HARD ON MY NEWLY HEALED RECENTLY BROKEN ARM. so i'm laying on the floor tangled in my bike, traumatized and they offer to call the ambulance and i'm just sobbing because my arm really hurts and i'm terrified it has re-broken. (by the way- shouldn't bike shop dudes know how to attach a bike to a trainer?)
the next 20 minutes were a blur, but i decided to drive home and reassess the situation. i was not about to get another mega emergency room bill (especially since last time there was no cast or anything anyway) so i slept on it and went to urgent care yesterday at San Diego State. spent the day there and at first they thought it was re-fractured because the entire fracture line is still visible in x-rays. but, they sent it off to a radiologist for a "wet read" (WTF is that?) and it came back saying it shows only a healed fracture....WHATTUP! i'm not broken! only bad news is the arm still hurts so i skipped masters and track and a run. so....this has turned into a non-planned recovery week.
BUT, i'm secretly stoked because now my next recovery week is pushed back a week and so now I get to have a big base week during my spring break! planning on spending some big bike time that week and besides i would go crazy trying to "rest" during spring break like a normal person

another non-related picture-finishing the st.patty's day 10k

got a second?

apparently i need one...but i'll get to that later.
this week was solid even with travel to san francisco from wednesday to friday. i thought that training those two days would be minimal, but i was able to get in spin class, a strength session, a 50-minute run and a master's swim session while i was there....the master's swim was fun..i showed up at Burlingame Aquatic Center,
in the middle of who knows where at o'dark o'clock. i even looked super sweet as i had brought two swim bottoms and no top (d'oh!)...so i wore a black sports bra and brown and orange bottoms. a real winner for the new kid on the block. everyone at Burlingame was super nice and friendly and the coach, Greg of Front of the Pack triathlon store in palo alto, ca gave me some really good stroke/technique tips. he pointed out how i was swimming with my arm going too deep. he told me i could picture that the pool was only about one foot deep or pretend i had to pull myself down/across a ladder yay deep in the pool. he had some good visuals and i'm probably not describing this well but it was great advice. after practice he gave me a ride to my conference which was rad because i had all my luggage and was planning on walking the two miles (we weren't in a taxi-friendly area and i like to think i'm tough.) greg was like, "yeah, your plan sucks. its pretty much unwalkable over a gnarly highway/bridge". so, once again, naieve wannabe-tough me was saved by a friendly triathlete.

okay. on to the weekend. saturday was the st. patty's day 10k. james decided last minute to join me so i was stoked to have 2 race buddies...my boyfriend and my girlfriend (bethany)...
i didn't taper for the race at all, but still wanted a 10k time to compare to this time last year. and see if there is any way i can break 40 minutes.
so race day....nothing notable before the race...got in a solid 2-mile warm-up and stretch with bethany.
oh, and in my 4th bathroom stop i saw the 6ft tall girl twins in my age group who beat me by 2 minutes at carlsbad half marathon...kind of a bummer since there's two of them which basically eliminates my chance of placing (turns out only 1 ran)..
here's how it turned out (from my garmin):
mile 1: 6:11
mile 2: 6:14
mile 3: 6:19
mile 4: 6:34
mile 5: 6:43
mile 6: 6:37
last .3: 6:07 pace

the race clock/official time: 40:00
yeah. not 39:59, not 40:01, 40:00......grrrrrrr! i was stoked because this is a PR for me- 27 seconds faster than my 10k last year, but definitely would have been more so if i had broken 40. i could make excuses and say that the course was long (and it was, about .1 according to many, my garmin said 39:50 at 10k) but the truth is i need to just be faster so the darn second is not the issue! so, off to the track for me- time to do some work! i've only been to 2 track practices in the past year, so i think that by hitting the speed work i can pick up that missing second.
overall results:
60/1754 total runners
6th female overall
4th age group (those 25-29ers are so fast!)

but one of the best parts of the day was crossing the finish (after dry heaving in the chute, no joke) and hearing that james broke 34 minutes AND got 3rd overall.. yeah, babe! he was like, "we don't need to stay for the awards" and i said, "you just got third out of 1800 people, we are staying!" again, he can thank me for the lucky headband.
here's the beer garden afterwards:

today, sunday:
the forecast was crap with a side of hail and more crap. 90% chance of don't take your bike out unless you want to get blown over by gale force winds and wetted by the gods.
so i had signed up to ride the oceanside 70.3 course on computrainers at coastal sports and wellness. even though i'm not doing the race, i thought it was a good idea so i could get my bike miles in and practice what its like to ride that far without stopping. it was awesome! so much fun and then did a nice 30 minute brick run afterwards w. bethany and our new friend andi (awesome ironman triathlete who's gone to kona and done like 15 IMs)....here's the sufferfest:


we're all looking up at this....course profile w/ each rider's place, distance, wattage, etc. made it like a fun video game....
and for the record....the weather ended up being perfectly beautiful. damn weather.com

abs 'n arms

training will be a bit off with a trip to san francisco tomorrow (presenting on autism interventions at another conference. i'm kind of a big deal). but i'm squeezing in a ride in the morn before my flight. yesterday i tortured myself on the trainer and today i made it to masters swim and track practice and even threw in a little abs 'n arms sesh(that's girl code for upper body and core. i love using words/phrases that guys would never use-especially if there is an apostrophe before the work begins).
...so a little rest due to my trip won't be bad because i'm ready for an easy day or two and planning on running a st. patrick's day 10k on saturday! (that is, if i sign up before it sells out. Last year, i ran a 10k in 40:27 (my first race ever). i haven't run a (road) 10k since then so i'm interested to see.

right now i'm watching 7 people on The Biggest Loser pedal bikes on trainers attached to long, en strips of large lightbulbs...the most watts/KJ/bulbs lit wins! hey, i want a 20-foot lightbulb strip in my trainer room! Actually, i want two so i can beat whoever is next to me. seriously, when i think about all the wasted energy we emit in james' garage, it makes me think there must be some way to capture it and use it....hmmmm....i can just picture "beth, get down there and start pedaling, the refrigerator is out!"

other than that, here is one of my very favorite funny blogs.."stuff white people like"...this entry is genuis....too true..

and i posted some ride snacks and recipes on vo2maxxed..

good night! (note to self: blogging at 10:15 is probably not good for the sleep problem)

sleepless in san diego

i had a sleep meltdown this week. bad bad sleep on thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday (talking less than 4 hours/night with some racing and workouts thrown in)..see, thing is, i am flat out a terrible sleeper. it takes me hours to fall asleep and i wake up many many times each night. lots of times when i wake up, i am up for good. some mornings i "wake up" but don't think that i ever actually fell asleep.

so yesterday and this morning i cracked. like a 2-year old who missed nap time, i pretty much just lost it (thanks for not dumping me, james!). yesterday the day was spent out in the blazing sun in temecula, ca and doing a hilly hilly long trail run...when we got home i was toast and a total grump face. last night, i was so stressed about not sleeping that i couldn't sleep. eneded up with a blazing migraine this morning and tears for breakfast. i left work early today- came home and passed out- with my 2-hour nap i feel brand new! i need a sleeping fairy.

anyhow, besides that, it was a great weekend. it's funny how as an athlete, the daytime activities become so much more eventful that the evenings but that's how i like it....a little recap:
Saturday:
Triathlon Club of San Diego duathlon. I knew this one would hurt, but in my effort to get better on the bike and just deal, I woke up mega early for the 7am race start.
The race was coastal, in Carlsbad, CA and the weather was perfect. i wasn't even cold at the race start. the course was a 2.3 mile run, 21 mile bike, and 2.3 mile run. definitely longer than a sprint and a good challenge. i got to the race early and warmed up with a quick 15-minute jog.
The first run was good. i ran hard and was first female by about a minute (results not posted yet). got smoked on the bike again. passed by one woman and probably 15-20 dudes. did my best to power on through, but definitely nowhere near where i want to be. the second run went well too and i finished strong in second place. after the du, i rode down the coast to del mar with my friend alison for a gossip/easy spin sesh and then bought two new pairs of running shoes (i'm going to be so fast this week!)

Sunday:
I woke up early (damn time change) and headed down to Wind-N-Sea beach to meet chuck, De Soto photographer and felipe ( aka Quad-zilla- the chizeled brazilian coach of breakaway training) for a quick photo shoot of some new de soto ITU suits. the suits are rad- i can't wait to get one to race in! felipe's mom was there and took a photo shoot of the photo shoot which i thought was cool becuase you can see chuck gettin' his angles.....he's the one down below

here are a couple of chuck's shots from the day

after the shoot i headed home to meet james to go to his mountain bike race. while he pre-rode, i tried to nap in the car, and then dragged my butt up for my long run. i had a killer playlist on my ipod shuffle thanks to DJ james so that made it not so lonely and the scenery was awesome. wildflowers up the mountains everywhere.

once james' race started, i was on support patrol. pictures, bottles, etc. now, i didn't do this out of the kindness of my heart, i demanded payment....in frozen yogurt...

here's the racer...easy to spot in his new breakaway jersey! the race was a success and james won! he looked strong out there. this is right after he finished almost the first thing he said, "i could totally run right now..."

check Vo2maxxed for a new post on good food and ride snacks tomorrow!

finishing february and flexing in the bathroom

another good week of 15 hours or so of training and its time for the sunday night blog post. i always mean to post sooooo many times during the week and so often it comes down to the sunday night post. nothing wrong with it, just wish i was more on it over the week...first something funny: so james and i are cooking dinner and i come back from the bathroom and i'm like "look, my left bicep is way bigger than my right..." and james says, "yes it is...and i can't believe you were just flexing in the bathroom". uhhhhhh....

i had some really great runs this week including my "lucho" run as we're calling it. it's a warm-up, tempo run, cool down that will gradually increase.. this week my lucho run was 8 miles (middle 3 at tempo) along the coast on a freaking beautiful day. i'm pretty sure i was hauling ass (for me) (just sub 7min pace) during the tempo portion, but i had left my heart rate monitor at home like an idiot so we can't be sure (d'oh!). anyhow, it felt hard and good. i also had a killer trail run where i literally saw a mountain in the distance, found a trailhead, and ran to the top. total moutnain lion trailbait material but it was so much fun and i found some incredible trails. everything in san diego is so green right now because of all the rain. the weather has been insanely beautiful this week. AND my long run was all trail too....so nice for the legs.

i also had a major week of swimming and this marked the end of my first month at masters (after broken arm episode). as of this week i'm totally not flailing around so much in the water and i actually feel like i'm on my way to making some improvement. i swam just under 11K this week (!!!!) and made it to three masters sessions. the big deal was tuesday's swim. i swam in a faster lane and cruised to 4000 yds in 1:15. usually in 1:15 i swim from 3250-3450, so this was a huge jump. AND it felt effortless, like it all just came together. none of my usual huff and puff and hang on approach. i told james later that it was an out of body experience. he thinks i'm crazy (nothing new here).

my rides were standard. two focused trainer sessions and one long ride today- 57 miles and over 4,000 feet of climbing. i rode with an awesome group for the first 40 and finished my ride along the coast with some espresso and the java depot and some james....nothing better....here's j chilling at the pit stop.

james came out with me for his recovery spin (tail end of my ride) because he crushed it yesterday in Vision Quest- a 56 mile mountain bike race with 12,000 feet of climbing including a 45-minute hike a bike section. darn. that's nuts
i went up to orange county to support the man and my support included waking up at 3:30am to drive him to the race site. only fair that i took a picture of him taking a last minute poo off the front of his truck...oh, i laughed my butt off. it was awesome.
dropping some trou...

after dropping him off, i went back to my friend (and lovely hosts) paige and parker's house to do my long run on more mountain lion trail bait trails by their house. it was a great zone 1&2 11-miler that i negative split by 5 minutes! the first 5 miles i ran at just over 8-minute pace and the last six miles i ran 7:30s like it was my business. it felt easy, fun, and fast (and f-ing cold but that's besides the point)...okay, so i showered up and headed to the race site with paige, parker and baby luke to watch james finish. here's the support crew
i was a bit worried the whole crazy race would be traumatizing and he'd be crying or babbling at the finish, but no way.
crossing the finish, was a happy, smiling amped up jameson. so proud of him.
we celebrated his race with belgian beer, sweet potato fries, gourmet burgers (carmelized onions, spicy greens, blue cheese) and salads (mine was strawberry, spinach, goat cheese, steak, fennel and balsamic) at a new restaurant in downtown san diego...here's the beer.. mine was belgian (what was the freaking name?)..all i know is it was 10.5% alcohol. i had 2 and a half drinks last night and was hammered. oh, the benefits of fatigue and dehydration. fun times!