Unfortunate Timing

My leg is all messed up. Nationals is this weekend. I'm a little worried I won't get things figured out before then and they will get worse before Worlds. Suck.

Basically, my IT band is really tight and is pulling on my knee in one direction, and my internal rotators are tight and my calf is super tight and it hurts in that dull ache kind of way.

I had a girl come to my house to massage me yesterday and she kind of lectured me for having tight legs and not stretching enough and stuff. But it did feel a little better after she worked on it. She told me to take an Epsom salt bath (check) and ice it (check) and to stretch. I hope it goes away.

She did however compare me to some pro racer chicks. So that's pretty sweet.

Questions

First of all, I totally feel cool right now. I logged in, and was informed I have a follower. Katy rocks!

Ok, so I have a question for my blog readers (otherwise known as Katy and sometimes Lorri...as far as I know you make up my readers).

As you may know, I qualified for XTERRA Worlds. And, I have a very pink bike (see picture at the top right of the page). Someone recently pointed out that 2XU makes a very pink tri kit. I was thinking it would be kind of fun to show up in Maui all Euro-trashy pink and white, but I'm conflicted. Should I?

I think essentially this makes me XTERRA Barbie. Except for the whole blonde thing. Normally I am anti-bike-matching-clothes, but I don't know that I'll get to go to Maui again so I figure I might as well be obnoxious. And it's an international field so there are bound to be some people rocking the neon or some such awesomeness. Plus it would look really good with a lei over the top of it.

What do you think?

Ranting

I have the most annoying room mate EVER.

He's possibly the loudest person on the face of the earth.

Yuck.

I got back in the pool this morning after a little hiatus (coach was in Taho coaching some pros and I'm not a good swimming self-motivator) and felt kind of crappy. And slow. So it's back to getting up before the sun to swim before work.

I've been feeling all tight and uncomfortable for a little while and haven't had my regular massages that make me feel better (massage girl has been booked/taking days off) so I decided to go to a yoga class to see if I could work any of it out. I have never gone to yoga consistently (only went because I had a friend teaching classes, I prefer pilates), and have not been to any group classes at the MH Rec Center, but I figured it was included with my swim membership so what the hell. It wasn't bad. I felt a little better. I wasn't the least bendy person in the room, although my balance seemed to have gone to sleep for about ten minutes in the middle of the class. I was left wondering where all the Russian women came from. The instructor had a medium-heavy accent, there was a woman in the class with an accent, and I know of another instructor that immigrated at some point. It was a Monday afternoon class so it was full of the expected retired ladies and cosmetically enhanced trophy wives, but the international contingent was a surprise.

I went for a group ride (with boys! It's been a long time since I've done one of those) yesterday that started out sucking but was fun in the end. I take a long time to warm up. I know this. The guys wanted to beat each other at everything to prove how manly they are or something. This meant we were going fast and people were taking really long pulls and not holding their speed and I got mad. I told my friend/coach/boss ("E") I "didn't want to play this game anymore" and sat up and had a Gu.

Then it was better.

I was the first one over Bailey and was excited to have open road to go fast on the descent but one of the ego boys had to pass me lest he be beat by a girl. He had furry legs. We named him bushpig. We were playing paceline on Santa Teresa back toward Morgan Hill and I was getting annoyed with the other girl on the ride (which was only a matter of time) and my bike felt all bouncy-weird and I asked her if I had a flat as I drifted back in the line. She cut me off before I finished my sentence and said "I know me too!! Hee hee!!!" This made me more mad (because actually listening to people when they talk is usually pretty helpful). I had a flat. I yelled something to that effect and pulled over. One of the guys on the ride yelled to the others a bunch of times but the girl was the closest one and didn't have her listening hat on. He talked at me while I changed the flat and one of the other guys came and found us. We went up Willow Springs, where the boys decided they needed to have another ego-fest and I went slow and passed some of them before the top. At the other side two of them split off and then the ride became fun.

No-listen girl blew up and was left talking to herself because she was the last one up the climbs. I glued myself to E's wheel and he set the pace based on his powertap and we crushed any attacks by the other two. He remarked that the lake was low and stood up at the same time I looked at the lake so I ran into his back wheel. Miraculously, no one crashed, although my grabbing the brakes response reportedly caused No-listen to fishtail behind me. I finished the ride tired and sweaty but still with good legs. Good times.

I hope football is over in time for me to watch Heroes.

Pleasantly Surprised

Racing and being athletic in general are still fairly new to me. I refused to do much more than hang out on the couch for my entire childhood (my mom still likes to talk about my refusing to swim at swim lessons) and teen years. My parents were runners, and I thought it bugged them that I was inactive, and bugging them seemed like a good idea. It wasn't until I was nearing 20 that I caught the sports bug. Happily, I caught it big time, and wanting to do a marathon before my 21st birthday snowballed into the athletic-spaz I am today.

Even after all this, I still don't usually think of myself as an athlete. I feel like the same lazy person I was before, and it's weird when friends or family tell me they are proud or that I inspire them in some way. It might be because I am fortunate enough to be around some incredible athletes, but I just feel regular. A newbie. Nothing special.

Lately I have found myself in the midst of some great people, who have been so incredibly supportive I am still surprised. A sponsor through work. A coach who seems to believe in me and is willing to work with me, train me, and let me hang out with his wife and kids. A swim coach who gets giddy at my workouts and keeps tabs on me and my races. An aquaintance who offered to provide financial assistance. A boss who pays for my races. A parent who is getting me (and him and others) to Hawaii to race. Relatives and strangers offering up their couches and floors if I need them. Customers who train with me, race with me, encourage me, and keep me honest. A burger and a beer from a new friend as she tells me I could do it all for a long time if I wanted.

I want.

Thank you all. You are amazing. I'm still new at this but I'll do my best to make you proud. And one day, I hope I can do for someone else what you have done for me.

Big Kahuna Pictures

I have totally already posted these all over the place, but I like them so too bad!

Branded

I stuck a Gu in my shorts for safekeeping and it left a mark. Funny!

Big Kahuna'd

I now walk like an old lady. And I walked down the stairs backwards today. Sad.

Yesterday I did my first road tri of the year (and it's September!), the Big Kahuna 1/2 Iron in Santa Cruz. It was soooooo much fun!

I went into it with the mentality that it was just a long training day as I had not done anything even resembling distance in like two years. It's been at LEAST a year since I ran more than a 10k. On top of that, I was riding my TT bike for pretty much the second time ever (trainer sessions don't count), and had not ridden it at all since I had my fit re-vamped, a different saddle put on, and changed the tires so they didn't suck any more. How's that for being unprepared?

The swim was the part I was most prepared for, but I was still anxious because it was in the ocean and there are scary things that could eat me. Happily, I managed to avoid the scary thoughts and was fine as long as someone was swimming near me (so I didn't look like a lone little fishy begging to be picked on). Unfortunately I seem to have lost my ability to swim in a straight line. I swam all over the place. I kept wanting to sight off the pier, but the course had us swim away from it. I was all screwed up. I came out of the water at 38 min and change, which is way slow for me (five minutes slower than my last 1.2m open water swim). Based on conversations I heard/had/read, this happened to pretty much everyone. I also felt like I weighed 400 pounds when I stood up out of the water. That was fun.

Ran forever to transition, jumped in the little swimming pool for foot-washing, got all my bike crap on, and hit the road.

I got going and felt surprisingly good. The course was rolling, up Highway 1 heading north along the ocean, with gorgeous views. As I was coming up a hill I noticed a rhythmic bumping going on in the front end of my bike. I looked at the front tire as best I could, but didn't see anything amiss. As I was rolled down the hill it got worse, and at the bottom my tire blew off the rim. Awesome. I pulled over and got to work untaping my wad of tube/CO2 and accessories (I had taped them to the bike so I wouldn't lose them). Changed the flat, and mentally pleaded with the bike not to get another flat as I only had enough stuff to change one flat, and a second would make my day very bad. The spot I had stopped at was in between two hills, so I got to start riding again up a hill, with no momentum to help out. This was at approx mile 8. Suck.

I kept feeling good on the bike and at some point I realized that I might be able to hustle and break three hours, so I hustled. I didn't quite make it and finished with a bike split of 3:05, so if flatting is taken into consideration, I TOTALLY did it. Whatever, it's just a training race.

T2...same old shiz...

Started the run at a snail's pace, but I was actually running so I'm fine with it. Almost got hit by a pigeon. Kept running slow. Thought about making it to the next aid station instead of the miles because one mile-ish is shorter than 13 and a much happier number. Walked most of the aid stations, made one potty break (shhh! Don't tell Elliott!), chugged along like a sad little train. I actually felt good all things considering. The last part of the run where you are forced to run in the sand is the worst thing ever though! Running along the wet part wasn't too bad apart from being at an angle and having to dodge small children. The last 75 feet though: pure evil. Racers have just traveled 70 miles and change. Making them run in loose sand in front of a large crowd of people is not nice.

But they did have free burritos. So it was all good.

I ended up finishing in 6:11 and a few seconds. Which is about and hour and nine minutes faster than my previous 1/2 iron. Granted I was undertrained and kind of fat then, but still, I think that's pretty good. I've just been training for short stuff this year.

I got to see some people I used to race with from Fresno, so that was fun too. Good job Ben and Abby! It was fun seeing you in the porta potty line and transition (respectively)!

I was thinking about doing the Silverman 1/2 in November after XTERRA Worlds a while ago and changed my mind. I might have changed it back. I want to break six hours.