Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Nothing much
October 2009 in Bloomington the temperatures have been 10-20 degrees below normal. Its bee more like December than October. It has sort of bummed me out, because October is my favorite time of the year. But it is what it is. On Saturday morning I ran in 35 degrees wearing shorts. I'm always the last one to start wearing cold weather clothes around here. I think it’s my way of trying to acclimatize to cold weather. I mean, if I dress for winter now, what will I actually do in winter! Today is the start of a 3 day warming trend. After work I’m taking the dogs to the trail for a run, in shorts again, but this time I will probably sweat!
Last week I had a great revelation about running drills. I occasionally do them, but I know I'm not especially adept at them. One day I received a running related email with a link to a video about drills. The coach discussed the drills, while his athletes demonstrated. He talked about how when we were kids we'd run around, jumping, skipping, hopping, forwards, backwards, sideways. All these things taught us balance, strength, flexibility, coordination, and made us stronger runners. But as the years went by and we stopped 'playing', this awareness of our body diminished. Drills are a way to get that feeling back. And when I thought of it, that's the same purpose of drills in swimming, which I have been doing all my life. As a small child I swam, and played, flipped, twisted, dove into the water, and I became so aware of how my body moved in the water, that as I learned proper swim technique, drills only reinforced that I should be aware of how different movements make my body feel and move through the water. Why I never put this together with running, I have no idea. But now that I've had this lightbulb go on, I'm going to work on the running drills with more gusto. And more fun factor. And more body awareness. Because, really, if you watched me run, you’d think I was a fish out of water! On Saturday morning, my workout was on the track. And when I was on my last interval, a young guy hopped on, just floating around the track, came around the front straightaway, and picked up the pace with these long fast gazelle looking strides for 100m, and then shut it down to another floating 300m. I just sort of gawked for a few minutes before I continued on with my cool down. why can’t I run like that?!
This weekend is the xterra World Championships in Maui, and I’m not there Actually I’m ok with that, because that’s a really freaking hard race! I do want to give that course a try again someday, but I need to do it when I’m ready and able to do all the right training for the 2 months leading up to the race, and that means a lot of time on the worst, sketchiest trails I can find, and lots of hills, and lots of heat. Now that’s a little problem for where I live. Because most of our trails are all really well built trails, very little sketchiness around here, although I guess I can practice hucking myself down the hills at Nebo Ridge and Ferdinand over and over until I can fly down them without brakes! And that heat thing. End of October isn’t exactly hot here (see first paragraph). Oh well. I’ll be cheering for my friends who are there. I hope Bev wins another AG world championship! Go Bev!!!!!!!
Last week I was the lucky recipient of about 40 pounds of honeycrisp apples. My dear friend brought them home from Michigan last weekend for me! Every time I open the refrigerator the fragrance of these apples smacks me in the face. Last night I decided I better start making some apple dishes, so apple crisp was the first (of course, had to go with dessert first!).
On another food note, one of my favorite veggies is sweet potatoes. Sweet potato fries to be exact. I bake them, and they are quite yummy. There are 2 restaurants in Bloomington that fry them. And of course fried always tops baked! One of these places, serves them with a roasted garlic mayo. It is soooooooooo delish. I've tried to make my own roasted garlic mayo. I'm on try number 5. So far, I have not gotten a good match. I asked the cook, and she said she uses a gourmet mayo that costs $38 a jar! hmm, I'll keep trying! Any suggestions, let me know.
Last week I had a great revelation about running drills. I occasionally do them, but I know I'm not especially adept at them. One day I received a running related email with a link to a video about drills. The coach discussed the drills, while his athletes demonstrated. He talked about how when we were kids we'd run around, jumping, skipping, hopping, forwards, backwards, sideways. All these things taught us balance, strength, flexibility, coordination, and made us stronger runners. But as the years went by and we stopped 'playing', this awareness of our body diminished. Drills are a way to get that feeling back. And when I thought of it, that's the same purpose of drills in swimming, which I have been doing all my life. As a small child I swam, and played, flipped, twisted, dove into the water, and I became so aware of how my body moved in the water, that as I learned proper swim technique, drills only reinforced that I should be aware of how different movements make my body feel and move through the water. Why I never put this together with running, I have no idea. But now that I've had this lightbulb go on, I'm going to work on the running drills with more gusto. And more fun factor. And more body awareness. Because, really, if you watched me run, you’d think I was a fish out of water! On Saturday morning, my workout was on the track. And when I was on my last interval, a young guy hopped on, just floating around the track, came around the front straightaway, and picked up the pace with these long fast gazelle looking strides for 100m, and then shut it down to another floating 300m. I just sort of gawked for a few minutes before I continued on with my cool down. why can’t I run like that?!
This weekend is the xterra World Championships in Maui, and I’m not there Actually I’m ok with that, because that’s a really freaking hard race! I do want to give that course a try again someday, but I need to do it when I’m ready and able to do all the right training for the 2 months leading up to the race, and that means a lot of time on the worst, sketchiest trails I can find, and lots of hills, and lots of heat. Now that’s a little problem for where I live. Because most of our trails are all really well built trails, very little sketchiness around here, although I guess I can practice hucking myself down the hills at Nebo Ridge and Ferdinand over and over until I can fly down them without brakes! And that heat thing. End of October isn’t exactly hot here (see first paragraph). Oh well. I’ll be cheering for my friends who are there. I hope Bev wins another AG world championship! Go Bev!!!!!!!
Last week I was the lucky recipient of about 40 pounds of honeycrisp apples. My dear friend brought them home from Michigan last weekend for me! Every time I open the refrigerator the fragrance of these apples smacks me in the face. Last night I decided I better start making some apple dishes, so apple crisp was the first (of course, had to go with dessert first!).
On another food note, one of my favorite veggies is sweet potatoes. Sweet potato fries to be exact. I bake them, and they are quite yummy. There are 2 restaurants in Bloomington that fry them. And of course fried always tops baked! One of these places, serves them with a roasted garlic mayo. It is soooooooooo delish. I've tried to make my own roasted garlic mayo. I'm on try number 5. So far, I have not gotten a good match. I asked the cook, and she said she uses a gourmet mayo that costs $38 a jar! hmm, I'll keep trying! Any suggestions, let me know.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
colors of fall
Covered bridge leading to the park:
Lots of big timber to build this structure (took this as I was driving through bridge)
water is warmer than the 34 degree air:
fog in the valleys
starting to see the patchwork quilt look in the hills
Max has settled in nicely yo our home, he sleeps in funny positions
Lots of big timber to build this structure (took this as I was driving through bridge)
water is warmer than the 34 degree air:
fog in the valleys
starting to see the patchwork quilt look in the hills
Max has settled in nicely yo our home, he sleeps in funny positions
Friday, October 2, 2009
I love October
October is my favorite month of the year. Fall is beautiful in the Midwest. And let’s not forget Halloween – the BEST holiday of all. It may have something to do with the fact that my birthday is on Halloween! Happy birthday to me!!!!!!. Growing up with a Halloween birthday was awesome. It’s like the entire neighborhood was giving my birthday presents! Ok, they were also giving my friends presents too. But still, I loved sweets then, and I love them still. Chocolate preferably. And not with nuts or other accoutrements mixed into it, just plain old chocolate. Milk chocolate, that is. (because everything is better with a little dairy). Wait, peanut butter with my chocolate is ok too. Just not nuts. Yes, the nuts are the problem for me. They ruin my chocolate.
I’ve had a week of doing pretty much nothing. Except work, eat, sleep, and eat some more. Boy, I have a real hangup with eating. I LOVE it. Especially sweets (see above). I went a little overboard on the Nutella yesterday. I think tomorrow I’ll take the dogs to the trails for a long walk. That way I can burn some major calories, they can burn off some energy. I think it will be a few more weeks before I can get some nice fall pictures. Two building ups from me on campus are two giant ginko trees. They must be over a hundred years old. Beautiful old trees. Ginko leaves are perfect little fan shaped beauties. They burst into a bright gold color before they fall, and then when conditions are right, some years they drop all their leaves in a day or so, its like gold rain. I’ll start watching them next week and hoping for a spectacular show (just wish they weren’t so stinky!)
Have you seen this video? I know, you probably have. I'm a little slow. But if you haven't, you should watch it, its pretty cool.
I’ve had a week of doing pretty much nothing. Except work, eat, sleep, and eat some more. Boy, I have a real hangup with eating. I LOVE it. Especially sweets (see above). I went a little overboard on the Nutella yesterday. I think tomorrow I’ll take the dogs to the trails for a long walk. That way I can burn some major calories, they can burn off some energy. I think it will be a few more weeks before I can get some nice fall pictures. Two building ups from me on campus are two giant ginko trees. They must be over a hundred years old. Beautiful old trees. Ginko leaves are perfect little fan shaped beauties. They burst into a bright gold color before they fall, and then when conditions are right, some years they drop all their leaves in a day or so, its like gold rain. I’ll start watching them next week and hoping for a spectacular show (just wish they weren’t so stinky!)
Have you seen this video? I know, you probably have. I'm a little slow. But if you haven't, you should watch it, its pretty cool.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Augusta 70.3 weekend
Friday morning I started out on my 12 hour drive to Augusta. Yep, 12 hours. (Next summer, I'm only doing local-ish races, no 4 day weekends). When I was a small girl, 4-5 years old, I lived in Georgia. My only memories are diving off teh steps of the pool and cutting my head open, getting the chicken pox, and coming back to Cincinnati and being made fun of because as a young kid, I picked up a nice southern accent. I've driven through Georgia a few times, and went to a mountain bike camp there a few years ago, and now I was heading back for a 70.3 race. I stopped in Lexington to pick up my mom (my travel companion for the weekend), and off we went. The miles of I-40 east of Asheville are like driving on a roller coaster. I just wanted to throw up my hands and have fun, but I could tell by my mom's grabbing of the door handles, that she wasn't fond of the speed I was taking the curves at. Oh well, you gotta find your thrills somewhere!
We finally arrived, checked in to the hotel, and found an italian restaurant a block away. WHile sitting outside waiting for our table, I had my first tri-geek encounter - man wearing his swim goggles at the restaurant ! LMAO!
Second tri-geek encounter was the next morning at breakfast, 2 woman just back from a swim in the river, come into the restaurant wearing swimsuits and towels. I mean, really, no shirt no service! Have some decency please!
SO, I check in, check my bike in, walk around in the heat a little, and just rested. Another walk the other direction of the hotel looking for Saturday evening food, found little, but a cafe where they lost our order (other than the smoothie I got), and I gave some local girls the gift certificates they gave us as apologies (they would not refund our money). So, I was feeling awfully generous, and hoping for some good pay forward at the race Sunday morning.
Which dawned early for me, up around 4am, I just don't sleep late, and definitely not before a race. Got down to set up transition, and the shuttle bus line back to swim start was so long, I just walked alone, it was only 15 minutes, and I had 2 hours before my start (I was the last wave, 9:06 start time). Went and found my mom, and went and sat around and watched every one else start.
9:06 did finally roll around, and I jumped in the water, and the 1/2knot current was noticeable, you could just hang in the water and float down river. There was a lot of 'sea'-weed in the river, did not like that. The gun went off and a few girls sprinted to my right, no one to my left, and within 30 seconds they were all behind me. I swam in pretty clear water most of the way, had to navigate around a few people in earlier waves, narrowly missed 2 kayaks and a few piers, and somehow managed to find the swim exit, looking into the sun with my clear goggles (it was dark heavy clouds at 7am, so I opted for clear, at 9am the sun came out, of course). It was a ridiculously fast swim with the current pushing us along.
Onto the bike, I was worried about a smallish saddle sore I have been nursing for a couple of weeks, and I have to say that today it is an angry saddle sore (from TN I called the dermatologist today and have an appt tomorrow to get it 'taken care of'). Anyways, I loved the course, lots of gently rolling hills. Being in the last wave, I passed lots of people, and I can't tell you how many awesome men cheered me on, telling me to go get 'em, and looking strong. That goes a long way in helping to push you on. Eventually a few girls in my AG passed me, I kept pushing on, trying to alleviate the saddle sore pressure, and still, after the whole summer on the bike, I still have to work on dialing in my position. At home, when I ride the TT bike, there are so many hills sprinkled in to every ride, that are non-aerobar hills, that I must not ever be able to be aero long enough to notice the leg stiffness/cramps. So there is more homework to be done this winter to get the bike ready for Louisville in 11 months. With 5 miles left, a groups of 4 girls in my AG blew by me, all riding in a little pack, and I laughed and said to myself, shame on them if they have been like all of the ride. I hope they weren't, I don't like to think that my competitors cheat. But since all of them kept forging ahead together, my gut feeling was not 'shame on me' for thinking that. ANyways, they have t live with it, not me! I think I ate and drank well on the bike, 2 bottles of gatorade, 1.5 bottles of water, and a half a gel flask. I was not feeling energy depleted at the end of the bike.
On to the run, and it was hot! Out of t2, I was running with a tall lanky runner girl, and I tried to stay with her. At the first aid station, the water and gatorade was warm, and right then, I knew I'd have to slow down or I'd blow up in this heat. SO I did, and some of the aid stations had ice, some did not. The ones that did, I walked more and more, and on lap 2, I was carrying cups of ice away from those with me just to stay cool. I drank way too much liquid at those iced up aid stations, and had to deep belly breathe to settle the side stitch. I knew it would happen with the amount I was drinking, but I was so hot, I had to drink. I knew I was not prepared to handle the heat. I had been running in the mornings at home, where it was 60 degrees, until the last week and I remembered I better run later. But even then, it wasn't hot enough, or long enough in hot weather to be ready to cope. It was a good lesson for ironman Louisville next summer.
I felt a bit nauseous after the race, and couldn't really eat. I stiffened up fast, and it was a chore to get down to the transition area and gather up my things. As I was walking from our parked care a quarter mile from the transition entrance, another athlete offered me a ride, he said he was going to drive up as far as he could get. I cannot tell you how nice that was. I was having such trouble walking. The groin hurt from the positions I was sitting on the bike for the saddle sore, and the heat of the run was cramping me up. It was a small act of kindness, but one I will remember.
After slowly loading up the car, we set off, aiming for Asheville, NC, 3 hours away. Mom drove, and she made me so nervous! (sorry mom). But I'm sure my champion back seat driving made her even more nervous. I just like to be in control in my car. 45 minutes of sitting in stopped construction, 14 miles before our selected exit, left me longing for pizza. How lucky that dominos delivered to our hotel (and I don't even like Dominos, but at that time, any pizza was top notch!).
I drove the rest of the way home Monday, with a stop to pick up my mom's cat (who was staying at the luxury pet suite), and we crossed the Ohio River back to her house, via the car ferry. I always loved to take the ferry when I was a young girl, and it had been a while. The wind today was super high, 30+mph, and the river was moving. Those guys know how to read that current, and landed the ferry perfectly. I was wondering what it would have been like to do the IM Lou swim in the river today. I think they would have canceled the swim, it was really rough.
Anyways, I'm back home, and before I got home, my work called, they were having database problems, so I was online working from home within 15 minutes of my arrival. Home Sweet Home!
We finally arrived, checked in to the hotel, and found an italian restaurant a block away. WHile sitting outside waiting for our table, I had my first tri-geek encounter - man wearing his swim goggles at the restaurant ! LMAO!
Second tri-geek encounter was the next morning at breakfast, 2 woman just back from a swim in the river, come into the restaurant wearing swimsuits and towels. I mean, really, no shirt no service! Have some decency please!
SO, I check in, check my bike in, walk around in the heat a little, and just rested. Another walk the other direction of the hotel looking for Saturday evening food, found little, but a cafe where they lost our order (other than the smoothie I got), and I gave some local girls the gift certificates they gave us as apologies (they would not refund our money). So, I was feeling awfully generous, and hoping for some good pay forward at the race Sunday morning.
Which dawned early for me, up around 4am, I just don't sleep late, and definitely not before a race. Got down to set up transition, and the shuttle bus line back to swim start was so long, I just walked alone, it was only 15 minutes, and I had 2 hours before my start (I was the last wave, 9:06 start time). Went and found my mom, and went and sat around and watched every one else start.
9:06 did finally roll around, and I jumped in the water, and the 1/2knot current was noticeable, you could just hang in the water and float down river. There was a lot of 'sea'-weed in the river, did not like that. The gun went off and a few girls sprinted to my right, no one to my left, and within 30 seconds they were all behind me. I swam in pretty clear water most of the way, had to navigate around a few people in earlier waves, narrowly missed 2 kayaks and a few piers, and somehow managed to find the swim exit, looking into the sun with my clear goggles (it was dark heavy clouds at 7am, so I opted for clear, at 9am the sun came out, of course). It was a ridiculously fast swim with the current pushing us along.
Onto the bike, I was worried about a smallish saddle sore I have been nursing for a couple of weeks, and I have to say that today it is an angry saddle sore (from TN I called the dermatologist today and have an appt tomorrow to get it 'taken care of'). Anyways, I loved the course, lots of gently rolling hills. Being in the last wave, I passed lots of people, and I can't tell you how many awesome men cheered me on, telling me to go get 'em, and looking strong. That goes a long way in helping to push you on. Eventually a few girls in my AG passed me, I kept pushing on, trying to alleviate the saddle sore pressure, and still, after the whole summer on the bike, I still have to work on dialing in my position. At home, when I ride the TT bike, there are so many hills sprinkled in to every ride, that are non-aerobar hills, that I must not ever be able to be aero long enough to notice the leg stiffness/cramps. So there is more homework to be done this winter to get the bike ready for Louisville in 11 months. With 5 miles left, a groups of 4 girls in my AG blew by me, all riding in a little pack, and I laughed and said to myself, shame on them if they have been like all of the ride. I hope they weren't, I don't like to think that my competitors cheat. But since all of them kept forging ahead together, my gut feeling was not 'shame on me' for thinking that. ANyways, they have t live with it, not me! I think I ate and drank well on the bike, 2 bottles of gatorade, 1.5 bottles of water, and a half a gel flask. I was not feeling energy depleted at the end of the bike.
On to the run, and it was hot! Out of t2, I was running with a tall lanky runner girl, and I tried to stay with her. At the first aid station, the water and gatorade was warm, and right then, I knew I'd have to slow down or I'd blow up in this heat. SO I did, and some of the aid stations had ice, some did not. The ones that did, I walked more and more, and on lap 2, I was carrying cups of ice away from those with me just to stay cool. I drank way too much liquid at those iced up aid stations, and had to deep belly breathe to settle the side stitch. I knew it would happen with the amount I was drinking, but I was so hot, I had to drink. I knew I was not prepared to handle the heat. I had been running in the mornings at home, where it was 60 degrees, until the last week and I remembered I better run later. But even then, it wasn't hot enough, or long enough in hot weather to be ready to cope. It was a good lesson for ironman Louisville next summer.
I felt a bit nauseous after the race, and couldn't really eat. I stiffened up fast, and it was a chore to get down to the transition area and gather up my things. As I was walking from our parked care a quarter mile from the transition entrance, another athlete offered me a ride, he said he was going to drive up as far as he could get. I cannot tell you how nice that was. I was having such trouble walking. The groin hurt from the positions I was sitting on the bike for the saddle sore, and the heat of the run was cramping me up. It was a small act of kindness, but one I will remember.
After slowly loading up the car, we set off, aiming for Asheville, NC, 3 hours away. Mom drove, and she made me so nervous! (sorry mom). But I'm sure my champion back seat driving made her even more nervous. I just like to be in control in my car. 45 minutes of sitting in stopped construction, 14 miles before our selected exit, left me longing for pizza. How lucky that dominos delivered to our hotel (and I don't even like Dominos, but at that time, any pizza was top notch!).
I drove the rest of the way home Monday, with a stop to pick up my mom's cat (who was staying at the luxury pet suite), and we crossed the Ohio River back to her house, via the car ferry. I always loved to take the ferry when I was a young girl, and it had been a while. The wind today was super high, 30+mph, and the river was moving. Those guys know how to read that current, and landed the ferry perfectly. I was wondering what it would have been like to do the IM Lou swim in the river today. I think they would have canceled the swim, it was really rough.
Anyways, I'm back home, and before I got home, my work called, they were having database problems, so I was online working from home within 15 minutes of my arrival. Home Sweet Home!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
almost there!
In a few days, I’ll be racing my last tri of the year, Augusta 70.3. It’s been a long season. I’ve never done a race as early as NOLA (first week of April), and that was a half IM, which meant training for it started in very early 2009. And now it is the end of September. I admit, my motivation is waning, so it is good that the season is wrapping up.
That said, it’s been my BEST ever year of training (thanks Jen!). I have NOT been injured (I just knocked on wood), and that is just the cat’s meow as far as I’m concerned! And I’ve backed up good workouts with good workouts. There were times I’d read the workout on the schedule, and I wasn’t sure I was capable of getting it done, but I surprised myself with my effort and with my consistency. Ok, I’ll admit, I did skip a few swim workouts this year (sorry Jen!), but I’m pretty sure I did every other workout on the plan, and most of the time I think I did them pretty much as they were supposed to be done.
I learned a lot this year. The biggest thing was learning to push myself in workouts so I was really suffering (in a good way), and knowing I can survive them. Now I have to go to Augusta and suffer a little, and know it won’t kill me. It just gets me to ice cream that much sooner!
So, off I go. Knowing that my body is ready for a good race. I’m trying to keep the mind in check, so the mind doesn’t blow it for me!
And when I get back… I’ll show my mountain bike some LOVE. And I’ll slowly get Daisy back out on the trails for some walks/runs. And I’ll stay away from the pool for a month! Yes, a whole month. I need the break from the swimming. And after a month I’m sure I’ll have to buy myself a new swimsuit for some inspiration to get back in the pool.
That said, it’s been my BEST ever year of training (thanks Jen!). I have NOT been injured (I just knocked on wood), and that is just the cat’s meow as far as I’m concerned! And I’ve backed up good workouts with good workouts. There were times I’d read the workout on the schedule, and I wasn’t sure I was capable of getting it done, but I surprised myself with my effort and with my consistency. Ok, I’ll admit, I did skip a few swim workouts this year (sorry Jen!), but I’m pretty sure I did every other workout on the plan, and most of the time I think I did them pretty much as they were supposed to be done.
I learned a lot this year. The biggest thing was learning to push myself in workouts so I was really suffering (in a good way), and knowing I can survive them. Now I have to go to Augusta and suffer a little, and know it won’t kill me. It just gets me to ice cream that much sooner!
So, off I go. Knowing that my body is ready for a good race. I’m trying to keep the mind in check, so the mind doesn’t blow it for me!
And when I get back… I’ll show my mountain bike some LOVE. And I’ll slowly get Daisy back out on the trails for some walks/runs. And I’ll stay away from the pool for a month! Yes, a whole month. I need the break from the swimming. And after a month I’m sure I’ll have to buy myself a new swimsuit for some inspiration to get back in the pool.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The calendar says mid-September, but…
The weather says its still summer! And I am loving every day. We have had almost no rain in weeks (I know we need some, but we had a lot all summer, so I’ll take a few dry weeks). And the weather has been downright balmy, above average for September. I wouldn’t be surprised if our average highs for September are higher than the average high was in August.
Last week, I got to swim outside at the lake twice. And WITHOUT a wetsuit! The water temperature must be upper 70’s, it was soooooo pleasant. I’m hoping that means Augusta will be no wetsuit, I mean, how can Georgia water temperatures be lower than Indiana water temperatures? Of course, I'm sure the RD will 'find' a spot in the river where the temperature is low enough to allow wetsuits. All I can say is I'm taking my speedsuit, and if its wetsuit legal, but in what I think is a fudged temperature, I'm wearing the speedsuit, and not a wetsuit! fingers are crossed!
Last week, I got to swim outside at the lake twice. And WITHOUT a wetsuit! The water temperature must be upper 70’s, it was soooooo pleasant. I’m hoping that means Augusta will be no wetsuit, I mean, how can Georgia water temperatures be lower than Indiana water temperatures? Of course, I'm sure the RD will 'find' a spot in the river where the temperature is low enough to allow wetsuits. All I can say is I'm taking my speedsuit, and if its wetsuit legal, but in what I think is a fudged temperature, I'm wearing the speedsuit, and not a wetsuit! fingers are crossed!
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