Most Asked Question....

....besides How is Training Going? is Have you lost any weight? NOPE, in 9 weeks I've only lost 2 lbs putting me at a total weight loss of 14lbs since I started weight watchers. As I learned with doing marathons, these sports aren't ones you diet on and lose weight on. You have to keep fueling your body because if you don't you will BONK and that's not something you want especially when you are on the bike or run.

However, my body is changing and I have lost some inches. I'm sure the fat is melting and I"m gaining muscle. I wish I had measured myself when I started. I am wearing jeans today that I have not worn in over a year :o) YAY! So although the scale is still the same I have lost enough inches that I fit into some of my smaller clothes :o) YAY!

I was feeling under the weather last night so I went home and crawled into bed at 7pm :o( I feeling better today so hopefully it was just that I needed rest and not that I'm getting sick. I have no time for icky an cold or flu.

Tonight we also have the night off since we have Cause for Celebration. I believe I earned another TNT sweatshirt :o) for getting half my minimum in by a certain time. THANK YOU to everyone who has donated. I am still $848 from my goal :o(. It's not too late and if you are still interested in donating please do :o) It would be much appreciated. Remember that even a little bit helps. Click here to get to my fundraising website or on the link on the left hand side.

$1000: Supports one week's salary for a university medical researcher who may discover key information to developing a cure for cancers

$500: Allows 10 patients to log on to a webcast and hear the latest information in treatment for their disease

$250: Provides a Family Support Group Program for one year for a patient and family

$100: Provides 3 patients access to an information teleconference

$50: Covers the cost of sending a comprehensive packet of information for children with cancer

$25: Covers a single prescription co-payment.

$5: Is the cost of sending a newly diagnosed patient information about support and their disease

Recovering

I think I'm finally recovered from the Saturday craziness. I still feel a little sore in the ribs when laughing and it'll be a while til the bruising is gone but for the most part I'm better.

Sunday was a mellow day, it had to be :o) I had a nice pedicure while my hubby taught Kali and then we met for brunch at Chow's in Lafayette. After brunch Rocky headed home and got a head start on cleaning the house while I went grocery shopping. We were able to get most of the chores done with enough time to be able to relax before dinner with our friends Chris & Meenu. We met them in Piedmont at Cesar's, it was a tapas style restaurant so we tried a few plates and shared, it was all very yummy. Meenu has been telling me about yummy yogurt place in Berkeely that we should try so we headed there after but it was closed :o( we ended up going the crepe place instead and had dessert crepes. We had a fun time and afterwards we headed home to bed.

Last night I swam with Amy & Phil, AGAIN. I think we are all over dosing on this swimming thing but we must push on. Schedule had us doing 2900 yards, yikes. We got it done in 1 hour and 16 minutes. Not bad at and and yep, we were all pooped at the end.

Warm Up:
300 LVL28 x 50 (25 LVL2, 25 choice drill)
12 x 25 LVL6 (10" RI)

Main Set:
200 LVL6 (20" RI)
2 x 75 LVL 8 (15" RI) 30" RI
repeat above 4 x

400 (200 kick, 200 LVL3-5)

Cool Down:
100 non-freestyle

2900 yards = 1.65 miles (1:16)

Oh yeah, I had also run before the swim :o) Olivia came out and meet me and we did a short 2.75 mile run which took us about 35 minutes. It was a bit hot and I think we were both a little tired. It felt good to run though...thanks Olivia!

Circus Fun....continued

So for his 32nd birthday our friend Lael decided he wanted to do a trapeze class, he'd done it a few weeks ago and really liked it so he thought it'd be fun to do it with a group of friends for his birthday. Rocky had to help a friend so he couldn't make it but I went along and so did Olivia. I was scared the few days leading up to it I was scared on our way there and I was scared when I was on top of the platform and it was my turn I was scared. YIKES, what did I get myself into.


Remember too that I had a rough morning so I was beat but luckily I had food in my belly thanks to Ms.Olivia who'd picked up a sandwich for me...THANK YOU!


Anyway, there were 4 of us who'd never done this before and 3 that had. The trainers there taught the 4 of us newbies on a bar closer to the ground :o) how to do a knee hang and the rest of the group learned a new position since they had already mastered the knee hang. After we all figured out how to do what we needed to do and the trainer went over the the rules of the property we figured out our order of going up to the platform and then it was time. It was time to climb the tall tall ladder and do our knee hangs.


We were harnessed in so that made me feel a little better but I was still quite nervous when it was my turn. When they say "ready" you bend your needs and when they say "hemp" you jump. They guy said HEP! I did nothing. He said it again and I did nothing. I was too scared to jump but I think after the 3rd time I finally did it. It was a bit scary but it was fun :o) We pretty much did this for almost 2 hours and OMG, I have the bruises on my legs to prove it. Towards the end of our class they taught us how to let go of the bar and try to grab on to the "catcher" and on my second attempt I almost did it but I did fall to the net before he grabbed me. That is what you see in the video I posted yesterday.


I'm sure I'm leaving out a bit but the day is a little of a blurr to me. I had a GREAT time and would love to go back with Rocky. I think he'd be great at it. I have to say though that on Sunday I HURT everywhere and today I have some nasty bruises in every color of the rainbow on the back of my knees and legs. Pretty darn funny.

4 Years

Today marks the 4 year anniversary of Cole's passing. He was an amazing little boy.

Circus Fun

This Saturday was an insane day for me and I can't believe I survived it (umm, barely).

Saturday our coached workout was to do the Aqua Challenge and then go on a 50 minute run with our team. Amy and I had agreed to carpool because it was about an hour drive and since we didn't need to bring our bikes it'd work out great. I was to pick her up at 6:15.

Del Valle Aqua Challenge - Saturday Morning

5:53am I turn to look at my alarm clock

Me: OH SHOOT OH SHOOT (or something like that, haa, haa)
hubby: WHAT? WHAT? What's going on? (he was in a deep sleep)
Me: MY ALARM DIDN'T GO OFF!!!

I was suppose to be up at 5:00 and out the door by 5:45 :o( Um, reason my alarm didn't go off was operator error. I set my alarm for 5:00 PM....oopsy.

I called Amy to tell her I was WAY running late and she said she'd wait for me. My hubby made my breakfast and loaded up my car....THANK YOU HUBBY...while I got dressed and then scared the oatmeal down. I was out the door in 7 minutes. By the time I got to Amy's house we were 25 minutes behind schedule (Coach Paul had asked us to be there at 7:15) and we thought we'd be late but weren't to worried about it since the race didn't start til 8:30. We drove at the speed limit and figured we'll get there when we get there. We arrived at 7:10. HUH??? How'd that happen. I guess google maps was wrong and it didn't take all that long to get there. So we started out 25 minutes late and arrived 5 minutes early, pretty funny.

I realized half way there that I had left my water bottle in the fridge :o( this was HUGE later on in the day.

Parking was not big deal, we found the rest of our group, got our race number and just hung out. We later found out that our group, the 1 mile group, wasn't even going to jump in the water til 9:10, sigh!!!

Coach Paul gave his morning speech and then we watched and cheered our Sprint Distance Triathlon people as they did their 1/2 mile swim race. They all did great and once everyone doing that swim was out of the water it was our turn. At this point it was already getting pretty darn warm. Not good.

I have to say that I am very very happy with my swim. By my watch I finished 1 mile in 41:35 :o) yay! I felt great the entire time and because I had waited at the back of the pack to jump in the water I was able to find a nice wide open spot and I just swam swam swam with no issues. I was a bit zig zaggy and one lady did smack me but other than that it went very well. I'm hoping that Pacific Grove goes this smoothly.

By the time we got out of the water, changed and were ready to go on our run it was well over 95 degrees, it may have even been 100. We were suppose to do 50 minutes total on a super hilly dirt fire trail. It was awful and I was a bit worried before, during and after the run.

I had asked Coach Paul when I first got to Del Valle how far we were running and at that point he wasn't sure he said it'd depend on how hot it was after the swim. I told him I had forgotten my water bottle but he said not to worry we'd have water stops.....HAAA!!!!! That was not the case.

I had brought an extra water bottle with tap water in it to rinse my feet off after the swim so I emptied that out and put nice fresh water in it and mixed in some of the Powerade powder the team had brought. I figured that it was better than nothing. I took off on the run and was feeling okay but about 4 drinks of Powerade later I was feeling icky and my stomach really started to hurt :o( so I had to stop taking it. I now had nothing but wasn't worried since we were suppose to have water stops :o( The Olympic team was suppose to run 25 minutes out and 25 minutes back and I think the water stop was about 20 minutes out, I stopped and asked for water and to my surprise there really wasn't any. Two of the coaches had ridden their bikes out on the trail and in their backpacks they had thrown in some of the NASTY Joint Juice the swim race had provided and 1 water bottle. 1 water bottle for the entire team!! are you kidding me???
I had what was left of it which was about a 3 oz cup of water and then on my way I went. I walked the last 5 minutes before I had to turn around and then I walked the other 25 minutes back.

I have been trained by some awesome marathon coaches (THANK YOU COACH AL & MAMA LISA) and I know when to quit and how to train smart. Smart was to walk the last 25 minutes because I was dehydrated and I started feeling the signs very very quickly. If I would have run I think the outcome would have been much much worse because of the intense heat and my intense sweating. I have to tell you that I am really surprised I did not pass out on that stupid trail. I again tried to get water from one of the other coach's that had ridden his bike and NOTHING no water just that nasty Joint Juice which about made me barf :o( I continued walking and finished 3.67 miles about 50 something minutes later. I looked like hell and so did most of my teammates. I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the support we got. I know we are suppose to be prepared for anything but that was crappy.

It took me til sometime Saturday evening to finally get rehydrated and not feel sick. I know that affected me all day and into my afternoon activity :o(

Anyway, I had plans in the afternoon so I had to get out of there. I took Amy home and then headed to Olivia's house to shower and change to head to Sonoma.

Sonoma Trapeze for Lael's Birthday - Saturday Afternoon

TO BE CONTINUED (I have to go now but I'll write about this later, here is a little glimpse though of what we did), hee, hee. Yes that is me :o)

Casual Swim

Last night's swim was 2600 yards and lately it's been taking us about an hour, last night it took us an hour and fifteen minutes :o( waahh happen? Well although the amount we had to swim was the same the levels were very low so it took us forever. It was the swim that never ended but hey at least we weren't dying when we were done.

2600 yards - 1 hour 15 min - 1.48 miles

Warm Up
300 LVL2, 10x50(25 LVL2, 25 choice drill) 20"RI
200 Kick, 300 LVL2 (NO RI)

Main Set
4 x (25 LVL4, 25 Balanced Body Position) 20"RI
200 LVL4 (Negative Splits) 30"RI
4 x (25 LVL4, 25 Finger Tip Drag) 20"RI
200 LVL4 ((Negative Splits) 30"RI
4 x (25 LVL4, 25 Distance Per Stroke) 20"RI
100 LVL4 (N/S) 30"RI
300 LVL3 (FORM)

Cool Down
100 LVL2

Tomorrow I'll be up super duper early to head out to Del Valle for the 1 mile Aqua Challenge (with wetsuit). This is an offical event and then afterwards we are running with the team. I'm super duper nervous but it'll be a great way to gauge where I am with my swimming in the open water with my wetsuit on and with a bunch of people swimming around me. Wish me luck :o(

Happy Weekend!

Mean Mean Man

The Mean Mean Man, Coach Paul, scheduled our workout at the Alameda Ferry Terminal last night. He kept warning us about the wind there but I've run there before and it's never been horribly bad, umm boy was I wrong. What a difference between the morning weather and the evening weather :O( It was CRAZY windy which explained why we were doing our brick there. The crazy 20 mph wind while riding our bike was like going up a never ending hill and we were suppose to ride into the wind at Level 7 or 8.....YIKES!! Everything about the workout was a bit tough but I felt good and it was, I must admit, a great workout. It made up for us skipping swimming on Tuesday.

Run 4 minutes out and 4 minutes back
(0.83 miles - 8.58 minutes)

Bike down Harbor Bay Parkway from Ferry Terminal and ride into South Loop Road at Level 3-4. Turn back to Harbor Bay Parkway with headwind and ride at Level 7-8.
(3.48 miles - 15:48 minutes)

Run 5 minutes out and 5 minutes back
(0.97 miles - 10:51 minutes)

Bike down Harbor Bay Parkway from Ferry Terminal and ride into South Loop Road at Level 3-4. Turn back to Harbor Bay Parkway with headwind and ride at Level 7-8.
(3.52 miles - 17:28 minutes)

Run 5 minutes out and 5 minutes back
(0.84 miles - 9:29 minutes)

Workout Totals - 9.45 miles combined bike/run took me 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Tonight we go back to the pool.

and he's not really a mean mean man :o) he's a nice man who pushed us like crazy last night. THANK YOU Coach Paul.

Baseball = EXPENSIVE

Last night we skipped swimming and went to the Giant's game with all our knitting friends and family. We had a blast and to my surprise it was not as cold as I had anticipated it to be. It was a very fun evening. Now my complaint, holy smokes when did it go so darn expensive to go to a game? Our tickets were only $20 which is a great day but we ended up spending $60 by the time we paid for parking and ate :o( Parking was $30 and food was $30 :O( that is no fun. How does a family of let's say 4 or 5 afford to go to a game. GEESH! Me no like.

Noticeable Progress

I am feeling very happy and content today. This weekend showed me that the last 7 weeks of training and training hard are paying off and that the next 7 weeks will really prepare me for race day. I needed a good week because I was really starting to worry. I'm tired and I'm sore but it was a great training weekend.

Friday - Family Reunion in Granite Bay

Rocky and I headed to Granite Bay for Day one of the Reyes Family Reunion. I had to be super duper good and not drink and eat like a piggy because of training. I did great on the drinking part, only had 2 beers with lunch and then drank water and an electolyte drink the rest of they. Didn't do so great on the food since it was catered from Mexican restaurant and OMG it was so good :o) I also had a bit of a headache when we got home cause it was HOT out there. We had such a fun time though and will post pictures when everyone sends them to us. THANKS CHRIS & HIDEKO for hosting.

Saturdy - Open Water Swim @ Aquatic Park, SF/Run (+Family Reunion & Fundraiser)

Phil, Amy & I carpooled into SF on Saturday morning and believe you me we were all freaking out. All 3 of us wanted to barf on our way over. Thanks guys for not doing that in my car...LOL. that would have been bad.

We were nervous and all had butterflies in our bellies about jumping into the bay for a swim. I too felt like Phil, that it didn't look as bad as we had expected. I really thought I'd be out in the open bay even though I'd heard there were a few breakwalls there I dunno I just couldn't picture anything but swimming in the open ocean. It was not like that at all and it actually was just like swimming at Shadow Cliffs but a bit colder and a bit choppier. Coach Paul told us to just jump in because inching in a little by little just made it worse. So we did, we jumped right in and swam. I made a quick observation right away. I am getting fast in the pool and I can swim fast at Shadow Cliffs but not so much in the open water. It's going to take a few more swims to get there. I had a hard time breathing, it was choppy and I swam in a zig zag because apparently I can't swim straight, haa, haa. I kept crossing the bouys and I was just all over the place. I'm also still trying to get used to the wetsuit again and swimming in it is still a bit tough and a little tight around the arms, it'll get better though. I only freaked out once when I started to think about sharks and I quickly told myself to STOP IT!!! I got around 1.5 times which I guess equals 1/2 a mile. Not too bad for my first open water swim. I was actually okay with how it all went.

Out of the water and onto the run.

We changed out of our wetsuits and tried to dry off as much as we could and then went on our run which was actually part of the Nike Half Marathon course so I knew what too expect, ummm a hill, YIKES!!! Olympic was to do 45 minutes total. I have no idea how long it took me because once again I forgot my watch :o( but I did mapmyrun when I got home and I ran 4 miles total and felt GREAT :o) woohoo, finally a good run. I think the fact that it was cool really helped me out. I went home tired but very happy with the results of my workout. OHHHH and I RAN up the hill, once again I RAN up the hill. I NEVER run up that hill :o) more proof that all this crazy training is helping out so much.

We stopped by to get breakfast at the Coffee Mill in Oakland, yummy, and then headed home. No time for a nap :o( did some stuff around the house, showered and headed to Daly City for the Family Reunion Festivities.

I had dinner with everyone, once again it was all so yummy although I did do much better on overeating and drinking. I stayed for a couple of hours and then headed to San Francisco to a teammates fundraiser but only stayed for about an hour and then headed home. Felt like such the party pooper, sorry Olivia :o( I finally made it home and totally passed out, I was exhausted.

Sunday - Bike (+Family Reunion)

Sunday I was up early again and headed out to Walnut Creek to meet the team for our bike ride. Olympic distance was to do 50 minutes out and 50 minutes back but I decided to go for mileage and do 25 miles. I took 2 hours and 2 minutes :o) a bit slow and hoping in the next few weeks I can shave some of that time off. I had a great ride although it was chilly and we had a nasty headwind coming back so even though it was mostly a downhill coming back I wasn't going very fast. I did accomplish a few things though :o) which I'm happy about.

I figured out how to only clip out of one pedal when coming to a stop sign. This is huge because then I don't waste time trying to clip back into both pedals while at a stop light. Sometimes I'd have such a hard time that the light would change to red again and I wasn't clipped back in :o( no fun. So that was huge for me.

I also got a few tips from Coach Paul on how to hydrate and eat on the bike and I DID IT :o) I drank my electrolytes without falling over or without losing my water bottle while trying to put it back. I also ate my sharkies on the way back. That's also a big step for me.

I was bummed for most of the ride that AGAIN I was all alone while riding but hey I had a great ride and I accomplished new things so that made my day :o)

After the ride I headed home cause my hubby was waiting for me and we headed back to Daly City for day 3 of the reunion. I literally sat in the same chair ALL DAY chatting away with my sister-in-laws and other lady cousins. We had so much fun chatting and laughing. Managed to control the eating and drinking which again was good but hard. So much good food :o) Hubby and I went home and took our older niece and nephew with us to spend the night. I again passed out from exhaustion but it was a great day.

Today I am at work while hubby is at Water World in Concord with all the other kids and some of the familes that are still in town. Hopefully the weather warmed up for them.

Week 7 Complete and I am a happy camper :o) and now on to week 8.

Family Time

This weekend will be a very busy weekend for us, it's the annual Reyes Family Reunion weekend. This year it's Rocky's parents turn to host so all the festivities will be held here in the bay area. I'll be missing part of the festivities because of training :o( but I'll be hanging out with everyone in the afternoons.

Today is day 1 of the festivities and they are being kicked off at my brother/sister-in-laws house in Granite Bay. We are heading out there shortly for some fun in the sun. It's always a fun weekend and we look forward to it.

Last nights workout went well :o) I got my sleep the night before and I was much more alert.

2600 yards = 1.48 miles (1 hour 6 minutes)

Warm Up:
6x100 (25 LVL2, 25 choice drill, 25 LVL2, choice drill)
8 x 25 build (15" RI)
100 LVL 2

Main Set:
4x100 LVL 5 (15" RI)
300 LVL2
3x100 LVL 5 (10" RI)
300 LVL2
3x100 LVL5 (15" RI)

Cool Down:
100 LVL 2

Tomorrow I swim at Aquatic Park, YIKES, DOUBLE YIKES and TRIPLE YIKES!!! wish me luck.

Phil, thanks for the nice comment :O) must have been your bike I saw. Darn how that girl gets to me.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dig Deep

People continue to think it's funny that I have to go to sleep no later than 10pm and that I have to have my 8 hours of sleep or I can't function. I DID NOT have 8 hours on Tuesday, I had more like 4 :o( I could not go to sleep cause I kept thinking about everything I needed to have for yesterday's workout and for Saturday's swim :o( the doggies were good even though Rocky was gone but when he got home of course they got crazy and of course even though Rocky tries to be quiet I still wake up. Anyway it was a bad night. I was falling alseep at work all day and yikes, I was falling asleep driving to practice. Not good.

Workout was suppose to be

10 min out and 10 min back bike ride
5 min out and 5 min back run
10 min out and 10 min back bike ride
5 min out and 5 min back run
5 minute out and 5 min back bike ride cool down

My workout went more like this

10 min out/back bike ride (struggling, feeling lathargic and just plain exhausted)
5 min out/back run
10 min out/back run

I put my cycling stuff on to do the second 10 out/back but then decided I was just to tired and took them all off and declared I was done with th cycling :o( Coach Adam told me this is when we dig deep, I so sorry but I have no energy for digging :o(

I decided to go for a longer run so instead of 10 minutes I did 20 minutes. I then came back and did ride my bike on the grassy area (to break a fall in case I fell) and practiced clipping out of only one pedal (my left) so that when I come to a stop sign or stop light I don't have to fully clip out of my pedals. I haven't learned that yet and always seem to topple over. Went well and now I'm hoping I can actually do it on the ride on Sundsay.

Then I got all emotional (no one noticed, phew) because I was standing waiting for the team to finish and I turned to where my bike was and saw that the person next to me had a picture of Brenda on it, boo, hoo :o( made sad.

I am feeling much better today and hope to have a good swim. I'll give the brick workout a better try next week.

Quick Swim

Last night the schedule has us doing 2400 yards (1.36 miles) which is only 200 yards less than what the last few weeks have beends but it seems like we got done pretty quick. When Amy finished she even thought she had missed doing something in the workout. She was only like 50/75 yards behind me and Phil. By 8pm we were done :o) The schedule did call for shorter distance during each section so it could be that although we were doing some Level 8's that because the distance was shorter we weren't getting as tired, I dunno, or maybe we are just getting fast :o) I think we all felt pretty good though.

Warm Up:
300 LVL2
200 Kick
100 LVL2
200 Kick

Main Set:
2 x 250 (100 LVL4, 50 LVL8, 100 LVL4), 30" RI
4 x 150 (50 LVL 4, 50 LVL8, 50 LVL4), 20" RI
4 x 100 (25 LVL4, 25 LVL8, 25 LVL4, 25 LVL8), 15" RI

Cool Down:
100 LVL 2

Tonight we are running/biking, should be interesting and it's going to be a very long day. I had to get up a little earlier so I could pack up the bike in the car :o(

I picked up one of these last night:



It's going to keep my little head/ears warm when we swim at Aquatic Park this weekend, boohoo. I also need to pick up some booties to keep my feet warm.

Weight Loss Update

I hadn't updated on my weight loss because I really hadn't lost a single pound. It drives me bananas and I have to remember that now that I'm training 5-6 days a week that I'm building muscle and that I need to stop looking at the number on the scale. I have lost lots of fat though and I think my body is shifting in different places. My clothes does seem looser and a few people have metioned that I look a bit leaner :o) I sure hope so. Anyway, I have lost 2 pounds now so that's great. Hopefully I can keep them off and not eat them back up this weekend, LOL!!!

Another Reason......

Adrian Sudbury has been a reporter for both the Huddersfield Express and Chronicle Series and the Huddersfield Examiner. In November 2006 the 25-year-old was promoted to digital journalist, effectively editing the new-look Examiner website. Just two days into his new role he became seriously ill and called in sick. A week later he drove himself to A&E and was eventually diagnosed with leukaemia. It was then identified that he actually has two distinct types of the disease running at the same time. According to the medical literature he is the only person in the world to have this condition. As such, it has not been possible to offer Adrian a prognosis. Here he shares his experiences of the disease and his treatment.

Petition for Better Awareness

ADRIAN Sudbury is a 26-year-old journalist who has battled two forms of leukaemia for the past 18 months. His treatment included a bone marrow transplant. Sadly for him, it failed and he has been given weeks to live. There are 7,000 people out there waiting for a transplant right now. Adrian is using his final weeks to raise awareness of the need for more people to register as bone marrow donors. He wants better education in schools, colleges and other education institutions about how to become a donor and why it is important. This system is in place in Germany – a country with one of the fullest donor registers. Adrian wants the Government to require educational institutions to commit to including these issues in either the curriculum or pastoral care programme. If you agree, please sign your name and help support a brave man in his campaign.

Itty Bitty Mini Tri

Week 6 has come to and end and it really was a recovery week for me. I didn't quite get in the 5 days of training I've been doing so good at :o( oh well, I think it still went well though and it was a recovery week anyway, right?

Saturday we were suppose to do a spring distace triathlon but it didn't quite work out that way so things had to be moved around a bit. We were at Campolindo in Moraga and Moraga Road had major construction going on so it wasn't safe for us to be on it on our bikes.

The morning started with a wetsuit clinic since everyone was getting their wetsuits, I'm using the one I have from Wildflower, no need for a new one. It was pretty funny watching everyone get into them, those darn things are such pain in the rear. No matter how many suggestions you get on how to put them on it's just not easy and by the time you end up in it you feel like a sausage.

After we got our wetsuits on we were to swim in the pool with them for 5 minutes. Not too long because you can overheat in them so it was a quick swim just so everyone could get a taste of how it feels to swim in them. Then we had to get out and take them off and the hop back in the pool for a 15 minute warm up. I'm not quite sure how many laps I did during my warmup but I felt pretty good. After the warm up we started our mini triathlon. Olympic team did 500 yards and then it was out of the water to our bikes. The bike ride was about 1.8 miles the first half all UPHILL but I did it :o) slowly but I did it. Then it was the run and it was the same loop as the bike so all UPHILL and although my legs were a bit sluggish I actually ran the whole thing...woohooo. I was prettye excited because I NEVER run the hills :o) yay me!


and that was it :o( workout was over. I think it took way longer to get ready for this workout then it did to actually do it. It was a good day though and then I headed home.

Sunday I didn't feel like driving all the way back out to the other side of the tunnel so I figured I'd run on my own at Lake Merritt but ummm, oopsy that never did happen. For some reason I was insanely tired and Saturday was also a bad eating evening for me and I'd had a couple of beers so I was feeling sluggish. So no run :o(

Today starts week 7 of training and the only thing on my brain right now is that on Saturday I have to swim at Aquatic Park in San Francisco.....aaaaahhhhhhh....I am mentally not ready to go jump in the bay :o( I'm scared :o(

Blueberry Girl

Try stuffing this into a size 6 wetsuit

I know, I know, I'm not this big but OMG I felt this big last night. It took both Rocky and I to squash me into my wetsuit. It fits but very SNUG and let me tell you that I sweated like a piggy just trying to get it on and off. I told Rocky I must lose 10 lbs very very quickly and he said maybe I should just walk around in my wetsuit for the next few days and I'd probably sweat it off, haa, haa. It's true, it was pretty icky and I wasn't in it more than 5 minutes. I'm NOT looking forward to having to wear it and swim in it tomorrow :o( not sure if I can even move my arms to swim, fun stuff!

Anyway on to happier things. We had our Thursday night swim last night and all went well.

2600 yards (should have been 2550 but I miscounted and did an extra 50, oops) = 1.48 miles took about 1:13

Warm Up

200 LVL2, 200 Kick, 200 PULL
2 x (25 LVL2, 25 Side Balanced Body Position) (10”RI)
2 x (25 LVL2, 25 Balanced Body Roll) (10”RI)

Main Set

6 x 100 LVL 5-6 (RACE PACE) 15”RI
6 x 100 LVL 6-7 (Slightly faster than Race Pace) 20”RI
6 x 25 DPS 30”RI
5 x 100 LVL5 (20”RI)

Cool Down

100 LVL1

We are scheduled to swim/bike/run tomorrow and run again on Sunday.

GOOD LUCK CHRIS

at Death Ride this weekend!

*Death Ride-129 miles and 15,000+ feet of climing, YIKES!!*

Running? No Way Jose!

I surely thought that our run workout would be canceled yesterday but it wasn't. I think quite a few of us were surprised because once again we had a bad air quality day and it was 104 on this side of the tunnel :o( I know me and my body and I am a WIMP when it comes to the heat. I almost melted going to grab lunch so there was no way I was going to attempt running. I didn't even attempt going on my walk, it was just way too hot. Instead off to the pool we went.

I called the pool earlier in the day and the pipe that had broken on Tuesday was fixed and the pool was back up and running. Amy and I decided to do Tuesday's workout last night. I was able to hang out at Amy's house til the pool opened...THANK YOU AMY...so that was nice cause I didn't have to sit in my car for 2 hours in the 104 degree weather. Once again we had "issues" once we got there mainly because it was insanely packed and people shared our lane. One lady who should have been in the recreational section because I think she swam a total of 2 laps and then hugged the wall and another lady who was super duper fast and kept lapping us which was confusing me :o( tonight should be interesting. I thought the pool would be warm since it was 104 out when we started but it was actually nice and cool and felt really good.

We did 2650 yards = 1.50 miles (took me 1:06)

Warm Up
300 LVL2, 100 K (NO RI)
2 x (25 LVL2, 25 SBBP) (10”RI)
2 x (25 LVL2, 25 BBR) (10”RI)

Main Set
3 x 150 LVL3 (10”RI)
200 (100 LVL8, 100 K LVL8)
3 x 150 LVL5 (15”RI)
200 (100 LVL5, 100 K LVL5)
3 x 150 LVL8 (30”RI)
200 (100 LVL2, 100 K LVL2)

Cool Down
100 LVL1

Dumb Pool :o(

:o( We've had some challenges with swimming at the San Ramon Aquatic Center and it's getting frustrating. There are plenty of pools to swim at in Oakland but I chose to swim in San Ramon because it's cleaner, bigger and because I have Phil and Amy. It has been very good for me to have them both because we all push each other. There is no way I'd get through the workouts if I was doing them alone. The bad part about swimming at SR is that I have to stay in Danville til 7pm (summer hours) when the pool opens. I've been trying to walk 3 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays to kill the time which is good for me to do and sometimes if I need to run errands then I do that instead. It's still a pain though but it's worth it to have my swim buddies :o) Last night I ran errands and got to the pool at 6:30 to a sign on the door that said "LAP POOL CLOSED SORRY FOR THE INCONVINIENCE" WHAT? WHY? urrggghhhhhhh, urrrrgghhhh, I could have just gone home or we could have gone to the pool in Walnut Creek or even nasty Shadow Cliffs :o( I called Phil and Amy and didn't do our workout. I had dinner with Amy instead, darn POOL! I guess something broke and it's suppose to be fixed by today.

There is a huge possiblity that our run will be cancelled since it's suppose to be even hotter today. It was 107 here in Danville yesterday, YUCK!!! I am going to call the pool today and if whatever broke is fixed today then we'll do our swim workout today. I may try to walk my 3 miles but we'll see. I almost melted away yesterday just walking to my car which is not far at all :o( Good thing this week (week 6) is our second recovery week so taking it easy is okay.

Week 5 Recap

Week 5 went well for me and I'm happy with how it ended to because I was a bit worried about Saturday's bike ride. We tend to be negative at times about our ability to perform all the workouts and in the end all 3 of us do them and are always suprised about it. I'm really proud of all of us for how hard we have been pushing ourselves especially on our swim days. It can get tough at times.

The swims last week were intense and long but we did great :o) YAY AMY & PHIL!

Because of the holiday and my birthday festivities I did not run on Friday or Sunday, bad girl :o) so last week I only worked out 3 days, oopsy!

I was very worried about Saturday's workout because we were riding in the Pleasanton/Sunol area and although there aren't any insane Oakland Hills hills it's still rolling hills and I do not do well on them. The bike has been my biggest challenge and it's what worries me the most for race day. We started out our day with a bike clinic and then a tire changing clinic. I was actually pretty happy with changing my tire, I had one minor issue but once the coach showed me what I was doing wrong I got my tire hanged on back on the bike :o)

Oh and between bike clinic and riding our training captain, Anthea, thought it'd be cool to have the WHOLE team sing Happy Birthday to me, uhhhh I think I turned 30 shades of red :o(


Then it was off to ride. The Olympic team was to do 90 minutes although right before we took off they said to do 50 minutes out and 50 minutes so I did :o) I felt icky for the first 7 miles and was really struggling up the little hills but at one point Coach Paul came up behind me and told me when to shift and where my chaing should be while we were going up the hill. Then he did it again coming down the hill. OMG, two little tips and what a difference. How come no one told me this before? I'm not going uphill at 30 mph but WOW I can actually get up a hill without wanting to cry, I'm slow but hey I can get up it and my legs don't feel like they are going to fall off or like I'm gonna need to stop and probably won't be able to stop and fall over on my bike cause I'm clipped in.....can you tell I have anxiety about hills? :o( Anyway, the tips helped and I managed to get in 22 miles. I was very happy with getting it done...YAY ME!

Funny Boys!

These two boys don't ususally drink wine but they did great on Saturday with trying it out and were silly while they were at it.

4th of July & Birthday Fun

I'll have to update on training tomorrow or this will end up being a SUPER long post. So let's start with the fun stuff :O)

Friday Rocky, the doggies and I headed out to Lafayette for a picnic with the gang :O).

THANKS OLIVIA for getting out there a lot earlier to grab us a spot. It was a very nice spot.

Rocky & I had agreed to bring some yummy tri-tip as the main meat dish so we got up a bit early to start cooking. I didn't go on my scheduled run so we were able to sleep in a little which was nice. As soon as the food was done we headed out. There was a nice array of food and about 20 of us out there. We ate, we chit chatted and just relaxed. It was nice being with the gang, we had a great time and it turned out to be such a nice day. Warm but not like this 107 degree crazy weather we are having today.

I'm not sure why but when we got home I was exhausted. All I did was eat, drink and talk all day, it was tiring though :o) Even the doggies were pooped. This was the car ride home :o)

Since Rocky and I both had to be up early for my bike ride and his run we decided to skip the fireworks and just go home and relax. We are glad we did. We gave the doggies a bath, took showers ourselves and I think I passed out by 8:30 :o)

Saturday was a very long day for both of us but it was a great day and I had a great birthday.

I started out my day by heading out to Foothill High in Pleasanton. Our team had a scheduled bike ride, Olympic team did 90 minutes. I had given someone a ride in so afterwards I had to take her home, then stopped to get some food on my way home in Montclair, went home and ate lunch with Rocky, then went back to Montclair to get my eye brows waxed and buy some hair supplies. I realized at this time that I had NO CAKE ordered for my bday so I placed a SOS call to Olivia and she helped me out...THANK YOU...I had to make a trip to the mall to find bottoms for my birthday outfit and so by the time I got home it was 3:30 :o( I attempted to take a quick nap but with all the text messaging and phone calls that didn't happen, boo, hoo. We got ready and headed out of the house at 6pm and made it right on time to my 6:30 party.

I decided to have my birthday at Artisan Wine Lounge & Cafe in Walnut Creek. It is a very cute place, casual but nice with lots of yummy food, sangria and great wine choices. I had a great time and I think everyone else did too.

THANK YOU for a wonderful evening to my hubby and all our great friends and family. The night couldn't have turned out better.

After everyone left Artisan a few of us decided to head to 1515 to check it out and continue the party. I think we were all pretty exhausted though because we plooped ourselves at a table, had a few drinks and some pizza and then headed out.

Good thing we didn't attempt to go dancing because I don't think any of us would have made it...haa, haa. Gosh we are getting old :O) When we got home I opened up all my lovely gifts and then hit the sack.

Sunday I got to sleep in a little and then I headed out to Walnut Creek to have brunch with Olivia and Lindsay. Afterwards I walked around a little and then went home. I just lounged around for the afternoon and watched tv. I also looked online for doggies.

So Misty did not work out for my parents and they had to return her to the humane society :O( I told them not to pick up another one and I would help them find one. I did some research online and found a few in their area although I think because of the holiday weekend some people didn't repond back or maybe they had sold the puppies. My dad did take a trip to a place though that fosters dogs first before adopting them out which means they know a little bit more about the dogs. He said the place was icky though :o( and the doggies didn't look all that great. So that didn't work out. I found a dog here in Martinez around 4ish so Rocky and I took a drive to look at it and OMG she was adorable. I had emailed my dad the pictures and asked him what he thought. I couldn't buy the dog though til I heard from him, no more doggies in our house :o( So as we are just getting home my dad called and said go for it. Haa, haa, so I had to get back in my car and go get her before she got sold. We brought her home and set her up in the bathroom. She was a good little girl, PHEW!! Good thing cause I was thinking it would be a sleepless night. Well then the dilema of how to get her to my dad and after a few phone calls and emails we deciced to meet in Buttonwillow (near Bakersfield).

Monday I had a day off so it worked out great. I drove 4 hours and my parents drove about 2 and we met in Buttonwillow and did the doggie hand off. They really liked her. How could you now? She's adorable.

We only had her for about 12 hours but Rocky and I really liked her and wanted to keep her, haa, haa. Yes, can you say crazy dog lady? Now starts the fun of puppyhood with potty training her but as long as they stay consistent and in charge I think it'll go well. It only took about a week for the other dog to start going outside. I keep telling my dad not to feel bad if she cries when she's in her crate or contained in the house. That's part of it, right? No feeling bad or she'll RULE the house. Kind of like in my house. Doggies are in charge and we just live there, haa, haa.

Anyway, so this is Misty Version 2

I left our home at 9am and arrived in Buttonwillow at 1pm and we hung out and chatted until 2pm and then I drove home. I made it home by 6pm. I had stopped by Harris Ranch to potty and take Daisy out for a walk. Oh, Daisy made the trip with me and she was NOT a happy camper. It was hot and although she did sleep most of the way, she missed Patch. Anywho, I got some yummy fresh steaks at Harris Ranch for dinner :o) I got home and hubby cooked and we had a nice BBQ dinner. I relaxed a bit and got my stuff ready for swimming tonight and work today.

Phew, I'm tired again just from writing all that.

Train a Little, Eat a Little, Drink a Little!

I'm so excited and sooooo ready for the long weekend. It should be a fun filled weekend with friends and family. Tomorrow we are having a BBQ and Saturday celebrating my 32nd Birthday...yikes! I do however still have training so I've got to be a good girl and kind of watch what I eat and drink.

Tonight we have a LONG swim workout and tomorrow I must attempt to go for a run but right now the fact that I actually get to sleep in and not have to work sounds so good that even a workout sounds poopy. Saturday we have a bike ride and Sunday another run but I really do plan on taking Sunday off. Since I'm off on Monday maybe I'll go for a run then. Who knows, it's my birthday and I can do whatever I want! So there! So I'm gonna play it by ear.

Last night we had to do a bike ride on our own but our mentor decided to have a mentor social for our group and one other mentor group. It was hosted by one of our honorees and his wife, our honoree captain. There was lots of yummy food and it was fun getting to know the other people on my team, we even got to bring our hubby's and wifey's.

Have a safe and great holiday weekend!

Aqua Challenge

Aqua and Challenge in the same title, that makes my belly a little woozy. We got our weekly email from Coach Paul this week and among lots of other topics one of them is signing up for the Del Valle Aqua Challenge on July 26th...YIKES! It's basically a 1 mile swim with wetsuit at Del Valle. Hmmm, wonder if the water their is just as gross as Shadow Cliffs? This race makes me a bit nervous because I'm 100% certain that there will be some very competitive people there and I sure hope they don't squash me, hit me or drown me. It will however be a good workout and a good way to judge where I am with my swimming. I am doing pretty good, well I'd like to think I"m doing good, in the pool but of course even though we are doing over a mile in workouts it's not a cotinuous swim, this will be. However, that's not all. After this 1 mile aqua challenge we are having a coached run. Should make for an interesting workout. Swim a mile and then run what I am assuming will be no fewer than 3 miles.

Last nights workout went well and I'm happy with my performance and I think Amy and Phil did good as well :o) 2600 yards = 1.48 miles (took Phil & I about 1 hour 10 minutes)

Warm Up:
2 x 200 LVL2 (15”RI)
2 x 25 Finger Tip Drag (15”RI)
2 x 25 Distance Per Stroke (15”RI)

Main Set:
2 x 250 LVL5 (15”RI)
4 x 50 (25 DPS, 25 Build) 15”RI
2 x 200 LVL6 (15”RI)
4 x 50 (25 BBR, 25 Build) 15”RI
2 x 150 LVL6 (15”RI)
300 LVL3 (Focus on Form)

Cool Down:
100 LVL1, 100 BF

The distances are getting higher and I really didn't think that we'd finish before the pool closed but because we had to do most of the workout at high levels we did finish in time. Phil and I finished a little before Amy and then we waited for her. By the time Amy and I got showered and dressed it was 9pm, we came out to the parking lot and found this:



a very empty parking lot :o(

I grabbed a bit to eat on the way home, got home and unpacked, played with doggies for a bit and got a care package ready for my parents and Misty :o) and then hit the sack.

OHHHHH wait, me forgot.

I also RAN 3.15 miles before I went to the swim. Haa, haa, how could I forget. It's why my legs are a bit sore today. I actually ran this time and it's downhill on the way out but all uphill on the way back. I felt pretty good though so I'm happy with the run. 3.15 miles in 38.19 minuts.

New Family Member

Meet Misty, she is a 1 year old Chihuahua and weighs about 10 lbs.

doesn't she look like someone else we know :o)

If my sister-in-law is reading this she probably just had a slight heart attack and thought OH NO THEY DIDN'T get another dog!! :o) and I'm sure some of you are thinking I've turned into the crazy dog lady.

I haven't.

Misty is my parents new doggie. They adopted her yesterday from the Ventura Humane Society. She looks just like our Patchie Poo but skinnier :O) They are now starting the process of potty training which I wish them much luck on. It's a lot of work but the one good thing for them that we don't have is a doggie door leading to an area she can go walk around on her own at and do her business. I'm sure she'll learn fast. I know they've missed having a doggie since our old one was put to sleep :o( so I'm happy for them and that they finally got a new doggie.

Doggies make your heart happy :o)