Open Water Swim

Today the team did an open water swim. It was in the bay. All I could think about beforehand was every time PJ goes swimming in the bay, its followed by a vet bill for antibiotics.

I rented a triathlon wetsuit from Sports Basement. Waiting for the rental, the girl in front of me was another TnT teammate. I hadn't really talked to her since one of the first runs. She was complaining about trying on the wetsuit. I knew exactly what she meant because every suit I've had to put on for diving was a challenge.

When it was my turn I got sized for a suit and went to try it on. This suit fit me like a glove, not too tight, easy to get on and off. That was the easiest wetsuit I've ever put on. It was also probably the thinnest, my dive suit takes about 25-30 lbs to get my head under the water.

I met the team at Redwood Shores. We all put on our suits. The instructors gave a little how-to but again, my suit was super easy to get on. I started to wonder if something was wrong with my suit, but it felt perfect.

We jumped into the water. YIKES ITS COLD!

This water was gross. It is the bay, kinda. It looked to me like a big canal. We did a warmup swim across the canal/lake/bay, whatever, to the instructor in the kayak and back. The instructors gave us some tips like "you should put your head in the water." Gross!

I did it. I had my goggles on but you definitely couldn't see anything in this water. It was just green with some yellow wash from the swimmer ahead of you. I decided to not think about it and just try and swim the triangle. The goal was to keep form and learn to spot your markers. I liked having swimmers on the side of me. I had to breath every stroke and always on my left side because that is where I'm most comfortable. Argh, I swallowed some water. GROSS!!

I made it back to the dock but I swallowed some more of that water. I would get it in my mouth, try and cough and end up swallowing it. This was not going very well. The coaches told us to swim the loop again, they were busy with rescues. Some people had to be rescued, nothing serious just some freak-outs.

I kicked off again. I know we aren't going to have wetsuits in Hawaii and this worried me a little. The suit was really helping me float. I noticed I was not kicking a few times but still keeping up with the swimmer to my left, maybe I need to the flotation help.

We got out and had to quickly change and then take off on a run. We ran around the office park, through Redwood Shores neighborhood and then back to the dock. Elisabeth passed me and she was really running great. I hadn't seen her in a few weeks but she was definitely a new person. Before I could out run her, which is a little sad, but now she was kicking butt. I was really impressed and even more committed that I had to continue to run even by myself.

After the first loop I was glad to be done, then disappointed when I found out I wasn't. I was committed to not stopping. I really want to finish this triathlon successfully and have to push myself just a little further. We passed some geese on the run, which means we had to try and avoid the geese poop. I noticed it was green and the same color as the water. That was a really unpleasant thought. I finished strong.

Everyone was going to "Hang with the Gang" but just the thought of eating before a shower was too much for me. Besides, I love Saturday mornings with the kids and it was only 10:30. I went straight home.

No Baby Sitter

Tuesday's workout is always at the track. Its also the hardest day for me to go to a team workout because its Cameron and Jeff's Little Gym date. Tonight's theme is "Bring a friend" and Cameron asked to bring Hannah. So David and Hannah were going along. Typically Riley goes over to Hannah's house so I can make the practice, but that is a no-go for tonight.

Knowing that I had to do something else, I asked Chris if he wanted to go for a run. He was going to the gym and he didn't think he could keep up with me. I have to say this was more than funny to me. I'm such a bad runner, I don't think I'm better than anyone.

Finally I convinced him and we went for a run. I asked him to lead the run because....well....I might get lost. (Yes I have been working in MTV for years...but did you read my last post?) It was a good run.

We went about 4.5 miles. At the end of the run Chris announced the corner would be the end, so I took off. He was surprised and cursed me for the sprint, but of course he had to catch me. No way was he going to let me "win". After the run I went to my last meeting, lucky for Jaq it was VC.

I missed the practice but I didn't feel like a total slacker. I felt good and I had just run. This is a good sign.

Thank goodness for Google Maps

Most people who know me know that I'm a bit directionally challenged. Okay probably more than a bit. I've been lost hundreds(??) of times. I even get lost when I revisit places I've been before. Its really sad actually because my instincts are generally good except when it comes to navigation.

At the kickoff of the team bike ride, Coach Mike announced he did not have any maps, but the route was simple. We were doing the Portola Loop. It sounded familiar. "Head towards Woodside, take Whiskey Hill, left on Sand Hill," something about a familiar intersection Junipera Serra and Foothill was the wrong direction, "right on Alpine, left on Portola, left on Whiskey Hill, back to the start. And if you get confused or separated, just stop and let others catch up to you at the intersections."

Well I headed off. The usual happened, the fast group takes off, but I'm able to keep them in my sights. There are some people between me and the fast group so I feel pretty comfortable. We come to a light and I see it change after the fast group pass it. Still okay I catch up with the fast stragglers.

We head off together. They get ahead of me but not too far. I look back and don't really see anyone close. They are pretty far back. Coming down Sand Hill I get another light and I'm separated from the second fast group, but I can still see them. I see them make the turn so I know where to go......

At the turn I notice it is the same intersection we've taken when we start the ride in Menlo Park. Its all extremely familiar because I think Joe and I rode this section. I take the turn and follow another biker who seemed to be with us, everyone has a bright jacket.

I ride along, I see Page Mill, 280, am I on Alpine? Uh, I'm on Foothill. That is exactly where Coach Mike said I should be. I stop. I'm so happy that I brought my phone, which I actually thought about leaving, not sure now why. I pull up Google Maps. Yep I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I find a route back to Arastadero. Looks like I can take it back to Alpine. So I do it.

This next part of the ride was all about thinking what the team will think when I finally get back. Am I going to get back in time to still do the run? Will the team still be there? Will they notice I'm not there? Afterall the "Hang with the Gang" is a BBQ honoring the honorees. Its a date to meet all of them together, including the young girl Jensen who has been in the hospital since we started training.

Wow, seems like a lot of climbing, but I'm really pushing it. Enjoying any downhill or flat section. I stopped a few more times to check the map. A couple of times I thought I should take a left not a right, but that would have been way worse. Gotta get back to the course.

Finally find Alpine. I'm pedalling hard when I pass a few people who look really familiar, but I don't stop I want to get back. I turn on Portola, now I think the next turn is Whiskey. Then Portola turns and the road I'm on turns into Sand Hill. Stop! Phone! Man the phone is slow here.

As I'm looking at my phone someone stops behind me. She says, "Are you with Team in Training?"

"Yes the tri-team, I'm trying to catch up to them. I got really lost."

"I'm on that team, the people behind me are too. Its Todd the mentor. A bunch of people got lost and everyone is out looking for them. We are supposed to turn on Whisky Hill from here."

I ask her if we continue on Sand Hill or turn. She has no idea. We wait for the group behind us. "Go straight!" says Todd.

I take off, thinking I just want to get back. I see Whiskey Hill but its not marked at all. I know its the right turn because I remember the horse ranch from my ride with Joe. I take the turn. I can't even see the group behind me.

I get back, change my shoes, load up the bike, and wobble to the check in. Everyone is still here but looks like they are done with the run. I see my mentor and Coach Mike. I tell them I got lost and Coach Mike looks sheepishly at me and apologizes for not having a map. They tell me there are several people they are looking for so I'm not the last after all.

Turns out the 21 mile loop was a 27 mile ride for me. I skipped the run, I was really tired. This is probably the first bike ride I've done where my legs ached. Its so stressful being lost, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.

I did the "Go Team!" cheer and just went home. I figured Jeff would get a kick out of hearing I got lost... again.

Back in the Pool

I took the week off because it was a short week (President's day), I was close to max vacation, and I wanted to really focus on training. I decided that I would swim everyday and try and either run or ride as well. I finally made it back to the NASA pool for swimming and tonight was training with the team.

I've not been swimming with the team in weeks due to a really hectic schedule. I thought my form was really improved and even Coach Megan commented that I was looking great. We did several warm-up laps. Then we did 4x of drill exercises (2 regular stroke laps, 1 drill of choice, 1 kick only). "Okay time for practice" says the coach. "Uh....What?"

So lets just say, I was tired already. Now each lane team had to swim in pairs to other side. We staggered kickoffs and when we all made it to the other side we headed back. The goal was to do as many laps as we could before sprints. "Uh.... What?"

I tried to keep my form the entire time. That was my goal, along with limiting the amount of time I took for rests. I, surprisingly to myself, was doing really well, typically catching the pair in front of me. All together we did about 11-12 laps. Coach Megan assured me that now that my form was good, endurance was all I needed now.

I had a great time swimming with the team. It seems, like running, I do much better when I'm with someone else. I think I'm not able to motivate myself and only need a bit of peer pressure to push myself across the finish line. Anybody want to run?

Campbell's Valentine Run

A few weeks ago I got mail from Sharon, founder of the Red Power Divas, a running group I joined to get back into shape after Cameron. She was trying to get the divas out for the race even though the new season would not be starting for a few months.

This was the Saturday that TnT would not be having an official practice, but a few people were going to run this race. I was excited to see Sharon and the other Diva's again so I signed up and told her I would see her then.

On Saturday morning I was unsure if I should go because Riley was pretty sick during the night. Everyone was sleeping so I decided to go hoping to be back before 11am. It was so great to see the divas. They were all shocked to see me. I hadn't seen any of them since the 2008 kickoff event, which was held 1 week before I gave birth to Riley (ie, I was big!!)

Although it had rained all night the sun was out. It was a little cool but I took off my jacket before the race. As we lined up at the starting line I saw some of my fellow TnT triathlon team mates. At the whistle they all took off.

Because I had the long run on Thursday I wanted to keep a steady pace and try to not walk too much during this run. I didn't walk until about 1.5 miles. I only walked for 30 sec and made a commitment to myself that I would not walk any longer. 30 seconds is about what I need to catch my breath when my asthma kicks in.

I ran up all the inclines along the Los Gatos creek trail thinking of Sumeet's tips of how this would be a great training tool. There were a large number of divas on the trail (we all had our red shirts on) and it was really cool to be racing with them. We all cheered each other on and after the 5 mile marker I started to lag a bit when another diva started to pass me and gave me an encouraging push. I followed her for awhile and then passed her headed into the 6 mile marker.

When I saw the 6 mile marker I could see one of the race coordinators cheering people in. I was so happy to be so close. He was a great cheerleader and so I decided to step it up. I was going to run in hard the rest of the way.

Surprisingly it felt really good. At the very last section it was all mud but I could see the clock. I crossed the finish line feeling good at 1hr 10 minutes. I knew I had run the race conservatively and had walked when I really could have kept going. I'm thinking maybe I can do this thing!

There were a group of divas at the end. Sharon gave me a big high five and Heather gave me a big hug. Both said I looked awesome crossing the finish line and I was happy to be back in my Diva T-shirt, these women were awesome!

Let's go for a run...

I missed Tuesday's track workout because I had to go to a neighborhood Mom's meeting. Wednesday I was in LA and after complaining to a fellow manager he suggested I bring my running stuff to the city since I was planning on working from San Francisco anyway. Uh....

This made me a little nervous. Some of the managers run together and I get the impression they are all pretty good. I asked Sumeet to take it easy on me and he said, "NO problem, we'll just go maybe 4 miles." I had a 10K race scheduled for Saturday so figured this would be great if I could just keep up with him.

The run started well. Sumeet really did take it easy on me. Running along the Embarcadero was really pretty. I had not been behind the Pac Bell Stadium and it was really nice. I had to walk a few times but I felt like I was doing much better than I expected. Sumeet had warned me we were headed to a hill and I could decide if I wanted to run up it, "once, twice, three times, whatever."

The hill was impressive. It was a straight up wall. Very San Francisco like. At this point I was tired so I decided to not run up. I thought I would walk up. Sumeet did run up it, and down (waved to me) and back up (met me at the top), and back down, and back up (waved to me again), and back down, then we headed back to the office.

I couldn't believe I was still running. I was tired on the way back and just hoping to keep it up until we got to the office. I knew it was late by this point, I'm soooo slow. I started to freak about the race on Saturday, that was going to be more than 6 miles.

It was late when we got back, and just barely got any food because the cafe was closing. I missed a meeting and felt bad to have slowed Sumeet down. When I finally got back to my desk, Sumeet says to me, "oh.... hey....it was a little more than 4 miles," I was a little relieved by that. "How much more?" I asked, "uh....it was 6.5 miles"

"Really?" I was excited. I hadn't run a 10K in awhile and was wondering if I could. My knee hurt a little bit, but I really started to believe I could complete the run portion of the triathlon, which I had started to doubt.

I was hobbling around the office a bit, but I felt good. I hoped I would feel well enough to run the race on Saturday. Hey I just ran 6.5 miles!

Nice Ride

For Saturday's workout we headed to Lake Alamaden.The plan was to start from the VTA Park and Ride and head into the hills. I was surprised how warm it was, relatively that is. I was one of the first people to arrive so I got a little worried that it was going to be a low turnout, but then everyone came in at once like a caravan.

Coach Mike, who I've not seen in awhile walked past me and then stopped and came back. He was very impressed by Joe's bike and when I told him it was borrowed he was even more impressed that I had such a good "and trusting" friend. I told him that fit all my friends ;-)

The plan was to go up Santa Teresa into the hills, then take Bailey Hill, which came with lots of warnings and encouragement that we could all do it, and then head back via Alamaden Expressway. I felt good on the ride. I went out with the leaders in the beginning but then fell back a bit. I mostly kept them in sight but didn't push it too much.

I discovered that riding at 17-18 mph is pretty comfortable for me and that would put me at 1.5 hours to finish the bike portion of the race. That thought led me to add up the times of all the events and I think I'll probably be working hard for a 3-4 hour event. That is a long time to work out non-stop. I started to get really nervous.

Just as I got nervous I noticed an incline. I knew I wasn't near Bailey yet so wondered if this was the hill. The grade was only 2% so I figured with all the warning this could not be it. The next portion of the ride was all farm land. It was really nice to see. I saw some horses and a donkey. It was really quiet here and I just enjoyed the biking. I felt really good.

Then I turned on Bailey. I put the bike computer on the incline measurement and made guesses about what the hill would be. Then I was on the hill. I couldn't see the leaders at all and I felt like the bike was practically stopped. The incline went to 3-4% immediately and then kept increasing. I think at the climax it was 10%. I stayed really steady and actually passed a few people. On the advice of one of the coaches as I hit the summit I just kept peddaling hard over the top as if it wasn't yet the top. This made for a good ride over. Then there was a stop sign and a cop car, so I stopped. I was bummed that I lost all my momentum, but I knew I was headed back now and the hardest part was over.

Coming down the hill was good. The plan was after the ride, we had to drop off our bikes and then run 15 minutes. I felt good but wasn't sure how I would feel running. I pulled into the parking lot and there was only one of the coaches who was watching everyone's gear. I put the bike into the car, changed shoes and headed off.

OMG. My legs felt like they weighed 50lbs. It felt like I had on cement shoes. The start was really slow. I'm not a fast runner anyway, but this was pathetic. There were some walkers ahead of me and I wondered if I could even catch them (I did).

Luckily at almost 7 minutes there was a bathroom. I totally needed a break so I stopped there as my halfway point. Then I headed back. I didn't feel really confident after the sad run. If I was going to be running that slow, the triathlon might be 4-5 hours.

I talked to some other participants about their expected time and they were guessing 2.5-3 hours. I actually thought I was in better shape then some of them and now I was feeling super nervous. I have to work harder....

Luckily this week I got several more donations. I have a garage sale planned for tomorrow so I think after this weekend I will be completely done with gathering donations. At least I accomplished that!

Stop Eating!!!

Okay, so you have to eat junk food for the Superbowl, and well it was my mom's birthday and I couldn't just waste that ice cream cake. I keep thinking that I can just stop the junk food consumption any time I want, but this is probably a lie. I don't seem to be able to control eating candy.

Its hard because there is lots of candy at work. I get rid of the candy at home and think "okay I'm done" but then I go to the store. There is something very evil in side me that grabs the candy even though my brain is saying stop!!!

My diet is crazy. I really need a meal plan because I can't trust myself to do the right thing. At this rate I'm going to need an intervention...

Fund raising is nearly completion. Nobody won the Superbowl pool so I made more than $1000. WooHoo!