Retiring to Ecuador!

Hello friends,
It's been a while. We have decided to take the leap and retire in Ecuador. Once the decision was made, the first step is to get temporary resident visa.

We did a lot of research online, we talked to friends, we even consulted with a couple of lawyers. In the end, what happened was a combination of everything we researched, plus Murphy's Law, plus one actual good thing about cultural differences.

Sooo, when you see what the application entails for a pensioner's visa, it looks super easy. 'They' tell you that all you need is a couple copies of your passport, a background check (who knows if it needs to be clean or not), and a bank statement showing you have a certain amount of cash money or a pension letter or some official statement saying that you have a monthly income of $800/month or more. Easy enough...

We had a feeling it would be more complicated than that. I knew that I would need to find my marriage license to come as a dependent, even though we didn't know where in the process that would be requested. So the first step was to find my marriage license. Check.
We got a letter from the pension people at my husband's former employer - check
Background check from the county sheriff - check
Passports - obviously - Check, check, check.

We were then informed that everything had to be officially translated. What is that? We asked our Spanish teacher if she could do it, no go, she said any old person couldn't do it. We walked around the corner to the place where they send money to Mexico, sell plane tickets to people who want to travel home to Latin America, and where they translate letters to English from Spanish, hoping they could do the same for us. They were not nice and didn't give us an idea of the cost. We also asked about the Apostille. They said we had to go to downtown San Diego for that. ok

To be continued...

Race Report - IM 70.3 Santa Rosa

Medal from Santa Rosa IM 70.3

Wow! What a race. I had lofty goals for this one. It was my third IM 70.3 and I had done the original Vineman 2 years ago, so I figured it would be a good one for me to get a personal best - my stretch goal was to break 6 hours. I had an abbreviated training schedule of just about 4 months, but I felt ready.

My husband and I drove up from San Diego on Thursday. We had rented a house in Healdsburg with a group of triathletes and their husbands from the San Diego area. They ranged from super experienced to a couple of girls who were competing in their second 70.3. Some people were super nervous, some had done so many that they had their routine down. I try to stay away from the hype and focus on myself. Sometimes you listen to so may things that you get nervous hearing about all of the things that could go wrong and end up stressing yourself out.

On Friday, I drove down to Santa Rosa by myself to pick up my race packet and swag bag. A nice man even paid for my parking on a downtown street. He was happy to see the town bustling with tourists and it made me want to come back at another time. After I picked up my packet I took my T2 stuff to my rack. I hated leaving it there because there wasn't any security. My stuff was there with everyone else's so I had to say good bye to my running shoes. This is a point to point race, so you have to make sure that you have the correct items staged at each transition. I made sure that I knew exactly where my rack was in relation to the bike in and I left slowly.

After finishing everything I needed to do in Santa Rosa, I headed up to Lake Sonoma to set up my T1 and get in a quick practice swim. I dropped my bike, helmet, gloves, and shoes off. We were allowed to bring drinks and such in the morning. They told us to prepare for a cold bike start so I also left sleeves and a vest there. The other important thing they told us was to put our bikes on the small ring. My coach told me the same thing, so I made sure that I did that. I headed over to the lake and put on my wetsuit and jumped in the water, it was chilly, but ok. There were only a couple of buoys out there and no lifeguard. I thought I might swim to the far buoy, but I only swam about 2/3 of the way to the small buoy and decided to come back. I'm glad I did. Coming back was a lot harder. There were bigger waves and it was really choppy. I heard a lot of people talking about it and they were saying that it's not so windy and choppy in the morning. I had hoped that they were right, but either way, I would be able to finish. I am not a strong swimmer, but if I didn't panic being out there by myself, I would be able to handle myself in the race.

Now all I have to do is get ready for race morning.

The group planned to leave the house at 5:00am. I got up at 4:20 and got my drinks ready and my almond butter and banana english muffin ready. I don't normally eat that early in the morning, so I took it 'to go'. We got to the bottom of the hill and had to take the shuttle up the hill. By the time we got to transition we only had about 15 minutes to set everything up. I was able to get my wetsuit on, grab my sandwich and head down the hill to the lake just in time for the pro start at 6:15. The pros missed the turn at the first red buoy, it was a little crazy, I am not sure if there was a current or what happened, everyone was confused. We were nervous and excited. My goal for the swim is always 43 minutes. The swim was nice until I came around the last buoy and got kicked really hard in the nose. I kept looking for blood. I didn't see any, but I felt like there was going to be some at any second. It didn't happen, thank goodness. I got out of the lake at 48 minutes - that's my normal time - I wish I could get faster at this swim.

You have to run up to the transition area and it's pretty far, maybe half a mile and it's uphill. We didn't think to leave shoes by the carpet, even though they had a shoe drop area. That would have been a good idea. Maybe next time. When you finally make it up the hill on adrenaline, you get to the parking lot and you have to run all the way around the lot. There was a lot of gravel up there. Our feet were hurting and they were cold too. It was awful. I was able to get my wetsuit off and put all of my bike stuff on in a reasonable amount of time. Looking back, I would have run more and faster up the hill. T1-12 minutes (ugh!)

The bike started out great. I was in my small chain ring, I was able to get up the first hill to get out of transition and onto the bike course. I was feeling good, my friend was right in front of me and I hoped to see her on the bike course. There is a long incline at mile one and then a 2-3 mile downhill section where it was not allowed to use aerobars, unless you had a deathwish. I found my friend at the bottom of the hill. She passed me a little later maybe at mile 15, then I passed her again at mile 25. Everything was going well, I was steadily passing people, especially on the uphill sections. I passed by the rental house and my husband and friends were there cheering, that was awesome! Then at mile 39 I had a disaster. I guess it was windy out there. Both of my contact lenses fell out! They just peeled off of my eyes. I saw one on the edge of my sunglasses and then the other. I slowed down 1- because I couldn't see a thing and 2 - because I was hoping that the contact lens would stick to the sunglasses and stay there until I got to the aid station at mile 42. Unfortunately, the lenses fell away from my sunglasses and I had to make a decision.

I had to decide whether to cry and quit the race that I had trained 4 months to complete or to attempt to finish the race with minimal vision, my other option was to get to a medic at the aid station and have them call my husband to get my gear bag with my extra contacts in them. My eyesight is very poor. I could only see colors and big things, like trees. I couldn't see anyone's face or read any signs unless I was right next to them. Making turns was a nightmare and I never noticed how much your eyes work when the light shifts. The roads were pretty bumpy, so I couldn't distinguish between shadows from the trees or bumps in the road. Let's just say it was slow going, I tried to ride in other people's lines, but that was illegal, but I really had no choice. I just wanted to get off my bike in one piece and not hurt anyone. I rode all the downhills using my brakes and when we got to a road that we had to share with cars, I just tucked in behind a slower rider so I could follow her line. What a nightmare! When I got to the dismount, I heard people cheering for me, I finally recognized that it was my coach and friends. I told them what happened and that I would complete the race, but that I really couldn't see much. All I could hope for was a smoothly paved run course. Bike time - 3:16 - I was hoping for 3:05. Oh well, thank goodness I had literally memorized where my bike rack was.

The run course was pretty non-eventful. There were a couple of sections where it was a trail and the rest was paved. It wasn't as flat as advertised, but it wasn't 'hilly' like the old Vineman course. There were lots of turns up and over the creek and the course was laid out so you had to do 1 and a half loops. I heard about some people missing turns. I was unable to stick with any particular runner, I couldn't talk to anyone, I was just focused one step in front of the other. My friends said that I had a glazed over look because I couldn't really see much and I was really looking at the ground most of the time so I wouldn't trip over a manhole or a tree root. I found my husband in the last 200 meters. He ran me in. I was happy that I didn't fall. I wish I had done about 5 minutes better. Run time 2:00:20 pretty good, considering.

Total time 6:22:50 Not bad for doing the last 29 mile with a major visual impairment.

So... I have reached out to my eye doctor. Who has contacts that just fall out of their eyeballs during a race? There must be something wrong with me. I even packed spares for coming out of the water because I usually end up racing with only one contact. Anyway, I am going to get prescription sunglasses and maybe goggles for future races. I don't want this to happen again.

Did you race at Santa Rosa? How did you find it? I will definitely sign up again because I need to redeem myself. I thought it was a fair course and hopefully they iron out some of the minor wrinkles for next time.

Anything is possible!

Lessons learned for next time. 1. Use the shoe drop 2. Run all the way through long transitions (especially if that's your strength) 3. Pack extra contacts in the run gear bag

What did you learn in your last race? Everyone loves new tips.

Year in Review!

I'm done with my Triathlon season for 2016.

2015 Medal Count

I suppose it's going to be a mini wrap around season (more on that later) but I finished racing triathlons in July. I finished up with the Twin Cities Marathon in early October. I have been resting since then.

I didn't do any race reports this year, I probably should have. It was my best season so far. Not because of my places - I placed in more races last year - but because of my overall fitness. I came into the season after my January vacation without doing any biking or swimming over the holidays. I did get a Garmin Forerunner 920XT, so that got me out running the day after Christmas, but I only ran a mile to make sure my watch worked properly and I had to go outside to set the time because it uses GPS for everything. I highly recommend this watch. I have to give my uncle Marvin some credit, he works for Garmin so we got the family discount.

Races completed
Cardiff Kook 5k - my local annual run, motivation to start running with a group - I joined the LetsgoRun group - great local group with some amazing runners and awesome Coach Cindy. Check out the instagram and facebook pages. @letsgorungroup

The Desert Triathlon - Olympic distance this was a super windy race, my time was horrific, like starting from scratch, but I know I can do better - I think this was my worst time ever at this competition, three years running.

Spring Sprint - San Diego race, always a fun time - this was my first race with my Tri Bike (it worked!) I had a great bike time this day on an updated course - lots of turns and not at Fiesta Island.

Girls on the GO half marathon - No crowd support whatsoever - not recommending this race. It's run in a non populated area of San Diego - they literally had to clear the homeless people off the course before we could start.

The OC triathlon - Olympic distance - this was a very challenging course, I have never walked in any triathlon until this day. The run is a BEAR! I was happy with my swim time and the bike course was beautiful. You learn something in every race. In this race I learned not to look around during the swim. I was forced to focus on myself because the race started in very dense fog - there was nothing to see except legs under the water.

The San Diego International Triathlon - I've done this course before, this year I was fully prepared. I lost 2 of 3 water bottles on the course this year, but I have always been told to take extras. I lose something on every course, but usually it's just gels, this was no exception. I was super happy with my results and ready for my 'A' race.

Jonkoping 70.3 - Half Ironman distance in Sweden! It was a great race. They had fantastic crowd support for the entire bike leg. No cars on the roads. I guess in other countries they can close traffic to several towns and since no one could leave their homes all they could do was cheer for us. I got extra cheering since I looked different from everyone else on the course. It was super motivating. This is a highly recommended race. I improved on my 70.3 time from last year by 24 minutes! My swim was slower, but I crushed the bike portion and the run time was really good. I learned that I can travel with a bike and it's not the end of the world. You have to work around the fees, but it all worked out for me. My advice is not to use a lock on the hard case. They never bothered to open mine. My friend used a lock, they opened hers both ways and actually lost a bolt on the way home (thank goodness it wasn't lost on the way to the race)

Twin Cities Marathon - Loved It! I don't think I'll be doing another marathon until I hit my next age milestone. It makes me think qualifying for Boston is possible. I finished in 4:02.51, I don't know that I want to do Boston, I may want to try for NYC. There's always the lottery. The marathon was really hard, but I stayed with it mentally, I just lost it a little bit on the physical side, not for lack of trying.

That's my year in review. I do plan on completing a sprint in Palm Springs in 3 weeks. This race will be with my hubby. He has been on a health kick for about 6 months now. He has stopped eating glutens and has lost about 25 pounds. His joints are much improved and he can run again. The nutrition talk is for another blog, but this will be more a fun run for me since I am not in any specific training for this race, plus our pool closes in a week for about 6 weeks. We'll be swimming in the ocean or at another outdoor pool where we have to pay.

I believe in taking a break after the season is over. I am usually mentally burnt out and I don't want to exercise every day. I have enjoyed my break this year and I have been swimming occasionally. I might need a massage because something in my leg hasn't been right since the marathon, but I'll get that sorted out soon.

Do you take a break after your 'A' race?
Do you plan on improving year over year, or does age factor in?
Why do you race? I have just recently learned that people race for different reasons. Not all of them positive.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

How do you train for a triathlon and work full time?

How do they do it?

I have been quiet for the past few months because I am working full time, more than full time. I actually participated in the San Diego International Triathlon in June. I did really well, but I think that was because I was training regularly and I didn't have a full time job. Fast forward to today. Since my 'taper' week before the race I have been working 40+ hour weeks. I know that some select people can train for triathlons, work full time, raise children, and keep their spouses happy, but I don't know how they pack all of that into 24 hours a day. I haven't worked full time since I started getting serious about training, now that I have to juggle, it is really challenging.

I'll go back to the race report. My results are here. I think it was one of my best races, I was closer to being in the top half of my age group than I have been since I started. The swim was great! If the course was measured correctly (which I find they rarely are) I was close to a 2 minute pace per 100 m that I swam. I can hardly do that in the pool, but I'll take it with my wetsuit. All I know is that I wasn't the last out of the water in my age group which is where I usually am. I am usually coming out of the water several minutes behind my group, this time it felt good because there were still bikes on the rack.

See the blue caps still in the water!

So I wasn't last in the swim, but then I felt the need to remove my chip in order to get my wetsuit off during transition. I thought I had a good transition until I was mounting the bike and someone noticed that I didn't have a chip - I had to go back! ugh! The bike ride in this race is basically a long steady climb and you have to do it twice. I had been training on some monster hills, so I wasn't intimidated. I wasn't the fastest, but I wasn't the slowest either. I was prepared and it was nice. T2 was uneventful, thank goodness, but I don't think that I ate anything. I wanted to keep up my momentum. I should have eaten something.

The run was LONG. It was a normal 10k, but the way the course was designed, we had to wind around the people on the short course. I think several people passed me. It wasn't my best run ever, but it was in my normal time range. I would love to participate in this race next year, just for a comparison. I thought it was a challenging course because most of the San Diego races aren't hilly. Next year I will be in the midst of training for my first half-Ironman if all goes well and this will be a good test for me.

At the finish line!

Back to training. I signed on for a full time consulting position in Salt Lake City, for 3-4 months, it looks like it might last for 5 months. I am in SLC as we speak. I like training at altitude and I think overall it will benefit me, but I don't think I am training enough. I am running 2-3 times a week, swimming twice a week and biking once a week. I don't have a normal routine because some days I have to get up at 4 am to get to work by 5. Other days I have to stay at work for a 5:45pm meeting. You don't have to tell me it's crazy. I swim in the evenings when I can and I run on the other days. There are beautiful pools here. The firefighter and I found a great outdoor pool with 50m lanes. We loved it, but I think there are only 2-3 more weeks where we can really swim outside. I see snow in my future. We live right across the street from a wonderful urban park with a 1.5 mile loop. I have been running 3 loops regularly after work, but it is as flat as a pancake. The beach might offer more elevation changes. I have worked in some hills, but since I live in the city it is not pleasant at all. The biking is spectacular. There are a lot of biking enthusiasts here. We have been riding challenging routes and I feel like it is good for us, but I can't get on the bike enough to feel like it is really helping I have noticed that I am a much slower. I hope that I can complete this gig and get back home so that I can get back to Masters swim, circuit training and really challenging bike rides on Sunday with the girls. For those of you that can juggle life and training, I congratulate you! We'll see how the results are for my race next weekend. Hopefully I will get time in the next few weeks to send an update.

Oh - did you notice that I am planning to participate in a Half Ironman next year? It's the Soma Half Ironman in Arizona. My training buddies and I finally committed to a race and it will be in October 2015. I hope for no injuries between now and then.

If you have a good way to juggle responsibilities and training, send your tips here. I love to hear from efficient people.

One step forward, Two steps back

Spring Sprint 2014

My group and I participated in the Spring Sprint in Mission Bay, San Diego last weekend. I don't know how to describe my performance at this last competition, I am happy that I completed the race. I knew that my legs didn't have any spring in them at the running portion of the race, but I have been training for a few months now and I felt like I should have improved over the last time I competed on this course. Maybe they changed the course and it wasn't all about me.

At this race, the group arrived super early, the transition area wasn't even open when we parked. I opted to just stay in the car until the line of bikes dissipated. We got our transition areas situated. No fighting over spaces on the rack this time, thank goodness. The super competitive people must have been going to half IM and IM races. Then we hung out for an hour. I didn't get to drink my smoothie. The top wasn't secure and I spilled half of it right under the rack, it kind of ruined my appetite and then there was smoothie all over my hands and the ground. We covered it with a plastic bag so that others could place their things on top of it. I am not sure why it spilled there, because it wasn't really near my bike and I wasn't moving my stuff at that stage in the game. This could be the key to my poor performance, I didn't really have much breakfast.

I ate a banana right before they closed the transition area off to all competitors. The swim was pretty non-eventful, for once, until I got out of the water. I felt like I couldn't see well, but I ignored it this time trying to focus on swimming while I was in the water. I was actually with my group when we exited to transition. That was a first for me and it felt good. Unfortunately the whole way I was hitting another woman and when she moved to my other side, I still continued to hit her. We must have been swimming exactly the same pace, she couldn't pass me and I couldn't pass her. When I got out of the water, I realized that I couldn't see out of my right eye. I stayed calm. I got to transition and looked in my goggles. My contact was in there. This time I didn't fool around with my goggles at all, so there was a chance that it wasn't lost. I put my contact back in, ate a gel and went about my business. My transition time was terrible. One of the worst times in the race, but at least I could see.

I started the bike thinking that I had a flat tire. I was so angry. It turned out that I didn't have a flat, I just worried about it the whole way. The bike portion was only 10 miles, so I just kept hoping that I would make it through. I took one quick drink during the bike and someone passed me that shouldn't have, so I didn't take any more drinks. That could have been another mistake. I'm not sure.

I made it back to T2 and quickly changed into my shoes. That transition was much better. One of the best ones in my wave. I started running and my legs felt tired. I only took a quick sip of my drink this time. I didn't take a gel like I should have, probably another mistake. I tried to run as fast as I could, but I knew it wasn't fast but I focussed on passing people the whole way, as usual. I had no idea how fast I was going since I don't wear a watch. That's something else I need to change. I will get a watch for my birthday, even if I have to get it for myself.

Courtesy of Limugirl

At the end of the run, I sprinted the last 100 meters. It felt good and I had a lot of support that day, including all of the Herev people. It was my first time wearing the Tri kit and it felt good. The firefighter was there along with his sister, her husband and a close friend of mine came to cheer me on. We went to brunch, I took a long nap and we had a great afternoon.

Post Race Smiles

Overall, I can't be overly happy with my time. There were plenty of people with slower bikes and runs that beat me because of the long first transition. I am pledging to go to masters swim twice a week to work on my swimming and I need to do a little more running practice. I am in decent shape on the bike. My next goal is to be in the top half of my age group. I missed it by 2 spots this time. So close...
The next race on the schedule is the San Diego International on June 29. I have 8 weeks to train for that. More running and swimming for me.

Lessons learned: Nutrition is important before and during the race, don't mess with the goggles too much, and get a watch.

Master's Swim for Dummies

 

  I finally tried the masters swim class at my local YMCA.  It was no joke!  After overcoming my fear of the old guys (70+) trying to talk to me and get me to share their lane and the lifeguard warning me that the slow lane was occupied by a really slow swimmer, I decided to jump in at the urging of the Firefighter.
     The really slow swimmer was an older guy (60+).  I found out quickly that I was much slower than the advertised really slow swimmer.  He did have on fins, so maybe I wasn't that bad (actually I was that bad), I was so slow.  At least the Firefighter was nice enough to join me in the lane.  They both lapped me several times.  It was embarrassing, but I did finish part of the workout.
     My problem isn't that I am out of shape, I probably could have continued to swim after the hour that I struggled with the workout, my problem is that I don't have good form.  Swimming would probably be a lot easier if I knew what I was doing.  I just swim to get to the end of the lap so that I can pop up and breathe. I didn't do the warm up - that would have killed me, but the actual program for the day was rough.  I only finished 2 of the 5 segments.  Everyone was leaving when I finished segment number 2 and it took me the full hour to swim about a mile.
     Have you ever been to a masters swim workout?  Did you participate in the swim team in your younger years?  I was not on the swim team and I have only worked out in the pool on my own.  Once I tried to learn how to flip at the end of the lane and that was a disaster.  I haven't tried it since.
     One of the best ways to improve is to invest in some coaching - professionals have coaches.  For my wallet, I guess masters swim will have to do for now.
     When do you feel like you can work out with a group and not hold the others back? When do you feel like it is even worth it to get coaching, what level do you feel you need to be at? This could be for running, swimming, biking or even golf or yoga. I felt like I had to get over my embarrassment and my old immature motto in my track days of ABL, 'anything but last'. In the swimming department it looks like I will be last for a while. I just need to stick with it. I know I will improve with consistency, even if I am last.

Desert Triathlon - was it a success?

I completed the Desert Triathlon in Palm Springs, CA a few weekends ago. It was my first International distance triathlon and it was a good weekend, the weather was beautiful, my husband was there and I met a lot of cool people. Successful? I don't know, it all depends on your definition of success. Did I complete the competition? Yes. Did I meet my time goal? Almost. Compared to last year when I had my first DNF, this was obviously better. I am in much better condition than I was at this point last year and I learned a lot from the weekend. As you can see, my training group has dwindled, but we are spirited! We'll get to lessons learned later on.

Let's review the race. This International distance race had a 3/4 mile swim, a 24 mile bike, and a 10k run. The open water swim was in a shallow, man-made lake, there were no waves except from the other competitors. My wave was pretty large, the entire field of women 40-49 started in the same wave. I have no desire to get to the front of any swimming wave, so I let the real competitors take it out at the start. I was slow and steady, I started to feel good after about 500m. My sighting was excellent, I stayed right on line with all of the buoys, so I didn't swim any extra distance. The only issue with swimming close to the buoys is that when the men's waves caught up to me, they just swam over me, especially when they were trying to get back to the correct side of the buoys. I just sat up for a split second and let them pass. This was my first swim where I didn't have to stop to take a breath to look around and gather myself, I felt pretty confident. The other tricky spot was the end of the swim where everyone sees the finish and starts to swim faster. I just maintained my pace, so it was a little unnerving trying to get to T1. The first transition was difficult for me. I was able to get everything off while I was running to my bike, except for my wetsuit. I finally had to sit down to get the wetsuit off over my timing chip. I hate sitting down in a transition. Anyway, I finally got the suit off and everything else on for the bike and I had a gel and some water/gatorade. The bike started off smoothly, my right foot was asleep, but I am not sure if it was because the water was cold or if it just didn't want to cooperate - it didn't really affect me at that point. Apparently, I had my bike in the correct gear. The start was on a steep uphill and I saw a guy almost fall down. People didn't have shoes on and others couldn't use their pedals properly. This must have been a stroke of luck for me, I even passed a few people who promptly passed me once they got going. The bike route was very flat, it was two loops in a valley near the lake. I was able to drink water without slowing down too much and I ate about half of my shot blocks. I was also comfortable enough to get down in my aero bars for about 1/3 of the distance. I didn't think that would be possible because I knew that there could be cars on the route and I am not super steady in my aero bars yet. I passed a few people, but I got passed by many more. There were a couple of large groups that went by me, there was no way for me to keep up with them. T2 was a lot easier, very routine. I drank some gatorade, had another gel and I was on my way. My right foot was still asleep, but I was just moving forward at that point. My plan was to pace myself for the first half of the run and then just run as fast as I could the second loop. The plan worked, my regained the feeling in my foot and I was passing runners the entire way.  I got passed by one person in the last quarter mile, but that wasn't so bad in the big scheme. I felt good the entire race and I finished with a smile.

What did I learn? I used the information that I learned from so many mentors in the last year. Get your good night's sleep the night before the night before the race. I stayed up watching a movie the night before. It didn't matter since I didn't sleep anyway. Make sure your nutrition is on point. We ate lots of carbs the 2 days before the race. Learn how to hydrate, this was important since this race was in the desert. We hydrated too much, thus being unable to sleep the night before - constantly getting up to urinate was not cool. I was up going to the bathroom 4-5 times. Consume calories during the race - either eat them or drink them. I was able to consume the gels and a cliff bar, so I did well. I know that I need to start breathing on both sides during the swim - my sighting was good, but my neck was sore from constantly looking in the same direction. The other thing I learned was that if you hydrate and consume calories during the race it is a lot easier to recover. It was taking me 2-3 days to recover from the sprints that I competed in previously - this one, I was fine the next day. Also it seemed like the international distance was less of an impact on my body since it was longer. I definitely paced myself. I found that in the sprints I am going all out the entire race. I wasn't all that sore after this race. Lastly, relax and have fun!

The end results weren't exactly what I wanted, but I know what I need to do in terms of training. My goal was 3 hours. I finished in 3:00:15. I want to get to where I can finish in the top half of my age group. Apparently, as I increase in race distance, the competition gets even harder. I need to work at it. The next few weeks I'll be deciding what to focus on for the next several months. It might get serious about master swim, or I might concentrate on training for a half marathon, there are lots of races in Southern California so I won't be hurting for opportunities. We'll see.

What do you consider a success when it comes to competitions?

Training buddies are the Best!

I finally got a training group! This is all thanks to my friend's super outgoing husband. Apparently, he coerced talked all of us into signing up for a triathlon. We registered for the Esprit de She Sprint Triathlon in San Diego. I had the best results that I have ever had. I was confident going into the competition and finished strong. This felt so much better after my DNF at the Encinitas Triathlon this year.

Pre-race happy and dry picture

Every race has its own story, in this one I lost a contact in the swim portion of the race and completed the triathlon with basically one eye.  I am practically blind and can only see blocks of color without glasses.  During the swim, I had to stop at each buoy and sight the next buoy in order to get to the end. Thank goodness the swim was cut to only 400m due to foggy weather.

Post Race Celebration!!!! (notice my mimosa in hand)

So, back to the point. I have three training partners, each with their own skills and talents. I wouldn't trade them for anything. I started working out with them right after Labor Day 2013. We trained together for about 6 weeks. I think that 3 of the 4 of us were nervous to train with other people. I know that I was very nervous. It was the first triathlon for two of the four of us. One of us has had athletic sponsorships in the past. I just work out for fun, but I secretly want to do well. Our schedules coordinated perfectly so that we could work out together a few times a week. We swam in Mission Bay on Fridays and Sundays and we would bike during the week. We would run on our own and cross train with Yoga when we had time. We would also bring our husbands when they were all around. One weekend we did some stand up paddle boarding after the swim instead of biking. It was a lot of fun!

I usually take a break after a big race, so I took about 4 weeks off after the triathlon and enjoyed Thanksgiving, while waiting for a contact lens replacement.  We have been biking sporadically and going to yoga together since then.  We plan to start strength training in late January and start the swimming and biking in earnest in the next few weeks.  We bike on Fridays with the wonderful women at HERevolution. We are registered for the Desert Triathlon in March.

We'll see what 2014 brings.  My goal is to stick to a training plan.

What keeps you from working out with friends?  What suggestions do you have for sticking to a training plan?

The Dreaded Brick Workout!

     I am trying to take my triathlon results to the next level, with a goal of not being at the back of the pack in my age group.  Part of that is challenging myself in workouts.  I have gotten very comfortable working out by myself and I need to push myself more.  I have been taking some spin classes, but they aren't always challenging and I prefer to exercise outdoors.  Every once in a while I will go running with the Firefighter, which is always fun when he wants to run the same distance - we really push each other for the last couple hundred meters, the rivalry has become an obvious one so that other people on the beach start cheering at us.  I have been reluctant to join one of the local running groups, I am not sure why - surely there is someone running my pace that I can also talk to during the run.  My training has been going well this year and I need to step it up if I don't want to be last in my age group.  This past weekend I completed a 'Brick' workout.  This is a triathlon training exercise where you perform two of the  three disciplines consecutively.  I did the bike/run portion.  This is the worst!  I have dreaded it so much that I have never done a brick workout - ever.  When you complete your first triathlon and you haven't done this for practice you will know what I am describing.

     When you get off of your bike, you feel good because you are off of the bike, but once you start to run, your legs feel like jelly or something, the feeling is actually very hard to describe.  This is totally disconcerting if the run is your strength.  Hello!  You can't move and it's not that you are out of breath, your legs just don't work right, but you keep moving because if you don't you will never finish the race (and you are half delirious at this point anyway). I think at this point in the race you are running on pure adrenalin anyway.

     After being laid up with a cold or the flu or something that has lasted for about 10 days, I could finally breathe freely so I decided to once and for all to do the brick workout.  The weather was fine - as it always is here in San Diego - and I have a morning where I am not doing anything else.  I made myself some bacon for breakfast and got ready.  I packed my Camelbak, prepared my bike, and set out my running shoes.  My goal was to find out how it felt after riding the 12 miles of the sprint triathlon.  I rode 12 miles down and back on Coast Highway and changed my shoes, drank some water and took a Gu all in 3 minutes. That's a pretty good transition speed, especially with running up and down the stairs to the house and looking at the dogs for a quick second.

     Once I started the run, I felt awful, just like in a race, but I knew that I needed to do this.  I decided to do a short run of about 2 miles.  I ran down to Moonlight beach and back and an extra time around the block.  It felt super slow, but I know that mentally it will help me in the long run.  Maybe I will do this another time, to augment my training.

     The next challenge is the Master's swim class.  I know it will be another adventure, it was the first time!  More to come on that in the near future.

What kinds of workouts do you find the most challenging?

Cardiff Kook Run

Winning Entry - Courtesy of Encinitas Patch

Hey!
I got my Kook on during the Cardiff Kook Run 2013!  Well, maybe I didn't completely get my Kook on - I did not dress up for the annual costume run, but I did complete the 5k portion of the race.  The Firefighter was working, so he did not participate this year.  Maybe next year he will run it with me and we can do the 10k, now that's a goal.

This is a great, scenic racecourse that parallels the Pacific Ocean through Encinitas and Cardiff, California.  You get to see the real surfers surfing and all of the people dressed up as whatever they want to be, fantastic!  I actually walked up the hill with one of the members of the Magic Carpet ride group entry that won, pictured above.  Very cool.  Their group was wearing turbans and Middle Eastern wear and they fashioned cardboard surfboards, posed as the kook and the best part was that they were actually dancing along with the music that they were blasting through speakers.  "What song?" you ask.  Of course it was 'Magic Carpet Ride' performed by Steppenwolf!  It was my theme song and motivation throughout the run.   I was actually near many of the groups when they got their pictures taken.  I got there almost 2 hours early, so I debated walking back home and taking a nap, but it was a beautiful morning, no reason to sleep through the start.  I had a lot of time to soak in the atmosphere and warm up several times.

This event makes Superbowl day a lot of fun.  You get up early, run the race, go home, take a shower and maybe a nap and then get ready for the Superbowl party and you know you can eat whatever you want - and if you happen to get a hangover, the next day is usually a rest day, so it won't matter.  I had a low key party this year - I hung out with my friend D and during the infamous black out (#toobadfornola) we finalized the wedding details.  How is that for efficiency!  By the way, the wedding is in less than 2 weeks, training for this race definitely helped to reduce stress levels.

So, here are the results.  My goal was somewhere in the 25 minute range, I didn't quite make it and I really wanted to walk towards the end, but I didn't.  26:16 - not too bad for the first race of the year and considering all of the families with strollers and walkers that I had to go around.  By my rough count, I got 3rd in my age group - I can not remember the last time that happened.  I heard a lot of grumbling about the course this year, I did practice on the exact race route, not intentionally, so I have no excuse.  There were more hills than last year and the 10k participants unfortunately had to run the back half of the race uphill - motivation to run more hills next year.

Here's my bling from the race!

Now it's time to get serious about triathlon training.  The Encinitas Triathlon is in May, 3 short months away.

2013 Here We Come!!!!

I don't normally do resolutions.  I am not doing resolutions this year either.

I have already started my work outs, gone into the ocean with my boogyboard and wetsuit and done a little bit of work.  2012 was a year of transition for me.  Lots of new things happened for me, both good and bad, but it was definitely a year of growth.  I lost a pet (for the first time at age 41), got engaged (for the first time), quit my job, lost my mom, completed a triathlon with an ocean swim, and ran my first 15k.

2013 will be about maintaining new routines and moving forward.  I am already planning to participate in a 5k in early February with the Firefighter, the Encinitas Triathlon in May and I'll be getting married in between.  I'll need to make sure that I have scheduled time for workouts while I am traveling and I need to make sure that I have time to grow my business so that I can support myself and my family.  The goal is to maintain momentum, stay positive, and learn every day.

I have a new friend that will help me regularly go to the Y and do spinning workouts and we may even try swimming, I normally swim with the Firefighter, but we don't go on a regular basis because of his schedule.  I will have to try the Master's work out again, that was really tough.  I need to contact my other friend and see if she will go road biking with me.  My real goal will be to improve on the bike.  Swimming is my real weakness, but that might be a goal for 2014.  I bought the bike, I need to make it a good investment.  At the beginning, I knew I was better on the bike without doing anything on the first ride, but I want to find a way to substantially improve on my bike technique because I don't have any technique now.  The spinning classes should help with that.

So here's to 2013.  Let's make it the best year yet!!!!!

And, I joined a reading challenge.  I have only read 2 or 3 books out of 100 recommended.  I have a long way to go....

2013 Clutch Reading Challenge
66 members A place to discuss Clutch Magazine's crowd-sourced 2013 list of 100 books by black women writers ...

Books we've read

Krik? Krak!
by Edwidge Danticat

Caucasia
by Danzy Senna

View this group on Goodreads »

I completed the Crystal Cove 15k Trail Run

I completed the Crystal Cove Trail Run.  The race was located in and around a canyon directly across Coast Highway from a beautiful stretch of the Pacific Ocean between Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.
The day started at about 5:00am when I got my wake up call.  I packed my running bag and stopped at the cash machine before hitting the freeway at 5:45 am.  The truck had something flapping around in the bed, so I had to make an unscheduled stop to remove the items from the back.  No traffic problems except for some early morning roadwork in Laguna Beach.  I arrived at the race site at 7:00.  A little late, but at least I found parking in the upper lot.  The goal was to get there at 6:30 and park in the lower lot, like my friend R, but oh well.  She was gracious enough to store my valuables in her car after walking down the hill to get my bib and new t-shirt.

We warmed up, went to the restroom a couple of times ate some gel, drank some water, and removed several layers of clothes before heading to the starting line. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day, but there was a chill in the air before 8:00.  We wore our hat/visor, sunglasses, shorts, and only one shirt/tank.  It was enough.  All of the other layers of track pants, jackets, hoodies, t-shirts, extra waters and snacks stayed in the car.

Wave 1 started promptly at 8:00.  It seemed like some people started in wave 1 that were about our speed, but we held up and asked the starter to do a wave 2 for those who were smart, like to pass others and wanted to smell the roses and check out the amazing views.  Wave 2 started about 5 minutes after wave 1 - we ran for the entire first mile and we were close to the frontrunners of our wave, well - we could see them anyway.  There was a section of single track running at mile 3, so you had to continue to run through that section, otherwise the people behind you couldn't run.  Peer pressure was good at this point, I was just hoping that the water station was coming up soon.  Some of the hills were ridiculous and the first water station was right after mile 4.  After water station there was a steep section of downhill running, which I was good at.  Apparently, I am not afraid of falling when I run downhill.  A lot of the others were running gingerly.  I just let gravity pull me.  Of course, almost everyone passed me when we had to go back up the 'elevator'.  This was an extremely steep section of the course, people were cursing the organizers, walking and even taking pictures, the rock face was crazy and it was probably 1/4 to 1/2 a mile straight uphill.  I was walking, and I found out that I am not a fast walker - uh oh.

I figured at this point the course would turn back downhill, since we were halfway done, but it didn't.  At the mile 5 water station, I couldn't see R anymore.  I think some people passed me while I enjoyed the Gatorade and water they were handing out.  I headed back out walking up the next hill and when I could, I ran.  After mile 6 I told myself to run, so I mostly ran, but walked for a little while, I told myself that I could finish a 5k at this point, since most of it should have been down hill, I could still see some sections where it was definitely uphill.  At mile 7, I told myself, only 2.3 miles left and that I should start running. Then came the water and aid station and a conversation with the volunteers - oh there was a reason for the conversation.  A woman fell on the gravel right in front of me about 500 yard before the water station.  I had to inform them, while getting my fill of Gatorade and water.  Anyway, I think I ran the rest of the way.  I started passing some people that I didn't recognize - I eventually figured out that they were either part of the 6k race or they started in wave 1.  I couldn't believe that I was so zoned out and/or delirious at the waterstations that all of these 'new' people had passed me.

The next section was mostly downhill, you could see the awesome houses in Laguna Beach and the water at the Crystal Cove State park.  I passed several people that I had been running with on the last section and I sprinted the last 1/4 mile.  It felt really good.  A little too good.  I wished I had used some of that energy in the sections where I was walking and talking and drinking water.
Overall, I felt like I had a good event.  I hadn't trained for 9 miles, I probably should have, but I did try to work in a lot of hills the last few weeks. I met my goal.  I completed the course in less than 2 hours!  I got 10th in my age group and I got to see a good friend that I don't see often enough.  Overall, it was a success.  Check out the results here.

My next race will be the Cardiff Kook Run in Encinitas on Superbowl Sunday!  I have a choice of running the 5k or the 10k. I am hoping that the Firefighter will join me, if he decides to participate we'll do the 5k.  It's a costume race, what are some of the best costumes and the easiest to run in?  I have never dressed up for a race. Last year there were lots of kooks and a group of awesome Flamingos.

What do you think about sharrows?

What the heck is a sharrow anyway?  It is that weird arrow that you see in the road with a bike next to it.  The intention is to have bikes ride in traffic with cars.  The bikes are supposed to follow the rules of the road and the cars are supposed to not run over the bikers.  When I first learned about sharrows I assumed that it was a very dangerous idea.  I saw images of Portlandites riding their bikes all in the road with cars and I was completely terrified.  Here is a link to a blog post about sharrows.

Now that I am getting more comfortable riding my bike on the road with cars, I totally see the need for an organized way to share the road.  I will admit that I sometimes bend the rules so that I don't fall over or have to stop completely and take the shoes out of the clips, but if there was a reasonable expectation that I would be making full stops and that I wouldn't get run over when people are double parked on Pacific Coast Highway on beach days, I would fully comply, and I think it's a fair deal.  I have a feeling that the reason bikers are considered disrespectful and rule breakers is that your average driver doesn't know how to anticipate what a road biker is going to do.  It's almost the same as with motorcycles, except we can't go as fast.

Encinitas has proposed the sharrows and a few other items to keep bikers safe and to encourage bike riding around town.  There is a lot of controversy as to what should be done.  I don't know the answer, but maybe some intelligent and informed dialog would work.  Have you seen a sharrow in your area, have you ridden a bike in a sharrow zone, and do you like them?

On a personal note, I have been away since summer due to the passing of my mother, the passing of my dog, quitting my day job, and getting engaged.  Now I am in the wedding planning phase, working from home, exercising regularly (thank goodness), brushing the dogs as needed, and preparing for a 15k trail run.  Whoopee!!!

What's at the end of your rainbow?

It's time to get serious about my next race.  I have started putting on the shoes, the swimming suit and the bike helmet regularly.  The firefighter and I went on a 25 mile bike ride the other day.  It was really nice.  We rode to the Oceanside Harbor.  He commented that I had really 'improved', meaning that I could smoke him on the bike now.  He may remove the 3 baskets that he has on his bike so that he can keep up with me now!  I knew that I wasn't that bad at biking, but now that I have a real bike, I can concentrate on getting better instead of just keeping up.

So what is this about rainbows?  I love rainbows.  They are very rare in Southern California.  Not so rare in Hawaii.  If you have never been, you should go.  The thing that you don't know is that it rains practically every day, but because the sun is also out, it creates rainbows.  My favorite rainbow experience happened when the firefighter and I were in Uruguay.  We stayed at La Sirena.  Awesome place, awesome family that runs it. We actually found the end of a rainbow.  It was fascinating!  I have never actually stood at the end of a rainbow before, so cool.  I didn't find a pot of gold, but I felt at peace and it seemed like such a unique experience.

So what is at the end of your rainbow?  Is it an Olympic gold?  Or is it yummy Jamaican food at the halfway point on a longish bike ride?  Right now, I want to find that Jamaican food on a Sunday afternoon and I want work towards my goal of not finishing last in my next race.

How to Motivate Yourself

Why a picture of a shoe?  I always say, "Just put the shoes on".  That's the easiest motivational tool that I have, it's a good pair of running shoes.  I wear Brooks Ariel shoes, they help with my flat feet.   Once the shoes are on, I can head out the door and have a good workout. If I look at the shoes, or think about the shoes in the closet and don't put them on or touch them, I won't work out.

It sounds so simple, but we all know when it comes to working out that it never is that simple.  There is always something else to do, whether it is actually important or not.  I need to eat dinner, I want to play with the evil dogs, I need to make 5 phone calls or I need to check my email and oops, now it's dark outside.  I know all the excuses, it's amazing that I have ever completed a race.  When I was in high school, I was not good at cross country and my old stand by excuse was that my shoelaces were untied, it was a great opportunity to stop and rest.  Terrible.

Encinitas Sunset, much like the one I saw tonight

What is motivational?  I am so fortunate, because I can walk out of my house and go for a run on the beach at low tide, or I can run along the road and still hear the waves crashing and usually see a beautiful sunset, like I did tonight.  That's motivational, especially when you see people taking pictures of the sunset.  I don't do that, I want to keep it exciting to see and I need to see it live, that is what gets me out of the house most evenings.  When I didn't live near the ocean, I would find nice places to run that were in parks.  I would look for wildlife, like deer or rabbits, that kept it exciting.  I would also notice the changes in the plant life from run to run.  It's nice to pay attention to the change of seasons on the runs.  Spring to summer to fall, one of my favorite runs that I could extend as far as I wanted to was from the Pennsylvania border into Delaware, in White Clay Creek Park.  Finding several good running routes to keep the workouts different is so important.  A good tool to use is mapmyrun.com, you can find popular running routes in your area and even add your own. 

What do you do to stay motivated?

Are you ready for the Olympics?

I have been watching the U.S. Olympic trials for the past two weeks.  It doesn't even matter which sport.  I am partial to Track and Field, but I have been watching diving, swimming and anything else that I come across. I loved seeing the clips from Ashton Eaton setting the Decathlon world record and so far I like watching all of the events, even the distance races.

The Olympics are always so inspirational.  The athlete stories, the agony of defeat, the drive to win and be the best in the world at something all add to the charm of the Games. That brings me to my point, the most disappointing bit of the trials had to be the drama around the Women's 100m dash 'dead heat'.  This situation got so many Americans excited about Track and Field and the run-off would have been one of the most watched 11 seconds ever.

Photo Finish

1. The USATF didn't have any provisions in place for a 3rd place 'tie'.
2. Jeneba Tarmoh declined to race against Allyson Felix for her spot in the individual race.

The options boiled down to both athletes selecting either a run-off or a coin toss.  If they don't agree, it's a coin toss. Or someone could concede their spot to the other, much like Michael Phelps in the 200m freestyle swimming race. He granted the opportunity of a lifetime to one lucky and talented swimmer, Ricky Berens.  I don't consider this the same issue because Michael Phelps has a gazillion medals and it's insane to compete in 8 events at the Olympics.

I understand leaving things to God, but this is the Olympics.  Fight for your spot, even if it is against one of the fastest women in the world today.  You trained for this and you never know what will happen, that's why we race.  Jeneba will be representing the United States as part of the 4x100m relay pool - but how does this leave the rest of the team?  I would want someone who wants to run hard all of the time.  Athletes are, by nature, competitive and who wouldn't want to race, even against a friend?

What would you have done?

Nonetheless, I am excited for the Olympics and I can't wait to watch.  Go USA!!!!!

What do I do now?

Once you have pushed yourself to the limit and enjoyed it, you have to decide what to do next.  Do you continue to push yourself or is it time for a break?  Typically, I only work out for the first six months of the year, but this year, I have decided to continue to train.  I have had a set back for the last 2 weeks with some unscheduled travel, but I am ready to get back to it.  I need to put some miles on the new bike.  Some considerations for selecting the next race include: Race distance, proximity to home, and the race date.

Race distance is critical.  In a triathlon, you don't just look at the total distance, you have to look at the distance for each discipline.  You must train to make sure that you can cover the race distance.  If you are a weak swimmer, like me, you might want to focus on shorter swim distances or even races that are conducted in a pool.  My first triathlons were competed in a pool.  One of my nightmares has always been drowning behind the pack of swimmers and no one noticing me going under.  The Ironman distance is a huge time commitment and is for someone who has several hours a day, every day to train.  This distances are a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and it closes with a marathon distance run of 26.2 miles.  The officials give up to 17 hours to complete the entire race.  The next common distance is the Olympic distance race of a 1500m swim, 40k bike and 10k run.  These first two distances are standard.  There are also half Ironman races, you can do the math.  The sprint and super sprint distances vary.  Typical sprint triathlons have a 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile swim, a 9-14 mile bike and a 3-5 mile run.  You can select which race you want to perform based on your favorite or best discipline.  There are also races that are performed 'backwards' starting with the run, followed by the bike and lastly the swim.  Make sure you take a look at the race map, river and lake/pond swims are different than pool swims, which are different than open water ocean swims.  Make sure you are prepared for whichever swim your race is.  For ocean swims, I highly recommend attending a clinic if you aren't familiar with ocean swimming techniques.  You will also want to find out if it is an open swim or a wave start.

Where is the race going to occur?  I loved the Encinitas Triathlon because I could walk there.  I didn't need to get up a 5:00 am, I didn't need to stress about parking or traffic or hotel arrangements, and I was totally familiar with the race course.  I had done all three activities on the actual race course during my training.  I can assure you that this next race won't be as comfortable.  How far are you willing to travel to a race?  Do you want to combine it with a long weekend trip, or an actual vacation?

When do you want to do your next race?  The answer is different for everyone.  Some people bounce back right away, others need more time to recover.  There is a triathlon season and it is during the summer, so holidays and vacations may disrupt training and eliminate some races from the potential pool.  I did find a December race in Palm Springs, so maybe that's a possibility.  That's too far away for me to think about now.  It took me about 2 weeks to recover from the sprint triathlon, of course, if I was in better shape, that time would be reduced greatly.  Currently, I am looking at late July and August races.  My travel for work and family is up in the air right now, so we'll see.  I use these websites to look for races, trifind and beginner triathlete.

What else would you consider to help choose your next race?