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August 31, 2008

Done, Done and DONE!

O and I have been on a tear today. If it needed done - we did it! Cleaning entire house? Check. Grocery shopping? Check. Yard work? Check. (okay, I wasn't much help on that front) Bathing, brushing teeth and giving medicine to dog (aka Roxy)? Check. Doing training? Check. Going to DQ when all was done to celebrate? Check. Watching IM Kentucky? Check. (seemed like quite a brutal day for all involved)

And now I'm pooped! But so glad it's all done so tomorrow we can enjoy our day. I have 2 workouts to complete in the morning and then we are off to see family (my grandfather and then O's entire family) for Labor Day celebrations!

And then on Tuesday...yes...this Tuesday coming up...MY POOL WILL BE OPEN AGAIN! Did I hear applause? When I was at my YMCA on Friday to lift weights I took a stroll by the pool and saw water in it. Yes, that's right. WATER IN THE POOOOOOLLLLL!!! My excitement cannot be contained.

In other news, today is my mom's birthday! Happy birthday mom!

Have a great Labor Day everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:49 PM | Comments (1)

August 30, 2008

Never Ending Pasta Bowl Strategy

College football is back! And, I must say, off to a very good start. Today Penn State won and Pitt lost. There is no better scenario. Despite what my mom thinks, Pitt is NOT it. And quite frankly I like it when they lose. I say this because Pitt fans are such talkers and I have to hear their yapping all the time about how they have a championship team. Um...no. Not even close.

So yes! Fall is certainly on it's way. But today's weather would give no indication of that. Why you ask? Well, because it was HOT today. And humid. O and I swam this morning and then I went for my 3:30 brick. I was quite a sweaty mess of salt by the time that was done! But it went well and I survived and when I got back I drank about 3 gallons of water!

In other news, O and I went to the Never Ending Pasta Bowl at the Olive Garden tonight. Now in the case that you don't know what this is, I'll fill you in. For $8.95 (at least that's what it costs around here...maybe it's more elsewhere?) you can have as much pasta as you can stomach. There are different pasta choices (penne, angel hair, whole wheat linguine, etc...) and different sauce choices (alfredo, meatsauce, five cheese marinara, etc...) and you can just mix and match and go to town. I suppose the name explains it all.

So of course my problem is, the initial bowl (which is regular size) is enough to do me in and I never get around to trying the other stuff! It should be noted that the "refill" bowls are much smaller. So today I went in with a plan. A Never Ending Pasta Bowl Strategy if you will. I was going to ask the waitress if it was possible that I started with the smaller bowl size so that I wouldn't get full with the intial dish (and the salad and breadsticks) and would then get to try different combos. And that's exactly what I did. But apparently they don't play that game. You have to start with the big size. Hmmm...strategy wrecked!

Oh well. I still had a good showing with one additional bowl of pasta. But O...WOW...he really brought his "A" game! He had THREE additional bowls of pasta after the initial big one. Now that is some serious eating! And he looked strong the whole way. Impressive if you ask me. We wanted to ask our waitress the record for number of bowls of pasta ordered but we chickened out because she really wasn't that friendly and didn't seem to be in the best of moods. And I think she already thought we were weird.

But either way, it was fun. And filling. My glycogen stores are definitely restocked!

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:34 PM | Comments (5)

August 28, 2008

Swim!

Today I got to swim! I've never been so happy to walk into the pool, hassle free and not having had to drive 3 hours to find swimmable water! :)

But then the workout was announced at masters and I got a little scared. Because at the end there were 25s and some of those 25s were underwater NO BREATH!

Now I know I've discussed this before on my blog. Me and limited amounts of oxygen don't get along too well. Every time I see something with limited breaths or no breaths I think of Jen Harrison or my coach, who once told me he can do a full 50 with no breaths. Seriously? Really? Are you part fish? Because this little triathlete right here can get about 10 yds.

So my trusty lane partner and I went about the workout. We did 100s, 75s (on a very tight interval, not sure what we were thinking there), 50s and then finally the 25s. 6 of them were underwater, no breath.

The first one I didn't even get close. I came up around mid pool gasping for air. Number 2 was much the same. On number 3 Coach Jen gave me a very helpful suggestion - keep my face looking down as I was forcing myself to surface by looking up. With this little piece of knowledge in my back pocket I made it about 2/3rds of the way on #3! Yes, that definitely helped!!

On number 4 I declared to my lane partner that THIS would be the one we would make it. (don't know where that confidence came from) And by golly it worked! I made powerful pulls under the water and miraculously surfaced only once, at the end of the pool. At which point I made a huge gasping noise! SWEET, SWEET oxygen!

Starting the next one, I told my lane partner that I would rather do 1000 repeats than this. This is tough! He agreed. Then I told him this will be harder than his upcoming race at IM Wisconsin! Not so sure he agreed on that one. This, coming from someone who thinks a half IM is WAYYYYY too long to be racing... :)

Number 5 and 6 I survived as well. I made it all the way across! And then I decided I wouldn't attempt such crazy things for a long time coming. Meanwhile, all the swimmers were not thinking twice of this exercise in oxygen depletion. Silly swimmers!

So tomorrow I get to swim again. At a different pool. When I talked to the woman yesterday, she ASSURED me I would be allowed in because my YMCA pool is closed. I think I might cry if they give us (O is coming with me) a problem. It's just like being injured or sick - you don't know how badly you want to do your workouts until someone says you can't!

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:09 PM | Comments (5)

August 27, 2008

Meltdown

Today I nearly had a meltdown. No, make that multiple meltdowns. And all because nobody wants to let me swim in their pool. I'm like a little pool vagrant. I go from pool to pool begging them to let me in. "All I want to do is swim" I plead, but to no avail. Today, I could not swim.

But I did waste about 3 hours driving around looking for a place to swim. Just what everyone wants to do on their day off from work. Drive around looking for water to swim in! By the end, I was ready to swim in my bathtub. Or the puddle outside. BUT I pulled myself together. It WILL be okay.

Instead, I rode my bike. And it was a very nice ride. I also did a track workout this morning (this WAS planned already) and it too was good. Very hard, but good. At the end of the last interval I laid in a heap of tiredness on the infield grass and a very nice, little, old lady who had been walking around the track stopped to ask me if I was okay. Hmm...I thought...I must look as bad as I feel! :) The track is brutal if you haven't been there for a while! But I'm always so glad to get back there and bust off all the rust and take in the huge gains in fitness that the track has to offer.

So that was my day. I rearranged my workouts such that the missed swim will be done later in the week. I refuse to miss a swim just because my pool is closed! And I have now secured a place to swim Thursday, Friday AND Saturday. I will rejoice greatly when my YMCA pool is finally open again.

In other news, today is my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. That's a LONG time! Happy anniversary mom and dad!

Posted by beth at 8:49 PM | Comments (4)

August 26, 2008

World of Hurt

This morning I had a nice 60 min run in the dark, early coolness. It was only in the mid 50s which felt great! And I saw a beautiful sunrise.

Then I went to work. Today I had to go to the pychiatric hospital that is attached to the hospital that I work at, to see a patient. After the day I was having, let's just say, I felt like staying there! In all seriousness though, I remembered once again that mental illness is very sad. Institutionalized mental illness is even more sad. I know that they don't want my pity, but it's hard not to feel badly for their situation.

Then I came home. For some of this:

Ouch! You may or may not be able to make out the look of pure hurt on my face but it's there. And by the time I was done, my face was the color of my top. Those trainer workouts will get you every time!

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:29 PM | Comments (2)

August 25, 2008

Descend What?

This morning I went to masters practice.

No wait...back up a few steps. I would FIRST like to announce that just about 10 minutes ago I (yes, that's I, Beth Shutt) figured out how to fix something on my bike. ALL BY MYSELF! This is quite an impressive feat for me. I'm not going to tell you what I did because you will laugh. What's that? You need a good laugh? Okay - here's what I did. I tipped the nose of my saddle down some! Now before you laugh TOO hard, do know that my saddle is quite a complicated piece and after inspection by both O and I we deemed it impossible to change the pitch of the saddle. But then, after some more inspection tonight I decided that maybe you could and I think I knew that it had to be possible SOME how. So I tried it and POOF! it worked! Now let's hope the slightly downward tilted nose has the desired effect or else I'll be moving it right back to where it was. At least I know how now. :)

Anyway, back to masters practice.

I usually don't go to masters on Monday because I'm supposed to do my long swims by myself. Plus, even though Monday at masters is longer intervals the total main set doesn't usually add up to be as much as had I done my coach prescribed workout. But I'm running out of pool options this week so masters it was this morning!

And boy was it nice to do longer intervals with other people! I was supposed to be doing 800s by myself today but instead I did 300s with a bunch of other people. Hmm...you choose what sounds like more fun! Regardless, I already promised myself I would do the 800s next week, by myself, when my pool will FINALLY be open again.

Anyway, I made sure to get to the pool nice and early so I could get a good, long warmup in and then it was time for the workout. But first Coach Jen was rearranging lanes. I was in a lane with two other (very fast) women (who happen to be sisters by the way and both training for IMs). But Coach wanted one of us to move up a lane - into the land of fast men.

To me, at masters, there exists an imaginary line. This line separates the fast swimmer guys from the rest of us. The "rest of us" being many of the women, lots of triathletes, many still very good swimmers but not quite like the "fast swimmer guys". Now these guys seem to be best at sprinting and do crazy things like swim 100s in under 1 minute. This boggles my mind. But I figured I might have a fighting chance during long intervals. I'm not fast but the one thing that saves me in swimming is my engine.

So I volunteered to move up with the fast swimmer guys. Now note the "fast swimmer guys" exist in every masters program in the country...but are all defined differently. For example, the "fast swimmer guys" at Elizabeth's masters team would put a serious hurting on the "fast swimmer guys" from my masters program. Her team is CRAZY fast. But nevertheless, my "fast swimmer guys" are still way faster than me and fast enough thankyouverymuch.

So the workout is announced - 8x300 (not too bad), descend 1-4 on 4:30 and then last 4 on 5:00 as best average holding at least the pace on #4 if not faster. Okay! This sounds doable! Very generous intervals! Giddy up!

Then I meet my very nice lane partner who asks if I swam for Pitt. Umm...did he see me doing my open turns? I guess not! :)

And off we go. I figure the first one will be a little relaxed because we are to descend them. I feel good but am surprised to see that I come through in 4 min flat. Well. How about that? I don't really swim 300s faster than 4 minutes to tell you the truth and I think my PR might be 3:55. Now granted I don't usually go around swimming hard 300s but still - the question lingered - if we are STARTING at 4:00 where exactly was this *descend* going to end up?! And what was that about doing the last 4 at a pace faster than the final descended one? I looked longingly at my old lane.

But you know what? It was TOTALLY fine! We descended to 3:52 and then I swam my last 4 in 3:52, 3:52, 3:50 and 3:50. And I was fine. At one point I looked at the digital clock as we went through a 200 and I realized that we were going through in 2:30. I can guarantee that I've never swam a 200 in 2:30! BUT IT WAS FINE!

Now granted I was swimming on a strong swimmer's feet and if I had to do this by myself I would have significantly more trouble. I understand why I am instructed to sometimes do my workouts by myself! But still, it was a huge lesson in putting limits on myself! I do it especially with swimming but also with the other sports. I *think* I am capable of X but not Z. When really I should be asking WHY NOT Z? Why the heck not? Sometimes the answer is "because you are not ready for Z" but I think sometimes we'd all be surprised to learn that the answer is "yep, Z would be just fine!"

So that was my lesson for the day. I've learned this lesson before, but I have to keep relearning it at times. I never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed. :)

Now excuse me, I have to go admire my newly adjusted bike saddle. Plus, my favorite song is playing on my iTunes and I have to sing it to Roxy. I bet she can't wait!

Posted by beth at 7:59 PM | Comments (4)

August 24, 2008

BARK!

Well of course I've been addicted to ironmanlive today "watching" IM Canada. That was one heck of a race! It's always interesting watching the splits come in and then later reading reports/quotes from the race and understanding how it really unfolded. Anyway, I also enjoyed seeing results of other races around the country, all the while wishing I was racing too! Not much longer - just 3 more weeks for me!

Today O and I did a long run this morning. It was nice - great morning and I think we both felt good. O ate a banana before the run and felt like a million bucks. He never eats before he runs usually. Well duh. :)

Then this evening I rode my bike and it was so nice out! After dinner time on Sunday night might be my new favorite time to ride. It's so quiet! I did have one little snag where I was stopped at a light (I was first in line) and when we all started up again the truck that rolled past me first had a big dog hanging out the window unbeknownst to me. Well of course just as they passed the dog (who at this point was leaning out the window) let out a HUGE bark right in my ear! It scared me half to death. I nearly toppled over on my bike! So sorry coach for the HR max of 202. That wasn't a mistake. :)

So anyway, I still have bike grease on my hands and I really need to clean myself up. Or they might now let me in the pool tomorrow morning. :)

Good night everyone. Have a great week!

Posted by beth at 8:40 PM | Comments (1)

August 23, 2008

Will You Be My Friend?

First, I must comment on Facebook.

I think it's really funny how Facebook gives you friend suggestions in the "people you may know" column. I don't know how they do this although I'm guessing it has something to do with the categories you put yourself in and then people that YOUR friends are friends with. Anyway, occasionally people like Chris McCormack show up in my column. HA! Yeah...I may just ask him to be my friend. Nothing says stalker like that! :)

Regardless, right now I'm watching the Olympic men's marathon and they are FLYING! It's amazing how fast they run in such tough conditions for such a long race. I'm a big Ryan Hall fan although it doesn't appear at this point he is going to medal. Who knows though. Anything can happen in a long race!

Anyway, I did do some other things today other than play on the computer and watch tv! I also took a nap of course! :) (I know, my life is so hard you can't even imagine... :)

This morning I did my long ride and finished at the park where O's cross country team was competing in their first meet of the season. It was fun to watch the kids run hard. And I do use the word "kids" because they all look like they are about half my age. Oh wait. They are. Nothing like being around high schoolers to make you feel old!

After the meet was over O and I drove to the pool and went for a swim followed by our last hot tub session. Bummer! The YMCA that we've been using in lieu of ours (which is still closed for another week) is now closing itself for a week. The pool scramble continues! Luckily the Pitt pools open back up this upcoming week as school is now back in session. So it should be Pitt all next week and then FINALLY our YMCA should be open once again. Whew. Just give me water to swim in!

Regardless, had another great pool workout. So good in fact that I seriously started to wonder if the pool is short. I have been on fire lately! But I also had a good workout in a different pool at masters this week and it still takes me the same number of strokes to get across this pool. And I've asked about 10 people how long the pool is and they all assure me it's 25 yds. So I'm just going to believe that it is! And believe that I might finally be getting faster! I also think that maybe some pools are "faster" than others? Who knows. Either way, I will miss this YMCA for the fast water, the hot tub and for the fact that O and I always stop for sandwiches after we swim there and I really enjoy that! :)

NEWS FLASH - we just saw a commercial for the Olive Garden's Never-Ending Pasta Bowl. This deal comes around every fall - usually starts in late August and goes until late October. And each year O and I go multiple times. You would be amazed at how much pasta O can eat! Ahh...fall is good for so many reasons...

Good night everyone and best of luck to all those who are racing - Chicago, IM Canada, IronGirl and everyone else!

Posted by beth at 8:40 PM | Comments (4)

August 22, 2008

Trip Down Memory Lane

This morning I embarked on a fartlek run. Actually, it was more structured than "real" fartlek but nonetheless it was the same idea - run hard for varying intervals with easy rest intervals in between. I had a great workout and really enjoyed pushing myself. Indeed, because my legs feel so good I was able to really run hard. This weekly dose of speedwork added back into my diet has been refreshing!

But hard running for me always results in one thing. Something that I can almost guarantee - an upset stomach. Of the largest proportions.

I think I've always been like this. But I've been running for so long those early years are a little fuzzy now. Regardless, I can certainly remember many a time when despite a killer workout or long, tough race that SHOULD have resulted in a huge appetite (and oh how I do love to eat!), instead resulted in stomach pains and absolute zero desire to put anything into my mouth.

This morning, much the same. Directly after my workout I felt fine but then, the upset stomach started. Soon after my shower I was laying down on the bedroom floor begging it to stop. I did get through my stretching and got ready for work but my belly's unhappiness continued. Until about 10 am. When hunger took over! I have learned through the years that even though the stomach is unhappy, you must still feed it. Because if you wait until you FEEL like eating, you'll be waiting quite a while, and in the mean time you will have robbed your cells of the important nutrients they need to rebuild and recover from the trauma they just went through.

Anyway, I know many people have this issue with running (that's why cycling rocks - you can have a whole feast WHILE you are doing it with no ill effects!). But I also know many who have no such problems.

Case in point - my husband.

We did our first marathon together - at the now defunct Raleigh Marathon in December of 2002. We did 100% of our training together (what can I say, we were newlyweds!) and I have to say - it was absolutely amazing to cross the finish line of my first marathon and then watch my husband do exactly the same. It was a huge sense of accomplishment.

But after the race, of course, my stomach was in knots. O, on the other hand, was ready to EAT! I can distinctly remember (like it was yesterday!) walking through the building where they had the post race feast. I was nibbling on a bagel, trying to will my stomach to calm down. And O? He was going at it! I wish I had a picture. He was just walking down each ailse, grabbing whatever he could at each table. One time I looked up and I swear he had 3 cookies in his mouth at the same time, crumbs all over himself, with a big smile on his face!

And same goes for pretty much every other race he's ever done. Stomach of steel I guess. Lucky him.

Anyway, I did survive just fine and by lunch was rearing to go! Work was busy which at the very least made the day go by fast. And then, on my drive home, I heard the song that will forever remind me of my freshman year of high school cross country - Don Henley's The End Of Innocence.

Why you may ask? Well - that year we won the district (and actually state too) championships. And at that time the local tv news station had a 30 min show that highlighted the high school sports that took place that week. Sports like cross country never made it on the show (it was mostly the football matchups from Friday night) except for districts so by virtue of our win we got on tv! There were clips of the race and then us accepting our awards and my senior teammate was even interviewed ALL while The End Of Innocence was played as the background music.

I think it's funny how I can remember the song that played on a tv show over 15 years ago but for the life of me can't remember where I parked my dang car in the garage each day at work.

Anyway, I still have the tape of the show (on VHS no less) and occasionally watch it for laughs! I had it all - braces and curly, long hair and I look like...well...like I'm 14 years old! :)

Of course the song makes me think back to that time, that year, my first of "serious" running if you count runs to the Dairy Queen serious. I can sometimes remember like it was yesterday some of the goofy things we did. How much fun we had each day at practice and of course at races when we would win! Trophies! How cool! There were only 10 girls total on our team that year and of the top 5 scorers there was 1 senior, 1 sophomore and 3 of us freshman that had absolutely no idea what we were doing. I was the 5th runner on the team and very acutely aware that my big fat placing would be added to the team's score so I had BETTER GET MOVING!

I can remember having to wear the BIG spikes at the meet that qualified teams for districts because it had rained for days on end and the mud was thick. And then we got to wear those same big spikes at the state meet. We had a lot of fun in those!

At the state meet my coach had a goal for me to break 20 minutes (I had never done that before) and to place in the top 50. It was likely nothing more than a stab in the dark for him but of course I took that as my mission! So when I crossed the line in 51st place with a time of 20:02 (I kid you not!) I was just crushed. I was sure I had let my whole team down! (ah...to be a freshman again... :) Surely we wouldn't place well since I had placed 1 position back from some random guess my coach made at how well I might be able to run!

But in the end we won and everything was good! And the tv station came BACK to do a story on us when we got back home (no music played on that one or I probably would have remembered :).

So I guess what that song really reminds me of is a time when running was pretty simple. We went to practice every day and had fun and in the end we succeeded. There have certainly been times in my life when I made running way too complex. And triathlon? Forget it! There is soooo much more to think about and worry about and agonize over in that sport! But why? In the end, it really is simple. Turn the arms over in the water, turn the pedals over on the bike and turn the legs over on the run. AND HAVE FUN! Get the big spikes out every once in a while and splash in the mud.

Tomorrow O's cross country team has their first cross country meet of the season. Incidentally, it's at the site of that district championship from 1993. The course is different now and that park is no longer used for the district championships. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go back. So I'm going to finish my ride there tomorrow morning and watch the runners cross the line. My guess is, I'll be hearing Don Henley in my ears.

Posted by beth at 7:58 PM | Comments (5)

August 21, 2008

The Original

Today I went swimming and then to work and then on a bike ride. I know...very original. I've never done THAT before. :)

It was all good, although, as previously mentioned, I wouldn't mind skipping the work part.

Today at masters I had a new lane partner. He wasn't too talkative but he swam fast and got the work done. Which is why we are there right? We swam some 100s and at the end had 4 fast ones. I swam mine all in 1:10. This is very good for me. Now it might be pertinent to mention that they were on a 1:50 interval! Okay, not as impressive now... :) Had I said they were on a 1:15 or 1:20 interval then I would have even impressed myself! Oh well. One day...

And the ride? Pretty darn good. I have to say that lately I've been liking my bike more and more. Kind of odd because cycling is usually my least favorite to train for. But Scotty and I have been getting along just fine.

Tomorrow is Friday. And for that I cheer! I think I need to go get my Olympics fix now...

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2008

Stay At Home Triathlete

Today I had off work. Let me tell you - THIS is the way to live! Didn't wake up until 7 am. Took my leisurely time in completing my bike workout, and then a drive to the pool for some swimming. Followed by some hot tub time because where did I have to be? NO WHERE! Next up was the drive home. Lunch and some icing. Showering. Stretching. PT appointment. Core exercises. Laundry and ironing and I even made dinner to be ready just as O was getting home from practice. I swear I could do this every day! I will continue to lobby for my stay-at-home-triathlete position although the idea doesn't really thrill O as this job seems to bring in absolutely ZERO revenue. Hmmm.... Must figure out a way.... ;)

ANYWAY - the bike workout went well. It was a HARD one with intervals, something I haven't done in...oh...a LONG time! It felt absolutely GREAT too, that is, once it was over! Despite the fact that it's beautiful outside I did the workout on the trainer because I really needed to get in a good hard HR up to 180 and hold it there type of workout in. That's hard for me to do on the roads. And I haven't done a hard trainer ride since spring as I was doing most of my hard workouts outside. So it was time. Sweat flying, heart about ready to explode through the chest, legs in absolute revolt - you all know what I'm talking about. I really look forward to these workouts and then, mid-workout wonder why in the world I wanted to do it! But they feel oh so good when you are done... Time to get back in shape! :)

And the swim went well too. I've noticed a lot of 600 repeats in my workouts lately which make me a little sad. :) Actually anything above a 400 elicits this response! But I've been feeling so dang good in the water lately I didn't even care today! And the hot tub after? Superb. My hamstring never loved me so much!

So now it's time to relax. My belly is filled and my chores are done. My bag is packed for swim practice tomorrow. AND IT'S ONLY 7 PM! Life is so good... :)

PS Visit O's blog for a picture of our ham-dog. :)

Posted by beth at 6:53 PM | Comments (3)

August 18, 2008

I Just Binged on Facebook

The problem is you find one friend who then opens a whole new world of friends. And then you must ask all these people to be your friend. And then you start saying thing like..."Oh...it's (so and so/fill in the blank) - remember the time she went through the conveyor belt in the dining halls at Penn State?!?!" And the thing is, O knows all my college teammates too so he DOES remember the time so and so went through the conveyor belt! What a blast!

I just found one of my former teammate's profile and I wasn't even thinking PSU teammate - I was thinking triathlete as she is now into triathlons. But she had a whole bunch of PSU runners as friends and that's how the viscious cycle begins... :)

My name is Beth Shutt and I am a Facebook-aholic.

Posted by beth at 8:46 PM | Comments (4)

Faster by Osmosis

I think somehow by virtue of watching many fast swimmers on tv over the past several days, I've myself become faster! It can't be explained but lately I have been feeling great in the water. I won't ask why, I'm just going to roll with it! This morning was no exception. I just kept surprising myself over and over again. That doesn't happen often in training I know. So I'm just going to be thankful for it now! :)

Anyway, going with this new theory, I've decided that if I watch Emma Snowsill enough I just may run like the wind! Holy cats can that woman run! It just boggles my mind that she can run in the 33s after the swim/bike combo. I am in awe. What most of this world would give just to run in the 33s fresh! :)

In other news it was back to PT today to make sure my hamstring doesn't commit mutiny before October 26th. I do treat my hamstrings really well. They get stretched and iced and heated when need be. They get strengthened. But still they give me grief. Today the PT told me I should give my hamstrings a break because it's really all these little "helper" muscles that are weak that therefore cause the hamstrings to have to work too hard and THAT'S why they get so unhappy. Humpf! So we set to make those helpers strong enough to, well, actually help! Of course this involves crazy exercises that make my hips really tired! But I will do whatever I need to. Unless they tell me that in order to heal my hamstrings I have to give up cereal. I would have to think twice about that!

Anyway...off to watch Emma...so I can run 33 minutes in Dallas. Heck, I would even settle for 38. :)

Posted by beth at 7:53 PM | Comments (1)

August 17, 2008

Where Does the Weekend Go?

Chad just asked this question on his blog and I have to say - I WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER MYSELF! Pretty much every Sunday night I sit around wondering where Friday night, Saturday and Sunday went and how in the world Monday is right around the corner! But such is life. And I have to say, many of my weeks go just as fast as the weekends so I can't complain!

Anyway, today was another day of rest and relaxation - long run, church, lunch, newspaper, watch the Olympics, nap, some odds and ends around the house and then around 6:00 pm I still had my ride to do. So I formed a little plan in my head - maybe I could do my ride and finish at the Dairy Queen where O and Roxy could meet me. Now THAT is my kind of ride! O was game so off I set with thoughts of ice cream dancing in my head. I had a great ride. It was beautiful out tonight. And of course my post training nutrition was superb! Roxy thought the same!

''

Have a great week everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:22 PM | Comments (4)

August 16, 2008

Never Doubt the Wetsuit

Recently I bought one of these as I was predicting that of my remaining 3 races I have this season, several of them won't be wetsuit legal. Now, after making my purchase, I'm not so sure that is the case, but oh well. I bought it and now I'm stuck with it. Anyway, if I should ever turn pro I'll get plenty of use out of it as pros never seem to get to wear wetsuits! (one reason to stay amateur FOREVER! :)

Regardless, the suit arrived in the mail the other day and when it did I had a hard time believing I was going to fit in it. I had hemmed and hawed over what size to get as weight wise the small made most sense but height wise the medium-small would fit best. My wetsuit is a medium-small and I do have big quads that could potentially make a small not fit so well. But then again you want it as small as possible right? So I went with the small.

And, like I said, when it arrived, I feared I had made the wrong choice. But amazingly enough it fit just fine last night when I tried it on! (that material really does stretch quite well!)

Anyway, I decided I needed to take it to the pool today for my swim workout to see how it felt and also to see if it really does make you faster.

Now I've never swam in the pool with my wetsuit because I would probably die of heat exhaustion! I mostly swim at YMCAs where the water is at least 80 degrees, if not more and so you can imagine that wetsuits just aren't a great idea. So the only place I've worn my wetsuit is in open water where it's really hard to tell if it really does make you faster. Of course I believe that they do as everyone SAYS that they do but I really had no cold, hard evidence.

Fast forward to today when I jumped into the pool with my swim skin and VIOLA! - all of a sudden swimming 1:15 pace for 300s doesn't feel so bad! Holy cats! I immediately declared to O that I would be wearing this suit for ALL my pool workouts, regardless of how odd I looked doing so! :)

So I guess I learned that neoprene really does make one faster and that science doesn't lie. Just imagine how many seconds/100 the wetsuit takes off! I will never grumble again about getting hot in my wetsuit as it's a small price to pay for a much improved swim time!

Anyway, before all this swimming experimentation was occuring I did a 3:30 brick. I set off on my bike this morning and was instantly loving life. Absolutely beautiful day, sunny and cool (I started with arm warmers!) and just plain awesome.

And then things got a little hairy.

First, I ran over a dead, nasty, smelly thing. It was one of those situations where I didn't see the dead thing until I was almost upon it and at the very same time a large truck was passing so it was impossible to swerve around dead thing. Slamming on the brakes wasn't going to be a viable solution either as that would probably result in me somersaulting over my handlebars right ONTO the dead thing. So over it I went. YUCK!!!!

It wasn't long after that (I was still recovering in fact) when I realized that my aerobars were definitely not right. As in they were pointing directly downward and hovering just above my front tire. WHAT. THE. HECK?!?!

Obviously after being in the shop, Scotty's headset wasn't tightened entirely and now I had loose aerobars on my hands. And of course I didn't have any tools! UGH!!!

So I stood along the side of the road and quickly brainstormed my options all the while making a mental note to never ride without tools again.

1) ride back home and tighten the headset up myself
2) pull the bars up and hope they just stayed for the rest of the ride
3) close my eyes and when I open them everything will magically be okay

None of them good options.

But that's when it dawned on me that I was riding in the middle of nowhere which means that there are no shops or resturants or houses for that matter BUT that there are PLENTY of little mechanic garages every couple of miles that HAVE to have allen wrenches!

So I rode on with the plan to stop at the first garage I saw.

But of course in the mean time I hit another (unavoidable) HUGE hole and my aerobars went straight down AGAIN AND I lost a water bottle that had about 300 calories of nutrition in it! I cursed the evil roads of Pennsylvania and all their awful potholes. And then I laughed. And then I went searching for my bottle (which I found intact). I pulled up my bars again and rode on.

And luckily within 5 minutes found a perfect little garage to stop at.

I caused quite a scene. In these parts a "bike" is a Harley and people don't wear spandex. But of course the guys at the shop were SOOO nice and within seconds produced just the right size allen torque wrench to fix my bike!

He had me put the bars right where I wanted them and then proceeding to tighten that screw up so tight I cringed with fear. I'm extremely glad that he wasn't tightening onto carbon or he surely would have crushed it! But I was about 110% sure that my headset wouldn't be coming loose again that ride. Or ever. :)

So off I rode! And the rest of the ride I had not one other problem! Off the bike and onto the run and I just couldn't believe how beautiful it was outside! Great training weather for sure...unless you are training for Kona or some other hot and humid race (Dallas)...but what can you do? :)

Off to watch more of the Olympics including the women's marathon!

Posted by beth at 6:35 PM | Comments (3)

August 15, 2008

Olympics Binge

Well I *really* tried to behave myself and not look at the results of the Olympic women's 10K today. I thought - how exciting if I DIDN'T know the results and then taped the coverage (which is slated from midnight to 2 am tonight/tomorrow morning) and then just watched it all unfold not knowing who gets what?!

But I didn't have enough self restraint. I REALLY wanted to know how the American women did. So in a fit of fury I looked up the results at work today. And of course I was not disappointed! I won't ruin it if perhaps you don't know yet. But either way, I still think it will be fun to watch the race even knowing the outcome. Did I mention that I LOVE THE OLYMPICS?!

I'm feeling an Olympic binge coming on this weekend. Besides some training we have very little to do and that makes me so happy. Olympics here we come! And I really hope to eventually get a glimpse of the modern pentathlon because today my sister and I decided that we are totally on Team USA in 2012 for this very interesting sport! We are perfect for it - both runners growing up and now swimmers by virtue of triathlon. AND we also rode horses for years when we were younger. That's 3 of the 5 sports right there! Now the fact that I've never shot a rifle or really have not a clue how fencing works does not deter me at all! We have 4 years to learn! :)

Anyway, today I ran and lifted. I officially confirm that there is life in my legs again! I am feeling SOOO much better which helps me to realize that the last 2 weeks were really needed to rejuvinate myself some. Last week was really easy and this week, while back to a more normal volume, still didn't have any intensity. Now next week we'll add back in the intensity. I guess we shall see how that goes!

In the mean time, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! And I leave you all with this - a quote from Mark Spitz that my mom sent me. I absolutely love it because it truly is 1000% how I feel about sport. Couldn't have said it better myself. This is literally what gets me out of bed every day and has for many, many, many years.

"It has nothing to do with swimming. That happens to be my sport. I'm trying to see how far I can go."

Right on brother.

Posted by beth at 7:40 PM | Comments (5)

August 14, 2008

Michael Phelps Eats A Lot!

Much like the rest of the nation, the Olympics Obession continues with me. I just can't get enough. Although I will admit that I was extremely close to falling asleep at work today from staying up way too late last night watching swimming and then getting up way to early for masters practice this morning! Oh well. The Olympics only come around once every 4 years right?!

Of course the big talk today at work was how much Michael Phelps eats. Let me just say that I totally believe he eats that much if not more. I know that swimming makes me famished and I certainly don't swim 5-6 hours/day!

Anyway, I had a tough day at work today, partly because I was so sleepy but also because one of my best friends from work finished her last day today. She is starting a new job next week. Major bummer! I really do like my job but I think a big part of that is because I really like the people I work with and when they leave I get sad! But such is life and I'm very happy for her to be moving on to bigger and better things.

Regardless, I got a good pick-me-up after work because O and I met my BFF, her husband, mom and 2 daughters for dinner! They were in town (they live about 2.5 hours away) for a Wiggles concert so we were able to meet up! I was looking forward to it all day and it did not disappoint.

Krista and I were roommates and teammates in college, in each other's weddings, ran several marathons together, and, other than O and my parents, knows me better than anyone else alive! She truly amazes me with what she does - mom of 2 young ones (age 2.5 yrs and 5 months), amazing wife, cross country and track coach, awesome friend, and the list goes on and on. Anyway - dinner was great and when it was all said and done O and I decided that waiting to have kids might be smart. :) Seriously though, Krista and Tim's girls are SOO well behaved but wow - it's hard to keep track of all that and eat dinner at the same time! :) I had such a great time and it was such a nice treat after being sad all day at work!

So now I must get to bed...or maybe stay up just a liiiiiittle bit longer to watch some more Olympics action... :)

Posted by beth at 9:09 PM | Comments (3)

August 13, 2008

Take Your Wife to Work Day!

If there was such a day invented, O and I have it covered! Today we celebrated and I went to "work" with O. It was a blast! I wish I could do it all the time! (although very little work was actually done so maybe that's why it was fun :)

The morning started off bright and early with a bike ride for me. Actually, scratch the "bright" part - it was just early! I really wanted to ride outside but I was on a time crunch and I REALLY needed it to get light outside STAT! I waited and waited but it wasn't until after 6 am that I finally deemed it light enough to get started. That sort of makes me sad - like summer is coming to a close! I know it will still be warm for a while yet but with it darker in the mornings and evenings and with school starting again soon, I have the summer ending blues... :)

ANYWAY, the bike ride went well and it felt good to get on Scotty again! I always feel really fast when I get on my TT again after being on the road bike!

I got home, showered, ate, iced, stretched and O and I were on our way to "work".

Today I was giving some nutrition lectures/talks/discussions to the girls and boys cross country teams at the high school where O teaches and coaches. O had asked me to do it some time ago (when he first started teaching there) but I kept putting it off. I'm not sure why other than the fact that talking to groups of high school kids doesn't really excite me too much. In fact I was quite fearful of the thought! But it was time to get the job done so this was the year.

First up was the girls team at 9:15 am. And it went well! I was surprised that I wasn't even nervous and actually had quite a bit of fun. I can't even believe that it was over 10 years since I was one of those high school girls, sitting there after practice and thinking about things like what I was going to wear on the first day of school! Anyway, I didn't know how it was going to go (remember in my real job I work with patients in comas all day - they really don't talk back or ask too many questions!) but I think it went well. The girls seemed interested and had questions and I gave them Powerbar stuff so they were happy. :)

I was also doing a lecture for the boys team but not until 2:30 pm so O and I had some time to kill. The school is over an hour from where we live (O has a BAD commute!) so of course we weren't going to drive all the way home only to come right back. So instead we went swimming!

I'm kicking myself now because I forgot to take the camera for a picture of the pool but it was awesome! It is the community pool but only about a 5 minute walk from the high school. So we got our gear and went to do our workout. Outdoors and LCM - could you ask for me?! I was loving life! That is until I stuck my little toe in the water and felt how cold it was. HOLY CATS! I guess that's what happens in outdoor pools when it hasn't been that warm! :) Anyway, once I finally coaxed myself in (wishing the whole time I had my wetsuit) I got my workout done. And I remembered what LCM felt like! Wowsers - much different than SCY, that's for sure!

After the workout we got showered in the school and went for some lunch. And then probably my favorite part of the day - O's tour of the school! He showed me all around their HUGE school, the many different gyms, the pools, the rooms where he and all his co-workers teach. I met a lot of the other teachers and secretaries, etc... and got to talk to one of his other co-workers that I truly find inspiring. She is going through treatment (chemo) for breast cancer right now but despite that she continues to train and race in triathlons (in addition to being a mom and wife!). I have really been amazed at what she's done. Think tri training is tough? Try doing it while going through chemotherapy!

Anyway, I really enjoyed seeing with my own eyes what O does all day and where he hangs out. He has worked at that school for 2+ years now but I've never actually been in the school since it's so out of the way from where we live. Pretty cool.

And I couldn't help myself from taking this picture of O outside his room. The "Mr Shutt" sign just kills me!

Finally I did the 2nd lecture for the boys team at around 2:30 and that went well too. Of course the boys weren't nearly as interested as the girls but that's to be expected. :)

So that was our day! I really enjoyed spending the whole day with O because how often does that really happen? :) And of course he did the driving so on the way home I got a nice nap. :)

Now it's back to the "real" job tomorrow. Bummer!

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:01 PM | Comments (4)

August 12, 2008

World Records For Everyone!

Can someone explain to me why swimming world records are broken just about any time someone jumps in the pool? This is craziness! Is it really because of the skin/speed suits? I think I need one of these new suits...and then maybe I can swim under 65 seconds for 100 yds. Okay, not quite a world record, but a record FOR ME nonetheless. :)

Anyway, today some running and some riding. I was very motivated to get on my bike as soon as I got home from work. That's sort of unusual as I usually putz around for a good 30 to 40 to 50 to... Okay, sometimes I do "other" things first. :) But today I was all business! Part of it likely has to do with our still beautiful weather and for the fact that after Saturday's ride I have some new, fun roads to ride on.

I was on my road bike again today as Scotty was still in the shop but Scotty is now back in business as O picked him up on his way home from school. Scotty was having issues with his aerobar pads, in that any time I hit any sort of bump, my pads would drop about 2-3 inches! After Steelhead I reached my limit. By the time I was done with the bike that day my elbows were down by my knees! Not very comfortable. So Scotty went off to the shop to get things taken care of. And today he came back with all new pads and aerobar extensions (or whatever they are called). Of course it was the expensive solution but things are MUCH improved now. And because of the change I can actually get a little lower and be a little more aero. And my elbows will stay put!

So now it's back to watching the Olympics. The women's 200 free was just on and guess what? Yep, another world record!

Posted by beth at 10:04 PM | Comments (4)

August 11, 2008

Bottle It Up!

We are seriously having THE best weather known to man. No better weather exists. Lows in the 50s, highs in the mid 70s, sunny and NO humidity. I wish I could bottle it up and save it for one of those 95 degree days w/150% humidity or better yet, one of those winter days when it's so cold you just want to cry! I LOVE IT! We even ate dinner outside (something we usually don't do) because we couldn't get enough.

(do those chairs look familiar mom? :)

Regardless, today I returned to the pool (and the hot tub!) for a 4000 yd swim. I also lifted today. Haven't been in the weight room for what seems like an eternity so it was nice to see it back on my schedule! I'm really looking forward to my return to more "normal" training this week! There is no speed work but that returns the following week. Very exciting! Now I just need my hamstring to cooperate.

And now I am watching the Olympics (again). I just love them! I couldn't stay up for the men's 4x100 meter relay last night (it was soooo far past my bedtime I had no hope) but of course I watched it on the internet today and I had chills! Simply amazing. Nothing like a relay to bring your very, very best out and then just that little bit more...

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:29 PM | Comments (3)

August 10, 2008

This and That

Today we've been busy cleaning. Cleaning the house that is. We're pretty good with keeping up with the house but this summer has seen a lot of travel, training and racing and well...we might have gotten a little behind. So we went on a clean fest and even got into all those little nooks and crannys that you usually avoid. Let's just say, WOW - never knew so much dust, dirt and DOG hair existed!

We also went to church this morning and were treated to an awesome hour of worship with a Christian music group from North Central University called One Accord. It was just really...awesome! They sang some traditional praise and worship songs and then some of their own music, all very impressive for a group of 8 or 9 college kids! We bought their CD on the way out for sure! Regardless, I was reminded this morning of something that I needed reminded of often in my life. And that is, God's grace is "enough". In our hurry and rush to always acquire more in this world (more money, more friends, more accolades, more PRs, more status) I think it's always great for me to be reminded that while all that "stuff" is good and dandy, I don't really need it. And furthermore, I can make myself pretty unhappy trying to get it. Instead, God's grace really is sufficient enough for me. And the good news is, you don't have to do anything to get it! This song, which we sang this morning, always brings me back.

Anyway, in other news I think Micheal Phelps is awesome. I am so impressed with him, his strength, his speed, and his humbleness. I figure if I watch enough of him swimming I might just swim faster by proxy. What do you think? :)

Speaking of swimming, I've determined that this week I will be swimming in 4 different pools. This all due, of course, to the fact that my YMCA is still closed. This week will be fun though because who doesn't like a swimming change of scenery? AND - two of these pools have hot tubs. AND one of them is outdoors, LCM. It will be a great swimming week for sure!

I took today off from training but will slowly be getting back in the swing of things this week. Nothing crazy or big but a few more hours than the 7 I did this week! :) Boy I do say, after doing weeks upon end of 20 hours, 7 hours feels like...nothing. All relative of course, as 20 hours probably feels like nothing to those that are usually doing 35.

Anyway, in still other news last night O and I went out to dinner with Chad and his wife Jen. Um hello - triathlon central! I was loving life. It's hard to find people who live, eat and breathe triathlon as much as I do and who are willing to talk about it for hours on end without boredom setting in. Regardless, Jen and Chad both just did amazingly well at IMLP and I really enjoyed hearing about their days there - pouring down rain and all. Yuck. And now they are training for a few more 1/2 IMs this year including Clearwater. I tried my best to convince them that they would like to do California Oceanside 70.3 with me next year but I'm not sure how it went over. They've already done that race so they might like to try something new. They did give me the low down on the race though and it appears that I better get ready for a COLD swim. Hmm...my favorite. :)

Have a great start to your week everyone!

Posted by beth at 7:41 PM | Comments (1)

August 9, 2008

The Olympics are Awesome!

Well as addicting as Facebook is, I'm finding the Olympics much more so. I can't get enough! And I'll watch anything! Fencing? Sure! Judo? Sure (although I have no idea how that sport works)! Beach volleyball? Sure! Cycling - well of course - DUH?! (that's what I'm watching now). Life is good. :)

Today I had some great training. My YMCA swimming pool is still closed for another 3 weeks and the Pitt pools another 2 weeks so today I knew we would have to drive up north to a different YMCA. Somewhere along the way I decided it would be fun to ride my bike up to that Y and then meet O there for a swim. Amazingly it worked beautifully! AND I found some great new places to ride. I seriously have hundreds of miles of rural country roads right outside my door step and today I discovered even more.

Of course not without getting a little lost.

O helped me map a course but after about 10 miles they were all roads I had never been on before. I missed two turns (on the first one, the road had no road sign but on the 2nd missed turn I had no excuse) so O got a couple calls. But in the end, all was good and I showed up at the YMCA about 90 minutes later! O had just arrived (in the car with our swim stuff!) and so I stashed my bike in the car and onto the pool we went!

And I had a GREAT swim. One thing about it - although my legs have needed some recovery time from Steelhead and the season thus far, my arms are rearing to go! (I guess we never did get to swim last Saturday... :) I didn't do anything too much - in fact only 2500 yds total but I was actually swimming faster than I have all season. Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm nice and fresh!

Anyway, one thing I noticed a couple days ago was that this new YMCA has a hot tub. Hmmm... I was having flashbacks to going to the hot tub after swimming with Elizabeth this summer and loving every second! But in the morning when we have to get to work afterwards we don't have time. So this was our morning. O and I found our way to the whirlpool and oh was it nice! I made sure I hit all my sore spots with the jets and stayed in as long as I could stand it before the hot water started making my heart race. I will be making good use of that thing over the next couple weeks for sure.

So my recovery continues. My body is slowly coming back to life although I know I'm going to have a struggle with my hamstring over the next couple months. My hamstring and I just don't get along. It bugged me last year towards the end of the season and it's been pretty marginal ever since. Lately it's been acting up even more, despite all my strenghtening exercises, icing and stretching, etc... Bugger. But the one good thing about injuries that you've had before is that you know how to handle them a little better. I'll be calling my PT on Monday to get back in a routine there. And I've already told my hamstring that it will NOT get the best of me. I think we've come to an understanding. :)

That's my story! Today when I was riding (and it was absolutely beautiful outside) I was just really enjoying my ride and so thankful to be out there doing what I love. I was also giving quite a bit of thought as to what makes athletes successful. I guess this topic was on my mind for several reasons - one, several other people have been blogging about it and two, the Olympics which showcase the world's best, are starting. But either way, I was thinking a lot about it. It's a complex topic for sure. Obviously good genes, talent and an amazing work ethic to get the physical work done is a must. Recovery, good nutrition, proper rest, etc... also very important. But I was also thinking about the mental side of it and how the most successful deal with disappointment, deal with injury, deal with being tired, deal with pressure, etc...all the things that are INEVITABLE in sports. I was trying to brainstorm ideas as to how it all relates to my own situation and my strengths and weaknesses as an athlete. I've always had a very strong committment to excellence on the physical side of things. And I have boat loads of desire. But what I can do better with is attitude, patience and seeing a bigger picture when my boat gets rocked a little.

I feel like I'm at a point in my season where I really need to focus and get it right. I've been given a golden opportunity to learn from a rough race, learn to listen to my body and to stay positive, patient and just as determined as ever through a bit of a nagging injury. It's taken me a long time to realize it, but a committment to *mental* excellence is just as important if not more so than the physical side. So as I start to ramp things back up physically I'll be working on my mental strength and stamina as well. I think I'll find it quite useful...in the long run... :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 4:31 PM | Comments (2)

August 7, 2008

Trouble Indeed

Totally addicted to Facebook. I just knew that was going to happen. But it's fun! And you'd be surprised to know how many people have Facebook accounts. Astounding! Definitely not something for just high school/college kids. Besides, I think I was thinking of myspace.com, which is different. I think. Anyway, I still haven't figured Facebook totally out. There is a feature where you can write something on someone's wall. That's weird. You can also "poke" people. Which I think is even weirder.

In other news, I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE OLYMPICS!!! Of course the Olympics are the best ever and if there is something that's going to break me of my newly formed Facebook habit, it will be Olympics watching. Of course I will be watching swimming, cycling and triathlon with keener interest. I've always watched the track/marathon. And I also like gymnastics (who doesn't?) and equestrian (I used to ride horses in a former life). But I really like ALL the sports because when else do you watch the best of the best competing against each other for the biggest title in athletics? Awesome. I can't wait. O has already been watching the early soccer games on his computer and will be into the baseball, softball, basketball...and just about everything else. :)

As for training today I went to masters this morning for a great swim workout! It was great to be back and swim with my lanemates! And it worked out well because the workout wasn't anything crazy or too hard or long which was perfect for my "easier" week. Tomorrow I think I will finally try running. I haven't ran since last Saturday's failed attempt at a fast half marathon. :)

And last but not least, I signed up for this race in Charlotte, NC today! I'm really excited for an all woman's race and also just for another sprint race. That's my personal protest against 70.3. :) Yep, that's right, I'm going 20.6 instead. Doesn't that sound so much better?

Posted by beth at 7:49 PM | Comments (7)

August 6, 2008

I Smell Trouble

If I go missing in the next couple days, fear not. I'm alive and well. But I'm likely holed up in my room, computer at hand, spending countless hours on Facebook.

Yes, that's right. I said Facebook.

And you can blame Audrey for it. :)

I have to admit, for a really long time I didn't know what Facebook was. And I'm pretty sure I still don't really. I avoided figuring it out too, mostly because for a long time I thought it was just for high school and college aged kids. But then I heard of real live adults having Facebook accounts. And I got confused - maybe it was something I should look into? But then again let's face it, I'm already an internet junkie and I don't need another website to get addicted too. So even though I was a bit intrigued I still avoided it.

That is until someone wanted to be my friend. Really? My friend? Hmm...that's tempting. So this morning before work I did the minimal account setup so I could accept a new friend. Hmm...interesting!

I didn't think much more about it until I got home from work and checked my email again. MORE friend requests! This is pretty cool! How do these people know that I now have an account? Mysterious. I smell trouble. Although I don't have a lot of extra time I can tell that one day, when I'm procrastinating some big chore, I'm going to go crazy on Facebook.

Once an internet junkie, always an internet junkie.

Anyway, this morning I rode my bike. Coach told me to take this whole week really easy and not to run too much. Okay. But really coach, you need to define "really easy" a little more closely. I cannot trust myself to make good decisions regarding this topic. But I was proud of myself this morning. I took my road bike out (Scotty has some issues so he had to go to the doctor's office today) and started off in the direction of flat. And I was having so much fun! I haven't ridden my road bike for a really, really long time and I forgot how much I liked it!

So of course I didn't want to turn around. Orginially I thought I would ride for 40 minutes. But the 20 minute turn around point came and went and that seemed WAY too early to go back. So I rode 5 more and then 5 more and then finally at 30 minutes I forced myself to turn around. Only an hour. Impressive if I do say so myself, considering I would have liked to have ridden for 2 or 3 hours!

Also, after work, a massage. Lucy really took it to me. I have to say, my massage therapist is the bomb. I really like her because she just really works hard and does a good job. No chit chat, no messing around. Get in, kill Beth's hip flexors, get out. I had to bite my lip a few times. My lower back and hips - WOW. But that's what I needed.

Tomorrow morning I think I'm going to go to masters practice! Again, haven't been there for a really long time with all the racing I had been doing. So that will be really fun and probably a big kick in the pants. I hope my lane partners accept me back. Of course I know they will. :)

Now excuse me while I go find some more friends on Facebook. :)

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 7:42 PM | Comments (2)

August 5, 2008

Odds and Ends

1) Well the good news is, I don't have a contact in my brain. The eye doctor told me so. He also put yucky yellow stuff in my eye that has been oozing out ever since. And he told me that I scratched my eye up pretty good (oh...so THAT'S why it still hurts) but that I was going to survive. Good thing. Moral of the story is, keep close watch on where your contacts are wondering off to. Or get Lasik surgery. :)

2) This morning I went swimming. I really like to swim. I don't know if I ever mentioned that before. I wouldn't pick it over running (except on a really hot day) but I would probably pick it over riding. Maybe. Anyway, I had a nice swim this morning and especially so because I got some new suits (very badly needed) at the race expo last weekend. New suits are surprisingly good motivators.

3) Anybody with LOOK pedals? There is a recall on some models. I do have LOOK pedals but after some detective work I figured out that mine were not manufactured within the recall time frame. Good thing because I really hate my old pedals. :)

4) My teammate is pretty awesome so I have to brag a little. I think she is especially impressive because she really does have a full time job and one that is quite demanding. I certainly don't know for certain but if I had to guess I would say a good number of elite AG athletes don't work full time or have very flexible jobs that allow for more training/recovery - a benefit I don't think Kelly necessarily has. Again, I could be REALLY wrong about that, so don't blast me for it. :) Anyway, I also really admire Kelly because I think her success has come from year in and year out consistency. Nothing special, nothing fancy. She just gets the training in and then gets the job done on race day.

5) I am getting super excited for my race in Dallas. I thought I was going to have to go alone which would be fine but maybe not as fun as having O along. O is, afterall, THE best. Anyway, O can't come to Dallas because of the cost of flying as well as it being mid cross country season and of course during the school year. He is able to come to BOUS though. Regardless, I begged my family to come instead. I promised lots of great things like dealing with a cranky, nervous me, getting up at about 3 am on race day, standing out in the heat and humidity, carrying around a big heavy bag of assorted stinky shoes, etc... Sounds like fun right? Well they actually took me up on it! First, my mom is definitely coming (she also went to Germany with me last year) and then today my sister showed interest as well! HAHAHAHA! Suckers!! :)

6) One last thing. Today one of the patients I saw is an inmate in prison. Now of course this is nothing out of the ordinary and (especially since I cover trauma) something I see relatively often. They are handcuffed to their beds and there are guards that watch them too. I never feel scared or worried. However I have something to admit. When I do see an inmate I have an OVERWHELMING desire to ask them (if they are actually able to talk) what they did. Is that strange? I mean sometimes it's obvious what their offense was - as in their injury very closely correlates with their crime. But then there are those like I saw today that just make me wonder. Really, what DID this guy do? It bugs me. Despite the fact that I know it shouldn't. Why do I care? Oh well. Maybe one day I'll just ask... :)

Have a great night everyone!

Posted by beth at 7:44 PM | Comments (2)

August 4, 2008

Contacts, Race Planning and More

I think I have a contact in my brain. And I'm a bit worried about it.

You see on Friday night, the night before the race, I went to take out my contacts and I couldn't find my left one. Gone. Missing. Out for lunch!

Of course much weeping and gnashing of teeth ensued. This happens to me every once in a while where I just can't find a contact and I have to dig around in my eye for a good 15 minutes before I can locate it. Annoying to say the least.

Well Friday night the search kept coming up missing. 15 minutes passed. 30 minutes. And I really wanted to go to bed! I thought I saw it. I pawed at my eye for a while. O pawed at my eye. Then I decided I was just seeing the glare of my eye in the mirror. Oh, it was an ugly scene. I love contacts but this part I could do without.

So for the first time ever, I just gave up. I've always found them...somewhere...in the recesses of my eyelid. But on Friday night we just couldn't find success. So I went to bed that night hoping that the contact wasn't slowly migrating into my brain.

I woke up the next morning and my eye hurt. Did it hurt because there was a piece of plastic lodged in it or did it hurt because I had scratched it repeatedly in attempts to get said piece of plastic out? Hard to tell. But I had a race to do.

New lesson learned - always bring extra contacts with you on a trip/to a race/on vacation. Because if you lose one you are doomed to a stomach ache for the rest of your time. You try rolling around with one blurry eye and one perfect vision eye. You get a little dizzy and sick to your stomach after a while.

I didn't really think much of it during the race. As previously documented, I was having other issues during the race. :)

But afterwards I immediately had to get the contact in the good eye out because having two blurry eyes was much better than having one good one and one blurry. That just throws you off.

Needless to say on the trip home yesterday, I wore my glasses. :)

I called my eye doctor today. At this point I'm pretty sure I lost the contact somewhere because I really don't think it could still be up swimming in my brain somewhere. And indeed, I googled "contact lost in eye" and just about every site I clicked on confirmed that the contact doesn't have many places to go because of some protective membrane encasing your eye (thank God!). But regardless, the lady at the eye doctor told me to come in just in case. So I have an appointment tomorrow. Let's hope for the best.

In any case, I spent the majority of today organizing my life. I woke up with the idea that I would do another 70.3 this year in an attempt to qualify for Clearwater. Then I decided against that and started looking for other races. Then I changed my mind again. And again. And again. Then I talked with my coach. Then things made sense again. I do tell you, self destruction would be a sure thing if it weren't for my coaches!

Anyway, we discussed what went wrong on Saturday (many things!) and what I need to do better in training and more importantly in racing a 70.3. I am armed and ready for my next one...which I eventually decided will be next year. If I didn't have any other races planned this year I would definitely find a way to try to qualify for Clearwater but the fact is, I have two very important (to me) Olympic distance races in October to focus on and that's what I'm going to do. 70.3 will have to wait for next year (where I've been instructed to plan more than one in the case that something goes wrong!). Opps...my mistake. :) In the mean time, without really trying, I pretty much planned all of next year too. Because you know we AGers will have to start signing up for races soon (and in fact I signed up for Columbia today!). I am excited for next year though because I *think* I've convinced O that we need to go to California for a race!! I've never been to California!

But now the focus is the US Open and BOUS and I added a nice little all female sprint in September in North Carolina just because I wanted to treat myself for missing out on Clearwater. Some woman buy purses or shoes or chocolate when they are feeling down - I treat myself to another race. HA!

And the focus is also on recovery. Which will be the focus this whole week. And I'm off to a good start. Yesterday before we left Michigan O and I took a nice swim in Lake Michigan (which was absolutely picture perfect, the exact opposite of the day before!) and that felt really good on my legs. And today I took off. Totally. I could get used to this! The usual stretching and icing and massage continue as well. I think I should be feeling better in no time.

Now if only I could find that missing contact... :)

And one last thing - I truly, truly appreciate everyone's nice comments and emails, texts, calls, etc... regarding my race Saturday. I am really just so happy to belong to such a wonderful community of fellow athletes who always know what to say - good or bad - through successes and failures. It really is quite special to me. Thanks guys!

Posted by beth at 8:57 PM | Comments (6)

August 2, 2008

Steelhead Disaster!

OH MY.

Hmm...where shall we begin?

First off - I've just recently decided that anything longer than an Olympic distance race is just ludicrous. And in fact, 70.3 and I are officially divorced.

Can I end this blog entry here? :)

Okay, okay. I guess not.

So today started off well enough. We got to the race site, I did my thing in transition and then we started the 1.2 mile walk to the swim start down the beach. As we were walking I was noticing several things. First - the water. It was hard not to notice. Because it was ANGRY water. It was a pretty windy morning and the water was reacting. Pretty big waves for a lake if you ask me. And a lot of chop. I was trying to swallow my fears. I remember how hard swimming in Tampa Bay was for me this year at St. Anthony's and trust me when I say - this water was looking MUCH worse. But I kept telling myself I would get through this. YOU CAN DO THIS.

Just as we got down to the start and I started putting on my wetsuit they called the swim. CANCELLED. I was a little surprised to tell you the truth. Rumor was they were just going to delay the start until the wind died down some but I guess they just decided to chop the whole thing.

And instantly I was disappointed. I'm here to tell you that even us non-swimmers like the swim in triathlon. That's why we do it instead of duathlon. And even though I stand to benefit from an extra run and no swim, I'm still not a huge fan of it. And besides, my swimming has come a long way and although it's still my weakness it's less of a weakness for me as it is for some others.

Anyway, instead it was a 2 mile run. And let me tell you - mass hysteria ensued. I give the race directors A LOT of credit for moving 2500 people about 2 miles in the opposite direction with a stop in transition for everyone and starting the race only 1 hour later. Now that is a true miracle.

We still started in our waves. And the first run was fine for me. Nothing special and then onto the bike it was.

On the bike and I was feeling...um...okay. I usually feel quite good on the bike. But it was windy and I chalked up my tired legs to pushing hard into the wind for the first 10 miles or so. Truthfully I still rode well. The bike was a good 1-2 miles short (they had to change the bike course slightly to avoid the traffic from the 1st run) but I still rode 2:24-2:25. I guess the full distance would have been more like 2:30-2:32 which would have been a big PR on this course on a very windy day.

I did very well with my nutrition so I don't think lack of kcals/fluid was the cause of my impending demise.

But oh what a demise it was.

I started the half marathon feeling BAD. My legs were just...BAD. I feel like there should be some other good way to explain it but really there isn't. I told myself to get through a few miles and see how I felt.

But a few miles later I only felt worse.

My big goal for this race was to qualify for Clearwater so I talked myself into at least finishing because you never know. At this point I was in 2nd place in my AG and 1st place was my teammate Kim who I knew didn't want a Clearwater slot. I knew even if I finished 4th or 5th or 6th I still had a shot because sometimes the slots fall down pretty far. But I kid you not, by mile 5 I seriously didn't know if I could run another step.

I know that sounds really dramatic but my body was truly shutting down. My legs just felt awful, dead, tired, BADDDDD!!

And so I dropped out.

Quite obviously I was physically depleted and at that point, mentally depleted as well. You can talk yourself through a lot but another 8 miles was not in the cards for me today.

Of course nobody likes to to DNF. I've dropped out of only 1 other race in my life - the Columbus Marathon in 2004. It was the same sort of situation - legs that would not go despite all the mental tricks I could muster.

Disappointing to say the least. Disappointing to DNF. Disappointing to not qualify for Clearwater. Disappointing to work really hard for this day and things to go all wrong.

But that's the way sport goes 'eh? I know it is. I know everyone has a bad day and truly I know the sign of a good athlete is to pick up ASAP and move on.

There were definitely some tears after the race. O saw me drop and immediately came to my rescue. I laid on the grass some and then after some ice and Gatorade felt okay to get up. Or not. My legs are just utterly destroyed.

But we made it and I insisted on walking the 2-3 miles back to the finish line (BAD MISTAKE). Along the way I had to stop several times and sit down. Each of which was accompanied by a crying break. I think mostly I was just sad and really hungry at that point. And really just wanting to get to a shower and to lay down for a long time.

But we finally made it. I collected my stuff in transition and we got back to the hotel for food and an ice bath and a hot shower and a lot of stretching and massage in an attempt to revive my legs.

And now I've moved on. I gave myself until 3:30 pm to mope (and MOPE I did!) and then that was it.

Now I'm just angry. Angry at that DANG 70.3 distance that has fooled me every time I attempted it. I immediately decided I never wanted to do another again. And then I was looking on the internet for WHICH one I would do next year. :) Have to keep trying right? :)

So what went wrong today? Well, still have to talk with coach on that one. But I know my body and I know myself and this is at least part of, if not all of it - I'm tired. I've been going hard since January, racing since April, and haven't taken a break in the mean time.

I could start to feel that while my fitness is making huge gains, my legs were just not recovering very well for the past couple weeks. But I had myself convinced that a nice taper would do the trick.

The taper certainly helped but I need more than a few easy days to recover from this! I had fully planned on take a VERY easy week after Steelhead and then slowly easing back into things since my next race isn't until October now. I knew I would need a break sooner or later. Looks like that sooner happened about a week too early though! :)

Such is life. I will be fine. I will talk to coach. I will take a rest. I will recharge. I will renew and then I will make an assault on my final races which are all THANKFULLY Olympic distance. :) And I will learn that next year I need to plan my races accordingly for what my body can handle. I'm not sure yet if that is going to include a 70.3 or two but fear not, I have not given up on that distance just yet. Divorce proceedings have been put on hold for now... :)

So there you have it! Otherwise it was a good day. I met Kerri! And so many of my teammates had wonderful days, Kim included. Poor Kim had to hear my sob story as we picked up our stuff in transition and she provided (another) shoulder to cry on. Good thing since O's shoulder was already pretty wet. :)

Some more pictures - these from Friday when the water was like glass. O and I having fun in the water!

So tomorrow is a new day. A few weeks to recover. And then to start again. I have never, ever lacked for mental motivation and the internal desire to continue to push and push and push. But what I have come to realize over many years of being an endurance athlete is that my body cannot keep up with my desire. It needs more down time than my mind. And so that's what it will get. But it should be prepared then for what my mind will have in store for it once it feels better. Nothing like a failure to TRULY motivate me to succeed at the next given opportunity!

Posted by beth at 8:24 PM | Comments (17)

August 1, 2008

We Are Here

Lovely southwestern Michigan is just as I remember from last year - lovely! The 7+ hour trip yesterday didn't even feel too long. Even when we were running out of gas and the IN turnpike rest stop we stopped at had closed their gas station. OH NO! We got back onto the turnpike and drafted off a huge 18 wheeler until we got to the next exit where we REALLY hoped a gas station would be close by (trust me - IN is very, very rural along their turnpike and we had our worries...) But we made it. Thankfully. :)

Some pictures of our trip in yesterday:

O was giddy with excitement when he saw how "cheap" gas was at home (picture on the left) but even MORE excited when we got to the gas station in IN.

When we did get to Benton Harbor, MI it was around dinner time. So we stopped at Bob Evans where O enjoyed some French toast. He was loving life!

Next we drove to the course. I think this is why I love this race so much. Beautiful Lake Michigan and a picture of the finish line already set up for race day. We also drove the bike course which is just a bit different from last year. Same idea but a few different roads. You still ride through strawberry/blueberry/raspberry growing country!

And finally as the sun was setting we stopped at the cute little downtown to walk around (and of course get some ice cream!). Hard to see us in this picture but we are there.

So that was yesterday! Now we are just finishing eating breakfast at Panera (and using their free internet! :) and are off to the course for some running/swimming/biking/packet pickup/bike racking/etc... You all know the drill!

Race day will be here before I know it! :)

Posted by beth at 8:22 AM | Comments (2)