Stalking

Today, will be my first day in St. Croix. I plan to do a little checking out of the Beast, and the rest of the bike course as well. Some might call this kind of behaviour before a big date pathological. To be fair to the Beast, I will give him a little information on myself. Just to even the playing field. Here are the things that he needs to know about me for us to have a successful encounter.
1- I like to start out slow and build into the relationship.
2- The faster he lets me be on top, the more I will like him.
3-I know that he is not the only bump in the road, I may save something for the other fellas.
4-I have never ridden on the left side of the road before, so I may get on his wrong side early on.
5-I didn't get a new outfit for the date, didn't want to put too much pressure on him.
6-I'm okay if he is mean to other girls but nice to me, especially if they are 40-44.
7-I am not a lush, but a few drinks on our date would be nice, even nicer if I can catch my breath for a sip.
8-I would be impressed if he had a spa day and smoothed out his surface, nice new blacktop comes to mind.
9-I may dance with him, but I am going home with the guy who brung me!
10-I have the protection and the lube.

Yes, that is a 29 tooth cog!

Now I have leveled the playing field a little and maybe the Beast won't be filing a restraining order on me for stalking him. Believe me, I want to spend as little time with him as possible. Although, I am sure he is very nice and handsome;)

Travelling Light

Today is travel day. ALL DAY. It takes a long time to get from San Diego to St Croix. Travelling to a race means that I need to pack my bike. I haven't done that in a long time, I have driven to all my races in recent years. I am fine with packing the bike. The part I don't like is how much the airline charges to take a bike, have you seen some peoples carry on luggage lately, not much smaller than my bike case, I swear! Mostly, what I am not fond of when taking a bike to the airport is the attention it draws. Standing in line to check in, I am sure to get many puzzled looks. People have no idea why I have such a large piece of luggage. I usually answer their questions truthfully and tell them it is a bicycle. I might even say a racing bike. Hey, they don't know it is a bike, you think they can tell I'm not a pro?! Occasionally, I get tired of the whispering and consulting amongst the nosy people (and I mean nosy in the nicest way possible, maybe they are part of homeland security) and I have been known to say it is my makeup case. You should have seen that guys face drop. Have a look for yourself, and send me your ideas on what I can say when the inevitable question arises. I'll use all ideas and let you know what kind of response I get.

Bike Case

Since I haven't shared a picture of Tana lately, and I know my readers rely on it, here is a picture of her heading out on her vacation at camp. Notice, she travels much lighter than me.

Tana on her way to a week at camp

Hot and Steamy

Now that I am within a week of the St Croix race, the weather forecasts are available. Currently, they are calling for high 85, low 75, with a 50% chance of rain. Of course they are calling for rain. It has rained at every race I have done this year. If it rains, does that make it 100% humidity. At least no one will be telling me, 'but its a dry heat'. I don't really understand the dry heat thing. When it is 104 degrees, I am not dry! I am glad that it will be warm, maybe even hot. I have raced in the cold two times already this year and will probably experience cold weather in Leadville. I had blue lips at the finish line of both the races and lets face it blue is not an attractive lip color. If it were, L'Oreal would be making long lasting blue lipstick.  I prefer the heat and will be basking in the oppression of it the whole way. Mostly it is for vanity reasons that I like the heat, I look more tan when I am flushed and not blue. Don't be mistaken, I am not saying that I look good at the finish in the heat. I am not a woman who glows, or even perspires, I SWEAT. This is not an attractive feature but it sure comes in handy on race day. My body is very good at cooling itself, and everyone within a 2 metre radius as the water pours out of my pores. Just in case my body has forgotten how to cool itself and handle the heat I have been reminding it. I have been wearing extra layers out on all my bikes and runs. Luckily for me, Mr Do It Yourself built us a steam shower/room a few years ago. I have been using that, too bad my bike and trainer don't fit. A serious triathlete, would have been jogging in place in there, me, I just sat. I promise NO matter what happens on race day, I vow, I will not complain about the heat. My date with the Beast promises to be hot and steamy, the best kind:)

KISS, KISS

Please excuse the lack of posts lately readers, I have experienced technical difficulties. Luckily, not with my bike, no that went back together beautifully. There weren't even any parts left out! I didn't want to gloat too early, but I have ridden it several times and I haven't heard anything fall off - successful mission! The technical difficulties occurred the other night when I was trying to post a blog of my 'super exciting' taper activities. The computer couldn't handle the excitement and sputtered and belched to a standstill. Couldn't have happened at a more appropriate time. You see, I have been asked this week by several people if I have and use certain training tools.

My cousin emailed me asking if I have a Garmin GPS. She knows someone who has one who posts their workout information on facebook and wondered if I used one. Firstly, let me just say, if I posted my workout information I would have to censor it. Really, I would. I told Corky I broke his record on Palomar last week, my workout data would let him know that maybe I didn't! I actually had a first generation Garmin GPS. I thought it would be great to let me know how far my run routes were and what pace I was going. I used it in the beginning, but then I knew how far all my routes were. I also got annoyed when it couldn't find a satellite to read off of. Lets face it, what it is the point of a tool if it doesn't work? Most importantly, I don't need a computer to tell me what my minute per mile pace is. If the dog doesn't need to break her trot to keep up, I am going slow. If I can get her to lope, I am going better. She is more reliable than a satellite, except when there is a rabbit or horse around, then her wires get crossed.

Jen just got a fancy VO2 max, lactic threshold test done. She sent me the numbers, psychological warfare perhaps? I have never had this fancy test done, because frankly, I won't use the numbers. I tried to use a heart rate monitor for a long time. I even raced with it a few times. When it read a heart rate of 130 in an ironman, standing still at the start, it freaked me out.  So, I don't use one now and all the people around me in a race should be grateful. I know I would be grateful if the dude running next to me with his heart rate monitor beeping constantly had left his at home. At least I admit that I am not going to listen to the parameters, why do they insist on setting it, wearing it and then ignoring it the whole time??

Yesterday, my friend Jess was shocked to learn that I don't have a bike computer. People use these to tell them their speed, average mph pace, distance, cadence. The fancier ones can tell you the temperature, the grade of the hill you are climbing. Some can be downloaded to a computer for you to analyze the data post ride (assuming your computer is working!) There are even bike computers that are power meters. They can give you a reading of what power you are putting to the pedals. All these devices leave the door open for operator error, and by that I mean I can totally screw it all up. I had a brief affair with a power meter. I had to let him go as he was way too unreliable for me. He was recalled to the factory for imperfections when I needed him the most. I need a reliable indicator so he got the boot. Instead of all these machines telling me what I am doing I listen to the main machine. If I am pedalling fast I know it. If I am getting passed by a grandma on a beach cruiser, I know I am not breaking 12mph. If I don't have any pressure on my pedals, I know I am not putting out much power. I also, can tell if I am hot or cold without a thermometer, although I do ask sometimes for confirmation.

The last bit of technology that I strip away when I race is my watch. I don't want to look at my splits when I am out there. I might start crying when the my grandiose illusions of my super speed are shattered. I can wait until the finish line for the clock to put me in my place. Mostly, I leave the watch off because if I can go faster I will. I get too distracted by pushing buttons and doing math calculations when I should be focusing on moving my legs faster. In the past when wearing a watch I have been known to slow down because I think I am going too fast. Kinda negates the purpose a bit wouldn't you agree.

I know that all these gadgets and gizmos work really well for others. I am not saying everyone should toss them aside but I know for me they are more of a distraction than a help. Maybe, one day I will change my mind, but not until these things are all fool proof. You the reader will benefit from my lack of numbers and graphs when I post race reports. Instead of hearing about how I didn't set, start or stop my gadget at the right time, you will be immersed in my scenery and people observations. For now, the best method for me is to Keep It Simple Stupid. KISS, KISS!

Benchmarks

I have a half ironman in 12 days. 12 DAYS, wasn't it just 12 weeks away! Wow, it is true what they say about time moving faster as you get older. Doing a race is like taking a test. It is the final exam to see if you prepared correctly. You can't cram for a race though, and that was my study method of choice for most exams. During the final few weeks before a race I get asked if I am ready by people who know that I am entered in a race. Maybe, they are asking because they know my history. They must know that I have shown up severely under prepared and failed miserably.(hey supercrew, remember Wildflower 1998?) It really is just like school. You skip lectures and labs and no matter how many notes you borrow from others, you are screwed! Nothing like a set course and a clock to let you know that you don't measure up. Over the last 10 years I have developed a few mock exams to measure my chance of passing the final. Most of the marks that I am aiming at are 10 years old, which means I was 10 years younger. From the benchmarks sessions I have had lately, it seems that I am as prepared as I can be. I won't set any course records, or even personal records. I do know that I have been enjoying my training and having lots of fun. That is the gold standard for me:)

Listening

Listening is an active and indispensable part of communication. I admit, that it is often the point of breakdown in communication between my mind and body. I have been trying very hard the last few years to listen to what my body has to say, but I still find my opinionated mind not willing to listen. Even when it does pretend to listen, does it really hear, understand and make the appropriate judgement?

It is not all my mind's fault. My body is not always very direct and easy to understand. It has been known to ramble around and not really get to a point- if there even is a point. Perhaps, if instead of intermittent nagging about my shoulder in February it had made a more concise point, I might have not taken four weeks to admit I had an injury. My mind is not all at fault for shutting down and ignoring the nagging, ask any husband, it is a necessary life skill!

Understanding what the body is trying to convey is even more difficult. In therapeutic communication we are taught to paraphrase back what we have heard in order to verify comprehension. Last week, my body was telling my mind it was tired. Super tired was more like it. It was sleeping up to 10 hours a night and insisting on cat naps during the day. I felt sleepy all the time, well almost all the time. I felt fabulous during my workouts. When I was moving I was great, as soon as I stopped I was wiped out. This presented my mind quite the conundrum. Was my body saying, keep moving never stop? Or, sleep all the time? My mind deduced that the body couldn't be too tired if it felt great during workouts but needed it rests none the less. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and sleep while moving. But not while driving, never while driving!

When all is said and done, the mind reserves the right to final judgement. I am not saying that my mind always gets it right when it over rides my body. If it did, I wouldn't need to work on my listening skills! There are times when the mind has to tell the body to shut up and suck it up and there are times when the body needs to SCREAM in order to be heard.

'Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you will realize the unity of all things.' -Dogen 1200-1253  (if the voice inside of you is telling you that you are God and you should take off your clothes and run down the freeway, don't listen to that voice!)

Palomar Mountain

Sometimes, just like the bear, we go over the mountain to see what we can see. Yesterday, was such a day on Palomar mountain. This is the local mountain climb. It has an elevation gain of 4325ft over 12.8 miles with an average grade of 7.0% (whatever that means, to me it means hard). There are a total of 21 switchbacks on the climb, really only 21 - seemed like way more to me! It was a fabulous day for the ride, great weather and beautiful views.

Proof we made it to the top

South Grade Road - this is the road we went up

Views toward Lake Henshaw on way down

The Cal Trans worker who didn't call us SLOW

Beautiful day, great company and we conquered the mountain, or as Edmund Hillary said, 'it's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves'.