your body is a wonderland

I am officially back on track with training. First off a fundraising update. I am the second highest fundraiser with $3883, (the first place man has raised about 16K and apparently get a bunch of corporate sponsors every year) which I am very excited about. So THANKS!!

So our training schedule is mapped out month by month. the 3rd week of every month is a "recovery week". This is supposed to give our bodies time to heal and what not. So far I have noticed no difference between these weeks and the others, they are all hard to me.

So here is a breakdown of training on our "recovery week":

Monday: ran 5.5 miles

Tuesday: spin class and then strength conditioning. Kicked my ass yet again. I did however start to notice more stamina and strength. There was a girl at class who was only there for the second time and she is a pretty good athlete. I noticed she had to slow down, or get back in her saddle a few times where I had the first few times myself. Now I am able to power through, so that is progress in the right direction. I still cannot seem to do a damn push up though and its really driving me nuts. I am hoping that by the end of all this training that I will be able to do one. For now I have to do it girlie style.

Wednesday: Swim 1.5 miles. We did a bunch of drills and my coach noticed that I am not fully extending the arm on the side that I don't breathe on. This would explain why I constantly bang into the pool lane dividers (I have tons of bruises to prove that) and why in open water I end up WAAAAAAAAAAAAY right. I will work on that this week.

Thursday: attempted to run in the canyons with the dog for 4 miles but she went on doggy strike, so we walked instead

Friday: should have been my "rest day" but since the dog sabotaged me I had to go out and do a 4 miler.

Saturday: Another gorgeous sunny day in San Diego. This ride was hillier than any I can recall. I am not sure if it was because my legs were tired from this week or what, but the way out was brutal. We did a there and back and it literally went through mountains (okay they might be hills, but in mass that would be mountains). There were a bunch of long climbs, but was even more alarming was that there were about 5 really fast and long downhills which can only mean one thing on an out and back. I hit my turn around point and short there after knew I had to tackle a hill that my coaches had already warned us about. I was going at a good speed when all of a sudden the hill hit me. I looked up and noticed everyone was walking up the hill. I thought "I got this" and just as soon as I thought that, I started to fall over. I was luckily able to clip out in time before falling. This hill was steep but I think I can make it. People kind of got in my way and once your flow is messed up on a climb like that you have to pray that you dont fall over. So anyhoo I walked up, which was not fun, and harder than biking it. I hope we go back out there soon so I can get up that hill without clipping out. To my defense I did not see anyone make it up it, but I heard some people did.

Now I sit here on the couch relaxing. Bri and I went to see the exhibit "body worlds" last night at the natural history museum which is right by our house. It was so amazing. If you get a chance to see this you must. ALthough after a bit you get a little queezy seeing all the dead bodies. If you happen to be a smoker, I would say it would be pretty darn hard to light up again after seeing what smoking actually does to your insides. It was alarming. I could not get over seeing all the nerves and parts of the body that I have studied about. They also had little 4 week old fetus' and it was amazing to see what kind of development that already occurs after just 4 weeks. When I saw the 22 week old, I thought "now that is how big they should be when they come out" . All mothers should definately see this. What was most disturbing about this was how many small kids were there. At one point I was checking out the male and female bladders which were obviously connected to their privates. And some jackass dad is saying to his 5 year old daughter "see honey that is what your urethra looks like, there it is." Now that might not be too bad, but next to that is a giant penis, a real dead penis. Good lord. So yes, I saw alot of penae last night. At one point I thought, wonder if these guys are hanging around looking at their bodies and high fiving eachother as the ladies say "wow get a load of this one!"

Old Balls

This week was pretty much a wash workout wise. Monday I ran, Tuesday I was sick and slept silly and had neck and back spasms for a few days. I went to the swim anyways on Wednesday and tried out my wetsuit in the pool and it was much more comfortable than Sundays swim in the ocean. Thursday Bri and I went to do our taxes (no I don't want to talk about it), and lets just say that we are taking a bigtime hit. Okay so then I ran Friday. Just wanted to get that out of the way before I post the real fun stuff. I ended up skipping my Saturday workout because I wanted to be primed for my birthday!

Yesterday was my 30th bday celebration. My wonderful husband rented a crazy limo bus for me and 20 friends and we hit up the vineyards in Temecula. We met at our house and Bri cooked a whole bunch of food, shocker I know.

Before boarding the bus we had to hear the one rule for the day from the busdriver. NO PUKING ON THE BUS or a $1000 fine. I was a little bit nervous about that but thankfully nobody puked! Wow we are so responsible......NOT REALLY!

We went to Southcoast Vineyard first, and what do I see when we walk in? A giant gold plated bear. So what would any silly girl who had already drank a bottle of champagne do? She would try to jump on it! So that is what I did. Turns out the bear is not heavy and is hollow and not bolted down, so that ended badly. Clearly I was not making any friends at this place! The wine tastings were pretty cool, you pay something like ten bucks and you get 5 tastings. We boarded the bus and went to our next and final vineyard. It was on a horse ranch, can't recall the name (yeah exactly), but it was very fun. We got there and went into the tent where they had a guy singing. I made a special request and grabbed the microphone from him as we san George Michael's "I want your sex." Bri slipped me a $20 and made me pay the guy for harassing him. That was probably a very good call. It was here that I had such a special moment with a horse. We connected on a very spiritual level, and then I fed her some wine. Probably not a good idea. Very frowned upon. Oh well! We boarded the bus to go back home. It was as nuts as you would imagine 20 people who have been wine tasting for hours to be. The pictures will give you a bit of an idea. And a party wouldn't be a party without a one piece suit! The purple suit came out a little later on.

I hoisted myself to have some special hangout time with our driver Ferris.

Yes that is my boss underneath me. needless to say, I love my job!

Shammy butter please

This week was pretty exhausting with the time change and all of that. I had my usual Tuesday night workout that was pretty hellish, but is definately helping me to become a more efficient bike rider. I was not as sore as usual the next day, so hopefully that means that I am getting in better shape.
Wednesday nights swim with the team was fun, we did some drills with tennis balls and rubber hoses. Don't ask but yes obviously I made some phallic symbols with those.
I actually took both Thursday and Friday off, I was feeling pretty exhausted and figured two days off would not kill me.
Yesterdays ride was similar to our ride last weekend but we did it in the opposite direction. I was actually able to keep up with my friends for most of the ride. I tried eating the clif blocks, which are basically big jelly type blocks that have electrolytes, sugar, and carbs and all that good stuff. I tried eating one every 20-30 minutes and that seemed to sustain me pretty well. They were easy to get out of the wrapping while biking and I didn't throw up in my mouth at all after eating them (as opposed to the Gu). Of course towards the end I ended up flying solo for a bit and was feeling lost. I waited for another teammate and she was just as clueless as myself. So luckily we made it to the finish. I tried to quickly transition to my run (and the back of the SUV took a beating with my bike chain...sorry Bri) which meant first stop bathroom. I ended up peeing all down my leg, not sure how that happened, but I probably should have just peed myself on the bike. Anyway I cleaned up and got off to running. I felt fine running BUT my friends were already on their way back so once I saw them I turned around and ran with them so that I would not miss yet another team outing after our workouts.
One of my friends wore his garmin during the ride so you can see the elevation and whatnot. Here is yesterdays ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/player/2523647

I have got to invest in some shammy butter which is apparently for your bum. I have some awesome chaffing going on right now, never thought I would see the day. Today I am off to my first ocean swim in La Jolla. I typically tend to lose all control when I get in any type of open water situations (Heather i'm sure you recall our laughing fits at Walden) and am hoping I can pull it together. I have swam in the ocean plenty of times, but it was slightly different. I am sure to freak out at least the first few times. I will post pics of that later on. Happy Sunday!

Remembering the Reason

Monday night's swim is reserved for the beginners in our group, so I figured I would get a swim in on my own and I went to the pool where we used to play inner tube water polo, the Wavehouse. I swam 2250 yards and was supposed to focus on my breathing. I typically breathe every 4th stroke on my right side and really suck at breathing on my left side, but that is why I keep practicing. Anyways I made it through the workout and hit the showers. I typically like to dry off in the sauna cause I hate leaving super wet. Anyways while in the sauna I struck up a conversation with a friendly looking woman who I noticed was in a wheelchair and was doing aqua-therapy in the pool. We got to talking and I asked her how she got injured. Turns out she has hodgkins-lymphoma, and due to too much radiation lost her ability to move her leg. I asked how her cancer was doing now, and she told me that it had spread to her ovaries and she was due for surgery to remove them. She was hoping that they could remove it all, so that she can buy some more time, and put off a bone marrow transplant for as long as possible.She was only 41, and her own daughter was 21, which was about the same age that I started that journey with my mother. I told her about my training and fundraising and she thanked me so sincerely. She really feels like she "will see a cure" in her lifetime. I told her that I wouldn't give up what I was doing, as long as she didn't give up the hope of also finding a cure. It is these moments that I am reminded why I do this year after year. As I told her "I never want to meet another you in the future...no offense of course!" She understood and we parted ways.

My friend Julie's (whom I met running my first boston marathon) mother is also in need of some thoughts and prayers right now. Her mother, Connie or "ma" has been plugging away with multiple myeloma for many years now and is experiencing a slight "set back" right now. I pretty much live for the fact that she is surviving and thriving with the same disease that took my own mothers life so quickly. She is a reminder to me about how just a few months to a year really can make all the difference. You just never know when a breakthrough will be made. And you just never know if it was your donation that helped to see that through. So please donate to my cause now more than ever!

Bri and I spent about 3 hours making chocolate lollipops for St. Patrick's Day. I thought I could sell them at work to help with my fundraising, but they put the kabosh on that so I am going to try to sell some to my teammates. It was quite a throwback doing this and it brought back great memories of sitting with my mom in the kitchen at kingston rd, melting chocolate, and pouring them into the candy molds for all the various holidays. Good times, especially licking the spoon!!!

To donate online:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/VineHIrn09/jmerrill

Perms are so in

So this week was a great week for training. Monday I went for a run through the canyons at the house, about 45 minutes or so. Feel good so far, no major aches and pains. On Tuesday I returned to the personal training place that I had to forgo the week before. This week we started out by doing our strength circuit training, and then spinning. I definatley liked this order alot more. And for once I was actually able to semi keep up. I was able to get my sprints up to 130 rpm (that is rotations per minute), granted I could only sustain that for about 10 seconds, but still I got there which I have not been able to do as of yet. Anyways I felt good and did not get yelled at by the trainer any more than anyone else. YAY! (caption: I woke up from my nap to come swim!)
Wednesday night was our team swim. It was rather annoying because there are water polo teams there now, so about 100 of us have to split 8 lanes.

(caption: The pool before it is filled with teammates and ballers)

That basically meant that after ever lap I had to tread water for about 10 seconds waiting for the people in front of me to go. It really stinks, but I think that from now on I will pay to go to a nearby pool so I can actually get a continuous swim. We are up to about 2250 yards swimming, I really have no idea how long that is but I am told over a mile.

Thursday I was still feeling the burn on my legs, but managed to make it out for another run through the canyons. Friday I took off, I was feeling my IT bands get pretty tight this week so I have to be so careful not to get flareups this early on in training. It is inevitable that I will get some sort of injury but I'd like to see how long I can go without one.

This morning I got up at 6 and got ready for the days workout. I drove up to Carmel Valley which is right next to La Jolla. We rode north for a bit then headed east into the Rancho Santa Fe area. There were TONS of bikers out there today. I seriously think that the biker groups are more dangerous than cars. They ride about 100 people, and you just kind of hear a buzz like a bee is near. And then they swarm by and don't bother to give you a nice "on your left" so that you can prepare. Can't stand these guys, in fact I yelled out "showoffs!" at one point. I'm sure they didn't even hear me cause by the time it came out of my mouth they were 100 yards away.

(caption: Taken during our Saturday ride)
So this area of San Diego was just gorgeous. Lots of rolling hills and beautiful farms and homes. Loved it, except for my chain falling out, and losing my water bottle on one of the hills. I had to go back for my water bottle cause I needed all the liquids I could get. I lost the group I was riding with due to my chain and water bottle debackle, so I called my coach at one point cause I had no idea where I was going. Luckily some teammates were not too far behind so I rode with them the rest of the way and they made sure I knew where I was going. Very helpful. We rode back west towards the pacific highway and ended up in Carlsbad. This was actually familiar to me cause it was my half marathon route that I did a few months ago. So the ride from there was along the ocean once again and I was feeling pretty good today so I enjoyed it more so than last week. I tried to eat some peanut butter and jelly on the ride, but really only ate one quarter of it, and then swallowed down two gu's. Apparently I should have consumed about 500 more calories than I did. It is definately taking some practice on how to fuel for this ride. Each weekend I am going to try to perfect my intake. I found my stomach growling towards the end of the ride, and it was brutal because it is down a long stretch that is COVERED with yummy restaurants. We were instructed to spin our legs out really fast towards the end, and to stretch out a bit while still on the bike. It will help to get our legs ready for the run. It gets all the lactic acid out of your legs. I threw the bike back into the car, and took off running. We were also instructed to do a "triathlete shuffle" for our whole run. This is not too much of a stretch for me cause that is pretty much how I run all the time. But anyhoo it felt alot more comfortable this week than last week.

As I got home I realized that I am going to have to do something about my bike seat. There were a few moments along the way that I felt like I had just been sexually violated by my bike seat. There has also been some uncomfortable chaffing, so I gotta figure something out. Tomorrow was supposed to be our first open water swim in the ocean but not everybody got their wetsuits in time so it was officially called off. However, the team is meeting unofficially. We are going to brunch with some friends and their parents so that may not happen for me, but if I am back in the area in time I will check it out. I will be running tomorrow regardless. And back to the grind to do it all over again!

Since this blog does have Brian's name on it as well, I will share a Bri story with y'all (sorry I am watching Paula Dean right now).
So Bri was smoking our pizza the other night in the green egg, when all of a sudden, I hear a little shriek! Bri came running in and I immediately recognized the smell. You see, many years ago at Kingston Terrace my brother and I were trying to get the fireplace going really well. So he threw some kerosene oil in it, and it backfired and singed off all of his hair.
Well, it smelt just like that. Bri opened it up too fast and the flame blew up at him and singed off his eyebrows, eyelashes and the front of his hair. HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brick by brick

First things first, thanks to all who have donated so far. I have raised close to $2,5oo and am in second place in fundraising on my team (and no I am not competitive but lets face it, I want to be first)!!

If you have not donated yet and still want that tax break here is my fundraising website:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/VineHIrn09/jmerrill

This week was a little rough. Bri and I were missing sushi, so on Monday before my swim we went out for sushi. It was apparently bad seeing as we both ended up sick at the same exact time. Needless to say I did not make it to the pool in fear of contaminating it. No 29 year old wants to be the cause of a pool closing down.

The rest of the week was pretty much brutal workouts cause I felt pretty crappy but I am on the mend now.

I got to really prove my athleticism and play in a school basketball game against the kids. It was rather comical, and I am well aware that I have to play disabled kids to have an even slightly upper hand. I am okay with it and look forward to not throwing the game this week and winning. hahahah

Saturdays workout was my first real "brick" with the team. This basically means two sports back to back. It was a recovery week so we rode about 22 miles from the UCSD campus by La Jolla, and up the pacific coast highway to Encinitas. It was a beautiful ride along the ocean and the temps were around 80 by the end. It was a bit hot and I only put sunblock on my face and arms so my legs look ridiculous. The end of our ride was the Torrey Pines hill, which is a very long climb, that took what felt like a half hour to get up. It is a great strength workout, and from what i'm told the worst hill on my triathlon course is only about a third as long as Torrey Pines so I should be prepared for that.

I of course got back almost last, but whatever. I found someone to "run" with me, if you can call it that. I really need to get my nutritio during the race down. I felt really awful with cramps once the bike was done and really hate gatorade. I may try to contact a nutritionist to see if I can get some help with that because this event is going to take me about 8 or more hours and I need to figure out how to get nutrition in if I want to finish it. We only had to run for 20 minutes, but it was a long and slow 20 minutes. Its still early in the training season so it should only get easier from here. I am definately feeling like I am biking more efficiently though. I may be slow but I am keeping a 90rpm pretty much the whole ride which is a good place to be.

Since it was almost 85 yesterday and felt like summer, we took the dog to the beach and I tried to even out my terrible bike shorts tan line.

We discovered a new bar in our neighborhood with some friends last night so we are psyched about that. They serve high class tater tots, what could be better than that?! I got pretty drunk off about two glasses of wine last night, and i'm pretty sure I propositioned our gay waiter to be my gay husband. hmmmn, going to have to stay away from that restaurant for a little bit.

Bri being the wonderful husband that he is, booked a great bus for me for my 30th and it is going to take us and 30 people to the wine vineyards in Temecula which is about an hour away. It is on a Saturday afternoon after a workout so I should be a really good time.....