Monday Monday – It’s the little things….

Posted on April 29, 2008 by 21cm

It’s Tuesday! So shoot me – I just didn’t feel like writing yesterday. I thought about all of you all week and all weekend as I blogged in my head repeatedly. I thought about how it’s the little things in life that make a lot of little smiles grow into a big one. Little things that happened that made me smile:

1). The cat ate a teeny, tiny piece of turkey that I didn’t have to cram down her throat. And then she stopped and it was back to the force feeding. At least she tried.

2). The cat has started leaving my bed to come sit on my lap when I’m watching TV. This is HUGE

3). The cat visciously attacked my hand the other day while I was petting her – she’s coming back to life!

4). I had a great call with Humbly Ann who was struggling with some stuff and I helped her feel better. Nothing warms a Mom’s heart more than helping her child out of a shadow. (That and learning that she didn’t get eaten by a shark – see previous post).

5). I was good about getting my 2 weekday rides in. I even rode the road that has the hill that kicks my butt and it did not. Good times!

6). The weather was gorgeous this weekend. My 90 minute run did not suck as much as last weekend’s 70 minute run so I was very happy about that.

7). I ran out of book on the run and started listening to music and heard the most perfect, sunny day running song, Sunny Day by Hyim If you click on that link you can hear it, too. The tempo is a little slow but on a hot sunny day when you are out running it feels just right.

8). I went to a bike maintenance clinic and not only learned some stuff but was finally told I look like I’ve lost weight. It wasn’t really the first time. Humbly Ann told me I looked skinnier in early April but I hadn’t started noticing it yet so it didn’t have the same impact as me noticing I’d lost weight and then not hearing that from other people. Now I SO appreciate both comments. I’m 6 pounds down and doing fine.

9). I climbed to the junction of Mt. Diablo again on Sunday. It wasn’t quite as hard as it had been the week before. The rest of my group went on to the top but I just didn’t feel like it was my day to do that so I’m scheduling that for May 17.

10). I have 2 events coming up! Next Saturday I am riding the Wine Country Century (metric) and May 10 I have my season opener triathlon, The Golden Bear. I’m excited!

11). I went to swim clinic Saturday morning and went from flailing in the water like a crazy person to actually pulling some water and making some progress. It was really great to have that experience BEFORE my first tri where I’m sure I would have gone nowhere fast for the first 10 minutes of the swim, otherwise. I love my race club!
And all of those little things add up to big things – sunny days, training progress and happiness.

This is my life with the cat now. We do this 2 or 3 times a day:

Posted in community, Cycling, Family, Health, Monday Monday, motivation, Running, Swimming, training | Comments Off on Monday Monday – It’s the little things….

Monday Monday – It’s the little things….

Posted on April 29, 2008 by 21cm

It’s Tuesday! So shoot me – I just didn’t feel like writing yesterday. I thought about all of you all week and all weekend as I blogged in my head repeatedly. I thought about how it’s the little things in life that make a lot of little smiles grow into a big one. Little things that happened that made me smile:

1). The cat ate a teeny, tiny piece of turkey that I didn’t have to cram down her throat. And then she stopped and it was back to the force feeding. At least she tried.

2). The cat has started leaving my bed to come sit on my lap when I’m watching TV. This is HUGE

3). The cat visciously attacked my hand the other day while I was petting her – she’s coming back to life!

4). I had a great call with Humbly Ann who was struggling with some stuff and I helped her feel better. Nothing warms a Mom’s heart more than helping her child out of a shadow. (That and learning that she didn’t get eaten by a shark – see previous post).

5). I was good about getting my 2 weekday rides in. I even rode the road that has the hill that kicks my butt and it did not. Good times!

6). The weather was gorgeous this weekend. My 90 minute run did not suck as much as last weekend’s 70 minute run so I was very happy about that.

7). I ran out of book on the run and started listening to music and heard the most perfect, sunny day running song, Sunny Day by Hyim If you click on that link you can hear it, too. The tempo is a little slow but on a hot sunny day when you are out running it feels just right.

8). I went to a bike maintenance clinic and not only learned some stuff but was finally told I look like I’ve lost weight. It wasn’t really the first time. Humbly Ann told me I looked skinnier in early April but I hadn’t started noticing it yet so it didn’t have the same impact as me noticing I’d lost weight and then not hearing that from other people. Now I SO appreciate both comments. I’m 6 pounds down and doing fine.

9). I climbed to the junction of Mt. Diablo again on Sunday. It wasn’t quite as hard as it had been the week before. The rest of my group went on to the top but I just didn’t feel like it was my day to do that so I’m scheduling that for May 17.

10). I have 2 events coming up! Next Saturday I am riding the Wine Country Century (metric) and May 10 I have my season opener triathlon, The Golden Bear. I’m excited!

11). I went to swim clinic Saturday morning and went from flailing in the water like a crazy person to actually pulling some water and making some progress. It was really great to have that experience BEFORE my first tri where I’m sure I would have gone nowhere fast for the first 10 minutes of the swim, otherwise. I love my race club!
And all of those little things add up to big things – sunny days, training progress and happiness.

This is my life with the cat now. We do this 2 or 3 times a day:

Posted in community, Cycling, Family, Health, Monday Monday, motivation, Running, Swimming, training | 8 Comments

The Mom vs. The Triathlete

Posted on April 25, 2008 by 21cm

By now I’m sure we’ve all seen this very tragic and horrible story about a man who was killed by a great white shark off of San Diego while swimming with his tri club. Commodore even knows a guy who is a friend of the victim. It’s a small world.

I first saw this story on yahoo at about 10:30 AM and instantly remembered that my daughter has a surfing lesson, off the coast of San Diego, at 10 or noon or something. I was very, very uncomfortable. The first story wasn’t very specific and I was worried. Then I saw a story that said the tri club was off Solana Beach, 14 miles north of San Diego but it didn’t really help much because for all I know they put the kids in a bus and take them wherever.

I sent email and then I called and told her to call me IMMEDIATELY. The fact that this guy was on an open water swim with his club wasn’t really registering yet – I just knew where they were.

She called and told me she was fine and did I realize how far away that was? I said I figured 14 miles wasn’t very far for a fast moving shark but I did realize she wasn’t at the same beach. She said the Coast Guard helicopters were overhead and there were lots of life guards and it was fine. And then she proudly told me that her teacher says she is a natural and can’t wait to get her further out in the water to see her ride a wave for a long time. Go Pookie! But not if there are seals nearby. This shark was probably hunting seal which had been seen in that area recently.

So now I”m thinking like a triathlete and like a human and my heart goes out to that man’s family and friends. And especially to any friend who feels like it might not have happened had he been there. Sharks are fast – they don’t target the fast swimmers vs. the slow swimmers. They just see something in the water and they bite. The really tragic part of this is that sharks don’t like human flesh at all. That’s why they bite and then leave which is what they did with this man. Unfortunately the bite was fatal.

Posted in community, Family, triathlon | 7 Comments

Big News

Posted on April 22, 2008 by 21cm

I got a spot in the Nike ‘Women’s Half Marathon today – woo hoo! I got it through work and I am SO excited!

Pirate tagged me a while ago for my 6 word autobiographies so here are a few:

The most comprehensive one I could come up with:
Old and Fat no more – Triathlon!

Regarding my sick kitty who I am force feeding twice a day and getting my hands remodeled (mottled) in the process
Fat cat , you hogtied my heartstrings

About tonight’s ride:
Weather.com lied – ride was dry – phew!

About life:
Looking for hard in all the right places

and that one violated the rules which means it’s time for bed – you’re all tagged now!

Posted in Running | 11 Comments

Monday Monday – Hard is Good

Posted on April 21, 2008 by 21cm

Think of all the good hard things in life – hard cheese, hard muscles, hard cider, hard rock and whatever other hard things float your boat. Now get your mind out of the gutter and think training. Training a lot of hours a week is hard and as we have just established, hard is good.

So I had a good week. Stats:

Swim – 2.5 hours for ~6800 yards
Ride – 6 hours for ~ 79 miles (again, too bad I didn’t do the math first or I would have done that extra mile!)
Run – 2.25 hours ~ 13 miles

That’s a really respectable week for me and it was supposed to be a recovery week and yet – I don’t feel recovered. I feel beat up but in a good way. My run on Saturday sucked eggs and I was most definitely the hydrant and not the dog but I ran Saturday so I could ride Sunday with the Sunday FoMo Foxes, a favored riding group. This ride is lead by the fabulous Monica Mozzacco who is a very respectable cyclist and triathlete. She rides with Chris Lieto and his training group on Wednesdays. No other foxes showed up but we had what we lovingly refer to as a dingo which would be a man on the Sunday Ladies ride. This particular man just did IMAZ last weekend where he rode his bike an astonishing 20 – 23 mph the whole time and asserts that the ride was awesome. I don’t think I heard that from any other athletes.

So there i was, riding with these 2 very accomplished, highly competitive and skilled people. I also brought my friend Meila who has 4 Ironman races to her credit and she does them in about 14 hours. This was my riding group Me. Oh my. I knew what we were doing, too – we were climbing Mt. Diablo to the junction which is about a 2,000 ft. climb and I was soon to re-discover just how good it is to ride with people who are much better and much faster than you are.

It was cold yesterdayn so I was dressed in Sushi hat, arm warmers, cycling jersey, and shorts over running tights with gloves. About 1200 feet up the mountain my sunglasses fogged up and when I tried to pull them away from my face to let them clear one of the lenses popped out. I took the glasses off and stuffed them into my pocket – and failed to zip it back up.

When we got to the ranger station I went to put them back on and they were gone! All I had was the 1 lens. Joe and Monica to the rescue! They thought nothing of riding back down to find my glasses and bring them back to me. Monica told me to stay put and then added, “you’re not getting out of getting to the junction!” because she’s mean like that (tee hee). A couple of minutes later they were back with the glasses and it was onward and upward. And I made it to the junction, denying my burning thighs any more than a moment’s rest I regretted taking because the hill before me was steep but very short.

Here’s the elevation profile:

Once we hit the top we all parted company after a really great conversation about doing what you do for yourself because it brings so much personal satisfaction. I also got some great training advice from Joe that he says will really help me prepare for Vineman. My fox and dingo couldn’t be more generous, positive, encouraging people if they wanted to be. It was great. They headed back down the south side of the mountain to get back to where they live and I headed down the north side to get back to where I live and I think we all pretty much froze to death on the way down. It was only about 30 – 35 degrees out and with the windchill it was way colder than that. When I got to the bottom I wasn’t sure if I still had feet because they were definitely not reporting to duty but eventually I found them I finally made my way home, very sore but very satisfied and more confident than ever that this racing season is going to be a whole new story from last year’s rookie season and I’m looking forward to experiencing a more trained, harder, faster, me.

So training is hard and facing up to training with rock star AG athletes is hard but hard is good – it sends to you places you’ve never been before.

Posted in training | 5 Comments

Metamorphosis – Or The Cat and the Hag

Posted on April 17, 2008 by 21cm

When Humbly Ann was but a wee lass in high school she asked if we could get a kitten. I said no. I had been saying no since my kids were very small because I don’t like cats – I’m a dog person. She asked again and told me a girl at school had a cat with a litter but the mama cat had died and they REALLY needed to find homes for the kittens and the kitten WOULD DIE if I didn’t help out. I said I was sorry but no – no cat. I went to pick her up one day and she walked up to the car, holding out her hand in which was the tiniest little kitten and she said, “Look Mom – look how cute she is. Please, Please, Please can we keep her? We can give her back if it doesn’t work out” and I caved.

I’m sure I have a picture of this tiny kitten somewhere. You could easily fit her in the palm of your hand. Heck, even I could fit her in the palm of MY hand it’s quite small. When we took her to the vet to get shots they sent her home because she was wasn’t old enough yet – she was only about a month old. Of course I wanted to send her back but you can probably figure out how that went.

To her credit, 2 weeks later Humbly took the kitten and walked 3/4 of a mile to the vets and using her own money got the cat vaccinated and checked. I was impressed and the cat was officially hers. Until she went to college and got all fickle and got a different cat and then the cat was mine. Every attempt to give her back has been rebuffed, possibly because this adorable kitten grew up to be fatty McFatster – the cat who looked like she ate a football. Not so cute. She also turned into one of those cats that jumps on your lap, purrs deeply and then bites your hand while you’re petting her. Not cute at all and not the obvious choice as the object of my affection.

So please tell me how it’s come to pass that me, “not a cat person” who never wanted this beast is now holding her like a baby, force feeding her and ending up looking like the mother of a toddler who has just learned the joy and magic of using a spoon? I coo to her using that voice we reserve for infants and the deeply mentally infirm, “come on kitty – yum yum! Eat this widdle puddy – IT’S YUMMY! And it will make you strong!” as the cat tries to claw out my eyeballs and run under the bed. How ever did that happen?

I thought it was grief. The cat and the dog were best buddies and snuggle mates. The dog would try desperately to get the cat to play with her and the cat would act offended and indifferent, turning away from the dog with the obvious, “*yawn* – you REALLY think I’m going to run around and let you chase me? Puleez.”

The cat was forever trying to steal the dog’s food and really seemed to enjoy the game of sneaking up to eat it before the dog ran over growling and sent her away. This cat would wake everyone up in the house every morning yowling for food – even if there was food in her bowl. And then, slowly she changed. No more yowling, no more eating her cat food. In desperation I started feeing her meat, fish, cream of chicken soup – anything just PLEASE EAT, KITTY – PLEASE!!!

It got to the point where she wouldn’t eat meat or fish or canned food or dry food or anything I tried to give her. She visibly lost weight. Finally there was no denying that the cat had quit eating and was sick so I took her to the vet who said she had jaundice. You can see it, too – her eyeballs are yellow. And then it hit me – could it be? I knew she missed the dog but I wasn’t ready for this:

Of course the vet wanted to do blood work, an x-ray, an ultra-sound, give IV fluids, yada yada. I turned her down on the x-rays and ultrasound and just went with the blood work and fluids. And the really expensive cat food. $300 later we were out the door.

Yesterday I got the results of the $205 blood work and lo and behold – the cat’s got a liver problem. I’m not sure how spending all that money helped with the diagnosis when you can see the jaundice with the naked eye. Never mind. I’m just glad I finally understand what’s happening to the beer that I keep swearing should still be in the fridge. Who would have guessed that upon the death of my dog my cat would turn in to Toonces and I would turn into a crazy old cat lady? I really never saw that coming.

Continue reading →

Posted in say what? | 13 Comments

Monday Monday – Of Races and Sunshine

Posted on April 13, 2008 by 21cm

What a beeyootiful weekend. Saturday was the first day I had to slowly strip off layers as the sun warmed up. I was volunteering at a swim meet doing check in so I had to be there at 7:00 AM. I started the morning in jeans and a long sleeved poalr fleece shirt and running shoes and within a couple of hours I was in a technical sleeveless shirt, shorts and flip flops. Glorious!

At noon I headed up Mt. Diablo to volunteer at an aid station for the Mt. Diablo 50 mile ultra marathon. By the time I got up there it was hot, hot, hot and those runners looked beat. One runner I was particularly interested in seeing was our very own Donald of Running and Rambling. He had already come through the station on the way out before I got there but I saw him on the way back at his mile 37, Here is photographic evidence and as you can see – he looks fresh as a daisy whereas I look totally beat. Go figure.

I don’t know how those runners do it because after 4 hours at the aid station I was beat! I had to get home and rest up for Sunday’s race – 4 miles of hilly hell. Last year I had more training but I was somewhat injured. This year with only 84 miles of training on the year I PR’d by a little less than a second minute. (have I ever mentioned that I have a tendency to under estimate and/or appreciate myself?). I went 40:41 compared to last year’s official time of 41:34. It’s still a PR which is the right way to start the racing season.

After the race I headed home to shower and then go visit my CASA kid (just call me Helpy Helperton). I stopped by Ironman Live to check some results. Far, far away in South Africa Coach Tammy nailed it with a time of 15 hours and a bit. Go Tammy! Back here in nasty hot Arizona IronBenny brought it home in 13:39 – GO BENNY! Our friend Commodore was not so fortunate. He got very severely dehydrated and is in the hospital with serious kidney problems. He’s a fighter and he always manages to bounce back but it couldn’t hurt for everyone who is good with prayer to put some out there and for everyone else to send some healing vibes his way. We love you Commodore – get better!

Tonight I finally got on my bike after almost 2 weeks and rode an hour and a half with a woman who is both younger and faster than me – it hurt but it was great! I also swam this morning at 5:30.

The lawn is still not mowed, the laundry awaits but it matters not because summer is definitely making it’s way to California and I’m feelin’ groovy.

Posted in Monday Monday, Racing, Running | 11 Comments

Mid-week Interlude and a Cheer

Posted on April 9, 2008 by 21cm

GO COMMODORE!!!

GO BENNY!!!

And that goes for anyone else doing IMAZ.

And a HEEEYOOOGE Shout out to Coach Tammy who is doing her first Ironman in South Africa.

GO COACH TAMMY!!!

May you enjoy a day where your training pays off and you cover the miles with strength and enjoy a tremendous sense of accomplishment as you cross the line.

Wish I could be there!

Posted in Ironman | 3 Comments

Monday Monday – Me and My Girls

Posted on April 7, 2008 by 21cm

What a great weekend. Both of my girls were home. We hung out, went out to dinner (whcih was, unfortunately mediocre but the company was great), went to the beach, went shopping, hugged and laughed and had a grand time.

It’s possible that training suffered this weekend but I couldn’t care less. I ran 6 miles on Saturday AM and had intended to ride Sunday afternoon when the girls went up to their Dad’s for dinner but alas my bike had a flat so I skipped it. HA! No training Monday because I took Pooks back to the airport *sniffle* and no training Tuesday AM because I have to take Humbly back to catch a plan (update – she does in fact, have to hatch a plan but this morning she was catching a plane) *sniffle* but maybe Tuesday evening I will assuage my broken heart with a track workout. We’ll see.

I wish I could kidnap my girls and keep them with me all the time. *SOB*

Posted in Family | 15 Comments

I Won! – Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior

Posted on April 2, 2008 by 21cm

Disclaimer – I lifted most of this contest description directly off of TriBoomer’s blog and just changed a few details to reflect the present. That’s how this thing works.

“Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior”

I was lucky enough to be the thrird winner of The Outdoor Journey’s competition having been picked by winner number 2 – Triboomer.. The adorable, intrepid, flautist, athlete and all around great person, CurlySu was the first winner. There are still 2 more chances to win the book– just leave a comment here and let me know you’re interested.

That’s it!

This is your chance to get your hands on one of five autographed copies of Dan Millman’s fantastic book, “Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior”. (click here to read hak’s review)

I’m going to do this as a fun experiment and see just how many multisport Peaceful Warriors we have around the world. Here’s how it will work:

1) From April 2 to April 9, 2008, post a comment at the bottom of the post stating that you want to enter the contest. Make sure to include your blog’s name and URL.

2) At the end of the month, one winner will be randomly selected. Let’s call this winner “Blogger April.”

3) “Blogger April” will get two copies of the book: One copy signed by Dan Millman that he or she can keep and one book that CurlySu, TriBoomer and I will sign. .” “Blogger April” also writes a review of the book and promotes the contest on his or her blog for the month of May , linking back to TheOutdoorJourney.com and CurlySu, TriBoomer, and 21st Century Mom.

4) At the end of May, “Blogger April” announces a random winner from his or her blog. This winner, “Blogger May “, then gets two copies of the book. One signed by Dan to keep and the other signed by CurlySu, TriBoomer and me. “Blogger May ” also writes a review of the book and promotes the contest on his or her blog for the month of June linking back to TheOutdoorJourney.com and CurlySu, TriBoomer, and me.

5) Blogger June will wrap this thing up.” At this point, “Blogger June” writes a review of the book on his her blog, linking back to the blogs of TheOutdoorJourney.com and CurlySu, TriBoomer, 21stCenturyMom “Bloggers April, and May” (who in turn link to each other throughout the tour). The passed along book will have everyone’s autograph on it and we’ll ship it back to Dan Millman to add to his personal library…the book that has gone around the world.

Are you game?
—-

I’m really excited that I won this book and look forward to receiving my copy. I haven’t heard from Dan or Boomer yet so no one know where to send the book so it might take a while. I need some peaceful thoughts about triathlon. Many too many of my thoughts are negative and defeated – I need some good motivation and a new way of looking at things and this book seemed like just the way to get there.

Hop on in! Leave a comment stating your interest, the name of your blog and your URL and I’ll pick a winner at the end of the month!

Posted in Book Review, motivation, training | 8 Comments