Name That Picture!

Posted on February 20, 2008 by 21cm

What IS that?

Is it what happens when you hand a satellite photo of a track to a small child holding a blue crayon?

Is it what happens when you play with a laser pointer from up in space?

No – No it is not.

It’s what happens when you attend a track workout with people who are a whole lot faster than you are and you wear a Garmin. You can’t see the places where I swallowed my pride and mustered up my humility unless you click the picture.

Ego smooshing aside it was a great experience because I went to get help with my form and I did. Every time I look at a race photo from the professional photographers my feet are very, very close to the ground. Usually one foot is flat on the ground and if you squint really hard you can see a little light under the other foot. I know this is not because they just always get me at that point in my stride – it’s because I don’t run properly. Turns out my stride is way too long and at the track workout I learned how to run taking baby steps and keeping my feet under me. Much better.

Also – in spite of having to cut across the field to stay with the big fishies (and I was not the only one who had to do this) I had great splits. The workout was (600 fast with a 400 recovery) x 6 only for some of us it was 400 fast because … well you get the idea. It was pitch black when we started so I had very poor Garmin control to start but my last 3 fast 400s were at about an 8 minute pace and my overall pace, recovery laps included, was 9:32! And that lets me haul my pride up out of the depths and let it shine and I call that picture “Me running better and faster” and I like it.

Posted in Running | 14 Comments

Monday Monday – the No Fear, No Blame Edition

Posted on February 18, 2008 by 21cm

First off I’d like to thank all of you very nice people for the compliments on my hair cut. I needed that. Actually, it was the compliments on my looks in general that made me smile – a lot. You are all the very best people in the world! The hair has calmed down a bit and looks better. It has been test driven through swimming, running and cycling and it really does seem to be easier to deal with which was the whole point to begin with so that came as quite a relief.

Speaking of swimming, running and cycling – on Saturday I swam 2600 meters with a lot of specialty (non free) work tossed in and I ran 5.5 miles. That felt pretty good. On Sunday I rode but only about 30 miles. I had wanted to do more but that just wasn’t in the cards so I let it go. I’m not on a plan yet other than to build base so it was fine.


The thing I’ve noticed lately is that I no longer have to screw up my courage to get on the bike. Last season I spent a lot of mental time pep talking myself into riding against a barrage of gut level fear. Some fear was specific and some was just an amorphous specter wafting in my peripheral vision and telling me to stay home where it’s safe.

The night before a ride I would go through a very long menu of reasons to bail out – I’m too tired, it’s too cold, too hot, my knees hurt, I have too much to do… whatever. For me the beauty of riding with others is the inability to not show up without fessing up – it kept me going although now that I think of it I did precious few miles last year (610 in total!!!) because my riding partners were not as available.

The other problem arose when I first put clip in pedals in the bike. I was afraid of falling over even though it never hurt that much to do it and I did it quite a few times at first. There were many times when I would bail out on a hill for fear of just grinding to a halt and falling over like the tricycle guy on Laugh In (umm.. showing my age here). When the going got slow I would clip out and walk – ugh. I hate that and would use the occasion to indulge in yet another round of undeserved self flaggellation.

That’s what lead to the real fear – fear of failure. Fear that I might get on my bike and just not be able to ‘make it’ whatever that meant. I was never really sure. I had these internalized images of me just stopping and sitting by the side of the road in tears, unable to go on. Not that anything like that ever happened – it was just an overwhelming sense of “I can’t”. I am nearly overjoyed to be on a path where I feel that “I can”, not only because “I have” but because I’m starting to appreciate and trust my own strength, determination and ability to accomplish my goals.

I had a fantastic conversation with a guy on our ladies ride yesterday who a year ago realized my biggest fear – getting hit by a car. He had ridden 115 miles on Saturday and did the first 20 out of 100+ miles of his Sunday ride as a warm up with the ladies before he took off like a jet when we turned left to head back home. That conversation along with some other recent experiences have lead me to finding ‘my word’. I’m working up to a post describing all of that.

I had no fear yesterday, though. I can tell I’m getting stronger on the bike and was able to keep up until the very end when I had to really work to catch the 2 women reamaining in the group. My legs were burning but I figured out that I really could pedal harder, go faster, and catch them and that’s a whole new deal for me. The old me would just find some rational explanation for why I was way behind and then proceed to beat myself up for it. The new me says, “Go! Go! Go!” and go I do and even I can’t l find fault with that.

Posted in community, Cycling | 9 Comments

Vote for Commodore!!

Posted on February 18, 2008 by 21cm

Team EvoTri has picked the first 10 people to compete for for slot numero uno in their competition/team build out process.

My friend Commodore made the first cut and I want to encourage you to vote for him.

Here is his blog

Here is his EvoTri submission

If you are not a regular Comms reader you are totally missing out! He is a remarkable man who survived a very nasty car accident as a teenager, had a traumatic brain injury, forgot a whole bunch of stuff like how to walk and how to talk and what made up the fabric of his life and then clawed his way back to serve in the military, get married, have one of the most adorable little boys on the face of the planet and become an Ironman. I like him even though he’s a Republican . 🙂 I give him a hall pass on that because as people go he is just stellar and as triathletes go he shows uncommon and really inspirational dedication to his training and he shares his triumphs and his struggles openly. Okay so I have to use that hall pass quite a bit with my triathlon friends but still… he’s the man!

If you have not yet cast a vote please vote for Commodore by sending an email to vote@evotri.com with Commodore on the Subject line. They are not even opening the emails so no need for content.

A vote for Commodore is a vote for…. well.. for a really good man to get some nice equipment and to represent! Go Commodore!

Posted in triathlon | 5 Comments

Valentine’s Day Change up

Posted on February 14, 2008 by 21cm

This is what I looked like at 8 AM. Click the picture to see what I looked like at 8 PM

Agreed – I should have left well enough alone but time heals all wounds, right?

Posted in say what? | Comments Off on Valentine’s Day Change up

Valentine’s Day Change up

Posted on February 14, 2008 by 21cm

This is what I looked like at 8 AM. Click the picture to see what I looked like at 8 PM

Agreed – I should have left well enough alone but time heals all wounds, right?

Posted in say what? | 22 Comments

When Running Fetches the Big Bucks

Posted on February 11, 2008 by 21cm

I get so bone weary reading abou the insane salaries enjoyed by football players and basketball players and baseball players. At least the professional males. These guys make more every year than some of us make in a life time.

I was therefore really heartened to learn of the Mt. Cameroon Race of Hope which pits people against a mountain with a live volcano at the top and rewards a precious few with prize money equal to 4 times a person’s standard salary in Cameroon.

Of course I learned about it through an email from a DC runner named Kate Elliot who wondered if I might give the documentary her friend made about a little air play. I was going to wait until Saturday and post this over at CRN but I couldn’t wait!

About the film she writes

This marathon-length race traverses over 10,000 vertical feet up a live volcano, one of the tallest on the African continent. The racers, mostly local men and women, compete for the equivalent of four years’ salary, but to win they must overcome altitude sickness, temperature fluctuations of 50 degrees, and loose volcanic rock— many wearing only plastic sandals.

Runner/filmmaker friends of mine just released a beautiful film about the race, called Volcanic Sprint, focusing particularly on the story of Sarah Etonge, winner of the women’s race in the last 5 out of 7 years and a 39 year old, single mother of 7. She is known locally as the “Queen of the Mountain.” The filmmakers are presently back in Cameroon shooting the 2008 race and donating 400 running shoes to the local athletes with their charity partner Soles for Souls.

This is definitely one of those movies that makes what hard is about very, very clear.

For more information please visit the film’s site here.

Posted in motivation, Running | 6 Comments

Monday Monday – the HTFU edition

Posted on February 10, 2008 by 21cm

YTD I’ve had a little trouble getting going in the training arena. A certain someone who shall remain namelesshas suggested I need to HTFU and I am trying – I really am.

I have whined about “the cold” and I put that in quotes in deference to you poor, poor people living in the mid-west. My god it’s cold where you live. I have suggested that running in 40 degree weather is just not acceptable and I have simply refused to do it. I almost hate to post this but out here it was gorgeous this weekend – so beautiful. And let me tell you – it is so much easier to HTFU when the sun is shining and the road beckons than it is when the wind blows icy cold and freezes the lining of your lungs.

Saturday I went on a 50 mile bike ride and it was fantastico! I was in leg warmers and arm warmers and a windbreaker and gloves but I was not cold – I was happy. It wasn’t exactly the ride of champions – we stopped halfway through and had coffee and muffins and chatted for a while but be that as it may I rode 50 miles. After I got back I mowed the lawn, weeded and cleaned up this and that outside. I was outside all day long. The evening was uneventful but that was okay because I fell asleep on the couch at about 8:30. What a party girl! I really do need to HTFU and get a social life but that’s another story.

Today I was going to go on another ride and climb up Mt. Diablo but I decided my hind quarters took all the beating they could take on Saturday so I just ran 3 miles, instead. I guess that means I am only part of the way to HingTFU but I’m making progress. I just have to keep this guy in my head to keep up the momentum.

(warning – not work or child friendly – but funny)

Grammy notes:

1). FU to the music industry for turning our sweet little Carrie Underpants into a BS ho-bag look alike. Ick
2). Tina! – Welcome to middle age. You’re still the bomb.
3). Kanye – can I just tell you how much I hate your song Stronger? Disgusting. I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Clean. The song to your Mama was sweet and shaving Mama into your hair was…touching but that doesn’t give you a hall pass on that nasty song. Sorry.
4). Foo Fighters – ROCK ON!

and that’s all she wrote because it’s bed time.

Posted in Cycling, Monday Monday, Running, training | 8 Comments

Monthly 200s

Posted on February 5, 2008 by 21cm

When the pool is configured for short course swimming we do something called monthy 200s the first Tuesday of every month. If you have forgotten what day it is you are reminded when you see the coaches putting a tile and a mechanical pencil at the end of each lane.

The way it works is in month 1 you swim 4 x 200 descending. You write your time for each 200 on the tile. The next month the coach, who has recorded your times in a notebook, reminds you of your time on the 2nd 200 from last month and you start there, descending the next 3 from that time. It is hard and it is aimed to force you to work harder and try to swim faster as the season progresses. Some people hate them – I love them but it wasn’t always so.

For the first couple years that I swam I simply could not descend over 4 200s. I would try like hell, thrashing in the water like a hungry sea otter but not really making any headway. In fact, it was typically my nature to descend 2 from 1 and then the effort and the time would go up. It was maddening.

Then I started figuring this swimming thing out. Today I had my very best set of 200s ever. My times were
3:57, 3:53, 3:52 (curses! it felt so much faster!) and then 3:50. I did it! I was ecstatic to have all of them under 4:00. For me this was some serious progress.

While I was working hard and trying to do what I was supposed to do I thought about Greyhound and the lovely tribute he just wrote to his grandfather . If you have not read this piece I recommend you get on over there and read it right now.

The beauty of monthly 200s is that I know I need to work really hard for the next month so that I can start at 3:57 and keep descending. It’s game on, people! The season has officially started.

Posted in Swimming | 12 Comments

Monday Monday – Post SuperBowl edition

Posted on February 4, 2008 by 21cm

What a great weekend and I’m not just talking about the game.

Saturday morning was cloudy but not raining early on. The forecast was for rain to start at about 11 so of course I sat here surfing the net for a few hours thinking ” you really should get out there before it rains” and then surfing some more until it started raining. I had 6 miles of running on my schedule and as the rain started to fall I started to think of excuses and alternatives like “I could do some strength training or um…. fold laundry – that counts, right? ” And then I thought, “Oh no you don’t! You bought it, sister – get going” so I put on the running clothes and headed for the door. My reward for that dedication and fortitude was that the rain stopped – just for me! It even got a little bit sunny. That lasted for almost 4 miles and then it started raining again, just in time to cool me down.

When I got home I made myself stand in my unheated pool to accelerate recovery. I took off my shorts, wrapped a towel around me, walked outside, put the towel around my neck and walked down the steps in the pool preying to God my neighbors wouldn’t take a glance over the fence and see me standing in the pool in my underpants. Brrrr…. that is some COLD water – really cold! I lasted about 5 seconds before I ran in the house but then I made myself go out and stand in there for 20 seconds. That gave the neighbors all too long to discover me and it was torture but it seems to have panned out so I’m glad I did it.

So that was 6 miles in 66 minutes and change for an average pace of 11:08. Doubled my YTD mileage and recovered some self esteem all in one shot. YES!

Sunday I went and did the Sunday Ladies Garage ride. There were fewer women this time and one woman with a suspiciously low voice and large Adam’s apple but we let him stay because we’re nice like that and he’s nice, too. Spinervals in a crowd is so much more pleasant that going it alone. I got in 18 miles of lean and mean in 1 hour and left there feeling good.

And then the Super Bowl at a friend’s house. Her husband bought this creamy blue cheese and fabulous bread that was to die for and we had Pozole and pizza and fritos and bean dip. Yum! There went the run and the ride but oh well – Super Bowl Sunday is but once a year. I noticed a Tanita in her bathroom and made the mistake of getting on it. Oy. Need I say more?

Speaking of weight, I have to weigh in on the ads because that is mandatory post Super Bowl bloghavior. My votes go to the tire ad with the screaming animals (Bridgestone?), the Pepsi Max ad that took off on the SNL disco skit and best of all, the Amp Ad. Hysterical! They lucked out that the game was a nail biter. Taking that slot is a real crap shoot because if the game is a route you can lose your audience by then but I’m pretty sure their ad was watched by everyone who had any interest in that game at all. I also loved the eTrade ads. Boo to GoDaddy and to Danica Patrick. She really needs to quit allowing the culture to reduce her to her FQ and focus on what a kick ass race car driver she is. It’s really a shame she feels the need to sell herself as a sex symbol. She’s a beautiful woman with a serious talent and that’s plenty sexy enough.

I loved the 1/2 time show, too – go Tom Petty and Ye Ol’ Heartbreakers (ye very old heartbreakers – where does the time go??). That was the only part I saw in HDTV since the HDTV was in their bedroom and her husband for reasons that totally escape me didn’t want to watch the game in bed with 3 women. Anyhow, I must say I’m getting really weak in the knees for a giant HDTV. It is so not in my budget but my word – TV looks GREAT in HD. Love it! Must.have.HDTV. I wonder if either of my kids would mind quitting college. JUST KIDDING! With these race registrations going through the roof all I have to do to afford HDTV is give up racing. Oh yeah – lots of TV, no racing, a few pints of B&J and voilà – I’ll have a big fat ass and my to be bought Tanita will rise up and smite me. Never mind. I’ll just have to find another way.

Posted in Monday Monday, training | 7 Comments

Limited Engagement with the Sharks

Posted on February 1, 2008 by 21cm

I was so hoping for 2 swims from Alcatraz this summer but alas, I did not get picked in the lottery for the Escape from Alcatraz – WAH! What’s worse is I told a friend to sign up and she did and she got picked and she registered (for $320!) and now I can’t do it with her. Gulp. I will still be swimming with FeLady and her husband at Sharkfest so all is not lost.

Oh – and I DID sign up for this:

(Yay! I finally have a reason to run! hee hee… I’l bee running a 5K before that!)

So get your tutu (after getting your color approved by Ms. DPR) and get registered and get ready to rumble run!

Posted in Events | 7 Comments