What an Amazing Week!

Here are some photos in backwards chronological order: 1. Wow! It's really raining! 2. Looks pretty overcast... 3. Starting to cloud up. 4. I see some blue sky! 5. Here is my blueberry head.





Wow! Where to begin with this week! First off, I met my fundraising goal, which feels great! Really awesome! True to my word, I let my donor students vote on which color I would dye my hair and the winner was...blue! Yikes! I'm Smurfette...for a couple of weeks. Even the worst hair day has got to be better than the best hair day on chemo.

On Wednesday night we ran the Alcatraz run course. It was rather strenuous, to put it mildly. At one point, climbing up off the beach, I realized I had actually ceased running and was walking. And was it ever some agonizing walking! I felt like I was climbing out of the depths of hell. Every step was laborious but I knew it was putting me closer to being off the climb. Those people who signed up for the Alcatraz tri are hard core!

On Saturday it was very rainy, windy, and cold. We had a practice tri on Treasure Island. It was my first open water swim, and I was fully prepared to have a freak-out, which I had. Temperature-wise, the swimming was the best part because compared to the wind and rain, getting in the ocean was no big deal. I had a lot of trouble putting my face in at first because it was cold and disorienting. When I finally did, I just couldn't swim regularly. About a third of the way in, I relaxed and got my regular rhythm. Go me!

The biking basically sucked because we had to do a zillion flat loops in our wet tri suits in the wind and rain. Gaaaa. The running was a little better once it got underway. It felt really weird at first to be running with numb feet. I felt like I was running on two leg stumps or maybe two brick feet until they un-numbed (I hesitate to say they every "warmed up") and then I was able to feel that, yes, they were in fact still soaking wet.

Yay! I did a triathlon! I bet it will be a lot more fun in Hawaii.

So far this blog has been rated PG but the name of the workout we did today will probably bump it into the PG-13 category. We did a bike-run-bike in Fairfax called the Alpine Asskicker. Within the first short mile, said anatomical region was duly and truly kicked, and there were still 15 miles of biking and 40 minutes of running to go. Fortunately, the vistas were breathtaking (hint hint we were in major hill territory) and the weather was awesome! Nike was surely watching over us from Mount Olympus today. I forgive him for all that cruddy weather yesterday.

Well, I'm beat. Go Team!

Live Free or Die!

I was a member of the Keene Family YMCA all week and what a week it was. I was swimming in a yards pool rather than a meters pool so I overcompensated and got my mileage up near two miles! Yes! I also ran for 90 minutes one day (in the snow, might I add. Might I also add that everything was done in the snow...) which is my longest run to date. Not sure of the mileage on that one. I did the stationary bike at the Y, which was not ideal, but it will make me all the more appreciative of my own bike when I pick it up tomorrow from its head-to-toe (or is that handle bars-to-back tire?) service at Palo Alto Bikes.

Letter from the Eastern Seaboard

The TNT SF team is training this weekend at the Wildflower course but I am visiting my sister in New Hampshire. I am fully prepared to do OYO training all week, and to accomplish this, I had to bring an extra suitcase (albeit a small one) full of gear. Nate was appalled that I would travel for one week and need two suitcases. However the other thing taking up so much space besides the gear was a bunch of student work I brought to grade. My plane was delayed several hours out of Denver and I had plenty of time to grade as well as lugluglug that work around. It's shaping up to be a good week for training out here.

Grrrl Power!

I changed my own bike tire this week! Yes! It was really hard and it took me an hour, but I did it. I think it will be a lot easier next time. I loosened that bad boy up. Saturday was our first open water swim, but I was at an ELL workshop in San Jose instead of having my legs chomped at by great white sharks or rogue sea lions (now THAT really happens...). I went running after the workshop in the old 'hood in Campbell.

Today, Sunday, I did a swim/bike set on my own, as per the captain's orders. I was down in Santa Cruz, so I thought I would swim at UCSC for old time's sake, but the pool was closed for cleaning, so I swam at Simpkin's.

Now, I haven't been to Simpkin's in years, so I got a little lost on my bike on the way there. Fortunately, a kindly young man riding a motor scooter and wearing a really frightening skull mask gave me directions. Take that, all you conservative adults who judge teens on their looks!

I got to Simpkin's in no time after that and had a great one-mile swim. Then I rode all the way to Davenport on my bike, somewhere between twenty-five and thirty miles. It was the inagural ride for the new tri suit. Riding your bike for two hours with a wet bathing suit on really does feel just about how you'd imagine it. At first it's really wet, then it's only kinda wet, then it's just overly moist, and by that time, you're all sweaty from the bike so who really knows where the wetness is coming from anymore! As Derek Zoolander would say, "Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty." And as Martha Stewart, everybody's favorite triathlete would say, "It's a good thing!"

I found the perfect prom dress!

Intense weekend!

On Friday, I swam 1.5 miles: a new personal best! On Saturday we trained again at Redwood High School in Larkspur. The weather was beautiful. I got really, really lost on the bike ride, but luckily I wasn't alone. Next time I will leave a trail of Clif bar crumbs back to the starting point.

After the workout, I bought my tri suit. I opted for the two-piece kind. The one piece kind looked like a using-the-bathroom nightmare. Enough said. Apparently, exactly what you wear for a triathlon is largely a matter of personal choice. Are you doing the tri for speed or comfort? Somewhere in between? Just want to finish? I decided to go with swimsuit/wetsuit combo for the swimming portion, then throw the tri shorts and top on over the swimsuit for the biking and running portions. Thinking this through so carefully may seem neurotic, but even if I achieve a personal best on race day, I would be spending a minimum of 4.5 hours wearing this getup...so it'd better fit like a glove.

Today, Sunday, we had our first "themed" workout. The theme was the '80s, and though it pains me to admit it, I didn't have to purchase anything new or used whatsoever. For this special occasion I wore pink leggings, an airbrushed off-the-shoulder t-shirt, black legwarmers, large hoop earrings, and plenty of red lipstick and purple eyeshadow. Everyone was truly impressed with how fresh my makeup still looked at the end of eight miles.

Watch Out, Sharks...Here I Come!

A variety of my body parts are feeling GREAT right now. These good-feeling body parts include my eyelashes, fingernails, teeth, and most of the other body parts that don't have any joints or muscles in them.

This weekend's workout was SUPER because Mr. Golden Sun was shining the whole time. However, it was also rather strenuous. Saturday's workout was in Novato. We swam a little over a mile and then biked thirty-five miles. The views on the ride were breathtaking, as were the hills, meaning they took my breath (pant, pant, pant).

This morning, I "sprung ahead" and did a sixty-five minute run in Golden Gate park. My eyelashes, etc. definitely felt better than my knees at the end of this little jaunt. Next week will be a similar set of workouts, and then the following weekend we take the plunge into the mighty open waters of the San Francisco Bay.

I have exactly two weeks to overcome my irrational fear of great white sharks chomp-chomp-CHOMPING my little kicking legs to smithereens. These sharks do not live in Santa Cruz, let me assure you. I very much enjoyed swimming in the ocean when I lived there. Naturally, they live in San Francisco because they guard Alcatraz, which is precisely the area in which we will be swimming in the forseeable future. Keep your hands and feet inside the wetsuits at all times, everyone.

The Very Tired Caterpillar

What a week! On Tuesday I did an 1800 meter swim, but I was still hungry. On Wednesday I did a 4 mile sprint set, but I was still hungry. On Thursday I did a 15 mile bike ride, but I was still hungry. On Friday I did a 1500 meter swim, but I was still hungry. On Saturday I did a 1600 meter swim and then a 5 mile run, but I was still hungry. On Sunday I did a 27 mile bike ride and when I finished I was not hungry any more. I had become the very tired caterpillar.