There's Nothing Like

blogging about how great the weekend was while it's still going strong.

Down in Palo Alto all week, I battled the heat. I did a couple of longish rides after school, but both days, it was so hot that the water in my bottles heated to an almost undrinkable temperature, and I had to cut the rides short. Needless to say, my core heated just as much. One of the days, I attempted a brick involving running the Stanford dish. I thought I would surely vomit from the heat. Fortunately, I did not.

However, when it's a hundred degrees in Palo Alto, you can be pretty sure that it's a lovely seventy-five in San Francisco. Ok, maybe eighty. But much, much more manageable.

This morning, Nate, Pam, and I swam in Aquatic Park. Nate drove (to drop off Penny) and I rode down the Embarcadero to meet him at the water. The conditions were more perfect than ever have I seen them. Warm air, calm water, no sharks, decent water temperature. We swam a very nice mile, as witnessed in the accompanying photos. Nate and I will try to recreate the magic again next Tuesday evening.

Tomorrow, Pam and I are going to do a bike loop in the Headlands, then run on Chrissy Field. This time next Saturday, we will be rocking the Malibu swim-bike-run.

Ouch!

That sums up how the first week of training after traveling for three weeks feels.

In a panic, I frontloaded the week with two bike/run bricks. Wow! WOW!!

Yesterday was the day of sweet repose. It was very successful. Today, I plan to take Penny for a run in the sun. It should be fun. The rhymes are done.

The Malibu triathlon is on 9/13. Today is 8/31. I will push it hard for one full week, and then taper a bit. I'm still deciding if a full taper would be for better or for worse, in light of the traveling. At times like these, I ask myself, "What would Michael Phelps do?"

Unrelated, but for the record, I purchased a new tri suit last weekend. Hmmm. What is my subconscious trying to tell me? I don't want to have to change the name of this blog, after all...

Comme des Phelps

Three weeks in Asia did not hone my triathlon skills, let me tell you (no surprises there). Except in one regard. Permit me to share a humorous anecdote.

In Tokyo, I was very excited to shop at Comme des Garcons, since it is such a funky brand and virtually impossible to get in the US. I found in my searches THE BEST SWIMSUIT IN THE WORLD. The swimsuit is a special Speedo designed by CDG. It comes in both one and two piece suits (I got the two piece). I thought "Wow, a Comme des Garcons Speedo! It doesn't get much neater than that!" But it does! As the super cute, so much cuter, so much more stylish, so much more Japanese than I will ever be salesperson explained to me, CDG designed the suit specifically for the Beijing Olympics. It has a Chinese character on it that means "heart," and all the athletes who wear Speedo as their swimsuit of choice were wearing the same swimsuit as *me* this Olympic season. That includes, of course, the man who makes every woman's (and probably some men's) pulse quicken, Michael Phelps. Sigh. As the salesperson told me at least twenty times, "very, very timely!"

...

Since returning, I have gotten one run, one swim, and one bike/run brick under my belt. Sore glutes.

I didn't want to get competitive about this Malibu business, but I'd better finish in 3.5 hours at the worst.

More to come.

Domo Arigato!

Hey Duffek, guess who did 45 push-ups this morning?

In my excitement before the RI 70.3, I forgot to share that I ever did 50. I WON THE BET! I DID 50 PUSH-UPS IN A ROW BEFORE SUE! In case you're wondering how I feel about that...

The Malibu triathlon is 9/13. My training regimen for the next three weeks is strictly to relax in Japan and Vietnam. I must admit, I'll miss my bike. Swimming, I can do on the trip, and running, well, running-schmunning.

Nate, David, and Geoff are also doing the Malibu event as a three-man team, proudly named, "The Lazy Mofos."

I thought Pam was going to kick my butt, but she surprised me with the lovely gift up a pair of pink goggles yesterday, and now, I think they may be the key to her undoing.

RI 70.3!

RI 70.3

Well, it's time to tell the tale of what *was* to be my final race for awhile.

I boxed up my bike last Wednesday (smooth sailing, due, as usual, to my unassailable girl power) and on Thursday night, Nate drove my down to Palo Alto so Kate could courier me to the San Jose airport early, early Friday morning. Once at the airport, I paid my $80 (one way, might I add) to ship my bike and crossed my fingers as the big Thule box was tossed onto the carousel.

8+ hours later, I arrived in Hartford, greeted by Anna's smiling face. At the baggage claim, the bike was the THIRD piece of luggage off the carousel. Yes! All that worrying for nothing. But wait, where's the rest of my stuff? My tools? My helmet? My pedals?

Lost. My suitcase did not make it onto my connecting flight. Damn your cumbersome largeness, Dallas/Ft. Worth!

The woman at the lost luggage counter assured me that "this happens all the time in Dallas. That airport's too big for it's own good." She gave me a 99.9% guarantee that my bag would get on the next plane to Hartford, and arrive in the night. Where would I like it delivered?

"Oh, no, we don't deliver to Rhode Island. Massachusetts, sure, but not Rhode Island."

Ok, time to think fast. I guess we're staying at...Shannon's parents' house tonight! Surprise, Shannon and parents! Surprise, us!

Anna and I got to roll past the old homestead on the way to Shannon's house, which was definitely an unexpected surprise. It was looking good. The new folks built a nice deck on the side.

After eating Shannon's food, using her toothbrush, sleeping in her PJs in her bed, Anna and I awoke at 6am to find...no suitcase had been delivered in the night! Haha!

We called American Airlines to inquire about this interesting development. We discovered that the bag was in Hartford, but wouldn't be delivered for about 5 hours. 5 HOURS?! We have things to do, people!

We drove back to the airport, got the bag, and hightailed it to Providence. I missed the first race meeting, but caught the tail end of race meeting number two. I waited in line to register for two and a half hours, bought come CO2 cartridges, and we rapidly headed over to the state capitol building to set up T2 (yes, of COURSE this was a two-transition race).

We got in the car and assessed our situation. It was not looking good. We would be cutting it REALLY close to get to T1 to drop off the bike before closing time. Did we persevere? You bet!

We got to T1 at Wheeler Beach 45 minutes after closing time. Anna was sure the race was run, so to speak. I begged the kindly race workers not only to let me in, but, er, ahem, to also let me put my bike together on the spot. It was still in the box at this point, naturally.

Second instance of girl power. Bam! T1 accomplished.

We finally made it to Nancy's house for dinner. After eating, I opened my suitcase to get my things ready for the race. Surprise again! My aerosol sunscreen had been depressed inside the suitcase and its entire contents had emptied onto my clothes! Wow! Am I an unsuspecting contestant in some sort of cruel reality show?

Compared to the prep, racing was a snap. Well, it was snap-like at least. "Snap-like?" Now I'm talking nonsense. Let's move on.

The swim was 70 degrees. Just lovely! Kinda big swells, though. I didn't barf, for the record.

The bike was the best Best BEST I have ever experienced in a race. Beautifully scenic, with gentle, rolling hills.

The run was fine. I hate running. Have I mentioned how I feel about running? HATE IT. However, the two 6.5 mile loops went through the Brown campus, which is quite nice. Nicer than running, in fact.

After the race, Anna congratulated me and suggested I work on my finish line moves. She said the man just a few minutes before me did a log roll across the finish line (much to the surprise of those finishing right after him) and I should consider my options.

Consider them considered.

Anna, Nancy, and I celebrated with fish, chips, and beer that night.

The next day was mellow with packing and goodbyes. And now I am back to the grind.

And yeah, I'm signing up for the Malibu Olympic in September. But I made Pam promise my training regimen could include one day of Tai Chi, one day of yoga, and one day of hiking with Nate per week.

Last Call!

Ok, here are the LAST photos from Maui. Whew. Everybody took tons of photos, since it was GORGEOUS. The album is from Tessa, and includes our synchronized swimming routine. Yes! The others are from Geoff. I like the one where I am scrunching my eye shut. Yes again!

Maui, Hawaii 2008

The Amica 70.3 in Rhode Island is next weekend. Whoa. Where did that come from? Anna will be my trusty coach and companion for the event. I have to hone my ability to pack my bike in its box before I depart. As if that is the biggest issue concerning the race. Heh. Anyone been in the ocean lately? When was the last time anyone ran 13 miles? Important questions, to be sure...

Blog #2

I finally started the second blog. Is isn't AMAZING yet, but it will be. Just gotta do this 70.3 in Rhode Island next weekend and I can shift my focus. More on that tomorrow.

http://infinitymiles.blogspot.com

I should REALLY learn how to make links. Eek. I am terrible. Nate will help me do it...