Sweat-o-rama

Thursday's big ring workout did not disappoint. I think I reached new levels of sweat volume. Gross, I know. However, when you're inside on the trainer you look for new ways to entertain yourself. Mine was a fun game of "Try to guess where the sweat will drip next. Can I hit the handlebars? Can I hit the garmin? Can I hit the cat?" ...etc

Total time was 1:15, followed by a 10 minute run. Timewise, this was not intimidating at all. However, the 2x15 minutes in the big ring, 50-65rpms, alternating 1 min. sit, 1 min. stand...well - wow. Time actually moved backward. I am sure of it.

During the stand-ups, my legs burned then got so shaky I thought I wasn't going to make it. It took every ounce of focus I had plus loudly counting off the seconds until I could sit - to make it through. Then when I sat, the sweat poured out.

It was challenging but strangely satisfying. Any workout that produces that much sweat and makes my legs and arms feel like jello leaves me feeling like I'm master of the universe. If I can get through that, well - you know the rest.

Then the run - on the treadmill - with jello legs...that was an eye-opener. I've done a few mini bricks as of late, but not when my legs were that torn up. I felt like I was in one of those dreams where you're trying to run away from something or get to something really fast, but your legs turn into rubber and you just can't make them go. And you scream out, but it sounds like someone underwater screaming in 1/100th speed.

After a couple of minutes the jello started to set. The net result: I made it through and felt so good about myself that I threw in 10 minutes of crunches/core. Why not, right?

Swimming on Friday was like luxury compared to my experiences in the high school pools. Everything about it felt great - no sore muscles, cleaner pool, not as much chlorine, a lot less people. I did get videotaped and next week I get to see the critique of my stroke. I did freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke. I'm mostly concerned about free & back - since both have been called to action during a race. Breaststroke is a nice-to-have option. A safety stroke.

Then - get ready for this - I even had a guy trying to draft me on our circle swim. On Fridays we swim without lane dividers and circle the pool without stopping for 30+ minutes to simulate open water swimming. I had to stop at one point to quickly adjust my cap which has been trying to escape lately, and that's when I CAUGHT him! When confronted, he ADMITTED he was drafting. Swimming in MY bubbles.

I smiled and started a new lap. Someone drafting ME. Well, who saw that coming?

No more whining!

I'm 4:52 into a 10:40 week, and there are only a few muscles left in my body that aren't sore. It's a good kind of sore though - the kind where you know you are doing something good for yourself, but it still hurts like h-e-double toothpicks when you try to get up from your chair at work.

I hit the high school swim circuit again tonight. I had the 1:30 run last night and didn't have a lot of time to recover before swim class this morning, so I opted to use my new lap swim punch card again and crank out my 3,000 yds in the evening instead.

From this point forward, the swim punch card - although it promises 5 more swims in the high school pools - is ONLY for emergencies.

I shared a lane with a man who could only swim breaststroke, and 3 pre-teen boys. The 3 boys could've used the open/adaptive lane next to the lap swim lane for their "workout" but it was inhabited by 3 pre-teen girls giggling and splashing in the shallow end...and I must be like a million years away from that part of my past because I foolishly forgot that boys and girls can't possibly share pool lanes at that age. It might mean they are dating, or "talking", or whatever it is that 5th and 6th graders do nowadays. I'm pretty sure back in my day (after I trekked through the snow with no shoes, 20 miles, uphill both ways to get to school) that boys still had cooties at that age. And you could get a hamburger and a shake for a nickel. And kids knew the value of a dollar. Wait - did we even have swimming pools back then? I think we swam in the ditch and we liked it.

I narrowly avoided face contact with a flailing fin, getting kicked by breaststroke guy who couldn't stay on his side, and torpedoed from one of the kids who tried to swim underneath me. Don't ask.

I complain a lot about the recreational lap swim, don't I? Whining is part of my charm.

I finally (and calmly, if I do say so myself) explained to the boys how the lap swim thing works. Hey, if you're gonna hang with the big dogs, you better act like one right?

It amuses to me to no end that I actually know the rules...since I've only been in the pool consistently for a year myself. I've come a long way baby.

They got it. And it worked. I still almost took a fin to the head, but progress is a slow and steady game.

When I got home I hit the bike for a 30 minute easy spin...after I realized I re-installed my pedals (post-California trip) backwards and had to get back off the bike to un-install then switch them to the opposite sides. I'm definitely a "learn through my mistakes" type of person vs. "do it right the first time." Don't ask me to come over to help you build wooden things or lay carpet. Measure twice, cut once is totally lost on me. Who has time for all that planning?!

Tomorrow is a key bike workout in the big ring and I'm ready to lay it out. If everything is going to hurt, may as well make it hurt real good.

Friday I'm back in the cushy digs of the tri swim class and apparently we are getting videotaped. I better make sure my best Speedo is washed and ironed. You never know where those videos end up. Keep your eyes peeled for the whiny chick in the pool on YouTube. I'll probably have my goggles on backwards.

Pass at your own risk

I ran outside tonight and finally the weather is reasonable. In fact, when I pulled into my driveway after work I hardly recognized the place - what with the GRASS visible and all. Oh yeah, and a couple of Wall Street Journals that apparently were delivered between ridiculous snowfalls somewhere along the way and spent the winter buried in the front yard.

After putzing around doing all the important things like updating my iPod shuffle with a new listening mix and checking the weather (even after I had just been outside), I set off with an hour before sunset. I had 1:30 on the schedule and as you know I'm Cowgirling Up this week, so there would be some running after dark.

I covered almost 9 miles, although my focus was time vs. distance. My heart rate was higher than I'd like, but I attribute this to running outside vs. the treadmill. The fresh air gets me every time. My heart rate jumped most visibly across the workout when a homeless man waited until I just got up next to him on capital square to stomp his foot down and start shouting at himself. Other than leaping out of my skin, I tried to ignore it. There really aren't that many homeless people in Madison. The fact that one was even on my path was rare. The fact that he decided to scare the you-know-what out of me, well...equally rare and frankly, a bit uncalled for.

I got home after dark, but I wasn't cold. This must be the first sign of spring!

I got passed by 3 runners tonight. I'm not a crazy competitive person. I think I'm ambitious and set lofty goals. I just don't get as much into competing in sports/athletics as others do. Mr. IronMin is competitive. He likes to win. He's really, really good on the bike, and he's won his share of mountain bike & road races. I'm always proud of him when he does. I'm always proud of him either way, but it's pretty cool to watch him win. When it comes to me, I generally can take the winning or the losing, and although deep down I would prefer the win - I just don't fret about the loss. Because I really never win.

Tonight, the passing bugged me. The first girl passed me, then stopped. So I passed her back. Then she passed me back. Then she turned around and walked past me...her workout apparently over. Well, I was in it for the long haul so I let that one go.

The second girl was just faster than me. I sized her up and figured I could take her, but it turns out I couldn't. She was solid.

The third was a guy. He floated along the path and made me feel like a Clydesdale horse in a ballet. I usually let it go when it's a guy.

So, I'm wondering about this whole competitive thing. I can feel the tinges of it starting to creep in. Does it start this way? Subtle annoyance at being passed...before evolving into a full-blown, take-no-prisoners, I'm gonna take you out, if you're not first you're last, kind of spirit?

Maybe. I mean, I compete in triathlon for me...but wouldn't it be cool if I ever won something? Steve in a Speedo has had quite a run lately with the PRs, AG rankings, and wins in all kinds of events from half marathons to stair climbing/racing. Could I be good at something too? I bet it feels good to win. It feels good to finish - for sure. Winning something would just be icing on the cake. In the meantime, I'm going to try not to get passed so much. And lead my lane more in swim class. And not let Valencia drop me on the bike. Maybe if I awaken a little bit of the competitive spirit, it will help me work harder along the way...

Jeeves, I'll take my swim now

I got in late last night (almost midnight) because my plane was delayed in Chicago, but thankfully the pilot did NOT feel the need to tell us what mechanical issue grounded us for an hour. Seriously - do they think we really want to know that stuff? On the flight from LA to Denver, we turned around and headed back to the gate and the pilot announced, "Folks, we just got a radio call that one of your pets was placed in the wrong luggage compartment so we're headed back to the gate so we can move them to the front. Your dog will be a bit more comfortable there."

If it were my dog I would've thrown a temper tantrum, the likes of which would make a 2 year old pause to take notes, right then and there. I suspect "more comfortable" likely means "with cabin pressure". Either way, I didn't need to know they mishandled a dog, and I'm pretty sure the owner didn't either. I'd rather hear that the pilot forgot his Starbuck's or split his pants when he sat down in the cockpit and needed to go back to the terminal...or just got lost on the way to the runway and now we're doing a big circle. (because everyone knows if you get lost, just go back to where you started). The bottom line is - I just don't need the details.

Given that I finally fell asleep around 2am, a 5am wake-up call for swim class was highly unlikely. However, the ELF specifically said in my plan, "Do your best to follow this schedule as written this week" which I think is a message with 2 translations:

1) Um, I didn't tell you to do 4 bike workouts last weekend, I said 2. Humor me, and please try to follow directions.

and/OR

2) Hey slacker pants, how 'bout you don't skip any workouts this week? Iron people are not formed from skipped workouts.

Of course, my coach is far too nice to say these things, and probably too nice to think them. Oh, she's tough. Like nails. Read her blog. She's scary tough. She's just not mean. So I think it's my own guilty conscience that read between those lines.

At any rate, I'm sticking to it. I'm going to Cowgirl Up.

Since I couldn't be bothered with the early wake-up call, I had to get acquainted with the local high school pool after work today. They have 2 lanes open to lap swimming during kiddie swim lessons.

I was a bit intimidated when I walked into the pool...all those parents sitting in the bleachers. It was like I was at a high school swim meet. Except I didn't swim in high school, so it felt weirdly unfamiliar. I felt like they were staring at me. Let's face it, they probably were. I was new scenery and the kiddie lessons looked pretty tame.

I split a lane with a guy who was pretty nice. Seemed like he was ready to utilize his lane sharing etiquette because he broached the subject of split or share before I did. I chose split because I had a ridiculous set of 4x (6x50) @95% to get to after the warm-up. That's 24 laps people. 24 laps. We have affectionately named our swim instructor "Swim Nazi" for a reason. This would be part of the reason. The other part would be the 3 x 200 kick without a board, without fins. She is brutal.

It was going well, until we were joined by a 3rd. We had to start circles. This seemed ok until a random teenage boy jumped into our lane and started sporadically swimming all over the place. Kamikaze Kid was not a good swimmer, did not know lane etiquette, and nearly head butted me twice. The original occupant of our lane confronted him in a nice way, and the boy changed lanes.

Problem solved. Or at least, passed on to someone else.

I finished my 3,100 yds and decided I'm a leetle bit spoiled with my tri-training swim class. Lots of lane room, everyone knows the rules, and the water is warmer & cleaner. Swim Nazi is pretty cool too.

I fear I may be turning into a pool snob. Gasp.

What a difference a day makes

Friday = Sunny Southern California

Saturday = Cold, Overcast South Dakota

A complete 180 on the weather in my world. Mr. IronMin & I went for a 2 hour ride yesterday and it was a little depressing to dress in 3 layers and still feel the icy wind when we took our bikes outside. But, 1:45 was on the schedule, and it had to be done. Jeff only has 1 trainer, and it would be boring to take turns between us. And, I needed to ride my mountain bike because it resides in Sioux Falls while my road bike resides in Madison. This is all the more reason I am trying to convince Jeff that I need another road bike, or maybe a tri bike...a task he would be more than willing to accept since he LOVES to buy bikes anyway...but not really one we can afford. Back to the story.

There were snow flurries but there's a lot less snow here than back in Wisconsin. Since it was 36 degrees at one point yesterday, and it is past the official marker of spring, we passed a runner wearing shorts, and a guy walking his dog in shorts and sandals. Weirdos.

I caught a pic of Jeff heading toward the local L'Alpe d'Huez.


And he got a pic of me climbing the famed Sioux Falls switchbacks.

The bike trail we took was over 20 miles and the scenery was great. It winds through woods, along the river, past waterfalls, by the airport, over several bridges and through a few parks. We stopped on one of the bridges before heading into the wind.

Total: 20.5 miles, 1:54

I don't know how, but I managed to talk Mr. IronMin into dinner at Famous Dave's. It's one of my most favorite meals and I think we've been there together twice. For some reason he's not a big FD fan. I don't pretend to understand how that is even possible. However, he mentioned he wouldn't be opposed to trying it again and I practically ran out to the car as I was putting on my shoes and coat.

Here's the proof he actually went:


After which he admitted it was better than he remembered. We might actually go again someday! That's all I ask...

Back to reality

I have been advised by Tea she is not reading my blog anymore until the beach pictures are gone. I understand. I would feel the same way. It is just soooo beautiful. Ok, I promise to stop now.

Here is a last pic of me, in Santa Monica, with mountains in the background. (do you just love my pink arm warmers?!) I left California yesterday and this photo is what I am clutching to as I can see the snow falling through the cold window in Sioux Falls, SD. I'm here with Mr. IronMin for the weekend before returning to Madison tomorrow. Madison apparently got a gazillion inches of snow yesterday. I would take the stinging sand of Venice Beach over more snow. I'm really questioning this whole midwest living thing.


Our TV commercial shoot went very, very well. It was amazing to see how many people and how much equipment goes into shooting a TV spot. I am excited to see the end result.

And the food? Ahhh, the food. A catering company called Craft Services delivered trays upon trays of delicious edibles in what seemed like every 30 minutes while we were on set. We didn't even have a chance to get hungry. Then the dinners...we went to the Ivy in Santa Monica, Frida's in Beverly Hills, the Huntley (where I saw Queen Latifah celebrating her birthday).

And for lunch one day we took the Wienermobile to In 'N Out Burger. That's no small feat, but so worth the memory. We practically got mauled by the crowd wanting to take pictures of it and see it up close. The Wienermobile always makes people smile. Everyone got a wiener whistle.

And the moral of this story is that I'm not eating for a month.

I got in a couple more workouts before work got crazy. A 1 hour and a half ride on the beach Monday and an hour run on Tuesday. It was so weird to be sweating in the sun again.

We're supposed to ride for 1:45 today outside...but we'll see what the snow does.

Long, weary sigh from IronMin.

Ridin' Dirty

After much deliberation on Sunday morning, I opted to forgo a ride along Pacific Coast Highway up to Topanga Canyon & Mulholland Highway and instead hit the beach route again. I was looking forward to doing some climbing, but several cycling team sites and a blogger convinced me that it probably wasn't the safest for me to go it alone. Apparently PCH is pretty busy with traffic and a narrow shoulder, and Mulholland Hwy is well known for both motorcycle enthusiasts & sports car owners to race along the curves with the goal of feeling the full performance of their toys.

Tempting, I know, but I prefer to keep this trip a bit more on the light side.

More bad news awaited me on the beach route - the wind had picked up to the point where several parts of the bike path were impassable. The sand was stinging against my legs. I was nearly blinded by grains of sand in my contacts.

Here's a little tip I learned about Sundays in Venice Beach. Don't go. Don't try to ride your bike through it.

It was chaos. A bazillion people, and at least half of them are renting bike-like contraptions for the first time in their adult life. They are all over the path. They cut you off. They stand in the middle of your lane. They ride beach cruisers and adult tricycles 2 & 3 abreast. They stop to take pictures of each other falling off their rentals. They stop to give their kids juice boxes. Sometimes, they stop for no reason.

I made it through, but I may need to go to church now to make up for a few impure thoughts about pedestrian traffic.

As I headed into Marina del Rey, I decided to make a quick pit stop in Fisherman's Village. See how welcoming it is?

I didn't have a bike pump with me and I always check air before I ride (Mr. IronMin taught me well), and although I was 99.9% sure the air was ok in the tires, I thought I might check. I hit the bike shop that boasted it had air and found an air compressor on the sidewalk with no gauge. Hmmmm, nevermind.

Then I noticed I had inadvertently popped my chain off. I know how to put a chain back on, but I'm standing in the doorway of a bike shop so what the heck - might as well see if they'll do it really quickly. I am a girl after all, and if I can get away without getting grease on my hands I'm going for it.

I asked the guy behind the desk if he could pop the chain back on.

Blank stare.

"Um, don't you guys do that here?" I checked again and sure enough, the sign said BIKE SHOP.

The guy finally responded, "Uh, sure, ok. Let's get it up here on the stand."

Red flag #2, he couldn't get it up there.

Then he said, "Well, I'm going to have to move your seat post up so I can put it on the stand."

I snatched the bike back, "I don't think so. Just nevermind, I'll do it."

And I did. And I got greasy, but that was ok. And I didn't even need a bike stand to do it. Or a BIKE SHOP sign. Amazing. Call me super girl.

So, an hour in and the ride really isn't going that well. Not to be deterred easily, I made a turn down a different bike path off the beach area to get out of the sandstorm. It said it ran along Ballona Creek.

Where? Oh, who cares. Despite graffiti, I'm going for it.

And it was great. Finally, a good decision. No sand, a lot less wind, and very little people traffic. Perfecto!

2 hours and 55 minutes. I'm willing to deduct 5 whole minutes for the bike shop fiasco.

So, the LA/Santa Monica area has a lot going for it - sunny skies, beautiful scenery, bike paths...and a few things not so great - traffic, tourists on the beach bike paths, and the worst part I have discovered so far:

the endless scent of cooking food

On the bike path, I picked up the scent of burgers on the grill. Another mile, something Mexican. Then pizza. Fried chicken. French fries.

Maybe I was just hungry all weekend, but it seemed ridiculous. I would take a gel and 2 minutes later my stomach was growling.

If that's the worst part, I'm totally moving here. I've seen enough of winter. I know what options I have. I'm taking sun, ocean, crazy drivers and annoying pedestrians. And the endless scent of delicious food!

90210

I rode and rode and rode yesterday. 3 hours & 20 minutes...it was wonderful. I decided to follow the bike path along the ocean - first I went north from Santa Monica to Will Rogers Park, then south to Venice Beach. The path ended, so I went into town and found another path that got back on the beach...and went through Marina del Rey all the way to Hermosa Beach before I turned around. It was beautiful.

Here's the recap...

Awesome: same as Friday - ocean, palm trees, sea air, miles of sand and surf

Scary: Venice Beach

Surprising: it was very windy, and on my way southwest to Hermosa Beach I was riding into the wind. On my way back to Santa Monica, I was riding into the wind. How can that be?!

Afterward, I cleaned up and went over to Beverly Hills to check out Rodeo Drive. The only celeb I saw was Jermaine Jackson (of the Jackson 5). There were reports of Diane Keaton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I just missed Victoria Beckham coming out of Barney's.

I did see more than a fair share of young 20 somethings driving very expensive cars, shopping with credit cards that I highly doubt they are funding without mommy & daddy. It was a bit of culture shock.

I struck up a conversation with a paparazzo about his job, and he was really interesting. He works for TMZ.com and he was waiting for Jermaine Jackson to come out of a store. I asked him what he like about his job and he said it was meeting the celebs - especially the ones he likes. He also believes that he does a public service by capturing photos of celebs for all the people who may never get to see them in person. I had a million questions about how he got into that line of work, were celebs ever mean to him, how competitive is it with other peers...but then JJ walked out of the store and I got dropped like a hot potato.

Now for the pictorial recap...

My ride for the weekend

Beach bike path - Santa Monica Pier

Me, in front of the Pacific Ocean

Celebrity sight-seeing on Rodeo Drive

Apparently Diane Keaton was in Gucci. This is Jermaine Jackson's Rolls

The Regent Beverly Wilshire - remember Pretty Woman?

A breathtaking California sunset

Living it up at the Hotel California

YAY! YIPPEE! Oh YEAH!

You really need to picture me doing one of those Leprechaun dances where I leap into the air and kick my heels together.

I.am.just.that.happy.

I arrived in LA last night, and after a snafu picking up my rental car (ah, yes, I think ordered the car without the unidentifiable crusty stuff on the upholstery...just a thought - you may want to CLEAN them when they are returned)...I then got lost and eventually found my hotel in Santa Monica.

Today was a great adventure - I was on one of our commercial shoots meeting and greeting with our promotion contest winners as they performed for the cameras. It was a blast - the kids were amazing, and we had a wonderful day full of star treatment.

And when it was over...I headed over to Helen's Bike Shop in Santa Monica to pick up my bike for the next few days! Catherine, the wonderfully kind and incredibly generous athlete who is loaning it to me, dropped it off there for maintenance. I ran in, handed them my pedals & saddle, and moments later I was back in my hotel room throwing aside work clothes in favor of bike clothes. I set off.

There were stares in the elevator. I don't get that - this is sunny California people. EVERYONE should be riding their bikes. And there is no shortage of riders on the roads, so this totally must be a hotel thing. Since most business trips consist of: 1) schmoozing, and 2) boozing, I guess I shouldn't be shocked. I think the fitness center at most hotels is just there for show, unfortunately.

In fact, I was ribbed a bit at work when I told folks I had a bike weekend lined up. "You are going to LA and you're going to ride your bike? That would be the LAST thing I would do in LA."

The old me might've agreed. But this new IronMin is all business. The business of training. Whenever, wherever - and if the weather is respectable - just try to hold me back.

So I rode for an hour before sunset. And it was awesome and scary and surprising all at once.

Awesome: sunshine, gentle breeze, being outside, palm trees, ocean
Scary: car doors, cars too close, cars making illegal turns
Surprising: solid legs, quickest hour I have ever spent on the bike

And tomorrow? Oh tomorrow there will be more riding. More awesome, probably some scary, and let's hope for some surprising!

Coming up for air

Thank you for all of your support during testing week. I really appreciated the great comments! I am done...I survived...and I improved. All good news.

My heart rate zones changed for both the bike & the run, but definitely more significantly on the bike. My run only changed by 1 bpm.

Bike
Z
1: <137
2: 138-151
3: 152-157
4: 158-168
5: 169-180+

Run Z
1: <145
2: 146-156
3: 157-164
4: 165-171
5: 172-183+

I tried out my new bike zones with a 2 hour trainer ride, and let's just say getting up to Z2 and staying there for awhile is a bit more difficult than it used to be.

It's been insane at work with a lot of major projects/events coming in at once. We are interviewing applicants for the coveted HotDogger positions (they get to drive the Wienermobile for the next year, spreading smiles across America. It's a huge job!), and we are doing a few TV shoots in the next week for new commercials that have me traveling to LA for 9 days. And here comes the ridiculously cool part...

I get to ride a bike in sunny LA this weekend. My coach hooked me up with one of her other athletes, who lives in LA, who happens to have the same size Cannondale that I do...and -wait for it - has generously offered to loan it to me when I arrive in town!

Seriously - how cool is that? I am sooo lucky.

I will be riding Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before I have to return focus to work. I am so excited!

I am behind on blog reading again so if you start to see random comments from me on posts you created a week ago...well, try to be sympathetic. Or empathetic. Or just remind me it's old news and you've moved on.

Testing Week, Part Deux

I'm back in testing mode this week which is pretty exciting because believe it or not, after spending a lot of quality time in zones 1 & 2, I was actually looking forward to totally blowing out a few workouts. Going ALL OUT has some advantages.

I finished the bike test on Tuesday and am fairly sure I did it right this time. Last time I may have been a little cautious about the 20 minutes ALL OUT. The key was not to blow myself up in the first 10 minutes so I think I held back a little to make sure I could handle all 20. This time - no holding back. I figured if I blew up in the first 10 minutes, I would go to my coach with my tail between my legs and and tell her that I miscalculated & we needed to reschedule another test. That's the worst that could happen.

Mr. IronMin warned that based on his past experience, the main problem is that you are thinking about how much it sucks and it hurts and how could I possibly do this for one more second and I’ve only been doing it for 3 minutes.

Yep, I did the test right.

Because that's how it went down.

Thankfully I was home alone so other than the cats, no one got to witness the debut of my new hit song called 'Cursing, Grunting and Screaming in Pain'. It's a mix between raw heavy metal and blues. Heavy on the tears.

I was quite sure I was going to either A) throw up B) have a heart attack or C) die. I didn't do any of the 3, but it was dicey for awhile.

The good news is that my avg heart rate is now substantially higher than the last time I tested and I have new zones to work with. It's a whole new world.

Run test is tomorrow. I'm actually excited about that one too. I'm sick, I tell ya, sick.in.the.head.

It's ok.

It's ok to feel tired...so.very.tired,
but it's not ok to go back to bed.

It's ok to sometimes ask yourself why you're doing it,
but it's not ok to talk yourself out of it.

It's ok to get mad or cranky or maybe even cry,
but it's not ok to quit.

It's ok to hit the wall and hurt and suffer,
but it's not ok to beat yourself up about it.

It's ok to not want to do it today,
but it's not ok to not do it.

Domestic Bliss

It's laundry day. Know how I know? I actually had to wear my skinsuit for a workout.

For me, the tri skinsuit has only 2 purposes defined as 1) skinny jeans or 2) last man standing. Skinny jeans means if I'm feeling ok about how I've been eating and where my training is at, then putting it on doesn't make me feel like fat guy in a little coat. Still, different from skinny jeans, no one outside of my basement will see me in it.

Last man standing means I don't want to wear it, but I don't have a choice in the matter. It's laundry day. Similar to the last pair of underwear in the drawer - the pair that your mother warned 'what if you get in a car accident and those are the underwear you are wearing?!' - the skinsuit comes out when nothing else is clean. Again, no one will see me in it then either. Unless the paramedics are called during a workout. If that should ever happen, I just want to say - good luck getting that thing off me. They'd better whip out the scissors straightaway and get it over with. And they had better not take a look around the basement and judge my lack of organizational skill in the process.

Laundry day in our house commences with scouring the entire main level for wounded and dead socks. Our eldest cat Kodi has a problem with socks. She has been "killing" them since she was just a few months old. It is a well practiced hunting ritual that starts with stalking them in the laundry pile in the basement. Once a sock is successfully subdued and captured, she hauls it up the basement stairs and begins the blood-curdling screaming that alerts the rest of us that, not only has danger been once again averted by her proficient hunting, but also that she is bringing the prey to us for full inspection.

If she's in a really good mood, she then drops the sock within 2 feet of you and waits for your praise and adoration. If she's not, she just drops it on the path to wherever she's heading...top of the couch for a nap, in front of the food bowl before she snacks, on your pillow, in front of the dog water...

This is not fun for anyone at 3 in the morning. Trust me.

Following the 'trail of tears' through the house takes you on the path of a crazy cat and if I do it right, it counts toward a squat workout. Should a mouse ever decide to cohabitate with us, I'm sure I would find Kodi on top of one of the kitchen chairs, screeching & petrified, while I tackle Katie, our younger cat, for rights to trap and remove the beast. But Thank God we don't have to worry about those vicious, sneaky socks.

After the socks have been collected, I then plunge into the sub-zero temperatures of a dimly lit basement for sorting and folding. And it's a wonder I don't do laundry more often.

I'm now on load 4 of 29, so it's shaping up to be a pretty productive outing with the washing machine. And my workout clothes are already hanging to dry, ready for tomorrow. It's like having a full closet at your disposal...and I'm sure I'll just wear the old favorites anyway.

Weekend Warrior

I broke the 2-hour mark on the trainer today. And I made my aero bar pads sweaty. I pulled in a 2:15 and I felt great. My coach wants me to work on my nutrition on the long rides, so this is what I did:

:30 Carb Boom! gel, Vanilla Orange
1:10 Luna Moons (new find for me-kinda like Shot Bloks.)
1:50 Carb Boom! gel, Apple Cinnamon

I didn't feel hungry, but coach says nutrition on the bike is about making it a habit. It means setting up a schedule that works for your body's requirements and sticking to it...even when you think you're not hungry.

I also went through 20 oz of water and 20 oz of Gatorade Endurance. I figure I should practice with the sports drink they will be handing out at IM to make sure the body is cool with it. So far so good.

I like the Carb Boom gel a lot. Before this, the only gel I could really handle without activating my gag reflex was PowerGel Vanilla. Mr. IronMin suggested the Carb Boom with glowing endorsements of the Apple Cinnamon tasting just like Apple Pie, and Vanilla Orange tasting like an Orange Push-up. He was absolutely right, and these gels did not disappoint.

The Luna Moons were good as well. I tried Pomegranate. I need to compare the nutrition to Shot Bloks before I make a final decision on fitting them into the routine.

In water news, our swim coach got into the pool with us yesterday for the last 20 minutes of class. She was showing us flip turns & a few strokes. Talk about a sobering experience...just when you think you're doing ok with your stroke, I highly recommend you invite someone into your lane who has been swimming competitively most of their life. All I could say was "Wow!", quickly followed by panic. I'm now convinced she must leave class wanting to cry after watching us torture the poor pool with our choppy, ugly technique. She was 'one with the water'. It was truly poetry in motion, and I stored the image away in my head in hopes I can get my stroke to look like that through sheer will and determination. And a lot more hard work.