Doubles!

Maybe not the best strategy, but now that summer's here and I'm not working as much, I've been jamming in the training.  It started in the last month of school, but now it's a lot easier to do.  I'm doing one longer run each week, one longer bike ride, one stand-alone quality tempo run, 2 shorter rides, several shorter runs, and 2 swims each week.  Plus a 90 minute hot yoga class once a week.  Some days are bike/run bricks, some days are bike/swim or run/swim doubles.  While I'm not doing doubles every day, it has been about 4 days a week.  It's been hot and humid, and I often look like this at the end of a workout:

Flat out, laying under the ceiling fan, water bottle in hand.  A familiar position this time of year. 

I haven't taken a complete rest day -- no workout at all -- since May 4th.   However, one day a week is a legs-friendly workout day.  This week, that's today.  I did a 75 minute hot yoga class this morning and I'll swim later today (hopefully at the OWS if the thunderstorms stay away), but no swimming or biking.  While my legs are feeling stronger with all these workouts, they're also feeling a little worked.  Time for a break.  And, I'm doing another sprint tri this weekend, so I'm taking today and tomorrow to treat the legs well.  While my main goal for the race is a stronger T1 and bike leg, I'm really hoping to do well the whole way.

Let's hope the doubles will pay off! 

Summer Has Arrived

Today was my first day of summer break.  And, it's the first official day of summer.  My alarm clock was turned off, and I had absolutely NOTHING that I had to do today.  Ahhh...

I woke up at 5:30 even without my alarm clock, but I stayed in bed for an hour.  I eventually made my way out for a solid 7 mile tempo run and then a short but quality swim at the pool.  A light lunch, a stop at the running store, some time on my deck with a new book, fun in my pool with my nephews and sister, and then spectating a local, low-key 3.6mi race.  It was a nice weather day -- not too hot, and the storms we were expecting never really showed up. 

All in all, a good first day of summer vacation.  Next week I'm working a ton at the store, so I'm letting myself decompress these next few days.  No alarm Wednesday morning -- I have workouts to do, but the only thing I have to do is take my nephew to the group run.  He's really getting into this :) 

I'm so glad summer has arrived. 

Happy Father's Day

to the first running mentor I ever had 
to my original running coach
to the first swimmer I knew and
the man who let me borrow his old twelve speed bike when I first started triathlons

Happy Father's Day
to the man who has taught me to have PMA -- a positive mental attitude
and so much more:  how to give a proper handshake, to soap the screws before putting them in the wall, to work hard and play hard, to earn my shower every day, and more and more and more. 

This time last year, we were breathing a sigh of relief after his fall 15 feet off the top of his boat onto the hard ground.  He was broken -- badly -- but still here.  It's been a rough go for a while, but I can still call him and talk to him and hug him. 

Happy Father's Day to a great man.  A and K and I are lucky to call you our dad.

Fixing Blogger and Stuffing Mushrooms

Yeah, I know, they don't really sound related.  It's cause they're not.  But both things are topics for tonight, so here ya go:

For Sage!  To fix the Blogger comment posting problem, log out of your account, then log back in but uncheck the "remember me" box.  That seemed to work for me!  Simple -- you'd think the Blogger folks could fix such a seemingly simple problem... 

And now, for my latest vegan/clean recipe:  Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms!  YUM! 

I paired this d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s concoction with some steamed asparagus and red grapes.  It was awesome!  I took the basic recipe from one I found online, but made lots of alterations to use the veggies I wanted to.  It was easy and pretty quick to make!   I'm not fully back on the vegan/clean thing, but I'm finding that much of what I eat these days falls into that category.  Not everything.  But enough  :)

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Randoms:
Marc - how the hell do you stop at a light and not unclip without falling over?  Grab onto a car?  I'm doing ok with the riding part, it's the getting on/off the bike and the anxiety of not unclipping in time that makes my riding not so fun right now.  :(

Aimee -- don't kid yourself.  A) you've gotten up to run with me in the pre-dawn hours.  and B) you'd do all this if you lived in my shoes.  :)

Inappropriate Heat

Seriously?  It's early June!  It's New Jersey!  It's inappropriate!

I swam 2500 yards in the pool this afternoon.  Pretty solid swim.  Then I went to hot yoga.  It was actually hotter outside with those 101* temps than it was in the studio, which was about 98*.  Still, I was wetter in that class than I ever have been on dry land in my whole life.  It was like I was one of those water sprinklers with all the holes in it -- water was just pouring out/off of me.  It was like I just stepped out of the pool, but almost worse!  My fingers were pruned by the end of class -- and they weren't at the end of my swim!  It's just wrong!  It shouldn't be this HOT! 

I love my central air.  :)

Blogger's Broken! Or is it Google?

I can't comment on most blogs these days.  There's some glitch in the system -- when I go to comment, it asks what account, so I choose google, which is how I log into this blog.  I re-enter my info, press submit, and it brings up my comment in an edit box and says I'm "anonymous" rather than "solarpowered" or Lora."

Ok, fine.  I press submit again and it kicks me back out to the google log-in again.  Repeat, repeat.  It's a vicious, never-ending circle! 

Occasionally a blog will let me log in with my name and the url to this blog.  Not all blogs give that option. 

GRR!  I checked under the blogger help stuff and all I can find is that they are "working on it."

HELP!  Anyone know what's up? 

Your blogs are interesting!  I've been reading, but I can't comment!  It's so frustrating!!!

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UPDATE:  I've figured out how to make it work, I think...  I'm hoping it continues to work so that I can let you all know how awesome you are with all you've been up to lately!  :)

Big Girl Pedals!

I think if I had gotten the clipless pedals from the very start I would have been less nervous about them.  Instead, I've been riding with cages for about 4 years.  Ridiculous.  It was one of the easy ways I could get by with the whole "I fake the triathlon thing" idea.  Don't want to give up enough of my running to do more swimming and biking, don't want to commit to clipless pedals, didn't get a wetsuit. 

Well, I got the wetsuit, and I started attending a weekly open water swim, and my swimming (and my confidence with my swimming) has already improved.

I got a new seat  which was better than my old one, and over the past few weeks my butt (sit bones, more specifically) has gotten more aclimated to the riding and time in the saddle.  I tried a few other models of the Adamo seat (the Race, the Breakaway, and the Road) but the podium seems to be the one for me.  I even did a 30 mile ride last night and wasn't incredibly uncomfortable!  Overall, I've been doing more riding each week.  Progress.

So the next step was to grow up.  Time for the big girl pedals.  I was nervous, I was certain I'd kill myself, but I was determined to make this switch.  Today. 

So I drove to our shore store that carries bikes and the co-owner, J, spent more than an hour with me -- we got the right shoes for me, he switched out the pedals, put my bike on the trainer and showed me how to clip in and out. Now you try, he said.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod 

I climbed onto the bike and after a couple slips, I finally found the clip spot and got myself clipped in.  Rode, braked, clipped out.  Rode, braked, clipped out.  Did that a handful of times, both sides. 

Ok, let's try this.  We took the bike outside.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod
i'mgonnadieimgonnadieimgonnadieimgonnadie

I clipped in, rode away from J, and rounded the corner.  I noticed a grass area off to the side of the parking lot curb, and decided that might be a safe place to try to clip out for the first time.  I slowed down, braked, and tried to clip out.  However, I learned pretty quickly that's not the correct sequence to follow.  As my bike was stopping, then stopped, and I was just then attempting to clip out, I (of course) tipped right over.  I knew it was about to happen.  When your bike is stopped, you need to put a foot down to the ground to stay upright.  If your feet are in shoes that at that moment are attached to the bike, no feet are making it to the ground in time to stabilize the bike.  Well, here I go -- just like everyone says, "You're gonna fall!" 

I missed the grassy area (would've been helpful if I had ridden closer to that spot -- duh) and went right over onto the pavement.  Landed on my knee (that's already bruised from my fall while running a month back) and my right palm.  Apparently I rolled onto my right shoulder, too, based on the leaves J brushed off me later.  Almost immediately, I realized what I'd done wrong.  Clip out BEFORE stopping!  DUH!

I giggled at myself, got back on the bike, and successfully clipped in and out a few more times as I circled the parking lot.  I'm nervous as anything to do this again, but I will.  And I'm sure the more I ride, the more comfortable I'll get.  WIth all of it.