Just an Over-reaction?

I know it has been a really long while since I have posted. Basically I have been taking it easy the last couple of weeks. I have been biking and swimming but I am trying not to overdo those activates to compensate for the lack of running. The lat thing I need is another injury.

Got to love the fact that I have a world famous surgeon at my disposal (aka Dad). When my Dad got back from vacation he carefully looked at my MRI. In his opinion, I don’t have a stress fracture, just a “stress reaction.” Apparently, that’s not as bad as a fracture. He then threw out some medical terms I didn’t understand about things like edema…whatever that is. My Dad is pretty strict when it comes to his athletes and he thinks my current plan of starting to run in a few weeks is completely within reason. Yes, the marathon is a no go but it look like I will compete in the NYC-tri this summer. That is such a relief.

In other news I entered the lottery for the Nike half-marathon in August. I also entered Running Coach without his knowledge. I thought it would be a great way to get him back in shape (so hope he doesn’t read this). Well, wouldn’t you know it…he got in and I didn’t! He isn’t even a RoadRunners member. Not fair. But it’s prob. for the best. If I got in I would have stubbornly done it.

Last week my niece and I were swimming in the pool. Actually I was doing laps and she was perfecting her underwater gymnastic routine. Not sure how we got on the topic but I told her that I hurt my leg to which she replied, “but you did all that training…that sucks.” Yes, Grace it does…

Poor Baby

Bad news loyal readers: it’s a stress fracture. To be exact it is 18.5cm below the knee joint and 7.5cm in dimension. Definitely on the bad side of the news I was expecting scale but what can I do? It is what it is. It is not the end of the world. Yeah, yeah I have told myself every single cliché. I kind of already knew that it was pretty serious so I wasn’t so surprised. The doctor said that if I really behaved I could be back running (albeit on a very limited basis) in July. So it’s not disastrous news by any means.

In the meantime I am going to put my online coaching on hold and possibly sign up for some deep water running classes offered near my apartment through NY RoadRunners. Right now I have three goals for 2007: 1) Get better!; 2) Complete a triathlon; and 3) run three more RoadRunners’ races. As I told my tri-friend Elisa all doable and all SANE. I have the rest of my life to complete tri’s and marathons. This “break” will only make me appreciate the sport so much more.

MRI Fun

Yesterday I went for an MRI so the doctor could find out whether or not I in fact had a stress fracture. Oh wait, I didn’t write about the doctor visit, did I? Yeah, not something I necessarily wanted to dwell on. In a nutshell the doctor had an X-ray done which showed nothing but he thought there was a chance it was a stress fracture. Also, he thought if he could show me real proof that something was wrong then maybe I would finally take a break (er wrong word) from training. Therefore, an MRI was in order.

This is actually the third time I have had an MRI. About 6 years ago I slipped two discs in my back. Actually the whole back incident is one of the main reasons I take fitness so seriously. Let me share with you a little sob story. One day I was in kickboxing class convinced that beating the crap out of a punching bag would totally make me feel better about getting dumped (sad but true). It was there on the sixth floor of the Reebok Gym where I literally heard my back “pop.” Two surgeries and a year of physical therapy later I was back at the gym. If I could go from walking with a cane to almost reaching Jennifer Garner perfection a stress fracture has nothing on me.

I am actually pretty good with pain, shots, hospitals etc but the MRI is really a test of your patience. First off the imaging center was running an hour late, and then I get into the freezing cold MRI room. I lay completely still while magnetic beams clicked and clanged all around me at a deafening pace. Your eyes are essentially left to watch white paint dry. Yeah, that’s what an MRI is like. Good times. While I was about 75% in the tube I was left to think….how the hell did I let this happen? At the same time my leg was so happy in its new immobilized state. I thought to myself during the next week you will do nothing to the leg. I will not bike and will only moderately swim with a pull buoy. Leg, you have won. Congrats. You can stop screaming now.

Just Like Normann

In the 2005 Kona Ironman Normann Stadler basically lost it after suffering two flat tires during the bike 112 mile bike ride on the Queen K (I actually biked on the same road!). The footage of the breakdown is pretty awesome and I can totally understand where he was coming from. That really had to suck. Think of all the hard work he put in just to be felled by two flats!

When I was in Hawaii I halfheartedly paid attention during our flat lesson all the while thinking in the back of my mind, “that will never happen to me.” But what if it did? Now, I am ready. First, Running Coach wanted to change his mountain bike tires to slicks but he had no idea how to do it. Yep, I did it for him. First beating him at RoadRunners and now this? My Mom would be appalled.

Then, last Thursday I was all excited (not) to do some hill repeats. After biking in Greenwich I definitely needed to put some air in the tires. I really have no idea how I managed to do it but I broke the valve off the tire making it inoperable. Great, I was going to have to change the tube. After changing Running Coach’s tires I was able to change mine pretty easily. Then I went to blow the new tire up…..and BAM! I blew the tube. I was really frustrated at this point. It was Thursday, the day I usually run. However, due to painful shin splints I was biking. And then it looked like I wasn’t even going to get to bike due to a second flat. Here’s the internal debate I had: I could say screw it (who am I kidding? My language is never that clean) take the bike to Toga, throw it and say fix it. Or: I could calm down do it again and manage to salvage part of the workout. Unbelievably, the latter won out. I changed the new tire in minutes and was off on my ride. If you know me at all it’s a miracle that I didn’t throw the bike, order fries and watch the three episodes of Gilmore Girls saved on my DVR. I did manage to get seven hill repeats done (the aggressive plan set by Coach Mikael was for nine). I also learned some very useful info that might change my life (ha ha you are going to have to wait for that post).

And as for Normann, he came back the next year and won the whole darn thing!

Special Likes to Travel

I have a weird habit of naming everything. In high school I named my car Dave to piss of my best friend who was dumped by a guy named Dave. Well, the name stuck and to this day some of my high school friends still bring up Dave. I even wrote to him on my senior page in the yearbook. And there is also running coach, aka Matt.

My bike’s name is Special because I just couldn’t think of anything better. See Special is Specialized. Clever, huh? Also, Special is white with purple accents (yuck), making her a little precious - hence the name. Now that I am a Biker Chick in training the demands on Special have increased. This past weekend Special went on the subway twice! I know I hate when people bring their bikes on the subway but it was late on a Saturday night (over to Running Coach’s apt) and Sunday midday (after the bike tour). This week Special also made her first trip out to Greenwich, CT where I work. I loaded Special into the back of my car and somehow managed to break off my antenna (real nice). I don’t think Special liked the drive or the car too much (she’s used to the posh bike room off Central Park West) but she did like the roads in Greenwich. Lots of stretches of flats and some hills. Plus, the roads are really well-paved. So get used to it Special, you are going to commute from now on.

And if this post hasn’t confirmed I have totally lost my mind I don’t know what will…

Biker Chick

According to my personal Orthopedic surgeon, my Dad (his specialty is actually sports medicine, how convenient, right?); I won’t be running for at least a month. But I have been given the green light to swim and bike. I am trying to be as positive as I can be. Yes, I am super bummed I can’t run but truth be told biking is definitely my weakest sport. My focus for the next month is just to get really good on the bike. My coach Mikael also changed my entire schedule in TrainingPeaks…basically it’s filled with swim, bike and swim/bike brick combos for the next month. So I can stay on track even though I can’t run.

That also means no NY RoadRunners races which is a bummer because 1): I have already paid for a bunch; and 2) I love them. Hey if anyone out there wants to run the next few RoadRunners races using my chip/bib number free of charge and take the t-shirt be my guest (yes, that’s probably totally against NYRR rules). My goal is still to complete nine races to qualify for the 2008 marathon (I have already done six races). I am glad started so early because I still have many races left in the year to complete that goal.

Back to my new goal. I am going to bike like crazy. I want to give a shout out to my new tri-friend Elisa. Elisa was nice enough to include me in her group for the 5 Borough bike tour. I also have to thank her father for wearing an awesome bumble-bee like biking outfit which made it super easy for the group to stay together. Like me Elisa shares: 1) a newfound and completely surprising love of training and 2) a secret suspicion that a certain red clad tri-club are really scientologists.

Now I just need to find long training rides in the New York City area. SkiRough posted that she is doing the Ride to Montauk which I am now seriously considering (running coach also mentioned he might be interested. This weekend I also plan on making my first ever attempt to bike cross the GW bridge (does anyone have any good info or tips on this??). I am also going to try and check out some of the NYCC rides.

Shin Splint Hell

My legs were feeling much better and I really tried hard to stay away from running. I knew it was a bad move but I went running yesterday. To quote Julia Roberts character from Pretty Woman, “Big mistake. Big. Huge.” (The picture is of the actual place where that scene took place in the movie. It’s actually very near where I grew up. The sales staff has never been anything but nice). I felt fine during the first four miles. However, during the last mile my shin just started to throb.

Think I am not going to run again for at least a week. It’s probably a good thing as I really do need to focus on the bike and the swim. Also, I recently set in motion plans to run the NYC Marathon in November (more on that later). I need to learn how to manage this before I really start focusing on the next adventure.

As a funny side note my office has all these small first aid cabinets located throughout the building. I have stripped them clean of these awesome little instant ice pack pouches they have. Score!

My Suunto is Back

On the last day on my last run in Kona my watch decided to die, completely. At first I heard it beep while I was swimming and then on the run it just gave up. I definitely gave it a beating in Kona (even though I still don’t know how to use half the functions) but I had only used the watch for a few months. However, when I got back to the mainland Suunto was more than happy to fix it even though they said I probably shouldn’t have been pushing all the buttons underwater. OK so it was a little my fault.

A word on Suunto. I know most people have Polar HRMs but Suunto sponsors my coach Mikael so he highly recommended them (and even found me a great deal through Datavision in NYC). Although I think it does all the same things as the Polar it looks much cooler…and that’s what counts, right?

Suunto was unable to fix it but they were more than happy to replace the entire watch and throw in another heart rate monitor. So excited to have it back. In the interim I was wearing the lovely watch I got for my 18th birthday but the pretty clasp was just not made for biking. Plus, you can’t even get it near water. I also like wearing the big Suunto watch. It makes me feel like an athlete.

Going to do an easy flat run today so I don’t aggravate the shin splints. Then meet with alex for some weights. Then running coach is coming over to welcome Veronica Mars back to prime time television. I think he might be more excited about this than I am.

I Finally Beat Running Coach

I have been trying to get Matt (aka Running Coach) to join me at a RoadRunner’s event. After many unsuccessful attempts I finally got him out there. It only took four months!

The race was only four miles. The last time we ran five miles together running coach smoked me at the end but not this time. For the first mile running coach pushed a little too hard and I was doing my best to keep up (and not ask him to slow down). At about mile 2 I was losing him so I just kept going. At about mile 2.5 he caught up to me, his face completely red. Shortly, thereafter he said he needed to walk. So I finished the last mile or so alone. I ran it in 34 minutes flat or an 8:30 mile – that’s a new personal best for that distance. Running Coach took another few minutes to finish the race. I just hope he wants a rematch as it was fun to run a race with him there.

Got a question for all my loyal readers. Seems as though I can’t quite seem to shake this shin-splint on my left leg. Anyone have any tips? I am going to try substituting my run workouts with some extra spin classes/ swim session for now. Also, I have to give running coach a chance to work on his running.

Blatant Product Placement

I go through a lot of hair elastics. I break them, I lose them, my sister steals them. About six months ago I bought some Goody hair elastics and as an added bonus they included two of their new StayPut elastics. Those things are in a word: awesome. They stay in place, don’t rip out your hair, nor do they break. Shortly after my training began I received a promotional email via active.com from Goody. They were looking to start a women’s triathlon team. Did I have a chance of making it? No. Did I sign up anyway? You betcha. I wanted free stuff. Also, I couldn’t find more of these amazing elastics anywhere.

Given that I had never done a triathlon I was negged - which was ok. In time I was able to find the product line at local drugstores including headbands that don’t slip off during sweaty spin sessions. I also wore the products the entire time I was in Kona from swim to bike, to run to dinner and they held up fabulously. Here’s a tip. Buy the girl size headbands as they tend to fit better.

The other night when I got home from my Florida trip there was a package waiting from me from Goody as a thanks for applying. It was filled with loads of StayPut products. Tons of different elastics and headbands and even scrunchies that make me want to revisit the eighties. A sincere thanks to Goody for making my day.

Q: Why Did the Cookie Go to the Doctor?

A: Cause he felt crumby.

That’s just how I feel right now. That joke is courtesy of my nephew Alex. He told that joke and some others that either a) don’t make sense or b) should not be repeated; this past weekend in Florida. My siblings and I all headed down to Florida for my mom’s birthday. I made sure to get in an extra spin class at the gym Friday morning before I left because I would miss out on precious weekend bike time. However, after that my training basically fell off a cliff.

You know when you are on an airplane and you just know you are getting sick? Yep, I had that feeling. And I was right. I caught some icky cold. On top of that my left shin started bothering me. Now I know why people complain about shin splints. They suck and now I’ve got ‘em. I am not a happy camper.

But I am trying to be positive. Yesterday I walked (gently) over to Super Runners with my $165 Asic Gel Kinsei’s. “I hate these!” The saleswoman watched me walk and she immediately agreed the shoes were all wrong for me. “Those shoes provide only cushioning, no support, and you over-pronate. No wonder you are in pain.” $165 down the drain (times two as I rotated pairs). But the good news is the new shoes she set me up with are $95. Running or otherwise, $95 for shoes that make me happy….it’s a good thing.

Now I just need to get rid of this cold. I am actually kind of glad I got sick when I need to take a load off my legs because it has really forced me to rest. I plan to be back on track by Thursday. I probably could manage Wednesday but I have a very important carbo-loading session at Babbo.

Taking It Up a Notch

Friday was my first swim since I came back from Kona and I decided to be a good girl. I printed out all the drills that were listed in training peaks and put them in a plastic sleeve (I have seen other at the pool do this so I am not THAT big of a dork). I planned to finish it top to bottom which I rarely do. As soon as I hit the water I could already tell that I was so much faster and all the open water swimming I did in Kona made a huge difference. I finished every drill and yard requirement listed and in less than an hour. It was an awesome workout. Oh, how little things can make you happy.

For those of you that care:

Warm-up/drills: 600yds
Kick (w/ kick bd): 300yds
Main: 5x 100yards (w/ 30sec rest bwtn),
4x 50yards near race pc (w/20sec rest)
300yards easy with hand paddles
Cool-dn: 300yds

Saturday was not as stellar as I had to cut my bike ride short since my sister needed a last minute babysitter. I probably only got in an hour and a half and since I broke my Suunto watch I have no idea how far/fast I went. I really need that thing back fast! It dies on my last run in Kona – but hey, it least it bonked before I did.

Sunday it was pouring. However, I was prepared. I brought my ugly purple Asics bag to the Running Coach’s dojo with everything necessary for my brick workout. I managed to get out the door at 8:30 (a miracle since we were out late). I scored the second to last spot in the double spin class (which filled up 45 minutes before class even started!). Powered through the class then stayed after to basically kill my legs. Then I waited for everyone to leave the room and then I sprinted out holding my running shoes. I had a slight altercation with a spin bike (and now a cut and large bruise) but was able to put my shoes on with ease. While I was doing this some annoying guy who was in the class was mocking me telling me to hurry to the treadmill. I smiled cause I didn’t want to waste my much needed energy being mean. Despite staying late in the spinning room I did not suffer from “bike legs.” I know I pushed myself…could it be that I am just more used to it?

I’m a TriDiva – And That’s a Good Thing

When I get involved in anything I tend to give it my all. My training has definitely been proof of that. My free time is now consumed with workouts, my dreams filled with training, my net searching dedicated to triathlon, my apartment a land of misc. gear, my closet full of hi-end workout gear, and my credit card bill full of charges for races and Toga Bikes’ purchases. I usually take a vacation in the spring of each year and in keeping with the theme my vacation became a tri-cation. While searching on active.com I came across the TriDiva training camp in Kona, Hawaii. Sometimes I can be really shy but when it comes to something I want to do I have no problem just randomly emailing people or putting myself in a completely foreign situation. And that’s exactly what I did. I emailed Kelly, the amazing coach/owner of the TriDivas, and inquired about the camp. Two weeks later I had the trip booked and paid for.

Last week I made the ten hour plans trek (2 five hour flights) over to Kona. When I first got there and arrived at the Hotel I had a brief freakout. “What am I doing here? I don’t know anyone! I am going to spend a whole vacation training! I must be insane.” But after I picked up my beyond sweet rental bike from Oliver at Cycle Station and swam for about an hour I felt a lot better. That night I might the crew who would be sharing this awesome experience. About half of the women there trained with Kelly in So Cal. And as I soon found out why her athletes would follow her anywhere: Kelly beyond rocks. Just check out her bio here. Kelly was always there to provide encouragement, tips, or tell us for the fiftieth time what it was like to compete in an Ultraman (yep – she did it twice). Kelly genuinely cares about promoting the sport of triathlon for woman and I only wish she could be cloned.

I don’t want to give away the itinerary from our trip (you need to experience it for yourself) but needless to say we probably trained for a solid 4-5 hours a day. Our training included all three disciplines as well as brick workouts and transition drills. Although I feel so well prepared for my first race (The Philly Tri) I did learn that I have a ways to go on the bike (not surprising). On the flipside I rock on the run (who knew?). The crew actually gave me the nickname “7” because I ran a mile in seven minutes midday on the hot volcanic surface. Shoutout to Suzanne from Colorado Springs. She pushed me so hard by giving me someone to catch up to and (even sometimes) beat. On a side note: Suzanne came with her Mom, Chris. How freaking cool is that???

One of the coolest things about the trip was that we were training where the Kona Ironman takes pace. We swam in the same water, biked along the same roads, ran down the same streets. I vaguely remember some of the sights from watching on TV but I can’t wait to see it again now that I have been there.

I would be remiss if I did not mention all the awesome women that joined me in this great camp. From Sheila, who made sure I did not bike alone, to Chris, who did not let four flat tires get her down. I hope to run into you all again – On the finish line.

Two-A-Days

The day before the More Half-Marathon (which I never completed) I was talking to my coach about my upcoming races. He mentioned to me that after the March Madness Biathlon in Central Park he was going to do the 10K Roadrunner’s event. I thought he was seriously out of his mind. Two races in one day – that’s insane. But the seed had been planted…

He sent out an email later in the week to our club once again mentioning that he was doing both races and wanted to know if anyone had any interest. I don’t know what came over me: I signed up for the second race. I was super careful this time to give my body some rest before the double race day so we wouldn’t have a repeat of the Half-Marathon that never was.

I woke up at 5:15am on Sunday while running coach was sound asleep. I did my pre race ritual: two kashi go loan waffles, small coffee and major water. I had never done a duathlon before and I had no idea what to expect. NYTC runs a really organized race for anyone interested. I set up my bike shoes, etc and then just waited (I also went to the bathroom about three times due to nerves + major water intake). My coach was in the race and totally holding court. All the NY clubs were there including the infamous team that was so rude to me a few months back.

At the start of the race up cat hill I pushed it way too hard. What was I thinking? I guess I just got a little carried away. I finished the first leg in 17:56 (two miles). Next came the bike. I had no problem with the transition since my late signup for the race scored me a sweet spot near the bike exit. My two loops took me 53 minutes. Not great but on par with what I have been doing. Then came the second run. I have never before experienced bike legs and man do they suck. The first mile was pure pain. Then my legs came back to me and I actually started passing people. The second two-miler was only 2 minutes back of the first one not bad.

Then I met my coach and we parked our bikes in my bike room and headed back to the park. We met up with some friends of his for the second race: The Scotland 10K. The race was beyond crowded. I kept up with my coach for about the first 3.5 miles and then I just had to drop back. I did manage to finish in 53:51, which equates to an 8:40ish mile. That’s only 20 seconds off my killer four mile pace.


Afterwards I hobbled home to meet running coach and my friend Liza for carbs. I demolished some pancakes. Running coach and I spent the rest of the day glued to the couch. Later we headed out to watch the Cards game and get some burgers. Then about two hours after my body went crazy and I threw up. Good Times!

Two Loops

I never considered myself a swimmer, biker or runner; however, I was always athletic. In elementary school I was placed in Boys PE because I was too good to play with the girls (or was that what they just told me because I sometimes had a slight “attitude” problem). Nevertheless, I come from a long line of athletes so I like to think that I am an athlete. Why I chose a sport that involves three disciplines that I never excelled at is still beyond me. Little-by-little though I have been chipping away at each sport. Last week a newbie swimmer at the gym told me I looked awesome in the pool as I easily circled the intermediate lane with two male swimmers. In running I have gone from a 9:30/minute four mile race to a 9:00/minute 9 mile race.

Biking, well biking has eluded me. I know I dragged a bit on getting my bike and now it is catching up on me. I hate getting smoked by every single rider on the Central Park loop. The new shoes made a world of difference but I still have a ways to go. However, yesterday there was another female triathlete (I know she’s a triathlete cause she lives in my building) and I smoked her on the nasty incline at the top of the loop coming down the west side (if you have ever biked or run the loop you know what I am talking about). However, a few minutes after the uphill stretch she smoked me on the downhill. That’s ok. My two loop time is now 51 minutes down from 60 a few weeks ago. Making a little progress…

No ‘More’ For Me – How I Finally Listened to My Body

The last time I posted I was all nervous/excited/scared for the “More Half-Marathon” which I had just signed up for last minute. I knew the distance would be tough but doable. The longest I have ever run was a little over nine miles for the Colon Cancer Challenge. I felt good during that race and was very happy with my time. Also, with NYC marathon dreams dancing in my head I thought this would be great training.

I recently picked up “4 Months to a Four Hour Marathon” at the local library and poured through it in one day. I liked it so much that I got my own copy from amazon the next day. What really resonated with me was how critical it was to rest before a race and rest in general. That is something I have not been doing. I have not taken a real “day off” in weeks opting instead to hit the pool for a short workout or a jog in the park. Big mistake. Also, the few days before the race I was running myself ragged. Staying out late, running all over the city, not taking a much needed nap.

At about 5am the morning of the half marathon my body woke me up. My left knee which flares up every now and gain was sore when I laid on my side. I then had an internal fight with my body. One part of me was saying: Five minutes into the race it will totally ease up. Come on, you can do this. Pain is for sissies. The other part was saying: Is this race worth potentially messing up all of your training? Is this worth missing your training vacation in Kona? For the first time I listened to the “right” side and turned the alarm off and went back to bed. I knew I had made the right decision but it was tearing me up inside. I missed a race! I love races. I am not a quitter. I just have to keep telling myself it was the right decision. Important lesson learned.

Yeah, I Know It’s Been a While

I am sorry about my lack of posting. I bet my three loyal readers are up every night wondering about how my training is going. When I last posted I was gearing up for a super-training weekend and I did not disappoint. With running coach away skiing and almost breaking a rib I had time to concentrate on training and lots of “The Hills,” “Gilmore Girls,” and “Anthony Bourdain” nuggets saved on my DVR and yes, lots and lots of training. How’s that for one disaster of a sentence?

Friday I met with Boris for a swim tune-up which was very much needed. I feel like an actual swimmer when we work together…then I feel like I pile of mush when I drag my sorry butt home. Saturday I was a biking madwoman. First I biked to Toga and got there right when it opened…which was a good thing because all the “Team in Training” mentors decided to bring their mentees there. A side note, Team in Training is awesome and I would have done it for the NYC Tri but it didn’t fit in with my schedule. I really hope to join it and train for the NYC Marathon. I finally got real biking shoes for my bike. For now I am using mountain bike cleats because I am a clumsy fool who can barely walk without doing damage to myself. Let’s not even talk about how I walked into a table at Barney’s last week….yep, I still have the bruise from that one. Eventually I will upgrade to look cleats. Baby steps, Baby steps.

Armed with my super cleats I set out for an hour and a half ride in the park and what do you know…the cleats made me super fast. No more grannies on schwinns passing me by! Locked up the bike at home (how I love living half a block from the park) and then jogged across the park to Road Runners to pick up my race crap.

Sunday was the Colon Cancer Challenge. I ran the 15k which is 9.3 miles for those of you that don’t know. I ran it in about 1:30. I was very pleased with that….and also very sore the next day.

Last week my training left much to be desired. Between numerous client dinners, a colleague in from London and a massive snow storm I left maybe one or two workouts out. But not much I could do about it. I am looking forward to an awesome week of training culminating in the More Half-Marathon on Sunday. Deathwish meet Stacey, Stacey meet Deathwish…you two are going to become very good friends.

80 Laps in 50 minutes

With Running Coach out of town this weekend I decided that it would be great to catch up with my swim coach for a lesson. Actually, my swim coach is a real coach. Boris is the real freaking deal. He is an accomplished triathlete as well as a former member of the Russian swim team. I cannot even begin to explain how lucky I am to get time with Boris and how much he has improved my stroke. Unfortunately, I have only been hitting the pool about once a week. That’s unacceptable for Boris. He thinks on my day off I should be hitting the pool. In anticipation for my lesson tomorrow I decided to forgo the Wednesday bike session (actually will do it on my day off, today) and hit the pool. Also, you can’t swim on Tuesdays/Thursdays at Reebok. That’s when the jazzercise/fatty/water aerobics class takes place…don’t even get me started. Let me just say this: if you are wearing a shower cap how can it be considered exercise?When I got to the pool last night it wasn’t that crowded. I was able to get the single private lane and for some reason no one kicked me out even though I was way over the 30 minute time limit. I started off with 250 yards free swim. Took a minute break then another 250 yards. Then I did 250 yards of drills (catch up, pull buoy, kickboard). The last 250 was a full on sprint. I was so tired I couldn’t even walk straight. I headed over to running coach’s apartment and we picked up some Chipotle for dinner. I took it down like I had never seen food before and like Chipotle is actually good.

The Running Coach Will Go Down!

A popular character on this blog has been Matt, aka Running Coach. Running Coach works very, very hard and because of that (and a love of the cleverly named cuisine of “carnival food”) he does not get out all that often to enjoy a good run. This past weekend I nearly killed Running Coach. On Saturday after I had already biked for an hour and spent another hour at the gym lifting with Alex I convinced Running Coach to go biking with me. We made it one loop around Central Park and then Running Coach started to complain. We went back home and ordered wings while UCLA’s pathetic performance against the Huskies nearly killed me.

After a fun night drinking I was dealt the dubious task of getting Running Coach out of bed to go well running. It was a miracle that I got him out of the apartment. We made a deal that if he beat me in his still inebriated state I would: 1) have to buy breakfast; and 2) give him a back massage. I have been running a lot lately and thought I had a decent shot. All during the run I kept up pretty well. Let me just say that few months ago I could have never kept up with Running Coach, even if he was running while drinking a beer. We started on the bottom loop and Running Coach was the one this time asking for breaks. With about a quarter mile left to go we threw down the gauntlet…this would determine the winner. I thought I had a pretty good shot. After about 20 yards I pulled to an early lead and then we hit the hill, the last painful 20 yards to the run. I tried to draft him and fake complained that I couldn’t do it all while plotting my move. Little did I know that Running Coach was totally onto me. When he got about 6 feet ahead I dropped the bomb and came out of nowhere. But unfortunately my best was not good enough as Running Coach beat me by just a few feet. He may have won the race but I killed him for the rest of the day.

*The picture above is not of us….I just liked it.

Triathlon Beauty Tips

I really love having long hair but since I have started training I have had to cut my hair a few times due to damage caused by swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool. I love swimming but seriously it has done a number on my hair. Last time I was in LA getting my hair cut I told Nobu (my hairstylist extraordinaire) about this problem. He told me he has lots of clients who swim and it really helps if you put baby oil on the ends before.

Thursday night I had a party to go to with my sister. Since it wouldn’t be starting until late and since I had plans on Friday I was forced to move my swim to Thursday. This meant packing all my belongings for the next few days into my ugly Asics gym bag (I purposely bought an ugly bag so no one would steal it). I decided to take Nobu’s advice before my swim and carefully coated my ends with baby oil. Swim went fine and I showered at the gym to save time. However, when I was blow drying my hair I noticed that it wasn’t drying. Actually, it only looked wet, the truth was that the oil was still on my hair and wouldn’t come off. So I ran to the bathroom and tried to wet it again – No Luck. Already running massively later for my party I threw it into a bun as there was nothing else I could do. The oil finally came out after about another two shampoos. Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a triathlete. But seriously, does anyone out there have any good tips on this one???