I am writing this post first – I will likely “backfill” with my experiences of the day, links to videos, photographs, and the like. But for me, this was the most important bit to get down while still at least somewhat “fresh.”

Ohio River bridge at swim end

I started on my Ironman Journey 10 months ago (as is obvious if you scroll back in this blog). I was a Couch Potato of quite epic sedentary proportions. I hadn’t worked out in 3 years. But one of my beliefs is that if you have something that you have really SWORN to yourself that you will do in your life, and you have not done it, then that adds an enormous amount of (often unconscious) Stress in your life until you “release” it…or do it.

In the late 80s (when I was in my early 20s), I was an (Olympic-distance) triathlete. I wasn’t particularly good – sort of back/middle of the pack. But one evening, over a few beers and leafing through the newly-launched Triathlete magazine, I told a group of girls I ran with that I wanted to do The Ironman (there was only one then) before I turned 50. Their reaction was basically to hoot with laughter; there was “no way” that someone “like me” could do such a thing.

Which, of course, got me into serious “I’ll show THEM!” mode!

Maria, Paula and me

Flash forward, and I’m 47, dealing with a lot of Stress, a couch potato, dozens of pounds overweight, and at a Tony Robbins Unleash The Power Within long weekend (the firewalk was the easiest thing we did). During the portion of the weekend that deals with Health I uncovered this long-forgotten memory.  I tried to release the memory – no dice. So I realized I would have to “realize” it. Crap.

If you want to know more about the journey, well, page back in this blog. It was quite the journey, that’s for sure, ending of course with a spectacular bike crash 2 weeks out from the actual 2010 Ironman in Louisville.

me and the Belle of Louisville

As a Life Coach, I teach my clients how to break an “impossible” goal into actionable steps. I also teach that having part of the goal tied to benefiting others will springboard your dream into reality far, far quicker. So, I trained for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – and in my first time ever raising money, raised over $9,300 to cure cancer. In turn, everyone that HAS leukemia, lymphoma, and the like is praying for a cure – and therefore, praying for ME. If you make sure your goal has a specific component that will benefit others from the beginning, you will become the “answer to prayers.” There is no better way to PULL your own goals into reality.

But back to the Ironman.

My friend and IronTeammate Maria found a quote that I adopted early on – Your Ironman Event is really just a 140.6 mile Victory Lap celebrating the Journey that it took to get there. Whether you finish the race in time, or wind up outside of your imagined goals, you were prepared on that day to do your best IF you did every thing that was in your scheduled training. If you did not do everything in the Plan and didn’t make it, then that’s your choice – but you can’t class yourself with others who did it all and fell a bit short. I personally believed that I could finish the Event in about 15-16 hours – but there were some unanticipated moments along the way (including a bike crash, a heat index of 110 degrees, and belatedly finding out that Louisville is considered one of the Top 10 hardest bike courses on the circuit!). I wound up finishing at 16:58:51 – or, in other words, I crossed the finish line with 1 minute, 9 seconds to “spare.”

As a microcosm of all I learned throughout the entire Journey, from the time I entered Louisville until I left, these are my lessons from Ironman Louisville 2010.

Plan, Plan, Plan. Maria and I had done a lot of studying, investigating, and talking about various Ironman “strategies” and plans – from those our coaches promulgated, to those we found online. When we found information, our strategy was to Trust, but Verify. By the time we got on the plane to Louisville, we each had checklists, strategic plans, and the like that made us feel very comfortable. However, at the North Bay team dinner the Friday 2 days before

gear bags, before stuffing

the event, folks tried to make us feel like we were being “manic” in our preparation, and that we were “making the other team members freak out” and “didn’t know where the information we were treating as Gospel had really come from.” We were carrying electrolyte drinks with us unlike any of the others, we had practiced for a week getting out of the shower, dumping a bag of our bike clothes on the floor and getting into them wet, etc. This is what we needed to feel prepared. And we got “guff” for it. Perhaps they were trying to make us feel “better” by saying that we should not “listen to others” who “might not know what they were doing” (e.g., sift through race reports, etc. on the internet) – but in fact, we knew exactly what we were doing. Make sure that you plan, read, review, analyze, and discuss with a trusted compatriot  or coach your strategies for success – and don’t let anyone naysay you later. If you have done a lot more than others have done they will call you “manic” or “anal.” Don’t listen. Cover all the bases. “Luck” is what happens when you have planned for every contingency – and have Plans B, C and D in the bag…and a Plan E when the bag splits open!

bikes and gear bags after stuffing

Accept Help Along The Way.

The awesome L.A. Team in Training team helped us secure a great swim start spot; my Dad and friends became my “IronMinions” for the Event, etc. Whatever your goal is – don’t do it alone. And for goodness’ sake, don’t be a martyr. Figure out how to let others help you in a way that will make you both feel great. When the L.A. Team was coming in on their 2^nd loop on the Run (and I was going out on my first), their energy and “Go Team” shouts at me propelled me forward like nothing else – which I believe I helped ”instigate” by mentioning – in an all-team pre-race lunch – that I hoped when they passed me on the course, they would shout out my nickname.

On the “Helping” note, there were 2,900 athletes in the Ironman (1300 newbies), and over 5,000 Volunteers. They are there to serve you. Use them. But treat them with the respect that they deserve. A kind word, a huge smile, and asking someone’s name will go a very, very long way towards getting what you need. Personally, I was wearing a Camelbak, so a volunteer would need to mix up a “potion” for me, pour it into the Camelbak, fill it with water, put ice in my helmet (more on that later) and so on. By stopping,

Dad and Susan Afan at 430 am

pointing to a specific volunteer, and then asking his or her name, I actually know I made their day (I’ve been that volunteer), and they made mine. Don’t go it alone. Use the resources. Be sure you know specifically what you need (based on your plans and previous test-runs), accept it graciously, and get going. If you didn’t plan, or didn’t do all the workouts, or don’t use the resources available, gut check: Are you just being a victim or a martyr so you can “complain” about how “hard” things were?

Help Others, But Only with No Regrets. Help Yourself, But Don’t Dawdle. Would I have been less “Iron” had I crossed at 17:00:01? No. I did every workout, planned, and then worked that plan. That just means I’d shot the arrow and missed the mark – that day. “Stuff Happens.” But would I call myself an “Ironman” or get the tattoo? No again. Maybe it’s because I’m just a hard-*ssed attorney at heart, but you ain’t if you ain’t. You can say you did the distance, but if you didn’t do a sanctioned race in the time, calling yourself an “Ironman” cheapens it for us who dug deep and did it. Fine, hate me. But that’s what I believe.

Will at 130 am PST ready to support me all day with good energy

My friend Will made me look in his eyes before I left, because he had many regrets with respect to HIS Ironman Event experience. He doesn’t call himself an “Ironman,” because he did the distance but was 13 minutes over the finish time after helping 3 people with bike problems and the like. When I was leaving, he made me PROMISE that every time I did anything on Race day, I would do it with No Regrets. So had I indeed finished outside the “allotted time,” I absolutely knew that I had raced my race with No Regrets. I remembered that admonition each and every time I did something that caused me to stop.

• I stopped at about Mile 5, because a guy was broken down on the side of the road and when I asked if he was OK, he said “oh yeah, you don’t happen to have a TIRE do you?” I said No, then realized that YES, I did – last thing H folded and stuffed into my Camelbak was my ($50) training tire. I wasn’t able to stop immediately, but about 2 blocks later at a police car I was. I had one of the police get the tire out of the Camelbak, and run it back to the guy on the road. Hope he got it. No Regrets.
• A few miles later, I passed my TNT Teammate Maria, and wished her well and commented that she had ROCKED the swim! I don’t hear very well, and as I passed she was saying something but I just filled it in as her wishing me luck as I had wished her luck. But I kept hearing my name, as I went down the road. That had to mean she needed help. I checked my No Regrets meter, and knew that I wanted to stop and help. She had a problem with her tire. I could see it, and where it
  

  Leann spraying me with sunscreen SPF 10,000

  was rubbing – it looked like the tire was sort of “misshapen” but I couldn’t see how to fix it and it actually looked like the tire was otherwise OK. So after a few minutes of us tinkering with it, she rode on. (You’ll have to go to her blog to see the end result of this story!)

• On the back side of the bike ride, a guy was lying on the ground, seizing up with cramps. It was Carnage out there, and that is a fact (Teammate Paula saw a guy, clipped in, faint dead away and hit the dirt. All of us saw people spread-eagled prostrate in the heat with their bikes flung in the grass). I asked if he was okay, and he shook his head and was saying “Salt? Salt?” So I reached into my Bento Box, and threw him my whole container of Thermalytes. I had planned for this very thing – I had other packages “just in case” in other bags – and I was doing great on the Infinit drink in any case (NOTE: Did the entire race on only Infinit, even with the heat index, etc. MAGIC!)
• A couple of times, I could feel myself get lightheaded on the bike and my heart rate would drop. My back and shoulder (old crash) and elbow (new crash) also hurt. So I would ride to a shady spot, and stand up and stretch. Each of these moments was “no more than a minute or so” – but remember how close I was to the cutoff at the end. Each time, I remembered Will’s “No Regrets” admonition – so I did that gut check, and knew that the stretch was important for me to keep myself functioning well in the moment. But I did it, and got a move on. No dawdling.

balloons rising over the bike transition

Expect the Unexpected…and When It Happens, Assess, Reorganize, Keep Your Sense Of Humor, Then Get Going, and Leave It Behind.

• About 10 strokes into the swim start, I stroked forward and “pulled” a branch underneath me. I could feel the kkkrrrrrrrr! of it going down the front of my body. Luckily, it didn’t have a lot of twigs, and it rolled off my toes (and into the next guy!)  I have a “helpfulness gene” and in that moment I wanted to somehow say to the guy behind me “Watch Out!” but there really wasn’t any way to do that. And that was NOT supposed to be my concern. If you find yourself “warning” a lot of people about the “pitfalls” that you have experienced, then mainly you are wasting your own time and putting energy into that memory. Don’t THROW branches in front of others – but if it happens to you, krrrrr! and move on!
• It’s amazing how many people swam right in front of me, zig-zagging across the channel. I was immensely grateful for Coach Sedonia and all the practice we had had with sighting (and, in fact, having had to teach my friend Jane how to
  

  heading out of T1 slathered in more sunscreen

  sight, which helped me to break it down and really internalize it). One guy swam at a 45 degree angle in front of my face, making me actually stop so as not to run into the side of his calf. I watched him as he blithely continued in front of all of us “straight swimmers,” and just had to shake my head. He undoubtedly did an extra mile or so that we didn’t! Figure out the shortest distance between yourself and your goal – practice, practice, practice – then execute. If someone cuts you off, tell yourself it’s not personal, and move on.

• 20 or so minutes into the swim, I was taking a breath to the side,  just as a big guy was swimming past/over me. This is how it goes in the Ironman – 3,000 people in a small space, you’re going to get knocked around. I was prepared for it in the way I was swimming, but his elbow came down on the bridge of my nose. Just bad timing. It hurt like heck, and my left goggle filled up with water. I was very concerned that he had cracked the plastic – which would mean I would need to swim with my eye closed (contacts!) for the next 2 miles. As you likely know, only using one eye means you have no depth perception. I took the goggles off, emptied them, and tentatively put  them back on, with the salmon swimmers swarming on and around me up the river. Turns out he had only broken the seal around my eye – not the goggles.
  

  Missy and me

  However,  I then realized there was blood in the water in front of me – FROM me. My nose was gushing blood. It didn’t feel broken and anyway, I had to keep swimming to get to help, one way or the other. My humorous side immediately whispered, “Wow, it’s a good thing you’re here instead of swimming from Alcatraz with the sharks.” That made me laugh, and within a few minutes, I had forgotten all about the bash. Reaching your goal is often a contact sport. Get out there, protect yourself as best you can, but if you get bashed, get bashed – and get over it.

• When I came in from the bike to transition to the run, I peeled off my socks and realized that 8 plus hours of dumping water and ice on my head had all run into my shoes – and I had a giant chafe at the cuff of one sock, and a SEVERE case of foot waterlog. As in – I could see my toe bones, and my whitish-yellow skin and flesh were just hanging off them. This was completely and utterly unanticipated. (And gross.) Getting my dry Injinji compression socks on for the run was a 20 minute process. Amazingly,  I did it, with a few tears and the stellar help of my Transition Slave (smile). Though when I stood up to head out of the tent she said, “Ma’am? We generally don’ go out in public that way here in Kentucky…” – and I realized I hadn’t put my running shorts on and was naked from shirt to socks. Whoops!
• After the super-long T2 (25 minutes) I knew I was going to have trouble making it in on time. I was “set” to do run/walk intervals, but I wound up having to run the entire marathon without walking (and actually “negative split” the final
  

  me horning in on Maria's prom photo with the Colonel (joke! joke!)

  section). Sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Listen To Your Gut.

• I had a crash on the bike course. Yes, that’s me, Crashy McCrash. There was an “out and back” portion that’s turn-around was a hairpin left U turn on a very skinny road. When I saw it, I felt in my gut that it was beyond my bike handling skills. But then I “went for it.” And crashed. And nearly took down a bunch of other racers. When I was coming down to that turn-around, what I SHOULD have done is figured how to stop or “run long” past the orange cone, get off the bike, turn it around “manually” and then get back in the race. Instead, my ego kicked in…and because I didn’t want to be “embarrassed” by my less than stellar bike skills, I wound up with the derailleur ticking oddly and my left brake/shift lever bent completely sideways (wasn’t until Mile 80 I actually even SAW a tech person to help me fix it – she had to use a mallet it was so stuck). The sideways lever meant I ended the race with a huge blister between my left  thumb and forefinger, and a numb ring and pinkie finger (which did not come “awake” until my masseuse “popped” my elbow days later back home).
• Later on, in the 110 degree heat/humidity and while watching folks try to take hills, fall over, and take down other riders, I found two hills that I could only make if I really “powered” up them…or I could walk them. As we did the loop twice, that meant walking those 2 hills, twice. When I did my Gut Check, I realized that the extra time walking the hills was likely to be a better choice than
  

  Maria and me showing off our ankle tracking chips

  “powering” up them and draining precious energy I would need later. That’s when Run Coach Simon’s voice (a bit belatedly, considering my crash!) came to me. He had said, “When you get your Ironman ticket, be sure to coat check your Ego. You can pick it up with your Medal.” I walked up the hills, watched guys powering by me, felt a little stupid and embarrassed…and then passed them splayed out in the grass about 50 miles later. Go at your own speed, not someone else’s – don’t worry about what People Will Think – and keep your eyes on the longterm Prize.

• All along (except on the worst of the hills) I kept my heart rate between 142-152. That is my personal “zone” for pre-aerobic and aerobic. It is the zone in which I can utilize my own body fat as fuel. I was told to “race my own race,” and even when folks were flying by me, I just paid attention to that doggone Heart Rate Monitor. If I went over 152, I slowed down. If I went under 142, I sped up. I am quite sure that this kept me from becoming the “Carnage” that was rampant on the bike course (they had to pull in ambulances and EMTs from 2 surrounding counties – and ran out of IVs in the med tent).

When You Quit, Quit. Have Your Tantrum. Then Get Going Again. I quit at Mile 30 of the bike course. Really, really quit. I was done. The swim had been quite enervating because the water was so warm, and then the bike was brutally hot. I saw the sign at Mile 30, stopped, and if there had been a SAG wagon there, I would have put my bike in it, dusted my hands, and said, “Enough.” But there was NOT a SAG wagon, so I sucked it up and made it to the next bike aid station (where I thought I might find SAG). At that station, I got the bright idea of putting ice in my helmet. It was SO COLD…but after about 20 seconds, my mind cleared. I realized that my body felt completely fine…and I also realized with a start that my mind, which was cooking, was just trying to Siren Song me into getting out of the heat. Sometimes your own brain is your

Ironteam L.A. South Bay and North Bay sitting in the swim line

worst enemy. When this happens, say “Thank you, I respect your Opinion, I’m going to do something else though.” Believe it or not, this usually makes it shut up. Of course – ice in the helmet helps, too.

Ultimately, You Can Only Rely On Yourself. The run was an out-and back loop twice. Our coach told us he would be standing at one particular spot – Mile 5 or so on the way out, which became Mile 18 on the 2^nd loop. I was running late (obviously) and so when I passed him the first time, I wanted all the particulars. How far was it to the end of the loop? How far was the turn-around after that? How fast did I have to go, to get to the midway cutoff? And was that cutoff at 9:00 p.m., or 9:15, or 9:30, or 9:45? He knew none of these answers. He knew the pace I would need to hold to get to the END on time, but none of the in-between answers (and remember – I’m just at mile FIVE of 26.2). This was the only time in the race I was really FURIOUS. It was my understanding that, as a coach, these are the sorts of things (especially if standing in one spot, and not going out on the bike or running around on the run) that should be at the fingertips. I finally ran past Teammate Paula, who knew all the answers. (She also had the amazingly great idea of setting an alarm an hour before all cutoffs on the bike/run course – so that you KNEW you were coming up to the “bell” – I just didn’t actually KNOW what that time was on the run midway point, so hadn’t been able to set that all-important alarm.) I was angry, but in reality, it was anger at myself for not having committed the important stuff to memory.

Fourth Street Live

Be An Inspiration.

The first time I came into town during the marathon (the Ironman ends at Fourth Street Live, a covered bar/restaurant/etc. district in the heart of town, but you run past it to go out on your 2nd loop), the crowd cheered, because they thought I was finishing. Instead, I held up my finger to indicate “1” (that it was my first loop) and amazingly, they got deathly quiet and “respectful.” I heard someone say “My lord, she’s still going out. What an inspiration.” As I continued on, and was going back out as our Team athletes were coming in to finish, I kept hearing that shouted again and again. It made me feel good, as I had sent myself a card earlier that week that said just that – “I Am an Inspiration to Others.” I had a number of choices when picking that card (“I Am Physically Fit,” etc.) but that is the one that spoke to me with respect to my Ironman.

As a corollary to this, I would run past spectators when I was still trying to find out how far and fast I had to move to make the 1/2 way cutoff, and they would invariably say “you’re nearly there” or “”it’s right around the corner” or “you’re totally going to make it.” I know that they thought this would spur me on…but what it did was insidiously make me think it was okay to slow down. Don’t listen to random bits of advice and “wisdom” you might receive on the way to your goal – often the people who sound the most sure of themselves are just dead wrong. My mistake: Not having the run course and its particulars committed to memory. Plan, plan, plan. My bad.

On my final “leg” of the marathon course, I started running with Fireman Steve from Louisville (a/k/a Pukin’ Steve – sorry Steve!) He was having an AWFUL time. He would run (far faster than I could), but then start puking his guts out. Then he would walk, try some new concoction from an aid station, run, and puke. I just kept going along at my turtle pace, and so with his leap-frogging and my trudging along, we were together for miles. He was hurting. Bad. Crying. To take his mind off it (I actually

piles of transition bags

felt great…I just couldn’t move any faster), I chatted with him and sometimes just “at” him…about Louisville, San Francisco, the Ironman (this was I think his 3^rd in Louisville), his wife Kathy (who had finished the race, and he was afraid was probably worried sick about him), nutrition, etc. He kept telling me what an inspiration my attitude was, especially on my first Ironman, in such hellish conditions. I was just as glad he was there, on that muggy nasty march towards the finish.

When we got about a mile out, he started throwing up so hard, he was yelling. I felt awful, but I kept going because I knew that we were close – he had been calculating the math the whole time, and pulling me with him to go faster and faster (see splits, below) – and so I went for it.  I also knew he’d kick my *ss if I didn’t make it because I stopped to help him. If those that have been with you on your journey to your goal fall to the wayside, keep going.

(By the way – Pukin’ Steve made it in under the wire!)

at Mile 20 of the Marathon

Memories I Won’t Soon Forget, and Thank Yous Thank Yous Thank Yous:

1.             On the bike, alone (so I thought) in the middle of beautiful-horse-country-Kentucky-bluegrass nowhere, I heard a woman say “Pardon Me!” from behind me. This took me COMPLETELY by surprise, so I said “Um, may I help you?” She chuckled and said, “Actually, I just belched so loud, I thought you had heard me, so I excused myself.” I laughed and said, “I thought we were in the middle of one of those old Grey Poupon ads!” When she cycled past me, she held out her palm to my Bento Box and said, “Pardon me, Madam, but may I borrow your Grey Poupon?” I laughed, saying, “STOP IT my bike handling skills are so bad we’re both liable to crash here in the middle of a level road!” She sped on by, both of us grinning. (You’re only going to get this if you were watching American TV commercials about 15 years ago.)

2.            When I crashed on the turn around, I went down on my elbow (which of course bled like a stuck pig) but reached out immediately to grab my bike out of the way of the other cyclists coming around the hairpin. Four guys with disk wheels and aero helmets stopped and helped me up, dusted me off, made sure I spun my wheel, and checked I was OK. I was very choked up by this concern. (They were probably just incredibly grateful I hadn’t taken them out with my antics, but still!)

I was looking at my medal in bed after my ice bath and...zzzzzzzz. Too funny.

3.            While out on the bike, I kept seeing (and being run into by!) purple butterflies. My grrl Leann had just gotten a tattoo with purple butterflies on it. Each time I saw them, I figured she was sending her love and concern to me.

4.           I finally got to meet my “Tennessee Teammate” Missy – she recognized me right in the middle of the street on Friday. As she was walking towards me, I thought, “I know that girl. Who is it?” And as soon as she spoke, I knew. It was so fantastic to be with her and her friends and energy. Love ya, Missy!

5.            Mr Speedbump: A participant on the run wouldn’t let people “touch him” to help him (and potentially get DQ’d), so he was lying perpendicular to the run course, and the EMTs were packing him in ice. Scary.

6.            Hearing the word “Carnage” about once every 30 seconds, when athletes were talking about their experiences on that day and the next.

7.            The guy who blew a tube about a mile from the end of the bike pulling off his shoes to obviously just run the bike in.

8.            A guy driving past in his truck with his wife on Monday when we were heading to the Athlete Lunch, who yelled “SAN FRANCISCO!” out of the window, to which I whooped, “PUKIN’ STEVE!” (and watched his wife’s head rock back with laughter). I was so grateful we were actually able to catch up and exchange info. His wife took me aside and said that I’d saved his life. I

my Day After breakfast - carbs, anyone?

told her HE had saved MY life too – since he was the one who could do the math to get us home in time!

9.            L.A. Team Coach Paul putting his face right into my face on the last corner before the “run in” on the marathon, and screaming “RUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!” The memory still makes me laugh.

10.            Mark, Efron, Carlos 2, Dr. Chris & his wife, Jennifer (?I think?), Paula, Heather, Kristin, Louis, and all the others who literally crossed over on the run course to give me hugs or High 5 me or make SURE I saw them when they shouted GO TEAM at me…as they were coming in on the finish and I was going out on my last 13.1 miles.

11.          All the planning with my Teammate Maria. Packing our bags, getting manic, herding cats. It was the best. And a special thank you to Maria, Leann, and the Afans for taking all the photographs. Can’t believe I forgot my camera.

12.          To all the “service providers” who kept me going, especially after the bike crash 2 weeks out – Kristina Lentz, Dr. K, Dr. Merritt, and in particular April Blake. If you haven’t tried Indigo biofeedback, you really must. I am fairly certain it’s what kept my attitude from tanking all day long.

13.           My personal IronMinions, Maria, Helen, and especially Leann, Francine, and Dad. You guys were the BEST. Also to Athlete Maria’s IronFamily, Albert, Susan, and Albie (al-BIE!!) who did everything we asked of them and more. Especially to Albie, who ran up and down and up and down that doggone run course trying to be sure that we were all OK.

14.          To my 76-year-old dad, who had planned to “run me in” at the very last 1/10^th of a mile before the finisher’s chute, and panicked me that they would DQ me for having a “pacer.” I think that he left skid marks on the street when he rocked back on his heels to stop running with me. My horror turned into peals of laughter at the ludicrousness (ludicrosity?) of the whole scene about 2 minutes later – AFTER I had crossed the finish line.

15.          Another special shout-out to Dad and Leann: In particular, I explained to Leann I HAD TO finish my Recovery/Repair drink in the first 20 minutes after finishing, and she quietly handed it to me, pushed my hand to my mouth, handed it BACK to me, and the like until I was done. Nothing like feeding a 3 year old, naw. And to Dad patiently going back and forth from our hotel room with the waste basket to the ice machine to fill it with ice, and bring it back to Leann who first lowered me into the tub, then dumped the ice in on me for the ice bath, back and forth, back and forth. (The next day, I was a little sore, but not bad: Other athletes were walking around hunched over, unable to put their heels on the ground due to cramped calves, etc.) And Dad and Leann getting Teammate Paula’s and my bike and gear bags before midnight, so that they could get to TriBike Transport on time (while I was still out on the course, and Paula was getting an IV in the Med Tent!)

16.          To my amazing coaches, donors, honorees and friends, especially those who gathered on Facebook. I drew on you all when times were Grim. One of the best things ever was reading all the Facebook posts the next day – especially friends from all over the world trying to help others, when the ironman.com athlete tracker went down, etc. LOVE YOU. To Becca’s sister-in-law Laura, who came out to the Marathon course to cheer me on – and introduce herself! You are so brave to have given me a hug in my nasty sweaty condition when you saw me at Mile 16! To Will: No Regrets. To Patricia: At about Mile 90, there was a gorgeous scene of horses, foals, big house, bluegrass…all sort of odd-looking through the cooking waves shimmering off the black tarmac. I actually shouted “Look! Patricia!” just to make myself feel better and remember that this was, in fact, beautiful and, even more importantly, my own Choice. To The Bateman Family, who sponsored the last few dark, quiet, awful miles of the run a couple days before the race – my lord, I was calling on you out there! And to the SOC Marketing Team for designing and printing the posters that my Grandboys Caleb and Cody designed!

Sgt Maj Dale Hatten

17.          And especially, to Angels: Sgt Maj Dale Hatten who surprised me in my head about 6 miles from the end of the godforsaken marathon. This is a man that did a ton of tours in ‘Nam and “got his men home” – he absolutely got me home. Thanks, Dad-2. To my Angel Manta, who I had “spread its wings” under me after getting bashed, and who remarkably kept me completely clear of any more bashes for the rest of the swim. And to K’s Uncle Chris, a Sports Illustrated-featured cross country runner when he died of leukemia, for appearing at mile 12 and stretching my legs a bit more so I made the cutoff at 13.1.

18.         To the Sponges. And the nascent cocktail, the Carnage. Stop laughing, Paula/Maria. And to the mental picture of Teammate Jessica and the “ice” – Jessica asked a volunteer to scoop some ice out of one of the aid table barrels into her jogbra. Somewhere down the line after the ice had melted, she realized that she was a bit more “stacked” than usual…and started pulling the clear plastic bottle cap tops out of her jogbra that had been in the ice! Just too funny a visual.

19.        Joke we realized leaving for S.F. on Tuesday: How do you know the Ironman athletes at the Airport? They’re the ones that slip off their shoes for Security, and then can’t bend over to reach and put them on the scanner…(See this link from Coach Simon for fun.)

20.          To the Newfoundland band Great Big Sea. Though I had a whole inspirational “Music Playlist” on my ipod I had “memorized” for the day, Great Big Sea just horned in and stayed with me the whole way instead. (And thanks to Kelownagurl for introducing them to me in her podcast, months and months ago.) In case you’re curious, my songs were:

Swim: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.

Bike: The Night Pat Murphy Died, When I Am King (here is a concert video, not so great sound though), Ordinary Day (all by Great Big Sea)

Run: Lukey, End Of The World (both by Great Big Sea) If you listen to any of these, do the last one – it’s beyond fun. They are all links to concert videos. I’m going to see the band in a month or so. Come along! (smile)

(Some other great Great Big Sea here – Mary Mac, Consequence Free, Excursion Around The Bay (hilarious)

20.         To my husband, H, for putting up with me for the past 10 months doing this, and unselfishly spending time out on the bike with me on all those long rides. You are the best husband EVER!

21.          To you, for reading this far. You’re nuts! Go back to work! (smile). OK, if you’d like a couple of things to watch, here are some amateur videos. Here is the Swim Start - I’m at 45 seconds, Teammate Maria is in the turquoise swim top at 44.  In this one, you can see me at 2:31.  This one is a bit better -  I’m at 4:07. And this one, taken by the wonderful Louis from L.A. Team, is me in the Finisher’s pen (you can hear my name at 1:34 and then I go right past Louis without seeing him – !!). And if you want something wonderful that says what I feel, watch this.

MY STATS:
2.4 Mile Swim: 1:39:53 (about 10 minutes longer than I had hoped)

Transition 1: about 12 minutes (about what I planned)

Bike Total: 8:30 (longer than anticipated, but not bad). Splits: (1) 15.41 mph (2) 13.70 mph (3) 12.81 mph (4) 12.34 mph.

Transition 2: 25 minutes. Ugh.

Run Total: 6:12:56 – not bad, considering! Splits: (1) 13.53/mile (2) 14.27/mile (3) 13.32/mile (4) 14.11/mile (5) 14.31/mile (6) 15.02/mile (running out of gas…) (6) 13.14/mile (charging for the finish!)

Some consider the marathon the ultimate endurance event.
We consider it a cool down. (Anonymous)

Our first ironteam photo on November 7th. Lots fewer now!

IronMel’s blog about the Brick starts with the old Commodores song, ‘She’s a BRICK….HOUSE…She’s Mighty Mighty….Jus’ Lettin’ It ALL Hang Out…’ – I can’t get that out of my mind now, so I have just downloaded it from iTunes and added it to my “Soundtrack” tape for the Ironman.

A “brick” is a combination of two sports right in a row (usually, Bike and Run, hence the joke that B-R-Ick = B(ike) R(un) Ick!) Today it was a double brick for us IMC and IML’ers (so bike/run/bike run) – for Vineman, which is a month sooner, it was a Triple.

But back to songs. Iron Maria found the greatest blog. She shared it with me – it’s a gal who did IM Brazil. One of the things this gal mentioned was having 5 “go to” songs for when things got tough during the race. Maria and I have been bandying about what songs we are going to include – we both have Journey’s “Any Way You Like It” and ZZ Top’s “La Grange” – I have a very quirky list in fact which I will winnow down as the event approaches – but this Commodores song is on it as of now. I also ordered the Eagles Greatest Hits Vol. 1 from half.com for 50 cents which just arrived today – nothing like songs from high school (Take It To The Limit; Desperado) to get me howling away tunelessly as I bike along…

I picked up Mel at her house at 6:30 a.m. and off we went to Yountville – though I had had to return home not once but TWICE for things I had forgotten for the workout. The next day I received my checklist from my trusty elance.com Virtual Assistant Fiona from Connemara, Ireland – so I will not be stuck again! I sent Fiona all the checklists I had found, had, been given, etc. with respect to equipment/strategies/etc. for doing an Ironman, and she prioritized everything and put it into one “uberlist” for a shockingly low cost. Fiona Is A Goddess. It’s fantastic. If you want it, email me – I’m not putting this out for every Tom, Dick and Harriet. Besides, then I know that you’re reading my blog…

team bike to run transition in Yountville Park

Mel had been sick, which sucked. I had the unenviable task of telling her that it was going to be in the 90s to possibly 100 degrees in Yountville – she hadn’t watched the news all week, and so that was a shockeroo. I was trying out my new Personal Iron Mix from Infinit Nutrition. (DO NOT ORDER YET if you are  thinking about it – I’m trying to get an Affiliate deal so that I can get anyone who orders it a discount.) There are “sliders” on the Infinit Nutrition website where you can customize your own energy “brew” – and a “real person” will go over it with you as well. Since it’s supposed to replace ALL your needs (salt tabs, carbs, etc.), it is WAY cheaper than the alternatives. Also, if the mix is “wrong” they will re-make it for you after you report what didn’t work for you. I have tried the new Ironman drink that they are now using on Ironman-sanctioned courses – it’s from PowerBar – and it DOES NOT work for me. Probably because of the Fructose. I was super bummed they moved from the new Gatorade formulation, which has neither fructose nor HFCS. Ah well.

We got to Yountville, set up our transition areas, and with a “GO” from Coach Dave (who was on crutches and Vicodin from knee surgery that week – big smile on his face…good drugs!) we were off. We went through the Town of Yountville, and I started feeling very “wary” – these are fairly narrow streets and I KNEW that the cars were probably 90% tourists…who would “door” you without even thinking about it. I wound up riding just about in the middle of the road, as did many of my Teammates.

We went under the Highway and then down a few streets, ultimately winding up on Dry Creek Road. Just past the highway underpass, I realized I had “mis-dressed” myself – something was whacky between Camelbak/jersey/sports bra. I pulled over (I was midpack), and the thing I SO LOVE about IronTeam is that I spent the next few minutes just saying “I’m Good! I’m Good! I’m Good!” because everyone slowed down and wanted to be sure I was OK. LOVE my teammates!

very first bike workout with the team in November '09

Once I had gotten myself “sorted” I was way-hay-hay at the back of the pack. I started out in this position at the beginning of our Adventure in Iron, back in November. As Marvelous Mentor Margaret always reminds me with a smile, I was the gal with a 25 year old steel frame bike with downtube shifters and pedal baskets, plastic Bell helmet of the same vintage, and my cotton sweats tucked into my white tube socks (and sneakers, not bike shoes) when we started. I’ve come a long way, bay-bee… 

I slowly caught up to the pack, then just kept my speed and picked off folks. My goal was really just to keep to an 80-90 cadence and keep my heart rate in the middle of my Zone (155). I was sipping the Infinit, and a little scared as to “when” I would bonk just using it and no Thermalytes, GU, what-have-you. The day definitely started heating up as we headed out hilly Dry Creek Road.

I wound up riding with Marina a good part of this time. We made a pretty good cadence team. I did my “Look Patricia”s on her – including a wonderful patch of pink flowers in the sunbeams between some oak trees, and two huge metal dinosaur sculptures that were up a driveway on the route! We made it to 13 miles in an hour, and turned around. (The deal was 15 miles, or 2 hours, whichever came first.) We headed back, and caught up to Coach Les and tailed him on the way home. He turned left MILES before we thought we were to turn off Dry Creek – good thing we found him, Marina and I might have blithely ridden back to Marin!

running with Marina (I'm the purple one)

We changed from our jerseys, bike shoes, etc., loaded up with energy drink for the run, and headed out together. Coach Sedonia pointed out that I had my shirt on backwards – as I wear a fuel belt, that meant taking everything off and re-dressing myself. What WAS it with me and clothing…? This bit was to run for an hour or 5 miles, whichever came first.

Man, the day was really heating up by this point. Marina ran at my “slow run/trot” pace (I think it’s about 12 minutes/mile), and I kept saying “don’t forget I am only doing TWO of these, you have to do THREE.” I really liked having the company, but I didn’t want her to exhaust herself when I was running and biking with the knowledge that I only had to do TWO sets (Vineman folks had to do a Triple, Louisville a Double, because their race is a month before ours).

too hot to moo

We ran out for 1/2 hour – after commenting on the lovely herd of cows with One Big Bull on the side of the road (with crazy horns) – and met up with Maria, then turned around. We were shy of the 2.5 mile mark; Rocky pointed it out to us, but it was way farther along, so we turned. We also realized that we were both a little spastic in the “run and drink” department, so started to walk when we would reach bits of shade, to be sure that we drank our whole bottles down. I had mixed up an hour bottle for the run, and when we got back, remixed another Camelbak full for the 2nd bike. Mrs. Yoshida was honestly an Angel, fluttering around with ice cold washcloths, filling up our bottles with ice water, and the like. We are all so in love with the Yoshs!

Marina and I headed back out through Yountville, both of us being even more careful this time around, as there were lots and LOTS of tourists out and about. We did have one odd “you first, no YOU first” with a truck – but that was it. No dooring, no cars pulling out without looking, etc.

We got through the streets that ultimately got us to Dry Creek Road,and caught up with Kathryn, Maria and a few others. Marina said that Kathryn was one of her biking buddies, and so she hung back to chat. I knew this was my last round, so I wanted to see how well I could do. The Infinit was working like a charm – I had had a “potty break” when coming in from the run, but nothing bad, and I felt very hydrated and happy. I caught up to Les and Jen then, and wound up going past them as well. I had a good cadence going, and I had one of my “Soundtrack Songs” going in my head (I Can Transform Ya). I felt great.

OK, I felt great until I hit the Pothole From Hell, which was right in the middle of some dappled shade. If you’re a cyclist, you know that dappled shade is NOT your friend. The road was either very well paved or it was awful (as in, the sort of awful just before they grade a road), so this pothole came as a complete surprise. Angeline hit it so hard that it knocked my teeth together (I bit my tongue so hard it bled), and my shoulders were rocked back into their sockets. I honestly thought I had just thrashed my bike (and shoulders) and that there was NO WAY she was going to come out of it fine. That bike takes GOOD care of me – because when I pulled over and stretched my shoulders, looked over the wheels, etc. – everything was fine. OK except my tongue. Yowch.

Team Photo in the Park

This time, I made it to mile 14 just a bit before the hour turn-around time. There was a downhill that came next going towards mile 15, so I decided to turn a bit before the hour mark because otherwise I would be turning around in the middle of that hill. I had passed Rocky with a flat (being helped by Sedonia and Mary), and he wound up passing me right at the point I was stopping. With the usual wonderful IronTeam way, he slowed down (he was booking, obviously trying to reach 15 and make up for lost time) and I just shouted “I’m Good!” and he laughed and sped on by.

Marina caught up with me somewhere along Dry Creek (I think she said she turned around at mile 13), and so we rode together again for a while. Coach Sedonia rode with us as well, and that was a lot of fun. She had a great cadence and I was kind of laughing to myself, as we were keeping the same cadence, but the bar of her bike was like a foot closer to the ground than me! (Well, that’s an exaggeration, but suffice it to say that I am about a foot taller than Coach Yosh.) Last time we were together we were singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (Weem-O-Way) at the top of our lungs at Clear Lake while I was getting loopy at the end of the 16 mile run.

Marina and I changed again into run clothes, and I made the mistake of picking up my recovery drink bottle instead of my Infinit bottle. And it was warm. UGH!!!! We headed out, and it was really scorching on the pavement by this time. We ran from tree to tree, shade to shade – and Marina put up with me gagging down the not-energy drink and complaining with every swallow. She looked tired and I kept saying she should slow down because I knew she had the triple (though I really didn’t want her to leave me!) We got to 15 minutes out and I thought we should be more systematic with our walk breaks, so we started doing a 4:1 (4 minute “trot” then 1 minute walk). We did that for the rest of the first 30 minutes, and made it farther along the road that we had gotten before. Then we turned around, and came on back.

After getting more water (and Red Vines!) at Coach Simon’s SAG table, we caught up to Maria. We all ran together for a while, though she was running on a timer on her Garmin and her pace was faster than ours. Then Coach Sedonia came out – first running with Maria and picking up her pace, then running with me for a bit, then running with Marina. When she left me, I kept to the 4:1 until we were close to the turn to head back to the Park. I saw that Maria was on the walk break of her 4:1, and so I summoned up the energy to get up to her, which rallied her. :-) It was actually fun, because she had said she was having some issues (can’t remember what – nausea? headache?) and she didn’t look so great when she stopped for that walk break (hands on hips, head down). I wanted to be sure we both came in strong, since we are both doing Louisville so we were both coming in on our final “bit” for the day (“only” 2x brick not 3x like the Vineman folks). She rocked that run in!

Marina was a ways behind and she looked beat. She ultimately did get out and do the final bike – not sure how far she went – but she Ironed up and gutted it out. Mel had been having troubles as well, and Mentor Margaret rode out with her on her final bike ride. She was having the issues I have been having – super HOT feet on the bike. Margaret mentioned I should try wearing H’s shoes (which are a size larger) – so I am going to see if I can remember to try that on the next bike ride. IronPhil, Rocky, BK, some others had issues – it was a “humbling” experience, if that’s the right word – all these super duper athletes puking and the like. It was a hard and HOT workout, that’s for sure. I mentioned Infinit to BK who was having serious cramping issues. I am not saying it’s for everyone, but it sure worked for ME.

Unfortunately I had to cut out because we were having our Neighborhood Picnic that night – and where they set up the tables is right in the court under our driveway! So I was sad that we weren’t able to stay for the Spirit Cape presentation. As usual, something happened in the car that made me start laughing so hard I nearly had a wreck – Mel calls it our “Homeward Bound Ab Workout” - it made me laugh and laugh and laugh the rest of the day and into the next. I remember what it was about, but I will just keep that a secret.

Today is Tuesday – Monday was a rest day, and today was a 3500-ish swim and then a 90 minute Spin. I did them back to back at the JCC after subbing at the McInnes Park BNI at 7:00 a.m. I got home at like ONE! I have to admit, it will be NICE to have my life back after the race…at least until I decide to do some other darn’ fool thing. :-)

Songs on my current Soundtrack (not in order, and  subject to revision and addition):

Any Way You Want It
I Can Transform Ya
Summer Nights
We Belong to the Music
Mercury Blues (David Lindley)
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing
Express Yourself (Glee cast)
Ice Ice Baby (Glee cast)
Relax
The Lion Sleeps Tonight/Wimoweh
Solsbury Hill (live)
I Gotta Feeling
Beautiful Day
Down
It’s Raining Men (live)
Love The Ride
The Stroke
Lady Marmalade (Moulin Rouge version)
Spirit In The Sky
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Little Willy
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Baby I’m A Star
Bad Romance (Glee cast)
Just Dance
Hollywood Nights
Fever (L.E.X. Bette Midler’s On Fire Radio Mix)
Heads Carolina, Tails California
Brick House!

Yesterday was a Swim ladder, and a Brick spin/run. I had a bunch of “clean up email” stuff to do, and “suddenly” it was 3:00 – time to get the whole thing in! So I strapped on my heart rate monitor, and hit the garage…oh I mean “workout studio.” Here is the bike workout. The greatest thing for me was having done that Lactate Threshold test – because as I’m doing these repeats, I can watch my heart rate climb (or fall) and I gear up or down accordingly. It’s such a different workout that way than just “slogging through it” without really knowing what to do. I definitely wasn’t working hard enough before – there is a huge puddle under my bike now after I finish, and my “transition” includes completely changing out of my clothes, which look like I have “cycled through” a rainstorm!

TR-6 PROGRESSIVE SPEED (90 Minutes) + 20′ brick run @ tempo pace immediately following bike.
WU 15′ in the Middle/Middle (MM) chainrings. ‘ = minutes, ” = seconds
5 x (3′ MM@85RPM/90″ MM@75RPM),
5 x(2′ MM @90RPM/1′ @80RPM),
5 x(90″ MM@90RPM/45″ MM@80RPM),
5 x(1′ MM @95RPM/30″ MM @85RPM),
5 x(30″MM @100RPM/15″MM @95RPM)  
use hardest gear you can to maintain RPM and Aerobic HR Zone
CD 15′ MM; off bike, run 20 minutes.

I covered just over 27 miles doing the bike (per my bike computer) – the thing that was really instructive to watch was how my MPH shifted as I shifted through the gears (especially when I went to an easier gear, to get my heart rate down). I know, it seems “obvious” to do this – but I never really had before. I am reading a book by Cherie Gruenefeld, an Ironman athlete, and her chapter on “Focus” talks a lot about paying attention to such things. When I was in my warmdown and at about 26 miles, I practiced moving into harder gears and different cadence, just to see how it affected the miles I was covering. Very instructive.

I haven’t listed my Playlist for a while, so I thought I would do so here.

PLAYLIST for Bike/Spin and Run:
‘Till I Collapse, Eminem & Nate Dogg
When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Great Big Sea
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher
Suddenly I See, KT Tunstall
Heads Carolina, Tails California, Jo Dee Messina
Summer Nights, Rascal Flatts
Jump In The Line, Harry Belafonte
Oh Oh Oh Sexy Vampire (JUSTiNB’s Video Edit), Fright Ranger
Environmental Product, Brisk & Vagabond (3x – this is only a bit under 2 minutes long and I LOVE IT. Anyone know where to get a longer play version of this??)
Untouched, The Veronicas
Little Bitty Pretty One (Live), The Doobie Brothers
Spotlight, MuteMath
Sex Bomb, Tom Jones
Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne
18 Wheeler, P!nk
Shambala, Three Dog Night
Iko-Iko, Zap Mama
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Land of 1000 Dances, Wilson Pickett
Marrakesh Express, Crosby, Stills & Nash
Hollywood Nights
La Grange, ZZ Top
Express Yourself, Glee Cast
I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho), Pitbull
This Is How A Heart Breaks, Rob Thomas
Daniella, John Butler Trio
Mony Mony, Billy Idol
Supermassive Black Hole, Muse
Fuego, Pitbull
Sex On Fire, Kings of Leon
U Can’t Touch This, MC Hammer

Yeah yeah, eclectic, I know! Came back from the Run (actually a bit over 20 minutes – it’s hard to gauge with my crazy hilly terrain around my house), grabbed my swim bag, and off to the pool! I swigged a Recovery drink in the car (are you still in “recovery” if you are recovering from one workout and moving on to another? I figured I was, since it takes a bit to get to the pool).

Swim Ladder Workout:

WU 300 EZ
3×50 25 kick on back/25 free 10″
3×50 25 Catch Up (CU)/25 free 10″
3×50 25 scull/25 free 10″
25 3SW 10″
50 Breathing every 3 10″
75 SAR 15″
100 Build L4-L7 by 25 15″
125 Steady L5 15″
150 Build L4-L6 by 50 20″
175 Steady L5 15″
200 Build L4-L7 by 50 20″
175 Steady L5 15″
150 Build L4-L6 by 50 20″
125 Steady L5 15″
100 Build L4-L7 by 25 15″
75 SAR 15″
50 Breathing every 3 10″
25 3SW 10″
CD 100 EZ
Total Yardage: 2450

Today, it’s another Brick:

TR-2 PEDALING (50 Minutes) + 20′ brick run @ tempo pace after bike.
Warm-up 10 minutes in middle-middle chainrings.
Repeat the following drill sets TWICE.
Stay in big ring up front the entire workout, Shift to 3rd from largest ring in back.
Alternate removing one foot from the pedals for 30 seconds at a time @ 50-60 RPM’s,
returning to two footed pedaling for one minute @ 80 rpm between single leg efforts.
Repeat 4 times per leg.(12 minutes total).
Shift to 4th from smallest gear in back.
Pedal at 85 rpm.
Focus all mental energy on the 1:00 to 3:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.
Focus all mental energy on the 4:00 to 6:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.
Focus all mental energy on the 6:00 to 9:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.
Focus all mental energy on the 9:00 to 12:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.  
(run immediately after, no cool down)

I’m slamming this blog down but then heading out the door to a biz meeting (ahem – with my bike gear underneath…) so that I can have the meeting, go do the workout (at the gym – spinning on their bikes is not as good as mine, but sometimes you “gotta do what you gotta do”), then to another 3 meetings in a row, then back home. I guess this is the life of an Ironman Athlete, eh?

Feeling pretty strong, especially after gutting out the workout yesterday. I am Grrrrrrateful to be helping lick cancer and FINALLY getting my booty in gear to get back in shape. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! That’s me – with a Tiger in my Tank!

IronQuote of the day, courtesy of Maria M-Dot:

Thinking vs. Focusing

Thinking is judgmental and critical.  If you make a mistake or perform poorly when you’re in a thinking mode, it may hurt your confidence and cause you to feel badly about yourself as a triathlete.  Thinking actually interferes with your ability to focus in a way that will hurt your performance and may cause it to deteriorate.  If you’re thinking, you’re likely to react with strong emotions because these obstacles are blocking your path to your goals.

Focusing simply involves attending to internal or external cues.  This process is objective and detached from judgment or evaluation.  If you make a mistake on something you were focusing on, you’re able to accept it and not be overly disappointed by failure.  In a focusing mode, you’re able to use the failure as information to correct the problem and perform better in the future. -Jim Taylor & Terri Schneider, “The Triathlete’s Guide to Mental Training”

The swim was pretty fun – I really like that pool. It’s frustrating because I still take SO many strokes to get across the pool, though I feel confident. I know it’s because I don’t kick. It was COLD getting in the pool – I had to share the lane a couple of times, but most of the time I had the lane to myself. It does warm up once you get swimming, but they had rock salt on the pool deck, because it was in the high 30s – brrrr! (for here – I know, I’m a weather wuss.)

Did the Run on the treadmill, because no way I was going to head out with wet hair on the road. I did the 10 minute warmup, and then reset the treadmill (because it only lets you go 30 minutes at a pop) for the run. I did what Stu Mittleman said, and made sure the “elevation” was at 2.0, and then ran consistently at 5.0  (5 miles per hour) which felt FAST – I wanted to quit a bunch of times. This means that I only covered 2.5 miles at the end of the 1/2 hour. I always feel like a big loser when I stop, because all the training schedules say that this “should be” 4 miles. I’m always at like 1/2 of what the schedule says I ‘should’ be doing. I worked a lot at trying to roll on the “outside” of my foot, because every time I see a picture of myself I am “winging” my foot (using that term as you would for a horse). I don’t run with my foot going straight back. It looks bizarre on photographs – but I know that I’ve been doing this for a while because I have a photo from the Big Sur Marathon and I think another from the S.F. Marathon both back in 2001-2002, where I am doing the exact same thing.

Playlist:
Here It Goes Again, OK-Go
Material Girl, Madonna
Buttons, Pussycat Dolls/Snoop Dog
Fanfare for the Common Man, London Symphony Orchestra
Keep The Car Running, Arcade Fire
I Don’t Care, Fall Out Boy
This Ain’t a Scene it’s an Arms Race, Fall Out Boy
Vaya Mi Gente, Juzt 2 Brothers
I Want You To Want Me, Cheap Trick
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Elton John
In These Shoes?, Kirsty McColl
Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting, Elton John
Cold Hearted Snake, Paula Abdul
Single Ladies, Beyonce
Check On It, Destiny’s Child
Paper and Fire, John Cougar Mellencamp
Valerie
She’s Ugly From The Front, Lyle Lovett
My Give A Damn’s Busted, Jo Dee Messina
Hung Up, Madonna
Don’t Say You Love Me, Natalie Imbruglia
Brass In Pocket, Pretenders
Don’t Say You Love Me, Pretenders

Today is a Bike Trainer set and then a Run. I just realized it’s 2:00 right now, H is out getting me “lunch” (which I should wait for) but I’m supposed to be somewhere at 4:00 and I have to work out. Crapola. I guess I’d better get going, and leave him a note to say that I’m sorry, can’t eat what he went out to get me. I also have to make dinner for him to put in. Dang. I’m really late. Was going to put in the bike and run set and the playlist, but no time – mebbe lateah!

Last night I received a CD of Toonz from my BFF Melissa Horwitz (a/k/a Snipah). I’m SO excited! MAH is an inveterate Rolling Stones fan – I heard a Stones song on the radio a while back, and realized that it would be fun to have some Stones in my Playlist. So I wrote MAH on Facebook, asking if she would be up to the task; I received my early Channukah/Xmas/Kwanzaa prezzie today! Here is the Playlist, which I will be “breaking in” on my Swim Marker Set in just a little bit!

This One Thing, Amerie
Ain’t No Other Man, Christina Aguilera
Add It Up, Violent Femmes
That’s NOT My Name!, Ting-Tings
Rock This Town, Stray Cats
Shattered, Rolling Stones
Under My Thumb, Rolling Stones
19th Nervous Breakdown, Rolling Stones
Start Me Up, Rolling Stones
Little T&A, Rolling Stones
Neighbors, Rolling Stones
Sympathy For The Devil, Rolling Stones
Baby I’m A Star, Prince (the only song on the whole playlist that I have!)
King Without A Crown, Matisyahu
Gold Digger, Kanye West & Jamie Foxx
You Make My Dreams Come True, Hall & Oates (classic – haven’t heard this in forever!)
London Bridge, Fergie
Modern Love, Bowie (wow, I think that this was on one of my playlist sets – on the big yellow “waterproof” Walkman that you put a cassette tape into! – back when I was training for my last triathlon!)
Diva, Beyonce/Sasha Fierce

Thanks MAH you ROCK! I’m so excited!

POSTSCRIPT: I did my 800 in 17:56. Not sure if that’s good or bad – going to figure out how much that would mean I would do the 2.4 miles in! Watch me do Math….

1760 yards in a mile. 2.4 miles in the Ironman. So 4224 yards in the Ironman (1760 times 2.4). You get chipped (from the last athlete in the water) at 2 hours and 20 minutes (or 140 minutes total time, longest, expected for the Swim).  I THINK THAT MEANS 800 times 140 divided by 4224 is the amount of time you have to do the 800 in to not be chipped – which is 26.52 minutes. Does that make sense? Yeah…probably so. So if I were to keep up the pace of about 18 minutes (which is what I did the 800 in) for the whole 2.4 miles, that would mean I would finish the Swim portion in 95 minutes or an hour and 35 minutes…? Anyone out there able to check my Math?

H actually wants to map out the “cut off” (or “chip”) times for the Louisville Ironman, so that I really KNOW how much time I have, and what “pace” I need to meet, to get it done before the 17 hour cutoff. I think he said that on the bike, I have to be at 12.4 MPH “on average” to make it, but I’m not totally sure.

After the run today, jumped in the car and headed off to Pole Dancing class. I was wiped – at one point we were supposed to do pushups and I just sort of rolled around. It’s dark, but Deb saw me. “How’s it going over there, Sandy – how’s the training?” I just laughed. And kept rolling around. The best part of the day, though, was when my fellow pole grrl (and fellow “class matron”) Susan told me that my butt was looking GOOD. I’m so tired of having a gut in front – which in my whole life I’ve never had – it’s nice to hear that SOMETHING is “getting affected”!

Today’s Run Playlist (I actually did my Pole Dance to Prince/Let’s Get Crazy – made me laugh):
Let’s Get Crazy, Prince
Controversy, Prince
Delirious, Prince
I Would Die For You, Prince
She’s Got The Look, Prince
4 Minutes (feat Justin Timberlake and Timbaland), Madonna
Down (feat. Lil Wayne), Jay Sean - this was a new one I downloaded, as it’s being used for the “Pink Glove” campaign for Breast Cancer. Like it!
Spill The Wine, War – this is a seriously odd song. (smile)
Sing, Sing, Sing, Benny Goodman & his Orchestra – yeah, call me eclectic
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh), The Tokens – call me REALLY eclectic!

In all the years that I was training for triathlons (a billion years ago when Dinosaurs roamed the Earth), I NEVER really trained for the bike part. And it was always my undoing.

I didn’t really “know how” to train for the Bike. I also didn’t know how to train for the Swim or for the Run, but I got books on that, and just followed them. But “Everyone knows how to bike,” right? How hard can it be??

The Bike reminds me of my first day in law school, in Professor Christensen’s Contracts class. He said, “This is going to be the hardest class you have this year – maybe in all of Law School. And none of you is going to believe me. You have ALL signed Contracts. You all THINK you know what it’s all about. Well, I’m here to show you that you don’t, and you should be scared.”

It was DEFINITELY the hardest class in Law School. And – my favorite. There’s a LOT to it – way more, in some ways, than being a litigator. In litigation, you have to be a good actor, and be quick on your feet. In Contracts, you have to know what is there, and what is NOT there, and have the “staying power” to just keep reading even though you’re on page 50 of a 250 page contract!

That’s what the Bike training feels to me, a bit. I am learning a LOT, and realizing HOW lucky I’ve been in triathlon. I never, ever, EVER worked this hard on the Bike. It never scared me (okay, except for the “Getting a flat tire” part). Now, it scares me. But in a sort of “I’m loving to hate this” kind of way.

The Trainer workout today was Hill Climbs. I did it before lunch, because we’re heading out to the Mega-Champagne Tasting this evening. (Yes! Yes! Yes!) It involved 10 minutes warming up, then 6 x (5 mins at your hardest/highest + 2 mins recovery/easiest). Then warmdown, for a total of an hour. There is DEFINITELY no way in God’s Green Earth I would be working so hard if I didn’t have to log the doggone workout for the coaches. And, since I suck so bad, I also have to do everything prescribed – I’m not like these hardbodies on our team who can likely sandbag 1/2 of this stuff and still wind up doing OK. Nope – my Hope rides on doing what I’m Told!

Playlist & Comments:
Check Yes Juliet, We The Kings
SexyBack, Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland
China Grove, The Doobie Brothers
The New Workout Plan, Kanye West
Little Willy, Sweet – this was great for climbing
Free Ride, Edgar Winter - man, I’m such a goofball. I was playing air drums on this one (as much as I could, with huffing and puffing and all)
Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Mark Lanegan – took this actually off the playlist and put it on “WarmUp/WarmDown” – I LOVE this song but just too slow for a workout.
Your Mama Don’t Dance, Loggins & Messina
Ooh La, The Kooks
Don’t Stop The Music, Rihanna
Frankenstein, Edgar Winter - again, goofball me playing air guitar and singing to the beginning of it (Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-DAAA)
I’m Alright (Theme From Caddyshack), Kenny Loggins
Dancing In The Moonlight, King Harvest - this is going to be me, at Ironman, running in under the Moon and Stars! I laughed at this. Fun song.
We’re An American Band, Grand Funk Railroad - another great “all American” song to me.
Love Train, The O’Jays - I thought this would be too slow, but actually it wound up being good for climbing.
Hiphip Chinchin, Club des Belugas
You’re So Vain, Carly Simon - way too slow – took this off the list and skipped it. Sorry Carly!
I Love Rock N’ Roll, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
It’s Raining Men (Live), Weather Girls – this song came on and I knew I was on my last “climb” so I told myself I had to go as fast as I could, until the song ended. WOAH at the end, the gremlins were climbing down my back, pounding on my brain to quit! (“No one is looking, what are you doing? You’re over the time…go by the time not the song…come on…”) I made it, which meant my last hill climb was also nearly 2 minutes longer and harder than the others. Who-hoo! Banish the Gremlins!
Let’s Go Crazy, Prince

When I was about 1/2 way through, H came out heading for lunch. He nearly doubled up laughing, looking at me puffing it out in the garage, dog lying on a big pillow next to me and every now and again taking a little lick of encouragement on my calf. I think he was proud of me though. He did give me a nice bum massage and said he was “helping push” (smile).

After the Swim, I went back into the dressing room and changed into Run clothes. OK, just too hilarious. Because I was still ‘damp/wet’ it took me a good 10 minutes to get my jogbra on. It’s the kind that you just pull on “over your head,” and I would get it down on my shoulders, and then it wouldn’t roll down my back because it was damp, so I was sort of “stuck.” I would take it back off, dry myself off again, do something else (put on shoes, etc.) and then try again…it was pretty comical. I know that other women were just watching me out of the corner of their eyes (“WHY can’t she get into her CLOTHES?”)

Once I was finally DRESSED, I got out to the treadmill. I did 10 minutes warmup jogging at about 3.7 or so (with the treadmill elevated to 2.0 as Stu Mittleman says to do). then it was 7 minutes on, 1 minute walk, for 40 minutes. I did get the run up to 4.7 (which is about 12:30), ONLY with the help of my Playlist! It still frustrates me to know that I’m “so slow.” The VDOT chart that Simon printed out shows that I should be “at least” going this fast. And when I am, my heart is 162 BPM – which is 22 beats higher than my fat burning zone! Argh!

Speaking of Stu, was actually able to make the coaching call today before hitting the gym. Stu is just so great to listen to. Just being ON the call motivates me. I got to catch him up on the “CouchPotatoWoman to IronWoman” quest. I was particularly happy to related my Bike/Run brick the other day, where I just felt so HAPPY to be out exercising. I asked him my question about why I feel like crap for about 30 minutes and then at about 40 minutes or so start to feel better – he postulated that it probably has more to do with what I’m doing “before” I go to the gym. E.g., spending hours in the car or sitting at the computer and then getting up to exercise, the body has to get out of the “funk” of NOT exercising, and “shake off” the sitting/etc. Once the endorphins start circulating, the body gives a little “squirt” of chemical to get out of the pain, but more importantly, it’s finally HAPPY to be doing what it’s built to be doing – moving! I think that makes a whole lot of sense.

Had a HUGE bowl of granola/yogurt/fruit (and a cafe au lait) at a late lunch with a client before heading to the gym. Not good. Definitely did not sit well with me. I’m using The Daily Plate on LiveStrong.com to track Nutrition/Calories/etc. and that was DEFINITELY a bad move, too, calorie-wise! I just did not feel good afterwards. Live and learn! I’m really enjoying The Daily Plate tracking. It is SO EASY and gives you a graph immediately of your protein/fat/fiber/carbs, etc. It’s incredibly detailed – so far all the food I have eaten has been in their database, as well as the exercise.

AND FINALLY, the Playlist for Yesterday! Some comments – I’m still learning what works!
Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne. I played this twice. It was PERFECT tempo for my swim warmup.
Danger Zone (Top Gun Theme), Kenny Loggins
Sexy Back, Rivethead
Kiss, Tony Desare – this was great for strokework. Fun.
Solsbury Hill (Live) – Peter Gabriel. While this didn’t work for the Bike/Run the other day, it worked well for the Swim.
Apologize (feat OneRepublic), Timbaland
SOS, Rihanna
Battle Royal, Count Basie & Duke Ellington
Get The Party Started, P!nk
This Little Light (Live), Mavis Staples – this was a blast to Swim to
Freedom Highway (Live), Mavis Staples
Eyes On The Prize (Live), Mavis Staples - love the words of this, just too slow
I Kissed A Girl, Katy Perry
Beautiful Day, U2
Womanizer, Britney Spears
Breakin’ Dishes, Rihanna
Standing There, The Creatures
Untouched, The Veronicas – I played this THREE times on the Run. PERFECT beat
Little Bitty Pretty One (Live), The Doobie Brothers - ok and then I played THIS one three times over on the Run. Perfect, too. I looked like a total idiot I’m sure. Mouthing the words, wet hair with baseball cap, determined look, snorting like a steam engine, and only going at about 4.7 on the treadmill…
When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls
Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, Johnny Rivers - skipped over – not fast enough
Reelin’ In The Years, Steely Dan – ditto
Girlfriend, Avril Lavigne – this was fun to Run to
Iko-Iko, Zap Mama
Mercury Blues, David Lindley – this is the BEST song. Takes me back to college.

Today is a Stationary Bike drill. Just got an email from Dad that we have Matinee of Berkeley Rep Theatre on Sunday – which is bad, because it’s a bike set where we are supposed to get timed and see how we improve over time. H is also NOT HAPPY that this Saturday is the Art Deco show, plus Tim’s Xmas party, plus a party I want him to go to with my pole dancing peeps – AND I’m supposed to spend all morning through about 1:00 p.m. training, too. Not sure how this is going to work. Going to have to see if Dad can give me the ticket to change the date – that doesn’t make me that happy, and that’s not why we got the tickets – the idea is to SPEND TIME with Mom and Dad once a month. Not happy. OK and as I was typing this, got an email from ~Mom~ reminding me that we’re celebrating Dad’s birthday on Sunday, too…oh boy. I didn’t think that the timing “stuff” would hit like a ton of bricks so FAST!

OK, and just so you don’t think I have TOTALLY been possessed by Aliens, we are going tonight from 5:00 p.m. to ‘who knows when’ to the Champagne Tasting at Hotel Mac. Over 25 champagnes, discounted purchase price for the night, etc. Hey, a Grrrrl can’t get healthy TOO fast now, eh? (smile)

The Playlist for today’s Swim:
Baby I’m a Star, Prince & The Revolution
What I Like About You, The Romantics
Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield – I just love what this song says.
Love Lockdown, Kanye West
Relax, Frankie Goes To Hollywood – great great song for strokes
Jump (feat. Nelly Furtado), Flo Rida
Right Round, Flo Rida
Life (12″ Mix), Haddaway – took me right back to Tony Robbins UPW!
My Sharona, The Knack – moved this down my playlist but it showed up here
Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Mavis Staples
Hot Like Wow, Nadia Oh
Cyclone (feat. T-Pain), Baby Bash – great for strokes, good for “grabbing” water
Real Wild Child (Wild One), Iggy Pop – had moved this down my playlist & here it was!
Major Tom (Live), Jo Hartmann
Major Tom – Chiasm, New Wave Undercover – like this version better than the previous one. Probably because it’s in German and I sing away making up words. H cracks up when he hears how I butcher his language when I sing this one. “Dan hin der up or…” (I just looked, because I was curious – it’s actually “Dan hebt er ab und…”)

OK what the heck, since it’s my blog, I will put the German words, and the English words, to “Major Tom” here because it’s a song I love. And this way I can find out how badly I’m butchering the song when it comes up again in my playlist :-)

GERMAN:
Gründlich durchgecheckt steht Sie da
und wartet auf den Start , Alles klar.
Expirimenten streiten sich um ein paar Daten.
Die Crew hat dann nach ein paar Fragen,
doch der Countdown läuft.

Effektivität bestimt das Hendeln
Mann verläßt sich blind auf den andern
Jeder weiß genau was von ihm abhängt,
jeder is im Streß , Doch Majer Tom
macht einen Scherz
Dan hebt er ab und!

Völlig losgelöst von der Erde
schwebt das raumschiff völlig schwerelos

Die Erdanziehungkraft ist überwunden
Alles lauft perfekt schon seit Stunden
Wissenschaftliche Experimente,
doch was nützen die an Ende denkt sich Major Tom

Im Kontrollzentrum da wird man panisch
Der Kurs der Kapsel der stimt ja gar nicht
Hallo Major Tom können Sie hören,
Woll’n Sie das Projekt den so zerstören,
doch er kann nichts hörn
er schwebt weiter

Völlig losgelöst von der Erde
schwebt das raumschiff völlig schwerelos

Die Erde schimmert blau
Sein letzter Funk komt : Grüßt mir meine Frau
Und er verstummt

Unten trauern noch die Egoisten,
Major Tom denkt sich wenn die wüßten
mich führt hier ein licht durch das All,
das kennt ihr noch nicht , ich komme bald
Mir wird kalt

Vóllig losgelöst von der Erde
schwebt das raumschiff völlig schwerelos.

ENGLISH
Standing there alone
The ship is waiting
All systems are go
“Are you sure?”
Control is not convinced
But the computer
has the evidence
No need to abort
The countdown starts

Waiting in a trance

The crew is certain
Nothing left to chance
All is working
Trying to relax
up in the capsule
“Send me up a drink”
Jokes Major Tom
The Count goes on
4,3,2,1….

chorus:
Earth below us
Drifting, falling
Floating weightless
Calling, calling home

Second stage is cut
We’re now in orbit
stabilizers up
Running perfect
Starting to collect
Requested data
“What will it affect when all is done?”
Thinks Major Tom

Back at ground control
There is a problem
“Go to rockets full”
No responding
“Hello Major Tom are you receiving?
Turn the thrusters on we are standing by”
No reply
4,3,2,1…..

chorus:
Across the stratosphere
A final message:”Give my wife my love”
Then nothing more

Far beneath the ship
The world is mourning
They don’t realize He’s alive
No one understands but Major Tom sees
“Now the lights commands
This is my home
I’m coming home”

chorus:
Earth below us
Drifting, falling
Floating weightless
Calling, calling home

2 lbs wild mushrooms, 1/2 c unsalted butter, 1/3 cup chopped green onions, 6 garlic cloves, peeled, 3T flour, 6 cups chicken stock, 3/4 c heavy cream, 2 tsp tarragon, 1/4 cup Creme Fraiche, 1 egg yolk, 1 T lemon juice, 2 tsp salt, 1 Tb Metaxa.

Saute mushrooms in 1/4c butter for 5 minutes. Add green onions & garlic, saute for another minute, set aside.

Make roux of remaining 1/4 c butter and the flower. Cook for 4 mins over medium heat, whisk constantly, don’t let it brown.

Add chicken stock (you can do veggie stock if you want) to the roux, bring to a boil/stir frequently, then simmer for 5 mins. Add mushroom mix,simmer for 15 mins. Take off heat. Puree, add heavy cream. Add tarragon, salt, Metaxa.

Make liaison: Stir together egg yolk, lemon juice and creme fraiche (made by mixing a cup heavy cream with 1 Tb buttermilk – or as many cups as you want with 1 Tb buttermilk to each, combine over medium heat just to take the chill off, pour into a glass jar, cover lightly and let sit in a warm place at about 70 degrees for 20 hours). Pour soup in heated bowls, Dribble liaison into the soup in a design.

(We made the soup, and the liaison, but will heat the soup back up for dinner at 4:00).

Next, made the salad: Arugula & Roasted Pear Salad w/Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese (serves 6):

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place a baking sheet on the rack, and heat to 500 degrees.

Peel and halve 4 firm Bartlett pears lengthwise. Remove core. Set each half cut-side down and slice lengthwise, into 5ths (4 cuts). Put the slices in a large bowl, and toss with 1 T melted unsalted butter, then add 2 T sugar and toss again. Spread the pears in a single layer on the baking sheet, making sure each lies flat. Roast until browned on the bottom, about 10 minutes. Flip each slice and roast until deep golden brown on the other side, about 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and put on plate to cool.

Take 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toast in a small dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Be SURE to not let the smaller pieces or “dust” get in the pan – go for even pieces. Otherwise the small ones burn and the big ones don’t get toasted. Trust me. We discovered this the hard way.

Make vinaigrette: Whisk together 1.5T extra virgin olive oil, 2 t white wine vinegar, 1/2 t salt, ground pepper.

Combine 2 bunches arugula (stems removed, leaves washed and dried then torn into bite sized pieces) with 4 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler off a big block with the roasted pear slices in a large serving bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss gently to combine. Put in bowls – put walnuts on top.

We have stuffing and an organic, pre-roasted turkey from Whole Foods (yeah, cheaters, cheaters, I know), and mom is bringing spiced onions with almonds, plus some appetizers (cheese/veggies), plus some small French tarts (as in, SMALL) for dessert. Champagne for before – wine with din-din.

After doing the above, I went for a RUN. We were supposed to do 800 repeats – oh, come ON. That means finding a track, or knowing exactly WHERE 1/2 mile is. I just wanted to get out, do it, and come back. So instead, I ran out to Court Street and back (I have done that mileage before, I don’t have it here and don’t want to map it right now, but it’s way less than 5 miles I know that). I decided to run to the tempo of the music I had in the playlist. Some were too slow (noted – I will move those to a lower “position” in my playlist – hey, it’s all a learning!), and some (Sexy Vampire in particular) kicked my boo-TAY! I had fun. Total, including walking Moody up home (which was 7 minutes) was 56 minutes.

PLAYLIST (and comments):

When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Great Big Sea. I know I know I am stuck on this one. It makes me happy
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher (ditto above comment)
Suddenly I See, KT Tunstall. This was my favorite song from 2006 when I last exercised!
Oh Oh Oh Sexy Vampire, Fright Ranger. This kicked my BUTT! The tempo was actually a blast to run to. I just kept my steps small.
I Am The Walrus, Bono & The Secret Machines. Too Slow
With A Little Help From My Friends, Jim Sturgess & Joe Anderson. Too Slow
Spotlight, MuteMath. This was a great one! Thanks Hannah!
She’s Got The (Who-Hoo), Sugar Ray. Too Slow.
Single Ladies, Beyonce. Fun, but just not quite the right beat – couldn’t get into the “running groove” with it
Calle Ocho, Pitbull. Good one, Leann!
This is How A Heart Breaks, Rob Thomas. Ditto – great one Leann!
Solsbury Hill (Live), Peter Gabriel. Too slow.
Daniella, John  Butler Trio. Surprisingly this worked – I was slowing down by then though!
Get The Party Started, P!nk. Just not quite the right tempo. Sort of like the Beyonce one. Surprising.
Mony Mony, Billy Idol. This worked well.

That got me home! Time to get the turkey in!

Yesterday’s workout was a “brick” – meaning 2 disciplines right after each other. First, the bike for an hour. This involved warming up for 10 minutes, then doing 10 repeats of 3 minutes at 100 RPM, and then 1 minute at 80 RPM, using the hardest gear that you can maintain.

When I started, I was on the middle ring in front and back. But when I had to do the 100 RPM (I don’t have a bike computer, so I had to time it at 25 RPM in 15 seconds and keep timing every now and again to be sure I was still “on”), I had to drop down to 3rd from the easiest gear, or I was way outside of my aerobic zone.

After I had done about the 5th or so repeat of the 10, for some reason, it got easier. I was able to slowly and carefully shift down (I think it’s “down” – meaning “harder”), and wound up ultimately doing it on that “middle middle” ring. That made me feel very happy!

After a 10 minute “cool down” on the bike, I grabbed the flashlight and headed out on the road. I just ran in my bike shorts, to see what that was like. I thought it would be awful, and in fact it was fine. I was supposed to do a 10 minute warmup, but I was pretty doggone warm from the biking. So I just started from the house down the driveway, doing the 5 repeats that were required. It was run 7 minutes at a pace you could hold for a long time, then 1 minute walk, repeating it 5 times (for a total of 40 minutes). I got to G Street and turned around, and the 40 minutes got me back up around the curve from River Oaks to Moody. Then I finished by walking to the house. Total was a little under 50 minutes, 2.78 miles. I know it’s WAY too slow, but I felt GOOD – in fact, really super good. I had spent a very frustrating day of realizing that I have no $ and bills coming out my ears – it felt when I was out there that here is SOMETHING I can control. Susan and Katie (my neighbors) actually stopped when I was jogging up Moody Court (at the VERY steep “turn” from River Oaks) and shouted out from their car that I was their Hero. That made me feel WONDERFUL!

I biked/ran to songs that folks had suggested for a Playlist, and then filled in with others. If you have any songs that really inspire you, BRING’EM ON! I am taking all comers! (smile)

Playlist for Bike/Run Brick (total of about 2 hours):

Oh Oh Oh Sexy Vampire (JustinB Video Edit), Fright Ranger
Calle Ocho, Pitbull
Sex On Fire, Kings of Leon
This is How A Heart Breaks, Rob Thomas
Supermassive Black Hole, Muse
Say Hey (I Love You), Michael Franti
The Time Of My Life, David Cook
Whatcha Say, Jason Derulo
Pursuit, Cirque de Soleil (this is one of the ALL TIME great bike trainer songs)
When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Great Big Sea (I really love this song)
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher (ditto – ok I played this twice actually)
My Sharona, The Knack
Pony, Far
Love Shack, B-52s
Everybody Knows, Elizabeth & The Catapult
She’s Got the (Who-Hoo), Sugar Ray
Jerk It, Thunderheist
Single Ladies, Beyonce
Daniella, John Butler Trio (another GREAT song)
Get The Party Started, P!nk
Mony Mony, Billy Idol
Hiphip Chinchin, Club des Belugas
U Can’t Touch This, MC Hammer
I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas
Let’s Get Loud, Jennifer Lopez
Real Wild Child, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Real Wild Child (Wild One), Iggy Pop
I’m Alright (Theme from Caddyshack), Kenny Loggins

Who has some great songs for me to try??

Happy Thanksgiving everyone – today is a Run – and I have to do Strength Training, too. (I was supposed to do it yesterday too, just ran out of time.) Hopefully (maybe?) I can get H to run with me – it’s going to have to be in the dark again, because I have a TON of cooking and cleaning to do. In fact, time to make some coffee and wake the Big Man up! Have a Great One!

THE WEEK AHEAD

MONDAY – Off day.
TUESDAY – Swim 60’ (total 1850) & Strength 40’
WEDNESDAY – Bike 60′ & Run 20′
THURSDAY – Strength 40’ (Turkey Day: gobble, gobble!)
FRIDAY – Swim 60’, Run 60’ & Stretch 20’
SATURDAY – Bike (captains workout) Rolling hills for 35 miles.
SUNDAY – Swim 60’, Run 60’ & Stretch 20’

(the map at the left might LOOK like a Treasure Map minus the “X Marks the Spot,” but it will be explained below!)

So, on Sunday, H decided that we needed to get away. We actually did the Run together, which was fun (did I blog about that? I think I did), and then headed off to Bodega Bay Lodge. It’s about an hour’s drive away. The photo to the right was from our deck, out over the marshes and to the ocean.

H wanted to bike, and so Monday became a bike day instead of a “rest” day. H had reconditioned his bike before we left – but didn’t have any extra handlebar tape. We picked some up at Summit Bikes (where we were told of their Team in Training discount – yay!), and he taped up his handlebars before we headed out on our ride. So handy!

We biked for a little over 2 hours, 19 miles…and 4 walks up hills! There are a LOT of steep hills out on the coast. We also TOTALLY got lost. If you look at our “map” (top of the page), you will probably know WHY. We didn’t have a bike map, so we drew one based on Google Maps. The problem was that it didn’t list the little “connecting roads” that we needed to “get to” the main roads…well, we had fun anyway, though we definitely did NOT get where we thought we would! We did, however, get out to the Fisherman’s Monument, ate some “award winning” clam chowder and fresh crab sandwiches, then came back to hot tub and of course champagne, some oranges, and chocolate!

We took a walk out into the marshes on Tuesday before we left – probably about a mile – and then antique-ed our way home. That was fun as well. Iron Mel had texted me to find out if I was working out at the JCC, and so she joined us. H wasn’t so happy that I “made him go to the gym again” (I think in particular because he forgot his headphones to plug into the machines!), but after, we went to see the movie 2012, so he was happy. (I think H’s reaction to that movie, which I tweeted, about sums it up: “Saw 2012. It was a Disaster.”)

Iron Mel had an interesting experience when we were getting ready to swim. We were talking about her being single in Marin, about finding the right sort of guy, etc., and she said however that she really KNEW that it was coming. She could feel it. Then she put on her cap and BANG! – it split in 1/2. Right through her old married name, which was written on the side. We both had a “goose bumps on the arms” moment – and took it as a good omen! I threw in the requisite “Mazel Tov!” of course!

We were out swimming under the stars again. I had a weird experience in the training (didn’t do the Strength – didn’t see it until I got home) – got fairly ‘scared’ in the water. Not sure if that’s because I had seen some clips from Louisville, or because I was really thinking about it, or what. I remember the last triathlon I did was the Go Girl Tri. It was just a sprint distance, but somewhere fairly close to the end, I started spazzing out because the water was so murky. I actually remember I did fine in my first triathlon (Bahamas), and then in the subsequent ones, but then when I was at Chicago, I super spazzed out and actually had to swim “boat to boat.” I think that this training is going to get us very prepared – but between the mental “drowning spazz” and the “fixing a flat spazz” I keep getting reminders of the mental stuff I don’t like that pops up. I don’t like being freaked out in the water. I think part of it also was that we were doing these drills that take you “up to” swimming at Level 5 – it was 5 x 200, starting with just 50 at L3 and 150 at L4, but it works its way up so that at the end, you do your last 200 at L5. I was tired, and pooped, and freaked. I guess that tired/pooped/freaked thing just happens, and I gotta just deal. I did at least have my Otterbox (smile).

PLAYLIST for the swim:

Pony, Far
#1 Crush, Garbage
REV 22:20, Puscifer
Billie Jean, Chris Cornell
The Party Song, Blink-182
I Wanna Be Sedated, The Ramones
Whatsername, Green Day
Real Wild Child, Iggy Pop
Crazy Bitch, Buckcherry
I Don’t Care, Fall Out Boy
The World Is Not Enough, Garbage
Check Yes Juliet, We The Kings

I also received a $250 Donation from a friend. I am SO EXCITED. She is sponsoring my first Swim Mile. So maybe that’s a little Push from the Universe after my awful tired/pooped/scared swim experience.

Finally, I received more songs to check out! Please send any you love to work out to – believe me, I can take all the motivation I can get! The new ones, courtesy of the gorgeous Leann McFalls, are:

Say Hey (I Love you) by Michael Franti
Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
This is how a heart breaks by Rob Thomas (my Favorite artist!!!)
Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon
I Know you want me (calle ocho) by pitbull

I might have Calle Ocho, gotta check. OK – one last photo – then it’s time to get into the 302 emails I got in the 3 days on “vacation” (there is work in here somewhere, I know I saw it), then to pole class. And gotta do the bike/run tonight. Oh, and buy all those Thanksgiving groceries, clean the house, dot dot dot?

H said he didn’t mind if I ran in my headset, which he knows helps me gut it out. I hadn’t set up a Playlist though, so the Playlist was just chronologically backward, the last songs I downloaded, which were:

The Time Of My Life, David Cook (courtesy of Erin at TriNReality)
Whatcha Say, Jason Derulo
Pursuit, Ka/Cirque de Soleil
When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Great Big Sea
Move, Shake, Drop Remix, DJ Laz, Flo Rida & Casely
Ice Cream Paint Job, Dorrough
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher
My Sharona, The Knack
Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out, Mayer Hawthorne
Pony, Far
Everything You Want, Vertical Horizon
Rise Up, Diane Birch
Love Shack, The B-52s
I and Love and You, The Avett Brothers (Pole Danced to this last week. GREAT song for it.)
Everybody Knows, Elizabeth and the Catapult
She’s Got The (Who-Hoo), Sugar Ray

My learning from that? At LEAST pick a song and put the “Genius” on the iPod. Not a very motivating set, and way too eclectic. But it was nice to run with H – reminds me of when we were training for the Big Sur Marathon. That also started with him laughing at my shuffling and walking next to me. But I finished, and so did he. I just wish he wouldn’t laugh so hard…Have written to Simon (the running coach) and my Mentor about the fact that I feel like CRAP for the first 30 minutes, then at about 40, I feel FINE. My BPM is right in there about the same (in the 142-155 range, which is a bit high but not awful like it was last week) – but at 40 minutes I suddenly feel cheery, my pace picked up (H was actually jogging, not walking fast next to me), I could talk, etc. Something’s up. I will let you know what Simon Says!

Off to pack for a jaunt into the Foothills…or Calistoga…or Clear Lake…or somewhere. We’re bringing the bikes – H cleaned up his road bike last night. Tomorrow is supposed to be a Rest Day but if H wants to bike with me, I am willing. I’ll just trade it out sometime else. Hopefully we can be home soon enough to swim on Tuesday night – otherwise I will just shuffle stuff around I guess.

I did the swim workout at about 7:00 p.m. yesterday, because I had a meeting from 3:00 to 6:00 that wound up being WORTHLESS. I was not happy – I got very ‘bouncy legged’ about it but didn’t want to leave and be rude. It was up in Petaluma, so I had gone all the way up from San Rafael…not so happy. I had brought my swim stuff though, and so H and I met at the JCC. He did his standard cardio/crosstrainer and some weights, I did the swim. Under the stars! That’s the photo I wish I’d taken – my training page, in the ziplock, and the flashlight, lying on the pool deck! I was just barely able to see the workout,  so didn’t need the flashlight – it was pretty funny though. I forgot how bright the pool would be with the lights inside (duh!) The pool was nice and warm, it was the running out to and coming “from” that was not so pleasant. Consoled myself with a nice Steam after!

Here is the Ze Playlist for the swim:

Cold Hearted Snake, Paula Abdul
Check On It, Destiny’s Child
Paper and Fire, John Cougar Mellencamp
Valerie, this is a mix, not sure who did it (techno-ish beat, Steve Winwood song)
She’s Ugly From The Front, Lyle Lovett
Hung Up (Live), Madonna
Torn, Natalie Imbruglia
Don’t Say You Love Me, Natalie Imbruglia
Brass In Pocket, Pretenders
Message of Love, Pretenders
Let’s Go Crazy, Prince
Controversy, Prince

And below is Ze Workout. I tried to look up on YouTube what the various drills looked like (DPS and SAR). Dave Scott has some podcasts out there, and wow, he looks the same as he did 20 years ago! It’s funny – I learned to swim and bike and run (and really “train”) from Dave Scott’s book. I never had any coaches – wish we’d had YouTube back then, I would have loved to have really “seen” what he was talking about, in motion! DPS is basically counting your strokes per length of the pool. If you can keep track of how much time a length takes you, and then how many strokes it takes you, you can figure out your strokes per minute, and all that jazz. I really wasn’t able to read all my notes by the light of the moon (smile), and so I forgot to try to keep track of the times for the laps. I’m not so good juggling it all in my head, anyway – I imagine we will do that tomorrow in our Coached Training. Be that as it may, I wound up with 14 “cycles” (e.g., counting only left arm in) per length of the pool. Very consistently. Not sure of the time it took, though.  For the SAR, there were two different ways to “stop” the arm – one was at the hip (elbow high), one was at the shoulder. The hip one was OK, the shoulder one hurt my shoulder (as did the CatchUp drills, still). So I sort of bagged it in favor of just swimming. Sedonia had said we could just swim anyway (since she hadn’t shown us the drills), so I didn’t feel that bad. Did the whole thing in 48 minutes, which doesn’t seem so bad since it says it should take 60 (and I’m not kicking). The kicking drills, which are sort of just “easy” are hard for me because I just don’t kick in the pool! It’s funny. They wipe me out!

Swim Workout:

Warmup
300 EZ
3×50 25 kick on back/25 free    RI    10″ (RI means “rest interval”)
3×50 25 Catch Up (CU)/25 free    RI    10″
3×50 25 scull/25 free    RI    10″

Pyramid:
100 Distance per Stroke (DPS)    RI    15″
200 Breathing every 3    RI    20″
300 Slow Arm Recovery (SAR)    RI    30″
200 Breathing every 3    RI    20″
100 Distance per Stroke (DPS)    RI    15″

Cool Down    100 EZ
Total                1750 – THIS IS ONLY 10 YARDS SHY OF A MILE! Whoot! Whoot!

Run Workout:

Today was a run workout. I read it wrong – it was supposed to be another run for 5 minutes, walk for 1 minute, go for 42 minutes gig. I actually thought it was run for 8, walk for 1, then couldn’t figure out how the math didn’t work out at 42 minutes (duh). I had it all set to run with Sharyn, but after my 7:00-8:30 meeting and then my 9:00-11:00 meeting, it was HOWLING with wind and rain. I texted Sharyn and said “No Can Do” and she wrote back “Oh Yes You Can” – she already was at my house, with her “foul weather gear” on. So, I did. Actually it worked out great – the rain let up when we were about 1/4 of the way done, and the wind cut down. (We did have a tiny bit of hail in there for good measure.) Again – wish I had the camera – 2 very soggy girls and a very soggy dog trotting through San Rafael. She was GREAT for me to run with, because we can chat and catch up, but also because she really will run at any speed and I don’t feel “bad” about being so slow. She’s so happy I’m back exercising again… I feel almost guilty at how relieved she is. Of course we’ve been friends since Massage School in 2002, so she really HAS seen me MUCH more fit. After being at my peak in 2006, of course I quit and took a job in the city to try to make more $ – that lasted all of about 6 months but in that time I had gained 30 lbs and all of it toxic fat, due to the stress. Then never lost it.

She keeps raiding my closet for clothes that used to fit me back then, that I don’t even have a prayer of wearing now. It’s amazing when I realize that she and I are (were) EXACTLY the same size – the clothes I keep loaning her out fit her like a glove, and I can’t even approach them. But silly to just have them hanging there. I really do plan to get back into them – though right now, I’m indulging a serious carb craving.

After a meeting with my CPA (not good at all – $ is really, really bad), my last meeting of the day was with a gal who bailed on our meeting last time – and she bailed on me AGAIN!!!! So I sat at the nice cafe and had a mocha and a bagel with cream cheese and honey AND a gingersnap cookie (fresh and warm). I know, really bad. I will cut back on this – I just feel so virtuous doing things like going out in the pouring rain that I am indulging myself in things I wouldn’t even dream of otherwise. I’m giving myself until the end of the year to Get Over It – but that’s my trade. If I do all the workouts, I can have whatever I feel like, until December 31st.

Okie dokie, have been really off the computer for 2 days now, and H wants to get away for Sunday through Tuesday. So I have to regroup and get some things done – especially as I have training starting at 0-dark-00 tomorrow with the group. At least this time it’s in Marin, so I don’t have to drive so far.

Today, I tried a trick that Iron Mel mentioned to me when we were carpooling to the weekend workouts. She said to do the Strength Training FIRST, so as to not be completely knackered after the “main” workout. So that’s what I did. Duh! It was SO MUCH better! I will put both the Strength Workout and the Bike/Cadence Workout at the end of the post, for those who are interested, and my experiences with them. Most folks seem more interested in my Playlists, so here we go!

Playlist for Today:

When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Great Big Sea – courtesy of Erin at Tri N Reality – I LOVE THIS SONG! I put this into “Genius” and this is what I got:
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher – this was courtesy of Kelownagurl - I love that Genius “found it next” because I love this song too
The Authority Song, John Cougar Mellencamp
Solsbury Hill (Live), Peter Gabriel – I actually was at the concert at which this was recorded, pretty cool
What I Like About You, The Romantics
Space Lord, Monster Magnet
Crazy On You (Live), Heart – I saw Heart when they came on stage and said “We have a song we wrote last night,” and it was “Barracuda” :-)
Last Train To Clarksville, The Monkees – Guilty Pleasure Guilty Pleasure
Blaze of Glory, Jon Bon Jovi
Cryin’, Aerosmith
Free Ride, Edgar Winter
Ramblin’ Man, Allman Brothers
The Guide, Borne
We’re An American Band, Grand Funk Railroad
Zaar, Peter Gabriel (from The Last Temptation Of Christ soundtrack)
Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’, Journey
Love Me Like A Man (Live), Bonnie Raitt
The Stoke, Billy Squier
Kashmir, Led Zeppelin

Strength Training Was:

4×10 ea single leg squat: I did this off of what looked like a stool an elephant stands on (how prophetic) at the gym. Had to hold the wall.

4×10 ea split squat: Wow this is not my favorite. Had to hold onto the counter

2x standing horizontal cable row: I pretty much like this one. Feels good on my shoulders. Did this on a machine with 15 lbs.

2x overhead squat: The idea is to keep your hands @/behind your ears, & stretch out the shoulders. Could barely squat, but felt good on my arms.

4x 10 ea single leg row: This is standing on one leg, rowing with the opposite hand. Used the same cable machine, but no weight. BAD balance!

4x 10 ea single leg rotations w/touch: You’re supposed to stand on one leg and touch the opposite hand to the floor outside the opposite foot. HA HA HA. I can reach the outside of the opposite knee, and I’m still falling over and touching down for balance.

4 sets 30 secs Hamstring Bridging: This is making a “bridge” (shoulders down, butt up) – not hard. Did it for 60 secs on the last 2.

30 secs each side Side Plank: Did this on knees and elbow – didn’t feel so bad. Still not strong enough to do it on “feet” instead of knees.

45 secs Plank: Felt really strong and was on a good song, so did this for 60 secs. Ooooo-rah :-)

Bicycle/Cadence Drills:

I did this on the stationary bike. It shows your RPMs, as well as heart rate, miles you have gone, all that jazz. Warmup for 10 minutes, instructions said “on middle-middle rings,” I did it at Level 6. Then the instructions say “stay in big ring up front shift to 3rd largest ring in back.” I figured I would put it at Level 7. Then you do a steady RPM of 80 for 5 minutes, then 85 for 5, 90 for 5, and finally 95 for 5. I did that at Level 7. Then, the instructions say “switch to the 5th from smallest in back, should be noticeably harder gear than the first set.” I put it on Level 9. It was the same drill – 80 RPM for 5 minutes, then 85 for 5, 90 for 5, and 95 for 5. By the time I had completed 85 RPM for 5 minutes at Level 9 on the bike, I was up at 190 BPM. That is SERIOUSLY stroke range. I am so far outside of the way that Stu Mittleman tells us to train (e.g., don’t pant, don’t get to the point where you have a fixed focus, etc.) that it’s ridiculous. My “range” from the tests that Stu ran is 142 on average. I haven’t hit that except speeding by it on the way up. I’m “averaging” more like 165. I think I blogged about this before – H and I figure that this has GOT to be working my heart and expanding it in a big way, but I’m WAY outside of my aerobic zone, and totally anaerobic. Not quite sure what to do there. I personally switched back down to L6, and did the 90 RPM/5 minutes and 95 RPM/5 minutes there,  then did the cool down at the same Level 6 for 10 minutes, at 80 RPM (which felt fine and right). This totaled 1 hour and 15 miles.

OK, so that’s only FIFTEEN miles. These were my gremlin thoughts on the bike:

At 33 minutes: I am SO OVER THIS. I am going to quit. No one is watching. Just get off the damned bike.

At 42 minutes: What the heck. This isn’t so bad.

At 59 minutes: GET ME OFF THIS BIKE! I AM SO DONE!

When I left the gym, I realized I had NO idea where my car was. Since I’ve been to the gym THREE DAYS IN A ROW training (!!!!), my “memory” of where I thought the car was was all out of whack. THAT cracked me up. A month ago, I would have TOTALLY been able to find my car, because “on average” I got to the gym like once a MONTH (for a nice steam…) (laugh). What a change! Guilty Pleasure, had a gigantic handmade dark chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon (and a bottle of water) on the way home. I wonder if coconut macaroons (and of course Snack Pack chocolate pudding) are Ironman fare? Hmmmmm…..

WarmUp    300 EZ
3×50 25 kick on back/25 free    RI 10″
3×50 25 Catch Up (CU)/25 free    RI 10″
3×50 25 scull/25 free RI    10″

3x

25 kick back    RI 10″
25 side kick (SK)    RI 10″
25 3 switches (3SW)    RI 10″
25 Body Balance Roll (BBR)    RI 10″

This was supposed to take an hour – it took 40 minutes. So I threw in a 300 warmdown. Then I was up to 48 minutes. I couldn’t remember what a “scull” was or a “Body Balance Roll,” so for the scull I did sculling with my hands (feet pointed backwards, sculling by pushing my hands by my sides through the water), and for the BBR I just did more of the 3 switches. I have to look them up. The CU drill hurt my left shoulder for some reason.

LOVE my Otterbox…this was my Swim Workout Playlist:

Beautiful Day, U2

Womanizer, Britney Spears

Breakin’ Dishes, Rihanna

Standing There, The Creatures

Untouched, The Veronicas

Little Bitty Pretty One (Live), The Doobie Brothers

When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls

Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, Johnny Rivers

Reelin’ In The Years, Steely Dan (how appropriate (laugh))

China Grove, The Doobie Brothers

Little Willy, Sweet

Free Ride, Edgar Winter

Sort of eclectic, but it was fun to work out to.

And now, for my favorite comment of the past weekend. I remembered it when I was swimming and thought I should put it down here. During the Run “marker” set, I was still pretty cold, and Coach Simon was out there in shorts, standing around and not moving (and giving us our times). As I was running up to him, I said “Aren’t you cold?” I expected him to say something like, well, “No,” or “I’m okay,” or whatever. Instead he said, in all seriousness, “Oh no, I don’t shave” (motioning to his legs). For some reason, that just cracked me up and kept me going for the next couple of laps around the track, smiling. ONLY an avid marathoner dot dot dot.

Time to make dinner – I was starving after the swim workout and got 1/2 an egg salad sandwich, a 100 cal bag of Kettle Chips (not worth it – taste was bland but they were crunchy!), and a banana and a bottle of water. Gotta plan a little better.

So today, the training calendar blithely says that what I had to do “should be” 5 miles. I did a 10 minute warmup that took me from my house to California Street (0.61 miles), then did the prescribed 4 min run, 1 min walk 8 times – I got to A Street (so that’s a total, from my house, of 1.87 miles) and turned around and came back – at the end of the 8th 4min/1min session I was at the foot of River Oaks where River Oaks meets 5th Avenue, so as a total I did 3.44 miles (not 5). Makes me a little insane that I’m so far behind the curve. This is the VERY beginning workouts and the “presumption” is that I should be able to do 5 miles in the time. Oy.

Took me an extra 6 minutes to get from 5th up River Oaks and home. When on the way home, I glanced at my heart rate monitor – I was WALKING and my bpm were 180. Sheesh at that rate I’m going to have a STROKE. My “average” during the 4/1 phase was 155 into the high 160s which is really, really not good. My average is supposed to be 142. I couldn’t run any slower – I’m already trudging along like Frankenstein. I guess the only way to make my heart rate come down would be to walk for longer – but of course, that’s not the “game plan.” Hmmmm.

Strength Training:
Single Leg Squat: Did this on my stairs in the hallway. I could just barely do it to squat to the lower stair and up. Had to hold the wall.
Push Ups: Nope. Not even on my knees. Just too exhausted
Split Squat: Again, had to hold onto the wall. Could bend my knee “a little.” A LOT of knee popping and cracking.
Standing Horizontal Cable Row: Did this with the ‘bungees’ that you use for workouts (the ones with the handles?) – red bungee – tied to doorknob
Overhead Squat: This sucked. Could bend knees maybe a micron. Did not feel very safe.
Single Leg Row: Did this again with the bungee tied to the doorknob.
Single Leg Rotations with Touch: Had to hold on with my opposite hand – couldn’t even get CLOSE to touching the ground, did get to the calf on one side, and nearly to ankle bone the 2nd set, on the other side. Was holding on though.
Hamstring Bridge: This is no big deal. Not sure what’s up with that. Probably doing it wrong! Had feet together, hips up, hands palms together above chest
Side Plank: 15 secs each side, x 2. WOW, totally shakey, etc. Did it on my knees. A bit afraid for my shoulder.
Plank: Did this on my knees, 30 seconds. Really really wiped.

Now I gotta take a shower – and get to pole dancing! Man, not sure that I’m going to be able to do anything there – been off for 2 weeks, first because couldn’t get there, 2nd because had to do a presentation for potential business (that came to nothing). Will do the 1st hour (strength/core) and not sure how I’m going to do on tricks and training. Just feel super wiped out. HOWEVER, this was the first time in 2 weeks (since I started “testing out running”) that I have run and my calves have not gone numb! I have no idea where that was coming from – but it didn’t happen today. YAY!