Thursday, May 29, 2014

Week 19 - Recovery Week


Recovery Week 5/19 - 5/25.

The weeks are flying by and honestly sometimes I can't remember what I did.

This weeks swim was hard. It's those bad habits and lazy arm pulls. My swim form has improved but it needs more. This week I work on my form it was a touch your hip, high elbow raise, and long lean strokes swim technique. It's HARD. It's not an easy technique to master. It's easier to have lazy arms and just go into the swim. 

In case you are wondering this is what high elbows looks like. 

Which leads to this. (I don't look this glamorous but you get the picture)
then your arm goes into the water to do this pull. It's the PULL that makes you go faster (i think so at least). 
I have these weird things I do when swimming. I coach myself while swimming. So here is what I tell myself. 

Me_1: Ok here we go, High Elbows, Long Lean Stroke
Me_2: Stop punching the water!! 
Me_1: *sigh* shit OK, now pull - 
Me_2: don't be lazy - use your pull to propel yourself forward.
Me_1: This shit is hard.
Me_2: You are getting it - now don't stop. 

Now that I come to think of it Me_2 sounds like Coach Riz. :) 

You have to talk to yourself, no one else can motivate you but yourself. It's not easy this swimming business but this is my thing, the better my form the better swimmer I will be. It is taking me a long time to understand all the concepts of this swimming thing.

My run and bike were done at home. It's been a crazy week at work. I've been working late and it's not fun. 

Saturday 5/24 - Open Water Swim plus a 30 mile Bike Ride

If you have read my post from before Open Water Swimming is not high on my favorite things to do. I envy my teammates who make it look so easy. Last weekend a few of them swam with dolphins! How amazing! For me...well I didn't make it that far out. 

I hate that I stand on the shore and just stare at the waves. They scare me! So there I was standing there and saying Nope Nope Nope can't do it. 

BUT then I talked myself into it. Don't be a chicken! You can do this, you have done this. OK fine..so I go into the water, waves were calm and here I was out to chase Coach Javier and I was on a mission. Umm...shit..that is when the waves came. Stupid waves. I was OK and went under the waves, then another one came quickly. Shit. I looked around and saw I was by myself. Shit. Shit. Shit. Help. I am not ashamed to say I yelled out for the closest surfer to come help me. Well yes I was wearing a wet suit and yes I know I float wearing it but shit (I know I say shit a lot) I got scared. So the guy came over and helped me. He said here get on my surf board. I said I can't I'll get in trouble by my coach. HAHA No I wasn't going to get in trouble but hey that is what popped in my head at the time. While I didn't make it out past the breakers, this time, I will keep trying until I do. 

How did the 30 mile bike ride go? Pretty amazing. It felt amazing. My hip felt great. All this icing is working. I won't lie I was afraid of doing hills, afraid that my hip was going to act up again. But it didn't. I talked to myself and said just go for it. I did just that. While it wasn't my fastest I did feel strong. Even my 10 minute runs felt good. I didn't run but did a Hip to Nip walk. Not as fast as this guy, but you get the picture. 
 

My team. See me in the back with my arms up in the air. That is how I felt after practice. HUGE smiles and excited because I am feeling amazing. 



Sunday - meet a few teammates for Aqua Jogging. Let me just say - it is hard. I didn't think I'd be tired from it but I sure was. I need to start doing this more often. :) 

Adding these pictures on here for fun. It was totally random that my friend Kelie and I were both wearing red polka dot dresses. 

 Tina, Jay, Chrystine, Rachel, Kelie and me. 
So cute. Thank you for including me in your birthday celebration Kelie! We both turned 21 again. 


Monday, May 19, 2014

Week 16, 17, and 18. It's time for an update


Wildlower Triathlon was a bust. :( I still have tears about it. But why? This season I have felt so confident. I have felt myself improving and finally getting the hang of things. A few weeks before this event I started feeling ill.  I kept having dizzy spells and then my hip started acting up. It was tough to say I just couldn't go on. I kept hearing in my head 'It's all in your head, you can do it, just move.' The more I tried to move I just wanted to scream in pain. 

The day before we had a training ride, while riding my bike the ache of the hip came on full force. I had to cut the ride short and go back to camp with my head held down. It's embarrassing!!! You can have people encourage you, talk to you, tell you can do anything but if your body says no - it's no. *sigh* 

This is all I have to show about my race weekend. My swim. It looked more like I swam all over the place. I know my type of Garmin is known not to be accurate, but this is a little crazy.



After the swim did do the 2 mile walk back to my bike. I stopped a few times to stretch it (and cry). The best way to describe my pain was imagine a shooting pain. It felt like someone was digging their fist into my hip area and kept digging and digging. 

My walk was a little straighter, but nothing fabulous. Felt like the longest 2 miles of my life. I couldn't wait to get back. 


I felt so bad for Mark. I did not have my cell phone on me and he couldn't find me. He said no one would tell him anything. Since I was not a fundraising participant the TNT tent didn't know anything about me - so I can only imagine his frustration. When he finally found me I just looked at him and cried. I could see the worry in his face. I felt so bad. Here he had taken time off work and was doing so much for me to be here - again I felt like the biggest disappointment. It's how I felt.

  

Week 16 
Ice. Ice. Ice. 
My week started off with me purchasing every ice pack I could get my hands on. Nothing stayed cold enough, or even stayed cold long enough. Mark finally bought me a Mabis DMI Ice Bag. I go everywhere with it. 

This week I also rested a lot. I had to, had no choice. My hip was throbbing in pain, the ice helped a bit but still each time I got up it was a struggle.

I also turned 44 this week (5/11). Feeling a little old cranky. Sometimes you just can't have it all - but appreciating what I do have.  

My brother in law got me this amazing cake. My parents - without them I would not be here today. And all I wanted was pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Thank you Mark for trying to make this cranky woman happy. I know it's not easy and I ask a lot from you - but know I do love you.
 


Week 17 
Time to get back on it. I figured I'd start slow and go from there. Went back to swim practice on Tuesday. After the swim I felt it again, the hip. Maybe i just need to learn how to swim without kicking? It's is possible. I attempted to run on Wednesday. Oh yeah.. not pretty. It was very slow. Ice. Ice. Ice. Thursday night I met my teammates for a bike ride. We had a timed bike marker I had to complete so I figured go out and give it a try. I hadn't been on my bike in 2 weeks so this was the best time to give it a try. 

For the bike marker we had to ride 80 minutes and then send over our mileage. 

  After the bike ride I went home and slept with ice packs. I just haven't been on my bike and wasn't sure how I would feel after wards. Sleeping with the ice packs was a hope that my hip wouldn't be screaming at me in the morning. Lucky I was 'OK'. The annoying poke was there, but nothing to bad. 

Friday - I had a swim marker I had to make up. 1,000 meter swim for time: 1.2 mile swim in 40:52.

Saturday I had to miss practice for a family event. While there I kept my hip on ice. I've noticed that when I drive long distances that I put a lot pressure on my right side of my leg/hip. I had to make up a bike ride on Sunday so I was hoping the ice would help for the next day. 

Sunday - 60 mile bike ride 
My settings were wrong when I first started. I had left it on my swim setting so for the first mile it was wrong. So it took me about 4:38 to do the 60 miles - ok 59.5..but whatever. 

At the beginning I had a little boo boo. I figured it make me look hard core riding with a bloody knee. Fact is - my bottles were filled with electrolytes and I didn't want to waste it on my knee. 

An after thought, I had water in my car and I could have gone to wash it out. But if I would have stopped I'm not sure if I would have gone on. So I didn't stop. I figured it's just blood and lucky it's daylight so the vampires aren't out. 

During my ride I got a text message from my brother in law looking for his coke. It was actually kind of funny. 
 
The whole ride I kept singing songs to myself, but the only thing I was looking forward to was that coke! Aaaahhh yummy-ness! I was tired and hungry and Yes I took his coke. Not ashamed to admit it. Now. I did fess up to him eventually and I did say Thank you. It was the best cold beverage I had had in FOREVER. I know I'm exaggerating but it was good. 


After the ride, more ice. Woke up today (5/19) a little achy but not to bad. It's a hard workout achy, not my hip is on fire achy.  My hip is achy. I haven't ran yet so that is next on my list of things to do. 

I have been wearing my 2xu Recovery Compression tights. Not sure what I am supposed to expect but I like them. Well I think my husband likes them on me, he seems to rub my behind a bit more when I have them on. :) butt rubs are always a good sign that something looks good on you.

And now I'm off to find some bursitis of the hip exercises. More stretching more icing doctors orders. It's nice when he says 'Bucket you can do anything'. :) 

Wait wait, if you are reading this I have a question. 

My mom asked me this 'What do you mean by you can't miss practice?'
A lot of my family members don't get it. Why can't I miss practice? I explained to her, that I can't miss practice because I can't miss practice. I am not being forced to go. I can stop at any time but in order to achieve my goals I simply can't miss practice. I'm wondering how do most people juggle life? Any advise? 
   

 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Week 15 - Another Build Week

Last Friday we went to a Dodger game for an LLS fundraiser. My friend Jenny's niece got voted Girl of the Year from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. See below.



2014 GIRL OF THE YEAR - BRIANNA CONTICELLI, AGE 14

The MWOY campaign honors local children who are blood cancer survivors. This year's Girl of the Year is 14- year- old Brianna Conticelli. who was diagnosed with Leukemia in July 2012.

It's been a tough road for young Brianna who has experienced numerous side effects from the chemotherapy including severe allergic reactions to several drugs, further complicating her course and also limiting the options available to her. She still has one more year left of chemotherapy. Let's wrap our arms around her! We are with you all the way Brianna!!

Brianna wants to share her story to hopefully inspire others. At MWOY campaign kickoff, Brianna shared with us that "Having cancer changed me as a person and taught me how not to take things for granted."

YOU ARE MOST DEFINITELY AN INSPIRATION TO US ALL BRIANNA!! STAY STRONG!!! WE ARE WORKING HARD TO HELP FIND THAT CURE !!!


As I sat down to write my blog post my intention was to go on Jenny's page and steal a picture from her facebook page. It was great to see Brianna so happy and smiling. And heck what an honor it was for her to throw the first pitch at the game. 



Prayers are needed folks, Brianna is back in the hospital.
It hurts to know a friend is hurting.

Right now my anxiety and worries are insignificant compared to what she is going through. This weekend I dedicate my race to you Brianna.  


Friday - Dodger night with my teammates. 
 He grew up a SF Giant Fan, I grew up an LA Dodger fan. We just fit.
 Nicole, Kelie, me, and Beckie. Thanks Nicole and Kelie for bending down. I don't look as short in this photo.

My training this week was OK.
My hip has been feeling better. Swim practice was good as well as my run, wait it wasn't a run it was more of a walk. I was getting a little restless so I asked Mark to go on a walk with me. 

 It was slow but we got a chance to talk. This season more then ever I've been feeling it. His comments about me not being home. While the comments are not bad I get it. He is a great husband and I take him for granted. I come home 'hangry'. It does exist. I want salads. I want chicken. I want steak. He and my son want Pizza and burgers. I can't have any of that so I get hangry. What can you do? 


Saturday - bike ride in Malibu. As you can tell by my distance I didn't do so well. We were to do 45 miles. The wind was bad and I was putting a lot of pressure on my hip. It started with a sting then I just got slower and slower. You know that point where you just tell yourself STOP. Continue on and it will get worst. So I stopped. Went to my car, put away my bike and cried for a bit. I know I know..blah blah.. no one puts the pressure on me I do it to myself. I want to succeed.
   Sunday - run 10 miles. 



It felt really good. I changed up things and did a 1 - 2. Run for 1 walk for 2. I think my run pace was actully pretty good (for me). If I can keep my run pace at 11 minutes per mile and my walk anywhere between a 14-15 that would be AWESOME!! 




Amazing group of teammates who inspire me. #whereisJose #whoisAlex #ilovechorizo