Week 14 - Build Week - Better now than later

This blog post should be called breaking bad habits. While at my desk I have this bad habit of sitting on my leg. You know you cross one leg and sit on it while working. I find it comfortable.

For a few weeks I’ve been having this hip issue. I’ve noticed it and I’ve iced it a few times. I thought it mostly had to do with stretching and foam rolling it. I know I’ve been training more -  more hours on the bike and more hours running. All of that combined I figured was making me ache more than usual.

Forward to Thursday 4-17. I was in a meeting and yes I was sitting a little awkward but nothing too much out of the ordinary.  The meeting was about 2 hours long. When I got up to leave my bosses office that is when I noticed it. OUCH. I went to my desk to try and stretch out the pain; I couldn’t even lift my leg. Imagine trying to squat on a toilet seat. I could sit but I couldn’t get up. I cried and laughed at the same time. Again I figured I just had to stretch it out.

I went for a walk around my building; I made it to the corner and walked back slowly. I was like what the heck.   Again here I go trying to stretch it out and tears. I took something for the pain and went on with my day. Even though I looked funny walking around the office it was cool that people were feeling sorry for me. LOL They all know I’m training for a half Ironman – so in a way it was a good thing  is was nice to stop and update them on my training.

That evening we had a trainer ride scheduled at Griffith Park. In my head I figured if I could just stretch out my hip I’d be OK. I went early and tried walking around the parking lot. As you can tell I wasn’t quitting.  I was almost ready to head out and go home but decided against it. Blah blah…I got on my bike, as painful as it was I got on that puppy.

After that I went straight to urgent care.  I explained to the doctor what I was feeling and he said ‘ hip bursitis’.  He prescribed me some Ibuprofen 800mg (the good stuff) and said go see an Orthopedic Doctor right away. OK. Now with my old insurance it would have taken a referral and a week to get an appointment. With my new insurance all it took was a phone call. I have to say I was lucky. I got an appointment that Friday afternoon. An hour later I was getting a huge needle filled with cortisone injected into my hip.

 

My first question: When can I start up my training again?

Doctor: I know you crazy endurance athletes if I say rest you don’t rest. Give it a week to heal.

Me: I’m not that crazy (OK I am) OK I’ll rest it, but can I swim? *insert laugh*

Doctor: Yeah, swimming should be OK, but no running or cycling for a week.

Me: OK! You’ve got a deal.

So..On Saturday I went swimming.  The water was cold but the waves were perfect.

      

I couldn't do much else after that so I volunteered to be the SAG for the day. My teammates inspire me so much. I saw them pushing through those miles with big smiles.

Love my teammates!!!

Week 13 - Recovery Week

This was my worst week to date. OK I'm over dramatizing it, but it was a bad week. I had been feeling ill all week and took it as I was dehydrated. Or maybe I was just really tired from all the training. Either way I was off. I had been feeling dizzy all week. I thought it was a combination of being really tired, not sleeping, and not drinking enough water. I upped my water intake and tried out Advil PM and melatonin to help me sleep. Nothing worked. I even cut down on the coffee thinking my 1 cup of coffee was causing me sleep issues. Anyway, that was my week. Nothing special, just me fighting fatigue. 

I have to admit Tuesday was a fun swim practice. While we mostly did drills, it was the treading water that was fun. We were told to tread water for 10 minutes. Some of us took advantage of this 'free time' and played around with our so called synchronized swimming moves. We were trying to get our coaches attention but they were too busy trying to come up with ways to torture us. Fun torture of course.

As much as I talk about synchronized swimming it's not to make fun. Seriously check out the video below. Those are some pretty good swimming skills. Imagine a synchronized swimming set to Britney Spear's song 'Three'. 



Anyway, if you know of an old fart group that does this, please let me know. Seriously! 

Wednesday - lets get on that Bike trainer. 
Fail. Was on it for 30 minutes, my watch died, and me well the dizziness got to me and I just stopped.

Thursday - I took it upon myself to rest. I was as dizzy all day at work and getting out for a run was not looking good. 

Friday - Swim homework time. 

Last couple of weeks it's be me and the speedo man. He doesn't say much he just 'observes'. Think he is analyzing my swimming technique. It's not really much of a technique versus more of a high elbow long reach sort of thing.  It works for me and I personally think I am getting pretty good at this.

So as you can tell this week I got to share the pool with a friend. Awesome looking pool right. It's so fresh and so clean clean . . (are you singing it yet?). It was a good night, but I was so exhausted after the swim set. It was a total of 2300 yards which normally is no problem, but like I said it was one of those weeks. 

Saturday morning - Off to one of my favorite routes in Westlake Village -wait did I just say favorite - who am I?

  I had all the necessities with me. Biggest necessity is Chamois Butter. It really does help! When you are on the bike for even an hour you need something to help other wise you go kind of numb and your lady parts start to ache a bit.

So how was my ride? Well I did it. My speed by now should be at a good 14mph if not more. I wasn't feeling well again and had those darn dizzy spells hit again. I didn't stop, I continued on and got the ride done, but I am really hard on myself. I want to get faster!! 

After the ride we did a 30 minute run. It's always fun to train in Westlake Village. This is where the ladies do their walks in platform sneakers, tennis skirts, and full make up. So fancy!

After practice I drove myself to urgent care. Mark wanted to meet me there but really I was OK, maybe I shouldn't have driven myself but I drove slow and with my eyes open. LOL.. Doctor said to stop all activity and go see my primary doctor. 


Sunday - I slept in. Like really slept in UNTIL 8:30 AM!! Last time I slept in was...uumm... can't remember. I woke up a little dizzy still but not too bad. 

If you are wondering, yes I went to my doctor on Monday. What is wrong? Not sure yet. I'm still feeling off but hopefully my blood test will reveal more. My blood sugar levels were good and I'm not pregnant (as if)! The dizziness is still there, so I take it as a sign to drink more water. Maybe? I haven't been drinking any adult beverages, I don't smoke, blah blah...i just want to feel good again. I go back in 2 weeks to get the results. 

SO..for now I will continue to train. Not going to stop! I have a race coming up!

Birdie is all clean. Got new tape on the handle bars. New oil on the chains. AND...aerobars!! 
  

Until next week..... bye.
 

Week 11 & 12 Build Weeks

Week 11 - Build Week 
Lets all go to Malibu for a nice ride along Pacific Coast Highway. We did a beautiful 35 miles and a half hour run in Malibu.

 I remember the last time I rode up this road. I stopped and cried and yelled at myself - mostly because I had stopped on the hill and had fallen on my bike. My knee was hurting and bleeding and I was PISSED. But not this year, this year I took a deep breath and kept on riding. It was that sort of amazing feeling where you are like what was I afraid of?  I looked at the hill, gave it the finger and said out loud...I got this!  As I went up the hill I start singing this song from the 80's. Do you remember Salt-N-Peppers 'Push it'? I sing it and peddle - peddle - peddle. It 'pushes' me not to stop. I know it's a little silly but it helps with my breathing and keeps me focused on the prize ahead. 

Check out the elevation. This is an amazing ride with beautiful views of all of Malibu. 

 

 

I even stopped to take a photo. It had to be done! 

After the ride we did a transition run - just 30 minutes. My legs felt like jello but the run felt pretty good. 

Build Week 12 - Open Water Swim with some Amfali Loops and a ride up Manderville Canyon. 

The swim didn't go as well as I would have wanted. I went in smiling - look at the waves - and said OH HELL NO. 

I have this thing about being short - I'm afraid when I can't touch the ground. I know I know...I it's the ocean and it's not like it's 4 feet deep, but hell first of all it's dark, it's cold, and it's DEEP. I have short person issues - don't judge me. So while I didn't go all the way in I did do some duck diving. I will say I am getting really good at it. :) I'm conquering the fear - almost.  

Anyway, on to the bike ride. Oh hello Amfali and Manderville. Lets talk about last year again. I remember doing Amfali and then heading up to Manderville. I remember the climb, and I remember looking over at one of the coaches and saying OUCH my back hurts. I think it was more mental then anything. It hurt so I stopped and turned around. I try and remember why I was so afraid. 

So on to this year. LOOK AT ME NOW!! Hold on... Let me take a selfie. 

OK honestly it was not a good day. I had a lot of trouble going up Manderville. Did I stop? Yes. Did I quit? No! I was disappointed with my slowness, but on cloud 9 because of my accomplishment. 

We also did a 4 mile transition run along the Santa Monica Pier.I was so tempted to ditch the run and go for a ride on the Ferris Wheel. 

And the run is over. Yay!! After an exhausting day I was so happy it was over. 

---

Our coaches actually give us rest days and on our rest day we went to Disneyland. Seriously the best rest day ever!  

What makes this picture awesome isn't our planking or my leg lift but the little kid in it. 

Yes we planned this. We talked about it for days and couldn't wait to take this photo! The funny part...can you see me. 3rd one up. The one with the 'oh shit' face. I looked down. I told myself don't look down, don't look down, I looked down. This photo would have been awesome if I didn't have that oh shit face. But then again it is kind of funny. 

More photos... because we really did have a good time. 

 GO TEAM!!

Week 10 - Recovery Week

While this week was considered a 'recovery week' it sure didn't feel like it. You may do less, but you do it faster. 

This week I focused  a lot on foam rolling my back and IT area. I  tried to sleep more and eat better. Focused on that muscle recovery, because honestly my body is tired. I have noticed I am a little more grouchy on recovery weeks. Not sure why. I'm hungry but not as hungry. I do have a bit more energy but then again I don't. I came home on Sunday after practice and cleaned my carpets. I live with men, they don't care about a clean house.I love the comment I got the other day "Well if you were home more the house would be clean"... oh them were fighting words!  See...grouchy. 

This weekends training was in Santa Monica. The morning didn't start off to well for me. I ran out of my oatmeal and figured oatmeal is oatmeal just eat the other stuff. Not my most brilliant idea. While I was riding I felt it. It just wanted to come out. It was going to come out. So I pulled over and hurled out my breakfast. Maybe it was a combo of the oatmeal and gu. Maybe it all it was just way too much sugar for my system and it had to come out.  After I threw it up I drank my water, slowed down on the bike a bit and just got myself together. Finished out practice and felt so much better. I started thinking if this were race day could I just quit - nope. 

Views from Saturday's practice - Santa Monica Beach. Mark and I talked about moving recently. I always said I would never move to the beach - my hair would not love it, but the more time I spend out there the more I want to move. 

Sunday was a quick Open Water Swim and a run. My goal for that morning was to be one with the ocean. I'm not as afraid anymore. I can go in and do some duck diving. I even swam out a bit and swam the wave back in. It felt really good and I think before the season is over I just may conquer this fear a bit. 

What am I afraid of? The water is dark and I can't touch the bottom. I'm little. I get tired. I'm little. The waves are strong. I'm little. Fact is I am little and I am afraid I am not strong enough to swim back. I feel constricted in my wet suit. I'm fighting the fears because I want to get better at this. I am determined. 

Sunday's run felt pretty good. My stomach felt better, I was well rested and off we went. Then at mile 2...ugh. I've seen the bathroom walk many times, I've done it many times but this was ridiculous. Public restrooms at the beach are not ones I like to visit. I think I may have to rethink my oatmeal. After my bathroom visit I went off on my run. My legs are back at it and falling asleep. I don't know what it is anymore. I run through the pain but it hurts. I had to stop and stretch a few times. I really wish I knew what it was. It's been happening a lot more lately. So again maybe it's the carbs in the oatmeal. I have to rethink all of this. 

Besides that, this was a good weekend. I love it when people ask me which sport am I better at. I honestly suck at all. But it's the sucking part that makes me more determined to try harder. 

I am always thankful for our amazing coaches. (Thanks Rachel G. for the picture).

“Don't stop at the first obstacle; have endurance to keep on going and you will succeed.” ― Robert A. Schuller



 

 

Week 9 - How do you eat an elephant?

Week 9 - Build Week

Q. How do you eat an elephant? 
A. One bite at a time.

This is what our coaches say to us each time we struggle with our training. For me that elephant is the prize. It's a goal I want to achieve. I realized the other day I've got huge goals this summer. 

 

1. Wildflower Olympic Distance Triathlon
2. Vineman 70.3
3. Barbs Race 70.3 (2 weeks after Vineman - yeah crazy)
4. Nautica Malibu Classic Distance Triathlon

Goals. It's all about the goals and working towards them. When you put in the effort the reward is yours. Yeah Yeah don't look at me to be a motivational speaker or anything - I'm crazy and I know it. But it's the crazy that fuels this motivation. 

This weekend we had our first Open Water Swim. All week I thought about it and had been freaking myself out.  I tried affirmations. I tried motivational quotes. I went on YouTube and looked up Open Water Swims. I wanted something, anything to tell me it was going to be OK. Why do I do this to myself? 

I went in the water like a champ. I basically told myseld 'Susan (I call myself that when I'm upset)...Susan get your ass in the water! You can do this' It started out OK. I saw my teammates in front of me swimming and I went in with them. Kept on swimming and not looking back. Then it happened. I looked back. Then came on my anxiety attack. Tears. Get me out. I want to go back. I'm done. I had two of my teammates swimming next to me and I just wanted to reach out and grab their hand. Each time I saw them swimming away I screamed don't leave me - they were only 5 feet away. Sigh. OK I swam one lap, made it out alive. I was done. I went back to my coach and said OK I did it. Done. Then I saw my teammates doing more laps. :( Insert my 'I am a failure' face. Some of my teammates convinced me to go back in and just swim to the guy on the surf board (sorry don't know your name). FINE. I can do this. Put wetsuit back on and get to it. I was OK then it happened again, gosh darn it darn anxiety attack. But I did it. I swam to the surf board and swam back out. Was very happy I did it, but also disappointed I only did one lap. One bite at a time!
After all of this..we went for a 7 mile run. Insert huge grin.

Sunday - Oh Mandy
I've avoided this route with a passion. Each time I knew the team was doing this I would skip practice and avoid it. You will always hear me say I hate hills. 




I didn't know what course we were doing nor did I know the mileage, which is a good thing for me.  If I know what we are doing I have freak out moments. I am learning to embrace it all. So here goes. 

We had to do hill repeats on Amfali Road (aka. F.U.Amfali). I was like why does this feel so good? I was spinning and spinning and going for it. 

After Amfali I got on Sunset Boulevard and headed to Mandeville Canyon Road. Mandeville is known for having some crazy hills. Yep I hate hills. As we were riding I kept talking to myself. I kept asking myself what was I so scared of. It's a hill climb big deal, you did Wildflower hills last weekend, if you can do that you can surely do this. Insert proud of myself face 'I did it'. YES I DID! 

While doing hill repeats sucks I am noticing the difference. I am more confident with this whole triathlon thing. I can do all 3 sports. 

So glad Kelie stopped to take pictures. :) We surely needed to document this happy day. Hash tag bad asses 

---

A huge thank you to everyone who attended our Drag Queen Bingo Event. It was a huge success. We raised $2,200 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 

Week 8 - No time for slacking

Week 8 Build Week #2
What does that mean? In my opinion it's a whole of training - hard training - Swim longer, Ride longer, run longer. It's building on your endurance and speed. Basically it's where I look at the training schedule and roll my eyes.  I usually end up sticking my tongue out at the coaches. It's my way of saying I love you but today's training sucks, but I'll do it anyway because I love it. 

Tuesday Swim - Drills. Drills. Drills.
I'm not very good at drills. The drills help us perfect our swimming form. Most of the time I end up swallowing a bunch of water. I have some bad habits and it's hard to get rid of them. If I think too much about what I am doing I end up doing it all wrong.  It's crazy. I'm working on getting rid of those bad habits. 

Today I'd like to introduce you to my amazing teammate Kelie, also known as One L. 

A lot of people I talk to say, I'd love to do a triathlon but I don't know how to swim. Ask Kelie about that.  She started out in beginners group, this group is usually for people who have little to no experience where swimming is concerned. She came, she is conquering, and is now in the intermediate group. I don't know her exact time, but when we had our 1st swim physical recommittment test I believe her time for the 1,000 yards was somewhere in the 40 minute range. Within a month's time she dropped that time by 10 minutes (by now more). That is HUGE!! I feel so fortunate to be on this amazing journey with you Kelie!

Wednesday - Acupuncture Day
I am a work in progress, but I won't let my aches and pains stop me. There is always an excuse, but the minute I stop I regret it. Our coaches have this theory about eating elephants. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. My elephant is so tasty! Some days I take huge bites, other days itty bitty bites, all in all I never stop. 

Thursday - Swim Homework
Our schedule change a bit due to Friday being a rest day or travel day for most of the team. 

I've been doing my homework swims at a local college. The water temperature is perfect. I can usually get my own swim lane. What is not to love. I quickly got in my swim and then off I went to get a deep tissue massage. Which I must say was AMAZING!! 

Friday - WOO HOO travel day to Bradley, CA for Wildflower Training Weekend.

I drove up with 2 of my teammates - Bobbi and Jay. The drive went by really fast. We chatted the whole way and before we knew it we had arrived.

Wildflower training weekend is a camping trip mixed in with a little bike ride and a little running and whole lot of team bonding.

How many people does it take to move a fire pit? See the team bonding going on here.

Friday night most of us arrived and just gathered around getting ready for what Saturday. Driving I had forgotten all about the hills. I will admit after I saw them I asked myself 'What am I doing here?'

Saturday Morning - It's time for a little bike ride (25+ miles)  

It's always fun taking photos before we start. We all are smiles. 

How would I describe the bike course? Umm... It's hard. This course has been best described as being on the Top 5 list of most challenging triathlon courses. 

I always compare this year to last year. Last year was hard. SUPER HARD for me. I remember struggling and crying and being so angry that I couldn't peddle up that hill. This year, I smiled and sang to myself a lot. The ride didn't start off so great, I'm still struggling with my ankle and back. I just reached from within and told myself whatever happens will happen just don't stop. It's interesting what talking to myself will do. 

So to make a long story short. Last year I walked the hills, this year I kept on peddling and realized those hills weren't so big after all. Each time I got to the top I did a little yahoo. The downhills are always the scariest for me. BUT what sucks about the downhills that is on the way back you have to go up. 

All in all...it was a great bike ride. My only complaint is this hill right here. Lynch Hill. As Coach Riz was giving us instructions on the bike ride, she blurts out this... OK Year 2's (that is the group I am in) You are to ride the Olympic course and then go back out for an hour. First come back to base camp and ride down Lynch Hill and back up. And continue on until you have reached 1 hour. I think I might have blurted out something not so nice, but i can't remember.  

I saw Coach just right as I was completing the Olympic course. In my head I was like fake it, pretend you went down it. She follows me. OH Yes she did!! OK Bucket I am going to be here when you get back to the top. What???? really? OK I wasn't really going to fake it but I wanted to. I thought about it. So I rode down, and who is there, none other then my teammate Bobbi. So off we go. I told her, you go first and I'll follow you. Damn you Lynch Hill!!! I did STOP but I did not WALK. I would stop, take a breath and then keep on going. Hardest ride EVER!! 
      

I found this video that someone took while driving up Lynch Hill. Check it out..crazy that hill keeps going up and up. It's about .79 miles of hell. I came..I conquered..ROARRRRRR. 

Oh...did I add in after all that..we had to do a 2 mile recovery run. Yeah. More Hills.

Saturday Night - down with the Bieber! Kelie and I saw another LLS Chapter bringing down the Bieber and we asked to join in the fun. :) 

Just a quick picture of our camp site. 

Sunday Morning - time to run a 10K
Coach Riz is pointing out where we are to run. Lets do it. 

What goes down must come up! 

This is a must see. My teammate Pai took these photos. Look at Lake San Antonio. There is a major drought going on in California. I know the rest of the country is drowning in snow, while we have the sun we really need the rain. Come on lets all do the rain dance because we really could use it.