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. 

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? 
   

 

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.  

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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

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. 

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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!!