Week 36: Ass Whooping

This week seemed to be working out ok. Besides the news that someone I care deeply about is leaving San Francisco and that had to be addressed...and dealt with...and cried about...and reevaluated...and obsessed about...and etc etc etc. Exhausting.

Monday - Rest
Happy that the weather was unusually hot, I drove to Lyne's house to have a walk with her and her baby, Oliver, and enjoyed an ice coffee in Noe Valley. Then I headed over to Elektra's house where we drank beers and watched bad cable TV and commiserated about our lost jobs...she worked with me and got laid off too.

Tuesday - Bike
Drove down to Canada Road to do a bike marker set. Read the details on the calendar as a 15 minute warm up, 30 minute marker set, 15 minute cool down. Thought it was a little weird but Canada Road seemed perfect for it since it's 15 miles out and back and would work well. Plus I got to try out my aerobars again on a not so windy day. Worked awesome and I feel more comfortable using them. Got home and realized that the calendar said a 30 MILE bike marker set...not 30 MINUTES. Sigh. Had an almost major melt down later in the day but managed to pull it together and not make a fool of myself in public. It sucked, tho, it really sucked.

Wednesday -Swim
Massive swim workout planned, rode my bike to my public pool and it was closed for the afternoon lap swim because of a city training or something. Then quick rode over to the Mission outdoor public pool but that one was closed too til 3pm. Since it was so hot out, I decided to wait til the evening lap swim and do it in the outside pool. Rode back over there and pool was still closed. So no swimming for me but lots of neighborhood riding. Went to the library and got a library card. They didn't have the book I wanted at my local branch so ordered it and waited impatiently for book two of the Earthsea series. Went to my coaches house for dinner and interrogated him and his wife about Ironman and what actually happens on the day.

Thursday - Swim Again
Went to the outdoor Mission pool, which is now my favorite place to swim since it is um, outside. Was a little disappointed that it was only 2 lanes. One slow and one fast. Got in the fast lane and had to deal with tons of testosterone. Stupid men. Why do they have to act like they are olympic swimmers? Dude, it's a 30 yard public pool, do you really need to overtake me and cut me off before the wall and then NOT continue so my flow gets interrupted? No. Oh yeah, and you - super fast guy who thinks you are awesome for swimming so super fast for your measly 30 minutes? Try swimming for 90 minutes. Pussy. Workout was 3600 yards, which in this new pool was 4300 yards. Hi? Stud. Sunblocked my tattoos and my face but not my back. Ouch! Then I went shopping and spent way too much money at Sports Basement on stuff I actually needed. Well, maybe I didn't need those shorts and that dress but I did need some tubes and nutrition and socks and a sports bra etc etc. It's like my last time spending money until I get a job.

Friday - Packing and Driving
Packed for my training weekend away in Clearlake. Made a call to my grandpa. Made me cry because he was in a grumpy mood. Doug, my teammate, picked me up and we hit Manora's Thai restaurant before we left the city then headed out for the 3 hour drive to Lakeport. Drive was uneventful except for a stop at the tri-tip BBQ taco place. When Doug and I walked in it was literally THIS CLOSE to being Deliverance and we were scared of the two Harley Dudes sitting at the bar and the near toothless old woman behind the bar. But the Harley Dudes turned out to be awesome and nice and invited us to sit down. Got to Ironteam alum, Jeff's house and dropped or bikes off then headed to the hotel and then off to meet some of the team for dinner. Roomed with Yi. We got in bed at 8:30pm and were alseep shortly after that.

Saturday - Swim/Bike
Woke up at 5am to get ready for the morning. Packed our stuff and carpooled down to Jeff the Alums house on Clearlake which would be our starting point. Got our wetsuits on and headed down to the water for our 2 mile swim. The route would be to swim out about 100 yards, turn left and swim to a white buoy, turn right and swim past an orange buoy to a dock, turn around and swim back to the orange buoy and then swim in. The night before when I was envisioning my swim, I decided to aim for 1:15. The swim wasn't that bad! Two miles seems like a long way and a long time to be in the water but it went by kinda fast. I just kept my head down and followed along behind some of the girls who were just slightly faster than me. Came out of the water in 1:19 which wasn't so bad. Later it was discussed that the swim route might've been longer than 2 miles based on the swim times of teammates who know their 2 mile times. So, that is good news for me!

After the swim we got ready for our 90 mile bike ride. The route led us 15 miles to a park which would be our base rest stop. Then we had two 30 mile circles from that point and then we would ride 15 mile back to the house. The first 15 miles? Awesome. The first 30 mile loop? Not so awesome. I went out way too hard with a group that was averaging 20 mph! Holy crap! By the end of that loop I was tired, sluggish, heavy feeling and exhausted and it was getting hot. I couldn't keep up with the people and started to really lag behind. I made a decision that when I got to the park I would just relax and lay in the grass for a bit. When I got to the rest stop I couldn't even talk. People were checking in with me and asking me questions and I was only able to grunt. heh. Had some fluids and then sat down. Yi was getting ready to go back out on the second loop and I told her that I wanted to rest a bit. Then Mai, Nancy, Izumi and Susan rolled in and I decided to go out with them. Best decision ever. Their speed was a bit slower and I was able to draft off of Mai for about 2o miles. It really helped me to recover and get my second wind. I finished up that second loop feeling awesome and like myself again. Then it was just a quick 15 miles back to the house and we were done! I think I finished the ride in 6:30 or maybe 7 hours. Not too bad. I'd like to get that time down, but that also includes rest stops. That night we had a great BBQ at Jeff's house and I just zoned out til we went back to the hotel.

Sunday - Run
I was slated to run 18 miles but had mentally decided to run 15 with the team. Still tho, my coach wanted me to get there a half hour early in case I wanted to go a bit longer. Yi gratiously offered to go with me early and we headed off, running 8 minutes and then walking for 2. I was a bit sore from the day before but everything seemed ok...until mile 10. :-| My right butt, right hip and outside of my right and left thigh started to get really tight. Like painfully tight. It was really all I could do to keep moving but when we would stop for our 2 minute walk that was painful too. I felt like I just wanted to lay down on the ground and roll around and stretch everything. Of course that isn't an option when you're running on Route 20 in Clearlake. Finally, tho, it was over and it was all I could do to push out the last half mile. When I got to Jeff's driveway I started to walk and just stomped into the backyard taking things off along they way like my visor, heart rate monitor, watch, socks and shoes and just layed down in the grass and started crying. Ted and Pete, two of my coaches came over to talk to me and when they saw that I was crying they were like, uhhh. They were concerned but had no idea what to do. hahahaha. I just stayed there for a bit stretching everything. Then I finagled my way into a shower and shortly after Doug and I left to go back to the city.

All in all, the weekend was hard but manageable. The swim definitely built my confidence. The bike, tho hard at first was awesome. I mean, 90 miles. Next time you get in your car reset your trip odometer and see how long it takes you to drive that! The run, tho, may have set me back a bit on the confidence scale. I kept thinking, would I be able to bust out another 11 miles feeling like this? Hopefully on race day adrenalin will kick in and keep all those aches and pains at bay.

And by the way, my race is just 31 days away! I am also closing in on my fundraising goal and have just $400 left to make my $8000 total! Are you feeling generous? Go here to help me cure cancer!