Week 20: I'm Noticing A Pattern

It seems that since December, I'll have two awesome training weeks and then on the third week (and the most difficult workouts) I get sick and can't do anything. Then I come back for the recovery week and it starts all over again. Anyways, I was sick again this week.

Monday - Rest
Fully expected to have a fill blown illness by Monday but it never really manifested and instead I suffered a moderate sore throat and grossness but not enough to stay home from work.

Tuesday
Felt it was better to sleep in than swim. Worst sore throat of the week. Started a new trend of falling asleep at 9pm only to wake up around 3am and lay awake until 5am-ish fretting about life. Realized that the boy I am seeing might have Googled me and found out about my Ironman endeavors. Call me crazy, but I keep that from boys in the beginning since it can be intimidating and such. Then I started to freak out about boys...and then about FINISHING Ironman USA. Realized that I needed to have $1,000 dollars in my fundraising account by March 1st and then started freaking out about fundraising. Got my laptop out at 4am and crafted a training/fundraising update where I mistakenly noted that I train 8-10 hours a day. Ha! I meant a week. People were impressed, though, and by Thursday I had made my fundraising goal! Then I realized that I actually only needed to raise about $500 and not $1000, and the deadline was March 7th and not the 1st. Silly me. However, I still have $5,000 more to go! Whoosh!

Wednesday
Felt ok in the morning, sore throat almost gone! Felt great, in fact, that I planned on attending track that night. However, when 3pm rolled around I realized that track was just a pipe dream and I needed to just go home and veg and eat soup. Had another middle of the night anxiety attack.

Thursday
Felt ok. Decided against swimming since breathing with a sore-ish throat would be hard. Took a Tylenol PM to ensure no middle of the night wake ups. Great, now I am self medicating.

Friday
Yi and I decided to attempt our Wednesday track workout on Friday morning. Up at 5am to meet at Kezar at 6am. Felt ok, even though it was raining. A quarter of the way through the workout I started to get nauseous. Pushed through. Half way through and I started to get a weird "burning" aching feeling right under my ribcage and had to cut the workout short. The rest of the day I felt exhausted and feverish.

Saturday
Fully planned on going to the workout. But alas. Still feeling not quite right and Coach Ted said it was better to miss a few workouts to rest properly than to push myself and get sick and miss weeks of workouts. Felt better about that. Stayed home and obsessively cleaned through my clutter after someone made a comment that I have "a lot of stuff." Threw out tons. Filed. Cleaned the bathroom. Went to PNYE (Procrastinators New Years Eve) that night. Theme" Fast Food Nation. Was fun. Pictures here.

Fast Food Nation: Dairy Queen and Goth Burger King Drive Through Worker

Sunday
Slept in til 10am! Whoa! Got up and started cleaning again non-stop until 7pm. Didn't even leave my house or talk to anyone. I even washed my effing curtains fercrissake!

(On a side note, I will do a Monday of the next week recap because I don't want to forget what happened to me this morning.)

Monday
Got in my car this morning and was zoning out the passenger window while the car warmed up. I was parked on the street adjacent to a city trash can. I saw some feathers. Then my mind kind of was like, what IS that? And I focused in and realized it was a dead, headless chicken! Just laying on 21st street near the trash can! What tha! I thought at first it was fake but then I saw the bloody, gaping hole where the neck used to be...and of course then I saw the bloody cardboard box next to it! OMG! WHAT is going on in my neighborhood!?!?!? First the homeless trend of shitting on sidewalks, which is so bad that Public Works has to issue a POSTER about it, and now the killing of farm animals? Where do you get a live chicken anyways? Really, this might be the last straw for me.

Week 19: Iron & Metal

This week was pretty tough. I learned a few things. Made a few notes to myself and realized it's just going to get harder from here. What did I get myself into!

Monday - Rest
Totally needed. Except I had Mortified this night and was up a bit late with a few beers.

Tuesday - Swim
You know, I just wasn't feeling up to it. Those "few" beers the night before kind of brought a sore throat about. I decided to forgo the 5:30am wake up for a more civilized 7:30am wake up and leisurely stroll to work. Got a surprise call from Animal Control. The woman said she wanted to update me on Gonzales' status. I was like, uh yeah, you killed him last Sunday! She said, no! That he was going to a Feline FIV Rescue home! Ohhh that sweet kitty! He's still alive!!!

Wednesday - Run (40 min with hills)
Is there some kind of Kezar Track website/email list? If there is, well, Yi and I aren't on it. We arrived at Kezar ready to run at 6am however the gates were locked. After standing there for a bit, longingly looking at the empty track, we finally focused on a "pesticide spraying notice" that indicated that Kezar would be closed all day for "spraying." Sigh. We then hopped in our cars and drove over to the park and grumbled the whole 40 minutes about how running up and down the access ramps at Kezar woulda been the perfect "rolling hills" workout and instead we were relegated to the stupid park with one giant gradual hill. Sigh.

Thursday - Swim (2300 yards aka 3036 in my pool)
This swim kicked my ass. Such a long time swimming! Actually just an hour but still. In other news, I can't believe I am swimming for an hour. Holy Crap! Cute Russian lifeguard offered me a cookie. Too bad I am off sugar.

Friday - Athlete's Choice Day
Well, this athlete made the wrong choice! I decided to swim again since I skipped the swim on Tuesday and well, the workout was another 2300 yards aka 3036. I got in the pool and it was just me and two other people in the whole place. I thought Friday is the SHIT! I need to come every Friday, it's so empty! Shortly after that thought, the throngs of poor ettiquette and speed-placement-inflating swimmers showed up and it was me and like 6 other people in my lane. No kidding. I started my workout, which specifically says no stopping or resting EVER. Of course people don't know how to pace themselves and I was constantly waiting at the wall to go. But man was I tired! Note to self: do not try to attempt another 3,000+ yard swim the day after you swim 3,000+ yards. I had to get out about half way through because I was so exhausted and was just zoning out into my water bottle. Sore throat gone!

Saturday - Run (95 min)
Met Yi at the monkey bars on the Marina Green. We ran from there all the way over the bridge to Saulsalito. No Kidding. It was a great day. Kind of a hard run. I realized that I can't run on that dirt/sand/stone path along Crissy Field because my sneakers don't grip as well and therefore cause my psoas to strain a bit. Felt kinda slow but I think it was lack of sleep. I went to bed at 12:30am and woke up inexplicably at 5am for an 8:30am start. Sigh. Afterwards we went to Lettuce in the Marina and I realized I hated everyone in that stupid place. Poor Yi. She has to put up with so much of my hating. As I was sitting across the table from her I blurted out, I hate everyone in here! Hahaha. She tried to make me feel better by letting me know that even tho she might not like the people she likes the restaurant. She actually said to me the other day, "You know what I was thinking on the way home? That you hate everyone but you like me! Yay!" Oh boy, I better start watching The Secret again. Bought new sneakers. Thank God Asics got the memo that my new favorite color is turquoise. It's the new red.


Today kinda kicked my ass and my sore throat came back after the run. I pushed through my Saturday errands with the knowledge that all I had to do that night was lay in bed with my new BoyFriend aka Heated Mattress Pad and the new episode of Lost. Score!

Sunday - Double Brick (46 miles aka 4 hour workout)
With a sore throat present and a huge possibility of compromising my immune system, I had to go to this workout! A BRICK is the act of cycling and riding one after the other. A double brick means we do it twice. We met at a school in some place I can't even remember! Oh, San Ramon. We had to be there at 7am which means leaving my house at 6am. We set up our trainers and spun for about 30 minutes to warm up. Then we rode for about 20 miles. Came back and ran 30 minutes. And then did it all over again. Ride One: Cold, foggy and slow. Ride Two: Warmer, clearer and faster. Run One: hard. Run Two: harder still. Note to self: DO NOT wear the zip front sports bra anymore. When I got on the trail for the first run, about 5 minutes in, my sports bra flew open because the zipper had slipped down! Hahahah. I basically had to flash San Ramon while I rezipped. Yi and I were surprisingly surprised that out of about 20-30 teammates at the workout, we were the 2nd and 3rd women to come in for the day! Whoa! We are just constantly impressing ourselves lately.

warming up on the trainer

Went to Coach Ted's house for brunch after the workout and was fading fast. Came home and tried to nap while I waited for 6pm to roll around. Went over to Rick and Betsy's for a little Winger DVD viewing party! I always shunned Winger in the 80's because they were a hair band after all. But Rick turned me on to their later records and I have to agree, they were really underrated. ...and Reb Beach is Hhhhhhotttt.

FYI - burning about 3,000 calories means you can eat 3 homemade cinnamon rolls at brunch and then have 3 pieces of pizza for dinner! Yay! (oops supposed to be off of sugar! Sorry Dr. Scott!)

Week 18: Dating = Alcohol

I know last week was Week 18 so clearly I have no idea what is going on with that. This week I managed to perform at Mortified AND have some dates and am kinda stressed out! I only managed to make four of my workouts. That makes me feel guilty and now I am a total slacker.

Monday - Rest Day
That's about it for today. Mercury is in retrograde though. Don't even bother talking to people, they won't understand you.

Tuesday - Swim (2015 yards)
This was another swim marker set. How many laps can I swim in 30 minutes? 44 laps in a 100ft pool, that is about two more laps than last month, 1465 yards and an estimated Ironman swim time of one hour and 30 minutes. That's a long time! But realistically can I do it? In 2006 I swam from Alcatraz, which was a mile and half distance, and it took my one hour and 10 minutes. Some reasons why? The waters were rough, the current was strong and I wasn't a great swimmer then. Had a date that night. Fun! Didn't stay up too late but drank a few beers.

Wednesday - Run (5.5 miles)
Speedwork workout at Kezar. Was so so tired and probably dehydrated. Felt kinda slooooow. Went right home and utilized my new discovery. Ziploc Steamer Bags. They are fucking amazing. Really. Threw in some chicken and veggies and threw it in the microwave while I showered and voila! A fabulous meal in 6 minutes.

Thursday - Swim (2797 yards)
I can't tell if having a 100ft pool to swim in is a good thing. I treat it like its a 25 yard pool so I am always swimming more than I need to. It has to be good right? Went to Laurents' house to rehearse with my made up band for my Mortified performance on Friday. Drank more beer AND ate pizza. My sports nutritionist is gonna have conniption fit.

Friday - Self-Imposed Rest Day
Just too tired man. Had Mortified that night. Drank two beers. Was home early but then was so jazzed from the excitement that I was up til almost 1am. Around 12:30 I texted Yi to tell her I was bowing out of the workout the next day. She texted right back and said "Suck it up." sigh.

here i am performing

Saturday - Bike/Run (35 miles/20 minutes)
Fell asleep after the Yi-Text-Exchange, but then was woken up with a start after a dream I was having where I was telling Yi that I WAS NOT going to go to the workout and she forcefully told me I was and I got in her face and yelled at her and then she spit at me. Ha! I woke up and it was 4am. Then I proceeded to lay awake until she called me at 6:30. I tried to beg out again but she was like, "see you in 45 minutes!" Crap. Rushed around my house getting stuff ready. Yi picked me up and we drove off to Orinda. Did a short 35 miler. The last 10 miles just bit the big one. I felt like I was bonking but I think it was because I was just tired and all my alcohol was catching up with me. I felt ok afterwards on the run, even though I knew I didn't eat enough before and during. A quick check of my heart rate monitor showed I burned almost 1800 calories and I had consumed probably half of that. Yi was lacking fuel too so we kind ran walk for only 20 minutes even tho we were supposed to run for 40.

Afterwards we drove into Orinda and zoned out across the table from each other at Subway then drove home. I tried to sleep in the afternoon because I had date #3 with potential beau. It. Just. Didn't. Happen. Got picked up at 5pm and had a really low key quiet date. Luckily he was "low-energy" too. But I drank again. Ugh.

Sunday - Self-Imposed Shopping Day
Got a giant tax return and needed new girl clothes. Alas. Nothing was appealing to me. Guess I'll have to stick with the jeans and t-shirts awhile longer. Was really really exhausted. Oh...and I think I am getting round three of that virus/flu-thing. NOOOOO!

Week 18

To say it was an emotional week is an understatement. I went on three dates, said goodbye to my best friend, Holly, who moved to Boston and had to euthanize a cat. Somewhere in there I had to institute a new eating plan (and log it all) and train over 8 hours (and log it all). Oh and work and clean my house and food shop and remove sugar, sugar substitues, caffeine and alcohol from diet and...oh did I mention we are now in the build phase of our training. All that means is no lollygagging and everything is more hard. (that's what she said)

Monday - Rest Day
Got to stay home in the morning while I waited for the washer repair guy. Scheduled appointment was 8-12pm. Of course he showed up at 11am. Went to work. Was useless.

Tuesday - Swim (2400 yards)
Swimming 2400 yards is an hour. The good news is it burns about 800 calories. The even better news is I get to add that 800 calories to my base caloric intake of 1500 which means I get to eat 2300 calories...on purpose. Of course I can't eat cake or anything like that but still. What a difference from being on Weight Watchers for the last 6 months (lost 18lbs) where I was trying NOT to eat. Had a coffee date that evening. Felt like slitting my wrists. Here are a few tips for you guys: don't put up a profile picture where you are 30lbs lighter than you are now. Always buy the girl her tea. Don't talk incessantly about your political views, how everything is screwed up and then let people know that you haven't voted since 1988. Oh and, ask the girl a friggin' question about herself. Went home and hung out with my real boyfriend, aka TiVo.

Wednesday - Track (1:18)
Running one hour and 18 minutes max. Burned 1,000+ calories. Ate 2500. Run was slooooow and looooong. Went to Kezar Pub with Yi and our teammates from last season, Steve and Liz. Enjoyed some lovely chicken tortilla soup and half a turkey burger and exactly 8 fries. Quickly remembered that eating fried food after a workout makes me sick. Ugh. Went home. Showered. Slept. Repeat.

hez at track

Thursday - Swim (2200 yards)
Burned 800 calories. Ate A LOT. One hour at the pool flirting with the cute, Russian, life guard..I mean swimming. Impressed him with my homemade laminated swim workout. Huzzah. Still feel a little self conscious standing there talking to him in my swimsuit. No way to hide that gut in those circumstances.

Friday - Spin 65 minutes/Run 15
I just really love getting up and hoping on my bike in my kitchen with my tunes. Was able to put on a sports top that I bought 2 years ago but was never able to wear until now. Woooo! Spin, uneventful...run, uneventful. That night came home to wait for Holly to come over and went to flip on my TV and nothing happened. Turns out, my boyfriend was cheating on the side with Comcast and she got made and dumped him aka, I forgot to pay my cable bill and they shut it off! That's not very Comcastic of them...or me, I guess. Oh well. Holly came over and we drank two giant gin and tonics. I was wasted halfway through the first one. Then we went over to Bottom of the Hill for Bagel Radio's 5th anniversary party. I feel like I rushed in there, said hello to everyone and then rushed out.

Sarturday - Spin (1:10)
Headed over to Sports Basement at what felt like was way too early even tho it was 9am. Proceeded to spin for over an hour with the team. Burned 1000+ cals. Ate not quite so much. Went home and crashed from 12-3pm in my bed that has the most awesome heated mattress pad aka my NEW boyfriend (forget stupid TiVo). Dragged myself outta bed and got ready for my 5pm date. Date kicked ass! Came home and fell asleep to Celebrity Apprentice on my laptop with my new boyfriend. Shut up! I mean the mattress pad, der.

Sunday - Run (90 minutes)
Even tho I had 4 beers the night before, clearly I properly hydrated since I felt fine when I woke up. I am sure going to bed at 10:30 instead of 1am helped too. Yay for early evening dates! Got dressed and drove to Crissy field. Headed out on the run wondering if I could ever do 90 minutes without my awesome running partner, Yi. Luckily I had my other boyfriend aka iPod cranking out NWOBHM. Started at Sports Basement, ran to the bridge. The waves were just crazy and crashing up against the wall and at one point I was thinking, this has got to be the best thing on earth! Running along the bay, looking at the Golden Gate Bridge, listening Iron Maiden and getting sprayed by the surf! Hey! Wait a minute! Doesn't that water have poop in it!?!?! Now I have "partially treated raw sewage" on me. I am sure of this.

Anyways.

Turned around and headed towards Aquatic Park. Cool 7.76 miles.

Went home, crammed food in my mouth. Drove over to Oakland to say goodbye to Holly, where I cried for like 30 minutes. Flew back over to SF to go to Animal Control where I had successfully cried my way into access to the stray cat kennel earlier that morning. Gonzales passed all but his Feline HIV test. He was not going to be put up for adoption. He was not going to be living a carefree kitty life in my backyard anymore. He was not going to be lounging on my deck and greeting me with little meows and getting his "little chin" rubs. He was going to be euthanized that afternoon. I spent the better part of 45 minutes sitting on the floor in front of his cage half in and half out of it just sobbing and sobbing while I petted and kissed him goodbye. That Gonzales, he is such a sweet boy. Too sweet for this world.

Went home and cried all afternoon with my boyfriend aka heated mattress pad until I had to get up and get ready for A DATE. Date was, eh. Begged out of it after 2 hours and went home and got in bed. Watched a documentary on a Funeral home on Frontline on my laptop (not a good idea when you put an animal down) and fell asleep around 7pm. That night Gonzales came to me in my dream. Awwww. He got one last "little chin" rub. Kitteh.