Since we are heading to Houston for Christmas this year, Chris wanted to go see his family in Canada before the holidays. He asked me to go, but I looked at the weather there and decided that minus anything is too cold for me. Hell, when I wake up here to 40 degrees I cry and whine and dont want to get out of bed. So off he went and he left me to fend for myself. I have been stressed out about this ever since he booked his flight, because in reality Chris is what holds the house together. He does EVERYTHING. I come home from work/trainig and the dinner is made, coffee is ready for the next morning, dogs are fed, etc.
Sensing my fear, he did what any amazing support crew would do, and made sure that I would be well taken care of and not have to do anything. He cooked me enough homemade chili that will last a month (I froze most of it), he disinfected all of the fruits and veggies so i could have salad and smoothies, he cooked me Beth's gluten free muffins so I would have breakfast and made sure I was stocked with enough fresh water to last me the week. He thought I would be fine with that, but he totally overestimated me. I am not in good hands. I dont know how single mothers do it, especially single triathlete mothers. Seriously, hats off to you. I just have dogs and I am hoping they survive until the end of the week. Chris is actually so worried about me forgetting to feed them that he has the driver feeding them every morning. He even tried to feed them last night when he dropped me off, saying Don Chris asked me to feed them, but I finally convinced him that I would not forget to feed them by the time I walked down the stairs. Guess what, I forgot! And I only remembered when I heard Fatty's (what I call my little dog - do you think he will get a complex?) stomach growling. The dogs were so sad when Chris left, but I assumed it was because he was leaving and they would miss him. I now know that it is because they are left with their incapable mother.
I know how hard Chris works to keep me going and make sure I get through this Ironman a sane person and in one piece, and I appreciate him everyday for it. I am also really happy he got to go see his family for the holidays. But I am going to think twice next time I let him leave without me!
Dec 14, 2010
Dec 12, 2010
LA-Z-GIRL
The lack of blogs does not mean I have slowed down at all in the training. In fact, between work and training and sleep I have no more time. The past few weeks have been a blur and I am finally able to sit on the couch and relax for a bit. I thought I had posted the blog of my Half ironman race report, but I think I dreamt that. So here goes -it was a while ago, so I probably forgot some things and with the way I raced that isnt a bad thing.
My dad, grandmother, Chris and I all headed to Conroe on saturday so that we could spend the night close to the race site. It was freezing. I have only raced one race with a wetsuit and I loved it, but I quickly realized I would need a long sleeve one. The air was 33 degrees in the morning and all i had was a short sleeved wetsuit. Oh well, too late to stress about it.
The best part of the race was that it started about 50 feet from our hotel room so I was able to warm up until right before my wave started
Pre race - dont let the smile deceive you, I was effing cold.
We finally left the room to go outside and get ready to start. I think the look on my face says it all. This is probably the first time I didnt want to actually get in the water.
The swim was one of the worst I have ever experienced. The fog coming off the water made the visibility so bad that I couldnt see more than a foot in front of me. I had to stop and breastroke every couple of minutes just so I would stay on course. Twice during the race I saw people walking. I was so confused because we were in the middle of the lake, but apparently we swam over two sand bars (or mud bars) and people actually got up and walked. I tried to swim as long as I could over both and only stopped when my arms hit the ground. My arms were also freezing since the air was so cold, so I didnt even really warm up. By far worst tri swim ever. I came out in 2nd or 3rd (cant remember), but still was not happy with my performance. Hopefully I have gotten the bad swim out of my system.
The bike - this is where it went from bad to worse. In T1 I put on as many layers as I could which wasnt much, as you can see in the photo. Luckily I was able to score some toe warmers at the expo and found some gloves stashed at my mom's house in Houston. On a side note, this bike was in the same area as the Ironman Texas course and being in Houston I figured it would be flat. Boy was I wrong. Those of you coming down south in May be prepared for some hills.
It took me about 20 miles to warm up and literally everyone around me was saying the same thing. But finally I did and was feeling tons better. Before this race I knew that my biggest issue in the longer races is nutrition. As hard as I try, I cant get anything down. This race was no different. I waited 15 minutes after the swim and then started to try the plan that coach and I had talked about. 230 cal an hour. I know in Ironman I need more, but coming from my last half ironman where I took in 100 cals total on the bike, this was a good first step. Well I tried to take in as much as I could without puking and actually felt full the whole time. I didnt realize it at the time, but I only took in 1.5 bottles of gatorade and 120 calories of shot blocks so about 300 calories overall for the bike. This would prove to be disasterous. I got off the bike and saw my family and waved. I thought I was feeling good but as you can tell by my poor attempt at a shaka, I was not doing as well as I had thought.
The Run -
The goal was to take in 1 shot block every mile and a half starting right out of the transition. I took the first one with a glass of water from T2 and right back up it came. I tried again with the same result. I started to run but realized by the amount of people passing me that it was more of a shuffle. All of a sudden I had a horrible pain in my stomach and could barely stay upright. I continued this way for 5 miles. I tried to take in water, gatorade and anything else at the aid stations with no luck. FInally I saw Chris at mile 5 and stopped to talk to him. It just so happened that right by him was one of the medical team drs. She came over and took my blood pressure a few times and told me that it was too low and the machine wasnt able to read it. We started talking about what had been going on and she finally suggested that I pull out. It was the hardest thing I have had to do in a race to date but knowing that it was not an A race and my season is just starting, I thought continuing would do more harm than good. I spoke to my coach after and she thought that I had made the right decision, and from now until May the focus is on training my body to take in more calories.
Here is where things started to get better - the post race drink always helps!
Over Thanksgiving and for 2.5 weeks over Christmas I will be in Houston training mostly on the bike practicing to get in nutrition. I have realized that on the bike I am really only able to take in liquids, so I am trying to add carbo pro to my gatorade and with that, I am getting in about 250 cals an hour. Over thanksgiving I was able to get in everything but was peeing every hour, which is a huge pain in my ass. I am back home friday and will continue testing this out. But if anyone has any suggestions, I am open to try anything!
Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend in HNL!
My dad, grandmother, Chris and I all headed to Conroe on saturday so that we could spend the night close to the race site. It was freezing. I have only raced one race with a wetsuit and I loved it, but I quickly realized I would need a long sleeve one. The air was 33 degrees in the morning and all i had was a short sleeved wetsuit. Oh well, too late to stress about it.
The best part of the race was that it started about 50 feet from our hotel room so I was able to warm up until right before my wave started
Pre race - dont let the smile deceive you, I was effing cold.
We finally left the room to go outside and get ready to start. I think the look on my face says it all. This is probably the first time I didnt want to actually get in the water.
The swim was one of the worst I have ever experienced. The fog coming off the water made the visibility so bad that I couldnt see more than a foot in front of me. I had to stop and breastroke every couple of minutes just so I would stay on course. Twice during the race I saw people walking. I was so confused because we were in the middle of the lake, but apparently we swam over two sand bars (or mud bars) and people actually got up and walked. I tried to swim as long as I could over both and only stopped when my arms hit the ground. My arms were also freezing since the air was so cold, so I didnt even really warm up. By far worst tri swim ever. I came out in 2nd or 3rd (cant remember), but still was not happy with my performance. Hopefully I have gotten the bad swim out of my system.
The bike - this is where it went from bad to worse. In T1 I put on as many layers as I could which wasnt much, as you can see in the photo. Luckily I was able to score some toe warmers at the expo and found some gloves stashed at my mom's house in Houston. On a side note, this bike was in the same area as the Ironman Texas course and being in Houston I figured it would be flat. Boy was I wrong. Those of you coming down south in May be prepared for some hills.
It took me about 20 miles to warm up and literally everyone around me was saying the same thing. But finally I did and was feeling tons better. Before this race I knew that my biggest issue in the longer races is nutrition. As hard as I try, I cant get anything down. This race was no different. I waited 15 minutes after the swim and then started to try the plan that coach and I had talked about. 230 cal an hour. I know in Ironman I need more, but coming from my last half ironman where I took in 100 cals total on the bike, this was a good first step. Well I tried to take in as much as I could without puking and actually felt full the whole time. I didnt realize it at the time, but I only took in 1.5 bottles of gatorade and 120 calories of shot blocks so about 300 calories overall for the bike. This would prove to be disasterous. I got off the bike and saw my family and waved. I thought I was feeling good but as you can tell by my poor attempt at a shaka, I was not doing as well as I had thought.
The Run -
The goal was to take in 1 shot block every mile and a half starting right out of the transition. I took the first one with a glass of water from T2 and right back up it came. I tried again with the same result. I started to run but realized by the amount of people passing me that it was more of a shuffle. All of a sudden I had a horrible pain in my stomach and could barely stay upright. I continued this way for 5 miles. I tried to take in water, gatorade and anything else at the aid stations with no luck. FInally I saw Chris at mile 5 and stopped to talk to him. It just so happened that right by him was one of the medical team drs. She came over and took my blood pressure a few times and told me that it was too low and the machine wasnt able to read it. We started talking about what had been going on and she finally suggested that I pull out. It was the hardest thing I have had to do in a race to date but knowing that it was not an A race and my season is just starting, I thought continuing would do more harm than good. I spoke to my coach after and she thought that I had made the right decision, and from now until May the focus is on training my body to take in more calories.
Here is where things started to get better - the post race drink always helps!
Over Thanksgiving and for 2.5 weeks over Christmas I will be in Houston training mostly on the bike practicing to get in nutrition. I have realized that on the bike I am really only able to take in liquids, so I am trying to add carbo pro to my gatorade and with that, I am getting in about 250 cals an hour. Over thanksgiving I was able to get in everything but was peeing every hour, which is a huge pain in my ass. I am back home friday and will continue testing this out. But if anyone has any suggestions, I am open to try anything!
Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend in HNL!
Oct 29, 2010
Happy Halloween
I love Halloween. If i were living in the US right now I would be busy getting my last minute slutty outfit(s) ready for one of several Halloween parties going on this weekend. I had a costume closet when I lived in Hawaii that was downsized to a costume box here during the move, but I still dont have any excuse to open it since we dont have Halloween here. I thought about getting dressed up anyway, but then I saw someone at the grocery store dressed up in purple carrying a witch's hat, and noone (except me) knew whether or not this was her normal attire. People were sort of staring and asking each other what she was doing. I dont want to be the crazy lady who wears costumes to Costco. I did make a run to CVS when I was in Houston last weekend to stock up on Halloween candy. No, we wont have trick-or-treaters which means all the snickers and twix will get eaten by Chris and me, and I will probably go into next week's race 10lbs fatter than I am now.
So since we are only celebrating by eating candy and getting fat and not by dressing up, I decided to post some photos of past halloweens in memory of what is my second favorite holiday. Oh Halloween how I miss you.
Bono and The Edge. We went to see the concert the night before so these were last minute costumes.
There was the year Nola was Yoda. I think this was her first Halloween and she probably is not happy that her new mommy likes to dress her up and make fun of her.
There was the slutty angels costumes. You cant really tell how slutty they were in this photo.
There was the year Nola was Yoda for the second time. Yes she has obviously outgrown the costume and was not happy that I dressed her up, laughed at her and took her photo for the world to see.
And who can forget the pumpkins. This was one my friend and I did at work - cannibal pumpkin. we didnt win the contest.
Lance and Sheryl (pre break-up)
I couldnt find photos of my absolute favorite costumes when I went as Anthony Kiedis, tattoos and all, or Britney Spears in her KFed days (I had a KFed too). If they ever turn up I will post. Because I like post drunk halloween humiliation to haunt me - even years later. And even when I am humiliating myself.
So since we are only celebrating by eating candy and getting fat and not by dressing up, I decided to post some photos of past halloweens in memory of what is my second favorite holiday. Oh Halloween how I miss you.
Bono and The Edge. We went to see the concert the night before so these were last minute costumes.
There was the year Nola was Yoda. I think this was her first Halloween and she probably is not happy that her new mommy likes to dress her up and make fun of her.
There was the slutty angels costumes. You cant really tell how slutty they were in this photo.
There was the year Nola was Yoda for the second time. Yes she has obviously outgrown the costume and was not happy that I dressed her up, laughed at her and took her photo for the world to see.
And who can forget the pumpkins. This was one my friend and I did at work - cannibal pumpkin. we didnt win the contest.
Lance and Sheryl (pre break-up)
I couldnt find photos of my absolute favorite costumes when I went as Anthony Kiedis, tattoos and all, or Britney Spears in her KFed days (I had a KFed too). If they ever turn up I will post. Because I like post drunk halloween humiliation to haunt me - even years later. And even when I am humiliating myself.
Oct 25, 2010
Katy Triathlon Race Report
This past weekend I made the trek up to Houston again to do my first sprint triathlon in longer than I can remember. I went to packet pickup on saturday and I heard some of the volunteers talking to someone about whether or not it would be wetsuit legal. I was shocked. I was standing there sweating my ass off in a summer dress and thought there was no way the water would be cold enough. After living in Hawaii and before that racing all of my races in Houston in the summer, I had never worn a wetsuit for a swim. I had just the week before received my first wetsuit - a zoot fuzion - and I wasnt expecting to try it on until I got back to Mexico. I quickly fired off an email to my coach to tell her that I was going to try it in the race instead if the water was cold enough. After that it was off to stuff myself with some Texas BBQ - ahh the pre-race meal of champions. We were laughing that I would be burping/barfing BBQ the whole race the next day.
I got to the race and set up my transition area (we had a great spot for the bike in and out which made it that we had about 4 steps before the mount/dismount line). This is always helpful for those of us who are not coordinated enough to put on or take off the bike shoes while riding. We got the word that the water was 72, so I put on my wetsuit for the first time ever. Yes, this dummy forgot to try it on the day before. Thankfully it fit! I will post pictures in a few days of the race.
The swim - it was a water start and I have to say, I LOVE WETSUITS! I was just floating around with no treading until the gun went off. I was at the front in a realy good position, and by the time I got to the first buoy I couldnt see anyone else around. I came out of the water in 1st and ended up having the 3rd fastest swim time of the day - thanks coach! After the race when I washed out my suit and wetsuit I realized how nasty the water was. I am now convinced I am going to get some sort of nasty disease.
T1 - going into T1 there were strippers and when they were pulling off my wetsuit my bottoms started coming off as they pulled me across the grass. The guys got a lovely view Im sure.
The Bike - I was fully expecting to hear on your left right away into the bike because I didnt think I had that much of a lead. Shockingly it never came. I was fairly conservative on the bike because we were on the shoulder of the highway and there were no lanes blocked off. This meant that if you wanted to pass you had to head into a lane of highway traffic. I have never seen this before, but I didnt want to risk getting hit by a car. Plus the shoulder had tons of gravel in it, and I kept feeling my bike slip. As we got to about mile 7 I saw to ambulances for two different people. Both were awake and on stretchers with lots of blood, but they appeared to be ok. This was another reminder to stay safe. Bike was 18.4 MPH and was third AG. I wasnt as fast as last race, but given the conditions, I am happy with it and happy I came out of it without an injury.
T2 - I didnt remember getting passed on the bike, but I figured it was becuase I was in lala land the whole time. I was sure it was a mistake. I have NEVER come into T2 first. But when I got there, mine was the only bike racked. Sweet! Time to run
The Run - all I can say is holy hotness. There was no shade or even a hint of that wind I felt on the bike. It was hot as hell and all I could think was that it better cool off by the half ironman in november or I will have some major issues. I tried to keep a quick turnover and just keep going. At the turnaround I could see the second place girl and she was moving. I picked up the pace a little bit, but she was faster. At the last mile she caught me and blew by. I tried to keep up with her but just didnt have it in me.
I crossed the line in 2nd, and with a lot more confidence going into the Half IM in a couple of weeks. Chris will make the trip to Houston this time and be my support sherpa since my mom is going to be in NYC watching my little brother run the marathon. I cant wait to have him there - he is
not as excited because he has been asking what kinds of restaurants and stores there are in the Woodlands. I guess he is preparing for while I am out on the bike. I will send him on an excursion to scout out the local area and report back for those of you that are coming out for the Ironman in May.
I got to the race and set up my transition area (we had a great spot for the bike in and out which made it that we had about 4 steps before the mount/dismount line). This is always helpful for those of us who are not coordinated enough to put on or take off the bike shoes while riding. We got the word that the water was 72, so I put on my wetsuit for the first time ever. Yes, this dummy forgot to try it on the day before. Thankfully it fit! I will post pictures in a few days of the race.
The swim - it was a water start and I have to say, I LOVE WETSUITS! I was just floating around with no treading until the gun went off. I was at the front in a realy good position, and by the time I got to the first buoy I couldnt see anyone else around. I came out of the water in 1st and ended up having the 3rd fastest swim time of the day - thanks coach! After the race when I washed out my suit and wetsuit I realized how nasty the water was. I am now convinced I am going to get some sort of nasty disease.
T1 - going into T1 there were strippers and when they were pulling off my wetsuit my bottoms started coming off as they pulled me across the grass. The guys got a lovely view Im sure.
The Bike - I was fully expecting to hear on your left right away into the bike because I didnt think I had that much of a lead. Shockingly it never came. I was fairly conservative on the bike because we were on the shoulder of the highway and there were no lanes blocked off. This meant that if you wanted to pass you had to head into a lane of highway traffic. I have never seen this before, but I didnt want to risk getting hit by a car. Plus the shoulder had tons of gravel in it, and I kept feeling my bike slip. As we got to about mile 7 I saw to ambulances for two different people. Both were awake and on stretchers with lots of blood, but they appeared to be ok. This was another reminder to stay safe. Bike was 18.4 MPH and was third AG. I wasnt as fast as last race, but given the conditions, I am happy with it and happy I came out of it without an injury.
T2 - I didnt remember getting passed on the bike, but I figured it was becuase I was in lala land the whole time. I was sure it was a mistake. I have NEVER come into T2 first. But when I got there, mine was the only bike racked. Sweet! Time to run
The Run - all I can say is holy hotness. There was no shade or even a hint of that wind I felt on the bike. It was hot as hell and all I could think was that it better cool off by the half ironman in november or I will have some major issues. I tried to keep a quick turnover and just keep going. At the turnaround I could see the second place girl and she was moving. I picked up the pace a little bit, but she was faster. At the last mile she caught me and blew by. I tried to keep up with her but just didnt have it in me.
I crossed the line in 2nd, and with a lot more confidence going into the Half IM in a couple of weeks. Chris will make the trip to Houston this time and be my support sherpa since my mom is going to be in NYC watching my little brother run the marathon. I cant wait to have him there - he is
not as excited because he has been asking what kinds of restaurants and stores there are in the Woodlands. I guess he is preparing for while I am out on the bike. I will send him on an excursion to scout out the local area and report back for those of you that are coming out for the Ironman in May.
Oct 15, 2010
Swimming is going swimmingly
Even though it is my best event in triathlon, it is always good to see improvement. I started back up this past summer, so I know it is still early, but I am already getting faster. Back in July when I first started training for the ironman, my coach had me do 20x100 to get a feel for where I was fitness wise. I have no clue what to compare my times to so I wasnt really sure how I fared when I finished, but I got a chance to compare to myself on Wednesday. I had another set of timed 100s and this time my average pace was 4 seconds faster than in July. I still dont have anything to compare it to, other than my previous time, but I am gaining time on myself, so I guess that's a good thing, right? Then today I had a timed 2k swim, and again the last real thing I have to compare it to is my half ironman I did a few years ago. I know they are totally different (one was ocean swim, it was a race, etc), but I have nothing else to go off of. This time I was 4 minutes faster. I know the real tests are in the races, but this is giving me a little bit more confidence going into the sprint next weekend and the half ironman in a few weeks. And after doing these time trials (especially the 100s), I know I can push myself more in the swim without dying at the end. Im sure it is all mental, but every little bit helps right?
Now if only I could improve on the run, but I think that is going to take a lot more than a good coach. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Now if only I could improve on the run, but I think that is going to take a lot more than a good coach. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Oct 10, 2010
Oye, Michael Phelps is here!
First of all, HUGE congrats to everyone who raced ironman this weekend. I tracked everyone all day (it was my birthday weekend so Chris couldnt complain!), and I am so proud of everyone. I know it was a rough day for a few of you, but finish or not, you are all heroes of mine!
In celebration of the Bicentennial, Mexico decided to recreate the Olympics. This sounds like a really cool idea in theory, so Chris and I went to check out the events on Saturday. It was a mess. There were over a million people expected to go (and stand together in a .5mile space of street), and walking was nearly impossible. Basically along the street the events were set up and you could walk by and see people compete. Problem was that the "arenas" were about 3 stories high with no bleachers, so you really could only see on the screens around the street. Mexico had the Olympics here in 68, so why they didnt choose to house these events in the old arenas is beyond me. I guess that would have made too much sense. Rumor was that Mr Phelps was making an appearance and I was excited to see him swim. But when we got there I quickly realized that he wasnt really going to be swimming. The pool was about 15 meters and he was in a relay with a few other Mexican swimmers and racing agains some past Mexican Olympians. Some were old(er) and none could compete with him. So instead of seeing a race I saw MP dive in and swim almost the full length underwater. Im sure he was thinking the entire time WTF am I doing here??. But then quickly realized the amount of money he was going to be making for showing up. After watching for just a few minutes, we left. The events went on today so I couldnt even have a good run. NOT happy with Marcelo (the gov) at this time.
This was the closest we got to Michael - he is on the big screen.
Here I am standing in front of the "Track". It was probably about 200 meters around. You cant see the people because we snuck into an off limits area by pretending we were tourists who didnt speak Spanish.
And finally, for your viewing pleasure....While many of you were staring at hot bodies in speedos in Kona, I was staring at my own athletes in diapers. They were competing in some event, but not sure what it was. I assume it is an ancient Mexican art form. Notice the socks - I guess that is their idea of barefoot running. Although I am not sure many of these dudes do too much running.
Now it is couch time while Chris cooks my birthday dinner and I rest up for another tough week of training. Have a great week everyone!
In celebration of the Bicentennial, Mexico decided to recreate the Olympics. This sounds like a really cool idea in theory, so Chris and I went to check out the events on Saturday. It was a mess. There were over a million people expected to go (and stand together in a .5mile space of street), and walking was nearly impossible. Basically along the street the events were set up and you could walk by and see people compete. Problem was that the "arenas" were about 3 stories high with no bleachers, so you really could only see on the screens around the street. Mexico had the Olympics here in 68, so why they didnt choose to house these events in the old arenas is beyond me. I guess that would have made too much sense. Rumor was that Mr Phelps was making an appearance and I was excited to see him swim. But when we got there I quickly realized that he wasnt really going to be swimming. The pool was about 15 meters and he was in a relay with a few other Mexican swimmers and racing agains some past Mexican Olympians. Some were old(er) and none could compete with him. So instead of seeing a race I saw MP dive in and swim almost the full length underwater. Im sure he was thinking the entire time WTF am I doing here??. But then quickly realized the amount of money he was going to be making for showing up. After watching for just a few minutes, we left. The events went on today so I couldnt even have a good run. NOT happy with Marcelo (the gov) at this time.
This was the closest we got to Michael - he is on the big screen.
Here I am standing in front of the "Track". It was probably about 200 meters around. You cant see the people because we snuck into an off limits area by pretending we were tourists who didnt speak Spanish.
And finally, for your viewing pleasure....While many of you were staring at hot bodies in speedos in Kona, I was staring at my own athletes in diapers. They were competing in some event, but not sure what it was. I assume it is an ancient Mexican art form. Notice the socks - I guess that is their idea of barefoot running. Although I am not sure many of these dudes do too much running.
Now it is couch time while Chris cooks my birthday dinner and I rest up for another tough week of training. Have a great week everyone!
Oct 7, 2010
Same ol' same ol'
So they finally updated the results for the tri (after over almost two weeks) and instead of updating my swim time, they removed 20+ minutes from my run time. So now I am showing as 1st in the run and it looks like I had a near drowning in the swim. I thought about changing it, but the overall time is accurate, and it is the only time I will ever see that pace next to my name in an oly distance tri. Plus I dont really want to wait another two weeks for them to fix it.
Nothing new is going on, just a lot of training and working with a little sleep mixed in. Sunday is my birthday and to celebrate we are going to get crazy and go out to dinner on Saturday, and I may even have more than one glass of wine. But only if Chris can carry me home. The only other plans I have are to plop myself on the couch and watch eveyone cross the line in Kona this weekend. I know, I cant get over how exciting my life is either!
Last week was a recovery week, which means this week begins another set of hard work. It has all been going fairly well except yesterday I tried to wake up to swim, and just couldnt get out of bed. I decided to go after work and get in an extra two hours of sleep. Well at the pool there was one lane open for people who weren't part of the swimming class and there was one other dude in the lane. He was a weirdo and kept staring at me. I let it slide because I was almost done until he decided to stop at the deep end and rest. Ok, no biggie, he is tired right? Wrong! Every time I swam to that end he would drop under water and stare up at me. The first few times I thought it was a coicidence, but after about 15 turns, I realized he was a disgusting perv. I decided to go with the typical Mexican passive aggressive behavior to deal with this jack ass and not confront him directly, but do deep flip turns where I would "accidentally" push off of the wall extremely close to where my feet would almost hit him. After I hit him with my feet twice (not hard I promise), he got the hint and started swimming again. Then after he got out he stood in his towel at the end of the pool staring again for the last 15 minutes of my swim. At least now I have an extra reason to not sleep late and swim in the AM. Morning swimmers there are so much less perverted. Slow, but not perverted.
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend - I will be watching and cheering from home!
Nothing new is going on, just a lot of training and working with a little sleep mixed in. Sunday is my birthday and to celebrate we are going to get crazy and go out to dinner on Saturday, and I may even have more than one glass of wine. But only if Chris can carry me home. The only other plans I have are to plop myself on the couch and watch eveyone cross the line in Kona this weekend. I know, I cant get over how exciting my life is either!
Last week was a recovery week, which means this week begins another set of hard work. It has all been going fairly well except yesterday I tried to wake up to swim, and just couldnt get out of bed. I decided to go after work and get in an extra two hours of sleep. Well at the pool there was one lane open for people who weren't part of the swimming class and there was one other dude in the lane. He was a weirdo and kept staring at me. I let it slide because I was almost done until he decided to stop at the deep end and rest. Ok, no biggie, he is tired right? Wrong! Every time I swam to that end he would drop under water and stare up at me. The first few times I thought it was a coicidence, but after about 15 turns, I realized he was a disgusting perv. I decided to go with the typical Mexican passive aggressive behavior to deal with this jack ass and not confront him directly, but do deep flip turns where I would "accidentally" push off of the wall extremely close to where my feet would almost hit him. After I hit him with my feet twice (not hard I promise), he got the hint and started swimming again. Then after he got out he stood in his towel at the end of the pool staring again for the last 15 minutes of my swim. At least now I have an extra reason to not sleep late and swim in the AM. Morning swimmers there are so much less perverted. Slow, but not perverted.
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend - I will be watching and cheering from home!
Sep 28, 2010
Race Report - Houston Tri
Ok, the results still arent fixed, but I want to write the RR before I forget it all. Ahh it feels so good to write a race report that has three events!
This was the first time for the event and it was run smoothly and had awesome post race grub! It also was my first race back and had very little expectations going into the race, and pretty much wanted to have a good time and be able to get some calories in during the race. This would be the first Oly I have done with any fuel at all, so it was a challenge.
The bad part about the event was the issue I had with seeding. I am supposed to race in the 35-39 AG since I turn 35 in two weeks (10/10/10 –this has to be lucky in some culture right?) but when I went to packet pickup, I got seeded with the 34 and under. The next day at the race, I went up and asked if I should change groups and was told no, that the computer had me at 34. Which meant I was starting with the last group 25 minutes after I actually should have. It also meant when I checked the race results at the end I was under 35+ with a 25 minute longer swim than I really had. The nice people are correcting this quickly though, or so I have been told.
The swim –
It was a two circle loop with a run in between. The water was brown and you couldn’t see two inches in front of you, but it also was flat and calm. The worst part was having to dodge all of the slower swimmers twice. I came out of the water in second for my start time, but 3rd for my AG (confusing right?). I felt good the whole time, and probably could have pushed it more, but since it was my first one back I didn’t want to die in the run. Looking back I should have gone faster because I died (or never really started) in the run anyway.
T1 – 500 meter run into T1 is never fun after a swim
The bike –
It was also a 2 loop course. It was impossible to tell who was ahead of you and who was behind especially since I started out of my AG. There was a duathlon, an oly tri, and an oly tri with a 300 swim instead of a 1500 swim all on the same bike course. But any time I passed someone I was happy. I am starting to see some progress on the bike. It was an 8 minute PR for me. I am a slow biker, so it was still a slow time (19.something MPH), but I will take it. I was able to get in about 100 calories without puking – progress! And I passed many people, and only heard ON YOUR LEFT! a few times when the second loop elites came by. The course was very flat and the day was overcast, but we had majah cross winds the whole way that really slowed me down. I just have to say, I love my new bike. My saddle, not so much. Looking for a new one and am open to suggestions.
T2 – uneventful. it's a T2 need I say more?
The run –
I should have stopped while I was ahead and never started the run. I forgot my garmin so had no clue how fast (or should I say slow?) I was going which was probably a good thing because it would have only depressed me more. I only got passed twice, but then quickly realized that I was at the slow end of the pack because we started an hour after the race began. No bueno. In my mind I thought I was running, but when I passed the spectators they were probably wondering why that girl in the red was walking so slow. Seriously, it was a shit show. At the last mile some dude who was behind me the whole way came up and said ¨let’s sprint to the finish¨. I told him I thought I was sprinting. He laughed and picked up the pace. I stayed with him for one step. My PW by far in a 10k. My legs just didn’t show up that day. I don’t know if it was the half marathon two weeks ago, the 10 miler I ran last week or what, but I was pretty bummed by this. The good news – no soreness today.
My first tri back in forever, and 2 out of 3 events went well, so I am not going to dwell on the crap that was the run. The plan going into the next two races (a sprint and half ironman) is to work on running. Swimming is going to the wayside for a bit with only twice a week trainings to make up for the extra run work. We shall see if I improve. If not, it is going to be a long day to spectate the half ironman in November - sorry dad and chris!
This was the first time for the event and it was run smoothly and had awesome post race grub! It also was my first race back and had very little expectations going into the race, and pretty much wanted to have a good time and be able to get some calories in during the race. This would be the first Oly I have done with any fuel at all, so it was a challenge.
The bad part about the event was the issue I had with seeding. I am supposed to race in the 35-39 AG since I turn 35 in two weeks (10/10/10 –this has to be lucky in some culture right?) but when I went to packet pickup, I got seeded with the 34 and under. The next day at the race, I went up and asked if I should change groups and was told no, that the computer had me at 34. Which meant I was starting with the last group 25 minutes after I actually should have. It also meant when I checked the race results at the end I was under 35+ with a 25 minute longer swim than I really had. The nice people are correcting this quickly though, or so I have been told.
The swim –
It was a two circle loop with a run in between. The water was brown and you couldn’t see two inches in front of you, but it also was flat and calm. The worst part was having to dodge all of the slower swimmers twice. I came out of the water in second for my start time, but 3rd for my AG (confusing right?). I felt good the whole time, and probably could have pushed it more, but since it was my first one back I didn’t want to die in the run. Looking back I should have gone faster because I died (or never really started) in the run anyway.
T1 – 500 meter run into T1 is never fun after a swim
The bike –
It was also a 2 loop course. It was impossible to tell who was ahead of you and who was behind especially since I started out of my AG. There was a duathlon, an oly tri, and an oly tri with a 300 swim instead of a 1500 swim all on the same bike course. But any time I passed someone I was happy. I am starting to see some progress on the bike. It was an 8 minute PR for me. I am a slow biker, so it was still a slow time (19.something MPH), but I will take it. I was able to get in about 100 calories without puking – progress! And I passed many people, and only heard ON YOUR LEFT! a few times when the second loop elites came by. The course was very flat and the day was overcast, but we had majah cross winds the whole way that really slowed me down. I just have to say, I love my new bike. My saddle, not so much. Looking for a new one and am open to suggestions.
T2 – uneventful. it's a T2 need I say more?
The run –
I should have stopped while I was ahead and never started the run. I forgot my garmin so had no clue how fast (or should I say slow?) I was going which was probably a good thing because it would have only depressed me more. I only got passed twice, but then quickly realized that I was at the slow end of the pack because we started an hour after the race began. No bueno. In my mind I thought I was running, but when I passed the spectators they were probably wondering why that girl in the red was walking so slow. Seriously, it was a shit show. At the last mile some dude who was behind me the whole way came up and said ¨let’s sprint to the finish¨. I told him I thought I was sprinting. He laughed and picked up the pace. I stayed with him for one step. My PW by far in a 10k. My legs just didn’t show up that day. I don’t know if it was the half marathon two weeks ago, the 10 miler I ran last week or what, but I was pretty bummed by this. The good news – no soreness today.
My first tri back in forever, and 2 out of 3 events went well, so I am not going to dwell on the crap that was the run. The plan going into the next two races (a sprint and half ironman) is to work on running. Swimming is going to the wayside for a bit with only twice a week trainings to make up for the extra run work. We shall see if I improve. If not, it is going to be a long day to spectate the half ironman in November - sorry dad and chris!
Sep 27, 2010
How do you know if you travel too much?
Race report for my first tri is coming soon. I am still waiting for them to adjust the time for my swim to be correct, but in a nutshell I was top three in swim, had some major improvements on the bike and ran like crap. 2 out of 3 isnt awful for my first race back in almost 3 years though!
After almost a month away from home I started realizing there are some big hints for me that I travel too much:
1) I never have the correct currency in my wallet and I always have currency from at least 3 different countries
2) I spend more hours in a plance seat than in the seat at my desk
3) I know all airport codes by heart. CUN is one that I always do a double take on because I read it incorrectly
4) I never know the time zone or the city I am in
5) Without fail I get into my first cab and speak the wrong language.
6) I havent unpacked my bags in a month
7) My dogs forget who I am until I open my suitcase with their presents I bring from whatever Pet store I find on my trip. Yes I have resorted to buying their love. And if I keep this schedule I am going to have to start buying Chris's love too.
8) The flight attendents on the plane know who I am
9) Every week in my training schedule there is an off day that says Travel to xxx
10)When putting in my OOO I realize that my return date is longer than the longest vacation I have ever had.
Yes there are some perks to all the travel that I am very grateful for, but it is always good to be back home!
After almost a month away from home I started realizing there are some big hints for me that I travel too much:
1) I never have the correct currency in my wallet and I always have currency from at least 3 different countries
2) I spend more hours in a plance seat than in the seat at my desk
3) I know all airport codes by heart. CUN is one that I always do a double take on because I read it incorrectly
4) I never know the time zone or the city I am in
5) Without fail I get into my first cab and speak the wrong language.
6) I havent unpacked my bags in a month
7) My dogs forget who I am until I open my suitcase with their presents I bring from whatever Pet store I find on my trip. Yes I have resorted to buying their love. And if I keep this schedule I am going to have to start buying Chris's love too.
8) The flight attendents on the plane know who I am
9) Every week in my training schedule there is an off day that says Travel to xxx
10)When putting in my OOO I realize that my return date is longer than the longest vacation I have ever had.
Yes there are some perks to all the travel that I am very grateful for, but it is always good to be back home!
Sep 13, 2010
Finally a Race Report!
Part of my long travels this month have been due to the fact that I ran the half marathon in Chicago. I was so excited to finally have a race on the schedule and to see how the training has been paying off. The verdict is in, and I am excited to report the training is working! The race wasnt all positive as you will read and I am working to try and figure out what is going on.
After a week in Panama, I traveled for 12 hours to get to Chicago on Friday night. I met my mom and Chris there (for Chris's first time) and we spent a rainy saturday doing a little shopping and sightseeing. I also got a flu shot - probably not the best idea the day before a race, but they dont offer them in Mexico, and I dont know when I will have a chance again. Sunday I woke up feeling good and ate my normal pre-race breakfast of coffee, banana and some watered down gatorade. I got to the race about 45 minutes early and did a warmup and was ready to go. Then all of a sudden about 5 minutes before the race, my HR spiked to over 215. At first I thought that my monitor was slipping down my chest because the highest I have ever seen my HR is 192, but I moved it around and couldnt get the reading to go to normal. We started walking up the path to the starting line and I thought that if I got close to the line, I would pull off to the side and delay my start until it went back down. I wasnt feeling nervous or anxious, so I didnt know why it was doing that. Finally it went down (phew) and i was off. Goal pace was 8:45 and the mile recap is below:
Mile 1-5: 8:36 pace
I assessed how I was feeling the whole way and really was feeling great for my first race back. I decided that if I was still feeling good after 6 miles I would push the pace up a bit
Mile 5-6 - Still felt good and decided I could go a little faster
Mile 6-9.2 - 8:22 pace. Still was feeling good. At this point I decided to have a gel. I never take any gels in half marathons, but my coach has been having me practice this for the ironman, so I went ahead.
Mile 9.2-9.3 - Holy crap I am gonna barf up that gel. I looked down and my HR was back up to 220! I immediately slowed to a shuffle (read walk) to the next med tent. The guy there took my blood pressure and told me it was really low. I told him that was normal until he informed me how low it was. He kept me in there for a while until everything was back to normal. I begged him to let me finish. 1) I felt fine again 2) this had never happened to me before and 3) the only way home was my mom and she was at the finish line 3 miles away. After about 10 minutes he cleared me and I was back on my way at a much slower pace.
Mile 10-13.2 (this was one of those longer races :)) slow pace, not even sure what it was since I had stopped for so long.
Finish time - 2:07.
I was definitely not sad about this race. I was able to keep the pace and think i could have run my goal if my HR didnt spike. The plan is working and I am sticking to it.
After the race I found my mom and Chris (who I had called to warn I was coming in about 15 minutes late because of the unexpected stop) and explained what happened. It may have been too many late nights in a row with no sleep like this one:
In all seriousness, I know this isnt something to take lightly. I have an appointment with the doctor to get looked at before my next race. I have had my heart looked at many a time in the past for various reasons, and have never had a cardiologist find anything life threatening. But this is my heart, and I only have one, so I am getting checked out. Im sure there is a logical explanation since this has never once happened before. It could be that all my travels has worn me down, I could be dehydrated, the gel might have caused a weird acid reflux type reaction, or any number of things. Hopefully it is just a one time benign situation and I am all cleared to move forward, because I would really love to race the triathlon in two weeks. But health always comes first so I am gonna be better safe than sorry!
After a week in Panama, I traveled for 12 hours to get to Chicago on Friday night. I met my mom and Chris there (for Chris's first time) and we spent a rainy saturday doing a little shopping and sightseeing. I also got a flu shot - probably not the best idea the day before a race, but they dont offer them in Mexico, and I dont know when I will have a chance again. Sunday I woke up feeling good and ate my normal pre-race breakfast of coffee, banana and some watered down gatorade. I got to the race about 45 minutes early and did a warmup and was ready to go. Then all of a sudden about 5 minutes before the race, my HR spiked to over 215. At first I thought that my monitor was slipping down my chest because the highest I have ever seen my HR is 192, but I moved it around and couldnt get the reading to go to normal. We started walking up the path to the starting line and I thought that if I got close to the line, I would pull off to the side and delay my start until it went back down. I wasnt feeling nervous or anxious, so I didnt know why it was doing that. Finally it went down (phew) and i was off. Goal pace was 8:45 and the mile recap is below:
Mile 1-5: 8:36 pace
I assessed how I was feeling the whole way and really was feeling great for my first race back. I decided that if I was still feeling good after 6 miles I would push the pace up a bit
Mile 5-6 - Still felt good and decided I could go a little faster
Mile 6-9.2 - 8:22 pace. Still was feeling good. At this point I decided to have a gel. I never take any gels in half marathons, but my coach has been having me practice this for the ironman, so I went ahead.
Mile 9.2-9.3 - Holy crap I am gonna barf up that gel. I looked down and my HR was back up to 220! I immediately slowed to a shuffle (read walk) to the next med tent. The guy there took my blood pressure and told me it was really low. I told him that was normal until he informed me how low it was. He kept me in there for a while until everything was back to normal. I begged him to let me finish. 1) I felt fine again 2) this had never happened to me before and 3) the only way home was my mom and she was at the finish line 3 miles away. After about 10 minutes he cleared me and I was back on my way at a much slower pace.
Mile 10-13.2 (this was one of those longer races :)) slow pace, not even sure what it was since I had stopped for so long.
Finish time - 2:07.
I was definitely not sad about this race. I was able to keep the pace and think i could have run my goal if my HR didnt spike. The plan is working and I am sticking to it.
After the race I found my mom and Chris (who I had called to warn I was coming in about 15 minutes late because of the unexpected stop) and explained what happened. It may have been too many late nights in a row with no sleep like this one:
In all seriousness, I know this isnt something to take lightly. I have an appointment with the doctor to get looked at before my next race. I have had my heart looked at many a time in the past for various reasons, and have never had a cardiologist find anything life threatening. But this is my heart, and I only have one, so I am getting checked out. Im sure there is a logical explanation since this has never once happened before. It could be that all my travels has worn me down, I could be dehydrated, the gel might have caused a weird acid reflux type reaction, or any number of things. Hopefully it is just a one time benign situation and I am all cleared to move forward, because I would really love to race the triathlon in two weeks. But health always comes first so I am gonna be better safe than sorry!
Sep 9, 2010
Panamania
While those of you in the US were celebrating the end of summer with a holiday, I was on a plane to a new country (for me at least). I really didnt know anything more about Panama other than there is a canal here, and I cant say if I am 100% certain what goes on in said canal. But after another stamp on my passport and 4 days in Panama I can say that I have still not seen this mythical canal. I have seen 4 conference rooms, one hotel room, three hotels, 3 restaurants, 1 gym, and a mall. All were very nice. Except the gym. I tried really hard to workout while I have been here, but it has been a little tricky. Monday I went to the swim before I got on the plane, knowing that would be my last swim for a while. Tuesday I woke up early to a gym that houses 2 treadmills a stairmaster and a recumbent bike. I got to running (I had 400s on the schedule) and quickly realized that the tready wasnt calibrated quite right. After upping the speed to what said 4 minute miles I felt like I was actually going 7ish min miles. I stuck the speed there and just ran 2 minutes instead of 400s. Yes I know that 7/4 does not equal 2, but counting by 2s was a lot easier for me than counting by 1:30s. Day 2 I had a bike on the schedule, but since there is only a recumbent bike, I was told to just do an easy run. I was going to attempt to swim this AM, but the pool is exactly 4 meters long. I asked the front desk if I could swim in the canal (it is water after all), and they looked at me like I was crazy, and I didnt want a repeat of what happened in Cancun where I got pulled out of the water because the hotel was scared I would drown in the waves. So instead of swimming, I am sitting in my room eating jelly beans and watching tv pretending that this is all good training for sunday's race.
Mixed in with this non training in Panama were a few parties. Here is a photo of what goes on when you mix people from all over Latin America and give them glasses of champagne with ice cream at the bottom. I am in the back. I guess I am pretending to hold my hands up to catch her in case she falls.
Next stop is the Chicago and then a week in NYC where I will be able to swim, bike and run to my heart's desire. Although it is more likely the swim bike and run will be replaced with walking from store to store. I will through some running in if I see some really cute shoes and the stores are about to close.
Mixed in with this non training in Panama were a few parties. Here is a photo of what goes on when you mix people from all over Latin America and give them glasses of champagne with ice cream at the bottom. I am in the back. I guess I am pretending to hold my hands up to catch her in case she falls.
Next stop is the Chicago and then a week in NYC where I will be able to swim, bike and run to my heart's desire. Although it is more likely the swim bike and run will be replaced with walking from store to store. I will through some running in if I see some really cute shoes and the stores are about to close.
Aug 31, 2010
Pulled in too many directions
So again I have been MIA which can mean one of a few things - traveling for work (check), training (check), long hours at work (check) - therefore the blog gets no love. Finally after a week in Puerto Vallarta and two weeks working on a photoshoot, I am back in the office. At least until Monday. Dont think that because I am not writing I am slacking on the training front - quite the opposite. It has been going really well and after 2 and a half years with no triathlons, I have my first one coming up at the end of september. It will be in Houston. It will be hot. It will hurt. And I cant wait. I went from having 0 tris on the schedule to having 5, and for the first time I feel like I am swimming/biking/running with a purpose. And it feels great.
This next little trip includes a week in Panama for work, a weekend in Chicago to race, a week in New Jersey for work and a weekend in NYC to see my little bro. I am going in at a good time because he is planning a Vandy reunion of sorts that Friday, and I may get to see some peeps I havent seen in longer than I care to remember. It will also be nice to watch college football with people who actually understand what college football is.
This next little trip includes a week in Panama for work, a weekend in Chicago to race, a week in New Jersey for work and a weekend in NYC to see my little bro. I am going in at a good time because he is planning a Vandy reunion of sorts that Friday, and I may get to see some peeps I havent seen in longer than I care to remember. It will also be nice to watch college football with people who actually understand what college football is.
Aug 16, 2010
An exciting week
I left last week to go to Phoenix for a conference for work. There were about 20 of us at the conference all there to learn more about a new campaign we are launching. We spent two days here - the Athletes Performance in Phoenix.
We spent one day learning about nutrition, workouts and stretches that our guests can do while traveling, and a whole lot of other goodness. Day 2 was spent actually working out - YES! And all the while we got our meals, snacks and post workout recovery drinks cooked or blended and served to us. The crew trains and rehabs professional and elite athletes and while we were there, we saw quite a few of them walk in and out. Seriously this was my kind of work trip and if I were rich I would fork over the 5K to spend a week there.
Then it was on to Houston where we stepped of the plane and into a sauna. I was there for a baby shower for one of my best friends, but I ended up with a pleasant surprise. I got one of these!
Yes, my mom spoiled me and is giving me a new bike for my birthday and Christmas. I have an old bike in Mexico that I have been training on, so this bike will remain in Houston where I will travel monthly to train and race. And yes, all the guys at the tri store made fun of me when I told them it would be my Houston bike, but I really am in need of a new one, and it just makes sense to leave it there. It will also be the bike I use for the Ironman and the few races before then. I had a 12 mile run on the schedule for Saturday that I sweated through nicely (I still think the heat and humidity beats the altitude), and I could hardly wait to take the new toy out for my first actual off trainer ride in over a year and a half. I had a 3 hour tour scheduled and I loved almost every minute of it. In the last 15 minutes the gear wire snapped so I had to cut the actual riding short and the lovely creature is sitting at the tri store waiting to get fixed. I am heading back home the end of september to take it out for a race. Next on the agenda is trying to find a name.
We spent one day learning about nutrition, workouts and stretches that our guests can do while traveling, and a whole lot of other goodness. Day 2 was spent actually working out - YES! And all the while we got our meals, snacks and post workout recovery drinks cooked or blended and served to us. The crew trains and rehabs professional and elite athletes and while we were there, we saw quite a few of them walk in and out. Seriously this was my kind of work trip and if I were rich I would fork over the 5K to spend a week there.
Then it was on to Houston where we stepped of the plane and into a sauna. I was there for a baby shower for one of my best friends, but I ended up with a pleasant surprise. I got one of these!
Yes, my mom spoiled me and is giving me a new bike for my birthday and Christmas. I have an old bike in Mexico that I have been training on, so this bike will remain in Houston where I will travel monthly to train and race. And yes, all the guys at the tri store made fun of me when I told them it would be my Houston bike, but I really am in need of a new one, and it just makes sense to leave it there. It will also be the bike I use for the Ironman and the few races before then. I had a 12 mile run on the schedule for Saturday that I sweated through nicely (I still think the heat and humidity beats the altitude), and I could hardly wait to take the new toy out for my first actual off trainer ride in over a year and a half. I had a 3 hour tour scheduled and I loved almost every minute of it. In the last 15 minutes the gear wire snapped so I had to cut the actual riding short and the lovely creature is sitting at the tri store waiting to get fixed. I am heading back home the end of september to take it out for a race. Next on the agenda is trying to find a name.
Aug 4, 2010
Starting to feel better
After feeling like crap saturday, sunday and monday and a little better yesterday, I think I am finally starting to get well. I can tell because all the junk is breaking up in my head and chest. Good news for me. Bad news for the people in the pool today who were nearby when the snot came a pourin'. I also think I gave whatever I have to Chris. And I have said before when I am sick, the little dog gets sick too. Well all day sunday he was puking, and then at about 5AM this morning I rolled over to get up and my feet rolled right into his puke in the bed. Lovely start to a day. But it did keep me from hitting the snooze button until the last minute.
Coach suggested I get in a few half ironmans before the ironman and suggested this one. So I signed up. Im not too excited about the swim since before the oil spill Galveston's water was pitch black, but the bike and run should be fairly flat and it will be good practice in humid air for the race in May. Still looking for another one or two to race. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!
Coach suggested I get in a few half ironmans before the ironman and suggested this one. So I signed up. Im not too excited about the swim since before the oil spill Galveston's water was pitch black, but the bike and run should be fairly flat and it will be good practice in humid air for the race in May. Still looking for another one or two to race. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!
Aug 3, 2010
Her name is Rio
Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf) taken from the top of Corcovado
Beach outside our hotel - where I got in 3 swim sessions YAY!
Me at the top of Corcovado - not sure what I am looking at.
Corcovado - seriously way way impressive in real life. I got dizzy looking at the top of it.
And finally some real Brazilian acai bowls to finish off the day.
Now one of my favorite cities. I just got back Saturday from a week of long work hours and early/late training sessions, but I am in love with this city. So much so that I am in the process of learning Portuguese. If you haven't been, I strongly suggest you make a plan to go.
Some highlights:
1) I had my first real coconut water poured right from the coconut. I have always been scared to try it because I loathe coconut, but YUM! Not a taste of coconut in sight.
2) I got my first acai bowl - not the kind from Diamond head Cove or Jamba Juice, but the real deal. Very delish.
3) Ocean swims - 3 to be exact. loved every minute
4) Seeing Ipanema, Copacabana and Lablon on my runs
5) Samba school - the school we went to has won Carnaval a few times. I may have to go back and see them in action.
Training there was nice, it was winter, so the runs were very nice out but the swims were FREEZING. I think it was the coldest I have ever been in water. I didnt think to bring any kind of wetsuit so I had to brave it with just my splish. But I did get in some ocean open water swims for the first time in forever, and really enjoyed it. I also got to swim out by the surfers and pretend I was back in Hawaii surfing again. I did not want to come home because everywhere I went reminded me of being back in Hawaii and walking out my front door to swim/bike/run. Only bad news is that I caught a nasty cold/flu on the plane back (bound to happen after 16 hours of travel) and am just now starting to feel better. Next week I am headed over to Phoenix for work (not sure who the brains are behind planning a meeting in Phoenix in August) where I will get some quality sauna training in. Then it is over to Houston where I will train in a steam room. All this travel has made it really hard to keep up a schedule, but my wonderful coach has been very patient and made sure that I am getting in all the training required, even if it includes 11PM treadmill sessions or 4Am biking :). Happy training everyone!
Beach outside our hotel - where I got in 3 swim sessions YAY!
Me at the top of Corcovado - not sure what I am looking at.
Corcovado - seriously way way impressive in real life. I got dizzy looking at the top of it.
And finally some real Brazilian acai bowls to finish off the day.
Now one of my favorite cities. I just got back Saturday from a week of long work hours and early/late training sessions, but I am in love with this city. So much so that I am in the process of learning Portuguese. If you haven't been, I strongly suggest you make a plan to go.
Some highlights:
1) I had my first real coconut water poured right from the coconut. I have always been scared to try it because I loathe coconut, but YUM! Not a taste of coconut in sight.
2) I got my first acai bowl - not the kind from Diamond head Cove or Jamba Juice, but the real deal. Very delish.
3) Ocean swims - 3 to be exact. loved every minute
4) Seeing Ipanema, Copacabana and Lablon on my runs
5) Samba school - the school we went to has won Carnaval a few times. I may have to go back and see them in action.
Training there was nice, it was winter, so the runs were very nice out but the swims were FREEZING. I think it was the coldest I have ever been in water. I didnt think to bring any kind of wetsuit so I had to brave it with just my splish. But I did get in some ocean open water swims for the first time in forever, and really enjoyed it. I also got to swim out by the surfers and pretend I was back in Hawaii surfing again. I did not want to come home because everywhere I went reminded me of being back in Hawaii and walking out my front door to swim/bike/run. Only bad news is that I caught a nasty cold/flu on the plane back (bound to happen after 16 hours of travel) and am just now starting to feel better. Next week I am headed over to Phoenix for work (not sure who the brains are behind planning a meeting in Phoenix in August) where I will get some quality sauna training in. Then it is over to Houston where I will train in a steam room. All this travel has made it really hard to keep up a schedule, but my wonderful coach has been very patient and made sure that I am getting in all the training required, even if it includes 11PM treadmill sessions or 4Am biking :). Happy training everyone!
Jul 20, 2010
Ironman Training
Ironman training has begun, and the first item of business was to hire a coach! I went back and forth with whether or not I should get one, but after stressing about creating a schedule and talking to a few friends who did their first ironmans with and without coaches, I decided I needed to get one. And she lives in Texas which made my decision that much easier! She knows that I am sort of a problem child with all the travel I do for work and the fact that 90% of my rides are on a trainer, but she agreed to take me on anyway. I have been ramping up the swim/bike over the past few weeks, but this week is our fist official week together and let's just say I hope this week isnt an omen for things to come. I woke up sunday with an awful stomach virus that has left little in my stomach but the three bottles of gatorade I have had since saturday. I am going to attempt to eat dinner tonight and hope I am ok tomorrow. Good news is I am 5 lbs closer to racing weight than I was on saturday! Also, the dog woke up really sick on sunday too - odd. I am beginning to wonder if dogs can pass stuff on to people or vice versa because this is the 3rd time this has happened to me. I assume I will be better tomorrow to get back to training, and I hope I am 100% by Saturday because I am heading to Rio! I have three ocean swims on the schedule next week that will all be done here:
I am very excited to be back in a beach city! Even more exciting is that my visa actually arrived on time so I am legal to go to Brazil.
Oh and has anyone done one of these? Last week when I was at the pool I had someone ask me to join their team for a 4 hour swim. I said sure not really knowing what i was getting in to, but it turns out the 4 hour swim is really a 16 hour race where each person swims an hour and rests 3 until the 16 hours are up. The winning team is the team that goes the farthest. I have no idea who counts lengths of the pool (we are in trouble if I have to count my own laps), but I do know that swimming 4 hours in a pool has got to get a little boring. I am praying that this event is ipod legal so I can wear mine in the water to distract myself. I wonder if the real idea here is to find a team that can actually continue the event without bailing from sheer boredom before the 16 hours are up and they are declared the winner.
I am very excited to be back in a beach city! Even more exciting is that my visa actually arrived on time so I am legal to go to Brazil.
Oh and has anyone done one of these? Last week when I was at the pool I had someone ask me to join their team for a 4 hour swim. I said sure not really knowing what i was getting in to, but it turns out the 4 hour swim is really a 16 hour race where each person swims an hour and rests 3 until the 16 hours are up. The winning team is the team that goes the farthest. I have no idea who counts lengths of the pool (we are in trouble if I have to count my own laps), but I do know that swimming 4 hours in a pool has got to get a little boring. I am praying that this event is ipod legal so I can wear mine in the water to distract myself. I wonder if the real idea here is to find a team that can actually continue the event without bailing from sheer boredom before the 16 hours are up and they are declared the winner.
Jul 3, 2010
Cooking on a saturday
The pool here closes on Saturday from 10-1 and I wanted to watch the Germany vs Argentina game, so my run swim run is gonna be after 1 today. Once the game was over, I had a little time on my hands and decided to test out some home made Lara bars. Well I was hoping to use dates, but apparently my Spanish isnt perfect yet and I ended up using prunes.
When Chris asked what I was doing I showed him the bars and he said they looked like Liko's (our dogs) poo. Lovely image, but he does have a point. Hopefully they taste better than they look. After that I decided to test out a recipe that Beth had for gluten free muffins.
Actually I had Chris test out the recipe since I had to work a bit. We changed the recipe a little and used fresh blackberries instead of dried fruit and they were AWESOME! I scarfed down 4 (as you can see in the photo), and am hoping I can make them last at least until dessert tonight.
This weekend the goal is to start figuring out a training plan for the race. I know it is early, but I am starting from 0 swimming and need to build up for the next couple of months. The pool has a free masters class that I am going to start going to a few times a week, and I will try and get in a bike a week off trainer as well until I really start training. Good news is at least I have a solid running base. I am debating about getting a coach too (either here or virtually). More to come on all of this after I figure out what the hell I am doing.
Happy fourth of July and Happy flotilla-ing in Hawaii (my favorite day of the year there). I will be thinking about you all from my desk when I am working on Monday.
When Chris asked what I was doing I showed him the bars and he said they looked like Liko's (our dogs) poo. Lovely image, but he does have a point. Hopefully they taste better than they look. After that I decided to test out a recipe that Beth had for gluten free muffins.
Actually I had Chris test out the recipe since I had to work a bit. We changed the recipe a little and used fresh blackberries instead of dried fruit and they were AWESOME! I scarfed down 4 (as you can see in the photo), and am hoping I can make them last at least until dessert tonight.This weekend the goal is to start figuring out a training plan for the race. I know it is early, but I am starting from 0 swimming and need to build up for the next couple of months. The pool has a free masters class that I am going to start going to a few times a week, and I will try and get in a bike a week off trainer as well until I really start training. Good news is at least I have a solid running base. I am debating about getting a coach too (either here or virtually). More to come on all of this after I figure out what the hell I am doing.
Happy fourth of July and Happy flotilla-ing in Hawaii (my favorite day of the year there). I will be thinking about you all from my desk when I am working on Monday.
Jul 1, 2010
The only Triathlon on the calendar
Yesterday I found a pool! I cant tell you how excited I was. Granted, it is about $80 more a month than I am used to spending (which is $0) and it is a little far from the house, but my happiness here in Mexico depends on it. I am not me without swimming, and after 1.5 years with 1 swim, I am hoping to feel like me again. To celebrate I signed up for this.
Ahhh, this race is home for me, and I cant think of a better first ironman. I had a long talk with Chris before signing up about what it would take and that I wouldnt have time to do anything other than sleep, eat, train, and work. He already keeps the house in order now, but was totally on board with putting in any extra work I may need, and I love him for it. So that means from now until the real training starts, I have to put in some extra effort when and where I can. I also went through all of these emotions of can I actually do this?, it will most likely be my only triathlon between now and then, is that ok?, will I have time to train?, will I be able to find places to bike off the trainer?, and on and one. Until finally I sucked it up and signed up. This race is in Houston and my family, friends and Chris will be there to cheer me on, and I will give it my best. That is what this is all about right?
Ahhh, this race is home for me, and I cant think of a better first ironman. I had a long talk with Chris before signing up about what it would take and that I wouldnt have time to do anything other than sleep, eat, train, and work. He already keeps the house in order now, but was totally on board with putting in any extra work I may need, and I love him for it. So that means from now until the real training starts, I have to put in some extra effort when and where I can. I also went through all of these emotions of can I actually do this?, it will most likely be my only triathlon between now and then, is that ok?, will I have time to train?, will I be able to find places to bike off the trainer?, and on and one. Until finally I sucked it up and signed up. This race is in Houston and my family, friends and Chris will be there to cheer me on, and I will give it my best. That is what this is all about right?
Jun 29, 2010
Things are getting back to normal
First a WC update. After yesterday all three of my teams are now officially out, which means I have to find someone else to cheer for. I am a little torn between Argentina (where everyone in my division at work is from except my boss and me, so if I want to grow in my career...well, you know), Brazil (I really like the colors and am going there right after the final match so it would be fun to see that celebration), and Portugal (because I can really watch Ronaldo play all day long). Since the US snd Mexico are out, things have gone a little back to normal. After a booze and food filled weekend, I am back to my healthy eating and limited alcohol consumption. Although thankfully I have the Tour to watch once the world cup ends while I am riding those endless hours on the trainer.
There is that little event called Ironman happening in my hometown. I am seriously contemplating it (assuming it didnt sell out between last night and today). But I have to find somewhere to swim if I am going to do this. It will also be the only triathlon I do between now and then, so that might make it difficult. But having my family and friends there would more than make up for it. And I have a marathon not too long before, which means at least my run training will be there. Either way, I know there are a ton of people racing it, so I will head to Houston to watch. And to those of you who are saying how hot and humid it may be, be careful. I did a tri that same weekend a few years ago in Houston and it was wetsuit legal. May is a crap shoot there. It probably will be hotter than what you are used to, but the 105 heat indexes usually dont come until late June or July.*
*Although this year it was hotter than hell the first weekend of June, so you never know!
There is that little event called Ironman happening in my hometown. I am seriously contemplating it (assuming it didnt sell out between last night and today). But I have to find somewhere to swim if I am going to do this. It will also be the only triathlon I do between now and then, so that might make it difficult. But having my family and friends there would more than make up for it. And I have a marathon not too long before, which means at least my run training will be there. Either way, I know there are a ton of people racing it, so I will head to Houston to watch. And to those of you who are saying how hot and humid it may be, be careful. I did a tri that same weekend a few years ago in Houston and it was wetsuit legal. May is a crap shoot there. It probably will be hotter than what you are used to, but the 105 heat indexes usually dont come until late June or July.*
*Although this year it was hotter than hell the first weekend of June, so you never know!
Jun 17, 2010
Week of rest and world cup action
This week has been pretty mellow. Last friday at 7AM was the opening ceremonies of the World Cup. This also means the beginning of a month long holiday here in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, Europe and anywhere outside of Canada and the US. I figured I would get up to the gym and watch the opening ceremonies from the tready and then head to the parties to watch Mexico vs RSA. Getting up I felt like total crap, but thought it would get better once I got to the gym. How wrong I was. I am not exaggerating when I say that walking at 3.8 was HARD. Harder than the last 6 miles of a marathon hard. So after 20 minutes I stopped and decided to head to the hotel to watch the game and partake in the festivities. I could barely stay awake so I had three cups of coffee. That didnt help, so I decided to give in and have 2 coronas. I dont think I have had a beer at 9AM since college, but Im sure in college I was way more fun after 2 beers. All I could think about was sleep. Thankfully noone works, so coming back to the office to "work" wasnt a big deal and I suffered until I made an early exit. The rest of the weekend I slept. After 50 hours of sleep, I still felt bad Monday and nausea had started to kick in. The only thing I have been able to think about eating is steamed spinach (odd huh?) and have sent Sr to the store every day to get another 2 lbs. So after 4 days of nothing but spinach, water and ginger ale and going to sleep at 7:30, I am starting to feel a little bit better. I think it was my body's way of telling me to take a rest week. Tomorrow I will see how I feel, and if I am back to 100% and have eaten a normal meal, I will give running a try.
For those of you not following the games, Mexico beat France in a huge upset today. This is what is going on outside my window.
It is a little hard to explain on conference calls with my gringo co workers why they can hear horns and screaming in the background. It is going to be even harder to find a way to get home today. Tomorrow at 9AM is the US game and if we win I might just go outside and celebrate with the people still leftover from the Mexico celebration. Vamos USA!
Chris pointed this out to me the other day. Only in Mexico would this be on the sidewalk in a nice neighborhood.
For those of you not following the games, Mexico beat France in a huge upset today. This is what is going on outside my window.
It is a little hard to explain on conference calls with my gringo co workers why they can hear horns and screaming in the background. It is going to be even harder to find a way to get home today. Tomorrow at 9AM is the US game and if we win I might just go outside and celebrate with the people still leftover from the Mexico celebration. Vamos USA!
Chris pointed this out to me the other day. Only in Mexico would this be on the sidewalk in a nice neighborhood.
Jun 10, 2010
More Marathon Info
Wow, the backlash to the Houston lottery system is pretty big. People are pissed! There is a FB group - say no to the houston marathon lottery and this is one of the posts that is going around.
All is now explained. The CHM paid $1.7 million to get the Olympic trials and they plan to fund it from the proceeds of OUR race. Cut corners on medals and t-shirts. No pasta party. Can't afford to extend race time, move off MLK weekend. etc. They can't raise money from sponsors directly so you get to sponor.
I went ahead and signed up for the Austin marathon right when it opened, because I have a feeling it will sell out fast with this new lottery in Houston. It is two weeks later and a 2 hour drive from Houston. Other than the hills, it is like running the same race. If I get into the Houston half I will run the full in Austin, if not, I will run the half in Austin. Or maybe I will run the half either way since the holidays and training dont mix with me.
Apparently work and training dont mix with me either. I have a 15K race this weekend. I have run exactly 0 times since I got back from Dallas. I am considering this my taper.
All is now explained. The CHM paid $1.7 million to get the Olympic trials and they plan to fund it from the proceeds of OUR race. Cut corners on medals and t-shirts. No pasta party. Can't afford to extend race time, move off MLK weekend. etc. They can't raise money from sponsors directly so you get to sponor.
I went ahead and signed up for the Austin marathon right when it opened, because I have a feeling it will sell out fast with this new lottery in Houston. It is two weeks later and a 2 hour drive from Houston. Other than the hills, it is like running the same race. If I get into the Houston half I will run the full in Austin, if not, I will run the half in Austin. Or maybe I will run the half either way since the holidays and training dont mix with me.
Apparently work and training dont mix with me either. I have a 15K race this weekend. I have run exactly 0 times since I got back from Dallas. I am considering this my taper.
Jun 7, 2010
Workouts, Weddings, and WTF?
Ahh yes, this weekend was full of fun. We went back to Texas to head to my sister-in-law's brother's wedding. We made our first stop in the sauna that is Houston in the summer. I remembered something I dont miss when I stepped off the plane - summers in Texas. It was 8PM and I looked like I had just run a 10K. I dont like the cold (as you can probably tell by the places I have lived), but living in Hawaii and Mexico has also made me realize I dont miss that kind of heat. Everyone there kept telling me that it wasnt that bad and just wait until August when I have to return. After a night out with probably too much wine with some friends, I got up bright and early with my mom to wait for it... SWIM!!! I cant tell you how happy I was to be able to hit a pool again. And to realize that I probably could fake it through a half ironman at this point (although it would be really slow) after a year and a half here in Mexico with no pool. It wasnt as easy as it used to be, but I got out and was shocked to realize that I had done 1.5 miles without stopping and I would have kept going (probably forever) but we had to get on the road. I left my cap/goggles/splish at my mom's so I can be sure and swim every day I am there in August because I know running outside will be out of the question.
Other than the swim, my workouts were nothing to write home about. A couple of runs inside with legs that felt like jello. It probably was all the wine consumed at W #2 - the Wedding.
The wedding was in Dallas so we made the 4 hour drive with my mom. Only in Texas will you see this sign.
And my mom said we had to stop on both trips. The place was amazing and apparently famous because when I told my friends we went to the restroom hall of fame they all asked if it was Buc-ees. I guess they all stop there on their way to the UT/OU game. And yes, the bathrooms were top notch and I highly recommend that if you are ever in Texas traveling to seek out one of these bad boys to stop at because no other public bathrooms will compare. The rest of the wedding was downhill from Buc-ees. Well not really, the food, wine, company and party were all good. Some photos below. It was actually great because the only people any of us really knew were part of the family/inlaws so we all got to catch up instead of saying hi to a million people.
Some of the fam..
My sister-in-law and me
Mom and baby bro.
All in all a great weekend.
Now for the WTF - I love the Houston half marathon. If you have read my blog for a while you will know that it is my all time favorite race and I love going home to run it. Well this year there is a change, and the race is going to be a lottery. Apparently because it sold out in 60 hours last year they want to make it fair to everyone. I'm beyond pissed. If you really want to race it you will get to a computer or have someone else get to a computer to sign your ass up. 60 hours is plenty of time to sign up. The other catch is that there is no limit to how many entries you have and they dont charge your card when you register for the lottery. Um, so basically that means that I will spend even less time blogging and more time signing up for these unlimited lottery entries until it closes in August. At least the Austin half/full is just two weeks after and that (as of now) is not a lottery.
Other than the swim, my workouts were nothing to write home about. A couple of runs inside with legs that felt like jello. It probably was all the wine consumed at W #2 - the Wedding.
The wedding was in Dallas so we made the 4 hour drive with my mom. Only in Texas will you see this sign.
And my mom said we had to stop on both trips. The place was amazing and apparently famous because when I told my friends we went to the restroom hall of fame they all asked if it was Buc-ees. I guess they all stop there on their way to the UT/OU game. And yes, the bathrooms were top notch and I highly recommend that if you are ever in Texas traveling to seek out one of these bad boys to stop at because no other public bathrooms will compare. The rest of the wedding was downhill from Buc-ees. Well not really, the food, wine, company and party were all good. Some photos below. It was actually great because the only people any of us really knew were part of the family/inlaws so we all got to catch up instead of saying hi to a million people.
Some of the fam..
My sister-in-law and me
Mom and baby bro.
All in all a great weekend.
Now for the WTF - I love the Houston half marathon. If you have read my blog for a while you will know that it is my all time favorite race and I love going home to run it. Well this year there is a change, and the race is going to be a lottery. Apparently because it sold out in 60 hours last year they want to make it fair to everyone. I'm beyond pissed. If you really want to race it you will get to a computer or have someone else get to a computer to sign your ass up. 60 hours is plenty of time to sign up. The other catch is that there is no limit to how many entries you have and they dont charge your card when you register for the lottery. Um, so basically that means that I will spend even less time blogging and more time signing up for these unlimited lottery entries until it closes in August. At least the Austin half/full is just two weeks after and that (as of now) is not a lottery.
May 30, 2010
Progress
Yesterday's run was 6 miles of 400s (plus a 2 mile WU and CD). I normally run them on the treadmill to keep my pace, but the gym is closed so I had to do it here.
Somewhere in that large park is a 1000m loop that was perfect for 400s because each 100 was marked. I was pretty nervous about keeping pace, but had the garmin to keep me honest. I was surprised that the first one was right on target. The last one was the fastest and I only had one 400 that was slower than the previous one. I kept the pace between 6:30 and 6:50 min pace, which is pretty much right on track with where I am on the treadmill. I'm not gonna lie, I thought I was gonna puke more than once and my legs were like jelly when I finished, but lesson learned. I am able to keep pace and run outside with these 400s, so no more treadmill for these track like sessions. Im headed to Texas this weekend and I have another track session next saturday. I cant wait to see what my times are like there.
I am not the only one who has made progress this weekend. Chris finally finished his first video for his new company and IT. IS. AWESOME. He started the project as a gift to his friends from his HPU/MA Com class, but he included almost everyone he met in Hawaii. I love it and he is uploading it as I type. If it ever finishes I will put the link here for those of you who are reading and are in the video (Hi Mom). Ok, off to do my long run. It is gorgeous outside and apparently the president is making an appearance on the street they close off, so I have my camera in hand and will post photos if I can get any. Happy Memorial day to those of you that are in the US! I will be working tomorrow unfortunately, but our offices in Miami and NYC are closed, which is where I get 90% of my emails from. Work tomorrow will consist of a lot of facebooking.
Somewhere in that large park is a 1000m loop that was perfect for 400s because each 100 was marked. I was pretty nervous about keeping pace, but had the garmin to keep me honest. I was surprised that the first one was right on target. The last one was the fastest and I only had one 400 that was slower than the previous one. I kept the pace between 6:30 and 6:50 min pace, which is pretty much right on track with where I am on the treadmill. I'm not gonna lie, I thought I was gonna puke more than once and my legs were like jelly when I finished, but lesson learned. I am able to keep pace and run outside with these 400s, so no more treadmill for these track like sessions. Im headed to Texas this weekend and I have another track session next saturday. I cant wait to see what my times are like there.
I am not the only one who has made progress this weekend. Chris finally finished his first video for his new company and IT. IS. AWESOME. He started the project as a gift to his friends from his HPU/MA Com class, but he included almost everyone he met in Hawaii. I love it and he is uploading it as I type. If it ever finishes I will put the link here for those of you who are reading and are in the video (Hi Mom). Ok, off to do my long run. It is gorgeous outside and apparently the president is making an appearance on the street they close off, so I have my camera in hand and will post photos if I can get any. Happy Memorial day to those of you that are in the US! I will be working tomorrow unfortunately, but our offices in Miami and NYC are closed, which is where I get 90% of my emails from. Work tomorrow will consist of a lot of facebooking.
May 23, 2010
Sunday
I did it - I got the Mexico City PR- 54 minutes and some change. It is still just under 12 minutes slower than my real 10k PR at sea level, but I will take it. In this same race last year I was just under an hour, so I can definitely see some improvement at altitude. Hopefully this will translate to races back at home. The race was not without its comedy of errors though. I was supposed to wake up at 6, but snoozed until about 6:30 and finally got out of bed and dressed. I had a banana and some water and headed on over to the race. I biked over to the last eco bici drop off and then ran to the race which was about a mile away. Great warm up distance for me. My legs were pretty tired from Saturday's training, but once I finished the warmup they were feeling much better. I got in line at the race at about 745 and realized something. My number was a completely different color than everyone else's. Um, WTF? Was I supposed to run from a different gate? I talked to the person next to me and she informed me that there were two races today on Reforma and mine was another mile and a half away. I guess I knew that my race started at the Auditorio Nacional, but I just followed people who looked like they were running a race and didnt really pay attention. I guess that's what I get for not drinking any coffee. By now it was just before 8AM (race time) and I had to maneuver my way out of the thousands of people lined up. Once I got out I ran as fast as I could to my race start. The race had already begun and the officials let me cut in through the pro gates instead of going around the extra half mile to the normal person entrance. I didnt cut any of the race off, but by the time I was there they had removed the timing chip mat so that the other racers from the other race (confused yet?) could run through the street, so I think my official start time was the real race start (just under 10 minutes earlier). But I started my Garmin on time and it showed 6.26 miles, so I am going to go with what it says.
After the race I looked everywhere for Chris and decided that he probably slept in and so I headed home. About 20 minutes later I saw him running over to the race. Guess what - he had gone to the wrong finish line too. I have no clue why there were two races. Although we may have been the only dumb gringos to make this mistake. Here is the only photo from the race (or just after the race). I dont have one lumpy boob - it is just my unfinished Gu gels stuffed in there.
Here we are on our post race walk home. You have no idea how many takes this took to get both of us in the photo. Apparently I had zoomed in instead of out. Woops.
Mexico like all other countries in the world except the US and Canada is getting ready for the World Cup. There were hundreds of photos from past World Cup games set up. It was really fun to see them all.
Go USA!
We got home and showered and headed to the international festival that was along the other side of Reforma. All the countries had their booths with food, clothes, jewlrey, and information on visiting the countries. I must say it was very interesting to see booths from Iran, Paletstine and North Korea although there really was nothing in this booth other than one representative from the country. She didnt look completely malnourished, so she definitely doesnt actually live there. I got a bag from Palestine - I figure it is the closest I will ever get to visiting there. Here is Chris playing the bongos in Cuba. Fully clothed of course.
Eating in Argentina
Posing with an alpaca in peru while drinking my wine from Argentina.
This one's for you dad and Mary (the Peruvian side of my family)
All in all a great day and now I am sitting in recovery socks totally bummed I cant watch Lost tonight. Apparently dish is moving around the satellite and since we have such a weak signal in Mexico City it will take about 8 days to get service again. I can only imaging what is going on. I keep thinking of my Garmin asking me every day if I am still indoors or if I have moved more than 100 miles from the last time I used it. I guess the same thing is happening here on a much bigger scale.
After the race I looked everywhere for Chris and decided that he probably slept in and so I headed home. About 20 minutes later I saw him running over to the race. Guess what - he had gone to the wrong finish line too. I have no clue why there were two races. Although we may have been the only dumb gringos to make this mistake. Here is the only photo from the race (or just after the race). I dont have one lumpy boob - it is just my unfinished Gu gels stuffed in there.
Here we are on our post race walk home. You have no idea how many takes this took to get both of us in the photo. Apparently I had zoomed in instead of out. Woops.
Mexico like all other countries in the world except the US and Canada is getting ready for the World Cup. There were hundreds of photos from past World Cup games set up. It was really fun to see them all.
Go USA!
We got home and showered and headed to the international festival that was along the other side of Reforma. All the countries had their booths with food, clothes, jewlrey, and information on visiting the countries. I must say it was very interesting to see booths from Iran, Paletstine and North Korea although there really was nothing in this booth other than one representative from the country. She didnt look completely malnourished, so she definitely doesnt actually live there. I got a bag from Palestine - I figure it is the closest I will ever get to visiting there. Here is Chris playing the bongos in Cuba. Fully clothed of course.
Eating in Argentina
Posing with an alpaca in peru while drinking my wine from Argentina.
This one's for you dad and Mary (the Peruvian side of my family)
All in all a great day and now I am sitting in recovery socks totally bummed I cant watch Lost tonight. Apparently dish is moving around the satellite and since we have such a weak signal in Mexico City it will take about 8 days to get service again. I can only imaging what is going on. I keep thinking of my Garmin asking me every day if I am still indoors or if I have moved more than 100 miles from the last time I used it. I guess the same thing is happening here on a much bigger scale.
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