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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.