Brainless Gibberish

Yes, in my last blog I mentioned how there'd be a Part 2 (a response-ish thing to Ryan's recent blog)... but it's finals week and all my intellectual juices are going toward my exams. So this post is the opposite of my last "over-active brain" post. Just a general summary of what's happening on the day-to-day.

Starting off on the training front, of course it's offseason with lots of indulgences—late nights, social life, wine, yummy foods, non-swimbikerun activities, etc—going on. And although my training volume has decreased dramatically, I still see this as a great opportunity to work on my weaknesses. Being sedentary doesn't work for me. I've been bonding with the pool especially—nothing too major, shooting for at least 12,000 yds per week (key: shooting for)—and am running still. The Felt and I, on the other hand, are on a break from each other minus a few rendezvous. My run workouts are mainly high-intensity low duration, not much LSD. Really, it's just to get in as much "work" in the least amount of time so training doesn't rule my schedule. Plus, the benefits of tempo runs/HIIT training can be just as, if not more, effective than LSD. In the pool, I keep a rather high intensity too, but, really, since I suck at swimming, it feels like every master's workout is at my max because I'm just trying to survive the intervals.

I'm also trail running again. I forgot how much I love it! The miles fly by compared to boring roads. I stopped doing it earlier this year after I sprained my ankle running downhill on an OC route by Modjeska. That happened during my Oceanside training, and it put the fear in me. Now that I'm back on the trails, I'm just running "smart." The reason I started running trails is because a while back (in a state of idiocracy) I signed up for the XTERRA 17k Crystal Cove Trail Race that I did last year. I like the idea of repeating certain races to see how I've improved. But the first time I ran El Moro for practice I was cursing myself for signing up. It's hard. You gain more than 2,000 feet over the 17k, with most of that in the first few miles. If you think I'm exaggerating/being a baby, come join me on a run out there and see for yourself.

The race was supposed to be Dec 13, but someone was watching over me because conveniently that major storm hit SoCal last week and caused it to get postponed until January. Secretly I was jumping for joy. It's not that I don't want to do the XTERRA thaaang... now I just have more time for some specific trail/hill training... I have to get away from that flat Clearwater stuff once and for all.

I'm also back in the gym strength-training again, and I LOVE it. I am definitely one of those people who can easily spend a couple hours at the gym doing my little circuits. I love lifting and I love watching the crazy (and pointless) exercises that so many people do. Very entertaining.

So that's the working out.

In other SAD, AWFUL news, my wasabi-green Republic bike got stolen outside the kinesiology building at CSU Fullerton last week. I walked out of class that night, and no bike. Part of me wasn't even surprised, as bike thefts have happened a lot on our campus this semester (ghetto area, but thankfully not a ghetto master's program). Don't get me wrong, I was majorly pissed, as was my friend Brian who was ready to go agro... more pissed than me I think! And before you ask—yes, it was locked, with a quality lock that I borrowed (not stole) from my "Home-Depot-loving-I-have-every-gadget-in-our-garage" dad. I filed a police report and am staying optimistic, but it doesn't look like my odds are good. Bummer. Keeping an eye on Craigslist, too.

And last but not least, I'm doing a lot of 2010 planning. I have the majority of my race schedule all set (again, lots of repeats from this year), and also have some other big & fun triathlon-related plans. But that's still top secret. So excited though!!!

Non-triathlon-wise, I'm trying to build up my clientele as a personal trainer/coach (so if you know of anyone in south OC who needs someone.....!). I have a great facility that I'm working out of, Sport Performance Institute. The guys operating the place range from a triathlete (my main boss, mentor and a freakin awesome guy) to master trainers who come from soccer, baseball, basketball, bodybuilding, etc backgrounds. I'm learning a lot from them... Including what it's like to be the only chick trainer who gets a lot of sh*t from the boys. I can take it ;)

Then, there's that other little thing... my thesis. Yea. No biggie. Except that I have NO IDEA what it will be on yet. I'm hoping to find that out next semester. I know it will involve endurance sports and likely some environmental factor (heat, cold, hydrating in heat or cold, etc), but the specific research question and study? No idea. I considered a study on altitude training (the "live high train low" theory), but that will require way too many hours and my entire life... so no thanks.

That's all I got for now... maybe my next post will be "intellectual" or maybe it will be about the Beer Olympics I'm participating in this Friday. We'll see.