Update & Sneakin Away

Finishing the semester was a big relief (so were the straight A's). I'm still busy, but I have been able to relax a little more and training hours added up quickly this week; it's nice to work out and not feel rushed or on a strict time schedule.

There's only one problem: No running. Nope, not once since the OC Duathlon. Yup, I definitely have an issue... that dang IT Band! Long story short, it comes down to mechanics. I know the ins & outs of correct form and can pick apart someone's run/bike mechanics pretty well, but I'm missing that third-party feedback letting me know if I personally am doing it all correctly even if I think I am.

Finishing the Du; you can see the look of "uh-oh" on my face (courtesy of opix)...

So, plan is to stay off running for a bit. It's been a week today. Sucks, because this was the last "big week" before Boise 70.3, but it is what it is. I'm not stressing. The good news is: where I lacked in running I made up in swimming, which is definitely something I need... I logged 16k in a five-day period--new record for me! Thankfully it's mostly LCM so less pushing off the wall, which hurts. Plenty of cycling, gym time, rowing and PT too.

Saturday morning I rode 65 miles. It was a very enjoyable, sunny and hot 3.5 hours out in OC. Crazy winds, interesting people and lots of thinking time. I couldn't help but laugh at one point because I think GU saves me from becoming a thief... I often get very tempted to steal strawberries from the fields because they smell sooo good, but instead I'll suck down one of these:

I've also included a little low-intensity hiking. Like I say about surfing, hiking is therapeutic for me. It's nice to get out in nature, away from technology and not feel like you have to hold a certain HR, yet you're still being active. It's just enjoyable and a good way to spend an afternoon with someone special.

Benoit & I, almost at the top of Saddleback Mountain (uh, jk, not quite haha)... Stopping to smell the flowers...

A little serenity (sorry, just a pose, I wasn't actually meditating)...I wore my new Zoot Active compression pants during the hike. In fact, I've been wearing them during a lot of workouts lately, and these things rock...

Anyways, speaking of "someone special," Benoit gave me flowers the other night. I accepted them graciously, but later told him I'm not much of a "flower girl." I'd personally rather have a bouquet of spare tubes, CO2 cartridges and body glide or something. Seriously. So, these were a first and a last:
Don't get me wrong... I like flowers. Just not when they're all cut up out of their natural element. Seeing them on during hike is good enough for me.

Next up: A little getaway to SLO to visit the sis. Just trying to make every moment count.

OC Duathlon RR: Do the Du? Done.

So my legs decided to show up and play Saturday morning for a race that I officially signed up for Friday evening. I know I know... why race so soon after clearly needing R&R after Bonelli? Well, the OC Duathlon was tentative until Fri because of all that's going on, but given it takes place 3.5 miles from my house, I couldn't pass up a race on my home course. Plus, I finished my first year of grad school on Wed, good "life" things were happening & I felt that fire to compete. So I just lived in my Zoot compression tights all week in anticipation of the pending race and then wore Zoot active compression socks for the first time racing... good calls.

Note compression socks (and the cool award: sunglsses! That helps justify a race entry fee.)

The short version of the race is this: I felt great nearly the whole time, i.e. I was hurting but able to go at the paces I wanted to go (a big change from the recent Bonelli triathlon). There was a lot of drafting on the bike, and that pissed me off. Then I passed Olympian Julie Ertel on the bike (triathlete in the '08 Beijing Games), and that motivated me a lot. I held my lead on Julie until the final few seconds of 5k #2... if I had to get passed at the end, at least it was by an Olympian. Also during 5k #2, I think I hurt my right knee. Ugh. But overall, I hung with the top women coming in 5th; only ~1 minute behind 1st place at 1:46 and change. A close race.

I later found out that in addition to Julie, the other top ladies were pro and/or elite (see USAT quote at the end of my blog). Good to know. I also PR'd on this race by 10 minutes from last year. I was faster on the bike course in particular.

The long version of my race report....

My mom and I rode to the race start from our house just before 6 a.m. I love close-by races with no driving required! We dilly dallied with warmups, the bathroom, chatting with friends until 7 a.m. Having no swim meant no major stress for me! Let's do this!

Chillin with Ironman mama Carol...

5k #1: My goal was to not get caught up in the mix and go out too hard. I wasn't wearing the Garmin, so I went by feel and a regular ol' watch. It's an out-and-back course that's slightly downhill out, so slightly uphill coming back. I hit each mile just about how I wanted, between 6:15s and 6:40s, and I finished feeling strong at 20:30.

40k bike: This course is my course, so I was ready to hammer. The bike is where I particularly wanted to redeem myself from my crappy race/bike at Bonelli. Unfortunately my iBike was dead, so, again, no mph or data; I just rode by feeling. Not such a bad thing. The "out" on the bike includes the 20k TT route I did in early April, and my RPE was about that same as when I rode it then. It hurt good. (Also, fyi, the course is pretty much the same route as the OC Tri for those who've done that race.)

But then I got pissed. After the initial hills, the route gets flat for several miles and some big draft packs formed. Sketchy because the highway was still open to traffic and just ridiculous watching people willingly get free rides! As one lone girl, it's be hard and probably impossible to pass and leave behind a big pack, but I tried. Talk about a rush. Figures, they caught me so I had to back off enough in order to not get sucked into the draft. I was frustrated because I probably went a couple mphs slower in order to keep a safe/legal non-draft distance behind them. Lame-o, I wanted to go faster! Thankfully, at the turnaround, there's a random road we go on that's off the main highway, and the draft pack broke up there.

Right away I started hammering at my speed of choice, which led me to pass one special lady wearing her Beijing Olympic Triathlon racesuit. As I passed Julie, I said what an honor it was to race with her. She was super nice and encouraging. It's fun (at least to me) to race against good athletes and compare times. my bike split was 2 min. faster than Julie's :)

Overall, I did the bike in 1:04 and change, a 23 mph average. My best bike performance to date; 7 min faster than last year and 12 minutes faster than the recent Bonelli 40k (similar bike course profiles, too)! Redemption served!

T2: Gotta mention it because it's important to the story. First off, my hands & feet were freezing and I couldn't use them well at all. Then in a rushed state, I put my L shoe on my R foot! What the heck dummy?! I quickly switched, got my wits about me and was off.... only to almost start crying and cussing. My R knee was in excruciating pain. A pain I had never felt. Literally, I should have stopped but decided to see if it would subside. It was only a 5k, right?

5k #2: So I'm running along and my R knee is on fire in pain. I started to cuss out loud saying (close your eyes kids) "What the f*** is going on in my knee?! sh*****t." The guys around me probably thought I was crazy, then this PT guy who's running tried to diagnose me, ha! Too bad he diagnosed the wrong knee/leg (but he did have good advice nevertheless).

A mile into the run I decided, "What's 2.1 more miles? I'm doing alright in this race, so I can't stop." (meanwhile, I'm sure my running stride looked pitiful and I was probably making the worst face of pain ever.) At the turnaround I noticed Olympic Julie was gaining on me. I never looked back to check on her, but I knew she was coming. I tried to push on. Then with literally seconds left, she passed me. I said to her, "I'm at least glad it's you passing me." She chuckled and went on to finish only 5 seconds in front of me. Dang, I almost beat an Olympian :( My second 5k was a bit slower, 21:20.

Finish: I love being done with races. It's the best ever! As an added bonus, I got to celebrate with my dad and the new boy, Benoit, who both ran in the open 5k. It was my dad's first-ever race that I convinced him to do with a work buddy and Benoit, go me... hollaaaaa! All the boys podiumed too, despite--get this--missing the start of the race! They were late because my dad had made a Starbucks detour before the stop. Oh my... that would never happen if I was in charge :)

Benoit and I post-race. Did I mention I looooove Zoot?!

My mom also did the Du despite some little injuries on the table. We agreed she had to race with a different mentality and not go out trying to "kill it"but rather just have fun. She stuck to the plan, staying way mellow on the runs... but she hammered the bike (pain-free she said)!

After learning a little more about the women I was in the race with, I couldn't help but smile. Here's what's posted on the USAT website (the OC Du was a qualifier for nationals): "The women's race was very exciting featuring some well known names. [Bill] Leach says there was 'hot competition amongst the overall leaders and age group winners.' Sue Davis, the former Masters duathlon world champion, duked it out with 2008 Olympian Julie Ertel, former elite triathlete Dolly Ginter and up-and-comer Samo Michel. Only 25 seconds separated Davis, Ginter and Michel who placed first, second and third respectively. Ertel wrapped up the top four finishing 1:12 back of first."

....and then there was little ol' me in 5th (2nd AG to Sam Michel).

Good times.

The only bummer of the race was leaving with a new bum R knee. I could barely walk for the rest of Sat/Sun, and I canceled my long Sunday ride which literally made me depressed (be glad you weren't with me on Sunday). I swam Monday, but couldn't push off the wall. So it's a waiting game right now... I did get expert medical advice already, and I have some ideas of what it could be. But I'm waiting a little longer and resting before taking further action. Hoping for the best.

Protecting My California Tan

The sun shining. The days are longer. School's out for summer (well, sort of). No more bundling up to train/play outdoors. Ahhhh. Love it.... The below picture from earlier this week says it all. And this year it's all about being consistent with one more thing: sunscreen!

Unfortunately, I've probably done irreversible skin damage in my 25 years on earth. As a SoCal-native, I became a sun-worshiper at about age 12. Tanning was a huge deal all through my teens and early 20s. We'd spend countless hours at beaches and pools laying out; tanning even interfered with school sometimes, oops! Worse than missing school, though, was choosing tanning oil instead of sunscreen. Ouch. I have Spanish/Mexican in my genes, so I never fry and am able to get a deep tan compared to those fair-skin folks. However, that's no excuse for no sunscreen.

Fast forward to now. It's not too late to change my ways. And there's good reason to do so. I'm certain I spend more hours in the sun now training than when I was a California-teen beach queen.

Problem is, I hate most sunscreens. They don't survive all the sweating and hours, they're oily/greasy, they cause me to breakout and the worst: that oiliness attracts bugs/dirt/grossness that sticks to my skin when I work out, ew. In short, the average sunscreen seems to be more hassle than good.

Enter SCAPE.

A brand-new line of sunscreen products with the endurance athlete in mind.... Just what I need to motivate me to wear sunscreen! I'll jump on almost any bandwagon that involves endurance sports :) I received several SCAPE products recently, and I can say with 100% honesty that I've never been "excited" about sunscreen. This stuff is the real deal. It lasts. It works. I actually want to wear it. (Inevitably, I still get somewhat tan, but at least I know I'm protected against the most harmful rays.)

Most importantly, SCAPE is easy to put on and it's not oily and gross. My favorite is their 50-SPF face stick that's applied like deodorant or Blody Glide. There's also 30- and 50-SPF lotions, sprays, lip balm and more. A little goes a long way, so don't expect having to buy more 24/7.

Oh yea, I almost forgot... when your head/face sweats, SCAPE won't get into your eyes and sting like crazy as if you're going blind. (It's no bueno getting sunscreen-eye-sting-blindness while going 35 mph on your bike, scary!)

I'm not trying to be some big ad here, but it's that time of year when skin protection matters more than ever. Being a recovering sun-worshiper, I now see the importance in skin protection and I want to share this little secret of SCAPE with my endurance friends. When we get to have amazing days outside (i.e. picture at top) it's important to take that extra step and protect your skin!

SCAPE is available at Trisports and Road Runner Sports. Get some and go enjoy a weekend outside... I'll be wearing SCAPE during the OC Duathlon tomorrow!

Racing Minus the Mojo

So the Bonelli Triathlon #2. Little did I know when I committed to this race that it'd fall at the end of yet another crazy week in which my training (including the rest/recovery aspect) would take a back seat to everything else.

In fact, it's time to be honest with you guys, I haven't been able to train as well as I'd like for several weeks now. I do what I can: I get in key workouts and enough volume/intensity to maintain fitness, but I have a growing number of commitments that often take priority over a workout, over rest or whatever. I don't want to give up any of my commitments, and I don't training to be a source of stress, so I'm ok with life as is.

Anyways, on Saturday, I noticed online that Bonelli #2 is pretty much an Olympic distance (1k/40k/8k), not another sprint. Oops. I just laughed. My body was not race ready and I knew it (I've made these mistakes before), but I decided to pretend it was... I refused to miss out on another scheduled triathlon, dang it! Stubborn. I know.

Overall, the race was fun and a decent attempt at s-b-r all things considered--AG podium and top 10 overall--but on the other hand it was a bit of a disappointment because I couldn't kick it into that next gear (a gear I know exists) and fell flat. Truth be told, I called my mom after and started whining, but then this guy, Will, came up and introduced himself and said he reads & likes my blog. That quickly changed my attitude. Thanks, Will.

Here's how it went down...

It started off on a good note: I didn't hit snooze on Sunday morning!

I headed to the race sans-sherpa, as all my sherpas (there are 3 in the mix these days) had prior obligations. No biggie, except that means no pictures, sorry. Ran into Molly from Zoot, which was awesome because it was her first tri and she was smiling from ear to ear. I hung out with her and a few other fast SD chicks who made the trek up before the race start.

Swim
Ok, anyone who knows me knows the circulation in my feet blows and my toes are always a lovely shade of "frost-bitten black/blue." This is always an issue with the swim because my calves and feet cramp up even in mild conditions, and I don't know what to do. If you have a suggestion, chances are I've tried it. I think the biggest problem is: I do a warm-up swim, but then I wait for my wave to go off and I cool down, toes turn blue, feet/legs tighten up--even if I jump/jog around. Is it even worth a warm-up swim? I don't know.

So, like clockwork, we started the swim and I felt a little sumthin sumthin in my calves and feet (particularly my L calf that's been giving me issues lately). About 2 min later everything below both knees seized up into cramp mode. Ugh! I spent the entire 1K swimming in that state; in other words, I had dorsiflexed anchors attached to my torso. Not good.

People were saying the swim course was long, and yea I cramped, but I still was PO'd seeing my time as I exited water. Typical. I had to brush it off.

Bike
I love this course and wanted to show it who's boss. (My usual post-swim anger!) There are lots of hills and it's not boring even though it's loop repeats. I was amped to get goin and play catchup, but wait...

...where were my legs? They definitely didn't show up to ride a bike! Several miles in, still. No legs. This was a big red flag that my body was in no state to be racing. Even on my worst days I still get by alright on the bike. I sucked it up, and just did what I could. (Sure enough, later on I checked iBike data from from this course and and my average mph per loop was significantly slower.)

Something else odd happened soon into the bike. My tummy kept grumbling as if I were starving. Um, no way. For a race that was to last 2-2.5 hrs, I went above and beyond to eat good meals starting Saturday (when I saw race distance), consuming enough as if I were doing a 70.3. How could I be hungry?! Long story short, during the race I consumed double the amount of GUs I'm used to for that time span and had no ill effects. Thankfully I always over-pack my nutrition.

Anyways, 40k flew by. I just enjoyed the ride, enjoyed the pain I was inflicting. I had no idea where I was in the rankings because I never rode with any girls. Literally. I laughed at my "loner-ness" because I thought of "The Hangover" and decided I was my own wolfpack. (Ya know... the crazy bro... "I consider myself a bit of a loner, a lone wolf with my own wolfpack."... I was the chick version of him.)

Run
Grabbed my Garmin in T2, run out, go to turn it on and it's frozen on a screen that says "battery charged 98%." My dumb arse actually wasted time to try and get it unfrozen--I spent close to 2 mins just jogging, not running, because I was messing with the Garmin. What was I thinking? Um, something like this: "well, if I have it with me and it's going to be with me for 5 miles, then I might as well try to make it work." Never happened... and that was just dumb logic on my part.

Although the run hurt, it ended up being super fun for two reasons:

1) The course was poorly marked in a lot of areas so I, nor anyone else around me, knew which way to go when the road branched of in 3-4 directions. At that point I knew my race wasn't a "top performance" so I found it comical that we were guessing the route. I laughed.

2) Roughly half of the run was on tree-encompassed trails surrounding the lake, and I imagined that I was racing an Xterra triathlon in Maui :) That fantasy helped give me some mojo.... until we'd get back on pavement in the park. Then it was just a matter of arguing with my legs and HR to pick it up. Wasn't happening. I never knew my true pace, but I felt like the run went on longer than 8k.

Turns out I had the 3rd fastest female run split of the day. But all of our paces seem a little slow, so I'm wondering if the course was mismarked. I think we ran 10k not 8k :)

The End
Crossed the finish line pleased that I didn't let all that extraneous BS get the best of me. Looking at the results and doing my anal analysis of times I conclude that had I been rested, tapered and A-gaming this race, I probably would have been at least 5 minutes faster. But being within 10 min of the top ladies, and finishing 10th overall was ok with me.

The final red flag came when I got home... after shower, food and an attempt at work/studying I crashed hard. I napped for nearly 3 hours! I don't even do that after a half-Ironman. But after that hibernation and more rejuvenation, I felt like a new woman. A new woman who was doomed to a Monday of work, school work and more studying :(

Update via Photos

So while staying down in SD during the Zoot shoot, I brought my bike for pre-dawn trainer sessions. Unfortunately I forgot my cycling shoes, and on that particular morning I really didn't feel like running, so we got creative. My friend duct-taped my feet to the pedals! It actually worked perfectly for the whole 75 min, and it was tough to get off the bike. Literally. Um, and notice my addiction in this photo.... gum!


Moving on. Here are some inside shots from the modeling gig courtesy Zoot (thanks Molly)! One of my upcoming blogs is going to be "the real story" of my modeling experience. Quite funny. Let's just say it started off awkward for me. oh man.

Christi & me chillin in the kitchen between shots. She was one hot mamma (a mom who's a fitness model with a killer bod. hope I look that good after kids!)...

On our "outdoor lifestyle" day we got to work with the boys and take shots all around SD. Can you guess where we are here? (Hint: PCH, I've stopped there to go pee during bike rides, always smells amazing. This day was my first time eating there, and, oh my, so good)...

The man himself, John Segesta. John was THE BEST. He made modeling and "feeling it" in front of the camera much easier, fun and comfortable. Lots of laughs. This is John getting his fixie mountain bike delivered on set during the shoot. He was giddy!

With Carly in the "dressing room." I love that zoot finds real triathletes to do their modeling; Carly is faaaast (she was 3rd female in 25-29 AG at Oceanside 70.3 this year).

Here I am probably texing my mom & probably writing: "I think I found my perfect Zoolander 'Blue Steel' face, not!" or "Holy crap, they're feeding us sushi for lunch and there's endless coffee here -- heaven!" or "I want to take all these clothes, shoes, etc home with meeee!"

Like I said, Zoot fed us well. Healthy food and not-so-healthy indulgences. They probably wanted us to be cracked out on sugar to look peppy in the shots! Not gonna lie, I never at a Reese's (because I can't just have one of those damn things) but I did have some M&Ms.

~~~~

Then, just like that, I was done with Zoot & back to reality it was. Modeling was hard, but catching up on school & work after was just blah. I needed time off... so...

One Friday night a "miracle" occurred: I actually didn't turn down an invite to go out for dinner, drinks and dancing with friends. It was fun! Although, I was bummed that our ride didn't want to leave until nearly 2 a.m.; I was ready to call it a night at 10. Just call me grandma! This pic sums up the night well:

All the while, I have not slacked on preparing & eating good food whenever I can. Love cooking! This is an amazingly delicious quinoa "salad" with everything -- lots of fresh veggies, a mix of proteins, orange slices, a homemade greek-yogurt dressing, etc)

This is a dinner I made after a 4-hour training day. Sweet potatoes (two varieties - white & orange, so were the orange ones yams? I dunno! I prefer white!), Beth & James-inspired cauliflower "rice" with extra veggies, real rice, steamed asparagus, and salmon made just the way I like it... sauteed in lemon with a little garlic salt and slowly cooked. Mmmm mmm, melts in your mouth.


From food to family... Love my parents. Our house is like a transition area on weekends. I'll be riding home on my bike and see my Dad & Syd 3 miles into their 9-mile run. So awesome!
Then there's my mom. Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture of her most recent (and amazing) accomplishment. She entered into the SW Zone Championship Swim Meet with our master's group and killed it in her two events -- both relays; one she swam 50 breast, the other she swam 200 free. Her team podiumed (2nd) in both events! Go fast mom! And Nadadores won overall... woo hoo yaaa :)

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Saved some random pics for last. Remember that big football training guide school project I mentioned? Well part of our manual includes a photo guide of certain strength & conditioning exercises, all of which I do in my regular routines and want to share. I swear, just a little bit of this non-sbr stuff goes a long way! I'm a total advocate of giving up a little sbr in order to get in quality strength & conditioning. (My next article in Triathlete will explain that more)

Box jumps (I don't use a box that high)...
Upper-body plyo exercise: downward medicine ball throws (although this is for our football guide, triathletes: think swim stroke)...

Core work... medicine ball rotation (also for core: planks, side planks, planks with DB lift, bicycle situps, etc, etc, etc. Love core work)

Kettlebell lifts (I was hurting here; this pic was taken post Sunday mega training)...
Good mornings (modeled by triathlete-in-the-making Tanner)...

Calf raises... look at Tanner's calf definition! She's going smash the bike! Gnar!Supermans (several varieties of this. but point is -- not all strength & conditioning involves weight)...Some other pics I left out of exercises I love... barbell back squats, deadlifts and/or RDLs, lunges, lateral lunges, pullups, upper-body dips, plyo pushups, lat pulldowns, row, anything w mini bands. Ok, I'm rambling.

Ms. MIA is Back

Wow. I'm a fairly busy person in general, but these last few weeks have been uber crazy! I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging. I play a tricky life game of juggling "to-do's" with the "I-want-to-do's," and lately the to-do's are dominating (I consider blogging a to-do, but it's a bottom-of-the-lister). While I've been MIA in blog world, so much has happened, and I don't even know where to begin. Hmmm, how about a little timeline recap...

-End of April: Spring Break No. 2 a la Zoot for the modeling gig. I'm a good student, but it wasn't hard to respectfully "ditch" school for a week+... professors totally understand. Work load piles up in my absence.

-Minor setback post Xterra 17k: Lingering pain/soreness in L calf that keeps me from running. Good thing I'm occupied with cute zoot clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.

-News flash: Modeling is HARD! No joke, it's arguably more tiring than a lot of my training, as is the driving back and forth to SD 24/7 (2,000+ miles in 2 weeks!). Stay with a friend in SD some of the time; that helps.

-Realize I need an iPod back in my car. Radio sucks. I officially now hate that "Beautiful girl" song!

-Logging in too many 5 a.m. wakeups, ew. Rest begins to suffer... wearing myself down... but loving every second of it...

-Um, hey tawn, while you're in la-la land, don't forget: you're still a coach, a freelance writer with deadlines, triathlete-in-training, accountable for homework even when not at school and a person who needs to unwind. Craving a home-cooked meal, some wine and peace & quiet!

-Couple R&R hours at the beach. Consider it therapy.

-Buy a Macbook Pro. Need to be able to comfortably work while on the road... my old dinosaur laptop is like carrying a toddler around.

-More motivated to work with shiny new laptop.

-Training is still going very well, but not according to the plan... fewer hours available so quality over quantity. Schedule is constantly being modified. Not stressing it. Having built my endurance base, I do more high-intensity/speed endurance work aka ouch but with more rest. Not going to argue most rest in the plan if it means coming back stronger!

-Calf starts to back to normal after a week-ish.

-Log in some of my best bike rides of 2010 to-date... Nothing over 60 miles at a time, but all 100% quality riding.

-Pay a visit to old 6 a.m. master's swim group with my original coach. Love playing catchup; same crew still there. Hard set.

-Food. Lots.

-Back south for more Zoot fun... outdoor shoots from Balboa Park to Encinitas and beyond. Long day. Lots of running in circles. Literally. Still in la-la land.

-I should be swimming more. I love cycling.

-I need a nap.

-Oh crap: I'm signed up for Wildflower oly! Make last-minute call (like 2-3 days prior) to sit this one out and take care of my workload, tired body, etc. Not an easy call to make. I shed a tear. Thought process/how my mind works: WF was never an A race to begin with, and it feels wrong to sneak away for tri fun with a deadline for Triathlete Mag on May 1, a group project meeting May 2, a thesis lit review to write, finals approaching, a calf on the mend and a body saying "please keep it mellow, chick!"

-Fro yo big time with the big cup. Aka more therapy.

-Good call on WF. Wrap up weekend feeling fresh and charged up for once instead of feeling run down and in need of recovery. Result: quality work gets done on all fronts. Feel caught up. Sigh of relief.

-Get in more swimming... 12k in six days. Not too shabby.

-Pain free tempo run. Success.

-Lower-body plyo + strength workout. Aggravate calf. crap.

-Analyze training log. Yup, quality still rules over quantity. Biggest training week in last month is 14 hours. Not a lot of LSD leisurely weekend rides with coffee shop breaks in my world.

Wrapping it up:

Focused: school is top priority thru next week/finals. Writing my Lit Review for the thesis is daunting to say the least. And that group project I mentioned earlier--we have to design a year's worth of training for a football player. Legit, detailed, day-to-day training on Excel spreadsheets with pictures, explanations of why this why that, etc. Challenging given my specialty is in aerobic endurance sports!

Excited: Get a little break from work-mode for local tri fun at the Bonelli Tri #2 this Sunday (distance is little less than an Olympic).

Content: As of right now, Monday morning, I feel appropriately thrashed from a hard week of training with an even more awesome weekend that included some key half-Ironman efforts, the best batch of white sweet potatoes ever from Henry's, lots of ice, coffee, compression, computer time, solo time and some relaxing girl friend time over mexi & wine. The calf? Still doing rehab (on my own) and seemingly on the mend. All runs last week were pain free, and only a minor setback from the plyo workout. Hm.

Hm, I'm leaving out so much.... My sister on a bike + car with panicky sorority girl = accident, bang! (she's ok; one tough chick!). My fast mom and her swim competition. My dad who's becoming quite the runner and the world's best son to my dear grandparents. Someone who is making me smile a lot lately....

Next post will have more pics & more on the Zoot modeling experience, promise! For now, got to get to it!