Procrastination. Pelvis. Plodding.

I haven’t been swimming in a month. I have several reasons and excuses, but none of them change the fact that I haven’t been swimming- masters or otherwise – in a month. Work is excruciating. I am tired when I do have the time to actually make it, I prefer not to. The weather has been cold and wet, and - well, it gets kind of redundant! All real reasons, but still don’t change the fact that it has been a month.



I HAVE been biking a lot – for real and on the trainer. The first week of attempting to complete 10 hours over the week met with some serious resistance on behalf of my uh pelvic region. I managed 8.5 hours, not bad. But there was PAIN. A lot of it. Soft tissue damage, I dare say nerve damage. Very uncomfortable situation – part of which comes from needing a new saddle,. Part from that region being really hot and clammy for extended periods of time, but you know I think part of it is tied to my needing to lose weight! There is a lot of pressure on that precious area and , well, something had to give and it was me. Ouch. How do women complete century rides, Ironman..etc – unless I need to build up a crotch callous?



YUCK



I have also been running regularly – if not copiously. I participated in a BT challenge to do 50 miles this month, which I have just completed. I will try to maintain minimums monthly and be smarter about how I fit them in as my work schedule gets more solidified. I cannot say that I am enjoying it more, but I always feel excellent after. It’s the time thing, I need to work on that. Time, and motivation....



There was a New York Times article about “plodders” in the marathon, apparently some faster runners have issues with people who walk, run/walk, or even just run slow participating in a marathon. Takes the sheen off the event, some say; and they don’t think they have the right to brag.



After reading that article, I understand why some people think runners are assholes, I completely do. If you have enough time to be concerned about what someone else is doing on the course, you have bigger issues than you think. (and smaller privates too) Faster athletes annoyed with slower ones for....what? Breathing too much? How far should we follow that reasoning - if you aren't doing as well as X, then you must not be working hard and therefore don't deserve to be there? How do you know what obstacles or challenges these individuals have dealt with to just be there? Wow. Just, wow.

What is the REAL issue?

Without us slower folk they wouldn't be all that fast would they? Their speed is only in relation to the plodders...and without the plodders, who would you have to critique? Yourself perhaps?

Humming MJ's Man in the Mirror.....and laughing....

On another note, I want to mention a website that I am falling in love with that feeds my avid consumerism and is all chick power and everything....

TEAM ESTROGEN!!!

got some more socks to feed the fetish..am looking at bike seats for aforementioned reasons....they rock!

Inspiration for the long haul

I spend an inordinate amount of time mooning over all things tri- mostly gear and toys, but also race reports, other folks blogs, etc. It is all so addicting!


A site I recently joined, GOTRIBAL, is promoted by a professional triathlete and women's world record holder, Chrissie Wellington. She is supposedto be hot stuff - well, she holds the record and only startedracing tri a few years ago. Nice.


Over last weekend I remembered that it was time for Kona - the granddaddy of triathlons, an Ironman event held in Hawaii. I found the website and got a live feed and athlete tracker, and checked in. In only knew two pro names, one of the being Chrissies. I saw that her name was not in the top 10 afterthe swim, and forgot about the race for a few hours.




I came back many hours later and found that she was notonly in the top 10 on the bike, she was leading the women's race! Wow, just...wow. I kept checking in every few hours and had the ultimate honor of watching the last 20 minutes of her race, which moved me to tears.





This woman had a big smile on her face the entire time. She broke a world record in the process. When she won, she did not run across the finish line - she laid down and rolled, in honor of John Blais, Warrior Poet. She cried, hugged her parents, thankedthe crowd, and stayed after for a loooong time to congratulate athletes crossing the finish line - AFTER WINNING A 140 MILE RACE!



Man, me sweating and moping over my nothing miles, and she grinning and encouraging others after 140. What a way to have your perspective adjusted - in a number of ways! A few minutes of viewing, a lifetime of inspiration. I looked her up, and found that she is not just an amazing athlete but a socially aware individual who practices the divine concept of Paying It Forward ( I really really like her, now!)

so that leads me into crystallizing some stuff I have been thinking about lately....



I'm going to HTFU. As much as I can. And I do this because I love it, so why not let it show that I am having fun and enjoying myself even when sweating blood?

I am looking for ways to inspire others to participate too. Haven't figured that out, but I will start by trying to set a positive example.

Make racing mean something - for a cause. OK, I know about Team in Training. But there are other causes that are near and dear to my heart as I have loved ones who deal with daily challenges , and then other personal interests I have that I would love to support.

so my short list is

The Reeves Foundation




Autism Speaks


Women for Women

Heifer International

Why NOT make a difference? I already donate to these organizations, but maybe there is a way to raise awareness and get even more resources directed towards importantcauses - even in a small way. Oh, and smile while doing it.

Thanks, Chrissie!

bleh

It is getting more and more difficult to drag myself to masters swim every week. I am not sure why.

Sure, it is a hard workout. One which sometimes leaves me feeling like demoralized – like I have never attempted to swim before, and should never attempt again. Fighting through rush hour traffic (after already having a daunting commute) adds to it as well. Having to detangle, wash and condition my hair afterwards lest it fall out all at once from chlorine is also a factor. Oh – and it is getting cold now, and it is easier to face freezing cold water coming in from warm weather versus cold. Sometimes (during this time of year) I just don’t feel like getting WET. AT ALL.


Ugh.

I know how much I need to improve my swim time and skills, nothing makes it more apparent than masters that is for sure. But damn. I am skipping another session today – sinuses. I just cannot tolerate it for one more second! But it is back to the grind on Thursday.


On another note – I need a new saddle for Elphaba. My crotchital region has suffered too much this past summer and needs a break. I had kinda wished that after suffering through enough stress that I would get callous down there, but if anything its more sensitive. So I am looking into a Terry Butterfly and Adamo seats for women – I want to be able to sit comfortably for a longer period of time. (I need no excuses to skip out training sessions, as you can see).














I am thinking of generating a challenge for myself on the bike – 10 hours a week! For one month. I want to build stamina and speed, and also just see if I can do it. The majority of this will be done on the trainer obviously, but the beauty of it is that I CAN do it on the trainer . No speed or resistance goals, just DO it as Nike rants. I want – need – to jump start my continued weight loss journey and am hoping this will help.

I will start trying a week at a time, and see how it goes.

The Cheese Stands Alone!

Training – working out – anything athletic – can be difficult for the majority of the American public to relate to. I get that. Triathlon type training I guess is even more isolating. As most people don’t even exercise at al, and I feel like a fat slug if I don’t get at least 60 minutes of something in per day. OK, no problem. I swim, bike and run by myself. From time to time I join up with some cool chicks for a group ride – there was that training class that kicked my BUTT – and I try to drag my carcass over to Masters swim twice a week (more like once lately). But for regular working out?

O solo mio.

I don’t always mind. I decided a loooong time ago that I LIKE me and like getting to know me and spending time with me. But too much chocolaty goodness with no variety does, eventually get boring. And since I relate to me so well, I can talk myself out of the 5 am workouts and the after work bike rides quite easily. This is what has been happening lately. I don’t always mind letting me down but I would not let someone else down, or leave someone else alone at 5 am…

So I am getting a bit bored. Dangerous thing. I do have a few goals I am aiming towards this fall/winter…..all of which add up to increasing my base volume and speed. Altogether I am really looking forward to it, as I am hopelessly addicted.