Unsolicited parenting advice.

My baby lives out of the trunk of my car. Go ahead and call social services. I freakin' dare you.

I can only imagine what parents must deal with.

Like many new parents, I am constantly receiving advice on how I should be training, gear I should be using, things I should be reading, etc. Some of this advice is good, and I often pass along the advice to others. For example, 1) Born to Run (running) or Total Immersion (swimming) are great books, 2) never wear new clothes on race day (chafing), 3) never eat something new on race day (yacking), etc.

Then there is some advice that I really don't appreciate. It is either unwarranted, or doesn't take into consideration the plan I already have mapped out for myself, or negates it entirely. Or maybe it's just the source of the information, like people who don't know you at all.

Yesterday I met a guy in Cupertino who sometimes rides with my meetup group. He sold me his pass to the Strawberry Fields Forever ride this weekend, which is my first time trying 60 miles. He asked me what I was training for, so I told him. Then he asked about distances, and when I told him the half Ironman was a 54 mile bike ride, he said, "Oh yeah, 54 miles isn't very far around here," meaning that cyclists around the Bay Area have access to much longer rides and many will do 95 miles on a Saturday just for fun.

Well jackass, I understand that 54 miles may not be a long way for you, but it is a long way for me. AND I have to train to swim over a mile before, and run over 13 miles after I ride that mere 54 miles.

Of course I didn't say anything. He then went on to tell me what I needed to train - I need to download Strava, I need to find a real bike club, I need to do this ride, or that ride. I had just met this guy, and he just seemed a little too eager to give me cycling advice.

Then I went to my new gym for a swim/run day. I've been feeling really sluggish in the pool, and I really want to be stronger and faster but I'm not sure how. So, I started asking questions of the lifeguard on duty who gave me some really good tips on my swim stroke. Apparently, I'm just not pushing the water strong enough underwater so I'm not gliding along the water like I should be. I worked to push harder for a few laps and I was super tired.

I still feel pretty defeated, but I definitely appreciated her advice and will keep working on it. I might even pay her for a few lessons.

Some of the advice is good, and some of it is not very constructive. This is my baby, I spend a lot of time with it, and I generally know what I'm doing. When I want your advice, I will ask. Thanks.

Thinking about babies. (Not what you're expecting.)

Get it? Expecting. . .

This half Ironman is currently my baby. Perhaps like parenting (I have never been a parent) training this baby has often exhilarating, exhausting, wonderful, confusing, best time ever, and totally time-consuming.

I am constantly toting around a ton of gear and equipment needed for my baby. I have to take this stuff everywhere, and my car is total mess.

I post updates on Facebook about my baby.

I take photos of things related to my baby and post them on Facebook, but only if I look good in the picture.

I receive unsolicited advice from other parents (athletes) about how I should train, what I should wear, and the best apps and books.

I schedule "playdates" with other people and their babies: long bike rides, runs, and open water swims.

Babies are expensive. They need food, doctor's visits (bike repair shop), and education (trainers, gym memberships).

I feel like I neglect, or can't concentrate on the people I love.
I miss my baby or feel guilty if I'm away for a day.

I get up early, and pass out on the couch before 10pm.

It is thrilling to see my baby progress, and it gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment.

My baby is growing. Years ago it was 1 mile long, now it's 70.2 miles long.

My baby has made me weigh more than I'd like to weigh.

Heavy Medal

Back in the day (I can't believe I actually just used that term), I was a decorated runner. In high school, I ran the 100 meter and 200 meter dash, the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400 meter relays, and ran girls cross country. I won a fair share of races, and went to Iowa Girls State Track a couple of times.

I also received a fair share of medals, which were hung lovingly on bulletin boards in my teenage bedroom. They now live in a container somewhere in my parents basement in Iowa.

These days, I never place or win an event, but my medal collection is growing rapidly:

I greeted my boyfriend at the door last night wearing all of these medals and said, "Just in case you didn't know. I'm a winner." LOL! I promptly took them off because my neck was starting to hurt.

If you pay for a race and you participate, they give you a medal. Simple as that. You could come in first place, or last place and you get a medal. Some of them are kind of cool, but I always feel weird accepting one when I come in 526th place. Also, what am I going to do with these medals? I'm not going to hang them on a wall in my bedroom or office at work. That would be strange. I guess I could wear them as every day jewelry, but my co-workers might think I'm either overly confident or, more likely, insane. And, as we all know - I'm not very crafty either.

Now I can see receiving a medal for something special: placing, running a personal record, maybe your first time running that particular race, or your first time doing a particular distance. But, I'm not big on giving them to every single person - I'd rather just pay less for the race. For some people, though, not receiving a medal is a deal-breaker. People just LOVE getting stuff for free!

This year I ran two of the Rock and Roll marathon series races, and, as a gift, they gave me yet another medal. (I received a medal for both races already.) Here it is. Pay close attention to the address label:

Thanks Competitor Group for keeping the US postal system in business.

They will give a medal to anyone. . . including the person who just bought your house or rented your former condo. Even if they did nothing. This makes me sad. Seriously, is this what our school system is doing? Rewarding everyone for everything, or rewarding them for absolutely nothing at all.

So listen up race organizers! Instead of giving medals to everyone, is there a way to give them only to people who accomplished something awesome at the event (first timers, personal records, best fundraising effort) -  or at least give people like me the opportunity to save some money, or donate them to a good cause. For now, I will continue to grow my medal collection, but I'm going to try and find an organization that might need them for a kids program or something similar. Any ideas?

Now it's time to conquer the t-shirt problem.

Sweatin' it out in Costa Rica

I had completely forgotten what it was like to sweat without moving. Humidity is something I have not been accustomed to in, er, probably 12 years since I moved to California. Nonetheless, the humidity in Costa Rica was kind of refreshing (probably since we were right next to the Pacific Ocean). It was also a great opportunity to sweat out poolside drinks and fried plantains.

Some exercise occurred while in Costa Rica, as promised.

Hiking: My friend, Noelle, and I hiked in Manuel Antonio National Park, at the Pur Vida Gardens near Bijagual, and at Carara National Park. These were definitely more leisurely hikes - up to 3 miles each, but we did see a lot of wild things like leaf cutter ants, giant rats (Agouti), ardvarks (Coati), and a million plants and flowers.

Here is a picture from Carara National Park. I'm  standing by a tree with a very large buttress. I'm glad I didn't get a big buttress while in Costa Rica, although I did drink a lot of water. HA! I slay me.

Swimming: As expected, the resort did not have a lap pool, but I tired to go on "underwater adventures" as much as possible. Yes, I brought my goggles and went swimming in the pool which curved around the back of the hotel under bridges, near little waterfalls. The other tourists probably wondered what the hell I was doing, but damnit, I got some laps in! I also swam a little bit at the Manuel Antonio beach, and at the Los Suenos beach, but was kind of afraid to go out too far. When you are the only one swimming, you start to wonder what kind of ocean creatures are out there!

Running: I ran 3 miles on the treadmill our first evening, and did two additional beach runs (3 miles, and 4 miles) while on vacation. Not bad.

Here is the lava beach just out front of our lovely resort. The water temp was 80 degrees. No wetsuit needed here.

Yoga: Noelle and I took yoga class at the hotel. The instructor was American but she taught the entire class in Spanish. Here are some fun yoga terms en Espanol:

Vaca y gato = Cat and cow

Bebe Felizidad  = Happy baby

El Perro con la Cara Hacia Abajo = Downward Facing Dog

(Ok, that last one I had to look up online. But, when she said "perro" I knew what she was taking about.)

Extra points: Como se dice (this pose) en espanol?

Monkeying Around. . .

I'm headed to Costa Rica tonight. Not only does this mean it will be fabulous to explore a different country, but it also means I'm going to have to find some ways to keep training while on vacation.
I will go running, even though it will be humid and raining. I can't promise a lot of miles, but there will be determination. I will get in the pool and swim some laps, even if it is not a lap pool. I will get in the ocean if only to get more comfortable in it. I will hike for hours and walk as much as possible. I will use the gym at the resort, and do some cross training. I will also try some new activities that are sure to leave some sore muscles (in a good way), like surfing, or horseback riding, or doing cartwheels on the beach.

Hopefully the monkeys won't steal my stuff, or I won't end up with an iguana in my toilet. Then again, all good stories!

Buenos Dias. See you after May 10th with an update.

Make new friends, but keep the old . . .

... one is silver and the other's gold. (That one year of Girl Scouts was not a total waste.)

Since changing jobs 6 months ago, I've kind of lost my regular triathlon crew due to distance. With traffic, that 24 mile drive after work is not fun. So, I've had to find other ways to stay on a good swim/bike/run routine. The first is my new biking group from Meetup.com (pictured above). I've only been riding with them twice, but evening rides have been a great normal addition. They are usually ride just above 20 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the routes have some good climbing. I'm also learning good routes around work, which is a fantastic area for biking. Score. YAY!

I'm still going to go on bike rides and doing open water swims with my former work-mates. A group of us ladies are training for Trans Tahoe, so I'm sure there will be some open water weekends in the near future. :)

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to lose an old friend too -  I'm going to have to change gyms. If any of you know me, you know that I LOVE MY GYM. But unfortunately it is now too far away (that traffic issue again). Gym location #1 used to be between work and home, but is now an extra 30 minute commute. Gym location #2 is about an extra hour. No bueno.

I've thought about not having a gym at all, but the pool is pretty important, and I do like to change things up now and again. I tried a really fancy-schmancy club about 3 miles from my house with 2 beautiful pools, TRX equipment, weights, cardio (ahem-aerobic equipment), spin classes, yoga classes, etc. $180 a month. That's right. $180. They ask you to pay an initiation fee too = $1,200. If you change your membership, it's extra, if you quit, you pay, if you take extra classes, you pay. I don't know, folks. I'm just not sure if I'm there yet. . . yet.

There are a couple JCCs that I'm going to check out. Guess who manages them - the same people that manage my beloved gym. So maybe that will be a better fit?

I'm kind of over 24-Hour, Golds, and the like. Too many people.

I hear that Larry Ellison has a personal trainer at the tiny work gym in our building at work. But that's not enough to get me over to use 3 dusty treadmills and have a bunch of executives stare at me while I sweat, and they are doing 3 push ups with their personal trainers. It would be cool to run next to Larry Ellison on a treadmill though - race him, like I don't know who he is.

Worth it to spend $180 a month? Anyone like the JCC in Palo Alto or Los Gatos?

Tri-ing Times

Napa Valley HITS Triathlon Olympic Distance. Completed. 3 hours, 22 minutes, 12 seconds.

Last week's weather was foggy and rainy, so the week leading up to the triathlon was completely nerve-wracking. My goal for this race was really just to complete it, and take my time. This is the first time I've done a major event in the spring. The winter is a difficult time to train: I still have some winter weight, I've been taking spin classes in lieu of actual bike rides, running on treadmills, wearing extra clothing because of the cold, etc. This winter has been more about maintaining than trying to reach new goals. That comes later.

My tri-friends and I carpooled out to the pre-race meeting and packet pickup on Friday night, and it started to hail. Yes, for those of you in the Bay Area, that is ice falling from the sky, or the closest thing you will ever get to snow. My biggest concern was, of course, jumping into 53 degree water then transitioning from the water into half-wet cycling gear for the bike. Brrrrrr. . . . On Saturday morning (ahem, night if you consider if was before 5am), the triathletes drove about an hour outside of Napa to Lake Berryessa, parked, brought out bags of gear, bikes, and carefully set up their transition areas. I met a kick-ass woman from San Francisco, a really douchy guy from Las Vegas, a couple from Chicago, and a sweet older gentleman from the area (the calmest person there).

I decided to wait for only 10 minutes before race start time to "warm up" (LOL!) in the freezing cold Lake Berryessa. Seriously though, I'm aware that 53 degrees is not freezing. I put my toes in first, and they instantly went numb. I watched some of the older women dipping around in the lake like polar bears for awhile until I decided it was time to get my neoprened ass into the water too. After a few minutes, I actually felt kind of refreshed! "I can do this!" I thought. The swim seemed to take forever. I would look up every couple of minutes and I was in the exact same place, or so it seemed. The Sheriff was out on his jet ski, blowing exhaust in my face as I passed. That was not pleasant. But, overall I was glad to be back in open water and just to finish a long swim gave me a sense of accomplishment. 1,500 meters: 41 minutes, 47 seconds.

By the time I got back to my bike, I had completely forgotten that my toes were frozen and was more concerned with how many layers to put on over my wet tri shorts. I stood there for a couple of minutes, deciding on one layer or two, pants or no pants. I opted to stay in my wet tri shorts, layer two jackets, put on socks and shoes, helmet and two jacket layers, put on socks and shoes, a helmet, and I was out the gate with my trusty bike companion. (Oh yes, I saw my friend Lindsey come through the transition area after her sprint distance bike.) Cold-ass transition: 6 minutes, 27 seconds.

The bike course was hilly. It rolled up, and luckily also rolled down. Driving into Lake Berryessa the evening before, the tri-friends and I realized that the HITS Triathlon folks were not messing around. As I started *down* the course, I saw my friends Karen and Monica coming *up* the course in their last mile of the sprint race. There were some rather slow and grinding parts of the route and I still have issues figuring out gears, but in general - it was lovely. Napa in the springtime, people! It reminded me to take my time, and enjoy as much as possible. Because we were riding in a rather remote location, there weren't any onlookers to cheer us on, so I thought maybe people needed a little encouragement. I tried to yell "Good job!" and "Almost there!" to people as we passed one another. Bike course: 1 hour, 36 minutes.

It was during the transition for the run that I realized how cold my feet still were. All I had to do was put my bike away and change shoes. As I started out the run transition, I thought I had something in my shoe, so I pulled over to the side, unlaced, and felt around in my shoe. There was nothing in my shoe; my middle toes were just frozen solid. Feet are still frozen transition: 3 minutes, 1 second.

After the first mile the run course started to go uphill, so my feet thawed rather quickly. Mile 2 and 3 were rolling hills, the turn around was a steeper uphill, and the end of the 6 mile run was fast and furious downhill. I felt awesome during *most* of the run, and I passed a lot of people. It really made me realize how much most of civilization does not like to run, and it made me sad for them. Running is awesome! Run course: 53 minutes, 57 seconds.

I had a few takeaways from this event:
#1 - Just get in the damned water. It's not going to kill you.
#2 - Bike clips are great because you can still pedal with frozen toes.
#4 - People don't like running, so this is definitely where I have an advantage. I don't want to lose my running abilities while getting stronger at swimming and biking, so I'm going to have to put in some extra time to keep it up.
#3 - I can't believe I'm still working off the winter pudge, finished a tri, and feel pretty good about it. I'm looking forward to being in better shape for the next one.