Perspective

Really tough week dealing with death and aging....The death was a shock and it hit me in a hard way.  Tuesday night I was restless and woke up around 11 with an unsettling feeling.  So I made sure my kids were home and after that was confirmed I was picked up my phone and was scrolling Facebook, which I generally never to at night.... and was saddened to see a post about a friend/former athlete I coached had suffered a bike crash at the velodrome and was in the hospital.  I was not alarmed but worried.  The number of friends who have crashes is high and generally it entails broken clavicle, ribs, serious road rash...painful but fixable.  I assumed the same for Jackie.

Around  2 I woke up again and without pausing checked Facebook to see if there were any updates and I was shocked to read a post her husband that she was in the ICU and it did not look good..... As it turns out it was horrific, she had severed her brain stem in the crash and she was virtually gone.   Devastating.....to think it could happen so fast and such a freak accident.  The emotions that followed were like a roller coaster and the outpouring from her world is breathtaking.  She touched so many people through cycling, church, Texas A&M, Junior League and the list goes on.... pictures and postings flooding her page are so amazing.  Her smile was infectious and she lived big.  I admired her courage and attitude when I worked with her.  It was early mornings at Ventura Cove, first light and sometimes cold and she was determined to improve her swim for an upcoming triathlon.  She was present and eager at 5:30am and willing to do whatever it took.....after her race and a successful swim she threw her arms around me and thanked me.  The moments any coach lives for.   

Soon thereafter she caught the cycling bug big time and pursued racing with vengeance  I admired her willingness to go for it, as I am somewhat scared of the bike racing scene.  I loved seeing her posts, her success and how happy she always looked. It was fun to live through her excitement. 

I have cried so many tears and then today I woke up feeling less sadness and more accepting. She was deeply religious which is comforting in time of death... and I have this sense of peace.  I ran hard this morning in the trails with Mako and she was rolling though my thoughts but instead of tears I found myself smiling when thinking of how amazing she was.  I am sure the emotions will roll and I am thankful for a local memorial on Monday before she is laid to rest in Texas.  I am thankful she did not suffer and honestly she lived her life in the moment and made the most of every day....why it ended on Tuesday I will never understand but then again perhaps I am not meant to.

Meanwhile my step father who suffers from  Parkinson's - Lewy Bodies Dementia is not doing well.  In April we had to move him from home to a Dementia care home as he requires 24-7 care and my 79 year old mother simply cannot manage a 175lb man and full time care.  As we age we become very child like.  His behaviours and needs are much like that of a 2 or 3 year old....however my mom is 79 not 30-40 something and he is 175lbs...not viable.  Bottom line....again sucks!   My plan is to have an "escape" plan before it gets too late (but that is not really a blog topic for today) In any case he is not well and we are learning about Hospice and how we/they will navigate from here.  Fathers Day was so sad..he is a shell of the emotional man he was- to see this gregarious, infectious, obstinate man simply sit and not speak or react is heart breaking.   Oh...... ok I'm done- enough of the depressing topic. Thanks for letting me vent. 

The cool thing is a co- worker and a masters swimmer both had babies this week :)  Yeah!! So happy....and a good friend has a (secret) bun in the oven and I so happy for them. This kid has good genes..... 

I have 2 amazing teenagers who at times push me over the edge  to keep me awake at night, cause me to worry me busy and engaged.  We have great times and challenging times.  It is nice to have JD home with his energy and "boy" antics....rough housing with Mako and his generally easy going personality. 

I am doing a good job (or I hope I am) of self coaching.... for me a good job is no injury and I am motivated and having fun.  Crossfit continues to kick my arse and I have cut back to 2x a week as I am ramping up for Vineman.  Since the WOD is not published and is a total surprise I never know what is in store....Some days I am demolished and others I feel strong.  Last Friday was major squats and single leg squats (which were okay on Friday) but forced me to bail on me 4x8 minute intervals on the bike on Saturday - I had NO power and seriously I was going ow, ow, ow with every pedal stroke.  The delayed soreness was killer...the good news was my hilly trail run Sunday was manageable.  So who knows.... Vineman will be interesting to see- I have no clue how fit I am or how all this will play out. 

I rode Tuesday East County - which I have been doing weekly but Rachel needed to ride 80 and I said sure.....yowza  80 miles with 7400 ft of climbing- but the good news is I felt great- solid ride, was tired but not trashed. So maybe my cycling is better than I assumed. Who knows.... I am debating to I do CF tomorrow (friday) I have gone 2x this week..do I risk it- today as a lot of heavy squats (will pay for that tomorrow) wall balls, burpees and push ups- hmmm.  Will be an AM call.   CF is great as it is 1 hour and I think about nothing else but form, technique, how much it hurts.... but it is a great mental distraction.

Having it all…doing it all

Mom and me on our field trip 

This weekend was one of the best in a long time.  It was exhausting with limited down time but that is okay ( I think I prefer it that way).  It really started Friday – early coaching 5:30am masters and the disappointing factor was there were only 2 swimmers but the upside is that I jumped in and swam with them so I was able to knock out my swim by 6:45 and still make CrossFIt and get my run in before picking up my Mom. 

Friday was a “field trip” with Mom and her “peers” on DayTrippers (company for those who like to get out and about without the hassle of driving) … we loaded on a bus and headed for Riverside to “the” Castle.  As I have been realizing as I see the aging process it really is the circle of life.  When we hit a certain age we begin to regress… so here we are on the bus getting our morning snack of juice and a granola bar (can you say kindergarten) then within 1 hour we had a “potty break” and arrived in Riverside for a tour and lunch.  From there we went to an Adobe/historical site where we toured  a 1900s house followed by tortilla making  over an open fire, hand cranked ice cream (here was workout #4 of the day- 45 70+ year olds don’t get real far with a hand crank) so I hammered it out.  We fed the burros and the tour guides had voices and energy of kindergarten teachers.  Back on the bus and a stop at Toms for a “snack” and potty…. It was great to spend the day with my Mom but I did not raise my hand for the DayTrippers Catalog for future “fun trips” Sarcasm aside it means the world to me to accompany my mom and spend a day laughing and talking with her in a non-rushed situation. 

I came home and JD had walked and fed the dogs, unloaded the DW, cleaned up and was marinating chicken for dinner.  R was working so it was just the 3 of us but a nice dinner grilled by JD along with the fresh corn made for a perfect family night.

Saturday was a big day on the bike…bringing together a lot of great components?  Brutal ride, good friends, charitable cause, great weather, totally appreciating San Diego’s great weather and tremendous weather and a fulfilling (ass kicking) day.  Saturday night was perfect with my hubby watching We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks’ - a must see.

Sunday my run was um painful… I skipped the brutal trails and Black Mountain for a 12 mile loop on the roads (since John was hitting the trails with Mako) around mile 7 my legs were feeling the 100 mile 9k feet ride that I was not in shape for, but I was on a loop so no choice….keep running.  I dropped the pace and adjusted the goals to finish the run feeling good- no worries on the pace.  The final climb up the back side of Carmel Valley Rd was brutal until I saw a runner up a head and then I was fired up….head down and focused on turnover and good form and slowly but surely reigned him in!  Success and the last 1 ½ was all downhill!  Done and happy.  Enjoyed our pool with a nice cooling swim and refueled with loads of fresh veggies sautéed in garlic and onion and then added organic egg whites for a killer omelet topped with feta cheese and Chulula sauce.

Ah…. I had not been to yoga once this week so I quickly changed and just made it in time for CorePower Hot Fusion. I cannot say I really enjoyed it – 105 degrees and a lot of strength/balance poses on really sore legs and I was a bit dehydrated from running.  But I did not stress (yoga is not competitive J ) I did what I could and let the heat do its magic.  440z of water and a solid sweat….A cold shower and I felt like a million bucks!  Whenever I go I leave feeling better....it is all good!

Rest of the day was catching up with a good friend and 3 swim sessions, writing training plans and a nice family dinner.  Maxed out weekend…. Missed out on napping but I did it all and will take that over being bored. Time with my hubby, kids and dogs is when life is the best for me. Regrettably I picked up 

Pink Eye.. Itchy, yucky and no contacts – but thankfully I got a script and it is better.

Off to Chicago for 4 days of trade show… not eager to go but need to make some good International contacts for a new client so I am going.  I don’t see much downtime but – well I get to play a lot when I don’t travel so suck it up and work! 

Crossfit and Endurance Training

I have been blogging a lot about my CF adventure and I have more…I love it and plan to continue but do believe there is a way to modify it for endurance athletes.  Brian McKenzie started Crossfit Endurance; he wrote a book and has a dedicated website.  I have the book and refer to the site where there programming but frankly doing a WOD (workout of the day) alone does not cut it.  CF is so awesome because it is coached and there is camaraderie from the other Crossfiters- we encourage, nudge and have fun suffering together.  There are a few CF Endurance programs in SD but from what I have seen maybe it is one workout per week or in some cases nothing looks different than standard CF.  

I am seriously pondering attending a CF Endurance Seminar.  1- become a certified CF Coach and 2- learn more about the Endurance component and how it  can be effectively integrated in to endurance sports.  Although I have just learned to be a level 1CF Certified Coach is $1000! Yikes...I may do the CF Endurance Certificate program first..and then go from there. 

I still have a lot to learn so I am not sure of the timing…but my vision is creating a CF Endurance program in SD that is 3 days a week and is focused on CF + swim.bike.run.  More to come as I figure this out…but I fairly sure there would be big demand. 

Strength training is the main missing component from my Triathletes training….Either it is just not fun or we are too tired from S,B,R and it is the first workout to go.  So finding a way to integrally make it part of the program maybe the way to keep it as a foundation.

Cannot fake a Century Ride with 8900 feet of climbing

Who's great idea was it to do a Century Ride after not riding over 60 miles since March?  I am sure it was Liz's idea wait she said...."whatever I am in or out"  For some reason on Wednesday I thought this sounded like fun!  Good cause ....great ride. Let's commit.

My rule was 1- CrossFit 3x this week 2- no compromised running 3- solid mid week ride ( I did 2 actually)  and then rolled today.....

This is a must do ride!  Not saying you have do to the 100, they have 50 and 75 mile options.  You park and roll from a cool ranch in Valley Center.  The people who run the Charity open their home to host the pre/post ride festivities.

We  all get caught up in ourselves and it was nice to contribute through the ride and a post ride donation to an amazing cause... Our current endeavor, which includes “Ride for Africa”, is to bring CLEAN WATER to the children of Africa, where many die before age 5, due to water-born disease.  After examining the issues and adversities that Africans face, providing clean water became a “no brainer” as the starting point to bringing aid since a high percentage of illness is caused by contaminated water.

In parts of Africa, people cannot live in the same place year round without a water well; thus, a village cannot thrive. The women walk up to 8 hours every day just to collect enough water for the survival of their families, leaving little time for educating their children.  In areas such as Southern Sudan, rich aquifers lie closely beneath the surface; wells can be drilled at a low cost, saving the lives of thousands.

The weather was great and we rolled a bit after 7 with about 50 others....small group which was nice but would love to see more contributing to the cause.  The ride was great for 40 miles and then we did every climb you can name in the North County.  Sleeping Indian Circle R, a freaking hell of a climb gem called Pala Mesa and Wilt Road, Old 395 to Rainbow and of Rice and Couser and somehow we did Gopher Canyon, Lilac to .... I am sure climbed 9000 ft and descended 10.  Or at least that is how I felt.  

Lots of complaining by me for me.... but I had good tunes. a lot of PB/J and I sucked it up and took my out of shapenss  (I know not a word- but I made it up) for what it was. 

The post ride party rocked....a real shower, El Pollo Loco, Coconut Water and a Stone Pale Ale...shade, music and really amazing people.  I want to support this big next year!! 

Cheers..... 

National Running Day

I am trying to run most days but made it a point to run yesterday..... we chose to join the Nytro crew along with Powerbar, Sam Adams and Competitor for a run along the coast to the Cardiff Cook.  2 of my Nytro Women's team mates joined the crew along with John and Mako.   Beautiful Encinitas  evening and a fun way to break up the week.  

While is was a 3.5 mile run and not a big deal it made me reflect on how much I love this sport and how it as changed our lives,  We have so many new friends and are always meeting new ones. And showing up at Nytro it was great to see so many familiar faces- people I did not know a year ago.

Such as my new riding buddy...  I rode yesterday and had my arse handed to me  by Anna (a serious cyclist/triathlete) this has kicked me back into some hard riding. When we hit Elfin is was all aero and  relentless pace.  I use to ride like this a lot but with all the IM training I was so focused on long and steady IM power that I lost this part of riding. And I love it-  I never worried about my power I just rode hard and did not want to have  to draft so I dropped back and suffered.  It was fun and fits in with Cross Fit- short and hard.  And yowza can I feel it....but it was fun reading peak power in my file after the ride.

So the run last night was good - stiff legs but running along the ocean with the guy I love, my favorite pup and teammates. Life is pretty darn special! 

Random thoughts...

when it has been weeks since my last blog....I go to random thoughts otherwise I will never get back on the blogging wagon (so to speak)


- CrossFit rocks and sucks at the same time....I love every day I go.  It is challenging, fun and always different.  With the new format our warm ups are spot on for a triathlete. Functional strength, dynamic warm ups and very spot on for my weak spots.  Then we do strength.  Max weight for 3 sets of 5 whatever- squats, dead lifts, clean jerks... this is where I back off a bit as I don't want to be annihilated.  Then the WOD (workout of the day) some days manageable others are brutal.  2 min wall balls followed by 1 min double under jump ropes x 2. Red line effort 6 minutes and I am trashed.  Today 80m sled pull- 100 lbs and we "run with them" for time, followed up ring pull ups to failure, farmers carry 100 m x 5.  Yes one guy puked.  I have to remember that I am headed to the pool for a 4k swim and then a 2 hour ride so I try moderation when possible.  The days I go for it- I pay later.

- Crossfit Murph - Memorial Day we did the "Murph" http://athletics.wikia.com/wiki/Murph - in memory of a fallen soldier.  Crosfit boxes do this all over the US -  1 mile run, 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats x 20, 1 mile run.  For time!  All said and done: 100 pull ups ( I used a bank) 200 push ups (this was the hardest of the 3 and about 1/2 way through I had to use my knees), 300 full squats.  59:07 was my time - it was great fun, crazy hard and paralyzed me for a week. What was my goal post Cabo....mix it up!  DONE!

- Family- FYI grown kids do not equal no stress!  nough said..... taking it one day at a time.   Had my 8 and 10 yo nieces from Boulder visit for a few days.... super fun age!  easy, fun, energetic and never wanting down time.  We beached it, dog beached it, hours in the pool, bit the boardwalk and had Fro Yo, played in the park and had a lot of fun!

- Vineman 70.3- I was on the fence about whether I would race....I wanted to commit to CrossFit and knew my running and riding would have to decrease.  Did not expect my swimming to suffer as well but things like Wall Balls and Push Ups to failure make swimming very hard.   I am going to race...I am still finding the balance of CrosssFit and longer rides and runs. Some days I am demolished and my power is low but other days my legs are responsive.  So we will see how the race plays out.  Planning Thur-Tue with some cool girls + John.  He loves a good road trip and it will be a nice summer break.   Although I am the 2nd to last wave which means HOT. HOT. HOT....so back to CorePower Yoga it is.

I don think I'm hot = just liked the photo

- Yoga... doing pretty well- simply cannot do CF 3 days a week, 2 solid rides, 4 runs, 3 swims and 3 yoga sessions... just not happening.  So I have slipped to 1-2 yoga sessions a week as I increase riding and running.

-Running- 30 min a day for 30 days- did it!  and ran longer on many days....I was quite surprised how easy running became even when I was really sore and tired. I have not stuck with it as I was feeling some twinges and I don't want to be injured and I need to start logging longer runs- longer runs require a few days off running (for me anyway)

- Travel.... since Costa Rica I have been in LA for a day, Portland 2 days and off to Chicago for 4 days- all work all not  fun!

-Food- R and I did the 7 day Whole Food Challenge and it was great...since then she has gone Vegan and I am trying to stick to non processed foods  Although the longer rides and runs I have slipped to packages - Bonk Breakers are my current favorite - minimally processed, gluten free and organic - not too bad. Plus I burned out on Pure Fit and I love these... and my home made bars are great but I cannot manage the calories- I like to know how many calories I am consuming per hour. Have stuck with no caffeine after 12! Have not had 1 energy drink since Costa Rica (this was a big one and I am sure Monster has noticed a decrease in consumption in SD North County) Pretty good with no sugar but not perfect - lost it last weekend and went nuts with dark chocolate almonds.  I pondered Vegan but the next day craved, all out craved red meat, so had a bison burger for lunch. Then Copper River Salmon came to town and I had salmon for 3 nights... so much for plant based diet.

they look good....but taste better with salmon 

- Tempeh is not my favorite...we are trying.  we made lettuce wraps and ground up the tempeh and cooked with EVO, garlic, shallots, ginger and tamari and it was dry and yucky.   I ditched the tempeh and used salmon + the carrots, sauces, cucumbers, beans etc.... so I try with R but I think I like the whole foods (animal) for my protein.  And I am not giving up Greek Yogurt.

That's all for now.....