Work, work, work.....

Alarm went off at 5:30 for Masters Swim and I am pretty sure I hit the off, not the snooze button, before the end of the 1st buzz....Clearly I am tired. Snoozed until 7 when I had to get up to at least say goodbye to JD. Rocky and Zen, well Zen in particular was beside himself....hello, 7am...too late for his walk. He likes to be up and out early. Rocky meanwhile, was snoozing as well- he pretty much lays in his bed until he hears me putting the collar on Zen, then he knows it is time to get out the door.

Great intention of swimming at 9am.....did not happen. Was totally focused on work and the launching of our (T and I ) new venture. GOTRIbalnow.com - check it out!!! So very excited as we have Chrissie Wellington's endorsement, welcome letter and she is emailing asking what more she can do to help get GO TRIbal launched!!! How exciting is that.

T and I had a work meeting and got so involved that I elected to take the day off. Emailed KP (coach) and had to say, just cannot do it today. Funny, he too is wiped out and did not make it out of his driveway when he went to swim. Good idea to listen to your body and your mind. Considering most days I am eager to go....

Hubby is gone for the week so I am on double time with the carpool...to soccer, to and from swim practice. Off to make a 2nd dinner for Riley...since Zen helped himself to her sloppy joe when we were picking her up. That thieving dog!

Superbowl Sunday....

Really not a huge day for us, many of you know we do not even own a TV, so tough to get caught up in the excitement of the big game. That along with the fact my husband asked if the game was on yesterday...right, Superbowl Saturday. So we have elected to get a massage during the game. Easy to book, lots of availability so we are good to go. JD and Riley are eager to cheer on the Cardinals so they have sought out friends to watch the shin dig.

I am recovering from a 2 hour run this AM and am feeling a long week of training! Ran in the PQ Preserve and I tell you it was like a freeway out there. Throngs of runners, walkers and mtn bikers. At one point about 6 bikers came screaming from behind and nearly left tread marks on my back. All in all it is great to see so many people out there enjoying the day!

Weekend was relaxing as there was no soccer, lacrosse, swimming....kids laid low, had some fun and I managed to train myself to death.

Fantastic Ride

WOW! What a day. 80 miles of riding through spectacular scenery and over 10,000 feet of climbing. We met in Pine Valley at 7:30 am ready to roll....and it was chilly! 40 degrees, but the sun was blazing with hopes of a spectacular day. ED, PD, TN, JB (hubby) and I were rolling by 7:40 and after a few miles the climbing began. The ride up Kitchen Creek to the top of Mt Laguna is stunning and a large portion of the ride is on a road closed to cars. We kept a reasonable pace and passed a few others on the way. At the top of Laguna, 6000 ft, with patches of snow in shaded areas, JB headed down Sunrise Hwy back to the car for some RnR while we continued to Julian.

Nice stop for pie and double Mocha's! Delicious, but tough to jump back on the bike after the food and sunshine. Onto uncharted territory and we worked our way up and over another pass and down to Lake Cuyamaca, but not without some excitement.

As we pedaled along HWY 79, 2 lane HWY, no bike lane, we kept to the side, single file. A cautious car was trailing afraid to pass with the blind curves ahead. Before long, the Park Police call on the speaker " Do not block for the cyclists" We think he is saying for us not to block, but we soon realize he is talking to the car. The car tentatively passes us and he turns on his siren and pulls her over. TN is hot, outraged that he is pulling over a cautious car, so he stops to give the driver his number in case she needs a witness in court for the ticket. E and I are headed down the hill and P stays behind to asses the situation. 8 miles later, at the bottom of the descent, we are waiting. No sign of the guys. Still waiting and we send a text, reply is "ask the police." We began the 8 mile climb and thankfully we see them within the 2nd mile. Seems the Park Police did not appreciate the interference and asked TN to leave, TN wanted to make his point and well....it escalated from there. Cop pushed TN, TN theatrically flys to the ground and before long is in handcuffs.....for what you ask? Not really sure. But thanks to the level headedness of P, TN is soon released and on their way. What is the lesson here.....not sure to be honest.

So the best part of the ride is that.....while we are hammering up and down a few passes, John is preparing a stellar breakfast for us. He has the camp stove, eggs, bacon, bagels and coffee ready to serve up as we ride into Pine Valley. Hard to beat home cooked breakie (as they say down under) after a long ride!

We finally dragged ourselves home by 4....and then it was a few hours of eating, showering, eating, did I say eating and then time to get ready for the ESA (Endurance Sports Awards) This is the Academy Awards in the world of Endurance Athletes.

Stellar event put on by the Competitor http://www.competitor.com/ at Seaworld. Dressy shin dig and it is quite fun to see all your running and riding mates decked out. Hard to recognize some in real clothes and without a helmet. The night starts with arcade games, nothing like Whack the Mole to wake up. That and Frog Launching (plastic of course) was how we entertained ourselves. Great to see the "stars" and see the emotional videos of 2008. Such fun and exhausting after the long day.

Swim....Run...

Another good training day! Tough workout at UCSD, today was sprint day. Nice long warm up and then... 8x75 all out @ 1:15. Tried to hold 53 but eventually was 54, 55's. Last one was agonizing. Arms are tired. 4400 yards. Refueled and headed out for a 30 minute run along Torrey Pines. Spectacular weather and beautiful view of the ocean. Was so hot I thought about taking a swim, until the 58 degree water lapped my feet and then not so much. Off to Starbucks, gotta love it and to the gym for some strength training. Last session of core was weak, there I was laying on the mat realizing I was about to fall asleep. Time to go and next thing I was stumbling around Vons looking for food of any kind. I actually ate a banana and then tried to pay for it. The look the checker gave me when the banana peel rolled along the belt was classic. I profusely apologized and offered $1, he was staring at me so I suggested weighing the other banana and charging me for that. Low fuel is not a good thing! Oh and to think it was all self inflicted. Since then I cannot stop eating.....yogurt, bananas, chicken and finally started on the cookies, something has to satiate me.

And then work....right gotta gets some done today. Got my HPN work done and then started on GO TRIbal....exciting project and we hope to launch it soon.

I still need to change the music in my iPod, playlists are too old, memorized them and how did Rockin Around the Christmas Tree sneak on there and why does it play every time I listed.

Procrastinating and decided to read the paper.....So the US is in a major recession, all I hear and read is record unemployment, layoffs, earnings down...and then I log onto nytimes.com and see this headline " Exxon Posts Record 2008 Profit Despite Slip in 4th Quarter" Gee what a surprise, think that $4.50/gallon had anything to do with it.

And before I go.....my dogs have the best darn life. Run, eat, sleep, sleep, sleep. If I slept 15 hours a day I would have the same energy they do in the afternoon.

Craig Alexander

Just returned from the SD TRI Club meeting and listened to an interview with Craig Alexander, IM World Champion 10/08. Very, very cool guy. So humble and so real. Inspirational indeed. He made one great comment about training, the difference between IM training and 70.3 is that 70.3 is always hard and intense. HA!! That is my problem, I spend too much time taking it easy. Amazing to hear him talk about 4-5 hour AM workout and maybe another 1-2 hours in the evening. 12 races in 2008! All 70.3's and 1 Amazing Ironman Win!!! He is so complimentary and appreciative of his wife and daughter- very refreshing.

Loving San Diego Weather!

Beautiful sunrise swim at UCSD! Even though today was IM day, which I personally dislike, the swim was wonderful, watching the sunrise and feeling the warmth. Warm weather is back. Sickie (UCSD Swim Coach) says IM builds character, so I ask how? Well he says...you dislike it right? Right I say, well when you do it, you then become stronger. Not sure if I buy it but it was good banter and we started the set. 4000 yards today, nothing really hard. Good recovery swim day I suppose. Lots of kicking these days in practice and I think that helps loosen up the quads and hammies from riding and running.Refueled with my new favorite, Henrys whole-wheat raspberry bars, and off to PQ Preserve for a 45 minute run. Warmed up and then cranked out 3 nice miles, 7:47, 7:37, 7:23, and easy back home. Nice tempo in the middle and reasonable pace for the rocks and potholes I was dodging. So I am rocking out to Toby Keith (ya, a little Country is good sometimes) and out runs a barking, jumping tiny dog. It was alarming, scared me to death, not that it would bite me, frankly I could have squashed it (not that I would) but just was startling. The dog was on a leash but it was like 100 feet long....hello zip your dog in! Says the person who usually runs with 2 dogs off leash. All in all great run, knees felt pretty good. Finished with KP and ART to get the knees 100%.Gotta get some work in. Priorities right....have to pay for the Triathlon habit somehow.

Great Western Loop

Awesome, awesome ride today! 3 hours and over 5000 ft of climbing. Great Western Loop is like a drug for me. Love the roads out there and it is so, spectacularly beautifully. Jen and I headed out at 8:30 and it was chilly- arm/leg warmers and full gloves. As we climbed it was getting warm and the sun was beating down on us. I felt great today, legs strong, bike newly tuned up so it was smooth and with the new chain it was nice. Jen rocked the Carlsbad 1/2 so she was felling it big time by the time we reached Fire truck Hill but she hung like a trooper. Screaming down the descent and I just had to add a bit so I went back up Jamul Drive, steep going up but great to get the extra mileage. My husband asks...why drive 40 minutes to ride when we live where we do. 1- 3 hour ride, stopped once at the light at the finish, continuous riding is hard to beat. Very little traffic and the views are spectacular. To be so close yet feel like we are riding out in the country.Starbucks at the finish and life is good. I started dreaming about the Iced Mocha on that last climb and enjoyed it on the way home.Life is good......and that is all for today. Well, other than work, life and other responsibilities!