Cancun and Cozumel..the good and the bad

No photos? Why not.....well the underwater camera is well underwater, or at least is carrying a solid cup of water inside the camera so there will be no photo essay of the 2 tank dive trip we did today in Cozumel. One cool wall dive and a nice reef dive. Visibility was as far as you can see, water temp 80-85 and heavenly. Good day indeed!

Time of this blog...good question- seems when a watch says water resistant to 50 feet they do not mean it is resistant to 80 feet. Since we dove to 80 ft....my watch gave out- but it was fun being at 80 feet and the surface looking like it was 10 feet away. It was a crappy watch anyway.

Puppies’ breath fast...so does Riley- we had to shorten our first dive- I had 1500PSI's and Riley had 500. Early surfacing for us- but thankful she was vigilant in watching her air. 2nd dive she slowed down breathing and we maxed out the dive.

Seen 3 Dr's in Mexico...nice they come to my hotel room. 1st one came with big shots to clear up my raging rash. Combination of steroids (non performance enhancing- I have since learned- not even the benefit of doping through this ordeal) and antihistamine + anti-inflammatory. 50% improvement over night and another round I was well on my way to enjoying Cancun outside my hotel room- no sun allowed on the raging rash.

Great day on Wednesday leaving the crowdedness of hotel row in Cancun and took the ferry to Cozumel. 1st day I felt great and we had some fun at Senior Frogs and enjoyed live local music on the ride over. Water in Cozumel beckons you....so blue and clear and inviting. We dumped our gear in the hotel room and went snorkeling- not a lot to see but nice to enjoy the water and get excited for our diving on Thursday.

Kids are getting along marvelously and I am pretty sure all the bartenders see their purple wristbands which mean virgin drinks! They have been great making sure I am not dying and checking in on me while quarantined from the sun.

I was not missing diving, was feeling much better and spent more $$ on my rash issue by investing in a 50spf rash guard for our day of diving. Each resort offers 5-10 restaurants for dinner and since it is all inclusive we can choose- we have been alternating casual and dressed up - pants and collared shirt for JD and dress for RM and mom - no flip flops.

Our Brazilian adventure was fun in Cancun and we opted for the nice Italian spot here in Cozumel. Kids had pizza? Really.... yes. With menus in Spanish I took the waiters recommendation for the "classic" Italian fish dish. Looked like a giant fish stick to me.... more vegetables please and another glass of wine and I will be fine. Brazilian Steak House was a win; Italian in Cozumel was a bust. But nice white cloth dining and a good refresher on which fork to use with each course.

 Mexican games and fun around the pool and off to bed.... Rash came alive around 11 and kept me awake and miserable until around 2am- ah....so more for the magical drugs. I was not missing diving and was sure the magical Mexican Caribbean would cure all. In the water, I am golden, out of the water....time to call a Doctor. Over $400 in Dr bills and medicines I hope to have this leashed. Hard to understand what she was saying....but when you hear lesions and your name you know it is not pretty, no sun, no sun, no sun- got the message and back to quarantined or become a vampire- rats! Hoping for sleep and will take it one day at a time.

Tomorrow we head back to the mainland for 2 nights in Playa del Carmen. We are thinking of underground cave tours on Saturday - no sun in caves right?

 Thankfully the resorts have nice gyms so I can run every day - inside and air conditioned.

So I am making the best of this trip...... all in all we are having a lot of fun! Kids are really enjoying it so that is a bonus.

Fun with the underwater camera

Made it to Cozumel....sensational!  Wonderful hotel and water is to die for.  Had to test the underwater camera today before we scuba tomorrow!

 

Kids so excited to be in clear water....wait until they see a reef!!

 

sea urchins....scary memory from my youth - glad the kids found this and not me

Post snorkeling... viring pina's by the pool and a serious game of hearts

Canun Fun!

Despite my wicked rash and being quarantined from the heat and sun..we are having fun!  Great food and fun at the Moon Palace in Cancun.  Ocean must be 85 degrees....serious bathtub water-

Kids have been just jet skiing, swimming, game room, tennis and checking on me throughout the day.  Once the sun went down we headed out for some fun.

Very fun pool bar with swings .... good photo editing on my part so you cannot see the rash.

13 restaurant on property- we had Mexican the first night and hit the Brazilian Steak House last night. Nothing like meat on a stick.... steak, pork, chicken, turkey, veal, short ribs and more.   Delicious side dishes and desserts as well.

Travel

To say I travel a lot would be a lie....to say I traveled a lot the last 3 weeks would be the truth!  4 cites in 3 weeks.... 6+ airplanes, 3 rental cars, shuttles and town cars, 5 hotels and lots of good food.   This was work travel and I worked it out as best I could to fall during a convenient time for me!  No family conflicts, no Ironman training so it was all good.  And I am done, well as far as I know for a few months.

I hope we can survive

The next travel on deck is all for fun...... Kids and I are Cancun bound on Monday!   The kids and I went to Puerto Vallarta 5+ years ago and it was a great trip.  I love John and we love traveling as a family but Mom and kids time is important as well.  I have "needed" to go to Cancun for a long time....in all actuality I really do.  I have booked a number of clients there and have no clue how Cancun is set up, what any of the hotels are like etc....and well knowledge is an important factor in my job.  I was invited on a "fam" - familiarization trip to Cancun.  A fam trip is when hotels or a destination flies you there at their cost for a few days to experience what they have to offer.  6+ years ago when I was new to the business I loved such trips...now they are time away from my family, a lot of walking (running I can do- but walking) to see multiple hotels and venues each day etc- there is always stellar food and beverages but it is work after all.  Surely when it comes work- this is not really work, but to me it is.  So back to my story... I decided I would go on the fam trip but then had a better idea- skip the fam trip, pay our own way and have some serious RnR with the kids.

They get out of school on Thursday and we are heading out Monday!  3 days in Cancun and 3 in Cozumel for some scuba diving!!  Between now and then they have 2 finals to take, last day of school fun to include R hanging with a friend and JD golfing, Friday JD working and Riley at a party and me at the Cove...followed by too graduation parties on Saturday and Sunday!

Few ride....going back for more fun on Saturday in Rainbow and Sunday remains to be seen...

Mid Season break...or sort of

After Wildflower I was insistent that I needed some unstructured training....coach suggested a mid- season break- um okay, well not really.   I am simply not good at this break thing - I like to train and it is part of my day.  I realize I could make a lot more prospecting calls if I was not swimming.biking.running and could be a better wife, mom, daughter and who else knows....but well not a better me.

So here we are 5 weeks post WF and I am thinking I took a solid break...that is until coach sends me my weekly training totals.  Okay so not a total break but nothing like Ironman training and if you break it down it is quite random.  You will see day off, which is unheard of for me, followed by 5+hour ride and a run (without an Ironman looming) But this is what is fun.  I feel like the social trainer...I find what my friends are doing and join them- long run Friday - ok I'm in, swim.ride Tue - ok works for me, another ride Wed- ok I am good... you get the picture.  The best way to describe my training is last Saturday-  leave my house at 7:15 with John and we ride 45 minutes to Carmel Valley and pick up Jen and turn around and ride back to pick up Liz at 8:45 and then head out to Rancho Sante Fe and along the coast coming back we (unplanned) pick up Johan, drop off Jen in CV, Liz peel off for her IM ride and Johan and I ride home.  Some thrilled route with great scenery.....no but it was fun to see so many friends in one day!   I have gotten back to riding to UCSD to swim 1:15 and then swimming masters and riding home.  Perfect for a 2:30 ride and 1:15 swim and I am saving gas and parking money...

Speaking of gas.  So finally the insurance company figured out that yes the girl that slammed into my car was at fault, CA State Law.  In any case, so once that was determined then I had to find the "right" shop to fix my baby.  Not the scary shop the insurance company sent me to where Stan (but crack showing) did my appraisal.  Nice..... CA State law allows me to take the car any place.  So I call my buddy at Audi and get hooked up and of course since they are a good shop I have to wait another 2 weeks to get in. My car is drivable, just a bit banged up and the best part is that the hatch opener was hit so when I hold down the unlock button it sounds like a machine fun. Seriously I have scared a few people in parking lots and JD is so jealous...he wants one on his car.

So anyway car is at the plastic surgeon getting fixed....but my rental car story is great.  So I am insisting that I need a hatch back, why?  for my bike, silly.  I go back and forth with them and they say they will "deliver" a comparable car.  So there I am and what drives up?  A massive Crown Victoria- you are kidding me, the same jumbo "luxury" car I had the privilege of driving in Seattle.  Wow....not going to work.  Their rational is that I drive a luxury car and this is a luxury rental and while it is not a hatch back it has a very large truck- true, I could fit my entire family, my bike and my dog in there.  But I am not driving this boat for 2 weeks... back to the rental car shop.... seriously just find me Ford Fiesta with a hatch back - not happening.  I was all set in a cool pick up truck until I realized the seat some sort of a rocking chair-oops, seems that last renter tipped the scales at 300+ lbs and must have bent? the bolts that hold the chair?  Not sure....so finally I rolled out with a Jetta- decent car   Thanks to Jen I learned the seats fold down and then I can put my bike it!  Really that was all I wanted.  

MiO and airplanes....bad idea

So do you know the stuff....."liquid water enhancer" ....good flavor, no calories and works well when I am tired of plain water but want to keep drinking.  I also use a squirt in my bike bottles etc.   When I last purchased some I decided to get an extra bottle for my travel bag so I would have on trips.... great to have when running, working out etc on the road.  Compact, tightly sealed bottle. 

So I am about 2 hours into my flight and I reach in my backpack for my computer mouse...which is in a large clear plastic bag that holds all my computer stuff, iPod, headphones, ibuprofen, chap stick etc.. as I reach the mouse I realize is has moisture on it, seems odd, I cannot see as it is under the seat.  I pull out the mouse and my hand appears to have been slashed up and is covered in red liquid..holy cow.  So I maneuver the bag out, which is a challenge due to the person in front of me laying in my lap, and into the aisle. As I begin to take out other bloodied items I finally stumble upon the bottle of opened MiO.....leaked all over and is red, red.  Thankfully I have baby wipes and am able to clean up most of it without too much of a science..not to thankfully I am wearing a nice white top.  Could have been a lot worse..but nothing like red spots to add "color"

What a mess.....oh well killed about 30 minutes of my flight.  Thankfully Delta has Wi-Fi so I can be entertained on the web and facebook work the entire flight.

Oh and another keen fact....I am in the bathroom trying to get the stained red liquid off my hands and I notice my shirt is inside out!  thanks honey for not mentioning this key fact on our drive to the airport.....yes the red soaked through.

Loving the obnoxious and out of control adorable kid behind me and his great rhythm in kicking my seat mixed with periodic high pitched screams.

The apple falls really fall from the tree....sometimes

Friday John and I joined the Tri Club for the Mt Baldy Ride....it was part of Stage 7 of the Tour of CA.  The ride was set to leave from Mt Baldy school, which skipped the first 6 miles of climbing and this being a mid season training break, was okay by me.   We did the 67 mile ride as planned!  A few did the final 10 miles which was 5 miles up with over 2000 ft of elevation to the ski area and then back down.  The excuse we had was we had to get on the road and wanted to miss Friday traffic, which was valid....but what was not said was after nearly 70 miles with 7500+ ft of climbing I was tanked.

So much for the epic 100+ milers with 10,000 ft we were knocking out last summer...1- no IM on the schedule until October and 2- trying to not overdo it now so I can kill in come July/Aug in prep for Vegas and Kona.  The ride was sensational....sweeping valleys, beautiful mountains, very little traffic and nice roads.   The ride starts with rollers and then a rolling 14 mile descent with the final 5 screaming fast and moderately technical- quite fun actually!  Then rolling across flats and back up- 7 miles of a serious climb and then 14 miles of what we came down.  John and I rode together and while he is incredibly fit I am not!

We were on the road by 2 and missed most of the traffic....

So back to apple....so that was my Friday and come Monday Riley was doing the annual Westview High School Triathlon.  How cool is that?  All Freshman do the Tri.  Pool swim - 300 yards, 3 mile bike and 1 mile run.  So here is where the analogy comes in...Riley does not ride her bike, in fact she recently sold her bike. Why....ask a 14yo girl.  In any case bike check in was Sunday and she realized she did not have  bike and was going to borrow JD's- I recommend she ride around, practice with the gears, which slip and get familiar with the bike. She did - she rode around the park and home.  Check the tires? No.  I suggest she ride the family, dog walking, mountain bike- she says its too bike, well really the saddle needs to be lowered and she can ride it- no thanks!

Okay so I agreed to ride the bike up to the school to drop it off and run home.  The seat is so low on this bike...picture the Shriner's Clowns- that was how I felt. I must have seen 10 people I know as I am on this ridiculous bike- how JD can ride it I don't know. The gears are slipping and I make a few adjustments and tighten up the brakes.

Monday AM I am very excited for her and she is dreading this...eyes rolling, seriously "this is going to be lame"  I lobbed the idea of watching and that was meet with "No, you CANNOT come. I will kill you if you come." If you have spent any time around a teenage girl....you will take pause at a comment like that.  Committing social suicide is grounds for murder- I am pretty sure of that.

So off she goes.... I see her running shoes and she says my Converse are fine.  Right- no support, heavy shoes- mum is the word.  I reminder her she needs to ride the bike home- the horror- what , seriously??? um yes.

She arrives later than I suspect and she is pushing the bike....really that embarrassing to be seen riding the bike?  "No Mom it is broken. It broke on the 1st lap of the tri and I had to walk it back."  Broken....okay not really the chain fell off.  She stares at me blankly- I explain she could have put it back on.  Blank stare....really,  I show here - she is amazed.  I make her try it.  She worried about the bike grease and that she has to put down her snack.  "Really I don't need to learn I wont be riding a bike again....."