How pink flamingos got me through a procrastinated swim workout

I am typically pretty OCD about getting workouts done on the day they are assigned or sooner if I need to make schedule adjustments. But delay them? Not if I can help it.

But I decided to push Friday's swim to Saturday because my folks were still here and I wanted as much time as I could get with them. Plus the workout included a 1000y time trial that required some focus. Then Saturday I was so annoyed with myself for having postponed it, and having to do it after a scheduled run, that I felt very childishly grumpy. So I put on my happiest swim suit - the new pink flamingo one - and headed to the pool with the kids.

I knocked it out under some heavy clouds that threatened to boom at any moment and end my swim early. Then like anytime I do something a bit begrudgingly, it went well and I felt SO much better afterward.

Surely the new pink flamingo suit helped. Spencer snapped this picture not long after....see...no evidence of grumpiness! Swimoutlet.com had a big sale recently and I picked up two suits, including this one, for $15 each. It's simply impossible to be grumpy swimming in pink flamingos.

Lifeguard Rachel is looking at the clouds rolling in!

Training volume drops off considerably in preparation for the Luray Double this upcoming weekend. It's an Olympic race on Saturday and a Sprint on Sunday. At the same time, hubs and the kids are off for a big camping trip with friends. Then I'm home for three days, the kids will start school, then it's off to Burlington to meet my new Endurance Films Racing teammates and race in Age Group Nationals. It will be a crazy two weeks, but I'm ready for the ride!!

Incidentally, Grant's Karate group did a demo at our town's summer festival. I'm super proud of him and put a short clip of some of his moves and his board breaking up on the family blog.

Vulnerability

Last week seemed full of reminders of personal vulnerability - in training and in life.

Last Sunday I was riding solo and ended up in an unfamiliar area as I took a road further than I had previously to see where it would go. It's a rural road, nothing out of the ordinary, but my paranoia increased proportionately to my distance from home. Despite trying to apply logic and "odds" to the situation I really creeped myself out and pedaled hard when I turned around to head home.

Monday I had a meeting with a faculty member who arrived with a splinted arm - the result of an encounter with a post-rain runoff gravel patch in the S-curves of the very road I bike each week. He's got a wrist full of plates and screws and plans to sell his bikes and retire from riding.

Thursday we had reports of an alleged gunman on the Virginia Tech campus and the campus and much of the town was on lockdown. Nothing came of the report, but around here we take threats very seriously.

I manage my own vulnerability in training as best I can. I tell someone (usually hubs) where and when I am running or biking, when I will be back, and I report back when finished. I pin my car key, tagged with emergency phone numbers, inside my shorts. (tag is a metal pet ID tag) I wear bright clothing and carry pepper spray and my phone in my bike jersey pocket for easy access. A rear-view mirror mounted on my glasses allows me to keep a close eye on things behind. I am vigilant and monitor road surface conditions ahead. A strobe light is added if there are visibility concerns (although I probably should use it always). I ride early when traffic is minimal but avoid foggy conditions. New or long routes are done with companions but I confess to doing my "usual" routes largely solo.

safety items

One of the greatest joys of riding and running is the sense of freedom and exploration that they bring. Perhaps it's not such a bad thing they also remind us how vulnerable we are. From vulnerability comes a certain gratefulness.

---

Side note: I enjoyed a visit from my parents who were in town the last four days. We saw the kid's summer theater production and Grant earning his brown belt in Karate. We hung out at our town festival, Steppin' Out, plus my dad repainted my patio furniture, thanks, dad!

Endurance Films Racing Team....eh, me?!?

Speechless. Floored. Excited. Nervous. (a little anyway)

I was selected for one of just 11 spots on the inaugural Endurance Films Racing Team!  It was announced today at 4 pm via the video below and I already can't wait to meet my teammates. This is unreal. Unreal!  All I know is I plan to have a LOT of fun and do my best to show that we moms train and race hard too!

The back story is that I saw the Endurance Films call for applications on the TriCrowd.com Facebook page. They asked for a 2-300 word statement or a 60 second video. I'd never made a video before but my gut just told me to go for it. Thanks to iMovie, and help from my 11-year-old technology specialist and son, Spencer, we put a video together in an afternoon. It was the day before the TriAdventure Summer Sprint race. Spencer filmed me on the track (yes, I sprinted repeatedly the day before a race), picked the music, and Photoshopped my head onto the Endurance Films logo. We had such a great time putting it together! I knew no matter what the outcome, I would always be glad for all the laughs and the shared experience with Spencer.

And what does a newly minted member of the Endurance Films Racing Team do upon seeing the official announcement? Make the kids watch the video, call mom, dad, husband, post on Facebook, then.....drive one child to a sleepover, receive another child, fold two loads of laundry, and now to hit the gym and grocery store! Gotta get stuff done, training goes on early tomorrow as scheduled with USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals quickly approaching!

Thank you, Endurance Films, USA Triathlon, Jack Kane Custom Racing Bikes, Training Peaks, and Champion Systems.

Easier the second time

Today was a repeat of last Friday's tempo run with the workout calling for a two mile section at sub 6:50 pace. I used the same course, went out the same time of day and conditions were nearly identical. I had the same average 6:48 pace.

Only this time I was not at all nervous or keyed up about it like I was on Friday because I knew I had done it once and I could do it again. It felt so much easier - mentally and physically. My heart rate was about 4 bpm lower too (that may or may not be a statistically significant difference). Plus I wasn't counting down hundredths of a mile for the last quarter mile or audibly groaning.

I understand now why Coach Jim planned for me to repeat this workout. The first time left me just barely feeling like I could do it. The second time left me confident and ready for more. I like seeing as Coach's intended training plan reveals itself to me.

The legs are feeling great, energy is high, and the body is definitely adapting to the increased demands. I'm ready for part two of race season!!

Repurposing Apples

I think I got a bummer bag of apples, and the tragic thing is they are Pink Ladies, my favorites. Even with copious amounts of peanut butter they just were not palatable in raw form. So I did the mature thing and ignored the bag in my crisper. From their cozy, undisturbed location, they have taunted me on a daily basis.

It finally dawned on me today to repurpose the apples and baked apples came to mind. Thanks to the Internet I learned that a melon-baller is just the thing to use to core them. Stuff them with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and add a splash of apple juice in the pan. Then cover, bake and enjoy!! And enjoy we did!!

they look better in person, not so washed out

Food has a much different role in my life now. Three years ago, in my pre-triathlon days, I ate horribly and had no interest in food preparation. I used to wish my kids could eat some kind of processed "kid chow" like the pets do. Just scoop it into a bowl and ring the dinner bell! A lot of food was wasted. The reasons things changed:

1. I got a rudimentary understanding of applied nutrition thanks to my then-trainer Jake.
2. I experienced how what I ate affected how I felt and performed. I felt like crap when I ate like crap. I felt super when I ate super foods. I want to feel my best when I train and race.
3. I taught in an Earth Sustainability course series as part of an interdisciplinary group of faculty and by learning about food systems, I learned that all food is not created equal. An egg is not an egg is not an egg.  Books like Ominvore's Dilemma (Pollan) and field trips to Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm contrasted sustainable farming methods with the ugly side of industrial food production.

Three years ago these apples would have remained in the crisper till they rotted and I tossed them. I have too much reverence for food to do that now. I know what these organic apples draw from the soil, the clean water they require, and labor needed to harvest them.