Nada

Results are in and I just sent this email to the RD for the tri-turned-du.

This makes no sense. It says my bike time was 2:36 but i finished the race in 2:49 and I know for a fact I finished a couple minutes ahead of Thomas Scheben (male 50-54). So was my chip mixed up or something?

The times on the website are WAY off.

In other news....

Today's workout was light. I had a TON of crap to catch up on at my house so we just did shoulders, triceps, biceps at teh gym, light weight, heavy reps. Dominic is going lighter too. After the weight room we hit the pool. I swam 3000y (too cold out to do the outdoor pool), just freestyle.

Tomorrow I plan to ride for a couple hours before I go to a meeting at work. I have to be there an hour, and they had to make it for smack in the middle of the day. Totally sucks.



Dominic is in the other room sanding a bike he is building for his nephew. It's going to be a fixed gear, painted red and black. Dominic has been building a lot of bikes, and selling them. People give him so many cool old bikes. He has good kharma. Last night some of the little neighborhood kids needed help with their bikes. He fixed 4 bikes for them - all while his food was getting cold.


This is his next project.

One World Triathlon turned Duathlon Race Report

2 mile run
25 mile ride - should have been 40k (18.1 avg)
6.2 mile run

2:49:41 (by my watch)

I don't have any chip times yet - if they even have them. We had no timing mat at the start of the 2 mile run, so I think they only timed the bike and the 10k run.

Pre-Race
Dominic came over after work last night. It was late and I was asleep. This morning I woke up at 5:15am. The race was downtown Cinti which is just 4 miles from my house. I had some water, coffee, protein shake, and oatmeal, my pre-race meal. I wasn't nervous, I was still bummed about the swim cancellation.

We left for downtown and parked in a parking garage (no free parking for athletes, just the workers). We walked across the street to the transition area and I got set up. Not much to set up since the swim was canceled. I got marked up and got my chip and was ready to go.

They had us start on the public landing (where boats can come in) and they had us go out in waves, all for this dumb ass 2 mile run. The sprint people were first. Me and Dominic waited with the other OLY people and the crowds of people were all mixed in. The race was very unorganized but I guess that's to be expected for a 1st time event like this in downtown Cinti.

Here I am waiting to start.




Once the sprint people were gone I headed down to wait for my wave to go. I had already peed 3x's and had to pee again and I only had about 4 minutes to go. So I see this guy running back from behind a dumpster, so I headed over there, peed, and came back. Later Dominic said I peed in front of the whole crowd - like 15 people were pointing at me and talking about it. I did not even realize....Great, right?

We finally got started and the run was just idiotic, along the river, on cobblestone, dirt, and then sidewalk. I did ok. I am slow runner. I smoked for 20 years. I will never have the lungs to run 7 minute miles. So I just ran a good pace (no headphones which sucks so bad, I never train without them) and I think I did the 2 miles in under 18 minutes. We had two 1 mile laps.

Got to transition. Yea! I am ready to ride!



Hammer gels.

I did not know the bike course. In fact I have never ridden or drove a bike course before a race, but I guess I should start. I turned around the first corner, about a half mile from the start, and right in front of me is a very steep hill. Short but very steep, like get out of your saddle at the start of the hill steep. I get into my little ring, and start clicking into higher gears. Chain drops. I go down, as in hit the floor. I am up in a second and grabbed my bike and got to the sidewalk. Girls are asking if I am ok. I am pissed. I get the chain on and get back on the bike, ride up the hill, and just let it rip.

Hell yea! I am passing people!

Then I notice blood all over my left hand. Must have been from when I fell. It was sticky. I didn't want to get blood on my pink tt bars! The blood eventually dried up but it is all over my bike.

After I hit the floor, my bike was shifting and riding like total shit. It kept shifting, every fucking 10 seconds. I contemplated a DNF when I first saw Dominic. Instead I kept going. I told him the bike was fucking up.

Me and a guy named Tom were passing each other, back and forth. He came up behind me and said "You can feed a family of four with those calves". I just laughed and we made a little conversation. He had a bad ass Serotta. I told him about the shifting. Little did I know at that time that Tom and I would practically finish the race together.

On the second lap I passed 3 girls I had been trying to catch up to. I passed them on a long slow uphill. They never did catch up to me. Finally I came to the end of the second lap and I looked at my computer and it had an average of 18.1 but the distance was just 25 and change.

Back at transition. I don't think I even saw Dominic taking pictures.

The run was 2 3.1 laps. It was flat for the first 2 miles, and then we turned a corner and we have to climb 3 flights of stairs! I am like "WTF". At the top of the stairs we turned right and then we went across the Purple People Bridge. Turned around at the end and went back across the bridge.

My buddy Tom was still with me. Here we are headed to the second lap. It doesn't even look like I am running.

Here I am about to cross the finish. I was happy it was over! Dominic snapped this right as I was about to go through the shute.

Basically it was a good training day and that's about it. I won't do this race next year. I don't think the Ohio River downtown Cinti will ever be clean enough to race in.

My triathlon is now a Duathlon!!

They canceled the fucking swim!! I am so mad!

Paddlefest and One World Triathlon were downtown today - race packet pick up plus they had a river swim going on. So I go downtown to pick up my packet and they tell us the swim portion is canceled.

Bacteria levels have to be under 240 to be considered safe to swim. The levels today are over 500. They say it's because of the rain on Thursday. The RD said that the levels had been 30, 40, all week, until the rain. He was just SICK about it. I felt bad for them. Plus today's river swim was also canceled. There was a girl behind me doing IMKY in August and she was so bummed. (The crazy girl was doing TWO IM's within 8 weeks of each other).

Tomorrow's race is now a Duathlon (so so lame!!):
2 mile run
40k ride
10k run

So, I have decided to race again next weekend. I am going to do the OLY at Caesar's Creek on Sunday. I wasn't planning on doing this race this year but I want to RACE in a TRIATHLON! Not in a DUATHLON!

Friday timeline

5:40am - Wake up, let dogs out, put on lap suit, shorts and t shirt. Get dogs settled on sofa, give them treats, leave with coffee.

6:00am - arrive at the Y. Immedialty jump in, swim 60 laps (1500y). I didn't time it.

6:55am - arrive home, change into running clothes. Leash dogs. Run 5.5 miles.

8:00am - arrive home, do crunches on my Yoga ball, feed dogs.

8:50am take shower, get ready for work.

9:15am - hang out on the couch with the dogs until it's time to go to work.

10a - 10p - WORK!

Pumped

My first triathlon of the summer is Sunday and I am so pumped. They are calling for morning rain the day of my race. I do not want to ride my TT bike in the freaking rain!

It's so weird to think that just a year ago I was racing my 1st ever triathlon, 3 shorts weeks after I ran my 1st marathon. Look at what a dork I was! Wearing a scuba skinsuit. WTF? Look at the mountain bike tires sticking out with everyone else's sleek road bike tires....





My first triathlon was a test of my athletic ability. I was freshly single after being in a fucked up relationship for 9 years. I was loving endurance training. I wanted to see if I could just finish. So I picked an OLY distance race (1500m swim, 40k ride, 10k run). My times can be seen here, DFL. I did the 40k ride on a piece of shit Fuji mountain bike (2:33). I cried during the 10k run (1:10) and cussed out the RD at the finish line.

Oh what a difference a year makes!

%$#@*%$

I am feeling seriously pressured to get all my miles in and it sucks. I am trying to figure out how to get them in, and be with Dominic, and get all my own stuff taken care of, plus the dogs. It's hard. How do people with kids train for IM?? I also think about is how much harder it will be next year when I am training for IMKY 09. I turned into a straight up bitch last night and ruined my Tuesday night with Dominic. Totally and completely ruined the one day we had off together this week. After an awesome day of training too. We made up, but the pressure is causing too much fucking anxiety.

Yesterday's workouts:
AM
Weights - arms. High reps low weight.
Swim 1000m (arms were tired from the weights)

PM
Bike 31 with Dominic 18.2 avg
Brick run 4 miles 36:41 9:10 pace

We barely ate after the ride and run cuz that's when my bitchy attitude kicked in. I had a sandwich and a yogurt and Dominic had cereal. Then we fell asleep.

Today we were supposed to ride 50 early in the morning but Dominic's knee was all fucked up from last night's ride so I rode solo.

I had an awesome ride. I got out by 9:30am and left from my house. I was so pissed I didn't bring my camera. I rode down to the Anderson Ferry and took it across the river to Kentucky. I rode out route 8 to the left all the way to Covington, and then turned around and headed in the other direction, all the way to the end. There were some great rolling hills, plus headwinds that were kicking my ass. I saw a couple other cyclists who waved. I was wearing a helmet. They don't wave if I am helmet-less. I rode back to the Ferry and crossed back over into Ohio, and headed home - got in almost 50 miles.

P.S. I saw my x-boyfriend (9 years I was with him!) for the 1st time since I kicked him out a year ago. I was coming out of the bathroom at Miami Whitewater park where we rode last night. I was on my bike getting ready to clip in. I looked over and made direct eye contact with his best friend, and next to him I could see my x's head. I clipped in and rode away as fast as I could. I rode to the car where Dominic was pumping his tires, and I told him I had go NOW. I rode off onto the trail and Dominic caught up to me later. I was sick with worry that the asshole was somewhere on the trail and there would be a big confrontation. Our break up was ugly, and he was abusive sometimes. I was just shaking for a good 40 minutes. I also didn't know he was here in Cinti. I figured he'd be in Florida with his Mom.

Monday run

Today's workout: 14 miles running

10 miles on paved trail
4 miles with Nancy's dogs

Dominic built up a Raleigh comfort bike for his boss' friend and he met him at Lunken for a how-to clinic. This guy hadn't been on a bike since HS. Dominic went through shifting, etc. I ran while they rode. I did the first 5.2 in 47 minutes and the 2cd in 48 minutes. I am pretty sure the laps are 5.2 or 5.3. It was hot out. I am holding out better in the heat now. Getting my nutrition right. My hamstrings are sore as shit from Yoga though. The running didn't help.

Dominic rode his beloved Serotta which now has bullhorns. He cracked the carbon bars and realizes he shouldn't ride carbon on a fixed gear!



That's me with 2 of the Ibezan hounds. I run them 2 at a time.



And here is sweet Bruno playing with his 8lb medicine ball.

I'mvotingrepublican (NOT)

An email from an old friend

I don't talk a lot about my drug addiction. It's been almost 9 years and I have kind of shoved it all under the rug. Not a day goes by that I don't remember some of the horrors of my heroin addiction. I don't want to give details, but it was about as bad as it can get, I guess.

I have found many old friends on My Space. Most of these people are people I did drugs with or people I hung out with when I was in my late teens and 20's. Sometimes I cry when I find someone that should have been dead. Last night I emailed a girl I was strung out with in SF. And today I just got this:

you overdosed and it took me 20 mins to revive you. Right when I was ready to give up, the police and the paramedics kicked in the door. You opened up your eyes like two seconds before they opened the door. Someone must have heard me gasping and called the paramedics. They took you and forced me to go with you to the hospital and get narcaned. Then, you told me the whole way to the hospital "why didn't you let me die? it was my time to go." I think you had taken some klonapins. You overdosed a few times I've seen where you had to be given mouth to mouth but that time you seriously almost died. In fact, I almost left you because you were so blue I didn't know how long you had been out.

When I read this, it hit me with a ton of bricks. I am still shaking right now. Someone must be looking out for me.

Sometimes I think I need a kick in the ass like this to remember how blessed I am to be alive, to own my own house, to have an awesome boyfriend, to be healthy, strong, and able to swim, bike and run to my heart's content.

**** UPDATE
For those of you who don't know what narcan is, you can go here to read about it. Basically it blocks the opiate receptors from the affects of heroin and reverses the high from being asleep to being wide awake. And if get narcan'ed, you will be awake for 24-48 hours. And you can't get high again until the narcan is gone from your system.

I had to be narcan'ed many times during my addiction.

Yoga and swimming

Today's workout:
Yoga in the park, outside. Level I Ashtanga Yoga 75 minutes.

Swim
5x100 - best time 1:44 (it's getting better!)
3x500 - a whole fucking minute slower than last week BOO
Total 2000m

Kids get on my nerves

Today is gonna suck. So far I feel like I am dragging my ass even though I got almost 8 hours of sleep last night. I got up at 6:20am and took the dogs to the 5 mile loop I have been running in Mt. Airy. I need to get to know that trail so I don't question myself everytime I run it. I still think about the 50k in October.

I did better today, more confident. Ari kept running off and I had to scream for him to get his ass back to me. My throat was sore! I think he will go back to wearing and e collar off leash. The run was pretty uneventful and I was familiar with everything until the last mile or so. I got confused at one point, but kept going, and finally finished. The dogs weren't that hot because it wasn't very humid and they were exhausted when I left for work.

Have to work a 12 hour shift today and am working with a girl who always brings her kids in, which totally sucks for me. Thank god I have my xanax with me. She also talks to her husband like 50x's a day.

My next race is in a week and a day. I am so psyched! Except for the swim in that nasty ass river. I was reading the message board on the local tri club. There was a meeting about the race and this is what they said about the swim:

There will be wave starts, but only after everyone has "skidded" into the water and is floating/treading water. There won't be any diving our jumping in, have to sit down first, then hop in. So no barge platform. RD is going to sweep the entrance and exit areas free of deris, as well as, checking the shore for unsafe footing, debris and dead bodies. Just joking about the bodies. But he is going to have people in the water in kayaks or waverunners to catch any large sticks, logs, or what have you. He is well aware that people are hesitant about getting in the river so he's doing all he can to make it any easy transition.

Fun, yea?

With that, I leave you with a picture of my sweet Cheeko RIP. He was a smiler.

Goggle marks suck

Goggle marks. I hate them. Makes me look like I have raccoon eyes. I don't wear any makeup so this is how I look when I go to work after a 6am swim before work. Anyone know of a good brand of goggles that don't leave marks? I am bummed because my new TYR goggles left these marks this morning.



So I did the right thing and woke up at 5:40am. Was out the door by 5:50 and in the locker room at the Y by 5:59am. I got in the whirlpool to warm up. I decided to swim indoor even though the outdoor pool looked beautiful with the sun coming up and gorgeous pink skies. I should have brought my wetsuit and swam my laps outside - but woulda coulda shoulda - didn't.

I swam 100 laps 2500y total. I didn't do drills. I didn't use the kickboard. I just swam. It was a good swim. I feel so much better when I have the discipline to get up, do the training, and get on with the day.

After the swim I went home and got the dogs, took them to the woods. I hiked a couple miles with them while they ran off leash. Took them home, fed them, got ready for work - a 12 hour shift.

Check out this cool old Schwinn. Someone gave it to Dominic. He polished it up and got it ready to be ridden again. He gave it to one of his friends the other night. I hope she rides it!

Book Club

I have been tagged by Bluenoser at 50k Loop.

1.Find the book closest to you and turn to page 123
2.Locate the 5th sentence
3.Post in your blog the following three sentences
4.Then challenge five others to do the same

So here it goes. The book closest to me is called Going Long and no it's not a porno. It's by Joe Friel and it's a book about training for Ironman distance triathlons. I have not started reading it. It's been sitting on my desk at work for about 4 months. I need to read the fucker.

Ok, so onto the tag.

Page 123 - the 3 sentences after the 5th sentence are in a chapter called Training with Power. He's talking about power zones and power testing.

"Why use a 30 minute time trial? The power methodology presented has been designed to be consistent with the training system outlined in this book. As your most frequent cycling test is a 30 minute time trial, your average power for this test is the starting point for discussing power zones."

I have no idea what he is talking about since I have not read the book, but you know what's kind of creepy? Me and Dominic are planning on doing a 10.2 time trial that Queen City Wheels does every Tuesday night.

So I am going to tag Betty, P.O.M., Phun, Carabyrd, and Wine Dog, just to keep her busy.

"

I need a nap

Yesterday's trainer session totally sucked ass. Halfway through I got thirsty and drank some water, G2, and ate a banana. I only had 2 protein shakes and an egg/bacon sandwich all day after lifting weights and swimming and it was after 4pm.

So once again, my nutrition sucked. And I paid for it. After 45 minutes on the trainer, I puked, Mary-style. Projectile vomiting at it's best. Everything in my body was in that toilet including the vitamins I had taken an hour earlier. I felt much better after. Took a shower and went out to a nice dinner with some friends of Dominic's and ate like a pig.

I have been really tired lately. Just blah. I don't sleep in on my days off. I am up by 7 - 7:30 and that's after going to bed after midnight. I was supposed to get up today for a 6am swim but I did not. I slept till 7am and took the dogs for a 3 mile hike in the woods.

I know I better HTFU because this time next year all of this training will double for IMKY.

P.S. I am wearing size 5 cargo's today. The scale said I gained about 4 lbs. This totally has to be solid muscle I have gained if my small pants are fitting so well. HOLLA!
Gotta get a body fat test soon.

RIP Beau

Wine Dog had to put Beau down. He couldn't breathe. Dobes are lucky if they make it to 10. Beau did though. He was a good boy and I am so sorry he had to leave us.

WD - you let me know if you need anything. Hugs to you.

Bad day at the velodrome

We went to Indy yesterday so Dominic could practice on the track. I used one of their track bikes and learned how to ride a singlespeed which was awesome. I did 10 warm up laps with Dominic and then he started to go fast. I just fucked around on the track bike doing laps.

Later I went to get Dominic some tissues to blow his nose and when I came back he was laying on a picnic table and his bike was laying on the ground in the middle of the track. He blew his fucking knee again. He was in so much pain. The knee only hurts when he tries to go super fast while he is up on the bank - the flat part he's fine to ride. He was so disappointed. I felt horrible for him. He's going to a sports med DR next week.

Today we lifted weights at the Y and then we laid outside by the pool for an hour. After Dominic left to go do some yardwork, I swam laps.

2x500 for 1000m total.

I did so so so much better this time. My 1st 500m I swam in 8:56 which is the very best time I have ever had. The next 500m was 8:59. I was super happy about that.

It's raining now so I am going to ride the trainer for an hour and then me and Dominic are going out to dinner with a bunch of his friends.

Here are some pix from the velodrome yesterday.

Monday's madness

Here is the bike I won. It's all put together and ready to ride. I am happy I won it! Thanks again Zandria!

Before I start, here is a quick house update:
I hired another real estate agent to put my house up for sale for 3 more months. She also sold my neighbor's house 3 years ago. Fingers crossed.

This morning I had to wait for the cable guy from 8a-11a. I managed to get a 2 mile hike with the dogs beforehand and of course they didn't show up until 10:30. It was 12:30 by the time I got to Dominic's. He was working on my bike putting on my new wheels.




They are sweet. I don't know why he put those piece of shit wheels on my bike when he built it.

So finally we got to riding at 1:30pm - across the Purple People Bridge. The wide part was closed and all they had open was this skinny walkway and you could see the river underneath on the sides which totally freaked me out. I jumped off my bike and told Dominic I was going to have to crawl across or something. I was afraid to take my hands of the sides. He's like "harden up, blah blah blah", so I eventually do, and we ride across, me very slowly and unclipped on one foot. SUCKED!

My goal for this ride was 18 avg for 50 miles. Almost happened but not quite. We rode 50 for 17.8avg which Dominic was disgusted with. He spit when I told him (drama). We have about 5 miles of stop and start traffic until we get to the route in KY where we can just ride. So it is hard to get the avg up. It was at 17.2 at the 25 mile turn around and I was fucking bookin' on the way there, straight into a headwind too. On the way back I was getting hungry and had bad bad nutrition which fucked me plus the stupid fucking wind on the way back too!

I can do better. I know I can. I just need more time on the bike.

I got my wetsuit today. I ordered a sleeveless Orca and it is so freaking bad ass and lightweight. I bet I swim fast in this sucker. I tried it on for Dominic and his jaw dropped about 5 feet. It was hilarious.

The plan is to go to Indy tomorrow to the velodrome so Dominic can practice. I am excited to see him Go Fast Turn Left.

And on a sad note, a good friend and fellow blogger Wine Dog got some sad news. Beau, her 10 year old Dobe, has lung cancer. This is the worst part of owning a pet. She's got Beau his very own cancer blog. Send some love.

I don't have a title

This morning - 12.4mile run. I ran a 6.2 loop with the dogs, came home, fed them, left again for another 6.2. It felt good outside, less humid, though the sun was hot. My legs felt good.

Met my Mom at my swim club and we hung out for a while. I laid in the sun and got good and hot before I started my laps.

5x100m
2x500m
250m cool down misc laps

Total 1750m

Times are slower than 2 weeks ago, like by a whole minute. Really fucking frustrates me.

We did Father's day dinner with Dominic's whole family. We chowed on lasagna, garlic bread, gnocchi, salad, and cake and ice cream. It was his nephew's birthday too. Fun night.

Don't I look full? I had 2 helpings of everything except the gnocchi.

Life is good

Dominic's Mom took this with her cell phone. I think it's a cute picture. This was last week, after grilling out for dinner. Bruno his pit, was in my lap.

Random Saturday

Political rant
This country is so fucked up right now. If Obama does get in, it's going to take years to clean up the mess Fuckface made. If Mccain gets in - well god fucking help us. I'll move out of the country.

I am so over it. My Mom just paid out like 600 bucks for medical bills. She is on social security. WTF? I went to a specialist last fall and ended up with a 300.00 bill and I pay a shitload in premiums. And can someone please do something about the gas prices? I am afraid to go to the store again after last week's grocery bill.

Sucks to travel now and will only get worse
I am in the travel industry and let me tell you, it's worse than I have ever seen it. Fares have tripled in the last 3 days. It's insane. I get 2 pairs of plane tickets a year and I never use them. Fuck getting on a plane.

Starving as usual
I have been up since 7am. It's now 1pm. So far today I have eaten:

Coffee
Protein shake
3 egg whites
1 grapefruit
1 bananna
1 raisin english muffin
Coffee
Cheddar popcorn
1 falafel sandwich
1 bag of chips

I can't stay full! I chew gum to keep from eating too much.

The pool
I mentioned how much I love my pool. It's my splurge every summer and has been for about 12 years now.

I always had a pool to swim in since I was a kid. When I was little, I went to the Jewish Community Center. My Mom would meet us there after work and we'd stay till it closed. I loved to swim at night. I can remember staying all day from 9am-9pm. Me and my friends taught ourselves to dive so we were always doing flips and back dives....such an awesome memory.

Now me and my friend Emily go almost every Sunday. We swim laps, eat, lay in the sun, and talk shit. We have been doing this together since we were met - age 12!

This is me last summer - right around when I met Dominic. Me and Em were fucking around at
the pool with the camera. It's the only bikini pic I have of me.

A hot trail run

Another early morning wake up call 6:30am. I wanted to run the 5 mile loop at Mt. Airy, where my 50k will be in Oct.

So I grabbed the dogs and out the door we went. It was so hot, and it wasn't even 7am. I grabbed some big bottles of water for the dogs. We got to the trail, and once again, I couldn't find the entrance. I asked another runner and he showed me where to go. So, into the woods we go. I let the dogs go.

Ari and Lucy are running full blast, chasing deer. They come back to me right away. I continue to run and my confidence is a little better than last time.

We get to the stone steps and up, up, up we go. The dogs are panting. It's so freaking hot. My shirt is all drenched and my ponytail is wet. I start to run once we get up the steps, and Ari and Lucy are starting to get tired. We finally get to the creek and I stop and wait for the dogs to drink and cool off.

Back onto the trail, and once again I start to question myself - are you sure this is right? I don't remember this - which way to go? This continues inside my head until I see a familiar bridge, and then finally we're done. Skipped the last big hill again due to time. So instead of 5.3 it was probably 5 miles and I am totally fine with that.

Both dogs plopped down in the grass when we got back to the car and I gave them water while I stretched. The heat scares me, especially with Ari.

Triathlon training and OCD

I managed to get my 1750y of swimming in at 6am this morning. I am mad at myself for not running after the swim though. I should have. Just 5 little miles. I talked myself out of it and took the dogs for a 40 minute walk in the woods (they run off leash).

I have been obsessed with training. How much to do and when. Can I squeeze in 40 laps real quick? Can I squeeze in another run? How much should I be riding? How many miles did I get in? How many hours? Only 13? Not enough! HTFU! HTFU! HTFU!

Fucking sucks. Takes the fun out of training.

I didn't do this obsessing last summer. I just swam. And ran. And rode.

I can't even be at the pool now without thinking: (me to me): "you really should be in that pool swimming laps!" So I can't even enjoy myself at the pool if I skip on laps.


********************

In other news - the bike I won via Zandria's blog came yesterday. It's at the bike shop right now and Dominic will put it together this weekend if he has a chance. He has to open and close the store on Saturday so the owners can go to a paintball tournament.

Anyways, thanks again to Zandria.

Broken bike

My rear cluster has failed. The internal cassette of the rear hub was defective. Bearing failure. (Dominic's words)

So we didn't get to ride today. We had to turn around and go back after one hill climb. First it was supposed to be a 50 mile ride, then it turned into a hill ride due to lack of time. Then no ride. Sucks.

So we just went to the Y and did "back" and "biceps" and then we layed around the outdoor pool in the sun for an hour.

Dominic went to the bike shop to order me a new set of wheels that he insists I need. I went to run Nancy's dogs 4 miles. Afterwards we grilled sirloin burgers.

Not a good training day at all.

Training ride and run - GO FASTER

It was rainy when we woke up and then it cleared up, went from humid to much cooler in like an hour. We had to take Dominic's nephew home and the Loveland bike trail was right there, so we decided to ride there. Plus it's almost all shaded and I needed to be out of the sun today.

The ride was good. Dominic stayed on my ass the whole time. He yelled at me if I slipped under 19mph.

My goal was to average 18mph today and I am happy to report I did 19.3mph for 30 miles. HOLLA!
I did a short 3 mile brick run after the ride. I finished in 26:56 - I'll take it! What is that - 8:58 minute miles?

We took lots of pictures. I wanted to see what my position looked like. We took the seat back some and a tiny bit higher. It felt good. I got myself acclimated to my aero bars again. I haven't used any all winter. It's so funny how I immediately go at least 2mph faster when in aero. I have to say my bike did what I needed it to do today. Straight line, in aero, perfect little TT bike she is. I do not want to let her go.

Here is Dominic on the trail.

The east side in invaded with cicada's. For whatever reason, they aren't on the west side where I live.

At the turn around.

We had a thunderstorm last night and the trail was filled with debris. Look at my water bottle.




My cute boyfriend Dominic.

Ok, those blue shorts - have you ever seen a bigger ass? My legs are huge too.

My bike performed very well today.

I have some big ass legs. I hope it's just the color of those shorts.

It was a good day for training. I am getting psyched for my next race. Less than 2 weeks!!!!

House update

I fired my agent and my house has been taken off the market.

I gave it 3 months. I don't think it's good to leave it up for sale for too long.

Right now there are 4 houses for sale on my street. Mine is the cutest but the others are slightly bigger. A couple of my neighbors left and just rented the houses out.

A few of my neighbors just left. Their houses are empty. The grass grows really high and eventually someone gets sick of it and calls the city and they send someone out to mow.

So what to do - ??

Some investor guys offered to lease the house from me for the current mortgage payment for 5 years. They'd rent it out to supposedly GOOD people for double the mortgage payment. They claim they always have applicants. My Dad, who is in real estate, said HELL NO.

Rent it out? I really do not like that idea.

If I can't get rid of this house, I'll never be able to move in with Dominic.

Sad fucking situation.

Running in the heat and a RANT

Got in a bit of a tiff with Dominic this morning so I went to run by myself. I left for Lunken at 10:45am (prime sun) which is a tiny airport and a golfcourse, and also has a 5 mile paved trail. I was planning to run 3 laps for 15 miles but when I felt the heat I knew I'd be lucky to make it 10. My body just is not used to this heat yet.

So anyways I get the trail and leave for my 1st lap with no water. Well wasn't that dumb? I was like "oh it's only 5 miles". After 2 miles I knew this was going to just suck. The trail is in the sun. I had like .2% shade. The sun was beating down on me and I was just trottin' along, barely makin' 10 minute miles.

I started with a headache at mile 4. Made it to the end and walked back to the car. Listened to a voicemail from Dominic and left one for him, had a Hammer gel, a bottle of G2, some cold water, and took 2 advil and off I go. I brought a frozen bottle of water with me which was melting rapidly. I kept taking sips and just trotted along. Thinking about just getting used to running in the heat again.

I started to feel better, the liquids and advil kicking in. Continued running and at mile 4.5 I saw sprinklers on the golfcourse so I ran thru them. I also fucked up my headphones but who cares. It felt good.

10 miles in that heat.

I just took this. My skin is so inflamed. I can't seem to get rid of the lap suit tan lines. My shoulders are so red.

I don't know how, but after the run I also lifted weights and then swam 1000m. Lifting weights was a joke. I was lifting light. I was just cooked - litterally.

Spent about 35 minutes in the weight room and then headed out to the pool. I really just needed 40 quick laps that I would have done in the indoor pool but they were having swim lessons. So I went outside and had to fight for my fucking lane.

Have you ever been territorial with your lap lane? Well I am. I don't like to share, I just want to swim. You want the lane? Well wait your fucking turn. So today this guy just jumps in and starts swimming - IN MY LANE. WTF? So I try to keep swimming but then a kid throws a toy in the lane. I grab the toy and throw it back. Continue swimming. I got sick of the guy in my lane, so I look over and see 2 really large women walking in the lane. Really really slow too. WTF? I yelled at the lifeguard to get them out. So they finally leave and I take the lane since the asshole is still swimming in my lane. Then I bump straight into a kid, and that's when I shouted out some unpleasantries. This shit continued for 40 laps and when I was done, I got out and bitched out the lifeguard.

Worst fucking swim of my life.

I am home now and going to get a massage at 7pm. Yea, cannot wait.

Sunday summer day

Quickie post tonight. I am sunburned and tired. Spent. And I am on D's laptop which I hate. No pix, sorry.

Today was hot, mid-90's. I went to my swim club with my oldest and very best friend Emily. I swam 120 laps for 3000 meters. Not trying to go fast, just swimming laps. Em swam 70 laps. She hates working out so she does it reluctantly.

Dominic met us there with his nephew and we had a really fun time. I love my pool. We were diving off the board, doing flips, and dives, and Dominic was doing canon balls splashing all the kids watching. I used to love diving. Back flips, inward dives, a lot of stuff off the high dive before they took them all down. I like to fuck around some on the boards. It's so fun.

It was an awesome summer day. I wish I had brought my camera.

After the pool I went home and hung out with the dogs for a bit, then got ready for a ride. We left from Dominic's house and went to the east side to eat dinner at a place in Mariemont. We got all the way there, in the heat, starving, and the fucking place was closed. So we went to Wendy's. Between the two of us we ate:

3 cheeseburgers
1 large french fries
2 large diet cokes
1 sw chicken ceasar salad
2 frostys

Then we rode home. 35 miles. Hills. Heat. Summer fun. Hell yea.

P.S. When I got home I mowed my lawn - in lycra.

Cha Cha

My supervisor at work rescued a little terrior mix last winter. She was dumped, in heat, during a cold spell last winter. It took her 3 days to catch her. She ended up being pregnant. The pups have homes except one.


Meet Cha Cha. She is the last puppy to need a home.





Isn't she adorable? She is going to stay tiny. She's probably a Chihuahua mix. All the puppies looked different.


The dog on the left is Lizzie, the Mom. The pup on the right is Cha Cha's sister Ruby. Ruby is staying with my boss. Aren't they just sooo cute? Don't you just want to hold one?





I have been entertaining the thought of taking her. Ari would love it. Lucy would settle down after a few weeks. I just can't afford the cost right now. Plus Dominic and I already have 5 dogs between us and I think it would probably be smart if I just wait on a puppy. Even if she is tiny and cute and in need of a loving home.

Friday ride

Today was awesome.

40 miles
Blazing hot
16.1 average (only because Dominic was riding fixed)

I didn't have to go into work until 5pm so I had the whole day to be outside. Dominic and I road out on route 8 in KY. It was so so hot out! I tested out my new Sugoi Luna tri-shorts and they totally rock. I love them.



We rode across the Purple People Bridge. It didn't even freak me out. Here is Dominic ahead of me.

And by the way, this is the Ohio River where my triathlon takes place in 3 weeks! Look at that gunk I have to swim in! What is that black shit swirling around in there?

My cute boyfriend's ass. Nice to draft off him. We had a headwind both going and coming back. He's riding his Serotta (hey hey hey spelled it right!) which is converted into a fixed gear and he rides a 50x16.

We took a country road which Dominic hates riding. He'd rather ride in the city around traffic and cars. I don't mind these roads. Here I am at the turn around.

I have to say the drivers were very courteous of us today. They drove way out of the way to go around us. I was happy to see this sign.

Dominic had white shit all over his back and butt. Just thought I'd add that in there.

After the ride I went to my pool and laid in the sun, swam a bit, cooled off, and went home to get ready for work. I have a total addiction with swimming pools in the summer. I am going to write about that soon.

Have a good weekend!

My. Legs. Are. TRASHED.

I never felt pain like this before after a leg workout, EVER.
Yesterday's workout kicked my ass.

When I got up I felt the pain as soon as my feet hit the floor. I hobbled to the back door, let the dogs out, peed, and put on my running shorts. I contemplated my shoes for damn near 10 minutes. I kept looking at my running shoes but felt the pain in my legs. Let the dogs in, made a cup of coffee and sat down to put on the damn running shoes. Drank the coffee while I got my MP3 on. Leashed up the dogs and out the door we go.

Can I just tell you it took us almost an hour to run 4.5 miles?!

I stopped multiple times to allow Ari to pee. More often than usual. I walked up the hills.
Plus it was HOT. Last week we had 40's and now it's like 90. Not really, but it was very hot and humid for 7:30am. Not that I am complaining.


WORK STUFF
Today was my last day of training at work. I passed the test, and I get a raise next week. It's not a lot but it's something. The upper execs are working on finding us a new location but I am secretly hoping they give us the option of working from home.

Tomorrow I am only working 5p-10p so Dominic and I are going to get in a 40 mile ride before we have to work. I think the ride will help my poor legs.

Legs

All sets done back to back.

Quad press at 65lbs:
25 reps

Squats - ass to heel - on the Smith machine:
Set 1 - 70lbs 20 reps
Set 2 - 60 lbs 20 reps
Set 3 - 50 lbs 30 reps
Set 4 - 80 lbs 20 reps

Quad press at 65 lbs
15 reps

Ham press
90 lbs 10 reps

I felt sick to my stomach afterwards and had to skip on abs. Legs were quivering.

I swam 1250y after the leg workout. My shoulder feels a lot better. I didn't try to go real fast either - just a nice swim. My legs were still quivering when I left the pool.

Track vs Tri

No wonder people make fun of triathletes......

Fashion

Mary sums it for me perfectly on fashion. Go read it.

New gear! Again!

I love my bike shop. They are just a small Mom and Pop shop over here on the west side of Cincinnati. The owners are married and both work other full time jobs. Dominic helps them out about 10 hours a week. He's a great salesman plus mechanic. They used to be just a BMX shop. Then they started to carry Fuji and selling road bikes. They introduced me to Dominic. I had bought my road bike there and they hooked me up with him when I needed to learn how to clip into pedals. You know, I never did tip over either.

So we order lots of stuff through them and today I got some tri-stuff. My red tank - Craft. Nice fit.




Wanda got a good deal on the Luna stuff. I tried the shorts on and man oh man they were awesome. Nice material. All the Luna stuff is made by Sugoi. I cannot wait to try them.

And they gave me the top! How sweet is that?




Today I ran slow and steady. I almost killed my dogs running them in the heat. We started out at 9am and within 3 miles Ari was trying to lay down in th shade. I promised them I would turn the AC on if they made it back. And we did. But a 6.2 mile run ended up taking 1:20. Yea, it was like that. Had to stop at a store and beg for a bottle of water.

Swam 1000m at the pool - kick board 2x100 added into just a bunch of laps of different strokes. I was trying to see what made my shoulder hurt. Free hurts some. I think my shoulder may be fucked.

Ran Nancy's dogs 4.5 but it was more of a pitiful jog/walk sort of thing. I went there from the pool and the sun tires me out. Plus I am running on zero sleep since I slept at Dominic's house.

After the ride

My friend Bob took this one.

Ride Cincinnati for Breast Cancer

What an awesome day!!!


64 mile ride - 17.4 average! That is good for me. :) HOLLA!


Swim 3x500 28:17 (I have been hoping to get 1500m under 30 minutes and I did! HOLLA!)
500m Splits:
9:37
9:36
9:54


Today was the the Ride Cincinnati for Breast Cancer. We were supposed to do 62 miles but my computer said 64 and it's usually under. So it was a great morning. Wake up at 5am. We were stocked with supplements.





My bike was ready and my tt bars are wrapped. I had some shoulder and collarbone soreness after the ride so I do think this frame just does not fit me. I am sad about it. Dominic is ready to strip the components and put them on that Fuji I told ya'll about last week.





I love the Twin Six Fat Cyclist jersey. It's super comfortable and the fit is perfect. I am obviously not happy to be up at 5am.



Dominic is wearing sunglasses though it's clearly still dark outside.





At the start of the ride.








We saw a two other guys wearing Fat Cyclist jerseys. This is one. The other one I said hi to but didn't get a picture.





We got back from the ride to tons of food. We hung out for a while and then went home. Dominic and I both had to mow.


After the yardwork was done (takes me 25 minutes to do both front and back if it's short) we went the the pool. I don't think I have felt anything as good as the way the sun feels on me after a hard ride like that. I lounged in the sun for a couple of hours and then did my swim (see above for my much improved times!).


And after that I took the dogs for a 3 mile hike in the woods and my legs are trashed!!! 13 hours of going and going and going.


Ate like a PIG tonight.


And I have to say it was a good day.