Push It

Total mileage on the bike - 55 miles and an average speed of 18.3mph (3:00)
Total mileage on the run - 3.5 miles in 30 minutes (I think).

Today was a good training day.

The plans were to ride 3 hours along route 8, which is incredibly boring, but supposedly very much like the IMKY course. Then a 30 minute run after the ride. I was supposed to train with Sandi but she hurt her knee and she had to cancel at the last minute.

I had extended an invite to Amanda, even though she was supposed to meet her coach for an OWS. I had also told Ryan about it last week. They both decided to meet me for the ride at the last minute.

It was awesome!! I haven't really trained with Amanda in a long time. She is kind of in another league now, going for Kona and all.

They pushed the pace and we all took turns pulling. It felt great. I just tried to focus on keeping the pace. The only time we slowed down was to take pictures. It was a fun ride. Amanda's been sick and felt like she didn't have her fitness from 7 weeks ago. Well, I guess she found it today, that's all I can say.

I have been having lower back pain on the bike for the last few weeks as the miles build up. Dominic has fucked with my bike fit a lot, trying to make it better. Beth Mason has been nice enough to look at pictures and offer suggestions. Riding with Amanda and Ryan today, they both offered a few things:

1) Amanda said when I push a harder gear, I move from side to side, and that could be causing my pain. I was pushing a harder gear. So I focused on my cadence a lot, trying to stay in the 90's, using a higher gear. That seemed to help a little.

2) My saddle may need to be moved back. I sit on the way back of my saddle, and Amanda says I look hunched over. I have been moving the saddle forward and back, trying out different positions, and can't seem to get this right.

It's driving me fucking crazy. Dominic is pretty good at doing a bike fit, and he'd kill me if I ever took my bike to someone else for a fit. Though that might have to happen if we can't figure this out. I can't keep doing all these fucking miles with my back lower back hurting so bad.

After we got back to the garage where we parked, Amanda and I got ready for our run. I knew she would push me on the run and I was kind of dreading it, though it was only 30 minutes. Ryan had rode from his house to meet us, so he took off on his bike.

Once we were running, my legs took about a minute to adjust, and then we were off. She was pushing the pace for me - it sucks, but I usually run 10 minute miles after I ride. I know. Slow. By the way I was breathing, it felt much faster. We ran for 30 minutes, and once we were about 1/4 mile from the garage, I said "you can sprint if you want", and she did. And I tried to too. It hurt. It felt good though.

Like someone on Facebook said about my training "that shit must be like crack to her".

Kind of, sorta.

I had a bad run today.

I needed a 2 hour run and decided on 13 miles. Though it took me much longer to run that today.

Those thoughts preceded to take over my mind. I thought to myself, as I ran through rough parts of the city, would it be better to be back on drugs?

I thought about society today.

And the fucked up state our country is in.

And the drug dealers who never seem to get caught.

And the asshole across the street that doesn't have to work and the government pays his rent. And all the young kids that sell drugs for him.

And my FB friend Sean who just tripped and fell and broke his hip running from a gang of 14 year olds downtown who threatened him with a gun.

And my company that has crappy insurance plans that include $5000.00 deductibles!

And how there is little help available to people with mental illness so my 72 year old Mom has to take care of my 48 year old brother.

And why my Father who owns properties worth close to a million will not help me financially?

And why my sisters chose not to have a relationship with my Mom and left all the responsibility on me?

And how good some narcotics would feel running through my veins.

Then I came home and snapped back to reality. I have a life now. A happy life. A soulmate and best friend. Gorgeous dogs. A house we share. A family. And I am blessed.

Aches, pains, and holiday fun

I just splurged and bought a pair of compression tights for recovery. My legs are achey. It reminds me of the ache I felt when I came off methadone. It's deep down in my bones. I feel it more when I am resting. I think it's kind of like RLS - restless leg symdrome. I also have the "jimmy legs" at night when I sleep (remember the Seinfeld episode when Kramer's girlfriend had the jimmy legs?). Anyways, Amanda recommended them. She sleeps in hers.



So these coughing fits I have during exercise - my PCP thinks I have asthma. I read up on it online and found out that adult onset asthma can come on strong during exercise. Women going through hormonal changes can get it. And there is one type that displays coughing as the only symptom! Often it comes from allergies as well. Mine seems to have gotten worse as the pollen counts get higher. I even started taking Clariton which helps a bit. The cough that started 3 weeks ago on that hill ride hasn't left. I cough often. During exercise, when laughing, even when I am just laying around doing nothing.

So my PCP wants me to have some breathing tests done, though I hesitate since I just received an $851.00 bill, from the cat scan of my kidneys in March, that my stupid fucking expensive-ass insurance didn't cover.

She prescribed an inhaler. But I can't seem to remember to take it with me.



In other fun news, besides training, Dominic and I went down to the Taste of Cincinnati last night. It's going to be a tradition since we also went last year. There is a shitload of food from local restaurants and RIDES! We rode them last year too. It's great to eat a bunch of food and then get on that ride where you stand up and the thing spins around so freaking fast and goes sideways.

Then we got on the "Dizzy Bears". You get inside, and can maneuver it to spin really fucking fast, which of course Dominic did. I was laughing so hard and we had a great time. But when we stopped, I felt like I was going to puke. And Dominic said "Honey you look green". All the color had left my face and I was so sick. But it was fun.




Tonight we are grilling out at Dominic's Mom's. The entire family is coming. Enjoy your holiday weekend, and take a moment to remember our troops overseas, and those who have died.

"Operation Aborted"

WTF is up with Blogger? Everytime I try to view my blog, it tells me "Operation Aborted" and then IE closes down the page. It happens on both my home computer and work computer.

I hate this shit. If anyone has any advice or knows what I should do, please let me know.

*****UPDATE 5/23: It's fixed.

And the beat goes on......

My MP3 player blew up yesterday. I had to ride and run without it. I suppose it's a good thing though, since I can't use it during triathlon races. Especially IMKY. USAT rule. Stupid rule if you ask me. Running without music is torture for me. But I made a promise to myself that I would run more without my MP3, just to get used to it.

The training is building up and it's getting intense! Sunday I rode 50. Yesterday I rode for two hours and ran 6 miles. Today I swam a mile and ran 5 (considered an "easy" day). Tomorrow I will run 11 miles and swim a crazy speed set that is well over 3000y. Thursday is a 3.5 hour brick - 3 hours in the saddle and a 30 minute run. Friday is a rest day. Saturday is another long swim.

Holy fuck. Can I really do this? It is exhausting, mentally as well as physically.

Ah well, at least I have a new MP3 for my run tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. Fausto and Ari are best buds now. I shot this video from the kitchen window the other day. This went on for an hour until we left for our ride.

Cincinnati Blog of the Week

WOW! I am the Cincinnati Blog of the Week! Thank you to the Cincinnati Women's Bloggers! Your kind words are much appreciated! Thank you for reading. It amazes me that people read this blog and your comments and support mean so much to me.

XXOO-
Judi

Kiss and make up and let's ride bikes

We are both leos. We both have a lot of unresolved anger from drug abuse and we both have serious tempers. That's why we belong together. No one else could ever deal with either one of us.




Dominic's new arm warmers


It was COLD today compared to the hot humid weather we had yesterday and the day before.




I had a 2:40 minute ride on the schedule. An 80 minute out and back. So we rode route 8.

We saw a gang of hipsters on mopeds. I didn't get a picture but there had to be at least 30 of them.

And lots of road kill.

We got in 50 miles in 2:47. It took more time to get back because of the vicious headwind.

Flipping off that ridiculous gas guzzler behind me.

Rage

Hot and humid.
Long drive home.
Three hours on the road.
Traffic.
Cell phone conversations.
Angry words.
More traffic.
Loud music.
Home at last.
Angry words.
Thrown objects.
Scared dogs.
Hurt feelings.
Tears.
Alone.

Out of town for work......

My boss emailed me a few weeks ago asking me to come to the corporate offices for some additional training. I left this morning. Staying over a night. More training tomorrow, and then will drive home, log in from home to finish out my usual 12 hour shift. I am really glad I am getting this additional training. Hopefully, if they lay more agents off, I won't be one of them.

Once I was finished at work, I went to try and find my hotel, which is less than 2 miles away. Got lost. Had to call a supervisor who talked me through the directions and I finally found the hotel. Then I find that the hotel has several "wings". I checked in, got directions to the closest Y so I could swim, and went to park near my "wing". Got lost again and ended up dragging my suitcase damn near a half mile until some nice kitchen worker helped me find my "wing". He even carried my suitcase. And why I have to pack 10 outfits for a 2 day trip, I have no idea.

So I get to my room, change into my swimsuit, and head back out again to find this Y. Got lost again. It's not that I am shitty at taking direction, but the directions I got were just shitty to start with.

Swim set was a speed set:

1x250 warm up (50 kick, 50 swim)
400 swim
1x400
300 swim
1x300
200 swim
2x100
200 c/d

2250y

Then, because I hadn't had time to lift much this week, I hit the weight room after my swim (happy Angry?). They had some nice equipment my Y doesn't have. I did lots of back, shoulders, and chest. 35 minutes total.

And then I got lost on my way back to the hotel from the Y.

Now I am chillin' in my room, having a chicken breast dinner and salad and feeling about ready to pass out.

Tomorrow I have a 60 minute run before work and then Saturday is a rest day. Before it starts all over again.

Irritating Scheduling of Training

This was my favorite, somehow it didn't get posted below.




So anyways, if you don't want to hear a bunch of bitching, you might as well just watch the video and go on. This is gonna be a bitch session.

So IMKY training is time consuming, obviously. It's hard enough just trying to figure out which days you can do which workouts, still maintain a house, take care of the dogs, and spend time with family. I have a schedule which I am sticking to pretty much. I try to incorporate Dominic in some of the rides so we can also spend time together.

This past week I had made some plans for a Tuesday HILL ride. So we have a time set and then I get Dominic's work schedule and I see he could ride Tuesday but he can't do hills (torn ab muscle). So I switch my days around, end up having to cancel on Sandi, just so I can do my scheduled "easy" ride with Dominic.

Monday rolls around and he rides to work. Works lunch shift, and has a 3 hour break until his dinner shift. So he rode during his break, while I was riding hills with Ryan. And I'll get to the details of that in a few.

Tuesday morning rolls around and Dominic's ab muscle is sore but he still wants to ride. I had a run scheduled too. But he wanted to drink coffee and read the paper, so to accommodate HIM, I run first (even though it's supposed to be a brick). Come home, ask if he's ready to ride, he has changed his mind. Too sore and tired, he plans to just lift at the Y.

I was FUMING. I had rearranged all these days and workouts, and it blew up in my face. So from now on, I am gonna train when I can train. That's it. If it has to be alone, well fuck it.

And speaking of training. The last two days have consisted of the following:

1) 2:45 HILL ride, 40miles, with Ryan yesterday. He took me up the last big hill, and when I got to the top, I had a 10 minute coughing fit. Like, I couldn't breathe, maybe we should call 911 type of coughing fit. I couldn't take in a breath without coughing. When I told Sandi which hill it was, she said: I am so fucking glad I didn't go! She said it's the mother of all hills. Anyways, we had to skip one of the planned hills, but got back ok. Side note: Ryan is a fantastic cyclist now. But he has a way to go when it comes to nutrition. He's 24 and thinks he knows everything, doncha Ryan? He doesn't listen to a word we say. Rarely has any gels and he rode without water yesterday.

2) 1 hour swim consisting of 500 w/u and 15x100 (not all out fast, a RPE of 4) so I did them on 2:00. And then a 500 c/d. 2500y total.

Today was a 1) 6 mile run and then a 2) 90 minute ride (should have been done as a brick, meaning bike, then run). I rode about 28 miles in 1:45. Traffic, lights and a couple climbs slowed me down. Plus I go slower through downtown.

And Fausto has hookworms. So I had to make a mad dash to the vet clinic, that Dominic INSISTS he go to, and pick up meds, before they closed at 6. After that, I met Heather with all our dogs and we did a quickie 2 mile hike in Ault Park.

It's been a long and frustrating day. Time for a bath and a xanex. All you fellow bloggers having that glass of red wine, have one for me. And be glad you CAN have one.

Dominic's Trick videos and Mom's Day Recap

So yesterday we had Mom's Day at our house. It's the first time everyone's been over since Dominic moved in. Some of the old time readers of this blog know the history of me and Dominic's Mom. I am not even going to go back and try to link to it, it's in the archives if you want to read it. Anyways, his Mom and I totally get along now. We mended our relationship and nowadays she calls me as much as she does him. She thanks me all the time for taking such good care of him, and taking care of Bruno when he was sick.

So we had my Mom and Dad (they've been divorced 38 years now), Dominic's older brother and two of his kids, and Dominic's Mom, over for a grille out last nite. My Mom brought her little chihuahua mix, Jakie, over so we had 4 dogs total. It was so fun. Jakie and Fausto played like crazy, chasing each other around the table while we ate dinner.

Everyone but my Dad who was getting seconds (and me taking the picture)






Zach and Fausto

My Mom and Dad

After dinner, Dominic broke out the free stylin' bike for some tricks:

Happy Mother's Day!

My all time favorite photo from the 2009 Flying Pig Marathon.

Picture by Ben, sweetest Cross racer husband of a friend I ever met.

Lucky Me?

Yesterday my Facebook status read:

I don't feel like I ran a marathon 4 days ago.

And I don't. I feel like a million bucks.

Recovery weeks are funny. I am just starting to get this. Recovery, that is. Faticus told me once I should rest as hard as I train. That's very good advice, Fatmarc (who's not really fat). I am always out there comparing myself to other people, reading blogs, reading about other people's training, and they're 4K swims make me feel like I should be doing the same. You guys know what I am talkin' about here.

This week I took some recovery time. Easy workouts:

Sunday - ran a marathon.
Monday - completely off. Helped Dominic clean out his car and fix the fence. Adopted a dog.
Tuesday - 2500y swim, 30 minutes of weights, 1:45 kayaking. Kayaking wasn't really exercise though. We lounged a lot.
Wednesday - 5 mile easy run with Nancy's dogs and 30 minutes of weights.
Thursday - 45 minutes on rollers (14 miles) and 90 minutes HOT yoga.
Friday - 1650y swim
Sat - ?? I might run and I might rest. Who knows.

I had no muscle soreness this week. My quads were a tad tight, that's why I hit the HOT yoga class. I had acupuncture the week before the marathon and a massage 2 days after the marathon. I take vitamins. I take care of this body.

I have the ability and desire and drive and heart to train. My legs allow me miles of riding and running. My arms allow me to swim and lift weights and do yoga.

Yes, I am blessed.

Recovery with a new puppy

I raised a grand total of $1329.00 for Northcoast Doberman Rescue. Well over my goal of $1K. Thanks again to all of you who donated. I appreciate ALL of you for reading my blog and donating to my cause!

This is a rest/recovery week. I am just doing a little at a time. I am not paying attention to my schedule but according to that, it's supposed to be a recovery week anyways.

Our big news is that we adopted a bully pup! We got him from the Animal Friends Humane Society in Trenton OH. He was fostered in a home so he has none of the usual shelter madness that shelter dogs usually come with. He was a stray puppy and is now about 9-10 months old. He has a GREAT temperment so far.

His name is Fausto. He was named for one of the greatest cyclists of all times (per Dominic), Fausto Coppi. "Fausto" also means "lucky" in italian.




Lucy and Ari are not happy about this new addition to the family. Lucy has nipped at him twice, breaking the skin. She grumps and growls at him if he even walks by the room she's in. Which is where ever I am. I finally got sick of it tonight and threw her ass in her crate for a time out. Ari hides in his crate a lot.

Fausto is a little butterball. He needs to lose some weight. He will soon enough. Especially with his new diet. He hasn't taken to raw meat so well though. He is very confused. He is getting some raw, and some cooked.



Here are a few pictures (shitty phone pix) from kayaking yesterday. It was such a nice change from the swim, bike, run routine. It was a beautiful evening. I am looking forward to doing this again soon.

Sandi


A bird


Me


Me and Ivy

The Flying Pig Marathon 2009 Race Report

I ran a good race. Here are my splits:

Mile 6.8 - 1:09:08
Mile 12 - 2:03:04
Mile 13.1 - 2:14:24
Mile 19.7 - 3:23:52
Mile 25.2 - 4:24:38
Finish time - 4:33:51 (my last mile was probably my fastest)
Pace - 10:28



Yesterday I met Julie, my greatest blogger friend from Chicago, and her cute CX racer husband Ben, down at the Expo. Julie was running the race too. The expo was a complete madhouse with all kinds of idiots running around buying 26.2 stickers and race t-shirts with pigs on them. I just bought a few headbands and a sports bra and left out outta there.



Then we went to dinner. I never run out of things to talk about with Julie. When we met at the CX races last summer, it was the same way. She even mentioned that she felt like she had known me forever. Sometimes you just click with people like that, you know? They headed back to the hotel and I went home to crash. Dominic had to work which sucked.

The weather predictions had been calling for rain all week. They said 46 and rain would start off the race. When I woke up it was mid-50's. Not too bad. Humid. Me and Dominic headed downtown to the race at 5:45am. Ugh. The start line was packed. This is a pretty big race, not sure exactly how many people, but it's pretty big.

I had to pee, and every year I have run this race, I always go pee in the bushes that are off on the side of the starting line, near the parking lots. This year, there were too many males standing there peeing, so I thought I'd hop over this wall and duck down there to pee. Well, that was a mistake. Over the wall was quicksand-like mud. I am not fucking kidding. I sunk down about 3 inches in mud. Both shoes. And the gun was going off in 5 minutes. I yelled "FUCK" and 3 guys were like "we tried to yell at you not to go over that wall" and I didn't hear them.

So back over the wall I went, peed in the bushes, and then got back up, stomping my feet trying to get some of the mud off. I was PISSED. But o-well, what was I gonna do? I had to run 26.2 miles with my feet soaked in mud. My nice white Asics were now brown.

So the gun goes off and here we go.

Mile ONE was for BGW cuz today was his 60th bday. BGW has been a commenter on this blog from the beginning and I love his wit and humor. So HAPPY BDAY STEPHEN!

The miles were going by pretty fast and I saw Ben, Julie's husband, on one of the bridges in KY. He ran fast ahead and took pictures. He made me laugh.

Once back downtown, a guy comes up from behind me and says "Are you Judi?" and I say "yea" and he says "I read your blog" and I was blown away. I told him "thanks for reading" and he just ran off. Who are you??? Please leave a comment!

I saw Mary, my local blogger friend, in her kickass pink cowboy hat and pink denim skirt, on the wall just leaving downtown. She looked so cute. I smiled so big when I saw her! Thanks for cheering us on Mary!

So onto the hills of Eden Park. I was thinking about Julie and how worried she was about the hills. This was the hilly part of the race - about 3 miles worth, up a long hill. I cranked up the hills, trying to keep up with the 4:20 pace leader. But it was not meant to be. Cuz at mile 9, I had to GO #2. Why does this always happen to me. I swear I lost 5 fucking minutes in that port-o-lette. And I lost the 4:20 pacer. But I felt 5 lbs lighter and just started back into my rhythm.

Here I am at mile 12 maybe? Dominic was standing on the corner with his bike taking pictures. I yelled that I felt like shit. He rode along side me for a while and I slowed down, talking with him. One of the race officials on a bike kept yelling at him to get off the course. So he had to ride away. And he forgot to give me the extra gel he was holding for me.

In addition to losing Bruno 3 weeks ago, Dominc and his Mom had to put her 15 year old Beagle down yesterday. So I honored them with their names on my calves. I wanted them with me in spirit.

So, the miles continued on. I had the most awesome playlist on my MP3. Tunes were everything from Michael Jackson, to Big Black, to Motorhead, to Jay Z. I was singing and having a great time. Do you know that Motorhead's "Speedfreak" is one fantastic running song?

I felt better and better as I got to miles 20-25. I knew I wouldn't make my goal of 4:15 but I was going to PR. The last 10K went by fast and soon I was sprinting to the finish. Note the time of my last mile.

I came up behind that girl in white and just decided to push past her. She was trying so hard to stay ahead of me.

But I beat her. Haha.

Dominic met me at the finish line.

Here is what my shoe looked like with the dryed up mud. Look at my chip. It was covered in dryed mud.

Heather didn't have the best race. She had plantar faciitus and Sandi's calf locked up. Sandi finished in 3:59 and Heather 4:10. Neither Sandi nor Heather q'ed for Boston. But we're all fucking glad this race is over with. Now we can ride our bikes. All 3 of us are doing IMKY. So it's really fucking on now.

Sandi and Heather on the massage tables. I waited almost 45 minutes for my free massage and it sucked.

Running for Rescue - Goal $ completed.

As of yesterday the total amount raised for Northcoast Doberman Rescue was $1262.00. WOOOOOT!

Thank you AGAIN!

Most of the donations came from this blog, so I cannot thank you enough for 1)being interested enough to read this blog, and 2)for donating to a cause that is near and dear to my heart. Teka and Judi P. of NCDR, work their asses off all year to save many Dobes in need. It's important to me to help support them and their rescue.

Lucy and Ari thank you too.