Beauhawk: Crazy Hair Day, again.

He's Beau. His hair is crazy. All the time.

So technically we didn't have to even do anything but you know Beau. When there is an opportunity to take something up a notch he turns the volume up. Way up. This was a last minute, finish your breakfast and I'll do your hair do.

Side view:
Beau was very specific. He wanted a mohawk--which he calls Ho hawk--but I just didn't have enough product to do that.

There use to be this guy in high school. Dan. I had super secret crush on him (super secret because I had a boyfriend and because I was totally not Dan's type anyway. But we were school friends). He was in a band. He was punk rock. I was most definitely not. He even once told me I had the curviest legs he had ever seen. He did not say this as a compliment or as a come on but rather said it like he was marveling at something bizarre. He made it sound like I was a complete freak because I had muscular legs. Dan did not have muscular legs. He was just skinny.

Anyway, Dan had an amazing fish fin mohawk. It was tall: a piece de resistance. He had to use A LOT of hairspray. I know this because Dan and I had talked hairspray. I had big hair too--not cool tall hair like Dan's-- but he could tell I had special knowledge about hairspray that could hold.

These days I never use hairspray so I couldn't do Beau's hair like Dan's (he had told me how he did his hair: eggwhites and hairspray.) Hence all the rubber bands.


In even more boring news here is the breakdown of last week:

Sunday: 15 miles on the bike at the Greenway. Had an asthma flare up and had to cut it short.

Monday: Still struggling with the asthma and just walked for 3 miles.

Tuesday: Optimisitcally thought I could do 16 miles. Had to use my inhaler and struggled a run/walk for 5 miles. Disappointing.

Wednesday: Got on the Claritan train. Ran 5 hard miles, 2 on the Leita trail. Raced some guy who didn't know we were racing. I kicked his ass.

Thursday: Still riding the Claritan train and got in 17 miles on rolling hills at an 8:20 something pace. Very happy.

Friday: 12 miles in an hour 37 at the Greenway trail. Then hopped on the bike for 20 miles for 70 minutes. Again, happy with day's workout.
Saturday: 7 miles on rolling hills at a general aerobic pace. 2 miles were on the Leita trail.

Totals:
Bike: 35 miles
Run: 46 miles
Walking: 3 miles

Sunday: Legs were dead. Had that tight calf, cramped calf issue flare up again. I walked/ran and did 4 miles in 41 minutes. Whatever.

Monday: Bit of foot tendinitis rearing it's head. Legs are clearly not up for running so I hit the bike. Bummed that Steph couldn't join me. I hit the Greenway again. I did 52 miles at just under a 17 mph pace. I could have kept going but I ran out of time. It was a nice ride and gives me optimism that maybe I can probably do a half ironman. I'd still like to do a 100 mile ride or 2 before I attempt a half iron. I want 56 miles to feel like nothing.

Because when I told you to go to bed you didn't

Alternate titles for this post might be karma, revenge, or just the worst dinner guests ever.

Last night Fishstick and her husband had Ryan and I and my sister and her husband Wes over for drinks and dinner. Fishstick and Mr. Fishstick and Pookie and Wes are all newlyweds. They don't have kids. So they like to entertain and have other adults over. They do this because they have the energy and because they need to have a reason to use all those place settings they registered for. Otherwise, what's the point. Not to mention, since they don't have kids they still have all their place settings and nothing is chipped or broken. So they can entertain.

The Fishstick's and Pookie's are also younger than Ryan and I. I also use to be both Fishstick's and Pookie's babysitter. Neither of them ever listened to me about going to bed. Pookie is my sister so it is totally expected that she would ignore me about going to bed because really, who listens to their big sister? Fishstick and I worked out a deal: when Rae and George--her parents-- came home she would run and jump in her bed and pretend to be asleep. She got to stay up late and I still looked like I had it together.


Anyway it is nice to have young and newly married couples as friends. Most of Ryan and I's friends have been married as long as we have (almost 9 yrs!) if not longer than us. They all have kids. See the plural? It is the plurality of children that drastically cuts into your entertaining. Because once you have kids all your entertaining energy goes into arranging play dates and super fabulous children birthday parties. There is no time, energy or money left for adult parties. Not to mention what are you suppose to do with the kids even if you do have a dinner party. That whole hiring a babysitter to sit upstairs with them doesn't work. Kids? They like a party.

Which yeah, Ryan and I still entertain. We just invite everyone--kids and adults over and hope for the best. Trust me, it isn't the same.

So last night we got a sitter. Not the original sitter mind you. Lala was too worried that Pam might go into labor and somehow Lala has it in her mind that she is going to help birth this baby so she couldn't be saddled with my kids. Because my kids? They get in the way of birthing babies. So Bubbles and Poppy watched the kids. Thanks! And yes, as of this writing Pam is still preggars. So Lala's midwifery skills are still on alert.

Ryan decided that we should take his car. I was like fine whatever but I am not driving then. The Ford F250 superduty is way too big for me to manage. So Ryan drove. On the way to the Fishsticks--who lives ITP by the way( we are very uncool and live OTP)-- Ryan told me a really cute story. It was about how his truck almost died on him yesterday and he barely made it to the auto parts store where he determined his battery was dead. He got a new battery and assured me all was good. Having owned a Jeep for 11 years and learned just slightly less than a professional mechanic about cars I briefly wondered if maybe it wasn't something more than the battery but then my girl brain took over and I applied more lipstick.

Then at the gate getting into the Fishsticks neighborhood the truck died and the thought that been in my head about the alternator reappeared. Ryan conceded that maybe it was the alternator and not the battery that was the problem.

We had to call Mr. Fishstick for come help us. Did I mention that truck died just outside the gates?

How embarrassing is that?

Well probably really embarrassing for most people who have not owned a Jeep. But seeing how I am not lucky enough to be one of those people I am fairly comfortable in car breakdown situations. No big deal. Annoying, yes. But eh, once a fairly regular occurrence for me. You know once you have your drive shaft shear in half and have oil spilling out of the bottom of your car and you have to depend on perfect strangers to help you push your car out of the middle of a busy intersection during rush hour traffic not much that happens with a car is going to faze you. Really.

Mr. Fishstick jumped off the truck and we managed to get it parked. We enjoyed the dinner and looked at entertaining video from Pookie and Wes's wedding and marveled at how little we all remembered of the event.

When we first got to the Fishsticks I told her that I wanted her to know that I wasn't petting her cat because I am allergic to cats not because I don't like cats. Which confused Fishstick since my cat Thor( who yes is still alive and lives with Lala) I actually got from her. I had to explain how I am not always allergic to cats but sometimes I am and not touching cats seems to best combat the problem.

Unfortunately last night was one of those times that it turned out that I am allergic to cats--despite be vigilant about not touching said kitties.

And apparently Ryan, Fishstick and Pookie have never witnessed what happens to me when I have an allergic reaction to cats. I find this hard to believe seeing how Pookie and I grew up together and we have always had cats but whatever.

They were all greatly horrified how my right eye almost swelled shut and was all puffy and watery. They kept saying I looked like the guy in There is Something About Mary and were pushing the Claritin--which I declined since I have never taken it and didn't want to see what happened when you take Claritin after some cocktails. Besides once you reach the point of swollen eye the worst is over. It is all the itching while the eye swells shut that is the miserable part.

And, for the record I did not have hives. Just one eye that was severely swollen. I get face hives and vomit and lips swell when I eat fin fish. All over itchy giant welts on my body when I take penicillin. Hayfever and asthma to grass pollen. Really, when I think about it, the swollen eye is the most comfortable of all my allergic reactions. Totally manageable. Just really scary looking.

So my sister and Wes took us to their house and we spent the night. Lala and Pop had to go get Lola for us and were totally freaked out that our "dishwasher was on". As if we'd had a break in and the crime that occurred was that someone loaded and started a dish cycle. Certainly not that we had set it to run while we out. No, definitely could not have been that.


We called a tow truck this morning and Ryan right this second is off buying an alternator and will be playing auto mechanic this afternoon with his friend Jeff.

At some point during that time I will be going running.

Last week's workouts were as follows:
Sunday: Running and some walking on the beach for bit over an hour. Just calling it 5miles since I know it was at least that.
Monday: Same. 5 or so miles on the beach again.
Tuesday: Travel day but hit the elliptical for 45 minutes. I forgot how very boring the elliptical is.
Wednesday: 21 miles. I forgot the pace. It was just under 9 minute miles.
Thursday: 6 miles recovery in the rain. One hour on the bike at the gym in the afternoon-20 miles hill workout.
Friday: 5 miles on the treadmill--3 miles at or close to 10k pace, 1 mile at tempo and 1 mile recovery pace. Around 37 minutes for whole run. Walked it out for a half mile cool down. 1 hour continuous swim--about 2 miles.
Saturday: In the morning an hour on the bike at the gym-21 miles hill workout. 10 mile general aerobic run after lunch. Run felt great! I sprinted up the hills, practiced running hard on the downhill and recovered on the flats.

Totals:
Run: 52 miles
Swim: 2 miles
Bike: 41 miles (I feel the need to qualify that all miles were on the gym bike which is way easier than any miles on the road.)

Last bit of business. Deciding on races:

My marathon training is getting back on track. I have managed 3 21 miles and 2 19 milers. This week will be a cut back week because I am racing a 10k on Saturday (however not at all optimistic for a sub 42). I feel like I am in a good place to do either GA ING full or the Country Music Marathon. I am pretty much definitely planning on doing the CMM so that I can visit with my friend Chris but can't decide whether to do the half or full at ING.

My thinking is that since I do usually do a 24-25 miler long run a 4-5 weeks out from a marathon the GA ING (March 30) falls perfectly in that range for the CMM(April 26). But then maybe that is too ambitious and I should just do the half at GA ING and save myself CMM. Thoughts? Opinions? I made a poll if you just want to vote and have no 2 cents. . .

Time trials

This morning my pal Steph had on her blog a link to help predict your time in a triathlon. Of course I checked it out because who likes surprises? Apparently, as much as I think I do, I guess I don't. So once I figured out how to correctly plug the times and distances in it came up with a predicted time of about an hour 14 for the Hansgrohe triathlon.

My predicted swim was 7 minutes, the bike 42 minutes and the run 22 minutes. I guess the extra 3 minutes was for transitions. Not trusting this or the times I plugged in I went to the gym this morning and did some time trials.

I did the bike first and the 13 miles came in at 36 minutes and 6 seconds. I set it for a level 8 hill ride. This is probably the least accurate of all my time trials but I think the bike will come in under or around 40 minutes.

Oh, and the bike at the gym has heart detector and when I finished I had finally gotten my heart rate up to 120. Seems like it should be higher but I have no idea how to get it higher since I feel like I am pedaling pretty hard. For comparison-- on the treadmill, after a sprint I am usually at 165 but I have seen as high as 179. I think I max out somewhere around 185-190. If anyone has any thoughts or knowledge on this I'd like to hear it but please dumb it down for me. Also, while you're at it, can someone one please tell what the hell watts are. On the bike today I saw a wattage (is that right?) range of 65 (for the flats) up to 135( for the hills). RPM's ranged from 150 (flats)-115 (hills).

So after the bike I hopped on the treadmill for a 5k. First mile came in at 7:28. I hit the 2nd mile at 13:56 and I finished the 5k at 21:06. I think I can go faster outside. Typically I run training runs slower outside than I do on the treadmill but I am always faster in a race than on the treadmill. We'll see. I do think this is pretty accurate for what I can do give or take 30 seconds in either direction.

Next I changed and got in the pool. I did an easy 200 warm up. Then I timed a 400. 6:29. Okay--honestly I was hoping for closer to 6 minutes. I rested a minute 30 and gave it another go. This 400 felt a lot slower so I was quite surprised to find that I finished it in 6:29 too. How's that for consistency?

I do think I will be slower than that for the tri because I think my flip turns pad my time. I have to be careful when I push off the wall otherwise my goggles fly off. Which brings me to my other question. Should I wear goggles for the tri? Are they necessary? I have successfully finally figured out how to get all my hair into one of those pretty swim caps. I also have masted getting my goggle strap under the cap too. Only took me all summer but I figured it out.

Okay, so according to my very scientific time trials today I can plan on a finish of 63:44 and then however long it takes for me in the t1 and t2? I am giving myself 7 minutes for the transitions so that comes in at 1:10:44. So maybe the prediction of 1:14 isn't so far off. We'll see. Come on race day magic.

Thoughts? tips? Educate me oh experienced and gifted ones . . .

My Disease: It is Genetic

Quickie post.

Dinner is almost done: Shrimp in a lemon Parmesan pesto sauce with capers, Vidalia onions and grape tomatoes over cheese stuffed tortellini. Salad and bread and the obligatory wine to go with it. Again, all well deserved. And, this is why I never loose weight not matter what I do. I can eat like a bird all day but come dinner? I dine. I eat big.

Thursday's workout: Little over 7 miles in an hour and 2 minutes. Holy crap it was hot. I took the hills out of the equation and went down to the river in Roswell to run. Nice breeze but it was rough. Man I hate the heat and as anyone who was reading this past winter when I trained-- I hate the cold too. I want it to be perfect. All the time. It is that princessness.

After the run, I hopped on the bike and rode to Wileo or Little Wileo or whatever that road is that ends past the nature center and rode back and out to the end of Riverside-- or whatever the road is that backs up to Martin's Landing. All relatively flat with bike lanes, nice. I think is was 12 miles maybe 14, I don't remember now. I do remember it was a 14.8mph pace. So a decent workout. I skipped the swim but I fought myself on going all day. If I keep pushing I get all tired and bitchy. It is hard to say when enough is enough. For some reason it just doesn't feel like a workout unless I am dead at the end of the day. I am telling you, marathon training messes with you. It is seriously hard to cut back and accept it once you push yourself like that. I know that makes perfect sense to some and to others I am "that crazy running girl."

Found out today that in some circles that is what I am called. Best friend's husband went to a party and the women there called me "that crazy running girl." Not sure what I did exactly to earn this title but I am not offended--I've been called much, much worse by women and besides I have long known I was a little crazy. There is a reason why some friends call me "Nutalie."

See, I figure it must be genetic. My other friend tells a story about how she use to go to aerobics with my mom and on the way home my mom would say "Well, I guess I'll go for a run for an hour."

And now, the kids. They've got it too. I can tell, even though they are only 4 (well almost) and 6. Beau is at camp for 4 1/2 hours and Carmella is there for 6 1/2 hours. At this camp they are go go go all day. They swim, hike, ride horses, play games, have relays, do art/crafts etc. There is no down time, no nap time. They walk everywhere. It is awesome. You'd think it would wear their asses out. And it did Beau the first day but apparently he has since acclimated.

See, my kids? They both want to know what's next when I pick them up:
Can we go to the pool?
Are we going to Kid's Club(the gym)?
Lala's?
Bubbles'?
Meme's?
A play date?
A hike?
The park?
What's next?

I say "home" and they whine and say "But that's boring!" The way they act you'd think that making them sit at home and play with their bazillion toys was the equivalent of making them hand wash cloth diapers in the toilet. And a nap? Well, fugetaboutit.

So apparently, the gene of knowing when to say when is something those in my family are born lacking.

Mid Week Update

I will be out of town this weekend and I have some time now to do my tri training update.

Sunday: Road Virgin 20 mile bike ride (13+ mph). And then 3 400's at a very leisurely pace ( with huge intervals in between them). Not counting this in the week's tally.

Monday: Treadmill workout: 6 miles in 44:11. Walked it out til I hit 50 minutes. I forgot how far that was. Got in the pool and swam for just over 30 minutes. I assume it was a mile. I don't count the laps anymore so it could be a little less or a little more than a mile. In the past when I've counted I always hit a mile around 30 minutes so I don't bother to count.

Tuesday: Greenway Trail ride. 24 miles at a 16.2 mph--just under an hour 30.I rode in the big sprocket which I hear makes you faster but it is harder. I was faster but not that much and it was flat so it was not all that hard. I think Lance is great. Now that I am figuring out the gears it isn't so tough.

In the afternoon I swam for 35 minutes-- so a mile and a little more. I did swim harder but again I didn't count the laps--just a continuous swim.

Wednesday: So the kids are at camp this week and next. I drop them both off at 9:30 and I get Beau at 2 and Carmella at 4. So today my plan was to park at Big Peach Running Company and run from there for about 3 hours. By the time I got there it was already 81 degrees. I headed out and took it slow. Ran through Indian Hills and felt pretty good but Old Canton was my undoing. I hate that road and it just isn't that hard. I had stop every once in awhile just to walk, stop my head from spinning, drink some water (I bought some at QT around 6 miles and kept and sipped it). The heat makes me feel like I am dragging a tire. At the 11 mile mark I realized I was 3 miles from home and the shortest way back to Big Peach was 6 or 7 miles. I made an impulse decision and I headed home. I downed a glass of OJ, changed into skirt (yes, I bike in skirt, it is comfy) grabbed Lance and rode back to Big Peach to get my car and then to get Beau.

Run: 14 miles in 2 hours and change.
Bike: About 12 miles--Garmin's GPS didn't pick the first mile and half so I restarted. The 10.5 was at a 14.5 mph. I got a lot of cat calls today--"Go Bike Girl!" and "Keep Riding!" and then just some hoots and hollers. And let me just be the first to say that riding on Johnson Ferry is scary. I ended up riding on the side walk.

It was in the 90's when I finished--at least that is what my car said.

I never got to eat lunch today as I had a bunch of errands to do after I got Beau and then it was time to get Carmella and then I still had more errands to do. I was hungry but it went away and now I am just tired. I am having a Sol and waiting for dinner to finish cooking--baked potato, grilled New York strip, a HUGE salad and, of course, wine. All well deserved.

So my plan for tomorrow is either a 6 or 10 mile recovery (read slow) run in the am and then a mile swim in the pm. Friday will be either a 6 or 10 mile run-- depending on what I do Thursday. Saturday is probably a day off since I will be in travel but I may be able to sneak a short workout in--either bike or run. Going to Statesboro for Pookie's engagement party and then Tybee on Sunday with sister and pals. Ryan can't go because he has to work so I am kidless and husbandless and I am going with Fishstick. Good times and giggles abound for sure. I might bring Lance since Wes (Pookie's fiance) is bringing his bike and his bike buddies will be there so I might see if they go ride if they will let slowpoke me tag along (these guys are Crit guys who regularly race at 35 mph). I am hoping their hungover asses will be slow enough I don't get dropped.

Current totals for the week:
Bike: 56 miles
Run: 20 miles
Swim: 2 miles

I'd like to get the run to 40+ miles and get in another swim workout. I am enjoying the bike so it would be nice if I could find the time for another ride but I doubt I can swing it.

Okay, I'm tired. I need to go eat something.

Not Ready for the Road

That is what Ryan told me this morning.

As we lingered in bed over a 2ND cup of coffee this morning--after a sleep-in until an unheard of in this house 8 am--and I asked his opinion on my bike ride today. Yesterday I ran 13 miles and saw no need to punish my legs-- or myself in the heat--again and figured I should finally get to know Lance a little better. So I asked Ryan if he thought it would be better to ride from our house-- pointing out that I had a little concern about the traffic on a few of the roads near our neighborhood; or if he thought it would be better if I just rode from my parents house in Roswell--as there are more back roads and I always see a ton of cyclists when I run through Roswell. What to do, what to do? And Ryan flatly told me that I "wasn't ready for the road yet."

A tiny part of me had my feelings hurt but I know he was basing this on the little tutorial he gave me about Lance a few weeks ago. Immediately following the lesson of this-how-your-gears-work-now-go-practice-what-I-told-you I came back walking Lance because my chain had fallen off because I did exactly what he told me not to do. So his opinion was not completely unfounded and was not aimed at chipping away at my ever so "fragile" self esteem.

He was helpful and put Lance in my car for me and told me to go to the Greenway. I said okay but totally lied. See, I've made quite a few spins there and really needed to go somewhere I could practice changing gears. I needed hills. So instead of driving all the way across town to the Greenway--which would have wasted an hour of my 2 hour window--I went to my parents house in Roswell to see if I could convince Pop to ride with me.

I figured if Steph is road ready then I am too, damn it!

But Pop said nothing doing. No time for a ride this morning. He was cutting tile and refused to leave his project. Then he noted that I was not wearing my helmet and got all angry and started to rail into me with a lecture on safety. I quickly explained that my helmet was in the car along with Lance and my shoes and gloves (I know! I have gloves. How professional am I? Okay, they were Lala's.) I snarkily told Pop that I didn't know I was suppose to wear the helmet to drive. And Lala, ever the one snark up you, pointed out that given my history that it might not exactly be all that bad of an idea if I did wear it to drive. Ha ha. I have such funny parents.

Once we got past the fact that I did indeed have all the necessary equipment, and no knowledge of how to fix anything if it happened to break and went over the hand signals-- that Pop says no one uses-- he told me a couple of routes to go.

I said I wanted hills and by golly I got them. To start out I got brave doing a few laps on my parents road (it is a little over a mile long) and then headed out and cut in and cut of neighborhoods. I rode into Steph's hood and saw her and her pal Michelle running and then saw Steph's husband Doug-- who is also triathlon training. Chatted for a bit and then headed back into hill climbing through their neighborhood. Then I set out, big gulp, onto real roads with real cars and real traffic lights and real stops signs. And it was really really scary--but I did it and I did it all by myself.

I was super slow too--20 miles at just over 13mph. It probably could have been faster had I not been so scared on the downhills. I think I am going to go through brakes faster than most people. I pretty much have the gears on the right side figured out. The left side? Well, I didn't touch it. My bike--Ryan says they are called sprockets--has three rings/sprockets. I kept it on the second "sprocket"--not sure if I am saying that right but last time I messed with the left side my chain fell off and I wasn't taking any chances of that happening today.

So yay! I did it and since I didn't die--as I was pretty much thinking the chances were high that I would--I am excited and want to go again.

How crazy is that?

I also swam today but not sure I should even count it. Total I did 3 400's but it was a 400m during each of the three "adult swims" at the pool. And it was while I was drinking beers. Oddly, the last 400m felt the best. But I am guessing it isn't exactly brilliant to train while throwing the brewskies back. What can I say, everyone has their own methods. Some are more effective than others and some, well, are not but they are more fun.

10k Today

I did this 10k.

Eh.

This morning when I got up at 5am I really did not want to go. I can't quite put my finger on it but maybe it was the beers I had at the 4 year old's birthday party in the afternoon yesterday. Or wait, maybe it was the glass of wine I sipped while I danced and got my groove on in my kitchen after I dropped the kids at my parents; showing Ryan all the fancy new moves I've been practicing. No, maybe it was the dirty martini I enjoyed over Ryan and I much needed adult dinner. Or maybe it could have been because I knew this race attracts some of the fastest local runners and I didn't want to find out how slow I really am. But, you know, I think it mostly was because while I knew I wanted to run today I really didn't want it to be at 7am--especially since the kids weren't here it was a golden opportunity to acutally sleep until 7. Oh well, I'll sleep when I'm old and feeble and can't run.

So I went. I ran. I finished.

You'd think with most people that would be the whole story but you know me, I gotta drag it all out.

I was the 7th woman finisher and 3rd in my age group--gotta little plaque. I think the 1st and 2nd place overall winners were also in my age group. My time though sucked: 45:43. I had set Garmin to pace me and he finished the 10k at around 43:08 with the finish line no where in sight. I wasn't entirely surprised by this since it seemed the markers were off from the first mile and I had thought it would work it self out but they kept being more and more off. Garmin read 6.88 miles when I did finally get to the finish. I know my Garmin acts a little crazy sometimes but that is because I often lose the signal. I didn't today--had it the whole time. I asked about and a few runners said their times were off by a few minutes and one girl said her GPS said 11.5K-- so I think the course was long. Doesn't matter as it wouldn't have changed my placement since we all ran the same course.

The course was pretty easy compared to most courses in Alpharetta as it is relatively flat. Which is also why I am further suspicious of my time since I regularly run a 10k faster than 45 minutes on the treadmill.

Okay, I'll let it go. It is what it is. And a PR is not what it is.

Best friend came out too and ran the 5k. Yeah Tara! Very proud that you and skirt were out there representing the kick ass girly girls.

It was also nice to see Tracy, Rod and Virginia who all ran the 10k and did just super!

After the race I went over to the Greenway and rode Lance for 12 miles. This came in pretty slow as there were was some sort of 5k or school fun run going on at the end near the YMCA (read lots of little kids and parents.)

First week of triathlon training totals:
MPW: 44 (ran everyday)
Swimming: 2,600 meters (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday)
Bike: 24 miles (Wed, Sat)