Arghhhh

I hate when I am trying to get consistent weeks of training and stuff happens. I know most of you are going to say life happens but it's hard to stay consistent.... Last week my poor little girl was super sick trust me I could have done without this one. This week I'm having a hard time with the tuna salad wrap I had for lunch! I just lost my stress outlet and I don't like that hey but now I can go get a glass of wine.
OK bitching's done for the evening.
Yesterday was a good solid run, for a change ! No no I didn't all of sudden found the button to start my jet pack and I was still huffing and puffing up an imaginary hill at 12:45 min/miles. But I was strong and steady and almost kept my HR where I wanted.
Once I got home however all the stress relief brought on by my run drained away when I looked fro MAC sharing project. The board once more disappeared and was found at the bottom on the recycling bin with a big beer stain on it. To make matter worse we had one less day to prepare for the presentation. This makes me the winner of the worse mom award!
My little guy went to school this morning ready to make his presentation and of course didn't get to present as the teacher wasn't there for the day!
So now if you'll excuse me I have to devote all my attention to the first episode of Stargate Universe. First came Stargate SG1 which was a looong show and different sets of characters and two sets of different bad aliens species. It was closely followed by Stargate Atlantis. Now we are onto Stargate Universe.
Maybe if I'm lucky enough I'll get to watch the newest episode of Castle.
To finish up this post on a good note we will be skiing this year woot woot

Blur....

Last week was just a blur. To conclude a great Thanksgiving week end we took the kids for a walk/scooter stroll in Coronado. We stopped by a neighborhood park and finished off the night by grocery shopping at the TJ in PB followed by sushi at surfside sushi.
Monday was back to business, back to work, back to training well back to the routine! Well except that when I got to the gym eager to get on with my run while rummaging through my bag I realized that I didn't have socks! Well I thought that's OK I can run without socks will probably give me blisters but ah well. However when I realized that my sports bra was MIA as well I went back to my desk dejected! Luckily B was home in time for me to go to Rehab United for a tri-strength training. I was really hoping I could still walk the remainder of the week.
Lucky for me this was a bit more my alley and required a bit less coordination and I was able to keep without making a total fool of myself. However sporting my new wall of shame bruises from my mountain biking outing did get a "For god sakes" from the coach! The flavor of the week is a bit impressive although not painful anymore really.
Tuesday I decided to do my bike workout that evening since I wanted to socialize and gorge on indian food at Punjabi! I was able to do 40min of my bike workout when MEC puked on her bed and continued for half of the night. The poor thing was able to fall asleep at 3am and so did we.
We stayed home the next day and work from home while she watched Go Diego Go all day and again the following day! On Thursday we all went out for a run and well it was hotter than expected and again I was huffing and puffing while B was chatting away while pushing MEC.
Friday was back to work attempting a 30min tempo on the treadmill (kiss of death!) followed by a 1M all out yeah right I gave up after 30min dejected again. After amusing the gallery with my mountain biking adventures hey at least I'm amusing people, finished my day at work.
Saturday morning before leaving for Palmdale I managed to extract myself from our cozy warm bed to go run with a friend. I wasn't too sure how I would do but her constant chatter kept me going through my huffing and puffin, do you see a recurring theme here! I managed a 6.6M in a 1:11. I haven't looked at my HR profile I hope it isn't too depressing! Nonetheless I had fun and maybe you'll me joing the dawn crowd every once in a while. I have to say it is such a nice feeling to have your workout behind you by 8am!
After that we drove to Palmdale to visit family. It definitely isn't my favorite place in the world and the neighborhood where B's grandma leaves is really not that pleasant and doesn't feel safe. However it was great to visit family. We had a great time and the kids too. Didn't do too much which is very different from our usual week ends.
As soon as we got back home, B went for a 9M run and well I took the kids to the park for them to get some of the stored energy out. I took my mountain bike and practice some tight turns around the trees. Maybe just maybe I will handle tight turns a bit more gracefully during our next outing.
Finally I am looking at my race schedule for next year and it will probably go like:
Jan 24th Carlsbad Half marathon
Feb 6th 5K trail run in Mission Gorge
Apr 10th 5K or 15K trail run in Black Mountain
May 5th Wildflower triathlon short distance ????
June something SDIT almost olympic distance (not if I do wildflower)
Sept San Diego classic (?)
Nov Xterra triathlon (?)
Maybe some other 5K and 10K....
We shall see....

Thanksgiving week end

After a big meeting at work I decided to take my afternoon off. My original intent was to do some grocery shopping but instead after hitting the gym I decided to get started on MEC's Christmas dress.
That night I whipped out a pretty nice little dinner pork loin and pasta and to bed we went.
Thanksgiving day started by a 5:30am wake up call arghhh to go run a 10K. Picked up a friend, dropped off two very tired little kids and off running we went. From our group of 3 I of course was last to cross the finish line. Almost stopped after the first loop felt quite nauseous the whole race but managed to pull a 56:58min 10K which was 6.4m instead of 6.2.
Somewhere along the course decided that I could not excel at everything and that well even being a slow runner but going out as often as I do counts to something ;)

Back at the house, showered and cooked some waffles. We then went back to our friends house for a bit and crashed hard for a long nap. Woke up as everyone was finishing dinner and started cooking. B concocted some nice little lemon drops.
Dinner was very quiet as it was just the 4 of us. We had turkey, mash potatoes, apple shallot dressing, apple pie some nice wine.

Everything was quite good my apple pie was a bit dry but with some ice cream it was all good.

Friday was quite got up late and went to Oceanside to check out the pier. Followed by dinner with friends at our house. Lasagna was on the menu that night, some more lemon drops and wine.

This morning we had a baby sitter for a couple of hours while I tried to mountain bike. Again my bike even though named through me on the ground multiple time. I just realized that I'm not super comfortable on narrow trail and tight turns.... You will probably find me practicing this in the park behind my house. After 2H00 of fun and falls we came back home, at brunch/lunch at the coffee cup in La Jolla followed by a stroll along the water....
I don't know what will be for dinner, the kids want waffle....

Learning to ride again

I had no idea that mountain biking would require me to learn how to bike all over again. That a mountain bike is actual alive and very much like a stallion tends to throw me on the ground on if I'm not smooth enough.

Last sunday we had a baby sitter watch the kids for a couple of hours and went on a ride with B. I know some couples go on a date our idea of a date is an 11M run or a 2H00 mountain biking ride.

So this time B ampted the challenge a bit and well "Black beauty" deemed me unworthy of riding on her many times on that ride. I have the bruises and scratches to prove it.

I always wonder why I have this desire to get humbled again and again and again. I liked riding on the road, I love the smoothness of pedaling as fast as possible the numbness of it all. After the pounding of the run it is like floating on the asphalt.

I love the challenge of mountain biking. I totally and utterly suck at it but what is new. It is a lot about control, smooth riding, and a equilibrium between speed and control... Yanking a bit too much on the handle bar and you are thrown on the ground. Go too slow and you end up in the bushes.... So much to learn so many more bruises and scratches to come. It would appear I only dream about scratches and bruises even though I am pretty scared of hurting myself.

Luckily I wear jeans more than skirts. However I will wear some wrist guard to protect my bones! I will bite the dirt many more times and hopefully my fear will subside slightly and I will feel more comfortable.

B out of solidarity ate shit big time that day trying to hop over some rocks in front of 10 people. He has a more impressive battle scare although I do win on the sheer number of scratches and bruises on my lower legs.

Besides that well, MAC has been sick for the past few days. Low grade fever that doesn't go anywhere. I also am sick which is really unfortunate since I was looking forward to getting back to my training.

Hopefully back to normal tomorrow and back to work. If I stay home too much I'll get funny ideas of working part time and all....

Yum Yum

So it is recovery week so well I don't have many workouts and well I just ditched today's.... Well life caught up, Von's trip after picking up the kids from school, cleaning up the house so I can find my inner peace in a clean kitchen. (Don't ask) A dire need of a glass of wine didn't really helped my motivation. So there went the bike workout oops.

What else, well I've been hit or miss when it comes to cooking. I don't want to cook and then I creat something new.

Anyways tonight B told me he was getting sick and that he wanted something tasty, and comfort food like. Bacon, pasta came to mind, I came accross a potato, bacon green onion tart recipe on Williams Sonoma with one of my favorite cheese (Roblochon). I'm sure you probably know by now why I still have 5lbs to lose eventhough I work out like a lot.

So anyways I skimmed over a pasta recipe that sounded interested and this is what I made:

- 1 tsp fennel seed

- 1 big clove of garlic

- a few chili flakes

- 2 bratwurst saussages without casing

- two tomatoes grated

- 1/4 cup port wine

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- Pasta

- 1/2 - 1 cup of mushrom

Crush the fennel seeds and add the clove garlic, add the chili flakes.

In a pan add a glub of olive oil and sautee the garlic/fennel mixture

Add the saussage crumbled

Dice the mushrooms and add it to the mixture

Cook a bit and let the water evaporate

Add the port wine (it gives the rich sweet taste)

Grate the tomatoes add to the mixture

Cook for a bit

Add the cream.

Sprinkle some blue cheese if wanted.

Enjoy!

All the gear and no idea aka "Black Beauty"

WTF is that all about... Well this saturday I splurged big time! Thanks to our stock and an early birthday/christmas present combo I am the proud owner of a super duper cool mountain bike!
I never named my bike I already thought it was a bit weird thing to do but I don't know when I saw it I knew that it would have a name and it will be black beauty! Cheesy cheesy but here it is ....

I love the mat black with hot pink accent! Very like me... just the right amount of girliness ;)

Anyways I took it out for a spin with B in the Penasquitos/Del Mar Mesa area. I won't lie to you I wanted to be riding my road bike to get to the trail. There are some steep hills to get there. Once on the trail though it was love at first sight. I loved the fact that just behind suburbia you have a piece of nature heaven. I went down my first steep steep hill, learned how the bike handles what to do etc... Then we did some pretty easy single track stuff. Took some steep turns and I made some very girly sounds and of course fell in the bushes. Well I didn't know that when you start pedaling and you pull a bit on the handle bar the whole bike would do a wheely! Heck I've never been able to do a wheely in my entire life!

So a scratched knee later and bruised ego we finished my first outing!

I can't wait to go out again! Can Software engineer be called off work so they go out an play ;) Oops no we'll have to wait until the week end.

While out on the trails I also decided that trail running sounded darn good and so I started looking into putting a small group of girls to go trail running!

To get the kids into biking we took them on the 56 bike path. MEC wasn't crying as much as on her first outing and she actually had a great time. Her little legs were pumping happily until she started complaining that her legs were too tired... MAC was running circles around us. It was great fun and we will be going out soon again!

After a trip to "In-n-out" burgers to get the kids out of the house while B worked for a bit, I went for my 2H00 run. My stomach behaved considering the double and double I wolfed down an hour before.

Like a turtle I slowly but steadily I managed to run 9.5M while keeping my HR at a decent zone.

Today was the first day of my recovery week. Eventhough I took two days off last week because of extreme soreness I am embracing this recovery week.

Got my legs back

Well almost but at least good enough to consider running! For the past two days I have been walking like a grandma robot, barely keeping up, choosing the elevator instead of the stairs. The last time that happened I was 8 months pregnant with MEC and about 5% of my lungs capacity.
Pretty pathetic, but hey I've learned that a) obviously I do need a strength training program, b) what to expect and c) next time I'll need to go to my own pace! In the process I'll try to toughen up and be more stoic ;)

So one more hard week end and a recovery week ;) Maybe some mountain biking also this week.... stay tuned

Can I have some cheese with that whine?

And I thought I was getting in OK shape and I was pretty tough until I met Lesley Paterson my coach. I know I'm going to be in pain when I go to one of her workout session but oh boy It is always about 10 times worse! Today I went to tri-strength training at rehab united where I got my arse handed to me on a platter in a BIG way! Two hours later I can barely move! Not only you have to remember a succession of move, try to not think about the pain in your limb but count your rep! Let me tell you I made a total fool of myself on all three accounts!
It is never pleasant when your coach tells you if they are doing it you can do it too!

Anyways once more I have been humbled... It seems to be a recurrent theme since I have started working with her, but then again what doesn't kill you will make you stronger!

On a more interesting note I believe I'm going to try to get into Mountain Biking.If only I could find a slower crazy girl to come trail run with me and mountain biking. B wants me to go with him but then we have to find someone to watch the kids!

More on that later and maybe a new cool bike in my future....

Running running running...

So I have started my crazy running regimen, crazy for me I mean!
My workout schedule now looks like Mon: strength training with running drills, Tue: 45min run usually hill workout or tempo, Wed: 45 min run of tempo intervals, Thurs 45min Bike workout like a spin class, Fri speed intervals, sat 2:00 run, Sun 1:30 bike easy spin.

So anyways I can tell you my legs are tired but Im two weeks in and I did 90% of the workouts, This week very busy work schedule shorten two runs and zapped the bike workout but that's life.
I'm slow there is no denying it but hey I'm still putting my running shoes and go for my runs. It is not always easy, last weeks two hour run was a piece candy hard but sweet today's was more like Brussels sprout healthy but not too tempting!
Maybe the route was a bit more enticing last week. I ran from my house in Carmel Valley to Solana Beach. most of it done on the beach! It was ejust beautiful! today well a bit more hilly and hotter and well not as nice.
Enough rambling on my runs!

Change is in the air

So it is 9pm, dinner has been eaten as a family, kitchen is somewhat cleaned, my strength training somewhat done and I am ready for some stretching and reading in bed!
We have decided to start having dinner with the kids. It will take some time to figure out the proper routine. So tonight was a wee bit off but I'm sure we will get the hang of it.
On the workout front, since triathlon season is done! This year I realized that you have to be a good runner to be a good triathlete and so I decided to focus on running. This means about 4-6H00 of running per week!
When I saw my new schedule I gasped! 45min speed workout on Friday which means 5x3min all out 3min easy. 2h00 easy run on Saturday and 1h30 tempo intervals on Sunday... Challenging!
Saturday for my long run since B had to go to Encinitas to buy new shoes I decided to run to Solana Beach. Meet him and the kids there go to Encinitas then he would run home. I did it and it was one of my most awesome run. Mostly on the beach at a comfortable pace 11:45-12 min/mile.
Sunday I only had time for 1h00. Today though my legs were tired so now time for stretching and foam roller!

Last tri of the season

So sunday was my last sprint triathlon of the season. Since coming back from France I have had a real hard time to get back into the training groove. I know I probably worked out more than I used to a couple years back but nothing like in march through June! Needless to say that everything was slow and hard which made it very very hard to stay motivated and up beat for the upcoming race! To top it off I had an awesome race last year and I was terrified to completely and utterly suck!
A few weeks back, I was so appalled by my running performance that I had a chat with my coach. We decided to just focus on running for a little while and the most important piece to stop stressing out about performance! I believe running for 5:00 week is going to be the easy part.
So anyways with this change of focus and well being busy at work and tired I wasn't super duper motivated to get up at 4:45am on a Sunday morning.
So well since racing wasn't an option well I decided to just have fun! My coach's goal for that race was just to stay positive and be happy.
Saturday I go through the pre-race motion almost forgot my wetsuit duh go to bed early. Sunday morning up at 4:45am at the transition area at 5:35 and the bike rack is already packed. I find an OK spot set up my bike wander around because of course I can't remember how I should set up. I say hello to a few friends always nice to see some friendly faces so early in the morning. I finish setting up go for a quick warm up jog, knock my time chip off my ankle go get a new strappy thingy and add a safety pin. I say hi to my coach, and finally get my wetsuit and in the water for a warm up swim!
Finally we are off, first half of the swim is great meaning slow but steady. Second half gets croweded and I'm losing my rhythm and my orientation so I weave quite a lot. Finally the swim is over and off on the bike. That is my favorite part the triathlon. I had a bug smile the whole time. In no time I'm done with the bike and onto the run. I try to set in into a good rhythm focusing on my breathing and my rhythm. At the end of first loop I catch sight of my coach and oh boy that was the best feeling in the world! It helped my push a bit harder and I was in the zone nothing in the head just breathing and pushing and checking If I could just keep it up and well the finish line was there!
That a race went by soooo fast. Didn't know how fast or slow I went and didnt care! I gave all I had and I had fun.
So because we still care about timing I did a bit better than last year. About the same on the swim and the run and much much better on the bike!

After that it was family business as usual!
After that back to the car, then on to brunch at the beach grass cafe, then clean and play with the kids.

Blah blah

Ok so I have been lost in no blogs land lately but here I am.
Training has seen some highs but mostly lows! I haven't been able to get back into my pre-summer routine. As a result my legs have been in a constant state of fatigued. My runs are slower with a high HR. So since the triathlon season is coming to an end I decided to focus on running! Ironic isn't it... I remember telling B a decade ago that I will never run, I didn't like running then a few weeks later I started my long journey! After my first half I jumped into triathlon to escape the monotony of only running. Yet two seasons later I made the decision to focus on running which with my coach means 5-7 hours of running per week! I am ready for the challenge which I believe in my case will be more mental than anything.
My main goal from now on is not to run faster but to mentally let go of all the "I should be" and enjoy and cherish the "I am"

This is starting this Sunday morning my last race of the season. Last year I ran the 5k at 8 min/mile pace. I wish I could beat that PR this Sunday but this won't be my goal! My goal is to race as hard as I can with only positive thoughts to cross that finish line with a smile on my face knowing that I gave all I had and be happy with my performance!

on the kitchen front I have discovered a new spice. Fennel seed, i am not a big licorice, celery anis taste but this seeds give a new dimension to my recipes... more on this later because B's out of this world's chocolate chip cookie is screaming for my attention! And yes my husband makes chocolate chip cookies from scratch I knew I married him for something

So so sad

What is happening you must be thinking first post in month (yeah life is hectic and boring at the same time) and it is titled "so so sad".... Well it refers to my luck with Gilt purchased. First I found this really pretty and quite sexy bared back dress for my brother in law's wedding which was well 1/2 inch to small at the waist.. I mean come on you gonna be too small can you be at least 2 inch too small!
So after returning the dress on time yay! I waited for the couple weeks in took to have my credit available. I found this really pretty pair of Charles Jourdan shoes open toe interesting back and a big heel. But hey on the picture a 4" heel is well pretty. On my foot though it isn't. I guess a 4inch heel on a 9" foot just doesn't work that well. I have to say it was stretching some unknown muscle in my ankle but besides that it look quite ridiculous and quite frankly I could barely make it across the room.
I believe I will stick to the 3" and below heel!

Food

Ok so I wanted to lose a few pounds in a few days! But then I couldn't really get my workout groove back, and well I did stay away from junk food but ah well...

Anyways I don't think I lost the weight I wanted but I found my groove back and I have been cooking a bit more.

Tonight was 30min bike workout followed by a Tomato Blue Cheese Tart from Williamssonoma and Arugula salad.

Post

A month since my last post... I almost shot down my blog but then B told me to just blog when I felt like it.
Sometimes my posts feel like a brag board, hey look at me I'm so cool I do all these things!

In 4 weeks, a lot has happened but yet a lot is the same. For starter I just weasled my way out of my bike workout again today. Except that this time it wasn't after a several weeks of hard training but after 3 weeks of vacation.

I did my first "almost" Olympic distance just before leaving on vacation. It was a really fun fun race! I finished 33 out of 57 which is of course not quite where I wanted what's new. However I was happy with my splits go figure! Putting the ego aside the course was really beautiful even the swim wasn't too bad!

Then I had to pack, get stuff ready for our trip to France, deliver my project and go!

Managed to do all the above, got up at 3:45am got on a plane then another one then we landed in hot Paris! It is funny how your mind is wired. We have been travelling to Europe mostly in the winter and thus I expected a cold breeze once I stepped out of the plane instead I was welcomed by a hot scorching breeze.

It was great to be home, having a few more set of eyes looking after the kids, lounging in the sun catching up on my reading.

I polished the millenium trilogy (the girl with the dragon tattoo etc...) I absolutely loved it. Now I'm waiting patiently for B to read them so that I can watch the movie!

Three weeks of vacation, lots of sleeping, lots of reading, lots of good food/wine, not much running (too hot and humid).
We got back to reality on wednesday night at 10pm and everyone was back at work/daycare the next day at 8am!

Here we are trying to lose 5lbs in the next several weeks, get back into training eat better well the whole nine yard! Well my first run workout left me with serious sore harmstrings and I just bailed out of my bike workout.

To finish a recipe... I tried Bunny curry chicken salad and I have had a craving since I got back. Of course I didn't have time to make it but today I was starving (salad and a nectarine even with chicken isn't enough!), I was tired and cranky so I decided to make something like the chicken salad but warm and voila:

Sautee some garlic, and onion
Add some curry powder (as much as you'd like)
Add chicken cut in small pieces
Add some chicken broth
Simmer
Then when the juice has reduced enough
Add some snow peas or spinach or whatever greens you wish
Slice some scallions and some cilantro
A dash of cream serve it on a bed of rice!

Better

Ok so I weasled my way out of my bike workout. I was tired and hungry... I know lame excuse which means I'm doubling up tomorrow.
Anyways since yesterday was really good unhealthy dinner today we have a really good healty dinner.
I made some flank steak that I marinated with lemon juice, olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, herbs from the garden (sage, thyme, oregano and rosemary) half a shallot and two garlic clove.
B bbqed the meat. With it we had some asparagus and some red quinoa.
Before that I made a salad with cherry tomatoes, black olives and mozarella!

I am far from being stuffed actually a bit hungry still but ready to go to bed...

Oops

OK so B went out tonight and usually eat good when I'm alone. Well I ate good but not good good.
It was delicious but really not that healthy and now I'm feeling stuffed and blah for the third night in a row... Not pleasant.

So I feasted on bacon/onion/blue cheese pasta... yes I dared and I will be mad if I'm 1lb heavier tomorrow duh! For dessert, I seared some fresh apricot in a bit of butter ( a real small bit), with a bit of maple syrup sprinkled some almond meal and served with a scoop of vanilla icecream.

Again I will be mad tomorrow when i realized that well tonights dinner added a pound to my weight!

So good night I need to digest ;)

quick update

My vacation is quickly approaching but yet a few things have to happen before I can even begin to get ready. First of all big deadline at work, it is in good shape and I'm hoping to finish two days before the deadlines but still. Second of all big triathlon well for me, my first close to Olympic distance is upon me. Thank god for my coach I'm in a much better state of mind than for my first race of the season. Lets face it there is not much more I could have done so well what will happen will happen.

Since I have a big deadline at work well my beloved son who didn't get sick once all school year was sick on his first day of summer! I felt bad for him because that day he was supposed to stay a friend of his. He was so excited about it. Instead he spent 1 hour on their couch sleeping before I picked him up :( Strep throat. But as a kid he got his antibiotic and was good the next day yay!

My legs are trashed! Went for my run on Saturday, then did my whole bike ride on Sunday but completely died after 10min of my BRICK on the run. I walked home.... I finally brought my bike to the store and I am ashamed to say that most of my derailleur issue were caused by all the dried up sugar from my energy drink spilling and me not cleaning yuck! But also a couple of loose screw. It now rides super smooth.

I also learned that it isn't normal to be trapped in your clips and that un-clipping should cause bruising! 180$ later I had new pedals and clips. I have to say that it is nice to be able to un-clip easily.

Taper week is here and I get to run with Bunny tomorrow, Nevertap weaseled her way out of our run once more but for weights so I'll forgive her.

On the house front, well not much. I did fold a couple of laundry load then everything went south again. I can't find the perfect laundry solution. So I have to think about it. It has to be easily reachable for the clothe to make it in there. It has to have two compartments one for the white and one for the dark it has to be pretty and not take too much space.

I did make the mat for the picture of B's mom and I put it in the frame. It now hangs above our console table completely off centered but ah well.

The books are still in the dining room along with the kids toys. Maybe we will tackle that next Saturday. It should be a nice distraction from the upcoming race. Yikes, I will wake up before 5 twice in 4 days! Not right not right.

It will be my longest event to date. I'm expecting a finish time anywhere between 2:20 for bestest case scenario and 2:45.... 2:30 being more likely

Here I can't have a picture-less post. On Saturday we went shopping for more workout clothes. I bought two sport bra bringing the total number of sport bra I own to 4! I now am the proud

owner of 4 full running outfit, and a couple extra long sleeve running shirt!

Here are a picture of my latest acquisition

The picture doesn't do it justice as it looks more like olive green than the bright color it is. I'm more of a black/gray/navy girl. I love touches of color for accessories or tops. But for some reason this pair of short just called my name. I wish my running shoes matched the outfit

Good night!

ups and downs

These past two weeks have been all ups and downs! Work is doing great. I'm plowing through my workload which is quite heavy and with very tight deadlines for a change. I'm being super productive and it is nice.
Training is doing well although I'm getting a bit tired. I shorten sunday's workout, I willed myself into yesterday evening bike workout but couldn't muster the courage to do tonights. I decided to take the night off and truly enjoyed it. I stretched a little. I took a break before giving all I have til Sunday then it is taper for the race. I have no time goals. I have no place goals. I don't care. All I have is a race strategie which consists on pushing on the swim just enough to get out somewhat fresh, start my bike ride build to high tempo quickly then stay there for half the ride then try to push to threshold. Finally the run, same start off not too fast get into it then start speeding up in the second half! I just want to have fun, I just want to give all I have and we will see what it gives me back. All I know is that I have trained hard I trained right so whatever I get on race day is where I'm at and that's the end of it.

On the downs I believe I shaved off 2lbs! They have been off for a little bit now so I hope it will continue in that direction.

On the house front now that B put back the kids shelves I have been good and started folding my laundry again and put it away as it comes out of the dryer. I have still a backlog of probably 5 loads. The piles of books and other stuff are still where we put them 4 weeks ago.
MAC has been asking when the books will be back in his bedroom! well when we find the courage and time to do that....

Calories and Calories

I never believed in every calories are born equal. Hey I'm a food snob what do you expect?

So on the week end we workout quite a lot... Even though today I cut about 45min out of my workout but my legs are really really sore.

So this morning I made waffles and not your ole plain waffle... just the most mouthwatering melting in your mouth waffles...

Then we nibbled on some a bit of pita bread, some hummus... And dinner not healthy but the yum factor was off the chart, still decided if I'm gonna go for seconds. Here you go it isn't healthy but I am still firm believer in calories are not all born equal...

Cut some bacon (about 4/5 strips) choose the meatier ones because fat doesn't taste that good.

Slice 1/2 onion

saute until the bacon gets all crispy.

Add some fresh thyme, some sage...

Remove most of the fat come on lets not get carried away

Then either cook some gnocchies or some finger potatoes or maybe even some ole plain pasta...

If you chose the potatoes slice them and sautee, if you chose the gnocchies saute too... didn't try the pasta.

Once done sprinkle some blue cheese and voila serve that with a glass of red and enjoy!

Yum Yum.... Yesterday I totally binged on my rice balls (sorry bunny I was too busy eating and I forgot the pictures).

OK need to finish my dinner and watch "Burn Notice" hmmmm happiness ;)

Biting a bit more than I can chew

I am realizing that maybe just maybe I bit a bit more than I could chew. Unfortunately I have only so many hours in the day to do all the things I want to do and well maybe I'm spread a little too thin. Also I have to say that my last triathlon wasn't the joyful experience I was expecting. I absolutely hated hated the swim and it was only 450m long! the bike was fun but oh so windy and the run was a bit miserable because of the nausea! Then are the ocean swim that send me in a total panic mode hours before going in the water. I am wondering why I am doing this to myself. First of all I like to try things, I like to get myself slightly out of my comfort zone. Starting triathlon totally got me to a strict workout schedule and I love that.

I believe, depending on what my coach says, that next season I will be focusing on running and keep biking a bit. I am starting to love running and well I do love biking. I'd like to improve and well I do have a lot to learn. So I will keep working with my coach because I absolutely love it but I won't subject myself to scary ocean swims!

I do not feel like I failed. I do not feel like I am quitting. I am just changing my direction slightly.

This will also remove the two longest workouts of my week and I will probably be able to do some strength workouts.

Since B won't let me quit on my scheduled race darn I am starting to freak out big time for Sunday in two weeks! I mean I hated every meter of the 450M swim and this one is twice as long.

On another note, I picked up the outrageously expensive fabric I ordered to redo the old rocking chair and I just did it. It took me a whole of 15minutes and it looks great. I'd like to clean up the wood a bit and maybe re-stain it slightly. However B would like me to first make that white cover pronto since he is hoping that will get rid of the grandma smell.

Anyways hopefully I'll have some more pix because I have quite a large number of projects and I'm really planning on making them all... Might take me a bit of time but I didn't give myself some crazy deadlines ;)

Shark bait

First of all love the new styles offered by blogspot so much more stylish/artsy than before.
This week started like hell on the work front and finished on a better note! So we are back to a very focused me which means less blog stalking! On the bad front our home computer crashed, our microwave decided to quit and when I decided to ship back my Michael Kors sandals I realized that well the 21 days were expired. So I'll have to keep my teal blue sandals.

However we caught a break when they updated the hard drive that crashed for nothing, when B's cousin booked us in a motel closer to her wedding location and 35% of the cost!

Training has been going well. I had a tough run on tuesday. LP wanted me to put the treadmil at 1% warm up 10min, then run 1M Hard, 5 min easy then 1/2M at least 30 sec per miles faster then 5 min easy and do it again! I completed the 1M Hard at 8min/mile, the 1/2M at 7:20 but when it came to do it again I came undone after 0.6M!
The next day was BRICK... 10 min WU on the bike, 10 min WU run then 4x 1min interval hard on the bike followed by 30 sec easy, and 3min Hard run do it 3 times. I was going to call it quit after the 2 time I even stopped my watched. I pulled all I had of energy left climbed back on my bike and went around the block once more!
Finally today was a ocean swim hence the title of that post. Each time I think ocean an awful shark image pops into my head. Anyways it was great, I went with two guys from work. They were super patient with me and stopped lots of time and stuck with me. I was actually having fun!
Tonight my lovely neighbour cooked too much meatloaf and shared with us. Yummy..
Tomorrow we are going out and I am running 45 min with bunny yeah!
Now I'm beat and I going to read and probably crash very very quickly.

Thank you america

For forcing a poor soul work at a cash register at night and thus savings a bunch of forgetful parents! I love to have a grocery store open 24/7.

This the mom talking to you... the mom who at 10:45pm remembered the "sharing lunch" happening on Monday. The mom who had a mild panic attack when she realized that the little friend wished to have for lunch

• 1/2 PB&J check
• Grape Juice thanks the MEC check
• Cheetos yikes we don't let that crap, good delicious but nonetheless crap, in the house
• Brownies oops didn't make any...

So here I am ready to go to bed but instead dumping my PJ pants and running to Von's hey while I'm there I can pick up the eggs, the heavy cream items forgotten from our first grocery shopping trip earlier that day.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, sick in my stomach to be buying Cheetos and brownies for an overweight little girl when these items never make it in my shopping cart Von's, a thought crosses my mind... Wait a minute Monday the 14th... hmm but tomorrow is only Monday the 7th. The fleeting feeling of pride for a mom saving the day is quickly replaced by the Duh moment of the we have to not forget NEXT week...

In the mean time the Cheetos are hidden in our cupboard really really far from our finger. One brownie will be saved for the kids the rest will be shared with my office mate.

But hey I got to eat some cherries tonight so all isn't lost. On these words I will be going to bed because now I am tired and it is late!

Bad hair day....

So we just finished a new episode well two new episodes of CASTLE. I just love that show. It isn't late enough to sleep. Although if my head touched the pillow it would take me a whole 10 seconds to fall asleep with the lights on! What I really want to do is read but well I don't have a book handy. They are all buried in a box or in a pile in the house. I just read all the new posts of my favorite blogs. Various race reports, epic workouts, beautiful remodel every facets of my being have been satiated, well almost.

Anyhow what is left to do, is to share with you some disconcerting news. I am getting old and I'm not sure I like it. I know I know I look so young, I mean I get carded all the time. The Von's cashier refused to sell me beer with an expired driver's license. Come on if a teenager is going to get a fake idea don't you think they will stay in the early twenties range not go for 35!

But here it is I am passed 35 yes my 36 birthday is little ways away. I have now joined the rank of the tough age group in triathlon. 35-39 is one of the best age group in triathlon. Much faster than their10 years younger siblings. I wish I had known that when I started thinking about triathlon 10 years ago!

I know I'm getting older, the kids are growing up so fast, I have bags under my eyes and I can see some wrinkles. What I find hard to swallow is the realization that dying my hair isn't the answer to a "I need a change" blues but more like holy crap I have a lot of white hair and I need to do something!

On that note I will put away the laundry I folded woot woot and put my head on the pillow.

Why do we do such crazy things

Last night I sent an email to a friend to wish her good luck for her half marathon. She emailed me back at 3am saying, look at me getting ready at 3am why do we do such crazy things!

I have no idea but we do it and once we are done, we do it again!

The other day at daycare I was talking about my training with a dad and how I bailed after going up Torrey Pines 3 times when I had to go 5! Another mom said that I must feel so empowered after I'm done! I guess so most of the time during though it can be tough.

Today my coach wanted me to do a 3H00 ride, with 4x10 min hill repeat (90 sec in saddle, 30 sec standing) as HARD as possible, then 1 30 min interval (15min 70rpm harder gear low tempo straight into a 100rpm easier gear high tempo).

B went surfing so I lazed around, posting some pix of the remodel. I had two toasts for breakfast and a cup of coffee. Probably not enough for a 3H00 hard ride. I started getting ready at 11am... As I was getting ready I remembered that my cadence/speed monitor didn't work anymore. This was going to make the second part of the workout hard. I decided to stop by Performance Bike on the way to Torrey Pines. My legs felt tight and being blind is a little tough as I always feel I'm as slow as a turtle!

Anyways they could not fix my cateye but I changed my cleats.... Once I got back on my bike I realized that it is tough to unclip new cleats pedals. I started panicking not being able to unclip my shoes... I stopped for a little bit almost giving up on my ride and practice unclipping several time...

I went diligently to Torrey Pines and up I went.... and it was hard and I was wondering why I wasn't interested in going to the spa or walk... But no I want to be fast and I want to be good and so that's why you'll find me suffering most sunday afternnon on my bike. Sometimes I'll have a big smile sometimes I'll be grunting other blubbering!

Today was blubbering day.... I made 2:30 hours out of the 3:00 because we had to go to a birthday party and because well my legs were just done! Maybe just maybe two pieces of toast are just not enough fuel for a mid-day ride. The nutrition is still quite a work in progress.

Yesterday's run was good though... The low HR was a bit slower than I wanted but I was really pleased to see that I was able to run at threshold (so not all out) at 7:30 min/miles a bit downhill for 2min ;) I don't know at all how this translate on race day but it is always nice to see...

Master Bedroom

So the floors have been done, a new chair has been bought as well as a new rug. Most of the furniture is back but not the clutter... I hope we can keep it that for a while although I can see some pile of crap creeping on the dresser.

Sitting area before

Sitting area after... Both of the chair can fit but the style and color clash big time. B baptized the new chair "vagina color" color and the IKEA chair is just plain. I'm hoping that a white slip cover and a nice accent pillow will bring them together. The new chair is super comfortable and exactly what I was looking for. The kids love it too. Hopefully I will tackle those slipcovers shortly.

Desk with no computer before

Desk area after... We totally fell in love with this Pottery Barn rug and we bought 3 so far! One for the family room, one for the dining room and finally this one. It works it priced OK, not cheap but outrageously expensive either.

Things left to do:

• Figure out a dirty laundry system that works
• Make a white slip cover for the new chair and the IKEA chair
• Make a bed cover
• Maybe make a bookshelf for the wall behind the IKEA chair.
• Keep the bedroom clutter free if possible.

But I have to say now the bedroom is also a place to spend some quality time.

Connected at last...

Hubby's back and so is the Internet! I know isn't it lame for a girl who would like to be oh so independent to rely on her better half to connect to the Internet!
So anyhow we are having quite a problem with the movies... I have no idea what causes it but basically every once in a while the voices are all muffled! The background music and the image are quite fine but then the dialog just doesn't go through! It happened to me yesterday while watching "Sweet Home Alabama". I thought it was due to the age of the movie. Especially since I watched Sliding Door with no problems.

Then today we were watching Leap Year and it did it again with a brand new blue ray movie! How annoying. I hate it when technology betrays us. We strive on technology!

Anyways I cooked a lot these past few days. It started super duper healthy and then well it was so healthy anymore....

On Wednesday night I made some red quinoa chicken salad, followed shortly by another quinoa salad this time with a bunch of veggies.
The next day I cooked small potatoes, fried some bacon and shitake mushrooms, then sprinkled some blue cheese. I had some green salad to go with it! But then I had the remainder of the potato mixture and some ice cream oops....
Lunch today was also quite healthy big salad but that left me quite hungry... so it was shortly followed by a small bag of Cheetos (oops). Then it was the beginning of the end, I gorged on mozzarella cheese then a bit of homemade pizza from the kids and finally dinner! Lets blame the periods for the binge and hope it will be short term thing because I really really would love to lose those 5lbs!
B wanted something good and healthy. I made some pork loin with some Asian sauce, baby bok choy, shitake mushrooms and some rice.
So I have a bunch of pictures for all those meals well for some of it but then I need to figure out how to get the pix out of my iPhone first!
Anyhow we have sooo many projects to do this week end. At the top of the list, laundry, getting my wing back chair, training/exercise, cut a whole in the back of the entertainment center, fix the kids bed, organize the house just a bit then maybe we will have time to start making a shoe rack for the downstairs bedroom!

Dilemna dilemna

So when I saw this transformation in that post I decided that our IKEA chair in our bedroom will disappear and I will tackle the following transformation project.

I stumbled upon this chair on Craigslist but it is quite far away and is 75$. There is something about it I love. The feet the overall feel of the chair really appeal to me. However after buying the fabric etc... the project will be about 150$.

Thunderfingers found this one which is half the price. I don't like the overall shape as much. I really don't like the bottom. However the price is tempting since when all done I'll probably be under 100$.

Will it matter once covered???

Disconnected

Since IT guru was out of town for a bit and that the floor guys decided to unplug the cable modem to do the floor in the guest bedroom... I was left disconnected! You might think well how come a software engineer can't figure out how to reconnect her internet! Well I find comfort in being a completely IT retarded software engineer! There is also only enough room in our household for one full geek and B got that title ;)
So here I was by myself with no internet and lots to blog about!

In brief the house is done well the floor that is. It is absolutely stunning! Now we just have to put it back together get rid of the stuff that cluttered it all. I also have to tackle the highest pile of laundry I have ever accumulated in my entire adult life! I am not looking forward to that.

I need to sell a bunch of things on craigslist I need to buy a few items although thunderfingers is really helpful in that arena! She will teach me how to be a good bargain shopper something that I never had time to be!

More on the projects and the house in a later post...

Addicted

OK, so I'm known to get addicted to whole kind of different things! Not my fault I like so many different things. With summer coming I don't know why I am getting more and more into redecorating the house. Nothing major but small changes to improve our space. Maybe get rid of the plastic boxes in which toys accumulates endlessly. Figure out a way to curb all the pile of junk everywhere, whether it is a bowl, a cup or a clean surface. Maybe those extra sturdy trash bags are the solution to my clutter problem.

We are also in the process of remodeling our upstairs. The carpet was ripped out last Wednesday. The floors in their bare state were liberated. However things are slower than expected and the charm of this new look well faded slightly and has been replaced by a slight irritation over the utter mess created.

Anyways I now have a new source of distraction and once I have been through my triathlon blog I jump on the decorating ones. I am in awe at what is created from so little. I have never dared buying a junky looking arm chair on craigslist and give it a face lift ! Maybe I should.... I just bumped into a post on how to make a white slip cover and let me tell you the chair underneath is really well damn UGLY!

Now that the kids are older I decided to give myself one year to create a nest! So little by little I will create a clutterless place to live Our nest... It is quite a project but I will conquer this bad habit of ours....

Hill workout

So today I had a one on one session with my coach. Since my swimming is pretty much covered by masters, I will try to attend her BRICK workout next week where she can check out my riding we settled for a run workout!
We decided to meet at her place in Mission Hills. It took me a while to get there even with a GPS! I discovered a new place in San Diego. I have never ever been in that part of town before. It isn't San Diego at all, it looks like San Francisco or Seattle. Anyways the streets are narrow and the hills are steep.
After a 5/10 min warm up, I did a 10 min high tempo since I didn't have my HR monitor with me I did it by feel. I was probably more at threshold level and my carnitas burrito threaten to make a come back! However my gait had improved a lot and it felt good the first 6 minutes ;) After a short walk followed a short jog we got to the hill! It was short but steep like it is hard to drive up steep 20% grade steep!

So here I go on that hill and it is hard! I am out of breath about the middle of it but I have to finish and even try to speed at the top! Tough tough but oh so empowering!

After a few more of those maybe 5 or 6 total we were done. Well I was done huffing and puffing that hill and she was done waving and encouraging me! Yes it was a tough workout but time goes by fast when working out with her. I always know that I'm going in for a tough workout, the intensity is always overwhelming and then when it is done I am in such happy peaceful place!

On a completely different note, I love the houses over there. They look like most of the houses I love to check out on the decorating blogs I have been reading. Unfortunately Mission Hills is quite far from work and even further from B's work... so Yuppy Hell shall be our home! I have to admit I do like Yuppy Hell, yes the houses are not quaint and lack personality for the most part.

In the mood for change

So since I can't easily redecorate my house I decided to give a face lift to my blog, change the colors a little. I saw a girl who had an awesome font for the title but couldn't figure it out in a timely fashion so we are stuck with good ole Trebuchet!

I was chatting with a friend at work today and realized I would love to take a 2 months break from work to do all the things I have to do around the house. This would include:
Sewing projects - Make some roman shades for the piano room, make the gumdrop pillow, make some pillow case
Wood projects - Make a few bookshelves to replace the one we are about to give away to Goodwill, make a cubbie thingy to stow away the kids toy in a elegant fashion so the piano room isn't a mess, a bench or something for the bathroom downstairs to put some shoes, etc..., and a table for the kids to replace the god awful one from IKEA and maybe a lounger.
Paint projects - Touch the downstairs bathroom paint, touch up the kids bedroom paint, finish repainting the guest bedroom.
Decoration projects - Frame and mat a bunch of family pictures for the stair case...
Outdoor projects - A small retaining wall...
Cleaning projects - Get rid of all the old toys, pile of old papers etc...

Yup that about sums it up and I'm sure I can find some more. The ironic thing is that when we bought the house we thought it was perfect nothing to be done ;) HA! Oh this isn't even counting all the craft projects and all the training. I mean if you are home might as well fit in some 2-4 hours bike ride etc...

So since there is no "home project" leave of absence it will take me a while longer to do 1/10th of that list ;) Oh and there is training too and well all the other things.
Today we had to clean up the upstairs somewhat for the guys to do the floors, to be able to move the furniture around. So we packed the rest of the books, the kids clothes, the kids toy and dismantle the kids shelves....
Anyhow we finished a little earlier than expected, so I made some chocolate chip banana bread for the kids. B got some Indian food and we are watching CASTLE! New favorite show!

REST

Did I say rest!!! Yeah after 3 weeks of hard training, not one session missed besides the core workouts oops.
My legs are shot and I am off today! Tomorrow is easy swim with yucky drills.... Wednesday though won't be a walk in the park since I am doing a hill workout with my coach dangerous!

A coworker of mine is also completely addicted to DIY projects. She has impeccable taste and she is well dangerous. At least she is the source of great deals... Unlike my last stunt at the fabric store... should I've gone on etsy.com.

Anyways my list of home project is growing at an alarming rate. Last website is http://www.knock-offwood.com/ I saw a set of bookshelves, an awesome lounger and a cuby thingy to store the toys downstairs with a small cushion it would be great next to the piano.
So much to do so little time...

However first I need to finish my knitting projects, my fabric projects gumdrop pillows and such.... Too bad I wish I could stop working for a while... do all my home project train like crazy and spend time with my kids. Do you think I need vacation?

Buyer's remorse

I am the Queen of buyer's remorse. Last week I went on a spending spree.... First I spotted a pair of Michael Kors sandal on the Gilt. I bought them since there was a something of summer in the air and I was feeling like dressing up again.

Winter is back and I feel like wearing jeans and flats again.... Since B likes them a lot I guess I'll keep them.

Then on my last bike ride I realized that my prescription rayban were just not super cool and air was getting in my eyes. After some shopping I spotted a real cool pair of Rudy Project but since I didn't want spend 175$ on a pair of bike sunglasses I settled on those 40$ ones.

I just got them and realize that even 40$ is too much for something I will wear only on my bike. Lets face it wearing those cool bike glasses won't make me faster nor cooler! I think I'll return them.

Finally I went on the JCrew website and bought 3 tee shirts, a pair of chinos and a pair of silk pajama pants... These items will get there soon and we will see how much will make it to my closet!

On another note, we are getting ready for our vacation to France. We haven't gone back there since Christmas 2009 and I can feel it. The great part is that we will have a 4 days getaway sans kids! For that we decided to go in Auvergne and we found two bed and breakfast.

This is one of them 40Euro/night for a bedroom and breakfast. If you want to share the host table it is 18 euro for the dinner.

Nature and good food made from the vegetable garden ;) I foresee a bunch of hike, lounging and trail running. I don't have pictures of the second one but the host takes whoever wants on mountain biking adventures ;) I hope we can borrow bikes and have fun!

Now what is for dinner tonight ...
I think I will make some steaks with ratatouille and polenta! Maybe the ratatouille and polenta will turn into mash potatoes not as healthy but ah well still quite delicious.

Binge

Most people binge on ice cream, chocolate cake or something... I binged on brown rice balls, my favorite comfort food on a late Sunday night!
I think I posted the recipe before but hey here it is again:
Cook brown rice (1 1/4 cup)
Once cook add 2 eggs and some cheese (I usually use cheddar)
Form balls in your hand (a bit yucky) then roll the balls in bread crumbs
Saute in olive oil.

Serve it with a salad and enjoy with a glass of wine!

Back to training

Today was the last hard workout of my 3 weeks block of hard training!

We are redoing our upstairs floor and that is starting on Wednesday morning. We are removing the filthy carpet and putting the same engineer wood floor than downstairs. The stairs will be carpet in the middle and woods on the side.

Our guest bedroom has a big bookshelf which covers the whole wall and I'm sad to report isn't enough to store all our books! Anyhow it is an ugly fake wood bookshelf and redoing the floors is the perfect excuse to get rid of it. However that means packing all the books!

Anyways that took most of the morning and we still have about 4 boxes to pack! Then we will have to get rid of it ;)

After that we had lunch and met the neighbors at a big park fest. There we bumped into other friends of ours with their kids. The kids had a blast in the jumping house, racing etc...

Since I had to go for my 2:30 workout and B want to fit a run or a bike ride afterwards we had to leave. It was windy windy and cold... The idea of going up Torrey Pines as hard as possible 5 times was really not appealing. I got on my bike went up 3 times than realized that I was running out of time and so headed home. I was really really hoping that B would be ready to go on his bike ride which would be a great excuse for me to bail on my run. But no he wasn't ready at all so I put on my sneaker and went running. It was painful but I managed to kind of do the intervals for 25min.

Tomorrow is OFF yeah and the week will be easy besides a running session with my coach which will be really painful it will be easy.

Of course my laundry is in a sad sad state and a lot of other things still need to be done but hey my legs are getting stronger ;)

My other hobby

I have another hobby which doesn't require sweating. I love colors, patterns and texture. OK so when I walk in an art store, a fabric store or a bead store I have butterflies in the pit of my stomach. This is my creative side kicking in. I love putting things together. I am still baffled to this day that I am not in a career involving creativity.

Anyways we inherited an old rocking chair which is in dire need of refreshing!

Anyhow this morning after swimming we ended grabbing bagels for breakfast followed by a trip to the back of Von's in search of boxes. I spotted a fabric store and decided to run in and take a look for a few project.

This is the fabric we chose to redo the rocking chair.

Of course while at the store I totally got stuck on the following fabric

and decided to buy 2 yards to make Amy Butler's gumdrop pillow for the family room

Of course I didn't buy enough fabric! Yeah checking out the pattern before going to store would have been wise. However since I already spent an "insane" (for my wallet) amount of money on fabric I will improvise. I will probably make those shorter or just make cubes instead.

I still have a princess dress to make, this pillow, refinish the rocking chair and make a couple pillow out of the rest of the fabric! So many projects... not counting the sweater I started for MAC, the one I did for MEC but for which I have to redo the collar. The necklaces that I started for both of the teachers!!!! Yeah as B would say please could you finish a project before starting a new one!

Each time I think about creating, flower arrangement, painting or pillows, each time I look at fabric beads and such a fireworks of idea is exploding in my mind. It makes me wonder really if I am in the right industry.

Ooooh but programming is a mode of creativity yeah geeky but hey I'm a geek... in disguise ;)

My other creative hobby is cooking. So for the past week we have been eating really late like 9:45pm-10:30pm late. Well since I can't get up at 5am to do my workouts well I do two of them at 8:45pm! So last night I'm hungry what I had planned for dinner doesn't sound appetizing. I am completely into my book thus it is getting later and the dinner isn't getting cooked. I jumped on williamssonoma websites to try to find a good recipe... until I bumped into a pork recipe with sweet potatoes and jalapeno/peach barbecue sauce. We had a slight variation on the barbecue sauce since I needed a recipe that required items in my pantry ;) I settled for a red wine barbecue sauce recipe from epicurious.

Dinner was more of a supper but it was really good.

So I have started about 10 new posts in the last few days. Mostly they were a bunch of rambling, whining and such about triathlon and the meaning of life.

I am very tempted to just end this blogging trend. I mean honestly I don't know who reads me and who really would miss besides bunny and nevertap. But since I love reading other people blogs I do continue this weird actitivity of mine.

I am blog stalking women triathlete I don't even know. If I ever were introduced to them they would be weirded out I think....

But Hey Reading their blog is quite motivating. I don't drool in front of people magazine reading about the latest of the rich and famous. I drool in front of the local girls blog relating their great races and their wins etc... However their gruesome story about ironman racing hasn't yet given me any desire what so ever to race 15+ hours!

However their exploits really motivates me to train hard, to plow through fatigue and mild soreness.

On the training front I believe my hard work is starting to pay off. I won't be on the podium any time soon booh. However I am getting a little faster every week. I joined the masters swim program at JCC where I swim twice a week. I am finally getting a hang of the correct stroke to use and I am starting to get consistent timing. Also to soothe my ego someone new just join and thus I am no longer the slowest of the whole group. Small petty victory I know but so good for the ego.

Especially because the ego took some bruising over the week end. I am not one to buy all the latest and most expensive gear. I own two sports bra, one bike jersey.... only my running wardrobe is a little more complete.

So anyways about 18months ago when I bought my bike, I found a decent bike for a decent price. That was before I knew of the existence of triathlon bike! Since I discovered their existence I am really curious on how they feel. Do they feel that different from a road bike?

Sunday I decided to stop by one of the tri shop in town. Of course I always step in those store completely intimidated... I should really work on my attitude! So the guy asks me how many triathlon a year do I do? Me to answer sheeplishly 3. I get the look (Maybe he didn't really give it but that's how I felt). I added that eventhough I had only 3 races scheduled I did train seriously about 8H00 a week. On the bike he adds. Then I felt about 1 foot small. I just wanted to turn around and get right back out. I know this is the mecca of triathlon. I already feel like a fraud because I decided to focus on the quality of my race rather than the quantity or the distance. Plus I walked in with two kids in tow. Maybe I should tattoo on my forehead that I spend 9 hours of my day geeking in front a computer writing software to analyse genomic data!

Yes I don't get up at 5am to train but I wait until 8:45pm to do a bike workout when all I want is cuddle on my couch with a glass of wine!

So yes I AM a beginner ATHLETE! I won't be buying a tri bike soon because the legs are doing the work not the bike you are on! If my coach can win 2nd place at XTerra world championship on a 7 year old second hand mountain bike. My fuji is good enough for me ;)

So now I have to motivate to start my workout in about 45min yikes!

OK I completely lost focus on that post

Lost

I have been lost in blog land lately. Following my favorite women triathlete blog and the hopping from there to various other women triathletes blog. It is both inspiring and humbling. They are all so damn good. They also have/make the time to train for ironman that is 20+ training week.

I have 8 hours a week to dedicate to training! Thank heaven I am only interested in sprint and olympic distance triathlon!

I would love to have more time to train but it just ain't gonna happen since I want to spend time with my husband and that usually happens between 8:30pm and 11pm. I want to spend time with my kids and their sacred hour is from 6pm until 8:30 and in the morning and during the week end. I want to work and write software to help scientist make sense out of a bunch of genomic data. That happens between 8-5pm with a lunch break for workout the sometimes for about 1h00 in front of the TV, for instance today I learn about DelegateCommands in WPF while watching Stargate.

Since I started working with my coach I am getting better. Just the fact that I am training about 8hours a week is a great accomplishment. I am still looking forward to most of my workouts.

So anyways I wish I were that good but I will have to take the time to get better little by little!

Now off to bed because 42M ride, followed by 2100yds swimming and a full week ahead requires me to rest.

Oh but first I have to deal with the laundry yikes!

Mother's day

Yeah it is mother's day... I am not really into mother's day, valentine's day and others day. All I need is a happy mothers day from my kids and some quality time with the family and I'm happy.

On Valentines day a nice dinner with B is all I need.

This week end on the training front I had a 3H00 ride and 1:30 run with some hill repeat at the end.

We had some errands to run and it was pretty hot on saturday so I decided to go run that day and go bike on sunday morning. Happy mother's day to me ;)

After spending 3H00 at the mall, so that B can try every single tee shirt at JCrew, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Sun Diego, Hollister and Express. He is not picky but seriously there is nothing at all for a guy who like relaxed tee fairly thick. The tee shirt are either too narrow, too form fitting, too long, too thin etc.... His job is also super laid back with some kids that could seriously be his own they are 21! Identity crisis .... Anyways he found 2 tee shirts and a pair of shorts! The kids totally scored at Old Navy and I bought MEC three dresses and none of them are Pink or Purple!

I didn't find anything for myself but I wasn't really in the mood for shopping. We had lunch at CPK at 3:30pm, we got home at 4:30pm I dutifully put on my shorts and running shoes and head out the door for my run. First 45min were good slow but good. The first 4 2min hill repeats were strong too but the last 4 were tough and I started to come undone.

We had a late dinner now that I think of it it was the regular time at 9:30pm. I made some lentil salad with tomatoes, mozarella, prosciutto and arugula. Absolutely delicious.

This morning I woke at 8am and needed to get out the door for my bike ride. Yesterday the weather was gorgeous but today not so much.

I drank coffee and ate some toast and got on the road. Since I wasn't too keen on trying a new route by myself I settled on a big funky figure 8 between Carmel Valley and Rancho Santa Fe. I know the roads there so I feel pretty safe.... I started my longest ride to date! It is nothing exceptional but still 42M 3:15min and a few hills!

It was great ride. We then had lunch at the Beach Grass Cafe followed by grocery shopping, homework and an evening with friends.

Very very good week end.

Yum Yum

So when I run I usually crave juice cold fruits like Mango and greens especially when it is hot!
Today wasn't an exception. We had a really late lunch at CPK so of course we weren't hungry before like 9:30pm. Oh wait this is our usual dinner time ;)
Anyways I had to put together something quickly. The other requirement of that meal was healthy. I have been reading blogs after blogs of really good triathlete in great shape so I also want to shed a few pounds.
I bought a while back a pack of cooked lentils from Trader Joes. I didn't really know how it tasted so it can of stayed in the fridge for a while. Tonight I decided to take a shot at making a salad.

cherry tomatoes + mozarella balls + prosciutto + arugula + warmed olive oil with garlic + balsamic vinegar + lentils = The most delicious salad ever!

Great! We love lentils one of the 5 healthiest food great source of protein, iron and fiber...
But then we love steaks, wine, chocolate and ice cream!

Masters

Swim... Yeah I am a bit obsessed with triathlon at the moment but then what's new. So I have started swimming about 1 year and half ago. Mostly during the summer but I have been going once to twice a week, at lunch at the JCC. Right at the same time then the masters is held. You would think that I would have joined the darn class way back when. No, that is what someone reasonable would do especially once they realized that it isn't more expensive to do. But then again am I a sensible person. Apparently not ;) So the reason I have stalled for so long is that well I'm too slow... again that's probably why I should have joined way back when.
Anyways after Sunday's triathlon I have decided that I need someone to give me feedback on my stroke each time I go swimming until I improve my technique.

Today I was supposed to go swim at the Cove with a work colleague but well work go in the way. I went to the pool and traded my swim pass for a master class pass. Luckily the pool was empty today and so I swam alone. The coach gave me all kinds of pointers and it was a very very productive session.
Besides that training is back on, I swam/bike/ran/swam 50 minutes each this week and I have a 3H00 ride this week end and 1:30 slow run. I was hoping to find someone to ride with but I guess it will be me and my ipod ;)

Spring sprint

So today was my first triathlon of the season and the first year anniversary of my first ever triathlon. I had high hopes since I did pretty well at my last triathlon and that I have been working with a coach for the past 2.5 month.

Anyways I was a basket case all week. Computing recomputing possible finish times and what it would mean in the grand scheme of things.Oh did I mention that I moved from a competitive age group to a more competitive one! I decided that I would try to shave off 10 min from last years time since I trained on my own for 5 weeks for that.

So anyways yesterday I did my last workout before the race and went to bed early. I woke up at 3:45-4-4:30 and finally at 5am. Got ready, grabbed my gear and off I go alone in the dark! Really... got to Fiesta Island (just before Seaworld), get out of my car to realize that I forgot my warm clothes and change of clothes and that it is darn cold this morning. The sky is overcast in the 5:45am light and brrr...

Anyways set up my stuff, get body marked, go to the restroom, say hi to a few people, get inline for the bathroom again, put my wetsuit on, freeze my butt off waiting to get in the cold cold water.

The horn goes off and here I go, too many people swimming just on top of me... don't like that so I slow down (not that I was going really fast) and try to get into my groove, wetsuit isn't too comfortable and the water is dark dark it feels like walking in a dark maze with a bright spot each time you breathe out.. feels long. I think 4 min into the swim I knew I would not have this amazing miracle and so I might as well stop killing myself and just enjoy the race ;)

5 min later I was really reconsidering this whole triathlon thing especially since my next race has a 1km swim (0.6m).... Anyways slowly but surely I make my way back to shores, that nasty part is finally over with. Run to my bike.... T1 is hell as our rack is way way out there, find my bike get out my wetsuit into my bike shoes, put helmet on, sunglasses and off I go.... Start of the bike goes pretty well until I hit the windy side of Fiesta island and I slow down to a turtle pace.... Legs are pumping and I'm like ohhhh run is going to be painful! I managed to take 4 sips of my energy drink.... Bike is over and onto the run never was able to settle into a pace. I don't know if it is because I'm tired or because I'm going fast. The first mile goes on forever, I get a side ache and then nausea settles. It is hard to push the pace when you feel like you are going to puke any minute! Nonetheless I tried to plow my way though the run, tried to keep the pace up. I passed quite a lot of people and got passed by people clearly in better running shape than I was so good sign. At the beginning of the run though I did take a quick peak at my watch to see that I would probably finish in about the same time than last year! Big Big mistake on my part!

Anyways the last straight line, I managed to actually sprint to the finish line.

A good friend of mine totally surprised me by hugging me at the finish line! This is so sweet after a hard race when you finish time was actually worse than the previous year and you put more training into it! I tried to push the bad thoughts away. I drank a little bit of water, didn't eat anything since I was still quite nauseous.

I came home took a long hot shower and had my first bite of food at noon! I know I know not good... to be fair though nausea left me alone about 2hoo after I was done.

So anyways all bummed out I write this dramatic email to my coach etc....

She very nicely puts things in perspective for me. She also tells me that she talked to several friends of her who did the race and 1) the swim was long 2) The wind on fiesta was strong. She also said that don't look at the time but rather how did you place in your age group.

Then two minutes later the results get posted and this year the whole women 35-39 sucked and so I finished 16/63 in the top 25% of my age group! Woot Woot. For once I don't care that if I had race in the 30-34 I would have barely made the top 50%.... that all the strong 35-39 triathletes decided to do some other race or stay in bed because today no matter what I finished in the top 25% of my age group!

Note to self.... consider a new wetsuit and please go practice open water swimming and finally figure out your nutrition so nausea is not your running companion ;)

Now I am very curious to see the splits because I have no idea on how slow/fast I ran these 3 miles....

Ridiculous

So I have my first race of the season this sunday and I'm being completely neurotic about it. I went ahead and analyzed my pace at previous race and estimated how fast I would go etc....
Result I'm completely stressed out for a stupid sprint triathlon. I mean come on lets be realistic this race doesn't define me although I haven't been able to convince myself of that. Yes I want to completely rock it to be amazing but what is important is that I enjoy myself that I do make the time to train for 7+ hours a week that I have been working hard for this.
Last year this was my first triathlon ever and I trained for 5 weeks!

As I read other fellow triathlete getting ready for their race this week end Ironman in St George Utah, both Half Ironman and Olympic distance at Wildflower Ca I feel silly to be so nervous about my sprint triathlon.

No matter what I tell myself I have a hard time to take that distance seriously. Probably because most of the triathlete around me stick with this distance one season before moving onto Half Ironman or even Ironman.
Enough psycho babble...

Last wednesday I had a running session with my coach. She was on the bike and I was running next to her. For efficiency purpose we decided to meet in the parking lot of my work gym. What I didn't realize then is that I would be running up and down our new building as everyone left for the day.... What a goof! Of course Bunny's husband who picked her up that day told her I don't know what these people are doing going up and down the street :)
The following two days I could barely walk I was so sore... I believe aside from my races I haven't been that sore from solely running. I have so much too learn. Anyways some adjustments were made to my gait which was absolutely powerless!

Training continued that week then Monday taper started. This means that this week I only 2 full days off and a much lighter schedule to get fresh for race day!.
I also realized that I have a real warm up routine to do before my race something that I have never ever done before. Ought to be interesting....

Useful shopping...

It does exist I promise! So for a little while actually since we have realized that moving to another house will take a little longer than anticipated due to economic reasons, I have worked on our house.

We have a great house .... I really love the space. The floors we put in last year totally changed the atmosphere of the house. It would be even better if I could get rid of all the crap that accumulate everywhere... More precisely on empty surface.

Since I still receive real estate updates I saw a house I totally loved on friday. It was so much the house itself but the decoration of it. It was totally us but less cluttery!

To make things better we also got a fat check back from our escrow! Spending!

Finally since we are getting ready to redo our upstairs using the same wood than downstairs but leaving a center of carpeting on the staircase I have been looking at rugs.

I believe for the kids bedroom and the playroom/guest bedroom I will go IKEA. For our room though probably potterybarn crate and barrel or West Elm.

Today we were at the mall to buy new sunglasses for B so I dragged his butt to Pottery barn to check out some of the rugs. I stumbled onto one that was soft, natural looking and good priced!

The floors around the coffee table in the family room got all scuffed so a rug was urgently needed. I also realized that rugs are great to define space and add this finish look to a house!

We bought one to go in the family room and it looks awesome so I went ahead and bought another one for the dinning room. It looks really really nice. I'm super happy!

Last week end I bought a lounger at a garage sale, some plants and so the yard is getting also more finished!

All what is left is the upstairs floor, the guest bedroom and our bedroom.

I also have been looking into fabric and making some cool gumdrop pillows to put a little bit of colors and add some more seating to our bedroom and the downstairs too....

Anyways at least the sewing machine has been dusted off so I can probably get craking at this!

Seeing my house shape up and getting done brings peace to my inner self! Now I have to hire the kids and sort through their old toys. The goal is to turn the office/guest bedroom into an playroom/guest bedroom and move some of the toys upstairs.

On the training front things have been going well. I'm back on my training this week I did all some session a little shorter but intensity wise all there!

Back from ....

I'm back from the mixed emotions I'm left with after my parents leave. I'm back from all the frustration at work or most of it... and most of all I'm back from my training hiatus!

So a month ago I attended my first braveheart brick session. They are famous because they are hard. I went there knowing I was going to work hard until I realized (after the first 15 minutes) that I was going to work very hard. I should have known when my coach said with a candid smile you won't need your heart rate monitor today.

Anyways since it is in Mission Bay at 5:45pm on thursday night they are hard to attend on a regular basis. But since my coach is thoughtful she started putting them in my weekly workouts.

Today I was able to do the whole session.... which is about as hard as you can for 5 min on the bike followed by 4 min as hard as you can (sprinting) running 2 min easy and do it again 2 more times!

Anyways after that I was hungry and nothing really sounded good nor was ready to be made. So after rummaging through the fridge a little bit and Bryan suggesting some bacon with gnocchi I decided to cook for myself gnocchi with a little bit of cream, bacon bits and spinach. I added some tomato/mozarella salad with some basil from the yard and some leftover jelly beans from Easter. Now that I think of it I should have gone to the yard and harvest some peas!

Now I'm ready for bed!