Shake Rattle & Roll

There's a reason I didn't move back to Southern California --- and it's not really just the traffic. I'm not good with natural disasters that are considered common place. Similar to how I would find it hard to live in the hurricane or tornado belt.

After living through Hurricane Isabel and her path of destruction that caused my house to temporarily be condemned, the last thing I wanted to deal with was an earthquake --- and a 5.9 at that!

After dealing with the moment of stress associated with the quake I was later grateful that I brought the Cannondale to work and was able to knock out a 35.86 mile ride at Hains Point after work. While cars were cramming the streets trying every which way to just get home I was zooming along heading to my favorite loop. The monotony of the ride on a beautiful summer day was just what the doctor ordered.

Now...off to track the path of Hurricane Irene as she marches her way to Florida, up the Carolinas and eventually to the Eastern Shore beaches. Lovely.

Sun Salutations

Today it was all about sun and heat and warmth.

I started the morning with Rhonda's beach yoga. Another wonderful combination of strength, balance, stretching and calm. Just as we started our sun salutations, the clouds broke and the sun arrived. Perfect timing.

Rhonda has a great cycle of core and ab work that really knocks you out. I am mega sore.

After class I noticed that Coastal Kayak planned to bring folks over to the wildlife refuge later in the afternoon for an independent exploration of the wetlands. I decided to crash their party with my SUP.

The folks at Coastal gave me directions to Sassafras Landing and after winding around farm and dirt roads I finally arrived at the launch site just after the kayaks were launched. Check it out.

There weren't many people there. Frankly I think it was too hot and folks didn't want to venture out.

I launched my SUP and cruised around the inlet. Only the sound of the marsh birds, my paddle stroking the water and a few kayakers broke the silence. It was just stunning.

Brick-a-mania

[The bike route]

At 4:30 am I was rolling out of bed and grabbing my gear for the BIG BRICK-A-MANIA.  YAY?!

I was interested in testing myself, but also scared by the distance.  Luckily all this was made easier because there was a 6-person crew attacking this workout.

THE BIKE

We headed out at 5:30 am.  Our route was --- starting in Fenwick Island, rolled through Bethany Beach, through Dewey, through Rehoboth Beach, past the Cape May Ferry and ended at the tip of the Cape Henlopen Park.  After circling back and adding miles inland in North Bethany we ended up riding 62.4 miles!!!

Surprisingly the ride was not as hard as I thought it would be.  Though my feet did fall asleep a few times, the time in the saddle was really not that bad, I felt strong --- especially on the hills and I definitely was holding back a bit since I knew that we still had the run afterwards.  Damn running.

[Post ride and in advance of getting my new cleats]

 The only bummer was that my cleats had worn almost completely down to nothing and I had to spend the majority of the ride worried about getting stuck in my peddles.  Check it out.  Luckily, the guys at Fenwick Islander Cycles were able to replace my cleats later that day and I am all set

THE RUN

By the time it was time for our run it was SO HOT --- full sun, limited breeze and some humidity.  Great.  We ended up running from King Street to the fence for a total of four miles.  By mile 2.5 I was so ready to stop.  I was hot, getting dehydrated and just ready to be done...which is wacko because my head was what wanted to stop.  I could still keep putting one foot in front of another...granted it was slow.

Luckily at mile 2.5 we grabbed a hose and soaked ourselves down.  What a wonderful temporary relief.

At mile 3.5 I was cooked and just couldn't keep the pace up.  In the alternate, me and another runner did intervals for the next half mile so that we could keep moving, loosen up our legs, but also get some relief.

The good news is that I DID THIS and I am on track to be a Biking Destroyer.

Sometimes Things Don't Always Go As Planned

This morning I had the day all set --- beach boot camp and then ocean kayaking!

Unfortunately the weather had other ideas.  As I walked out the front door it was pouring down rain.  I'm not scared of a little rain, but by the time I got to the beach it was pouring down buckets with no end in sight.  As you can imagine...they cancelled class.  Drat!

Now I wasn't sure if I should hang around for an hour and then head to kayaking in hopes that the weather would turn or just go do something else.

I headed over to Gold's for a fitness class...and of course the weather then improved, the sun was shining and the folks who decided to wait it out had a wonderful time ocean kayaking...sans me.

Now that I had the morning and afternoon to myself I read, lounged around, cleaned all the towels from the weekend festivities and walked on the beach.  Though relaxing it was a bit boring.

At 5:20 pm I woke from a sound cat-nap and realized that I had 10 minutes to get dressed and head over to the gym for spin class.  SHIT!  Classes are VERY full and I had reserved a bike for the evening class.  It would be terrible form to just bail while others could not get in the class.

With a speed I did not know I had I somehow got there just as the class was starting.  You can imagine me peeling into my parking space and literally SPRINTING through the parking lot and through the mall to get to class. 

All I can say is that I was thoroughly warmed up for another spin class with the Crazy Russian.  Yes, she was there with her thumping dance music ready to crush us all into submission.

Mission Accomplished.

Looking for a little balance

[Believe me...it was choppy out there!]

This morning I hooked up with hipAHA for their stand-up paddle board bootcamp class over at Coastal Kayak in Fenwick.

I've always wanted to try this and was looking forward to the class.

Decked out in a bathing suit top and board shorts I looked through the racks of water shoes and got ready for Lori to hand me my paddle and paddle board.

No surprise that it took me a minute to get oriented and balanced on the board. Pretty quickly we were paddling with the wind down the Bay.

The good news is that I only fell off once when we were practicing how to spin the board around in a circle. Bonus that I didn't get stung by any of the baby jellyfish that were periodically floating by.

The bad news is that the wind really picked up and we ended up paddling over to a big cove to do our bootcamp exercises on the boards. Imagine doing leg and core exercises while balancing on the boards. I'm gonna feel that later.

We soon discovered that there was no way that we were going to be able to paddle against the wind and back to our starting point. Luckily the guys from Coastal Kayak drove over and rescued us!

Looking forward to next Thursday's class!

Two steps forward...one step back

After a quick shower to get the saltwater off from my morning surf lesson and a nice healthy breakfast (with some extra caffeine) I was due for a VO2 max bike ride with the girls from Fenwick.

Unfortunately I f-ed up the time and headed out later than I anticipated to make the 5 mile ride to the hook-up spot. Bonus that the winds out of the north were pretty brutal. I was not going to make it in time. Hence...two steps forward...one step back.

I hauled ass to try and catch the girls, but they were nearly 15 minutes ahead of me and with the winds I was barely able to sustain 15/16 miles per hour during the northbound ride. My bike at times was being pushed off the road. This is not what I needed today...resistance training. My core and arms were already feeling sore from the morning on the board. I didn't need more pressure on these muscles to keep me on the bike too!

By the time I got to the Indian River Inlet I decided to pull over and watch the surfers for a few minutes. More important than taking a break from the wind was that I walked my bike over the terrifying part of the northbound bridge vs. riding. In those conditions I was a bit nervous about being clipped by a passing car.

After enjoying my own Endless Summer loop I headed out toward Dewey. After a few miles I decided to give up fighting the wind and turn home.

Luckily the wind was not as brutal going home, but surprisingly it also wasn't a friendly strong at my back pushing me home. I still had to work for the miles, but at least I was able to sustain a more consistent 19-21 mph pace.

She's Up and Then She's Down --- Repeat

[Obviously this is my fantasy surfing double courtesy of the Oahu Surf School webpage]

The morning was cloudy with a slight breeze and as I got in my car to head down to Malibu's Surf Shop on 8th & the Boards (see http://www.malibus.com/). I was a combination of excited and nervous for my first private lesson.

By 8:00am I was in my wetsuit and was headed down to the beach with my instructor JT. Here's a picture of JT in action from the Malibu's surf shop. He's been surfing locally for years and provides lessons nearly every morning.

JT spent the first couple minutes talking about the objective, proper positioning and how to maneuver the board from the safety of the sand. Within 5 minutes we were in the water and getting on the board. Talk about jumping right into it! Love it!!!

The water was a bit warmer than I anticipated and I was appreciative of my half wetsuit at that moment since I am a total cold water baby. I'm guessing the water was in the low 60's. I was fine until the last 15 minutes when my teeth literally started to chatter.

Once I got in the water JT lined me up for my first wave and so began multiple rounds of JT pushing me into a wave, yelling out when I should pop up and I would work hard to meet the basic goals --- pop up onto my feet as fast as possible and ride the wave into shore.

In short order I had mastered the art of getting to my knees and riding the wave into shore. Now...I just needed get out of the safe zone, pop up and get on my feet. It is much harder than you can appreciate. After numerous successful times getting to my knees I was able to get myself onto my feet once or twice, but then would immediately crash land off the board. DAMN! As JT said, "it's mental and all about balance." I just need to do vs. think. Easier said than done!

JT would surf a couple waves in so I could see his technique and when I was making my way back into the surf-line JT would body-surf a couple waves in. I don't blame him. It was COLD out there and you needed to keep moving any way that you could.

30 minutes into the 1 hour lesson JT shifted into making me do it all pretty much all by myself. He would still help me line-up and would tell me which waves to catch since I was still learning about the wave breaks, BUT I was paddling into the wave by myself, feeling the surge of the wave and a couple times actually got up on my feet...YAY...but then would crash land! At least I was consistent. I always crashed off the left side of the board.

I know that the things I need to work on are: popping up faster, using my arms to then balance myself on the board and making sure that my front foot is more perpendicular to the board so that I have more overall stability.

For my first time it was freaking awesome. I know why folks end up loving surfing now. I told JT that I would be back for more very soon.

Bike Warriors

My alarm went off at 5:00 am and I immediately wondered what the heck was going on. I was feeling rough and whipped. After a week of getting back into a program I realized that I was over-doing it again. Can't help it I guess. There is so much fun stuff to do!

This morning I met up with some of the HipAHA girls for a group ride along Coastal Hwy. Their goal was to ride to the Ferry and back. I planned to cut it short and only ride to the Indian River inlet.

As we got rolling we were confronted with some mist, limited visibility and humidity. Gross. As we headed through Bethany we decided not to navigate the Indian River Bridge given the weather since the bridge is under construction and is a bit of a death trap in good conditions. No need to take any chances. I was already wishing I had brought one of the blinky lights for my helmet.

We decided to loop back and then head inland a bit. I rode along with the group for a little while as they went inland, but then cut back so that I didn't crush the mileage today. I still have to work in a long run today/tomorrow so that I stay on track for MCM.

Strange things happen in the fog

I have been looking forward to my Sunday ride along Coastal Hwy all weekend. The weather reports all said it was going to be bright, sunny and warm. Sadly, the front moved slower than expected and I ended up riding in the fog, cold and wind. Poo!

I headed out for an out-and-back to the Indian River Inlet Bridge. My riding shirt, shorts and windbreaker were barely enough coverage to keep me from constantly shivering. Boo...my planning was not great today.

It was a pretty desolate ride with only 2-5 other riders on the route, but quiet can be good.

By the time I turned around at the inlet the wind had picked up and I was now riding into a full chilly head wind. Brilliant.

To top it off, 10 miles from home the fog rolled in and I literally could only see 25 feet in front of me. From the pix above you can see the fog rolling in and completely covering the bridge in the background. Freaky.

Under the heading of everyone thinks they're funny, but most of the time they are just idiots --- as I was riding back, an SUV swerved toward me and the passenger screamed out the window. They thought they were hilarious to startle me and cause me to swerve away from them. I guess that's the type of entertainment a group of fucking morons thinks is funny.

On the much lighter side --- through the fog I saw a very, very tall and husky man run out into the street and start talking to people in passing cars. I thought, "that's bizarre." As the man turned in profile I thought, "that's no man!!!" It was actually The Phillie Fanatic who was visiting the beach with a big group of Philly fans.

As I rolled by their party (complete with news cameras) the Fanatic opened his arms to greet me. I gave him a high five and a kiss. He hung on to my hand as I started peddling down the street and as a result he literally ran behind me for a minute. So, so very funny and totally unexpected.

Like I said...the fog does funny things.
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Long Weekends

What a great time to plan a 3-day weekend. Since I haven't taken much vacation over the last 10 months (my vacation accrues May to May) due to work demands, I need to burn some days before May...and last Friday was the perfect day off. Temps were in the upper 60's/low 70's. Lovely.

This was going to be a weekend crammed with activities --- social, family and training.
The only bummer was that the dental work I had done on Thursday morning really was bothering me. It aches and feels really sore. There's only so many pills you can pop. I'm going to have to go back to the dentist this week to make sure everything is ok. If you can't tell...I'm dreading it...but this pain is pretty bad...and I can't take it anymore

FRIDAY
Friday was all about being outside, family and errands.

I started off with a 20 mile bike ride at Hains Point. That's where the pix was taken. Man, I really love riding in circles. :) Bonus that I ran into a fellow Snappler.

I next headed out to run some errands, including going to look at a Felt B16 tri bike at Revolution Cycles in Rockville. What a beauty. Was surprisingly comfortable to ride in the different set up. I think I rode it around so long they actually started to worry I wasn't going to come back. I also checked out a new Trek --- it was way more expensive and surprisingly not as comfortable as the Felt. Lots to think about --- like do I need this and should I look at the Cervelo P2 b/c it's the comparable ride. Luckily there's no real rush.

I finished up the day at Mom's.

SATURDAY
Today was the beginning of the taper run before next week's Suntrust Half Marathon. We were scheduled to run 8 miles. After the prior day's bike ride I cut my run down to just under 7 miles.

After the run I headed over to a friend's baby shower. It's always nice to see friends you haven't seen in awhile and especially for such a wonderful occasion. My friend looked fabulous and so incredibly happy. I'm looking forward to meeting her new daughter when she arrives in late April.

By the time the party was over I was officially moving into "I haven't had a nap and therefore I'm getting grumpy" mode. Watch out! Luckily I was able to grab a 2 hour nap before meeting folks for dinner and a movie.

SUNDAY
After leisurely making my way to Wilson in the morning, I somehow was motivated to knock out my laps. I again was reminded that I am way too lazy to train w/o someone pushing me and have to pair up with a real workout plan...that I actually follow. If I use my old workouts from college as a comparison --- I really am a super slacker. I'm missing the good stress those workouts gave me. Man...I miss my old training partner and how we used to annihilate our sets. Red faced and heart pumping was the theme. :(

After swimming I headed out for brunch with some running folks. What a lovely day to sit outside, catch some rays, chow down on breakfast foods and enjoy some good company.

When I got home my Cannondale was calling my name so I went out for ride through the trails by my house.

What a nice way to end the weekend.
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There's No Place Like Home...Or Something Like That

Looks can definitely be deceiving.

This morning I was scheduled to complete an 11-mile run...which shouldn't have been a problem since I completed the same distance last week. The trouble is I'm at the beach this weekend and that means I have to tackle the 11-miles solo.

Running solo, at least for me, can be hard. It's hard to stay focused and on target. Thank goodness for my iPod. I created an ultimate super mix. Saw the brilliant sunshine. Got dressed for the warmer temps and then was stopped in my tracks...by the wind.

The weather forecasters were right. The winds were gusting 30-40-almost 50 miles per hour. I actually couldn't open my car door because the wind was blowing so hard.

Regardless, I was already heading out for my run from Fenwick to North Bethany and back so there was no use turning back now and really, how bad could it really be?

Well...never challenge the Gods.

On my way out the wind pushed me around pretty regularly for nearly five miles. I often was pushed back or laterally toward oncoming traffic. I lost my hat once and got sand in my eyes a couple times. Lovely...just lovely.

Here's a pix from my run along the bayside --- the more brutal of the sections. Things look so peaceful, but in fact there were some serious white-caps in the distance and sand was blowing up and across the street.

On my way back the wind was more to my back, but that caused other problems --- like trying to stay on my feet and not letting the wind push me off the road and causing me to tumble into the grass.

It's no surprise to anyone with half their wits that I was the only person out running along this stretch. I did encounter one biker and even he was struggling a bit with the wind.

Regardless, my run is done. This wind didn't get the best of me and though there were a couple times I wanted to click my ruby slippers and cry out for Auntie Em I can officially cross today's workout off the list.
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Hello Velo

Tonight was the first time this year (yes I did say first time) that the Cannondale experienced the outdoors. It was nearly perfect --- temps in the 70s, an open highway and a little time to knock the dust off --- literally. When I pulled my bike out my tires were flat and my bike still had a sticker on it from my last race.

I'm a little bummed that I got a late start and only had a half hour, but it was a pretty fantastic half hour to be out on the road. Yay...I feel spring just around the corner and many many more opportunities to just go out and ride. Cheers!

Hit The Defrost

As I packed my gear for tonight's run I was pretty amped up. In theory it felt great to hook back up for a workout with the crew. I knew it was cold ---- I mean I have been running on Saturdays in the frigid wintry mix.

Here's the thing. I don't think I'm a baby, but stepping out of the car and preparing for the workout was brutal. I mean really brutal. I'm pretty sure that with the wind chill it was close to 17 degrees. I'm serious. The moment I stepped out of the car I was already shivering and wondering if I could convince these other three clearly insane people to bail and hit Five Guys or something. Sadly we all decided that our attendance was the commitment we needed to just get rolling and knock out the workout.

Unfortunately the three guys I was with were much faster and as a result I lumbered behind them ---shivering and wishing the workout to be over so that I could get back in the car. I was surprised by how cold it was --- teeth chattering cold, body shivering cold and so cold my throat was stinging. I spent the majority of the workout just trying to make my mind go blank and almost meditate through the entire experience --- which was difficult because everything just felt off. My legs felt like lead and almost like they were completely disconnected from my brain.

I guess I should feel worse for the guys because they slowed down periodically to make sure I was still behind them and ok. What gentleman.

Soon enough I was done, back in a heated car, shivering, teeth chattering and shaking my head wondering how the hell I got here --- to a place in which I voluntarily would choose to do this. My goodness.

Misty Morning 10-Miler

Thank goodness that's over. 10 miles in the misty, rainy, chilly streets/trails around DC.

This morning we did things in reverse of our usual route --- which is a fine way to break up the routine, BUT (and that's a BIG but) that meant we would be running up The Beast. By Beast I mean the hill at Calvert coming off the toe path. Bonus that we met him (and I say it has to be a him b/c no woman would be this cruel) around mile 7. At least we were almost home. Though he did not beat me (yay for me) he still was a formidable opponent.

All in all the run was fine. The first half felt fantastic and the pace felt a little fast. Just over the halfway point and after downing a vanilla Glu I started to feel sick to my stomach. Man I can't win. As has been the case for the last two years, I'm still searching for the right thing/combo of things to eat/drink while I'm running. All combinations thus far have caused some degree of upset stomach icky-ness.

Clearly it's the contents of my stomach doing flips as I run and anything the least bit sugary is causing all these problems. Let me assure you, it's not a good feeling.

On the weather front, I guess I should be grateful for the consistent misting vs. full on rainstorm, but nonetheless my clothes, hair and shoes were soaked by the end of the run. Thank goodness for a change of clothes.

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Best Laid Plans

I really hate when I do something really stupid ....but who doesn't?

Though this really has nothing to do with training, it does have to do with running, navigating an obstacle course and the agony of defeat.

Everyone knows I hate the stress of rushing around and being late. With that in mind I thought I had it all planned out --- changed my train ticket for an earlier departure out of Penn Station, took the subway and left with a lot of time.

As I was sitting in the Acela Lounge waiting for my 3 pm train and on a conference call I hear "final call for the 3 pm Acela to DC." Are you freaking kidding me???!! Crap!!!!!!!!!!

I jumped up, grabbed my stuff and bolted for the escalator --- clearly almost knocking people down along the way. Unfortunately as I reached the platform the train...pulled...away. Do you feel the heartbreak and hear the gasp of despair?

Luckily I practiced mental fortitude as I stood in an ever winding line to be rebooked on the next train --- which of course was cancelled, but I was able to grab a seat on the 5 pm Acela.

The good news is that I have a ticket. The bad news is that my chatty, single-focused approach to life once again burned me in the ass.
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Waddle Waddle

That was me during part of this morning's 9 mile DCRRC run...I was part penguin. The recent snow disaster that hit the DC area earlier this week meant that many sidewalks were still quite a mess and we might as well as considered this to be an SLR + obstacle course. Bonus that there were branches and trees still be removed from some streets.

Forget the cold, the hills, the fallen trees, the ice, the snow...did I mention the hills??? The good news is that I did it! Here's the route we tackled today courtesy of Coach Ellen.

Around mile 6 I started feeling a bit mentally weak and started letting my mind wander. I started thinking about walking...just for a few blocks. Seriously, it's like being a drug addict or alcoholic --- "It'll make you feel good...Just walk...Just walk a few feet...Maybe just a block...Maybe just two blocks."

Luckily I was running with a group of girls and as a result I just kept focusing on them and did not let myself give up. Soon enough we were rounding the corner and we were done. I seriously love being done.

What is it they say? Waddle On.

Oh No, Pepco

After all the threats of bad weather over the last few weeks it finally happened. It actually snowed... And it's still snowing.

Instead of running outside after work I planned to run on the treadmill at work. When the weather turned I thought, "hey, maybe I should just focus on getting home and I'll just jump on my EFX machine later tonight."

Would have been a grand plan if the power didn't go out soon after I got home. Bummer.

Since it was absolutely gorgeous outside I grabbed a snow shovel and started shoveling the stairs...then the walkway...and then the driveway. Needless to say I think my mailman will love me in the morning.

I'm here to tell you, the snow was heavy and wet. I'll count it as a cross-training opportunity.

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Hit The Defrost

Lots going on today, but the backdrop was definitely the bitter cold.

When I went to bed last night I had grand plans of organizational perfection that included:

• an early morning 8-mile run in the city
• shower and prep at my office
• check on a work-related project
• cruise over to the Snapple brunch in Arlington
• pick up some new winter running gear in Georgetown
• chill-out at home for the rest of the day

Though I had my bags packed and alarm set, my grand plans were shot to shit when I slept in and then got wrapped up with a work issue. Damn those work issues!

Needless to say my day started off rushing around to just get to the Snapple brunch on time.

The Snapple brunch was fun and informative. J presented info on how to read our VO2 test info (aka You Are An Inefficient Couch Potato report) and a fellow Snappler walked me through how to actually do the treadmill workouts. It'll be interesting to see the results in the coming weeks.

Next I headed over to the office to bang out a quick project and then bundled up to knock out my 8-mile run. As you can guess I was not looking forward to the sub-freezing temps. After deciding that attempting an 8-mile run on the treadmill would be a recipe for disaster (aka I've done 2 miles and I'm bored so I might as well just bail), I headed out for a run around the Mall and Hains Point.

All in all, it was not my best effort but I was proud of a few key things:

• I can run without an iPod. Silence is actually wonderful and without musical distraction you are much more in the moment. It's actually quite freeing. Definitely sounding more zen then I actually am.

• I am mentally strong enough to keep pushing through, even though I'm training alone and have no one to talk to.

• I can withstand sub-freezing temps. Everyone knows I hate the cold, but once you get rolling you might as well keep going or else you're just going to get cold.

After completing a bit more than 8 miles, I treated myself to a skinny vanilla latte and headed home for a ridiculously hot shower.

Hit the defrost...my bed and pjs are calling my name.