The Helix

This is a graph of the lake temperature at Couer d' Alene. Looks like in the last month the trend has been moving in the right direction, which is good, because I did the Celsius Fahrenheit conversion on those numbers and all I have to say is that if Ironman was on April 30 I probably would have bailed. Shoot, even now apparently the lake is only ~51 degrees. I swam in 53 degree water once and swore I would never do that again. I'm going to just hope that the squiggly blue line on that graph keeps going in the same direction at generally the same slope over the next 4 weeks.

Our water temps here range from cold (75) in the winter to warm (80) in the summer. Based on this information, I bet you can guess how often I swim in a wetsuit! Ha!

I'd heard that CdA was a cold swim so thought that maybe I should get a long sleeve wetsuit. Somehow I have managed to race triathlons for 16 years without having one (I have always preferred the sleeveless ones). Sometimes I've been cold (53 was really freakin' cold with that sleeveless wetsuit) but I've always opted for that vs the constricting feeling of material on my shoulders when I swim. I did try a friend's long sleeve wetsuit once about 10 years ago... swam in it for about 5 minutes before I was like, nope, not using this on race day. So I don't know what came over me a couple months ago but I jumped at the chance to buy a Blue Seventy Helix when Jessi posted on FB that she was selling her brand new one for a decent price... I'd heard the Helix was good for swimmers because if the flexibility in the shoulders or whatever... Anyway, it arrived in the mail several months ago and I put it in my closet without even trying it on. Until today.

Nalani and I went ocean swimming in Waikiki today... You can only imagine how ridiculous we felt, standing on the beach and putting these long sleeve wetsuits on when both the air and the water measured at about 80 degrees. Yikes. We did stand in the shade as we struggled to get them on, as if that was going to make it better. Mine fit, pretty much. My shoulders are way a bit bigger than what the manufacturer probably envisioned when they created this size, but with some persistent yanking and squirming Nalani eventually got mine zipped up for me. Phew.

We swam for about 4 minutes before we both stopped and started griping about the wetsuits. It was just so odd to feel so constricted and my shoulders were aching already. Oh boy. I was in trouble. Nalani was like, "No wonder triathletes hate swimming. These wetsuits make swimming horribly uncomfortable!" NO kidding. We kept swimming and ~5 minutes later we got completely pummeled by a rogue wave... tumbling in white water... Nalani lost her goggles and my cap was just about completely right off... Yikes again! Then like some sort of miracle I spotted Nalani's goggles right in front of me and managed to grab them. Phew. So we soldiered on through some pretty choppy conditions and I thought about how glad I was that I did so much pulling with paddles this year, because in choppy conditions with a wetsuit, I was just letting my legs drag and gathering all my swim power right up front. No need to kick at all.

Eventually I started to get used to the feeling of the wetsuit and my shoulders warmed up and got loose and by the end of the hour I'd say that other than feeling like I was burning up from the inside out, I was fine. The Helix is a good wetsuit and while I'll stand by my assertion that non-wetsuit swims are better than wetsuit swims, I'll say that if I have to wear a wetsuit, the Helix is a good choice. Maybe I'll like it better when wearing it doesn't make me feel like I'm on fire? Still though, if by some miracle the water in CdA hits 70 degrees on June 26, that would be good by me.

The Moana Chronicles, May 2011

I know Kerrie is dying to hear the details of my weekend training... but I think it would be more fun to keep her in suspense because really, it's going so well its simply too frightening to share. Especially my run. Wow, it is really coming along! But I'm not going to talk about that now. No, instead, I'll tell you about Moana. :)

She has become quite the daredevil. Yesterday we were at the playground and she was climbing up pretty high when she lost her balance and fell... about 5 ft onto the ground... luckily the playground has a rather soft surface in anticipation of these kinds of things so while she cried, it was more because she was scared than because she was actually hurt. Interestingly, the second she stopped crying she got right back on that thing and climbed right up no problem. Talk about getting back on the horse! Good girl.

I'm probably biased, I mean, being her mom and all, but I think she is exceptionally gifted. She has an amazing memory for just about everything, and her vocabulary is through the roof. I don't think there's a word she doesn't use correctly in a full sentence? I'm impressed anyway, and I don't think I'm easy to impress most of the time.

I find it interesting that she is such a natural leader. She's two years old, yet when we go to the playground she walks right up to girls 3, 4, and 5 years old and says, "Hi Friend!" Then she proceeds to grab the other girls hand and lead her to do whatever Moana wants to do... Come look at this! She'll say... Come go down the slide with me... usually the other girls are more than happy to play along. I'm guessing Moana won't be hurting for friends as she gets older. She's very social.

Speaking of being social, she's really into 'sharing together' these days. That is one of her favorite phrases and she uses it all the time. Come into my room, Mama! Then as we're having a tea party she says happily, "We're sharing together!" We share food and toys and books and blankies and she always seems quite happy to share. I'm guessing at some point the sharing will stop, right? Don't they go through a mine-mine-mine-mine-mine stage at some point? We're not there yet.

Moana absolutely loves Auntie Nalani (all women other than me right now are Aunties)... This is awesome for lots of reasons (and what's not to love about Nalani??) but especially because we will be traveling with Nalani for both Honu and IMCdA... Two big trips coming up in June and I am really excited to be bringing Moana along. Last night she was saying Let's watch Mama RACE! It was super cute. This week will mark her third trip to Honu. She first went over when she was 7 months old. I remember this like it was yesterday!

She was in diapers then, and she's still in diapers now. This afternoon we were outside playing and I was squatting down in the grass. She said, "Are you pooping?" Ha! Um, no, I poop in the potty, I told her. I didn't tell her that it has happened before where I have squatted behind a tree while training but she doesn't need all those details right now... and I guess, neither do you... Anyhow. I've completely stopped pushing the potty training because in all honesty, I think it would be easier to have her in diapers in June when we travel rather than dealing with always frantically searching for the closest bathroom in the airport, you know? I'll revisit the potty training thing in July. Watch, the day before we leave for Idaho she'll INSIST that she will not wear a diaper and needs big girl underpants only. That will make for a fun flight, no?

Shedding Fatigue

Holy cow! Honu is next week! A week from right now I'm going to be eating my pre-race dinner and my bike will be checked in and my transition bags will be turned in and... Yikes! The big races are upon us! Finally.

Just in time for the 2nd biggest race the Big Island has to offer, apparently some sharks have started tasting surfboards for fun... Yikes again! You know, I've been swimming in the ocean regularly for years and I have never ever laid eyes on a shark. In the back of my mind I kinda think they don't really exist... like the loch-ness monster? Maybe I'm wrong on that, but while ocean swimming I've only ever personally seen dolphins and turtles and manta rays.... and I've heard whales singing... that was cool... just never seen a shark. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Let me be naive. It makes ocean swimming a lot more tolerable when you think like I do. :)

Anyway, Hapuna Beach (where we will be swimming) is 25+ miles north of where those most recent sharks have been feeding, so seriously, if you're coming out to race Honu, we will be fine. No worries at all about sharks. What you *might* want to be worried about though is the wind. Seems like it has been blowing strong and steady (like gale force) all spring. Pretty much every time I've been out on my bike lately I've thought, "This is like the worst day we've had!" I haven't checked the weather pattern to see what the forecast is, but know that we've been crazy lucky in the last few years over there because on race weekend the winds have been very light... this year might be a different story. Personally I don't mind a bit if the winds are howling... But if you're not used to riding in windy conditions, well, you might be in for a special treat. Consider it an honor to get to experience the Legendary Winds of Hawi. ;)

Anyway, this week I've had some pretty light training days. Coach calls it Shedding Fatigue. I call it Getting Grumpy. I understand the concept behind rest and all, but that doesn't mean I have to like it... Interestingly, in Macca's new book he talks about how athletes are afraid of rest when they are not confident in their training... not sure I agree on that. I am confident in my training. I think I just don't prefer rest because I actually enjoy training. Beyond that tiny disagreement, I have to say that Oh MY, I have *never* devoured a book the way I am devouring Macca's new book. Very enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

There's Been A Shift...

I feel like I've had a bit of a breakthrough with my running in the last week. That makes me super happy!

I'm remembering all these thoughts/beliefs I've always had about myself and my ability as a runner... beliefs like I'm just one of those swimmers who can't run... And ok, let's face it, it's not like I'm setting the world on fire with my running right now or anything, but there has definitely been a shift in the last week, and it feels awesome.

I remember a few weeks ago telling coach that I was super happy with where my cycling was... that riding at the right HR was getting so much better. The progression went like this: In January, I had to hold way the heck back to keep my HR <150. Most rides it was like back off... back off... ease up... back off... but that only lasted like a month and then sometime in February I remember thinking, wow, I can just ride steady and as long as I don't push it I can keep my HR <150. Then in March I really didn't have to hold back at all and HR was pretty much never too high, unless maybe I was climbing. Then in April I busted my ass riding with groups and didn't pay attention to HR much at all. Now in May I read that I'm supposed to get my HR up to 150 on a ride and I'm like Crap. That is going to be HARD! See the shift? Major.

The problem was that I wasn't seeing the same improvement with my running. I mean, it was there to a degree, but not nearly as drastic as what I had seen with my cycling. I asked coach about it and he said I just needed more time/miles. These things don't happen overnight. Ok. I saw it with my cycling so I had confidence that sticking with the plan was my best bet so I just kept diligently plodding along. And then sometime in the middle of last week I noticed a change... I didn't have to hold back so much to keep my HR <155. I could just... run. How novel. This morning I went out and jogged 6 miles and never once had to back off to keep my HR where I wanted it to be. In fact, first mile was avg 133. Can you believe that?? I swear, I couldn't take a jogging step downhill at HR 133 in January. Today I did it into a headwind at a pace ~30 sec faster than I used to jog at 150. THAT is a major shift. It feels like the same one I saw with my cycling a few months ago, which makes me absolutely psyched to see what happens with my running by the time fall rolls around! Stay tuned... This is cool shit.

112 Miles

I rode by myself today. It was windy. At one point (for about 15 miles) I thought maybe the rapture was indeed upon us. Psycho winds and rain pelting me in the face and I couldn't see a thing. Lovely. But I came through 112 miles still alive and unscathed in 5:37, avg HR 144.

I stayed completely aerobic the whole time... perfect because it meant I was burning mostly fat for fuel, which is a good thing when you're planning on being able to run afterward. I ran spot-on race pace for an hour afterward (gotta love Garmin's avg pace feature) and felt fine. I wish I would have signed up for IM Tex-ASS.

The Secret To Nailing Your Workouts In May...

I'm sitting here at my computer working... writing schedules is pretty easy right now... seems like at least 1/2 my athletes are racing in the next few weeks so training gets very specific and the types of workouts they need to do are obvious and easy to conceive. Race specific stuff. Yep. This is the fun stuff!

I also did a rather race specific w/o this morning... a bike/run brick with a longish run at 1/2 IM race pace. Coach wrote in goal paces that were faster than what I have been able to pull off in a half ironman in the past so I was unsure about whether or not I'd be able to do that run as written. I mean, to do it right would require a PR on this loop by ~3 minutes. Was coach crazy?? Nope. I programmed my garmin to show me avg pace instead of HR and just went out and nailed it. It actually felt rather easy, at least until I got to the hills at the end. The hills felt hard but they didn't really slow me down. Solid. My run at Honu might not suck this year. How novel that would be!

Interestingly, I finished that super brick run and rather than being all pumped up about it, I was just like, Yep. there you go. Casual. No big deal. And then you'd think that physically I'd be on the thrashed side from that effort, because let's face it, it was a pretty solid PR for me (again), yet I feel fine. I didn't even feel the need to take an ice bath. Weird, huh?

All this feeling fine day after day after repeatedly nailing these workouts that normally would thrash me really has me thinking. Clearly this is a different scenario than what I have experienced in the past 16 years of training for triathlons. And when things are going well I think it's important to take stock and figure out why... that way it is repeatable... And now I will share with you the secret to nailing your race-specific workouts in May... I am 100% convinced that this is the benefit of the high volume low HR base training I suffered through all winter. Most athletes hate that low HR stuff. And I know why. Believe me. Going so slow and not being able to train with your training partners b/c that damn HR monitor is beeping at you and just generally being bored out of your mind flat out sucks... I've started training like that in years past but then gave it up after about 2 days because it was boring and I couldn't see how going SO SLOWLY could possibly be of benefit?? But that is precisely why I hired a coach who would teach me all that and force me to be accountable to it. And now, sitting here in the middle of May, 2 weeks out from a key 1/2 IM and 5 weeks out from my full, I am so incredibly glad I found a coach who understood this and helped me stick with it.

The Pictures... And The Details

 Upon checking in on Saturday I found out I was gifted a super race number. How could it not be a good day with a number like this?

Nalani got #8. We felt like superheros the day before the race given that they wanted to mark us with our numbers a day early. Isn't it always necessary to sleep the night before the race with your number already stamped on? And, um, check out her guns, huh?

I got home from check in and woke Moana up from her nap... Instantly she saw the number on my arm and asked, "Can I touch it?" Lol. So freakin' cute. Then she asked, "Can I have one?" Of course you can, Sweetie. (Mama's dream come true.) So I marked her up. Just like Mama. Isn't this the reason we have kids? To have a little Mini-Me running around?

So the swim start for the race was at the same beach where we filmed the triathlon scenes for Hawaii 5-0 last fall... Today was not nearly as brutal as what we practiced back then. I like this photo below though... Top 4 OA women right there with Bree, Rae, Nalani, and me right on the front line waiting for the signal to go. The looks on our faces are priceless, huh? Bree's looking all serious, Rae looks nervous, Nalani is in her normal la-la land (all smiles), and I'm just like YEP, Let's do it.

Interestingly, all three of those gals beat me out of the water (along with several other women). I don't think I had a bad swim. Hawaii just has some bad ass swimmer girls!

Nalani and Rae are both athletes I coach, so naturally I was glad that they both had good swims. But, um, that does not mean I did not make it my mission to hunt them down on the bike! (I actually had this thought while I was swimming... Just get out of the water so you can get on your bike... What has happened to me?? The swim has been my favorite part of triathlon for like 16 years... Apparently in my old age I can't keep up with these young whipper-snappers in the water anymore.)

Onto the bike... I caught Nalani pretty early on. Next up I caught Kathryn. Took me a bit longer to catch Rae but I got her ~15 min into the ride. At the first U-turn I saw that Rae and Nalani had rallied and were not very far back... my first thought was What? Why am I not dropping them?? Ha! Then I reminded myself the obvious... Um, Hello? I taught those girls how to ride a bike. Good job, Michelle... making life harder on myself helping these girls who were now hunting me. Clearly I had my work cut out for me getting the time I needed to hold them off once we dismounted our machines...

At that point I calmly reminded myself that the only gal out there who has even possibly been riding more than me was Bree... I had the utmost confidence that I could drill myself on the bike and still be able to run (pretty sure this is where a solid foundation of base fitness comes into play) so I upped it a notch and by the time we got to the next turn-around I saw that (OMG!) I was gaining time on Bree and creating solid gaps between myself and everyone else behind me. Sweet.

I swear I do ride in my aero bars and typically have my feet actually in my shoes. No one ever seems gets a picture of that though.

I came off the bike and Bree was actually in sight... OMG again. This is where I started to wish that I was a good runner. BUT, I kept my head on straight and just did what I could do and just hoped it would be enough to hold off anyone from catching me. I would have been super happy for Rae or Nalani had either one of them caught me, but it wasn't like I was going to give it to them. They would have to earn it. And one of these days they probably will. But not today! Turns out, I can run my current 5K pace for a 10K... after an hour of hard riding. Super.

How can you take me seriously when I am wearing this cat suit?

The finish line was a very happy place. All smiles with Rae who finished ~a minute behind me.

Nalani was happy about 4th OA and a 5 min PR over last year. I was happy about the champagne, even though it was in a plastic cup.

Awards. This was fun. I was buzzin'... some from the champagne and some from the awesome endorphins. Moana got a nice little taste of the podium too.

It was awesome today to finally have a race that felt reflective of the training I have done. I think it will just get better as the races get longer. Honu is in 3 weeks.

Honolulu Triathlon

This morning as we were jogging w/u Nalani asked me how I felt. I paused, thought about it, then said I didn't feel. I wasn't feeling anything. Weird. Not nervous, not bad, not great. I just felt ready to turn the machine on and swimbikerun as best I could from start to finish.

And I did just that. I swam faster than last year. Biked faster than last year. Ran faster than last year. PR'd this course by ~7 minutes. Placed 2nd OA behind Bree Wee. Very happy.

Meow.

Sharpening My Claws

So one of my favorite songs these last few months has been Shakira's Don't Bother. Mostly because of the one line where she says I'm like a cat you see, and it's not my last life at all... That line just resonates with me because time after time this year I've done these crazy workouts that I think just might kill me, but then I bounce back the next day feeling just fine. It's almost creepy.

But then earlier this week I was (sort of) lamenting to Nalani about how I wasn't going to do so well this weekend at the Honolulu Triathlon. (Let's just say that this has not been a recovery week.) Her response? "Cats have claws. Use yours." Have I told you how much I love that girl?

Yes. So this is my new facebook profile picture. I actually put it up this week mostly because I was PMSing. I was really only a raging hormonal bitch for like one day but this picture pretty much summed it up.

I moved on and of course was fine the next day. I've had a couple of super swims this week, solid bike rides, and then I PR'd one of my longer run loops yesterday afternoon, after running 10 miles in the morning. The thought went through my head toward the end of that run that I should probably back off the effort and save it for Sunday... but I felt too good to back it off... so I chose not to. The lure of finishing a 19 mile run day like that was just too great.

So I will have a rather easy day tomorrow and then will race an Olympic Distance race on Sunday morning. I have a couple different race suits I should wear, but I'm pretty sure I'm going with this one.

Mama Needs A New Phone

I love Mother's Day. Scott went all domestic on me and cleaned the house while I was out running this morning. Including doing laundry. He even scrubbed the bath tub! THAT is very unique, my friends.

AND, he took me out to dinner last night. In town. I know. We are craaaaazy. But it was excellent. And afterward we went to a martini bar. Yep. I told you we are craaaaazy. It was fun.

I took a picture of our martinis (must document special occasions like this!) but then accidentally dropped my iPhone in the toilet (I was not that drunk, I swear) so now I cannot retrieve the picture. Sorry. You'll have to take my word for it.

We paid the babysitter (in my opinion) an insane amount of money to watch Moana. After she left I told Scott I thought that the biggest obstacle to us going out more was that I have a hard time spending that much money for someone to watch Moana. I mean, come on. She is a little doll and is so much fun to play with. Scott and I agreed that the babysitter should pay us for the opportunity. (Maybe we actually were that drunk?)

Back to my phone. So now that it has been submerged in toilet water it has a mind of it's own. I've turned it off twice but it has turned itself back on both times. It busted out playing music last night at about 3AM. And while I was out running it started randomly calling people. Anyway, I apologize if you got a call from me today. I need to get to the ATT store to get them to shut the thing off (and, um, buy a new one). I have 3 athletes I need to talk to today too (and of course I need to call my mom!) so I'm going out to the store here in a bit. I'm going to consider my new phone a Mother's Day present to myself. Forget why I need a new one.

So I ran a 5K yesterday. Confirmed that I still suck at them. So that was a bummer. I had hopes/expectations that maybe I'd be able to pop off a decent one at least, but I could not. I am a different kind of athlete now. One who cannot go pop off a decent 5K even when otherwise I would say that my running is going fairly well. Still trying to find space for that in my head.

In good news, even though my 5K was slower than I've run in like 4 years, the fast runners did not show up so I won free Jamba Juice for a year. Shockingly, I placed 3rd in my age group. I love it when the fast people don't show up. (Last year I ran ~25 sec/mile faster and placed like 8th. Go figure.) Moana will be stoked about the Jamba Juice. She digs that place.

Our weather has been completely shitty all week. I know. Cry me a river. But you know what? It's HAWAII. And it's May. And I turned the heater on in my car yesterday afternoon. That is just wrong.

Today I ran much of the first 1/2 of my long jog into a 20+ mph headwind and driving rain. After a while I stopped trying to run around the deep puddles and just stepped right in them. Whatever. I was soaking wet anyway. I don't even have blisters. My feet are tough.

19.5 miles into my run this morning I was stopped at an intersection with a loooong light. I knew it was going to be 3-4 minutes before I'd have the opportunity to cross the street, and I was tired, so I just sat down right on the curb. I'm sure I was a sight to see. I just sat there and stared at the Burger King across the street and wondered if I looked pathetic enough for them to donate a Coke to my cause. I didn't actually try, but I was obsessed with the desire to drink Coke the rest of the way home.

Ok, I need to go get a new phone now.

Choose Your Own Adventure

So yesterday I was on the phone with coach and I said, "Can I swim hard and fast tomorrow? Pleeeease?" His response.... Sure. What do you want to do?

This was like magic to my ears. YES! I love dreaming up swim sets... Hmmm, let me think... something descending... 200's... yes... descending 200's.... 12 of them... on a descending interval too... why not...

So we came up with 12 x 200's descend 1-4. I like descend 1-4 way better than descend 1-3. 1-3 is easy b/c it's just easy/mod/hard. Descend 1-4 is a whole 'nother ballgame because you have that 4th one that is harder than hard. So really it goes easy/mod/hard/really hard. That's what I feel like I've been missing this year- the extra gear required to do the really hard... But I'm working on getting it back. This is the good stuff.

Nalani and I did this set together this morning and we loved it. And we nailed it. Didn't really say much once the set got started... we knew what to do so the only words uttered were "5 seconds" when we had 5 seconds til it was time to go again... but I have to say, right before #8 we both agreed that this set was awesome. And we still felt that way after #12. :)

Anyway, if you want to try this at home, think about it this way... how fast can you do a fast 200? Add ~10 seconds and that is your goal time for the easy ones. Add ~30 seconds and that is your interval to go on for the first 4... SO, for example, if your fast 200 is 3:00, your set would go like this:
4@3:30 descend from 3:10-3:00, straight into
4@3:25 descend from 3:10-3:00, straight into
4@3:20 descend from 3:10-3:00.

The fun part about that is trying to figure out the math while you're swimming hard... trying to hit 3:04 when you're going on the 3:25 and when do we go again? And what should my watch say when I hit the wall? And when do we go again? That is why I would call out the "5 seconds"... lol. It can get confusing, especially when your brain stops having the capacity to do math with that lack of oxygen. :)

If next Wednesday is also a Choose Your Own Adventure swim I'm already thinking up a great set of 30x100's with varying intervals...

Turn The Lights On, Mama!

You never really notice how dependent you are on power until you don't have it.

Take tonight for example. We're having some really crazy storms here in Hawaii. It's pretty rare that we get thunder/lightening like this but seems like we've had it a lot already this year... kinda cool, actually. I even saw on FB* that someone posted there was a tornado in town? THAT never happens here.

Yes, as is my habit, I stole this pic of FB. Cool though, huh? Seriously, this is rare for Hawaii!

It actually wasn't that bad here on the Windward side but then I heard a little click and damn, it all went dark. Ever tried to explain to a 2 yo that the power went out?

Turn the lights on, Mama! Um, sorry sweetie, Cannot.

I want to watch Elmo! Sorry sweetie, the power went out. Cannot.

Why don't you fix it? I wish I could, but I cannot. We have to wait for someone else to fix it.

I want to watch Elmo! Sorry sweetie, the TV has no power.

I have an idea! Let's get the batteries. (Holy cow is she smart or what??)

All of this storming and power outaging came right about the same time as all the fatigue from the last several weeks of training finally fell on me. I did find it odd that I woke up this morning feeling completely fine. I even sent an email to coach and was like, YEP I'M JUST FINE! I'm like a cat you see, and it's not my last life at all...

I mean, it did seem like I should be tired, so I wasn't surprised when it started to hit me this afternoon... It felt like I was wearing one of those lead vests they put on you when you get dental x-rays, but it covered my whole body. Ahhh. There it is. I am not invincible after all.

So there I was on the couch trying to convince Moana that we should just chill out and read books... The timing of the storm was actually perfect b/c it came just at dinner time which meant... wait for it... Mama didn't have to cook! And it wasn't even my fault! Excellent. So dinner pretty much went like this... "Moana, do you want yogurt or cottage cheese for dinner?"

She chose yogurt, in case you cared.

The power came back on in time for bath and bedtime, so that's cool. Good thing I have a husband who is prepared for these kinds of things. He had the flashlights out and battery operated lights all ready to go... Not like it would have been had it been left up to me... we just would have been stuck in pitch black after the sun went down. I am not typically prepared for emergencies.

*I get all my news on FB. That is kinda sad, I know. Actually, that's not true. Sometimes I get my news from John Stewart.

I Graduated From Elementary School

I'm sitting here with this immense sense of accomplishment having completed this past week of training. On Monday coach wrote that he was 'taking the kid gloves off', which made me nervous, because it's not like my training the last few months has exactly been appropriate for 8 year olds. Indeed, it was a big week, culminating with a big day today, and I may or may not have nailed every.single.workout.

AND, I had not one but TWO more excellent opportunities to practice changing flat tires- both days this weekend. Nice, huh? I'm bad ass at that now.

So you know that feeling when you just get home from a super workout and you're all high on endorphins and adrenaline and feeling like you can fly? Yeah, I love that. And then slowly over the course of like an hour you start coming down and then all you can really do is curl up in a ball on the couch... except if you have a 2 year old and she wants to play Airplane... in which case you find yourself on your back on the floor desperately hoping that your legs don't collapse under the weight of a squirmy giggling (and completely unsuspecting) blonde. Moana did not understand when I tried to explain that mama's legs were tired and The Airplane needed to take a break. I told her to count to 15 and then the airplane would be ready to go again. Shockingly, she could do it. Damn. I wonder if I should log the airplane intervals on my Training Peaks calendar? I mean, I did like 6 of 'em.

I've been like an insatiable pit this afternoon too. Got home from my brick and drank an Ultragen shake, ate an orange, a banana, part of a sweet potato, drank some water, waited about 40 minutes then made a warm naan bread wrap with fresh local organic greens and pulled chicken and macadamia nut oil and aged balsamic (YUM), drank some more water, than ate a handful of raisins and a V-8 juice then some cashews. Had another orange and some more water, drank some ginger juice (ok who am I kidding I drank the rest of it- right from the container) and then split a frozen pizza with my daughter and my husband, but not before attacking that chicken carcass caveman style. Yesterday I was riding with my group/team and a commenting to a couple of friends about how I have been recovering really well day to day from some hard workouts... they asked me what I thought the difference was... I said I think it's a combination of things, but very much that I do not allow myself to bonk or get dehydrated during workouts, and I do not skimp on refueling/nutrition. Oh, and that e21 is amazing.

Anyway, it was good to know that I've graduated from that elementary training I had been doing. No need for kid gloves, coach. Phew.