Moana's Favorite Things

Life this week has been a delicate balance. I've been training. A lot. I feel TIRED. I want to nap but have to chase Moana around instead to make sure she isn't getting into anything that could hurt her. Most of the time she's not really getting herself into dangerous situations, but she does have the ability to get herself quite dirty. Clearly that is a hit on my housekeeping skills, though I swear, if you were to look at my house you'd think it was clean... Moana just has a way of finding the really dirty spots and focusing her time there.

Take right now, for example. She just crawled up to my computer and is trying desperately to get her grungy little hands on the keyboard. Her face is a mess. I think it's because she was trying to lick the screen door just now.

She has this new ability to pull herself up to standing on anything and everything in the house. And she's tall enough now to reach right up onto my desk and pull down anything that might be there. Note to self: clean my desktop.

Current favorite things to do around the house:

1. Find a stack of magazines and pull them off the table one by one until they are all on the floor. Then randomly rip a page out of each one.

2. Chase the dog or the cat. Ally has the ability to escape by jumping up on the couch. Hoku can't jump so she kind of gets herself cornered sometimes and that's not so good. Sometimes I shut her (the dog, not the baby) in the laundry room. I tell myself that it's for her own safety, when really it might be that I just vacuumed and want to keep the floor dog-hair-free for just like 10 minutes.

3. Bang the dog's water bowl on the wood floors. That makes a good loud noise. It also gets the floor all wet if mommy doesn't remember to empty out the water every morning first thing. Poor Hoku not only has to hide for her safety, she is also quite dehydrated.

4. She's learning to stand on this car thing. It rolls though and sometimes she gets supremely irritated that it won't just stay in one place. She's taken several steps with it going forward but hasn't thought that was as exciting as I thought it was.

5. Moana is obsessed with the radio in her room. It sits on the floor and she is always in there pushing the buttons and changing the channel. We listen to a real variety of music when she is in charge. And sometimes we just get static.

6. She is also obsessed with the remote control. Any remote control. The other night Scott and I were watching a movie and she got a hold of the remote and pushed something that muted the TV. But not the mute button. It took us about 15 minutes to figure out that our tuner has 'Stereo A' and 'Stereo B'. For future reference, it needs to be on Stereo A to produce sound.

Finally, the girl likes to eat. Even though she still only has 1 tooth. Clearly, it is now time for some grub. She's not kidding. She can't really talk yet but I'm pretty sure she's saying, Mom, get off that computer and feed me already!!!

North Shore Swim Race #2

This morning was the second of the North Shore Swim Series races... it was a triangle swim in Waimea Bay... supposedly 1.2 miles but may have been just a little long? Who knows. I almost always question the distances of open water swims because, really, who knows how long it actually is? I think race directors guess a lot. In the end, it doesn't really matter.

In the winter, Waimea Bay can look like this*.

Lucky for us, it's not winter.

In the summer, it's usually like a beautiful lake in this bay. Our start line today was between these rocks.

They did actually put a couple of buoys on the course today which was nice, but one of our turn points was a Giant Black Rock instead of a Giant Orange Buoy so it wasn't like they totally gave in and made it easy.

Anyway, the women started 5 minutes behind the men today, which always presents a challenge half way through the race when your goal goes from stay on her feet to don't get kicked in the face by that guy doing breaststroke.

If you've been reading my blog and remember from two weeks ago, there was a little confrontation at the end of the first race- essentially, I got yelled at by a gal I regularly race against for drafting off of her and then passing her at the end. In an effort to keep our rivalry friendly, I told her last time that I would not draft off of her for the rest of the races. I did not say I wouldn't draft at all, because we all know that's the name of the game in swim racing, but I did keep my promise not to draft off of her. So today, she and I lined up on opposite ends of the start line and when the horn sounded it was an all out sprint as usual.

The first 15 seconds were pretty tough on me as I got pummelled over by a whole bunch of high school swimmer girls in string bikinis. A dream come true for many men I suppose, but I wasn't so thrilled about it at the time.

It took me a while to get into a groove and find some feet that I liked. About half way through I saw a bunch of white water up ahead and figured I knew just who was making all those bubbles... only one local swimmer I know kicks like that in open water swim races... I confirmed it was the gal I thought it was by checking her cap and the tan lines on her legs from her cycling shorts, and then felt quite satisfied with myself for finding her. Tucked in comfortably on her feet, I figured I must be doing just fine if I was here with her.

That nice ride lasted for just a few minutes and then the swim course turned into an obstacle course and the name of the game became Maneuver Safely Around All These Men.

From that point on I was pretty much on my own, though I could see White Water Kicker up there a couple body lengths ahead of me, I just couldn't get to her because of all the men in my way. But then I look off to my left and lo and behold, there's my good friend and training partner, Nalani! She was nice enough to wear a very bright suit this morning so there was no mistaking that it was her. Just like we do most mornings of the week, Nalani and I swam side by side and pushed each other right toward that finish line. We ran up the beach together and she got me at the line by .4 seconds. Love it.

In the end, I came second in my age group behind a gal that is Uber-Swimmer, and ended up about 25 seconds ahead of Jana, who, I am happy to report, could not find a reason to yell at me again today.

In good news, this race didn't kill me like the last one did. Afterward I still had the energy to get my long run in, so I ran for a couple of hours along the north shore. It ended up being quite a hot afternoon, and I tell ya what, a dip in the ocean sure was sounding like a good idea as I was finishing up that final mile. So I took my last gel (to make sure I didn't bonk while floating on my back) and jumped right in, running shorts and all. Lucky I live Hawaii. Yes.


*By the way, I totally stole these pictures off the Internet bc I did not bring the camera today. And I did not bring the camera today because it died last week. Grrr.

Hill Repeats

I gotta say, I was pretty disappointed about missing my quality run on Tuesday since I was sick. Given that running is my weakness, I've really been looking forward to those key run sessions, knowing that no matter how much they hurt, they are making me stronger. So skipping them sometimes hurts worse than actually doing them.

Given that I was feeling back to my old self yesterday, I sent Jen an email and asked if I could do Tuesdays run this morning instead of the easy run that would have been on tap had I been following the normal schedule. She said ok. YES!

The run workout this week was to find a hill that would take about a minute to run up, and charge up it 8 times. That didn't sound all that hard to me, but I figured it would be once I was actually doing it. See, I run hills all the time here. There's no flat option unless I were to drive myself to the track- even just running over to the track I've got some hills to cover before I get there.

But I've heard that running up hills during normal workouts is different than running up hills during a hill workout. I was about to find that out for myself.

Part of my challenge was to pick the right hill. I was pretty much a victim of overchoice when it came to this... But when she said to run about 2 miles before and after, I knew just where to go.

This incredible park is just over 2 miles from my house. I know I've written about it several times before, but it's just the most awesome place to run and it's my sanctuary so I can't help but write about it again. Humor me. ;)

So this first hill was where I watched the sun come up this morning.

I placed my water bottle on the grass next to a plant that would serve as my Start Line. Then I charged up the hill and around the corner until I got to a 'Caution Pedestrians' sign that would serve as the Finish Line. First time up, OUCH. This is going to hurt. 7 more times.

I gave myself two minutes to walk/jog down the hill to recover, so the repeats were on 3 minutes (You just can't take the swimmer out of me- I need interval 'Go' times.) I let my watch run continuously and went off on my hill attack every time the number was a multiple of 3. This was key because then I didn't have to worry about losing count after my brain was officially oxygen deprived and ceased having the ability to do simple math. Just keep going until the watch said 24 minutes and then jog home.

By the sixth one I could feel myself starting to fall apart... desperately swinging my arms (and whole upped body) as if that would help my feet pick themselves up off the pavement... I had to make a conscious effort to not let my shoulders actually touch my earlobes... My legs felt like J.E.L.L.O. Who would have known that just a few hard minutes could produce such an effect?

I barreled up the hill for the eighth time as fast as I could. WOW! I made it~ 5 seconds faster than I'd done the first few! Gasping for breath at the top. Hands on my knees as I tried to steady myself and not actually fall over. Goal accomplished. I worked that hill. I own that hill.

But I was happy for every red light I got to stop and wait at during that jog home.

What Do You Mean, I Can't Call In Sick??

Monday night my back started feeling all achy. At first, I attributed it to the weight lifting session I'd had in the gym that morning. I tried to remember all the exercises I'd done in an effort to figure out which one might have the been the culprit of the excessively achy back, but then realized that other than the pull-ups, I didn't really do any back exercises. So what's up with the aching back?

And why did my neck hurt? And now a headache? Uh oh. This was looking like the flu more and more with each passing minute.

I woke up Tuesday morning with what felt like a fever and my whole body just ached. My skin even hurt. It was bad. I sent Nalani a text message and told her I would not be showing up for our planned hill run. GRRRR. Another key run session missed because I was sick. GRRRR again.

But you know what's the worst part about being really sick when you're a mom? You can't really be a mom. Not a good one anyway. I was flat out on the floor in tears as Scott left for work yesterday morning... had no idea how I was going to handle my little Baby On The Move all day long when I couldn't really move myself. Um, I'd like to call in sick. But who do you call in sick to when you're a mom??

Anyway, I just sort of hung out on the floor most of the day and let Moana use me as a jungle gym. Apparently my body on the floor is way more interesting than pretty much anything else on the floor. In great news, she did take two rather long naps yesterday which helped me immensely. I felt really bad for the first one... Apparently I fell asleep right there on the floor and so did she. It's sort of sad to see your little girl sound asleep on the floor because you weren't responsible enough to get her into her crib. Just call me Mom Of The Year. But I eventually woke up, transferred her carefully to her crib, and climbed back in bed.

I guess the good news about being hit that hard by the flu is that usually those really intense bouts don't last that long. It was really just a 24 hour thing and I started feeling better last night. Phew! In the end, I guess I'd rather have one horrible day of being sick than a week of just feeling kind of sick but less than 100%. I feel fine today, although when I emailed Jen and asked her if I could ride my trainer today her reply came back, "NO NO NO!"

See, left to my own devices, I'd totally be on my trainer right now. But I guess this is why we hire coaches- to keep us from doing things that'll just keep us down. In the end, I'd rather be 100% and able to get in a good hard training session than just keep pushing myself when I'm down and never get better. Hopefully this extra day of rest will leave me feeling fresher this weekend so I can put in a good couple days of key training.

And it didn't turn out to be a terrible day for Moana. Check it out, she even found a new friend to play with.

Mama Found Her Mojo

I just had a great weekend of training! It's Sunday night... I'm feeling quite satisfied with the weekend that I just had. Phew!

I spent much of the month of June trying to get my mojo back. I know its very common to have some 'down' time after a big race that you've been focusing on for a long time... And while I can't say I was like, depressed, or anything, after Honu, I did spend about a month feeling somewhat unmotivated to train. Physically I didn't feel great and I felt like I was just going through the motions during my workouts, if you know what I mean.

In my head, Ironman Training began July 1, so I was trying hard to shift my mental focus back to wanting it... I needed to have some hunger for training... But I think I was just so physically tired (or something??) that it just wasn't happening for me.

But finally, this weekend, I felt it. My mojo came back.

The training plan called for an 80 mile ride, including 5 x 5 min hard toward the end, followed by a 4.5 mile run, including a 20 minute hard effort after I got going. That's a tough workout to do if you're just going through the motions.

Turns out, the group ride turned into a girl's ride, and the only two girls were Sandy and myself. As much as I like riding with the guys, riding with Sandy can be just as good. Our average speed may not be quite as fast without a boy up front breaking the wind, but that just means that she and I work harder to do it ourselves. Like we would in a race. So we took turns taking loooong pulls (like 20-25 minutes at a time) and just cruised in our aero bars at a steady effort... until the 5 minute intervals... when we just jammed down the road at a pace normally reserved for a 20K TT. It was awesome.

At the end of the ride, Sandy checked her computer, and we decided that our average speed for the day would have made us both quite happy with our bike splits if we were to ride the same pace in Kona.

Quick change of clothes after I got home and I was off running. In some sick kind of way, I was kind of glad that Jen gave me the green light to push the run for 20 minutes. Many times I'm told to just keep it steady, but not yesterday. Instructions said HARD, in capital letters. So I cruised through the first couple miles of my normal brick run at my normal pace, and then picked it up. I ended up running about 90 seconds faster than I usually do that run- with all of that gain in the last 2.5 miles. I almost peed myself when I looked down at my watch at the end. Really? A PR on this run course after that ride?? Niiice.

Focus on recovery... drink, eat, ice bath, compression socks... 4th of July celebrations... and off to bed before my 2 hour run today.

I remember when I first started training for Ironmans. Like, a looong time ago. First of all, we knew nothing about training methods or recovery or nutrition or whathaveyou. But beyond that point, I was just not physically capable of completing two hard workouts on back to back days. Every time I tried to do a long run the day after a long bike, I would completely fall apart and end up walking, head down, toward home.

I think it really takes years to teach your body how to Go Long. I know some people can do it seemingly overnight... but those folks must have more genetic talent (or something??) than I do, because for me, it took years.

Anyway, my body finally 'gets it'. After 15 years of triathlon training, I can finally say that I can pull off a great long run the day after a great long brick!

I was amazed at how fresh I felt when I woke up this morning. Since my legs didn't feel heavy or anything, I chose my hilly long run... the one that goes up and down relentlessly for 5 miles... and then at the end of the road I snuck through the fence and kept going up the unmaintained road that climbs up the side of a mountain... up up up... and then down... until the road actually ended at a highway that I wasn't going to cross. Turn around and go up up up and then down down down* and then eventually back to the park where it was time to turn the engines ON and push it for 20 minutes. I felt like a rock star running that section... I knew I was working harder than I'd ever worked on a long run (I've been a long time student of the slow long run philosophy, but Jen is teaching me to change up pace during long runs). I felt like I could actually pick my knees and feet up and run up the hills, rather than just slog up them like sometimes I do. Sweet! When I got to the gate that marked the end of the park road, I saw yet another PR on my watch. Gotta like that. I cruised home at what felt like an easier pace, but it was still as fast as I went last week when I ran shorter and pushed it. Go figure.

And now, with my compression socks on, I am actually feeling pretty good. Not nearly as beat up as you'd think after a couple of days like that. I think the key for me is making my easy days EASY. Thursday and Friday were both just aerobic easy days, so clearly that was the key for me this weekend. Keeping easy days EASY allows me to be fresh(er) for the hard days so I can go HARD.

And when I see numerical proof on my watch that I am improving, that goes a long way toward bringing back that mojo I had leading up to Honu.

Hoku Loves The Cheerios

So things are a bit crazier around here now that Moana is On-The-Go. My stay-at-home-mom job has really turned into a game of Chase The Baby... or Make Sure The Baby Doesn't Conk Her Head... or Don't Let Baby Touch The Bikes.

Since we don't have a garage, my bikes reside in a little nook near the kitchen. They are currently barricaded with a chair, which only does a mediocre job of keeping a curious baby away from the greasy chains.

And seriously, who really cares about a little road grime on a baby's hands? I mean, shoot, her hands are constantly covered with dog hair now that she's crawling everywhere. I vacuum every day, but the second that Hoku stands up and walks across the room, the wood floor is once again carpeted with black hair. We need a yard.

And speaking of vacuuming... lucky me! Moana is not (yet?) afraid of it. Most of the time I do it while she's taking a nap upstairs, but sometimes I do it while she's awake. The other day I held her in my left arm while vacuuming with my right just because I wanted her to be near the loud machine in hopes of minimizing any future irrational fear she might acquire. She had no problem with it. In fact, she reached out for the handle as if to push it herself. One of these days I'll be blogging about how Moana vacuums the room herself every morning as part of her daily chores.

Let me live in my own little Dream World, will ya?

Anyway, it can get a little dangerous around here if I'm not watching Moana every second. One of her favorite past times these days is to cruise around the house looking for stuff she can climb up on to stand. The dishwasher is a favorite for sure. Which isn't a problem now that I'm remembering to put the knives up high or in the back.

So Hoku has really taken a bigger interest in Moana lately. I'd like to say that it's because she really just adores the little baby who likes to grab her hair but doesn't know the meaning of the word gentle, but I don't think that's actually the case. But it might be the Cheerios. Usually in the evenings while I'm trying to make dinner, I stick Moana in this scooter chair thingie and let her cruise around the house. You should see her in this thing- she runs! And then BANG! Right into the wall. It's pretty funny. Anywho, lately I've been putting Cheerios on the little tray table thing. They keep her occupied, but she doesn't eat them. Instead she throws them on the floor, one by one... and Hoku wags her tail and follows her around like a puppy. Or like a vacuum cleaner. Inevitably there will be a Cheerio or two left in the seat after I put Moana to bed, and Hoku finds those too.

Raising The Bar

July 1. My friend Mike called today the start of "Over-Training Camp". Ha! Good thing I have a coach to keep me from doing all of Mike's workouts.

I think it's something like 14 weeks til Kona. I'm looking at it as 3 months of training- July, August, and September... Because October will just be 9 days of taper and then race day.

So even though I've been training plenty over the last few weeks, in my head, Ironman Training started today. It's more of a mental shift than anything so far because my actual training schedule isn't yet altogether different from what I was doing leading up to Honu. Although I would suspect that it'll become bigger here shortly.

I'm no stranger to IM training. This will be the tenth time I've trained for an Ironman. I have no idea how many 100+ mile rides I've done over the years. A lot. Last time I trained for an Ironman (Kona 2007) I did eight long rides (95-115 miles) and ran after every one of them.

The thing is though, last time I trained for an Ironman, I didn't have to be a mom as soon as I got home from those long workouts. In fact, I think most of the time I was able to just eat and shower and eat and stretch and eat and then sleep. By myself. So it'll be interesting this time around to see how I do with what will likely be some compromised recovery. Already I've dealt with some of that... like when I do a long run in the early AM hours during the week... I walk in the door all sweaty and thirsty with my heart rate still up above 150 and before I can blink I get handed a baby as my husband is rushing out the door to work. It's like Tag Team parenting around here when I'm training a lot.

Luckily Scott is supportive and understands that this big stuff isn't year round. Though I'll probably owe him every Saturday all winter long so he can surf and play soccer...

Anyway, Nalani and I have a new swim training partner. Just when you start to think you're swimming pretty fast, along comes an ex-collegiate swimmer to serve you up a piece of Humble Pie. Quinn is awesome, in a lot of ways. Nalani met her at the swim race last weekend and invited her to join our AM training sessions. She showed up on Monday and then again this morning. I really like her. But Nalani and I just about died trying to keep up with her. There actually is no keeping up with her. Maybe just trying not to get lapped by her is a better description of what we're doing. It's good though. Swimming with Quinn is raising the bar for me. No getting complacent and thinking my swim is good enough...

Which makes me think about a lot of the other people I surround myself with... I definitely feel some sort of magnetic pull toward people who are faster than me. I like to find them and train with them. They push me. They also make me feel slow a lot of the time, which is okay. When I am constantly comparing myself to the fastest people around, it's inevitable that I will feel "slow". But where's the drive to get faster if you're always the fastest one around?