back at it

i can't believe it's been almost two months since my last triathlon (Ironaman Saint George). well, tomorrow i get to be back in the saddle for San Diego International Triathlon. this is probably my favorite local race and this year i'm stepping it up a notch. i was first in my age group at SDIT the past two years and i don't want anyone calling me a sandbagger :) . since the race is not USAT, the "elite" category is open to wannabe's like me and i'm taking on the challenge. the field looks pretty stacked and it should be a fun day out there. my main goal is not to be last (of the elites), but even if i am, at least i gave it a shot. i didn't take any pictures at the expo today, but i've got plenty of other random ones from the past week:


last sunday's ride with james- a little banana break atop mt. soledad
bought me a new toy- frozen yogurt machine.


and have been making some delicious frozen concotions:

acai "recovery" yogurt: 1 cup greek yogurt (0%fat), 1.5 cups unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 1 packet frozen unsweetened acai, sweetener of choice (agave, splenda...), .5 cup mixed berries, 1 tbsp flax seeds, 1 tbsp chia seeds, vanilla extract, glutamine powder, .25tsp xanthan gum. [makes 2 big servings. i topped mine with a little chopped walnuts and shredded coconut]



Peanut butter almond milk "yogurt" (makes 2 servings) : 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, sweetener of choice (i used splenda), 2 tblsp Pb2 powdered peanut butter, 1 tbsp Nuttzo. topped with cacao nibs + chopped almonds. I also made vegan brown rice krispie treats to take to the Rehab United (my strength coaches) barbeque..i'm such a betty crocker now that i have some time on my hands...trying to show james what life would be like with a stay-at-home wife :)
oooh.. and i'm racing incognito tomorrow. not the best pic, but the hair is DARK. i'm a sucker for a change every once in a while. the blonde will be back in a few months though, i'm sure.


can't wait to track everyone else tomorrow too...glad my race is only two hours, then i can plop myself for some virtual spectating.

see you after the finish line!

The "A" Team

raise your hand if....you are NOT racing this weekend.
yeah, not many raised hands, eh? doesn't it seem like everyone is getting out there this weekend? i'm sending big cheers to friends at Ironman Coeur D'Alene, Buffalo Springs 70.3, across the pond to Ironman France, and those staying local at San Diego International.

i especially want to send one last "bon voyage!' two of my best friends who are tackling ironman this weekend. since they both have to deal with me on a regular basis, ironman should be a piece of cake! (mmm....cake....yum..).

up in idaho, i'll be tracking colleen. colleen is many things to me: swim coach, bike buddy, fellow lululemon lover and most importantly- great friend. Coeur D'Alene is her very first ironman and she is so very ready! i think she was ready a month ago. as a former college swimmer and a devil on the bike, you can count on her to be out there with the front of the pack. she is also set to run a very solid marathon and i can tell it is going to be a great day. hopefully she won't have to ride this bike, though :)

and then there's miss katya who is about to dominate Ironman France. katya has been warming up for IM France for the past couple months and I can tell she's ready to roll. France is her race and she is going to kill the hills. and she will look good doing it. she's got the eye of the tiger. make that two eyes of the tiger. just get to the start on time, ok katya?

me + katya

i was thinking about these girls on my run this morning and thinking how lucky i am to have them in my life. 4 years ago, i remember being totally alone in san diego. i had just broken up (well- got broken up with i guess i should say)with my longtime boyfriend (ryan) after moving here to be with him (smart cookie, i am!). since ryan was a san diego native, in our time together, my friends were all "his" friends. when we broke up i was SOLO as solo can be. party of one, check! so, i found myself one year into a 4 year grad school program and thousands of miles away from any friends or family.

i wanted to quit and go home, but i'm not much of a quitter. i avoided phone calls from friends & family back home because i just always burst into tears, wishing i was anywhere else :( and wondered why i made such stupid move. and i didn't want anyone to know how sad i was. on a rare occasion when i did talk to someone, i remember telling my bff from college that there was just no way to make REAL friends after college. i told her that sure, i would have some "B" and "C" friends, but it was too hard to make "A" friends like her- the kind you trust and tell everything to and want to hang out with all the time. things were like this for a while. i even started applying to PhD programs on the east coast to get out of this place.

but then one day, another dear college friend called and convinced me to sign up for the rock n' roll marathon with her in June 2007 (i told her she was crazy). i wasn't much of a runner and was far more likely to be smoking cigarettes than PRs. if i saw 4am it was because i hadn't gone to sleep yet, not because i was up to train. but, signing up for that marathon meant that she would come and visit me (to run the race) so, i said yes! and then well....life happened...and things....well, things change, and i did make those "A" friends after all. and wound up with an "A" life & husband too.

so girls, go out and get 'em this weekend! you're my "A" team in many ways- make it an A kind of day out there!

pancake party! un-carboloading

i must tell you about my breakfast. it was that good. and i finally have time to make breakfast which makes it even BETTER! i thought i'd share because i know a lot of folks who are on a metabolic efficiency kick and trying to eliminate most processed foods and grains from their diet in favor of whole foods mostly from fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. thought pancakes were out? THINK AGAIN! whoop whoop holla for healthy pancakes!

i borrowed this recipe from Allie and will definitely be making it again and again and again. she posted all the steps in the recipe so head to Pimp my Protein Shake for the full details. i read the recipe yeasterday and realized i already had all the ingredients on-hand so i tested it out after my run this morning before my ocean swim. holy cow.

Low Carb, Low Cal Blackberry Pancakes

• 2 TB coconut flour
• 1 egg, 2 whites
• 1/2 c. blackberries, fresh or partially frozen
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• few drops of liquid stevia, or other sweetener of your choice
• 3 TB water, milk or non-dairy milk

Allie says the nutritionals are as follows "About 250 calories for [the entire recipe]. Yes, 250 calories (not including the Greek yogurt, sugar-free syrup and sunbutter topping), 17g protein, about 17g carbs and 9g fiber. You are welcome."

this was my first time really diving into the coconut flour and i love it! (but remember to sift it- i didn't and it was chunky so then i used my hand blender to get the chunks out). i also love how high in fiber coconut flour is. anyway, happy tuesday!

fly by the seat of your bike

i'm never one to over-plan. planning stresses me out. this happens to be a minor source of conflict between me and my super-planner husband. this morning he headed up north for 5 hours of single track and i had another race pace double brick (long warm up, 10k bike TT, 3k run TT, rest, repeat, etc) on the schedule to be conducted at my leisure. ...there is a great place to do this workout in san diego. it's called fiesta island and fiesta has a 4+-mile loop with minimal traffic and no stops. problem is, i did a similar workout at fiesta island last week and it gets BORING. something about fiesta island numbs my mind and my soul and makes me want to puke. AND its a 30 minute drive away.

so this morning i set off on my bike with my zoot shoes and my bike lock in search of some random bricking. i wore my tri shorts and had a run tank under my cycle jersey.

i warmed up down to solana beach and met up with colleen and kerrie. i joined them for the first hour or so of their ride and we chatted away the miles. then, i peeled off to do my workouts. i was able to find a nice flat loop (and all right hand turns/no stoplights) around fairbanks ranch. for the first run, i stashed my bike in a huge bush/tree in the middle of a field. it was so hidden it was perfect! for the second brick, i made it to colleen's house and surprised her :) banging on the door asking her to watch my bike while i ran (thanks, c!)

all in all, a good day and as always, just good to go with the flow. i didn't have to pack any gear or drive my car, or map out a perfect route or overthink it. Nike's got it right. JUST DO IT.

lazy blogger!!!

i really really love blogging. my major problem is that i think too much about my posts (i know it doesn't seem like it with my stream of consciousness anti-grammatical and un-capitalized mumbo jumbo). and i load up until there is TOO much to blog about and then i get overwhelmed. and then i don't write it because there is too much to write and too little time. so sometimes it is probably best to just read james' blog for timely re-caps.
so, here i am, writing about last weekend when it is already this weekend. so i'll make it brief.
memorial day weekend seems like one big blur of hills and friends and ice baths and a couple margaritas.

saturday i rode the 103 mile "loop of doom" with the bunnies and some other friends. "the bunnies" are not of the playboy variety, they are of the dropboy variety (and they don't know about my nickname for them). julie and jen are energizer bunnies that keep going and going. by then end they had shamed all the boys and were pulling everyone home (please note that they were pulling everyone the WHOLE time, it was only near the end that they had to circle back more). 9,500 feet of climbing including great western loop and mt. laguna earned me my first ice bath of the weekend. (side note- chivalry is NOT dead. when we descended the sketchy backside of laguna, i mistakenly thought i could "follow the line" of the pro descenders i was with. i crashed off the side of the road, luckily flew into a bush and got two beestings. tim heard me scream bloody murder and rode back up the mountain to find me. thanks tim. chivalry thanks you too).
and my first spinach margarita, thanks to Andy's pedaling skills and Katya's ingenious ideas. (and big shout out to my mom for the most awesome party gift ever- bike blender!!!)

sunday, james made his running re-debut and won the Xterra mission gorge 15k. (jerk!) i was the 3rd woman, behind lesley paterson and katya. (hmmm....very interesting that the top 2 males and the top 3 females all workout every week at Rehab United together- more proof of the secret sauce- thank you Bryan Hill!) unfortunately, post race i was too incapacitated to do proper strength sessions this week. the trail race hemmed me up big time. i was more sore than i was after ironman. for three days. holy hills.
after the race, we came home for ice bath #2 and some pool time. fatty broke his pool chair:
monday (memorial day) was more riding and more margarita's - this time on the beach! i love encinitas, california.

oooh, and the big news is that james surprised me with a fur kid! her name is nyla. and yes, i know a teacu chihuaha is not a REAL big dog like a lab or something, but she's about all i can handle and you know she is darn cute. and you want one. she is an awesome dog.

that's it! congrats to everyone who raced Hawaii 70.3. i was glued to my computer cheering for Kristin, Tati, Teresa, Maggs, Rachel Ross, Kerri, Stacey, Susanne, Lori...way to represent, ladies! oh, and Todd too :)