A tale of two FAILS

In my past two posts, I talked about two different things I wanted to try out - swim lessons for beginner triathletes and hot yoga. Well, for various reasons, I won't be doing either. Yup. FAIL.

I had gotten an e-mail from a local women's triathlon group about the swim lessons - every Sunday at the YMCA. It was the same Y where I did an indoor triathlon and a combination indoor/outdoor triathlon, so I just figured that particular Y was very "triathlete friendly." Which would be nice. And the price wasn't bad either, $60 for 6 lessons, so $10 per lesson. But, when I re-visited the e-mail to find out how to register, I realized I'd missed some of the fine print the first time around. It turns out, the lessons were only for people who were already full members of the Y. I am definitely not any type of member of the Y, because it's so dang expensive. There went my brilliant idea for getting back into swimming. I guess I will have to motivate myself to do it on my own!

As for the hot yoga Groupon, I was sort of talked out of purchasing it. I checked out how far away the studio was, and it was about a 40 minute drive. It would be relatively impossible for me to make any classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I'm not sure how economical a month of unlimited classes would be. So I didn't buy it. 

However, a friend told me she has guest passes to her gym, which offers hot yoga, so she promised to bring me along some time. Which means, technically, that I will get to at least try hot yoga. I'd love to belong to the gym she goes to - it has multiple pools, including a separate kids pool so swimmers don't have to deal with splashing children, plus it's just super nice, but of course, it's uber expensive. I might try to convince the fiance to join after the new year, if we can get a deal on a family plan, but...I'm not hopeful.

Maybe I should have called this post "a tale of three fails" instead of just two, because now that I think about it, this whole week has been a giant workout fail. Only two workouts so far, and it's already Saturday. A 3-mile run on Tuesday, and 60 minutes of plyometrics on Friday. FAIL!

Losing my mind over Groupon

I seriously think I'm losing it. I've been so out of it all week long, and I don't know why. So far I've locked my keys in the car (Wednesday), walked out of the house without my purse and didn't even realize it until I had to get gas (Thursday), forgotten about the time change for a meeting (also Thursday), and misplaced a paycheck (day unknown). 

Maybe I'm just tired, although I shouldn't be, because I'm sleeping later this week than I have in months. Maybe my brain is sharper the less sleep I get? Wouldn't that be something.

Anyway, does anyone else love Groupon as  much as I do? I have a legitimate problem when it comes to getting roped in by super discounts. If something is 50% off, I will buy it, and I don't even care what it is or if I need it. Considering that everything on Groupon is 50% to 90% off, that's dangerous. 

However, today's deal is awesome. $40 for a month of unlimited classes at a hot yoga studio. I've always wanted to try hot yoga, even though I'm slightly afraid of overheating and passing out, plus someone told me that they shut the door to seal in the heat and don't let you out of the room even if you're about to die. (I don't think that's true, but still, just thinking about it makes me feel claustrophobic).

My yoga experience is limited to Jillian Michaels and P90X dvds, and one or two crappy classes at my crappy gym. I'm nervous that if I decide to go to hot yoga I'll make a complete fool of myself, but the studio specifies which classes are for beginners, and I can totally hold the crane pose for a full minute, so surely I'll be fine...right?

If I decide to go ahead and get the Groupon deal, I'll be trying out hot yoga and triathlon swim classes all in the month of November. It could be a great way to switch-up my exercise routine so I don't get bored, which I think I need to do since I got bored with running only and switched to P90X, then got bored with P90X only and switched back to running. I definitely need to mix it up.

Although maybe all of the "mixing it up" is what's driving me to so much distraction that I keep forgetting simple things...

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

Oh hi! Yes, it's me, it's really me. Where I have I been for the past 5 months, you might ask?

I wish I had a good answer for you. I wish I could say I'd been abducted by aliens, or become a member of the CIA and sent out on a top-secret mission. That would be a lot cooler than the truth, which is...well, I haven't been doing much worth mentioning for the last 150 days (roughly.) 

I did a few triathlon-related things over the summer, but the one thing I didn't do was...er...a triathlon. Oops! However, I did manage to complete two 800 meter open water swims, so that's something. I even managed to limit my consumption of bacteria-laden lake water to a few gallons.

Then, somewhere in July or August, the wheels came off. Not the wheels of my gorgeous pink bike (though that would have been a handy excuse for my lack of triathlon training) but the figurative wheels that kept my motivation moving forward. 

I could sit here and list a bunch of excuses but...no scratch that, I think that's exactly what I'll do! Let's see...there were vacations, illnesses, wedding planning, important family happenings, (like both of my sisters abandoning me to live elsewhere, cough, cough) and you know, general laziness.

I even let my running mileage get drastically low. For a while, when I couldn't motivate myself to run, I followed the P90X program religiously. I got it for my fiance for his birthday, and we started it together. Let me tell you, that thing WORKS! I could see and feel the changes in my body after 30 days. 

But then, I got a cold and didn't do P90X for a few days. And after I got over the cold, I somehow decided I needed to start building my running mileage up again so I can run a fall marathon in 2011. And after that I got an e-mail from a local women's triathlon club offering 7 weeks of swim training for beginners or people who haven't swum in a while. Sounds good to me! 

So that's basically where I stand. The cold I mentioned, well, I just got over it a few days ago. I've run twice this week and have at least one more run planned with a friend. The swim sessions start on November 7th, so I'd better register. 

Let's see if I can get that motivation rolling again...and also maybe talk about other life happenings, such as how much my sisters suck for leaving me, (cough, cough) wedding planning, and how much I love looking at pictures of food and recipes for things I'll never cook. Food gawker, anyone?

Also, my fiance is still following the P90X program and I plan on doing a review of it in the near future. So keep an eye out for that.

I am an athlete, and I have feet

Does it make sense, then, that I have Athlete's Foot? (Feet, actually, because it's both of 'em).

I've never had it before, so I can't be sure that's what this is, but DAMN, they itch. That kind of itch that you can scratch but that only makes it worse and eventually you might draw blood and it still won't stop itching. 

When I say it started suddenly, I'm not exaggerating, as most people are when they use that phrase. I mean it was instantaneous. My feet felt fine all day, I was wearing clean socks, an old pair of sneakers, and even went for a couple of long dog-walks. Then I was walking to my house from my car after work and BAM it hit me. My feet itched. 

At first I thought it was because the sneakers I'd been wearing were super old, and so much walking in them had just irritated my skin. But it was SO bad that night that I had to rest the soles of my feet on ice packs. They felt a little bit better the next day, so I figured it was a minor thing that would run its course. But the day after that, I was about ready to scratch my skin to shreds, so I decided to hit up CVS.

I couldn't find what I was looking for at first. I knew there were products called Lamisil and Tinactin (saw them on commercials - "Tough actin' Tinactin!") but the only things with that name I could find were for Jock Itch. Er...ok...I was pretty sure it was the right product, but I didn't want to be rubbing cream meant for a guy's groin on my feet if I wasn't supposed to. I finally had to ask the woman at the pharmacy where I could find something for Athlete's Foot (I totally whispered that part in the store because there were other people around, and really, who wants to admit they have fungus growing on their feet? I was wearing flip-flops for goodness sake.) Turns out Lamisil for Athlete's Foot and for Jock Itch are the exact same thing with the exact same ingredients, because the two infections are caused by the same fungus. Honestly, I'd rather have fungus on my feet than in my crotch!

Anyway, I have been back to CVS twice since then for different remedies because nothing's working. So far I've tried Lamisil cream, Tinactin spray, and Goldbond medicated powder. Each has a different active ingredient, and each says to apply twice daily - morning and night. Also, each claims to stop the itching and burning. OK...maybe they stop the itching and burning for an hour. But am I supposed to wait seven more hours until the nighttime application to relieve it again?

I'm thoroughly grossed out at the fact that I might have fungus on my feet. But I'm trying so hard to keep them clean! I already shower daily, but now I'm washing my feet with seperate soap (Dove), drying each foot completely with it's own paper towel (don't want to infect our bath/hand towels!) and applying one of my medicinal treatments twice daily. I'm sprinkling Goldbond into my socks. I've sprayed all my shoes with Tinactin. Today I washed the bathmats with bleach (don't worry, they were already white) and mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors with a bleach solution (since I walk around the house barefoot). 

Well it's been a full week and I have seen no improvement! What's a girl to do!?!? Should I just go to the doctor and get something stronger? The packages on the various treatments say to "see a doctor if there is no improvement in four weeks." Four weeks!?!? This insatiable itch is maddening. I can not wait four weeks!

Anybody have some tips/tricks/homeopathic remedies?

P.S. If you're wondering where I might have picked it up, I have two words for you. Public pool. And here are two more words. High school. I went (for the first time) to open swim at a local high school's pool on a Wednesday, and that BAM moment came on Friday. Need I say more??

Anyone Can Tri! A race report.

On Sunday, May 2, I proved the name of the race, and completed the Southern Saratoga YMCA's "Anyone Can Tri" triathlon. It was a combination indoor/outdoor tri, because it's still a little too chilly to do an open water swim (although it certainly felt warm enough on Sunday!) The whole event was a 350 yard (or meter maybe?) snake swim in the pool, followed by an 11 mile bike ride and 3.2 mile run outside. There was a central transition area just outside the pool, where competitors could quickly (or not so quickly in my case) switch from swim gear to bike gear, and finally to running gear.

Here's the thing. I've been so distracted by other happenings in my life lately that I hardly thought about the triathlon until the morning of the race. And then I didn't feel like racing. At all. It just didn't seem important, and I didn't feel hyped up for it. But I'd already forked over a $55 registration fee, and as you all know by now I'm cheap frugal and didn't want to waste the money. Seriously, I actually think $55 is a ridiculously high price for a sprint triathlon, but it's the YMCA, which is supposed to be a not-for-profit civic service organization, and is actually more like some exclusive health club. In my opinion. I just wrote a story about a local branch of the YMCA that was able to borrow nearly 6 million tax-exempt dollars because of its "non-profit" status, using an organization meant to give money to companies that actually serve the poor, not just pretend to. Anyway, tangent and rant over, I'd paid the exorbitant fee and I was going to get my money's worth.

I got up at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, and ate half a banana and a piece of whole wheat toast with almond butter. I absent-mindedly (you'll find out just how absent-mindedly in a few paragraphs) gathered the things I'd need for the race. I put on a sports bra under my bathing suit, and packed a pair of long spandex shorts (that I bought in the little boy's section of Target) and my Pearl Izumi cycling tank. I stuck a pair of (mismatching) socks into my running shoes and threw them in the car. My Garmin was already in my purse. I stuck an organic toaster tart in my purse in case I got hungry. I filled up my 20 oz water bottle. I grabbed a towel from the heap of laundry in the attic, gave it a few sniffs, and threw that in the car. Bike and helmet were already in the trunk. I shoved my feet into my sandals, and off I went, dragging my sister along with me.

I got to the Y before 6:30, and stood in line to pick up my packet, bib, and chip, and get marked with a Sharpie.  I was number 68, and as the guy was writing it on my leg, I started to wish I'd shaved within the last 3 days. If you're wondering what on earth I was thinking, just remember I wasn't thinking about the race. After getting all my stuff (lamest swag bag ever, by the way, the only thing in there besides some pamphlets promoting the Y was a mini men's Degree deodorant) I had about an hour to kill before my "safety meeting."

I went to the transition area to get a spot for my bike and set up my gear, but by the time I got there, the racks were full, so I just leaned the bike against a fence. I wouldn't have done that, but a few other bikes were already there, so I figured it was OK. I pulled out my garbage bag (the one thoughtful thing I packed), spread it on the ground, and put my shoes, socks, shorts, and shirt on top of it. I draped my towel over the handlebars. I gave my water bottle to my sister.

I spent the next 30 minutes or so standing barefoot in the hallway of the Y, surreptitiously picking the bathing suit wedgie out of my butt crack every time it rode up, because the sports bra underneath it made it a really tight fit. Finally it was time for my heat's meeting. The triathlon was going off in heats, and the heats were going off in waves. Each heat had to go to a meeting first, to find out how the snake swim worked, and to be told to watch out for cars while biking and running, because the roads weren't closed. 

We all filed into the pool in a single line, in numerical order. The first person in the heat would start, and 30 seconds later, the announcer would tell the next person to go. I had been getting worried that people would need to pass me during the swim, but it seemed like 30 seconds was a decent head start. The announcer said "68, go!" and I slid into the pool and went on my way. I felt tired almost immediately, which was not a good sign. I just tried to focus on keeping my breathing even and my form smooth. I was doing a pretty good job of it until I was swimming one way in my lane, and someone else was swimming in the other direction, and we collided. Ooooops. I made it a point to stay super close to the lane marker from then on. I think I caressed it a few times after that. 

I finished up the swim and my breathing was a little labored, but nothing too horrible. I ran out the door to find my bike, and after adjusting to the blinding sunlight, I quickly toweled off my feet, shoved myself into my shorts, tank, and socks, and laced up my sneakers. Then I realized I had no water. My sister had my water. And she wasn't allowed into the transition area. Shit. I saw her running near the fence, waving the bottle. One of the race officials saw her too, and took the bottle from her and gave it to me. How nice of her. But then I realized I still had an 11 mile bike ride and a 3.2 mile run to finish, and I hadn't eaten for over two hours. Where was my toaster tart? In the car. In my purse. With my Garmin. I made a wild "nibbling" gesture to my sister, intended to mean "Go get me my bar!" but she didn't understand, so I had to tell to her to go get it. While she was doing that, I put on my cycling gloves and helmet. She ran back, threw the bar to me over the fence, and I frantically took two big bites. Then I had to wait a minute while I tried swallow with an incredibly dry mouth.

OK, transition one was finished. I shoved the other half of the bar into my waistband, jogged my bike over the timing mat, and climbed on. About seven pedals later, I heard a faint "thwumping" noise, looked down, and realized the bar had fallen out of my waistband and was now lying in the road with my bike's tire track sliced through it. I probably should have stuck the bar in the back pocket of my cycling tank, since, you know, that's what it's made for.

Someone told me the bike course was "relatively flat." Well that someone was a LIAR. Seriously, their pants are on fire right now. It was actually rather surreal out there on the bike, because everyone was so spread out that it was like I was just out for a jaunt by myself. Every once in a while at an intersection an official would point me in the right direction, but for the most part it was just me, my bike, the road...and my thoughts. Mostly those thoughts went like this: "What the F? It's so hot out here. There's no shade. OMG. Is that a huge hill coming up? Seriously? Another one? Ow. I think I just got a bug in my eye. I hope it doesn't crawl into my brain. Am I going the right way? So. Hot. OMG, another big hill. Pedal. Pedal. Pedalllll. Don't. Stop. Quads are burning. Pedal. Pedal. Pedalllllll!"

Thankfully I didn't have to stop in the middle of a hill anywhere, because that would have been really embarrassing. Though there was one point, in the middle of a hill, where I think I was averaging one full pedal every 30 seconds, and some guy flew by and said "Good luck." In that tone that really means, "Ha, good luck sucker!"

Anyway, I made my way back to the transition area after what seemed like an eternity, hopped off the bike, and jogged it over the timing mat. Now, being an extreme amateur, I had actually worn my running sneakers for the bike ride, and didn't have to change them during transition two. I just gulped some water, briefly considered dropping out of the race, and ran over the next timing mat to start the run.

I have just one word to describe the entire run: HOT. It was brutal out there. The high that day was 87 degrees, and there was seriously no shade on the course. Luckily there was a random water stop, which consisted of one volunteer handing out warm cups of water, and what I can only assume was a resident of a neighboring house yelling out "Congratulations! You can do it!" in a thick Spanish accent.

My legs felt like rubber bands that might snap at any moment for at least the first mile of the run. They were wobbly and I felt like I couldn't control their direction or pace. Were they even still attached? I couldn't tell. I did have the extreme pleasure of passing the sarcastic "Good luck" man during the run, and trust me, I wished him some luck himself. Ha.

I had absolutely no idea what pace I was running. At all. Usually I'm really good at feeling out a pace, but I could have been running anywhere from 7 minutes per mile to 15 minutes per mile, and I don't think I would have known the difference. It was too hot to even care. I just wanted to finish. 

And finally, finally I rounded a corner to see a woman ringing a cowbell (the only crowd support on the course besides the Spanish congratulations lady!) and the finish line was in sight. I'd like to say I "kicked it in" but I really didn't, because it was so hot, and also I couldn't feel my legs.

I got my medal, got some water, and said, "Hey, I'm a triathlete!" And then I went to Starbucks and got an iced coffee. 

Here is the breakdown of my results:

Swim (350 m) + T1 - 10:58 

Bike (11 mi) - 42:59 (approx. 17 mph)

T2 - 1:39

Run (3.2 mi) - 25:16 (7:54 per mile)

Total time - 1:20.51

April in Review

I'm definitely a few days late with this post, but oh well, better late than never, right?

Here are the stats:

Swim total: 2,000 meters

Bike: 4.5 hours/43.66 miles

Run total: 56.7 miles

Strength: Didn't keep track this month, but if I had to guess I'd say approx. 2 hours

Race: 5 miler, 35:55, 7:11 per mile average pace

I very obviously slacked way off on the swimming. My regular pool was still closed for renovations the entire month (but it supposedly opens tomorrow), and I only managed to sneak into the local college pool free of charge twice. I swam 1,000 meters each time, hence the 2,000 meter total. I did, however, discover the benefits of evening swimming. Easier to sneak in, hardly anyone else in the pool, and extremely relaxing before bed. Hopefully I'll put it into practice a bit more often this month!

I'm feeling pretty good about my biking for the month of April. I did an hour and 25 minutes more than I did in March, and since I was able to take the bike off the trainer and get outside, I got to track my mileage. I still definitely need to work on the biking, my quad muscles are just not all there yet for the sport. I need to do some 20+ mile rides, and work on my technique on the hills. I better hit the bike path this month!

I was really worried about my running in April, after suffering from some pretty bad shin splints. I took a couple of stretches of 3-5 days of off running completely. But I'm surprisngly happy with my total mileage, after all. I'm less than a mile off of what I ran in March. I attribute that to less "junk miles." Yeah, I took some extra days off, but I only skipped shorter runs, and I made up for it by running longer on other days. My long runs are all on track for my half marathon in June! 

I totally stopped keeping track of my strength training because I was less structured about it in April. Normally it's at least 45 minutes per week in a class at my gym, but I think I only made it to the class once, possibly twice, and the rest of the time I just did some strength and core work at home whenever I had the time/motivation. 

The one race I ran at the beginning of April was a 5-miler, and I "bandited" it. That means I didn't register, or pay, and I ran without a bib. I just veered off the course right before the finish line. The time is what I registered on my Garmin (and yes it did tell me I had gone the full 5 miles when I stopped my watch). If you're wondering why I decided to bandit, there are a few reasons, not the least of which is that I'm cheap frugal. I was iffy about the whole thing because of the shin splints, and I thought it'd be a waste to pay the registration fee only to have to drop out halfway through because I was in pain. Luckily adrenaline kicked in and I was totally fine, and didn't injure myself further. Also, the race was sponsored by (and I think benefited) my company's competitor, but really, that had nothing to do with me not paying the fee...really...honest...

So that's April. Once again, I find myself needing to create more balance. I'm always much further ahead in one aspect than another, and I just need to be more consistent across the board!

Luckily I started May off with a bang...well, with a triathlon, actually. Stay tuned for a race report!

Gone with the wind

I really do not like running when it's super windy outside. Sure, you feel great going in one direction, with the wind at your back, but going the other way it feels like running on the treadmill, because you're practically going nowhere. Only it's worse than running on the treadmill, because the wind is whipping leaves and other crap into your face.

Plus, if you're like me and have a bad haircut, it's nearly impossible to keep some of the strands under control. I never should have listened to the hairdresser when she called me a chicken for never doing anything "different" with my hair. I ended up with some long bangs that I can't do anything with! They're that annoying length that is just the tiniest bit too short to go into my ponytail. I'm thinking of getting a new hairdresser.

But anyway. Today when I went out for my run I stuck a few bobby pins and a thin elastic headband in my hair and hoped for the best. The wind was howling like crazy, and soon my bangs were flopping in my face. I felt the top of my head to make sure the bobby pins were still there, and they were. But the headband wasn't. I hadn't even felt it fly off! Now, granted, it could have been due in part to the fact that I have a giant head, and headbands have never fit me well. (It's true, I really do have a big head...my sisters and one mean boy used to call me bobble head).

I've decided to finally go ahead and order some Bondi Bands. Supposedly, they stay put, and wick sweat away, too, so you don't get any dripping in your eyes. Now I just have to decide which to order...I'm debating between three. Should I order the one that says "I love running; I hate running; I love running; I hate running." Or "Run now...wine later." Or "I run for chocolate." Or all three?

Does anyone have these? Do they work? Are they worth the $8 each?