Putting it into perspective

This morning on Preston and Steve, they were talking about a fan battling an illness (I missed the beginning so unfortunately don't know what).  Nick mentioned that things are not looking great, and they wish her the best and her family.  He said "it really puts things in perspective, the traffic you are stuck in now doesn't seem so bad."  Ironically, I was on the on ramp for 76, driving straigh into stop and go traffic on the Schuykill. 

He's right.  Sometimes I think it's important to have a dose of reality for us all, definitely know I need it.  Last night, I had a bunch of weird experiences.  There was a big accident on 76 and it was closed going into Philly most of the day, backing up traffic on the way out.  I was late to my appointment, but luckily could still meet.  Ended up staying an hour late talking to my customer about her son battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma and how her daughter is in the Performing Arts Center at PALCS.  So ironic since I worked at both LLS and PALCS.  Luckily, her son is doing well but having some recent scans to monitor some glands.  Hoping all comes back ok, and they have a great attitude about it.  Perspective.

Then, since I'm running late, I know I'll never make it to my normal pool to try swimming.  So I go to KOP and end up getting to see my partner a bit.  Tricep was a little sore so kept it short to 1200 yds, was an optional swim yesterday.  Had to dodge people with noodles, annoying.  Left and went home to run.  The wind was bad because the storm was coming.  I had so much crap blowing into my eyes I could barely see at times.  I thought I saw a snake, but it was a garden hose (I am paranoid about this after the Outberbanks where the snake ran me off the road because I was scared, and also running over a baby one on the trail - snakes 2, Andrea 0).  Not lying, not even 200 feet later, I see a real snake slithering to my left and sprint away!  I hate snakes.  My vision was comprised at the time, making it even harder to see. 

I get halfway through my 5-miler, and it starts to rain.  Feels good because it was so hot.  But then it starts to pour, thunder and lightning.  Awesome.  I make it home fine, more drenched than I felt in the pool.  It is hot as balls in our furnace of an apt.  I decide to cook something easy after showering, and talk to my cousin Em.  We talk about a little girl in her son's class who is fighting Leukemia.  I provided any helpful LLS info I could, and we briefly brainstormed on fundraising.  She said "it makes you think, this could be my child."  So scary and true.  Perspective. 

So my interesting day of traffic and noodles and rain and snakes was nothing compared to the terrible diseases people are battling everyday.  Working for a non-profit reminds you of this often, but we all tend to get caught up in things and forget about the really important issues that people are up against.  So today, I am trying to put it all into perspective and remind myself I need to do this more.

Whether it's a bad, frustrating training day or just not a good day at work, it's never as bad as some people have it.  We can all take a page from their books on how to persevere. 

Chicks dig scars (and men?)

Well it was an adventure of a weekend, training-wise.

My Sat run was unimpressive, had stomach issues and felt terrible :(  Bound to happen at times, but was bummed.  Got in less than 10.  Letting it go down in the books, and hoping for a better next weekend.  

Sunday's bike ride was something, something crazy.  Three crashes in one day unfortunately.  Set out for a 60-mile ride and was supposed to run 30 after.  We left from Oaks, and it ended up only being Doreen, Eric and I.  It was muggy and hot, rain on the forecast.  We ended up missing the rain luckily.  At mile 16, we had to reroute our course because of a bridge being out.  Ended up coming to a trestle bridge that unfortunately caused Doreen's crash.  She is ok thank goodness, but has some pretty crazy bruises (that she wouldn't let me take pictures of ;)).  Most important thing is she was ok, and hopefully all her bumps and bruises are superficial.  And thank goodness she wasn't riding her brand spanking new bike.  

After we got her help and made sure she was ok, Eric and I continued on with her urging.  Made it through a solid ride, and came to the literal end.  Mile 62 or 62.5.  Going down a 9-12% grade hill (GPS registers it as 12% while the sign says 9%).  Knew it was slippery so we took it slow.  Eric was ahead of me, and I had to watch him fish tale and slide to a hard fall.  He slide down the hill a bit, and I kept trying to brake on.  But I couldn't stop enough or slow down.  I came to the same spot I watched Eric slide on, and did the same.  Tried to steer away from him and keep control, but it was a wash.  Fell awkwardly, front first and slide into Eric.  Got up and made sure we were ok and tried to get my bike off of him.  I think my boob took a lot of it, randomly.  Both of us walked away.  Eric with some good gashes and falling hard on his bum leg right on the incision.  I have minor road rash on my shoulder, elbow and knee.  

This morning some soreness on my left side, shoulder and leg.  I got off the easiest.  Noticed my bike took a little beating too, and need to have her checked out.  I think the handlebars got bent and the tape is ripped.  Rode 2 hours today, and made it ok.  So that's a plus.  Damage to the other bikes too.  Hopefully nothing too major for us.  

Crashes suck.  I haven't had one in 2 years almost, my first.  We had just finished saying we need to live in a bubble, and how Eric hasn't been a crash clipped in.  Karma, dang.  Most important thing is we are all ok.  The thing is you can crash anytime, doesn't have to be a race.  You can injure yourself running down the street or swimming in a pool.  Unfortunately, that's the reality of training and endurance sports.  Injuries can happen anytime.  We do our best to prepare for them not to happen, and to rehab well if they do.  

Hoping for a healthy and safe last few weeks of training for all of us, especially me and my training partner!  Bubbles necessary, apparently.  

Humbly Humbled

Work has again been interfering with training and blogging, sorry for the delayed post!  


I love Lake Placid.  Last weekend I had the pleasure of heading up there with Doreen for a training weekend with Todd and a small group of athletes.  What a weekend, it was completely humbling and absolutely awesome.  I was thrilled to go, and once there remembered very quickly why I find the town amazing.  It's picturesque, beautiful, athlete-friendly, healthy, clean, and full of history.  Olympics and Miracle on Ice, pretty amazing stuff.  


Before I get into the adventures of the weekend, a few lessons learned:

1. Snickers are a delicious, satisfying, perfect mid-ride snack.  And perfectly acceptable by Coach standards.
2. I go to bed earlier than my Grandmom (she is a night owl ;), just kidding Grams).
3. I need to stretch and foam roll.  My body is abused.
4. Pack at least $10 on bike at all times.  The longer the ride and higher the temp, the more mula needed.
5. I will never again sacrifice my copy of a map for others.  
6. Other athletes also have cried during/after bad workouts, validation.
7. There is a good reason why you don't swim after you bike.
8. I will permanently look like I am wearing bike shorts and gloves, sweet tan lines this summer.
9. People in the mountains are very nice.
10. The hills at the end of the bike and run courses are the worst.

Met some really nice people I look forward to seeing race day, 8 of us plus Todd.  The more friendly, smiling faces the better!  Always gives me a boost.  The weekend was full of my longest workouts to date.  

Friday - 30 miles biking, run course and end of bike course through Wilmington

Saturday - 82 miles biking, over 2 mountains NOT on the course (slight detour due to being lost twice), followed by a short (very) swim for me

Sunday - 14.5 miles running, run course and around Mirror Lake

Friday we ride the run course and met the rolling hills by Whiteface Mountain, and the hills fondly known as Mama, Papa and Baby Bears (yes, those are the names).  Had a decent ride and was a good intro to the course.  My competitive side took over to be up by the front.  

Saturday the plan was to ride the first loop, 56 miles, and add as we wanted to.  We ran out of maps and I gave mine up, bad mistake.  At least I was with someone, unfortunately not Doreen though!  Jen, another athlete Todd is training, and I got lost first by missing the left turn to 9N (the N does not stand for North, as there is a North and South 9N, stupid - more on that later).  We rode 73 all the way to the Sausage Man, who has a stand when you get off the highway in the Adirondacks.  After he turned down our money for water and directed us to the spring or "fountain of youth" as we called it (marked by a rock with water and an arrow on it), he proceeded to tell us that we were "no where close" to where we expected to be.  Directed us to turn onto 9N by the red barn.  Oh and on the way back got up to our highest speed, 41.5 MPH, even faster than the 7 mile downhill early in the course (aka the was a big hill we rode up).      

We approached the red barn, and turned onto what we thought was 9N...wrong.  We ended up going South instead of North.  Turn and immediately start climbing an insane hill, that we learned was a MOUNTAIN.  It was so steep that I thought I was going to have to walk up it, and thought why the hell didn't Todd tell me about this...got to an unexpected intersection and realized something was wrong.  Went to the Napa store and asked for directions, and again was told "I'm really sorry but you are not anywhere close to where you want to be."  Excellent!  Bruce ended up closing his shop early to drive us back over the mountain since there was no other way to get back to the course.  To ease the pain, we got cold water and my snickers from the Dollar Store next door and called Todd to get the ok to hitch a ride.  He sounded worried.  Bruce was super nice and delightful, and saved us a ton of time and agony.  If you ever need to buy a car in Elizabethtown, NY, I know a guy.  Turns out Todd was concerned we'd be able to finish the ride after the huge climbs, and we opted to skip the 2 out and back flatter portions of the bike course due to our detour.  This whole little adventure added about 30 miles to the ride.  Had some good practice with nutrition and fueling, need to stay on top of that in the heat now as mileage really increases.  Thankfully, Bruce turned down our collective $7.20 after the Dollar Store...we ended up needing it for another pit stop to get more water and G2 (which I now know I really hate).  The Bears kicked my butt at the end of the ride, but when a fanny-pack wearing rider passed me I managed to pick it up on the last hill out of pride.  Was spent after we finally finished the ride.  

Bruce, Jen and our bikes in a pick up.

When we finally got back, had about 35 minutes to explain the adventure before some of us planned to go to Mirror Lake to see the swim course.  Water temp was 61 and warm enough for everyone (I hate cold water after last summer's ocean adventure in sub-50 temps).  I squeezed into a wetsuit and got in, but my arms felt like jello.  I think I made it to the second buoy, and was spent.  Turned and swam back, feeling slightly defeated.  But, that's why you swim first and hoping I was just exhausted.  Went to the Lake Placid Brewery that night so it made it all better.  Yum.  


Sunday was the run, which I was nervous for because of my leggies.  Ran the course and added on mileage around the Lake at the end.  There is an out and back there, and I just went completely around.  Learned that there are 2 killer hills at the end of the run course - I will be likely walking these.  Awesome to do the not once, but twice!  My group will be staying just by one of them so that is good - friends and family, you will be joining me up those hills for support, thank you in advance :)  


When I asked Todd how I would run 26.2 miles after the bike, he said "you don't have to, you can walk them."  Words of wisdom.  Spoken like a Pro and Coach ha, and a pretty amazing athlete.  He told us he'd never bike up the mountain we were on, so I felt pretty good about myself.  I asked him about what to wear, and he said he wore a Speedo for his first IM because everyone was doing it.  So naturally I googled...

Todd, our beloved coach!

I do not plan on doing this in a Speedo, or any type of bathing suit.  Hardcore though.  He would love to know I found this haha.


Hope that I don't have to walk most of my first marathon, but he taught us the importance of pacing yourself during this IM.  No need to kill your HR and legs early.  Need to be strategic.  Also was reminded how important my nutrition is.  I ate a ton on the bike, but it was needed.  I am also always hungry, it is fun.   

The weekend was exactly what I needed and hoped for.  You can read as much as you want, but until you get to experience the actual hills for yourself you have no idea what you are in for.  Thank goodness for Todd offering to take us up there.  So glad to have him, this experience, the weekend, Doreen, and all the love and support I've been given so far into this journey. :)

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

It's been a busy couple weeks.  Work has been kinda busy, interfering with my training and time!  That's life right?  May is going to be a blur, I can already tell. 

I've been having to swap workouts because of late nights and early mornings.  Luckily the past 2 weeks were not filled with long workouts as much. 

Two weekends ago on April 29th I ran the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon.  This was the first half I ever ran in college with my Scranton ladies.  I've been wanting to run it for years, but working it or other TNT events and other commitments have always been an issue.  This year I plugged it into my training schedule, and am so glad.  As I ran the course, I felt nostalgic.  Singing to myself "y'all gunna make me lose my mind, up this hill, up this hill" many times.  A former mantra in honor of DMX when we raced it in 2001.  I have to admit, of the 3 other halves I've run in the past year, this is by far the most trained I've been.  And I feel pretty good about my PR of almost 4 minutes, considering it wasn't my "A" race this year obviously.  Big confidence booster for the half distance for me, makes me crave another PR to push my limits.  It's crazy how addicting that is!  I'm competitive yes, but I think I'm learning so much about how to push my limits for personal accomplishments this year that I really desire to keep improving myself.  And this feeling is applying to all parts of my life, it's pretty cool (said in a Derek Zoolander voice). 

Last weekend was a big long workout weekend.  The week before LV, my 62 mile ride got cut short for Girls With Gears because of cold weather and lots of rain, doing only the 40.  Last weekend, I had a 15 mile run Sat and a 60 mile ride on Sun.  Leggies were tired for the run, it was slowww but I got through it (without any tummy issues, which in and of itself is a big accomplishment for me).  The 60 was harder than I expected.  Have had some really decent rides for myself the past weeks, even the rainy, cold one.  This one hurt, my legs and my behind.  Trying out a new saddle because the old suddenly was causing pain and saddle sores.  New one is much more comfortable, but had some chaffing.  Trying to give it time to "break it in," but not completely sure yet.  Told myself not every ride will be great, so one ehh one is ok.  Perspective. 

In the process of the new saddle, I also have replaced my chain and casset, got new gloves, brake pads, and am finally testing aero bars.  I feel like my bike is reborn and new!  It's amazing how much like a car it is.  I spent about the same amount for maintanence work on both of my vehicles this month - which was not pleasant for my wallet.  Just made me think about how important it is to repect your bike (cycling friends know what's up!).  Also made me realize how much I love my bike and car alike.  So many friends have upgraded bikes, which is definitely not in my cards anytime soon.  I joke about bike envy (not gunna lie, I do a little), but I really do love my Ruby :)  My bike twins can agree ;) 

Not sure about these aerobars, and forsee taking them off after LP (I know cycling peeps).  BUT from all I hear and have read, they are helpful for the IM distance so we'll see.  I do know I am not coordinated enough to use them well.  Coordination, ah the reason I do endurance sports (because they don't require it). 

I never named my car or bike.  Just never have been into that personally.  But I have come to totally love that they both are a reflection of me and my personality.  Love Subaru for being green and activity-friendly.  (Some people may find it typical I picked an Asian car.)  And for some reason have always been drawn to Specialized bikes.  Both have been great to me, and embody me now.  The scatches and imperfections on both of my modes of transportation totally represent me.  I'm clumsy, I get bruises all over my body especially my legs because I walk into things and don't pay attention.  I've also been told my legs are much more beat up now compared to 5 years ago ;)  But that's me, and as mad as I am about those imperfections on my car and bike, that's my stuff.  What can you do?  Nothing remains perfect, and I'm far from it.  :)

"I want to ride my bicycle...I want to ride it where I like."