Week in Review

-The Contessa needs a trip to the shop
-My legs are sore
-I have a lovely welt/bruise/cut from my right pedal
-Workouts 6 days a week are here
-The Wonder Years - need I say more?

This week has been quite a training whirlwind all starting with a few days back in Greensboro for the big shoot. I stayed at the fabulous proximity hotel - an eco-friendly place with a great fitness center. It will be my new home for my countless more trips to the land of sweet tea and humongous trees.The best thing about the proximity is its proximity to the Performance Bike shop. Oh was I in heaven and boy did I buy way too much- it was fabulous. Tri shorts, jerseys, socks, glasses and a fantastic new heart rate monitor- and yes all purchases were on sale, of course - it is performance bike!

Wednesday night's swim was great and I felt like I really got the 2-beat kick and the much needed rotation of my hips. I knew I was doing something right when Coach J told me I have it with a big smile on his face. Yea, to swimming. Now if only I could run faster. Thursday night I went to my first spin class at the gym. I told the instructor I was a newbie to spinning to which she replied, but you look like a pro! Hah! Me?! Don't let the cool bike shoes and the sleek tri pants fools you. The class was hard, damn hard but I kept up. The last stretch- a 12 minute interval with 30 seconds in the saddle and 30 seconds standing just about made me throw up but I lasted and felt great and only slightly exhausted after. Friday i went for an easy swim- my body felt sore and I wanted to have plenty of energy for Saturday's ride.

Yes, Saturday. The GTS was planned for a BRICK (Bike/Run - your legs feel like bricks) but at the last minute the coaches changed it to just a bike since so many people were away for the weekend. I was disappointed but instead of riding with the group which really means riding alone, I met S for a nice, long, hard, adventurous ride. We rode all along Riverside Park to 125 and then up and around somewhere and back on some other path and up some crazy hills and pass assistant Sara on her way to tennis! Over some more hills and all the way to the top, err, tip of the island. And then back. 24 miles in all just over 2 hours. It was hard. By the time I made it back home I was shaking which explains why though I clipped my right foot out of the bike in front of my house, I didn't get my other foot out and somehow the Contessa ended up underneath a parked Jeep and i was in a split - ouch! And hello to my neighbors walking by and not stopping. I love New Yorkers! Don't speak to the crazy girl half under a car, oddly attached to a bike. Keep walking, honey. So that explains the bruise. But that doesn't explain the problems with the Contessa. On my way to meet S, i realized I couldn't shift gears on my left side. We stopped and tried to fix the chain but neither of us knew enough to set it straight and of course after the fall I didn't have enough energy to ride to Velo to have her looked at. So somehow I'll have to get over there before Saturday's Brick to get the beat up Contessa fixed and back into shape.

Saturday night and Sunday was spent at the beach where I took a much deserved break. This morning was a short run with L along the Westside Highway. I decided not do too much since tomorrow night is a hard run in the park.

I'm realizing that I'm actually planning my weeks around my exercise schedule. That can't be good, can it? When B mentioned going to the country one weekend, I thought, will my bike fit into his car? Will the bikes at the house be good enough for me to ride? So that brings me to the Wonder Years. Friday after dinner we went for ice cream as always at Cones. As I debated between the Watermelon Sorbet and the Corn Gelato I could feel the presence of a large man looming over me eying the tasty selection. I stared at the nice looking gentleman and realized I knew him. But was he from Law and Order or LA Law? Neither! Wonder Years! Yup, that's right- the Dad from Wonder Years was at Cones and I couldn't have been happier. Of course B was not impressed. He was impressed by the movie being filmed down the street starting Minnie Driver and Anthony Edwards. We stopped to watch as it began to rain on the set two blocks from my place on what was a beautiful night. However, none of this tops my earlier sighting of one of my favorite photographers, Chuck Close.

It has been a good week of training. I'm watching what I put into my body more and more. I'm questioning if I should start taking more supplements and vitamins. I'm still trying to figure out my new heart rate monitor- why can't they make the damn thing easier? I have 9 weeks to go until the race and though I'm still nervous about the whole running 6 miles after biking 25 thing, I'm starting to realize that I can do this-- I have to do this, I am, after all, a wannabe tri-athlete.

hills hurt!

yesterday was a run up the west side to 110 and back. the harlem hill is brutal. the same hill that made me laugh and cry on my bike saturday morning turned my knees into jelly last night. brutal. a tiny rock inside my left sock caused just enough irritation to take my mind off my knee pain. i actually laughed on the way back and asked myself why i'm doing this. at this point, with ten weeks left to go, i'm too far involved to turn around. yes, i'm over the hump and more than fully committed. though really all i want to do is ride. L and are i going to an info session in a few weeks for women riders. i know it won't really happen, i'm not becoming a 5 am rider- but the idea of riding more is intriguing and i'm on the way to being addicted. seriously, how did this happen? what happened to my wannabe couch potato days? what happened to mornings spent brunching, not riding and running? i'm smiling as i type because i love the athletic me. i'm kinda fun this way and i have a whole new swagger when i hobble round the office which causes SEO to tease me. but its all worth it.

$200 to go until i reach my fundraising goal!!!

On Another Note

An interview I did with aphotoeditor (Rob Haggart) was just posted on his blog .
It will give you an insight into what I do for a living when I'm not training, training, training for the Tri!

Lessons Learned and No More Gu!

This week was quite a learning experience. Tuesday I learned what happens when Allergy Girl meets Tri Virgin. Let me tell you, it's not pretty. Tuesday we ran just under 5 miles in the park. T ran beside me for part of it and gave me some great advice to help alleviate the pain in my neck and shoulders. She told me to keep my thumb pressed down on my fists as I pump my arms back and forth. Running with someone is great because I don't wonder where I am or how much further I have to go- it takes my mind off that nonsense and keeps me motivated. All pluses. Then during the last mile or so, I started to have a hard time breathing. Could I be so out of shape? I couldn't figure out why I was huffing and puffing so much. For the last few minutes to the finish, J was running beside me- again giving more great coaching. Then when we stopped I couldn't catch my breath. Panic took over. I held my arms above my head and walked in circles, hoping I'd be ok. Of course the times I've stopped breathing and gone into shock from my terrible food allergies flashed before me. Then I tried to think back to anything I could have eaten that would have made me sick. J looked at me, knowing something was wrong. I motioned to my throat and he quickly walked me to the drinking fountain. He asked about allergies, I told him I have more than anyone could imagine. J said the pollen count was incredibly high and probably the reason I couldn't breathe. I skipped the stretch and went to the bag check and quickly took a zyrtec, my life saver that I keep in my bag. I drank a lot of water and calmed down. I was fine but scared. Not being a runner, I have never dealt with the combination of allergies and exercise. I guess this is something new I need to think about now. Joy. J was great and it makes me even more happy that I'm doing my training with TNT.

Wednesday I left work on time to get to the early swim. When I got to Penn Station I had a change of heart. My body hurt. I felt tired. I was grumpy. I didn't want to swim. So i switched platforms and headed downtown instead of up. I needed a night off. I missed the .5 timed swim. I'll have to make up for later this week- but I'm glad I trusted my gut and didn't push myself.

Yesterday was a 15 mile or so ride in the park and a 4 mile ride home. It was good. I've learned that Gu, no matter how good it tastes or how much energy it gives me, is not my friend. Gu is gross. My bike got gued. I couldn't get all of the gu in the pack down so I put it in my hand and by the time I looked down, gu was everywhere. I couldn't litter in the park so I had to ride up a hill and another and another before I found a trash can. The rest of the ride was quite sticky. I think i'll stick to my energy jelly beans from now on. The ride was fine. I'm frustrated with my slowness. Pointers, anyone?

Today I woke up and ran to the gym for an intense ab class. The instructor was intense and her body was steel. Amazing really. I want those arms. Ok, maybe not as thick and formed and minus the intense veins but something of that nature would rock. I know I'll be feeling it tomorrow morning. I stayed and worked out a bit after class then came back home, got my bike and headed back to NYC Velo. The guys at Velo are so good to me. I love talking to them because they don't treat me like I'm an amateur idiot- even though I am. My bike was properly fit to me now that I have my new pedals. My seat needed to be raised a bit and a few other adjustments were made. Then I sped off to Cadence, my new favorite place. Riding down in tribeca is a little tricky with the cobblestone roads and slow-walking brunch goers but I made it all around town and I'm still in one piece.

My legs are sore but a good sore. My abs are starting to feel the burn. It was an interesting week, but I'm still here and still training.

Officially a Wannabe

Today is technically a rest day but I didn't go all out in my workouts this weekend so I thought I'd take the Contessa out for a spin after work. I met M and the adorable Cooper on the path. While they ran down the path and stopped so Cooper could smell the ground and go to the bathroom, I biked up and down a few times between Christopher Street and the World Financial Center. It was good practice for clipping in and out and shifting gears. The Path was crowded with joggers and roller-bladers and kids on trikes going in and out of lanes, it was an obstacle course to say the least. My pedals are new and stiff, I need to break them in and wear them down. It's still a bit of a struggle to get my left foot clipped in. When I headed home I turned down a road that turned out to be all cobblestone. Big Mistake! I'm learning. Quickly! My legs are still pretty sore from yesterday's workout with V so I took it easy on the bike. I should have stayed with M and Cooper. They ran into Tony Soprano and his new pooch in Tribeca. Yes, Cooper sniffed a celebrity dog's behind.

As of today I'm officially a USA Tri-athlete! Well, I'm a member of USAT. I also signed up for a sprint tri at the end of June. I'm so on my way to becoming an even more serious wannabe tri-athlete! Whoooohooo!

Bikes. Bikes. Bikes.

Today was bike day in Manhattan. Bikes bikes everywhere bikes. Not only is it the start of bike month but this morning was the bike tour through all of the neighborhoods in New York. So needless to say every direction I looked there were bikers galore. Seeing all of the bikers while on a lovely walk with E made me want to jump on the Contessa and take off. We walked by Cadence and went inside for a look. The place is amazing and not nearly as intimidating as I had been told it would be. No one seemed to care that I wasn't a pro! The guys were friendly and I want to go back when I have more time and my wallet! After our walk and a stop for cookies, I took my bike back to NYC Velo and got SPD Pedals put on. yea! I'm a real biker now! I'm not a Fred! I was hoping they would do my bike fit too but the place was packed with people who had rented bikes for the tour around town. So I rode home down West 3rd. I kept my right foot clipped in and used my left to stop and balance at every block. Traffic was insane. Potholes were everywhere and I almost fell on Bowery. I made it home in one piece and headed to Chelsea Piers for a session with v. She worked me out hard and my legs still ache. I do love it though and I realize I need to make better use of my membership at CP. So here I am two months into training and starting to notice a difference and actually looking forward to the next three months until the Tri. I still can't believe that I'm doing any of this but it makes me smile, especially riding the Contessa.

Mornings..Blah

I'm so not a morning person. I never have been. Not even when I was little and had to get up at 5 to get to ice skating practice before school started. I wasn't a morning person then and I certainly am not one now. I also need those five extra minutes when my alarm goes off. Sometimes those five minutes turn into ten turn into 15. That happened this morning. at 7:52 while I waited for the 1 train to take me uptown I realized that I need to start pretending to be a morning person. Realizing I would never make it to the group run, I ran home and crawled back into bed for a few more hours of sleep. Then I woke feeling refreshed and went for a run. It was cold and I knew the Path would be too breezy so I headed downtown. I ended up running into the Tribeca Film Festivals Family Fest. It was hot Dad galore and beautiful babies were everywhere. Only at a NYC festival does a modeling agency set up shop to find new recruits. There were kids getting their faces painted and kids walking on stilts. I stopped to listen to a talented group of kids sing some random song and then I continued running downtown and all around. I liked mixing things up a bit- the run at Riverside is nice but boring after all these weeks. I thought I'd make it to the gym for a class but decided to hold off because I know V is going to kick my ass tomorrow at the gym. So my morning exercise wasn't all that fabulous. Our Saturday morning GTS starts at 730 next week and it is a bike. So, I have to get up even earlier and get my (now smaller) ass uptown bright and early. Yipppeee...