What's Your Weakness?

It's no secret that I have a wicked, wicked sweet tooth. While I inherited most of my genes from my dad, it appears that I got this rogue sweet tooth gene from my mother. She's an amazing baker and there is always, always chocolate in the house. Unfortunately, I seem to be lacking a corresponding self-control gene, which makes having sweets in the house a threat to both a successful race season as well as the eyes of spectators at triathlons (spandex is NOT forgiving).

This morning I finished off a giant bag of pretzel M&Ms. And about 6 peanut butter cups. All before 6am. Hey, at least I didn't chase it with one (errr, two) pieces of pie. The chalkboard on the pantry still says, "What do you want more? Chocolate Chips or a PR?" I've obviously been ignoring it as I've gone straight for the sweets.

Enter: An Intervention. Mr. Sweetie had a look of horror on his face as he watched me demolish the bag of M&Ms this morning ("out of that whole bag, I only had ONE handful" he said mournfully). So this afternoon I called him at work and told him to hide the remaining Easter candy and not ever tell me where it is, even if I beg and plead. We're going to work out an allocation plan (probably won't be as liberal as 1 calorie burned = 1 mini egg earned). He proudly informed me tonight that I will never, ever find the candy. He says he's hidden it someplace really disgusting. I don't know how serious he is, but now I have an image of the purple bags of Mini Eggs floating in the toilet tank in my head, so maybe I'll just never eat the Mini Eggs he gives me. Problem solved.

Now I just have to do something about that pie...

Back At It

One of the benefits of flying back to the States from Europe: I woke up an hour before my alarm went off for my 5:30am Masters swim. 4am actually felt more like mid-morning. That, coupled with the fact that I was chomping at the bit to swim some laps because it has been TOO LONG, meant that I arrived at the pool on time, before the workout started. I know, I think Hell has frozen over too. I moved myself down a lane - I figured I'd be a hot mess in the pool because I haven't gone swimming since my last day in Tucson. Turns out, today wasn't that bad. Maybe I'll move back to my regular lane on Thursday, we'll see what the workout will be.

I also bike commuted to work today. It was too gorgeous outside not to. Plus, I really, REALLY missed my bike. I'm starting to like biking more and more. And minus the cluster of cars I have to fight through near Union Station on my way to work, I'm really enjoying bike commuting too. It's both physical exercise as well as an exercise in defensive biking skills. Don't worry, I'm a cautious bike commuter and I rarely run lights or do anything remotely daring. I'm just always on the lookout for rogue cars.

It feels great to be falling back into my routine. My first triathlon of the season is less than three weeks away. I vacillate back and forth between feeling like I'm really ready for that race and feeling not ready at all. But I am excited about it, no doubt about that!

Travel stories

I'm back in the States! I came home to BAGS upon BAGS of Mini Eggs AND a homemade apple pie, courtesy of my award-winning husband.

Great American Food. Yes.

This past trip to Ouagadougou and Paris was great - not only for what I got to do, but also for the people I got to meet, spend time with, and this even applies to some total strangers. I really feel like our lives are made richer more so by WHO we have in them than by WHAT we do.

On my way back to the hotel

This was my first time being in Ouaga on my own for part of the trip; normally I am there with a co-worker who has MUCH more experience in the country and I just let him do the thinking, talking, and action. This was a great opportunity to see what I could do on my own - I got things accomplished, managed to get points across in French without much misunderstanding, and got myself around the city no problem, thanks to my very competent driver. I was a little worried after my co-worker left that I would basically be just going to work and then just coming back to the hotel and eating dinner there and then reading my book and really having nothing more to talk to than the four walls of my hotel room. Fortunately, there were some other Americans staying in the hotel who saved me from boredom and solitary dinners. It made the trip much more fun and enjoyable to have others to chat with.

Pool. Helpful in the hot weather.

Paris was fantastic. Chelsea and I didn't set foot in a museum, opting instead to eat and drink our way through the city. We stopped in any open air markets we saw, consuming fresh strawberries, cheese, apples, crepes. We made multiple food runs to various boulangeries for baguettes, croissants, and pain au chocolats. We managed to snag a table, completely by chance, at a very yummy restaurant in the Marais on Saturday night - the food was incredible (topped off by a sugar and butter crepe, with melted salted caramel sauce poured on top). By the time I left this morning, I felt like I needed to be rolled out of the city. To be fair, we did EARN all that food, walking around the city for two days straight. But what made the trip memorable was just spending time with Chelsea, she's one of the most brilliant, down-to-earth people I know and it really didn't matter what we did, as long as it was with her, it was fun.

We met up with fellow triathlete and cupcake lover Kate O for hot chocolates one of the evenings - Kate and I both live in Virginia, but I've seen her more often when we are both outside the east coast time zone. She introduced us to an amazing sweets shop and I came close to eating my weight in meringues. True story.

Kate!

Would you like to hear a small-world story? On Sunday we had lunch with one of Chelsea's friends from high school. They were in Paris with friends of theirs who were visiting them from the States. The friends of friends also lived in Arlington and as we sat down to eat, the husband looked at me and asked - "do you run?" When I answered in the affirmative, he asked, "did you run the half marathon in DC last month?" I said yes again and he asked, "Do you remember the guy you ran with during the last two miles of the race before leaving him in the dust 1/2 a mile from the finish line?" Turns out, it was him! We have about six finish line photos together as we chatted after crossing the line - we ended up talking for about 10 minutes after the race and I remember him mentioning he and his wife were going to Paris in April to visit friends. And so we met again in the Jardin de Tuilleries.

Just a little excited to see the Eiffel Tower. Just a little.

And my last short story about my trip, another illustration of how complete strangers can end up making your journey that much better. This morning the Charles de Gaulle Airport was a vrai bordel (French for chaotic mess). Someone left a suitcase unattended and there were many men with large machine guns standing between me and my check-in gate. Minutes ticked by, and even though I had arrived at CDG with PLENTY of time to spare (and for those of you who know me, you KNOW this was a major effort on my part), I watched time quickly creep closer and closer to my boarding time and I still hadn't been able to get to my gate, get my boarding pass, or check my bag. Some of the airport personnel were trying to assuage the passenger anxiety of those unable to get to their gates. One man in particular went above-and-beyond, eventually finding us a roundabout way to get to the check-in gate through the parking area. I saw him later as I was on my mad dash to the passport line, with only 20 minutes to go until boarding. He saw me, pulled me aside and brought me up to the front of the line, saying that I had been running around enough that morning and he wanted to help me out. Thanks to him, I made my flight. I'm going to do my best to pay it forward.

Tomorrow marks my return to serious training after a bit of a hiatus. I haven't checked the schedule, but I'm hoping, hoping, hoping it involves the pool! Extra motivation - a certificate and letter arrived in the mail while I was gone, notifying me that I received USA Triathlon Honor Mention and I'm now qualified for the Age Group National race in August up in Vermont! Today just kept getting better and better.

Final random thought. I watched The Descendants on the plane today. In the final scene of that movie, George Clooney's character and his two daughters join each other on the couch, sharing a blanket and ice cream while watching tv. No words were really said as the screen faded to black, but that scene captured the epitome of what's important in life. You can travel near and far, visit exotic places, do big and important things, but what really matters is if you have people in your life to curl up on the couch with at the end of the day. And THAT will make today complete.

Books, Books, Books!

Little victory today - lasted over an hour in the hotel gym, splitting my time between the stationary bike and treadmill. Thanks to the poussiere (dust storm) it was a coolish 90-something today, making for a much more pleasant visit to the gym than yesterday (where I only lasted 30 minutes flinging sweat on the treadmill before calling it quits). The upside to all this heat and sun - I am slowly but surely erasing my bike shorts tan. I am sure it will be back, but for right now, it is fading.

I've been remiss on adding to my booklist lately, but I HAVE been doing some reading. A couple of weeks ago I finished Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity by Katherine Boo. An American woman spent about 4 years observing, researching, and interviewing people from a slum just outside of the Mumbai airport in the late 2000's. This was an eye-opener of a book. I've never spent time in India (the closest I've ever come was visiting Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha in southern Nepal, right next to the border with India), and I've never witnessed everything the things she describes in her book, and it's difficult to imagine how people are able to live day-to-day in those conditions (both physical and mental). The book talks alot about the bribery and, I can't think of the right word for it, but the overall corruption of everything from the education system, judicial system, police system, etc. And I understand that it's just how things are in some parts of the world, but it makes life pretty hard for those people at the bottom who can't pay bribes and are at a disadvantage 100% of the time - namely, the people described in this book. I highly recommend this well-written novel.

Over the weekend I finished Chris McCormack's book, I'm Here to Win: A World Champion's Advice for Peak Performance. Macca won the Ironman World Championships twice - in 2007 and again in 2010. People at tri camp were talking about his book and had good things to say about it and I'm game to read anything that might give me insight into the mental side of the sport. I've always thought of Chris McCormack as being pretty cocky, and even after reading this novel I still feel the same way, but now I do think of him as less abrasive. One of the aspects I found to be most amusing was how he kept referring to himself as one of the bigger guys in the sport, in height and weight. I remember seeing him in passing at the Columbia Triathlon a few years ago and being surprised at how small he was - so if I think he is small, I can't imagine how much smaller the other guys are that he is comparing himself to. Anyway, the book did offer some decent thoughts on the mental aspect of the sport. I especially liked the line, "The more you suffer for something, the more you value it. What you get is worth what you paid for it" I've started to learn that doing well in a race should not make you feel good - you should actually feel pretty terrible and you need to learn to be OK with that. I still have a long way to go when it comes to figuring out how to suffer and still push the pace, even when it hurts. But few things feel worse than finishing a race where you gave a mediocre performance because you didn't want to push the envelope. There's a feeling of regret that just can't be erased. Bottom line - a good read (I was a little irritated with the style of writing, too colloquial, but that aside, it was a good book).

And yesterday I finished the book, Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. This is the same author that wrote Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (I preferred the latter over the former). It was an interesting story, but with two story arcs, it was sometimes difficult to follow. And sometimes I just felt like I was missing the point. It skipped between his modern day search for his grandfather's old Ukrainian village (told from the point of view of his tour guide who had a comical grasp of English) and the old history of the village. It also didn't really have an ending. It just kind of... ended. Basically, the book is an expansion of his senior thesis from Princeton where he travels to the Ukraine to learn more about his grandfather's life, a survivor of the Holocaust. I couldn't tell which parts of the book were fiction, non-fiction, etc. One book review called it, "harmless multiculturalism for the perenially bored" and "a more pretentious magical, realist novel was never written." I kind of agree with that reviewer. Pretentious. I had a hard time getting into the book - I bought it back in February and got about a quarter of the way through it over the past month and a half. Then this weekend I picked it back up, the storylines picked up, and I finished the rest of it in a little over a day. Eh, it isn't a book I would read again and I could take it or leave it.

Easter Thankfulness

So I know that this isn't Thanksgiving, but there's nothing wrong with being Thankful for stuff

on Easter too. So here's what I'm thankful for this Easter/Passover/Springtime equinox/whatever holiday you celebrate, in no particular order:

-My family. I miss celebrating Easter with my mom, dad, and brother this year but I did get to talk to my dad on Skype (technological challenges aside I.e. my dad thinking I was a telemarketer because of the sound day). Later I got an email from my dad and I loved how he ended it-love you infinitely. I love that I always feel totally loved by my dad. I'm also thankful for Mr. Sweetie for supporting everything I do, being OK with the somewhat obscene amounts of money that go towards triathlon and taking care of stuff around the house when I'm too busy or feel too overwhelmed to do it myself. He also cooks a mean dinner 7 days a week. And my West Coast family is the best set of people I ever could've had the good fortune to marry into. Not only do I have a second set of amazing parents but I hit the jackpot with THREE sisters.

- right now the wireless Internet is working in my hotel room. It's the little things.

- I'm thankful for all of the incredible friends I have in my life. From my best friend Katie who has been my other half to my best friend Erin and her husband Ashley who have given me the most amazing gift and responsibility to be their daughter's godmother, to all of the friends I've met through work and triathlon, I am one lucky, lucky girl.

- I'm thankful I discovered triathlon and that I truly enjoy it. I'm thankful for Jen who has helped me see that the sport is more than just swimbikerun and that there is always room for improvement. Even though triathlon has probably made me even more Type A, I think it has made me an overall better person, one who is in tune with eating better, being active, and someone who has figured out the importance of having goals.

- I'm thankful that I love to read. I feel like I've. Even on so many adventures vicariously through just reading a good story.

- I am thankful for Mini Eggs.

- I'm thankful for a job that affords me an opportunity to do something I enjoy everyday as well as gives me the chance to see parts of the world I normally wouldn't.

- I am thankful that I live in the US. There is so much we take for granted there and so much we (myself included) complain about, but let's be honest, we have it pretty good.

- I'm thankful that Icould spend my whole day next to the pool but still get some work done. And I'm thankful I didn't have to get dressed in much else besides my bathing suit today. Too hot for much else.

Happy Easter! I hope everyone was lucky enough to spend it with those you love!

Hot, Hot, Hot

Oh dear lord it is hot here. Hot with a capital H-O-T. One-Hundred-and-Six-Degrees hot. Ouagadougou makes Tucson feel like a balmy oasis of cool.

Now that I've gotten that little rant out off the way, what have I been doing?

Nothing workout related. Earlier this week was recovery from the JHC camp. Then I was a hot mess (there's that word again) when it came to unpacking, laundering, and repacking all my stuff, catching up on sleep, and seeing Mr. Sweetie for a couple of days before leaving for West Africa. I didn't actually get all packed up until Thursday morning, a couple of hours before I left. I managed to get an easy spin on the trainer in before heading to the airport. And that's it. I briefly entertained the idea of going to the hotel gym this morning when I woke up - then I looked at the clock, realized I slept almost 14 hours (!!!!!!!!) and it would be waaaayyyy too hot at 10am to do anything in the non-air conditioned gym. Maybe later tonight I'll get on the treadmill or stationary bike. Because I don't know what my schedule will be like this week AND because of the heat, I told Jen not to write out any workouts. I'll be less stressed trying to fit everything in and hopefully I won't lose too much fitness. It's just a week. And I did bring things to do strength training with, so I can at least do that, regardless of the heat.

So what exactly have I been doing? Eating my weight in sugar-coated peanuts. Did a quick tour of the town by foot in search of a plug and adapter for my computer, since I realized the one I brought from home will NOT fit the computer plug. I did manage to find one that seems to work OK. Tried to get Skype set up and failed miserably. Sat around in my hotel room in a sports bra and shorts because it's too hot to wear much else, in my opinion. My street clothes are currently hanging up to dry after getting soaked in sweat during my short little walk around town. And I finally booked a room in Paris for Chelsea and I next week. Whew, I was worried I was never going to get that done at the rate I was going (shhh, don't tell Chelsea :) ).

Tucson Tri Camp 2012: Rattlesnakes, Cacti, and ALOT of Sweat!

Welcome to Tucson!

Jen and her husband Jerome put together another AWESOME triathlon camp down in Tucson this past weekend. I was among the lucky 13 campers who got to spend four days biking up and down (and up and down) Mount Lemmon, run through Sabino Canyon, swim outside in a beautiful pool, and eat my weight in Hammer gels. Yum. This camp is truly one of my favorite vacations - the other athletes are so incredibly nice and supportive, the workouts are always challenging yet fun, and it really gives you a chance to push your limits past what you thought was possible.

Ready to climb Mt. Lemmon!!

First up - the athletes. I was so excited to see familiar faces from last year. Mia is going to have an amazing season, you can tell what a hard worker she is. Stacie always, ALWAYS was saying something that was hi-larious, and she gave me a pair of fast feet to (try) and chase in the pool. Kate O and Bethany, my fellow Virginia brethren, are two of the sweetest most determined girls ever. Bethany pushed on during the run in Sabino Canyon, even after a nasty fall, and Kate did multiple repeats up Mt. Lemmon - hardcore! Since we all live in the same state, we need to see each other more often. Jen M was the quiet, determined one who never once complained and totally kicked butt up Madiera Canyon. I also had the chance to meet some other campers for the first time. Julia is so focused and dedicated to the sport - watching her focus and determination as she KILLED the repeats up Mt. Lemmon and her dedication to being properly recovered after every workout shows me just how much I have to learn. Sarah was a first time camper who worked so hard and also made sure I always had sunblock on (my skin thanks you!), had my belly full of peanut butter cups (YUM), and made sure I had a ride everywhere. I found out that Stacey and I both grew up a few towns apart from each other in New Hampshire!! She is such a strong athlete and I can't wait to watch her have an awesome race at Eagleman! Julie and Lindsay were both super nice and amazing athletes and I really enjoyed getting to chat with them. Ben and Glen were INSANE on the bike and it was fun trying (and failing) to chase them up Mount Lemmon. They passed me like I was standing still! Glen was also our resident snake wrangler.

The workouts! We rode Mt. Lemmon twice-ish. This is such a fantastic ride, with lots of climbing and snow and cookies waiting for you at the top. Unlike last year, I knew what to expect from this ride and tried to work harder right from the start. The boys dropped me like a bad habit and I watched them disappear from sight by Mile 7. Russ, an uber-biker in town to train and join us on this ride, nicely pedaled up to Windy Point with me. It was nice to have someone to chat with and keeping up with him gave me something to focus on. With vision's of my last foray up Lemmon and bonking at Mile 12 in my head, I made sure to stay on top of my fueling and hydration. I think I had at least 5 gels by the time I reached the top. While I didn't love the additional 1+ mile climb to the ski area while I was doing it, it was well-worth it in the end. The top of Lemmon had more snow than the entire DC Metro area got all winter.

Cookie Cabin at the top!

Snow!

The second ride up Lemmon wasn't to the top - thank goodness, because it was windy!! We did time-trial hill repeats up to Mile 5. Each time we were supposed to get faster, but I didn't get that memo. My first two took about the same amount of time and my third one was a little bit slower. The wind was fierce enough on the way down that I actually had to pedal to keep my speed up. Thank goodness it was a tailwind on the way up and a headwind on the way down - otherwise this workout would've been REALLY ugly!

View from Windy Point. Halfway up Lemmon!

We rode Madera Canyon on the hottest day of camp, led by a few Tri-Sports cyclists. They paced us out the busy roads for about 20 miles until we got to the park area. I'm terrible about riding in large groups, close to other cyclists, it freaks me out, but I tried to hang on to the pack anyways. Once we got out to the park area, we split into smaller groups and were able to settle in to a rhythm. This ride was slightly demoralizing because it has a MAJOR false flat for about 10 miles. It doesn't look like you are climbing, but when you look down at your speed, you feel like you should be going WAY faster because of how hard you are working. Towards the end of the false flat, I started to fall off pace and watched as those in front of me pulled further and further away. Jerome nicely came back and tried to help me keep up, I was huffing and puffing and I don't even want to know what my heart rate was - EEK. And this wasn't even the hardest part. We were told that the last couple of miles were a bit steeper. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but with legs already tired from 10+ miles of false flats, once the steeper stuff started, it was all I could do to keep moving forward. All I kept thinking during this part of the ride was, "I wish I was riding Mt. Lemmon, I wish I was riding Mt. Lemmon, how is it possible that Mt. Lemmon feels easier than this?" Apparently the grade on this part of the road was about twice as steep, even though Lemmon looks much more daunting to the eyes. Ben Lin had given some sage advice - Don't Stop - and that kept running through my head those last two miles. If I stopped, I wouldn't be getting back on my bike. The road kept turning and around every bend I thought, "aha - we must be almost done!" And every time, I was wrong. When we finally did make it to the top, I felt relief, happiness, a feeling of accomplishment, and thirst. I don't know how many bottles of water and how many NUUN tablets I consumed, but it was ALOT. After a much needed break at the top, we headed back down - the ride back was mostly downhill and you felt like a rockstar as you screamed around corners and blew past bikers going (slowly) in the opposite direction. The fun on the ride home more than made up for the mental and physical challenge on the ride out. Glen and I rode together most of the way back, taking turns pulling. It was fun just to bury myself in my areobars and just go.

Top of Madera Canyon!

Camp was full of more than just great bike rides - we had some awesome trail runs and outdoor swims as well! The U of A pool is a fantastic venue and I was so excited we got to use it twice during our trip. Jen wasn't too cruel in her swim workouts - both of which were done later in the day after some other hard workouts. By the last swim, I was convinced my arms were going to fall off, however. I don't think I've ever done so much IM in my life (and really, there wasn't that much IM, it just goes to show how little I do besides freestyle. I need to get over myself and do more butterfly and backstroke, even if it isn't pretty). Stacie, Julia and Ben were great lanemates and kept the swim on task. Jen and Jerome were helpful in helping me figure out how to improve my stroke - I over-rotate when I breathe (if I don't, I am convinced I will swallow too much water) so I focused alot of my efforts in not looking up at the sky every time I took a breath. I still need to figure out how to do this without drinking half the pool.

Trail running in Tucson is amazing! We did Phoneline trail in Sabino Canyon again this year. And it was just as difficult as I remember it being last year, especially those first few miles when there is so much UP, it's hard to find a rhythm and get your heart rate out of Zone 6. Most of my attention was focused on not tripping and falling down the side of the mountain. I eventually made it to the paved road in one piece and finished off my run on the road and then onto some easier trails. The last day of camp we ran in Saguro National Park. This run has a false flat on the way out, which makes for an easier run on the way back. I remember feeling TERRIBLE on this run last year because of the sheer amount of work we'd done on the previous days and how tired my legs were. I felt better and stronger on this run this year and I don't think I uttered a single dying animal noise until... I had a run-in with a cactus. Again. Sigh. Just like last year, cacti needles needed to be pulled out of my elbow. Unlike last year, the needles were in deep this time and Jerome had to pull out the chunk of cactus (lucky him). I couldn't even watch, I hate anything and everything having to do with needles. Thank goodness I was wearing arm warmers, otherwise I think my arm would've looked much worse for the wear. Only regret - I wish I had a camera on me, it would've made for an impressive picture.

What's worse than a cactus? A rattlesnake. IN OUR DRIVEWAY. Ew, Ew, EW!

Doesn't look like much, but don't be fooled! Gross.

Jen and Jerome - thanks for putting on another amazing camp! I had so much fun - it was challenging, it was hard, but most of all it was rewarding. A great way to start off the season and I'm all fired up to race! Thanks for making sure everything went flawlessly - from good meals, well-planned rides, and fun places to run, you guys took care of all the details and all we had to do was show up and work hard. Loved it and can't wait until next year! And I promise I won't run into any more cacti. Bleck.