Week in Review

What a week! It's the week before Spring Break, and I think no matter what, that week is always crazy! I felt like I had a million things to do, and I went to bed Monday night and woke up Thursday morning.

This week was test and rest week. Monday was a rest day, as I had trained 7 days in a row. Tuesday started my swim test. 10x100's all out, 10 seconds rest in between each. Last time I went 15:12, which was (after subtracting out rest) a 1:22 pace. Not too shabby. THIS TIME, however, I finished in 14:59, which was a 1:20 pace! I was definitely happy with that.

Wednesday was my bike test. Warmup, followed by 20 minutes all out. First off, I really think the resistance on my trainer was higher than last time. I was dripping sweat everywhere, as Junior was trying to lick it up. Sick, I know. The first ten minutes were grueling, as were the last ten minutes. I felt pretty good and kept a decent pace. I increased my distance by .3 of a mile. Not bad, again! My pace was somewhere around 15.5, and for the trainer, I think that's decent! Like I said, I think my resistance was higher than last time, so increasing my distance (while maintaining the same HR from last time) was definitely a bonus. When I finished, I thought "Man I could have pushed harder, I feel fine", then I came out of my aero bars and almost threw up and passed out at the same time. Then I thought "Oh....nevermind...." Overall, it was good.

Thursday I had an exam so I studied all day for that (well, sorta), and took a break to swim. I didn't realize it until I got to the pool, but I had 4200 yards planned! WTF? It's a rest week! But, it was mostly drills and nothing too terribly fast. I ended up having to cut out one 300 because I had to run home and let Junior out before I came back for my exam. Well, the exam sucked, thanks for asking, but at least its over, right?

And now its Friday. Today is my run test. I'm kind of excited to see how I improve, because I think my running has improved the most. We'll see...I'm feeling kind of fatigued physically, and sleepily. Does that make sense? No, OK just go along with it. Finally spring break is here, but I think I have more work to do next week than I have in the last month combined. Although much more sleep will be involved :)

zzzZZZzzzzzZZZzzz

Man am I TIRED. Had an amazing weekend at the Hope Women's "Girl's Getaway"...aka retreat. It was so much fun and I learned so much. I cannot even begin to describe how great it was.

So, I'll focus on the training from this past week. 12 hours of training...so far my biggest week. I know I have so much more to come. But, this was tiring. 7 straight days of training. And not just "go run around a little bit"...it was like an hour of jumping between HR zones while running, or on the trainer for 2.5 hours, or 3500 in the pool. But it was a really good week. I only didn't get to do one part of it, and that was a 15 minute run off the bike yesterday. I crashed when I got home from the trip for 2 hours, and when I finally got on my bike (let me rephrase...when I finally had the energy to get on my bike), it was 8pm and I was not going to run outside and risk getting mugged. Plus, I was pretty much ready for bed as soon as I was finished.

This week is "recovery week"...but its also retest week. I'm a little hesitant about the tests because although I want to blow my previous tests out of the water, I'm afraid my body is too fatigued. But, we'll see. No sense in thinking negatively going into the tests. I'm going to put my optomistic hat on and get after it. Because....you know the drill....that's how I roll.

I know its cold there, but...

...for being in the "south" and in Memphis, its cold here, too. Ok, not deathly cold like in Chicago or KC (-4-ish), but for a place that rarely sees snow, 32 is cold! Now I can't complain about today because according to my nifty temperature thingy on my computer, it says its 57 outside. I can deal with that. That's rideable weather. 32, however, is not. I've read of heroic cases where people are riding in single digit temperatures, but you will never, I repear, NEVER catch me outside riding my bike in anything less than 50. I tried riding at 40 one time, and I regretted every pedal stroke. I'm just not built for that. Plus, I do not own cold weather cycling clothing. I avoid riding in freezing cold. That is why I have a trainer! And like I said, we do have the occasional warm winter day so I can escape the monotony of the trainer. I'll run outside in just about anything except darkness, because I do not want to get mugged. But riding? Nah...I'll stick to my trainer.

I realize I will get hate mail from many of my lovely triathlete friends, saying "I can't believe you think 30-40 degrees is cold. Well.....all I can say is....its all relative. And I get my "wimpy cold" gene from my mother.

BREAKING NEWS

A train has derailed in Memphis, TN. No injuries are reported, but feelings of remorse are apparent. The cause of the derailment is unknown, but suspected to be related to participation in frequent gatherings that are damaging the train track; known to be the foundation and pathway for the train to make it to future locations. We will interrupt regularly scheduled programming with future details.

Ok, I confess: The only train that has derailed in Memphis, is Robyn's Healthy Eating Habits Train. Man has this past week been completely BLOWN. The culpret? Being on the search committee for the open professor jobs in our department. The candidates are in for 2-3 days and there's 2-3 meals a day possible for me to attend. Now I know you say, why just not go? Don't even tempt yourself! Well, because there are 3 graduate students on the committee. Me and two other guys. One of them is crazy super busy with his thesis on 2 other projects going on in their lab so he rarely gets to come because of appointments with subjects. The other? Yeah, he's cutting weight for a competition in two weeks and honestly, when all you get to eat all day is cucumbers, tuna, and water, why would you want to go sit in front of people eating delicious food? So, that leaves Robyn. And since we want to make a good impression and have as many people attend the meals as possible, that usually means I "get" to go. I'm not completely complaining, because in the past two weeks, I've probably received over $100 in free meals. And most of the time, I am making relatively healthy choices. Portion control, however, becomes an issue.

Needless to say, I went to the grocery store last night and purchased all my normal healthy foods for the week and so far so good today. Too bad its only approaching noon, and I've been successful for a total of.......5 hours! But hey...baby steps right?

And on a more serious note...

Every Wednesday morning I go to bible study at church. I know, I'm lucky. Who gets to just go to bible study in the middle of the week and not show up to work until after lunch? Someone with an awesome boss.....who also doesn't come in on Wednesday mornings....

Because its a Wednesday morning, I'm there with stay at home moms and people who own their own businesses and who can attend something like this. At first I was thinking "but we'll having nothing in common". Well, not completely true, but what's even more important, is how much I learn from them. They divulge their deepest secrets about parenthood and being successful women, and I take them all up like a sponge. Today, in particular, I learned a lot. The topic (we're reading a book called "Who Holds the Key to Your Heart", by Lysa TerKeurst) was fears. Usually we discuss and go through the chapter and finish up with the end of chapter questions. I think I'd still be there if we didn't have to stop! It was such a good and meaningful discussion.

We went around the room discussing our biggest fears. Most peoples, mine included, were having to do with losing a loved one. For most of the women in the room, it was losing a child. Almost everyone mentioned parents as well. I also mentioned Junior :) It was so touching to hear the stories from these women about their greatest fears. It's amazing how women (men, too, but women are guiltier) put this facade on every time we go out into the world. The facade of "I live a perfect life and everything is ok". Because 99.9% of the time....it's not perfect. We all learned and re-learned this today as tears were shed, hugs were given, and tissues were passed around the circle more than once. It's nice to hear that other people are struggling with the same issues we are.

I discussed my biggest fear (aside from losing a loved one): FAILURE. At anything, really. Academics, athletics, being a friend, being a daughter, being a parent (to my puppy), etc. I know exactly what this stems from and I have mostly worked past it. Sometimes, however, it creeps up on me. Mostly at work, where I'm surrounded by males who seem to not have a problem with doing things and having no regrets about it. It goes something like this: I am given a task. I sit and brainstorm how I will go about doing the task. I map it out in my head. Re-map it out. Try to think like the boss does and if this is the way he would do it. Start the task. Get up and get a drink, just to clear my mind for a minute. Come back and work some more. Get an email from the boss, asking where said task is that should have taken 5 minutes. I re-check the task, and yet again. Email the task to the boss and then it begins.....WORRY. ANXIETY. Did I do it right? Did I work hard enough on it? Should I have written this sentence differently? What if its not what he wanted? So I wait. Wait for an email saying "This is wrong. Do it again. I can't believe you didn't do it right the first time". But the email never comes. And even if it does, it does not say those harsh words.

NOTE: Now this doesn't happen every single time I do something, but if it is important, then I worry and wonder if I will do it right? Or will I fail?

And here is where it has been most prevalent in my life: Sports. Diving in particular. Mostly because there is a such thing as a FAILED DIVE. Well, that is pretty blunt, now isn't it? I won't go into this in detail...it will only bore you. But now I wonder...I am putting an entire YEAR of training and committment into Ironman. But what if I fail? What if my shoulder can't handle 2.4 miles of swimming? What if my hamstrings ball up and just won't work anymore during 112 miles of biking? What if my shins feel like they're going to explode during the 26.2 miles of running? What if...What if...What if????

But I have to stop the What if's. I have to put it in God's hands and ask him to help me through the self doubt, and the fear of failure. Because as I learned today...to worry is to sin. And I have to trust God...and more importantly trust myself over the next 199 days of training and sacrifice and know that I can do it. I will not fail. I will cross that line and be an Ironman.

So what about you? What do you fear?

The weekend

After my non-training day on Friday, I was really looking forward to my outdoors ride on Saturday. I allowed myself to sleep in, and I'm not going to mention what time I got up because sleeping that late never happens for me! I jumped on the bike about 1:30 and headed out for an hour and a half workout, which included 3 sets of 15 minutes of spinning between 80-95 rpms in my big ring. Since I was supposed to do this on a flat course, I found the closest, long flat road I could. Just happened to be a half mile away, and also happens to be a busy, busy road. You know, 3 lanes of traffic. But many cyclists ride there so its probably where Memphians are slightly observant of cyclist on the roads. Emphasis on SLIGHTLY. Everything went well, until my last set. I really need to get fitted for my bike because I get very uncomfortable easily. I was riding in my aerobars and felt the need to adjust because I was uncomfortable. I should have put my hands in my drop, but thought I could get away with staying in my aerobars. WRONG and wrong. Biomechanics comes into play here (I knew I should have listened harder in class) because my base of support was much narrower in my aerobars...aka no control. My front wheel starts swerving this way and that and I just knew it was coming.......C-R-A-S-H!!! Right off into the grass, luckily, but nonetheless it was a crash. Of course I'm on one of the busiest roads in East Memphis, so I quickly jump up like I meant to fly over my handle bars and bounce twice before landing still with one foot clipped into my pedal....

Well that didn't work. Some dude yelled something at me as he passed. I hope it was "Hey are you ok?" but it was probably "You look like an idiot!" Ahhh people and their bright and sparkly personalities. So I got up, hands shaking from adrenaline, and proceeded to check my bike over. Aparently the adrenaline got to me, because I didn't even think to look at my chain and just hopped on the bike and almost fell over again because my chain had come off! Neat. I realized the only way to get it back on was to put it on by hand. I am good at getting it back on while riding, but I have to be moving. Can't just do it from a stationary position. So I got my hands all greasy (which reminded me I had to clean my chain!) and finished up my set. I have to say, it was much easier to finish the set when epinephrine has been surging through your body.

Finished up the workout with 15 min run off the bike. I felt great! Minus a small side cramp, which eventually subsided, I had a great run. I held a 10 min/mile pace which for me is excellent. Plus I felt good doing it!

Sunday was an interesting day. I went to church and worked in the nursery. Its kind of funny working with 2 yr olds. You know, one randomly pulls his pants down while others are running around screaming and catching bubbles...I love those kids. The service was absolutely amazing yesterday. The music is always awesome, but yesterday just ROCKED. Also, the message was about avoiding temptation, so I used what I learned when I went to the grocery store after service, while hungry....never a good option. But I did fairly well :)

I actually didn't come home and nap! That was a first in a long time. I started laundry and some random cleaning. I did take about a one hour nap because I had to go babysit for a small group, which included 6 children, 5 of which were under the age of 3. I knew I'd be worn out so I rested before. It was fun, but tiring!

I came home and did my friday workout, which was an hour spin and some upper body lifting, which proved hard when you're low on energy. I finished and made a great dinner.

Now on to a week of work, training, and interviews for this position in our department. Not me, unfortunately, but I'm on a search committee to fill the open prof positions. I am very thankful to be a part of it, but it does take a lot of time! Oh well. Its not like I can't manage my time....

kinda frustrated

So its Friday night, 10:54pm. Just got home about 20 minutes ago from my normal Friday night babysitting. I was home for a total of 30 minutes today. Problem: My workout time today totaled 1:30...and I don't mean 1 minute and 30 seconds. Normally, I'm home no later than 7 or 7:30 from babysitting because I start at 3:30. Tonight, however, the parents decided to stay out late. Hence me getting home 20 min ago. No big deal...they are paying for my hotel room at IM (note: Not really, but I babysit every week and stash the money in a secret location to be used for IM hotel). However, now I'm exhausted and my bed is calling my name. LOUDLY. Not to mention I thought I was going to pass out hours ago. Now...what to do? I really honestly do want to do the workout. But I emailed coach, and hopefully she rolls with it, for me to continue with my Saturday workout, and push the Friday to Sunday. Its essentially a recovery type spin with some upper body lifting. I think I can handle the flip flop. I just hate going off my schedule. I live, breathe, and die by schedules. I don't like change. I guess I'm going to have to roll with it, because like my shirt says: 3 sports, 1 race, THAT'S HOW I ROLL.

New Toy Day!

It seems Junior has friends in high, low, and COLD places: Chicago. Yesterday, Junior got mail from Boss Waterstraat. It was this little rope toy with an animal attached to it. The head did squeak, until Junior squeaked it once and it died. He LOVES it though. I'm not sure it has left his mouth since yesterday. I opened it when I got home last night, before I took him out, and he carried it the whole time on his walk, and then played with it all night, even at 2am. Here are some pictures:

Jayrock 2008 - Thriller (Swimming and Diving)

Still Alive and kicking, running, swimming, biking, etc.

So by now I'm sure you've heard of the utter destruction and devastation that occured in Memphis on Tuesday...oh and also the storms and tornadoes ;)

It got pretty hairy there for a while, with straight line (as opposed to diagnol or curvy??) winds reaching nearly 80 mph right outside my window. Of course I had the blinds open, nose to glass watching it all. I did spend 4 years in Kansas....

I was even training during it. I had to get that hour spin in sometime! Think of me as the wicked witch riding thru the tornado....

So anyway, amidst my Floridian roommate freaking out and Junior barking at the rain (???) it wasn't bad around us. There were several funnel clouds very close, and even a few touchdowns, but the worst of the damage was in South Memphis where a warehouse collapsed, and a wall of Sears was ripped off. OF COURSE, because we live in Memphis, the biggest problem was looting! Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! People lost their lives and you're looking to score a flatscreen with mud and leaves stuck to it? Some of the people in Memphis amaze me.

Union University in Jackson, TN (about 45min-1 hour away) was by far hit the hardest. Dorms collapsing, cars tossed around like hot wheels, and people trapped for hours. I can't even imagine. One of my good friends here went to Union and its just crazy that something like that happened. Please keep everyone around the mid-south in your prayers. They certainly need it.

Beyond the tornadoes fearing the mighty Robyn and staying far, far away, nothing much is new. Training, surprise surprise. I'm having a great week. I swam Monday and yesterday, and besides some slight shoulder issues, I feel incredibly strong in the water. I actually, almost, feel like a swimmer! I'm not "fast" by any means compared to a real swimmer, but I feel really efficient and strong. During sets, I maintain very consistent paces, even at the end of a long set. So that's good.

Just thought I'd leave you with one of the best You Tube videos out there...my amazing KU swimming and diving team, performing Thriller for Jayrock...WATCH IT and be amazed...after all, its not often you see swimmers with rhythm....

I Don't Like to Lose

I was pretty excited when I walked into work today because I had forgotten it was new computer day! When I say new computer, I mean my boss's 2 year old computer that gets passed down to me because he's a computer snob and buys a new one almost every 2 years. Great deal for me! I've been working on it all morning, switching things to my new computer. However, I've been stopped. OUTLOOK. If anyone has worked with it, they probably know it takes FOREVER to set it up, that is if its not working properly. And of course, mine isn't.

I like when things just work. I'm not great at fixing computer things. I usually call the boss downstairs for that, but he's walking around with the new prof prospect we're currently interviewing (Yeah I'm on the search committee, pretty bada$$ if you ask me). Anyway, he can't help me. Ok, I'll call IT help desk. Well that was 40 minutes of my life I'll never get back....

So here I sit, helpless, and pissed about it because I like to WIN. Currently I'm getting lapped/sped past at 10 mph more/sprinted past by this stupid computer program. I dislike that, because I have been training my butt off. I don't like to lose.....especially to computer software.

However, I am rocking dual monitors and not many people can say that....so I've got that going for me :)