Blog
Valentines Day Weekend
On Valentines’ Day, I flew back to Colorado for a long weekend for two reasons most imortantly to see Jeff after a long three weeks away in California and secondarily to visit the Olympic training center in the Springs.
My trip to the Olympic training center was quick but packed full of activities. Thanks to Nate and the rest of the resident team for making my trip so easy and helping me to get set up while I was there.
On Saturday, Jeff picked me up and we had a fun-filled weekend together. The highlights included dinner at one of our favorite local restuarants, the exchanging of cheesy but cute gifts, a relaxing but not so fun ride together where I complained about my saddle the entire time (sorry again about that), a hilly trail run in the snow, and some good old-fashioned quality time. with Amos oh and Jeff too.
On Monday, a very sad girl returned to the training camp in LA. It took me a few days to get over my home-sickness but by mid-week I was back in the swing of training and too tired to be sad. But I still miss the boys and look forward to seeing Jeff in March.
"Eat, Do the splits, & Be happy!"
“Eat, Do the splits, & Be happy!” – I need to give credit to the brilliant poet Lela. She is the creative and bubbly 8 year old daughter of my home stay family in LA. Her motto hangs by the front door as a daily reminder and definitely helps me keep things in perspective as I head out the door for yet another training session. Kids don’t sweat the small stuff and focus on what is really important.
This season I want to be more like Lela and not worry about the all the external things I can’t control. During all the hard workouts, I am focusing on doing the best that I can whether I am on-fire or feel awful. Failing or succeeding in one workout in February will not determine my race results or define my season. Keeping the daily challenges from getting to me and enjoying the journey will help me find the success I am looking for this year.
It has been a nice treat living with Lela and the rest of my home stay family, and I look forward to learning a ton more over the next few months.
World Famous
Well no not really but I can dream….
I did get a nice interview featured in the online news section for Lawrenceville. Check out the article here. I would like to thank Barabara from the alumni and development office for writing such a thorough and complimentary piece. She made me sound impressive.
And last week, USAT published a list of the American Triathletes who have qualified to compete at the Olympic Trials in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. There are 12 women and 10 men on the list, and at this point I am perched percariously at the tip of the women’s list.
Beep Beep Beep!
Why do cars feel the need to beep at you when you riding your bike or running along minding your own business? On our easy ride this week, we received at least 5 unsolicited beeps. I have never felt the need to beep my horn at an unknown rider or runner; maybe there is a good reason to beep. If anyone knows of one please let me know so I don’t curse all those randomn beepers under my breath on the next easy ride.
The other beep beeps this week have been in the pool. A few of my teammates and I tend to swim similar speeds and it’s sometimes a toss up who will be feeling the best any given day. So when we misjudge how one or another of us is going to rip it up in the pool we tend to bunch up and a train ride ensues. During one time trial swim this week, I was caught by a teammate coming up and we swam side by side stroke for stroke during the rest of the swim. At one point, there were 4 of us swimming across a standard size lane…it was a bit tight to say the least. Not ideal for training but definitely good practice for those tight world cup race starts.
The last beep beep is for the exciting LA traffic. The traffic hasn’t been too bad but some days the freeways are just at a standstill….even at random times like Sunday night. And the funniest thing is the parking lots are so small for most supermarkets and other big box retailers that you end up waiting longer for a parking space to open up then you spend in line buying your items. I am suprised there are not more road rage incidents in parking lots as people fight over one spot.
On your next drive, please don’t beep at me save it for the jerk stealing your spot at the super market.
LA
The first week and a half of training camp has passed by very quickly. It has been good hard training and despite some rain, I have been enjoying the area a ton. After the rain ended last Saturday, the first long ride was amazing….Miranda and I joined a group from the LA Tri Club and climbed up one of the canyons in malibu, Tuna Canyon for those who know the area, and the skies were so clear after the rain; we could see all the way to catalina island to the east and the san gabriel mts. to the west. The views were impressive, and the group was very nice to us newcomers.
This week, our team also tagged along with another biking group, LaGrange, to join their Mandeville climb session. It was a good 5 mile climb without a killer grade until the last 200 meters or so. But after the 3 time up the climb, my legs were jello and ready to be done for the day.
We also got kicked off the track and did our track session out on the paths in palisades park off ocean boulevard. I wouldn’t call it fun because hard track runs usually don’t fit into that category, but it was pretty neat to be running up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean with views of malibu to the north and the beaches to the south. We also did a hard fartlek run from the canyonbacks trail head it was a nice trail maybe a bit rocky with lots of long rolling climbs and descents. But some of the views of the city from the top were impressive. You could see the city buildings to th south and valley to the east and malibu/ocean to the west. It definitely made running hard a bit more enjoyable.
Otherwise, the week was filled with some uneventful swims….when is swimming ever eventful unless you are in the open water . But it is nice to swim long course, it definitely is much harder than short course and will hopeful make my swim stronger this year.
More of the same to come next week…but so far I am really enjoying this training camp and know it is the start of a good season.
I am traveling west….
The road trip with Mary from Boulder out to California was fun and uneventful….no speeding tickets, no spilled coffee, no cat fights….just pee stops every 90 to 120 minutes. We had a great time, and it flew by as we swapped off the driving every 3 to 4 hours or every other pee break. I am hoping to get some pictures up to highlight the key moments during the drive…so get excited to see those. We spent the night in Sin City and opted not to stay on the strip but paid extra to get a nice room away from all the madness where we got in a quick run, dinner, American Idol, and bed. The next morning, we got an early start and made it to Santa Monica by lunch in time for our afternoon swim workout. Unbelievably, I had a great swim workout…the 6K flew by and the 1:15s in a meter pool felt easy. I boil it down to the road trip taper; I highly recommend driving 17 hours – 13 one day then 4 the next – heading straight to the pool and you’re guaranteed to swim PBs. Sometimes, the body does strange things but I won’t complain when it gives me a good swim workout.
It is awesome to be in LA. Despite the rain which started the afternoon we arrived, I am very excited to get back into the groove of training with the group and to ride my bike outside and run without the fear of hitting a latent ice patch. I met my home-stay family and look forward to getting to know them over the next few months. Though I am going to miss my boys back in CO, I think this is going to be a very successful training camp and the start to a great year.
Not recommended for training
A few things that I have learned in the past few weeks……
Do not borrow your mom’s ipod for a running workout….the songs went from Aretha to the B-52s to Bob Dylan to Snoop Dogg and Frank Sinatra. It was odd and shocking at the same time plus trying to run hard to old blue eyes isn’t ideal.
Do not try to swim hard in the 90 degree YMCA pool enclosed in the 95 degree aquatic center without some nice ice cold water on deck. After a hard swim set, the only way to cool off is to pour the water directly onto your head.
Do not try to run on the Colorado trails after a messy snow left from a storm has started to melt. Either you risk running on ice and falling flat on your ass, which I have done – not fun at all, or you run through the shit-kicking mud that sticks to your shoes taking them from 8 ounces each to 5 lb shit-kickers. Just suck it up and run on the roads.
Do not eat the sausages and bacon wrapped scallops. They will not add in your training sessions the next day. And steer clear of the $60 pudding and canolis too just not a good idea.
And a final one courtesy of Marion Jones….
Do not cheat yourself. Whether it’s simply backing down during a hard training session or doing something much worse. Not only is it not worth it, but it always catches up with you and you pay later. It just came out that Marion Jones will serve 6 months in jail for lying and cheating – more that Lindsey and Paris combined- if that isn’t incentive to stay clean then maybe your integrity is.
Happy Training!
Painting with Amos
Before Christmas, I was forced to take some time off…that is my least favorite part of the season every year. It is always a nice treat to sit around for the first few days; then I start to get antsy and want to do some sort of activity. Luckily, the 2 weeks went by fast as I was busy around the house doing some painting and cleaning with the help of my trusty sidekick, Jeff’s dog Amos. To be truthful, Amos is a 14 year old brittany spaniel and wasn’t much help with either task. But his moral support, aka peaceful snoring, was quite reassuring while I was painting the entryway, kitchen, and dining room various shades from a soft muted gray to a tangy mustard, and subdued wine shade. While I fussed and fretted about the color and my lack of skills, it was a calming influence to watch the old guy just sleeping away the day on the couch. During the cleaning, Amos was a bit more active following me from room to room as I struggled with the steam cleaner he would jump out of the way at the last second. Finally, he tired of the cleaning too and retired to snore away on the couch. But Amos wasn’t so happy when I waxed our hardwood floors. The poor guy sleeps there sometimes and now has trouble getting all his feet under him; just as one foots starts to get purchase and the rest will slip out so he’ll fall back onto his stomach with all four feet in the air. Between our chores, Amos and I take long walks, and I get to pick up all his little packages. But I can’t complain; it has been a treat to have a companion to help keep me entertained and make the 2 weeks of rest go by faster. I need to get a picture of my favorite helper up on the blog…I’ll see if I can find a glamour shot from his younger days.
Some Pictures from last season
Team Pictures in Australia
Team Pictures in Hawaii
More Team Pictures ….
Dad, Jeff, and I in the Chicago Bean
Fashion Icon is Born
Who needs shoelaces when you can use medical tape to keep your shoes on securely? There is actually a good story to go with this one.
Photo credit needs to be given to Jeff Cloutier Not only for his expert skills but ability to remain cool and calm in the face of a distressed subject.
Twas the night before US Nationals in 2006, my first ITU race and only my 5th triathlon ever and 2nd as a pro. In other words, I was scared shitless and very high stress. I was getting my race shoes ready to go and those quick laces all set…my first pair. I trimmed the laces down to get them perfect only to realize that they were a bit too short and my racing flats were too tight to pull on. 8pm at night in Long Beach California there were no quick laces or even shoelaces to be found. To overcome my stupidity, I ended up taking the laces out of my trainers to use in my racing flats, and they worked out fine. But in the meantime, I wanted to still use my trainers to walk around before/after the race…hence my new fashion statement with the tape. I patented this new shoe system and am waiting for it to really take off in the fashion world then my ship will come in….But in the interim I guess I will have to scrap by as a toiling athlete.