Sun BURNT!

I have a lobster RED back right now! The reason would be the 3 hours that I spent at the Loma Verde pool in the middle of the day today! I headed to the pool at aobut 11am to do the track workout in the pool...it's called Aqua Jogging...yeah, I laugh too! So I 'ran' for about an hour and then realized that my teammates were not arriving at the pool for another hour...so I decided to start swimming! I got in a few yards before they arrived...and then joined in for the main workout. The problem was...I decided to do all this in my two-piece suit...so of course I didn't put sunscreen on my back (can't reach it:) and I now have a lot of pain...and a lot of weird colors going on back there (I looked in the mirror:)! Got some lotion on...and promising my self that I wont be doing that AGAIN!
Later:)

Mexico this Weekend

I can't believe that it is already time for me to start packing for my trip to Chiapas, Mexico for the 15 kilometer open water swim! I leave on Thursday the 31st...and the trip is going to be the most exciting part of the whole race experience! Let me start from the beginning...
in February, I started making plans for what races I wanted to compete in...I designed a race calendar, with help from my coaches, and started entering the races. I also started buying plane tickets to the races (since it's best to buy them WAY ahead of time). I wanted to race in Mexico because it was one of three races on the Open Water World Cup schedule that looked short enough for me to do. The others were in London and Hong Kong (both only 10K). Then I talk to the Speedo Rep and decide to rearrange my whole race calendar based on where the most money will be...canceling out the Open Water World Cups (except for the race in Mexico which I have already entered and purchased a $600+ plane ticket).
Now the plane ticket is a whole other story: I'm looking online at Expedia and I've got a $300 ticket out of San Diego to Chiapas, Mexico all set up...then I wait ONE day too long and the stupid thing doubles in price!!! So I look at other options and decide I will save a FEW $$ and buy my ticket from Tijuanna to Chiapas...I'm thinking to myself: Tijuanna is right next to us in Chula Vista, how hard can it be to get there?
So now it is time to actually make the trip and the best idea I have to get to Tijuanna International is have a friend here at the OTC drive me up to the border...I'll get out and walk across with my bags (or just BAG, singular, because I don't want to be carrying too much stuff)...then I'll find a taxi who hopefully speaks English and gets my point that I want to go to the airport...and then get in and hope that he actually takes me to the airport...then if and when I arrive at the TIJ airport I will hope that I'm not extremely overcharged!
If all that goes as I have it planned in my head...the only thing left to do is navigate the TIJ airport to my flight...get on...fly to Mexico City...and FIND MY DAD WHO BOUGHT A PLANE TICKET FROM DAYTONA BEACH YESTERDAY TO COME TO THE RACE AND BE MY BOAT COACH/FEEDER DURING THE RACE!!!!!!! I'm so excited that a member of my family is going to be at the race to cheer and support and help and feed me:)
Yes...I do me 'feed me'. In all races over 10K, each swimmer gets a support boat with 3 people in it: one Fina official to make sure all the rules are followed, one boat driver for obvious reasons, and one 'coach' who writes things on a white board (like 'good job' or 'go faster') and holds out water/gatorade/food for the swimmer to intake! Up until I get the news that my Dad is going to be at the race with me...I was going to have a volunteer that I have never met before as my boat feeder (scary) so now I am much more confident about the whole race!
So that is my story...I'm sticking too it...and I will fill everyone in on the race results when I am back safe and sound in the good ol'USA!
P.S. check out some websites with photos of where I am going to be swimming in the race (It's going to be hard to concentrate on the race with all the beautiful sites I am swimming past:)
http://www.sumidero.com/eng/index.html
http://wild-net.com.au/mexico/html/sumidero_canyon.phtml
http://www.geo-images.com/huatulco/sumab/sumab.html

Heel Pain

Well, it was inevitable...I have an injury from running! My heels are in a lot of pain with every step that I take...and it is multiplied when I try running! Oh well...I am going to the training room about 4 times a day and I am working with the trainers to get back to 100% ASAP. I just got some arch supports for my shoes to help with the cause of the pain (my high arches). Wish me luck on the road to recovery!
This week has started off OK...other than being in pain...Monday I had a good swim because we were back at the Loma Verde pool and we got to swim long course! I'm soooo glad that I NEVER have to do serious training in short course because I will NEVER race in a short course race again! But I am really loving all the long course swimming we are able to do at the Loma Verde pool! Tuesday, we swim around noon and the pool is SCY...so I just swam easy and slow because I was a bit tired (those are my excuses because Mark pretty much kicked my butt!:) This morning...back swimming LCM...I kicked butt again! I was really happy with my main set and I am looking forward to the open water race on April 2nd in Mexico!
Biking has been fun...on Monday we all went on a smooth, high cadence, 2 hour ride. We got in a few hills but kept the RPE (rate of Perceived Exertion) low while we were climbing. When the group met back up on Otay Lakes Road to ride back to the OTC...we had a great pace line home into the head wind!
Running has obviously been painful...but I'm staying on the grass for a softer impact...my Tuesday track workout wasn't exactly on the track...but off to the side in the grass on the thrower's fields. Its great when you start working really hard you either don't think about the pain anymore...or you actually don't have pain any more...what ever the case may be...my heels were okay during the 'track' workout. Today we kinda have a light day workout wise...after swimming this AM...we did about 30 minutes of abs and med balls and the day is done except for transition practice at 3!

Triathletes & the SEALs

Well, as this week winds down...all I can say is: what an experience we had on Wednesday at the Navy SEALS training center! It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. To help you understand how lucky this group of triathletes were...I want to explain this: we were the 4th group of civilians to EVER, IN THE HISTORY OF THE SEALS, spend a day training like they do. It's not like a weekend thing that corporate groups, or college teams, etc. can just sign up and do. What happened is: the SEALS hired the OTC's psychologist to work with them...and he said "what can you do for us in return?" So they said, we will allow groups of Olympic athletes come out and spend a day as SEALS. The women's softball team did it, a bunch of USC swimmers did it, and the US rowing team...and now the USA triathletes! Oh yeah...and if you've watched G.I. Jane...that was the SEALS...and guess what: there is a FEDERAL LAW that says WOMEN CAN'T TRY OUT FOR THE SEALS!!!!! So, along with being civilians on the SEALs base...our group was half women...and WE KICKED ASS!! At the end of the day, our instructors told us that they were thoroughly impressed with how tough and strong we were the whole day!
To describe what we did...I will start by saying: if you've seen it in the movies...WE DID IT!! First thing we did (after signing our life away on a release waiver) was push ups in a group for about 20 minutes, getting hosed with cold water, and not getting up until we did 20 push ups perfectly, in-sync, and shouting 'WHOYA' at the right times. Next, we got up, split into 2 groups, and ran down to the beach where we picked up our LOG...yes...just like you see in the movies! We spent an hour with that damn log; doing lunges, squats, sit ups in the ocean (try listening to the instructors and having your head back in the water with waves crashing over your face!) and running races against the other team carrying our logs over the sand burms. We finished with the logs...loaded on a bus...drove to the pool...and did the drown proofing test. Yes, that meant we had our feet and hands tied together, we got in the pool and did bobbing in the 9 foot section, floating for a minute, traveling to the end of the pool and back (required a weird dolphin kick) and front and back flips under water (more strange dolphin kicks to get your body around for a complete flip). We had partners for this 'evolution' (yeah...that's what they call each different exercise: evolutions) that watched from the side of the pool in case you started drowning. The partner wasn't getting off easy...they did pushups and 'chilly dips' (translation: right when the sun was starting to warm you up...the instructors would say 'chilly dip' and you had to jump in the pool and get wet and cold again!). After the pool evolution...which concluded with a 'decontamination' in cold showers at the pool where we had to be very loud in our WHOYA yells and then very fast in putting on our wet clothes and shoes which had been scattered (gee, thanks for throwing our nice piles of stuff ALL over the deck)...we got back on the bus and drove to the galley for lunch! (Yes...in our wet clothes, shoes, etc). I've never eaten soup before but it was the ONLY thing that was WARM...by this time...I'm getting back cramps from the CONSTANT shivering.
The post-lunch evolution was a little laid back...we went to the obstacle course and attempted about 75% of the obstacles (some of them we would have killed ourselves if we attempted them). There was 3 different materials that every obstacle was built out of: wood logs, rope, & barbed wire. The SEALs must be able to complete the ENTIRE course, about 15 HUGE obstacles, in under 8 minutes or they don't pass...I conqured about 2 of them, 4 if you count getting help from teammates...but all that took about 1.5 HOURS!
The laid-back attitude of our instructors ended with the last obstacle...and before we knew it, we were running back to the beach with the instructions: "GET WET & GET DIRTY". (translation: run into the water, sumburge yourself, run up to the sand burms, roll your whole body in the sand). The next evolution was just like the movies again: each team had a boat and we did the whole thing: carry it out into the waves, jump in, paddle like mad into the 8-10 foot surf, try to keep the boat straight because if a waves hits you on the side...you are screwed...paddle past the surf (this was our teams mistake on the first race...figuring out where the end of the surf REALLY is), tip the boat over, tip it back, climb back in, paddle like hell back to shore, carry the boat back to the starting position, arrange the ropes/paddles/handles in perfect position and send the koxswain to report to the commanding instructor. The key slogan at this point in the day was: "it pays to be a winner"...so when our team got back to the beach WAY behind the other team...they got to sit on their boat and rest while we were lucky enough to HOLD THE BOAT ABOVE OUR HEADS!!! Unfortunatly, our team had a VERY obvious size difference so when the boat went above our heads...it was above Kelsey's and my hands, even on tippy toes we could barely touch it...so Doug (6'4'') and Matt (6'2'') were getting most of the load! We had more races with the boats...running on the beach while carrying them...out into the surf again (so much fun getting SHOT out of the boat by the waves:)...and then one more decontanimation shower and the hard stuff was over!
At the end of the day, as we stood in our RANKS and got nothing but praise from our Navy SEALs instructors...I looked back on the day with nothing but enjoyment...except for the fact that I was still shivering at that point and couldn't wait to get dry clothes on! Matt, on the other hand...was standing in the ranks...and passed out COLD! They took him off to the Dr., checked his core temp, pumped him full of glucose, wrapped him in a warm blanket, and declared him okay to go!
As a result of our evolutions, I am closer with a lot of my teammates, and I see a lot of them in a whole new light...I would trust my life with almost anyone here that I am training with. I can't wait to do it all again next year!
WHOYA!!!

Pool...no the other kind

The latest fun thing to do at the training center is pool...the billiards kind. Yesterday it was the 5'6'' Florida team (Manny and I) taking on the 6'2'' Colorado team (Matt and Jasmine) and Florida went UNDEFEATED!
It's like the B-ball team...first SEC championship in the history of UF!!! Check it out at Gatorzone.com.

Seals Week

This week we have a surprise training day...on Wednesday we are going over to the beach at Coronado to do a day in the life of the Navy Seals! It's going to be about 6-7 hours of team building/hard ass workout! Some people here are looking forward to it as a different way to get a training day completed...other are a little sketch about getting hurt and missing their bike & run workouts. I'm not sure what side of the fence I am on at the moment...I'm a little excited to have fun with my teammates in a new setting...and I'm a little apprehensive about doing too much on my shoulders and having an accident. I have asked our coach, Denny: the ex-army ranger, and made sure that I will be able to say 'no, I don't want to do that' or 'can I sit this one out'.
Other than the excitement on Wednesday, this week is a little more intense than the past 2 weeks have been...we are doing a lot of speed on the running, starting with 4x1 miles @ 10K pace tomorrow, and putting in miles on the bike, we hop on the crit course tomorrow to do intense riding solo and in groups.
Yesterday, my roommate Sarah Haskins: sarahhaskins.com (yes, she has her own website...I'm so jealous:) celebrated her 24th birthday. A bunch of people went to a place called D'lish for dinner and pigged out on wood fired pizzas...I satisfied a long standing craving with my pepperoni pizza! Her day was started out with a 4 hour group ride in the morning. Of course the guys had 4 1/2 hours so they started 30 minutes before us...our group consisted of just the girls room: Sarah, Kelsey, Jasmine, and Me:) We had a great time talking, laughing, singing (except when we were riding up Honey Springs...then I was just concentrating on breathing!:) At the end of the ride, back Otay Lakes road to the OTC, the guys caught us and we all rode in a pace line together...which was a bonus for the girls because we got pulled home by the guys into the headwind!!
We have been watching a lot of movies lately...Saturday was Office Space...Sunday was the Truman Show...and tonight I am getting my first viewing of Napoleon Dynamite (my teammates keep telling me that I'm missing something b/c I have not watch it yet!)

10K Race Report

At the ungodly hour of 5:30 this morning...our alarm went off and all the triathletes at the Chula Vista OTC rolled out of bed...grabbed a bag of race gear and headed out to the vans. We drove a bit north (not sure where exactly, but it wasn't more than 40 minutes of a drive) and arrived at our destination to compete in the Domino's St. Patrick's 10 run. I was feeling great in warm up...my heart rate was low and I was runing fast. We all headed down to the start area and huddled in a group...near the front which I wasn't too happy about because I was sure that people were just going to trample me:)
When we started...I was relaxed, I let all my fellow OTC'ers head off at crazy fast paces...and focused on my goal of negative spliting the 10K by hitting the 5K at 20min and then descending the whole way back to the finish. I was on track...my mile times were interesting because I don't think they were in the exact right places...but I was at 6:00 for the first mile, 6:45 for the second (I did slow down a bit), and then 6:27 for the third. They did not have a half way mark so I guessed my 5K to be at 20min, Perfect!
Unfortunatly, I happened to look in front of myself at that moment and saw my teammate and roommate, Jasmine, cloapsing on the ground. I looked like her mind was saying 'go' and her body was saying 'no'. It was really scary but I got to her quickly and got her in a coherent state and then we walked the rest of the 10K together to the finish. We might have got DFL but we did the whole thing and spent a bit of time bonding and chatting:) She is a really strong girl and I know that this made us both stronger!
Tomorrow we are heading out to the mountains on our bikes for a 4 hour ride, smooth pace, but it will be a tough one!

Updating

I totally forget to do this: write in my blog! Like I'm so busy all the time (JK!). Life here is very relaxed...which really isn't a good thing because I should be constantly tired and wore out from training. I've just finished about a week and a half of 'recovery'...sometime soon it is supposed to be getting more intense. Right now we are in a testing phase...tomorrow I am testing on the treadmill to find my lactate threshold in the run and Thursday I will be testing on the bike to find my lactate threshold.
Today's adventure was to the hair salon to get highlights...turned out really good!
I ahd a great weekend full of adventures...Saturday a group of 6 of us rode our bikes to the beach on our 3 hour easy ride. It was great...the smells of the oceans were refreshing! We had to hoist our bikes on our shoulder to carry them over a few streams that were overflowing the bike path...I took photos on my phone so I'm not sure I can get them on to my blog!
Sunday, Joe (a guy on the resident team here) and I went on a 2 hour adventure behind the dam that is overflowing. We got to hike through a river (of course we picked the rapid to cross at:) and run through a beautiful valley that is green with plants and colorful with a ton of flowers! The plants in this area are having a field day because of all the rain they got in Jan. and Feb. Instead of being brown and dusty like every other year...the area around the training center in lush with plants and animals!
I'm off to dinner but I will keep posting my adventures in South Cali!

Free Time...

...It's a rare thing here at the training center! I haven't given you any updates lately...been busy training, planning my race schedule, sleeping, etc.
Lets start a few days ago with my Birthday! I'm 22 years old now! It was a fun day...it started with a big swim practice...11,000meters! (and I did it voluntarily!) My set in the pool was 5 x 2000m with 1 minute rest inbetween them. I started off at 26:30 for warm up...then descended to 25:30...#3 & #4 were 25:15...and on #5 I worked really hard to go a 25:00 (that is 1:15 pace for 100s!). After the 2000s, I did one set of 10 x 100s @ 1:15 to practice the finishing sprint that always happens in open water races...I held 1:10s on all of them so I was really happy with how the whole 11,000m turned out!
After that exciting morning...we had the rest of the day off so I treated my self to a massage (by Megan Quann's mother who was at the OTC giving massages...no wonder she swam so fast...her mom is a massage therapist!).
At 4pm...we all started getting ready for my B-day party that I set up at Buca Di Beppos! I had reserved seating and planned a menu for the big group of triathletes! We headed out at 5pm...it was a bit of a drive...but fun the whole way. Dinner was AMAZING...we had garlic bread, brushettia, Caesar salad, DiBeppo salad, spaghetti with meat sauce, cheese ravioli, chicken Parmesan, chicken marsalia, chocolate cake and cheese cake! It was all delicious and we all had a great time getting out of the training center for a bit!
Since the big B-day...the focus has been on training. Saturday morning I did a short run before swim practice in the AM...then we rode a long 3 hour 20 min ride in the mid-day...it had some killer hills but we maintained a steady, relaxed pace.
Sunday is always just a long run with 10 minutes at tempo pace...I was up to 1hour 10minutes the week...the run was steady and uneventful except for when I hit some slippery mud and went down on my knee into the concrete walkway! Other than a few scrapes on my knee...I'm all good and I finished the run just fine!
Monday morning we were back in the pool...and I definitely had some problems...it could have been from the day off from swimming, maybe I didn't have enough fluids, it could be that I didn't stretch before getting in the pool...but the problem started around 2000 into practice. My hands started cramping up really painfully! I was loosing control of my fingers and they were starting to wiggle through the water when I was trying to pull! I was the weirdest thing...I've never had anything like that happen before! But like always...I put the pain in the back of my mind and swam a great main set. We did 2x400, 4x200, 8x100s @ 1:15 base. The goal was to start at your pace from the 5x400s we did last week and then descend your pace. I was able to start out at 1:09s and descend a bit from there!
After practice and breakfast...I headed over to sports massage to get the hands fixed...felt amazing after getting them massaged...and was able to have a great bike ride later in the day!
The ride was a tough one...we rode out to Honey Springs Road (which took me 45 minutes to climb the last time we did it)...but this time we did 6x5minute climbs with 5 minutes recovery inbetween. We did some climbs in a EXTRA hard gear so that our cadence was 50...we did some in a EXTRA spinny gear (my lowest) and we did the last 5 minutes as a race up the hill. (I, of course, was dead last...except for Kelsey who was having a really bad day).
Today we started out with a run work out on the track...5 x 1K with 2:30 rest inbetween each. I don't know how the hill work out yesterday, the track workout today, the 2000m TT we have in the pool tomorrow and other workouts this week are supposed to be a RECOVERY WEEK...but I'm still working hard no matter what...feeling a little tired sometimes...but that is supposed to happen in this sport!
Other than the training side of life...things are good! Hope all is great with everyone out there who is keeping up with my life in CA...Have fun and keep smiling:)