Added learnings in Clermont....

1) With no internet where we're staying, and no TV, I am amazed at how out of touch with the world people can feel. None of us are copious TV watchers (I watch more than any of them, and even that is limited) and we all feel lost. Apparently there was a plane crash (somewhere?), a woman's face and hands were ripped off in CT by a pet chimp named Travis, Obama is kicking more butt and taking names, and there was some ice storm with power outages somewhere in the Midwest.

2) I am awe struck (and had forgotten) how much male athletes consume in calories when training. It's not like we have been doing massive 6-8 hour days. We're talking 3-4, on average.
I have a gazillion examples, but I'll throw out one:
3 days ago it was about 4pm or so. Brandon was laying the hurt on a jumbo bag of potato chips. About 90 min later we all gathered for family dinner --- lots of garlic bread (no smooching among our group! I did try to get fresh with JZ one night though. Who can blame me? We're sharing a bed and she's kinda cute... when the hair isn't Diana-Ross-like.), salad, ziti with meat sauce.

My plate was pretty full, JZ had comparable portions.

Then Billy sat down and his plate was overflowing.

Brandon's plate not so much, his was similar to mine. Full but not excessive. We all chowed. Brandon got up and returned with plate #2, full. After finishing that, he returned with plate #3 - and finished it all! Good LORD, dude!

"Hey, I have to train tomorrow", he justified with a laugh. I nodded in agreement knowing he was not only right but smart. (After my epic unintended caloric bonk earlier in the week, I'd noted his wise approach.)

Not even 30 minutes later, Brandon falls into the couch with a bowl of ice cream covered in chocolate sauce. :) LOL. That's our boy!!

3) I swam 5 days in a row. After this I searched my brain archive to figure out when was the last time that I swam 5 days in a row. It's not like this was an epic accomplishment. (Well, for me it is.) I thought and thought. I do concede it is possible there's another section of time I am just not remembering .... but the last time I remember I, for certain, swam 5 days in a row was ...... .... 1989.

Seriously.

Good grief.

4) Despite his hog-like approach to injesting calories outside of training, Brandon needs to work on increasing caloric intake on the bike. JZ and Billy were spot on. Brandon went into massive deficit and Joanna's alter-ego came out of him in full force: Simply put, we call it "BITCH"!

5) For a straight military marine man, Billy sure is a "P" when it comes to bugs.

6) Every one is eagerly anticipating Monday. REST DAY!!!

I've been in FL doing some training with my group: Billy, JZ and Brandon.
In the last week living in close quarters with my beloved friends I have (re)learned the following things:

1. I really dislike swimming.

2. If you're dehydrated, chronically, you'll get bad headaches.

3. East coast humidity makes you really sweaty wet.

4. Swimming outdoors in a great pool makes swimming so much better.

5. I know more about my teammates bodily functions than I should know.

6. We always wait for Billy.

7. If you don't eat enough day after day when training you will eventually bonk. And when you bonk, you'll bonk HARD.

8. Staying in a place with fleas becomes problematic.

9. JZ and Brandon cook the best meals. Ever.

10. Brandon needs less than 5 minutes to be out the door from wake-up. He prefers not to be woken before this send off.

11. Billy's marine skills come in handy for us. Every day. He can figure anything out.

12. I am not sure who smells worse with body odor or farts: Billy, Brandon or me. So far JZ doesn't stink.

13. I break out in song at any moment.

14. Brandon can still hang onto Billy's wheel with a broken spoke.

15. Poop is funny. Period.

16. Who knew Florida had hills?

17. Sugar cookies with frosting will last 1.2 days with our gang.

18. You can, in fact, laugh so hard you pee.

19. When JZ wakes up in the morning, her hair frizzes out and she looks like Diana Ross.

20. Being out of shape is really difficult. Mentally. Physically.

21. If I had to be cramped with 3 other people to swim,bike,run, live .... I cannpt think of 3 I'd rather be with.

I am so tired I can barely type.
Cheers.

Good days and bad

We've gotta' take the good days with the bad days when training .... or when trying to train and get back in shape.

This weekend was one of those weekends where everything hurts, you're tired, and you question what the hell you're doing or WHY you're doing it. We all have those so this is universal. Everyone can relate.

Saturday morning began with the usual swim with the group (minus Brando who is in Palm Springs). Joanna gave us a pretty hard set (again) and I often wasn't making the requested interval. This made me angry. At this point I should be hitting 1:25 for 50m pace.

Our 4k swim went by really quickly though. I was finishing up my cooldown while JZ was talking at the wall with the guy in the next lane who was wearing a wetsuit. The water temp was fine, so that was funny to me. I finished my cooldown and stopped at the wall to join a chatty JZ. I laughed when I realized it was Gordo Byrn in the wetsuit.
"A wetsuit, dude? Really?", I said sarcastically as I shook my head in disapproval.

"Oh yea!", he laughed at himself.

"I was just making fun of him for that!", JZ chimed in.

"C'mon. You have enough girls in your house" (referring to his wife and new baby girl), I teased.

"Everyone is a girl in there! Even the cats are girls!", he laughed.

Funny...

After our swim, I had a 3.5hour ride: NOTHING that I would consider long relative to my years on the bike. But I am now merely a shadow of my former self. I am totally and utterly out of shape. This is, ccertainly, MUCH better than being in tremendous pain, but it doesn't reduce legitimacy that huffing and puffing with such desperation at a relatively easy pace is also difficult to manage. I SHOULD be out of shape. But, you know, the angel on my shoulder often loses out when the devil on the other speaks up.

TR rode with me, and we scooped up Dave from Velo News, plus 2 of his coworkers, and we all rode to Carter Lake. It's one of my favorite rides in Boulder. They were all endlessly patient, constantly waiting for me, and slowing their pace. TR is in really great shape for February. I am really pleased with where he is in this phase of his training. I, on the other hand, was really hurting.

Let me take you through my mood arc, from beginning to end of the ride. This mood changed in this progression:

1) Nervous excitement before starting: Do I have everything I need? Is my equipment OK? Am I fast enough to keep up / not embarrass myself / reach my goals?

2) Giddiness at the beginning: Excited at the prospect of adventure, enjoying being around friends/like-minded cyclists, enjoying a day outside.

3) Helpful / friendly "Mr. Roarke" (from Fantasy Island) phase: Talking with anyone who’ll engage about what lies ahead, what races they're preparing for, do they like living in Boulder, how to gauge effort, pleasure at having so much sage advice to give.

4) In the moment: Settling into the biking groove, no longer feeling a need (or desire) to talk, thinking about whether I’m eating and drinking enough. This is the best mood of the day — sometimes huge sections of miles will elapse where I’m only peripherally aware of my surroundings: it’s just me, my legs, my head, and the sense of motion. It’s a good place. (The duration of this phase on any ride is directly proportional to my fitness level. Experience has taught me this. On Saturday it was a short phase.)

5) Despair: I’ve slowed drastically and have begun talking to myself. I hate my bike, I hate riding, I hate the others riding with me, I hate my obviously-idiotic self that thought riding (or doing any activity at all, for God's sake) was a good idea.

6) Anticipation: My mind is on one thing only — FINISHING THIS F**** RIDE. I adopt a mantra: "5 more miles. I can make it. 5 more miles. I can make it. 4.98 miles. I can make it...

7) Resignation: I finished. That’s good, I guess. Once again, I didn’t meet my goal. Too bad. Collapse on floor of living room and lie still for 20 minutes. Now devour a cheeseburger.

Trash Talking to Myself

I don’t think I’ve ever done a longer training ride without going through all those stages, in that order. Of all these moods, though, I think "despair" is the most interesting. It’s absolutely the most informative, because a part of me I usually suppress comes to the foreground, and seems to feel that this is a good time to give me a frank assessment of my abilities, character, and priorities. I always think the tough days of training show you your darker side .... and you can't hide from yourself.

Sunday morning I awoke to a body racked with aches. All normal when one is starting a fitness routine, but I couldn't rationalize it. I stared at the ceiling trying to come up with reasons to justify putting my body through all of this again.

I shot a text to Brando in Palm Springs and told him I needed 10 advil.
He wrote back: "I ate tons of ice cream last night. Get your ass up and go run!"

I smiled.... and got my butt out of bed and went running.

I reminded myself of my three training partners: Billy, Brandon and Joanna. How much they believe in me and are trying to help me.

"You can do this Carole. Just put one foot in front of the other. Keep going..." I continued to say to myself....

I had a good run today.

Happy bike riding in Boulder!

Another funny pic...
What do we call this one? Sore loser? :)

So on Saturday my stupid bike shoes were still in my bike box (being shipped from AZ). I wasn't thinking when packing my bike up and just threw the shoes in there, too, not thinking I would need them when I got back to Boulder. I'd done a few indoors rides at FAC with my tennis shoes, no big deal, but Saturday had a 2.5 hour ride on the plan. I called Joanna to ask what she suggested without my bike shoes.

"Dude, I'm riding 2.5 hours, what should I do?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"My bike shoes are still en route from AZ", I answered.

"Do you have tennis shoes?"

"Uh huh..."

"Use those and bike on top of the pedals", she said, totally deadpan.

I started to laugh, thinking she was kidding. She wasn't. I was incredulous. "Really?", I asked. "C'mon."

"Yes. Go." and then she started to laugh, "Just hope no one we know sees you looking like an idiot with tennis shoes on your ride!"

Nice. Thanks. :)

So out I rode, tennis shoes on pedals, trying to avoid any major routes so I could avoid as many people as possible. I have a pretty good ability at being able to laugh at myself, but I did look like a HUGE dork! I had almost made it home, I was within 8 miles and was on the Diagonal ..... my head is down, I am avoiding contact with anyone .... I go by a huge pack and hear, "CAROLE SHARPLESS!!!"

Oh God.

The bubbly voice of Jen Martinez came shrieking out from the pack. Oh man, I had almost made it. I was too embarrassed to slow and stay to chat --- I just pointed down at my feet and yelled, "My bike shoes are in AZ!", to explain myself. I heard her laugh and could have sworn I heard, "You big loser!" .... but of course I can't be positive! ;)

Superbowl morning I went to Jane's 10am swim at FAC. It was packed. I somehow found myself in Matt Reed's lane. Shitballs. We started a set to include some 175's and I swear my ONLY goal was to try to make it to 125 to keep him from lapping me. Each time it was close, too. Frickin Matty! :) The dude is so tall that he almost is across the pool just when he stretches out. I am awe struck how fast these swimmers are in Boulder. Tons of them, too. It'll be good for me, eventually.

Later that night at Michael Stone's Superbowl Party, Matt and I were fighting over the guacamole dip.
"Good swim today, Carole", he said in his hot Kiwi accent that sounds like: guud svim toodae Caarul.

"Dude my only goal was to keep you from lapping me on those 175's. 2 months and I'm gonna be on you!", I winked. (Of course I'll never be near him, but it's good for me to try and intimidate him a little. ha.)

"Ahhh, you'll be there. I won't get much faster than this, but you will. You're doing good."

What a sweet, encouraging thing to say. My friends know it has been a long, long road for me. I really appreciate how encouraging they are, and how supportive they all have been of my attempts to get back in shape.
Boulder really is a good place, with good people....