Giggles and Niggles

For me each week can be divided into 3 parts. Midweek days off, weekend days off, and work days. Blogging about work wouldn't be too much fun. Well it could be fun but it might get me fired so I 'll stick to the rest of my antics. The highlights of my midweek are getting a good East County epic ride in or a ride-run combo with my friends/training partners extraordinaries. The highlights of my weekends are spending time with Tim bike, swimming, and running. Sunday is Funday so a swim in the cove is mandatory along with frozen yogurt.

Wait a minute....

I'm supposed to be running too.

Wait for me guys!

Last Saturday I sort of got a niggle in my calf/achilles. A niggle is something that isn't quite right but may go away if you ignore it. Luckily it didn't compromise my weekend fun but Monday evening the niggle could not be ignored. The problem: Tuesday was the East County "No Frills Ride" and I couldn't miss it. It could also be renamed "cackle fest on wheels". I noticed since I started participating in this ride my voice has been a little scratchy. At first I thought it was the desert air. Who am I kidding? It's from cackling during the pre and post ride car pool and the entire ride. Monday night, I iced my niggle without no effect and knew I probably should back off on Tuesday. But how could I miss out on all the fun?

Obviously I could not. I hoped my laughter would distract me from the niggle pain but it didn't. As soon as I began to ride the pain started. I wouldn't mind the pain if it was only to be for the day. The thought of it spiraling into some sort of off the bike and run injury, made me feel a little like a crazed animal. One who has an extremity stuck in a trap and is ready to gnaw it off and run for freedom. Nervous energy consumed me while I tried to gently pedal up the mountains:0)

Although riders are encourage to "tell us a story" while we climb. "The more outragious the better and it's ok if it's not even true." I realized there are no lies on the Great Western Loop. There is no lying, faking, or hiding. AKA, I could not do single leg drills or soft pedal and keep up with this crew. They eat nails for breakfast. I confessed to my stupidness, riding when injured. I so selfishly did not want to miss out. Besides my maiden name is Yake and my brothers programmed the Commadore 64 to repeat "Jenny Yake is a flake, a lie, a cheat and a squeal." Note the repeat. I wouldn't want my gang to think I was a flake now?

My gang was good to me. Elizabeth circled back and pretended something on her bike was broken so I could keep up. I apologized to Brian, because I know he can go really fast, and it is more fun for him when the other riders go fast too. He assured me that they had circle back for people who had far less entertaining and outragious tales. Maybe there is faking, but it only works in one direction, the fast pretend to be slow.

After the ride though I sentenced myself to reading the paper in E's van while the others got to go running in a canyon. I helped myself to the solar shower before settling down with the paper and Facebook. I swear I could hear the laughter the entire 6 miles they were gone and boy was I sorry to miss out.

Of course my orthopedic doctor husband told me I needed to rest for a few days and let the achilles/calf heal. He said a week off. Hah, I was convinced if I left it alone it would be better sooner. I got really annoying and started asking "Do you think it will be better tomorrow?" every 5 minutes. Tim told me if I didn't behave myself that I would get a cast. I said that was malpractice and then Elizabeth threatened to sentence me to this chair if I didn't behave myself.

High chair or chair for "Whinese" people

So I shaped up and shut up. Low and behold after 4 days of rest I was cured. Just in time for Sunday Funday. I worked on Saturday so Tim and I had to cram all of our fun into one day. Oh what a job!

We started with a morning bike ride coastal inland style. Then we headed to the coast making a frozen yogurt stop 20 miles from home at one of the many Team Fatty sponsors along the Coast Highway. Who can beat that?
Next up was the run -swim-run. We ran to the cove for a one mile snorkel swim fest followed by a run home. We saw hundreds of fish and even a few bat rays. I am a bit of a freak show running home in my soaking wet tri clothes. Honestly, it saves me the work of rinsing out my wetsuit. It was great. According to Tim, frozen yogurt is performance enhancing so technically we should have stopped for frozen yogurt on the way to or from the cove.

Solana Beach Sprint

Solana Beach Sprint Triathlon.

I told the guys to at least look tough.

I'd say Tim looks a little better collected than me exiting the swim.

He must not have been going hard enough.

Slacker!

What Tim won't do to get out of a recovery run!

I'm smiling.

The look on Tim's face says "what did I get myself into and I'm not sure I signed up for this"

Negative Attention> No Attention.

Tim tries to make a hairy bagel.

Too bad he doesn't have enough dough or hair.

Actually Thank Goodness

Sunday, July 26

Sunday was the TCSD sponsored Solana Beach sprint triathlon. I am not sure how much of a sprinter I am. I had so much fun at Encinitas I figured why not. I convinced Tim to do it too. I really had to twist his arm. We both had something to accomplish. I wanted to improve my transition times. Tim wanted to score a roll down spot for Kona ;0) I think my transitions were pretty quick. I'll never really know because when the results came out they didn't post splits for transitions. The race directors must have heard there were some high calorie bets on transition times.

The waves were a bit large on race day morning but I actually found them fun to play in. I liked ducking underneath them and waiting for the wave to pass before I hopped back up. At the look of my swim split I might have had too much fun. Determined to have a fast transition time for once in my life. I took my wetsuit off just as I exited the water. It comes off quicker with more water in it. I swear transition was a 1/4 mile away and up a hill. Initially the wetsuit was coming off very quickly until it got stuck on the timing chip around my ankle. I struggled for a bit then sat down in the water and pulled it off. I'm sure it demonstrated my grace and coordination to the fullest. The wetsuit did a fantastic job of filling up with water as I floundered getting it off. I got some extra strength training running up the hill with my wet wetsuit.

Once in transition things went very quickly. Too quickly. I think I needed to take 5 and catch my breath. I'd have to wait another 50 minutes to breathe easy. I missed the time to sit down and catch my breath while I put on my shoes. They were already on my bike so I was off.

I tried to go as fast as I could on the bike. My legs felt like they were on fire. I hoped that meant I was going fast. (I don't think it did though). A few miles into the ride I looked over to left as a women began to pass me. We were heading down the slight downhill north of Solana Beach. We went back and forth. After we rounded the corner I pulled ahead on the uphill (legs burning). Me thinking, well that ought to have done the job. The coarse flattened out and she passes me again. I notice she is wearing lipstick. She pulls ahead and I can't go with her not even for 9 miles. Maybe if I had worn my lipstick I could have held on. We finish the bike ride and I see her just a little bit ahead of me. I think maybe I can run her down. The gap gets bigger, in her favor. I think maybe it's the lipstick. I get passed a couple more times before the run is over. Neither of the girls are wearing lipstick so I have lost my excuse. I'm amazed I can't dig a little deeper for a measly 5k of running. I find Tim and we have fun socializing for a few.

I become Cruella Deville and insist Tim and Paul do a cool down run with me. They are both complaining. Tim says he was in pain because of me. Paul is upset because he is afraid the beer garden will be dry when he gets there. I am smug as can be (despite having the slowest time of the 3 of us). I tell them I exerted myself for way longer than they did today. If anybody should complain it should be me. I brag that when I did the Encinitas race with Stacy and Elizabeth, we ran for an hour after and nobody complained. Therefore girls were stronger and tougher than boys. At that Paul tired to pick up the pace and make me puke but there was too much traffic and we kept having to stop at stop sign. I'm surprised Tim didn't make a run for the car and leave me to run my smug self home.

Cove Pier Cove Accomplished

La Jolla Cove

Scripps Pier

La Jolla Cove

Mission Accomplished

Today was the 28th Annual "Sickies of the Sea" Cove Pier Cove swim. When I heard about the swim I asked Coach Sickie if I could do it. He of course said yes and said he wanted me to do it. Later he learned of my race the next day (Tim tattled on me) and suggested I swim a shorter course, use fins, or optimally use an underwater motor scooter. I am to stubborn for any of those options. As Stacy mentions in her blog, "There are no short cuts to anywhere worth going." Besides I'm told I just need to swim more to get better so 3 miles in the ocean has to count for something. More confessions: I am secretly under the influence of Pro Triathlete Bree Wee's blog. She is always swimming in the ocean and loves "mermaiding around".

I was out there swimming for a long time. Longer than most, but less time than others. All and all, I think I am getting better at swimming. Even if I am not, it's way more fun to believe I am. For a while during the swim I thought I was dead last and lagging. Unbeknownst to me there were people far behind me. I started thinking about how it's been a couple years now and I am still a slow mo swimmer. It was a less than pleasant thought, but I had a long way to go and it would be more embarassing to flag a kayak or dive boat. Secretly I was hoping for a school of dolphins to come in and give me a ride. I had no choice but to focus on the positive. With all the carbs I'm burning swimming for three miles, it won't be my foot that requires an amputation secondary to type II diabetes. Right? And that oatmeal, flaxseed, almond butter, chocolate chip cookie I had for dessert last night? Certainly I am burning it off now. (By the way, it was one cookie. It justs sounds like four, but truthfully I ate two of them and it was the second one I was feeling guilty about).

Anyway after that fun Tim and I headed to Solana Beach to sign in for the Solana Beach triathlon. We met Paul , Suzy, and Spencer for lunch. I was great. Spencer says "Alright" everytime his dad passes people. He gets to say alright a lot. I took a look at the surf entry. Once again I delved into my positive thinking so the rip will pull me out, I can ride the waves in so I really only need to use my arms for a short portion of the swim. Just in case my arms don't work from todays swim and I am in the water for a very long time backstroking, I decided to make up for it by shaving time in my transitions. 20 mounts and dismounts with the shoes on the bike done satisfactorily and I am good to go.

True confessions: I am having a wee bit o difficulty typing due to some very heavy arms. Life is tough when you live it up.

Summer Fun Run

Summer of Fun

My goal: To have more fun than a kid should be allowed to have.

Quote from my brother Tom

Tim and I set out for a run the other day. These were our views. I think I may have been running slow in the beginning (with good enough reason, my legs have load in them). We are running up Soledad at a pace Tim announces as above 11 min/mile. Now before you get smug and all "my grandma can run faster that that", and some grandmas can, I will clarify that it was up Mt. Soledad. Get it mount as in mountain. Ok so it's not Kilimajaro , but whatever, I'm just a La Jolla Housewife trying to stay fit;)
Just before we reach the top Tim takes advantage of my breathlessness and really starts to tease. He says jeez Jen , you really need to show some commitment. An 11 minute mile. What's next, and you let all these people beat you. He rattles off the name of several of my training partners, whom I respect and in my mind are really, really fast. "Let", get it let being the opportune outragious hysterical word. Although I'm not the best I can't say I really let people beat me. I give it what I got.
I start to laugh so hard I sound like a hyena. I can't breath in fully or out fully. It's sort of a hyperventilating laugh. Which out loud sounds so funny. I think I might break a rib. I almost fall down with laughter. Tim says "come on, where is your commitment." I rode an uber million miles last week, swam as instructed, went to yoga, and even got some running in. OK, one run I failed on because my legs wouldn't go.I tried. I am laughing. He says if my girl friends were there I would be running faster. He is kidding but I try to pick it up anyway. I run as hard as I can to the cross. I feel a little bonky as it has been a long day. I slug down a GU a start to feel better. Maybe even "fast". Just as I feel good, Tim says he feels a little bonky. No problem, I tell him and pull out what turns out to be an empty gel wrapper. Oops. Sorry. Tim says he has to go home. I say I'm just warming up. Where is your commitment? He looks a little too whipped for it to be funny anymore. I want to run down the fire road with Tim and he wants to go home :( It's really pretty. It's all downhill from here I beg and bribe. He's not buying it. I have lied too many times about vertical gain and distances. He says "yes and then another mile up". O.k. I'm busted. We agree to save something for tomorrow.
Sunday, we run at noon. In the heat of the day. I'm a little whiny about running at noon. Stating next time we will run at 7:00 a.m. He negates my whining by stating we are heat training. Next time he's going to train at noon in a garbage bag. Point awarded to Tim. Tim says we need to do more heat training to get ready for Kona. Kona, I shriek we are not going to Kona. "You are not" he says. "You don't have enough commitment, I am" I sarcastically ask how. As medical? A lottery spot? "Nope". He says he's going to qualify at Solana Beach next weekend. With all the seriousness in the world he asks me where the roll down goes to. Now I am laughing so hard I want to lie down on the bike/dog path and cry. I do not know how I continued to run in this state. (You probably have to know triathlons to appreciate the humor in this, but one cannot get to Kona via Solana Beach.) Once again I am laughing so hard I can't fully get a breath in or out.

Tim says if he isn't going to Kona, he doesn't want to heat train anymore. He suggests going to the cove for a swim. So at mile 7.5 of 12, we take a break and swim in the ocean. I'm not sure what it does to race preparation, but I tell you it was a bit of heaven. We run the rest of the way home wet from the cove. We decide it was the best thing ever.

We like the cove dip so much the next evening we go for another run dip run. I bring my goggles and swim cap in the pocket of my tri jersey. I don't want to get out of the ocean, but it is 7:00 p.m. already and dinner is waiting for us.
Tim and I run home. My shoes squish the whole way home from my wet feet but I don't care. Tim and I decide this is the most fun summer ever.

Hope your summer is as great as mine.

Stacy and Jen's Most Excellent Adventure

2 Girls + 2 Bikes + GWL + Laguna Loop = 1 Fun Day & 104 miles

Stacy and I love to ride the Laguna Loop and the great Western loop. We always have to choose between the two loops and we were sick of it. So today, we did em both. We've become accustomed to starting our rides in Rancho San Diego. We know all the water stops available, places to pee without getting pickers in your shorts and places to get the emergency Starbucks double shots. We also even know the dogs that frequent the ride and sometimes greet us with a tad bit too much excitement.

Descanso Store. Home of the best bike beverage selection around.

We started our ride at 7:00 a.m. in Rancho San Diego. It was cool at that time but we knew it wouldn't last. We headed out and exchanged stories up "The Wall." We headed towards Descanso and decided to talk about how far we wanted to go when we got there. We rolled into Descanso and decided we still had an awful lot to catch up on (gossip). We grabbed some Gatorade for extra calories, G2 to be exact and headed toward Pine Valley. Today was one of the rarest days. Stacy didn't have to work at all. I told Tim we would have leftovers for dinner. He now knows the pattern. 2 big meals with leftovers equal a big day of riding. Leftovers is code for I'm going to ride all day long. Stacy and I had plans of riding this day. We had no definite plans of how far or where. We had no time constraints. We decided to evaluate how far we wanted to ride by how we felt. Neither of us were particularly rested. Then again if there is not a long race involved, hell will freeze over before we will ever show up to ride on fresh legs. Yeah, fresh legs are saved for expensive entry fees. For Stacy, fresh legs might be saved for podium finishes. That girl can't seem to get off the podium.

We spent the first segment of the ride catching up. She was telling me about this impromptu crazy trail run she entered while vacationing in Hawaii. I had to pry it out of her but finally she confessed to winning first place. If I wasn't such a nosey nose she would have never fessed up to winning. All she would have told me was the post race food was good and she got lost three times. I think she wants to be on "Team in Eating" with Tim and I. She thinks we'll let her join if she keeps eating Humble Pie. Poor girl. Doesn't she know it's cookies we eat?

Our bikes rest in some shade moments before they got kicked off the porch.

"No bikes allowed"

We refilled in Descanso with Gatorade products and killed the climb into Pine Valley by discussing the effects of high fructose corn syrup. We hashed out the links between HFCS to obesity, type 2 DM and beyond. We noted G2 didn't have any high fructose corn syrup. We wondered exactly how much HFCS could be in a 32 ounce bottle that contains a total of 200 calories? We weren't sure. We decided we didn't need to worry about it. Certainly it wasn't going to be our feet getting amputated due to type 2 diabetes.

We then discussed the question on the employee wellness exam I was faced with. I hate to tell a lie but it asked "Do you have a low sodium diet?" I don't think the screening tool was sophisticated enough to account for my hobbies. Stacy said I could check yes. I swallowed a couple salt tabs to ward off cramping. Our conversation had become sidetracked. We were already at the base of Mt. Laguna and certainly had more to talk about. We were going to need a really long ride to catch up. If we went up that mountain we would be well on our way to "bragging rights" and queens of the "Loop of Doom." (I swear fast fit Philippe Krebs called this the ride the Loop of Doom)

We thought about turning back but our bikes wouldn't let us. They started to scamper up the mountain side. What choice did we have. The next thing I knew I was pausing briefly for a photo- op before stopping for 2nd breakfast at the store on top of Mt. Laguna. This was our longest stop of the day. We sat in the shade and enjoyed the best popsicles ever. This was also our correspondance stop where we texted loved ones of our where abouts. We formulated a "Who to call" list if we bonked or had an irreconsilable mechanical. We divided the list into groups: who would come but make fun of us. Who would come but be ticked off. Would come no questions asked. We didn't want to use the list but it went pretty deep. I think the TCSD cares program is the funniest idea. Do you think Brian Long would pick us up in the TCSD van? If we asked really politely?
We needed no outside assistance other than the popsicle and Gatorade. After the worlds best popsicle we were fresh as flowers. We left the store full of excitement. We were ready for the cyclist equivilant of dessert, the big descent. I love the Laguna loop but hate the hour drive to get there. This time I got to enjoy the ride without the drive.

Mother nature wasn't on board with the little girls who could. She tried to blow us off our bikes. We held on tight and worked our way down the mountain. Might I say it is scary to see the road turning left when the wind blows right. I was glad we each had 3 full water bottles to weigh us down at this point. I told Stacy we should fill her skinny jersey with rocks for extra weight. I was ok I had Cliff bars in my jersey.... or under my jersey in my belly;)

We made it down like champs, just bummed we had to use those devices called ....what's the word? Brakes. Yeah, those things. Who wants to use those? We sighed at the turn off toward Julian. Julian: 6 miles, the sign said. We would get bragging rights but only briefly at this distance. We knew if Tim was there the bar would raise and we'd be tacking on 12 additional miles for the love of pie. Although mathematically speaking, if Tim was there the extra 12 miles would be nothing as we could draft him the entire ride.
Stacy believes in no shortcuts. Staying true to this we added an extra mile and headed home via Lyons Valley Rd instead of taking Skyline. We were blessed with some shade and decided to stop and get fresh cold water for the final leg of the journey. What a treat. Ice cold water was pure heaven. The store owners son David was there to greet us. He said we couldn't enter the store or use the restrooms without a card. He gave us a card to enter. The card said ENERGY. This was sort of a surreal and hysterical moment. We got so excited over the ENERGY card that our new friend David tried to take it back and throw it in the trash. "Nooo" I cried half believing if the card went in the trash I might fall apart for the last 10 miles. We bribed David to take our picture and get us more water. He offered me his personal backwashed Gatorade and didn't understand why I passed. Then David's ride came. He jumped up and shouted "shot gun" as if Stacy and I might oust him from the front seat.
With that we were off and headed towards the car. We cruised through Lyons Valley fresh as flowers. We hit Jamul Drive and hammered to the parking lot. We arrived at our cars giddy with excitement of taming the "Loop of Doom." We need to rename the ride now.
Disclaimer: Stacy and I would like to thank our sponsor Scripps Health.Org for giving us the same day off to ride and providing us with paychecks sufficient enough to be spent entirely at Moment Cycle Sport on our nice shiny little bikes. We would like to thank our families who feed us when we spend our entire paychecks on race entries and bike supplies. We would like to thank the guys at Moment who designed our dream-mobile bikes and fix them whenever we break them.We would like to thank our families/friends who would have picked us up and taken us out for ice cream cones if we failed and our mission. We would like to thank our super secret support crew who sent us cheerleader texts all day. To the folks we saw on top of Laguna, who passed us on the climb up (with their car) but couldn't believe how fast we rode our bike up the mountain... Thanks, we were flattered. To the men on top of Laguna, who were convinced we were twins or at least sisters, Thanks we had a good laugh. And to David, his energy card, his slobbering dogs and enthusiastic "Shot Gun."