Ironman... the long and winding road

"Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic." Tim Noakes

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." T.S. Elliot

7.30.2006

Cactus Fruit

Just wanted to share a photo that I made today :)

IMG_04933IMG_04933 Hosted on Zooomr

7.24.2006

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas???

I still have not had a lot of time to work out, train or get in the training groove :(. This does not make me happy at all, in fact it makes me very unhappy. As I said in the last post, I was really sick with a head cold/sinus infection.

Well, that lasted all week and part of the next and then the next thing you know, I am in Vegas for a Birthday Party!! I thought that it was fun, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking I need to be training and should not be here.

The hotel that we stayed at, had a gym and I was really happy about that!! I was looking forward to using it. On Saturday, I made it a point to get up early so that I could go down to the gym. My mother woke up before us all and as we were getting ready to go to the gym, she entered our room and stated that it was $20.00 dollars!! What the heck is up with that? Unheard of, the cheap motel down the street has a gym and you know how much it costs to get in? Zip, nada, zilch!! Plus, my mother was hoping for a coffee maker, which usually you think would be standard in a hotel!! Not in this one, we called the front desk and the person that answered was really snottie and said "Coffee Maker, we don't have those!!" Ok, again the cheap motel down the street also has one. Another thing, is our bedding was torn and the bathtub was missing the coating and it was rusted and down to the metal.



The bathtub did not drain and when the handyman came in to fix it, he put the hair in the toilet and left it there. Did he not hear about flushing, does he not know what that is? It was disgusting and I could not believe that he did that!!

Friday night we went to dinner in Mandalay Bay, it was ok, but somewhere else would have been better. After that we went to a male review, American Storm. It was weak and the choreography cheesy. The guys could dance, but some were not in to it and when they were dancing together sometimes they were out of sync. The music also blew out your ear drums and the smoke machine left your throat hurting the next day!! :(



Saturday was a bit more relaxing and we got to sit by the pool. (after our 2 1/2 mile walk that is :) ) I was not feeling very well from the night before and did not stay there long. We ate and then went to the Wynn, were I lost money playing slots and then went home to get ready for dinner. We went to a Moroccan restaurant!! The food was great and too much of it... We did not go home hungry. There was 2 Belly Dancer also that really knew how to move their hips... I thought I don't think that mine would ever move like that. After dinner, finally, I get to go home (to the Hotel) and sleep. I have not really slept in 2 days and I might be able to get in some winks before the people get back from clubin (those people would be my sister's... we came on this weekend get-a-way, because it was my sister's friend's birthday!!) One of them breathes loud and I am a lite sleeper!! So sound, lights, music keps me awake.

Sunday, we got to go to the Bellagio, I did not know that they had Dale Chihuly glass on the ceiling, it was awesome!!



But, we were not there to see that! We went there to see the Ansel Adams exhibit!! What an amazing photographer he was. I am really into photography. Hopefully soon I will be able to quit my non-motivating, stifling, dead end job and focus on that and take classes. I would like to learn how to use PSCS2 better and my new camera that my awesome boyfriend and son got for me. It is a Canon 350D I do not really like taking pics of people, just landscape/nature/the city. Those would be my gig. Maybe one day, just not today...

So what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas and so can our hotel!! It is one place that I will never recommend or stay again!! Drum roll please for our hotel...

7.13.2006

Sometimes life just gets in the way :0)


So as of today, which is the 14th of July, I have not ridden, swam or ran in about 8 days :(. I have some goals that I want to accomplish, but I am finding more and more that sometimes life just gets in the way!!

Last Friday, I rode about 33.5 miles and then on Saturday I had to stay home to check in for a flight. A flight?? Yes a flight!! My son was going to camp and was supposed to have been gone that Monday, the 3rd of July; things just did not work out. Why you ask?? Well let me explain.

It was the 2nd of July, it was a hot one out, I really needed a lemonade, but I got some ice tea instead. My son was at a birthday party at a water park that my sister took him to. No doubt they were coolin off in all that refreshingly cold water and getting sun cancer at the same time (even with all the sun screen!!). The rays are a killer here. While I was waiting for them to return, I got a call that they were going to go by the store and get some dye to colour my sons hair. This is something that he has been wanting for a long time and this year I said that it was ok for the summer, because his school will have none of that.

My sister and son returned home his hair partly coloured with blonde highlights and she was going to add red ones now. It was a bright red and looked like it could almost fade to pink in the end. It looked cool and he was really excited and very very happy!!!

Now, enters the villain stage left...

That night, my son's grandmother and grandfather (he is not biological mind you, usually in my family, family is family no matter if you are related or not!!) came over to pick up for the flight that was the next day. We had all his stuff ready and when they came to the door there was a big TA- DO about his hair. His grandmother was shocked and wanted to know why we did it? I told her it was because he wanted it. Now the villain ummm I mean grandfather on the other hand was very pissed off and angry. He started running the bags to the car and interjecting comments as he went a long "I can't believe you dyed his hair, he is not going to look like that, it is awful etc etc". Finally when they were ready to go, the villain’s last comment was "I am NOT taking you to camp with your hair like that, I will shave your head before you go."

My son looked at me and I told him if you would like to go to camp your choices will be to shave your head or dye your hair. My son, almost in tears reluctantly left. Immediately, I called my sister to see if there was a way that we could get him to Mt Washington, MA? My sister works for an airline and they might fly there. After talking with her, I found that they flew to Boston and that we could drive him 150 miles to the camp from there. (Hallelujah -- just think of that with music and repeated a few times)

I called to his grandmother's home to see what the decision was on the hair. She, sounding upset said "the villain (she really did not say that, but that is all that I heard) will not take him unless he shaves his head and your son does not want to do anything with his hair." I told her "that is fine and I will be there in a few minutes to pick him up."

When I arrived at their home, there was steam coming out of my ears and laser beams projecting from my eyes. If I could have melted the S.O.B., I would have!! I just looked at my son's balling eyes and said let's go, we will get you to camp. The villain stated " hey man (first of all I am not a man), I have a right to my opinion and his hair, that was just the wrong thing to do (second of all you have a right to an opinion...) to his hair." I looked at him with glaring eyes and made it perfectly clear "you have no right to infringe your opinion on how his hair will or will not look or be. I am his mother and what I SAY goes!! I was furious!! Not because I was going to have to take my son to camp, but because of the villains ignorance, infringement, scarring and down right disregard for my son!!

Needless to say, that my son made it safely to camp!! He is happily swimming in the enormous and very beautiful lake there. I on the other hand did not come out unscathed :(. I ended up with a bad sinus infection/head cold. I am sure that the flight helped to incubate it. It has lasted all week, fighting me all the way. No bike in sight, no trail to run and not a pool to swim in, but today, that will change slowly... I am going for a short ride on a MTN bike I think that I will surprise my boyfriend and join him for lunch and then this evening I am swimming with a friend. I am still sick, but easy is good and vitamins help also.

You know sometimes life just gets in the way, but it is a good thing and this time I would not have wanted it any other way!!! Villain(s) beware...

7.06.2006

The animals/bugs are going crazy...

Yesterday I swam a 1700.

I did -- drill, swim, pull, kick for a 1,500
then 4x50 build (on the min)

It was a good swim, a little crazy, because it had just poured!! and there were bugs everywhere in the pool.

While I swam last night all of the sudden a blob went by me. It was about 7 inches long. I stopped swimmin, looked around and there is was, a frog (could have been a toad, it was pretty dark, so I could not really tell which one). I thought "this environment is really no good for you" (there was a lot of chlorine in the pool). I took him out of the pool. As I was going back to my lane, low and behold, a teeny tiny baby frog about an inch was on the lane line. I removed him from the pool and placed him near the sand. Did not want anyone to step on him, because it would have crushed the poor guy.

I continued to finish up my swim for the night :) without anymore adventure...

then, today at work, as I walked in, there was a millepede on the sidewalk, I thought this very odd, because I have never in the 5 years that I have been there seen one. I worked up until lunch and when I went to lunch, there was no millepede. Which was expected. I did not think that it would hangout on the sidewalk all day. As lunch came and went and the end of the day approach, my boyfriend came to take me home. He told me that on his way over, he saw millions (probably not that many, but a HECK!! of a lot... at least 1,000s) of millepedes walking about. He said that they all seemed to be heading north?? Why, we do not know. Then after about an hour waiting for me to be done with work, we went to the car. When we went outside, it now seemed that some of the millepedes were veering off and heading back south!!

I have never seen so many millepdes in my whole life and especially at work. I tell you, the animals and bugs are going crazy. Must be the fact that we have gotten a lot rain (which I am sure they are saying what is this wet stuff, as it is a rarity here :)!! )

7.03.2006

Our 2 rides

Yesterday and today we went on 2 rides. They were short rides and it seems that our group is going to do well. The first ride was around the old neighborhoods where the houses have been redone and are lookin very beautiful. The one today, we went to see a man about a door :)!! My sister just had a security door done by Russ Mozingo. He is a brilliant metal crafter!! Check out his site... Arizona Metal Crafts . The door is awesome and she thinks that she might have a fence done also to go across her porch.

I think that we will continue to grow in our mileage and then get to a point where we are happy with hittin the pavement and goin 50 to 80 mile. In AZ we have to start early because dehydration and heat stroke are almost instant :) !!! Water is of the essence.

Our group I think communicates well and has a lot of fun. I am glad that we have started anew. I hope that everyone is well and has a happy 4th...

7.01.2006

New riding group with a slow beginning!!

Today we started a new ridin group. We used to have a cycling group at work with a bunch of riders. These riders while mostly respectful of one another, were mainly there for themselves. (not everyone, just a few...) It is the old saying "a few rotten apples spoil the whole barrel."

Our old group was not a cohesive one. Some would call it dysfunctional at best. There were people on a rides that would sprint ahead, fall back to the group, recover, and then sprint away again. All the while not helping to pull. Then there were those that would show up with an ipod and earphones. When asked to take them out or put them away, the answer was always "No"! Let me tell you, I do not want to ride with someone that is disrespectful of other riders. Then there were others who insisted on not stopping at stop signs. Now that is crazy, not only do we have the same laws as a car, we can also receive a ticket for blowing the stop sign.

A group of us decided this was not what we wanted to represent nor did we want to teach new cyclists bad habits.

Today was our first meeting :) !!

I woke up, jumped out of bed a little groggy and unsure of the time, I grabbed my phone and noticed I had missed the alarm. I then wonder at the time, as I did not want to be late! Fearing that I have overslept, I look at my phone and give a sigh of relief! It is only 5:30am. We do not have to meet everyone until 6:30!

I relaxed for a few and had some yogurt and then get ready for the days event ahead.

As my boyfriend, Shane and I ride over to the meeting place, I am thinking what a great thing this is going to be. A new group that is like minded.

As we ride up slowly to the ride start, there is one rider there. I am a little confused as to where(??) our fearless ride leader is? The guy who set this up, made this happen... Where the heck r u? I look at the guy that is already there, Alex, and he just says "I have done my lap around the build there is no one else here and this place does not open until 7:00am, I suggest meeting else where." He is concerned about not being able to have coffee or muffins... hehehehe

Shane and I ask Alex if he has heard from Jerry (a.k.a. Fearless ride leader)? NO, he has not. Shane and Alex decide that we must call him and give him grief!! My boyfriend leaves a message telling Jerry that he better be on his way, on the pot or in a casket(I am thinking that he is still in bed crashed out from the merriment from the night before!!). As we wait another 5 minutes, still not a peep from our fearless ride leader :( . Great now we have to think of a ride.

We all think of the vast possibilities and then go with the Rillito. The Rillito is the river path that runs along the Wash. It is a path for anyone and is well developed. It was a good choice.

The Rillito really keeps you on your toes, you find many perils: people to dodge, prairie dogs to avoid and lizards to skirt (there was one crazy(!!) lizard that ran between my tires all the while I was yelling "no do not go there!!")

While on the Rillito, our fearless leader decides to give us a call... he was not here with us and we all wanted to know why!! It was a girl. Wait a minute, a girl? What does that have to do with not being there? That was a Lame a$$ excuse and we let it be known!!! hehehehe we told him that he owed us and big, he was going to have to buy us all breakfast for the no show.

Our ride was a slow beginning, but in the end it was all good and so was breakfast!!