LIKE I NEED MORE STUFF

The crazy thing about triathlons, is that you have to have a lot of stuff... and frankly, as of late, I have been kind of anti-stuff.

For example, I try to take a pile of stuff to the Rescue Mission or place in a pile for our church yard sale in October. This purging of stuff has been occurring weekly in the Ellerman house because we are increasingly aware how little we actually need.

BUT - if I want to safely complete this race, event, whatever you want to call it in 3.5 weeks, I need stuff.

• I need a bike. Check. Had that for years.
• Bike shoes. Check. Again, been collecting dust in our basement and are glad to be in use.
• Running shoes. Check - although I may need a new pair and will go to my local running store this week and ask.
• Bathing suit and/or Tri-athlon suit. Now, I have bathing suits, but not one I could run and bike in (hello - chaffing) so I had to buy a new one. I considered the whole "tri-suit" thing but my body is just not built to wear a flimsy unitard in public. It's not. I promise. So, I now own a new suit, and a top to wear over the suit for running and biking so I can hide snacks in the pockets, and well, hide the body that is not built for a unitard.
• Wetsuit. I really think this is unnecessary but the people who claim to know these things, recommend one... and so last night I tried one on. Apparently, it was designed for barbie. No, not a woman who looks like Barbie, the plastic doll. It was teeny tiny. My ankles fit, but everything north of my knees remained uncovered. Ugh. so now I have to rent a wetsuit to wear.

Oh, and while we are discussing perfectly terrible images like me trying on a wetsuit at 10pm in my new bathing suit in my living room with cats and dogs watching in amazement, I would like for you to picture my workout last night.

Imagine my basement, typical unfinished basement. A bike on a stationary trainer. Me in my new bathing suit and shirt, bike shoes, socks, sitting on said trainer sweating like I am in a sauna, trying to peddle. How can a machine that is perfectly still, be so painful to ride? How can a bike that is not actually going anywhere, make my heart rate go through the roof? How can I still be so sucky at bike riding after 4 months?

Apparently, I haven't been doing it enough... and that is why the bike and trainer won last night, and I stumbled off in an exhausted defeated state.

So from now on, every night - 30 minutes on the trainer. At least maybe by the end of this I will suck less and be able to ride in this event. And, maybe, it is slightly less embarrassing to be riding a bike in your basement in a bathing suit and clip shoes, then it is to be wearing a wetsuit in your living room.

SUNRISE....

For any of your high school theater nerds like me (and I know a few of you are out there), what do you think of when I say "SUNRISE?"

I hope you think of "SUNSET." After all, we have all either been in or enjoyed more than one performance of Fiddler on the Roof.

That being said (and here is a link to a classic version of the song
)

I will no longer think of Sunrise... and Sunset.

I will think of SUNRISE - and snot.

A lesson learned today:

When one rides their bike shortly after the sun is up, and one is not used to such activity and that hour, or the speed of a bike when the weather is cool, snot happens.

Alot of it. It's gross. And I think, that is why bike gloves are recommended and used by professionals.

I also think I should have been prepared for this but sadly wa snot. Get it?

Even in the pool there are ways to gracefully take care of the "snot issue."
Runners also have their ways. But Bikers? How do they do it.

You sort of need your hands on the bike... and sudden head movements, jerks etc., are not encouraged. So how does one truly handle the issue?

I needed advice so I looked online, duh. And I am NOT, I repeat, NOT the first person to have this problem. There are blogs and blogs written about it. Numerous bits of helpful advice.

My favorite, written by FatCyclist.com, even calculates the amount of snot produced over his lifetime of riding. He, by the way, uses the glove and wipe on the shorts technique.

I am looking into alternatives, but for now think I need to get something to wear around my neck, like a little cloth I can use to help... or wipe the tears away when my legs burn so much I can't peddle any more.

I realize the easiest solution would be to not ride at sunrise, but basically that means I wouldn't be riding at all and that makes for bad training when over 2/3 of this competition will be spent on a bike.

So, back to work. I will keep you posted on my research and riding and let you know how the snot issue turns out.

FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Coffee with coconut milk (yum) - Spring mornings - My new baby niece Ginny - sappy movies - good books- Home-cooked meals - exploring new places - Asheville, NC - Fat Earl and Emma - The list goes on. 

Although I am not a shopper by any means, there is a store here in Roanoke that I would also count as one of my favorite things: Fleet Feet on Franklin Road. Locally owned and operated by a husband and wife team, they will take care of all your running gear needs.

A few years ago, my friend Christa and I took a running class through Fleet Feet, and essentially learned to love running.

We trained to run a 5k and have been running (aka, talking and jogging slowly) ever since.

My love for Fleet Feet however, does not end at their great class or the wonderful people who work there.

Yesterday, with large bulky heals and an ill-fitting suit on my person, I stumbled into the store complaining of hip pain from a recent run. "Maybe new socks or shoes would help," I shared with the store owner, Robin. 

Within minutes, Robin found the perfect pair of shoes. While I would normally run around the store or outside to ensure a perfect fit, my skirt suit did not lend itself to much running, or activity of any kind other than sitting at a table. Although I passed on the run, Robin did make sure the shoes were the right size, width, etc. 

We talked about sports bras, and socks, triathlons and running - and woosh, I was out the door with these babies: 

Sweet kicks, eh?

I will start counting how many miles they get. I hope they will not last the summer - which would mean I was training as I should be. These sweet silver and hot pink Asics hug my boney feet with confidence, making each clumsy step feel strong and solid.

I love these shoes. They are at the top of my favorite thing list and as I keep running this summer - I am confident our love will grow. Don't you think Julie Andrews would have been singing about these if she could have shed the clogs and slipped them on...

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens (see above kittens)... Girls in new Asics with sweet silver laces, These are a few of my favorite things..."

GOGGLE DEATH

I have typically referred to "goggle death" as the event wherein one's goggles pop off, leak or do not work  during a swim race, competition etc. For years I would watch team mates dive in, and squirm as their protective eye wear would move to their chin, mouth or fall off all together. It is not fun, and I would guess, most swimmers have known the panic associated with mid race goggle death.

The phrase however has new meaning for me as my favorite goggles literally disintegrated, broke, snapped and fell apart on my face while swimming last evening.

For years I have been singing the praises of TYR's socket rockets - sleek, light weight and oh so cozy on one's eyeballs, the socket rockets have long held my affection and praise.

This morning, upon realizing that I live in a small town where socket rockets may not be readily available, I logged onto http://www.tyr.com/ to purchase a few pairs of the world's best goggles.

14 pairs on the website - new sleek colors with metallic faces to shade your eyes from the bright summer sun.
Out of the 14 pairs on the website, TYR is OUT OF STOCK of 13 pairs. The only pair available for purchase is light pink with white straps.

Do I look like an 11 year old girl to you? (Rhetorical question, don't answer that please). PINK goggles. No self respecting athlete or pretend athlete would wear those, which is clearly the case since TYR can't sell them.

So Goggle death now has new meaning. Goggle death is what happens when your favorite goggles that have survived years of chlorine and neglect, die a terrible and traumatic death, and you are unable to replace them.

I can hear taps playing as I log onto another website in search of sleek swim eye wear.

WHICH KIND OF SWIM CAP IS BETTER?

Since we are starting at the beginning, with swimming, I think it appropriate to speak about swim gear.

Thankfully, swimming normally requires minimal gear. I am thankful for this because I lose stuff with frequency. I will spend at least 3 hours this weekend looking through drawers, closets and chests for my bike shoes, gloves, etc...When I have found them, it will take me another 30 minutes to find my keys, sunglasses and I will worry I have locked a cat in one of the drawers, chests or closets and will reopen all to ensure cat safety.

At least with swimming, you need very little and can keep it in one place.

So what is required? Suit, goggles and maybe a cap. Now I say maybe knowing full well that caps are required in most triathlons. Notwithstanding, if you happen upon a local pool this summer where folks are swimming laps, you will see that swimmers disagree as to cap preference and usage.

As I see it, there are really only three options when it comes to head gear in swimming:
1. No cap
2. Latex
3. Silicone

Option 1. No cap.
For women or men with Fabio length hair, option one is not great. For starters, holding back long hair underwater while trying to swim in a straight line is tough. Try it and let me know how it goes.

In addition, you will find that frequent pool swimming can cause green hair and significant hair damage. This is not a joke. By September most years as a child, my hair was often light green despite frequent washes with expensive shampoo called Ultra Swim. At the very least, caps will minimize chlorine damage and save you money on special shampoos and conditioners.

While a man or someone with short hair may be able to pull off no-cap training, I can't and won't start now.

So the question then remains, do I go latex or silicone for the next 4 month of training?

Option 2. Latex.
Latex caps are usually cheaper, thinner, and more likely to need frequent replacement. They come in many sizes and colors, and generally are easy to put on.

I heart latex caps. Their uses in and outside of the pool are really endless. You can fling them at people who are not looking. You can shoot them like rubber bands at the manatee floating in your lane and then apologize when he looks up, realizing for the first time you want to pass him.  You can also order custom ones that have American flags and your name so the folks at the local pool are tricked into thinking you are one bad (bad as in good) swimmer.

I know a cute 7 year old boy who wears his Phelps caps to practice, meets and sometimes to the dinner table when company comes over. I think his family and teammates are most impressed.

I therefore conclude that latex caps come with amazing benefits other than just keeping your hair out of your face and I recommend them without hesitation.

In fact, here are a few latex caps I recommend you buy, own, and wear proudly today:

For $3.95 at Swimoutlet.com, you can purchase the following vanity cap that speaks volumes to your teammates and or lane mates.

Want a cap with a very personal message? Team name, or mantra? You can actually custom order them at lovely websites like pureblueswim.com

In High School, we would pride ourselves on stealing other team's caps so that during the race, coaches and teammates would be most confused as to why the blue suit was wearing the Bolles cap, etc.

So there we have it. I support the use of Latex caps. They get the job done and allow a little creativity at the same time.

3. Silicone.

Now, on to silicone. When you think silicone, another image comes to mind. Something light weight, maybe even buoyant. There are folks out there who really like silicone caps. I am just not one of them. 

Frankly, I have a small head and they don't fit me well. In addition, they always make me think of the scene in the original parent trap where Sharon, pretending to be Susan, floats around in their California pool/ lake thing. She wears a cap that looks like this fine cap available on Speedo's website.  

So while I understand there are many who support the daily use of Silicone caps (they do last longer and keep your hair dry), I will stick with my cheaper latex cap.

Maybe just maybe, with enough flings of the cap, my lane mates will learn not to hog the middle.