no post-IM blues for this girl!

Hello blog world, it's me, Alexa.

I am alive.

This is my attempt to catch everyone up with the things-that-have-been-going-on-now-that-IM-is-over part of my life!


I am now 3 weeks post IM Wisconsin and life has been grand. I took 2 weeks completely off to be fat and lazy, and then last Monday, I started training again. Swimming, cycling, running - you got it! Feels great! Fall is the best time of the year to be training for the sake of happiness, well being, and love of exercising. The weather is perfect and it's so beautiful outside!

I also have been riding Cherry every weekend and I love it. She has been very well behaved (minus her pasture shenanigans) and has not been lame at all, which means that her arthritis isn't bothering her! That makes me so happy - it's a relief knowing that she is not in pain during daily life and it makes me feel a lot less guilty when I ride her.

Saturday I went to Mary's yoga class. I hadn't gone since March-ish (it's expensive and it's in a hot room so I like to keep it for the off-season as a treat). Wow.. talk about being sore. My abs and my arms still hurt and the class was over 48 hours ago. Combine that with sore thighs from riding Cherry and sore legs from running again and I am feeling achy all over - but it's definitely a good achy feeling!

I bought a new Blu Ray player last weekend that has built in Wi-Fi. So while I build up my BR collection (I only own 2 as of right now) I can stream TV shows and movies from Netflix and HULU. Right now I am working my way through season 2 of Mad Men!

I've seen some new movies recently - I went to see The Lion King in 3D last weekend with my friend Ari. I must have watched TLK at least 20 times when it was released in 1994 (I was 10) and I have loved it ever since, so I jumped at the chance to see it again! And then I found out that the Blu Ray edition is being released tomorrow, so of course I pre-ordered it on Amazon! I also saw 50/50 on Friday with Matthias and it was fantastic!

I am also reading "The Pillars of the Earth" which I am barely able to put down. It is super long - usually I am through a book in 3-4 days if I really like it (i.e. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books, the Hunger Games books, The Help, etc) but this book is so long (900 pages-ish) that I've been reading it for over 2 weeks and I am only 71% of the way through (that's what the Kindle tells me, anways). Highly recommended!

This coming Saturday.. I'm sure everyone knows, is KONA! We have our very own Travis Earley heading to the Big Island to compete which is extra exciting. I am planning a Kona streaming/get drunk/board game playing party in my apartment for Saturday afternoon. Is there a better way to spend the day? I don't think so! Hopefully it will end up being more than just me and Matthias getting hammered on my couch.

Anyone who is local that is reading this and wants to hang out in my too small apartment and drink wine and play Cranium with a bunch of tri geeks is more than welcome to come by!

lazy blob-girl off-season

My off-season = blehhhhhhh. I have been so so SO lazy!

My motivation is still MIA.

I guess this is the purpose of taking an off-season - am I right? To rejuvenate and get excited for next season. I think you know that it's time for the off-season to be over when you start getting antsy to train. That feeling.. is not there yet for me.

Currently, I feel lazy, sluggish, and a lot like the blob. Even with the accompanying guilt, I do not feel like working out. I have relished sleeping for 10 hours a night and clocking quality time on my couch. I do not miss the extra load of laundry per week. My cat is now even more clingy with me since I am constantly at home with her. (Although I will admit that I like when my clingy cat crawls all over me because I feel loved!) :) My appetite is FINALLY decreasing. My urine is no longer fluorescent yellow. My friends know what I look like again. My daily wardrobe has improved (slightly) from running shorts and a sports bra to jeans and a hoodie (heh). I am catching up on the 2 newest seasons of Dexter! I might have even gotten over my disgust of Gatorade that resulted from 238475893475 bottles of Gatorade being consumed from January through September! I still don't want to look at a Gu Chomp though..

I need something to fondly look back on in May/June and then again in August when I am at peak weekly training hours for the 2 Ironmans that I stupidly decided to register for. (I hear that Ironman year 2 with coach Mary Eggers is at a whole new level.. I'm psyched!) I need to keep in mind that halfway through my season next year I will be DYING for a lazy month of off-season.

If I were to keep training right through the end of the year.. I would be screwed for next year. I've been burnt out since Placid and if this is what my body and my mind need in order to get me ready for a huge (well, huge for me at least) year next year, then I'll be ok for a little while as a lazy blob-girl.. I might even secretly enjoy it! And potentially may carve a Homer Simpson-esque ass groove into my couch while I'm at it.

Cheers!

hot for Chrissie

The story of the hour is: KONA is this weekend! I am super excited to stream it on Saturday! I cannot WAIT to see Chrissie dominate! If you know me, you know I am a huge fan of Chrissie. I would go lesbian for Chrissie. I think that she absolutely epitomizes what every pro athlete should be like. This is a great article about the women pro competitiors at Kona this year. I wish I was going to be at Kona! Gonna have to get a LOT faster to make that happen!

My credit card bill came in the mail over the weekend. I am a little scared to look at it. IM Wisconsin is on it! But once I pay for that, I can concentrate on next year because I am done with big purchases this year. Anyone who regularly gets Christmas presents from me, expect a hug. :)

I have been.. moody for the past few days. I try not to make excuses for my moodiness because I think that everyone has the ability to change their own attitude (excluding people with mental health disorders). But my moodiness turned into a full blown meltdown today which was not enjoyable.

PMS + lack of sleep + an incredibly stressful night at work + no exercise + other extenuating circumstances = lots and lots of crying

I am fine now. Sometimes, I just have to get it out of my system. Sometimes, I just need to talk to someone and secretly hope they don't think I'm nuts.

It did not help that when I went to Wegman's to buy some food, they did not have my favorite pumpkin cookies!

Some of the things in my life I cannot control - such as work being stressful. It is what it is. Last night was so horrible (I was alone at work on an overnight) that at one point during the night after having to redo a test 3 times, I looked down at my hand and it was shaking, and I was sweating profusely.

Some things I should be better at controlling - like making sure I sleep on Sunday before going into work. It's hard to do when everyone else is out doing things, and I want to be doing things with people that I care about, but in the back of my head I know that I need to sleep. What usually happens? I skip sleeping and go to work with a sleep deficit. Takes a few days to catch up after that.

Also, my 2 weeks of mandatory rest after Syracuse 70.3 are up. They have been up since Sunday but I have yet to work out. I want to run. I want to go outside and run (not in the city) and look at the changing leaves and feel the crisp fall air! But.. it has been raining for 2 days straight here in western NY which puts a damper on my motivation to go running. I might even ride my bike this weekend if it is nice out! Exercise makes me feel good and it makes me happy. I need to get my butt MOVING.

I really don't mind getting out of shape during off-season. There is some push and pull when it comes to fitness and I understand that I can't maintain A+ fitness year round. However, I do have a gigantic fear of getting fat. I don't like gaining more than 5 lbs over the winter. I NEVER want to reach the point where my pants will not zip up!

I promise I will have some workout/triathlon/fitness related blog posts coming SOON! It's hard to do when I am not doing anything. I don't want to rehash this past season. It's over. Time to move forward.

happy Friday!

Off-season has done strange things to me. I have gotten more "housework" done in my apartment this week than I have for the entire year. This includes: laundry, cleaning, organizing old clothing.

Last night I dreamt about buying boxes and boxes of Powergels.

I actually sort of miss riding my bike, but I know that 10 minutes into a ride, I'd be ready to be done, so I'm staying away from it for now. Or at least my crotch would protest. What I should do is clean my bike because it got pretty dirty at Syracuse 70.3. My bottles of Powerbar Endurance are still on the bike and are probably pretty gross.

I discovered the joys of Lululemon Athletica yesterday at the opening of their new showroom in Rochester. Mary's yoga place (Breathe) sells Lululemon but that place intimidates me so I don't go in there. I hate wearing clothes. I REALLY hate wearing nice (i.e. uncomfortable) clothes. So what kind of clothes do I like spending money on? Athletic stuff. Enter Lululemon. High quality running and yoga clothes. AKA things that I can do my workout in, wear to Wegmans, wear around my apartment, go on dates in, etc. Freaking AWESOME!

FYI - my birthday is in January and I will welcome gift cards to Lululemon. Also, a powermeter and/or Zipp tubulars would be WONDERFUL. :)

Anyways.. happy Friday everyone!

activities of an off-season triathlete

Here is my life so far.

Day 1 of off-season: Barely make it through work because I am so tired. Lie down for nap. Wake up and eat pizza. Discover the heavenly deliciousness of Nutella. Watch movie. Go to bed.

Day 2 of off-season: Get pressured to start doing yoga. Resist pressure to register for Eagleman 70.3 next June. Do laundry. Watch NCIS. Talk to Kim about boys on Gchat. Go to bed.

Day 3 of off-season: Go to tattoo parlor to inquire about M-dot tattoo. Actually GET M-dot tattoo. Make attempt at cleaning disastrously dirty apartment. Fail at cleaning. Do more laundry. Go to bed.

Day 4 of off-season: Attend grand opening of Lululemon showroom in Pittsford. "Accidentally" spend money at Lululemon. Foam roll the hell out of still-sore hamstring. Go on cleaning rampage. Do more laundry. Watch The Office. Go to bed.

Day 5 of off-season: Has yet to be determined but there is a boy involved! :)

Just a little more about my new tattoo!! I stopped into the tattoo shop - called Tattoo Kamikaze - after work. I had a design and a color scheme all ready and they were able to tattoo me right then and there, no appointment necessary! It took maybe 25 minutes. Tattoos hurt but it really doesn't even bother me. Granted, all of my tattoos are pretty small. I'm sure a giant piece would be much more painful!

I forgot how gross the aftermath is. Maybe it's worse with a tattoo on a lower extremity.. I don't know, but it oozed for the rest of the night. Today it has pretty much dried out and has that nice cracked, desert look. But at least it's not oozing or bleeding anymore. I am only wearing one compression sock today because I don't want it rubbing the tattoo. The colors are pretty bright which I am excited for.. I can't wait for it to heal!

But yes, I have officially sold my soul to WTC.

But, it's the off-season baby!

Alexa vs. Syracuse 70.3

Just a little spoiler - Syracuse 70.3 won the face-off.

Saturday morning I had a carbo load pancake breakfast at IHOP with Solveig, Mary, her son Luc, and a new team member - Tim. I went home and packed up all my stuff and was on the road to Syracuse at around 11 am. First stop was the Holiday Inn in Liverpool to pick up my packet and hit up the expo. I finally bought the Ironman backpack that I have wanted since seeing it at Placid! I also bought an Mdot winter hat, a Syracuse 70.3 sticker for my car, a water bottle (I have a thing with collect bike bottles) and a Syracuse 70.3 long sleeved shirt since I did not like the generic tech shirt we got for registering. Then I drove down to Jamesville Beach Reservoir to rack my bike for the next morning. Then I headed over to Adam's, where there might have been some couch napping before we went to Mike C.'s for a great team dinner!

I met Amelia and Kelly C. at dinner and they are both awesome!

I was exhausted so we went to bed but I did not get as much sleep as I should have due to my own stupidity.

Up at 4:30, showered, made my nutrition, ate my breakfast, and hit the road at 5-ish. Good thing too because there was MAJOR congestion getting into the park (not so much when I got there, but they ended up pushing the start time back 15 minutes because people were still trying to get into the park). Amelia showed up and exclaimed "I left all of my nutrition in Kelly's fridge!" So I had a bottle of Gatorade that I gave her, and the girl across from me had an extra water bottle. So we hooked her up! (At least until the first bottle exchange). It was kind of rainy in transition but the air temperature was warmer than I expected. However, the water temp. was a lovely 62 degrees. Oh boy!

I ran into my friends Mary and Will (sister and brother) who do triathlon and came to spectate. I have not seen much of them this year so it was nice to catch up!

I got in the water just to get the shock over with. I peed in my wetsuit several times to try to warm up! :) Even though the race started 15 mins late, they managed to send the swim waves out a little more quickly than planned and my wave went off right as scheduled at 7:48 am!

Swim
The swim was cold. In the first few minutes I was feeling pretty good and then somehow I started thinking about sharting (not doing it, it just crossed my mind) and I was GIGGLING while trying to swim. Bad. So I had to force myself to think of other things. Then I got stuck between 2 other women swimming in my wave. I mean right in between them. I tried speeding up, slowing down, swimming crookedly, nothing worked. I could not get out from in between them and it was nerve wracking. Finally I lost one of them going around a turn buoy but the other one was there on my inside for the rest of the swim. I definitely swam wide. On the way back to shore I was struggling. I was swallowing water and my arms were tired. I just wanted to be DONE. My swim time was at least 2 mins slower than what it should have been.
Swim: 36:02

T1
I had a wetsuit stripper which was nice. The run to transition was LONG. I opted to not use my armwarmers which was a good choice. The run out of transition with my bike was LONG.
T1: 3:21

Bike
The bike ride was wet. Rain, spray from wheels in front of me, and fog were all contributing factors. Lots of fog - especially at the top of the hills. Oh, did I mention that I was wearing sunglasses with the dark lenses in? Oops. My visibility was not good during the bike. During the first 20 miles I felt pretty good. I spun up Sweet Rd. easily. I passed Kelly C. on Sweet along with a girl (I think it was her) that I met at dinner the night before. I saw Jason W. and Ultra Adam spectating at an intersection partway up the hill. I also passed Jeremy somewhere in there as well. I actually passed a LOT of folks climbing that hill. After about an hour of riding though, I was ready to be done. Good thing I didn't have a cell phone because I might have pulled the "hey come get me" trick. Yikes! The rest of the ride was uneventful, but hard. I saw a guy drop his chain and then somehow get it back on his derailleur without stopping. That's a neat trick that I must learn how to do! I just kept spinning my legs up the seemingly endless hills. I could NOT pee on the bike for the life of me until like 10 miles from the end. I can't pee unless I'm on a downhill and there wasn't a good one until that far into the ride! At that point, I really had to go so I let 'er rip. Gross and hilarious. I finally got back into transition frustrated and ready to be DONE. My legs were KILLING me as I ran into transition with my bike and I knew the run was going to hurt.
Bike: 2:57:13 - 18.96 mph
T2: 1:51

Running through an aid station to be greeted by Eddy & Adam

Run
The run was horrible. The website said "net downhill" but somehow, net downhill must equal mostly uphill. Everyone I talked to felt that way. Driving back to the race site afterwards there were some big downhills towards the beginning of the run but I did NOT notice them while I was running. It also went right down Erie Blvd. in Syracuse which is a major road with tons of traffic. I thought it would be interesting but turns out, it's not. It just kept going and going and going. I ran the first 3 miles or so at 8:30 pace and I was running with Becky Ashare who I know from some other races, but she was going too fast for me so I let her go. I also had to make 2 porta-potty stops to avoid something disastrous from happening. Then, I just couldn't pick up my pace. Every time I looked at my Garmin it said 9:15 min/mile. I couldn't budge it so I said f- it and just made it my goal to finish. My off-season was at the finish line. That is what got me through the run. I saw Eddy and Adam cheering on Erie Blvd. Ken caught me somewhere between miles 11 and 12 and that saved me. He was having a much better race than I was but by that point, everyone hurts. We ran together to the finish! I got my finisher's medal and found some teammates. I changed, ate, sat around chatting, drank some of Eddy's single malt scotch (WHAT?!) and then Adam took me back to transition so I could get my gear and my car.
Run: 1:58:00 - 9:00 min/mile

Total time: 5:36:27 - 20th AG

finished! um.. am I on crack here?

I have to say that the porta-potties at this race were REALLY NICE! They were carpeted. They had hanging things of potpourri or something to make it smell less nasty. They were decorated with a triathlon theme! Way to go porta-potty company!

Today, I am sore. And I am exhausted. I didn't go to bed until 11:15 pm and I could have gone to bed at 8 pm because that's how tired I was. I didn't leave Adam's til after 9 and it was a looooong drive home!

I want to take a minute to congratulate everyone for a great race yesterday! It would take too long to list everyone! I am especially proud of Amelia for racing a 5:19! That is a HUGE HUGE PR for her and I totally know how good that feels! She barely missed a Clearwater spot which sucks but I'm sure there is one in her future! :)

And THANK YOU to everyone who cheered for me! Other athletes, specators, and friends.. you have no idea how much it means to me and how much it can turn a bad moment into a good one when people cheer. It's just awesome! :)

So here is my analysis of my race. I'm sure Mary can provide me with some insight. I am both ambivalent and unhappy with how my race went. Is that weird? I knew going into the race that it was a season closer for me. I know I have been tired and unmotivated since the Ironman. I know that I haven't been running well at ALL and that I have been skipping at least one workout per week (usually a swim) and that is not normal for me at all. So I knew ahead of time to not expect a PR or even a great performance from myself.

Even knowing all that, I was still disappointed that I did not have a better race. I should have raced better than I did despite not going into the race fresh. I should have at least gone under 5:30. And it's my own fault that I did not! I did not execute well. I had a shitty swim - my fault because I have been skipping swims. My bike split was ok but this is where I totally ruined my chances at even a decent race. I was hell-bent on getting my bike split under 3 hours. In my brain the thought "you did Tinman in 5:16, you HAVE to bike under 3 hours" kept repeating itself. The bike course is not a fast one - at least for me. The first 20 miles I like, but then there is just a lot of gradual climbing with no downhill and I can't ride it well. If I had just sloooowed it down a bit, I think I would have had a better (at least less painful) run. Matt Kellman's wife Karin finished 2 minutes faster than me. Her bike split was slower than mine but she threw down an awesome run time. Better execution? Yes. Much, much better than what I did. I KNEW on the bike when my legs were killing me that I was screwed. Once I dismounted in transition and tried to run with my bike, I was like "ohhhhh f--."

So I had one GREAT half-IM this year, and one not so great one. Hopefully I will learn from my mistakes!

WELCOME TO OFF-SEASON! 2 weeks of absolutely NOTHING has begun!