What it takes.... February 2012
Just to kick us off, I'm moving Barb's post from the January thread:
Happy Saturday everyone! I'm in recovery mode on day 4 following my surgery. Doing pretty good. Sore, but good. I'm chomping at the bit, to heal and slowly start being active again. It has been many months, due to a torn plantar's fascia, so it will be slow going. But slow is good.
How is training going for all of you? What is new? It is rather quiet in the ladies' forum...
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Barb, I'm glad you are recovering so well, that's awesome!
I am just in head-down mode right now. Our robotics team had our first tournament last weekend, then we have this weekend to re-group and then next tournament is next weekend. The team spent 8 hours working on the robot yesterday, will probably do the same today and tomorrow. It's awesome to see them working so hard, but it does suck up a lot of time.
Robotics season will end Feb 28. Then I'm planning a Big Bike Week, then the following Sat. we leave for Hawaii for 10 days where I will just swim/run/laze on beach. After I get back, I have two days until my Black Belt confirmation test in Karate. When that is over, I'll have 3 months to IMCdA. Whew! In the meantime, it's the usual - homeschooling the kids, teaching karate conditioning, coaching swimming and triathletes.
When IMCdA is over, I will be seriously ready for summer vacation! So if I am quiet over here in Oregon, you'll know why.
Hope everyone else is having a great February so far. This is the first year my kids (12 1/2, 15 1/2) have been agonizing about Valentines day. Daughter (12) has a crush and is going back and forth about sending him a Valentine and whether or not it should be anonymous. Son (15) has a serious girlfriend now for a year (!) but they have been friends since they were 11. So he has been composing his Valentine letter. He admitted last night he's on his 6th revision. What a sweetheart! Last night he and I searched my photo archives for some pics of them together when they were younger. Just so cute!
I didn't know you were into Karate! I took a year of Shorin Ryu Shorinkan and would have continued on, had my sensei not moved to Phoenix! I have several years background in Japanese style Jujitsu. I would love to start in again with Karate, but it is hard to find a good instructor who knows what they are talking about, has years of experience, and is concerned about safety. What ryu are you affiliated with? Best of luck to you in your Black Belt Test!
Hawaii sounds heavenly. I've only been once, about 14 years ago, but Maui and Kuai were awesome! I didn't want to come home!
You are one busy lady! That is awesome! And, doing IMCdA! Take a deep breath and keep us posted when you can!
@Barb, I agree, it's hard to find a sensei and a dojo that are great, and a style that fits with your own personal interests and abilities. I took Goju Ryu when I was in my 20's,but ultimately, it's not a style I would stick with. I also studied Judo before that. Then there was a long gap before I found this dojo and a style that I would ultimately fall in love with.
Now I'm a black belt in Shudokan. In our dojo, the confirmation comes at the one year mark after you get your black belt. One thing I love about our style is that once you get to the advanced belts, it incorporates many other styles of martial arts. Right now, I'm learning Matsumura Bassai kata, which I believe was created by Shorin Ryu's founder, Matsumura Sokon. In various belt levels, we also learn jitsu, judo, and other styles and defenses. A lot of the stuff I'm working on for confirmation is jitsu (not my favorite as I have a couple of weak joints). For my 2nd degree, I'll be learning ten of the white crane kata, but other students might choose ten Goju kata or Shotokan kata instead.
I think I am doing well training wise this winter without any major injury. I wish I can increase my FTP more dramatically like others, but at least I am moving to the right direction so far. It's been over a month since I started Paleo diet, but I was a bit discouraged as I was not seeing much difference in how I feel/perform/recover until I saw my recent cholesterol test result. My HDL (good cholesterol) was increased by 43%! Diet is the only thing I changed from last year, so I guess that change in diet contributed to the positive results? I am not sure.... I think I might continue this path for a while with somd modification and see how I feel.
@Barb, I am glad you are recovering well
I'm actually just finishing up work now and had to log in to try to change my plan... but can't do what I want to so will have to send a note to admin and the coaches... long story short, I'm going to take a leave of absence from EN for a while as I work on my core stability and strength and begin my return to running. I'm going to work with Coach Al (pursuit athletic performance) on this and decided to stick with him for the season to be sure I remain injury free and hopefully get a lot stronger (at least make up for the losses/lack of gains from being injured for almost an entire year).
I suspect I'll have access here for the rest of the month, but just in case I wanted to let you know what's what... I've been strugging with the notion of keeping the membership for the last few months - the biggest reason to stay is you. This forum and meeting you all has meant so much to me the past 2 years. I can't imagine getting through my first IM without you - or through the random ups and downs of life without your advice and support... but at the end of the day, spending the money on the team isn't practical. I am on FB and I am friends with most of you... but just in case, please friend me: Rebecca Allyn (first/middle names)
You ladies really are an amazing group of women, athletes, and friends. And I cherish you all.
Robin, you rock, sister! Wow, wish I could get back into martial arts right now. I miss it a lot. And Yasko, don't worry about not getting into the martial arts just because you are Japanese! LOL! It is a risky proposition. That's how I broke my left leg in 2005. My training partner didn't throw me correctly, my leg folded up underneath me, and I landed full force on it, breaking my Tibia. Ouch!
Ladies, do take care, and anyone who is not yet friends w/me on F.B., please friend me and we'll keep up there!
Best of luck to everyone in their training and more importantly, in life!
Barb
I've been lurking and mentally talking to you guys - is that nuts? Well, that's what I do when I see the messages in my inbox. Sorry to see people leaving, but we all have to make the best choice for us at any given time. Welcome to all the new ladies! Here's a quick update:
Work has been great! Soooooo busy. I did, what ended up being four, segments for the local ABC affiliate in the last week. In the last one I ended up eating fried oreos, fried twinkies, and a fried snickers (OK - a couple of bites of each) on camera. I think they showed me eating the snickers - Way to go Nutrition Expert! :-) It was a story on food at the rodeo and, of course, the fried food is HUGE there. I also became a chocolate milk "expert" for Ironman races. I'm hoping to travel to as many of the 7 races as possible (Oceanside, Texas (I'll be there anyway for work), CDA, Lake Placid, Las Vegas, Kona, Arizona). We'll have to see how it works out with the work schedule. Seeing more clients. I really love my job!
Personally - I've been taking some time off after the Goofy. Doing NYC marathon then the Goofy within a month or two was a lot. I started doing Bikram yoga a couple of weeks before Goofy and have kept it up two to three times a week. I'm really enjoying it. I'm toying with the idea of doing Longhorn HIM in October. Also, we lost Angel, our fluffy kid, a couple of weeks ago. She had been very sick last year and we didn't realize how sick she was until the end of December (she was always pretty happy-go-lucky). She ended up going into kidney failure and we decided to let her go. Mr. Man is doing OK but he does better with a buddy. We have decided to adopt a 10 month old male Bichon puppy named Baker. Hopefully, we'll have him next week. We are going to lovely Comanche/Gustine, TX this week for a court hearing on Tuesday. My brother is contesting my Dad's will (Dad passed away last August). Hopefully, we can get that wrapped up this week and be done with it.
I'm starting to hanker to swim/bike/run. Ran once this week and enjoyed it!
Hope everyone has a great weekend and week!
Happy Sunday all!
Work has, as usual, been crazy. We put on a Women's Only Ironman Texas preview camp with Kelly Williamson last weekend. It was a blast. This week and weekend I'm working a tent at Shell Houston Open (PGA tournament) Thursday, Friday and Sunday. I'll be down at the Galveston 70.3 Expo on Saturday.
We got a new puppy, Baker, a couple of weeks ago. He is 8 - 10 months old and crazy! Mr. Man is a new dog having a buddy to play with all the time. We still miss Angel,but he is a welcome addition to the family.
I'm looking at doing Redman Half in September as my first Half. Considering signing up for IMTX in 2013.
I think I'm getting some plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I think it is related to the lack of support in my work flats. I've setup an appointment with a doc next Tuesday to see about orthotics for them.
Hope everyone is OK out there!
marian
bernardsville, NJ
Welcome Marian, you and I probably started around the same time in the sport, my first triathlon was 1986.
I hope you really enjoy your journey to your first IM!