7 mile run in a snap

Yeah, weird. I haven't run in about a week, but today was amazing. My coach told me to stay in zone 1-2 for 1:20:00, but I forgot what made up my zones for running, so I was really in Z1 the entire time! Hence, I should have done 8-9 miles in that time, but it was good to go slow. I'm still building my aerobic base so slow is perfectly fine. Aside from that, I had my doggie with me and she doesn't do well past five miles.

I feel fantastic today. I'm not sure if it's a placebo effect from going on the South Beach diet yesterday, but for some reason not eating any sugar or refined carbs is definitely agreeing with me. I love the fact that they give me a meal plan and a shopping list each week. It's what I've always wanted. I don't like having to figure that stuff out on my own. I'll keep you posted on my progress:)

Blue Sky Bike Ride

Sunday was bike ride day. I met a new friend through the tri club and we met up at Lake Almaden to do a 33 mile ride through the South Bay. Gorgeous day, sunny and cool. As usual, the wind behind the foothills toward the reservoirs was present, but not as bad as it is during the summer. I can tell that my fitness has improved greatly over the past two years because certain hills on this ride that kill me, did not phase me at all yesterday. It totally rocked:)

Nutrition fair brings out students - News

My good friend Lawrence is working hard toward his MBA in Kinesiology at San Jose State University. He is diligent about enriching the lives of children and young adults by teaching them about the importance of good nutrition and exercise. SJSU had a nutrition fair this past Wednesday, March 21 and he was interviewed for the Spartan On-line newsletter. Here's a link to the article - Nutrition fair brings out students.

I even used my very limited HTML skills to create a website for him - Intro to Sports.

Why Lazy, Why?

People, I ask you....why am I so lazy? I can keep up about two weeks' worth of workouts and then it all falls apart. Hectic work schedules and tiredness kick in and I just stop doing it. Why must it be this way? After this happens, I takes another week to get back into the swing of it.

This is not very productive for me because I am doing ALCATRAZ and I NEED to TRAIN. The caps are not for you, my dear reader, they are for my own motivation.

I wonder if I can just get off my butt right now and get my swim and run in today. Yes, I wonder if this will happen RIGHT NOW! Okay, I will...but only after I comment on the blogs I've been neglecting - GreenPea! Your motivational posts usually work. I'm coming over right now!

Wish me luck, I need to get out of this house, it's a gorgeous day to be in the pool.

Saint Patrick's Day

Some days, on my way to work, I stop by a quaint little place called Lowry's Irish Coffee House in downtown San Jose. I always have a latte and a veggie bagel and reveled in the fact that it's a little-known gem. Lately, though, quality of food has gone down and I notice new owners. As if the obvious changes weren't enough, these new owners are not paying attention to even the littlest details. They speak very broken English and are not very friendly. So, when I walked in on Friday morning, they posted their St. Pat's menu and it looked like this:

Happy San Patrick Day. This weekend we serve:

Corn beef hash and eggs
Corn beef and cabbage
Irish stew with bread

I mean come on people! What the hell is corn beef and who is San Patrick? Let's put some effort into your attempts at business and at least try to make it look like you care about those of us that are rooting for cafes to stand on their own in a Starbucks world. It was disheartening.

What it did, though, is remind me that I needed to go to the store and pick up a beef brisket and veggies. This was the first time I made it but Les said it's the best cabbage he's ever had:) My gravy was lumpy - no surprise there - but it was still good.

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon

In December, TriCalifornia sent an email announcing the lottery they were going to hold for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon and I said, "What the hell, I'll sign up....it's not like I'll win a slot or anything." Welp, I won! I have secured a spot at this insane race and have been training my butt off, literally:) It's 92 days away and I have coached workouts going on.

Today, I went to Santa Cruz with the Silicon Valley Tri Club and it was an amazing day. We did a 1000 yard swim at Seacliff Beach and then followed it up with a trail run at Nisene Marks State Park. Then we had breakfast and headed home. It was the best training day I've had in a long time and I was glad to meet some new friends.

The swim showed me that no matter how long it's been, you never lose the feel for the ocean. I immediately warmed up - after peeing in my wetsuit! If you didn't know that little trick, you should seriously try it. Your pee is sterile and it's not gross if you don't think about it:) After about five minutes in the water, I got my groove on and swam my little heart out.

Today was a good day.