The Cone of Shame!

Just a little humor on how I have been feeling of late.  Oh, and go see UP at the movie theater.  It is another fantastic movie from Pixar.

Liz

Trying to catch up

Sorry for not posting sooner.  Sorry for no pictures.  Sorry for the post short on details.  Sorry for little excitement.  The past week has been filled with ups and downs and the ups have been great and the downs have been...well, not up.

Last week I was very excited to have Johnny Tri as my house guest and to have him as part of my support team in Austin for my Team in Training group's race at the Capitol of Texas triathlon.  In my excitement I ended up dropping the ball on a few things and was not being a very good host.  I feel like crap about it.  

My TEAM did very well in Austin at their race and everyone finished.  Again, in my excitement and focus to make sure everyone had a good time, I dropped the ball again on a few things and came across looking like an idiot.  I feel like crap about it.

My kid did very well at his swim meet last week and qualified for invitationals in a few more events.  However, he was caught stealing a box of candy out of the snack bar with another kid on the team.  The swim team board has threatened to kick him off of swim team if he has another incident of any kind and he will be excluded from invitational.  I feel like crap about it.

I went to the allergist to debate about why I need to be taking the allergy shots if they do not seem to be helping and instead they are draining my wallet.  He told me that because I was not taking my asthma medicine that I have not gotten any better and that if I refused to take my asthma medication then they had to discontinue working with me.  I have not been taking the medication because El Esposo did not want me taking any drugs.  I agreed to take the medication to be able to still take the shots.  I feel like crap about it.

I have not gotten any training in this week.  I feel like crap about it.

I am way behind in organizing the kid's triathlon that is in a month.  I feel like crap about it.

I do not have a very high opinion of myself right now and feel like I should crawl under a rock.

I have a card that sits on my bedside table that says,"The better you do, the more they expect." How true that statement is.  If I was a ditz, people would have blown off some of this stuff.  But since I am not a ditz, each small error stands out like a huge wound.  And it takes time for wounds to heal.  They fester and ooze.  They scab over and look ugly.  They leave a scar.  Everyone remembers it.  It will be pointed out again later.  I feel like crap about it.  I don't think that my apologies and my remorse for my shortcomings as a friend, coach, parent, patient, race director, and athlete has been accepted from others and I find that to be very painful.  I know that things will get worse before they get better so I am ready to keep my mouth shut and hang on for the bumpy ride.

Liz

Super Busy!

Sorry for not posting or reading other blogs of late.  This weekend is the Capitol of Texas Triathlon and I have been getting my athletes all ready to go.  We had a sprint distance race last weekend with some spectacular results.  My son also had a phenomenal swim meet last Saturday that I will have to report on.  I have a super special house guest right now, my buddy Johnny Tri!  I have done some big workouts.  Now I have to get everything packed to leave for Austin, TX in the morning and to be "Coach" for 24 athletes as they finish their first Olympic distance triathlon.  

Hang in there for more photos and fun details,

Liz

This is what I saw on my run this morning...

So what did you see on your run???

It has been a busy week. My TNT group had their last BIG training before the Capitol of Texas Triathlon on Memorial Day. We had our BASS AKWARDS training day. We ran for 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back in, biked 40 minutes out and 40 minutes back in, and then swam a good 1500 M in a lake. We finished it off with a picnic complete with hamburgers and hot dogs. Nothing like a hot dog at 10 am in the morning! I think that they are ready. There are a few that are going to be the last ones to cross the line before they shut the timing clock off, but their goal from day one was just to finish.

After the training, I took Buddy downtown to go see the Art Car Parade. It was HOT but the cars were fun to look at. I am trying to convince El Esposo that the ugly "medical scrubs" green Dodge truck that is sitting in our driveway could be put to good use as an art car. At least it would be more fun to look at each morning when I leave out the back door. Here are a few of the highlights. There were some other really cool cars, but I have tons of pics and not enough space here...

The scales on the snake are all pennies.

It is the "I Dream of Jeannie" car!

Lots of painting on this one...

The Rubber Chicken Car!

The Wiener Dog Car!

Here is a bike you won't see at your next race.

Mother's Day was uneventful mainly because I woke up with a splitting headache. I felt horrible at church and we scrapped our plans to go to the Aquarium for brunch and just stayed local and went to a Texas Land and Cattle. I did not feel like eating but I put a smile on my face. The boys went off and did something while I crawled back in my pajamas and went back to bed. I only got out of bed to crawl to the sofa and watch the Houston Rockets beat down the LA Lakers. Of course Kobe got mad and had to "teach us a lesson" on Tuesday and the Lakers shamed the Rockets with win by 40 points. Was that really necessary??? Game six is tonight. We shall see what happens now that the game is back in H-Town.  Dr. DeWalsh said I had some embrocations in my neck and the facets were all jammed together causing all the pain.

I have found a new treat! Last week at the grocery store I was headed down the aisle with all the breakfast cereal. I have not had cereal in a long time with this whole gluten intolerance and milk allergy thing that I have been dealing with. I have found that I really like the Rice Dream enriched rice beverage. It has the same consistency of skim milk unlike soy milk that is as thick or thicker than whole milk (ugh!). So as I am picking up a box of frosted mini-wheats for the kid, I spy a new box on the shelf...Chocolate Nirvana!!! I was so excited and I was not disappointed when I got the box home and opened it up for a sample. It was just as tasty plain as it was with the Rice Dream. Well, after a few days of savoring my Chexs, look at what dropped out of the box and into my bowl...

WTF is that??? 

After a little dissection with a knife, it proved to be a rogue lump of the cocoa powder that found it's way into the box. So much for quality control. I trashed it before the kid got a look at it and wanted to give it a taste.

Ok, the 12 mile run is done. I had my recovery smoothie. It is now time to head to the pool and get my 2500 yds done. After that I have errands to do and stuff to pick up and move for the carpet guys who are coming tomorrow. Being sick was a kick in the pants and the back stuff did not help. I felt slow and worthless in the pool on Tuesday and the run this morning was tough. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that when I headed out at 9 a.m. it was already 84 degrees. I hope I don't look like a floating log at the pool. One of the kid's swim coaches is doing Buffalo Springs with me in June and all I need is for Coach Alan to comment on my bobbing skills today.

The Silverlake Sprint Triathlon is this weekend and I get a BIG TREAT next weekend. I will be dropping hints.

Later Gators,

Liz

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

I would not be a good Mexican-American if I did not take time to recognize today...





And from now on, instead of using OMG in your text messages you are now required to use ADM which stands for "Ay Dios Mio!"

Enjoy a bowl of menudo today!

Liz

Weekend in review

Pork, it's what's for diner! Poor Paris Hilton thought you could get swine flu through eating pork. No dummy it is from kissing those pig-headed men you date!

Here are some good times from our TEAM transition practice on Thursday. Everyone got a chance to live the horror, oops, I mean fun of getting to make a fool out of themselves to the sophisticated roadies over at the bike loop at the park and to work out the kinks before this weekend's race.

Little do they realize how much fun this is going to be!

First off, 15 pushups to get the arms nice and tired...

Then spin around 5 times to get good and dizzy...

Then sprint to the bike rack and go through T1...

Run out fast like a bolt of lightning...

Get over that mount line...

Get watched by your fellow TEAMmates...

Well, I have my voice back but it is still weird sounding. I have a cough that is not fun. It is that cough you get when you are trying to clear something out of your throat and nothing happens. It is that dry and kinda painful cough. The medication seems to be working so it is back to the gym in the morning.

On Saturday I was in The Woodlands to watch a bunch of my TNT Tri TEAM have a go at the CB&I Triathlon. The weather was warm and humid but at least the sun stayed behind the clouds until the awards ceremony. TNT buddy Terry came in second place in his age group. Yahoo Terry! The big news is that one of my Tri guys Erik came in second place in the Clydesdale category! Erik is 203 lbs. and stands at 6' 3". He is a fast cyclist and a super fast runner. I am debating on letting him loose the three pounds he want to loose before Cap Tex or to keep him at or above 200 pounds so that he can race as a Clydesdale where the competition would be stiffer in his age group and possibly better as a Clydesdale. And I have to get him to buy a transition bag. He rolled up to body marking with his gear in a plastic grocery sack and stuff was falling out of it.

Erik got a Timex Headsweats hat and a nice metal water bottle for his podium finish.

I went and saw WOLVERINE yesterday with the family. IT WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME!!! If you have not seen it yet or you did go see it and left right when the movie ended, you don't want to miss the zinger at the end of the credits. Can we say SEQUEL??!!??

Here is Buddy doing his Wolverine impression at the local pizza joint after the movie.

Today I got up early and led a group of the TNT Tri TEAM out to Chapel Hill, TX for a hilly bike ride. Not 5 minutes after we got to Chapel Hill, the muggy 74 degree weather turned to drizzly 67 degree weather but the TEAM soldiered on. I drove SAG and helped out a few people on the Houston Tri Club's ride and picked up one of my own when she made a wrong turn on the route and got her back with the group. They all said that the hills were tough but that they really needed them. We got back in to town and stopped at a local grill for Sunday brunch.

I went with the family down to the University of Houston for the annual Offshore Oil Technology Conference's Crawfish Boil. YUM!!! For those of you up north, yes, we consider crayfish a delicacy in the south. They are only available for a few short weeks each April and May and if you are lucky, you can attend a crawfish boil every weekend if you plan it right. Yes, you only get a little piece of meat out of each "Mud Bug" but it is totally worth all the work. My dream dish would be Crawfish Enchiladas. Enchiladas are tough enough on their own to make just because it is so work intensive. Add the job of shucking crawfish and the task of making the dish can take a good majority of the day of hard labor.

Well, that is about it. Hopefully after a visit to Dr. D in the morning for the back I can start to get back to training again.  More pictures of today's ride tomorrow or the next day.

Later Gators,

Liz

Trying to learn sign language...

Well, after our wonderful weather in Houston earlier in the week the tree pollen, mold, and grass pollen was off the charts.  Since that is the stuff that I am very allergic to, I had some nasty nasal congestion and sinus issues going on.  I did not want things to become bad so I started in on some Zycam after my noon class on Wednesday when my voice started to get all raspy and cracked from the sinus drainage.  

Yesterday after having a Transition Clinic for

 my TNT peeps, I totally lost my voice.  I can only talk in a whisper.  I had to cancel all my Pilates and personal training clients and cancel my noon class because they would never hear me and I don't want to give anyone something I may have.

I went to the doctor's office and they have given me a prescription for Levaquin to wipe out the bacterial gunk that is hung up in my throat and another bacterial infection that I have.  It is not in my head or in my chest which is good but I am still coughing up tiny bits of green gopher goo.  The doctor said my voice went AWOL from the sinus drainage.  I have no fever and no aches so other than the crazy annoying French mime act I will be doing for the next few days I am pretty good.

Oh, the back started feeling better yesterday evening.  Dr. D did some more work on me and it has been helping.  It feels good today, but I am going to follow his advice and lay low on the training through the weekend with this bacterial infection and heal up.

The HOUSTON ROCKETS WON!!!  Now it is on to play the L.A. Lakers.  I have been told that Houston is going to get their shorts handed to them but we shall see.  In Houston, We Believe!

Later Gators,

Liz