Unexpected!

Ouch! Woke up at 2am with excruciating pain in my right foot, around the arch and top. The pain was sharp to the touch (literally tears welled up) and could not land on it without screaming. Took advil and iced it for a while, which helped it down to dull pain.

Have no idea how this happened, but I guess my 1st day of NYC Marathon training will have to wait!

I won't let delays cause frustration..wait  patiently with anticipation while taking care of my immediate needs...

Kinda humorous actually.

Sent from my iPhone

Quick Nutrition Stuff during Training Ramp-up Periods

Lately my training has been ramping up as I get closer to my Vineman Aquabike race... Just wanted to note some of the nutritional supplements I have been taking more regularly recently:

• Vitamin C - heavy loads of working out can weaken our immune system as our vitamins and minerals get depleted.  Don't want to get sick, and also V-C is known to strengthen your capillaries so I take them to not only keep my immune system strong but also to prevent frequent bruising
• Calcium - learned a good lesson from my fractured shin bone that I need to take calcium supplements, especially as I am getting older (egh)  
• Iron - fatigue from long workouts are largely due to iron deficiency, and my anemia already has me at low iron levels.  Gotta replenish frequently

Additionally, my diet has been even more strict, loading up on fresh vegetables and fruits and eating lean protein.  I have not had even a glass of wine in about 2 months and I feel great.  Sweets are limited to dark chocolate once in a while so that I don't deprive myself of anything, which causes me to binge at times.

Yesterday I managed to complete a hilly 65-mile bike ride (after last weekend's flat 60 miler), and tomorrow I am swimming 4000 meters...this is going to ramp up to 6 hours of bike riding (around 80-90 miles) and over 5000 meters of swimming over the next two weeks.  Kinda scary, but I am taking cautious measures to make this work, including having rest or yoga days every other day, allowing myself enough time to recover and rest between workouts, and keeping a very regular sleep schedule.  

Tomorrow I begin training for the NYC marathon (11/6) in parallel with the continued Aquabike (7/30) training.  Should be interesting to see how it all plays out together.  Because, I am my own guinea pig.  Happily so.

Team Luna Chix has Graciously Offered me a Guest Blogging Opportunity...

I'm excited to share with you that Team Luna Chix, sponsored by Clif Bar, has asked me to be a guest blogger for this month.  I joined Team Luna Chix this year as part of the LA Cycling team to encourage woman to participate in the sport and also to fundraise for the Breast Cancer Fund (http://www.breastcancerfund.org/)!  


My team holds two beginner-friendly rides every month and occasionally holds bike clinics to help women become experienced and knowledgeable cyclists.  If you are interesting in riding with us, go to http://teamlunachix.com/los_angeles_cycling and check us out - you will find ride schedules and intro to our team mates, and several blog updates about our rides.  


Anyway, here is the location of my blog entry:
http://teamlunachix.com/chixlife/chix_journal_entry/why_i_swim_bike_run/


Also, if you are interested in donating to the breast cancer fund through my team, please go to:
http://prevention.breastcancerfund.org/site/TR?pxfid=2290&fr_id=1151&pg=fund&et=KByeXBE9mHVknCn6-nRojg..&s_tafId=2345


Today's all about links.  

Raining Hard

It rained all night and it is raining now. For safety reasons everyone is reconsidering. I guess the report that today's weather would be better was totally wrong. I'm so upset. I thought it would drizzle in the worst situation, which would still be dangerous but at least endurable.

Watching the weather closely. Looking out and just hoping it would get better.

Sent from my iPhone

Lake Tahoe America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride - 72 miles tomorrow

I'm in beautiful Lake Tahoe.  It is rainy and cold (in the 40's).  It is said that this weather will continue tomorrow, combined with thunderstorms.  


Drove from LA, which meant driving 6.5 hrs to San Francisco, stayed over night with friends (and slept very poorly) and then drove another 4 hours in the pouring rain and traffic (stressful!) to Lake Tahoe, as fatigue and my pre-existing cold system only got worse along the way.  So easy to just set myself up for discouragement.  


Cold and rainy means stiff muscles and dangerous road conditions.  I am quite fearful of the worst things that could happen, as this course includes quite steep up and downhills.  On a wet, slippery road, one must caution BIG TIME especially on downhill turns.  


As i am about to go to sleep, I try to calm my mind not to worry, put my faith forward and just do my best to be safe out there and not get arrogant.  I do the best i can, I stay thankful that I have made it here safely and I get to ride along one of the most beautiful lakes in America.  I am tempted to back out without even trying.  So tempted.  But I will not.  


I will start.  I will put on my cycling gear, rain gear, put together my nutrition and hydration package (it's a production!) and just start.  And then deal as difficulties come - and enjoy as I ride with friends and appreciate the scenery.  I will not let fear of the unknown, or the illusion of what could go wrong, stop me.  I will remember that I am not just doing this for myself, but to those who have not yet started their adventure into healing...and I pray that my attempt tomorrow will encourage you a little more to start your path to less pain...and ultimately an awesome life that we are all supposed to live.


It's June and there is snow all around me!  Unbelievable!  


Unless is torrential downpour, I'm going to start this!  Let's go (..to bed, for now)!

**Catching up**

I’ve been off the radar for a while.  Training has been pretty consistent, I don’t think I have much to report on that right now, just working towards the Vineman Aquabike race in July (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike).

I started writing today because I have been feeling very humbled lately.  It started with a wonderful note from one of the readers, who left me a comment saying that he completed his first triathlon recently, and that reading my blog helped.  Wow – how can I take credit for someone’s amazing accomplishment!  I’m so happy for that person, and I am just floored by his endeavor and congratulate him on starting a new chapter of his life.

I’ve been thinking – victories are great.  Recognitions like this are great, and I feel pretty proud of myself sometimes.  But, what about some of the not-so-victorious days?  What if I never got any recognition for what I did?  What is my true motivation for blogging about my battle with my condition?  Am I truly helping those who feel hopeless when it comes to getting out of the vicious cycle?

Lately I have been focusing so much on my victories, what I did well, and what I did right, etc… but I ignored my struggles of not doing well, feeling defeated, facing confusion and pain… I don’t think I was identifying with myself anymore in this blog!

Maybe I got arrogant – as if I’m this can-do-it-all-by-myself endurance athlete, only going for the wins but not counting the losses, not appreciating how I got here, but only remembering that I am here right now… I know I don’t dwell on weaknesses and negativity, but perhaps I’ve become insensitive to what others are going through, or even sometimes very insensitive to what I’m going through when things are rough!  I feel like I haven’t even been allowing myself to be weak, in the pursuit of perfection (my biggest personality flaw).

I’m wondering if my recent entries have become almost too distant for other fibromyalgia patients to identify with – I discuss of no struggles and no questions, I just always seem to be doing the right thing and I’m feeling great and I’m doing great and I’m doing these crazy workouts… kinda lame.

Arrogance and complacency is what eventually catches us by surprise, I think – just when I think I am doing great and my health is at its peak, if I don’t stay humble and cautious, I could just go back to where I started.  I still need to eat right, exercise regularly, keep a healthy sleep schedule, and not overextend myself.  Once the cycle is broken, then things start going off track… I don’t want to go there.  And thankfully, I have such wonderful people doing amazing things that leave me very encouraging messages to make sure I don’t go there.  Because they remind me of how it all got started.  How hard it was the first time.  But what it means to have gotten there. 

At this stage in my experience with training and racing in endurance races, it is so easy to get wrapped up in meeting the training goals, performing well, staying strong, etc… but today I’m remembering why I’m doing this in the first place.  It’s not about the race, or kicking butt, or boasting about my personal victories…it’s about sharing my experience with the pain, and how I lessen the pain…and how we can all do so by making small changes.  I’m just a guiney pig to prove that even the hard-core exercising is not harmful for my condition, so that some of you can start enjoying a nice walk, a nice stretch and a better life. 

I didn’t do this all by myself – my life as a triathlete started only because I was in so much pain and misery for so long, that I had no choice but to desperately pray and ask what I was supposed to do to turn my life around…and I was gifted with a vision of crossing that finish line once again.  I cannot possibly take credit for all this…  it was a gift.  And I promise to keep sharing this gift with you, so that it helps YOU, not fulfill my own ego. 

Ok, with that said – 72 mile bike ride coming ahead this weekend in Lake Tahoe … it’s going to take me a long time to finish this as I’m only trained so far for maybe 55 miles, and that is a stretch.  But I will do it with joy and gratitude!