It's Hard to Fit EVERYTHING In!

So I am not going to try to excuse it.

 

I think I have wrote numerous times about how running is my Achilles heel.

It's not my fave.

 

As a teenager I owned, rode and showed horses and the only time I ran is when a horse thought he had a mind of his own and came after me.

 

no

 

 Yes, this would make you run......fast!

 

After college (no more horses), I tried to run, but it gave me a horrible headache. Thinking back, I probably was trying to run in after I woke up, after a night of clubbing and drinking.

I was in my 20s after all.

 

So for years, I thought running wasn't good for me.

It made me feel sick.

Ill.

Horrible.

Yuck!

 

 

Okay, enough of that.....

So when I slowly fell into becoming a triathlete, of course, with my history, running would be the last thing I would want to do.

 

I LOVE cycling.

 

 

 

And I was tolerating running.

 

Even when I had knee issues I worked through it and run...some.

 

 

When I started doing triathlons, I wasn't much of a swimmer.

I worked on it and worked on it and continue to work on it.

Now I am a swimmer.Don't critique this picture...it is NOT me.

 

So for the past several months I have spent a lot of time on becoming a better swimmer.

I will continue to work on it.

 

But now it is time to work on my run.

 

I have been running and I ran more this month than any other month is year.

 

I want to get faster and longer in my run WITHOUT injuring myself.

 

It will be like walking on a balance beam.

 

 

But that is what triathlon is about anyway...a balance.

It is hard to fit everything in.

And while it is easy to work on our strengths, we really should work on our weaknesses.

 

And what a horrible time to realize I should work on my weakness of running, when I am trying to get a lot of miles in cycling for the National Bicycle Challenge, The Tour Challenge and I love bicycling and it makes me a happy woman.

 

Figuring it all out will be my challenge.

 

Here's my stats for the first  6 months of the year:

Swimming - 38.796 miles (9.94 of them in June)

Biking - 1,635.8 miles (386 of them in June)

Running - 183.52 miles (36.822 of them in June)

 

Here's my plan....keep doing what I am doing until the National Bicycle Challenge is over....then more running, but not enough to cause an injury and keep up with the swimming.

 

Train-n-Tri

 



Crazy Tour Start and Riding My Own Tour of Sorts!

After Stage 1 of the Tour, my faith has been somewhat restored and I will stick with the Tour (aka - my boyfriend)this year.

While I am not necessarily convinced of my boyfriend's truthfulness about not doping, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

I am not sure, though about his friends....the people who are running the Tour.

 

 

 

 

Since this was the scene at the finish line just less than 15 minutes before the cyclists were due to roll in, I can only surmise that many of them had done drugs before this incident, or will now turn to drug-use after this incident to dull the pain.

 

Here's a close up....so either the GreenEdge bus did not read the warning sign on how low the finish line was, or someone put the finish line too low. Either way, someone is in trouble.

TROUBLE!!!

I bet they are trying to get a hold of some drugs right this minute.

And FYI - I am NOT condoning the use of drugs.

I recommend meditation, yoga and bike riding.

Oh wait, bike riding is what caused this whole ordeal.

Better stick with yoga and meditation.

So it went like this:

The GreenEdge team bus got caught under the finish line. The finish line was then changed.

Then there was a crash.

Then the bus became unlodged and was moved.

Then the finish line was moved back to the regular finish line.

Then there was another crash.

At that point, who really cared about the finish.

 

Johnny Hoogerland, who was hit by a television vehicle last year, throwing him into barbed wire and causing him to get 33 stitches after he finished the tour, was the first to hit the ground today.

He hit a barricade/fence that had been put up.

Ouchy!

 

But not as bad as last year.

That's a double OUCHY!!! AND he finished the stage before he got his stitches.

(HE IS ON MY FANTASY TEAM THIS YEAR!)

 

The second crash today was a massive pileup taking out a lot of the top sprinters.

 

 

Down went Peter Sagan.

Down went Mark Cavendish.

Down, down, down.......

 

So the question was - who would be left to sprint to the finish and exactly WHERE would the finish line be?

 

The stage winner was German Marcel Kittel.

You may remember him.

He finished....wait, he didn't finish last year's Tour.

He pulled out after stage 5 because of a viral infection of the stomach.

 

But on Saturday, June 29, Kittel was the winner of Stage 1 of the Tour.

 

 

 

 



And what a way to start the tour.

I can't turn away now.

 

 

Not only can I not turn away, but I'll ride the Tour, too....

in my own way of sorts.

 

I went ahead and signed up for mapmyride's Tour Challenge.

 

My goal is to ride every day that the cyclists ride....except for today's Stage 1.
Really, I had to see how the Stage went and how I was feeling about the tour all together.

And to be honest, until I saw two guys on bicycles hanging by wires over a river about 65 miles into the stage, I wasn't too sure that the fans were going to be able to hold me through the 21 days of racing.

The last 20 minutes of chaos was MORE than I had ever hoped for...so I signed up again for the Tour Challenge.

 

 

Last year I had set a goal to ride 25 percent of what the Tour cyclists did....544 miles, or 23 miles a day.

My intention was to ride EVERY DAY of the Tour, even on the pros' rest day.

I didn't quite make my goal.

I am going to try again this year.

My goal is to finish....even if I get the red lantern.



Don't know what the red lantern is?

You can read about it on my last year's blog:
http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2012/07/until-next-year-tour-de-france.html

Jimmy got the red lantern last year.
He's not in the Tour this year.

I am.

I haven't even ridden and I am already ranked.

kandi d.

OVERALL RANK

2636

RANK TODAY

0

OUT OF 12083 PARTICIPANTS

TOTAL

0

MILES

I love that some people in mapmyride's challenge have already ridden 150 miles today....MORE than the Tour cyclists.

Yeah, they probably didn't have a team bus stuck under a finish line to contend with.

Bike on!



Not Sure I Want to Get Back Together with The Tour

My boyfriend cheated.

And he did drugs.

 

I am an athlete and a coach/trainer and I have no patience for people who cheat or do drugs.

 

But my boyfriend wants me back.

He says he is sorry.

He is clean now.

It will be different.

 

I'm having a hard time believing.

 

He wants a second chance.

 

I am conflicted.

 

 

I spent some time yesterday reading my new BICYCLING magazine. They gave 67 reasons to love the Tour De France.

 

I want just one reason.

 

This may be the only reason that keeps me in a relationship with the Tour this year.

 

 

The Crazy Fans!

 

While the cyclists ride day in and day out trying to convince me to stay with them, to support them, to cheer them on...

 

it's the crazy fans who will keep me going these first few tentative days while I sort out my feelings, while I try to decide if I should spend so much time every summer on one that has been untrue.

 

If this guy can run up hill dressed like that, well, I can give the Tour one day of viewing and see how it goes.

If the fans continue to act this crazy, then I can at least watch the Tour riders on mountain climbs.

 

The Tour has one plus on its side - it is free to all spectators.

 

If grown men continue to dress like this, then maybe it's a lesson for me that I should never have taken the Tour so seriously; that maybe I, too, should see the entire competition as a humorous escapade.

 

I'll give it a week.

By then I'll know if I can really get back together with the Tour.

 

But there is NO going back if the fans change.

 

The cyclists may be Clean,

but if the fans are clean, too,

well, I think that will be a deal breaker for me.

 

I'll let you know our relationship status on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hot Run

It was hot today.

 

Even in the shade.

But I went for a run anyway.
I ran slower than usual, which means I was REALLY slow.

Why?

According to an article in Runner's Magazine, the slow-down happens because heat impacts runners at a physiological level by various means - dehydration, increased heart rate and reduced blow flow, and thus less oxygen to the muscles used for running.

Can running in the heat help me adapt to running in the heat?


Yes, but it takes about a week or two of heat exposure for acclimatization to take place.
After a week or two of running in the heat, my perceived effort should decrease. I should have a higher blood plasma volume, an increased sweat rate, decrease in salt in sweat, reduced heart rate at a given pace and temperature and a quicker onset of sweating.

Then I did a little more research and came up with an article that said it isn't the heat or the humidity that makes it difficult to run...but the DEW POINT.
The Dew Point?
What the heck is that?

The dew point is the meteorological measure that best predicts how horrible my summer run is going to be.

Okay, so the dew point is the temperature when water condenses.



 Some television stations use the dew point system to tell about their weather.

So the closer the dew point is to the air temperature, the more saturated the air is and the less perspiration can evaporate and help the body cool itself, resulting in extra stress on the heart and lungs as the body attempts unsuccessfully to cool itself.

I found a chart that tells how running performance may be effected by the dew point:

DEW POINT (°F)	RUNNER'S PERCEPTION	HOW TO HANDLE
50–54	Very comfortable	PR conditions
55–59	Comfortable	Hard efforts likely not affected
60–64	Uncomfortable for some people	Expect race times to be slower than in optimal conditions
65–69	Uncomfortable for most people	Easy training runs might feel OK but difficult to race well or do hard efforts
70–74	Very humid and uncomfortable	Expect pace to suffer greatly
75 or greater	Extremely oppressive	Skip it or dramatically alter goal

I did find a weather reading for Riverside for today that had the temperature and dew point. At noon the temperature was 98 and the dew point was 66.

Using the above chart, I can agree that it was uncomfortable.

Do I look uncomfortable? I thought I was smiling when I took the picture.

 

 I usually associate humidity with how hard my workout is going to be.


This chart shows the different combinations. I understand it better than the dew point.
My run took place today while it was 98 degrees and 35 percent humidity.
That put me right between the yellow and orange.
I like this chart better.


From now on, when I think of dew point, I am going to think of this -

This looks refreshing.

 

Tomorrow's forecast calls for temperatures ranging from 81 degrees with 49 percent humidity to 91 degrees and 33 percent humidity during my training swim and bike ride.

 

Caution and Extreme Caution.

 

I'll be in my air conditioned house drinking chocolate milk and reading a book before the weather gets to Danger.

 

 

 



Who Rides a Bike Without a Helmet?

"You need a helmet," I yelled at my neighbor as he rode his bike by my house.

 

He didn't hear me.

After he rode by I muttered to myself about helmets and assholes who don't wear them.

 

The second time he rode by I yelled louder.

No response.

 

The man has kids who ride bikes, for goodness sake. What kind of horrible example is he giving by riding a bike without wearing a helmet?

Oh, I'll tell, you - a horrible example.

 

 

The third time he rode by I yelled, "How many miles do you ride?"

Oh, that stopped him.

 

 

"Uhm, I only ride around the neighborhood," he said.

 

"Well, the mayor is going to ride with us Tuesday evening and you are more than welcome to join us," I told him.

 

He looked at me funny.

 

"From where?" he asked.

 

"From right here at 6 p.m.," I told him.

I was out watering my plants and I had a hose in my hand. I really had to restrain myself from pointing the hose at him.

 

"Okay, maybe I will ride with you and the mayor," he said.

 

"You have to wear a helmet," I admonished.

 

"Maybe I can dig one up," he said.

 

"That would be good," I said.

 

I think I will make my neighbor ride in the bike lane along with the mayor.

 

 

Put a helmet on and be safe...you don't know what kind of bike lane you will be riding in.

 

 Be safe...ride on!
 

The Mayor will be Riding His Bike on my Anniversary

He doesn't know it, but Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey will be riding his bike at Robert's and my 27th Wedding Anniversary celebration next week.

Oh, Mayor Bailey knows he will be riding his bike, he just doesn't know it is at an anniversary celebration.

 

 

We will also be celebrating TC member Shirley Jones and her husband 25th Wedding Anniversary.

 

Why am I spending my anniversary riding a bike with the Mayor?

 

Every Tuesday and Thursday when Triathlon Connection Riverside rides bikes along Victoria Avenue and other surrounding streets we all complain about the bike lanes in the area.

 

I blogged about some of the concerns in this blog:

 

http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2013/05/what-shame-riversidesan.html

 

I actually posted that blog on the City of Riverside's facebook page and invited the mayor to ride with us.

 

This was the reply:

City of Riverside, CA - City Government Thank you for sharing your concerns with us, Kandi. First of all, we sincerely apologize for your frustrations. Please report any unsafe materials (glass, debris, etc) to 311 (or 826-5311). You can also download a free 311 app which will make things even simpler. We will definitely pass your concerns along to Mayor Bailey and other departments. Please stay tuned to http://riversideca.gov/publicworks/traffic/bicycleprogram/ for upcoming projects and programs. Also, please join us on one of the Bike with the Mayor events around various parts of Riverside. They do not only take place along SART. Again, thank you for being a proactive member of our community!

 

 

My husband was worried that Mayor Bailey would accept my invitation to ride with us and I would change our regular Tuesday HILLS Yes! ride or our Thursday Flat ride to be "Down Central Avenue to the Riverside Plaza during Rust Hour" ride.

I can NOT ride my bike safely from my house to the Riverside Plaza to go the grocery store. There are 3 lanes and NO bike lane.

It's a mile from my house and I will NOT jeopardize my life by riding my bike to the plaza.

I want to ride my bike, but it's not worth it.

So, I bitch, bitch, bitch about it.

It's frustrating.

 

My first instinct was to do exactly what my guy was afraid I would do....have the mayor ride his bike from my house down Central Avenue to the plaza.

But I thought about it....

 

 and I will NOT jeopardize Mayor Bailey's life either.

 

But I still wanted the Mayor to ride with us.

I wanted him just to ride on Victoria Avenue in the bike lane.....and stay in the bike lane while he is riding.

(Truth be told - riding in the bike lane is sometimes as dangerous as riding on Central Avenue from my house to the plaza.....)

 

So I started my "ride with Triathlon Connection Riverside" campaign. After I posted my blog and invitation on the City of Riverside's fb page the conversation went like this:

 

Rusty Bailey

Hi Kandi, Just saw your message. Sorry, Tuesdays are council days. In meetings all afternoon and evening. How was the ride?

 

Kandi DeCarlo

We ride on Thursdays also. We'd love for you to join us.

 

(at this point I posted on facebook that I was Letterman and Rusty Bailey was Oprah.....Letterman tried FOREVER to get Oprah on his show and she always had an excuse why she couldn't make it....I saw foreshadowing.)

 

Rusty Bailey

Would love to. I usually need three weeks notice for any invitation. My schedule books up pretty quickly. Please contact my scheduling secretary, (I deleted her name and number).

 

Kandi DeCarlo

We ride every Tuesday and Thursday. I will call Jetta and work on getting our ride on your schedule.

 



I did call his secretary and it went like this (paraphrased)..."Hi, This is Kandi DeCarlo and I am with Triathlon Connection and we want to schedule our weekly ride on the Mayor's calendar. We ride every Tuesday and Thursday."

His secretary explained about Tuesdays being the council meetings and he is booked up way in advance, blah, blah, blah, but oh-looky here on his schedule he does have an opening on JULY 2, unless of course you are already booked up with something because it is the Fourth of July week.

 

Fourth of July week? I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking that JULY 2 is my 27th Wedding Anniversary and my guy is going to think I am CRAZY if I book the Mayor for a bike ride on that day.

 

Does this look like a crazy bike? Maybe just a crazy bike rider? I'd try to ride that bike.

 

But I am a crazy bike-rider, so I gulped and told the Mayor's scheduling secretary that JULY 2 would be perfect.

6 p.m. from my house.

 

Then I had to tell my guy what I did.

He didn't flinch.

I said we could just make it an event and have champagne and chocolate milk (the best recovery drink) after the ride.

and

Yes, Rinny can come on our bike ride also if she wants to. The more the merrier.

 

Robert embraced the idea of the Mayor bike riding on our anniversary (even though the Mayor doesn't know it) so much that my guy suggested we get a cake.

He is the best.

 

Then I found out that it is one of my training client/regular T/Th bike rider's anniversary also - her 25th.

So we are getting her guy on a bike to join in all the fun.

 

After all, we will be going slow, but go, in the bike lane.

 

Here's my recent FB conversation with the Mayor:

 

Kandi DeCarlo

So glad your scheduling secretary Jetta set the ride up for July 2....We are all excited you will be riding with us. No worries. We will keep it slow and keep you safe in the bike lane on Victoria Avenue. See you July 2 at 6 pm for a nice, casual ride. Message me if you have any questions or anything. Bring anyone you want along to ride. Kandi
 

Rusty Bailey

Looking forward to it. Will try to bring the family.

After riding along Victoria Avenue today I may even change my mind about having the Mayor ride in the bike lane.

 

 I couldn't ride in the bike lane through parts of our ride - too dangerous.

Ruddy.

Filled with water and dirt.

Places lifted up because of tree roots.

Overhanging tree branches.

 

I may insist that he ride OUT of the bike lane and in the street to be safe.

 

But while I am keeping him safe I want my bike riding friends to give him an earful about what the roads are  REALLY like in Riverside.

 

I want my guy to complain to the mayor (instead of me) about the grading and redoing of the road, but NOT the bike lane.

 

I want Lyn (aka Rusty) to tell how he does not feel safe riding his bike 1/2 mile from his house to the gym on Arlington Avenue.

 

I'll be happy to tell my concern that I can't SAFELY ride my bike from my house to the plaza.

 

I want my bike-riding friends to tell their stories and make suggestions.

 

And have fun!

And celebrate!!!

Celebrate love and bike riding and fitness and love!!!!

 

I have already been practicing my speech for the champagne/chocolate milk toast after the ride.

 

"Robert, here's to the past 27 years of wild adventures (wink, wink). May the next 27 years include health, wealth, fun, fitness and more wild adventures, including riding bikes on SAFE bike lanes in Riverside."

 

If you are in Riverside and you want to join us for the ride on JULY 2 at 6 p.m. from my house, we would love to have you join us. Just comment or leave a message for my address.

 

Now, what do you think? White or chocolate cake?

 

 

 

 

 



My Computer has a Virus and I Can't Blog

 

My computer has a virus and is at the electronics doctor to get fixed up.

I almost wrote that I can't blog while I am waiting for it to be fixed, but that would be wrong because I am blogging right now.

But it's NOT fun!!!

No pictures.

I have been holding off blogging so I could do a recap of the week with all my great pictures.

Since I can not access my pictures on my computer I am going to have to post generic pictures with this blog.

It may still be entertaining.

 

During the past week, while I have been waiting for my computer to return, I was so glad to be able to participate in a tree planting on the kindergarten playground where I was working for a teacher whose class I took over for the last several weeks of school.

 

The best part of the job was I got to work with my friend, Carolyn. She got the tree to plant!

And look what I found when I googled....

http://www.rusdlink.org/Domain/9

 

It's a video of the tree planting!!!!! Woot-Woot!!!

 

On Friday I had a great 1.5 swim followed by a 20-mile bike ride.

 

 

 

Picture lifted off of facebook of Shirley and Robert, after our swim and before our bike ride.

 

 

Saturday morning I led a 30-mile HILL bike ride.

 

Another picture lifted from facebook...(from left) - Barb, Shirley, Orietta (yeah she is smiling!), Robert.

 

Then everyone left....except my guy. He is the best training partner. He went with me on my 5.5 mile run.

Another facebook lift!

 

My daughter came to stay with us on Saturday afternoon and she broke the little toe on my right foot. It was an accident. She stepped on my toe. I can't show you a picture of my toe because I never put it on facebook.

 

I googled images of broken pink toe and the closest one to my toe is this one....

except mine is on the right foot.

 

I walked on it all day long at Sea World on Sunday for Father's Day. The DeCarlo crew took the Dad (Robert) there for Father's Day and also for a belated birthday present for our daughter.

 

This is my picture of Sea World that I posted on facebook. All the other pictures are not accessible. But we had a great time and I WALKED on my toe, I mean foot, all day.

 

Today I went on a 22-mile mountain bike ride around Diamond Valley Lake with Robert.

I managed to grab this pic off of my phone. It is small, but it shows Diamond Valley Lake. We had already rode 18 miles and only had 3 more to ride.

Riding 21plus miles with a broken toe is not fun. but doable.

 

My training plan says I am suppose to swim today, but I talked to my coach and she said it was okay if I swam in the morning and used this evening as recovery time by watering my plants and cleaning up my office and using my award from placing 2nd in my age group in the Encinitas Duathlon from 4 weeks ago that came in the mail today.

It won't be empty for long!

 

And I guess I can still blog with pictures even without my computer!

Train-n-Tri