Go Mommy Go!

Okay, so I was feeling a little post race depression.  I had been trying to find a full Olympic triathlon to complete, because my recent Lonestar "DU" experience is not working for me mentally.  LOL  I just felt like I had put so much time into training, not being able to execute was eating me from the inside out.

Hubs knew it was coming too... he knew that I would have to find another event to make-up for this one.   He and Cassie have both been so good with helping me meet my goals.  I don't want to seem selfish going further. That said, after a brief discussion this morning and laying down some conditions for my coaches that will help me balance family and trining more, I've gone and done this...

Yeah, it rhymes with deadman... that makes it even more of a challenge.  This is now the blog of a future 70.3 athlete!  :)



Hmmm, maybe this is the more "aggressive" behavior that side affects packet mentioned.  So now I get the chance to swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 …

Went to the doc yesterday... FINALLY got some answers.

It is definitely Hyperprolactinemia.  The good news is, it is not being caused by a pituitary tumor. 

I started treatment last night with Cabergoline, a (generic) dopamine agonist, which is supposed to reduce the Prolactin level in my body.  You have to build up to the full dosage because of the "lovely" possible side effects, so I started with 1/2 of a .5 mcg once a week.  Doc says that the way he implements it, very few of his patients have problems.  Here's hoping.

Been looking for info on treatment and found an interesting study on weight loss when taking the same drug.  It seems logical.  After all, my body thinks it is pregnant without having the actual miracle of life inside me -- lower levels of Prolactin will tell my body, "Nope... no baby in here!  Escape "maternal survival" mode."

I know this whole thing sounds crazy.  I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't experience it. 

Oh…

So where do I start?  My weekend started Thursday night with packet pickup.  Seems like choosing to go Thursday was the best bet.  Lines and wait time on Friday were terrible from all the frustrated texts I was receiving from friends who were also competing. The expo was a little disappointing for those doing the Sprint and Olympic distances because it was ALL Ironman and 70.3 merchandise.  The IM folks didn't allow local vendors, so the expo was really lacking compared to previous years.  I always looked forward to seeing what I could find/buy a the expos.  There's no way I would ever sport an M-dot or 70.3 designation without having done it.  I even carried my packet pickup backwards because it had a huge M-dot on it!  My friend Mel says Ironman is trying to turn M-dot into the same thing as the Nike Swoosh -- and that's just sooooo not right to any Ironman finishers out there.

On Friday I had taken off from work.  Took my 20 minute easy run -- it was fine.  Legs still d…

I am so excited for tomorrow.  I'm pretty certain the rain will have moved out by then, but you never know.  Always expect the worst and you can't be let down.

Yesterday I had a quick swim at Anders to check-out my new Wetsuit.  It is perfect! As perfect as I'm going to get right now.  Whew!  What a relief.

Went to packet pickup last night and that was a little disheartening.  The Ironman franchise essentially bought the race from the Race Director last year, though his group is still involved.  I'm not happy about it.  It's like the Olympic and Sprint distances are after-thoughts now.  It's all about 70.3.  More power to those Half'ers.  I respect them for sure, but everyone has to start somewhere.  The expo was so sad; not one thing there for anyone doing less than the 70.3 distance.  Guess that's good.  I didn't spend any money!

Someone also said, "Don't be surprised if the drop the Sprint and Oly all together next year."  That'…

What was it Buttsy said? Oh yeah... "control" my emotions and "keep it together."

Not so much last night at trackwork. :(

All I had were 2 simple 1 mile repeats at my half-ironman pace (I know I'm not doing a half ironman, but we determined and use that pace for training purposes).

I got to the track, did my warmup and proceeded with the first repeat. My time was 14+. That's 14 minutes for 1 mile. My 1 mile repeats are generally between 12:15 and 12:25. Not fast, but for me, fine.

When I looked at my watch I was like, "WTF?" I was huffing, puffing, breathing like a horse, but I wasn't getting anywhere. I couldn't hit my pace for the life of me. I thought, "the second will be better." Yeah, but by 3 seconds, and still 14+.

Shit!?!

Of course my head became filled with negative thoughts.

1) What have I been doing since December? Have I been wasting time for 4 1/2 months?
2) Why am I such a shitty runner?
3) I'm not going to b…

The tapering has begun. :)  In 5 short days everything I have been working for since December will come to be.  I know that with the way I'm talking about it sounds like I have just trained for a half iron or more, but training for the Olympic, starting from where I was, balancing home and work life was a challenge for me and my family.  I'll be looking forward to maintaining what I've built up and doing just a couple races the remainder of the year.  Right now I just have plans for Silverlake and Clear Lake International... nothing else until I start training for the Chevron Houston Full Marathon.

My original goals for the weekend were to take my best, swim, bike and runs from last year and beat those times... just to show some improvement.  The closer I get to the race, the more I realize I am likely to finish well below my original time of 3:52, and could conceivably finish around 3:32 -- much of this depends on the run and bike and, not to mention, weather conditions f…

1)  I love my Daughter's artwork; it brings a genuine smile to my face.  How can unicorns, rainbows, butterflies and flowers not make you smile too?

2)  Taxes are done.  I keep repeating to myself... "better to be part of the working class who pays taxes, than the alternative."

3)  I can't even begin to tell you how ready I am to race.  I'm reasonably calm, except for dreams of having to put my wetsuit back on before crossing the finish, and another where I am riding a tandem bike with a super-duper-clyde, to find that we're zip-tied at the ankle when we get into transition.  Really!

4)  Cutting back on coffee and increasing the water... sleep?  Not quite there yet with 8 hours, but will focus more.

5)  Not sure why it took me so long to try Skirt Sports Racebelt Skirt.  I love my moving comfort compression shorts for running/training, but hate wearing them solo. I love that the skirt doesn't have shorts built in.  Another new favorite!  Your race number…

Full disclosure:  This item was purchased by me and this review is subjective to my experience with the apparel.

I ♥ this jersey. 

No, really, I do ♥ it. 

I love it so much, I have 2 of the 4 colors it comes in and wish it came in more.  It comes in white, lime, magenta and laguna (pictured).

It is perfect for my brick and running training. I hate bricking in a bike jersey (feels so heavy to wear for a post-bike run), so I always feel I have to change my top before my feet hit the pavement. This jersey works well for both and I no longer feel the need to change. The material feels more like a smooth dri-fit type textile than a polyblend jersey.  It just feels good on.  I can already tell this top is going to be a great alternative to a tank, even in the hottest part of the Houston Summer.  I will definitely wear it for my running/marathon training as well. 

The hidden side pocket (though on the Sugoi website they say "rear pocket") is great to hold a key, iPod and gel or t…

I'm a bit late with my race report for Gateway to the Bay.  Having done the bike leg on a relay team, there really wasn't much for me to actually report.  There are some lessons to be learned from the day, so it gives me reason to share them here.

I pretty much spent the weekend volunteering at the event.  Many of our club's members were doing the sprint distance on Saturday and the Olympic on Sunday, so it was nice to be a part of it and see them through their experience.  I worked at packet pick-up on Friday afternoon and Saturday early-morning and it was nice to see everyone so excited about this inaugural event -- I really enjoyed helping out and being a part of everything.

Saturday morning I got to watch the swim start.  The water looked pretty scary to me, but and reports differ depending on who you talk to.  Some say it was not as bad as it appeared, while others felt like they "cheated death by finishing."  The sprint distance had to go out and back; agai…

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So I went back to the doctor yesterday, expecting to get some answers.  Much to my disappointment I didn't get any.  The good news is I got a period last Sunday (had not since January), which means I'm ovulating. That's good.  The bad news is, on the last blood draw we didn't know if I was ovulating, or when the last time I ovulated was, and now that I got a period, the blood has to be re-drawn again.  Prolactin is still high and I'm obviously not pregnant.  I even experienced a feeling of letting down (as with breastfeeding) -- it was as painful as I remember, though I didn't actually lactate.

Since getting my cycle I feel much better.  Told the doc and he said, "It's no wonder!"

I just want to get right.  I know my prolactin has been high for a couple years now.  I'm tired of being tired and moody.  I'm tired of the frustration  I'm tired of the fact that the process takes so long to find out answers.

So here I wait another 2.5 week…

Scheduling for the family and training this last couple weeks has been a challenge.  Darren has had to put in some extra time, but we've been working together to ensure everything is done, at a minimum, anyway.

I couldn't get my open water swim in on Friday, so my alternative was a 1 mile open water swim race.  Oiy!  I signed up and did it.  It wasn't without getting pretty nervous about it.

Here's the thing:  In the pool I swim and breathe bilaterally.  For whatever reason, in the lake, I have to breathe every other stroke.  I don't know if it's because of the murky water that I need to lift my head out to see what's going on, but whatever the reason, that's what happens. 

So I rolled with it.  I would breathe every other stroke and sight on the 6th.  I fell into a rhythm and it worked for me.  My sighting was the best part of my effort.  I was really pleased.

That said, I came around the last turn on the first lap and didn't trust myself.  I saw …

1. All you need is a good workin'-out.


2. Watching "Modern Family" fills me with laughter.

3. Each generation, as it grows up, will have it's own challenges.

4. Not having full control of things is something I have a hard time dealing with.

5. A trip to NJ to see family is what I need.

6. Give and you get back.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to realxing after I make up yesterday's workout tomorrow my plans include my first open water swim race of 1 mile and Sunday, I want to finish my bike quickly and enjoy Easter with family and friends!
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Totally Random*

1) How is it that sometimes we feel like something has to be "wrong" so that everything seems "right?"

2) I managed to get up and out of bed by 4:32 am today; I haven't been able to do that in about 6 weeks, and therefore have been uber-tardy to work everyday.  Shhhhh!

3) This weekend is Easter.  Cassie is excited aobut wearing her Easter dress and we'll spend time at our friend's house sharing dinner.  I need to make a dessert.  I want to make something really different.  Ideas?

4) Lonestar is 23 days away... I can freakin' wait.  Last night was a tough night.  I got home and felt this wave of fatigue.  I just wanted to sleep.  I texted Darren and told him not to rush home, that I needed a nap before I went to brick.  That's not me.  He was already on his way -- I went, though in my head I was kicking and screaming.  I told him that between now and Lonestar don't let me slump-out of training, unless I am really sick or some…

"Love yourself, for who and what you are; protect your dream and develop your talent to the fullest extent."