Vegas

Well I'm on the plane returning home from Irongirl where I thought I was going to have my best race ever.... Instead it was close to one of my worst. If triathlon has taught me anything in life, its just to hold on, keep tri-ing, move forward, breathe, and that all the training in the world does not guarantee you for a good race. Life is so unpredictable, all we can do is learn from our mistakes and TRI to become a better person. Pretty valuable lessons in life. Those lessons were what got me through the entire week and the horrible race I had. One week ago I would not have imagined the week, or race unfolding the way it did. Since I'm a pretty honest person, and I tell it like it is, I'll share this with whoever is reading. The day before Irongirl my husband finds a credit card bill-one he does not know I have.( OK... so I said pretty honest) This is not my first cc incident in our 13 yrs of marriage-so needless to say he is less than pleased, I get it -I own the bad spending behavior-just have not figured out how to change it, YET. He asks me if I have a secret life that I am spending all this money on-yeah, but, it's no secret-it's called TRIATHLON.Triathlon gear-triathlon race fees-triathlon hotels-triathlon travel expenses, 35 bike jerseys, you get the picture. Now, this all happens the day before I leave for my race. I have to fight for my marriage before I leave, I'm emotionally exhausted, I'm embarrassed that he has found out that I have done this once again. Much more comes out of this conversation, I need to start being less absorbed in triathlon if my life as I know it is going to survive. In that moment my focus changes to just getting through the weekend, the race seems so unimportant -all of a sudden triathlon seems so unimportant. All the training I've been doing seems pointless, if I lose my family.

I arrive Thursday I have a entire day to chill by myself, a lot of thinking goes on-I realize triathlon is important-all the training-it's what's allowed me to survive 2 suicides and still be a really happy person. It is a lifestyle I never want to give up. You are surrounded by this minority of people who really take care of themselves and it's inspiring in our unhealthy world. I also realize I miss my family when I'm gone and I need a way to balance it all. I will go home and find a better way to manage it all, to have it all, there is no other option, triathlon is what makes me, me but I can't neglect my family or our savings account because of it.

Hanging with all my diabetic buddies this weekend makes me realize that I want to always have them in my life too. That I NEED to always have them in my life. They continue to encourage and motivate me to take care of "the betes." I know I am doing a better job than I ever have in my almost 24 years with it, but it's still not good enough. When I'm with them and I want to be lazy about it, they won't allow it! They remind me, "You are a diabetic Ricci, go get you're meter." I can't talk back to a bunch of diabetics.... because I know they are right. They are my inspiration.

As I'm on the plane coming down from this fantasy weekend that Polar provided, I think about all the work ahead of me, kind of an overwhelming thought right now, but as I've said before, I'm no quitter. Nero called out to me in the airport, "Keep your head up Ricci." NO WORRIES, ALWAYS. (despite my 52 minute swim LOL)

Hey and as far as a race report....Let's just leave it at, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." My husband says it's Karma....karma sure is a bi---!

Cover it up!

I know I'm suppose to blog about my diabetes, but what can I say it's there, it's with me, I deal with it, but this issue I'm about to expose is something that a 14 year old kid might write about, not a girl pushing 40, but I'm gonna tell you about it anyway, cause it cracks me up. I don't know where it came from, but it's there.

OK, so I know I have a lot of issues but, one just keeps coming up lately, over and over. Since, I've been swimming 3X a week, I'm in the locker room at the YMCA way too much for my liking. Now this is the silliest thing ever, and I don't even know how it started, but I can't get past the fact, that people actually walk around the locker room... FULLY NAKED. What do they think it is, a locker room or something? They stand there and talk-naked, sit on the benches-naked, walk out of the shower-naked, hang out in the sauna and steam room-naked...WTF , cover up your junk, but nooooo they are walking and talking with all of it hanging out. My friend and I get changed in the shower stall or bathroom, NEVER out in the open, we'd be mortified. I'm not sure why I have this issue, or why it's even an issue but it tortures me!! My best friend and I are like two school girls hiding our heads and giggling. She'll give me "the look" as seen in the picture above, it's the "What the F Ricci" look, once I see that... I know there is a naked person lurking around. She swears they stalk her out and talk to her on purpose. She is even worse than me with this issue, but at least she blames her years of attending an all Catholic girl school. I don't know where my issue with nakedness came from. For goodness sakes, I'm a nurse I see naked people all the time at work and think nothing of it, I insert tubes into holes where tubes don't belong, but, "gosh forbid" a naked person is standing there talking to me in a locker room, yuck-yuck-yuck! Freaks me out! For those who know me, they know I live in a sports bra and running shorts, I'm half naked all the time, my car doubles as a changing tent, so I feel a bit hypocritical, but jees, you'll never find me getting naked with a room full of strangers. I want to scream to these people, "COVER IT UP PLEASE!"

The other day it was like we were being punished, we are both sitting in the sauna in our bathing suits, of course, and this older lady comes in, HOLDING her towel, while she is full blown naked. I'm praying she will put the towel around her because I know we will have to leave the sauna if she doesn't. She doesn't. Instead, she proceeds to sit her naked ass on the bench next to Monica across from me, and she starts lifting up flaps of skin and scrubbing herself dry as we sit there in our swimsuits and try not to laugh, all of a sudden, I get "the look" and it's inevitable the giggles start and we can't stop. I try biting my lip, it does not work. We try to compose ourselves, with no luck! We decide to exit, it's unbearable for us both. No words are said until we exit the locker room, then we bust out laughing, we are so much alike, something so silly, that freaks us both out. That is one of the reasons why I love her so much, thanks to triathlon our paths crossed and I got a best friend!

Well I'm headed off to bed now, so that I can get up and swim, AND see naked people again in the morning!

The Longest Day

As I sit here on the spin bike at 2:30 in the morning, adding in an extra ride that's not on the training plan, I can't help but think of the upcoming adventure I just agreed to. Last year a group of 7 of us did a 208 mile ride from the tippy top of NJ to the bottom of it, called, The Longest Day named after the summer solstice. Up until 3 days ago it was still up in the air whether or not the team was going to reunite to pull it off again. Secretly, I was OK with the fact that it might not happen. It was truly one of "The Longest Days" of my life. It has been the only event thus far that I puked my guts up afterwards. Possibly, the potato chips on the ride home were not such a good idea- but, they were so yummy at the time. Anyhow, potato chips... officially off my list for post race recovery food.

I'd rate the ride as hard as Ironman, being on the same muscle group for thaaaat long, proved challenging, OR maybe it was the bike seat? I guess just the combo. On Monday I saw the strongest rider of our team at the pool, soooo it's.. game on. I guess we are all suckers for this endurance stuff. As most endurance racing teaches you something, I learned a lot about myself and our team that day. It is definitely not a race I am willing to let slip by, as I still have so much to learn, plus it's another weekend to hang out with my bff. It was a awesome adventure that bonded you with your team mates, and they became like family by the end of the day. An amazing experience in my book of life. Everyone had their ups n downs and we worked as a team to get through the physical and mental challenges of the ride. Pushing yourself like that is the greatest feeling out there. There were many laughs along the way. My most priceless memory was my best friend eating a Snickers bar in the Porto-john..that was just NOT RIGHT, but we still laugh about it.
I'm not sure what coach Gordo will say about my newly added adventure, but I have decided I will whine again if need be! There will be no squashing of this idea.

Happy to report bg currently 160, heart rate 135 and only an hour and a half more till I get to swim AGAIN! WHAAAT THE........

Squash!

So here is the highlight of my week...Gordo Byrn calls my cell phone and I get to talk to him for about 30 minutes!!!!:) Here's how it happened. I needed a training plan, so a friend recommends Endurance Corner,...with that comes a phone call from Gordo and emails!!!!! Yippppeeeee, or so I thought.

I was planning on doing the NJ Marathon 6 days before the Irongirl Triathlon in Vegas. Well, he squashed that idea. Didn't even want me to do the half marathon, but said it would be OK to run the 1st 10k at a snails pace, and race the last seven, so that's my new plan. I feel bad, I talked friends into doing it and now I'm bailing. Oh well, I won't miss long runs. I also will not be wearing my timing chip. My polar will tell ME all I need to know.
Squashed idea #2-the training plan has me swimming 3 days per week, doesn't he know I got into the pool 3 weeks before Ironman last year! I've already been swimming 2 times per week since January, that is HUGE for me. I explain this to him, and basically ask him to adjust the plan so that I can have a extra ride or run workout instead of the swim. OK, who do I think I'm talking with, for goodness sake he's a pro and I'm telling him what I, Denise Ricci want to do. Yup, well, you guessed it, squashed that idea too, so last week I made it to the pool 3 times. Maybe this isn't going to be so much fun.
Squashed idea #3- I tell him I want to do longer rides and runs, I have friends training for CDA and Lake Placid, I want to go on long rides with them. He doesn't necessarily say I can't, but pretty much warns me, that I'll be burnout out by the time it gets to my long training if I start going long now. Makes sense, but it's hard adjusting because for the past 2 years my A race was in July so we were starting to amp up the training right about now, but instead, all I'm doing is base. Well I'm just gonna rearrange my thoughts and be happy for the extra time I have right now. Long workouts will be here before I know it.
So reflecting on our conversation, I'm like a whiny child, "I don't want to swim three times a week, I want to ride and be with my friends,I want to do the marathon." I can only imagine what Gordo was thinking. It's good I get to talk to him again next month, I promise myself I'll behave better.

It's been a little over a week now, that I am following this training plan. It feels good to be on a schedule instead of just randomly working out, doing whatever I felt like doing. It feels good to be paying attention to heart rate zones, and even better to be training in zones 1 and 2. Who wants to go fast and hard anyway. (Who am I kidding, I never go fast.)
Well I gotta get to bed, 6am swim in the morning, and I can't wait... NOT!

No fear!

For many years, I would turn my pump off when I ran, with the fear of going low. I thought that was the way to do it. Until November, when I first met my teammates. So, since then I've been learning. I've been doing really good with my sugars, testing and leaving my pump on during training since I got back from DTC. Until today, I don't know how it happened, I woke up with a bg of 80, didn't have anything significant for breakfast(or so I thought), but started sipping on some energy drink and maybe nibbling on crackers topped off with peanut butter. Two hours go by, I forget to bolus and wham mo, 510!!! OMG, I have not had a sugar like that in a really long time, I was horrified. So I use my bolus wizard(sorry Peter, I'm a bolus wizard lover now)and it tells me to take 6 units. I do. One hour later 450, another 4 units. Half hour later dumb, dumb decides it is time to go running, bgm 364.
The training plan only called for a 75 minute run, so I figure I'll be safe, even with so much insulin on board. Every 25 minutes I was to increase my heart rate by about 10 bpm, so that would mean I'd be increasing my pace. Easy,breezy until at 25 minutes I check my sugar, 111, Sh-t,that dropped quick. I take 2 gels, then another 25 minutes, feeling kind of weird bgm 43, 2 more gels finish the run feeling OK. Ending sugar 57. Cost of run, 4 bucks! So I guess I'm still learning, but until today, I've been doing awesome. Here is what I was proud of the most today, I never shut my pump off. It was only at 30% basal, but I realized that shutting it off would not make a difference for such a short run, and that it might set me up for a "high' later. Until camp, and even at Ragnar I was still shutting it off, but I feel like I've come a long way! Hooray!

Water bottle saleman of the year!

So for those of you who don't know, the Triabetes Team is selling water bottles. I was so overly motivated at camp, that Myself and a few other teammates decided to sell 2 boxes(100) instead of opting for one(50). Well I had all this great ambition, but what I have found out is that I'm no salesman. I like to give and hate asking anything from anybody, even if it is for a good cause. So how many water bottles have I sold...I'm not even going to answer that one. I have given plenty of them to friends and family to sell for me, I guess the easy way out. But hey, I'm training for Ironman! Now here is the real surprise in the story, my Fred, who is a diesel mechanic, not a salesman or business person, sold 40!!! Who sells 40 water bottles, being a mechanic! I'm not surprised actually, he is good at whatever he puts his mind to, I'm the screw up in our family, and he's the wise, responsible one! To make me feel more like a loser, his boss told him to bring more into the shop and he'd sell them. Go Caterpillar!!!!

A Step Back!

Well, the past 3 weeks seemed to finally catch up with me. I was living pretty sleep deprived since I left for Ragnar and DTC. I figured once I returned home I'd be able to catch right up with sleep. That DID NOT happen. Having a bit of OCD with housework and working nights does not help. I am happy to announce though, that other than a minor catastrophe with the dishwasher that ruined our new floor, the boys kept the house tidy and miraculously figured out how to do wash. (Although they seemed to have forgotten already!) Anyway life continued to race on, work, friends, workouts, housework blah, blah, blah. Then my son came to me the other day and said "Mom, you still haven't seen my mountain bike track I'm building." Truth is, him and his friends have been building it since before I left and not once had I gone back to look at it.(It's only behind the house) My priorities once again out of balance. I was clearly feeling exhausted and I'd partially neglected my mom role. So I'm proud to say, as a friend reminded me that life is not about luck, it's about choice, I skipped 3 days of workouts, slept 20 hours in a row and made it out to the back yard!