CARB Queen

"Fantastically FUN Brownies!"

This is what was shouting at me last week, during one of the final days of my allergy food testing, and I thought I was going to die.  I have just come to the realization in life that I LOVE CARBS!

So sorry I have not posted in a while.  Just so you don't make the same mistake I did, do not, I repeat, do not attempt to do food allergy testing 2 weeks after you are still recovering from endoscopic sinus surgery!!

So, back to the brownies.  I had basically lost like 6 pounds the 2 weeks after sinus surgery (mainly muscle mass due to NO training) and then was on a restricted diet of NO: milk, egg, corn, gluten (wheat), sugar, soybean, caffeine and yeast for 2 weeks... losing another couple of pounds.  Many of you were kind enough to throw out ideas of food options, unfortunately, most still included one of these 7 forbidden ingredients!  Think about it... almost everything you can eat includes one of these ingredients...

These fantastically fun brownies shouted out to me during the canned food drive my kids and I were helping out with at our church.  It was during the final 72 hours of my restricted diet.  And, for once, I almost just snarfed a couple when I noticed everyone's eyes were diverted.  Despite eating over 1 pound of protein a day, and multiple bowls of rice... I felt weak and low on blood sugar.  Hence why I have not posted in a while!  It's taken me some time to recuperate and get my energy back.

Thankfully I am not allergic to any of these 7 most commonly allergic ingredients.  It was such a pain to go through the testing process and eat only fish and rice plus veggies for 2 weeks but I am glad I did it.  At least I ruled out that food is not the source of my recurring sinus infections. And, given how good I feel now that I have returned to my normal diet and my sinuses have been thoroughly roto rootered by the doctor, I am hopeful that I will be more healthy in 2010!!!

But enough of that, the best part was that I was able to return to my normal diet on Thanksgiving Day!!!  Woo hoo!!  No leftovers at this house!!  By 7 p.m. I had formally resigned myself to beached whale status on the floor of my parent's family room.

1 week later:  I feel great!  Back to training and normal life after 4 weeks of off-season hell.  Tomorrow I get to go on "tour" with the St Louis Ballet and help chaperone my daughter and 25 other children cast members as we travel to our state's capital to perform 2 shows of the Nutcracker.  We leave at 6 a.m. (I hopefully with a coffee in hand) and will not return until 11 p.m. tomorrow night.

Sunday a.m. I am scheduled to race - YES, race!!!  Ummm.... not sure I am quite mentally ready to do this, but at least I am signed up to participate in a bike time trial.  For the last 2 years our main highway has been shut down due to construction, and it sucked.  Anywhere I need to go in our city is via this highway, so my life has been slowed down quite a bit.  But, come Sunday, us geeky endurance athletes - runners, bikers, walkers, pogo stickers, roller bladers - you name it get to do our favorite pastimes ON the highway SANS automobiles!!!

Just not so sure I will have the energy to get up and participate, but for now it is on the calendar.  Somehow after this event, I will make my way back home and load up the kids, take the boys to basketball practice and then  go back to the theater and see my niece perform in a musical theater show!  Whew!! And, you bet your a** I will be cramming "glycogen" starchy carbs to keep my energy up during the busy weekend!

Off Season Entertainment

Do you remember the song we used to sing growing up?

"Which one of these are not like the other!"

Ed Sullivan Elvis

Jailhouse Rock Elvis

Peanut Butter Banana - GO Vegas Elvis!

A couple of nights ago I celebrated that the splints and surgical packing in my nose were being removed!!!  They were inserted after my sinus surgery to help with recovery. Do you want to know what your nose might look like after inserting something 3 inches in length and 3/4 of an inch in width?? Ummm... look at the pictures above! Sick - yes, painful - yes!!  I had to get over my bad self and the obvious embarrassment of displaying my snout (I mean big swollen nose) on these photos above sans no makeup.  The recovery has been very painful so even touching my nose and/or washing my face or putting makeup on is out of the question.  So, instead I headed out for the night AU NATURALE + one nasty swollen nose!  

But, what the hell?  It's not like everyday you get invited to see 3 nationally headlining Elvis impersonators in one night + my being absolutely sick of laying on the sofa with painkillers.  I laughed so hard watching the show that I cried, partially due to the pain and partially due to the entertainment of watching totally obscene old ladies throw themselves at Elvis x 3.  And you thought the teeny boppers at the Jonas Brothers concerts were bad?  Ha!

More fun continues with the offseason, I am in the process of being tested for food allergies.  I have already started allergy shots for mold and cannot wait to see if it has an impact on my 2010 tri season!  The food allergy testing has been a HUGE challenge.  In addition to doing the intradermal test, I am also being required to do a food elimination diet in which I am absolutely not allowed to eat any of the following food items for the next 2 weeks:  milk, egg, wheat, corn, sugar, soybean, yeast and caffeine.

Did I also mention I added one other to do to this list?  I took myself off of Ambien, which has helped me go to sleep and stay asleep the last several years of my life.  Why did I start taking it?  Mother of triplets?  Enough said!

Am I just absolutely CRAZY?!  Yes, and I am so low on all the fun yummy stuff that normally powered me through the day so I have been feeling very FLAT to say the least lately.  

Ummm... GULP!  What's left to EAT?  Well, boring food like any kind of rice, oatmeal, fruits and veggies (except corn - this appears to be my problem) and chicken, turkey and salmon.  I am ttrrryyyiiinnnggg  to be creative with spices but am coming up a bit short.  Any suggestions?  I can use honey, since its not processed and natural.  I love all spices except dill but, of course, cannot use any of the yummy marinades in my kitchen because literally all have one of the 7 evil substances above that I am banned from eating!  In 1 week, we will gradually reintroduce each of these items one day at a time to see how my body reacts.

2 weeks of imposed clean and the most healthy eating I will probably ever do in my life.  Maybe it will be good for me?  It surely beats the mediocre diet of popsicles and Recess Peanut Butter cups the 2 weeks prior when I was trying to eat but found it very difficult while recovering from surgery!  Even better, the day I get to resume my normal diet = THANKSGIVING!!!  You better believe I will be feeling thankful as I shovel turkey basted in butter, stuffing and several slices of pecan pie down my throat.  Yippee!!!

Austin 70.3 race report

WARNING:  Very long race report.  But, if you are reading this I assume that you are an endurance athlete and because of that you are also not just skilled at swim/bike/run but perhaps you can sit and read boring reports for hours on end. Sound thrilling? If not, forgive me.  You are the unintended beneficiary of reading something that I just wrote after emerging from the fog of 5 days of painkillers + serious sinus surgery + a cup of grande coffee from starbucks!!!!  

My tour guide for the weekend - Greg BennettWell, actually... not the whole weekend but he helped me find my way to packet pick up!  

The race weekend started off eventful as usual.  Never try something new race week, but given my sinus issues (coming off 8th infection for the year) I was willing to put up with an impromptu conference call with my mom's manicurist who promised a sure fire remedy for killing my sinus infection prior to my race.  Note:  I would never try anything this stupid but I wasn't going to start antibiotics/tons of cold medicine right before the race which would have made it even worse ya know?

This was the surefire remedy: Youse mix Wodka with owive oil  she told me.  Huh?  I said.  Wodka!  She yelled, in her thick Russian accent. WODKA!  A shawt glass mixed with half of each and squirt zeet up youse nose! It kills ze sinus infection!  But just a little a dwop of each, not too much or zeet burns really bad!

36 hours later I re-shelved the vodka bottle, a little worried and convinced I was crazy.  Did it work?  I don't know, but I did feel better race day!  Ok, so does that top your all time crazy stunts to pull off race week?

I really enjoyed Austin 70.3 It is a well run race, and despite the numerous potholes on the road (I think unavoidable in cattle country) and a fair amount of congestion/race traffic, I think it is my favorite race I have done thus far.

The night before I fell asleep watching the slapstick comedy Bruno by Sasha Cohen and laughing my butt off.  My mom who joined me for the weekend didn't retire to bed until after midnight.  Two of her friends from high school live in Austin, and took her out on the town + 2 glasses of wine.  My otherwise sound nights sleep was interrupted by the sound of sawing logs! Before I knew it, my hourly wake up call turned into my game on wake up call and I was ready to go!

We followed 2 other cars with triathlete friends from St Louis.  With food/coffee in hand plus it being pitch dark, I never trust myself making it to a race without getting lost.  30 minutes later we parked and boarded a bus to the swim start and bike transition.  Although you have to check in your bike the day before and there are 2 transition areas making logistics a bit of problem, the ease of not having to worry about all your crap race morning is worth every headache you face in set up the day before.. plus meeting Greg Bennett to boot! Oh, and did I also mention that the other person I met the day before the race was none other than Simon Lessing?  My friend and I were lost again trying to figure out the direction of the run course. Simon was hanging nearby in a race tent and looked bored but he knew what was going on.  Again, no clue who he was until he popped out of his chair and started speaking with a Brit accent while he tried to explain the run course to us!

The swim was a out and back in a lake that was fairly clear and and a nice cool temperature. This was only my 3rd open water swim all summer so I was prepared for anything, I knew I needed to be realistic about my time goals for this portion.  Before the swim start I did my usual role of standing watchdog over the pora potties!  Before I knew it, we were wading knee deep in the water.  I usually always position 1-2 rows back but all the way to the left were you either get clobbered or swim over people.  For some reason, I always have a great start, then slow to a ssslllooooowwwww swim pace for the next 800 (note: I go hypoxic, freak about why the hell I decided to do this, should I quit??) or so yards and then decide that I am tired of getting the crap beat out of me and surge.  Somewhere at the last turnaround I hit my stride and always swim past a lot of people. If there was a timing mat halfway through the swim, I am positive I would negative split that baby by several minutes...I am not kidding!

I exited the water around 34 or so minutes... hmmm seems very slow to me, I only swim 2 x a week but it never takes me more than this to do 1.2 miles in open water.  After looking at the rest of the swim times after the race I noticed that the best times were about 3 minutes faster, which is about where I always place in an open water so I didn't feel so bad.  It must have been the crowded swim course.  It literally NEVER opened up.  I swam on top of so many people and it might have looked like some of us were doing  water ballet out there as we constantly locked arms together seeking open space.

T2 was uneventful and rocking.  I love the music at triathlons!  Michael Jackson belted out Wanna be Starting something as I ran to my bike and threw my gear on.  Again the crowds slowed us down as we all tried to mount our bikes in mass at the exit.  The first couple of miles have a fair number of hills which made it impossible to escape the pack.  I let my legs spin out and warm up in an effort to not burn a match too early and pay for it in a flood of lactic acid later.  Once I really got going, I felt great!  I probably only spent a couple of minutes in the right lane, the majority of the time I spent passing people in the left.  I felt great!  Actually, it was a bit unnerving passing so many people but I have done enough 1/2s before to know I was within my limits.  I even had to sit up in my bars quite a bit to maneuver the traffic.  

There were a ton of potholes and cracks in the road; therefore, it added to the already clogged racers in the road, making the course feel technical because I had to spend a lot of time maneuvering around people.  I felt SO bad for all the people with flat tires.  If that happened to me I would be screwed. I silently thought to myself don't even think about it... I am so bad at changing flats that I didn't even bring a spare for during the race.. OK now, I said, negative energy forget.

Luckily it was easy to focus the whole time because I had to keep my focus to avoid everyone else.  As usual, some racer's idea of AVOIDING the draft and being legal still means you can ride within 1 foot of someone's wheel.  Do we need to revisit the metric system?

The only challenge on this course was having an exact idea what mile I was at.  I never looked at my speed nor my mileage, just power and elapsed time.  So, around 2:38:00 ish or so everyone biking seemed to surge and all pumped up.  Soon enough I heard the cowbells.  Yes I love those dam bells... as you know longhorn cattle live in TX so I guess they have an endless supply.  I was so freaking happy to be going into T2 but also secretly paranoid.  Deep down I knew I could run the entire course but also recognized that my lack of run training this year due to my hip fracture + 4 months of no running I had to be prepared for anything - good or bad.

I was so happy to hear a couple of friends scream my name as I got in T2... ok, where is my bike race?  Of course 35-39 is the biggest age group which means I was covering a lot of ground in the transition area to rack my bike.  But, what's this?  There were like no bikes in my area!!  Wow, I can actually read the numbers on the rack.  I threw my stuff down and ran out of T2 as fast I as I prayed my legs might carry me.  My mom and friends kept screaming 5!  5!!  Huh?  Why are they shouting 5 to me?  My body was struggling to find its run legs.  You exit T2 and then get to run through the arena which was awesome.  Its a 8,000 seat stadium and you get to run through it twice - as you head out on the run and at the finish.  It's a 3 loop run course with rolling hills.  Crowded - YES, but the fan support was absolutely incredible!

Immediately I noticed my legs felt like crap running.  Not just the usual transition and then loosen up feel but just absolutely sluggish.  I tried to enjoy all the entertainment on the course to distract myself.  Each aid station had a different theme from Psycho disco to Ceasar's Palace at another.  Everyone was dressed in costumes plus the added bonus was several great live bands on the course.  Since Austin is the live music capital of the world the show the bands put on for us out on the course was incredible!  OK..... can you tell I was completely trying to distract myself?  I switched my Garmin over to elapsed time and refused to watch my pace.  

With everything I had going on this year I knew the run would be a huge challenge for me mentally and physically.  I constantly thought about the people I loved, and most importantly my brother who had most recently passed away several months ago.  I never walked, no never, very proud of that... I just moved slow.  Sure enough, I was passed by 4 people on the run course. I just knew I could not hang with them. I was suffering, but ya know even at my 8'45 ish pace I couldn't believe how many people were moving even slower and walking a ton! At no point in the race did I have an appreciation for my overall place in my age group, it was like my mind was drugged and the only thing I could think about was keep moving forward and DO NOT walk.  Looping the course 3 times was torture because the first 2 times you come back all you want to do is return back to the barn, just like a cow... or maybe all those dam cowbells everyone was ringing made me feel that way?

The finish was uneventful and oh so rewarding! My time was 5:16:00 which put me 9th in the F35-39 age group.  Definitely not a PR but probably one of the most rewarding races I have ever completed.  I threw my hands up and was so excited to be done!!  Yeah, rest legs... hurt legs soon.  Many of us from St Louis celebrated after by heading out after for Mexican and margaritas.  It was so much fun hearing about everyone's experience race day.  Most rewarding for me, however, was my deep appreciation for my experience race day and sense of pride in myself for having come SO FAR this year.  I had a lot of challenges in my way all year and leading up to race day.  I felt so happy that I never gave up, despite many reasons others thought I could have or should have.  My primary goal for finishing the race today was to signal an end to this chapter of my life in which struggles were ever present and about turning a new page and moving forward.  It felt great to have something significant to accomplish in order to "physically" commemorate my doing so.

And now..... I rest!  I have been so busy since the race.  1 day later I had sinus surgery - oh so painful, and I am just starting to feel better without painkillers.  Hell maybe I will be able to breathe normally now??!!!  Look out in 2010!  To make things more entertaining in the offseason, we also just moved out of our home for 3 weeks in order to have all the wood floors redone in our home.  Oh joy!  No half assed recovery for this girl, I will be doing no swim/bike/run for at least 3 weeks as I try to wrap up both of these projects.

Victory Lap

I haven't even raced yet.... I finally get to in 7 days!  But, it feels like I am already doing a victory lap this week.

Just arriving to this point is a victory in itself. Too often we get caught up in the results or what ifs of our race.  When in reality, the journey and process of getting to the race is just as important if not more.  The best lessons I have ever learned about life or even triathlon where never the climatic moment or race but instead the peaks and valleys of overcoming obstacles in your path along the way.

I feel really great.  I have overcome a lot of obstacles this year and I am really enjoying the moment!  It's also a good feeling to commit to a taper schedule.... of course, I kind of have been on an extended 4 week taper schedule with my recent sinus infection.  Lol!  But, I'll admit its part of the icing on the cake.  I earned this taper so dammit I am going to enjoy it... even if its a bit extended!

I even had a great brick workout earlier this week and somehow pulled out one of my best runs ever off the bike.  My schedule called for a short aerobic bike and HARD run.  Hard is HARD... and yeah it hurt!  But, I not only reached my goal I surpassed it and while running on one of the toughest courses here in town. I will definitely pocket that memory for race day.

So the irony of all this is that my victory lap might just be a little premature!  I know, I know... what now???  Well, do you remember the college football game when California beat Stanford in overtime?  Even if you don't care about football who hasn't seen the video of the game when the Cal football players return a kick all the way to the end zone and knock over members of the Stanford marching band, most notably its tuba player, who are prematurely celebrating in the end zone??!!!

I took my son Cade to the pediatrician this morning due to a 103 fever!  He is now on tamiflu and banished to our basement, away from his siblings.  Only problem is my daughter Victoria's temperature is rising and currently at 99.8.... I am holding my breath but it looks as if the flu has definitely settled into our home!

FINGERS CROSSED....... I just knocked on wood.... Where is my lucky rabbit foot?.... I think I might just nail a cross and garlic to my bedroom door!!!  Ahhhhh!!!    And, Jim my hubby has been in California for work for 3 days and doesn't return home till Tuesday!

All I know is it will take a virtual catastrophe to keep me off the plane to Austin this Friday.  At this point, regardless of how my health or taper holds up I am confident the kids will be better, let's just see if I can make it to the finish line in 1 piece!!

Oh, and in other news.... I had a great time in Dallas, TX for my brother's memorial.  I was only there for 24 hours but it was incredibly meaningful to be with my family and all my brother' coworkers and friends.  I posted some pictures from the dinner:

Two of my brother's best friends.

My family - my brother's 3 boys, including my eldest nephew's fiance, my parents and I.

Just a few of the incredible people who worked for my brother.

Exciting and emotional events straight ahead!

Random thought of the day: Is it Halloween yet?  Phluueeaaazzeee!  One must not eye the gorgeously wrapped candy which takes up a whole freaking aisle in the grocery store.... NO, do not look... you have your A race a 70.3 in less than 2 weeks... try to be good and just eat 3 small pieces a day and not the usual 30!

Pleading thought of the day:  I really DO want sinus implants - ha!   This is NOT medically impossible, but I am scheduled for endoscopic sinus surgery exactly 2 days after I complete my last race of the season.  I am wondering if the margaritas I consume in Austin TX will leave me with a strong enough hangover so that I will not feel this time like I got hit by a baseball bat after the surgery?

I also had an eye-opening consultation at my ENT (ear nose throat) doctor last Friday.  My sinus infection is basically over but I have still been gasping for air the last month.  Actually, this happens a lot in the fall/spring so I finally was tested for allergies and it looks like I am a prime candidate for allergy shots!!   I will be starting them 1 week after my surgery  - yeah, relief!! Evidently, I have been living a dual life - one happy and healthy May-August and the other with a virtual plastic bag over my head Sep-April.  I hopefully inquired if this means I breathe better once I recover... my doctor started laughing and said absolutely!

Pissed off feeling of the day:  Why the hell did I not thoroughly investigate this before?  I did this several years ago and tested moderate for some allergens.  The testing process has improved and I also learned that even if you might sometimes present moderate symptoms on your skin, that might not necessarily be how your body is responding to the negative stimulus. So far this year my response has felt like someone is wringing out a towel (my lungs) 24 hours a day.  I am so happy I am finally doing something about this!!!

This week we have a LOT to look forward to.  Jim has a business trip on the west coast all week/weekend so I will be spending quality time with the kids for sure!  

I am also honored to mention that even though it will be tough to get away during this time, I will be out of town for about 24 hours Thursday/Friday this week.  The executives and co-workers of my brother's from Fox Sports and Southwest Airlines are hosting a memorial dinner in honor of my him this Thursday night in Dallas.  My entire family will be there including my brother's kids.  I am going to rest up because I am sure my energy reserves will be drained after the event. It's no surprise to me that my brother's absence is still very difficult for so many and that his larger than life personality would motivate over 100 people to gather and commemorate his life.  I can't wait to see friends, family and coworkers again who were there for me and my family and supported us during the last year, especially during Feb -April in which I primarily was away from my husband and kids and instead with my brother in Dallas.

Although this week's trip to TX will be short and sweet -  I get to follow it up next week with a 4 day weekend with my Mom who will be joining me to watch me race in Austin, TX!  I have never been to Austin so when not preoccupied by the race I hope to take in a few sights. Definitely post race its going to be all about mexican food and cervezas!!

The Verdict

The good news is that it was surprisingly easy to make my decision about to NOT race this past Sunday.

The bad news - the decision did not sit too well with me since I have had so few opportunities and many personal hurdles to overcome to just get out there and compete this triathlon season!

The guilty party:

If you are a child from the 70s it kind of reminds you of the carpeting you might have had in your home?  Ahh, yes - I had shaggy green carpeting in my bedroom from 73-78.  Then, my parents smartened up and changed the interior, and I stopped losing my favorite earrings and mini toys in the carpet!

But, really its Mold.  This allergy season, Ahem, I mean fall season has been terribly difficult for me.  I liken it to a hostile terrorist attack which is attempting to wage chemical warfare on my immune system.

Add injury to insult, I suffer from chronic sinusitis.  SEVERE SINUS PROBLEMS!  You might remember an earlier post I wrote in January of this year when I was emphatic about getting implants!!  It was hysterical reading everyone's comments.  I played it off like I wanted new boobies, but in reality if you read a little further you would realize I was asking for a new pair of sinus cavities!  Ha!  

I have channeled all the despair of my last 4 weeks of lackluster or just recovery training before my one and only A race into ACTION!  2 days after Austin 70.3 I am going to have endoscopic sinus surgery AGAIN! ........... I will just let that float out there for a minute.  Yes, I said again but my new ENT (ear nose throat) doctor is also a competitive triathlete and appears to have his s**t together.  

Evidently I am the poster child for horrible sinuses.  Even a case study!  Wow, its good to feel like I am really talented at something, right? :-)  In reality I cannot complain too much.  If this is the extent of my long-term health issues I consider myself very, very lucky!  I can thank my parents for a very strong heart and pair of lungs.  Although I don't choose to, I can eat cholesterol and fat ladden foods all day and not really suffer the consequences.  I like having such a fast metabolism.  

But ahhh, I would sure like to have a sense of smell again.  I have not been able to smell much over the last few years.  I am not sure how much it will affect my oxygen uptake - as in, hopefully improved breathing and faster racing!  For now, I would just be content to make it through a calendar year with less than 2 sinus infections.  As it stands now, I think I have set the record at 8?!!!

The good news is that recovery takes approximately 2 weeks and Halloween takes place only 3 days after my surgery!!!  I am sure Kit Kat's and M&Ms will speed up my recovery, right?  I will probably also use that "down time" to catch up on work and think about next tri season which will hopefully, be just a little bit more normal!

To Race OR Not to Race?

That is the big question I am pondering right now!!!

I have taken it nice and easy this week, sleeping in every morning and enjoying the chance to wake up when normal people do - after 6 a.m.!

The fiesta last weekend of racing a 1/2 marathon when I was coming down with a respiratory infection was probably not the brightest idea but still worth it.  I knew that pulling an all-nighter before the race with my sick daughter when I too was starting to feel icky (aka hacking a lot, sore throat) might just sink my immune system.

Guess what?  It did!  As invincible as the extra chocolate and dessert at pre and post football game made me feel Sunday I did learn something valuable.  Chocolate does cure all ills but it does not BOOST your immune system.

So here I am... feeling much better today but still coughing up some phlegm, just a little.  Somewhat tired but I still have 48 hours till the race I signed up for on Sunday!  Its a hybrid between an olympic distance and 1/2 ironman - 1 mile swim, 41 mile bike and 9 mile run.

Even more fitting the race is called Last Chance Triathlon and is only a mere 1 hour drive from my house... Yeah!!  We have hardly any local races so its tempting.

If my 2009 tri season had been any different.... as in no hip fracture + my brother's illness and later passing away... I probably wouldn't be asking myself this question.  And, just be content to finish up the year with my only A race that I will actually taper for:  Austin 70.3.

But, if you have been reading this blog during the last year you would recognize that I virtually cancelled everything in my life including triathlon during the first 8 months of the year due to circumstances beyond my control.   Participating in a race this weekend, is my way of fighting back!  In other words, turning what otherwise might be a negative into a positive through perseverance and not letting challenging times dictate how I live my life.

So here I am.... Hmmmm....... my plan is to wake up tomorrow and see how a quick 20 minute bike + 10 minute run feels and than make my decision.  Any thoughts?  2009 has been a rollercoaster year.  I definitely don't want to risk my A race in pursuit of doing a B or C race. Yet given my circumstances this year its hard to not also say - Why not?