Thinking Out Loud

It was an interesting week/weekend. The weather was......inconsistent, which is to say pretty normal for a Chicagoland spring.

Still haven't taken my bike off the trainer. Hoping I can ride outside tomorrow. Training calls for an early swim, bike/run brick later. I need to decide before I sleep if I want to ride outside. It's kind of a pain taking CP off the trainer for the first time--hubby will do it for me and make sure she's ready to rock!

The cover of the latest Triathlete magazine has an article entitled "Body Image--Are Triathletes Obsessed?" That sounds like an oxymoron to me. I don't know ANY triathletes who are not obsessed with their body in one way or another. We spend most of our waking ours in either a swimsuit, shorts, jersey, bra top, etc. We get to see ourselves uncovered all the time, even in the dead of winter. We hang out/train with people wearing the same type of clothing. And let's face it, we usually judge how well an individual will race/perform based on how they look.

Lucky for me and others like me, you can't always judge a book by its cover. Sure, most of the time the "best" athletes look the best, but not always. Read the article if you haven't already. There are some interesting observations by the author Erin Beresini (guy or gal?). And although we would all like to look like the individuals on the covers of the magazines, many of us, no matter how hard we train or diet or even starve ourselves, will ever have that body.

Anyone else as sick of hearing about steroids and performance-enhancing drugs in sports as I am? Manny Ramirez--what a joke! He should be thrown out of baseball for being stupid! How can a grown man take a substance that helps female infertility and claim he had no idea what it was? How can a professional athlete put anything in his body without knowing what it is? If you ask me, there should be a zero tolerance rule in all of sports--not that I believe that will ever happen, because the athlete's unions, teams and leagues would never permit it! They really don't care what the athletes do, as long as it makes them money! And as far as role models go, I have taught my children NEVER LOOK TO A SPORT'S FIGURE AS A ROLE MODEL! There are so many more admirable and deserving individuals to look up to in this world.

Go Blackhawks! Just when I thought they were toast, they rallied and now have a chance to close out the series at home tonight. I really hope they can do it and don't have to go back to Vancouver for a game 7!

I may have mentioned that my daughter Peanut LOVES chocolate (as does her mom). She must have something chocolate in the house at all times. I decided I would bake a chocolate cake from scratch, because the mixes have too much junk in them, and I hate the canned frostings. The first one didn't turn out good-I confused teaspoons with tablespoons when measuring the baking soda and powder. However, the second one was a huge success.

So, I decided to try something else. I found a recipe for Chocolate Lava Cakes. You know, the cakes that have the gooey chocolate center! The recipe said it would make 10 large muffins. Well, I guess my muffin tins are way too small, because it made 26. I had one last night, and they are orgasmic! When I told Peanut that, she asked me what orgasmic means--oh oh, she's only 11--I hope I explained it OK! (Note to self--remember to think before you speak!). Anyway, they are a huge success--hubby ate too many and went to bed in a lava cake coma!

Had some good workouts last week. Did my long run on the treadmill, because of course that day it was cold, wet, windy, yukky! But I did get two 6 mile runs at Waterfall Glenn. I love that path--it has everything. Saturday was not a good day to ride outside, but it was great running. The path was really empty for a weekend morning, and I only got run off the path once by two women dressed in only shorts and bra tops, running about a 6 minute pace. I guess if you're younger, sexy looking and fast, it's OK to hog the ENTIRE WIDTH OF THE PATH! Oh well, I guess some people just don't pay attention to what's happening outside their world.

Had an OK mother's day. Spoke with my mom on the phone. I really don't like eating out, so hubby grilled some chicken and I made mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. It was a nice, relaxing day.

I'm into the heavier part of my training schedule, assuming I will do a 70.3 race on June 20th.
Last week totals:

Swim: 6x = 12,000 meters
Bike: 3x = 61miles (on trainer)
Run: 3x = 21 miles
S/C/S: 3x = 2:04
Total Time: 15:30 hours
Calories: 7,900

Hope everyone has a great week of training. Good luck to everyone competing in Galena on Saturday.

Until next time--God bless!