She's on the Ball....
Well, not quite, but we'll get to that. Many of you that know me, know that since ~2003, I have spent much of my time at work in cube wonderland sitting on a yoga ball. I prefer the yoga ball as my office chair. Not only do I like to bounce, but I find I maintain better posture and tend to feel more refreshed after 8-9 hours in cube wonderland. Sitting in a chair tends to make me slouch and get a little cranky. I started my new job a year ago to the date (Jan 28). I promptly inflated my yoga ball and began to use it as my chair. Some co-workers made funny little comments such as the title of this post and others were intrigued about how I managed to sit on the thing most of any given day. Last Friday an e-mail asked me to visit the office of some of the powers-that-be. I racked my mind trying to think of what I had done.... I made the visit around 3:30 and was told that Company X has deemed my chair "unsafe" and I am no longer allowed to use. So, therefore, I'm no longer on the ball. It's not a huge deal - I don't have major back issues or anything like that - I just wonder if someone complained or what? It seems funny that Company X spent resources telling me I can not sit on a yoga ball. So be it. Rule-breaker, I am not. I continue on from boring desk chair (and I'm slouching).

So continuing on... I find myself smack in the middle of week 9. It's getting harder. The furthest swim to date was yesterday and it was a frigid morning in SD (40's!!!) - brrr!!! Made it all 40 laps for 2000m. My strained hammie from last week is on the mend and only a slight bit sore. That is about it. Tonight I am going to ride the Lemond on my trainer while watching American Idol and Law & Order (I love DVR)! An exciting life I lead. All right - break is up. I'm back to the grind. Happy Hump Day Everyone!

8 is great! For more reasons than one - Week 8 means recovery week. Everything is a little tapered off this week and it couldn't have come sooner!

Spent this past weekend up by the Bay visiting a few old friends (one of which is moving out East) and went for an 8-mile run/hike in my favorite spot to run in the Bay, Rancho San Antonio. If you ever have the chance to visit, I definitely recommend! Check out the PG&E trail for awesome views of the entire South Bay. Route maps complements of my favorite maps guy - AJP! :)

Week 7 is over and done - Missed a bike workout on Monday night from the little cold I picked up. The totals are as such: Swim - ~4500 m; Run ~10.5 mi; Bike ~ (Who knows as all rides were completed on the dreaded trainer, but maybe ~65/70ish??

Anyways, it is late again and I am off to bed - The pool awaits my swim at 6:15 a.m. manana! Happy MLK Day and Happy END OF THE BUSH DEBACLE!!! Go Obama!!!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on Calvin...Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens (not anymore, that's why I moved to California), Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things...

Yes, those are a few of my favorite things indeed, but what is it about this whole Half IM experience that keeps me going, my favorite things, if you will? Getting up and in the pool by 6 a.m.? Elitest tri snobs bragging about their super duper all carbon tri bike? Not really. Riding my bike in my living room for two hours... Not really that either... For a little change in the norm, I have dedicate this post to a few of my favorite 'training-related' things...

Muscle Milk - mmmm mmmm it's oh so good. From years of my mom's voice echoing in my head urging me to eat enough protein (or else), I can feel oh so good drinking this super duper (protein) shake that tastes like a naughty milkshake, knowing it's packed with the protein I need to help my tired muscles recover! Hell, even if it wasn't good for me, I'd still drink it anyways because it tastes so good and the name is kinda cool too, eh?

My new REI gym bag - After years of carrying multiple bags to the gym, I finally realized that I could utilize one bag to cart around my swim gear, bike gear, running gear, work clothes, towels, etc. to and fro everyday. I picked up a new bag at REI, simply called 'gym bag' and I love it! Once again, proving REI is the best :)

Water - What more can I say? I love you water. You taste so good while I'm running. You taste so good while I'm biking. You taste so good while I'm swimming - oh wait, no you don't. You taste like chlorine then, but I love to shower when I am through in the pool. And I love you just the same! I like to drink you all day long from my pink striped cup that sits on my desk. You give me an excuse to get up several times a day and leave my cube. You provide me my livelihood - I love to design vessels to convey you and plants to treat you, even when you're really dirty and smell... Is this getting wierd???

My Mizuno Wave Creation Running Shoes - I love these shoes. Though they change from time to time (version 3, 4, 5, 6 - what are we on now? 10??), they're still great - so light and cushiony. Too bad they're so dang expensive...

My Lemond Reno - I love this bike. She's fast and white with snazzy red handle bars (though need to re-tape soon)... She's got scuffs, scrapes and bumps, but we've ridden many miles together. Would I trade her in for a super-duper all carbon frame or a silly little tri bike? NO! The Lemond is a touring bike, and that she will stay, even if I choose to dapple in this silly sport called triathlon.

Garmin Forerunner 405 - I love this thing! What doesn't it do? It tells me how far I've gone, how slow I've gone, when I'm almost home, if my heartrate is max'ed out and I'm about to keel over, the list goes on... All from the comfort of my wrist! Aint technology grand?

Biking up the PCH - Whenever I feel sad or blue, All that I will have to do, Is take a ride on up the coast, It's the prettiest yes I will boast!

Eating LOTS of food - My appetite has increased. Even though I seem to eat about 3x the normal caloric intake for an almost 30-something average-sized girl, I'm still dropping the pounds - The doughnut around my waist is slowly deflating, but not to the point of avoiding muffin top all together. Loose waste pants are still a necessity.

Running on the beach - I live only a few blocks from the most perfect place to run - the beach! The sand provides a nice cushiony surface to prevent my knees from crying or my shins from screaming. Did I mention that I get to look at the beautiful Pacific Ocean while I run? It really is amazing and humbles me everytime I go. This is my favorite part of living in San Diego.

I am sure there are many more, but I alas, I must go! Until we meet again...

Week 6 is done, which means I'm 1/3 of the way there! What better way to celebrate, than to mention my generous donors to date - you are all amazing! Because of all of you, we've raised $1,520 to fight prostate cancer!!! And all of those donors that donated before December 31 had their donation matched by Safeway!!!! Give yourselves all a hug from me until I can do it myself!!

To protect the privacy of those generous individuals, I'm including first name, last initial only.

Allison J-M.
Ann W.
Brad & Linda D.
Brian T.
Colin M.
David S.
Drew & Luke G.
Emmalynne H.
Erika M.
Irene P.
Jack B.
Jackie G.
Jeffrey M.
John T.
Justin P.
Kara D.
Linda W.
Rick M.
Thea P.
Tom & Karen F.
Yousra T.

Training is still going well - Week 6 went a little something like this: Swim 4250 m; Run 16 mi; Bike 95 mi. This weekend was fabulous weather in SD - 70s and sunny by the coast. Spent yesterday biking up the PCH to Oceanside. Beautiful. Also witnessed an amazing signature SD sunset over the Pacific. I am lucky.

This a.m. began week 7 with a 1250 m swim and a trip to the dentist. Seems I may have picked up a little head cold and am now debating my bike workout tonight... May skip in hopes of defeating this little bug. Ta Ta for now...

Swimming in the moonlight - (hummed to an old tune by King Harvest)

Last night was my first moonlight swim. I've been getting up in the mornings to swim, but yesterday morning I wasn't feeling so hot and thus delayed my little brick workout to the evening. Upon completion of my working day I traveled over to the Balboa 24-Hour only to see the parking lot so jammed that cars were backed up waiting to turn in from Balboa. I aborted that mission and went home. I took a nice little nap in snuggly clothing and did my best to procrastinate. Finally at 8 pm realized I had to go and drove back to the gym. I decided to do the run first. It was supposed to be 50-minute run. I walked awhile to start - just couldn't seem to get started.

While I was on the treadmill I watched "The Biggest Loser", which I decided is a terrible show. They have all of these teams of really obese people that go on the show to lose weight together. From what I can gather, last night was the first episode (I'm not a huge fan of TV, much less these types of shows). These teams of two were family members, friends, married, etc. At the end of the show this wench of a host tells them that every team (except for one team which won a stupid challenge earlier), would have to send home one person from their team. Seriously? I mean, these poor people are trying to lose weight. It seems to me, to have to send home your only support network after the first week, would be devastating. I guess it's Hollywood and the need to attract stupid Americans to watch trumps actually caring about these people and trying to help them make healthy choices to improve their lives. Anyways, enough about that -I hate the show and never plan on watching it again. Oh, and I do hope those poor contestants who were sent home were not so traumitized by the show that they were sent into another binge eating downward spiral. If I find myself on the treadmill during a showing of "the Biggest Loser" again, I will move to another TV. I mean, I'd rather watch the Home Shopping Network for an hour. After "wogging" through a very slow 50 minutes on the treadmill, a very red-faced Kate changed to head down to the pool.

Last night's pool workout was 1500m. To some this is easy, but I'm not all that swift in the pool. For awhile I was by myself and this was fine. I went back to my elementary rhyming "one, one is fun, one is fun" and so on. Then Mr. Navy Seal man decided to get in the lane next to mine (in his defense, there are only 3 lanes). Of course Mr. Navy Seal decided to swim 2 laps for my every one. And try as I might, I couldn't keep up. Sometimes, I hate my little competitive streak. Finally he left me alone to finish up my 30 laps and I went back to my elementary rhyming "I like to swim it makes me smile, I think I'll swim another mile". (Hardly).

Oh, and my first product complaint. This year I have been breathing every 3rd stroke (I know you swimmers out there are laughing at me and wondering how the hell I ever swam before - seriously - every other stroke)... Anyways, this began to create some trauma in my right ear, which wasn't used to turning in every couple strokes. AJP picked up some Speedo ear plugs for me at the local sporting goods store. They work great and eliminate my ear problems. So what's my complaint you ask? Well, last night I jumped into the pool to warm up and opened up my suave little Speedo case and in plopped an ear plug into the pool. Do you think I could find that little guy? NO! They are clear and completely disappear upon entrance of the pool. I skimmed the top in case the little guy was floating and scraped my feet along the bottom in hopes of saving him. No luck. Luckily, the Speedo guys give you three. So now I have two. Any more casualties and I'm SOL. So, if you are thinking of picking up any little guys out there for yourself, look for the non-clear variety.

All right - my bag needs to be packed and I need to be sleeping shortly as my friendly alarm clock will be blasting at 5:30. Good night my dears!

Week 5 = History

Another week is done (not that I'm counting) - Only 13 to go!  Week 5 was good - Here is the summary:

Swim - 3750m

Run - 14.5 mi

Bike - 85 mi

I'm sleepy and it's late so off I go.  Until next time!  Ciao Ciao