High Hopes vs. The Voice of Reason

“Just what makes that little old ant, think he could move that rubber tree plant? Everyone knows an ant – can’t—move a rubber tree plant! But he’s got high hopes…” and so the song goes. Well this ant, I think, has been defeated by “The Voice of Reason.” Here is a condensed version of the conversation Lizzie and I had last Wednesday afternoon during our dinner hour. I’m typing as clearly as I can recall.




In the car, on the way to Miyake to have sushi:

Lizzie: So, are you doing Pacific Grove?

Me: Well, I really, really want to.

Lizzie: Do you think you’re ready?

Me: I’m really nervous about it because I feel I haven’t been training as much as I should.

Lizzie: Maybe you shouldn’t do it.

Me: But I really want to! If I don’t do it now, it’s going to be harder next year!

Lizzie: If you don’t do it now it doesn’t mean you won’t ever be able to do it.

Me: But I really want to do it!

Lizzie: So, then do it! In fact, it would be good if you did it. See what you’re up against. Only, be prepared for the possibility that you may not be able to finish.

Me: What?!

At this point, we had to get out of the car and go into the restaurant. We got seated and ordered.

Lizzie: So, what was the longest you’ve swam at the lake?

Me: 6 laps at 135m per lap. (calculations were done at this point and took about 10 mins. edited for length, we both can’t do math) That’s 810m.

Lizzie: So you need to do twice that much, approximately.

Me: Yes.

Lizzie: And when was the last time you biked 30 mi.? In the fall, right? And how much have you biked on the road this summer when you to Tahoe?

Me: 4 very flat and very slow miles…

Lizzie: I see, and what’s your farthest running distance on the ground?

Me: 4 miles.

Lizzie: And Pacific Grove is in 1 month. And you expect to catch up and do an Olympic distance course in 1 month without injuring yourself? No, not 1 month, more like 3 weeks because you don’t want to be training up to race day.

Me: Maybe.

Lizzie: Judith, what is wrong with just doing sprints? We’re doing See Jane Tri right? Why can’t you do that and let Pacific Grove go?

Me: Because. I couldn’t call myself a true triathlete until I do an Olympic distance.

At this point, Lizzie poured in the pep talk and started more and more like The Voice of Reason. I started more and more feeling like a loser. She starts planning for me doing Wildflower next year.




Me: No! I am not doing Wildflower!

Lizzie: Why not?

Me: Because I can’t do it. It’s a difficult course and I am most likely to get a DNF. This is NOT the example I would want to set for my children. You do not start what you can’t finish!

Lizzie then starts to throw in training stuff and telling me how I CAN do Wildflower. She’s wonderful and encouraging, and I think she very well can be right. Only I’m not doing it. Wildflower I mean.

I can’t move the rubber tree plant! Right now, I’m at a low and feeling like a failure since I know I will not accomplish my Olympic distance goal this year. $#;+! I so do not need this. But then, what other choice do I have? I need to do an Olympic distance. Just one, and then I’ll do sprints after.

So, just to cheer myself up, I decided AGAIN to do Pacific Grove next year. Next year, I will be ready for it! I have a whole year to train and won’t take a vacation next summer! There!

Hey, I’m doing pretty well most things considered. Seriously! Here are the other things I do (not in order of importance, just what came to my mind first):

a. Work about 30 hrs. a week
b. Take care of kids (including but not limited to) driving to/from school, homework, packing lunches, keeping calendar straight, etc.
c. Household chores and errands (including but not limited to) laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, cooking dinner on semi-regular basis, paying bills, etc.
d. Volunteer at kids’ school at least once week (required) and do the occasional field trip driver bit once in a while for each kid.
e. Spend time with husband and kids and do family stuff.
f. Spend time with friends (not including training time) and extended family.
g. Sleep (and eat). Very important!
h. Miscellaneous stuff like working on blog, reading, occasional visits to car repair shop, etc.
i. Training for triathlon.

It’s a very busy schedule at best, somehow I need to make do. I swear I’d do that Olympic distance next year. The only thing missing is taking care of the family dog! I say – Bring it on! Hanggang sa muli … until next e-time…

I love my ipod ... and the treadmill

Every so often Lizzie would ask me my favorite thing to do in a tri, the swim, bike or run. I always say that I equally dislike all 3 events. "So why do you keep doing it?" she asks. "I just feel that I have to because it took a lot of effort to be in the shape I'm in. I do it because I don't want to start from scratch." She'd always be disappointed because I'm not a "convert" to actually enjoying exercise.

After I got my iPod however, things got a little easier. I found that music actually made the time go faster. Seriously! I started to measure my running not by time or distance but by song. Since the playlist is always the same (I mean I might vary the order that the songs are played), I know "how much longer" I have to run depending on the song. Don't give me minutes or miles, if I could just make it through 3 more songs then I'm home free! It also gives me a "mind over matter" edge because I can't hear myself breathing heavily on account of the loud music. So, if my brain doesn't know I'm panting, I'm probably breathing normal right? Way too weird!


The best thing about it is its so compact. I don't have to "flip" to the other side like a cassette or have something so big like a CD player that I have to carry in my hand. I bet my car keys are heavier than this little baby! It packs a wallop and the volume is constant unlike the walkmans that get fainter when the battery gets low.

So I guess I can say that I like running best of the 3 events because it allows me to listen to music. As per the "apparatus", bikes kind of make your butt hurt if you've been on it too long. Wetsuits are really uncomfortable and almost impossible to get on and off. I guess my favorite apparatus would be the treadmill which is also under the running column. It gives a certain "spring" in my step -- he he he! Lizzie accused me of being "in love" with the treadmill last winter. Maybe she knew I fell in love before I did. I love my iPod, and the treadmill. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

My twin's opposite

I guess the talk about this horrible heat wave makes you guys so much hotter I'd shut up about it. Let's discuss training -- or the lack of it. I'm not trying to make excuses or anything but it is just too blasted hot to run! So I haven't done that since Thursday (I think). Lizzie and I went to Shadow Cliffs Lake yesterday. I did not wear a wet suit for obvious reasons. I did 6 laps (which totalled to 810 m.) but I had to stop. Why? Believe it or not, the water in the lake was too hot and it was wearing me out. The water. In the lake. Too hot!




This has nothing to do with this blog but I promised Ben I would put up out photo in my blog (in case he visits it).

While Lizzie is all over the place biking as if there was no tomorrow, there hasn't been ANY sort of biking from me. I am just my twin's opposite. When we went to Tahoe for vacation a couple of weeks ago, I took my bike so I had to take it off the trainer. Now I'm back, the bike's back in the garage, but not on the trainer. No biking going on there. Lizzie asked me if I wanted to go to spinning class this morning, but I had to say no because I had to get the kids ready to go to summer camp and take them there. No spinning.


Here, you might see the same picture on Lizzie's blog. This was when we went out for her birthday dinner.

So, no biking, no running, a bit of swimming. That's it! Meanwhile, here I am determined to do Pacific Grove which is DOUBLE the course I'm used to! I am so not ready for this tri! Actually, I am so out of my mind! It must be something in the air. Or maybe its the heat. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

Not a bloomin' breeze!

If there was anything that would convince me that I couldn't go back to the Philippines again on account of the climate, today's weather was definitely it! Lizzie and I had to work all day today on a so-called air-conditioned building in complete agony. Thanks a lot to the City where we work at (which is neither San Jose nor Santa Clara) where they totally messed up the a/c situation. I was in charge today and I almost wanted to write up an injury report for myself for heatstroke!

Well, it cooled off now in the evening but not by much. There's still not a bloomin' breeze in the county of Santa Clara. As per the weather forecast, tomorrow wouldn't be better and Lizzie and I have to go to work AGAIN! At least we can whine together. As they say, "misery loves company." We would be wonderfully miserable together.

On the up note of the day, Lizzie, Kurt, Ben and I went out to dinner to celebrate Lizzie's birthday. We thought it would be a little cooler at the restaurant. No such luck! After dinner, we walked up and down the street to burn off our dinner. Here are some photos on one of the rare occasions that Lizzie and I do "normal" stuff together. Stay cool folks!

Here we are, we just polished off our dinner. Also, we must have drank 4 gallons of ice water with lemon.

Not a good picture at all of Lizzie and me under some historical structure by the leaning tree in historic downtown Saratoga.

Mr. & Mrs. Rein looking really sweet, except it was just too hot to be to close anyone tonight. We had to forgo a hugging pose.

Okay, as usual, all the pictures won't fit in this posting. I have to figure out how to do this right! Maybe I'll post again later on today and show you guys the rest of the pictures. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

Curlygurl

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

Love, from your twin

Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

More photos

Here are some more photos from vacation mentioned below.

Ben having fun in the tube. Wheeee!

Joey, the future tubing god.

Joey, holding up the pink flag. You're supposed to hold it up to let other boaters know there's a person in the water. I think this was when I capsized. That was funny (me capsizing I mean), but not fun!

This was Christopher's first time to go tubing! He chose to do it with his "Ninang" (godmother). I am truly honored! We had a good time and went as fast as everyone. Yay!

Mikey has gone tubing before but he went with me anyway.

A good time was had by the Blights as you can tell by the photos. I hope the Kellys did too. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

Lake, but no laps!

What a week! I just got back from vacation today. Vacations can be seriously exhausting. We spent the first half of the week at Lake Tahoe, in the north side. However, I do not have any digital photos to post from that vacation so you will hear the second half of the week which we spent with our wonderful friends Rachel and Paul Kelly and two of the cutest toddlers on earth, my godson Christopher and his brother Mikey.

The Kellys live in Granite Bay which is about half an hour from Sacramento. They're very good friends we love to just stay and visit. To top things off, they own a boat and live 10 minutes from Lake Folsom. Is that awesome or what?! You don't know how good it feels to go to the lake without having to do laps. I didn't even have to wear my athletic swimsuit. I just wore my "Mommy" bathing suit which was designed to hide fat vs. freedom of movement. As you can see, it hid some but not a whole lot.

As far as "Mommy" bathing suits go, this little number hides the most fat.

Our first afternoon was spent visiting nearby old towns on account of Ben's historical interests. The rest of the time we just hung out and swam at the lake and then went tubing.

My godson Christopher sits on his Dad, Paul, while I'm swimming with Mikey. Paul is a future triathlete. He has a race this coming September. I wanted to do this race with him, but it's just going to be too hard travel the distance once school has started. I'll try to do one with him next year.

"Tubing" is when you go inside an inner tube (with a bottom) and get pulled by the boat. You could go up to 25 mph which I know doesn't sound fast, but believe me, it's fast enough when you're in the water! You can do it on your feet/knees (but not standing) or on your butt. Your bottom hits the water so hard I swear bouncing in the waves shaves off some flesh from the derriere! Ben calls it the "Ball Buster" for obvious reasons for males.

Anyway, something seems to be wrong with blogspot so I have to put up a separate posting for more photos. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

Break from vacation

So yeah, I just got back from vacation last June 29th. We went to "The Happiest Place on Earth." I won't bore you with the details. Right now I'm taking a respite from vacationing (huh?) and am actually working. Before I go on vacation again that is. This coming Sunday.


Only things of interest I can come up with is being stuck on some rides. We were stuck in It's a Small World (seriously, this is not a joke) which I know will be up there on a lot of people's list of worst nightmares. We were sitting on our boat for heaven knows how long and Ben's nephew Derrick said "This is so not funny!" He looked behind us and told us later on that there was a middle aged man on the boat who seemed like he was ready to have a panic attack.

Ben and Derrick were stuck in Pirates of the Carribean for 10 minutes in that part of the ride where there was a fat woman chasing a pirate. Of course they had to sit through "Yo-ho, yo-ho, it's a pirate's life for me." I guess as far as nightmares go, many would opt for "yo-ho" bit versus "it's a small world" if they had a choice.

We also got stuck on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster ride which isn't as bad as small world. Anyway, a good time was had by all in spite of mechanical malfunctions. No, we didn't run into Johnny Depp while we were at the park (he was there for the opening of the Pirates ride in connection with the opening of the movie). I wouldn't know it if we did! Maybe will come back with vacation photos to post after we go to Tahoe and Granite Bay (somewhere in the Sacramento area). For now, I'm just trying to chill. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...