Texas.

Well, it would seem my next work adventure is in El Paso, TX. Never been there, and with a good reason IMO. Regardless of my personal opinions, it's a job, and I get to spend at least 2 work weeks there next month. I've been told sternly, several times, "do not cross the border to Juarez." No worries, my friends. Drug wars were never my gig.

Traveling is hard, though, when you're worried about getting enough protein and iron and all that for a growing thingey. As a veg, it's always a huge concern. I was at a training in Houston on Sun-Mon and the only veg food they served was green salad and cold cereal. I dropped the $12 on the hotel's breakfast buffet and tried to scarf down as many servings of protein as I could (yogurt, eggs, milk...) and that sort of worked. What a pain. El Paso has a Wild Oats Market- you better believe that'll be my first stop.

Still running, still doing my two prenatal DVD's (yoga, which frustrates/bores me, and the Erin O'Brien, which is squat-tastic but I like). The HAC ladies are starting Wed night interval rides, and I'm looking forward to joining in on that.

You can't do it all when you're doing it for two.

I'm spending the better part of today fighting over someone else's upgrade points and trying to find a flight to Houston for Sunday that's less than $700, along with the usual workload. It's a great day.

I'm finding that I'm getting sick alot. Like, actually sick. I was home from work yesterday sick. But there seems to be a pattern to it. When I do too much, the next day, I'll feel like crap and possibly be legitimately sick. I'm pretty sick today, but I had to work. Work's busy, my evenings are hella busy, I get home at 9:30pm and it's just a struggle.

It's hard for a do-it-all kind of person like me to chill out. I'm bad at that.

Anywho, two more days of this. And I have NO PLANS for Saturday. NONE! I bowed out of every event I was scheduled to officiate and I'm trying to clear the calendar. I'm barely showing and already I'm exhausted and unable to keep up with my life. This is going to be hard.

And I still wanna race Sylvan Island. And Stump Farm.

March Madness Half Marathon

Looking around the gymnasium as we all got ready (nobody went to the start line till the last minute), I could tell this was the most serious "race" I've ever entered. So many Boston jackets, so much Ironman garb. Word on the street is that this half-- dubbed the hardest in the midwest-- is a tune-up that many run to train for Boston. I knew I'd be in the back before we even lined up, and that's ok. I'm not really competing with anyone with myself.

Ben and I rode out with teammates Julie and Gerrerd and met Julie's dad Tom there, and it was great having folks to chat with before the race. We took a while to get together, though, and were the last ones to line up at the start, which was fine with me. We were still sort of getting situated there and sipping water from our paper cups when we were all startled by the gun. Yikes!

It took a while to get over the start line, and there weren't chips, but I didn't mind. I looked behind me and there were maybe 4-5 people, we really started in the back. We started faster than I'd trained all year. Soon I knew better and backed off, and before mile 1 Julie, Gerrerd and Tom were off in the distance. I settled in to the 10:40 neighborhood and was happy that I was banking some time before the hills-- knowing you're never supposed to bank time on a marathon, but this is just a half right? The hills were still in front of us and I'll do what I can when I can.

Around mile 3 I connected with Vivian, a woman had the flu all week and was running sick. She was slightly faster than me, so it was a nice push to try to stay with her and we talked about dogs and horses and how huge the houses and yards were out there. At mile 4 we saw the leader coming back the other way towards his mile 10 and joked about just turning around and jumping on. The hills started rolling bigger and bigger, and by mile 6 we were at the first of the 6 "signed" hills-- hills so big they had signs posted with their names. I ran until it was faster to walk. We were keeping a pretty steady pace and few people came around us.

I stayed with Vivian till the Mile 10 hill, where I started walking and she ran on. I hadn't really watched my pace since mile 3- too busy chatting- but I knew walking some of the hills was probably killing the pace. I didn't really mind the hills, they just slowed me a bit. At mile 11, a man shouting out times said 2:07:40. Some not-so-quick math in my head, and though his split was probably not spot on I figured I had 12:00, then 2:00, then finally settled on 22:00 to run the last 2 miles, with one signed hill still in front of me. I can do this. Then I hit the last signed/major hill and it wasn't that bad.

That last mile, I emptied what I had left. Nobody passed me, I probably passed 6-7 people. Came across Ben just before the finish and turned the corner to the line. As I approached, Julie and Gerrerd were waiting there cheering, and I made out the clock... 2:30:12 and counting. Yarg, why do I always do this? But then again, it probably took a minute to get over the starting line, so I'll take it. And though the squats and glutes I've done lately clearly helped me on those hills and it wasn't impossible by any stretch, it was a hard course.

2:30:46.
Not bad for a second trimester "race."

There are no cycling events in Candide.

Not that Voltaire was a cyclist, but I can understand why there are no cycling events in Candide. I think promoting an event would have broken even Pangloss' resolve. Would have ruined the whole book.

You see, most promoters approach events as a very non-idealized business activity. The goal is to balance the income and costs to bring you out in the black. To charge the highest reasonable fee to guarantee income. To spend a little extra to make the event fun and flashy.

I don't. I approach it as a kind of non-profit public good event, where you charge as little as possible to cover overhead and you strip down the unnecessary stuff to make it more affordable for the riders. In the second year of doing this, I'm once again learning why nobody else does it this way. It's because every single interaction I've had just pressures me to do it the business way-- all these hassles would disappear if we just paid the fee, hired people instead of scraping together volunteers, and so on. They want you to hire a litter crew, porta potties, traffic management people, to pay for barricades and trash barrels, and we say no to all of that, often having to put up a fight and muster our own volunteer resources (and my personal time) to get away with it.

Because we've minimized registration fees, the budget is tight. Razor thin. If we didn't get our deposits back, we'd be completely screwed. We show up on day one in the negative in a pretty serious way. We hope it will turn out, and if last year was any sign, it will. But had we charged more, we could have solved more problems in the easy, "professional" way and had more wiggle room for when things come up.

Just yesterday, we found out that we're being slapped with another ~$200 in fees. I don't think people understand what this means. We could have charged every rider $5 more and had the wiggle room to make it happen, but we didn't. Instead I need to fight it, negotiate it, work it out, whereas I could have just thrown the money at it. And this fee is coming from a place that should be "on our side." Or at least I'd hope...

Anyway, I guess I'm just saying that being an idealist about this is really, really difficult. It is definitely turning away from the easy road. I really don't have the time or resolve to fight this stuff much more, but I hope others do. I don't think there's any future for cycling at $35 for beginner races. But promoters can't all risk the money and do it for free. It's a tough balance.

The Surly.

This would be the third bike I bought from Rachael, and finally after weeks I finished my obsession with contact points. Bars, saddle, tires (and of course pedals) all have to change, that's just how I am.

I was super excited to find Dimension makes 38cm flat top shallow drops for cheap- the same as the FSA pro wing compacts at less than half the price. Wrapped in white cork to match the Deva (which I've mentioned before.) And the tires, well, they were somewhat by mistake but they're great for now...

I had hoped to replace the frame sometime, but it's becoming less and less of a priority. I'm not keen on the forward-facing dropouts and I think it's a smidge too big for me. But I'm not riding much these days (though that should change as the weather gets better) and there's always something else I want to spend the $ on. On a related note, I guess Richard Sachs is running several months behind on his waitlist.

Locked myself out of the house at 6:30am today, turning the 5 mi run into 3. Yarg. Thank goodness Ben's dad could escape from work to let me in, but it still sucked. Finally hid a key so it should never happen again.

More days, more ways.

Today is new bars and new bartape day for the Surly, which is on my project list for tonight. I'm quite excited. Going back to flat-tops, which I've come to love, and hoping that switching to an extreme short-n-shallow drop will negate the current need for a shorter stem. Vamos a ver. Plus, white bar tape to match the saddle. Photos to come.

I finally got work to approve vacation time. I wanted to take a vacation in February but was denied. Now, I'm approved for the end of May. Ben and I will be headed to somewhere in South or Central America. We had been thinking Guatemala, but I'm thinking more Venezuela. Or Quito, since my favorite band sings about it alot. We'll see. There's something that just makes me a happier person when I know there's a trip coming up. It's been a while, since last summer in Malaysia. My passport is getting dusty.

With warming weather and more energy, I'm getting closer to being back on running pace, but I think it's too late for this Sunday's Half. This morning I was again at 30 sec slower than pace, but that's 30 sec faster than the last few weeks. I wouldn't dare try to throw that down at the beginning of a hilly half after training so much slower, would I? Tough thing about this race is, the hills are all 2/3 to the end. Gotta save it.

I've done too much.

I always do this when I'm alone. I just keep busy busy busy until I collapse. Like 2 hours of trainer on Sat followed by brunch, stops at 3 stores, yoga, dishes... and then Sunday 10 mile run, ride up to West Town, brunch, Target, Whole Foods, frisbee with Molly, laundry, bike work. I'm sitting on the couch exhausted. I think I'm going to go to bed now.

The 10 went ok. With a total of 3 10's, an 11, and a 12, this is as ready as I'll get. I'm watching the weather for next Sun and hoping for the best. I don't expect to go fast, I just expect to finish.

temporarily single

Ben rolled out to our team training camp in Asheville, leaving Molly and me home alone through the weekend and halfway through next week. Sigh.

I always get a lot done when he's gone, though. Cleaning, straightening, springtime stuff. Molly and I will run, and I'll go to class, and I'll cook, and things will be ok.

little hiccups

(late posted from March 10.) It's been an eventful week. Monday at the 12w midwife appt Julie found the heartbeat in an instant. It was crazy. I have two heartbeats now. I was over the moon for the day. She said that this means it's healthy and for real- no more fears of miscarriage, this thing is going to happen.

Then this morning, the ultrasound. It was so surreal. There was this little thing jumping and floating around. It wasn't positioned right to measure it's neck or whatever, so the tech asked me to lift my pelvis and jiggle my hips, and whaddya know... the thing had turned. And then it got the hiccups and was just bouncing up and down with them. So funny. It has two arms and two legs and looks somewhat alien, but there it is. Wow.

Anyway, I'm out of the exhausted/worry phase (relatively speaking) and on to the prep phase. Trying to keep up with workouts and vitamins and all that. I think I'll finally muster up the time/wherewithal to dig through those bags my sister gave me of maternity clothes. I'm not showing, for sure, but there's definitely more butt/hips/belly there than there used to be, and last summer's clothes are TIGHT.

In the meantime, I'm wondering how the hell I'm going to grow up and be responsible for something this serious. Me? A mom? OK, so I'm a hyper-organized overachiever, but I'm also pretty darn selfish with my time and have some nasty habits. We'll see. I guess we'll make it work. It's hard to think about all the things I'll never have/do again... I think the biggest thing I'll miss is extended travel to odd places. Maybe we'll take one more crack at it in May.

Sprung.

It's a big week in the Popper household. You can smell spring coming and even Molly is just itching to get outside and do something. All the spring projects are coming to fruition in the next few weeks, I've got a half marathon on the calendar, and things are just moving along the way they should. I'm happy, and barely exhausted.

Audrey's in for more surgery today. Send some good vibes/thoughts/prayers/etc her way, if you would.

Women's road clinic is a week from Saturday, crits start in just 12 days. I'm far calmer and more together than last year, and my teammates are really stepping up to take on huge chunks of the work, which is great. We've also already scheduled a women's CX clinic for Sept 11, but that's so far away that we aren't even thinking about details on that yet. Just lots going on.

I kicked out a 5 miler yesterday morning, seeing as how it was supposed to be the last un-rainy weekday. Last night, I did the workout DVD full of squats and glutes, leaving my legs burning this morning. Tonight, trainer class.

I'm trying to settling into running 3-5-3-10 each week, and with the 12 I did a few weeks ago, I should be ready for the half... execpt for those hills. I totally forgot until yesterday that this is supposed to be one of those killer hill races. Huh, I guess we'll take it as it comes. I've never run a half before, but my half splits for my marathons have been 2:26 and 2:29, so I know I'll be in under 2:30, as long as those hills don't kill me. In the past I've had 2:15 in my mind, but I have been quite slow this winter.

Phoenix long run adventure.

Chillin' in the desert with Audrey and Sue this weekend, I wanted to log 10 this morning. I took Sue's advice and ran out on Cave Creek Hwy, and it sort of sucked- four lanes of traffic and sharing a small shoulder with a "bike way." (Though I did see "Paint Your Wagon TR" as an actual street name...) Anyway, got sick of it and decided to make a left on a random street. It ended, so I turned right. That ended at a sign that said "Cave Creek trail," a doubletrack that was rough from the horses in the wet spring, but totally run-able. Then, that ended at a desert preserve.

I opened the fence, entered the preserve, and followed some random path. It soon got rocky enough that I needed to walk instead of run. In about half a mile, I found first a dog, and then its owner. "I'm a little lost," I said, not knowing where this trail led, and asked her about it. She offered to show me through the rest of the loop trail and back to the gate, personal.

We had a great chat, and then i ran off on the trail, back the way I came. I had told her that my hosts expected me back by 9am and that the slower trail pace was making me late. Well, 3 miles up Cave Creek, a car pulled over, dog nose out the window, and it was the kind woman, asking if I needed a ride to get back in time. "You have just 6 minutes!" After I refused, she made an immediate u-turn-- she had gone out of her way to check up on me. I kept running and made it back not-that-late, but it was one of those things. It was supposed to be a run, it became a great glimpse of nature, meeting a great woman, and some good times.

Eating my fill, and then some.

This is Ben, our household chef. Since Ben has been cooking, our diets have changed pretty significantly.

When we were both working full-time, we lived on pre-made stuff, take-out, pasta with jarred sauce, and similar overpriced, under-nourishing nonsense. Now that he has the time to do some quality grocery shopping, and some awesome cooking to match it, that's all changed.

Instead of a bowl of cereal for breakfast, it's been fresh fruit with rBGH-free yogurt and flaxseeds. Instead of a lunch I pick up at whatever fast food place nearby, it's been great homemade pita sandwiches and fresh sliced fruit. Snack is a bag of whole grain crackers with sesame seeds, walnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, and occasionally a treat of mini chocolate chips. And each night I come home to a home-cook meal that reflects the fresh produce Ben's nabbed lately- asparagus, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, and other deliciousness.

I'm eating a ton. I'm stuffing my face. But I haven't gained a pound. It's hard to believe that my diet used to be full of crap that I was hungry for hours of the day, whereas now I'm always munching on something colorful and always satisfied, yet not gaining. I even managed to drop more than 30 lb eating the way I did. Imagine what... naw, nevermind.

I guess I'm really, really thankful that we have this opportunity. Times are tough, and of course we'd rather that Ben be working at a job instead of exploring the world of organic watercress. But it is what it is, and he's certainly made the best of it. And it tastes great.

Some days it's hot. Some days I work. I work alone.

(If you know the reference from this title, you need to come over and watch that movie with me. So awesome.)

So, the weekend was packed with workouts. Friday AM, 5 miler. Friday PM, 90 min on the computrainers with teammates. Sat AM, 2 hour trainer class. Sun AM, 12 miler. It overwhelmed me. But I cranked it all out. I'm now exhausted. My feet hurt, too. Last night I slept more than 10 hours. I needed it.

Things are just kind of a bummer lately. It's that incredibly grey time of year where after fighting the malaise of winter for months it's starting to root into my brain and make me sad and cranky.