Are you happy now, Jennifer Hudson?

I am sick, sick, sick, sick. Isn't that just the Murphy's Law of event training? I had a good solid two weeks of working out, using my bike trainer, and even actually paying attention to my heart rate monitor and then last Wednesday morning I was all ACHOO! And I was down for the count.

But I won't whine. Feeling betterish now and, in reality, it is only 5 days of being out of the game. Death Ride is in 6 months. It's all good.

The bigger thing right now is this nutrition thing. I NEED to figure it out. Especially with these long rides that are coming up because I don't want to fall into old habits of having a crazy calorie laden meal and justifying it with a 4 hour bike ride. I flirted with the idea of going paleo, but I knew that realistically the militant rules of paleo would not work for me. A couple weeks ago I was flipping through my magazines and I kept seeing that darn Jennifer Hudson ad for Weight Watchers. After the third spotting of Jennifer in an US weekly, I took it as a sign. I had done WW before and it worked. It worked because I dedicated myself to it. And dedication and awareness to what I eat is definitely what I need to do NOW. Are you happy now, Jennifer Hudson?

So, last Monday I went to my first meeting. That scale...it was not good. The great thing about WW is there is no judgement. I was bracing myself for a "tsk tsk Jill, how did you let THAT happen?" Thankfully they didn't do that. The voices in my head did a little...but I tried to ignore them...

At the meeting the leader asked why I was joining again. I told her that I signed up for a crazy bike ride with crazy hills and I wanted less Jill going up the hills. I think that is my new mantra: LESS JILL UP THE HILL. I am actually pretty excited because the less extra weight I am carrying, the faster and more efficient I may be as a cyclist. This could be THE year where I have a cycling breakthrough.

It was bad timing that I got sick my first week of WW. I opted not to have my preferred snack choice when I am sick (sour patch kids) and dutifully stayed within my daily points range and tried to not be all Debbie Downer because I didn't have the energy to workout.

So, I am one week of doing WW. It's always mind blowing when you start tracking what you eat. I am sure there have been time where I ate all my points in one meal (or one trip to the movies!). It is also helpful that hubby has been watching what he eats as well. He is down 15 pounds because he got a head start on me (JERK! hee hee). It's pretty funny when fast food commercials come on because we both start yelling at the TV ("Curse you McDonald's! Nobody Should be eating that! Nobody!"). Seriously, have you SEEN that Sonic commercial? There is one item that is a bowl of tater tots covered in chili and cheese. SERIOUSLY?

Fortunately there aren't any Sonic's near me...

Thank you Team Mermaid.

I am going to try to keep this one short...and (bitter)sweet.

A big chunk of this blog focuses on this amazing team I am going on my 5th(!) year of being a member: Team Mermaid. And I found it by accident! I had signed up for a 1/2 ironman triathloan and googled "triathlon training san jose Barb's race" and found out about an info night for some group called Team Mermaid. I went to that first meeting just wanting to help me with training for ONE race. And here I am, 4 years later, still inspired by these amazing women who work hard, play hard, and laugh HARDER. Every single woman on this team has drive, spirit, and a good heart. And we all are rallied on by our leader the amazing coach Heidi.

Today a bunch of us from the team met in Capitola for an open water swim...wait, what? A swim? In January? What the heck? But this wasn't any ordinary ocean swim...

Two weeks ago we lost a dear friend and mermaid teammate, Melissa, to ovarian cancer. I am still in shock. She was one of the first on the team, an amazing, funny, smart person and a totally awesome swimmer. We decided as a team to do a memorial swim for her today. We met at some benches at Capitola beach, pulled on our wetsuits, and headed out to the water. It was cold. It was choppy. But we were determined. This was something bigger than us. We didn't go out very far, and we all stopped and Coach Heidi (who was on a surfboard ) said some amazing things about Melissa and passed out carnations for us. A couple other people told some stories and on the count of three we shouted out "Mermaid Melissa!" and threw our carnations out to sea.

And then we were silent.

We stared out at the carnations lapping in the water. Some coming back to us. Some going far out. It was an overcast day with some drizzling rain, the sun barely poking out. I watched the carnations drifting and was taken by the contrast surrounding me: the water may be cold and choppy, but gazing at the neverending sea is so soothing. The softness of the carnations brushing up against seaweed. The heavy silence in the air of our reflections and mourning, mixed with the tranquil sound of waves.

I miss you Melissa. WE miss you Melissa. I am thankful for all the memories I have because we shared some laughs! Seriously, if you can't find laughter while cranking your way through 60 miles on a bike ride, you are doing it wrong. :)

I am thankful to be part of this amazing team, where we take risks continously and encourage one another on. Where we barely bat an eye jumping in the ocean in winter (OK, so we may have shrieked a little, but we still were pretty hardcore!).

Thank you Team Mermaid. You have helped me become the person I am today, and inspire me to grow into the person I will be tomorrow.

The Problem with Pink...

It's 2012 and we still have issues like this. Luckily there is hope for the future with outspoken girls like Riley leading the next wave of feminism.

So, let me start with the LEGO thing. It's kinda messed up, right? One image I saw was a LEGO girl lounging in a pastel pool playset. I guess they have cupcake stores as well. Does LEGO think little girls have aspirations of being real housewives of sugar daddies (pool boy and botox kit sold separately). And cupcake bakeries? Seriously LEGO? Cupcakes are totally 2010. It's all about doughnts now. Or whoopie pies. Get with the times...

In December I was at Barnes and Noble and saw a book called: Princess Recovery: A Parent's Guide to Raising a Daughter Who Can Create Her Own Happily Ever After. Has anyone else noticed how crazy the princess phenomenon is? Seriously, at Halloween I think every single trick or treating girls was some variation of a Disney Princess.

And the really embarassing thing? I LOOOVE all the princess stuff. I love dresses. My bike is pink! I wear sparkle skirts to races. I got excited that Splash was on TV last week. Oh...and don't get me started on The Real Housewives. Oh, and my triathlete nickname is Diva.

WWGSD? (What Would Gloria Steinem Do?)

I have no idea.

There is something weird going on with pop culture right now because there is a lot of cattiness between women (see Top Model, Real Housewives, The Bachelor). Wouldn't it be refreshing if there was a reality show about a group of REAL friends who REALLY liked each other and didn't throw tables at each other AND supported each other in their lives? And wouldn't it be REALLY refreshing if people actually WATCHED the show and it didn't get cancelled after two seasons. Uh, BRAVO, are you taking notes on this?

I would love to tell you that I am going to quit cold turkey watching these shows. But. They. Are. So. Awesome. And I am an adult. I can watch what I want and separate reality from the (hardly) reality TV.

I wish I had something inspirational to say and I could quote a Whitney Houston song (I believe the children are our future...). Perhaps the take-away message is awareness. We need to be aware of the messages we send kids AND the images they are exposed to. So maybe the next time I play Barbies with my niece instead of pretending they are going to a fashion show, maybe they are business partners launching their Etsy store. Or, say my niece gets that LEGO poop party atrocity-- I could say, "Yea! the LEGO girls just finished a triathlon and now they are going to jump in the pool for a recovery ice bath. What was their average heart rate for the race?"

It's a start...

Ch-Ch-Chia!

I did a wee bit of updating on my blog...most notably added all events I will be doing until the Death Ride. It was actually longer than what is posted there. I started getting a little panicky as I added the events and am a little iffy on the non cycling events. What the heck have I gotten myself into? I talked myself out of a couple events. Which, shows some level of growth and maturity on my part, right?

I found a training plan for the Death Ride that is 18 weeks long. As I was scanning it on my laptop I must have had a funny look because hubby said, "What's wrong?"

"Well," I said, "I am reading this training plan...and it just seems weird."
"Why?" He asked.
"Well, it's 18 weeks long. And it has a ride every day. Like, EVERY day."
"And?" He asked.
"Well, that's, like, a lot of riding, right?"
"Let me see that," he said as he grabbed the laptop.

I could feel my palms get all clammy and sweaty. Being on the bike? Every day? 18 weeks? The more I tried to wrap my mind around it the more I felt like my head was going to explode.

He handed me back the laptop, "Seems about right."

"What?! Every day seems crazy. What about rest days?"
"You do have rest days. Those are called 'easy rides'."
I gave him a "whatcha talkin about Willis?" face.
To which he responded, "YOU are the one who signed up for this crazy event."

I read the training plan a little more in depth. The rest days ranged from 0-20 miles, so theoretically I don't have to ride EVERY day. Phew. And the plan doesn't start until I get back from Maui in March. Phew. So I have about 2 months to get my act together.

And my current act? It ain't pretty.

The good news is--I have been on my bike. I did a 40 mile ride last week, and have done a couple short rides and some trainer sessions. I did the bike trainer last night for 50 minutes while watching season 1 of Alias. It. Was. Torture. I am going to trainer again tonight. But with a heart rate monitor so there is less cheating involved.

My running has slowed down a lot. I met some friends for a track workout on Tuesday night. It. Was. Torture. Everything felt tight and flabby---which seems like a contradiction. It was cold and dark and felt so against nature on what we are supposed to do in the winter. But I did it.

The plan until the plan starts is to increase my long bike rides each week by 5 miles. I will start this Sunday with 40. I also really really need to figure out this core thing. Oh, and use my bikram yoga groupon before it expires in March.

I tried this energy drink yesterday that I really like. It had chia seeds and cocounut water in it which are supposed to be great for something. Not sure what. Growing plant hair? Like a Chia pet? So, I think I mat buy the powder (it was a sample I got from a race) and try that on long rides since I am getting a little weirded out by the vibrant colors of gatorade. I think I am also going to look into making my own energy bars.

Hmmm...bikram yoga...chia seeds...homemade energy bars. Should I grow dreadlocks now too?