It’s been a busy week! And I’m starting to realize I need to keep better track of how many miles I’ve ridden, swam, and ran.  I think last week I rode 160-180ish miles on the bike and swam an undetermined length in the pool.  Plus school is really kicking my @ss! I'm getting frustrated because I'm so close to passing into the next speed group, and I keep missing it by one or two errors. What other school considers a 97.5% a fail? It's crazy how high the standard is, but I totally understand. I will get there and pass a test soon. Then I'll be at the bottom of the heap again, to claw my way back out. Ah, the joys of court reporting school. 

Loot from the farmers market next to the house.

Last Sunday Derek and I went on another long ride on the SGRT.  The last 20 miles or so were through a really sketchy area, so we did our best to hammer it to the turnaround point and back.  There are little underpasses that go underneath the road, and it smelled so bad in some of them!  I could only think of the nasty crap I was riding through and not to fall down!  Derek has been having little run-ins with squirrels!  He has nearly ended the life of two on the bike.  Poor little guys run out and he misses them by mere inches, Derek almost went down on one because he locked up his brakes!  On Thursday Derek left work early, which he never ever does, to go ride 40 miles on the river trail.  We only made it a little over 20.  The wind was crazy!  I literally was giving it everything that I had and could only keep 17-18 mph.  The wind was just brutal.  We decided to turn around and call it a day.  There is one part where the path turns and we got a nasty cross wind, it was so hard to keep my bike upright!  I don’t even have high profile wheels either, and know I would have had a hell of a time to stay up if I did.  Maybe that is a little taste of what Kona is like; I’ll keep that in mind if I ever make it there.

Derek getting ready before the crazy, windy ride.

I still haven’t been able to run and my PT says that I have Peroneal Tendinitis, which sucks!  So, there has been lots of ART, stretching, rolling and ice around here. Thankfully he said I’m good to cycle and swim.  I’d go stir crazy if I couldn’t.  A new thing is that I’m going to start swimming with the Rose Bowl masters team.  For some reason when swimming on my own I’ve been getting bored and finding myself half-assign it. Which is weird, but I really think it’s because I don’t have someone to chase or someone behind me.  My first workout with them will be this coming Thursday, and I’m excited!  I haven’t swum in a structured team setting in years.  I just don’t want to be last, which I probably won’t be, but I still have that irrational fear.   

Sunday is the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California at L.A. Live.  Derek and I are going to ride the metro to our old stomping grounds (we used to live 3 blocks from L.A. Live) and watch the finish.  We’ve been watching the stages every day, and so far it’s been such a great race.  I was so excited yesterday when Sylvain Georges won the stage after being in the breakaway for 184km!  Riders in the breakaway hardly ever succeed in staying away and winning, but this guy did!  He held off the wolves just long enough!  Tomorrow will be a crazy, busy day because we have to get a long ride and swim in before heading to watch the race.  I think there is a super early morning in my future!

Absent blogger!

Oh, where do I start?  I've seriously neglected this blog for far too long!  So much has happened since I last posted.  The biggest and most important thing that happened is.....Derek and I got married on Maui!!!!

View from our balcony overlooking Lanai and Black Rock

We had the most amazing time!  It truly was a perfect day, and so many of our family and friends made the trip.  We spent a week on Maui and a week on Oahu, I never wanted to come home!  The hike to the top of Diamond head was probably the most athletic thing we did, other than surfing.   We pretty much spent two weeks eating, laying in the sun (pool or beach), surfing and shopping.  It was absolutely perfect!

Me a hot, sweaty mess at the top of Diamond Head

Derek and I on Maui in front of Black Rock

What we did almost the entire two weeks! Sit in the pool or on the beach!

School is still hectic, and darn it, one of these days I'm going to be finished and amongst the working!  I swear court reporting school really kicks my butt almost every day, but I will prevail and make it.  Most working reporters say that school is harder than work, I hope they're right! 

Derek and I are training for Vineman 70.3, again.  Last year didn't go so well for either of us. I like to think of it this way, I did Vineman and he did Blindman!  I was sick the entire week leading up to race day, and really could have done so much better.  And, well, Derek lost a contact on the swim and he is seriously almost blind without contacts, -7.75 which is very strong!  I have no idea how he rode 56 miles on a bike with vision in only one eye, but he did it. He likes to say that he is stubborn or determined, and I affectionately call it stupid.  Either way we both had less than stellar races in 2011.  I finished in 5:47 and Derk 6:33.  So we signed up to have another go at it!  Hopefully this year will be better than last. 

Lately our days have been filled with swim, bike, and run.  Well, not so much run for me, since I have injured my Peroneal muscle in my calf and it hurts to walk, especially going down stairs.  I've been seeing an ART guy and he's been working his magic on my leg.  I'm hoping to be up and running soon!  Derek runs the Rose Bowl loop and I attempt to walk Max around the small loop, but we only make it half way since Max refuses to walk. 

We've been logging lots of miles on the San Gabriel River Trail, which is awesome, but not very pretty.  Whoever decided ,way back when, to cover over L.A.'s natural rivers with concrete was a moron.  It's really ugly! I do like the fact that we can ride 60-100 miles and be in the aerobars 95% of the way, and not have to worry about cars at all!  Just the occasional dog, kid on a bike, or rooster will jump out.   For some reason it seems to get really windy some days, and that you're battling the wind both out and back, and then it'll change and come from the side.  I guess it just makes me stronger!  I really hate wind though.

See!  Not so pretty, but Derek looks cute.

Higher up the trail, but you only get "nature" for a few miles

Me, on the last run I did before I hurt my leg. :(

On Sunday will be my first "test-run" in a few weeks, and hopefully it'll go well.