Today's long ride.

You'll have to click on the annotated profile of the ride to see the comments.

Msr. Garmean says that I burned 3271 calories. Now, how to spend them...

Not only my butt hurts, but my eyes, hands,
wrists, back...everything but my legs.
They feel okay.

Didja ever notice how your brain filters things that people say to you when you're feeling tired and discouraged and your brain is dehydrated?

For instance, Sweet Baboo pointed out that since I tended to ride a bit on the slow side, I would be out longer, and would need to bring more fluids and food with me.

What I heard: You're slow, and you suck.

He was also giving me helpful suggestions about gearing.

What I heard: You're slow, and you suck.

etc.

Tomorrow we leave for Arizona, where I'll see the Grand Canyon for the first time (yes, it's true - I've driven by the turnoff numerous times, but never seen it, but I'd like to. I've heard it's, well, grand.) and then on Sunday we'll race in the Mountain Man triathlon - he in the half iron and I in the Olympic. We both did the sprint last year, and were very impressed with this race. It was well organized and a lot of fun, with great scenery on the course.

It's at 6800 feet above sea level.

I don't know why I keep doing that to myself.

Think I'll go to bed now.

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Accelerade, a broken wheel, and me.

Accelerade sent me two boxes (48 bottles) of their ready-to-drink sportsdrink recently and asked me to blog about it. So, I am.

Before I start, let me say that what everyone can tolerate is very different. Myself, I can tolerate more solids and sugars on the bike than I can on the run. Dean Karnazis, as I never tire of pointing out, can eat whole pizzas in the middle of a grueling 100 mile run, while I get side cramps if I drink too much or get white sugar/sucrose.

So everyone is different. Not only that, but your ability to tolerate things changes over time. At least, mine has. I didn't used to be able to drink Gatorade at all when exercising, and now I can tolerate it when cycling.

Plus, I've discovered that working out the heat can increase your ability to do it. You just have to be careful and prepare.

A few days ago I went on a 60-mile ride out to San Felipe pueblo and back. Here's a partial profile (my Garmin battery ran down because I hadn't fully charged it) near mile 40:

The ride: 60 miles north from Albuquerque to San Felipe pueblo travel center, and then back again. The area is arid, with about 20% humidity, and the first 40 miles had about 1500 feet of climbing.

The fuel: I filled two 20-ounces bottles and my aerobottle first with ice, and the poured nearly 3 bottles of Orange Accelerade ready-to-drink into them, drinking the last couple ounces down myself. By the time I got to the pueblo, the remaining stuff was warm, but it didn't bother me. Some people will freeze an entire bottle of whatever they're taking on long rides, but I forgot to do that.

Other supplies: I also took along about a dozen whole wheat fig newtons, 2 packages of shot blocks, and 3 Nuun tablets. I generously applied really strong sunscreen, and had two tubes and 3 air cartriges with me. Pre-ride, I had two servings of Oatmeal and a PB sandwich, which has become my standard and beloved pre-long-workout-thing breakfast, washed down with, yes, Accelerade.

My impressions: I like the taste of Accelerade. A LOT. It has a "hint of chalkiness" to it, in Sweet Baboo's words, possibly because of the added protein, but I thought of it as more of a puckery tartness. I love the fact that it wasn't so sweet. I can't stand things that are too sweet; I like them on the tart side.

What's really important about liking the taste? Well, you'll drink more. That's super important. If you can find a sports drink that provides energy, hydration, and electrolytes, I don't imagine there's that much difference but if you really like the taste you'll drink lots, which is a very good thing. Plus, a good taste gives you less to whine about in your head when you really need to concentrate on pedaling. I love what Perpetuum and Heed do for me, but the sickly-sweet taste gets to me after a whie. While I didn't mind warm Accelerade, it is best when cold. I've heard that others have not had great results when the stuff got warm.

Results: When I got to the Pueblo, the 30 mile mark, I stopped. I felt pretty good, not sick or thirsty, no soreness or muscle fatigue, and no cramps. I went to the bathroom and rinsed out my bottles and refilled them as follows: 1 package of clif shot blocks in each one and one Nuun tablet. This was yet another experiment I wanted to try because I'd heard about it. While not as tasty as the Accerade, it was palatable, portable, and provided energy and electrolytes. Before setting out again, I ate my fig newtons.

I pedaled my badly broken wheel energetically home, and despite being warm I was fine. I've been gradually getting myself used to working out in the heat, as distasteful as I find it. By the time I gave up on trying to pedal my broken wheel my bike computer told me that there was about 108 degrees Farenheit radiating up off the pavement, but I felt good. Not great, mind you. It was hot and I was sweating. But I felt good enough to worry: What if one of the signs of acute hyperthermia is that you feel fine? Like people who are about to freeze to death who suddenly feel warm? However, I then realized that in the past as I've had very straight forward symptoms of heat exhaustion such as nausea and chills, and I didn't have any of these. I felt good afterwards, too.

Accelerade has added a sugar that I'm not familiar with called Trehalose to their forumulation. I don't know how long ago they did that. I did some reading and the only things I could come up with is that Trehalose stabilizes proteins at high temps. So if pre-Trehalose warm Accelerade made people sick, maybe this will prevent that. I just don't know enough about Trehalose to decide whether it's hype or not.

Later today, I'll take some to Wednesday night track workouts. We'll see how it works with interval running.

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Seen on the back of a T-shirt...

...for the Midland, Texas annual sprint triathlon:

If triathlon were easy,
they'd call it football.

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Things I just happen to know today.

ICHI. Little by little, I'm getting less nervous about the bike. You know how some people are terrifed of open water swimming? I'm like that about the bike. So much so I've avoided it and suffered as a result with apalling bike splits. But, I've been doing longer and longer rides, and I'm getting more confident. Today I did a 60-mile ride all by myself. I'm a big girl now!

NI. If you ride your bike out of town you can impress the hell out of people at travel centers when you stop to get water. People will even say things like, "you drove from Albuquerque? How far away is that?" (Despite the signs posted on the highway on either side of the exit they took) Then you say, casually, "I've come about 30 miles." and watch their astonishment. It's GREAT for your ego.

SAN. Sometimes, things on your bike other than tubes, break. They just do. Did you know that? Like my wheel. It's all broke. One of the spokes has pulled through and the hole it went through in the wheel is broken. Halfway into my ride today my wheel was going crooked. I know nothing about bike mechanics, so I fiddled uselessly with things that looked familiar, but by the time I got back to my car, the bike was super hard to pedal. My bike computer said 108 degrees and I was tired, but I'd only gone 60 or so of my planned 80 miles, which is when I formulated my new "GeekGirl's Law of Difficult Distances" which you may quote, if you wish.

GeekGirl's Law of Difficult Distances:

If you do mileage on the run or the bike but there are unusual circumstances,
such as unusual weather, deep sand, leaving your brakes on, or mechanical difficulties,
you are fully justified in feeling as though you went further.

After all, it felt like you went firther, right?

The only thing I haven't figured out yet is the specific multiplier for how much further depending on each circumstance.

Lastly, sent me a couple boxes of their ready-to-drink bottles and asked me to try it and talk about it. So far, I've only tested it for the bike. I'll write about that more tomorrow, but in summary, I believe there may be some hype regarding Trehalose, but it's harmless hype. So far, after using it in the upper nineties (F) in the desert I find I was well-hydrated and didn't bonk. Also, I really, really like the taste.

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Hallelujia and pass the WD40

This morning I ran 12 miles. I did it at an average 13 minute pace, good for me, and I felt good, too, sipping my Nuun and my grape-flavored gel.

Oooo, admit it, you wish you had some grape-flavored gel, don't you? I made it by accident by trying to mix maltodextrine and water to create a liquid with the same calories as a gel but wouldn't you know it, when you mix that much maltodextrine powder into water - you get gel. So I mixed in a little powdered grape-flavored electrolyte drink mix, and voila: a lightly grape-flavored gel. It was mighty tasty, too.

I wore my hydration pack with about 60 ounces of prepared Nuun in it, and two flasks of tasty grape-flavored gel, and it was a beautiful morning. I had a good run.
Except for the squeaking.

See, during my 16 mile run on Monday I was wearing my hydration vest I noticed a squeaking sound on my shoulder. The tube for the mouthpiece crosses over and hooks under an elastic strap on my left shoulder until I need a drink from it. I could actually feel the squeaking more than hear it; I can "hear" sounds in my bad ear that are conducted through my bones, and since this tube was resting on my collar and sholder bones, my assumption was that this was the squeaking.

It was annnoying, but livable.

Then on Thursday, I did about an 8 mile run, and there was that squeaking again. Squeak - squeak - squeak - squeak. But here's the catch: I wasn't wearing my hydration vest this time.

Nope, guess what: it's me. I'm squeaking.

Did you READ THAT?
I have something in my BODY that squeaks like an old metal door in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
And only I can hear it.

Today during my 12-mile run it was almost constant, a low squeak - squeak - squeak as my left arm swung back and forth. There's no pain or anything, but it's not like I need any weirdness to perseverate on when I'm trying to run.


I googled, "squeaking joints" to see if this was anything to worry about or if there was anything I could do about it, and here's what I got:

• "Forcefully blow powder into squeaky joints..."
  


• "Take several very thin wood shims and tap them into any loose or squeaky joints..."



• "Oil up the squeaky joints..."

I've already ruled out the first two, since they don't seem like a pleasant solution.

The only thing I can't figure out is where to stick the little straw so I can oil this thing up.

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Hey, Bradley where's my shirt?

I think I've been snookered, and I don't know what to do about it.

Last spring I ordered a pair of shorts and a singlet from this website, Organic Athlete. I got the shorts right away, and I heart them. they are black and a pretty green and, as you can see in the picture of someone else's butt above, they say, "Go Vegan!" on the butt.

My hope is that in those rare times that I actually pass people perhaps they'll look at my butt (yes, my butt IS wide enough to prostelitize on, thank you very much) and say to themselves, I daresay, if that very fast lady is a Vegan, why then, *I* want to be a Vegan.

Yeah. Like any of that would happen. Passing someone, especially.

Anway, I love the tri shorts.

So I wrote the guy Bradley at the end of April, and and said, hey, what about my singlet?

And he said, They're on back order. They should come in soon.

then around the first of May, he said, we still have to place the order. it may be a month.

Okay, fair enough. Sweet Baboo is captain of our triathlon club, so I know how it works. Sometimes you have to have a minimm amount before you can do a full order.

Tick...tick...tick...tick (Okay, here is where you have to imagine an animation of a daily calendar flipping rapidly through its pages now)

June comes. No singlet. I wrote him in the middle of June and said, It doesn't seem like the jersey is going to happen any time soon, does it? I think I'd like to get my money back so I can get a different top.

No response.

Two weeks later, I emailed him again. ...please respond to let me know that you have received this request. I have been waiting three months for this top, and I think that I have been very patient.

No response.

Today, I called him, and left a message. Maybe my emails are winding up in his spam folder, or something. Otherwise, I'm not sure what to do. In ten years of buying things over the Internet, I've never had this problem before.

Any ideas?

Followup on 7/17 - Bradley called to let me know he's sending me a refund. Turns out the company he was dealing with was requesting an order of 50 or more. He also said he never got my emails, which, given the current SPAM climate of today's email filters, is very likely.

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Tagged!

Linae tagged me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. WahHoo!!

Now I get to betow the title on five others. I wish could pick more, but then who would everyone else tag? Hmmm. Lots of rockin' girl bloggers out there...and at least one or two rockin' guys who frequently refer to themselves as girly...but you know the rules are clear. Nope, no Y chromosomes allowed.

Okay, I'm starting with my favorite swim buddy Pirate. Then I should really include other local peeps: SWTriGal, and Lisa Tri-ing.

and, in no particular order, I'm going to tag not-so-local peeps Siren and Di. (Does Siren count as two?)

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