Traveling, Training and TOYS

So, as I have mentioned a million times before, I am in the toy industry and Sept and October are my craziest times.  With holiday pitches and events happening all the time, it is so hard to train, especially when traveling.

The good thing is my Canada Media tour was canceled, so I was able to get some training in during the week with some pals, including the last brick session with Adrian and the group, the bad this is my trip to NYC for TTPM Holiday event was still on.

As I flew into NYC, I knew it was going to be a tough weekend and week of training, especially since my knee has not been that great and felt like it was only getting worse and the majority of my training was going to be in the hotel gym.  That being said, I was coming off my high of my 90miler and I had also agreed to run the Bronx 10-Miler Race for Marc since he and Christy were doing the Ragnar Relay.

So, to make life easier, I stayed at their apartment for the weekend.  It is soooo nice.  Their new place is a sweet 2bed on the UES of Manhattan. Gorgeous. Marc gave me a semi-cool bike route. But when I woke up on Saturday, I wasn't feeling too hot, so I was just going to throw Christy's bike on the trainer, but they didn't have the right skewer, so by the time I got all sorted out it was already 9:00.  I wanted to be halfway over by then.. UGH.. but I grabbed the bike and headed to the route.  It was a very pretty bike path, but it is did end and I had to make my way through a town to get back on the path.  I got a little lost but found it.  I didn't last too long, only a total of about 45 miles or so.  I was so naseous and had a headache.  Totally sucked.  So when I finally made it home to Marc's I fell into the bed and I was out for a few hours. Luckily for me, when I am sick or getting sick, my body shuts down and needs sleep and once i get it, I am usually back to normal.  Which is great, because today i was able to pop next door to my friend Rosalind's for her son's first birthday, before heading back to bed to get some solid rest for the Bronx 10-Miler Run on Sunday.

On Sunday, I woke up and was ready... still having a slight headache and of course nervous for my knees, but I was pretty ready for the race and thankfully, Christy's friend Victor was meeting me at the subway to get me to the race on time. :-)  

The race was pretty fun.  Great crowd, fun music and a pretty decent route.  I was happy.  I managed to keep my 8-1 intervals at a 10:45 pace and my knees were pretty good and I was smiling, singing and dance/running the whole way.... Super fun.

Adrian had in my training notes that i had to do 15 miles that day, so depending on how my knees felt, I should either tack on 5 more or do the elliptical to do the equivalent.  Now, to be honest, my knees were hurting, but I also wasn't sure if it was tired knee pain or serious knee pain or mental knee pain... and after all, I will have to 26.2 in the race, so why not do the 15... well.. lets just say... that sucked.  I did the 15 and kept my intervals, but I was basically out of commission for the next few days.  It killed to walk up or down stairs and the elliptical and bike were out of the question, so that put a damper in the training in NYC... but come Tuesday night, I was back and able to get in the swing of it... which was good, because I was flying back home on Thursday to head to Las Vegas for Silverman 70.3 on Friday.

Oh.. and I must mention... Zoomer Dino, Paw Patrol Lookout HQ and Wackytivities Kinetic Sand won TTPM Most Wanted!! WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!! :-)

8000 Feet of Climbing and Redemption

It took me a few days to get over my funk.  It was hard.  but pulled myself together... and to be honest, I had to.  Sept 20th I was set to do between 6000 & 7000 feet of climbing.

So that week, I got back in the zone.  I had great trainer sessions at home. I hit the pool hard with the group on Thursday and I mapped out my course on Friday for my 90 miler with crazy climbs.

Saturday morning, I was up and I was ready.  I loaded my bike and head out from my house in West Hollywood. I do enjoy coming straight from my house, because i don't have to load my car up and freak out that I may have forgotten something.  But to be fair, the ride down Wilshire to PCH is not very safe nor are the roads very smooth, so I won't be doing that again.

So here I am making my way through town, up PCH and past Zuma and I reach Encinal Canyon for my first climb.  It is about 5mi -6mi of long switchbacks. It is not terrible, but it is not exactly "fun" either. LOL. And this day is it was raining... or is should say "misting" so it was really annoying to see and was actually quite cold.

It was a challenging first 60miles... I was psyched when I made it to the top.  I had never done it before.  I know, every post i talk about my first of everything, LOL.  But it was quite the accomplishment.

As I continued on my way, I did hit a bit of a wall.  Not that I was tired, I was a little bored. After semi listening to music on my 90 miler to Santa Barbara, I told myself no music, because there is no music on the race, so despite having the ear phones handy, I didn't listen.  It was hard and the hard part is trying to come up with one-sided conversations with yourself. :-)  

After about 70miles or so, I was a tad lost.  I thought I was suppose to loop right around to Old Topanga from Mulholland, but somehow I either missed the turned or didn't get to it.  Either way, I modified my route to go through valley.  

As I hopped on the bike paths somewhere deep in the valley in Van Nuys or somewhere, I realized that I was now riding on flat paths and I still had climbing that I was suppose to do. Granted, at this point, I had no idea how much i had climbed, but i didn't want to come up short. So I told myself I would bike Laurel Canyon home.  WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!?!

mile 85 of a 90 mile bike ride, I decide to climb a super steep, winding, no bike path, crappy paved road == DUMB.  It wasn't safe.  At one point, since the road was so winding, I got off my bike and walked it up about a 1/8th of a mile ... just to get to a sidewalk for safety.. SUPER SCARY.  As I hit the peak at Mulholland Drive, I road on my breaks the whole way down, dodging pot holes and divots.  It was not a smart move... but I did it... and I got home alive and was able to knock that ride off my bucket list.

When I got home, I committed to running 30min or 3miles, which ever came first, because of my knee... i did about 2.5mi... All in all.. AWESOME RIDE!!  WAHOO!! oh.. and did I mention that I did OVER 8000 Feet of climbing!??  BOOM!  :-)

The Funk

I am a good sport.  I have a good attitude.  But I have to tell you, after Sunday, Sept 14th, I was in a major funk.  I was so defeated after sucking at Malibu the day before and that Sunday, it was close to 100 degrees and I was biking 60 miles and to be honest, I was OVER IT.

I kept thinking, why was I doing this to myself.  All these other bikers were passing me on the PCH. I couldn't a good rhythm going .. I was done.

I finished my ride. Watched a little football and called Marc and Adrian.  I was not in tears or anything.  I was just hitting a wall and needed to be talked out of it.  I knew I would be fine and that I would snap out of it, but I think I just needed someone else to tell me.

I am training for an IRONMAN.  It is not easy.  those people that were passing me on the PCH probably had been riding for years or just started where I was at mile 50.  Reminded me that I am training my own race and that this is my first IRONMAN and that I am doing a great job.  Even with injuries, I am still doing well.

it was exactly what I needed to hear to get me back into it.

Thanks boys!

Nautica Malibu Triathlon

After spending a week in Toronto training, working like a crazy person, sitting in presentations and then of course celebrating out 20th Anniversary, I flew back to LA two days before the Nautica Malibu Triathlon.

I was signed up for the international distance and to be honest, I thought this was going to be a walk in the park.  I do 2x-3x more than this course in training, so I thought it was going to be a breeze.  I was WRONG. LOL.

First off, the swim was tough!  From the look of the water, you thought it was fine, but there was a nasty rip current in the water, so at times, I felt like I was swimming and getting no where. Especially when trying to exit the water. 42min total for less than a mile! Unreal.

The Bike... 25 miles.. easy, right?  One would think. But I had dead legs, my stomach was all nauseous, and I was just not in the game at all.  it took me about 1:45 to do the 25 miles and I literally was miserable the whole time.

The Run.. lordy, well, we know my knees are shite, well, surprisingly, with my intervals, I was able to run practically the whole time, so it wasn't all that bad, but by the end, my knees where over me!

The funniest thing was during my run, the amount of hysterical jokes and comments about my knees kept me laughing and running.  The tape on my knees was peeling off, the IT Band straps were keeping them up.  It was hysterical.

The good news is, I finished with a smile.  The bad news is I was in a funk for a few days.

Training Toronto Style

Apologies for the delay in writing.  September and October are my craziest months with work and on top of training, I literally have zero time to update, for that I am sorry, because I have a few doosey stories for you! :-)

OK.. so this year Spin Master is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.  Very cool.  I have been here for 5 years and having a great time.

From Sept 7th - Sept 11th, I was in Toronto for our anniversary party as well as our annual Sales Summit presentations.  it was really cool to see all the neat stuff we have coming out next year as well as seeing everyone from the different offices, especially my pals from the UK office.

That being said, with this trip comes a lot of social engagements and with me, I have had less than social life since i started training seriously.  So needless to say, the night of the party, was super fun, but man was I wrecked for the next 4 days!  Between the jet lag, slight hangover, fighting a cold and of course being drained from the entire week.  WOW.  But the trip to Toronto was a success! We received some great press coverage on our 20th, the party was a fun and the presentations were amazing.

Now, don't get me wrong, I was not all party Rachel! I got in some solid training.  Ran around the lake, hit up the gym everyday. It was great.  only downfall, there was no pool.  But that was OK.

Adrian's Tuesday Night Bricks

Ok... so I have been training with Adrian now for a few weeks and I have to tell you, his idea of "easy" is definitely different than mine.

A few weeks ago - Tuesday, we conquered the "Three Bitches," and a bitch they were!  We headed up SanV and made our way to old faithful, Mandeville Canyon.  Now, as you have read in the past, Mandy, as she has been nicknamed, is not exactly the sweeted gal in town. She is a steady 5mi climb... so I knew I was in for it, when that was the base of the climb... as we made our way up Mandy about 2miles in, we hit the fountain and made a left.... and that is when it started -- 2 miles of STEEP Switchback Climbs of 3 Hills - The Three Bitches.

It was tough.  The first hill I managed to power through.  When I got to the top I was so out of breath.. the energy was gone for the second hill --therefore harder to climb.  But Adrian and the others suggested and were doing the "paperboy"... basically making "S" all the way up the hill, zig zagging the entire way. SO SMART!  made the ride a lot easier.  Granted, I still had to pull over as it was super steep and I did not want to pull a SB '11 and tip over.

That being said, I did see a house with a semi-tiny incline of a driveway that I wheeled myself onto.  Clipped in an charged the last hill where everyone was waiting.

I made it!!

On the way down the hill, riding the breaks, BTW... I realized it wasn't the climb that made me have to stop, it was the not knowing how far I had to.  I think that is my biggest issue - The mental side of this.  It is so easy to psych yourself out.