And So It Begins...Again.

I had the chance to keep score tonight for a scrimmage roller derby bout between members of my prospective team, and man... I have to say I'm starting to get a little nervous about all this. Ironman scared the hell out of me until I got into the mix, and even then every step was just gambling until I crossed the finish line. But this is different -- people are fricking AFTER you out there, and not in the metaphorical way. One girl tonight got checked so hard she slid into the wall of the rink.

 Into. The. Wall. Of. The. Rink.

I'm not sure what to do with that. For as long as I can remember, I've either felt mentally "tough enough," or at the very least, I knew how to get myself there for whatever the crucible happened to be, but this isn't really like that. I mean, it is, but it's more than just being mentally tough -- it's being physically combative too, and the only thing keeping me out of the tree thus far is the realization that, like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, it's a strategy game. If you don't have a plan, you just need the reflexes to deal with the imminent consequences. It's been years since my jiu-jitsu training has been consistent enough to cultivate those kinds of plans and reflexes, though, so I don't know. Hopefully, it's all still in there somewhere.

I guess on the upside, any success I've ever achieved had has always scared the crap out of me in the beginning, so it's kind of encouraging to feel intimidated again.

How insane is that? Ha...

Skates!

So these are the skates. They're supposed to be here in a few days, and then it's on like Donkey Kong...

Ow

Yeah, so roller derby training is officially harder than I thought it would be. Holy crap you don't understand... we did core and plyometrics training yesterday right, and last night I dreamed the country was under nuclear attack, but because I had superpowers, I jumped up into the sky and stopped a missile with my stomach. Come to find out I only had these totally lame ghetto superpowers, though, because it really FELT like a nuclear missile was going off in my stomach! And of course just then I woke up and discovered I was trying to roll onto my side... do you believe that? And I can't even talk to you about legs right now. Just go look up "sumo squats" and chill on that page for about 30 minutes; yeah, welcome to my life yesterday, thankyouverymuch. Ugh, I hate this initial "beating all the suck out of yourself so you don't get your ass kicked" part of training... hurry up, phase two!

T-Minus Two Weeks

Last night I went to the roller derby bout and watched my soon-to-be teammates absolutely spank the Wisconsin girls who came out (no kidding, they beat them by something like 200 points), then, went to the after party where some of the team told me about what to expect from practice. Have you seen the movie Whip It? The jumping over people, the speeding up just to stop on a dime and skate in the opposite direction, the endless core work just in case a Howitzer happens to go off six-inches from your gut. Holy crap! But they were intimidating as all squalling hell during their warm ups, and I was completely riveted to my chair; where has this been all my life??

Anyway, Tuesday is the first "assessment" where they sort out...well, whatever they sort out about you, and practices start two weeks later. I already know I need to do some serious cobweb clearing before those start, though, unless I want to ring in the new year in traction, which I'm actually pretty sure I'll do anyway judging by how hard some of those blockers were hitting last night. Groan, with my schedule, it looks like I'm back on the 4:00 a.m. bus for running and core work; or maybe I should just throw myself into the wall and see how many times I can get up and do it again in under a minute? Either way, SO excited about the workouts, not excited about getting out of bed at WTF o'clock again. Ugh. Hello, pain; it's been a while. How's it going? I know, I know... it's been too long.

Thank God for Ironman.

The lead jammer on the team is wicked, supernatural fast. I think I love her.

Roller Derby

K, first, I just realized I somehow set this page to private back in October or November -- sorry about that. SNAFU should be fixed now. In other news, I think I may have just stumbled upon my next phase of alter ego existence.

You see, the roller derby has come to town, and they're looking for recruits. Tryouts are next week, and I do believe I'm gonna have to be all over that. Here's to hoping the open water swim of Ironman et. al. taught me something about checking people out of the way.

2 AM

"Follow the path of your aroused thought, and you will soon meet this infernal inscription: There is nothing so beautiful as that which does not exist." ~Paul Valéry

If I did not have to sleep, if I could perpetually exist at 2:00 a.m., I would rule the world.

Michael's 9th Birthday

Michael's ninth birthday party turned out pretty well! But how can you go wrong with LEGOS, right? Um, leave it to me.

So I started the cake thinking, hey, I've made electric guitar cakes, fairy princess castle cakes, and rooftop battle scene cakes; how hard can it be to make a brick? Well, the brick wasn't the issue, getting a RED brick, now that was a bit of a problem. I used up all my red gel coloring on the buttercreme I'd made (which was awesome, thank you very much), and because there was so much icing, I got pink instead of red. Anyway, long story short, I decided we'd try for orange since I still had two little tubs of yellow and one little tub of burgundy. What did I get? Yeah, that would be terracotta adobe brick instead of LEGO primary red. Gag. So... I had to scrape it all off and make a mad dash to the store for commercial frosting - and by the way, this was all like, an hour before the party guests arrived. Fortunately, I managed to get some semblance of LEGOness happening on the cake in time, but it was an event to be sure.

Anyway, in the pics below, you'll see the rundown of the party! First, we had a LEGO building tournament. We pulled cards from the Creationary deck and gave the kids a category like food, vehicles, etc. Then, they all had five minutes to build. After time was up, they all took a turn to tell about what they'd made. Fast forward to cake and ice cream, presents, playing outside in the backyard, and finally a huge tackle hug from ALL of the party guests -- it was hilarious!

And with that, mission birthday party 2011 is on the books... let it be known that a good time was had by all - whew!

Click to enlarge, or to see captions for some photos.

Michael's 9th Birthday

Michael's ninth birthday party was a hit! But how can you go wrong with LEGOS, right? Um, leave it to me.

So I started the cake thinking, hey, I've made electric guitar cakes, fairy princess castle cakes, and rooftop battle scene cakes; how hard can it be to make a brick? Well, the brick wasn't the issue, getting a RED brick, well, that was a bit of a problem. I used up all my red gel coloring on the butter creme I'd made (which ws awesome, just saying) and because there was so much icing, I got pink instead of red. Anyway, long story short, I decided we'd try for orange since I still had two little tubs of yellow and one little tub of burgundy. What did I get? Yeah, that would be terracotta adobe brick instead of LEGO primary red. Gag. So... I had to scrape it all off and make a mad dash to the store for commercial frosting - and by the way, this was all like, an hour before the party guests arrived. Fortunately, I managed to get some semblance of LEGOness happening on the cake, but it was an event to be sure.

Anyway, in the pics below, you'll see the rundown of the party! First, we had a LEGO building tournament. We pulled cards from the Creationary deck and gave the kids a category like food, vehicles, etc. Then, they all had five minutes to build. After time was up, they all took a turn to tell about what they'd made. Fast forward to cake and ice cream, presents, playing outside in the backyard, and finally a huge tackle hug from ALL of the party guests -- it was hilarious!

PSA of the Day - Don't Watch This Movie

In the ninth circle of hell -- from which not even the holy Back to the Future trinity can save Lea Thomspon now -- you must sit with your eyelids held open a la Clockwork Orange and watch Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer for all insufferable eternity.

I'm going to go pray to the Coen brothers now... if you'll excuse me.

All Right...

So, a few life changes since we last met. But first, allow me to direct your attention to the post below, which has been updated with uber cool pics from our daughter's birthday bash. I'll just be right here when you're done scrolling... take your time.

All right, where were we? Oh yes, life changes. Well, I've officially just retired from triathlon... and pretty much all long distance endurance events including but not limited to marathons, century rides, and any swimming that isn't absolutely necessary lest I flail, sink, and drown. It's just time to move on.

If you've been around the block with me a while, you know all about why I got involved with endurance sports in the first place. I needed something bigger than my roadblocks and found it in Ironman. Along the way I learned how to get to the end of countless miles, countless times, and it turned out those lessons were exactly the ones I needed in order to navigate (and ultimately remove) the obstacles in my life.

I suppose you could call endurance sports a tool for me then, but what is a tool, if you think about it? It's something you use to do a job, and once the job is done, the tool needs to be put away or else it just ends up becoming part of the clutter. I guess that's where I found myself with it all; I realized I needed something new, something non-competitive, something quiet, because subconsciously I'd already learned all I needed to learn about lining up, mastering fear, and about just putting one foot in front of the other until I got where I needed to go. The visceral pull to know these things is what gave me the drive to hold the pace necessary for that lifestyle -- it was a war, after all, but I have to believe we all get tired of fighting eventually, especially after finally accepting that we've won.

Coming to that understanding coupled with the increasing demands from work recently made for the perfect storm, I guess. I did a lot of soul searching while in the throes of a disorientation I hadn't felt in a long time, and realized that what I really needed in my life now was serenity, not mortal combat -- me against the great race, a.k.a. my demon du jour in disguise. Honestly, I don't know that I'll ever be able to see a competitive endurance event as just simply a race to do for fun, much as I imagine a soldier who has been to war might have a hard time using his gun in sport. The mind's a crazy place, you know?

Anyway, I've started a yoga class that I foresee becoming habitual. There's a nature preserve near my house as well, which seems to be the perfect place for trail running, not to mention kayaking. And trust me, I hear you; so much for cutting back, right? But compared to the pace I was keeping, this is Zen, baby.

I don't pretend that I'm ever going to be able to completely "relax" in this life, but I'm sure going to try. I've paid my dues, and the thing I need to do now is just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Dawn of a Decade!

* UPDATED WITH PICS FROM THE PARTY!*

The original post is below.

Here's one of the pics from the shoot (click to enlarge). After the professional makeover, each girl had a head shot taken, which we printed and included with the thank you card. Several girls also did some group shots like this, some of which we printed and sent along too.

Cover-girl!

Close up after getting glam!

At the studio with all the "supermodel" guests (note our son, Smirky, in the front row - ha!)

Laura's nail polish bottle cake and framed "magazine cover."

************************************************************************************

Holy cow, I must organize.

It's that time of year again...epic birthday partying begins in T-minus one week, so it's time to get everything down in a tangible format. Don't mind me, I'm just going to type out loud here...

OK, to start things off, here's the party invitation my husband designed. The text under the picture is actually on the back of the same 8.5" x 11/5" sheet (click -- then click again if needed -- to enlarge), and the small, non-blurred out part reads as follows: "YOU could be 10 Magazine's next cover model, so please wear your favorite outfit and bring accessories to share. Professional stylists will be on site for your photo shoot! Afterwards, make your own fruit-flavored lip gloss and mix ice-cream shakes while rocking out to the hottest songs."
Yep, that would be the birthday girl on the cover, and PS, I can't believe she's ten already. In addition to the stylists who are coming to get the girls "cover ready," one of my particularly awesome students has been after me to let her come and help with one of these birthday bashes, so I asked her to come this year and be the "fashion consultant." She's going to help with the wardrobing, etc., as she is totally teen sheik and the ten-year-old girls will adore her. The thank you cards we'll send out will come with the cover shots of the individual girls from their photo session too -- how fun is that!??

OK, now to break it all down...the supplies for making the "lava" lip gloss are on their way here, the rollerball bottles, the fruit flavorings, the mica sparkle powder etc. I just need to get the glycerin, the vitamin E oil and the almond oil and we'll be good to go on that. If the girls want to make one flavor, their glosses will look like this:

If they want to have two flavors in one, it'll look more like this, only shimmery (like above) instead of opaque:


And finally, the template for the cake is to the left. I think the trick to this one is going to be making sure the fondant doesn't look lumpy, so I'll freeze the cakes right after I make them, then will be sure to cut them carefully. Yikes, I'm stressing already on that. OK, and instead of a ribbon, I'm going to go to the beauty supply store and get a whole bunch of those mini nail polishes to put around the cake; that way all of the girls at the party can have one. We'll also make ice cream shakes to go with the cake, so I'll have to see if I can borrow a few blenders to accompany mine. Ah-ha! I knew I was missing something... note to self, I need to go find some colored cups for the shakes, plus get the ice cream, spoons, whipped cream, straws and cherries.

Oh yeah! Here are the treat bags:


And here's the stuff that's going in the treat bags -- mini emery boards, celebrity sunglasses, water/glitter bracelets (OMG, remember those from back in the day!?), hair clips, pop rocks and pony tail ties!


I think that's it. OK, I'm feeling better now that it's all down in black and white and neon.

PS: I know it looks like this is costing a lot, but it's not too bad. I spent about $200 on everything above, which is what having a party at a venue would cost. I think the most I've ever spent on a birthday party for the kids is about $400, but that was with a venue like go-karts or something like that. I'm sure that as the kids get older, the parties will get smaller, but in the meantime, we go all out. I mean hey, they're only going to be little once, you know? Not to mention, I have just as much fun - if not more - than the kids!

2011!

Glee, Glee, GLEE...

Where have you been all my life??

If you had aired when I was training for Ironman, I'd have qualified for Kona. Of this, I am sure.

Ladies and gentlemen, I just got the first season of Glee on DVD to help cultivate some running motivation, because let's face it, my mojo has been freeze-dried after a year and change of feeling like a goober non athlete - thank you very much, Achilles fiasco. OH, but I'm so back now. Not only do I want to hit the treadmill to train for the Cleveland marathon in May, procrastinating is a thing of the past now that I know I can hit play and run with stuff like this:



I laughed, I laughed some more, and I ran fast, boys and girls. We're talking just over a seven-minute pace while this segment was playing. That, my friends, is how you get your intervals on! When all was said and done, I'd run the fastest four miles I'd ever run on the treadmill -- 33:16!

I mean, combine two of my favorite things -- anthem movie finales and singing/dancing routines... by athletes in padding and football pants (especially #34)!??? -- and that is the recipe for me killing some treadmill workouts this pre-season, tell you what.

Now, I have 22 episodes of this show in all, which are about 40 minutes each in length; that should get me through about five weeks of what would otherwise be a slug-fest with base training. After that, I think I'll race against myself with this handy dandy little ap, which is FREE, by the way, and be good to go for the rest of the winter. Then come spring, I'm good with just the tunes outside, baby -- it's on!

HAPPY FREAKING NEW YEAR!

Dehydrated Back!?

Huh? Yeah, that's what I said, but sure enough, that was the culprit.

See, for the past several days, my lower back has been kicking my butt, and we're talking the can't stand up straight or even walk like I don't have a full body sunburn kind of hurting. I couldn't trace the pain to one specific cause, no cliff diving recently or anything like that, so I just thought, man, maybe I really am just getting old.

The stretches weren't really working, nor was the heating pad or the veritable bottle of Tylenol I took... SO, it was to the Internet.

Now, did you know, dear reader, that your back can get dehydrated? The white triangle over your lower back is called the thoracolumbar fascia, and is very fibrous. If you don't get enough water, that can get all kinds of tight and painful. Think sunburned skin again, aggh. Combine that with the fact that dehydration can also seriously compromise the disks in between the vertebrae, which are basically like little water-cushion shock absorbers, and you have a pretty messed up lower back situation. Check out the explanation here.

As soon as I read that, I drank 24 oz. of water and felt better in about 10 minutes. Sure enough, I did some hydration inventory, and realized my skin has been dry lately too. Guess I haven't been getting enough water lately!

Anyway, things aren't completely back to good or anything just yet, but they're well on their way. I imagine everything should be adequately lubed up again by tomorrow, considering those little water-cushion things replenish themselves mostly at night -- another groovy tidbit I learned from the article linked above.

Bring on marathon training!

My Wii Epiphany

In between baking batches of gingerbread men this morning, I was cajoled into taking at whack at our Wii Fit balancing act game with my eight-year-old son. Of course, before I could trip the tightrope fantastic, I had to create a "Mii" -- a little cartoon avatar of myself -- which I did, and it was fun. I couldn't get to the tightrope game until I went through all the body test/baseline hoo-ha, however -- enter your height, weight, stand like this, balance like that --which I did, and I'll have you know, it was not so fun.

Honestly, I really should have taken the doctor up on her offer to give me epi pins for my milk allergy the other day, as I really could have used one when the freaky little animated Wii board told me my body was "virtually 47 years old," then tried to console me in its little Wii way by saying, "But hey, Geezer McOldness, that's only 11 years more than what you actually are!" I mean come on, does that works in Japan?

Anyway, after watching myself crumple over and pork out in calamitous Wii caricature, finally, I was allowed to play.

Now, I don't know exactly when it happened, but somewhere between the crumpling "Mii" and the surprised little "Oh!" reaction of the Wii fit platform as I stepped on it to start my first game, I found I was not at all capable of just playing the stupid thing. No, I was not going to get off that little platform until I'd found a way to dominate the balancing act -- a venue, it occurred to me, that I used to rock most righteously not too long ago.

And that's what it all came down to just then... getting back in the mix with training while still managing to cart kids to their 4,000 practices each week, fold laundry, write, work full-time, etc., etc. Honestly, I was wondering exactly how I was going to pull it off this time, what, with this Cleveland marathon looming in the distance, but once I registered, it all fell into place. Old friends came out of the woodwork with support, and I was out of the gate. Now, I'm excited to hit the ground running - literally - next week with bona fide marathon training again... it's been way too long.

So anyway, thanks, rude little animated Wii platform dude; it's on like Donkey Kong.

Back in Business

HEY, so I'm back.

I closed up shop around here for a little while; my hosting company told me my account had been hacked, and I had all these little spam robot things putting content on my pages. Ughh, but all that's fixed now, and I'm back in business.

A lot has happened since, what, July? Holy cow. Well, for starters, I found out I've suddenly become wickedly allergic to milk. We're talking asthma (since childhood), hives (which is new), the whole mess. This has been a huge adjustment for me, and I honestly don't know if I've really quite come to terms with it all just yet. I think doing so is going to encompass the steps of the grieving process; what are they, denial, anger, sadness, then acceptance? I'm basically right on that line between denial and anger right now, still thinking, "Oh, just this little piece of chocolate won't hurt anything..." that is, until I find myself with burning, itchy skin 30 minutes later. Right about then, I dope slap myself and promise I'll never try that again... oh, but how soon we forget when we're Italian and stubborn and raised on all things dairy. So, yeah, it's a process.

In other news, I signed on to run the Cleveland marathon with teammie, Sister Sara this May, and just so you know, I have a ridiculously long way to go to get back into marathon shape -- but I'm getting there. A return of the 4:00 a.m. training day is inevitable, as once the sun comes up, the day isn't mine anymore. The kids are getting to the age where they're in wrestling, basketball, music lessons, dance, so we're taking them all over the place after school and on the weekends. Now, I love my family; I love my career, but let me tell you something, I need two hours everyday, starting now, just for me, in order to have a strong enough structure in place to keep up with everything else I do in the other 22.

I guess that was the mental breakthrough I needed in order to dig myself out of the funk I'd found myself in for the last few years. Being injured bites, but my head was what suffered the most. I guess I couldn't admit that the Achilles injury and car accidents took more of a toll on my state of mind than they did on me physically until I started huffing and puffing at the tops of stairs, or waking up with crazy back aches that hadn't been there before. I started to feel 30 years older than I actually was because of not pushing myself in tri training, which meant it wasn't long before I barely had the energy to keep up with my life each day. And you know what, I've worked too hard for too long to live like that.

So, it's a hard road back, but it's the only one. After watching Kona today (with an appearance by my totally inspirational teammate, Michelle), I was reminded of why I adopted this lifestyle: to push myself to my limits so I can live beyond them. It's time to stop pulling punches with training, and to start living like an Ironmom again.