Adventures in Cooking and Stuff

I'm making my first attempt at cooking an artichoke for dinner tonight.  I'm not talking about canned hearts, but the whole damn thing.  I've never done this before and I've wanted to try for awhile so when I bought groceries online I bought an artichoke to try it out.  Yes, I did say that I bought groceries online.  I'm training for Ironman and I hate going grocery shopping so I figured it was a great time to try out the order online, pick-up later feature.  It was overall pretty awesome, and you should try it. I digress... 

So, where was I? Oh yes, I was just about to tell you about how I was assaulted by the artichoke which I was so excited to prepare for my delicious dinner feast.  I know very little about artichokes other than I find them absolutely delightful.  They're so deliciously buttery and my mouth is watering just thinking about eating them.  I've never touched a whole artichoke before it was cooked though, let alone cooked one myself so this has truly been a voyage into the wild blue green yonder.  Trimming the thing was quite entertaining.  First of all, did you know that artichokes have thorns?  Thorns!  I read this online and thought, no, really?   I had no idea artichokes had thorns.  I later found this to be true when I was trying to trim the artichoke and I got pricked. Hard.  The thorns look cute and harmless, but those suckers hurt!  Also, and I was not warned of this online, but the innards of this weird looking vegetable are also sharp!  What the heck?!  There's like a thousand little thorns inside it!  Well, I showed that artichoke who's boss and put it in a pot and steamed it.   It's still cooking so you'll have to ask how it tasted later.  

On to other happenings in the Fury household.  I finally got my new bike, and her name is Stella.  She's going to rock everyone's face off (including mine) when I finally get to ride her.  Unfortunately, I've been laid up with the flu this past week so she's been parked in the guest bedroom all sad and lonely.  She's beautiful, and the current love of my life.  Move over Mr. Fury! 

In racing news, I ran the Get Lucky Half-Marathon put on by Team Ortho a couple weeks ago with my friend SP (aka Asspounder).  He and I discussed our racing goals previous to this race and he really wanted to qualify for a corral spot for Chicago Marathon in October, and I really wanted to PR.  In order for him to get in the last corral before general entry he needed to race 1:50 or better, and to get the next best corral spot he had to race 1:45 or better.  Race morning we discussed what our plan was going to be, and we decided to go for the gold and try to cross the finish line before 1:45.  Hm...sounds like a challenge!  We didn't really warm-up before the race, which was pretty stupid considering our goal time, but we did take the first mile relatively easy at 8:25/mile.  We knew we would have to speed things up in order to finish sub-1:45, so we sped up to closer to 8:00 min miles until the turn around.  At that point, we knew we had to run sub 8:00s to finish with the 1:45 pace group.  Our plan at that point was to run 7:50s until we caught up to the pace group.  This plan is flawless*, right?  Well, it would have been more flawless if the 1:45 pacer was running a 1:45 pace, but as we later found out, the pacer crossed the finish line at 1:43ish and then cheered in his pace group. What?  Who does that?  Needless to say, we never caught up to the pace group, but it all worked out because SP and I crossed the finish line at 1:44:40.  He got his corral spot and I got my PR by 7 minutes.  Goodness, it feels good to PR and know that I'm not as slow as I thought I was in January.  After shedding a few layers of clothes and a major snow melt, it turns out I'm actually a half-way decent runner.  Thanks SP for pushing me because I really don't think I would have run that hard had it not been for you. 

In other really happy news, I found out two friends are planning on camping their way to CDA to cheer for BV, NH, and I.  I am so excited that we'll have an expanded cheer group out there, I can hardly contain myself!  I think this will be good for Mr. Fury also to have a couple other familiar faces out there during the race.  So, anyone else interested in going out to Coeur d'Alene to cheer us on?  

* I was starting to think that this was either going to be awesome or the greatest blow-up we've both experienced in racing. 

It Happened on a Wednesday

Everyone has heard of runner's high, but is it possible to achieve swimmer's high?  I think it is and last Wednesday, I also think I may have achieved it.  Approximately every six weeks I have a 400 yd test worked into my swim workouts.  Typically, this is the worst swim for me.  I struggle to get through the 400s fully focused and sometimes I have a really hard time getting into my groove and finding my stroke.  I think it's knowing that the distance isn't that long, but long enough to warrant some serious concentration.

I found during my second test of the season that if I thought about one person for every lap of the 400, I really could focus.  So, I started dedicating laps to my family: my brothers, sister-in-law, brother's girlfriend, mom, dad, husband.  It was amazing what it did for my speed and focus.  Without this focus, I was swimming a 6:40 400, but with this new focal point, I got my times consistently down to a 6:30.  Well, of course, I got a little restless swimming a 6:30 400.  I need to be stronger and faster and better than a 6:30, so for my third 400 swim test of the year, I wanted to beat the 6:30.

I think I chose a bad day to try to beat this time.  I woke up late for work, I had a crappy day, I was tired, and I had a million excuses to not get in the pool.  As usual, I made myself go with the thought that once I was finished with my swim, I would be happy I went.  So, I got in the pool and sucked it up like a big kid, and found that I regretted almost every moment of my warm-up and my first 400.  I looked at my watch, and I came in at 6:41 for my first 400.  Great, it's going to be that kind of swim. Ugh.  I tried focusing on my family, and that helped for the second 400: 6:32.  Sweet, back on track.  Third 400: 6:31, nice!  At least I'm being somewhat consistent.  I only had one more 400, and typically I swim the fourth one the fastest.  I reset my watch, and kicked off the wall.  For some reason, everything felt really good.  My breath was steady, my stroke was strong, and my kick wasn't all over the place like it was on the first 400.  I felt better and happier in the watter than I have all season.  I got through all eight laps, stopped my watch, and saw 6:19 frozen on the watch face.  What? For real!?  A-W-E-S-O-M-E! I did not think that I was going to swim it considerably faster than my second or third, but sometimes I do surprise myself.  So there it is:  Swimmer's High.

Ironman Revisited

Many of you that read my blog already know this news, but for those of you that don't know, I am taking on the challenge of Ironman again.  Yes, 140.6 miles of pure bliss is coming my way on June 26, 2011 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  I can't wait and I am really excited to race on an Ironman course again!  Although I am not in it for the prize purse, I am in it for pride, and I fully plan on racing against my previous IM times from Wisconsin.

I am on week 17 of training which is hard to believe, and next week is halfway through my training program which is even harder for me to believe.  I don't have an overall time goal in mind right now other than trying to beat my previous time of 13:57:40.  The one goal I have been working on all training season is to beat my previous bike time from IMWI.  I don't just want to finish the bike in the 6 hour time frame, I need to finish the bike in the 6 hour time frame.  7:22:42 on the bike was much too long, and I plan on doing much better in CDA.  

I got a couple new toys this year to help with that bike goal: a Garmin 310xt (I love it!) and on its way to me is a Cannondale Women's Slice 4 Rival.  I can not wait to ride her.  She's not here yet, but I am hoping she will arrive straight from the factory by the end of February or early March.  Speaking of bikes, I need to go ride mine in the basement!

Ride on.

Happiest in 2

I realized something on a run last night with Mr. Fury that is season changing.  I don't want to race anymore.  It's not that I never want to do a triathlon, marathon or road race ever again, but it's that I'm worn out mentally and maybe even physically from trying to become faster.  My workouts and racing have started to feel like a second job that is more stressful than my day job.  I used to love racing because it was fun not because I felt obligated to get a certain time or to place in my age group.  The increase in speed and faster times came from the years of training and my love of the sport, not from frustrating workouts at the track.  I feel like I have lost all sense of fun with racing and I really need to get that back. 

Last night I decided that there will be no attempt at Boston this year.  I'm going to spend as much time as I can in zone 2 because that is truly my happy place.  I made Mr. Fury swear that he would keep reminding me of this and not let me buy a GPS HRM because that will make me focus more on times and paces which is exactly what I don't want to do.  The hope is that by October, I will look back on this season and feel happy that I had fun.  I don't want a repeat of last year when I showed up to Brewhouse angry at the thought of racing and ran TCM thinking: Why the hell am I doing this?  It's hard to put my dream of Boston on the shelf for awhile, but I know it's what I need to do in order to salvage my love of running, triathlon and racing.  Someday I'll get there.  ::sigh::

In other (happier) news, it was my birthday last weekend.  Mr. Fury and I went to my parents' lake home with a group of our friends and my brothers to hang out and have a relaxing weekend.  It was a great time and I'm so glad we decided to celebrate there this year.  It was rainy and chilly most of the weekend, but my brothers and my friend Dave made the most of it by taking the boat out anyway and going water skiing.  Crazy kids...

I love birthdays, and mostly because I'm completely surprised by Mr. Fury and his tremendous memory.  This year he got me some awesome gifts that I had even forgotten that I asked for back..well...let's not say how early I start talking about my birthday, but rest assured, it's pretty darn early in the year.  He got me a wireless keyboard for my computer that I can use when I work at home and super tasty delicious brownies that he ordered from the Vermont Brownie Company.  Oh.My.Gawd.  They are so freaking good.  I tried the Espresso Brownie today and it was unbelievable.  Look at this tasty goodness:

Really, can it get any better than espresso beans inside a brownie?!  You get a chocolate and caffeine high all at the same time!  Genius!  Don't be jealous you didn't think of it first and go order a tasty delicious box of your own.  You don't even have to share unless you want to.  The best, and funniest, part of how I received the brownies was that they came via USPS while we were gone.  The mail dude put the box just inside the door, but the box was too big for the door to shut all the way.  The squirrels tried to bust into the brownies by chewing away at the outside box.  Little did they know that the Vermont Brownie Company is prepared for such rodent initiated box raids, and they package their brownies in a box inside a box.  HA! Take that you filthy animals!  No brownies for you!

Last night the birthday festivities continued when we had a rousing soiree at my parents' house for my younger brother's birthday who turned, brace yourselves, 25 years old.  25 YEARS OLD! I still can't believe it.  I still think he should be 12, and never grow older.  On the bright side, he's still one of the funniest and most smiley-est people I know.  Happy birthday dude, it was an honor to share a massive DQ birthday cake with you last night. 

Cheers!

GU, I Love You!

I reached GU nirvana a few weekends ago.  Seriously.  Traveling through Wisconsin to go to a friend's wedding, Mr. Fury and I realized we forgot all of our nutrition products at home and we needed some for our long run on Saturday.  We stopped at good ole' Scheel's in Eau Claire and picked up some GU.  The salesman at the store said the Jet Blackberry was a good seller and insisted I would love it.  Ok, not just love it, but LOVE IT!  I'm a sucker so I bought a box of six.  If I'm going to LOVE something, why bother with just buying one packet at a time?

Fast forward to Saturday.

Mr. Fury were out on our run, and I took my first GU.  Ok Jet Blackberry, prove the crazy salesman right, I want to LOVE you.  Honestly, after that first packet, I wanted to O.D. on Jet Blackberry GU.  It was so tasty, and with 2x the caffeine, I dare you not to like it!  So, that's my challenge.  I dare you to hate the Jet Blackberry GU.  You can't.  It's too hard to hate it because it's too good.  You can't even lie, the caffeine high will give you away. 

Dare I say it's better than Orange GU?

Ms. R, Where Are You?

Howdy dooody!  Long time no write.  Sorry to disappoint, but really, I have a life to live here folks and it has been busy.  A lot has happened in the Fury household the last couple of months: loss of life, new life, sickness (multiple times and simultaneously), and many yard projects. Here's a picture of the cutest happening this spring, our new nephew Liam:

We haven't met him yet because he lives in Seattle, WA, but we're looking forward to making a trip soon to meet the little guy.  He makes my uterus ache a little... 

The SF and I have been busy with random projects around the house.  We just replanted part of the garden to put in a fire pit.  Stay tuned, bonfires and parties pending.

Training is going so-so.  Motivation is not so much part of the problem as is staying well enough to train.  I tried out a new pool just over a week ago and it proved to be a big mistake.  I got a nasty sinus infection and I'm blaming it all on the murky water at the LTF in Fridley.  Maybe my dirty nose is really to blame, but I prefer to point my finger at Life Time Fitness.  I just recovered from that for the most part when I woke up with violent vomiting on Sunday morning.  It was a doozy of a week, and one that I prefer to never re-live.  I got back in the pool last night for my first workout in 8 days.  I was still a little weak from no eating the day prior, but I made it through 1700 yds before calling it a day. 

In other news, I'm going to try the marathon thing again.  Oh, how did TCM go, you ask?  So well I didn't feel it was necessary to write about it.  Actually, it was awful, and I swore I would never do it again.  Well, until about two weeks later when I realized that I still really want to BQ. No, really want to BQ.  So, a couple friends and I are going up nort to run Whistlestop Marathon in October.  I've heard great things so I hope it lives up to all the hype.  If nothing else, there will be beautiful fall colors to distract me.

The next couple of weeks are wedding filled extravaganzas.  We have a wedding this weekend, I have a wedding shower next Tuesday and then another wedding Memorial Day weekend.  It's going to be fun and exhausting!  Well, until next time, Ms. R out.

What are these magical gems I am wearing?

As part of my Gear West Test Team duties, I not only test products, but I also write reviews of the products I test.  I will post those reviews here in addition to sending them to Gear West to post on their website.  Here is my first review of the year:

Product

Sable WaterOptics 101 Tri Goggles

Rating

Two Fins Way Up

Similar Products Used

TYR Tracer, Speedo Vanquisher, Speedo Air Seal Tri

Today is the day.  Today I am finally getting back into the pool after a few months far, far away from it.  I don’t remember the last time I entered the pool with such excitement and anticipation, and all this emotion was over a new pair of goggles.  Wearing a new pair of goggles is like getting the first squeeze out of a fresh tube of toothpaste.  There is something so gratifying about the first few laps in a fresh pair of goggles. Maybe it is the hope that these goggles will actually deliver on their “no fog” promise, the clarity with which you can see the bottom of the pool through the unscratched lenses, or the cushy feel of the gaskets that are not yet digging into your eye sockets from laps and laps of usage.  The novelty wears off after you find that these hopes have been dashed, and your goggles fog up after your warm up, you scratch the lenses after the fifth time you literally have taken the defogging into your own hands and you look in the locker room mirror only to see purple ovals around your eyes.  Darn, foiled again!

You can imagine my dismay when my new pair of Sable 101 Tri goggles did not deliver on these disappointments.  Wait, I can get through a whole swim without cursing my goggles?  What are these magical gems I am wearing?  I seemingly made a mistake when I allowed my husband to try them on before getting a single lap in the pool.  He had a moment of envy when I exclaimed, “WOW! These are the clearest goggles I have ever worn!”  His response was, “Oh! Gimme, gimme!” so I reluctantly obliged and he, of course, got water on the lenses.  He handed them back to me and I said, “Oh man!  Look at what you did!  All the literature that came with the lenses stresses the importance of NEVER TOUCHING THE LENSES, even with your finger.”  He gave me that look that says, “Uh huh, get over it.” Clearly having lost this battle for now, I did what any spouse would do and filed this situation away for future use, just in case he ruined the anti-fog. ::Remember the last time I let you wear my new goggles, and you got them wet?  Yeah, well, the anti-fog hasn’t worked since!::

 In defeat, I put my new Sable 101 Tri goggles on and took off down the pool, and was not at all surprised when the little bit of water on the lenses turned into fog.  Deciding to tough it out and having hope that the anti-fog would do its thing, I was pleasantly and incredibly surprised when it actually worked and the fog cleared.  I enjoyed an entire workout without any recurring fog!  The other feature that quite frankly blew my mind was how much clearer the lenses are with the Sable 101s than any other goggle I have worn. The clarity of the lenses is unmatched.  I was much more impressed with the Sable 101s than I was the first time I used the TYR Tracers.  That is saying a lot considering I loved my new Tracers so much I did not want to take them off, and I almost went to bed wearing them.  After four swim workouts wearing the new Sables, I am just as pleased with them as the first time I wore them which I definitely couldn’t say for the Tracers.  As long as I care for them as instructed, Sable continues to deliver on their promises. 

My only complaint is that I do have a little discomfort around my eyes after long usage.  I have not figured out the optimal strap positioning for myself yet, but the positive aspects of these goggles far outweigh this negative.  When looking for the Sables, you may have a little sticker shock, but rest assured the Sable 101 are well worth the higher price tag.  For those of you that wear prescription lenses, Sable WaterOptics also makes customized prescription goggles so you can experience a fog-free, clear vision swim too!  Right now, I can neither confirm nor deny that I have tried to go to bed wearing them yet, but I will admit that I have recommended them to all my goggle-nirvana-seeking friends.