joining the coaching circus

Just like many triathletes I know (including many current and retired pros), I have decided to get in on the coaching side of things.

Exhibit A:

Right after my last blog post, we met the Christmas puppy at the tail end of my trip to the west coast, where she was hanging out in Las Vegas with the Sherpa's sister. We got our first very good looking family portrait together!

Then on Friday we picked her up from Newark, NJ, where she flew first class with tigers and orangutans. And baboons; let's not forget those. She is only 12 weeks old and already a delightful terror. I realized quickly that my new favorite type of puppy is a tired sleeping one...

Oh yes, and puppies that don't stink are another favorite... (yes that's Rocktape on my knee!)

So about the first video--Socks hasn't ever lived anywhere with staircases so I had to teach her to go down them. Going up was easy but she would get stuck upstairs! Lots of encouragement and treats required. I'm an awesome coach! haha. People have asked before why I didn't want to be a coach. It just never appealed to me. I'm happy to give random advice to those who ask, coach my sister through her first marathon, or give a very loose training plan to a friend doing his first 100km bike ride, but as a job? Nah.

Maybe because I don't want to deal with people like this:

(If I had any free time not taken up by having, oh a real life, I could totally come up with videos of "Sh*t the Wongstar Says" or "Sh*t Triathletes Say to the Wongstar.")

Heh heh. Anyway...BAZINGA! I'm totally not about to be a triathlon coach or anything. For now I'll be a puppy coach, but only for my little Socks.

Becoming who you want to be.

This may come as a surprise to some of you who don't know me in real life, or I guess in my previous real life. My online persona has always been more confident and outspoken than I really am, and definitely much more than I used to be.

Being home this week, I've been catching up with friends who knew me when I was in residency (pre-teamTBB 4 years ago), in college, and all the way back to high school, middle school, and elementary school. Oh, and let's not stop there--my family members that really knew me when I was an awkward and gangly pre-teen, and a chubby little toddler. I've also tapped into my old laptop (actually my first laptop) from post-college as I never backed up those files. (Somewhere in the world, the Sherpa is screaming and he's not sure why...) These days kids get laptops in elementary schools. CRAZY.

Suffice it to say, I've unintentionally had some time to reflect on who I used to be and how much I've changed and grown up. It's never been as striking as when I read through some private journal entries I wrote over 8 years ago, at the ripe old age of 22. I was in my "year off" in between finishing college and applying to graduate schools, trying to figure out what I wanted to do next.

How did I change? I made myself. A little bit of a time capsule from...

12:10am, Friday, December 19, 2003 (more like Thursday night)

I realized today as I ordered a hamburger and fries at Elephant Bar…

“I want to be the girl that can order a hamburger and fries whenever she damn well pleases.”  Why shouldn’t I be able to order a hamburger and fries whenever I damn well please?  It’s just that I’ve been so neurotic and obsessive about…everything I guess, from stuff I eat, to wondering too much what a certain guy is thinking, and reading too much into things.

I realized…

The Girl That I Want to Become and

The Girl That I Am Right Now are two different people.

The Girl That I Want to Become is very independent, doesn’t care much for what others think, is not easily manipulated, is very adventurous and goes on a lot of adventures by herself and with others, isn’t afraid of making mistakes, eats whatever she wants, is beautiful on the inside and out, isn’t afraid to ask for help, is very strong physically-mentally-and-emotionally, and is very happy.  The happiest she ever is, is the happiness she feels every day.  She’s got life figured out, isn’t so anal about everything, always does her best and hopes for the best.

The Girl That I Am Right Now can’t really get around by herself, depends on others (especially mommy), has eating issues and obsessions, is scared of a lot of things, sometimes gets too needy (yech), isn’t happy with the current state of affairs, is often wishing she were somewhere else, and feels lost, like she needs to find herself.  Wonders too much about what a certain guy thinks, reads into things and obsesses way too much, has her whole day revolve around things she can’t control.  Sometimes she feels she can’t even control her own life, hasn’t figured it out yet.

Another year begins in a week and a half; my goal for the coming year is to become The Girl That I Want to Become.  I believe thinking about this Girl every day, and striving to become her, will help me improve myself bit by bit, so that I become basically a whole different person by the time I leave for graduate school.  Of course, the two Girls aren’t completely so different--there is definitely some overlap.  Maybe it sounds a bit materialistic, but this new laptop and finally acquiring my own car (it’s beautiful!) will be helping me forge the path to my independence at last.  At 22, I wouldn’t say it’s about damn time, but it is about a rather damn good time and as good a time as any.

The hilarious part is that 8+ years ago, that "new laptop" is now a total dinosaur. It's sooo heavy and slow! The battery is so dead that it can only be powered up with the cord plugged in, and it overheats easily so the very noisy fan is going full blast. I actually took this with me to my first teamTBB camp in fall of 2008, so it lasted me a good 5 years. Similarly, that beautiful new car (it was a '93 Chevy Lumina Z34 coupe, pictured above during spring break 2005) lasted me through my adventures in Atlanta and Dallas before it went kaput. One of the side mirrors was held up with duct tape and the radiator kept leaking, so I'd refill it before I drove anywhere. I wasn't able to scam anyone on Craigslist into buying it, and really excited that CarMax gave me $500 for it!

We did in fact go on many adventures together, me, that laptop, and my first car. (I didn't get my driver's license until I was 21.) Have I become The Girl That I Want to Become? It took me much more than those 8 months in between that journal entry and when I left for graduate school. Some of those things I've even struggled with very recently--not obsessing over everything that I eat, and being very happy. I wouldn't say I've got my life figured out, but I'm pretty close.

For the most part, when I re-read that post 8 years later, I wanted to go back in time and hug my 22-year-old self. Tell her things would get better, but I think she knew that. Because she was on the right track, and she had a plan. She knew who she wanted to become, and she went after it fervently.

the new rules of race scheduling

My comments form is acting out, so I apologize if you've left a comment and I haven't been able to say thanks or anything. Thanks! The best part of being at home is all the delicious Asian restaurants everywhere. I had bibimbap at the K. Grill and Tofu House in San Bruno the other day:

Delicious! I may hold a grudge against Korean drivers (or just one in particular), but not against their bibimbap. Or bulgogi.


Anyway, now that I've established the new rules of training, I've given some thought to my race schedule for 2012 and most of it is TBD. It kind of depends on how my race walk progress goes and how my knee is feeling for running.

1. Race walking: There's a whole Race Walk Grand Prix that USA Track & Field puts on with national championships in distances from 1 mile to 50km, even a one-hour championships. I would LOVE to get up to the 20km distance to see how I stack up with the Olympic Trials qualifying times, but not sure when I'll be ready. Right now my training is capped at one hour or 5 miles per session. A 20km would take 2+ hours. But one thing's for sure, I want to start racing in this. There's a reason it's called RACE walking. ;)

2. Running races: 5km or less. There were always these fun crazy 5km's I've wanted to do, but haven't. Because I was too much of a "hard-core" pro triathlete to do something fun that might get me injured. (And sure enough I get injured from an Ironman race, go figure.)

Here are some I'm thinking of for 2012:
a) The Barathon. 5 beers in 5km. Hosted by some of our friends who are ultramarathoners/frisbee plaers, it's a small grassroots "race" but we get real T-shirts. Did this last year in 24-ish minutes and took 2nd OA (the first two of us were both women!).
b) Zombie Run--"Run For Your Lives" right before Halloween near Baltimore. I want to go as a Zombie. Sherpa wants to go as a human. We really like The Walking Dead, what can I say? :)
c) some sort of Doggie Dash. We'll see if Socks can be trained up to run a 5km, or maybe there will be a one-mile version.
d) one of the city scavenger hunts. There are a few in Philadelphia: the Scavenger Dash (5/6/2012), Great Urban Race (9/15/2012), CitySolve Urban Race (7/7/2012). You get to do it in teams and it's like the Amazing Race on a much smaller scale. With costumes.
e) maaaaybe the Mud Run. (end of September) There are all kinds of obstacles and the hard-core athlete in me is still wary of getting hurt, but it sounds fun and I've always wanted to do one since college. (There was the Mud Run at Camp Pendleton I never made it to.)

3. Travel restrictions: with having a puppy and trying to minimize the credit card debt, all of the races are local, or at least within driving distance. (I'll make an exception for the Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR, but for now that's a bit of a stretch.) It will be cool to get Socks trained as a service dog so she can come on airplanes with us in the future. Cuz she's already too big to be chihuahua travel size! Despite being much smaller than...a horse.

4. Sherpa-ing or spectating: I'll be sherpa-ing at Ironman Louisville for the Food Coach, and being my own Sherpa's #1 cheerleader at some of his tournaments. Well, me and Socks will be tied for #1, I think. But it will definitely be nice to support my besties and not always be so me, me, me in terms of racing.

5. Triathloning: I was going to JUST SAY NO, but Mac informed me of a unique local "triathlon" here that involves no swimming or running. And includes RACE WALKING. Which is pretty wild. It's the Marshalton Triathlon and it's a tiny little local race that's been going on for almost 40 years now. It even advertises itself as "the country's oldest triathlon". Not the traditional swim/bike/run at all, but something like a 2.3-mile bike, 3.0-mile canoe, 2.5-mile walk, and 2.3-mile bike. HMMMM. How could I resist that? I can bike, race walk, and rowed for Georgia Tech. It's not til October. Let's keep our eyes posted on this one!

That is all. I'm excited.

The Wongstar presents: the New Rules of Training

I'm home in the 94044 for Chinese New Year and wrote a batch of blog drafts while on the 6-hour flight. So let's see how this "batch blogging" goes in terms of update frequency. When you're inspired, you're inspired!


This particular post was inspired by a variety of things, including self-reflection, a comment from the mentor and friend formerly known as Coach Beck, and my current reading of Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. Beck had mentioned regarding one of my last posts: "the novelty of being lazy/not training wears off, then you truly (re)discover how to enjoy your exercise..."

As you know, one of the reasons I decided to stop racing triathlons, or even swim/bike/running was that it became a source of unhappiness for me. A combination of my knee injury, frustrations with the sport, and it's evolution into an obligation. I had once set out goals for myself in the sport, which I had achieved and surpassed, and then later on, let too many other people influence what I had originally wanted out of triathlon.

So I had a nice break from an exercise regimen. And like the hoards of "normal people," starting working out again practically every day when 2012 struck. I was surprised how much I enjoyed going to Fusion Fitness before work every morning. I think most triathletes can't stand being on "cardio machines"--the elliptical or the treadmill--but I'm kind of liking it. Maybe it's because it's pretty cold outside in the mornings. I do the elliptical sort of as my easy days as an alternative to spinning on the bike. And I really like race walking on the treadmill, it's like having a push from a friend to help me get a higher turnover.

Yeah, nothing beats starting your morning before work than a nice sweaty workout. And I always make sure I stretch afterwards, something I neglected in the TBB years because Brett wasn't a fan. But I've noticed I'm pretty tight in the right hamstring (the side my knee was hurt) and so I'm back to doing the full line of stretches we did in high school track, minus the Westmoor Rams jumping jacks.

So without further ado, my new rules of training:

1. Only swim with friends. I won't swim by myself, because I don't feel like it. But I might start swimming again with Mac's squad when that starts up on Wednesday mornings.

2. Racewalk lessons once (maybe even twice) a week--depending on me and Mr. Miyagi's schedules.

3. Racewalk 5x/week. This includes the 2x/week on the treadmill at Fusion.

4. Strength training: assisted pull-ups twice a week, core stuff twice a week.

5. Only bike when the weather is nice outside. By spring time, my knee should feel better and I can venture outdoors again. See how the PTSD is doing.

6. Daily walks with the puppy and a dedicated trip to the dog park on the weekend. She comes home next Friday!!! The hard-core athletes may sneer at me for including easy walks and fun playtime in my "training" but I think of it as active recovery and exercise for the soul.

Yup, that's it. When it gets warmer again, I want to do my easy walks in my Vibrams and maybe do a longer hike on the trails with them. For now, it's cold and I'm not keen to get frostbite in my feet.

There are still those who don't understand why I want to get into race walking instead of tris or just running. I actually find it insulting that people are still asking me, "Why don't you just run?" Firstly, my knee got effed up and I haven't able to run more than an hour without it flaring up (I feel like such a broken record sometimes). Nextly, I just don't want to run and I don't really care what you think I should or shouldn't do. I know race walking is completely unglamorous compared to triathlon or even running. So what. I'm liking it and I'll do what I want.

race walk PROGRESS

Progress is slow but steady. I got my first pair of shoes specifically for race walking at Delaware Running Company last week, the Saucony Fastwitch 5, and these shoes have ATTITUDE:

Love 'em! Turns out my standard running shoe size (10's and 10.5's) that I've worn for over 15 years are a touch too loose and contributed to my heel blisters. Now I'm in a 9.5 and my feet are so much happier!

I'm figuring out little ways to kickstart the fast walker in me, because as a trained runner, walking is by default slow and steady. I've incorporated a couple treadmill runs twice a week in the morning at Fusion Fitness, and it's actually kind of fun. Almost like a game to me: see how high I can get the speed up without breaking form and going into a trot/jog. I remember learning about that transition point when I was in college, exercise physiology class--there is a preferred walk-to-run transition speed, the point where it is actually easier and more efficient to run at a certain speed than to walk that fast. Right now I'm capping myself at 5mph and seeing how long I can hold that speed for.

What else is fun is that when I go at 7am, it is quiet enough that I get to watch Curious George on PBS. Yep, while the cardio machines next to me are tuned into the boring news or overpaid pro sports, I always switch the channel to cartoons. :)

On Saturdays I've been doing a 1km marked loop at a nearby park. Then I see how far I can walk in an hour, and take splits for each 1km. Without fail, I negative split every single lap. I guess I just need to get warmed up and get a rhythm going! I've been tracking my best 5km, which is always the last 5 laps since I'm a stud negative-splitter. 2 weeks ago was 43:50, last weekend was 39:04 and yesterday was 36:09! All unofficial times without judges of course, but I am pretty focused on staying "legal."

Before I can start real training, I need to be able to race walk 5 days a week for an hour without my shins screaming at me. They are much better than a week ago. I got in all 5 days, two of them were 30-min treadmill sessions and the others were all one hour. PROGRESS.

I don't plan to enter any races until I get myself under 10-min miles. (Still nowhere near elite level, but hopefully fast enough to not embarrass myself.) Which means a 30-min 5km, and if I can do that, it's just a matter of tapping into my endurance for a sub-hour 10km and sub-2hr 20km. Qualifying for the Olympic Trials means a 1:48 20km. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. A 30-min 5km is the first goal!

In other news, I also saw my chiropractor Dr. Jannelli, my "Body Mechanic", for the first time since I retired from triathlon. He always checks that my pelvis is balanced and was SHOCKED when I came in on Wednesday. In a good way too! I've seen him for over a year now and when I lie face-down, my pelvis has always been uneven. My racewalk coach "Mr. Miyagi" has me doing all these hip mobility drills every day and apparently they are magic. Dr. J concluded that my body has been more balanced than he's ever seen it, and by far (he had to check at least 3 times because he couldn't believe it). Then he said the same thing I had been thinking this whole time--being a race walker is so much better for me than being a triathlete.

Maybe I was meant for this.