Domestique Diaries - Bedtime Routine/ Workout #4

Our favorite time of the day is bedtime, hands down. After working, training/workouts, errands, making dinner and socializing, it feels so good to hop into bed and finally relax only to start the cycle over again the following day. However, lately these triathlete bedtime routines are turning into a hour long ordeal in which i’ve had nearly 40 minutes to read by the time Brent gets to bed, and then i’m caught laughing so hard I can’t fall asleep.

In our household we have renamed Brent’s wild bedtime routine to Workout #4. He takes it as strict as a workout, it’s nearly as long, and we have a good laugh about it all the time!

Let me demonstrate through a comparison list. To the “average person” my bedtime routine is moderately lengthy, and consists of:
-floss teeth (3 min)
-brush teeth (3min)
-wash face, tone face and apply two different moisturizing creams (5 min)
-moisturizing cream to hands, Blistex on lips and i’m set and in bed! (2 min)
TOTAL TIME: 13 minutes

Brent’s Workout #4 has grown since he’s been getting back into training, it wasn’t always this complex, but here’s what it is these days
-quick stretch (7 min)
-apply BioFreeze to legs and let soak in (7 min)
-put on heart rate monitor and watch (2 min)
-get into compression gear (6 min)
-look at himself in the mirror while flexing (5 min)
-brush teeth (3 minutes)
-drink one glass of water refill and place full glass on bedside table (4 min)
-set alarm for some unseen early hour of the morning and recheck at least once to make sure it’s still set (2 min)
TOTAL TIME: 40 MINUTES!!!

Finally, 40 minutes later in strolls Brent looking completely different in his compression gear. He looks somewhat uncomfortable with a slight waddle in his gait, yet the minute he hits the pillow he’s out cold.

Brent is sound asleep and i’m left with a sore stomach from so much laughter and burning nostrils from all the inhaled BioFreeze. Finally, after I calm myself down and I’m just about to fall asleep Brent’s legs start to twitch. Sometimes I think his whole body clears the mattress by at least an inch and I assume that must have woke him up however he doesn’t even seem to notice.
He tells me Workout #4 helps him to wake up and feel like a million bucks. Workout #4 causes me to regardless of my day go to bed with a smile on my face and therefore i’m waking up “feeling like a million bucks” too!

You know you’re living with a triathlete when:

-Workout #4 starts promptly @ 7pm
-you’ve grown accustom to restless leg syndrome and can sleep through it

Happy Dreaming,

Carley

Domestique Diaries - There are benefits!

Not all triathlete ways of living leave me thinking to myself, “this only ever happens if you’re living with a triathlete.” Rather than skeptically pondering those frequent situations that make me laugh yet think, to the contrary sometimes my palate and stomach are left utterly satisfied and craving more of pure wholesome goodness.

After one of our errand scenarios, Brent baked the best/healthiest (in my opinion) cookies I have ever tasted. Watching him bake is a masterpiece. My usual baking occurs in a rush when I

have somewhere to go, I throw all the half hazard measured ingredients in a bowl mix once and place huge pieces on a cookie sheet. Brent, takes his time accurately measuring all ingredients, mixing when instructed to and making all ingredients combine together so

precisely. I usually delegate myself to clean up crew so I can watch Brent bake from the sidelines. Anyways the cookies were made with almond meal and coconut flour and had nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves in it. They were fantastic and a definite benefit of living

with a triathlete.

The finished masterpiece:

Halt! Then out of nowhere I came home to find this in the kitchen pan:

You know you’re living with a triathlete when:

-You always have fresh cookies on hand that you can eat for breakfast,

lunch, dinner and/or snack.

-You come home to find dinner still moving in the pan!

Happy Eating,

Carley

Domestique Diaries - Errands

“ Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.”

When we have errands to run, which is pretty much every weekend, Brent recites that line from Old School. We don’t usually go to Home Depot, or Bed Bath Beyond, we’re more of a Costco, Vitamin Shoppe, Central Market and the Mall type frequenters. However, the goal is always the same tackle the things on our list and get home for Brent to rest his legs. We’re usually on a strict “see how Brent’s feeling timeline” which means I have to plan this outing logically before even pitching it to Brent. I know the stores he likes, so I start with one of those which happen to be close to one I want and build upon that cycle until ending with “renting a movie on the way home”. The movie part always solidifies my chances with an agreement to the overall plan.

After Brent’s first training session in the morning we set out to run our weekly errands. Brent packs up a nutrition bar and at least 2 water bottles. This is where the problem starts. By the time we arrive at the first store I’m already feeling like I’m shopping with a two year old. I can honestly tell you where the bathrooms are in every gas station and store in the Fort Worth area thanks to Brent. He plans these bathroom breaks strategically too. Immediately when we get in the store he runs to the bathroom and tells me he will meet me somewhere. Then one of us gets sidetracked and we end up shopping ourselves for the list and meeting at the check out. As we are checking out Brent goes to the bathroom again, perfect timing for him to avoid either paying for the items or loading them all in the car. We get to the car just in time for Brent to down more water and the cycle repeats itself at the next store, or we don’t even make it to the next store with out stopping at a gas station first.

Overall, I’m thinking it might be more productive to leave Brent at home during the errands.

You know you’re living with a triathlete when:

-The word hydration has taken on a whole new meaning, “to supply a triathlete with a diaper due to excess fluid balance to avoid constant stops at all bathrooms”

Be hydrated,

Carley

2009 Summary & 2010 New Adventures

"Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward"

2009 has come and gone and we are now on to a new year and a new race season. It was a long season in which I had the opportunity to spend six weeks in Hawaii for a training camp with some great athletes. I competed in the following 70.3 races: Disney, Kansas, Buffalo Springs, Vancouver Subaru, Calgary, Muskoka, Longhorn, and World 70.3 Championships. Overall, I progressed and improved throughout the season finishing 6th in Calgary thus earning a spot for Clearwater. An unfortunate penalty in Muskoka, and sub four hour races in both Austin and Clearwater helped end my season in a positive and strong manner. As oppose to becoming fatigued and burnout out as the season grew longer I became strong and continued to improve and gain excellent fitness. For this I am very grateful as this proved to me that with hard work and dedication I will achieve my goals.

After Clearwater I had some great run races, finishing 10th at the Dallas White Rock half marathon where I faced some stomach problems, nonetheless continued to improve my run performance.




After a good negative split season, I was scheduled for my first triathlon break in all of my career. Breaks are not something I do well, probably due to my ADD tendencies. I always went from triathlon to swim season and vice versa, or triathlon to Cycle Cross, or Triathlon season to early winter race season. However this season was different, I took a two week holiday from the sport. It was tough and I have to thank Carley for putting up with me. I have to admit we were the only ones driving around the streets on New Years day at 9 am looking for any open stores for me to walk around aimlessly. Coming off a break I feel great and ready to go, and I know this was essential for my physical and mental performance. Getting back at it has had its ups and downs as I have been feeling a little flat lately however I feel as though I am quickly gaining and surpassing last years fitness level .

I would like to thank my Sponsors from 2009, Coach’s, training partners and of course Carley and all other friends and family for your outstanding support. Thank you!


It is now time to move forward and all I can say is: Bring it on 2010! I am excited and motivated for this season. I am starting to get along a bit better with my alarm clock after the first few episodes of it going off for an early morning swim practice and Carley having to get up to turn it off. This season will be action packed with plenty of racing and some hard training camps. With all of the new races spread out across North America my race season is still in its planning stages.

Just like all of the New Years Resolutioners I will be back at it in the gym building up my strength. The drag suit is on, the running shoes are out of the closet and the computrainer is warm and set up in the middle of my living room (sorry Carley). I also have a new pretty cool food scale in the kitchen to weigh out some of my foods, just in case the American serving sizes have grown on me.


Next up will be a tentative race schedule, tales from the Domestique and some fun pictures from New Years. 

Thanks for Reading,

Brent

Domestique Diaries – Workout Chores

Athletes have an innate determination to push themselves to the limit, both physically and mentally in key workouts and during a race. They have the ability to push through the hardest circumstances and constantly test their athletic ability. They strive for excellence, and hit every workout to the tee regardless of external circumstances. These are personalities that make not just an athlete, but a world class athlete. These personalities carry over into the athlete’s life and other pursuits and if wise enough into household chores; here’s how I found the link.

Household Chores/ Workout

Brent has the athlete personality to plough through everything and sometimes this can be to my advantage. I’m a cleaner-extraordinaire no need to lie, I love cleaning and am convinced I have mild OCD when it comes to cleaning. Anyways since living with Brent I’ve been content with doing all the cleaning myself, cause then it’s done to my standards. Well since Brent has been on down time, he has willingly asked to help with weekly chores by volunteering to clean the bathrooms. So the first week, I pick Brent up some manly blue rubber gloves and he sets off to clean the bathrooms while I clean the rest of the house.

Brent, having that personality ploughs through it and when I go to check it out it’s done just a little sub par. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just different from my way. I don’t want to tell him it’s a little sub par, so I grin and bear it. Later in the week I start to question his process during conversations and I find him answering things like “you don’t need to wash the shower because the soap from showering cleans it every time you shower”, and “the floor didn’t look dirty so it didn’t need to be washed this week”. So inside I’m having a little anxiety attack, the next day when I’m home before Brent I re-clean the bathrooms. Mentally all week I rack my brain about how to approach this minute dilemma, I don’t want to turn Brent off of chores so soon by telling him about his sub par performance, especially since he was so happy about it.

Then it hits me, a workout chore with all the steps written out for Brent to follow and plough trough just like he does his workouts.

So I buy a chore checklist and write out the following for Brent:

Focus: Clean bathrooms

WU: remove and shake/vacuum all carpets from bathroom and kitchen

MS: 1 x shower and tub scrub

2 x toilet bowl, seat scrub (1’)

300 m vacuum- all floors

CD: 2 x Windex mirrors (1’)

2 x wash floors in bathroom (1’)

Fold laundry in laundry room

The result was a magnificently cleaned bathroom. Just as suspected Brent hammered through this as accurately as he does a workout. I realized later if you don’t put a date on the top Brent wants to hammer it out right away. So as long as the date is there, on that day no matter what else he has going on, he will hammer through that workout chore and with sufficient detail on the workout he will do it exactly as it appears on the workout. I have to admit its a little fun for me to write out a new workout chore every week. I change it up all the time so it never gets boring for either of us. And that athlete determination shines through even in weekly chores. What a household!

You know you’re living with a triathlete when:

-your chores are written out in workout form and are hammered out with determination and mad skills.

Live laughing,

Carley J

Inaugural Domestic Diaries

Since off season is a rather slow time in blog world I decided I would take this time to share with you some of the odd and plain old hilarious stories that I can’t help but laugh hysterically at, about living with a triathlete. Remember, it’s just good old fun from me, Brent’s better half, so enjoy these probably relevant stories and share them with your loved ones.

Meal Time

I was living here less than one week when I decided I would be nice and prepare a dinner for Brent while he was out training late one night. We had prepared many dinners together in the past; even when I was the one preparing the bulk of the meal, Brent was always hovering around the kitchen. This time I thought I would surprise him and prepare dinner all by myself.

After work I hustled to the grocery store and picked up the necessities. I decided I was going to make a family recipe that we like to call “tomato, chicken and brown rice.” Brent arrived home to see me taking the casserole dish filled with veggies and chicken in a tomato watery soup out of the oven. I was proud with my finished masterpiece displaying it for Brent to see. At first he looked surprised yet uneasy, and then he turned into the food police. I thought I had committed some unlawful offense; my first instinct was to scan the kitchen, nothing was on fire and it was clean, so I thought well I’m in the clear on this one. Turns out I had to answer about 150 questions about the food preparation. He asked me everything from “did you grease the pans while you were browning the meat?” to “did you use a measuring cup to measure the rice” and even, “where’s the organic can of crushed tomatoes that you used?” I answered all the questions truthfully stating I didn’t use anything to grease the pan, I measured exactly ½ cup of brown rice and I already recycled the can of organic tomatoes. After this question and answered period and a taste test I passed and Brent enjoyed the meal.

Lesson learned: Athletes need to know everything they are consuming especially before a big race. In hindsight, Brent hovering in the kitchen was not to keep me company like I thought it was, but rather it was to spy on my cooking skills. In the future I understand to keep the cans for Brent to analyze and display a recipe with the exact composition of my masterpieces.

Condo Hall Sprints

One more story that I thought was just hilarious therefore have to share. I have to admit I played a big part in this as I am also a competitive person just like Brent; however Brent was by far the instigator. Our condo is the last in a carpeted 50 meter hallway. I’m not even sure how the sequential events took place but one night after taking the garbage down the hall I found myself in my pajamas sprinting bare foot against Brent down the condo hall.

Here’s how I think this happened. I ran the garbage down and when I came back I was slightly huffing and puffing and immediately Brent’s “training instincts” kicked in. In his head here’s what I picture “She just burned some calories and I didn’t that’s it I have to get even”. So there we were two grown people laughing hysterically while sprinting down the hallway. And of course Brent takes it a step further. We ended up racing a number of times because both of us declared illegal actions on the other person, finally Brent pulled out a stop watch and we timed each other and crowned a winner. After recording Brent’s time he of course wanted to know the distance so attempted to use his Garmin GPS. At the end I remember Brent telling me about speed work and increasing metabolism, but to me it was plain old fun.

To sum up these two hilarious adventures I leave you with this common “You know you’re living with a triathlete when:”

-your kitchen contains more measuring cups than plates

-you get grilled over the composition of every meal before consuming it

-even taking the garbage down the hall amounts to a workout and a fierce competition

I hope to be posting quite frequently throughout this off season as the stories keep rolling in and they are quite amusing. Please stay tuned for more Diaries from the Domestique.

Live Laughing,

Carley J

Clearwater 70.3

2009 Clearwater 70.3 Race Report

This past Sunday I raced at the 70.3 World Triathlon Championships in Clearwater, Florida. It has been a long, fun season and I was looking forward to one last hard effort in 2009. Coming off a great race two weeks ago in Austin, Texas I felt pretty confident that I was ready to go.

At the end of the day, I feel as though I came up a bit short finishing overall in 37^th with a time of 3:47:55. Taking the week to evaluate things I realize that it was a solid race, with a very big field of 85 pro men.

I realized early on in the race that the swim was going to dictate my position going into the run. Leading into the race my swimming was very strong; to analyze my swim in Clearwater I would have to say it was a poor performance. I knew I had the speed however; I spent the first 800m battling with other swimmers for position. Eventually I decided just to back off and swim because I was expending too much energy. I ended up exiting 45second’s back from the leaders. Mistake number one of the day was relaxing and ending up in a second group.

I rode relatively smart trying not to get any penalties which was very tough with a big field on narrow flat roads. The chase pack that eventually formed was huge, there had to be 40 of us. I felt like for 2 hours I was often slowing down trying to not to get a penalty. I was in a chase pack but we were still riding very fast, it contained a lot of good athletes from different countries that have been top 10 here in the past or that have won 70.3 races this year. The pack had the likes of James Cotter, Richie Cunningham, James Hadley, Jeff Symonds, Renaldo Colluci and half way through the bike Oscar Galindaz and Chris Legh entered the group. Overall, the bike went well except I lost a bottle from the back of my bike and I dropped another at the last bottle drop forcing me to survive on one bottle. At the end of the bike I had started to get a headache and the temperature started to rise.

After a slow transition due to a lost bag I started to get in my rhythm. The run course was 2 loops which means I got to see spectators frequently which brought positive energy when I needed it most. I ended up running 1:17 and change for the half marathon putting me in 37^th place. With such a quick field there were easily 10 spots in front of me within 1 minute and another 10 spots right behind me. It was great to hear Alicia Kaye and all of the friends and coach’s I had watching and cheering. I gave it what I had on the day, but if I had swam 30 seconds faster the race could have been different.

A perfect summary of my 2009 season is illustrated in this Andre Agassi quote that I came across while reading his biography Open. To give a little context to this quote, Andre said this after losing the US Open when he was 15 years old. I still think he made $90 000 that year and bought himself a new Corvette. “Looking back it was good but not great. I see a gap between where I am and where I need to be, and I feel reasonably confident that I can close that gap.”

I would like to thank Dan Smith, Colonels Bikes, LifeSport, K-Swiss, AquaSphere, Path to Wellness, Frank@ PowerBar Canada, Ridglea Swimming and of course Carley and my parents for all of their support this season. I am super excited for 2010, however now its time to rest. I would like to congratulate all who raced on Saturday and to wish everyone a safe and healthy off-season.

Thanks for reading,

Brent