Speedy Canizales

You know that expression “like a duck to water”?  It’s used to describe someone who has a natural talent for doing certain things, even if it’s the first time they’ve ever tried it.  Some people are naturally athletic and can figure out quickly how to play a game, or understand the mechanics of a dance routine without much coaching.

Unfortunately the opposite is true for me when it comes to swimming.  I am horrible at it.  You would think that it would come naturally to me since I was born in a tropical island, and spent my childhood there.  You would also think I’d be comfortable in the water since I am a certified scuba diver.  The sad truth is, without all that scuba gear propping me up, I am nervous in the water.  Swimming has always been a challenge for me, and I still struggle with my lack of comfort and technique.  I feel like dead weight in the water, and I am always certain that I will drown unless I am at the shallow end or can touch the edge of the pool.

For the past week I have been spending more time in the pool – more than I have in years.  I took my first swim lesson the Saturday before last and counted it as a success because I didn’t drown!  No, seriously it was good – my instructor got me to put my face in the water (VERY big deal!) as I swam across the pool.  It didn’t occur to me that I should exhale with my face in the water and take in air by tilting my head.  I still have to work on my technique (I swallowed gallons of pool water last week) but I’ve been getting a little better each time I come to the pool.  Within the span of a week I visited the pool four times.  It’s a little different each time: sometimes I improve and sometimes I feel like I’ve gotten worse.  It’s a constant challenge for me.

(The reason I’ve been obsessed with swimming is the Malibu Triathlon.  I signed up for it knowing I wasn’t a good swimmer, but I figured I could rise up to the challenge.  I have a little under three months to prepare, and I really want to finish all three events.  At this point my only goal is to finish without beingpulled out of the water by the race organizers for being too slow on the swim.)

Last week I joined Southern California Aquatics, and participated in three workouts.  The first was focused on my technique (or lack thereof) and the second and third on swim workouts, which I really shouldn’t have attempted.  The swim workouts were brutal – I did what I could but ultimately these made me feel worse about myself.  I couldn’t even do 100M straight, and here were people doing 100M/200M/300M workouts.  I tried keeping up and doing at least half the distance, but the sad truth is that I am in no shape to do this type of workout. I was miserable, truly sad, to be there.  On Sunday I even thought about just blowing off the triathlon entirely because I couldn’t cope with the workout anymore.  I was the slowest person in the group, and I couldn’t do half the workout of the slowest guys.  It was supposed to be a beginner clinic but it was more like beginning to train for the Olympics!

I think for the next week I’ll be holding off on these swim workouts and start swimming by myself.  I need to relax and be comfortable in the water without any pressure.  At some point I’ll have to start using the pace clock and working out with the others, but I am still not at that point.  I need to find the joy in swimming, the reason for getting the water, before any workouts become useful.  Otherwise I’ll end up the same as last week – miserable, counting the minutes till the end of the workout, and swalling gallons of water.

I just hope I can find the courage to jump in and try again.

I don’t know who in Russia or those who sell Viagra got my website, but man they are laying in on thick with their comments.

I typically receive anywhere from five to ten comments a week from these guys.  Generally it’s harmless, telling me that they like my site or asking me if I want to try their product (kinda explicitly) but today I got a funny one from a new spammer:

Classy, isn’t it?  It is very funny to me because if someone were going to spam insults the least they could do is spell “bitch” properly.  I like proper spelling (and a little creativity) when people make fun of me and my “ergly”-ness.

Want to know why I haven’t been updating this blog as much as I used to?

I’ve been busy with the usual things – work, life, etc. – and have added another dimension to the craziness.  You see, I signed up for a triathlon in September.  I didn’t realize how this would affect my already hectic workout schedule until entered it into Excel.  This is what I stared at for a full two minutes yesterday:

Workout Schedule

Monday – Gym (AM)

Tuesday – Track workout (PM)

Wednesday – Swim (AM)

Thursday – Run (PM)

Friday – Swim (AM), Yoga (PM)

Saturday – Swim (AM), Bike (PM)

Sunday – Bike (AM), Run (PM)

That’s the workout/training schedule I’d have to follow from now until September in order to finish my first triathlon.  A little crazy, huh?  I only do about half the stuff listed right now so I am struggling with how to fit everything into my schedule.   Wish me luck!

Oh, and I am thinking about running my first marathon this year in November/December… do I need to have my head examined?!

Three weekends ago (wow, it’s been that long) we participated in the Malibu Creek Xterra Race. We participated last year and liked it so much that we came back this year.  Last year Rene and I both finished 11th overall in our divisions.

I didn’t run the race this year due to a foot injury (which is almost fully healed now), so I volunteered at the food station instead. It was an easy gig; I mostly cut fruit and made sure there was enough food on the table.   In exchange they are giving me free entry to another Xterra series race.  There was an abundance of volunteers this year so I snuck out and cheered Rene on while he ran the race. I was expecting him to finish in the top 10 but was pleasantly surprised to see him 20 seconds after the first place finisher came in.

Rene came in second overall, cutting his time last year by 2 minutes, 19 seconds to finish at 27:35. Rene was awesome! In addition to finishing second overall, he also finished first in his age division and set the course record for his age group. Way to go Rene! It was very inspiring for me to see Rene do so well. This makes all those workouts and pain worth it.

Rene showing off his big, shiny medal

After the race we went to REI to buy me a bike.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I am participating in the Malibu Triathlon this September.  I needed a road bike but didn’t want to spend that much money, so we took advantage of the 15% discount at REI and get me this sweet bike:

Her name is Carema, and she is my cara mia.  Here’s us during our first ride together:

I didn’t expect a road bike to feel so good – so light (I can carry her with one arm) and so fast!  I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

(More pictures here.)

(This is the fourth of six posts from my trip to Italy two years ago.  My previous posts can be found here, here, and here.)

***

Rene likes plants, especially succulents, so when he heard that that Rome had a Botanical Garden with an extensive collection os succulents we had to visit.  Since it was so hot that day I ended up spending sitting in a bench under a bougainvillea shade for the most part, and was rewarded with TONS of bug bites.  I stopped counting  the number of bites I had after ten, and those mosquitoes were huge.  I caught one biting my leg, slapped it and got blood on my hand (so gross).

After the garden we walked around the city trying to figure out what to do next when we came upon Castel Sant’Angelo.  This is a really interesting place; it used to be Emperor Hadrian’s masoleum but has been converted into the Pope’s hideout in the event the Vatican is attacked.  The last time this happened was during the 1700s, so the Pope at the time constructed an underground passage from Vatican City to the castle in times of attack, located directly across the river from St. Peter’s Basilica.  Rumor is that there’s a secret underground passage from the Vatican, and according to the signs inside the castle, hundreds of people can live there for months waiting for a siege to end.

I have to say that the castle was impressive.  Rene and I saw weapons they used to fend off attacks, as well as the battle stations.  It reminded me a lot of Lord of the Rings, when they try to fend off Orcs from attacking in The Two Towers.  It was cool seeing little squares along the tower wall where they launched arrows or perhaps threw hot oil to prevent people from climbing in.  I also noticed that people were much shorter back in the day.  Note how huge I look standing in the doorway; Rene can’t even fit.

After visiting the castle we high-tailed it to two other places we hadn’t seen before and wanted to cross out on our map: Piazza Navona and Augustus Mausoleum.

Piazza Navona was a must-see for us because our favorite sculptor, Bernini, built a famous fountain depicting the four major rivers of the world.  Unfortunately it was under lots of scaffolding and we had to settle for people-watching and gelatos instead.  After resting for the better part of an hour (Rene and I take lots of breaks during the day to conserve our energy and to prevent our feet from falling off), we went to see the Augustus Masoleum.

To appreciate what this monument represents, a bit of history is good.  Augustus was the emperor of Rome after Julius Caesar and is considered to be the best emperor of Rome.  His most famous quote was, “I found Rome in bricks and left it in marble,” which is true because a lot of beautiful structures were built during his time, and Rome flourished his reign.  Knowing this, Rene and I expected his burial site to be magnificent but instead found a sorry excuse for a grave.  There is garbage everywhere.  The entrance to the crypt is locked and only a few tourists visit at a time.  The mausoleum was once used as a fortress, as well as a vineyard, by Roman families and now it is pretty dilapidated.  Hardly anyone visited this sight while we were there, only people walking their dogs.

We also saw some Italian ladies scale a wall to collect basil (I guess that’s what makes the sauce so good).  One of the ladies ended up having a bug crawl down her pants and it was funny watching two old ladies try to help her without sticking their hands down her pants.

(This is the third of six posts from my trip to Italy two years ago.  My previous posts can be found here and here.)

***

On day four of our Roman holiday Rene and I tackled the biggest tourist spot of all: the Vatican.  The Vatican is huge so we decided to take a tour, which was worth it given all the history and art in that space.

We spent the hottest day in Rome in line for the Vatican museum.  It took us an hour to get to the entrance and by the time we got inside, we were out of drinking water.  (If you are planning to visit the Vatican, try to schedule your visit first thing to avoid the heat, or after lunch.)

(A note to those who want to visit the Vatican: ladies and men must have their shoulders and knees covered.  They do turn people away for wearing tank tops, so take note.  I took the most conservative dress in my suitcase to wear for the day.)

Once inside, we toured the museum with works from ancient Rome and Greece.  The most interesting piece we saw (but could not photograph due to lighting inside the museum) was this tub made out of red Egyptian marble.  This type of marble’s been mined out of existence, and one square centimeter is worth €1,000.  This tub was so large that it could probably fit ten people; it was used in Emperor Nero’s Golden Palace back in the day.  We also saw the map room, which had old maps of Italy frescoed on the walls (fresco is a technique that coats the wall with a type of plaster which the artist must paint on before it dries completely.  It’s difficult to paint this way because if you mess up, you need to get a chisel and take out the plaster.)  Anyway, these maps that were made in the 1400s are pretty darned accurate, a real wonder given the navigation tools they had back then.

After the museum came the best part of the tour: the Sistine Chapel.  Before taking this tour I had no idea that Michelangelo was a sculptor by trade, not a painter.  He became a painter when Pope Julius II commissioned him to paint the Sistine Chapel.  The chapel ceiling is magnificent, as well as the Last Judgment painted on the altar wall.  If you look at the Last Judgment hard enough you will notice the skull within the painting.  It’s supposed to send a subliminal message: if you don’t accept Christ as your Savior you will go to hell.  It’s my favorite painting/fresco in Rome because there are so many levels to it, and I feel like I can look at it for hours.

We visited St. Peter’s Basilica after the Sistine Chapel.  The highlight was the statue of St. Peter from the 1200s – pilgrims would rub right the foot of this statue as a symbol of respect, so I did.  So many people have rubbed his right foot that it looks more like a sock rather than a foot; it’s been replaced many times over the years and will have to be replaced again in 30 years.

We also visited the tomb of past Popes underneath the Basilica.  We paid our respects to Saint Peter, the “rock of the Church,” and to our Pope John Paul II.  At the end of the tombs is a listing of all the popes, from St Peter to Benedict XVI.  It’s amazing how much history the Catholic Church has, good and bad.

Rene and I went from under the church to above it the church by climbing the dome of the Basilica.  The total number of steps from start to finish is 551.  After first 200 steps, visitors get a view of the church below.  This climb is not for those that are claustrophobic or are afraid of heights.  In some areas the stairway gets very small and curves, and that’s how you know you are climbing the dome.  The climb is worth it: from the top of the dome you get the most beautiful views of the city and St. Peter’s Square.  You can also see the Pope’s beautiful garden with amazing fountains.  He has a really posh pad.

Rene and I took pictures next to the Swiss guards on our way out.  Their outfits are hideous, but apparently these Swiss guards were vicious mercenaries back in the day, and the Pope hired them to be his personal bodyguards.  In addition to wearing a ridiculous outfit to work everyday (but only for the first two years, kind of like hazing), the Swiss guards must be fluent in five languages and must be able to use an axe in battle.

(P.S. We visited the Vatican more than once during our trip, and I’ve condensed these visits into once post. )

* The Pope by Prince

A few weeks ago we went river rafting at King River.

Since we couldn’t raft and take pictures at the same time (unless we wanted to fall off the raft), we bought some pictures from the company organizing the tour.  It took more than two weeks for the pictures to get here, and by now I’ve almost forgotten what happened that weekend.  I think all those hours thinking about journal entries and how to account for transactions have seriously fried my brain.

We left on Friday morning, and got to Fresno in about three hours.  We took in a few sights – the old water tower and downtown Fresno – before the rain came and we were forced to stay in our car.  We ended up eating dinner at a nice Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, where the chef set things on fire.

We were planning to camp at King River that night but ended up crashing at a friend’s house instead – sleeping on the mud was not an appealing idea, and the campsite was two hours away.  We took the easy way out and stayed in town, watching a movie before turning in for the night.

We woke up bright and early the next day for our rafting adventure.  We left at 6 am, still half asleep, and took a windy road to the King River Expedition campsite. We met a few cows who were out for their morning walk on the side of the road.

Once we got to the campsite we were given a safety lecture before being handed a wetsuit and life jacket.  We looked sexy:

We were driven to the starting point in an old bus, the kind that picks up kicks at elementary schools.  Everyone was excited and nervous about rafting – it had rained the night before and the water level was higher than normal.  That meant that it our raft would be more of a roller coaster than a slow pleasure cruise, and that was alright by us.

We ended up rafting for about three hours, led by our guide Steve.  We paddled our little hearts out, and in the end my arms were a little sore from paddling so much.  We had lunch at the campsite where we placed orders for our pictures, and where we bought a hat to commemorate the trip.

Overall, an enjoyable trip – highly recommended if you like the great outdoors.

(More pictures here.)

This is the second of six posts from my trip to Italy two years ago.  I was inspired, in part, by the release of the Angels & Demons movie.  It’d be nice to see these places again on the big screen to remind me of all the great memories from my visit.  My first post can be found here.

***

Rene and I booked a tour of Rome based on recommendations made by tour groups I’ve used before.  I like booking ones with younger people in attendance because it’s more interesting and energetic.

We took a tour that explained the mythical founding of Rome: basically, Mars the war god raped a Vestal Virgin who gave birth to twins Romulus and Remus.  The twins were raised by a female wolf (hence the symbol of Rome being two humans suckling from a wolf) and grew up on Palatine Hill.  Soon it became evident that there could only be one true king, so the twins fought for control of the city (at this point it is really more appropriate to call it a hill).  Romulus won the fight and was the first emperor of Rome as the myth goes.  The first established civilization is on Palatine Hill, which used to house the Emperor and noble households, as well as the Circus Maximus (Ben Hur, anyone?).  However, these structures are only shells of their former selves due to Roman-style recycling.  Instead of looking for new sources of materials like marble, travertine, etc. Romans would tear down old places for new ones and/or build on top of existing structures.  To this day, there are approximately four meters of ruins underneath the city that has yet to be unearthed.  That’s why there are only two subway lines – every time they dig underneath the city they manage to find something ancient underneath.  I prefer walking tours to get a real sense of the place, so this one took about four hours.  The highlights of the tour for me was the Pantheon (first Christian church), Trevi Fountain, the first ever mall (I forget the technical name), and the Largo di Argentina.

By the Tiber River

The Pantheon was actually made to worship multiple gods before it was converted to a Christian church.  It is the largest free-standing dome in the world (the Superdome in New Orleans does not count to me) and has a hole (called a cupola) at the top that’s nine meters in diameter.  Each marble column on the exterior are made from a single slab of marble and had to be hauled by land from Egypt.  I have to say, this is my favorite structure in Rome and I have visited it twice during my time here.  Also, King Vittorio Emmanuel II who united Italy in 1870 and Raphael (the painter, not the Ninja turtle) are entombed here.  Next to King Vittorio is a marble type from Egypt that is not longer in existence.  According to our tour guide, it is worth 1,000 EUR per square centimeter, hence the expression on my face.

Trevi Fountain is my favorite fountain.  I visited this several times.  It’s quite magnificent to look at and during our time here was always chock full of tourists.  This fountain was made famous from a scene in La Dolce Vita when Anita Eckberg goes into the fountain.  No one pulled that move when I was there but it would’ve been cool.

The first mall ever was interesting, if only because malls existed in ancient times.  Rene has a nice picture in front of it.

Largo di Argentina is an ancient temple site Mussolini discovered when he was trying to build a new mall in town.  It has four temples that are now used to house Rome’s feral cats.  Cats were imported from Egypt to get rid of the rat problem in Rome and also spared lots of Romans from the Black Plague.  However, the cats multiplied rapidly and are now housed in this historic site to prevent them from overrunning the city.  Only in Rome does this happen!  Cats in Rome are pretty sacred, and penalties apply to those who abuse cats.  Romans can adopt cats from the sanctuary.

I am starting to get the itch to travel again.  Hopefully, if the economy improves, that will become a reality.  There’s a saying that if you toss a coin into the Trevi fountain you will come back to Rome.  If that’s true, then I can’t wait.

A week ago I was whining about my foot.

I went on and on about how painful it was to run, how swollen it was, how I might miss the Bay to Breakers race because I might have plantar fasciitis.   I milked this foot “injury” for a week solid – I went to see an orthopedic doctor, wore running shoes to work, walked with a little limp so there was no pressure on my right foot, skipped the Malibu Creek race, and even saw a Physical Therapist.  After an examination and x-rays both the doctor and PT concluded there was nothing wrong with my foot.  They ruled out plantar fasciitis and a stress fracture.  The most logical explanation, they said, was that I was wearing the wrong pair of shoes.  This is where lots of running-related injuries come from – from people wearing the wrong pair of shoes.

On Sunday I went to see my friend Raquel, who works at Roadrunner Sports.  At RRS they determine which shoe type fits you the best, as is the case with all reputable running stores.  They make you step on a sensor pad and videotape you running on a treadmill, and discuss the results with you.  Turns out I was wearing the wrong type of shoe; the shoes I had didn’t provide enough cushion and were a half size too big.  I thought it was good to have a shoe with more room in the toe box, but it turns out that having too much room means that your forefoot can bend and twist in odd ways while running.  This is probably what happened to me: I landed funny during my run and sprained my foot.  Who knew a little sprain could be so painful?

***

Tonight I ran for the first time since my foot started hurting.  I went to track practice and ran three miles on the grass.  My foot is still not fully recovered (there’s still pain there) but I figured I should stop being a baby and get back to running again.  I don’t expect to be back in the same place I was two weeks ago, but I am hoping to get back to that place by the end of the month.  I’m running the Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco this weekend, and after that, riding in the LA Marathon bike tour.  I’ve found that scheduling races and events keeps me on track, and keeps me motivated.  Otherwise I’d be sleeping in all weekend long, and watching TV while stuffing my face with cheese puffs.  It’s nice to have that kind of day once in a while, but mostly I like my weekends with full of workouts.

My co-worker has been browsing the Tiffany site for a Mother’s Day gift for his wife.  That’s when I stumbled across this little gem:

Isn’t it pretty?  The color is gorgeous!  (I am obsessed with it, actually.  I painted the walls in my house a similar shade.  Oh, and my banner has the same shade – check that out!)  Just looking at it makes me want to book a vacation to the Maldives.  The thing is, I rarely travel internationally these days (the economy being craptastic and all) and I already have a passport cover.  And I need another passport cover like I need another hole in my head.

Just sayin’ – it’s awfully nice to look at.