Marc and Marilyn and Andrew!

I was finally able to find an article that clearly explained how to calculate sweat rate….

1. Your weight prior to the exercise = A lbs.
2. Keep track of the amounts of fluids you consumed during exercise = B oz. consumed.
3. Weigh yourself upon completion of the exercise = C lbs.
4. Determine weight lost during exercise = A – C lbs. x 16 = D oz. lost:
5. Account for fluids consumed to determine your total sweat loss: D oz. of fluids lost + B oz. fluids consumed = E oz. of total sweat loss.
6. Divide E (ounces of total sweat loss) by minutes of exercise for sweat rate per minute of exercise = F oz./minute of sweat loss

I just finished calculating the numbers and this is how it turned out.

1. 216 pounds
2. 80 oz
3. 211 pounds
4. 80 oz lost
5. 80 + 80 = 160 oz of total sweat lost
6. 160 oz / 346 = .46 oz/minute = 28 ounces for 1 hour.

These are the numbers from my 4-hour ride and 2-hour run this past weekend.  Granted that it was kinda hot but 28 ounces for 1 hour is a lot for me.  Now you probably think that all one needs to do is drink 28 ounces every hour and that person will be fine.  If it were only that easy.  A person phsyically can’ do that because each person has a limit on how much fluids their body can take.  I might have to shoot for 20 ounces an hour and see how that goes.

For the past couple of months Marc has been training for 2 big races: The LA Triathlon (October 4) and Silverman (November 8).

The LA Triathlon is only 10 days away and he’s been a training machine! So if you’re free on Sunday October 4th, come on down and cheer him on! The race takes place all over Los Angeles so you can spot him anywhere. I’ll be moving along the course to see him throughout the 3 events (swim, bike and run) and will make my way to LA Live to congratulate him at the finish line. Feel free to join me or send him good thoughts Sunday morning!

Here are the specs for the 2009 LA Triathlon:

http://www.latriathlon.com/

Distance: Olympic

• Swim: 1.5K (.9 miles) at Venice Beach
• Bike: 40 Kilometer (24 miles) through Venice, Koreatown, and surrounding areas
• Run: 10 Kilometers (6.2 miles) Through Downtown and ending at LA Live

I really need to learn how to cook like my mom.

My mom has always been such a great cook. She’ always cooks enough food to feed 8+ people so she’s big on sharing. She often brings food to work for potlucks; and everyone tells me how lucky I am to have a mom that cooks well. Or question how I stay so small with all this food. I eat like a monster, don’t let the little frame fool yah! So, for years I’ve been trying to perfect her recipes. She’ll talk me through the recipes or even be in the kitchen directing me and I still can’t seem to get my food to taste quite like hers. I swear, mom’s have this special “mom spice” that they secretly sprinkle on their food, making it oh so tasty.

I also want to learn how to make Marc’s favorite’s of his mom’s recipes. There are few things better than the feeling you get when your man loves your cooking. So I gotta learn those recipes too.

I’m ready to get my cook on.

So last Saturday, I did a swim/bike brick with several friends from the LA Tri Club.  We swam for 1.2 miles and then rode for an hour and a half.

During the ride, I led most of the way since my friends were not familiar with the area.  Not riding in groups a lot, I wasn’t quite sure on how fast to go…so I decided to go kinda fast.  I realized that my fast…was not fast enough   We rode on Westchester Parkway and since they were straight-aways, my friends took off to practice their aero positions.  When they took off, I wasn’t able to keep up.  I have to admit it was a little disappointing   One can’t help but to compare one’s fitness when training in a group setting.  Granted it may not be a matter of fitness only that I got left behnd but still…

The bright spot was that I was able to realize something that I should have realized a long time ago.  It might not seem like a big thing but training with an MP3 player is totally different than training without one.  The biggest plus in listening to music during training is that one is “distracted.”  Basically, it means that the person can work out longer and faster because they are “distracted.”  I know, not really scientific but you get my drift.

On all my training sessions, I always listen to my music.  On race day, music is not allowed for safety reasons.  On Saturday, since we were riding as a group, I did not bring my MP3 player.  When I got left behind and I was trying to catch up, I remember thinking to myself that I haven’t felt this “panic” since race day last year.  What is this panic that I speak of?  I can’t quite think of the word but it’s when you’re out there trying to achieve something and then encounter a struggle and then beging doubting yourself and your training.  It was then I realized that I spend all this time training my body but actually spend little or no time training the mental aspects of training.

Yes, I know all about positive thinking during racing but you also need to spend time being used to just being by yourself when training and not have music.  When you are out there on the road for so long, your mind tends to wander.  I need to get used to having my mind wander and having the mental strength to refocus because it’s such a big part of training or racing.

So I made an addendum to my training plan for the year.  I whole-heartedly believe in periodization training, which for me consists of Base 1, Base 2, Build 1, Build 2 and Race.  I have decided that starting Build 2 (which actually begins this week), I will no longer train with my music.  That leaves me one month of training long hours to be used to being on the road alone.

Of course this can be all in my head but I think I may be on to something.  Let’s see how it goes.

September 20, 2009

Happy birthday Arlyn!

Marc decided to make today his rest day so we were able to sleep in a bit. It’s always nice to be able to just be lazy and sleep in on a weekend. When we finally got up we made our way to St. Mark’s for church. Marc and I are trying to make it to church every Sunday and we’d like to establish a home church. Since St. Mark’s is only a few blocks away, we figured it’s the best choice. Plus, if we’re feeling energetic in the mornings it would only be a 15 minute walk. Perfect! Get a little activity and church! What a combo!

After church we headed home ate a bit and got ready for yoga. Yoga class began at 9:45 so Marc and I walked over. I truly love living within walking distance of everything. The yoga class was great, but this Sunday’s instructor was super fast and sometimes I swear we went from English to gibberish. Our class was set up in a circle, and I was behind her. She would call out instructions for the “left or right” side and would do the opposite as if she we in front of the class, but since I was behind her I was just copying her. But she would yell “left leg” and use her right leg… I got so confused. It was so funny. I started laughing… and it was over. I sat in child-pose for a second to regain my composure. It was a good workout.

After yoga we got ready for another house hunting Sunday.  We were able to catch the rest of the Raider game which was awesome. We hopped in our car and headed toward any open houses we saw in the area we want to live in. We saw a few and noticed a few that we had seen in the past were now sold. Man, house hunting is tough. To be quite honest, it’s pretty discouraging, but we’re firm believers that the right house will be ours. Gotta believe that.

We headed to our each of our parents homes to hangout and talk. I’m so glad we live close enough to our parents that we can just drop by and talk and eat (or steal groceries haha). We’re lucky to have such supportive and loving parents. I can hope that we can be just as supportive and loving to our children. Family rocks!

We attempted to get Portos, since I was craving potato balls, cheese rolls and fruit tarts. haha. We got there a little before 7pm only to find out they close at 5:30pm on Sundays. How disappointing. Totally bummed. To make it up, Marc headed to Max’s chicken so that I could get my sweet fix in the form of halo halo. Yumm! It totally hit the spot. I was never much of an Ube ice cream fan, but this Ube ice cream was the BEST! I even want to get a bucket of it when I go to the Filipino market.

We went home and finished up Sunday Night Football, folded some laundry and just enjoyed the rest of our evening.

Cheers to another wonderful weekend with the best husband ever!

September 19, 2009

The morning began with Marc kissing me goodbye before meeting up with his training buddies for his 3 hour swim-bike brick. I got up shortly after to relax and start my Saturday morning study session.

During a mini break, April found me online and suggested we meet up for a Coffee Bean morning chat session. It was perfect timing since we had been having a hard time trying to get some QT in. She picked me up and we drove a block down to Coffee Bean… we were too lazy to walk. lol. She grabbed her tiramisu ice blended and we headed to Jamba since I was craving a Carribean Passion. We walked around and got to catch up on much needed QT.

Afterwards, I went back home to get my study on. Marc came back from his brick, showered and got ready. We had a bunch of errands to run: post office, Costco, Albertsons, Target and of course lunch. Marc ordered a new heart monitor thingy (that he uses during his training and races) to replace his old one that just stopped working properly. What timing! He’s got 2 major races coming up and his stuff breaks. Lame! Unfortunately, the post office didnt have his gear. It was floating around in some USPS truck. We ate at Chipotle for lunch, OMG! so good! I can never get sick of that place. It’s pretty healthy, its relatively cheap and I’m always full when I’m done. The perfect meal! Then we headed to Costco Albertsons and Target. WE got home and totally passed out. We were pooped.

We got up a few hours later to get ready for Bev and Ja’s housewarming party! Tricia  met up at our place and we headed to West Hollywood to see their new loft. Bev made so many yummy snacks. Staci made her super duper yummy pecan tarts. OMG! I ate like 5 of them. She’s the best baker! We all had some good laughs and shortly after Marc, Tricia and I left to get to Copa d Oro in Santa Monica for Het’s birthday party.

Het had mentioned that enterance may be tricky for guys past 10m, so I wanted to make sure we got there well before that. When we showed up we were the first of the party people. LOL. We ordered a few drinks and saved some seats. That place was weird because they didnt have the basic alcohols: Captain and Grey Goose. What in the world were we supposed to drink? Tricia settled on Crown Royal and Coke, I opted for Apple Juice (no alcohol for a bit for me) and Marc grabbed a Cranberry Juice (he’s not drinking until after his races). Het got there and was dressed so pretty. She got her birthday outfit on a everything!

Soon everyone started to show up and the comedy show began. Between Tricia and Susan… I was laughin so hard my cheeks hurt. Susan blurting out things, Tricia’s stream of consciousness: douche bag, Summer’s eve, Susan Summers, Thigh Master,  “come and knock on my door”. I was laughing soo hard and to top it off Tricia ended the evening by calling Kara’s name 50 millions times. haha. Definitely made my night.

The birthday girl

Family

Marc and Susan Summers

My girls

See the rest of the pics here.

So, I totally want a new grandma sweater. One that I can use over and over, and one that is super comfy, soft and warm. It’ll be prefect for the fall season. This sweater is definitely a contender:

www.lobsterfest.com

So today is the start of the Lobsterfest in San Pedro. It’s supposed to be one of the bigger Lobsterfests in SoCal, so I was excited to go. I’d been to the Lobsterfest in the past and I must say this year was the smallest. Marc, Chelle, Cousin, Jose, Matt Gil, Jen and myself all met up at Port O Call around 7pm. We printed out coupons giving us a $2 discount on our entrance fee.As we were waiting for the rest of the group to arrive Cousin and I were noticing all the fun stuff we could get. Lobsterhats, lobster necklaces and other fun lobsteresque things. When everyone arrived we handed out the coupons and headed in. We had an extra coupon and people were asking us for it. We should’ve printed out a lot and sold them for a dollar each. lol.

Before we walk in there’s this big airfilled arch saying “Lobsterfest” and it was  flanked on each side by 2 gigantic Lobsters. You know I HAD to get a picture. The first thing Michelle and I did was get lobster hats. All else fails we could be lobsters for Halloween. lol. The lobster meal pricing goes as follows: 1 lobster for $17 or 2 for $31. Marc and I got the 2 lobster meal. We all devoured our meals in minutes and went hunting for more food. We ended up with Nachos, Lobster balls, fish and chips, tri-tip sandwich and funnel cake. So good!

Then we walked around and played a few games and took random pictures everywhere. It was like a carnival! Jose bought himself and Marc a chance to hit the thing to see how strong you are. Like the strongest man contest or something. The game operator kept calling Marc’s arms “pythons”  hahaha. “Damn, look at those pythons man.” Sooo funny. Marc got all embarrassed. Jose hit the bell and so did Marc. Jose picked the Spiderman hammer as their prize, and starting hitting Cousin with it. It was so funny, because Cousin was like “really??”. Too funny!

Lobsterfest was great!

See the rest of the pictures here.

well that’s what I call this fabulous group of friends (but they don’t know it) that consist of Tricia Staci, Tam and Bev. We all were born in 1980, our friendships developed during our LMU college days and now we’re all married. I don’t get to see these girls often, but we’ve got that “I got you” understanding. There is guaranteed tummy aching laughter when we get together. We reminisce on the good old days, we gush at how wonderful the present is and share the same excitement about the future.

Bev decided to take lead on planning a long overdue dinner. We had this locked in our calendars for over a month and I was super excited to hangout Sept 17th at the new Tecson house. Unfortunately, my crazy headache reared its ugly head Thursday afternoon. I’ve been getting headaches the past couple weeks making me unable to do much more than sleeping. They started right around the fires. Usually when there are fires my uber sensitive skin acts up and I’ll get rashes, but this time I was getting headaches. And plus at work, I’ve been doing more microscopic work which could add to the uncomfortable feeling. Anyway, I was not feeling good after work and tried to nap if off before our dinner. No such luck, so I texted the girls to let them know I wasn’t going to make it. I was so bummed. I was lying on the couch with Marc and he was trying to make me feel better. I knew I was in no condition to drive, so he offered to drop me off. What a wonderful husband! I texted the girls to let them I know I was going to be late and Staci and Tricia called me and told me to catch a ride with Tam since she was running behind. It wasn’t until I met up with Tam did I realize she was late because she locked herself out. Marc took me to Tam’s and the Westsiders made out way to the Tecson Tavern.

On our way to Bev’s, Tam and I got to catch up. It was great! I see Tam here and there, but our outings leave little room for those “catch up sessions”. Whenever I talk to Tam, I always leave the conversation feelings like she TOTALLY gets me. haha. While we were driving we saw this little dog running through traffic! It was so scary, because at any moment it could get hit. We tried to follow it so that we could help it get back home. The poor little guy was running so fast! He must’ve been really scared. We pulled over to the side and tried to get him to come to us. We noticed that he had a dog tag so finding the owner would be easy. Unfortunately he ran right past us. There was another lady that stopped to try to help too, but to no avail. That dog was running like it was on a mission. We hope that it all worked out in the end.

We finally get to Bev’s and the mini party began. Dinner was served: Bev made her mom’s spicy chicken minus the spicy for Stac, Tricia made tofu stir fry and beansprouts, Staci made ramen cabbage salad, Tam brought wine, cheese and birthday cake (so thoughtful) and I made blueberry cheesecake cupcakes. All gluten-free! Tam just discovered she had a gluten allergy so we all tried to make meals that were gluten-free. While looking for recipes I found that there are a TON of yummy recipes that are gluten-free. The food was sooo good! I’m glad we all are refining our cooking skills and constantly adding yummy dishes to our recipe book.

The conversation was all over the place and we got some great laughs in!  It was a great night and I can’t wait til our next dinner.

So Marc and I took Nikki to the vet early this morning. She’s been fussing with her back right paw… excessive licking and biting, making it super red! We checked it out a few days ago, but there weren’t any signs of anything wrong. So we headed to the Marina VCA to get her checked out. She got weighed in, 45.0pounds. Then Dr. Stillwell took her temperature (so sad… Nikki was not happy with the backdoor entrance) and her vitals all came within range. Then she checked out her paws. Nikki was like “what are you doing lady?” and tried yanking her paw back. Sad! Marc and I just rubbed her head and tried to calm her down. Then Dr. Stillwell suggested she take Nikki into the backroom to have a better look under better lighting. When Dr. Stillwell took hold of Nikki’s leash.. Nikki tried not to go. It was so sad… she was slipping and everything. So we pretended to walk into the back with her… but we just tricked her so she could go with the doctor. Boo on trickery. A few minutes later, Dr. Stillwell brought Nikki back with a freshly trimmed paw. She cut back some of her fur to get a real close look at that paw. It turns out Nikki got a scar from something (probably playing too much at the park or something) and much like humans pick at scabs, she was fussing with hers. The doctor recommended that we give Nikki 1 and 1/4 tabs of Benadryl to help stop that itchy feeling. Weird right! Benadryl! But hey, if that’s what the doctor prescribes then we’re all for it. So hopefully Nikki is on to a swift recovery.