It's time to head off to middle of nowhere western PA for the Kinzua Country Tango on Saturday. This year I was a little wiser and took on a slightly more manageable load. I kept myself at competing in 2 legs of the race compared with 4 last year. We found someone with a half marathon time just slower than mine from last year to start us off. Then Genine takes on the bike again, I think with all the biking she has been doing she will see some nice improvements. Then me on the swim. Not sure how I ended up swimming again...but it will be much more pleasant not having run a half marathon before. Then Genine and I team up for our super awesome orienteering team again. Rumor has it there will be 6 points this year instead of 4. Then we have a local 14 year super stud girl doing the 4.5 mile run. Then Genine and Michelle in the canoe. KB2=Kicking Boy Butt is 5 women strong this year! The boys had better watch out!
This week has been a bit crazy for me. I think I took on a bit too much. But, some things just have to go for now, I can't get it all done. I was supposed to go on a date tonight. Yes, you read that right. But I knew that it was just not a good idea with me taking the train into the city, staying out late, getting up early to do my workout, going to work, and then driving 6 hours. Oh yeah, then after that, getting up the next morning and racing. So, I rescheduled that for Sunday which is still a bit of a push for time, but I have to make time for stuff other than races and workouts and work.
So this adventure race, they allow the use of fins on the swim. Didn't use them last year because my hip flexors and ITband were so tight from the half marathon, but I thought I would try swimming a good bit in them on Sunday to see what it is like. They only improve my 100 pace by 5 secs or so. I definitely can't wear them for 2.5 miles of swimming. So, I would have to stop and take them off to put them in my safety canoe. And they make me actually get my hr up, which I don't want to do for 2.5 miles. I want to be aerobic. Oh yeah, and the 1200m of swimming I did in my fins on Sunday combined with a a little fin stuff on Monday and track and drills have left my limping due to weird calf/ankle soreness. Fins are evil!
Monday I had a lazy day at swimming. Didn't want to do a thing, get in the pool, do the workout. I did most of it. 2200m total lots of drills, stroke counting.
My legs felt tired on Tuesday, especially my calves, but had a nice evening run with the doggies. And did strength.
I did track Wednesday am this week. It was disgustingly humid. My legs were tired and the air was heavy. And, I forgot my watch. After warmup, drills, and strides, we got into the workout 4x800 with 3 mins rest, 4x400 with 90 secs rest. I took the first one out relaxed and ended up at 3:14 (estimated all times based on Matt's finish time). A litle too relaxed. Went a little harder, but still relaxed and did 3:05. Then got 3:10 and 3:11 on last 2, around what I was shooting for. The 400's I went as fast as I could. No time on these ones but a good effort. Then cooldown and protein smoothie.
It was thundering yesterday, crazy storm and the pool closes with lightning. So I did my swim today. It went very well even though I was limping around all day from my soreness in my calves.
200wu
5x50-25 easy, 25 fast with :10 rest, these seemed to come in around :45
3x{300 descend 100's on 5:00, 4x75-25 hard, 25 ez, 25 hard w/ :15 rest, 200 pull with paddles} w/ 1:00 rest in between, 300's in 4:37, 4:36, 4:45, I almost thought about getting out after the second round so I would have time to bike outside, but the 3rd one is where you are tired and have to push through and I needed to do it. I'm so glad I did. I didn't think I was that tired until I hit the last 300 and whoa couldn't swim easy and nice any more.
100cd
2950m
So lots to do, but I don't want to stress and run around and worry about it. I don't want to stress about getting prepared for a race, or a date, or anything. I just want to relax and let life slow down a little.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Uberman Triathlon Race Report
I waited a couple days to do this, to think, and then due to lack of time.
The race in itself is a very fun an interesting concept. It is difficult to execute and any race in it's first year is going to have hiccups. I'm glad I got to participate and learned many things about myself during and after it. Not bad for a short race.
At times, I can be highly emotional. There have been things in my life that have happened to me that have felt unfair. So small things, simple things like other people drafting, strike this feeling of unfairness in me, and especially over time it builds into frustration. Drafting was not a huge issue there, it was an issue that has been building over time and struck that unfairness cord with me at the wrong time. I thought I was doing better at focusing on my effort, and what I could control and being happy with how I did no matter what as long as I did my best. And I was disappointed in this race to see that I still have problems with this. I let what others do bother me and am not always just focused on my own effort. I let distractions slow me down and get in my way and it was a huge let down for me. I just want to be past feeling like this is all. I wish it were as easy as flipping a switch.
So, onto the race report.
As a said previously, not much warmup. Half mile jog, then onto the boat. We were told to jump off the boat and I hesitated a little. Then the boat started moving! Oh no, I'd better jump in now! I swam around a bit, adjusted the enormous chip that felt loose, then too tight, then really too tight. Then, whoops, the guys are starting!!!!!
Swim: 200mish open water point to point 3:22 20/20, 10/10 women(:58 secs off top time who is a killer swimmer)
The guys start and I rush to line up--we are 30 secs after the guys. I am the second from the left (right in pic) and feel like I am off in no mans land. We are ahead of the start buoy, but it is where the guys started so, we go with it. All a sudden, here we go!
The water temp was weird. Apparently it was actually wetsuit legal that morning, which never happens. 75 degrees actually. There were super cold pockets of water down low and random hot ones. No one wore wetsuits obviously for a 200m swim though. Before we started I kept saying I was going to be the last swimmer out. There were a few women that I beat in the swim in other races. By saying that, I feel like I sort of defeated myself already.
I tried to stay with people as long as I could. It felt fast and slow at the same time. Like it took forever. I was staying sort of behind people for awhile, but I felt them slowly drift away. I could see the kayak to the side and feel the boat behind me.
I'm the head sticking up in the back.
There were all these really hot pockets of water, super hot uncomfortable. Just weird, then a cold pocket that felt so refreshing. It was almost like people were peeing, but took up too much volume for that. I think I zagged a bit. It didn't feel like a great swim.
There's me in the center back with my arm straight swinging wide out.
At the end I was right next to another woman but she got out a few seconds ahead of me. I expected under 3:00, but I figured fastest would be under 2:00 and it was 2:24, so I was comparable to where I thought I would be relatively.
Finally out of the water, I forgot I had no wetsuit...took me a little bit to do the cap and goggles.
I saw my time, knew I was last and already just felt blah. If I had kept positive things would have been better.
T1: 1:36, 12/20, 4/10 women It was a long run uphill to transition. We had lots of space at our bike racks (only 3 to rack) which was great. I had no idea who else was there with me. Blogger Molly is in this photo. Even though I fumbled with my helmet, I ran up that hill to the bikes fast and passed 1 person in transition. So not too bad.
Bike: 4.4 miles, mostly flat with some gentle inclines, windy, 2 uturns. 12:33, 19/20, 9/10.
Totally fumbled with my shoes. And got passed. Tried to get into my pace and was starting to, then started to get frustrated. Then just kept it back where I was. I didn't push like I did when I came out to do my workouts. No where near as hard or as fast. I was just not there really. I smiled when I saw the camera. I was happy to hear my friends cheer. They were such a great support crew!
I tried to check my cadence on my watch by counting (yes no bike computer...), but I couldn't get my brain to focus. I just wanted to be done, and not by going faster, just by being done.
As I headed towards the finish of the bike I was full of so many emotions. I was disappointed and upset and frustrated and confused.
I wanted to be at my best and I was not showing my best. I was not even giving it my all. I was letting my emotions and my issues hold me back. And it was really upsetting. I was not the UberMaija that I wanted to be out there :(
T2: No time for t2 it was combined into our run. They had us hand off our bike to someone to speed up the process. I ran in and blindly threw my bike at someone.
Then threw my aero helmet on the ground. I think there were some bad words there that potentially could have had me DQ'd. Uber girl was not on good behaviour. In my fit I then struggled with my running shoes (do feet swell in the afternoon??) I feel like I was in there forever. Every ones eyes on me.
Run: 1 mile (they said .97??? later) 6:47 with T2, 16/20, 6/10 women.
I started off and immediately start struggling with my breathing. The thick humid air combined with the anxiety. Then I run by a spectator smoking and start having an asthma attack. I slowed almost to a walk. I wanted to stop. Quit right there. I was done. I hated this. I shuffled along and tried to get air in.
Towards the middle of the first lap I started to feel better.
At some point on the first lap of the run, Laurel Wassner (winner) lapped me and I ran with her for a bit. That helped my get my pace going and made me feel a bit better. She turned off for the finish and I had another lap to go. I can't remember when, but I passed 2 women on the run. I could have pushed more and moved up higher I think. Once I passed the 2 I got back into a negative mode. I was happy to see the finish and be done.
It was hot and humid. Glad it was short.
Overall, 18/20, 8/10 woman.
It wasn't what I hoped and expected, but I really need to do some work on being happy with myself and my performance on focusing on what I can control.
It was an interesting one of a kind experience. It was fun to be in a race with so many great athletes. At the end they had us all go up on the podium and announce our names and what we did. Here I am, actuary during the week, Uber girl on the weekends.
The race in itself is a very fun an interesting concept. It is difficult to execute and any race in it's first year is going to have hiccups. I'm glad I got to participate and learned many things about myself during and after it. Not bad for a short race.
At times, I can be highly emotional. There have been things in my life that have happened to me that have felt unfair. So small things, simple things like other people drafting, strike this feeling of unfairness in me, and especially over time it builds into frustration. Drafting was not a huge issue there, it was an issue that has been building over time and struck that unfairness cord with me at the wrong time. I thought I was doing better at focusing on my effort, and what I could control and being happy with how I did no matter what as long as I did my best. And I was disappointed in this race to see that I still have problems with this. I let what others do bother me and am not always just focused on my own effort. I let distractions slow me down and get in my way and it was a huge let down for me. I just want to be past feeling like this is all. I wish it were as easy as flipping a switch.
So, onto the race report.
As a said previously, not much warmup. Half mile jog, then onto the boat. We were told to jump off the boat and I hesitated a little. Then the boat started moving! Oh no, I'd better jump in now! I swam around a bit, adjusted the enormous chip that felt loose, then too tight, then really too tight. Then, whoops, the guys are starting!!!!!
Swim: 200mish open water point to point 3:22 20/20, 10/10 women(:58 secs off top time who is a killer swimmer)
The guys start and I rush to line up--we are 30 secs after the guys. I am the second from the left (right in pic) and feel like I am off in no mans land. We are ahead of the start buoy, but it is where the guys started so, we go with it. All a sudden, here we go!
The water temp was weird. Apparently it was actually wetsuit legal that morning, which never happens. 75 degrees actually. There were super cold pockets of water down low and random hot ones. No one wore wetsuits obviously for a 200m swim though. Before we started I kept saying I was going to be the last swimmer out. There were a few women that I beat in the swim in other races. By saying that, I feel like I sort of defeated myself already. I tried to stay with people as long as I could. It felt fast and slow at the same time. Like it took forever. I was staying sort of behind people for awhile, but I felt them slowly drift away. I could see the kayak to the side and feel the boat behind me.
I'm the head sticking up in the back.There were all these really hot pockets of water, super hot uncomfortable. Just weird, then a cold pocket that felt so refreshing. It was almost like people were peeing, but took up too much volume for that. I think I zagged a bit. It didn't feel like a great swim.
There's me in the center back with my arm straight swinging wide out.
At the end I was right next to another woman but she got out a few seconds ahead of me. I expected under 3:00, but I figured fastest would be under 2:00 and it was 2:24, so I was comparable to where I thought I would be relatively. Finally out of the water, I forgot I had no wetsuit...took me a little bit to do the cap and goggles.
I saw my time, knew I was last and already just felt blah. If I had kept positive things would have been better.
T1: 1:36, 12/20, 4/10 women It was a long run uphill to transition. We had lots of space at our bike racks (only 3 to rack) which was great. I had no idea who else was there with me. Blogger Molly is in this photo. Even though I fumbled with my helmet, I ran up that hill to the bikes fast and passed 1 person in transition. So not too bad.
Bike: 4.4 miles, mostly flat with some gentle inclines, windy, 2 uturns. 12:33, 19/20, 9/10. Totally fumbled with my shoes. And got passed. Tried to get into my pace and was starting to, then started to get frustrated. Then just kept it back where I was. I didn't push like I did when I came out to do my workouts. No where near as hard or as fast. I was just not there really. I smiled when I saw the camera. I was happy to hear my friends cheer. They were such a great support crew!
I tried to check my cadence on my watch by counting (yes no bike computer...), but I couldn't get my brain to focus. I just wanted to be done, and not by going faster, just by being done. 
As I headed towards the finish of the bike I was full of so many emotions. I was disappointed and upset and frustrated and confused. I wanted to be at my best and I was not showing my best. I was not even giving it my all. I was letting my emotions and my issues hold me back. And it was really upsetting. I was not the UberMaija that I wanted to be out there :(
T2: No time for t2 it was combined into our run. They had us hand off our bike to someone to speed up the process. I ran in and blindly threw my bike at someone. 
Then threw my aero helmet on the ground. I think there were some bad words there that potentially could have had me DQ'd. Uber girl was not on good behaviour. In my fit I then struggled with my running shoes (do feet swell in the afternoon??) I feel like I was in there forever. Every ones eyes on me.
Run: 1 mile (they said .97??? later) 6:47 with T2, 16/20, 6/10 women.
I started off and immediately start struggling with my breathing. The thick humid air combined with the anxiety. Then I run by a spectator smoking and start having an asthma attack. I slowed almost to a walk. I wanted to stop. Quit right there. I was done. I hated this. I shuffled along and tried to get air in.
Towards the middle of the first lap I started to feel better. 
At some point on the first lap of the run, Laurel Wassner (winner) lapped me and I ran with her for a bit. That helped my get my pace going and made me feel a bit better. She turned off for the finish and I had another lap to go. I can't remember when, but I passed 2 women on the run. I could have pushed more and moved up higher I think. Once I passed the 2 I got back into a negative mode. I was happy to see the finish and be done.
It was hot and humid. Glad it was short.Overall, 18/20, 8/10 woman.
It wasn't what I hoped and expected, but I really need to do some work on being happy with myself and my performance on focusing on what I can control.
It was an interesting one of a kind experience. It was fun to be in a race with so many great athletes. At the end they had us all go up on the podium and announce our names and what we did. Here I am, actuary during the week, Uber girl on the weekends.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tomorrow
I will write my race report tomorrow! For now I am a sleepy Gus!
Until then, here is the full set of Uberman photos!
Of course I will be putting my selections into the report.
Oh, and a funny note from today. One of my teamates from the adventure race requested that I swim in the Wonderwoman suit. If it weren't so darn tight I would! I also have to orienteer in it for 6-7 miles right after. It just cracked me up. I am now getting swimsuit requests.
Until then, here is the full set of Uberman photos!
Of course I will be putting my selections into the report.
Oh, and a funny note from today. One of my teamates from the adventure race requested that I swim in the Wonderwoman suit. If it weren't so darn tight I would! I also have to orienteer in it for 6-7 miles right after. It just cracked me up. I am now getting swimsuit requests.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Some fun Uber photos
I'm so thankful to Matt and Genine for coming out to take pictures. They take the best pictures and it is so fun to have them there. I will put more photos in my race report, but since there were over 500 post edit photos (not all me, but still a lot!) I figured I would put some of the fun ones up first. They are mostly doggie pics :)
I loved having the dogs there.
Cooper hoping nobody saw his Uber swimming pre race.
Pre race run warm up with Heather, Sarah, and Lori.
Showing off the suit! It was the best out there! At least I think so!
Really, we're taking a boat 200m to the start???
On the luxury cruise to the start.
Such a handsome dog!
Happy Frito--loves to go watch races!
Happy to see my guys post race.
The puzzled look on this guys face cracks me up. I didn't notice him, I just wanted some Kona Ice!
Who taught these dogs to beg?
Frito had a great time!
More begging!
I loved having the dogs there.
Cooper hoping nobody saw his Uber swimming pre race. 
Pre race run warm up with Heather, Sarah, and Lori.
Showing off the suit! It was the best out there! At least I think so! 
Really, we're taking a boat 200m to the start???
On the luxury cruise to the start.
Such a handsome dog!
Happy Frito--loves to go watch races!
Happy to see my guys post race.
The puzzled look on this guys face cracks me up. I didn't notice him, I just wanted some Kona Ice!
Who taught these dogs to beg?
Frito had a great time!
More begging!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Dissapointment
I'm not writing my race report up now. The race had some fun aspects to it. It was fun to see some people, fun to wear my suit, fun to have the dogs there. But it all just felt so disorganized. Where are we supposed to go? What, there's a meeting now? Wait, I have to take a boat to the start, no time for a warmup. Do I have time to go to the bathroom? I got there with 1:30 to the start, planned on earlier, but forgot that I would have to wait in a line of cars there for packed picket up. I thought we went to the stage at 1:30, no one there. Then asked at package pickup, "Where do I go for Uberman?" The lady looks at me like she has no clue what I am talking about. Another lady points across the field to a white tent. I go there. They have no clue. Finally I get to the right place. Then stand around waiting for the meeting. Then put my stuff in transition. I have time for the 1/2 mile guided jog of the course. Then, we have to get on the boat to go 200m to the start. Then we sit on the boat for a long time waiting for all the people to get on. Then we get a few mins to warmup on the swim. I just felt so out of wack. The racing in the afternoon, barely any warmup.
I let stuff bother me that I shouldn't. I need to learn to just focus on myself. It seems like so many races this year I see people doing things like drafting or blocking or trying to run people off the road, or whatever and it just bugs me. And I let it mess up my race. I held back because I didn't want to race around some people on the bike. And then I was just ready to quit on the run. I was done, didn't want to be a part of this stupid sport where people are so type A that they will do whatever it takes to win including cheating or not be last or whatever and then go tell their kids or spouse or dog how awesome they are. I feel like the race directors have given up. And it shouldn't be their job to enforce it. People use excuses like, oh, well, the race was crowded, or people are just trying to go as fast as they can (heard that from lady working transition today), or everyone is doing it, I have to, or I'm tired. Well, everyone has their reasons for justifying what they do I suppose. I wouldn't feel good about it cheating in a race. It is not me. So maybe I need to find a different sport. Where it is not allowed, rewarded, welcomed, whatever.
I'm disappointed in myself for letting it upset me and affect my race. For letting it allow me to slow on the bike on the run, almost to a stop because I was ready to quit. It wasn't even a huge deal in this race, only a little drafting. I expected this race to be better I suppose. Or I hoped, that with a small field it wouldn't be an issue. And with race after race, I guess it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
I'm not sure what I want to do with the rest of my season.
I let stuff bother me that I shouldn't. I need to learn to just focus on myself. It seems like so many races this year I see people doing things like drafting or blocking or trying to run people off the road, or whatever and it just bugs me. And I let it mess up my race. I held back because I didn't want to race around some people on the bike. And then I was just ready to quit on the run. I was done, didn't want to be a part of this stupid sport where people are so type A that they will do whatever it takes to win including cheating or not be last or whatever and then go tell their kids or spouse or dog how awesome they are. I feel like the race directors have given up. And it shouldn't be their job to enforce it. People use excuses like, oh, well, the race was crowded, or people are just trying to go as fast as they can (heard that from lady working transition today), or everyone is doing it, I have to, or I'm tired. Well, everyone has their reasons for justifying what they do I suppose. I wouldn't feel good about it cheating in a race. It is not me. So maybe I need to find a different sport. Where it is not allowed, rewarded, welcomed, whatever.
I'm disappointed in myself for letting it upset me and affect my race. For letting it allow me to slow on the bike on the run, almost to a stop because I was ready to quit. It wasn't even a huge deal in this race, only a little drafting. I expected this race to be better I suppose. Or I hoped, that with a small field it wouldn't be an issue. And with race after race, I guess it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
I'm not sure what I want to do with the rest of my season.
Waiting
3 hours and 45 mins until race time. This afternoon race thing is strange. Cooper was not too keen on me napping, he seems to sense something is going on. Just wait until I get out my race stuff, then he will know. And Sir Stampy Stamperson will emerge.
I have no idea what to expect for the race. Transition set up will be different, small fast field. Afternoon race. Over and done with before I know it.
The race directors keep saying it will be a 15 min race. God bless anyone that does that. They certainly are uber. It would take a 2 min 200, 30 mph on the bike for 4 miles, a 4 min mile, and 1 min total transitions. I am thinking under 20 mins is a very realistic goal for me, and breaking the 19 min barrier would be sweet! Sort of depends on transition as well. If I race well, I think my original goal of top 5 women is very realistic. And I am pretty sure I will have the coolest swimsuit and cutest dogs! Most importantly, I want to have fun.
For the swim--small fast kick, deep finish, stay with people!
For the bike--spin spin spin but can do the whole thing in the big ring
For the run--harness the track workouts--go go go fast legs, quick quick quick, it's only a mile! Pass as many of those swimmer/bikers as you can!
So, we'll see. This day seems to be taking forever. And then the race will come and go in minutes.
I have no idea what to expect for the race. Transition set up will be different, small fast field. Afternoon race. Over and done with before I know it.
The race directors keep saying it will be a 15 min race. God bless anyone that does that. They certainly are uber. It would take a 2 min 200, 30 mph on the bike for 4 miles, a 4 min mile, and 1 min total transitions. I am thinking under 20 mins is a very realistic goal for me, and breaking the 19 min barrier would be sweet! Sort of depends on transition as well. If I race well, I think my original goal of top 5 women is very realistic. And I am pretty sure I will have the coolest swimsuit and cutest dogs! Most importantly, I want to have fun.
For the swim--small fast kick, deep finish, stay with people!
For the bike--spin spin spin but can do the whole thing in the big ring
For the run--harness the track workouts--go go go fast legs, quick quick quick, it's only a mile! Pass as many of those swimmer/bikers as you can!
So, we'll see. This day seems to be taking forever. And then the race will come and go in minutes.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Quick post
I am tired, so I am going to be short but sweet!
I accidentally slept 10 hours last night! Mark picked up the dogs last night so he could take them to work today and I didn't have Cooper there staring at me and barking once it got late enough that he wanted me up. So I woke up at 7:54!!! Only because Mark texted me something about the dogs. Who knows how long I would have slept. I probably needed it.
My legs feel so heavy tired still. Last week was a killer. I swam and ran after work. I swam in an old suit that was super loose too, so that didn't help with feeling fast either. My swim workout was short and fast.
300wu
4x50 on :60 descend in :50, :46, :45, :42
5x100 on 4:00 (was supposed to take 3:00 mins rest, but started to shiver) in 1:26, 1:26, 1:26, 1:27, 1:29 I didn't feel smooth swimming like I did on the weekend.
200 fist drill (alternated drill swim by 25)
16x25 on :30 swim fast down, drill back fasts were :19 or so
200cd
1800m total
I ran into Frank at the pool so I ran with him. 20 mins easy, then 4 strides on the track, then 2x400 relaxed in 86 and 88 with 3 mins rest, then 9 mins cd, then jog mile with doggies at home.
I got my custom Uber suit from Splish in the mail today!!! They finalized the order on Monday, made the suit up and got it to me today! Pretty awesome. I will have the best suit at Uberman at least!!!! And I ordered a 2 piece "Who Rocks" suit for wetsuit swims. So guess who will be Rockin' the Chicago tri?
I accidentally slept 10 hours last night! Mark picked up the dogs last night so he could take them to work today and I didn't have Cooper there staring at me and barking once it got late enough that he wanted me up. So I woke up at 7:54!!! Only because Mark texted me something about the dogs. Who knows how long I would have slept. I probably needed it.
My legs feel so heavy tired still. Last week was a killer. I swam and ran after work. I swam in an old suit that was super loose too, so that didn't help with feeling fast either. My swim workout was short and fast.
300wu
4x50 on :60 descend in :50, :46, :45, :42
5x100 on 4:00 (was supposed to take 3:00 mins rest, but started to shiver) in 1:26, 1:26, 1:26, 1:27, 1:29 I didn't feel smooth swimming like I did on the weekend.
200 fist drill (alternated drill swim by 25)
16x25 on :30 swim fast down, drill back fasts were :19 or so
200cd
1800m total
I ran into Frank at the pool so I ran with him. 20 mins easy, then 4 strides on the track, then 2x400 relaxed in 86 and 88 with 3 mins rest, then 9 mins cd, then jog mile with doggies at home.
I got my custom Uber suit from Splish in the mail today!!! They finalized the order on Monday, made the suit up and got it to me today! Pretty awesome. I will have the best suit at Uberman at least!!!! And I ordered a 2 piece "Who Rocks" suit for wetsuit swims. So guess who will be Rockin' the Chicago tri?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tired Tuesday
Tired Tuesday. It always hits me. My workouts last week were intense and high in volume for me. I'm very tired and hopefully recover well for Saturday's race, but glad I did them.
Sunday began at the butt crack of dawn. Todd picked me up and we drove to pick up Matt for a long run on the towpath. I love running on the towpath. You don't have to worry about cars. Hardly any people. Just you, a dirt gravel path, a canal to one side, and trees to the other. And you run. Straight. And flat. The air was thick and heavy and my legs were tired to start. My asthma has been bad for a few weeks now and Sunday was no exception. We ran 45 mins out easy on the trail and I kept thinking Matt and Todd were running way too fast, but really, I was just dragging. After we turned around, the hard part: 3 miles at 6:45 pace. Todd and I started out a little quick and then I reminded myself outloud that it wasn't a track workout and we settleed into a good pace. The first mile seemed to take the longest and we came in at 6:50 according to Todd's Garmin, my legs were so tired, but we picked up the pace to 6:40 for the second mile, then finished up at 6:43. The running was a smooth controlled effort, but my legs just felt all crampy and tired. I can't wait to run when my legs aren't tired. Then we ran slow for a total 90 min run. My longest run by far in forever.
After the run I went with Matt and Genine to IHOP for pancakes. Double Blueberry pancakes!!!!!
Then a swim lesson with Joe. I swam even better than I did on Saturday. It was just a 30 min lesson, but with each lap, I felt a little smoother and better. And he gave me many things to work on. I need to work on pulling with my forearm/keeping my forearm vertical in front of my shoulder/grabbing water deep after the catch, deep finish (especially my left arm has trouble with this), small fast kick (for sprints), keeping my head/neck still, and breathing more quickly/exhaling entirely before I breathe. So lots to work on. It was a great lesson and we even got in a little sports psychology which I want to do more of!
After swimming I had a 90 min massage. My body was trashed. Legs were a mess, sholders and neck. Ugh.
I wore my compression socks to work on Monday. Are they supposed to be worn that long? When I finally took them off my legs felt weird. I think my calfs are to big for them now.
Any way. Mondays are super busy. After work I had therapy. We talked about my somewhat impulsive decision to put up a profile on fitness singles dot com on Sunday night and my reaction to it. I initially got a lot of responses. I was surprised. But honestly I don't like having all that info about people ahead of time, the stuff you put in little boxes and eliminate people based on. You can't see the truly good qualities in a person on there. I'd rather get to know someone and like them for all there good qualities and not worry so much if they fall into all those little boxes that I check. Because when it gets down to it, a lot of that really isn't that important. So, I was about to delete my profile today, but I decided I will give it a bit more of a chance.
We also discussed being ready to date and ready to be in a relationship. Being scared to get hurt and maybe changing the things that I do because of that fear. So he incouraged me to take more risks. Not be so afraid of what is going to happen. Which is hard for me. Cause I think a lot.
After therapy was masters. I was conservative and only swam 1900m total.
450 wu
4x200 skis (swim kick (drill instead of IM) and stroke)
50 easy
20x25 drill down swim back with :05-:10 rest
100 cd
1900m total
Didn't feel as fast as Sat and Sun
Then we went out to Green Knoll Grill as a group which was fun but stayed up too late. I had a drink called a gummi bear :)
I was wiped today, so it ended up being an off day training. I would like to feel somewhat rested for Uberman.
For anyone who wants to watch Uberman, it is a 2:45 now and not 4pm like it says on the CGI site. At Mercer County Park.
If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances. ~Julia Sorel (Rosalyn Drexler), See How She Runs, 1978
To win you have to risk loss. ~Jean-Claude Killy
You must lose a fly to catch a trout. ~George Herbert
Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise. ~Author Unknown
Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is? ~Frank Scully
Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase - that's what wild geese are for. ~Author Unknown
Sunday began at the butt crack of dawn. Todd picked me up and we drove to pick up Matt for a long run on the towpath. I love running on the towpath. You don't have to worry about cars. Hardly any people. Just you, a dirt gravel path, a canal to one side, and trees to the other. And you run. Straight. And flat. The air was thick and heavy and my legs were tired to start. My asthma has been bad for a few weeks now and Sunday was no exception. We ran 45 mins out easy on the trail and I kept thinking Matt and Todd were running way too fast, but really, I was just dragging. After we turned around, the hard part: 3 miles at 6:45 pace. Todd and I started out a little quick and then I reminded myself outloud that it wasn't a track workout and we settleed into a good pace. The first mile seemed to take the longest and we came in at 6:50 according to Todd's Garmin, my legs were so tired, but we picked up the pace to 6:40 for the second mile, then finished up at 6:43. The running was a smooth controlled effort, but my legs just felt all crampy and tired. I can't wait to run when my legs aren't tired. Then we ran slow for a total 90 min run. My longest run by far in forever.
After the run I went with Matt and Genine to IHOP for pancakes. Double Blueberry pancakes!!!!!
Then a swim lesson with Joe. I swam even better than I did on Saturday. It was just a 30 min lesson, but with each lap, I felt a little smoother and better. And he gave me many things to work on. I need to work on pulling with my forearm/keeping my forearm vertical in front of my shoulder/grabbing water deep after the catch, deep finish (especially my left arm has trouble with this), small fast kick (for sprints), keeping my head/neck still, and breathing more quickly/exhaling entirely before I breathe. So lots to work on. It was a great lesson and we even got in a little sports psychology which I want to do more of!
After swimming I had a 90 min massage. My body was trashed. Legs were a mess, sholders and neck. Ugh.
I wore my compression socks to work on Monday. Are they supposed to be worn that long? When I finally took them off my legs felt weird. I think my calfs are to big for them now.
Any way. Mondays are super busy. After work I had therapy. We talked about my somewhat impulsive decision to put up a profile on fitness singles dot com on Sunday night and my reaction to it. I initially got a lot of responses. I was surprised. But honestly I don't like having all that info about people ahead of time, the stuff you put in little boxes and eliminate people based on. You can't see the truly good qualities in a person on there. I'd rather get to know someone and like them for all there good qualities and not worry so much if they fall into all those little boxes that I check. Because when it gets down to it, a lot of that really isn't that important. So, I was about to delete my profile today, but I decided I will give it a bit more of a chance.
We also discussed being ready to date and ready to be in a relationship. Being scared to get hurt and maybe changing the things that I do because of that fear. So he incouraged me to take more risks. Not be so afraid of what is going to happen. Which is hard for me. Cause I think a lot.
After therapy was masters. I was conservative and only swam 1900m total.
450 wu
4x200 skis (swim kick (drill instead of IM) and stroke)
50 easy
20x25 drill down swim back with :05-:10 rest
100 cd
1900m total
Didn't feel as fast as Sat and Sun
Then we went out to Green Knoll Grill as a group which was fun but stayed up too late. I had a drink called a gummi bear :)
I was wiped today, so it ended up being an off day training. I would like to feel somewhat rested for Uberman.
For anyone who wants to watch Uberman, it is a 2:45 now and not 4pm like it says on the CGI site. At Mercer County Park.
If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances. ~Julia Sorel (Rosalyn Drexler), See How She Runs, 1978
To win you have to risk loss. ~Jean-Claude Killy
You must lose a fly to catch a trout. ~George Herbert
Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise. ~Author Unknown
Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is? ~Frank Scully
Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase - that's what wild geese are for. ~Author Unknown
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Use your strengths and raceaholics anonymous
When I said I had hard training this weekend...I really was thinking about my long bike. And by long, I mean 2 hours and 30 mins. Oh and I rode faster than I expected and made it back in 2:15. Still felt long. I don't like biking long. Sometimes, I don't like biking at all, so I was dreading doing this ride a little. I woke up early, tried to go back to sleep but Cooper barked at me. "Get up!" I think he was saying. "You woke me up with that stupid alarm, so now, take me out to pee!" So, I took the dogs out and instead of going back to bed for 2-4 hours like I have often been doing on the weekends, I went out for my ride. I focused on keeping my rpms high, above 100. And while I was tired and ready to be done at the 1:45 mark, I enjoyed a large part of it. It was all in playing to my strengths and not trying to ride like I think I should or what works for other people, but what works for me. It was a nice morning and I rode my favorite route to Mountainville. On my ride, I saw that my most favorite house along the route was for sale. Somehow...I think my salary won't quite cover the mortgage.
I swam today as well, yesterday's swim since I did a little shuffle-a-roo with my workouts due to my fatigue and hamstring issues. After what Oscar said about me not kicking when I breathe, I tried to think about that a lot. And it made a huge difference! I'm not sure if I have always done this but I had no idea that I was stopping my kick completely when I was breathing. And once I am aware of something I am doing wrong, I notice it every time. D'oh! I did it again! Again! Stop it! So I was super aware, but since I have been doing it so long, I think it is an easy habit for me to slip into. I think maybe because I am thinking so much about what I am doing when I breathe that I forget to kick or who knows??? Anyway, even though I had finished my bike 2 hours before, and I was tired, my legs were tired and still a little sore, I swam great! All I had to do was take advantage of my strength (kicking) a little more!
500 warmup
12x25 drill down, hard back with :10 rest, did my hard ones in :20 for the first one when I was not kicking all the time when I breathed, and the rest in :18-:19 relaxed and smooth when I was kicking when I breathed! Every once in awhile I forgot, but pretty good.
2x{200 on 3:15 in 2:56 and 2:58, 4x100 on 1:40 in 1:25-1:30, 200 pull } 1 min between
8x75-hard, easy, hard by 25 w/ :10 rest, didn't think about my time but focus on my technique and my kick going as I was starting to get tired.
100 cd
3100m total
I feel so good about this swim! And I have a swim lesson tomorrow, so I can find out more things that I can work on with my technique! Yay!
I think in other years, racing a lot may have worked for me. Or maybe it didn't. Who knows. But this year, I am finding it isn't. I feel a bit burnt out. Maybe a bit from all the things going on in my life. Maybe because I am a little frustrated with so many people drafting and just not caring about the fact that it is unfair or unsafe at times. I think part of why I race so much is that I am hoping that the next race will be better, that it will make up for disappointments, things I thought I should have done in past races. But by doing this, I keep myself from doing well because I can't train properly because I am always resting for a race or recovering from a race. And I can't ever really focus on the important races this way. I guess it is a little scary putting so much training and effort into just a few races a year. What if something goes wrong? But, I need to do something different. I like going to races and meeting people and all, but I also am exhausted from it all. The travel, the highs and lows of racing, dealing with so many type A people at races. I think it's best if I limit that. So that when I am there, I enjoy the things I enjoy more, and don't find so many things that annoy me because I am regularly exposed to them.
Even as I say I want to cut back, there is this little raceaholic in me that constantly wants to add races. Just the other day, I was looking into going to Alabama for nationals. The week before Chicago. Why, on earth, would I do that? My only good reasoning was that it was hilly which is good for me and there would be fun people there. But there are so many reasons why I should not go, number one being that I said I would not sign up for any more races. I don't know why I do this to myself. Why I am constantly looking for races? Why I can't just be happy with the schedule that I have set for myself and do my training?
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change. ~Author Unknown
I swam today as well, yesterday's swim since I did a little shuffle-a-roo with my workouts due to my fatigue and hamstring issues. After what Oscar said about me not kicking when I breathe, I tried to think about that a lot. And it made a huge difference! I'm not sure if I have always done this but I had no idea that I was stopping my kick completely when I was breathing. And once I am aware of something I am doing wrong, I notice it every time. D'oh! I did it again! Again! Stop it! So I was super aware, but since I have been doing it so long, I think it is an easy habit for me to slip into. I think maybe because I am thinking so much about what I am doing when I breathe that I forget to kick or who knows??? Anyway, even though I had finished my bike 2 hours before, and I was tired, my legs were tired and still a little sore, I swam great! All I had to do was take advantage of my strength (kicking) a little more!
500 warmup
12x25 drill down, hard back with :10 rest, did my hard ones in :20 for the first one when I was not kicking all the time when I breathed, and the rest in :18-:19 relaxed and smooth when I was kicking when I breathed! Every once in awhile I forgot, but pretty good.
2x{200 on 3:15 in 2:56 and 2:58, 4x100 on 1:40 in 1:25-1:30, 200 pull } 1 min between
8x75-hard, easy, hard by 25 w/ :10 rest, didn't think about my time but focus on my technique and my kick going as I was starting to get tired.
100 cd
3100m total
I feel so good about this swim! And I have a swim lesson tomorrow, so I can find out more things that I can work on with my technique! Yay!
I think in other years, racing a lot may have worked for me. Or maybe it didn't. Who knows. But this year, I am finding it isn't. I feel a bit burnt out. Maybe a bit from all the things going on in my life. Maybe because I am a little frustrated with so many people drafting and just not caring about the fact that it is unfair or unsafe at times. I think part of why I race so much is that I am hoping that the next race will be better, that it will make up for disappointments, things I thought I should have done in past races. But by doing this, I keep myself from doing well because I can't train properly because I am always resting for a race or recovering from a race. And I can't ever really focus on the important races this way. I guess it is a little scary putting so much training and effort into just a few races a year. What if something goes wrong? But, I need to do something different. I like going to races and meeting people and all, but I also am exhausted from it all. The travel, the highs and lows of racing, dealing with so many type A people at races. I think it's best if I limit that. So that when I am there, I enjoy the things I enjoy more, and don't find so many things that annoy me because I am regularly exposed to them.
Even as I say I want to cut back, there is this little raceaholic in me that constantly wants to add races. Just the other day, I was looking into going to Alabama for nationals. The week before Chicago. Why, on earth, would I do that? My only good reasoning was that it was hilly which is good for me and there would be fun people there. But there are so many reasons why I should not go, number one being that I said I would not sign up for any more races. I don't know why I do this to myself. Why I am constantly looking for races? Why I can't just be happy with the schedule that I have set for myself and do my training?
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change. ~Author Unknown
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Oh my hamstrings!
I sit here with very sore hamstrings. Tired legs. As expected, the duathlon on Sunday was not so kind to my legs. But that really just made my legs feel heavy and tired.
Monday I went to masters swim planning to only swim easy and short. I ended up staying for the whole workout and leaving with my arms aching. I just kept feeling like I should stay for one reason or another, because I was not thinking about what was best for me, but rather what I thought other people wanted me to do. I did get in a good workout, but I paid for it later.
400 swim
200 kick
2x400 skis (swim, kick, im, stroke) I liked these!
100 easy swim
8x50 hard w/ around 1:00 rest in :39 to :44
50 easy
50 kick on back with goggles on forehead
5x50 swim with head out of water
4x200 on 3:30 broken by 50's w/ :05 rest, first one work walls, 2-3 "long and strong", 4 sprint
100 cd
3150m total
So on Tuesday I took off. Monday was an optional day off and I kinda overdid it. Soreness from the du was starting to set in.
Wednesday was track. Oh, my legs were tired, I so wanted to skip. Genine was in NH, and no one had confirmed they would be there. Maybe I could do it tomorrow? Then at 5:00pm I got a call from Laura saying she was going to be there and then when I got there Bob was there. Just what I needed. I probably would have swam or gone home and slacked.
It was hot and humid and my legs felt like they weighed 200 lbs each. But, I managed. We did a 10 min warmup, 4 strides, then the workout--4x800 with 3 mins rest, 4x400 w/ 90 secs rest. My goals were under 3 for the 800's and under 86 for the 400's. I hit just barely under 3 for the first. Then the second was painful. Hit 3. 3rd again, felt sluggish and slow, but hit 3. 4 my legs were not happy, hit 3:02. Then onto the 400's. First one felt ok, only one lap, not so horrible. Finished in 84. Then struggled through the next 3 to get the same result each time 86, 86, 86. It was very hard and I wanted so bad to stop after the 800's. But, having the others there and just wanting to feel good about finishing the workout got me through it. Then cooldown and stretch. My hamstrings have not been happy ever since, but hopefully this will pay off later.
My swim Thursday was ok. I could feel my hamstring going ouch ouch ouch the whole time. I didn't swim super fast, but it wasn't painfully slow either.
500wu
200 kick
4x50 on :55 in around :45 to :47
6x100 on 1:45 for first 3 then 1:40 for last 3 in 1:29-1:37
Then 500 at around 1:35/100 pace didn't get my time at end...because
Oscar joined me just as I was starting my longish cooldown
it was 100 swim, 300m kick, 100 form (did 25 drill, 25 swim), 200 pull
He noticed how fast I kick during the kick set, how slow I pull during the pull set, and that during the regular swim I stop kicking when I am breathing. So I am losing a whole bunch of speed from my great kick. Not to mention messing up my body position.
Total swim was 2800m and I was tired.
This morning, I got up and ran 5 miles easy. I like morning runs. It is good for me to run in the afternoon/evening to get used to the heat, but the morning is just really nice and peaceful. And cooler. And not long ago I got back from an easy 45 min ride spinning my legs like crazy.
I really hope my hamstrings feel better soon. Some hard training this weekend.
Monday I went to masters swim planning to only swim easy and short. I ended up staying for the whole workout and leaving with my arms aching. I just kept feeling like I should stay for one reason or another, because I was not thinking about what was best for me, but rather what I thought other people wanted me to do. I did get in a good workout, but I paid for it later.
400 swim
200 kick
2x400 skis (swim, kick, im, stroke) I liked these!
100 easy swim
8x50 hard w/ around 1:00 rest in :39 to :44
50 easy
50 kick on back with goggles on forehead
5x50 swim with head out of water
4x200 on 3:30 broken by 50's w/ :05 rest, first one work walls, 2-3 "long and strong", 4 sprint
100 cd
3150m total
So on Tuesday I took off. Monday was an optional day off and I kinda overdid it. Soreness from the du was starting to set in.
Wednesday was track. Oh, my legs were tired, I so wanted to skip. Genine was in NH, and no one had confirmed they would be there. Maybe I could do it tomorrow? Then at 5:00pm I got a call from Laura saying she was going to be there and then when I got there Bob was there. Just what I needed. I probably would have swam or gone home and slacked.
It was hot and humid and my legs felt like they weighed 200 lbs each. But, I managed. We did a 10 min warmup, 4 strides, then the workout--4x800 with 3 mins rest, 4x400 w/ 90 secs rest. My goals were under 3 for the 800's and under 86 for the 400's. I hit just barely under 3 for the first. Then the second was painful. Hit 3. 3rd again, felt sluggish and slow, but hit 3. 4 my legs were not happy, hit 3:02. Then onto the 400's. First one felt ok, only one lap, not so horrible. Finished in 84. Then struggled through the next 3 to get the same result each time 86, 86, 86. It was very hard and I wanted so bad to stop after the 800's. But, having the others there and just wanting to feel good about finishing the workout got me through it. Then cooldown and stretch. My hamstrings have not been happy ever since, but hopefully this will pay off later.
My swim Thursday was ok. I could feel my hamstring going ouch ouch ouch the whole time. I didn't swim super fast, but it wasn't painfully slow either.
500wu
200 kick
4x50 on :55 in around :45 to :47
6x100 on 1:45 for first 3 then 1:40 for last 3 in 1:29-1:37
Then 500 at around 1:35/100 pace didn't get my time at end...because
Oscar joined me just as I was starting my longish cooldown
it was 100 swim, 300m kick, 100 form (did 25 drill, 25 swim), 200 pull
He noticed how fast I kick during the kick set, how slow I pull during the pull set, and that during the regular swim I stop kicking when I am breathing. So I am losing a whole bunch of speed from my great kick. Not to mention messing up my body position.
Total swim was 2800m and I was tired.
This morning, I got up and ran 5 miles easy. I like morning runs. It is good for me to run in the afternoon/evening to get used to the heat, but the morning is just really nice and peaceful. And cooler. And not long ago I got back from an easy 45 min ride spinning my legs like crazy.
I really hope my hamstrings feel better soon. Some hard training this weekend.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Philly Pictures
Pictures that the pro photographers took at the Philly Sprint and Philly Women's Sprint.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Philly Women's Tri Race Report
Saturday night before the race, I did a good thing. I went to bed early. Unfortunately, mother nature did not care that I wanted to sleep. Soon after I went to bed, crashing thunder and lightning and heavy rain started, which of course lead to a crying and pacing Frito. As the rain was falling, I wondered if the swim might be canceled. Heavy rains and the Schuylkill don't mix. Finally Frito settled into the dryer and I got to sleep a little. I woke up with a really weird dream. All I remember is thinking that I really needed to remember it to talk about it in therapy. Whoops! And that I thought my cell was beeping with a text at 3am and it wasn't. That was part of the dream.
Alexis and I drove down to Philly together and got there nice and early. Plenty of time to get our packets, get setup, warmup, wrestle into my new wetsuit, line up for the bathroom 3x. I brought my new wetsuit, my old one (in case, you never know right?), and my swim skin. I was prepared for anything in the swim. Unfortunately, it turned out, I wouldn't need any of that, as the heavy rains had turned the Schuylkill in to a not so safe place to swim.
Not the first time this has happened to me. Not even the first time this year. Just have to move on and do the race and be glad you get to do something. I felt bad for the women who were there to do their first tri, many of them had been training just for this event, learning how to swim for it.
Once we finally got ready to start, I was now in the second wave, 5 mins behind the official duathlon. I lined up next to the other 4 ag elite women. Also in our wave were the cancer survivors, mother daughter racers, and "bosom buddies". Most of them hung back aways from us at the start.
Here's a picture of me and Abby (super fast runner and also very nice!) pre race.
Run 1: 1.9 or 2 miles (I've seen as both) 12:38, 8/988, flat out and back
I tried to stay relaxed and not got out super hard as I know that it can be painful to do a du run 1 hard and then try to continue to race. As expected Abby quickly pulled away and they other women stayed right with me. Very quickly we started passing women from the du. Then we saw the women on the way back from the du and the course got congested. Lots of women to pass who were going much slower. This was not something can remember having to do before. Not long before the turn around, some lady in the du just ahead of me waves her left arm out to the side and comes inches from my face. I yelled and moved my head and avoided getting hit, but was a bit more cautious passing people. I think she was waving at a friend. Talk about a violent freaking wave! Keep your limbs in people. After the turn around 2 of the women pass me, I pretty much stay with them, but it is a challenge now as there is hardly any room between the group heading back and the group coming out. Finally the run is over. Whew! It's getting hot!
T1: 1:01 (not sure, but this may be the fastest t1!!!) I think 2nd fastest was the awesome 12 year old girl that also rides in her run shoes, her time was 1:03. For a minute we thought she had a powertap on her bike, but she didn't, she did have a really sweet look aero bottle though. Anyway, back to t1. A little dodging around people walking (really, you just ran 2 miles, you cant run a few hundred more meters????), and a quick run to my rack, shoes off, make the shoes nice so that t2 isn't horrible, helmet on, and go! I was running out with or just ahead of the two other women. Abby was long gone thanks to being a super runner. Sigh, I remember when I could run. Very good T1!
Bike: 17 miles, flat, windy on one side of river, 2 loops, 30/982, 48:39
As soon as we start out, it turns out one of the women has her aero helmet on backwards and they make her stop to turn it around exiting t1. I try not to get distracted by that commotion, but it is hard. I have a good bike mount for me, and off I go. I am a little winded from the run, my legs a little tired, but I feel like it might not be so bad. I prepare to yell on the left a lot. And it was needed. Not too long on the first flat, the two ladies pass by. Not too fast by me, but I drop back. I can see them ahead as they slowly inch away until we get to the art museum, so a lot of the first loop. I am disappointed that this is what the race is like, but I race my race and my effort. All I can do is make a choice about how I race and if that leaves me off the podium, that is fine.
When I rode past the Art Museum I did have to glance over and look around and enjoy just how cool it was, to be flying past there, on our bikes, with the streets closed for us. And take in a view of such a beautiful building, right in the middle of the race. I noticed a few others doing the same, and that made me smile.
The final stretch along the river on the first loop was so windy! I just kept pushing and pushing and felt like I was going no where. I saw Abby up ahead, I tried to push hard so I could pass her strong. I knew I needed to get a lot of time on her going into the second run. I told her good job as I passed. There were so many cheers as we rode past transition it was great!
This is where the race got crowded as I hit the group of women heading out on their first loop. Oh man. Lots of on your left being yelled. I kept my pace up pretty well except but my legs were hurting. This biking, its hard, especially when you do your own work. And now that I have thought about my race a bit, I think I was riding at too low a cadence/too big a gear for me. I need to spin more, that just works better for me. When I get on flat courses, sometimes I try to ride like I'm a quadzilla, and well, that just isn't the case. And then I tire my legs out for the rest of the bike and for the run.
The bike did seem to go by fast for 17 miles. Lots of scenery and people to pass. Soon enough, I had made the last trip by the Art Museum, and down the long windy stretch to T2 where I felt like I was barely moving into the wind.
T2: 1:02 I had an awesome dismount off my bike going into t2, probably my best ever! My back wheel bumped hard on the curve as I ran over it. My t2 was not relatively as fast as others. I got there and there was someones stuff in front of my shoes. So I moved it. Should have just left it. Then shoes on and off. Still fast though.
Run 2: 5k, 18/977, 22:19 My legs felt slow and sluggish off the bike right away and felt worse as I went on. I usually don't have issues running off the bike, it seems like it is an issue of the way I bike, if I am biking in too hard of a gear or not high enough cadence. There was a duathlete just ahead of me and so I focused on trying to catch her. Took me until the mile. I knew Abby was coming fast behind me. At the turnaround she was close. I told myself to focus and try to hold her off at least until 2 miles. She passed me just before then, but close. Then I focused on passing another one of the duathletes. My breathing felt horrible, wheezy and icky and my legs just blah. I tried to have fun with it, smile, cheer for people and just pass that one last person if I could. I sprinted hard and passed her with maybe 600m or so left.
Here's me sprinting to the finish line and the duathlete that I passed towards the end.
Overall: 1:25:37, 9/997, 4/5 elite, My transitions were good and that was a big thing I wanted to practice. I had a very hard workout, so that was good. I learned some things I need to change about my biking in training and racing.
I think when I schedule my races in the future, I will be thinking more carefully about size of race and terrain. Next race will be flat but small but I think they will throw us out there on the bike together. And then Chicago is flat and huge. So, next year I guess.
Alexis and I drove down to Philly together and got there nice and early. Plenty of time to get our packets, get setup, warmup, wrestle into my new wetsuit, line up for the bathroom 3x. I brought my new wetsuit, my old one (in case, you never know right?), and my swim skin. I was prepared for anything in the swim. Unfortunately, it turned out, I wouldn't need any of that, as the heavy rains had turned the Schuylkill in to a not so safe place to swim.
Not the first time this has happened to me. Not even the first time this year. Just have to move on and do the race and be glad you get to do something. I felt bad for the women who were there to do their first tri, many of them had been training just for this event, learning how to swim for it.
Once we finally got ready to start, I was now in the second wave, 5 mins behind the official duathlon. I lined up next to the other 4 ag elite women. Also in our wave were the cancer survivors, mother daughter racers, and "bosom buddies". Most of them hung back aways from us at the start.
Here's a picture of me and Abby (super fast runner and also very nice!) pre race. Run 1: 1.9 or 2 miles (I've seen as both) 12:38, 8/988, flat out and back
I tried to stay relaxed and not got out super hard as I know that it can be painful to do a du run 1 hard and then try to continue to race. As expected Abby quickly pulled away and they other women stayed right with me. Very quickly we started passing women from the du. Then we saw the women on the way back from the du and the course got congested. Lots of women to pass who were going much slower. This was not something can remember having to do before. Not long before the turn around, some lady in the du just ahead of me waves her left arm out to the side and comes inches from my face. I yelled and moved my head and avoided getting hit, but was a bit more cautious passing people. I think she was waving at a friend. Talk about a violent freaking wave! Keep your limbs in people. After the turn around 2 of the women pass me, I pretty much stay with them, but it is a challenge now as there is hardly any room between the group heading back and the group coming out. Finally the run is over. Whew! It's getting hot!
T1: 1:01 (not sure, but this may be the fastest t1!!!) I think 2nd fastest was the awesome 12 year old girl that also rides in her run shoes, her time was 1:03. For a minute we thought she had a powertap on her bike, but she didn't, she did have a really sweet look aero bottle though. Anyway, back to t1. A little dodging around people walking (really, you just ran 2 miles, you cant run a few hundred more meters????), and a quick run to my rack, shoes off, make the shoes nice so that t2 isn't horrible, helmet on, and go! I was running out with or just ahead of the two other women. Abby was long gone thanks to being a super runner. Sigh, I remember when I could run. Very good T1!
Bike: 17 miles, flat, windy on one side of river, 2 loops, 30/982, 48:39
As soon as we start out, it turns out one of the women has her aero helmet on backwards and they make her stop to turn it around exiting t1. I try not to get distracted by that commotion, but it is hard. I have a good bike mount for me, and off I go. I am a little winded from the run, my legs a little tired, but I feel like it might not be so bad. I prepare to yell on the left a lot. And it was needed. Not too long on the first flat, the two ladies pass by. Not too fast by me, but I drop back. I can see them ahead as they slowly inch away until we get to the art museum, so a lot of the first loop. I am disappointed that this is what the race is like, but I race my race and my effort. All I can do is make a choice about how I race and if that leaves me off the podium, that is fine.
When I rode past the Art Museum I did have to glance over and look around and enjoy just how cool it was, to be flying past there, on our bikes, with the streets closed for us. And take in a view of such a beautiful building, right in the middle of the race. I noticed a few others doing the same, and that made me smile.
The final stretch along the river on the first loop was so windy! I just kept pushing and pushing and felt like I was going no where. I saw Abby up ahead, I tried to push hard so I could pass her strong. I knew I needed to get a lot of time on her going into the second run. I told her good job as I passed. There were so many cheers as we rode past transition it was great!
This is where the race got crowded as I hit the group of women heading out on their first loop. Oh man. Lots of on your left being yelled. I kept my pace up pretty well except but my legs were hurting. This biking, its hard, especially when you do your own work. And now that I have thought about my race a bit, I think I was riding at too low a cadence/too big a gear for me. I need to spin more, that just works better for me. When I get on flat courses, sometimes I try to ride like I'm a quadzilla, and well, that just isn't the case. And then I tire my legs out for the rest of the bike and for the run.
The bike did seem to go by fast for 17 miles. Lots of scenery and people to pass. Soon enough, I had made the last trip by the Art Museum, and down the long windy stretch to T2 where I felt like I was barely moving into the wind.
T2: 1:02 I had an awesome dismount off my bike going into t2, probably my best ever! My back wheel bumped hard on the curve as I ran over it. My t2 was not relatively as fast as others. I got there and there was someones stuff in front of my shoes. So I moved it. Should have just left it. Then shoes on and off. Still fast though.
Run 2: 5k, 18/977, 22:19 My legs felt slow and sluggish off the bike right away and felt worse as I went on. I usually don't have issues running off the bike, it seems like it is an issue of the way I bike, if I am biking in too hard of a gear or not high enough cadence. There was a duathlete just ahead of me and so I focused on trying to catch her. Took me until the mile. I knew Abby was coming fast behind me. At the turnaround she was close. I told myself to focus and try to hold her off at least until 2 miles. She passed me just before then, but close. Then I focused on passing another one of the duathletes. My breathing felt horrible, wheezy and icky and my legs just blah. I tried to have fun with it, smile, cheer for people and just pass that one last person if I could. I sprinted hard and passed her with maybe 600m or so left.
Here's me sprinting to the finish line and the duathlete that I passed towards the end. Overall: 1:25:37, 9/997, 4/5 elite, My transitions were good and that was a big thing I wanted to practice. I had a very hard workout, so that was good. I learned some things I need to change about my biking in training and racing.
I think when I schedule my races in the future, I will be thinking more carefully about size of race and terrain. Next race will be flat but small but I think they will throw us out there on the bike together. And then Chicago is flat and huge. So, next year I guess.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Racing tomorrow, racing too often
Philly Women's Tri is tomorrow. I'm not super excited or nervous or anything. It should be fun. We'll see how it goes. I've practice my transitions a lot since the last race, so hopefully those are smoother. It is very similar to the race 2 weeks ago. Slightly shorter swim at 750m (with the current pushing us if there is any), slightly longer bike at 17 miles again 2 loops, and I think the same 5k course. The winner from the Philly Sprint is racing, but this time we start in the same wave. Thanks CGI for the Elite Wave! I'm carpooling down with Alexis who I met at Black Bear and happened to live in Somerville and now does masters swim. So 4:30 am drive down wont be quite so lonely.
This is my 6th triathlon this year. I will likely end up with at least 10 races on the year. I was talking to Joe this afternoon and he mentioned that I race a lot and asked how this impacted my recovery. I guess I hadn't thought about it much before. I just always raced a lot. One year I did 15 tris/dus. I guess I feel like I need the races for practice. But it does take a lot out of me. And it does take up a lot of my time and energy. I've never been fast at recovering either. It is really a hard thing to figure out, because there is nothing like a race to practice race situations, but maybe, instead of racing as much, I can just get better at practicing these race situations in training. Because sometimes I feel like I race so much that I am often always resting for or recovering from a race and it takes away from my training and more importantly just my overall enjoyment of life. Maybe next year I will only do maximum 5-6 races because they will be fully concentrated efforts. And that will open up more time for consistent training and fun and let me stay home a few more weekends. And definitely not continue adding more races to my schedule this year.
This is my 6th triathlon this year. I will likely end up with at least 10 races on the year. I was talking to Joe this afternoon and he mentioned that I race a lot and asked how this impacted my recovery. I guess I hadn't thought about it much before. I just always raced a lot. One year I did 15 tris/dus. I guess I feel like I need the races for practice. But it does take a lot out of me. And it does take up a lot of my time and energy. I've never been fast at recovering either. It is really a hard thing to figure out, because there is nothing like a race to practice race situations, but maybe, instead of racing as much, I can just get better at practicing these race situations in training. Because sometimes I feel like I race so much that I am often always resting for or recovering from a race and it takes away from my training and more importantly just my overall enjoyment of life. Maybe next year I will only do maximum 5-6 races because they will be fully concentrated efforts. And that will open up more time for consistent training and fun and let me stay home a few more weekends. And definitely not continue adding more races to my schedule this year.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Getting Speedy
Another successful ice bath. I do find it quite odd getting bundled up to get into the bath however. I did a track workout after work today with Genine and Bob and I was nervous about it. Track workouts always make me at least a little nervous. It is the fact that there is nowhere to hide. If you have a slow/bad day, it shows up on the watch and the track is the same, every time, everywhere. It really shouldn't matter, it is a workout, it is me pushing myself hard. But it is that part of me that is hard on myself and expects a certain time that puts the pressure on and makes me nervous about it.
Of course, it was fine. It was warm but not hot, like 80 or so and sunny with a little breeze. We jogged 20 mins warm up, did 4 strides, then time to start the 6x400's w/ 90 sec rest. The first 2 were just relaxed to warm up and get into the pace at 90 secs. I hit them exactly on pace! Then the next 4 were going to be as fast as I could go.
I am not a natural speedster. Part of why I wanted to make Uberman one of my goal races is because it would force me to work on one of my major weakness. If I raced short, I would have to train for it and would develop my speed where as otherwise I would gladly neglect it and stick with what is naturally easier for me.
The next one was 81, which for me is quite good! Then 84, 82, 84. My quads were very tired on the last one, so I knew I'd pushed it pretty good. Each week of the track workouts I keep getting faster and faster, so, I am hopeful this will translate into a fast mile off the bike at Uberman and better running speed in other races.
We did some walking and then a 10 min cooldown which somehow involved running uphill a whole bunch! And then more walking and stretching and my vanilla monster protein smoothie.
I was very happy to have Genine and Bob along. When I get nervous about track workouts, sometimes I skip them. But when I know that friends are there waiting for me it makes me want to go and I am not as anxious about it and it makes it more fun.
And, Matt brought my new wetsuit back from the city. Brand new Orca Apex 2! And the sizing is different, so XS goes up to 116lbs now, so if I get super buff, it will still fit.
Of course, it was fine. It was warm but not hot, like 80 or so and sunny with a little breeze. We jogged 20 mins warm up, did 4 strides, then time to start the 6x400's w/ 90 sec rest. The first 2 were just relaxed to warm up and get into the pace at 90 secs. I hit them exactly on pace! Then the next 4 were going to be as fast as I could go.
I am not a natural speedster. Part of why I wanted to make Uberman one of my goal races is because it would force me to work on one of my major weakness. If I raced short, I would have to train for it and would develop my speed where as otherwise I would gladly neglect it and stick with what is naturally easier for me.
The next one was 81, which for me is quite good! Then 84, 82, 84. My quads were very tired on the last one, so I knew I'd pushed it pretty good. Each week of the track workouts I keep getting faster and faster, so, I am hopeful this will translate into a fast mile off the bike at Uberman and better running speed in other races.
We did some walking and then a 10 min cooldown which somehow involved running uphill a whole bunch! And then more walking and stretching and my vanilla monster protein smoothie.
I was very happy to have Genine and Bob along. When I get nervous about track workouts, sometimes I skip them. But when I know that friends are there waiting for me it makes me want to go and I am not as anxious about it and it makes it more fun.
And, Matt brought my new wetsuit back from the city. Brand new Orca Apex 2! And the sizing is different, so XS goes up to 116lbs now, so if I get super buff, it will still fit.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Relax and pay attention
This weekend was difficult for me. So was yesterday. I am feeling more positive today. Not passing my exam was disappointing for me. Even though I tried to go in expecting the worst, it is always hard to look at the list of passing candidates and not see your number on there. I knew I hadn't had the focus I needed in study and at the test. But I guess there is always that hope. And the frustration that life just keeps getting in the way.
Sometimes it is very difficult for me to see that my life with Mark was not that bad. I was unhappy in many ways but I gave up a fairly good life and a good friend because I wanted something better. It is hard in these times when I am lonely and sad and I am unsure that I will ever be happy that I wonder if I should have just settled for good enough. Stayed in my comfort zone because I didn't know it was going to be this hard.
Over the past few days I was withdrawn and upset and had a migraine the whole time. While it is good to spend time alone, I was withdrawing because I was afraid to ask for help, to admit that I was sad, scared, lonely. I was embarrassed to talk about the things that were upsetting me. I didn't think anyone could possibly understand them.
So, this translated into a lot of sleeping and missed workouts.
I had therapy on Monday. I went in, anxious, and blasted him with a list of things that had gone wrong. Once I had said all that I had planned to say it was easier to relax. He pointed out that I had sort of put the burden on him to figure out, based on my list what I was thinking and feeling and by expecting him to do that it was my way of seeing that he cared. Of course, I didn't realize I was doing this, but I immediately started to wonder if I do this to other people. People I interact with on a regular basis. Do I put the burden on them to figure out how I am feeling and am I unknowingly testing them to see if they care? It is something I want to start paying attention to. I want to be more aware of my interactions.
Some other things I got out of my session, I want to continue to remember to be nice to myself. I tend to be very hard on myself and there is no reason for it. I used to think that it was what helped me to be successful at things, I needed it to be disciplined and achieve goals. But it is more important to love yourself and be happy no matter what the outcome.
And I really need to learn to relax!
I got to swimming early so I went for a short easy run just to enjoy it. Maybe 2 miles. Then did a few minutes abs and stretched. On Sunday I got to the pool at 3:25 only to find out they close at 3:45 in the summer (I swear it was 4:45 last summer I swear it was!!!!). So I only got in 800m of my workout. It was lots of short stuff which I need to work on as it is my weakness and Uberman is coming up. So I did that instead while everyone did long intervals. I need variety. I get bored.
200 Swim
100 Kick
100 IM
100 Pull
200 Swim
4x100 on 2:30 IM order drill
4x100 on 1:45 Free 25 Easy, 75 Sprint in 1:30-1:35
4x75 on 1:30 Free 25 Sprint, 50 Easy in 1:15ish
4x50 on :55 Free Beginning of lengths sprint, end of lengths easy
4x50 on :55 Free Beginning of lengths easy, end of lengths sprint
4x50 on :55 Free Sprint within flags, easy walls
4x50 on :55 Free Sprint walls, easy between flags
4x50 on :50 Free Sprint In-water starts
4x50 on first 2 fast, second 2, meh..., :15 rest interval w/starts from block, my starts are not looking nice right now
3000m total
I woke up with a migraine this morning. I thought it was going to be a horrible day, but it was ok. I had a fairly productive day at work. After work I had a good ride with Genine, Matt and Bob. 65 mins with 4x30 sec sprints and 6-4-2 mins hard with 3 mins recovery spin. it was humid but a sunny nice night. At first I didn't want to bike. Then out biking my legs felt tired and I was frustrated that I just don't have a lot of speed. But then I just did the best I could and I felt great about it.
And my wetsuit if finally being replaced. I think it is the same one but will see when Matt goes to pick it up at SBR. What a nice friend! Great of Orca to replace it.
Sometimes it is very difficult for me to see that my life with Mark was not that bad. I was unhappy in many ways but I gave up a fairly good life and a good friend because I wanted something better. It is hard in these times when I am lonely and sad and I am unsure that I will ever be happy that I wonder if I should have just settled for good enough. Stayed in my comfort zone because I didn't know it was going to be this hard.
Over the past few days I was withdrawn and upset and had a migraine the whole time. While it is good to spend time alone, I was withdrawing because I was afraid to ask for help, to admit that I was sad, scared, lonely. I was embarrassed to talk about the things that were upsetting me. I didn't think anyone could possibly understand them.
So, this translated into a lot of sleeping and missed workouts.
I had therapy on Monday. I went in, anxious, and blasted him with a list of things that had gone wrong. Once I had said all that I had planned to say it was easier to relax. He pointed out that I had sort of put the burden on him to figure out, based on my list what I was thinking and feeling and by expecting him to do that it was my way of seeing that he cared. Of course, I didn't realize I was doing this, but I immediately started to wonder if I do this to other people. People I interact with on a regular basis. Do I put the burden on them to figure out how I am feeling and am I unknowingly testing them to see if they care? It is something I want to start paying attention to. I want to be more aware of my interactions.
Some other things I got out of my session, I want to continue to remember to be nice to myself. I tend to be very hard on myself and there is no reason for it. I used to think that it was what helped me to be successful at things, I needed it to be disciplined and achieve goals. But it is more important to love yourself and be happy no matter what the outcome.
And I really need to learn to relax!
I got to swimming early so I went for a short easy run just to enjoy it. Maybe 2 miles. Then did a few minutes abs and stretched. On Sunday I got to the pool at 3:25 only to find out they close at 3:45 in the summer (I swear it was 4:45 last summer I swear it was!!!!). So I only got in 800m of my workout. It was lots of short stuff which I need to work on as it is my weakness and Uberman is coming up. So I did that instead while everyone did long intervals. I need variety. I get bored.
200 Swim
100 Kick
100 IM
100 Pull
200 Swim
4x100 on 2:30 IM order drill
4x100 on 1:45 Free 25 Easy, 75 Sprint in 1:30-1:35
4x75 on 1:30 Free 25 Sprint, 50 Easy in 1:15ish
4x50 on :55 Free Beginning of lengths sprint, end of lengths easy
4x50 on :55 Free Beginning of lengths easy, end of lengths sprint
4x50 on :55 Free Sprint within flags, easy walls
4x50 on :55 Free Sprint walls, easy between flags
4x50 on :50 Free Sprint In-water starts
4x50 on first 2 fast, second 2, meh..., :15 rest interval w/starts from block, my starts are not looking nice right now
3000m total
I woke up with a migraine this morning. I thought it was going to be a horrible day, but it was ok. I had a fairly productive day at work. After work I had a good ride with Genine, Matt and Bob. 65 mins with 4x30 sec sprints and 6-4-2 mins hard with 3 mins recovery spin. it was humid but a sunny nice night. At first I didn't want to bike. Then out biking my legs felt tired and I was frustrated that I just don't have a lot of speed. But then I just did the best I could and I felt great about it.
And my wetsuit if finally being replaced. I think it is the same one but will see when Matt goes to pick it up at SBR. What a nice friend! Great of Orca to replace it.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Randomness in July
This has been kind of a tough week for me. My legs have been sore ever since I was over exuberant in my strength training on Monday. I didn't even do that much, I just get sore very sore from body weight lunges and squats. I did pretty well cleaning up my nutrition. You know, less candy and yummies, more veggies, fruits, brown rice, protein, that stuff. My body was not happy with the initial switch. So yesterday, my hungry tummy was magnetically drawn to the cupcake section of the store. Patriotic cupcakes. How could I resist that? Cupcakes and fruit do not make a quality pre workout meal. I ended up skipping my run and bailing midway through my swim. I made it 1650m total. Thursday I did my swim right after work, 2700m total and felt good and smooth, but then got super tired and skipped my bike.
I've never been a big holiday person. I know I should like them, because everyone else does, but really, I only like them because I get time off work. I like some holidays and some things about them, but right now, with the fireworks scaring the dogs and all, it just is uh, I don't know, not that exciting to me. Right now, Frito is looking to see if he can climb onto the counter to hide. The dryer just isn't safe enough. Against my better judgment, I am letting him into the storage closet.
Yesterday the dogs went to visit Mark at his office for the day and then for an overnight visit. I drove them down in the morning. They love it there. What dog wouldn't love it at the Frito Lay office where they can occasionally head down to the snack room for some samples? I missed them, but it was nice to have a break so I could do some cleaning without them immediately re messing up the house. All that cleaning did wear me out a bit.
This morning I woke up at 3:30 and my friend Todd picked me up to drive down to do a super hard workout on the Uberman course. We got there right at sunrise and warmed up with a short run to try to interpret the map of the run course. I'm not sure we ever figured out what it was. Then a 4 mileish warmup on the bike trying to figure out what the bike course was. This one was mostly obvious, just not sure where the turn arounds were, because the map cuts them off. Then...the fun began. We were doing the bike run course 4 times through-4miles bike, 1 mile run. I did the first bike hard, totally dropped Todd and his little girl legs! Hehehe! That came back and totally bit me in the ass. Well, actually the quads. Then the run. It is 2 loops to make up a mile. Our interpretation took about 5 mins at 6:20 ish pace according to Todd's GPS. Ok, obviously, that is not the course. Next round, a little slower, I drop Todd initially, but he catches up when I miss the first turnaround. Second run starts off at under 6:20 pace, ends around 6:35. We end up at 6 mins with this interpretation of the run course. I take a Clif Shot and bathroom break and then round 3. My legs are not happy with me. I am trying to over bike my abilities. I actually used up all my biking power in the first interval. And I was over biking then. Ouch. 3rd bike interval, Todd stays with me and then drops me on the second turn around when we turn back into the wind.
I would just like to note that I just got up, and moved my bike case out of the storage closet so that Frito could squeeze back into the back corner underneath the stairs and sit on top of the Christmas lights. Spoiled and weird dog. And since I felt sorry for him, the dogs got a bunch of mac and cheese with dinner.
Anyway, the 3rd run I think we probably figured it out mostly, but we are not starting from the right place. Since we are running around 6:30-6:35 pace at this point we stop when we reach that time. 4th interval is ugly for me. My legs are so tired, I have no energy to start the bike. I do what I can. I stay with Todd as long as I can and make up ground on a u-turn. Then the final run. At this point it is almost 7am. People are in the park bbqing hot dogs. Really? My legs feel heavy and no speed. Not like I normally do after the bike. This is what happens when you bike beyond your ability. Ouch. I think we were around the same pace again. We didn't check. Then 10 mins easy jog cool down and back home before 8:30. A little after Todd's curfew, but not too bad.
I did accomplish an ice bath after I got home. I didn't have the whole bag of ice, but I didn't the other day either when I wussed out.
Then I napped for almost the whole day after a migraine set in. Even after taking medicine, it still won't quite go away. I didn't get to it soon enough.
I've never been a big holiday person. I know I should like them, because everyone else does, but really, I only like them because I get time off work. I like some holidays and some things about them, but right now, with the fireworks scaring the dogs and all, it just is uh, I don't know, not that exciting to me. Right now, Frito is looking to see if he can climb onto the counter to hide. The dryer just isn't safe enough. Against my better judgment, I am letting him into the storage closet.
Yesterday the dogs went to visit Mark at his office for the day and then for an overnight visit. I drove them down in the morning. They love it there. What dog wouldn't love it at the Frito Lay office where they can occasionally head down to the snack room for some samples? I missed them, but it was nice to have a break so I could do some cleaning without them immediately re messing up the house. All that cleaning did wear me out a bit.
This morning I woke up at 3:30 and my friend Todd picked me up to drive down to do a super hard workout on the Uberman course. We got there right at sunrise and warmed up with a short run to try to interpret the map of the run course. I'm not sure we ever figured out what it was. Then a 4 mileish warmup on the bike trying to figure out what the bike course was. This one was mostly obvious, just not sure where the turn arounds were, because the map cuts them off. Then...the fun began. We were doing the bike run course 4 times through-4miles bike, 1 mile run. I did the first bike hard, totally dropped Todd and his little girl legs! Hehehe! That came back and totally bit me in the ass. Well, actually the quads. Then the run. It is 2 loops to make up a mile. Our interpretation took about 5 mins at 6:20 ish pace according to Todd's GPS. Ok, obviously, that is not the course. Next round, a little slower, I drop Todd initially, but he catches up when I miss the first turnaround. Second run starts off at under 6:20 pace, ends around 6:35. We end up at 6 mins with this interpretation of the run course. I take a Clif Shot and bathroom break and then round 3. My legs are not happy with me. I am trying to over bike my abilities. I actually used up all my biking power in the first interval. And I was over biking then. Ouch. 3rd bike interval, Todd stays with me and then drops me on the second turn around when we turn back into the wind.
I would just like to note that I just got up, and moved my bike case out of the storage closet so that Frito could squeeze back into the back corner underneath the stairs and sit on top of the Christmas lights. Spoiled and weird dog. And since I felt sorry for him, the dogs got a bunch of mac and cheese with dinner.
Anyway, the 3rd run I think we probably figured it out mostly, but we are not starting from the right place. Since we are running around 6:30-6:35 pace at this point we stop when we reach that time. 4th interval is ugly for me. My legs are so tired, I have no energy to start the bike. I do what I can. I stay with Todd as long as I can and make up ground on a u-turn. Then the final run. At this point it is almost 7am. People are in the park bbqing hot dogs. Really? My legs feel heavy and no speed. Not like I normally do after the bike. This is what happens when you bike beyond your ability. Ouch. I think we were around the same pace again. We didn't check. Then 10 mins easy jog cool down and back home before 8:30. A little after Todd's curfew, but not too bad.
I did accomplish an ice bath after I got home. I didn't have the whole bag of ice, but I didn't the other day either when I wussed out.
Then I napped for almost the whole day after a migraine set in. Even after taking medicine, it still won't quite go away. I didn't get to it soon enough.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Getting into the uber training
So ice baths are supposed to be good for me. But man, I'm such a sissy, I looked down at my watch :36 into it today and thought omg I'm going to die. My feet were on fire. I freak out when I am cold. Not sure if this has to do with getting hypothermia a few times or just being a sissy. I made it to 1:15, jumped out. Then decided to give it another try and made it another 45 secs. Nope. Freak out. I suppose I will make an attempt at it some other day.
Before this, I did a track workout. It went well running wise even though I was a bit sore going in and had some serious stomach pain going on. I did the whole thing and the pace wasn't too bad, a good improvement over 1.5 weeks ago! So, just what made me sore?
Well, there was the race on Saturday. Then I did an easy 1:30 bike ride on Sunday that turned into a 1:50 ride. And tried to swim easy to cooldown but was achy and tired and only made it 700m.
On Monday I felt pretty good. It was a busy day as usual, with therapy right after work. Then I squeezed in 30 mins of strength work before masters. 1:00 of masters, and then 30 more mins of strength. I decided I really wanted to be strong with uberman coming up, so no slacking on the strength. When I was done, my legs were all wobbly. The swim was moderate difficulty, but had some strength stuff too.
4x50 drill
200 swim
2x{100 on 1:30, 200 on 3:30, 400, it was basically a 300 with the first 100 in 1:30, then 200 in 3:15-3:20, I took the 400 easy and worked on technique}
50 easy
2x50 fly kick on back
2x25 dolphin dive
5mins 20 on 10 off vertical fly kick
5 mins of throwing medicine ball while treading water (tried fly kick, but sank...)
After Masters we had Mr. Cupcakes cupcakes. Genine brought them for us! So awesome!!! I'm not 100% sure what flavors I tasted. I had so many of them and they were all so tasty. We cut the 12 cupcakes into 1/4ths so we could all taste different kinds. Mmmmm. Not really recovery food. But good.
Tuesday I was sooooo sore. I didn't want to do my bike ride. I almost didn't. But Genine and Matt called and asked if I wanted to go, so I did. It was slow, a 1:10 ride at super high cadence. I'm glad I did it. Sometimes doing something easy is better than doing nothing, it is hard to say somtimes, but I wanted to try to stick to my schedule and see how things worked out.
Today I was still super sore. But, no backing out of the workout, because Genine was going to join me. And it turned out ok. We ran 20 mins easy, did some strides and then got into our workout. 2x800 w/ 3:00 rest in 3:05 and 3:02, 6x400 w/ 90 sec rest in 89, 83, 86, 94, 86, 86, and then 1 mile cooldown. I realized when I got home, that I sort of interpreted how I was supposed to do the 400's wrong, but oh well. It still felt pretty good and it was much better that I expected with the soreness and stomach ache and all.
Before this, I did a track workout. It went well running wise even though I was a bit sore going in and had some serious stomach pain going on. I did the whole thing and the pace wasn't too bad, a good improvement over 1.5 weeks ago! So, just what made me sore?
Well, there was the race on Saturday. Then I did an easy 1:30 bike ride on Sunday that turned into a 1:50 ride. And tried to swim easy to cooldown but was achy and tired and only made it 700m.
On Monday I felt pretty good. It was a busy day as usual, with therapy right after work. Then I squeezed in 30 mins of strength work before masters. 1:00 of masters, and then 30 more mins of strength. I decided I really wanted to be strong with uberman coming up, so no slacking on the strength. When I was done, my legs were all wobbly. The swim was moderate difficulty, but had some strength stuff too.
4x50 drill
200 swim
2x{100 on 1:30, 200 on 3:30, 400, it was basically a 300 with the first 100 in 1:30, then 200 in 3:15-3:20, I took the 400 easy and worked on technique}
50 easy
2x50 fly kick on back
2x25 dolphin dive
5mins 20 on 10 off vertical fly kick
5 mins of throwing medicine ball while treading water (tried fly kick, but sank...)
After Masters we had Mr. Cupcakes cupcakes. Genine brought them for us! So awesome!!! I'm not 100% sure what flavors I tasted. I had so many of them and they were all so tasty. We cut the 12 cupcakes into 1/4ths so we could all taste different kinds. Mmmmm. Not really recovery food. But good.
Tuesday I was sooooo sore. I didn't want to do my bike ride. I almost didn't. But Genine and Matt called and asked if I wanted to go, so I did. It was slow, a 1:10 ride at super high cadence. I'm glad I did it. Sometimes doing something easy is better than doing nothing, it is hard to say somtimes, but I wanted to try to stick to my schedule and see how things worked out.
Today I was still super sore. But, no backing out of the workout, because Genine was going to join me. And it turned out ok. We ran 20 mins easy, did some strides and then got into our workout. 2x800 w/ 3:00 rest in 3:05 and 3:02, 6x400 w/ 90 sec rest in 89, 83, 86, 94, 86, 86, and then 1 mile cooldown. I realized when I got home, that I sort of interpreted how I was supposed to do the 400's wrong, but oh well. It still felt pretty good and it was much better that I expected with the soreness and stomach ache and all.
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