Race Report: Ironman 70.3 Texas

This is a bit overdue... you can blame work for that.  And look - I finally got the name right.  I still prefer Lone Star or Galveston.  "Texas" is so generic.

This race is a 2-day festival with the sprint and oly distance on Saturday and he 70.3 on Sunday.  This is the first year that this festival had was wrapped under the Ironman logo.  I did the Quarter IM last year and had a good time (except for the run) and was looking foward to the HIM this year.  Plus, this was a good confidence builder for the Boise 70.3.

Saturday
We headed down to the island for packet pick up - got there about 4 PM.  Check in was definitely more complicated that other races I've done.  First you show your ID and USAT card - the volunteer at the desk marks your hand with an X and hands you 2 waivers to sign.  Go to table #2 to sign waivers.  Go to table #3 to hand in waivers.  Proceed to table #4 to get your goodie bag and packet, plus you got a wrist-band with your race number put on your wrist.  Proceed to table #5 to get your t-shirt.  Except, they were all out of my size, so I was asked to put my name on a sheet of paper and they'd maybe send me one eventually.  We also got a pretty decent white running hat.  No water bottle, which was odd.  We toured the Expo tent, and it was a disappointment.  The year before, there were local vendors, but I guess with the M-Dot branding, only "the" Ironman vendor or sponsors were allowed in.  pffft.  We checked out jerseys and stuff, but the "Texas" stuff was blah.  We decided to hold off until Boise to buy race stuff, mainly because Boise is more unusual than Texas.

They had you rack your bike Saturday, so we headed back to the truck to drop off the goodie bag and get the bike.  Racking was by number and they were pretty generous with the spacing.  I was the 3rd row from the swim in / run out, which meant I was pretty dang far from the bike in entrance.  I hate running in my bike shoes, so this didn't please me.  But since it was assigned, there wasn't much to do.  My row was super easy to spot, though, as it was right next to an open gap in the rows which contained 2 porta potties.  Couldn't ask for an easier way to spot my row.

After getting the bike set up, we ran into my swim team friend C (who I stayed with for Gateway).  We decided to head over to the swim finish to check it out.  Pretty much the same as last year - carpeted ramp out of the water and a wide spot for the wetsuit strippers.  I told C about the shirt issue, and she said that hers was ridiculously small.  Turns out the race people ordered gender-specific shirts, which was different from last year.  Last year I got a medium which was huge, so this year I ordered a small.  Which turned out to really be a ladies small and actually fit a 7 year old.  Sooo, not getting a shirt wasn't a terrible thing, since I went back after packet pick-up closed and got a mens small which mostly fits.  After checking out the swim area, it was time for the race meeting.  Pretty standard stuff, except they seemed VERY serious about penalties for drafting (there was even a penalty tent!). 

After all that, we headed over to our hotel and checked in. Apparently, I registered for a smoking room, which is a fail since I've got asthma (and smoking rooms are icky!!!).  And they were over-sold.  Somehow, I worked my magic (I think whipping out my inhaler helped) and we got a non-smoking room.  And then everyone checking in after us was screwed, since that was actually the last room open in the hotel.  Craziness.  Feeling very fortunate, we strolled up to our room, which was pretty nice.  I didn't really do much thinking when I booked our hotel.  I really wanted to stay at the race site, but it sold out in December.  So I really just wanted to stay close by at a non-ghetto hotel.  We stayed at one of those Suite hotels (Holiday Inn brand) and it was really nice!  It had a full sized refridgerator, which was awesome since I had to mix up 1 gallon of my Infiniti for the race, a stove, a sink.  It was pretty much a studio apartment.

After getting settled into the room, we went to a greek restaurant on the seawall for dinner.  I got "safe" food.  Hummus and pitas, roasted chicken and potatoes.  Not exciting, but safe.  Then we ran to Target to get bottled water (the tap water was icky and I did NOT want to take a chance race day) and got Will snacks for race day.

The rest of the night was spent picking through my race gear and setting everything up at least 3 times.  Asleep by 9:30 - alarm set for 5:30 AM.

Morning pre-race

For a change, we actually slept decent.  I normally don't sleep well in hotels for races, which results in lots of me yelling at Will for snoring.  Not good for a marriage.  So this time I bought a cheapie white noise machine and that seemed to do the trick.  Woke up, cracked open my traditional pre-race Coke Zero to wake my GI system up.  Got my drinks set up in containers, got dressed, and hit the road.  Got to Moody at ~6:05.  Easily got through body marking and to my rack by 6:15.  Then I had to pour my bike Infiniti into the profile and aero bottles, put on sunscreen, and get set up.  Probably could have used an extra 5-10 min for milling around because I did feel rushed.  Managed to get set up and out 5 min before transition closed, so I suppose I was ok.

I was expecting them to have a special needs area.  They gave us a "morning" bag, which I mis-interpreted as special needs, but nope, that was for AFTER the race.  Irritating.  I was hoping for special needs on the run, to store an extra bottle of Infinit, socks, and Body Glide.  Then in the confusion with the morning bag and walking to the swim start, I lost Will.  So when I should have been calmly eating breakfast, I was slightly panicked looking for Will.  I managed to find him by a palm tree not too far away from the start.  Lesson learned to coordinate meeting points for next time - especially when there's 1600 racers.  I then started to eat my breakfast of a protein bar and 1/2 a chocolate milk.  I was worried about eating late, as I fnished by 7 AM and my wave started at 8:05.  But I didn't want to eat at 5 AM and by 6 I was busy, so this seemed like an ok-ish plan, at least in terms of making sure I had nutrition in me to carry through the swim and the first part of the bike.  I then had time to do some yoga and put on the wetsuit.  Got to watch the pro wave go, which was cool, then I milled around some more.  They weren't announcing wave numbers very clearly or the time, so it was hard to get a sense of when you needed to be lined up. I got a quick pep-talk from my coach (who was also racing) then realized my group was almost to the end of the pier!  Eeks!  I kissed Will goodbye and boogied over to my age group on the dock.

I know several people in my AG and a few behind me, but I saw no one I knew.  I managed to befriend a few people as we stood around (from Wyoming and Colorado) and then my friend A showed up.  Finally someone to share nervous energy with!  Then it was time to line up, jump off the dock and swim to the starter buoys.

Swim

The swim was a trapezoid shape and while from shore the water looked ok, when you were in it, there were suddenly waves.  And the long back stretch was into the wind, which made things not very fun.  As we waited for the countdown to start our wave, there wasn't the jostling for position that I noticed last year.  Everyone seemed pretty respectful of everyone else's space, which was nice.  I hate the jostling just before you go.  Then the countdown started, I floated my feet back and up so I was ready to go, and then the race started.  I had a really hard time getting comfortable, mainly because of the waves.  It seemed that either side I breathed, I got wacked in the face with a wave.  And to add insult, the jetskis were zipping around VERY close to us and throwing wake.  My coach and I decided that I should not go all out on the swim, to help save energy for the run, as I've had energy deficit issues towards the end of my AquaBikes.  So I just tried to maintain good form, stay loose, and just swim.  More than once I had to tell myself to kick (annoying and dumb on my part), and more than once did I learn that chocolate milk and sea water do not mix.  (I literally told my stomach "not again" as I nearly got sick twice on the swim.  Ugh.  Need to eat earlier for sure next time).  Sighting and navigation was ok.  It was harder on the long back stretch, probably due to wind/current, and I had a hard time sighting with the waves getting in the way.  Oddly enough I had space around me for most of the way, but I knew I wasn't going fast, or at least as fast as I should be. Form felt good, I didn't have any of the annoying wetsuit arm fatigue that I've had in the past, and I was catching up to the waves ahead of me.  Turned the last corner buoy to the finish and sped up a bit, which was hard given the crowding.  Managed to draft off of a few people,  pass a few people.  And I managed to line myself up with the exit ramp perfectly.  I came up out of the water easily, stripped my wetsuit down past my hips while jogging before I came to the strippers.  I had two high school girls as my strippers and they had NO problem at all whipping my suit off the rest of the way.  I jumped up and jogged into transition.

T1

Ok, the swim was not fun at all.  Which says a lot, since the swim is my favorite thing in tri's.  I was worried about being super slow, but to my relief, there were a TON of bikes on the rack.  In January when I got my bike tuned, the techs put yellow bar tape on my bike.  I really didn't like it because it wasn't a good match to the bike paint, but let me tell you, those yellow bars JUMPED out to me from the row of bikes.  I now love the yellow bar tape.  My stomach was suprisingly ok and settled quickly and I got to work getting ready.  I started putting my socks on, but had to stop myself to stay on plan.  "Just slow down and do this right", which meant sitting down and doing a good job body gliding my feet and toes, in preparation for soggy feet during the run.  Once that was done, I got everything else on and ready, then started jogging to the bike start.  I'm still not very confident clipping in quickly, but according to Will (and verified by his photos), I got over to the bike start and clipped and moving VERY quickly.  Hooray for me, since I've really been trying to get faster at this.

Bike

My goal for the bike was to stay in upper Z2 heart rate (mid to upper 150s) and keep the cadence high (for me) and to not burn my legs up.  I was expecting a headwind on the leg out and was very happy to see I could easily maintain 15 mph and had high hopes for sweet tailwind on the way back.  The bummer part is that I was being passed a TON.  I don't know if this was because I was just slow, if people had better bikes/wheels than me, or if people in IM events are just more athletic than me.  I stayed on plan though and kept at my pace.  Turns out the training ride on the course last month was a good confidence builder, as the winds weren't nearly as bad. About 10 miles into the ride, I saw the pros coming back on the other side of the road, which was really cool to see.  About mile 15, my stupid inner thigh was speaking to me, so I decided to stop and stretch really quick.  When my leg gets tweaky, my power goes away, so even though its annoying to stop for 2 min to stretch, its well worth it in the long run. 

I made it to San Luis Pass 15 min quicker than I did on the training ride, which was great.  As I got to the Pass (which is actually a bridge) I noticed that the winds were shifting.  Boo.  On the far side of the pass it was really pretty.  Race coordinators shut down the road on the far side so we had no traffic - just blowing sand.  Made it to the turnaround and started making my way back.   Sadly, there was no sweet tailwind, as the winds had shifted to a true cross-wind.  All of us women were unhappy, to say the least.  At mile 34, I noticed I was running low on fluids (my 28 oz aero bottle and 40 oz profile bottle), so at the rest stop, I decided to stop, use the bathroom, stretch again, and fill up my aero bottle with my reserve bike bottle.  This was an accomplishement for me, because on all past long rides, I haven't drank near enough of my Infinit, which results in a pretty good calorie deficit.  For this race, I set my garmin to beep at me every 15 minutes to drink.  I refer to this as my "drink, bitch!" alarm.  But it worked - maybe too well as towards the end of the ride I was a bit bloated.  At mile 48, I decided I wanted some water, so I successfully did a water-up (my first).  By that point, I was pretty done with being on the bike - feet were going numb, lats were sore.  So I started with the little mental games we all play to get us through.  Every 5 miles I promised myself I could unclip my feet to get feeling back in my legs, come out of aero to stretch my back.  Just a little reward for 30 seconds or so to keep me going.  I was passing some people which also helped - they usually commented in suprise that I had energy to pass them.  But overall, we were all done with the wind.

Finally I came up and over the seawall and I knew I was close to home.  I also remembered from last year that there would be a photographer on the seawall, so I tried to gain some distance on people so I'd have the shot all to myself.  I could now see the traffic light which was the turn to Moody and there wa the photographer.  I decided to put my serious face on for the picture and cranked away.  Made the turn to Moody, was wacked in the face with winds (just like last time), but it was ok because I was almost done.  Wound my way back to Moody, saw Will, managed a smile and a wave.  Made it back to the bike line, unclipped and jumped off my bike and jogged back to my bike rack.

T2

Not much sense of urgency here, as my bike was 10 minutes slower than my expected "slow" time.  I also wanted to ensure that I grabbed everything I needed to for the run since there wasn't a special needs area.  And I was fairly beat from the ride, so I just wanted to keep my wits and set myself up for the run as best as possible.

Run

Starting a half marathon at 12:30 in the afternoon in 80+ degree weather and full sun is not optimal.  I started out of transition at a good run - my legs actually felt really good.  All those bricks for the past 2 months paid off as I had none of the typical calf cramping or leg discomfort.  I blew through the first aid station that was right at the start of the run and saw Will cheering for me.  As I headed around the turn into the heart of the couse, a volunteer cheered for me by name and I really had to work at not tearing up.  I was about to complete my first 70.3.  Wow - what a cool realization. I hit the second aid station and decided to walk through it, get some water as think I had too much Infiniti on the bike and I just felt very salty.  Back up and running, legs felt good - repeated this cycle for the next 2 aid stations.  Completed the first loop, walked through the loop start aid station, past Will and OnUrLeft cheering me on and off I went.  I ended up mostly running the first 1.5 (of 4) loops and then my heart rate was creeping up into zone 4 and I was getting the "I'm hot and miserable" vibes.  My friends that I saw on the course earlier who were pushing said that they were pretty tortured and most everyone on the course was unhappy.  In fact, most people around me were walking.  I had 2 choices: push more and be very cranky or walk/run as I was comfortable and have fun.  The net time difference in the two options were 30 minutes, but considering that my swim and bike were slower than I hoped, I knew I wouldn't be making my goal time even if I pushed it.  So, I decided to back off on the pace and make some friends along the way.  I tried to run between aid stations as I felt like it but decided that it was better to finish happy than fast. 

I continued to drink water at every aid station, plus pick the ice out of my cup and cram it down my top.  Also got 1-2 iced sponges and either tucked them into my top or kept them on hand to dab on my arms or face to keep cool.  I was drinking Infinity every 1 mile, but just a tiny sip or two, as opposed to 2 ounces, which is my normal run consumption rate.  Early in loop 3 my legs started feeling dead, so I had 1/3 of an espresso hammer gel.  Warm espresso gel washed down with warm orange Infinit is not a taste sensation I need to repeat anytime soon!  Not sure if the gel was a good idea, because 10 minutes later I got a decent side-stitch. 

I really thought doing 4 loops would be annoying (2 loops last year was VERY annoying) but actually, it was pretty nice.  I knew when to expect the aid stations and where the wind was better/worse, where the course was boring and when I'd have distractions to occupy my mind.  The fan support was also amazing - several people cheered for me by name on each loop, which was so incredibly nice.

inally the last loop was here and I was ready to push a bit more.  Mainly just to get the dang thing over with!  Fortunately, the side-stitch went away by this point and my legs had energy to burn, so the gel turned out to be the right thing to do.  I was pretty much by myself for this loop (or had 15-30 seconds of space between people) so I just kept moving along.  As I came to the final stretch along the water I kicked up my pace, fixing my fuel belt so my water bottles were towards the back so they wouldn't show in my finisher photo.  Then I was rounding the corner tothe finish chute.  There was Will and OUL cheering me on, I heard the announcer call out my name and I sprinted through the finish line, putting my hands up and smiling the whole way.  I finished strong and HAPPY.  I met Will and OUL at the finish for congrats and pictures and then it was time for food.

After

The food/drink options sucked - cold cheese pizza anyone??? We still had some pizza but then Will suggested ice cream. Ben and Jerry's on the seawall was the best. idea. ever. Then we drove back home. Which is when I discovered I was severly sunburned and was wondering which would hurt worse: sore muscles or sunburn (sunburn hurt worse). Apparently my uber waterproof sport formula was not wet-suit proof.

Nutrition Plan

I think my nutrition was about right - if anything, I maybe had too much, but only slightly.  I will definitely eat earlier pre-race to avoid issues during the swim.  I'm very happy with my bike nutrition.  And my run nutrition was good.  I made good adjustments and choices during the run and avoided GI issues.  I had good energy the whole race, which was the goal.

Stats

Not at all speedy, but here they are:

Swim: 45:57

T1: 5:12

Bike: 3:41:14 (15.19 mph) 0-28 mile split: 15.03 mph, 28-56 mile split: 15.35 mph (see - windy both ways!)

T2: 3:15

Run: 2:50:42 (13:02 min/mile)

April Totals

Funky month between tapering for 2 races, getting a stomach virus, and scratching a race.  Good times!

Bike: 10h 46m 46s - 144.93 Mi (3 hrs were spinning)
Run: 9h 15m 08s - 47.38 Mi
Swim: 6h 45m 57s - 16962 Yd
Pilates: 1h 00m
Yoga: 5h 45m

Check-in on goals for the month (even though this is pretty much a joke at this point):
 
April goals:

• Do not get injured. That would be very bad. I didn't get injured, but I did have a pretty good bike crash a week before my HIM and I got a stomach virus.  Lucky that the crash only bruised me.  Stomach virus..... not lucky at all on that one.
• Keep working on running endurance and speed. Done and Done.
• Get race-day nutrition ironed out. I've been very bad lately (read: since November) and not drinking everything on my bike. Considering I get 100% of my calories from liquid sources, its very important that I either drink everything, or mix my drinks stronger, in anticipation that I'll not drink as much as I should. HIM nutrition was spot-on.  If anything, I had a bit too much but caught it in time.  Setting my Garmin to beep at me every 15 min on the bike was the trick to drinking more.  Also supplimenting w/Hammer Gels worked well.
• Have fun racing. Its starting to get hot, and generally my fun level is a directly inverse of air temps. Here's hoping I can figure a way around that. Goal met because I had fun at the HIM.  Didn't really find a way around the heat, but I modified my race plan and expectations to "finish with a smile on your face".  And that I did.  And I'm still smiling about it.
• Should I put goal times here? Oh, why not. April 11 Oly race - 3:30; April 25 HIM race - 7:00 (6:30 stretch goal).   hahahahahahaha.  Yeah, not even close here.

Oooook, here comes May!  And looking at my training schedule, its a doozy!

May goals:

• Recover from the HIM.  I'm climbing the walls, but I've been told by many people to "respect the recovery".  So I will do my best.  Still, its frustrating.
• Theme word for Team Erin is "Chappell Hill".  Lots of riding hills to get ready for Boise.
• Get acclimated to the heat.  Easier said than done, but well, its getting hot out so I don't have much of a choice here.
• No injuries.  And do not let the training schedule kill me.  Easier said than done.

Galveston 70.3 this Sunday

Hopefully my stomach will cooperate.  I finally felt 100% last Sunday - a full WEEK after getting sick.  Weather report is looking warm.... 80 degrees for my run.  Nothing like starting a half marathon around noon in the sun and heat!

I'm number 1332.  You can track me Sunday on http://ironman.com/.  Hoping to post Monday with a good race report.  I feel ready and am excited to race!

The race that never was

No race report.  Unfortunately, I decided to pick up a stomach bug and spent Saturday night puking every 30 minutes from midnight to 6 AM.  It was pretty much the worst night of my life.  And to complicate things, I was staying at my friend's mother in law's house (with my friend), so I was in a strange place, trying to puke as quietly as possible so I didn't wake my friend up.  Plus, I drove us down there, and there was no way I could even drive to the race site.  So when it was time to get ready, I told my friend the situation (she honestly thought I was playing a joke on her), gave her my truck keys and timing chip, and wished her luck.  I managed to sleep until 8 and then had Will come and rescue me.  That's twice now he's had to drive over an hour because of me.  He gets mega husband points.

Not the best way to start a race season.  I was hoping on getting kinks worked out and to play with some pacing elements.  Now it seems I'll just have to do all that for my HIM.  Fortunately, this race was just a training race, and I've been training a ton and feeling good, so I don't think this will set me back much.  At least once I can get to the point where eating sounds good again.  Right now Jamba Juice is my friend.

Race Prep and Other Miscelleny

Taper week!  Well, sorta.  Sunday's Oly is really a training race so I'm not doing a true taper.  Workouts this week are easier.... 3(ish) mile track workout tonight, 60 min bike tomorrow, 2 pre-race bricks (each about 50 minutes long). 

Saturday will consist of packing my stuff up, heading down to Kemah for the manditory check in and transition set up.  This race is a bit different, as they do body marking the night before and they make you leave your bike in transition overnight.  My friend C has been gracious enough to let me stay at her mother-in-law's house down by Kemah, so that saves me a hotel or 2 x 100 mile round trip drives.  And I get race company :)

Sunday's Oly consists of:

• 1500 m swim, where the bring you out on a boat 1500 m and you swim to shore.  I'm in the last wave, which sucks, because I get to weave my way through all the old men.  I hate that.  My coach and I have also decided to sandbag my swim a bit.  I'm usually top 10% out of the water in the swim, but I'm thinking I could slow down a bit (say 75% effort as opposed to race effort), saving energy for the run later but still putting in a respectable swim time.  I'll try it and see how it goes.  Instinct (or hubris) may take over though and I'll go faster.  We'll see.
• 40 km bike (25-ish miles).  Pretty simple course, except for this stupid bridge we have to go over, do a sharp cloverleaf turn, then go under, do another sharp cloverleaf turn to go back OVER the bridge.  Lame.  Other than that, bike should be simple.
• 10k run (6.2 miles).  Key here is to stay in zone 2 early on and save some for the last 2 miles.  Temperature will be warmer, so the key here is to control my heart rate and my "its hot, I hate heat" attitude.  When I'm hot and cranky, my running suffers.  I need to get over that before LoneStar.

Next week is a partial recovery / partial heavy week, in preparation for LoneStar.  The following week is a true taper.  Woot.

May will be interesting, as that's my training month for the Boise 70.3  Team Erin will be headed up to Chappell Hill as much as possible to get in some hills.  And my coach has promised me a "hell week".  7 straight days of killer workouts, which should get me set up for Boise.  Should be interesting, to say the least....

March Totals

March was a BIG MONTH.  I am ready for a taper.  I hope it comes soon....

Bike: 19h 52m 33s - 266.1 Mi (only 2.25 of those hours were spin class)

Run: 11h 58m 53s - 63.79 Mi
Swim: 13h 45m - 34550 Yd
Pilates: 3h 55m
Yoga: 4h 00m

That's an average of 12 hrs per week.  Wowzers.

Lets check on those goals I posted a month ago, shall we?
Goals for March:

• 3 long bike rides (~50 miles). Each long ride will be a brick with at least 3 miles of running.  Done!  Did a 46 mile, 42 mile (with major wind), and a 58 mile ride.  Bricks w/3 miles of running for all 3 rides.
• Speed/interval training for running  Done!  I have had my ass kicked (in a good way) by the track workouts.  Last week's 2x 1 mile repeats were a huge confidence builder.  This week's 6.2 mile pyramid (half of it was sprinting) will hopefully result in more speed.
• Swim faster. My times are crappy due to my off time and swimming indoors. The only way I can race faster is to train faster. Well, I'm trying on this one.  Its hard to swim fast on the day after a long bike ride.  But I did manage to pull out a 3:00 200 free, after swimming one on 3:10 (which I thought was hard).  Still not where I was at the end of last summer, but I think I'm ok with that.  Or at least I say that now.  We'll see how things change when I race.

Goals for April are a bit tricker.  I've got 2 BIG races this month.  Both are my first times at these distances.  Funny how last year's Quarter Ironman was a big deal and now this year's Olympic (similar, but a bit longer on the swim) is a "training race" to get me ready for my HIM. 
 
April goals:

• Do not get injured.  That would be very bad.
• Keep working on running endurance and speed.
• Get race-day nutrition ironed out.  I've been very bad lately (read: since November) and not drinking everything on my bike.  Considering I get 100% of my calories from liquid sources, its very important that I either drink everything, or mix my drinks stronger, in anticipation that I'll not drink as much as I should.
• Have fun racing.  Its starting to get hot, and generally my fun level is a directly inverse of air temps.  Here's hoping I can figure a way around that.
• Should I put goal times here?  Oh, why not.  April 11 Oly race - 3:30; April 25 HIM race - 7:00 (6:30 stretch goal).

I've got my work cut out for me this month.... 

Wind, Ice, and Crawfish

Busy busy weekend!  Also: the last heavy training before I hit my April race schedule (gulp).  I just realized over this past weekend that I have my three major races all within 2 months of each other.  Who does this?  Why did I do this?  What was I thinking???

Saturday was my 10 mile continuous Zone 2 run, my longest continuous run to date.  I got to the park just as they were setting up for Trash Bash, so good timing there.  Got a parking space before things got too crazy with the trash cleanup.  It was a wonderful cool morning (probably the last one for a looong time) and I was on a mission to finish quickly since I had afternoon plans, plus I had on new running shoes, which makes things fun.  Starting out, my pace was way too fast.  Like :30/mile too fast.  I kept saying "slow down" but my feet just would not listen, so I went with it.  The run was pretty uneventful and actually sorta fun (still weird to say running and fun in the same sentence).  Managed to go hard the last mile, which was a great feeling, and NO STOPPING the whole time except to pick up my dropped water bottle twice.  Crazy part was my average pace.  My 8 mile pace last weekend was 11:09.  Saturday's 10 mile pace was 10:51.  Bananas.  I think my 2 x 1 mile track repeats last Tuesday really helped.  Also: I think I finally understand that running endorphin rush.... I was feeling *good* when I was done running.

So I rushed home, cleaned up, ate breakfast, then took off to set-up for the company crawfish boil.  I'm head of the activities committee for the office this year, and this is our major event for the office for the year.  Typically we do it in April, but it gets so hot.  So we took a gamble and bumped it to March.  We were lucky and it was gorgeous out.    My homebrew had issues (I also organize a homebrew competition).  It was TASTY, but also way way way to much foam.  Not sure how to fix that.  So, after eating my fill of crawfish, I made a graceful exit at 4 PM.  Which was good because I was tired and had to get ready for more athletic activites for Sunday....

Sunday was a 57 mile bike ride + 3 mile run.  Was hoping for less wind than last week, and I think that there may have been less wind, but only slightly less wind.  This was a MS150 training ride, which meant there were about 500 people doing various distances and at different ability levels.  I was a moron and forgot my Garmin.  After last weekend's issue with no battery, and since this was my last long training ride before my HIM, I put in a HUGE request, and had Will drive my Garmin up to me.  At 7 AM.  With a 50 minute one-way drive.  (I don't even want to think about how much I owe him for this "favor"....)  I seriously spent 10 mintues debating whether or not I needed it, and decided that I really did need the data (particularly cadence and HR), and fortunately (?) he was awesome and brought it to me without too much grumbling.  Eleventy billion positive husband points for Will.

This course was actually pretty fun.  It was windy (still not sure how windy, though), but it had enough turns so it was manageable.  You'd ride 20 min into the wind, turn a corner and cruise along at 20 mph with a tail wind for a bit, before you hit more wind.  Soooo much better (mentally and physically) then the 2 hrs of relentless headwind we experienced last weekend.  We skipped the first rest-stop to get ahead of the crowds, had a long-ish stop at mile the 24 stop.  Longer than I wanted (you can't stop that long during races!) but considering the wind and the fact that my right thigh was getting tweaky again, it was actually a welcome break.  Decided to skip the next stop and hit the mile 46 stop, which worked out nicely.  Besides, do you REALLY need to stop every 11 miles?  Really?  Winds were a bit more brutal on this middle stage, as we were headed north most of the time.  But there were some fun rollers (which is perfect for Boise training) and some pretty pastures and wildflowers, so that made the time go by.  Also, there were some craptastic roads, but not much you can do except try to get through them.  The mile 46 stop was a quick in and out, then 11 miles home.  With the last 2 miles being the worst of it all, with rough roads and a strong headwind.  It may have been the longest 2 miles of my life.  Finally into the parking lot and then onto the run.

We decided to run into the wind so that way, the return was with a tailwind.  Still went too fast (not sure this is a problem, though... we shall see).  Running definitely did not feel as good as Saturday, but my pace was fast, so I don't know.  Hopefully during my races, I can settle down so I don't burn up in the first 3 miles.  Not such a problem for my Olympic (run is 6.2 miles), but this could be a huge problem for my HIM (run is 13.1 miles).  Average run pace for the 3 miles was 10:36.  I'm expecting to get yelled at by my coach any time now....

Went out for BBQ for lunch, brought Will some to his office (poor guy worked all day), ran to the grocery store, then went home.  Will got home just in time for my ice bath.  My friend suggested that I start doing this, especially considering how many hours I put into my legs this weekend.  I was expecting it to be horrible, but it wasn't bad (which makes me think I did it wrong).  Getting in the water wasn't fun (I had the full attention of both kitties and Will with my loud wimpering).  But with the TV as a distraction, it really wasn't bad.  Especially considering my legs are barely sore today.  Tired, but not sore.

Random observations from this weekend:

• Running in cool weather is awesome.  Curious to see how I do when it heats up.
• I just used "running" and "awesome" in the same sentence.  Scary.
• I need to put KT tape on my right thigh before my races and long rides.  It started getting wonky on me yesterday before the first rest stop.  I taped it for the Continental Classic ride and had on compression tights for Galveston.  But no tape = potential fail.  Fortunately, I caught it in time and stretched it out well at the first rest stop, but I do not want a repeat of last November's injury.
• Ice baths are not scary, at least not with one popcorn bowl's worth of ice.  Probably need to stock pile ice in the garage freezer so I have more on hand for a colder bath.

This week's training is looking pretty hard (track workout is a pyramid - eeps! and a 12 mile run on Saturday), but then after that I have a week taper and then my race.  Then hopefully recovery/taper and my HIM.  April should be interesting.

windy ride on Galveston

Did the HRTC monthly ride yesterday, which was a "preview" of the Galveston HIM bike course - 56 miles, from Moody Gardens out past San Luis Pass (basically a bridge) and back.  Me being me, I was hoping for windy conditions, so I could mentally prepare for worst case.  And boy did I get my wishes....

At the start of the ride, it was 39 degrees, 20 mph winds, and a windchill of 20 degrees.  At the end of the ride it was 47 degrees with 30 mph winds.  And gusts up to 37 mph.  Good times!  I had a hard time staying in aero the whole time.  I tried to anticipate the gusts, looking at the grass ahead of me, looking for gaps in condos, buildings, wind breaks, etc.  I stayed upright the whole time, but there were several scary moments where I felt I rode sideways as much as I went forward.

My garmin battery was dead (boo!), so I don't have specific stats, but actually that was probably a good thing.  I think knowing my speed would have been depressing.  We take a bathroom break after 16 miles and decide to ride to the San Luis Pass bridge and decide how much farther to go.  Once we got to the bridge, the land opened up and the wind just got windier.  Scary windy.  Then we looked at our watches, saw that it took us 2 hrs to go 21 miles.  We only had SAG support for 4 hrs, so we decided not to risk it and turned around.  That was probably super smart, as I heard reports that the wind just got worse the further out you went.  My friend had only been riding 1.5 weeks (amazing!) and none of us were out to set land distance records.  Plus, I'm doing a 56 mile MS150 ride next weekend, so I've got more time to get in long rides.  So we turned around and it was much better - return trip in 1 hr 10 min.  Still a cross wind, but with a tail wind instead of head wind.  Traffic was getting worse as it got later in the morning, so it was probably best that we turned early, since the closer you get into town, the smaller the shoulder got.  The final suprise of the day was when you turned off the Seawall to head back to Moody, it should have been a nice easy downhill pedal.  Instead we got a wall of wind, which made me shift into my second easiest gear downhill.  Ugh.  Got back to the truck, ran ~35 minutes (approx 3 miles, but hard to tell w/no garmin and high wind).  Then finally breakfast at IHOP to replenish all those lost calories.

Overall, it was suprisingly fun.  Not having the garmin working this time was probably better, since I couldn't get frustrated with my slow progress.  It was more just like a bike ride out to some unknown distance, battling the elements, and hoping you stayed upright.  Now if only my arms and neck weren't so sore... right now Aleve is my best friend.

Running Confidence

One interesting thing coming out of being coached is that I'm becoming more confident as a runner.  I did a brief running stint in 2000 - 2001, mainly running 3 mile 4-5 times a week, until my IT band self destructed.  Then I trained for a half marathon the fall of 2007, which consisted of mostly walking with some easy jogging.  Didn't end up running the race though, because my foot decided to mysteriously fracture itself. Then in May 2008, once my foot healed, I started running 2-3 miles a few times a week, with the goal of doing a sprint triathlon that fall.  I got hooked, signed up for larger and more frequent races in 2009, the Houston Half Marathon in Jan 2010, and now I have 2 HIMs.

I never considered myself a runner.  Running and me have had a very rocky relationship, which has made me very tentatvie (read: slow).  Its almost like I'm afraid of going fast - for fear that I'll get injured again.

My current coach is having me do speed work on Tuesdays.  There was last week's crazy workout. And I shocked myself by going a sub-10 minute/mile pace for the upper Z4 segments - and consistenly maintaining it.  Yesterday was my first track workout.  1 x 1200 Z2 warm up; 4 x 800 Z4; 1 x 1200 cool down.  I had never done a track workout and was very intimidated.  In reality, it was pretty comparable to swimming sets.  Once I realized that, it wasn't so bad.  And track running was kinda nice, because you didn't have to really think about how far to run for the intervals, which gave me time to "feel" pacing and speed.  I know so well what my swim pacing is, but for running, I've really only done "survival mode".  I managed to negative-split (or come even toward the end) of each of my 800's - finishing them in ~4:47 average.  That's a 9:34 average pace.  Craziness.  The concept of me sustaning that pace for a half mile - and repeating it 4 times simply didn't exist in my head.  And then add to it that the pace wasn't super hard.  I was pushing it, but it wasn't "OMG I'm going to puke" pushing it.

This speed work is making me realize what I'm actually capable of.  My legs can move faster.  I'm not injured (knock on wood).  I can sustain faster paces.  I don't feel like dying when I'm done.   And its fun.

Very interesting stuff indeed.....

Accidental Triathlon

So yesterday, I kinda did a triathlon by accident.  I know, accident... how do you do such things?  I blame it on over-committment and feeling like I have to follow my training schedule to a T.

I was pretty fried last week from Tuesday's speed workout.  Recovery day was Friday, so I slept in, got a 1.5 hr massage, took a nap.  Felt MUCH BETTER.  Saturday was a 6 mile Z2 run.  Didn't feel as good as the previous week's Z2 run (5 miles), but didn't feel awful either.  I attribute this to the extra mile, slightly higher temperatures, and a slightly faster pace.  And maybe still being tired from the week.

Sunday was my scheduled brick.  2 hrs cycling and 30 min running.  I went with two coworkers, did 27 miles on the bike in ~1.75 hrs.  Then ran 3 miles in Z2.  And it was TOASTY out.  80 degrees.... I am going to hate life in a month from now.  Finished that up at 1:30 PM, then I had to meet my swim team friend at 2 PM.  She has a new wetsuit and is pretty new to swimming, so she wanted to hit one of the local lakes to test out her suit and get some confidence.  We did 2 leisurely laps around the lake (about 1600 m total... maybe).  Water was 60 degrees, which felt cold at first, but once you got moving it felt nice.  I went moderate - mainly wanted to stay ahead of my friend but didn't want to work too hard, given my earlier efforts.  I thought the swim was pretty nice actually - good recovery and psuedo "ice bath".  Plus, it was only 30 minutes.  To me, that's barely even getting started for swimming.

I post all my workout stats into Training Peaks, and I immediately get an email from my head coach, which consisted of the following back and forth:

HC: Did you do a full tri today?

Me: Nope. I did my brick then met a friend over at 288 Lake. She got a new wetsuit and wanted a small confidence builder swim before Gateway.

HC: That's what i was saying all 3 sports today right? A zone 4 swim after a brick is a lot.

Not quite sure what to make of all that.  I didn't consider my swim a Zone 4.  Maybe based on my estimated distance and time, which were not wholly accurate.  I didn't feel like I worked hard.  And I almost feel like he was admonishing me, when really, I was just doing an easy swim with a friend.  Which happened to be after a bike and a run.  I personally didn't see anything wrong with that.

As a bonus, my legs actually felt good today during swim team.  Normally, Monday's are hard - my legs are lead weights after a hard weekend like this.  That just makes me feel like the swim was a good recovery and no harm was done.  And that I know my body and what its capable of.  Plus, it was a beautiful day and I had fun with friends, which to me, is most important.

Over-Under Speedwork

My coach has me doing weekly strength running, something I've never done before.  Wowzers.

Today's workout:
10 min warmup z2
5 x [5 min upper z4 (10:00 pace) then 5 min lower z4 (10:40 pace).
Cooldown

Considering last Friday was the first time I've ever run 5 miles straight, and that was in z2, I thought this was a bit wackadoodle.  So, as a compromise, I pushed on the upper z4 runs (even hit 9:30 a few times), then ran the lower z4 for 2.5 mins, walked for 1.5 min (drinking water), and ran the last 1 min of the interval.  Then started it all over again.  I did run all of the final lower z4 interval.  I probably could have run more, but give then this was 50 minutes of continuous HARD running, I didn't want to push it.  Still managed to get in 5.63 miles.

Now my challenge is not falling asleep under my desk.  I'm wiped.

Rest definitely makes a difference

Today I did the Continental Classic ride today, which is basically the IronStar course. This was my 4th time on the course, last time being Nov 09 during the IronStar Aquabike.  For that race, I was very fatigued - falling asleep every night by 8:30 PM, crabby, and just probably the most tired I've been since being diagnosed with hypothyoidism.  Today, I'm pretty fresh, rested, and ready to go. 

Comparison of the two rides:
IronStar - avg HR 158, avg speed 15.8 mph, time 3:31 (56 miles), level of effort - huge.  I was wiped out.
CC - avg HR 148, avg speed 15.8 mph, time 2:56 (46 miles), level of effort - zone 2.  Went out and ran 3 miles right after and felt fine.  I haven't even really taken a nap.

Sure, for IronStar, I did swim before the ride and it was 10 miles longer.  Plus, CC went clockwise, saving the harder hills for the back end.  But I just felt so much better today.  I still bottomed out at the end of the ride... I can't get my nutrition right when its not hot out, since I get my calories in from drinking.  I think that once I get that ironed out, I should be able to hit the bike harder and not feel the effects so much.

Overall, pretty interesting comparison of how fatigue affects performance.  I think my average HR and perceived exertion says it all.

Continuous Running

I am not a runner.  Well, historically speaking, anyways.  Something tells me that's changing.

Today I ran my longest continuous distance - 5 miles.  Sure, I've done longer distances (14 miles) but always having to walk part of it.  My KatyFit running group was a big proponent of a 5 min run / 1 min walk interval plan, which is what I used for January's Half Marathon.  Even before then, the longest I've run continuously was 2 miles, always stopping because I got tired or my heart rate was way too high.

Part of my coach's training is for me to do my long runs in Zone 2, which ties into that lactate threshold test I did a few weeks back.  This week's long run was 5 miles in Z2.  So I started running, set my Garmin to keep me in Z2 and just thought I'd run until I felt like walking.  I took a trail I know well and was suprised when I made it to the first bridge, just over a mile away, without needing to walk.  So I took it farther.  And at my turnaround, I still felt really good.  I continued to run until I hit my 5 miles.  Was my pace blazing?  No.  But it was 15 seconds faster than my half marathon time with the run/walk intervals.  Hmmm....  Now we'll see if this type of running is sustainable over longer distances. 

I'm still amazed with how easy today's run felt.  Normally, running is hard and I have to push to keep going.  This was nearly effortless.  I like this kind of running - makes me want to be a runner.  Craziness.

February Totals

February's totals:

 

Bike: 7h 03m 36s - 74.36 Mi  (includes 2.5 hours of spin class)
Run: 4h 10m 17s - 22.93 Mi
Swim: 6h 15m - 15750 Yd
Pilates: 1h 50m
Yoga: 2h 00m
Races: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon

Not too shabby, given Mon-Thurs last week was a no-go workout-wise, since I was out in the field working 12 hr days.

 

Goals for March:

• 3 long bike rides (~50 miles).  Each long ride will be a brick with at least 3 miles of running.
• Speed/interval training for running
• Swim faster.  My times are crappy due to my off time and swimming indoors.  The only way I can race faster is to train faster.

Race Report - Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon

Tri Season 2010 started today with the Frost Yer Fanny duathlon (3 mile run / 15 mile bike / 3 mile run).  Given how much my brick last Sunday hurt (my first in I can't remember how long), I was just hoping for survival!  Coach Angie told me to go out moderate-fast for the first run, go hard on the bike, and go hard on the last 3 miles.  Mkay, we'll see what happens.

Best thing about this race is that its a whopping 15 minutes from my house AND a start that was 30 minutes later than most races.  Normally I have to get up at 4:XX and drive ~45 minutes.  I forgot that this race was so close and got there ungodly early.  I hung out in my truck (with the heat on) and finished up my traditional pre-race meal of a Coke Zero and protein bar.  I finally decided to get out of my warm truck and get ready.  Started pumping my tires up, and the valve stuck on the rear tire.  So I yanked it off, managed to smash my thumb in my tire spoke and slice it right above the cuticle.  Its not a race unless there's bodily harm (usually at my own doing).  At least this time I know what I did to earn the injury.  After a hunt for napkins to mop up my thumb (yay Starbucks!) and gloves to keep my hands warm (left over from field work last week), both tires were pumped, drinks were on the bike, bag was packed, and I was ready to go.

I walked over to transition (normally I ride... this time I was too lazy to put my helmet on) and since it was so cold (37 degrees!), they were super cool with body marking.  I managed to get my number on ONLY my right hand and my age on my left calf.  Woo!  I'm second in racking for my group and I go and get things set up.  My friend A shows up and we mull around, basically freezing the whole time.  I saw a ton of people I knew, which was fun.  Last year, I maybe recognized 1-2 people.  This race, between HRTC'ers, MAC swim team people, and OUL teammates, I knew a good 10 people.  They finally closed transition at 7:15, and I stripped off my coverups and tried not to freeze in my tri shorts, dri-fit shirt, and cycling sleeves.  Brrr!

My wave starts - the run is an out and back through the park, and you're in trees for most of the time.  I kept my pace at 10:20 - 10:30 min/mile for the whole time and only stopped at each water station for a 0.05 mile walk.  I'm so used to the 5 min run / 1 min walk from half marathon training, and I'm trying to break myself of that habit.  At mile 2, I realize that I didn't hit the bathroom a final time before the start and there's no way I'm going to enjoy the 45 min (ish) bike ride with a full bladder.  So at transition, I hit the bathroom (quick!) then went and grabbed my bike.  Normally, for tri's I'm in the top 10% for the swim, so I'm used to being to the racks early.  Today was pretty sad, as my bike was the 2nd to last one on the rack.  *sniff* 

The bike was a 3-loop 5-mile course, which basically turned into short track speed skating on bikes.  There were newbies going slow, me going average, huge guys zooming around, and course officials on motorcycles.  Add multiple turns, gravel and potholes in a few spots, and it was fairly tricky.  I tried to maintain 18 mph on the bike, but I'm thinking the wind kicked up towards the end, because I could only hold 17 mph for the last lap.  My friend thought it was windy too, so that's what I'm sticking with.  Cycling sleeves were perfect for the run and bike, but it was getting warm so I ditched them at transition.  I love my sleeves - they're perfect for when its a bit cold at the start but you know it will get warm mid-way through the race.

Run #2's goal was to try and hold a 10:00 pace and just do a tiny bit of walking.  I liked the run course because it was in the trees, but it wound around a bit, so you could see things (like water stations) through the trees to keep you motivated.  Again, I walked at the two water stations (just long enough to eat a powergel chew and drink a bit) and then it was back to running.  At the turnaround, Helen (my KatyFit running coach) passed me, so that gave me motivation to push things.  I was actually holding a 9:45 pace for a good bit of the run.  The final half mile, I pushed it even more, to sub 9:30.  It really helped that I could see the finish line well before I got near it, as that kept me motivated.  As I hit the final turn to the finish, this guy corners with me and says "come on, you can't let this old grandpa beat you - get moving!"  And that was awesome motivation.  He still beat me, but I was actually running at at 6:35 sprint at the end - I don't think I've ever finished that fast.  And I very nearly puked - even looked around for a strategic place.  That's always the sign of a successful finish.  Fortunately, after a few minutes, I was fine.

Post race I just grabbed some grapes, said hi to some friends, waited for A's time to post (she was close to placing), and introduced myself to my coach (we've talked on the phone, never met in person).  Then after the results were posted, A and I went to a post-race breakfast of belgian waffles, bacon and eggs. 

Results:
14 of 26 in Age Group, 278 of 418 Overall

11:02 Run Pace, 17.8 Bike, 10:17 Run Pace
1:57 finish time

Lactate Profile Test

I signed up with OnUrLeft last week for triathlon coaching.  Mainly because having 7 weeks between LoneStar (wait... now its the Memorial Hermann 70.3 Galveston or some crap like that.  LoneStar sounds so much better) and Boise was freaking me out.  I can figure out how to train for 1 half ironman... but two that close together? 

Part of what OnUrLeft likes their athletes (ha, I'm an "athlete") to do is get their lactate profiled, and then they'll use that information to build heart rate zones for training.  So last Friday, I went and got that done.  It went about as I suspected... increasing speeds on the treadmill and bloodwork.

Before we start, the Terry (the testing guy) interviews me.  Asks about my training speeds (slow and fast) and he talked me through the process.  Basically, you start running at the slowest speed you can maintain w/out walking for 4.5 minutes.  He'll ask for a percieved exertion number (1-10) and take your heart rate then prick your finger to draw blood for the test.  During exercise, your blood lactate levels are supposed to increase slightly, level off, then rise sharply.  Your lactate threshold (where you should be training for endurance) is right where your level rises sharply.  Typically, a lactate level of 4 is about as high as you should be at during endurance workouts.  You know, if you're typical and thing go as they're supposed to.

So, he took a baseline test (concentration of 2.1) and off I went.  We started at at 12:00 pace and went faster from there.  So, as soon as I start runing, I'm hot and bored.  How can you not have a fan for a stress test???  And I'm used to being distracted when I run (at the park, with headphones), so 4.5 minutes of running while starring out a window wasn't ideal.

So, at the end of the first interval, we take a sample, and its high.  Terry makes a comment that maybe we should have started slower, as my blood lactate is already at 4.7. which is pretty high.  My ego is hurt.... a 12:00 pace is REALLY slow.  And really, my heart rate and exertion was low.  And really? I never ever run that slow.

Treadmill goes up to 11:32, I still feel fine, la la la really boring running.  Another finger prick, lactate still is climbing - its at a 5.3.  Terry threatens to do one more blood draw and then start me out much slower.  Lame.

Up to an 11:07 pace... Terry asks me what I think my heart rate is (I couldn't see the monitor).  I guess 170, HR monitor reads 169.  Pace is ok but not stressful.  Take a blood test, my lactate finally decided to cooperate at a 5.3.  Meaning we can move forward.

10:43 pace, things are bit harder, but not awful.  I can tell I'm working but I don't feel pukey (my indication that my HR is over 185).  Blood lactate moves up to 6.5.

10:21 pace, and I really miss the fan. Slightly pukey, guess my HR was 175, and I'm spot on.  Lactate is now at 7.0.

10:00 pace (which is fast for me - I've only ran a sub-10 min 5k once, when fire ants invaded my shoes in transition and then I had ants in my shoes biting me the whole bike/run.... fun!).  Definitely feeling like I'm working harder, HR is 181.  Lactate is 7.2.  Terry calls the test done.

Apparently, my threshold is at a 10:43 pace.  I feel like a wuss, as I swear that during my half marathon training runs, I could sustain a 10:30 to 10:15 pace no problem.  Maybe that pace doesn't feel so bad because I was running outside with a group.  I dunno.  I just hate seeing scientific confirmation that I'm slow.  But at least I'm good at judging my HR based on feel!

Terry emailed my results to my coach and in a few days, she'll set up my training zones.  Should be interesting to see how those stack up.

linkety link

Anne's website - giveaway

First weekend back

My Olympic tri is in less than 2 months...  and I've got a silly duathlon on Feb 28th  I haven't touched my bike since IronStar in November and I haven't run (other than to catch a flight last weekend) since the Houston Half Marathon on Jan 17th: gulp :  So, with that, I need to get training!

Part of the deal with resting was to let my legs heal.  I have a weird muscle pull (tear?) in my right inner thigh from IronStar, which apparently made me limp a but during running and then caused my IT band on my left leg go wonky.  Three weeks of no running/biking was intended to heal things.....   Plus, I've been training for something pretty much since Jan 2009, so a three week break was welcome.  Sleeping in until 6:20 AM during the week, sleeping in late both Saturdays and Sundays (a true luxury), not having to nap away the weekend because my long workouts wore me out.

But now here I am with an Oly tri and HIM looming.... Looming! 

Saturday was an easy 5 mile run at the park.  Hard part was motivating myself out of the house, since it was 37 degrees.  Brrrr.  But I also had places to be in the afternoon, so I was out on the trail by 11 AM.  Funny how 37 degrees seems cold but I always somehow manage to overheat (in capri tights, a long-sleeve drifit shirt and a fleece vest).  Funny, I'm rarely happy with temperatures... always wanting it colder or warmer than it actually is.  The run was at a decent pace (around 10:15 for my run portions) and felt good for 4 miles.  Then my thigh started to feel a bit wonky, so I slowed things down a bit and walked the itty bitty hills.  IT band felt ok, though (probably because I did preventative KT taping).  So overall, the run was ok, but not spectacular.  But, full discolosure, I'm dissapointed that after 3 weeks of rest, my dang leg still hurt. :/

Sunday I met a coworker at the park for a ~30 mile bike ride.  My first ride since November..... and I was expecting the worst.  Buzz (my bike) is a year old now, but I've got a bunch of new things that make it feel different.  New cassette (with different gearing), new saddle (Adamo ISM Road - funky!), new shoes (Sidi Genius 5s)  I remember the first time last year that I cycled this far.  From my truck its 3.5 miles through twisty heavy pedestrian pavement to George Bush Park, then ~7 miles to the gun range, then 4 miles to the turn around.  I don't know if it was because it was hot or what, but going to the turn-around seemed so very far away.  Not to mention coming back.  And so tiring!  But this quickly became my 30-mile ride of choice (its 100% paved trail with no roads to cross).  And yesterday, I was very surprised to find that this ride (even with a 4 month break from the bike) was no problem at all.  Even road at similar speeds to last year.  And it was FUN.  After weeks of gloom and rain, yesterday morning was sunny and 50 degrees.  Timed the ride just perfect, as the clouds started showing up when we got back to the parking lot.  Legs felt good, saddle felt good (a bit sore, but nothing I wouldn't expect after a 4 month break), energy level good (no afternoon nap needed).  And I have 2 bruises on my upper thighs that I have no idea where they came from!  Bruises are always a good sign of successful tri training :)

I'm also going to hit up 2 supported rides in March, so I can get in some longer distance.  Its boooring to do the same 30 mile route each week, and even more booring to do it twice in the same day.  So, I'm doing these 2 rides:

March 7th: Continental Express (hey look, its basically the IronStar course... good test for my new gears!)
March 28th: Bluebonnet Express

Probably do ~50-60 miles for each of those rides.  That should set me up nicely for my April races.

Log - Week Ending 2/13

Ok, so I was supposed to be in full training mode.... Seems instead I decided to "ease" into training.  Oopsie!

Swim: 1 hrs 15 min / 2600 yds (stuck in the hot pool.... IM workout)

Bike: 45 min spin class
Run: 58 min / 5.2 mile easy run
Pilates: none!
Yoga: 1 hr
Skiing: Another glorious day skiinig at Alpine Meadows, Tahoe on Monday.  Took the Garmin 305 with me... hit 44 mph.  Sweet!

Also registered with OnUrLeft for coaching.  So, a slower week than planned, but I still made progress.

Log - Week Ending 2/6

Week 3 of bummitude - completed with a long skiing weekend!

Swim: 1 hrs 10 min / 3500 yds

Bike: nothing!
Run: nothing again!
Pilates: 55 min
Skiing: hours and hours and hours!  Friday was moguls - definitely a leg workout!

This weekend I need to get back on schedule and find a coach.  The next few weeks are gonna hurt :/

Log - Week Ending 1/30

I'm in week 2 of my three week bum-fest!

Swim: 2 hrs 15 min / 6500 yds
Bike: nothing!
Run: nothing again!
Pilates: 50 min

Saturday I slept in until 11 AM.  I only woke up because Swift-kitty thought I had slept in enough.  I can't even remember the last time I was in bed that late.  : awesome :

Plan for this week is to continue the bummage.  I was supposed to swim this morning, but my alarm went off, it was cold, I had both kitties sleeping on me, and I decided that we were all too warm and comfortable to get out of bed and swim.  So we ditched swimming and slept in - yay!

I should go to pilates tonight, swim on Wednesday.  Thurs I fly to Reno to see Rochelle, Skip, and Wyatt, and go SKIING.  Hopefully I won't yard-sale it on the slopes and hurt myself.  That would suck, since I'm less than 3 months out from my HIM.

1 Hour Postal Swim - 2009

My friend twisted my arm and had me swim the 1-hr postal challenge today.  Which broke my "do nothing hard for 3 weeks" rule... sorta.  The challenge is to swim 1 hr non-stop for distance.  I did this challenge in 2006.  Funny, reading back on my posts, I was really freaked out over the concept of swimming that long without stopping.  Freaked over what my distance, soreness, fatigue during and after would be.  Flash forward 3 years and its almost comical how "eh" I was today.  There's many reasons for the "eh" - pretty much all my training in 2009.  Completing a 2500 open water swim in Chicago, doing a Half Iron distance Aquabike, 2x a week workouts with ~3500 yards per workout.  Doing the 3,000 yard postal challenge in October 2008 and 2009.  Distance swimming for me is much more manageable and routine.  Its hard to pick a workout (when I'm training) where I don't get in at least 3,000 yards.  Back in 2006, I had this whole elaborate plan for the 1-hr postal - 5 x 12 minute "mini-sets".  I even practiced it a few times before the event.  This morning, I intended to do the 5 x 12 minutes and just wing it on the "mini-sets", but my watch timer wasn't working.  I was 200 yards into the start of the swim and just decided that I was going to try 7 x 500 yards with a 50 of easy free or backstroke between each 500 yard interval.  Didn't even get stressed over this, just went "eh, watch isn't working, what do I feel like swimming?"

I ended up swimming 3420 yards in 1 hour.  I was kinda bummed - hoping to swim 3500.  My 3,000 yard last October was done in 47 minutes (1:36 / 100 yard pace).  I was hoping for more progress given the 3 years and all the training.  However, what I need to remember is that I purposely wasn't working hard during the swim.  I was never even out of breath.  My coach even commented on how "easy" I took certain 50's.  Part of me is mad at myself for not pushing more - I know I could have done better.  However, taking things into perspective.... I've been doing off-season swimming since November (low intensity) and I'm in the second week of my three week "do nothing challenging" period.  And I went into this swim without a plan.  I should actually be happy that I essentially hit the easy button on this swim and had 50 more yards than 3 years ago, a swim that was challenging for me at the time.

I guess all things considered, I should be pleased.  I just wish I felt good about this morning.  At least I'm not sore :)  There, that's something to feel good about.

Log: Week ending Jan 23

I was actually a bum - YAY!

Swim: 0 [for the record, I did pack and set my alarm Wednesday but then decided that rest seemed like a better idea]

Bike: 0

Run: 0

Pilates: 2 hrs

It honestly took until Thurs before I could walk normally - my legs were that unhappy from the half marathon.  So sleep and some easy pilates were right on target.

This was also the first weekend in a looooooong time that I didn't have to train.  That meant sleeping in Saturday, spending the day with Will at the zoo, a late lunch at Little Bigs (sliders and a kaluah milkshake - yum!), and a birthday party that night.  Normally I turn into a pumpkin by 10 PM at parties since I have to get up early and do something athletic, not to mention I really can't drink.  But Saturday I was out until 1 AM and had some drinks!  Craziness!  Sunday was more sleeping in and a 90 min massage....

2 more weeks of bumming and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it :)

Race Report: Houston Half Marathon

I'm sitting at my desk with my race number starring at me, yet I don't know how to begin.  So, I guess I'll begin at the beginning!

Got out of work early to pick up my packet on Friday. Nothing too exciting there.  I suppose I was expecting "more" from the expo, but it was just ok.  I picked up some new sunglasses and some arm-warmers, so that was cool. 

Saturday I vegged on the couch for most of the day.  Caught up on my TiVo list and played 2 hrs of Super Mario Bros Wii (why is that game so hard???).  Dinner was at the Bull and Bear.  Not the best choice (in hindsight) but I thought I was ok with a grilled chicken philly cheesesteak sammich.  Home, got my race stuff prepped and was in bed by 10 PM.

Sunday morning I was up at 5 AM, out the door by 5:20.  Breakfast consisted of my traditional Coke Zero and protein bar.  Bad news was that I could still feel last night's dinner in my stomach... which was not a good thing!  Got a free parking space ~3/4 mile behind the convention center.  Ended up walking to the convention center (start of the race) with a guy who flew in from Georgia.  Walked in the convention center and whoa.... that's a lot of people.  Decided to hit the porta-john before the lines got go bad.  Wandered over to find my running club, which thankfully had a sign, otherwise I would have been screwed.  Did a bit of stretching, got my stuff ready for the day, wandered over to the bag check in to check my stuff, wandered back to my running club.  Yup, lots 'o wandering.  Then it was time to walk to the race start.  We were in the second wave, probably about in the middle of the crowd.  Even though it was in the mid-40's I wasn't cold.  Partly because of being sandwiched btwn people, partly because of my awesome new arm sleeves.  We heard a big KABOOM and realized that was the gun for the elites.  More standing around, a bit of forward progress as the first wave went, more standing around.  Then another gun and that was the start of our wave.  I thought it was very cool that they were playing Iron Maiden's Run to the Hills at the start of my race.  I was with my coach (Helen) and two other girls (Heather and Tara) who had been in my running group since July.  The goal was to run together until the 9 mile turn-around point and then see what pace we could do after that point.

Lots of shuffling up to the start, then a slow jog.  I haven't checked my Garmin, but given all the people, I'd estimate my pace was somewhere around a 12:30 mile.  More shuffle running, trying to find space.  Up the hill at the Elysian Viaduct.  Helen instructed us to do a slow jog up the hill.  I got confused and went into greyhound mode (I hate having people in front of me) and went a bit too fast.. which Helen promptly yelled "slow down and take it all in".  Which kinda became a running joke when I fell behind later on.  Up over I-10 then downhill into the Heights.  This was the very cool part, since the Half and Full marathoners all merged here and the street was just a sea of people as far as you could see.  Then it was just running with a lot of people.  Lots of weaving around, trying to avoid the walkers, potholes, road patches, etc.  We do a 5:1 run/walk ratio, and I was amazed with how good running felt.  There are times where the 5 mins just drag on and on and on.  For the majority of the race, when my watch beeped (all 4 of us were beeping in unison, it was pretty funny) it was like, already?  time to walk?  ok. *beep* time to run? no problem!

The first oh, hour or so flew by really quickly.  What I remember is weaving through the crowd, chasing Helen (my coach), running past houses with residents outside cheering (some even were blasting music), random people handing out snacks to runners, the guy wearing a full-on furry cow costume, and just how good running felt.  Nothing hurt, pace was good, I was having fun. 

We hit the 10k part, went up a hill then south on Montrose, the one street that had familiar landmarks.  At about oh, 8.5 miles, my digestive system decided it really did not like my dinner the previous night.  It was uncomfortable, but not awful.  No porta-johns in site, plus, I didn't want to lose my running partners.  The GI thing passed, but I was slowing down by that point.  Maybe not so much slowing down as Helen and this other girl got faster.  Tara (who I ran with consistenly since July) and I stayed together, which turned out to be a good thing.  At the turn-around, we lost Helen but trudged on.  At mile 11, we hit Allen Parkway, which has a gradual hill and is the last stretch before you hit downtown.  My GI was being difficult (very annoying) and Tara had a case of "everything hurt".  Now, I don't even know Tara's last name and I'm pretty sure we'd never be friends IRL, but I was so glad to have her for that last part of the race.  I kept her going (only 4 more run segments... we can do it) and she kept me going.  Really, we were what eachother needed.  I really think that if I didn't have her, I would have just said screw it and walked more than I did.  But I didn't and I kept running.

As we approached the finish line, I was really expecting more "hoopla".  I had visions of the last mile being full of noise and spectators.  Really, it was the last 1/4 mile that was like that.  The mile before that was a bit spooky, running through downtown on relatively empty streets (compared to the crowds of the day).  My GI started really being unhappy, and with the finish line in sight I did say "screw it" and walked for a bit, until Coach Scott found me, put his arm around me, and made me run.  Was it fun? no.  But am I glad he did it? yes.  My "realistic" goal was 2:45, my stretch goal was 2:30.  I finished in 2:31 and am very very pleased.  In fact, my 10k - 9 mile split had me running a whole 1 min/mile pace faster than my overall pace.  Pretty cool.  Did an arm pump as I crossed the finish line (mainly so you could see me in the pictures - which failed since I was behind giants and all you can see is my arm).  Then we found our coach, took some pictures, and got our medals.  And then I had a huge asthma attack (why now after I ran 13.1 miles???) and my poor legs transformed into stiff, sore limbs.  That's ok, though, because they didn't hurt when I was running, and that's what matters.

So, in summary:

• Do not eat at the Bull and Bear before a race.  Your stomach will thank you.
• KT tape is awesome
• Running with my training partners and coach was awesome. 
• I ran just shy of my stretch goal, and exactly at my training pace
• At no point in time did I think "why am I doing this??? I'm a swimmer, not a runner!".  I guess this means I'm a runner now.... eeps!
• Even though my legs still hurt (its Wednesday), I still get nothing but good feelings when I think about my race.
• And I'm looking forward to running this race next year!  Woo!

Day before the Houston Half Marathon

Goals for the day: watch tv, play Super Mario Bros Wii (its hard, seriously), drink a LOT of water (something I've not been good about lately), charge up my garmin, shower and re-tape my knee with KT tape, and pick up my bike from the shop.

I left work early yesterday to get my packet pick-up and to tour the Expo. I was actually well behaved at the expo and didn't buy a whole lot of stuff. Got a new pair of sunglasses (that make me look bad-ass. I figure I'm not fast, so I may as well look good, right?) and some arm warmers. I was really torn on what to wear at the start of the race for my upper body. Race-start temperature is ~40 degrees, which is a bit too chilly for all the standing around I'll be doing before the race starts. I usually wear a light weight long sleeve over my t-shirt (excuse me, tech short sleeve shirt) and then after ~1 or 2 miles I take the long sleeve off and tie it around my waist. I really don't want to have to mess with that (full disclosure: I don't want my race picture to have me with a shirt tied around my waist), and I really don't feel like buying a "disposable" long sleeve shirt, so the arm warmers are perfect. They're sleeves without the shirt, which means they're compact and I should be able to tuck them into my hydration belt. Plus I can use the sleeves on future runs and bike rides.

The goody back sucked, compared to other races I've been in and what I was expecting with all the sponsors this race has. No hats, towels, water bottles.... I don't even get a real bag - its plastic. The one really cool thing, though. My race number has my name on it:

Legs feel eh, still. I pulled something in my right inner thigh from IronStar and its still tweaky. Tweaky to the point that I've started limping when I run, which has made my IT band on my left knee go tweaky. I bought some KT Tape , which hopefully (?) will help. We shall see. I probably should add "ice knee" to my goal for today too.

So that's the pre-race day post. This is the first day in months that I've slept in on a Saturday and it was awesome. Hoping today goes well and that I have fun!

Getting ready for hills

So, IronStar last November kicked my butt. Those teeny little 150 foot high hills hurt. IronStar was a warmup for the Boise 70.3 race - whose hills are 300 feet tall. I ran out of gear going up these tiny 150 footers and was really, really freaking out about having to go up hills twice the size. I actually planned to do weights in the off-season to strengthen my legs for those hills, except then I forgot until a week ago. Oops! And here I am, 3 weeks away from having to start training, and still in the hole for those hills.

I dropped my bike off today at the shop for its very first tune-up. Since I put 1,000 miles on Buzz last year, the tech said I needed a new chain and cassette. We were talking and I was lamenting about my wussy legs and Boise. So the tech busts out a different cassette with more gears. Why didn't I think of that??? I now feel a bit (but not much) better about those hills, knowing that I have engineering on my side.

Blogging? what is that?

Ok, I need to get in the habit of writing things on here. Its hard, though, when life takes over and I get too busy. Or just want to veg. And having a blogging goal is a good way to try to focus.... In the past, I blogged about observations or how crappy my job was. Blogging was theraputic and I needed an outlet. 3 years later and I really don't need that sort of outlet... I'm happy (for the most part), which is a new thing for me. But my life is very fractured, mostly because my job is crazy but also because of my triathlon training schedule. Which makes coherent thought, especially when it comes to blogging.

So, if anything, I will try to blog weekly, if only to post training updates and total distances/times per week. And to post goals for the week/month/whatever. And we'll just see how it goes.

2009 Training in Review

Funny, first post in a loooong time is looking back on training distances from 2009. I hope to do more active blogging on triathlon training for 2010.

2009 totals:
Bike: 92h 21m 04s - 931.87 Mi (includes spinning and cycling)
Run: 59h 23m 10s - 314.55 Mi
Swim: 123h 15m 55s - 305325.1 Yd or 176 miles
Pilates: 31h 15m
Stretching: 14h 25m
Yoga: 16h 05m

Races:

Lone Star
4/5/2009 965m/28 mi/6.5 mi
Places 31/157/619
swim: 20:16.4 2:06/100m
T105:15.7
Bike 1:35:55 17.5 mph
T2 02:39.2
Run 1:20:47 12:26/mile
Total 3:24:53

Silverlake
5/17/2009 400m/10 mi/3 mi
place: 20/35 312/467
Swim 8:17 2:05/100m
T1 2:28
Bike: 32:20:00 18.6 mph
T2 1:20
Run: 30:41:00 10:14/mile
Total 1:15:03

Memorial Hermann SugarLand
6/28/2009 300m/10 mi/3 mi
place: 10/44 236/555
Swim: 5:14 1:44/100 (long course pool)
T1: 02:22.0
Bike: ~30 min
no T2
Run:33:28.4 11:09/mile
Total 1:12:05

Jeff & Brede's
7/12/2009 300m/12 mi/3 mi
place: 11/30 243/404
Swim 5:07 1:43/100m (short course m pool)
T1: 03:00.0
Bike: 40:50:00 17.63 mph
T2 1:49
Run: 29:37.0
Total 1:20:22

TriGirl
8/16/2009 300m/11 mi/3 mi
place: 29/61 99/270
Swim 4:44.3 1:35/100m
T1 1:55.1
Bike 35:19.2 18.7 mph
T2 01:23.3
Run: 33:04.0 11:01/mile
Total 1:16:26

Big Shoulders Open Water Swim
9/12/2009 2500m swim
46:53:00 1:52 OWS Lake Michigan, sleeveless Zoot wetsuit

Firethorne
10/25/2009 500m/15 mi/3 mi
places: 18/33 402/598
swim: 8:57 1:47/100m
T1 2:31.2
Bike 50:54.9 17.7 mph
T2: 1:36.6
Run 31:45.9 10:35/Mile
Total 1:35:45.7

IronStar (swim/bike only) 1.2 mi swim / 56 mi bike
11/8/2009
swim: 41:28 2:08/100m
bike: 3:31:05.7 15.92 mph
no run (relay entry)

ramblings......

Today we had a new kind of swim practice - 1 hr of pilates follwed by a 1 mile swim outside. This was really, really nice, mostly because it was a beautiful sunday afternoon. I love swimming after pilates. You're relaxed and very self aware. Swimming is just so easy feeling after pilates. The sun was wonderful too - even if my face did get a bit pink.

We're a little over a week away from our Rome trip. We're trying to keep our schedule pretty open. We arrive on March 5th in the morning and leave March 9th in the morning. We want to hit the archaeolgical highlights (Collessium, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Palentine Hill). We wanted to see Pompeii, but its a 3 hr trip each way on a train and pretty crowded. So, instead we're going to Ostia Antica for a half day or so. Its only a 30 min train ride and you pretty much get the same experience as with Pompeii, only with fewer people. Plus, we can hop on the train for one more stop and hit the beach on the Mediterranean Sea. And I'd love to rent bikes and spend some time biking down the Via Appia Antica (Appian Way). This is the section with the catacombs, which we may or may not see.

We're also considering the
Borghese Gallery, which apparently if you only hit one museum, this is the one to see.

I think we're going to pass on the Vatican, mostly because we only have 4 days in Rome and I really don't want to spend a whole day waiting in lines and then inside just looking at stuff. Sure, its cool stuff, but I'd rather be outside in a Piazza eating gelato and people watching.

Also on the list: taking a bazillion pictures, eating my weight in gelato, pizza, and wine, and just hanging out.

Let the "I'm unprepared for Italy" dreams begin

I had my first dream about our upcoming trip last night. Clearly, I need to start packing NOW if this dream is any indication.

We're flying Delta (crossing fingers) from Houston to Atlanta to Rome. Houston has 2 airports, both of which fly to Atlanta.

In my dream, we roll into IAH, get onto our plane, only our plane doesn't take off. It leaves IAH, folds its wings up and DRIVES to the other airport. This is to pick up the other people going to Atlanta before we leave town. And during this drive, I'm a total wreck.

So then we get to the other airport and leave. I'm very thankful that the flight schedule we chose had 2.5 hrs of layover (our other IRL option had 50 minutes - and that equals lost luggage at ATL). So we get to ATL, only I realize I didn't bring any shoes, sunglasses, or sunscreen with us. How did I not pack those basics? But fortunately for us - there's a Target set up right in the terminal (or at least shelves with Target logos in the middle of the terminal walkways). So I'm shopping, but now panicking because I cannot find sunscreen. And who know if Italy has sunscreen...... and then I wake up.

Yep, definitely a sign that I should start a list and setting things aside now.

Hurrah! I can wear matching shoes again!

Buh-bye big ugly velcro bootie. I had a follow-up appt today and my foot is healed!!! The doctor showed me the before and after x-rays, and remember how I tried to convince myself that the bone wasn't *that* broken? Yeah, well.... it was actually really truly broken. Good thing I didn't run, huh? :smacks self on forehead:

So now I have 6 weeks in a super-hawt navy ankle brace. But at least most of my shoes will fit over that.

And the best part? No more making fun of me. I swear, if I heard another peg-leg or penguin comment...... and no more having to have this conversation over and over again:

Random Stranger: what did you do to your foot
me: I broke it
RS: no way - how?
me: I don't know
RS: what do you mean you don't know?
me: what I mean is, I have no idea how I broke it

and so on. trust me, it got REALLY old. Especially after the very drunk lady at happy hour who kept bugging me and told me that should I ever give birth, I won't need an epidural b/c my pain tolerance is high. umkay, thanks. Really, the less I can do to attract freaks, the better off everybody is.

motivation to behave

I found new motivation to rest and let my foot heal. Well, rest is relative, meaning no half-marathons. I'm still swimming, though. But I am trying very hard to not do a lot of walking.

Anyways, the motivation....

Will and I are going to ROME (as in Italy) the first week of March. I'm beyond excited. The only bummer is that when I get excited, I tend to jump up and down. Only with my velcro bootie, the effect of jumping up and down excitedly is really just sad and pathetic and causes Will to break out into fits of laughter and call me a penguin.

Anyways, we have our airfare and bed and breakfast booked. We have 4.5 weeks to learn Italian and read a bunch of guidebooks.

A very strange sequence of events

I'm a big believer of "everything happens for a reason". The past week (or so) is definitely proof of that.

I broke my foot, preventing me from running the Disney half marathon.

My friend (C, that I was running with) - her husband's grandfather's health had declined rapidly. C recently moved to FL to be closer to her family, while her husband stayed behind in SC until he could transfer to FL. When I called on Dec 31 to tell C that I broke my foot, she was in the process of moving out of her SC home, to get her husband moved into Granddaddy's house to better watch after him.

A week later, it was decided that C would be moving back up to SC and acting as Grandaddy's home health care provider. She'd be moving the same day I flew back home. I cancelled my trip so she could have more quality time with her own family.

Last Wednesday, C found out that Grandaddy was hospitalized due to complications from dimensia. She decided to move the very next day (which would have been the day I arrived in Orlando).

Last Thurs (the day I was supposed to be in Orlando), I got a call from my best friend from HS. Her husband's grandfather had passed away, and they were in Alabama for his funeral. They were flying back home with a layover in Houston, but were delayed and would most likely miss their connection in Houston. Sure enough, they were 3 hrs late and missed their plane - and couldn't get on another plane for 24 hrs. Since this was weather related, they were on their own for lodging, etc.

So for 24 hrs, I got to hang out with my friend that I don't get to see very often, because of a very bizarre chain of events. It was really so incredible that something good and fun came out of so many bad things. This almost never happens. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.

cancelled

After a lot of thought, I've cancelled my flight to Florida. My friend has a lot going on right now and her training hasn't been going well either. We both decided it would be best if I cancelled my flight and tried to visit her during a less chaotic time.

Bummer.

And I have to work now.

However, husband is wanting to take a trip "just the two of us". Which, he never, ever requests. I know he had something more domestic in mind (he mentioned Vegas). I'm thinking 4 days somewhere in Europe would be fun.

I swear, all I do is work, eat, sleep, train, and plan vacations.....

to run or not to run..... logic or doctor's orders need not apply

so, this whole "broken foot" thing and my brain really don't get along too well. Almost immediately after my doctor visit, I began to doubt that my foot was broken "that badly." I started searching the internet for medical discussions about my break "avulsion fracture of the 5th metatarsal". The pictures of this sort of break that were on-line were much worse than mine. These breaks were like lighting bolts through the bone, where as mine was a fuzzy patch on the back end of my bone. So,really, my break can't be all that bad, right?

Then my doctor took x-rays of both feet, but only looked at the right foot. I still want to call him, asking him to email me the xrays, so I can compare both feet to determine if my right *really* does look different than my left. So, is my foot even really broken? Does my doctor have something against me and running and just made this up?

And with 4 days of my foot being immobilized, it doesn't hurt anymore. So, I'm now thinking.... I walked/jogged on it for 9 miles with NO immobilization. Surely after 2 weeks of immobilization, adding on an additional 5 miles (for 13 total) will be ok (or not do that much more damage).

And on Thurs night, I was talking to one of our Subaru friends, who is running the Houston marathon the same weekend as Disney. He's german and a PhD physicist. His thoughts are that based on what I did before diagnosis, if I just wrap my foot really tighly, I should be fine for Disney. Then we started talking, and came up with the brilliant idea that I can start the race and if it hurts, then I can stop at a first aid tent and get a ride back to the meet-up area. Seems reasonable, right?

I think Will is going to have to lock up my right tennis shoe before I leave on Thursday...... Otherwise, odds are, I will be participating in the half-marathon... with a broken foot. And somehow, this seems all perfectly ok and justifiable in my wacky little head.

broken

So, my body really doesn't like the idea of me being athletic.

I broke my foot sometime before Christmas..... It started hurting on Dec 19th. It didn't get diagnosed as broken until Dec 31st. During the time between it hurting and being diagnosed, I went skiing (I swear it didn't hurt then), snowmobiling, and walked/jogged 9 miles.

It was the 9 miles that did it. My foot felt ok during the first hour. I stopped to turn around after 1 hr because I was freezing (we were in Idaho) and *wham* acute pain. When I got home, I had a random bruise on my foot, which is what finally freaked me out enough to make a doctors appointment.

So yeah. I have an avulsion fracture to my 5th metatarsal on my right foot. Basically, the tendon that wraps around the outside of my ankle and attaches to that bump on the outside of my foot pulled away and splintered the bone. Good times. Now I get to wear a uber-hawt velcro boot that goes up to my knee for 4-8 week. At least I can still swim.

But no half marathon for me. Which sucks beyond words.

My arms won't move anymore

I swear, my swim coaches are trying to kill me.....

Tues night swim practice...

• 200 warm-up
• 4 x 50 breastroke (25 drill, 25 swim)
• 4 x 50 butterfly (25 drill, 25 swim)
• "December to remember set" (she makes us swim one of the more er, challenging events) = 200 butterfly swim (no drill or kick). [this is what killed me. but we have a 66 yr old woman on the team who swims this at meets, so if she can do it, then I should to)
• 400 free, 80% pace
• 2 x 200 choice stroke, 80% pace
• 4 x 100 free, decend slow to fast (my lane crashed and burned at the third one - we weren't any where close to making time)
• 4 x 50 free sprint
• 300 pull cool down

And then 10 hrs later, Wed AM workout:

• warm-up (400 swim, 200 kick)
• 200 IM (25 drill, 25 swim)
• "recovery set" (I begged Jason to give me an easy set since my arms were toast. He said this was a recovery set just for me. But really, this was the set everyone did, and it wasn't easy).
• 8 x 250 free - 100 moderate, 50 sprint, 100 moderate (no rest during the 250)
• cool down

My arms are completely worthless right now. Today should be entertaining.

playing tag

Thanks KT....

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here goes....

Factoid Numero Uno - I was suspended in the 7th grade for a week for drinking whiskey in school. I avoided death at my mom's hand by playing the "I just wanted attention from my divorced parents" card. Really, I just wanted to drink during school. I was a dumbass, though, and stored it in a glass jelly jar that must not have sealed so well, because well, you could smell the whiskey from 100 feet away.

Factoid Numbero Duo - the first guy I ever slept with is now an ob/gyn. That creeps me out. A lot.

Factoid Numero Tres - I took 4 years of latin in high school and was even JCL president my senior year. I don't remember any of it now. Really, I just signed up b/c it looked good on a resume and we spent a week in Estes Park for the Colorado latin convention. Which sounds like a complete geek fest (and for the most part is was) but I always managed to find some of the less geeky guys and ditch the convention events to go hiking.

Factoid Numero Quatro - I love asian food and could probably eat it at least 4x a week. Vietnamese, japanese, sushi, chinese, thai. I love it all.

Factoid Numero Cinco - ummmm...... why am I having problems coming up with 5 random facts? Weird facts.... um.... Oh, I guess this counts as weird. For the past 2.5 years I've been getting electrolysis for my underarms. Its actually working but really isn't the most comfortable thing to do. Still, beats shaving.

So, there it is!

And now tag - to these people:

Jess (who needs to post more)
Jodi (just because she commented to my post last week)
Paula (hi Paula!, um you haven't updated your blog for a while either....)

And sadly, I can't even tag 5 bloggers, because they either don't post very often, they've already been tagged, or their too big to tag. *sigh*

Why training during December is no fun

Because I now have internal debates on when to work out, due to my social schedule getting in the way.

Friday night we went to a pub crawl - stayed out until 12 AM. Woke up at 11 AM Saturday. It was hot again (whyyy? December in shorts and sweating your ass off is NO FUN. Seriously, just try to be festive while sweating and hanging lights. Its not easy.) It was hot and we had a party Sat night, so I decided my day would be best spent on the couch watching all my TiVo'd shows before the DirecTV guys showed up to switch out our receivers.

We got a HD DVR b/c our 2nd TiVo unit is slowly dying. We got a good deal on it, so hey, why not. Guys were supposed to show up btwn noon - 4. We had the party at 7. Guys called at 2:30 asking if they could show up at 5 since we were last on their list. I told them we had to leave at 6 for the party and they said that they could be done by 6 no problem. Which really wasn't helpful, since I still had to shower and get ready for the party - and that simply wasn't going to happen with random repair guys in my house. They did actually show at 4, but left at 6. They did something to mess up our TV. Its a projection TV, but its one the last projection TVs that were made before flat screens became affordable, so really, its still a pretty nice TV. I still don't know what they did, but I encouraged them to leave by nearly growling and throwing my new remote at them.

Went to the party - it wasn't that exciting. Combined office party with the boss's friends and family. it was um, odd at best, especially since we didn't really know anyone. Got home at 1 AM. Woke up at 11:30.

And since I still had my long run to do, that left Sunday afternoon. My hip is still really tweaky - I think some scar tissue from my 2001 bout of ITBS popped on tuesday and the tendon is really angry at me right now. Seeing as how it was hot out and my hip hurt, I headed to the gym for some quality time on the dreadmill. There were no freaky people there (bummer) and the TV shows that were on were horrible. I had to spend an hour watching DinoLab on Discovery Science (It was either this or ice skating). I cannot imagine having to be an "actor" on this program - it was soooo horrible. Its like they were doing a Jurassic Park experiment but combining it with educational properties instead of slash and gore.

In a futuristic stadium-sized state-of-the-art laboratory/gym, scientists study a remarkably realistic cast of digital dinosaurs and put them to the test - from running on a treadmill and pulling weights to navigating an obstacle course. Outfitted with a 50-metre long motorized treadmill, a massive water tank and a wind tunnel; plus pulleys, cranes and levers for hoisting and manoevering the unwieldy creatures, this environment is the perfect testing ground for paleontologists' latest insights into the lives of dinosaurs. How fast could the T-Rex run? Long considered the biggest, meanest, fastest, strongest killing machine, the T-Rex is pushed to its limits on the giant treadmill. But just what happens when the T-Rex falls at more than 40kph? Also, watch a flying Pterosaur - with a wingspan of eight-to-nine metres - hang-glide in a wind tunnel; and in a glass-walled tank, see how the prehistoric king of the sea, the Plesiosaurus, thrashed its three-metre neck to stun its fishy prey. In addition to testing the mettle of these mythic dino monsters, Dinolab also reveals the surprising connections between some prehistoric creatures and modern-day animals. Consider the Triceratops: How could an herbivorous animal with a thick hide, long horns and large, low-slung belly not be the Cretaceous counterpart to the modern rhinoceros? The analogy is obvious to the most casual observer - but it's also wrong. Experts reveal that the real Triceratops is closer to a cross between a crab and a bull, demonstrating that its quick rotations and lunges made it a fierce match for the T-Rex in battle.

So they have real actors with cattle prods who "encorage" an animated T-Rex into this sub-level box with an open top and a treadmill. Then they turn the treadmill and watch him "run". And a "scientist" scans the T-Rex with some sort of thermal scan. And then they crank up the treadmill speed and T-Rex crashes, gets pissed, and eats an electrical transformer. And at no time does the pissed off T-Rex jump out of the research hold (which appeared to have an open top with open access) and get all slashy with the "scientists". Oh, and they were doing something weird with a velociraptor - backing it into a corner and tossing basketballs and raw hamburger. I wasn't listening to the show to figure out what the hell this "research" was for.

So, um yeah. Good entertainment while spending an hour on the dreadmill!

Hoping that my hip is better and the air temps are back to "cool" for next weekend.

Bad kitty mommy, heat, knees, and possums

Took Swift to the vet Friday afternoon for her annual appointment. She checked out fine, except she has worms, which apparently, come from fleas. I was floored. I’ve had the cats 12.5 years and this has never, ever happened. I don’t know which I feel worse about: The fact that I didn’t notice that my cats had this issue – or the fact that this happened in the first place. Will and I were both surprised, as neither cats have shown any signs of fleas. Sigh

So, my Friday night started with bathing both cats. Which is never a good time. Ernie managed to latch on to my wrist with his teeth and drew blood. But they both got wet and sudsed – while Will was at happy hour. Then the spent the rest of the night pouting.

Saturday consisted of disinfecting / laundering nearly every surface in the house. And putting that horrible flea oil stuff on the cats. Oh, and forcing huge pills down their throats. I should have done my long run on Saturday, but I was so squicked out by the cat situation that I decided my time was better spent cleaning.

Sunday Will raced his car, so I decided to get off the couch and do my long “run”. Pretty much, all signs pointed to “do not pass go”. My digital watch is dead. I need to buy a new one, since the wristband is shot as well. All our AA rechargeable batteries were nearly dead. So I grabbed 3 and hoped that 3 nearly dead batteries would last 2 hrs in my MP3 player. Headed to the trail and it started raining as soon as I got out of my truck. Fortunately, the rain didn’t last very long, but it was 80 degrees out, so the rain just made things miserable and sticky.

My knees ended up being very tweaky after my last long run. They’re very tight on the inside – not sure if its just that I need to stretch more or if its connective tissue is rubbing on something. My 3 mile on Tues was more of a walk, and not a fun one either, due to my knees rebelling. So this time, I decided to walk the first mile to warm up then do slow bits of jogging. My knees still were tight, despite the rest and warming up. At mile 4, I could jog a bit longer but they were still very tight, so I just decided to walk the whole 7 miles. At mile 5, my hips then started to get sore, so I hit the dirt trail for the last 2 miles. It went ok – and as a bonus, I saw a possum.

Got home, stretched, showered. Then went grocery shopping. I do not recommend grocery shopping after a distance set. It really wasn’t fun. But neither is going without dinner or lunch for the week, so I just shopped very slowly…..

I did pick up a bottle of Accelerade – I’m curious to try it out. I can’t really have Gatorade b/c of my hypoglycemia. I appreciate the fact that I’ll need a boost at mile 10 of my half marathon, but I really worry about the sugar and if I’ll crash and burn if I have Gatorade. So, I think on my next long workout I’ll try 8 oz of Accelerade and see how I feel.

The other thing I’m curious to try are the new Cliff Shot Blocks. I think they’ve got goo that’s recovery with protein, which I think would be good during my race. They didn’t have any at the store, though, so I’ll have to hunt around for them.

Swimming today wasn’t bad – it was 50 degrees. I warmed up inside (ugh – bath water temperature) then made the bold leap to the outdoor pool. Workout was another “its cold and Jason doesn’t want to go outside” set. Meaning, he just gives us a very long main set so he doesn’t actually have to go out in the cold and talk to us. Workout consisted of warmup (400 + 200 kick), then 10 x 200 (broken) – sprint the first 50, moderate w/good form for the remainder. Odds free, evens choice. I was pretty proud of myself – I did breast-stroke for my choice. I figure if I’m going to try to swim this at nationals, I need to do more than 50 yards at a time. The air temperature wasn’t too cold, and overall, the workout was pretty good.

Hopefully my knees will be feeling better for my 3 miler tomorrow…..