My co-worker (A, from Team Erin) has done this race several times and managed to pull together several of us from work to form a team. The premise is that you do a marathon as a 6-person relay in Corpus Christi. Each leg is 4-5 miles, starting from the beach and ending at the bay. We decided to make a weekend of it and rent a condo on the beach. Sharing a condo with coworkers is a whole other level of weirdness (I really try to limit being too social with my direct coworkers, due to being stabbed pretty bad by some coworker "friends" a few jobs ago. Sharing a 3 bedroom condo was out of my comfort zone, but my fiscal cheapness won out). To make things complicated for me personally, this race is 4 weeks before my Boise 70.3, which is pretty bad timing to be taking 3-day weekend trip AND doing a race. Not to mention trying to get my 70.3 training in.
Friday
I had to get a bike ride in, so I got up early Friday morning and rode 35 miles. My Garmin died (wouldn't charge, turn on, connect - nothing), so I was a bit panicky! Fortunately, the unit came back to life after a soft reset (unlike the last time it died and I had to send it back in). Then I had a whopping 1 hr to shower and pack before A picked me up. We ended up having lunch by my house (with me decked out in my compression recovery tights), then loaded up everything (running and cycling gear) and hit the road. The weather was crappy (rain) but we made decent time - got to the packet pick up at 5:15 PM. I had never heard of B2B before and was very surpised to hear that there were 12,000 people running. That's 2,000 people PER leg. Craziness. Pick-up was fairly disorganized (and crowded!) but we got it done. Headed down to the island to our condo, unpacked, and waited for the rest of the team to show up. We got tired of waiting, so we headed over to the restaurant for dinner, which was so crowded it was unreal. Ended up being seated at 9 PM. WAY to late of a dinner for me. Had tuna w/potatoes, then it was back to the condo. The last couple showed up and we were all wound up and ended up staying up much later than I prefer (11:30) chatting.
Saturday (pre-race)
Our condo was 1 block from the beach, and the race had a beach start that according to some people's phones was 0.5 miles away from our condo. Leg #1 was a beach out and back run and I was doing Leg #2, which started on the beach and went to the Causeway Bridge. I got up at 6 AM, tried to make coffee but couldn't figure out where A stashed it. Runner #1 was up and getting ready, and we both wished we had taken the time the night before to scout out the race start, as we had no idea about where it was specifically. Race started at 7 AM, so #1 left around 6:30. I left at ~6:40 and quickly realized that the race start was not as close as we thought. I jogged 1 mile before getting to the beach access (#4) and I had to walk down the beach ~3/4 of a mile to the pier which was where the race started. I had never done a relay, so I didn't know what to expect, but this was crazy. I was expecting to see a sign or an inflatible or "something" indicating the hand-off location. Instead I round 2,000 Leg #2 runners crowded in a narrow part of the beach (it was high tide and there wasn't much room). They crammed us into the area which also contained the water station AND the first aid tent. And then you add the stress of trying to hear your team number being called over the speaker (poor announcer guy sounded like an auctioneer) and trying to see your relay person before he went past you. Not to mention pre-race jitters and a boat-load of volunteers yelling at the #2 people to move back to give the runners room in the chute. Argh!
Race
When we were putting our relay together, we had to predict our run time, so that the next person knew about what time to expect the baton. I said I would "try" for 50 min (10:42 pace for 4.67 miles). Wasn't too sure how that would go, given all my training for the week, but it was a nice round number so I went with it.
The first runners showed up 20 min after the gun. Then the nervous waiting started. I didn't hear my team number get called, but fortunately, my #1 is TALL, so I spotted him right away. It also helped that I had a neon green tank top with a gun-toting panda bear on the front. He passed the baton off and did not look happy at all. Hmmm... It was very congested and I was still on sand, but I tried to get moving. It was also very warm and humid, which aren't optimal for running. After ~500 yards I found pavement and started to make my way northward, holding around an 11:00 pace, passing some and getting passed by others. I was crusing along and then around mile 1 I noticed very dark ominous clouds, and even said aloud "that looks BAD". Then just like that I ran into what felt like a wall of cold wind, which was a very strange feeling. It literally was like walking into a walk-in cooler with strong headwind. At first I was a bit freaked but once I realized that this meant COLD air temperatures I was probably the happiest runner out there. I love cold! This meant I could push things faster w/out blowing my HR up. Sweet!
I estimate that the winds were ~20+ mph with some pretty intense gusts. And then it started raining.... small drops at first and then rain so heavy it felt like hail. I was wearing my Texas 70.3 hat and didn't want to lose it, so I ran with my head down to keep my hat from blowing away. That made the view for nearly the whole race consist of my shoes and the pavement directly in front of my shoes. Awesome. Water stops were amusing, as the paper cups were blowing every which way and the poor volunteers (which I thanked loudly) were drenched. I was drenched. But I wasn't hot and was so stinking happy to be running in windy torrential downpours in cool air temperatures. As I was running and pushing faster, I just kept thinking to myself "I can do this - this is good training for Boise - I am a triathlete and a little wind/rain is no problem". With the last 1.7 miles to go, I sped up and started passing people who had passed me. I felt strong. The last 0.7 mile, I'm pretty sure I was close to a 9 minute split (+/- 15 seconds). This was where I realized I could "trust my training". All those track workouts with sprint intervals and the recent hour long decend pace runs were paying off. I was running as fast as I could and not dying. Hooray! I looked up and saw the bridge, and knew my #3 runner was just beneath it. I had to run faster, and I did. I glanced at my Garmin and it showed 8:30/mile as my pace. I felt pukey, indicating I was right on target for finishing strong. As I came into the chute to hand off my baton, I found #3 easily and wished him luck. Poor guy had to run OVER the bridge with wind, rain, and now lightening. Eeeps.
I looked at my watch as I passed the baton and I came in at 48 minutes - 2 min faster than predicted, and at a 10:16 pace.
Post-run bonus miles
It was very congested and to get my training miles in, I needed to reverse my route and run back to the condo. And it was raining and lightning out. Plus there was major congested traffic on the side of the road I had to run on.
None of that mattered - I just beat my time and had a FANTASTIC run. I ran fast and had SO MUCH FUN in crazy conditions. In fact, the crazy conditions are probably what made it so fun. What can I say, I'm not wired like normal people.... I like crazy stuff. I ran/skipped/floated my first ~2 miles back in sheer happiness, even as a ran through puddles and had jerks driving on the shoulder I was running on.
Then a window opened of a car stuck in traffic - it contained runners #4 and 5. Stuck in traffic. Not good. But nothing I could do about it, so I just ran back to the condo. Did a total of 9.25 miles (warm-up, race leg, and return run). I was one soggy mess. But a happy soggy mess.
Rest of Saturday
We hung around the condo for a while, and after ~30 minutes, runners #4 and #5 came back, saying traffic was so bad there was no way they could get over the bridge and to their start.... so DNF for our team :/ But they brought groceries for breakfast, so we made the best of it. After an hour (ish) things cleared up and they decided to try and make the final leg. Traffic was gone, so A ran the final leg and crossed the finish line. So not quite a DNF....
While they were gone, I took a nap (yay!). Once they came back, we ran around for a bit doing tourist errands (swimsuits and beer), then spend quality time by the pool (it turned gorgeous and sunny!). 4 of the 8 condo-mates went back to Houston in the afternoon, and 2 of the condo-mates had plans with friends. So that left just A and me up to our own devices. My coach wanted me to do another 35 mile ride that day, and we did go through the hassle of bringing our bikes with us. So we headed off on Road 22 south, with the intention of only doing as much as we felt. The roads were crappy (chip seal and VERY rough) and while traffic was light, those on the roads were jerks. So, we rode down to where the state park started (11 miles) and turned around. My wrists were killing me from the rough roads, so I was happy to be headed back home. We turned north and found wind (boo!). Nothing major but still annoying. Did a total of 22 miles and called it good.
We got cleaned up and tried a very cute bistro I saw near the condo (Black Sheep Bistro), split a bottle of wine, and had a tasty dinner.
All in all, a very good day. :)
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Shrimp and Couscous Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
I like to cook yummy and healthy things. Something we came up with years ag when I was studying for my engineering exam (think Bar exam, but 4 years after you graduate), was that on Sundays, I'd cook a big batch of "something" that would last 3-4 nights. Will can't cook well, cooking food every night was just too time comsuming, and with my funky dietary needs, "winging it" really doesn't work well on a regular basis. Six years later, and this is pretty much how we like to eat. Its easy and it guarantees that I have food I can eat during the week. Fortunately, we both like leftovers too, or else this way of cooking would never work. I try to cook seasonally, but that doesn't always work out. And I rarely cook anything "American" - we like mostly asian and mediterranean flavors. Most of my recipes come from Cooking Light, with some tweaks. Nutritional requirements are a 2:1 carb/protein ratio and that the protein is either fish or poultry. When I cook something I particularly like, I'll post it here to share.
Shrimp and Couscous Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
I have a ton of basil that I inexplicably bought last week and didn't use, plus since its getting warm, I wanted a bright summery salad to eat for the week. I took a chicken/basil/couscous salad recipe and tweaked it a bit. I like this because there's minimila cooking, which is great when things are warm.
Ingredients
14 oz can chicken broth
16 oz medium size shrimp (pre-cooked and frozen.
4 oz whole wheat israeli couscous
8 oz whole wheat normal (small) couscous
(this is about 2 cups of dry couscous - you can use all small couscous, I just like the idea of the 2 kinds mixed together)
water to bring total liquid volume up to 2 1/4 cups
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
~1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sliced green onions
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
Bring broth/water and 1 finely chopped garlic clove to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add add couscous to broth; stir well. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 10 minutes. Place couscous in a large bowl; cool completely. Fluff with a fork.
Prep Vinaigrette by mixing 1 clove of garlic, basil through pepper in a separate bowl and let it stand ~15 or so for flavors to combine (I just let it sit for as long as it took the couscous to cool down in the freezer).
Thaw frozen shrimp in a collander under cool water.
Combine couscous, green onions, red pepper, shrimp, and vinaigrette in large dish. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. (or 15 minutes because you're hungry and can't wait any longer like I did).
Notes
Shrimp and Couscous Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
I have a ton of basil that I inexplicably bought last week and didn't use, plus since its getting warm, I wanted a bright summery salad to eat for the week. I took a chicken/basil/couscous salad recipe and tweaked it a bit. I like this because there's minimila cooking, which is great when things are warm.
Ingredients
14 oz can chicken broth
16 oz medium size shrimp (pre-cooked and frozen.
4 oz whole wheat israeli couscous
8 oz whole wheat normal (small) couscous
(this is about 2 cups of dry couscous - you can use all small couscous, I just like the idea of the 2 kinds mixed together)
water to bring total liquid volume up to 2 1/4 cups
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
~1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sliced green onions
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
Preparation
Bring broth/water and 1 finely chopped garlic clove to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add add couscous to broth; stir well. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 10 minutes. Place couscous in a large bowl; cool completely. Fluff with a fork.
Prep Vinaigrette by mixing 1 clove of garlic, basil through pepper in a separate bowl and let it stand ~15 or so for flavors to combine (I just let it sit for as long as it took the couscous to cool down in the freezer).
Thaw frozen shrimp in a collander under cool water.
Combine couscous, green onions, red pepper, shrimp, and vinaigrette in large dish. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. (or 15 minutes because you're hungry and can't wait any longer like I did).
Notes
- This is pretty heavy on the garlic, so you may want to reduce it by one clove. I like garlic, so this doesn't bother me a bit.
- The second night, I thought the lemon disappeared a bit, so I whipped up more vinaigrette and mixed it in the remaining salad.
- I was supposed to add garbanzo beans to this and totally forgot, so this probabaly doesn't have quite as much protein as I needed. Ooops.
- This is VERY PRETTY when its fresh and the green onion / basil are green. As it sits in the fridge, the greens darken a bit but are still tasty. This would be a good potluck / picnic dish since its pretty quick to prepare and can hang out for several hours without threat of food poisoning.
Monday, May 10, 2010
May Weekend #1 Down
I may have mentioned a few (ok several) times that my coach is trying to kill me this month. Or at least make sure I'm super-duper prepared for Boise. This basically equates to more training than ever. I just hope I can survive.....
Thursday - 45 min spin class + 1 hr yoga in the morning (normal routine). Added bonus was a 1 hr descend pace run after work. In the heat. boo.
Friday - recovery day. However, I actually worked this day (first Friday in a month I had to work... boo!) and then I volunteered for field day at the elementary school our office adopted. I mentor a 5th grader, who had the afternoon field day shift, so I wanted to brave the heat and work the afternoon shift so I could see her in action. Good plan, except her Mean Girls friends accused her of cheating on a state test (she passed, they didn't), so the poor kid was tossed in suspension for the day. There were tears, it was bad. Anyways, I ended up supervising the obstacle course, which was signficantly easier than last year's tag duty. All I had to do was watch them go through hoops, jump rope 10 times, then walk with tin-can stilts for a while. Not hard, but it was 95 degrees and I was doing a bunch of walking around, so not exactly a true recovery day.
Saturday - morning run then afternoon bike.
I ran 8 miles through the park, started a bit earlier than normal (6:30 AM) so I could beat out the heat. Fortunately, a cool front blew through and it was actually nice out. My pace wasn't blazing, but it was in the "acceptable" range for the zone I should have been running in. Quads felt a bit heavy, but that's not entirely unusual. Ended up doing the last part of my run going upstream through a group of very new TnT people. I'm assuming they're training for the Houston marathon, because I can't figure out why else they'd be starting up so early. And most of them were walking and looked pretty much straight off the couch. One of them even exclaimed "wow, you've turned around already". The look on her face was priceless when I told her I was on mile 7 of 8 for the day. She's in for a shock if she thinks 8 miles is a long way.... After the run, I headed home, tried (and failed) to take a nap, then just ended up catching up on my TiVo. Headed out on my bike at noon (so I could take a nap that afternoon) and rode 90 minutes (25 miles). It was windy so my speed wasn't there, but my average cadence was 86, which for me is awesome. I'm usually in the upper 70's to low 80's, so I was happy. Especially to have light/quick legs after running in the morning. My nap plan failed when Will called and said the guys were going to the bar for lunch. I had only eaten on piece of pb&j toast (plus about 70 ounces of Infinit), so I was starving. So much for my nap...
Sunday - brick day! (90 min bike + 30 min run). Coach brought in a photographer for the website, so he wanted a ton of people to join the team brick. Half of Team Erin came along (A), which was great, because I'm very clearly in the middle of the two ability levels of the group (very fast or very slow), so it was nice to have a buddy. Since this was my third trip through the same park in 25 hours time, we took a slightly different route (out on Westheimer Parkway instead of staying on the trail to the end). It was windier, but it was nice to see new stuff. Cadence was 84, so I was a happy camper. "A" had things to do, so I ran the 30 min by myself. Pace was faster than yesterday but my legs still felt heavy. Photos should be interesting - my tan lines from LoneStar are terrible. Overall, a pretty good brick, though, and I was happy. Then off to grab Will and head for breakfast. And a much needed nap.
This weekend is a bit wonky, as I'm part of a relay team for the Beach to Bay marathon relay in Corpus. I'm riding 2.25 hrs on Friday (so I don't have to ride on Sunday AND drive back home). Then Saturday is race day. I've got my leg (4.5 miles) and then I'm doing an extra leg to get my miles in. And that afternoon I hope to do another 2.25 hr bike ride somewhere along the coast. Or the beach may be too hard to resist, since we've rented a house on Padre Island. Or maybe both, we'll just see. The following weekend is crazy, with 12 mile runs and 3 hr rides - all on hills. I guess its nice to have something to look forward to, even if its scary.
Thursday - 45 min spin class + 1 hr yoga in the morning (normal routine). Added bonus was a 1 hr descend pace run after work. In the heat. boo.
Friday - recovery day. However, I actually worked this day (first Friday in a month I had to work... boo!) and then I volunteered for field day at the elementary school our office adopted. I mentor a 5th grader, who had the afternoon field day shift, so I wanted to brave the heat and work the afternoon shift so I could see her in action. Good plan, except her Mean Girls friends accused her of cheating on a state test (she passed, they didn't), so the poor kid was tossed in suspension for the day. There were tears, it was bad. Anyways, I ended up supervising the obstacle course, which was signficantly easier than last year's tag duty. All I had to do was watch them go through hoops, jump rope 10 times, then walk with tin-can stilts for a while. Not hard, but it was 95 degrees and I was doing a bunch of walking around, so not exactly a true recovery day.
Saturday - morning run then afternoon bike.
I ran 8 miles through the park, started a bit earlier than normal (6:30 AM) so I could beat out the heat. Fortunately, a cool front blew through and it was actually nice out. My pace wasn't blazing, but it was in the "acceptable" range for the zone I should have been running in. Quads felt a bit heavy, but that's not entirely unusual. Ended up doing the last part of my run going upstream through a group of very new TnT people. I'm assuming they're training for the Houston marathon, because I can't figure out why else they'd be starting up so early. And most of them were walking and looked pretty much straight off the couch. One of them even exclaimed "wow, you've turned around already". The look on her face was priceless when I told her I was on mile 7 of 8 for the day. She's in for a shock if she thinks 8 miles is a long way.... After the run, I headed home, tried (and failed) to take a nap, then just ended up catching up on my TiVo. Headed out on my bike at noon (so I could take a nap that afternoon) and rode 90 minutes (25 miles). It was windy so my speed wasn't there, but my average cadence was 86, which for me is awesome. I'm usually in the upper 70's to low 80's, so I was happy. Especially to have light/quick legs after running in the morning. My nap plan failed when Will called and said the guys were going to the bar for lunch. I had only eaten on piece of pb&j toast (plus about 70 ounces of Infinit), so I was starving. So much for my nap...
Sunday - brick day! (90 min bike + 30 min run). Coach brought in a photographer for the website, so he wanted a ton of people to join the team brick. Half of Team Erin came along (A), which was great, because I'm very clearly in the middle of the two ability levels of the group (very fast or very slow), so it was nice to have a buddy. Since this was my third trip through the same park in 25 hours time, we took a slightly different route (out on Westheimer Parkway instead of staying on the trail to the end). It was windier, but it was nice to see new stuff. Cadence was 84, so I was a happy camper. "A" had things to do, so I ran the 30 min by myself. Pace was faster than yesterday but my legs still felt heavy. Photos should be interesting - my tan lines from LoneStar are terrible. Overall, a pretty good brick, though, and I was happy. Then off to grab Will and head for breakfast. And a much needed nap.
This weekend is a bit wonky, as I'm part of a relay team for the Beach to Bay marathon relay in Corpus. I'm riding 2.25 hrs on Friday (so I don't have to ride on Sunday AND drive back home). Then Saturday is race day. I've got my leg (4.5 miles) and then I'm doing an extra leg to get my miles in. And that afternoon I hope to do another 2.25 hr bike ride somewhere along the coast. Or the beach may be too hard to resist, since we've rented a house on Padre Island. Or maybe both, we'll just see. The following weekend is crazy, with 12 mile runs and 3 hr rides - all on hills. I guess its nice to have something to look forward to, even if its scary.
Friday, May 07, 2010
First hot run of the season
Heat training is on my list for this month. Its a long hot summer here in Houston, and unforunately, there's no way to escape the heat. A large part of my run experience at LoneStar was limited because of the heat and most during local sprint tri's, temps are well into the 80's by the time you hit the 5k run. Like it or not, I need to acclimate to survive.
I hate heat. I'm a mountain person - I love dry air and cool temps. But seeing as how I don't live in the mountains and have no plans to move anytime soon, I just need to suck it up and adapt.
Last night was my first real "hot" long run. I did a track workout Tues night in the heat too, but I only had to run for ~5 minutes before I could take a 40 second rest. Plus, I only had 4 repeats - the whole set only took me 40 minutes including warmup and cool down. So last night's training ordeal was a 1 hr long tempo run - 20 min at Z2, 20 min at Z3, 20 min at Z4. No stopping at all for the hour.
Yeterday's high was probably around 90 and I ran on a dirt trail after work with some shade to minimize sun. I also filled my hand held water bottle with ice water, but it was pretty much warm after 20 minutes. My z2 pace was pretty easy - I purposely tried to keep the first part of the 20 minute interval in the low part of my HR zone and then elevate it to the upper part of the zone for the last 10 min. The Z2 run was a bit slower than my long training runs (in cool weather) but I was optimistic that this was just because I was still recovering from LoneStar. Which is probably not true, since my 4x800 z4 runs on Tuesday were a almost all on a 8:40 pace, which is my fastest track z4 pace yet. My heart rate is DEFINITELY influenced by heat, so I was just curious about how hard I could push things and have my speed zone match my heart rate zone. The answer was.... not very well.
Z2: 1.74 miles, 11:30 pace, 154 avg HR
Z3: 1.72 miles, 11:36 pace, 169 avg HR (nice - higher HR AND slower pace. awesome! but to be fair, this was the hilliest part of the run, pretty much all the hills were in this section)
Z4: 1.77 miles, 11:18 pace, 176 avg HR
My Z4 pace from my lactate threshold test was 10:39-10:10. Hahahah. Clearly, the heat had a LOT to do with my speed/HR not synching up. Hopefully as I do more of these, they'll match better.
I hate heat. I'm a mountain person - I love dry air and cool temps. But seeing as how I don't live in the mountains and have no plans to move anytime soon, I just need to suck it up and adapt.
Last night was my first real "hot" long run. I did a track workout Tues night in the heat too, but I only had to run for ~5 minutes before I could take a 40 second rest. Plus, I only had 4 repeats - the whole set only took me 40 minutes including warmup and cool down. So last night's training ordeal was a 1 hr long tempo run - 20 min at Z2, 20 min at Z3, 20 min at Z4. No stopping at all for the hour.
Yeterday's high was probably around 90 and I ran on a dirt trail after work with some shade to minimize sun. I also filled my hand held water bottle with ice water, but it was pretty much warm after 20 minutes. My z2 pace was pretty easy - I purposely tried to keep the first part of the 20 minute interval in the low part of my HR zone and then elevate it to the upper part of the zone for the last 10 min. The Z2 run was a bit slower than my long training runs (in cool weather) but I was optimistic that this was just because I was still recovering from LoneStar. Which is probably not true, since my 4x800 z4 runs on Tuesday were a almost all on a 8:40 pace, which is my fastest track z4 pace yet. My heart rate is DEFINITELY influenced by heat, so I was just curious about how hard I could push things and have my speed zone match my heart rate zone. The answer was.... not very well.
Z2: 1.74 miles, 11:30 pace, 154 avg HR
Z3: 1.72 miles, 11:36 pace, 169 avg HR (nice - higher HR AND slower pace. awesome! but to be fair, this was the hilliest part of the run, pretty much all the hills were in this section)
Z4: 1.77 miles, 11:18 pace, 176 avg HR
My Z4 pace from my lactate threshold test was 10:39-10:10. Hahahah. Clearly, the heat had a LOT to do with my speed/HR not synching up. Hopefully as I do more of these, they'll match better.
I'm glad I toughed it out. The last 8 minutes of the run was rough. I was hot, my HR was hitting the "pukey zone", and I was generally not happy. This is where the mental training and mind games come into play. With 8 minutes, I knew that was basically 2 songs worth of time. So I just kept telling myself to focus on the music and hope that the shuffle picked something entertaining. And then I just pictured myself doing those 1/2 mile fast repeats 2 nights earlier. Come one, you can do a half mile fast... you just did four of them 2 nights ago. Get it done and then you are done for the night. So that's what I did (with a LOT of checking of my Garmin to see how much longer the torture was going to last!). Hopefully next week's hot tempo run will be better. Probably not, but we'll see.
Face of a not so happy and very hot runner. I hate it when my eyelids sweat. Ick.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
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.
T1
BikeMy 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.
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.
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.
BikeI 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.
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)
Friday, April 30, 2010
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:
May goals:
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.
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.
Friday, April 23, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, April 12, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
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:
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....
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.
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....
Thursday, April 01, 2010
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:
April goals:
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.
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).
Monday, March 29, 2010
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:
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.
Monday, March 22, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
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.....
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.....
Monday, March 15, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, March 05, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, March 01, 2010
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:
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.
- 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.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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
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
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
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 :/
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 :/
Monday, February 01, 2010
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.
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.
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