getting back on track

It was not till Wednesday I got the ok from Kainoa to start doing any sort of training at all and I was supposed to stay well with in zone 1 heart rate.. I was starting to go a little crazy so something is better than nothing right. So on Wed night I put my bike on the trainer and spun for 40 min and then did that again on Thursday night. Luckily I was starting to feel better Thursday night I passed out with out the help of NyQuil and only coughed sporadically. So Friday night I went for an easy run for only about 30 min - I did ok during the run only a few coughs in the first 10 min then I was good. However when I stopped I coughed for what felt like about 5 min.
For this weekend Kainoa had told me not to over due it this weekend so I could start getting back into it this coming week. I got up saturday morning and joined the Herd (a group we met at the Hawaii 70.3) for a bike ride. It was perfect fall weather - just a little cool but sunny and dry. There were about 6 of us and no one was in a hurry so we just enjoyed the ride. It was exactly what I needed. We rode from downtown Bellevue to Renton and then out on the Cedar River trail. It was only a few rolling hills and then mostly flat - perfect terrain to keep my heart rate in check while still getting some quality time on the bike in. On our way back we got caught in a the massive packs from the Group Health and another local bike team.. It completely confirmed why I don't like riding n big packs - esp when most of the people were newbies.. With in a couple miles there was a crash. We wound up riding for about 2 and a half hours and I felt good the entire time.
After a nap I rode my single speed while Kyle did his long run. I got to carry his water and gels while I loosened up my legs soem more and just enjoyed being outside on such a nice day.
This morning after helping kyle get out the door for his long ride I went back to bed for an hour then headed down to Idylwood park to run. I decided to split up my long run - even though it is only 1:45 I just don't want to overdue and this way I don't get to tired or worn out. So I ran an hour this morning on West Lake Sammamish road and watched the fog lift off the lake. I ran easy and thus slow and it took me a good 45 min before I felt warmed up. Even after getting into a rhythm it was slow - but I guess that it where I'm at right now after 2 weeks of being sick.
Tonight I will run another 45 min - Kyle said he would ride his single with me for company (I won't need much else for just 45 min run).

I'm also going through complete pilates withdrawals - in an effort to save money I have stopped going to pilates with Iron Monique for a while :( My shoulder feels ok but my hips and legs feel super tight and I miss the core work. I going to try and remember some of the stuff we did and do it on my own but still so not the same..

on the mend

I hope. After doing Black diamond I have spent most of the week with a cold that just kept getting worse till yesterday. I did one super easy bike ride on my single speed on Tuesday and an easy swim on Wednesday but that is it. Obviously I needed a rest and I was eventually forced to take the week off. I have gone through an entire box of tea, 2 boxes of kleenex and learned that only the original NyQuil will really nock me out. I'm hoping to do something tomorrow but I'm trying to be good and listen to my body as best I can. I'm not very good at being sick as Kyle can attest to - I'm a horrible patient actually.
The only thing interesting is that Kyle got 2nd in his age group at Kirkland Sprint tri on Sunday (his birthday) and I got to be the shripa biatch this time. I have to say even though I was sick I did a good job and carried a back pack that was bigger than me around so that he had warm clothes as soon as he crossed the finish line.

Well that covers things for now- time to take some NyQuil and get some more rest to get rid of this stupid cold so I can do something other than sleep this weekend..

Black Diamond Olympic Triathlon 2008

Race morning we headed out nice and early - I always prefer to be early and have plenty of time to warm up and get my stuff ready - I also tend to forget thing and it is good to have time just in case. I think we left around 6:15 am. I drove since Kyle is not a morning person and was not really awake. I had printed the directions out from the race website but though they seemed detailed they also seemed kind of weird they were missing things like right and left directions. After a much needed stop at Starbucks we managed to get her ok after seeing a sign for the bike course.
The parking situation was kind of crazy so Kyle dropped me off and he dealt with find a parking spot. While I went and picked up my race packet and get set up. By the time I had walked my bike over to registration my hands were frozen... Luckily I met up with some other Pauole Sport team mates who gave me a hand warmer. I got my stuff all set up and Kyle came by and pumped up my tires.
About 20 min before the start I went for a 10 min warm up run on the the last mile of the run course - which I always like to do so I know the finish. The run was good also so I could warm up and take at least one of the 3 layers I had on. I got back and put my run stuff back and got my wetsuit on before heading over to the beach.

My wave was the last one in the water so it took a while while gave me plenty of time to forget to put some dr jacks nut butter in my running shoes, loose my ear plugs twice, try to figure out the swim course with all there different courses and go over stuff with Kainoa one last time.

I am always apprehensive about the swim and I never get in for a warm up swim even though I know I should so I was pleasantly surprised that by the time I lined up the water was really not that bad. It was chilly waiting to go but once in it felt fine.
The beginning of the swim was not to bad but all the people that lined up on the right started to push everyone further left and for a brief moment I was on the verge on panic - which is very unlike me. My wetsuit neck felt tight and I got kicked a bunch but I just kept swimming and was ok. I did move further left than I should have probably adding some unneeded distance and no draft. Around the end of the second lap the turn buoy was in the shade and I could not see where to go at all so it took me a second to see other heads and find something to sight on. I started to feel tired already - I just did not feel very peppy and all I wanted to do was get out of the water. My left foot decided to cramp up most of teh 2nd loop and it felt like it took forever to finish the second loop.
As I ran out of the water I remember giving Kyle a look of disappointment. T1 went smoothly until just after un-racking my bike my garmin fell off - it was a good thing Kyle yelled at me so I had to stop and pick it up and then get going again.

Once on the bike it took me about 5-10 min before I could get my cadence up - I felt tired and my legs felt heavy. I started drinking my acceleraid and slowly forced my legs to spin faster and managed to get it up around 85 rpm or so. The bike course was relatively flat with at the most rolling hills. I was glad that I was at least able to still climb pretty well. So I would pass people on the uphill and hold them off for a little while but on he flats I would get caught again. I just kept at it and stayed focused the entire ride not letting my lack of energy to effect me mentally. I smiled and thanks all teh volunteers and cheered other people on and attacked the hills as best I could.


T2 went much better and I was out on the run in no time. All I really knew about the run course was the the last 1.5 mi was on trail around the lake. As in all triathlons my legs felt a bit heavy the first mile but nothing worse then how they felt on the bike so I just went for it. Within the first mile I passed one girl in my age group but then half a mile after that a different girl passed me. I tried to stay with her but after a mile or two I just let myself fall back - I could not maintain it. My body was telling me to lay down and take a nap not run harder..
Part of the run course is almost like one long pot hole - it was dry, dusty and just plain nasty. Luckily there was an water station at the end of it. I dumped the water on my head instead of drinking it and the volunteer looked at me very strangely but it felt great (I repeated this every time I went past them). It was also nice to run on pavement for a little while - until after 2 out and backs the coursed went back on the pothole road. I took my gel at about mile 4.5 so that I had some hope to have some energy for the last mile or so. I was happy that even with tired legs I was able to keep my pace around 8 m/mi.
As I turned onto the trail around the lake I saw a bunch of Pauole sport people cheering and of course my mom with her camera.
I felt ok so I pushed a bit harder to pick up my pace for the last 1.5 mi till I would be done. I'm glad I ran the end of the course so I knew where I could start really pushing my pace. I also remembered to tip my hat up so my hat would not be covering my eyes as my mom took a million pictures.



swim 0:33:54 | t1 2:43 | bike 1:18:06 | t2 1:33 122 | run 0:51:25 | Overall time 2:47:41
7/20 in age group | 101/215 overall


In the end I had fun doing my first olympic distance triathlon. I wish I could have had a little more pep in me but it was more for training than anything else. I feel like I did well with what I had and I managed to pull off a fairly good run even though I was temped to take a nap during it. I'm also happy with finishing 7th in my age group esp since some fast girls showed up.

Finally I want to say thanks to everyone that was their cheering me on -specifically Kyle (the best sherpa biatch around), my Mom, Jerry, Colleen, Bryan (even as he raced), Kainoa and the Pauole Sport crew it really helped motivate me when I felt so tired.

a new first tomorrow

After almost 2 weeks of recovery/taper from being so tired tomorrow I will do my first olympic distance triathlon - Black Diamond. I actually have signed up for this race before in 2006 after i decided to do Ironman Canada but I wound up not being able to do it due to an injury. So now after doing every other distance I will finally do an olympic.
I'm feeling pretty good - the usual aches and pains that show up during a taper but nothing huge. Even though I had to go kind of light the last couple weeks training has been going well and I feel strong. I feel a little uneasy since I don't really know the course and I don't know the distance. I walked though a race plan with Kainoa yesterday and have just been focusing on that. My main goal for this race is to just to get some more race experience and not holding back. I ned to get out of the habit of sandbagging and just see what I am actually capable of.
Kyle gets to be my shirpa biatch because he race last weekend and my Mom and Jerry are also going to come and take pictures and I'm sure have a huge sign of some sort :) It sounds like Kainoa and a bunch of people from the Paulo Sport team will be there and Mr Bryan will also be racing so it should be fun race.
Today I get to take it easy and continue to rest up. Luckily we are going to the Husky football game so I wont have time to be tempted to go for a bike ride in the nice sunny weather.

ran myself into the ground

It started on Friday morning I did a 45 min run with my friend Cynthia that I never get to see. It was a nice casual run that was more just for fun and an excuse to hang out and catch up. We ran from Vasa park on west lake samm road - it was great, a few little rollers but mostly flat. We started pretty early in the morning and I did not even think about grabbing my heart rate monitor or garmin until I got to our meeting spot. Not a big deal but it was weird running with out knowing all that data.

Then Saturday Kyle wanted to run instead of bike so we ran. We ran down the hill for a good warm up and the headed out on west lake sammamish road. As planned I ran the 1st 30 min at an easy zone 2 pace/effort just focused on loosening up and finding a rhythm. At the turn around point - 4 miles or so I picked up the pace and pushed up to zone 3 for 30 min. It was tuff but I was able to run sub 8 min miles consistently even up a couple small hills. I gave myself a 15 min to cool down before having to run back up the mile long steep hill. I felt great afterwards and was happy with my pace mid run when I picked up the intensity.

Sunday morning nike, Starbucks, Road Runners and Seattle Parks did a mini/free version of the human race at green lake. Completely low key we got there around 8 am and registered after getting some warm caffeine. I was able to talk Lincoln - one of the guys I work into showing up as well - it was his first ever run event. I think only like 50 or so people showed up for the event so it was very low key - so low key we did not even do a warm up jog The race started and Kyle was off with the leaders. Lincoln tried to hold his pace for the first mile or so. As usual I went off the line a little more moderate since I did not do a warm up or anything. I kept Lincoln and Kyle in my sights for a little over a mile or so then Kyle started to pull away - he felt good. I just continued to pick up the pace as I went.
The course went once around the inner trail then a second time half on the outer trail and half on the inner. I kept Lincoln in my sights until a little over 3 miles I passed him. I tried to cheer him on to stay with me but he did not seem to interested. So I kept going. With a mile to go I tried to pick the pace up again. I felt pretty good but a little fatigued from the day before. In teh end I finished in about 46 min which I am happy with and it was good prep mentally for the 10k of my upcoming Olympic distance triathlon.
Instead of heading straight home for the ice bath I should have taken we wandered around the shops at green lake. Then by the evening my calves were already starting to feel sore and i was asleep by 9 pm or so.

Monday I slept in a bit while Kyle got a ride in then headed off to help Fisher skis out at a ski show. Once up it hurt to walk my calves were so sore - especially barefoot. Buy hey if it hurts to walk then why not go for a hilly bike ride... I headed out on a ride planning to ride anywhere between 2 - 3 hours depending on how I felt. I did not feel sore but my legs had no pep well actually I had no pep - it was not just my legs. I could not get my cadance over 76 rpm when usually I'm up around 80-90 rpm. But still I kept with my planned hilly route - figured I just needed to warm up or something. I climbed up Inglewood hill over the plateau and it has never been soo difficult or slow (well in a long time). I had to stand almost the entire way. It sucked. I continued on and I had to stand up to get up most of the rollers. At this point all I can think about is getting to my mom's house and hoping she is home so I can take a rest.
Luckily after climbing another hill I reached my mom's house and Jerry and her were home. She hooked me up with a wonderful piece of warm blueberry pie and some vanilla ice cream. It was exactly what I needed.
I decided to cut my ride short and just ride home from my mom's house via hwy 202 straight home - at least it does not have any crazy climbs. It was still a struggle to make it home - I just felt warn down. Once home I took a hot shower and immediately laid down for a 2 hour nap and I was back asleep in bed by 9 pm.

I woke up Tueday morning and still felt wiped out so all I did was pilates to help stretch out and even came home and took a nap after work.

Today (Thursday) I am starting to feel back to normal - I went for an hour run with Marissa and by mile 5 my calves started feel sore again. So now I'm sitting on the couch with my feet up and ice packs under each calf.. All I can think is it is a good thing tomorrow is a swim day.