It is the end of another recovery week so of course I feel like capturing a bit of what I have been up to..
I actually went up to Snoqualmie Pass and went snowshoeing with some team mates. I had so much fun being back in the snow that I really did not want to go home and just wanted to keep playing in the snow...
Lots and lots of swim, bike, run training but I actually feel like my biggest gains have been in strength training. I have been very consistently going to the gym twice a week with Kyle and pilates once a week so I am so happy that I finally feel like my legs are getting back to where they were when I skied all winter. I am now back up to being able to do the 3 sets of 12 of single leg press with 2 (well 1 on each side) 45lb plates.
I have a new addiction - I can't get enough O.N.E. Coconut Water especially the new one's with "a splash of juice". I blame Jill who always raves about how great the stuff is for her. I pretty much live on the stuff after training. (this is just to get me through the weekend).
After a week of recovery I had so much fun getting out on a good hilly ride with Cathleen and Greg at our team bike ride and run in the SUN. It started out pretty chilly but after climbing a long hill I felt good the rest of the ride. It was good I actually felt strong and rested on the ride and then it was great fun to run with Cathleen who really pushed me to pick up the pace off the bike. Which I immediately fallowed up with a good 12 min soak in the lake - even managed to talk Joe into joining me for part of it. My training levels have picked up to the levels that I feel like it is time to start taking ice baths again.. So what better way to start the next build with than a chilly soak in 46°F water. My legs feel so much better tonight and will thank me tomorrow night when I have to run intervals...
After starting the next buid phase with a 4k swim at masters I got the ok from Kainoa for my pre Ironman CDA race plans - big no on Mercer Island half marathon but a YES to the 10k. Mostly because I have got hurt on that course last summer and it is better not to risk it. I got a yes for the Wenatchee Half Marathon in April. Since the Carnation TT series is not happening this year due to construction she is going to see if she can hopefully find something else.. I will also do the Issaquah Sprint Tri just for fun since it will be the 1st time in 3 years that we will be in town for it. Since I don't have a half Ironman race on the schedule I will have to do it on my own (well hopefully with help from some great friends but not in an official race) around the end of April. I will also be doing 2 3 days training camps so that I can get to know the course.
Alright time to get to work. Only about 124 days to go and probably about 60+ ice baths :)
I have started this post a couple times but never got very far.. 1st it was to wait to get some pictures to post, then I was tired or just not motivated which usually means I'm not really sure how I feel about my "race" so have not had much to say. I went in with my plan of not really racing it after taking almost a full month off, having a cold and upset stomach the week before that mostly just focused on finishing and enjoying the weekend. Not really what I envisioned the event when I signed up. Anyway the fun stuff...
We flew in to San Francisco early Saturday morning. Kyle and my Mom are both are not morning people so it was a bit of a stretch for them but we got through it and they got lots of coffee and Kyle took a nap on the plane. We took the BART into downtown and after dropping our bags at the hotel we headed straight to the registration to grab our bibs ect. Then we were off to the nike store to get a sweatshirt of something before they sold out. The place was a total zoo but i was happy that they still had small sizes left. We also did the custom shirts made that said "run like a girl! Linda & MacBeth" on the back. They are very cute and the shirts they put it on are very soft. We also found our names on the list of participants they put on the windows of the nike store.. good thing they were alphabetical.
Since I would not be "racing" the marathon I wanted a running skirt to wear so I would feel less like I was supposed to be racing. I knew Lululemon had one I wanted but the lame store near me at home had no sizes so I wanted to go to the store in SF in hope they would have one. Of course they did :) and in the process introduced my Mom to lulu hehe. Jerry was a sweetheart and got her a pair of running tights and a pair of gloves for her birthday.
At this point we completely burned both Kyle and Jerry out on all things Nike Women's marathon lol. So we decided to go in search of lunch. The guys both wanted fish and chips so we headed on foot to teh waterfront only to figure out that we needed to walk 2 miles to get to fishermans warf... But it was sunny and warm out, I had my running shoes on so my feet were good, we got to see Alcatraz Island along the way and best of all found a place for Kyle to rent a bike so he could get around the course better. Honestly by the time we got there I was getting a bit cranky from hunger and being on my feet so long... so we quickly picked a place and since I really wanted to sit down for a bit we sat inside vs buying fish and chips on the street.
After lunch Kyle headed off to rent the bike and my Mom, Jerry and I walked a much shorter route back towards the hotel. Only isn San Fran would you see such a nerdy tour as a segway tour - seriously cracked me up..
Once we made it back to the hotel I put my feet up and slowly started gathering together what I needed for the marathon. I decided not to wear my team kit at all and just went with the lulu run skirt, sugoi fizz tank so that everything felt like training and not racing for me. I was not very hungry the rest of the night so I wound up having frozen yogurt for dinner which was perfectly yummy. I had one last talk with my coach over my plan and how I was feeling ect and then I think I fell asleep around 8:30 or 9pm which is even early for me but after the early morning flight and walking around I was tired.
It has been a while since I have updated my blog which feels weird but I do have two race reports half done... Mostly I blame the insane weather last week. It got up to 106 °F on Tuesday and stayed well in the 90 till the weekend so when I was away from the AC at work the last thing I felt like doing was turning on my laptop. Anyways.. Training has been going really well. I had a week full of tempo and hill repeats which was extra challenging in the heat. But with a lot of gatorade and ice I got through it all with out any real problems. I do find it kind of funny that the first week I get to do a lot of tempo work it was so hot. Luckily it cooled down to mid to high 80s over the weekend for my long workouts. On Saturday I got the ok from Kainoa to tag along with laurie on her long brick workout. So we got started around 7am to get out before it got to hot. Laurie mapped out a great route: out the Marymoor trail to Woodinville then a right onto Paradise Lake Road, to Mink Road to Union Hill into the Valley and over to the Beaver Lake Tri course and then over the Plateau and back to her place. It was a great mix of hills and a little bit of flats in the middle. She had ran 20 miles the day before so I was able to keep up on the flats and my legs were kind of tired from the full week of intervals so it worked out perfectly. My nutrition was the only lack luster part. I have not really found a replacement gel since Accel gel changed their recipe.. so I ate a hodgepodge of stuff and the Cliff shot turned my stomach pretty bad. Thankfully with the heat and hills helped settle my stomach.. But I never really felt like I was very well fueled. Oh well I got time to keep trying things and hopefully will find something sooner rather than later. Once we got back we headed out on the East Lake Sammamish trail for her :60 min run off the bike.. I only had to do :30 but figured it would be more fun to tag along with her. Since my nutrition was not perfect on the bike the first :30 running out were a bit rough. It was hot and I was way under fueled. Thankfully we ran toward Whole foods and was able to run in and refill my hand bottle with cold water and even just stepping in the AC for a min helped so much. So the run back was way better and we even picked up the pace the last couple of minutes. The best part of all was once we were done we immediately jumped in the lake to cool off. It felt SO good. Not to mention Eric had just made fresh bread and they had cold chocolate milk ready. So after a snack and short visit I headed hoem for an ice bath and what turned into a 3 hour nap with Toko (my cat) till Kyle and I headed to his Mom's pace for dinner :)
Now since I decided to tag along with Laurie on Saturday I moved my long run to Sunday.. I knew it would kind of hurt since it was a 2 hour run and the past 2 weeks I have been more focused on shorter stuff and then with the long brick the day before..I headed out around 8a and decided to run flat so that I could at least survive. Laurie was nice enough to let me run from her place even though they would not be home. So I ran the East lake Samm trail again. I did not want to have to carry more that my hand bottle so I did 2 :60 min loops with whole foods at the :30 min mark. My first loop felt surprisingly good. I stayed in my low heartrate zones like I was supposed to and kept a nice little pace going. I did find out that my hand bottle did not seal very well anymore so my hand was getting covered in gatorade :/ but at whole foods I filled my bottle with plain cold water and it was fine.. I headed back out on the second loop and I forgot to grab a gel so by 1:30 mark I was starting to hit the wall. My legs were tired and it was getting warmer so I went into whole foods and got a pack of luna moons to eat with the 3 cliff blocks I had. As I headed back I did not feel good and my pace slowed a lot. I wound up motivating myself by running for 10 min and then let myself grab a few black berries along the trail and repeated this till I was done. I immediately jumped in the lake to cool off and drank a recovery shake before heading back home for an ice bath. I ate a little bit of left overs and headed to my Mom's house for a Garden party :). Toko was very annoyed that i did not stay home for a nap.
All in all not to bad a weekend and time to bring on another week full of training :)
On race morning just like I prefer to do I got up super early so we could be to to T1 with tons of extra time to spare and no need to rush. Kyle pumped my tires, I filled my bike bottles and salt sticks, I made sure my bike shoes had lots of glide in them so no blisters and random other small details. I also realized the best part about getting to T1 early is no lines for the porta potties and they don't stink yet. After getting body marked and another quick review of the bike we headed down to the beach to hang out and get ready for the swim. We got a quick pic of all the people from the team Pauole Sport that did the race. (Eric, Laurie, Aaron, Mike, me) Of course had to get a few more pre swim pics - at least this time I did not cry when my Mom hugged me like in Clearwater. and with that I was off to go get in the water.
I decided to start out in the water rather than on the beach so I swam out into the masses and found a sport in the middle of it all. The current kept pushing everyone past the start line so they moved us back a couple of time till finally the cannon went off to my surprise lol. I remember thinking "oh ok was that the start already".I felt pretty good. There was a little chop on the water but nothing worse then the pool at masters swim. I love how clear the water is - you can see all the people around you and avoid getting kicked most of the time. I do have to say that the people(seemed to be mostly guys) that stop and breast stoke suck. They all of sudden start kicking sideways and I got a few kicks in the ribs and sucks. The only other annoyances/issues was that my swim cap kept sliding back off my forehead so I had to pull it back on a couple times.. Anyways I felt good and just swam my best. I stayed mostly on course and felt like I was more in the middle of things than in previous years. The waves mostly brought me into shore and I still felt happy about my swim overall. Then I focused on trying not to fall on my way up the beach.. Then I ran up the hill to the rest of T1, pulled the speed suit off, shoes on, helmet, glasses, race belt and I was off.. I am so glad no one I knew saw what happened next - after peddling for a minute I thought it felt like my rear tire was flat or low and tried to look at it. Now coming out of the water I don't always have the best balance so I acted like a total clutz and rode my bike off the pavement and into the gravel almost tipped over.. and stopped and checked my tire all the while feeling like a total dork when it was fine.
I started the bike with a little bit of fear that my leg/hip would hurt and have issues so I focused on smooth circles, just getting into a rhythm and start getting in the nutrition. Before checking my bike on Friday Kyle had move my seat back just a little bit and by the turn around at Mauna Lani I could tell my hip was not getting as tight as it had been. so I picked up the effort some but at the same time my legs felt alright but not super perky. I felt good through the rollers and continued to be surprised and happy my leg did not hurt but i did find that I felt the climbs more in the glutes than normal.. and stayed with it. I took a salt every :30, sport legs every :30, a gel every hour and drank frequently.. I had started with 1 bottle of acceleraid and at the second aid station I tossed it and grabbed another bottle of gatorade. I am done with it - it was upsetting my stomach. So the rest of the race I just drank gatorade endurance (I could hear Kyle cheering - he hates the stuff and how it leaves gunk in bottles afterwards). Laurie passed me at some point and we cheered for each other - I think she even said see you on the run.. The climb up Hawi was not to bad till got to the final climb and the headwind that joined in on the fun. The best part is I finally felt warmed up and found my rhythm so I passed a lot of people on the climbs which always feels good :) Thank you hill repeats. I faced one of my biggest fears on the way back down and I continued to stay in my aero bars and no touching the brakes :) (teeth chattering smile). Mostly I was just soooo happy that I made it up to Hawi with no leg pain. I was a bit bummed to see that I was a bit off my desired time but at that point i did not care to much just knowing my leg did not hurt. So I stayed focused and kept up on my nutrition all the way back to T2. On the turn off from the Queen K I found it funny that most people seemed to act like the bike part was over even though there was 3 more miles - so even though I was not supposed to not pass I did.. a bunch. and just like that I was in T2. I came in dropped the bike, grabbed my run bag, switch shoes, switch helmet for hat and grab gel bottle. I looked for volunteers putting sunblock on but did not see any, considered the porta potties but did not want to waist time so off I went on the run.
And it started on the grass of course... (got to love the gel packet hanging out of my shorts) I started off easy just get my leg under me and see how things would play out. I actually felt pretty good, a little bit of a sloshy stomach but nothing the heat would not burn off (or so I hoped). They changed the run course so having done the race the last 2 years did not help out a ton.. I knew the parts of the course that were on the road but the other 6 miles were a mystery on grass. By mile 2 or so my stomach started to settle and I focused on keeping my temp down. I walked the aid stations and made sure to drink gatorade, toss cold water on my head, grab ice, sponges, and if they had them orange slices (mmmm). I kept going back and forth with one gal, we would pass each other then be walking the aid station - so started talking.. We wound up running and chatting and just kept running together. It was great - made the run fly by even though the course was so difficult. I was not even paying attention to time, we just ran between each aid station, got what we needed and kept running. Only once or twice we walked up a hill or something. It was funny it was not till after running together for a couple miles we asked our names. lol And in no time we were heading down into the long out and back into the lava (mile 9ish). As always this sucked and seemed longer than in years past but we ran down and were able to run all the way back out. I passed Laurie from Pauole Sport at some point on the way back up (she seemed to expect it was going to happen) and we cheered each other one. Once at the top we started picking up the pace as much as we could knowing that we would be done sooner that way. It was great to see T2 and the turn to the finish line. I still felt pretty good but mostly was just ready to be done.. As we turned toward the finish Joy (#1242 in the pic) wanted to kick it in strong and in that she out kicked me and beat me by a couple seconds lol.
And just like that it was over - I was done..
Overall finisher 637/1057 Age group finish 24/44 Overall time 06:27:55 Swim 41:10 T1 3:32 Bike 3:24:45 T2 2:39 Run 2:15:50
A few post race photos as well
Love the sponge still in the back of my top.
Yeah I am sooo strong
James and I
Mom and I
Best of all the ice bath (Kyle finally pulled the sponge out of my jersey)
The flu nocked me out completely for a week and then I spent another week still feeling the effects of it as I tried to get back to the real world. I did most of my work outs last week but with little to no pep or power but it did feel good to exercise. I felt the best in the pool - my stroke is feeling pretty good and was able to find a good rhythm. Though I did do all my swims in the evening and slept through masters swim. My run and riding was the most effected. On Wednesday I ran close to 10 m/mi pace for :45 - it was just painful - I could not take deep breaths and my legs felt tired and sore. My ride on saturday felt similar - I tried to ride with Kyle but could not even hang on his wheel without coughing up a storm and my heart rate soaring. With in the first :30 I was officially dropped and just rode easy for the rest of the 2 hour ride. After feeling so beat up on Saturday i spent the rest of the day on the couch half asleep. Lucky for me my run yesterday (Sunday) surprisingly felt much better. We went over to green lake to have coffee with his Mom and then he ran for 1:20 and I ran for :60. Of course the first mile my legs felt heavy and my foot ached a little bit but as I warmed up I continued to feel better. I did not cough as much as I did not the bike and just enjoyed running. The best part was I was able to keep my heart rate down and run 8:30 m/mi pace - which is back to my pre-flu average easy run pace. Needless to say I was a lot happier after running and finally feel like I won't have the flu forever. With that my plan is to continue to try and get over it completely this week so that I can really get back into training for my goals this year.
Even with work stress at a high I was able to start to get on track with my training last week. I did substitute runs for bike rides since my right foot is STILL bothering me but overall by the weekend rides I was feeling good. Then Monday I hit a wall and got the flu and have done nothing besides nap for the past 3 days. Since all I have been doing for the last couple of days is laying around and watching Ironmans I have been thinking about 2008 and my strengths and what still needs more work and how that plays into my goals for 2009.
The strengths: I ran a 1:45 at the Vancouver half marathon. My bike skills have improved a lot, I actually prefer to be in my aerobars. I managed to stay injury free most of the season with the help of pilates and both ART and deep tissue massage. Had an overall good race at Vineman 70.3 with a 5:52:37 and got a slot for the Ironman World Championships 70.3. Was in the top 7 in my age group at some local sprints and my first olympic distance triathlon. I had a pr swim of 38:17 at Ironman World Championships 70.3. Consistency in training - I'm really good at getting my training in and fallowing my coaches instructions. I really worked at finding what is right for me - I had a hard time deciding to change coaches mid-season but it was what I needed to do.
Things to work on: I struggled with nutrition on the run on the 70.3 races - tend to stop eating the last 7 miles or so. Overall strength - my upper body is just not strong enough, and my legs could be stronger as well. Pilates has helped a ton with my core though. Need to not make assumptions about what I can and can't do. Confidence/mental - I struggle with being intimidated and trusting my abilities and strengths. I know I can keep going but I have a hard time believing I can go faster.
Goals/plans for 2009: To stay positive and believe in myself I have already added in 3 days a week of a circuit style strength training workout Run a sub 1:40 half marathon and run a 1:50 off the bike in a 70.3 race Swim goal is to be able to go hard off the start line and continue getting faster - my form has already improved a lot and masters is helping push myself A sub 3 hour bike in 70.3 race and be brave enough to go faster on the downhills Eat healthy and eat enough Overall build speed and strength to take into next year to do my second full ironman
Overall I'm happy with 2008. I grew a lot as a athlete and feel like I have only scratched the surface of what I am capable of. I'm excited about 2009 and 2010 for that matter. Now if only I could get over this stupid flu already and get back to training.
I just wanted to do a short update I am training and feel on my way for the year. The usual stuff, 3 days a week of masters swim, a couple of runs and I have been doing my long rides on the single speed and a interval bike work out on the spin bike. The main change up is that I have 2-3 days a week of strength training - which I can already tell is helping my swimming :)
I tried out a new swim suit from splish. Sadly it just does not work for me - the top catches sooo much water it feels like it is going to come off. so I'm back to my old faded 2 piece for the time being.
The hard part has been that I have been juggling a big project at work and Kyle's mom broke her arm and we have been helping out a lot so I have been doing my best to get in my work outs and still get some sleep. Kainoa told me to use the workouts as an outlet which really meant that I did not get to use work as an excuse to miss workouts. Of course she has been right finding the time to workout has helped me balance the stress and I'm happy I already feel like I'm getting back into shape and my recovery chub is going away.
The only hicup is that I have had to miss pilates and as a result I have not been getting in enough stretching and my right leg has tightened up to the point that I'm having a lot of ankle pain and some planter fasciitis on the ball of my foot. So I'm having to shorten my long runs and go a little easy on some of the strength training till I can get this dealt with. I'm getting back to the pilates studio along with some ART massage on thursday and I'm hoping I will be good by the weekend. fingers crossed...
ok that is it for now time for sleep so I can get a some spinning done in the morning.
Last week was rather typical I swam master Monday, Wednessday and Friday, Did pilates and a tempo bike ride on Tuesday and a run on Wednessday. I had a second pilates session on Thursday just to get some good stretching and core work in before Monique ran off to Maui for a week. Then came the weekend. Saturday morning Kyle and I went and rode with the Herd. But after 45 min it was just Kyle, Don and I. We rode a similar route as last week but instead of rideing over Tiger mountain we went through the valley towards Issaquah. It was a chilly morning and most of the ride my toes where frozen solid - I guess it is time to break out the toe warmers again. We did a few race pace tempos and I felt pretty good the entire ride. I did not get to take my usual ice bath afterwards so we could make it over to Kyle's brothers for brunch (which we were already late for). I considered doing it later in the evening but just never did. I regretted it the next morning though. I put off my long run till about 10:30a because I was tired, hungry and it was cold when I woke up. I finally headed down to the trail on East lake Sammamish - my car said it was still about 37 °F. It was defiantly chilly to start but I was warm with in a mile or so. I ran the same trail last week with the team which was way more entertaining. This week I struggled on the verge of boredom the entire way - I wished I ran with music or something. My legs felt sort of heavy when I started but as I kept running they turned to concrete and by the half way point (1:07:30) my legs very achy and they stayed that way the rest of the run. I kept at it but struggled mentally to keep going. I was able to pick up the pace for a couple minutes at a time but really just suffered through it. I considered jumping in the lake for a mid run ice bath but decided against it since I did not want to get my clothes wet. I had 2 gels and a pack of luna moons and I ran out of gatorade around mile 14. The last 5 min I forced myself to pick up the effort mostly so I could be done. At exactly 2:15:00 I stopped. I managed to run 15.5 miles. It was a tough run but it will defiantly make 13.1 miles seem like a piece of cake and that is the point. After walking to my car I headed straight to 7-11 to get a bag of ice, a chocolate milk and then home to sit in an ice bath for a good 15 min. My legs were done. Kyle said I looked like I was going to pass out. I took a hot shower, tried to eat something and then took a 2 hour nap. Now I get to taper :) I already have my training schedule up to race day and my body and mind are definitely ready to do a bit of rest. I'm finally starting to feel a bit excited about the race and maybe even more so about going on vacation for a week. I feel like I have put in a lot of good training and am as ready as I can be. Bring on the warm, sunny weather. Well I still have 6 days but still close enough. I'm ready.
Things have been very uneventful the last couple of weeks. I feel like that stupid cold is finally gone. So that just means I have been doing lots of training and then lots of resting when I can to stay healthy. My bike and run both feel good and as usual my swim feels kind of off (will focus on that more in the off session). It has been hard to get motivated about training now that it is dark in the morning and it is cold. It really just feels like the season is/should be over. In an effort to help stay motivated and positive excited I have been thinking a lot about next year and what i want to focus on and that sort of thing. I turn 30 in 2010 and I think I want to do another full Ironman to help celebrate. Which would give me a year or so to build up for it. Then next year I could do a marathon in the spring & fall, a couple half ironman distance races, a few summer century rides and some short local races. I like to plan things so this gives me something to think about on my long runs and rides - of which I have a couple more of the next two weeks.
well that is it for now.. time to get my bags ready for swimming and running tomorrow.
After taking Monday off I got back in to the swing of training again. Tuesday i had pilates in the morning then did a 2800 yrd "speed" swim in the evening. I was almost shocked at how good I felt - I was expecting to feel fatigued and tired but I never did. The time and yards just seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was done. Though I did fall asleep on the couch before 10pm.
Wednesday I did a "speed" bike on a crappy spin bike at work after lunch. The work out was good I just never got the bike really adjusted to fit well. I think from now on I will just put my bike on the trainer in the morning before work instead - at least it fits and I can get cadence and all that. The workout was a good mix of short and long intervals and I just went on heart-rate as a guide. Afterwork I met up with a new friend at work, Marissa (who is also doing Vineman) for a moderate 60 min run. It turned out to be a great night for a run along the waterfront, no rain, no wind. It was actually a little warmer than I had expected but nothing to bad. We are pretty close to the same pace - she said she was having to go a little more than moderate to keep up but we chatted the entire way which always makes time/miles go by faster. Once again I was a little surprised my legs never felt like I had done a hard workout a couple hours earlier. We managed to go 7.5 miles in 63 min which was just right.
Thursday I had pilates again in the morning - always a wonderful way to start the day. Then after my mom came over to help me clean up my yard I went and did a workout on the local high school track. Now for some reason i thought one lap on the track was 200 yrds not 400.. But I did not feel that i had 2 laps x 8 in me so I dropped it to 1 lap x 8 so the main set would up being right.. But when it said 100 I did 200... so even though I was thinking I was cutting it short I would up adding more in. In all I would up running a little over 4 miles. and I had defiantly pushed my legs hard - they were tired and sore. I woke up the next morning and really knew I had done something.
Friday morning I slept in till 7am to give my legs a little more recovery rest... ;) Then after work I went and did a long swim. It was crazy long actually - 4000 yrds planned... I only did 3700 yrds. I felt good I just got to the point where I was just done. I listened to my body and I did not need another 300 yrds - not this week anyways.
Saturday we joined a group (they call them selves a Herd) that we met in Hawaii for a ride on the Lake Stevens 70.3 course. The group is great - we had a blast riding with them. One of the guys - Duane forgot all his gear (shoes, helmet, gloves) but still road the course twice and pushed the pace the entire time - it was amazing really. Kyle, Joel and I did the bike course once (28 miles) and then ran 1 loop (6.8miles) of the run course. It had finally warmed up once we were running which was really nice. My legs felt pretty heavy - still a bit sore from Thursday but some how still managed to run an 8 min pace!! without pushing my heart rate to high or anything. The cruel part of the course is the out and back along the lake - all I wanted to do was jump in. After finishing running we went down to the lake and cooled off - not as cold as I thought it would be but still an alright substitution for an ice bath. When we got back home we took a 3-4 hour nap :) I also fell asleep in the living room around 9:30pm - could not even keep my eyes open to watch some great ITU races from last week in Vancouver.
Today (Sunday) Monique joined Kyle and I for Kyle's favorite ride out to Snoqualmie Ridge - she did not really know what she had agreed to -lol - but she took us on a hilly ride last week so all is fare in training. It finally felt like summer - it felt great to wear a sleeveless jersey and shorts. I was a little worried that I would be to tired or sore or whatever. But just like the rest of the week I was ok. I climbed as strong as usual and felt pretty good. Kyle just keeps getting stronger and faster but I never got to far back and Monique was always right between us. It turned out to be a great ride. My strength is defiantly on the climbs. I really need to spend some time working on gaining/keeping my speed up on the flats or small rollers. I just don't seem to stay as focused and start loosing speed - just need to spend a few rides going around Lake Sammamish or out on the trail and get those spinning muscles as strong as my climbing muscles. It wound up being about 58 miles in under 3:20 - not bad for a hilly training ride on very tired/sore legs. I had planned on possibly doing a moderate swim this afternoon but instead I washed my car and took a 2 hour nap.
In all I feel good - especially since tomorrow is my recovery/rest day. Then the best part I get to start it all over again :) Lets hope the nice weather lasts more than one day...
After my kick ass race last week I got to have the past week to recover as much as I possibly could in one week. Monday after work I went for a super easy hour bike ride out on the trail to spin out my legs. I was pretty sore and it really did helped to warm them up. Tuesday i was more tired than sore so I would up cutting my swim short and going to bed early. Since I was so tired Coach Col gave me Wednesday off which was very nice. Except of course work became crazy and I wound up not getting my run in on Thursday - so 2 days off... Friday I barley made it to the pool before it closed and again had to cut it short because the pool was closing. I did better on the weekend workouts - a nice and easy bike ride. I rode out to my moms house and hung out with her and Jerry for an hour of so before riding home. She was so happy playing in her garden all weekend :) Today we had breakfast with Kyle's mom at Portage Bay cafe and the most yummy oatmeal with fresh fruit on top.. Then we went to REI and I got a smaller backpack for riding my bike into work - and they had a pair of sidi T2 2007 shoes on major clearance so I will need to start breaking them and my feet in. We also went to Speedy Reedy - Kyle got a 2XU tri top and shorts and I got the Giro Aero helmet since Kyle pretty much owns the one I got last year. Kyle wanted to get a swim in so we went to the pool - I only swam maybe 1500 yrds but the fun part was we played with the video camera so I got to see how weak my catch and pull is. I do some weird things with my hand once it enters the water... Afterwards we sat in the hot tub which was not really that warm and I stretched out my legs and relaxed. We came home and chilled for a couple hours before going for a 7 mile run around 7:30ish. I'm very happy I decided to run a flat route my legs felt kind of heavy and most of my body still felt kind of tired. I mostly just ran how I felt and did not push it o hard and still managed to stay round 8 min miles which is cool - finished in 58 min :) I definitely don't feel completely recovered but I'm glad I got out there and got some good training in this weekend. I hoping that with some extra sleep and lots of good healthy food the next couple of weeks I will be good for Hawaii 70.3 - which is coming way to fast...
I had another good weekend of training. Started it off on Friday with a swim test 10x100 with 10 second rests - I managed to go sub 20 min which brought my average pace around 1:50 for 100 yrds. A 10 second improvement from a couple months ago which makes me feel good about all the time I have been spending in chlorine. Saturday I got another swim in before picking up my bike from Speedy Reedy - I had the handle bars cut a bit shorter, had the derailed adjusted (I sort of messed it up when I crashed the other week), and new brake pads. As always they did a wonderful job with it - esp the derailed was so much smoother and did not slip when I climbed. Monique met met at the shop and we headed out for a nice easy ride to Seward park. It was crazy warm - for the first time this year I did not have to wear booties, legs or any of my cold weather gear. it was wonderful. We chatted the entire way and the ride flew by. Since the weather was so nice I was really bummed when I was done and wished i could keep riding. Anything to stay outside and continue playing in the sun. Sunday morning I went with Kyle to watch a bike crit race at Recycle cycles - which really made me realize yes I may like my bike but I am a triathlete and bike racing would not really be my thing especially crits. lol During the cat 5 guys there was crash and a guy pretty much landed on the ground in front of me, then on the next lap a guy went down and got scraped up really bad enough to have to take a ride. The rest of the races were not as bad but still. Had fun watching but not my cup of tea to participate. I had to get in a 6 mile run - I went rather flat since as coach Col put it I had done hills already this week so I did not need any more. Which I was perfectly ok with. Kyle was not sure how far he wanted to run somewhere between 6 and 8 or something. My goal was not not let him get to far out in front of me - I have been working on not giving up and having the confidence to keep my pace up. We ran and an out and back route - I hit almost every single stop light and Kyle got through them of course so he got away from me but I was ok with it. I just kept my pace up and ran on how I was feeling. I felt great. At a little over 3 miles I turned around and Kyle had kept going - I had no idea how far so my new goal was that I would keep my pace up and try and stay ahead of him. He caught me with in a mile of course but never got as far out in front of me so my new goal became to beat him back to the house. He took the long way back for more milage and I went the shorter way because I had gone out a bit further. I picked up the pace and I did it I beat him back! He ran 7 miles and I ran 6 but still I beat him back lol - I stuck with it and never went negative and gave up - it was awesome I was so proud of myself. I ran 6 miles in 46 min - that is a 7:43 pace and I felt great. I never had to dig to deep - it was just awesome. Monday was a much needed rest day and I loved every minute of it - slept in a bit, payed taxes (not so fun but had to be done), ate dinner at a normal time, took care of some loose ends. Then tonight I had a brick work out with Col - ride 90 minutes and then run 2 miles. We wound up riding on trainers in her garage because the roads were wet and it was on and off rain. I was not really full of energy during the day but once I got on my bike and warmed up I felt pretty good and enjoyed the hour of intervals + 30 min of spinning. The best part was the run we did a fast transition and my legs felt really really good. I just let my legs go and went out pretty hard for the 1st mile and then eased up for the 2nd mile. I was shocked at how good my legs felt running off the bike - we did the first mile in 7:25! Haha that is awesome. And with that I'm going to crash so I can be rested for tomorrows work out :)
Which just means the weather has become more inconsistent and I never know what to wear - but I'm very happy to see sun more. It has been wonderful I have managed to get outside on my bike the last two Saturdays - last week was very very wet and this week was sunny. It is way more fun than sitting on a trainer and I'm slowly getting used to my new flight deck and bar end shifters. I don't change gears as often and I should or used to but I'm getting better as I spend more time with them on the road. The best part with the new set up I'm already feel better down in my aeros which is amazing compared to last year when I barley ever used them. I have also been pleasantly surprised at how well riding is going - I was able to hang with the group for the entire ride and still had energy at the end. I'm looking forward to adding a midweek ride in so I can get some more time on the bike and continue to build on how good/strong I feel now. In general I'm struggling to get enough sleep and I have a soar throat that won't go away (probably because I'm not getting enough rest). Even so training is going well - at least I'm getting everything in. Last week I had 9:39 as total time, Swim Distance 4550 yd, Bike Distance 36.09 mi, Run Distance 17.01 mi. I also had 2 hours of pilates and a very painful massage to try and help loosen my right side. Ok time to get that much needed sleep so I can survive this coming weeks training schedule. Happy Easter :)
First a recap of last week Swim 2100yrds 54 min, Bike on trainer 2:20, Run 6.53 miles 1:02, Pilates 2 hours, Cross training all weekend in Sun Valley playing in the snow :)
Then kind of light this week to let my legs get ready for Mercer Island on Sunday. So far Swim 2100yrds 45min, Bike on trainer 30 min, Run 4.5 miles 37 min, Pilates 2 hours.
I have had some soreness in my right hip, actually my whole right side has been temprrmental. ART and massage has been helping but it is a process to get it back to normal. Otherwise I am feeling good, catching up on sleep and feeling ready for Mercer Island half marathon.
Now my new addiction - skate skiing. I have wanted to try it for the past year so when Kyle and I went to Sun Valley last weekend it was the first thing I wanted to do. We rented gear and they hooked me up with the top of the line Fischer carbon lite skate ski. We started at the base of Dollar mountain and immediately I was in love. That does not mean it did not take me awhile to get used to skinny skis and a fall where my skis slid out from under me sending me on my ass and straining my right ankle a bit. But I kept with it and patiently got more used to it. Kyle of course got it right away and climbed up the mountain and tucked down all on skinny skis. I got to go again on a long path that goes through the valley and is groomed - though there were a lot of dog tracks that made it less smooth. I was able to get a rhythm going and felt like I could go forever. My legs were a bit weirded out since I had been on my alpine skis earlier but still. i had a great time and felt like I got a good work out in. I was defiantly wearing way to much. I was hot with in a couple of minutes. I am so excited to have a new way to play in the snow. Kyle and I are both looking at getting gear so that next year we can get into it and maybe do a rec race or two (if we can find them). I think it maybe my new winter passion - how could I not like a sport based in the snow though.. really.
To start a recap of the week so far. swim - 2 hours - 2950 yrds bike - 1 hour on trainer run - 2 hours 37 min - 18.27 miles pilates - 2 hours
Now today Col had 12 miles on my schedule with the instruction to find a hill route similar to Mercer Island and to practice race nutrition. The weather was perfectly sunny and even warm for this time of the year, I felt good. So rather than try and figure out another route I decide I wanted to run the Mercer Island course. In ski racing we always do a course inspection before a race so that you can be prepared. Now mercer island is a loop course so even though Col only had 12 miles on the schedule I choose to do the full 13.1 - I wanted to prove to myself that i could do it under 2 hours with no pressure. I figure if I can do it in training I can do it in the race. So that is what I did. I slept in to try and get as much rest as I could after a very very stressful week (at work), I had hair appointment and afterwards I went to Mercer Island. I had 2 fuel belt bottle of cytomax, 4 gels, 2 salts. It took me a bit to figure out which direction to go from the start (which seems to be already marked). I sent Kyle a txt message when I started and off I went. I had to check I map a few times with in the 1st coupe of miles before I got on the main road around the island. The course is generally up hill with a few short flat section or downhills. It is shaded by trees but even so with in a couple of miles I had shed my long sleeve shirt and wished I had worn shorts instead of capris. There are very few shoulders -more than a few time I was scared by drivers who did not want to share the road with me. I had a gel at mile 4, 8, 11, and drank the cytomax to help get the gel down and between gels. I worked at running while eating which I'm still getting used to - it takes longer and is messier but i was able to do it. I was surpised I had no issues, no foot pain, no hip pain, nothing. It was great. At mile 7 I was under 60 min so I knew I was going to be under my goal time of 2 hours and it made teh next 6 miles easier knowing that I was doing so well. I was abl eto average a 8:30 min miles with only a few exception on some of teh larger/longer climbs. Kyle surprised me and rode his bike out the course in the reverse direction - he caught up with me at about mile 10.5ish and barley recognized me (I went a bit more blond with my hair this morning). He was surprised at how far i already was :) He rode along side of me the last 3ish miles and kept me company.
The last 2 miles are rolling hills which were kind of hard but I tried to pick up the pace a little bit (not to much just a bit). I knew I would be sub 2 hours but I wanted to really prove myself I could do it. To get the full 13.1 I had to run down into the park a ways. But in the end i finished 13.11 miles in 1:54:06! I was/am sooo excited and happy. I did it and it was not as hard as I thought it would be. I feel ready to do it again in the race in a couple of weeks and now I don't have to stress it as much I know I can do it which is the most important part :) I'm soo glad I did a dress rehearsal and/or course inspection.
First a recap of my training - been running 3 days a week, swimming twice a week and spinning 1-2 days a week. I have also been doing pilates twice a week - which has helped a lot with my shoulder and my overall core strength. I feel on track for mercer island half marathon in a couple weeks. Last weekend I was in California to visit my Dad and was lucky enough to run in sunny 70 degree weather - it was so wonderful not having to wear a million layers. Since I did not really know the area my route was all over the place. The first mile and a half was straight up hill on pretty rough trail which made the rest of the run more difficult. Even so I ran 8 miles in 1:11 which I was happy with esp with the extra time I had to take to figure out where to go.
Now on to my struggle balancing how to fit in everything I want to in a day or even a week. The while work, life and training balance is becoming harder then ever. Last year I let a lot of things slip to focus on training for Ironman but I can't do that again it made a lot of things worse later. Also I don't want to; my career and life are also important to me. I guess I just feel overwhelmed right now. It is not that I don't want to train - I do - I love how it makes me feel and helps me handle the stress that is in the rest of my life. At the same time it does not help me have time to do all the other things that I need or want to do. I feel like things are slipping through the cracks - even tri related stuff. I even need to get a bunch of design stuff done for tri-style but I never have enough time. Like tonight I could not do the run off the bike like I was suppose dto because I did not get on my bike till 9:30pm and sorry but 11:00pm is to late to go run especially 2 miles by myself in the dark.. I know this is a challenge for a lot of age group triathlets. I'm sure I will figure something out but right now it is difficult.
Training is going along as usual even though the rest of my life has become kind of crazy lately.
I feel good about my running, I have been getting about 3 days in a week. I have been working on running faster and being able to maintain a faster pace longer. Also Col has been working with me on keeping or even picking the pace up at the end of a long run when I'm tired. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do the Mercer Island 10k or half marathon. If I did the half it would be more of a training run than an all out race since Vancouver is my priority run race. Which might be good or bad mentally. Either would be good for me physically.
Swimming is going alright. We are leaving the Pro Club so we joined another gym and the pool is not chlorine which is kind of strange - it feels slow but isn't. It is not really set up like a true lap swim pool - no clock at the end or lane markers for when you do back stroke, no kick boards or pull buoys (so I got my own) and totally empty most of the time I was there. It is going to take some getting used to but it will be fine. I may find a new swim coach or clinics instead of doing lessons - I could see clinics being beneficial anyway.
I got a ride in a couple weeks ago outside and have been using my trainer so I'm maintaining my cycling. I am switching over to a full flight deck on my bike which I'm hoping will help a bit more with my fit and be nicer on my shoulder (though it is all in my head so I should just let it go and ride more).
Since I'm leaving the Pro Club and thus also leaving my pilates guy Jim so I have started working with a new Pilates instructor - Monique at Element Studios. Coach Tammy recommended her a couple months ago. Col and I are working with her one night a week and then I'm going to start seeing her another day a week in hopes of helping strengthen my shoulder some more and I just really enjoy it so it is a good way for me to destress.
I think that about covers where I'm at right now. 3 months till Vancouver Half Marathon and 4 months till Hawaii 70.3 :) it is going to be a fun summer.
On my run today I was thinking about how much I did and how far I have come in one year. I don't think I would recommend it to anyone but I am proud of what I was able to accomplish in 2007. So to end the year off I though I would recap my favorite experiences, lessons, and of course gear of my year of so much change.
First off I have to say that I was very lucky to have so much support from Kyle who had more confidence in me that I did most days. And of course my family and friends for putting up with me.
I have to give credit where credit is due - I was able to archive so much this year thanks to the help of my great coach Colleen - who pushed me and kept me in check when I needed it. She helped me in so many ways it is hard to even start to explain how thankful I am.
Favorite Experiences/memories/achievements - Biked over 100 miles and faster than 14 mph ("if that" Kyle says) - I "loved" the long training rides with the crew esp a 90 mile ride in Eastern Washington after 3 flat tires I still had energy and beat the guys up the last few hills - Really learned how to swim - Can run more than 3 miles - Can run down hills with out pain in my calves - Ran 2 marathons (1st one in an Ironman, then did the Nike Marathon) - Finished first half Ironman distance event - Hawaii 70.3 - Finished Ironman Canada in 13:50 - lost 15 lbs :)
Lessons to remember - I can keep going even if it hurts - Just keep moving - Salt, gels, and water are very very important - I can keep up with the group - Believing you can do something is the most important thing - It takes a while to recover from events so don't feel bad about still being tired 3 weeks after a race Favorite gear - Cervelo R3 Bike - still feels like a race car and loves to climb - Garmin Forerunner 305 - always know your mileage/time/pace/location so you can just go run and don't have to plan as much - Anything Sugoi - Fizz tank, Jackie knicker, zap vest, hydrolite jacket, tri shorty shorts, ect - their clothes just fit me, you can use most pieces for both running and biking, and I love the fabrics and colors - BBB Carbon Race Ribbons Bicycle Handlebar Tape BHT-04 in white - it is super easy to keep clean - Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX Tire in white - just looks cool ;) - Training Peaks - keeps everything in order - Blueseventy Helix Sleveless wetsuit - Tri-style changing Skirt - best way to change out of wet bottoms - Fuel Belt Helium 2 bottle belt - most comfortable belt, does not move - Speedo spliced swimsuit
Favorite Nutrition stuff (a very personal thing) - Accelerade Lemonaid with Caffeine - Accelerade chocolate gels - Powerbar recovery chocolate shake - Thermolyte sodium supplement - Luna Moons Energy Chews-Pomegranate - Edurox R4 Recovery drink powder Lemon Lime
It is crazy to think that last year I barely knew how to run, bike or swim and now that is all I do (well not really but at least now I sort of know what I'm doing).
I think that covers most of it - if I think of something else I will just add it in later :) Next up will be my 2008 goals...
(this is just to get me through the weekend).
My training levels have picked up to the levels that I feel like it is time to start taking ice baths again.. So what better way to start the next build with than a chilly soak in 46°F water. My legs feel so much better tonight and will thank me tomorrow night when I have to run intervals... 
