A month of active recovery

I can't believe that it has been well over a month since the Nike Marathon and I know I still have not finished writing the race report - just have had a hard time focusing on it long enough to finish the thing. The time has flewn by with the help of lots of craziness at work and the days being so short already.

After finishing the marathon I have mostly just focused on getting back into a training routine. I talked to Kainoa about the rest of the winter month and what I should focus on ect. My biggest thing was I did not want to just do a race to finish (I just did that) if I race I want to be able to push myself and race. I considered signing up for another marathon but she and Jake (my PT) pretty much pulled a veto on me. Ok so no marathon and there was not really time to recover and train up for a even a fast seattle half marathon. so no major races.Saying that but I did sign up for the 12ks of Christmas just for fun. It is a hilly course and not till mid december so I have some more time. Kyle is going to run the 5k and race Sam and my Mom is going to do the 12ks as well (I love that she is hooked on running now "evil laugh"). So it should be a fun.

I am mostly back to normal-ish training levels of 2-3 days swim, 2 -3 days of strength , 2 bikes, and finally I get to go back to running 3 days a week. I was only running twice a week just to make sure my shin would not have any more issues and it has not :) so 3 days a week hear I come.

It has been good to have a bunch of team events to get out in the rainy/cold weather and get in the longer weekend workouts.

Team Trail Run a couple weeks ago.


Group ride in the rain _ kyle was leading and was almost completely clean while the rest of us were covered in dirt lol


Less hard-core but still fun - Group spin while watching Ironman videos. Some how I managed to make it the full 1:30 though I got really unfocused an hour in...


I have also been thinking a lot about what other races I want to do in 2010... Right now it sounds like some run races to start, Wildflower half ironman, IM CDA of course, maybe Ironman Boulder, or something else in August and some local sprints. Mostly my focus is what it will take for me to be prepared for IM CDA. I feel good and ready to start the training but Kainoa does not want me to burn out sooo the rest of Nov and Dec will be mellow and relaxed and in Jan will start to get a bit more focused but nothing to long or intense yet ;)

If you went to starbucks.com a couple of weeks ago you would have a seen a video about how much Kyle and I like Starbucks Via. The funny part was that Kyle talked way more then I did but they would up using more of me - guess it helps to work with them. Anyway I guess it is my 5 seconds of fame.

revising goals

The past couple weeks have been a challenge for me both physically and probably more mentally. It all started with a twinge in my right shin after a recovery week run that never went away or got better the last couple of weeks. First I got some xrays that showed no problems but after still feeling pain on a test run last week my coach was able to get me a appointment with a great ortho - Dr Marla Kaufman at the UW on Friday. She set me up to get an MRI on Saturday morning - which I have to say was one of the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I am not good at being still - all I wanted to do was wiggle my toes. I had to wait till Monday for the fallow up and find out the results. So I spent the rest of teh weekend trying not to think about it.

I spent the rest of the day Saturday on my bike and had so much fun I just kept ridding until I got hungry and had Kyle meet me at the dairy freeze in North Bend so that my scheduled 3 hour ride did not turn in to 6 hours...

Mid ride I decided to fallow some route markings just to see where they went.

Happened to find some members of "The Herd" and rode with them for :30 or so


View from the bridge on Tolt Hill Road


The old trains in Snoqualmie WA


In North Bend, WA


Sunday we went up to Widbey and while the guys went fishing I rode support for my Mom during her long run (13.5 miles) and she did so great. Made me so proud she is my Mom and how healthy she is at 59 years young :)


The guys caught 2 Coho Salmon - Jerry showing them off.


Kyle & I enjoying the sun


The weekend was so much fun it was not till Monday morning when I talked to Kainoa before the start of masters swim that it kind of hit me. She mentioned that Nike might just not happen... My heart seriously dropped to my feet. I knew that was an option just had not really heard it or said it out loud. The rest of the swim workout and the morning till my appointment at 11:20a I was completely distracted and so nervous for the results.

I was beyond relived when I finally got to find out that the MRI showed no signs of a stress fracture or any tearing in the tissue. Dr Kaufman walked me through all the images from the MRI and what she would be looking for and did not see. Then we talked about next steps. I got a prescription for Physical therapy and massage. I would need to do ice massage twice a day, deep water running, the exercises from PT, keep my fitness up with cross training and at the same time rest my shin. She told me the Nike marathon was still a big maybe and all depended on how things improve or not in the next couple of weeks... Afterwards I talked with Kainoa and she agreed still not sure if a marathon was really an option at this point but agreed to see what Jake (my PT) said about it.

So yesterday I had PT - Jake thinks that as I thought probably running with bad form on my last long run took my shin over the edge in combination with my right hip could still be stronger and lack of flexibility in my feet (especially my right). He also said that if I threw out all my time goals and wanted to still finish the marathon I could probably do that... But that it would probably require a walk/run plan to prevent any pain... hmmm

It was really hard I already gave up on a Boston qualifying time last week after I had to take 2 full weeks off running.. But a walk/run marathon with no time goal at all will be a HUGE mental challenge for me. I am MUCH better at pushing myself and going hard then at going easy and being smart.

If it were any other race I would probably say screw it and not do it but this race means a lot to me. I talked my Mom into doing it as her first half marathon on her 60th birthday. Yeah I know it is more about her doing it but it was meant to be something we both did together. Not to mention I really don't like the idea of not doing a race I signed up and spent money on - I also want the Tiffany necklace and always need another finishers shirt.

So goodbye Boston (for now) and lets just hope I can start running soon so I don't have to do to much walk/run stuff on race day. I'll do it if I have to but would much rather just run even if it is slower than I had been training for before this whole thing started. The new goal is just to be able to run...

it is all about the legs

*Waring this blog post is the result of not having 2 workouts everyday which results in my ADD side coming out and spending to much time with my iPhone camera

It feels like this week I have spent more time focusing on recovery then actually working out or running. My legs and body were a bit achy after the run on Sunday so on Monday I even broke out the compression socks at work even though I wore a skirt to work. I swear it is the hottest fall fashion trend for 2009.

My only run so far this week was Monday night. I did hill repeat run - 3 x 1 mile - hard effort on the down and steady on the way up. Luckily I live on the top of a mile long hill and even more lucky Kyle agreed to ride with me in the dark. I did a :20 warm up and my right calf had a small tinge and my right hamstring was sore. I moved past it and it really forced me to focus on good form on the down hills so I did not make it hurt more.

Check out the elevation profile.


The funny thing that happened was that as my down hills got slower my uphills got faster and my heart rate never really got as high as I thought it would be. I was pretty tired to start but I was so happy I did it. I felt strong and was really happy with my effort. Afterwards I stretched out and had a small dinner before passing out and going to bed early.

I was not surprised at all that I was very sore on Tuesday morning. I mean I ran hard 2 days in a row. But I was annoyed that tinge in my right calf was still there. I managed to get through my strength workout but went very very easy on my legs. Actually I mostly stretched and did not of the exercises from when I was getting PT.

So on Wednesday morning when I saw Kainoa at Masters swim we chatted about the runs and she pulled my track workout from my training. I was actually pretty bummed. I was like wait wait it is not that bad no I can do it. lol Yeah this is exactly why I have a coach to tell me to stop and not over do it. She told me making sure I am ready for my 20 miler on Saturday is way more important then the track workout. Especially since the last 5 miles I need to run some negatives down all the way to 7:45 m/mi. So I got over it and let go of the idea of running a hard/fun track workout.

This is where it hurt.. (this is what happens when I loose focus in a 5 hour meeting)

Since I had no track workout to do in the evening I came home, had dinner and spent some quality time with trigger point to try and help loosen my legs up. (I fallowed this by falling asleep on the floor at 8:30p because I swear it felt like midnight)

Luckily this morning I had my weekly pilates session with Iron Monique and she said she would also do some ART massage to help me get past this tight calf/shin thing. As expected the ART hurt but she defiantly got a few ropes in my calf loosened up :) I have spent the rest of the day in my compression socks (I wore pants to work at least so I did not look to dorky).
Fingers crossed. I'm actually not that worried it does feel better but I am still wearing compression socks.

Tomorrow morning I have an open water swim and then it is all about getting ready for the 20 miler on Saturday morning (well I have to go to work to). Just have to decide on a good route with an easy last 5 miles so I can push I pace... ????

recovery week

I was soo glad to have a recovery week. My legs have felt tight and kind of achy all week. I have spent more time with my foam roller & Trigger point this week than in a long time. My legs are slowly excepting their fate of many many miles of running. Since it was a recovery week I had a recovery run on Monday & I only had to do 3 miles of tempo on Wednesday instead of 6 like last week. On Friday my legs did not feel great and I felt tired so Kainoa even let me cancel my "recovery" run. So I got lots and lots of rest and recovery which was wonderful.

Even my weekend long run was "only" 13 miles at steady aerobic pace in zones 3A-3B. Haha yeah I am not so good at just steady aerobic pace. I lost track of the day on Saturday so after a 1:40 team bike ride & Starbucks of course. I decided rather then run a mostly flat course from Leshi I wanted to run the Mercer Island half marathon course in the middle of the day. Note that our fall cool weather is gone and it was over 80 °F the last couple of days. Though Kyle did agree to ride sherpa for me so I had 2 full bottle of liquid (1 plain water, 1 gatorade) and he carried my gels so how bad could it be right.. When I started getting ready i could not find my iPod for the life of me so i told Kyle he had to talk more (I know as if that is really a problem for Sir Talk's a lot).

When I started I was mostly annoyed with a little tinge in my right calf/shin. Overall I felt pretty good and as usual I went out a bit fast. Partly because I only seem to have 2 gears - hard or easy. so i went hard and mile 1 was 7:32, 2 was 7:55, 3 was 7:43, 4 was 7:52 and at this point Kyle was like um slow down you are running way harder then you need to.. So 5 was 7:57. He was great, handed me the water bottle every half mile and my gels at mile 3, 6 & 10 all the while reminding me to breath and relax ect. He even managed to take some video of me running. I know exciting stuff lol.

The hills really got started around mile 6 so it became easier to slow my pace though not my effort (ran a 8:23).
My pace slowed but still kept my average pace well with in my goal of 8:20 m/mi. I was getting really hot and took a salt cap with my gel at mile 6 mark. I really wanted to pour my bottle of water on my head but I knew I would want to drink it more. I dug deep and got mile 7 down to 8:16. But then my stomach started to feel kind of sloshy and I was getting really really hot. There was no wind to help cool me off and less trees for shade :( Mile 8 was 8:31, 9 was 8:57.

Kyle tried to distract me by taking another video of me.

Mile 10 it really got hard. I ate a gel even though my stomach was not happy, my legs felt like cement and my time showed it - 9:23 ouch there goes 8:20 over all pace. I tried my best to get back after it and use some of the downhills but I had a hard time staying on my toes and was slapping my feet to much. I just wanted to be done and started thinking about a lovely ice bath and a slurpee of all things. Well really anything cold sounded good. Mile 11 was back to 8:15 but then 12 was 9:50 because I actually walked a few steps up a hill... At least mile 13 I stayed after it and did my best to just get it done so 9:15 was an improvement. I managed to run up the final hill to the finish line and wound up running 13.18 miles in 1:51:34 that is 8:27 m/mi average pace.

I was just glad to be DONE with it. Well actually I was pretty bummed that I fell apart the last 3 miles especially. Usually I'm pretty good at finishing strong but I just did not have it. It is weird to think that it felt like my 20 miler was easier than "just" 13 mile run this week.

After a :20 min ice bath and coke slurpee I feel better about the run. I was pretty bummed right after but oh well it is just a training run and it will just make me stronger in the end. I'm spending the rest of the night up with my compression socks on, feet up and focusing on recovery so that I can be ready for this coming week. Lets just say it is the opposite of a recovery week... I love a good challenge ;)



One last thing after completely emptying my tri bag and making a huge mess.
I found my iPod and what a shock I had it the whole time. It was in the phone pocket on the strap.. doh

my body is revolting

My training has been going really well lately - really great 4 hour rides, good base runs but for some reason this week - the week before Vancouver half marathon everything hurts.. It really started last week when my left hip started to cramp and grip - it hurt to walk so I got some ART massage and did some foam roller and it was fine in a day or so. In pilates on Thursday my coordination was all off and my muscles were tired.
Then this week my right hip decided to lock up and hurt even more then the left one.. so Some more ART, did the foam roller, focused on hip strength in pilates and I spent the rest of Tuesday not being able to walk.. hmm Now the rest of the week my legs have felt sore and tired, my shoulders is achy, my core is even tight and kind of sore. I'm super low on energy and not very motivated because everything is so tight.
I'm hoping this is mostly just about my body needing some rest and using this mini taper to go overboard. fingers crossed my legs show up on Sunday..

recovery month

Since the Seattle half marathon I have been in a state of rest and recovery. Kainoa continued to give me work outs but with teh instructions that I could miss some and the only thing I had to do was the strength workouts. So that is pretty much what I did all month, I ran at least once a week, spent some time on the spin bike, got in the pool a few times and did strength training 3 days a week.. and I struggled with the concept of resting and not doing twice a day work outs and that sort of thing.
I did manage to completely destroy my normal eating habits - healthy things were replaced with egg nog and or cookies.. lots and lots of cookies.

Luckily the week before Christmas I was distracted by snow, lots and lots of snow at my house. It snowed enough to shut down the Seattle region and I just played outside. The first day I did everything and anything I could outside just to spend time in the white stuff. I started with a walk to Starbucks, then pulled out my mountain bike for some riding, then talked Kyle into riding with me, then made some snow angles, dragged the cats out for a little bit. Pretty much I spent the entire day out in the snow. We got over a foot of snow and it was the perfect snow day.
The crazy part was that unlike most times when it snows in Seattle it stayed cold and kept snowing till Christmas so I only managed to go into work for a couple of hours on the 24th and the rest of the week I worked from home and took snow breaks. We went to REI and got some winter gear and picked up a pair of Yaktrax Pro for our running shoes. They worked perfect the first couple of days while the snow was compact and not covered in road sand. I managed to get a couple of runs in which felt great and was a lot like trail running. There is just something about being in the snow - it is quiet, calm and just so pretty.

On Christmas eve we had a blast building some snow people - A James Bond snow man and a snowy Bond Girl.
But a neighbor down the street went even further and build a snowman that is taller than his house..

And with that the fully successful recovery month ended yesterday (Jan 1). I feel completely out of shape and ready to start the hard work back into better/faster shape.

To answer a few people's question - Yes I am still alive.
I know I said I would post a race report to explain my finisher photos but for some reason I can't seem to finish it. I have most of it written and notes with photos for the whole thing but to be honest I'm still struggling with how I feel about the race and how I did. So sorry for the delay hopefully I will have it done soon.

In the mean time I have been going to masters swim 3 days a week again and getting some running in to get ready to do the Seattle half marathon in a week.. yeah I'm not sure what i was thinking but it is just a run and my goal is to just enjoy myself so it should not be to intense. But I already told Kainoa that after the race I want an entire week off from all forms of scheduled training. I need a break. I will probably still run or maybe go rock climbing, maybe yoga - really just what ever I feel like. Maybe just clean out our garage and reorganize things before the next season begins.

coming out of the fog

This past week I finally got back into the swing of training but still felt kind of off. I got all my work outs in I'm just struggling when it comes to the hard efforts and it takes me about 30 min to warm up. In masters swim I had to use my flippers to keep up and had to break up some of the hard efforts. On the bike and run i just felt kind of putsy and struggled with my breathing at the higher zones. I started weezing while running hill repeats on Wednesday night.
Most of the week my confidence has been almost nonexistent especially when I realized that Clearwater is less than a month away and I don't feel 100%. I mean I really only have another week to train and then it is taper time. I know I can finish but I would like to have a good day and right now I don't feel stellar. Honestly it is hard to feel completely confident about the race when I have been feeling fatigued and operating at half speed.

However Friday things started to get a bit better. I slept in and instead of going to masters swim I swam after work. I actually felt pretty good in the water and was able to get most of my 100s down below 1:50 which I am happy with.
I felt even more like myself on Saturday. Kyle and I went for along run out on the Snoqualmie River Trail out in Carnation. For some reason it always seems to be raining when we run out there. As usual it took a good 30 min to warm up and get in a good rhythm but once I did I felt great. I also managed to not focus on the rain and thought about what I might want to do for races the next year or two. It is amazing once I find something positive to think about the miles/time just breeze by. I ran for 2 hours a which felt completely comfortable and I staid with in zone 2 almost the entire way. The best part is that I was able to get about 14 miles in that time which is back to my usual pace :)

Today I slept in and puttered around the house till about 11a and then got on my bike for a 2 hour ride with some tempos and fallowed that up with a 40 min run. I just did the lake Sammamish loop and took it easy for the first 45 min while I road west lake sammamish road - which is a horrible road to ride on - it is so bumpy and uneven I had acelerade splashing out all over te place. It did not help that last night we had the 1st wind storm of the fall/winter and there was derby everywhere. Then once I was on east lake Sammamish I started the to focus and did two 30 min at Olympic pace. I was surprised I actually felt pretty good. My legs were a bit heavy from running yesterday but in all I felt good. I took my time transitioning to the run but I knew I would overheat if I did not change out of capris and a jacket. For the run I went easy the first 20 min then with super heavy legs had to turn it up to a a zone 3/ harder effort. It was really hard but I found something to repeat over and over and managed to almost relax and ignore my legs and pick up the pace. I passed my house at 35 min and almost stopped and called it quits but talked myself into finishing what I stated and ran another 5 min.

So now after the weekend of training I feel better about where I stand. I don't feel perfect but better. Hopefully this coming week will help me some more with my confidence. Really who know the mental piece is always my greatest weakness - even more than the swim. But I'm optimistic that Kainoa will have me as well prepared as I can hope to be.. and as she keeps telling me "I'm stronger than I think". Time to break out some mental training and all the mind games that go along with it...

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..

were not in summer anymore

We slept in on Sunday since both Kyle and I were tired from racing on Saturday but Kyle checked the weather and saw that it was supposed to start raining (I never check teh weather I just go and do what I can). So anyway eventually we got up and got on our bikes for a ride. I had to do 2 hours with 2 x 30 min at Olympic Distance race pace with 15 min recovery in between. We both wanted to stay away from to many hills and just focus on spinning in the aero position.
The warm up went well - it is mostly down hill so it is easy to keep your heart rate down. We headed east on hwy 202 from Redmond and rode out for about an hour to Fall City. Kyle lead the entire way - he said he felt tired but was still averaging 20 mph so it was still a challenge for me to stay on his wheel.
Kyle declared he needed something to eat so we stopped at Small Fried to share a burger, fries, a thing of mac & cheese and a coke. Since we felt a few little rain drops so we ate quickly and got back on teh road. Check out my new baby blue tires.. I'm very coordinated now, baby blue, red & white :)
After our snack in Fall City we headed back the same way be came out. Kyle seemed to pick up the pace or it just felt like it went by faster. There were a few section of light rain but nothing to bad. We made it home just before the rain really started to come down.
We both got ready to head out on a run but as we started to head out the sky seemed to just open up and down pour with some lightening and thunder for good measure so we decided not to run. I know I should have sucked it up and ran but it was raining soo hard and I was tired so I just could not myself to go out to get completely soaked. I am not ready for this fall weather - it seems to be in full swing already and it is Still August. Time to pull out all the rain gear, lights, and reflective stuff.
Luckily Monday was the start of my recovery week so I get 2 days off this week instead of just one.

recovery week 1

So lets see Monday I was sore and tired and then spent the entire day in the mini driving home. I think the full day of driving wore me out almost as much as the race.. Luckily Kyle and I stopped every couple of hours to stretch our legs and switched off driving so nether one of us had to drive for to long. We got home at about 12:30 in the morning which sucked - we left everything packed in the car and went straight to bed.
Tuesday I was completely useless. I wore myself out just unpacking the car and then I think I took a nap every 4 hours and was in bed by 10pm.
Wednesday I went to the Orthopedic to have my right ankle looked at - it has hurt and has limited range of motion when I point my toes for a while now and has just not gotten better. Luckily no cracks or anything but I did wind up getting a cortisone shot - which hurt the rest of the day. Fingers crossed in a couple of months it will be all better and I won't have to go back for any further examinations. Then I went back to work but really I was just surviving on coffee/caffeine. I considered doing a work out of some sort to stretch out but instead came home and took a nap and then was in bed by 10pm.
Thursday I woke up early and got myself to pilates for a little help loosening up. My entire body was tight so Monique went easy on me and really focused on stretching out. I only had to have one cappuccino at work. As soon as I was off work I came home and once again took an hour nap then preceded to chill the rest of the night.
Friday I slept in till 7am but after work I went for a 20 mile bike ride - nothing intense just nice and easy. It was funny about half way i started to feel so tired I struggled to get my water bottle. It was kind of bad. I made it back home but I think it was my slowest 20 miler in a long time. Ah well my heart rate barely climbed out of zone 1 most of the ride so slow is to be expected. I immediately took a nap in the warm evening sun before going to watch some track racing down at the Velodrome with Kyle, Col and Bryan.
Saturday we woke up only early enough to watch the Tour de France final time trial stage before heading to Green Lake for a swim. We met Monique at the boat house - it was her 1st open water swim of the year and crazy girl has an Olympic tri next weekend.. ah well Kyle and her both swam circles around me. We swam for about 20 minutes. I actually felt pretty good and my ankle did not hurt to much at all. When we were getting back on the dock both Kyle and Monique declared they think I need more upper body strength to get more power out of my stroke and thus swim faster.. I guess that is what I get for being a skier all my life (strong legs and wimpy upper body). I took a nap while Kyle got his hair cut or something. Later in the evening for the first time in I can't even rember Kyle and I went to a movie - we saw wall-e. Yes I know it is Disney but it was really good and has a great underlying message.
Today (Sunday) Monique and I had talked about doing a run around green lake - she said something about 8 miles - haha.. In the end I decided not to run myself into the ground and instead I went for a nice 5 mile trail run. I love doing trail runs as recovery runs because I completely ignore my pace and just enjoy myself. Mostly I focused on not running through horse poop but I had fun all the same. Afterwards i found myself laying outside and took my second nap of the day ;)

So I think I averaged at least 1 nap a day - which says something... I'm expecting to slowly ween myself off the evening naps and be back to somewhat normal in the next week or so. But at the same time I get to enjoy another week of recovery :)

a week of surprises

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...

changes

I have still not written a full race report for Hawaii 70.3 - for some reason it just kind of fell off my radar. Coming back from a vacation is always hard but it only made it worse when it was freezing cold and raining last week. I took a couple days almost completely off because I seemed to have brought a sinus cold home with me. I did Pilates to help stretch out but that was it till Thursday when I ran for about 30 min which felt pretty good just to loosen up my legs. Friday I got back in the pool for a short swim which felt really weird after swimming in warm salt water for a week. My legs just did not float anymore - I had to kick.
Once the weekend came around I felt more like myself and went for an hour run with a few hills thrown in for good measure. I was surprised I felt pretty good and was able to keep a good pace going even up the hills. I kept expecting to feel more fatigued but never did.
Sunday Kyle and I met up with Monique and did a new/different route around the north end of the Lake Washington. It was a really good mix of terrain, some long gradual climb, super steep short climbs, flats. We all had fun pushing and pacing each other. Though the ride ended with a mini van intentionally trying to push Kyle off the road. So we got to talk to the cops - next time something like that happens we have to get a full license plate. I took Monday off completely for a good recovery.

That covers getting back into training but the huge change last week was that after a lot of thought, stress, worry, and time (about 2 months probably) I decided it was time for me to make a change. Instead of having Coach Col creating my training plans and training with me once a week I am going to try using Mark allen online coach and work with a local swim coach from time to time. I am also looking at joining the new CycleU tri-team to have a larger group of people to train with.
This was an incredibly difficult decision to make because Col and I were friends before she became my coach. She only thought I was a little bit crazy when I decided to do Ironman Canada in 2006 with no base and very little experience. Basically she has been a large part and a big help to get me to where I am today and I will always be immensely grateful to her...

It still feels weird but I'm excited to get ready for Vineman 70.3 which is just a little over a month away...

in progress

It has not even been almost 2 weeks since my last race and I only have 9 days till we leave for Hawaii for my next race. Happily I am starting to feel about 75% recovered and even better I feel like I have been getting some good training in this week (with out over doing it).
I'm especially looking forward to some long training the next couple of days in 80 °F weather. Actually I'm thinking of leaving work early tomorrow (Friday) to go do a long ride in the heat and then do my long run on Saturday again in the heat. Then I can go skiing on Sunday (yes I know how weird that sounds). The only downfall of this plan is that I can't find anyone else who can go ride long tomorrow so I would be riding alone - not a deal breaker but not as fun. The other thing is that it is Bike to work day so I feel compelled to ride my bike...
In other thoughts - I can't believe the airlines charge sooo much to bring a bike. Last year it was $85 and that was dumb now it is $100... I could understand if it was by weight but Kyle and I can pack our bikes and get the weight under 50 lbs but no I guarantee we will still get charged the stupid fee. Way to support healthy lifestyle - right... But since we can go up to 80lbs believe me we will - get our money worth.
I have started my packing list, things we will need to buy once we get there, fun things to do list, and of course my all important race plan - none of which are completed but I have general ideas and maybe a few details..
ok that is all for now.. we will see if I decide to do tomorrow..

recovery week

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...

love recovery weeks

I ended last week with a great weekend of training - 3 hour ride on saturday and a 10 mile run on Sunday. I felt great doing both and now I'm enjoying a much needed recovery week. I had Monday completely off from training - which was great but always feels weird. I started Tuesday with pilates with Col and then in the evening Coach Col kicked my ass with hill repeats times 6 - as with recovery weeks I did not have much pep in me but I muscled my way though it. Of course I managed to forget my garmin :( I think my brain sort of shuts down to help recovery or something.

This morning I had planned to ride in to work (or at least half way in) but I woke up late and just could not get out of the house in time so I drove my bike to work. The weather was amazing on the way in and I sort of wished I had ridden in but oh well. Instead of riding home - since I don't have overnight parking at work I drove to Mercer Island and rode the island loop and out on to the bridge (to get some side wind training) and back to get about an hour+ ride in on my single. I had to ride with no socks because I seemed to have forgoten them durring my morning rush out of the house. Luckily even though the sky looked stormy at times I managed to stay dry and it was even sunny part of the time. I love getting out on my single it is great for base training and keeps me honest - no cheating with those gears. I had to take a picture it was so pretty - just before sunset. And yes I'm a dork for taking a seft portrait but hey I was having fun. lol

feeling better

The sun is out and I feel a lot better today. Yesterday I napped and rested and generally let my body recover some more. I did not mange to get up early and swim like I was supposed to but I will get it in after I run with Col tonight.

not quite back yet

I'm not sure if it is because it takes me forever and a day to recover from things but I did not do my planned 5 mile run today. I meant to do it in the morning when Kyle got up early to ride his single speed into work but it was dark, foggy and the bed was much to warm, comfy and I felt tired so I stayed in bed till 6:30a and then just got ready and went to work.
Work is beyond crazy right now so there was no chance I was getting out early to get a run in before meeting with my mom for our weekly visit and garden time. Even though I did not run I did prune a huge box hedge in the back yard which required a lot of upper body strength - but not the same I know. It was dark at 8p and we put the garden stuff away around 8:30p. It is not to late to run but it is dark and I don't really like running alone in the dark at night so no run today.
Other things for today was that I required 3 shots of espresso to function and my lower back kind of hurt if I moved the wrong way or something (it did this same thing for a couple days in Maui last week).

So I think that is a great list of excuses but oh well I will see what Col says - probably be in some trouble since we are supposed to be starting to ramp up my mileage again to be ready for Seattle and skippinga run does not help.

recovering in Maui

Just a few quick things - Kyle and I have been enjoying a wonderful vacation to celebrate some friends getting married in Maui this week (sadly we go home tomorrow night). So I have gradually started getting back to some sort of exercise. Before leaving on Wed afternoon I ran 4 miles around greenlake with Col. As usual I started out a little fast and came to regret it later. I was sort of surprised I did not feel worse - I mean my legs were sort of heavy and my energy was dragging but I kind of just ran the speed I felt like going and it turned out to be about an 8:23 pace. The the other surprise is later in the day I never hit the wall - I did not require a 2 hour nap like after yoga the other day.
We got to Maui late Wed night so we went straight to dinner and then to sleep.
Thursday morning we got up early and headed straight to the beach for a swim and found out that the beach at our hotel sucks for swimming so it was a short one. Though later in the day we found a better beach and went for about a 30 min swim. Kyle saw a sea turtle and there were tons of fish so it was an entertaining swim. I have to say I love swimming in warm salt water - it is like have a wetsuit on but way better. In the evening we went to the rehearsal dinner on a catamaran - sadly there was no wind at all so never really got to sail but otherwise it was a lot of fun.
Friday morning we ran - we both put on our garmins and just started running down the street in front of our hotel. Even at 7am it was already warm and sunny so we both took a salt and I should have probably ate something before because I was sort of dragging a bit. We took it easy and I was just a bit behind Kyle the whole way. We just did a simple out and back and on the way back I stopped for a second at park and washed my face off which did help me feel a bit better. In all we only ran 3 miles in 26:35 min but my legs felt good - still not back to normal but manageable.
Friday afternoon/evening was the wedding which was a lot of fun. Dinner was amazing and the entire event fit the couple perfectly. By the end of the evening everyone was in the pool. lol Needless to say we got to bed late.
This morning I was still awake early and we went out to another beach near by to swim and check out the fish/turtles. We saw two turtles and ton of fish but it was really crowded and kind of windy so we only swam for about 30 min or so. Then later on we went to a bbq at the bride and grooms house and afterwards a group all went to a great little bay for snorkeling so Kyle and swam. We swam in the bay for about an hour or so. We swam to the opening of the bay and back so the current and wind was kind of strong on the way back in so it was a tough swim. The cool was we saw 2 turtles and swam around with them for quite a while and whole bunch of different fish we had not really seen before. I was thoroughly tired afterwards.
Tonight we pack our bag so we can check out super early so we can go do 2.5 hours of kayaking tomorrow morning before we fly out in the evening. So we may or may not run tomorrow but I can guarantee we will swim again... I would post of pics but I can't seem to find either my camera corn or my card reader so when I find those things I will post pics. I highly recommend Maui as the perfect place to recover from an Ironman race.. The combination of relaxed island time and nice weather are perfect. :)

Other news is that both Kyle and I are registered for the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii on May 30th, 2008 with the goal of doing better than this year (should be easy since I walked the whole half marathon) and hopefully we can talk some more of the crew into jdoing it again.

sort of back

This morning in an effort to both get back into the habit of training again and to stretch out I went to Bikram/hot yoga. The instructor was not the best but it still was hot and I got some really good stretching in. I felt pretty good during but about 2 hours afterwards I completely hit a wall. Kyle and I went to breakfast and on our way home I just got so tired as soon as we were back home I layed down just for a minute. So 2 hours later Kyle came in and asked if I was going to ever get up since it was 3pm. It really only felt like 30 min or something but I guess I was asleep for 2 hours. So I'm guess I'm not fully recovered - not that I was expecting to be.

Update on race report - I plan to have it doen by end of day tomorrow.