A Sunday Swim

SWIM: 1000m in 40 mins. Mostly splashing around, drilling, stopping for a break. Not a focused swim at all! I tried the butterfly stroke for the first time, what a workout!

Now's a good a time as any to recap January, my first month of real IM training:
I'm enjoying it so far, I have that So Tired But Lovin' It feeling. I have moments of dread and moments of invincibility. Days when I can go forever and days when I don't think I'll be able to walk to the parking lot. I think that's all par for the course. And the real stuff hasn't even started yet!

SWIM: 16388 yards in 7.57 hours (Or 9.31 miles)
BIKE: 259.14 miles in 15.17 hours
RUN: 102.43 miles in 15.9 hours
STRENGTH: 1 hour

Compared to 2009:
SWIM: 2050 yards in 3.5 hours
BIKE: 169 miles in 10.17 hours
RUN: 59.5miles in 9.65 hours
STRENGTH: 0.5 hour

And 2008:
SWIM: 3300 yards in 1.835 hours
BIKE: 187 miles in 12.8 hours
RUN: 113.17 miles in 18.48 hours (training for marathon)
STRENGTH: 2.10 hours

And 2007:
SWIM: 20700 yards in 10.2 hours
BIKE: 195.55 miles in 12.97 hours
RUN: 4.69 miles in 3.37 hours (injured, explains why I swam so much)
STRENGTH: 0.5 hour

First 18-miler

RUN: 18.2 miles, 3 hrs and 4 minutes. Calculated as just over 10 min/mile pace, but it includes traffic stops. Weather at start was ~1/2" snow and 22F, at the end it was wet slush and 33F.

As always, I was overdressed. And oddly, I was warm at the start but not at the end. Funny how that works.

I'd mapped out a simple route: home to Big River (~5.5), Monday group route (7), then home again (~5.5), with some little circles and loops in between to vary it up. By breaking 18 into small segments, it's easier to process and it gave me planned breaks for water and pit stops. A lot of thinking goes into planning these routes, to include some parks, bathrooms, water fountains, etc. I've already mapped out a potential 20-miler for a few weeks from now. And even with all the planning, I still feel like a pack mule heading out the door. Here's what I carried with me yesterday: FuelBelt with 4 bottles, 5 gels, credit card and a few $1, phone, house keys, YMCA card, 2 plastic baggies, page of maps just in case, kleenex, I think that's it. Most of it ended up in the lower pockets of the jacket right next to the FuelBelt, added a few pounds to the belly.


I was warm within the first mile. I debated turning around, but I knew that once I got away from the houses and into the wind I'd get cold. (wind exposure was also part of route planning, I'd planned a run in an exposed park with the wind at my back.) I struggled the first 2 miles to get used to the snow, I was sliding and losing traction. My pace was only 10 m/m, I was hoping for 9.5 m/m. I'd speed up on clear pavement but lose it again on snow. By 3 miles I'd accepted this and slowed down. Running on snow is tiring, and I expected to have some sore hip muscles tomorow.


Somewhere around 3.5 miles I realized I should have weighed myself, to monitor water loss during the run. I debated turning around and mentally calculated that I could repeat the 3.5-odd miles about 6 times to get 18. Why my mind does this, I don't know. But I break it up in my head and for some reason running the same 6 miles 3x sounds shorter than doing 18 once. Wasn't I just complaining about doing laps in a pool?


I stopped at the YMCA at 4.5 miles for bio-break and a gel. Stopped again at 5.5 at BRR to check on something from the FBR. All these break were refreshing and let my legs clear up. I decided then to run the rest of the route by enjoying traffic stops and walking when I wanted to, as opposed to pushing it for a steady pace. I might be the last person on the running planet to learn that long runs are training to keep you on your feet for a long time, not for a long distance. With that in mind, I altered the game plan.


I set off on the Monday night route, the first time I'd run it in broad daylight, instead of evening or darkness. The day was warming up and I'd taken my orange Oglesby Turkey Trot hat off. Unable to find a place to store it I held it in a gloved hand. Surprisingly, I thought I was lost a few times early in the run, I didn't recognize the streets in daylight. At 7.65 I was along the Des Peres, moving along smoothly, when my mind had the thought of "I can turn around at 9, go back the way I came". Why do I think that turning around and re-running the route will be easier or shorter than continuing on?


Needless to say, I continued on. I was the only runner at the time, but there were many footprints in the snow. Often, I would forget I was running. I've been asked what I think about on long runs since I don't listen to music. My mind wanders from topic to topic and pieces of songs play in my head. Today's song was MacNamara's Band by Bing Crosby, actually it was just one line of the song, a snippet played over and over in the back of my mind. I don't really "think", it's more like a dream state with random and seemingly unconnected thoughts quickly fluttering by. But yet, there must be something to this type of thinking, as I have some of my greatest ideas in long workouts. Well I think they're great anyway.


Running in the daytime revealed pieces of this course I'd never realized. There are beautiful tiles marking the park path embedded in the sidewalks that I occasionally saw through the snow. There are two cemetaries on the route. There are signs to Leisure and Marcus Parks, parks that I was previously unaware of. More importantly, I realized why I sometimes struggle on this run on Monday nights-- there are slight hills that I didn't know about!

At 10.7 miles, I decided to take in another gel so I stopped at an intersection with a waist-high wall. My hands tend to lock up in the cold because they are balled up in my gloves, so the wall helped me sort my belongings without having to throw them on the ground. While packing up and readying to go, I realized I couldn't find my orange hat. At this point a runner came from behind and passed me. No hat on the wall, the ground, or on the path behind me. Not in my coat, pockets, or on my head (checked there repeatedly). Oh No!!! What to do?!?! Should I go back for a schwag hat? From a race back home that I placed in my AG? Duh, Of Course I go back!! So I doubled back, my pace a bit faster, and my mind rapidly doing the math--where do I last remember carrying it? --I should have asked that runner if he saw it? --Did I drop it at an intersection? --Did another person already find it?

It wasn't at the first intersection, nor the second. Now I was getting worried. Was there going to be some random St Louisan wearing MY Turkey Trot hat? Someone who had no Idea Where Oglesby Is? Heck no!! I picked up the pace even more. Stupid orange hat! Where was it?!?! Just when I was thinking I was wasting my time, I could see it just past a pedestrian bridge. There is was! Untouched. Unstolen. Mine. I promptly put it on, and left it there for the remainder of the run. The Garmin said 11.7 miles. I'd added 2 miles to my route over a hat, such a silly thing, I should be hiding my face under that hat! Now I had some recalculating to do.

Originally, I was going to run back to BRR before going home. That got scratched. Now I just had to head towards home. Earlier, I'd debated stopping at the Schnucks south of home to get some post-run food and ice. I'd have to walk home, but it was only a mile. Scratch that too. Besides, who needs to buy ice when you can just stand outside for 12 minutes?! Onward towards home!

The remaining miles got harder. There are some good hills in the Kingshwy & Chippewa area. But these are main roads with turning traffic, pedestrians, and pollution. Soon enough I came back to TG Park. At this point, 17.1 miles in, I was eager to finish and checking the distance every tenth or so. Thoughts are all the more disjointed at this point. At 17.3, the charged-this-morning Garmin sounded the Low Battery alarm. At 17.7 I turned back onto my street. At 18.2 and a block from home, I called it Done

I recovered surprisingly well from this run (I did it yesterday). I didn't do the ice bath, just some NSAIDs. I didn't nap and just went to bed early. But I've been ravenously hungry since, and unable to satisfy that hunger. I might be dehydrated too, and mis-reading it as hunger. I certainly did not drink enough on this run, and that needs to remedied! No sore hips, no blisters, no tendons that ache. Just lots of fatigue from a body yearning to recover, and to my surprise, ready for more.

Next up: the season's first 20-miler!

All swum out

SWIM: 2700 yards, 1:13. That's about 1.53 miles! I was wondering today how many laps equal ironman, turns out it's 4224 yards or 84.5 laps. I just did 54. Getting there!

It's funny how the distance can play with your head. Or maybe it's only funny because I'm so tired right now. Anyway, when checking my training plan last night I realized I had a 500y WU, then aerobic 1200y and 800y sets, then a CD. 1200 yards is 24 laps. 24 times, back and forth, back and forth. Then after a 60s rest, another 16 laps, back and forth, back and forth. Ugh, sounded awful. At the same time, I'm planning to run 18 miles tomorrow. Why did I equate a 1200y swim with an 18 mile run, better yet why was I excited about the run but not the swim? One will take 3hrs, the other only 30-some minutes.

Turns out the swim wasn't bad at all. I had a long WU, it took some time before I get into a groove. I'm still learning the new drills and they still tire me, so I would look good for 10 laps or so before struggling to keep the hands, elbows, shoulders, head, hips, feet, weight, and balance all in check. So I turned to focusing on one thing per lap. The others would fall apart on me, but by focusing on only one I could finish the set. My form suffered horribly by the end.

I did learn though that I need to work kicking on my side. When I rotate in the water, my legs just tangle behind me. In videos, when I'm on the left turning to breathe, my right leg crosses down and in front of the left. My body twists with my head up and over the right shoulder with my left leg down. No wonder my neck hurts sometimes. This is instead of keeping a straight form in the water with legs out behind me. I'll get there, just need some more time. And some lessons in bilateral breathing to balance things out.

Thursday Run

RUN: 6.2 miles in 55.5 minutes. 8:54min/mile. 25F with 12.6F windchill, snow and ice on the ground. Don't know why I mention the weather, it just comes to mind as I type. This was supposed to be 7 miles of speedwork, but I'm still sore from the last 2 days of training. So I eased up and just did the loop, with quads and hamstrings burning!

Was talking to M who is also prepping for 26.2, he does his long runs with the last 4 miles or so at marathon pace. Yikes, what a workout! I'm not sure I could do marathon pace after mile 16. But if my goal pace is sub-9, I might could.

Schedule change, long bike today

BIKE: abt 38 miles in 2hr 15 mins. Got up early for this one, which focused on long intervals at 75% and ILT drills. I still suck at ILT's, need to work on those, no doubt my catch at the top of the pedal stroke is not smooth. Think big circles! This ride felt good, invigorating even. Still no HR monitor, so I'm using perceived exertion.
RUN: 2.2 miles in 20 mins, goal was an easy brick at 60-70%. This was even more invigorating, and I felt fantastic afterwards. Hungry too. I focused on form, and once I got away from the busy streets I was able to listen for the scuf-scuf sound of a shoe dragging. I noticed it more on the forefoot than the heel. Another note is that my regular shoes also have an outer heel wear pattern, so maybe I wear down the heel walking?

Again tested 1 scoop ea of Cytomax and Perpetuem in one bottle, this time also having a plain water bottle. Afterwards, I forced down even more water along with a protein smoothie. I think this hydration helped with recovery and alertness the rest of the day.

I made it to bed early last night, after wanting a nap all day long. Slept much better too, so maybe I just had a bad night Monday. Just before heading to bed, I realized that putting my next long run on Thursday was not the best idea. In plan, I would run 3 loops of FP, 1 with the group and maybe a second with B, then a third alone. The problems were that those loops might not be at my ideal pace, I would have to go to work afterwards (no nap!), and it's close to Saturday's long run. So I switched Sunday's long bike to today, moved Thursday's long run to Saturday, and put Wednesday's 65 min bike after the swim on Sunday. That gives the legs a rest day on Friday.

3 Things I want to fix this year

3 Things I Want To Fix:

1. I might have a glitch/problem in my running form. When I look at the bottom of my running shoes, the outside heel is always worn down. I know about it, and when I run I don't feel it happening. Yet every single pair has this wear pattern. I found a picture of the Saturday run in which I maybe see what is happening--a light scuff of the heel as my forward foot comes down. Granted, this was at mile 13 or so, I was tired, and I was waving at the photographer and out of balance, but excuses excuses excuses! Scuffing the heel probably acts like a brake and strains the leg and foot.

2. During long sessions (>1hr) I don't eat until 45-60 mins in. The recommendations are to eat 15-20 mins into these long sessions so as to keep the flow of carbs steady. By the time I eat, I'm already in a deficit. But I've also had issues with that over-full feeling from eating too much, and I think I can finish better hungry than sick. I rationalize this by thinking that I'll burn what I ate as a meal before-hand. Just test it out and see what happens.

3. I say that I can rip of a 13.1 mile run any day, but I can't do it fast. I just go out and run them as training runs. In fact, there is a disconnect between my 5K and 13.1 PRs: 21:55 (7:03m/m) and 1:54 (8:45m/m). If I am to believe McMillan Running's calculator, my equivalent performance HM time could be 1:46 (26.2 time 3:33!) based on the 5K time. In reverse, my 5K time would be 24.52! Which am I to believe or follow? Regardless, I can do better, but I've yet to really train for a 'fast' half-mary.

Fitting in Crossfit

STRENGTH: 60 mins of xfit, WOD was 'boxing'--1 min at each station with 1 min rest after 3 stations, rotating through all 10 stations 3 times. I usually go all out here, but today I kept focused on form and being able to finish all reps without hurting. Hopefully, the burn won't be too strong later.

SWIM: 60 mins, 1.022 miles mostly drills, kicks, and other swim strokes. I was damned tired for this, only had a bottle of Cytomax/Perp (1 scoop each, not bad!) and some dried fruit before xfit and so I was damned hungry too!! Perfect way to slow me down and have me focus on form, as I was not up to long sets. 200S, 200K, 200P, 200K as WU. Then 3x300 as 100 free, 100 other, 100 free, then CD.

I went to bed early last night dog-tired (scully-dog tired!) but slept poorly. I kept waking up every hour or so. Now usually this is a sign of over-training, can I really be over-trained? Not likely, but it is a reminder to stay in the aerobic HR zones for the time being and not push paces all the time. There is a fine line with all this--you feel so good and excited to be training that you go fast with dreams of PR glory and fantastic finishes. On the other side of the line is over-trained--you feel so tired you don't even want to walk to your car at the end of the day. This was me yesterday. But this tired feeling is also addicting, it's rewarding in its own way. You're tired because you worked hard, and working hard feels good!!

Monday used to be a rest day

BIKE: 80 mins about 23 miles. 3x15 mins at 75%, goal of learning pace at aerobic level. Maintaining a light RPE was easy, my legs were so tired I don't think they'd do much more. I was going to run right away for a brick, but saved the run for later. For some reason I was cold, and the outside temp of 33F didn't encourage me any.

RUN: 3 miles 30 mins. Purposefully easy, forced slow, but not too forced. I really never did warm up muscle-wise. Also, I was hungry and dehydrated, as I was avoiding food thinking I was going to run anytime all day. So quickly out from B to FP and back. That was almost 2 hrs ago, and I still don't feel good. Tummy upset (I did eat some before leaving, couldn't help it) and still undernourished.

Go drink something! Go on! SCOOT!

Another day of 2 sessions...I'd better get used to that!

SWIM: 1250meters in ~35 min. Tired! My arms wore out fast, which was surprising until I remembered that I donated blood yesterday after work. I'm sure that had an effect. I worked on the new drills, and when I has the energy, the swim felt good, fast, and smooth.

BIKE: abt 34 miles, 2 hrs on the trainer. Wet roads and questionable energy kept me indoors. My quads were hurting a bit for the first time since the run yesterday, that workout was finally catching up to me. 15 WU gearing pyramid, 15min variable gearing drills, then 2x30mins at 75%. I liked this workout, especially the drills. They were challenging and since I had to watch the clock for short intervals, distracting as well.

Did this ride to RotK 1st DVD. Someday I'm going to have a white road-racing bike, with silver and green accents, and the bike will be named Shadowfax. Maybe a custom paint job with the name on the top tube and the horse symbol of Rohan!

Review of long session fueling

From PDA, by weight:

Pre-event: 200-300 calories/hr prior, no less than 2 hrs prior, as mostly carbs. Immediately before, 100-200 calories of gel or sport drink.

During 1.5-4hr events: 200-300 calories/hr, mostly as liquids. Minimum is 1g/# carbs (130g carbs). Consider 0.25g/# protein (~33g).

Recovery drink: 4:1 or 5:1 carbs:protein. Carb calories 390 (~100g), protein calories 80-100 (~23g), ~470 calories total.

Comparison to todays's long run:
Pre-event (2hrs): 500 calories, 64/18/20 (C/P/F) Not much carbs!
During: 270 calories, 66/0/0 LOW Should be 2x that, AND, 23g carbs was from a gel after the run!
Recovery: 524 calories, 66/45/8 OK, add more fruit though for carbs. And some electrolytes?

Long Run: 16 miler

RUN: 16 miles, 2hrs ~26mins. The Garmin and I miscommunicated somehow, and it said I started my run around 13 miles or so. And the pace was all messed up. So I ran the 13.1 then another 2.9 miles. The weather was low 40's with some wind out of the east. Here's the run-down:

I had taken Friday mostly off in preparation for this run. 16 miles to me is considered a Long Run. 13.1 is nothing, I can rip one of those off most any day. 14 miles, still OK, maybe a little more prep. But 16 is a distance you only normally do in marathon training.

Breakfast: 500 cals, 66 carbs, 18g protein, 20g fat. 2hrs before race. Definitely more fat and protein than I'd usually eat before a long run. The Usually being pre-PDA. Took some extra water in with the coffee. I sipped some Cytomax on the drive in. Redman's dehydration was on my mind, it's a goal to fix that this year.

The didn't start until 9am, but I'd planned on doing 3 miles before the 13.1 race. Didn't happen. The course was in FP, a figure-8 with circles of roughly 2 and 4 miles. The first circle is flat, second one is not. Obviously, we do the course 2x. I felt awful on the first loop of the course, my mind kept thinking about ditching the timing chip and heading on the park trail to run alone. Then I realized why--I was trying to pace the runners passing me, and it was discouraging. I was aiming for a 9min/mile pace and many behind me were aiming for less. The first 6 miles passed slowly, with my head playing games.

A distance like this can be intimidating. 16 is quite a hike. So when the mile markers say 3, then 4, then 5, time drags on. When you pass the 6 mile mark, all you can think is "10 more!" Not a particularly encouraging thought. Somewhere just before the 7 mile mark I hit 60 minutes. I had taken a gel (Clif Strawberry-yuk, never again) and some water. My feet were hurting too on the soles, as if I was running on unpadded shoes. But that had started miles ago. Nothing new there.

I was wearing a shirt from UofIowa with a microscopy picture on the back that says Experience The Power. Somewhere around mile 2, two guys passing me asked about the shirt. They thought my shirt had jelly beans on it, then as they passed me they continued their odd banter ("The power of what? The power of the sun! The power of God! The p-p-p-power of love!"). I let them go, they were in their own world. Then around mile 5, a woman passed me, commented on the shirt, then asked if I was a cyclist. Why yes, a triathlete, actually. She could tell because of my powerful legs, she said, and she expressed envy over them. Mine? Say what? As she passed me, she was tall and lean, I guess the expected runner's build. Her saying that threw me for a loop--why is it that people so openly comment on my body? More on that another day. I've got a run to finish.

Either the gel or the water was kicking in, and the second run of the course went much better. Still hurting but much more energetic. At mile 8, I realized I was only half-way, at 1hr 14 mins. At mile 9, my gum disintegrated, I think in response to sugar in the carbs I was eating. In this loop, I switched over to the Cytomax in the fuel belt. I would have liked more water, but I packed only Cytomax. I passed mile 10 thinking "only 6 more!" Around that time, I met again the leg-admiring woman. Now introduced to each other, we ran together for a half mile or so. Then I left her and ran with a guy for a mile or so. He was thinking about doing GO!26.2, so we talked long runs a bit. Still feeling great, I left him around mile 12. The finish line was approaching!

I knew that tacking on 3 miles after 13.1 would be tough, but I sailed through the finish at 1:58, not a PR of any sort, but that wasn't the goal. Without stopping I continued out for 2.9 more. It didn't go as well. My mind started to check out, my feet started complaining more, and I hit the headwind. At one point, I let myself walk across a bridge (only my second walk of the run). I started checking the now-reset-to-zero Garmin. At 0.45 I lightly twisted my right ankle. At 0.85 I walked the bridge. At 1.25 I passed the skating rink. At 1.48 I pushed on to 1.50, then turned around. Life became easier without a headwind. I made it back to the truck, focusing on head-up, shoulders back, and feet not dragging--more goals for this year.

The run done, I grabbed a water bottle and another gel. Total run intake: 270 calories as 66g carbs. Two flasks of FuelBelt water and a few ounces at the water station. Probably not enough. Stretched for 15 mins, got chilled, then reached for the recovery shake: 524 cals, 66g carbs, 45g protein, 8g fat (Ensure and protein powder with fruit).

I focused on water intake the next few hours, didn't get a meal in until 2-3pm, but felt good the rest of the day. I'm usually more sluggish, wonder if all the 'extra' water is helping? It's probably water that I need, and I only think it's extra. OVERALL--a good run! Next time is 18 miles, goals for that are better hydration and more fuel. I'm still underfueling.

I should review my meal plan goals, I shouldn't be wondering about that right now!

Swim Lesson #3

SWIM: 500y in 60 mins. haha!

Third swim lesson, and likely not the last. I had gone in with a list of 3 problems and left with drills that seemingly had nothing to do with the problems. But I'll bet the drills sneakily fix things.

Watching yourself swim on video is enlightening and depressing. It's no wonder my neck hurts--when I rotate to my left side to breathe my head is up, the hips are down, and my legs are doing a scissor kick to compensate. It looks like I'm over-rotating on that side.

Sunday's swim has a 2x1000y test, I'll try to get some of my new drills in there: focus on the power coming from the shoulder, not the hips.

Worlds News

Just now getting info on the course in Germany:
It's a 3X Olympic, so 4K swim, 130K bike, and 30K run. In America we say 2.48 mile swim, 80.78 mile bike, 18.6 mile run.
Ave water temp is 20.8C (better known as 69.4F) and it's a deep water start. I'm sure it's deep by metric or standard measures.
2 laps on a bike course, 84K and 46K, or 52.2 and 28.5 miles.
3 laps on the bike course, 40% paved and 60% gravel, aka 40% and 60%.

Have I ever mentioned that I love hills? Just look at the elevation profile for the bike course! Yummy!!

Reverse brick

RUN: 6.22 in 52.3minutes, 8:24 min/mile. Foggy morning, but I think it's fun to run in the fog. Even though this pace was better than Monday's 8:43m/m, this run was much easier. Apparently I still run better in the morning than I do at night. Happily, I was accused of setting the pace today. Me? Setting the pace in that crowd of runners? And here I am worried that they are just pacing behind the rate limiting step. We'll, I'm still worried about that.

BIKE: ~14 miles in 50mins, easy post-run spin. The training plan has this reverse brick as a way to extend an aerobic workout without pounding the legs. I thought initially that it would be pretty easy to do, but instead it took some effort. My legs had stiffened up a bit in the drive home. I meant to do only 40 mins but I can't count.

I'm hoping to swim later today, since I missed the swim yesterday. I'd like to get it done since I might have a swim lesson tomorrow, and I'd like to review all my problems and questions.

I'm also catching up on life, there's so much I would like to get done!

Tuesday Brick

BIKE: abt 20 miles in 70 minutes, 20min WU gearing pyramid, then 4x8min 75% (2min RI), then CD. Watched Pin Up Girl of all things. Didn't finish the movie, wonder how it ends?! haha, not like I haven't seen it before.

RUN: right after bike 3 miles 28 minutes. Supposed to be a low intensity run, it sure was. I slogged through it a bit, the nearly freezing fog temps and my wet clothes didn't help. If I would have changed clothes I might not have run, I was already watching the clock.

I have ARC tonight, so I didn't do XFit this morning. Also just signed up for a challenge in which I'll donate $0.25/mile of training completed in a 6 week period to a Haiti relief fund. Between the marathon and IM training, I could break my own bank!

Still behind on everything, but catching up slowly. One day at a time!

Tough double

SWIM: 2000y in 51 mins. 600WU, 4x50 hard (15s rest), 10x100 75% (15s), 200 CD. My arms were wore out, probably from yesterday's swim, and this told me that I was swimming wrong. My back should be tired, at least I think that's how it should be. So a few adjustments, and the rest of the swim went better. I could hold good form for the first 50 of the 100's, but suffered a bit on the last 50. Fastest lap was 58 seconds.

RUN: 7 miles 61 mins. Not a record for the run, but I did this 25 mins after the swim, with only a gel and half a nana between. When I first planned the run, I was thinking of doing only 5 miles or so. But that's never how it goes. I got in a group of 4 others, one was training for Boston another for IML. We held an 8:43 pace, with my lungs and legs burning the whole way. Not my best BRR run.

Did these both in the afternoon. Might have been a better run if I had swum in the morning? Fueled better? Either way, feels great.

Getting back into the swim of things

SWIM: 2240y (1.27 mi) in about 45-60 mins, didn't track the time. Did the workout mostly as planned, I only report that because I haven't done that much lately. 400WU, then 75% ladders of 150, 250, 350, 350, 250, 150 then 100CD. Didn't do the mixed freestyle/other in the plan. I felt awesome in the swim, I guess that's what you get for 2 days off. I was able to feel the water sliding by my forward hand, I think I was feeling the glide that I had only read about before. Seems I do better to with big grabs of water putting my hands in far ahead of me, instead of an early entry. Could be it just feels that way too. Time to call J for another lesson--need to discuss tired arms (should be back muscles?), tight neck after swimming, and inability to get faster (I just push more water).

BIKE: 27 miles 90 mins, could have been outside, but then I wouldn't have the intervals: 15min WU, 3x3min ILT, then mixed intervals in 10 min blocks, ex 7 min at 75% then 3min at 60%, etc. Finished with a 15 min 75% effort. Got a little bored at the end.

Was going to run, I thought it would make a neat triathlon day, but DH came home and we had errands to run. Well, a different type of run there. What a day, all to myself!!

Late report on Thursday's run

RUN 7.6 miles time unknown, a little over an hour? Ran with the group, but the group broke up a bit, with me and D ahead. The slushy ice pushed us off our usual route, so a few of tacked on a few miles at the end. D was doing high turnover drills, he kept going faster faster faster and finally he explained it. I was struggling a bit to keep up! But I think now that it would be fun to put some intervals or drills into this run.

Thursday SWIM didn't happen. just no time.
Friday SWIM didn't happen.
Saturday BIKE didn't happen.

What did happen? The FBR! It's over! Hurray!! All the work in the end was worth it, all the planning, listmaking, thinking, checking, erranding, etc--all worth it in the end. I didn't forget anything like I did last year. I delegated more this year. And now looking back, it happened like my wedding did. At lunch, I thought back over the day and wondered "who did this" and someone would tell me. Or how did this happen, and someone would explain. I'm learning of a million little threads of stories that wove the day together. And I'm in a huge debt to all the volunteers who did all the work. I'm trying to find a way to express appreciation.

Now that the race is over, back to normal!

A Wild Wednesday

RUN: 4miles 38 mins. After hanging signs for the morning, and after some work in the afternoon, I tried to get a run in. I only had 40 mins before the sun set. I was excited to go, looking forward to it, so the brain was onboard but not the body. Tired, hungry, and dehydrated. So the run was forced to some degree. To top it off, I forgot socks and ran barefooted. I thankfully had my RunWarms on to keep most of the slush out, but my ankles were cold and wet by the end. And blistered. Nuts.

Luckily my marathon training plan has this as a rest week. Couldn't have planned it better.

Cancel on the swim. Just too wore out. The plan is to swim tomorrow, Friday and Sunday.

Goals? All good!
1) 100 % here, repeat again tomorrow: no honey PB or almonds!! Spoonfuls of PB do not constitute a meal. Nor do spoonfuls of honey. But they are oh so good together.....
2) I did get all 3 goals here. Tomorrow: clean up the colony, email GB, and get notes done for Friday's meeting
3) run, swim, packets.

As a To Do List person, just setting these small goals is a help. It focuses my energy, gives me something to check off. I think once I get past FBR, I'll use this technique for training. By setting goals for each workout maybe I'll have training sessions and not just workouts.

Tuesday brick

Haha, this post was on the FBR blog overnight! What a duh-stake!
BIKE: 13 miles 45 mins. 3x3min ILT and 20 min TT effort at 75%. Good ride, but I need to get my HR monitor working.
RUN: to work, 3 miles 31 mins. Usually only takes 27 mins, but the ice and snow slowed me down. Was also going to run home, but the combination of dark and ice was a bad idea.

Did good on yesterday's goals, only missed the PCR and something else I already forgot.
Today is hanging the no parking signs, goals are:
1) same as before
2) sick mouse, wean, taf
3) swim run signs

I'm sure there was more I wrote, but since I deleted the post I can't remember anymore. Even though I wrote it last night. I wonder how many people looking for race news saw this? haha, wonder what I said?!? They might think I'm a bit crazy :-)

Triage time

BIKE: 60 mins about 17 miles. 2x[8 min 75%, 2 min 60%, 2 min 84%, 8min 60%] all in small chain ring. I think this was the calmest part of my day. It didn't last long.
I got a later start, so I put off the run until later. Then I never did get to the run, I kept saying after this, after that, and it never happened. I missed my run, 45 minutes of bliss, lost.

Lots of things are never happening right now. I'm terribly distracted. My priorities have the FBR ahead of work this week, FBR ahead of training, training ahead of work, etc. I could make one of those equation sentences: FBR>training>work>self

I haven't done my hair in weeks, not that I usually do much but I should at least look at it. I wore running clothes all day, and it felt like pajamas, and it wasn't comfortable. I'm slouched at a computer or bench all day so now my back is tired. My sleep is 7hrs or less. Strength training and stretching are non-existant. I'm eating on the run. I'm dehydrated. I keep saying "later", but "later" has to be NOW.

Hence the post title, triage. What a great word, for triathlon, and for someone who loves things in threes. I can identify 3 areas of my life that need critical care: Self, work, triathlon. To address this, upon waking up and before getting out of bed I set 3 goals for the day:
1. No honey or peanut butter. Eat more nutritive foods!
2. Get something substantial done at work today.
3. Get the email to race participants out the door.

I accomplished all 3, and I find joy in that small accomplishment. Tomorrow's goals?
1. No raisins, honey, or peanut butter. Again, reach for real fruit or chicken.
2. Get the PCR repeated, and finish the transfer order, finish evaluations.
3. Get through the list of FBR emails, ride, run

So I really love 3's, as all 3 goals have 3 subgoals.

Training goal? BRICK get up early, get it done. I think the plan is to run to work, so get bags packed for Rich.

Long cold weekend

RUN: 14 miles about 2hr 10mins, the Frostbike 20K with some extra beforehand. I did not get into this run, I was stiff and forced especially between miles 8-11. It was cold out but I was dressed OK. But for some reason, I just never got into it. Probably because I had enough else to think about that day, as the FBR flyer event was scheduled just after the run. I thought about the FBR quite a bit in the run, so maybe that's where my mind was. No pains, no soreness, no after-effects. Great news for the marathon build! Bad thing is I didn't each or drink much before the race, only 1 gel with some water during, and only a coconut bar afterwards. That definitely may have affected the race for me. See below.

SWIM: sunday at Crestview, only 1008y in 30 mins. Obviously wasn't in a hurry, and obviously not into the swim either! Again, distracted, this time by the fact that I broke DH's computer this morning. I splashed some coffee on it. Also, just as I was getting into the pool I learned something that tells me the FBR is going to hit cap!! That's good, no, great, but at the same time stressful. What happens when we run out of schwag?!? Will we have enough food?!? Every event should have such success!

Friday was a rest day, I spend the morning and the aft/evening working on race errands. I'll be so glad when this is all over (only 5.5 days!) and life can return to normal.

So I've done all this reading on paleo/primal, and now it's time to put it into action. Right now, I'm living 'primal' so to speak. No grains, no processed, but still a lot of carbs. But as my training increases, things get worse. I'm reaching for raisins, cashews, dates, and cheese as snacks. And while those are all healthy grabs, they aren't optimal. Goal for next week is to get the PfA into action, re-read the highlights and get going! More lean meat, good protein, more structure to the pre-, during, post-, and recovery stages.

Oh the weather outside is...

...awesome!! I love snow :-)

RUN: 6.5 miles 70 minutes. abt 19F with strong west winds. I ran the loop in FP, the only tri club nut to show up. There was a fantastic snow overnight and even though the roads were bad and I knew I'd likely be alone, I went anyway. The first 0.1 mile was spent finding the trail from the visitor's center. I missed it by a long-shot. At 0.15 miles, I had cold snow packed into the shoes around my ankles. By 0.2 miles I was second guessing my plan to run the loop.

But then, as I reached about 0.25 miles, I found my inspiration: another runner had already come through. Somebody beat me to it. Somebody had got up earlier than I did and blazed a trail for me. Somebody else found it in them to run the path in the snow and cold, so there was no way I'd turn back now. And all because of that, I kept going. I lost the trail again a few more times, as other runners took different paths than mine or the wind blew the tracks full, but I managed the entire usual route. It was COLD, and I usually do the loop in 55-58 minutes, but what a warm feeling to have that completed!

BIKE: 60 mins easy in small chain ring, about 16 miles or so unmeasured, indoors. The training plan called for only 30 mins, but I felt warm once I got started and didn't want to stop! This was about 40 mins after the run. I had shed the wet clothes from the run but kept some of the dry fleece-lined gear on. What a mix of gear to ride in: my fleecy-PI long tights, bra top, and barefeet in tri shoes. I tried to simulate a few hills, yet tried to keep it easy. The training plan seems to use biking as an alternate for running, we'll see how well this works.

NEXT: Swim on Friday, long run on Saturday 14miles.

Circle swimming

SWIM: 2000y 52 minutes. Pool was very busy, only 2 lap lanes and one of those for lessons. I think at one point there were 5 swimmers in our lane! We circled away and at one point I realized I was the lead swimmer. Luckily I was feeling good and ready to go, so I tried to pull away. I managed to stay ahead for about 15-some laps before I popped up to see if anyone wanted to pass. I got to thinking that I was the rate limiting step. Turns out, everyone liked my pace and wanted me to keep going. But I let them go, I wanted to draft off of them for awhile!

I love it when I learn something about myself in this sport. The feeling is usually crushed by the realization that I'm the last person to figure it out. Today I realized that the possible reason for my rolling too far using the pull buoy might be because my extended arm doesn't "catch" the water to stop the roll. Instead I leave it out in front floating and thus my body keeps rolling. While experimenting today, I found that if that arm "catches" I don't roll too far.

Something else I learned is that if I focus on sweeping the pulling arm all the way past my hips in a strong Whoosh of effort my timing improves. I think it's my timing, anyway. My arms feel like they are grabbing bigger swathes of water when I do that. But I was getting tired, so I didn't get to play with it much.

Tack on a run for yesterday

RUN: 5.51 miles, 50 mins even splits, on flats in FP. 22F plus whatever windchill

I never really did relax for this run, I was tense and in a hurry. The cold was a problem on the way out into the wind, then the warm was a problem on the way home. But I enjoyed it anyway.

ARC ended up being a late night, so I had a late start to today. I signed up for only one shift in February as a way of addressing my time crunch.

Priority Problems

BIKE: 50 mins 15 miles ILT and 15min TT effort
BIKE: 60 mins 17 miles 3x8min 75%

Missed yesterday's swim, I didn't get home until late and the doggie needed a break. I've yet to run today, but I'm going to wait until it warms up!!

Stress! The word of the week, no just yesterday, is STRESS. So much to do and so little time in the world. Returning to work yesterday after an extended break was hard, I'm having a crisis of career. I learned yesterday that my collaborators in Seattle have NOT started my samples, after promising them done by Thanksgiving. Now I have to wonder if the work will ever get done, will my work ever get done, or will I have to leave it unfinished? It's hard to be excited about finding another job when the first one isn't done.

Just behind that stress is the FBR, which only has 11 more days to go. Surprisingly, that is not a direct stressor for me it's just more of a To Do list. And I love To Do's.

As for training, it's taking a back seat to the FBR. While swimming or biking, I'm thinking about the race. While running, I'm trying to experience what the runners will and anticipate their needs.

And I have a Red Cross shift tonight. I'm torn about what to do about this. It's only 2 8hr shifts a month, but those 16hrs are a killer for us. And it's really more than 16 hrs in the end. Rich was going to go out tonight, but now isn't and I worry it's because someone needs to be home for the dog. --I spend Monday night getting ready for Tuesday, I leave work early Tuesday, I get to work late on Wednesday.... If that's true that Rich is changing his plans for me, that's so unfair for him. But what is my 16 hrs worth when balanced against someone losing their home and needing help?? And it's worse when I spend the shift waiting for a house to light up and one never does. I start to feel my time was wasted, even though I spent the time catching up on club duties, emails, etc. Which brings up another point, that I need to take Rich's laptop from him again to work on these duties (I think he wants me to get my own computer) and now some club duties have been pulled from me (because they think I'm already too busy). Ugh. Why am I putting all this here? To remind myself of my Priorities. Which are all mixed to hell right now.

Red Cross needs to change--I can't help everyone else all the time.
FBR will be over soon, just 10 more days.
Training is a personal priority--needs to be balanced against home life.
The house is a dual priority that we need to share--that isn't happening.
Rich and my family are a first priority--
Work--work sux.
Me--I'm my first priority. My time, my goals, and my self are Numero Uno. How selfish is that.

Goal is to keep up!

Falling behind again!

BIKE: 25 miles, 90 minutes while watching a movie. This was just to get some time in on the bike. I did about 15 minutes or so of quality--jumps, standing, big ring, etc.

SWIM: 1680y abt 42 minutes, hard to guess time because we were stopping so much. Something about that pool keeps me from paying attention--haha, wonder what. I meant to swim more, but I was actually in the water over an hour and time ran out.

I really thought I had 3 runs this week--but in fact it was only 2. I had counted last Sunday's run into this weeks! PAY ATTENTION!! It will be easier now that the holidays are over. I stayed up late last night obsessing over this week's schedule. I decided in the end to switch Monday and Wedsnesday.

So last week's numerics are:

SWIM 5179y 2.94 miles
BIKE 25mi
RUN 16mi

I'l probably restart counting totals as IM training total, excluding 2009 numbers.

Once in a blue moon

I'm a sucker for full moons. Went to bed with this moon overhead, and woke up with it setting. Great way to end and start a year!