RUN: 15 miles in 2:17
BIKE: ~15 miles in 1:00, indoors
The run was early Saturday morning in FP, with EK and one of her friends. I was particularly tired and kinda didnt think I'd be able to squeak out 2 laps. But I knew to at least try it, and the beauty of a park like this is that you're never really too far from the parking lot.
We ran in reverse of the norm, which was a pleasant shakeup. The pace was good, probably a little faster than I'd normally be going but as fast as I should have been going. A little push. I had the fuel belt but didn't get much into it like I wanted to. First lap 6.37 in 55 mins. I was wore out, but wanted more. A gel and I'm off.
The second lap we thought we'd do slower, but in reality it was probably the same. It was great to have company on a long run for once, I'm so used to company on only the first lap, then solitude for the remainder. The time flies with good conversation! Second lap about the same as the first. By this time I was feeling pretty good! A third lap sounded great, but the plan was for only 15 miles. It seemed a good place to stop. Another gel, and I'm off.
The 3rd lap had an addition to our group-DC joined us. More good conversation, but no faster. EK and I turned around early and headed for home. 15 was the perfect place to stop. But I was dehydrated and clumsy. I took the ride indoors so I could control it. I really didn't think I was up for an outdoors ride.
The ride turned out to be an easy stretch of the legs while I played with the insoles of the bike shoes, swapping parts and feeling out the differences. It seems that the road shoes work just fine with the tri shoe insoles. The only difference is the size of the insole! Maybe I've fixed the problem?
Recovery was a bitch. I was dragging something awful and craving a food I couldnt figure out. So I overate a bit, not that overeating is a bad thing. The bad thing is that I never felt satisfied! Looking back, I think I was just thirsty. The rest of the day day I was amazingly tired. Legs wore out and sort of sore. Mind not clear, clumsy, yawning, wanted a nap but didn't get one. I was beginning to doubt the ride for Sunday--should I rest? Should I shorten the ride? No way to really say until Sunday morning, see how I feel!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
First swim in 50m pool
SWIM: 3000m in 1:16
I had set some goals last week about swimming, and one of them was to do a long 50m pool swim on Friday nights, working my way up to 4000m of a long continuous swim. Also see if nutrition can work during the swim. The goal? 30 laps.
It was raining when I left work and the pool was closed for lightning. The radar suggested clear skies soon, so I waited it out. Half hour later, I had the pool to myself! This only lasted a few minutes, but it was fun to be doing laps in the quiet pool.
I had eaten raisins and cashews before waiting, so I was fueled up and the tummy comfy. I brought a gel just in case, planning to try it around half way. I started off slow, to warm up and focus on a good efficient form. I was slow alright, soon enough I was getting lapped by the swimmers around me. How do they swim so fast? What am I doing wrong?!?!?
No bilateral breathing, so I also worked on keeping my neck loose and straight. The laps passed by relatively quickly, soon enough I was at 15 laps! I skipped the gel, I really didn't think I'd need it. At 20 laps, I decided to test it, as 20 laps was the half IM point. Note to self--the coco gels are NOT good for a swim. In fact, I can probably get through the swim without eating, if I have enough to eat beforehand. See? Learned something already!
At one point during the swim, it started to rain lightly. I knew more storms were rolling in, and I really really wanted to finish the swim before they came. But I could see the dark clouds too, not a good sign.
I was excited to have only 10 laps to go, and started counting them down. 10 laps in this pool sounds so much shorter and 20 laps in the smaller pool (even though 1000y is shorter than 1000m) so I also counted the half laps too. Guess I didn't have much else to think about. I was getting tired, sloppy, my hands were hitting the lane ropes, and I was slowing down a bit more. It all didn't matter, I was almost done! Once I finished, I had to ask, can I do 10 more? And I think I could have, but that wasn't the point. I'll be doing that next week!
The other swimmers were still going, so I watched in wonder as they just glided through the water. How do they do it? Do I need even more lessons?!? I stretched out, happily went into the showers, and THUNDER!! I had missed the storm by minutes! Yahoo!
I had set some goals last week about swimming, and one of them was to do a long 50m pool swim on Friday nights, working my way up to 4000m of a long continuous swim. Also see if nutrition can work during the swim. The goal? 30 laps.
It was raining when I left work and the pool was closed for lightning. The radar suggested clear skies soon, so I waited it out. Half hour later, I had the pool to myself! This only lasted a few minutes, but it was fun to be doing laps in the quiet pool.
I had eaten raisins and cashews before waiting, so I was fueled up and the tummy comfy. I brought a gel just in case, planning to try it around half way. I started off slow, to warm up and focus on a good efficient form. I was slow alright, soon enough I was getting lapped by the swimmers around me. How do they swim so fast? What am I doing wrong?!?!?
No bilateral breathing, so I also worked on keeping my neck loose and straight. The laps passed by relatively quickly, soon enough I was at 15 laps! I skipped the gel, I really didn't think I'd need it. At 20 laps, I decided to test it, as 20 laps was the half IM point. Note to self--the coco gels are NOT good for a swim. In fact, I can probably get through the swim without eating, if I have enough to eat beforehand. See? Learned something already!
At one point during the swim, it started to rain lightly. I knew more storms were rolling in, and I really really wanted to finish the swim before they came. But I could see the dark clouds too, not a good sign.
I was excited to have only 10 laps to go, and started counting them down. 10 laps in this pool sounds so much shorter and 20 laps in the smaller pool (even though 1000y is shorter than 1000m) so I also counted the half laps too. Guess I didn't have much else to think about. I was getting tired, sloppy, my hands were hitting the lane ropes, and I was slowing down a bit more. It all didn't matter, I was almost done! Once I finished, I had to ask, can I do 10 more? And I think I could have, but that wasn't the point. I'll be doing that next week!
The other swimmers were still going, so I watched in wonder as they just glided through the water. How do they do it? Do I need even more lessons?!? I stretched out, happily went into the showers, and THUNDER!! I had missed the storm by minutes! Yahoo!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday run--much shorter this time
RUN: 6.5 miles in 59 mins
This is usually my long run day, but two factors came into play. First, I still wasn't recovered from last Saturday; Second, I wanted to put my long run and long ride back to back on the weekend, like the plan says to. It will be more tiring, more realistic, and maybe by then I can recover.
I slowed down the pace and ran with LC and SH. LC was in for 14 miles, I would have loved to join her, but I had to stick to my own plan. Another example of the iron solitude. If anyone can run 14 miles it's me, and here I am skipping out.
I was so tired--no oomph on hills, putty legs, but I still finished. The fatigue is a good mix of mental and physical. Am I getting better as the week progresses? Not as fast as I usually do. It seems my body has saturated in terms of training and won't take too much more over what I'm doing now.
One more week, then the start of a taper.
This is usually my long run day, but two factors came into play. First, I still wasn't recovered from last Saturday; Second, I wanted to put my long run and long ride back to back on the weekend, like the plan says to. It will be more tiring, more realistic, and maybe by then I can recover.
I slowed down the pace and ran with LC and SH. LC was in for 14 miles, I would have loved to join her, but I had to stick to my own plan. Another example of the iron solitude. If anyone can run 14 miles it's me, and here I am skipping out.
I was so tired--no oomph on hills, putty legs, but I still finished. The fatigue is a good mix of mental and physical. Am I getting better as the week progresses? Not as fast as I usually do. It seems my body has saturated in terms of training and won't take too much more over what I'm doing now.
One more week, then the start of a taper.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Bilateral Wednesday
BIKE: ~30 miles in 1:40
SWIM: 1500y in 45 mins
The bike was uninspired. I again rode indoors to keep the pace under control and attempt to recover more completely. I'm still suffering from Saturday's ovenfest.
The swim however, was memorable--I did 3 laps of bilateral breathing! It was the Yclass, and the instruction sheet specified 12 50's as kick/drill/swim. While using the kickboard, I had an idea. Use the kickboard to practice rotating during the drill part, and use that to learn to rotate to the left for breathing. This is probably a drill I read somewhere, I'm not claiming to have made it up. It worked! It wasn't smooth or natural yet, but if I keep working on it, it will get better. My regular breathing wasn't smooth when I started it either.
SWIM: 1500y in 45 mins
The bike was uninspired. I again rode indoors to keep the pace under control and attempt to recover more completely. I'm still suffering from Saturday's ovenfest.
The swim however, was memorable--I did 3 laps of bilateral breathing! It was the Yclass, and the instruction sheet specified 12 50's as kick/drill/swim. While using the kickboard, I had an idea. Use the kickboard to practice rotating during the drill part, and use that to learn to rotate to the left for breathing. This is probably a drill I read somewhere, I'm not claiming to have made it up. It worked! It wasn't smooth or natural yet, but if I keep working on it, it will get better. My regular breathing wasn't smooth when I started it either.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday's double trouble
BIKE: about 26 miles in 1:25, indoors to get the 88%+ HR in the plan.
RUN: 6.2 miles in 62 mins, a struggle of a run
Yes, I admit, I rode indoors today. I haven't been doing speedwork much in July. I quit going to the time trials to save myself the long drive time and in doing so dropped really intense riding. Today I wanted to get it done. I had lots of energy from my "2 days" off--Sunday and most of Monday.
The goals were 12 mins, 9 mins, 6 mins, and 3 mins at high intensities, all 85-90%, followed by long intervals of 75%, then 70% then cool down. It was a refreshing ride that worked the legs up even if it was in the stuffy indoors. Wached LOTR:TT part 2 again. Love that movie!
By the time I finished the ride, I had to rush a shower and quick breakfast to get to work. Once there, I was feeling only somewhat OK. Tired, very tired. Not yawning tired, but lacking in imagination tired. And I was drinking Nuun'd water like crazy, but not really peeing like it. So I was a bit dehydrated too.
The end of the day rolled around and it was time to run, I knew the run would be a struggle. But I've done this so many times before--take off on a workout tired then feel fine--that I prepared for the run with no real worries. As per my rule, don't judge the outcome of a workout until 20 mins have passed.
Within the first 0.5 mile, I felt odd. My legs were like tight springs, almost the feeling you get just off the bike. Makes sense maybe, I never did stretch my legs after the bike? I stopped at a stoplight and yawned! Instead of going left to the park, I turned right to run some hills towards home. I seemed to know the run would cut short. One mile in I stopped to stretch more. My running form felt awful--wide elbows, hunched shoulders, ducky feet. 1.86 miles in I again turned towards home, now heading S on Grand. I was worried now about stepping on or off a curb in a bad way. Already my right knee's tightness was causing problems on curb step ups.
At 3.5 miles (it felt twices as long as that!!) I had the option to turn left for 0.5 miles home or go straight for some more. My goal was a 75min "easy" run. I was only 35 mins in. I had just finished reading RR's of IMWI, and had the "death march" description of the run in my head. What if this was my death march? What if this is how I felt at mile 10 of the run: unfocused, stomach pain, heavy legs, poor form, low motivation? I've done so many runs where I had the option to cut short or keep going, and it might be safe to bet that I always kept going. Why stop now? I went straight.
So while I felt awful, my body really wasn't registering it everywhere. My HR was only in the 130's, my breathing normal, my energy seemed ok. I was just out of motivation mentally? Hard to say, but I reached a point where I walked a lot more than usual. And I made it part of the run, since I usually don't walk much in a race I knew walking in IMWI would bother me. So when I walked, I thought of being in the race. Other runners would be passing me, my HR would be falling, my frustration building. I don't like to walk in races, I only do 15 second bursts of it. Here I forced a 30-60 min break pretty often. While walking, I tried unsuccessfully to figure out a specific reason for this run's fail. Wasn't all that hot out, I ate a small meal before the run, I hadn't run since last Friday. I could only come up with cumulative fatigue and recovery from Saturday. But lately it seems I'm always tired on the Tuesday afternoon runs, just look back over the past month. Maybe Saturday's ride combined with Tuesday fatigue did this.
Either way, I pushed on to a turnaround point in the park with a water fountain. The warm water only trickled out of the fountain, no cool mouthful like I needed. This did nothing for motivation. At the turnaround, I decided to run to 60 mins even, then walk home. 12 more minutes, then quit. OK, sounds good, off we go. I walked once, and focused on a slow but manageable pace. My death march pace? With 4 mins to go I started to struggle a bit more. Keep going. Nearing 60 mins, I refused to look at the time and told myself to run to the stoplight, then walk home. These little tricks work, I made it to the stoplight at 62 mins. 6.2 miles.
Once home I was too tired to think. I sat at the kitchen and blanked out. I took a shower then laid down thinking I could nap. I never fell asleep, but it did feel good to lay out and rest. Yes I'm tired. But this is Ironman. I'm supposed to be tired. Only this week, and the next week, then I taper. NOW is when I need to push into these workouts and NOW is when I learn what I can do under fatigue. So stick with it, almost there!!
RUN: 6.2 miles in 62 mins, a struggle of a run
Yes, I admit, I rode indoors today. I haven't been doing speedwork much in July. I quit going to the time trials to save myself the long drive time and in doing so dropped really intense riding. Today I wanted to get it done. I had lots of energy from my "2 days" off--Sunday and most of Monday.
The goals were 12 mins, 9 mins, 6 mins, and 3 mins at high intensities, all 85-90%, followed by long intervals of 75%, then 70% then cool down. It was a refreshing ride that worked the legs up even if it was in the stuffy indoors. Wached LOTR:TT part 2 again. Love that movie!
By the time I finished the ride, I had to rush a shower and quick breakfast to get to work. Once there, I was feeling only somewhat OK. Tired, very tired. Not yawning tired, but lacking in imagination tired. And I was drinking Nuun'd water like crazy, but not really peeing like it. So I was a bit dehydrated too.
The end of the day rolled around and it was time to run, I knew the run would be a struggle. But I've done this so many times before--take off on a workout tired then feel fine--that I prepared for the run with no real worries. As per my rule, don't judge the outcome of a workout until 20 mins have passed.
Within the first 0.5 mile, I felt odd. My legs were like tight springs, almost the feeling you get just off the bike. Makes sense maybe, I never did stretch my legs after the bike? I stopped at a stoplight and yawned! Instead of going left to the park, I turned right to run some hills towards home. I seemed to know the run would cut short. One mile in I stopped to stretch more. My running form felt awful--wide elbows, hunched shoulders, ducky feet. 1.86 miles in I again turned towards home, now heading S on Grand. I was worried now about stepping on or off a curb in a bad way. Already my right knee's tightness was causing problems on curb step ups.
At 3.5 miles (it felt twices as long as that!!) I had the option to turn left for 0.5 miles home or go straight for some more. My goal was a 75min "easy" run. I was only 35 mins in. I had just finished reading RR's of IMWI, and had the "death march" description of the run in my head. What if this was my death march? What if this is how I felt at mile 10 of the run: unfocused, stomach pain, heavy legs, poor form, low motivation? I've done so many runs where I had the option to cut short or keep going, and it might be safe to bet that I always kept going. Why stop now? I went straight.
So while I felt awful, my body really wasn't registering it everywhere. My HR was only in the 130's, my breathing normal, my energy seemed ok. I was just out of motivation mentally? Hard to say, but I reached a point where I walked a lot more than usual. And I made it part of the run, since I usually don't walk much in a race I knew walking in IMWI would bother me. So when I walked, I thought of being in the race. Other runners would be passing me, my HR would be falling, my frustration building. I don't like to walk in races, I only do 15 second bursts of it. Here I forced a 30-60 min break pretty often. While walking, I tried unsuccessfully to figure out a specific reason for this run's fail. Wasn't all that hot out, I ate a small meal before the run, I hadn't run since last Friday. I could only come up with cumulative fatigue and recovery from Saturday. But lately it seems I'm always tired on the Tuesday afternoon runs, just look back over the past month. Maybe Saturday's ride combined with Tuesday fatigue did this.
Either way, I pushed on to a turnaround point in the park with a water fountain. The warm water only trickled out of the fountain, no cool mouthful like I needed. This did nothing for motivation. At the turnaround, I decided to run to 60 mins even, then walk home. 12 more minutes, then quit. OK, sounds good, off we go. I walked once, and focused on a slow but manageable pace. My death march pace? With 4 mins to go I started to struggle a bit more. Keep going. Nearing 60 mins, I refused to look at the time and told myself to run to the stoplight, then walk home. These little tricks work, I made it to the stoplight at 62 mins. 6.2 miles.
Once home I was too tired to think. I sat at the kitchen and blanked out. I took a shower then laid down thinking I could nap. I never fell asleep, but it did feel good to lay out and rest. Yes I'm tired. But this is Ironman. I'm supposed to be tired. Only this week, and the next week, then I taper. NOW is when I need to push into these workouts and NOW is when I learn what I can do under fatigue. So stick with it, almost there!!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Stubborn swim
SWIM: 3000y in 1:20
I had set some swim goals last week and I was bound and determined to stick to them. I know, yet another Swim Challenge. The first one puttered out after 2 months, this one won't have to last that long. Only 48 days left to go, and I need to build my swimming up.
So today's goal was 3000y total. Swim class is estimated to be about 2000y, so I decided to tack on another 1000. Each subsequent week I add 200y, only 4 laps. Another part of the plan was to arrive to the Y early for the extra yards, and not stay late like I did today. But I needed to eat, and it all worked out in the end.
The swim class was 4x300y with some negative splits. This went OK, I was feeling strong until the instructor pointed out that I was crossing my arms over my head and sweeping my arms under me. She was right, I can't argue that, but trying to fix it distracted me. Seems I need to work on that some more.
We also did 3x100 kicking, of which I only did 2x100. I apparently have a weak kick, I just wasn't moving very fast. That and my ankle gave me another reason to cut short. And so did a tight hip muscle on the right side. Sigh.
During the class, I talked to another IMWI'er who just did another IM 70.3. I asked about the on course drink, and he said he didn't like it. I had just found out earlier that my order was backordered about 2 weeks! Now I really need to try it out before the race!
I stuck around after the class for the remaining yards. I was at 36 laps, only needed 14 more!! (oxygen debt + Math = disappointment). I got going, thinking 14 laps was a breeze, until I got to 42 laps and realized my error. But I kept going, inventing intervals and breaking the remaining laps into 3-4 lap groups. It felt great to finish though!
I've been reading race reports of IMWI, reading about the "washing machine" start line, how the first line to the buoy is the worst, about how the 2nd lap eases up. Not many mentions waves or chop, only a few but everyone was able to power through it. But DNF'ers probably don't post RR's online, so I'm reading a select list of RR's if you want to look at it that way. Moreover, most RR's don't report problems in the swim, but on the "death march" of a run at the end. Immodiums, ibuprophens, potty stops, bonks, and more. I'm not training with any of that! But one goal for the remaining weekends is to sandwich the long run closer to the long ride, without the day off in between. Maybe I can push myself into sickness that way? Isn't it funny that I'm thinking I should "get sick" before the race so I can be more prepared?
I had set some swim goals last week and I was bound and determined to stick to them. I know, yet another Swim Challenge. The first one puttered out after 2 months, this one won't have to last that long. Only 48 days left to go, and I need to build my swimming up.
So today's goal was 3000y total. Swim class is estimated to be about 2000y, so I decided to tack on another 1000. Each subsequent week I add 200y, only 4 laps. Another part of the plan was to arrive to the Y early for the extra yards, and not stay late like I did today. But I needed to eat, and it all worked out in the end.
The swim class was 4x300y with some negative splits. This went OK, I was feeling strong until the instructor pointed out that I was crossing my arms over my head and sweeping my arms under me. She was right, I can't argue that, but trying to fix it distracted me. Seems I need to work on that some more.
We also did 3x100 kicking, of which I only did 2x100. I apparently have a weak kick, I just wasn't moving very fast. That and my ankle gave me another reason to cut short. And so did a tight hip muscle on the right side. Sigh.
During the class, I talked to another IMWI'er who just did another IM 70.3. I asked about the on course drink, and he said he didn't like it. I had just found out earlier that my order was backordered about 2 weeks! Now I really need to try it out before the race!
I stuck around after the class for the remaining yards. I was at 36 laps, only needed 14 more!! (oxygen debt + Math = disappointment). I got going, thinking 14 laps was a breeze, until I got to 42 laps and realized my error. But I kept going, inventing intervals and breaking the remaining laps into 3-4 lap groups. It felt great to finish though!
I've been reading race reports of IMWI, reading about the "washing machine" start line, how the first line to the buoy is the worst, about how the 2nd lap eases up. Not many mentions waves or chop, only a few but everyone was able to power through it. But DNF'ers probably don't post RR's online, so I'm reading a select list of RR's if you want to look at it that way. Moreover, most RR's don't report problems in the swim, but on the "death march" of a run at the end. Immodiums, ibuprophens, potty stops, bonks, and more. I'm not training with any of that! But one goal for the remaining weekends is to sandwich the long run closer to the long ride, without the day off in between. Maybe I can push myself into sickness that way? Isn't it funny that I'm thinking I should "get sick" before the race so I can be more prepared?
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Volunteer bonk!
I took the day off today. I thought perhaps I might swim after I finished volunteering but after I bonked volunteering I decided against it.
I was doing OK until I stepped out of the shade in the sun to pick up cups. My body temped soared and suddenly I was woozy and sweating buckets. It wasn't a good idea to be on my feet this morning, yet here I was. Feeling sick and handing out water cups. Brilliant.
I came home, tried to eat, managed to eat but no appetite and lots of upset tummy feelings. I thought I was tired enough for a nap, but never tried it. I just need some more time. I recovered slowly as the day went by.
But no pains or injuries or lingering problems, aside from tight knees.
NUMERICS: 16 hrs 47 mins. (plan called for 18hr 20 mins!)
SWIM: 1250y in 30 mins (this is where I fell short of plan)
BIKE: 181 miles in 11 hours
RUN: 33.1 miles in 5.3 hours
I was doing OK until I stepped out of the shade in the sun to pick up cups. My body temped soared and suddenly I was woozy and sweating buckets. It wasn't a good idea to be on my feet this morning, yet here I was. Feeling sick and handing out water cups. Brilliant.
I came home, tried to eat, managed to eat but no appetite and lots of upset tummy feelings. I thought I was tired enough for a nap, but never tried it. I just need some more time. I recovered slowly as the day went by.
But no pains or injuries or lingering problems, aside from tight knees.
NUMERICS: 16 hrs 47 mins. (plan called for 18hr 20 mins!)
SWIM: 1250y in 30 mins (this is where I fell short of plan)
BIKE: 181 miles in 11 hours
RUN: 33.1 miles in 5.3 hours
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Long Ride--Finding a Crack in the Armor
BIKE: 106 miles, 6:40 ride time, 7:30 actual time.
Lap 1: 53.36 miles 3hr 25 mins, ave speed 15.5 mph, ave HR 113
Lap 2: 52.64 miles 3hr 14 mins, ave speed 16.3 mph, ave HR 140
The numbers and the Garmin graph of this data are fascinating. The first loop has the HR and speed lines superimposed on the graph. On the second loop the HR goes up while the speed slowly goes down, and they are no longer superimposed. So what happened?
The first loop was with IT and JB, casual pace, the pace I'd like to keep for the first 40 miles of IMWI. That "forever" pace in which I could ride all day. I did great with hydration, maybe not enough on the nutrition. The heat, of which there was plenty today, sapped my appetite. And so did choking on a chocolate Accel gel, it slipped back in my mouth and hit my throat. Gag, choke, cough, and tears in the eyes! Awful! My throat is still raw! During the ride I marked hills, turns, bad intersections, all to get ready for the second loop. By the end of the first lap, there was a headwind in the last 3-4 miles that drained some focus, but knowing the truck was coming up kept me going. Besides, the first loop is not where the real beef of this story is.
I mimicked a special needs stop--refilled bottles, grabbed more food (and bought 2 bananas and 2 powerbars), snacked on one of IT's watermelons YUM, visited the bathrooms, tried to fix a problem with the aerobottle, then called Rich to tell him my plans. Does that sound like a typical special needs stop? NO. My friends took off for home, and I took off for more road, the same loop I had just finished.
I started off feeling good. Tired but good. By now it was noon and the worst heat of the day was still ahead of me. In the first loop I watched the cue sheet for turns but didn't mark mileages. Turns out the 3 towns we visited were only 5-9 miles apart in the end, giving me good opportunities for refueling. I stuck to my plans--EASY on the hills. Small ring, light feet, spinning it up. It worked, my legs stayed fresh and my HR low. Unfortunately, there's more to me than legs.
The heat was amazing. It was like being in an oven, there was no escape from the red hot wind and road. My arms and legs burned, coulda swore I would be sunburned to a crisp, but my second layer of sunscreen held out. Maybe the oil of the sunscreen was like a coat of butter on chicken? Would I be roasted when this was done? So hot. Oh so hot. Every now and then a cool wisp of wind would hit me, and I would just love it. Hot, then a little cool, then blazing hot again.
My appetite didn't get any worse, but my water situation did. My water got HOT, and HOT cytomax is hard to stomach. This was my first ride with the 15 min alarm on the garmin, it really did help to keep me eating/drinking on a regular basis. Sometimes, just wondering when the alarm would go off next reminded me to drink more. I was sucking down lots of water, but it was all hot. Near the halfway point in Freeburg, I stopped for water. I filled two bottles with ice then bought 2 big bottles of cold water to refill everything. I hoped the ice would last another hour or two. The cool water was so refreshing, even more so when I added multiple Nuuns to the bottles. The AC in the gas station was good too, but I couldn't stay there too long. Not going to be doing that in WI!
The tar on the roads was thick and melted up to this point, and my bike and shoes were tarred up. I had stopped at one point to see what was stuck to the bike and making a clickclickclick noise on the back wheel and my cleats sunk into the road. How do you remove tar from shoes and bike? I knew from the first loop that the next section of road was already chipped, so I was glad I'd stopped for a break just before then. I'd much rather attack chipped road on a fresh mind with full alertness.
No problems on the chips, if you ignore the fact that little rocks were hitting my helmet, my back, my shoes, and OW some of them hurt! But no slips and I was even able to drink in those miles. The smooth road after the chips was a blessing. The heat, however, and the rain I was praying for was no such blessing. I could see rain clouds to the north of me but they weren't coming my way. Even a damned cloud would help me out! But no such luck. Just an oven. A heat lamp. A fire. It was starting to get to me.
My ice water was melted in an hour and was now a lukewarm Nuun concoction. I found myself wanting to stop my mile 74, just park in some shade to let the HR come down and get some water. Just rest. I kept doing this every 10 miles or so. I just ran out of spark and reached what seemed like a crawling pace. I figured it was better to stop than it was to keep forcing myself to move. My mile 96, I started to crack. At this point I was in the headwind. My speed fell off fast, probably only 12mph with all the effort I could muster. My toes were just starting to hurt, my right shoe had rubbed a raw spot on my ankle. So many distractions on top of the wind and heat. So I started singing. Out loud. My current theme song, quite fitting for this ride, an anthem to self inflicted pain and suffering. I wonder if GAllen had any idea of how great this song is for IM.
This worked for a few miles, it was enough of a distraction from the discomfort and frustration I was feeling. What if this was race day? What if I had to run after this? The miles crawled by, at one point I passed a tomato field of tomatoes rotting in the heat, and it did nothing for my stomach, which by this point was thoroughly confused as to whether it was going to expel its contents or beg for more. Being nauseous and hungry at the same time is hard to treat.
Once back at the truck, I was cooked. I got off the bike OK, but was wobbly and dizzy. Yet I stayed focused and didn't have any mental lapses. Packed up the gear, called Rich, and headed towards the nearby McDonald's for water. I ordered 2 large ice waters and 2 fruit/yogurt parfaits. I was quite the spectacle there--I got many stares, questions, and comments about how crazy I must be. I must have looked a mess. I was still breathing hard, even though I was just standing there. My face started tingling so I put some salt packets under my tongue. The manager felt sorry for me and handed me paper towels. I must have looked horrible. All the burgers and fries and BMI's exceeding 40--and they are worried about me!
I recovered surprisingly fast. I had periods of being hot, then being chilled without moving or changing my environment. I drank more and more water, and never had the lack of pee I sometimes get after sessions like these. In fact, in just hours I was on a post-ride buzz and was pretty happy!
In retrospect, with that recovery, could I have run a marathon? What if I took a few moments to cool off, get some salt tabs, and relaxed? Hard to say, as I was in AC'd conditions which do wonders for being overheated. This ride was maybe a bad idea to do alone, but I'm glad I did it. I've learned that I can drink a lot of water without getting sick, that I can tolerate the heat if I'm careful, that I need even more salt in these conditions, and that I can recover to some extent quickly. Even if I had to walk most of the marathon, I could have done it. Just knowing that is a comfort.
Lap 1: 53.36 miles 3hr 25 mins, ave speed 15.5 mph, ave HR 113
Lap 2: 52.64 miles 3hr 14 mins, ave speed 16.3 mph, ave HR 140
The numbers and the Garmin graph of this data are fascinating. The first loop has the HR and speed lines superimposed on the graph. On the second loop the HR goes up while the speed slowly goes down, and they are no longer superimposed. So what happened?
The first loop was with IT and JB, casual pace, the pace I'd like to keep for the first 40 miles of IMWI. That "forever" pace in which I could ride all day. I did great with hydration, maybe not enough on the nutrition. The heat, of which there was plenty today, sapped my appetite. And so did choking on a chocolate Accel gel, it slipped back in my mouth and hit my throat. Gag, choke, cough, and tears in the eyes! Awful! My throat is still raw! During the ride I marked hills, turns, bad intersections, all to get ready for the second loop. By the end of the first lap, there was a headwind in the last 3-4 miles that drained some focus, but knowing the truck was coming up kept me going. Besides, the first loop is not where the real beef of this story is.
I mimicked a special needs stop--refilled bottles, grabbed more food (and bought 2 bananas and 2 powerbars), snacked on one of IT's watermelons YUM, visited the bathrooms, tried to fix a problem with the aerobottle, then called Rich to tell him my plans. Does that sound like a typical special needs stop? NO. My friends took off for home, and I took off for more road, the same loop I had just finished.
I started off feeling good. Tired but good. By now it was noon and the worst heat of the day was still ahead of me. In the first loop I watched the cue sheet for turns but didn't mark mileages. Turns out the 3 towns we visited were only 5-9 miles apart in the end, giving me good opportunities for refueling. I stuck to my plans--EASY on the hills. Small ring, light feet, spinning it up. It worked, my legs stayed fresh and my HR low. Unfortunately, there's more to me than legs.
The heat was amazing. It was like being in an oven, there was no escape from the red hot wind and road. My arms and legs burned, coulda swore I would be sunburned to a crisp, but my second layer of sunscreen held out. Maybe the oil of the sunscreen was like a coat of butter on chicken? Would I be roasted when this was done? So hot. Oh so hot. Every now and then a cool wisp of wind would hit me, and I would just love it. Hot, then a little cool, then blazing hot again.
My appetite didn't get any worse, but my water situation did. My water got HOT, and HOT cytomax is hard to stomach. This was my first ride with the 15 min alarm on the garmin, it really did help to keep me eating/drinking on a regular basis. Sometimes, just wondering when the alarm would go off next reminded me to drink more. I was sucking down lots of water, but it was all hot. Near the halfway point in Freeburg, I stopped for water. I filled two bottles with ice then bought 2 big bottles of cold water to refill everything. I hoped the ice would last another hour or two. The cool water was so refreshing, even more so when I added multiple Nuuns to the bottles. The AC in the gas station was good too, but I couldn't stay there too long. Not going to be doing that in WI!
The tar on the roads was thick and melted up to this point, and my bike and shoes were tarred up. I had stopped at one point to see what was stuck to the bike and making a clickclickclick noise on the back wheel and my cleats sunk into the road. How do you remove tar from shoes and bike? I knew from the first loop that the next section of road was already chipped, so I was glad I'd stopped for a break just before then. I'd much rather attack chipped road on a fresh mind with full alertness.
No problems on the chips, if you ignore the fact that little rocks were hitting my helmet, my back, my shoes, and OW some of them hurt! But no slips and I was even able to drink in those miles. The smooth road after the chips was a blessing. The heat, however, and the rain I was praying for was no such blessing. I could see rain clouds to the north of me but they weren't coming my way. Even a damned cloud would help me out! But no such luck. Just an oven. A heat lamp. A fire. It was starting to get to me.
My ice water was melted in an hour and was now a lukewarm Nuun concoction. I found myself wanting to stop my mile 74, just park in some shade to let the HR come down and get some water. Just rest. I kept doing this every 10 miles or so. I just ran out of spark and reached what seemed like a crawling pace. I figured it was better to stop than it was to keep forcing myself to move. My mile 96, I started to crack. At this point I was in the headwind. My speed fell off fast, probably only 12mph with all the effort I could muster. My toes were just starting to hurt, my right shoe had rubbed a raw spot on my ankle. So many distractions on top of the wind and heat. So I started singing. Out loud. My current theme song, quite fitting for this ride, an anthem to self inflicted pain and suffering. I wonder if GAllen had any idea of how great this song is for IM.
This worked for a few miles, it was enough of a distraction from the discomfort and frustration I was feeling. What if this was race day? What if I had to run after this? The miles crawled by, at one point I passed a tomato field of tomatoes rotting in the heat, and it did nothing for my stomach, which by this point was thoroughly confused as to whether it was going to expel its contents or beg for more. Being nauseous and hungry at the same time is hard to treat.
Once back at the truck, I was cooked. I got off the bike OK, but was wobbly and dizzy. Yet I stayed focused and didn't have any mental lapses. Packed up the gear, called Rich, and headed towards the nearby McDonald's for water. I ordered 2 large ice waters and 2 fruit/yogurt parfaits. I was quite the spectacle there--I got many stares, questions, and comments about how crazy I must be. I must have looked a mess. I was still breathing hard, even though I was just standing there. My face started tingling so I put some salt packets under my tongue. The manager felt sorry for me and handed me paper towels. I must have looked horrible. All the burgers and fries and BMI's exceeding 40--and they are worried about me!
I recovered surprisingly fast. I had periods of being hot, then being chilled without moving or changing my environment. I drank more and more water, and never had the lack of pee I sometimes get after sessions like these. In fact, in just hours I was on a post-ride buzz and was pretty happy!
In retrospect, with that recovery, could I have run a marathon? What if I took a few moments to cool off, get some salt tabs, and relaxed? Hard to say, as I was in AC'd conditions which do wonders for being overheated. This ride was maybe a bad idea to do alone, but I'm glad I did it. I've learned that I can drink a lot of water without getting sick, that I can tolerate the heat if I'm careful, that I need even more salt in these conditions, and that I can recover to some extent quickly. Even if I had to walk most of the marathon, I could have done it. Just knowing that is a comfort.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday Hills and Swim
RUN: Hilly ~5.5 miles in ~1hour? Wasn't really counting
SWIM: 1250y in 30 mins
So against better judgement I went for a hilly run the day after I did an 18 mile run. I was tired but really looking forward to a run with someone I don't get to see much lately. He has some great hills just blocks from his home. Well, so do I, but it's still fun to leave the City for something different. I didn't push too much, but was still weak on each hill. When I got done, my right ITB was sore but it hasn't bothered me since the morning.
After that I went to work...
Then I went for a swim! My goal was to take JM's advice and skip the intervals and drills--and just SWIM. Get in the water and swim a continuous long swim. Yeah, I know, it sounds so easy but I don't always think outside the training plan all too well. So I set out for 30-40 laps continuous. No WU, no stops, no watching the lap counter. It went really well until the 22nd lap when I just ran out of mental fuel. I managed a few more sucky laps before calling it over. The IM swim is 84 laps by the way, so I have a ways to go.
I went home and wrote yet another calendar out, this time putting in swim goals instead of bike or run distance goals. Still 7 weeks of swimming, well 6 really since the week before doesn't really count, and I laid out a gradual increase in swim distance that peaks at 4000m. If I can manage an 18 mile run and 100+ mile bike, I should be able to handle a 4000m swim.
I've been doing more IMWI specific research, looking for race reviews and course info. I have a long way to go there, but I have plans for a special needs mockup tomorrow on the bike.
SWIM: 1250y in 30 mins
So against better judgement I went for a hilly run the day after I did an 18 mile run. I was tired but really looking forward to a run with someone I don't get to see much lately. He has some great hills just blocks from his home. Well, so do I, but it's still fun to leave the City for something different. I didn't push too much, but was still weak on each hill. When I got done, my right ITB was sore but it hasn't bothered me since the morning.
After that I went to work...
Then I went for a swim! My goal was to take JM's advice and skip the intervals and drills--and just SWIM. Get in the water and swim a continuous long swim. Yeah, I know, it sounds so easy but I don't always think outside the training plan all too well. So I set out for 30-40 laps continuous. No WU, no stops, no watching the lap counter. It went really well until the 22nd lap when I just ran out of mental fuel. I managed a few more sucky laps before calling it over. The IM swim is 84 laps by the way, so I have a ways to go.
I went home and wrote yet another calendar out, this time putting in swim goals instead of bike or run distance goals. Still 7 weeks of swimming, well 6 really since the week before doesn't really count, and I laid out a gradual increase in swim distance that peaks at 4000m. If I can manage an 18 mile run and 100+ mile bike, I should be able to handle a 4000m swim.
I've been doing more IMWI specific research, looking for race reviews and course info. I have a long way to go there, but I have plans for a special needs mockup tomorrow on the bike.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Another run-bike-run, this one great!
RUN: 11.5 miles in 1:48
BIKE: 15 miles in :48
RUN: 6.5 miles in 1:00
Total of 15 bike miles, 18 run miles in 3.6hrs or 3hr 36 mins
Let me start by saying that this was the best run-bike-run set I’ve done to date. I didn’t fizzle at the end, I wasn’t hurting, and I didn’t just die later in the day. I’ve had a runner’s high going now for hours. But I can tell it’s coming to an end...
I was up at 3:45am after only 6 hours of sleep. (For all my worrying on nutrition and training hours, you’d think I’d worry about sleep as well). The plan was to run the 45 mins alone, then the rest of the first block with the group. Breakfast was a powerbar, banana, a few dates, and a bottle of Nuun water. When I arrived at the park, it was still dark so I took some lights with me. I figured that way the cars could aim for me better. I managed only 2 miles out before having to turn to go back. Those 2 miles hurt—my quads were tight, my hips inflexible—and I felt like I was moving along at a good clip though. Time and distance say otherwise.
Once back to the parking lot, I had a gel (Clif strawberry is good!) and some Nuun water during the brief break. Then we took off and I stayed with the slower paced group. This time I was more warmed up and actually feeling pretty good. I stopped a few times at fountains for water, knowing I needed to focus on this. I also stopped for a bio-break, something I don’t normally do in this run but I took it as a good sign that I was hydrating. I ran with LC for most of the loop and went with her until my 1:45 time was up. Then I rounded up to get 11.5 miles in 1:48.
I hopped on the bike dripping wet, it almost looked like I’d pee’d my pants, with a gel, a banana, and the aerobottle with cytomax. I started off with the banana, which I dropped halfway through eating! Nuts! I rode out of the park and up Midland, and unlike last week I pushed the pace to keep my HR up. I didn’t want this to be a rest break in the middle of the run. I had the gel at 30 mins, and got 70% of the way through the cytomax.
Back to the run. This time with the fuelbelt with 3 cytomax and 1 water. Again, I was soggy, I’m going to keep LC’s suggestion of changing clothes between the bike and run in mind. Just bring both pairs of club tri shorts. Anyway, this time around my 4th toe on the left foot immediately bothered me. After Tuesday’s run, it had a blistered callous where it rubs the 3rd toe. Nothing new, but right now it was bothersome. Adjusting the sock didn’t help, so off to the bathroom, then off to the trails this time running the loop backwards.
I started off feeling great, and recognizing another problem I have—I start off too fast and have nothing left at the end. So I dialed it back when I found the pace high, even though I just kept speeding up again. Another goal was to drink a mouthful of cytomax every 10 mins. I realized partway through that at that rate I wouldn’t empty the bottles, but it’s a start to see how the tummy feels with that rate of fluid intake. Even though the sun was out and the humidity high, I was feeling good. In fact, just feeling good made me feel all the better! I had the gel around 35 mins in and kept up with the cytomax.
This part of the run was nice, I didn’t look at the GPS. No pace, distance, or time, just run and let the mind wander. I have a feeling that a wandering mind and autopilot legs will be helpful in IMWI. That “just run” feeling where the miles slip away. My miles were just slipping away today, I didn’t even start looking until 50+ minutes in, the point at which I hit the flats and started for home. Still feeling peppy and energetic, I watched the pace and let it climb whenever I could do it. Still no pain or discomfort, just an easy run. I reached 6 miles at 55 mins and started a cool down, an even easier pace to start winding down. Since I’d “banked” 3 minutes in the previous run, I decided to stop at 6.5 regardless of time. As it turns out, I finished right at 59.5 minutes at the VC.
I immediately went indoors for the cool air and finished off the rest of the cytomax. There was only part of 1 bottle left and only .5 of the water. Not bad, and no sloshing in the tummy! I refilled the bottles with cold water and quickly took them in. This does upset the tummy, it doesn’t like all that water so fast, but my body needed it regardless of what the stomach thought about it. In the VC I chatted with another runner/walked. This kept me from stretching, I only got in a few standing leg stretches. Once home, I still didn’t stretch. But I did keep drinking water and had a small meal. I was feeling good, and I could tell the difference from previous weeks. What was the difference? Well, different days give different results, but I’d like to bet on the extra water in the morning. Not like it’s a bad idea, so I should do that on a regular basis.
Note on the rest of the day--actually stayed awake! No naps, no pain, no soreness. But I have that "breakable" feeling I get after long runs.
BIKE: 15 miles in :48
RUN: 6.5 miles in 1:00
Total of 15 bike miles, 18 run miles in 3.6hrs or 3hr 36 mins
Let me start by saying that this was the best run-bike-run set I’ve done to date. I didn’t fizzle at the end, I wasn’t hurting, and I didn’t just die later in the day. I’ve had a runner’s high going now for hours. But I can tell it’s coming to an end...
I was up at 3:45am after only 6 hours of sleep. (For all my worrying on nutrition and training hours, you’d think I’d worry about sleep as well). The plan was to run the 45 mins alone, then the rest of the first block with the group. Breakfast was a powerbar, banana, a few dates, and a bottle of Nuun water. When I arrived at the park, it was still dark so I took some lights with me. I figured that way the cars could aim for me better. I managed only 2 miles out before having to turn to go back. Those 2 miles hurt—my quads were tight, my hips inflexible—and I felt like I was moving along at a good clip though. Time and distance say otherwise.
Once back to the parking lot, I had a gel (Clif strawberry is good!) and some Nuun water during the brief break. Then we took off and I stayed with the slower paced group. This time I was more warmed up and actually feeling pretty good. I stopped a few times at fountains for water, knowing I needed to focus on this. I also stopped for a bio-break, something I don’t normally do in this run but I took it as a good sign that I was hydrating. I ran with LC for most of the loop and went with her until my 1:45 time was up. Then I rounded up to get 11.5 miles in 1:48.
I hopped on the bike dripping wet, it almost looked like I’d pee’d my pants, with a gel, a banana, and the aerobottle with cytomax. I started off with the banana, which I dropped halfway through eating! Nuts! I rode out of the park and up Midland, and unlike last week I pushed the pace to keep my HR up. I didn’t want this to be a rest break in the middle of the run. I had the gel at 30 mins, and got 70% of the way through the cytomax.
Back to the run. This time with the fuelbelt with 3 cytomax and 1 water. Again, I was soggy, I’m going to keep LC’s suggestion of changing clothes between the bike and run in mind. Just bring both pairs of club tri shorts. Anyway, this time around my 4th toe on the left foot immediately bothered me. After Tuesday’s run, it had a blistered callous where it rubs the 3rd toe. Nothing new, but right now it was bothersome. Adjusting the sock didn’t help, so off to the bathroom, then off to the trails this time running the loop backwards.
I started off feeling great, and recognizing another problem I have—I start off too fast and have nothing left at the end. So I dialed it back when I found the pace high, even though I just kept speeding up again. Another goal was to drink a mouthful of cytomax every 10 mins. I realized partway through that at that rate I wouldn’t empty the bottles, but it’s a start to see how the tummy feels with that rate of fluid intake. Even though the sun was out and the humidity high, I was feeling good. In fact, just feeling good made me feel all the better! I had the gel around 35 mins in and kept up with the cytomax.
This part of the run was nice, I didn’t look at the GPS. No pace, distance, or time, just run and let the mind wander. I have a feeling that a wandering mind and autopilot legs will be helpful in IMWI. That “just run” feeling where the miles slip away. My miles were just slipping away today, I didn’t even start looking until 50+ minutes in, the point at which I hit the flats and started for home. Still feeling peppy and energetic, I watched the pace and let it climb whenever I could do it. Still no pain or discomfort, just an easy run. I reached 6 miles at 55 mins and started a cool down, an even easier pace to start winding down. Since I’d “banked” 3 minutes in the previous run, I decided to stop at 6.5 regardless of time. As it turns out, I finished right at 59.5 minutes at the VC.
I immediately went indoors for the cool air and finished off the rest of the cytomax. There was only part of 1 bottle left and only .5 of the water. Not bad, and no sloshing in the tummy! I refilled the bottles with cold water and quickly took them in. This does upset the tummy, it doesn’t like all that water so fast, but my body needed it regardless of what the stomach thought about it. In the VC I chatted with another runner/walked. This kept me from stretching, I only got in a few standing leg stretches. Once home, I still didn’t stretch. But I did keep drinking water and had a small meal. I was feeling good, and I could tell the difference from previous weeks. What was the difference? Well, different days give different results, but I’d like to bet on the extra water in the morning. Not like it’s a bad idea, so I should do that on a regular basis.
Note on the rest of the day--actually stayed awake! No naps, no pain, no soreness. But I have that "breakable" feeling I get after long runs.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday bike ride
BIKE: 25 miles, 1.5 hours
Road up midland and back from work, early in the morning. I pushed the pace in this one, otherwise it was just another bike ride! Frea again had the dropped chain issue, so tomorrow I need to get to BS and have that looked at.
Road up midland and back from work, early in the morning. I pushed the pace in this one, otherwise it was just another bike ride! Frea again had the dropped chain issue, so tomorrow I need to get to BS and have that looked at.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I'm finally wearing out
BIKE: abt 35 miles in 2hrs
RUN: 9.6 miles in 1.5 hrs
I woke up to dark skies and red-yellow-green masses on the weather radar. This caused some schedule reworking--ride indoors? Ride later, run now? Do both later? Knowing how tired I get at the end of the day, I chose the longer workout first--ride indoors, run later. Ride indoors, I couldnt' believe it.
2 hours of indoors, ugh, but it wasn't all bad. I did 3x20 mins at HR of 125-130 and felt surprisingly great afterwards. I got to thinking that a 2hr indoors ride just wasn't much of a workout--no hills or wind to get the HR really up. But, I was wrong there. I drank only 1 water bottle in that 2 hours, and I didn't drink much right away afterwards. So a few hours later, after breakfast and shower and at work, I was dehydrated. And I've been struggling to drink enough at the new job. The water bottle is kept down the hall and I don't go to it much.
So by the time the run rolled around at 5:30 or so, I was still dehydrated. I was almost dreading the run knowing it was going to be a struggle. This time I was right, but it got better about 4 miles in. I had a gel and the fuelbelt of cytomax, just barely enough to get through this run. I left work, spun around FP, then ran home. Early after starting the run, I wanted to walk a bit, but wouldn't let myself do it. Especially after I passed another club member (who was walking) and was passed by a coworked on the way home (who was biking) I realized that if I walked I would be seen. What a motivator. So I didn't walk much at all, just at the 1hr mark.
I was dripping lots of water, my clothes was soggy and I felt like I just got out of a shower. By the time I reached home, I could feel the effect of dehydration. Fuzzy thinking, tight/crampy legs, dry mouth. I set to drinking lots of water with cytomax, frozen fruit bars, and an orange. I kept at it the rest of the night with lemon ice water. At 9pm, I realized I hadn't peed since I came home around 7! More water, finally overnight I seemed to catch up. But I know better, I need to work on this more now, and keep this in mind for the next 7 weeks. Dehydration has got to be the stupidist thing to mess up right now!
RUN: 9.6 miles in 1.5 hrs
I woke up to dark skies and red-yellow-green masses on the weather radar. This caused some schedule reworking--ride indoors? Ride later, run now? Do both later? Knowing how tired I get at the end of the day, I chose the longer workout first--ride indoors, run later. Ride indoors, I couldnt' believe it.
2 hours of indoors, ugh, but it wasn't all bad. I did 3x20 mins at HR of 125-130 and felt surprisingly great afterwards. I got to thinking that a 2hr indoors ride just wasn't much of a workout--no hills or wind to get the HR really up. But, I was wrong there. I drank only 1 water bottle in that 2 hours, and I didn't drink much right away afterwards. So a few hours later, after breakfast and shower and at work, I was dehydrated. And I've been struggling to drink enough at the new job. The water bottle is kept down the hall and I don't go to it much.
So by the time the run rolled around at 5:30 or so, I was still dehydrated. I was almost dreading the run knowing it was going to be a struggle. This time I was right, but it got better about 4 miles in. I had a gel and the fuelbelt of cytomax, just barely enough to get through this run. I left work, spun around FP, then ran home. Early after starting the run, I wanted to walk a bit, but wouldn't let myself do it. Especially after I passed another club member (who was walking) and was passed by a coworked on the way home (who was biking) I realized that if I walked I would be seen. What a motivator. So I didn't walk much at all, just at the 1hr mark.
I was dripping lots of water, my clothes was soggy and I felt like I just got out of a shower. By the time I reached home, I could feel the effect of dehydration. Fuzzy thinking, tight/crampy legs, dry mouth. I set to drinking lots of water with cytomax, frozen fruit bars, and an orange. I kept at it the rest of the night with lemon ice water. At 9pm, I realized I hadn't peed since I came home around 7! More water, finally overnight I seemed to catch up. But I know better, I need to work on this more now, and keep this in mind for the next 7 weeks. Dehydration has got to be the stupidist thing to mess up right now!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Wasn't going to be a day off
I was going to do a short easy and the YMCA swim class today. That was the plan, but
that's not what happened. I'm behind on a few things that took priority over
some easy workouts. And over keeping this journal updated. I still need to
get this past weekend typed in! I'm hoping a day
of rest sets me up for a good strong week.
that's not what happened. I'm behind on a few things that took priority over
some easy workouts. And over keeping this journal updated. I still need to
get this past weekend typed in! I'm hoping a day
of rest sets me up for a good strong week.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Little Hills Ride
RIDE: 90 miles in 5.5 hours; ave HR 113!
RUN: 3 miles in 25.75 minutes. haha. OK 26 minutes.
This was the Tour de LH ride in St Chuck. A few years ago, this ride was the stage of my first ever "long ride", 73-some miles with JM DC and SH. It's the 3rd time I've done this route but not surprisingly I still don't know where I am when I'm riding it.
Rain was building up on the western horizon and we knew we would get hit, just a matter of when. So we took off anyway (of course) with the first feature of the ride being Pittman. On the way to PH, I came across another female rider who wanted to ride in my draft. As long as she let me know, sure why not. A few miles later, we get to talking, and I learn she's a somewhat negative person. Blaming others for a mishap, negative attitude, sort of looking for some pity or comfort or I'm not sure what. I rode PH ahead of here, leaving her negativity downwind.
This was my easiest ever climb of PH. Even on Frea! I get done with the 2nd stage of the hill and wonder 'who fixed the hill?' to flatten it? HR only reached the high 160's. Nice! I waited at the top for a new rider with our group, a fellow IMWI-er. We hit the top just in time, the wind picked up fast and strong, followed by windy rain. It was dark like early morning for awhile. We huddled with a group at a gas station, waiting until the worst had passed. When we left the station it was still raining, but not windy. Good enough for us, what if WI is raining??
We took off, with me leaving Ms negativity-i'm-quitting-taking-SAG-back-home behind. I don't need that stuff. Since it was still raining, the pace was cautious and slow. I found that Frea doesn't have great brakes in the rain! Actually, riding in the rain wasn't so bad, it was much cooler than the predicted 107F heat index, but my hands were slick, my glasses fogged over, and water is somewhat distracting.
I had always thought that the heat is what ruined my appetite on the bike. But since this ride was cooler, and I still had no good appetite I think I'm learning otherwise! I was drinking OK, but not eating.
We wound our way through the suburbs, stoplights, and curvy streets, still keeping an easy pace in the rain, and what was the hurry anyway? Finally we reached some open road north of StC. By now the rain had let up, some some was coming out, and we were able to just ride at a steady pace. There was only one mishap for this ride--my riding partner slipped on a RR Xing! She went down so fast I missed it in a blink. Bruised shoulder and hip, scraped up arm and dented helmet. All my worries about being injured in the final days before IMWI selfishly went through my head. She was very lucky to have just bruises and scrapes, she shook it off and kept going. We passed the rest of our group on their way back from the last rest stop. From the last rest, we kept going.
I had a route mod that added 30 miles beyond the last rest stop, it was unsupported but heck weren't most of our rides that way? This was the best part of the trip. When we left the rest stop, we were only 45 miles into the day--only halfway! The next 45 miles were open road, few cars, and conversation. IM conversation. There are some things you can only discuss with another triathlete, and some of that only with another IM person. Peeing on the bike. Special needs bags. Nutrition for 13-15 hours. Not changing weight but getting smaller and more muscular. My riding partner's husband has done IMWI 2 times--what a wonderful resource and support center for her! I could have talked for hours. Well, we did!
On the way back we again crossed the rest stop. I refilled bottles and tried to eat more. At this point we learn that we are among the last riders to come in. The Sweep was at the stop. A brief rest and off again. On the way back, I had a flat tire, and what luck--the Sweep was right there! Nice guy, and the first time I'd used SAG on one of these rides. I felt good all the way home, none of the Stupids or lack of energy or foot discomfort I get around 85+ miles. Off for a run!
We didn't intend to go fast, I was hoping for a slow 5 miles. But we took off at sub8:30 pace, recognizing that this was too fast but we kept going anyway. Her goal was only 3 miles, so when I reached 1.5 miles out I turned with her. Again going too fast. Some race simulation this is, but it felt good anyway. But I couldn't have gone any longer than 3 miles, between the long week, long ride, and heat I was DONE.
This was a good ride, I'm getting used to the long hours on the bike and not having any problems, with the exception of not eating enough. I need to find something I *want* to eat.
NUMERICS: 17 hrs 39 mins
SWIM: 4000y in 1.75 hrs
BIKE: 185 miles in 11.17 hrs
RUN: 30.5 miles in 4.73hrs
It was only supposed to be a 17hr week. I skipped a swim and biked longer. Quit skipping swims!
RUN: 3 miles in 25.75 minutes. haha. OK 26 minutes.
This was the Tour de LH ride in St Chuck. A few years ago, this ride was the stage of my first ever "long ride", 73-some miles with JM DC and SH. It's the 3rd time I've done this route but not surprisingly I still don't know where I am when I'm riding it.
Rain was building up on the western horizon and we knew we would get hit, just a matter of when. So we took off anyway (of course) with the first feature of the ride being Pittman. On the way to PH, I came across another female rider who wanted to ride in my draft. As long as she let me know, sure why not. A few miles later, we get to talking, and I learn she's a somewhat negative person. Blaming others for a mishap, negative attitude, sort of looking for some pity or comfort or I'm not sure what. I rode PH ahead of here, leaving her negativity downwind.
This was my easiest ever climb of PH. Even on Frea! I get done with the 2nd stage of the hill and wonder 'who fixed the hill?' to flatten it? HR only reached the high 160's. Nice! I waited at the top for a new rider with our group, a fellow IMWI-er. We hit the top just in time, the wind picked up fast and strong, followed by windy rain. It was dark like early morning for awhile. We huddled with a group at a gas station, waiting until the worst had passed. When we left the station it was still raining, but not windy. Good enough for us, what if WI is raining??
We took off, with me leaving Ms negativity-i'm-quitting-taking-SAG-back-home behind. I don't need that stuff. Since it was still raining, the pace was cautious and slow. I found that Frea doesn't have great brakes in the rain! Actually, riding in the rain wasn't so bad, it was much cooler than the predicted 107F heat index, but my hands were slick, my glasses fogged over, and water is somewhat distracting.
I had always thought that the heat is what ruined my appetite on the bike. But since this ride was cooler, and I still had no good appetite I think I'm learning otherwise! I was drinking OK, but not eating.
We wound our way through the suburbs, stoplights, and curvy streets, still keeping an easy pace in the rain, and what was the hurry anyway? Finally we reached some open road north of StC. By now the rain had let up, some some was coming out, and we were able to just ride at a steady pace. There was only one mishap for this ride--my riding partner slipped on a RR Xing! She went down so fast I missed it in a blink. Bruised shoulder and hip, scraped up arm and dented helmet. All my worries about being injured in the final days before IMWI selfishly went through my head. She was very lucky to have just bruises and scrapes, she shook it off and kept going. We passed the rest of our group on their way back from the last rest stop. From the last rest, we kept going.
I had a route mod that added 30 miles beyond the last rest stop, it was unsupported but heck weren't most of our rides that way? This was the best part of the trip. When we left the rest stop, we were only 45 miles into the day--only halfway! The next 45 miles were open road, few cars, and conversation. IM conversation. There are some things you can only discuss with another triathlete, and some of that only with another IM person. Peeing on the bike. Special needs bags. Nutrition for 13-15 hours. Not changing weight but getting smaller and more muscular. My riding partner's husband has done IMWI 2 times--what a wonderful resource and support center for her! I could have talked for hours. Well, we did!
On the way back we again crossed the rest stop. I refilled bottles and tried to eat more. At this point we learn that we are among the last riders to come in. The Sweep was at the stop. A brief rest and off again. On the way back, I had a flat tire, and what luck--the Sweep was right there! Nice guy, and the first time I'd used SAG on one of these rides. I felt good all the way home, none of the Stupids or lack of energy or foot discomfort I get around 85+ miles. Off for a run!
We didn't intend to go fast, I was hoping for a slow 5 miles. But we took off at sub8:30 pace, recognizing that this was too fast but we kept going anyway. Her goal was only 3 miles, so when I reached 1.5 miles out I turned with her. Again going too fast. Some race simulation this is, but it felt good anyway. But I couldn't have gone any longer than 3 miles, between the long week, long ride, and heat I was DONE.
This was a good ride, I'm getting used to the long hours on the bike and not having any problems, with the exception of not eating enough. I need to find something I *want* to eat.
NUMERICS: 17 hrs 39 mins
SWIM: 4000y in 1.75 hrs
BIKE: 185 miles in 11.17 hrs
RUN: 30.5 miles in 4.73hrs
It was only supposed to be a 17hr week. I skipped a swim and biked longer. Quit skipping swims!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
MC's End of Season Ride
RIDE: 42 miles in 2.5hrs?? Forgot to start the Garmin on time, so I clocked 32 miles in just under 2hrs.
This was MC's "see ya" ride, so it was a somewhat casual spin on the Rt66 corridor. We signed up with HI for a group ride, but all of about 40-50 people showed up and there was none of the themed activities I thought I'd read about. Anyway, this review is supposed to be about me.
Another hot day, and for the first time I tried the orange Cytomax. Sort of medicinal, but I found later that it's better cold. After a day off, I was feeling good on the first half of this ride. I was also enjoying the social side of it, most of my rides lately have been with people I don't know so well.
There's not much to say about 42 miles! A group of us did the "challenge loop", a 7 mile detour onto the the loop with Huntersford road (no flat tire this time). DC pointed out one hill that was like the one on the IMWI course, so I'm getting a better idea of That Hill. I did good on the hills of the challenge loop, but I was certainly feeling the cumulative fatigue of all the training.
This was MC's "see ya" ride, so it was a somewhat casual spin on the Rt66 corridor. We signed up with HI for a group ride, but all of about 40-50 people showed up and there was none of the themed activities I thought I'd read about. Anyway, this review is supposed to be about me.
Another hot day, and for the first time I tried the orange Cytomax. Sort of medicinal, but I found later that it's better cold. After a day off, I was feeling good on the first half of this ride. I was also enjoying the social side of it, most of my rides lately have been with people I don't know so well.
There's not much to say about 42 miles! A group of us did the "challenge loop", a 7 mile detour onto the the loop with Huntersford road (no flat tire this time). DC pointed out one hill that was like the one on the IMWI course, so I'm getting a better idea of That Hill. I did good on the hills of the challenge loop, but I was certainly feeling the cumulative fatigue of all the training.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Finally, a day OFF
DAY OFF! 24hrs. hehe
I was to tired yesterday I thought for sure I'd go to bed early and sleep in. Instead I couln'd fall asleep until after 11pm and woke up at 6am! I thought I was tired!
And I was, I had reminders all day of the wear and tear. No injuries, just wear and tear. My joints seem to get an "awareness" about them. No pain, no stiffness, I'm just aware of them. I can feel the bones moving, the connective tissues pulling on muscles, and the skin rolling over it all. Weird, I know. Go out and train like made for a few month and you'll know what I mean. Today, my back and shoulders were the most vocal, especially the shoulder blades. Let me guess...swimming?
This weekend is full of rides! And I need to be sure that I plan next week carefully so as to get everything balanced and included.
At the end of the day, I was feeling good. I think I'm still dehydrated, my appetite is naught, and my eyes just want to close. I'll try for another early night.
I was to tired yesterday I thought for sure I'd go to bed early and sleep in. Instead I couln'd fall asleep until after 11pm and woke up at 6am! I thought I was tired!
And I was, I had reminders all day of the wear and tear. No injuries, just wear and tear. My joints seem to get an "awareness" about them. No pain, no stiffness, I'm just aware of them. I can feel the bones moving, the connective tissues pulling on muscles, and the skin rolling over it all. Weird, I know. Go out and train like made for a few month and you'll know what I mean. Today, my back and shoulders were the most vocal, especially the shoulder blades. Let me guess...swimming?
This weekend is full of rides! And I need to be sure that I plan next week carefully so as to get everything balanced and included.
At the end of the day, I was feeling good. I think I'm still dehydrated, my appetite is naught, and my eyes just want to close. I'll try for another early night.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Long Thursday morning
AIRPORT: drop husband off at 515am. ooof, had to get up early for that.
RUN: 8.65 miles in 1:20
BIKE: 16.5 miles in 1:00
RUN: 4.35 miles in 0:40
Whew, that's a lot of miles. And time! This put me at 9.5 hours for the week so far!
I got up at 3:45am to be sure I was hydrated, fueled, and ready to run on time even with the trip to the airport. I have...business...that I really have to do every morning before I run, otherwise the gut just rebels and demands attention about halfway around the park. Last time I took the hubby to the airport in the morning, business wasn't on time. Today it was. Yea!
I immediately established that I wasn't going to try and pace the group today. After last weeks session, with a similar format as this one, I knew I needed to keep a better pace if I was going to finish strong (unlike last week). And, I planned to hydrate more during the run. It's funny that in my training runs I don't drink every mile, but in a race I do. And I wonder why my race tummy is sensitive to water!? Time to simulate that sloshing feeling in training, only 59 days to go!
The pace was easy, slightly slower than last week, but I was dragging before I started. I can tell, because my feet *scuff-scuff-scuff* on the pavement. I focused on picking my feet up. I drank water at almost every mile and had a gel at 45 mins. I was going relatively slow, but in the shape I was in I certainly wasn't going any faster. Just no spark.
By the time the run ended, my clothes were dripping wet. Dried salt was caked onto my legs. Time for a bike ride! Last week was only 30 mins, today was 60. I headed out onto the Midland route, knowing I had lots of stops to make but I wasn't feeling imaginative enough to think of another route. And yup. LOTS of stops, I think I spent half the ride stopped. But the GPS stops counting when I stop moving, so I really did ride 60 mins. But frustratingly only rode 16.5 miles! Was this worth the effort? I think next time this workout comes around, I need to be nearer to open road. The whole point of this run-bike-run is to keep the heart rate UP, not stopped! In good news, I cleaned off 1.5 water bottles of Cytomax on the ride without stomach upset. I was like a dry sponge.
Back for another run. By this time, my legs were feeling the burn but I only had 40 mins to go. Was that really so much? No. I filled a water bottle and headed out again, with the plan of running up Skinker Hill so I could run back down it. Like they say, there's no such thing as a free lunch. If you want to go down a hill, you first have to climb it. There's some deep IM wisdow for ya!
This run had moments of clarity between moments of fuzziness. My legs were an autopilot, I just run without really realizing I was running. This is a nice feeling when you feel good, but my stomach was screaming for food. Apparently the 3 gels and 2 servings of cytomax and 1 box of raisins wasn't enough. 600 calories for 3 hours? No, not enough! Up Skinker Hill, scuff-scuff-scuff on the limestone path. Sweat was running into my eyes. The sun was heating up my skin, keeping me from cooling efficiently. My water bottle turned warm and bland. Oh, yeah, and a part of me was enjoying this. I wish I could identify that part of me, take if out for dinner, and learn it's agenda. Did it like pain and suffering? Or was it more of a runner's high junkie, just looking for the next hit?
Scuff-scuff-scuff. My legs were too tired to keep good form. I kept reminding myself that after this run, I get to rest until Saturday morning. I also started watching the clock tick down to 40 mins. At 30 minutes, I told myself "10 more minutes out of 3 hours, not so bad". "4 minutes out of 3 hours, completely do-able". I finished the run this way, watching the clock and counting. There's some time dilation that occurs at the end of runs like this, a phenomenon scientists should really look into.
The recovery went better than expected, based on last week's death march to work and through work. I hydrated much better this time around, before during and after. But I was still terribly thirsty. My appetite still suffers hours later. It took until 1pm until my heart rate fell below 65 bpm--normal for most people but 20 bpm high for my resting. As I type this in the evening, my chest hurts from the exertion but nothing else does. I'm tired beyond tired, but I can't sleep. What another winning combination.
Tomorrow is REST DAY!
RUN: 8.65 miles in 1:20
BIKE: 16.5 miles in 1:00
RUN: 4.35 miles in 0:40
Whew, that's a lot of miles. And time! This put me at 9.5 hours for the week so far!
I got up at 3:45am to be sure I was hydrated, fueled, and ready to run on time even with the trip to the airport. I have...business...that I really have to do every morning before I run, otherwise the gut just rebels and demands attention about halfway around the park. Last time I took the hubby to the airport in the morning, business wasn't on time. Today it was. Yea!
I immediately established that I wasn't going to try and pace the group today. After last weeks session, with a similar format as this one, I knew I needed to keep a better pace if I was going to finish strong (unlike last week). And, I planned to hydrate more during the run. It's funny that in my training runs I don't drink every mile, but in a race I do. And I wonder why my race tummy is sensitive to water!? Time to simulate that sloshing feeling in training, only 59 days to go!
The pace was easy, slightly slower than last week, but I was dragging before I started. I can tell, because my feet *scuff-scuff-scuff* on the pavement. I focused on picking my feet up. I drank water at almost every mile and had a gel at 45 mins. I was going relatively slow, but in the shape I was in I certainly wasn't going any faster. Just no spark.
By the time the run ended, my clothes were dripping wet. Dried salt was caked onto my legs. Time for a bike ride! Last week was only 30 mins, today was 60. I headed out onto the Midland route, knowing I had lots of stops to make but I wasn't feeling imaginative enough to think of another route. And yup. LOTS of stops, I think I spent half the ride stopped. But the GPS stops counting when I stop moving, so I really did ride 60 mins. But frustratingly only rode 16.5 miles! Was this worth the effort? I think next time this workout comes around, I need to be nearer to open road. The whole point of this run-bike-run is to keep the heart rate UP, not stopped! In good news, I cleaned off 1.5 water bottles of Cytomax on the ride without stomach upset. I was like a dry sponge.
Back for another run. By this time, my legs were feeling the burn but I only had 40 mins to go. Was that really so much? No. I filled a water bottle and headed out again, with the plan of running up Skinker Hill so I could run back down it. Like they say, there's no such thing as a free lunch. If you want to go down a hill, you first have to climb it. There's some deep IM wisdow for ya!
This run had moments of clarity between moments of fuzziness. My legs were an autopilot, I just run without really realizing I was running. This is a nice feeling when you feel good, but my stomach was screaming for food. Apparently the 3 gels and 2 servings of cytomax and 1 box of raisins wasn't enough. 600 calories for 3 hours? No, not enough! Up Skinker Hill, scuff-scuff-scuff on the limestone path. Sweat was running into my eyes. The sun was heating up my skin, keeping me from cooling efficiently. My water bottle turned warm and bland. Oh, yeah, and a part of me was enjoying this. I wish I could identify that part of me, take if out for dinner, and learn it's agenda. Did it like pain and suffering? Or was it more of a runner's high junkie, just looking for the next hit?
Scuff-scuff-scuff. My legs were too tired to keep good form. I kept reminding myself that after this run, I get to rest until Saturday morning. I also started watching the clock tick down to 40 mins. At 30 minutes, I told myself "10 more minutes out of 3 hours, not so bad". "4 minutes out of 3 hours, completely do-able". I finished the run this way, watching the clock and counting. There's some time dilation that occurs at the end of runs like this, a phenomenon scientists should really look into.
The recovery went better than expected, based on last week's death march to work and through work. I hydrated much better this time around, before during and after. But I was still terribly thirsty. My appetite still suffers hours later. It took until 1pm until my heart rate fell below 65 bpm--normal for most people but 20 bpm high for my resting. As I type this in the evening, my chest hurts from the exertion but nothing else does. I'm tired beyond tired, but I can't sleep. What another winning combination.
Tomorrow is REST DAY!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Fun in the park with Puppy
BIKE: 8.5 miles in 40 mins with the Puppy
SWIM: 1750y in 45mins at the Y-masters
Recently JM told a story about a bike ride that was notable for it's distinct lack of triathlon. An old bike with all the usual old bike fixins. The ride wasn't about the miles, the hills, or the heartrate. The ride was about having fun.
I decided that somewhere within this 17 hour week, I needed a little fun. And a break. So I took the Puppy out on a long commute into work. We went looking for gravel trails, mulch trails, and sidewalk-less areas with success. I also tested out the FP trails for the first time on the Puppy. I road them once on the Bird with no luck, just the wrong gearing and tires. Puppy, on the other hand, bounced right u the hills, bumping over roots and rocks. I love the sound of the tires on pavement--the hummmmm like mud tires on a truck--but I love even more the light rubbery sound of a large tire going over roots and track. This bike just flies over rough terrain, CX season will be a blast!
After another day at work in which I didn't eat or drink enough, I came home and ate dinner--fish, sweet potato, and peanut butter. Not all at once, but sequentially. Do you know what protein and fat do in your tummy? Besides refuel all the spent calories from the past week? The sit. They don't vacate or move out. They take up residence and hang out for awhile. It's why dieters are told to eat more fat and protein, they are satiating. But I'm not a dieter, I'm a swimmer, and I had to swim on this tummy!
So off the hubby and I go to the Y. I'm secretly hoping he doesnt' want to go, or that class is canceled for some reason. I'm just too tired to swim, and too full. But wouldn't you know, Rich wants to go and class is on. I spent the 45 minutes hoping to stay in a heart rate zone that didn't reroute blood from my tummy. And hoping the pool wouldn't have to be closed for...ahem...cleanup. Luckily, the iron gut held out, although my focus and swim form suffered for it.
SWIM: 1750y in 45mins at the Y-masters
Recently JM told a story about a bike ride that was notable for it's distinct lack of triathlon. An old bike with all the usual old bike fixins. The ride wasn't about the miles, the hills, or the heartrate. The ride was about having fun.
I decided that somewhere within this 17 hour week, I needed a little fun. And a break. So I took the Puppy out on a long commute into work. We went looking for gravel trails, mulch trails, and sidewalk-less areas with success. I also tested out the FP trails for the first time on the Puppy. I road them once on the Bird with no luck, just the wrong gearing and tires. Puppy, on the other hand, bounced right u the hills, bumping over roots and rocks. I love the sound of the tires on pavement--the hummmmm like mud tires on a truck--but I love even more the light rubbery sound of a large tire going over roots and track. This bike just flies over rough terrain, CX season will be a blast!
After another day at work in which I didn't eat or drink enough, I came home and ate dinner--fish, sweet potato, and peanut butter. Not all at once, but sequentially. Do you know what protein and fat do in your tummy? Besides refuel all the spent calories from the past week? The sit. They don't vacate or move out. They take up residence and hang out for awhile. It's why dieters are told to eat more fat and protein, they are satiating. But I'm not a dieter, I'm a swimmer, and I had to swim on this tummy!
So off the hubby and I go to the Y. I'm secretly hoping he doesnt' want to go, or that class is canceled for some reason. I'm just too tired to swim, and too full. But wouldn't you know, Rich wants to go and class is on. I spent the 45 minutes hoping to stay in a heart rate zone that didn't reroute blood from my tummy. And hoping the pool wouldn't have to be closed for...ahem...cleanup. Luckily, the iron gut held out, although my focus and swim form suffered for it.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A very tiring Tuesday, a run for the bank
RIDE: 27.7 miles in 1hr 45mins
RUN: 7 miles in 1:08
I've switched the days of my schedule up from the training plan, and although I'm careful to avoid having all my running at one end of the week or to put two BT sessions against each other, some days no matter what I do I wear out. But on the other hand, it's IM training. It's supposed to be tiring!
The ride was in the am before work. This is working nicely--I drop my bag off at lab on the way to Midland, then I ride as far as a can to the halfway time before coming home. What's frustrating is the short mileage I get on this ride. There's a stoplight every few minutes! And so much traffic! But the cars are mostly good to me, the real problems are all the BUMPS I hit. I'm talking speed-bump-like hits that knock the aerobars out of your hands.
The ride was refreshing, but then I went to work. Ain't nothing like a busy day a work to drag you down. Although I can't complain about being busy, it would be better if I was doing something worthwhile.
The run was in the pm after work, and I knew before I ran out the door that this run would be a slogfest. It was hot and humid, and I was tired, thirsty, and hungry. What a combination. A combination for disaster.
I took off with no set route in mind. I had thought about doing the TGP loop, but that's only 6 miles and I was looking for at least 7. You know you're training for an IM when "only 6 miles" is too short. I went east through the Heights, then south towards the Benton Park area. Once there I just kept going south. My legs didn't have a lot of life in them, so by running blocks instead of trail paths I had more to pay attention to. This is good and bad. Good in that time seems to go by faster. Bad in that there's a lot to trip over, and when I'm tired my mind fuzzes and I trip up. At least on this run I didn't trip so much as I stumbled a lot. I entered a neighborhood I was unfamiliar with so I took a peek at the GPS. I'd gone only 2 miles! OK, 1.97 to be exact. 2 miles?!? Really? Nuts!
I turned left to head towards downtown. I knew I'd have to climb the hill up the riverfront by doing this, but at least I'd have all the houses in Soulard to admire. I turned on a street that ended in a T-intersection with Wisconsin street. Wisconsin! I turned left/north and ended up going through the Lemp/Cherokee area. 3 miles.
I turned right again at some point and ended up down by the Brewery, then ran along Broadway. 4 miles. At this I needed a rest. Why didn't I bring water with me? Duh! I slogged up the hill towards Lafayette. 5 miles. Rest. Ran around LF Park. 6 miles. Rest. Oh geez, what's going on here?!?
By this point, I'm burned out but a part of me keeps going. A small part of me is really enjoying this run. I tried to isolate that part, magnify it, and embrace it. My legs were dragging, by mouth dry, my heart rate high. I'm dressed in wet clothes and covered in gritty salt. I'm craving food, ice, water, minty gum. But yet I want to keep running?
Somewhere around mile 1.97, I realized this run would be what JM might call a run to put in the bank for IM day. I think that's how he'd put it. A run that will have no meaning now, but come IM day I'll put this run out and find a way to keep fighting towards the finish line. I envisioned that this run might represent the post-18 mile mark part of the marathon, the point at which they say the marathon really begins. The Top 10 Tips page I had just read said that once you get to the last 8 miles the real challenge starts, but you can do anything for just 8 miles. I decided this 7 mile run would be a test run of those final 8.
The final mile I managed to find some spark. I didn't put on many more speed, but I did hit a nice homestretch feeling. I didn't imagine the last mile of the race, that won't happen until The Day, but I did learn today that no matter how miserable I am, I still love this. Like the song says, "Sometimes I think I get off on the pain".
RUN: 7 miles in 1:08
I've switched the days of my schedule up from the training plan, and although I'm careful to avoid having all my running at one end of the week or to put two BT sessions against each other, some days no matter what I do I wear out. But on the other hand, it's IM training. It's supposed to be tiring!
The ride was in the am before work. This is working nicely--I drop my bag off at lab on the way to Midland, then I ride as far as a can to the halfway time before coming home. What's frustrating is the short mileage I get on this ride. There's a stoplight every few minutes! And so much traffic! But the cars are mostly good to me, the real problems are all the BUMPS I hit. I'm talking speed-bump-like hits that knock the aerobars out of your hands.
The ride was refreshing, but then I went to work. Ain't nothing like a busy day a work to drag you down. Although I can't complain about being busy, it would be better if I was doing something worthwhile.
The run was in the pm after work, and I knew before I ran out the door that this run would be a slogfest. It was hot and humid, and I was tired, thirsty, and hungry. What a combination. A combination for disaster.
I took off with no set route in mind. I had thought about doing the TGP loop, but that's only 6 miles and I was looking for at least 7. You know you're training for an IM when "only 6 miles" is too short. I went east through the Heights, then south towards the Benton Park area. Once there I just kept going south. My legs didn't have a lot of life in them, so by running blocks instead of trail paths I had more to pay attention to. This is good and bad. Good in that time seems to go by faster. Bad in that there's a lot to trip over, and when I'm tired my mind fuzzes and I trip up. At least on this run I didn't trip so much as I stumbled a lot. I entered a neighborhood I was unfamiliar with so I took a peek at the GPS. I'd gone only 2 miles! OK, 1.97 to be exact. 2 miles?!? Really? Nuts!
I turned left to head towards downtown. I knew I'd have to climb the hill up the riverfront by doing this, but at least I'd have all the houses in Soulard to admire. I turned on a street that ended in a T-intersection with Wisconsin street. Wisconsin! I turned left/north and ended up going through the Lemp/Cherokee area. 3 miles.
I turned right again at some point and ended up down by the Brewery, then ran along Broadway. 4 miles. At this I needed a rest. Why didn't I bring water with me? Duh! I slogged up the hill towards Lafayette. 5 miles. Rest. Ran around LF Park. 6 miles. Rest. Oh geez, what's going on here?!?
By this point, I'm burned out but a part of me keeps going. A small part of me is really enjoying this run. I tried to isolate that part, magnify it, and embrace it. My legs were dragging, by mouth dry, my heart rate high. I'm dressed in wet clothes and covered in gritty salt. I'm craving food, ice, water, minty gum. But yet I want to keep running?
Somewhere around mile 1.97, I realized this run would be what JM might call a run to put in the bank for IM day. I think that's how he'd put it. A run that will have no meaning now, but come IM day I'll put this run out and find a way to keep fighting towards the finish line. I envisioned that this run might represent the post-18 mile mark part of the marathon, the point at which they say the marathon really begins. The Top 10 Tips page I had just read said that once you get to the last 8 miles the real challenge starts, but you can do anything for just 8 miles. I decided this 7 mile run would be a test run of those final 8.
The final mile I managed to find some spark. I didn't put on many more speed, but I did hit a nice homestretch feeling. I didn't imagine the last mile of the race, that won't happen until The Day, but I did learn today that no matter how miserable I am, I still love this. Like the song says, "Sometimes I think I get off on the pain".
Monday, July 12, 2010
No Monday off this week
RUN: 7.5-ish miles in abt 1:10 Mid-day loop over lunch.
SWIM: 2250y in 60 mins, Y-class
I usually take Monday's off, but not this week. This time it will be Friday off. Not sure if I have a specific reason, other than I wanted to do the Y-Masters swim today.
The run was around 1pm, so the heat of the day was near maximal. I figured it was good heat training, when in fact it woke me up and I was doing better the rest of the day in terms of mental clarity. It only last a few hours :)
The swim was lots of 200 and 100 intervals, and lots of kicking--about 300y worth! My form didn't feel so smooth (and the hubby who briefly watched confirmed this) but I was still glad I did the session. It was so easy to skip out a late evening, post-dinner swim!
I have a mental list of things that are true, except in IM triathlon. See if I can remember them now. This is what I think about while running...
1. If it feels good, do it. Yes, triathlon feels good. But I don't imagine this race will. But I'll do it anyway, and I'll likely do it again. And again.
2. Too much sugar is bad for you. Yes, but so is bonking.
3. A good hearty stick-to-your-ribs breakfast is best. Yes, but not before a race or workout. In those cases, sugar is best!
I found online today the Top 10 tips for racing IMWI. I'll need to read it again, but it has me thinking about hills on the bike and how to approach them. And how I need to do a hilly century.
SWIM: 2250y in 60 mins, Y-class
I usually take Monday's off, but not this week. This time it will be Friday off. Not sure if I have a specific reason, other than I wanted to do the Y-Masters swim today.
The run was around 1pm, so the heat of the day was near maximal. I figured it was good heat training, when in fact it woke me up and I was doing better the rest of the day in terms of mental clarity. It only last a few hours :)
The swim was lots of 200 and 100 intervals, and lots of kicking--about 300y worth! My form didn't feel so smooth (and the hubby who briefly watched confirmed this) but I was still glad I did the session. It was so easy to skip out a late evening, post-dinner swim!
I have a mental list of things that are true, except in IM triathlon. See if I can remember them now. This is what I think about while running...
1. If it feels good, do it. Yes, triathlon feels good. But I don't imagine this race will. But I'll do it anyway, and I'll likely do it again. And again.
2. Too much sugar is bad for you. Yes, but so is bonking.
3. A good hearty stick-to-your-ribs breakfast is best. Yes, but not before a race or workout. In those cases, sugar is best!
I found online today the Top 10 tips for racing IMWI. I'll need to read it again, but it has me thinking about hills on the bike and how to approach them. And how I need to do a hilly century.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Volunteering NT, run swim, REST!
RUN: 6.6 miles in 60 mins
SWIM: 2000y in 60 mins
The run was fit in after a morning of volunteering in St Chuck. The people who drove by were selfish, inconsiderate, rude, jerks. Nuff said.
The run felt easy, my legs aren't shaky at all from the long ride! A bit tired on long steps, but no pain or soreness. I'm rocking this century thing, wonder if I can get one in each weekend in July?
I didn't get to swim for a couple hours later. By then I was tired and had just eaten. I had intended to follow the plan (long intervals repeated) skipping the intensity settings and just getting the distance, but it would have taken another 30 mins and I had to be at a picnic. I had some trouble in that I was swimming to the right--not sure where that came from! I usually swim to the left.
This was supposed to be a recovery week, at least Mon-Fri. Do I feel recovered? I feel good, does that count? I'm getting to bed early and getting up early. I'm not always falling asleep in my chair, just sometimes. I'm in a good mood and I'm recovering from sessions quickly. Let's hope this keeps up!
NUMERICS: 14:26 hours this week
SWIM: 5850y in 2.83 hrs
BIKE: 128 miles in 7.6 hours
RUN: 26.28 miles in 4 hours
SWIM: 2000y in 60 mins
The run was fit in after a morning of volunteering in St Chuck. The people who drove by were selfish, inconsiderate, rude, jerks. Nuff said.
The run felt easy, my legs aren't shaky at all from the long ride! A bit tired on long steps, but no pain or soreness. I'm rocking this century thing, wonder if I can get one in each weekend in July?
I didn't get to swim for a couple hours later. By then I was tired and had just eaten. I had intended to follow the plan (long intervals repeated) skipping the intensity settings and just getting the distance, but it would have taken another 30 mins and I had to be at a picnic. I had some trouble in that I was swimming to the right--not sure where that came from! I usually swim to the left.
This was supposed to be a recovery week, at least Mon-Fri. Do I feel recovered? I feel good, does that count? I'm getting to bed early and getting up early. I'm not always falling asleep in my chair, just sometimes. I'm in a good mood and I'm recovering from sessions quickly. Let's hope this keeps up!
NUMERICS: 14:26 hours this week
SWIM: 5850y in 2.83 hrs
BIKE: 128 miles in 7.6 hours
RUN: 26.28 miles in 4 hours
Saturday, July 10, 2010
July Century #2 and the Donut
BIKE: 106 miles in 6hr 5 mins
RUN: 4.2 miles in 40 mins
The plan today was to ride up from OFallon to the TdD, ride the TdD, then ride home. There was plenty of stopping before and after the TdD,so the ride was broken into 3 distinct segments. The ride up was casual and fun--maybe 17-18mph ave on great rural roads. I met yet another IMWI2010 person! He had great advice, I need to start writing this stuff down. He said 2 things to remember:
1. All those spectators want to be you. They are inspired by you and want to do what you are doing.
2. While swimming, forget about the bike. You're not on the bike, you're swimming. Focus on just the water ahead of you and stay in the swim. Don't get distracted by everything else that isn't happening at that moment.
While I drank enough, I probably didn't eat enough: 4x cytomax, lara bar, powerbar, cashews, 3 gels. Yikes, it doesnt seem like much, I really need to think on an hour by hour basis. The weather was in the 80's, but my appetite wasnt there for this ride.
The TdD was awesome! It was my first bike race, even though I wasn't registered. Me and 2 other MECs jumped in behind the main pack and road behind them aways. We attacked, pacelined, yelled at other riders, challenged other riders, etc. SO MUCH FUN!! We averaged 21mph or so in the donut, and guessing by time if I was registered I would have placed overall. This has me jazzed up for doing more of the upcoming TT races!
The ride home was also leisurely, and by 90 miles The Stupids set in. I started weaving a bit in aero, hit some bumps hard, and stayed out of the pack until it recovered with a gel. I need to remember to eat! The gel was all it took to fix me.
I waited only 5-10 minutes before running. The pain in my feet at miles 90+ on the bike didn't bother me at all. I was dry and needed water, but the more I drank the more I started to slosh. I finished the 4 miles in the heat, and decided to cut the last 10 mins while I still had a positive outlook. And I really didn't need the extra time, I was already over time for a recovery week.
RUN: 4.2 miles in 40 mins
The plan today was to ride up from OFallon to the TdD, ride the TdD, then ride home. There was plenty of stopping before and after the TdD,so the ride was broken into 3 distinct segments. The ride up was casual and fun--maybe 17-18mph ave on great rural roads. I met yet another IMWI2010 person! He had great advice, I need to start writing this stuff down. He said 2 things to remember:
1. All those spectators want to be you. They are inspired by you and want to do what you are doing.
2. While swimming, forget about the bike. You're not on the bike, you're swimming. Focus on just the water ahead of you and stay in the swim. Don't get distracted by everything else that isn't happening at that moment.
While I drank enough, I probably didn't eat enough: 4x cytomax, lara bar, powerbar, cashews, 3 gels. Yikes, it doesnt seem like much, I really need to think on an hour by hour basis. The weather was in the 80's, but my appetite wasnt there for this ride.
The TdD was awesome! It was my first bike race, even though I wasn't registered. Me and 2 other MECs jumped in behind the main pack and road behind them aways. We attacked, pacelined, yelled at other riders, challenged other riders, etc. SO MUCH FUN!! We averaged 21mph or so in the donut, and guessing by time if I was registered I would have placed overall. This has me jazzed up for doing more of the upcoming TT races!
The ride home was also leisurely, and by 90 miles The Stupids set in. I started weaving a bit in aero, hit some bumps hard, and stayed out of the pack until it recovered with a gel. I need to remember to eat! The gel was all it took to fix me.
I waited only 5-10 minutes before running. The pain in my feet at miles 90+ on the bike didn't bother me at all. I was dry and needed water, but the more I drank the more I started to slosh. I finished the 4 miles in the heat, and decided to cut the last 10 mins while I still had a positive outlook. And I really didn't need the extra time, I was already over time for a recovery week.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Didn't take Friday off
SWIM: 2100y in 1hr.
OOH, that's a long time for 2100y, but there was lots of kicking and drilling and stopping to focus on my form. I slipped this swim in after work, I was bound and determined to swim!
It took a long night's sleep to recover from yesterday, sitting at my desk after all those miles was killer. I just needed a nap, I tried to sleep in Rich's car but only found maybe 10 mins of snoozing.
OOH, that's a long time for 2100y, but there was lots of kicking and drilling and stopping to focus on my form. I slipped this swim in after work, I was bound and determined to swim!
It took a long night's sleep to recover from yesterday, sitting at my desk after all those miles was killer. I just needed a nap, I tried to sleep in Rich's car but only found maybe 10 mins of snoozing.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday Sandwich
RUN: 9.15 miles in 1:19 in FP with LC and SH
BIKE: 9 miles in 31 mins alone around FP and out Wydown
RUN: 6.33 miles 1hr alone
My first sandwich! More easily recognized as a duathlon, ignoring the odd distances. More definitively, a long aerobic workout with a brief bike ride to save the legs from the pounding of running.
It was nice to sleep in until the usual 4:45am, but in the end getting up earlier for these workouts would save me some time. I could get to work at a decent hour or get a nap in instead. Anyway...
The first loop quickly splintered into a faster group and a less faster group (with me, LC, and SH). SH stuck with us until 4 miles in, then she left. LC and I kept a good pace, her goal was 9 miles. Longer than my plan said but it works for me. We did the 9.1 in 1:19, just under 9 min/miles. Not as fast as last week, but that wasn’t the goal. I had a gel around 6 miles, and only a few sips from the fountain.
The first run finished quickly enough and I jumped on the bike after a brief rest. I tooled around FP to stretch out then left the park for Forsyth/Wydown. My goal was to have a relatively fast ride in order to simulate a brick. The cytomax I was drinking wasn’t settling well, so I only got through half a bottle.
The final transition was without much rest, and the legs felt it this time. I was a little stiff, leaving me with short choppy strides until I worked out the kinks. Shortly into the run, I was passed by a loc-celeb, who has an easy, fast cadence and smooth run. I kept the mental image of that in my mind as I ran, with the hopes of using it to improve my form as I fatigued. Another gel 1 mile in, a little more water. My stomach was starting to feel full for some reason. The heat and distance were starting to take a toll on me, but I still felt great.
I decided against another loop of FP, and opted instead to turn around at 30 mins. That way I’d get to run down the S Hill, instead of up it as I always do. It’s a pleasure to run it in reverse, with it’s long slow climb becoming a long fast descent . I figured that was my reward for all this running. Surprisingly, I managed what felt like a decent pace throughout the run, but the Garmin didn’t reflect that. 6.3 miles in 60 minutes is how it felt. But what matters is that it felt good and that I could have gone just a little longer. And if my toes weren’t being bothered by the end of my shoes, I could go more. Looks like I need to get a half size bigger in the Brooks.
Recovery was short, I had to get to work. Sitting at the desk all day long was hard on the legs, and I kept nearly falling asleep. Not much of a post-run high today!
BIKE: 9 miles in 31 mins alone around FP and out Wydown
RUN: 6.33 miles 1hr alone
My first sandwich! More easily recognized as a duathlon, ignoring the odd distances. More definitively, a long aerobic workout with a brief bike ride to save the legs from the pounding of running.
It was nice to sleep in until the usual 4:45am, but in the end getting up earlier for these workouts would save me some time. I could get to work at a decent hour or get a nap in instead. Anyway...
The first loop quickly splintered into a faster group and a less faster group (with me, LC, and SH). SH stuck with us until 4 miles in, then she left. LC and I kept a good pace, her goal was 9 miles. Longer than my plan said but it works for me. We did the 9.1 in 1:19, just under 9 min/miles. Not as fast as last week, but that wasn’t the goal. I had a gel around 6 miles, and only a few sips from the fountain.
The first run finished quickly enough and I jumped on the bike after a brief rest. I tooled around FP to stretch out then left the park for Forsyth/Wydown. My goal was to have a relatively fast ride in order to simulate a brick. The cytomax I was drinking wasn’t settling well, so I only got through half a bottle.
The final transition was without much rest, and the legs felt it this time. I was a little stiff, leaving me with short choppy strides until I worked out the kinks. Shortly into the run, I was passed by a loc-celeb, who has an easy, fast cadence and smooth run. I kept the mental image of that in my mind as I ran, with the hopes of using it to improve my form as I fatigued. Another gel 1 mile in, a little more water. My stomach was starting to feel full for some reason. The heat and distance were starting to take a toll on me, but I still felt great.
I decided against another loop of FP, and opted instead to turn around at 30 mins. That way I’d get to run down the S Hill, instead of up it as I always do. It’s a pleasure to run it in reverse, with it’s long slow climb becoming a long fast descent . I figured that was my reward for all this running. Surprisingly, I managed what felt like a decent pace throughout the run, but the Garmin didn’t reflect that. 6.3 miles in 60 minutes is how it felt. But what matters is that it felt good and that I could have gone just a little longer. And if my toes weren’t being bothered by the end of my shoes, I could go more. Looks like I need to get a half size bigger in the Brooks.
Recovery was short, I had to get to work. Sitting at the desk all day long was hard on the legs, and I kept nearly falling asleep. Not much of a post-run high today!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
YMCA swimming: Y Not?
SWIM: 1750y in about 45 mins
I don’t tend to think of myself as a competitive person, but I think in reality I am. I’ve always said that I’m competitive with myself. I could easily name a few instances in which this competitiveness is a factor. I read race results to races I didn’t do and wonder if I could have beat those times or podiumed. I show up at group training events with the goal of keeping up with certain people who are faster than me. During a race, I pick athletes ahead of me on the course and one by one pass them. I’ll work myself silly to avoid being the SlowZebra in a group event. This is all new for me, so I guess in the past year or two I’ve become Competitive when I wasn’t looking.
I’ve been hearing others say this about me, and so I might as well accept it. I have a competitive side. While it’s a healthy way to be, I don’t think I’ll go too far down that road to where I don’t enjoy a group event because “I lost” or I hesistate to sign up for something because there’s a chance I won’t win. But getting back to my original point...
Lately group events have been the best way to challenge me. Put me in a pack with faster riders or runners and watch the times drop. My best advances in triathlon have come in group events. But note I say only bike and run. There’s no real group event swim in my schedule, and the only option I do have for that is Monday Masters, which has left my crying alongside of the road, broken down and begging for mercy...OK it wasnt’ that bad. But it is an intimidating workout in which I’m the SlowZebra. And I’m sick to my stomach afterwards, which is due to my stress about being able to keep up. Like I said, I’ll work myself silly.
Remember now that my 2 most recent swims...er....my only recent swims actually... have been weak and uninspired. I really didn’t care to be swimming and it showed. So it was with some trepidation that I signed up for the YMCA Masters I class. Thinking it might be a nice medium range challenge, somewhere between swimming alone and Monday Masters. And I knew that if you put me in a pool with other swimmers, I’d swim. As hard as I needed to in order to keep up. In other words, a challenge, a race, a competitive workout. But, would there be a slow lane? Will I have to be able to swim the butterfly? Would it be worth my time, it’s 2x/week and at night of all times. Suck it up, give it a try! So I signed up for the rest of July. $11.75 seemed a deal.
I was first greeted by the workout on a dry erase board: free and IM distances alternating on a ladder from 50y to 250y. About 2000y total. Now for me, IM means Ironman. For swimmers, it means individual medley. Breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, free? No, wait, butterfly first? Then breastroke? No, it’s butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, free. Oh boy. I took it as the name same said: individual medley=my individual designs on a specified distance. As a triathlete, this meant doggie paddle, backstroke, doggie paddle, free. Cuz heaven knows I can’t do the fly or breaststroke. At least not without catching the attention of the lifeguards.
While waiting for instruction on the class, I was greeted by a woman who said “love your tri tan!”, oh good I’m not the only triathlete! I introduced myself to J, who was also racing the TdD Saturday and looking to improve on her Insbk racing. Getting in the pool, I learned the instructor was not coming tonight so we were on our own to follow the workout set. In chatting with our lanemate, a guy named K, I learned that we were all triathletes! And none of us could really do the fly or breaststrokes! I gave the breaststroke and butterfly my best, but I inhaled more water than I should have. And most importantly, I found that when “chased” by circling swimmers, I can swim. I might work myself up over it, but I can swim. What a relief.
I also soon learned that K is racing not only Racine next weekend, but is also doing IMWI!! What a surprise! I think I’ll be back for this Master’s class!
I don’t tend to think of myself as a competitive person, but I think in reality I am. I’ve always said that I’m competitive with myself. I could easily name a few instances in which this competitiveness is a factor. I read race results to races I didn’t do and wonder if I could have beat those times or podiumed. I show up at group training events with the goal of keeping up with certain people who are faster than me. During a race, I pick athletes ahead of me on the course and one by one pass them. I’ll work myself silly to avoid being the SlowZebra in a group event. This is all new for me, so I guess in the past year or two I’ve become Competitive when I wasn’t looking.
I’ve been hearing others say this about me, and so I might as well accept it. I have a competitive side. While it’s a healthy way to be, I don’t think I’ll go too far down that road to where I don’t enjoy a group event because “I lost” or I hesistate to sign up for something because there’s a chance I won’t win. But getting back to my original point...
Lately group events have been the best way to challenge me. Put me in a pack with faster riders or runners and watch the times drop. My best advances in triathlon have come in group events. But note I say only bike and run. There’s no real group event swim in my schedule, and the only option I do have for that is Monday Masters, which has left my crying alongside of the road, broken down and begging for mercy...OK it wasnt’ that bad. But it is an intimidating workout in which I’m the SlowZebra. And I’m sick to my stomach afterwards, which is due to my stress about being able to keep up. Like I said, I’ll work myself silly.
Remember now that my 2 most recent swims...er....my only recent swims actually... have been weak and uninspired. I really didn’t care to be swimming and it showed. So it was with some trepidation that I signed up for the YMCA Masters I class. Thinking it might be a nice medium range challenge, somewhere between swimming alone and Monday Masters. And I knew that if you put me in a pool with other swimmers, I’d swim. As hard as I needed to in order to keep up. In other words, a challenge, a race, a competitive workout. But, would there be a slow lane? Will I have to be able to swim the butterfly? Would it be worth my time, it’s 2x/week and at night of all times. Suck it up, give it a try! So I signed up for the rest of July. $11.75 seemed a deal.
I was first greeted by the workout on a dry erase board: free and IM distances alternating on a ladder from 50y to 250y. About 2000y total. Now for me, IM means Ironman. For swimmers, it means individual medley. Breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, free? No, wait, butterfly first? Then breastroke? No, it’s butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, free. Oh boy. I took it as the name same said: individual medley=my individual designs on a specified distance. As a triathlete, this meant doggie paddle, backstroke, doggie paddle, free. Cuz heaven knows I can’t do the fly or breaststroke. At least not without catching the attention of the lifeguards.
While waiting for instruction on the class, I was greeted by a woman who said “love your tri tan!”, oh good I’m not the only triathlete! I introduced myself to J, who was also racing the TdD Saturday and looking to improve on her Insbk racing. Getting in the pool, I learned the instructor was not coming tonight so we were on our own to follow the workout set. In chatting with our lanemate, a guy named K, I learned that we were all triathletes! And none of us could really do the fly or breaststrokes! I gave the breaststroke and butterfly my best, but I inhaled more water than I should have. And most importantly, I found that when “chased” by circling swimmers, I can swim. I might work myself up over it, but I can swim. What a relief.
I also soon learned that K is racing not only Racine next weekend, but is also doing IMWI!! What a surprise! I think I’ll be back for this Master’s class!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Rest With As Much Intensity As You Train
BIKE: 13 miles in 60 mins.
I’ve been told by my training plan that I should rest with as much intensity as I train. In previous years, with only 70.3’s in my schedule, I ignored any such advice. Rest? Are you kidding? I don’t work that hard! So I’d cut back a few hours and call it a recovery.
Nowadays when I’m told to rest, I don’t question it. Rest is golden. Heaven. A luxury. A good 8-hour sleep is often an elusive phantasmic entity that I look for every night and only sometimes come close to. I eat enough, I train enough, but I don’t get much of that 3rd training component. So when The Plan says to rest, what do I do? Work on the house instead. I should be sleeping!
So it was with this in mind that I skipped speedwork today. Doing 3 to 4 1-mile repeats at 5K pace is not my idea of rest. Besides it sounded damned hard. So instead I worked on trim for the bedroom and I’m pleased to report that the room is almost done!
I’ve been told by my training plan that I should rest with as much intensity as I train. In previous years, with only 70.3’s in my schedule, I ignored any such advice. Rest? Are you kidding? I don’t work that hard! So I’d cut back a few hours and call it a recovery.
Nowadays when I’m told to rest, I don’t question it. Rest is golden. Heaven. A luxury. A good 8-hour sleep is often an elusive phantasmic entity that I look for every night and only sometimes come close to. I eat enough, I train enough, but I don’t get much of that 3rd training component. So when The Plan says to rest, what do I do? Work on the house instead. I should be sleeping!
So it was with this in mind that I skipped speedwork today. Doing 3 to 4 1-mile repeats at 5K pace is not my idea of rest. Besides it sounded damned hard. So instead I worked on trim for the bedroom and I’m pleased to report that the room is almost done!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Post century run
RUN: 5.5 miles in 52 minutes
BIKE: 13 miles in 63 minutes on the Puppy.
I took off on the run dehydrated and underfueled. While not intentional, in the end maybe it approximates race day? I felt surprisingly good for having just finished a century ride, although my appetite and thirst mechanisms seem off kilter and un-engaged after yesterday. I kept slowing myself down to keep it easy, and actually enjoyed the run.
The bike was a spin on The Puppy to volunteer at a race. Once that was done, I rode home thru TGP taking the trails and bumps for fun. I've yet to take the cross bike out on cross-like trails, why not today? So I tooled around the BotGardens, weaved on some paths. When I got to the ResPark, I climbed the Res hill (certainly much to my neighbor's disdain) and did that loop. Oh the FUN of this bike, I'm really looking forward to the cross season opening! It felt great to just bike for the fun of it, no training and no goals.
NUMERICS: 15 hours training this week!
SWIM: 1400y in 45 mins
BIKE: 178.4 miles in 10.75 hours
RUN: 24.5 miles in 3.5 hours
Lower numbers on the run this week, since I did an extra long run last Sunday.
BIKE: 13 miles in 63 minutes on the Puppy.
I took off on the run dehydrated and underfueled. While not intentional, in the end maybe it approximates race day? I felt surprisingly good for having just finished a century ride, although my appetite and thirst mechanisms seem off kilter and un-engaged after yesterday. I kept slowing myself down to keep it easy, and actually enjoyed the run.
The bike was a spin on The Puppy to volunteer at a race. Once that was done, I rode home thru TGP taking the trails and bumps for fun. I've yet to take the cross bike out on cross-like trails, why not today? So I tooled around the BotGardens, weaved on some paths. When I got to the ResPark, I climbed the Res hill (certainly much to my neighbor's disdain) and did that loop. Oh the FUN of this bike, I'm really looking forward to the cross season opening! It felt great to just bike for the fun of it, no training and no goals.
NUMERICS: 15 hours training this week!
SWIM: 1400y in 45 mins
BIKE: 178.4 miles in 10.75 hours
RUN: 24.5 miles in 3.5 hours
Lower numbers on the run this week, since I did an extra long run last Sunday.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
110 miles on the bike!!
BIKE: 110 miles in 6:20 (actual ride time, not including stoppages)
Finally. I've hit the century mark. Not only hit the century mark, but blew right by it and kept going. I didn't realize when I finished that I'd hit 110, I thought it was closer to 107. I briefly thought that if I knew, I would have gone another 2 miles. But in the end I'm glad I stopped. Save the 112 for the next ride, why reach all the big goals at once?
Best to break this one into segments:
Pre-ride: I'm finding I don't each much before training lately. An egg, a banana, a powerbar. Doesn't seem like much but it's working for me. I do need to drink more water though. Packing list: 3 Cytomax bottles, 1 water bottle, 5 gels, Lara bar, box of raisins, serving of cashews.
0-16 miles: I rode with MEC for the first loop of 76 miles. My biggest goal, aside from finishing, was to keep up and not get dropped. That adds some stress for me, and sometimes I end up worrying more about that than I do on good form or nutrition. But that is the type of stress I'll put on myself during a race--that distracted mentality I get in a race. So while I was distracted by the group in this ride, it was a good thing. I need to learn to eat and drink while being distracted. The miles to the first rest stop were mostly warmup, with me falling back somewhere between the A group and sweeps. I needed a bathroom break, and used the bathroom of a c-store/fishing supply. It was one of those moments that give me a good laugh. Both the store entry door and the back door leading outside from the toilet were open for anyone to peek in, but I didn't care. There were fish tanks in the bathroom bubbling away. And there was no toilet paper. A man's bathroom, apparently.
16-40 mile: Now the group was pushing the pace, and I was really pushing to keep up. The best way for me to do so was to ride the back of the paceline. The ride group and splintered quickly into A group, B group, and sweep. Shortly after leaving the c-store, we hit some bumps on the bridge which worried me about the bottle-launching bottle rack on the back of the bike. After hitting a few of these bumps, I heard the clattering of something falling off of a bike. Mine or somebody elses? Didn't know for sure, but soon enough I realized the rack had come loose and the bottles were sagging down. Again!! First time this year, but all 2008-2009 I was mad at this thing for coming loose. Not again! Knowing I needed those bottles, I started rearranging pockets in my jersey so as to store the bottles there before they fell off completely. I had to slow to do this, with one hand on the bars and the other fidgeting supplies around. This dropped me off the back of the group a bit. Fight to catch up, then more fidgeting. Any other ride there would be stoplights galore, but not now. Open road. Dropped again, catch up again. Finally I was fixed, with 2 bottles in the jersey and the rack loose behind me. If it fell off, I would leave the damned thing behind. Fighting again to catch up, more stressed about being TheSlowZebra than anything else. I dropped in behind the paceline, and the 4 of us buzzed along at 21+mph trying to keep up to the A group. This was much faster than the expected IM pace for me, but this wasn't the IM race. At one point we stopped for a mechanical and I was able to inspect the rack. A seat rail bolt had fallen off, the rack didn't come loose in its usual spot. I used a zip-tie to hold it to the bike for the rest of the ride (thankfully I had zip-ties, good idea to carry those!).
41-65 miles: We breaked at 40 miles, then took off again. While we still held a high pace, this wasn't as bad as the previous section. More relaxed, but still working. We really splintered at this point, with me riding most of the way with one other rider. During this segment, I found that Forever Pace I've been looking for: the pace at which I feel as if I could go all day long and still be comfortable. So this section was enjoyable. I was able to enjoy the roads, scenery, corn, and sunshine. The only problem I had was that the Garmin made a Low Battery claim. I put it on the charger last night, but apparently it didn't charge completely. Nuts.
65-76 miles: At the last planned rest stop, I bought Gatorade, water, and a banana. I knew the Gatorade might not sit well in the tummy, but I needed something with electrolytes and sugar. All the cytomax was gone, and I only had half a bottle of hot water left. We were just over 4 hours in by now, so that means 3.5 bottles of fluids--not a bad amount! It was just getting hot and I wanted something COLD. And I kept reminding myself that although my fellow riders were winding down for the end, I was in for another 30 miles or so. So I didn't hesitate like I usually do in buying foods. I also had to pee, but didn't see a public bathroom at the stop. I could wait 10 miles.
76-91-ish miles: For this section, I was alone. Quick pee, map check, and goodbyes with group. I wanted to keep going while the going was good. I also stopped at the truck to grab my watch, fearing the Garmins demise before I came back. The distance I could check on a map, the ride time I need the watch for, since fueling and logging depend on it. I rolled out on the same course as the morning, planning on riding to the first rest stop and back again. The day had warmed up, but the light winds out of the south had stayed the same. So I fought a small headwind on the way out, but otherwise good. I substantially slowed down from this morning! With no paceline or other riders to gauge off of, I rode my own pace. Tired, warm, but feeling good. At 82 miles, the Garmin gave another Low Battery beep, then died. I was terribly disappointed that I wouldn't see it read 100 miles. But I shrugged and started the watch for time. I wove my way through the rural roads, luckily found the turns even without signs, and took note of a bike-chasing dog. On a hill of all things. A gravely hill. More on this later. I reached the turn around feeling good but on the downhill slide of feeling not so good. And so it begins.
91-ish to 110 miles: I had a tailwind to help in this section (that was part of the plan from the beginning) and I was starting to need it. But I was happy that The Stupids hadn't come by yet, I was still making good decisions, staying positive, and not making mistakes. Good fueling and hydration are key to this, I've learned. But while I was feeling OK, my motivation started to slip a little. I started looking for home. And that dog. I had a plan for that dog, and it involved a mouthful of water from the aerobottle. I knew I'd be climbing a hill with small gravel near the dog, and I knew I'd want to keep my hands on the bars the entire time, and the best suggestion for driving off a dog was a squirt of water from a bottle. And those 2 ideas weren't compatible, I needed to take a hand away to grab a bottle. So I decided to get a mouthful of water from the aerobottle and wait for the right moment. As I approached the farm, not 1 but 2 dogs came running out. Yikes! But they didn't catch me in time. Just as I was about to swallow the water, another dog came out from the neighboring farm! Apparently this brown dog was asleep on my first pass, but this time woke up with all the neighbor dog's commotion. A big brown dog, a particularly fast looking big brown dog. Yikes again! Still holding a mouthful of water, I waited to see what he would do. Well that wasn't hard to guess, he came at my front wheel and shoes. I took aim... and SPLAT...right in face!! Nice shot at 17-18mph!! He stumbled it a bit, looked surprised, but came right back for more! Can I throw in a 3rd Yikes here? YIKES!!! At the same time I went for another mouthful and stoop up to get some speed up the hill. The second shot didn't hit it's mark, mostly because the dog was falling back behind me. Only at the top of the hill did I get a good laugh in. haha, dumb dog.
This brief period of excitement wore off fast. I needed to get home, I was starting to lose interest, a sure sign of dehydration and fatigue. While I wasn't far away, I added to it by taking a wrong turn at one point, adding 1.5-2.5 miles to the trip. Luckily I had the iPhone to guide me back to the route! The last 2 miles were a mix of elation and fatigue. My feet were just starting to tingle. My legs were tired of spinning. And my chest wall and lungs were tired, that same feeling I get after a marathon. Where's the parking lot? Where's the truck? Was I still going to run after this? I'd been asking myself that question for the past hour. Should I run? I don't need to, but isn't that the end goal here? But do I need to today? Will it push an injury?
I reached the truck feeling surprisingly refreshed. I did it!!! And the stupid Garmin missed out on it all. I decided against the run. Why ruin a good morning with a tough run, why push the legs too far on their first century day? Run maybe later, and run tomorrow. I felt good the rest of the day, no more tired than any other long ride. What a rush!
The last 34 miles took 1hr 37 minutes, still 19mph??? Again, this is time without stoppages for breaks and map reading. I'm not sure that is the right time. In fact, the 6hr 20 mins is ride time only. So in the future I need to ride without the stopping. Do I really plan to stop at Casey's in WI? No!
Finally. I've hit the century mark. Not only hit the century mark, but blew right by it and kept going. I didn't realize when I finished that I'd hit 110, I thought it was closer to 107. I briefly thought that if I knew, I would have gone another 2 miles. But in the end I'm glad I stopped. Save the 112 for the next ride, why reach all the big goals at once?
Best to break this one into segments:
Pre-ride: I'm finding I don't each much before training lately. An egg, a banana, a powerbar. Doesn't seem like much but it's working for me. I do need to drink more water though. Packing list: 3 Cytomax bottles, 1 water bottle, 5 gels, Lara bar, box of raisins, serving of cashews.
0-16 miles: I rode with MEC for the first loop of 76 miles. My biggest goal, aside from finishing, was to keep up and not get dropped. That adds some stress for me, and sometimes I end up worrying more about that than I do on good form or nutrition. But that is the type of stress I'll put on myself during a race--that distracted mentality I get in a race. So while I was distracted by the group in this ride, it was a good thing. I need to learn to eat and drink while being distracted. The miles to the first rest stop were mostly warmup, with me falling back somewhere between the A group and sweeps. I needed a bathroom break, and used the bathroom of a c-store/fishing supply. It was one of those moments that give me a good laugh. Both the store entry door and the back door leading outside from the toilet were open for anyone to peek in, but I didn't care. There were fish tanks in the bathroom bubbling away. And there was no toilet paper. A man's bathroom, apparently.
16-40 mile: Now the group was pushing the pace, and I was really pushing to keep up. The best way for me to do so was to ride the back of the paceline. The ride group and splintered quickly into A group, B group, and sweep. Shortly after leaving the c-store, we hit some bumps on the bridge which worried me about the bottle-launching bottle rack on the back of the bike. After hitting a few of these bumps, I heard the clattering of something falling off of a bike. Mine or somebody elses? Didn't know for sure, but soon enough I realized the rack had come loose and the bottles were sagging down. Again!! First time this year, but all 2008-2009 I was mad at this thing for coming loose. Not again! Knowing I needed those bottles, I started rearranging pockets in my jersey so as to store the bottles there before they fell off completely. I had to slow to do this, with one hand on the bars and the other fidgeting supplies around. This dropped me off the back of the group a bit. Fight to catch up, then more fidgeting. Any other ride there would be stoplights galore, but not now. Open road. Dropped again, catch up again. Finally I was fixed, with 2 bottles in the jersey and the rack loose behind me. If it fell off, I would leave the damned thing behind. Fighting again to catch up, more stressed about being TheSlowZebra than anything else. I dropped in behind the paceline, and the 4 of us buzzed along at 21+mph trying to keep up to the A group. This was much faster than the expected IM pace for me, but this wasn't the IM race. At one point we stopped for a mechanical and I was able to inspect the rack. A seat rail bolt had fallen off, the rack didn't come loose in its usual spot. I used a zip-tie to hold it to the bike for the rest of the ride (thankfully I had zip-ties, good idea to carry those!).
41-65 miles: We breaked at 40 miles, then took off again. While we still held a high pace, this wasn't as bad as the previous section. More relaxed, but still working. We really splintered at this point, with me riding most of the way with one other rider. During this segment, I found that Forever Pace I've been looking for: the pace at which I feel as if I could go all day long and still be comfortable. So this section was enjoyable. I was able to enjoy the roads, scenery, corn, and sunshine. The only problem I had was that the Garmin made a Low Battery claim. I put it on the charger last night, but apparently it didn't charge completely. Nuts.
65-76 miles: At the last planned rest stop, I bought Gatorade, water, and a banana. I knew the Gatorade might not sit well in the tummy, but I needed something with electrolytes and sugar. All the cytomax was gone, and I only had half a bottle of hot water left. We were just over 4 hours in by now, so that means 3.5 bottles of fluids--not a bad amount! It was just getting hot and I wanted something COLD. And I kept reminding myself that although my fellow riders were winding down for the end, I was in for another 30 miles or so. So I didn't hesitate like I usually do in buying foods. I also had to pee, but didn't see a public bathroom at the stop. I could wait 10 miles.
76-91-ish miles: For this section, I was alone. Quick pee, map check, and goodbyes with group. I wanted to keep going while the going was good. I also stopped at the truck to grab my watch, fearing the Garmins demise before I came back. The distance I could check on a map, the ride time I need the watch for, since fueling and logging depend on it. I rolled out on the same course as the morning, planning on riding to the first rest stop and back again. The day had warmed up, but the light winds out of the south had stayed the same. So I fought a small headwind on the way out, but otherwise good. I substantially slowed down from this morning! With no paceline or other riders to gauge off of, I rode my own pace. Tired, warm, but feeling good. At 82 miles, the Garmin gave another Low Battery beep, then died. I was terribly disappointed that I wouldn't see it read 100 miles. But I shrugged and started the watch for time. I wove my way through the rural roads, luckily found the turns even without signs, and took note of a bike-chasing dog. On a hill of all things. A gravely hill. More on this later. I reached the turn around feeling good but on the downhill slide of feeling not so good. And so it begins.
91-ish to 110 miles: I had a tailwind to help in this section (that was part of the plan from the beginning) and I was starting to need it. But I was happy that The Stupids hadn't come by yet, I was still making good decisions, staying positive, and not making mistakes. Good fueling and hydration are key to this, I've learned. But while I was feeling OK, my motivation started to slip a little. I started looking for home. And that dog. I had a plan for that dog, and it involved a mouthful of water from the aerobottle. I knew I'd be climbing a hill with small gravel near the dog, and I knew I'd want to keep my hands on the bars the entire time, and the best suggestion for driving off a dog was a squirt of water from a bottle. And those 2 ideas weren't compatible, I needed to take a hand away to grab a bottle. So I decided to get a mouthful of water from the aerobottle and wait for the right moment. As I approached the farm, not 1 but 2 dogs came running out. Yikes! But they didn't catch me in time. Just as I was about to swallow the water, another dog came out from the neighboring farm! Apparently this brown dog was asleep on my first pass, but this time woke up with all the neighbor dog's commotion. A big brown dog, a particularly fast looking big brown dog. Yikes again! Still holding a mouthful of water, I waited to see what he would do. Well that wasn't hard to guess, he came at my front wheel and shoes. I took aim... and SPLAT...right in face!! Nice shot at 17-18mph!! He stumbled it a bit, looked surprised, but came right back for more! Can I throw in a 3rd Yikes here? YIKES!!! At the same time I went for another mouthful and stoop up to get some speed up the hill. The second shot didn't hit it's mark, mostly because the dog was falling back behind me. Only at the top of the hill did I get a good laugh in. haha, dumb dog.
This brief period of excitement wore off fast. I needed to get home, I was starting to lose interest, a sure sign of dehydration and fatigue. While I wasn't far away, I added to it by taking a wrong turn at one point, adding 1.5-2.5 miles to the trip. Luckily I had the iPhone to guide me back to the route! The last 2 miles were a mix of elation and fatigue. My feet were just starting to tingle. My legs were tired of spinning. And my chest wall and lungs were tired, that same feeling I get after a marathon. Where's the parking lot? Where's the truck? Was I still going to run after this? I'd been asking myself that question for the past hour. Should I run? I don't need to, but isn't that the end goal here? But do I need to today? Will it push an injury?
I reached the truck feeling surprisingly refreshed. I did it!!! And the stupid Garmin missed out on it all. I decided against the run. Why ruin a good morning with a tough run, why push the legs too far on their first century day? Run maybe later, and run tomorrow. I felt good the rest of the day, no more tired than any other long ride. What a rush!
The last 34 miles took 1hr 37 minutes, still 19mph??? Again, this is time without stoppages for breaks and map reading. I'm not sure that is the right time. In fact, the 6hr 20 mins is ride time only. So in the future I need to ride without the stopping. Do I really plan to stop at Casey's in WI? No!
Friday, July 2, 2010
I Swam!!
SWIM: 1000y in 30 mins.
Afternoon swim at the Y, the goal was to undo the lingering doubt from Wed's swim. So I planned on doing just a short swim of drills. Stay focused, find problems, try different techniques.
I got out of the pool happy, with a little smile. I've forgotten my swim challenge, which by the calendar ended last week or so. Start again?
Afternoon swim at the Y, the goal was to undo the lingering doubt from Wed's swim. So I planned on doing just a short swim of drills. Stay focused, find problems, try different techniques.
I got out of the pool happy, with a little smile. I've forgotten my swim challenge, which by the calendar ended last week or so. Start again?
Thursday, July 1, 2010
It's already July, turn the page!
RUN: 12.4 miles in 1:40. Yes you read that right! Total PR! The good and the bad below.
After a long Wednesday, you'd think I'd be looking for more sleep. But I didn't hit the pillow until 1030 and after that I slept poorly. Something about knowing I have to be up early keeps getting me up early. And if I think 4am is early and waking up on time for a run makes for poor sleep, wait til Sept 12th when every waking microsecond will remind me of an upcoming race.
Up at 4am, coffee banana raisins, grab gear and out the door to meet up in the park at 5am. All the while I waiting for me legs to wake up--they were dragging on the stairs and not all that peppy. Although two laps were planned, I knew I could always cut out at just one. But I also knew I wouldn't cut it short. I'd drag myself through the loop if I had to. I also wanted to compare this run to last weeks--12.25 miles in 1:50.
Off we went, zipping along and when we looked we were doing right around 8min/mile if not just under. Yikes, I'm good for one lap at that pace but not two. He did most of the talking (was a little hard for me to talk!) and the lap flew by much like last weeks--I was tired but survived: 6.12 miles in 49:53, ave HR 154. Much like last weeks (6.12m 51:33, 154). My repeat was off to a good start.
We had a brief rest, and when no other runner showed for the second loop we took off again. I told myself to tackle it as if it was the first loop of the day. Keep good form, light on the feet, head up, relaxed shoulders. All of those tend to go wrong when I'm stressed (ie racing or falling behind) and only serve to wear me out faster and raise the HR. Shortly into the 2nd loop, we meet tg, who promises to meet up with us on the other side of the park. Oh boy. Tg is one of the first guys I met in the club, we ran Weds nights together for about a mile--his WU pace was my race pace and after his WU he was gone. With my blessings, of course, I was happy just to have that one mile. It was not only inspiring to run with him and his friends, but it gave me a goal to be able to keep up. Knowing we were going to see him in a few miles only spurred me on more. I didn't want him to find only dc on the other side and learn that I was dropped. Motivation enough for me.
The sun was up by now. The air was cool in the high 70's. Again, dc did most of the talking. Actually he did most all of it, thankfully, there was no way I could get more than a few words and it was a wonderful mental distraction. In fact, I spent time later in the day thinking about what he was saying, while I won't go into it here I will say it was an interesting look into business, career, and how to take care of your own interests in that world so foreign to me. In fact, I found the courage to say something to my new boss about my job that I wouldn't have said otherwise! Ah! Off topic...
We met up with tg with about 2.5 miles to go. I warned him that any pace pushing was off limits, jokingly, and he took up position behind/along me and we held on with dc's pace. They started joking about trains that have engines ahead and behind. I was the little car in the middle, being pushed and pulled. I was fine being the little car, but I sure as hell wasn't going to be the girl who was dropped. Now I really dug in to hang on, and surprisingly, it wasn't all that hard to do!
Sure I was breathing hard, my HR monitor said 175bpm, and my legs burned. But I didn't feel any urge to slow down. I blessed each slight downhill, loved each inside corner, and enjoyed every second of it. Again, when we looked--sub 8m/m. That fact also boosted my run, just knowing I was setting up for a PR FP run kept me moving. The biggest surprise came in the last half mile where I found yet another gear and picked up the pace. Strong finish!! 6.29 miles in 50:34, 166bpm. This was 10 full minutes faster than last week, yet the same HR averages!
Fast crash!! Once I'd stopped running, I was done. Goose cooked, just like after a good race. This lasted for hours, well actually the rest of the day, a blissful runners high that left me with a dog-tired saggy look but a little smile on my face. I did it. I kept up. I wasn't dropped.
I would classify this as a Break Through session. To me, one of those sessions that I break through an old goal, learn something new, and set a new PR. Those don't happen every week! Heck they don't happen often at all. What a great way to start July off, turn the page on base training and kick it into IM gear. Start looking for those tough workouts that break me down and build me back up. And what a fast change from yesterday's let-down of a swim workout. Bah, turn the page on that too, fix the problem and move on!
After a long Wednesday, you'd think I'd be looking for more sleep. But I didn't hit the pillow until 1030 and after that I slept poorly. Something about knowing I have to be up early keeps getting me up early. And if I think 4am is early and waking up on time for a run makes for poor sleep, wait til Sept 12th when every waking microsecond will remind me of an upcoming race.
Up at 4am, coffee banana raisins, grab gear and out the door to meet up in the park at 5am. All the while I waiting for me legs to wake up--they were dragging on the stairs and not all that peppy. Although two laps were planned, I knew I could always cut out at just one. But I also knew I wouldn't cut it short. I'd drag myself through the loop if I had to. I also wanted to compare this run to last weeks--12.25 miles in 1:50.
Off we went, zipping along and when we looked we were doing right around 8min/mile if not just under. Yikes, I'm good for one lap at that pace but not two. He did most of the talking (was a little hard for me to talk!) and the lap flew by much like last weeks--I was tired but survived: 6.12 miles in 49:53, ave HR 154. Much like last weeks (6.12m 51:33, 154). My repeat was off to a good start.
We had a brief rest, and when no other runner showed for the second loop we took off again. I told myself to tackle it as if it was the first loop of the day. Keep good form, light on the feet, head up, relaxed shoulders. All of those tend to go wrong when I'm stressed (ie racing or falling behind) and only serve to wear me out faster and raise the HR. Shortly into the 2nd loop, we meet tg, who promises to meet up with us on the other side of the park. Oh boy. Tg is one of the first guys I met in the club, we ran Weds nights together for about a mile--his WU pace was my race pace and after his WU he was gone. With my blessings, of course, I was happy just to have that one mile. It was not only inspiring to run with him and his friends, but it gave me a goal to be able to keep up. Knowing we were going to see him in a few miles only spurred me on more. I didn't want him to find only dc on the other side and learn that I was dropped. Motivation enough for me.
The sun was up by now. The air was cool in the high 70's. Again, dc did most of the talking. Actually he did most all of it, thankfully, there was no way I could get more than a few words and it was a wonderful mental distraction. In fact, I spent time later in the day thinking about what he was saying, while I won't go into it here I will say it was an interesting look into business, career, and how to take care of your own interests in that world so foreign to me. In fact, I found the courage to say something to my new boss about my job that I wouldn't have said otherwise! Ah! Off topic...
We met up with tg with about 2.5 miles to go. I warned him that any pace pushing was off limits, jokingly, and he took up position behind/along me and we held on with dc's pace. They started joking about trains that have engines ahead and behind. I was the little car in the middle, being pushed and pulled. I was fine being the little car, but I sure as hell wasn't going to be the girl who was dropped. Now I really dug in to hang on, and surprisingly, it wasn't all that hard to do!
Sure I was breathing hard, my HR monitor said 175bpm, and my legs burned. But I didn't feel any urge to slow down. I blessed each slight downhill, loved each inside corner, and enjoyed every second of it. Again, when we looked--sub 8m/m. That fact also boosted my run, just knowing I was setting up for a PR FP run kept me moving. The biggest surprise came in the last half mile where I found yet another gear and picked up the pace. Strong finish!! 6.29 miles in 50:34, 166bpm. This was 10 full minutes faster than last week, yet the same HR averages!
Fast crash!! Once I'd stopped running, I was done. Goose cooked, just like after a good race. This lasted for hours, well actually the rest of the day, a blissful runners high that left me with a dog-tired saggy look but a little smile on my face. I did it. I kept up. I wasn't dropped.
I would classify this as a Break Through session. To me, one of those sessions that I break through an old goal, learn something new, and set a new PR. Those don't happen every week! Heck they don't happen often at all. What a great way to start July off, turn the page on base training and kick it into IM gear. Start looking for those tough workouts that break me down and build me back up. And what a fast change from yesterday's let-down of a swim workout. Bah, turn the page on that too, fix the problem and move on!
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