BIKE 18 miles, untimed, unlogged
Today was the TJ RFS ride. Judging from the people who loved her and were inspired by her, I regret that I didn't know her better than just a face at a meeting.
Unreasonably tired this evening. ??
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Back to the Chubb
SWIM 60 mins about 2000y, Masters mostly 4x100 sets with speedwork
RUN 2hrs 42 mins 13 miles on the Chubb trail with DC and DC
First time back to the Chubb since the race! Absolutely GORGEOUS day, perfect fall weather. Cool air, colorful trees, calm skies. Ugh, could have run all day.
I'm a few days into my W30 challenge, so I did this run on NO GELS! Yikes! But it worked. Had a plum and a banana instead. But couldn't have gone much longer than I did.
My legs felt surprising good after this, I expected them to be trashed.
RUN 2hrs 42 mins 13 miles on the Chubb trail with DC and DC
First time back to the Chubb since the race! Absolutely GORGEOUS day, perfect fall weather. Cool air, colorful trees, calm skies. Ugh, could have run all day.
I'm a few days into my W30 challenge, so I did this run on NO GELS! Yikes! But it worked. Had a plum and a banana instead. But couldn't have gone much longer than I did.
My legs felt surprising good after this, I expected them to be trashed.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Still not recovered, but feeling good
RUN: 5.25 mi in 48 mins. 9:08m/m
Funny, I didn't wear my Garmin because I'm trying to not focus on all the numbers, but then I come here and have it all figured out.
My legs were heavy today, no zip. I've had much worse so I'm not worried or complaining. I just didn't have that light free easy feeling like usual. Need to recover and rest!
Walked the last bit with LC when her leg started to bother her, and I didn't mind it at all. I could have run in, but this was pleasant and let me cool down nicely.
Funny, I didn't wear my Garmin because I'm trying to not focus on all the numbers, but then I come here and have it all figured out.
My legs were heavy today, no zip. I've had much worse so I'm not worried or complaining. I just didn't have that light free easy feeling like usual. Need to recover and rest!
Walked the last bit with LC when her leg started to bother her, and I didn't mind it at all. I could have run in, but this was pleasant and let me cool down nicely.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Where's CHG?
SWIM: 60 mins for 2050y, mostly small sets, lots of toys
I was so excited to tell CHG of my success (due to his help) at Last Try but he wasn't here this morning. So we had another swimmer in Lane 1 give us sets. It was fly day, but I didn't do much of that. I just sub'd in freestyle with the same goal efforts.
Felt really strong today, just felt like I had a lot of strength and catch.
Also started working on bilateral breathing in the last 5x100/pull buoy set. I need to learn that, and it will take practice. I am low in the water when I roll to the left, not sure why.
I was so excited to tell CHG of my success (due to his help) at Last Try but he wasn't here this morning. So we had another swimmer in Lane 1 give us sets. It was fly day, but I didn't do much of that. I just sub'd in freestyle with the same goal efforts.
Felt really strong today, just felt like I had a lot of strength and catch.
Also started working on bilateral breathing in the last 5x100/pull buoy set. I need to learn that, and it will take practice. I am low in the water when I roll to the left, not sure why.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Rested Monday and Tuesday
Unlike the Savageman, I'm tired after this race. Good, it means I went all out.
Commuted on Tuesday, felt good, but still tired.
Commuted on Tuesday, felt good, but still tired.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Last Try Olympic Race Report
One last triathlon! Really, just one more!
Pre-race: Up just before 4am, left the house by 5am. Expected a 2hr drive, it came in just under that. But it was a pleasant drive watching the sky slowly turn and seeing the stars off to the left. Ursa!
I arrived at the site and found a very small race. It was quiet, calm, and very low key. I set up TA with not once second of rush. It almost seemed too easy, like I was forgetting something! but I wasn't. As it was 2 weeks ago, the weather was cool. Not cold, but cool. Mid-40's, some wind, but lots of sunshine.
Swim: Water temp in mid-60's. The wind was blowing in from the north and the beach was at the south end of the lake, so the wind was pushing waves to shore. I found this out during my warm-up--swells were forming right through the swim course. I got a little worried about the fact that I could only breathe on my right, and that the back side of the course had waves coming towards my right.
The Oly race was very small, only 26 of us total. I didn't see many caps like mine, I guessed only 6-7 women. With the small field, I seeded myself at the front of the pack. Why not? Gun went off and quickly fell into a rhythym, and had no problems bumping other swimmers.But I did have some problems with the waves-they were big enough to wash over my back onto my face. Surprisingly I stayed pretty calm. Then we took a left turn into the waves, it was only a short distance but here the waves were the worst. Sighting was very difficult. Just lifting my head up put a wave in my face. At the next left turn I took in a mouthful of water and sputtered a bit. I've learned before that in these situations, it's actually better to keep swimming--just bobbing there just lets more waves hit your face. So I suppressed the urge to cough and kept going.
The long backstretch was tough, but I remembered something CHG told me: I don't need to take a long breath, I just need to quickly "huup" some air and put my head back down. So that's what I did. Turn head, when coast was clear quick "huup of air, then head back down. If this would have been just last year or worse yet the year before--I would have panicked. But I just kept it rolling.
It was a 2-loop course, so the second time around I knew what to expect. In this loop I realized that getting my arm back in the water faster was the better technique-that way the waves didn't hit my arm. Instead I just dived my arm in and rolled forward. Another surprise was that I never swam crooked and wasn't pushed off course. But I was so happy to see that final turn and the finish arch!
We were able to walk awhile to the beach in shallow water, this added to my watch time of 38-some minutes. Wow- much slower than my last Oly time of 32 mins :( but I was happy to be out of the water and able to run to T2.
Overall: 4th out of the 10 women in the Oly race!! So not a PR time but a PR placing! WOW!
T1: Struggled, struggled, struggled with my wetsuit!! I just can't get the damned thing to come off easy! And my left camp threatened to cramp, but didn't. I put a lot of thought pre-race into what I would wear, and decided on just the cycling jersey. The sun was out and it was only 2 loops. I struggled a bit with gloves (thinking my hand would work better if warm) before saying Screw This! and dropping them. So T1 was longer than it should have been at 3:17.
Bike: Having just finished Savageman in the cold, I knew what to expect here: stiff hands, shivering, and lack of real focus until I warmed up. I settled into a nice pace that was moderately hard, but still felt like I was going slow. It also felt like I had a headwind, and thought that made sense since I was riding north. I looked forward to a tailwind!
I was having some thinking problems, but otherwise had a positive mentality. I marveled over the fact that this was my 3rd oly this year (at first I thought it was my 2nd, bad race math!). I marveled over the fact that I did 3 halfs this year. What a year! So I told myself, just enjoy this and let the slow feeling go. Big circles. Steady pace. Smooth technique.
All good until around mile 7, when the left calf CRAMPED! First time EVER on a bike that I had a cramp. What do I do? I slowed down, but kept the pedals turning with the right leg figuring that a slow stretch would help it out best. It shook off soon enough, but got me thinking: low on electrolyte? no. dehydrated? no. Probably the cold weather? yes. That's my guess. It felt twingy the rest of the ride, and had me wondering about the run.
There was never a tailwind, either. Just headwind and crosswind. How does that happen?
Second verse, just like the first. Big circles, steady pace, smooth technique. Enjoy it. I passed one women in my AG in the 2nd loop.
The course was in fine shape, excepting one section with potholes in the shade. Couldn't ride that part in aero. Drank the entire aero bottle of Infinit, and had one gel in the 2nd loop. My tummy was growling, but my hands were took cold to function cleanly. Just eating the gel was a struggle.
Overall: 42 miles in 2hr 8 mins for an ave speed of 19.6. (it didn NOT feel that fast). 3rd out of 9 in the women. 11th out of 26 for all racers. Could have gone faster under better leg conditions.
T2: I successfully attached my shoes to the bike in T1 and managed a successful shoeless dismount for T2. But, my legs were toast. I almost crumpled when I tried to stand at first! I went hard on the bike, and this is what I got for it--worry that my run was ruined. Fast T2 of 1:03.
Run: Quick T2 then out the door. I saw the woman I passed coming in on the bike while I was heading out on the course, so I knew I had a few minutes on her. I ran. Oh did I run. I wanted this race.
My feet were numb from the cold, but I knew it would shake off after a mile. The cold does funny things, I turned corners bad, fumbled to keep a straight line, and thought my socks were wadded up in my shoe. Blocked it out, and focused instead on high heels, elbows, and fast turnover.
The outbound of the course, which was an out-n-back on paved park paths, trended uphill. The first mile felt oh so slow but the garmin showed otherwise. And to think I almost didn't wear that thing! If I hadn't I woulda thought I was doing 10 m/m! In the first mile, I saw the a fast woman go by with TC on her heels. I knew she was the first woman in my race. Once I passed the sprint turnaround, I knew that any other women were in my race so I started looking so I could count. It's not that I thought I could go any faster, I was going at a high-moderate pace, but I just needed to know. I saw only one other woman before I hit the turn-around. If my calculations were correct, I was in 3rd place?
After the turn around I saw 2 more women coming up behind me. Yikes! Run!! I knew I had at least 1-2 mins on them but what if they were running faster?? Run!! I knew the course trended down hill on they way back and I took advantage of it. I was running as fast as I probably could at that moment, and for the first time I had that "balls to the wall" feeling I'd been looking for all year. I didn't get it at Pigman, but I got it here. And I loved it. I kept checking over my shoulder to look for the others but never saw them. I chided myself for being so shallow, but hey this is a a race! What's so shallow about racing it? Run!!
I wanted a sub-50 minute finish but was cutting it too close. I turned the last corner, saw the finish, and crossed the line strong. Oh, AWESOME! But oh was this going to hurt tomorrow.
Overall: 50:59 over 6.2 for a pace of 8:13! PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2nd out of 9 females, and 7th out of 26 in the race.
I awaited the results, and found I was right: My first ever OVERALL in a triathlon with a 3rd place!!!!! The "pro" at the race beat me by 41 minutes, gawd she is awesome. 2nd place was 12 mins ahead of me. I'm so happy with the swim and run, that beats hardware any day.
After the race, I hung out a few hours to watch a club member finish her race. I ended up unracking Frea to ride the course with her. The race took her chip (missed the bike cutoff) but she continued on 10 mi of the run anyway. I'm so happy for her, and inspired by the fact that she didn't quit like others did.
What a great start to October :)
Pre-race: Up just before 4am, left the house by 5am. Expected a 2hr drive, it came in just under that. But it was a pleasant drive watching the sky slowly turn and seeing the stars off to the left. Ursa!
I arrived at the site and found a very small race. It was quiet, calm, and very low key. I set up TA with not once second of rush. It almost seemed too easy, like I was forgetting something! but I wasn't. As it was 2 weeks ago, the weather was cool. Not cold, but cool. Mid-40's, some wind, but lots of sunshine.
Swim: Water temp in mid-60's. The wind was blowing in from the north and the beach was at the south end of the lake, so the wind was pushing waves to shore. I found this out during my warm-up--swells were forming right through the swim course. I got a little worried about the fact that I could only breathe on my right, and that the back side of the course had waves coming towards my right.
The Oly race was very small, only 26 of us total. I didn't see many caps like mine, I guessed only 6-7 women. With the small field, I seeded myself at the front of the pack. Why not? Gun went off and quickly fell into a rhythym, and had no problems bumping other swimmers.But I did have some problems with the waves-they were big enough to wash over my back onto my face. Surprisingly I stayed pretty calm. Then we took a left turn into the waves, it was only a short distance but here the waves were the worst. Sighting was very difficult. Just lifting my head up put a wave in my face. At the next left turn I took in a mouthful of water and sputtered a bit. I've learned before that in these situations, it's actually better to keep swimming--just bobbing there just lets more waves hit your face. So I suppressed the urge to cough and kept going.
The long backstretch was tough, but I remembered something CHG told me: I don't need to take a long breath, I just need to quickly "huup" some air and put my head back down. So that's what I did. Turn head, when coast was clear quick "huup of air, then head back down. If this would have been just last year or worse yet the year before--I would have panicked. But I just kept it rolling.
It was a 2-loop course, so the second time around I knew what to expect. In this loop I realized that getting my arm back in the water faster was the better technique-that way the waves didn't hit my arm. Instead I just dived my arm in and rolled forward. Another surprise was that I never swam crooked and wasn't pushed off course. But I was so happy to see that final turn and the finish arch!
We were able to walk awhile to the beach in shallow water, this added to my watch time of 38-some minutes. Wow- much slower than my last Oly time of 32 mins :( but I was happy to be out of the water and able to run to T2.
Overall: 4th out of the 10 women in the Oly race!! So not a PR time but a PR placing! WOW!
T1: Struggled, struggled, struggled with my wetsuit!! I just can't get the damned thing to come off easy! And my left camp threatened to cramp, but didn't. I put a lot of thought pre-race into what I would wear, and decided on just the cycling jersey. The sun was out and it was only 2 loops. I struggled a bit with gloves (thinking my hand would work better if warm) before saying Screw This! and dropping them. So T1 was longer than it should have been at 3:17.
Bike: Having just finished Savageman in the cold, I knew what to expect here: stiff hands, shivering, and lack of real focus until I warmed up. I settled into a nice pace that was moderately hard, but still felt like I was going slow. It also felt like I had a headwind, and thought that made sense since I was riding north. I looked forward to a tailwind!
I was having some thinking problems, but otherwise had a positive mentality. I marveled over the fact that this was my 3rd oly this year (at first I thought it was my 2nd, bad race math!). I marveled over the fact that I did 3 halfs this year. What a year! So I told myself, just enjoy this and let the slow feeling go. Big circles. Steady pace. Smooth technique.
All good until around mile 7, when the left calf CRAMPED! First time EVER on a bike that I had a cramp. What do I do? I slowed down, but kept the pedals turning with the right leg figuring that a slow stretch would help it out best. It shook off soon enough, but got me thinking: low on electrolyte? no. dehydrated? no. Probably the cold weather? yes. That's my guess. It felt twingy the rest of the ride, and had me wondering about the run.
There was never a tailwind, either. Just headwind and crosswind. How does that happen?
Second verse, just like the first. Big circles, steady pace, smooth technique. Enjoy it. I passed one women in my AG in the 2nd loop.
The course was in fine shape, excepting one section with potholes in the shade. Couldn't ride that part in aero. Drank the entire aero bottle of Infinit, and had one gel in the 2nd loop. My tummy was growling, but my hands were took cold to function cleanly. Just eating the gel was a struggle.
Overall: 42 miles in 2hr 8 mins for an ave speed of 19.6. (it didn NOT feel that fast). 3rd out of 9 in the women. 11th out of 26 for all racers. Could have gone faster under better leg conditions.
T2: I successfully attached my shoes to the bike in T1 and managed a successful shoeless dismount for T2. But, my legs were toast. I almost crumpled when I tried to stand at first! I went hard on the bike, and this is what I got for it--worry that my run was ruined. Fast T2 of 1:03.
Run: Quick T2 then out the door. I saw the woman I passed coming in on the bike while I was heading out on the course, so I knew I had a few minutes on her. I ran. Oh did I run. I wanted this race.
My feet were numb from the cold, but I knew it would shake off after a mile. The cold does funny things, I turned corners bad, fumbled to keep a straight line, and thought my socks were wadded up in my shoe. Blocked it out, and focused instead on high heels, elbows, and fast turnover.
The outbound of the course, which was an out-n-back on paved park paths, trended uphill. The first mile felt oh so slow but the garmin showed otherwise. And to think I almost didn't wear that thing! If I hadn't I woulda thought I was doing 10 m/m! In the first mile, I saw the a fast woman go by with TC on her heels. I knew she was the first woman in my race. Once I passed the sprint turnaround, I knew that any other women were in my race so I started looking so I could count. It's not that I thought I could go any faster, I was going at a high-moderate pace, but I just needed to know. I saw only one other woman before I hit the turn-around. If my calculations were correct, I was in 3rd place?
After the turn around I saw 2 more women coming up behind me. Yikes! Run!! I knew I had at least 1-2 mins on them but what if they were running faster?? Run!! I knew the course trended down hill on they way back and I took advantage of it. I was running as fast as I probably could at that moment, and for the first time I had that "balls to the wall" feeling I'd been looking for all year. I didn't get it at Pigman, but I got it here. And I loved it. I kept checking over my shoulder to look for the others but never saw them. I chided myself for being so shallow, but hey this is a a race! What's so shallow about racing it? Run!!
I wanted a sub-50 minute finish but was cutting it too close. I turned the last corner, saw the finish, and crossed the line strong. Oh, AWESOME! But oh was this going to hurt tomorrow.
Overall: 50:59 over 6.2 for a pace of 8:13! PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2nd out of 9 females, and 7th out of 26 in the race.
I awaited the results, and found I was right: My first ever OVERALL in a triathlon with a 3rd place!!!!! The "pro" at the race beat me by 41 minutes, gawd she is awesome. 2nd place was 12 mins ahead of me. I'm so happy with the swim and run, that beats hardware any day.
After the race, I hung out a few hours to watch a club member finish her race. I ended up unracking Frea to ride the course with her. The race took her chip (missed the bike cutoff) but she continued on 10 mi of the run anyway. I'm so happy for her, and inspired by the fact that she didn't quit like others did.
What a great start to October :)
Saturday, October 1, 2011
5.5 miles at Castlewood
RUN: 5.5 miles in a little over an hour. Really took our time, what was the rush?
It's October!! And what better way to enjoy a sunny, comfy-temp, trees-are-changing day? A trail run in Castlewood! I had a race the next day, so there was no need to hurry. Just enjoy it.
DoCo and I chatted along while running. I wasn't even paying attention to where I was, to my surprise we ended up at the base of the stairs when I thought we were at the north end of the park. If that's not the 2nd best think you could say about a trail run, then what it? (the first is a great trail race!).
We ran up the steps then saw the steep hill on Grotpeter. We get to do that three times! Three! Time to start stairs and steep hill training. I think repeats on the rez hill is a great place to start.
I packed in the afternoon. There wasn't much to pack, it's just a short race! But after pulling Frea off the bike rack and airing up the tires I had a moment of --Wow, is that really my bike!? I mean look at it! A beauty! :)
It's October!! And what better way to enjoy a sunny, comfy-temp, trees-are-changing day? A trail run in Castlewood! I had a race the next day, so there was no need to hurry. Just enjoy it.
DoCo and I chatted along while running. I wasn't even paying attention to where I was, to my surprise we ended up at the base of the stairs when I thought we were at the north end of the park. If that's not the 2nd best think you could say about a trail run, then what it? (the first is a great trail race!).
We ran up the steps then saw the steep hill on Grotpeter. We get to do that three times! Three! Time to start stairs and steep hill training. I think repeats on the rez hill is a great place to start.
I packed in the afternoon. There wasn't much to pack, it's just a short race! But after pulling Frea off the bike rack and airing up the tires I had a moment of --Wow, is that really my bike!? I mean look at it! A beauty! :)
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