DAY OFF
I drove back to STL today, and had to stop a few times to wake myself back up!! Awful condition to be driving in! BAD! But at the Litchfield stop I bought a small cup off coffee and some pork rinds. I didn't consume all of either, but having some worked to wake me up :) Ugh, what a combination...
I learned from Mom today that I was making DECAF coffee on Sat and Sun mornings. How did that affect my swim? I dunno, but it sure accounts for the awful feeling I had all day Sunday!
I'm still going over the DNF, analyzing and trying to understand. Working to separate the Reasons from the Excuses. I'm almost done.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
First big Sammich of the season
RUN 1:20 and 8.7 miles, 9:12 pace
BIKE 1:00 and 16.5 miles
RUN :40 mins and 4.3 miles, 9:18 pace
I ran this from my parent's house. Up to the school route and out n back. It had rained overnight, there were some puddles on the road still. And some seagull-sounding birds (not sure what they were) seemed to follow me the whole time. There's not much else that happened!
The bike was still windy and although I wanted to get a faster pace it just didn't happen. Again, out n back.
The final run...oof...this workout is tough! Out n back again to the school road and a strong finish.
The rest of the day is what was remarkable. I felt awful. Dragging, sluggy, headachy, clumsy (nearly rolled my left ankle twice), failed a nap, ... just awful. I worried that I'd burned out, went too far, or was getting sick.
I learned the next day (Monday) that I'd been making DECAF coffee on Saturday and Sunday!! No wonder I felt so terrible!
BIKE 1:00 and 16.5 miles
RUN :40 mins and 4.3 miles, 9:18 pace
I ran this from my parent's house. Up to the school route and out n back. It had rained overnight, there were some puddles on the road still. And some seagull-sounding birds (not sure what they were) seemed to follow me the whole time. There's not much else that happened!
The bike was still windy and although I wanted to get a faster pace it just didn't happen. Again, out n back.
The final run...oof...this workout is tough! Out n back again to the school road and a strong finish.
The rest of the day is what was remarkable. I felt awful. Dragging, sluggy, headachy, clumsy (nearly rolled my left ankle twice), failed a nap, ... just awful. I worried that I'd burned out, went too far, or was getting sick.
I learned the next day (Monday) that I'd been making DECAF coffee on Saturday and Sunday!! No wonder I felt so terrible!
Saturday, June 28, 2014
The CIOWS DNF
SWIM 1.2 miles and 1 hour. Was supposed to do 2.4 miles!
BIKE 5hrs and 85 miles of headwinds!
I'll be upfront and say first off that I'm writing this on July 8th, 10 days after the event. (I thought it was much longer than 10 days!). I'm usually pretty prompt about writing these up. I also usually finish my events, and I'm excited to report in with what happened. Not so much here.
I drove up to the site Friday after a half day at work and a few hurried hours preparing meals and packing. My initial plan was to camp, so I needed to have all foods ready and iced. I took way too long doing this and didn't get out of town until 4:30. By the time I reached Bloomington, I'd driven through rain and was tired. More rain was south of town with uncertainty as to whether it would hit the campsite. DH and I both agreed that setting up a brand new tent in the near-dark with possible rain wasn't a great idea. So I drove the extra 45 mins to my parents. Arrived late, went to bed late and tired.
Next morning followed to plan: brekkie, coffee, leave to arrive at site by 7am for checkin and practice swim. Fellow Club member VW was already there, he reported no rain overnight. Oh well.
It was 79.5F in the water and low-mid 70's air temp. This isn't normally cold, but I was! Although there were some winds, the water was mostly calm and waves weren't a problem. But shivering was. The WU swim from 8-830 was a shock to me, I didn't expect to feel cold, have trouble swimming straight, finding motivation, and sighting buoys. The WU was OK and I was calm, but totally lacking in desire. I tried eating more to see if it perked me up. Nope.
All along I've been comforting myself with the thought that I could bail at 1 loop if the lack of wetsuit was causing distress. Suddenly it wasn't so much a comfort, but a plan. During the 30 mins on the beach for the safety talk and prep, my whole body was shivering. Crazy! I had my towel around me and VW offered a sweatshirt. Another swimmer suggested more donuts. I was unhappy and already wanting to quit.
I staged to the back of the pack to avoid crowding and to stay calm. Immediately I repeated the problem I had in the WU: I was sighting the wrong buoy! It was a counter clockwise, long rectangular course. Instead of swimming to buoy #1 to my right I kept turning towards buoy #2 on the left. A lifeguard would whistle and signal that I needed to alter course. This happened repeatedly, all through the swim.
Halfway around the rectangle I could see the bright lime green finish buoys to my far left. So enticing to just quit now.... but I kept going, finding multiple cold spots in the water that contributed to my misery. I was still swimming left into the rectangle. Other swimmers were way to my right! I'd ask a lifeguard where the next buoy was, because I couldn't see it! I was so far off course the next boat or lifeguard blocked my view. This was frustrating and taken alone is not a reason I would quit. I just laughed it off and kept going.
But every time I stopped, it was a dead stop in the water. My hips dropped and I'd tread water a few moments. I did this a LOT. By the time I'd reached buoy #3, I'd already decided to stop after 1 loop. By buoy #4 I hated myself for even attempting this. As 2-loop finishers passed me, I climbed out at 63-freaking-minutes and waited for VW to finish. I must have looked awful to the finish line crew, they walked me up the hill and came back periodically to check on me.
I'll also be clear about this: I have NO REGRETS as to my decision to quit. There's NO reason to burn out on a training event. There's NO reason to endanger myself in a lake. I made the right call and have zero regrets. I regret only the facts below that contributed, because removing any one of them might have made all the difference for me:
WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!
1. I got cold. Low body fat means cold. I have no cold tolerance right now, even for air conditioning.
2. I was tired. I raced Cutting Edge just days before, had lots of travel time in the past day, and this was my 3rd weekend trip out of town in June.
3. I was distracted by the lack of wetsuit, and reverted to all bad habits of swim form. My mind can only do one thing at a time, apparently.
4. As I found out on Monday, I had decaf coffee for brekkie!! I can't discount the role this played in my lack of motivation.
NOW WHAT?!?!?!?!
1. I need to practice OWS without a suit to master the distraction problem.
2. I need to try a rash guard or long sleeve shirt for warmth, and look into cold adaptation methods. Because I ain't gonna gain enough body fat before MiTi to make a difference
3. I need to take better care of myself and balance my schedule better.
Due to this weekend, and the stress that travel had on me, I've decided to NOT do AG Nationals two weeks before MiTi. I just can't handle the stress.
And now for the bike ride! The plan was 5 hours and 90-95 miles. I didn't get started until 11:20, 80 mins after I climbed out of the swim. There was a strong 18mph headwind out of the south and my route had early south/north sections followed by a mostly west/east course. I felt much better by the time my ride started and didn't think much bad about the swim. I followed the Evergreen Tri arrows to about 20 miles then headed out. The roads were in great condition, the cars quite polite, and other cyclists as always a joy to see. My energy wasn't great, but I was chugging along and enjoying it.
I made a route modification once I realized that I'd hit over 2.5 hours and 40 miles. Instead of a loop, I turned around and re-traced my outbound route, snipping off a wonderfully hilly loop to save time. This worked great, my plan was 5 hours and I finished at 5:01.
No brick run for me. The plan called for a 50 mins run, ah, NO. Save it for tomorrow. Get home and get rested.
I spent a lot of time in my head on this day. All through the swim, bike, and drive home. And in the drive home I heard Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead Or Alive. Fits perfect, aside from mentioning a song about being dead in a DNF swim post!!
BIKE 5hrs and 85 miles of headwinds!
I'll be upfront and say first off that I'm writing this on July 8th, 10 days after the event. (I thought it was much longer than 10 days!). I'm usually pretty prompt about writing these up. I also usually finish my events, and I'm excited to report in with what happened. Not so much here.
I drove up to the site Friday after a half day at work and a few hurried hours preparing meals and packing. My initial plan was to camp, so I needed to have all foods ready and iced. I took way too long doing this and didn't get out of town until 4:30. By the time I reached Bloomington, I'd driven through rain and was tired. More rain was south of town with uncertainty as to whether it would hit the campsite. DH and I both agreed that setting up a brand new tent in the near-dark with possible rain wasn't a great idea. So I drove the extra 45 mins to my parents. Arrived late, went to bed late and tired.
Next morning followed to plan: brekkie, coffee, leave to arrive at site by 7am for checkin and practice swim. Fellow Club member VW was already there, he reported no rain overnight. Oh well.
It was 79.5F in the water and low-mid 70's air temp. This isn't normally cold, but I was! Although there were some winds, the water was mostly calm and waves weren't a problem. But shivering was. The WU swim from 8-830 was a shock to me, I didn't expect to feel cold, have trouble swimming straight, finding motivation, and sighting buoys. The WU was OK and I was calm, but totally lacking in desire. I tried eating more to see if it perked me up. Nope.
All along I've been comforting myself with the thought that I could bail at 1 loop if the lack of wetsuit was causing distress. Suddenly it wasn't so much a comfort, but a plan. During the 30 mins on the beach for the safety talk and prep, my whole body was shivering. Crazy! I had my towel around me and VW offered a sweatshirt. Another swimmer suggested more donuts. I was unhappy and already wanting to quit.
I staged to the back of the pack to avoid crowding and to stay calm. Immediately I repeated the problem I had in the WU: I was sighting the wrong buoy! It was a counter clockwise, long rectangular course. Instead of swimming to buoy #1 to my right I kept turning towards buoy #2 on the left. A lifeguard would whistle and signal that I needed to alter course. This happened repeatedly, all through the swim.
Halfway around the rectangle I could see the bright lime green finish buoys to my far left. So enticing to just quit now.... but I kept going, finding multiple cold spots in the water that contributed to my misery. I was still swimming left into the rectangle. Other swimmers were way to my right! I'd ask a lifeguard where the next buoy was, because I couldn't see it! I was so far off course the next boat or lifeguard blocked my view. This was frustrating and taken alone is not a reason I would quit. I just laughed it off and kept going.
But every time I stopped, it was a dead stop in the water. My hips dropped and I'd tread water a few moments. I did this a LOT. By the time I'd reached buoy #3, I'd already decided to stop after 1 loop. By buoy #4 I hated myself for even attempting this. As 2-loop finishers passed me, I climbed out at 63-freaking-minutes and waited for VW to finish. I must have looked awful to the finish line crew, they walked me up the hill and came back periodically to check on me.
I'll also be clear about this: I have NO REGRETS as to my decision to quit. There's NO reason to burn out on a training event. There's NO reason to endanger myself in a lake. I made the right call and have zero regrets. I regret only the facts below that contributed, because removing any one of them might have made all the difference for me:
WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!
1. I got cold. Low body fat means cold. I have no cold tolerance right now, even for air conditioning.
2. I was tired. I raced Cutting Edge just days before, had lots of travel time in the past day, and this was my 3rd weekend trip out of town in June.
3. I was distracted by the lack of wetsuit, and reverted to all bad habits of swim form. My mind can only do one thing at a time, apparently.
4. As I found out on Monday, I had decaf coffee for brekkie!! I can't discount the role this played in my lack of motivation.
NOW WHAT?!?!?!?!
1. I need to practice OWS without a suit to master the distraction problem.
2. I need to try a rash guard or long sleeve shirt for warmth, and look into cold adaptation methods. Because I ain't gonna gain enough body fat before MiTi to make a difference
3. I need to take better care of myself and balance my schedule better.
Due to this weekend, and the stress that travel had on me, I've decided to NOT do AG Nationals two weeks before MiTi. I just can't handle the stress.
And now for the bike ride! The plan was 5 hours and 90-95 miles. I didn't get started until 11:20, 80 mins after I climbed out of the swim. There was a strong 18mph headwind out of the south and my route had early south/north sections followed by a mostly west/east course. I felt much better by the time my ride started and didn't think much bad about the swim. I followed the Evergreen Tri arrows to about 20 miles then headed out. The roads were in great condition, the cars quite polite, and other cyclists as always a joy to see. My energy wasn't great, but I was chugging along and enjoying it.
I made a route modification once I realized that I'd hit over 2.5 hours and 40 miles. Instead of a loop, I turned around and re-traced my outbound route, snipping off a wonderfully hilly loop to save time. This worked great, my plan was 5 hours and I finished at 5:01.
No brick run for me. The plan called for a 50 mins run, ah, NO. Save it for tomorrow. Get home and get rested.
I spent a lot of time in my head on this day. All through the swim, bike, and drive home. And in the drive home I heard Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead Or Alive. Fits perfect, aside from mentioning a song about being dead in a DNF swim post!!
And times when you're alone, all you do is think.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Dragon AZ
RUN 6.6 miles in 55 mins, 8:24 pace
SWIM 1100y in 30 mins
Oooooh the fatigue is setting in. That brainless, heavy, don'twanna feeling only found in the peak weeks. Sad to say, this is only the first of peak weeks. I'm in a 17 now, then I have an 18:20, another 17, then a 19 to go. It's not helping that I still have not dedicated a day off after last Sunday's race. After today's workouts, I'm more convinced about doing so.
It was another one of those runs that I didn't think I could do, but did it anyway. I'm starting to think that my sleepy head is Blerching out these thoughts but isn't really convinced I'm going to fall for it. EK joined us, and her news of the day was that her AR team qualified for Nats!! I shared my Nats news, and high-5!
She and I ran the loop together with IT and DT peeling off early for their race on Saturday, and CS peeling off the front to go faster. EK is great to run with, always positive :)
I wanted to do 7 miles, and the plan called for a few 7 min intervals. Didn't happen. Off to the pool.
I drug my ass into the pool after dallying in the truck for awhile. (Remember EK's shirt today? Dragon AZ? LOL. That's me today. Draggin' ass. The pool seemed cold, and the super chatty woman was in her lane. After 10 mins of her talking about everything from her workout, her menopause, her mom's 10 kids, her sister's leukemia then breast cancer, her sister's 2nd husband, wholesome families and children, her old job at the day care....OMG....she really doesn't pick up on social cues. She's staring at the ceiling instead of my bored face. It's not even a conversation, it's just her talking. I try to be nice...but...
Once in the pool, I did my 400 swim and 200 kick. The Dragon AZ'd through 3 of the planned 8x250's. Then I quit. I felt miserable, hungry, cold, and unmotivated.
Walking into work, I wanted some fruit. Specifically strawberries. But I was too tired to walk to the cafeteria to get them! I'm barely awake enough to walk around, and I'm thinking about skipping lunch to buy a tent. I'm not at all packed for the weekend, and it seems like I have mountains to do outside of work and nothing to do at work. And I'd love a nap!
SWIM 1100y in 30 mins
Oooooh the fatigue is setting in. That brainless, heavy, don'twanna feeling only found in the peak weeks. Sad to say, this is only the first of peak weeks. I'm in a 17 now, then I have an 18:20, another 17, then a 19 to go. It's not helping that I still have not dedicated a day off after last Sunday's race. After today's workouts, I'm more convinced about doing so.
It was another one of those runs that I didn't think I could do, but did it anyway. I'm starting to think that my sleepy head is Blerching out these thoughts but isn't really convinced I'm going to fall for it. EK joined us, and her news of the day was that her AR team qualified for Nats!! I shared my Nats news, and high-5!
She and I ran the loop together with IT and DT peeling off early for their race on Saturday, and CS peeling off the front to go faster. EK is great to run with, always positive :)
I wanted to do 7 miles, and the plan called for a few 7 min intervals. Didn't happen. Off to the pool.
I drug my ass into the pool after dallying in the truck for awhile. (Remember EK's shirt today? Dragon AZ? LOL. That's me today. Draggin' ass. The pool seemed cold, and the super chatty woman was in her lane. After 10 mins of her talking about everything from her workout, her menopause, her mom's 10 kids, her sister's leukemia then breast cancer, her sister's 2nd husband, wholesome families and children, her old job at the day care....OMG....she really doesn't pick up on social cues. She's staring at the ceiling instead of my bored face. It's not even a conversation, it's just her talking. I try to be nice...but...
Once in the pool, I did my 400 swim and 200 kick. The Dragon AZ'd through 3 of the planned 8x250's. Then I quit. I felt miserable, hungry, cold, and unmotivated.
Walking into work, I wanted some fruit. Specifically strawberries. But I was too tired to walk to the cafeteria to get them! I'm barely awake enough to walk around, and I'm thinking about skipping lunch to buy a tent. I'm not at all packed for the weekend, and it seems like I have mountains to do outside of work and nothing to do at work. And I'd love a nap!
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
I only biked today. And felt lazy for it!
BIKE 1:50 and 27 miles
COMMUTE 3 miles home
I pushed a little more today so I didn't stop at an uneven number. Like yesterday. Another great ride, this time included an out-n-back on Wydown. I'd forgotten about the construction mess there with the water mains. But I got it done and this ride felt great.
This morning I received a surprising email!!
COMMUTE 3 miles home
I pushed a little more today so I didn't stop at an uneven number. Like yesterday. Another great ride, this time included an out-n-back on Wydown. I'd forgotten about the construction mess there with the water mains. But I got it done and this ride felt great.
This morning I received a surprising email!!
Congratulations. You have qualified for the Olympic-Distance race at the 2014 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships on August 9 in Milwaukee, Wis., after finishing in the top 10 percent in your age group at the Cutting Edge Half Classic.
OMG!! This possibility never crossed my mind! And since TH also won her AG, she qualified as well. She really wants to go. So do I, but it's 2 weeks before my A race, $160, and a weekend of travel. I'm thinking on it. But it had me smiling for the whole bike ride and most of the day. I've qualified before, at the 2011 Last Chance race but IM CDA and the Vermont location prevented me from even thinking about it. I'll think on it more.
Now I'm also thinking about camping for the race on Saturday. Just what I need -- more variables and errands when I'm already short on time and energy. DH offered to go tonight after dinner, but it was 6:30pm by then and I knew I wouldn't make it. I'm hitting that iron fatigue phase.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tired Tuesday TAD
RUN 8.2 miles in 75 mins, 3x 4x400
BIKE 25.75 miles in 1:45
COMMUTE 3 miles home
All day long I just kept thinking about how SM told TH to take Tuesday off, that she needed a day off after the CE race. When was my day off? Well that's up to me!! And I've decided it's not today.
I was feeling tired and worn out so I changed the goal of the workout from 90% effort to "a reasonably hard effort based on current conditions". The plan said WU then 3x 4x400 (100 rest), with 800 rest between sets. 400's sounded so easy, just once around the track. And, since there are 12 of them I could do a 'holiday run' in which I think about each month for the 12 laps.
BE, who told me about the 12 months 400's run, joined me for Sept thru Dec. I didn't time any intervals, tried not to walk any of the rests aside from a few meters, and surprisingly felt OK considering!
The bike ride was a few loops of TGP, a bottle refill at the YMCA, then 1+ loops of FoPa to round out the time. The streets were wet from some rain but otherwise no problems. I love seeing all the people in the park -- the variety of types, clothes, form, colors, goals, groups, it had me smiling most of the ride. I think people who have to drive to work are going to be grumpy all day because they didn't get to have a great bike ride :)
I learned in an email today that my upcoming 2.4 mi swim on Saturday probably won't be wetsuit legal. Why am I not more nervous about this? It's 2 loop, meaning I can stop after one loop if things aren't going good for me. That's a comfort to know. And it's better to get this uncertainty out of the way before MiTi. What if that race isn't wetsuit legal!?
BIKE 25.75 miles in 1:45
COMMUTE 3 miles home
All day long I just kept thinking about how SM told TH to take Tuesday off, that she needed a day off after the CE race. When was my day off? Well that's up to me!! And I've decided it's not today.
I was feeling tired and worn out so I changed the goal of the workout from 90% effort to "a reasonably hard effort based on current conditions". The plan said WU then 3x 4x400 (100 rest), with 800 rest between sets. 400's sounded so easy, just once around the track. And, since there are 12 of them I could do a 'holiday run' in which I think about each month for the 12 laps.
BE, who told me about the 12 months 400's run, joined me for Sept thru Dec. I didn't time any intervals, tried not to walk any of the rests aside from a few meters, and surprisingly felt OK considering!
The bike ride was a few loops of TGP, a bottle refill at the YMCA, then 1+ loops of FoPa to round out the time. The streets were wet from some rain but otherwise no problems. I love seeing all the people in the park -- the variety of types, clothes, form, colors, goals, groups, it had me smiling most of the ride. I think people who have to drive to work are going to be grumpy all day because they didn't get to have a great bike ride :)
I learned in an email today that my upcoming 2.4 mi swim on Saturday probably won't be wetsuit legal. Why am I not more nervous about this? It's 2 loop, meaning I can stop after one loop if things aren't going good for me. That's a comfort to know. And it's better to get this uncertainty out of the way before MiTi. What if that race isn't wetsuit legal!?
Monday, June 23, 2014
But I needed my keys!
SWIM 1650y (I think)
COMMUTE 6 miles
TH found my keys yesterday afternoon while unpacking from the race, and I kinda needed them! So that's the biggest reason I swam this morning. Also, I knew I'd feel better if I just got up and got moving. Sleeping in and lazing around doesn't feel good.
Unlike the post-marathon swim, I did OK today swimming. My commute was slow and every hill torture but do-able.
My neck still hurts. I've been asking everyone for advice, sent an email plea for help from the manufacture, and might have a borrowed suit for this Saturday's race from NK.
Thing I love about HIM's? Race on Sunday, back to work on Monday :)
COMMUTE 6 miles
TH found my keys yesterday afternoon while unpacking from the race, and I kinda needed them! So that's the biggest reason I swam this morning. Also, I knew I'd feel better if I just got up and got moving. Sleeping in and lazing around doesn't feel good.
Unlike the post-marathon swim, I did OK today swimming. My commute was slow and every hill torture but do-able.
My neck still hurts. I've been asking everyone for advice, sent an email plea for help from the manufacture, and might have a borrowed suit for this Saturday's race from NK.
Thing I love about HIM's? Race on Sunday, back to work on Monday :)
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