1. Well, I kind of knew this one, but I'm putting it on here anyway...You have NO time. All you do is Workout, Eat, Sleep, Work. And I don't even work a full 40 hour week most of the time. When you do have a bit of time, you really just want to do NOTHING. I don't even want to blog...which is why you haven't heard from me! I knew that I would have no life going into this, but just in case you think "well, I can still have a life, it's just this girl..." WRONG. You will have no life.
2. Being on a bike for that many hours, does bad things to your nether regions! Seriously. And b/c all our workouts are in 90% humidity, its even BETTER! I could get into the gory details, but I'm sure most of you DON'T want to know. If you would like to know, just ask. But pretty much anything you can imagine happening when you spend LOTS of hours in sweat-soaked tight shorts, happens!
3. I had no idea that I could sweat THAT MUCH! Seriously, hubby has actually weighed himself before and after workouts...and has lost 5 POUNDS in sweat! WHAT?! I haven't done it, but I do not glisten, I sweat! A LOT! Its freakin' hot! Why did I sign up for a race in AUGUST?
4. You get SO BURNT OUT! I'm beat. I'm tired. I don't want to do any more long ass workouts...and I got three weeks of them left! I'm mostly counting the days until I can do something besides swim, bike, and run!
5. You are on a constant emotional, physical, and mental roller coaster. At least I am...and with 27 days, I'm really trying to figure out how to get in the right mindset for race day!
Any advice would be appreciated. Hopefully I can post a couple more times in the last few weeks! But, all in all, I'm feeling tired, but VERY fit. And READY and NOT READY at the exact same time!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
OLD Post Finally Finished.
Well, its taken me almost 2 weeks to get this blog about the 70.3 out...why? Well, I'd like to say its entirely b/c I was just busy. I was busy, but I think the main reason was that its taken me two weeks to almost stop freaking out that this race was only HALF of what I'm supposed to accomplish in what is now 8 weeks! I guess I was hoping that this race would make me think "70.3 is easy, you are in a great position going into the full IM." I was wrong. I should have known better.
I like to say that I don't have high expectations of myself when I go into races, but I just don't tell people what they are. But, I always have numbers in the back of my head; and in this race I was a little off those numbers. I mean, overall, I am VERY happy. I was a 1/2 hour faster than my previous two half irons! So, I really can't complain...I guess in the back of my head I was hoping for a 6:00 (I got a 6:14), and I just wanted it to be easier. I've done WAY over the training needed for a half...but guess what? It's still hard! DUH!
So, to start out, one of the best news of the race was, that I wasn't that nervous. Often the night before the race, I cannot sleep at all, and that morning I have a VERY hard time eating breakfast. This race, I slept fairly well, and I ate breakfast no problem! I really didn't feel nervous until standing and waiting to get in the water. SO, that was AWESOME! I would LOVE for that to happen before IML...we'll have to see.
So, waiting for my swim wave, I really felt like I needed to go to the bathroom one more time, but I didn't feel like there was time. Usually when I start the swim it goes away anyway, so I just didn't go. Got in the water, and the water was gorgeous: crystal clear, nice and chilly, smooth as ice. Felt long and stretched the whole first half. Saw some girls really take off, but I was still pretty much in front of the girls. After the turn I felt great. Decided to pick it up a bit, and cruised on past most of the wave in front of me.
Out of the water, onto the bike, kept in mind to take it easy and let my HR settle in the first 15 minutes. Also had to remind myself that all those people FLYING past me were used to hills, so I just had to bide my time. Still felt like I needed to go potty, but passed the port-o-potty on the first loop. I thought well, I'll just get it the next go round. What that meant is for the next 40 miles I felt so Gassy! (sorry for being so frank). By the time I got to the potty, I felt nauseous...but I had kept my pace steady and even split the bike...so that was good.
Off the bike, I went back to the potty, and actually felt a BIT better for the run. Tried to keep it slow and easy pace. I also decided to just walk the aide stations. I've crashed my two previous runs at mile 6 and mile 8...So, I was just hoping to make it to mile 9. I should have convinced myself to make it to mile 13 beforehand, but I didn't, so I made it to mile 10 and then switched to a walk the hills, run the flats or downs. Ended up with a smile on my face and the race was lovely...
After the race, besides the being incredibly busy with swim meets, I went through the stages of grief...
1. Denial – I don't have a FULL Ironman in 8 weeks! There is NO WAY I can do this.
2. Anger – I can't believe I was DUMB enough to sign up for this! What the hell was I thinking?
3. Bargaining – Maybe I can get out of it somehow...or only get to the run and "break my ankle" to get out of the run! :)
4. Depression – How did I ever think I could be good enough to do this?
5. Acceptance – Ok...I'm in it now, and I just have to finish right? So, I can finish.
Problem is, I constantly rotate through these feelings from "I can do this" to "what the hell was I thinking." I just hope on race day, I am in the "I can do this" zone.
I like to say that I don't have high expectations of myself when I go into races, but I just don't tell people what they are. But, I always have numbers in the back of my head; and in this race I was a little off those numbers. I mean, overall, I am VERY happy. I was a 1/2 hour faster than my previous two half irons! So, I really can't complain...I guess in the back of my head I was hoping for a 6:00 (I got a 6:14), and I just wanted it to be easier. I've done WAY over the training needed for a half...but guess what? It's still hard! DUH!
So, to start out, one of the best news of the race was, that I wasn't that nervous. Often the night before the race, I cannot sleep at all, and that morning I have a VERY hard time eating breakfast. This race, I slept fairly well, and I ate breakfast no problem! I really didn't feel nervous until standing and waiting to get in the water. SO, that was AWESOME! I would LOVE for that to happen before IML...we'll have to see.
So, waiting for my swim wave, I really felt like I needed to go to the bathroom one more time, but I didn't feel like there was time. Usually when I start the swim it goes away anyway, so I just didn't go. Got in the water, and the water was gorgeous: crystal clear, nice and chilly, smooth as ice. Felt long and stretched the whole first half. Saw some girls really take off, but I was still pretty much in front of the girls. After the turn I felt great. Decided to pick it up a bit, and cruised on past most of the wave in front of me.
Out of the water, onto the bike, kept in mind to take it easy and let my HR settle in the first 15 minutes. Also had to remind myself that all those people FLYING past me were used to hills, so I just had to bide my time. Still felt like I needed to go potty, but passed the port-o-potty on the first loop. I thought well, I'll just get it the next go round. What that meant is for the next 40 miles I felt so Gassy! (sorry for being so frank). By the time I got to the potty, I felt nauseous...but I had kept my pace steady and even split the bike...so that was good.
Off the bike, I went back to the potty, and actually felt a BIT better for the run. Tried to keep it slow and easy pace. I also decided to just walk the aide stations. I've crashed my two previous runs at mile 6 and mile 8...So, I was just hoping to make it to mile 9. I should have convinced myself to make it to mile 13 beforehand, but I didn't, so I made it to mile 10 and then switched to a walk the hills, run the flats or downs. Ended up with a smile on my face and the race was lovely...
After the race, besides the being incredibly busy with swim meets, I went through the stages of grief...
1. Denial – I don't have a FULL Ironman in 8 weeks! There is NO WAY I can do this.
2. Anger – I can't believe I was DUMB enough to sign up for this! What the hell was I thinking?
3. Bargaining – Maybe I can get out of it somehow...or only get to the run and "break my ankle" to get out of the run! :)
4. Depression – How did I ever think I could be good enough to do this?
5. Acceptance – Ok...I'm in it now, and I just have to finish right? So, I can finish.
Problem is, I constantly rotate through these feelings from "I can do this" to "what the hell was I thinking." I just hope on race day, I am in the "I can do this" zone.
Monday, June 14, 2010
One week from 70.3
Well, we are less than a week away, actually, from competing in the Patriot's Half on Saturday with our best buddies Jess and James. I'm MOST excited about getting out of Miami for a long weekend. Its been RIDICULOUSLY HOT here...I mean its always hot here in the summer...but its been CRAZY hot. I'm ready for even a Hot Mass, b/c it can't be as bad as here! :)
I had a HORRIBLE long run yesterday, and though the heat was part of the reason, my head (as usual) was the most reason. I hope I can get my positive thinking skills and mental toughness skills back on track for Saturday. Mental toughness really is the bane in my existence...some days its just not there. And Sunday was one of those days. Wish me (and everyone else) luck for this Saturday...and if you are mentally tough and can keep a positive mindframe, please send me some of that mojo this way! :) I know my body is ready for this race...now its up to the mind.
I had a HORRIBLE long run yesterday, and though the heat was part of the reason, my head (as usual) was the most reason. I hope I can get my positive thinking skills and mental toughness skills back on track for Saturday. Mental toughness really is the bane in my existence...some days its just not there. And Sunday was one of those days. Wish me (and everyone else) luck for this Saturday...and if you are mentally tough and can keep a positive mindframe, please send me some of that mojo this way! :) I know my body is ready for this race...now its up to the mind.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Fork in the Road
Well, we are down to less than 90 days from IML. Its hard to believe, 3 months from now I will put my body through a new torture that it has never experienced before! I'm a nervous wreck already, but I am also constantly surprised by the next step my body (and any one else's body for that matter) will go to! Your body will pretty much do whatever you tell it. If you tell it to be lazy and enjoy laying around then it will, and it won't be too excited to get up and do something, and it will even try and fight with you. However, if you tell it, okay, this week we're going to push a little farther than last week, we're going to see if we can get more out of you! Guess what, it takes the punch and says "is that all you got? I'm tired, but I can keep going!"
As I'm going through this process, I'm just amazed by the shape I'm getting in. I think I've said it before, that when I did a previous 1/2 Iron, I felt like I was in the best shape of my life, but each new day in this process I need to learn to appreciate that I am NOW in the best shape of my life! :) And it just gets better...this is not saying this is easy. Its HARD! Its REALLY hard! Its really hot, and really time consuming, and you are really tired...but its also amazing! And now that I'm less than 90 days away, I'm really terrified, but also really excited. I can do this. I know my body can do it! I just have to mentally convince myself that I can do this! Its all a mind game now. Its been a mind game all along!
As I'm discovering my new limits, I'm seeing and reading about people who push so much further, so much more! I read about this guy who has completed EVERY Ironman since they started and is hoping to complete 100 by the time he is 50! And recently he hiked to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2 days (when it usually takes people 8-9) then completed an IM the next week, then completed another one the week after that! WHAT?! Crazy! Right? But, how amazing that guy must be. I truly believe anyone can do this. Its just deciding if you want to accept the sacrifices you have to make to do it. As I tell my kids every day..."no, you don't have to swim. You have a choice to make, you always have a choice. The question is, do you want to accept the consequences that may arise from you not swimming?"
So, during my long run last week (which was 2 hours and 15 minutes), it was about 9 am, and I had about 3 miles to go. I was feeling pretty good, but it was hot and humid (duh, its Miami)...so I was running slightly aimlessly, and looking for new roads to run on. I came to a fork in the road...and I had to make a decision. How was my decision made? I chose the road...shadier. The one with more trees...for either way, I was going to be running, why not run in the shade? What does that say about me? :)
In terms of workouts over the past two weeks, we are ramping it up. Did a little over 18 hours last week, including an 82 mile ride (that had a 45 minute swim before and a 20 minute run after), and a 13 mile run (that had a hour and 15 minute ride before)...Its getting hard, its getting hot...and its only going to get HOTTER...but I think my body can do it! Now I just have to convince my brain! :)
As I'm going through this process, I'm just amazed by the shape I'm getting in. I think I've said it before, that when I did a previous 1/2 Iron, I felt like I was in the best shape of my life, but each new day in this process I need to learn to appreciate that I am NOW in the best shape of my life! :) And it just gets better...this is not saying this is easy. Its HARD! Its REALLY hard! Its really hot, and really time consuming, and you are really tired...but its also amazing! And now that I'm less than 90 days away, I'm really terrified, but also really excited. I can do this. I know my body can do it! I just have to mentally convince myself that I can do this! Its all a mind game now. Its been a mind game all along!
As I'm discovering my new limits, I'm seeing and reading about people who push so much further, so much more! I read about this guy who has completed EVERY Ironman since they started and is hoping to complete 100 by the time he is 50! And recently he hiked to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2 days (when it usually takes people 8-9) then completed an IM the next week, then completed another one the week after that! WHAT?! Crazy! Right? But, how amazing that guy must be. I truly believe anyone can do this. Its just deciding if you want to accept the sacrifices you have to make to do it. As I tell my kids every day..."no, you don't have to swim. You have a choice to make, you always have a choice. The question is, do you want to accept the consequences that may arise from you not swimming?"
So, during my long run last week (which was 2 hours and 15 minutes), it was about 9 am, and I had about 3 miles to go. I was feeling pretty good, but it was hot and humid (duh, its Miami)...so I was running slightly aimlessly, and looking for new roads to run on. I came to a fork in the road...and I had to make a decision. How was my decision made? I chose the road...shadier. The one with more trees...for either way, I was going to be running, why not run in the shade? What does that say about me? :)
In terms of workouts over the past two weeks, we are ramping it up. Did a little over 18 hours last week, including an 82 mile ride (that had a 45 minute swim before and a 20 minute run after), and a 13 mile run (that had a hour and 15 minute ride before)...Its getting hard, its getting hot...and its only going to get HOTTER...but I think my body can do it! Now I just have to convince my brain! :)
Monday, May 17, 2010
Week 1- No Christian
Christian's gone for 2 weeks, this was week 1. Proud of myself for making it to Tuesday and Wednesday morning workouts. Slept in a bit more on Thursday. Then because I had a meet this weekend, I switched around my long Sunday workout with Friday, so I wouldn't have to stress so much on Sunday to get it done before going to see Spring Awakening at the Arscht Center!
Besides Christian being gone, nothing HUGELY interesting. Monday: 40 min swim, Tuesday: 2 hour bike, and 40 min run, Wednesday: hour swim and 1:15 track workout, Thursday: 2 hour ride, Friday: 4 hour ride, 30 minute brick run, Saturday: 1 hour ride, 1:50 brick run, Sunday: 45 min swim, 35 min easy run. Total 16:15.
Best workout of the week was Wednesday track. I wanted to ATTEMPT to run at that threshold speed I was told I could run at during the Lactate Test. The workout was 1.5 mile warm up with some speed-ups during it, then 4x800 (1:00ri), 4x600 (1:00ri), 4x400 (1:30ri), 800 cooldown. The 800s and 600s were supposed to be at threshold, and the 400s at :10 under threshold! Well, the bad news is that I didn't really descend the pace. The good news is that I didn't slow down either! And actually did get faster on the last 2 of the 400s! The even more amazing news is that I was actually holding around a 7:45 pace for most of it, and I didn't die! I was very proud of myself! And starting to gain a TINY bit of confidence in running! Which is nice...even got some coach compliments on a job well done! :) Of course then, I thought I would turn to that Sat. long run and be able to hold my HR in Zone 2 and run like 9:00/mile...WRONG. HR went up and up and I had to slow down and down. Ended up with a 10:30 average. I guess it doesn't all translate within a day or two! Imagine that!
Oh, also proud of myself for doing my 4 hour ride on Friday morning all by myself...and for getting 67 miles done! Go me! :) As for this week, its not really a "recovery" week, but a "rejuvenate" week? Only 13:00 hours scheduled...so that sounds nice. Then Coach says were ready to start bumping up the distance again! YIKES! We did about 4-6 weeks of 4 hour long ride, 2 hour long run...feeling comfortable there, but scared again at moving up! Wish us luck.
On a completely unrelated note, if "Spring Awakening" comes to your town, go see it! Its great!
Besides Christian being gone, nothing HUGELY interesting. Monday: 40 min swim, Tuesday: 2 hour bike, and 40 min run, Wednesday: hour swim and 1:15 track workout, Thursday: 2 hour ride, Friday: 4 hour ride, 30 minute brick run, Saturday: 1 hour ride, 1:50 brick run, Sunday: 45 min swim, 35 min easy run. Total 16:15.
Best workout of the week was Wednesday track. I wanted to ATTEMPT to run at that threshold speed I was told I could run at during the Lactate Test. The workout was 1.5 mile warm up with some speed-ups during it, then 4x800 (1:00ri), 4x600 (1:00ri), 4x400 (1:30ri), 800 cooldown. The 800s and 600s were supposed to be at threshold, and the 400s at :10 under threshold! Well, the bad news is that I didn't really descend the pace. The good news is that I didn't slow down either! And actually did get faster on the last 2 of the 400s! The even more amazing news is that I was actually holding around a 7:45 pace for most of it, and I didn't die! I was very proud of myself! And starting to gain a TINY bit of confidence in running! Which is nice...even got some coach compliments on a job well done! :) Of course then, I thought I would turn to that Sat. long run and be able to hold my HR in Zone 2 and run like 9:00/mile...WRONG. HR went up and up and I had to slow down and down. Ended up with a 10:30 average. I guess it doesn't all translate within a day or two! Imagine that!
Oh, also proud of myself for doing my 4 hour ride on Friday morning all by myself...and for getting 67 miles done! Go me! :) As for this week, its not really a "recovery" week, but a "rejuvenate" week? Only 13:00 hours scheduled...so that sounds nice. Then Coach says were ready to start bumping up the distance again! YIKES! We did about 4-6 weeks of 4 hour long ride, 2 hour long run...feeling comfortable there, but scared again at moving up! Wish us luck.
On a completely unrelated note, if "Spring Awakening" comes to your town, go see it! Its great!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Muddy Buddy and Clermont
Saturday was to be my 4th Muddy Buddy (Christian's Third). This was our second one in Orlando. I was last minute getting our costumes together and made, but I got it done. We dressed up as Ms. Piggy and Kermit the Frog...team name Muddy Muppets.
Did the costu
me contest, LOST AGAIN. And you know, at the time I was totally fine with it. Last year, I felt we got screwed, but this year there were some really great costumes. Most of the top ones had bought their costumes, but still cool. The top two were: He-Man and Skeletor (bought), but they had made their bike to look like the tiger and that was homemade, so cool. And The Ambiguously Gay Duo (this looked bought, but I'm not sure). Ace and Gary looked awesome and acted the part up on stage, so I cheered and voted for them. All's good...except...get done with the race and see that NEITHER TEAM had RACED IN THEIR COSTUME! What the hell? How is that fair/part of the race. That's the whole point...and if I ran the whole thing in a red dress and a pig's nose (admittedly, I didn't wear the wig), they should have to stay in costume too. UGH. Whatever...
Racewise, we were only a minute faster than last year. I was a bit disappointed in that, but I pretty much blame it all on my mountain biking ability and comfort. I was just not comfortable enough to whip my bike around people and with 2000 TEAMS this year, the course was CROWDED. I tried, but not hard enough on the bike. Overall, we finished 11th in our age group (out of about 140) and 133rd overall. And it was still fun.
Since we were in Orlando and Clermont is a 1/2 hour away from my best buddy's house, we got up EARLY on Sunday morning and headed over to Clermont to do the first loop of the Great Floridian Tri (60 miles for first loop), and to get an experience of hills that we can't get in Miami. We have heard the Louisville course is pretty hilly. So, what did I learn on this ride. #1 Clermont is BEAUTIFUL, wooded, open, nice roads, nice people...and if you have to live in Central Florida, this would be the place to be. You would think you were in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia...it looks the same. I had NO IDEA that a place like that existed in Florida. #2 Clermont is REALLY hilly. They weren't kidding. It was TIRING. And after we climbed the mountain, for some reason I thought the rest of the hills wouldn't be that bad....wrong...lots more hills and big ones. #3 Sugarloaf Mountain is a BEAST for real. Apparently about a 1/2 mile at a 17% grade..
.turned that corner and my mouth fell open. It was hard the first time. But coach had us do it FOUR times. OUCH! I was pretty damn proud of myself after that fourth time though! All in all we did a few minutes over 4 hours, and covered 64 miles. I was exhausted and my legs were beat, but I loved the ride. It was SO much nicer to get the heck out of the one BORING-ASS ride we can do in Miami. Maybe we will hit it one or two more times before the big day!
And this was the end of our "Recovery Week." 11:30 hours training. 4:00 of those on Sunday, so a nice week!
Did the costu
me contest, LOST AGAIN. And you know, at the time I was totally fine with it. Last year, I felt we got screwed, but this year there were some really great costumes. Most of the top ones had bought their costumes, but still cool. The top two were: He-Man and Skeletor (bought), but they had made their bike to look like the tiger and that was homemade, so cool. And The Ambiguously Gay Duo (this looked bought, but I'm not sure). Ace and Gary looked awesome and acted the part up on stage, so I cheered and voted for them. All's good...except...get done with the race and see that NEITHER TEAM had RACED IN THEIR COSTUME! What the hell? How is that fair/part of the race. That's the whole point...and if I ran the whole thing in a red dress and a pig's nose (admittedly, I didn't wear the wig), they should have to stay in costume too. UGH. Whatever...Racewise, we were only a minute faster than last year. I was a bit disappointed in that, but I pretty much blame it all on my mountain biking ability and comfort. I was just not comfortable enough to whip my bike around people and with 2000 TEAMS this year, the course was CROWDED. I tried, but not hard enough on the bike. Overall, we finished 11th in our age group (out of about 140) and 133rd overall. And it was still fun.
Since we were in Orlando and Clermont is a 1/2 hour away from my best buddy's house, we got up EARLY on Sunday morning and headed over to Clermont to do the first loop of the Great Floridian Tri (60 miles for first loop), and to get an experience of hills that we can't get in Miami. We have heard the Louisville course is pretty hilly. So, what did I learn on this ride. #1 Clermont is BEAUTIFUL, wooded, open, nice roads, nice people...and if you have to live in Central Florida, this would be the place to be. You would think you were in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia...it looks the same. I had NO IDEA that a place like that existed in Florida. #2 Clermont is REALLY hilly. They weren't kidding. It was TIRING. And after we climbed the mountain, for some reason I thought the rest of the hills wouldn't be that bad....wrong...lots more hills and big ones. #3 Sugarloaf Mountain is a BEAST for real. Apparently about a 1/2 mile at a 17% grade..
.turned that corner and my mouth fell open. It was hard the first time. But coach had us do it FOUR times. OUCH! I was pretty damn proud of myself after that fourth time though! All in all we did a few minutes over 4 hours, and covered 64 miles. I was exhausted and my legs were beat, but I loved the ride. It was SO much nicer to get the heck out of the one BORING-ASS ride we can do in Miami. Maybe we will hit it one or two more times before the big day!And this was the end of our "Recovery Week." 11:30 hours training. 4:00 of those on Sunday, so a nice week!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Lactate Test
Got two/maybe three big things to report on from last week...so for now, I'll do a quick post about lactate testing! Then on the next post, I'll post about Muddy Buddy and biking in Clermont (Sugarloaf Mountain).
So, after being a bit screwed over by coach last week with our lactate testing it was rescheduled for this week on Friday. The good news is that it was a recovery week anyway, so there was no need to really change much of the training plan. We also were able to schedule on Friday, which was a day that Christian had already taken off for us to head to Orlando for Muddy Buddy. We took Thursday completely off from training! NICE! Then got up Friday morning and headed to this new apartment complex with a new gym inside where he does the testing.
Coach wanted to do one of us at a time, so I wanted to go first b/c I was nervous about being stabbed repeatedly in the finger. I have blazing memories from childhood about this gun implement that was used to prick my finger. I remember it hurting like HELL! and it sucking really bad...worse than needles. So I was not looking forward to it. Got on the treadmill at about 4.6 and walked for a bit to warm up. Then the deal was every 4 minutes he would crank the pace .4mph. He would then ask me to stop briefly, stick out my finger, he would prick it, and then get back on. After that, he would ask me to rate my exertion on a scale of 6-20. No problem. Still freaking out about the prick, I started the jog at 4.8 (SLOW JOG!), and stuck out my finger...bang! Hey! That wasn't that bad...even better, apparently I'm a "good bleeder." So he really only had to prick my finger like every other time! Towards the heavy breathing, hard running end of the workout, it hurt a bit, but still not horrible. Even better, it kept getting faster on the treadmill and I actually got to the fastest speed I've ever been on a treadmill (I hate treadmills-the whole fear of flying off thing, especially after watching the biggest Loser! And having to jump off and jump back on for the finger prick!!) But, I survived, and I made it up to 8.4mph (7:03ish pace!) WOW! YEA ME!
So, what did this test tell me? Well, it told me that my HR zones for my long runs are correct about 145-155. AND it told me that on my harder runs, my track workouts, I should be pushing to do pace holdings at 7:45! WHAT????!!!! Are you kidding me? In January, at the marathon, and before, was struggling to hold 11:30s! I was ecstatic to hold 9:15s at the last Oly Tri...7:45s, seriously. So hubby hears that, what does he say? "I told you!" OYE! So, apparently I CAN be a lot faster. At least physically my body is completely capable of holding a much faster pace...awesome...know what else that means? You guessed it...ITS ALL IN MY HEAD!
So, new goal. Throw out all notions of what speed I am for running. How to accomplish that? I have no idea. The mental part of this game is definitely the hardest part. But, from a blog I just read, I'm just going to "Zoom Out" to that pic of my crossing the finish line in Louisville and ATTEMPT not to think about much else, just "do it."
Oh, I almost forgot...I passed my Certified Personal Trainers exam! I'm officially qualified to be a personal trainer...now I just need a job to teach me what the hell that means! :)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Sight of the day
Today's sight of the day at our early morning 5:25 am ride...I was just finishing the last interval about to bike back home from the Key...off to the side I see movement...what is it? It's a giant vulture...what's he doing? Pulling a dead cat by the tail so he can eat it! EEEWWWW!
BTW the heat of Miami is here. It stayed back for about a month longer than usual, but its here now, and its not holding back. 86 and STICKY yesterday, looking for more of the same (or hotter) from now through August! YEA!
BTW the heat of Miami is here. It stayed back for about a month longer than usual, but its here now, and its not holding back. 86 and STICKY yesterday, looking for more of the same (or hotter) from now through August! YEA!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Derby Day
Derby Day is one of my favorite days of the whole year. I love the horse race, I love the events and drama that leads up to the race, I love to have people over wearing big hats and eat GOOD Southern food and just hang out. So, even though schedules are a bit crazy with training and working and trying to study...I decided to have another Derby Party.
Friday morning I had to get up at 4am, and go to work the kids out at morning practice. Once they left, I did my 45 minute swim with some late-coming masters and then got dressed to run. Did a 2 hour run from 8-10am. Came back and its the day we do "Shark Races." Which is like an intersquad meet. So I spent 2 hours getting the meet set up...and finally headed home around 12:30. Basically, that gave me 2 hours at home to eat lunch and clean a bit more. I had gotten maybe half the house clean on Thurs., so I wanted to finish cleaning and get the cupcakes made on Friday. Within that 2 hours, not much got done. Best news about Shark races is free food after the races...so dinner was done! Christian ran down from our house to the pool for his run, so I had a plate ready for him. Went home and spent the evening cleaning and making cupcakes.
We decided to switch our usual Sat (long brick) and Sun (2 hour ride/30 min run) workouts b/c I had morning practice about 45 minutes away on Sat from 7:30-10. We got up at 5:30 and did our 30 min easy run at 6 am. Then I headed to practice. I did some Derby races at the end of practice (5 kids raced in one lane and then jumped to come back in another lane like a track! Very fun!), and headed home. Got home in time for some lunch and to start making some food. Christian had luckily started prepping while I was at practice. I started making the pieces to the cupcakes (supposed to look like horses in the end). We finally left for our 2 hour ride around 1:00-3:00. Got back and had to finish making the rest of the food, the cupcakes, and shower and get dressed by 4:00!
I turned the corner to see that all the pieces to the cupcakes I had made had been EATEN BY JACK! UGH! Christian ran back to the store to get new pieces as I got the Derby pie in the oven, and showered. Once back, I again attempted to make pieces to the cupcakes only to find the chocolate glue was not hardening b/c its too hot in our house! FRUSTRATION! Ran out of time to make homemade biscuits so called a friend to get some pre-made ones. What we did get done before people arrived: Deviled eggs, Ham and pre-made biscuits, corn pudding, fried green tomatoes, and Derby Pie. Our neighbor brought some mac and cheese, and I finally gave up on getting the cupcakes finished (what did get done of the cupcakes did not look like horses, but would've worked great at a bachelor party!). I just couldn't do it all!
Other than that however, it turned out great. We had a great time, with some of the people we actually like here! :) The pool winner won $15! It wasn't me! My horse never left the middle of the pack! Will I do it again next year, wherever we are!? Probably!
Sunday just left us with a 3:30 hour bike ride. Supposed to simulate the 70.3 with some 5x12:00 intervals. OUCH! Into the wind! Double OUCH! Wind is the BANE of my existence! But covered 60 miles in the 3:30 and came back for a Zone 3 brick run! OUCH! But held around 9:30 pace, so not too unhappy! Happy for recovery day today!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
VERBOSE
Looking back over my posts, I realize I'm too wordy and probably not really saying that much...You probably don't want to read that much. Who cares, I ran, I biked, I swam, I ran, I biked, I swam...
So, I have two options, continue to write once a week about my boring totals, and be a little long winded. Or attempt to write a short version daily or every other day with interesting highlights from my workouts. What do you prefer?
Last week wasn't that interesting that I remember. It was better than the week before it, mentally, so that was nice. The long bike was 62 miles. Its the furthest we've gone in quite some time; and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Long run was a little over 9 miles. And I missed one swim last week b/c I had a meet this past weekend. I know, sounds crazy...I missed a swim b/c I was at a swim meet. But when you are there as a coach, the opportunity to swim is just not there. Especially when its a long course meet with only one warmup/down lane. All in all: 6 runs, 4 bikes, and only 2 swims.
This week we got to take our usual recovery day Monday with just an easy swim, but then we did another kind of recovery day on Tuesday (45 min easy bike, 30 min easy swim) b/c we were SUPPOSED to take a running Lactate Threshold test with Coach on Wed. So after sleeping in a bit on Wed. (instead of the track workout), get a call from coach to say that he doesn't have enough strips to test both Christian and I. Basically he was unprepared for something he knew about 2 weeks ago; for something he convinced us to do; for something we're paying him an extra $115/person for! I was pissed! I mean seriously. He had all kinds of excuses, but the main answer is he waited until the last minute and it bit him in the ass! Very unprofessional. First time I've been really disappointed in him. So, needless to say, Christian went to do the test, and I headed over for my track workout in the SUN! Then swam a 1000 for time that night! Whoa! That hurt after the track workout! But did a 13:42 chasing my friend/coworker to keep me pushing! It was 29 seconds faster than last time! Nice. We took it out too fast, but didn't completely crash.
Today a 2 hour ride. Nothing too exciting. Some hard pushes. Hope its going well for all of you! Oh, I have my test next week for my personal training certification. I'm freaking out! Wish me luck!
So, I have two options, continue to write once a week about my boring totals, and be a little long winded. Or attempt to write a short version daily or every other day with interesting highlights from my workouts. What do you prefer?
Last week wasn't that interesting that I remember. It was better than the week before it, mentally, so that was nice. The long bike was 62 miles. Its the furthest we've gone in quite some time; and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Long run was a little over 9 miles. And I missed one swim last week b/c I had a meet this past weekend. I know, sounds crazy...I missed a swim b/c I was at a swim meet. But when you are there as a coach, the opportunity to swim is just not there. Especially when its a long course meet with only one warmup/down lane. All in all: 6 runs, 4 bikes, and only 2 swims.
This week we got to take our usual recovery day Monday with just an easy swim, but then we did another kind of recovery day on Tuesday (45 min easy bike, 30 min easy swim) b/c we were SUPPOSED to take a running Lactate Threshold test with Coach on Wed. So after sleeping in a bit on Wed. (instead of the track workout), get a call from coach to say that he doesn't have enough strips to test both Christian and I. Basically he was unprepared for something he knew about 2 weeks ago; for something he convinced us to do; for something we're paying him an extra $115/person for! I was pissed! I mean seriously. He had all kinds of excuses, but the main answer is he waited until the last minute and it bit him in the ass! Very unprofessional. First time I've been really disappointed in him. So, needless to say, Christian went to do the test, and I headed over for my track workout in the SUN! Then swam a 1000 for time that night! Whoa! That hurt after the track workout! But did a 13:42 chasing my friend/coworker to keep me pushing! It was 29 seconds faster than last time! Nice. We took it out too fast, but didn't completely crash.
Today a 2 hour ride. Nothing too exciting. Some hard pushes. Hope its going well for all of you! Oh, I have my test next week for my personal training certification. I'm freaking out! Wish me luck!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Gonna be a long 4 and a half months
Did almost 18 hours of training this week, and we still have a LONG way to go in terms of training time! Its really a little more than four months away, but my long ride is only 1/2 way there, and I know we do at least one ride that's more than the distance; my long run isn't even half way there, and I know we will do at least one 20 mile run, if not a bit more. It's already LONG, HARD training, and there's still a long way to go! I'm scared! This is the first week that I got a bit scared about making it. It wasn't that I didn't do, or couldn't do the training this week, it was just thinking about how long I have to go! And on top of that, it was just the week that I let some of the workouts get to me. You see, Christian and I pretty much, workout at the same time.
We swim at the pool together, or in the ocean together, and that's the one sport, I'm a little better than him at (though he's getting closer). I haven't gotten much faster in my swimming, it pretty much just holds the same. But in the pool, we do the same workout in different lanes. In the ocean, I just swim a bit ahead of him and look for him at the buoys to make sure he's okay.
On the bike, during the week, we are out with the group. We all warm up together, and then break out to do our workouts. Almost everyone in the group is faster than me, including Christian, who's a lot faster than me. But, once we spread out I don't think about it too much. Its when we're trying to ride together on the weekends or easier rides. He is riding in his "easy," and I'm riding in my "easy," and he just keeps pulling further and further in front of me, until he eventually has to loop back and pick me up a few times. The other day, that got to me. I sometimes get annoyed that he's basically biking laps around me. I got annoyed that we workout at the same time, but not together. The thing is, there's nothing I or he can do about it. I don't want him to slow down and ruin his workout or training, and I can't go much faster and stay within my plan. It just sucks sometimes, you know?
On the run, we all know, Christian is MUCH faster than me. Again though, when its a harder run, or the track, its expected. I'm again, one of the slowest in the group. Its on the easier runs, when I let it get to me...when he's just running right in front of me. If I couldn't really see him, it wouldn't matter, I don't think. Its just having him right in front of me. Sometimes I think about some of the other cultures where the women have to walk behind the men, not beside them! That's the thoughts in my mind at that time!
I know, I'm crazy...but I never said I wasn't. I'm neurotic and competitive and it sucks when you are competitive, but there's nothing you can do to make yourself as fast as the other people. Am I getting better? MOST DEFINITELY. Will I ever be a 7:30 miler in a triathlon, like Christian? Doubtful. So, any advice how to get over my mental blocks in training? I mean, I'm not racing Christian, I don't want to race him. I just want to do my own race well...and I know if I can't get the focus right in training, I'm going to have trouble in the race...Help here would be great!
So, what did I do last week:
4 swims: 1 recovery pool swim, 1 harder pool pull workout, 2 ocean swims (40 and 45 minutes).
4 bikes: 1 hard interval, 1 easier ride during the week, 1 LONG ride (3:15 now), 1 bridge workout ride (10 bridge repeats in the wind and RAIN! It sucked!)
6 runs (WOW): 1, 50:00 breakthrough holding z3 for 15 min, 1 REALLY HARD track workout of 12x400s FAST with a 200 rec, 2 brick runs (35 minutes, and 40 minutes after the 3:15 bike), 1 long run (1:40), and 1 easy 30 minute run. NEVER thought I would run so much in a week, and I'm not hating it!
Oh, and one stretch and core strengthening session!
We swim at the pool together, or in the ocean together, and that's the one sport, I'm a little better than him at (though he's getting closer). I haven't gotten much faster in my swimming, it pretty much just holds the same. But in the pool, we do the same workout in different lanes. In the ocean, I just swim a bit ahead of him and look for him at the buoys to make sure he's okay.
On the bike, during the week, we are out with the group. We all warm up together, and then break out to do our workouts. Almost everyone in the group is faster than me, including Christian, who's a lot faster than me. But, once we spread out I don't think about it too much. Its when we're trying to ride together on the weekends or easier rides. He is riding in his "easy," and I'm riding in my "easy," and he just keeps pulling further and further in front of me, until he eventually has to loop back and pick me up a few times. The other day, that got to me. I sometimes get annoyed that he's basically biking laps around me. I got annoyed that we workout at the same time, but not together. The thing is, there's nothing I or he can do about it. I don't want him to slow down and ruin his workout or training, and I can't go much faster and stay within my plan. It just sucks sometimes, you know?
On the run, we all know, Christian is MUCH faster than me. Again though, when its a harder run, or the track, its expected. I'm again, one of the slowest in the group. Its on the easier runs, when I let it get to me...when he's just running right in front of me. If I couldn't really see him, it wouldn't matter, I don't think. Its just having him right in front of me. Sometimes I think about some of the other cultures where the women have to walk behind the men, not beside them! That's the thoughts in my mind at that time!
I know, I'm crazy...but I never said I wasn't. I'm neurotic and competitive and it sucks when you are competitive, but there's nothing you can do to make yourself as fast as the other people. Am I getting better? MOST DEFINITELY. Will I ever be a 7:30 miler in a triathlon, like Christian? Doubtful. So, any advice how to get over my mental blocks in training? I mean, I'm not racing Christian, I don't want to race him. I just want to do my own race well...and I know if I can't get the focus right in training, I'm going to have trouble in the race...Help here would be great!
So, what did I do last week:
4 swims: 1 recovery pool swim, 1 harder pool pull workout, 2 ocean swims (40 and 45 minutes).
4 bikes: 1 hard interval, 1 easier ride during the week, 1 LONG ride (3:15 now), 1 bridge workout ride (10 bridge repeats in the wind and RAIN! It sucked!)
6 runs (WOW): 1, 50:00 breakthrough holding z3 for 15 min, 1 REALLY HARD track workout of 12x400s FAST with a 200 rec, 2 brick runs (35 minutes, and 40 minutes after the 3:15 bike), 1 long run (1:40), and 1 easy 30 minute run. NEVER thought I would run so much in a week, and I'm not hating it!
Oh, and one stretch and core strengthening session!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Recovery Week and Nautica Triathlon
YEA RECOVERY WEEK! I LOVE RECOVERY WEEK! Monday: 35 minutes of stretching and core exercises, then a 1 hour swim, but nothing hard. Tuesday: 1:30 bike ride with some 3min hard intervals, then a 35 minute run that afternoon. Wednesday: a 45 minute run on the track (FINALLY not the last one done with workout b/c ours was short! YEA!) and NO SWIM! NICE! Thursday: 45 minute easy ride and 15 minute run off the bike. Friday: 20 minute ocean swim, easy! Saturday: a short brick after my swimmers morning workout, a 12 minute swim, a 30 minute bike, and a 15 minute run. Sunday: RACE DAY!
I was feeling like crap about 1/2 way through the week. I guess your body is like not sure what to do with more free time, or not working as hard, so it just goes into exhaustion mode? Not really sure, but I just felt lethargic and my muscles felt tired...but I pushed through. By Saturday's brick, I was feeling much better and actually getting excited about the race on Sunday. It was an Olympic distance race, and its really just a C race for us, but with all this training, I kind of had a glimmer of hope that I could do pretty well, maybe even PR (old Olympic PR was 2:54).
Got up Sunday morning, no big issues, slept a little better than usual on pre-race night. Didn't feel any nerves in the morning. Was able to eat breakfast no problem. It really just felt like another training morning at home, which was nice. We got out the door about 10 minutes later than usual and headed down. Coach wanted us to do a 10 minute swim, a 10 minute bike and a 6 minute run before the race! Never done that much warmup...but was going to try. We parked and Christian and I headed straight for the 6 minute run. Took the bikes in, and went potty and he took his bike out for the 10 minute bike. I went potty again, and again. I hate race day potty! :) Finished setting up my stuff, put the wetsuit on, found Christian and after saying hello to some of my swimmers who were swimming on relays, headed down to the water. The swim was point a to b, so we started walking towards the start with the intention of swimming the final part up to the start to get in the warmup. As we walked it got closer and closer to time for the pre-race meeting. The water was WAVY, which is unusual in Miami. It definitely wasn't as bad as Dewey always is for its race, but it wasn't fun. We did maybe a 5 minute warm up. I really hate ocean water, and I hate fighting waves, so I wasn't very eager about the swim (even I sometimes hate the swim!), but I knew everyone else was in the same boat, so I figured I still have my swim advantage and went into my "Just keep swimming" mantra! :)
First wave: 7:00, Christian's Thunderthigh wave, 7:03, all the females, 7:06 (w/ 55+males). We took off, and I took an outside path b/c I knew everyone would try and cut straight out to the buoy rather than start at the outside of it and let the waves and current aim you at it! I also decided I'm not going to RUN over the waves since I'm not very good at it. I made my way in and hopped over several waves then dove into the 4th one or so. Took a few strokes and got kicked around by a few waves. Started to seep in to my head "man I hate this!" but thought, "Okay Ash, just make it to that first buoy and your are out past the breakers and swimming straight." Once I got out there you had to try and time your spotting with the crest of a roller but I just tried to keep it as straight as possible. I started picking out blue caps from the heat in front of us and just said, alright pass him. Made it past MOST of the blue caps as I made my way by the buoys. Was feeling long and strong, but didn't feel like I was killing myself at all. Mostly did breathing on my right to breathe away from the waves. Stood up at the beach at 23:30, but the chip has me at 25:08 with the beach running. Still pretty happy. Must have had a bit of a current to push us!
LONG distance between entrances and exits in transition. My bike was close to the swim exit, but FAR from the bike start. Managed to get my wetsuit off pretty quickly and started the long run to start the bike! Had a guy ask me what wave I was and he was like "so the elites should be done, right." I was like, um "yea, they should be!" Maybe I beat his Elite out of the water, cool! :)
Took off on the bike, and this is the only course of hills in Miami. We go from South Beach out one causeway that has one pretty big bridge over the water, downtown to the other causeway which has 2 big bridges over the water, around North Miami Beach, and then back over the causeways (6 bridges total, actually 8, but one bridge isn't much of a hill). Going west, wind at your back, going east towards the beach was into the wind...but the wind wasn't as bad as it had been the days before. Coach told me to keep my HR 10-15 beats below threshold, so I was aiming for 160-165. Problem was that my HR monitor wasn't working half the time, so during those times, I guessed. When it would work, I was apparently a pretty good guesser! Felt strong, but all those boys I passed in the water were FLYING by me! So annoying. About 15 miles in, some of those quick girls were passing me to. I just tried to maintain focus. Thought I was really holding 19-20 mph, but apparently the average with 18.5, bummer. One of these days I'll be at 20 average (RIGHT?!). Tried to keep my RPMs up on the bridges and just held steady. Felt pretty good coming in from the bike, 25 miles is a short bike at this point! Finished at 1:18:10.
Another 2:30ish minute transition, and was out for the run. Here Coach told me to not stress about my HR...to just be "comfortable, but uncomfortable" for the first 3 miles, and then try to build into as fast as you can go on the last 3 miles. When I got out of transition I was at 1:48, so I knew if I could just manage to do 10 minute miles, I could PR! However, for me and a triathlon over the past 3 or so years, a 10 minute mile hasn't been very common. I just tried to stand tall and pull the shoulders back and run. Tons of guys and some girls flying past, but tried to focus on myself and my breathing. At first mile, was feeling comfortable, but uncomfortable, looked down and was right at 10 minutes (HR was around 165, so pretty good). I thought "I can do this." Its only 5 more miles. As people continued to pass me I felt myself pick it up a bit, but tried not to get crazy. Had to remind myself that 2/3's of the racers were only doing 4 miles, so relax (there was a Classic and an Olympic distance). Noticed at the 2 mile mark, I was under a 10 minute mile. Still feeling good all the way out to the 3 mile turn. Saw Christian with him having about 2.5 miles to go and looked at my watch, realized he had a good shot of getting his PR/race goal of 2:30! So, gave him a big cheer!
Started making my way back and just focused on pushing a bit more, nothing crazy each mile. Lucky for us the clouds kept cover over the sun the whole run, so it wasn't crazy hot! It was perfect race weather! Finally at the last mile decided to try and push a bit more. HR crept up to 180s, and I just kept saying its only a mile, less than a mile! Saw I was going to make a PR for sure, so that helped to...Rounded the corner and ran over the sand dune (that sucks btw!), to the finish line! 2:46:18! And a 57:41 RUN! WOOHOO! I was a 9:18 pace! I was ecstatic! Still pretty slow for most people, but I was so happy to finally have a good run. I stayed positive the whole race, and really had a good time. And actually I've only run one 10k ever, faster than that! So, all in all a great day! I was 10th out of 25 females in my group, but no issues there. The girls in front were pretty good! Christian however, was 2nd in his Thunderthighs division! And got his PR by 7 minutes at 2:30!
I hope this means that we're really heading in the right direction for August and we'll be ready then. Got a big week coming up, with 17:30 hours planned of training. Back to the grindstone!
I was feeling like crap about 1/2 way through the week. I guess your body is like not sure what to do with more free time, or not working as hard, so it just goes into exhaustion mode? Not really sure, but I just felt lethargic and my muscles felt tired...but I pushed through. By Saturday's brick, I was feeling much better and actually getting excited about the race on Sunday. It was an Olympic distance race, and its really just a C race for us, but with all this training, I kind of had a glimmer of hope that I could do pretty well, maybe even PR (old Olympic PR was 2:54).
Got up Sunday morning, no big issues, slept a little better than usual on pre-race night. Didn't feel any nerves in the morning. Was able to eat breakfast no problem. It really just felt like another training morning at home, which was nice. We got out the door about 10 minutes later than usual and headed down. Coach wanted us to do a 10 minute swim, a 10 minute bike and a 6 minute run before the race! Never done that much warmup...but was going to try. We parked and Christian and I headed straight for the 6 minute run. Took the bikes in, and went potty and he took his bike out for the 10 minute bike. I went potty again, and again. I hate race day potty! :) Finished setting up my stuff, put the wetsuit on, found Christian and after saying hello to some of my swimmers who were swimming on relays, headed down to the water. The swim was point a to b, so we started walking towards the start with the intention of swimming the final part up to the start to get in the warmup. As we walked it got closer and closer to time for the pre-race meeting. The water was WAVY, which is unusual in Miami. It definitely wasn't as bad as Dewey always is for its race, but it wasn't fun. We did maybe a 5 minute warm up. I really hate ocean water, and I hate fighting waves, so I wasn't very eager about the swim (even I sometimes hate the swim!), but I knew everyone else was in the same boat, so I figured I still have my swim advantage and went into my "Just keep swimming" mantra! :)
First wave: 7:00, Christian's Thunderthigh wave, 7:03, all the females, 7:06 (w/ 55+males). We took off, and I took an outside path b/c I knew everyone would try and cut straight out to the buoy rather than start at the outside of it and let the waves and current aim you at it! I also decided I'm not going to RUN over the waves since I'm not very good at it. I made my way in and hopped over several waves then dove into the 4th one or so. Took a few strokes and got kicked around by a few waves. Started to seep in to my head "man I hate this!" but thought, "Okay Ash, just make it to that first buoy and your are out past the breakers and swimming straight." Once I got out there you had to try and time your spotting with the crest of a roller but I just tried to keep it as straight as possible. I started picking out blue caps from the heat in front of us and just said, alright pass him. Made it past MOST of the blue caps as I made my way by the buoys. Was feeling long and strong, but didn't feel like I was killing myself at all. Mostly did breathing on my right to breathe away from the waves. Stood up at the beach at 23:30, but the chip has me at 25:08 with the beach running. Still pretty happy. Must have had a bit of a current to push us!
LONG distance between entrances and exits in transition. My bike was close to the swim exit, but FAR from the bike start. Managed to get my wetsuit off pretty quickly and started the long run to start the bike! Had a guy ask me what wave I was and he was like "so the elites should be done, right." I was like, um "yea, they should be!" Maybe I beat his Elite out of the water, cool! :)
Took off on the bike, and this is the only course of hills in Miami. We go from South Beach out one causeway that has one pretty big bridge over the water, downtown to the other causeway which has 2 big bridges over the water, around North Miami Beach, and then back over the causeways (6 bridges total, actually 8, but one bridge isn't much of a hill). Going west, wind at your back, going east towards the beach was into the wind...but the wind wasn't as bad as it had been the days before. Coach told me to keep my HR 10-15 beats below threshold, so I was aiming for 160-165. Problem was that my HR monitor wasn't working half the time, so during those times, I guessed. When it would work, I was apparently a pretty good guesser! Felt strong, but all those boys I passed in the water were FLYING by me! So annoying. About 15 miles in, some of those quick girls were passing me to. I just tried to maintain focus. Thought I was really holding 19-20 mph, but apparently the average with 18.5, bummer. One of these days I'll be at 20 average (RIGHT?!). Tried to keep my RPMs up on the bridges and just held steady. Felt pretty good coming in from the bike, 25 miles is a short bike at this point! Finished at 1:18:10.
Another 2:30ish minute transition, and was out for the run. Here Coach told me to not stress about my HR...to just be "comfortable, but uncomfortable" for the first 3 miles, and then try to build into as fast as you can go on the last 3 miles. When I got out of transition I was at 1:48, so I knew if I could just manage to do 10 minute miles, I could PR! However, for me and a triathlon over the past 3 or so years, a 10 minute mile hasn't been very common. I just tried to stand tall and pull the shoulders back and run. Tons of guys and some girls flying past, but tried to focus on myself and my breathing. At first mile, was feeling comfortable, but uncomfortable, looked down and was right at 10 minutes (HR was around 165, so pretty good). I thought "I can do this." Its only 5 more miles. As people continued to pass me I felt myself pick it up a bit, but tried not to get crazy. Had to remind myself that 2/3's of the racers were only doing 4 miles, so relax (there was a Classic and an Olympic distance). Noticed at the 2 mile mark, I was under a 10 minute mile. Still feeling good all the way out to the 3 mile turn. Saw Christian with him having about 2.5 miles to go and looked at my watch, realized he had a good shot of getting his PR/race goal of 2:30! So, gave him a big cheer!
Started making my way back and just focused on pushing a bit more, nothing crazy each mile. Lucky for us the clouds kept cover over the sun the whole run, so it wasn't crazy hot! It was perfect race weather! Finally at the last mile decided to try and push a bit more. HR crept up to 180s, and I just kept saying its only a mile, less than a mile! Saw I was going to make a PR for sure, so that helped to...Rounded the corner and ran over the sand dune (that sucks btw!), to the finish line! 2:46:18! And a 57:41 RUN! WOOHOO! I was a 9:18 pace! I was ecstatic! Still pretty slow for most people, but I was so happy to finally have a good run. I stayed positive the whole race, and really had a good time. And actually I've only run one 10k ever, faster than that! So, all in all a great day! I was 10th out of 25 females in my group, but no issues there. The girls in front were pretty good! Christian however, was 2nd in his Thunderthighs division! And got his PR by 7 minutes at 2:30!
I hope this means that we're really heading in the right direction for August and we'll be ready then. Got a big week coming up, with 17:30 hours planned of training. Back to the grindstone!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Wilco Curse, then Easter
Sorry, I didn't write last week. I was teaching a lifeguard class all day each day and then coaching, so I didn't have a lot of spare time. Good news is, everyone passed...the bad news is, I still wouldn't want some of them to be my lifeguard!
So, I'll start with the week before last's training and work up to today. This post will be a bit long!
The week before last was our "Concert week." We had Wilco tickets on Monday night and G. Love tickets on Thursday night. The last time Christian went to see Wilco, he took our friend James...and even though James went, he had a horrible flu and spent the whole night in the fetal position. We went to swim Monday morning, so we could go straight to the concert Monday night. I left straight from work, came home changed, and Christian picked me up to go to the show. We assumed there was going to be an opening act so it was okay for us to go after I got off work. We assumed wrong. I had been hungry, but didn't have time for a real dinner. I figured we'd just grab something quick on the way home or at the show. I ate an apple and a granola bar. On the way there I started to feel a bit nauseous, but I figured it was just hunger. When we walked in, and smelled all the weed, it made me feel sicker. So I sat in the chair, and just listened. The show was good. After about an hour, Wilco took a break and were going to come out to play another set. I was feeling pretty sick by then, and Christian said he was feeling hungry too, so we left before the second set. On the way home, he offered to stop and get food, but everything sounded horrible to me. We got home and I ate like 3 saltines and drank some gatorade and crawled in bed. Christian drank some protein/milk drink and came to bed soon after. About an hour into the night, I woke up to go potty, thought that would help, and 15 minutes after that, puked my guts out! UGH! It was awful. I spent the rest of the night in and out of the bathroom. Top it off, Christian started throwing up right after me. However, he still thinks it was because of the protein drink, not what I had. Either way, we spent the night sick, and didn't feel great the next day...we both called in sick to work and didn't do either exercise scheduled for the day. By about 4pm, I was able to get in more Saltines and Gatorade...and by 7 or so, I was able to eat. I felt much better about 24 hours later. We decided to test out the Wed. morning track workout to get back on "track." We went and I did the whole run, but I was very slow and just felt SO weak from the day before. But, at least I was back to workouts! I had no idea how guilty I would feel for missing one day of workouts, and its completely understandable when your sick, but I still felt guilty. I probably should've taken Wed. morning off, b/c soon after I caught a cold. I think because my immune system was down...I'm still fighting it off. I don't feel sick, just snotty!
Anyway, Wed. was back on track. We did the morning track workout (3x1000, 3x800), and swam a tough ladder at threshold that night. Thursday was a 1:30 bike with intervals in 53x12, and a 15 minute post bike jog. We went from work Thursday up to Ft. Lauderdale to the G. Love show. Of course G. never starts until after 10:00 pm, but the show was great. It just meant we got home at 1am. Friday was supposed to be a morning 45 minute swim, but it was pouring that morning (which I happily went back to sleep), so that was the 3rd workout of the week we missed. But, did our long run (1:30), and I did a pilates class.
Saturday was our first big brick! (I actually had another weekend off, I love time between seasons). We did a 30 minute ocean swim, hopped on the bike for a 2:30 bike ride all zone 2, and then hopped into our shoes for a 30 minute run. I was a bit worried about the whole thing, but once out there, I felt fine the whole time! That made me feel more confident! On Sunday, we ended the week with a 2 hour bike ride where we did 8 bridge repeats (The only hill in Miami), and an easy 30 minute run later in the day. So with the sickness, I got in: 3 swims (one open water), 3 bikes and 4 runs (one only 15 minutes). Total 13:35 (includes core workouts, and stretching).
Now, this past week. As mentioned, I was teaching a lifeguard class, and class was scheduled from 8-4:00 Monday-Thursday. After each day, my swimmers (who were on spring break) practiced from 3-5 (two hours earlier than usual), so I was typically done early in the evening.
I'll just run through the training for the week. Monday is our typical recovery day. I went straight to teach, then worked with my swimmers, then I had an hour and a half to kill before masters swimming. So, I did an hour of stretching and core/weights. Then did a drill type swim workout, totaling 3500 yards. Tuesday, we went to the morning squad ride. Ride was scheduled for 1:30, but I had to leave at 1:15, to make it to the pool for class. Got done with class and my swimmers, went home and did a 48 minute run.
Wednesday was the track workout. Now keep in mind that so far, my "long" runs have been about 1:30 of which I only cover about 7.5-8 miles (I'm slow). Well this Wed. was 1:30 track workout (6x1200, 4x800, 3x200), and I didn't even make it to the 200s b/c I'm slow. The total workout I did was 8.5 miles! WOW! Boy, I was beat, but I was actually pretty happy with my running on those. Followed up that night with an hour swim, that had 5x400 threshold swims in it! Tough Day!
By Thursday morning (with the early morning workouts, right into teaching, and several HARD workouts in a row), I was BEAT. Went to Thursday morning squad ride and I had told my class we would start at 9:00 instead of 8:00 so I could get the workout in. We did a hard interval set over the 1:30 bike ride...and I was so tired from the previous days, I don't think I gave it my all, but I was out there. We followed that with a 20 minute post-bike run. Good news was that I had Thursday evening completely off!
And with Easter, I had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday completely off! Friday morning, we got up and went to a 30 minute open water swim and since I had the day off, I went straight into my long run of 1:40 easy. It was a beautiful Good Friday, so it was quite an enjoyable run. Sat. morning was a lot like last Sat. We did a 30 minute open water swim, an 2:45 bike ride (about 48 miles), and followed it with a 30 minute run. I figured out we were only about 18.5 miles short of completing a 70.3 this Sat.! Of course, 10 of those miles would be running! Still, made me feel pretty good. And again, I felt pretty good on the whole workout! Starting to gain some confidence.
Finally, on Sunday we did a 2 hour bike ride with 8 bridge repeats to get in our only hill training for Louisville. Came home, actually went to Church!, and started working on Easter dinner. We went and did our 30 minute easy run in the afternoon (which Jack HATED, too hot). Then had the neighbors and a few friends over for a Wonderful Easter dinner out in our courtyard. All in all a great week! Total training: 4 swims (2 open water), 4 bikes, 6 runs (1 only 20 minutes), 1 core and stretching workout. Total time 17:27. And I'm starting to feel like we're just getting started! WHOA! Gonna be a long 5 more months!
Sorry for the long post! Do better next week. I'm hoping its a "Down/recovery" week, and we have an Olympic distance race, Nautica, on Sunday! Wish us luck!
So, I'll start with the week before last's training and work up to today. This post will be a bit long!
The week before last was our "Concert week." We had Wilco tickets on Monday night and G. Love tickets on Thursday night. The last time Christian went to see Wilco, he took our friend James...and even though James went, he had a horrible flu and spent the whole night in the fetal position. We went to swim Monday morning, so we could go straight to the concert Monday night. I left straight from work, came home changed, and Christian picked me up to go to the show. We assumed there was going to be an opening act so it was okay for us to go after I got off work. We assumed wrong. I had been hungry, but didn't have time for a real dinner. I figured we'd just grab something quick on the way home or at the show. I ate an apple and a granola bar. On the way there I started to feel a bit nauseous, but I figured it was just hunger. When we walked in, and smelled all the weed, it made me feel sicker. So I sat in the chair, and just listened. The show was good. After about an hour, Wilco took a break and were going to come out to play another set. I was feeling pretty sick by then, and Christian said he was feeling hungry too, so we left before the second set. On the way home, he offered to stop and get food, but everything sounded horrible to me. We got home and I ate like 3 saltines and drank some gatorade and crawled in bed. Christian drank some protein/milk drink and came to bed soon after. About an hour into the night, I woke up to go potty, thought that would help, and 15 minutes after that, puked my guts out! UGH! It was awful. I spent the rest of the night in and out of the bathroom. Top it off, Christian started throwing up right after me. However, he still thinks it was because of the protein drink, not what I had. Either way, we spent the night sick, and didn't feel great the next day...we both called in sick to work and didn't do either exercise scheduled for the day. By about 4pm, I was able to get in more Saltines and Gatorade...and by 7 or so, I was able to eat. I felt much better about 24 hours later. We decided to test out the Wed. morning track workout to get back on "track." We went and I did the whole run, but I was very slow and just felt SO weak from the day before. But, at least I was back to workouts! I had no idea how guilty I would feel for missing one day of workouts, and its completely understandable when your sick, but I still felt guilty. I probably should've taken Wed. morning off, b/c soon after I caught a cold. I think because my immune system was down...I'm still fighting it off. I don't feel sick, just snotty!
Anyway, Wed. was back on track. We did the morning track workout (3x1000, 3x800), and swam a tough ladder at threshold that night. Thursday was a 1:30 bike with intervals in 53x12, and a 15 minute post bike jog. We went from work Thursday up to Ft. Lauderdale to the G. Love show. Of course G. never starts until after 10:00 pm, but the show was great. It just meant we got home at 1am. Friday was supposed to be a morning 45 minute swim, but it was pouring that morning (which I happily went back to sleep), so that was the 3rd workout of the week we missed. But, did our long run (1:30), and I did a pilates class.
Saturday was our first big brick! (I actually had another weekend off, I love time between seasons). We did a 30 minute ocean swim, hopped on the bike for a 2:30 bike ride all zone 2, and then hopped into our shoes for a 30 minute run. I was a bit worried about the whole thing, but once out there, I felt fine the whole time! That made me feel more confident! On Sunday, we ended the week with a 2 hour bike ride where we did 8 bridge repeats (The only hill in Miami), and an easy 30 minute run later in the day. So with the sickness, I got in: 3 swims (one open water), 3 bikes and 4 runs (one only 15 minutes). Total 13:35 (includes core workouts, and stretching).
Now, this past week. As mentioned, I was teaching a lifeguard class, and class was scheduled from 8-4:00 Monday-Thursday. After each day, my swimmers (who were on spring break) practiced from 3-5 (two hours earlier than usual), so I was typically done early in the evening.
I'll just run through the training for the week. Monday is our typical recovery day. I went straight to teach, then worked with my swimmers, then I had an hour and a half to kill before masters swimming. So, I did an hour of stretching and core/weights. Then did a drill type swim workout, totaling 3500 yards. Tuesday, we went to the morning squad ride. Ride was scheduled for 1:30, but I had to leave at 1:15, to make it to the pool for class. Got done with class and my swimmers, went home and did a 48 minute run.
Wednesday was the track workout. Now keep in mind that so far, my "long" runs have been about 1:30 of which I only cover about 7.5-8 miles (I'm slow). Well this Wed. was 1:30 track workout (6x1200, 4x800, 3x200), and I didn't even make it to the 200s b/c I'm slow. The total workout I did was 8.5 miles! WOW! Boy, I was beat, but I was actually pretty happy with my running on those. Followed up that night with an hour swim, that had 5x400 threshold swims in it! Tough Day!
By Thursday morning (with the early morning workouts, right into teaching, and several HARD workouts in a row), I was BEAT. Went to Thursday morning squad ride and I had told my class we would start at 9:00 instead of 8:00 so I could get the workout in. We did a hard interval set over the 1:30 bike ride...and I was so tired from the previous days, I don't think I gave it my all, but I was out there. We followed that with a 20 minute post-bike run. Good news was that I had Thursday evening completely off!
And with Easter, I had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday completely off! Friday morning, we got up and went to a 30 minute open water swim and since I had the day off, I went straight into my long run of 1:40 easy. It was a beautiful Good Friday, so it was quite an enjoyable run. Sat. morning was a lot like last Sat. We did a 30 minute open water swim, an 2:45 bike ride (about 48 miles), and followed it with a 30 minute run. I figured out we were only about 18.5 miles short of completing a 70.3 this Sat.! Of course, 10 of those miles would be running! Still, made me feel pretty good. And again, I felt pretty good on the whole workout! Starting to gain some confidence.
Finally, on Sunday we did a 2 hour bike ride with 8 bridge repeats to get in our only hill training for Louisville. Came home, actually went to Church!, and started working on Easter dinner. We went and did our 30 minute easy run in the afternoon (which Jack HATED, too hot). Then had the neighbors and a few friends over for a Wonderful Easter dinner out in our courtyard. All in all a great week! Total training: 4 swims (2 open water), 4 bikes, 6 runs (1 only 20 minutes), 1 core and stretching workout. Total time 17:27. And I'm starting to feel like we're just getting started! WHOA! Gonna be a long 5 more months!
Sorry for the long post! Do better next week. I'm hoping its a "Down/recovery" week, and we have an Olympic distance race, Nautica, on Sunday! Wish us luck!
Monday, March 22, 2010
WHOLE WEEKEND OFF!
What an amazing thing! Christian and I both had BOTH Saturday and Sunday, completely off! It was wonderful! I didn't even have a Saturday morning practice. So we enjoyed it! Saturday we slept in, then cleaned the house a bit, and headed out for a 2:10 bike ride. Easy, enjoyable, sunny, and warm. Followed that up with a 22 minute transition run. No big issues, though we took Jack with us and even though he's been running 45 minutes with us, he hasn't been running in 70ish temps in a while, so he gave up about 15 minutes in and tried to lay down! Boy, he doesn't like heat!
On Sunday, we only had a 30 minute easy run. So we did that in the morning, and went to the Adrienne Arscht center. We found out they have a lottery program. You show up 2.5 hours before a show and put your name in, and they do a random drawing 2 hours before the show, for $25 tickets. RIGHT UP FRONT. And we WON! We got to see the matinee of Wicked in Row C for $50! AWESOME!
Other than that, it was a fairly general week. I missed one swim (open water on Friday, it was just too chilly for diving in the ocean for me!). So, I did 2 swims (one kick butt 4x(5x100 fr) repeats...Sue (my swimming buddy) and I rocked that and worked our butts off! I did 3 bikes (2 at 1:30, 1 at 2:10). One of those was a 4xOnly hill in Miami repeat... BURNED. I was supposed to keep the RPMs up at 80-85 up the hill. I was in the lowest gearing and still couldn't keep it up. I suck on hills. Worries me a bit about Louisville, but I got time. I have a feeling I'm going to get to know that hill ALL TO INTIMATELY!
And finally, did 5 runs (a 45 min easy with strides, an hour track workout, a 1:30 long easy run, a 22 minute brick off the bike, and a 30 min easy run). The track workout was pretty awesome. Christian and I were apparently the only 2 out of like 10 who were doing a 70.3 in the near future...so our workout after the mile warmup and strides...4x2000 @ just slower than 10k pace. OYE! So, everyone was already enjoying their ride home when I finally finished. Christian had to just chill and wait for me! Oh well, I'm getting used to being the last one out there!
So, can't tell you what this week has in store, b/c Coach hasn't updated the workouts yet. I assume maybe 13-14:00 hours, since last week was 12:45? Just a guess. Still feeling pretty good about the whole process so far. Starting to get some aching in the knee joints, especially after the long runs, and sometimes feel a twinge of tendinitis in the shoulder (so no paddles for now), but pretty much injury free (KNOCK ON WOOD). I know its really just getting going into the workouts though, so still nervous about what's in store!
Oh, and the diet, that Coach wants us to follow...eh, I'm not doing great at that. Probably a BIT better than usual, but not a LOT better. I just love junk! Its definitely my downfall. Need to make it so I only break down one day a week, but haven't made it that far yet! I'll let you know next week!
On Sunday, we only had a 30 minute easy run. So we did that in the morning, and went to the Adrienne Arscht center. We found out they have a lottery program. You show up 2.5 hours before a show and put your name in, and they do a random drawing 2 hours before the show, for $25 tickets. RIGHT UP FRONT. And we WON! We got to see the matinee of Wicked in Row C for $50! AWESOME!
Other than that, it was a fairly general week. I missed one swim (open water on Friday, it was just too chilly for diving in the ocean for me!). So, I did 2 swims (one kick butt 4x(5x100 fr) repeats...Sue (my swimming buddy) and I rocked that and worked our butts off! I did 3 bikes (2 at 1:30, 1 at 2:10). One of those was a 4xOnly hill in Miami repeat... BURNED. I was supposed to keep the RPMs up at 80-85 up the hill. I was in the lowest gearing and still couldn't keep it up. I suck on hills. Worries me a bit about Louisville, but I got time. I have a feeling I'm going to get to know that hill ALL TO INTIMATELY!
And finally, did 5 runs (a 45 min easy with strides, an hour track workout, a 1:30 long easy run, a 22 minute brick off the bike, and a 30 min easy run). The track workout was pretty awesome. Christian and I were apparently the only 2 out of like 10 who were doing a 70.3 in the near future...so our workout after the mile warmup and strides...4x2000 @ just slower than 10k pace. OYE! So, everyone was already enjoying their ride home when I finally finished. Christian had to just chill and wait for me! Oh well, I'm getting used to being the last one out there!
So, can't tell you what this week has in store, b/c Coach hasn't updated the workouts yet. I assume maybe 13-14:00 hours, since last week was 12:45? Just a guess. Still feeling pretty good about the whole process so far. Starting to get some aching in the knee joints, especially after the long runs, and sometimes feel a twinge of tendinitis in the shoulder (so no paddles for now), but pretty much injury free (KNOCK ON WOOD). I know its really just getting going into the workouts though, so still nervous about what's in store!
Oh, and the diet, that Coach wants us to follow...eh, I'm not doing great at that. Probably a BIT better than usual, but not a LOT better. I just love junk! Its definitely my downfall. Need to make it so I only break down one day a week, but haven't made it that far yet! I'll let you know next week!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Last big swim meet for the season!
Well, the season is over! And we get to start all over again, YEA! This week, I don't have a lot interesting to tell you about myself, so I can let you know how hubby did. Coach decided to give me another fairly "lax" week with only a little less than 10 hours of training planned. I did it all, except for a 1200 swim, I never got in. Funny, how I spent all weekend at a pool, but didn't manage to get in a 1200 yard swim. Oh well. I guess let's start with our "Crazy Driver of the Week."
This week's award goes to Old Man in Car:
We were just finishing our long run on Wed. morning. It was 1.5 hours, and this week Christian's HR was a bit more under control, so he was ahead of me. But we jogged in the last 10 minutes or so together and then he had a couple more minutes to go, so he just went around the block. As he got to the end of the road, this old man decided to not only run through a stop sign to get onto a very busy road, but he also almost ran over Christian. So, Christian gave him the Thumbs Up and said "Good Job." What does the guy do?...Does he throw his hands up and say "Ooops, didn't see you?" Or completely ignore him? Or give him a "Sorry" wave?
NOPE. The correct answer is None of the Above.
He rolls his window down and says "F**K You!" Lovely huh!?
Other than that, Christian completed his first triathlon of the season. He did the Miami International Triathlon; an Olympic distance he's done every year since he got here. Its also one I've never done because it always falls the weekend of my big meet! BUT, HE DID GREAT! He thought he PR'd at 2:37, but apparently the first year he did it, his "1.5k" swim took him 20 minutes! So, he had done a 2:35...but we all know, I can't even do a 20 minute open water 1.5k, so may have been a bit short that year! Anyway, he did awesome. As I figured, you can't even tell that he was in Haiti and a bit screwed up with training for a month! He's just an awesome athlete! Congrats Christian!
See you guys next week!
This week's award goes to Old Man in Car:
We were just finishing our long run on Wed. morning. It was 1.5 hours, and this week Christian's HR was a bit more under control, so he was ahead of me. But we jogged in the last 10 minutes or so together and then he had a couple more minutes to go, so he just went around the block. As he got to the end of the road, this old man decided to not only run through a stop sign to get onto a very busy road, but he also almost ran over Christian. So, Christian gave him the Thumbs Up and said "Good Job." What does the guy do?...Does he throw his hands up and say "Ooops, didn't see you?" Or completely ignore him? Or give him a "Sorry" wave?
NOPE. The correct answer is None of the Above.
He rolls his window down and says "F**K You!" Lovely huh!?
Other than that, Christian completed his first triathlon of the season. He did the Miami International Triathlon; an Olympic distance he's done every year since he got here. Its also one I've never done because it always falls the weekend of my big meet! BUT, HE DID GREAT! He thought he PR'd at 2:37, but apparently the first year he did it, his "1.5k" swim took him 20 minutes! So, he had done a 2:35...but we all know, I can't even do a 20 minute open water 1.5k, so may have been a bit short that year! Anyway, he did awesome. As I figured, you can't even tell that he was in Haiti and a bit screwed up with training for a month! He's just an awesome athlete! Congrats Christian!
See you guys next week!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
LOVELY drivers in Miami
Boy, aren't recovery weeks great. We had 9 hours of training this week! Most of it was scheduled for the beginning of the week b/c I had a swim meet this weekend, which means I spent over 12 hours per day at the pool on Saturday and Sunday. Got another big meet this weekend, so fitting in the workouts may be hard this week. We'll see.
So, what was the most exciting part about this past week?
Number 1: I did my first 30 minute Time-trial on the bike this week. Apparently, my Anaerobic Threshold is 174. That was tough. I don't think I've pushed that hard for 30 minutes in a race. But, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I basically averaged around 20mph...everyone else appeared to be in the 22 range...so, I guess I'm slow, but I wasn't displeased!
Number 2: Another example of lovely driving in Miami. Christian and I had our long run on Wed. this past week b/c of the swim meet for the weekend. So, we went out running, and actually ran together b/c he was having a hard time keeping his HR down...it was nice to actually hang out together running. Anyway, both of us have a habit that if a car doesn't bother to move over, or slow down for us, we'll give the car a little smack. It often scares the driver enough to hopefully make them move a bit next time. Hopefully, but probably not. It mostly makes us feel better, I guess. So, we're running down the road about 1/2 mile from home, almost done with the run...and we run into a roundabout. A BIG Bubba Truck is coming from the perpendicular corner. He doesn't bother to slow down and let us get through the circle, or move over in the circle, so he basically buzzes us. Therefore, Christian rapped his window as he went by and said "THANKS!" and we keep running. The guy throws the car in REVERSE (AROUND THE CIRCLE) and basically tries to back up OVER US. He rolls the window down and the two girls in the passenger seats (4-door truck), not really the driver, start yelling at us about what the hell do we think we're doing, we need to get on the sidewalk, blah, blah, blah. Seriously, I assume he only backed up because those girls were in the car. Lovely ladies, let me say. So, I'm getting madder by the minute and I'm yelling at them that actually we have the right of way, and they tried to run us over, now twice, and that I'd be happy to call the police. They keep yelling so I smack the mirror on the truck and walk off. The thing about a truck is, they fold in when they get hit. So it did, and the passenger smacked it back out and knocked the plastic piece off of it! HEEHEE! Anyway, as they are yelling at us, this guy in a van has pulled up beside us and stopped b/c he saw what was going on. I borrowed his cell phone and called the cops and they took off. The cop came by our place about 5 minutes after we got home and got our story and said he was going to look for the truck over the course of the day. Of course, we never heard back, but at least the cop was nice...OYE! Seriously, WTF? THAT, right there, is why we are counting down the months in Miami. Nine and a half, btw.
Anyway, other than that, everything else, training-wise was pretty average. I had some shoulder pain while swimming last week, so had to get out of swimming early one night. And no pulling now for a while, but nothing terrible.
Can't wait for you guys to hear all the amazing driver stories over the next 6 months!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Gator Bug
First, let's start with honesty. I realized after posting last week's blog that I lied. I only did 3 bikes last week. I skipped one. I skipped the one the day Christian came home. This week, the plan looked pretty much exactly the same, except this week I did the 4 bikes, but I skipped the last 30 minute, zone 1 run. Christian did it...he did it at 10pm last night. I refuse to run at 10:00pm!
SO, since we just finished week three in the Foundations training plan, there's not much exciting to talk about b/c it looked like weeks one and two. The good news is, that week four is recovery week! YEA! I get my first REAL day off this Friday!
The other exciting thing is our bike ride this Sunday. See, as mentioned before, drivers suck in Miami. Therefore there are really only 2 "safe" bike rides that anyone does in Miami: #1 ride around Key Biscayne (for you DCites, its like riding Hains Point, but its much bigger, about 12-15 miles around) and #2 ride down south towards Homestead. I often do the south ride b/c it goes right past where I work so I can just end up there or go past and come back. With two rides and what we know is going to be a "very long 6 months," its not good I'm already bored with it. So, Christian and I decided to do something different.
We rode out to the Everglades and decided to ride through "Shark Valley." Why do they call it Shark Valley? I have no idea, its only filled with Gators! Shark Valley is a 15 mile loop into the Everglades and back out. The first couple of miles were filled with people, but the rest was pretty open except for a few cruisers here and there and the occasional tram that goes around the loop. But, there are lots of gators. All just hanging out on the side of the road. Chillin'. We did 2 loops around the thing for about a 1:52 ride. The first half o
f each loop was great. And the second time around we did 1:45 of 100+rpm 6 times. It was fun. The back half of each loop was windy! OUCH. That got old about 4 miles in, but we persevered! So, we created "Gator Bug." Its just like PunchBug, except, its every time you see a Gator. And you can't really punch the other person on the bike, well, because I would fall! The first time around, I was REALLY good at it! I saw all of them, but when we played on the back half of the last loop, I got STOMPED. I lost, 7-1! :( Oh well, great 30 mile ride, and finally SOMETHING DIFFERENT!Now, for the not training part of my blog...After our ride, we drove back in and stopped at this place called "The Pit." Its as you would expect, a BBQ joint outside of town, that looked VERY redneck. I had actually heard good things about it, so I was a bit excited, even though I'm really picky about my BBQ. As we came in, it was FILLED with Latinos. Everywhere. To me, this does not help it feel like a bbq joint. Especially when I can see whose cooking in the back. The menu also has NO PULLED PORK! WHAT? How is that? They have "sliced." UGH! Who eats sliced pork. So, after being ignored for a while by the waitress who immediately waited on the Latino couple next to us, we decided to order the ribs (not much other choice since there was no pulled pork). We waited, and waited...and the Latino couple not only got their food, but were almost done and we still had nothing. And the waitress hadn't even looked at us, much less apologize! I finally threw up my hands at her and was like "seriously, where is our food" and it magically appeared. This was only my second experience being discriminated against...man is it not fun. The kicker is, the food was actually pretty good. I was very pleasantly surprised. The ribs were smoky and moist and didn't
really need sauce, which is the way it should be! And they were accompanied not by rolls, but by what looked and tasted like beignets, without the powdered sugar. When she asked if we wanted honey, I didn't understand, but then after eating them, I wished I had said yes! YUMMO!So, will we ever go back? To the bike ride, definitely (especially since we forgot the camera)...to "the Pit," um, maybe only to carry out. It was pretty darn good...oh, I almost forgot the best part...we are sitting in a VERY REDNECK looking restaurant (complete with a sign with a Dixie flag on it), that is FILLED with Latinos and some guy singing in Spanish, when in walks this VERY large drag queen to order from the carry out window! HA! It was AWESOME! Didn't expect to see that out in the boonies. In Key West, yes, in the city of Miami, yes (except there's no redneck joints there)...but not there! AWESOME!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Gonna be a long six and a half months
Finished the first full week of training with a coach, and let me tell you, its going to be a long 6.5 months. First, let me say, it was great to have my hubby home, back with me. But he didn't start joining in the torture until this weekend! As we were driving to start our morning bike with a local bike group, he mentioned "its going to be a long six months, getting up this early for long workouts, huh?" UM YEA! Top it off, coach doesn't feel that "days off" are really necessary. He mostly wants frequency and "active recovery," so not a lot to look forward to. He said expect 1 or 2 days PER MONTH off! OUCH...Gonna be a long six months!
Felt pretty good all week, though a bit tired by the end. Did 3 swims, with one great threshold workout, 4 bikes (one Sat. and one Sun.!), and 4 runs. What am I most proud of this week? I had to work a swim meet this week. And though that sounds like nothing much at all, it typically means, I spend ALL DAY at the pool during the weekend. It means I'm exhausted by the time I'm done, mentally and physically...and it typically means, I don't get much workout in!
I worked Friday night, but got my swim and run in in the morning. Saturday, I worked from 7-4! I was BEAT by the end, so I convinced Christian to have the bike ready to go by the time I got home. I knew if I got inside and sat down, the bike ride would not happen...so we went right out and got in the 1:30 ride before it got too dark! Then Sunday, my boss decided that he would work the first session, so I luckily didn't have to come in until 10:45a.m., so we got up and went to the tri club bike ride...I got in a 2 hour bike ride, and showered and went straight to the meet. Made it home by 4ish, and again, knew if I sat down, I wouldn't go for our 30 minute run, so we went right out for our run! Why am I proud? I talked myself into doing some workouts that I could so easily talk myself out of! I think that is partly thanks to having HUBBY home! If I say, lets do something, (as I mentioned in my first blog) he helps make it happen! LOVE YOU HUBBY! KEEP IT UP!
Felt pretty good all week, though a bit tired by the end. Did 3 swims, with one great threshold workout, 4 bikes (one Sat. and one Sun.!), and 4 runs. What am I most proud of this week? I had to work a swim meet this week. And though that sounds like nothing much at all, it typically means, I spend ALL DAY at the pool during the weekend. It means I'm exhausted by the time I'm done, mentally and physically...and it typically means, I don't get much workout in!
I worked Friday night, but got my swim and run in in the morning. Saturday, I worked from 7-4! I was BEAT by the end, so I convinced Christian to have the bike ready to go by the time I got home. I knew if I got inside and sat down, the bike ride would not happen...so we went right out and got in the 1:30 ride before it got too dark! Then Sunday, my boss decided that he would work the first session, so I luckily didn't have to come in until 10:45a.m., so we got up and went to the tri club bike ride...I got in a 2 hour bike ride, and showered and went straight to the meet. Made it home by 4ish, and again, knew if I sat down, I wouldn't go for our 30 minute run, so we went right out for our run! Why am I proud? I talked myself into doing some workouts that I could so easily talk myself out of! I think that is partly thanks to having HUBBY home! If I say, lets do something, (as I mentioned in my first blog) he helps make it happen! LOVE YOU HUBBY! KEEP IT UP!
Friday, February 19, 2010
VINDICATION
So, this won't be one of my regular updates! This is a quick story of a little bit of vindication.
As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of Miami. I mean, I've been here two years, and the best thing about it...being able to train outside year round! It is wonderful...its great to be at an outdoor pool year round (especially when its 40 and windy as its been all week...that really makes you want to get in)...ANYWAY, one of my biggest pet peeves about this place is that even though you CAN train outside year round, most people don't. Hence, Miami being one of the fattest cities in the country...What do they do? They drive everywhere, VERY poorly! And they are NOT nice to people actually trying to work out outside, where it is nice outside. I really thought people were exaggerating when they told me how bad the driving was when we moved here...they were not exaggerating enough! Seriously, its bad.
Anyway, so I was running this morning. I was doing a big circle, so when I hit halfway I started circling back, but it happened to end up on a road that is quite busy and no sidewalks. Why does it have no sidewalks? Because the rich people would not like the sidewalk to ugly up their lawns, so they just tore them up. As I'm running down the road, this truck is coming towards me, and he decides to AIM his truck at me, until he's right on me, and then just stops! So, I "wave hello" in my own little salute, and run by only to see 2 cars back, a COP CAR! He asked what happened, I told him, he said "his ass is mine!" NICE! Its about time! YEA!
As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of Miami. I mean, I've been here two years, and the best thing about it...being able to train outside year round! It is wonderful...its great to be at an outdoor pool year round (especially when its 40 and windy as its been all week...that really makes you want to get in)...ANYWAY, one of my biggest pet peeves about this place is that even though you CAN train outside year round, most people don't. Hence, Miami being one of the fattest cities in the country...What do they do? They drive everywhere, VERY poorly! And they are NOT nice to people actually trying to work out outside, where it is nice outside. I really thought people were exaggerating when they told me how bad the driving was when we moved here...they were not exaggerating enough! Seriously, its bad.
Anyway, so I was running this morning. I was doing a big circle, so when I hit halfway I started circling back, but it happened to end up on a road that is quite busy and no sidewalks. Why does it have no sidewalks? Because the rich people would not like the sidewalk to ugly up their lawns, so they just tore them up. As I'm running down the road, this truck is coming towards me, and he decides to AIM his truck at me, until he's right on me, and then just stops! So, I "wave hello" in my own little salute, and run by only to see 2 cars back, a COP CAR! He asked what happened, I told him, he said "his ass is mine!" NICE! Its about time! YEA!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Getting started
Well, this week was the first week that someone else created my training plan. Worked out okay. Nothing too crazy right now as we are apparently "foundation building" for the next three weeks. What did workouts involve this week:
Best news of the week though! CHRISTIAN IS COMING HOME! YEA! Now he can join in the torture with me. Hopefully he'll be back in his bed by tonight (Monday).
- 3 swims - one easy, lazy one, one middle-of-the-road workout, and one 1000yd time trial. Did a 14:17 on the 1000 yds...mostly 1:27 pace. A little slower than I'd like to be, but didn't hate it.
- 3 bikes. Two of which I did on my trainer b/c I'm a wimp. 1:00, 1:15, and 1:30. The 1:15 I did outside, into the wind. BOY, do I hate wind. Definitely one of the worst things about Miami...but considering everyone else isn't able to train outside b/c there is snow on the ground, I guess I shouldn't complain.
- 3 runs. 2 at 30 minutes, and 1 at 1:20. Still having a very hard time with easy heart rate runs. I have a hard time convincing myself that I should be running slower than the already VERY slow pace to keep my heart rate down (already about 12:00/mile!). Had a discussion with "coach" and he says slow down, drink more. UGH. That's another annoying thing apparently about Miami...I have to hydrate A LOT MORE than I have had to anywhere else. I just don't know. I don't understand why I just keep getting slower. Everyone keeps saying I'll end up getting faster. I'm beginning to have my doubts.
Best news of the week though! CHRISTIAN IS COMING HOME! YEA! Now he can join in the torture with me. Hopefully he'll be back in his bed by tonight (Monday).
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Slow Starter
Well, Jess and James make this blogging thing seem so fun, I thought I would give it a try.
Here's how it starts...when Christian and I were getting married we had to go to some marriage counseling sessions with our pastor who was going to marry us. All in all, it was rather uneventful, but one of the things he made us do was to write out a timeline of things we saw happening in our life in the next ten years, then we would show each other at the next meeting. Well, I've been racing triathlons for over 10 years now (on and off) and we had both gotten pretty consistent in them since we met. We had both done at least one Half-Iron and so, me, being not the smartest or fastest, wrote that I would like to complete an Ironman in the next two years. Didn't really think much else about it. However, here's the thing about my husband...he's a write it down, make it happen kind of guy! And next thing I know, we are signed up for IM Louisville, August 29, 2010. YIKES! I'm terrified...but excited.
So, now is the time to get started. We've been fairly consistent in training for a while now. We did the MiamiMan 70.3 in October, and then did the Disney Marathon in January (Christian did the Goofy Challenge, b/c he's crazy)...so we've been steady running. However, during my MiamiMan focus on running and my marathon, I've managed to do nothing except get SLOWER and SLOWER in running. Frustrating, to say the least. I expected the "get slower before you get fasters" thing, but I didn't know it was going to be 9 months of getting slower and no faster! The only good thing I did during the marathon, was not walk!! But, frustrating when the time was slower than the marathon I did where I walked quite a bit!
So, because we have an IM in August, and I'm sucking at running, and I'm terrified at the whole prospect, and my husband is currently stuck in Haiti for we don't know how much longer...we decided to bite the bullet and hire a Coach. His name is Lee. He owns Bodyzen. He's apparently the most well known in the area. AND I had NO IDEA however HOW EXPENSIVE its going to be! WOW! We'll definitely be broke at the end of this...but I'm hoping it'll mean that I can finish this IM confidently! I should be getting started with him next week (though I am back to regularly swimming and FINALLY got back on the bike this week too)...and Christian plans to start when he gets home (which is hopefully sooner, rather than later)...For now, Christian is running on a treadmill and swimming (sans goggles) in the Embassy pool.
On here, I'll update you on our progress as we go along and hopefully we can figure out how the tortoise can actually beat the hare.
Here's how it starts...when Christian and I were getting married we had to go to some marriage counseling sessions with our pastor who was going to marry us. All in all, it was rather uneventful, but one of the things he made us do was to write out a timeline of things we saw happening in our life in the next ten years, then we would show each other at the next meeting. Well, I've been racing triathlons for over 10 years now (on and off) and we had both gotten pretty consistent in them since we met. We had both done at least one Half-Iron and so, me, being not the smartest or fastest, wrote that I would like to complete an Ironman in the next two years. Didn't really think much else about it. However, here's the thing about my husband...he's a write it down, make it happen kind of guy! And next thing I know, we are signed up for IM Louisville, August 29, 2010. YIKES! I'm terrified...but excited.
So, now is the time to get started. We've been fairly consistent in training for a while now. We did the MiamiMan 70.3 in October, and then did the Disney Marathon in January (Christian did the Goofy Challenge, b/c he's crazy)...so we've been steady running. However, during my MiamiMan focus on running and my marathon, I've managed to do nothing except get SLOWER and SLOWER in running. Frustrating, to say the least. I expected the "get slower before you get fasters" thing, but I didn't know it was going to be 9 months of getting slower and no faster! The only good thing I did during the marathon, was not walk!! But, frustrating when the time was slower than the marathon I did where I walked quite a bit!
So, because we have an IM in August, and I'm sucking at running, and I'm terrified at the whole prospect, and my husband is currently stuck in Haiti for we don't know how much longer...we decided to bite the bullet and hire a Coach. His name is Lee. He owns Bodyzen. He's apparently the most well known in the area. AND I had NO IDEA however HOW EXPENSIVE its going to be! WOW! We'll definitely be broke at the end of this...but I'm hoping it'll mean that I can finish this IM confidently! I should be getting started with him next week (though I am back to regularly swimming and FINALLY got back on the bike this week too)...and Christian plans to start when he gets home (which is hopefully sooner, rather than later)...For now, Christian is running on a treadmill and swimming (sans goggles) in the Embassy pool.
On here, I'll update you on our progress as we go along and hopefully we can figure out how the tortoise can actually beat the hare.
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