She lied.
When asked if there was to be sprinting that night, she said, "triathletes only sprint at the finish line. We do not have to sprint every time we go to the track."
Like hell we don't! I sit here, crippled. Crippled as in, delayed onset muscle soreness has seized every spare centimeter of muscle mass in my legs, and lifting my legs to get into cars and to put them into bed is quite possibly one of the most painful experiences imagineable. Does one get crippled by slowly running around the fun fun track?
No. No, there was no slow. There was aerobic. Then there was "tempo." And then LT. Lactic Threshold. Hold in the puke 'cause it's comin' and it doesn't taste too good.
OMG, I did the most painful and excruciating 4 miles of my life on Wednesday night. It's 2 full days later and I am still bitching about it. Can you believe it? At one point, it hurt so bad that I was almost in tears. Seriously, if 4 miles can do this to me, what makes me think I can make the Olympic distance of 6??? How is this ever going to work out well for me? I still don't know the answer to that, but I'm kind of repressing it at this point.
To accomodate my dear hubby's desire to go out tonight, I went ahead and did my long swim last night. In retrospect this may have been smart--- the pain lulled my legs into submission and I was happy to let them float behind me like a rudder. I didn't even push off the wall hard. Just gentle and slow. I did my longest swim ever --- 1 hour --- and covered only 2650 meters. But like I said, I was slow, and this was a new milestone for me, so it was okay. Someone even asked me if I was a competitive swimmer!! I was flattered, of course, but there was nothing competitive about me in that pool last night. It was just me and the clock, and a rousing rendition of 99 bottles of beer on the wall. (I'm trying a new way of counting laps)
I'm still madly in love with Fiona. I may need to buy 5 versions of her so I don't have to keep doing laundry. I'm seriously that addicted.
Tomorrow morning I'm meeting a few girls and we are doing our 2 1/2 hour long bike ride. This is the longest I've ever been on a bike before, and seeing how my 2 hour trainer ride last week resulted in me being in tears for over an hour, I don't know how this is going to go. It's an aerobic ride, so we're just going to enjoy the trail and take our time. Next week is our first peak week, so this week I just want to survive.
It's funny reading everyones' blogs lately. It seems that we are all on different schedules, but the sentiments are the same. Overwhelmed by the need for an improved time management skill. Stressed about increasing intensities and distances. Grumpy. Cranky. Bitchy. Starving. But we are pushing through, and we will get through these spots. I imagine they might even get worse before they get better. But I know I just need to put the doubt behind me and keep conquering the plan, day by day, taking advantage of any extra time I can get.
So with that, I'm leaving work early and heading out to dinner with the hubby so I can be in bed early to prep for my long ride.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Triathlon and Significant Others
I am back from my trip.....and I certainly was active whilst away. Not active in the sense that I actually completed all of my necessary training for the week. But I did visit every museum I neglected to see when I actually lived in DC. I sacrificed hours of training time so that I could spend time with my DH and see the sites and enjoy what little time I had outside of work with him.
I'm starting to notice that the downside of my "new" hobby is that it really does consume my life. It's what I talk about when people ask me what I'm up to, it's what I'm thinking about when I'm all zoned out and my hubby asks what's bugging me, and it's what I want to be doing when I'm sitting at my desk at work waiting to leave. I'd even tell my cat about it if I knew he would understand. Yet the funniest thing is happening.....nobody seems to care anymore! In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say my husband is pretty damn over the entire triathlon thing. I was fortunate last season, as he was gone in training for most of it and he never had to sit around in an empty house while I was away every evening and weekend. But now he is here. He is bored, And there's this.....tension.....involving my triathlon. He rolls his eyes at the mention of Half Ironman, which he thinks is excessive. He tells me not to hurt myself when I mention a long run. He really wants to be supportive, but I can't help but wonder if he's not a tad bit resentful of how much time this takes away from our time together?
I guess I see it this way. In order to be a perfect couple, there has to be a balance. Each one of us has to be personally fulfilled so that we can be a better partner for the other. I need a release so that I don't come home from a rough day at work and rip his balls off. So that I don't grab a carton of Ginger cats from Trader Joes and eat it in one sitting. (Yes, I have tried) Triathlon has been just the cure for these evils, and although it does consume my time, at least it makes me more tolerable to be around when I actually AM around. And it's not like I am training for IM right now or even have an interest in it. I have a very demanding full time job and a demanding husband.....IM would ruin both of those, I suspect.
Just had to vent. We're ramping up even more in our training, with the long bike rides creeping into the 3-hour range, and the long runs approaching 1.5 hours. These both have to happen on the weekends....OUR time....and I'm hoping that we can find a way to make it all work out.
If only I could get him to take swim lessons.....then he'd join me, I suspect. He's obsessed with mountain biking now and is on a couch-to-5K plan to get him up to a 5K run. Sounds like an Xterra athlete in the making, right? Gotta teach him to swim first and then I'm in the clear!!!
I'm starting to notice that the downside of my "new" hobby is that it really does consume my life. It's what I talk about when people ask me what I'm up to, it's what I'm thinking about when I'm all zoned out and my hubby asks what's bugging me, and it's what I want to be doing when I'm sitting at my desk at work waiting to leave. I'd even tell my cat about it if I knew he would understand. Yet the funniest thing is happening.....nobody seems to care anymore! In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say my husband is pretty damn over the entire triathlon thing. I was fortunate last season, as he was gone in training for most of it and he never had to sit around in an empty house while I was away every evening and weekend. But now he is here. He is bored, And there's this.....tension.....involving my triathlon. He rolls his eyes at the mention of Half Ironman, which he thinks is excessive. He tells me not to hurt myself when I mention a long run. He really wants to be supportive, but I can't help but wonder if he's not a tad bit resentful of how much time this takes away from our time together?
I guess I see it this way. In order to be a perfect couple, there has to be a balance. Each one of us has to be personally fulfilled so that we can be a better partner for the other. I need a release so that I don't come home from a rough day at work and rip his balls off. So that I don't grab a carton of Ginger cats from Trader Joes and eat it in one sitting. (Yes, I have tried) Triathlon has been just the cure for these evils, and although it does consume my time, at least it makes me more tolerable to be around when I actually AM around. And it's not like I am training for IM right now or even have an interest in it. I have a very demanding full time job and a demanding husband.....IM would ruin both of those, I suspect.
Just had to vent. We're ramping up even more in our training, with the long bike rides creeping into the 3-hour range, and the long runs approaching 1.5 hours. These both have to happen on the weekends....OUR time....and I'm hoping that we can find a way to make it all work out.
If only I could get him to take swim lessons.....then he'd join me, I suspect. He's obsessed with mountain biking now and is on a couch-to-5K plan to get him up to a 5K run. Sounds like an Xterra athlete in the making, right? Gotta teach him to swim first and then I'm in the clear!!!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Happy President's Day
I would just like to take this time to thank the past Presidents for their service to our country, and for giving me this wonderful, sacred, well-earned, BEAUTIFUL day off from work.
I not only got to sleep in this morning, but I made myself TWO (count 'em!) pots of coffee this morning, which I leisurely sipped while catching up on my "internets" stuff. Yep, it's a good thing.
I'm sore this morning, but I suppose that means I've been working hard. I earned my respite. DH wanted to head down to some museum in San Diego today, but I put my foot down. I'm tired! I need some quiet time.
Yesterday was another lovely team practice. I took the Buff out with several of the Olympic-distance girls from last season (the ones I looked up to and chased all of last fall when I thought I was the shiz....boy, was I in for a rude awakening!), and we rode 3 loops of this neighborhood trail that required just a wee bit of maneuvering around toddler-powered Hot Wheels. We took turns leading the pack, and this was a total blast. I almost wished we could have gone longer-- it was that much fun to turn and burn with the group. I'm a bit disappointed in my speed (I'm no longer pulling 18mph minimum, according to my Garmin), but this is a neighborhood trail and we were stopping every 3 miles to regroup and turn around....and there was plenty of braking to deal with roadblocks. But still, excuses. I need to get faster. We did 19 miles yesterday, then went off and did a 30 minute run....except I opted to just do a quick 1-mile off the bike and call it a day because of those tender knees. They feel fantastic after I get off the bike, but then I get home and they start yelling at me. They are tricky like that--- never giving me any indication of when I am hurting them. It's like a game, I suppose.
Anyway, what a fun workout. I was invigorated for most of the day, and proceeded to gorge myself on food as well. This is definitely something I am noticing that's becoming a BAD trend. Workouts lasting longer than 45 minutes to an hour result in me wanting to eat myself into oblivion. I even went into Trader Joe's and bought a tub of Cat Cookie ginger snaps. What is up with that? Must get this under control or else I'll need a girdle. Rock hard legs, but a barrel of FAT around my vital organs. Ugh.
Today, I am on a quest for a new sports bra. It's a sensitive topic in the girl world, but chafing is a bitch. I never had this problem before, as I'd never run more than a 1/2 hour at the time, but the girls are starting to hate me. My husband finds this entertaining. Yesterday, at Road Runner, he thought it would be funny to throw "Nip Guards" into conversation at every chance he could find. He was slapped silly yesterday.....why would I ever publicly buy something like that? It's worse than tampons or yeast infection medication!!! (He's bought both, but he refuses to buy the Nip Guards---seriously, who calls their product something so embarassing?!) My Under Armour selection did not fit (they must figure that Large women have "A" boobs or no back muscles-- they are sadly mistaken), so now I am back to square 1. I hear Lycra is evil. My Body Glide isn't doing the trick. I am desperate. Wish me luck!
I not only got to sleep in this morning, but I made myself TWO (count 'em!) pots of coffee this morning, which I leisurely sipped while catching up on my "internets" stuff. Yep, it's a good thing.
I'm sore this morning, but I suppose that means I've been working hard. I earned my respite. DH wanted to head down to some museum in San Diego today, but I put my foot down. I'm tired! I need some quiet time.
Yesterday was another lovely team practice. I took the Buff out with several of the Olympic-distance girls from last season (the ones I looked up to and chased all of last fall when I thought I was the shiz....boy, was I in for a rude awakening!), and we rode 3 loops of this neighborhood trail that required just a wee bit of maneuvering around toddler-powered Hot Wheels. We took turns leading the pack, and this was a total blast. I almost wished we could have gone longer-- it was that much fun to turn and burn with the group. I'm a bit disappointed in my speed (I'm no longer pulling 18mph minimum, according to my Garmin), but this is a neighborhood trail and we were stopping every 3 miles to regroup and turn around....and there was plenty of braking to deal with roadblocks. But still, excuses. I need to get faster. We did 19 miles yesterday, then went off and did a 30 minute run....except I opted to just do a quick 1-mile off the bike and call it a day because of those tender knees. They feel fantastic after I get off the bike, but then I get home and they start yelling at me. They are tricky like that--- never giving me any indication of when I am hurting them. It's like a game, I suppose.
Anyway, what a fun workout. I was invigorated for most of the day, and proceeded to gorge myself on food as well. This is definitely something I am noticing that's becoming a BAD trend. Workouts lasting longer than 45 minutes to an hour result in me wanting to eat myself into oblivion. I even went into Trader Joe's and bought a tub of Cat Cookie ginger snaps. What is up with that? Must get this under control or else I'll need a girdle. Rock hard legs, but a barrel of FAT around my vital organs. Ugh.
Today, I am on a quest for a new sports bra. It's a sensitive topic in the girl world, but chafing is a bitch. I never had this problem before, as I'd never run more than a 1/2 hour at the time, but the girls are starting to hate me. My husband finds this entertaining. Yesterday, at Road Runner, he thought it would be funny to throw "Nip Guards" into conversation at every chance he could find. He was slapped silly yesterday.....why would I ever publicly buy something like that? It's worse than tampons or yeast infection medication!!! (He's bought both, but he refuses to buy the Nip Guards---seriously, who calls their product something so embarassing?!) My Under Armour selection did not fit (they must figure that Large women have "A" boobs or no back muscles-- they are sadly mistaken), so now I am back to square 1. I hear Lycra is evil. My Body Glide isn't doing the trick. I am desperate. Wish me luck!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Ouch!
I've been a delinquent blogger, I know.
To be honest, I don't have much exciting going on right now. Work is same old, same old, except I got to go to a conference up in LA on Thursday and Friday, so that was a bit of an interruption. And next week, I'm headed back to DC for 5 days. I love the travel, but I will miss my cat, and of course, I'll be missing LOTS of practice.
Now, this may not be an entirely bad thing, since I apparently have screwed my knees up again, but I missed one of the 7 workouts we had for the week. My 90-minute bike fell by the wayside because I just ran out of time and body strength. I was going to do it on the trainer after my 4-mile run yesterday, but the knees were sore and I just wasn't feeling good....I questioned whether any good at all could come from that session. In hindsight, that probably was smart, because this morning I crammed in a tough 1-hour spin class followed by a 2500 meter swim set. My knees are a wreck, and I was spent. I'm still spent. Ugh....why do I do this to myself?
Anyway, as you can tell, I'm still struggling with my time management and my weak body. I'm eating like a pig, and I can't seem to find enough time to fit everything in that has to be done. My dry cleaning bag now contains the majority of my wardrobe, but I can't seem to find the time to take it all in. I'm trying to fit hubby time in whenever I can, but even he seems to feel neglected. Why isn't this easier?
So that is all. Just wanted to get a quick update in before I fall off the face of the planet. Race is 7 weeks away and I'm scared to death I've done some damage this time around. I guess I get like this every time I have a pain, but I'm going to just bike tomorrow (no run) and ice the crap out of it.
Happy Day!
At least I saw the Space Shuttle and Space Station tonight. Gotta love my dorky husband. :)
To be honest, I don't have much exciting going on right now. Work is same old, same old, except I got to go to a conference up in LA on Thursday and Friday, so that was a bit of an interruption. And next week, I'm headed back to DC for 5 days. I love the travel, but I will miss my cat, and of course, I'll be missing LOTS of practice.
Now, this may not be an entirely bad thing, since I apparently have screwed my knees up again, but I missed one of the 7 workouts we had for the week. My 90-minute bike fell by the wayside because I just ran out of time and body strength. I was going to do it on the trainer after my 4-mile run yesterday, but the knees were sore and I just wasn't feeling good....I questioned whether any good at all could come from that session. In hindsight, that probably was smart, because this morning I crammed in a tough 1-hour spin class followed by a 2500 meter swim set. My knees are a wreck, and I was spent. I'm still spent. Ugh....why do I do this to myself?
Anyway, as you can tell, I'm still struggling with my time management and my weak body. I'm eating like a pig, and I can't seem to find enough time to fit everything in that has to be done. My dry cleaning bag now contains the majority of my wardrobe, but I can't seem to find the time to take it all in. I'm trying to fit hubby time in whenever I can, but even he seems to feel neglected. Why isn't this easier?
So that is all. Just wanted to get a quick update in before I fall off the face of the planet. Race is 7 weeks away and I'm scared to death I've done some damage this time around. I guess I get like this every time I have a pain, but I'm going to just bike tomorrow (no run) and ice the crap out of it.
Happy Day!
At least I saw the Space Shuttle and Space Station tonight. Gotta love my dorky husband. :)
Monday, February 11, 2008
I Heart my Bike
Yesterday ROCKED. I have to admit it. I'm still overjoyed and the thrill of my ride is still making me burst with pride. With love. I am in LOVE with my new bike. Not only is "The Buff" one sexy machine, but it's fast, too! Woohoo!!! We did 1/2 hour ride on the Santa Ana Trail yesterday, coupled with a 1/2 hour run, and the bike felt fantastic. We tried to focus on a very high cadence, but I was able to push hard without feeling the burn. It was comfortable, I figured out how to steer with my aerobars, and it just covered the ground 3000% better than my old Trek. I'm so psyched about this bike, let me tell you.
What I'm not so excited about is the fact that the race is less than 8 weeks away and there is some doubt in peoples' minds whether I can make the distance. Coach says I'm a very strong cyclist, but in the same paragraph, she also mentions that I can walk the run if I have to.
Ummm.....is this doubt? Does she think I'm that bad of a runner that I can't make the 6 miles? Granted, I'm only up to 4 in practice, but did I not do the 30-minute brick with the fastest runners in the program? Did I not keep up?! What's up with this?
I know Coach well, so it's quite possible she's pissing me off on purpose in order to motivate me to put in the time. She knows that time is my greatest constraint right now.....I guess this could be her way of passively kicking me in the arse?
Well, it worked. I'm a little cranky now. I somehow feel like she has identified running as my uber weakness, so now I need to train the weakness without injuring myself. (7 miles this weekend did nothing to help my knees, I'll admit) And I am SO SORE today. Ouch! Anyway, not sure how to fix the running aside from making the time during the week to get it in. I suppose I could try to run over a lunch hour, and bring lots of scented baby wipes to mask my heinous odors after the run??? Or maybe I could get up at the crack of dawn and run with the mountain lions? Or in the dark??? Drag hubby along? Ugh, I don't know what I'll do. Such a royal pain. But now I'm determined to improve myself in the next two months.
I hope I still heart my bike at the end of all this.
What I'm not so excited about is the fact that the race is less than 8 weeks away and there is some doubt in peoples' minds whether I can make the distance. Coach says I'm a very strong cyclist, but in the same paragraph, she also mentions that I can walk the run if I have to.
Ummm.....is this doubt? Does she think I'm that bad of a runner that I can't make the 6 miles? Granted, I'm only up to 4 in practice, but did I not do the 30-minute brick with the fastest runners in the program? Did I not keep up?! What's up with this?
I know Coach well, so it's quite possible she's pissing me off on purpose in order to motivate me to put in the time. She knows that time is my greatest constraint right now.....I guess this could be her way of passively kicking me in the arse?
Well, it worked. I'm a little cranky now. I somehow feel like she has identified running as my uber weakness, so now I need to train the weakness without injuring myself. (7 miles this weekend did nothing to help my knees, I'll admit) And I am SO SORE today. Ouch! Anyway, not sure how to fix the running aside from making the time during the week to get it in. I suppose I could try to run over a lunch hour, and bring lots of scented baby wipes to mask my heinous odors after the run??? Or maybe I could get up at the crack of dawn and run with the mountain lions? Or in the dark??? Drag hubby along? Ugh, I don't know what I'll do. Such a royal pain. But now I'm determined to improve myself in the next two months.
I hope I still heart my bike at the end of all this.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Going Long
So, the girl who used to die on a mile run considers anything above and beyond a 3-mile run to be "long." She thinks that any time she subjects her tushy to more than an hour of bike riding, she is going "long." That anything over 2000 meters in the pool is "long." Well, you get the point. Long is relative.
As the weeks progress and we slowly push the envelope into "long" workouts in preparation for Iron Girl, I am learning quite a lot about myself! I used to think that going balls-to-the-wall, all-out, all the time, was the way the world ought to be. I love creaming people. Seriously, last season, I enjoyed picking off my training mates one by one and using every ounce of energy I had. I even got this nifty nickname, "Sprinter." A reputation for being "fast." (Again, this is all relative....my fast is a horrid slow day for some of you average triathletes out there, but I'm comparing myself to slow beginners here) So you can imagine my disdain when the weekly workout lists arrived and the words "slow" and "aerobic" popped up. When a target heart zone is mentioned.....and it was significantly lower than what I'm used to seeing on my lovely monitor. It was shock and horror! Slow is simply not a word that is intentional in my vocabulary.
But I've been listening. I've been.....slowing down....and letting my body get used to the increased distances. And you know what? Sure, people may be able to keep up with me at the start now, but I'm much faster than them at the finish! Ah, the joys of patience. It's pretty flippin' cool if you ask me. We finish a 1400 meter swim set and I'm ready and rarin' to go for more. Coach DOWNGRADED me to the slow lane on Wednesday night, and I'll have you know that during our 10 x 50 marker set, I lapped my lanemate 2 or 3 times and finished a good 3 minutes ahead of her! Yeah, go ahead and brand me as slow. But I have endurance.
Hell yeah!
So that is what I've been up to lately. Going slow (relatively speaking,) and long (relatively speaking), and secretly trying to convince myself I'm still as fast as I used to be.
As the weeks progress and we slowly push the envelope into "long" workouts in preparation for Iron Girl, I am learning quite a lot about myself! I used to think that going balls-to-the-wall, all-out, all the time, was the way the world ought to be. I love creaming people. Seriously, last season, I enjoyed picking off my training mates one by one and using every ounce of energy I had. I even got this nifty nickname, "Sprinter." A reputation for being "fast." (Again, this is all relative....my fast is a horrid slow day for some of you average triathletes out there, but I'm comparing myself to slow beginners here) So you can imagine my disdain when the weekly workout lists arrived and the words "slow" and "aerobic" popped up. When a target heart zone is mentioned.....and it was significantly lower than what I'm used to seeing on my lovely monitor. It was shock and horror! Slow is simply not a word that is intentional in my vocabulary.
But I've been listening. I've been.....slowing down....and letting my body get used to the increased distances. And you know what? Sure, people may be able to keep up with me at the start now, but I'm much faster than them at the finish! Ah, the joys of patience. It's pretty flippin' cool if you ask me. We finish a 1400 meter swim set and I'm ready and rarin' to go for more. Coach DOWNGRADED me to the slow lane on Wednesday night, and I'll have you know that during our 10 x 50 marker set, I lapped my lanemate 2 or 3 times and finished a good 3 minutes ahead of her! Yeah, go ahead and brand me as slow. But I have endurance.
Hell yeah!
So that is what I've been up to lately. Going slow (relatively speaking,) and long (relatively speaking), and secretly trying to convince myself I'm still as fast as I used to be.
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